whack job Santorum

Rick Santorum says Parkland students should learned CPR - NY Daily News

had enough? who do you trust? 

1. someone who has values similar to yours? The good, the bad & the ugly: let's make America great again
2. someone who doesn't?
3. political parties, financed by billionaire corporations and PACs?

here's how government works:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xIAJl-wZElg

if you vote for a republican or a democrat, then it's not the person who you voted for who is in control--it's the party.

File:Two party system diagram.png - Wikimedia Commons

in the next election--national, state or local--vote for anyone except a democrat or a republican. soon the republican and democratic parties will dry up and die. nothing will be better for the United States of America.

PS similarly, by refusing to patronize dishonest and biased media, they too will shrivel up and die--a triple win for honesty in government, for integrity in reporting the actions of government, and for us. 

minds of mush: voters

Father of Sandy Hook victim thinks school safety legislation will pass | New York Post

common sense. this legislation should have passed weeks after Columbine in 1999. why does it take so long for common sense to occur? answer: politicians. when will common sense solve this problem? when voters stop voting for republicans & democrats. common sense.

the good, the bad & the ugly: we need new George Washington style representatives in government

who do you trust? 

1. someone who has values similar to yours? The good, the bad & the ugly: let's make America great again
2. someone who doesn't?
3. political parties, financed by billionaire corporations and PACs?

here's how government works:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xIAJl-wZElg

if you vote for a republican or a democrat, then it's not the person who you voted for who is in control--it's the party.

File:Two party system diagram.png - Wikimedia Commons

in the next election--national, state or local--vote for anyone except a democrat or a republican. soon the republican and democratic parties will dry up and die. nothing will be better for the United States of America.

PS similarly, by refusing to patronize dishonest and biased media, they too will shrivel up and die--a triple win for honesty in government, for integrity in reporting the actions of government, and for us. 

gullibility 101: lucy, kim jong un, vladimir putin, trump, charlie brown, et al

Charlie Brown, Lucy and the Football - YouTube 

how many times will lucy pull the football away before charlie brown realizes that lucy can't be trusted?

when will those with minds of mush realize that kim jong un, vladimir putin, donald trump, et al can't be trusted?

for those with minds of mush, the answer is never.

who do you trust? 

1. someone who has values similar to yours? The good, the bad & the ugly: let's make America great again
2. someone who doesn't?
3. political parties, financed by billionaire corporations and PACs?

here's how government works:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xIAJl-wZElg

if you vote for a republican or a democrat, then it's not the person who you voted for who is in control--it's the party.

File:Two party system diagram.png - Wikimedia Commons

in the next election--national, state or local--vote for anyone except a democrat or a republican. soon the republican and democratic parties will dry up and die. nothing will be better for the United States of America.

PS similarly, by refusing to patronize dishonest and biased media, they too will shrivel up and die--a triple win for honesty in government, for integrity in reporting the actions of government, and for us. 

the solution is obvious: repeal the 2nd amendment

"A well regulated Militia, being necessary to the security of a free State, the right of the people to keep and bear Arms, shall not be infringed."
second amendment to the U.S. Constitution

• question: in the 21st century does the U.S. need individual citizens who privately own assault rifles for "a well regulated militia"?
• answer: obviously, no
•  question: in the 21st century does the U.S. need state militias for security of its citizens?
• answer: ? debate? (even if state militias were deemed to be a good thing, individual members of state militias wouldn't need to furnish their own weapons any more than members of the military or local police need to provide weapons and ammunition for their jobs.)
• question: in the 21st century U.S., can local, state or federal government protect its citizens from deranged individuals who commit mass murder?
• answer: obviously, no

then the solution is obvious: repeal the 2nd amendment. 

image by LeftPolemicist

File:Repeal the 2nd Amendment logo.svg - Wikimedia Commons

citizens would not have an automatic, constitutional right to privately own an assault rifle. Private ownership would be strictly regulated and taxed, e.g., permit application, rigorous background check, criminal record, committing a crime with an illegal weapon (felony), unlawful possession of a firearm without a valid permit (felony), providing false information on permit application (felony), yearly re-application and tax, etc.

10 days after I posted this blog--John Paul Stevens, ex-SCOTUS justice, shocks with call to repeal 2nd Amendment - Washington Times

"...shocks..."??? what's so shocking about repealing the 2nd amendment? as Justice Stevens says, "the second amendment is a relic of the 18th century".

"The Congress, whenever two thirds of both Houses shall deem it necessary, shall propose Amendments to this Constitution, or, on the Application of the Legislatures of two thirds of the several States, shall call a Convention for proposing Amendments, which, in either Case, shall be valid to all Intents and Purposes, as Part of this Constitution, when ratified by the Legislatures of three fourths of the several States, or by Conventions in three fourths thereof, as the one or the other Mode of Ratification may be proposed by the Congress; Provided that no Amendment which may be made prior to the Year One thousand eight hundred and eight shall in any Manner affect the first and fourth Clauses in the Ninth Section of the first Article; and that no State, without its Consent, shall be deprived of its equal Suffrage in the Senate."
Article V, U.S. Constitution

• question: has anyone in Congress pursued repealing the 2nd amendment?
• answer: not that I'm aware of
• question: has any state legislature proposed repealing the 2nd amendment?
• answer: not that I'm aware of
• question: why?
• answer: no guts?
• question: why don't politicians have guts?
• answer: party politics ("don't bite the hand that feeds you")
• question: what is the "will of the people"?
• answer: according to polls, most Americans want stricter gun control laws
• question: had enough?
• answer:

who do you trust? 

1. someone who has values similar to yours? The good, the bad & the ugly: let's make America great again
2. someone who doesn't?
3. political parties, financed by billionaire corporations and PACs?

here's how government works:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xIAJl-wZElg

if you vote for a republican or a democrat, then it's not the person who you voted for who is in control--it's the party.

File:Two party system diagram.png - Wikimedia Commons

in the next election--national, state or local--vote for anyone except a democrat or a republican. soon the republican and democratic parties will dry up and die. nothing will be better for the United States of America.

PS similarly, by refusing to patronize dishonest and biased media, they too will shrivel up and die--a triple win for honesty in government, for integrity in reporting the actions of government, and for us. 

mush minds

"A nuclear densometer is a field instrument used in geotechnical engineering to determine the density of a compacted material. Also known as a soil density gauge, the device uses the interaction of gamma radiation with matter to measure density..." 
Nuclear densometer - Wikipedia 

Nuclear densometers are strictly regulated. They must be clearly marked as containing a relatively small amount of nuclear material. Exposure to people when the instrument is in use is strictly controlled, e.g. distance from the device, time of exposure, frequency of exposure, etc. When not in use, nuclear densometers must be stored in a locked, lead-lined container and the container must be stored in a locked storage area.

Likewise, use of x-rays in dentistry is strictly regulated. Patients and employees alike are warned of the dangers of exposure to even small amounts of radiation.

Why aren't assault weapons in the possession of mentally unstable persons similarly regulated? Certainly the threat to public safety is far greater from an unstable person with an assault rifle than it is from a soil densometer or a dental x-ray machine. 

In interview after interview yesterday, government officials acknowledged that for the past 20 years that government officials have been saying that "the mass shootings have to stop". Yet, nothing has been done. The problem just keeps getting worse. 

had enough? 

who do you trust? 

1. someone who has values similar to yours? The good, the bad & the ugly: let's make America great again
2. someone who doesn't?
3. political parties, financed by billionaire corporations and PACs?

here's how government works:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xIAJl-wZElg

if you vote for a republican or a democrat, then it's not the person who you voted for who is in control--it's the party.

File:Two party system diagram.png - Wikimedia Commons

in the next election--national, state or local--vote for anyone except a democrat or a republican. soon the republican and democratic parties will dry up and die. nothing will be better for the United States of America.

PS similarly, by refusing to patronize dishonest and biased media, they too will shrivel up and die--a triple win for honesty in government, for integrity in reporting the actions of government, and for us. 

blowhard

blowhard
    

a person who boasts and

blusters in an obnoxious way

synonyms: braggart, egotist,
big mouth, windbag, swellhead

had enough? 

who do you trust? 

1. someone who has values similar to yours?

The good, the bad & the ugly: let's make America great again

2. someone who doesn't?

3. political parties, financed by billionaire corporations and PACs?

here's how government works:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xIAJl-wZElg

if you vote for a republican or a democrat, then it's not the person who you voted for who is in control--it's the party.

File:Two party system diagram.png - Wikimedia Commons

in the next election--national, state or local--vote for anyone except a democrat or a republican. soon the republican and democratic parties will dry up and die. nothing will be better for the United States of America.

PS similarly, by refusing to patronize dishonest and biased media, they too will shrivel up and die--a triple win for honesty in government, for integrity in reporting the actions of government, and for us. 

after the IRS' targeting scandal in 2010, who should be surprised if the FBI abused their power in 2016?

Byron York: Republicans and those 'attacks' on the FBI 

IRS targeting controversy - Wikipedia

federal government officials who allow politics to influence their actions are not doing their jobs. the same can be said for our elected federal representatives and the biased news media. 

and, who is surprised when no one is held accountable when government employees screw up? like the FBI not following up on a warning about Nikolas Cruz? like employees of the Secret Service, the VA, the IRS, etc. who screw up regularly? 

had enough? 

who do you trust? 

1. someone who has values similar to yours?
The good, the bad & the ugly: let's make America great again
2. someone who doesn't?
3. political parties, financed by billionaire corporations and PACs?

here's how government works:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xIAJl-wZElg

if you vote for a republican or a democrat, then it's not the person who you voted for who is in control--it's the party.

File:Two party system diagram.png - Wikimedia Commons

in the next election--national, state or local--vote for anyone except a democrat or a republican. soon the republican and democratic parties will dry up and die. nothing will be better for the United States of America.

PS similarly, by refusing to patronize dishonest and biased media, they too will shrivel up and die--a triple win for honesty in government, for integrity in reporting the actions of government, and for us. 

tired of the same old actors?

no matter what your cause, having spokespersons like these don't do your cause any good. out with the old--in with the new.

who do you trust? 

1. someone who has values similar to yours?
The good, the bad & the ugly: let's make America great again
2. someone who doesn't?
3. political parties, financed by billionaire corporations and PACs?

here's how government works:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xIAJl-wZElg

if you vote for a republican or a democrat, then it's not the person who you voted for who is in control--it's the party.

File:Two party system diagram.png - Wikimedia Commons

we don't need congress to change our two party system of government, or to pass a law limiting terms. why would they? neither would be in their, or their party's, best interests. 

we can use our vote to change our two-party system of government and to limit terms. 

out with the old and in with the new.

in the next election--national, state or local--vote for anyone except a democrat or a republican. soon the republican and democratic parties will dry up and die. nothing will be better for the United States of America.

if we:

• don't vote 
• vote republican or democrat because "that's the way that ___________ (parent(s), church, media, teacher, friend, etc.) always votes/voted" 
• always vote straight republican/democrat regardless of the candidate or issues 

then are:

• we responsible citizens of a free government? 
• or are we slaves to government that is not "of the people, by the people, for the people"?

if it's the latter, then freedom will "perish from the earth". (Abraham Lincoln)

PS similarly, by refusing to patronize dishonest and biased media, they too will shrivel up and die--a triple win for honesty in government, for integrity in reporting the actions of government, and for us. 

enough of the "dreamers" already!!!

it's INCREDIBLE how less than one million children of illegal immigrants can bring a government of approximately 325 million people to a screeching halt. 

 image by Pax Ahimsa Gethen

File:DACA rally SF 20170905-8471.jpg - Wikimedia Commons

ENOUGH ALREADY!!!  FIX IT!!! 

a republican in the white house and a republican majority in BOTH houses of congress. republicans can't get it done.

democrats are counting on the election in november to get control of congress and the election in 2020 to win back the white house. will the democrats be able to get it done? not if you look at recent history.

it doesn't make any difference whether republicans or democrats are in the majority--nothing gets done.

meanwhile, the budget, healthcare, immigration, the national debt, national defense, social security, medicaid, medicare, crime, IRS, VA, FBI, Secret Service, drugs, gun control, waste and inefficiency in government in general, etc. all need fixing--but, nothing gets done.

time to try something that might work for a change.

who do you trust? 

1. someone who has values similar to yours?
The good, the bad & the ugly: let's make America great again
2. someone who doesn't?
3. political parties, financed by billionaire corporations and PACs?

here's how government works:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xIAJl-wZElg

if you vote for a republican or a democrat, then it's not the person who you voted for who is in control--it's the party.

File:Two party system diagram.png - Wikimedia Commons

in the next election--national, state or local--vote for anyone except a democrat or a republican. soon the republican and democratic parties will dry up and die. nothing will be better for the United States of America.

PS similarly, by refusing to patronize dishonest and biased media, they too will shrivel up and die--a triple win for honesty in government, for integrity in reporting the actions of government, and for us. 

racism in America

"Since Harriet’s (Hemings) time, science has proved there is no difference in blood as a marker of “race.” As a biological category, racial difference has been exposed as a sham. Even skin color is not a reliable indicator of one’s origins. As one study calculated, almost a third of white Americans possess up to 20 percent African genetic inheritance, yet look white, while 5.5 percent of black Americans have no detectable African genetic ancestry. Race has a political and social meaning, but not a biological one.

This is why the story of Harriet Hemings is so important. In her birth into slavery and its long history of oppression, she was black; but anyone who saw her assumed she was white. Between when she was freed in 1822 and the ratification of the 13th Amendment in 1865, she was neither free nor enslaved — yet she lived as a free person.

She does not comfortably fit any of the terms that have had such inordinate power to demarcate life in America. Her disappearance from the historical record is precisely the point. When we can so easily lose the daughter of a president and his slave, it forces us to acknowledge that our racial categories are utterly fallacious and built on a science that has been thoroughly discredited.

Yet as political, economic and social categories, racial difference and its consequences remain profoundly real. White privilege has been much on display in our own day, as armed white men proclaiming white supremacy marched unmolested in the streets, while unarmed black men are shot down by police who are rarely held to account. Politicians run successful campaigns on platforms of racial hatred."
How did we lose a president’s daughter? - The Washington Post

I hope that leaders of the catholic church were listening when Judge Rosemarie Aquilina sentenced sexual child abuser Larry Nassar

"As much as it was my honor and privilege to hear the sister survivors, it is my honor and privilege to sentence you. Because, sir, you do not deserve to walk outside of a prison ever again," Judge Rosemarie Aquilina said during child sexual abuser Larry Nassar's sentencing.
Read Judge Rosemarie Aquilina's powerful statement to Larry Nassar - CNN 

Judge Rosemarie Aquilina has zero tolerance for those who sexually abuse children. Parents and morally conscious people everywhere share her view--failing to prosecute to the fullest extent of the law anyone who sexually abuses a child, or who covers it up, is intolerable. failing to do everything possible for the victims of child sexual abuse is equally intolerable. let's hope that leaders of the catholic church finally get the message.

Hawaii's governor said he couldn't notify the public of the false missile alarm because he forgot his Twitter password

Hawaii governor forgot Twitter password and couldn't stop false alarm - Business Insider 

mind of mush.

image by Dallas Nagata White

File:Governor David Ige.jpg - Wikimedia Commons

trump and his strange redneck base

it's a strange marriage--"super rich", "super smart" trump and his redneck base.

but, then, "super rich", "super smart" trump was elected because of support from his redneck base. 

"Fire and Fury" and Donald Trump's First Year As President | Time

in the meantime, while the media and democrats and republicans in congress debate whether trump said "shithole", nothing gets done. funding the military and the federal government, immigration and border security, the national debt, health care, social security, medicaid, national security, foreign policy, trade, drugs, crime, etc.--nothing gets done.

we need to straighten out this mess--now. 

how?

who do you trust? 

1. someone who has values similar to yours?
The good, the bad & the ugly: let's make America great again
2. someone who doesn't?
3. political parties, financed by billionaire corporations and PACs?

here's how government works:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xIAJl-wZElg

if you vote for a republican or a democrat, then it's not the person who you voted for who is in control--it's the party.

File:Two party system diagram.png - Wikimedia Commons

in the next election--national, state or local--vote for anyone except a democrat or a republican. soon the republican and democratic parties will dry up and die. nothing will be better for the United States of America.

PS similarly, by refusing to patronize dishonest and biased media, they too will shrivel up and die--a triple win for honesty in government, for integrity in reporting the actions of government, and for us. 

media: find a better name than "lone wolf"

how about murderer? 
mass murderer?
terrorist?
criminal?
sociopath?

"lone wolf" doesn't convey the same disgust as murderer, terrorist, or sociopath.

get it right, media.

action, not words, is needed against "vicious actors" with weapons of mass destruction

"Vicious non-state actors that target civilians for carnage are actively seeking chemical, biological and nuclear weapons," he (U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon) said.
UN Chief Warns World Not Prepared to Deal With Biological Attack

what about vicious "state" actors like north korea, iran, etc.?

wake up! smell the coffee! 

the only way to keep chemical, biological and nuclear weapons from "vicious actors" is to take them out--cbn weapons and the "vicious actors".

n korea against the world

it's n korea against the rest of the world. 
North Korea calls latest UN sanctions 'an act of war' - CNNPolitics 

minds of mush--kim, and the rest of the n koreans--for not taking kim out. 

NTSB: Amtrak Washington Train Doing 80 MPH In 30 MPH Zone

"She (NTSB board member Bella Dinh-Zarr) said one of the questions investigators hoped to answer in interviews with the crew was whether the engineer was aware of the speed limit in the corridor where the accident occurred." 
NTSB: Amtrak Washington Train Doing 80 MPH In 30 MPH Zone : The Two-Way : NPR

80 mph in a 30 mph zone! when I was 6 years old I learned with my Lionel train set that, if I ran it too fast into a curve, then it derailed. 

minds of mush.

"Last month, the NTSB issued a report saying Amtrak had a 'deficient' safety culture.

'Amtrak's safety culture is failing and is primed to fail again, until and unless Amtrak changes the way it practices safety management,' NTSB Chairman Robert Sumwalt said in a statement on Nov. 14." 

...

Before the derailment, Lakewood "Mayor Don Anderson said 'Come back when there is that accident, and try to justify not putting in those safety enhancements, or you can go back now and advocate for the money to do it, because this project was never needed and endangers our citizens.'"

How long will it take the NTSB to complete its investigation and report?
answer: years. 
How long will it take the government to straighten out Amtrak?

answer: never.

too bad that no one listened to Robert Sumwalt and Don Anderson.

minds of mush.

Amtrak Derailment Highlights Delays In Implementing New Safety Measures : NPR

can you imagine a train engineer on an inaugural run who doesn't know that there's a 30 mph curve where the line crosses I-5? can you imagine a train engineer on an inaugural run who doesn't know if positive train control is active for the inaugural run? can you imagine a train engineer who doesn't know what will happen when a train travelling 80 mph meets a 30 mph curve?

mind of mush.