Category: Red Flag

Head for the bunkers

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Hey Ted Nugent…Guns are not toys.

Dead-Nugent-1219x1200I will admit to liking one or two Ted Nugent songs, but on the whole I am not a fan.  My musical tastes tend toward Americana, singer/songwriter, jazz and classical music.  However, Ted Nugent as a political activist I categorically do not like.  It is an actually aversion.  I am a big supporter of free speech, but part of me cannot help but thinking in a sane society this individual would be receiving heavy psychiatric counseling.

My aversion to Mr. Nugent stems from his attitude towards guns and his support of seeming absolutely no gun control.

To state the obvious, guns are designed to kill, period.  They have no other function.   They are meant to either kill humans or animals.  Of course, there are effects that stem from this function.

They have been and are used for agents of gathering meat.  This use has limited functionality now, as most folks who hunt for food in the United States will readily tell you that it is not cost efficient.  While I personally do not hunt, I can understand the desire.  It is not something I would wish to take away from people.  Continue reading “Hey Ted Nugent…Guns are not toys.”

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The War on Drugs Has Unacceptable Costs

massincarceration_20110617_0
Click to see in larger size

This outrages me. If I was a person of color I would be beyond outrage. Then you add onto the statistics the fact that we are spending more on incarceration than we are spending on higher education while we are importing skilled labor because supposedly we do not have the skill sets in the U.S.A.

We have our priorities wrong on so many fronts.

The graphic is from the ACLU website

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Ann Wagner, Global Warming Denier…Be scared, very scared

Okay I know that Senators and Congress folks really do not read a sliver of the email they get, but this is pretty outrageous.  I went onto Congresswoman Ann Wagner’s site to ask that she not support the Keystone Pipeline project for causes-of-global-warmingenvironmental reasons.  They force you to choose a subject so I chose Climate Change.

This is the form letter I got back.  It is one of the scariest things I have read in a long time.  The only place that climate change is being debated is within Republican circles and only then because big money wants to continue to make big money at everyone else’s expense.  The percent of scientist that are in agreement on global warming being caused by humans is almost unanimous.  Either this woman is an idiot who cannot understand basic science, such an ideologue that she refuses to face hard evidence, or so enamored with her position as a  high and mighty Congresswoman that she is going to go along with the party line to remain so.  No matter what the reason she scares the living snot right out of my body.  The fact that we continue to elect idiots like this does not speak well for our country.

Just as an aside she never once addressed the main subject of my email, the Keystone Pipeline.  Now there is responsive public service.

I am including the whole text of her form letter response.  Read it with the lights on.   It is indeed a horror story of complete and utter stupidity.

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Dear Citizen Rush,Thank you for contacting me with your concerns regarding climate change. I appreciate your views on this issue and welcome the opportunity to respond. Continue reading “Ann Wagner, Global Warming Denier…Be scared, very scared”
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How Much Do You REALLY Love That New iPhone?

Another sad account of Foxconn and Apple and the high human cost of your iPhone: iEmpire: Apple’s Sordid Business Practices Are Even Worse Than You Think

Someone please tell what is right about unfettered capitalism be practiced globally with US in the lead.

Here is a link to a Forbes article listing the top 400 richest people in America. Number 400 has a net worth of $1 billion. Number 1 on the list, Bill Gates, has a worth of 59 billion. Six of the folks on this list made their wealth from Wal*Mart. Steve Jobs is number 39 with a paltry $7 billion. Michael Dell is number 18 with a worth of $15 billion.

Go to the top of the list and find the “source” heading. Click on Continue reading “How Much Do You REALLY Love That New iPhone?”

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Disillusioned Republican laying it out

I am disillusioned… still

Our government/legislative process has been hijacked by nut cases and our Maginot Line of defense against these fruit cakes is a batch of spineless Democrats.  Mr. Obama apparently has taken Neville Chamberlain as a role model on how to lead a nation. 

Mean time, back at the ranch USA, Snidely Whiplash has kidnapped Nell and Dudley Do-Right has fallen into an inter-galactic black hole.  No serious money is betting on him coming out the other end, and creditors are foreclosing on the ranch.

Below is a quote from the article Goodbye to All That: Reflections of a GOP Operative Who Left the Cult  by Mike Lofgren at truth-out.org.

“But both parties are not rotten in quite the same way. The Democrats have their share of machine politicians, careerists, corporate bagmen, egomaniacs and kooks. Nothing, however, quite matches the modern GOP. Continue reading “Disillusioned Republican laying it out”

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How To Fix America In 126 Super Cute Seconds

From MoveOn.org:

Sign their petition and send Congress and Obama the Betrayer a message.  Here is the link  to A CONTRACT FOR THE AMERICAN DREAM petition.

IMHO… the corporations are effecting a coup d’etat on our government, our way of life, and the future of our children and grandchildren.  We need to take our country back from these greedy SOBs.   The Tea Party is just a tool the Koch Brothers and others of similar ilk.  Why should they be setting the agenda for the majority of us?

A CONTRACT FOR THE AMERICAN DREAM
Americans who are willing to work hard and play by the rules should be able to find a decent job, get a good home in a strong community, retire with dignity and give their kids a better life. Every one of us…has the right to life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness. That is our covenant, our compact and our contract with one another…
1. Invest in America’s Infrastructure
2. Create 21st-Century Energy Jobs
3. Invest in Public Education
4. Offer Medicare for All
5. Make Work Pay 6. Secure Social Security
7. Return to Fairer Tax Rates
8. End the Wars and Invest at Home
9. Tax Wall Street Speculation
10. Strengthen Democracy

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The Ayatollah Rick Perry

Christianity neither is, nor ever was a part of the common law.

-Thomas Jefferson, letter to Dr. Thomas Cooper, February 10, 1814

21 Reasons Rick Perry’s Texas Is a Complete Disaster

Meet the Christian Dominionist ‘Prayer Warriors’ Who Have Chosen Rick Perry as Their Vehicle to Power

The Biggest Little Hypocrite in Texas

Texas to America: Our Miracle Is Bogus and We’re So Sorry For Everything

The article below was one of the scariest things I have read in a while.

What Did You Learn in School Today? (The Texas Version)

Meet the Shady Dallas Mega-Billionaire Industrialist Pouring Money into Rick Perry’s Coffers

Beware of Rick Perry, the French cuff cowboy

Do we really need another  C student in the White House?

‘The 61-year-old Perry, a fifth-generation Texan, was born near the city of Abilene and graduated from Texas A&M University in 1972 with a 2.2 GPA and a BA in animal science. He went on to fly C-130s in the Air Force and attained the rank of Captain before returning to Texas in 1977. “

Rick Perry:  Too big to fail?  from Aljazeera

Rick Perry as Nero, Texas burns as he fiddles around with being President.  The following article details how Perry slashed the budgets for rural fire departments.  He may be counting on pray, but the rest of us are counting on the tangible help of firefighters.

Is Rick Perry’s Budget Feeding Texas Wildfires? Local Fire Departments Suffer $23 Million in Cuts

 

 

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New York Times Editioral: What Happened to Obama?

This editioral appeared in the Sunday New York Times.   What Happened to Obama?  I personally think it is a must read if you are wondering what the hell happened to our country and Obama.

The last paragraph of the editorial pretty much sums up the situation for me.

“But the arc of history does not bend toward justice through capitulation cast as compromise. It does not bend when 400 people control more of the wealth than 150 million of their fellow Americans. It does not bend when the average middle-class family has seen its income stagnate over the last 30 years while the richest 1 percent has seen its income rise astronomically. It does not bend when we cut the fixed incomes of our parents and grandparents so hedge fund managers can keep their 15 percent tax rates. It does not bend when only one side in negotiations between workers and their bosses is allowed representation. And it does not bend when, as political scientists have shown, it is not public opinion but the opinions of the wealthy that predict the votes of the Senate. The arc of history can bend only so far before it breaks. ”  

I was rooting for Hillary from the git-go of Bush’s first term.  The woman has her issues (Bill?), but she knows the ropes, has the respect of her peers or least as much as you can in Washington.  And she is tough as nails.  I truly believe she has the good of little people in mind.

In part I blame the election of Obama on Oprah.  She spent years with every woman in America hanging onto her utterances.   However, when it came down to it, she chose race over gender.  Which is particularly sad considering how inexperienced Obama was and how experienced Hillary is.   But I also think that the corporate powers that really rule this country do not want competent leadership in Washington.  If that happens they might not be able run roughshod over the rest of us.

Deep sigh.