YOUR PERSONAL DATA IS EVERYWHERE...IN THE WORLD

In the July 2014 Consumer Reports there is an article, "Your secrets aren't safe." As a former privacy

NOT

advocate and junk mail data broker I can confirm that ten-fold. The speed at which your personal data moves around the world is faster than space travel. You wonder why it is all over the world? Foreign countries, particularly Europe, need it to sell their goods to Americans. And the biggest reason, U.S. junk mailers store your private information in countries like Costa Rica and India with those facilities all manned by people from that location. Scott McNealy, former founder and CEO of Sun Microsystems, a Silicon Valley darling of technology companies, said in 1999, "You have zero privacy anyway. Get over it." I thought he was crazy then, as did many other privacy advocates, but it turns out that even 15 years ago he was dead right. Can you imagine how bad the situation must be by now?

NEXT PRESIDENT SUPPORTS GUN CONTROL

Hillary Clinton looks to be on her way to the presidency in 2016, that is if she decides to run. That would be a good thing for a lot of reasons but especially because she seems to be a staunch supporter 

Hillary Clinton

of gun control and isn't afraid to say it. In a Time magazine interview she said gun control opponents hold views that "terrorizes" a majority of the American public. Could she mean the National Rifle Assn. in her definition of "gun control opponents?" Clinton continued, “We cannot let a minority of people, and that’s what it is, it is a minority of people, hold a viewpoint that terrorizes the majority of people.” She is another who cannot understand how this Congress could not pass universal background checks and thinks the NRA's opposition to this legislation could backfire, "...alienating moderate gun owners." Clinton also endorsed a ban on assault weapons and high capacity magazines, making it a neat gun control package for the future.

OPENING SOON: GUN RANGE WITH ITS OWN CEMETERY-A PARODY

The first part of June I almost laughed myself to death when I read the headline, "Opening soon: Gun

range with a bar." It's in Oklahoma City and will serve both alcohol and fully automatic machine guns. The name is Wilshire Gun and will have 24 firing lanes but the alcohol will actually be served in a different section. So I came up with the idea of opening up a shooting range connected to a cemetery, not because someone might get killed at the gun range, although many have including one man shooting himself, but because of the direct connection between guns and death. Those interred in this cemetery would only be victims of gun deaths. The gun nuts would have to pass the cemetery on the way in to the shooting range. On second thought, it wouldn't even phase these pathetic souls.

GUNS ESPECIALLY THE BIG ONES ENHANCE MASS SHOOTINGS

AR-15 KILLER

Last April a teenager injured 21 high school classmates and a security guard with two kitchen knives. Pittsburgh area rampage which proves, as University of California criminologist Franklin Zimring says, that the weapon matters. Especially if it's a large caliber gun. He found "that people shot by larger caliber guns -- which carry bigger and more destructive bullets -- were more likely to die than those shot by smaller caliber guns." Although overall crime rates in America aren't that much higher than comparable cities--a fact we are repeatedly reminded of by gun nuts--we still have higher rates of homicide. And the reason for that is that criminals are armed with guns that kill. And these guns are as easy to get as ice cream at the corner store.
There were no fatalities in this

RUSH LIMBAUGH STUPIDITY

Rush Limbaugh at his best

I hate to keep using that word "stupid" but it is the best definition I can find for some conservatives who seem to dwell in the doldrums of lunacy. Rush Limbaugh heads the list. In his latest tirade he asks if DREAM kids are so great, why can't they make it in their own country? Now only a moron would ask that question when it is obvious kids from El Salvador, Guatemala and Honduras don't have the same opportunities in their countries as they would in the United States. The question that should be asked is why are these kids flowing across the border and what are we going to do about them? President Obama has already said they cannot stay legally but they are children and something humane must be done. But parents from these foreign countries have learned that the U.S. is a benevolent country and the problem is likely to get worse.

MORE TEA PARTY STUPIDITY

Today's Tea Bagger

This is the continuation of an earlier post where two Facebook people complained of my referring to Tea Party followers as stupid. As Forrest Gump said, "Stupid is as stupid does," and TPers are an amazing example of this. Here are some more comments from Tea Party greats...

“People now don’t die from prostate cancer, breast cancer and some of the other things.”  – Chris Collins, New York GOP State Rep.

“So Miss Fluke, and the rest of you Feminazis, here’s the deal. If we are going to pay for your contraceptives, and thus pay for you to have sex. We want something for it. We want you post the videos online so we can all watch.”  – Rush Limbaugh

“If it’s a legitimate rape, the female body has ways of shutting that whole thing down.”  -Todd Akin, former U.S. Rep., Missouri

“I struggled with it myself for a long time, but I came to realize life is that gift from God. I think that even when life begins in that horrible situation of rape, that it is something that God intended to happen.”  – Richard Mourdock, Indiana GOP U.S. Senate candidate.

There are more to come and thanks to Americans Against the Tea Party site for the quotes.

 

 

 

LAS VEGAS SHOOTERS REVERED CLIVEN BUNDY AND VIOLENCE

Cliven Bundy protesters

Jerad and Amanda Miller supported Cliven Bundy, the Nevada rancher that for years refused to pay federal grazing fees for his cattle and attracted the bowels of the militia-minded misfits to help him protect his ranch. Jered likened Bundy's situation to another Waco and vowed he would do something on Facebook. The Millers were actually asked to leave the ranch because they were felons. Jered on Facebook said he liked the NRA, the 2nd Amendment, The Patriot Party, Rand and Ron Paul, Freedom Works and many more in the radical conservative movement. His wife on Facebook liked the videos, "Shooting Cops," "Citizens Can Shoot Police," and "When Is It Okay To Shoot a Cop." The kind of family you'd like to move in next door to you. Not sure what the profile of those that came to Bundy's ranch to protest but the picture attach
ed might give you an idea.

ONE YOUNG PROGRESSIVE MAKES NRA PAY

NRA Blood Money

At least we know there are progressives out there that are fighting the National Rifle Assn. and its underhanded tactics. Brown University student Sam Bell dug up enough dirt on the NRA that the organization was charged with the state of Rhode Island's second-largest campaign finance violation. The group of gun nuts paid $63,000, actually a drop in the bucket for the organization. It was a classic investigation by Bell of following the money which the NRA illegally channeled from one its PACS to another PAC. This 24-year-old grad student took it upon himself to nose into politics and ferret out conservative wrong-doing. I wonder how many Sam Bells there are around the country? If progressives are going to turn the tide in 2014 and 2016, we'd better find them wherever they are.

WHAT IS CONSERVATISM?

John Kenneth Galbraith

Conservatives think they have the answer to save this country and are pushing a political philosophy that progressives, even some of their own, believe will bring it down. It isn't that the right wants to really "bring down" the U.S., they just want to bring it to the level where the monied-few control the commerce of America, making the rich richer. And I don't mean just the millionaires and billionaires, there are those that feel just secure and are well off that share this philosophy. John Kenneth Galbraith said: "The modern conservative is engaged in one of man's oldest exercises in moral philosophy: that is, the search for a superior moral justification for selfishness." If you don't know who Galbraith is there is no use explaining. And I must admit, most conservatives I know do not seem overly concerned over the plight of the needy in most categories.

YOUR HOME IS NOT SAFE UNDER CURRENT GUN CONTROL LAWS

So says the Washington Post Editorial Board, one of the leading U.S. newspapers. This piece starts out with the simple but oft-repeated phrase, “THIS SHOULDN’T happen in Troutdale. You don’t expect something like that to happen in your hometown.” This reaction after a 15-year-old high school student killed a fellow 14-year-old student and then shot himself. The Post says don't expect anything from this Congress which refuses to even consider gun control legislation. But just take a look back...from an elementary school where 20 6-year-olds were massacred with an assault rifle to the Washington Navy Yard where a gunman killed 12 with a sawed-off shotgun, and the same thing happens in hundreds of other  venues around the country. The Editorial Board comments, “We’re the only developed country on earth where this happens. And it happens now once a week..." President Obama has spoken forcefully. Now we need action!

GUN NUTS TURN TO BROOMSTICKS WITHOUT THEIR GUNS

The Department of Justice "Operation Choke Point" has been kept a secret but has come to light recently and has the gun nuts scared as hell. One such gun lover commented that if Choke Point worked, all that they would have left to defend themselves with was a "very powerful broomstick." The operation is so named for its ability to choke off financial services to targeted industries like gun manufacturers. A frustrated Obama administration is desperately trying to save lives from gun violence and, due to a yellow-bellied Congress, has had to resort to desperate moves. And that is what makes this sort of thing so egregious, a gutless Congress and an apathetic public that won't stand their ground.

GUN CONTROL TAKES OVER BROOKLYN BRIDGE

Chipotle gun nuts

They came, they marched, they made their point. It is time we see the well balanced people of the gun control movement out there in force for reasonable gun laws rather than the gun nuts who sling their assault weapons over their shoulders shuffling their way into a Target or Chipotle to protest and prove their masculinity. If ever there were a couple of losers, it's the two in the attached photo. Now to me this pair looks like what I call gun nuts; more guns than brains. But there were 1,000 gun control demonstrators on the Brooklyn Bridge, including almost 100 from Newtown, Connecticut, the site of the 2012 Sandy Hook Elementary School shooting rampage. Lots of moms against gun violence were there who look very intelligent compared to the Chipotle double-digit IQs. The momentum is obviously there this time for gun control.

TEA PARTY SITE PROVES IT'S TIME TO TAKE THEIR GUNS

I try my best not to call attention to a Tea Party site, if not based on the lack of accuracy, it is because of the numerous grammatical mistakes, but this one takes the cake. New York has put out a counter-terrorism bulletin because of the radical 2nd Amendment gang that is apparently saying they will do anything to keep the feds or NY state law enforcement from taking their weapons. These are the very people they should require to turn in all their firearms. The picture included with the TP post says it all; it's an assault rifle featured as if every American family needs one of these. Well, they don't, and it is this bunch of gun nuts that should be relieved of all their guns. The Tea Party obviously supports rebellion and I'm beginning to think that includes violence.

HAVE REALITY SHOWS BECOME REALITY?

Slenderman

The country is completely absorbed with television reality shows where dreamers can vicariously be whatever they want to. There's The Amazing Race, The Contender, Dancing with the Stars, Survivor, America's Got Talent, Big Brother, The Voice and the list goes on and on. Since the grownups are so engrossed in this kind of television, some kids might assume that it is okay to step away from reality and do something they conjure up from a mixed up mind. Something like stabbing one of your classmates in a fantasy world that still borders on reality.

Just what two 12-year olds did to impress a make-believe online character named Slenderman from a site called Creepypasta Wiki. Now in most cases even a 12-year old can differentiate between this kind of fantasizing but obviously with the recent shootings, and stabbings some parents aren't doing their parenting jobs. 

TEA PARTY STUPIDITY

Two people posting on Facebook have taken offense to my comments degrading the Tea Party calling them some favorite names like fruitcakes, idiots and morons. One such comment read,  "They do seem to be monolithic in their thinking. The other thing they do is rather than debate the merits of issues, they demonize, deride, and dismiss those who disagree with them," based on me calling them fruitcakes for their eternal bitching over President Obama, the borders, the Constitution, a balanced budget and the list goes on. But when they come up with a solution to problems it is usually looney tunes.

So I decided to do regular posts now showing why I use designations like fruitcakes, idiots and morons for Tea Party members based on these very members' comments. Here is why I use these pet names...

“You would be giving off more CO2 if you are riding a bike than driving in a car.”  – Ed Orcutt, Washington GOP State Rep., stating that bicycles pollute the environment more than cars do.

 “I think the right approach is to accept this horribly created — in the sense of rape — but nevertheless a gift in a very broken way, the gift of human life, and accept what God has given to you… rape victims should make the best of a bad situation.” – Rick Santorum 

“When a physician removes a child from a woman, that is the largest organ in a body. That’s a big thing. That’s a big surgery. You don’t have any other organs in your body that are bigger than that.”  – Mary Sue McClurkin, Alabama GOP State Rep. 

 

Thanks to the Americans against the Tea Party site for these quotes

NRA SAYS STOPPING GUN VIOLENCE "UNETHICAL"

Let me explain that headline. To stop the daily gun violence in the United State that takes over 30,000 lives each year, we need to know something about the people who do it, the weapons they use, and the reasons for their actions. These facts are easily available if the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) were allowed to collect and analyze the data that's already there on gun deaths. They cannot. But they did this until pressure from the NRA stopped it cold in the mid-1990s. If the information being suppressed is not so negative to this bunch of gun thugs, why would wacky Wayne LaPierre and his NRA gun nuts want to censor it? The answer is obvious and is just another example of a gutless Congress that should be kicked out on their asses in November.

GUN CONTROL ADVOCATES-ELECTIONS TO WATCH

The Wall Street Cheat Sheet has lined up some races in November that us gun control advocates

Look closely for the bloody dead child

should pay particular attention to. One is Mark Udall (D-Colo) who voted to ban high capacity magazines and so far is in an even race against opponent Rep. Cory Gardner (R). Giffords' group is also backing Sens. Mary Landrieu (D-La.), Jeanne Shaheen (D-N.H.), Kay Hagan (D-N.C.), and Al Franken (D-Minn.). Others include Reps. Ron Barber (D-Ariz.), Ann Kuster (D-N.H.), Carol Shea-Porter (D-N.H.), and Bruce Braley (D-Iowa), Sen. Susan Collins (R-Maine) and Rep. Mike Fitzpatrick (R-Pa.). Giffords and Kelly's group, Americans for Responsible Solutions is attempting to show that it is possible to be an advocate of gun control and still support the 2nd Amendment.

Progressives must turn out in November if we are going to bring down the National rifle Assn. along with its leader wacky Wayne LaPierre.

MORE GUNS MEAN MORE VIOLENCE PROVEN

U.S. the worst in guns owned to gun violence

Two Harvard professors researched 26 high income countries finding that the high rate of gun ownership correlates with high gun violence. The United States has 88.8 guns per 100 people and in the U.S. an American is 20 times more likely to die of a gunshot wound than in these other developed countries. You have to look at this map and illustration showing the amazing difference in gun deaths across the world. Only Chile is close to the U.S. but look at gun control countries like Canada, Australia, Great Britain and others. But here's the catch. The report also found that just 52% of Americans felt gun control laws should be stricter. Are these people ill-informed, completely apathetic or just plain stupid. I vote for a little of each.

GUN NUTS CREATED BY NATIONAL RIFLE ASSN.

I have called them gun nuts for several years now, defined simply by the fact that they love their guns more than innocent human lives. Their gun rights are more important than those killed in

Wacky Wayne LaPierre

shootings from Columbine to Las Vegas. And they get it from the top, wacky Wayne LaPierre, head of the NRA. The Daily Beast says he and the organization have
created a monster in these misguided morons who walk into restaurants and retail chains with assault weapons slung over their shoulders. The group's command is go out and arm yourself and prepare for a war against the gun grabbers. Now this NRA hierarchy knows this will never happen but as long as wacky Wayne keeps them buying guns, the gun manufacturers are happy and LaPierre's pockets continue to be lined.

WHAT SHOULD PRESIDENT OBAMA DO ABOUT GUN VIOLENCE?

President Obama

Barack Obama is the President of the United States, after all. He should be able to put a stop to American gun violence that is one of a kind in developed countries. The Brits wouldn't allow this kind of bloodshed to continue over a period of time like it has in the U.S. Neither would Canada or Australia where gun control is the law. Columbine was in April of 1999; that's fifteen years. And through all this it has been the National Rifle Assn., led by wacky Wayne LaPierre, that keeps blaming it on everything but the real cause. GUNS. And it is a sniveling U.S. Congress, scared to death of the NRA, that refuses to pass the gun laws necessary to quell this violence. All of this perpetrated on the American people so gun manufacturers can sell more guns to more gun nuts. Obama has spoken out again. Will he follow up?