Blog Catalog

Monday, August 25, 2014

Entertainment Overnight -- Stay with me


Too late





Regarding Ferguson: What's with all the silence from the Right Wing?


Yes, it would be nice if all the Right Wingers---the Republicans, the Tea Party, the Libertarians, etc.--would all have already long since spoken up on this.  Not a peep, standing up for the unarmed man, gunned down by the police. In effect, by "government."

Huh.

Go figure.


Have ya'?

Sunday, August 24, 2014

Saturday, August 23, 2014

Quote of the day -- on human and even national potential


"In just one year, the expenditure of of the U.S.'s military budget is equivalent to the entire 50-year running budget of NASA combined."  

Photo: "In just one year, the expenditure of of the U.S.'s military budget is equivalent to the entire 50-year running budget of NASA combined." - Neil deGrasse Tyson 

[The Pocket Universe]

The Federal Reserve's KC Annual Symposium is WHERE?


Why is the Federal Reserve's "Kansas City annual symposium" in Jackson Hole, Wyoming if we're paying for it all?

Why the hell isn't this in Kansas City, Missouri, where it belongs? They could have stayed at our finest hotels and gone to our finest restaurants and STILL saved a LOAD of money.

Granted, it's a figurative drop in the bucket, moneywise, to the overall national budget but hey, you start saving money SOMEWHERE. This seems like a terrific place to start.  And cut.



Quote of the day -- on Republicans' plans for you and me


And to prove it, you look no further than one of Paul Ryan's budgets, among other things.

Why it's so hugely important we vote "blue."

Tuesday, August 19, 2014

KC Cop Hits Big National News


The article:


Yeah, maybe that wasn't a great idea:

Kansas City police officer Marc Catron is under internal review following Facebook posts aboutMichael Brown, including one photo erroneously purported on social media to be a picture of Brown.
Catron posted to his feed comments like, “Remember how white people rioted after OJ’s acquittal? Me neither.” But it was the following photo that really got him in trouble:
That’s actually a picture of a murder defendant from Oregon.
People in the community saw Catron’s photos and alerted the police; the department said it was handling the case internally. Meanwhile, a Facebook page, “Marc Catron Isn’t worthy of the shield,” is already up and running.
In the meantime, there was yet another shooting/killing of a citizen in St. Louis today:

St. Louis Cops Shoot and Kill Man Near Ferguson


I nor no one else can declare guilt or innocence of Michael Brown nor the policeman who shot him nor this man, today, or his shooter, certainly. What we can tell is that Michael Brwon shouldn't be dead, first, and that this man, today, maybe should have been tased instead of shot.  Fact is, apparently tasers aren't standard issue for St. Louis police.

If things were going to quiet down over there on the East side of the state, it very likely won't be tomorrow.


Quote of the day -- on Ferguson, Missouri, Racism and Freedom of the Press in Today's America


I saw two things last evening on the awful Ferguson, Missouri situation this past week. This is the first:

'Get the F*ck Out of Here!' Riot Police Threaten to Shoot Reporter in Ferguson


Then, from Facebook, FB friend and Kansas City photographer Roy Inman wrote this, on a completely different thread:

A person can be DETAINED for up to 24 hours without charges in most jurisdictions. It is a typical law enforcement technique: Using intimidation to discourage the truth being told. In my 60 years of knocking around the news photography trails I have observed that whenever someone does not want photos taken that person has something to hide. There are no exceptions. You see, dear fb friends, The Camera is a wicked tool, a device abhorred by dictators, would-be controllers of society. It can be brutally honest, totally revealing, unflinching. It can show the grotesque, blood-dripping raw fangs of oppressors in a way that mere words never can. Although in some corners of the Earth writers are put to death or imprisoned for what comes from their pen. Let’s face it: NONE of us likes to hear the truth about ourselves. If the truth is revealed about those in power, with the most guns, things can get nasty quickly. 

Trust me. #chicagopoliceriot1968

Quote of the day -- on the last 40 years



Photo: Is he right??

Wednesday, August 13, 2014

Just another day in grossly unfair, unjust, even murderous America


Check out last evening's news:

Texas 'sovereign citizen' sets dumpster fire,reports self missing to set up police ambush


So in our recent past few weeks, we've had the following take place in this country:

1. AK-47 fired at cops, arson and smoke bombs - STILL ALIVE
2. Hold a BB gun at Walmart - DEAD
3. Unarmed 18-year-old jaywalker - DEAD

Guess which two, of the above, were black.




Tuesday, August 12, 2014

Some hope on getting the big money out of our government


Heads up, Americans!  September 8, to be exact, our US Senate will vote on legislation to undo Citizens United! This is huge. Please contact your Senators now and tell them to vote for this legislation so we get at least SOME of the big, ugly, corrupting money out of our elections and so, our government!

You can contact your Senators (both) here:  Senators - US Senate


Photo

Monday, August 11, 2014

Entertainment Overnight -- On our 40th Anniversary this weekend






On Killing Unarmed Blacks: Who the hell are we, America?


Everyone's very familiar with the events from this weekend now:

So he's young, he's black, he's unarmed and shot and killed by the police in Ferguson, Missouri, outside St. Louis.

That's all we really know.

That and then this happened, last evening, just to complicate things:




Terrific:

FERGUSON, Mo. (KMOX) – An officer-involved shooting on Saturday in Ferguson set off heavy rioting in the St. Louis suburb on Sunday night.
On Saturday 18-year-old Michael Brown was shot and killed by a Ferguson police officer. According to St. Louis County police chief Jon Belmar, Brown had struggled with the officer over his sidearm.
Belmar did not say what led to the initial encounter, but St. Louis alderman Antonio French said the looting started at the QuikTrip where the police encounter with Brown began on Saturday.
After dark last night, the rioting began.
Looters smashed windows, took merchandise, ransacked an ATM and ultimately set fire to the QuikTrip. 
Several other businesses in the area were hit hard, including a Wal-Mart at I-270 and Dunn Road where more than a dozen employees reportedly barricaded themselves inside as looters made their way through the store.
So what's important now is first, keeping calm.  Second, separating the two events.
No one can rationalize that the looting and riots are somehow okay, I'll say that up front. The fact is, the people who rioted and looted frankly hurt their cause. That's clear. Martin Luther King, Jr. said it so well and rightly:
Nonviolence is the answer to the crucial political and moral questions of our time; the need for mankind to overcome oppression and violence without resorting to oppression and violence. Mankind must evolve for all human conflict a method which rejects revenge, aggression, and retaliation.
But in addition to this, it needs to be pointed out that, while the riots and looting are patently wrong, the anger the people in Ferguson felt is at least understandable. After all, a young man, unarmed, was shot down, inexplicably. I go back to what I say earlier, too. At this point, we do not know all the details of why this young man, Michael Brown, was shot and killed. All we do know is that he was unarmed and now he's dead.
The rest of the nation needs to keep in mind that lots of young, unarmed black men in this nation get shot and lots end up dead, in very similar circumstances. Just last week, as one glaring example, a 22 year old young man was in the toy aisle in Walmart, holding a toy gun and was, you guessed it, shot and killed. 
Just like that.
The Daily Kos makes a good point in this article:

Why Black Men Don't Open Carry


A white young man goes walking in a small town in Colorado with an unloaded shotgun.

Guess what DOESN'T happen:

A Colorado teen, stopped by the police for toting a loaded shotgun on the streets of Aurora, Colorado where James Holmes killed 12 and wounded seventy in a packed movie theater in 2012, claims he is doing it to make the public feel more “comfortable” around guns.

Steve Lohner, 18, was recently stopped by police responding to 911 calls alerting them about the teen. When asked to provide ID proving his age, Lohner refused to do so, while videotaping the encounter (seen below) on his phone. The teen subsequently posted the video online, according FOX13.

In the video, Lohner explains to an officer that he is the process of returning home after buying cigarettes. When asked why he’s carrying a shotgun, Lohner replies, “For the defense of myself and those around me.”

Lohner then proceeds to argue with the officers, refusing to show them ID or hand over the shotgun insisting he hasn’t committed a crime before being cited by the officer on a misdemeanor obstruction charge for refusing to show his identification.



But killed?  Heck, he wasn't even SHOT AT, let alone killed.

Are you kidding?

And besides these two other examples of how we treat young, unarmed men, there was also, of course, the situation--and killing--of Trayvon Martin, not that long ago. There's also this:

Unarmed Black Men Shot by Police20


Face it, America, it's just not that uncommon for black people, as a group, generally, but young black men, in specific, to be harassed by the local police, for starters, but then to be shot and killed, at times. 

What it boils down to is that we Americans have to demand fairness and equality in our country still. We need to demand a value for life--all life, no matter the color of the person's skin.

This shouldn't be a big request or demand to make.

The sad thing is, we shouldn't still have to make this statement or demand. We need to make clear we cannot and will not stand for this, as a nation, as a people. It must end. The ugliness and unfairness and yes, theses shootings must stop. And it must end now.


Additional links: 



On religion


So I'm a day late. (click on picture for easier reading)

Put Republicans back in charge in Congress?



Saturday, August 9, 2014

Entertainment Ovenight


Great version





Quote/Question of the Day -- on morality


A 40th Anniversary


40 years ago today we lost the no good, low down, dirty, lying, rotten scoundrel that was Richard Milhouse Nixon.  I said it then, I think it now---thank goodness.

[pic322.jpg]

Besides lying to the American public, I think it will be shown one day that this low down scallawag kept us, kept the United States, kept our American soldiers in Vietnam beyond the election in 1972, to insure his re-election.  No, I certainly can't prove it and no one has yet but it absolutely always looked as though that was the case to me and he surely showed, in lots of different ways, he was capable of it.

I don't believe in Hell but if I did, I should think there would be an especially hot corner of it for this man.



Friday, August 8, 2014

Entertainment Overnight -- Creativity






Sam Brownback, Standup Comic


Check out what the Guv said, it's great:

Kansas GOP Govblames Obama for lackluster primary


No law will be safe when Brownback is in office. Or at least the ones he doesn't like, anyway.

Oh, yes, he did:

"I think a big part of it is Barack Obama," Brownback told Kansas's 41 Action News. "That a lot of people are so irritated at what the president is doing, they just, they want somebody to throw a brick."

Isn't that terrific?

It wouldn't be because he's virtually emptied the states' coffers or because another financial services company has downgraded Kansas' credit rating, no. Or that the schools are now short on money, etc., etc.

It's Obama's fault.

Yeah, I'm sure that's what Kansans are thinking.

But you know what? 

I bet Kansans don't think it's funny.

Links:  

Kansas Credit Rating Downgraded By Second Bond-Rating

S&P downgrades Kansas bond rating



Sam Brownback's Kansas Catastrophe



Thursday, August 7, 2014

Entertainment Overnight -- New (to me)


I like it.







The Intelligent, Uncomplicated Social Security "Fix"


Don't let anyone, in any political party, tell you Social Security is going or has to go broke. It's nonsense.  And the solutions aren't that difficult at all. It's not complicated. And no one needs to truly suffer, to fix it.

Hometown Sprint Gets Trashed


And they get trashed nationally and internationally, it seems. This from the New York Times today:


Since becoming the chief executive of T-Mobile US, John J. Legere has been known for being outspoken. Still, as his company held merger talks with Sprint for much of this year, he was noticeably restrained in criticizing his rival.

But when Sprint officially announced on Wednesday that it had abandoned its plans to buy T-Mobile, Mr. Legere took the gloves off on Twitter.

“Is Sprint a melting ice cube? Looks like it to me. Join the cool brand now!” he taunted in one post.

“Join T-Mobile now and jump off the Sprint bus before it crashes,” he wrote in another.


Pretty fascinating stuff, really, since Sprint also just announced it's finally getting rid of what will likely, fortunately be the last Hesse family member to run the company.

Can you imagine talking to people and a company FOR A YEAR, just to have it all thrown away by that other side?

Anyway, the article goes on to explain how there aren't any other possible partner/suitors for Sprint and how they have  "had to grapple with steady customer losses as it spends billions of dollars to upgrade its network."  

Ouch.

All the while, the article goes on, it seems T-Mobile may still have suitors.

The article finishes describing Sprint's current situation (it's a good, comprehensive article and worth reading to know about Sprint and the larger markets, nationally. It finishes describing Sprint's current situation, with a new leader:

“The incoming C.E.O. is really going to have to resurrect the brand and come up with some new ideas.”

It could happen.