Republicans Have Panties Bunched Over Prisoner Exchange

Whenever I think I've heard it all, I always find myself sadly surprised. And this time is no different. We just had an American prisoner by the name of Bowe Bergdahl returned to us by the Taliban, in exchange for five prisoners from Guantanamo Bay. I think this is wonderful. I hope we can do this again, and soon. But guess who doesn't think it is wonderful.....If you are guessing the Republican Party, you would be correct. Republicans think that this prisoner exchange violated some goofy, inapplicable law in some imaginary, unthinkable way because Congress was not given thirty days notice prior to the release of terrorists. (mocking, whiny voice here, coupled with eye-rolley)

Thirty days. Obviously, no Republican serving in Congress has served in any branch of our military and been held hostage by a country that is not a party to the Hague Convention. The first and most important order of business for President Obama, as soon as prisoner exchange was brokered, was to get Bowe Bergdahl back into America. Thirty days could have killed the whole deal, and gotton Bergdahl killed, as well. Not that most Republicans nowadays would care; Bergdahl and all other American prisoners of war and hostages are just collateral damage to them.

In addition to the thirty day whine from Republicans, there is also the matter of America's lack of progress in closing down Guantanamo Bay. Obama spoke of wanting to do this eight years ago, and has been blocked every turn of the way. If he can kill two birds with one stone, and empty out Gitmo and keep his promise of shutting it down by exchanging prisoners, I do not see how this can possibly be a violation of any law. Unless Republicans in Congress are really not on the side of American people.

Siriunsun's Art Gallery

Watercolor by Rhiannon Ambrose, Kansas. Sometimes the best art is local.

Kansas Gas Station Forced Customer To Pay Twice

A gas station in Kansas sold $85.11 to a customer over the weekend. She paid with a MasterCard; which, she was told, was declined. So she settled the transaction with her Visa. After getting back into her vehicle, she called the bank through which her MasterCard line of credit is extended to find out why her card was declined. Imagine her surprise when she was told that the transaction was not declined at all, but approved, and had already been paid! The customer service representative told her to go back inside the gas station and request that the transaction be voided and her money credited.

The customer went back inside and told the clerk about the phone call to the bank. The clerk insisted, despite the bank's claim that the sale was approved, that the sale had been declined. The clerk also claimed that she "did not know" how to credit a transaction! The customer then requested that she call her supervisor to resolve the conflict of having been forced to pay twice. The supervisor got the number of the bank from the customer and promised to call the bank. A few minutes later, the customer called him back, and he said that he had called the bank and that he had been told that the transaction did not go through. Then, he told the customer that he would not "pay" her anything, and asked her if she "scammed money off credit cards for a living"!

Meanwhile, back at the bank, the customer was later told that the supervisor had never called. So....at this writing, it quite looks as if he lied. A customer was forced to pay twice for her a purchase of $85.11, and then accused of "scamming credit cards for a living". This city in Kansas prides itself on being a quaint small town with a friendly atmosphere, by the way. An accusation of theft to an honest person certainly does not qualify as "friendly", and the whole interaction, from an approved purchase being reported as declined, and twice as much money extorted as was actually owed very much reeks of credit card fraud and possibly of identity theft.

The FBI has a special unit to assist victims of credit card fraud and identity theft; the link is here:http://www.fbi.gov/stats-services/victim_assistance/fincrime_vic. In addition, the Federal Trade Commission keeps a record of each and every complaint received. While it does not get involved in conflict resolution, it watches for patterns of practices, such as telling customers that approved credit cards have been declined and double billing and double charging customers. This could easily have been a deliberate attempt to scan as many credit cards, for information on magnetic strips, as possible, during a day's time.

Maya Angelou Died Today

Today, we lost one of the Greats. I was blessed with teachers who loved her work. We were all blessed with such a wonderful writer.

Insight

Anonymous To Huntsville Alabama Police

This video was made because police in Huntsville, Alabama reportedly told paramedics, after arresting a seventeen year old child, and apparently after handcuffing him, pepper spraying him, and battering his one hundred and fifty pound frame, that he had swallowed evidence during the arrest. When paramedics attempted to induce vomiting, they found nothing, so police proceeded to ram a sharp object down the child's throat, killing him.

After the undersheriff of Marshall County, Kansas gave permission to assault and batter a targeted victim, it appears that law abiding citizens have a war of sorts on their hands with the very agents we formerly trusted to serve and protect. Missing children, hate crimes, and sexual violence against children do not appear to be important to Kansas and it's judicial system. They have an agenda that is not in the best interest of the general public.

Undersheriff Timothy Ackerman's official okey-dokey to violence against someone who was targeted for reasons of religious differences. 

Through The Lens Of Siriunsun's Camera

Abbie Hoffman Moment

May 25 Is National Missing Childrens' Day

In 1983, President Ronald Reagan declared May 25 National Missing Childrens' Day, to remind everyone that Etan Patz, who disappeared en route from his home to the school bus in New York, had not been found after disappearing in 1979. There are many unresolved missing persons cases involving children, and before Etan Patz's case, no one wanted to give these cases much publicity or notice. It was all too easy to pretend these things never happen, and that most American neighborhoods are "safe". Even today, it is often a formidable task to convince our media to air stories about missing children or keep their pictures in circulation until they are found.

The husband of a Kansas congresswoman even stated, after a child was abandoned by a teacher, four miles away from school, in Frankfort Kansas during a school activity, that it was a "good thing" that the child was left in a rural area, and not in her native Washington DC. His reasoning was that "those things don't happen in the country". The child's mother informed him that in Washington DC, there are cameras, eyewitnesses who care more about missing children than the pensions of dumbass teachers who "lose" them, and cell phone signals. In Northeast Kansas, a missing child cannot depend on those things. Also, the child's mother asked the husband of her representative if he had heard of more bodies being dumped in plain sight in urban areas post mortem, or "in the country", where evidence is harder to find?

In Case You Skipped Church On Sunday

  

No need to worry. Science is still science, and the world still turns on matter that is explained by equations. 

Bigoted New Hampshire Cop Finally Resigns

Richard Copeland, the New Hampshire police commissioner of this post, finally resigned. His desk is cleaned out, his locker is emptied, and his white sheets with eye-holes are back at his house. That's a very good thing, because Wolfeboro, New Hampshire can do a lot better than a rude, vocal bigot for a police commissioner.

The remaining question some of us have is whether or not there are any other police officers who encourage violence for reasons of bigotry in American small towns and cities.

Roseburg Oregon Fundraiser For Kyron

It has been almost four years since Kyron Horman disappeared from his school in Portland, Oregon, when he was seven years old. He hasn't been found, and everyone involved is frustrated. Well, almost everyone. Three people involved in the case do not appear to care. These three are Terri Horman, former spouse and sometime step-parent of Kyron, also the last known person to see Kyron; and her parents, Carol and Larry Moulton.

How fortunate for them that there will be a fundraiser this weekend in Roseburg, where they reside, to fund future searches for Kyron. They can support Kyron by getting their cars washed or making a donation. We will hope that they resist the urge to pass out flyers bearing incorrect information. If Terri Horman wants to raise money to search for Kyron, she should pose on a dunking tank and let passers-by throw beanbags to dunk her in a water tank. That would be a lot more productive than putting up posters containing misinformation.

Kansas Gives Teacher Permission To Assault

According to Eyewitness News 12, a Kansas teacher and foster parent named Noble Rick Pendland was charged with sex crimes against three children, but the court accepted pleas to assault on the three charges, instead. His name does not appear in the sex offender registry, or even the violent offender registry. Each sentence is six months, eighteen months in total; and because he was held for over eighteen months in lieu of bond, his sentence was time served. He is no longer allowed to serve as a foster parent or a teacher, though. 

How backwards can Kansas possibly be? Pendland should at least be required to register in the violent offender registry, so that parents have access to his dossier when he teaches Sunday School or decides to become a priest! And telling him not to teach is useless because he does not need a teaching license to work as a para. He will probably move to Marshall County Kansas and find employment immediately at Frankfort! 

Insight

Banned In Kansas Public Schools

A new neighbor and I had a laugh the other day about Frankfort High School and it's ban of my site at their school. Frankfort High allows Facebook, a few porn sites, violent video games, and all other blogs on their computers, but not mine. Frankfort also allows convicted felons who are not employed at the school, and who have no children attending the school, to simply "hang around" in the building during the day, but the reading of Siri's World And The Dissenting Opinion is strictly banned!

This is actually pretty funny. Also, to anyone who wants a bunch of teenagers to do something, the best way to gain their cooperation is to forbid it. Seriously. But my site has no porn, and most of the slang the reader will encounter here is guff from a troll named Melissa Kennedy, who teaches at Frankfort! I also do not support the use of illegal drugs or any type of criminal behavior, I do not violate copyrights, threaten, or abuse any other law, so what makes my site so dangerous? Remember, Dean Dalinghaus, principal of Frankfort Experiment, actually told a parent that he deliberately omitted as much teaching about the Constitution as possible, because when children learn about it, running a school "becomes harder". Deanis Dalinghaus may be qualified to lead lemmings over a cliff, but he is not qualified to administrate a school. My children do not attend his sorry excuse for a public school any longer.

Something that does bother me is the message that was sent to my six children, about me, concerning respect. Frankfort School, by banning my site, while allowing all kinds of messages and input from other parents, basically told my children that they feel that I do not deserve respect. Why is Frankfort so threatened by any discussion of what goes on in the world outside of Frankfort, especially in schools? Schools where music teachers do not boff their students and get them knocked up. Schools that do not allow convicted felons awaiting space in federal prison to wander about the campus. Schools that employ teachers who do not abandon students four miles away from school and just forget about them. School that do not continue the employ of teachers who tell veterans that they "do not give two shits about the flag" (quote belongs to Melissa Kennedy) when they disagree about the candidate the veteran supports in an election. If Frankfort High School was actually so terribly threatened because of this site, simply banning all social media would have been more discreet. It would have protected my children from that lovely Christian hatred they seem to run into all over Kansas and would have certainly made it easier for them to concentrate on studies instead of cliques and local politics. But then, Frankfort High School isn't really interested in studies, or in protecting children. Frankfort High School in only interested in ways to express racism, prejudism, ignorance, ethnocentrism, and stupidity. They also favor lies and dishonesty. Open attempts to teach any child to disrespect parents is actually against the cause of education. Frankfort High School really should be shut down, consolidated with other public schools, and forgotten about.

Another sillyassed bunch of people who feel threatened by education and intelligence is attempting to ban Neil Degrasse Tyson's contributions to PBS in the entire state of Oklahoma. School officials in Saddlebridge, Oklahoma do not want any students watching Neil Degrasse Tyson's "Cosmos". It contains new theories and new knowledge, combined with old fashioned math and common sense, that apparently scares these teachers. So what's the best plan of action? Ban the knowledge, of course. That way, no student will ask a question that cannot be answered at school.

Picture courtesy of Topnews

Note: Before this site was "banned" in Frankfort Experiment, yours truly received large numbers of emails and comments directed to this site from teachers in Frankfort, Kansas. You can read some of them here. Be warned, however; that the comments reproduced and shared are unaltered, and contain all of the foul language that originated in the minds of the senders. If protection from the legal consequences of their own actions generated the banning of this site in Frankfort High School, despite the open recognition of first amendment rights of KKK supporters, Westboro Baptist Church and their ilk, pornography creators, and bible thumpers, perhaps Mrs. Rottinghaus could have simply stated that she was protecting the school from a lawsuit that might result from teachers harassing innocent parents, such as yours truly. No need to demonize someone who does not endanger children and use computers to make threats. Why do Frankfort teachers use computers to spread anger and hate, anyway?  Along with deliberately leaving children alone during school hours in places and situations where they are vulnerable and have no defense or resources in the event of medical or situational emergency, Frankfort teachers threaten and abuse parents who ask for safe schools! USD 380 in Kansas is not a very good school. Maybe colleges will begin to think twice before accepting it's students.

Abbie Hoffman Moment

In Case You Slept Through Church On Sunday

If you slept through church on Sunday in Broward County, Florida, you need not despair. You can still get some religious action by attending a town or county council meeting, or even a state legislative session. Chaz Stevens has respectfully requested the honor of opening these civil gatherings with a prayer, now that the Supreme Court has voted to allow such vehicles to begin their proceedings this way, via Greece v. Galloway. Stevens intends to offer a prayer to Satan, rather than the expected Jesus, or "god". This should pose no problems, as a prayer is a prayer, and one person's religion is just as valid as another's, right? Christians seem to be experiencing serious reactionary symptoms now that a few of them are faced with the requirement of equality.

Writing That Transcends Time And Space

"I am asked whether I believe in , or accept as valid, any of the great religions currently favoured by humankind. The question amuses me inasmuch as that I am not a hominid and as such, do not require a spiritual strap upon which to hang. Nor am I afflicted by the great sense of fear and insecurity that pervades the majority of the human race. Their religions I liken to chess pieces in the hominid ego game, since most of them encourage humankind to view itself as greater, more evolved, and more powerful than any of the other species to which I give succour. Those faiths which aim to separate humankind from the implicate whole, of which it constitutes only one minute fraction, are abhorrent to me since they neither acknowledge my existence as an entity in my own right, nor accept the consciousness, and therefore comparative suffering, of those other species that exist on and around my surface. The tragedy lies in the fact that those who, in following such beliefs are guilty of inflicting pain on what you term 'lesser' creatures, will have to pay for their misdeed, if not in my aura, then on some other chaotic planet somewhere else in the universe."

Quote from Earth, in The Gaia Dialogues, by Murry Hope.

Local Google Photography

New Hampshire Cop Hates Watching Obama On TV

Sometimes, as Shakespeare's Hamlet pined, it seems that "life is just one, long sigh." Wolfeboro New Hampshire, host of one of Mitt Romney's many abodes, is also host of a police commissioner by the name of Robert Copeland. Officer Copeland hates watching TV these days, because every time he turns on his TV, he sees that "f*cking n*gg*r", meaning President Obama. When he made this statement, he was eating in a restaurant, and speaking loudly enough be overheard by one of his constituents.

What a jerk. Not only does Copeland abuse the trust placed in him and his position by the public by downgrading part of the population, he sets a terrible example and uses language that would generate detentions and suspensions if used by children at school. It also sounds as though he might not protect and serve a constituent who happens to be African American.

Copeland refuses to resign, even though many people in Wolfeboro have requested the same. Sadly, New Hampshire is not the only state hosting ignorant racists. Pictured below is a Facebook post made by an uneducated Kansas man, calling for violence against a woman half his size. It appears that his reasons for hate are largely centered upon her religion. One of the persons who hit "like" is Tim Ackerman, the undersheriff in Marshall County, Kansas. Laura McNish, the county attorney, does not see a problem with law enforcement granting permission in such a manner to commit assault and battery for reasons of religious and cultural hate. She probably approves of the occasional racist act, as well.

Another "liker" for this post is a public school teacher in a small public school. Don't these people realize the responsibility that accompanies public office and teaching?

Insight

Naked People In Wichita

How did I miss this? A man and a woman in Wichita, Kansas, both twenty-two years old, got into an argument with each other and somehow ended up outside naked, yelling at each other. They also found a way to mess up a mobile home while fighting with each other, as this happened in a mobile home park. So police came and arrested both of them.

While all this sounds quite exciting, this blogger usually does not fight while naked, but does other things while naked, instead! That said, it all sounds very entertaining. How come no one ever goes outside naked and fights when I'm around to see it?

Abbie Hoffman Moment

In Case You Missed Church On Sunday

Ah yes, Oklahoma, the ten commandments, and the impending erection of Satan! Well, Baphomet.....Satan and Baphomet are two entirely different entities, but the point being made by the Satanic Temple is still very valid. In 2012, Oklahoma inserted the ten commandments on the lawn of their capital building, showing obvious favor to Christianity. When asked about displaying symbols of other religions, Oklahoma refused. The state also refused to remove it's statue of the ten commandments. Now, with a win in the Supreme Court, assisted by the ACLU, Lucien Greaves, of the Satanic Temple, commissioned the creation of a statue of Baphomet to also sit on the lawn of the capital building in Oklahoma. If the ten commandments does not disappear, the statue of Baphoment, according to the court's ruling, must also be given a place. Since the ten commandments is still there, Greaves has announced that the statue is nearly complete, and that there are copies of it in case Oklahoma Christians do that Christian thing of which so many of them are fond, and vandalize the statue. It's comforting to know that the Satanic Temple has our backs when state governments try to decide which church we should all attend, and it's nice to know that the ACLU is still willing to go on the defense for us, even in the Midwest, which seems to be the land of misplaced ethnocentrism.

Should Drinkable Water Be A Privatized Commodity?

How badly do you want corporations to own all the potable water? After watching so many of them lie and cheat, do you really think they would be fair in this venture, as well? How high should the price of potable water be driven?

Siriunsun's Art Gallery

This is a welded flower made by Albert, in Marysville. On Saturday, May 10, he will be selling these at the annual Mothers' Day Flea Market in the Marysville City Park in Kansas. Some of the best art is local. 

Wrong Poster, Terri Horman

Terri Horman, sometime step parent of missing Kyron Horman, who disappeared at age seven from his school in Portland, Oregon, has made headlines again. Kyron went missing in 2010, and June 4 will mark the four year anniversary of this horrible event, and his former stepmother has finally put up a few posters with Kyron's picture on them. After four years. Yeah. (eye-rolley here)

There are several problems with Terri posters. First of all, she's a little late. Kyron has been missing for four years, and if he is still alive, he could not possibly resemble the seven year old in his pictures anymore. The gesture not only would have been more meaningful, but would have been more helpful, had she done it when Kyron first needed to be recognized and found. And in Roseburg, Oregon, where Terri lives, there was not anywhere near as much attention to Kyron's case as there was in Portland, from where he disappeared. For that reason, posters would actually have been informative and helpful in Roseburg.

The second problem with Terri's posters is that they mention that Kyron was seen with an "unknown man". Four years after the fact, any "unknown" persons are extemporaneous details inasmuch as the general public is concerned. If Terri Horman had any information that law enforcement lacked about any unidentified witnesses, she should have given that information to law enforcement at the moment police were first called. She should also have passed her polygraphs, given factual statements about her whereabouts that day, and communicated truthfully with Kyron's teacher, using a pen and a piece of paper, about any medical appointments Kyron may or may not have had. The purpose of a picture of a missing persons poster is photo recognition. The general public is not charged with the task of solving the crime. If it happens to look as if Terri's story, or Terri's five or six stories, are lacking in sincerity and truthful detail, she should address that with law enforcement.

The third problem with these posters preferred by Terri Horman is that they give out the wrong contact information. The best way to get the correct contact information and picture on a missing person flyer is to use the flyers and posters given out and posted by law enforcement, or use the ones produced by the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children.

A poster with correct contact information.

Insight

Relisha Rudd Is Still Missing

Relisha Rudd was last seen on March 1, 2014. She disappeared in Washington, DC, and the person with whom she was last seen, Khalil Tatum, was found deceased in Kenilworth Aquatic Gardens at the end of March. He was wanted by police in Maryland in connection with the murder of his spouse. There was a search this past weekend by volunteers, and they will keep looking for Relisha until she is found. If you know anything about the whereabouts of this little girl, please call the Washington Metropolitan Police.

The Catholic Church Cracks Down On Nuns

Oh dear. The Catholic Church perceives that there is a serious problem with nuns in the Unites States! Those American nuns are failing to teach the youth to be submissive enough, and to be unquestioning to authority. But should we really be surprised? People who do not question authority and people who are overly submissive make the best victims. Judging by the nature of lawsuits filed against Catholic parishes over the past twenty years, both within the United States and in other countries, it appears that Christianity encourages and rewards those who are willing to become easy victims.

Here's an idea, Catholic Church: try cracking down on abusive and perverse priests who prey on children!

Abbie Hoffman Moment

Frankfort Kansas Doesn't Like Operation Found Safe

This list was shared on the Facebook page for Operation Found Safe, which is an organization whose mission is to educate and train communities to prevent such tragedies as missing and exploited children. The list was too big for the sidebar, so it will have to be a post. 

Some information that may clear up some misunderstandings on the parts of certain local trolls on this site is the fact that after my fourteen year old daughter was "lost" by Tom Schroeder, guidance counselor of Frankfort High in Kansas, the effort to sweep the whole incident under the rug and remain in denial actually included refusing the help of this organization! My husband and I contacted multiple organizations that address child safety and missing children, and presented their dossiers and contact information to the school board of USD 380, and the result was total apathy on the part of USD 380. And yes, trolls, I have all the information and exchanged letters, which we took to a school board meeting and presented. Frankfort simply isn't interested in child safety. 

In Case You Missed Church On Sunday

Midwestern Christians are certainly caught up in the method of execution, rather than the actual Messianic message or the example reportedly set by their favored icon, aren't they?

Beltane Fire

Dancing flames in Beltane fires

Passion, strength, and Love's desires!

Car Wash To Benefit Kyron

Tomorrow, in Beaverton Oregon, there will be a car wash to raise funds for more searches and awareness efforts to find Kyron Horman, who disappeared from Skyline Elementary in Portland Oregon in June of 2010, when he was seven years old. 

Below is a picture of a vehicle whose owners, Carol and Larry Moulton, were in Portland Oregon on the day Kyron disappeared. Amid all the reports of white pickup trucks, connected to Kyron's case, taken by law enforcement, one must wonder if the white pickup truck in the picture was ever searched or processed.......