Minnesota Murderer Cop Finally Charged

Jeronimo Yanez, the Minnesota pig who, in July, opened fire on Philando Castile and killed him during a traffic stop for no reason, has finally been charged with something called second degree manslaughter. His girlfriend, Diamond Reynolds, streamed the incident on Facebook, for the entire world to see. Yanez not only was completely unconcerned about the innocence of Castile and Reynolds, he also did not care about the safety of Reynolds's four year old daughter, who was also in the car and watched the shooting.

While manslaughter is not as serious of a charge as first or second degree murder, there have been problems in the recent past in gaining convictions of these police officers who feel that a badge is a license to commit murder. For that reason, it was probably a better guarantee of accountability for for a black victim's life to charge the killer with a lesser charge, and at the same time, a better guarantee that this defendant will never prowl the highways as a police officer again.

Above is Jeronimo Yanez, who kept the peace by committing a murder in front of a woman and a child, in his police get-up; and Philado Castile, who, unfortunately, crossed the path of a racist cop who felt like pulling the trigger for no reason.

Relisha Rudd Is Still Missing

Relisha Rudd is still missing, and has been missing for almost a year. The suspect in her case committed suicide last year, and without his testimony, finding her is an even bigger challenge than most missing persons cases. It's time to search again in all the areas that have yielded any forensic clues, and to utilize search dogs and radar. Relisha has always deserved better than to just be forgotten. Please share this poster.

Private Message

Rather than destroy your long standing relationships and associations within our community, wouldn't it be better to simply establish the legal rights to your intellectual property and invoke those rights when someone violates them? Once the persons in question see and realize that you are not playing games, your problems with said persons are likely to stop. Quite a few of your friends, and even some of mine, have decided, over the past few months, that your angry and ongoing reactions after you experience professional problems connected to theft and theft of intellectual property are spilling over into other aspects of life, inasmuch as it includes you, and have decided to stop interacting with you. That is a shame, because when these things are not going on in your professional life, you are a very nice person. That is all I have ever said about you to anyone, when asked. Nothing else; except that as clergy, we owe you a certain amount of respect, and you generally are knowledgeable about the subject matter of your written works and lectures. When you are not, you have always sought the input of those who are. That makes it a shame when it is made so difficult for so many to look beyond your anger and irrational defensiveness for so long.

I've been friends with you long enough to know that you are truly more mature. It would be much better to simply copyright your intellectual property, file the appropriate complaints when the copyrights are violated, and move on.

Following The Day We Fight Back

Just a reminder of why it's so important to remain educated about local and national politics. Just last week, the Kansas House of Representatives, for all practical purposes, joined Westboro Baptist Church by passing House Bill 2435. This bill is written to allow businesses and government agencies legal recourse to discriminate against the gay community. Anyone old enough to remember "whites only" water fountains? Kansas actually doesn't have a very large gay community. Where do you suppose this action, and the attitude that accompanies it, is truly headed?

Laura McNish Strikes Again

Laura McNish strikes again! Or maybe not. According to the Marysville Advocate, she has finally gotten around to filing a petition before Kansas Corperation Commission about a project by Clean Line Energy called the Grain Belt Express. This petition is to express concerns of the landowners in Marshall County, Kansas, who will be affected in many ways by this budding enterprise. Many objections have been voiced, from the possible incompatibility of transport of direct current in places that already transport alternating current, to property owners losing their land to eminent domain.

Eminent domain is a process that is generally used as a means of compensating owners of real estate for property that must be bought and used by the government or the community for the benefit of the public and the community. Clean Line Energy is a private enterprise, and none of the direct current transported by the Grain Belt Express will benefit Kansans, particularly in Marshall County. In fact, it appears that Kansas simply wants to confiscate land from unwilling property owners, giving them nothing more than "conscience money"........not anywhere near market value......to go ahead and make a quick buck by selling it to Clean Line Energy.

The Grain Belt Express has been in the works since July of 2010, which, ironically; is when Laura McNish was appointed to serve as council to Marshall County, Kansas. Why did she wait until now to address the concerns of those whose properties and whose livelihoods will be affected by the Grain Belt Express? August 30 was last day to file a petition: why did she not file before then? Hearings to answer questions about direct current and alternating current, and the requirements involved for both, have been in progress since 2010. While Clean Line Energy is overly optimistic about the engineering aspect, it is downright insensitive to the desires of the farmers and other landowners, all of whom would have appreciated the opportunity to voice their concerns much earlier. During a recent meeting with Clean Line representatives and Marshall County residents, McNish appeared either weak, or resigned to the defeat of her constiuents' goals. Could she have gotten Marshall County's voices heard in a more timely and efficient manner? Was it possible to inform residents of Marshall County before the eleventh hour? Does Laura McNish truly represent Marshall County?

 

 

Glenn Beck Wants His Own Kingdom

This is really almost too funny! Glenn Beck wants to have his own self sufficient, self governed community, and he wants to call it "Independence"! It will produce it's own power and it's own food, and it's shopping center will be a friendly place where the townsfolk gather to start their own businesses and learn from one another. That's what he says, anyway. The entrance will be modeled after Ellis Island, because Glenn Beck thinks that most Americans either came here through Ellis Island, or have ancestors who did. Actually, the number of Americans who have at least one ancestor who came through Ellis Island is closer to forty percent. While that's a significant minority, it's certainly not MOST Americans. If one's family was American before 1892, validating one's citizenship through Ellis Island would have been been quite difficult, as that's the year Ellis Island opened as an immigration station.

This idea is not terribly original. Didn't William Golding already cover this in Lord Of The Flies? And Glenn Beck should, by this time, be aware that there are at least ten cities in the United States called "Independence".

Glenn Beck actually does have the right glasses to look like the main character in Lord of the Flies. Perhaps he looked in the mirror!

Omit Mitt Instead Of Getting Rid Of Teachers

Instead of getting rid of teachers, suppose Mitt Romney proposed eliminating some of the positions and legal vehicles that truly don't have an historic track record of providing any actual assisitance or value to the comunity or the population at large? Say, perhaps, those probation officers or DWI monitors that get paid to monitor cases after offenders have been paroled, or in some cases, when they have been given probation in instead of jail time? So many offenders reoffend; why not stop paying the salaries of those who do not prevent this, and find some other way to discourage recidivism? If we did not have high rates of recidivism, we would not need probation officers, so it does not really help to keep a probation officer employed if he maintains a good track record. In the probation officer's case, productivity is counterproductive.

While discussing the blissful elimination of ineffective probation officers, why not eliminate an entire legal vehicle, such as prohibition laws? We should probably continue the prohibition of drugs that are truly dangerous, such as certain prescription medicines, and we should certainly never allow drunk driving, but why is marijuana illegal? Since 1937, when it became illegal, whose life has been enhanced by keeping it unlawful? Hmmm? This prohibition law has not aided the average citizen in any way. It has, however; made gangs and drug cartels quite rich. Prohibition laws have also helped make the Mafia powerful. Oh....lets not forget, it also helps keep those ineffective probation officers employed.

The abolishment of prohibition laws would also free up our judicial system and allow it to be an actual judicial system, instead of a babysitting service for wayward adults. Taxpayors spend lots and lots of money on judicial stupidity every year on nonsense that involves..........drum roll..........marijuana. If we could save all this money and spend it on teachers, instead of doing what Mitt Romney wants to do; specifically, get rid of teachers, firefighters, and policemen, we would be investing in ourselves and our own communities. Bishop Romney wants to tell us that we cannot have those assets, and that we cannot use our own resources to invest in ourselves, and in our children. What would he do with our money? He hasn't told us. He is a bishop in his church, so it isn't really a big stretch to wonder if our money would probably bolster his church a lot more than it would bolster our nation.

If Mitt really wants to help America's economy, why not change the pay scale for elected positions? Do some of our elected officials make more than we, the people, can afford to pay them? Why isn't Mitt looking at that, instead of eyeing our schools from the standpoint of a vulture? Perhaps the position of president can even be served on a volunteer basis. We wouldn't have so many career politicians! The bishop really needs to start looking at ways to invest in the middle classes, rather than ways to eliminate the middle classes.

Here's a serious question: if Mitt really wants to cut the number of policemen, yet keep victimless crimes on our books, who is going to carry out the resulting and ongoing arrests? The FBI? The Coast Guard? His own elite bunch of Mormon goons? And, if he becomes president, will he serve the American people? Or does he see us all as potential employees or parishoners? Oh...wait a minute...certain minorities cannot become Bishop Romney's parishoners, can they?

Community Reaction To New Hope Baptist Church In Seneca, Kansas

It looks like Reverend Knapp has made some new friends! After his sermon last week,  at New Hope Bapstist Church, in Seneca, Kansas, he had some visitors! It is good to see Kansans sending a counter-message to the conventional bigotry and hate that is commonplace enough in Kansas to pass for traditional lifestyles of the republican and brainwashed. Chris Knapp really thought no one would raise an eyebrow at his guff here in Kansas. Wake up, Knapp! The times, they are a-changin'!