South Carolina Responsible Journalism Resgistry Law

Republican South Carolina representative Mike Pitts, pictured above, has sponsored a bill in his state's congress, which will be called the South Carolina Responsible Journalism Registry Law if it gets passed. Before covering matters related to government, a journalist would be required to undergo a background check, similar to the background check required before buying a handgun, to report the news. No one who has written anything controversial, or who has written anything that has garnered complaints about government, petitions, or boycotts would be allowed to cover state events. There would also be a non-refundable fee for the background check to report the news, effecting a charge to tell the truth! Also, every journalist in South Carolina would have to be listed in a registry. Hmm....where has your blogger heard something like this before? This sounds an awful lot like the German Law for the Restoration of the Professional Civil Service in 1933, which was aimed at forcing Jews out of any professional field in Nazi Germany.

This bill is such a gross violation of the First Amendment to the Constitution that it will never pass. Still, the question that needs to be answered is this: why is South Carolina so afraid of writers and journalists?

Participate In Government

Nuances. And information that has not been properly read and comprehended by our representatives.
Highlighted is a link to representatives for each state. Give your elected official a call.

Yet Another Attack On The Fourth Amendment

Here we go again. The Cyber Security Information Sharing Act of 2014, courtesy, once again, of Dianne Feinstein, would allow sharing of personal information between major internet sites and the United States government. You can get in touch with your representative here to request that your Fourth Amendment rights be protected and this bill be scrapped. On the bright side, Apple's new mobile operating system, i0S8, was engineered only to unlock for the owner of the device, even if Apple or the retailer is presented with a search warrant. Of course, this would not even be an issue if the United States Government would just let J. Edgar Hoovers tactics remain in another era.

Happy Independence Day

Happy Fourth of July, everyone. This is a good video. If you have time, watch it. When you get to the part about Obama not needing new permissions from Congress concerning Iraq, ponder this: Obama has tried to work with Congress since he was elected. He has had more patience with them than most people would have had. Out of all of the presidents this country has elected, Obama is probably the most gifted statesman. But the question about what is actually going on deserves an answer: who is actually pulling his strings, and ours? Happy Fourth, everyone.

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.

USA Freedom Act

Let your representatives know that you want them to support the USA Freedom Act.

Kansas House Bill 2453

The Kansas House of Representatives voted to legalize hate and hate fueled discrimination on February 12. They, mostly republicans, voted to pass a bill that was written to enable any business, church, or government agency to deny service to any gay person. Under the thin veil of "not officiating a same sex wedding", Kansas congressmen decided to send legislation to the Senate which would, if signed into law, allow hospitals the right to refuse to treat anyone they decide to call "gay" and police to ignore, rather than protect, anyone they deem "gay". Schools will have leeway, under this law, to torment and expel students who do not conform properly to the Kansas hate-filled rubber-stamped model of open-legged Christianity. What's next, "white's only" water fountains and rest rooms? Here's what Sharon Schwartz, representing the part of Northeast Kansas that includes Marshall County contributed, along with her vote of "Yea" on HB 2453:

MR. SPEAKER: One of the founding principles of our country, inscribed in the First
Amendment, is the right of the people to be led by their conscience and follow their
own deeply held religious convictions without fear of penalty or reprisal. Because of that,
I vote YES on HB 2453.--

CONNIE O'BRIEN, TRAVIS COUTURE-LOVELADY, WILLIE DOVE,

RONALD W. RYCKMAN, SR., BRETT HILDABRAND, JERRY LUNN, JOE EDWARDS, CRAIG
MCPHERSON, RANDY GARBER, RICHARD CARLSON, LESLIE OSTERMAN, WILL CARPENTER, KEVIN
JONES, ALLAN ROTHLISBERG, JOE SEIWERT, SHARON SCHWARTZ, KEN CORBET, RON HIGHLAND,
AMANDA GROSSERODE

Just last week, I wrote a post on this site about a New York man who murdered two women, claiming that they were Witches. He was "led by his conscience and following his own deeply held convictions" at the time he committed the murders. Is this what Sharon Schwartz wants in Northeast Kansas? It really doesn't matter what she wants, inasmuch as I am concerned. Because of her vote in favor of discrimination, violence, and hate, I will never vote for her again.

It's The Day We Fight Back

Today is The Day We Fight Back. Government agencies have gathered private information on Americans and stored it, only using it to their own advantage. We never hear about missing children getting found because of data gathered by the NSA, or travelers warned of danger by spying government agencies, yet we hear, more and more often, about SWAT teams mysteriously finding addresses that might belong to petty criminals and barging into the wrong houses, and about violent cops who do not wish to appear on camera. The longer this continues, the less the Fourth Amendment mean to the American people.

Here is a link to take action now. Using your zip code, the website will help you find the appropriate representative for your area. Congress will get quite a bit more email today than usual, so it is recommended that you telephone Congress, as well.

Mike Pompeo Preparing To Strike Again

Oh boy.....oh joy. Mike Pompeo, the proud republican proponent of lots of crazily worded legislation supporting fracking in Kansas, is running for Congress again in Wichita. This time his catch phrase has to do with Congress reducing the amount of "spending" two years in a row, and how that hasn't happened since WWII, and how it wouldn't happen if Nancy Pelosi were still Speaker of the House. He says he wants to "restore the American Dream". (where's the eye-rolley when I need it?)

Mike Pompeo's contributions to restoration of the "American Dream" really support the dreams of a couple of businessmen in the top financial one percent, namely, the Koch Brothers, rather than any dream that might be conjured by a mainstream American. He also fails to explain exactly what he means by "reduction of spending" by Congress for the first time in two years. If he means that Congress is failing to pay it's bills, or spend on education, or spend on the well-being of our military personnel, then failing to spend is actually counter productive, and will cost the American population a lot more in the long run. Refusal to make the proper investments in the middle class, or in what was once the middle class, is not a viable method of restoring the elusive American Dream. The Koch Brothers and their ilk actually don't need a thriving middle class anymore, but are threatened by it. Education reveals answers, and knowledgeable conclusions demand critical thinking. Unfortunately for the energy industry, answers and critical thinking have the potential to end the profitability of the oil industry, and interfere with the dreams of the Koch Brothers. Their Dream is not the American Dream, and runs contrary to the American Dream. They want to control almost all of the resources and money, while Americans only have the choice of working and living for them. And they have effectively bought and paid for the services of Mike Pompeo in Congress to protect their rape of Kansas.

The American Dream, such as it is or was, never truly existed. Before the partial repeal of the Banking Act of 1933, the American middle class was deemed a worthy investment by elected leaders and by the entrepreneurs among the population. Women, African Americans, and other minorities; however, experienced enough discrimination to effectively prohibit them from participating in the game, and when over fifty percent of all segments of a population is prohibited from playing, the game is tightly controlled. When we stopped discriminating against minorities and allowed a bigger volume of players in the game of American Dream, we changed the rules of the industries that control all the money. Those industries became internationally "too big to fail", and when they actually do fail, there is no remedy. Now, there are not anywhere near as many investments made in the population in general, and the American people suffer as a result. If Mike Pompeo truly wanted to restore the American Dream, he might enjoin a statewide or national discussion of banking laws from the end of the Great Depression until Today, and examine and reveal the support of his major campaign contributors, especially the Koch Brothers, to changes in banking law that have made the American Dream inaccessible to many Americans. Mike Pompeo uses smoke and mirrors instead of honest discussion. Refusal to invest in the middle class will not restore the American Dream.

National Government Shutdown Day

There is a group of Kansas citizens who have been protesting sporadically outside of Congresswoman Lynn Jenkins's Pittsburg Kansas office since the Government Shutdown began on October 1. They have decided to make the most of the situation, and use it as an opportunity to remind Jenkins that even though the rivers tend to flow Republican in Kansas, (no pun intended, there actually IS a Republican River in Kansas) there are still many voters affiliated with the Democrat Party and the Republican Party who are not happy with Jenkins's tendency to bow to the Tea Party, and sell out to the Koch Brothers whenever the pressure is on. So they have put together signs and banners with various messages; "Tea Time Is Over" has been a popular one, and peacefully protested this past week.

This is a great idea, and it is heartwarming to see that Kansans care enough about the misdeeds of those in authority to speak up about it. It could be taken to a higher level, though. Instead of being afraid when the media puppetry suggests doom and gloom, and makes the recommendation of being afraid, we could make a celebration out of it. Now that operations that have been shut down are slowly but surely getting re-opened, one by one, as the need and public outcry dictates, we can all see that a lot of this "shutdown" business is really an outlet for congressional and senatorial drama. It's a shame our representatives apparently never excelled in drama or forensics when they were in high school, and are acting out now, using the rest of us as a "forced audience" of sorts, but it seems this is the sad result of failing to learn cooperation and communication skills and failing to grow up. Boehner, we are all looking at you, here. When we want  drama queens, we will look to the Kardashians, not to Congress.

Suppose, every year, the government shut down on October 1 in order to remember and celebrate October 1, 2013? It could be a day that we close everything except "essential" services and gather outside of city halls and government buildings everywhere in the nation. We could barbecue, sell hotdogs, and create a carnival atmosphere, encouraging the drama espoused by Congress right now. Anyone with a gripe about a flaw within local or national politics would have the opportunity to picket, and draw attention to his chosen cause. We could also stage Revolutionary War reenactments. Schools, of course, would be closed on National Government Shutdown Day. Instead of furloughing government employees, we could give anyone who wanted to work on that day an option of taking the day off, or participating in a drive to register potential voters. Not only would National Government Shutdown Day be a celebration and an outlet for repressed angst, it could be educational and constructive.

The only guideline that should be strictly enforced is possibly that there should be no violence, just constructive fun, as the Fourth of July is celebrated. No one can be hanged in effigy, and no destruction of property can be tolerated. Instead, we can write petitions requesting that officials go back to school, switch to more suitable careers, or resign. In more serious cases, National Government Shutdown Day can be a day when we write petitions and complaints to initiate recalls and investigations of those officials and elected servants whose performance is truly unacceptable. Violence, however; is never a constructive direction for change.

As an added bonus, the weather is usually very nice in the beginning of October, and conducive to nonviolent gatherings. Mild weather is great for picnics. When school re-opens the following day, classroom discussions could take place nationwide for the purpose of teaching children how their government works, and about what happens when it does not work.