American Democrat Republican Rag: April 2017

Sunday, April 30, 2017

Bursting at the Seams

I'm bursting at the seams. I'm fired up and ready to go.

On Friday, I needed to do some grocery shopping. While I was driving, I was listening to Here and Now on NPR. The first thing I'm greeted with is a recording of trump saying that he loved his previous life, it was easy, he thought that being the [administrator] would be much easier than it is. Well duh ya big jackass! The worst part of it is, he ain't doin' shit anyway. d.j[ackass] is so stupid he reveals himself as a lazy s.o.b. with out even knowing it.

Following this little blurb, there was a discussion about the 25th anniversary of the Rodney King verdict. Four white police officers were found not guilty on all charges except one witch the jury was split on. The judge declared this charge, over which the jury was split, a mistrial. Thisll white jury ware shown a video of King hand cuffed, and while hand cuffed, receiving over 50 blows by the four officers in 80 seconds. In my best Louis Black style......are you frikin' kidding me!!!! This kind of bullshit is the exact same problem that trump has re-exposed in our country. The L.A. police force has been re-organized and operates properly now, because of changes made due to the King beating, but this perception by white people that "others" are of lesser value is what trump has dredged back up to the surface. I am thankful that the L.A. police department, under the guidance of the U.S. Department of Justice has been reformed. What now concerns me is that trump along with sessions would defend this same behavior by a police department, without question. This is just one area where trump and his gang of jackasses are dangerous. There are other issues where trump n' boobs present a clear and present danger.

Last week trump declared that South Korea should pay $1 billion dollars for The Terminal High Altitude Area Defense (THAAD) missile system that is being installed in South Korea. The agreement that was made was that South Korea will provide the land for the system and that our country will install and operate the system. There is no mention of money in the agreement. In an interview with Reuters on Thursday, trump said:
"I informed South Korea it would be appropriate if they pay. That's a billion dollar system."
http://money.cnn.com/2017/04/28/news/trump-south-korea-thaad-trade/

Yesterday, National Security Adviser McMaster said that our country will honor its agreement and pay for the system's deployment and operation. He also said that trump's comment was made "in a general context, in line with the U.S. public expectations on defense cost burden-sharing with allies". Again, what a load of horse shit. These boobs keep enabling trump's dangerous mouth which is run by his almost non-existent brain. So, as we have seen on multiple occasions, trump is dangerous when it comes to foreign policy.

http://www.foxnews.com/politics/2017/04/30/mcmaster-says-us-will-pay-for-thaad-anti-missile-system-in-south-korea.html

More dangerous behavior has been nullified by our court system. I have not researched this issue, but have always thought that it would be illegal for an administration to withhold funds to cities and municipalities that have been guaranteed for various activities and agencies via legislation, based on demands that have nothing to do with that funding. In other words, I have always thought that withholding funds for libraries if the fire department did not comply with administration demands would be illegal. The only way that the funding for a city's libraries could be withheld would be if the stipulations of the legislation for the library system were not adhered to. So....... how in the world did trump think that he would be able to withhold funding for various agencies in a city for not acceding to his demands that all 'requests' for immigrants be detained until a federal immigration agent could come and take custody of said immigrant, was going to fly. This past week, a San Francisco judge, put the kibosh on this ridiculous concept. Per a New York Times article, "Judge, William H. Orrick of United States District Court, wrote that the president had overstepped his powers with his January executive order on immigration by tying billions of dollars in federal funding to immigration enforcement. Judge Orrick said only Congress could place such conditions on spending." Hahhhhhhh, take that trumpy boy, and you too jeff the bigot sessions.

https://www.nytimes.com/2017/04/25/us/judge-blocks-trump-sanctuary-cities.html?_r=0

But, this morning, one of my colleagues at work showed me the coup de gras (that's coop duh grass for all you 'mericans out there), the most dangerous bull, the reason everyone of us should be scared as hell. In an interview, yesterday, to mark the 100 day mark of his inept administration, trump held our Constitution as being responsible for his difficulties:

“It’s a very rough system,” he said. “It’s an archaic system … It’s really a bad thing for the country.”

https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2017/apr/29/trump-blames-constitution-for-first-100-days-chaos-presidency

Again I am asking myself and anyone who is 'listening', what in hell is this guy, this pea brain, this insect thinking. I just can't wait to read what kind of crap comes out of his mouth to try to explain this one away. This is the document that he swore to defend and protect 101 days ago. This is the most direct affront to my sensibilities as an American that I have ever heard or read. But .................... don't be fooled by this bull crap. This is an obvious distraction so that it will be our focus rather than other dangerous activities taking place, with the hope that those other activities will fly under the radar. trump has a major interview today on CBS and again tomorrow on CBS. I'm willing to bet that this remark of his takes center stage, thereby limiting scrutiny of truly dangerous behavior by d.j[ackass] et.al.

I've got more, but this is all I'm going to put out there in one post. It's all just too overwhelming.

Thursday, April 27, 2017

Short Vacation

Dear Readers,

Starting yesterday , I am taking a brief vacation from my other job as a computer help desk technician. During these few days, my schedule is busier than if I were at work, therefore I am going to also take a few days off from posting to this blog. I will be back to work and blogging on Sunday.

Hope you all have a pleasant few days. 'See' you on the other side.

With many thanks for your support,

Bill

Tuesday, April 25, 2017

Update on House and Senate Investigations

While driving to an appointment this afternoon, I was listening to all things considered on NPR. There was a brief story checking in on the progress or lack thereof of investigations into trump and Russian connections. I must admit that I have lost sight of the ball. I learned that I'm behind on a few concerns on this subject. I also learned that the basic premise for an independent prosecutor is being borne out. Big surprise.

On the stuff I missed front, I learned that Devin Nunes is under investigation by the House ethics committee. The issue under investigation is his 'alleged' mishandling of classified documents. I am embarrassed that I am 20 days behind on this one. On April 6th, Nunes announced that he was stepping aside from heading up the House Intelligence Committee's investigation into the whole Russian question. He announced his recusal shortly before (26 minutes to be exact) the ethics committee announced its investigation of Nunes. This, from the putz that answered "why would I" when asked if he would step aside by reporters on March 28th. As a reminder, the call for his recusal came after his secret meeting on White House grounds to receive information from an unnamed source about trump being wire tapped. Texas Republican K. Michael Conway will now lead the investigation as the top ranking Republican on the committee. We'll see how that moves along starting May 8th when the intel committee has scheduled a hearing in an attempt to restart the investigation. Former acting Attorney general, Sally Yates who was infamously fired by trump has been asked to testify along with former Director of National Intelligence for the Obama administration, Jame Clapper.

The NPR report also noted that the Senate Intelligence Committee's investigation is devolving into a partisan battle over what needs to be the focus of its investigation; trumps completely unsubstantiated claims about
allegedly being "wire tapped" by President Obama or the trump campaign's possible ties with Russia during the campaign. There are also reports that the Senate investigation is stagnating with no significant witnesses being interviewed in the committee's closed door hearings. The Senate Committee has not subpoenaed any documents, including, but not limited to, trump's tax returns for the last seven years.

Now it doesn't take a whole lot of brains to understand that, with a Republican administration and both houses of Congress being Republican, any results that clear trump in any way will be tainted by the perception of a white wash. As far as I'm concerned, that would not only be a perception, it would simply be the truth. As I have called for in previous posts, I will call for again, now, and will continue to do so until it happens, we need an independent prosecutor. Period. No ifs ands or buts. Enough of this stalling horse shit. Left or right, we know wrong.

Of course Congress is focused on keeping our government running, and only have three days left, as I write this late at night. I'll stay away from them for the remainder of this week, but starting next week I will resume my phone calls to key representatives, to demand an independent prosecutor. Below are the links for House and Senate representative's contact information. I urge you to do the same.

http://www.house.gov/representatives/

https://www.senate.gov/senators/contact/

http://www.npr.org/sections/thetwo-way/2017/04/25/525542524/yates-clapper-to-testify-in-open-house-hearing-on-russian-election-meddling

https://www.nytimes.com/2017/04/06/us/politics/devin-nunes-house-intelligence-committee-russia.html?_r=0

Monday, April 24, 2017

Funding Federal Agencies

Saturday, April 29th, is day 100 for trump. I'll go on record as seeing this first 100 day crap as completely arbitrary. Its like looking at a magazine that has as a headline, '432 ways to please your partner'. Where do they get those numbers, anyway. I could care less if it's his first day, his first 52 days or his first 1,000 days. Ooooops, I do care if it's his first 1,000 days, because I expect his crappy ass to be out of office by then and relegated to the dung heap of history.

Here is something that I would like to see on this magical arbitrary day; I'd like to see the federal government shut down. A nice defeat for trump in some way is what I'm aiming for.

Although the fiscal year starts on October 1st, for the federal government, many federal agencies run out of money to operate on April 28th. So what is happening here amounts to a referendum on trump's proposed budget. Even if it remains as is and passes through the House, there is no way in hell it would move through the Senate. The story is a familiar one. The senate requires a super majority of 60 votes for passage, which means six democratic senators need to vote for whatever budget comes their way.

If Senator Schumer does not like what he sees, he will lead a filibuster on the bill until it reads satisfactorily. I sincerely believe that McConnell does not have the balls to use the so called nuclear option a second time within a month and also to set up a precedent for the future with reference to either party having the ability to filibuster an appropriations bill.

Last week, during the Congressional recess, Chuck Schumer told reporters, “our Republican colleagues know that since they control the House, the Senate, and the White House that a shutdown would fall on their shoulders, and they don’t want it.” Ya think??1?! Schumer continued, by saying that “we want to make sure it’s a good budget that meets our principles, but so far, so good.”

For everyone who thought that the current loyal opposition (the Democrats) had no power to wield, think again. The following items will not have any place in this appropriations bill:

- $1.4 billion for trump's wall, not a penny
- the $18 billion in cuts to domestic programs to offset the increase in military spending that trump wants

Let's think this through a little more. Let's say that the House does move a bill to the Senate. Let's say that the bill is in a position that Democrats in the Senate will pass it on to trump. Game over! trump either signs it and therefore does not fund his initiatives or he doesn't sign it and the government shuts down. Of course, I'd prefer the first scenario, but I'll except the second one as well. I will be concerned for all of the federal employees that will suffer if our government shuts down. I will be concerned for all of the citizens in our country that will suffer from the services they need, but will not be available. But.......I'll know that this is what has to happen in order for these agencies to retain all of their employees and assist the citizenry of our country.

Something of great concern to me is public broadcasting. trump is looking to remove all funding for public broadcasting. In a previous post, I pointed out that public broadcasting costs each tax payer $1.85 per year......$1.85! Removing this important service from the budget amounts to an attempt to silence truthful reporting and quality family programming. This cannot be allowed to happen. Of course, science and arts must retain their funding as well.

As usual, I have made my phone calls to my representatives and to the leaders of both houses. Also as usual, I am providing links to look up contact information of representatives in both houses. Please take a few moments to find your Congressperson's phone number and call them. Calling your state's senators and the leaders of both houses will also keep the pressure on Congress to know what we expect this week's results to be. Back to work for Congress and back to work for us.

http://www.house.gov/representatives/

https://www.senate.gov/senators/contact/

https://www.theatlantic.com/politics/archive/2017/04/how-trumps-first-100-days-could-end-in-a-government-shutdown/523434/

Sunday, April 23, 2017

Analyzing trump's Statement on Earth Day

trump released a statement yesterday. Whewwwww, I bet ya that was a monumental effort for him as opposed to twitting (my new term for a trump tweet).

Now first of all, it is obvious that trump did not write this press release. Secondly, in this short statement, whoever wrote it didn't have the procedural integrity, the rigor if you will, to proof read it. If they did they would have realized that there is no such thing as a "ddministration". They would have caught their typo. And thirdly (that's a word related to "bigly"), cut me a frikkin' break!

"Rigorous science is critical to my administration's efforts to achieve the twin goals of economic growth and environmental protection. My ddministration is committed to advancing scientific research that leads to a better understanding of our environment and of environmental risks. As we do so, we should remember that rigorous science depends not on ideology, but on a spirit of honest inquiry and robust debate."

Look, if "Rigorous science is critical to [his] administration", then why would he cut funding to agencies that depend on rigorous scientific investigation? Why would he appoint Scott Pruitt to head up the EPA? Why would he attempt to dictate to various agencies to stop communicating with the press or each other? Why would he tell the national Institutes of health to not communicate with Congress?

The second part of this statement is infuriating. "..... a better understanding of our environment and of environmental risks". What does he mean by 'better' ........ different? Is he suggesting that research will all of the sudden start to find that our current carbon based energy fuels will be found to not cause 'environmental risks'? Sure sounds that way to me, but I could be reading these statements with a bias against trump and as someone who is clear about possible bias, I will admit that that is a possibility.

The last part of his statement just pisses me off. It sure sounds like he's lecturing. The real deal is, he needs to lecture himself. A well trained scientist does not bring ideology into her or his investigations. That is unless one considers the rigor of science and the design of studies that will yield studies free of biased results. But trumpy boy wouldn't get that. Nor would Devos or Pruitt. As far as the spirit of honest inquiry; what in hell does he think 'science' is. And what in hell does he think peer review and replication of studies is? Well since he doesn't know, I'll tell him, that is robust debate. Of course that debate requires that the participants are knowledgeable enough to have that debate.

In essence, whoever it was that authored this statement did nothing more than display their own ignorance and arrogance.

By the way, a quick look at estimates of marchers in four major American cities shows:

- D.C - 40,000
- Chicago - 40,000
- New York - 20,000
- Philly - 10,000

In just four of the 500 marches in our country, that totals 110,000. If, on the average, the remaining 496 marches in in the U.S. averaged 2,000 marches, those marches would represent 992,000. So, I think it's fair to estimate that throughout our country there were over a million attendees. If I assign an average attendance of 20.000 to a few other large cities like L.A., San Francisco, Boston and Seattle, I think it is still a conservative estimate to say that at least 1.2 million marched for science, our planet and against trump and his gang of idiots. Thanks to all.

http://www.nbcnews.com/science/science-news/march-science-demonstrators-say-they-re-real-patriots-n749686

http://www.sciencemag.org/news/2017/01/memo-freezing-nih-communications-congress-triggers-jitters

https://www.nytimes.com/2017/01/25/us/politics/some-agencies-told-to-halt-communications-as-trump-administration-moves-in.htm

http://resistancereport.com/news/attendance-numbers-march-science/

Saturday, April 22, 2017

There is No PLANet B

That's right folks, there is no plan......et B. The nearest possibly inhabitable planet is 12 light years away. for those of you that do not understand what a light year is, it is the distance that light travels in one of our years. And just to give you a better feel for how long it would take to get to this planet that might be inhabitable by our species, light travels at 186,282 miles per second. There are 60 seconds per minute, 60 minutes per hour, 24 hours per day and 365 days per year. This equals 5,874,589,152,000 miles (5.875 trillion). The fastest spacecraft speed ever recorded is 36,373 per hour which is the equivalent of 318,627,480 miles per year (if that speed could be sustained over long periods of time). In order for us, with current technology, to travel one light year it would take 18,437.17 years. Now multiply that by 12 and it would take us 221,246.04 earth years to reach this possibly, maybe, inhabitable planet. As of right now..........there is no plan B.

I saw this this sign, many times over, at Philadelphia's March for Science today. I also heard that there were 500 Marches for Science in our country and marches in other countries as well. Driving home from the march, this afternoon, I heard there were 17 such marches in Germany and the same sign was referenced as being at the march in Berlin. It only took me a few minutes to come up with the results presented above, which by the way was me applying science to a question raised by a placard at an event. I wonder if Scott Pruitt or Betsy Devos could have figured that out (I won't even ask about trump, the answer is obvious)?

As with other protests and marches I have attended, it was difficult, if not impossible to estimate the crowd size, but my guess is that the Philly march had about 5,000 participants. I'll check in with media reports. I will certainly be interested in how many marched in our country when all 500 events are added together. Also, as with other protests and marches I've been to, I have come away with renewed energy to continue resisting an administration that is dangerous to all of us in so many ways.

Some of the signs we brought were funny, some thought provoking, some decrying our current administration. At the gathering point, I saw two great geological signs, which I will share below. One pointed out the three different types of rocks, with the last one being igneous. I noted to the woman holding the sign that I first read the word as "ignorant" (you'll see). Another one is a little hard to see, but it reads "eat my schist" a type of metamorphic rock. Loved it.

We marched from City Hall down to Penn's Landing, about a fifteen block walk, straight down Market Street (the main east / west thoroughfare in Philadelphia). I saw all kinds of inspiring scenes. A woman with a green 'pussy' knit hat, children who were carrying signs and knew why they were there, a little bit of impromptu street theater involving trumpzilla beating down the earth with his small hands. One great sign that I didn't get a picture of said 'put the nuclear code in a science text book, trump et. al. will never find it'

When we got to Penn's landing, we listened to various speakers. One of those that spoke was a man that I have admired for years, from afar, on our local public radio stations, WHYY and WXPN, Derrick Pitts. Derrick is the Chief Astronomer and Planetarium Director for the Franklin Institute in Philly. He did not speak about anything technical, but rather, spoke to those of us that were gathered about the importance of science in our everyday lives. Our country's founders recognized the importance of science and therefore charged Congress with funding scientific research in Article I, section 8, line 8. As I noted a few days ago, I believe that many of our elected officials need to brush up on what is in our Constitution. Just as an aside, I want to point out that one of the public radio stations I mentioned, WXPN, broadcasts from one of those dangerous places where science is taught and performed, the University of Pennsylvania (U of P, U Penn or just plain old Penn).

There were many other speakers including the head of a group by the name of The Freethought Society. They were one of the main sponsors of today's march in Philadelphia. I am looking into their website at www.FtSociety.org . There were a couple of local politicians, a pediatrician / immunologist, a professor from Princeton. All in all, an inspirational day.

Friday, April 21, 2017

Turning sessions's Mouth on sessions

I really am amazed that an asshole who is the Attorney General and is from an area of land on the north American continent can shoot off his mouth when it appears that he clearly has no respect for the law.
If your not sure what I'm getting at, then read what jeff sessions said on a radio program this week:

"I really am amazed that a judge sitting on an island in the Pacific can issue an order that stops the president of the United States from what appears to be clearly his statutory and constitutional power."

I believe we will start to see sessions shooting off his mouth more often. And I expect him to equivocate and hedge his bet while at the same time insulting people left and right. It is not new for this southern hick to insult people. And by the way, I want to be clear immediately, there are hicks all over our country, so I am not insulting southerners or southern states, I am simply identifying what portion of our country this hick is from.

During Sessions's 1986 confirmation hearings for a position on the Federal Bench , an attorney in the Civil Rights Division in the Department of Justice, Gary Herbert, testified that he once told sessions that a judge had called a Caucasian lawyer a "disgrace to his race" because he represented African American clients. Sessions allegedly replied, "well maybe he is". sessions's response to this allegation during those hearings was:

“I understand that that statement has been made, and I recall a conversation in which that was mentioned and I may have -- I believe the statement was I had said ‘maybe he is,’ and that is really disturbing to me. I suppose -- I do not know why I would have said that, and I certainly do not believe that."

Then he tried to cover his ass and said the lawyer in question “[was] one of the finest lawyers in the country.”

Also during those hearings, 30 years ago, a long time assistant, Thomas Figures, an African American, reported that sessions repeatedly referred to him as "boy". This accusation ended up being a he said versus he said situation. sessions denied that he would ever call an African American adult male "boy". I've said it in other instances and I'll say it here. I believe Figures's allegations. The reason I believe it, is because where there is smoke, there is fire. Figures had nothing to gain and gained nothing. He obviously had no other motive than to relate how he was treated by sessions.

My purpose for reviewing the above testimony from 1986 is to use the public record to expose sessions for who he truly is. These behaviors were glimpses into sessions when he was not on guard regarding his public persona; his true self if you will.

As far as my comment on sessions's equivocating, just examine this phrase from his statement at the beginning of this post; "from what appears to be clearly". This is the statement of a person who is hedging his bet, who is not sure about what he is saying. If sessions is secure in what he said, then why didn't he take this his case to the Supreme Court? He didn't appeal to the Supreme Court before Gorsuch and he hasn't since Gorsuch was seated on its bench. In essence, sessions is full of shit and is trying to make his case on a partisan radio program instead of the highest court in our country.

http://www.npr.org/sections/thetwo-way/2017/04/21/525050208/hawaii-tells-jeff-sessions-have-some-respect

http://abcnews.go.com/Politics/jeff-sessions-1986-confirmation-hearing-tinged-allegations-racism/story?id=43645768

Concerns About Normalization (But Not Fatigue)

*** As is the case more often than I like, this post is late. Again, please accept my apology ***

Today, as I start to write, I find myself at a loss for something to write about. Congress is on recess. I've discussed this weekend's March for Science on Earth Day. I've caught up on trump's stupidity. I'm down to wondering what the hell happened to goebbels-conway, you know goebbels-bannon's twin sister. Imagine my delight at being handed the opportunity to have some fun when I did a little digging around in google. Turns out that the paparazzi (Italian, for flying rats) are stalking trump's flying monkeys. Hold it, does this mean that if someone throws water on trump, he'll melt.

The Washington Post reports that "top aides, including [k]ellyanne [c]onway, [s]ean [s]picer, [j]ared [k]ushner and [i]vanka [t]rump, are routinely stalked by the paparazzi". The article also notes that this is "not normal".

https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/the-fix/wp/2017/04/19/kellyanne-conway-and-sean-spicer-are-getting-stalked-by-the-paparazzi/?utm_term=.c2756520dee6

You bet it's not normal, but I guess that's the price one pays when one wants to be famous. Digging a little deeper, I can see where this may very well be more of trump's attempts at distraction and misdirection; 'I want you all to go out there and be pretty for the press, so they don't watch what we're really doing'.

It also occurs to me that those that live by the sword will also die by the sword. Paparazzi are the epitome of "fake news". trump and the goebbels twins, along with puppet-spicer, have become the largest purveyors of fake news since The National Enquirer. It is only fitting that these schmucks are now being hounded by the paprazzi. They have asked for it, they've earned it and they deserve it.

Speaking of people that "deserve it"............Bill O'Reilly! I have zero sympathy for this guy. Where there's smoke, there is fire. I have no doubts in my heart that O'Reilly is as guilty as sin. He's getting off scot free. He's got all the money he needs to never do another thing. His reputation is besmirched, oh well, he's the one that besmirched it. And just remember that approximately two weeks ago trumpy boy was singing O'Reilly's praises. Cut from the same cloth? The grabber cloth.

The real issue, for me, is that after 155 posts, I'm scrambling today. I am concerned that trump's Modus Operandi is becoming the norm. I am not fatigued, I know that. I see trump moving towards the middle and that frightens me. I am concerned that real news outlets (as opposed to fake ones) will cover trump as though he is a normal administrator. I am concerned that people will lose focus on the core issue with trump.
In light of my concern, I am going to keep repeating what I have said in previous postings. trump has no respect for the laws of our country. he is a narcissistic and a sociopath. his only agenda is to perform in ways that ultimately serve to enrich him and to feed his ego. Being a narcissist and a sociopath a feeding his ego are not crimes, but they lead him to commit crimes.

We already know that he is in direct violation of the nepotism law that was written in the late 1960's (see post Nepotism 12/29/16). So there is an impeachable offense right there. he can't just save himself, once charged, by saying 'oooooops, i'll fire jivanka right away'. The crime has already been committed. If someone robbed a bank and then said 'oooooops, I'll give the money back right away', do ya really think that would save the person from serving time in jail?

We know that we need to push for a special prosecutor who would be able to subpoena trump's tax returns, which would tell us if he is disregarding the emoluments clause in the Constitution, by not divesting himself of all of his business interests. We know that he is being sued, in a civil suit, for inciting violence in March of 2016 at a campaign rally. We need to push the attorney general of Kentucky to file criminal charges regarding that incident, because we know that there are laws in Kentucky that speak directly to his violence provoking behavior and that one of those persons incited to be violent admits that trump urged him to assault a protester (see trump Isn't Smart Enough to Say Something That Stupid! 4/17/17 and Inciting Violence 4/5/17).

We know that we must protest and keep our energy up, in order to flip both houses of Congress, who will then impeach and remove trump from office. We know that we have to fight for a Constitutional amendments to abolish the Electoral College and to impose term limits on Congress.

So.......we have our work cut out for us and the work is in these areas which we cannot loose sight of just because trump moves to the middle in an attempt to save his ass. As the Washington Post article reads, this is "not normal".

Wednesday, April 19, 2017

What Happens When You Cry Wolf?

An official photograph dated April 15 and posted by the Navy shows the aircraft carrier USS Carl Vinson in an Indonesian strait thousands of miles south of North Korea.
MC2 Sean M. Castellano/U.S. Navy

One of my earliest lessons in life was the story about the boy that cried wolf. You know ........ the one about the boy that wanted attention so he screamed that there was a wolf coming after him, and his parrents and others in the village came to his rescue, only to find that there was no wolf. The boy continued to do this because he saw that it got him the attention he was looking for, every time. Well, almost every time. There was that instance where he cried wolf and nobody came, because they were tired of his bull shit (ok, I wasn't taught that people were tired of his "bull shit", they were tired of his lying). And of course that's when the wolf was really there.

On April 8th, The U.S. Pacific Command announced that the aircraft carrier USS Carl Vinson and its strike group had its visit to Australia cancelled and were ordered to "sail north and report on station to the Western Pacific Ocean." Of course, little lord trumpy boy shot off his mouth and 'cried wolf' saying , "We are sending an armada, very powerful".

Here we are, past what was being touted as a flash point on North Korea's important holiday, Founder's Day, and the only reason it was a flash point was because d.j[ackass] thought he was being 'cute' by using the media to fake out the world. All media outlets ran this story for their own purposes, whether that was to be a cheer leader, to sound a note of caution or to simply report the 'news'. So, who's guilty of putting fake news out there? trump and the U.S. Navy (most likely based on orders from trump), that's who.

So what's the problem with that Bill? trump was just trying to confuse the North Koreans. You know........if you think that the North Koreans were fooled, you simply don't know how surveillance works. North Korea has air craft, don't ya think. They are human's just like anyone else on the planet. There are dumb North Koreans and smart North Koreans and all kinds of intelligence levels in between, just like all other humans. They knew those ships weren't off the coast of the Korean Peninsula

The problem with crying wolf in international affairs is the same problem that the boy that cried wolf experienced. Soon, some of the press won't send his message. Belligerent dictators will stop feeling threatened and act out more boldly. If trump wants to not telegraph his punches, he needs to simply shut up.

Now it's personal. trump is playing fast and loose with my security, my safety. If he thinks that his dumb ass 'art of the deal' crap is going to keep me safe, he's even dumber than i thought. I would say he's as dumb as a rock, but i don't want to insult the rock.

http://www.npr.org/sections/thetwo-way/2017/04/18/524560773/that-armada-heading-to-north-korea-actually-it-sailed-south

Tuesday, April 18, 2017

March For Science on Earth Day

So far, it has been a beautiful spring where I live. Although I have not always actively observed or celebrated Earth Day, I have always been aware of it. It is as much an indicator of spring to me as daffodils. When I was a young 14 year old boy, I did celebrate the first Earth day. I was asked, along with another of my school mates to go to a local elementary school and perform some music of our choosing, for the students outside. We both were 'folk musicians'. I don't remember much about the day, but I have a picture in my mind of what the school looked like and the play ground where we performed. I also remember part of one of the songs we sang, it was called "Garbage". The chorus was a 'call and response', and it went something like this:

Garbage

They're filling our seas with Garbage

Gabage

Garbage

And so on. I have fond memories of that day, and sing that refrain to myself quite often.

Yo Bill, why are bringing this up? Well, this Saturday, April 22nd is Earth Day and the theme is something that also has always been close to my heart.........science. I still remember making a 'rocket ship' in 1st grade in 1961, when our space program was at the beginning of the Mercury program. We brought in round Quaker Oats containers, tin cans, frozen orange juice concentrate containers and aluminum foil. You can see how we were building a cool rocket (at least we thought so). And so my love for science began.

As I started to look up various celebrations that will be held on Sunday, I found that the web site for the activities in D.C said something that I firmly believe and agree with; "science serves us all". Does trump even have a clue that he couldn't twit tweet without science? Does he understand that he couldn't bomb people without science? What would d.j[ackass] do if he couldn't fly to Florida every weekend to play golf (on our dime)? Flying, of course, is a result of science. Where would our culture be without science? What came before science? The dark ages, if I recall correctly. Why, even the Constitution charges Congress with the responsibility "[t]o promote the Progress of Science", by funding it:

Section 8 - Powers of Congress

The Congress shall have Power To lay and collect Taxes, Duties, Imposts and Excises, to pay the Debts and provide for the common Defence and general Welfare of the United States; but all Duties, Imposts and Excises shall be uniform throughout the United States;

To promote the Progress of Science and useful Arts, by securing for limited Times to

Authors and Inventors the exclusive Right to their respective Writings and Discoveries

Oooooops, looks like some elected officials failed to read the Constitution.

Here's what's going on in our nation's capitol on Saturday:

This Earth Day, April 22, Earth Day Network and the March for Science are co-organizing a rally and teach-in on the National Mall in Washington, D.C. The day’s program will include speeches and trainings with scientists and civic organizers, musical performances, and a march through the streets of Washington, D.C. The crowd will gather at 8:00am, and the teach-in will begin at 09:00am.

This Earth Day, join the effort to defend the vital public service role science plays in our communities and our world.

http://www.earthday.org/marchforscience/?gclid=Cj0KEQjw8tbHBRC6rLS024qYjtEBEiQA7wIDecr-3jvRkGag7fDPVp-HXq2sRHUAycXiIUcZqy289W8aAhGh8P8HAQ

In Philadelphia:

Philadelphia is home to more than 530,000 STEM jobs, a wealth of academic institutions that graduate more than 37,000 STEM majors annually and a research and development machine which was awarded more than $1 billion in NIH funding in the past 5 years. While many Philadelphians appreciate the vital role that science plays in our everyday lives, recent shifts in the public discourse have shown that we need to better communicate our methods and findings to our communities. That is why this year on Saturday, April 22, Philadelphia will join cities from across the world in a March for Science.
 
The nationwide March for Science movement has five overarching goals: humanize science, support the scientific process and scientists, advocate for accessible and inclusive science, partner with the public, and enable the use of science to improve society. Each of these values speaks to Philadelphia’s own scientific community and highlights some unique challenges that our region faces.

http://sciencemarchphl.strikingly.com/

NYC:

MARCH FOR SCIENCE NYC

SCIENCE.COMMUNITY. UNIFICATION.

March for Science NYC is a celebration of our love of science. From little things we take for granted - medicines, refrigeration, GPS, sports statistics, and clean water - to the astonishing complexity of this planet and its creatures, science is everywhere and impacts everyone. As scientists and science enthusiasts, our insatiable curiosity, fierce dedication, and dogged persistence has helped guide us to incredible innovations and uncover great knowledge that has shaped every part of our daily lives.

http://www.marchforscience.nyc/the-route/

Chicago:

APRIL 22, 2017, 10:00AM

Join us in Chicago to take a stand for science.

MARCH
11:00AM - 12:00PM
March from Rally point to Museum Campus.
Enter at Congress Pkwy.
Please follow approved route to reduce bottlenecks and security risks.

EXPO
12:00PM - 3:00PM
Take your next step in supporting science in Chicago at the March.
Organizations to be announced the week of April 17th.