I love Stan Lee. He is my all-time favorite celebrity. Stan's not only inspired my aspirations for writing thanks to his co-creation of most Marvel Super Heroes, but he's also my personal hero because of his individual personality. In his interviews he always comes off as funny, sweet, humble, thoughtful, and so in love with his fans as well as life.
Contrast that with most celebrities who come off as vapid, greedy, self-important, irrational, and couldn't be bothered with their admirers while complaining despite their 1% lifestyle. I hope my writing inspires people the way Stan's comics did for me. Yet I hope to keep my organic human decency should it ever come to success as Stan has. That's why this story tears me up inside. Since his wife Joan died in 2017, Stan has been posting strange videos on social media. Some are of him making specific legal claims about his creative property rights. While another even saw him specify a Mr. Keya Morgan as the main person to contact as Stan's business manager though he actually has many means of getting in touch. Then a court doc leaked out of nowhere wherein there was a narrative that detailing his rocky relationship with his daughter JC. It seems she's a spoiled brat (68 years young) still mooching off of her successful father. The document even claimed that JC attacked Stan and Joan during an argument in 2014. Stan didn't even press charges. He only wishes to be able to keep her from poking her head into his finances and his businesses while still charitably giving her an allowance. You'd think this alone was the story, but it gets even more messed up. Stan made another vid in which he said that this document wasn't true. Though he signed and notarized it himself, he says that people are always having him sign stuff on blind faith because of his deteriorating vision. It's gotten to the point that Stan says he'll sue people who spread such allegations. That backed me right the hell off from covering this. I'm already deathly allergic to celebrity gossip for commentary material. Another part of me wanted to trust Grand Daddy Stan and just as faithfully believe this awful story was all a fake nightmare to wake from. Then doubt struck again. Commenters pointed out that Keya Morgan, previously mentioned business manager and former associate of JC, could be in on this and may be forcing Stan to make the videos from off screen to refute the claims. Whether someone's physically harassing him or coercing him into signing fake documents for possible legal or financial gain... one thing was for sure: someone was screwing with Stan Lee. Props to Youtuber, The Quartering, for commentating on this story as it developed through The Associated Press and The Hollywood Reporter. He suggested conservatorship for Stan. This is a status of legal guardianship for the elderly so as to help them make better informed personal and financial decisions away from whatever malicious influences could be stalking their life. Director and comic book podcaster Keven Smith offered to take up this position on Twitter with no response from Stan. By February of 2018, Stan seemed to be pushing back when he fired his bodyguard and nurse for unknown reasons (possibly connected players?). He also sued his old company POW! Entertainment for unauthorized use of his likeness (or was the mysterious interloper's manipulation driving this?). The bit of concrete control that Stan's regained has been in making it clear that his Facebook and other social media profiles are all 'bots controlled by different parties on his own Twitter vid that he confirmed was his only online platform. Yet things came to a horrifying head when 2 armed men approached Lee's home demanding money before the police were called. Were these maniacs random thieves? Or agents of Stan's enemies from POW!? The outpouring of online support for Stan grew thanks to people like The Quartering and Kevin Smith raising awareness. It may have eventually caused some anonymous fans to request that an investigation to get launched. For eventually detectives did come to Stan's home for a welfare check. That business manager, Keya Morgan, saw this and called the police, claiming the detectives were new burglars. He even did it twice when this was proven not to be the case. Morgan was arrested for a false police call. Immediately a restraining order on Keya Morgan was released. Apparently this scum bag is the one who's been pulling the strings. He began work for Stan after Joan died and has been using Stan's limited hearing and eyesight to convince him to be isolated from friends, family, and concerned fan contact so as to advance his own financial and legal status. How well connected is he to POW! or JC? We won't be sure until further investigation and court proceedings clear this up. Thankfully it seems that Stan is for now out of harm's way. I didn't contrast Stan's agreeable friendliness to Hollywood shallowness out of some drummed up sense of virile against ol' Tinsel Town. I may detest a singular star's personality or political leanings, but I always separate the artists from their art. Yet it's stories like this and the systemic #MeToo claims (both real and fake) that demonstrates to me that L.A. is a lot like how it's described in Netflix's Bojack Horseman show: a real pretty town on top of a tar pit that drags you down. The culture there is all about wealth, fame, and self-satisfaction rather than common ethics. Stan's had enough of people telling him what to do. But it's my opinion that his current environment is too toxic for a nice guy like him to be caught up in. I just want Stan to be at peace. I once met Stan at a con. I nervously asked for writing advice. He said that I should write what makes me happy and that there are surely enough people out there that they'll share my preferences. So, Stan... as a fan, as a friend... I really hope you you do what makes you happy now. Your fans are definitely behind you. 'Nuff said. Sources: "STAN LEE IS BEING ABUSED AND NEEDS HELP." The Quartering. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3gGOIFLmVe4&t=709s&index=9&list=WL April 10, 2018. "STAN LEE IS PISSED & YOUTUBE THROTTLES MY VIDEO." The Quartering. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=68G1ZlqNUhU&index=9&list=WL April 14, 2018. "STAN LEE SITUATION GETS WEIRDER & 1 BILLION DOLLAR LAWSUIT." The Quartering. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xqXHqR8Wxx8&list=WL&index=9 May 18, 2018. "STAN LEE CONFRONTED BY 2 ARMED MEN AT HOME." The Quartering. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8rvkIKY9ROQ&index=9&list=WL June 1, 2018. "ARREST MADE & STAN LEE ELDER ABUSE INVESTIGATION LAUNCHES." The Quartering. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=W3HomAOgk04&t=0s&list=PLRinK6u2ofy4imTIqr01En1NuEZNJK1BC&index=2 June 13, 2018. "CHILLING DETAILS OF STAN LEE'S RESTRAINING ORDER (POLICE REPORT)." The Quartering. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=78xGXQzkmgc&index=9&list=WL June 14, 2018 Baum, Gary. "Stan Lee Needs a Hero: Elder Abuse Claims and a Battle Over the Aging Marvel Creator." https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/features/stan-lee-needs-a-hero-elder-abuse-claims-a-battle-aging-marvel-creator-1101229 April 10, 2018 Dalton, Andrew. "Police investigate elder abuse of Marvel Comics’ Stan Lee." https://apnews.com/d118c27dc04b49978bf8920ed1126198 June 14, 2018. Reid, David. "Marvel Comics legend Stan Lee files $1 billion suit over theft of image rights." https://www.cnbc.com/2018/05/16/marvel-comics-legend-stan-lee-files-1-billion-suit-over-theft-of-image-rights.html May 16, 2018.
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Once upon a time there were two lil boys named Donnie and Kim. Both liked to play with sharp edged blocks on their play mats. Don heard that Kim played rough with the blocks on his play mat. Don began to yell at Kim, threatening him, telling him to give up his blocks or he'd throw his own at the neighbor. This resulted in a stand-off that had their friends on each play mat worried.
Both play mats had scuffles in the past. No one from either play mat has visited the other in a friendly manner since then. This is what made it all the more strange when Don crawled over to politely discuss this with Kim instead of escalate further. It was the first time anyone from Don's mat visited Kim's to deliberate on a deal that would prevent nuclear war. Wait... these aren't little tantrum prone boys arguing over blocks. These are tantrum prone men arguing over nukes! Uh... can we still give them a time out? Much as I wanted to, I couldn't deflate this tense story into a silly children's allegory. Yet my point remains. How long can a agreement between these man-children last? Just months before, Trump was straight up threatening to annihilate North Korea. Now he wants to get diplomatic? Don't get me wrong. I prefer this far more than the radioactive alternative. Yet the results of their summit have me feeling Chex mixed at most. Trump went in with presumptuous ambitions: total de-nuclearization of Korea, or a formal end to the Korean war that's still technically on though it's not a hot war. The outcome was promising for future diplomacy- a small, but earnest 4 paragraph agreement has been signed by both big boys wherein Trump agrees to end naval war games on Korea's coast while Kim agrees to denuke his peninsula with precise details on when/ how this will be done that Don says his team will straighten out next week while committing to releasing U.S. soldiers MIA from the war. Yet it's too early for anyone to say the President has achieved peace with Korea... including the President himself. I'd actually pat Trump on the back for this one if he wasn't already smugly doing it himself in acting like the nuclear threat is all over all ready. We've yet to receive info on when the nukes are going away. The most we got out of this accord was an agreement to continue relations. No peace treaty has been agreed on, North Korea has yet to enact its pinky promise. Why can't I get positive? Because North Korea made a similar agreement in 1994 and we're still trying to make them keep the same promise today. Because why would they? Total de-nuclearization was tried by Syria's Gadaffi. How'd that work out? Oh yeah. We toppled him. Our war loving Secretary of Defense John Bolton cited the 'Syrian model' publicly before the talks to sabotage them. Trump shut him down, but it reveals why he's ultimately not getting everything he wants out of this. I don't care how good he thinks he is at deals. The incentives don't line up. The historical revisionism is annoying too. Our Prez later tweeted: "Before taking office people were assuming that we were going to war with North Korea. President Obama said that North Korea was our biggest and most dangerous problem. No longer- sleep well tonight!" I'd like to remind one of "the all time great memories" that he's the one that engaged in direct threats via the same Twitter account. In a moment of accidental honesty Trump admitted that if the deal derails he'll just blame others to save the political brownie points he's showing off for 2020. I mean, at least wait until the second date until you start claiming 3rd base on a perfect peace deal, dude. Yet I have to admit, it's still a positive step we're making. I most like that Trump immediately moved war ships away from North Korea's coast to cease naval exercises. Can you imagine if their ships ran practice drills on California's coast? We'd flash fry them in a second! When we do offensive power moves it's cool because America is the super cop of the world and every other nation is either a subservient side kick or a dastardly villain that better not even attempt to match our powerful might even for defensive purposes or we'll fuck 'em up! War thirsty creeps from both sides of the aisle and the media's spectrum harps the most on this, saying Trump is giving up too much. As if this visible gesture of backing off makes us look weak. Man, who cares? Anything to prevent war. Why are his opponents so hopeful he'll fail? I know. It's so neocons can bank on the military industrial complex coin that their lobbyists will shell out if we kick off our 9th god damn war on our plate while Dems (some of whom no doubt hold this motive too) want to #resist from the right so they can actually win elections again- poor saps. Hell, Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said we'd restart the war games if North Korea doesn't hold up its end. Rachel Maddow even went as far as to connect Trump's positive rhetoric in talking to Kim Jong Un as bowing to his puppet masters in Russia. We support 73% of the world's dictatorships. Both Trump and Obama have been polite to brutal tyrants from all over- both ally and enemy. And you're mad he's not spitting in Kim's face during a deal to prevent mushroom clouds? Please do me a favor, Rachel: shut... up. So let's not get ahead of ourselves. It was a good first step, but that's all it was- a first step. We still got a long way to go before we can say Trump has struck out or hit a homerun. He got to the plate without fumbling the bat. Let's calm down and see how this plays out. Michael Reagan, son of the Gipper, has criticized the Dems that are claiming that the deal should be working already though it's yet to actually ferment. Reagan says his dad didn't settle things with Russia immediately. It took time before he got Mr. Gorbachev to tear down that wall. I agree with Gipper Jr., which is why I want both sides to stop either acting like it's time to celebrate or boo these efforts. By the way, baby Reagan: probably shouldn't be using your column here to claim Fox News is #1 (wrong) just because they're a little more upbeat than Meadow's war starved bunch. Hell, Fox's own Shep Smith even said that this deal has yet to yield anything of substance. Just because you sniff the President's farts all the time doesn't always make you right. Neither does flinging poo constantly either. Let the man-children talk before sticking to a final verdict. I'm cautiously optimistic too as I see how this plays out. Hope these kids continue to play nice. I so wish that it was only sharp blocks that they'd throw at each other and not planet barbecuing missiles. This would be a lot cuter and less terrifying then. Sources: "Deranged Maddow Conspiracy-Mongers Over Trump-Kim Summit." Secular Talk. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jEJAouV9Dm8&list=PLRinK6u2ofy4imTIqr01En1NuEZNJK1BC&index=7 June 14, 2018. "Stunning Trump Idiocy as North Korea Claims All US Sanctions Being Lifted." David Pakman Show. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-t4IDwURU8A&list=PLRinK6u2ofy4imTIqr01En1NuEZNJK1BC&index=4 June 13, 2018. Anapol, Avery. "Shep Smith: Trump gave Kim everything he wanted, and got nothing in return." http://thehill.com/homenews/media/391911-shep-smith-trump-gave-kim-everything-he-wanted-and-got-nothing-in-return?0 June 12, 2018. Barrett, Brian. "ALL THE TIMES NORTH KOREA PROMISED TO DENUCLEARIZE." https://www.wired.com/story/north-korea-summit-denuclearize-history/ June 12, 2018. Elliot, Josh K. "Why Trump can’t use the ‘Libya model’ to oust Kim Jong Un." https://globalnews.ca/news/4217770/libya-model-north-korea-kim-jong-un-muammar-gaddafi-denuclearization/ May 18, 2018. Mcardle, Mairead. "Senate Democrats List Demands for North Korea Deal." https://www.nationalreview.com/news/north-korea-summit-democrats-list-demands/ June 4, 2018. Miller, Zeke, Catherine Lucey, Josh Lederman, and Foster Klug. "Trump, Kim Open Momentous Summit." The Associated Press. June 12, 2018. Miller, Zeke, Catherine Lucey, Josher Lederman, and Foster Klug. "The Trump Sees 'New Future' For North Korea." The Associated Press. June 13, 2018. Miller, Zeke and Catherine Lucey. "Trump Lusting For Praise on North Korea Deal." The Associated Press. June 17, 2018. Pennington, Matthew and Josh Lederman. "Trump Claim Raises Eyebrows." The Associated Press. June 14, 2018. Reagan, Michael. "Why Fox News is No. 1." The Lima News. June 17, 2018 Here's a school shooting story with a positive spin. The authorities actually took successful measures in preventing it- and it was in my own home town of Lima, Ohio! On Wednesday night, four kids from Elida High School told the Sheriff's Office that their friend Tristan Ascura advised them not to go to school on September 1st, as he planned to shoot it up. After Detective Ryan Ream was called in to interview the kids he figured out that their stories matched. So Ascura was then promptly taken into custody and charged with inducing a panic.
The police also confiscated an AR-15 rifle that was found in the teenager's home. It had 500 rounds of ammo as well over the counter modifications (the details of which were not elaborated on in the paper). Curiously, one article on the front page went into the specifics regarding the weapon's legal status. As a semi-auto, the AR-15 doesn't require a special permit to be owned in Ohio as long as its buyer is over 18 and can pass a background check. The article went out of its way to note the AR-15 is not a fully automatic assault weapon while making this distinction. This was to prevent people from assuming it should be illegal. They actually are legal in Ohio as long as one earns a permit. Curiously, it's also noted that with modifications it could fire at a rate of 700-800 rounds a minute, which would make it closer to an automatic. Yet it wasn't specified if the previously mentioned modifications Ascura owned were able to make this gun a virtual automatic. Did he have bump stocks? Mere scopes? Perhaps they're holding back details until a trial begins. But it'd be helpful to the gun conversation to know so we can discuss if it's right to have such mods that make faster shooting weapons easier to access for those without permits. Let's be skeptical in a different part of the story now. Though the teenager's stories do match, is it possible that this was a coordinated character assassination on this guy? Teens can be messed up when it comes to personal drama. This isn't to dismiss this case, nor the bravery of speaking out once they heard about this, but rather to open up conversational possibilities for what may come up for the court date. I'm just glad the police did something about this guy. Compare this to how the FBI responded to an internet post by Nikolas Cruz when he wrote that he planned to become a professional school shooter only to have one measly interview with him before he (gasp) committed the crime advertised. Maybe confiscating his weapon would have been the safer move. I'm proud of my community's law enforcement for making the right decision here. A lot of people have been preserved thanks to these actions. We avoided another horrible crisis. I only wish this were the norm for every town. I leave you with this nuanced quote by the Sheriff Office's own Lt. Andre McConnahea that touches on gun regulatory common sense that's been long missing in discussing massacre prevention versus gun ownership rights. "The Allen County Sheriff's Office believes in the Second Amendment and the rights of responsible gun owners to own fire-arms and ammunition. This suspect allegedly made threats against a school and therefore isn't a responsible gun owner anymore. That's why he was arrested and faces charges." Sources: Brennan, Christoper. "Nikolas Cruz said he wanted to be 'professional school shooter' to YouTube blogger months ago." http://www.nydailynews.com/news/national/fbi-warned-cruz-professional-school-shooter-plans-months-article-1.3822163 February 15, 2018. Deroos, Dan. "Are automatic weapons legal in Ohio?" http://www.cleveland19.com/story/36519447/are-automatic-weapons-legal-in-ohio October 4, 2017 Reynolds, Bryan. "Popular Rifle Easy to Buy and Modify." The Lima News. Friday June 8, 2018. Reynolds, Bryan. "Teens Called Heroes For Early Warning." The Lima News. Friday June 8, 2018. The fake news narrative that the establishment media will feed you: Putin's Russia sabotaged the 2016 election in favor of Trump by revealing Clinton's corrupt primary favoritism by the DNC against Bernie Sanders to make her look bad before squaring off in the general wherein the Ruskie's also electronically stuffed ballot boxes or made social media troll bots to create online propaganda. Ergo, our leader is now Russia's puppet. Let's investigate further and hopefully push a war with them.
The truth: The Russian investigation has yet to concretely prove that the country is the de-facto source of the leak- although one article tries like the dickens to fill in the blanks through speculation on some meetings with Russian reps in Trump Tower, which the journalist should possibly stop and consider may not have reached a solid deal by the end. Non-government sponsored hackers are still a thing too. This not is to say the Russian investigation is a total red herring. Its rabbit hole has led to findings more complex than the false flag that is Putin simply controlling the President. It seems Russian mobsters tried to interfere through financial dealings to initiate the troll bots possibly in exchange for favors once in power. Thus far, Trump has yet to visibly create policy that affects Russia positively in anyway- even their mafia. There have been multiple pressings on Russian territory, by land, (Ukraine sanctions) by sea (U.S. naval ships impeding on their Black Sea) or by air (straight up bombing near their Syrian bases). Who has Trump actually been illegally influenced by to treat sweetly? Israel, Saudi Arabia, and various other states of the Gulf region to name a few. I always go into how he cuddles with these guys, whether its establishing our embassy in Jerusalem to favor the Israeli government as the 'true' land owners who'd rather murder innocent Palestinian protesters than concession for peace. Let's not forget the President giving bomb happy Saudi Arabia a massive weapons deal. Armed with their new toys the Saudi government continued their genocide of civilians in Yemen. While the U.S. has gone easy on our allies that happen to be objective war criminals in the past, the level of love Trump has shown is through the roof in comparison. Why is this? Because their governments have actually been unethically influencing Don from the start. According to The New York Times, Don Jr. met with George Nader an emissary for Saudi Arabia and the UAE (United Arab Emirates) along with Joel Zamel (an Israeli specialist in social media manipulations) months before the election to discuss ways they can help Junior's dad get in power by way of a program in which fake accounts could promote the candidate online- similarly to how the Russians have been accused. This cabal of foreign interest was even plain before this info came out. Trump Son-in-law Jared Kushner got $30 million from a Israeli bank. Trump registered 8 new business in Saudi Arabia whilst he criticized Hillary for her financial connections to the same eastern nation in her Clinton Foundation, calling it "pay to play" himself. Nader was recorded saying that Trump could fill in the power vacuum left by Obama in the middle east- basically to give them every advantage in overtaking their rivals in the realm of weapons and land ownership. Let's take a deep breath... So organizing a fake profile farm that's pro-Trump online isn't technically the main reason the big guy won. There are a multitude of facets that led to his victory: fake populism, his acting like an establishment outsider, and our backward electoral college system. The main issue is the same one he raised in relation to Clinton: quid pro quo. The exchanging of money to influence our leaders from within our country is bad enough. Now foreign powers think that our Democracy is for sale? I don't care if they are our allies. This is still an illegal practice that Clinton herself engaged in. Lock them BOTH up, preferably in the same cell. That'd be an entertaining cage fight. Unfortunately we may not be able to use this evidence effectively. Pay to play is notoriously hard to prove in a court of law. While it's obvious that these eastern powers bought Trump's favors, it's still unclear yet if the social media program was followed through with. Still, the proof of financial collusion is obvious based on the money Kushner got from Israel and the businesses Trump put in Saudi Arabia alone- never mind the meetings proposing illegal, alien influence. In the end, let's all agree to stop rushing to call Trump Russia's puppet. He's clearly under the influence of middle eastern interests meant to enlist America as muscle against competing countries and other political enemies. Let me be clear: this doesn't mean we should go to war with these countries instead. We have enough on our plate that would be better left cleared off while we're already close enough to a falsely premised one with Russia. Just keep information like this in mind during the anticipated 2020 election. A vote for Trump is a vote for displacing power in the east in the direction of these genocidal bastards who are allowed to get away with it thanks to the funny looking puppet that they've handily purchased. Sources: "The Water Is Rising In Trump's Swamp." Secular Talk. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nfCryCqGZ6I&list=WL&index=2&t=0s May 21, 2018. "Trump says donations to Clinton Foundation amounted to ‘pay for play.’" Chicago Tribune. http://www.chicagotribune.com/88475835-132.html 2018. Chalfant, Morgan. "Democrats step up calls that Russian hack was act of war." http://thehill.com/policy/cybersecurity/325606-democrats-step-up-calls-that-russian-hack-was-act-of-war March 26, 2017. Mazzetti, Mark, Ronen Bergman, & David D. Kirkpatrick. "Trump Jr. and Other Aides Met With Gulf Emissary Offering Help to Win Election." https://www.nytimes.com/2018/05/19/us/politics/trump-jr-saudi-uae-nader-prince-zamel.html May 19, 2018. Neuhauser, Alan. "Trump Had Ties to Russian Mob Figures: Testimony." https://www.usnews.com/news/national-news/articles/2018-01-18/trump-had-ties-to-russian-mob-figures-fusion-gps-founder-testifies January 18, 2018. Paton, Callum. "JARED KUSHNER’S FAMILY BUSINESS GOT $30 MILLION FROM ISRAELI FIRM AHEAD OF TRUMP VISIT." http://www.newsweek.com/jared-kushners-family-business-got-30-million-israeli-firm-ahead-trump-visit-773703 January 8, 2018. Prokop, Andrew. "The hacked emails at the center of Mueller’s Russia investigation, explained." https://www.vox.com/policy-and-politics/2018/4/2/17164266/trump-russia-mueller-email-hackings-dnc-clinton April 2, 2018. Savransky, Rebecca. "Trump registered eight companies in Saudi Arabia during campaign: report." http://thehill.com/blogs/blog-briefing-room/news/306990-trump-appeared-to-register-eight-companies-in-saudi-arabia November 21, 2016. Sharkov, Damien. "U.S. NAVY SENDS TWO WARSHIPS TO BLACK SEA, RISKING RUSSIA’S ANGER." http://www.newsweek.com/us-navy-sends-two-warships-black-sea-risking-russias-anger-814785 February 21, 2018. Tamkin, Emily & Robbie Gramer. "Will the Real Trump Russia Policy Please Stand Up?" http://foreignpolicy.com/2018/04/02/will-the-real-trump-russia-policy-please-stand-up-putin-meeting/ April 2, 2018. Stewart, Emily. "Donald Trump Jr. and Trump aides were reportedly open to foreign help in 2016 election beyond Russia." https://www.vox.com/policy-and-politics/2018/5/19/17372344/donald-trump-jr-saudi-arabia-russia-meeting May 19, 2018. Sitting on Capital Hill is the often revived farm bill, legislation that works to help U.S. farmers find social security through work hours/ job training requirements in order for our struggling agrarian contributors to have incentives for food stamps and financial subsidiary assistance. I call it 'often revived' because it gets a tune-up two times every decade that sees it get updates on its level of requirements- mostly rethinking budgetary details while making the number of work hours needed to receive benefits go up so as to have enough funds to help those who meet such standards like disabled or senior farmers. It's complicated, maybe flawed, but can be tinkered with to ultimately assist this nation's possibly most underrated work force.
It recently got axed in Congress in a stunning vote of 213-198. Yo... What up, Republican Majority? Don't you think screwing over farmers could rattle the base a tad? The old dogs of the party understands this. As awful as they are on most other issues, they know shushing this bill would be political suicide (especially with November elections a-coming). So who's responsible? The obnoxious leather-jacket gang of the GOP's rambunctious minority squad: The Freedom Caucus (with help from the Dems). But these two different groups of #Resistance are slapping this bill down for completely different reasons. The Democrats basically did this for the same reason a cook may throw out a perfectly decent dish- the ingredients just don't work well enough in their eyes. Apparently the consensus in the party was that this bill's work requirements were too strict for farmers to meet, even though polls show that this work initiative to be quite popular. Although, research does show that this bill may do more harm than good in the realm of holding people up. As wrong-ish on the substance as they were, I somewhat respect their choice. Something with as many whacky ins and outs as a work initiative bill for people already working perhaps at not sufficient enough wage making our crops could use tweaking (as it's had in the past). Perhaps the budget for it needs better balanced. Perhaps more research on how effective this program's incentives both keep farmers stable as well as better trained. In the sordid history of many monetary priorities, I can understand the descent. There is a plan to extend the current bill when it expires in September. The Senate, meanwhile, is planning a bi-partisan version of the bill with a more modest pricing plan. So no biggie, right? Seems like an honest case of wishing to divert this bill's intentions in a better direction. Except... I haven't gone into the Freedom Caucus's motives for holding up the vote on the legislation to turn on it. The Democrats sided with the +30 rascally Republicans for a cause that makes them guilty by proxy. Jim Jordan (a man who loves representing the Freedom Caucus more than his/ my actual district within Ohio) says that holding this bill up was done as political leverage in order to push anti-immigration policy such as further hounding of Dreamers and constructing the Great Wall of Xenophobia. As said, holding the bill off to better perfect its provisions is respectable if it will ultimately yield positive outcomes to its intended farmer-helping-purpose. But to use the said farmer's assistance policy as a bargaining chip for a totally unrelated issue? This is beyond sleazy. Scumbag politics at its finest. Damn it, Jim. You're supposed to represent Ohio's 4th District, dude. What do you think's more of a problem? Farmers struggling financially or the imagined infestation of evil Mexicans that you Republicans seems to always get conjured up in your minds? I've certainly driven by more run-down farmlands than the zero MS-13 gangs in my commutes about an area mixed with rural and urban locales. You want to take a dump on a bill wanting to help farmers? You want to shift that issue to extrapolate on immigrant fear mongering? Okay. Then I'll take a dump on your lousy bill idea. What Jordan is doing, to further enlist the Democrat's metaphor, is taking this decent dish and throwing it out in order to take Congress out for an all-together more unhealthy meal at a crappy fast food place we've been to a thousand times before. We do NOT need to address immigration for the umpteenth time in this administration. We need to better address the needs of common working people like farmers. Most farming profit is from corporations. Smaller, local farmers get spaced out to the point that they need to utilize tax money to survive. 1/5 of US agricultural production is outsourced from the country like in other job market areas. Net farm income is set to decrease again in its 5th straight year of downward spiral because of such exports. Thanks, Trump. Thanks, Obama. But no. Let's blow off this increasingly worsening economic wound of many in our country that will no doubt contribute to further infection that will result in our on-coming crash. Instead, let's blame it all on poor immigrants not re-newing their citizenship. I forgot. I promised to crap on anti-immigration. Here's some numbers on that front. Last I checked, net immigration (those coming in versus those going out) is still in the negatives. That means more are getting thrown out or straight up leaving than swarming in! So perhaps it's time to ease a tad on this on-going non-issue meant to only distract from our real problems. We can sit and rap about non-contributing all you Hispanics you want. Just don't get salty if I mention how ICE has enforced slave labor on detainees or separated 1,500 kids from their families through detention center transfers. Discussion of immigration policy should be centered around reversing the scuminess that this government has pulled, not expanding it. And, hey, maybe work on not bending to globalist corporate interests and maybe local farmers wouldn't need a complicated social safety net bill to sustain them. See? We can discuss two issues and not make shallow ones overshadow a more pressing one. Democrats, don't side with dirt-bags like this. I don't care if you had some good intentions. They clearly didn't. Don't be the radical right's useful idiot. Sources: https://www.farmaid.org/issues/ "House Farm Bill’s SNAP Cuts, Work Requirements Would Hurt Children." https://www.cbpp.org/research/food-assistance/house-farm-bills-snap-cuts-work-requirements-would-hurt-children May 1, 2018. Andone, Dakin. "US lost track of 1,500 immigrant children, but says it's not 'legally responsible.'" https://www.cnn.com/2018/05/26/politics/hhs-lost-track-1500-immigrant-children/index.html May 27, 2018. Johnson, Roger. "Future of American agriculture depends on 2018 farm bill." http://thehill.com/opinion/energy-environment/383809-future-of-american-agriculture-depends-on-2018-farm-bill April 18, 2018. Litke, Eric. "Yes, we are experiencing a net outflow of illegal, undocumented workers from America back to Mexico." http://www.politifact.com/wisconsin/statements/2017/apr/26/ron-kind/yes-experiencing-net-outflow-illegal-undocumented-/ April 26, 2017. Steinle, Mia. "Slave Labor Widespread at ICE Detention Centers, Lawyers Say." http://www.pogo.org/our-work/articles/2017/slave-labor-widespread-at-immigration-detention-centers-lawyers-say.html September 7, 2017. Taylor, Andrew. "Jordan-led revolt over immigration sinks House farm bill." http://www.limaohio.com/news/300855/jordan-led-revolt-over-immigration-sinks-house-farm-bill May 18, 2018. Back to political commentary! Hooray! So what did I miss? Let's see... oh. Oh no. Bush war hawks Gina Haspel and John Bolton appointed to major security positions? The Iran Deal demolished? At least we might be making peace with North Korea in an upcoming meeting. But... what? We bombed Syria again? U.S. embassy cements Jerusalem as Israel's capital on the same day as non-violent Palestinian protesters getting shot up by the nation's government? Might as well stuff them all into one post. If i'm back for good; I'm returning whole hog. These stories share the same theme anyways: the U.S.'s overly belligerent and backwards global relations.
Gina Haspel has been appointed the new head of the CIA. Whoopty doo for femdom. She's the organization's first female boss. Oh, also: she was a pro-torture manager under George W. Bush. She over-saw a torture program first devised thanks to notes from a Communist-Chinese manual on what the PC establishment crowd would prefer I call 'enhanced interrogation.' She not only allowed anal rape, waterboarding, mock funerals, audio deafening, straight up beat downs, and even freezing one prisoner to death. No court procedures approved this meanwhile. Well why were they in custody if they weren't all evil terrorists? Well many of these victims were provided by war lords and sex slavers we got these people from because we thought they were Al-Qaeda. Turns out these guys were just non-criminal enemies to these bastards. It's since been proven that torture in itself has given us little to no info on terrorist dirt. Also: Haspel covered up a lot of these facts. In a hearing, see was asked if she thought these actions were ethical. She danced around it trying to convince everyone it was legal at the time. So I'm putting her down for 'yes.' So Gina Haspel is our first openly pro-torture CIA head. Then we got our new National Security Adviser John Bolton. He was a major diplomatic player under Bush, encouraging a lot of hawkish war crimes. On top of that, all this military escalation carpet bombed about this article has been popping up out of nowhere since he’s gotten the job. An already hawkish administration has skyrocketed in its worldwide regime of violence thanks to Bolton. He’s planting seeds that’ll blow up into a great forest of problems down the line. For example, Fox News President Donald Trump ended the Iran Nuclear Deal while claiming we gave them our tax money to stop their nuclear weapons program. Oh, Iran. How you’re fallen. Remember the days when you had a mildly successful government? Oh, wait. That’s when the old 50’s CIA came in and destroyed it only to pop up a dictator in its place. And we’re been micromanaging it into the ground ever since. The Iran Deal was another example of this that, by design, right wingers should’ve loved. We gave them back their own money that we’ve jacked over the the course of our micromanaging escapades so that they’d stop with their nuclear weapons. The international regulatory body of IAEA (International Atomic Energy Agency) has since checked up on Iran over ten times and has reported that they’ve been holding up this deal as their nuclear program has been reduced to the agreed upon energy amount. Then we broke the terms first when we signed on for trade sanctions we agreed that we wouldn’t implement. Then Iran turned around and went back to missile testing in response. Now ol’ Bolton wants to implement sanctions on even European companies willing to keep up trade with Iran. Let’s no be surprised when no one wants to sit at the U.S.’s lunch table with this thuggish man-handling were strutting on with. Ironically the hypocrisy of this move is found in the good news. Trump is going on a date with Kim Jong Un to discuss deescalation with North Korea. The plan, according to Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, will be to go to the table for ending all nuclear programs- even energy related ones while offering improved trade relations. You know, kind of like that deal we just took a dump on against Iran, only even more unreasonable and extreme in taking away energy capabilities- which is against international law. So either we’re walking away with North Korea’s absolute denial of this deal or we achieve some peaceful advance in this North Korean version of the Iran Deal. How is every nation supposed to trust us if we’re so blatantly inconsistent? We’re clearly getting more erratic. We bombed Syria again for another alleged chemical attack by the government that wasn't even yet fully investigated by the UN. Logic test. We bombed its capital so as to hit a supposed chemical weapons' plant. If those trigger happy morons knew anything about chemical weapons factories, they'd know they're usually on the outskirts of populated areas to prevent deadly leaks, of which there was none during the already chaotic enough fallout. Why even use chemical weapons in a conflict that the government is winning against ISIS? Sounds more like the desperate move of ISIS as we've seen them perform before. Now a vulnerable Syria is being swarmed by ISIS. This move was implemented by Trump with no congressional approval- a violation of U.S. and UN law according to Senator Jesse Ventura calling for the President's arrest. Russia's not happy about this uncalled for strike on their turf either. So World War 3 is ticking closer once more! Wee! Don't stop this ride! I never want to get off! We're not the the only country getting carelessly aggressive. Our allies are too. Israel has massacred over 52 people and injured 2,000 peaceful Palestinian protesters on the border who have lost all options for trying to get a two-state split solution for a sharing of the land. The Israeli government has denied them at every turn as this police state treats the long indigenous people like dirt. On the same day as this senseless slaughter? The U.S. puts an embassy in Jerusalem, symbolically establishing it as the one time capital for Israel with no acknowledgement of Palestine. Israel praises Trump with an anniversary edition coin drawing a visual parallels to the Biblical conqueror Cyrus who got the land back for the Children of Israel. According to Judaic law, this land is for the Jewish people. Screw everyone else who have long held roots there too. Christian prophesy says this land must be claimed fully by the Jews so Jesus can come back and initiate the Rapture. Well clearly they've won it. I'm waiting. I want to see the bearded wonder. I want to confirm killing innocent people, including kids, was worth it. All this, on top of our current bombing of multiple other nations unprovoked is too much on many levels: shaking eastern leaders up to the point that they feel more weapons and threats of retaliation is their only cringing defense in the face of our violent out-lashings, and it's now bleeding into more peaceful allies looking at us like we're crazy. They may collectively turn on us. No more trade deals with any nation we've alienated may be in our future- which will devastate our economy. This is all to satisfy the military industrial complex to the point we'll have to fight everyone to sustain their lobbyist's profit relations with our screwball government. "They who live by the sword dies by the sword." That's one prophesy I'm sure will come to pass if we keep going down this road. Jeez. I forgot how depressing these political blogs were. Anyway, see you next week for more on our corrupt system, folks! Sources: "Erratic Trump Admin Tries Iran-Style Deal With N Kórea" Secular Talk. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Z4_2K0LTrGE&index=5&list=WL May 14, 2018. "Israel/OPT: Use of excessive force in Gaza an abhorrent violation of international law." Amnesty International. https://www.amnesty.org/en/latest/news/2018/05/israelopt-use-of-excessive-force-in-gaza-an-abhorrent-violation-of-international-law/ May 14, 2018. "One Question RussiaGate Pushers Never Ask w/Jesse Ventura pt. 2" Jimmy Dore Show. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JljmW7HclGI May 10, 2018. "Trump’s Favorite Iran-Obama Cash Story, Still Bogus No Matter How Often He Tells It." Associated Press. https://www.haaretz.com/middle-east-news/iran/trump-s-iran-cash-story-oft-told-still-bogus-1.6032057 April 26, 2018. "US-Iran relations: A brief guide." BBC. http://www.bbc.com/news/world-middle-east-24316661 November 24, 2014. Boyd, Connor. "Donald Trump's face will feature on Israeli coin marking 70th anniversary of Israel independence, following decision to move US embassy to Jerusalem." http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-5718129/Donald-Trumps-face-feature-Israeli-coin-marking-70th-anniversary-Israel-independence.html#ixzz5G62kHK4F May 11, 2018. Helmore, Edward, Patrick Greenfield, Jamie Grierson, Ben Doherty, & Graham Russell. "Syria: US 'locked and loaded' if chemical weapons used again – as it happened." https://www.theguardian.com/world/live/2018/apr/14/syria-donald-trump-announcement-chemical-attack-live April 14, 2018. Hume, Tim. "Iran’s president vows to arm the country against 'invading powers.'" https://news.vice.com/en_ca/article/ne95gz/irans-president-vows-to-arm-the-country-against-invading-powers April 18, 2018. Kirby, Jen. "North Korea announces a freeze on nuclear and missile tests starting in April." https://www.vox.com/2018/4/20/17264316/north-korea-nuclear-test-site-missile-program-freeze-trump-twitter April 20, 2018. Landler, Mark. "Trump Abandons Iran Nuclear Deal He Long Scorned." https://www.nytimes.com/2018/05/08/world/middleeast/trump-iran-nuclear-deal.html May 8, 2018. Mak, Tim & Shane Harris. "The Most Gruesome Moments in the CIA ‘Torture Report.’" https://www.thedailybeast.com/the-most-gruesome-moments-in-the-cia-torture-report December 9, 2014. Schwartz, Ian. "Sen. Harris Grills Haspel: "Do You Believe Previous Interrogation Techniques Were Immoral?" https://www.realclearpolitics.com/video/2018/05/09/sen_harris_grills_haspel_do_you_believe_previous_interrogation_techniques_were_immoral.html May 9, 2018. Stone, Rupert. "SCIENCE SHOWS THAT TORTURE DOESN’T WORK AND IS COUNTERPRODUCTIVE." http://www.newsweek.com/2016/05/20/science-shows-torture-doesnt-work-456854.html May 8, 2016. Swaine, Jon. "US threatens European companies with sanctions after Iran deal pullout." https://www.theguardian.com/world/2018/may/13/us-sanctions-european-countries-iran-deal-donald-trump May 13, 2018. Wieczner, Jen. "Syria Airstrikes Instantly Added Nearly $5 Billion to Missile-Makers' Stock Value." http://fortune.com/2017/04/07/syria-airstrikes-tomahawk-missile-boeing-raytheon-stock/ April 7, 2017. During a trip to West Virginia a few weeks ago I happened to see a teacher's strike as I drove by a shopping plaza near its capital of Charleston. I learned that this was a unified effort by a majority of the state's educators to fight for better benefits and a wage increase to help catch up to rising inflation.
At first the government was hesitant to comply. Legislation had already passed that gave teachers a 1% wage increase, but the staff wouldn't stop until they got a 5% wage increase to outpace living costs. The powers-that-be tried to act like frugal car buyers at concessions, offering instead a 4% incremental wage increase. So many teachers threatened to not come back to work that they finally got their way. They stopped the machine of the educational system to succeed with John Galt style grace. While I'm elated for the teachers, I'm also dismayed that we live in a country wherein those serving in one of the arguably most important jobs ever are reduced to using their significance in the lives of our kids as bargaining chips to make enough to survive. This isn't just a problem in West Virginia. Oklahoma schools had to cut their five day school week down to four so teachers could have a day to work at Walmart for extra money. God, how I wish I was making stuff like this up. Although since West Virginia's victory, I've heard rumblings of similar strikes in multiple states like Oklahoma. I hope such outbreaks work out just as well too. Unions have less power than they did back in the Baby Boomer days. Now they're an unhelpful ornament for businesses to virtue signal with. We need workers to come together like they did in the late 1800s and early 1900s to use their power as valued employees to demand better compensation for their commitment. Who better to start this lesson in human dignity than our nation's teachers? Sources: Campbell, Alexia Fernandez. "The West Virginia teachers strike is over. But Oklahoma and Arizona may be next." https://www.vox.com/policy-and-politics/2018/3/7/17081826/teacher-strike-west-virginia-oklahoma-arizona March 7, 2018. Chang, Alvin. "Your state’s teachers are underpaid. Find out by how much." https://www.vox.com/policy-and-politics/2018/3/9/17100404/teacher-salary-underpaid-database March 9, 2018. Doctorow, Cory. "Oklahoma schools go on 4-day weeks so teachers can work at Walmart on Mondays to make rent." https://boingboing.net/2018/02/07/this-is-not-ok.html February 7, 2018. Stewart, Emily. "All of West Virginia’s teachers have been on strike for over a week." https://www.vox.com/policy-and-politics/2018/3/3/17074824/west-virginia-teachers-strike-justice-union March 4, 2018. The Pentagon has just put U.S. ships into the Black Sea, the coast of not only Russia itself but a majority of its colonial regions. Now we're in a stand-off with them over this infringement on their territory. I'm sick of the U.S. acting like it can put military forces wherever it wants while either thinking they have the right to, or worse: when opposing nations respond defensively to our offensive moves we point at them like it's their fault.
I don't see Russia putting ships near the Gulf of Mexico or New York Harbor. They haven't even gone near our colonial territories. Yet we're going to poke and prod at them like this in hopes of what? Bullying them into not interfering with our election? Okay, 1: even if the motive were legitimate, escalating to war isn't undoing the election and it certainly doesn't discourage future cyber security breaches. Also, 2: the motive is bull because time and time again we've seen the media trip over themselves to prove that the Russia government put Trump in as a puppet leader only to almost always fall flat on their face with false leads or outright lies. Shifty financial laundering from Russia as well as other countries is a legitimate concern that should be legally addressed, but these are from independent Russian forces like that of its Mafia. Even Clinton had questionable money connections with the likes of Saudi Arabia and even Russia too. Where's her investigation? And, 3: Trump has yet to introduce any policy that favors Russia. Kind of a big crux in a story claiming that Putin controls Trump, don't you think? This isn't worth it, guys. U.S. planes going into Russian space, imposing Crimean sanctions, and now naval stare-downs? All this is going to lead to is the next world war. Mark my words. It's not like the U.S. doesn't already got its fingers deep in the mires of multiple national situations. Lather that with the whip cream that is the North Korean Missile Crisis and this Russian cherry on top and I'd say we have the ice cream sundae that is our cluster $%#@ of our imperial aims all set to melt under the temperature of our hot headed world relations. War should be purely defensive. We should focus our trillions of wasted money for our global flexing tour on home security where the schools are continually getting shot up by our own, our infrastructure needs updated, and our financial system needs a more secure safety net for our most unfortunate. 'Oh yeah,' says Joe Anybody, 'my kids are in college debt, my job got shipped overseas, my healthcare won't cover my sick wife, my taxes are going up over the next decade, and I got to go fight over a patch of dirt I never been to all for my country that used such funds to not only ignore my problems as well as hurl us into conflict? Neat!' Thanks for your service, Joe. Here's a bullet to the head. The saddest part is that if the media keeps pushing this narrative of Putin controlling Trump, our dear leader is going to suddenly figure out that wartime Presidents get a spike in popularity (FDR, Bush). This is just what he may need before re-election. Then he'll ignite such a war with Russia while blaming them, and boom! Trump has the ultimate proof we're not under Russia's control. We're a few minutes from midnight according to the Doomsday clock. Foolish aggression like this makes me believe it's going to be even sooner. Enjoy our loose stability while we still have it. Sources: "Another RussiaGate Story Implodes Under Slight Scrutiny." Secular Talk. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MZ_Stfjku08 February 12, 2018. "Russia Calls U.S. Warship Deployments in the Black Sea 'Provocative.'" Polygraph. https://www.polygraph.info/a/russia-calls-us-warship-deployments-provocative/29071554.html March 2, 2018. "Military Spending in the United States." National Priorities Project. https://www.nationalpriorities.org/campaigns/military-spending-united-states/ Accessed March 4, 2018. "Yes, The Russia Scandal Is Real — And It Involves Hillary Clinton." Investor's Business Daily. https://www.investors.com/politics/editorials/russia-scandal-is-real-involves-hillary-clinton/ October 17, 2017. Browne, Ryan & Zachary Cohen. "Russian jet flies within 5 feet of US Navy plane, Pentagon says." https://www.cnn.com/2018/01/29/politics/russia-jet-us-navy-black-sea/index.html January 29, 2018. Delk, Josh. "Pentagon makes show of force in Black Sea to counteract Russian influence: report." http://thehill.com/policy/defense/374607-pentagon-makes-show-of-force-in-black-sea-to-counteract-russian-influence February 20, 2018. Farrell, Greg & Christian Berthelsen. "Mueller Expands Probe to Trump Business Transactions." https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2017-07-20/mueller-is-said-to-expand-probe-to-trump-business-transactions July 20, 2017. Mecklin, John. "2018 Doomsday Clock Statement Science and Security Board." https://thebulletin.org/2018-doomsday-clock-statement Accessed March 4, 2018. Ronald. "IMPORTANT TO REMEMBER: NO WARTIME PRESIDENT HAS BEEN DEFEATED FOR REELECTION!" http://www.theprogressiveprofessor.com/?p=19187 August 18, 2012. Sharkov, Damien. "U.S. NAVY SENDS TWO WARSHIPS TO BLACK SEA, RISKING RUSSIA’S ANGER." http://www.newsweek.com/us-navy-sends-two-warships-black-sea-risking-russias-anger-814785 February 21, 2018. Vazquez, Maegan. "US to maintain Russia sanctions until it withdraws from Ukraine, Tillerson says." https://www.cnn.com/2017/12/07/politics/russia-sanctions-crimea-ukraine/index.html December 7, 2017. In the wake of the horrible Florida school shooting, something... strange has happened. The public scream for gun reform is so loud that the teens who survived the shooting are practically leading the protest, with a large march on DC this March called March for Our Lives.
One survivor, Emma Gonzales, is one of the most powerful voices among the students, announcing: "If the President wants to come up to me and tell me to my face that it was a terrible tragedy and how it should never have happened and maintained that nothing's going to be done about it; I'm going to ask him how much money he received from the National Rifle Association." Damn. Gonzales revealed that it was $30 million that Trump received upon election in 2016. The LA Times backs this up. The leadership of the NRA has many politicians in their pocket, including Dear Donny. That money incentivizes our representatives to block legislation that would lower gun sales, such as the ban on the sale of firearms to customers with certain mental illnesses in 2016. A regulation like this would have easily prevented Nikolas Cruz (the shooter) from getting a gun. Chuck Grassely was one of many politicians that blocked this bill. Now he bemoans that we don't have such a preventative system. Along with his fellow Republicans, Grassely took a cool $9,900 from the NRA that year. Righties like to argue that this is a mental health issue, not a gun issue. Although these guys tend to defund programs that'd make psychological help be more accessible: Obamacare, medicaid, and single payer. All I'm saying is every other modern nation that nearly outright bans guns, never mind withholding guns from those unqualified to own them, sees microscopic gun death totals in comparison to the U.S. We're number one all right... in easy-to-prevent mass slaughter. These teens don't even want to go as far as banning guns. That ship has sailed on that front. What they want is better gun regulation to where such weapons are more likened to car ownership and to prevent the buying of assault weapons. They don't give a car to just anyone for some cash. You need a license, a background check, insurance, signed contracts, etc. to own a vehicle. Now car deaths still kill a lot in the U.S., but imagine how much larger it'd be if such codes didn't make sure qualified people were behind the wheel. That's what we have with guns. People with violent pasts are able to buy a perpetual killing machine without having to worry about federal laws requiring salesmen to make sure such a customer isn't known online for say, aspiring to be a "professional school shooter" (Cruz's actual comment under his real name from Youtube!). CNN hosted a town hall in which the young advocates debated with NRA reps. Dana Loesch argued for more guns while conveniently trying to concede the obvious points that the March for Our Lives protesters espoused. She claimed that the organization is for background checks to prevent mentally challenged buyers from getting such weapons. One thing Loesch might have overlooked was that the NRA actually went to court to prevent background checks from being implemented, going so far as to claim such checks are unconstitutional. She might also be interested to know that Cruz was in a school marksmenship program funded by the NRA. What about action at the state level? Florida voted to not to even discuss gun reform. Instead, they moved to discuss the health risks of porn. Can we ask for a more disturbingly poetic demonstration of our nation's broken political values? Let's stop and appreciate how one-sided the consensus this issue is nation wide. 92% of Americans support a background check bill. 49% of Republicans support stronger gun laws. 55% of Republicans back new regulations. 79% of voters are against bump stocks. 87% are for forbidding sales to those with diagnosed mental disorders. 84% are for background checks at gun shows. 83% wants to forbid guns from those who have committed violent misdemeanors. 82% want to forbid guns from those on the terrorist no fly list. You'd think this issue would be finished yesterday given that we live in a Democracy. American is so visibly pissed about avoidance of gun reform that the powers-that-be seem to be finally bending to the pressure. Wealthy GOP donor, Al Hoffman Jr., has refused to give Republicans money until assault weapons are banned. Trump himself has moved to ban bump stocks in a memo. My God... could Trump actually... do the bare minimum that could help? We'll see. Trump seems very insincere on this issue. Ridiculous leak of his list of basic questions to victims on shorthand not withstanding, he's argued for proposals even more silly, such as arming teachers. When the shooting starts and the staff returns fire, the cops show up and then the question becomes: how do they know who to target during the madness? How do they know someone on staff didn't suddenly go off of the deep end or had an accidental misfire? It's a real coincidence how having more guns creates more death and chaos. I am open to Trump's idea of having a local cop patrolling the halls. This way, it distinctives killers as surely as background checks while also making it clear who's the white hat in these scenarios of return fire. Trump still yet proves to be mostly dim on this issue as he usually plays the blame game. He claimed in a tweet that the Dems should have done reform when they were a majority. True. Screw them. So what's your excuse, Mr. Fully Part Control of All 3 Branches? Trump even went as hacky as to blame violent video games. Really? It's 2018 and we're still not beyond this brainless argument? Most people who play Doom don't want to shoot anyone. I don't want to bounce shovels off of people's heads when I play Shovel Knight. Players can discern reality's consequence from a virtual experience done for entertainment. We're living in strange times when kids are making more maturely concise arguments for gun reforms than the adults childishly trying to defend it via lies, avoidance, and playing the blame game. It's time to grow up, America. Sources: https://www.marchforourlives.com/ "Among Federal Candidates, 2016 Cycle." Open Secrets. https://www.opensecrets.org/orgs/recips.php?id=d000000082 May 16, 2017. "RWW News: Pat Robertson Call For A Ban On Assault Weapons." RWW Blog. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cm4kgu6vVok February 20, 2018. "Trump Talking Points For Shooting Victims Leak." Secular Talk. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Vrghh5cLLYY&list=WL&index=13 February 23, 2018 "WATCH: Parkland High School Shooting Survivor Emma Gonzalez’s Powerful Speech Demanding Gun Control." Democracy Now! https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Zoby1ODY14w February 19, 2018 Aizenman, Nurith. "Gun Violence: Comparing The U.S. With Other Countries." https://www.npr.org/sections/goatsandsoda/2017/11/06/562323131/gun-violence-comparing-the-u-s-with-other-countries November 6, 2017. Carney, Jordain. "Senate rejects gun control background check measures." http://thehill.com/blogs/floor-action/284182-senate-rejects-first-background-check-bill June 20, 2016. Grinberg, Emanuella. "Students at town hall to Washington, NRA: Guns are the problem, do something." https://www.cnn.com/2018/02/21/politics/cnn-town-hall-florida-shooting/index.html February 22, 2018 Hiltzik, Michael. "'Thoughts and prayers' and fistfuls of NRA money: Why America can't control guns (a grim update)." http://www.latimes.com/business/hiltzik/la-fi-hiltzik-nra-politicians-20180215-story.html February 15, 2018. Kennedy, Merrit. "Florida House Declines Debate On Assault Rifles, Calls Porn A 'Health Risk.'" https://www.npr.org/sections/thetwo-way/2018/02/21/587548408/florida-house-declines-debate-on-assault-rifles-calls-porn-a-health-risk Febraury 21, 2018. Kirby, Jen. "Nikolas Cruz was reportedly on an NRA-funded rifle team in high school." http://www.nydailynews.com/opinion/trump-gop-huge-hypocrisy-mental-health-care-article-1.3822890 February 16, 2018. Lillis, Mike. "Poll: 92 percent of gun owners support universal background checks." http://thehill.com/blogs/blog-briefing-room/news/211321-poll-most-gun-owners-support-universal-background-checks July 3, 2014. Mangan, Dan. "Trump pushes ban on 'bump stocks' — devices that turn weapons into 'machine guns.'" https://www.cnbc.com/2018/02/20/trump-signs-a-memo-telling-attorney-general-sessions-to-ban-devices-that-turn-weapons-into-machine-guns.html February 20, 2018. Mosbergen, Dominique. "Trump Blames Democrats For Lack Of Gun Control Laws." https://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/trump-democrats-gun-control_us_5a88fb0fe4b004fc3192fbc0 February 18, 2018. Siegel, Lawrence J. M.D. "Trump & Republicans talk say mental health care can stop mass shootings: So why do they slash funds for psychological services?" http://www.nydailynews.com/opinion/trump-gop-huge-hypocrisy-mental-health-care-article-1.3822890 February 15, 2018. Shepard, Steven. "Poll: Majority backs stricter gun control laws after Vegas shooting." https://www.politico.com/story/2017/10/11/gun-control-vegas-polls-243647 October 11, 2017. Sherfinski, David. "NRA’s LaPierre: Need for more background checks an ‘absolute fallacy.'" https://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2016/jan/6/nras-lapierre-need-more-background-checks-fallacy/ January 6, 2016. The Grand Ol' Party has provided a lot of material for me to work with in the past 3 years. In appreciation, they actually mailed such material to me- national surveys brimming with their latest and lamest talking points worded in a way that makes you feel like an utter Commie Jihadist bastard if you descent. Let's check em out.
I got a Congressional District Census from the RNC and a State of the Nation Survey from the Jolly Orange Giant himself. Let's start with the Census. Section 1: Political Profile 1. Political identity? Here they list almost every spectrum of being a Republican- from conservative, moderate, liberal, to Tea Party... then Democrat or Other is all they left for everyone else. Yeah. There's no spectrum for Dems either. They're all the same. Way to narrowly categorize, guys. Circled Other and wrote Liberal Independent. Moving on. 2. Volunteer for us? No. 3. Voted for Trump? No. 4. Voting in 2018? Yes. 5. Voting Republican? No. Let's skip to the more crispy questions. Section 2: General Issues 5. Is the big, bad media picking on poor Trump? I wrote no opinion because the facts regarding this issue are rather semantical. I wouldn't say all mainstream media is anti-President if we're counting Trump cuddling Fox News. Yet even other outlets agree a lot with Trump on policy more often than you'd think. Brian Williams of MSNBC praised the Syrian bombings last year among almost all other mainstream news rooms. CNN praised Trump for the heroic act of holding a bi-partisan meeting. I wouldn't say the media has been hard enough on Trump (excluding the Russiagate hoax). When it's time to critique policy, the media fizzles or fawns. What is simple regarding this issue is that Don can't take any journalistic criticism. This is the guy who wanted to punch a protester in primary season, remember? 6. Do you think 'political correctness' has gotten out of hand? One some campuses? Sure. Online? To a degree. Both on the web and in reality I find that it has only effected the culture to the degree that most people use SJWs as easy comedic punching bags. Otherwise it's not really that much of a problem outside of some time wasted on Youtube watching feminist cringe compilations. It's not a rampant epidemic officially policing language like it's 1984. It's a minority of confused college kids getting uptight about identity politics. Let's not make a bigger deal out of SJWs than they already are, otherwise constant complaining about these kids comes off as overly 'politically correct' too. Section 3: Domestic Issues 1. Are you confident in the future of our economy? No. This is when I started sassing back in writing on the Census paper. Wall Street deregulations historically equal giant economic crashes. Hell, we had a scary plunge not too long ago. 3. Should Trump and co. be aggressive in passing laws to make jobs, cut taxes, and deregulate? See... this is great example of what I was talking about when it comes to the wording of these questions. A lot of these questions are deliberately worded so as to deceive you. This one hits with so much policy that it seems to be premised as being ways to best help our economy while not going into specifics of what each policy actually means. Yeah I want jobs, but not everything else mashed in here. Taxes are cut more for the rich with a net tax increase for us under the current tax plan. Meanwhile regulation largely advantages Wall Street while hurdling us towards that collapse that I mentioned. Yet if the context stays masked, saying no 'proves' that Libs like me want our economy to burn while saying yes lets them use me for a poll in which they spin their tax bill as popular. 15. Do you believe federal laws that impede individuals' 2nd amendment rights are proper responses to gun violence in America? The guy who shot up that Florida school this week literally wrote that he'd shoot up a school online. If the FBI limited his gun buying ability before putting him away instead of conducting a procedural interview with him, maybe there'd be less mourning families right now. All I ask is for the firmest of background checking legislation to keep obvious psychopaths from so easily getting guns, but the NRA has the Republican party in their pocket. So we ain't getting that. Hypocrites. Section 4: National Defense 2. Which of the following do you think will have the most impact on America's foreign policy this year? North Korea? Terrorists? Russia? Iran's nukes? Other: Greed of the military industrial complex. Only the dankest of sass here, folks. 3. Should we attack North Korea before they use nukes? Swing first. North Korea will swing back. They're more scared of us. Secretary of Defense James Mattis even admitted that the Korean missiles aren't capable of reaching us. But they can reach South Korea. Stop escalating. Innocent lives are on the line. And now for the President's own State of the Nation Survey. I'm surprised he didn't do a Twitter poll. This one's shorter and repeats similar talking points. So I'm only going over the gems again. 4. Are you more confident under Trump than you were under Obama? Never was big on Obama. Back when I was more conservative leaning, I refused to vote for him both times. As great as just having the first black President was, the substance of what he did never sat quiet right with me. He escalated in the east (even though he said that he'd de-escalate) with ugly bombings that killed thousands of innocents. He continued unconstitutional NSA spying even after it was revealed, only to make a criminal out of Snowden for bringing this to light. He also deported more immigrants than any leader (granted most of these immigrants were violent criminals). Yet I'm sure many innocent people barely getting by were in this bunch as well. So why do I like Obama more than Trump? Because Trump is twice Obama's evils with half the charm. Bombings are way up. Spying has been increased. As for deportations, Obama's still the champ, but Trump's presidency isn't over yet. 6. Have you seen any signs that Democrat Minority Leader Chuck Schumer is willing to put aside differences to work with Trump. He offered you... the wall... and you still question how flexible he is? If anything he compromises too easily with you malicious bastards. 9. Should Republicans try to overcome Democrats to fill in Supreme Court vacancies? You're literally going to do that no matter what I say. 10. Do you believe that Trump has any hope of enacting his agenda if Democrats gain control of either chamber of Congress in 2018? Now there's something to look forward too- preferably with Justice Democrats replacing the big money politicians dirtying up the Washington swamp. So thanks for joining me. Hope this gave you an intimate idea of how partisan propaganda works. Special thanks to the RNC for literally mailing his week's commentary material. Sorry I didn't donate any money to you, my Republican friends. But one look at your corporate PACS tells me you're good. Sources: "Obama's Report Card - A Breakdown Of His Presidency." Secular Talk. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ylTRBIwB9f8 January 11, 2017. Anapol, Avery. "CNN's Bash: Meeting showed 'the presidency' many thought Trump was 'capable of.'" http://thehill.com/homenews/administration/368159-cnns-dana-bash-praises-trump-immigration-meeting-shows-the-presidency January, 2018. Browne, Ryan & Nicole Gaoutte. "Mattis says North Korea isn't capable of striking the US." https://www.cnn.com/2017/12/15/politics/mattis-north-korea-icbm/index.html December 16, 2017. Bump, Philip. "Schumer offered Trump something Democrats hate for something Republicans broadly like." https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/politics/wp/2018/01/20/schumer-offered-trump-something-democrats-hate-to-get-something-republicans-broadly-like/?utm_term=.8a40d82e87fa January 20, 2018. Lopez, German. "How the NRA resurrected the Second Amendment." https://www.vox.com/policy-and-politics/2017/10/12/16418524/us-gun-policy-nra February 15, 2018. Saul, Heather. "Donald Trump tells crowd he wants to 'punch protester in the face' at Nevada rally." http://www.independent.co.uk/news/people/donald-trump-tells-vrowd-he-wants-to-punch-protester-in-the-face-at-nevada-rally-a6890981.html February 23, 2016. Timm, Trevor. "Democrats just handed Trump more domestic surveillance powers. They should know better." https://www.nbcnews.com/think/opinion/democrats-just-handed-trump-more-domestic-surveillance-powers-they-should-ncna836836 January 11, 2018. Wasik, John. "How The GOP Tax Plan Scrooges Middle Class, Retired And Poor." https://www.forbes.com/sites/johnwasik/2017/11/29/how-the-gop-tax-plan-scrooges-middle-class-retired-and-poor/#3cc11086c1ee November, 2017 Wikrent, Tony. "Why Republican Tax Cuts Always Cause a Financial Crash." https://real-economics.blogspot.com/2017/01/why-republican-tax-cuts-always-cause.htmlJanuary 24, 2017. Wilson, Jennifer & Micah Zenko. "Donald Trump Is Dropping Bombs at Unprecedented Levels." http://foreignpolicy.com/2017/08/09/donald-trump-is-dropping-bombs-at-unprecedented-levels/ August, 2017. Wing, Nick. "Cable News Praises Trump On Syria, Because Bombing Stuff Is ‘Presidential.'" https://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/cable-news-trump-syria-war-monger_us_58e79d17e4b05413bfe238eb April 7, 2017. Woolfolk, John. "Would California-style gun laws have helped stop Florida school shooting?" https://www.dailynews.com/2018/02/16/would-california-style-gun-laws-have-helped-stop-florida-school-shooting-3/ February 16, 2018. |
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