Saturday, October 31, 2015

Why Halloween is a Scary Holiday

Popular kids Halloween costume makes it even harder to see them at night. Photo via Inquisitr

                                       Good Day World!

Forget about Halloween’s ancient origins – most people don’t really care about them anyway. Knowing what happened in the past only goes so far when it comes to scaring people; depending upon the storyteller.

You know what is scary about Halloween? 

An average of almost 30 pedestrians annually are killed each October 31, according to National Highway Traffic Safety Administration records.

That's almost triple the number of pedestrian fatalities that happen on the average day on American roads. There’s no statistics available on how many of those deaths were children, but you can bet young Trick-or-Treaters account for a large part of them.

MORE REASONS

* The novelty makeup your child is using is most likely made in China, and often contains toxic chemicals like lead, nickel, cobalt and chromium.

* Parents face other challenges, like an “Invisible” costume that’s popular this season. It makes it even harder for drivers to see children crossing streets.

Time for me to walk on down the road…

 

 

 

 

Friday, October 30, 2015

Throwing popcorn and texting can get you legally killed in the ‘Gunshine’ state

Good Day World!

I’m really sick of the gun nuts in this country whining about their Second Amendment rights. They have never been challenged seriously and under President Obama there hasn’t been one new gun law.

Not one. Yet the NRA keeps beating the drum…”watch out the government is coming to take you guns!” Never happened. Never will. We have the most liberal gun laws in the world.

A perfect example is the Stand Your Ground Law, Florida’s infamous creation that allows people like George Zimmerman to shoot Trayvon Martin, an innocent unarmed black teenager and get away with it.

The most recent legal murder will be going to trial early next year. A 71-year-old retired police captain shot a man in a theatre for texting and throwing popcorn at him. A five-day hearing is scheduled to begin on Jan. 25

Curtis Reeves openly murdered Chad Oulson because he was irritating him. That’s the bottom line. And now his unscrupulous lawyer is invoking the Stand Your Ground Law!

With strong support from the National Rifle Association in 2005, the "gunshine state" became the first to pass a Stand Your Ground law that allows citizens to use deadly force if they fear their own harm or death.

That liberal law has become the death of many innocent unarmed citizens.

The big question is whether this lethal confrontation would have happened without the law. If Florida had not passed its law so that a person has no “duty to retreat” before using lethal force, how would Reeves have responded?

Homicide rates in states with a version of the Stand Your Ground law increased by an average of 8 percent over states without it — which translates to roughly 600 additional homicides per year.

Homicide rates in Florida increased by 8 percent from the period prior to passing the law (2000-04) to the period after the law (2006-10).By comparison, national homicide rates fell by 6 percent over the same time period.

So the next time you hear some gun nut ranting about losing his 2nd Amendment rights…remind them of the Stand Your Ground Law. The only people who are losing are people who dare to irritate a “legally” gun-packing paranoid citizen with an attitude!

Time for me to walk on down the road… 

 

Thursday, October 29, 2015

If ‘do-overs’ were possible…

Good Day World!

Have you ever wished you could re-do something?

Who hasn’t?

The following stories are some interesting examples of people probably wishing they could have a do-over, after doing something incredibly stupid:

* Take 25-year-old Allie Carter’s moment of madness. She laid her shotgun down and the next thing that happened was her dog shot her in the foot! The pooches name is – I’m not kidding – Trigger.

* A Massachusetts woman is really wishing she could have a do-over after blowing her house up while performing some repairs!

* A suburban Houston school district police officer has to be wishing he could have a do-over after asking a motorist if he could lick her feet!

* The person who sent 50 pounds of pot to the wrong address is really wishing they could re-send it.

* 24-year-old Megan Ohara is really wishing she could have a second chance after leaving her real name and phone number in a guest book at an art gallery that she and 19-year-old David Ziskowski stole from!

Time for me to walk on down the road…

Wednesday, October 28, 2015

As a Front-Runner, Carson’s Dubious Dealings Are Going to Be Examined

Good Day World!

 He speaks so softly you have to lean towards him to hear what he’s saying. He’s like a black Mr. Rogers with a calm and cool exterior that invites you to sit down and listen to him.

He also has such extreme ideas that he’s become a Tea Party darling. 

Ben Carson has for the past few months been taking baby steps toward a 2016 presidential bid. In the most recent national polls he’s passed Donald Trump for first place. 

He may soon start running in the opposite direction, however, if unfortunate disclosures about him continue to come to light.

FOR EXAMPLE

The retired neurosurgeon faces allegations of plagiarism and his publisher plan to reissue his memoir America the Beautiful without the lifted passages.

Interesting to note because a large part of his backers are evangelical Christians who grew up reading this book.

ANOTHER EXAMPLE

The National Review is reporting that Carson shilled medical supplement products for the Texas-based company Mannatech, Inc., which was sued by the state’s attorney general for false advertising.

Carson appeared in a video promoting its glyconutrient products last year and also spoke at the company’s conferences in 2011 and 2013.

Carson also appeared in a PBS special in which he extolled glyconutrients, which has aired as recently as Jan. 4.

National Review article: Ben Carson’s Troubling Connection

I really don’t need to go any further with this (not even about the time he stabbed a fellow student with a knife) to predict voters are going to be shocked when his personal history leaks out drop by drop.

As a front runner among the GOP candidates he can expect whatever honeymoon time he’s had to come to a screeching halt when his whole story comes out. And it will.

Not many people will want to support a liar, plagiarist, and shill for a disreputable medical supplement company who wants to end Medicare. 

Time for me to walk on down the road…

Tuesday, October 27, 2015

One Man, One Nation: Artist’s Conceptual Art is Appealing

In this video frame grab taken on June 29, 2013,  Zaq Lansberg stands on acres of land in northwestern Box Elder County, Utah.   Lansberg built his...

Good Day World!

 Zag Landsberg is on an artistic exploration to see how far he can push the concepts of land ownership and sovereignty.

(Photo by Mike DeBernardo/KSL-TV via Deseret News via AP)

Ten years ago he bought a 4-acre piece of land equipped with a supply bunker in a sage-brush covered stretch of Utah backcountry so remote you could get lost looking for it.

In a recent AP interview, Zag (now an ex-New Yorker) said his conceptual goal is for the land to become a sovereign nation. He’s not stupid, and knows the possibility of his little nation – Zagistan – ever being recognized by anyone is slim…to none.

But that doesn’t matter. He has a vision. I think we all should be so lucky to pursue our visions.

Zagistan has a nice looking yellow-and-red flag, official-looking passports and a border patrol gate guarded by a giant robot sentry for the realm according to a KSL-TV report.

The nation’s motto is: "Something from nothing."

I don’t blame Zag for being hesitant about giving out directions to his country. People could get lost looking for it. He pays property taxes to Box Elder County, about 160 miles north of Salt Lake City, though he refers to the payments as tributes.

I enjoy watching people taking less traveled roads in life. I respect anyone who follows their dreams and visions. The world needs more artists and less politicians!

Time for me to walk on down the road…

Monday, October 26, 2015

Blind Faith: Rhetoric and outright lies trump facts

Good Day World!

If a conservative pundit says the sky is falling…his followers will look up and wait patiently for it to come down.

They don’t need proof, or facts, to follow the brand.

I recently got into a discussion with some Tea Baggers on Twitter about a doctored photo that purported to show Ambassador Stephens tortured body.

The person who posted it shall remain anonymous here (I don’t want to attack any individual). We’re talking about blind faith here.

The response, when I alerted her to the fact it wasn’t actually Ambassador Stephens, was swift and venomous. She personally attacked me; calling me stupid because I didn’t know the ambassador was raped! (Funny on how she seemed fixated on the rape part – titillating to her perhaps?)

Then the floodgates opened and it was a field day for extremists on Twitter. They piled on with nasty tweets, but NOT ONE would give any proof of their ridiculous claims.

I countered by posted facts: 

Fact Check: Is a story about Ambassador Stevens' death in Benghazi really written by a cousin who knows what happened?

UPDATED: Chris Stevens Torture Photo – Not Chris Stevens

It wasn’t long before the conservative drones drifted away to heckle someone else.

Facts to conservatives are like sunlight to vampires. Or, Kryptonite to Superman, when you have blind faith.

Facts are not what drives people with blind faith – it’s hatred toward an individual, or institution. Let me repeat that – it’s unreasoning hatred that drives people to believe in lies.

Time for me to walk on down the road…

 

Sunday, October 25, 2015

Republicans pledge to impeach Clinton if she’s elected

Good Day World!

You want to know how crazy conservatives are getting nowadays?

Alabama Republican Rep. Mo Brooks promised to try and depose Clinton on "day one" of her hypothetical presidency.

So, do they know she’s going to win despite what opposition they’re fielding against her? That sounds pretty pessimistic. And, slightly crazed with fear.

It’s hard to blame them however. Right now it looks like Donald Trump may be their candidate. Now that is pathetic. Even the die-hard extremists realize a real estate mogul and reality star is far from qualified to be the next President of the United States.

The GOP is in complete disarray. Hard-liners have run Boehner out and Paul Ryan is looking to take his place. But he has a big problem; a minority group of loony tune Republicans – with unusual clout – want him to shut the government down until they get their demands.

Who let the nuts out anyway? How can the Republican party move forward when part of their ranks are riding around in a clown car urging chaos to get their way?

Trey Gowdy and his doodies tried to hurt Clinton’s chances of being elected by conducting a witch hunt – also called the Benghazi hearing – but that attempt backfired.

Now the world knows it was a partisan effort to discredit Clinton.

But that won’t stop the crazies. The only thing that will stop them is if they’re not re-elected. Perhaps after the damage they’ve done to the GOP it’ll be payback time at the polls and the clowns will be sent packing!

Time for me to walk on down the road…

  

Universal Music Power

In a delightful description of the power of music William Congreve wrote "Music hath charms to sooth a savage beast..." in his 16...