Koch Brothers Bring Out The Big Guns To Fight Election Transparency

                                        Good Day World!

Those zany billionaire brothers, Charles and David Koch never let up on their attacks against transparent democracy. 

Their latest assault on truth, an anti-corruption measure (Measure 22 or IM-22) to be voted on in South Dakota's upcoming elections, is par for the course. 

The last thing the Koch boys want is transparency in elections. Both are believers in "dark money" and other nefarious ways to rig elections.

The state-wide initiative was launched by a bipartisan group called the South Dakotans for Integrity. If passed, South Dakota voters may finally have some way of knowing who is bankrolling those big money ads before an election.

But not if the Koch's get their way. They've gathered a dark empire of billionaires and millionaires intent on controlling the country.

I'm not a conspiracist. I don't think Climate Change is a Chinese plot. I believe president Obama was born in the United States.

What I'm sharing with you are facts about how the Koch brothers and other wealthy elite types are subverting democracy and the common man's best interests.

Remember, knowledge is power. By shining the light of truth upon the Koch brothers and their cronies, you send them scurrying into the shadows.

Related:

Koch Funding of Universities Shrouded In Secrecy

How Scott Walker and The Koch Brothers Are Making Wisconsin Corruption-Friendly

Time for me to walk on down the road...

Horse Sense, Exorcisms, Navel Contemplation, Love, a Naked Society, and Visine

Good Day World!

I allow my brain to wander freely throughout most of the day like a horse grazing on a grassy knoll.

I chew on wandering thoughts and sometimes write them down. 

Odd thoughts. Scenarios off the beaten path.Trivia so trivial that it doesn't bare a good conversation.

Like Visine for your eyes. I don't question that it works for redness of the eyes, but I am wondering how sales are going these days?

What? Think about it. Marijuana is becoming so widely used in America that people no longer have to hide their stony red eyes.

That must account for a decrease. I can't see (pun intended) how it wouldn't.

In order to purge ourselves after this nasty presidential election, there should be national bonfires containing election signs and mass exorcisms!  

If I believed half of what's being fed to me via the mainstream and social media, it would be time to shave off all of my hair, don a burlap bag, and hike barefoot to the nearest mountain top to contemplate my navel.

If everyone walked around naked, social classes would disappear and there would be less sex crimes. Or, there would be a lot of mass orgies!

One more thought.

Love is not a meme. Real love is a gift from one person to another. 

Time for me to walk on down the road...

Divisiveness on Nearly Every Topic/Issue is Defining our Society Today

                                      Good Day World!

Americans can't seem to agree about anything.

Most of us are shell-shocked by the dirtiest presidential campaign in our history. We've never seen two major party candidates that are worse than the choice we have to make on November 8th.

But the devisiveness doesn't stop there:

A football player who kneeled in protest over treatment of blacks in our society during the National Anthem has caused waves of hatred to reverberate thoughout the country.

One side saw it has a constitional right of expression, and the other saw it as anti-American and unpatriotic. 

From the serious to the sublime, Americans can find a reason to disagree.

Take the latest Starbucks controversy.

Seattle-based coffee giant Starbucks is being attacked because it unveiled a new "Green Cup" yesterday that was meant to symbolize unity ahead of the election.

Some people on Twitter threatened to boycott the company because they felt the new cup design was "political brainwashing" and "liberal bias."

Others were upset that the Starbucks cup did not carry a stronger holiday message and accused them of attacking Christian values.

I wish I was making this story up. It's embarrassing to realize our society has sunk this low that we fight over every minutia in our daily lives.

It's no wonder most Americans are stressed out. Not only have we lost the ability to compromise, but we've also lost the ability to laugh at ourselves.

Time for me to walk on down the road...

The Shameful Suppression at Standing Rock Should Be Stopped

                                       Good Day World!

If it isn't the federal government violating native American rights, it's corporations like Energy Transfer Partners shoving a pipeline down their throats.

Since August, native Americans - water keepers - have been trying to stop the progress of the Dakota Access Pipeline from polluting their sacred grounds and water supply.

But North Dakota Republican, Governor Jack Dalrymple, declared war on them and misused an inconspicious law to enforce a corporate agenda.

The Emergency Management Assistance Compact (EMAC) was created 20 years ago by President Bill Clinton. He signed a bill into law creating an interstate agreement for emergency management. 

It wasn't intended as a tool for corporations to use, but Gov. Dalrymple was't fazed by that little fact. He declared an emergency (Peaceful protestor alert!) and enacted EMAC provisions.

That meant a law used for empowering states to respond to massive hurricanes, and in particular, Hurricane Andrew, which caused nearly $25 billion in damages when it hit Florida and Louisiana in 1992, is being used to stop a peaceful protest.

So, local law enforcement got help from six other states - Wisconsin, Indiana, South Dakota, Minnesota, Wyoming, and Nebraska - who were sent to Standing Rock armed with assault rifles, body protection, and armoured vehicles to deal with peaceful, unarmed, protestors exercising their rights.

This abuse of power happened only once before when EMAC took on Black Lives Matter protestors in Baltimore after the death of Freddie Gray.

The connection of political clout and greedy corporations has never been more apparent than what's happening at Standing Rock right now.

Here's a touch of dark irony; the original route for the pipeline was rerouted due to environmental concerns. So, essentially the federal government and private businesses decided to go through native American land to appease other, statistically white residents.

Compare what's happening to the native Americans peacefully protesting in North Dakota with what happened when a group of armed white men took over a federal building on a Bird Sanctuary in Oregon.

The armed white occuppiers destroyed property inside the building, and outside when they bull-dozed over native American burial grounds.

They went to trial and were all let off the hook by a sympathetic white jury. What do you think would have happened in North Dakota if the native Americans were armed there?

Not hard to figure out is it? There would have been a one-sided shoot-out with heavily armed "lawmen" and armoured vehicles, against civilians with small arms.

A massacre. 

This show of power in North Dakota is shameful. How could anyone with a conscience back greedy corporations polluting our environment and violating the rights of native Americans...once again?

Time for me to walk on down the road...

You Know Who I'm Talking About: Losers Can Be Loveable

Good Day World!

Bad losers suck, but good losers often become crowd favorites.

Best example: The Chicago Cubs. 

Their long losing history goes back 109 years. 

Their last World Series victories were back-to-back affairs in 1907 and 1908. That made them the first Major League team to play in three consecutive World Series, and the first to win it twice.

But then they were cursed.

This season has seen the scrappy Cubs lead the majors in wins on the way to the World Series. Hopes and dreams of generations of Cub fans will rest on Game 6 tonight.

Trailing 3-2 in the series, the Cubs have to ignore history and just play their game tonight. If they win, they'll be charged up for the 7th game and the Indians may be too stunned for a comeback.

Cubs fans are loyal despite their losing history. Try to imagine how thrilled they'll be to win the World Series this year.

Of course, they'll lose their loveable loser label, but that's okay. Or, is it? I wonder how many Cub fans have enjoyed backing an underdog and how they'll feel if the Cubs win and are back on top of the world of baseball once more?

Time for me to walk on down the road...

Solutions for Homelessness Should Come At The State Level

Good Day World!

One of the many important issues that was never brought up in our presidential election is homelessness.

With eight days left until election day, I can safely predict you won't hear a word about homelessness from either candidate.

You'll probably get to hear more juicy scandals though.

Meanwhile the prospects for men, women and children who are living in poverty across America aren't going to be an issue...for another election cycle.

That's a shame. 

Since passing the McKinney Act in 1987, which directed federal money to support homeless shelters, Americans appear to have lost interest in the issue.

That is unless they're actually among the homeless who traditionally have no voice in our society. It's 2016, and we still don't have a handle on the problem.

And it isn't going to come from Washington.

Instead of a federal programs addressing homelessness, states should take the lead in protecting their at-risk populations.

Knowing how many homeless men, women, and children there are per state, is the first step towards positive action. 

Once these populations are identified then programs can be implemented to address their unique needs.

Here's the thing; don't expect the feds to come up with blanket programs for such a diverse population in each state.

Each state has it's own economic challenges that it's senators and governors are best positioned to address. 

The main thing is that state politicians need to priortize the issue and come up with workable solutions. They also need to encourage community volunteer programs at ground level.

There's no good reason why the greatest economy in the world can't take care of it's own.

Time for me to walk on down the road...

The NRA Story: The Good, Bad, and the Ugly

Good Day World!

For those unfamiliar with the National Rifle Association (NRA) story it goes back to 1871, and was founded by veterans of the Union Army.

They saw the importance of free Americans being able to protect themselves with rifles and pistols. 

Growing up I never heard anything negative about the NRA, if I heard anything about them at all. I played with toy guns and no one questioned that - all kids did in the 50's.

A kid can die today playing with a toy gun - especially if he happens to be black.

At one time, at least up until the mid 60's, the NRA stood for millions of average gun-owning Americans in the country. It was a patriotic organization unattached to corporations.

But that rapidly in the 1970s with the political infusion of corporations. It quickly became money over safety.

Those jolly merchants of death, the gun and ammunition industry in America, got in bed with the NRA, and as they say...the rest is history. 

The NRA established it's own lobbying arm, the Institute for Legislative Action, in 1975. It also has it's own Pac called the NRA Political Victory Fund .

For instance, gun maker Sturm, Ruger and Co. has been donating two dollars of every gun sale during 2015 and 2016 to the NRA’s Institute for Legislative Action — hitting its goal of selling two million guns earlier this summer. 

Likewise, Smith and Wesson contributed $1 million to the NRA’s Institute for Legislative Action last year.

The NRA's iron grip on Congress after decades of corruption, is so complete that it's been almost impossible to pass safety or common sense laws to regulate firearm use/and, or ownership.

It's no longer about the individual. Or common sense. It's about corporate takeover via crooked lobbyists.  

Millions of people listen to the NRA's propaganda wing and are convinced that they need to pay membership dues or the government will take their guns away. 

The biggest myth perpetrated by the NRA is that the government is going to take people's guns away. 

That myth alone has gone on for decades without Uncle Sam telling gun owners to surrender their guns.

No jack-booted squads roamed through rural countrysides and city streets taking away people's guns. Hasn't happen, and it won't. Despite what the NRA says.

Like many organizations that have been around for years, the NRA's original mission was righteous, but has changed for the worst.

It's as ugly as can be. 

Americans suffer more gun deaths/mass shootings than any other country in the world every year thanks to the NRA's hold on our government.

That doesn't look like it's going to change anytime soon.

Related: Gun-Loving Women Should Not Vote for Hillary, Says NRA

Time for me to walk on down the road...