Tuesday, May 30, 2023

Debt Ceiling Crisis Over? Not So Fast!

After months of holding Americans economic futures hostage Republicans and Democrats came up with an 11th hour deal to raise the debt ceiling.

Kind of.

The deal hasn't been sealed yet. There's grumbling in the ranks of both parties as rebellious lawmakers balk at signing off on it.

Congressional leaders are hurriedly holding aggressive whip operations to assure the bill safe passage through the House and Senate.

From all reports leaders McCarthy and Schumer are encountering late resistance to the bill's passage.

The crazy caucus in the House say the deal is betrayal of the Republicans debt passage passed by the House last month. Whispers of a secret deal by McCarthy to appease the crazies injected more drama into the whole situation.

Unhappy Democrats are grumbling about Biden "selling out" to a GOP agenda that will harm millions of Americans.

Rumblings of a revolt are still going on today as the two Congressional leaders try to shepherd their party to the finish line.

It's all a deadly game and the American people are unwilling spectators to the whole debacle. 

The tentative compromise between the two parties isn't going to leave either side totally satisfied but hopefully the bill will reach Biden's desk before the clock strikes twelve.

As it stands, America stands at the cusp of the biggest economic disaster in history and time is running out.

Friday, May 26, 2023

May You Have a Great Memorial Day Weekend

Thanks for stopping by on this Memorial Day weekend. 

May it be a day of peace.

A Brief History of this Holiday 

* The day was originally set aside to remember Union soldiers who died during the Civil War, but following World War I, its scope expanded to include those who died in any war or military action.

* The idea for a specific holiday came in 1868 from Illinois Senator John Alexander Logan, a former Union general and keynote speaker for the fraternal organization of Union soldiers. He called it "Decoration Day" to be observed on May 30. 

*The name "Memorial Day," started cropping up from time to time. The new name became more common after WW II, and in 1967 when it was declared the official name by Federal law.

Most people nowadays aren't familiar with the history of this holiday. Granted, there are still small parades in some cities and flag-plantings at veteran cemeteries.

The holiday is more well known for being a national three-day social event where bar-b-que enthusiasts proudly grill hamburgers and all-American hot dogs while beer flows like rivers through the heartland.   

My memories of fallen comrades in Vietnam still haunt me at times. But on this day, I celebrate their lives and share their stories with loved ones and friends.

As it stands, this is a day for all Americans to remember those who gave their lives in our military to preserve the freedoms we all enjoy today.

Thursday, May 25, 2023

Today's Crap is Cancelled


To my regular readers and newcomers...

I'm canceling the day.

It's the thing to do now in America.

Everything is subject to being cancelled in our chaotic society. 

From brand names subject to political cancelling for sending out the wrong message, to Gov. Ron DeSantis's attack against Disneyland, America's theme park.

Dr. Martin Luther King's true messages have been cancelled by white supremist lawmakers and turned into a version of a fake history figure more pleasing to racists. Quotes without context are used to prove they're not really racist in an ironic twist that goes unappreciated by most.

Trump is cancelled.

MAGA is cancelled.

The House seditionist caucus is cancelled.

The gun lobby is cancelled. 

The Supreme Court is canceled.

Hate is cancelled.

Stupidity has been cancelled.

All conspiracies are cancelled.

Instead...

I'm declaring today is Peace of Mind Day, where we overcome our many worries and challenges by focusing on the positives in our lives. 

We all have something good in our lives even though it might not feel like it at times. 

As it stands, you deserve a break today!

Wednesday, May 24, 2023

How Did We End Up Having a Minority Rule in America?

It just doesn't make sense.

How have we allowed the majority of Americans to lose their voices in the cultural wars and laws?

How could Floridians allow one person the power to ban books in the state's education system? That happened this week in the latest attack on school agendas by its corrupt governor.

How did we come to the place where businesses and corporations are being pelted by political activists who are dictating what they can and can't sell.

Look at what happened with Target this week. The company is pulling its LGBTQ merchandise ahead of Pride month in June because they're facing "threats" and backlash from homophobic customers backing the MAGA hate cult agenda.

In a pathetic Mea Culpa, a company spokesperson admitted, "Given these volatile circumstances, we are making adjustments to our plans (as in chickening out), including removing items that have been at the center of the most significant confrontational behavior."

On Twitter, California Gov. Gavin Newsom accused Target chief executive Brian Cornell of "selling out the LGBTQ+ community to extremists."

Target is not alone in buckling to culture war extremists as we've witnessed MAGA's war against everything from M&Ms to Bud Light.

Florida Gov. DeSantis is currently waging war against Disney because they've stood up for the LGBTQ+ community.

All of the above incidents show how the majority of Americans are being canceled by conservatives and disenfranchised by Republican lawmakers in Congress.

School districts are bowing to minority views on education because key players in state governments are waging war against the so-called "Woke" parents who are trying to preserve real history in classrooms and not let authoritarian propaganda rewrite it.

In 1991, author James Davison wrote a book that summarized what was happening in America: "Cultural Wars.

I highly recommend reading it for a comprehensive look on why we're in an era where minority/extremists are wielding so much power. 

The author explained how this came about in the latter half of the 20th century when cultural wars were just waged within the white middle class before spilling over to all Americans.

In summary Davison called our new reality a class-culture conflict that ends in justifications for violence.

As it stands, historically cultures evolve and devolve depending on the era.

Tuesday, May 23, 2023

What a Difference 20 Years Make: Life Before Social Media

Two decades ago, there was no Facebook. 

Twitter didn't exist.

Truth Social and Breitbart were parasites growing in extremists fevered minds.

There was actually a time before Trump spread the "birthism" conspiracy to millions of Americans thanks to social media making it go viral in the heartland.

It was a bad time for cowardly bullies because they weren't able to anonymously threaten millions of people from their basements and caves.

It was the time before racist militias, anarchists, and hate groups could gather on Facebook and threaten democracy with impunity.

The arrival of social media has divided this country like nothing else in our history. It's provided platforms for traitors and haters of every stripe.

Please don't tell me about the good things social media does because its chafe in the wind compared to the harm it inflicts.

A recent CDC Advisory warned that 60% of teenage girls become depressed and suicidal after following online sites that had body shaming and bullying. All of our youth are at risk, according to the research.

It's a problem that can't be resolved overnight, or even in the near future for that matter. Parents strive to protect their children from the social media culture, but it's been a losing effort.

No one seems to have a coordinated national plan to stop the spread of misinformation that threatens our children and adults. Our society has been scorched by something that didn't exist a mere 20-years ago.

The rise of social media coincides with the advancement of hate groups and anarchists giving them the biggest platforms they've ever experienced in our history.

As it stands, as we all know there would have been no Trump without social media and right-wing platforms bolstered by online lies.

Monday, May 22, 2023

She's Back! Republicans Look at Restoring Hillary Clinton to #1 Boogeyman Status

Things aren't going too well for MAGA Republicans and they're getting desperate.

Despite their best efforts to make President Biden the main boogeyman he still beats Trump in polls for the 2024 presidential election.

After Special Counsel John Durham released his report one week ago MAGA world went wild with excitement...over a nothing burger.

The conclusion was the FBI should not have investigated the Trump campaign. Period. That was it. Without citing any real evidence MAGA world still took it as a victory and have praised the Durham report on right-wing media.

Then, in an unreal moment MAGA moron Gym Jordan went on Fox and told extremist Maria Bartiromo his committee is considering investigating Hillary Clinton.

Why bring back the GOP's biggest Congressional circus back after all these years?

The answer lies in MAGA's inability to produce any dirt on President Biden and desire to hold up a shining new object for the rabid MAGA base. They need fresh meat right now.

We're talking about 300 emails (none of them classified) that Clinton had on her computer. Compare that with hundreds of classified and top-secret files that Trump stole and kept at his beach resort in Florida.

Gym Jordan became a MAGA star when he conducted numerous "Benghazi" investigations against Clinton, wasting millions of taxpayer's dollars.  

Nothing came of the bogus investigations other than to give right-wing media fodder for years to come.

Now she's back!

This pitiful attempt to besmirch democrats is just another last-ditch effort to demonize their opponents and charge up their loathsome base.

As it stands, meanwhile real investigations against Trump are blooming like flowers in the spring.

Sunday, May 21, 2023

Something Wicked This Way Comes: MAGA House Members Take a Dark Path

The three witches in Shakespeare's Macbeth were having a conversation about Macbeth when one of them saw him approaching

She turned to her two evil sisters and said, "By the pricking of my thumbs, something wicked this way comes."

Now that MAGA cult members are in charge of the House they are busy doing the bidding of a former president and convicted sex abuser who wants to be king.

Some non-MAGA Republicans in the House can see what will happen if the country defaults on its debts, but they are too afraid of Trump's hold over their party to do anything about it.

Like the witches in Macbeth who created a monster and were cackling in glee when Macbeth murdered the King and many others in a ruthless power grab, Trump's minions slavishly follow the monster they helped create.

Shakespeare gets it just right with the line "Something wicked this way comes." He invented a special kind of language to set the witches apart from the human characters in the text. The witches spoke with a hypnotic rhythm that enticed cooperation.

Much like Trump's special kind of language (boorish, hateful, and full of lies) his minions follow his rants in a hypnotic state that suspends their brains from reality.

That's why we're facing a debt crisis today. It's a deadly reality play that has descended into pure evil. 

As it stands, we can only hope that this whole debt crisis thing doesn't turn into a Shakespearean tragedy, and enough people with sense are able to solve the stalemate prevails. 

Editor's note. Ray Bradbury wrote a dark fantasy called 'Something Evil This Way Come's.' Reader's today are probably more familiar with his story of evil. For the record Bradbury borrowed the term from the bard.

Saturday, May 20, 2023

The Sky was Falling in MAGA World! Then the Real Story Surfaced and Exposed the Fraud

A week ago, the sky was falling in conservative circles and Republicans blamed Biden for it.

Right-wing media responded to a story about "20 struggling homeless veterans" being displaced by migrants.

MAGA world exploded at the news and everyone from Fox News to Newsmax went into a frenzy expressing their outrage at the treatment of the poor 20 veterans by the hotel that kicked them out.

The story was sensational and MAGA morons nationally ate it up for days. 

They used it as justification to demonize migrants for political reasons. 

In reality the explosive story was bull puckey. A lie. A fraud. Fake news.

The perpetrator was a woman named Sharon Toney-Finch, the CEO of a veteran's advocacy organization. She went full out in concocting the stunt by paying homeless men in shelters to pose as the alleged "displaced veterans."

While Republican lawmakers (like New York state assemblyman, Brian Mather, who seized on the story as proof liberals were mistreating veterans) were expressing their patriotic outrage the truth surfaced like a Stinger missile in the New York Times Friday.

Give credit for initially exposing the lie to local reporters in Newburgh, New York. They were unable to find evidence at the Crossroads Hotel where the incident was said to have happened. The hotel said there were no records of veterans' staying there or anyone being kicked out.

In an article yesterday that appeared in the Hudson News the reporter quoted a group of homeless men who said they had been recruited by the YIT Foundation and its CEO Toney-Finch who asked them to pose as the ousted veterans.

Toney-Finch wined and dined the homeless men recruited from a shelter in Poughkeepsie and propped them up for the news media. The men were especially angry afterwards because Toney-Finch stiffed them and didn't give them the $200 she promised for cooperating.

I've always been partial to hometown newspapers like the Mid-Hudson News that hold their own in investigative reporting.

I especially like their motto: "We're the news source where other reporters get their news."

As it stands, this was a much-needed reality slap in the grill to MAGA morons who are shameless liars who follow the biggest liar in the world Donald J. Trump.

Friday, May 19, 2023

The Devil's Share: Fauz Republicans Pay Their Dues to Subvert Democracy

The devil always gets his share when dealing with humans.

In the case of MAGA morons the price is selling their souls to defeat democracy. 

It brings to mind the classic fantasy about a simple New England farmer (Jabez Stone) who made a deal with the devil in exchange for wealth and power for seven years. At the end of that period the devil would get his soul. 

For those who have read the book, The Devil and Danield Webster, it was a warning about the consequences of consorting with the devil.

Farmer Stone came to regret his deal and turned to the greatest legal and oratorical mind of his day. Daniel Webster. 

Webster challenged the devil to put his contract with Stone away and to the test in a fair trial. In case you never read the book I won't give the ending away.

In the 21st century version of the story Trump is the devil and his minions have signed contracts selling their souls to the former twice impeached and convicted sexual abuser.

Unlike farmer Stone who regretted his decision to sell his soul MAGA cult members (aka faux Republicans) are enjoying their newfound clout in our society. 

But a time of reckoning is coming. The signs are in the news every day as criminal investigations against Trump continue to bloom and come to fruition. 

As for Trump's cult members they have been getting steadily kicked under the bus to protect him in the numerous investigations, scandals and conspiracies he's involved with.

As it stands, the last seven years with Trump polluting politics and promoting conspiracies has tested the souls of all Americans.

Thursday, May 18, 2023

Chimpanzee Study Reveals Why Republicans Speak in a Different Language Than Most Americans

A fascinating study published by the journal Nature Communications has opened the door to understanding why Republicans speak a different language than the rest of Americans.

They apparently have something in common with chimps. Researchers report that the chimps can communicate using specific nouns or verbs to refer to present dangers.

This breakthrough research led to diagnosing Republican's motivated by fear using key words (usually out of context) like woke.

The scientists in the study pranked some wild chimps by throwing fake snakes into the middle of their territory. Then they recorded the sounds the monkeys made and concluded they were using a crude form of communication.

In the same way social scientists in America have discovered that Republican rants have key words that only means something to them.

Another key finding is that the chimps responded to a specific combination of calls that motivated them. Likewise, Republicans are motivated by a specific word salad that keeps them in a constant state of fear and anger.

As it stands, I encourage studies that help me understand the threat within: Republicans.

Wednesday, May 17, 2023

Seditionist GOP Lawmakers Are Shredding American's Rights

They're embedded in Congress and states like parasites draining away American's rights.

Republicans, or more accurately the MAGA cult, have been busy suppressing voters, taking away women's rights to their own bodies, and promoting AR-15s with little badges on the suits.

We live in two Americas, where in one truth matters and the other where domestic terrorists spread misinformation, lies and conspiracies. 

It's our own fault. Those seditionists have broken into mainstream media and school boards by being voted in. They're sucking the life out of our education system by banning books and rewriting history.

Fact. The majority of Americans don't vote. We trail many of our peers in the developed world in voting-age population turnout. 

The country with the best voter turnout is surprisingly Uruguay with a 94% turnout in their last election for a president.

We have a silent majority that seems content to accept their fate and not participate in our electoral system.

This is how democracy diminishes when a majority of our republic doesn't participate in exercising their right to vote for change.

As it stands, are you a participant or an observer when it comes to voting?

Tuesday, May 16, 2023

Game #1 in Western Conference Finals Today: Lakers Looking to Upset the Nuggets

The Lakers looked so bad the first half of this season I seriously doubted they were going anywhere but to the cellar.

Let alone to the NBA Finals.

You want an underdog? 

The Purple and Gold would have been your best pick to fail this season. They started out with a miserable 2-10 record and very little mojo.

The fact that they parlayed that start into contending for the Western Conference Championship is amazing.

Today the Lakers play the #1 seed Denver whose been the highest scoring team in the playoffs thus far.

Once again, the Lakers are an underdog and rightly so. They're playing a highly disciplined team coached by Mike Malone, arguably one of the best coaches in the league.

While the Nuggets are #1 in offense in the post season, the Lakers are #1 in defense making for a classic clash.

Did I mention that I love underdogs?

The combo of being a Laker fan for over 60 years and my love for underdogs have come together to form my prediction that the Lakers will win the series in 6 games.

As it stands, whatever happens we can be assured this is going to be a great series for basketball fans.

Monday, May 15, 2023

A Civil War is Not Pending: It's Already Here

The signs of another Civil War are everywhere.

Look around you. Which side do you belong too? There are only two tribes. The Blue and the Red (MAGA cult). 

If you don't belong to either you live in a no-man's zone and are excepted collateral in the battles that are taking place in all 50 states and Washington DC for the soul of America.

Voter suppression and taking away women's freedoms are the 21st century equivalent of slavery in Dixie. 

We have a former twice impeached president and convicted sexual abuser trying to openly overthrow democracy and turn our country into an autocracy.

There are politicians who are supporters of sedition in Congress and in every state legislative body.

There's battles every day - mass shootings that go unchecked by MAGA cultists who encourage racism, antisemitism, and homophobia. 

The 2nd Amendment has been twisted into a pretzel by the NRA and gun lobby who encourage buying weapons of war like the AR-15 turning it into a symbol for cult followers.

When I look around at the violence in this country today, I see a Civil War underway. The battle between truth and lies gets more intense with the toxic rhetoric flooding some media platforms.

Like the Civil War in the 1860s, we have families divided against themselves. Brother against brother. Family units shattered by two different opinions of what America should look like.

As it stands, the only difference between these two wars is the second one is an undeclared war.

Sunday, May 14, 2023

Motherhood Misunderstood

There are people in our society who treat mothers like no others expecting them to fill a stereotypical role in life.

Christian White Nationalists believe motherhood is something akin to owning cattle. They expect a woman to forfeit her rights to her body and to breed profusely. 

When they talk about motherhood being sacred and a woman's calling in life, you'd think they would put mothers on a pedestal instead of a cage. But that's not the case.

Right-wing Evangelicals extol the virtues of women while taking away their rights. They want to see women pregnant, barefoot, and at home cleaning the house and preparing supper for her man. Not out in the workplace or in politics.

Many people misunderstand motherhood despite making it a national holiday. Mothers are no more perfect than any other woman or men in our world today.

Moms make mistakes.

Moms are human and shouldn't be judged for the decisions they make. 

Some moms don't care about their offspring.

The best Moms raise their children with love and understanding.

As it stands, Happy Mother's Day to all of you moms out there.

Saturday, May 13, 2023

Underdog Lakers Advance to Conference Finals

They started the season with a 2-10 record and then something happened. 

The Lakers hit paydirt after the trade deadline when they got six new players who have been instrumental in their stunning success. 

Underdogs from the moment they entered into the play-in tournament the Lakers defied the odds and made the playoffs and what they've done there so far is a fan's dream come true.

Here's a link to the Game 6 blow out.

It's only the second time in NBA history a 2-10 team went to the conference finals. Now they face the #1 seed Denver next Tuesday, at Denver.

Like the rest of the teams the Lakers played they do not have home court advantage. They had to earn home court advantage when they played the #2 Grizzlies, and the #6 Golden State Warriors (last year's Champions).

Here's a link to a video, Lakers Are Dangerous.

The same will go for the Nuggets. The Lakers will need to strike fast and first by defeating the Nuggets in at least one of the first two games in Denver.

As it stands, I've been a Laker fan since they came to LA and this year's team is looking like one for the ages.

Friday, May 12, 2023

Another Day Another Act in America's Theatre of the Absurd

Welcome tourists to another day of drama in American society.

Please stay together and don't wander off or you might get shot. 

In our gun-worshipping culture AR-15s have replaced bibles and GOP lawmakers walk around wearing little AR-15 badges to show their loyalty to the gun lobby that supports them.

You've been warned.

Today's act is taking place along the Mexican American border. A law expired that prevented immigrants from applying for asylum. Naturally they're flooding the borders.

It's absolutely absurd that Congress can't address a problem that's been around for over 60 years. Democrats and Republicans have punted the situation from one administration to the next.

The politics are enough to make one vomit as each side puts on passion plays for or against immigrants.

This is not the only example of absurdity I have for you today. Here's another item that will make you shake your heads before you go home.

* McDonalds got sued for a hot chicken nugget that fell on an autistic toddler's lap and gave her a second-degree burn. A jury is now pondering the payout. 

In the first place Mom should not have handed the girl a Happy Meal while she's strapped into a car seat, and she couldn't see what her daughter was doing. 

If she wanted to give her a chicken nugget, she could have pulled one out of the box (testing it for heat) and waited until going home before eating at a table (or any safe place she could monitor).

It was absurd decades ago when a woman sued McDonald's because of how hot their coffee was when she stupidly spilled it all over her lap. She won, by the way. The case was infamous and now we're seeing another one over a chicken nugget.

As it stands, "Life is a theatre set in which there are but few practicable entrances." -Victor Hugo, Les Miserables

Thursday, May 11, 2023

Americans Are Drowning in an Endless Sea of Conspiracies

It's an octopus's garden in Congress where sharks swim freely attacking democracy.

Republicans have taken a deep dive on reality and now they've penetrated mainstream medias like CNN.

At last night's terrible town hall meeting Trump was given the big platform he's been so desperately seeking since he announced his bid for re-election.

He was allowed to lie without any rebuttals and was performing before a crowd of New Hampshire Republicans prepared to back him in the presidential primaries.

When asked if he should apologize to Pence for nearly killing him on Jan. 6 Trump said no, he would not, and that Pence did the wrong thing in not cooperating with his coup attempt.

The audience applauded his answer. It was eerie watching people clap like trained seals and gleefully ignoring reality. This is where we are now... people are drowning in a sea of endless conspiracies.

The applause continued when Trump said that when he's the president again he'll pardon the Jan. 6 insurrectionists.

The worst traitor in American history has spawned a cult that is dragging people into the depths of the Mariana Trench of conspiracies that he's nurtured for years starting with lies about President Obama's birth certificate.

We need a coordinated national pushback against the lies and conspiracies that threaten to drown democracy. 

What mainstream media left that still reports facts needs to throw out lifesavers in the form of truth and rebuttal to the massive misinformation attacks by a school of MAGA sea creatures.

As it stands, Trump and minions will continue to plumb new lows in our society until the majority of American voters kick them out of offices they've infected from the federal level to the state level.

Wednesday, May 10, 2023

This is the GOP Today: A Convicted Sexual Abuser Leads Primary Polls and House Member Charged with 13 Felony Counts

Twice impeached former president Trump once famously said that he could shoot someone in the middle of 5th Avenue in New York, and no one do anything about it.

It's starting to look like he's right.

Despite being convicted yesterday for sexual abuse and defamation Trump is going on mainstream TV (CNN) tonight with an opportunity to spread more lies to millions of Americans tonight.

How is that even possible? The world has turned upside down. When a mainstream outlet like CNN gives Trump coverage, they are promoting a cult leader for the sake of making money. 

Any moral ground CNN may have had is gone, replaced with the same motivations that Fox News used in promoting lies and disinformation for profit.

This is the GOP today.

Republican House member George Santos was arrested yesterday and charged today with 13 counts including wire fraud and money laundering. He's currently in federal custody.

Meanwhile House Speaker McCarthy is not talking about expelling Santos. The last thing he wants is to lose another sure vote to back him in his legislative agenda.

As a matter of fact, McCarthy doubled down on protecting the serial liar and cheat and told reporters he's not going to ask Santos to resign!

Both McCarthy and Majority leader Steve Scalise have been avoiding questions about Santos, only offering up the well-worn trope "In America today, your innocent until proven guilty."

As it stands, the Republican party has been reduced to a cult that promotes lies and violence in its quest to turn our democracy into an autocracy. 

Tuesday, May 9, 2023

Warning! Artificial Intelligence Could Eventually Lead to Humans Being Controlled - or Even Wiped Out

When Alex Hern tells you to be concerned about the affect's artificial intelligence could have on humanity, it's a good time to listen to his warnings.

The 75-year-old researcher is known as the Godfather of AI and is responsible for being the first to build neural networking and building computer systems that can learn from data and experience.

Sounds like something straight out of a science fiction story. But it's not. AI may pose the biggest challenge to humans in the 21st century.

Hern's warnings are blunt and to the point.

In an interview with the Guardian's UK technology editor, he laid out why he fears that digital intelligence has some distinct advantages over the human brain.

* We could become controlled by AI.

* We could be wiped out by AI.

Simple and straight to the point. Science fiction writers have talked about the threat's robots and machines with mind control could pose a risk for humanity since the turn of the 19th century.

The Godfather of AI has regrets about what he helped unleash on the world. So, he's issuing warnings like the mythical Dr. Frankenstein did about the monster he created.

He's also talking about things we need to do to advert calamity. Here's an article by Bernard Marr, a world-renowned futurist. He also warns of risks that we should be aware of.

Here's a more detailed history of artifial intelligence and the company who started it all - OpenAI. Elon Musk served as an initial board member for the company.

As it stands, what was once the subject of science fiction has become a very real problem in our world today.

Monday, May 8, 2023

GOP: All You Can Do is Pray There's Not Another Massacre Every Day as Guns Get Deadlier

Republicans think that weapons of war in the streets of our nation are going to continue, and we might as well get used to it.

They're tongue in cheek appeal to pray when innocent civilians are being slaughtered daily is the highest form of hypocrisy. They know God wouldn't approve of the mass shootings and that their insincere prayers are deceitful and disgusting.

But Republicans think they can control the masses of gun owners by allowing them unfettered access to weapons that are getting more deadly every day.

Gun manufacturer SIG Sauer recently announced two new assault weapons for close-up combat. 

The XM250 automatic rifle and the XM5 rifle.

Perhaps the most chilling upgrade to these automatic rifles are the ammunition they use. The new caliber bullets will make the old bullets look like BB guns. The new 6.8mm cartridge is designed to penetrate Kevlar and other protective materials. Just what every civilian in America needs.

Our police are already outgunned throughout the country with the availability of AR-15s. Now the gear they wear won't protect them from the new menace in society, the XM250 rifle.

Republicans meanwhile are ignoring the carnage that their loyalty to the Gun Lobby requires telling their supporters to pray and suck it up. 

Democrats are doing their best to enact gun safety laws in a divided Congress and in the states. We have to keep in mind that the gun cult in America is never going to wither away.

It's our reality for the 21st century, a time when we should be progressing in society, and are instead regressing on issues like gun safety.

As it stands, "We have met the enemy and He is Us." POGO

The Stereotype of Ugly Americans Has Never Been Truer Than Now

Just in case you never heard the negative stereotype " Ugly American" here is  a quick summary of where the term comes from. The...