Saturday, March 13, 2010

It Is Now Mathematically Impossible To Pay Off The U.S. National Debt

A lot of people are very upset about the rapidly increasing U.S. national debt these days and they are  demanding a solution.

What they don't realize is that there simply is not a solution under the current U.S. financial system.”

Go here to read the whole article.

Catholic Church in Europe facing abuse claims

Image: Pope Benedict XVI, Archbishop Robert Zollitsch

I’ve always had a problem with organized religions Each seems to attract extremists, and to believe it’s the “One True” religion.

It’s this narrow-minded attitude of self righteous people that turns me off. The “My Way or the Highway” religion requirements are hypocritical at best, and dangerous at the worst. Think Muslims who practice international terror in the name of Allah.

Then there’s this other terrible dynamic that seems all too common in the Catholic Church; Pedophiles. Sexual abuse cases with Catholic priests fondling children are being exposed worldwide daily. That trend has become one of the biggest threats to the Catholic Church yet; lawsuits suing dioceses that harbor pedophile priests.

Lawsuits alleging cover-up of pedophile priests could bankrupt dioceses

“Pope Benedict XVI, left, meets Archbishop Robert Zollitsch in his private library at the Vatican on Friday. Germany's top bishop says the pope encouraged him to pursue the truth about cases of clerical sex abuse in the pontiff's native Germany.”

View related photos

Prime-Time Supremacy – The New Look of Hate

 

The new FX series “Justified” shows a real and growing problem. Racism is alive and well in America today as more angry whites swell the ranks of White Supremacy groups. I have a column waiting in the wings about an all-white basketball league that is currently recruiting cities to play in.

Excerpt from NewsWeek: 

“Harlan is not the charming, genteel Mayberry you'd expect from a small town in Kentucky with a population around 2,000. At least not in Justified, the new FX series starring Timothy Olyphant as Raylan Givens, a maverick U.S. marshal dispatched to Harlan after he gets trigger-happy on a suspect in a Miami restaurant.

It turns out that Harlan's little local white-supremacy group is part of a real and growing problem. According to the Southern Poverty Law Center, membership in white-extremist groups is ticking upward, as downtrodden, angry Caucasians seek an outlet for their anxieties about a black president, illegal immigration, and a leaky economy. Still, the supremacy surge seems to be much more acute in Hollywood than anywhere else in the country.”

Read the whole story here.                                                       Photo(s) source

Friday, March 12, 2010

The reason the Mayan calendar ends in 2012

A laugh for Friday…

and a rainy day…

cartoon source

Past Pot Column Appears on T-S reader polls Today

I noticed that a column that ran last October was the 2nd Most Viewed on the Times-Standard list this morning at 8 a.m. It dropped down to #3 when the article “Three arrested in Eureka POP raid” took the top spot. It’s still the 2nd Most Emailed. I find it interesting to see something I wrote six months ago on today’s reader input gage Online. Here’s the column:

Marijuana proven effective in treating different types of cancers

Here’s links to the web sites that picked it up:

Tulsa NORMLCannabis NewsHemp NewsMichigan Medical Marijuana AssociationMedical Cannabis – a patient research platformLobitaWorldwide Marijuana SeedsCannabis CultureLegalize Cannabis Alliance News DatabaseSoft Secrets Forum –Cannabis To YouCanned in Totnes (Note: this site plagiarized my article and claimed to have written it)- Hemp Info- The Hemp and Cannabis FoundationThe Cancer and Marijuana BlogMedical Marijuana DoctorsCannabis News (this site ran the column – 1/11/2010) – The Washington Post – Post Partisan (Quick takes by Post Opinion Writers – Google shows my column here - but I had trouble finding it in their WP archives – I think you have to subscribe) – The Marijuana Cancer Cure Cult (this site ran my column on 2/3/10) – and Cannabischat (scroll down).

Photo source

Thursday, March 11, 2010

The 21st century version of Alice in Wonderland

Michael Ramirez Cartoon

School Cancels Prom Rather Than Let Lesbians Attend

Constance McMillen

Homophobia is still rampant in Jackson, Mississippi. Just ask 18-year old high school senior Constance McMillen.

Rather than let her wear a tuxedo and bring her girlfriend to the high school prom school authorities cancelled the prom!

Here’s what they had to say:

"However, at this time, we feel that it is (cancelling the prom) in the best interest of the Itawamba County School District, after taking into consideration the education, safety and well being of our students."

Whose safety are they worried about? McMillen and friend, or the entire student body? It’s a point to ponder after reading the whole story here:

School prom off after lesbian’s date request

VA looks at new effort to reach homeless veterans

I know that news from the 41st Congressional District – and not ours – doesn’t interest a lot of people here. Perhaps it should. Look at what Congressman Lewis is doing for veterans.

Comments by Jerry Lewis:

“On any given night, 131,000 veterans can be found sleeping on the streets and in homeless shelters across America. These former men and women of uniform now represent one-third of the nations homeless population. In our own Inland Empire community, the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) estimates there are nearly 2,000 homeless veterans who struggle every day to find a place to sleep and to eat a decent meal.

Under the leadership of my good friend, Secretary Eric Shinseki, the VA has pledged to end homelessness amongst our nations veterans in five years. This ambitious goal will provide nearly $4.7 billion a year in healthcare, housing, job training, education, and other services targeted at not only helping veterans exit homelessness, but also at preventing veterans from becoming homeless in the first place.


On March 4th, 2010 at the FY2011 Budget Hearing for the VA, I spoke with Secretary Shinseki about this important issue. In our conversation I pledged to support the VA in its efforts and I challenged my colleagues on the Appropriations Committee to also support this national imperative. As we proceed with the work of Congress in the months ahead, the House Appropriations Committee on Veterans Affairs will now make ending homelessness amongst our nations veterans a top priority.
With this investment, our country will seek to ensure that no man or woman who serves our nation is forgotten.” Photo source

Wednesday, March 10, 2010

Vigilant Pug Helps Save Drowning Cat

Dog Helps Save Drowning Cat

Chloe the Pug saved her sister Willow, a Siamese cat, recently. Forget about fighting like cats and dogs. These two are best friends.

Read the story here.

New Jersey raid nets biggest illegal indoor grow in state’s history

hemp

This bust kinda reminds me of the French Connection, but it’s the Vietnamese Connection in this case! Arrested were:Thu N. Nguyen, 44, Tuan A. Dang, 35, and Ngoc H. Bui.

Excerpt:

“Along with a vast array of indoor cultivation equipment, 3,370 growing plants, 115 pounds of harvested marijuana and $65,000 cash was seized in the raids on five different large homes, which one law-enforcement official described as "mansions."

Go here for the full story.

Looks like robbers are hitting hard times like the rest of us

Our Great Recession has taken it’s toll on all professions. That includes robbers. It’s becoming more of a crap shoot than ever for thieves who gamble on their illicit earnings.

The woman in the following story is a good example of what I’m talking about. These are indeed hard times.  

Police: California robber holds up 11 people, gets $6

Blog Break Until Presidential Election is Over

I finally hit the wall today. I can't think of what to say about all of the madness going on in this country right now. I'm a writer...