How Free and Safe Are You in Today's Society?

        Determining what rights/freedoms 

...you still have in America today depends upon several factors.

* Where you live

If you live in a red state - as opposed to a blue one - your rights are getting trampled by extreme conservatives who don't believe a woman has the right to her own body and should meekly accept their twisted ideology.

If you live in a blue state, a woman has more rights to her body and health care options.

If you live in a red state, it's more likely that radical groups are banning books in schools and libraries.

If you live in a blue state, the chance of book bans in schools and libraries is considerably less and generally only in certain rural counties. 

If you live in a red state, your children are more likely to be indoctrinated in a fact free version of history. Take Florida as a prime example.

If you live in a blue state, your children are more likely to get an education based upon factual history. Again, there's exceptions in some counties in some states.

* Who You Are

If you're a Caucasian, then you have more civil rights than other ethnic groups in America.

If you're Black or Brown, it's another story. Look at national police reports in every state and you'll find that more blacks are charged for crimes than Hispanics (they're 2nd) and of course Caucasians.

If you're religious, you could be targeted and murdered for your beliefs. Jews in particular are constantly suffering from attacks by deranged white nationalists across the country.

If you identify with the LGBTQ community, you're being marginalized by MAGA Republicans. You are also a moving target for hate groups no matter where you go. Trans rights are being stripped away daily in state courts.

* How Much Money & Power You Have

Too many freedoms in this country only apply if you're rich and have political power. The elite. The entitled. Politicians who make decisions to benefit themselves and not for the people they're supposed to serve.

We've become a caste society much like India. The haves and have nots with a sprinkling in-between of a frail middle class. 

As it stands, how free and safe are you?

This FBI Whistleblower Has Evidence the FBI Was Protecting Trump and Cronies Since 2016

Lately the GOP majority House has been providing whistleblowers for MAGA conspiracies that are just red meat for Trump's cult.

(Photo: FBI NY Supervisor Charles McGonigal whose been indicted on 2 felony counts.)

Remember when the chair for the House Oversight and Accountability Committee James Comey boasted he had 3 whistleblower FBI agents that were going to expose the Biden crime family?

He went on social media just before the House met with the alleged whistleblowers and told the right-wing media machine that the Bidens were going down after the hearing.

Of course, that's not what happened.

What happened was the Democrats on the panel shredded their stories and afterwards we found out that two of the supposedly whistleblowers were just disgruntled ex-FBI agents who had been fired for inadequacies on the job.

The third whistleblower turned out to be a foreign agent for China and an international arms dealer who has been charged with felonies.

Since then, the Democrats had an active FBI agent whistleblower testify in a Senate hearing that he was blocked from investigating Trump, anyone in the White House, and Trump associates.

Keep in mind that before this whistleblower there was amble evidence of individual FBI agents with pro-Trump sympathies. 

The agent's boss at the New York FBI Field Headquarters was the one who took issue with his reporting and took retaliatory measures to shut him up.

That supervisor's name is Charles McGonigal, the now indicted former head of FBI counterintelligence in New York. 

He's facing two federal indictments. One for lying to the FBI on his official paperwork and illicitly taking money to work for Oleg Deripaska, a sanctioned Russian oligarch.

Interesting isn't it how Russians keep popping up in collusion with Trump and his supporters?

Back to our still unnamed whistleblower, he stated that he was called to the carpet to discuss "performance issues" and concerns and was given suggestions on how to improve in an August 2022 meeting. Prior to that he had excellent job reviews throughout his career.

In that meeting he received directions including a strict prohibition on filing intelligence reports relating to Rudy Giuliani or any other Trump associate.

The agent after years of being frustrated in his efforts into investigating political wrongdoing in Trump's circle filed an internal complaint under the Whistleblower Protection Act.

In it he alleged "Numerous acts of intelligence suppression of my reporting related to foreign influence and the Capitol riots, retaliatory acts, and defamation of character."

So far, the FRBI's national press office has declined to comment.

Legal pundits have accused the Biden Administration of not quickly taking legal action after the Jan.6 coup attempt. Instead, it took two years of Biden's presidency to finally act upon information that has been in FBI files since 2016. Was it the FBI's fault?

With the next election just around the corner Trump's been collecting felony charges in numerous cases.

The question is how complicit is the whole FBI in suppressing information under Trump appointed Christopher Wray, the director? What did Wray know a long time ago? What does he know now?

As it stands, I'm wondering why no House committees have brought up this whistleblower's allegations. Could it be that the truth hurts?

Even Goebbels Would Blush at Florida's New School Program for Children

Fascism rears its ugly head once again in Florida as the DeSantis administration approved a climate crisis denial curriculum for children from kindergarten to 5th grade.

Installing pure propaganda into children's education was the brainchild of one of the most infamous Nazis, Josep Goebbels minister of propaganda in Germany during WW II.

In an absolute reverse of reality children in Florida will be watching videos that compare climate activists to Nazis!

They're going to be taught that solar and wind energy is environmentally ruinous, and that current global heating is part of natural long-term cycles.

In other words... lies, misinformation, and blatant propaganda promoting extreme conservative views will be the new norm in Florida's school systems. 

How did this happen?

There's an extreme national conservative group called the Prager University Foundation which produces materials on science, history, gender and other topics that distort truth.

Experts who have studied the videos and other PragerU output have warned that many of Florida's 3 million public school children will be at risk of being exposed to rightwing indoctrination that conforms to the worldview of the organization's funders.

It's propaganda 101.

Equating people concerned about climate change with Nazis can have long-term impact on young impressionable people. 

Let's get something straight here. Prager is NOT an academic institution and does not confer degrees. Prager is a right-wing millionaire who promotes an authoritarian agenda.

The group is funded by two brothers who are notorious climate deniers, Dan and Farris Wilks, who happen to be petroleum industry businessmen. No bias there eh?

This is the first time these videos have infected a school system in America, and it won't be the last if this nefarious group has its way.

According to Jill Simonian, director of outreach at PragerUKids, the youth arm of the organization, "More states will follow Florida. I'm applauding. This is a step in the right direction."

It's a step in the wrong direction if you believe in democracy, science, and the truth.

You know why this was possible in Florida?

Gov. Ron DeSantis is infamous for his denial of climate change, calling it "leftwing stuff." He's also full MAGA and willing to subvert democracy at every turn.

Michael Mann, a climate scientist at the University of Pennsylvania, said "that the irony in the decision by DeSantis' administration to allow the videos "is that this gambit would make Goebbels himself blush."

"For we have a politician who regularly trades in antisemitic and racist, misogynistic and homophobic tropes promoting agenda-driven disinformation into actual science to further the agenda of the fossil fuel interests funding him and his party," Mann explained. 

What use to be the Republican party is now a nest of power-hungry cretins who have embraced fascism openly and are attacking our democracy at every turn. Everything from slavery was good to denying science is part of Prager's un-American agenda.

Now it's up to the parents in Florida to fight back against this propaganda curriculum being shoved down their children's throats. 

If they care about telling the truth about our planet and many other subjects being perverted to promote fascism, they need to organizer and protest. Their children are the Guina pigs for a new wave of authoritarianism that's trying to sweep the country.

As it stands, I hope the rest of the states are watching what's happening in Florida because fascism in their school systems will be the next step in this insidious plot.

Apocalypse Now: This is NOT a Movie - it's Real

     Watching Hawaii's Big Island and Maui engulfed in raging wildfires this morning I couldn't help thinking about Revelations in the bible which predicted the end of times for mankind.

The deadly effects of the climate crisis we're facing worldwide right now are of biblical proportions. 

In America wildfires and floods are affecting people's lives in all 50 states. State emergencies, due to bad weather, are commonplace these days.

Let me be clear. I'm not a bible-thumping Christian telling people that it's time to repent and tithe at church.

I think about my eldest son and his partner who live in Vermont facing flooding not seen for a thousand years in that area.

I watch the record-breaking heat smothering the West and Southwest and how it's affecting crops, animals, and human lives with a growing horror and realization this is our new norm on planet earth.

It's only going to get worse.

The major cause of this plague on earth is not God's fault. It's the fault of billionaire fossil fuel CEOs amassing wealth while continuing to spew deadly carbons into our atmosphere.

Governments worldwide are unable to take meaningful mitigation efforts because corrupt politicians block climate legislation on behalf of their wealthy donors.

To my dismay I watch giant glaciers melting and causing sea levels to rise every day on the news. Areas in some of the oceans are heating up and killing the inhabitants from fish to coral reefs. The waters off Florida are like a hot tub with temperatures hovering at 100 degrees.

Wars, like the one between Russia and Ukraine, and rumors of war are rampant worldwide.

It's just a coincidence that Revelations talks about plagues, and we have places like Florida leading the country in leprosy and malaria - both of which were eliminated in the country... until recently.

Florida's real plague is its governor, the not so honorable Ron DeSantis. His attacks against science and wokism have turned the state into a bastion of idiots who go out of their way to avoid reality.

Weather forecasters have been covering Hurricane Dora's devasting effects on Hawaii's Big Island and Maui all day. The most recent report suggested the high winds were moving westward.

To where? No one knows. Just like no one knows when the area they live in will be hit with a catastrophic act of nature/mankind.

As it stands, it really hurts my heart knowing my children, grandchildren and great grandchildren don't have a future to look forward to.

Knowing When it's Time to Move On

Since my father passed away on August 4th, I've been grieving. 

Moving around in a surrealistic state of past and present memories.

Now, I'm ready to move on. It's what Dad would have wanted. He never let life's challenges take him down. He always moved on right up to until he was 95 years old.

It's not easy. I've had other tragedies in my life and managed to move on from them. 

There was never a certain timeline. Like a day, week, month, or a year to recover.

There are no rules for how to move on. It was a gut check thing and a desire to make my remaining days a masterpiece (as my good friend, author and newspaper columnist Woody Woodburn would say).

Moving on can be extremely challenging. When my best friend in Vietnam and I were in Cambodia we were ambushed by a sniper(s) whose shots riddled his body mere feet away from me. I physically survived but mentally part of me died. 

I was 19 years old. It took years before my PTSD was recognized and I went to a VA hospital in house program for other combat vets like me. I was able to move on after years of therapy, but I confess to a certain melancholy that hasn't gone away.

Moving on from bad things that happen to us is a built-in survival instinct. It's stronger in some of us than others.

Other reasons for moving on...

- When your spouse/lover constantly cheats on you.

- When your gut is roiling from spicy foods it's probably a good reason to move on to milder meals

- When you have a relative who is a MAGA minion it's best not to talk politics with them during family gatherings. Just move on to other subjects.

As it stands, time moves relentlessly on for all of us.

Blog Break - My Father Died Today

My father, Richard Wayne Stancliff, grudgingly passed away today. He was 95 years old and fought to the end.

Born in Cleveland, Ohio, he went out on the Great Lakes at 15-years old as a coal tender and was a Marine during WWII.

My grief is deep, and it'll take me awhile to stop mourning my hero. My Dad.

Right now, I'm taking it day-by-day.

Speculation Journalism is a Waste of Your Time

The health of good journalism in this country has been declining for years. 

The process has been sped up since Trump's emergence into politics.

Americans are at a place where they don't know what's true and what's not in the news. Credibility is strained when publications like the New York Post report lies and lurid stories speculating on conspiracies.

The stories I find the most offensive offer speculations based on lies and misinformation. "Is Big Foot bathing in your pool at night while you're sleeping?"

Speculative or opinion?

"The thrice-indicted, twice-impeached, once defeated, politically toxic Republican standard-bearer has a real shot at the presidency," according to Rich Lowry for Politico magazine.

Really? 

The writer came up with all of these terrible scenarios for what? What was the purpose? To scare readers? Titillate them perhaps? To take advantage of peoples fear that Trump will return to The White House?

Speculation journalism is a low form of communicating in my opinion. The only research being done by this type of writing is being conducted in an alternative universe with dubious sources.

Considered by some as a narrative technique, speculation journalism is said to help audiences think about the future in more concrete terms. But critics question if integrating fiction into journalism is responsible.

Caution. There is a difference between speculation and opinion. The line between them can be thin.

From Quality Journalism to Speculative Journalism - by Josep Lluis Gomez Mompart

The author explains, "Even though the new generations of journalists are better trained and more prepared by studying specifically at universities, they are finding fewer and fewer veterans in newspaper offices.

Veterans can guide the newcomers in critical, rigorous and important journalism, showing themselves to be a model of conduct, with high professional standards and independent, not servile, attitudes towards the public and private powers."

Without the guidance of veterans, our quality of journalism has been withering away. It's only one critical component in the deterioration of the profession, but a vital one. 

The serious newspapers have been dumbing down to produce a sort of journalism that trivializes reality. The result? Tabloidism and sensationalism have become the cancer of the modern press.

As it stands, the spread of the digital press via Internet doubles down on speculation, rumors, and misinformation. Viewer beware.

Playing Solitaire in a Tempest

The game of solitaire originated in the late 1700s and was also called Patience.

I like that... Patience. A game of patience. I would also submit that playing solitaire is a calming activity.

As a matter of fact, solitaire can be so riveting that you ignore the tempest being waged outside (or in some cases inside) your home.

The political storms waged daily have a numbing effect on your mojo. Playing a game of Klondike (the most popular solitaire variation today) challenges your mind while passing the time.

To keep your interest solitaire offers a variety of games to play. There's Mahjong solitaire, Peg solitaire, Klondike, Spider, Yukon and FreeCell.

It doesn't stop there.

Decks Solitaire offers up hundreds of variations of the game.

Let's go back to the original name of the game... Patience. It takes patience to play any of the variations. You have to be diligent and creative to win.

Read, Much More Than a Diversion: The Mathematics of Solitaire via BBVA OpenMind.

More advantages to playing.

For one, there's never any arguments (unless of course you have multiple personalities).

It keeps you away from social media and the lies and misinformation that spew into the national discourse like toxic chemicals through the suburbs and rural America.

You can listen to music as you cruise along in a game of OpenCell or Klondike.

As it stands, playing solitaire is only a diversion and it won't solve your problems, but it's a nice break from reality now and then.

What's the Worst Thing That Could Happen?

There are countless challenges that people face every day. 

It's not a perfect life and this isn't heaven.

What we worry about:

A nuclear world war breaking out.

Running out of toilet paper.

Trump being re-elected president.

Failure.

Fascism overturning our democracy.

The climate crisis facing the planet.

Looking foolish.

Daily mass shootings.

Getting mugged or carjacked.

The price of gas.

The economy in general.

Interest rates going up.

Grifters.

Lies and toxic misinformation being spread on social media platforms.

Health insurance.

Losing our freedom.

Bad weather.

Our favorite sports team losing.

Efforts to ban books in our schools and public libraries.

The list is endless.

You know what I think? The worst thing that could happen to us is to lose hope.

As it stands, "When you have lost hope, you have lost everything. And when you think all is lost, when all is dire and bleak, there is always hope." - Pittacus Lore 

Defending Libraries Against Conservatives is a No-Brainer

Back in the day when I was in elementary school, I liked libraries. 

Especially public libraries because I could go there to get cooled off during summer vacation while reading current magazines.

I remember liking the school library (we had library time every day) and checking out books that had nothing to do with any assignments. Just for the joy of it, like reading the Dr. Doolittle series.

That's why it makes me sad to see conservatives waging war on school and public libraries. It's the most fascist movement I've ever seen take root in American public schools and city libraries.

Banning books is just one of the assaults public and school libraries are facing these days. 

Meanwhile extreme right-wing activists (white nationalists) are trying to seize school curriculums and re-write history to be more palatable to their snowflake beliefs and denial of reality.

Nowhere is that war on libraries more apparent than in Florida and Texas. Gov. DeSantis has been waging war on the Sunshine State's school and public libraries since slithering into office. So has Gov. Abbott of the Lonestar State.

Speaking of Texas. The largest school system in the state, The Houston Independent School District, is converting their libraries into... wait for it... disciplinary centers.

Say what? This is real. It sounds like a chapter from George Orwell's dystopian novel 1984. This shameful move began after the Texas government took the school district over during the spring.

A petition has since been started to prevent the transformation of libraries into disciplinary centers.

Libraries have always played an essential role in promoting literacy and critical thinking going back to ancient times. They are the gateway to world history and events. They are a gift to future generations.

To have this extreme conservative backlash to our places of learning is stunning and sickening. Who are these bitter minorities against education? 

Don't they have children? The ones that do are exposing their kids to right-wing propaganda because they belong to the MAGA cult that breeds lies like flies and live in an alternate universe.

As it stands, to think that in our democracy we are now forced to defend libraries defies the imagination. 

What Happens When MAGA Minions Turn Against One Another?

I've been speculating for some time what would happen when MAGA Republicans lose their unity - because it was inevitable - and turn on each other like ravenous jackals.

That time is here. As Congress goes on its six-week vacation the House is still shaking from the split among the crazies. Some of them have split from the Freedom Caucus and formed a new little right-wing radical group called The Twenty.

When the two groups return from playtime the real fun is going to start as House Speaker Kevin McCarthy gets torn apart trying to please both sides and his boss Trump.

And speaking of our twice-impeached convicted sexual abuser, two separate groups of pro-Trump protestors ended up trying to attack one another but were held back by intervening police the other day.

Here's how the LA Times reported the protest piece of the story.

"Tension flared...with pro-Trump protestors denouncing the move (to change the delegate-selection process), police getting called and two factions nearly came to fisticuffs," the report said.

It went on. 

"Protestors wearing red 'Make America Great Again' caps and carrying American, Trump and 'Don't Tread on Me' Gadsen flags gathered outside of the community meeting, chanting Trump's name and 'America First!' Afterwards they tried to enter the meeting and were blocked by security guards until the Irving Police showed up to cool emotions."

I have to admit I was amused watching the video as the two factions were screaming at each other, with one accusing the other of being white nationalists and the other responding that their foes supported open borders.

I love it. You can't make this stuff up.

The most confusing part of this story is why Trump supporters were angry about the change the committee was making when it was what Trump wanted.

Apparently, the protest was driven in part by fury and confusion sowed on social media, where far-right activists argued that Millan Patterson and Kevin McCarthy (who effectively controls the California state party), were trying to derail Trump's candidacy.

How crazy is that? McCarthy is a first-class Trump bootlicker willing to send democracy to hell to please his master.

I'm going to say it. These MAGA supporters don't have any Mensa members in their group. They tend to be uneducated and live in rural areas. That's just a fact that I've seen repeatedly in national polls for years.

MAGA minions turning on one another shouldn't be a surprise to anyone. Anytime you have a group of rabid honey badgers in the same place there's going to be tensions.

What will the results be you ask?

Simple. Further chaos in government.

As it stands, it's up to the Democrats to salvage the damage that Trump supporters have inflicted on our country by winning next year's presidential/general elections.