Tuesday, March 29, 2011

Guns, Guns and More Mayhem

It has been quite a while since I climbed up on my soapbox to rant about guns.  Tucson has not forgotten the carnage that happened here after a deranged young man was able to buy a gun and ammunition clips with ease when he should have been prevented from doing so if our broken  background check system had been fixed.   

This is from the post from Mayors Against Illegal Guns.

Did you know that 34 Americans are murdered with guns every day?

The recent shooting in Tucson is another tragic reminder of how easy it is for dangerous people to get their hands on guns.

Our gun laws are designed to prevent felons, the mentally ill, and drug abusers from purchasing guns. But the background check system is broken, and loopholes in the law allows criminals to buy guns with no questions asked
.


Please join me in sending a message to Congress to Fix Gun Checks:


How many of these disasters do we have to endure before the U. S,  uses some common sense?  How long do our legislators have to carry the water for the NRA before they show some spine?  
Mayors Against Illegal Guns are trying to change the equation.  So far it's been NRA 100% - Citizens 0.

I signed a petition for better gun registration laws.  If you agree that we need to do something please sign  the petition for sensible gun laws.  Click on the link.  Petition to fix gun checks



Thursday, March 24, 2011

Respond and Moon Shot

As I indicated on a previous blog, I do not have time to post often.  I am taking the lazy way out and posting an article dear to my heart.  Well, maybe that's an overstatement.  But I do get on my soapbox about the fact that the right wing are able to convince so many people of outrageous lies.  I want all of us to refute these lies whenever possible.  So I am including the list of how to do this.  Some do not apply to the average citizen, but they are still good to know.

Many bloggers posted pictures of the perigee moon.  I am posting the ones I took last Saturday night.  Because I am unable to see the horizon from my house they were taken later than I would have liked.  For better or worse, here is my contribution.  The first one is the way it looked when I downloaded it from my camera.  The last one is the edited version of the same shot. I do not know why the colors are weird. 

The middle photo is an enlargement of the moon as it first appeared in the sky behind tree branches.



6 Sadistic State Laws Conservatives Are Trying to Ram Through

By David Sirota, AlterNet
Posted on March 21, 2011, Printed on March 24, 2011
http://www.alternet.org/story/150320/
Supreme Court Justice Louis Brandeis once said that states are the “laboratories of democracy.” Oft repeated over time, the aphorism has helped impart legitimacy to the rough and tumble of state lawmaking. We’ve heard “laboratory” and we’ve imagined staid scientists in white coats rigorously testing forward-thinking theories of societal advancement.
It’s certainly a reassuring picture—but there is a darker side of the metaphor. States are indeed laboratories. The problem is that today, those laboratories are increasingly run by mad scientists.
We’re not talking about the usual Dr. Frankensteins trying to bring alive new corporate giveaways through harebrained cuts to social services (though there are those, too). We’re talking about true legislative sadists looking to go medieval on America. Behold just six of the most telling examples:
1. The Anti-Life Pro-Life Act: After anti-abortion Republicans in Congress tried to narrow the legal definition of rape, Nebraska Republican state Sen. Mark Christensen took the assault on women’s rights one step further with a bill to legitimize the murder of abortion providers by classifying such homicides as “justified.”
2. The Let Them Eat Corporate Tax Cuts Act: As poverty rates and hunger have risen, so, too, have corporate profits. The Georgia Legislature’s response? Intensify the inequity with a bill to create a regressive sales tax on food that would then finance a brand new corporate tax cut.
3. The Demoralize the Workforce Act: Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker didn’t just threaten to deploy the National Guard against state workers unless they accept big pay and pension cuts. Apparently, that was too Kent State and not enough Ludlow Massacre for him. So he pressed to statutorily bar those workers from ever again collectively bargaining.
4. The Child Labor Act: Missouri state Sen. Jane Cunningham’s proposal to eliminate child labor laws would allow corporations to employ any kid under 14 and would terminate restrictions on the number of hours that kid can be forced to work. The legislation is proof that when tea party ideologues refer to “the ’50s,” some of them aren’t referring to the 1950s—they are referring to the 1850s.
5. The Obesity and Deficit Encouragement Act: Colorado exemplifies America’s childhood obesity epidemic and its budget crisis. The state’s childhood obesity rate grew at the second-fastest rate in the country, and its $1.2 billion budget gap is threatening the state’s already underfinanced schools. Yet, despite the U.S. Department of Agriculture showing that higher soda taxes would drive down obesity, and despite such a levy raising much-needed public revenues, Colorado’s newly Republican House is pushing legislation to create a special budget-busting sales tax exemption exclusively for soda.
6. The Endorsing Your Own Demise Act: Between trying to legalize hunting with hand-thrown spears and pressing to eliminate education requirements for those seeking the office of state superintendent of schools, Montana’s Republican lawmakers are also considering legislation to officially endorse catastrophic global climate change. That’s right, in the face of a Harvard study showing that climate change could destroy Montana’s water supplies, agriculture industries and forests, state Rep. Joe Read’s bill would declare that “global warming is beneficial to the welfare and business climate of Montana.”
If you don’t live in one of these states, it’s easy to tell yourself that these bills don’t affect you. But history suggests that what happens in one “laboratory” is quite often replicated in others—and ultimately, in the nation’s capital. That’s why we should all hope saner minds cut short these experiments before they get even more out of control.

Wednesday, March 16, 2011

Fight Back

Lets keep the enthusiasm going.  Wisconsin is showing the way.  We must take this opportunity to take back our government from the greedy corporations and their handmaidens.   Let them know that we're mad as hell and we're not going to take it anymore.


It's time to rally in every state; in every city, town or hamlet; and in every neighborhood.  Are you ready to fight for your rights?  Spread the word when there is a rally in your community and take your friends and neighbors.  If you are not physically able to attend, call your friends and neighbors and tell them when and where a rally will be held and encourage them to go in your place. 

We must not let the good citizens of Wisconsin down.  They stood out in the freezing cold day after day to show that they were not going to take it anymore.  And they are not stopping. They are withdrawing their money from a bank that backed the governor.  Hitting the corporations in their pocketbook is the best way to get their attention.  Where does your bank stand?  Are you with one of the big banks that break the law right and left and get away with it?  Move your money to a local bank or a credit union.  If everyone did this, the banks would suffer and their outrageous profit line would diminish.  One person cannot do it alone, but multiplied by thousands it can make a real impact.  

Let's start a new civil rights movement.  Listen to Dennis Kucinich on this video.


Monday, March 14, 2011

This and That

It's about time that I changed my post.  I know, I am very slow and I do apologize for not being more efficient.   Because I have so many things to write about I just throw up my hands and give up in exasperation. 

I do want you to know that I read as many of your posts as I can, but I am now a lurker and do not always have time to comment.  So sorry.

Instead of writing a lengthy post on one of the many terrible things that are going on, I will touch on a few of them.


Aside from the human tragedy in Japan the Nuclear situation is dire.  It makes me realize that we need to start fighting for a nuclear free world again.  They still don't have a solution on  how to store the waste material.  Why are we not spending all of our energy dollars on developing alternate energy?  

Solar and wind are free, but, like the preacher said about giving money to the Church, "Water is free, but it takes money to pipe it to you."  So there can be the profit motive to inspire the scientists to figure it all out and for the big industries to develop the windmills and panels.

Then there's Libya.  The hawks are trying to get us in another Mid-east  war by imposing a 'no fly' zone.  Of course that is not a simple solution either, because the first thing you have to do is destroy Qaddafi's planes and, guess what, you are in another war.

Then there's Wisconsin.  In spite of the stupid Republicans forcing their will on the people, I think the people will ultimately win this one. It's not going away.  The Union guys just withdrew a total of $200,000  from a bank that does business with the Koch brothers.  Good for them; hit them in the pocket book, say I. 

Then there's the budget battle in D. C.  I am ready to scream over the sheer stupidity of the cuts they are proposing.  There are too many to go into so I will just say, I hope cooler and smarter heads prevail.


And last, here are more giggles.  It may be a while before I post again as life has really gotten in the way big time. 


Bumper stickers for Elders.




Sunday, March 13, 2011

This and That

It's about time that I changed my post.  I know, I am very slow and I do apologize for not being more efficient.   Because I have so many things to write about I just throw up my hands and give up in exasperation.

I do want you to know that I read as many of your posts as I can, but I am now a lurker and do not always have time to comment.  So sorry.

Instead of writing a lengthy post on one of the many terrible things that are going on, I will touch on a few of them.


Aside from the human tragedy in Japan the Nuclear situation is dire.  It makes me realize that we need to start fighting for a nuclear free world again.  They still don't have a solution on  how to store the waste material.  Why are we not spending all of our energy dollars on developing alternate energy?  

Solar and wind are free, but, like the preacher said about giving money to the Church, "Water is free, but it takes money to pipe it to you."  So there can be the profit motive to inspire the scientists to figure it all out and for the big industries to develop the windmills and panels.

Then there's Libya.  The hawks are trying to get us in another Mid-east  war by imposing a 'no fly' zone.  Of course that is not a simple solution either, because the first thing you have to do is destroy Qaddafi's planes and, guess what, you are in another war.

Then there's Wisconsin.  In spite of the stupid Republicans forcing their will on the people, I think the people will ultimately win this one. It's not going away.  The Union guys just withdrew a total of $200,000  from a bank that does business with the Koch brothers.  Good for them; hit them in the pocket book, say I. 

Then there's the budget battle in D. C.  I am ready to scream over the sheer stupidity of the cuts they are proposing.  There are too many to go into so I will just say, I hope cooler and smarter heads prevail.


And last, here are more giggles.  It may be a while before I post again as life has really gotten in the way big time. 


Bumper stickers for Elders.




 



















Wednesday, March 2, 2011

The Tea Party Governor

Because it is okay to post this on my Facebook wall I assume I am safe in posting it on my blog.  I hope I am not infringing on any copyrights.  I have deleted some words in each paragraph for brevity.  You can read the entire text on the link that follows the article.

Top Ten Disastrous Policies From the Wisconsin GOP You Haven't Heard About