Thursday, March 28, 2013

Lanza practiced and modeled his 'ideals' with "Call of Duty."

There is a danger in these games when the person has ACCESS to military style weapons.

There are weekend discounts this weekend. If anyone wants to know how nasty these 'real life' games are there is a chance now. Lucky us.

Posted by: Matt Liebl
Activision and participating retailers (click here) are running a weekend sale for Call of Duty: Black Ops 2. The sale, which began yesterday, runs until March 31, and sees a $20 savings on Black Ops 2. With the weekend discount, it puts the game at an enticing $39.99....

I could be wrong, but, aren't these the Cheney/Bush games. The games potential soldiers were encouraged to play before signing up. URBAN WARFARE games.

Supposedly these games help with recruitment and PREPARATION for the now vacated War in Iraq.

So these are the guys on the Senate Judiciary Committee that vote in favor of straw purchases and gun violence. They give a nod to committing gun crimes. Why are they on the committee?

 Katie J.M. Baker

The number of NRA-endorsed politicians (click here) who've changed their Second Amendment tune since Adam Lanza shot 20 kids and seven adults with a semi-automatic rifle last Friday keeps rising. But can we really trust that these formerly staunch pro-gun representatives will take action? Check out their pre and post-Sandy Hook thoughts on gun control and decide for yourself....

Orrin G. Hatch
R-Utah
Biography


They ALL, every legislator without exception, need to give the money they received to "Sandy Hook Promise" (click here)



Now! 

I would like Senator Leahy be the first in line to donate the monies from the NRA to Sandy Hook Promise.

The biggest recipient (click here) of the NRA’s money is one of the committee’s newest members: freshman Sen. Jeff Flake (R-AZ), who got a $344,742 boost in independent expenditures from the NRA during his race against former U.S. Surgeon General Richard Carmona. According to Public Campaign’s figures, Sen. Orrin Hatch (R-UT) has received $136,639 from the NRA, and Sen. Chuck Grassley (R-IA), the Judiciary Committee’s ranking member, has received $78,526. Committee Chairman Patrick Leahy (D-VT) is the only Democrat on the committee who has received an NRA donation. Leahy’s Green Mountain PAC has received $7,000.




By Charles J. Dean | cdean@al.com 
on January 16, 2013 at 2:35 PM, updated January 17, 2013 at 6:36 AM

...Sessions has also accepted political donations (click here) in the past from the influential National Rifle Association, as has every member of the Alabama congressional delegation except for Birmingham Democrat Rep. Terri Sewell. The NRA has long opposed efforts to control guns.
"I just don't see how you can constitutionally or rationally expect semiautomatic weapons to go away and I'm not going to be supportive," said Sessions during a meeting with al.com.
Sessions did back a little bit away from blanket opposition a little later when asked if there were any gun control proposals he could support that might help avert the kind of mass murder seen last month at a Connecticut school. That attack saw a gunman, heavily armed with the kinds of weapons Obama's proposals seek to ban, kill 20 first-graders and six educators.
"I think the people who support Second Amendment rights, like myself,  think we should think this through and take our time and let's hear the arguments," said Sessions. "We are not going to be rushed into creating a law that would not have had any impact on this shooting or virtually any other shooting."...

Take our time and let the NRA continue their propaganda until this mess goes away. 



Lindsey Graham
R-South Carolina
Biography


Before Sandy Hook:

"I'm honored to have the endorsement (click here) of the National Rifle Association," said Senator Lindsey Graham (R-SC). "I have been an avid hunter all of my life, and like an overwhelming majority of South Carolinians, I strongly support the right to keep and bear arms. I will continue to defend the Second Amendment from those in Congress who wish to infringe upon our rights. Elections matter, and this year's election offers all Americans another opportunity to reaffirm our strong support for the Second Amendment."

After Sandy Hook:

Graham told Slate that clip/magazine size might be worth "looking into" if it was a factor in the Sandy Creek shooting, as well as loose gun show purchasing rules. "Report back to me and see if that was the problem here," said Graham. "This kid accessed weapons that were lawfully purchased by his mother, right? That doesn't seem to be the problem here."
..........................................

As bipartisan negotiations (click here) over a universal background check bill have faltered in the Senate, Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-SC) chose this moment to introduce the NRA's preferred legislation, which addresses mental health issues and ignores the gaping hole in the law permitting private gun sales (often called the 'gun show' loophole) with no background check....

...So, MAIG polled a variety of states and Congressional districts, looking for voters and their views on background checks. Many of the districts they polled are represented by A-graded, NRA-approved politicians. And the lowest percentage they could find in support of universal background checks -- for all gun sales -- was 79%. Arizona, my home state, not known as a bastion of deep 'blue' or liberal, progressive values, polled at 90%....

Maricopa County in Arizona has a median family income of $65,438 (click here).



...At today’s Senate Judiciary Committee (click here) hearing on gun violence and gun control, Texas Sen. John Cornyn argued that before trying to ban any particular weapons or ammunition magazines, the government should focus on enforcement of laws already in existence. He noted that gun crime prosecutions fell 13 percent from 2007 to 2011 and called in particular for tighter enforcement of laws that ban lying on background checks. And he called for hearings on the Justice Department’s failure to adequately enforce existing laws.
“I have a hard time telling my constituents in Texas that Congress is looking at passing a whole raft of new laws, when the laws that we currently have on the books are so woefully unenforced,” he said.
On the other hand, he added that he’s open to exploring steps Congress might take to improve mental health care, and to improve screening to keep guns out of the hands of the mentally ill...
Sure, let's focus on the mental illness and forget about everything else. I remind the polls have shown AT LEAST 78% of constituents of NRA A-graded elected officials want background checks. I don't know where Cornyn gets off stating, “I have a hard time telling my constituents in Texas that Congress is looking at passing a whole raft of new laws, when the laws that we currently have on the books are so woefully unenforced,”. That is a lie. That is a blatant lie. Why are they lying so intensely that reflects nothing of the reality of their constituency? It makes no sense unless the money is too good for their elections, re-elections and ECONOMIES.


Michael S. Lee
R-Utah
Biography




And yet, there's Jeff Flake, my senator, co-sponsoring the NRA bill that fails to address the private gun sale loophole. Ignoring the people of Arizona. Before the expected objection about whether or not the NRA supports this bill is raised, let me point out that CNN quotes the NRA-ILA executive director supporting Graham's bill:

It is all about money. Lots of it. President Obama is correct in that the current elected in the Senate and the House need pressure to do the right thing. They are voting for their own reasons and not carrying out the people's business.


First Posted: 05/26/11 12:40 PM ET Updated: 07/26/11 06:12 AM ET
WASHINGTON -- Senate Democratic leadership (click here) seems poised to acquiesce to Sen. Rand Paul's (R-Ky.) demand that the chamber vote on an amendment that would restrict national security officials from examining gun dealer records in their efforts to track potential terrorists.
The Kentucky Republican had been insisting that such language at least receive a vote as an addition to the extension of the USA Patriot Act. As of Wednesday night, it appeared that he would be stymied.
By Thursday morning, however, the landscape had changed and multiple sources on the Hill confirmed to The Huffington Post that a vote on that amendment and one other would happen -- likely as a means of expediting passage of the Patriot Act's extension....






Jeff Flake
R-Arizona
Biography


Posted on January 2, 2013 at 7:50 PM

Updated Monday, Jan 7 at 10:15 AM
PHOENIX -- When Sen.-elect Jeff Flake (click here) needed their help during the darkest days of his campaign last year, the National Rifle Association had his back.
Late in the race, the powerful group sent its leader, Wayne LaPierre, to the state to stump for votes while also spending big money to help Flake to stay competitive in a surprisingly tight senate contest.
But Flake wasn't ready to return the favor Wednesday as he slammed the NRA's plan to station armed guards in the nation's classrooms....
Maybe Senator Flake has had a change of heart about actually protecting the lives of children by not voting to increase the penalties on Straw Purchasers. See, Straw Purchasers are a real problem and they are a real problem in Arizona.

by Robert Anglen - Jan. 26, 2011 12:00 AM
The Arizona Republic


The seizure of more than 700 guns (click here) and the indictments of 34 people announced on Tuesday are further confirmation that Arizona has become an iron highway for weapons into Mexico, according to federal authorities.
Many legal purchases by straw buyers at Arizona gun stores are being financed and orchestrated by Mexico's Sinaloa cartel, federal officials said.
The cases announced Tuesday involved the purchases of many AK-47s, .50-caliber rifles and other semiautomatic weapons in single-day transactions at gun stores by straw buyers paid by the cartel, U.S. Attorney for Arizona Dennis Burke said....

Just slap on the wrist and let them do it all over again, huh? Look at all that money sitting right there on that table. Straw Purchasers have their economic benefit in Arizona, don't they?

I am with Mike.

He has 3.3 million Americans following his movement. 

He has the correct focus and he is a Lifetime NRA member.

The message of "Bowling for Columbine" was never anti-gun. It was pointing to the irresponsible way in which guns exist in our society. The assignment of anti-gun to "Bowling for Columbine" was propaganda of the NRA.

"Bowling for Columbine" makes the point that violent video games having little to nothing to do with gun violence. He shows video games in Canada where this phenomena does not exist. This IS an American problem.
By David Walsh 
1 March 2000
A six-year-old girl (click here) was shot and killed, apparently by a fellow first grade student, a six-year-old boy, in a classroom at Buell Elementary School in Mt. Morris Township, outside of Flint, Michigan. Flint is a center of General Motors' auto production empire, located sixty miles north of Detroit. The fatal shooting occurred Tuesday morning....

...Authorities identified the weapon as a .32 caliber handgun stolen in December....

...The shooting follows by a few months the conviction in nearby Pontiac of Nathaniel Abraham, who was only 11 at the time of his alleged crime. Abraham was the first youth to be charged with murder under a 1997 Michigan statute that allows children of any age to be prosecuted as adults for serious crimes. Oakland county authorities pursued the case against Abraham in order to establish a precedent and legitimize the 1997 law....

Recently, someone stated in the USA House that the elderly are playing Worlds of Warcraft to enhance their cognition. It is a lie, the elderly involved with mental alertness are using scientifically based games that are measurable.

Worlds of Warcraft is a cartoon. As a matter of fact, there is a venue in that video game in which there are homeless being kept from empty homes. The venue is "Westfall." 

It doesn't come close to the real live issues of some of these games. The video games most frequently instilling a sense of military do have the problem. But, not all video games have the components to instill aggressive demeanors of their participants.

Nothing has changed since "Bowling for Columbine." There is a path of the military industrial complex completely traceable to Colorado. It is amazing. 

The morning of the Columbine shootings President Clinton appeared twice in the media. The first was to announce the increased attacks in Kosovo and the second was an hour later to announce the deaths in Columbine. The connection can be questioned between the two acts, but, the timing is there. To my knowledge there was no timeline to the attacks at Columbine High School by the two gunmen, but, they had a dreamscape and it was to end the global violence of the USA. We know that for a fact. Highjacked aircraft crashing to the ground and ending USA dominance. It was all there. The two boys were determined to stop the military prowess of their nation.

Michael encourages everyone to continue to instill the need of Congress to act to protect citizens' lives from guns. All 3.3 million.

March 28, 2013 10:29 AM
(AP) NEW HAVEN, Conn.- An arsenal of weapons (click here) including guns, a gun safe with shotgun shells, a bayonet and several swords were found in the home of the gunman who carried out the Newtown school shooting, according to search warrants released Thursday....

The families of Sandy Hook Elementary School violence now have more proof of the consent by the gunman's mother to conduct himself in a real and violent fashion regardless of his anger. This proof provides a reason to sue her estate.

I have a challenged son. He has a family now of his own. He grew up along side his brother playing GI Joe on a 7 foot aircraft carrier in the living room. He was in JROTC in High School. He was on the JROTC High School Drill Team. But, at no point in his life was he given permission to find 'power' over his disabilities with violence. He never handled a gun in his years of JROTC. Neither did his brother. His entire life was laced with appreciation of nature. I don't think even today he ever put a gun in his hands nor has he a desire to do so. It is just his value system.



Racism driven by fear with a resolve to hatred and anger that the problems won't go away. That is the culture of fear in the USA. It is a national shame and the gun addiction is evidence of it. Since the Sandy Hook Elementary School shooting the NRA has driven fear into the circumstances. The culture of fear works for the NRA and it victimizes ever citizen in this country.

Bonds can be thriftless things at times. They go up, they go down. And when they go down stocks look so much more inviting.

The United Nations should go forward without fear, everyone is going to be fine.

The Asian Development Bank (ADB) Team, (click here) comprising Satoru Yamadera (Economist, ADB Office of Regional Economic Integration, - September 2011), Seung Jae Lee (Principal Financial Sector Specialist), Shinji Kawai 
(Senior Financial Sector Specialist, Banking), Shigehito Inukai (ADB consultant), Taiji Inui (ADB consultant), and Matthias Schmidt (ADB consultant), would like to 
express their sincere gratitude to National Members and Expert Institutions: The People’s Bank of China, China Central Depository & Clearing (CDCC, or Chinabond) and the National Association for Financial Market Institutional Investors (NAFMII) for the Inter-Bank Bond Market, and the China Securities Depository and Clearing Corporation (CSDCC, or Chinaclear) for the exchange-traded bond market. They 
kindly provided answers to the questionnaires prepared by the ADB team, thoroughly reviewed the draft versions of the Market Guide, and gave their valuable comments for their respective market segments....

Capitalism at it's worst. I feel commercial plane flights for the Ecuadorian government coming on.

Look, China went into these deals knowing the countries would go belly up on their debt. China had a plan to exploit these governments beyond their ability to maintain their sovereignty. It is not Ecuador's problem, it is China's problem in carrying out an aggressive capitalist take over of sovereign nations. It is China's problem, not that of the indigenous peoples. China knew exactly what it was doing and completely disregarded the human rights of the people no different than it disregards the human rights of it's own citizens.

Give there are larger numbers of indigenous in the face of austerity, it should work out well.


By Nathan Gill - Jun 24, 2011 6:37 PM ET
Ecuador’s bonds are rewarding investors (click here) with the best performance in Latin America as Chinese loans and higher oil prices boost confidence in the economy two years after the country defaulted on $3.2 billion in debt.
Ecuadorean dollar debt has returned 13 percent this year, compared with 5.2 percent for Latin American sovereigns on average, according to JPMorgan Chase & Co. Yields on bonds due 2015 fell 238 basis points, or 2.38 percentage points, this year to 9.59 percent. Similar maturity Brazilian bonds yield 1.9 percent, down 97 basis points from the end of December....

Oops, there goes the Chinese Renminbi. There has to be real consequences to China and making investments that inflict human rights violations is a good place to start. If China is going to play hardball with the Third World, they need to receive it in return.

If investors to China get caught up in the grind to stop human rights infractions, that's too bad, they knew better and greed drove their desire to back the deaths of innocent people.

The people of Ecuador has fought for their health for years only to have China destroy their lands.


China has methodically gone through Latin American dumping money into economy and now it is back to collect.

2005-12-11 04:00:00 PDT 
Taracoa, Ecuador 

On the porch (click here) of an Amazonian village store, a shirtless man flicks a rag at flies.
"Does Maruja Garrido live here?" we ask.
No answer. He raises his eyes, then flicks his rag again.
A woman in a pink dress appears beside him. "Yes?" she asks warily, peering at us, two foreigners.
"We're looking for Maruja Garrido," I say quickly. "We're journalists, looking to interview people who have cancer." Photographer Lou Dematteis and I had just come from the village health center where a doctor had given us her name.
The woman's eyes moisten. She hesitates. We wait. Then she motions to her teenage daughter to fetch two plastic chairs, and we are invited to sit on the porch....

Why does it matter to the USA? Climate, of course, but, it is opportunistic 'near shore' National Security problems.

The United Nations has an obligation as well. These are indigenous peoples now threatened with losing their lands.

Petroleum products are every bit the immoral plague it promises to be.

Indigenous groups claim they have not consented to oil projects, as politicians visit Beijing to publicise bidding process (click here)

Jonathan Kaiman
Tuesday, 26 March 2013

...According to the California-based NGO Amazon Watch, seven indigenous groups who inhabit the land claim that they have not consented to oil projects, which would devastate the area's environment and threaten their traditional way of life....



The country is not that big. There won't be land enough to support the populous soon.

The color map below is where oil blocks exist and where the indigenous lands exist. It looks as though a lot of the dealings of the Ecuador government when it comes to human rights falls into the conflict of the citizen and their right to land to live vs that or exploitative capitalism.



land: 276,841 sq km
water: 6,720 sq km
note: includes Galapagos Islands

Basically, the Ecuadorian government went ahead and played with the 'idea' of exploiting lands where they should not have. Their land use should never have included the indigenous people. Literally, the Ecuadorian government over extended their ability to exploit natural resources to obtain monies for their people. Literally, they can destroy the land to the point where it loses sovereignty for citizens to live there. Ecuador could become a Chinese province if the people are driven from the land for oil exploitation.

The previous episode noted in the article from 2005 where the citizens on the land were completely disregarded when the oil companies from the USA embarked on their drilling venture is an EXAMPLE to the extent the government never bothered to value their people.

The argument can always be made the Ecuadorian government was naive about the outcomes with the USA companies, but, it can't say that now.

Basically, the Ecuadorian government has to be reviewed to their dedication to the citizen. They could be considered a hostile regime based in capitalism. 

China has the same paradigm. Their capitalism overrides the health of the citizen, the stability of the land and its resources providing constant conflicts of interest. The air quality in China's cities is horrible. We are even seeing this trend in the USA with hydraulic fracturing and the devaluing of the citizen over the demands of capitalism. If land is uninhabitable there is no sovereignty of the citizens.

We all know that abandoned lands are eventually occupied by the poor and disenfranchised. Their longevity is always less in comparison to other citizens in the same country.

Where the petroleum interests of the planet exist there is pure disregard for human life. There are episodes like this throughout the history of the petroleum industry, some of the worst occurred and still occurs in Africa / Nigeria. The list goes on...

The map above continues to illustrate the insult to the peoples of Latin America. The Daily Kos has had this as a focus. (click here)

This is really too cool.


Homemade Peeps. The grocery stores sent out fliers for baking supplies on sale. This recipe fits right in.

This is the entire article (click here).

March 23, 2013 - LA Times (click here)

Total time: 1 hour, plus setting time
Servings: About 3 dozen candies, depending on size
Note: This recipe requires the use of a candy or digital thermometer.
2 packages gelatin
3/4 cup water, divided
Butter for greasing a baking sheet, if cutting out shapes
2 cups sugar
2 tablespoons light corn syrup
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
2 cups colored sugar
1/2 cup chocolate chips
1. In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the whisk attachment, sprinkle the gelatin over one-fourth cup of water and let stand until the gelatin is softened. If piping chick-shaped candies, fit a piping bag with a large, round tip (preferably one-half inch) and place the colored sugar in a bowl. If cutting out shapes, butter the baking sheet and line with parchment paper, then butter the parchment paper....
It doesn't have to stop at decorating eggs.

In the USA the political Right Wing is carved out of money and possibility. It is established to promote an ideology. Those things can exist in the USA. There can be a party to nationalize Birthdays as a holiday, okay? But, what makes a political party viable is not the issue, but, the competency. The candidates of the Right Wing are based on rhetoric to the ideologies and not the competencies to achieve it. 

Roe v Wade is the law of the land, but, North Dakota says they can do what they want. Why? 

If the political extremists receive backing from the Supreme Court to exist and go forward because the Court will defer to a political process; where then lies the change the Right Wing is looking for?

Obamacare? Well, it needs to be consistent.

Suggestion

In any appeal to the court at any level, including the lower courts, enter at least one paragraph why the case is coming before the court based in Due Process. Make the court deal with it. Instill the constitutional right to due process in every legal action filed that will end up before the Supreme Court. Make the argument and don't assume Due Process is being granted through the courts. Say it. Be it frivolous or not. Make the judges decide the efficacy of Due Process in every case. It is a safeguard to our Constitution and Democracy. Just do it.

Judicial Activism and Strict Construction makes interesting rhetoric in political circles, but, it is not the basis for a legal career. Roberts is taking it to new heights. It is why Bush nominated him into the Supreme Court and into Chief Justice and Alito to the Supreme Court. It has nothing to do with competency, it is a political goal. It is time for Alito and Roberts to deliver on the investment.

The Roberts Court sends a lot of cases back to the lower courts. Kennedy is worried about the standing of the cases? Really?

What news does John Roberts read? The Heritage Foundation?

John Roberts by passes Due Process, the heart of rights of 'the individual.' It doesn't just apply to those on Death Row. There needs to be a review of Due Process under the Roberts Court, especially where the Death Sentence applies.
Judicial activism is one of the cornerstones of the Right Wing rhetoric. Roberts actually bought into it and defers to the legislative process over interpretation by the court on constitutional grounds. In actuality, it is the only way the Right Wing agenda will hold up. Think North Dakota abortion, except, we already have Roe v. Wade.
It is malpractice. Roberts practices politics under the guise of judicial activism. Looks as though they have a real membership push on, too. It is needless to say Heritage could become useless in the real world.
In a law review article, (click here) Sonia Sotomayor said our society would be straight-jacketed were not the courts, with the able assistance of the lawyers, constantly overhauling the law and adapting it to the realities of ever-changing social, industrial, and political changes. Instead of interpreting the law in a fair and equal manner, it seems Judge Sotomayor thinks it is not only appropriate, but beneficial to society, for judges to legislate from the bench.
Americas Founding Fathers had a vision for the judicial branch, and it consisted of an impartial court system with judges who interpret, not make, law. They left the legislating function to the elected branch of government Congress. Yet, some judges have used their role on the court to push their own agenda, whether that be on marriage, race, international law, or the second amendment. And Judge Sotomayor is no exception.

John V. Orth is a right wing author on the 
subject. He was probably consulted 
on Amendment One in North Carolina.
John V. Orth (click here) is the William 
Rand Kenan Jr. Professor of Law at the 
University of North Carolina-Chapel Hill. 
He earned his A.B. (1969) at Oberlin College, 
and then proceeded to acquire a J.D. (1974), 
M.A. (1975), and PhD (1977) at Harvard University. 
Professor Orth is also an accomplished author.

Due Process of Law at Amazon (click here)