Wednesday, March 14, 2018

I am really with them on this. They are correct.

March 13, 2018
By Ryan Lillis

Sacramento Mayor Darrell (click here) Steinberg not only supports high school students walking out on Wednesday to protest gun violence. - he plans to join the students.

Steinberg called the planned National School Walkout "a vital part of (students') education." The mayor plans to take part in a protest at Hiram Johnson High School in south Sacramento. City schools Superintendent Jorge Aguilar and school board president Jessie Ryan are expected to be at Hiram Johnson as well.

The mayor said he would "march beside (the students), or maybe even behind them."

"Practicing peaceful political advocacy is an essential part of their education and to miss this opportunity would be nothing but a shame," the mayor said. "I think they have an opportunity to not only make a profound statement, but to activate more people towards a safer community and safer society."...

Children don't have many rights in the USA. They have strong laws to protect them from violence and abuse by others, but, they don't have a real voice. No may like this, but, a long time ago when a former Secretary of State worked after college, she identified the need for children to have rights in the USA. Yes, Hillary Clinton was and has always been a strong advocate for children's rights. Her work from the beginning of her career proves it.

I never thought "Glamour" magazine, which has been around a long time and before the internet, would be reporting activism.

Not very far some the US Capital Dome another pair of Ruby Red Slippers lay on display at the Smithsonian Museum. We want childhood return to children of America. 


March 14, 2018
By Jennifer Lance

In the days following the death of 17 people (click here) at Marjory Stoneman Douglas high school in Parkland, Florida last month, intense outcries of protest have materialized across the country as student survivors and their families began calling for the immediate reform of federal gun control legislation and the ultimate end to mass shootings.

And yesterday, in a powerful demonstration, members of the global advocacy group Avaaz helped assemble 7,000 pairs of shoes on the southeast lawn of the Capitol building in Washington, D.C.—a commemorative act memorializing those 7,000 students who've lost their lives in U.S. school shootings since the Sandy Hook Elementary School shooting in Newtown, CT in 2012. The anti-gun demonstration included shoes donated by protestors, as well as some gifted by the victims' families, and collectively covered more than 10,000 square feet of the Capitol lawn, ABC reports.

According to Avaaz, the installment—which they've titled the "Monument for our Kids"—was meant to serve as a jarring wakeup call for Congress, with the high quantity of shoes intended to invoke the understanding that legislative action is what's necessary to curtail these mass killings. "We are bringing Congress face-to-face with the heartbreak of gun violence," Oscar Soria, a senior campaigner with Avaaz, told ABC News at the demonstration....

















Europe needs to rethink it's exportation of guns to the USA. The EU and UK should ban private sale of guns outside their borders. Then when they have measured their economy to make the change, they need to ban all exportation of guns from the European continent, with an exception of any military contracts between allies.


March 7, 2018
By John Detrixhe

Austria, home of the 55-year-old gun maker Glock, (click here) accounts for many of the handguns brought into the US, at some 1.2 million in 2017. (Austria is also one of the rare European countries in which citizens are permitted to buy firearms for self defense.) Croatia, Italy, and Germany are also among the top five handgun exporters to America. Gun makers like Glock and the Swiss-German firm Sig Sauer have production facilities in the US as well.

Glock’s pistols are used by about 65% of US police departments, but the company also lobbies in favor of the American public’s access to firearms. Glock says it gave more than $100,000 to the National Rifle Association and its programs in 2016. Italy’s gun-making Beretta family is a big contributor to the gun lobby group.

Donald Trump’s election in 2016 appeared to be a major win for the NRA, which spent more than $30 million to boost his candidacy, according to OpenSecrets.org. The president shocked many in Washington when, following last month’s school shooting in Parkland, Florida, he signaled support for reforms like higher age limits for buying assault weapons. However that position that seemed to wither after meeting with the NRA’s top lobbyist....

Europe needs to ban any automatic or semi-automatic weapons from USA borders. They are killing the kids.

I know Europe is in horror over this issue. This is going to be painful, but, the Intratec DC-9 semi-automatic pistol carried by Dylan Klebold is manufactured in the USA which is a subsidiary of a Swedish company; "Interdynamic AB." The American people and it's children are looking for control of this issue and our government is not responding because of powerful interests of the NRA and other right wing extremist groups.

The American people and their children are asking all that can make a difference to end this violence within our country to do so.

PLEASE!

Interesting that President Trump chose a loyalist for Secretary of State.

Rex Tillerson lost Donald Trump when South Korea took the lead in a peace process including the athletes from the north to participate. Hate, anger and war is the political stamp of Trump and the Republicans. When peace broke out on the Korean Peninsula, Trump felt threatened politically.

I find it reassuring there is a real career intelligence agent has taken over the CIA. I thought for sure Trump would find Pompeo at the CIA an asset with an active investigation of Russia. I doubt much will be accomplished with Pompeo in State. He isn't a diplomat. Former Secretary Tillerson was a gentleman, scholar and was capable of diplomacy.

There are so many empty chairs in the State Department that it was impossible for Tillerson to do his job in a manner that would please Trump. I welcome Tillerson leaving because every country in the world was an oyster for the petroleum industry. I found him unhelpful to protect Earth's climate.

I believe an unsaid agenda with Trump is to limit the number of federal employees. The hubris among Wall Street and practiced by Goldman Sachs is that corporate America could run the country better and more efficiently than any civilian politician. I think Trump is determined to carry out that agenda. His advisors are the same as on his television show and within his business dealings; his family. The SWEEP of the cabinet is probably coming from them as well as the replacement recommendations, simply because "Daddy isn't happy."

I think of Donald Trump as a carnival barker in a circus as leader of the GOP. The longer his administration continues the more that image becomes permanent.

It is also amazing how many people have come into the White House, Trump's inner circle and received security clearance. There isn't any chance his family is selling tickets to the opportunity? Maybe paying off gambling debts or something?

It is becoming a joke. A friend stated, "Trump's spinning his cabinet again, he is putting Putin in as Secretary of State and a new First Lady, Stormy Daniels." I told my friend, "Look, he might really like them this time. Be happy for him. And I don't know that Putin could not be asked to be Secretary of State, but, I doubt he'd pass the security clearance."

Mike Pompeo (click here) was a hardline Republican congressman before President Donald Trump appointed him to direct the CIA and later to lead the US Department of State.
The former Tea Party representative from Kansas was tipped by Mr Trump to be the top US diplomat after he fired former state department chief Rex Tillerson.
"He will do a fantastic job!" Mr Trump said on Twitter shortly after appointing him.
Hours before Mr Trump announced that he would meet the leader of North Korea, Mr Pompeo was seen in the Oval Office with Mr Trump during a meeting with a South Korean delegation at the White House.
Mr Pompeo is seen as a Trump loyalist who performed a delicate balancing act at the CIA in managing frayed relations between the spy agency and a commander-in-chief who compared America's intelligence services to Nazis.

He has in the past played down findings by the CIA that the Russians attempted to influence last year's US election....

This makes more sense. Pompeo is being brought in to seal the deals Tillerson started. Tillerson has too much understanding of law to be corrupt past the point of the word of law, but, Pompeo is different. He sees law as an obstacle and not something to be respected. It is clearer now.

March 13, 2018
By John Nichols

In the Republican wave election of 2010, (click here) when Charles and David Koch emerged as defining figures in American politics, the greatest beneficiary of Koch Industries largesse was a political newcomer named Mike Pompeo. After his election to the House eight years ago, Pompeo was referred to as the “Koch Brothers’ Congressman” and “the congressman from Koch.”

Now Pompeo is positioned to become a Koch brothers–influenced secretary of state.....

Congratulations, US Representative Conor Lamb.

The Democrats did this one right. They had a candidate with a great deal of potential and interest in his district. He was not cookie-cutter. He ran a great campaign and now will be a man of the people in Washington, DC. He won't become Washington. He will be sure Washington comes to serve the people.

March 14, 2018
By Bill Barrow, Marc Levy and Steve Peoples

Canonsburg, Pa. - A razor’s edge (click here) separated Democrat Conor Lamb and Republican Rick Saccone early Wednesday in their closely watched special election in Pennsylvania, where a surprisingly strong bid by first-time candidate Lamb severely tested Donald Trump’s sway in a GOP stronghold.

Lamb claimed victory before exuberant supporters after midnight, though many absentee ballots were still to be counted in the contest that has drawn national attention as a bellwether for the midterm elections in November when the Republican Party’s House and Senate majorities are at risk....

Stephen Hawking was simply magnificent and very loved. Sincerest sympathy to family, friends and colleagues.

Farewell, Stephen, a man that was always larger than life. It is astounding the incredible wealth of his life he has left us all. His intellect and perseverance will inspire the world for a very long time. 

Stephen Hawking (click here) was the Director of Research in the Centre for Theoretical Cosmology in the Department of Applied Mathematics and Theoretical Physics at the University of Cambridge, and also the Sherman Fairchild Distinguished Scholar at Caltech. For over 45 years he has been a world leader in research on the birth of the universe, black holes, and the nature of space, time, and gravity.

 * His children Lucy, Robert and Tim: (click here)

“He was a great scientist and an extraordinary man whose work and legacy will live on for many years. His courage and persistence with his brilliance and humour inspired people across the world. He once said: ‘It would not be much of a universe if it wasn’t home to the people you love.’ We will miss him forever.”

* Tim Berners-Lee, the inventor of the World Wide Web:

“We have lost a colossal mind and a wonderful spirit. Rest in peace, Stephen Hawking.”

Professor Stephen Toope, Vice-Chancellor of the University of Cambridge:

“Professor Hawking was a unique individual who will be remembered with warmth and affection not only in Cambridge but all over the world. His exceptional contributions to scientific knowledge and the popularisation of science and mathematics have left an indelible legacy. His character was an inspiration to millions. He will be much missed.”...