"Sleep on the Floor" by The Limineers (click here for official website - thank you)

Pack yourself a toothbrush dear

Pack yourself a favorite blouse

Take a withdrawal slip
Take all of your savings out
'Cause if we don't leave this town
We might never make it out
I was not born to drown
Baby come on

Forget what Father Brennan said
We were not born in sin
Leave a note on your bed
Let your mother know you're safe
And by the time she wakes
We'll have driven through the state
We'll have driven through the night
Baby come on

If the sun don't shine on me today
And if the subways flood and bridges break
Will you lay yourself down and dig your grave
Or will you rail against your dying day

And when we looked outside
Couldn't even see the sky
How do you pay the rent
Is it your parents
Or is hard work dear
Holding the atmosphere

I don't                           

The judicial system considers a person charged with a crime "innocent until found guilty by a jury of their peers." However, law enforcement appears to believe the opposite, "guilty until your lawyer gets you off."

That is why the circumstances surrounding Jeffery Epstein's death are so wanting.

This is gross negligence and not just for Jeffery Epstein. I don't know who wrote the protocols for the Department of Prisons, but, every 30 minutes, even when carried out correctly is inviting trouble. In normal psychiatric settings, the protocol is every 15 minutes and many caregivers of those folks will tell you even 15 minutes may seem too long.

Even though there is a protocol, that doesn't mean it has to be adhered to strictly. If every 15 minutes seems to long for a patient then "good practice" dictates there is either a 24 hour observation of the patient or the caregivers change the routine to every 10 or 5 minutes depending on the patient. That means whoever is in charge of the facility may be required to bring in extra help assigned only to that patient or he or she carries out the task themselves.

There is no reason for a person's death because of short staffed shifts. This is the result and it is unforgivable. People charged with a crime are INNOCENT UNTIL PROVEN GUILTY. Even after found guilty they have a right to good care when it comes to their mental and physical health. Incarceration is very difficult. Being limited to a jail cell when used to flying a jet from day to day is cruel. It is necessary, but, doesn't mean it isn't cruel. That is what prison is, it limits movement. Freedoms are taken away and that to many is punishment enough. 

I have no patience with this. It isn't the guards fault, they are trained to carry out the protocols. The blame lays exactly where the policies are written and passed on to the management. It lies with the big bucks, the six to seven figure salary persons. Whoever wrote this policy cared more about their budget than the prisoners in their care.

That is my opinion and I will not change my mind. If a society is going to remove people from their freedoms as punishment for crimes, then after they have served their sentence (as if life isn't short enough) they are to be returned to society, intact and able to work and begin again.

August 11, 2019
By Bill Hutchinson and Aaron Katersky

Jail protocols requiring routine checks (click here) on the wellbeing of accused sex trafficker Jeffery Epstein appear to have not been followed in the hours before the millionaire was found hanging in his cell at the Metropolitan Correctional Center in New York City, sources told ABC News on Sunday.

As an inmate in the Special Housing Unit at MCC, Epstein should have been checked on by a correctional officer every 30 minutes, according to Bureau of Prison protocols. But sources told ABC News that protocol was not followed prior to Epstein’s death by suicide.

In recent weeks, the correctional officers' union has complained of understaffing. Those gripes are now part of the investigation into whether the 30-minute checks were happening, sources said.

The two guards that were at the Special Housing Unit where Epstein was housed, were both on overtime. One officer was working a mandatory overtime shift. The other officer was working his fifth overtime shift of the week, a single source familiar with the matter told ABC News. This was first reported by CNN...

The Americans leaving America are doing so in what can be defined as forced emigration. It has nothing to do with immigrants at the southern USA border, but, more about the fact Donald Trump and the Republicans past and present cannot maintain domestic peace because of their cronies in the gun lobby.

Something needs to be done about Moscow Mitch McConnell. He has been an obstructionist for so long he has become demented in placing the USA first and it's people no longer are important to him.

Recently, when there were three mass killings within one week and the casualties easily totaled over 100 people and children; a cold chill ran down the spine of most Americans. The domestic terrorism didn't stop there. It continued with still another man in body armor and carrying weapons of war once again heeding the call of hatred and was ready to mow down more Americans.

I know what the Special Counsel's investigation turned up about Russia and it's ability to turn the internet into an election season nightmare. I know in my bones Putin is attempting to move more and more haters in the USA toward violence. In recent speeches, Trump did little to nothing to cool down the rhetoric and take leadership to a level of compassion with the ability to express political differences that didn't inspire violence.

Forced emigration is a result of real, not imagined fears. I will go so far as to equate what Trump and McConnell does within the realm of the media to the terror in Rwanda that resulted in the killing of millions. We are not there, but, the right wing media certainly is and the power trip of inspiring an internal struggle in the USA is all too tempting.

There was such nervous fear in the USA it has been demonstrated across the country in panic by crowds of people. The latest was a panic in the city of Toledo, Ohio with some guns shots that caused people in the street to panic and run for cover. It is very easy to say the country is not only on edge but, terrified.

Realizing the brevity of the mood of the country after the most recent domestic gun violence, it was extremely reasonable to believe Congress needed to return to DC and pass important and pertinent gun legislation. Every issue could be an autonomous stand alone bill and there should be ABSOLUTELY NO DOUBT the country's gun lobby is out of control in demanding such loose gun laws that exist today.

"Moscow" Mitch McConnell's answer to returning early to pass legislation beyond the ability of a veto; was that there is no sense to return to DC for such issues, it would only amount to people earning points while not getting anything done. Does anyone actually believe if nothing was done and it was a bunch of grandstanding those legislators would be returning to DC in 2020?

"Moscow" McConnell is demented. He no longer sees the people as important and because of his power-hungry obstructionism, he only sees the politics as if there is not a thing wrong in the lives of Americans. It is all just politics.

"Moscow" Mitch is dangerous and incompetent. He sided with Trump in doing nothing. Trump stated it was only a short while and the legislature would be back to pass a bill for background checks. Does anyone believe that is going to happen? It is well a month before serious legislation will take the floor in the US Senate and it won't be the background check bill the US House has already passed waiting for a vote in the US Senate and signature by Trump.

The American people have serious issues before them. This is a dangerous time for the country and for the people. Americans need to take their fears seriously and know they are correct and demand action NOW. The longer the American people are placed in danger, the more and more the current legislators refusing to act now really don't belong there. 

Donald J. Trump and "Moscow" Mitch McConnell don't care about the people of the country. They care about power and their way to maintain it. It is time the American people get serious about their lives, their safety and living comfortably in a country previous generations fought and died for. Any working poor is a completely hideous reality. It is time Americans become fully vested in a country where they are safe and their government does care beyond their wildest imaginations about them.

I've had enough of dead Americans in the streets of the USA. I hope you have.

I have complete sympathy for their decisions. Please vote from a distance. It will be a chance to change the course of the country.

This escalation in gun violence occurred after the assault weapon ban expired in, I think it was 2004. That was 15 years ago, nearly a generation. The USA has been experiencing a SHIFT IN IT'S BASELINE when it comes to violence, especially gun violence. The children born and growing up in a violent gun culture doesn't know anything else. The people in this article do remember when the USA was a mostly safe and pleasant place to live. Fifteen after the expiration of the assault weapon ban, this country is not the same.

August 7, 2019
By Lisa Belkin

Eleanor Pelta (click here) has secured Polish passports for herself and her two sons. Stephanie Schwab is planning an escape route via Spain. Elie Jacobs has begun to keep enough cash on hand to buy last-minute plane tickets to Israel for his family. Alex and Aussa Lorens are applying for work visas in Australia, while Josh Lewin is aiming for New Zealand.

And Kami Lewis Levin already has her bags packed and tickets purchased. She leaves next week, with her husband, three children and a dog, for a new home in Costa Rica.

Americans are not flocking to the exits, but some of them are thinking about it, and some are talking about it, and at least a few are acting on the idea. Google searches for terms like “how to move out of America” spiked this past weekend to levels not seen since November 2016, right after the presidential election, and last seen a decade ago during the Great Recession. And in dozens of interviews after the massacres in El Paso, Texas, and Dayton, Ohio, people who were born here spoke of their crystallizing desire to leave....       

White Supremacists/Nationalists'Alt Right are on the move. New Zealand, the USA and now Norway.

August 11, 2019
By Lefteris Karagiannopoulos

Sandvika (Norway) - An attack by a gunman (click here) at a Norwegian mosque on Saturday will be investigated as a possible act of terrorism, police said on Sunday.

The suspected shooter at the al-Noor Islamic Centre near the Norwegian capital - a young, white male carrying several guns - had expressed far-right, anti-immigrant views online, assistant chief of police Rune Skjold told a news conference.

How did Trump's hate dialogue about immigrants find it's way to Norway?

"We're investigating this as an attempt at carrying out an act of terrorism," he said.

The suspect had been apprehended after the attack, in which shots were fired but no one was hit, with one of the people inside the mosque having overpowered him before police arrived.

"These people showed great courage," Skjold added....

...The attacker, who has not been named, was also suspected of killing one of his own family members, a young woman who was found dead at his home, police said earlier...

His family probably tried to stop him.

The investigation can't end with his death. I expect autopsy results will be made public.

This level of corruption has existed for what appears to be decades. It is time to end it once and for all. Sympathies to his family, a loss is a loss regardless of the legal status of the person.

What goes on in that jail that someone isn't found until Saturday morning at a change of shift? I guess the first time wasn't an attack, but, a first attempt. I am assuming it didn't just happen otherwise there would have been attempts to revive him.

He was a danger. He could not be out on bail. The mystery of his involvement with very powerful people has to be known. He intimidated people for money, but, he had a lot of it and what and whom else did he control?

August 10, 2019
By Simone Prokupecz, Sonia Moghe and Jason Hanna

Harvard law professor Alan Dershowitz, (click here) Britain’s Prince Andrew and former New Mexico Gov. Bill Richardson were among those whose names surfaced Friday after a trove of documents were released in a case with strong ties to disgraced financier and sex offender Jeffrey Epstein.

Thousands of long-awaited court documents have been unsealed in a lawsuit against a woman accused of being Epstein’s fixer, and the papers include references to the names of seedy book titles purchased by Epstein....       

The Flint families need to consider telling their stories to "StoryCorps." In remembrance of Michael Brown StoryCorps has displayed the story as seen through the community at the time of the killing. These efforts are very important because it is a forever record of the experiences of Americans.

August 9, 2019

There is something new greeting visitors (click here) to the Flint Institute of Arts. Beginning this week and running until September 4th, a shiny airstream trailer is outside the museum. It’s StoryCorps all set up in Flint and hoping to gather stories in its mobile booth for the next month.

Danielle Anderson, the associate director of the StoryCorps Mobile Tour (click here) says they chose to add Flint as a stop on their tour in part because the mobile booth had never been there before. It was also a natural fit for StoryCorps because of the strong relationships they have connected to the city, including an on-going project with the Flint Public Library and the support of Michigan Radio.

Participating in the mobile booth tour is a free public service, and anyone can sign up. Anderson says the one requirement is to register ahead of time. When participants arrive, they're guided by trained StoryCorps interview facilitators to help the conversation along. But the experience is very simple Anderson says, "it's forty minutes of recording time for you to sit down with somebody you care about or somebody you're curious to learn more about and you take some time to ask some questions and do some listening, thinkgs that we often don't have time to do in the midst of our busy lives."...

I could not believe my eyes when I read that Flint had a "Boil Emergency" for their water. And this boil emergency included filtered water. It began yesterday, August 8th at about 2:30 pm. As of 7 PM tonight on Friday, August 9th it has been lifted. These people never have peace of mind.

FLINT (WJRT) (8/8/2019) - All customers of the Flint city water system (click here) are under a boil filtered water advisory after a large water main break caused a drop in pressure.

A 24-inch water transmission main broke in the area of 12th Street and VanSlyke Road near the General Motors facility. Flint Department of Public Works Director Rob Bincsik said a contractor demolishing a bridge broke the water main.

Crews were working to isolate and shut off the leak, but a large area of the water system lost pressure. A loss of water pressure can cause bacteria to enter the system, so a precautionary boil advisory is issued.

Bincsik isn't sure how far the pressure loss extends from the break, so the entire city water system was included in the advisory as a precaution.

All customers on the Flint city water system are urged to boil filtered water for one minute before drinking it, using it for cooking, washing dishes brushing teeth or making ice....

August 9, 2019
By Ron Fonger

Editor’s note: This story was updated at 7 p.m. Friday, Aug. 9 with information from a city press release stating the advisory has been lifted.

FLINT, MI -- The city has lifted (click here) the boil water advisory that was issued Thursday, Aug. 8

The city of Flint sent out a press release around 6:45 p.m. Friday, Aug. 9 informing residents that the advisory was lifted.

Flint’s Director of Public Works Rob Bincsik reported Friday that crews have completed repairs on a water main break, according to the release....

The cruelty is the point.

The writer Adam Serwer (click here) surmised the driving sentiment of the Trump era when he famously noted: “The cruelty is the point.”

While this country was coping with the trauma caused by a trio of random mass shootings in one week, the Trump administration conducted the largest one-day workplace Immigration and Customs Enforcement raid in history. More than 650 ICE agents descended upon several different meatpacking locations in Mississippi and snatched any employee who did not have proof of residency on them. 680 Mississippians were detained and forcibly removed from their jobs and families. On the first day of school in many districts, children were stranded with one or two parents suddenly missing. Several babies and toddlers were left at childcare without anyone to pick them up. Images of their devastation and grief flooded social media....

...However, none of the company executives were marched out in handcuffs or forcibly removed from their families. In fact, as ProPublica recently reported, the Trump administration has weakened legal protections for workers while easing off of enforcing rules on powerful meat companies like the ones illegally hiring undocumented workers.

Why the raids? Why Mississippi? Politics, that's why.

Mississippi Lt. Governor Tate Reeves, a Republican who is locked in a tight battle for the governor’s seat, gleefully praised the raids. "Glad to see that ICE is working hard to enforce our immigration laws," Reeves said in a Wednesday tweet....

This is a release from Barr's DOJ:

...As part of HSI procedures pursuant to this operation, (click here) if HSI encountered two alien parents with minor children at home, HSI released one of the parents on humanitarian grounds and returned that individual to the place from which they were arrested. HSI similarly released any single alien parent with minor children a home on humanitarian grounds and physically returned that person to the place where he or she was originally detained. Based on these procedures, it is believed that all children were with at least one of their parents as of last night....

Also noted in the "Slate" article was the fact this was a round-up like cattle. The people that work in the meat processing plant don't carry personal effects into the area where the meat is processed for sanity conditions. These people didn't have their IDs on them, as a result, half were released after they were removed from their place of work.

Chicago mayor to Ivanka Trump: Stop tweeting and call us (click here for news article - thank you)

More Fake News from Ivanka Trump.

"She got the numbers wrong. She got the location wrong," Lightfoot said, CBS Chicago reports. "That's the danger of trying to govern via tweet."

Ivanka Trump's tweet read: "As we grieve over the evil mass shootings in El Paso and Dayton, let us not overlook that Chicago experienced its deadliest weekend of the year," she tweeted Tuesday morning. "With 7 dead and 52 wounded near a playground in the Windy City- and little national outrage or media coverage- we mustn't become numb to the violence faced by inner city communities every day."

"Moscow" Mitch McConnell stated, "If we came back early to pass legislation everyone would be making points and nothing else."

He has today obstructed a return of the Congress to pass necessary legislation while people are dying, frightened and facing gunmen wearing body armor and carrying weapons of war into Walmart. That is pretty sick in the neighborhood where I come from.

Trump stated as he left for vacation it is a very short time before Congress returns. Tell that to people terrified of their own neighborhood stores.

They don't care about the people, they care about their own creature comforts, good times and sick political priorities. Any legislation is already partisan. The Republicans intend to include the NRA in any legislation. They aren't interested in meaningful legislation. The Republicans don't care about the people.

Ferguson, Mo., five years after Michael Brown shooting

This time a MIssouri Walmart. Looks like the "greeters" need to be armed at Walmart.

They are coming out of the woodwork now. Does the USA have enough jail space to hold them? The lifers need to go to Supermax. ICE should be reassigned to raids where it matters.

August 8, 2019
By Brandon Bailey

Springfield - The Springfield Police Department (click here) has detained a man they say donned body armor and carried loaded weapons into a Walmart.

According to NBC affiliate KY3, the man walked into the Walmart at Republic Road, grabbed a shopping cart, and began recording himself as he walked through the store. The store manager reportedly pulled the fire alarm to get people out of the store.

Officials say the man went out an emergency exit where he was held at gunpoint by an off-duty firefighter. Police arrived shortly thereafter and detained the man....

Trump stated "Toledo" in his speech instead of "Dayton."

Evidently, there is a lot Trump knows about, but, continues to set fires under those predisposed to act in the violence of White Supremacy/Nationalism.

August 8, 2019

By Eric Heisig 

Vincent Armstrong, 23 YEARS OLD and his girlfriend was coming along for the ride. They have quite an army of young men willing to act.

Cleveland - A Toledo man (click here) on Thursday admitted his guilt in a plot where he and his girlfriend planned to use explosives and guns for a mass murder.

Vincent Armstrong, 23, pleaded guilty to conspiracy to transport or receive an explosive with intent to kill, injure, or intimidate any individual, and maliciously damage or destroy by fire or explosive. The FBI arrested he and Elizabeth Lecron in December for a plot they started forming in April, according to court records....

These are human rights violations and it seems to me gross legal malpractice.

June 22, 2019
By Tom Gjelten and Amita Kelly

Immigration authorities (click here) have rounded up nearly 200 Iraqis in recent weeks, and the Trump administration is now under heavy pressure to hold off moves to deport them.

Many of those currently detained are from the minority Chaldean Christian community, which faces severe persecution in Iraq.

U.S. immigration authorities say the detained Iraqis have criminal records, but their families and supporters say many have already served time or paid their fines and that they would face persecution if sent back....

This man wasn't born in Iraq. He wasn't provided insulin? Food? A way to find help by the USA in Iraq? There is still soldiers there and this is how the USA treats a Greek man who was decided to be UNWORTHY of breathing the air over the USA?

Who is going to be held responsible for this man's death? This is gross legal malpractice and human rights violation. This man was doomed before he set a foot on Iraqi soil. There was no guessing that he was going to perish at the hand of someone. He didn't even know the language. Anyone with mental health problems in many areas of the world is not tolerated.

Who did this?

He became suicidal although never acted on those feelings. He died of his diabetes perhaps before he could carry the task out.

Is there still a Chaldean Christian Church in Iraq? 

Location (click here): Iraq, Iran, Syria, Lebanon, Turkey, Israel, Egypt, France, USA, Canada 
Head: Patriarch Emmanuel III Delly (born 1927, elected 2003)
Title: Patriarch of Babylon of the Chaldeans
Residence: Baghdad, Iraq 
Membership: 419,000
Website: www.st-adday.com

Why weren't these people notified about him and his status? There is no excuse for what happened to him in the USA or Iraq.

The family needs to sue Donald J. Trump for the gross cruelty, human rights violation and gross injustice that has occurred with this man. It is far more than a disgrace.

August 8, 2019
By Merrit Kennedy and Jane Arraf

Jimmy Aldaoud (click here) was deported from the U.S. in June to Iraq, a country that his family said he had never set foot in. Two months after arriving there, they got word that he was found dead in Baghdad.

Aldaoud was born in Greece, his sister Mary Bolis said, after his family fled Iraq. He didn't speak Arabic.

He was 41 when he died, and arrived legally in the U.S. in May 1979 when he was a year old, his lawyer Chris Schaedig said. He lived near Detroit until he was put on a plane to Najaf by U.S. federal officials.

"I begged them, I said, 'Please, I've never seen that country, I've never been there.' However, they forced me," Aldaoud said in a video recorded shortly after his arrival in Iraq, which was posted on Facebook by a family friend....

I guess Sue wouldn't take the loyalty oath that Barr found so appealing.

James Comey would have been perfect for the job. I know, maybe Trump can call up Brian Benczkowski, the Russian Alpha Bank guy. The Senate seems to like him and Russia does as well. I am certain he has already taken the Trump Loyalty Pledge.

Sue Gordon headed off the sexual assault charges that would destroy her career. Look, the women assaulted by Trump have nearly been forgotten (click here) . It can't be a very good feeling to be the Director of National Intelligence knowing the guy in the Oval Office is a real smuck.

Trump is unpredictable. He has different allies than the Director of National Intelligence. The job is nearly impossible. It is amazing Dan Coates was able to carry out the job this long. He is amazing and he will definitely be missed.

August 8, 2018

By Kevin Liptak

Sue Gordon (click here), the country's No. 2 intelligence official, is resigning, according to President Donald Trump.

"Sue Gordon is a great professional with a long and distinguished career," Trump wrote. "I have gotten to know Sue over the past 2 years and have developed great respect for her. Sue has announced she will be leaving on August 15, which coincides with the retirement of Dan Coats. A new Acting Director of National Intelligence will be named shortly."

Gordon served as the principal deputy director in the Office of the Director of National Intelligence.

Under normal protocol, Gordon would have become acting director after Dan Coats resigned. But administration officials previously told CNN the White House was reviewing whether it can legally choose an acting director outside the line of succession....

Trump is demonizing "Amazon" but not Walmart.

There is absolutely no doubt the retail industry in the USA has been hurt by dirt-cheap competition. But, it is not limited to Amazon. I don't know what is so exclusive about the tech companies and their merchandising.

See I don't call Walmart an important "retail industry." I call stores like Sears and JC Penny and all those LOCAL INDEPENDENT businesses, the retail industry.

If Trump is going to look into conglomerate enterprises in the USA that destroyed retail stores and industry, he and his pandering Justice Department have to look at Walmart and Big Box Stores primarily stocked with Chinese merchandise. Amazon is no more guilty than Walmart.

July 24, 2019
By Maggie Fitzgerald

Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin (click here) said Wednesday the Justice Department is right to be looking into Amazon’s practices as part of its antitrust review of big technology companies.

“I think if you look at Amazon, although there are certain benefits to it, they’ve destroyed the retail industry across the United States so there’s no question they’ve limited competition,” Mnuchin told CNBC’s “Squawk Box.“ "I think it’s very good that the attorney general is going to look into this. I think it’s an important issue and I look forward to him reporting back to the president and hearing his recommendations,” said Mnuchin.

The Justice Department said Tuesday it is opening a broad antitrust review of big technology companies, sending shares of Amazon, Alphabet and Facebook lower in off-hours trading. The DOJ said it is looking into how major online platforms have “achieved market power” and how their practices may have “reduced competition, stifled innovation, or otherwise harmed consumers.”...

There is a much larger picture that occurred with the loss of the retail industry in the USA. The loss of the retail industry also caused the loss of a segment of the USA manufacturing sector that produced products like Kenmore. But, all that diversity was lost when computers took over and there were large warehouse industries developed like Amazon and Apple. But, at the same time, these industries, especially the likes of Apple, are allowed their own form of merchandising.

These are e-commerce companies and they have developed over time to be convenient and INFORMING. The companies have multi-dimensional shopping that provides information and comments from consumers that some find attractive.

Me? I like Main Street shopping. But, that has been disappearing for decades.

The competition in e-commerce is tight and these companies have extensive international competition as well such as Alibaba (click here).

The loss of the "retail industry" I like is far more extensive than simply Amazon, Google, Facebook or Apple; it is a growth of big box stores that primarily carry products from China. Main Street America has disappeared for a reason, but, it isn't just e-commerce that did it. 

July 23, 2019
By Nick Bastone

The US Department of Justice (click here) has launched a broad probe into top "online platforms" for search, social media, and e-commerce to determine whether they are stifling competition and innovation, the department said in a press release on Tuesday.

The DOJ did not cite any specific companies, but the announcement left no doubt that Alphabet, Facebook, Amazon, and Apple were all under the agency's scrutiny. Shares of the four "Big Tech" companies all fell in after-hours trading immediately after news of the government probe emerged.

Citing "widespread concerns" expressed by consumers, businesses, and entrepreneurs, the Justice Department said it would review "whether and how market-leading online platforms have achieved market power and are engaging in practices that have reduced competition."...

Cyprus is wrong and the British government needs to bring their citizen teenager home.

Having sex with a minor is never viewed as innocent. The men involved may have had their way with her, but, she was victimized by filming and a permanent record of her youth can now be dolled out as the men see fit. Her age alone dictates she did not consent and the video should have been confiscated and destroyed.

28 July 2019

Seven Israelis held in Cyprus (click here) on suspicion of gang raping a teenage British tourist in Cyprus earlier this month were released from custody Sunday, as police turned their attention to their accuser. The tourist has changed her testimony, saying the sex was consensual but that she filed the complaint against 12 Israeli teenagers because she felt humiliated by the fact that they filmed the act without her consent, Hebrew-language media reported Sunday, citing Cypriot press and police.

“All seven Israelis have been released, since 10 a.m.,” police spokesman Christos Andreou told AFP. “The young woman will be taken to court tomorrow morning (Monday).”...

Trump's war on immigrants will not play well with the military.

May 16, 2019

By Jie Zong and Jeanna Batalova

...Immigrants (click here) have long enlisted in all branches of the U.S. military, beginning with the Revolutionary War. The foreign born represented half of all military recruits by the 1840s and 20 percent of the 1.5 million service members in the Union Army during the Civil War. Today, the number of veterans who were born outside the United States stands at approximately 530,000, representing 3 percent of all 18.6 million veterans nationwide. Additionally, almost 1.9 million veterans are the U.S.-born children of immigrants. Together, the 2.4 million veterans of immigrant origin, either because they themselves are immigrants or are the children of immigrants, account for 13 percent of all veterans.

Naturalized citizens, lawful permanent residents, and certain nationals of three countries in free association with the United States—the Marshall Islands, the Federated States of Micronesia, and Palau—are eligible for military service. In addition, Congress can deem other foreign-born individuals eligible to serve if the secretary of a specific military branch determines that such enlistment is vital to the national interest....              

Has North Carolina reached a tipping point? Is the extremism, too extreme?

I would be concerned of Russian influence in the swing states. The extremism will show through in states like NC that long to be free of it.

February 22, 2019
By Michael Abramowitz

Although still an important swing state (click here) in the national political landscape, shifting demographics and rapidly changing population patterns point to changes in North Carolina’s internal dynamics and its political influence, according to an analyst who spoke on Tuesday in Greenville.

North Carolina now is about half Republican and half Democrat, but the political demographic has shifted away from a west-versus-east makeup to more of an urban-versus-rural alignment, according to Jonathan Kappler, executive director of the N.C. Free Enterprise Foundation,  who shared his observations at the Greenville-Pitt County Chamber of Commerce Power Luncheon at the Hilton Greenville.

Kappler said the data cannot predict voter behavior going forward, but attention to shifts in population and demographics can provide insight into the dynamics of North Carolina’s rapidly changing communities and a view of districts looking forward.

Non-natives now comprise 50 percent of North Carolina’s population of registered voters, Kappler said. Many are from New York, Pennsylvania and other northern states, bringing a different perspective and little understanding of the history of this state’s politics.

“There is some indication that those people behave differently than North Carolina natives,” he said. “ Polling reveals some interesting differences in how they are likely to vote.”...

"Moscow Mitch" McConnell attempts to victimize an angry constituent/protester and is locked out of Twitter.

All McConnell and his staff can see is an angry person and the words that person used. They refuse to see the reason for the anger which is Moscow Mitch's corruption laced relationship with a Russian oligarch.

McConnell thinks he has done nothing wrong and does not deserve any protest or anger leveled at him. He plays footsie with a Russian oligarch and he believes he has done nothing wrong. 

Could you or I play footsie with a Russian oligarch? Would we ever conceive of such a thing? Never.

It is a known fact that Russia conducted cyberattacks on the DNC, DCCC and the Clinton Campaign. They never stopped there, they went on to publish emails on Russian websites they masked as legitimate American websites. Then they allowed even more lawlessness in publishing the yet undisclosed emails on Wikileaks.

If that wasn't enough to stop Moscow Mitch from being involved with a Russian Oligarch, he looked the other way as the Oligarch had sanctions lifted. Moscow Mitch's reward for looking the other way and obstructing the entire Senate from passing laws to prevent such lawlessness was a brand new factory in Kentucky by the very same oligarch.

Now that the American public knows the truth they are protesting and being angry and he doesn't like it. Moscow Mitch wants to sweep everything under any available rug and victimize the victim. The victim to Moscow Mitch's corruption is the American people. He acted in corruption and provided a financial base for a Russian oligarch and now he expects all the facts to simply disappear. In disappearing, of course, that means he and his staff get to attempt to make fools of those LEGITIMATELY ANGRY.

I don't think so.

I thank Twitter in ending the victimization of legitimately angry people that have a right to their anger. Moscow Mitch finds profanity embarrassing, but, publishes it in attempts to turn the tables on angry Kentuckians. Well, others that use and read Twitter find profanity embarrassing as well, but, that didn't stop Moscow Mitch. He deserved to lose his privileges.

August 7, 2019
By Phillip M. Bailey and Ben Tobin

Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell's campaign (click here) has been thrown in Twitter jail.

After sharing a video of a profanity-laced protest outside of the Kentucky Republican's home in Louisville, the campaign Twitter account, Team Mitch, has been locked out.

"This morning, Twitter locked our account for posting the video of real-world, violent threats made against Mitch McConnell. This is a problem with the speech police in America today," McConnell campaign manager Kevin Golden told the Courier Journal. "The Lexington Herald-Leader can attack Mitch with cartoon tombstones of his opponents. But we can’t mock it."

"Twitter will allow the words of “Massacre Mitch” to trend nationally on their platform, but locks our account for posting actual threats against us," Golden added. "We appealed and Twitter stood by their decision, saying our account will remain locked until we delete the video."...