Shut up, Beck! You are the worst of the bunch!

Ahmed Mohamed, (click here) a 14-year-old freshman at Macarthur High School in Irving, Texas, was showered with support from people around the nation this week when he was handcuffed and questioned after bringing a homemade clock to school that was mistaken for a “hoax bomb.”
However, the Irving Independent School District and Mayor Beth Van Duyne are now defending the teacher and police officers for following the “correct procedures” when she became aware of the device....

This infomercial to promote hate and the culture of fear is hopeful of votes for the Mayor.

This is a child for god's sake, when does it stop!

The Dallas Morning News has an Irving paper. (click here) Ahmed made the subject above the fold.

Some of this really inappropriate because Ahmed is a young man who has a right to be safe and secure and without notoriety so he can live his life uninterrupted.

I do believe the police department has some liability in this issue. I would not say most of the country does this.

17 September 2015
By Eva-Marie Ayala

Along with concerns (click here) about anti-Muslim sentiments, some say the arrest and suspension of a 14-year-old Irving boy who took his invention to school amounts to zero-tolerance policies run amok.
Since 1995, Texas — as well as much of the country — has taken a tough-on-crime, zero-tolerance approach to discipline. So how much discretion do local school officials have in dealing with such a situation?
Plenty, say those who follow juvenile justice issues in Texas.
“Zero-tolerance has cornered our thinking so much that it prevents us from seeing the reality around us. I call it zero-intelligence,” said Michael Gilbert, a UT-San Antonio associate professor who researches discipline in schools.

President Obama kindly note!

In the United States, especially with minors, a citizen or a child of a citizen is innocent until proven guilty. The Mayor and the Chief of Police need to return the clock to Ahmed and his parents with an apology.

This is a mental health issue for children. They are never to be assaulted and handcuffed when the child is not an eminent danger to anyone in the immediate vicinity. Ahmed did nothing wrong. Everyone knows Ahmed did nothing wrong, he is a child and enthusiastic about his "Engineering Class." He is a great kid. Until the Irving Schools Superintendent and the Police turned the issue into a trauma he never expected.

Ahmed needs to find a school where a very bright child is appreciated and nurtured, it as heck isn't going to happen in Irving schools.

The Irving Mayor added politics to the issue by defending all the adults involved without admitting how astoundingly bright Ahmed is and the unexpected realization of same. There was an opportunity to showcase a very intelligent young man that loves learning so much he can't want another minute. He launches into INVENTION without an assignment to do so. If properly tested he probably belongs at least one year ahead of where he is today.

A child's mind is open to adults and their input. Ahmed is not only open to adults, he seeks them out. He sought his teachers to show something he invented. It was an opportunity to enlist the class in support of his enthusiasm and then harnessing the entire class in what is going to transpire in the engineering class that will provide an opportunity to conduct projects. The invention should have been appreciated and then minimized as Ahmed was one member of a very special class where all the students were gifted enough to be together for instruction.

The idea the first thing that came into the head of the teachers was "OMG, it's a bomb," is really something to worry about. Why would any teacher believe a student would bring a bomb into a class where he was one of a few. The engineering, of all teachers, should have been able to recognize the invention and ask Ahmed to stay after class to call his parent(s) to pick him and/or the invention up at the school. I am astounded, the engineering teacher actually told him to hide it and take it home because it looks like a bomb.

?????? What ????

The school system has the teachers oriented to the idea any student is a death threat. Like, what? This entire circumstance should be a learning opportunity for everyone, especially a school superintendent that has the school teaching staff on high alert for bombs. So much so that they tell students to lie when caught in an awkward situation.

There is a cultural problem in Texas. It is a very violent culture. It does not respect decency or kindness to diversity in a community. The only GOD Texas worships besides the almighty dollar, is the gun. It is for this reason Ahmed was victimized by police who never bothered to call a bomb squad because the teacher already told them it wasn't a bomb.

Ahmed is a minority student and that played into all this as well. Because the political right wing has started ranting and raving about a very talented young man was charged with some kind of disruption I worry about Ahmed and his family's safety. This entire episode is so loaded with control and hate it makes me worried, especially because now this young man is being exploited for politics.

A lawyer needs to step into this picture and consult with the family over their ability to have a peaceful household now that it has been turned upside down. How many times is a parent told, nurture your children, help them grow to be appreciative of learning and treat learning seriously. How many times are parents told to rejoice in the learning of their children to encourage more of the same.

That happy household has been destroyed because of the continued culture of fear in not just Irving, but, in Texas generally. The people of Texas are always looking for a boogeyman. Even if they insult men states away to travel to a cartoon convention to kill as they were harassed into performing.

There are laws where I come from where if people act to invite violence they have themselves broken the law. In Texas, it is A-Okay to foment hate and kill those upset by it.

This young man is so very damaged by Texas lack of morality when it comes to diversity I don't want him to ever be exposed to this level of victimization to make police feel good about their level of control at all places in Irving; even in the minds of those that teach children.

One of the reasons adults love children is because their innocence about life and their enthusiasm with life reminds adults of the purity life can present itself. Ahmed is one of those wonderfully innocent children we relish and protect. Well, his innocence stopped and he wasn't protected. Every adult involved in traumatizing this child should be ashamed of themselves and rushing to apologize to him for what was a very traumatizing event. The word was RUSHING.

These pictures appeared on Facebook yesterday from a woman's vacation to protected wildlife lands in Africa.

There is some disagreement by the countries in Africa about hunting. Much of the proponents that want hunting states there are tribes near the lands (like right over the border  of the sanctuary) that are in economical problems with that policy.

It is known the photo ecotourism makes far more money than the hunting crowd that are from the USA. The USA is where the hunters are coming from. This is not a global economy. The Hunters are Americans. Wealthy Americans.

  

I think there needs to be a census of African animal sanctuaries before hunting is returned.

Poaching has to stop. There needs to be more park rangers in these sanctuaries.

...The specific advertisement (click here) promoting the lion hunt in South Africa emphasised that the lions are in a low fenced area and regularly move in and out of the Kruger National Park. According to a nature conservation official this is all illegal. He says no lion may be hunted on bait. Nor may any lion be hunted in any of South Africa's protected areas and neither may outfitters advertise any South African lions for hunting, before the appropriate permits are in place....

This entry on the web prevents Hillary Clinton's accomplishments.

“First ever student commencement speaker at Wellesley College. (click here) Distinguished graduate of Yale Law School. Former Director of the Arkansas Legal Aid Clinic. Former civil litigation attorney. Former Law Professor at the University of Arkansas School of Law. Former First Lady of Arkansas. Former First Lady of the United States, and the first FLOTUS in US History to hold a postgraduate degree. First ex-FLOTUS in US History to be elected to the United States Senate. Elected by the… State of New York to serve two terms in the United States Senate. Former US Secretary of State. GRAMMY Award Winner. Author. Self proclaimed Pantsuit Aficionado. Married to a man named Bill, who plays the saxophone.”

Dose anyone actually think they are going to get away with the idea Hillary Clinton never accomplished anything? She is one of the American that heard what Mr. Trump said.

You don’t have to like Hillary Clinton or her ideas. I get it. She’s a Democrat, a progressive (in most eyes), and conservatives don’t like that. However, you cannot say she does not have any accomplishments. Here are just a few:

Adoption and Safe Families Act and the Foster Care Independence Act (click here)

State Children’s Health Insurance Program (click here)
One of Clinton’s signature claims has come under fire from political foes, quoted by the Boston Globe, who say she doesn’t deserve credit for expanding federal health insurance for millions of children.
We review the record and conclude that she deserves plenty of credit, both for the passage of the SCHIP legislation and for pushing outreach efforts to translate the law into reality....

Hillary Clinton supporters know as soon as she sneezes she lied about it. That is SOP with Hillary Clinton. She is so qualified and able to carry out very responsible positions she is ridiculed for her ambitions and loyalty TO THE MIDDLE CLASS of the USA. 

...Successfully fought to increase research funding (click here) for prostate cancer and asthma at the National Institute of Health (NIH). She spearheaded investigations into mental illness plaguing veterans of the Gulf War; we now have a term for it — Gulf War Syndrome.
 
At the Department of Justice, she helped create the office on Violence Against Women. She was instrumental in securing over $21 billion in funding for the World Trade Center redevelopment. Took a leading role in the investigation of health consequences of first responders and drafted the first bill to compensate and offer the health services our first responders deserve (Clinton’s successor in the Senate, Kirsten Gillibrand, passed the bill).

She was instrumental in working out a bi-partisan compromise to address civil liberty abuses for the renewal of the U.S. Patriot Act. Proposed a revival of the New Deal-era Home Owners’ Loan Corporation to help homeowners refinance their mortgages in the wake of the 2008 financial disaster....
She as a major proponent of sensible diplomacy which brought about a ceasefire between Hamas and Israel, and brokered human rights with Burma.

(Hillary) Clinton found high incidence of child mortality in African American children 500 times higher than other American children with asthma.

...Clinton may have underestimated (click here)
Asthma is a chronic lung disease — an inflammation of the airways that causes coughing, wheezing, and shortness of breath. Around 25 million Americans have asthma, and the rate of asthmatics has been steadily increasing since the early 1980s. While most asthmatics function normally, often using inhalers to aid them in their breathing, asthma attacks can present a serious danger, especially in young children.
A 2006 Centers for Disease Control and Prevention study on childhood asthma data from 1980 to 2005 confirms Clinton’s claim almost verbatim: "Compared with white children, black children have a 260 percent higher ED (Emergency Department) visit rate, a 250 percent higher hospitalization rate, and a 500 percent higher death rate from asthma." (Clinton’s campaign confirmed that this was the source she had used.)
The report also notes that even though mortality rates from asthma have decreased since 1999 for children in general, no corresponding drop has been seen in the mortality rate of African-American children....

She spearheaded investigations into mental illness plaguing veterans of the Gulf War; we now have a term for it – Gulf War Syndrome.

At the Department of Justice, she helped create the office on Violence Against Women.

Took a leading role in the investigation of health consequences of first responders and drafted the first bill to compensate and offer the health services our first responders deserve (Clinton’s successor in the Senate, Kirsten Gillibrand, passed the bill).

Was instrumental in working out a bi-partisan compromise to address civil liberty abuses for the renewal of the U.S. Patriot Act.

Proposed a revival of the New Deal-era Home Owners’ Loan Corporation to help homeowners refinance their mortgages in the wake of the 2008 financial disaster.

Was a major proponent of sensible diplomacy which brought about a ceasefire between Hamas and Israel, and brokered human rights with Burma.

Oversaw free trade agreements with our allies such as Panama, Colombia, and South Korea. (This is the functional way to conduct trade negotiations with the global community and not vast and destructive global agreements. Such initiatives such as PTT doesn't negotiate function so much as exploitation of USA markets of over 300 million people.)

Was the most traveled Secretary of State to date. 

Hillary Clinton visited Aung San Suu Kyi.... (click here)

...No senior U.S. official had visited the country in 50 years and Suu Kyi had spent the last 15 of those under house arrest. The talks between the U.S. secretary of state and the leading icon of Myanmar’s embattled democracy movement became a powerful symbol of progress for a country trying to climb out from under decades of political and economic misrule....

Travel Time - 2084.21 Hours / 86.8 Days
Countries Visited - 112
Days Traveled - 401
Meetings With World Leaders - 1,700
Meetings At The White House - 755
Airplane Meals - 570
Times Caught Dancing On Camera - 3 

These miles and visits were vital to bring the USA's presence. She didn't travel for status, she traveled to make a difference in representation of the USA.

 
The Clinton Foundation, founded by her and her husband, has improved the living conditions for nearly 400 million people in over 180 countries through its Initiative program. 

She was and continues to be a role model for women all over the world. Additionally, she is respected when she states, "Human Rights are Women's Rights and Women's Rights are Human Rights." She was very outspoken in the international theater for recognition of girls and their ability to be educated to benefit their country.

She had a very demanding agenda as Secretary of State which included the release of Americans in Iranian jails. 

Hillary Clinton has touched global history for decades and she has moved the USA politically most of her life. She is a great woman and I expect anyone who discusses her years dedicated to this country to respect that. 

The young people victimized at tender ages during the years of Bush would becoming adults and some already have reached the age of majority.

This is only a few of the cases that involve the victimization of children. (click here)  These young people as early as the age of 4 years old have a juvenile record that follows them. They have to move before a court to seal the record once they are the age of majority, but, this should not have happened in the first place.

Typical during the years of Bush states were even testing their laws when it came to prosecuting children. (click here)

There was a Republican recently that stated embarrassment should be involved in molding people's behavior. That opinion was not exclusively for children. The country doesn't need it. It accomplishes nothing and creates stress, especially with children, we do not need.

During the 2005-06 school year, (click here) 28 kindergarten students in Maryland were suspended for sex offenses, including sexual assault, sexual harassment and sexual activity, according to state data. Fifteen of those suspensions were for sexual harassment.

This is absolutely hideous in a society that is suppose to cherish and understand young people, including children. The US Justice Department needs to examine these cases and reverse the decisions and expunge them from their records. In the future any juvenile record should be either reviewed and/or throw out by courts and/or state prosecutors at the age of 16 or 17 when applications to college and universities careers are begun.

Harry, you look absolutely dashing.

September 14, 2015
By Megan Messerly

...No, (click here) they aren’t the latest men’s frames from the runway at New York’s Fashion Week. They’re Senate Minority Leader Harry Reid’s new glasses.
Harry Reid, fashion icon?
Though he was busy rallying Democratic Senators to support the nuclear deal with Iran last week, Reid took a few moments out of his busy schedule to debut his new chunky, clear eyewear during a speech to the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace on Tuesday.
And although foreign policy experts may be divided on the Iran deal, men’s fashion mavens are raving about the new frames.
“They’re cool for an old guy,” said New York-based model and fashion blogger Colby DeMarco. “He probably just found them, but who knows? Maybe he’s a super stylish guy.”...

Congratulations to Jon Stewart. But. How does anyone write you if they want to know more?

Does the movement have a webpage?

The first responders plight has belonged to Michael Moore. It is nice to see others stepping up their game and coming to the rescue of very deserving Americans.

You know, when people become ill, especially when they are in service to other Americans the response has to be to see to their needs now. They saw to others at a time of emergency and now they have their own crisis.

September 16, 2015
The health program (click here) has enough money to keep operating for at least a few months after Sept. 30, but supporters of legislation that would make it permanent want to make sure beneficiaries don't get warning notices saying their assistance is about to end.
Backers of the legislation want Congress to eliminate the deadline for applying for assistance from the Victims Compensation Fund, which helps other people who develop illnesses related to the attacks in 2001. The deadline is Oct. 3 next year.
First-responders have traveled to Washington 14 times this year to lobby Congress. said John Feal, an organizer of the effort.
"You've got a Congress turning over every two years, so when we go back to D.C., we have to re-educate them,'' Feal told Stewart. "It's always starting over. We have to keep going back. And it's redundant for us.''
Republican leaders in the House and Senate said Wednesday they're considering an extension, but they were noncommittal on timing....

September 30th is nearly here and then come the holidays. There are only 29 days the US House is in session after September 30th. (click here) The Senate has more days in session after September 30th with 45 days. So, the House really has to get it's work done on this so it can be sent to the Senate and passed before Christmas. Every American has the right to have peace of mind for the holidays.

Bernie Sanders made a connection with most Evangelicals at Liberty University.

Jim, a Liberty University Alumnus,  (click here) explains how an Evangelical Christian can be both theologically conservative and politically liberal, and support Bernie Sanders.

"I stand with Bernie Sanders."

But, as any new experience with a new face among the crowd, the reviews were mixed. This is one of the accepting comments. I think Bernie Sanders was brave, seeking friends where few existed before and realized the problem of any country belongs to all and not just those afflicted with society's judgements.

As I heard Bernie Sanders (click here) crying out to the religious leaders at Liberty University, in his hoarse voice, with his wild hair – this Jew – and he proclaimed justice over us, he called us to account, for being complicit with those who are wealthy and those who are powerful, and for abandoning the poor, the least of these, who Jesus said he had come to bring good news to. And in that moment something occurred to me. As I saw Bernie Sanders up there, as I watched him, I realized Bernie Sanders for president is good news for the poor. Bernie Sanders for president is Good News for the poor. Bernie Sanders is gospel for the poor. And Jesus said "I have come to bring gospel" – good news – "to the poor."  

And lightning hit my heart at that moment. And I realized that we are evangelical Christians. We believe the Bible. We believe in Jesus. We absolutely shun those who would attempt to find nuance and twisted and tortured interpretations of scripture that they would use to master all other broader interpretations, to find some kind of big message that they want to flout. We absolutely scorn such things, and yet somehow we commit to the mental gymnastics necessary that allows us to abandon the least of these, to abandon the poor, to abandon the immigrants, to abandon those who are in prison.

I listened to Bernie Sanders as he said he wanted to welcome the immigrants and give them dignity, as he said he wanted to care for the sick children and mothers and fathers who do not have health care, as he said he wanted to decrease the amount of human beings who are corralled like cattle in the prisons, as he said he wanted to do justice for those who have nothing and live homeless. And I remembered the words of Jesus who warned his disciples that there will be judgement, and on that day he will look to his friends, and he will say "Blessed are you for you cared for me, for I was naked and you clothed me, I was sick and you cared for me, I was hungry and you fed me, I was thirsty and you gave me something to drink, I was in prison and you came to visit me, I was homeless and you gave me shelter." And his disciples said, "When did we do any of those things for you?" And he said, "If you have done it for the least of these, you have done it for me."

She did herself proud.

September 17, 2015
By Chris Megerian

SIMI VALLEY, Calif. — It was the moment (click here) many were waiting for. Carly Fiorina was asked about a controversial Donald Trump comment in a Rolling Stone profile in which the New York businessman insulted her looks.
Fiorina was waiting, too. She smiled and gave a measured response. "I think women all over the country heard very clearly what Mr. Trump said."
The comment got loud applause.
Trump responded by trying to dig himself out of the hole, but still found a way to comment on Fiorina's physical appearance.
"I think she's got a beautiful face, and I think she's a beautiful woman," he said.

I think from her poise she is much the lady and there simply was no other response to make. She honored not only herself, but, American women. She gave them a great deal of credit for understanding her dilemma with Donald Trump.

And so there is no spin or misquotes from the debate, "Time" has a complete transcript. (click here)

I hear a fair amount of comment about how Donald Trump should have apologized to Jeb Bush's wife. I think Trump is correct when he stated, he didn't make a false comment. He strongly believes Bush's family clouds his judgement about immigration. He's a permitted his point of view.

Jeb Bush stated, "It probably won't happen anyway." when referring to the $20 bill and Margaret Thatcher. If that isn't an anti-woman statement I don't know what is.

September 17, 2015
By Lucy Comack

Humanity's mismanagement of the ocean (click here) has led to the loss of almost half the world's marine mammals, birds, reptiles and fish in a single generation, a World Wide Fund for Nature report says.
The emergency edition of WWF's Living Blue Planet Report revealed a 49 per cent decline in marine vertebrate populations between 1970 and 2012. For some fish this figure was almost 75 per cent....

Okay, we have the numbers, but, what is causing it. Poaching isn't the entire picture. Over fishing is probably a larger part of it.

..."Overfishing, destruction of marine habitats and climate change have dire consequences for the entire human population, with the poorest communities that rely on the sea getting hit fastest and hardest," said Dermot O'Gorman, CEO of WWF Australia.
He said the private sector had to carry the responsibility of ensuring sustainable practices and operations, noting Australian salmon company Tassal and retailer Coles for their commitment towards sustainability.
The supermarket giant's 2015 sustainable sourcing policy for home brand canned tuna states it will "not source yellowfin, southern bluefin or bigeye tuna, all of which are overfished, or are in danger of being overfished," however in late August the retailer was caught breaching the policy....

Trump wants to tax them. In spite of that he is still in second place.

In the Forbes Advisor Playbook Survey (click here)

We’re asking 350,000 financial advisors who they’d vote for today – if anyone was running. Every poll so far lists Biden as a choice (Joe’s not running), so we added Romney (even though Mitt says he’s not or won’t – maybe we can change his mind).
As the vote stands now:
ROMNEY: 13%
TRUMP: 11%
BUSH: 10%
SANDERS: 7%
CLINTON: 6%
BIDEN: 4%
The surprise, of course, was CARSON – he’s actually winning at 16%. Who is Carson, again? AND, where’s MITT? The financial services world clearly wants you back.