Take heed!
The loss of civil rights happen slowly, so we are not supposed to take notice. Once our freedoms are gone, they will not be given back to us. [Source, NetworkWorld, The Stripping of Freedom: EPIC vs. DHS on TSA Body Scanners]
Category: Touchy Subjects
The things that should never be discussed much less published by non-professionals.
Our Brains Are Shrinking
Think Before You Kill Julian Assange
Many people are in a uproar over the Wikileaks release of 251,287 United States embassy cables "the largest set of confidential documents ever to be released into the public domain." Reaction has included suggestions of naming Wikileaks as a terrorist organization. Some people have called for the execution of Julian Assange as a traitor. Proceed with caution! I’d like to take a moment to point out that history is repeating itself. Recall the Pentagon Papers during the Vietnam War. This exact situation was tried in 1971 in New York Times Co. v. United States with the outcome being the release of the documents is protected by the First Amendment.
Though inconvenient for officials, the revelation of information contained in any of the WikiLeaks files, much like the Pentagon Papers amid the Vietnam war, is protected by the First Amendment — a point made by the US Supreme Court in New York Times Co. v. United States in 1971.
In all that I have read, and in all the news commentary I have watched on television and online, nothing has been as notable and as important as the next three paragraphs of The Raw Story’s article.
"In seeking injunctions against these newspapers and in its presentation to the Court, the Executive Branch seems to have forgotten the essential purpose and history of the First Amendment," Justices Hugo Black and William Douglas wrote, taking the side of the Times, which had recently published what was then considered the largest cache of secret military information in US history.
[Source, The Raw Story, GOP Rep. asks Clinton to declare WikiLeaks a ‘foreign terrorist organization’ emphasis added]
Read this next paragraph twice. This paragraph notes where main stream media is failing in its job in the name of page views, popularity and ad sales rather than serving the governed. Wikileaks has stepped up to do the job that our press corp has quit.
"In the First Amendment the Founding Fathers gave the free press the protection it must have to fulfill its essential role in our democracy," they continued. "The press was to serve the governed, not the governors. The Government’s power to censor the press was abolished so that the press would remain forever free to censure the Government. The press was protected so that it could bare the secrets of government and inform the people. Only a free and unrestrained press can effectively expose deception in government."
[Source, The Raw Story, GOP Rep. asks Clinton to declare WikiLeaks a ‘foreign terrorist organization’ emphasis added]
In conclusion, before passing negative judgment against Julian Assange and Wikileaks, read the words of Justices Black and Douglas in regard to the Pentagon Papers.
After the release of the Pentagon Papers, Justices Black and Douglas opined that "newspapers nobly did precisely that which the Founders hoped and trusted they would do."
[Source, The Raw Story, GOP Rep. asks Clinton to declare WikiLeaks a ‘foreign terrorist organization’ emphasis added]
Please go to The Raw Story and read the entire article titled GOP Rep. asks Clinton to declare WikiLeaks a ‘foreign terrorist organization’. Take note that the people wanting to declare Wikileaks a terrorist organization and suppress information keeping you, the citizenry, in the dark are the exact same people embarrassed, or in a position of having their careers ended, by the release of these documents, like Hillary Clinton.
To close, one more quote from The Raw Story. Justice Potter Stewart’s comment.
Justice Potter Stewart added: "In the absence of the governmental checks and balances present in other areas of our national life, the only effective restraint upon executive policy and power in the areas of national defense and international affairs may lie in an enlightened citizenry – in an informed and critical public opinion which alone can here protect the values of democratic government. For this reason, it is perhaps here that a press that is alert, aware, and free most vitally serves the basic purpose of the First Amendment. For without an informed and free press there cannot be an enlightened people."
[Source, The Raw Story, GOP Rep. asks Clinton to declare WikiLeaks a ‘foreign terrorist organization’ emphasis added]
Seen on Reddit Regarding the Nov 2 Election Results
America is like the girl that keeps getting back together with that abusive moron everyone hates.
…but he’s going to be different this time, he swears!
[Source, Reddit, majikmixx]
The commenter who probably has it correct.
The GOP was supposed to sweep the demms and get some insane majority, they have the house but not the senate and it wasn’t a giant sweep in other contests. Furthermore the two parties as they are aren’t terribly different.
My prediction, more of the same shit we’ve seen for many years. If this is one of your first elections it might come as a shock but this is really how it’s been going. As long as Obama doesn’t fuck around with interns I think he’s still in good shape.
And the Dems will be back in control in two years because lets face it, things aren’t going to get better anytime soon. I’m not sure anyone can change that.
We shall see…I just hope they don’t succeed in making those Bush tax cuts permanent.
Postcards from the Pledge
As the Republicans prepare for a battle to reclaim some power in Congress, they have announced a pledge discussing what the Republican party will do for this country. Jon Stewart with the Daily Show covers this very artfully! This is a must watch.
| The Daily Show With Jon Stewart | Mon – Thurs 11p / 10c | |||
| Postcards From the Pledge | ||||
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Segregation in Knoxville
Based on 2000 census data, this is how Knoxville is segregated. Red is White, Blue is Black, Green is Asian, Orange is Hispanic, Gray is Other, and each dot is 25 people. [Source, Flickr – Eric Fischer, Race and ethnicity]
And here’s Memphis:
And Nashville:
[Source, Atlantic Wire, Mapping the Segregation of U.S. Cities]
So why does the ice melt?
The country that brought us Chernobyl will now be floating 8 nuclear power plants on top of the world. Granted, the United States had Three Mile Island and I’m told by an old timer that apparently there is was a reactor meltdown in Oak Ridge in the 50s that was buried physically and by public relations but I cannot validate that. Let’s not forget who is the world leader in exploded nuclear bombs. As the arctic ice shrinks and exposes more land, a battle is brewing for the possible gas and oil reserves previously hidden by the ice. The major players will be Canada and Russia but other countries could try to stake claims. With these ships that could supply power to 45,000 for 12 years at a time..that’s 12 years without needing to return to port..Russia certainly has an advantage.
[Source, BBC, A rare view of Russia’s floating nuclear power station]
Gotta hand it to the Buddhists
So I was doing this chanting thing that Jason Jarrett turned me onto. For the first time in 30 years, I was truly starting to feel contentment, happiness even, perhaps I’d go so far as to say joy, in all things. But the chanting felt a bit odd. I think my wife found it hokey and I believe it is important in marriage that the couple be eye to eye on religious and spiritual stuff. Plus as I looked into the practice of Buddhism more and read more about stuff revolving around the alter it began to feel a little like some of those things that I find distasteful about particular organized religions. I guess the biggest killer for me was not finding support for the Buddhism of Nichiren Daishonin in Knoxville. There’s a Buddhist temple on Dutchtown Road but they don’t speak English. The language barrier didn’t stop me from going as much as it being a different practice than what Jason Jarrett introduced me to. I dropped in on another place in Knoxville near Homberg Place which was a different practice than either Nichiren or the one on Dutchtown and they just looked at me like, "who’s the old guy?" Despite the sign that read "All welcome" I did not feel welcome. Apparently there is a Nichiren youth organization in Knoxville but I don’t really want the old guy experience again.
So I quit chanting. Then everything went to shit. Coincidence? Probably. There’s some karma crap to be considered too. I was working very hard at removing negativity in my life so the response karmicly speaking was an abundance of negativity was drawn to me. The happier I felt, the greater the onslaught of crap that seemed to be directed at me. There was some Murph stuff too. If you don’t know Murph, you’ll have to buy me a beer and I’ll tell you about him sometime. The flat tire yesterday was a Murph moment. I produced a deluge of negativity and in response I was punished with a flat tire. A wake up call of sorts.
So, I’ll continue listening to A Buddhist Podcast because it is truly one of the best produced podcasts I regularly enjoy. I may even keep chanting if for any reason, for my children. It is so nice when Evan or Amy spontaneously erupt in chant. I believe it is very good for them. But I think my experiment in Buddhism is a bust.
So, just grab em?
Okay, what I gather from this Reddit discussion titled "Do women intentionally press there boobs up against men?" is that women basically have no feeling in their breasts. This changes everything! And explains a lot. You know, like when you’re working through certain Freudian fixations and she’s staring down at you with that quirky look of "can we get on with it already?!" like the one she wears when the line is moving too slowly at the grocery. Oh to be twelve again with this knowledge! …now where’d I put that book on erogenous zones?
The President of the Procrastinator’s Club Called…
…and I said I’d have to get back to him.
That paperwork due on April 15th is finally completed and turned in!
What will you do in November?
53 Years of Nuclear Bombs
How many nuclear bombs have been exploded? Many people would say, "One, over Japan" when it fact it was two, one over Hiroshima and another over Nagasaki. Would you believe that Britain has exploded a nuclear bomb in the United States? Would you believe that in 53 years 2053 nuclear bombs were exploded around the globe? I find the following video unsettling. It left me feeling hollow in my chest and subtly angry.
How a European views America
[Source, Reddit, As a European, this is how I see America]
Funny thing, this is pretty much how I see it.
New rules for murder/suicide
Yesterday Knoxville suffered a shooting tragedy. My sympathies to the victims and the victim’s families.
While buying a paper this morning, yes I bought one…how quaint, several customers, the cashier and I discussed it and determined some rules of etiquette must be established for these murder/suicides. We feel it would be good manners if you would shoot yourself first and let your victims go second.
On a serious note, if you feel the need to murder/suicide, or even just to kill yourself, please seek help! You are loved and there are people who want to help who may just have not heard your cries yet. Find help at suicidehotlines.com
Tennessee – the hate state
Oh, TN, what happened to you?
NASHVILLE, Tenn. – A Nashville man says he and his 10-year-old daughter were victims of road rage…Harry Weisiger gave him the bird and rammed into his vehicle, after noticing an Obama-Biden sticker on his car bumper…"He pointed at the back of my car," Duren said, "the bumper, flipped me off, one finger salute." [Source, WRKN.com, Road rage, accident centers on Obama bumper sticker]
