Obama's "Ban the Bomb Bluster"
"No Bomb Obama"
A Commentary by J. D. Longstreet
**************
One thing about the Hippie generation, they are relentless. Even after the air headed-ness of their ideas has been exposed for decades they continue to press on, and on, and on, ad infinitum.
Heck, we have a President of the US actually making a fool of himself all over the globe, even today, pressing forward the "Ban the Bomb" agenda of the 1960's "flower children."
It is so close to ridiculous that it is no longer funny.
Now known in some parts of the world as "No Bomb Obama," he has most recently been chasing Russia's Vladimir Putin around trying to demonstrate just how "flexible" he (Obama) can be ... now that he has been reelected, and all.
You may recall that the UN Security Council, back in September of 2009, unanimously approved a US-drafted, Obama-authored resolution in New York committing to work towards a world without nuclear weapons. I am still embarrassed by that.
Banning the "A" bomb has never really made a whole lot of sense to me since it is not the ultimate weapon anymore, if it ever was.
Think about it a moment. Even in the closing days of the Second World War, as the US was bombing the living daylights out of Japan, the Allies were inflicting far more damage and killing far more of the enemy's people with conventional bombs, especially those "fire bombs" (The incendiary bombs we dropped on Japan's cities.) Earlier, in Germany, the city of Dresden became a maelstrom of death and destruction by high explosive and incendiary bombs. It became a literal "hurricane of fire" -- and death.
No. The Nuclear Free World mantra is just another of those warm and fuzzy "sayings" or philosophies put forth by the political left, the world over, to press forward their march to Utopia, an imaginary place considered to be perfect or ideal, AND the mythical land of Nirvana, a place of complete bliss and delight and peace.
No matter that it is all Bovine Scatology. It is their "pipe" dream and they insist on maintaining it. Problem is -- they also insist on aggravating the real world half to death with their perpetual rantings about it.
Back in 2009 Obama is reported to have stated: "We harbor no illusions about the difficulty of bringing about a world without nuclear weapons. We know there are plenty of cynics, and that there will be setbacks to prove their point. But there will also be days like today that push us forward - days that tell a different story. It is the story of a world that understands that no difference or division is worth destroying all that we have built and all that we love." SOURCE: http://articles.timesofindia.indiatimes.com/2009-09-24/us/28063316_1_nuclear-security-summit-nuclear-weapons-resolution
Obama is insistent upon reducing America's nuclear arsenal as an example to the remainder of the nuclear club nations of the world in the HOPE they will be converted into true believers with those cute little daises protruding from the barrels of their soldier's AK-47's.
Pathetic.
If Obama wants to stop the proliferation of nuclear bombs, may we suggest that he get off the dime and bomb the dickens out of Iran's nuclear facilities -- post haste. We've fiddled around with the Persians for far longer than was necessary -- OR prudent.
The Middle Eastern regional war Obama claims to be so frightened of igniting with a raid on Iran's nuclear bomb making plant(s) is already in the making in a place called Syria. Now that he has introduced -- OVERTLY -- American assistance to the rebels there, that excuse is gone, especially when one considers Iran's introduction of some 4,000 of their troops into the Syrian civil war on the side of the Syrian tyrant Assad. That figure does not take into account the thousands of irregular Iranian troops fighting for Assad, as well.
So, why wait any longer to strike Iran? Is Obama setting the US up to lose a fourth war in the Middle East? (Count 'em: Iraq, Afghanistan, Syria, and possibly Iran)
Seems to me, Obama's campaign to reduce America's nuclear arsenal is just another avenue he is taking to reduce America's standing in the world and lay our necks bare to the blades of our enemies.
© J. D.Longstreet
Three From Wisconsin Among 23 Indicted In Illinois For Drug Trafficking
By H. Nelson Goodson
June 20, 2013
Chicago, Illinois - On Thursday, Chicago police and the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) executed 11 search warrants targeting nine homes and two vehicles resulting in 21 of 23 suspects arrested in connection for heroin and cocaine distribution that expanded to Wisconsin, Indiana and Illinois, U.S. Attorney Gary S. Shapiro from the Northern District of Illinois announced. The indictments filed on Wednesday included a 10-count criminal complaint charging 23 suspects with possession with intent to distribute or distribution of narcotics in three states.
The joint investigation began back in September 2012 and federal agents between November 2012 to April 2013 seized three pounds of heroin and nine pounds of cocaine. A half pound of heroin was sold to federal collaborators and an undercover DEA agent.
Also crack cocaine and ecstasy was confiscated by feds, according to the indictment.
Three of the suspects are from Wisconsin, Vonzaye Davis, 42, Cory Griffin, 32, both from Milwaukee and Brandon Elsing, 29, of Madison.
Two suspects are from Indiana, Misheela Belcher, 24, and Michael Starnes, 35.
Eighteen suspects are from Illinois, Michael Coleman, 31, Nicolas Franco, 28, Neftali Freytes, 28, aka, "Lucky", Jameson Hamlin, 39, Malcolm Harris, 28, Richard Hicks, 52, aka, "Unc", Charles James, 35, aka, "Chuck", Corey Minnifield, 31, Francisco Mireles, 33, aka, "Pops", Eric Paskon, 32, aka, "E", Angel Perez, 27, "Hellboy, HB, or Fatboy", Eduardo Rivera, 35, Jimmy Serrano, 24, Anwer Shahbaz, 32, aka, "BZ or Baz", Ladell Smith, 27, Daniel Vasquez, 30, Antonio Whiting, 27, and Michael Whiting, 31.
The criminal complaint alleged that Serrano supplied heroin to Michael Whiting who operated as a wholesale heroin supplier along with his brother, Antonio Whiting, James, Coleman and Minnifield. Michael then sold heroin his customers, including Davis and Hicks.
Authorities confiscated a .40 Caliber Glock handgun, a bulletproof vest, and $20,000 cash in a vehicle that Smith was driving. Another weapon, drugs and $10,000 in cash was found in a home that Michael Whiting was using as a stash house.
Eighteen suspects are facing from 5 to 40 years in prison and up to $5 million in fines. Five susects, Mireles, Perez, Shahbaz and Vasquez are facing 10 years to life with fines up to $10 million. Davis is facing up to 20 years and up to $2 million in fines, if convicted.
Trading Update
I bought a 29-year TIPS for my retirement account on January 18, 2011. Other than a very small cash holding, that was the only thing in my account. It yielded roughly 1.9% over inflation. In hindsight, I have absolutely no complaints about that trade.
I probably should have said that it was mostly done. That bond accumulated interest over the past 2 1/2 years. I used that interest to buy a 19-year TIPS today. It yields about 1.06% over inflation if held to maturity. That's exactly what I intend to do.
It's been a good 2 1/2 years and it has been an especially good day. My IRA planning is now complete again. I'm also mostly done again.
There were three things I liked about the bond. First, I was concerned that we'd never see 1% real interest rates again in my lifetime. I just don't think our weakened economy can support "normal" real interest rates long-term (which is in sharp contrast to recent stock market euphoria). Second, a 19-year bond is just about perfect for me. I'm 48 years old. It will mature shortly before I am required to start taking minimum distributions from my retirement account. Third, I could afford it. The least TD Ameritrade would allow me to buy was $9,118.51 today. My account had accumulated $9,581.36 of cash. The last few days have been the first real opportunity to put that cash to work in a way that best matches my future needs.
As a side note, I have no idea how high rates will rise from here. I can say this though. I am not bracing for mythical 3.5% real interest rates over the long-term. Not even close.
As for the theory that a U.S. currency crisis will soon be upon us, let's just say that I am far removed from that camp. Investors can't seem to get out of silver fast enough these days. It's down nearly 8% today and roughly 60% from the peak in 2011. Silver treated me well in the past. I owned it from 2004 to 2006. That was good for a 50%+ gain. In hindsight, I missed much of the ride though. That said, there are at least a few "late to the party" investors today who no doubt wish they'd missed the ride entirely.
February 24, 2011
Silver Bubble Construction Set
The following was anonymously written in the comments. Note the capitalization of the word silver as if the metal was worthy of our worship at any price.
The Internet is indeed a wonderful thing. I'm going to go out on the limb here and once again suggest that the same thing that drove silver was the same thing that drove real estate and the stock market before it (and quite possibly after it). Easy money, sure things, and greater fools!
Just opinions. This is most certainly not investment advice.
My IRA planning is now complete. I'm done.
I probably should have said that it was mostly done. That bond accumulated interest over the past 2 1/2 years. I used that interest to buy a 19-year TIPS today. It yields about 1.06% over inflation if held to maturity. That's exactly what I intend to do.
It's been a good 2 1/2 years and it has been an especially good day. My IRA planning is now complete again. I'm also mostly done again.
There were three things I liked about the bond. First, I was concerned that we'd never see 1% real interest rates again in my lifetime. I just don't think our weakened economy can support "normal" real interest rates long-term (which is in sharp contrast to recent stock market euphoria). Second, a 19-year bond is just about perfect for me. I'm 48 years old. It will mature shortly before I am required to start taking minimum distributions from my retirement account. Third, I could afford it. The least TD Ameritrade would allow me to buy was $9,118.51 today. My account had accumulated $9,581.36 of cash. The last few days have been the first real opportunity to put that cash to work in a way that best matches my future needs.
As a side note, I have no idea how high rates will rise from here. I can say this though. I am not bracing for mythical 3.5% real interest rates over the long-term. Not even close.
As for the theory that a U.S. currency crisis will soon be upon us, let's just say that I am far removed from that camp. Investors can't seem to get out of silver fast enough these days. It's down nearly 8% today and roughly 60% from the peak in 2011. Silver treated me well in the past. I owned it from 2004 to 2006. That was good for a 50%+ gain. In hindsight, I missed much of the ride though. That said, there are at least a few "late to the party" investors today who no doubt wish they'd missed the ride entirely.
February 24, 2011
Silver Bubble Construction Set
If these charts have any merit, then silver is either in a bubble or silver has priced in a great deal of future pain for savers. Perhaps hindsight will show that it was a bit of both? It's just one more reason I've been willing to buy 30-year TIPS.
The following was anonymously written in the comments. Note the capitalization of the word silver as if the metal was worthy of our worship at any price.
Very few people on this earth understand Silver
As I write this, Silver is at $45, up $15 bucks since this article was written just eight weeks ago.
The internet is a wonderful thing. You can find articles written over the past few years saying silver was overbought at $12, at $15, at $18, at $20 at $30.. The long awaited correction the "experts" keep warning us about never comes.
None of these "experts" understand the first thing about what is driving silver.
As I write this, Silver is at $45, up $15 bucks since this article was written just eight weeks ago.
The internet is a wonderful thing. You can find articles written over the past few years saying silver was overbought at $12, at $15, at $18, at $20 at $30.. The long awaited correction the "experts" keep warning us about never comes.
None of these "experts" understand the first thing about what is driving silver.
The Internet is indeed a wonderful thing. I'm going to go out on the limb here and once again suggest that the same thing that drove silver was the same thing that drove real estate and the stock market before it (and quite possibly after it). Easy money, sure things, and greater fools!
Just opinions. This is most certainly not investment advice.
50 Shades Of Green
Just a casual Sunday outfit with this picture perfect weather after a few cloudy days!
A pair of silk trousers and a simple black tee was an instant decision and a practical one, after all we ended up in the park. So forget about sandals - all I wanted was to walk barefoot and lay on the grass... and so I did...
Tee: H&M
Pants: Harlyn/ Here
Shoes: Miu Miu
Bag: Pulicati/ option Here
Bracelet: c/o Poshlocket/ Here
Sunglasses: c/o zeroUV/ Here
FACEBOOK . BLOGLOVIN . INSTAGRAM
Several Suspects Sought For Stealing Sonido Condor's Truck Full Of DJ Music Equipment
D.J. Arnulfo Aguilar Vásquez
Stolen equipment won't effect Sonido Condor's scheduled performances in the U.S. or Mexico, D.J. Aguilar Vásquez confirmed.
June 20, 2013
Commerce, CA - Police in City of Commerce are looking for several suspects that stole a truck full of sound and video equipment from the popular Super Sonido Condor from the Ramada Hotel parking lot around 8:24 a.m. on Tuesday. The suspects were captured on several video surveillance cameras from the hotel, a nearby Danny's Restaurant and a street camera from the city.
The suspects had another vehicle as well and they were heading to Freeway 5, according to D.J. Arnulfo Aguilar Vásquez. Vásquez, 53, is offering a reward for any information about the identity of the suspects and there whereabouts, including his equipment.
D.J. Vásquez from Sonido Condor says, the truck had arrived from Mexico with his sound, lights and video equipment. But, the suspects had stole his truck. Vásquez described the truck as an 18 foot long White Ford E450 vantruck with California plates 68487G1. It also has the word "Maratthon" in front of the upper cabin.
Vásquez appealed to other D.J.'s in the area to keep a lookout for his truck. He also posted on Facebook that any contract performances that have been confirmed, "he will honor." The Sonido Condor is known to pack the house where ever he performs.
The stolen equipment won't effect his scheduled performances in New York, Kentucky, Alabama and California, including Mexico, according to Vásquez.
Click on image to enlarge
Dolce & Gabbana Sentenced To 20 Months In Jail For Tax Evasion
Italian fashion duo evaded to pay a total of $543 million euros in taxes and were found guilty in two separate cases.
By H. Nelson Goodson
June 20, 2013
Milan, Italy - A Milan court sentenced both Domenico Dolce, 54, and Stefano Gabbana, 50, to 20 months in jail for tax evasion totaling $200 million euros ($268 million dollars). The court also fined them $500,000 euros ($670,000 dollars) and ordered them to pay it to the Italian tax agency.
Four other Dolce & Gabbana associates including Alfonso Dolce (Domenico's brother) and Luciano Patelli, a consultant are also facing prison terms.
Four other Dolce & Gabbana associates including Alfonso Dolce (Domenico's brother) and Luciano Patelli, a consultant are also facing prison terms.
Prosecutors say, Dolce and Cabbana, the fashion duo created a company outside Italy named Gado from their surnames in Luxembourg between 2004-05 for the purpose to avoid paying taxes. They failed to claim it as one of their business ventures and assets for tax purposes.
The defendant's attorneys say, that they will appeal their client's sentences. Their sentences were suspended until they exhaust their appeals, according to court records.
The defendant's attorneys say, that they will appeal their client's sentences. Their sentences were suspended until they exhaust their appeals, according to court records.
In March, they were also found guilty of evading to pay taxes and were ordered to pay $343.3 million euros ($439.70 million dollars) in restitution. They were facing five years in prison, but that case has been also appealed.
Both Dolce and Cabbana, founded their multi-million fashion designing company in 1985. Today, they have 250 shops and their products, clothing, footwear, handbags, sunglasses and watches are distributed in 40 countries. Dolce and Gabbana employs about 3,000 workers.
New Immigration Reform Bill IS AMNESTY! ... J. D. Longstreet
New Immigration Reform Bill IS AMNESTY!
Forget Securing the Border!
Betrayal of the American People?
A Commentary by J. D. Longstreet
**************************
Again, it would appear, we have been fed another LIE.
Consider this: “Let’s be clear,” Rubio said. “Nobody is talking about preventing the legalization. The legalization is going to happen. That means the following will happen: First comes the legalization. Then come the measures to secure the border. And then comes the process of permanent residence.” (Emphasis mine) SOURCE: http://www.wnd.com/2013/06/gop-lawmaker-rubio-using-weasel-words/
Those are the words of Senator Marco Rubio as he spoke them in Spanish a few days ago before a Univision audience.
If Rubio was ever a true conservative he has made the fastest turn around in recorded history. He is now holding, tenuously, onto "RINO" (Republican In Name Only) and leaning, hard, toward liberal!
Rubio was the guy the Tea Party poured so much time, effort, and money (not to mention HOPE) into, only to have him turn on them and go rogue.
Mr. Rubio may feel their ire as the possibility of his becoming a "short-timer" in the Senate is coming into focus. There are some very angry Tea Partiers and some very happy leftist democrats in Florida who would welcome Mr. Rubio back home ... permanently. The word "sellout" is being heard on a somewhat regular basis these days as a description of Senator Rubio.
Another RINO in the Senate, this one from South Carolina, where conservatives are absolutely furious at him -- and chomping at the bit to get to a ballot box -- is predicting the immigration reform bill will pass with at least 70 votes. Senator Lindsey Graham said recently on NBC's Meet The Press: " ... the Senate will give the reform bill — which currently has a path to citizenship for the nation's 11 million illegal immigrants — overwhelming support.
“I think we are going to get plus 70 votes. I've never been more optimistic about it.”
Graham said passing the bill is a political necessity for the GOP. SOURCE: http://thehill.com/video/senate/305827-graham-predicts-breakthrough-passage-of-immigration-bill-with-over-70-votes#ixzz2WTxFROwI
I'm a native of the great state of South Carolina and still have a few contacts there even after an absence of some 50 years. They tell me the voters of South Carolina are outraged at Graham's adoption of the RINO philosophy, his close association with the Senate's archrino, John McCain, and are looking to bring Graham home when next he stands for election.
To simply say South Carolina is "conservative" and or "republican" is a vast understatement. Once outside the city limits of Charleston and Columbia, even South Carolina democrats are conservative -- to one degree or another. Senator Graham, whether he knows it or not, is in deep trouble at home, if my sources are anywhere near correct.
Now that Rubio has let the cat out of the bag about amnesty/citizenship first being the aim of the immigration reform bill, and that border security is NOT to be assured first, I suspect more voters than ever will be watching their senators very closely to see how they maneuver on this con game being run on the American people by the progressives -- of both parties -- in the US Senate.
From the Washington Times on Tuesday June 18th, 2013, we learn this:
Senators on Tuesday rejected building the 700 miles of double-tier border fencing Congress authorized just seven years ago, with a majority of the Senate saying they didn’t want to delay granting illegal immigrants legal status while the fence was being built.
The 54-39 vote to reject the fence shows the core of the immigration deal is holding. The vote broke mostly along party lines, though five Republicans, including Sen. Marco Rubio and the rest of the bill’s authors, voted against the fence, and two Democrats voted for it. SOURCE: http://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2013/jun/18/senate-rejects-border-fence/
Over in the House of Representatives, Speaker John Boehner is reported to have said that immigration reform is his top priority and that he may allow the bill to be brought to the floor without majority support. Already, republican voices are being heard demanding that Speaker Boehner lose his job as Speaker if he allows this to happen.
Many in Washington suspect there is a leadership plan to attempt to push the immigration reform bill through both houses BEFORE the Senators and Congresspersons leave DC for summer recess when they are sure to be confronted by their voters at home.
I cannot fathom how any government can even consider gracing anyone who is a known lawbreaker with amnesty for his/her crimes and confer citizenship upon that person to boot. In the real word they would be rounded up, locked-up, and in some cases, deported. In other cases, they must stand trial, serve their sentence if found guilty, THEN be deported at the completion of their sentence.
There is no deal the American people will accept that does not include securing the border. So far as this scribe is concerned, the ONLY bill I will support is a bill securing the border -- period. I cannot, under any set of circumstances I can conjure up, support amnesty or citizenship for anyone breaking into our country. NONE.
There is right and there is wrong. What the political leadership of America is trying to foist on the American people is WRONG and every last Senator or Congressperson supporting the Immigration Reform Bill should be voted out of office when next they stand for reelection.
There is no room for compromise here. This is as clear cut a choice as ever there was. It is a choice between right and wrong.
It seems to me that it says a lot about a people when the leaders they have elected actually feel they must discuss whether to do something that is right or something that is wrong, something that is good, or something that is bad. It says, frankly, that moral relativism has replaced God-given common sense and the ability to discern good from bad and right from wrong. Ultimately, it says we are a people bent on self destruction and that we will accept no other choice.
Look. If we can dig a ditch from the Caribbean Sea to the Pacific Ocean, called the Panama Canal, we can, sure as heck, build a wall from the Pacific Ocean to the Gulf of Mexico. Senators: Introduce a bill to that effective and watch the support pile up and your numbers at home sky rocket!
Of course, it won't happen. That takes the kind of courage no longer found in the halls of Congress.
We can reform immigration, right now, by simply stopping ALL immigration. Pull the plug. Hang a sign around Lady Liberty's copper neck saying: "Closed Temporarily." Then take as much time as is necessary to build the wall along the southern border, and make it far more difficult to immigrate LEGALLY. If it takes a decade or two, or three, fine. Make a real effort to get it right this time.
The plain truth is that if we don't do it, we will be revisiting this issue every few years with the same heated passions on both sides as there is today. All the while, we will be suffering the largest land invasion in the history of the North American continent.
© J. D. Longstreet
Forget Securing the Border!
Betrayal of the American People?
A Commentary by J. D. Longstreet
**************************
Again, it would appear, we have been fed another LIE.
Consider this: “Let’s be clear,” Rubio said. “Nobody is talking about preventing the legalization. The legalization is going to happen. That means the following will happen: First comes the legalization. Then come the measures to secure the border. And then comes the process of permanent residence.” (Emphasis mine) SOURCE: http://www.wnd.com/2013/06/gop-lawmaker-rubio-using-weasel-words/
Those are the words of Senator Marco Rubio as he spoke them in Spanish a few days ago before a Univision audience.
If Rubio was ever a true conservative he has made the fastest turn around in recorded history. He is now holding, tenuously, onto "RINO" (Republican In Name Only) and leaning, hard, toward liberal!
Rubio was the guy the Tea Party poured so much time, effort, and money (not to mention HOPE) into, only to have him turn on them and go rogue.
Mr. Rubio may feel their ire as the possibility of his becoming a "short-timer" in the Senate is coming into focus. There are some very angry Tea Partiers and some very happy leftist democrats in Florida who would welcome Mr. Rubio back home ... permanently. The word "sellout" is being heard on a somewhat regular basis these days as a description of Senator Rubio.
Another RINO in the Senate, this one from South Carolina, where conservatives are absolutely furious at him -- and chomping at the bit to get to a ballot box -- is predicting the immigration reform bill will pass with at least 70 votes. Senator Lindsey Graham said recently on NBC's Meet The Press: " ... the Senate will give the reform bill — which currently has a path to citizenship for the nation's 11 million illegal immigrants — overwhelming support.
“I think we are going to get plus 70 votes. I've never been more optimistic about it.”
Graham said passing the bill is a political necessity for the GOP. SOURCE: http://thehill.com/video/senate/305827-graham-predicts-breakthrough-passage-of-immigration-bill-with-over-70-votes#ixzz2WTxFROwI
I'm a native of the great state of South Carolina and still have a few contacts there even after an absence of some 50 years. They tell me the voters of South Carolina are outraged at Graham's adoption of the RINO philosophy, his close association with the Senate's archrino, John McCain, and are looking to bring Graham home when next he stands for election.
To simply say South Carolina is "conservative" and or "republican" is a vast understatement. Once outside the city limits of Charleston and Columbia, even South Carolina democrats are conservative -- to one degree or another. Senator Graham, whether he knows it or not, is in deep trouble at home, if my sources are anywhere near correct.
Now that Rubio has let the cat out of the bag about amnesty/citizenship first being the aim of the immigration reform bill, and that border security is NOT to be assured first, I suspect more voters than ever will be watching their senators very closely to see how they maneuver on this con game being run on the American people by the progressives -- of both parties -- in the US Senate.
From the Washington Times on Tuesday June 18th, 2013, we learn this:
Senators on Tuesday rejected building the 700 miles of double-tier border fencing Congress authorized just seven years ago, with a majority of the Senate saying they didn’t want to delay granting illegal immigrants legal status while the fence was being built.
The 54-39 vote to reject the fence shows the core of the immigration deal is holding. The vote broke mostly along party lines, though five Republicans, including Sen. Marco Rubio and the rest of the bill’s authors, voted against the fence, and two Democrats voted for it. SOURCE: http://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2013/jun/18/senate-rejects-border-fence/
Consider this from Senator James Inhofe of Oklahoma: “This is an amnesty bill that fails to address the serious problems and dire need for reform that is plaguing the U.S. immigration system." SOURCE: http://www.inhofe.senate.gov/newsroom/press-releases/inhofe-immigration-bill-may-weaken-current-law
Over in the House of Representatives, Speaker John Boehner is reported to have said that immigration reform is his top priority and that he may allow the bill to be brought to the floor without majority support. Already, republican voices are being heard demanding that Speaker Boehner lose his job as Speaker if he allows this to happen.
Many in Washington suspect there is a leadership plan to attempt to push the immigration reform bill through both houses BEFORE the Senators and Congresspersons leave DC for summer recess when they are sure to be confronted by their voters at home.
I cannot fathom how any government can even consider gracing anyone who is a known lawbreaker with amnesty for his/her crimes and confer citizenship upon that person to boot. In the real word they would be rounded up, locked-up, and in some cases, deported. In other cases, they must stand trial, serve their sentence if found guilty, THEN be deported at the completion of their sentence.
There is no deal the American people will accept that does not include securing the border. So far as this scribe is concerned, the ONLY bill I will support is a bill securing the border -- period. I cannot, under any set of circumstances I can conjure up, support amnesty or citizenship for anyone breaking into our country. NONE.
There is right and there is wrong. What the political leadership of America is trying to foist on the American people is WRONG and every last Senator or Congressperson supporting the Immigration Reform Bill should be voted out of office when next they stand for reelection.
There is no room for compromise here. This is as clear cut a choice as ever there was. It is a choice between right and wrong.
It seems to me that it says a lot about a people when the leaders they have elected actually feel they must discuss whether to do something that is right or something that is wrong, something that is good, or something that is bad. It says, frankly, that moral relativism has replaced God-given common sense and the ability to discern good from bad and right from wrong. Ultimately, it says we are a people bent on self destruction and that we will accept no other choice.
Look. If we can dig a ditch from the Caribbean Sea to the Pacific Ocean, called the Panama Canal, we can, sure as heck, build a wall from the Pacific Ocean to the Gulf of Mexico. Senators: Introduce a bill to that effective and watch the support pile up and your numbers at home sky rocket!
Of course, it won't happen. That takes the kind of courage no longer found in the halls of Congress.
We can reform immigration, right now, by simply stopping ALL immigration. Pull the plug. Hang a sign around Lady Liberty's copper neck saying: "Closed Temporarily." Then take as much time as is necessary to build the wall along the southern border, and make it far more difficult to immigrate LEGALLY. If it takes a decade or two, or three, fine. Make a real effort to get it right this time.
The plain truth is that if we don't do it, we will be revisiting this issue every few years with the same heated passions on both sides as there is today. All the while, we will be suffering the largest land invasion in the history of the North American continent.
© J. D. Longstreet
WI Majority GOP Assembly Budget Passed Without A Single Democrat Amendment
Rep. Peter Barca
By H. Nelson Goodson
June 19, 2013
Madison, WI - On Wednesday, the state GOP Assembly control legislators were stunt after Minority Leader Representative Peter Barca (D-Kenosha) spoked for more than a half hour to the Assembly members about the budget's failure to help the working middle class. Barca said, that Democrats would not introduced any of their 200 amendments to the Republican control budget. Barca had talked about the damage the budget would do to the middle working class, education, Badgercare and that the GOP budget was geared to benefit the wealthy.
Democrats said that they will take their fight and amendments to the public. The state Senate will begin the budget debate on Thursday morning.
Assembly Speaker Robin Vos (R-Rochester) stated, that the new "budget cuts taxes, invests in education and reforms government...freezes tuition and fees for the UW System...after the System stockplied tuition dollars for future expenses. "
The Wisconsin State Assembly Bill (AB 40) 2013-2015 Biennial budget passed by a margin of 55-42, with 3 GOP members voting no with Democrats.
The $68 billion two year budget plan includes:
● $1 billion in tax cuts for the wealthy,
● funds nearly $300 million for public schools and expands statewide school choice,
● rejects federal medicaid expansion funding,
● cuts BadgerCare funding and covers 84,700 fewer people at an extra cost of $120 million,
● UW System tuition won't be increased,
● will allow Bail Bondsmen,
● eliminates Milwaukee city employees residency requirements,
● allows for State Crime Lab in Milwaukee to relocate,
● retroactively eliminates lead paint poisoning lawsuits effecting 171 cases of children,
● and stops funding for Milwaukee Police Department SpotShotter program, which pinpoints gunfire at neighborhoods.
Milwaukee D.A. Released Alleged Potawatomi Shooting Suspect
Photos courtesy of De Von Dent
By H. Nelson Goodson
June 19, 2013
Milwaukee, WI - On Wednesday, the 27-year-old suspect who allegedly shot his 23-year-old girlfriend in the left leg during an altercation inside the Potawatomi Bingo Casino, 1721 W. Canal Street has been released from custody, according to both Fox 6 News and CBS 58 News. No further details have been released by the Milwaukee County District Attorney's Office (DA).
The suspect allegedly shot his girlfriend on June 16, around 1:30 a.m. after her brother tried to defuse an argument between them. Several people inside the casino struggled with the suspect and took control of his weapon after he fired multiple shots.
The suspect apparently has a felony record and can't carry a conceal weapon, according to court records. The DA says, the case is still open and pending.
No charges have been filed against the 27-year-old suspect.
Three Suspects Charged With Forced Labor Of Cognitive Disable Woman And Child
Jordie L. Callahan, Jessica L. Hunt and Daniel J. Brown
Photos: USDOJ
Woman and child held captive for two years by the suspects.
Woman and child held captive for two years by the suspects.
June 19, 2013
Ashland, Ohio - On Tuesday, the U.S. Attorney's Office of Northern District of Ohio in a news release announced that three Ashland residents were taken into custody and charged for human trafficking that included forced labor and stealing disability benefits from a cognitively disable woman and her child. The woman and child were held captive for two years.
The suspects were identified as Jordie L. Callahan, 26; Jessica L. Hunt, 31; and Daniel J. Brown, aka D.J. Brown, 33, they were all charged with forced labor. Callahan is charged with an additional count of tampering with a witness.
The three suspects are accused of participating in a conspiracy between May 2011 and October 2012 in which they held a woman and her juvenile child in a condition of forced labor and involuntary servitude.
The conspiracy included beating the disabled woman and her child, threatening the woman with a firearm, threatening to kill the woman and her child, threatening the woman and her child with large snakes, forcing them to sleep in a padlocked room with a large iguana, and other actions, according to charges filed in U.S. District Court.
The case was referred to the FBI by police investigators after the woman was caught stealing candy from a store. The told police that she didn't want to return to where she was living at because the people there treated her bad. When police investigated, they found that the suspects were holding the woman and her child against their will.
The woman was beaten and both the woman and her child were only allowed to eat canned foods or leftovers after everyone else, including the suspects children had eaten. The woman's disability benefits were used by Callahan and no money was ever given to the woman. Her child was not allowed to go with her to the store for fear she would escape.
An affidavit filed by FBI Special Agent Michael Sirohman states, that "Callahan and Hunt forced the woman to clean the house, do laundry, walk to the store to do their shopping, and care for their numerous pit bulls and reptiles. The woman was timed when she went to the store and was not allowed to bring her child with her. Callahan and Hunt beat the woman and her child, threatened their lives, denied them food, and threatened them with the pit bulls and reptiles.
"At various points, Callahan threatened the woman with a gun. The woman and her child initially were forced to sleep on a cement floor in the basement with no mattress. Later, they were moved to a room upstairs, again with no bed or mattress. The child was kept in the room all day, and at night the room was padlocked to keep the woman and her child from escaping...Callahan and Hunt also repeatedly taunted and threatened woman and chld with injury from the couple's snakes, including a poisonous coral snake, a ball phython, and a Burmese python that weighed 130 pounds.
"In August 2011, the conspirators slammed woman's hand with a rock in order to obtain pain medication. She was taken to the emergency room and returned with a prescription for pain medication.
"In December 2011, Callahan and Hunt injured the woman's back and then forced her to turn over the prescription for Vicodin she received for her back injury.
On another occasion, Callahan kicked the woman in the hip, and then he and Hunt forced her to turn over the prescription for Vicodin she received for her hip injury.
On another occasion, Callahan kicked the woman in the hip, and then he and Hunt forced her to turn over the prescription for Vicodin she received for her hip injury.
"About a year later, the woman was arrested for shoplifting a candy bar. She asked to be taken to jail and said she was living with Callahan and Hunt and that they "were mean to her."
"A police officer went to Callahan and Hunt's apartment. When the officer advised Callahan that the woman would not return, Callahan told police he believed the woman was abusing her child and showed them the mobile phone video from October 2011."The woman later told police that Callahan had showed her video recordings of her beating her child after being instructed to do so by Callahan and Hunt. Callahan told the woman that if she "messed up" or told police about her living conditions, Callahan would show the videos to police and have her daughter taken away," according to an FBI affidavit.
potty time
We interrupt our regular scheduled design post for a bit of mother-related talk and baby pictures. We've got some big news in this house. The moment all parents look forward to with excitement and dread.
Eve is ready for potty training.
All the signs are there and I'm more than ready to be done with diapers. And while Eve is my sweet and always-happy-to-cuddle daughter, she is also rather...willful. Rules and directions hold no interest for her which, of course, is the exact opposite of Amelia.
With Amelia, I explained what we were going to do, took off the diapers and we hunkered down in the house for three or four days and went cold turkey. No pull ups, just lots of clean ups. But she got it pretty quickly in that classic first child over-achiever kind of way. It was smooth sailing.
Eve, I think, is going to require a different tactic however. So I'm looking for ideas. I've read them all - M&M's, charts, gifts, etc. but I want to know, what worked for you...or your kids rather. How did you potty train your kids?
Eve is ready for potty training.
All the signs are there and I'm more than ready to be done with diapers. And while Eve is my sweet and always-happy-to-cuddle daughter, she is also rather...willful. Rules and directions hold no interest for her which, of course, is the exact opposite of Amelia.
With Amelia, I explained what we were going to do, took off the diapers and we hunkered down in the house for three or four days and went cold turkey. No pull ups, just lots of clean ups. But she got it pretty quickly in that classic first child over-achiever kind of way. It was smooth sailing.
Eve, I think, is going to require a different tactic however. So I'm looking for ideas. I've read them all - M&M's, charts, gifts, etc. but I want to know, what worked for you...or your kids rather. How did you potty train your kids?
Drug testing judges: long overdue
Drug testing Judges: long overdue
In 2010 a report noted that 1 in 5 Americans took at least one prescription pharmaceutical to treat a psychological condition such as depression or anxiety. This means that 20% of our population takes a medication which can alter mood, behavior and judgment. Drug testing has been imposed on numerous groups in our society by overreaching government bureaucrats whose need to know appears to outweigh our privacy rights. Students who participate in sports many times are under the gun to take a drug test. Worksites often have a drug test requirement. Pilots, military personnel and even we lowly physicians have been coerced into testing. Yet somehow the very people that create and enforce drugs laws have found a manner to maneuver around drug testing regulations. Judges who render critical decisions about our lives appear to have escaped the very sanction they impose on others. Judges collectively are drawn from the same pool of people the rest of come from. With 20% of the populations’ brains immersed in mind bending medications it stands to reason that at least 20% of judges are prescribed these medications. In Maryland this author has had numerous opportunities to appear before lower court judges. Many times these judges were conflictive, confrontational and on several occasions deprecating inexcusably out of proportion to the topic being discussed. A judge in the Howard County Circuit Court appeared to be mumbling to himself as he considered a case. Another judge in the Federal Court in Baltimore appeared to have difficulty focusing his mind on the case before him. Mind altering drugs can affect the neural machinery that enables the brain to arrive at a specific decision. Judges are not immune to these medications. With the important roles judges play in society petitioners coming before them must be assured their arbiters are of sound mind. Drug testing judges would provide assurances to the public that we don’t have an odd ball sitting behind the bench. Additionally, along with the yearly drug test, a brief psychological evaluation would provide the necessary information to keep the mentally disinclined off the bench. Maryland has not instituted any significant reviews of their judges in these respects and the public has a right to know if a member of the judiciary is psychologically impaired. Mark Davis MD, President of Healthnets Review Services, advisor to the media and others on health and related issues. platomd@gmail.com Author of the book Demons of Democracy and the forthcoming book, Obamacare: Dead on Arrival, A Prescription for Disaster. Manager of the group on LinkedIn, Government in Transition. Twitter.com/americassage.
Butler Residents Debating Whether To Disbanded Police Department
Michael Cosgrove
By H. Nelson Goodson
June 19, 2013
Butler, WI - On Tuesday, the Village of Butler Board of Trustees met to hear residents complaints about the recent porno watching scandal by their police department while on duty. The 365-page released by the Waukesha County Sheriff's Department revealed that four officers and their former Police Chief Michael Cosgrove engaged in "college frat house" behavior while on duty and with Cosgrove's leadership, the department "was permeated with elements of racism and pornography."
Cosgrove led the department by "fear and intimidation...derogatory and offensive" remarks toward officers and staff. One officer allegedly exposed his penis at the department and Chief Cosgrove loosely used the "n" word in frequent burst outs with personnel, the report revealed.
One officer was placed on administrative paid leave and the other officers were disciplined for misconduct, but no criminal charges have been filed yet by the Waukesha County District Attorney's Office, which is reviewing the report.
The officers involved were identified as Joe Fus, Rick Napierala and Chad Rahn. A supervisor, Lieutenant Brian Pergande was also disciplined.
Lieutenant Dave Wentlandt was the only supervisor cleared of any wrong doing and was recommended to replace Cosgrove who retired in March 10, after 33 years on the job. In 2005, Cosgrove became Chief of Police.
Cosgrove did not get a performance review by the Butler Board of Trustees for the last 20 years, as a contract clause had required it done periodically, the Waukesha County Sheriff's report indicated. He was placed on administrative leave on February 20.
A Constitutional Conservative ... J. D. Longstreet
A Constitutional Conservative
A Commentary by J. D. Longstreet
***************
There's a new term being tossed about today by the folks on the political left. Not surprising since they seem captive more to their emotions than folks on the political right.
The term I see and hear continually popping up in leftist writings and chattering is "Anti-Intellectualism." Sounds like a pitch fork and torch crowd about to lynch an elitist college professor in the middle of the night. That's what it is supposed to sound like and that is the scene it is designed to conjure up in the minds of the reader and hearer.
Now, yours truly is one of those characters the left just LOVES to hate. I am what they call today a constitutional conservative. Simply put, it means I believe in the tenets of the ORIGINAL constitution and I further believe the US government has strayed far from the boundaries of the constitution and we, the people, have an obligation to drag them back within those boundaries, kicking and screaming if necessary, but, for our own protection as a free people, we MUST regain control of our government.
So how does that make me an anti-intellectual. Truth be told -- I haven't a clue. But somehow, in the minds of our leftist adversaries, it does.
I looked-up anti-intellectualism and here is the definition I found: "Anti-intellectualism is hostility towards and mistrust of intellect, intellectuals, and intellectual pursuits, usually expressed as the derision of education, philosophy, literature, art, and science, as impractical and contemptible. Alternatively, self-described intellectuals who are alleged to fail to adhere to rigorous standards of scholarship may be described as anti-intellectuals." That's from Wikipedia here:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Anti-intellectualism
Wow! Them anti-intellectuals must be some purty dumb folk, right?
Hang on because we are about to see how the left has created a derisive term to cover anyone who believes in speaking the truth about the socialist, progressive, liberal, academic, political left.
The very next paragraph from the Wikipedia article says the following: "In public discourse, anti-intellectuals usually perceive and publicly present themselves as champions of the common folk — populists against political elitism and academic elitism — proposing that the educated are a social class detached from the everyday concerns of the majority, and that they dominate political discourse and higher education."
Before I tackle that allow me to offer this: Down south, where my life and my heart resides, we have "a saying," which I believe was tailor-made for the academic elite. "He/she is educated beyond his/her ability." See, we believe that is a very real, actual, affliction. We have all met, heard, seen on TV, read in the newspapers, read in magazines, the pontification of those people with a string of letters after their names which is supposed to just impress the heck out of us. Often, their sincere take on the human condition, politics, science, the arts, etc, is, frankly, only amusing.
Why?
Because they lack "common sense."
There is another "old saying," actually two, I'd like to offer for your consideration: One -- "Common sense isn't very common." And two: "It is better to remain silent and allow folks to THINK you're a fool, that to speak out -- and remove all doubt."
I am afraid our friends on the left have yet to confront those two pearls of wisdom, therefore they prattle on and as the scriptures tell: "Thinking themselves wise, they have become as fools."
Now, I have spent a few minutes considering the definition of anti-intellectualism as rendered above, and after that painful exercise, I have concluded that the left is correct in including me within the bounds of their definition.
Here's why I say that. I happen to believe, along with a few million other Americans, that the folks who wrote and ratified our constitution said what they meant and meant what they said. I DO NOT believe the constitution is a "living, breathing, document." For it to have any power at all it must remain a document set in stone. Change is allowed but it must be by an act of Congress and then that congressional act must be approved by the people of the country in a state by state ratification BEFORE it becomes a part of that document. Changing, or amending, the constitution was MEANT to be a difficult affair. So much for my political views.
Now, as far as being anti-education, that is pure bovine scatology. Some of the smartest people I know are highly educated people. Some of the dumbest people I know are highly educated people. Another "old saying" pops to mind: "There's no fool like an educated fool."
If the left were to accuse me of being distrustful of direction handed down to the great unwashed masses by academics who have no real life experience other than that they have had on a college campus, then -- I plead guilty.
If the left were to accuse me of being disrespectful of America's public education system and its utter failure to educate America's youth -- again -- I plead guilty.
If the left were to accuse me of being distrustful, derisive, and even dismissive of pseudoscience, which claims human beings are the direct cause of something they like to call "global warming" and "climate change" and that over population of the earth BY HUMANS is bringing on the end of the world as we know it -- absolutely, I plead guilty.
I have just touched the TIP of the iceberg here. It would seem that yours truly is everything the left loves to hate. And that is fine with me.
What the left cannot grasp, however, is that my conservative faction feels as strongly about our belief as they do. As a result, we will fight their efforts with everything we have -- for as long as it takes. It is a sort of checks and balances system. It works by not allowing America to go too far either way. That, in my estimation, is a good thing.
We have learned a thing or two from history that serves America well. We have learned that the political pendulum swings both ways and just at the second it appears the pendulum is not going to swing back, it stops, reverses itself, and swings all the way across the spectrum 'til it stops at the opposite extreme.
I believe America's pendulum is, at the moment, stopped at the left extreme of its swing. We have a Presidential Administration which is so far left it is socialist. Americans are sick at heart about it and they intend to shove the pendulum hard -- back towards the right.
The infantile whining and over indulged angst of the of the left, and their broad attempts to define and redefine those of us on the right side of America's political spectrum, only lends credence to the right's claim that the political left is simply not up to the job of governing a country in crisis. There is no time for a vision quest (as some have referred to it) or social experiments. America desperately needs experienced leadership to begin the long climb out of the morass we have gotten ourselves into by implementing the leftist agenda.
It won't be easy. It will be a long hard grind -- and it will hurt. One pays for one's mistakes. America made a huge mistake in 2008 and now we are paying dearly for that error in judgment. But we can and WILL survive. Such is the faith I have in America and her people.
J. D. Longstreet
A Commentary by J. D. Longstreet
***************
There's a new term being tossed about today by the folks on the political left. Not surprising since they seem captive more to their emotions than folks on the political right.
The term I see and hear continually popping up in leftist writings and chattering is "Anti-Intellectualism." Sounds like a pitch fork and torch crowd about to lynch an elitist college professor in the middle of the night. That's what it is supposed to sound like and that is the scene it is designed to conjure up in the minds of the reader and hearer.
Now, yours truly is one of those characters the left just LOVES to hate. I am what they call today a constitutional conservative. Simply put, it means I believe in the tenets of the ORIGINAL constitution and I further believe the US government has strayed far from the boundaries of the constitution and we, the people, have an obligation to drag them back within those boundaries, kicking and screaming if necessary, but, for our own protection as a free people, we MUST regain control of our government.
So how does that make me an anti-intellectual. Truth be told -- I haven't a clue. But somehow, in the minds of our leftist adversaries, it does.
I looked-up anti-intellectualism and here is the definition I found: "Anti-intellectualism is hostility towards and mistrust of intellect, intellectuals, and intellectual pursuits, usually expressed as the derision of education, philosophy, literature, art, and science, as impractical and contemptible. Alternatively, self-described intellectuals who are alleged to fail to adhere to rigorous standards of scholarship may be described as anti-intellectuals." That's from Wikipedia here:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Anti-intellectualism
Wow! Them anti-intellectuals must be some purty dumb folk, right?
Hang on because we are about to see how the left has created a derisive term to cover anyone who believes in speaking the truth about the socialist, progressive, liberal, academic, political left.
The very next paragraph from the Wikipedia article says the following: "In public discourse, anti-intellectuals usually perceive and publicly present themselves as champions of the common folk — populists against political elitism and academic elitism — proposing that the educated are a social class detached from the everyday concerns of the majority, and that they dominate political discourse and higher education."
Before I tackle that allow me to offer this: Down south, where my life and my heart resides, we have "a saying," which I believe was tailor-made for the academic elite. "He/she is educated beyond his/her ability." See, we believe that is a very real, actual, affliction. We have all met, heard, seen on TV, read in the newspapers, read in magazines, the pontification of those people with a string of letters after their names which is supposed to just impress the heck out of us. Often, their sincere take on the human condition, politics, science, the arts, etc, is, frankly, only amusing.
Why?
Because they lack "common sense."
There is another "old saying," actually two, I'd like to offer for your consideration: One -- "Common sense isn't very common." And two: "It is better to remain silent and allow folks to THINK you're a fool, that to speak out -- and remove all doubt."
I am afraid our friends on the left have yet to confront those two pearls of wisdom, therefore they prattle on and as the scriptures tell: "Thinking themselves wise, they have become as fools."
Now, I have spent a few minutes considering the definition of anti-intellectualism as rendered above, and after that painful exercise, I have concluded that the left is correct in including me within the bounds of their definition.
Here's why I say that. I happen to believe, along with a few million other Americans, that the folks who wrote and ratified our constitution said what they meant and meant what they said. I DO NOT believe the constitution is a "living, breathing, document." For it to have any power at all it must remain a document set in stone. Change is allowed but it must be by an act of Congress and then that congressional act must be approved by the people of the country in a state by state ratification BEFORE it becomes a part of that document. Changing, or amending, the constitution was MEANT to be a difficult affair. So much for my political views.
Now, as far as being anti-education, that is pure bovine scatology. Some of the smartest people I know are highly educated people. Some of the dumbest people I know are highly educated people. Another "old saying" pops to mind: "There's no fool like an educated fool."
If the left were to accuse me of being distrustful of direction handed down to the great unwashed masses by academics who have no real life experience other than that they have had on a college campus, then -- I plead guilty.
If the left were to accuse me of being disrespectful of America's public education system and its utter failure to educate America's youth -- again -- I plead guilty.
If the left were to accuse me of being distrustful, derisive, and even dismissive of pseudoscience, which claims human beings are the direct cause of something they like to call "global warming" and "climate change" and that over population of the earth BY HUMANS is bringing on the end of the world as we know it -- absolutely, I plead guilty.
I have just touched the TIP of the iceberg here. It would seem that yours truly is everything the left loves to hate. And that is fine with me.
What the left cannot grasp, however, is that my conservative faction feels as strongly about our belief as they do. As a result, we will fight their efforts with everything we have -- for as long as it takes. It is a sort of checks and balances system. It works by not allowing America to go too far either way. That, in my estimation, is a good thing.
We have learned a thing or two from history that serves America well. We have learned that the political pendulum swings both ways and just at the second it appears the pendulum is not going to swing back, it stops, reverses itself, and swings all the way across the spectrum 'til it stops at the opposite extreme.
I believe America's pendulum is, at the moment, stopped at the left extreme of its swing. We have a Presidential Administration which is so far left it is socialist. Americans are sick at heart about it and they intend to shove the pendulum hard -- back towards the right.
The infantile whining and over indulged angst of the of the left, and their broad attempts to define and redefine those of us on the right side of America's political spectrum, only lends credence to the right's claim that the political left is simply not up to the job of governing a country in crisis. There is no time for a vision quest (as some have referred to it) or social experiments. America desperately needs experienced leadership to begin the long climb out of the morass we have gotten ourselves into by implementing the leftist agenda.
It won't be easy. It will be a long hard grind -- and it will hurt. One pays for one's mistakes. America made a huge mistake in 2008 and now we are paying dearly for that error in judgment. But we can and WILL survive. Such is the faith I have in America and her people.
J. D. Longstreet
Missing Employee Allegedly Connected To Educators Credit Union Robbery
Benson allegedly planned a May credit union robbery with boyfriend.
By H. Nelson Goodson
June 18, 2012
Milwaukee, WI - A search warrant filed in Milwaukee County Circuit Court by police confirmed that they are investigating a connection between a missing person, Jessica Benson, 22, to a May 7 robbery of the Educators Credit Union at the 7000 block of W. Appleton Ave. Benson worked at the credit union and disappeared days after the credit union was robbed.
Two suspects, Kevin Blackburn, 25, and Ricardo Perkins, 31, were taken into custody shortly after attempting to flee from the credit union robbery. They were charged with robbing a financial institution.
A police search warrant was issued to get rental car records from a car rental place that Benson used after the robbery. Police investigators believe that both Benson and her live in boyfriend, Nathaniel Robinson planned the robbery, but managed to move out from their appartment on or after May 3. Court documents indicate, a probation agent had visited Robinson's apartment earlier and furniture was still at the place. Soon after, both Benson and Robinson moved out.
On May 14, police visited Benson's apartment and found an empty place and no one was there. She was reported missing.
Robinson has not reported his new address to his parole agent and has missed a meeting with the agent. Robinson is now sought for violating his parole conditions.
Police continue to treat Benson's disappearance as missing.
Wanted Tango Blast Gang Member Arrested In San Antonio
Several tips led to the arrest of a most wanted fugitive in Texas.
By H. Nelson Goodson
June 18, 2013
San Antonio, Texas - On Friday, Robert Anthony Lopez, 48, was taken into custody around 9:40 p.m. at a San Antonio residence by the Bexar County Sheriff's Office Street Crimes Unit after several tips led to his arrest, the Texas Department of Public Safety reported. Lopez, a Tango Blast gang member was placed on the Texas Most Wanted list in May. He was wanted for a parole violation, aggravated assault of a child, assault causing bodily injury, injury to a disable person and violation of protective order and prohibited weapons.
A $7,500 reward was offered for information leading to Lopez's arrest. Several tipsters will share the reward.
Kids, Guns and America's Failing Education System
Here is a novel idea that would help bring value back into our failing education system. Start teaching kids gun safety in schools and let the local sheriff departments and responsible community members like those in Tea Team USA help set the courses up.
Data mining breeches our Founder’s concept of liberty and privac
Collecting data from phone calls of Verizon customers is one thing. Collecting email information on millions of Americans is something else. Both of these activities stir concern and break the bounds of constitutionality, but the invasion of privacy is far greater in the collection of email data.
Phone call data consists of phone numbers, dates and call duration, but not the conversation itself. Email data, on the other hand, not only has email addresses and date information, but the actual message as well, which often includes names and attached text and media files.
4
The potential for misbehavior is enormous, particularly with email data, given the nature of the information available to prying eyes. Some comfort may be taken from the idea that intelligence personnel who use this information are not susceptible to political influences unlike, say, Internal Revenue Service workers. That does not relieve the concern for our privacy, however.
Hardly anyone doesn't want to the government to find plotting terrorists or discover terrorist plans before they are acted upon, even if it involves tapping phones, capturing emails or other covert measures. But the routine collection of massive amounts of data in the hopes of finding a couple of useful pieces of information is over-the-top and unjustified. Its use has increased since the practice was first introduced after the September 11, 2001 terrorist attacks, and has increased exponentially under the Obama administration, according to the American Civil Liberties Union.
The way it is supposed to work is that when the government has reason to believe that one or more individuals – like let’s say Irv Huffington or Ahmed Ali-Yahoo – may be planning an attack, it goes to court to seek an order allowing it to tap their phone or take whatever actions it proposes to do. It doesn't simply start collecting the records of millions of people hoping to find the Huffington or Ali-Yahoo needle among millions of data bits in the haystack.
Here's what the 4th Amendment to the US Constitution says: "The right of the people to be secure in their persons, houses, papers, and effects, against unreasonable searches and seizures, shall not be violated, and no Warrants shall issue, but upon probable cause, supported by Oath or affirmation, and particularly describing the place to be searched, and the persons or things to be seized."
That language is precise and unambiguous. It does not allow judges to give anyone, or anyone to just take the information of millions of Americans in the hope of finding something hidden away among huge collections of data.
In order to get permission to breech a citizen's privacy, the government must request permission by offering a compelling reason and support that assertion under oath, describing explicitly the place and persons under suspicion. Nowhere in the 4th Amendment is the term "fishing expedition" mentioned or implied, nor is there language allowing nosing around in the private lives of millions of citizens who empower the government because it makes things easier, and it does not depend upon what the meaning of "is" is.
The Founders viewed "general warrants," or dragnet searches such as we are witnessing today, as tyrannical. That view is not mitigated by the advent of terrorist acts that kill dozens, hundreds or thousands, nor by the amazing technological advances since the mid-18th century; general warrants still are tyrannical.
The United States has Constitution protections for a reason: because the Framers understood from first-hand experience how government can slither into impropriety, tyranny and oppression unless it is clearly and firmly prevented by statute from doing so. The U.S. Constitution was created not to limit what the people may do, but to limit what the government may do.
We are told, and many of us believe, that in order to be safe in these perilous times, we must give up much of our liberty and privacy for security, but Benjamin Franklin expressed this idea about that: Those who willingly give up liberty for security will have neither, and deserve neither.
It is a point of shame for the citizens of the United States that so many Americans have no functional knowledge of the principles upon which our nation was created or of the meaning or power of the US Constitution. That is a prime reason that so many on the political left are able to mis-think so many things with such great success.
As a nation we have grown lazy and tone deaf as our government has grown to gargantuan proportions and ridiculous levels of expense, and burst through the top and sides of the constitutional box our much-smarter-than-we-are Founding Fathers built for it.
When they look out on the US landscape and see that some things that aren't working well, they think becoming more like left/liberal Europe is the answer, without even the suspicion that the reason things aren't working is because they have been trying for decades to become more like Europe and less like the United States of America, which under the US Constitution became the freest, most prosperous and most successful nation in human history, while liberal socialist and communist governmental models have always failed.
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