Independence Day

As today is the 4th of July, being America's 238th birthday, I think it's a good time to reflect and see about what opportuities were given to us from the Founding Fathers. The real meaning behind this is to show why we need to keep fighting to keeping our democratic republic open as much as we can. This is not to say that we can't make some kind of life or death decision, far from it. We're not at that stage as we were back in April 1861, with the start of the Civil War. However, we need to remember that there's always that one force trying to make its way into gaining power in this great country of ours, and it is the force of religious fanaticism/extremism. Don't underestimate the power of the megachurches, or for that matter, those looking to inject religion into state affairs. This has been a long quest for them to, as they've always wanted to combine church and state, not keep them separate as the Founding Fathers fought to do.

However, on a happier note, take this as a day to remember why you are independent of anyone telling you how to live your lives. That is the other aspect about this day, as it shows us that at some point we need to throw off the yoke of some outside authority and gain some autonomy for ourselves, just like our Founding Fathers did with America, separating out of the hold of Great Britain and its empire in 1776.

Interesting Scenarios Taking Root

If I had to be glad for something, it'd be that we haven't had a boring week in the news. 3 main reasons that pop out for this assessment comes from stories on Ukraine and Syria, +U.S. Soccer in the World Cup, and the recent ruling by the US Supreme Court concerning cell phone searches by the cops.

First off in Syria and Ukraine, there's a reason these two countries are lumped together, they both involve movements by the USA and Russia to try and lower tensions. In Syria, all chemical weapons have been declared accounted for and removed. This is good news, as now there's no more means of setting off more weaponry that could cause unabashedly ghastly civilian casualties. In addition, it also leaves the christened Islamic Republic of Iraq and Syria (aka Islamic Republic of Iraq and the Levant) with no WMD's to use for terrorist attacks. In addition, in Ukraine, Vladimir Putin has made the indication that he's willing to work for peace. The Ukraine scenario, as it's now unfolding, has Putin making conciliatory gestures and statements to Ukraine and is calling on all pro-Russia militias to accept and abide by the recently declared cease-fire. There's a couple of reasons behind this. The first is that the USA and the EU were prepared to throw the heaviest crippling sanctions on Russia's energy sector, and upon implementation would have completely brought the Russian economy to a full standstill. Putin might have taken that into consideration, since that happens to be the majority of where Russia's gas exports go (the EU). The other reason is that more bloodshed would have killed off a major supply route for Russian gas exports, had there been continued attacks on Ukrainian gas pipelines in the east.

Another source of contentment is that +U.S. Soccer has done very well this year in the +FIFA WORLD CUP. What's not surprising is the closeness of the game yesterday between USA and Germany. The reason is simple unlike Soccer/Football pitches (fields) in Europe, which tend to be fairly flat, pitches in the Americas tend to have an incline. This is mostly from the geography of where people play the game. For the most part, Europeans are not used to playing on an incline, which is why they play fairly poorly in the Americas. USA, from being in the Americas, is not as deeply affected by this, as we're used to having a bit of an incline. The inverse is also true, where many American countries, are not as used to playing on a flat surface, which is why countries like Brazil or Argentina, won't do as well in Europe. Now on the part of USA, I think that we'll advance pretty far this time, the only troublesome nation to take on would be Argentina, who I think will make short work of Switzerland. If USA miraculously defeats Argentina, then the only tough game ahead would be the final, and seeing the way things are going in the Cup, Brazil will make it there and will meet up with whomever the other champion is. My guess is that USA will be that other one, and that will be interesting to see.

On a final note, there was a recent ruling by the US Supreme Court yesterday that has fully barred cops from searching your smartphones without a warrant. This unanimous ruling was a no-brainer, Liberal or Conservative, as these devices are practically miniature computers with SIM cards in them. To access anyone's meta-data, cops need to use the same constitutional provisions that they had for searching people's homes and other belongings, get a warrant. This at least shows, at the most basic level, that the 4th Amendment against unwarranted searches and seizures is still relevant at this present time. The ruling is 100% necessary given the previous overreach of spying on ordinary Americans by George W. Bush's administration.

Sideshows

How often is it that whenever we're trying to get anything done, there's always some curveball thrown at us? It's weird how life can be sometimes. Not that anyone should try to fight it at all.

That is, of course, if it's not done intentionally, so that someone can get an unfair advnatage. Yep, it's +Darrell Issa again. When is he ever going to learn that all of these sideshows are doing nothing but costing us time and money? Seriously, the +GOP does more to waste time until an election comes up to do everything possible to return us to the awful days of Jim Crow, than they do actually governing.

It's about time we said enough already! It's bad enough in some cases that we need Executive Action from President +Barack Obama in order to move this country forward. This is the exact opposite of what the Founding Fathers opted for. If anything these sideshows only prove one thing, the Republicans have failed us. It just sickens me to think that there's calls for investigating the spread of Sharia throughout America, and calls for Congress to investigate this. I'm also sickened by the fact that the Republicans have called for more overt measures to keep people they see unfit to vote (i.e., people of color, youth, etc.) since they believe only conservative Whites are the only ones allowed to take part in the electoral process (elderly conservative Whites). This kind of racism does nothing for us.

And about Benghazi? Come on, we all know that was a stunt intentionally done by Christian extremists to evoke a violent response from Muslims. The inhabitants of Benghazi, like those in Cairo, did what the extremists wanted them to do, mob together in large riotous crowds and storm American diplomatic installations. I would say that their actions are directly responsible for the deaths of 4 American diplomats, including Ambassador Christopher Stevens. What did they think would happen? I don't get this about religious extremists, they have no sense of regard for human life when it comes to advancing their goals of imposing a very literal theocracy.

Tracy Morgan and Jimmy Mack

The whole situation with +Tracy Morgan  and James McNair (aka Jimmy Mack) is tragic and infuriatingly senseless at the same time. I'll say a large RIP to Jimmy Mack, as it was too soon for this to have happened. At the same time, I wish +Tracy Morgan a speedy recovery, and hope that he'll be able to hold on. What's so senseless is why the driver, Kevin Roper, had to be out on the road, if fatigue was getting to him, but it also speaks less to Roper's responsibility, than it does about +Walmart's. +Walmart is the chief responsible party for this, in my eyes, knowing its consistant flouting of labor laws and other safety regulations. While I'm heartened that +Walmart is taking responsibility for Roper causing the crash, I believe the police, specifically the FBI, and in some cases the National Highway Transportation Safety Board, should be looking at whether this is a common practice. If this is, then +Walmart ought to be charged with vehicular murder in the 1st degree of Jimmy Mack. Not to mention, it should be forced to suspend any and all operations in America because, it's becoming apparent in my eyes that they have absolutely no regard for public safety if they're going to be making their drivers stay on the road fatigued. This is why it's so senseless, a major American company seems to put now be putting profits above public (both labor and potential customer) safety, and this is just flat-out absurd.

Just a little note:
I do not have the facts, and this post will be revised as the facts come out. I encourage everyone not to take my words as the literal truth of the matter, and to do some independent research. I'm going to do some myself, on +Google and on Bing. I encourage all to do so, too. We need to get the facts and make our judgments off of them.

Update:
By looking on +Google, apparently it proved my point that the driver, Kevin Roper, was facing driver-fatigue from going over 24 hours without any sleep. My only concern now is whether this is a pattern on +Walmart's part, and if it is, it needs to end.

100th Post, But With A Twist.

Huh, who’d’ve thought? 100 posts on this blog. Anyway, not a time for me to gloat since there’s a more pressing message I need to deliver.

There’s a piece of malware floating around that claims to be the FBI, and intimidates computer users with the threat of arrest and prosecution for violating the Digital Millenium Copyright Act. Basically 5-20 years in Federal Prison with a $100,000 fine. This is a scam as it demands a ransom payment of $100-$1,000 to free up a locked computer paid by MoneyPack or some other money-order service. Basically, it’s ransomware. But what I find troubling about this is that it comes as a form of two pieces of malicious software: Reveton & Citadel. This isn’t new as this has been going on since 2012.

Here’s a couple of links that will explain the whole story:

http://guides.yoosecurity.com/how-remove-fbi-moneypak-virus-malware-that-blocked-pc-asks-for-payment-100-dollars/

http://www.fbi.gov/news/stories/2012/august/new-internet-scam/

New Bout Of Racism & Racial Discrimination Courtesy Of The South

Honestly, this again? How am I not surprised that it's coming out of the South of all places, specifically Tennessee? No, this should not raise many eyebrows at all, considering the history of some of the most violent expressions of racism coming out the South, and the mandating of Jim Crow from 1877-1964.

Anyway, this story is coming out of a cotton gin factory in Tennessee, just outside of Memphis. The company in question, Atkinson Cotton Warehouse, has a lead supervisor with a history of making racist statements and engaging in racial discrimination against black employees. I applaud both of them for recording their boss' racist commentary and using it to file charges with the +U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission. This is 2014 for crying out loud, not 1954! Just because the South wants nothing to do with Civil Rights legislation, and everything to do with White Supremacy, is not a reason to bring back Jim Crow and all of its violence.

Here's the video, take a look.

VA Troubles

After hearing that Gen. Rick Shinseki resigned as VA Secretary, it saddened me to think that a man of such valor would have to walk away from the post that he worked so hard to restore some sense of honesty. However, such valiant efforts went out the window, as there's still some lingering problems that predate the Obama Administration that are a lasting confirmation of the sheer incompetence of the Bush Administration (2001-9) in even provinding our nation's veterans with the very medical care that they need. It's so infuriating to think that  many administrators in the +Veterans Health Adminstration and other senior staff in that agency could be that careless about the very people they're supposed to serve, and that they ordered their subordinates to simply falsify figures to increase their ever increasing bonuses. I have to say that is the most bogus directive I've heard of. It does hearten me that President +Barack Obama is fully on this issue, and is about to try to tackle this so that it disappears permanently. Yet at the same time, Obama is ultimately responsible for this as +President Of The United States. He needs to get this out of the way and at least give our vets the benefits they've earned fighting for our freedom.

Millenial Misrepresentation

An article on Buzzfeed got me thinking, there’s too many “experts” misrepresenting my generation, the Millenials. Oh like we have no incentive to pick ourselves up by our bootstraps or follow tradition to the point of allowing hate to be used as political credit? Honestly, that’s not how we’re willing to go. Let me be clear, too many of us don’t have the means to go the traditional root, as we’re bogged down by the heaviest load of college debt in American/US History. So what exactly do you expect us to do? Wish it away or get a “job” that we earn barely enough to get food? Yeah, great thinking. This is the thing, how can we be the ones pulling down the economy if we can’t afford to buy food, much less pay the bills?

The last thing anyone from the Millenial generation wants to be referred to is lazy, egocentric, etc, as we have a strong sense of community with a degree of individual autonomy. Next of all, most of us have the same mentality of our grandparents’ generation, the G.I.’s.

Keeping Net Neutrality

It's important for me to put this out for everyone to see. I'll be brief, as there's enough people yammering on why we need to keep net neutrality (for those who want more information can do so on +Google or Bing in less than a second), and I've made a number of postings of this subject on my Facebook page in addition to my Twitter feed. That being said here's my take.

My thinking for preserving net neutrality is to give everyone the most open source of information and ability to exchange ideas. Letting big companies, such as +Verizon Communications and +AT&T, holding control over this useful utility without some kind of oversight from the Federal Communications Commission, would be able to stifle whatever data traffic comes in from their competitors on the web, and may be able to intimidate social media sites to delete commentary that gives them bad publicity from customer complaints. Both are free speech issues, and censorship is the biggest concern on my end.

Newsworthy Cringe

I find this particularly cringeworthy, what makes people think that they have the right to be nasty to one another? I’m just confused as heck. I’m not talking about the matter of Don Sterling, I have 3 posts on that, which will explain my absolute disgust with his comments. I’m talking now about another page on Facebook called Barack Obama Must Die. This is the exact kind of nonsense we don’t need.

But that’s not what’s most troubling, as that whole deal with a page calling for President Barack Obama’s assassination isn’t new or terribly surprising. The more troubling aspect is that now we’re seeing more of an obvious racial overtone to much of these new conflations from the right. Comparing Al Sharpton’s efforts and commentary as head of National Action Network to the words spoken by Sterling to his “girlfriend” is not even a true argument.

Another subject that I need to bring up is the whole deal over Voter ID laws. I remember making a post either a year or so ago, mentioning some of the adverce effects on turout. Well turns out the Republicans have gone full steam ahead, in states like Florida and Wisconsin. But there's some good news from it, a Federal judge literally threw the law out, saying that it was unconstitutional from the fact that unquestioningly violated the 15th and 26th Amendments, as well as the 14th Amendment, and was little more than a naked attempt at voter suppression as a means of keeping Scott Walker in office. My thinking is that Walker will be rejected by the voters in November.