Comcast & Big Cable's Big Mistake

Well, seems as if +Comcast and company, via Big Cable, have thought that they could scam us into a two-tier payment system for internet access. Dead wrong, and now they've woken a sleeping giant in the American people and various groups fighting to keep net neutrality. That's right, I'm talking about groups like +Fight for the Future, +Electronic Frontier Foundation, etc. Hell, let's throw +rootsaction in, just for argument's sake. Anyway, the point is this: it's time to tell companies like Comcast, +AT&T, +Verizon FiOS, +Time Warner Cable, that it's time to end the games and to keep the net the way it is, open for everyone at the same dang speed. 

ALS Ice Bucket Challenge

I've been seeing a lot of videos on YouTube on the ALS Ice Bucket Challenge, with various celebrities taking it on and passing on the torch. I've been touched by the videos and their huge effect on raising awareness of ALS, which stands for Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis (the actual name of Lou Gehrig's Disease), since a close friend of mine was inflicted with this terrible condition. I feel that I must do a special shoutout to figures like Mark Zuckerberg and Katie Cole, and say thanks for doing your part to help raise awareness.

I haven't decided if I'm going to do the challenge or not, but I can say that I'll think about maybe doing a fund-drive or looking for a charity to donate to. I'll post my final thought when I'm done thinking it out.

This is Jgsf1987.

Mideast quiets down

I'll say with a degree of cautious optimism that the fighting in the Mideast has ended and that it won't reflare for a short while. Still, it's important to note that unless Israel under +Benjamin Netanyahu's leadership changes course in terms of the settlements, and attempts to occupy both the West Bank and Gaza, another flare-up will happen. Israel has weakened Hamas, but not very fully, as it still has some strength to fight another war. However, demographics are not on Israel's side long-term, as there are fewer Jews than Arabs giving birth in the area known as Israel/Palestine. Additionally, many Israeli Jews are leaving Israel primarily to avoid serving in the +Israel Defense Forces. Others are leaving from being fed up with the Orthodox rabbinate kowtowing to the Ultra-Orthodox community on social and economic issues.

To those who are not familiar with Israeli politics, let me say this: the damage done by +Likudnik - ליכודניק and other right-wing parties in Israel is very similar to that done by the +GOP and other right-wing groups here in America. Many in Israel have quit trusting Likud primarily because they see Israel becoming more isolated from its primary ally on the world stage. Think about it, +Barack Obama's administration has become less and less willing to blindly follow Israel's foreign policy objectives in the Mideast. As a matter of fact, the Obama Administration has been more outspoken about Israeli militarism to the point of almost directly calling Netanyahu to task of explaining why Israel will continue to sabotage any further peace talks.

Reason to Renew the Export-Import Bank Charter

To all those who work in small business, or are just trying to put their mark on the global economy, watch and listen to +Barack Obama in this week's weekly address. President Obama couldn't be clearer in explaining that letting the charter for the Export-Import bank expire would give many of you a harder time getting your goods and/or services abroad, either in big business or small. Just understand that should the +House Republicans and +Senate GOP not allow any renewal, it could end up hitting you very heavily in your wallets.

It's time to join the President in telling Congress, specifically the Republicans in both the House of Representatives and the Senate to do their jobs.

This is +Jgsf1987.

Video Source: +The White House

Earthquake in San Francisco Bay Area

I know: San Francisco, Earthquake. Almost makes one think of that big one in 1989. Well, the good news is that this was not as powerful, only a 6.0, compared to the 6.9 or 7.1 in '89. However, this was much shallower, and lasted longer, and unlike that of '89, this came from the Hayward Fault, I believe.

Comcast Playing Games Again

Oh gee, isn't this a surprise...not! Flipping Comcast has yet to get its act together whenever it's billing customers. One would think that customer service & billing actually talk to each other, but they don't. So now to deal with a company of bureaucrats whose heads are in their wallets.

KKK Infilitrates Republican Party & Tea Party

From reading an article on +Addicting Info, it seems like the +Ku Klux Klan's official platform has become intertwined with the +GOP and +The Tea Party's official platforms. How can one be surprised by this development? Anyway, read the article for yourselves and don't be too shocked on its content. Think of all the b******t you hear from the likes of Rush Limbaugh and Michele Bachmann. This is where it comes from.

+Jgsf1987

Original Source: +Addicting Info

The Reason Not To Put Troops Back In Iraq

Seeing the coverage of how brazen the Islamic State (IS) has become, it would get many of us thinking that we need troops on the ground taking the fight back to them. This is a mistake, as any US Military presense will only embolden the IS militants. At the same time, there are other militant groups taking on the IS, such as Turkey's PKK (Kirdish Worker's Party), which would effectively turn the US Military into a sitting target.

Letting the PKK take on the IS is a much better option in the sense that like many other militias in the area, who have either been taking on each other or the ruling regime in the state they inhabit, they see the IS as a cancer that needs to be taken out. The United States should simply provide air cover and try to clear a pathway to move the civilians caught in the crossfire out of harm's way.

A final note to make is that there is no military solution to dealing with ISIS, there's only a political one, and that can come only with a unified political voice from the Iraqi people themselves. The Iraqis of all stripes (Sunni, Shi'ite, Kurd, etc.) should feel that they have a voice in their own governance. This was a direct failure of Nouri al-Maliki.

Ferguson Under Seige

Apparently from reading an article on +ABCNews' website, the town of Ferguson, MO, is under seige. And actually, it's by the city's police force, looking to keep the protests from spreading further about the botched investigation of Michael Brown's killer, an officer of the Ferguson PD. As a matter of fact, the situation's gotten so out of whack, that a gentleman, who goes by the name haiku_rs on +Instagram, has been documenting the ongoing struggle to seek justice for Michael Brown.

Some of the photos are just amazing, yet haunting at the same time due in part to the obvious overt racism on display by Ferguson's police. However, I need to make note of the fact that while +Ferguson Police do have a history of racism in enforcing the law, they're not the only department. Basically, what's going on in Ferguson, is a universal problem all over America. There are too many law enforcement agencies still bogged down with racialized criminal profiling. This particular aspect needs to change, and change immediately.

Feeling out of control

I think I'll take a break from talking politics for a brief posting, as I need to say that I'm feeling out of control. Don't worry about me doing something dumb, I'm not planning on that. It's just some circumstances have happened where I've been more reactive than proactive, and I just hate that feeling. It sucks. However, there's not much to do about it.

Just understand, we all have these days, even your's truly, Jgsf1987. Anyway, this shall pass and I'll be back to hitting fast at the GOP, once again.

Thanks for understanding and reading. This is Jgsf1987, out!