tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-125979432024-03-07T20:49:46.235-06:00THE LAST LIBERAL STANDINGPRINCIPLES ARE WHAT MATTERS<br>
NOT POLITICAL PARTIES WHICH OFTEN DISTORT THE ISSUESBob Kellerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18171655256407149176noreply@blogger.comBlogger711125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12597943.post-2648366309481497632023-09-11T12:04:00.006-05:002023-09-12T11:37:02.072-05:00Perhaps What We Need are "Thoughts and Prayers"Today, our President will commemorate the real attack on our Democracy that took place on 9/11/2001. He'll speak during a brief stop-over in Alaska. No big deal, just another item on his calendar. Sadly, that will be true for most of us. Like the photograph below, 9/11 has faded into a blur.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiYWXYE4Cgeo58H3WuLAGSMYKQMdlSFKdNP66cGa2YbRk4RJhLPiaRNkXHMPvkR2zTPaiVR3WtGhBNeDL082QEuuXgmzKRvqqT269fD1lDAzu9Os7HmlknsmLqvtGz8m1f6hVaEqQ/s1600/9111.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="456" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiYWXYE4Cgeo58H3WuLAGSMYKQMdlSFKdNP66cGa2YbRk4RJhLPiaRNkXHMPvkR2zTPaiVR3WtGhBNeDL082QEuuXgmzKRvqqT269fD1lDAzu9Os7HmlknsmLqvtGz8m1f6hVaEqQ/s640/9111.jpg" width="640" /></a></div>
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<br />Today, when politicians speak of an attack upon Democracy, they are referring to January 6th when a normal political protest in Washington, D.C degenerated into an unruly crowd and then into a relatively small riot. One person was tragically killed. And a few hundred politicians saw it as the opportunity of a lifetime to gain control of the political dialog in our nation. Somehow they managed to arrest over a thousand people for this relatively tiny event. Nearly 500 have received jail sentences.<div><br /></div><div>Compare that to September 11. 2001. On that day 2,997 lost their lives. For those of us who were alive that day (our numbers decrease each year) we witnessed a terrorist attack so huge and so evil we thought it would shape our country forever. Boy, did we call that one wrong. We thought the terrorists were evil incarnate. We thought their cunning, hatred and their sheer power to inflict pain were without parallel in modern history. We underestimated the power of our own U.S. politicians. 9/11 is gone. January 6th reigns supreme.</div><div><br /></div><div>Did you realize <a href="https://www.pbs.org/newshour/politics/2-decades-after-9-11-the-men-accused-of-orchestrating-the-attacks-still-await-trial" target="_blank">we never convicted a single person for killing 2,997 people?</a> We genuinely lack the will to convict the terrorists and are now considering releasing them from Guantanamo Bay. It is important to note that we did track down and execute the 9/11 mastermind, Osama bin Laden.</div><div><br /></div><div>But, because we have learned nothing, we have abandoned the people of Afghanistan... again... as usual.</div><div><br /></div><div>Meanwhile we have managed to place former President Donald Trump on trial all over the United States as he attempts to run for re-election. Priorities, people! January 6th, that is what is important.</div><div><br /></div><div>__________________________________________________________________________________</div><div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjfQC7xVSN4XqfjUw_DWd5ltGmPis0OqV_8m-XdbVac7uKjlZKcDT0CDpXgMKtHwDHaLe8P8FFpbg129etVZo78sODENdy15Fd7l4jK2IUWjOtw0Tt4crRbenzambqwehYg-X9Asw/s1600/peter+hanson.jpg" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjfQC7xVSN4XqfjUw_DWd5ltGmPis0OqV_8m-XdbVac7uKjlZKcDT0CDpXgMKtHwDHaLe8P8FFpbg129etVZo78sODENdy15Fd7l4jK2IUWjOtw0Tt4crRbenzambqwehYg-X9Asw/s320/peter+hanson.jpg" width="230" /></a></div>
Today, as I have every September 11th since 2006, I'm taking a time to remember Peter Hanson, the handsome, young software engineer, Sue Kim Hanson, his Korean-American bride, and their two old daughter, Christine. <br />
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The Hanson's were killed when United Flight 175 was hijacked by the terrorists and purposely crashed into the World Trade Center. <br />
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Sue Kim was a Doctoral Candidate at Boston University. She, Peter and Christine decided to take a vacation to Disneyland and to visit Sue Kim's father in California before she had to defend her Doctoral Thesis. <br />
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Blind hatred killed the Hanson's. The terrorists never knew them, because to know them might have lead to understanding, to doubt in their mission, to have concerns about the justness of their cause. The leader of the terrorists, Osama bin Laden didn't want to know people, he wanted to see numbers. Peter, Sue Kim and Christine weren't people to the terrorists, they were just the number 3. Just 3 out of 2,997. We need to remember them, as angels.<br />
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Please take a few minutes today to remember Peter, Sue Kim and Christine. Say a prayer for them and their families. Say a prayer for us all. Remember people today, not numbers.<br />
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In 2006 a blogger project was begun on the fifth anniversary of 9-11. Called the "2,996 Project" volunteers were asked to write a short remembrance for each of the victims of the September 11, 2001.attack. I was randomly assigned Sue Kim Hanson. Each year since I have repeated my effort to honor Sue Kim and her family. You can read each of my essays following the links below:<br />
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<a href="http://wizardfkap.blogspot.com/2006/09/susan-kim-hanson.html" target="_blank"><b>September 11, 2006 - Susan Kim Hanson</b></a><br />
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<a href="http://wizardfkap.blogspot.com/2007/09/remembering-kim-sue-hanson.html" target="_blank"><b>September 11, 2007 - Remembering Sue Kim Hanson</b></a><br />
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<a href="http://wizardfkap.blogspot.com/2008/09/remebering-kim-sue-hanson.html" target="_blank"><b>September 11, 2008 - Remembering Sue Kim Hanson</b></a><br />
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<a href="http://wizardfkap.blogspot.com/2009/09/remembering-reality-9-11-2001-sue-kim.html" target="_blank"><b>September 11, 2009 - Remembering the Reality: 9-11-2001: Sue Kim Hanson</b></a><br />
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<a href="http://wizardfkap.blogspot.com/2010/09/reflections-on-life-of-kim-sue-hanson.html" target="_blank"><b>September 11, 2010 - Reflections on the Life of Sue Kim Hanson</b></a><br />
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<a href="http://wizardfkap.blogspot.com/2011/09/tears-in-tragedy-remembering-sue-kim.html" target="_blank"><b>September 11, 2011 - Tears in Tragedy - Remembering Sue Kim Hanson</b></a><br />
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<b><a href="http://wizardfkap.blogspot.com/2012/09/honoring-memory-of-peter-sue-and.html" target="_blank">September 11, 2012 - Honoring the Memory of Peter, Sue and Christine Hanson</a></b><br />
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<a href="http://wizardfkap.blogspot.com/2013/09/the-tragedy-of-war-victims-of-hate.html" target="_blank"><b>Spetember 11, 2013 - The Tragedy of War, The Victims of Hate, Remembering Peter, Sue Kim and Christine Hanson</b></a><br />
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<a href="http://wizardfkap.blogspot.com/2014/09/will-hatred-ever-be-replaced-with.html" target="_blank"><b>September 11, 2014 - Will Hatred Ever Be Replaced with Understanding? Remembering Sue Kim Hanson on 9/11</b></a></div>Bob Kellerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18171655256407149176noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12597943.post-48989950522330242352021-09-13T15:16:00.010-05:002021-09-14T09:27:04.490-05:00We Have Forgotten<p><span style="font-family: arial;"> I returned to my Blog on September 11th, as I always do, to revisit the entries I had made to "remember" Sue Kim Hanson, one of the 2,996 victims of the horrific attack on American made on 9/11/2001. Back in 2006, as part of <a href="https://project2996.wordpress.com/we-remember/" target="_blank"><b>The 2,996 Project</b></a>, I had "voluteered" to write a short memorial about one of the people who died during the attack. At random I was assigned Sue Kim Hanson. I knew nothing about her.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: arial;">But in 2006 we were still raw from the unexpected violence, the carnage and the shear audacity of the attack. And the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan were nearing their peak. After 5 years, it was still the news of the day.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: arial;">Blogging was a big thing then, too. Today, blogs are a relic in a world filled with TikTok, U-Tube, Instagram, Podcasts and nearly endless videos of Korean Street Food being prepared in stunning detail. But I digress.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: arial;">Having Bloggers lead the way in remembering the victims seemed like a good idea. It seemed important that we never forget. We knew we would never forget. It was important we never forget.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: arial;">Fifteen more years have passed and we have forgotten. </span></p><p><span style="font-family: arial;">No, we haven't forgotten Sue Kim Hanson, nor her husband Peter, nor her daughter Christine, perhaps now the most famous of the victims, primarily because she was the youngest. In fact I was heartened to search Sue Kim Hanson on Google and see so many pages of entries. My small contribution is just a tiny part of the wealth of tributes and remembrances. Sue Kim was loved and is still loved.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: arial;">But we, as a nation, as a society, have forgotten 9/11. Yes, I know you've all watch an endless cable news display of documentaries, and interviews this past weekend. So many I bet you turned them off or changed the channel. Thank god college football began in earnest on 9/11. </span></p><p><span style="font-family: arial;">But Fox News (I think it was on <a href="https://www.foxnews.com/opinion/greg-gutfeld-9-11-we-were-americans" target="_blank"><b>Gutfeld!</b></a>) did their typical student on the street interviews with college kids asking about 9/11. It was awful. They were not alive on 9/11, so can we blame them for not remembering? And the schools sure don't teach anything about 9/11. Still, it was painful to watch.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: arial;">To make matters worse, we just witnessed an Abbott and Costello version of a military retreat from the long forgotten, yet never ending, war in Afghanistan. </span></p><p><span style="font-family: arial;">To make matters much worse, we have culturally decided that Republicans are worse than NAZI'S and January 6th was worse than the Civil War. I mean these things are serious. They must be. Rachel Maddow and Don Lemon and Jimmy Fallon and Stephen Colbert told us so. </span></p><p><span style="font-family: arial;">Today 9/11 is the equivalent of the War of 1812. Quick, tell me what that one was about!!</span></p><p><span style="font-family: arial;">The horror is gone. Our Fox News students told us we ought to be very careful about teaching about 9/11 and we must be careful in who we blame. We might offend someone. We must not blame Muslims, or Afghan's of Saudi's or, well, anyone. And, it's very important we not talk of the heroics of our policemen (aren't we supposed to be defunding them, anyway?) or our first responders or soldiers, less we imply Nationalism or cultural superiority. </span></p><p span="" style="font-family: arial;">Students at a Washington state high school football game were banned from wearing red, white and blue in honor of 9/11 victims because some may find it “racially insensitive.” [ <a href="https://nypost.com/2021/09/13/washington-school-bans-9-11-tribute-over-race-sensitivities/" target="_blank"><b>LINK - New York Post Story</b></a> ]</p><p><span style="font-family: arial;">God Bless You, Sue Kim Hanson and Peter and Christine. We will never forget you. 9/11 however.... well, we have forgotten.</span></p><p><span style="background-color: white; color: #2a2a2a; font-size: 16px; letter-spacing: -0.16px;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">____________________________________________________________</span></span></p><p><a href="http://wizardfkap.blogspot.com/2006/09/susan-kim-hanson.html" style="background-color: white; color: #3778cd; text-decoration-line: none;" target="_blank"><b><span style="font-family: arial;">S</span><span style="font-family: arial;">eptember 11, 2006 - Susan Kim Hanson</span></b></a><span style="font-family: arial;"><br style="background-color: white; color: #444444;" /><b style="background-color: white; color: #444444;"><br /></b><span style="background-color: white; color: #444444;"></span><a href="http://wizardfkap.blogspot.com/2007/09/remembering-kim-sue-hanson.html" style="background-color: white; color: #3778cd; text-decoration-line: none;" target="_blank"><b>September 11, 2007 - Remembering Sue Kim Hanson</b></a><br style="background-color: white; color: #444444;" /><b style="background-color: white; color: #444444;"><br /></b><span style="background-color: white; color: #444444;"></span><a href="http://wizardfkap.blogspot.com/2008/09/remebering-kim-sue-hanson.html" style="background-color: white; color: #3778cd; text-decoration-line: none;" target="_blank"><b>September 11, 2008 - Remembering Sue Kim Hanson</b></a><br style="background-color: white; color: #444444;" /><b style="background-color: white; color: #444444;"><br /></b><span style="background-color: white; color: #444444;"></span><a href="http://wizardfkap.blogspot.com/2009/09/remembering-reality-9-11-2001-sue-kim.html" style="background-color: white; color: #3778cd; text-decoration-line: none;" target="_blank"><b>September 11, 2009 - Remembering the Reality: 9-11-2001: Sue Kim Hanson</b></a><br style="background-color: white; color: #444444;" /><b style="background-color: white; color: #444444;"><br /></b><span style="background-color: white; color: #444444;"></span><a href="http://wizardfkap.blogspot.com/2010/09/reflections-on-life-of-kim-sue-hanson.html" style="background-color: white; color: #3778cd; text-decoration-line: none;" target="_blank"><b>September 11, 2010 - Reflections on the Life of Sue Kim Hanson</b></a><br style="background-color: white; color: #444444;" /><b style="background-color: white; color: #444444;"><br /></b><span style="background-color: white; color: #444444;"></span><a href="http://wizardfkap.blogspot.com/2011/09/tears-in-tragedy-remembering-sue-kim.html" style="background-color: white; color: #3778cd; text-decoration-line: none;" target="_blank"><b>September 11, 2011 - Tears in Tragedy - Remembering Sue Kim Hanson</b></a><br style="background-color: white; color: #444444;" /><b style="background-color: white; color: #444444;"><br /></b><span style="background-color: white; color: #444444;"></span><b style="background-color: white; color: #444444;"><a href="http://wizardfkap.blogspot.com/2012/09/honoring-memory-of-peter-sue-and.html" style="color: #3778cd; text-decoration-line: none;" target="_blank">September 11, 2012 - Honoring the Memory of Peter, Sue and Christine Hanson</a></b><br style="background-color: white; color: #444444;" /><br style="background-color: white; color: #444444;" /><a href="http://wizardfkap.blogspot.com/2013/09/the-tragedy-of-war-victims-of-hate.html" style="background-color: white; color: #3778cd; text-decoration-line: none;" target="_blank"><b>September 11, 2013 - The Tragedy of War, The Victims of Hate, Remembering Peter, Sue Kim and Christine Hanson</b></a><br style="background-color: white; color: #444444;" /><br style="background-color: white; color: #444444;" /><a href="http://wizardfkap.blogspot.com/2014/09/will-hatred-ever-be-replaced-with.html" style="background-color: white; color: #3778cd; text-decoration-line: none;" target="_blank"><b>September 11, 2014 - Will Hatred Ever Be Replaced with Understanding? Remembering Sue Kim Hanson on 9/11</b></a></span></p><p><a href="http://wizardfkap.blogspot.com/2016/09/the-angels-are-in-details.html" target="_blank"><span style="font-family: arial;"><b>September 11, 2016 - The Angels are in the Details</b></span></a></p>Bob Kellerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18171655256407149176noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12597943.post-84059054435364639972016-09-11T09:52:00.000-05:002016-09-11T10:16:06.132-05:00The Angels Are in The DetailsThe Angels are in the details. <br />
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On September 11. 2001 2,997 lost their lives. Our nation was the victim of a terrorist attack so evil we still can't get our heads around it. The terrorists were the devil. Their cunning, hatred and their sheer power to inflict pain are without parallel in modern history. Although their followers are trying to again plumb those depths.<br />
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We are once again in an election year here in the USA. It's the ugliest, most mean spirited, most delusional election in our history. There is a lot of talk about hate, hate speech, racism, misogamy, fanaticism and more. We would do well to get ride of the hyperbole and remember what real hate, real evil really is.<br />
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But if we look back on September 11th, we need to realize the that the real legacy is not hatred, but the 2,997 angels that should really be the focus of the story, our history.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjfQC7xVSN4XqfjUw_DWd5ltGmPis0OqV_8m-XdbVac7uKjlZKcDT0CDpXgMKtHwDHaLe8P8FFpbg129etVZo78sODENdy15Fd7l4jK2IUWjOtw0Tt4crRbenzambqwehYg-X9Asw/s1600/peter+hanson.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjfQC7xVSN4XqfjUw_DWd5ltGmPis0OqV_8m-XdbVac7uKjlZKcDT0CDpXgMKtHwDHaLe8P8FFpbg129etVZo78sODENdy15Fd7l4jK2IUWjOtw0Tt4crRbenzambqwehYg-X9Asw/s320/peter+hanson.jpg" width="230" /></a></div>
Until 9/11 these angels had lives, loves, hopes, fears and dreams. Let's remember the angels.<br />
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Today, as I have every September 11th since 2006, I'm taking a time to remember Peter Hanson, the handsome, young software engineer, Sue Kim Hanson, his Korean-American bride, and their two old daughter, Christine. <br />
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The Hanson's were killed when United Flight 175 was hijacked by the terrorists and purposely crashed into the World Trade Center. <br />
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Sue Kim was a Doctoral Candidate at Boston University. She, Peter and Christine decided to take a vacation to Disneyland and to visit Sue Kim's father in California before she had to defend her Doctoral Thesis. <br />
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Blind hatred killed the Hanson's. The terrorists never knew them, because to know them might have lead to understanding, to doubt in their mission, to have concerns about the justness of their cause. The leader of the terrorists, Osama bin Laden didn't want to know people, he wanted to see numbers. Peter, Sue Kim and Christine weren't people to the terrorists, they were just the number 3. Just 3 out of 2,997. We need to remember them, as angels.<br />
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Please take a few minutes today to remember Peter, Sue Kim and Christine. Say a prayer for them and their families. Say a prayer for us all. Remember people today, not numbers.<br />
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<br />
In 2006 a blogger project was begun on the fifth anniversary of 9-11. Called the "2,996 Project" volunteers were asked to write a short remembrance for each of the victims of the September 11, 2001.attack. I was randomly assigned Sue Kim Hanson. Each year since I have repeated my effort to honor Sue Kim and her family. You can read each of my essays following the links below:<br />
<br />
<a href="http://wizardfkap.blogspot.com/2006/09/susan-kim-hanson.html" target="_blank"><b>September 11, 2006 - Susan Kim Hanson</b></a><br />
<b><br /></b>
<a href="http://wizardfkap.blogspot.com/2007/09/remembering-kim-sue-hanson.html" target="_blank"><b>September 11, 2007 - Remembering Sue Kim Hanson</b></a><br />
<b><br /></b>
<a href="http://wizardfkap.blogspot.com/2008/09/remebering-kim-sue-hanson.html" target="_blank"><b>September 11, 2008 - Remembering Sue Kim Hanson</b></a><br />
<b><br /></b>
<a href="http://wizardfkap.blogspot.com/2009/09/remembering-reality-9-11-2001-sue-kim.html" target="_blank"><b>September 11, 2009 - Remembering the Reality: 9-11-2001: Sue Kim Hanson</b></a><br />
<b><br /></b>
<a href="http://wizardfkap.blogspot.com/2010/09/reflections-on-life-of-kim-sue-hanson.html" target="_blank"><b>September 11, 2010 - Reflections on the Life of Sue Kim Hanson</b></a><br />
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<a href="http://wizardfkap.blogspot.com/2011/09/tears-in-tragedy-remembering-sue-kim.html" target="_blank"><b>September 11, 2011 - Tears in Tragedy - Remembering Sue Kim Hanson</b></a><br />
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<b><a href="http://wizardfkap.blogspot.com/2012/09/honoring-memory-of-peter-sue-and.html" target="_blank">September 11, 2012 - Honoring the Memory of Peter, Sue and Christine Hanson</a></b><br />
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<a href="http://wizardfkap.blogspot.com/2013/09/the-tragedy-of-war-victims-of-hate.html" target="_blank"><b>Spetember 11, 2013 - The Tragedy of War, The Victims of Hate, Remembering Peter, Sue Kim and Christine Hanson</b></a><br />
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<a href="http://wizardfkap.blogspot.com/2014/09/will-hatred-ever-be-replaced-with.html" target="_blank"><b>September 11, 2014 - Will Hatred Ever Be Replaced with Understanding? Remembering Sue Kim Hanson on 9/11</b></a>Bob Kellerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18171655256407149176noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12597943.post-8148981991318399952016-08-02T14:52:00.000-05:002016-08-02T14:52:51.143-05:00Brain Dead is the Most Brilliant Piece of Political Satire Ever - But Is It Fiction?<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">Three things about the short summer series <b><a href="http://www.cbs.com/shows/braindead/" target="_blank">Brain Dead on CBS Television.</a></b></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">First you should be watching this show. It's fast, funny, brilliant, cleverly written and wonderfully acted. The link above will let you see past episodes.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">Second, as a satire on the current state of political discourse and governmental function it is stunningly on point. Watch the scenes from the show taking place in the Senate, then watch the real news and you're unlikely to be able to tell the difference. Its terrible funny..... or is it?</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">Third, the show creators, Robert and Michelle King are having entirely too much fun. The "I think I love you..." sequence in Sunday episodes is one of the greatest moments in television history.</span>Bob Kellerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18171655256407149176noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12597943.post-4945584509484688062016-03-25T13:07:00.000-05:002016-05-09T19:12:20.191-05:00The Man Who Wasn't There<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgd5QnaEbD64QNsyJlJ7IyUoU6yDY7F2c2gTSH_QUg_2UHcuIRoc73-Z4fUyb8zMcYHujrEaXYHWCEDGfp23efpBpqNnkqBPXsjxSUzRmq0GgSadVQlgqCYMoAN0Gs3sxM7-w8UJA/s1600/obama-2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="203" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgd5QnaEbD64QNsyJlJ7IyUoU6yDY7F2c2gTSH_QUg_2UHcuIRoc73-Z4fUyb8zMcYHujrEaXYHWCEDGfp23efpBpqNnkqBPXsjxSUzRmq0GgSadVQlgqCYMoAN0Gs3sxM7-w8UJA/s400/obama-2.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">When did Barack Obama lose his ability to understand, to identify with and to inspire huge groups of people? In 2008 Barack Obama was a master communicator. His campaign appearances drew tens of thousands and motivated millions more. He swept Hillary aside in the primary election, easily who the Presidency and even won the Nobel Peace Prize. He quite literally inspired the entire world.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">Somehow he lost that ability. It's been gone for a few years. It faded away slowly and we didn't really notice at first. But it's completely gone now. Maybe the Presidency has worn him down. Maybe he is so isolated that he has simply lost touch with the people.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">Obama has done some very bold and courageous things. None may be more important or have more of a lasting impact than his warming relations with Cuba, reopening the Embassy and relaxing travel. This was long overdue and it will, in fact, be a major part of his legacy.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">But then he completely mishandles his reaction to the Terrorist Attack in Brussels. Obama actually DID NOTHING WRONG, HE SIMPLY DID NOTHING. He reacted badly, coldly, even callously. When people needed comfort, warmth and support he offered...... well. he offered nothing. He completely mishandled the optics of the tragedy. He appeared uncaring, aloof, out-of-touch.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">A baseball game and a Tango didn't help. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">I think we all miss the Barack Obama of 2008. I think the world needs that Obama and not the sad, isolated shell of the once great man that we are presented with today.</span>Bob Kellerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18171655256407149176noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12597943.post-3315651517408805792015-11-24T10:50:00.000-06:002015-11-24T10:58:40.965-06:00How to Eliminate All Free Speech<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">For reasons that are unimaginable, many Liberals and virtually all Progressives are anxious to eliminate Free Speech here in the USA. It is, I believe, all about control.... thought control. There is a bizarre desire to eliminate all opposing ideas and, most certainly, all opposing political ideas.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">The effort of any and all groups to eliminate opposing ideas is not new. It's as old as mankind itself. The United States, however, was founded on the exact opposite principle: FREE and OPEN exchange of ideas, political points of view and opposing thoughts. In our relatively short history the exchange of ideas has been robust and often firey.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">But the Progressives now have a new weapon to eliminate debate and stop all opposing speech without crossing the hallowed "free speech" line. It's called "you hurt my feelings" gambit, also known as the "safe space" demand. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">Curiously, in demanding a "safe space where the supposed victim can avoid having their feelings hurt, the progressives wantonly destroy their opponent's entire lives. They don't just "hurt their opponent's feelings" they cause the opponent to lose their job, perhaps their entire career, be removed or expelled from school, and ruin their reputation. And they do this without any proof that this opponent ever caused the slightest harm to any one.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">The bottom line is you damned well better keep your mouth shut or you will be ruined forever. Of course you still have your blessed "freedom of speech" provided you never use it.</span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEigXrV7gQ0bS5L9h8GeCV7lFeewgsC4_4eAzZJejDf0AMn5DMIQly7ZhIv9QvSrymu_ZADoMxpWSNJYDh-M08YsiUQ07ae_kZwGGiszJkS3i39DSCfd7P7rsAXyHQQNnsdq2qwPZQ/s1600/caley-godino.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><img border="0" height="250" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEigXrV7gQ0bS5L9h8GeCV7lFeewgsC4_4eAzZJejDf0AMn5DMIQly7ZhIv9QvSrymu_ZADoMxpWSNJYDh-M08YsiUQ07ae_kZwGGiszJkS3i39DSCfd7P7rsAXyHQQNnsdq2qwPZQ/s400/caley-godino.jpg" width="400" /></span></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">There have been dozens of horrific examples of these assaults in recent weeks. One of the most egregious however is <a href="http://www.myfoxboston.com/story/30532415/controversy-over-local-high-school-students-tweet" target="_blank"><b>the attack by the progressive citizens of Revere, Massachusetts of a local high school cheerleading captain, Caley Godino.</b></a> Godino's offense? She actually took an interest in local politics instead of spending her time on SnapChat or watching One Direction videos.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">God knows we cannot let our children have any opinions. And we certainly can't let them Tweet those opinions on their own Twitter page. Those opinions might hurt someone's feelings. Those opinions might threaten someone's "safe space." Note the word "might" in my analysis. No one actually ever said they were harmed in any way.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">Godino sent out one Tweet in response to her high school teacher's Tweet about the poor turnout in a recent election.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><b><span style="font-size: large;">"When only 10 percent of Revere votes for mayor cause the other 90 percent isn't legal,"</span></b> Godino replied sarcastically, maybe even a little snarkily, in her tweet.
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<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">Of course all hell rained down on Godino after she dared to voice her opinion. Some other unnamed and protected students complained to the school "authorities" and, in order to shelter and protect these unnamed students, the mighty forces of the school district stepped in to make certain Godino would never, ever voice her opinions again. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">Revere Superintendent Dianne Kelly says the district believes in freedom of speech, but cannot support what she calls insensitive language.
"If you're going to stand up and say something that other people will find offensive, then you need to be prepare to deal with the ramifications of that," Kelly said. The ramifications? Kelly kicked Godino off the cheerleading squad for the rest of the year. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">Allow me to translate. What Ms. Kelly means is she will never allow any free speech on her watch. Debate is forbidden. Opposing ideas are never to be allowed. If you dare to voice your opinion, you high school career is over and your life will be a living hell. Thank you for molding America's future leaders, Ms. Kelly.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">Caley Godino's opponents never had to name themselves. They were and are anonymous. They never had to defend their political positions or engage in debate. They never were forced to tell Godino why her opinions were wrong or why their's were right. The very debate upon which America was founded was never allowed to happen. That might have violated someone's "safe space. " </span><br />
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<span style="color: red; font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><b>ULTIMATE IRONY: The mascot of the Revere High School is the "Patriots."</b></span>Bob Kellerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18171655256407149176noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12597943.post-40641339111020509522015-10-03T14:16:00.001-05:002015-10-03T14:16:15.324-05:00We Have No Solutions to Gun Violence Yes, I hate videos on the Internet, too. But you really need to watch this. Gun violence is destroying inner city America yet it seems like only white, rural college shootings get the press.<br />
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We need solutions. Sadly every proposal I've seen from President Obama and our "leaders" would accomplish nothing beyond harming law abiding citizens. We really need solutions that will reduce Chicago violence.<br />
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We are witnessing America's Genocide. We're shooting 11 month old babies.<br />
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<iframe border="no" height="500" scrolling="no" src="http://player.theplatform.com/p/7wvmTC/MSNBCEmbeddedOffSite?guid=n_mhp_3chicago_151003" width="500"></iframe>Bob Kellerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18171655256407149176noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12597943.post-7347443900078866322015-06-25T11:05:00.000-05:002015-08-28T16:18:31.836-05:00Cultural Genocide<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEihy-EG4rpw-oHLeCvmJM2khsqxurt7sE7SP4G7CKSay9TzObAJhWfkg0GyhIR56SwJcW_CxvvZ0mdCwTO6O5OSJWSidtd9N3MeJrbfJSfxJhftyLm8NT7mcRCHaEMWkjdIm19YOw/s1600/paleontology_dynamic_lead_slide.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEihy-EG4rpw-oHLeCvmJM2khsqxurt7sE7SP4G7CKSay9TzObAJhWfkg0GyhIR56SwJcW_CxvvZ0mdCwTO6O5OSJWSidtd9N3MeJrbfJSfxJhftyLm8NT7mcRCHaEMWkjdIm19YOw/s400/paleontology_dynamic_lead_slide.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">The lives of our political opponents matter. Not their physical lives, we don't care about that. It's their cultural lives, their cultural symbols, their values, morals and mores that matter. To defeat our political enemies we must utterly destroy all the factors that give their lives value, meaning and structure. And, let's be honest, we do want the complete and utter destruction of all who might disagree with us in any way.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">This attitude of complete cultural destruction has led the left to try to eliminate everything remotely connected to the pop culture "Confederate Flag" icons of the conservative and especially southern society.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">This excuse for such destruction of an icon is, of course, the senseless murder of the nine black church members at the hands of white supremacist Dylann Roof in Charlotte last week.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">But, as horrific as those murders were, they are not the subject of this post. Instead it is the remarkable reaction that has swept our entire culture in just a few short days, to effectively ban all things remotely connected to the Civil War. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">As a Sociology major in College this is simply stunning to behold. This is the equivalent of a paleontologist discovering the bone of an undiscovered species of dinosaur. Rarely do you get to see what can only be described as a tidal wave of coordinated social activity happening across all political spectrums, all races, all economic classes, all at once. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">This isn't simply South Carolina Governor Nikki Haley suggesting the Confederate Flag be removed from the Statehouse grounds. That might have started the chain reaction, but look how far its come!</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">Amazon, eBay, Walmart, Sears and more are pulling everything Confederate off the shelves. States are pulling down flags and statues and memorials. Film critics are calling for the withdrawal of the movie "Gone With The Wind," allowing it only to be shown in museums and only on special occasions. Amazon and Walmart are "suggesting" authors or publishers revise their cover art if it contains anything related to the Civil War. Will we ban books from schools and public libraries? </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><a href="http://www.polygon.com/2015/6/25/8845181/apple-removing-confederate-flag-games" target="_blank"><b>Polygon, the gaming news website</b></a>, reports that Apple was quickly affected by the societal groupthink with a form of censorship that is breathtaking to behold:</span><br />
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<span style="color: #990000; font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><b><i>"Now, it appears that Apple has decided to join them by pulling many Civil War wargames from the App Store. As of the writing of this story, games like Ultimate General: Gettysburg and all the Hunted Cow Civil War games are nowhere to be found. Apple is famous for reaching for the axe rather than the scalpel when it comes to political issues (like rejecting Hunted Cow's Tank Battle 1942 for depicting Germans and Russians as enemies), so this move doesn't come as a great surprise." </i></b></span><br />
<span style="color: #990000; font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><b><i><br /></i></b></span><span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">Can we erase history? It appears Apple is going to try. But they are not alone. When Republican Governors like Robert Bentley of Alabama personally remove Confederate Flags and further suggest any school named after a Civil War General be renamed, memorials removed and school mascots banned, you realize we have a seed change turning into a tsunami</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">Until two or three days ago, Walmart admits it had virtually never had a complaint about pop culture Confederate merchandise. The public outcry, mostly on social media, happening that quickly.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">People tend to jump on the bandwagon. They love to be on the "winning side." What they may have never noticed Thursday, becomes issue #1 by Friday.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">How long will this last? Will there eventually be blow back. So far only (former) Senator Jim Webb has offered any caution or defense. Certainly his thoughtful and nuanced response absolutely dooms any hope he had of a Presidential candidacy. </span><br />
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Bob Kellerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18171655256407149176noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12597943.post-25298773032978064802015-05-30T11:02:00.000-05:002015-06-25T11:13:52.956-05:00Societies and Cultures that "Work"<span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">Sociologists and Anthropologists (my duel majors in college) attempt to study cultures and societies objectively, dispassionately, scientifically. It is relatively easy to do when studying ancient societies or remote and isolated cultures.</span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhux4QPglFFv7tVgTm4KRormdToA3gflkSaaYKsFgTzBbsS-3iNmqqlLl2I8DzxWqNWj7IV7EaIvYdFYm3p6v8OhvpQ7dcCLi5ENAN3gRmryfVV6oJuVlx98o5EjjPF6X8L_au3gA/s1600/anthropology.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="251" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhux4QPglFFv7tVgTm4KRormdToA3gflkSaaYKsFgTzBbsS-3iNmqqlLl2I8DzxWqNWj7IV7EaIvYdFYm3p6v8OhvpQ7dcCLi5ENAN3gRmryfVV6oJuVlx98o5EjjPF6X8L_au3gA/s400/anthropology.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">Some societies, cultures and religions work and work well for centuries. And by working I mean they thrive, gathering wealth, power, population size and geographic size. They have the ability to affect other surrounding cultures and spread their values, laws and morals.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">If a culture or society works and thrives, that doesn't mean it moral, good, fair or free. It does mean the members of the society generally follow their rules and laws. Very very often, historically, these laws and rules are religious in nature and survive nations and governments. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">Morals are passed down from parents to children, values that must shared by all and must be strictly upheld. For example marriage is discouraged outside of many cultures, ethnic groups and religions. This insures children receive the values, attitudes and strict moral codes of the culture.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">ISIS is attempting to form a Caliphate in Iraq and Syria (and beyond). But the Muslim culture and the Islamic religion that is its base, including and especially Sharia Law, already have proven to be the basis of a culture and societal structure that works. Sharia Law and the overreaching Muslim culture have already survived hundreds of years through multiple nations and governments.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">That does not mean it's good or moral. That doesn't mean its actions are fair or free. Most of us are horrified by the stoning of non-believers, the murder of the victims of rape or incest or the enslavement of people from outside the tightly closed society. We in the west, see these actions as savage.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">Meanwhile hundreds of thousands of people from all around the world are joining ISIS. It's a virtual world wide mass migration. Here in the west we're trying to stop people from moving the Iraq and joining the armies of ISIS. Yet people do make their way to a society they see as moral, just and, especially, functional. They want the rules, the laws, the morals and the leadership to guide their lives.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">We need to understand how cultures, societies, nations and religions all work to help us understand why other cultures often breakdown. We need to understand why some cultures thrive and their members prosper, while others live in poverty, riddled with crime and corruption.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">We need to understand this in our own American Society and culture where, through our inaction, ignorance and neglect, seem to have said <b>"In spite of our Tweets to the contrary,</b> <b>Black lives actually don't seem to matter</b>." How is it that we allow this <b>American Genocide</b> continues unabated, ignored or tolerated by most of society. We need to understand why violence and crime are rampant throughout American inner cities and now are spreading into the supposedly safe suburbs. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><b><a href="http://www.wsj.com/articles/the-new-nationwide-crime-wave-1432938425" target="_blank">This Wall Street Journal article by Heather Mac Donald is an excellent place to start.</a> </b></span>Bob Kellerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18171655256407149176noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12597943.post-66187969328602754432015-05-11T17:59:00.003-05:002015-05-30T10:27:01.252-05:00The Silence of the LambsT<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">his will be my shortest blog post ever.</span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg5YDgjOiHR4rQ_jJ-e7qX-uVgtGZh33OEQplL8xYXNo3HUC4UXIrxWXsU054gMheal78AGKcgjaSlEl1uL2wc1NDUKVAYathzZoGf2Cd-tEsnO4HrLYeRLTulEHk2FjPIzY83YXg/s1600/hillary.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><img border="0" height="263" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg5YDgjOiHR4rQ_jJ-e7qX-uVgtGZh33OEQplL8xYXNo3HUC4UXIrxWXsU054gMheal78AGKcgjaSlEl1uL2wc1NDUKVAYathzZoGf2Cd-tEsnO4HrLYeRLTulEHk2FjPIzY83YXg/s400/hillary.jpg" width="400" /></span></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">Its sole purpose is to highlight that the presumptive Democratic Party Candidate for President, Hillary Clinton, has not held is single press conference or ever a single press interview since launching her campaign one month ago. She has answered virtually no questions and has never addressed any of the real and substantive issues surrounding her candidacy.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">So far it appears this strategy is working. How long can she continue?</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><b>UPDATE 5/30/2014 </b>- Although Ms. Clinton took a very few questions two days last week, her strategy continues to avoid all questions and make the press hungrier and hungrier for any sort of news. It's a blazingly brilliant strategy.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">Even Fox News fawns over her every speech of scripted interaction with so-called voters (all of whom are carefully screened shills). She get her message and exactly her message out every day. It is easily the best election strategy I've ever seen!</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">Can it continue through the election? We're all beginning to think it can.</span><br />
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<br />Bob Kellerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18171655256407149176noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12597943.post-24501723070797323152015-04-11T14:50:00.001-05:002015-04-11T14:53:08.615-05:00Speak Truth to Power<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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<span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">There is a great deal to like and to admire about Tim Cook, the CEO of Apple. He is a courageous and visionary liberal leading what is arguably the finest and best run company in America. He came out recently as gay and is the only openly gay CEO of a Fortune 500 company.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">Among the many liberal convictions he has put into practice at Apple in an environmentally responsible effort on climate change, going even so far as to challenge shareholders who are, in Cook's opinion, "climate deniers."</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">It is from this framework that he led a chorus of corporate leaders, politicians and celebrities in condemning Indiana's Religious Freedom Restoration Act.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">Cook said, <b><i><span style="color: #990000;">"Our message, to people around the country and around the world, is this: Apple is open. Open to everyone, regardless of where they come from, what they look like, how they worship or who they love. Regardless of what the law might allow in Indiana or Arkansas, we will never tolerate discrimination. Opposing discrimination takes courage. With the lives and dignity of so many people at stake, it’s time for all of us to be courageous." </span></i></b></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">Writing in an op-ed in <a href="http://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/pro-discrimination-religious-freedom-laws-are-dangerous-to-america/2015/03/29/bdb4ce9e-d66d-11e4-ba28-f2a685dc7f89_story.html" target="_blank"><b>The Washington Post, Cook</b></a> said, in part, <span style="color: #990000;"><b><i>"There’s something very dangerous happening in states across the country. A wave of legislation, introduced in more than two dozen states, would allow people to discriminate against their neighbors. Some, such as the bill enacted in Indiana last week that drew a national outcry and one passed in Arkansas, say individuals can cite their personal religious beliefs to refuse service to a customer or resist a state nondiscrimination law."</i></b></span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><span style="color: #990000;"><b><i><br /></i></b></span>I am greatly bothered by the fact that Cook and many other "Liberals" are on exactly the wrong side of this issue, demanding conformity to a rigid and terribly narrow standard of behavior instead of standing up for individual's right of moral conviction. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">But I am even more concerned that Cook leads a group of bullies in a mob action to demand an orthodox Jewish photographer or a Muslim baker be forced under penalty of law to deny their religious and their moral convictions and participate in acts or ceremonies forbidden by their religion. Deny Allah or lose your business, livelihood or freedom. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">Cook insists we deny to others the very freedom of moral conviction that allowed gays to gain an open and free place in our society. Cook seems to have forgotten that when the so-called "majority" forced gays into hiding, it was the religious minority of Unitarian Universalists (and other liberal churches) who welcomed gays and lesbians into their churches and performed gay marriages when they were outlawed. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">Unitarians have for centuries lived their beliefs even when prohibited by the state. They are the religion of the pilgrims, driven out by The Church of England and the King to find freedom in the America they founded. Now Cook wants to deny this freedom of moral belief. God help the next persecuted group as Cook wants actions taken based religious belief to be denied by the state.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">Errr...well, he wants then denied in Indiana and Arkansas. Not so much elsewhere.</span><br />
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<b style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><a href="http://www.gaypatriot.net/2015/04/09/gay-patriot-and-friends-versus-apple/" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;" target="_blank">V the K, writing over on The Gay Patriot </a></b><span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">responded perfectly,</span><b style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><i><span style="color: #990000;"> "It takes N0 courage to “stand up to” bakers and florists who just don’t want to take part in gay weddings (although it gets you a lot of “trained seal applause” from other sanctimonious poseurs). Standing up to legitimately brutal regimes … that would be actual courage."</span></i></b><br />
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Indeed, as it turns out, Cook wants no part in speaking truth to power. <a href="http://rightwingnews.com/special/leading-conservatives-call-on-apple-to-pull-out-of-nigeria-qatar-saudi-arabia-and-iran-until-they-stop-torturing-their-gay-citizens/" target="_blank"><b>Challenged by more that a dozen bloggers and pundits</b></a>, they wrote an open letter to Cook. The letter reads, in part, <b><i><span style="color: #990000;"> "Tim Cook says that, “Opposing discrimination takes courage,” and we agree. We call on Mr. Cook to live up to our shared principles by pulling Apple out of Nigeria, Qatar, Saudi Arabia and Iran until they stop their official government policies of jailing and murdering gays and lesbians."</span></i></b></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">Tim Cook has not, as yet, responded. Sadly, I've lost substantial respect for Mr. Cook. He is, as V the K implied, a poseur.</span>Bob Kellerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18171655256407149176noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12597943.post-65749901100661376382015-01-06T21:00:00.001-06:002015-01-06T21:05:22.388-06:00#Black Lives Matter#Black Lives Matter. If there was a signature Tweet that defined the year 2014 it was the hashtag "Black Lives Matter."<br />
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What I think bothers me is that hashtags have become the feelgood contribution of too many people toward curing our society's ills. I did my part. I sent out a Tweet. <br />
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The problem is that Tweet won't save the life of a single Black person. Nobody will find a job because you Tweeted a socially responsible Tweet. Schools will not improve. Gangs will not stop their turf wars. Random acts of violence will not cease. Nothing will change.<br />
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Because, for all too many people, the value of a "Black Life" is a random Tweet.<br />
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The protests are now dying down, as they must. The protester's beclowned themselves with their stupid acts of violence and meaningless, pointless, goalless splendor. Protests with a hashtag driven mentality.<br />
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The biggest result of the nationwide protests was the implosion of Bill De Blasio's New York. But De Blasio was well on his way to destroying the city on his own. The protests simply accelerated the process. Black Lives Matter. You will see a massive increase in murders in New York this year. As usual, most lives lost will be black.<br />
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Maybe the Glitterati will come up with a new hashtag to decry that violence. After all, hashtags are easier and cheaper than the real investment that must be made in our society to actually save black lives. And hashtags make our Hollywood stars, sport's gladiators and various celebrities feel so very good.<br />
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#Black Lives Matter.Bob Kellerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18171655256407149176noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12597943.post-24791897142968661742014-11-16T13:43:00.000-06:002014-11-17T09:56:53.386-06:00I See Dead PeopleAs a nation we genuinely have our priorities misplaced. We are spending millions upon millions of dollars attempting to prevent people with Ebola from entering our country. Don't get me wrong, Ebola is very frightening and we are not well prepared to fight this deadly infection. And we had that one very well documented, reported and investigated case of a man from west Africa dying in Dallas, Texas.<br />
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Meanwhile tens of thousands of young Americans are dying every year due to gang and gun violence in virtually every American inner city and pocket of poverty. Many, many are completely innocent, guilty of only being in the wrong place at the wrong time. And many, like Laylah Peterson, are just children. <a href="http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2830010/Police-leads-murder-case-five-year-old-girl-shot-dead-sitting-grandfather-s-lap.html" target="_blank"><b>Laylah was shot and killed last week</b></a> while sitting safely on her grandfather's lap in their own home in Milwaukee. Two men fired shots into the house, for some unknown reason, and shot the child.<br />
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Laylah was white and the shooters allegedly were black and some are claiming this was racial violence. I'm pretty certain the reason doesn't matter. If you want to write this off to racial violence, I'll be happy to post the story of a black four year old girl shot the day before in nearby Racine, Wisconsin. Here the shooters were also black. Race doesn't matter.<br />
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That fact is that deaths from Ebola here in the United States will be rare. Yet by the time I finish writing this blog entry another child, perhaps two or three, will be dead from the massive violence right here in America.<br />
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You probably know all the steps we are taking to prevent Ebola, airport screenings, triage centers, CDC edicts, hospital preparedness and more. We even have an Ebola Czar.<br />
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What are we doing to end youth violence in our inner cities? On a Federal level virtually nothing. Not a damned thing. Unless the victim is black and the shooter is a white policeman (or neighborhood watch patrolman), you are unlikely to hear a peep from the President or the U.S. Attorney General. Again, this isn't about race, it's about priorities. <br />
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The greater St. Louis area is preparing for riots and an eruption of violent protests this week when the Grand Jury might possibly fail to indict patrolman Darren Wilson who fatally shot eighteen year old Michael Brown in Ferguson, Missouri. <br />
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"Hands up, don't shoot." Do you suppose if little Laylah had raised her hands, they home invaders would have held their fire?<br />
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In Milwaukee there are no protests, there are no riots and there will be no violence over the murder of a 5 year old girl. Police have few leads and there have been no arrests. There isn't even a person of interest. The FBI isn't there and neither is the justice department.<br />
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But by tomorrow there will be one or more similar murders in the same Milwaukee neighborhood. And by next weekend there will be more.<br />
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My personal hero today is Milwaukee District Seven Alderman Willie C. Wade. Alderman Wade is walking his district alone, knocking on doors, looking for a lead as to the identities of the shooters who killed five year old Laylah in cold blood. He is hoping that his constituents will <a href="http://fox6now.com/2014/11/11/somebody-knows-something-alderman-knocking-on-doors-seeking-information-in-laylah-petersen-shooting/" target="_blank"><b>talk to him</b></a>, a black, a trusted friend, when they might not talk or "snitch" to the police.<br />
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Willie C. Wade is a real hero. We need more heroes. I'm tired of seeing dead people,Bob Kellerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18171655256407149176noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12597943.post-47305560582065570912014-10-17T13:59:00.001-05:002014-10-17T15:03:33.498-05:00Ebola Infects the Presidency<b><span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">Three Short Ebola Observations:</span></b><br />
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<li><span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">We American citizens were over confident and, well, downright smug about the ability of our vastly superior Health and Medical Structure to combat Ebola if it ever invaded our country. Now, as it turns out, our strengths have proven to be our weakness. In small African nations, the population is very poor and relatively stationary making it easy to locate and quarantine the infected people.</span></li>
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<ol><span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">Here in the United States, people are relatively wealthy and extremely mobile, taking trips constantly by plane, train, bus and even vacations on cruise ships. In Africa an Ebola victim generally can only infect family, friends and very close neighbors. Here anyone EXPOSED can jump on a plane, train or ship and expose hundreds or even thousands of people. <span style="color: #990000;"> <b>Our wealth and independence make controlling the disease both more difficult and vastly more expensive.</b></span></span></ol>
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<li><span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">President Obama's extremely poor management style where no one is ever held accountable for anything, has created a massive bureaucracy of sheer incompetence throughout the Federal Government. Never in our history has our government been less prepared to face a crisis. As error after error piled up on the gross mishandling on the first Ebola patient, no one from the CDC ever did so much as issue an intelligent guideline, let alone provider hands-on direction to health care workers. </span></li>
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<ol><span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">The hospital did not even have the correct protective gear for doctors and nurses for days. The CDC never issued guidelines on how to handle the infection. CDC Director Thomas Frieden, no matter how intelligent or educated he might be on infectious diseases, is a grossly incompetent manager. Worse, he is an ineffective spokesperson. <b><a href="http://www.cnn.com/2014/10/16/politics/ebola-hearing-curtain-raiser/index.html" target="_blank">Many Democrats as well as virtually all Republicans are calling for his resignation.</a></b></span><span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><div>
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Peggy Noonan writes in <b><a href="http://online.wsj.com/articles/who-do-they-think-we-are-1413502475" target="_blank">The Wall Street Journal</a> <span style="color: #990000;">"<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 21px;">The administration’s handling of the Ebola crisis continues to be marked by double talk, runaround and gobbledygook. And its logic is worse than its language. In many of its actions, especially its public pronouncements, the government is functioning not as a soother of public anxiety but the cause of it."</span></span></b></div>
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<li><span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">Only a President as totally unprepared for his job, a President who seemingly has learned nothing over six years, could possibly <b><a href="http://washington.cbslocal.com/2014/10/17/obamas-new-ebola-czar-does-not-have-medical-health-care-background/" target="_blank">appoint someone as thoroughly unqualified as Ron Klain to the EBOLA CZAR</a>.</b> Klain has not one second of medical experience and not one second of experience in handling an epidemic.</span></li>
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<ol><span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">To be certain Mr. Klain will have, as his primary job, communicating with the press and public. Since he cannot credibly answer a single question, the press will eat him alive and the public will further lose confidence in the Obama Administration.</span></ol>
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<ol><b><span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">You would think at least on person advising the President would have said, <span style="color: #990000;">"Sir, you know this appointment of a political manager is going to look very bad and will reflect poorly on your continued handling of this crisis. This IS NOT a political crisis, Sir, it's a medical crisis." </span></span></b><b><div>
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">Perhaps it was said. Perhaps the President chose not to listen.</span></div>
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Bob Kellerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18171655256407149176noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12597943.post-10521149623484829092014-10-07T12:19:00.000-05:002014-10-07T12:24:59.402-05:00Ebola: Coming to a City Near You<span style="color: #333333; font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif; line-height: 23px;">Zsuzsanna Jakab, the European Director of the World Health Organization warned today that Ebola is certain to spread throughout Europe. He stated it was <a href="http://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/europe/ebola-outbreak-husband-of-spanish-nurse-placed-in-quarantine-as-22-contacts-identified-9779682.html" target="_blank"><b>"quite unavoidable."</b></a></span><br />
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<span style="color: #333333;"><span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif; line-height: 23px;">This warning was tempered in a way that he hoped would not frighten Europe but enable them to prepare for the certainty that people in their countries, and perhaps their cities would contract the disease. </span></span><br />
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<span style="color: #333333;"><span style="line-height: 23px;">It's not easy to contract Ebola, but it is difficult to provide the necessary isolation to keep the disease from spreading. Fear is our very worst enemy. People will lie to both avoid isolation and to seek treatment. It's a dangerous brew.</span></span></span><br />
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<span style="color: #333333;"><span style="line-height: 23px;">Jakab's warning should have been made for the United States as well. As it spreads through Europe it will invade the USA increasingly often. And we lack practical methods of prevention, reasonable methods of isolation, and we have zero efforts at education. </span></span></span><br />
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<span style="color: #333333;"><span style="line-height: 23px;">I'm frankly more worried about the impact on our economy even more than our national health. Even a relatively minor outbreak will frighten most citizens. And frightened citizens do desperate things. The cost of prevention will be astronomical.</span></span></span><br />
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<span style="color: #333333;"><span style="line-height: 23px;">As has been the case under President Obama, virtually every threat has been underestimated, minimized or dismissed by the administration. Ebola is no different. We need a national health response plan now and our citizens need to be educated and informed to avoid panic. </span></span></span><br />
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<span style="color: #333333; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><span style="line-height: 23px;"><br /></span></span>Bob Kellerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18171655256407149176noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12597943.post-9157562893965696732014-09-11T09:17:00.000-05:002014-09-11T09:17:04.846-05:00Will Hatred Ever Be Replaced with Understanding? Remembering Sue Kim Hanson on 9/11Last night I prepared to watch President Barack Obama's Address to the Nation about the latest continuation in the war with Islamic Terrorists, the SIS or ISIL threat in Iraq and Syria. Megan Kelly on Fox News interrupted her broadcast to show the twin beams of light thasat had, seconds ago, be illuminated on the site of the 9/11 attack. It is a beautiful site, a beacon of strength, hope and spirit.<br />
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And yet here we are, thirteen years later, facing the same threat that destroyed so many lives on Spetember 11, 2001 and we face the same threat, perhaps even greater. It is a threat based entirely on blind hatred.<br />
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Can we ever possibly overcome that? Are we doomed to an ageless war that will eventually destroy us all?<br />
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September 11, 2001 was horrific. In a few short hours 2,996 were murdered by the same terror from Islamic Fundamentalists that threatens us today. We will make it through today? Last year the terrorists attacked Benghazi on the Anniversary of 9/11 just to commemorate the anniversary of the attack. Our Ambassador and three others were murdered.<br />
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Since 2006 I have maintained my own small commemoration of the tragedy that was 9/11 by repeating here in this blog the story of Sue Kim Hanson and her husband Peter and their beautiful daughter Christine who were killed in the holocaust of 9/11. I've placed a series of links at the bottom of this post to each of the preceding eight years of blog entries.<br />
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Last year I wrote that I hoped we might eventually learn to replace hate with love if we focus on the people, their lives, their loves, hopes, fears and dreams. With a heavy heart this morning I light again that small candle of hope. I believe understanding and love may somehow overcome hatred and evil. At least I pray so in the memory of Sue Kim, Peter and Christine.<br />
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Please join me in remembering Peter Hanson, the handsome, young software engineer, Sue Kim Hanson, his Korean-American bride, and their two their old daughter, Christine. <br />
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The Hanson's were killed when United Flight 175 was hijacked by the terrorists and purposely crashed into the World Trade Center. <br />
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<strong>Susan Kim Hanson</strong> was one of the victims of the September 11, 2001 terrorist attack that took the lives of <a href="http://www.dcroe.com/project-2996/"><strong><span style="font-family: trebuchet ms;">2,996</span></strong></a><span style="font-family: trebuchet ms;"> souls in the World Trade Center, the Pentagon and the fields of Pennsylvania.<br /><br />Sue, her husband Peter, and her two year old daughter Christine were on United Airlines Flight 175 that crashed into the South Tower of the World Trade Center. Her daughter Christine was the youngest victim of the September 11th attack.<br /><br /></span><a href="http://www.wizardfkap.com/uploaded_images/172-784113.jpg"><span style="font-family: trebuchet ms;"><img alt="Sue Kim Hanson" border="0" src="http://www.wizardfkap.com/uploaded_images/172-782426.jpg" style="cursor: hand; float: left; margin: 0px 10px 10px 0px;" /></span></a><span style="font-family: trebuchet ms;">Sue was a great scientist in the making. She was a doctoral candidate in micro-biology immunology at Boston University and working on her final thesis. Her work promised to reveal the workings of a chemical believed to regulate immune responses. She had isolated in lab mice a gene suspected of being involved in asthma sufferers and AIDS patients. Her work had the potential to help millions of people.<br /><br />Susan Kim was one of those wonderful American success stories. A Korean-American, Sue had lived with her grandmother in Korea until she was 6. Her mother died when she was 15 and she was raised by her strict Korean father. Through hard work and discipline, sacrifice, dedication and sheer will power she neared the goal her mother and father and grandmother had hoped she would achieve, her doctorate degree.<br /><br />Dr. Hardy Kornfeld, Hanson's thesis adviser, said <strong><span style="color: #000099;">"She was sort of fearless. Sue just took on tasks that were incredibly challenging, and more often than not she was able to make a go at them."</span></strong><br /><br />That she would be attracted to the wild and undisciplined Peter Hanson was a great surprise. Three years younger than Sue Kim, Peter gained his education by following The Grateful Dead. Peter believed that the group and its music would become classics, up there with Beethoven, Bach and company, and he tried to sway the opinion of anyone who would listen. Many of our listeners to Wizard Radio would certainly agree with Peter.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: trebuchet ms;">But even if Sue wasn't quite convinced about the Dead, she believed in Peter. And her faith was well placed. Peter was, by all accounts, a brilliant software engineer, a great salesman and a wonderful person.<br /><br />He was passionate about Sue and Sue fell head over heals in love with Peter. She obviously had a great effect on him. </span><a href="http://www.legacy.com/Sept11.asp?Page=Story&PersonID=91696"><strong><span style="font-family: trebuchet ms;">Legacy.com </span></strong></a><span style="font-family: trebuchet ms;">has a reprint of a New York Times article about Sue that tells the story:</span><br />
<ul><span style="color: #000099; font-family: trebuchet ms;"><strong>"The relationship spurred Peter Hanson to clip his tangle of brownish-red dreadlocks, trade in tie-dyed T- shirts for suits, go to business school and become one of the best software salesmen his friends and family had ever met. He was vice president of marketing at TimeTrade in Waltham, Mass."<br /><br />"Her bond with the Hansons was so strong that they accompanied her to California when she went to inform her father about her engagement. She worried that her father would protest because Peter Hanson was not Korean. But her family embraced the Hansons."</strong></span></ul>
<span style="font-family: 'trebuchet ms';">Sue and Peter were married and had a beautiful daughter. Sue continued to pursue her doctoral degree. She was scheduled to defend her thesis in November, 2001.</span><br />
<a href="http://www.wizardfkap.com/uploaded_images/hansons-720595.jpg"><span style="font-family: trebuchet ms;"><img alt="Sue, Peter and Christine" border="0" src="http://www.wizardfkap.com/uploaded_images/hansons-718894.jpg" style="cursor: hand; float: right; margin: 0px 0px 10px 10px;" /></span></a><span style="font-family: trebuchet ms;">Taking a last break before finalizing her research and thesis, Sue, Peter and Christine were on their way to visit the Sue's father and grandmother in California, and take Christine to Disneyland, when they boarded United Airlines Flight 175. Peter was one of those who made a final cell phone call to his parents moments before the plane crashed into the south tower.<br /><br />Sue's friend </span><strong><span style="font-family: trebuchet ms;">Mona Pengree</span></strong><span style="font-family: trebuchet ms;"> writes, <strong><span style="color: #000099;">"Sue was awarded her PhD posthumously, as her professor finished her work on her behalf. This is a wonderful picture of her, and she shone every bit as brightly in person. Probably more. Her loss was a loss to all mankind."</span></strong><br /><br />Sue gave a great deal to Boston University and she gave a great deal to all of us. Her work in immunology inspired her fellow students, faculty and the University to continue her research and finish her thesis. They awarded her a doctorate degree. And they established the <strong>Sue Kim Hanson Lecture In Immunology, </strong>not just to honor her memory, but to give full credit to her work and the inspiration, the strength and the courage Sue provides to us all.<br /><br />Michelle Malkin wrote this in her syndincated column:<br /><br />"Eight children were murdered on hijacked airliners that crashed on Sept. 11. Christine Hanson, 3, was on United Airlines Flight 175 with her parents. She was on her first trip to Disneyland. Christine was brown-eyed and rosy-cheeked and button-nosed. At family meals, she made everyone stand and hold hands while singing the theme song from Barney. During Christine's funeral, mourners re-enacted the scene, singing:<br /><br />"I love you, you love me . . ." "<br /></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS;">Back in 2006, the <a href="http://www.dcroe.com/2996/?page_id=2"><strong>2,996 Project</strong></a> asked bloggers to prepare tributes to all who died in the tragic events of September 11th. Many of those blog entries remain on line and many will be reprinted today. </span> Each year since the project began I have repeated my effort to honor Sue Kim, Peter and Christine. You can read each of my essays following the links below:<br />
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<a href="http://wizardfkap.blogspot.com/2006/09/susan-kim-hanson.html" target="_blank"><b>September 11, 2006 - Susan Kim Hanson</b></a><br />
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<a href="http://wizardfkap.blogspot.com/2007/09/remembering-kim-sue-hanson.html" target="_blank"><b>September 11, 2007 - Remembering Sue Kim Hanson</b></a><br />
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<a href="http://wizardfkap.blogspot.com/2008/09/remebering-kim-sue-hanson.html" target="_blank"><b>September 11, 2008 - Remembering Sue Kim Hanson</b></a><br />
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<a href="http://wizardfkap.blogspot.com/2009/09/remembering-reality-9-11-2001-sue-kim.html" target="_blank"><b>September 11, 2009 - Remembering the Reality: 9-11-2001: Sue Kim Hanson</b></a><br />
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<a href="http://wizardfkap.blogspot.com/2010/09/reflections-on-life-of-kim-sue-hanson.html" target="_blank"><b>September 11, 2010 - Reflections on the Life of Sue Kim Hanson</b></a><br />
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<a href="http://wizardfkap.blogspot.com/2011/09/tears-in-tragedy-remembering-sue-kim.html" target="_blank"><b>September 11, 2011 - Tears in Tragedy - Remembering Sue Kim Hanson</b></a><br />
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<b><a href="http://wizardfkap.blogspot.com/2012/09/honoring-memory-of-peter-sue-and.html" target="_blank">September 11, 2012 - Honoring the Memory of Peter, Sue and Christine Hanson</a></b><br />
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<a href="http://wizardfkap.blogspot.com/2013/09/the-tragedy-of-war-victims-of-hate.html" target="_blank"><b>September 11, 2013 - The Tragedy of War, The Victims of Hate - Remembering Peter, Sue Kim and Christine Hanson</b></a>Bob Kellerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18171655256407149176noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12597943.post-13503578931980347242014-08-29T14:19:00.004-05:002014-08-29T14:24:06.460-05:00"...you have to get shot by a white cop to get any justice..."<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">America's Genocide continues every day. It's a damned shame American's don't know about the "killing fields" right in their own country, Maybe they know but they don't care. Maybe they're just numb.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">Here's just one story. Marcus McCarty, only 14 years old, was fatally shot Sunday afternoon. He's just one of several young black men murdered on Sunday. There is no day of rest in America's killing fields. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">Marcus was standing on the sidewalk when two older boys (or men) walked up. One of them was carrying a gun and opened fire, striking the boy in the back. The murderers walked calmly back to their Infinity and drove away.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">Marcus was rushed to Stroger Hospital in critical condition, but was pronounced dead minutes after arrival.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<b><span style="color: red; font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">As is often the case, no arrests have been made and no one is in custody for the shooting.</span></b><br />
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">The story received almost no press, but here is a short story in the </span><b style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><a href="http://homicides.suntimes.com/victims/marcus-mccarty/" target="_blank">Chicago Homicide Watch.</a></b><br />
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">In the middle of the afternoon on Sunday in a residential neighborhood, it is likely several people witnessed the murder. Gangs and criminals have instilled a "don't snitch" mentality into the folks who must live in the area the gang controls.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">In addition we cannot minimize the impact of the police killing of Michael Brown by a police officer in Ferguson, Missouri two weeks ago. Inner city blacks already didn't trust the police.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">The saddest comment of all came is a comment attached to the story linked above. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">In his comment a person using the name "Tracksuit Al" noted (quite correctly),<b><span style="color: red;"> <span style="font-size: 15px; line-height: 21px;">Sickening that you have to get shot by a white cop to get any justice in this country if you're black.</span></span></b></span><br />
<br />Bob Kellerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18171655256407149176noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12597943.post-37350258993091385572014-08-28T09:22:00.000-05:002014-08-28T12:40:01.408-05:00America's GenocideNo teenager, black, brown or white should ever be murdered by a police officer. Not ever.<br />
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Fortunately, it actually is a very rare occurrence, in spite of what you might "feel" after listening to the non-stop television reports and the rantings of certain pundits. In fact, it makes the national news because it is so rare. We can spend hours upon hours concentrating on the events in Ferguson, Missouri because not one other similar event (white officer, black victim) happened since that date. I am thankful for that.<br />
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But events in Ferguson further distract us from the real American Genocide happening EVERY SINGLE DAY WITHOUT EXCEPTION all across America. Not one of these stories make national news. Not one of these genocidal murders ever gets the attention of President Obama, Attorney General Eric Holder, or any leaders in the Black community.<br />
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None-the-less, black teenage males are being murdered at an alarming rate, every day. The dead numbers in the thousands just this year. When do we make this a priority? When do we step in to save lives? When do we stop the Genocide?<br />
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<b><span style="color: red;">Thirteen year old Nizzear Rodriguez was shot and killed Sunday in Atlanta by three black men (ages 17 to 24) as he slept in bed during a home robbery to steal his Play Station.</span></b><br />
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<span style="color: red;"><b>Nine year old Antonio Smith was shot and killed execution style, shot four time, just minutes after he ran outdoors to play. in his Chicago South Side neighborhood.</b> </span><br />
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The shooter or shooters have not been identified and the crime may never be solved. The Chicago Tribune has an excellent story here: <b><a href="http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/local/breaking/chi-chicago-boy-killed-20140821-story.html#page=1" target="_blank">Parents Visit the Block Where Antonio Was Killed</a></b><br />
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<b><span style="color: red;">I could go on...... I have over seventy more stories in just over the last ten days..</span></b>....<br />
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We cry for justice for Michael Brown, exactly as we should, but we ignore the American Genocide of young black men happening right before our eyes.<br />
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<br />Bob Kellerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18171655256407149176noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12597943.post-2893500710433262172014-08-14T13:15:00.004-05:002014-08-14T13:52:45.198-05:00Straight Talk from Rand Paul<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">Ferguson, Missouri, USA is downright scary. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">I think nearly everyone in America who is aware of the police shooting of an unarmed 18 year old boy, Michael Brown, in Ferguson, Missouri and the aftermath of riots and police confrontation is terrified by what is happening there.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">This level of racism in the midwest was unexpected. And the attitudes of the police in their interactions with the public and the press after the shooting is frightening. We have a police force that is genuinely out of control and we don't know what to do about it.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">Unfortunately 99 percent of the nations politicians are busy staking out their old, worn-out, pre-programmed, hackneyed political positions.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">Imagine my surprise this morning to find one politician is actually, <b><span style="font-size: large;">"gasp,"</span></b> telling the truth. Even more remarkably, it is a Republican, telling truths his fellow Republicans generally don't want to hear.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><b>My hero today is Senator Rand Paul.</b> Writing in <a href="http://time.com/3111474/rand-paul-ferguson-police/" target="_blank"><b>Time Magazine</b></a> he attacks the issue of Racism head on:</span><br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<b><span style="color: #990000; font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">Anyone who thinks that race does not still, even if inadvertently, skew the application of criminal justice in this country is just not paying close enough attention. Our prisons are full of black and brown men and women who are serving inappropriately long and harsh sentences for non-violent mistakes in their youth.</span></b></blockquote>
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<b><span style="color: #990000; font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">If I had been told to get out of the street as a teenager, there would have been a distinct possibility that I might have smarted off. But, I wouldn’t have expected to be shot.</span></b></blockquote>
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">More importantly Ron Paul attacks head on the over-reaction, military style response from the police who are attempting, unsuccessfully, to address the reaction of the people of Ferguson.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">Republicans generally want to defend the police, but here their actions are indefensible. Paul knows that and takes the issues head on.</span><br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<span style="color: #990000; font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><b>The militarization of our law enforcement is due to an unprecedented expansion of government power in this realm. It is one thing for federal officials to work in conjunction with local authorities to reduce or solve crime. It is quite another for them to subsidize it.
</b></span></blockquote>
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<span style="color: #990000; font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><b>Americans must never sacrifice their liberty for an illusive and dangerous, or false, security. This has been a cause I have championed for years, and one that is at a near-crisis point in our country.</b></span></blockquote>
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">It is incredibly refreshing to hear a politician, especially in an election year, tell people the truth and address the issues affecting our nation. We don't need sugar coated, focus group tested, platitudes. We need to be able to handle the truth. I urge you to read Senator Puals full essay <a href="http://time.com/3111474/rand-paul-ferguson-police/" target="_blank"><b>here.</b></a></span>Bob Kellerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18171655256407149176noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12597943.post-24767495210728267242014-07-26T12:00:00.000-05:002014-07-26T12:11:34.704-05:00"Ok, I don’t know where to go with that"<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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<b><span style="font-size: large;">"Ok, I don’t know where to go with that."</span></b><br />
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Assuming you've seen the Sprint "Framily" commercials you recognize that line, spoken by the father (alright, he is a hamster living in a plastic ball) in response to his rather dim witted son Chuck's comment at the dinner table with "Grandpa." Here is a link to the commercial in case you somehow missed it ---> <a href="http://www.marketmenot.com/sprint-framily-dinner-with-grandpa-commercial/" target="_blank">Dinner with Grandpa</a><br />
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Dad's frustrated punch line in the commercial, <b>"Ok, I don’t know where to go with that,"</b> mirrors my frustration with the inexplicable behavior of our virtually absent Commander in Chief, who appears to be nearly totally uninterested in world events in Gaza, the Ukraine or Libya, the border crisis here in the United States or even his own plummeting poll numbers. He seems to be blissfully ignoring them all.<br />
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Surely President Obama is not as dim witted as Chuck in the above mentioned commercial. So what is he doing? It's a great mystery to nearly everyone.<br />
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Frustration among Democrats is starting to boil over as President Obama faces criticism from many members of his own party in Congress who simply don't understand why he is so unengaged, detached or oblivious to events swirling around him.<br />
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He demonizes Republicans at every chance (mostly at fundraisers), but never attempts to actually engage them. He claims to have a "pen and a telephone" but the telephone is never used. He never calls John Boehner or Mitch McConnell or Paul Ryan in an attempt to broker a deal, reach a compromise and reduce tension. He quite literally has no friends or allies in Congress or anywhere on the world stage. <br />
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<b><span style="color: #cc0000;">The entire nation, indeed the entire world, simply "doesn't know where to go with that."</span></b> No one alive today has ever seen the President of the United States simply abdicate his role in world affairs.<br />
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Yesterday, spokesmen from the White House suddenly gave credence to the wildly speculative talk of possible Impeachment. I simply must say, <b>"Ok, I don’t know where to go with that." </b> It's almost as if they wish Republicans would engage in that behavior as it might actually raise the President's approval rating much as it did for President Clinton. Perhaps they believe talk of impeachment would help turn out Democrats in the fall elections.<br />
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However, curiously, two polls about his possible impeachment were released yesterday. It's laughable to read CNN's downplaying the fact that <b><a href="http://politicalticker.blogs.cnn.com/2014/07/25/cnnorc-poll-majority-say-no-to-impeachment-and-lawsuit/" target="_blank">their own poll indicated an astonishing 35% of Americans favor impeachment.</a> </b> That number is huge and more than a little scary.<br />
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The media downplayed a<b> </b><a href="http://www.foxnews.com/politics/2014/07/24/fox-news-poll-voters-say-obama-exceeded-authority-but-oppose-impeachment/" target="_blank"><b>Fox News Poll</b>,</a> also released yesterday, that showed a nearly identical 36% favor impeachment.<br />
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I don't believe that impeachment is even a remote possibility today. House Speaker John Boehner says it's "off the table."<br />
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But.... If Barack Obama continues his absentee role as President and his approval rating continue to fall.... and more Democrats continue to criticize him... well, <b>"Ok, I don’t know where to go with that."</b><br />
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Perhaps because I spent a good part of my career in Advertising I really appreciate the genius of the new Sprint "Framily" commercials. They have become a cultural phenomena. Virtually everyone I meet, both friends and random acquaintances seem to know virtually every line from every commercial in the series. It is a client's dream and I'm sure Sprint loves that this series of commercials has gone viral.<br />
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The voice of Dad, also known as Tom Frobinson (the hamster), is voiced by Andrew Dice Clay. The part of Mom, or <b>"Tacos"</b> Mollie Frobinson in the commercials is played by brilliant Judy Greer The son<b> "You can also text"</b> Chuck is played by Kyle Mooney. And the part of <b>"It's pronounced Gor-don"</b> is played fantastically by Justin Michael.<br />
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The series of commercials, referred to in the industry as "The Frobinsons" was created by Figliulo & Partners and is their first campaign for Sprint. The campaign was created in partnership with DigitasLBi and MediaVest and designed to promote a rather unique cellular telephone plan now called the Sprint Framily Plan. Under Sprint's concept you get to decide exactly who you consider to be members of your "Framily." It can be actual family, friends, acquaintances, roommates or even hamsters. The more members of your "Framily" the lower the bill for each member.Bob Kellerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18171655256407149176noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12597943.post-17007617625174957692014-07-17T09:50:00.000-05:002014-07-17T12:14:13.194-05:00"Brownie, you're doing a heck of a job,"<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><b><a href="http://www.commondreams.org/headlines05/1230-01.htm" target="_blank"><span style="color: blue;"><span style="background-color: white; line-height: 18.200000762939453px;">"</span><span style="background-color: white; line-height: 18.200000762939453px;">Brownie</span><span style="background-color: white; line-height: 18.200000762939453px;">, </span><span style="background-color: white; line-height: 18.200000762939453px;">you</span><span style="background-color: white; line-height: 18.200000762939453px;">'</span><span style="background-color: white; line-height: 18.200000762939453px;">re doing</span><span style="background-color: white; line-height: 18.200000762939453px;"> a heck of a </span><span style="background-color: white; line-height: 18.200000762939453px;">job,</span><u>"</u></span></a></b><span style="background-color: white;"><span style="color: #545454;"><span style="line-height: 18.200000762939453px;"> is probably the most famous quote by any President in our lifetime. President Bush's praise of FEMA Director Michael Brown during the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina in 2005 illustrated to ALL the American public exactly how out of touch the President was concerning the unfolding disaster in New Orleans. The public was watching the disaster unfold, live, on television. President Bush, briefed badly by incompetent advisers simply had no idea what was happening.</span></span></span></span><br />
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<span style="background-color: white;"><span style="color: #545454;"><span style="line-height: 18.200000762939453px;">Bush rallied and by all impartial accounts did a masterful job in directing the efforts in the aftermath of Katrina, making over a dozen grueling trips and personally overseeing every aspect of the recovery*, but he is always remembered for that one quote.</span></span></span></span><br />
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<span style="background-color: white;"><span style="line-height: 18.200000762939453px;"><span style="color: #545454;">Because we are now so used to President Obama lying about absolutely everthing, his stating that he's </span><b><span style="color: #990000;">“not interested in photo ops"</span> in defending his decision to not visit the border even one time </b><span style="color: #545454;">will never receive the legendary status of the Bush "Brownie" quote. Never-the-less it does illustrate exactly how horribly out of touch he is concerning the current border immigration crisis.</span></span></span></span><br />
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<span style="background-color: white;"><span style="color: #545454;"><span style="line-height: 18.200000762939453px;">Fortunately ABC NEWS is covering the situation in depth. Their report <b><a href="http://abcnews.go.com/Politics/heres-obama-visited-border/story?id=24508642" target="_blank">Here's What Obama Would See If He Visited the Border</a> </b>is frightening. Be certain to read and watch the entire story at the link above. Below is a tiny portion of the report.</span></span></span></span><br />
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<b><span style="color: #990000; font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><span style="background-color: white; line-height: 17px;">Children, wrapped only in Red Cross blankets, sleep on cement floors. </span><span style="background-color: white; line-height: 17px;">Hundreds of young children apprehended at the border are crowded into sanitary but impersonal detention cells, their faces pressed listlessly against the glass.</span></span></b></blockquote>
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<b><span style="color: #990000; font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">Rep. Henry Cuellar, D-Texas, told ABC News that the president risks looking “detached,” calling the optics “horrible.”</span></b></blockquote>
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<b><span style="color: #990000; font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">“If you go down to the border, he has to see the kids that I’ve seen, young girls, young boys, you know, that have come through very difficult situations. It is a humanitarian crisis, and he can either do two things,” Cuellar said. “One, as a leader, he can be defiant and say I’m going to roll up my sleeves and see the humanitarian crisis. Or he can look detached, appear detached and say I’m doing everything long distance.”</span></b></blockquote>
<span style="background-color: white;"><span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif; line-height: 18.200000762939453px;">Today it is certainly Barack Obama who is out of touch. And, unlike President Bush during Katrina, Obama isn't doing a damned thing to alleviate the situation, Instead he demonizes Republicans. He makes speeches calling Republican's evil. He doesn't even try to win over popular public support. He seems more interested in making enemies than allies. He has yet to appeal to the American Public, who would, most assuredly, rally to the cause.</span></span><br />
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<span style="background-color: white;"><span style="line-height: 18.200000762939453px;">Today it is <a href="http://www.mediaite.com/tv/beck-border-visit-critics-can-complain-but-i-have-responsibility-to-god/" target="_blank"><b>Glenn Beck of all people who is doing the right thing for all the right reasons</b></a>. It is Beck who is illuminating the crisis and it is Beck who is appealing directly to the American People for support, tolerance and understanding. </span></span></span><br />
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<span style="background-color: white;"><span style="line-height: 18.200000762939453px;">The President ought to ask Glenn Beck for a ride and join him on the border. The President ought to appeal to the public for donation, support and a willingness to take in refugees in their local communities. The President ought to pretend, for just a few hours to be a leader. Frankly, Obama needs a photo-op.</span></span></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><span style="background-color: white;"><span style="line-height: 18.200000762939453px;">------------------------------------------------</span></span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><span style="background-color: white;"><span style="line-height: 18.200000762939453px;"><br /></span></span></span><span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><span style="background-color: white;"><span style="line-height: 18.200000762939453px;">* See and read how <b><a href="http://www.nola.com/politics/index.ssf/2009/10/barack_obama_has_failed_to_mat.html" target="_blank">President Bush handled the aftermath of the Katrina Crisis in Jonathan Tilove's New Orleans Times-Picayune article written in October 2009</a>. </b></span></span></span>Bob Kellerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18171655256407149176noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12597943.post-197132698903033662014-07-13T11:38:00.000-05:002014-07-13T11:44:45.370-05:00A Nation Cries out for a Leader<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">For five and one half years we've had, as President, a man who loves the trappings of the office, but dislikes and avoids any of the real responsibilities of the job. Barack Obama is a gifted orator, perhaps the greatest to even hold the office of President. He is a visionary and a man who, at least at one time, had a real feel for the pulse of the people.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">He has vision, but lacks virtually any ability. He is not a leader and he is not, most certainly, a politician. He cannot negotiate and is completely unwilling to compromise. He rails daily against Republicans for not bending to his will, but never works with them to achieve a mutual advantage. Mutual being the operative word.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">Slowly, but surely, the press and the public have turned against him. Today most people (a surprisingly large majority) wish they had elected Mitt Romney president. Add me to that column, because today we really need a President. And we don't have one.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">Because he has no ability to manage the office, Barack Obama has checked out. Republican's claim Obama has chosen to become an "Imperial President," acting on his own as if he were a king. Even that is not true, he simply has embarked on a two and a half year retirement tour doing the only thing he knows how to do, give speeches to dwindling and increasingly hostile crowds.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">Have we ever had a President have complete breakdown in office? Rumor has it that Woodrow Wilson did. Wilson's wife managed much of the last years of his Presidency.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">Today the border and immigration problem has reached crisis proportions. The administration is furtively hiding tens of thousands of illegal immigrants all over the country, many of them children. Even Congressmen and Governors are being kept on the dark, not allowed to visit immigrants or encampments or even allowed to know the locations where illegal immigrants are held. Rumors are rampant.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">Rich Lowrey (yes, I know he is a partisan Republican) has written a brilliant essay in<a href="http://nypost.com/2014/07/12/the-presidents-man-caused-disaster/" target="_blank"> <b>The New York Post, The President's Man Caused Disaster</b></a>. Below are some key points, rearranged and abbreviated by me. Be certain you follow the link above and read his original and complete essay.</span><br />
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<b><span style="color: #990000; font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">The first rule in a crisis for any executive is put on his windbreaker and boots and get out on the ground. President George W. Bush didn’t do it soon enough after Hurricane Katrina and, politically, could never make up for it.</span></b></blockquote>
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<b><span style="color: #990000; font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">Obama’s bizarre resistance to visiting the border on his fundraising swing out West fueled talk of the influx as Obama’s “Katrina moment.” </span></b></blockquote>
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<b><span style="color: #990000; font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">The president didn’t have any depressing visits to frightened ranchers, overwhelmed border agents or desperate migrants on his itinerary.</span></b></blockquote>
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<b><span style="color: #990000; font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">Obama’s policies are responsible for the influx of immigrants from the border. It is, in the argot of his administration, a “man-caused disaster.”
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<b><span style="color: #990000; font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">According to the Los Angeles Times, the number of immigrants younger than 18 who were deported or turned away from ports of entry declined from 8,143 in 2008 to 1,669 last year. There were 95 minors deported from the entire interior of the country last year.
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<b><span style="color: #990000; font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">At the same time, the number of unaccompanied alien children arriving from El Salvador, Guatemala and Honduras exploded from less than 4,000 several years ago to 40,000 since last October.
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<b><span style="color: #990000; font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">The White House brushes off criticism that Obama is avoiding the border as mere “optics,” in contrast to its highly substantive focus. </span></b></blockquote>
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<b><span style="color: #990000; font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">But it’s still not taking the crisis seriously.
In a letter to Texas Gov. Rick Perry, White House senior adviser Valerie Jarrett downgraded the erstwhile “humanitarian crisis” on the border (the president’s words) to an “urgent humanitarian situation.”
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<b><span style="color: #990000; font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">When pressed on the shift in verbiage, ever-judicious White House press secretary Josh Earnest explained that it is both a crisis and a situation. Yes, it’s that bad.</span></b></blockquote>
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">The real question is can President Obama "Man Up" and accept the responsibilities of President? We really need a leader. Actually we really need several leaders.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">In 1974 it was a trio of Republicans in Congress who grew to accept the challenge and face down another "Imperial President," Richard Nixon. It would have been impossible for a Democrat, a member of the opposition, to carry the hard facts to President Nixon. If the crisis in leadership in 1974 was to be solved, it had to be done by members of the President's own party.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">It was Senate Minority Leader Hugh Scott, House Minority Leader John J. Rhodes and Sen. Barry M. Goldwater, who had both the integrity and courage to face President Nixon with the news that he must resign for the good of the country.
</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">It is quite interesting that just a few days ago Barack Obama named Richard Nixon as one of the Republicans he most admires <span style="font-size: x-small;">[LINK: <a href="http://www.whitehouse.gov/the-press-office/2014/07/10/remarks-president-economy-austin-tx" target="_blank"><b>Obama's speech in Austin Texas</b></a>]</span>. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">Let's hope President Obama does not have to resign. Let's hope he can become the President our country so desperately needs.</span>Bob Kellerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18171655256407149176noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12597943.post-71203979757694317772014-06-29T12:12:00.002-05:002014-06-29T12:18:16.289-05:00Can Americans Ever Work Together Again?<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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<br />
This morning I watched<a href="http://www.cbsnews.com/face-the-nation/" target="_blank"> <b>Bob Schieffer's Face the Nation</b></a>, as I often do. Bob's calm and disciplined look at politics and political issues is a refreshing break from the hyperbole found on the highly partisan cable news networks. People are not yelling at each other but actually talking with each other.<br />
<br />
One of Bob's guest commentators this morning was Todd S. Purdum, author of a new book about the passing of the landmark civil rights legislation during another time of great political partisanship,<b> <a href="http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0805096728/ref=as_li_tl?ie=UTF8&camp=1789&creative=390957&creativeASIN=0805096728&linkCode=as2&tag=thewizarfkap&linkId=BMSCP36PAYS55AI4" target="_blank">An Idea Whose Time Has Come: Two Presidents, Two Parties, and the Battle for the Civil Rights Act of 1964</a><img alt="" border="0" src="http://ir-na.amazon-adsystem.com/e/ir?t=thewizarfkap&l=as2&o=1&a=0805096728" height="1" style="border: none !important; margin: 0px !important;" width="1" /></b><br />
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After discussing the book, Bob Schieffer wondered if we would ever see this type of cooperation between the political parties again. Please keep in mind that is was a coalition of a majority of Republicans with only some Democrats who actually passed the Civil Right's Bill.<br />
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The answer to Schieffer's plaintive plea is actually in the book. The answer in 1964 was President Lyndon B. Johnson's incredible style of management of the political process. Johnson never once even imagined, let alone threatened that would "bypass Congress" or usurp the Constitution to accomplish his difficult task. Instead Johnson masterfully worked across the aisle to win support. <br />
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Lyndon B. Johnson picked up the phone, quite literally all day, every day and talked with supporters and opponents of the bill. He wanted to understand, genuinely understand, the reasons so many in Congress opposed the bill. He wanted to learn how he could win the support of those who wavered. He used the power of persuasion and politics. He horse-traded. He cajoled. He begged and he promised. And he enacted what is one of the single most contentions pieces of legislation even enacted in our nation's history. <br />
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I genuinely believe President Barack Obama could get immigration reform passed if he could just bring himself to stoop down to the level of one of the greatest politicians in our nations's history, and one of our greatest statesmen, Lyndon B. Johnson.Bob Kellerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18171655256407149176noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12597943.post-31973040616280903972014-06-22T18:02:00.000-05:002014-06-23T01:06:16.062-05:00Judy Woodruff and the Betrayal of America by the Main Stream and Liberal Media<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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A brief five second statement, really almost an side comment in the midst of a larger discussion, illustrated the nearly complete bankruptcy of our Main Stream Media and our beloved Liberal Media in the face of major scandal in the Obama Administration.<br />
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The side comment was made by Judy Woodruff, the co-anchor of Public Broadcasting's PBS Newshour. She is one of the leading luminaries at PBS and a highly respected journalist. Her candid comment tells us everything that is going wrong in main stream Journalism today.<br />
<br />
The discussion took place today on Chris Wallace's Fox News Sunday. The complete transcript of the hour long program is available here: <b><a href="http://www.foxnews.com/on-air/fox-news-sunday-chris-wallace/2014/06/22/kevin-mccarthy-talks-iraq-future-gop-latest-irs-scandal" target="_blank">Kevin McCarthy talks Iraq, future of the GOP; latest on IRS scandal</a>. </b><br />
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As Wallace's panel on pundits discussed the stunning disappearance of two years of Lois Lerner's emails and the highly improbable instantaneous failure of not just one but six individual computer hard drives (on six different computers) all happening exactly ten days after Congress began questioning the IRS about the targeting of Conservative Groups. Any (and I do mean ANY) computer expert or engineer will tell you this is simply impossible.<br />
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Worse, the hard drives were not repaired of reclaimed, but destroyed. Destroyed, ten days after Congress began asking questions. Stunning, in fact it's frightening.<br />
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This scandal is much worse than Watergate in both the facts and implications. Now I doubt the President is involved, but this is a conspiracy of huge proportions. We need a Special Prosecutor. <br />
<b><br /></b>
<b>But what was upsetting this morning was not any of that. What's upsetting was Woodruff's candid admission: <span style="color: red; font-size: large;"> Well, what I can say, Chris, is I haven't reported this story. I haven't -- I don't know what happened inside the IRS.</span></b><br />
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What's tragic here is that PBS has willfully ignored the story and has spent not one second investigating or even exploring the implications of a massive, coordinated government cover-up.<br />
<br />
Had this exact same situation occurred with a Republican President, Nixon, Reagan, Bush I or Bush II, PBS would be tearing the very walls of the IRS down the ground. And they should be doing it now. We only survive as a free democracy with the aid and protection of a vibrant, active press.<br />
<br />
FOX NEWS has few resources and limited access. They cannot carry the ball alone. Plus they might distort the story. We need ABC, CBS, NBC and PBS on the case.<br />
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We cannot survive as a free nation if the main stream media only does it's job when a Republican is President. The press is either going to have to start doing their damned job or we can simply never elect a Democrat President again.Bob Kellerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18171655256407149176noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12597943.post-63270322054735864632014-06-16T17:08:00.000-05:002014-06-17T14:50:48.502-05:00The Racism in Gun Violence ReportingIt's been a tough, demanding news week. Between the Sunni led invasion and revolution in Iraq that genuinely threatens to topple the government <b><u>and</u></b> the controversial Bergdahl - Taliban prisoner exchange <b><u>and</u></b> the stunning Tea Party election victory over Republican Eric Cantor in the Virginia primary, it's amazing that anything broke into the news stream.<br />
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But one huge controversy did break through and occupied significant time on MSNBC, Fox News and CNN: A group called <a href="http://everytown.org/article/schoolshootings/" target="_blank"><b>Everytown for Gun Safety</b></a> released what they thought was a definitive list of all the school shooting since Sandy Hook, a stunning seventy-four examples of gun violence in or around school.<br />
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Immediately nearly everyone tore the list apart, claiming it was fatally flawed with non-school shootings, unrelated crimes and events like suicides that should not be included in the list. However, Liberals and Gun Control Advocates trumpeted the list demanding increased gun laws and stricter licensing requirements. After all, seventy-four school shootings is a nightmare.<br />
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Now, admittedly the list is a huge exaggeration. CNN recompiled the list into actual school shootings and it only came up with ten (10). But ten is still terrible. And, regardless, the news cycle was dominated by statistics about past events, not a current event at all. <br />
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The real question is "Why?" The answer is obvious. School Shootings are horrific. They are easy to visualize. I bet you can see it now ---> Innocent children mowed down by a machine gun wielding rambo-like maniac. Of course we need gun control.<br />
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But maybe these school yard shootings get the press and publicity, public outcry and notoriety for another reason. The victims are virtually always white. So are the shooters.<br />
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You remember Sandy Hook In Sandy Hook twenty-seven were shot.<br />
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Last weekend, Father's Day Weekend, twenty-five (25) people <a href="http://www.breitbart.com/Big-Government/2014/06/15/Chicago-Erupts-in-Violence-Over-Fathers-Day-Weekend-2-Dead-25-Shot" target="_blank"><b>were shot in south and west Chicago</b></a>. One as young fifteen, another seventeen. By the way, the fifteen year old lived, the seventeen year old was killed. And this happens most weekends. A Sandy Hook every week.<br />
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No one reports this, but if they did, no one would talk about it. Why?<br />
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Is it because because most of the victims and shooters are black? Is it because Chicago already has the toughest gun laws in America, laws that are rarely if ever enforced?<br />
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There is just no milage in discussing America's Genocide. No one can profit. No one can raise money. No one can lobby for tougher laws.<br />
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And no one wants to even brooch the real issues of societal breakdown behind the gang related violence. <br />
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We Liberals love to blame guns because they are inanimate objects. People? Not so much.<br />
<br />Bob Kellerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18171655256407149176noreply@blogger.com0