March 21, 2018

In the company of famous slip and falls this week - Free Parking

http://eureka.news/
http://eureka.news/free-parking-25/

I was in famous company in the slip and fall category this week. Congresswoman Louise Slaughter died after falling in her bathroom at home. Her family and friends and constituents are mourning her death. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton broke her wrist in a hotel bathroom in India. I’m sure the hotel took great care and paid all the bills and probably apologized a thousand times. I slipped in a shower in a city facility and because of torte immunity laws I was treated with unconcealed boredom by the staff after I fell and broke my foot.

I am so grateful to have Medicare! Without insurance I would have had to pay for the hospital emergency room visit, medical equipment along with treatment from my personal physician. While Medicare is not free, it is great insurance and it’s a comfort during convalescence to know that I only have to heal my body without worrying about all the medical bills.

Paul Ryan, along with our congress critter Steve Womack, is once again attacking our fragile healthcare system with new plans to cut Medicare and Medicaid; Arkansas now has a work requirement to receive healthcare. Of course, you and I pay for Congressional members’ most excellent insurance.

Behind the mental whiplash that Trump’s daily multiple lies produces, Republicons in both Houses of Congress scheme to steal the rest of our money through more banking deregulation, tax “reform” scams and exploding the national debt to $21TRILLION.

The chaos unleashed by our unhinged president conveniently provides cover for massive corruption by him and his cronies; and in their insatiable greed, Republicons may also destroy our children’s futures and our planet by deregulating industries that exacerbate the climate crisis.

I hope we join together and use our voices to change the way our government is being run and we use our votes to elect people who will represent us all, not just the oligarchs.

I fear that like that frog jumping into warm water that turns hot and then boils to death, our complacency will keep us from noticing the water is getting hotter.

March 20, 2018

Here's my 9/15/17 column - Free Parking

http://eureka.news/free-parking-9/


As the tale of betrayal and treason inundating the Trump White House spiral in an ever widening gyre, we add more names in this saga: DeVos and Zuckerberg.

In a November 22, 2016 Forbes article, Jared Kushner bragged about his “Stealth Data Machine” that won the White House for Donald Trump. In an article dated October 31, 2016, Slate magazine reported on the connections in Kushner’s “Machine.”

For months during the election cycle, reporters noted constant Internet data traffic between Trump Towers servers and Russian Alfa Bank’s servers. Now we learn of a third leg in those data transmissions.

Spectrum Health, a DeVos family (of Amway pyramid-scheme wealth) company’s computer servers appear to have been receiving, replicating and updating hacked voter records with more complete data gleaned from their voluminous patient records. Then after being updated and replicated, that data was transmitted to Trump Tower servers, Alfa Bank servers, and finally to the Kremlin for weaponization based on targeted voter information.

Confirming these allegations, computer data scientists recently published Meta data from their IP addresses and noted consistent lengths of time for each transmission and period of rest.

Intelligence shows Russia’s GRU hacked both DNC voter rolls and voter registration systems throughout the 2016 election cycle. While no data was stolen, deleted or changed, it was replicated.

Zuckerberg’s Facebook recently admitted taking illegal ad money from Russian companies. Whether Zuckerberg’s company is complicit is undetermined. But the reported $100,000 ad buys placed a lot of political ads on Facebook . Those ads aimed to destroy the opposition: Hillary Clinton.

Betsy DeVos, now part of the Trump cabinet, is turning our public school system into private charter and alternative (religious) schools.

Her brother, Eric Prince, owner of infamous Blackwater private military, is lobbying for his new “logistics” company, Frontier Resource Group, to replace our military in Afghanistan. So far, our generals have managed to squash that plan.

Now under cover of devastating fires and hurricanes, Trump and the Republicons are stacking the courts. Fascism is edging ever closer. All I can say is, “Hurry up! Robert Mueller! Those clanging bells signal a 10-alarm fire!”

March 8, 2018

Papa Doc for Life! --- Free Parking 3/7/2018

http://eureka.news/free-parking-23/

What a week. Putin threatened the entire world with nuclear strikes and it barely caused a murmur on the news.

Trump declared a trade war and already the blowback is affecting our economy; Mexico buys corn from Brazil instead of the US, a major appliance manufacturer has stopped plans to build a quarter of a billion dollar plant in the U.S., and the EU has placed 100% tariffs on Harley-Davidson motorcycles.

But there were some winners, too. Trump’s advisor Carl Icahn saved millions by serendipitously divesting from steel and his Russian friend (handler?) Oleg Deripaska jumped from aluminum to nickel and palladium right before Trump announced those steel and aluminum tariffs. Lucky them! You and I, however, are going to pay as inflation hits like a ton of bricks since everything is going to cost more from cars to beer. Lucky us!

Republicon Senate leader Mitch McConnell is bent on teaching those whippersnapper kids who is boss; he shelved gun control debate and moved to banking reform. That of course, means removing regulations that keep banks from stealing our money.

Puerto Rico was plunged into darkness again as their fragile electric grid collapsed, and there is no relief in sight for their misery.

At 405 days into his presidency, Trump spent his 100th day at Mar-a-Lago at our expense; so far to the tune of about a $100 million dollars. Ben Carson spent $31,000 on a dining room set after cutting $6 billion from housing for those in need.

Meanwhile, we find that Trump’s chief advisor, son-in-law Jared, has been using his office to reward countries who favor him with money and to punish those who do not. His other trusted advisor, daughter Ivanka, is being investigated for illegal money laundering in Panama, and the understaffed White House is still shedding personnel like a dog sheds fur in summer.

Crises abound the world over that requires a United State president who is a true leader; instead we have a man consumed with his hair, FOX teevee and celebrity Twitter fights; now he wants to be our Papa Doc for Life.

March 3, 2018

I just tried to go onto Craigslist

and this is the message I got

This IP has been automatically blocked.
If you have questions, please email: blocks-b1520093394857277@craigslist.org

Why have they been taken down? Anyone know?

March 2, 2018

Children are leading the way.

Free Parking Feb 28 2018
http://eureka.news/free-parking-22/

From tragedy comes new hope for our future. What no adult could or would do is being done by teenagers. Their direct action has loosened the political stranglehold of the NRA. Major company after major company is running from the advocates of kid killing guns, and they’re pulling money and resources from the organization that has long threatened anyone who would dare to mention sane regulations.

Why does the NRA fight tooth and nail against closing the loopholes that avoid thorough background checks; keeping guns from domestic abusers and those who are mentally ill? The organization seems to advocate for gun manufacturers, not gun owners; 85% of whom support regulations.

Does Wayne LaPierre get kickback commission for every gun and bullet sold? He must be well paid to have such disregard for human life; but, with the loss of sponsors, his fortunes may dwindle because corporations are responding to the demands of the people.

In the first two months of 2018, there have been 18 school shooting incidents – two were intended massacres and two were suicides. Secondary school shootings are committed by white males, 79% of the time, who generally fall into one of three categories – psychotic, traumatized or psychopathic and unable to feel empathy.

This speaks to our country’s great need for mental health care, especially in our schools. While this is generally known, the Republicon Congress has cut national education and health care budgets again, making mental healthcare impossible.

Good guys with guns don’t stop bad guys with guns. Last week’s school massacre proved that. The “good guy” school cop and his gun hid outside until the killer finished his rampage. Then the three other “good guy” cops (hiding behind their car, guns drawn) missed the killer who left the scene to go buy snacks after killing 17 people. I’d say this theory of “good guy with gun overcomes bad guys” is a massive failure.

Studies show that gun violence correlates to the number of guns in the same population. More guns equal more gun deaths.

The paradigm is shifting and children are leading the way.