xocetaceans
xocetaceans's JournalDr. Keith Ablow: Let's Invade Everywhere for the Sake of Democracy!
Values
Its time for an American jihad
By Dr. Keith Ablow | Published October 28, 2014
...
An American jihad would reawaken in American citizens the certain knowledge that our Constitution is a sacred document that better defines and preserves the liberty and autonomy of human beings than the charter of any other nation on earth.
The Constitution, along with the miracle of our nation's founding and the providential history of America fighting and winning war after war against oppressive regimes, proves our manifest destiny not only to preserve our borders and safety and national character at home, but to spread around the world our love of individual freedom and insist on its reflection in every government.
...
We would accept the fact that an American jihad could mean boots on the ground in many places in the world where human rights are being denigrated and horrors are unfolding. Because wherever leaders and movements appear that seek to trample upon the human spirit, we have a God-given right to intervene because we have been to the mountaintop of freedom, and we have seen the Promised Land spanning the globe.
...
We the People of the United States are good and we are right. And we need the spirit of an American jihad to properly invite, intensify and focus our intentions to preserve, protect and defend our Constitution here at home, and to seek to spread its principles abroad.
Source: www foxnews com/opinion/2014/10/28/its-time-for-american-jihad/
Apparently, Keith has been "psychiatrin' " too hard and has lost touch with the last decade or so of life in the USA. Seemingly, he has learned nothing about invading countries and attempting to convert said countries to democracy. Strangely too, in the his piece, France, Sweden and Germany are not nearly democratic enough for Dr. Ablow.
Of course, the USA has the greatest democracy that the world has ever seen. That clearly goes without saying.
However, is the world willing to admit this? One might wonder just how the world sees the USA's exceptional democracy.
[hr]
As it turns out, there is an organization that has attempted to study the functioning of democracies and governments worldwide. This group is the Democracy Ranking Association (Förderung von Demokratiequalität) and is based in Vienna, Austria.
One may see their staff here:
One may read about their methodology here:
Quality of Democracy = (freedom & other characteristics of the political system) & (performance of the non-political dimensions).
Concept and method: The Democracy Ranking model refers to one political dimension and five non-political dimensions, which are: (1) gender (socio-economic and educational gender equality); (2) economy (economic system); (3) knowledge (knowledge-based information society, research and education); (4) health (health status and health system); (5) environment (environmental sustainability). To every dimension different indicators are assigned, therefore the dimensions behave as indicator-based. All indicators are transformed to a value range of 1 to 100, where 1 represents the weakest (poorest) and 100 the strongest (best) value. For every individual Democracy Ranking release, the used indicators are being specifically (and again) re-transformed to the value range from 1 to 100. Therefore, when results of different Democracy Rankings are compared, scores can deviate, only the ranking positions stay constant.
...
Comprehensive gender dimension: Because gender indicators with a political orientation are assigned to the political dimension, the political dimension already contains gender information. Out of an interest of wanting to know what a possible ranking pattern of a broader gender dimension might be, the Democracy Ranking calculates a comprehensive gender dimension (a so-called seventh dimension). The ranking scores of that comprehensive gender dimension are also documented, however, they do not impact the aggregated ranking of the Democracy Ranking. The comprehensive gender dimension is based as an aggregation on the following indicators with the following weight measures (see also Comprehensive Scoreboards in the Ranking Excel Files): Global Gender Gap Report 20%; Political Rights (Freedom House) 15%; Civil Liberties (Freedom House) 15%; life expectancy at birth, female (years) 16.67%; labor force, female (% of total labor force) 8.33%; and unemployment, female (% of female labor force) 8.33%. All the other indicators are weighted equally with 4.17%: primary education, pupils (% female); school enrollment, secondary, female (% gross); school enrollment, secondary, female (% net); school enrollment, tertiary, female (% gross).
...
http://democracyranking.org/wordpress/?page_id=590
So, do they admit that the USA is the world's greatest democracy?
... Umm ... Something's really wrong here. ... They think that we're ... ????? NUMBER 15 !?!?!?
- Norway
- Sweden
- Finland
- Switzerland
- Denmark
- Netherlands
- Germany
- New Zealand
- Austria
- Belgium
- Ireland
- Australia
- Canada
- United Kingdom
- United States
...
http://democracyranking.org/wordpress/ranking/2013/data/Scores_of_the_Democracy_Ranking_2013_letter.pdf
Apparently, Austria needs to be invaded first!
[hr](A lot of this OP should be understood to be SARCASTIC in nature.)
Police Chief Suggests Protests May Have Led to an Increase in the Number of 2014 St. Louis Homicides
| Thursday, October 23, 2014 at 12:30 pm
ST. LOUIS (AP) Homicides are up more than 25 percent in St. Louis this year, and the city is already poised to surpass the total number of killings for all of 2013.
Four more deaths in the next two months would put the number of slayings above last years total of 120 homicides, the St. Louis Post-Dispatch reported. From Jan. 1 of this year through Wednesday, 117 people have been killed in St. Louis. Ninety-one homicides were reported in about the same time frame last year.
...
Whats the only thing thats changed since the middle of August? Dotson said. He said one answer could be the protests that followed the fatal shooting of 18-year-old Michael Brown on Aug. 9 by a Ferguson police officer.
I believe there is some segment of the community that feels empowered by whats going on, Dotson said.
...
http://www.columbiatribune.com/news/homicides-in-st-louis-poised-to-pass-total/article_f0005e70-54bd-5841-8fe5-b26430748bd4.html
Bizarre. Perhaps it is time to get a new police chief in St. Louis. However, I might be misreading his remarks.
Access to St. Louis crime statistics seems to be here:
Alan Eustace: A Successful Skydive from around 135,890 ft
Google's Alan Eustace beats Baumgartner's skydiving record
A senior Google vice president, Alan Eustace, has broken the world altitude record for a parachute jump set in 2012 by Austrian Felix Baumgartner.
Mr Eustace was carried by a large helium balloon from New Mexico to over 40km (25 miles) above the earth.
The 57-year-old leapt out in a specially-designed space suit, reaching speeds of more than 1,300km/h.
He exceeded the speed of sound, setting off a small sonic boom, and set several skydiving records in the process.
...
http://www.bbc.com/news/world-us-canada-29766189
Yes, that is an awesome statement by Chaffetz - very Palinesque save the self-reflection....
Death penalty fuels violence in Iraq, says U.N. report
Source: Reuters
By Tom Miles
GENEVA | Sun Oct 19, 2014 2:25pm EDT
Iraq should stop its widespread use of the death penalty, which is unjust, flawed and only fuels the violence it purports to deter, the United Nations said in a report on Sunday.
Sixty people were hanged in Iraq by the end of August this year, and although that is fewer than the 177 who were executed in 2013, 1,724 people remained on death row.
Iraq tends to carry out the sentence in batches because President Jalal Talabani opposes the death penalty so a vice president orders executions when he is out of the country, said the report, published jointly by the U.N. Mission in Iraq and the U.N. Human Rights Office.
Judges often pass death sentences based on evidence from disputed confessions or secret informants, condemning suspects who are unaware of their rights, may have been tortured and have no defense attorney until they arrive in court, the report said.
Read more: http://www.reuters.com/article/2014/10/19/us-iraq-un-idUSKCN0I80QK20141019
Interesting exchanges abound: Chuck Todd seems to 'appreciate' being told to take a long walk....
Here is an excerpt from a facebook Q&A with Chuck Todd from October 17, 2014:
Here is the contact information for the City of Hammond, IN....
http://www.gohammond.com/contact-us/
Address:
Hammond City Hall
5925 Calumet Avenue
Hammond,IN 46320
Telephone:
(219) 853-6300
Here is more on the incident:
Tuesday, October 07, 2014
HAMMOND, Ind. (WLS) --
A police officer broke a car window and used a stun gun on a man during a traffic stop in Hammond, Ind., as a 14-year-old boy in the backseat recorded video on a cell phone.
Lisa Mahone and her boyfriend, Jamal Jones, accuse the officers of excessive force, false arrest and battery in a federal lawsuit. The couple said they were on their way to visit her dying mother.
"My first thing that I said to them, 'My kids in the car. My momma's passing. Can we please just make this as quick as possible. Here's our information. Can we go to the hospital?' He threw that out the window," Jones said.
Mahone was pulled over at 3:45 p.m. on September 24, 2014, at 169th Street and Cline Avenue Service Road because she and Jones were not wearing seat belts as required by Indiana law, a fact she does not dispute. Mahone produced her driver's license for police.
...
http://abc7chicago.com/news/hammond-pd-accused-of-excessive-force/340230/
Here is a longer version of the video of the disturbing incident:
Here is more on the Hammond Police Department:
...
The Hammond Police Department has been mired in controversy recently after several uses of excessive force. Additionally, there is a federal lawsuit pending after an HPD officer crashed a family cookout and shot a family pet in the face while inside its own yard, secured by an electric fence. In yet another recent incident, an officer was filmed whipping an HPD K-9 and lifting off the ground it by its leash. Both officers were supported by department officials and faced no consequences.
...
http://www.policestateusa.com/2014/jamal-jones/
Here is one of the separate incidents (noted above) that involved the Hammond Police Department - WARNING the pictures of the wounded dog are graphic:
Pit bull shot in face, Hammond cop claims self defense
By Lisa Chavarria, FOX 32 News Reporter
Posted: Jun 10, 2014 6:32 PM CST
Updated: Jun 15, 2014 6:32 PM CST
HAMMOND, Ind. (FOX 32 News) -
A family is outraged after their pit bull was shot by a police officer, Monday.
The dog was recovering at home on Tuesday afternoon. One and a half-year-old pit bull mix, Lily was shot in the face.
Norma Maldonado said her five children love to play with her and were doing so that day.
"Very lovable. She loves everybody that comes here, she's very playful," said Maldonado.
...
http://www.myfoxchicago.com/story/25744512/pit-bull-shot-in-face-hammond-cop-claims-self-defense
Here is the other of the separate incidents (noted above) that involved the Hammond Police Department - WARNING the treatment of the dog is disturbing:
Here is a longer version of the video with NSFW language and WARNING the same disturbing behavior towards the dog:
Is the Hammond Police Department steeped in a culture of violence that extends from the use of excessive force on people to the abuse of animals? All of the above incidents took place this year - 2014. Maybe it seems hyperbolic to ask the question, but should the Hammond Police Department be investigated by the DOJ for their apparent culture of violence?
Radical Tea Baggery: Joni Ernst's Responses to Campaign for Liberty - Nullification & Arrest for ACA
- Do you oppose the use of unmanned devices being used for law enforcement and used in order to fine citizens?
- Will you support a Constitutional Carry bill that would allow any law-abiding citizen to carry a firearm concealed without a permit?
- Will you support a Castle Doctrine bill that would protect any law-abiding citizen who is protecting their property from civil lawsuits?
- Would you support a bill that would remove the state and local governments power to use eminent domain to confiscate citizens private property to transfer it to another private party for economic development purposes?
- Will you support legislation to nullify ObamaCare and authorize state and local law enforcement to arrest federal officials attempting to implement the unconstitutional health care scheme known as ObamaCare?
- Do you oppose taking federal money to create a state health insurance exchange?
- Will you support legislation that would allow TSA agents to be charged with sexual assault if they use invasive pat-down procedures?
District: 12
Party: R
Name: Joni K. Ernst
City: Red Oak
ANSWERS (Y = yes; N = no; + = will sponsor):
- Y
- Y+
- Y+
- Y
- Y
- Y
- N
http://www.campaignforliberty.org/surveys/iowa-state-legislative-candidates/
How does Western Iowa spawn these right wing extremists - Ernst, King, ..?
Sadly, that is not to be the case....
By Aaron Rupar Tue., Sep. 30 2014 at 10:00 AM
Do you think Richard Stulz, Lac Qui Parle County attorney, is doing a good job spending taxpayer dollars by going after Angela Brown, the mother who gave her son medical cannabis to treat a brain injury?
Apparently, other attorneys in Lac Qui Parle County are apathetic about that question, as according to the Minnesota Secretary of State's website, Stulz is running for reelection without opposition this year.
Stulz was present in Montevideo yesterday for Brown's hearing, but he didn't actually enter the courtroom. That's because he's delegated Brown's prosecution to one of his assistants, Brown says.
"He threw her to the wolves, and he's out in the hallway," Brown adds, referring to Stulz's assistant. "That was awfully spineless of him."
...
http://blogs.citypages.com/blotter/2014/09/richard_stulz_county_attorney_going_after_medical_cannabis_mom_is_running_unopposed.php
Minnesota Secretary of State
Mark Ritchie
[hr]
2014 State General Election Candidate Filings
Use this candidate finder tool to find candidates running for office in the November 4, 2014, State General Election. Candidates for federal, state and county offices are added as filings occur. Candidates for local offices may continue to be added after the filing period.
...
Lac Qui Parle County, County Attorney
Candidate Name: RICHARD G STULZ
Party: Nonpartisan
Website:
File Date: 5/20/2014
http://candidates.sos.state.mn.us/CandidateFilingResults.aspx?county=37&municipality=&schooldistrict=&hospitaldistrict=&level=2&party=0&federal=True&judicial=False&executive=True&senate=True&representative=True&title=County+Attorney&office=0&candidateid=0
Here is the contact information for the County Attorney:
Richard G. Stulz, County Attorney
214 Sixth Avenue
Madison, MN 56256
320-598-7578
Fax 320-598-3701
http://www.lqpco.com/attorney.php
Profile Information
Member since: Thu Sep 25, 2008, 03:38 PMNumber of posts: 3,871