Prediction: Hemp Will Save The Small American Farm

You heard it here first.  More on this later, but first all need to work to make hemp completely legal…  Hemp  is God’s gift to America, and I don’t mean when it goes up in smoke.  I am speaking of  fibers…

Begin educating those who won’t vote for hemp legalization….

The hemp plant is a renewable resource..

Hemp enriches the soil it grows in. …

Hempseeds and hemp oil are highly nutritious and delicious…

Hemp is the only plant that contains all of the essential fatty acids and amino acids required by the human body… (stop over-fishing).

It is an excellent option for vegetarians.

It’s quite high in some essential amino acids, including gamma linoleic acid (GLA), a very rare nutrient also found in mother’s milk.

Fishermen sprinkle hempseed on the water as an effective bait..

Songbirds will pick it out of the mix as they prefer it over other seeds.

Hemp is becoming a common ingredient in lotions and many other skin, hair, and cosmetic products.. (compared to toxic chemicals).

Hemp is an ideal material for making paper. It regenerates in the field in months (unlike trees which can take 30 years or more to become harvestable after planting.)…

It makes a fine quality paper that is naturally acid free and does not become yellow and brittle or disintegrate over time like conventional paper.

Hemp is also excellent for making rugs and other textiles.  Levi Strauss’ original denim jeans were made of hemp.

Hemp is the traditional rope making fibre due to its flexibility, strength, and resistance to water damage..

Hemp oil can be used to create biofuels to replace gasoline for diesel engines. Unlike fossil fuels, biofuels are renewable and produce less of the greenhouse gas carbon dioxide.  Diesel built his original engine to run on hemp oil.

Alternatives to plastic can be made from hemp… Hemp based materials can replace wood and other materials used to build homes and other structures including foundations, walls, shingles, paneling, pipes, and paint.

Hemp may look like marijuana, however it does not contain the active chemicals that cause mind-altering effects.  Politics have kept this gift from us.  When Dupont made nylon, it influence was used to suppress hemp production….

“58,000 tons of hemp seeds were imported into America for paint products in 1935″ — Sherman Williams Paint Co.

Hemp produces the same amount of oxygen while it’s growing that it would use in carbon dioxide if burned as a fuel. Also, due to it’s leaf/root ratio (this can often be 10% roots vs 30% leaves), hemp can produce between 20% – 40% more oxygen than will be polluted.

Thomas Jefferson himself said, “Hemp is of first necessity to the wealth and protection of the country.”

The draft of the Declaration of Independence was made on hemp paper….

The first American Flag was made of hemp.

If hemp cross-pollinates with marijuana, it creates a lower THC marijuana, not a smokable hemp… Illegal growers will not grow near hemp farms because it practically destroys the effectiveness and marketability of their product.

Fabrics made of at least one-half hemp block the sun’s UV rays more effectively than other fabrics..

The US Drug Enforcement Agency classifies all C. sativa (hemp) varieties as “marijuana.”  Hemp was grown commercially (with increasing governmental interference) in the United States until the 1950s. It was doomed by the Marijuana Tax Act of 1937, which placed an extremely high tax on marijuana and made it effectively impossible to grow industrial hemp…

While Congress expressly expected the continued production of industrial hemp, the Federal Bureau of Narcotics lumped industrial hemp with marijuana…

Because of its low lignin content, hemp can be pulped using less chemicals than with wood…

It is naturally resistant to most pests, precluding the need for pesticides. It grows tightly spaced, out-competing any weeds, so herbicides are not necessary. It also leaves a weed-free field for a following crop…

Today it is clear that these beginnings of “the war on drugs” were pushed into being by the newspaper, cotton, and petroleum industries, all of which had much to fear over being competitive with hemp…..

Finally, a word of wisdom from our founding father…. “Make the most you can of the Indian Hemp seed and sow it everywhere.” — George Washington 1794

 

 

 

 

Balancing Fox News Right To Scream “Fire”

All know I’m a fan of free speech. Yet I’m first to use my free speech rights to point out those who call “fire” in a crowded theater, obviously hoping for some real life theatrics…

We all know it is illegal to call “Fire” when there is none in a crowded theater…. So in the battle between free speech and calling “Fire” in a crowded theater, where does Fox News fit in….

Because that is all they do….

In politics (as I know kooks on both sides), crazies play a valuable role… For one, they are ever watchful of the other side. Rarely will anything get past either one side or the other… And we, the citizens who wake up, drive the nation’s economic engine, come home eat, and sleep, don’t have to worry over every little thing…

Fox has seriously helped the right. They have given the right a platform which it didn’t have. After all, facts always have a leftest bias. Though that sounds political to neophytes, it tends to be true…..

Is tobacco healthy? No.
Do women enjoy rape? No.
Does a woman’s biology destroy all incoming sperm when raped, thereby preventing pregnancy? No
Are blacks more stupid than whites? No.
Was the world created in 6, 24 hour days? No.
Is man made global warming made up? No…

Facts have a liberal bias, which is why, to ingratiate themselves with a conservative public, the producers at Fox News have to distort all facts to keep up their charade… Now there is no rule on requiring every American to tell everything factually and honestly. If that premise were so, for one, there would be no divorce courts… Likewise, literature which is the art of embellishment where points are assessed for cleverness on how well certain planks are told, could not exist.

So it is hard to say that Fox News should be held to any different standard than say, I for example… But there is that pesky adage saying that one cannot cry “Fire” in a crowded theater, causing dangerous panic when there is no threat…..

And that is where I’m beginning to think Fox News has crossed that line…

Two things triggered this… and trust me, when it comes to possibly misinterpreting the Constitution I’m very slow to be triggered…

And another was this….

The truth is, it’s the protesters who should have been rounded up. Blame my upbringing as the son of a cop, but where I come from, if you block a federal law enforcement vehicle and use mob rule to interfere with law enforcement officers, they handcuff you and toss you in a cell.

The American precedent for the first video featuring the protester’s action, was set by the residents in Boston, I believe resulting in 5 deaths, including one black man. Without which, we may literally have not become a nation, understanding the way that event rippled its way into our Revolutionary War …. It is both rebellion, and yet is protected under the first amendment.

The precedent for the sentiment expressed in the second item, came from George Washington himself. who as president, called the army together from various militias near DC, appointed himself as its head, and led them on his white horse up into western Pennsylvania, where a similar hick army, copied almost exactly like the TEA PARTY today, was engaged in protesting Congress’s levies on their whiskey pretty similar to those dummies protesting the $1 million owed by the Bundy farm….

The question is really this… Which type of America do the majority of the rest of us want? One run by kooks to whom the government has to kowtow, and acquiesce in its every response,… or one run by regular people appreciative of law and order and appeals and all that stuff that makes America run…

Well. Which of these two do you want? After all, you ARE America.

Fox News cheer leads the first. Nowhere does it mention that these are homeless kids on a bus, kids whose parents paid smugglers (the kids don’t have money), kids who had no choice (mom, I don’t want to go), no independence, kids caught up in a massive political and international crises way beyond their understanding….

I hail the second. It is sickening to see Americans so callous over any children’s plight, that they think is it cool to block and intimidate little kids from being reprocessed and sent home… to revel in their prejudice, look we’re da’ boss, look how tough we are, we can stop a bus of little kids; and shout… USA. USA. USA. USA. USA. USA. USA. USA. USA. USA. USA. USA. USA. USA, USA……

Personally I’m embarrassed. Just like when I shit and see this big long black thing curled up in the toilet. Shudder. Shudder. Yes, I know it is part of life’s process, .. doesn’t mean I’m proud of it….

But for people to actually hold such their excrement in their hands, up high, proud of it? Shouting USA. USA. USA. USA. USA. USA. USA. USA. USA. USA. USA…. can only come because someone is encouraging it… I’ve been around people for years.. KKK meetings in the 50’s were like that… But they were people encouraged by Grand Dragon. They were nice people outside the meetings… Likewise the pre-teen German kids at the Nuremberg rallies… they grew up as nice kids, but someone exploited and encouraged them…

Do you know why those children were on the bus? Not the immediate reason, but the overall big reason? They were there for the exact same reason relatives of mine died… because of what the USA represents… They were sent here, because outside our borders, the USA represents opportunity. It represents freedom. It represents right over wrong. It represents good people governing themselves for what is best for them….

Good people sometimes will do bad things if pushed hard enough… The photographer was good. Watching the video I sensed a sincerity in those people waving signs who really thought they were doing America a favor by stopping homeless little children from entering their town…. Who does that? I can only believe the real culprit is not them, but should instead, be that person lying to them. cajoling them, egging them on, rewarding their bad behavior, pushing them foreward… Do it, do it, do it, do it, do it…

We are being judged around the world by this disgusting video… Little kids… barred by a rebellion of fat slobs in American flag shirts yelling: USA, USA, USA, USA, USA, USA, USA, USA, USA, USA, USA, USA, USA, USA,……

I only ask two things… One is to the world judging us… “Look” I say to them… “We don’t judge you by your shit, if we happen to come across it, say if you forgot to flush”…. “Don’t judge us for ours”….

And two, is: America, we’ve got to do something about Fox News… They are protected under the 1st Amendment (and should be) so even I think it is wrong for our government to interfere with what they say…We cannot start that precedent. But there are 315 million of us, and there is nothing wrong with us taking this fight into our own hands, outside of government…. We can bankrupt them. We have that power….

This is a human thing, not partisan. Certainly not democratic. This is disgust at how low Fox News has brought America by willfully withholding proper facts, and subsequently creating huge crises out of nothing…..

“Americans Unite! That Crazy Black President Is Now Busing “Criminals” INTO YOUR BEDROOM COMMUNITIES! FIGHT THEM. FIGHT THEM NOW!…. ” is pretty similar to yelling “Fire” in a crowded theater… Criminals? Because their parents put them on a bus? Deportation centers? Same as your bed room? Crazy Black President? Yeah, that one who’s doing His job while no Republican is doing theirs?

I think there is enough evidence to say they are doing more than stirring the pot…. There is more volatility now than in the 00’s. the 90’s, the 80’s… Flush Rush, has led the way teaching us exactly how to do it… Fox News doesn’t need to suffer total catastrophic damage to force change. In the corporate environment, just a tiny loss of 1% can cause executives to face life changing decisions caused by their stockholders… There are 315 million of us… We can do 1%….

I know somebody out there reading this watches the Fox Morning Show… All they need to do is write down or lift video of who advertised and then post it daily… Monday through Friday…

These are the FOX blacklisted advertisers today…. It would be helpful if a contact twitter address was added… Then we all tweet the corporate site of the product paying to be on Fox.

“Oh, my, goodness, Boycott this product: ________ It paid to be on Fox’s morning show!!!….”

Now one or two messages won’t do it… but a 1000 will get a twitter monitor’s attention. “Hey boss, check this out”… But it can’t stop there, we all need to be involved. Remember, there are 315 million of us… Help us If we are ever going to get our America back, we have to get past that point where we all think we have to shout at each other and then pound our chests and go USA, USA, USA, USA, USA, USA, USA,….

There are ways of talking civilly. But they won’t happen when someone is in the middle lying to one side about the other… If we truly want a better America, that middle man is the real enemy. It never was the ones who got stirred up to cause trouble… But that one who is doing the stirring, should be taken out first…..

Let’s get this started. It can only work as a “We, The People’s” project. It can only work by hitting them in the pocket book… Who advertised on them today…? Just report it.

Americans don’t need a new KKK… Do what you can; get rid of Fox today……

It is a movement neither Democratic nor Republican. It is about turning our nation’s values back, towards being the type of nation to which all these immigrants want to come in the first place… Because we are one fuckin’ hell of a great people….

HB 305…. A Bill Against We The People

Why does every bill with Scott’s and Sokola’s name at the top, mean no good for the people of Delaware?  Intriguing, however, also are the names of Kowalko, Baumbach, and Townsend as additional sponsors for this same bill… ( Longhurst is there as well, but that doesn’t matter)…..  One must assume for these three to endorse such a bill,  that perhaps they are unaware of who is signed up as a lobbyist, and who, if a fee is required, will be shut out from personally making their case to Delaware legislators..

Contrary to I guess, public opinion, not all lobbyists are fat cats.  Many of them are thin cats….

Nancy Willing is one.  Darlene Battle is another.  John Flaherty is a third. For you see, if anyone approaches a legislator about a certain bill, they need to be signed in as a lobbyist….

All a lobbyist is, is an expert on piece of legislation who attempts to explain it to a legislator.  Of course, an expert on sneaking a poisonous chemical through the labyrinth of law, requires one kind of lobbyist.  But removing the” box” from employment applications, requires another…..  Whereas our legislature doesn’t need the first type of lobbyists, it absolutely really does need the second.

What this bill does, is shut accessibility to legislators to all who cannot pay.  The indigent, the middle class, the workers, don’t have  a voice, unless they can find a paid lobbyist who will do it pro-bono.  The ducks, geese, and even the gray fox who currently have school children as advocates,  get shut out allowing sportsman to dominate the conversation.  In gun control, the dead children have no voice; the paying NRA has a monopoly on legislative personal relationships….

That is why as it stands, this is a bad bill.

To those on the inside, the reason for it’s proposal is obvious in light of the education fight over Common Core.  Educational issues are not going as those responsible (Jack Markell) for pushing them through legislature think they should.  Somehow, legislators are getting other opinions beside those carefully screened for their indulgence… This bill will stop that.

I can understand how progressives could get behind a bill to make lobbyists report who pays them, and make lobbyists pay a fee…. But a close reading of the bill does not legislate how much the fee shall be, nor does it exempt anyone working pro-bono…  Yes, of course without it being specified specifically, that could still happen after this bill is passed.  … But so could the opposite!… It will be solely at the discretion of those on the Integrity Commission to determine who can play, and who cannot….

“Set that fee for Nancy at a $1000, will you” said the joker to the thief……

Below are organizations currently listed as lobbyists who probably won’t be, if the fee is enacted……

1. Delaware Estuary
2. Stand Up For What’s Right And Just
3. National Popular Vote
4. Girl Scouts of Chesapeake Bay
5. Associated Community Talents
6. Delaware Association of Non Profit Agencies
7. 9-12 Delaware Patriots
8. Kent County Progressives
9. Center for Inland Bays
10. Delawareans for Social and Economic Justice
11. Delawind
12. Delaware Repeal Project
13. Delaware Jobs Now
14. American Lung Association
15. Common Cause/ Delaware
16. Pilot’s Association for the Delaware River
17. Burris Firm
18. NAACP
19. Concerned Black Men, Inc.
20. Wilmington Tug
21. Blue Hen, Inc.
22. Delaware Business Roundtable Education Committee
23. Delaware ACLU
24. Center for Popular Democracy
25. Council on State Taxation
26. Marijuana Policy Project
27. Delaware Audubon Society
28. Delaware Sleep Society
29. American Traffic Solutions
30. League of Women Voters
31. Chimes Delaware
32. PTA Delaware Congress
33. Delaware Rural Water Association
34. Brandywine Sprouts, Roots, and Shoots
35. Delaware Council on Gambling Problems
36. Autism Delaware
37. Delaware Auctioneer Association
38. Delaware Police Chief’s Council
39. Save our Society From Drugs
40. Greenwatch Institute
41. Sierra Club
42. Delaware Defensive Driving
43. March of Dimes
44. Consortium of Non-medical Privately Owned Healthcare
45. City of Wilmington
46. Volunteer Hose Company of Middletown
47. Delaware Volunteer Fireman’s Association
48. Delaware Coalition For Open Government
49. Delaware School Boards Association
50. Consumer’s Union of US Inc.
51. AIDS Delaware
52. Delaware Nature Society
53. Delaware River Stevedores, Inc
54. Council on State Taxation
55. Bridgeville Rifle and Pistol Club
56. Delaware Ecumenical Council on Children and Families
57. American Lung Association of the Mid Atlantic
58. Delaware Society for Respiratory Care
59. Humane Society of the United States
60. Horizon House
61. American Cancer Society Action Network and It’s Affiliates
62. Consumer Health Products Association
63. Best Friends
64. Wilmington Fire Foundation
65. Film Delaware
66. Delaware Compensation Rating Bureau
67. Easter Seals
68. Rodel
69. Mid Atlantic Education Alliance
70. Christina River, LLC
71. Delaware Breast Cancer Coalition
72. Recycling Reinvented
73. Delaware State Lodge  FOP
74. Police Athletic League of Delaware
75. Kind to Kids Foundation
76. Delaware State Funeral Directors Association
77. Delaware Tourism Alliance
78. Commercial Industrial Reality Council
79. Cigar Association of America
80. Scientific Games Corporation
81. Delaware Auctioneer Association
82. Save our Delaware Byways
83. Delaware Solar Energy Coalition
84. Fort Miles Historical Association
85. Atlantic Pawn
86. Delaware Asian American Business Association
87. City of Newark
88. Alternative Energy Researching and Consultation
89. Gift of Life Donor Program
90. Delaware Cemetaries for Consumer Choice
91. Gun Rights Across America
92. White Clay Creek Watershed Management Association
93. Rehoboth Art League
94. WHYY Inc
95. Delaware Association of Surveyors
96. National Campaign to Reform State Juvenile Judicial System
97. Sussex Technical School District
98. National Guard Association of Delaware
99. OSG Ship Management Inc.
100. St. Francis Hospital/Catholic Health East
101. Westown Movie Theater
102. Red Frog, Events LLC
103. Woodlawn Trustees
104. Prestige Academy
105. Communities in Schools of Delaware
106. Punkin’ Chunkin’
107. CRI
108. Arcadia Wind Power
109. National Association of  Professional Surplus Lines Offices LLC
110. Teach For America
111. Civic League for New Castle County

Just to name a few…  You see, lobbyists are the oil inside the engine.  They reduce friction, and are what keep legislators capable of staying ahead of multiple issues at any given time….  So, yes, some may be paid very well. But quite a few of the above will not be back if this law is passed and signed….

I have included lobbyists for both sides, to show that they are indispensible to the operation of government as we know it… This bill will affect the postions held dear by both Republicans and Democrats.  Essentially those hurt will be all those who cannot afford to pay for representation … Those helped will be all those who can easily pay for the privilege of meeting with a legislator….

That is why I am not surprised to see Sokola and Scott at the top of this bill.  I am surprised to see Townsend, Kowalko, and Baumbach as additional sponsors….   Someone should tell them…..

 

And here is the meat of the bill…..

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Section 1.  Amend § 5832, Title 29 of the Delaware Code by making insertions as shown by underline as follows:

§ 5832. Registration of lobbyists with the State Public Integrity Commission.

                (b) The information recorded in the Commission’s lobbyist docket shall include for each separate employer:

(6) Whether the employer pays or promises to pay compensation, as defined in § 5831(a) of this title, to the lobbyist.  The amount or value of compensation is not required.

                (e) Upon registration, and between January 1^st and January 15^th of each subsequent year, each lobbyist shall pay an annual registration fee per employer paying or promising compensation to the lobbyist.  The fee is not prorated for compensated lobbyists or their employers who are registered for only a portion of the year.  At the beginning of each calendar year, the Commission shall establish an annual registration fee which shall approximate and reasonably reflect all costs necessary to defray the expenses of administering § 5832, § 5833, § 5834, § 5835, § 5836, § 5837, § 5838 of this title.  The Commission may not impose a fee on lobbyists who are not paid, or who are not promised, compensation from the employer of the lobbyist.  The fee is payable through the Public Integrity Reporting System database maintained by the Commission.  All revenue generated by registration fees shall be deposited in an appropriated special fund account for the Commission.  These funds shall be used to fund all costs necessary to defray the expenses of administration of § 5832, § 5833, § 5834, § 5835, § 5836, § 5837, § 5838 of this title. Nothing in this section shall relieve a lobbyist from the registration requirement in subsection (a) of this title, whether required to pay the annual fee or not.

                Section 2.  Amend § 5838, Title 29 of the Delaware Code by making insertions as shown by underline as follows and by redesignating accordingly:

                § 5838. Violations and penalties.

                (d) Any person who fails to pay a registration fee required by this subchapter shall be deemed to have voluntarily cancelled registration as a lobbyist and shall be prohibited from reregistering or acting as a lobbyist until all delinquent registration fees are paid.

                Section 3.  This Act shall become effective on January 1, 2015.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Sex, Sin, and The Supreme Court

Today, March 25th, the Supreme Court hears the Hobby Lobby case.

The question before the court is this:

If a law violates one’s religion, does one have to follow it?  We have by fortuity and circumstance, brought ourselves so low to  now ask of our court, to decide which of the two shall have predominance… Law or Religion.

If law wins, than religions must conform to the law; if religion wins, then to circumvent any law, one simply has to state it is against one’s religion.

There are good reasons for both sides, depending upon which predominates in your mind.  If you think religion is above the government, then obviously you will think that as an individual, your government shall not make you do something your religion tells you is wrong…. Basically the law is compelling you to sin.

We’ve seen it before.  Burkas:  your religions dictates you wear them, and the law says you can’t for safety reasons… Withholding medical care for a child,   your religion tells you to put faith into divine intervention, and when that turns out badly, the state sends you away for murder. Vaccinations.  your religion tells you no, but the government says yes…..

In all those cases religion lost;  here is why.

There were other people affected.  Religion is a deep personal internal experience.  and the law generally upholds that one has the right to adhere to doctrines if one wishes…. AS LONG AS THEY DO NOT HARM SOMEONE ELSE.   The canon of law is very clear, that hurting other people, cannot be excused on the account of ones religions… The Burka ban is to protect from human bombs.  The courts have said that if safety in a crowd  is an issue for many other people, then the law can be changed to violate the harm-giver’s religion.  The potential for harm controls the dynamics of the case.

Likewise the dead child not receiving medical care can be a very moving religious experience, but the child died.  He obviously was harmed ant therefore the law trumps religion. The potential for harm controls the dynamics of the case.

Again the same is true over withholding vaccinations.  Not being vaccinated creates a possible host-carrier for the disease sometime in the future…  It is not just the subject at risk for failing to become vaccinated.  Everyone else is susceptible to that carried organism.  The potential for harm to many controls the dynamics of the case.

So we turn to birth control. One of which is abortion.  Who could possibly be harmed over not insuring contraception?  Is it really as cut and dried as Rush Limbaugh speaks, when he says it is all about him paying  for Sandra Fluke to have sex?  He’s paying and it isn’t even with him?   Tant pis.

Prophylactics.  Who gets harmed?  That one is easy.  Every person who picks up HIV for one. For two, gonorrhea and syphilis. For three, someone getting the herpes virus.  Harm is endemic.  And like vaccinations, harm can be unsuspectingly spread to others. Lack of free contraception could cause multiple spouses irreparable harm through no fault or wrongdoing of their own.  Everyone has the right to intercourse, just as everyone has a right to their own Roth-IRA.  But not everyone has an Roth-IRA now, do they?  Many can’t afford it and so do without.  Same with contraception.  Therefore not funding free prophylactics causes irreparable harm to innocent people….

Chemicals, birth control pills and RU-486.   Who gets harmed if these are unavailable?  That one is easy.  The future baby (def: humanness does not  or will ever start until birth), the mother, the father, the grandparents, the great grandparents, the physician,  society in general, future taxpayers…  Quite a few harmed souls actually…. Withholding these birth control items is exactly on par with withholding antibiotics to a child dying from blood poisoning.  Just as the child is suffering needlessly through no fault on its own, so is the pregnant woman suffering as is her child, though no fault of their own.  Normally she would have gotten free contraception. But no, religion stepped in and now that is impossible.

Third is performed abortion.  This is an emotional topic, that some equate with murder.  The courts have flatly said it is not.  Life begins at birth, always has, always will.  Therefore performed abortions are perfectly legal, even though some people may not agree.  And here the law is clear.  They have the right to decide for themselves and not agree if they so choose, but they do not have any right to decide for others.  No one does. That is embedded in the foundation of our founding documents…. That is the definition of freedom.  One cannot say they for freedom and yet rail against choice.  That is a scientific impossibility.  Obviously what those well meaning people are trying to express is that they are all for freedom when it applies to them, but certainly not when it applies to others who have a different value system from them.  Enforcing the right to free abortions, is like allowing burkas to be worn without restriction, fully knowing that suicide bombers are rampant in the crowds around you…  Banning abortions for certain women, is the equivalent to telling the Israeli population, ” oh, sorry; no protection for you; you have to die if someone sets off a bomb, because you see, burkas are so sacred, we aren’t going to violate one of our tiny minority’s religious beliefs.  If someone smuggles a bomb in under one, sigh, oh well.

If you are sharp about your wits, you picked up the clue I left you in the paragraph above.  Right up there where I said..”they do not have any right to decide for others”…..  Probably Conservatives will pick it up faster than contraception supporters.  “Wait a minute” they will say, “see, that is exactly what you are doing to us by making us pay for contraception when we don’t want to cough up the money for it.  You are deciding for us, what we have to do…”

And that is exactly right….   We are.

If you remember up at the top of this piece of writing where I stated this case was to decide the supremacy of law versus religion? Well that is the caveat.  In religious circles we are deciding what one needs to do. We are saying that contraception will be available to everyone through their insurance free of charge….  In the legal realm that is the law.  You can choose to follow it or not.  If not, then beware of consequences.  Why just today, I saw a Toyota that by my guess, chose not to follow the posted speed limit.  He didn’t look too happy either….  We make decisions every day on whether to follow a law or not, and we choose to what degree we wish to comply… Some of us, unluckily, will pay a price….  But though angry, we really have no right to bring in religion….  Because it is a non-religious law….

In the religious world, we are however making a person (although admittedly in an extremely indirect and via a convoluted pathway, be associated with something he doesn’t wish…  However, that is not a problem of our governmental courts.  Religious issues are not in the bailiwick of the Supreme Court.  It decides issues of law and order, and is forbidden on deciding on religion. Instead, religious issues need to be decided by a denominational or religious court if their denomination should happen to have them… If not, they should then be decided by that religion’s Inquisition or equivalent…. Then through whatever authority those courts have, they need to exercise their options of enforcing those religious edicts in ways that do not run up against the laws of the land…

A second issue is whether information or facts on file inside a Delaware Courthouse is also a real person.  Are Corporations people too,  as Romney once said?  That is preposterous to even consider, but alas, so it will be one of the hinges on which this outcome depends.    The sole point of this case is that a corporation (Hobby Lobby) is so sad, it’s heartbroken that it will have to pay for contraception for its employees, it cries every night and has insomnia. It can’t urinate correctly and has irregular bowel movements.  As a result, this corporation is now suffering from malnutrition, and dehydration. Quite possibly, through all the duress and stress, this corporation has also suffered brain damage, causing its malignant depression.  It might even have cancer….

If a corporation is not a person, then this case is simply dismissed.  Corporations are subservient to human beings and therefore must confirm to the laws of the land in which they may find themselves.  But if a corporation IS a person, then we have a battle over which person suffers the most, if free birth control is abandoned…. or…. no longer free…

If a corporation IS deemed to be a person… the next question for discussion, is when does that person-hood begin…. Did it start when it is born,upon the signing of its documents?  Or, has it existed as a corporation ever since its idea was first conceived?

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

How Low Will You Go?

Delaware is launching a plan this month to collect data on 8,500 babies, toddlers, and preschoolers and post the information on its existing Web-based databank…

The project is part of an ambitious—and, to some observers, troubling—effort to link individuals’ educational information from birth through graduate school.   Its expansion to the youngest children could be up and running as early as the next school year,

Users can look up a school and find where its graduates went to college…  At this point, there is no way to stop very personal, previously private, and potentially dangerous information from falling into the hands of third parties, which should not be trusted with it… according to  Evan Queitsch, a member of the Delaware Education Reform Coalition. ..

Thanks to Delaware’s SB51, an entire teacher’s record will now exist from birth through school and college, and onward through her employer, giving us for every teacher, one continuous seam of data…. One bad mark in pre-school, could prevent an otherwise outstanding teacher from ever becoming…

“Teachers can negatively stereotype students based on this sort of data, and it can become a self-fulfilling prophecy,”  Furthermore,  families won’t have access to the database or have an ability to correct information,..  Single data points, such as scores on an assessment tool, can come to define whole children,

Today, that database collects student biographical information, including immigration status and admission to foster care, as well as class schedules, attendance and discipline records, assessment scores, grades and credits earned, and even photographs.

Currently parents can’t see the dashboard itself,  It is available to teachers, principals, districts, and the state,  (Parents can view their child’s information through a parallel information system called the Home Access Center,)

Quite a few people are upset… “The only way to prevent data from being misused is not collecting it in the first place,” said Mr. Oboryshko.

Delaware officials say there are steep security walls in place.  “Retail giants like Target have all sorts of data on people; In todays’ world it is quite safe”

Breaking: Senator Tom Carper Says “Happy New Year” In Chinese

Quick. Someone alert the News Journal. They have a story here to print.

What’s Up With The House Farm Bill?

This….

A catfish inspection program will continue in place, despite Vietnam’s and China’s objections.

California can continue banning eggs hatched from hens in tiny battery cages…

Language aimed at curtailing a meat country-of-origin labeling (MCOOL) requirement, and one aimed at restricting activities by the Grain Inspection, Packers and Stockyards Administration (GIPSA) was left out. These two were opposed by foreign processors.

The bill ties Commodity subsidies to historical production but allows famers to update their “base acres” once in the life of the farm bill.

It changes restrictions on the so-called “actively engaged” provision. The criteria for management has been strengthened compared to current law, a source said, but the provision appears be scaled back from the labor requirement in the earlier versions of the bills…

The altered payment limits are now capped at $125,000 per individual or $250,000 per couple, but caps within that total for PLC, ARC or marketing loan deficiency payments have been removed.

On farm subsidies, the bill offers producers a choice between a shallow loss revenue insurance long favored by Northern crop growers and price-based supports supported by those in the South. ..

The compromise discourages milk overproduction by limiting how much milk can be insured in the future and also has a provision allowing the Agriculture Department to buy up some excess production.

The bill is expected to save $23 billion over 10 years compared to existing funding.

The House bill had initially made a $39 billion cut to the food stamp programs. The cut will now stand at $8 billion across 10 years. or $800,000,000 per year…The food stamps cuts are achieved by making it more difficult to qualify for nutrition assistance by virtue of receiving home heating aid…..

The bill contains funding for a new pilot program aimed at encouraging able-bodied recipients to find work and more than $200 million more for food banks.

Nominations for Delaware’s Person/Place/or Thing Of The Year

The Golden Flush Award /Click Image for Past Winners

Usually this is an after thought…” Oh, wow, year’s over, let’s get a person of the year”…  And then once we elect one,  we go… “holy crap… we totally forgot so and so….”

So to try to stir up some old simmering coals of memory, both mine and others, and perhaps even to (heaven forbid) get some debate going in the blog sphere, I thought I’d make an initial run on Thanksgiving Week, and then add people into the nominating category as others mention various ones I should kick myself for forgetting.

It will also force me to review the year which is something I rarely do… because face it, as a human being, I am slave of the moment….  If I did this last year, come December 14th the entire world would have been turned upside down and all the old priorities of 2012,  would in one day become trivial….

And so starting early gives me the chance to make the argument for each of those I decide to enroll with your kind recommendations included….

Julius Cephus:  Particularly this one man organized and stopped an end run around the Port of Wilmington.  The Kinder Morgan deal did not go through, and the Wilmington Port is bustling like never before…   Kinder Morgan was to strip the union of power, and drop the rates of pay, further dampening the economy of Wilmington proper.  It was also the first defeat of a Lavine-Markell development project, .. Fisker and Bloom had gone forward without a hitch.  Julius and other’s push back resulted in a General Assembly motion that stated they, not the governor, had final approval. It was the first time we were exposed to the current Governor’s manipulations.  They were to play a significant part across this year’s tapestry.

Steve Newton:  A blogger who has written infrequently, but effectively. His piece on SB 51  is what alerted us to the end run being performed by Dave Sokola on lowering the current standards being used for educating teachers.  It is brilliant.  It took an evening of reading the legislation line by line and cross referencing  it with Steve’s analysis, to understand the huge negative impact this bill would cause.  By the time this was done, the Bill had already passed the Senate unanimously without comment, and with an friendly amendment added that was voted upon without even being read.  Some public outcry was mustered within the House, both in committee and on the floor, but under the Governor’s direction, the Speaker of the House, pushed the bill to the floor before significant outcry could be mustered.  Only 4 House members were not on record for it’s passing.  Our educational schools now have to water down their teaching standards to meet the new law.  Steve also has brought the Highmark story to Delaware.  His research in the increase of medical costs in Western PA as a result of knocking out competition by unfair practices, leads one with a cold chill of what to expect in Delaware’s future.  We are already there.  As an insurer, Highmark is only paying medical claims in its own affiliated clinics.  As the new Blue Cross/Blue Shield owner, that is a huge percentage of Delaware’s residents.  None can go to any other hospital.  He has properly fingered Karen Weldham Stuart for not catching this prior to implementation.  Without Steve, this would have passed unnoticed.  The News Journal still has not once mentioned the takeover of Delaware’s health field under one owner.

Ernest Lopez.  If Kennedy were still writing Profiles of Courage, he should include this man.  Ernest Lopez is a conservative, and voted with Libertarian values to pass the gun legislation recommended by Markell and Biden.  Reflecting the views of his district, instead of taking the threatening message sent to him down from the NRA, he voted for his district.  A very vocal minority, who is always vocal, and always in the minority, swore they would unseat him.  He disregarded their idle threat, and voted both his and his constituents conscious.  A major billboard was put up to call him out.   His vote caused the passage of us now requiring background checks at public gun sales.  Now a certifiably insane person cannot slap cash and get a gun.  It is a no-brainer, and Ernie was the only Republican with brain enough to even know what a no-brainer is….

Cathy Cloutier:  her vote allowed gays to marry.  Again, she is a Republican who said enough is enough… Tired of voting against her conscious just so Sussex County would not flip over to the Democrats, she finally did not toe the line and voted along the lines of her own constituents, all overwhelmingly in favor of gay marriage.  In doing so, she went against the entire grain of her party, who firmly feel that gays are second class citizens, even though most Republicans in office are closeted gays.

Bethany Hall Long:  on the same vote, made a viable personal decision, and also voted for the legalization of gay marriage. Unlike Cathy’s vote, this was accomplished at great personal sacrifice, for all of those in her personal life, were solidly against this policy from taking effect.  In voting for what was morally right, she had to contend against those whose influence she could not escape.  She went with the correct vote, over the easy one.   As a result, Gay marriage is now legal in Delaware.

Paul Baumbach:  gave great ammunition against the fight for SB51, and later against HB 165. Both bills which will damage Delaware’s education for years to come.  He was one of the four who put up a fight on the House floor.  Paul also arranged for the meetings in Newark to discuss the new Power plant that figured in this past week’s election.

John Kowalko:  also was against SB51, HB 165, as well, being against the power plant.  In fact, John was the first person to sound the alarm over how big the power plant would be.  Without his big voice, it may have slid through unnoticed.  The power plant has defined northern Delaware politics since September.

Kim Williams;  responsible for HB 40 which investigates Charter School’s meddling into our educational systems.  She was as an acting state representative, allegedly refused entrance into a committee hearing on education, for fear she might say something damaging to the bill being rushed through….  She brought to the public’s knowledge, that the Charter School bill was drafted illegally without public input, and the charter group constructing it, was also under FOIA, to which the private group denied.  The Attorney General backed up her assertion, that the bill was formulated illegally but their decision was moot, because the bill was passed both houses anyways.  Kim Williams also in the HB 40 task force, led the group to realize that charter schools unlike public schools, do indeed filter those entering charters to weed out those who might lower their test scores….

Mark Murphy, Rodel, Sweeney, Hefferman, and the Fake Educational Reform Establishment:  I almost purposefully did not post this.  Although the first person’s name is usually followed by explicatives whenever mentioned, it is unlike Voldermort’s, still getting mentioned.  Mark Murphy was not put in his position based on his ability. He was placed there for his loyalty to the cause of  corporatizing public education.  Markell pulls the strings, Murphy figures how to get it done…  It is hard to make a puppet the most influential person of the year… So I was going to skip him… But at the last minute, remembered that every time  he or anyone of these make an op-ed, it resonates as gigantic news. The entire community rises up to counteract each op-ed, usually with the word “lies” thrown liberally about…. So, they do exert an influence.  I looped all of them together, as the group of liars in a Greek play, who stand on the stair steps and taunt the protagonists.  Well,… they are part of the play…….

Dan Short:  Sometimes villains get noticed too.  Primarily a single issue candidate, who personally supports the NRA, he actively campaigned and organized to create enough backlash so Markell’s gun laws could not get enough votes…  Without him, there is a possibility that all four of Markell’s gun control pieces of legislation would have passed both houses of Delaware’s legislature. Dan Short should be given the credit for stopping them.

John Sigler: Single handedly by his very brief tenure as the re-elected head of the Republican Party, he pointed out through his pigeon shooting, just how inept the Republican Party was at everything else.  With his leaving, all fissures cracking the Republican bedrock, were impossible to ignore.  Blogs split. The IPOD’s split. Former candidates of the same party just months earlier, now not talking to each other. The Delaware Republican Party is dead; no it is past dead.  More dead than a pigeon shot inside a box by John Sigler, former head of the Delaware Republican Party.

Nancy Willing: Her blog, the Delaware Way, is the go-to site for local information. Whether about Dover, about New Castle County, about any of New Castle County’s associations, Nancy combs all sources and puts them down in aggregate form. Heavily involved in the Power Plant controversy, The Delaware City Rail Yard controversy, Barley Mill controversy, the Woodlawan controversy, the Kinder Morgan controversy, the Charter School Controversy, the Common Core Controversy, Nancy has who is saying “what”, and links to “why”. One can expend less energy by using her blog to follow all the stuff the News Journal neglects, in a few quick empty steps.

Amy Roe:  a head of the Sierra Club, who emerged from nowhere to lead the fight against the power plant, and give quite a run against the establishment candidate.  Becoming the face the anti- power movement could coalase behind, she gave the anti power plant movement both dignity and grace.  Coming up short only 115 votes, she has awakened Newark now politically as never before…  The power plant if it goes forward, now has a strong group of Newarkeans against it.  Hopefully they will be monitoring it regularly and helping authorities keep in in compliance with all local law.

Tom Gorden; although much quieter than his first term in office, Tom Gorden is rapidly rolling back the privileges the previous Clark administration handed over to our state’s top developers. The Barley Mill plaza which had a green light, is now parked at a red. In a big sea change, though handled quietly, community groups are now no longer persona non grata in county government. It is no longer accepted as a matter of course that the Woodlawn Trust will be gobbled up by developers. If enough fight can be mustered, it can be stopped. Furthermore, with Tom there is closer coordination with the City of Wilmington, than we have experienced anytime in our lifetimes. In the county, local policing has been stepped up, particularly in neighborhoods prone to crime…

Dennis Williams: Came in with grand expectations, which looked deliverable for a while. The tide is turning and his relevance on this list, is because every day, the headline reality in Wilmington’s streets, brings his electioneering boasts back to haunt him, like a sizzling hot branding iron.  Time, Dennis, to say “Damn the torpedoes… Their punk asses are going in jail no matter which blowhard on City Council spouts off,before mine gets tossed in jail for impersonating a mayor..”

Alan Levin:  Jack Markell’s second in command, he was instrumental in defending Markell’s position on Kinder Morgan and the port, as well as the new power plant for the data center. He also had a hand in keeping Dole in Delaware, and worked to slip the power plant past a slew of unsuspecting Newark City officials.

Jack Markell: had his hand in everything.  He was behind Kinder Morgan’s takeover.  He was behind SB 51 and HB 165.  He was behind the illegal charter group, requiring HB 40. He also was the driving force for the four rational steps to gun legislation, 2 of which were passed. He was also the driving force behind the passage of gay marriage, signing the bill in the chambers just moments after its passage. He also supported the transgender bill in its travels through the labyrinth of Legislative Hall. He as behind keeping Dole in Delaware. He was behind changing an icon in Millsboro away from pickles, over to poultry. He pushed the bill to curtail Flowers. Despite your opinion over whether these were good or bad, they still showed a ubiquitous and wide reach across the state of Delaware. Seems like nothing got done that didn’t have his fingerprints all over it.

John Young: As head of Christina board, John Young led the board in standing up to Mark Murphy and Jack Markell, by refusing the RTTT funds slated for his district. Although some hired fools, (Jea Street) tried to paint Young into a corner, it served the opposite purpose and gave Young a platform. For the fist time, Common Core was getting publicly bashed. For the first time, many were finding that aligning themselves blindly to this sham of improving standards, was probably going to hurt them politically in the next couple of years. It was the fist salvo back, so the damage estimates were not high, but it did open eyes of many who had been on the sidelines of all educational issues, making them also become vocal in fighting Common Core. His blog Transparent Christina has channelled a lot of detailed information into the Delaware market, and had made Common Core an apprehension, instead of the savior it was supposed to be….

Kilroy: Kilroy has always been haranguing over education. In fact he was doing such a good job I left that issue alone for years, because other issues for me, like the economy and elimination of guns from the hands of the mentally ill, were more important. But as the issue has shifted back into the limelight, Kilroy’s hard hitting is making its mark… Kilroy is blunt, and right now, that is the language that needs to happen. Blunt descriptions of what takes place in the stratosphere of he academic field…. Kilroy often breaks stories before the News Journal, especially ones embarrassing to the Murphy/Markell cartel of education. If you have read Kilroy over the past couple of years, you would already know that Common Core is not the panacea we have been promised. It is a power grab for taxpayer dollars, financed by Wall Street itself…. If you think otherwise, you haven’t been reading a balanced reading list….
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That is what I have so far. In retrospect I am surprised that education has played so much, as even I have only come to that topic lately… But if one looks over the News Journal op eds, education really did dominate the discussion in the 2nd smallest state this year….

I may have forgotten some big ones. To reiterate, that is why I am posting this early, to catch those big mistakes as they get brought to my attention….

Oh Boy! Oh Boy! October 1st Is Almost Here…

There is a reason the opponents of Obama care are racing the clock to defund it before October 1st. They know how popular it will become to the American people.

I just looked and Delaware does not have their worksheets up yet, but in the state offices, things are looking rather rosy for the citizens of Delaware… Most of you will save thousands per year on medical bills.  Not all, but most..  Looking at the voting trends,  those who vote often, will all save money with insurance.

Other states do have their insurance options up and I have been looking through them.  The general trend is thusly.  If you are young, you are going to incur an expense you have not had to yet pay. Sorry.  That will come with sticker shock, as does a new car, as does your first house.  However, it should allow you the confidence to get checked out sooner, and therefore live healthier in your golden years than you otherwise would today if you had to pay full expense for care.

Hopefully, since you have to pay for it anyway, you will take advantage of it.

But you! Oh you! Who are old?  Who have pre-existing conditions?  Who have suffered with poor coverage for so long?  You are going to love what this does.  You will be able to figure out medical costs to the penny across your future years with your financial planning advisor, no matter what happens to your body.  The costs will be fixed, and a lot cheaper than you paying through the nose upon each occurrence.

One can describe it as buying a warranty.  What, the initial questioners ask?  You want me to pay money to this shop each month even  when nothing happens?  Yes and if something happens you get your car fixed for free.   Some gripe about losing $150 a month, until they see their first bill at a hospital would have cost them $5,000…. Then … they finally understand.

And you with families?  Especially you who have not taken your kids to a doctor because you couldn’t afford it?   You’re kids can now go…

So yes, those with money to lose will spend it all on ads telling you horror stories and capitalizing on one or two exceptions they make up as to who will pay more…

but just wait till October 1st, when you see that you start saving thousands…  EVERY SINGLE YEAR!

Then remember the Republican party tried to run the economy over a cliff, twice, to stop these savings from coming to you…..

October 1st, it is almost here.  About time for the pirated version to be leaked,  don’t you think?

It Is One Thing To Fire A Teacher Over A Standardized Test. It Is A Completely Different Thing To Make Her Never Teach Again!

The same controversy surrounding Tennessee’s equivalent of SB51, has at least that state’s Democrats fighting for those educating our children .  Not like up here where Dave Sokola and Erica Jenner joined forces and sold the teaching profession out for a couple of pieces of silver.

Think for a second.

If your boss gave you a pop quiz at work, how well do you think you’d do? … Guesses?

The correct answer is: you would do only as well as he wanted you to do.  If he wanted you do do well, he’d quiz you on things you do every day enabling you to pass with high marks.  If he wants you doing poorly, he fills the test up irrelevant questions, that you haven’t thought about in decades (because they are irrelevant); at work you are constantly being bombarded with things that truly do matter..

So we are talking about taking a teacher’s license away because her students did poorly on a standardized test, not by how good or not good the teacher is!

Does the teacher make the test?  Of course not:  the test is made many states away by people who have never stepped foot in a classroom and get paid 6 digit salaries. The tests are untried at the time of taking. They are not last year’s test remade.  No one knows how relevant or non relevant these tests are.

Does the teacher get to know the material on the test so she can teach her students the relevant data?  No, that would be cheating.  The teacher has to guess before hand what will or will not be covered, and then has to teach her best guess.  What if those think tank “specialists” have different philosophies?  Bad scores.

Does the teacher get to interpret the test, to explain the questions in a way the child might better understand?  No, that is considered leading the child.  So if a child can’t understand the question, because they haven’t a Masters or Doctorate degree in education, they fail.

Does the teacher have any control over the test taking environment?  No, if every one stays up late to watch Breaking Bad, and then texts till two in the morning about what happened on the show, and what might happen on next week’s episode.,..  they will do poorly.  To them its some dumb test that doesn’t matter anyway.  They’ll still get promoted…  456 + 789… ah, my head hearts…  let me guess… umm  “{c}”

Imagine lining up all of Delawares School Board and Rodel Foundation officers around the Governor, as he signs SB 51, and taking one photo, then firing all those who blinked, grimace, moved, or otherwise “failed” to properly enhance the photo…..

As their cleaning out their office, you can here Hefferman mutter… “they didn’t even count down. They just took the picture.  If they’d counted down, I could have been ready.”

And speaking of FAILURES.  OH!  MY!  GOODNESS!!!  Rodel’s Vision 2015 has failed to meet its objectives (GOALS) it set for itself back in 2006.  They have had 7 of the 9 years they gave themselves to make it happen. Instead of  firing itself, it announces its name is now Rodel 2020….  But a teacher who’s students blink during 3 hours one day from watching Breaking Bad the night before?  YOU’RE A LOUSY TEACHER!   WHAT A FAILURE YOU ARE!  GET OUT OF OUR SCHOOL!  EVEN BETTER!  GET YOU OUT OF OUR ENTIRE PROFESSION!

That is why this is so stupid. SB51 is so stupid. Everyone who voted for it, without reading it, is so stupid.  Every blog except those who raised awareness against it, is so stupid.  Mr. Sweeney, is so stupid….

I won’t belabor the point anymore.  But firing a teacher for a photo moment, is ridiculous.  Taking away their license for the same should in a proper universe, damn you to an eternity in Hell.

If you yourself personally choose to go to Hell, you will find the following assorted people there to keep you company.

Blevins,  Hocker,  Peterson,
Bonini,  Lavelle,  Pettyjohn,
Bushweller, Lawson,  Poore,
Cloutier,  Lopez,  Simpson,
Ennis,  Marshall, Sokola,
Hall-Long, McBride, Townsend,
Henry, McDowell, Venables,

Atkins,  J. Johnson,  Ramone,
Barbieri,  Q. Johnson,  Scott,
Bennett,  Kenton,  B. Short,
Blakey,  M. Smith, D. Short,
Bolden,  Longhurst,  Smyk,
Brady,  Miro,  Spiegelman,
Briggs-King,  Mitchell,  Viola,
Carson,  Mulrooney,  Walker,
Dukes,  D.E. Williams, Keeley,
Gray,  Outten,  K. Williams,
Heffernan,  Paradee,  Wilson,
Hudson,  Peterman,  Schwartzkopf,
Jaques  Sweeney, Markell, Murphy, Jenner.

Just looking over that list, … I would bet that if this list ever got public, and people could see the likes of the company they’d be spending their eternity with, .. our churches would be overflowing this weekend!…

By the way, can anyone out there possibly tell me when was the last time a doctor lost his license for one case of malpractice judgment decided in court against him? Or one Secretary of Education fired for in his first year statewide test results, in what even the friendly News Journal headline lambasted as: “Disappointing Results”?

GO TO CHURCH!