Now is the time for all good men to stand up for what they truly believe in ....

Now is the time for all good men and women to stand up for what they truly believe in .... The future of our world may well depend upon your voice and your action.

It's late and I've yet to sleep, but as I lie in 'bed' and contemplate the notion of sleep I find my head is pounding and my heart is heavy. Another, in a long procession of terror attacks --over the course of the past two years-- has most recently struck on the streets of Barcelona, with a rented vehicle being used to run down innocent pedestrians enjoying a warm summer day on the streets of beautiful Barcelona.

I find myself perplexed by the response among people here, in the United States, to this most recent terror attack in Barcelona. Perhaps a lack of proximity to the the devastation and carnage, being an entire ocean away, helps to explain the lack of a sense of outrage, concern and a determination to do something –anything tangible-- towards the end of preventing another such attack. The response I mainly seem to be getting from people I've encountered is –and I'm paraphrasing here-- “Yes, it's a horrible tragedy. But it happened [thank God it didn't happen here] and its going to happen again; it's just a question of where and when.” Call me crazy, but I'm not okay with that, the notion that this type of violence is somehow inevitable and part of our new way of life in these modern times … violence being unleashed upon defenseless, innocent bystanders merely going about the business of their daily lives, while trying to find pockets of happiness in a world that seems to have gone blanking mad. I stop and ponder the vehicular tragedy we experienced here, in the USA, in Charlottesville, VA over the weekend, when a white supremacists plowed into a crowd of anti-supremacist protesters which wound up taking the life of a young woman and two police officers. It too was a terrible tragedy. Most people you ask will say the two events, the one in Barcelona and the one in Charlottesville, have no connections whatsoever, but I wholeheartedly disagree. When I think on the events in Charlottesville, VA, it occurs to me that while the things that white supremacists believe in and stand for run counter to the very notion of the things I believe America stands for, the rights of these supremacists to march and to say these things they supposedly believe in is protected by our constitution. Moreover, while the white supremacists have the right to speak their hateful and divisive rhetoric, in America, we have hundreds --perhaps even thousands of people-- who found the courage within themselves to meet these hateful supremacists on equal ground in order to speak out against their evil way of thinking. While I do not condone the violence, on either side of this equation, I am somehow comforted by the notion that in America we have a strong voice advocating for truth, reason and the values we as a majority in this society espouse.

When I think on the radical beliefs being inculcated in so many of the youth practicing the faith of Islam these days –followers of radical Islamism advocating the use of terrorism and violence in order to advance their agenda of hatred, intolerance and oppression-- however, I do not see this same counterbalancing force we witnessed in Charlottesville, VA, over the weekend. That is to say, I see no counterbalance within the larger faith of Islam that would –or has-- organize(d), in large, meaningful numbers, speaking from positions of truth and power, in order to courageously speak out loudly against the evil being unleashed by radical Islamist extremism. I truly believe if these young men, so susceptible to being recruited by the extremists, actually had another voice to turn to for a check and balance upon the radical beliefs --by way of an examination of the radical beliefs within the context of the mainstream interpretations of the Quran and its teachings-- that so many of these men would find their way free from the grasp of extremism. And quite frankly, until this counterbalancing voice from within the faith of Islam emerges with strength, numbers and the courage of their convictions, I truly believe the violence we have seen in terrorist attacks like Barcelona will continue to be sown upon our streets, both here and abroad, wreaking havoc upon the innocent and the defenseless.

“The thing to be feared most, above all, is that good men will choose to do nothing in the face of true evil.”


Late a.m. ... Thinking further on the above, in the light of day, it occurs to me that the one thing the alt-right, alt-left and Islamism (radical Islamist extremism) all have in common is a driving force to shut-down open dialogue, thereby eliminating any possibility for meaningful, multi-way discussions to occur.  In the absence of dialogue, things tend to escalate rather quickly towards the end of violence.


[I also have some early detection and technology driven prevention/disabling ideas  to thwart terrorism, but I'm too tired to share them here tonight.  Perhaps, I'll share tomorrow after a night with at least a few hours sleep.]


8/23/2013 Then there is that … That the leader of the Free World might actually assume a leadership role in addressing the elephant in the room by putting an end to the era of appeasement and cowering,where terrorist are concerned. After nearly a decade of speaking softly, Trump, in his role as Commander in Chief, is finally dusting off America's Big Stick … “Speak softly, but carry a big stick”, ever heard that one before? Well, thankfully, President Trump has. On Monday, President Trump stood in front of the rest of the free world, addressing his troops, and announced to them and to the nation at large that America, along with its allies in the Middle East, was finally going to get about the business of bringing the fight to the terrorists.

During his address, President Trump informed his troops that unlike the previous administration the military has his full backing and support. Moreover, from this point forward America is not going to be pre-scripting their play-by- play moves for all the world to see. Trump assured his troops that they will have adequate funding, training and the resources necessary to do their job in real-time. President Trump also announced that he is going to hold our allies in the Middle East (Saudia Arabia and Pakistan in particular, Jordan seems to have been holding up their end of the bargain) accountable for the commitments they have made toward the end of actually hunting down and eliminating the radical Islamist terrorists, hell-bent on unleashing their ideology of violence, intolerance, hatred and oppression upon the innocent and defenseless.

These terrorist have now been warned that the era of inaction, whereby governments have done little to actively combat terrorism at its source, is over.  We're through putting colorfully worded band-aids on the very real problem of radical extremist violence.  We will mourn tragedy, but moving forward we will take decisive offensive actions. The Free World is about to shine one heck of BIG light into the deep dark holes where violent Islamist extremist ideology seems to fester and breed, and soon there will be no more safe places for these terrorists-in-the-making to hide.  Perhaps the moral courage demonstrated by the President of the United States, in identifying the true evil that exists within our world today, and then putting a decisive plan of eradication into immediate action, will inspire other world leaders to finally take a definitive stand towards the end of tangibly removing the threat of terrorism from their own lands. Perhaps the leaders of the true faith of Islam will also find the moral courage to speak out against these violent extremists, using the wisdom and peaceful teachings to be found within the Quran in order to show misguided young men a better path in this life. In the face of true evil, President Donald Trump, has chosen to do something meaningful and I find, strangely enough, that his voice, his action gives me hope for this world of ours after all.

Dreams & Visions

"Foxglove"

NOKO 

"The thing to be feared, above all else, is that good men would choose to do nothing in the face of true evil."

Wisdom out of the mouths of Babes?

"If parenting seems easy, then you probably aren't doing something right."  ~My Middle Daughter

Wisdom out of the mouths of Babes? So take heart, if parenting seems to be overwhelming for anyone out there these days.  This too shall pass.  Don't sweat the small stuff.  Let your kids BE KIDS; they grow up so quickly!

"Net Neutrality" No more???

Note to flipping-out Democrats, politicians and journalists:  enough with the Russia angle already!  While you all are busy foaming at mouth, the Trump administration is presently poised to revisit, and likely to repeal, "Net Neutrality" in favor of Big Business.  And no one is talking about this?!?

Still boggles my mind that Democrats and mainstream media remain relentless in their pursuit of "collusion" and "obstructionism" charges, where the Trump campaign is concerned, in absence of any tangible/admissible legal evidence to date.  This when the evidence --FBI documents-- to move forward with a conviction against Hillary Clinton actually exists, on multiple fronts? Guess, "Don't poke the bear" doesn't apply when the bear --Republicans in control of Congress-- is inept?  Republicans give the notion of being "principled" a bad name, because these days when Republicans are "principled" they can't seem to find their way through compromise in order to get the really meaningful shit done.  Anyone ready to start talking term limits yet???

"The Narrative"

If I could find the time machine, I'd go back in time and remove the concept of "the narrative" from our modern-day cultural vocabulary.  The modern-day concept of "the narrative" took root in the previous presidential administration, when talking points and spin --aided in large part by a dishonest media-- slowly began to supplant truth, and rather successfully --from a legal standpoint-- I might add. Thanks to the narrative, these days empirical, fact-based truth and ideas no longer seem to matter to the average citizen.  If you say something often enough, loud enough and from the right celebrity, political and media pulpits, then "truth" becomes whatever those driving the narrative want it to be.  And sadly, I believe it is the very concept of "the narrative" that is responsible for ever-widening chasms of our national divide.  One is left wondering, what will it take to shatter the illusion of "the narrative", thereby restoring order (i.e., civil discourse and national unity) to our universe once again?

6/22/2017  Per my concluding question:  I'm thinking,  it will take the restoration of journalistic integrity to the news-media industry.  But one wonders, what would drive this restoration?

7/11/2017 I think those content to be mindlessly led will always readily subscribe to "the narrative", those who seek truth would do well to look elsewhere.

9/3/2017  "National Day of Prayer" in the United States, per President Donald J. Trump.  Maybe it takes a national disaster (i.e., Hurricane Harvey) to bridge the chasm of our national divide?  Stronger to together:  Texans and those helping them out get this.

Freeze-Frame???

I have to wonder, does the media's hovering around in the aftermath of any given terrorist attack, for hours on-end, acting like a bunch of vultures waiting to be the "first to feed" really serve the interests of the people the media are supposed to be speaking to?  Seems to me this non-stop coverage does more to serve the terrorists' end-game.  Might I suggest, that after an initial announcement, detailing the date, time, place and venue for any given attack, the media should then continue with their normal programming, breaking in from time to time to give pertinent updates as needed.  Then in the aftermath of the initial tragedy --when all of the dust has settled and victims and their families have been attended to-- the media can give a comprehensive update on the facts surrounding the story, with an equal emphasis given to the victims and their families, thereby sharing the human side of tragedy. Cover a terror attack this way, and we stand a chance of showing the beauty to be found in the human spirit's ability persevere and triumph over madness.  Let us celebrate this spirit of perseverance and triumph over pure evil, while remembering the contributions of those who needlessly lost their lives at the hands of soulless mad-men, hell-bent on promoting a warped ideology of hatred and intolerance.  In other words, at the very least, media please do not act as terrorist surrogates in spreading the terrorist message of fear and carnage.

My heartfelt thoughts and ongoing prayers to all impacted by the terror attack in Manchester last night.  May God Bless, keep and guide those affected by this tragedy, one and all.

???

Beware the one-eyed man.

[ 7/16 Saw more in a dream last night.  There is a terror cell operating out of SW Brazil.  The one-eyed man wears an eye-patch and drives an older model green Volvo.]

Obstructionism, Ineptitude or Blackmail???

How's this for a conspiracy theory?  The whole "Russian thing" is just a distraction.  A "Look over here, everyone",  while we --the party in power, at the time: Democrats, by way of the Obama Administration-- use this fabricated distraction of "the Russian government conspiring with the Trump campaign" to justify our 27.5% increase in surveillance requests --a 3x increase in number of requests from years prior-- incidentally collecting data on hundreds of U.S. citizens, whose names we unlawfully unmask for multiple political gains, many of which we are still being put into play as we speak, behind the scenes.  I mean, if the Obama administration had really been concerned about the Russian government "meddling in our election", then our government should have started an active investigation prior to the election, but they didn't.  The Obama administration didn't let the American people know about this supposed "definitive meddling", even though they claim "to have known about this meddling" in the months leading up to the November 2017 Presidential election.  The powers that be have even claimed to have "proof"  of this "meddling" by way of digital footprints --this is rich, given recently leaked Wikipedia documents which show that among our U.S. Intelligence community's "bag of tricks" is the ability to hack somewhere and then leave misleading "digital footprints" pointing to other hackers/countries.  In any case, now six months after the election, this "proof" of Russian meddling has yet to be tangibly identified and logged into evidence for review by the Congressional Committees conducting formal investigations.  Yet, the allegations of conspiracy still linger?  This in spite of the fact that the only definitive statement being put forward thus far is a joint statement from the CIA, FBI and DNI "That there exists no evidence of collusion between the Trump campaign and the Russian government."

My conspiracy theory claims that the previous administration was gathering intelligence on a specific group of American citizens, namely U.S. members of Congress.  Why?  So that they could blackmail key Congressional members in an attempt to derail any consensus on Trump's legislative agenda, should he win the election, and/or should Republicans gain control of both of the House and Senate.  This is why nothing much in the way of meaningful legislation is coming out of Congress since the Inauguration --when Trump officially took office-- even though the Republicans now control both the U.S. Senate and the House of Representatives.

All the above being said, the wise man says "All things being equal, the simplest explanation is usually the right one." ~Okham's Razor

Applying this theory to the Russian hacking theory, which is more likely:  1) Russians hacked the DNC and got the emails to expose Clinton campaign weaknesses; or 2) that anyone with half a brain could hack an account where the access code was literally "password"?  Even the outlier explanation, that "a disgruntled Sanders proponent leaked the emails in an effort to expose the bias of the DNC towards Hillary Clinton over Bernie Sanders", makes more sense than option #1.

[5/17/2017 Look into Seth Richards, a 27 year-old DNC staffer who was shot from behind in a supposed "robbery gone wrong", back in July 2016 on the streets of D.C.  This when his jewelry, watch, wallet and phone were all found to be on  his body when police arrived on the scene.]

And sadly, the long-time standing lock-step voting by the Democrats in Congress --which turns into outright "obstructionism" when the opposition party takes control of the U.S. Congress-- coupled with ineptitude of the ongoing fractured Republican party (in terms of rigid ideological "principles") probably makes more sense than "blackmailing" members of Congress to sway votes and control legislative policy.  Or does it?  Whatever the case, all members of Congress need to put their rigid party ideologies and personal "principles" aside and focus --both parties!-- on getting meaningful legislation enacted for the good of "We the People", or come the mid-term elections we will vote you out of office, Democrats and Republicans alike.  "Resist!"  Does absolutely zilch to address the needs of the people.   Yet, somehow, even after the 2017 Presidential Election upset, Democrats still cannot seem to find their way to understanding that this is why they LOST.   People are tired being nothing more than "votes" to Democrats.   Anyway, Somewhere out there is a meaningful middle-ground and Congressmen and women:  I suggest you find it and quickly!  Because at the end of the day, neither obstructionism or ineptitude amounts to victory for the American people.  As for the "blackmail", something tells me the truth is going to finally come to light this time around ......

5/8/2017  More public hearings on Capitol Hill today.  There was a lot of grandiose show-boating, but nothing new or definitive.  Save for the fact that James Clapper, former Director of National Intelligence, testified under oath that he stands by his earlier statement  ---citing a joint conclusion between the DNI, CIA and FBI-- that "there is no evidence of collusion between the Trump campaign and the Russian government."

Trying to Wrap Your Mind Around the Unfathomable?

It is unfathomable that chemical weapons were once again used on the Syrian people? When will this madness end?  To hear of the deaths of the innocent, among them children, and to then bear witness to the ensuing suffering of the survivors by way of graphic news and social media full-color images is almost overwhelming. One wonders if we, fellow citizens on this rapidly spinning Blue Planet, will all become callous to such atrocities in order to maintain the frivolity of our seemingly important 'everyday lives'? To say my thoughts and prayers are with the victims of the Syrian Chemical attack, followed by victims of separate terror attacks in London and Russia over the past week, no longer seems to BE enough? I am left wondering, how many of us have become complacent in a world gone mad ......

One is left wondering:  In today's crazy world, does the ability to separate what "we think" from what "we feel" become crucial to our ability to continue to function 'normally' in the face of the unthinkable???? And if so, are we then okay with this new normal?

4/7/2017 Been thinking some more on this terrible atrocity executed against Syrian people, and it occurred to me that the Russian government gave assurances it had worked with Syria government to dismantle and then to subsequently remove the Syrian government's chemical weapons stock-pile.  This recent chemical attack is clear evidence that the Russian government, by way of Vladimir Putin, failed to live up to the commitment it made in front of the United Nations.  As such, this failure would seem to constitute grounds for Russia losing their seat on the United Nations Security Council, either a temporary suspension or even a longer term removal.

4/21/2017 Yet another attack in France, Paris, near the Champs D'Elysees.  The destruction and death continue in a battle where no one truly ever wins. 

How Much Are We Really Willing to Take???

Not only are we living in a materialistic world, we are now living in a dangerous technologically driven world, a world where any and everything is now for sale to the highest bidder it would seem.

The U.S. House of Representatives guts standing internet privacy laws (protections afforded by FCC Regulations).  Why? Apparently this is some twisted effort to 'remove restrictions stifling innovation'.   This sure sounds like smoke & mirrors to me.   We already have an intelligence community that has repeatedly demonstrated a gross overstepping abuse in their surveillance operations, and now we're going to further open the field to anyone interested in playing?

I'm all for innovation, but not at the ongoing expense of private citizens like you and me.  Granted no reasonable person still clings to the illusion of absolute privacy in today's tech-driven world (e.g., traffic cameras, bank ATM cameras, hospital cameras, university cameras, store and business surveillance systems, etc.), but to now have all of our personal internet transactions available for sale to the highest bidder is absolutely CRAZY TOWN!  Now my stalker can acquire my exact location, along with details regarding any of my online purchases, details such as lingerie, bra sizes, etc.  Just wonderful? I feel safer already: NOT!  Now everyone can have their own personal stalker too in the form of massive and invasive data-mining, legally collected and made available to any and everyone willing to pay for access to this information.  If anything, consumers should be able to sell their own information and reap the benefits and income thereof, instead of the other way around --that is consumers paying for service and then having their information sold out from underneath them to the further financial benefit of the service provider.

There are many ways to encourage and support innovation with regards to on-line businesses: gutting existing internet privacy laws is simply NOT one of them!  If you think the U.S. Congress is ineffective, misguided and dishonest now --politically or otherwise-- just wait until the potential for black-mailing our elected officials sky-rockets with a veritable feast of new private information hitting the 'market'.  Once this mass of private information becomes available to the general public/highest bidder, even Congressional term limits won't be able to reign back-in the limitless potential for abuse.

(*VIP!  See note at very bottom, under 3/31/2017*) I strongly urge you to write to your Senators and demand that they defeat this legislative attempt to gut our existing internet privacy laws, for I do not believe the Senate has yet to vote.  Then you might also want to drop a line to the White House, because the word on the street seems to be that President Trump would sign this F*****-up piece of legislation into law, if passed by the U.S. Senate, which really surprises me given the President Trump's ongoing aggravation with being 'spied on by the previous administration' --both during and post election, leading up to the inauguration.

If you ask me, selling out the American people IS NOT THE WAY TO "MAKE AMERICA GREAT AGAIN"!  I'd rather have a wall surrounding basic internet privacy than a full southern border wall and the former would be a heck of a lot cheaper too.

Think this legislative failure is the definitive line in the sand for me.


3/30 Here is my letter to my Senators  . Feel free to copy and use.

As I sent my letters off to my own Senators, I wondered: do the majority of Congress-people feel obligated to only support the interests of those whose political views happen to align with their own? This despite the fact that I VOTE for candidates based solely upon their experience and past performance, regardless of party affiliation.  In fact, I voted for an equal number of Democrats and Independents, along with Republicans, in this past election.  What do you think???

3/31/2017  VIP!  Had some more time to investigate this matter further today.  After doing some research on-line: it seems the U.S. Senate has already voted on this deregulation, on March 23, 2017, in the previous week.  Pretty sneaky!?!  Did not hear anything about this until it was done deal with the U.S. House of Reps voting this week.  Just surprised me that the Senate voted before the House, but I suppose that is entirely possible as this legislation not technically a budget matter (all bills related to budget issues must originate in the U.S. House of Representatives, per the U.S. Constitution).  So bottom line: writing to our Senators won't probably won't affect a vote which has already occurred, however, writing to our elected representatives would let them know WE ARE NOT HAPPY.  This in turn might encourage them to reconsider their position on the matter and possibly even put this discussion back on the table again?  Anyway, as a last resort I did leave a message on the White House contact page in hopes this legislation has not yet been signed into law by the President.  Here's hoping the little guys actually winds up having some say in this matter!  At least with a President Trump in the White House the little guy has at least a 50/50 shot.  The odds have shifted in our favor.

4/5/2017  Well, sadly the "little guy" has lost again.  President Trump signed the de-regulation legislation into law on Monday, April 2nd.  So get ready to start reading the fine-print on all of your CCFSAs. Guess all you can do now is to choose your provider wisely, stay current on any policy changes for the latter and hope (pray?) the Broadband ISPs "do the right thing."  Sorry President  Trump, this one goes your loss column for me.

Blessed are the Children, for the Kingdom of Heaven Surely Belongs to Them ....

Regarding the rape of a 14 year old girl, in a Maryland high school:

If we fail to keep our children SAFE, in an environment that by definition should be safe, then anything else we can do to further the cause of humanity fails in significance by comparison.

"It was once said that the moral test of government is how that government treats those who are in the dawn of life, the children; those who are in the twilight of life, the elderly; and those who are in the shadows of life-the sick, the needy and the handicapped."~Hubert Humphrey, in a speech at the dedication of the Hubert Humphrey building, Nov. 1, 1977.

 "Any society, any nation, is judged on the basis of how it treats its weakest members -- the last, the least, the littlest."~Cardinal Roger Mahony, In a 1998 letter, Creating a Culture of Life

Aristotle has often been quoted as saying 'You can judge any society by the way it treats its most vulnerable citizens.'


I found myself physically ill upon hearing this unthinkable news .....

Actions do speak louder than words ...

A ship full of holes will never float: Executive Order 12.333.

Some truths are, indeed, self-evident.

3/28 ... And now the possibility exists that our national intelligence may have been exploited in order to commit political espionage? Is it too late to put this genie back into the bottle?

It's About Time We Had Transparency w.r.t. Health-care Costs for Services

The only way you can truly save healthcare and keep it affordable "for all" is by means of introducing a true transparency into the system.  Meaning, people have right to know, up front, what any office visit or procedure is going to cost them, instead of being blind-sided with some horrifically enormous bill after the fact.  I mean, medicine is about the only industry today where the consumer must blindly sign upon the dotted line, agreeing to pay whatever the cost may wind up being, without first being given a reasonable cost estimate/comparison.  With today's technology, there is simply no excuse --beyond deception-- for consumers not having access to prices for medical services upfront.   Moreover, patients should be able compare prices, along with customer reviews and oversight independent rankings, instantly right on-line, in order to shop around and then get the most value for their hard-earned dollars.  Transparency in the healthcare system will also foster competition, which will work toward the end-goal of driving costs down and keeping them down in the long term.  Can the government do something incentivize transparency w.r.t. health-care costs? Allowing coverage to be purchased across state lines would also be a huge driver in lowering costs.

3/10/2017  Republicans would do well to slow the pace and heed the warnings of congressmen Rand Paul and Tom Cotton, lest the Republicans wind up hastily pushing another sloppy, ineffective (i.e., doesn't address all issues adequately), loop-hole ridden bill through congress in much the same fashion the Democrats did with their snowball piece of legislation the 'Affordable' Healthcare Act.

"Give me six hours to chop down a tree and I will spend the first four sharpening the axe."~Abraham Lincoln

And what's up with the "Cadillac Tax"? How is it fair to penalize employers for providing above the base standard for healthcare to their employees?  Level the playing field by penalizing those who have access to better options?  Sounds pretty "socialized" to me.  Not what I thought Republicans stood for?!?  I'm really surprised, not to mention disappointed!!!

Stardust

"We come spinning out of nothing, scattering stars like dust."  ~Rumi

The Sower of Systems', 1902 By, George Frederic Watts

7 New Earth-like Planets Discovered 'Nearby' (39 Light Years .. It's all relative, right?)

Supernova Remnant E0102-72

September 5, 2009

[Credit: X-ray - NASA / CXC / MIT / D.Dewey et al., NASA / CXC / SAO / J.DePasquale; Optical - NASA / STScI ... read more .]

Free YOUR MIND

In the absence of critical thought, emotions and group-think will always prevail, polarizing every issue and sewing the inevitable seeds of division and discord.  The time has come to wake up, to stop blindly following others.  The time has come to engage your heart, along with your mind, in order to more fully partake in the true meaning of this shared journey we call LIFE.