So Many Enemies He Needs Some Executive Time to Relax a Little

So the president repeatedly says the American press is America's enemy - but not one word about Russia threatening a nuclear attack on America ... 

Former FBI director says he fears the president is a Russian asset .... but the press is the enemy (oh, and the entire FBI).

Saudi Arabia murders a journalist, the president's staff has secretly sold nuclear weapon secrets to them ... because the press is the enemy?

The president calls for retribution against media comedies for jokes about his great self, and a coast guard officer is thankfully arrested for planning mass murder based on a hit list spreadsheet of media targets ....because the press is the enemy.

Except the press is not the enemy at our southern border. It's all the non-white people. Such a horrific enemy the president says America has a national emergency. 

Odd ...The press, non-whites, treaties with our allies, our military alliances, our trade with other nations, these are the enemies of America in the eyes and mind and actions of the president and his followers. Oh, and all the ex members of his administration. They are all bad people too. And his lawyers. And former friends. 

So many enemies. Gonna have to grab some Executive Time.

The Worst Kidney Stone in Human History

Here at the end of 2018, I am somewhat embarrassed so many of the few posts this year have been about the Fake President currently in office. I didn't want to do that, but the harm being done by the individual is consistently alarming and newsworthy.

I take some minimal comfort in the reality that the majority of voters cast their votes for someone else. Also bringing relief, the fact that the political faction responsible for his term were pretty much thrown out in the elections of the Fall of this year. But restoring the nation will be a great task and one that takes more time. Simply put, this bizzaro episode isn't going to end well. 

So onward to 2019, and again, I'll exert more effort to renew the readability and worth of posts on this humble, but lovable page. As for our current discomfort, it shall pass .... like the worst kidney stone in human history.

The Armaggedon Roundup

Some observations -

- If you run a gun shop called Armageddon Supplies, isn't it inevitable one day some dude will send a 200 page manifesto of discontents to the White House, and steal dozens of guns and tons of ammo and armor from your store? Yer store, see, is called Armageddon Supplies, so that's like ... stupid.

- The witless prom girl video blogger is suing her insane boss for wrongful termination. Smart money says the two agreed to file suits against each other in order to generate some publicity, aka desperate pleas for attention. So, no.

- We've all seen some Dick moves in our time. For the president - any president - to gut billions from national parks and then donate $76,000 to them -- Grade A Dick move. It's the kind of asshole thing the asshole character in a bad movie does. Dick.

- The actual facts, the plain narrative of the president's financial connections to the Russian mob is right here to read. No special investigation revealed this - and any new investigation into this swamp means one thing which I predict right here - the current administration is defunct and within 2 years, the U.S. is going to be placing Speaker of the House Paul Ryan into the presidency. It's fairly inescapable.

- Here In Tennessee, those poor folks in the internet provider business just got $45 million in tax dollars to encourage them to actually provide internet in places they have refused to go. Oh and to let utilities to run internet wherever they can, because two businesses that just can't seem to make a profit are utilities and internet providers? 

What I Learned Watching The Presidential Debate

Let's see here ... the United States should

= Invade North Korea

= Or at least support a Chinese invasion of  North Korea

= Stop US business expansion into overseas market

= Abandon NATO

= Support the collapse of the US housing market because "that's called business".

OK, what else do we have here? It strikes me how much Trump talks like a character in a David Mamet con man play ... like this one about his own income:

"The report that said $650 (million) — which, by the way, a lot of friends of mine that know my business say, boy, that’s really not a lot of money. It’s not a lot of money relative to what I had.

The buildings that were in question, they said in the same report, which was — actually, it wasn’t even a bad story, to be honest with you, but the buildings are worth $3.9 billion. And the $650 isn’t even on that. But it’s not $650. It’s much less than that.

But I could give you a list of banks, I would — if that would help you, I would give you a list of banks. These are very fine institutions, very fine banks. I could do that very quickly."

I did like this quote from Clinton, which was pretty much overlooked, but really cuts to the heart of what Trump himself considers his ultimate expertise, cutting business deals:

"Well, sometimes there’s not a direct transfer of skills from business to government, but sometimes what happened in business would be really bad for government."

There's the blatantly obvious racism from Trump, however I am sure he sees his comments differently, such as he calls anyone he thinks is a bum whatever slur comes to mind. 

Overall, I learned that I remain perplexed at how some thoughtful and experienced people I know are ardent supporters for someone who is playing a dangerous game he has zero qualifications for.

Cranky Defenders of Torture Rise Again

Anyone strapped down will say anything, absolutely anything to get the torture to stop. Torture. Does. Not. Work." (Source)

Really? We're back to the topic of a systematic torture of prisoners?

Dick Cheney, former VP and longtime cheerleader for tactics from "the dark side", as he called it, makes no room for doubt - "I'd do it again in a minute!" -- "It" being torture.

Going back to Nov. 2007, a previous post shows Americans decry torture but reserve the right to use it, and such a contradiction carries a heavy price for Democracy ....

"I am pretty sure if the technique, often lumped into the phrase "enhanced interrogation techniques" (a grisly tortured used of language), if such an act were used on you, you would consider it torture. It has been a part of military training for some time, as reported by Malcolm Nance, former Master Instructor and Chief of Training at the U.S. Navy Survival, Evasion, Resistance, and Escape (SERE) school in San Diego. He writes extensively about the tactic in this essay, which makes compelling arguments on what it is - torture - and that torture is a useless way to get information, and that even watching such interrogations is beyond the ability of most people: 

"Most people can not stand to watch a high intensity kinetic interrogation. One has to overcome basic human decency to endure watching or causing the effects. The brutality would force you into a personal moral dilemma between humanity and hatred.

"It would leave you to question the meaning of what it is to be an American. We live at a time where Americans, completely uninformed by an incurious media and enthralled by vengeance-based fantasy television shows like “24”, are actually cheering and encouraging such torture as justifiable revenge for the September 11 attacks. Having been a rescuer in one of those incidents and personally affected by both attacks, I am bewildered at how casually we have thrown off the mantle of world-leader in justice and honor. Who we have become?"

The original post is here. 

Discovery of 6 Million Pounds of Explosives Force Evacuation

Epic incompetence and likely criminal activity could have wiped an entire town off the map.

The entire town of Doyline, Louisiana has been evacuated after the discovery of some 6 million pounds of explosives improperly stored, stacked and strewn around a massive storage facility. Oddly, back in October a massive explosion rocked the facility, but it was only last week that investigators went to the site in a "follow-up" and then realized that millions of pounds of M6 artillery powder were left outside or in roofless buildings.

At first, residents were told it would just be a short evacuation, but now that officials have been on the site of the explosives, residents are being told to stay away until ... whenever.

Some 27 tractor trailer loads have been removed and stored in safer and appropriate facilities, but more work, obviously, is needed.

Explo Systems, which runs the site, has been very quiet on the issue, and the owners are on their way back from South Korea.

Residents have to consider themselves lucky that the first explosion back in October was small and did not reduce the town to a hole in the ground. Why did it take more than 6 weeks after the explosion to notice millions more boxes and crates, especially since so much of it was just left outside of buildings?

Sex Slavery In Nearly Every County In Tennessee, Says TBI

Sex Slavery By County in Tennessee, Minors and Adults

The above image is from last week's special report from the Tennessee Bureau of Investigation on Human Sex Trafficking in the state and how it impacts children and adults, and how widespread this brutal practice has become.

The TBI Director Mark Gwyn says in his opening comments on this report (full online PDF here):

"The results of the study are shocking. Human trafficking and sex slavery in Tennessee is more common than previously believed possible. Focused specifically on victims between the ages of nine and seventeen, the study pulled together details that found children are moved from city to city in the state and sold as prostitutes. Tennessee, simply because of its geographical position to Atlanta and the large number of interstates that cross the state, is conducive to a traveling business.

Many times those promoting prostitution transport the child victims to large entertainment events or sporting venues where people are traveling through or visiting the state. These visitors, often referred to as ‘sex tourists’, quite often become the clients.

The National Incidence Studies of Missing, Abducted, Runaway and Throwaway Children reports that one in four children who run away from home are approached for commercial sexual exploitation within 48 hours of running away. The average age of a sex trafficking victim is 13.

Trafficking victims rarely come forward to ask for help on their own because they are drugged, brainwashed, threatened and beaten into believing authorities will abuse them worse than their captors. Many times victims are arrested for crimes they are forced to commit. Inherently, cases against the traffickers are difficult for law enforcement to investigate and a challenge to prosecute."


85 percent of the counties in this state have had reports on this cruel sexual slavery. Just a few weeks ago, a large multi-state slavery ring, operating two brothels in Hamblen County, was busted by the TBI and local law enforcement.

WBIR has a report here, including information from Christi Wigel, president of the Community Coalition against Human Trafficking in Knoxville.

Last week, the state legislature attempted to toughen the penalties and consequences for those who promote or participate and are forced to participate in this slavery. Sadly, the Senate added some changes that simply fall short of what's needed:

"This amendment also replaces the provisions of this bill that would make a minor who is charged with prostitution subject to the protective custody of the department of children's services as a possible victim of child sexual abuse. This amendment instead requires that a law enforcement officer who takes a person under 18 years of age into custody on suspicion of having committed prostitution, upon determination that the person is a minor, provide the minor with the telephone number for the national human trafficking resource center hotline and release the minor to the custody of a parent or legal guardian."


Hopefully, in the weeks ahead, local and state law enforcement will convince the state and the rest of us living in Tennessee to give them the tools they need to stop and prosecute these vermin and to provide real help to the minors trapped in Hell.

The Week In Review - Feb 12-19, 2011

- Singer Billy Ray Cyrus tells GQ magazine that the Hannah Montana Show "destroyed his family". Yet another case of how television, music, fame, wealth, dual and triple identities, divorce, success, and friends will eat your goodness.

- Espranza Spalding wins the Best New Artist Grammy award, proving that jazz is way cooler than pop music. New fans rush to listen to her music for free on the internet since radio only plays uncool things.

- South Dakota politician Phil Jensen introduces and then withdraws legislation to legalize the murder of doctors.

- Tennessee state Senator Stacey Campfield introduces legislation to outlaw the presence of dogs in cars unless they wear seat belts, have insurance, can pass a driver's license test (in English) and do not say the word "gay" out loud. As a commenter at Sen. Campfield's blog says "Now if you can just get them to stop talking/texting on their phones."

- Republicans in Washington sharpened their cutting knives on the current budget year to slash funding for education, job training, food safety, community development and health center funds -- but decided to approve $7 million dollars for the military to advertise on decals for NASCAR. (Congressman John Boehner continues to claim "We're broke!!") A member of Congress who opposed the funding received death threats for her opposition.

- We learned this week that breastfeeding is a Socialist plot to destroy America, according to presidential hopeful Michelle Bachmann, who also admitted she did breastfeed all her children, but now is against it because a mother might get a tax break if they breastfeed. Since the government already is the world's largest buyer of infant formula (to replace breastfeeding) then opposing the tax savings idea will insure the government spends more money ... wait, what?? Is Bachmann fighting big government or supporting it??

- In Pennsylvania, a former juvenile court judge was convicted Friday of racketeering in a case that accused him of sending youth offenders to for-profit detention centers in exchange for millions of dollars in illicit payments from the builder and owner of the lockups.

- An "end-times prophet" joins Glenn Beck to warn Fox News viewers that the protests over collective bargaining in Wisconsin really mean President Obama is the Antichrist. Also, it turns out that Abraham Lincoln was really a vampire hunter. Whoops, sorry, that's just a new movie in production now.

- A man in Buffalo, N.Y. was acquitted of charges that he was marinating his cat so he could eat it. Turns out the cat got into some garbage and the owner was taking the cat to be washed and groomed.

- Sales of soup are down, while sales of mac and cheese and pizza are on the rise.

- PICTURE OF THE WEEK - A celebration of the birthday of Korea's Kim Jong-il with synchronized swimmers (via Time).

Webwalk Roundup - Blowout Preventer Fail Edition

It's going to be a long and ugly summer. And it might just go on for decades. BP may soon be the Bad Word of the Decade. Steve Benen writes:

"Robert Barham, secretary of the Louisiana Department of Wildlife and Fisheries, told the New Orleans Times-Picayune, "I think we're looking at many months of intense activity, but then years of follow-up work.... I've been told by the ocean experts this stuff could hang out there on the bottom of the Gulf for more than 100 years. And as long as it's out there, it can come ashore. We might not see big black waves, but we may be seeing a smaller, but serious problem, for years and years to come."

-- It appears clear to me no industry and no corporation and no government agency has the technology and scientific ability to "safely drill" for oil on the shores of America, whether in deep waters or shallow. The following report via NYTimes notes a recently announced "moratorium" on offshore drilling is truly meaningless.

-- Also - will criminal charges be filed against BP?

-- Consistently clueless half-term governor/celebrity Sarah Palin never fails to bring her brand of worthless forward.

-- Elsewhere, which is to say, in a couple of convention rooms in Gatlinburg, TN, state Republicans gather to worship at the altars of the government-hating angry folks who continue to hold Tea Parties. Or as R. Neal puts it in his "goobernatorial" coverage at KnoxViews, those who say government has no place in job creation in Tennessee are utterly out of touch:

"Here are the top ten employers in the Knoxville metro area:

• U.S. Department of Energy - 12610
• The University of Tennessee, Knoxville -9317
• Knox County Public School System -8104
• Covenant Health - 8000
• Mercy Health Partners -8141
• University of Tennessee Medical Center - 3225
• City of Knoxville - 2820
• County of Knox - 2500
• Clayton Homes - 2500
• State of Tennessee - 2401

-- Elsewhere, as in Nevada - chicken costumed protests will not be allowed at polling places this year.

-- Texas tries to corral history books.

-- Summer school trips and programs fall to the economic axe.

It's going to be a long, hot summer.

Tennessee Ranked 'Most Corrupt State'

The Daily Beast has just released their rankings for Most Corrupt States here in the good ol' US of A.

The bad news -- Tennessee ranks Number One.

The criteria they cite include:

•Public corruption, 1998—2008: Convictions of elected and other public officials investigated by federal agents over an 11-year period, from the Department of Justice.

•Racketeering and Extortion, 1998—2008: Code for organized crime convictions, also investigated by federal agents over an 11-year period, from the Bureau of Justice Statistics.

•Forgery and Counterfeiting, 1999—2008: Arrest numbers for producing or distributing fake money and goods over a 10-year period, from the FBI.

•Fraud, 1999—2008: Arrests for false statements or documents produced for personal gain over a 10-year period, from the FBI.

•Embezzlement, 1999—2008: Arrests for surreptitious theft of money over a 10-year period, from the FBI.

By using a decade’s worth of federal data, we were able to minimize changes in local law enforcement efficacy, though some flaws remain: local cases go undocumented, and the FBI data is self-reported by local law enforcement. When combined, however, the data provides a fairly deep look into which jurisdictions are uncovering the most corruption. We leveled the playing field by calculating the numbers on a per-100,000 people basis.

Tennessee's score:

Public Corruption: 18
Racketeering & Extortion: 11
Fraud Rank: 7
Forgery & Counterfeiting: 5
Embezzlement: 9

The community they selected to highlight the dire conditions - Newport, TN:

"Recent Scandal: Here's a foolproof recipe for corruption: a former policeman commingling with gang members. Milburn Williams, a retired police captain from Newport, ringleaders Raymond Hawk and Grant Williams, and 20 others were indicted on racketeering, drug trafficking and a slew of other charges last year in Greeneville. The sting operation was headed by the Federal Bureau of Investigation and centered around a chop shop called "H-1 Auto", later renamed "A Automotive." For six years the chop shop was the command post for an operation that allegedly moved stolen property and goods across state lines and sold cocaine and marijuana. The most serious of the charges carry up to $2 million in fines and 40 years in prison.

The others in the Top Ten:

2 - Virginia
3 - Mississippi
4 - Delaware
5 - North Carolina
6 - Florida
7 - Nevada
8 - Pennsylvania
9 - South Carolina
10 - Oklahoma

No End In Sight For Massive Oil Leak in Gulf

No predictions for the oil well blowout in the Gulf offer much other than disaster. The following points to the situation being far worse than first forecast and the long amount of time before repairs can be effected.

"The Gulf of Mexico oil spill may be growing five times faster than previously estimated and is in danger of accelerating out of control, it was claimed yesterday.

Experts said satellite data indicated the oil was gushing from BP’s sunken Deepwater Horizon rig at 25,000 barrels a day. Previous estimates had put the leak at 5,000 barrels a day.

Professor Ian MacDonald, an ocean specialist at Florida State University, said the new estimate suggested the leak had already spread 9m gallons of heavy crude oil across the Gulf. This compares with 11m that leaked from the Exxon Valdez tanker when it hit a reef off Alaska in 1989.

The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration said deteriorating conditions on the sea bed may result in an even greater flow of 50,000 barrels a day, sufficient to produce one of America’s worst ecological disasters.

Experts and officials said their greatest fear was that a disintegration of pipes close to the rig could produce an “unchecked gusher” that would ravage America’s southern coastline.

As the slick slowly drifted towards fragile shorelines from Louisiana to Florida, there was intensified criticism of BP for apparently underestimating the potential scale of the disaster.

The British oil giant faces questions over how much it knew about previous problems with “blowout preventers”, the giant underwater valves designed to shut down oil flow in the event of accidents.

The valves on the rig failed to work after it exploded on April 20. BP technicians have been unable to activate them even though they appear to be undamaged by the blast.

BP has calculated that it might take up to three months to sink a new well that could cut off the flow of the Deepwater Horizon’s oil.

The worst oil spill affecting US waters was caused by a 1979 blowout aboard the Ixtoc, a Mexican rig that discharged at least 130m gallons, 600 miles south of the Texas coast. It took nine months to plug the leak.

The Week In Review: Semi-Snarky Edition

There are numerous stories I've been pondering on this week and I am reluctant to just post a sentence or two so instead this is sort of a grab-bag of ideas and thoughts on items making news.

-- Here in East Tennessee, the EPA is now officially overseeing the cleanup of TVA's ash spill disaster in Roane County, using authority given the EPA via the Superfund Act. So, let me get this right: hazardous waste cleanup is needed, but all that coal ash isn't really hazardous waste in a legal sense. The dumping by TVA and the EPA on Roane County is blindingly awful and no end to it is in sight. TVA, and the federal and state officials of Tennessee, all earn a massive FAIL on this disaster response.

-- Also in Tennessee, it's about to get easier to take more guns into more places. Yeah, what a wonderful easing of a troublesome burden. Not enough folks toting guns wherever they go. Whew. (Used right, even a bowl of chili can protect your home and property.)

-- I posted a story this week about the astronaut Michael Massimino making use of the Twitter platform to publish short sentences while on the current NASA shuttle mission for repairs on the Hubble telescope. So far, it's just rather lame and pointless and for me further reduces any importance or value to our space program - a program which has been struggling to find funding and support by the nation and our government.

The shuttle has been mostly a mindless truck-for-hire for the military and the CIA, focused on minor tasks at huge operating costs, which allowed for endless delays in more useful projects in space and with greater scientific value. The Hubble has really been valuable for it's work, true. But the U.S. has really lost the initiative it once had in space exploration. This week, NOVA on PBS aired a special on the shuttle program and the Columbia disaster. I urge you to watch it rather than just read a few words typed onto Twitter.

-- Like a modern-day P.T. Barnum, Donald Trump has been able to make rather minor beauty pageants into a hot topic, thanks to the dim-witted comments of a Miss California winner. Also, I would imagine any career ideas she might have about being a model or actress will bring her into constant contact with gay people, the group of people she spoke so harshly about, so I doubt she'll receive much help from them to look and dress well. And really, this interest on a contest based on superficial looks -- useless.

Back in 1987 while working as a reporter for a local paper, I spent the day with that year's Miss America contest winner, Kellye Cash. I was more impressed she was a distant relative of Johnny Cash than with a Miss America title. But she was pretty and she certainly was a marked departure from the previous scandalized winner Vanessa Williams. But you know, Williams is the one working today as an actress and singer and in the spotlight. Kellye has been in regional theatre and has released a few CDs, but in terms of talent, Williams wins. I liked Kellye (but what is up with that extra E in her name?) and she seemed to be a nice person. But Trump knows, as did Barnum, that it is publicity and a whiff of danger that sells tickets and earns headlines.

As for what Miss California said and it being simply her usage of Freedom of Speech - well, yes, an American can speak their mind on any topic. But the speaker will still be held accountable for what they say.

-- In far more serious matters, the potential for a real U.S. disaster is growing thanks to ever-growing revelations about how torture was used to lead the nation into war in Iraq and how high up in the White House the orders originated, and an ever-growing reality that many in Congress knew what was happening. As I have written here many times before, this aspect of U.S. policy is doing and has done untold damage to the credibility of our country and beliefs. As of yet, we still lack the will and courage to face this horrible issue fully and punish those who made it happen.

Gas Explosions Shatter Toronto Suburb

"My girlfriend, Lisanne, said ``That isnt thunder`` and we both got up to look out the balcony window. We were completely shocked to see a huge pillar of fire that appeared to be 10-20 stories tall, and a black cloud of smoke that spanned the sky eastward toward Earl Bales park. My mind raced in a panic to understand what was happening. It looked as though a plane had crashed or a bomb had fallen. Could it be a terrorist attack? After a few minutes of watching, we were completely shocked to witness an amazing mushroom cloud explosion of flame and black smoke that terrified us entirely. I have never seen anything like it. It was so loud and big that for a moment I thought it was a nuclear explosion."

A horrifying and enormous series of explosions at a gas depot just outside Toronto rocked residents and forced evacuations, as others nearby filmed what happened (one huge explosion looks like a sunrise at the 1:50 mark in the video below). Reports are still incoming and no word yet about any fatalities. (More astonishing images and reports are here.)