FBEs from the last few weeks....

Random thoughts and opinions.....

'These are not the words of a man who wishes to establish a Christian theocracy. Jefferson promoted tolerance above all and said earlier that his statute for religious freedom in Virginia was "meant to comprehend, within the mantle of its protection, the Jew and the Gentile, the Christian and the Mohammeden, the Hindoo and Infidel of every denomination." He specifically wished to avoid the dominance of a single religion.'

'Declaration of Independence (1776)
The most important assertion in this document is that "to secure these rights, Governments are instituted among Men, deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed."'

 Founding Fathers: We Are Not a Christian Nation

The power comes from the people, not from any god.
Our founders went out of their way to keep religion out of government. They knew first hand that a government of faith, any faith, leads to oppression. We need to look no further than the divine arrogance of Israel, the tyrannical zealots of Sharia to see the danger of mixing religion and government.

Feb. 28, 2015
Thoughts after reading the article.

 The war was never meant to end. It is never meant to end. War is a big profit maker for these guys and a few others. As long as they are making money there will be no end.

Mar.. 4, 2015
Response to a meme quoting the likes of Cheney and Rumsfeld on the Iran war a decade ago.
If you're tired of seeing young people bleed and die for ungrateful old people, it's time to radically change the system.

It doesn't have to be violent.
And if I'm getting MY country back, there will be reasonable gun control. A back ground check, waiting period, and license are not too much to ask for an easier way to kill things.

 Mar. 5, 2015
Response to a meme from the gun owners of America about taking the country back.  I'm all for the right to keep and bear arms.  I'm also in favor of imposing some common sense and restrictions.  I don't trust my fellow man to act sensibly.  From what I've seen of the open carry crowd, my distrust is justified.

'Take, for example, Wal-Mart, which recently made headlines by announcing it would spend a billion dollars a year raising the wages of its lowest paid employees — a minor tweak to its low-wage business model. Over the past 10 years, according to data compiled from its public filings, Wal-Mart has spent more than $65.4 billion on stock buybacks — about 47 percent of its profits. That’s an average of more than $6.5 billion a year in stock buybacks, enough to give each of its 1.4 million U.S. workers a $4,670-a-year raise. It is also, coincidentally, an amount roughly equivalent to the estimated $6.2 billion Wal-Mart costs U.S. taxpayers every year in food stamps, Medicaid, subsidized housing, and other public assistance to its many impoverished employees. In this context, how can stock buybacks be either morally or economically justified?'

 Column: The biggest scam bankrupting business and the middle clas

It can't be. It's part of the recipe for the Fascist state this country is turning into. Hanauer sees where this is going, and has looked past the corporate end game to the pitchforks, which will come.
Not that I agree with Hanauer that a new, more balanced, capitalist state is a glorious achievement.
I don't agree that profit is the only motivator of the human spirit.
I think we could do better than a longer, more balanced game of Monopoly.....

 Mar. 11, 2015
 Thoughts on the article cited.

I say we should let Bernie Sanders & U.S. Senator Elizabeth Warren save their money. They should forget about bowing and scraping to the self-appointed aristocracy. Let's run a true grass roots, social network campaign for them. These two should be our next president and vice president. I don't care which is which, let's just all agree to write them in....

March 23,  2015
Response to a status update from Robert Reich about Ted Cruz's official entry to the Republican Primary.
People want Warren and Sanders to run.
Both have said they can't afford it.
Neither will be able to raise the necessary money.  Which is an extremely sad thing to say in this country.
Both of them could do a lot to pull this country, and the world, out of the downhill slide to destruction we are tipping into.
I would like to see Bernie Sanders as the next president of these United States.  I'd be happy with Warren.  My ideal would be 8 years of Sanders/Warren and 8 years of Warren/Sanders.  I believe the two of them would pull together and haul this country out of the slime pit it is turning into.
I'm writing them in in 2016, Sanders for president, Warren for Vice-president, and I'm getting as many people as I can to join me.
We are the American People and we can pull off the greatest Hail Mary in history.