Syria?

Forgetting for a moment the source of this article, it really is a great examination of the recent chemical attacks in Syria. Assad's military is winning quite handily and there is no reason for him to start using chemical weapons. While I dont share the author's opinion that the US is looking for excuses to invade another country in the middle east, I do think this attack is a honey pot left by either some Syrian militia or Russian agents who want to draw the US into the war.

Free food for the rich ?

I was talking with the Cuban refugee I work with the other day about what school is like in Cuba and he told me most kids go to school because that is where they get their meals. I guess they have a very "open" casual attendance program where you go to school when you want and leave when you want but most kids stay for the food. This was all in the context of how disappointing he was in the school food here. He said while it tasted fine the portions are so tiny compared to what they fed him at school in Cuba. One possible reason for that : The lunches in Florida schools are now free for every child. Now I am guessing the district is going to be saving money by not having to monitor who is on free/reduced lunch and that is why they are doing this. But if school lunch is free for everyone doesnt that mean more kids will want school lunch? How will an increase in demand and the loss of income from the families who could afford to pay change availability and portion size? Also being lost is the economic/responsibility lesson tied in with lunch money (and the bully aspect which comes with valuable life lessons of its own). Just food for thought.

Obama and Co are soo dishonest

Obama's head lawyers has been in the news for proposing changes to the sentencing laws so that people dont get ridiculous life sentences for minor drug arrests. This sounds great - but the reality is this is just talk..a politician blowing hot air - lying- to look like they are doing something when they are actually part of the problem. Obama has the power and authority to commute these so called unfair sentences and has used it less then any president before him. Less than Bush or Regan. He may say he wants to help people wrongly being fed into the for profit prison machine but his actions speak differently. This is spy on you, lock everyone up and do nothing about travon martin's shooter President. This is a president who sits on his thumbs and does nothing while dictators slaughter their own people.

Politicans talk a lot. Remember what he stands for in 2016. You are gonig to be ignoring my pleas to vote third party and the person you replace him with will be one of the croneys who also likes to break up families and promote the cycle of poverty by jailing 100's of thousands of Americans. 

Joe's interesting August news Links

What can you do when the world just sux
Did FBI gov infect Firefox users with Malware?
More about FBI Malware attack
Germany's top 3 ISP's unite agianst gov spying
Remember that Fukashima nuclear disaster?
Police Dept. across America make money selling "evidence"
Israel's semi-secret arms business
60 year old School for disable kids lowers property values; evicted 
Florida group home encourages and promotes inmate sexual relations
Cops still arresting legal consenting adults for gay sex
Florida men arrested, charged with felony for brewing whiskey
psychology isnt a science its flimsy opinion
Refusal to admit ties to terror is cause for arrest in UK
California to force feed 130 inmates; ignore medical orders
Female dominated education system doesnt understand boys
Teacher caught taping kids crotches with hidden cam paid $17K to retire
Spending billions on "defense" isnt making us any safer
12yo boy digs up huge diamond in park
Churchs want to be able to endorse political candidates
Police acting like thugs, breaking into family home
lawns/golf courses in the desert should be illegal
Obama claims he would have told us about spying
smartphone apps let autistic kids speak their needs
US Judge disallows naming of baby "Messiah"
How many humans have ever lived?
Drunk cashes car into pole, judge blames power company
Hawaii will pay you to live there and provide you housing/food
British government blocks internet porn for you unless you opt out
11yo builds tribute to Rocky themesong

US and Middle East have the same problem

That problem being exclusive majority governments which refuse to work with the "minority" groups in their population. The governance of the domestic US has been completely paralyzed to the point of self destructive policies like the sequester because one ruling party would rather get nothing done than compromise with the other ruling party. This is no different than countries in the Middle East, like Iraq, Syria or Saudi Arabia where you have a Sunni or Shiite government who refuse to be inclusive of the other faction, at which point the left out faction starts blowing things. Egypt was alot like the US where the ruling party felt that the election gave it a mandate to exclude the opinions of everyone else. The Brotherhood and Republican Congress seems to feel like they were voted a crown, not a gavel. When we talk about supporting democracy, we are really talking about establishing majority rule since nothing about our "democratic system" really supports minority rights after the vote has been cast. To me..the solution seems to be decentralization of government, where you have established groups with equal voting power, which each represent a cultural group in the country. The more you spread out the choice, the less explosive the disagreements will be. When you force the population to choose between the lesser of two evils you are setting up a contest and encouraging conflict and confrontation.

"God Creep"

The evangelicals have given up on door to door proselytization and gone for a policy of assimilation. One example is Jeb Bush is pushing "education reform"..which is really just Christians trying to get control of the countries education system or at least defund public schools to the point where responsible parents have no choice but to send their kids to private christian schools with vouchers.

The Christians are playing the long game, slowly working their dogma into everyday life. And a by-product of this is that religious people are becoming more comfortable pushing their voodoo on others. Like this Judge who claims "The word Messiah is a title and it's a title that has only been earned by one person and that one person is Jesus Christ" I guess the State of Tennessee now dictates who the Messiah is? How does a person who "feels the Holy Spirit" so strongly get into government office? They pull it off because the Christians are slowly creeping, changing what normal looks like. Bat-Crazy has become nuanced and soon will be mainstream.Here is another Tennesee example though I saw this sorta game played by the Churches in Tulsa too. Churches drive into poor communities in a big truck full of food/clothes claiming to be providing social services..but you only get the goodies if you pray with them and accept Christ in your life.  

Anyone paying attention yet ?

Update : A 2nd private email service says it cant do business in US. I really hope these are pebbles that start an avalanche of freedom...but the weak government our parents have left us wont be ready for it when the opportunity arrives.

This wonderful country took another swipe at Snowden a related businesses. This reminds me when the US government told Amazon to dump wiki links from its web servers and then told Paypal not to accept donations for Wikileaks.

 “This experience has taught me one very important lesson: Without congressional action or a strong judicial precedent, I would _strongly_ recommend against anyone trusting their private data to a company with physical ties to the United States.”

Its a rhetorical question as if people are going to do anything..if it doesnt directly affect Americans they dont budge. Not that we have any control at all over what the government chooses to do..is this the "change" you can believe in?

Drawing on the Computer

This guy does great video game commentary..and apparently is a very talented computer artist. Amazing to watch the picture take form

Joe's July/Aug newz links

 Update : oops forgot a few
US Pot farms "too dangerous" for State employees to monitor
Gerrymandering aka why your vote doesnt matter
White parents, not framed black teen, killed baby
Wa. State wont charge man who blew up dog
US wants to kill story of genital searches at Guantanamo
Only 4% of US cancer research goes into childhood cancers

Criminals get to sue for having tubes tied by state
Local police starting to look like local militia
7yo writes NASA, gets answer
Make a wish granted; kid gets sex tape
US still regularly abuses its prisoners
Detroit bankrupt but public(not owner) still paying for $650mil stadium
DEA using NSA data to find and bust pot smokers
Florida wants to open park on Moon
Ironic life lessons taught by superheroes
Section 8 housing cut while football stadium gets improvements
Obama approves another secret prison outside US
Netflix changing/editing movies viewed on its service
Another idiot shoot an unarmed black kid (right near my apt)
Kid makes tons of $$$ selling paintings
Archeologists unearths King David's palace
Water sources going dry for major cities in US
England gives police power to arrest "annoying people"
9yo becomes youngest chess grandmaster in US
Florida education chief caught changing grades for Republicans
A-Rod gets paid 60 mil+ to do nothing while min. wage still 7$ a hour.
Rice found to regularly contain toxins
Snake from pet store kills 5yo & 7yo brothers
Jeopardy screws kid out of win over misspelling
Child removed from parents for pot smoke killed by Fosters
Wars soon to be fought over water (Tank Girl?)
4yo kid re-elected for 2nd term as city mayor

City of Tampa outlaws homelessness

Interesting story. The City of Tampa has passed a law outlawing sleeping in public places and I've got to side with the city on this one.

Once you’re out on the street, you’re done,” Todd explained. “It’s nearly impossible to get out of it.”Brian McLellan, a homeless man who has already been in jail several times for loitering and panhandling, confirmed what the others explained, that the only options for them are the Salvation Army or jail. “There is no affordable housing here, and there are no jobs for us,” he told the WSWS. “The police won’t talk to us about how to make things better. They just arrest us.”

I've seen first hand how homeless people cluster in parks and downtown areas and completely drive away any desire for "regular" people to shop, eat and do business there. And "homelessness" IMHO is a culture - most of the chronic homeless are choosing to be there and live that way. Some are truly stuck but the region built a whole new facility to help these people. The homeless dont like it because its not in the middle of the city where they can beg, barder fro drugs and hump in bushes. Allowing large groups of people to build makeshift settlements anywhere, even under overpasses is not the answer.You cant put them in section 8 housing because they will destroy the rooms. A jail like facility is the best option.

Living wage calculator

Mother Jones magazine put together handy calculator to determine whether the minimum wage job in your area pays a living wage. Basically there is no point in working a minimum wage job if you live anywhere near an urban area because your basic living expenses will exceed your income. Unfortunately people really dont have a choice since the social service net is as holey as swiss cheese. You cant depend on government support and you cant depend on goverment to force companies to offer a living wage. Recently Obama proposed a raise in the minimum wage to 9-something an hour. 9 dollars? 9$ is not anywhere near a living wage. The president argues that if he proposed anything hire the corporations would rebel, fire people, and raise prices and nothing would pass. Which just goes to show what a weak, terrible leader he really he. Walmart already tried this and The D.C. city council called their bluff. My biggest issue with this whole debate is the unfairness of wages. I'm sure the corporations know their businesses, know their customer and know costs. They are prob telling the truth that prices would go up. But they are saying that while paying their top executives millions of dollars a year. No one person "needs" a multi million dollar salary to survive. And we are talking about basic survival needs at the minimum wage level. We need a new minimum wage and a maximum wage and they should be tied together so that one is not grossly out of proportion to the other.