Guest blogger Yusnaiberth explains how socialism really works in the 21st century

I was born and used to live in a very rich country, where anything you planted grew, where any small or big business used to succeed, where people used to leave the country ONLY for two reasons: 1. to study (Post-Grades or Masters) or, 2. for tourism, but they used to come back to keep growing and to keep living happy with everything...with their family and friends to be in an eternal party and comfort.

Since the 50’s, that country used to be the destiny of thousands of immigrants, most of them from Europe. That Country, blessed with beautiful lands, forests, rivers, desert, mountains and beaches; where the Angel Falls is!. . . that country where the most beautiful women used to be . . . that country, that was a paradise WAS my Venezuela, UNTIL Socialism=Communism put its hands on her in 1998. 

That was when Hugo Chavez Frías took the power (a military ex-convict for trying to take the power by force in 1989 and 1992, but then got amnesty from the left party in power).  Everything else I tell you about this story you can find in YouTube or Google.  This man convinced people to vote for him to get rid of the two main parties (AD & Copey) and their corruption, based on Socialism, but at the end it came out to be something worse . . . that “XXI ‘s Century Socialism” was just Pure Communism.

That government became a Dictatorship regime, my country went from a wealthy status to just ruins today.  Chavez destroyed the national production, he closed and/or expropriated any business which disagreed with his ideology: all free, high taxes, exchange control, price control,  etc. Electrical, Communication, Transport and Water companies went from private to public.  Money destined for technology, improvement and maintenance of all those services were stolen . . . disappeared!

He made indefinite re-election, made the presidential period longer . . . anybody in the public administration or system who disagreed or wasn’t registered in his party was fired.

Venezuela was destroyed economically and socially in less than 14 years and once Chavez died, he left as his successor, Nicolas Maduro and this one made things worse, radicalizing the “revolution” and receiving orders and instructions direct from Castro’s Brothers.

Venezuela became a partner with Iran, Russia and China and it is confirmed those countries already have cells and colonies residing there, making Venezuela a huge threat for United States.

Hundreds of thousands of people have died fighting against this regime or due to the insecurity, food and medicine being scarce.

I used to work for +14 years in a big American Company (Procter&Gamble), which during +50 years had its Latin American Division settled in Caracas-Venezuela. We used to be +2000 employees between offices and industrial plants.  Now there are no more than 30 employees, I’m not exaggerating.  Company had to move all its operations due to the insecurity and exchange and price control and the has same happened with all the industries.

Ruins...just ruins is what you can see today...

I came here legally, running away from the regime and insecurity, that was 11 years ago (2007), after I fought against the regime, I protested, voted, signed, ran and almost was killed in a march in 2002.

I finally gave up and realized there was nothing to do anymore if I wanted a future . . . alive. In the last two years I’ve lost 4  members of my family due to lack of medicine or medical attention. People are dying for human rights violation during protests in 2014, then in 2017 . . . Do you know what Obama did or said? NOTHING! He looked to other side!

It’s hard to summarize so many things my country has lived, but what I wanted to say you in one phrase is: “I know the monster and I know what’s inside his guts”...and during 8 years of Obama’s Presidency I could detect so many signals of the same socialism Chavez sold to us. A socialism fed with populism, hate, resent and envy.

I used to give him the benefit of doubt, until in 2013 when I personally participated in a movement to ask Obama for sanctions for the Human Rights violators and Narco-Cartel Military Leaders. Obama ignored us for 7 months, he ignored the +400 students killed or disappeared plus hundreds of political prisoners. HE DID OR SAID ANYTHING! Approved the first sanctions because the pressure of the Republicans Marco Rubio and Diaz Balart and because 2016 election was coming.

Donald Trump, well I didn’t like him that much at first, but I knew that anything against Hillary would be much better...but, something happened, he has not only done everything he promised the USA, he approved not once but 6 rounds of sanctions against Venezuela’s regime corrupt and military cartel members AS HE PROMISED.

Other things made me so convinced about Trump and the RED Wave: the daily cry and attacks of the lefties, everyday posts in Facebook promoting hate and spitting resent and an eternal victimization for the past. . .people who didn’t forgive and move on. . .parents like me supporting things like abortion or early years gender change (I wondered what about if is your own kid?). . .the always “poor illegal immigrant” but God forgive you! if you tell them to open their homes to strangers and pay all their expenses even their visas, medical and school expenses! I’m tired of hearing people who take all for granted and believe a government is responsible for each of their failures and wrong decisions.

And the last drop in the glass...Venezuelans who came here running away of socialism voting for Democrats just to obtain personal benefits.

I’ve been pretty active not only here but in Spain (my husband’s country) where socialism is already destroying that country economy and safety stability. The violent immigrants coming from Africa are being supported and protected by the left-socialist government. I see that  if Democrats win, the same is gonna happen with the violent invasion called “caravan”.

I’m sorry! I tried to summarize too many stuff...I could be writing and writing hundreds of reasons why USA is in danger.  My only purpose is to open the eyes of those who have never been out of USA and don’t really know what socialism is.

I became a Citizen Last May 2018 and I couldn’t be more proud to give my first vote in this country to fight against what I ran away of. I will defend this Country, the country which opened its arms to me, my kids’ country, because they were born here and now my Country, My Sweet Home.

I’m sorry if my English grammar isn’t good, I’m doing my best to speak and write better English every day as part of my obligation of INTEGRATION as immigrant.

Thanks!

Voter suppression by the media

Inside the beltway bubble

 

https://www.lifenews.com/2018/11/06/washington-post-columnist-if-you-vote-republican-youre-okay-with-racism/?

“Appearing on MSNBC Live With Craig Melvin late Tuesday morning, left-wing Washington Post columnist Jonathan Capehart accused anyone voting for Republicans in the midterm elections of being “okay” with “racism.” Asked later if some Democrats running in red states were “perhaps a little left of the center,” he dismissed such concerns and insisted they were just living their “truth.” “

Democrats and their crony media throw the word racist around like it was candy corn on Halloween. It has become meaningless.

I hope John James wins in Michigan

The investigation is finished—414 pages

Now where does Justice Kavanaugh go to get his reputation back?

“In addition to Ford, Kavanaugh and the three witnesses Ford named — who either denied any knowledge of the alleged incident or directly refuted her claims — the committee spoke with 14 former classmates of Ford and Kavanaugh. "None of them had any knowledge of the conduct alleged against Justice Kavanaugh by Dr. Ford or of the gathering at which she claimed to have been assaulted," the committee states.”

Quite a comprehensive investigation. About Ford, her drinking and party lifestyle, one person reported: " “I wish I could say all of the things I know, but I don’t want to put myself out there.”

I don't blame her. The shameful way the Democrat senators acted, I would never want to be called to testify in traffic court, let alone a SCOTUS confirmation. And no wonder the names are redacted.  They’d never be able to eat in a restaurant or pump their own gas again.  That’s how evil and poisoned the Democrats made this.

https://www.dailywire.com/news/38008/senate-judiciary-heres-everyone-we-interviewed-james-barrett?

https://www.dailywire.com/news/38006/senate-judiciary-committee-report-45-interviews-james-barrett

I understand that Christine Blasey Ford plans to write a book (for a lot of money).  How?  She can’t remember anything!  She needed marital counseling to even come up with lies!

We vote tomorrow

Diversity, Inclusion, Multiculturalism, Microaggression, Ableism, etc.

It’s a huge industry—diversity and inclusion.  There are special reeducation camps on all college campuses, with sub-groups within departments and student organizations and this has expanded to/within corporations.   I noticed this announcement for Ohio State.  It’s like religious evangelism—in fact, it is a religion, except supported by tax dollars. Ohio State has had such an office/department since 1970—almost 50 years.  It’s almost impossible to untangle the number of staff positions and departments—there is for instance, a Council of Hispanic Organizations (UCHO) and the Hispanic Oversight Committee (HOC) at The Ohio State University. They’ve been publishing a magazine for over 25 years.

D and I essentially exists to convince people to base decisions, culture and lifestyle on how people look.

“The “Check Your Blind Spots” Tour is a series of events in partnership with CEO Action for Diversity & Inclusion™. The “Check Your Blind Spots” event aims to give faculty, staff, students and community members the opportunity to learn about unconscious bias, perhaps discover some of their own and become aware of companies doing the same.

By participating, you will be empowered with the knowledge and resources needed to strip yourselves of preexisting biases and better understand the role that you can play in advancing diversity and inclusion within your communities and in your future places of work”

Strength Training humor

Sometimes I use a strength training book for humor. Like the IT band stretch. After you cross one leg behind the other ankle. . .

"Lean forward until you are as close to the floor with your fingertips as you can go Or if you are able, grasp your toes, or, as a more difficult modification, place your hands flat on the floor."

In what world?.

“Hollis Lance Liebman has been a fitness magazine editor and national bodybuilding champion. Currently a Los Angeles resident, Hollis has worked with some of Hollywood’s elite, earning rave reviews. He is the author of several fitness books, including The Core Training Kit, Anatomy of Core Stability, and the forthcoming Anatomy of Exercise Encyclopedia. (Amazon)”

• Series: Exercise in Action
• Paperback: 160 pages
• Publisher: Thunder Bay Press (May 27, 2014)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 162686053X
• ISBN-13: 978-1626860537

Thoughts on the Central American “caravan”

Some in the caravan are women and children, and depending on which cable news channel you watch, that will be the focus of the camera.  But estimates are the caravan is about 80% young males.  There are also a few criminals, and a few traffickers.  Not all, by any means.  But how many do you folks who don’t object to open borders find acceptable?  10 out of 7,000?  20?  30?  How many trafficked children (documented during the Obama years and reported by Washington Post) are OK? 10? 50? Of the 333,000 illegals deported in 2015, some 42% had criminal convictions (that doesn’t count illegal border crossing or not returning for a court date).  So don’t be so naïve to assume this caravan has no men with criminal behavior.

We actually do have a legal immigration system.  Most immigrants (76%) are in the country legally—and I wish Trump would mention that more often--while a quarter are “unauthorized,” low estimates 11-12 million.  In 2015, 44% of the legals were naturalized U.S. citizens. From 1990 to 2007, the illegal alien population tripled in size – from 3.5 million to a record high of 12.2 million. They don’t necessarily come across the border—some overstay a student visa or their H1B1 visa to work for Google and Facebook.  Again I ask you.  What is the right number for illegals to reside, work, start families with children who will be citizens, educate, use medical care, apply for college, send millions back home, etc. in the U.S.?

These people in THIS caravan of October 2018 are NOT refugees—they have not been in a war, have not spent years in a camp waiting for sponsors, they are well dressed, seem well fed, there are organizations helping them with supplies—they do have a crappy government that can’t control crime. Mexico has offered them asylum and they’ve said No which is how we know they aren’t desperate.  Mexico is not the “streets paved with gold” they seem to imagine or have been promised by various non-profits encouraging this.   But they can seek asylum in the U.S. if they go to the right place.  That isn’t walking across the border. 

Why should these people, most of whom will not come back for a court date if released into the population (catch and release), have priority over displaced people from Africa, or Asia or Iraq (including many Christians)?  There are wars going on all over the globe. Millions are moving on foot or in caravans, crossing dangerous rivers, mountains and deserts.  This group is drawing attention because of the election, and both parties are using them as bait—vote for us, vote for us! This caravan is about Trump—let’s just be honest.  Most of the illegal aliens who already are here live in the top metro areas, all controlled by Democrats.  So of course this is a political issue!  What party wouldn’t want millions more voters indebted to it?

The problem with this chart below is it doesn’t distinguish between legal immigrants and illegal aliens.  But you can pretty much tell.  It’s just tough for the Chinese and Indians to sneak in.  That said, in the next quarter century, Asians will out number Hispanics in either and both types. I don’t recall the name of the law, but the U.S. actually discourages people we might say are influenced by western civilization, or make it very difficult for them. Someone in government decided racial diversity was better than continuity, shared values and history.

Microfiber pollution

I was reading a very interesting article in the Summer 2018 National Parks magazine about microfibers and the plastic pollution in our oceans, rivers and lakes.  A few years ago those tiny particles in toothpaste, hand wash and other personal care products were outlawed, however, synthetic clothing when washed also releases tiny fibers that make it past all the filters and they end up in the water ways. 97% of the microplastics found in a national park study were microfibers most from synthetic clothing, but also fishing nets, carpets, wet wipes and cigarette butts. So even if we think we’re reducing our plastic footprint by consciously not buying food items stored in plastic bottles, each time we buy/wash a polyester blouse, sweater or coat, we’re putting that waste into the waterways.  I agree it’s a big problem. BUT.  This comment at the end of an article  https://storyofstuff.org/blog/microfibers-are-microplastics-1/ with all the inflammatory shoulds and musts is not the way to go or win people over.

“It is crystal clear that the earth needs to recover and that is only possible with mass industry green reconversion. So plastic and all fossil fuels and derived byproducts must stay in the ground as we turn to clean natural renewable energies and go back to old comfy healthy cotton, wool, flax, silk, and intro hemp which makes a great textile as well. All governments need to stop and ban the plastic and fossil fuel production and use and ban them from imports as well. They will find the financial solutions to help small biz reconvert while big ones must pay the enourmous damage they have caused by reinvesting in a full on green repurpose and conversion. “ (Paula)

Cha-Ching. More taxes. More wealth transfer.  More government interference in our lives.  I’d like to see what’s in her closet.

Every item of clothing I’m wearing from my underwear and socks to the colorful scarf while I write this blog is made of synthetic material, but because I keep my clothes forever, and older clothing releases more fiber than newer when washed, I’m doubled damned!

I’ve done my little part to ride my life of plastic.  When I discovered that chewing gum was made out of plastic, I stopped that habit of 70+ years.  I thought they were still using tree sap.

Here’s a blog to help you lighten the plastic damage you’re personally doing to the waterways. https://myplasticfreelife.com/plasticfreeguide/

Oh For a thousand tongues to sing

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4O9kw3cILpg

We recently sang this in church—but to a more familiar tune by C.G. Glaser (1828).  Since Charles Wesley wrote it in 1739, I wondered what music had been used in the intervening 90 years.  Perhaps this one, but the YouTube didn’t give information on the music. Additional information from the web:

“ Lowell Mason’s (1792-1872) arrangement of the Carl G. Gläser (1784-1829) tune AZMON is used with “O for a Thousand Tongues to Sing” in the UM Hymnal. Gläser was a German composer and contemporary of Beethoven. Though Charles Wesley’s text has been sung to a number of tunes through the years, AZMON is the dominant choice throughout the hymnody of the mainline denominations.” https://www.umcdiscipleship.org/resources/history-of-hymns-o-for-a-thousand-tongues-to-sing

“If I had a thousand tongues, I would praise Christ with them all.” So said Peter Böhler to Charles Wesley, inspiring the first line of the classic hymn, “Oh, for a thousand tongues to sing, my great Redeemer’s praise” (Psalter Hymnal Handbook.) Written to celebrate the one year anniversary of Charles’ conversion to Christianity, this declaration of Christ’s power and victory in his own life, rich in Biblical imagery of the Kingdom of God, becomes our own hymn of praise. We stand with the angels before the throne of God, lifting our voices as one church to glorify the one who “bids our sorrows cease.”

And yet, we also sing in the knowledge that the Kingdom of God is not yet fully realized. We proclaim Christ’s victory as a declaration of hope that we will see Christ reign over all. We stand with the voiceless, the lame, the prisoner, and the sorrowing, and lift our song of expectation. (Bulletin blurb, https://hymnary.org/text/o_for_a_thousand_tongues_to_sing_my#authority_media_flexscores)

The original hymn had 18 stanzas. The seventh stanza became the first stanza of the hymn that we now know.  We sang four. 

Things I have noticed—guest blogger Jim

Things I have noticed recently:

Just read that 4,153,237 people got married last year; not to cause any trouble but shouldn't that be an even number?

Today a man knocked on my door and asked for a small donation towards the local swimming pool I gave him a glass of water.  KEEP GOING

I want to die peacefully in my sleep, like my grandfather. Not screaming and yelling like the passengers in his car.

If I had a dollar for every girl that found me unattractive, they would eventually find me attractive.

I find it ironic that the colors red, white, and blue stand for freedom until they are flashing behind you.

When wearing a bikini, women reveal 90% of their body... men are so polite they only look at the covered parts.

A recent study has found that women who carry a little extra weight live longer than the men who mention it.

Relationships are a lot like algebra. Have you ever looked at your X and wondered Y?

Did you know that dolphins are so smart that within a few weeks of captivity, they can train people to stand on the very edge of the pool and throw them fish?

I think my neighbor is stalking me as she's been googling my name on her computer. I saw it through my telescope last night.

Money talks, but all mine ever says is good-bye.

You're not fat; you're just easier to see.

If you think nobody cares whether you're alive, try missing a couple of payments.

I always wondered what the job application is like at Hooters. Do they just give you a bra and say, “Here, fill this out?”

My therapist said that my narcissism causes me to misread social situations. I’m pretty sure she was hitting on me.

On average, an American man will have sex two to three times a week. Whereas, a Japanese man will have sex only one or two times a year. This is very upsetting news to me.  I had no idea I was Japanese.

The location of your mailbox shows you how far away from your house you can be in a robe before you start looking like a mental patient.

I think it's pretty cool how Chinese people made a language entirely out of tattoos.

Money can’t buy happiness, but it keeps the kids in touch!

And finally!

The reason Mayberry was so peaceful and quiet was because nobody was married. Think of this; Andy, Aunt Bea, Barney, Floyd, Howard, Goober, Gomer, Sam, Earnest T Bass, Helen, Thelma Lou, Clara and, of course, Opie were all single.  The only married person was Otis, and he was always drunk!

Democrats want to go backwards

This should be the closing argument for the election: The economy. It's the best in my lifetime. The Recession was over June 2009--before the first dollar was released from Obama to "help." Did it feel over to you? It was the slowest recovery in history, yet Democrats want to return to that!

Obama did everything he could to hold back full recovery to make us more dependent on government--from a take over our health insurance and higher taxes, to shutting down reporters (Trump didn’t jail reporters, but Obama did), to the addition of strangling regulations, to brow beating us with negativity about the country, to bailing out banks and taking over auto companies, to threatening jail if we didn't buy his insurance product, to enabling ISIS and extending the war, to confusing users of public toilets. He virtually destroyed the Democrat Party which has now been taken over by Socialists and other radicals.

Health Care = Impeachment

People (aka Democrats) say Trump is using fear of an alien invasion to rally his base, but Democrats are using health care to try to impeach Trump. Grab the House and drop the issue of health. When Obama took over a fifth of the U.S. economy, health care was barely an issue. Something like 15% didn't have health insurance, many because they didn't want to make a co-pay, preferred not to carry it, or hadn't applied for one of the 4 government plans available. It was a made up issue to grab more power. But once the government "gives" people something, it's difficult to take it back.

Gosnell and Searcy

Nick Searcy who both directed and acted in the Gosnell movie writes,

"I realize, looking back, that I was quite naïve about how this film would be received. I truly believed that if we did it the right way, even the so-called Hollywood Left would appreciate our fairness in telling the story, see its value, and, furthermore, share our goals in getting this important story before the public.

Sadly, I was wrong. As I said, this town runs on fear — the fear not only of failure but, more insidiously, of being shunned because of your political opinions. I was gratified by the talented people in this industry, many of them who differed with me politically, who did believe in our script and were willing to come on board. But many people, some of them good friends of mine, declined to work on this film, not because of its quality but because of the fear of reprisal or even ostracism by the groupthink herd in Hollywood. More than once, I was asked questions like “Are you crazy?” or “Are you sure you want to do this?”"

I had read and reviewed the book, “Gosnell, The Untold Story of America’s Most Prolific Serial Killer” by Ann McElhinney and Phelim McAleer. I have volunteered in a pregnancy crisis center for 5 years and on the prayer call list for 15—so I was not as shocked as others by this movie.  I contributed money to have this film made. I was very reluctant to see it, but I did, and it is an excellent film. A first class story with excellent production values. You won't be sorry if you see it.

We like to say we have free speech in this country, guaranteed by the First Amendment.  And to an extent, that’s true.  But we don’t have the right to a job, career, family or friends after we exercise the right. And Searcy’s disappointment in his friends is so true.

All Saints and Reformation Sundays

We had such a fabulous music selection on Reformation Sunday—choir, organ, brass.  I don’t know how these things are planned, if there is a worship committee or it’s the choir director Brian and organist Allan or the pastors, but it all worked together.  The prelude was a smashing organ-Trumpet piece called  Chorale with Interludes by Charles Callahan. https://www.morningstarmusic.com/composers/c/callahan 

Our musicians sit behind the congregation in the balcony, so I always have to turn around if I want to see them.  Anyway, as the prelude came to a glorious end, and the trumpet stopped, one pipe on the organ wouldn’t—a very low register with a rumble you could hear a few blocks away.  It must be every performer’s nightmare.  Dave Mann was the pastor who was leading the service (senior pastor Steve Turnbull gave the sermon), and he is also an organist, so he stood there and smiled and waited, but it got louder and louder and you could hear someone rustling around trying to shut down the organ.  So he decided to just go ahead with the Confession and Forgiveness, which had to be shouted. Soon the organ noise quieted down as it was shut off (?).  But an elaborate Call to Worship was planned, and we were not only reading scripture, but were supposed to sing all 4 verses of “A Mighty Fortress” interspersed with scripture, and the organ was needed for that.  So after each verse, the loud malfunctioning pipe would continue, and the lead pastor had to shout over it. Finally, at the end of that section, we heard the maverick pipe sort of quietly slink away.

During coffee time after the service in the narthex I asked one of the choir members how it was fixed and she said someone got a ladder and went up inside the pipes, and stuck in something to stop it.  I’m sure a repairman will be called.  The organ had a huge refurbishment in 2005, thousands and thousands of dollars which I think a donor paid for because it was about 30 years old, and I’m sure general maintenance is  expensive.  http://churchacronym.blogspot.com/2005/05/pentecost-concert-our-choir-presented.html

Today November 1 is All Saints Day, from which we get the festive contraction Halloween, for All Hallow’s Eve. So this coming Sunday is All Saints Sunday.  It too is a lovely service, but more sober.  The names of the congregants who have died since last October 31 are read from the pulpit. Since we are gone in the summer, sometimes I’m not aware of the death.  Then during communion the names of our own remembered friends and relatives are read from cards we had filled out.  "Therefore, since we are surrounded by such a great cloud of witnesses, let us throw off everything that hinders and the sin that so easily entangles. And let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us, fixing our eyes on Jesus . . ." Hebrews 12:1

"Most Lutheran churches use the first Sunday in November to remember all the saints in the Church of Christ Jesus, especially those members and friends of the local congregation who have been called to Heaven in the previous year.

The custom of commemorating all the martyrs of the Church on a single day goes back at least to the third century. All Saints' Day celebrates not only the martyrs and saints, but all the people of God, living and dead, who together form the mystical body of Christ.

In Europe, All Saints' Day is also called All Hallow's Day ('hallowed' means 'sanctified' or 'holy'). October 31st, the evening before All Saint's Day is named All Hallow's Eve, which was contracted to Halloween." (Emmanuel Lutheran Church, Ypsilanti, MI)

Would you fight back?

"The liberal media in America complain because President Donald Trump often calls them "fake news" and "the enemy of the people." They also charge that Trump's criticism fuels an uncivil atmosphere that sparks violence, e.g., they are now blaming Trump's rhetoric for the mail bomber and the Pittsburgh synagogue shooting.

But the liberal media do not view their own extremist, hyperbolic "news reporting" and commentary for contributing to America's political incivility, even though their diction is far more militant, repulsive, and noxious than anything Trump has said about the press."
This is how the media describe our president of the United States, and indirectly his supporters, like me. . .

sociopath,
a disturbed person,
a traitor,
white nationalist,
white supremacist,
white bigot,
racist,
sinister,
destructive virus,
treasonous,
straight out of Munich 1928,
Mussolini,
Joseph Stalin,
Nazi,
evil,
mentally unfit,
dictatorship,
Hitler,
unfit to be human,
domestic terrorist,
psychologically troubled,
hate monger,
imperial wizard,
neo-Nazi,
Axis Power,
unfit,
a national security threat,
piece of sh*t,
killer,
out of control,
domestic terror group,
a menace,
nuts,
dictator,
mentally unstable,
Putin's c**k holster,
madman,
giant a**hole,
bigot-in-chief, and
racist-in-residence.

Now be honest, wouldn't you fight back too?
https://www.cnsnews.com/blog/michael-w-chapman/what-liberal-media-actually-say-about-trump-aka-hitler-mussolini-white?

The murder of Whitey Bulger

Whackers Get Whacked by Dan Flynn, American Spectator Winter Hill Gang leader James “Whitey” Bulger, who once “won” a multimillion-dollar prize from the Massachusetts lottery, ran out of luck in West Virginia Tuesday. The 89-year-old died in prison, violently, shortly after his transfer to the United States Penitentiary, Hazelton. The same federal government that empowered Bulger to murder enabled his murder through massive incompetence. Bulger’s brother, Billy, serving as the most powerful politician in the Bay State and an FBI agent on Whitey’s payroll enabled him commit crimes for decades in Boston with impunity. Much like some police, he shook down drug dealers, bookies, and other racketeers for profit. The former Alcatraz inmate’s criminal instincts and street smarts helped him elude capture while on the lam from late 1994 until 2011, when a tip from Miss Iceland, 1974, led to the feds capturing him in Santa Monica, California, a place a long way from South Boston. Many believe, and still believe, the FBI never really wanted to catch a guy who embarrassed them in such a major way. They knew he did wrong. But he knew they did wrong, too. A trial found Bulger complicit in 11 murders. His story inspired characters played on the silver screen by Jack Nicholson and Johnny Depp. But his reluctance to use phones and his ability to elude photographers made him a mysterious, mythic figure in his native South Boston. There, many cast the villain as a hero. “He kept the drugs out of Southie” was a familiar, and false, refrain. But as in the local pedophile-priest scandal, belated media coverage of Bulger’s misdeeds eroded any folk-hero status he once enjoyed. The few reporters who covered him accurately faced threats. Boston Herald columnist Howie Carr, for instance, became the subject of a Bulger assassination scheme. Strangely, knowledge that Bulger became a “rat” for the government, and not any of his murders, did the most to harm his image in South Boston. This, along with gentrification, erased any notion of Bulger as a rogue worthy of admiration. This work as an informant ultimately led to his undoing. Michele McPhee, a tied-in crime reporter who I frequently filled-in for during my flirtation with talk radio in Boston a decade ago, reports that the perpetrator attempted to gouge the wheelchair-bound Bulger’s eyes out. Whoever did the deed apparently knew where the security cameras looked. McPhee cryptically notes about a former Bulger associate: “Cadillac Frank Salemme's recently convicted codefendant Paul Weadick is a Hazelden inmate.” Various reports indicate involvement by mafia-affiliated inmates. “You live by the sword, you die by the sword” seems too neat a conclusion here. Bulger worked the system for decades. The system, which strangely put him in general population, allowed men like him to work him over for a few minutes. Bulger’s life showed that fine lines sometimes differentiate cops and criminals. His death shows that, too.

Ancestry.com and Cesar Sayoc

Cesar Sayoc, the accused pipe non-bomb threat and Trump lover, claims to be Seminole Indian (and a lot of other things), but they won't claim him. Sort of like the Cherokee won't claim Elizabeth Warren. But what puzzles me about this article is the role of Ancestry.com. Are "roots" companies supposed to be revealing personal biographical and biological information to newspapers about people who have used their services? Didn't the Germans use genealogies to track down people with a drop of Jewish blood?

https://www.miamiherald.com/latest-news/article220680590.html

What’s going on with the 14th Amendment?

Yesterday I read an article on the birthright 14^th amendment (which I truly believe Trump is using to get his base in high gear for the election and to keep the CNN opinion/new readers and watchers riled up and jumping off a cliff) which gave some fascinating background. I think it was from 2010—or at least a number of years ago since this pops up from time to time. It was by Ann Coulter, someone I rarely read since she also likes to get people riled up (during the 2016 campaign I think she supported Trump, but then turned against him; don’t recall the details). Anyway it provided historical background that was fascinating. I didn’t know any of it. In 2015 she did a scathing piece on the stupidity of Fox News on the topic of the 14th amendment, but in 2010, her piece was much more reasoned (if she can be called that) and detailed on anchor babies and it involved a footnote. http://www.anncoulter.com/columns/2010-08-04.html

“The 14th Amendment was added after the Civil War in order to delegitimize the Supreme Court's Dred Scott decision, which held that black slaves were not citizens of the United States. The precise purpose of the amendment was to stop sleazy Southern states [i.e. the Democrat party] from denying citizenship rights to newly freed slaves -- many of whom had roots in this country longer than a lot of white people.
The amendment guaranteed that freed slaves would have all the privileges of citizenship by providing: "All persons born or naturalized in the United States, and subject to the jurisdiction thereof, are citizens of the United States and of the State wherein they reside."
The drafters of the 14th amendment had no intention of conferring citizenship on the children of aliens who happened to be born in the U.S. (For my younger readers, back in those days, people cleaned their own houses and raised their own kids.)
Inasmuch as America was not yet a massive welfare state, attracting malingerers, frauds and cheats, it would be amazing if the drafters even considered the amendment's effect on the children of aliens.
But they did.
The very author of the citizenship clause, Sen. Jacob Howard of Michigan, expressly said: "This will not, of course, include persons born in the United States who are foreigners, aliens, who belong to the families of ambassadors or foreign ministers."

Coulter continues in the 2010 article:

“And then, out of the blue in 1982, Justice Brennan slipped a footnote into his 5-4 opinion in Plyler v. Doe, asserting that "no plausible distinction with respect to Fourteenth Amendment 'jurisdiction' can be drawn between resident aliens whose entry into the United States was lawful, and resident aliens whose entry was unlawful." (Other than the part about one being lawful and the other not.)
Brennan's authority for this lunatic statement was that it appeared in a 1912 book written by Clement L. Bouve. (Yes, the Clement L. Bouve.) Bouve was not a senator, not an elected official, certainly not a judge -- just some guy who wrote a book.

So on one hand we have the history, the objective, the author's intent and 100 years of history of the 14th Amendment, which says that the 14th Amendment does not confer citizenship on children of illegal immigrants.  

On the other hand, we have a random outburst by some guy named Clement -- who, I'm guessing, was too cheap to hire an American housekeeper. Any half-wit, including Clement L. Bouve, could conjure up a raft of such "plausible distinction(s)" before breakfast. Among them: Legal immigrants have been checked for subversive ties, contagious diseases, and have some qualification to be here other than "lives within walking distance."