Who are the Veterans for a Strong America?

MoonHowler

Who is Joel Arends and who are the Veterans for a Strong America? According to Rachel Maddow’s research, pretty much one guy who just got a lot richer because of Donald Trump’s fundraiser at the LA Museum battleship, the USS Iowa.

The Trump event was supposed to be a policy event. Somehow it got turned into a fund raiser events. Those attending paid either $100 or $1000 to get into the museum to hear Trump and Arends.

It smells fishy to me. Facts don’t seem to matter when speaking of Trump or his supporters. It’s all about “feel good” and hearing what you want to hear, regardless of reality.

Isn’t that how dictators come to power?

 

California legislature approves physician assisted suicide

MoonHowler

New York Times:

SACRAMENTO, Calif. — In a landmark victory for supporters of assisted suicide, the California State Legislature on Friday gave its final approval to a bill that would allow doctors to help terminally ill people end their own lives.

Four states — Oregon, Washington, Montana and Vermont — already allow physicians to prescribe life-ending medication to some patients. The California bill, which passed Friday in the State Senate by a vote of 23 to 14, will now go to Gov. Jerry Brown, who will roughly triple access to doctor-assisted suicide across the country if he signs it. Mr. Brown has given little indication of his intentions.

Leaders of the “death with dignity” movement said they hoped the passage of the California law could be a turning point.

As human beings, we should have control over our own deaths with dignity if we are faced with a terminal illness.  Good for California.  There are now 4 civilized states in the Union.  Only 46 more to go.

Of course there have to be safe-guards.  However, why should the state have the final jurisdiction over our very lives.  Anyone who has ever been with a loved one with a terminal illness knows exactly what I am talking about.

I stand with Harry Wiggins

MoonHowler

I don’t always agree with the Democrats.  Sometimes I do and sometimes I don’t.  This is particularly true of the local Democrats.  This time I do agree with the Democrats and I stand with Harry Wiggins and the others who have left the Committee  because of the vitriolic language towards gays and lesbians  demonstrated by the chairman of Committee of 100.

Harry Wiggins, chairman of the Prince William County Democratic Committee, explained his position and the position of the 27 Democratic candidates in today’s Potomac Local:

Why Democrats will not participate in Prince William Committee of 100 candidate forums

As many know, the Prince William Democratic candidates for this November’s General Election are not participating in any forum, debate, etc, hosted by, sponsored by, or co-hosted by the Prince William Committee of 100.

This was a unanimous decision by all 27 Democrats running for office in Prince William. The reason?

Shortly after being elected President of the Committee of 100, James Young posted a venomous attack on homosexuals. Mr. Young is, of course, entitled to his political views, and he need not forfeit them simply because he is president of the Committee of 100.

He is free to publicly oppose gay marriage, adoption of children by gay couples, and a host of other policies targeting homosexuals. His rant, however, was not a political policy statement, but a hateful and vitriolic assault on homosexuals as people, employing the type of language that has been used in the past to both provoke and rationalize violence against them.

Read More

Never Forget: 9-11-2001

MoonHowler

never forget

There doesn’t seem to be much on TV this year about 9-11.  I suppose 14 years does make a difference.  However, I want to see live footage.  I want to feel the rage and the resolve I felt that day.  I fear that if I don’t use this day, 9-11-15 and every 9-11 moving forward, I will grow complacent and sloppy.

I don’t want to get over it.  I need my refresher course of outrage dished out yearly.  I will never forget watching TV that night, after being sequestered away from TV that entire day, and thinking out loud, of all the gall!  the nerve! the effrontery!   Then a slow anger came over me that I don’t want to dissipate over the years.

9-11-2001 changed how Americans do business forever.  Our travel will never be the same.  Just getting a driver’s license is different.  Our entire way of proving who we are will never go back to the way we did things on 9-10-2001.  We are a nation now on our guard against terrorism in everything we do.  I so resent that disturbance.

The day before yesterday our house mate came in and told me he saw a woman who was wearing a full burqa strolling her baby down the street.  I didn’t see her but I was outraged over his sighting.  I don’t like the lack of security–I want to know who is walking up and down my street.  I don’t like people hiding their faces.  I see no difference in wearing a burqa and wearing a stocking mask.  If I saw someone walking down the street in a stocking mask, I would call the police.  Why should my risk assessment be different in this case?

Please share your feelings.  Mine aren’t particularly rational but they don’t have to be.  9-11 wasn’t a rational day and no, those of us alive on 9-11-2001 will never forget!

Bernie Sanders to Hold Manassas Rally Monday 9/14/15

MoonHowler

bernie_sanders_ap_img_0

Presidential candidate Bernie Sanders will hold a rally Monday, September 14 8 p.m. at the fairgrounds, 10624 Dumfries Road.  The gates will open at 6 p.m. and admission is on a first come, first serve basis.

Earlier in the day, Sanders will give the convocation at Liberty University in Lynchburg, then travel to Manassas.

Senator Bernie Sanders is an Independent from Vermont.  He is running as a Democrat.

 

Corey Stewart, patron saint of the animals

MoonHowler
Click here to sign the petition
Click here to sign the petition

It seems that we have a new St. Francis of Assisi on the BOCS and this is a good thing!  On Tuesday, Corey announced that it was time to build a new animal shelter.  It’s about time.  The older shelter is around 40 years old  and was obviously built when the county had a much smaller people population.  As the people population grew, so did the pet population.

The PWC animal shelter has also become a no-kill shelter.  More space is needed.  According to Bristow Beat:

Corey Stewart (R), Prince William County Supervisors’ Chairman At-large, directed county staff to create a detailed proposal that would look into building a new Prince William Animal Shelter using FY2015 savings.

“When [the Prince William Animal Shelter] was constructed our county was a lot smaller than it is today. Anyone who has visited the shelter, you know that it is absolutely needed, and we have got to do something about the situation,” Stewart said, adding that the shelter does provide excellent service, “but it’s a critical unmet need here in Prince William County that must be addressed.”

Stewart said he believes the county could afford to spend roughly $10-12 million on building a new shelter from FY2015 without affecting the county’s AAA bond rating. However, it would be best to wait until after the December audit.

Nonetheless, he is directing county staff to act swiftly, creating a proposal that the supervisors could then discuss and debate, and then a new shelter could be built “outright.”

Read More

Kim Davis: Might have hold of the wrong end of the tiger

MoonHowler

Washingtonpost.com:

As reporters tried to figure out what was next for Davis — would she really allow marriage licenses for same-sex couples to be distributed once she returned to work? — “Eye of the Tiger’s” co-author was thinking about something else. Davis and/or her entourage hadn’t just co-opted his song for a cause he didn’t believe in. She had done it without his permission.

“I have not authorized the use of Eye of the Tiger for use by Kim Davis and my publisher will issue a [cease and desist],” Peterik tweeted. “This does not reflect my views.”

Peterik further explained his displeasure in a statement to Billboard magazine.

“I was very surprised and dismayed at the misuse of the song I co-wrote with Frankie Sullivan for Rocky lll,” he said. “The song has motivated thousands through the years to reach beyond their limits. Its use for the release of Kim Davis does not support my views or my politics. I have contacted my publishers to make sure this usage is stopped immediately.”

Sullivan chimed in as well.

“NO!” he wrote on Facebook. “We did not grant Kim Davis any rights … I would not grant her the rights to use Charmin!” Sullivan added a personal message for Huckabee: “C’mon Mike, you are not The Donald but you can do better than that.”

If you are going to co-opt a song for a national media event over a controversial issue, it really shouldn’t be the group’s signature song.  “Eye of the Tiger” is the song that turned Survivor into the band that Baby Boomers and their children still thing of today.  It crosses many generations.  Kim Davis can’t drape herself and her misguided cause in that song.
Read More

Palin, the perpetual dumb-ass

MoonHowler

According to Sarah Palin, immigrants need to speak “American.”  I have never heard of “American.”  I have heard of American English but not the language “American.”

It stands to reason that “Spanish”  and “French”  and Navajo would all be considered American since Mexico, and all of Central America are part of America.  Perhaps Sarah Palin doesn’t realize that the United States of America is a country within North America.  There is also a South America. I would wager that they speak “American” also.

According to MSN.com:

Immigrants to the United States should “speak American,” former Republican vice presidential nominee Sarah Palin said on Sunday, adding her voice to a controversy triggered by Donald Trump’s criticism of fellow Republican White House hopeful Jeb Bush’s use of Spanish.

“It’s a benefit of Jeb Bush to be able to be so fluent in Spanish, because we have a large and wonderful Hispanic population that is helping to build America,” Palin said on CNN’s “State of the Union.”

“On the other hand, you know, I think we can send a message and say: ‘You want to be in America? A, you better be here legally, or you’re out of here. B, when you’re here, let’s speak American.’ I mean, that’s just, that’s – let’s speak English,” added Palin, Republican presidential nominee John McCain’s running mate in 2008.

Palin, who is popular among some U.S. conservatives, said that “a unifying aspect of a nation is the language that is understood by all.” Most of the illegal immigrants in the United States come from Mexico and other Spanish-speaking Latin American countries.

When will she ever stop speaking?  She now wants to be Secretary of Energy so she can do away with the Department.  I think she might have to involve Congress for that maneuver.

 

No everyone doing their fair share

MoonHowler

fair share

Obviously not everyone is doing their fair share.  The wealthier gulf states have taken in no refugees since the Syrian conflict began.  Those states closest to Syria have taken in millions of people.  Many of these refugees have lived in tent cities and have been dependent of the host country as well as international relief efforts.

At some point, the “six Gulf countries — Qatar, United Arab Emirates, Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, Oman and Bahrain must step up to the plate and offer assistance, relief and shelter to those who have been impacted by civil war and by the Islamic State thugs.

Hopefully, President Obama will speak very directly the Saudi King on this issue.  I would be taking him to McDonalds if I were Obama.

The United States has taken in 1500 Syrian refugees since their civil war began.  We could do far better!

New call for background checks in Virginia

MoonHowler

gunglock19

Washingtonpost.com:

Seven Northern Virginia delegates and two Democratic nominees to the House of Delegates joined the Brady Campaign to Prevent Gun Violence at a news conference in Arlington to urge that background checks cover all gun sales, including those at gun shows and online.

Virginia law does not require background checks for gun purchases from unlicensed dealers or private sellers. Gov. Terry McAuliffe (D) tried to change that, but his proposal was rejected by the Republican-controlled Virginia legislature.

The governor again mentioned closing the gun-show loophole, as it is commonly called, in the wake of the Roanoke shootings, drawing the ire of Republican lawmakers who noted that the gunman in that case purchased his weapon legally.

The fact that the Roanoke shooter bought his gun legally speaks volumes.  Rather than excusing Virginia gun laws, it should condemn them and make us want to shore up requirements.  This guy had a paper trail both hard copy and digitally behind him a mile long.  Flares should have been going off.

Read More

Migrant crisis, part 2

MoonHowler

ww2_refugess_on_horse_and_cart

The humanitarian crisis in Europe continues to grow each day.  I believe these people are more than migrants. They aren’t moving for jobs or education or even new cultural experiences.  They are moving to save their lives.  The longer these people are denied refugee status, the longer Europe can put off accepting the inevitable.

The pictures we see now on TV must be the modern day version of what it looked like (see picture above) some  75 year ago, give or take,  when  Europeans, many of them Jews, left their homes and headed to anywhere they presumed they would be safe.  How many of those people were turned away?  How many people were not given sanctuary?  How many of those people and their descendants would be alive today if some town or country had give them safe harbor.

Read More