None Dare Call It Treason...

I'm trying to figure out what "leaving your race for State Senator in order to join an alternate government of the United States" is called if that's not treason, but I'm having a hell of a time finding any definition of the said practice apparently performed this week by Iowa Republican Randi Johnson that doesn't boil down to the T word there.

A Republican state Senate candidate in Iowa has decided to bow out of the race and become a U.S. senator of an alternative form of government.

In a letter released Friday, Randi Shannon informs supporters of her new position as “U.S. Senator in the Republic of the United States of America.” You see, according to Shannon, the U.S. government has been acting unlawfully as the “‘official government,’ which clearly it is not!”

The libertarian-leaning group she joined claims it “re-inhabited” the government on March 30, 2010. The group claims the “United States Corporation” unlawfully formed in 1871 without the American people’s consent. “Since 1871, the abuses of this corporation upon both the international community as well as the American people are inestimable and unconscionable,” the group’s website claims.

In her announcement letter, Shannon outlined her political plans. As someone who home schooled her own children, Shannon supports abolishing the Department of Education. She opposes unnecessary foreign wars. She believes life begins at conception. And she blames government abuse, invasive TSA screenings, “Obamacare,” and the 14th amendment on the corrupt “United States Corporation.” 

In other words, this woman is a few loop-de-loops short of an air show.   Yikes.  This is outright scary, actually.  She's basically arguing that the US government itself has been illegitimate since the end of the Civil War (which should be your first really big clue what the real agenda is here) and that these guys are now it.

Well good luck to ya.  And enjoy the knocks on the door by the actual government.

Nutjob,

Pro Tip, People

A very nice local story from down the road in Lexington, and if you haven't seen the video, first let's take a look:




And the story:

Aaron Collins was only in his 20s. But something, his family and friends say, made him outline three things he wanted when he died: to repay his parents any debt he may have owed, to give a homeless person some money and to leave "an awesome tip" for a waiter or waitress.

"I'm not talking about 25%. I mean $500 for a ... pizza," Collins wrote in his will, according to his brother.

Collins died on July 7, just three weeks after his 30th birthday, in a Lexington, Kentucky, hospital, leaving behind family and friends who took up his final request -- to leave a big tip.

Family and friends fulfilled Aaron's request, tipping one waitress in Lexington the $500, a moment that Aaron's brother, Seth Collins, videotaped and posted online Wednesday to YouTube. It is linked to the family's memorial page, AaronCollins.org.

And they did just that, and this thing blew up.  Do drop by the page and help make more EPIC WIN for folks out there.

Jackassapalooza

This was an epic win for jackasses all around the country.


One jackass poisons bees:

A police investigation is underway in Xiazhuang Village of Pingshan County in China for the fatal poisoning of 15 million bees.

Beekeeper Yang Jinfang believes rival keepers are to blame for the incident, which occurred when Yang and his partners transported 600 hives from their farms in southern China to feed on blossoms that flowered later in the season, as they've done for several generations.

Another jackass is fired for calling his students morons and being as inappropriate as any one man could be:

The board voted unanimously, 5-0, to accept the recommendation of an Ohio Department of Education referee who held 13 days of hearings on the issue between December and May.

That recommendation was received by the board and Togliatti’s lawyer Monday. The grounds for termination cited were “unprofessional and disrespectful conduct toward students ” and “highly inappropriate conduct towards administrators and other teachers.”

The next jackass killed himself at trial rather than pay for his crimes:

Authorities had suspected that arson defendant Michael Marin committed suicide by ingesting poison after he collapsed in court June 28, moments after a jury found him guilty of burning down his Biltmore Estates mansion in 2009. That theory was bolstered this week when Maricopa County investigators discovered a canister of cyanide in Marin's car.

Television video from Marin's court hearing appeared to show him put something in his mouth immediately after the verdict was read. Seven minutes later, he went into convulsions and fell to the floor. Paramedics were unable to revive him.

We covered that when it first happened, but finding a neatly labeled bottle of poison is one heck of an indicator.  If toxicology reports throw any surprises I may update, but I'm going to call this case closed.


And last but certainly not least:

COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. — Thirty-seven homes that were evacuated during Colorado's Waldo Canyon Fire were burglarized, and authorities are offering up to $50,000 for information on the culprits. 

Colorado Springs police spokeswoman Barbara Miller on Wednesday said 28 vehicles, many packed with evacuee's belongings, also were broken into after residents fled the fire reported June 23.An anonymous donor provided the reward money. 

Epic Fail: Robbery Style

"This is a robbery!"

"Get your ass to the back of the line."

Yeah, it pretty much happened like that.

YPSILANTI (CBS Detroit) The intended victim of a gas station robbery refused to cooperate, telling the wanna-be thief to “get back in line” when she demanded money from the cash register.

The clerk said there were other people waiting.

The attempted thief, who had a shirt pulled over her head, said she had a gun, per the Washtenaw County Sheriff’s Office. But she ran from the gas station on foot after the clerk politely refused to be robbed — and said she was calling police.

That is some steaming awesome sauce just for you.  Enjoy!

Mittens Is Losing It

An increasingly trapped Mitt Romney made the rounds on cable news last evening to double down on his Bain Capital denials and told the world to go screw itself over his tax returns.

In an interview with ABC News on Friday, presumptive Republican presidential nominee Mitt Romney insisted that he had played “no role whatsoever in the management of Bain Capital after February of 1999″ and demanded that President Obama apologize for remarks by his campaign staff implying that Romney might have committed a felony by misrepresenting his status with the firm.

“The president needs to take control of these people,” Romney stated. “It’s Chicago-style politics at its worst and the president promised something better than this when he ran the last time. And he ought to disavow it and reign in these people who are running out of control. … He sure as heck ought to say that he’s sorry for the kinds of attacks that are coming from his team. … This is simply beneath the dignity of the presidency of the United States.”

In other words, Mitt is demanding an apology from the President for not immediately throwing the race.   Mitt's whining is borderline panic now.  He's getting killed in the polls over this and he knows it.  His internal polls must be awful.  His defense at this point is "Someone get this blackity black black gangsta thug off me, will ya?"

Oh, but it gets worse.

In another hastily arranged interview on Friday, Romney told CNN that he has no intention of releasing more than two years of his income tax returns.

“We’ve complied with the law,” Romney stated. “The law requires us to put out a full financial disclosure. That I’ve done. I know there will always be calls for more, people always want to get more, and, you know, we’re putting out what is required plus more that is not required, and those are the two years that people are going to have. … That’s all that’s necessary for people to understand something about my finances.”

So he's now crying as hard as he can to work the Village refs to make this Bain story vanish.  Now.  And the sad, awful part is more than likely he'll get his wish:  the Village wants those hundreds of millions in ad money, and they have to have a "close horse race" to get it.  If Mitt's tax returns are this awful, awful enough that he will not release them, then he knows and the media moguls know that the race would be over once they come out.

No race, no advertising dollars.  No ratings.  No chance to decide who runs the country for our Sensible Village Centrist types.  And no power brokering.  On Sunday, we'll be told that the Bain/tax return story needs to go away.  On Monday, it will be gone, replaced with whatever outrage Drudge can crap out next.

Two, three months from now we'll be asking "Hey, whatever happened to that Bain story?"

I guarantee it.  And I hope I am wrong, dead wrong, laughably wrong. But judging from the interviews today, Mitt Romney will never release those returns.  I am more convinced than ever that the full story behind Mitt's tax dealings would end this race.  But the Village will not allow it.  This story will be spiked.

I expect a full court Village press scolding President Obama agreeing with everything Mitt said above.  That's coming Sunday.  It's going to be awful.

Me, I'll keep asking and pushing.  I hope you will too.  But don't expect our media to do it.

Another Texas-Sized Problem

If Ryan J. Reilly's report from the oral arguments in the federal case involving Texas's voter ID law is any indication, the three-judge federal panel is about to smack the Lone Star State down, big time.

The panel of federal judges — Bush nominee Rosemary M. Collyer, Clinton nominee David S. Tatel and Obama nominee Robert L. Wilkins — hopes to issue a ruling on the case in “short order,” according to Collyer, who expressed doubts about the findings of Texas’ experts in the case.

John Hughes, a lawyer for Texas, argued in his closing arguments that people who want to vote already have an ID or can easily get it. Hughes argued that if the state’s voter ID law really disenfranchised anyone the D.C. “courtroom would be filled” with Texans who couldn’t obtain voter ID.

In one of the more awkward exchanges, Hughes offered a semi-defense of literacy tests after one judge said that the reason literacy tests were racist years ago was because of inequalities in the education system. The judge asked if it was Texas’ theory that there would be a problem with literacy tests today. Setting aside other laws banning literacy tests and poll taxes, Hughes said he did not believe a literacy test would violate Section 5 of the Voting Rights Act.

When a judge noted that some voters would have to travel 120 miles to the nearest DMV to obtain a voter ID, Hughes argued that people in those areas had to travel “long distances to do any number of things.” The judge pointed out that people who live more than 100 miles from a courtroom aren’t even allowed to be subpoenaed because it is “unduly burdensome,” but Hughes argued that traveling far distances was a “reality to life of choosing to live in that part of Texas.”

The panel of judges were also highly critical of how Texas handled discovery during the case, pointing out that they did not request federal records about what Texas residents had forms of federal identification, such as passports. (Texas was making the case that many individuals who did not have a Texas drivers license might have a federal form of ID.)

Oops.  Looks like the judges aren't buying the argument, absolutely none of it in fact.  Considering the timeframe of this case (the state has argued it has to have a decision on this case by August 31), Texas will almost certainly invoke the Supremes should they lose here...but SCOTUS is between terms right now. Not sure how that would work, even.  An emergency appeal?

We'll see.  Either way in fact I would argue SCOTUS will get involved in what could be a huge ruling before November.

StupidiNews!

• Mississippi's lone abortion clinic will remain open due to a federal judge's ruling, but Republicans still plan to find some way of making it impossible to remain open.
• Nearly a quarter of a million on the Japanese island of Kyushu have been ordered to evacuate due to a third straight day of torrential rain, flooding, and landslides.
• A veteran's jobs bill reduced to making it easier for veterans to get federal licensing requirements through military experience will go to President Obama's desk to become signed into law.
• JP Morgan Chase's $2 billion trading loss earlier this year is now costing the company $5.8 billion, and could cost as much as $7.5 billion.
• With heavy public outcry forcing their hand, Apple has quickly rejoined a key green products registry it left earlier this week over battery accessibility disputes.

Republican Psychopaths

Florida's Rick Scott, Michigan's Dan Snyder, Ohio's John Kasich, Arizona's Jan Brewer...America's GOP governors are a crackpot lot of soulless disasters.  But one of the batch has emerged as the new king of the psychopaths:  Maine's Paul LePage.  Steve Benen at Maddowblog:

Maine Gov. Paul LePage (R) raised eyebrows last week when he called the IRS "the new Gestapo." Soon after, he issued a statement saying "the use of the word Gestapo has clouded my message," but in person, the governor didn't sound especially apologetic.

And on Thursday, LePage went right back to the same comfortable insanity in an campaign appearance for Vermont GOP gubernatorial candidate Randy Brock.

Standing by Brock's side at the Sheraton in South Burlington, the Maine governor said, "What I am trying to say is the Holocaust was a horrific crime against humanity and, frankly, I would never want to see that repeated. Maybe the IRS is not quite as bad -- yet."

LePage then said, "They're headed in that direction."

Asked if he had a sense of what the Gestapo did during the second world war, LePage said, "Yeah, they killed a lot of people." Asked whether the IRS "was headed in the direction of killing a lot of people," LePage answered: "Yeah."

But both sides do it because somebody said Bush was like Hitler once, so LePage is not as bad.  IRS will kill everyone you know because a Democrat is in charge.  When a Republican is in charge, how dare you question us.

Good Night, Mr. Kessler

Over at the Juice, John Cole puts Washington Post "fact checker" Glenn Kessler to bed:

So earlier today, I took to twitter to taunt Glenn Kessler for his idiotic assertion that the SEC documents are somehow less relevant because a former Democratic SEC member discussed them, and this is what happened:



Got it? He attacked the GOP earlier, so when he puts the finger on the scale to ignore the SEC documents, it’s just an example of him being “nonpartisan.” When numerous people pointed out to our brave fact checker that the source of a fact doesn’t change whether something is factual or not, our super genius doubled down:

Game over, Glenn.  Have a nice nap.  You're busted.

Facts no longer matter to the Washington Post Fact Checker.  Sources do...even if the sources aren't telling the truth, the truth doesn't matter.  If there was ever an example of someone completely captured by the Village, and so in love with their role as self-appointed referee of the partisan spin that they finally break down and admit the only opinion in America that matters is their own, it's Glenn Kessler.

Literally everything wrong with the media in 2012, right there.

Gay Rights Opponent Travels To Campaign For Discrimination

Scott Lively of Abiding Truth Ministries has made it very clear he's against a proposed ordinance that protects against LGBT discrimination.  So much so that he's traveling from Springfield, Massachusetts to try to kill it.

From the Springfield News-Leader:

The ordinance passed a City Council committee in June and will be heard by the whole council in mid-August. Existing city law offers protections based on race, religion and other characteristics. The changes, endorsed by the Mayor's Commission on Human Rights and Community Relations, would make it illegal to deny someone a job, housing or public services based on sexual orientation or gender identity.

“My purpose in coming to Springfield is to oppose that,” Lively, of Springfield, Mass., said. 

“I believe that the anti-discrimination policy is the seed that contains the entire tree of the homosexual agenda,” Lively said. Once the anti-discrimination policy is passed, homosexual advocates “never (stop) expanding their power and control. ... It’s sort of like the cornerstone of the legal strategy for pressuring society to accept homosexuality.”

First, anti-discrimination policy really is the core of the homosexual agenda.  See, that means they aren't discriminated against and can choose how they live and who they love, a guarantee that they won't be treated poorly for being themselves.  I mean, that is what it's all about.  But thanks for calling them out for wanting fair treatment by law.

The great glaring wrongness with these idiots is that advocating mistreatment of people is their best solution to this "problem" in the population.  Because it has never crossed his mind, or those who support him, that people should be able to have control over their love lives.  That he can come so close to the truth and then flip it into something evil is a sight to behold.  To argue for discrimination so strongly is a disgrace to what he claims to represent.  To use oppression and encourage bad acts towards members of the LGBT community says all I need to say about this area and some of the "Christians" who live here.

Treat them so terrible that they'll live how I think they should.  That's all it comes down to.  That's their plan.

So we have two sides to this coin: those who want to treat people poorly based on something that is none of their business, or people who want to live free to choose who they love.


That this is even being debated, or that people are still confused on the matter, is amazing to me.  We're talking about the elementary concept of whether people can be denied fair and equal treatment by government and public entities even if some folks don't like who they are dating.

Entire Staff Fired At LA School

A no nonsense Los Angeles schools Superintendent has canned an elementary school's entire staff as a result of shocking case of a teacher accused of playing sex games with children for years.

From custodian to principal - no one at  the low income Miramonte Elementary School, which is 98 percent Latino, was spared. 

"It was a quick, responsible, responsive action to a heinous situation," Superintendent John Deasy said. "We're not going to spend a long time debating student safety." 

In February, Mark Berndt was arrested for felony molestation of 23 kids after photos surfaced including allegedly feeding his students semen as part of a bizarre and stomach-turning food-tasting game.  Berndt taught at the school for 30 years. 

In response to the heinous allegations, Deasy ordered, what at the time was called, the temporary replacement of all of Miramonte's teachers.  

The controversial decision underscores the 51-year-old superintendent's shake-up of the lethargic bureaucracy at the nation's second-largest school district. His swift, bold moves have rankled some and won praise from others during his first year of leadership.

There are definitely two sides to this coin.

First, we have someone making bold decisions.  He's getting attention, and teachers who do things like feed kids bodily fluids have been put on notice.  The message is that he's watching.  Deasy acts on the obvious, which is that in thirty years, you can bet one person knew something awful was happening and did nothing, or observed that Berndt was a risk.  So he put those who turn a blind eye on notice as well.  He's watching, and he will be asking why you weren't watching, and you better have a good answer.  He seems willing to work harder than he asks others to, and has been clear about setting goals that are measurable.  He's at least trying something besides red tape and confused shrugs.

On the other hand, a lot of people who truly had nothing to do with this incident will now carry that on their records, at a time when jobs aren't easy to come by.  The stigma of this school will stain reputations in an area that will remember this for a long time to come.  They paid a hefty price, and there is still a lot to be paid.  Their unfortunate position should remain highlighted as a radical change instead of a disciplinary, but that's if they can find openings in their field.

Was it a necessary change?  I see what he was doing.  I don't disagree with it on some levels, though again the price was high for some people who did nothing wrong.  In the long run, it will be worth it if the shakeup really works like intended.  Either way, I wish him the best of luck.

Mother Abandons Severely Disabled Girl At A Bar

(CNN) -- Eva Cameron was driving through Tennessee when her mentally disabled daughter Lynn needed to go to the bathroom. 

Cameron stopped by a small rural bar and let her daughter out of the car before she drove off, returning to her home in Illinois -- leaving Lynn by the side of the road, Caryville Assistant Police Chief Stephanie Smith told CNN.

Cameron eventually came back, to sign papers making her daughter a ward of the state.  While the article is bitter about that point, I have to point it is most assuredly the best thing for the girl.   I am shocked that what she did isn't a crime, even though her daughter is not technically a minor.

Of course we know there are legally approved ways to handle this, not dumping a mentally disabled woman in the middle of nowhere.  Someone with a vocabulary of 40-50 words should have professional care to help them and understand their needs.  Before she snapped (I am assuming that is what happened here) Eva Cameron could have reached out through legal channels to get her daughter the care and supervision she needs to be safe.

I do not want to sound like I am making an excuse for what this woman did.  However, having worked at a group home for disabled kids, and having gone through the hell of being a legal guardian and conservator for a relative with Alzheimer's, I do know how the daily grind can chew your soul.  I know how you can feel like there is no hope because the system makes it as difficult as possible.  This story should also bring those frustrations and difficulties out as well, however.  It is a crucial part of the story.

I hope both women can come to terms with what happened.  It could very well be that both of them do come out better and happier, even if the path doesn't seem to promise much.  According to reports Lynn is doing very well in her new home.

Dear America:

"Joe Biden's speech was meaningless because BuzzFeed found somebody at the NAACP convention who was disappointed the President wasn't there so suck it, stupid The Blacks!"

--Moe Lane

Bonus Verbatim Racism:

It’s not even a question of bad optics; it’s just that Obama’s not going to move the fundraising and/or support needle at the NAACP enough to be worth his while, and it’s not like the President’s really all that authentic an African-American in the first place.  The man’s a urban liberal academic, folks.  That’s pretty damned rabiblanco.

Dear Moe Lane:

Kiss my black ass.  Thanks.

Turn On The Lights, Watch The Roaches Scatter Part 90

And yet another bank is settling up for pennies on the dollar as Wells Fargo admits it ripped off minority homeowners with higher broker fees to the tune of $175 million.

Wells Fargo, the nation’s largest home mortgage lender, has agreed to pay at least $175 million to settle allegations that its independent brokers discriminated against black and Hispanic borrowers during the housing boom, the Justice Department announced on Thursday. If approved by a federal judge, it would be the second largest residential fair-lending settlement in the department’s history.

An investigation by the department’s civil rights division found that mortgage brokers working with Wells Fargo charged higher fees and rates to more than 30,000 minority borrowers across the country than they did to white borrowers who posed the same credit risk, according to a complaint filed on Thursday along with the proposed settlement. 

Wells Fargo brokers also steered more than 4,000 minority borrowers into costlier subprime mortgages when white borrowers with similar credit risk profiles received regular loans, a Justice Department complaint found. The deal covers the subprime bubble years of 2004 to 2009. 

Thomas Perez, the assistant attorney general for the civil rights division, said the practices amounted to a “racial surtax,” adding: “All too frequently, Wells Fargo’s African-American and Latino borrowers had no idea they could have gotten a better deal — no idea that white borrowers with similar credit would pay less.” 

Nor did they know to ask.  Nor did the brokers tell them.  Thirty.  Thousand.  Minority borrowers were made to pay on average almost $3,000 more for the same exact loans.   But Republicans will tell you there is no economic racism, there is no need for a Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, there is no need for additional regulation of the financial sector, and there's certainly no need for the Justice Department's Civil Rights Division.

Lending data showed for example, that in 2007 customers in the Chicago area who borrowed $300,000 from Wells Fargo through an independent broker paid an average of $2,937 more in broker fees if African-American, and $2,187 more if Hispanic, compared to white borrowers with a similar credit risk, the complaint said. 

Similarly, it said, the data showed that nationwide, an African-American borrower who qualified for a regular loan was 2.9 times more likely to be steered into a subprime loan, and Hispanic borrowers was 1.8 times more likely, than were similarly creditworthy white borrowers. Subprime loans, which are designed for riskier borrowers, carry higher interest rates. 

The price of being black in America.  Add that to the tab.  But we elected a black President, so why are we complaining, right?  Why would we be so angry to see a major mortgage bank with millions of customers specifically and systematically discriminate by charging black and Latino customers more money?

The real question is why aren't Republicans furious with such an obvious failure of their vaunted free market principles.  You won't get an answer to that uncomfortable question.

StupidiNews!

• Syrian rebels are demanding UN special envoy Kofi Annan leave the country after yesterday's al-Assad regime massacre killing hundreds, saying Annan is only buying more time for the regime to kill with.
• A DC police officer is being investigated and on administrative leave for allegedly making comments that he wanted to shoot First Lady Michelle Obama.
• Alaska is taking Congress to task for failing to have a plan to plug abandoned oil wells drilled in the North Slope oil reserve.
• Moody's has cut Italy's credit rating to two steps above junk status as Spanish and Greek economic contagion spreads to the rest of Europe.
• Space company Virgin Galactic is getting into the telescope business with its new launch vehicle, Launcher One.