Blogging vacation

I have excused myself from social media and will remain excused until I come back.

Stay rad,
sapphoq

Being Bullied Is NOT Perky

My anger at discovering a recent article written by one @KarenSisto [if you are on Twitter r, tm, no copyright infringement intended] or Karen Kabati-Sisto if you aren't

published by Autism Daily News also known as autism daily newcast dot com go look it up in your search engine yourself if you want to I am not linking to this piece of trash article

which was recently moved from some page or other to the "opinion" page

does not quite cut it for adults who identify as being autistic, aspies, on somewhere on the medically induced spectrum of autistic disordered and puzzle pieces of a certain other organization that does not speak for us, period

has prompted me to write this response.

As a very young child, I was diagnosed. My dad rejected the recommendations of the examiner. Instead of the usual route, I got the things that I needed and an excellent academic education beside.

Social situations were always difficult for me and still are.

That my dad worked hard in order to afford the much smaller classes in private schools saved me from the much worst bullying that I would have received had I been thrown into public schools and what passed for "special education" in my times.

Dad also worked hard with me. I owe much of who I am today to my father.

This rant is dedicated to him. Dad died in December 2014. I will miss him forever.

Being Bullied Is NOT Perky

The autistic teen in Ohio who was tricked into having a bucket of body fluids thrown on him-- https://tinyurl.com/qjkz6mr --would beg to differ with you, Ms. Kabati-Sisto.

So would the teen in Wales left paralyzed after being forced to jump off of a bridge-- https://tinyurl.com/pgkusd2.

Ask the twelve year old from Missouri who was beaten in the school cafeteria and suffered a fractured skull among other injuries.
https://tinyurl.com/oxfhzvx His mother had send a letter to the principal a month earlier stating that she thought her son was in danger. The student who "allegedly" beat her son weighed two hundred pounds and had other suspensions on his record. Nuff said?

Yahoo has images of "kids severely injured by bullying" to show you https://tinyurl.com/ok87hn6 mixed in with stuff that clearly isn't. Look at their faces and tell me again about the perks.

There are zero perks associated with bullying of autistic kids, period.

It is easier to quantify physical damage than emotional scars. We can give kids antibiotics and bandages and fancy wheelchairs and casts and put them in traction and make operations but we cannot heal a society that persists in justifying monstrous acts done to us by "the good that can come out of raising awareness" at the expense of our pain. 

There is no good bullying. There is only bullying. If your school system isn't working on inclusion and community building for everyone every day all day, then a feel-good article characterized in the comments as click-bait isn't going to fix anything. 

Going into survival mode for twelve years plus of school time is the opposite of true self-esteem building. Acting out of desperation is what we've learned to do at school for years. It's more of the same old same old. This article suggests nothing new, adds no new knowledge, contributes nothing constructive to a conversation that needs to happen in a meaningful inclusive way. Inclusion means having us sit down at the table as equals. That won't happen for as long as applied behavioral analysis and its damming history exists. The fish stinks from the head back.

radical sapphoq says: If something is not acceptable to say or do to a child or adult without a label, then it is not acceptable to say or do to us. Get out of our headspaces. You don' know how to interpret what you are looking at anyway. Quit spreading the big lie that autistic people "lack theory of mind." It is articles like "10 Perks Kids with Autism Get from Bullying" that demonstrate exactly who lacks what. And it ain't us.

This Was Supposed to Be All About Phil Robertson But

     Something happened as I was attempting to write an open letter to Phil Robertson. I am a Duck Dynasty fan and I am an atheist. Those of you who find that to be contradictory-- tell someone who cares. Not all of us non-believers are liberal or progressive or democrats or some combination of the three. I digress.

     The thing is, I was reading through the ton of media and blog coverage on Phil Robertson's remarks to the Vero Beach Prayer Breakfast that took place on Friday morning, March 20th in Vero Beach, Florida. Yeah, I listened to the recordings and watched the videos too.

     Phil Robertson is entitled to freedom of expression, just like every civilian in the United States is. Within that protection, he is allowed to be rude and crude and shocking and controversial. Talking about castration during a breakfast might have made me lose a bit of my appetite had I been there. But I wasn't there. Didn't know about it. Could not have afforded to go if I had been invited. Wasn't invited. Might have preferred to hang on the beach or at a bookstore instead had I been in Florida that morning.

     The rest of us civilians are entitled to freedom of expression too. Some folks have supported Phil. Others have not. And some people have pretty much exercised their freedom to not give a damn. Because as my good buddy Jeremy Crow points out, freedom of speech is not equivalent to freedom to be heard. We cannot fight all the battles there are or attend all the celebratory parties either.

     At first, I thought I hope Phil isn't suffering from some sort of neurological condition or disorder that would make inhibiting his dis-inhibitions tougher. [Between the changes after my brain injury and watching dad getting swallowed up by Lewy Body Dementia, there remains no mystery as to why I would think that almost immediately]. Then I thought, Geez, Phil Robertson doesn't think that we atheists have morals or values. Finally I said to myself, "I don't really know what he thinks. He is a dude on the teevee on a show that I love."

     Where his comments outrageous? Sure. Shocking? Yup. Do I approve of his parable about the atheist family? Nope. Does that mean he ought not to have said that stuff? Nope. Could he have expressed his point better? That's an opinion question. Will I continue to watch Duck Dynasty? Yep.

     Detractors talked about Phil Robertson having some kind of sick fantasy life. Defenders talked about moral relativism. I wasn't sure about this moral relativism stuff so I had to look it up. Some percentage of Christians are opposed to moral relativism. So Phil Robertson is a Christian who is opposed to moral relativism. Okay. Fine. I get that. Cool. And then I discovered that I fit-- somewhere-- into that scale of morally relativistic, although I am not sure of exactly where. Because there are things that I recognize as being wrong. I wanted to be some kind of Ayn Rand when I grew up, or at least a Nathaniel Branden. Instead I discovered that I am a sort of libertarian anarchist with decided ideas about less government being more fun. Which perhaps borrows something from each of them but with a slightly different spin.

     Christians who believe in absolute morality e.g. "God said it's wrong so it is" have a hard time understanding that atheists too possess morality. Rejection of a personal belief in any gods does not mean an automatic rejection of any sort of moral standards. Wherever morality and conscience come from, believers say the deity of their choice delivered the laws to live by and gave us individual consciences. Non-believers may cite Hammurabi's Code and then go on to talk about the evolutionary process and perhaps cultures and stuff like that.

     Then I ran into this article about The Islamic State training kids in the fine art of beheading people. 
http://www.gospelherald.com/articles/54915/20150326/isis-recruits-over-400-children-as-cubs-of-the-caliphate-training-includes-beheading.htm  Uh. That there is wrong. The Islamic State or ISIS or those other initials that I can never remember indicate people following a version of Islam which is also caught up in the usurption of power and lives from a bunch of other nations and people.

     From there, my brain and my fingers jumped to some articles on the National Prayer Breakfast held on Feburary 5, 2015 in Washington D.C. at the Hilton. Not your average local diner or small restaurant. The guest list included the Dalai Lama dude in spite of protests by China over interference of other nations in the affairs of Tibet.

     Whether or not the current president is a "secret Muslim," he is doing a piss-poor job of convincing people otherwise. And then I made a judgement call. What President Obama said at the National Prayer Breakfast was far, far worse than what Phil Robertson said at the Vero Beach Prayer Breakfast. Obummer's appeal to the religious to remember that no one's god wants them to go whupping ass at random did not have any good effect on me. His stunning revelation that Christians did the Crusade thing back in the Middle Ages left me coldly shrieking in rage. Yo, the Crusades were a response to the Muslims of that time doing invasions. And many more people have been slaughtered by the uh extremist jihadists who we aren't supposed to believe are true Muslims than by the Crusaders. Besides that, the Crusades ain't happening now. 

     We are living in a world where people get beheaded and stuff gets blown up. A world where some little kids strap on suicide vests and other little kids learn how to behead their perceived enemies. A world where Islam itself has not yet proven that it can take a seat at the prayer breakfast table. 

     There's gangs of young people roaming around London imposing Sharia law at will. And other places too are getting thrust into this sort of stuff. What gives them the right? Every time we try to play nice with the ruffians who are endeavoring to take over the sandbox, we give them that right. Our president-- America first and all of that, home of the brave and the free-- gives them that right when he preaches his gospel of denial.

     Mr. President, your denial is threatening our way of life. The Islamic State or ISIS or whatever you wish to call it is composed of people following some version of Islam. They are Muslims. Not all Muslims want to implement or live under sharia law. But and however, the ones making the most noise right now are. Your failure to address this current event-- the attempted takeover by those favoring Sharia law-- sucks. 

     Furthermore, I am still not over the notion that you visited Saudi Arabia recently in order to pay homage to both a dead king and a live king. Saudi Arabia, country of public beheadings. Don't you dare tell me that the folks in charge over there are not Muslims.

     And by the way Mr. President, some of us still fervently believe that human lives are far more important than big oil. Some of us acknowledge that we as a nation need to become independent of and and all oil that originates in other nations apart from this one, and that we need to develop technology for transportation that does not involve consumption of oil-- in that order, period. We need to make some tough decisions as a nation. If you are incapable of doing that, then you deserve to be voted out next time or not to run at all.

     You've encouraged (and that is putting it mildly) the N.S.A. and those other agencies to collect metadata on everyone everywhere to the point where sifting the threats and the possible threats from the non-threats is a daunting task (to put it mildly). Our fundamental right to some privacy has been eroded. You have cut the military defense budget. That is the height of stupidity given what is happening all over with the proponents of Sharia law. Then you tell the U.N. that ISIS is not Muslim and you tell a prayer breakfast stuff about distorted faith. 

     Maybe Phil Robertson can pound some sense into your head, Mr. President. At least he is clear about exactly what the Islamic State is composed of and exactly what their aim is. And he has a plan for ISIS too. Phil Robertson is not living in a fairy tale world Mr. President. You are.


References

This is wrong:

http://www.gospelherald.com/articles/54915/20150326/isis-recruits-over-400-children-as-cubs-of-the-caliphate-training-includes-beheading.htm


Sharia Law:

http://www.frontpagemag.com/2013/frontpagemag-com/video-muslims-enforcing-sharia-law-on-the-streets-of-london/

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rcsG-u2GtZE

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/uknews/law-and-order/7428933/Muslim-gangs-imposing-sharia-law-in-British-prisons.html

http://dailycaller.com/2014/11/02/swedish-police-release-extensive-report-detailing-control-of-55-no-go-zones-by-muslim-criminal-gangs/

http://www.akdart.com/islam10.html



Obama and the Christian vs. ISIS thing: [National Prayer Breakfast 2/5/2015]

https://www.whitehouse.gov/the-press-office/2015/02/05/remarks-president-national-prayer-breakfast

http://www.wsj.com/articles/obamas-crusades-1423256805

http://madworldnews.com/obama-jihad-crusades/

http://www.christianpost.com/news/franklin-graham-responds-to-obamas-isis-christian-prayer-breakfast-comparison-jesus-lived-for-peace-mohammed-killed-innocent-people-133714/

http://www.joelrieves.com/why-thats-just-crazy-talk/

http://www.thefederalistpapers.org/us/this-video-blows-up-obamas-argument-about-the-crusades-verses-islamic-extremists-today

http://www.patheos.com/blogs/friendlyatheist/2015/02/06/mad-bill-donohue-demands-apology-from-obama-for-the-presidents-mention-of-the-crusades-and-the-inquisition/

http://www.religionnews.com/2015/02/05/obama-condemns-distorted-faith-national-prayer-breakfast/

http://www.tpnn.com/2015/03/08/jackie-mason-slams-obama-for-insulting-bibi-not-isis/

http://www.slate.com/articles/news_and_politics/politics/2015/02/jim_crow_south_s_lynching_of_blacks_and_christianity_the_terror_inflicted.single.html


Phil Robertson at Vero Beach Prayer Breakfast 3/20/2015
mostly supportive reactions, or attempts to be neutral:
     
http://www.trunews.com/friday-march-20-2015-phil-robertson/
   ~ part of Phil Robertson talk as broadcasted on trunews radio ~

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=l7yCksfdINE
   ~ Phil Robertson's acceptance speech at C.PAC

http://www.patheos.com/blogs/bristolpalin/2013/12/leave-phil-robertson-alone/

http://www.gospelherald.com/articles/54890/20150325/duck-dynasty-patriarch-phil-robertson-receives-criticism-for-comparing-violence-to-atheism.htm

http://www.breitbart.com/big-hollywood/2015/03/25/debunked-medias-latest-ignorant-bigoted-attack-on-duck-dynastys-phil-robertson/

http://www.trunews.com/friday-march-20-2015-phil-robertson/

http://thehayride.com/2015/02/louisianas-own-phil-robertson-wins-the-breitbart-free-speech-award-at-cpac-calls-stds-revenge-of-the-hippies/

http://www.thehollywoodgossip.com/2015/03/phil-robertson-atheist-rant-slammed-by-critics-defended-by-suppo/?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+TheHollywoodGossip+%28The+Hollywood+Gossip%29

http://ca.thetruth24.com/article/41330/phil-robertson-condemned-for-offensive-morality-tale-that-imagines-rape-and-murder-of-atheist-family

http://www.foxnews.com/entertainment/2015/03/25/duck-dynasty-phil-robertson-under-fire-for-graphic-anti-atheist-speech-at-prayer-breakfast/?intcmp=features



Moral Relativism:

http://www.moral-relativism.com/
     
http://www.philosophybasics.com/branch_moral_relativism.html

http://rationalwiki.org/wiki/Moral_relativism

https://carm.org/moral-relativism

http://www.peterkreeft.com/audio/05_relativism/relativism_transcription.htm

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Secular_ethics



morals: where do they come from?

http://www.vice.com/read/sorry-religions-human-consciousness-is-just-a-consequence-of-evolution

http://www.livescience.com/47799-morality-religion-political-beliefs.html

https://thezephyrlounge.wordpress.com/2015/03/23/where-do-my-morals-come-from/



mostly against Phil Robertson's morality illustration:

http://blackchristiannews.com/2015/03/duck-dynastys-phil-robertson-under-fire-again-for-telling-graphic-atheist-story-at-prayer-breakfast/

http://www.al.com/news/mobile/index.ssf/2015/03/mobile_atheists_react_to_duck.html

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2015/03/25/phil-robertson-atheist-rape_n_6936662.html

http://www.rightwingwatch.org/content/phil-robertson-hypothesizes-about-atheist-family-getting-raped-and-killed

http://www.patheos.com/blogs/brotherrichard/2015/3/duck-dynastys-phil-robertson-says-if-an-atheist-family-is-raped-and-killed-they-would-discover-right-and-wrong/

http://www.patheos.com/blogs/friendlyatheist/2015/3/25/when-phil-robertson-fantasized-about-the-rape-and-murder-of-an-atheist-family-what-part-did-he-leave-out/

http://www.patheos.com/blogs/friendlyatheist/2015/03/24/duck-dynasty-daddy-muses-about-atheist-family-getting-raped-shot-beheaded-castrated-to-show-how-god-is-good/

http://www.patheos.com/blogs/excommunications/2015/3/phil-robertsons-shocking-bet-has-a-simple-answer/

http://www.patheos.com/blogs/friendlyatheist/2013/07/19/new-study-shows-breakdown-of-people-who-believe-you-need-god-to-be-good/

http://radaronline.com/photos/bayou-logic-or-hate-speech-duck-dynasty-stars-28-most-shocking-quotes-of-all-time/photo/614117/



http://www.politicususa.com/2015/03/24/duck-dynasty-star-fantasizes-rape-murder-atheist-family-prayer-breakfast.html

http://crooksandliars.com/2015/03/duck-dynasty-star-fantasizes-about-atheist

http://www.ringoffireradio.com/2015/03/duck-dynasty-hick-uses-daughter-rape-castration-and-decapitation-to-preach-god/

http://rudepundit.blogspot.com/2015/03/duck-dynasty-beard-in-chief-fantasizes.html

http://www.nola.com/entertainment/baton-rouge/index.ssf/2015/03/phil_robertson_rape_murder_ath.html

http://news.nationalpost.com/2015/03/26/phil-robertson-morality-tale-has-atheists-daughters-raped-and-shot-wife-beheaded-and-man-castrated/

http://www.inquisitr.com/1952056/duck-dynastys-phil-robertson-salivates-over-rape-and-castration-of-atheist-analogy-to-prove-point-about-the-goodness-of-god/

http://www.theblaze.com/stories/2015/03/25/duck-dynasty-star-phil-robertson-under-fire-over-graphic-comments-about-atheists-rape-and-murder/

https://storify.com/cmgnationalnews/duck-dynasty-star-phil-robertson-under-fire-for-a?utm_source=embed&utm_medium=publisher&utm_campaign=embed-header

http://www.rawstory.com/rs/2015/03/duck-dynasty-star-fantasizes-about-atheist-familys-brutal-rape-and-murder-to-make-point-about-gods-law/

http://www.salon.com/2015/03/24/decapitate_her_head_off_phil_robertsons_vile_message_to_atheists/

http://hurryupharry.org/2015/03/25/phil-robertsons-atheist-family-fantasy/

https://thezephyrlounge.wordpress.com/2015/03/25/commentary-on-abstract-morality-a-response-to-phil-robertsons-recent-atheism-commentary/

http://theimmoralminority.blogspot.com/2015/03/duck-dynasty-dude-openly-fantasizes.html

    

Pay Attention: Medicare vs. ObamaCare and "Free Home Visits"

I took the photograph, tubed it, modified the background, and added the phrase. You can save it to somewhere on your computer and you can also re-upload it to any social media site. Link-back to this blog is not required.
If you are a copyright troll, I have no use for you so go away.

Obama is planning to take some Medicare funds slated to pay for Medicare medical insurance things and transfer that over to help pay for ObamaCare type stuff. I recently got a form letter from my medical insurance company [the insurance company from where I get my Medicare replacement insurance] telling me that they have "partnered with" a firm which is offering me the wonderful and thrilling privilege of having a nurse practitioner visit me in my home "for free." This nurse practitioner from the firm is able to take my blood and my pee sample, perform a "non-invasive" medical exam, and I can talk to him or her about any  medical concerns that I am hesitant to tell my physician about.

I researched the firm offering me this service. The firm is called Matrix Medical. What I found was that several of the larger medical insurance companies are targeting their Medicare old people, Medicare disabled people, and their Medicare old disabled people for visits by Matrix Medical [and comparable other firms].

During this "free" visit [I found the form also], the nurse practitioner will be asking stuff like:
     You got a health care proxy?
     You got a living will?
     Have you ever drank too much?
     Have you ever taken drugs not prescribed for you? Which ones?
     When was your last _______________ ? [medical tests and exams]

and he or she will "inspect your home" for anything that indicates a risk for falling. And so on.

But see, the thing is, Matrix Medical is not offering this service out of the goodness of its corporate heart. Oh no. This is being offered to "us" to pick up more codes on what is wrong with us a.k.a. our medical conditions because each diagnostic code is worth money. Money that would otherwise be transferred to help pay for ObamaCare. Money which the Medicare replacement insurance company could get once the nurse practitioner calls our primary care docs in order to have them include these extra codes on our patient charts. It is basically a scheme to keep any "extra?" monies within the Medicare replacement insurance company system rather than have it be line item transferred to the ObamaCare system. Head spinning yet?

Of course there is also the collection of health data, and the tracking of old/disabled/old and disabled people into disease management and/or case management.

We had one hang-up call. The number when reverse traced belongs to Matrix Medical. Apparently when I didn't answer the robot thingy that was calling me fast enough, the connection terminated. Reports on the scam phone call sites indicate that this number allegedly called some people more than once. Then someone wrote that Matrix Medical is legit. But the old people are getting called repeatedly and harassed to allow the home visit. Once an old/disabled/old and disabled person says no to the home visit, they may be offered an appointment at some facility instead or pressured to sign a form that does not have any filled in information on it and send it back to Matrix Medical.

The comments on the "what is it like to work for ___________ ?" sites indicate some employees are happy at Matrix Medical while others acknowledge that the telemarketing job in particular leads to nowhere and that the nurse practitioners are overworked unless they are among the management favorites. One or two of the telemarketers feel badly that they were hired to pressure the old people into accepting these appointments.

A few news articles and investigative journalism pieces indicate that the firms offering this home visit "service" fought when Congress wanted to ban this crap and so it is currently still allowed.

Another article admitted that people in ObamaCare may be subjected to this same sort of code-inflating hunt thing but not for two years. Because ObamaCare wants to be evaluated without inflating the codes first. Great, huh?

Meanwhile, the medical insurance companies have targeted the old/disabled/old and disabled folks on Medicare replacement medical insurance part of their businesses for now and several of the larger medical insurance companies  have "partnered with" these firms.

radical sapphoq says: No, these people will not be allowed into my home, to make an appointment with me, or to pressure me into signing any sort of paper for them. I've included links so you'll can look up this stuff too if you want to. If you do nothing else, you should read some of the articles about this over at The Center for Public Integrity website listed at the end of this post.

References

http://800notes.com/Phone.aspx/1-888-657-3998  Matrix Medical calls.

http://whocallsme.com/Phone-Number.aspx/8886573998  Matrix Medical calls.

http://whocallsme.com/Phone-Number.aspx/8886573998/2  Matrix Medical calls.

https://www.callercenter.com/727-260-5414.html  Matrix Medical calls.


       *Medicare Rights site*
http://www.medicarerights.org/about-us/



http://www.ibx.com/pdfs/providers/communications/update/supplementary/sample_health_risk.pdf Matrix Medical form to be filled out by nurse practitioner.


http://www.glassdoor.com/Reviews/Matrix-Medical-Reviews-E399732.htm employees assessments of working conditions at Matrix Medical.

http://www.indeed.com/cmp/Matrix-Medical-Network/reviews employees assessments of working conditions at Matrix Medical.


https://www.logisticare.com/logisticare-news.php 2nd blurb down; another company to acquire Matrix Medical.

http://www.trademarkia.com/matrix-medical-network-76342013.html Trademark search for Matrix Medical Network.


http://www.managedcaremag.com/archives/0801/0801.coding.html  Why lax coding is bad.

http://managedhealthcareexecutive.modernmedicine.com/managed-healthcare-executive/content/michael-quilty-ceo-matrix-medical-network?page=full Matrix Medical C.E.O. speaks.

http://www.cms.gov/Medicare/Health-Plans/MedicareAdvtgSpecRateStats/Downloads/Advance2014.pdf dated Feb. 2013

http://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20120725006658/en/Matrix-Medical-Network-Provide-Medicare-Advantage-Home announcement of one partnership with Humana.

http://www.agentpipeline.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/08/In-Home-Health-Well-Being-Program-Assessment-FAQs-AP-503.pdf Humana's spin on Matrix Medical, for their medical consumers.

http://www.forbes.com/sites/scottgottlieb/2014/01/06/more-cuts-in-store-for-medicare-plans-heres-the-options-that-will-shrink-most-for-seniors/  Humana derives 70% of its business from Medicare.




     *list of articles re: Medicare Advantage Money Grab from The Center for Public Integrity*

http://www.publicintegrity.org/health/medicare/medicare-advantage-money-grab

http://www.publicintegrity.org/health/medicare/medicare-advantage-money-grab?page=1

Hunting for News

     Almost everyone has at least one opinion and I suspect that bloggers may have more opinions than most people. Whether that is true or not, I often hunt up some newsy type stuff to write about, particularly for radical sapphoq and sometimes for healing t.b.i.



     I thought it'd be cool to list some places I go when seeking out stuff to write about. I like to read news from a variety of sources that often do not agree with each other ideologically. The links below reflect that. Just because I've included a link on this list, it does not mean that I could possibly agree with everything written there. Nor does exclusion mean that I have vile feelings toward any one site. 

Disclaimer: This post is not part of a link farm. None of the sites that I have listed have ever heard of me and don't link to my blogs, yanno? So get a grip.

     As of just before publishing this post, all of the u.r.l.s save one were working. The one that wasn't appeared to be down temporarily.

radical sapphoq says: Do you have any favorite news sites that aren't included here?




Some of my favorite places to hunt for news and stuff in no particular order:


https://www.muckrock.com/news/archives/

     FOIA requests and other things that a government might wish to keep secret.


https://docs.askives.com/
https://www.askives.com/

     Ask a question or search for documents. 


http://www.lifehack.org/articles/lifestyle/useful-online-resources-all-writers-should-know-about.html

     A list of online resources for writers (and bloggers too!).


http://www.lifehack.org/articles/money/25-killer-sites-for-free-online-education.html

     Get edumacated for free!


http://www.criticalthink.info/webindex/alt-news.htm

     A list that is careful to include both conservative and liberal think tanks.


http://www.drudgereport.com/

     Conservative news first recommended to me by Jeremy Crow. I love this one.

http://www.blacklistednews.com/

     Variety of news items. Be sure also to check out their links section.



Techie and Hacker news-stuff and a few resources:

https://www.cyberguerrilla.org/blog/

http://searchsecurity.techtarget.com/resources/Hacker-Tools-and-Techniques-Underground-Sites-and-Hacking-Groups

http://thehackernews.com/

http://www.hackersnewsbulletin.com/

http://securityphresh.com/

http://www.cnet.com/

http://www.zdnet.com/

https://nakedsecurity.sophos.com/

http://thehackerspost.com/

https://anonops.com/

https://www.youtube.com/user/AnonymousNews1

https://cryptbin.com/

http://www.howtogeek.com/

http://www.techshout.com/

http://opensource.org/

http://sourceforge.net/

http://www.majorgeeks.com/

http://www.giveawayoftheday.com/




Other news sites:

http://townhall.com/

http://www.lessgovmorefun.com/

http://disinfo.com/

http://www.newsmax.com/

http://warisacrime.org/

http://www.4thmedia.org/

http://www.theguardian.com/us

http://dailysignal.com/

http://stonerjesus.net/

http://chronicle.su/

https://wikileaks.org/

http://woundedamericanwarrior.com/

http://radiopaedia.org/

http://news.harvard.edu/gazette/




A few lists of news sources:


http://endthelie.com/alternative-news-sources/

http://www.activism.net/media/

http://www.world-newspapers.com/alternative-news.html

http://fair.org/take-action-now/online-news-sources/

http://www.alternativenews.net/

http://www.conservapedia.com/Conservative_media


   

Why I Am Not a Fan of Obama Part One

I have not been happy with Barack Obama's performance in office for quite some time now. Two of his egregious offences concern the Trans-Pacific Partnership Agreement and his recent visit to Saudi Arabia. In this post, I will deal with the T.P.P.

In truth, the T.P.P. has been in the pipeline for some time now. Its progenitor was known as Pacific Three Closer Economic Partnership according to Wikipedia and first reared its head as near as I can figure in 2002. [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Trans-Pacific_Partnership]. Obama seems to be involved in the summits which have occurred since 2010 in some way that I cannot figure.

The thing is, the T.P.P. is comprehensive and lacks transparency unless you happen to be a Big Corporation. The rest of us, the public, have pretty much been left in the dark. This monster has proceeded and gained momentum without any input from those of us who are the public. Fortunately, Wikileaks has obtained a leaked document [https://wikileaks.org/tpp/#QQG] which was released in November 2013. Regardless of what you think about Julian Assange, if you care at all about intellectual property laws, the criminalization of D.R.M.-ripping devices in order to make copies for one's own use, the monitoring of your activities on-line by your I.S.P. and more, then go here [https://wikileaks.org/tpp/static/pdf/Wikileaks-secret-TPP-treaty-IP-chapter.pdf] right now and download your own copy of the thing. Then read it. At least read the parts pertaining to copyrights.

Copyrights are not the only thing at stake in the T.P.P. Concerns have also been expressed about benefits to Big Pharma at the detriment of specifically New Zealand. Doctors Without Borders [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Trans-Pacific_Partnership] and The Lancet [http://www.stuff.co.nz/waikato-times/opinion/66226074/Trans-Pacific-Partnership-may-raise-drug-prices] have raised concerns about what the T.P.P. will do to drug prices.

Also at stake are product safety rules [http://www.counterpunch.org/2015/02/16/trading-us-democracy-for-corporate-profits-with-tpp/] for agricultural products coming into the United States. They will not be as stringent as the current safety protections that we have are. There is concern about jobs [http://www.buffalonews.com/opinion/letters-to-the-editor/letter-urge-congress-to-reject-trans-pacific-partnership-20150216], and a lessening of "environmental and health safeguards" [https://www.citizen.org/tpp].

After the T.P.P., watch out for the T.T.I.P. [http://americanfreepress.net/?p=22700] Trans-Atlantic Trade Investment Partnership which will be more of the same geared at Europe.

radical sapphoq says: The T.P.P. is due to be fast-tracked in D.C. sooner rather than later. There will be zero amendments or alterations allowed. Quite frankly, I intend to vote out of office any rep in my geographical region that votes yes on this monstrocity.

References [in no particular order]:

http://www.stuff.co.nz/waikato-times/opinion/66226074/Trans-Pacific-Partnership-may-raise-drug-prices

http://www.stuff.co.nz/dominion-post/comment/editorials/66223914/Trans-Pacific-Partnership-Trade-deal-secrecy-par-for-the-course

http://www.counterpunch.org/2015/02/16/trading-us-democracy-for-corporate-profits-with-tpp/

http://americanfreepress.net/?p=22700

http://www.buffalonews.com/opinion/letters-to-the-editor/letter-urge-congress-to-reject-trans-pacific-partnership-20150216

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Trans-Pacific_Partnership

https://www.citizen.org/tpp

http://tppinfo.org/

http://www.dailykos.com/story/2015/02/09/1362851/-Why-isn-t-President-Obama-talking-about-the-Trans-Pacific-Partnership-deal

https://wikileaks.org/tpp/#QQG

https://wikileaks.org/tpp/static/pdf/Wikileaks-secret-TPP-treaty-IP-chapter.pdf

Stuff

Bullets in a box. Yes you may save the pic to somewhere in your computer, caption it if you want to, and upload it to social media. Link back to this blog is not necessary. As usual, copyright monopolist trolls are unwelcome here. I took the photo myself and I can prove that. So go away.

     Measles Outbreak: I noted with interest the measles outbreak, particularly in California. I suppose that the reason is actually "reasons" and therefore multi-factorial. Having said that, I have to admit that my first inclination was to blame the "Vaccines cause autism" crowd in general and Jenny McCarthy in particular. [To be fair, hers is the only name that I associate with this issue]. I was also horrified to discover that one of the Wahlberg brothers married her and that they now have their own show. I remember hearing or reading somewhere long ago something like "Love is blind and marriage is an institution for the blind." On the other hand, politics and mystical false medical beliefs aside, I know nothing about Ms. McCarthy the human being so I will stop myself here. Except to note that I am no fan of the organization that I associate with her-- something about autism squeaking-- and that's all about that.

     I am Charlie Hebdo: I'm not Charlie Hebdo. My take on this as an American is absolute horror that twelve people lost their lives over cartoons in a magazine that regularly publishes satirical cartoons. Seriously, if you don't care for the material that a magazine publishes then quit reading that magazine. To persist is a form of mental masturbation.

     Disability Services: It's a continuing saga which appears to be full of disconnects and non-connects, at least for me. Hey, if you aren't going to help me, then don't hinder me. Get out of my way.

     "Free" Community College: It's a nice thought. I want to know more about how Obummer is planning to have this one paid for. Dad used to tell me that there is no such thing as a free lunch. The other problem is the sense of entitlement that this sort of thing will foster in a society that is already full of people thinking that they are owed that free lunch.

     Guns: I like guns. I think hunting is cool so long as the hunters et. al. actually eat the animals they shoot. It's people that need control, not guns. And not all people either. Just a few people. 

     The Government: Less government, more fun. The government should stay out of healthcare, out of the marriage business altogether, out of spying on the citizens. And now Obummer [once again] is calling for "hackers" to be prosecuted under RICO. The political insanity does not end.

                                      radical sapphoq

     

Suspects Resisting Arrests and Cops

     I have been amazed and horrified by the news coming out of Ferguson and other places of late dealing with citizens resisting arrest and their subsequent deaths. I don't really know what happened with Michael Brown or Eric Garner. I suspect that the mainstream media does not tell us everything about anything. 

     Seems to me that cops are allowed to do whatever they can to people who are resisting arrests. That a cop can use an illegal choke hold on someone and not have anything happen to him [or her] as a result makes me question why cops have allowed procedures and procedures that aren't allowed. The choke hold used on Eric Garner is not illegal by the laws of New York State however N.Y.P.D. cops are prohibited from using it. 
[ http://nypost.com/2014/12/04/eric-garner-was-a-victim-of-himself-for-deciding-to-resist/ ]. According to the laws as they exist, the grand jury did not indict the cop. Whether or not the cop is disciplined by his department is up in the air at this time. He is reportedly on modified duty until the internal investigation is completed.

     Michael Brown's legal history referred to at: 
http://www.snopes.com/politics/crime/brown.asp
and at:
http://www.nytimes.com/2014/09/04/us/michael-brown-never-faced-serious-felony-charge-st-louis-officials-lawyer-says.html?_r=0
is pretty much unknown. If he was convicted of any serious juvenile offenses, they would have been released. So either he had no juvenile record or one that contains only minor crimes. The family says he had none. I choose to believe the family until I find evidence otherwise.

     Eric Garner's legal history at:
http://www.silive.com/northshore/index.ssf/2014/07/eric_garner_who_died_in_police.html
involves repeatedly selling loosies. He was out on bail for selling loosies or for having [untaxed] cigarettes in his possession during the incident that caused his death. His family says that he didn't have any untaxed cigarettes on him at the time of his death: http://blog.acton.org/archives/74417-explainer-know-eric-garner-case.html

radical sapphoq says:I echo the wise words of Jaleni Cobb at the New Yorker: http://www.newyorker.com/news/news-desk/eric-garner-racial-profiling
There is no such thing as “racial profiling”—there is simply racism. 

Legalese and Threats

     Noted: There's quite a bit of people threatening to sue critics, bloggers, book reviewers and others these days. It appears that within the troubled teen troubled industry, Scott Chandler, who owns Tierra Blanca Ranch is suing people: https://www.kob.com/article/stories/s3591656.shtml#.VFr1dPnF98F  and Diamond Ranch is also suing people: https://jilliestake.blogspot.com/2014/10/diamond-ranch-academy-vs-schofields.html
and https://jilliestake.blogspot.com/2014/11/diamond-ranch-academy-doubles-down-with.html .

     Suing or threatening to sue seems to be a popular notion these days. It is a way of getting people to shut up. That, and telling a critic that files have been forwarded to the F.B.I. 

     As popehat has indicated with a blog post about being threatened with a defamation suit, this particular post is not legal advice. It is not to be construed or imagined to be legal advice. I am a blogger, not an attorney. Period.

     In scouring the Interwebz, I found bunches of sites willing to tell me in simple terms what all the legalese means. First, under defamation of character, I learned that libel refers to written or published material and slander is spoken. I also learned that the material or statement has to be a pack of lies that hurts the plaintiff in some way. If the action concerns alleged defamation of character, standing will also depend upon what states the plaintiff and the defendant live in and whether or not the plaintiff knows people or does business in the state where the defendant lives. 

     Having a bad opinion about a plaintiff or a plaintiff's alleged actions or behavior and publishing one's bad opinion is not equivalent to defamation of character. The criticism in the form of a book review is actually a valid defense to a defamation of character lawsuit. On the other hand, prefacing any statement with "this is my opinion" may not protect the defendant from legal action, especially if the defendant is lying about the plaintiff on purpose and being a big meanie poop-head in the process. Further, if the plaintiff is famous in some way and exposed to the public eye, that plaintiff must prove actual malice in court. The standard is thus higher for plaintiffs who are public figures than for regular folks.

     A demand letter-- so-called because the plaintiff is demanding stuff near as I can figure-- must lay out the facts of the alleged defamation of character, quote relevant laws, state what the plaintiff intends to do and how much money the plaintiff wants. There are sample demand letters to be had on the Interwebz, although one would think that a fancy attorney would do that for his or her plaintifficating client.

     The area of the law referring to trademarks versus trade-names requires close reading. What I got from the sites I checked is that trademarks can involve logos and stuff like that but trade-names cannot. (And a trademark or TM refers to goods like sneakers. A service mark or SM refers to services such as coaching).

     The swoosh on a sneaker is a trademark, the name of the company involved with said sneakers is a trade-name. I cannot reproduce a trademark because a company does have complete control over their logos, slogans, and symbols. This is as it should be.

     A trade-name may be one's legal name or it may be an assumed name. It is the name under which someone is doing business as or d.b.a. One may register a trade-name as limited liability corporation but ought not to use the trade-name in the way that a trademark is used.  An application to register a trade-name that is common may very well be rejected. Thus, wanting to register "John Smith" may be tough to pull off. Wanting to register "John Smith Marijuana Brownie Company" may be more in the realm of probability.

     People such as singers may actually trade-name their own name but it is best to apply for this on the federal level and not just in the state of primary residence. The trade-name of a performer (for example) represents the brand (his or her performing). 

     What is most interesting to me about trade-names is that legally the registrant of a trade-name DOES NOT control all appearances of that name. Thus, it is legal for me-- according to how I read the laws regulating trade-names-- to mention someone's name, even if a registered trade-name, on my blog site. The idea that I am violating copyright law by mentioning the name of an author in the course of a book review is a false idea. Period.

     Furthermore, there is a search engine that will tell me whether or not a specific word or group of words has been registered as either a trademark or a trade-name.

radical sapphoq says: These days, knowledge is power. Or at the very least it can relieve anxiety. Just saying. So who's being a bully? It ain't me.

References:

https://www.chillingeffects.org/topics/1   [*wonderful site]

http://www.popehat.com/2013/09/26/so-youve-been-threatened-with-a-defamation-suit/  [*personal favorite]


https://www.eff.org/issues/bloggers/legal/liability/defamation  [*I love the 

E.F.F.].


https://www.dmlp.org/legal-guide/defamation


https://www.bmartin.cc/dissent/documents/defamation.html



defamation of character

https://www.nolo.com/legal-encyclopedia/defamation-law-made-simple-29718.html 

 https://www.nolo.com/legal-encyclopedia/defamation-slander-libel

https://www.nolo.com/legal-encyclopedia/social-media-online-defamation.html

https://www.nolo.com/legal-encyclopedia/privileges-defenses-defamation-cases.html  

https://legal-dictionary.thefreedictionary.com/Defamation+of+character
definitions

https://www.alllaw.com/articles/nolo/personal-injury/defamation-character-lawsuit-proving-harm.html  

https://www.alllaw.com/articles/nolo/personal-injury/defamation-character-free-speech.html  

https://www.alllaw.com/articles/nolo/personal-injury/defamation-character.html

https://www.alllaw.com/articles/nolo/personal-injury/demand-letter-defamation-case.html 

https://www.alllaw.com/articles/nolo/personal-injury/sample-demand-letters.html  

https://www.wikihow.com/Sue-for-Defamation 



fair criticism

http://scholarship.law.nd.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=4043&context=ndlr&sei-redir=1&referer=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.google.com%2Fcse%3Fq%3Ddefamation%2Bof%2Bcharacter%26cref%3Dhttp%253A%252F%252Fwww.thesocialsearcher.com%252Fcse%252Fv1.xml#search=%22defamation%20character%22 
examples of authors suing critics page 4



registered trademark trade-name

https://www.sba.gov/blogs/difference-between-trade-name-and-trademark-and-why-you-cant-overlook-either


https://www.veritrademark.com/articles/difference-trademark-tradename

https://www.invention-protection.com/ip/publications/docs/Legal_Name_Trade_Name_Trademark.html

https://biznik.com/articles/the-difference-between-a-trade-name-and-a-trademark-and-why-you-should-care

https://smallbusiness.chron.com/difference-between-trade-name-trademark-3219.html


https://smallbusiness.chron.com/trademark-performers-name-56300.html

https://tmsearch.uspto.gov/bin/gate.exe?f=tess&state=4810:zn482m.1.1

https://smallbusiness.chron.com/file-trademark-name-government-60979.html

Stanley L. Cohen

 radical sapphoq says: I dedicate this post to Stanley L. Cohen. He is due in court this week and expects to be sentenced to eighteen months in prison under a plea deal. He has a vast amount of legal bills. Please consider contributing to his defense fund. Stanley has been there for Anonymous, Occupy, and many other people who are part of various movements for change.

     https://istanleycohen.org/index.php/defend

     https://defendstanleycohen.myevent.com/3/donate.htm
      


     Stanley can be found on-line at:
    https://istanleycohen.org/ 
and also at:
    https://twitter.com/StanleyCohenLaw




     Stanley L. Cohen has a long history of defending unpopular defendants. Yes, he has defended accused terrorists in court. Yes, he is currently not able to enter either Israel or Egypt due to his defense work. Yes, he is scheduled to go to prison under a plea deal involving some taxes.

     Stanley has also defended the rights of squatters in New York City, folks who are categorized by the public as hacktivist members of the collective known as Anonymous, and people who have become embroiled in the legal system for exercising their freedom of speech.  

     
     Stanley has been called a terror lawyer, a rip-off, an LOL lawyer, greedy bastard, and other things like that.

        

     Stanley has also been called an internet folk hero, a peoples' lawyer, iconoclast, radical, zealous advocate, political activist. I call him my brother. My e-book Up The Rebels - which I hope will be out soon - is dedicated to Stanley L. Cohen [and Edward J. Snowden]. 

                           #UpTheRebels!


References:

    https://rally.org/covers/3tjDvEYOdLC

https://www.change.org/p/honorable-norman-a-mordue-justice-for-stanley-cohen

https://freestanleycohen.com/

https://freestanleycohen.xs2.net/

https://freeanons.org/freeanons-supports-stanley-cohen/



 https://www.thepeoplesvoice.org/TPV3/Voices.php/2014/10/19/attorney-stanley-l-cohen-guilty-of-doing

 https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCEQdmmHtZfzQiRj7OsGL7ig/feed
       https://mohsenabdelmoumen.wordpress.com/2014/10/16/urgent-justice-for-stanley-cohen/

    https://60spunk.wordpress.com/2014/10/12/stanley-cohen/

https://www.nationofchange.org/2014/10/07/ordeal-stanley-l-cohen-justice-farce/
and:
https://www.rense.com/general96/atty.html
reprinted this one:
 https://www.truthdig.com/report/item/justice_as_farce_20141005

     https://www.foxnews.com/us/2014/05/13/scorn-icy-stares-are-part-job-for-lawyers-who-represent-despised-terrorism/

     https://thevillager.com/2014/05/01/stanley-cohen-speaks-out-about-taxcharges-as-supporters-rally-to-his-defense/

    https://www.sbnation.com/longform/2014/2/20/5419474/broken-stride-when-runner-ashley-poissant-was-killed-by-an-alleged

     https://revolution-news.com/uptherebels/

    https://www.anarchistnews.org/content/urgent-appeal-defense-attorney-stanley-cohen

    https://www.anonymousvideo.eu/stanley-cohen-defense-fund.html



    https://www.ndtv.com/topic/stanley-cohen

    https://wn.com/stanley_cohen

    https://www.vice.com/read/talking-to-stanley-cohen-terror-lawyer-and-internet-folk-hero

    https://wearelegionthedocumentary.com/videos/attorney-stanley-cohen-talks-over-the-paypal-14-case/

 https://www.abajournal.com/magazine/article/the_go_to_lawyer_of_northern_virginiastan

  https://pressroom.blogs.pace.edu/2003/01/16/activist-stanley-l-cohen-to-speak-on-attorney-ethics-at-pace-law-school/




     https://israelbehindthenews.com/profile-of-stanley-cohen-the-jewish-lawyer-for-the-hamas/3769/

https://observer.com/2001/10/kunstler-protege-stanley-cohen-brings-american-rights-to-hamas/





        https://legalinsurrection.com/2014/10/convicted-tax-cheat-stanley-cohen-re-pledges-allegiance-to-hamas/

     https://legalinsurrection.com/2014/04/hamas-attorney-stanley-cohen-pleads-guilty-to-tax-offenses/




    https://www.josephacamp.com/2014/04/stanley-cohen-convicted-felon.html

https://www.ripoffreport.com/r/scammed-by-attorney-stanley-l-cohen/new-york-new-york-10013/scammed-by-attorney-stanley-l-cohen-stanley-cohen-law-office-stanley-l-cohen-law-offic-557005

     https://encyclopediadramatica.se/Joseph_Camp



https://www.discoverthenetworks.org/individualProfile.asp?indid=627

    https://forward.com/articles/195134/how-stanley-cohen-went-from-orthodox-to-defending/?p=all

    https://bedfordandbowery.com/2014/01/stanley-cohen-defends-himself-one-month-bin-ladens-son-in-law-the-next/

https://www.frontpagemag.com/2013/dgreenfield/terrorist-lawyer-stanley-cohen-busted-for-millions-in-tax-evasion/

    https://allergic2bull.blogspot.com/2013/05/stanley-cohen-reveals-waaaay-too-much.html

    https://eastvillage.thelocal.nytimes.com/2012/10/22/landlord-to-embattled-attorney-stanley-cohen-pay-up-or-get-out/

    https://jewishdefenseorganization.net/stanley.htm