AMERICA FOR THE PEOPLE.

About 35 people showed up at a nationwide rally for Bernie Sanders for President. We gathered in a parking lot in Sonora, and flashed signs at the passing traffic. I've sat on the fence between Hillary, Trump and Bernie.  Hillary has worked hard in public service most of her life and has done wonderful things for others. But, she has wrapped herself in the arm of an unpopular, disappointing  president. Then, after promising she would not take super-pac money against her own party, she has. Not only wall street money but Monsanto, the GMO giant who spends billions to prevent states from labeling where our food comes from and whether it is genetically modified or not. That did it for me. Establishment politics, the failed machine that is inducing companies to go off shore, avoid taxes and take away good jobs from Americans?  Trump and Sanders are the only two candidates mandating change away from the establishment.


Trump says nothing and Sanders very little about climate change while massive extinctions and weather change are playing havoc with our planet. For the sake of our children and grandchildren, we on the ground, must shed the ingrained deniers, people who refuse to acknowledge science. We must shed a do nothing congress, promoting government shutdowns and working lock-step for their party instead of people. If a working person refuses to do his job, he gets fired. How dare Mitch McConnell state he will not even have a hearing on an appointee suggested by a sitting President, whether he is liked or not?
Trump and Sanders represent desperately needed change. Can they get us out of gridlock? I don't know.


Environmental issues are foremost in the minds of others I met. Keep coal, fossil fuels in the ground. Support wind and solar. I talked with a bee keeper who lives in a pristine area where his bees are turning his garden and orchard into super  production, in a time when Monstanto and Bayer Chemicals are causing colony collapse across the nation. I'm hoping for a candidate that will make sure the laws we already have on the books are obeyed, like those from the EPA and the FDA and the Forest Service. All are sidestepping regulations when we are literally in danger of earthshaking consequences of fracking, contaminated water, shortages of clean water, decimating natural habitats for profit over nature. We and our institutions are under attack and they are ignoring our laws. How dare they get away with that stuff? They do it by under funding the organizations we depend on.



The group marched along the highway, and into a shopping center. One man was so angry, I thought he was going to attack us. He called us Communists and Socialists. Bernie is an unapologetic Socialist. The angry man wouldn't talk rationally with us, like is he on Social Security? Does he use Medicare. Has he ridden on a train or does he drive on our socialistic roads? Has he used water from behind a dam? Come on. We all benefit from shared expenditures. Socialist countries like Sweden and Denmark, and Canada and France and many programs in Great Britain have provided a good quality of life even though big Pharma will tell you socialized medicine is about waiting in lines for poor quality medical care.  Biased they are. They don't mention the wonderful government sponsored childcare and education. Roosevelt made sweeping changes that saved people with his socialistic programs that corporate America has tried to dismantle ever since. Are we better off? Not hardly when it takes two or three income sources for middle class people to keep the wolf from the door. When people with college educations are slinging hash.


Bernie is against the consolidation of big banks, and the notion that Wall Street's obligation is to make obscene amounts of money while working people are struggling to feed their kids. The system is out of whack. Trump feels the business model is the best way to run a country. Trump makes statements about laws he is going to pass that aren't practical like building a bigger wall. A bigger wall isn't going to stop the drug cartels who have already moved across the border. Nor stop people from entering the country unless you fence the entire country and put a net over the airspace. He also bothers me because he makes statements and then denies he made them. Even so, Rubio in five yeas has produced ZERO bills and his absenteeism is compared to Finestein who is 82 and Kirk who has had a stroke.  Cruz is more concerned with moral issues than the planet, or government working for working people. I'd run with Trump over them and figure he'd be smart enough to figure it out.


Suffice it to say, there is no perfect candidate. If there is, I haven't heard about him or her. So, for the time being, I'm hanging in with Bernie. 

I believe this is true. He really does care for all.

URBAN SHIELD? INSURRECTION?

Countries where the military is strongest have the potential to be taken over by the military.  Many years ago, Sinclair Lewis stated:  
"When fascism comes to America, it will be wrapped in the flag and carrying the cross."

Right now, as a country, we have private prisons with profit makers attempting to keep them good and full, because it is profitable to do so. That is in itself a scary proposition that poses a threat to the freedoms we cherish in this country. We don't lose freedom we give it away, inch by inch by well-meaning laws.


While I was at the archive on Thursday, I saw posters like this for Urban Shield. I asked one of the guys for an explanation of what it is. He told me SWAT teams have been determined not to work very well, so law enforcement agencies all over the U.S. and in Israel and other countries have formed this militaristic organization to address violent incidents, a shooter threatening a school, a homegrown terrorist who bombs a car or building. Urban Shield zips in and takes care of it. They are always actively ready.

I brought up URBAN SHIELD on the internet and there are training videos of how things work. It reminds me of the same training a SWAT team gets. It is a readiness program. At first, I could find no information about how they are funded. None on how they work in response to a real emergency that makes them any different or superior to a SWAT team?

One site the language was so confusing, I couldn't understand what they were saying.

This site, for Boston was more explanatory:

Annually, the Region conducts Urban Shield Boston, a continuous 24-hour exercise, during which first responders are deployed to and rotated through various training scenarios. This is the largest exercise ever conducted in Boston, involving over 600 emergency responders from 50 agencies. The goal of Urban Shield is to test and evaluate specific public safety capabilities that have been developed, or enhanced, with the investment of funds received from the Department of Homeland Security through the UASI grant program and supports the regional objectives in Goal 1: NIMS.

HOMELAND SECURITY IS FUNDING THIS.  Hmmm!  I'm remembering President Eisenhower's words, "Beware the Military Complex."

Urban Shield Boston is a national model, full-scale exercise, designed to assess and validate the speed, effectiveness and efficiency of capabilities, as well as test the adequacy of regional policies, plans, procedures and protocols. This exercise incorporates regional critical infrastructure, emergency operation centers, regional communication systems, equipment and assets, as well as personnel representing all aspects of emergency response including intelligence, law enforcement, Explosive Ordinance Disposal Units, Fire, EMS, etc. The link below:

http://www.mbhsr.org/?p=86

It appears to be just a once a year exercise. A training exercise. So, how does it operate? And what will it morph into if funded as a full time "protection service", as in a military like service, like the National Guard, only  always on the street?  Do we need  a new layer of the military that roams the streets for, as suggested, 24 hours a day patrols in constant readiness?

Then I hit on a site from Oakland and I was in for a surprise. This is a group against Urban Shield that describes it as a venue to buy high priced, high class military weapons to use on the streets of our cities to be prepared for incidents like car bombings, etc.

Kind of makes me wonder who convinced the department that SWAT teams don't work well. And, makes me think that our police right now are more militaristic than ever. We have more incidents of shoot first and ask questions later.  You might want to check out the link below:

http://forusa.org/events/2013/10/25/facing-urban-shield-day-action

I can see the value of this excellent training. But I question where it is going and hope that if you are set to vote on a permanent installation, nationwide, of military security on our streets, that you think long and hard about it.  Educate yourself. Ask questions.

Right now we have a constitution that isn't being used very much as in protecting the General Welfare of the People.

We have a FDA and an EPA that don't obey their own laws and rules. We have Corporations that write our laws to suit their interests rather than the interests of the General Public with the help of bought and paid for lawmakers we vote into office.   And, some would say we are facing insurrection and rebellion against a document a 5th grader can understand, a document that has held us in good stead for 200 years.

The 14th amendment to the Constitution, Section 3, states that no person shall be a Senator or Representative in Congress who has engaged in insurrection or rebellion against the Constitution. Section 4 of that same amendment states the validity of the public debt incurred shall not be questioned, and shall be paid, excluding aid of insurrection or rebellion against the United States.

Certain members of Congress have deliberately sabotaged and/or refused to fund the government and the debt ceiling, actually celebrating it. As such, these members are guilty of insurrection and rebellion against the United States Constitution, and thus should be impeached and removed from Congress.
THESE ARE NOT MY WORDS. THEY ARE FOOD FOR THOUGHT.

DISCOVERIES ALONG THE WAY.

Travel is a varied and unpredictable activity.    Normally, when I return to Murphys, I blog whatever I’m doing on the way home. I stopped in Las Vegas to visit my son and daughter and their families, took pictures and tried to blog from their computers as I’ve done before. Nope! Not this time. I’ve discovered that the new electronics security measures refused me admittance to my own email and blog even though I have the  passwords. This time security wanted the type of internet service I pay for, (POP account)  and the ISP numbers to go with it. Wha?  Is anybody likely to carry around POP account ISP numbers when they travel?  No!  When I was in Thailand, I was able to get my mail, but not from a private computer in Las Vegas?  Annoying.
I arrive home and my home computer claims it doesn’t recognize me. It puts me through the identification process as well, but, at least I didn’t have to provide my ISP Numbers. I believe it is time to buy an Ipad that is lightweight and easy to carry back and forth to the Motor Home.  Maybe.  Don’t yet know how many pictures I can store on it. Gotta find out exactly how it works.
While in Vegas, I,  and my grandsons and daughter-in-law,  attended the Bodies Exhibit. I had seen the ads on a previous visit in 2011 but was never tempted until a woman on the plane told me she took her son and how much they enjoyed it. As many drawings in my science and health books, brochures from doctor’s offices I’ve seen over the years, I was quite amazed by this exhibit. How can you, on a real dissected body, see everything, including the nerves, the veins, the capillaries; the  inside and outside of the intestines?   You see every gland, how every muscle works. I had no idea how small my pituitary glad is, nor how small my appendix is, and so on.  Many surprises about exactly how everything fits in the body cavity. They had bodies showing how artificial shoulder and hip and knee joints  attached to them work. How lungs, kidneys, liver and hearts look with various tumors, and diseases compared to their healthy counterparts. A smokers lung and a brain after a stroke are not pretty nor artful as the amazing healthy body. It was very educational, interesting and surprising.   I’d recommend it especially for families with children.
So, now, I’m reading my mail which includes the John Hopkins Health After 50 Newsletter;  The University of California Wellness Letter, and the Public Citizen’s Health Letter.  All have great information with a particular slant. The two university letters will deal with such things as Can coconut oil treat Alzheimer’s?, Why is liver cancer on the rise?; The Colossal colstrum claims.  What supplements work and which are bogus?  Studies on the The Fast and Feast Diets.
The Public Citizen Health Letter is more political and valuable. You get the real poop from them about what goes on in the medical community.  They give a list in each issue of  drugs and dietary supplements by class that have had recalls and field corrections by brand name and company.   The recalls are often due to the incorrect dosage information indicated on the bottle and the outside carton labeling.  Often it is incorrect expiration dates; adulterated materials or impurities in the tablets, or lack of the significant ingredient in supplements; wrong amount of inert ingredients in a tablet and so on. They also publish recalls on products that prove dangerous to consumers, from chain saws to  baby toys. But, most importantly they give you detailed information about the relationship between the FDA and the drug companies; fraud and scientific studies and laws that weaken consumer protections in the medical field. My most recent letter deals with Medical Devices. It kind of makes you sick to read:  Industry Lobbies to Weaken Medial Device Oversight.  Or, Inadequate FDA Monitoring;  Rising Recalls For Medical Devices. Scientific Fraud On The Rise. Controversy Over Cognitive Behavior Therapy Solutions. Or, how about this little factoid:  In just the third and fourth quarters of  2011, at least 225 lobbyists lobbied members of Congress or executive branch officials on issues related to medical device regulation.  Of course, the industry does not want you to know that some of these devices are unsafe; they injure and even kill patients.  Doctor’s who oppose this approach to regulation have been know to be threatened and slandered.  Hmmm!  Interesting. After reading the honest poop, you need to read those other health newsletters to read stuff like Eat well be well, and A diet that builds brain health,  to counteract the terror after learning our Food and Drug Administration is bought and paid for along with our congress.  Dang I hate it when the news is bad. In this case, ignorance may hurt or kill you.