Morality is not determined by the church you attend nor the faith you embrace. It is determined by the quality of your character and the positive impact you have on those you meet along your journey
"Brexit is an abbreviation for "British exit," which refers to the June 23, 2016, referendum whereby British citizens voted to exit the European Union."
So does this mean that Donald Trump is leaving the EU?
Or does it mean, as Time Magazine suggests, that he is going to suddenly turn things around and surprise people by overcoming the odds and attracting the most votes as the Brexit referendum did in United Kingdom?
Or does it mean he has had enough and is leaving the presidential race?
If it is the third one that means that this recent Michael Moore article suggesting that Trump never wanted to win the presidency and is looking to drop out is dead on.
Could this mean that our long national nightmare is about to end?
Political filmmaker Michael Moore recruited his Facebook followers to report Donald Trump for hate speech, writing a detailed post Wednesday describing the process to “file your complaint” against the presidential candidate.
“Facebook prohibits all its users from using hate speech on its site (‘You will not post content that is hate speech’).”
Moore wrote. “I’m joining others today in filing a complaint with Facebook that Trump’s Facebook page is using hate speech to promote racism and bigotry.”
Moore directed his followers to visit Trump’s page and report the business mogul, alerting the website that “it shouldn’t be on FB” because it is “hate speech.”
Well considering the result from all of Trump's rhetoric, it's not like Moore is wrong to call it "hate speech."
So you know what, I think I might join him in filing a complaint.
The Jefferson County sheriff said that an 11-year-old boy shot and killed an 8-year-old girl who lived next door.
Authorities were called to Robin Road in White Pine around 7:30 p.m. Saturday on a report of a shooting.
Deputies found the girl on the ground with a gunshot wound to the chest. She was taken to Morristown-Hamblen Hospital, where she was pronounced dead.
Sheriff Bud McCoig said the young girl's next-door neighbor, a fifth grader at White Pine Elementary School, used his father's 12-gauge single-shot shotgun to shoot and kill the girl from inside his house. The victim was in second grade at the same school.
According to neighbors the shooting was over a puppy.
The boy wanted to see the puppy, the girl told him no, and so he shot and killed her. Because that is how we settle disputes in America.
Unlike Michael Moore I am NOT going to stop bringing you these stories and talking about what we need to do about gun violence in this country.
If you are tired of hearing about them, take solace in the fact that I am as well.
However if you want to see fewer of them on this blog, and other places in the news media and on the internet, then you need to vote for politicians who will actually do something to help reduce the number of gun fatalities.
If you do that I will gladly stop posting so many stories about children being killed with guns.
Which should prove easy since there will be fewer of them to post.
With due respect to those who are asking me to comment on last night's tragic mass shooting at UCSB in Isla Vista, CA -- I no longer have anything to say about what is now part of normal American life. Everything I have to say about this, I said it 12 years ago: We are a people easily manipulated by fear which causes us to arm ourselves with a quarter BILLION guns in our homes that are often easily accessible to young people, burglars, the mentally ill and anyone who momentarily snaps. We are a nation founded in violence, grew our borders through violence, and allow men in power to use violence around the world to further our so-called American (corporate) "interests." The gun, not the eagle, is our true national symbol. While other countries have more violent pasts (Germany, Japan), more guns per capita in their homes (Canada [mostly hunting guns]), and the kids in most other countries watch the same violent movies and play the same violent video games that our kids play, no one even comes close to killing as many of its own citizens on a daily basis as we do -- and yet we don't seem to want to ask ourselves this simple question: "Why us? What is it about US?" Nearly all of our mass shootings are by angry or disturbed white males. None of them are committed by the majority gender, women. Hmmm, why is that? Even when 90% of the American public calls for stronger gun laws, Congress refuses -- and then we the people refuse to remove them from office. So the onus is on us, all of us. We won't pass the necessary laws, but more importantly we won't consider why this happens here all the time. When the NRA says, "Guns don't kill people -- people kill people," they've got it half-right. Except I would amend it to this: "Guns don't kill people -- Americans kill people." Enjoy the rest of your day, and rest assured this will all happen again very soon.
"Rest assured it will happen again." Well there was an understatement.
So far in this year alone we have seen 247 mass shootings, and the year is not yet over.
Michael Moore, and others, to their credit tried to warn us back when this was happening with less frequency, but nothing changed.
And the terrifying part is that even in the face of what seems like a silent civil war on our streets, in our classrooms, and in public gathering places, there still does not seem to be a will to do anything about it.
Michael Moore’s new film, Where to Invade Next, explores how the US government maintains a state of “infinite war”, according to the Oscar-winning documentary film-maker.
He said Where to Invade Next, which was filmed across three continents, was “epic in nature”, but made quietly with a small crew. “There’s usually someone chasing us,” he said. It seems the film, which premieres at the Toronto film festival in September, will cover some of the same ground as his Palme d’Or-winning Fahrenheit 9/11, a critique of the Bush administration’s “war on terror” detailing the various dictatorships that have been supported by the US administration in the interests of maintaining conflicts that profited America. Fahrenheit 9/11 is the highest-grossing documentary of all time, taking close to $120m (£75m) at the US box office.
“The issue of the United States at infinite war is something that has concerned me for quite some time, and provides the necessary satire for this film,” said Moore in the Periscope broadcast.
“[There’s] this constant need it seems to always have an enemy – where’s the next enemy so we can keep this whole military industrial complex alive, and keep the companies that make a lot of money from this in business. I’ve always been a little bothered by that, so that’s where the comedy comes from.”
Sounds like a very timely film.
Gee I wonder how the Right Wing will respond to it?
Sarah has cooked up a secret strategy to win the White House in 2016 – and her future son-in-law is the key!
He’s Medal of Honor winner Sgt. Dakota Meyer, who recently announced his engagement to Sarah’s daughter Bristol, 24.
With a real war hero in the family, Sarah, 51, hopes voters will forget her clan’s bad behavior, sources said.
“Since the moment Dakota appeared on her TV show, she’d been trying to figure out how to best use him to her advantage,” said a Palin insider. “So, she started pushing Bristol and Dakota together!”
The piece goes on to claim that Bristol first met in January when they were in Las Vegas.
“Sarah was so eager to have Dakota marry her daughter that she even bought a huge diamond engagement ring for them,” added the insider.
And here is the kicker:
But a quickie marriage isn’t the only thing on Sarah’s mind, sources revealed. At a recent event for potential Republican presidential candidates, Sarah said: “Without putting any words in my mouth, you can absolutely say that I’m seriously interested” in the 2016 race.
The insider said: “With Dakota stumping for her, Sarah honestly believes she can’t lose!”
Okay well that kind of confirms something that my source told me way back in December.
I am still a little doubtful that Palin is serious about launching an actual campaign, however the rest of this definitely rings true and confirms much of what I've been told.
In fact I am almost certain that I know who the Enquirer is using as a source, and if accurate they are definitely getting the inside scoop. However keep in mind that Palin not only lies to the media, and to her supporters, she lies to her family as well.
Much of it is talking about the kerfuffle over the "American Sniper" film, but then VICE asks him about the above photo:
VICE: Obviously you saw the poster that Sarah Palin held up—Michael Moore with the crosshairs in the two O's.
MM: The one that ended her political career on Saturday?
VICE: Yeah.
MM: Yeah, I tweeted those two Tweets on Sunday, and on Monday I figured I better do a Facebook post because I live in a nation where a lot of people can't comprehend, and plus 140 characters isn't a lot. So I did the Facebook [post] and then I decided I'm going to be silent now until Friday. And I didn't tweet anything about this, didn't talk about it, didn't do anything, just decided to play rope-a-dope with these crazies and let them scream all week and they won't see me fighting back, which will elevate their screaming and nuttiness and essentially let them punch themselves in the face. This is what I hoped would happen. Think about this—the vast majority of her base is made up of born-again Christians. Good Christian people. They were stunned to see her holding a sign that said "fuck you."
VICE: This is someone who portrays herself as a real proper American mother.
MM: Yeah, family values and apple pie, and she says things like golly gee wiz. She got so mad at me that she let her guard down to reveal who she is, and the Christian right saw that and were all kind of horrified. She got a lot of immediate blowback on social media, and then again on Saturday before she stood up to give her speech. My theory is she thought her own people turned against her in that time and it rattled her, and then I guess the prompter went out, right? She wasn't able to recover, and she was right in the middle. I should go back and have a look at this, I can't remember. I saw it on C-Span. But at the start she was on me, she's just come off this posting, she's getting a lot of blowback from her people so she starts off on me again, and then the prompter blows, so whatever. I'd like to think that a good union man or woman...
VICE: Pulled the plug?
MM: [Laughs] Pulled the plug. But be that as it may, she got discombobulated, and if you follow any of the news on her now, in the last four days, it's all saying that she's over. They're attacking her on Fox—Bill Kristol, who was her big supporter... all these people have abandoned her because of those two things that she said, holding a sign that used the word fuck and her discombobulatedness when she was going off on me and then lost the plot and couldn't speak.
VICE: With the crosshairs and the O's, didn't she get into some trouble—didn't her website a few years ago have districts with crosshairs over them across America?
MM: Yes, and she had to pull that off. And in the "fuck-you" sign she put crosshairs in the two O's of my name. And that also was part of the blowback—thanks for reminding me about that. So using the F-word and going back to putting crosshairs on a human being.
VICE: For what it's worth, I'm looking at the picture now, and she's making this real kind of white-trashy hand sign—you know when you put your pinky out and your thumb is out... I don't even know what they call that. There's a word for it.
MM: Yeah, I know what you mean.
VICE: It's like a party-time kind of hand symbol. It's pretty funny.
MM: [Laughs] This is more like, Let's kill this motherfucker and PARTY!
I have to disagree with Moore that this ended her political career as I think that ended on the day that she resigned as Governor. However I will agree that this photo, along with that Iowa speech ended even any serious talk about her ever running for office again.
And good for VICE to point out the crosshairs in the "O's." I think THAT really illustrates Palin's hateful nature and how slow she is to learn from past mistakes.
You might be interested in reading the entire article as it is pretty interesting, and covers much more than just Sarah Palin.
"Here's the truth they can't or won't report: I'm the one who has supported these troops - much more than the bloviators on Fox News," Moore writes before listing the many ways they're misinformed in their opinion of him. When Moore's father passed away, he asked that, in lieu of flowers, donations be made to the Veterans for Peace. The filmmaker also refuses to do business with vendors that don't hire vets, sits on the Advisory Board of the Pvt. Bradley (Chelsea) Manning Support Network and has donated thousands of dollars to "help veterans and wounded warriors."
There's also this: "From the Dept. of Irony: I only hire Navy SEALS and ex-special forces for when I need security - such as this week, when so-called supporters of those SEALs want me harmed," Moore said.
While Moore's remarks on director Clint Eastwood's American Sniper, a film that Matt Taibbi called "almost too dumb to criticize," is what started this whole ordeal, Moore is still showing the film at the movie theatre he programs in Manistee, MI. "Not because I like it, but because, unlike the other side, I'm not a censor," Moore wrote. "I trust smart people and people of good heart will know what to do. You can't have a conversation about what Clint Eastwood is up to if you haven't seen what it is he's up to." Also of note: A vet serves as that theater's projectionist.
"In the end, the thing I'm most proud of for what I've done for the troops was sticking my neck out 12 years ago to become a leading opponent to Bush and the war. I tried to save more lives than a sniper ever could hope to – by preventing us from going to war in the first place," Moore wrote. "So, Fox News and the other lazy media -- quit making shit up about me! You look ridiculous."
So Moore not only hires vets any time that he can, he also donates money to veterans organizations.
Kin of makes me wonder just how many times that Palin has donated money to the veterans?
And gee Moore's response was so well reasoned. Especially compared to, you know, this:
She once again got to meet old poopy pants pedophile Ted Nugent.
She got to hold one of the dumbest trophies ever given. (However it must be noted that it was a dumb trophy that her mother's show Amazing America was not good enough to receive.)
And of course she was instrumental in helping to promote an image that insures that her mother's political aspirations are finished forever.
Yep, all in all it was a big weekend for Bristol.
Made even better I'm sure by the fact that Tripp spent the weekend with his dad and his new baby sister, allowing Bristol to go on a hunt for Lumbersexuals unhindered.
Don't worry men of Las Vegas, they have shots for that.
Former Alaska governor Sarah Palin told The Washington Post in an interview Friday that she is “seriously interested” in running for the White House in 2016.
“You can absolutely say that I am seriously interested,” Palin said, when asked to clarify her thinking about a possible presidential bid.
Palin, the GOP’s 2008 vice-presidential nominee, said she stood by comments she made Thursday in Las Vegas to ABC News, where she first expressed enthusiasm about potentially competing for the Republican presidential nomination.
“I am. As I said yesterday, I’m really interested in the opportunity to serve at some point,” Palin said Friday, as former Pennsylvania senator Rick Santorum, a potential 2016 rival, looked on.
Palin’s comments, made in an interview in the lobby of the Marriott hotel here, came hours before she is scheduled to address a group of conservative activists at the Iowa Freedom Summit, a gathering hosted by Rep. Steve King (R-Iowa), an immigration hard-liner.
The Washington Post is by no means the only outlet that thinks Palin is actually going to tear off her crusty panties and deliver the goods.
It's kind of sad that these idiots still think that Palin is serious about an actual presidential campaign. It reminds me of that schmo who starts to believe that the scantily clad, heavily glittered, stripper that he paid to undulate on his lap is actually falling in love with him.
She isn't.
I actually do understand why this excites some in the news business. With the 2016 lineup appearing to feature candidates who have already run, and who are well known to the American public, the idea of a new face to report on, especially one so constantly controversial, cannot help but seem exciting.
However it is also interesting that during the same weekend that so many news outlets are rubbing themselves raw at the prospect of a Palin presidential bid that the other big news about her concerns this picture.
The most recent one only covers the period between November 25 to December 31 but it is enough to tell the tale of a political PAC in desperation.
The PAC only took in $56,633.93 during that time period, which is much lower than in times past, and they spent $118,693.20. Which follows the same pattern we have been following for over a year now. (Update: Did anybody else notice that she paid over $2,000 for Christmas cards?)
Simply put Palin is running out of money, and unless she does something drastic she may actually be forced to get a real job in order to support herself, and her lazy good for nothing family.
According to my sources the family is fairly bursting at the seams with drug users, but she seems particularly amped up. And she keeps shaking her head as if the sound of the marbles rattling around is in some way inspirational.
Here are a few of the crazier things she said.
When asked about firearm manufacturers:
"I love our American made firearms! Love'em!"
"I love that they're pro-military! They're loving our guys and gals out there protecting that second amendment right. So firearm industry. American. (Holding a thumbs up.) Right on."
Asked whether she thinks gun rights are going to be a big issue in the 2016 presidential campaign:
"They're always going to be a big issue because of the idiots who disrespect our constitution will do whatever they can to fulfill a lifelong dream of theirs, these far leftists. And that's to prohibit us from being able to protect ourselves with firearms. Just absolutely ignoring what our Founders intended. And what that second amendment is all about. So it's always going to be a huge issue. And anybody who's against the second amendment should not have any true blue American support never, never. (Said through clenched teeth.) Doesn't matter what party they're in. If they have a problem with guns. We've got a problem with them."
Palin also took time out from slopping chili and promoting her stupid show to tease about running for President again.
Just before she heads to Iowa for the first major conservative showcase of the 2016 election cycle, Sarah Palin said “of course” she’s interested in the 2016 presidential election.
“Yeah, I mean, of course, when you have a servant’s heart, when you know that there is opportunity to do all you can to put yourself forward in the name of offering service, anybody would be interested,” Palin told ABC News' Neal Karlinsky while serving wild boar chili to the homeless in Las Vegas Thursday.
Of course a few paragraphs down in the story Palin offers her typical cop out.
“It doesn't have to be myself, but yes ... happy to drive that competition, because competition will make everyone better and produce more and be more candid regarding their solutions they will offer this country. I am very interested in that competitive process and, again, not necessarily me.”
Of course she's not running, and the MSM needs to quit asking her.
And if she tried she would have a hell of a time explaining away the picture of the day.
Here's a closeup of her signature as well as her handwritten "Yeah, FU Michael Moore."
Now there were a few sad Palin supporters trying to convince us that this was photoshopped earlier today, but then how do we explain this?
I think it is well worth sharing.
With due respect to those who are asking me to comment on last night's tragic mass shooting at UCSB in Isla Vista, CA -- I no longer have anything to say about what is now part of normal American life. Everything I have to say about this, I said it 12 years ago: We are a people easily manipulated by fear which causes us to arm ourselves with a quarter BILLION guns in our homes that are often easily accessible to young people, burglars, the mentally ill and anyone who momentarily snaps. We are a nation founded in violence, grew our borders through violence, and allow men in power to use violence around the world to further our so-called American (corporate) "interests." The gun, not the eagle, is our true national symbol. While other countries have more violent pasts (Germany, Japan), more guns per capita in their homes (Canada [mostly hunting guns]), and the kids in most other countries watch the same violent movies and play the same violent video games that our kids play, no one even comes close to killing as many of its own citizens on a daily basis as we do -- and yet we don't seem to want to ask ourselves this simple question: "Why us? What is it about US?" Nearly all of our mass shootings are by angry or disturbed white males. None of them are committed by the majority gender, women. Hmmm, why is that? Even when 90% of the American public calls for stronger gun laws, Congress refuses -- and then we the people refuse to remove them from office. So the onus is on us, all of us. We won't pass the necessary laws, but more importantly we won't consider why this happens here all the time. When the NRA says, "Guns don't kill people -- people kill people," they've got it half-right. Except I would amend it to this: "Guns don't kill people -- Americans kill people." Enjoy the rest of your day, and rest assured this will all happen again very soon.
War with Michael Moore? As of this post I don't believe that Moore has even realized that Palin is trying to get attention by going after him yet.
You can't really have a war if you are the only participant. That is just martial masturbation.
By the way don't you hate it when mom shows up on TV in her bathrobe and bed hair?
Is she comparing this Wisconsin power grab to the Health Care bill? The same Health Care bill that Obama desperately tried to get the Republicans to help craft before they put their fingers in their ears and started to yell, "We can't hear you! Nah, nah, nah, nah, nah?"
Death threats? Who is receiving death threats this time? With Palin somebody is always receiving death threats, yet there is never a shred of evidence.
And no I have not heard that Palin's kids have returned to school as of yet. (But hey if any of you REAL Palmer or Wasilla folks know anything different, please let me know.)
Part two of your order of word salad, with a side of nuts.
Now I asked my daughter, who is a union member working on films up here in Alaska, about this story of Michael Moore not hiring all union workers for his film "Capitalism: A Love Story." And she essentially said that mixing both union workers and non-union workers on a film was common practice. She also said that there are a lot of positions, especially on documentaries where the union does not have the right people to fill the various openings.
She also said that it would be VERY uncommon for the producers of the documentary to provide health coverage to its non-union members, since production would only last for a handful of months, but that there would of course be workman's compensation for anybody injured on the job.
Essentially this appears to be a non-story that the Conservatives are fanning in an attempt to damage Moore's character. Go figure.
Don't you love it when Palin talks about things she simply has no connection with? You know like reality?
I am not surprised that Palin is going after NPR. They tend to deal in facts and the Grizzled Mama has a long standing grudge against things she cannot bend to her will.
Update: Well I stand corrected, there were death threats aimed at the Wisconsin Republican lawmakers.
Well at least one anyway. There may have been more I guess, but apparently this one is the only one cited again, and again, and again. Apparently there may have been some angry tweets as well, so you can imagine how frightened the Wisconsin Republicans have become of their single threatening e-mailer and a handful of pissed off tweeters.
Considering their typical abuse of power I imagine they will call in the national guard to start confiscating cell phones and laptops.
Michael Moore is clearly sick of the character assassinations that he suffered after his films "Fahrenheit 9-11" and "Bowling for Columbine" came out at the hands of CNN. And he is fighting back this time.
I watched the CNN report on the inaccuracies in "Sicko", I saw Michale Moore's response to that report while being interviewed by Wolf Blitzer (which you can see for yourself by scrolling down), and I have read his response to Sanjay Gupta's piece on his website, and I just have to say that for me there is no doubt that Moore is absolutely correct and that CNN seems to be purposefully sending out disinformation to its audience.
Which then makes me wonder if Moore isn't also correct in accusing CNN of cowing to the wishes of its pharmaceutical sponsors. Because it sure looks that way to me.
Michael Moore does not pull any punches and calls Wolf and the CNN team on their failure to ask the hard questions during the lead up to the war and about the negative coverage his move "Fahrenheit 9-11" received from CNN.
He is clearly angry at his treatment and feels that CNN is doing the bidding of their pharmaceutical advertisers by attacking his findings in the movie "Sicko".
I have to say that I really enjoyed watching Wolf get called on his arrogant attitude and I could not help but notice that he failed to answer any of Moore's charges.
P.S. I saw Michael Moore and Sanjay Gupta arguing this out on Lary King tonight. It got a little testy.
