Topics discussed include a group being sued by a town for topping off parking meters so that people don’t get tickets, the Feds recommending that the drunk driving threshold be lowered from a blood alcohol level of 0.08 to 0.05, the difference between DWI and DUI, how alcohol-related accidents are tracked by the government, a woman who was sentenced to a year in jail for talking on the phone during an accident that led to her son’s death, a one-year-old who died after being left in a car, acceptance of authority to your own detriment, the CDC finding that there is more poop in pools than you might think, the shortage of toilet paper in Venezuela, the history of toilet paper, police shooting and killing a 21-year-old female hostage, a man who hit in his attic while his house was being robbed. he said he felt like he was letting it happen because he didn’t have a weapon, and more!

• Be sure to check out Heit & Cheri’s Album, “Improper Conduct.”
• Discussion about people who are in trouble for topping off parking meters so that people don’t get parking tickets.
  

  New Hampshire residents take the “Live Free or Die” slogan on their license plates seriously. Municipal governments use every shady trick to squeeze revenue from the citizenry, but Hampshiremen are fighting back. The bureaucrats are in enough lather to shave their whiskers.
  Good Samaritans in the city of Keene, styling themselves as “Robin Hood and his Merry Men,” are gallantly topping off parking meters before they expire, ensuring their neighbors will be spared an expensive and unnecessary ticket.

  Not unlike the Sheriff of Nottingham, Keene oppresses the locals with heavy taxation imposed by the meter maid, the modern tax collector. Those saved by the merry band of meter-feeders receive a note on their windshield encouraging more good deeds. “We saved you from the king’s tariffs,” says the note. “Please consider paying it forward.” An address is provided for voluntary donations to help promote the effort.
  The Robin Hooders have spared locals paying nearly 4,000 tickets, which so infuriated the city that it actually filed a lawsuit against the Good Samaritans, claiming something called meter-maid intimidation. The suit identifies six Robin Hooders by name and demands each be barred from coming within 50 feet of a “parking enforcement officer” — which would make it difficult to feed meters.

  The lawsuit claims the group “regularly, repeatedly and intentionally taunted, interfered with, harassed, and intimidated” the officers, and insisted the meter maids were offended by being videotaped at work.
  Source: Washington Times

• Discussion about why this practice might be wrong in the eyes of authority.
• The underlying issues is that the government wants to make money off of fines for infractions. This is their incentive to make things illegal–because it puts money in their pockets.
• We previously discussed the case of Texas woman who was arrested for warning motorists of a speed trap.
• Discussion about the Feds recommending that the drunk driving threshold be lowered from 0.08 to 0.05.
  

  Federal accident investigators recommended Tuesday that states cut their threshold for drunken driving by nearly half, matching a standard that has substantially reduced highway deaths in other countries.

  The National Transportation Safety Board said states should shrink the standard from the current .08 blood alcohol content to .05 as part of a series of recommendations aimed at reducing alcohol-related highway deaths.

  More than 100 countries have adopted the .05 alcohol content standard or lower, according to a report by the board’s staff. In Europe, the share of traffic deaths attributable to drunken driving was reduced by more than half within 10 years after the standard was dropped.

  A woman weighing less than 120 pounds can reach .05 after just one drink, studies show. A man weighing up to 160 pounds reaches .05 after two drinks.

  New approaches are needed to combat drunken driving, which claims the lives of more than a third of the 30,000 people killed each year on U.S highways — a level of carnage that that has remained stubbornly consistent for the past decade and a half, the board said.

  “Our goal is to get to zero deaths because each alcohol-impaired death is preventable,” NTSB Chairman Deborah Hersman said. “Alcohol-impaired deaths are not accidents, they are crimes. They can and should be prevented. The tools exist. What is needed is the will.”
  Source: CBS

• Discussion about the difference between DWI and DUI.
  

  DUI means Driving Under the Influence and DWI is Driving While Intoxicated or Driving While Impaired. Sometimes the term OWI (Operating While Impaired) is used. All these terms relate to driving after consuming alcohol or drugs, and are very serious crimes. The drugs don’t have to be illegal for a DUI to be issued – they can be illegal narcotics, over the counter medication, or prescription drugs.

  Depending upon the state where you live, the severity of the offense may vary. In some states, the drunk driving laws differentiate between a DUI and a DWI, where the DUI is a lesser charge. In these states, a DUI usually signifies a lesser degree of intoxication, which is determined by a person’s blood alcohol level at the time of arrest. Sometimes, states will allow the charges of a DWI to be reduced to a DUI. In the case of a reduction from a DWI to a DUI, certain conditions typically must be met, such as the incident being a first offense, the defendant’s display of remorse for the action, and a blood alcohol level that was not drastically over the legal limit. For example, the state of New York differentiates between DWI and DUI by establishing a blood alcohol level of .08 as the legal limit for DWI. If a person has a blood alcohol level of .07, the charges may be reduced to a DUI, which carries a lesser punishment.
  Source: Diffen

• The more people they charge with DUI/DWI, the more money they can make. Also, there are companies who make a lot of money offering services (counseling, etc.) to remedy these issues.
• They might start asking whether people have been drinking as a routine question when some gets pulled over. there is nothing that prevents them from asking you this question. They also pass laws that make them able to do other things if you refuse to comply.
• This will not prevent highway deaths, because people will continue to drink and drive.
• Maybe this will increase sales of home breathalyzer machines.
• Stats say that half of the people who are under the influence go undetected.
• Discussion about how alcohol-related accidents are detected. If anyone (including a passenger) has been drinking, this is considered an alcohol-related accident.
• Discussion about a woman who was sentenced to a year in jail for talking on the phone during an accident that led to her son’s death.
  

  A central Missouri woman whose son died in a car accident while she was talking on a cellphone has been sentenced to one year in a county jail.

  Thirty-one-year-old Stephanie Wiebold of Meta was sentenced Friday after pleading guilty to careless and imprudent driving.

  Her 2-year-old son, Dallen Rackers, died when Wiebold’s car went off the road and hit a rock embankment.

  The Jefferson City News Tribune reports (http://bit.ly/YQUCzB ) police said Meta was on the phone when the accident occurred.

  Police also said her son was unrestrained while riding in the back seat and was thrown forward by the impact. Dallen died a few weeks after the accident.
  Source: KSPR

• Discussion about a one-year-old who died after being left in a car.
  

  A 1-year-old child died after being left in a locked car in the parking lot of Frank Guzick Elementary School in Pleasant Grove. The child’s mother is a teacher at the school, according to a statement from Dallas ISD.
  A statement from the Dallas Police Department says that a witness observed the child unattended in a locked car around 1:20 p.m. The witness called 911, then broke a window out of the vehicle, removed the child, and started to perform CPR. Dallas Fire and Rescue arrived to taken the child to Baylor Hospital, where he or she was pronounced dead.

  Although the police haven’t confirmed this, FOX 4 reports that the witness was a student from a nearby school. NBC, meanwhile, reports that it was a teacher’s aid.
  Source: Dallas Observer

• Discussion about people leaving pets and kids in cars.
• Why doesn’t it seem like we heard stories of kids baking in cars back in the day. Heit & Cheri talk about being left in the car as a child.
• Discussion about acceptance of authority to your own detriment.
• Did you ever pee in the pool as a kid?
• Discussion about the CDC finding that there is more poop in pools than you might think.
  

  Just in time for pools to open across the state, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention have come out with a new study about what’s lurking in that water.

  According to the CDC report, water sampled from 161 pools around the Atlanta area found 58 percent showed signs of E. Coli, which is the bacteria most commonly associated with fecal matter.

  Diapered babies and children who are not properly toilet trained can easily introduce poop into the water, the report stated.
  Children are not alone as culprits.

  Adults are also at fault, mainly those who do not shower with soap before entering the pool and bring traces of fecal matter with them.
  Number two isn’t the only problem.

  The report showed chlorine still isn’t strong enough to break down the waste of people who decide to “number one” in the pool, along with sweat.
  Source: KFOR

• Speculation about why there is crap in the pool. Maybe people are not wiping their butts properly.
• Heit theorizes that you cannot properly wipe your butt with dry toilet paper.
• Debate about the best way to wipe your @ss.
• Discussion about the shortage of toilet paper in Venezuela.
  

  First milk, butter, coffee and cornmeal ran short. Now Venezuela is running out of the most basic of necessities – toilet paper.

  Blaming political opponents for the shortfall, as it does for other shortages, the government says it will import 50m rolls to boost supplies.

  That was little comfort to consumers struggling to find toilet paper on Wednesday.

  “This is the last straw,” said Manuel Fagundes, a shopper hunting for tissue in Caracas. “I’m 71 years old and this is the first time I’ve seen this.”

  One supermarket visited by the Associated Press in the capital on Wednesday was out of toilet paper. Another had just received a fresh batch, and it quickly filled up with shoppers as the word spread.

  “I’ve been looking for it for two weeks,” said Cristina Ramos. “I was told that they had some here and now I’m in line.”

  Economists say Venezuela’s shortages stem from price controls meant to make basic goods available to the poorest parts of society and the government’s controls on foreign currency.

  “State-controlled prices – prices that are set below market-clearing price – always result in shortages. The shortage problem will only get worse, as it did over the years in the Soviet Union,” said Steve Hanke, professor of economics at Johns Hopkins University.
  Source: Guardian

• This is just a symptom of Capitalism.
• Perhaps rumors either started to help to fuel the shortage.
• When was toilet paper invented? What did they do before they had toilet paper? They used a wet rag. Heit points out that we think we are so sophisticated, but your @ss is dirtier than it used to be.
  

  Today it’s difficult to imagine life without toilet paper. The evolution of toilet paper is an interesting story and the toilet paper has an amazing past.

  If we could travel back in time, what would we found about the first use of toilet paper? Who invented toilet paper? Who was using paper for personal hygiene? Who invented modern toilet paper roll?

  Nobody is too sure when toilet paper was first used. Before the invention of toilet paper, people from different parts of the world had many different ideas for personal hygiene. Some people used stones or sponges (especially rich Romans), but a variety of other things were used also.

  The first “official” toilet paper was introduced in China in 1391, but the first mention of toilet paper (paper for personal hygiene) dates back to the year 589 AD in Korea. Between 875 and 1317 AD, paper was produced in large sheets (2-foot x 3-foot sheets and even perfumed) for Chinese emperor’s family hygiene.

  In the Colonial America, the common means was corncobs.

  Paper was a rare commodity until the 17th or 18th centuries. The first reference to paper as toilet paper was recorded in 1718. After invention of paper pages from newspapers and magazines were also commonly used (newspapers became widely available at 1700s.)

  Joseph C. Gayetty invented the first packaged toilet paper in the United States in 1857. Joseph C. Gayetty is credited as the inventor of modern commercially available toilet paper. “Gayetty’s Medicated Paper” was sold in packages of flat sheets, medicated with aloe and watermarked with his name. Gayety’s toilet paper was available as late as the 1920′s.

  In 1871, Seth Wheeler (to some sources Zeth Wheeler) of Albany became the official “inventor” of toilet paper. Seth Wheeler patents rolled and perforated wrapping paper. His Albany Perforated Wrapping Paper Company began selling the first toilet paper on a roll.

  Rolled and perforated toilet paper was invented around 1880. In 1879, Thomas Seymour, Edward Irvin and Clarence Wood Scott founded the Scott Paper Company in Philadelphia. Scott brothers came up with the idea of customizing rolls for every merchant-customer they had. They began selling packages of small rolls and stacked sheets. Scott Paper Company began producing toilet paper under its own brand name in 1896. By 1925 Scott Company became the leading toilet paper company in the world.

  The first documented use of a roll of toilet paper was in 1882 in New York State.

  In 1935 Northern Tissue invented splinter free toilet paper. Simple paper making procedures often failed to remove small splinters from the finished product but Northern Paper engineers solved the problem (method called linenizing). Softer, splinter-free toilet paper then became a reality for consumers and provided an advertising slogan for Northern Tissue.

  In 1942 St. Andrew’s Paper Mill (England, Walthamstow, London), produced the first soft, two ply toilet tissue.

  In 1954 was produced the first colored toilet tissue by Northern.

  In 1964 was produced perfumed one-ply toilet tissue by Charmin

  America experienced its first toilet paper shortage in 1973 because Johnny Carson’s (one of America’s most loved comedians) jokes.

  Who invented toilet paper? So many inventors, so many contradicting historical recourses… Who do you think was the inventor of toilet paper?
  Source: Toilet Paper History

• Discussion about the Dewey Decimal System.
• Discussion about the police shooting and killing a 21-year-old female hostage.
  

  A 21-year-old university student who was taken hostage in her apartment and then shot to death during a police standoff with an armed robber on New York’s Long Island was killed by a bullet fired from an officer’s gun, investigators said on Sunday.
  Andrea Rebello was shot in the head on Friday by one of eight rounds fired at Dalton Smith, who had the woman in a headlock with a 9mm gun pointed at her head at the time, Nassau County Police Department spokesman James Imperiale said.

  Smith, 30, was struck by seven bullets and died in the apartment in Uniondale, about a half a mile from Hofstra University. Rebello, who was studying public relations at Hofstra, was taken to a nearby hospital where she later died.

  Investigators determined that Smith, who had an extensive criminal history and had been released from prison earlier this year, did not fire his gun during the incident, Imperiale said.

  Nassau County Police Commissioner Thomas Dale traveled to Tarrytown, New York, on Saturday to inform Rebello’s parents that their daughter had been killed by an officer’s bullet.

  “He sat down with them and went over the findings,” Imperiale said. “The whole situation is completely tragic.”

  Smith entered Rebello’s apartment about 2:20 a.m. (0620 GMT) on Friday, brandished his gun and demanded money and valuables from the student and her three roommates, including her sister, Imperiale said.

  Smith then told one of the roommates to go to an ATM and withdraw money, according to police. That roommate left and immediately called police, according to Imperiale.

  When police arrived, Rebello’s sister answered the door and ran out of the apartment, he said.

  “He pushed the male (roommate) down the stairs. The roommate comes crashing down the stairs … and jumps behind a sofa,” Imperiale said.

  According to Imperiale, Smith came down the stairs with Rebello in a headlock and the gun pointed at her head, saying “I’m going to kill her. I’m going to kill her.” He then used her as a human shield as he attempted to flee the rear of apartment, the spokesman said.

  “He raised his weapon at the officer and officer was forced to fire,” Imperiale said.

  Students graduating from Hofstra on Saturday wore white ribbons in memory of Rebello, according to the local media.

  “A young member of the Hofstra family has been taken from us in a senseless act of violence,” Hofstra President Stuart Rabinowitz said in a statement.

  The school also flew flags at half-staff to honor Rebello. A candlelight vigil was held on Saturday night at the school, located in Hempstead, about 30 miles east of New York City.

  The officer who fired the shots during the standoff was on leave as the department continued its investigation, Imperiale said.
  Source: Reuters

• Is it possible that these people knew each other? The story sound fishy.
• Discussion about a man who hit in his attic while his house was being robbed. he said he felt like he was letting it happen because he didn’t have a weapon.
  

  What would you do to escape armed burglars? A college student in Humble saw men with guns breaking into his home, and he had to think fast.

  It happened last Friday at about 11:30 a.m. in the 17000 block of Dawn Shadows Drive in Humble.

  Darrell Southworth, 20, said he wanted to fight back, but these guys had guns and he didn’t.

  “I hear a big pound on the door, about five times, like boom, boom, boom,” Southworth said.
  Southworth’s family was working, and he was home alone when the criminals came knocking. First, one of the criminals knocked on the front door.
  “I look down, and he had a gun about right here in his back pocket,” Southworth said.

  Moments later, he saw a green Ford Explorer backing into his driveway.

  “They popped the trunk at first, and I could see more guns,” said Southworth. “I’m thinking, I’m about to die.”

  The criminals walked into the backyard and began kicking in the back door. Southworth made his way up toward the attic. He said he pulled the steps to the attic down and sat there to listen.

  “I didn’t hear anything at first. Then I heard, ‘Get it, get it,” Southworth recalled.

  He quickly crept up into the attic and closed himself in. Southworth said he was on the phone with 911, telling the operator the danger he was in.
  Source: KHOU

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Topics discussed include First Lady Michelle Obama’s commencement speech at Bowie State University, the FLOTUS saying too many kids are trying to be “rappers and ballers”, the educational industrial complex, a Black teen who gave up a college scholarship to pursue a rap career, New York Mayor Bloomberg suggesting that mediocre students forego college and become plumbers, the idea of academics versus vocational training, President Barack Obama’s commencement speech at Morehouse College, Obama saying that racism is not an excuse that Black men can use, Dr. Dre giving $70 million to USC for a music program, and more!

• It’s graduation time for colleges and high schools–and other schools too!



• Discussion about First Lady Michelle Obama’s commencement speech at Bowie State University.

  Mrs. Obama typically gives a few commencement addresses each year and has spoken at several other historically black colleges and universities since President Barack Obama became the nation’s first black chief executive. She received an honorary doctorate from Bowie State on Friday.
  The first lady said education was a lifeline to the first students at the nearly 150-year-old school. Its founding “was in many ways an act of defiance, an elegant rebuttal to the idea that black people couldn’t or shouldn’t be educated,” she said. “Back then, people were hungry to learn.”

  But Obama said too much of the black community has lost that desire. One in 3 African-Americans are dropping out of high school, she said, and only 1 in 5 between the ages of 25 and 29 has a bachelor’s degree. She also cited statistics that show college graduates make more money and live longer than high school dropouts.
  Source: New York Daily News

• Discussion about the FLOTUS saying too many kids are trying to be “rappers and ballers”.
  

  During her commencement speech, Mrs. Obama challenged students to continue to learn and encouraged them to always aspire to achieve more — after mentioning that “too many young people today can’t be bothered.”

  “Instead of walking miles every day to school, they’re sitting on couches for hours playing video games, watching TV. Instead of dreaming of being a teacher or a lawyer or a business leader, they’re fantasizing about being a baller or a rapper,” she said.

  “Please reject the slander that says a black child with a book is trying to act white,” Obama added. “In short, be an example of excellence for the next generation.”

  Source: Grio

• Why does she think that everyone wants to be a rapper or baller in the first place? This is a stereotype about the black community and this is a disconnect between Obama and “regular” Black folks.
• Why did she choose to say this in a commencement speech to students who obviously didn’t take this route. Obviously, this speech was for the world to hear–not simply for these students. She was making a commentary on like-aged people who are not doing what these students are doing.
• Isn’t a rapper a business man? Who do they think that Jay-Z is? he is a rapper and a businessman.
• Being opposed to what Obama is saying does not make one anti-education, but rather anti-this educational industrial complex we see in place right now. Today, people get into deep debt going to college, and can barely get a job to pay off the loans they take out when they are finished.
• Discussion about Obama basically saying that only certain types of occupations
• For Obama to reduce this whole situation down to “Black kids just cannot be bothered” is her own failure to see the connection between her husband’s policies and the current state of black education in this country.
• What is the whole point of a college education? Should everyone go to get a college degree in the areas she discussed? What if the person wants to be in a profession that doesn’t require a degree. Obama doesn’t address the people who choose not to go to college. Basically, you’re overlooked and marginalized if you decide not to go the route that they suggest.
• Discussion about a Black teen who gave up a college scholarship to pursue a rap career.
  

  We first told you about this story Wednesday on “Good Day.” A high school senior gives up a free ride to college to pursue a rap career.

  Now, we’re hearing from the young man himself.

  Jay Harris is one of the top high school football prospects in Pennsylvania.

  The Downingtown High School East senior and wide receiver had a scholarship to play college football at Michigan State University next year, and was heavily recruited.

  But, in a surprising move, Harris says he decided to give it all up to be a rap star.

  Harris says his father supports him, and he says he’s working on getting signed to a record deal and can always go to college later.

  “You gotta chase your dreams. You gotta do what you really want. If I go up there to MSU, a Division I program, and I go up there and my whole heart’s not in it, I’ll just be wastin’ their time. This is really what I want to do for my life,” Harris said.

  Harris, who goes by the rap name “Jay DatBull,” says his mix tape will be released on June
  Source: My Fox Philly

• The college ball players are only in school to live out the fantasy of becoming a famous ball player, so what is the difference is he chooses to chase a different long-shot dream.
• College is a scam for the most part. It basically just provides credentials for you to gain access to be able to make a better living.
• A lot of people are brainwashed into believing that college is the best way for them and their children to go to better their living conditions. All people want is better lives for them and their children, and the current college education dream is sold as the means to that end.
• If you have a dream that doesn’t follow the mainstream agenda, at least try to make it happen. If it doesn’t work out, the mediocre jobs and opportunities will still be there later… They ain’t going nowhere.
• Discussion about people who manage to be successful making a living doing what they love. Maybe they aren’t rich, but they are able to get by.
• Discussion about Michelle Obama honoring a white student as someone with a struggle, who was determined to get a college education against all odds. Really? At a HBCU, the best story of struggle is a white student?
• Discussion about New York Mayor Bloomberg suggesting that mediocre students forego college and become plumbers.
  

  Some advice from career counselor Mayor Bloomberg: If you are a so-so high school student, steer clear of college — and learn to clear clogged drains.

  Bloomberg said on his weekly radio show Friday that going to trade school to become a plumber is a better economic bet for many teenagers than obtaining an undergraduate degree.

  “The people who are going to have the biggest problem are college graduates who aren’t rocket scientists, if you will, not at the top of their class,” he said.

  “Compare a plumber to going to Harvard College — being a plumber, actually for the average person, probably would be a better deal.”
  He said plumbers make a good living without having to pay off college loans.

  “You don’t spend … four years spending $40,000, $50,000 in tuition without earning income,” he explained.
  Source: New York Daily News

• Discussion about the idea of academics versus vocational training.
• Why is it that every time someone is talking about education they never mention the good-paying jobs that don’t require a degree? Nobody ever says, “Yeah, you can be a construction worker…”
• Bloomberg is saying this to other people’s children, not his own.
• Discussion about people being in the jam of not being able to pass welath from generation on down because of the debt people are saddled with when they take loans to finance college educations.
• Discussion about people who do make it out of poverty, only to lose their fortunes and wend up back where they started.
• Discussion about NBA legend Allen Iverson and music mogul Damon Dash both claiming they are broke, despite millions haivng passed through their hands.
• Discussion about Master P and how he has managed to maintain his wealth, and will clearly be able to pass this down to his children.
• When rich people lose their money, they still have their names on which they can make money.



• Discussion about President Barack Obama’s commencement speech at Morehouse College.

  President Obama, on Sunday, delivered a rare, very personal commencement address at Morehouse College, the historically black, all-male institution that is the alma mater of the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.

  It was a short speech, but Obama did not shy away the subject of race and responsibility. We’ve embedded video of the address above, but here are two excerpts you should read. They are taken from his prepared remarks:

  On Personal Responsibility:

  “We know that too many young men in our community continue to make bad choices. Growing up, I made a few myself. And I have to confess, sometimes I wrote off my own failings as just another example of the world trying to keep a black man down. But one of the things you’ve learned over the last four years is that there’s no longer any room for excuses. I understand that there’s a common fraternity creed here at Morehouse: ‘excuses are tools of the incompetent, used to build bridges to nowhere and monuments of nothingness.’ We’ve got no time for excuses – not because the bitter legacies of slavery and segregation have vanished entirely; they haven’t. Not because racism and discrimination no longer exist; that’s still out there. It’s just that in today’s hyperconnected, hypercompetitive world, with a billion young people from China and India and Brazil entering the global workforce alongside you, nobody is going to give you anything you haven’t earned. And whatever hardships you may experience because of your race, they pale in comparison to the hardships previous generations endured – and overcame.
  “You now hail from a lineage and legacy of immeasurably strong men – men who bore tremendous burdens and still laid the stones for the path on which we now walk. You wear the mantle of Frederick Douglass and Booker T. Washington, Ralph Bunche and Langston Hughes, George Washington Carver and Ralph Abernathy, Thurgood Marshall and yes, Dr. King. These men were many things to many people. They knew full well the role that racism played in their lives. But when it came to their own accomplishments and sense of purpose, they had no time for excuses.”
  On Family:

  “I was raised by a heroic single mother and wonderful grandparents who made incredible sacrifices for me. And I know there are moms and grandparents here today who did the same thing for all of you. But I still wish I had a father who was not only present, but involved. And so my whole life, I’ve tried to be for Michelle and my girls what my father wasn’t for my mother and me. I’ve tried to be a better husband, a better father, and a better man.

  “It’s hard work that demands your constant attention, and frequent sacrifice. And Michelle will be the first to tell you that I’m not perfect. Even now, I’m still learning how to be the best husband and father I can be. Because success in everything else is unfulfilling if we fail at family. I know that when I’m on my deathbed someday, I won’t be thinking about any particular legislation I passed, or policy I promoted; I won’t be thinking about the speech I gave, or the Nobel Prize I received. I’ll be thinking about a walk I took with my daughters. A lazy afternoon with my wife. Whether I did right by all of them.

  “Be a good role model and set a good example for that young brother coming up. If you know someone who isn’t on point, go back and bring that brother along. The brothers who have been left behind – who haven’t had the same opportunities we have – they need to hear from us. We’ve got to be in the barbershops with them, at church with them, spending time and energy and presence helping pull them up, exposing them to new opportunities, and supporting their dreams. We have to teach them what it means to be a man – to serve your city like Maynard Jackson; to shape the culture like Spike Lee. Chester Davenport was one of the first people to integrate the University of Georgia law school. When he got there, no one would sit next to him in class. But Chester didn’t mind. Later on, he said, ‘It was the thing for me to do. Someone needed to be the first.’ Today, Chester is here celebrating his 50th reunion. If you’ve had role models, fathers, brothers like that – thank them today. If you haven’t, commit yourself to being that man for someone else.”
  Source: NPR

• There was so much hypocrisy in his speech.
• Obama actually twisted his mouth to say that racism is not an excuse that Black men can use. He went on to talk about how “nobody” cares about the adversity they have faced in their lives. Well, maybe people SHOULD care.
• Obama said that previous generations overcame and so can these men. Did they overcome? No. they did the best they can to advance conditions for the race. To say that they didn’t overcome is not to say that their actions weren’t valuable, noble, and worthwhile.
• Obama said that nobody is gonna give you anything free, and that things are given to those who earn it. This is what you tell people who will be part of the working class. This is a load of crap. Our whole system of capitalism is based on cronyism and inter-generational wealth–people being born into wealth who did absolutely nothing to earn it.
• Did the Walmart children earn their wealth? Absolutely not! Their DNA is earning. The Queen of England didn’t earn anything. These people were merely born into wealth.
• Discussion about worldwide, regional, and local classim.
• Discussion about the culture of achievement and how to take care of yourselves is different in other places in the world. In the U.S., we are socialized to rely on a third party–the government, a corporate job, etc.–for our sustenance.
• Discussion about how the implication is that the competition for these graduates is not the top-tier leaders in this country, but rather the best of the third-world countries.
• Why do people always like to compare Black Americans to immigrants who come from other countries and “make it” here?
• When you look at what both of the Obamas had to say during their speeches, it is clear that your worth as a person is being determined by how hard you are willing to work toward THEIR narrow idea of what success is. Basically, if you are not striving to be a part of a system that exploits others, then you are worthless.
• Discussion about Dr. Dre giving $70 million to USC for a music program.
  

  A $70 million donation from the rapper Dr. Dre and music industry executive Jimmy Iovine will allow USC to create what it described as an “entirely new model for training and inspiring a new generation of innovators,” the university announced today.

  The goal of the USC Jimmy Lovine and Andre Young Academy for Arts, Technology and the Business of Innovation “is to shape the future by nurturing the talents, passions, leadership and risk-taking of uniquely qualified students who challenge conventional views of art and industry,” according to USC.

  The academy will enroll its first class of 25 students in fall 2014.

  Applicants will be accepted based on a rigorous review process encompassing demonstrated academic excellence as well as proven ability for original thought.

  The academy is seeking students whose interests span fields such as marketing, business entrepreneurship, computer science and engineering, audio and visual design and the arts.

  The academy will focus on four core curriculum areas — arts and entrepreneurship; technology, design and marketability; concept and business platforms; and creating a prototype.

  The four-year academic program will include one-on-one faculty mentoring, opportunities to interact with luminaries from the arts and entertainment industry serving as guest speakers and lecturers, and a broad array of internship opportunities for students.

  Source: KESQ

• How ironic it is that a rapper is the one who donated all of this money to USC for music academics.
• Discussion about the goal of the program being to train the future of people who will work in and control the industry.
• Why did the program have to be connected to USC? Maybe so it can be given more credibility because it is an academic program.
• This money could have gone for so many more pertinent issues.
• Discussion about rappers, who don’t have degrees, becoming college professors. When you think about it, who gave the first person to get a degree their degree? Did they have a degree? Nope!

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Topics discussed include Malcolm X’s birthday on May 19th, examination of the “Who taught you to hate yourself” speech, examination of the “Ballot or the Bullet” speech, relating the things Malcolm X said in his speech to modern day conditions–not much has changed, Black folks STILL not being brought up in mainstream conversations and we have a Black president, how people don’t know what the numbers and stats mean–whether to interpret them as “good” or “bad”–until the media or some other entity tells them how to feel about the numbers, Blacks generally being anti-gay and anti-immigration–two groups whose issues the Democratic party IS ACTUALLY addressing, Hillary Clinton as president, Malcolm X’s speech at Oxford, Huey P. Long, the physical expectations of the president, the impressive nature of presidents who weren’t born rich–like Barack Obama and Bill Clinton, the exceptional nature of Blacks who hold high-profile government positions, how hard it must be to resist going over to “the dark side”, the choice between building your own brand and building the world to make it better for all of us, and more!

• Sunday, May 19th is Malcolm X’s birthday. He would have been 89 years old.
• Take a moment and listen to one of Malcolm’s speeches.
  
  

  Who taught you to hate the color of your skin? Who taught you to hate the texture of your hair? Who taught you to hate the shape of your nose and the shape of your lips? Who taught you to hate yourself from the top of your head to the soles of your feet? Who taught you to hate your own kind? Who taught you to hate the race that you belong to so much so that you don’t want to be around each other? You know. Before you come asking Mr. Muhammad does he teach hate, you should ask yourself who taught you to hate being what God made you.

  Source: Malcolm X

• The core message of this speech is something that is just as applicable today–if not more–as it was years ago.
• Discussion about people still being dissatisfied with the texture of their hair, their facial features, and the overall quest to appear more anglo.
• Discussion about Malcolm X’s “The Ballot or the Bullet” speech.
  

  You’re the one who has that power. You can keep Johnson in Washington D.C., or you can send him back to his Texas cotton patch. [applause] You’re the one who sent Kennedy to Washington. You’re the one who put the present Democratic administration in Washington, D.C. The whites were evenly divided. It was the fact that you threw 80 percent of your votes behind the Democrats that put the Democrats in the White House.

  When you see this, you can see that the Negro vote is the key factor. And despite the fact that you are in a position to be the determining factor, what do you get out of it? The Democrats have been in Washington, D.C. only because of the Negro vote. They’ve been down there four years. And they’re – all other legislation they wanted to bring up they’ve brought it up, and gotten it out of the way, and now they bring up you. And now they bring up you! You put them first and they put you last. Because you’re a chump! [applause] A political chump.

  In Washington, D.C., in the House of Representatives there are 257 who are Democrats. Only 177 are Republican. In the Senate there are 67 Democrats. Only 33 are Republicans. The party that you backed controls two-thirds of the House of Representatives and the Senate and still they can’t keep their promise to you. ‘Cause you’re a chump. [applause]

  Any time you throw your weight behind a political party that controls two-thirds of the government, and that party can’t keep the promise that it made to you during election-time, and you’re dumb enough to walk around continuing to identify yourself with that party, you’re not only a chump but you’re a traitor to your race. [applause]
  Source: America Radio Works

• It is 2013 and Black folks are STILL not brought up in the mainstream conversation and we have a Black president.
• Discussion about how Blacks who criticize Obama are viewed as the traitors to the race. Ironically peoples’ support of Obama for nothing in return is being a traitor to the race.
• Making the comparison of between how Obama disregards Black people to being in a bad relationship. Just take a look at Black unemployment and you will see. It’s over 13 percent for Blacks!
• Discussion about how people don’t know what the numbers and stats mean–whether to interpret them as “good” or “bad”–until the media or some other entity tells them how to feel about the numbers.
• Majority control means nothing when you are not a priority.
• Discussion about Blacks generally being anti-gay and anti-immigration–two groups whose issues the Democratic party is addressing.
• Discussion about the voting bloc as a strategic position. In terms of Obama, there was never even the threat of him not having the Black vote.
• In this “bad” relationship Blacks have with Obama, they cannot see how he really is–they are almost blind to it.
• Discussion about how Obama is starting to receive more criticism as people begin to wake up.
• Discussion about all the excuses people make for why Obama isn’t doing what he said he would do.
• Discussion about Hillary Clinton as president. She wouldn’t hesitate to drop bombs. It might be worse than a male president because of the need to prove herself as being just as tough as men.
• Discussion about Malcolm X’s speech at Oxford. If you haven’t hear it, you should check it out.
  
• Heit was surprised when Melissa Harris-Perry brought up Huey P. Long on her show. His mantra was to share the wealth–take fromt he rich and give to other people.
  
• Discussion about Long’s big gestures he used when talking.



• Discussion about how they teach people to hold their body during politics. They don’t move around much while talking.
• Discussion about the physical expectations of the president–no facial hair, not fat, tall, etc.
• Discussion about how not everyone ca be president, despite what some of you think.
• Discussion about how presidents are selected years prior to them ever running for office.
• Discussion about the impressive nature of presidents who weren’t born rich, like Barack Obama and Bill Clinton.
• Obama is highly intelligent, and everything he did at least from college on to calculate his steps
• Discussion about Obama admitting to smoking weed, versus Bill Clinton who said he didn’t inhale.
• Discussion about people feeling like Obama is “just like me.” He is not a regular person. He’s very extraordinary in areas like intelligence, drive, planning his life…
• Heit talks about his mother saying that Obama is someone she could hang out with.
• Michelle Obama is not a “regular” person either. Their daughters were NEVER regular kids. Your kids cannot go and play with Obama’s kids!
• If the country, buildings, etc belong to the people, who do the people not have open access to all of these places. You cannot just go to the White House and chill… There is a process before you can even think about gaining access.
• Thinking about how exceptional Barack Obama, Michelle Obama, Condoleeza Rice, Susan Rice, Eroc Holder, and other Blacks in high-level government positions reminded Cheri of the song “Young, Gifted, and Black.” Thes are extrordinary people, which is why it is so disappointing when they sell out.
  
• Discussion about what it would be like to have a “first gentleman” instead of “first lady”.
• Discussion about how hard it must be to resist going over to “the dark side”.
• Discussion about the choice between building your own brand and building the world to make it better for all of us.

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Topics discussed include President Obama’s bad week of scandals, the government busting down the AP and demanding phone records and emails, today’s latest scandal related to losing track of alleged “former suspected terrorists” in the witness protection program, The IRS scandal, public trust in law enforcement–or lack thereof, police busting down a couple’s front door and tasing everyone on site, the judge throwing out the Ramarley Graham case, racial profiling by cops, cops of one race policing people of other races, privatizing police, New Orleans Mother’s Day parade shooting, Ariel Castro’s family turning on him, Charles Ramsey being told he needs to be more mainstream, why we should be checking ourselves about the expectations we have of other people to adhere to the system that we ourselves hate, and more!

• Discussion about President Obama’s bad week of scandals.
• We’ve been telling y’all tht Obama is 10 times worse than Bush, but now you’re beginning to see.
• Discussion about the government busting down the AP and demanding phone records and emails to try to find out whhere government leaks came from.
  

  Four members of the House of Representatives introduced legislation on Thursday that would prevent agencies from obtaining phone records from Americans without a court order, in the wake of the controversy involving the Justice Department subpoenaing Associated Press phone records.

  H.R. 2014, the Telephone Records Protection Act, was introduced by Rep. Justin Amash (R-Mich.), Rep. Zoe Lofgren (D-Calif.), Rep. Mick Mulvaney (R-S.C.) and Rep. Jared Polis (D-Colo.) and would require court approval for the government to demand phone records from service providers.

  “The Justice Department’s seizure of the AP’s phone records — likely without the sign-off of a single judge — raises serious First and Fourth Amendment concerns. Regardless of whether DOJ violates the legitimate privacy expectations of reporters or ordinary Americans, we deserve to know that the federal government can’t seize our records without judicial review,” Amash said in a statement.

  “Americans of all political stripes were shocked to find out that the Department of Justice had been accessing telephone records of reporters at the Associated Press,” Polis stated. “The Department of Justice claims that they operated within the confines of the law, which makes it abundantly clear that we need to provide a higher level of protection against government intrusion into an individual’s private records. I am excited to be working with Representatives Amash, Lofgren, and Mulvaney on this important privacy protection bill.”

  Source: Huffington Post

• Discussion about today’s latest scandal related to terrorists in the witness protection program.
  

  U.S. officials lost track of two suspected terrorists after they were given cover in the federal witness protection program, according to a bombshell report.

  In July, the U.S. Marshals Service said it was “unable to locate two former WITSEC (Witness Security Program) participants identified as known or suspected terrorists,” according to a Justice Department Inspector General report obtained by CNN.

  After investigating the incident, the service “concluded that one individual was (a known terrorist) and the other individual was believed to be residing outside of the United States,” the report stated.

  A Justice Department official, responding the report, told CNN that the two witnesses had left the witness program “years ago” and had been accounted for.
  Source: New York Daily News

• Discussion about Obama’s press conference with the prime minister of Turkey. At one point the president confirms that he has not lost confidence in Attorney General Eric Holder.
  
• It’s only a scandal if it is your political opposition.
• Discussion about the government making leaks on purpose, but getting mad when there are unauthorized leaks from their ranks. They are mad about not controlling the spin.
• Obama always says he didn’t know about [insert scandal], and then turns the direction to addressing the problem. They also say there is an ongoing investigation and they can’t give details. Foolishness!
• No organization should be tax exempt. If we have to pay taxes, so should they.
• Discussion about the unequal application of government policies and laws.
• Discussion about mixing of church and politics. Remember when Eric Holder and others visited Black churches to tell them how to talk about voting for Obama without getting into IRS trouble.
  
• Discussion about the replacement of the head guy at the IRS–Steven Miller. How does firing the head guy change the culture? It doesn’t, which is how you know this is all just for show.
  

  Steven Miller, who resigned on Wednesday as the acting head of the Internal Revenue Service, said in a message to colleagues that there is a “strong and immediate need” to restore public trust in the nation’s tax agency.
  Miller resigned after the IRS became embroiled in a controversy over the agency’s targeting of conservative groups for extra scrutiny.

  “It is with regret that I will be departing from the IRS as my acting assignment ends in early June,” Miller said in an internal message that was released by the IRS. “This has been an incredibly difficult time for the IRS given the events of the past few days, and there is a strong and immediate need to restore public trust in the nation’s tax agency.”
  Source: Reuters

• If the IRS is not part of the government, what is it?
• Discussion about public trust in law enforcement–or lack thereof.
• Discussion about police busting down a couple’s front door and tasing everyone on site.
  
• Remember Ramarley Graham–the unarmed teen NYPD police chased into the bathroom of his own home and executed back in February 2012?

  A judge has thrown out the manslaughter indictment against the officer on a technicality related to jury instructions. The judge says prosecutors can present the case again. Ramarley’s mother could not contain her cry, “they killed my child,” when it because evident that the case would be thrown out.

  There will always be a “technicality” to let folks off when it comes to justice for police killings and brutality, or so it seems…

  A judge threw out manslaughter charges on Wednesday against a New York Police Department officer accused of killing an unarmed suspect last year in a Bronx home — a ruling that prompted a courtroom outburst by the victim’s mother and a vow by prosecutors to still pursue the case.

  Constance Malcolm screamed “they killed my child” when it became clear that the judge was about to rule in favor of Officer Richard Haste. Court officers immediately removed her.

  When order was restored, Judge Steven Barrett told spectators, “I regret that there are people who are hurt by this,” but insisted that the law required him to dismiss the indictment.

  As Haste left the courtroom, protesters yelled, “Murderer!” The officer did not speak to news reporters.

  Haste had been charged in the fatal shooting of 18-year-old Ramarley Graham during a police operation targeting street-corner drug dealing. He and other officers pursued Graham into his Bronx apartment where the teen was shot at close range. No gun was recovered.

  The judge ruled Wednesday that prosecutors, in giving instructions to grand jurors, had improperly left the impression the jury shouldn’t consider evidence that other officers had radioed Haste in advance to warn him that they thought Graham had a gun. The defense claimed that was one of the reasons Haste used deadly force. Haste has said he believed Graham had a gun and was going to shoot him.
  Source: New York Post

• What would be cause for the cops to bust in someone’s home? Nothing! The cops need to accept if they lost the suspect. When they lose sight, they feel it is okay to shake up the entire neighborhood.
• We should not be in a situation that we fear the police.
• People are being killed by the police–murdered. They are not being charged, which says that these deaths are deemed necessary by the state.
• You cannot call the police on the police.
• Discussion about a man who was arrested by an off-duty cop basically for nothing. The cop though that the man was drinking in public and felt embarrassed so he had to make an arrest. To top it off, the police who came to take the man in refused to view the evidence on video of what happened.
  
• The police feel like they can just come in and do whatever they like.
• Discussion about racial profiling by cops.
• The authority of police offers is too easily abused. In addition, there is the issue of having one race police another. It sends the wrong message to the community–especially the children. It establishes the white authority as the authority at a young age.
• Discussion about privatizing police. A group of officers charge affluent neighborhoods to police them, then use the money they make to police the poor neighborhoods. Police are police. Authority is authority.
  
• Discussion about people try to control others by suggesting that what they want is “best for everyone”.
• Discussion about the 19 people getting shot or somehow injured at a New Orleans Mother’s Day parade. The media barely covered this event. It’s probably because those affected were poor and/or Black.
  

  The New Orleans Police Department has arrested 19-year-old Akein Scott in connection with the shooting of 19 people on Mother’s Day, according to sources.

  Police charged Scott with 20 counts of attempted second-degree murder.

  Sources say Scott was apprehended in the Little Woods area of New Orleans East. Police haven’t released details on how they arrested him.
  Scott had been on the run for the three days since the shooting.

  NOPD Superintendent Ronal Serpas said on Monday they had “multiple identifications” of Scott as the shooter. Serpas said his department received a “tremendous” amount of tips from Crimestoppers. There had been a $10,000 reward for information leading to Scott’s arrest.
  Surveillance video captured the shooting. There was a chaotic rush away from the gunman after shots rang out, and in all 10 men, seven women, a boy and a girl were shot. The children, both 10 years old, suffered graze wounds. No one died in the shooting.
  Source: WWLTV

• Discussion about Ariel Castro’s family saying that he is dead to them and that they hope he tors in prison.
  
• In the end, that is still their brother. Obviously he has issues, so how can they say they hope he rots?
• Apparently they are trying to distance themselves from him, but how they have responded is sad.
• The reporters are calling Castro a monster.
• Discussion about the changes in CNN. More British people, a few new Blacks, and fewer single show hosts.
• The Blacks on CNN are “exotic” looking Black people with ambiguous race features. There are absolutely no brown or dark brown people on CNN now.
• They should give Charles Ramsey a show. The way people are talking about him reinforce what he said about being a Black man.
• Discussion about Monique basically saying that what Charles Ramsey did was great, but now he needs new clothes and his hair done. If his look was good enough to resuce those women, then it is good enough.
  
• Why must people be expected to adhere to the mainstream ideal of dress and appearance when they have done something good. What he looks like or sounds like has nothing to do with the good that he did.
• We should be checking ourselves about the expectations we have of other people to adhere to the system that we ourselves hate…

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• Heit & Cheri discuss their decision to bring back the music shows on a weekly basis.

Song 1: “Gangsta” – Kat Dahlia

[Hook]
You say you a gangsta, that don’t impress me none
You say you a gangsta, ain’t seen a thing you done
I do it all on myself, I ain’t getting help
From no one, from no one

Yeah I’m young, 21, living in a crazy world
But I know the difference between a man and a herb
You frontin like you got it, claim they hittin on your wallet
Gucci tellin you the time and you watch it,
Now I ain’t stuntin like my daddy, he’s livin with my grammie
Used to be a big baller, he’s survivin off of gamblin
But I love him, he’s my daddy, yeah I love him he’s my daddy
Put him in a big house, before I ever see a grammy

And my mommy started working days at the church
Finding faith in God ’cause the real world hurts
So much evil lurks, they just make us work
But we can’t find work
Abuella, mommy and the girls, in a one bedroom
South beach lifestyle, they just paying for the view
Mommy on the couch, since she was 42
Sacrificing for the kids, ’cause that’s what mommys do
So I smoke my spliff, I spliff it hard
Candy says to stop, my voice is getting too harsh
So I sobered up, and my thoughts they rush
And now I think of you behind bars
Cross state lines, they spliffin’ good
In Miami you catch a charge
And the whole family tears apart

[Hook] x 2
You say you a gangsta, that don’t impress me none
You say you a gangsta, ain’t seen a thing you done
I do it all on myself, I ain’t getting help
From no one, from no one

And this recession’s so depressin
My parents don’t stop stressin
Just hopin I learned all their lessons
And I’m paying for this session
I’m paying for this session
And I’m paying rent, food, clothes, phone, christmas presents
6 shots in, I’m just countin all my blessings
No days off baby I ain’t restin
I told my sins, now I’m done confessin

[Hook] x 2
You say you a gangsta, but that don’t impress me none
You say you a gangsta, ain’t seen a thing you done
I do it all on myself, I ain’t getting help
From no one, from no one

On way to the top, I make with what I got
You want my number baby, I’m on a mission, catch up
Men sellin love like thieves
But when the girlie leaves, he’ll stop flirtin with me
So I took my heart off my sleeve
Never trust a man ’cause they all hungry
Yeah they all hungry
Never trust a man ’cause they all hungry

Right when you thought you had me
Baby you just lost someone
Finally got over you, baby time to move on
Never learned your lesson, ain’t even gonna question
Why it went so wrong
Right when you thought you had me
Baby you just lost someone
Finally got over you, baby time to move on
Never learned your lesson, ain’t even gonna question
Why it went so wrong

You say you a gangsta, that don’t impress me none
You say you a gangsta, ain’t seen a thing you done

• The delivery and the lyrics of this song are awesome!
• The beat has the fusion of Hip Hop and Soul at the same time. She delivers the songlike a rap song, which allows her to get a lot of lyrics into the song.
• Heit & Cheri both liked the lyrics:
  

  Now I ain’t stuntin like my daddy, he’s livin with my grammie
  Used to be a big baller, he’s survivin off of gamblin
  But I love him, he’s my daddy, yeah I love him he’s my daddy
  Put him in a big house, before I ever see a grammy

• Cheri also liked the part where Kat talks about her mother and her connection to religion. So many people go to church for some semblance of hope–they’re searching for something and go to church to feel better about the condition.
  

  And my mommy started working days at the church
  Finding faith in God ’cause the real world hurts

• Discussion about Kat saying that she confessed everything and now she’s done confessing.
• Discussion about Kat’s other songs and how this song stands out.
• Discussion about the lyric where she says that people are just paying for the view in the South Beach lifestyle. A lot of people can’t even pay for the views
  

  South beach lifestyle, they just paying for the view

• Discussion about the materialistic culture explored in the lyrics “Gucci telling you the time and you watch it.” They are telling you both the literal and figurative time, what you should be wanting in your life, and you’re watching it.
• Discussion about the relationship aspect of the song.
• Discussion about the person who is basically posing as a gangsta, rather than actually being a gangsta–taking control of your environment.
• Discussion about Kat saying that she’s on her way to the top and the guy posing as a gangsta is actually behind her.
• Discussion about the duality of the line
• Discussion about the Spanish version of the song. Cheri preferred the Spanish because it seems more natural and smooth. Heit liked the English version better because of the roughness of her voice.
  
• Gangsta is gangsta no matter the language.
• Discussion about listening to a song that is in a foreign language and not being able to understand the lyrics. Think about people who live in other countries, but listen to American music and don’t speak English.
• Discussion about people learning to speak English by listening to the music and watching American TV.
• Discussion about material pursuits in life and the question of whether our ideals align with the way we have chosen to live our lives. We say material things are not important, but we set up our lives in such a way that we are enslaved into maintaining a lifestyle of excess. If we can figure out how to minimize our lifestyle such that we don’t have to participate in wage slavery. Of course, people need to be able to distinguish between wants and needs.

Song 2: “No Guns Allowed” – Snoop Lion Featuring Cori B. and Drake

[Verse 1: Snoop Lion & Cori B]
Money makes a man and that’s a crime
If we all were rich we’d spend more time
With our daughters and sons, they’re loosing their minds
We all feel hurt here’s mine, here me now

[Chorus: Snoop Lion & Cori B]
Cause, no guns are allowed in here tonight
We’re gonna have a free for all, no fights
I wanna get lost in the crowd in here tonight
I need to hear my thoughts turn the music up loud

[Hook: Snoop Lion]
Let the music play, me don’t want no more gun-play
When the bodies hit the ground, there’s nothing let to say ay ay
Me don’t want to see no more innocent blood shed
Me don’t want to see no more youth dead
Come hear me now

[Chorus:]

[Verse 2: Drake]
Yeah, yeah, yeah, news from back home
This is when it hurts to be gone
Two more young names to be carved out of stone
one summer day that went horribly wrong
Got my dawg on the phone
Crying and saying to leave him alone
But I’m not leaving his side
I know that somebody died, somebody’s child
Some people ducked down and some people hide
Some people just cannot react in time
Bullets do not choose a victim
It is the shooter that picks them
They just cant wait to get you in the system
The district attorney could use a conviction
Told you no guns and then you didn’t listen
Life is so heavy with that on your soul
Dedicate this to Shayne and Josh
and pour something out for the lives that they stole
416

[Chorus:]

[Outro: Snoop Lion & Cori B]
Money makes a man and that’s a crime [2x]
I wanna get lost in the crowd in here tonight

• Discussion about Snoop Dogg changing his name to Snoop Lion and taking a more Reggae turn with his music.
• Discussion about a conversation with Daniel Coffeen in which Heit mentioned people having difficulty viewing others in a different light. People wanted Snoop to do more positive music, yet they criticize him when he tried to do this.



• Cori B is Snoop’s daughter.
• The song has an awesome message. People were trying to say this song was a gun control song, but they’re wrong. What they’re saying is that there is no NEED to have guns because they are having a good time. This is an anti-violence song, not an anti-gun song.
• The auto-tuning in this song worked.
• Cheri liked the hook as her favorite part of the song. Heit liked the line, “If we all were rich, we’d spend more time.” It’s pointing to the point that you don’t need money to be rich, but if you were rich with money, you wouldn’t have to spend your efforts trying to get money–you could just live and spend time doing what you enjoy. this is the envy of people who have money. the money buys things and time. You don’t have to slave away just to maintain yourself.
• Discussion about Drake’s verse. Heit thinks this is the best verse he’s ever heard from Drake.
• Discussion about the line, “Bullets do not choose the victim, it’s the shooter that picks them. It is the shooter’s or droner’s decision to take that action that resulted in the injury and or death of others.
• Discussion about Israel’s bombing of Syria being the same as American taxpayers doing it because that’s who helped to pay for it.

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Topics discussed include the completion of the spire on One World Trade Center, the hotel in Vegas that cooks people alive due to the glare of the sun off of the building, it costing $900K per “detainee” per year at Guantanamo Bay Detention Facility, an 83-year-old nun who broke into a federal depleted uranium storage facility as a protest, the NRA’s new president who plans to help them fight anti-gun laws in court, a comparison between the effectiveness of the ACLU versus the NAACP, a theater that paid an actor to dress up as a gunman and enter theaters playing Iron Man 3 as a promotional stunt, John McCain pushing legislation for a la carte cable channels, people who watch and believe Fox News, Heit buying a New Edition cassette tape for $0.49 and then telling his Facebook friend Ron DeVoe (of New Edition) that he got the tape at a deep discount, basic cable not including CNN and other news channels, Hulu and Netflix, TV series with terrible endings, and more!

• Discussion about the completion of the spire on One World Trade Center, making it the tallest building in the Northern Hemisphere–1776 feet tall. Symbolism!

  Workers cheered and whistled as they completed the spire on New York’s One World Trade Center on Friday, raising the building to its full height of 1,776 feet and helping fill a void in the skyline left by the September 11, 2001 attacks.

  The spire makes the building the tallest building in the Western Hemisphere, 47 feet taller than Chicago’s Willis Tower, though it is substantially shorter than towers in the Middle East and Asia.
  Source: Reuters

• Discussion about other tall buildings in Asia and the Middle East.
• Discussion about a building that gave people sun burns and caused accidents due to the glare. Here’s a discussion about a similar building receiving complaints in Dallas.
  

  The mirrored siding on the new museum tower in downtown Dallas is racking up more complaints, this time from residents down the street at One Arts Plaza.

  They said the city’s newest skyscraper gives off a blinding glare.

  If the sun’s out, the problem is clear.

  “You really cannot look outside,” said Petey Parker, a resident at One Arts Plaza.
  Parker has a stunning view from her home on the 19th floor. But every morning, she said she is confronted by the sun’s blinding glare reflected off the Museum Tower.

  “This will last anywhere from 15 to 30 minutes,” Parker said. “It just depends. That’s too long.”
  No one disputes the new skyscraper is an attractive addition to Dallas’ skyline. But the Nasher Sculpture Center was the first to express concern and request that the building’s mirrored siding be muted.

  The museum worries that the sharp glare from the 42-story Museum Tower is damaging its priceless art.

  The city asked attorney Tom Luce to mediate between both sides, but so far, no fix has been found.

  Parker says it’s not just the Nasher facing this glaring problem. “We’re worried about our property value,” she said.
  And she’s not alone.

  At least one other resident in One Arts Plaza has also expressed concern about the Museum Tower’s mirrored siding.
  “You cannot destroy somebody else’s property,” Parker said.

  Residents here want in on Luce’s negotiations. They’re happy to have neighbors, but demand the Museum Tower finds a fix.
  Source: WFAA



• Discussion about the Vdara Hotel in Vegas that cooks people alive due to the glare of the sun off of the building. The temperatures were estimated at 210 degrees Farenheit!

  Holidaymakers at a new hotel in Las Vegas have been left with severe sunburn after the building’s windows reflected ‘death rays’ onto certain areas around the pool.

  The Vdara hotel has a concave shape which reflects the blistering Nevada sun from its all-glass front and directly onto sections of the swimming pool area below

  The result has left some guests with burns from the powerful rays and even plastic bags have been recorded as melting in the heat.
  Source: Daily Mail

• Discussion about the buildings that will replace the twin towers.
• Discussion about it costing $900K per “detainee” per year at Guantanamo Bay Detention Facility.
  

  It’s been dubbed the most expensive prison on Earth and President Barack Obama cited the cost this week as one of many reasons to shut down the detention center at Guantanamo Bay, which burns through some $900,000 per prisoner annually.
  The Pentagon estimates it spends about $150 million each year to operate the prison and military court system at the U.S. Naval Base in Cuba, which was set up 11 years ago to house foreign terrorism suspects. With 166 inmates currently in custody, that amounts to an annual cost of $903,614 per prisoner.

  By comparison, super-maximum security prisons in the United States spend about $60,000 to $70,000 at most to house their inmates, analysts say. And the average cost across all federal prisons is about $30,000, they say.

  The high cost was just one reason Obama cited when he returned this week to an unfulfilled promise to close the prison and said he would try again. Obama also said that the prison, set up under his Republican predecessor George W. Bush and long the target of criticism by rights groups and foreign governments, is a stain on the reputation of the United States.
  Source: Reuters

• For that kind of money, the detainees should be living in a lap of luxury. It’s iornic that Obama was the one talking about the expense of the prison.
• It is misleading that the $900K per year per inmate is the amount they say goes for each inmate. Actually, they probably took the total cost to operate the prison and divided it by the number of prisoners.
• Close the prison already!
• How will the government know how to operate the prison efficiently?
• Discussion about an 83 year-old nun who broke into a federal depleted uranium storage facility as a protest.
  

  An 83-year-old nun who broke into a Tennessee depleted uranium storage facility in 2012 and splashed human blood on several surfaces, exposing a massive security hole at the nation’s only facility used to store radioactive conventional munitions, was convicted Wednesday and faces a term of up to 20 years in prison.

  The only regret Sister Megan Rice shared with members of her jury on Wednesday was that she wished 70 years hadn’t passed before she took direct action, according to the BBC. She and two other peace activists, 64-year-old Michael Walli and 56-year-old Greg Boertje-Obed, were convicted of “invasion of a nuclear facility” in Oak Ridge, Tennessee, even though investigators admitted they did not get close to any actual nuclear material.

  The three activists are part of a group called “Transform Now Plowshares,” a reference to the book of Isaiah, which says, “They shall beat their swords into plowshares. They shall learn war no more.” All three face individual sentences of up to 20 years, along with a litany of fines.

  As they invaded the Y-12 National Security Complex at Oak Ridge, a perimeter fence was cut, several surfaces were spray-painted, banners were hung and activists read from the Bible. They also spread human blood on several surfaces, saying its use was symbolic, meant to remind people “of the horrific spilling of blood by nuclear weapons.”

  “The shortcomings in security at one of the most dangerous places on the planet have embarrassed a lot of people,” the activists’ attorney, Francis Lloyd, told members of the jury according to the BBC. “You’re looking at three scapegoats behind me.”

  Sister Rice has been arrested between 40 or 50 times committing acts of civil disobedience, according to The New York Times, including once in Nevada after she physically blocked a truck at a nuclear test site.
  Source: Raw Story

• They let three senior citizens break into the nuclear facility… Think about that for a minute.
• Maybe we need more senior citizen activists, because they seem to have less fear–they’ve already raised their children and have fewer career concerns.
• Discussion about the NRA’s new president who plans to help them fight anti-gun laws in court.
  

  Alabama lawyer Jim Porter, in line to become the next president of the National Rifle Association, is expected to spearhead the group’s court challenges of gun-control laws enacted in several states since the Newtown, Connecticut, school shooting massacre.

  Porter, 64, the son of another Alabama lawyer who served as NRA president from 1959 to 1961, is likely to succeed David Keene on Monday in the two-year post at the nation’s leading gun-rights organization.

  The longtime member is chairman of the legal affairs committee for the NRA, which has headed off federal attempts to approve new gun ownership restrictions, including a U.S. Senate proposal last month for expanded background checks.

  Porter told NRA members at their annual convention in Houston on Saturday that President Barack Obama was “AWOL” on border security, the deficit and national security, but “scheming and plotting” to take away Americans’ gun rights.
  Source: Reuters

• every time folks talk about gun rights, the conversation always turns to the NRA. Nevertheless, individuals can benefit from their efforts to maintain gun rights, even if they disagree on their overall ideology.
• Discussion about Texas enacting laws to prevent the federal government from instituting gun control. They have even written in the right to arrest federal officers attempting to enforce gun control in the state.
  

  The Texas House approved a bushel of bills Saturday to further soften gun laws that were already among the country’s most firearms-friendly, allowing college students to carry handguns in class, putting potentially armed marshals in public schools and exempting the state from any future federal bans on assault rifles, high-capacity magazines or universal background checks.

  Dubbed “gun day” by supporters and opponents alike, the parade of votes came as tens of thousands of members of the National Rifle Association attended the group’s annual convention in Houston. Gov. Rick Perry welcomed convention attendees Friday with a video of him taking target practice using a semi-automatic rifle.

  The 12 approved gun bills must all clear final, procedural votes before heading to the state Senate. Still, they advanced with only minimal delay, cruising past Democrat-led efforts to block or stall them. Nearly all were approved by simple voice votes.
  Source: Fox News

• Discussion on a comparison between the ACLU and the NAACP. The ACLU is actually fighting a lot of pertinent issues.
• Discussion about the NAACP being on the wrong side of history with a lot of the B.S. that they push–things like co-signing the jailing of people who sag their pants.
• We cannot forget that the ACLU has lots more money than the NAACP.
• Discussion about a theater that paid an actor to dress up as a gunman and enter theaters playing Iron Man 3 as a promotional stunt.
  

  Operators of a Missouri movie theater apologized Friday for a stunt in which an actor dressed in black, wearing body armor and carrying a fake rifle walked in to the movie house.

  The stunt occurred during a promotion for the movie “Iron Man 3″ last weekend at the Goodrich Capital 8 Theaters in Jefferson City. Actors appeared at the theater, including some dressed as officers and one as Iron Man. Another actor was wearing what appeared to be assault gear and carrying a rifle.

  Some moviegoers were frightened and called 911, recalling the shooting in July at a Colorado theater during the premiere of “The Dark Knight Rises.” That attack killed 12 people and injured dozens others, and authorities said the gunman was dressed in police-style body armor.
  Management of the Jefferson City theater apologized on the theater’s Facebook page, saying it was meant to be part of the entertainment. They noted that similar dress-up promotions have occurred at past movies.

  “We apologize and are sympathetic to those who felt they were in harm’s way with our character promotion for Iron Man 3,” the Friday posting read. “We didn’t clearly tell our customers and some people didn’t realize it was for entertainment purposes only.”
  Source: Fox News

• Is an apology enough for the experience that the moviegoers endured?
• It is hard to believe that there was a consensus on sending what appeared to be an armed person entering a theater after the Aurora Colorado shootings.
• Discussion about Iron Man 3 breaking all sorts of box office records. It was the second-most grossing film of all time.
  

  Even though “Oz the Great and Powerful” was the number one movie during the quarter, and “Iron Man 3”, which kicks off the 2013 summer movie season, is off to a very strong start there is some concern for the movie box office this year. Part of that is fueled by such a strong year last year with Disney’s “The Avengers”, Time Warner TWX -0.05%’s “The Dark Knight Rises”, Lions Gate Entertainment LGF -0.65%’s “The Hunger Games”, Sony ’s latest James Bond adventure in “Skyfall”, the first movie in “The Hobbit” trilogy and another “Twilight” movie. Those movies and others led to a $10.8 billion movie box office in 2012, the highest on record. Helping the box office was the increasing percentage of movies that came in the 3D and IMAX formats as they bumped up ticket prices. Average ticket prices finished 2012 at $7.96, a new record.
  Source: Forbes

• Discussion about John McCain pushing legislation for a la carte cable channels.
  

  Hate having to pay for hundreds of cable TV channels when you watch less than a dozen? How about those blackout rules that make it so you can’t watch your favorite NFL team when a home game isn’t sold out?

  If Sen. John McCain gets his way — and that’s a big “if” — those two annoyances could be a thing of the past.

  Sen. McCain introduced a bill Thursday in Congress, the Television Consumer Freedom Act of 2013. The act would “encourage the wholesale and retail unbundling of programming by distributors and programmers.”

  That means if you want to subscribe to a single cable channel, such as ESPN, you would be able to do that without subscribing to any others.

  Here’s how the senior Senator from Arizona introduced his bill: “For over 15 years I have supported giving consumers the ability to buy cable channels individually, also known as ‘a la carte’ — to provide consumers more control over viewing options in their home and, as a result, their monthly cable bill.”

  In theory, this bill would make compliance with his a la carte plan voluntary. But program providers would be enticed into complying because of another law he wants to attach to the bill: one that makes dealing with copyright much easier for cable networks.

  If cable and satellite programming purveyors wanted to enjoy the sweet deal they enjoy now — one where broadcast stations are forced to license their content to the cable and satellite providers — they’ll have to play along with McCain’s a la carte plan.
  Source: Mashable

• Speculation about the cost of a la carte cable channels to the consumers.
• Discussion about whether expanding market share or bottom line profits are more important to the cable providers.
• Discussion about basic cable not including CNN and other news channels.
• Discussion about Fox News being the number two cable station overall and people who believe the foolishness that they push.
• Discussion about the ways cable companies will nickle and dime consumers.



• Discussion about Heit buying a New Edition cassette tape for $0.49 and then telling Ron DeVoe that he got the tape at a deep discount.



• Discussion about the logistics of having to rewind a cassette tape.
• Discussion about Hulu and Netflix.
• Discussion about Heit & Cheri watching Doogie Howser MD on Hulu Plus. The ending was terrible! The worst ending that we’ve ever seen was Hawthorne though. They just shut that down before they could finish the storyline. It ended on a cliffhanger.
• Cedric the Entertainer talking about how Black shows end abruptly.
• Heit & Cheri talk about the one series that they are watching in real time–Grey’s Anatomy.
• Maybe John McCain should just stick to cable and domestic entertainment issues–not foreign policy…

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Topics discussed include Bill Maher’s panel discussion about the Benghazi attacks, the murder of Malcolm X’s grandson and the story that is being told by the man who was with him at the time he was injured and killed, Assata Shakur being added to the FBI’s top terrorist list, labeling political activists as terrorists, people who think the Black Panthers were a violent organization, and more!

• Discussion about Bill Maher’s panel discussion about the Benghazi attacks.
  
• Discussion about one of the panelists saying that bringing up slavery is a “cheap” shot in a conversation about the Revolutionary War. They built their whole economic system on this notion of free forced slave labor. The whites were “freed” with the war, but what about the Africans they enslaved?
• Discussion about the U.S., and the Western world in general, trying to impose their way of life on other people.
• Discussion about Sharia Law and a comparison to slavery.
• The U.S. Constitution was set up such that rich white men ran everything.
• Discussion about Bill Maher being destroyed by one of the guests on his show. Maher tried to say that Christians and Jews have not been as violent as Muslims in present day.
• Discussion about the military conquests of the U.S. having something to do with the backlash from other countries.
• Economics and the religion are what’s behind the U.S.’s global conquests. This is part of the issue behind why the US supports Israel over Palestine.
• This is why people need to understand history AND current events–so you can know when one of these pundits try to say something that is untrue.
• Discussion about missionaries being sent into Africa.
• It is important to get to the bottom of what happened with Benghazi.
• Speculation that the government lied on purpose about Benghazi to avoid it impacting the election.
• Discussion about the murder of Malcolm X’s grandson and the story that is being told by the man who was with him at the time he was injured and killed.
  

  Malcolm Shabazz, grandson of political activist Malcolm X, died in Mexico City after a violent dispute in a bar, Mexican authorities said Friday. He was 28.

  City prosecutors are investigating the attack that sent Shabazz to a nearby hospital where he died Thursday of blunt-force trauma injuries. United States officials confirmed that Shabazz was killed in Mexico City. [...]

  Labor activist Miguel Suarez, who was traveling with Shabazz, told The Associated Press that his friend was beaten up at a bar near Plaza Garibaldi, a downtown square that is home to Mexico City’s mariachis.

  Plaza Garibaldi is popular with tourists, but the pair were at a bar across the street from the plaza in an area of rough dive bars tourists are warned against going to.

  Suarez said he and Shabazz were lured to the bar on Wednesday night by a young woman who made conversation with the American in English. The Palace bar is on one of Mexico City’s busiest avenues.

  “We were dancing with the girls and drinking,” said Suarez. Then the owner of the bar wanted them to pay a $1,200 bar tab, alleging that they should pay for music, drinks and the girls’ companionship.

  “We pretty much got hassled,” he said. “A short dude came with a gun.”

  Suarez said he was taken by the man to a separate room. Shabazz stayed in the hall. Suarez said he heard a violent commotion in the hall and escaped from the room and the bar altogether as he saw half-naked girls running away, picking up their skirts from the dance floor.

  Minutes later, Suarez came back in a cab to look for Shabazz and found him on the ground outside the bar severely injured.

  “He was in shock. His face was messed up,” said Suarez. “He was alive.”

  “I grabbed him, and I called the cops,” said Suarez, who was recently deported from the United States.

  He said he took Shabazz to a hospital but his friend died hours later of blunt-force injuries.

  Suarez said Shabazz had traveled to Mexico to support him and his movement advocating for more rights for construction workers. He crossed the border from San Diego to Tijuana with Suarez’s mother and then the pair took a bus all the way to Mexico City.

  “We were planning to go to Teotihuacan, to see the Aztec pyramids,” he said.

  U.S. State Department spokesman Patrick Ventrell did not offer details on whether they are working with Mexican investigators.

  “We’ve been in contact with family members and have been providing appropriate… assistance,” Ventrell said. “At their request, we have no further comment at this time.”

  The Shabazz family said in a statement they were saddened to hear of X’s grandson death.
  Source: Huffington Post

• How was he able to run if he was put into a room? It sounds like the woman lured him to a particular place and they put him into a situation. Was this a government setup or was this a setup for robbery?
• Malcolm Shabazz had posted some things about construction in Mexico, but these posts seem to have disappeared.
• Why does it seem like in high-profile cases the person’s social media footprint is altered?
• Shabazz talked about believing his accounts were being hacked and he also talked about the powerful enemies he had.
• What would be the motive for killing Malcolm Shabazz? This could be a test run to see how people react. Also recall that the government just added Assata Shakur to the FBI’s top terrorist list.
• We have the test case of Anwar al-Awlaki (and is son) being killed, along with Assata Shakur being added to the terrorist list. Now it seems as if the case is being made for assassinating U.S. citizens on the basis of being terrorists or terrorist-leanings, regardless of whether they committed a crime or not. Essentially they can label people as terrorists and then put a hit out on them.



• Discussion about Assata Shakur being added to the top terrorist list.

  The FBI added Assata Shakur to its Most Wanted Terrorist List today. In addition, the state of New Jersey announced it was adding $1 million to the FBI’s $1 million reward for her capture. Shakur becomes the first woman ever to make the list and only the second domestic terrorist to be added to the list.

  Assata Shakur, the former Joanne Chesimard, was a member of the Black Panther Party and Black Liberation Army. She was convicted in the May 2, 1973 killing of a New Jersey police officer during a shoot-out that left one of her fellow activists dead. She was shot twice by police during the incident. In 1979, she managed to escape from jail. Shakur fled to Cuba where she received political asylum. She once wrote, “I am a 20th century escaped slave. Because of government persecution, I was left with no other choice than to flee from the political repression, racism and violence that dominate the U.S. government’s policy towards people of color.”

  In 1998, Democracy Now! aired Shakur reading an open letter to Pope John Paul II during his trip to Cuba. She wrote the message after New Jersey state troopers sent the Pope a letter asking him to call for her extradition.
  
  Source: Democracy Now

• At this point you can simply have an ideology and this is being justification for indefinite detention or assassination.
• the timing of the Shakur announcement curiously coincides with the anniversary of killing of Bin Laden and was also shortly after the Boston bombing.
• Discussion about labeling political activists as terrorists. They are basically criminalizing people who are nonviolent protesters who are willing to defend themselves should the need arise.
• Discussion about Blacks and others who think that the Black Panthers were a violent organization. They obviously don’t know their history. Go back and read the ideologies of the people involved. Read and watch what they actually had to say. Also, go and read what the FBI and government had to say about MLK. If they said those things about King, then you already know what they said about groups like the Black Panthers is some BS.

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Topics discussed include the latest in the Ariel Castro Cleveland captives case, the Benghazi hearings, Obama’s campaign to kick off sales for his healthcare program, Malcolm X’s grandson being murdered in Mexico, a guy who was pulled over for not wearing a seat belt run over and killed by police, a Georgia high school student being suspended for four days by the principal for posting a photo of the principals’ mug shot on Instagram, high school student Jeff Bliss going off on his teacher in a viral video because she failed to teach the class, whether all telephone calls are recorded and accessible by the U.S. government, the U.S. considering widespread overhauls of wiretapping laws, a torrent which will allow you to create a gun with a 3-D printer, a judge ordering Lauryn Hill to seek counseling for what amounts to her conspiracy theorist views, and more!

• Discussion about the latest in the Ariel Castro Cleveland captives case.

  An Ohio prosecutor said he may seek the death penalty against Ariel Castro, the Cleveland man charged today with the kidnap and rape of three women he allegedly brutalized for a decade while allegedly inducing abortions in at least one of the captives.

  “Capital punishment must be reserved for those crimes that are truly the worst examples of human conduct,” Cuyahoga County Prosecutor Timothy McGinty said today, indicating that Castro will likely face additional charges of aggravated murder related to the pregnancies.

  The death penalty is applicable under Ohio law for the “most depraved criminals who commit aggravated murder during the course of a kidnapping,” McGinty said.

  Castro allegedly induced abortions in one of his victims, Michele Knight, 32, on at least five separate occasions by punching her in the stomach.

  But another alleged captive, Amanda Berry, carried a child to term, delivering the now 6-year-old girl in a plastic kiddie pool, police said.
  Source: ABC

• Discussion about the Benghazi hearings, and trying to get to the bottom of where the narrative of the Libyan protesters being fuled by an anti-Islamic YouTube video originated. This was the narrative that Susan Rice delivered immediately following the embassy attack.
  

  President Barack Obama’s administration fought back on Friday against Republican accusations that it covered up details of last year’s deadly assault on a U.S. mission in Libya, after a news report that memos on the incident were edited to omit a CIA warning of a threat posed by al Qaeda.
  The report by ABC News gave new momentum to the highly partisan flap over whether the administration tried to avoid casting the September 11, 2012, attack as terrorism at a time when the presidential election was less than two months away.

  ABC released 12 versions of the administration’s “talking points” on Benghazi that appeared to show how various agencies – particularly the State Department and the CIA – shaped what became the Obama’s administration’s initial playbook for explaining how four Americans, including U.S. Ambassador Christopher Stevens, were killed in the attack.

  The report came two days after a hearing by a House of Representatives committee in which Gregory Hicks, a former U.S. diplomat in Libya, gave a dramatic account of the night of the attack and what he described as a poorly handled response to it.
  Source: Reuters

• Discussion about a criminal investigation being opened related to the recent fertilizer plant explosion in Texas.
  

  Texas officials are launching a criminal investigation into the fertilizer plant explosion last month in West, Texas, the state Department of Public Safety said Friday.

  DPS Director Steven McCraw directed the Texas Rangers to join McLennan County Sheriff Parnell McNamara in the investigation, according to a statement from DPS.

  The April 17 fire and blast at West Fertilizer Co killed 14 people dead and injured about 200 others.
  Source: Reuters

• Is the criminal investigation simply related to safety violations, or do they think this may have been an intentional explosion?
• Of course, they will have their investigation and nothing will be done. They simply want to give the appearance of trying to prevent similar things from happening in the future.
• Discussion about Obama’s campaign to kick off sales for his healthcare program.
  

  President Barack Obama launched a campaign to promote his signature 2010 healthcare overhaul on Friday in the face of harsh criticism from congressional Republicans who say the program will raise costs and hurt hiring.
  “If you’re one of the tens of millions who don’t have health insurance, beginning this fall you’ll finally be able to compare and buy quality, affordable private plans that work for you,” he said at an event at the White House.

  “If you’ve already got health insurance, this is just enhancement. And if you don’t, you’re going to be able to get it,” he said.

  Ahead of the Mothers’ Day holiday on Sunday, the president focused his remarks on how the plan could benefit women, who the administration believes will be less stuck on partisan objections to the plan and provide support that will make what has become known as “Obamacare” a success.

  “Mothers are the number one validator for the young and uninsured and will be critical in the effort to encourage their kids to enroll for insurance in the fall,” a White House official said.

  Republicans say the law will raise the costs of healthcare for all Americans, spawn a welter of new regulatory burdens on businesses and inhibit hiring.

  “There are many women in their 20s and 30s who will be unable to afford the law’s massive premium increases,” Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell said on Thursday. “And there are many mothers who won’t be able to get by if their employers cut their hours due to Obamacare. Or if they lose their jobs because of it,” the Kentucky Republican said.

  Obama aides plan to use the same micro-targeting strategies that helped the president win re-election in November to sign up enough enrollees. Their outreach efforts will be central to the success of Obama’s Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act, which aims to bring health insurance at subsidized rates to millions of uninsured Americans.

  Administration officials hope to sign up 7 million people nationwide during an enrollment period that begins October 1 and runs through the end of March. They say they are zeroing in on an estimated 2.7 million healthy adults aged 18 to 25.

  One-third of these people live in three states: California, Florida, and Texas, officials said. The administration plans to go into communities to identify people who are eligible to try to persuade them to enroll in the insurance plan.
  Source: Reuters

• What about the people who cannot afford the insurance but don’t qualify for the subsidized coverage?
• They are looking for young and healthy adults so these folks can balance all the sick people who will be taxing the system. Basically, they need them to pay into a system that they won’t be using much until much later in life.
• Discussion about a third of the target audience living in Texas, California, and Florida.
• Obama is not going out trying to reduce the Black unemployment rate, which is over 13 percent, because he is too busy selling health care.



• Discussion about Malcolm X’s grandson being murdered in Mexico.

  Malcolm Shabazz, the grandson of civil rights icon Malcolm X, has been killed in Mexico according to The Amsterdam News. He was 28.

  Shabazz’s death was also confirmed on Twitter and Facebook by Terrie Williams, a friend of the Shabazz family.

  Talking Points Memo reported that Shabazz died of injuries sustained during a robbery.

  “He was murdered. He was in Mexico City and I believe they attempted to rob him and he didn’t allow it, so they beat him to death and he died on his way to the hospital,” Juan Ruiz, a member of the California-based labor organization Rumec, told TPM. “This is all I can confirm, everything else is under investigation for the meantime.”

  Shabazz is the son of Qubilah Shabazz, who was the second daughter of Malcolm X and Betty Shabazz. In his youth, he set a fire that caused the death of his grandmother. For that crime, he pleaded guilty to manslaughter, was found guilty of arson, and was sentenced to 18 months in a juvenile detention facility.
  Source: Huffington Post

• Do you believe this was a hit, or just a random robbery?
• How was he able to be in Mexico and murdered under these strange circumstances when the Feds have been all over him? He was recently detained for trying to travel to Iran for a conference.
  
• Discussion about people bringing up Shabazz’s troubled pass, which has nothing to do with the present day situation.
• Discussion about the continued character assassination of Charles Ramsey, the guy who helped the Cleveland girls escape captivity.
• Discussion about the guy who was pulled over for not wearing a seatbelt, and the police ran him over with a car and killed him.
  

  A DeLand police officer ran over and killed a man who ran off after deputies tried to pull him over for not wearing a seat belt, according to the Florida Highway Patrol.

  The fatal crash happened early Wednesday morning near South Delaware Avenue and West Beresford Avenue in DeLand.

  According to the FHP, Volusia County sheriff’s deputies tried to pull over a car, but the driver, 38-year-old Marlon Brown, wouldn’t stop and a chase ensued.

  As DeLand police Officer James Harris, 25, arrived at the scene, he ran over and killed the man, troopers said. Four other passengers in Brown’s vehicle were not injured.
  Source: Orlando WKMG

• How is this serving and protecting? Why would you hit a person with a police car?



• Discussion about a Georgia high school student being suspended for four days by the principal for posting a photo of the principals’ mug shot on Instagram.

  A high school senior in Georgia was suspended from school after posting his principal’s mugshot on Instagram.

  After learning about the incident, Principal Jamille Miller-Brown called KeAndre Varner to her office and slapped the student with a four day suspension.

  “There was a violation of policy,” Miller-Brown told the New York Daily News, saying that she felt uncomfortable discussing the matter any further.
  Source: New York Daily News

• Isn’t it a conflict of interests for the principal to be judge and jury for an incident that was personally related to her.
• There is nothing wrong with him sharing the public photo on Instagram, and the student shouldn’t have been suspended.
• Discussion about the story of Jeff Bliss, who went off on his teacher for being lazy and not teaching the students. The video went viral and the teacher is now on leave from the school.
  

  For every student who’s ever been frustrated by a teacher’s lack of… err… teaching, this one’s for you.

  Jeff Bliss, a sophomore at Duncanville High School in Duncanville, Texas, went off on his World History teacher earlier this week after being kicked out of class, reports Fox4. In a rant which was recorded by a classmate, Bliss criticized his teacher for giving out packets instead of engaging with students.

  “If you would just get up and teach them instead of handing them a freaking packet, yo. There’s kids in here who don’t learn like that, they need to learn face-to-face,” said Bliss to his teacher in the video, which has gone viral.

  Bliss goes onto say that in order for the teacher to see change in the classroom, she must make her students excited and touch their hearts.

  “You got to take this job serious, this is the future of this nation… this is my country’s future and my education,” said Bliss.

  In an interview with WFAA-TV, Bliss told the channel that he did not regret his remarks, and that he became serious about his education after dropping out of school for a year.
  Source: Huffington Post

  
  
• Passing out worksheets isn’t teaching. Is she doing her job by making the students do self study with packets?
• Discussion about teachers who wind up in the profession due to lack of jobs in their field.
• Heit talks about how one of his teachers in high school just quit and they had a wack substitute for the rest of the year.
• Discussion about substitute teachers basically being people who have a 4-year degree.
• Discussion about Jeff Bliss’ story of returning to high school after dropping out.
• How long can you stay in high school–what age is the max?
• Discussion about the teacher’s disrespect of her students. Authority can disrespect the peopel anytime they feel like it. Interestingly, the only reason we know about this case is because he snapped off.
• Discussion about whether all telephone calls are recorded and accessible by the U.S. government.
  

  Over the past couple days, cable news tabloid shows such as CNN’s Out Front with Erin Burnett have been excitingly focused on the possible involvement in the Boston Marathon attack of Katherine Russell, the 24-year-old American widow of the deceased suspect, Tamerlan Tsarnaev. As part of their relentless stream of leaks uncritically disseminated by our Adversarial Press Corps, anonymous government officials are claiming that they are now focused on telephone calls between Russell and Tsarnaev that took place both before and after the attack to determine if she had prior knowledge of the plot or participated in any way.

  On Wednesday night, Burnett interviewed Tim Clemente, a former FBI counterterrorism agent, about whether the FBI would be able to discover the contents of past telephone conversations between the two. He quite clearly insisted that they could:

  BURNETT: Tim, is there any way, obviously, there is a voice mail they can try to get the phone companies to give that up at this point. It’s not a voice mail. It’s just a conversation. There’s no way they actually can find out what happened, right, unless she tells them?

  CLEMENTE: “No, there is a way. We certainly have ways in national security investigations to find out exactly what was said in that conversation. It’s not necessarily something that the FBI is going to want to present in court, but it may help lead the investigation and/or lead to questioning of her. We certainly can find that out.

  BURNETT: “So they can actually get that? People are saying, look, that is incredible.

  CLEMENTE: “No, welcome to America. All of that stuff is being captured as we speak whether we know it or like it or not.”
  “All of that stuff” – meaning every telephone conversation Americans have with one another on US soil, with or without a search warrant – “is being captured as we speak”.
  Source: Common Dreams.org

• Perhaps the calls are somehow cataloged and saved in a compressed format. They can compile the data and then decompress the files as needed.
• Discussion about the U.S. considering widespread overhauls of wiretapping laws.
  

  The F.B.I. director, Robert S. Mueller III, has argued that the bureau’s ability to carry out court-approved eavesdropping on suspects is “going dark” as communications technology evolves, and since 2010 has pushed for a legal mandate requiring companies like Facebook and Google to build into their instant-messaging and other such systems a capacity to comply with wiretap orders. That proposal, however, bogged down amid concerns by other agencies, like the Commerce Department, about quashing Silicon Valley innovation.

  While the F.B.I.’s original proposal would have required Internet communications services to each build in a wiretapping capacity, the revised one, which must now be reviewed by the White House, focuses on fining companies that do not comply with wiretap orders. The difference, officials say, means that start-ups with a small number of users would have fewer worries about wiretapping issues unless the companies became popular enough to come to the Justice Department’s attention.

  Still, the plan is likely to set off a debate over the future of the Internet if the White House submits it to Congress, according to lawyers for technology companies and advocates of Internet privacy and freedom.
  Source: New York Times

• Is there way to go underground? Discussion about there being a way to go off grid so that you won’t be subject to the tracking.
• The government is probably trying to have companies write something into their code that will track all of your activity with that company–Google for instance.
• Discussion about a torrent which will allow you to create a gun with a 3-D printer. You can make a gun yourself. It’s not really a printer, it’s more like a manufacturing unit.
• Mention of the plastic gun from the movie “In the Line of Fire” with Clint Eastwood and John Malchovich.
  
• Discussion about a judge ordering Lauryn Hill to seek counseling for what amounts to her conspiracy theorist views.
  

  On June 29, as Hill stood quietly in federal court in Newark, N.J., and pleaded guilty to not paying her taxes for three years, many of her friends, fans, and associates wondered how the 37-year-old singer, whose seminal 1998 solo album, The Miseducation of Lauryn Hill, sold 18 million copies worldwide and defined an era of music, could have ended up this way. What went so wrong that one of the most fearless female forces in all of hip-hop could find herself at the mercy of a court—one that also has ordered her to undergo mental-health counseling?

  From all accounts, the answers are as plentiful as they are complicated and as disappointing as they are sad.
  Source: The Daily Beast

• If they will do it to Lauryn Hill, then they won’t think twice about doing it to you.

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Topics discussed include the concept of “affect as knowledge”, irony, words shaping discourse, a unique definition of rhetoric, the concept of “bound infinity”, narrowing individuals down to just one aspect of their infinite shape, the the illusion of choice and the notion that there is a finite way to view a particular issue when it comes to politics and society, how the different news outlets all talk about the same things, the challenging of explaining ideas that seem very radical to other people who cannot conceive of what you’re suggesting, the pervasive trend of anti-intellectualism, Coffeen’s suggestion of voting on an idea rather than a particular thing to happen, the pros and cons of representational government, voting, interpretation of language, voting, the pros and cons of representational governments, issues with the trend of simplification versus allowing complex views, and more!

• Heit explains how he first came to hear one of Daniel Coffeen’s lectures. One day at work, he discovered Coffeen’s Berkley course “Rhetoric 10″, and listened to the entire course within a few days.
• Discussion about Coffeen’s rare use of the title “Dr.”–he reserves it for humor. His PhD is in rhetoric.
• Discussion about how he used to only use the title “Dr.” for one of his college professors when he was taking a stab att their position of “authority.”
• Discussion about the concepts in Coffeen’s video “Affect as Knowledge,” which talks about unspoken knowledge during communication.
  
• Discussion about irony as a great mode of resisting power. You say all the right things, but you’re meaning something entirely different.
• Words are more than their meaning. Words are also their affect–their performance.
• The words you use shape the discourse of how you’re dealing with people. All language does this.
• Coffeen’s definition of rhetoric is “The art and practice of navigating a world in motion while in motion.” It is negotiating circumstantial propriety–always truing to figure out the best thing for you and/pr the situation while everything is constantly changing. Thinking is never done and the answer is never permanent.
• Discussion about the concept of “bound infinity”. Although something may be infinite, there are different “shapes” of infinity.
  
• Rhetoric introduces time and circumstances into philosophy–it addresses the question of what is right and true. Everything is infinite in its own way because it is in time.
• The whole universe is these shapes in motion, these “bound infinities”.
• Discussion about a person’s legacy as an individual who is an infinite amount of things. People try to narrow individuals down to just one aspect of their infinite shape.
• Discussion about how something that seems like a fixed thing–a person, a book, etc.–is in fact an open and infinite thing because it is always going to be shaped by how it interacts with with other people and things in the world. At the same time, the shapes are still limited or bound to a certain extent.
• Discussion about the respect for the infinite number of things that a person can be simultaneously.
• Discussion about the the illusion of choice and the notion that there is a finite way to view a particular issue when it comes to politics and society.
• Discussion about how the different news outlets all talk about the same things. There are so many ways to interpret news, but we seem to get it all from the same perspective.
• The need to identify with a particular political party forces people away from independent thinking. In fact, there doesn’t even seem to be a way to start posing different kinds of questions to move the discourse to a more productive area.
• Discussion about how political comics like Stephen Colbert and John Stewart still operate within the same paradigm of the “either or” and the two-party system. They mock what is without fundamentally questioning the system.
• Discussion about the challenging of explaining ideas that seem very radical to other people who cannot conceive of what you’re suggesting.
• Discussion about the pervasive trend of anti-intellectual.
• Discussion about one of Coffeen’s suggestion of voting on an idea rather than a particular thing to happen.
• Discussion about the pros and cons of representational government. Shouldn’t we all be involved.
• Coffeen discusses finding the idea of voting very confusing and alienating.
• Legislation is language that is open to interpretation. In the political discussion they simply say they are doing this or that, but the question is whether the proposed action is actually doing what they think it is doing.
• Discussion about the gray area of legislation that allows politicians and others to basically do as they please.. Is this purposeful or simply one of the gray areas of language itself.
• Everything can be argued.
• There is a difference between the law and what actually happens in real life. If things are not being forced, then they are de facto legal. A law is just something on paper. It is not until someone with a gun comes and enforces the law that it actually kicks into gear.
• Just because the law says that you cannot do something doesn’t mean you cannot do it. The law doesn’t prohibit–it’s just a piece of paper.
• Discussion about the idea that you can go to court and say you’re guilty but have a good excuse.
• Discussion about the benefit of complexity. People want to reduce everything to an “either-or”. Life is complex and beautiful, and better for it.
• The multiplicity of perspectives is life. Rather than moving toward simplifying everything, embrace uncertainty and complexity.

More From Daniel Coffeen:

Contact Daniel Coffeen
Daniel Coffeen’s Blog: An Emphatic Umph
Daniel Cofeen’s YouTube Channel
Daniel Cofeen’s Vimeo Channel
“Anonymity Freaks Me Out” – Daniel Coffeen via An Emphatic Umph
Daniel Coffeen’s UC Berkley Course – Rhetoric 10 (Podcasts)

Sources:

Daniel Coffeen – “Bound Infinity” – TheArcherofire via YouTube
Daniel Coffeen – “Affect As Knowledge” – Daniel Coffeen via YouTube
Daniel Coffeen – “Affective Resonance” – Daniel Coffeen via YouTube
Daniel Coffeen – “The Boy Thinks, Critically” – Daniel Coffeen via YouTube
Daniel Coffeen – “Everything Is In Motion” – Daniel Coffeen via YouTube

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Topics discussed include three missing Cleveland women being found after nearly 10 years in captivity, Charles Ramsey–the man who rescued the women, making fun of other cultures, psychic Sylvia Browne telling one of the girl’s mothers that her daughter was dead, why people take “psychics” seriously, a “psychic” sending police on a wild goose chase over alleged mass graves, John Edward’s tactics of mass manipulation, Benny Hinn supposedly making people pass put during church services by waving his hand–entire sections of audience members, people believing in psychics and faith healers to the point where logic and proof that they are fake does no good in convincing them, people receiving free handgun training at a church in Wylie Texas, technology creating more and more useless humans who have no idea how to take care of themselves without the technology, speculation about what would happen if the earth was sucked into a black hole, discovery of a sex “superbug” that might be worse than AIDS, Rush Limbaugh possibly separating from Cumulus Media, and more!

• Discussion about the three missing Cleveland women being found after nearly 10 years in captivity.
  CLEVELAND — Authorities filed kidnapping and rape charges Wednesday against a man accused of holding a trio of young women captive in a rundown house for the past decade, but his two brothers were absolved of involvement in the crime.

  Ariel Castro, 52, was charged with kidnapping the three women and the young child of one of them. He was also charged with raping the three women.

  Amanda Berry, Gina DeJesus and Michelle Knight were rescued Monday night, along with Berry’s 6-year-old daughter, after Berry managed to hail a neighbor and break through the lower part of a door.

  In a news conference, police said Castro’s two brothers — Pedro Castro, 54, and Onil Castro, 50 — had nothing to do with the abductions and rapes, although they both have outstanding warrants for separate misdemeanor cases and will go before a judge on those matters Thursday.
  Source: Washington Post
  

• Discussion about the man who helped to rescue the women (Charles Ramsey). He gave a really dynamic interview.
• Discussion about criticism of Ramsey’s straightforward style of storytelling.
• Discussion about people making fun of Ramsey–making auto-tuned songs, trying to make a joke of him, and calling him unintelligent.
• Discussion about making fun of a particular culture by highlighting people who represent high profile examples of that culture.
• He rescued these women, yet people seem to spend more time actually talking about him.
• Discussion about people who make fun of a particular culture when they are not part of that culture.
  
• Why is it that the most popular auto-tuned memes that people laugh at are Black people?
• Discussion about how the reporters always change the subject when Ramsey brings up the point about vigilante justice and how people would handle something like that in their neighborhood if they knew it was going on.
  
• Discussion about psychic Sylvia Browne telling one of the girl’s mothers that her daughter was dead.
  

  For 19 months, Louwana Miller refused to give up hope that her missing daughter might still be alive.

  Not anymore.

  Desperate for any clue as to Amanda Berry’s whereabouts, and tired of unanswered questions from authorities, Miller turned to a psychic on Montel Williams’ nationally syndicated television show.

  The psychic said what the FBI, police and Miller hadn’t.

  “She’s not alive, honey,” Sylvia Browne told her matter-of-factly. “Your daughter’s not the kind who wouldn’t call.”

  With those blunt words, Browne persuaded Miller to accept a grim probability that has become more likely with each passing day.

  Miller went back to the West Side home where she had been keeping Amanda’s things in careful order and cleaned up. She gave away her daughter’s computer and took down her pictures. “I’m not even buying my baby a Christmas present this year,” she said.
  Source: Cleveland.com

• Why would anyone take a psychic’s word? Many people are desperate and it makes them vulnerable to exploitation by these charlatan psychics.
• Discussion about a “psychic” sending police on a wild goose chase over alleged mass graves.
  

  Police in Texas are investigating a woman who claimed to be a psychic after she sparked an ultimately fruitless hunt for a mass grave of dismembered bodies.

  Local officers and FBI agents raided a rural farmhouse in Hardin, north-east of Houston, after receiving the report that it held up to 30 bodies, including children.

  After finding nothing, police gave up the search – but not before “a source” had told CBS news that “a lot” of dismembered children’s bodies had indeed been found at the scene, sparking a global news story.

  Liberty county judge Craig McNair, the county’s top elected official, said the sheriff’s office had received two calls from the person. The first came on Monday, directing officers to an address in Hardin, but after officers found nothing the same caller told police on Tuesday that they had the wrong house.

  Officers approached the scene of the second tip-off on Tuesday morning and said there was blood on a back door and a foul odour coming from the house, leading to the search warrant.

  “We have to take tips like this very seriously,” McNair said.

  However the Houston Chronicle has since reported that the calls had come from a woman who claimed to have psychic powers, prompting questions over why police responded so vigorously.

  The FBI were summoned and officers scrambled to the home on Tuesday, but not before a source apparently told CBS the bodies had already been found. Local television station KPRC was given the same information and the story was promptly followed up by news agencies AFP and Reuters.

  Before long the news that 30 bodies had been uncovered in a mass grave was leading BBC and Sky News channels in the UK and across the world. The Guardian contributed its own version.

  Liberty county sheriff’s captain Rex Evans said authorities took the tip seriously in part because the caller had details about the inside of the house that only someone who had seen it could have known.

  He said authorities were working to track her down. They had a name and number.

  Asked if he thought the tip was a hoax, Evans said only that police found no bodies or anything to indicate a murder. “We are going to continue our investigation and find out how this individual had this information in the first place,” Evans said, adding that the caller may face criminal proceedings.

  The Houston Chronicle has reported that police are investigating whether the woman had a grudge against the owners of the house.

  “There’s no validity to the report,” another law enforcement source told the newspaper. “There’s nothing that matches what the psychic said.”
  Source: Guardian

• Discussion about why people believe “psychics’ and how they manipulate people for money and fame.
• Discussion about John Edward’s tactics of mass manipulation.
  
• Discussion about Benny Hinn supposedly making people pass put during church services by waving his hand–entire sections of audience members!
  
• Discussion about Nostradamus and people saying that he predicted the World Trade Centers falling.
• Discussion about people believing in psychics and faith healers to the point where logic and proof that they are fake does no good in convincing them.
• Discussion about people receiving free handgun training at a church in Wylie Texas.
  

  WYLIE — Texas lawmakers passed several bills involving concealed handgun licenses on Saturday, including one that would reduce the number of hours required to get one, and another tweaking the rules for renewal.

  In North Texas, we’ve seen crowds packing free handgun license classes, including one on Saturday in an unexpected place — First Baptist Church Wylie.

  The congregation on this day was led not by a preacher, but a teacher giving a free concealed handgun class.
  “I have been thinking about doing it for a long time, but because it was free, there was no reason not to do it,” said Andrew Penrose.
  Source: WFAA

• Discussion about a scientific paper that says technology may lead to human extinction.
  

  The crazy man walking down the city street holding a sign that reads “The end is near” might just have a point.
  A team of mathematicians, philosophers and scientists at Oxford University’s Future of Humanity Institute say there is ever-increasing evidence that the human race’s reliance on technology could, in fact, lead to its demise.
  The group has a forthcoming paper entitled “Existential Risk Prevention as Global Priority,” arguing that we face a real risk to our own existence. And not a slow demise in some distant, theoretical future. The end could come as soon as the next century.

  “There is a great race on between humanity’s technological powers and our wisdom to use those powers well,” institute director Nick Bostrom told MSN. “I’m worried that the former will pull too far ahead.”

  There’s something about the end of the world that we just can’t shake. Even with the paranoia of 2012 Mayan prophecies behind us, people still remain fascinated by the potential for an extinction-level event. And popular culture is happy to indulge in our anxiety. This year alone, two major comedy films are set to debut (“The World’s End” and “This is the End”), which take a humorous look at the end-of-the-world scenarios.
  For its part, NASA released a series of answers in 2012 to frequently asked questions about the end of the world.
  Interestingly, Bostrom writes that well-known threats, such as asteroids, supervolanic eruptions and earthquakes are not likely to threaten humanity in the near future. Even a nuclear explosion isn’t likely to wipe out the entire population; enough people could survive to rebuild society.

  “Empirical impact distributions and scientific models suggest that the likelihood of extinction because of these kinds of risk is extremely small on a time scale of a century or so,” he writes.

  Instead, it’s the unknown factors behind innovative technologies that Bostrom says pose the greatest risk going forward.
  Source: Yahoo!

• Discussion about technology creating more and more useless humans who have no idea how to take care of themselves without the technology.
• What would happen if something happens to the electricity, the water, or other technologies?
• The technology could also ruin the earth, making it unusable to humans and other life.
• What if the Earth was sucked into a black hole? Or, what if there was a black hole on earth and people tried to move away from it? This reminds Cheri of the movie “The Neverending Story.”
• How do you change something to nothingness? How do you tun nothingness into something? Both seem impossible, so none of this stuff makes sense! This is why people believe in fantastic explanations for the things they don’t understand.
• Discussion about the nature of the universe.
• Discussion about a “sex superbug” found in Hawaii.
  

  Health officials are warning that two cases of a so-called ‘sex superbug’ have been confirmed in Hawaii.

  Hawaii News Now reports that the ‘sex superbug’ is a resistant strain of gonorrhea.

  The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has asked Congress for $50 million to find a new antibiotic to treat the drug-resistant strain of the disease. The first case in the nation was identified in a young woman in Hawaii in May 2011.

  The ‘sex superbug’ called H041 was first discovered in Japan in 2011. It spread to Hawaii, and has now surfaced in California and Norway.
  Peter Whiticir with the State Department of Health says advisories have been sent to physicians and health care providers around Hawaii to be on the lookout for the resistant strain of gonorrhea.

  Doctors are warning that an antibiotic-resistant strain of gonorrhoea, now considered a superbug, has the potential to be as deadly as the AIDS virus.
  Gonorrhea is the second most commonly reported sexually transmitted infection in North America.

  ‘This might be a lot worse than AIDS in the short run because the bacteria is more aggressive and will affect more people quickly,’ Alan Christianson, a doctor of naturopathic medicine told CNBC.

  Nearly 30 million people have died from AIDS related causes worldwide, but Christianson believes the effect of the gonorrhea bacteria is more direct.
  Source: Daily Mail

• Discussion about infections and conditions that our antibiotics cannot cure.
• Discussion about holding of patents preventing the release of drugs that can save lives.
• Discussion about Rush Limbaugh possibly separating from Cumulus Media.
  

  The Rush Limbaugh Program is considering ending its affiliation agreement with Cumulus Media at the end of this year, a move that would bring about one of the biggest shakeups in talk radio history, a source close to the show tells POLITICO.

  Should the move take place, 40 Cumulus-owned radio stations would lose the rights to the most popular talk radio program in the country. In addition, the show might be picked up by competing regional radio stations in Washington, New York, Chicago, Dallas and other major markets.

  According to the source, Limbaugh is considering the move because Cumulus CEO Lew Dickey has blamed the company’s advertising losses on Limbaugh’s controversial remarks about Sandra Fluke, the Georgetown law student. In Feb. 2012, Limbaugh referred to Fluke as “a slut” because she had called on congress to mandate insurance coverage of birth control. The subsequent controversy over those remarks resulted in a significant advertising boycott.

  The true extent of Limbaugh’s effect on Cumulus’s advertising revenue is not known. In an August 2012 earnings call, Dickey said Cumulus’s top three stations had lost $5.5 million, in part because of the boycott. In a March 2013 earnings call, Dickey said the company’s talk radio side had “been challenged… due to some of the issues that happened a year ago.” Nevertheless, Limbaugh remains the most highly rated talk radio host in the country.
  Source: Politico

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Topics discussed include the racket that the Dallas Public Library is running with their fines on DVDs, Blockbuster lawsuits over late fees, a rule that allows people to be kicked out after police respond to three domestic violence events within a certain period, the psychology of people who stay in abusive relationships, apartment complexes evicting families because of the activities of their alleged guests, criminal background checks for apartment rentals, people who are forced to live check-to-check, and more!

• Discussion about the racket that the Dallas Public Library is running with their fines on DVDs. Heit & Cheri explain their recent experience of being charged $63 in fines on three videos. The library demands that the fees be paid, and the person does not get to keep the video, even after they have paid fines worth more than the cost of the video.



• If you pay $63 in late fees, then you should be able to keep the videos–otherwise they should have a cap on fines for returned videos.
• Discussion about how the librarian knew what she was doing when she checked the videos in, thus locking in the fines.
• Discussion about Blockbuster lawsuits over late fees.
• Discussion about a rule that allows people to be kicked out after police respond to three domestic violence events within a certain period.
  

  Last year in Norristown, Pa., Lakisha Briggs’ boyfriend physically assaulted her, and the police arrested him. But in a cruel turn of events, a police officer then told Ms. Briggs, “You are on three strikes. We’re gonna have your landlord evict you.”

  Yes, that’s right. The police threatened Ms. Briggs with eviction because she had received their assistance for domestic violence. Under Norristown’s “disorderly behavior ordinance,” the city penalizes landlords and tenants when the police respond to three instances of “disorderly behavior” within a four-month period. The ordinance specifically includes “domestic disturbances” as disorderly behavior that triggers enforcement of the law.

  After her first “strike,” Ms. Briggs was terrified of calling the police. She did not want to do anything to risk losing her home. So even when her now ex-boyfriend attacked her with a brick, she did not call. And later, when he stabbed her in the neck, she was still too afraid to reach out. But both times, someone else did call the police. Based on these “strikes,” the city pressured her landlord to evict. After a housing court refused to order an eviction, the city said it planned to condemn the property and forcibly remove Ms. Briggs from her home. The ACLU intervened, and the city did not carry out its threats, and even agreed to repeal the ordinance. But just two weeks later, Norristown quietly passed a virtually identical ordinance that imposes fines on landlords unless they evict tenants who obtain police assistance, including for domestic violence.
  Source: Huffington Post

• Discussion about the psychology of people who stay in abusive relationships.
• Discussion about the police intervening in domestic issues.
• Discussion about the unequal application of the law. Will some people push to get low income residents evicted, while not reporting middle class people?
• Perhaps the eviction will force the split of domestic violence victims and their abusers.
• Discussion about a family that was evicted because a teen who was caught in a apartment complex with a gun claimed he was there to see another teen. As a result of this, the teen whose family lived there was evicted. There was no proof, other than the teen’s word, that he was on the property to visit the teen who lived there.
• Discussion about criminal background checks for apartment rentals. Where are people supposed to live? We already understand that some groups are systematically criminalized, so how is it fair to implement these background checks?



• Discussion about debtor’s prison practices in Ohio.

  CLEVELAND – The U.S. Constitution and Ohio state law prohibit courts from jailing people for being too poor to pay their legal fines, but in several Ohio counties, local courts are doing it anyway. The ACLU of Ohio today released The Outskirts of Hope, a report that chronicles a nearly yearlong investigation into Ohio’s debtors’ prisons and tells the stories of six Ohioans whose lives have been damaged by debtors’ prison practices.

  “Being poor is not a crime in this country,” said Rachel Goodman, Staff Attorney at the ACLU Racial Justice Program. “Incarcerating people who cannot afford to pay fines is both unconstitutional and cruel—it takes a tremendous toll on precisely those families already struggling the most.”

  The law requires that courts hold hearings to determine defendants’ financial status before jailing them for failure to pay fines, and defendants must be provided with lawyers for these hearings. If a defendant cannot pay, the court must explore options other than jail.

  “Supreme Court precedent and Ohio law make clear that local courts and jails should not function as debtors’ prisons,” said Carl Takei, Staff Attorney at the ACLU National Prison Project. “Yet many mayors’ courts and some municipal courts jail people without making any attempt whatsoever to determine whether they can afford to pay their fines.”
  Source: ACLU

• Some people cannot pay the fines and court costs. A fine is supposed to be a punishment, but it doesn’t punish people equally. The more money you have, the less the fine hurts.
• Discussion about people who are forced to live check-to-check.
• Discussion about the myths about people who live check to check.
• Discussion about the spending decisions and challenges facing the poor.
• Poor people don’t get a vacation from being poor. People who have more money take for granted that others can afford the same things they can.

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Topics discussed include a man who wound up in intensive care after being tossed out of church for supposedly being drunk, Chicago settling millions of dollars in parking meter fees to a private corporation, roads on the poor side of Beaumont (TX) tearing up peoples’ cars, Florida deciding that they want to speed up the process of killing death row inmates faster, lawmakers seeking to limit using e-cigs in the same areas as smoking is prohibited, the racist Mountain Dew commercial, and more!

• Discussion about an article on NewsOne. They actually did a bit of original framing of an article.
• Discussion about a man who wound up in intensive care after being tossed out of church for supposedly being drunk.
  

  John Strother (pictured) was intoxicated when he stumbled into a Harlem church Sunday evening as a gospel choir performed. After hugging two members on stage, he was physically tossed out, struck his head on the pavement and is now fighting for his life in an intensive care unit, according to the New York Daily News.

  The 42-year-old man visited The Tabernacle of Deliverance For All People as a gospel concert was taking place. Strother managed to get up on the stage and hugged the soloist. Church members thought Strother had just been filled with the Holy Ghost, which explained why he was being so demonstrative.

  The man then hugged a missionary. But when he tried embracing the soloist again, the church’s pastor, Rev. Joseph Bright, then noticed that the hugs were being given by a man who appeared to be intoxicated. The 79-year-old pastor, who described the incident as “unseemly,” told the New York Daily News, “It was out of order — but not unheard of. We thought he was getting the spirit.”
  Source: NewsOne

• If you can’t find refuge in the church, where can you go? it sounds like some church members assaulted this homeless man. Why would you treat another human being like this?
• Discussion about the church stigmatizing people for their problems.
• If he was actually drunk, why couldn’t they just have gotten someone to calm down? Instead it sounds like these churck folk met a man giving hugs with punches and other violence.



• Discussion about Chicago settling millions of dollars in parking meter fees to a private corporation.

  Chicago settled a payment dispute with a private company operating the city’s parking meters that will greatly reduce money owed by the city, Mayor Rahm Emanuel announced on Monday.
  Under the deal, Chicago will pay Chicago Parking Meters LLC $8.9 million, instead of the $49 million the company demanded in compensation for out-of-service meters due to street closures and other reasons covering a two-year period that ended on March 31. The agreement will be presented on May 8 to the city council, which will have 30 days to review it, according to a statement from the mayor’s office.

  “The $40 million difference between what was invoiced and what would be paid under this agreement represents over $1 billion in estimated future charges in today’s dollars to the city over the life of the contract that will no longer be payable,” the statement said.

  Chicago Parking Meters said in a statement that it is hopeful the city council will ratify the deal.

  The third-largest U.S. city received $1.157 billion in 2008 from the 75-year lease with the company during former Mayor Richard Daley’s administration.

  The deal, which resulted in parking meter rate hikes, was slammed in 2009 by a Chicago inspector general report that said it undervalued the system of 36,000 parking meters by $974 million.

  In addition, Chicago tapped parking meter deal proceeds to help close budget gaps under Daley. Emanuel, who inherited the contract, has been fighting the company over the reimbursements and ordered an operational and financial management audit of the lease deal last fall.
  Source: Reuters

• Why do they even have a third party corporation involved in this deal?
• Shouldn’t the agreement stipulate that the city can close streets for repair or whatever without consequence?
• Discussion about roads in Beaumont, Texas tearing up peoples’ cars.
  

  Beaumont City Councilman Audwin Samuel says bad streets are the toughest challenge facing the city.

  That’s nothing new to people living in the city’s north end.

  In a special report titled, “A Tale of Two Cities”, we spoke to some of those people who say their streets don’t get the same amount of attention as the ones in the more affluent west end.

  Councilman Samuel says all parts of the city get the same amount spent on street maintenance.

  He just says the north end is older, and the streets are asphalt as compared to the newer neighborhoods in the west end, with cement streets.

  Samuel says to get all streets to the level they should be, a tax increase is necessary.

  He says currently the city spends $2.5 million a year on street maintenance, when it should be spending $8 million annually.
  Source: NBC

  Chicago settling millions of dollars in parking meter fees to a private corporation
• What sense does it make that all areas get the same funding for roads, when some roads are much older and require much more maintenance and repairs than others?
• They should be giving according to the need.
• Discussion about Florida deciding that they want to speed up the process of killing death row inmates faster.
  

  The Florida Senate sent Governor Rick Scott a package of capital-punishment reforms on Monday designed to prevent condemned killers from spending decades on Death Row, despite warnings that speeding up the legal appeals process could lead to innocent prisoners being executed.
  The “Timely Justice Act” sets deadlines for condemned killers to file appeals, and for the state to proceed with issuing warrants after the Florida Supreme Court upholds death sentences.

  It also sets competency standards for lawyers handling cases. To reduce the number of appeals alleging incompetent counsel, any attorney twice found to have provided “constitutionally deficient representation” will be suspended from handling death appeals for five years.

  “Is swift justice fair justice?” asked Democratic party Senator Arthenia Joyner, a Tampa attorney who voted against the bill. “We have seen cases where, years later, convicted people were exonerated,” she said.

  “I don’t see the reason for the swiftness, especially with DNA evidence that can exonerate,” said Senator Maria Sachs, who is also an attorney and a Democrat.
  Source: Reuters
  

• Florida is despicable at this point–they cheat people out of unemployment, want poor people to take drug tests for public assistance, and have a culture of racism and classism.
• This decision will disproportional affect Blacks and the poor.
• Discussion about the length of time Florida inmates have been on death row.
• Discussion about using the term “convicted killer”. How would you refer to one of the many people exonerated after a capital murder conviction?
• Discussion about lawmakers seeking to limit using e-cigs in the same areas as smoking is prohibited.
  

  California lawmakers are scheduled to consider SB 648 Tuesday which would ban the increasingly popular “electronic cigarettes” in the same areas where actual cigarettes are banned.

  Some 100 e-cigarette users in Southern California are planning to take a bus to Sacramento Monday night to testify in front of lawyers about the benefits of “vaping.”

  “I usually vap throughout the day; I grab it when I need a hit of nicotine,” said Rodney Johnson, owner of Beach City Vapors in Signal Hill, who recently quit smoking after 25 years.

  “I feel 100 percent better. I’m no longer winded when I’m walking up steps,” he said. “I wake up in the morning and instead of wanting that first cigarette, I don’t even vap for an hour or two hours before even leaving home.”
  Source: http://www.nbclosangeles.com/news/local/Smoking-SB-648-Anti-Smoking-E-Cigarettes-Vapor-205331011.html#ixzz2SZYKZudm
  Source: NBC San Diego

• Why are they pushing this? It could be for revenue and also the tobacco lobby. it could also be a political ploy by lawmakers.
• Discussion about the racist Mountain Dew commercial.
  
• Discussion about the lineup being made up of all Blacks. Tyler, the Creator is actually Black.
• The commercial was for more than just a black audience, so the things that may be able to fly intra-racially cannot work inter-racially.
• The fact that a Black person came up with this for a non-Black audience adds to the trifling nature of the commercial. It colors Blacks as people who deserve to be in a lineup in the first place.

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Topics discussed include things Obama could do to work on closing Gitmo, Congress rewriting The Patriot Act to take some of the unilateral power away from the president and give it to them, five-year-old boy who shot his two-year-old sister with a rifle he was given as a present, a school that fired their security guard and used the money to successfully revitalize their school’s education program, Chicago high school baseball players being prevented from traveling to a school across town for a game amid parental fears of violence on the other side of town, and more!

• Discussion about how Obama could be working on closing Gitmo.

  (Reuters) – With his renewed vow to close the detention camp for foreign terrorism suspects at Guantanamo Bay, President Barack Obama has effectively assigned himself a list of possible ways to take the prison’s population down from 166 to zero.
  Some would be more easily achieved than others.

  In pledging to look again at an unfulfilled promise dating back to his first election campaign and early days in office in 2009, Obama made plain on Tuesday that it was untenable to keep the 11-year-old camp open.

  A hunger strike at the camp at the U.S. Naval Base on Cuba began in February, has been joined by 100 of the inmates and has led to force-feedings to keep the weakest prisoners alive, sparking fresh outrage from rights groups over a prison opened under Republican President George W. Bush in 2002.

  There were about 245 prisoners at Guantanamo when Obama, a Democrat, took office in 2009 and that has dropped to 166. But releases have slowed to a trickle under restrictions imposed by Congress, including a ban on any of them being brought to the United States. No prisoners have left Guantanamo this year.
  Source: Reuters

• The people who have been cleared should be able to go back home or anywhere else they choose. It is crazy that these men are still being held.
• They need to be dedicated to figuring out a way to let the people go. These men have been cleared, so they need to let them go…
• These men have already been given an indirect death penalty.
• Discussion about the proposal to send people out in a prisoner exchange. Why would another country want to exchange one of these men for a high-value American asset?
• They should send people back to wherever they found them, unless the individual has an objection to going.
• Discussion about Congress rewriting The Patriot Act to take some of the unilateral power away from the president and give it to Congress.
  

  A few dozen words rushed into law days after the September 11, 2001, attacks have been used to justify U.S. counterterrorism efforts from the war in Afghanistan to warrantless wiretapping and drone strikes, all on orders of the White House – and with little congressional oversight.
  Now, as criticism grows that the law has been stretched well beyond its original intent to go after militant groups that did not even exist on 9/11, some Democrats and Republicans have begun writing legislation to update the nearly 12-year-old resolution.

  That could restoke tensions between Congress and the White House over executive power, which were on display when Republican Senator Rand Paul staged a 13-hour filibuster in March to protest President Barack Obama’s use of unmanned aircraft to conduct tar
  Source: Reuters

• The end game in all of this is that more violations of individual rights will be coming to a place near you soon.
• After the Boston bombing, they’re already talking about having drones flying over major events f”for our safety.”
• Discussion about not being able to tell the different police agencies apart anymore.
• Discussion about the five-year-old boy who shot his two-year-old sister with a rifle he was given as a present.
  

  A 2-year-old girl was accidentally shot and killed by her 5-year-old brother with a rifle he received as a birthday gift, Kentucky authorities said on Wednesday.

  The shooting occurred on Tuesday afternoon in Burkesville, Kentucky, a community in the south-central part of the state, when the boy was playing with the .22-caliber rifle and accidentally shot his sister in the chest, state police said.

  The boy had received the Crickett “youth model” gun for his birthday in November, Cumberland County Coroner Gary White said. White said these guns have child safety locks, but “evidently when the gun was put up, there was a live round in it.”

  He said no one realized the gun, which was kept in a corner, was loaded until the fatal gunshot.

  White said the children’s mother was home cleaning the house at the time of the shooting.
  Source: Reuters

• Heit & Cheri agree that five years old is too young to own a gun. There are just too many things that they don’t understand to be responsible with a gun.
• Unless you outlaw all guns, gun control would not have prevented this.
• Some people want to take away guns completely, but they are using the tactic of pushing registration as an incremental step.
• Discussion about a school that fired their security guard and used the money to successfully revitalize their school’s education program.
  

  ROXBURY, Mass. — The community of Roxbury had high hopes for its newest public school back in 2003. There were art studios, a dance room, even a theater equipped with cushy seating.

  A pilot school for grades K-8, Orchard Gardens was built on grand expectations.

  But the dream of a school founded in the arts, a school that would give back to the community as it bettered its children, never materialized.
  Instead, the dance studio was used for storage and the orchestra’s instruments were locked up and barely touched.
  The school was plagued by violence and disorder from the start, and by 2010 it was rank in the bottom five of all public schools in the state of Massachusetts.

  That was when Andrew Bott — the sixth principal in seven years — showed up, and everything started to change.

  “We got rid of the security guards,” said Bott, who reinvested all the money used for security infrastructure into the arts.
  Source: NBC

• In some schools, the security is there to police the students, not protect them from outside threats.
• Discussion about Chicago high school baseball players being prevented from traveling to a school across town for a game amid parental fears of violence on the other side of town.
  

  A baseball game between two Chicago public high schools was canceled Saturday when some parents from a North Side school refused to let their children travel to the South Side for the game, saying they were worried about the safety of their kids.

  The game between Payton College Prep and Brooks College Prep was supposed to start at 7 p.m. The Payton team had played a makeup game earlier Saturday against Von Steuben and was to head to Roseland on the city’s South Side to play Brooks.

  Instead, according to Payton head coach William Wittleder, “About three, four parents [came] up to me saying they’re not letting their kids go down there.”

  That prompted other parents to also refuse to let their sons play at Brooks, according to Wittleder, who said he was left with too few players to field a team. The game was declared a forfeit victory for Brooks.

  Wittleder said one of the Payton parents told the others he grew up on the South Side and that the neighborhood around Brooks “isn’t what it used to be.”
  Source: Chicago Sun-Times

• It is shame that these parents don’t really care what is happening on the other side of town, so long as their children are safe. This is all a result of the unchecked violence in Chicago, and people living in fear. The violence will eventually spread tot he “good” neighborhoods unless something is done.
• Discussion about people caring more about the people they are closer to than about people who are farther from them.

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Topics discussed include a new study reporting that people who like rapper Lil Wayne are basically “stupid”, stereotypes involved in the assumptions about music tastes, Drake’s “Started from the Bottom” being some lowest common denominator type of music, a woman finding a whole dead toad in her can of green beans, dried grasshoppers as a delicacy, video of a woman digging things out of her butt and then eating it, making homemade ice cream, eating moldy foods, a UFO website making the claim that the Boston bombers were radicalized by the Axiom Amnesia website and Facebook page, the FDA appealing the ruling that all women 15 years and older shall have access to Plan B birth control over the counter, Netflix reportedly cutting 2K movies from their service, South Dakota having difficulty renaming places with offensive names, and more!

• A new study that says that people who like rapper Lil Wayne are basically “stupid”.
  

  According to a recent study, Lil Wayne fans are as dumb as a rock. If you enjoy Beyonce and T.I., you’re not too far behind. If you listen to Beethoven, you’re practically a genuis.

  Data for the study was gathered from Facebook. The study’s author found kids from different colleges across the US, and compared their favorite music to the average SAT scores from those schools. According to the results, Lil Wayne fans had the lowest SAT score at 876, giving his fans the dreaded title of “dumbest fans,” while fans bands like Radiohead, Counting Crows and singer Sufjan Stevens ranked in the 1200s. Fans of Beethoven ranked the highest at 1376. A perfect SAT score is 1600.
  Source: Yahoo!

• Discussion about the stereotypes involved in the assumptions about music tastes.
• Discussion about the Drake’s “Started from the Bottom” being some lowest common denominator type of music.
• Our whole lives are patterns, this is why repetitive beats and music make you want to repeat them. This is why the Pink Panthere Theme being one of the best theme songs ever.
• Lil Wayne has surpassed Elvis on the charts, but you’re stupid if you listen to him.
• Lil Wayne also had another seizure a few days ago.



• Discussion about a woman finding a whole dead toad in her can of green beans.

  ST. JOSEPH COUNTY, Ind. — When checking the St. Joseph County Health Department complaint reports, what turned up in some foods at local stores was surprising. The most disturbing case concerns a can of green beans – and what one family found inside will keep them from ever eating canned green beans again.
  “We eat a lot of green beans, we do, we did. Nobody wants anymore now,” said Gloria Chubb of South Bend.
  Chubb, a retired nurse’s aide, is disgusted by what she served up at the dinner table.
  “It was meatloaf, mashed potatoes, gravy and green beans,” said Chubb.
  It was what was in the can of Meijer green beans that made them both lose their appetite.
  “My son put some on his plate and said, ‘What is that?’ I thought maybe it was a piece of moldy bacon or something– because they have bacon in them sometimes,” said Chubb. “I and I took it out of there and it wasn’t moldy bacon, it was a toad with parts of his little legs all in the green beans. Other than that he was fully intact.”
  The St. Joseph County Health Department took pictures of the toad.
  Chubb alerted the department because she wants to warn others who may be in a rush like she was that day.
  “I didn’t see it when I dumped it- I didn’t see it at all until after I cooked it in the microwave,” said Chubb. “I was sick, nauseated for two days, and I don’t think I’ll have green beans anytime soon.”
  Chubb took her unopened cans back to Meijer and they gave her a refund.
  She took the toad and the two questionable cans of beans to the health department.
  Source: ABC

• What should a person receive for having to endure a toad in their green beans? The company gave the woman $50–as if that was enough for the pain and suffering!
• There are dead animals in frozen food too! Even if you don’t see them in your can, they might have gotten ingot that batch…
• Discussion about dried grasshoppers as a delicacy.
• Discussion about video of a woman digging things out of her butt and then eating it.
  
• Discussion about peoples’ toothbrushes getting contaminated by flushing the toilet.
• There is no way to be completely germ-free.
• Discussion about eating moldy food.
• Discussion about homemade ice cream. How is it made exactly?
• Discussion about a UFO website making the claim that the Boston bombers were radicalized by the Axiom Amnesia website and Facebook page. How crazy is that?!?
• Discussion about the FDA appealing the ruling that all women 15 years and older shall have access to Plan B birth control over the counter.
  

  The Justice Department filed notice late Wednesday that it will challenge a federal court decision requiring the government to make emergency contraceptives available over the counter to women of all ages.
  The move came hours after the Food and Drug Administration approved over-the-counter sales of emergency contraceptives to women 15 and older. Previously, Plan B was available to teenagers younger than 17 only with a prescription. Older women had to request it from a pharmacist.
  The Obama administration also asked the U.S. District Court of the Eastern District of New York to stay Judge Edward Korman’s early-April ruling, which is set to take effect Sunday.
  The administration’s challenge will no doubt reignite a debate over whether young teens should be eligible to obtain emergency contraception without a doctor’s consent, a politically fraught issue that has vexed two presidential administrations and led to the resignation of multiple FDA officials.
  “We are deeply disappointed that just days after President Obama proclaimed his commitment to women’s reproductive rights, his administration has decided once again to deprive women of their right to obtain emergency contraception without unjustified and burdensome restrictions,” Center for Reproductive Rights President Nancy Northup, whose organization represents the defendants, said in a statement.
  In federal court documents, the Justice Department argued that Korman overstepped his authority in ordering the FDA to make emergency contraceptives available to all women over the counter.
  Source: Washington Post

• The underlying issue is whether or not girls as young as 15 should be allowed to access medication without parental consent, although the argument put forth doesn’t mention this.
• If a child is mature enough to consent to sex, then they should be able to consent to all things related to reproduction.
• Should parents be notified if their child is seeking health care?
• Mention of the song “Brenda’s Got A Baby” by 2Pac.
• You don’t need a “brain” to follow primal urges to have sex.
• Some day they will have pills that quell the urge to have sex–chemical castration. It will probably be available at The Venus Project’s resourced-based economy utopia. Haha!
• Discussion about Netflix reportedly cutting 2K movies from their service.
• Discussion about South Dakota trying to change places with offensive names.
  

  South Dakota is finding it difficult to change time-worn names of locations that are seen as offensive by African-Americans and Native Americans, such as “Negro” and “squaw” creeks, canyons and mountain ridges.
  The state issued a plea this month for public assistance in renaming five geographic features. The five are part of a total of 18 sites that include the word “squaw” or “Negro” in their names and have been designated by the legislature as needing renaming.

  But some of the replacement names suggested by the South Dakota Board of Geographic Names have been rejected by an obscure federal body called the U.S. Board on Geographic Names.

  “It is hard for us to come up with a good name,” said June Hansen, a member of the South Dakota Board of Geographic Names. Tops on the list for renaming are places known for decades as “Negro Wool Ridge” and “Negro Gulch,” landmarks that in their early history were known by a different “n” word, said Hansen.

  An effort to rename Negro Creek to Medicine Mountain Creek failed to garner approval of the federal body, for instance.

  “There is some pretty strict criteria for what the name has to be,” said Hansen.

  The federal board says that names should center on local history, folklore, events or natural aspects of the area, and says names cannot duplicate others attached to geographic features in South Dakota or nearby states.
  Source: Reuters

• The irony of the Obama Administration making it harder to get rid of offensive names.
• Discussion about Texas Governor Rick Perry and his Niggerhead Ranch.

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Topics discussed include Heit & Cheri’s guest appearance on Storm Clouds Gathering for a discussion on The Venus Project and it’s proposed resource-based economy, the drawbacks of The Venus Project, The Venus Project and religious evangelism, updates in the Trayvon Martin case, George Zimmerman’s decision not to have a “stand your ground” hearing, the latest arrests in the Boston bombing case, whether you should talk to the police when they want to question you in connection with someone else’s crimes, a 16-year-old girl arrested and charged for bombing school in what she calls a science experiment, the death of 34-year-old rapper Chris “Mac Daddy” Kelly, and more!

• Discussion about Heit & Cheri’s round-table conversation on Google Hangout with Aaron of Storm Clouds Gathering and representatives of The Venus Project about the resource-based economy that they propose.
  
• Aaron previously appeared on The Axiom Amnesia Theory’s Episode 012: Calm Before The Storm.
• What is a resource-based economy?
  
• The main issue we had during the discussion was difficulty in having some basic questions answered–things like how are decisions made and who is in control? They would never give a straight answer.
• Discussion about Jacque Fresco’s ideas.
• At the end of Zeitgeist, they propose The Venus Project as the solution to the failing current world system.
• Discussion about the obvious drawbacks of The Venus Project. The first issue is that it is simply shifting ideologies and moving the power to the thought leaders and experts, rather than the
• The Venus Project proponents consistently asked for specific examples of the principle issues, then proceeded to focus on the scenario and explaining that, rather than answering the questions related to the underlying principle.
• Discussion about the preference of people not being controlled by the system.
• How would one become an “expert” in the resource-based economy?
• Discussion about TVP’s assumption that human nature will change because basic needs are met.
• Discussion about the apparent hero-worship of Jacque Fresco.
• If you have a great idea, it should stand up to vetting.
• Parallels between the defense of The Venus Project and religious evangelism.



• George Zimmerman will not have a “stand your ground” hearing. We also suspect that he will not take the stand in his own defense after watching his attorney Don West getting slaughtered on the stand during the prosecution’s cross-examination.

  A Florida judge questioned George Zimmerman today on his decision to waive a hearing under the state’s “Stand Your Ground” law, which means that he is likely heading for a trial this summer in the shooting death of unarmed teenager Trayvon Martin.

  The pre-trial Stand Your Ground hearing would have given the judge the discretion to free Zimmerman, eliminating the need for a trial. But the validity of a Stand Your Ground defense would be determined solely by a judge. Zimmerman’s defense team has decided to put their case before an entire jury.

  “We’d much rather have the jury address the issue of criminal liability or lack thereof,” Zimmerman’s lawyer Mark O’Mara said.

  Zimmerman’s team hinted it might resurrect the Stand Your Ground immunity hearing during the trial, and it is possible even after it.

  Zimmerman spoke in court for the first time in over a year, answering “Yes, your honor” and “No, your honor” to a series of questions from Circuit Court Judge Debra Nelson. Nelson was seeking to confirm a decision by Zimmerman’s lawyer to invoke the Stand Your Ground defense.
  Source: ABC

  
  
• Speculation that the defense’s strategy will be to justify Zimmerman’s profiling of Trayvon Martin because of the “usual suspects” of the alleged crimes in the community.
• Further discussion on the direction the case is heading. It would be hard to imagine George Zimmerman on the stand. He would lose his own case.
• Discussion about the defense’s stall tactics. They want the trial to be pushed back as much as possible. they hope that their “playing the victim” tactics will work out.
• Jury selection starts June 10th.
• Discussion about the latest in the Boston bombing investigation. Three more people were arrested in the case.
  

  Two of the suspects appeared in a Boston courtroom Wednesday afternoon and waived bail. Azamat Tazhayakov and and Dias Kadyrbayev walked into the court with their heads down, saying nothing. The two students at UMass-Dartmouth are charged with obstructing justice in the wake of the Boston Marathon bombings. Their next hearing will be May 14. A third suspect, Robel Phillipos, is charged with making false statements but did not appear in court today.

  The Boston Police Department says that three more suspects have been taken into custody with regard to the Apr. 15 bombings near the Boston Marathon finish line that killed three people and injured more than 260.

  NBC News and the Boston Globe are reporting that the suspects went to college with alleged 19-year-old Boston bomber Dzhokhar Tsarnaev, who authorities say carried out the bombing with his older brother, Tamerlan Tsarnaev.
  Source: Time

• What would you do if you saw evidence that one of your friends was accused of committing a crime like this. Heit & Cheri speculate about what they would have done in the situation?
• It was probably probably hard for them to believe that he did the crimes of which he’s been accused.
• Discussion about whether you should talk to the police when they want to question you in connection with someone else’s crimes.
• Legal “experts’ say that you are under no legal obligation to turn in a fugitive. If you, however, decide to talk to them and then lie, that’s when you’re in trouble.
• Discussion about two of the people’s immigration status being held over their heads as leverage in getting information from
• Discussion about the female DNA on the pressure cooker. Whose DNA is this?
• Discussion about the girl who is in trouble for police, accused of setting off a bomb in school–she says she was running a science experience.
  

  What Kiera Wilmot claims started as a harmless experiment is now a nightmare for the 16-year-old Florida native.

  Wilmot, a Bartow High School student, was arrested at her school last week for allegedly detonating a water bottle filled with an explosive concoction of common household chemicals. According to the Miami New Times, “[A] police report … indicates Wilmot mixed toilet bowl cleaner and aluminum foil — a combination that has inspired hundreds of YouTube videos and generally produces a fairly unimpressive explosion.”

  One teen told Florida-based WTSP News 10 that Wilmot merely wanted to see what would happen when those chemicals mixed.

  The experiment reportedly created a small explosion that caused the bottle’s top to pop off and produced smoke. Although no one was hurt and no property was damaged, Wilmot was charged with “possession/discharge of a weapon on school property and discharging a destructive device,” according to WTSP. Both charges are felonies.

  WTSP also reports that Wilmot has been expelled and will now finish high school in an expulsion program.
  Source: Huffington Post

  
  
• It was not used as a weapon. She clearly wasn’t trying to hurt anyone because she stood there while it exploded.
• We shouldn’t be penalizing curious minds, despite the fact that she made a bad judgement.
• Why can’t someone infuse some logical thinking into this situation and drop these charges?
• Discussion about the woman who sped on the sidewalk past a school bus.
  
• Discussion about a member of the rap group Kris Kross dying.
  

  Rapper Chris “Mac Daddy” Kelly died Wednesday afternoon after being found unresponsive in his Atlanta area home.
  Kelly, 34, was part of the 1990s duo Kris Kross, known for their backward clothes and hit song “Jump” from the group’s 1992 debut album.
  Kelly was found unresponsive and transported to Atlanta Medical Center, where he was pronounced dead, a spokeswoman for the Fulton County Medical Examiner’s Officer told The Atlanta Journal-Constitution.
  Source: Atlanta Journal Constitution

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Topics discussed include unemployment fraud, Senator Lindsey Graham saying that the FBI should confront people who visit Islamist websites, the media attempting to make a connection between homegrown terrorists and conspiracy theorists, how being found guilty by a jury’s opinion is considered a determinant of the “fact” that a person committed a crime, the case where the feds arrested the wrong guy in connection with the ricin attacks on President Obama and Senator Wicker–now they say they have the right guy in custody, video of a guy–who had road rage due to being cut off–fires his gun after getting his butt whipped after following these teens to their home, videos of bullies getting the tables turned on them, how some children are natural aggressor–operating by means of force or manipulation, how Facebook is like high school, popularity trumping talent or doing a good job, how the Nobel Peace Prize is the most popular of the Nobel prizes, the Liberty Movement’s rising “stars”, connection between the desire for popularity and the desire for leadership, Heit & Cheri sharing lessons from their own lives about popularity in high school, how people would be a lot more “successful” if people were allowed to make themselves individually into what they want to be, and more!

• Discussion about unemployment fraud.

  The U.S. government paid out billions in unemployment benefits to people who were actually working, a new report finds, sparking concerns that a big share of the money meant for the jobless isn’t going to the workers who are struggling the most.

  Unemployment insurance fraud cost the federal government $3.3 billion in 2011, according to a recent report from the St. Louis Federal Reserve. The largest share of fraudulent unemployment benefits went to people who were still working: $2.2 billion or two-thirds of the fraudulent payments, according to the report.

  Nearly a half-billion dollars went to workers earning at least $900 a week or $46,800 a year, the report found. That’s only slightly less than the U.S. household median income of $49,909 in 2011, according to a study from two Census Bureau researchers from that year. Those earning less than $300 per week received $210 million of the fraudulent benefits, or less than 10 percent.

  Though only a small fraction of the $108 billion the federal government paid out in unemployment benefits in 2011 went to people who weren’t eligible, the study’s findings raise concerns that some of the money intended for struggling jobless Americans is going to people who don’t qualify to receive it.
  Source: Huffington Post

• Why is the Huffington Post reporting the story this way? They are not talking about the cuts in benefits that affect people. They want to point out the little things that really have no bearing.
• Reports like this make it seem like unemployment fraud is a huge problem. Why did they report a dollar amount instead of a percentage? They want to make it seem like this is something that affects a significant segment of unemployment recipients.
• The average person is not cheating unemployment, and it is wrong to approach these benefits as if everyone should be viewed with extra scrutiny because some people cheated the system.
• Discussion about people committing unemployment fraud by collecting benefits while still working. Keep in mind that in most states (if not all) working up to a certain amount is allowed while a person collects benefits.
• The bottom line is that people have an issue with unemployment, so they play up stories like these to sway public opinion. These are the same people who say, “I’m not racist. I just believe in “stop and frisk.”
• This approach is a thinly veiled classist and/or racist narrative.
• Discussion about Senator Lindsey Graham saying that the FBI should confront people who visit Islamist websites.
  

  Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-SC), appearing Sunday on CBS’s “Face the Nation,” said that he believes Americans would be made safer if Federal Bureau of Investigations (FBI) agents would physically confront non-criminals over their web surfing activities, especially if that person is on a watch list and has been looking at “Islamist” sites online.

  Explaining that there were warning signs known to various U.S. law enforcement agencies that one of the accused Boston bombers may have been a threat, Graham said the attack was pulled off because of “a failure to share information and missing warning signs — we’re going back to the pre-9/11 stovepiping.”

  He added that if someone federal agencies had received tips about “goes on the Internet for the whole world to see, to interact with radical Islamic websites, how do we miss that?”
  Source: The Raw Story

• What exactly is an Islmaist site? Is this any website that contains information about Islam?
• What if a person visits a site or is directed to a site via Google and has no idea who is running it? Also, you cannot draw a conclusion about why a person is visiting a particular site–it could be just to see what is being said.
• Also, is what is being said on the site illegal? There are a number of different types of sites that can be targeted by using this logic–for instance, sites that talk about marijuana growth etc..
• Discussion about the media attempting to make a connection between homegrown terrorists and conspiracy theorists.
• Discussion about “speculative” reporting.
• Discussion about how being found guilty by a jury’s opinion is considered a determinant of the “fact” that a person committed a crime. What about all of the people who have been exonerated? It clearly is not a fact that they committed the crime, yet they were convicted.
• Discussion about the recent case where the feds arrested the wrong guy in connection with the ricin attacks on President Obama and Senator Wicker.
  

  BRANDON, Miss. (AP) — An ex-martial arts instructor made ricin and put the poison in letters to President Barack Obama and others, the FBI charged Saturday, days after dropping similar charges against an Elvis impersonator who insisted he had been framed.

  The arrest of 41-year-old James Everett Dutschke early Saturday capped a week in which investigators initially zeroed in on a rival of Dutschke’s, then decided they had the wrong man. The hunt for a suspect revealed tie after small-town tie between the two men and the 80-year-old county judge who, along with Obama and U.S. Sen. Roger Wicker of Mississippi, was among the targets of the letters.

  Dutschke’s house, business and vehicles in Tupelo were searched earlier in the week often by crews in hazardous materials suits and he had been under surveillance.

  Dutschke (pronounced DUHS’-kee) was charged with “knowingly developing, producing, stockpiling, transferring, acquiring, retaining and possessing a biological agent, toxin and delivery system, for use as a weapon, to wit: ricin.” U.S. attorney Felicia Adams and Daniel McMullen, the FBI agent in charge in Mississippi, made the announcement in a news release Saturday.

  Dutschke’s attorney, Lori Nail Basham, said she had no comment. Earlier this week she said that Dutschke was cooperating fully with investigators and Dutschke has insisted he had nothing to do with the letters. He was arrested about 12:50 a.m. at his house in Tupelo and is expected in court Monday. He faces up to life in prison, if convicted.
  Source: Associated Press

• Are they sure that they have the right person this time?
• Discussion about how it was the enemy of the original guy who was arrested and harassed by the feds who is now accused of sending the ricin and framing his rival.
• Discussion about a video where a guy, who had road rage due to being cut off, pulls out his gun after getting his butt whipped after following these teens to their home.
  

  NEWPORT, N.C. – A Lenoir County man, accused of attacking another driver and shooting that driver’s car, is facing up to four years in prison.

  Bradley Turner, 40, of La Grange, made for his first court appearance Wednesday, standing before the judge with a bruised eye and his wife sitting behind him, following Sunday’s violent road rage incident.

  Deputies in Carteret County say he punched a man in the face for allegedly cutting him off while driving. The victim, 20-year-old William Berry, and his friend, 21-year-old Nathan Brotzman, were seen on cell phone video fighting back.

  Deputies say after Berry and Brotzman beat Turner to the ground, Turner then pulled a gun on them and shot Berry’s truck and Berry’s neighbor’s house, all in the presence of Turner’s toddler, sitting in the car.

  In court, the judge decided Turner is not allowed to have any contact with the victims, their families, or any prosecuting witnesses. He is also not allowed to bring any firearms outside of his house.

  Turner’s lawyer, Roger Crowe, painted a different picture.

  “We’re dealing with a man who’s a father and a husband and a hard-working man, and he was just completely terrified,” said Crow.

  Turner is facing five misdemeanor charges, including two counts of assault by pointing a gun, and one count each of going armed to the terror of the people, injury to personal property, and assault and battery. He is also charged with felony discharging a weapon into occupied property.

  “I think it’s important to realize that it was a very dangerous and volatile situation, obviously by what you saw on video, and people were put at risk and in danger,” said Scott Thomas, Carteret County district attorney.
  Source: WNCT

• These are your average Americans who are never under suspicion.
• Discussion about a video in which a boy is mercilessly picking on another boy and he gets body-slammed unexpectedly–he was asking for it!
  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0Gq0zj3qFAE
• Discussion about a video in which girls are picking a fight with another girl in a locker room until the aggressor gets the tables turned on her.
  
• Discussion about when people get pushed to the point of having to defend themselves against aggressors–people who are normally nonviolent.
• Discussion about people who feel that they can treat people a certain way because they are stronger.
• Discussion about people who are always looking for a confrontation–whether verbal or physical.
• Discussion about how some children are natural aggressors, who get what they want by means of force or manipulation.
• Discussion about the claim that Facebook is like high school. The world is like high school and high school is training for the world.
• In high school–just as in life–the popular people get the “votes” and attention.
• Discussion about popularity trumping talent or doing a good job.
• Discussion about how sports players get paid more than other professions. People are talking about the NFL draft, but where is the science draft.
• Discussion about how the Nobel Peace Prize is the most popular, and the other Nobel prizes go mostly unnoticed.
• Discussion about the desire to be popular fueling people.



• Discussion about the Liberty Movement’s rising stars pic posted on Facebook. If they are pushing the idea of liberty, why do they need “stars”? This is all a popularity contest.
• Many times leaders are chosen out of popularity, but many times they cannot compete intellectually.
• Discussion about the connection between the desire for popularity and the desire for leadership.
• Things are easier for popular people–the doors swing open for the popular folks.
• Heit & Cheri share lessons from their own lives about popularity in high school.
• Cheri talks about coming in as runner-up for best actress for a skit in high school, and Heit talks about being compared to the “smart guy” after he came in 2nd place in a math competition. He explains that he was never popular for anything of intellect when he was in high school.
• Everyone has something that they could be good at if it is fostered. People would be a lot more “successful” if people were allowed to make themselves individually into what they want to be.
• Do people really want to be popular or do they want the benefits of popularity? Likewise, do people want money or do they want the things money can buy?
• Discussion about some peoples’ need for attention.

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Topics discussed include the latest developments regarding the mother of the Boston bombing suspects, use of the word “jihad”, the real possibility that one or both brothers were working for the government, whether a person who claims asylum from a country should be able to return there for visits, the “no fly” list and terror watch list, people calling for a network of databases that have all of your information to determine if you are eligible to buy or do a particular thing, how the media is constantly reminding people of 9/11 since the Boston bombings, the landing gear from one of the 9/11 planes being found in NYC, the authorities and media say that the alleged Boston bombers were planning an attack in NYC, George Zimmerman’s attorney saying that he would keep the media and social media out of the case if he could, how social media shows more of the big picture than the mainstream media does, dumb rumors that spread on social media, the decline in the quality of Google search results, and more!

• It is officially Spring!
• Discussion about the latest developments regarding the mother of the Boston bombing suspects. They say she was caught on wire taps talking about jihad to her son.
  

  BOSTON (AP) — The angry and grieving mother of the Boston Marathon bombing suspects insists that her sons are innocent and that she’s no terrorist.

  But Zubeidat Tsarnaeva is drawing increased attention after federal officials say Russian authorities intercepted her phone calls, including one in which she vaguely discussed jihad with her elder son. In another, she was recorded talking to someone in southern Russia who is under FBI investigation in an unrelated case, U.S. officials said.

  In photos of her as a younger woman, Tsarnaeva wears a low-cut blouse and has her hair teased like a 1980s rock star. After she arrived in the U.S. from Russia in 2002, she went to beauty school and did facials at a suburban day spa.

  But in recent years, people noticed a change. She began wearing a hijab and cited conspiracy theories about 9/11 being a plot against Muslims.

  Tsarnaeva insists there is no mystery and that she’s just someone who found a deeper spirituality. She fiercely defends her sons – Tamerlan, who was killed in a gunfight with police, and Dzhokhar, who was wounded and captured.
  Source: Associated Press

• We should be able to see or hear the evidence and not have to rely on the authorities’ word.
• What does jihad mean? They hope to evoke images of Muslims killing on behalf of Islam. Here is the textbook definition:
  

  ji·had
  /jiˈhäd/
  Noun
  (among Muslims) A war or struggle against unbelievers.
  The spiritual struggle within oneself against sin.

• Discussion about word choice, and how the language that was used points to the intent.
• Did the mother actually use the word “Jihad”, and if she did do we know what she meant?
• What if she actually did talk about terrorism, does this mean she actually did anything or planned anything?
• Regardless of all of this, the point of all of these accusations is to discredit the mother–whether she actually did anything or not.
• Why were they recording her calls and how many calls were recorded?
• Law enforcement can always think a person is planning something, but how can they stop something if nothing occurred?
• Discussion about whether it should have been alarming that the older brother bought a large amount of fireworks.
• All of this seems to point to the real possibility that one or both brothers were working for the government.
• Discussion about whether a person who claims asylum from a country should be able to return there for visits.
• Discussion about the “no fly” list and terror watch list are fair. Does being on this list make you guilty of anything? If not, why then are people treated as if they are guilty. Some people are suggesting that those on the list shouldn’t be able to buy guns.
• Eventually people will be calling for a network of databases that has all of your information and will cross-check to see if you are eligible to buy or do a particular thing.
• Discussion about the notion that if you choose not to profile innocent people, then you must be in favor of the bad things that might happen without the profiling.
• Discussion about how the media is constantly reminding people of 9/11 since the Boston bombings.
• Discussion about the landing gear from one of the 9/11 planes being found in NYC.
  

  NEW YORK — A rusted piece of airplane landing gear discovered wedged between a mosque and an apartment building and believed to be from one of the hijacked planes that destroyed the nearby World Trade Center on Sept. 11 has been confirmed as coming from the type of Boeing jet used in the attacks.

  Police said Saturday that detectives had been in contact with officials at Chicago-based Boeing Co. who confirmed the wreckage was from a Boeing 767. Police have said the landing gear had a clearly visible Boeing identification number.

  The American Airlines and United Airlines planes hijacked by Islamic extremists in 2001 were Boeing 767s. Boeing spokesman John Dern said he could not confirm whether the ID matched the American Airlines plane or the United Airlines plane.

  Workers discovered the landing gear part on Wednesday between a luxury loft rental building and a mosque that in 2010 prompted virulent national debate about Islam and freedom of speech because it’s just blocks from ground zero.

  On Saturday, yellow police tape blocked access to a metal door that leads to the hidden alley behind the planned Islamic community center, known as Park51.
  Source: Associated Press

• Discussion about how the authorities and media say that the alleged Boston bombers were planning an attack in NYC.
• Discussion about how the public has to be reminded of things due to their short attention span.
• Discussion about the advantage of dragging court cases out to lessen the outrage.
• Discussion about George Zimmerman’s attorney saying that he would keep the media and social media out of the case if he could. Of course, he wasn’t saying this when he thought that the media was working for him.
  

  “I think that if I could do away with all media, including all social media, that I would not have it involved in a criminal case,” O’Mara said. “But that’s a fantasy that is 40 years ago.”

  Crump agreed, adding that social media have given “people who normally would not have a voice in matters like this” to engage in the case.
  Social media “caused a firestorm that wasn’t a full picture,” O’Mara said of how misinformation was tweeted soon after the shooting.

  Source: New York Daily News

• It was social media that put this case on the map. Nobody would know about this case were it not for bloggers and social media.
• Social media shows more of the picture than the mainstream media does.
• Social media is one of the best things for getting to the truth–which is why it is going to be under even more attack.
• Discussion about some of the dumb rumors that spread on social media. People just don’t take the time to think.
• There is so much foolishness out there that there is just too much to correct. Actually, some of this stuff is so absurd that people should know better.
• Discussion about a case where someone said that they found an entire mouse’s body inside of a Coke can. A little research would show this is false–yet people spread that story like it was the golden truth.
• Discussion about silly statuses on social media that tell people to press “like” and leave “3″ as the comment.
• Discussion about emails that disseminate silly things.
• Some people think that they are on the cutting edge, and are “in the know”, but many folks are quite “un-smart”.
• The people are starting to take over the media, and the mainstream media is feeling the heat. How can they even compete?
• Discussion about the decline in the quality of Google search results.

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Topics discussed include the prevalent leader/follower dynamic observed in many debates today–people pushing the ideas of others, feeling the need to cram oneself into a particular ideological box that leaves no room for deviation, the importance of vetting ideas and ideologies, approaching discussions from a perspective of sharing your views versus trying to convince people of something, the degree to which we feel we have the right to control others, the notion that there are no completely selfless acts, the nature of the mind, giving things the “spiritual” label, the technical aspects of sound and how we hear, people wanting to be teachers rather than students, memorization versus learning, math and learning, looking for a specific answer versus looking for the way to find the answer, using the understanding of rationale to apply concepts in other areas, the programmed formula for propaganda and persuasive writing, the standard template for debate and presenting ideas, the programming we receive as children in the education system, letting children decide what they want to learn and how much, drawbacks of the standard curriculum, and more!

• Discussion about the prevalent leader/follower dynamic observed in many debates today. Often, people cannot defend their positions, then refer you to their leader–whether that’s a modern leader or historical one.
• Discussion about people who push other people’s ideas, and not their own.
• Discussion about pushing one of the few prevalent ideologies, with very little differentiation or allowances for individual differences between them, There could be as many different ideologies as there are people.
• Use of the example of the many different sects of Christianity to illustrate how people align themselves with philosophies.
• It is important to know what we believe, but we cannot know that unless we have truly vetted different ideologies–as opposed to simply regurgitating someone else’s ideas.
• Use of the act of baking a cake to illustrate the different “ingredients” that go into the creation of a particular ideology and how it is labeled.
• Discussion about approaching discussions from a perspective of sharing your views versus trying to convince people of something.
• How much do we feel that we have a right to control other people and what they do?
• Discussion about people wanting to control and decide for others while saying that what they want is “best for all involved.”
• Discussion about the notion that there are no completely selfless acts. When you are doing something people label as “selfless”, you are still getting something out of it by imposing your will on the way things should be.
• The debate about whether thought is action.
• What is the mind? Is it completely independent of the physical?
• Is singing based solely on physical ability? It’s both physical as well as the manipulation of the physical to create sound.
• Discussion about the technical aspects of sound and how we hear.
• Discussion about the characterization of certain things that are not designated as physical, spiritual.
• Is physical the opposite of spiritual? No.
• Discussion about how almost everyone wants to be a teacher, but far fewer have been students.
• What is learning? What is learning versus memorization.
• Regurgitation of what is presented to you is not learning.
• Is mathematics learning since it tends to be basic memorization? The thought comes in when you come up with the rationale on how to solve a problem. It comes with taking a bunch of elements and rearranging them in a specific way–being able to do this independent of looking for a specific answer.
• Discussion about looking for a specific answer versus looking for the way to find the answer.
• Discussion about memorizing times tables in school.
• If you understand how to solve a problem, then you can answer many different problems.
• Discussion about a video that gives the rationale to the Pythagorean.
• Understanding to rationale gives people a chance to apply concepts in other areas–some which people may not have even considered.
• Discussion about the programmed formula for propaganda and persuasive writing. In following the formula you are not presenting any new information. Why follow this formula rather than the pattern of connecting the dots that you used when you came up with the idea?
• Discussion about the standard template for debate.
• Discussion about the standard template for presenting ideas.
• Discussion about the programming we receive as children in the education system.
• Discussion about letting children decide what they want to learn and how much.
• Discussion about the drawbacks of the standard curriculum.
• Having a standard template makes it hard to deviate from the scheduled programming.
• discussion about people having trouble figuring out what tasks are necessary to complete a project.
• Discussion about people coming up with the first flying machine.
• We are capable of so much more thought than we exercise at any given time…

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Topics discussed include the latest on the Boston bombing investigation, the mysterious character “Misha” who is said to have radicalized the older brother, question of whether George Zimmerman is waiving his rights to a “stand your ground” hearing in the Trayvon Martin case, the George W. Bush library dedication spectacle, changes to the royal succession of the throne of England, only one member of Congress being present at a hearing on unemployment, unemployment benefits being cut drastically because of the sequester, Florida’s ridiculous math and reading test required to receive unemployment, Wisconsin locking up more Black men than any other state, systematic criminalization of Blacks, Oakland police state where part of the city was shut off for police sweeps, and more!

• Discussion about the latest on the Boston bombing investigation.
• It is sad how the mother seems to be so confused and devastated about the events. She recently said that the whole bombing was a hoax.
  
• Discussion about the mysterious “Misha” character that supposedly “radicalized” the older brother. He’s probably FBI or CIA.
  

  As the investigation into why and how the Boston bombers unleashed their deadly attacks continues, the focus has centered to an elusive and mysterious Muslim convert known only as Misha.

  Family members of Tamerlan Tsarnaev describe Misha as the guiding influence in the elder bomber developing radicalized views – but to date it is believed that law enforcement and the media have failed to find him.
  Speculation as to who Misha is wildly varies, with some suggesting he is the mastermind behind the marathon bombings while others think that he could be a Russian spy – sent to identify and keep tabs on young men like Tamerlan who are at risk of turning to militant Islam.
  Source: Daily Mail

• Discussion about the question of whether George Zimmerman is waiving his rights to a “stand your ground” hearing in the Trayvon Martin case.
  

  Prosecutors want an answer from George Zimmerman’s attorney on whether he intends to seek an immunity hearing for the former neighborhood watch captain.

  Prosecutors filed a motion Wednesday asking that Zimmerman’s attorney state whether he is waiving his client’s right to such a hearing.

  Zimmerman’s attorney has told the judge in the case he doesn’t need the two weeks she had scheduled this month for such a hearing.

  Attorney Mark O’Mara had previously said he may want to wrap that hearing into Zimmerman’s second-degree murder trial, set for June.
  Source: WPTV

• Discussion about the George W. Bush library dedication spectacle. Obama and a bunch of other leaders were there basically lying about Bush’s accomplishments for the sake of the ceremonial B>S. that America values so much. All five of the living presidents were present.
  
  
  
  

• In G.W. Bush’s mind, does he believe he is a good man? Of course he does. He’s rationalized away his actions and believes himself to be great.
• Bush had the nerve to mention how the people of New Orleans helped each other. Yeah they did because Bush didn’t help them!
• Discussion about what it will be like when Obama gets his library. What will be his legacy.
• George’s library opens to the public next week.
• Discussion about changes to the royal succession of the throne of England.
  

  A bill which ends succession to the Crown based on gender has become law.

  It means the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge’s first child could become monarch, regardless of whether it is a boy or a girl.

  Under the previous law, dating back to 1701, women were superseded by their brothers in succession even if they were the first born.

  The new act will also allow the future monarch to marry a Roman Catholic.

  The Succession to the Crown Act 2013 will come into force once it is approved by all 15 Commonwealth countries where the Queen is head of state.

  The legislation was agreed in principle at the Commonwealth heads of government meeting in Perth, Australia, in October 2011.

  The change in the law comes ahead of the birth of the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge’s first child in mid-July, which as a result of the new law will be third in line to the throne.
  Source: BBC

• Why are they still supporting the royals? It’s like welfare for the rich. They have done nothing to earn their social standing.
• Discussion about Obama giving the queen an iPod.
• Discussion about the song “God Save the Queen“, which has the same melody as “My Country Tis of Thee.”
• Heit says that if he was King, he would have people come and perform for him.



• Discussion about only one member of Congress being present at a hearing on unemployment.

  WASHINGTON — More than five years since the start of the Great Recession, unemployment remains a major economic problem in the United States, with long-term unemployment among its most stubborn aspects.

  Nobody told Congress.

  A hearing Thursday on long-term unemployment held before the 19-member Joint Economic Committee began with just a single lawmaker in attendance. Panelists testifying on the problem and its potential solutions spoke only to Sen. Amy Klobuchar (D-Minn.), the committee’s vice-chair, for the beginning of the roughly 90-minute session.

  The all-but-complete absence of congressional interest was first documented by National Journal reporter Niraj Chokshi, who tweeted a photo of the hearing. Shortly after the photo was posted, several other lawmakers did trickle in to participate. Sen. Christopher Murphy (D-Conn.) arrived eight minutes into the hearing. Once the hearing had been under way for 35 minutes, Rep. John Delaney (D-Md.) was also in attendance, according to Chokshi. Eventually Rep. Elijah Cummings (D-Md.) also joined, bringing the crowd to four.

  More than 4.6 million Americans have been jobless for at least 27 weeks, according to the latest job figures, a rate of 3.0 percent. That’s higher than at any point since World War II, including the 2.6-percent peak during the recession of the early 1980s. The official unemployment rate currently stands at 7.6 percent, down from 10.0 percent at the recession’s darkest moments, although much of the reduction has been due to people leaving the workforce — simply giving up hope of finding a job.
  Source: Huffington Post

  
  
  

• Politicians who say they care about jobs are full of crap, and this proves it.
• Discussion about federal unemployment benefits being cut drastically because of the sequester.
• Discussion about Florida’s ridiculous math and reading test required to receive unemployment.
  

  WASHINGTON — Florida violated federal civil rights law with its new and unusual requirement that unemployment claimants file online and take math and reading tests before they can receive benefits, the U.S. Labor Department determined this month.

  The department’s Civil Rights Center’s initial determination lays out the problems some non-English speakers and people with disabilities have encountered seeking benefits. For instance, details omitted from translated material “constituted a failure to provide meaningful access” to vital information, the department found. And when people called for help, they couldn’t get through.

  “A broken phone system coupled with no meaningful alternative to the online processes left many unemployed Floridians effectively shut out from much needed unemployment insurance,” Valory Greenfield, an attorney with Florida Legal Services, said Thursday. Greenfield’s group filed the complaint on behalf of the Miami Workers Center, a nonprofit that advocates for low-income and minorities in Florida.

  The workers center filed its complaint in November 2011 after Florida Gov. Rick Scott (R) signed into law reforms that made Florida’s unemployment system the stingiest in the nation. The complaint is similar to one filed by the National Employment Law Project charging that the reforms made it too difficult for workers to receive benefits. The second complaint is still pending.
  Source: Huffington Post

  
  
  

• This is shameful and it is geared toward decreasing the amount that will be paid out for benefits.



• Discussion about Wisconsin locking up more Black men than any other state.

  A new study from the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee that looked at the prison population there found that the state has the highest percentage of incarcerated black men in the country. About 1 in 8 black men of working age (13 percent) are in state prisons or jails. The national average is 6.7 percent.

  According to census figures, African-Americans make up 6.5 percent of the state’s population.

  Wisconsin also leads the nation in the percentage of Native men behind bars; 1 in 13 Indian men are incarcerated there. [...]

  A big chunk of the state’s black male prison population comes from Milwaukee, Wisconsin’s biggest city. According to the researchers, more than half of all black men in their 30s and 40s had been incarcerated at some point. That means there’s a large population of men in the state’s biggest city who are essentially unemployable, which puts a huge drag on the economy — and a big reason Milwaukee is one of the poorest big cities in the country. (Milwaukee’s metro area also boasts one of the biggest gaps in incomes between blacks and whites.)

  And Milwaukee’s poor felons are concentrated in the same neighborhoods: The study also found that almost two-thirds of Milwaukee County’s incarcerated black men come from the city’s six poorest ZIP codes.

  “I do think that a lot of it has to do with sentencing policy,” said Jeanne Geraci, who runs the Benedict Center, a Milwaukee-based organization that advocates for community-based responses to criminal justice. Geraci said that the state has a much more aggressive stance to incarceration; Minnesota, which has similar demographics and crime rates, has a prison population half the size of Wisconsin’s prison population.
  Source: NPR

• Discussion about Oakland police state where part of the city was shut off for police sweeps.
  

  OAKLAND, Calif. — A massive law enforcement sweep was underway in Oakland Wednesday, with nine people having reportedly been detained an hour after it was first reported.

  FBI agents, local police SWAT and the California Highway Patrol were targeting multiple locations.
  Several streets were closed down in West Oakland during the sweeps. Portions of Seventh and Eighth streets were shut down in the area for at least 90 minutes and while helicopters circled overhead.

  The police barricades were reportedly lifted just before 10:20 p.m.

  It appeared to be an extensive operation with many officers involved.

  There were agents carrying out actions in numerous parts of the city Wednesday night.
  As of 9 p.m., KTVU learned that nine people had been detained.

  An hour later, a separate sweep involving San Leandro Police reportedly resulted in a standoff near the intersection of E. 22 Street and 14th Avenue.

  Oakland Police and other agencies involved told KTVU that the participating departments were not at liberty to discuss what the action concerned.
  Source: KTVU

• This is further evidence of the systematic criminalization of Blacks. They decided to target Black people for arrest.
• Wisconsin is also the number one state in locking up Native Americans.
• Discussion about Milwaukee’s racism.

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Topics discussed include the latest in the Boston bombing investigation, discovery that the bombing suspects were on welfare, Joe Biden calling the Boston bombing suspects “cowardly knock-off jihadists” in his speech at Sean Collier’s memorial service, the Guantanamo Bay (Gitmo) hunger strikes, Obama’s failure to close Gitmo, the hypocrisy of Americans saying they believe in fairness and human rights, how the government redirects legitimate emotions over wrongdoing to make people rationalize some of the worst acts in history, the hypocrisy of Americans feeling like some rights are only for Americans, a list of many of the human rights violations that the U.S. government has perpetrated against people in the country and around the world, the hypocrisy of the nation basically stopping for four people being dead in Boston as compared with the hundreds of people who are being shot in inner cities across the nation, how Blacks and Muslims are pointed to as the culprit anytime something happens–like the country views these groups as inherently bad, the families of the Boston bombing suspects being stigmatized, the hypocrisy of blaming religion for Muslim wrongdoings and not doing the same when Christians do wrong, and more!

• Discussion about the latest update on the Boston bombing.
• Discussion about the brothers receiving welfare benefits.
  

  Marathon bombings mastermind Tamerlan Tsarnaev was living on taxpayer-funded state welfare benefits even as he was delving deep into the world of radical anti-American Islamism, the Herald has learned.

  State officials confirmed last night that Tsarnaev, slain in a raging gun battle with police last Friday, was receiving benefits along with his wife, Katherine Russell Tsarnaev, and their 3-year-old daughter. The state’s Executive Office of Health and Human Services said those benefits ended in 2012 when the couple stopped meeting income eligibility limits. Russell Tsarnaev’s attorney has claimed Katherine — who had converted to Islam — was working up to 80 hours a week as a home health aide while Tsarnaev stayed at home.

  In addition, both of Tsarnaev’s parents received benefits, and accused brother bombers Dzhokhar and Tamerlan were recipients through their parents when they were younger, according to the state.
  Source: Boston Herald

• Discussions about the insinuation that Tamerlan Tsarnaev was a bad father and husband.
• Discussion about the indictment of poor people as lazy and undeserving of government help.
• Discussion about people having questions about whether Tsarnaev used taxpayer dollars to fund the bombing.
• Discussion about Boston’s police commissione anting to use drones over the city for increased surveillance.
  

  Boston’s police commissioner called on Wednesday for more cameras, more surveillance and even drones in the aftermath of the April 15 marathon bombings that killed three and injured dozens.

  “Drones are a great idea,” said police Commissioner Edward Davis in a Boston Herald report. “I don’t know that would be the first place I’d invest money, but certainly to cover an event like this, and have an eye in the sky that would be much cheaper to run than a helicopter is a really good idea.”
  Source: Washington Times

• Discussion about Joe Biden’s speech at Sean Collier’s memorial service.
  

  Vice President Joe Biden spoke at the memorial service for Sean Collier, the M.I.T. police officer whose slaying last week touched off the manhunt for the two Boston Marathon bombing suspects, and spoke with fiery disdain about the brothers suspected in the killing. Musing about the motives of modern terrorists, Biden launched into a passionate tirade against extremists, “Whether it’s al Qaeda Central, or two twisted, perverted, cowardly knock-off jihadists here in Boston,” an apparent reference to Dzhokhar Tsarnaev and his deceased brother, Tamerlan Tsarnaev.

  After thanking the assembled law enforcement personnel for “standing in line between our families and danger every single solitary day,” the Vice President said, “You know, I get asked, like my colleagues, almost every day since 9/11, why.”

  “Why?” he continued, “Why this terrorist phenomenon the beginning of the 21st century, why? People say to me for they surely know they can never defeat us. They can never overthrow us. They can never occupy us. So why? Why? Whether it’s al Qaeda Central, or two twisted, perverted, cowardly knock-off jihadists here in Boston. Why do they do what they do?”
  Source: Mediaite

• Discussion about the the Guantanamo Bay (Gitmo) hunger strikes. There are 166 people currently being held at the government facility.
  

  While President Obama made closing the prison a top priority when he entered the White House, he put that effort on the back burner in the face of Congressional opposition to his plan to move the detainees to a Supermax facility inside the United States.

  The prisoners “had great optimism that Guantánamo would be closed,” Gen. John F. Kelly, who oversees the prison as head of the United States Southern Command, recently told Congress. “They were devastated when the president backed off — at least their perception — of closing the facility.”

  That disappointment was heightened by Mr. Obama’s decision in January 2011 to sign legislation to restrict the transfers of prisoners. More than half the inmates were designated three years ago for transfer to another country if security conditions could be met, but the transfers dried up. And early this year, the Obama administration reassigned, without replacing, the diplomat who had negotiated the transfers.

  “President Obama has publicly and privately abandoned his promise to close Guantánamo,” said Carlos Warner, a lawyer who represents one of 17 hunger strikers being kept alive by force-feeding through nasal tubes. “His tragic political decision has caused the men to lose all hope. Thus, many innocent men have chosen death over a life of unjust indefinite detention.”
  Source: New York Times

• The government has no plans to let these men go, despite there being no evidence that many of them did anything wrong.
• Discussion about what it would be like to be “detained” at Gitmo. This is torture and these men are in an increasingly desperate situation. They have’t received any trial and there are no prospects for freedom. There have been suicides as well. Their “out” is to die… Can you even imagine that?
• Discussion about Obama’s failure to close the prison.
• Discussion about many people probably thinking that the “etainees” deserve to be there.
• Gitmo is a human rights violation. These men have been tortured for more than 10 years.
• Discussion about the government detaining people for crimes and holding them without charging them.
• Discussion about the government killing American citizens. The same way the government treats non-Americans is how they will eventually treat Americans.
• Discussion about the hypocrisy of Americans saying they believe in fairness, freedom, and human rights.
• Discussion about all of the things the U.S. government has done to violate human rights: slavery, Jim Crow Laws, internment of Japanese Americans during WWII, mistreatment of Native Americans, Iran Contra, experiments on people in Tuskegee and Guatemala, CIA drug-running, Kent State shootings, unjust war in Iraq, and other violations.
• Discussion about how the government redirects legitimate emotions over wrongdoing to make people rationalize some of the worst acts in history.
• Discussion about how people will use the excuse of how the culture was at a particular time in history to justify egregious human rights violations.
• Discussion about the hypocrisy of Americans feeling like some rights are only for Americans, not people from other places. This is an example of the notional of American exceptionalism.
• Discussion about the hypocrisy of the nation basically stopping for four people being dead in Boston as compared with the hundreds of people who are being shot in inner cities across the nation.
• Apparently there are some people who deserve to die–or at least don’t have the right to live.
• Diffusion about how Blacks and Muslims are pointed to as the culprit anytime something happens. It’s like the country views these groups as inherently bad.
• Discussion about the bombing suspects being white Muslims, and Joe Biden referring to them as “knock-off” Jihidis.
• Discussion about the families of the Boston bombing suspects being stigmatized.
• Discussion about the ridiculous perspective that if you are a Muslim, you want to kill people.
• Discussion about the Christian hypocrisy that Christians aren’t violent and do many of the same things that they stigmatize Muslims for doing. Christians were involved in the Crusades, drones flying around killing innocent people
• Discussion about when a Christian does something wrong, it is not attributed to their religion. Yet, when Muslims do things wrong, the first thing people talk about is religion.

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