31 Sunday Dec 2017
Posted in Other Columns
30 Saturday Dec 2017
Posted in Uncategorized
Thank you, Senator Graham. I vow to lay off of Lindsey for the rest of 2017.
This one is starting to look like everyone’s favorite kind of conspiracy theory, as in: “conspiracy to commit __________[add felony(s)].” I’m sure the Russia, Russia, Russia crowd will be all over it…
Interesting:
via BREAKING: Senator Lindsey Graham Just Confirmed The Steele Dossier Was Used For 2016 FISA Warrant…
29 Friday Dec 2017
Posted in Other Columns
This is not an endorsement of any television show. I happened upon this trailer for a Netflix production: some of you into the Tube might enjoy it; all else, please at least watch this:
Netflix/YouTube.
Entertainment Weekly/Netflix.
I won’t see this (or any other new show) though I suspect some of you might. No need, really. These mechanical devils are no longer fiction. One will likely pay you a real life visit sooner or later, maybe whilst you “enjoy” the TeeVee.
Buckshot. Lots and lots of buckshot.
28 Thursday Dec 2017
Posted in Other Columns
Tags
Hello. Have not been on hiatus here, but things will be a little slow until the new year.
You’ll be fine. Enjoy the cold snap.
I leave you with the world’s smallest police station, which I passed by just yesterday:
Fresh paint job! Carrabelle, Fl.
A tiny police station and a giant baseball within a few miles … only in America!
PS: the year-end recap should be along any day now.
25 Monday Dec 2017
Posted in Other Columns
Tags
24 Sunday Dec 2017
Posted in Other Columns
Tags
22 Friday Dec 2017
Posted in Legal/Political Columns
Tags
‘Tis the Season. Everyone loves something in the old stocking. Today everyone won.
President Trump signed two Bills into law before jetting off to FloridaLand.
The first under pen was the recently passed tax cut package. This allows people who work to actually keep a little more of the money they earn. Crazy concept, right?
The second Resolution provides funding for normal Imperial operations until the middle of next month. State worshipers gotta love that.
AP
Happy Friday to all!
21 Thursday Dec 2017
Posted in Legal/Political Columns
Tags
America, civil liberties, Cliven Bundy, Courts, crime, due process, freedom, justice, law, tyranny, winter
Happy winter, 2017, a season which began an hour or so ago. This one begins on a nominally merry note. Several notes, in fact, as the little GOP elves deliver happy tax cuts for the peeps.
Also, yesterday, just like Wodan Santa bringing gifts to the kiddies, Lady Justice delivered to Americans a blow for freedom and against government tyranny. A federal judge declared a mistrial in the Cliven Bundy criminal case, the result of massive government obstruction. My brief recount from Freedom Prepper:
Cliven Bundy, his sons, and friends, are American heroes. Like our great forefathers they actually stood up to the tyrannical power of the central government. You likely know their story of defiance against the Bureau of Land Management.
Now, know the good news. The federal case against them continues to disintegrate. Read the amazing legal feel-good story, here, from the Washington Post and Leah Sottile.
If you still believe in the old Constitution and expect the government to abide by it, then you must notice that nowhere in that document does the government in DC have any authority to own and “manage” “public” lands. None. No authority.
Cliven and Co. took this issue and legal point straight to the BLM. The encounter turned sour as so many interactions with the police state do. Arrests were made and, then, the prosecutorial misconduct began.
“LAS VEGAS — A federal judge declared a mistrial Wednesday in the criminal conspiracy case against rancher Cliven Bundy and three other defendants, saying government lawyers suppressed key evidence that would have been favorable to the defendants’ case related to a 2014 standoff with federal agents.
U.S. District Court Judge Gloria Navarro determined that the prosecution suppressed evidence from FBI surveillance cameras recording the Bundy family home and the presence of Bureau of Land Management snipers around the property in the days leading up to the standoff there. Additionally, the prosecution did not provide FBI logs, maps, reports and threat assessments that said the Bundy family was not dangerous.
Navarro pointed to assessments conducted by the FBI, the Southern Nevada Counter Terrorism Center and the BLM that said “the Bundy family is not violent” and that they “would probably get in your face, but not get into a shootout.”
The court “regrettably believes a mistrial is the only suitable option,” Navarro told the packed Nevada courtroom. “A fair trial at this point is impossible.”
–Sottile
This is huge. First, there is public acknowledgement that the government does, in fact, do wrong and itself break the law. Second, a federal judge has called them on it. This usually is well hidden.
A hearing is scheduled for January 8, 2018 to assess the damage caused and to determine if the case should even proceed. It is possible that the judge may find the feds have so compromised justice that she has to dismiss the charges. That would be true and complete justice – not just for Bundy, but for all Americans.
This story is developing. But it is, right now, a victory for anyone interested in freedom. It’s a refutation to the mindlessness of both “government is god” liberals and of “law ‘n order” conservatives. Yes, the police routinely arrest innocent people. Then they commit perjury, hide evidence, mess with rules, prevent discovery, obstruct justice, destroy due process, and trample civil liberties. Usually, they get away with it, sometimes even with commendation. But not this time.
This is huge.
Conservative Treehouse.
20 Wednesday Dec 2017
Posted in Legal/Political Columns
Let’s remind them to renew in 2027 (if they haven’t cut even deeper in the interim).
Starting next year, families making between $50,000 and $75,000 will get average tax cuts of $890, according to an analysis by the nonpartisan Tax Policy Center. Families making between $100,000 and $200,000 would get average tax cuts of $2,260, while families making more than $1 million would get average tax cuts of nearly $70,000, according to the analysis.
…
The $1,000-per-child tax credit doubles to $2,000, with up to $1,400 available in IRS refunds for families that owe little or no taxes.
Anyone complaining about hypothetical deficit impact or playing the tired hand of class warfare, might first consider how those who pay no taxes get a $1,400 “refund.”
For the rest, any plans for what to do with your money? That being a little more of the money you actually earned? Shocking contemplation.
One assumes Trump will sign this immediately (if he hasn’t already).
No barbs for the GOP for the rest of this Wednesday.
19 Tuesday Dec 2017
Posted in Legal/Political Columns
In an astounding act of accomplishment today the House voted, 227-203, to cut taxes. The Senate is expected to act shortly, likely with similar effect. However, based on what, exactly, the Senate votes for, the House may have to revisit the Bill tomorrow. It seems someone in the Senate objects – and I do not make this up – to the name of the legislation. Someone actually has a problem with the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act of 2017.
Were the GOP just a tad smarter (ha!), then they would have named HR 1 the Civil Rights Act of 2017. Only Robert Byrd could have objected to that and he’s dead.
I understand this measure will result in slightly lower taxes, with mild simplifications, for the majority of people who actually pay incomes taxes to the Empire. That’s good. Note: I haven’t read the whole thing; I’m into eating glass right now. The danger is what else might be lurking within or closely associated with the cuts.
The last time we had such a sweeping tax overhaul, 1986 with Ronnie, we also saw a few tax increases, a little gun control, and amnesty for our enemies. The old saying, “nothing is safe while the legislature is in session,” was coined for a reason. But, as the old had once said, “we’ve got to pass it to see what’s in it.” Cold comfort.
Anyhow, we could have reform tomorrow, or maybe Thursday. Here’s the vote on HR 1, from today, Roll Call No. 692:
(It just occurred to me that my pasting killed the cursory differentiation between Dems and GOPers, not that it really matters. If you think it does, just click the link for the original).
—- YEAS 227 —
Abraham
Aderholt
Allen
Amash
Amodei
Arrington
Babin
Bacon
Banks (IN)
Barletta
Barr
Barton
Bergman
Biggs
Bilirakis
Bishop (MI)
Bishop (UT)
Black
Blackburn
Blum
Bost
Brady (TX)
Brat
Bridenstine
Brooks (AL)
Brooks (IN)
Buchanan
Buck
Bucshon
Budd
Burgess
Byrne
Calvert
Carter (GA)
Carter (TX)
Chabot
Cheney
Coffman
Cole
Collins (GA)
Collins (NY)
Comer
Comstock
Conaway
Cook
Costello (PA)
Cramer
Crawford
Culberson
Curbelo (FL)
Curtis
Davidson
Davis, Rodney
Denham
Dent
DeSantis
DesJarlais
Diaz-Balart
Duffy
Duncan (SC)
Duncan (TN)
Dunn
Emmer
Estes (KS)
Farenthold
Ferguson
Fitzpatrick
Fleischmann
Flores
Fortenberry
Foxx
Gaetz
Gallagher
Garrett
Gianforte
Gibbs
Gohmert
Goodlatte
Gosar
Gowdy
Granger
Graves (GA)
Graves (LA)
Graves (MO)
Griffith
Grothman
Guthrie
Handel
Harper
Harris
Hartzler
Hensarling
Herrera Beutler
Hice, Jody B.
Higgins (LA)
Hill
Holding
Hollingsworth
Hudson
Huizenga
Hultgren
Hunter
Hurd
Jenkins (KS)
Jenkins (WV)
Johnson (LA)
Johnson (OH)
Johnson, Sam
Jordan
Joyce (OH)
Katko
Kelly (MS)
Kelly (PA)
King (IA)
Kinzinger
Knight
Kustoff (TN)
Labrador
LaHood
LaMalfa
Lamborn
Latta
Lewis (MN)
Long
Loudermilk
Love
Lucas
Luetkemeyer
MacArthur
Marchant
Marino
Marshall
Massie
Mast
McCarthy
McCaul
McClintock
McHenry
McKinley
McMorris Rodgers
McSally
Meadows
Meehan
Messer
Mitchell
Moolenaar
Mooney (WV)
Mullin
Newhouse
Noem
Norman
Nunes
Olson
Palazzo
Palmer
Paulsen
Pearce
Perry
Pittenger
Poe (TX)
Poliquin
Posey
Ratcliffe
Reed
Reichert
Renacci
Rice (SC)
Roby
Roe (TN)
Rogers (AL)
Rogers (KY)
Rokita
Rooney, Francis
Rooney, Thomas J.
Ros-Lehtinen
Roskam
Ross
Rothfus
Rouzer
Royce (CA)
Russell
Rutherford
Ryan (WI)
Sanford
Scalise
Schweikert
Scott, Austin
Sensenbrenner
Sessions
Shimkus
Shuster
Simpson
Smith (MO)
Smith (NE)
Smith (TX)
Smucker
Stewart
Stivers
Taylor
Tenney
Thompson (PA)
Thornberry
Tiberi
Tipton
Trott
Turner
Upton
Valadao
Wagner
Walberg
Walden
Walker
Walorski
Walters, Mimi
Weber (TX)
Webster (FL)
Wenstrup
Westerman
Williams
Wilson (SC)
Wittman
Womack
Woodall
Yoder
Yoho
Young (AK)
Young (IA)
—- NAYS 203 —
Adams
Aguilar
Barragán
Bass
Beatty
Bera
Beyer
Bishop (GA)
Blumenauer
Blunt Rochester
Bonamici
Boyle, Brendan F.
Brady (PA)
Brown (MD)
Brownley (CA)
Bustos
Butterfield
Capuano
Carbajal
Cárdenas
Carson (IN)
Cartwright
Castor (FL)
Castro (TX)
Chu, Judy
Cicilline
Clark (MA)
Clarke (NY)
Clay
Cleaver
Clyburn
Cohen
Connolly
Cooper
Correa
Costa
Courtney
Crist
Crowley
Cuellar
Cummings
Davis (CA)
Davis, Danny
DeFazio
DeGette
Delaney
DeLauro
DelBene
Demings
DeSaulnier
Deutch
Dingell
Doggett
Donovan
Doyle, Michael F.
Ellison
Engel
Eshoo
Espaillat
Esty (CT)
Evans
Faso
Foster
Frankel (FL)
Frelinghuysen
Fudge
Gabbard
Gallego
Garamendi
Gomez
Gonzalez (TX)
Gottheimer
Green, Al
Green, Gene
Grijalva
Gutiérrez
Hanabusa
Hastings
Heck
Higgins (NY)
Himes
Hoyer
Huffman
Issa
Jackson Lee
Jayapal
Jeffries
Johnson (GA)
Johnson, E. B.
Jones
Kaptur
Keating
Kelly (IL)
Khanna
Kihuen
Kildee
Kilmer
Kind
King (NY)
Krishnamoorthi
Kuster (NH)
Lance
Langevin
Larsen (WA)
Larson (CT)
Lawrence
Lawson (FL)
Lee
Levin
Lewis (GA)
Lieu, Ted
Lipinski
LoBiondo
Loebsack
Lofgren
Lowenthal
Lowey
Lujan Grisham, M.
Luján, Ben Ray
Lynch
Maloney, Carolyn B.
Maloney, Sean
Matsui
McCollum
McEachin
McGovern
McNerney
Meeks
Meng
Moore
Moulton
Murphy (FL)
Nadler
Napolitano
Neal
Nolan
Norcross
O’Halleran
O’Rourke
Pallone
Panetta
Pascrell
Payne
Pelosi
Perlmutter
Peters
Peterson
Pingree
Polis
Price (NC)
Quigley
Raskin
Rice (NY)
Richmond
Rohrabacher
Rosen
Roybal-Allard
Ruiz
Ruppersberger
Rush
Ryan (OH)
Sánchez
Sarbanes
Schakowsky
Schiff
Schneider
Schrader
Scott (VA)
Scott, David
Serrano
Sewell (AL)
Shea-Porter
Sherman
Sinema
Sires
Slaughter
Smith (NJ)
Smith (WA)
Soto
Speier
Stefanik
Suozzi
Swalwell (CA)
Takano
Thompson (CA)
Thompson (MS)
Titus
Tonko
Torres
Tsongas
Vargas
Veasey
Vela
Velázquez
Visclosky
Walz
Wasserman Schultz
Waters, Maxine
Watson Coleman
Welch
Wilson (FL)
Yarmuth
Zeldin
—- NOT VOTING 2 —
Kennedy
Pocan
Look through those names. One may belong to you. Consider that 203 of them want you to keep a little less of your money. Heck, I’d imagine many would take more if they could. Remember that.
Developing…
