Ten years ago, a then-state senator with ties to white supremacists named Russell Pearce introduced model legislation to his colleagues in the American Legislative Exchange Council (ALEC) that would later become SB 1070, Arizona’s infamous “show me your papers” law. While legal challenges have largely defanged provisions that authorized police to racially profile Latinx people as undocumented immigrants, SB 1070 and copycats passed in five other states are considered some of the most anti-Latinx and anti-immigrant measures in recent memory.
This week, ALEC is holding its annual policy summit in Scottsdale, Arizona, bringing together conservative state lawmakers, right-wing activists and corporate interests behind closed doors to develop model bills for state legislatures across the country. A coalition of civil rights and racial justice groups filed a lawsuit on Wednesday against the Arizona State Legislature alleging that a group of Republican lawmakers is violating of the state’s open meetings law by participating in the summit. ALEC claims to be a nonpartisan group that values “public-private partnership,” but critics argue it’s essentially legislating in secret, leaving the public with little understanding of how the bills it generates are drafted.
Dancing With Fools 
$2 TRILLION DOLLARS!
The Military Industrial Complex, with aiding and abetting from both legacy political parties, has little to nothing to show for this perverse amount of money wasted on their undeniable failure in Afghanistan.
I know people disagree with me, but I’m disgusted with our Congress (well, the House) for their laser focus on impeachment. Sure, Trump deserves to be impeached, but Congress should have started the process long before the Russian interference claims — for more substantive reasons.
Are there any people of courage in Congress? We have a dysfunctional government, IMO.
This 18-year old debacle in Afghanistan is but one example. The staggering waste! But the MIC profiteers are getting rich(er) on the backs of the American citizen (taxpayer).
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Afghanistan: where empires go to die.
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Not charged with criminal acts.
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Too warm in Siberia for bears to hibernate.
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More proof that our elected officials…and in many cases, a compliant media who yammers among themselves, can’t find their ass with both hands.
Matthew Hoh resigned his appointment as a Political Officer with the State Department in Afghanistan in 2009 over the escalation of the war by President Obama. His decision to resign, and the debate it stirred within the Obama administration, was profiled in detail in a front page expose by the Washington Post in October 2009.
Hoh, a former Marine Corps officer who fought in Iraq, is now a Senior Fellow with the Center for International Policy.
In response to the Washington Post’s release of documents charting U.S. officials through three administrations lying to and misleading the public about the war in Afghanistan, Hoh said:
“While observers and critics of the war in Afghanistan have stated many of the issues brought up in the Post’s report, this report shows persistent malfeasance on behalf of national security officials in the military, State Department and White House for nearly two decades. The larger context of this report should be considered as it should be read with the memory of the Pentagon Papers of Vietnam as well as the lies of the Bush Administration that led to the disastrous invasion and occupation of Iraq.
“As the thousands of pages the Post has released are read and understood, the contents, meaning and consequences of them should be directly addressed by the presidential candidates, the members of Congress and U.S. media. The British Parliament has twice now conducted official inquires into recent wars, Iraq and Libya, and found the British public was lied to systemically and intentionally in each case. No such official review or investigation has been conducted in the United States despite the overwhelming evidence of perjury and lying by Bush, Obama and Trump officials.
Contrast this with the current impeachment hearings in Congress — ostensibly about U.S. national security — yet the wars in which hundreds of thousands of U.S. personnel have been killed, wounded and psychologically scarred, and likewise millions of Afghans, Iraqis, Syrians, Yemenis, Somalis, Pakistanis and Libyans, have been left untouched by a cowardly and irresponsible Congress.”
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When I was 4 or 5 we took a car day trip up to the white sands beach in British Columbia. On the way home we stopped at a roadside lunch counter. I recall my parents being surprised that the cost of a mug of coffee had doubled to ten cents.
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Bob’s parents lived on Grosse Ile, an island in the Detroit River southwest of Detroit, near where I grew up. There are two bridges, the free bridge and the toll bridge, which was close to their house.
Back in 1963 when I met Bob I remember it being 25 cents to cross. The free bridge had to undergo repairs a couple weeks ago and everyone had to use the toll bridge, so I got to see what it cost now. $5.00! Seriously, five dollars but I think they said that was for a two way trip, so I guess $5 per day to go to work, and come home, then you’d have to cough that up again the next day. One could spend at least $100 a month, or more depending on how many days one worked. Gratefully, the island is small and it’s not far at all to the free bridge.
The island was known for being unaffordable, rich people lived there. Bob’s parents weren’t rich. When they bought land and built their house, in the interior where people like them built. The rich and their mansions were on the river on both sides of the small island. I’m sure if Bob’s parents still lived there, they would be using the free bridge, and so would we when we visited.
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Gross Ile
I’m glad I decided to google it. Click on this link and an interesting video taken from the air plays. To the right is an airfield, used during the war, I think. George H.W. Bush may have used it. At some point he and Barbara lived in Wyandotte, not too far from the island.
To the left is the toll bridge. Lots of trees, but I’m going to watch it again, see if I tell where my in-laws lived. Bet I can’t see the roads though with all those trees.
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Brian took me to Meijer’s, hope I got everything I need for Christmas since not being able to drive myself there is a problem. They’re going to Jamaica Saturday for a week and I’ll be on dog duty.
We had lunch at the Margarita place. Pete is coming over tomorrow, haven’t seen him since Thanksgiving. We’re going to go to the show, see the new “Jumanji” movie, “Jumanji the Next Level.” And we HAVE to do something about my computer, find and order a new video card. I’m more than sick of this freezing up crap.
Oh, and now I need a new Christmas tree for the basement. It’s 4′ by 2 or 3′. It sits on a table at the foot of the stairs. One of the two prongs that plugs into the wall fell off. Talked to Brian about that today, he said don’t even bother trying to fix it. It’s old, probably over heated and that’s why the prong fell off. Better to be safe and not try to fix it. Crap, there goes more money out the door, but I have to have it, to light up that end of the room and to be festive.
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That’s the trouble with buying Made in China.
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Fog sprang up.
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In the raw air, 17 minutes to the north door of the Hillside Cafe.
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Sneezy.
Day 3: 88 minutes.
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The humidity hit the dew-point. It was Sunny here but barely broke 40 F.
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Because the temperature fell with the departing sun.
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Everyone knows Dinosaurs can’t ski:
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