Why you don't really have free will

http://usatoday30.usatoday.com/news/opinion/forum/story/2012-01-01/free-will-science-religion/52317624/1

Christians Controlling Government

On the subject of Christians influencing government, when the founders of the United States added the 8th amendment to the Constitution prohibiting excessive bail, extensive fines, and cruel and unusual punishment they did not have the prick of a needle (our lethal injection) in mind. They were used to punishments such as "flaying alive" and being "drawn and quartered."

 

Do you know what being "flayed alive" means?  The prisoner was tied to a stake hands above his head and his feet secured. Skin was removed from head to toe; the prisoner was disemboweled while still alive. There were other procedures but the prisoner customarily died before the punishment was completed.

 

How about "drawn and quartered; the convicted was hanged, by the neck, until almost dead; strapped down and their abdominal area sliced open, their bowels and genitals would be removed and burn before their eyes; beheaded by an axe; their body divided into four sections (quartered) and, along with their head, put on public display in an attempt to deter people from similar crimes. For reasons of public decency, women convicted of similar crimes were instead burnt at the stake. With modifications the punishment was on the books in England until 1870. The most famous case was Guy Faux who was convicted of trying to blow up parliament. His mistake was thinking he could beat the system. When the rope was around his neck he jumped thinking he would break his neck but he broke the rope. He then went through the final steps fully conscious.  England has holiday, Guy Faux Day.

 

Witchcraft was a capital crime. The legal precedent cited by the devoutly Puritan colonists was the bible; biblical passages such as Exodus 22:18 ("Thou shalt not suffer a witch to live") and Leviticus 20:27 ("A man also or woman that hath a familiar spirit, or that is a wizard, shall surely be put to death"). Problem was there were no witches but that did not stop Christians from thinking there were some.

 

These punishments were enforced by Christians (?) so when the subject is Christians in government we have to be careful. Our war for freedom from Britain was conducted by people who believed owning and mistreating human beings was acceptable behavior and did not want anyone to vote who was not a white protestant, male, land owner.

 

Now presume you are not one of the selected would you still want Christians running the government?

Going Downhill and Excelerating

Since 1960 the divorce rate has doubled, the teen-suicide rate has tripled, the recorded violent crime rate has quadrupled, the prison population has quintupled, the percentage of babies born to unmarried parents has sextupled, and the rate of cohabitation without marriage (which is a pretty good predictor of eventual divorce0 has increased sevenfold. The rate of serious clinical depression has more than tripled over the last two generations, and increased by perhaps a factor of ten from 1900 to 2000. Is it any wonder children are violent? What makes you think anything will change for the better.

Free Will

Free will is the ability of agents to make choices unconstrained by certain factors. The principle of free will has religious implications. In the religious realm, free will implies that individual will and choices can coexist with an omnipotent divinity. We believe salvation is only for those who freely choose Jesus as their savior and choose to follow his instructions and human evil is an unavoidable byproduct of God's gift of free will. If free will goes, so do those beliefs.

 

Do we really have "free will?" "Free will" is defined as: at the moment when we have to decide among alternatives, we have free will if we could have chosen otherwise. In other words if we could re-do  our life up to the moment we make a choice, with every aspect of the universe configured identically, free will means that our choice could have been different.

 

Some believe this sort of free will is ruled out by the laws of physics.

 

Our brain and body, the vehicles that make "choices," are composed of molecules, and the arrangement of those molecules is entirely determined by our genes and our environment. Our decisions result from molecular-based electrical impulses and chemical substances transmitted from one brain cell to another. These molecules must obey the laws of physics, so the outputs of our brain—our "choices"—are dictated by those laws. (It's possible, though improbable, that the indeterminacy of quantum physics may tweak behavior a bit, but such random effects can't be part of free will.) And deliberating about your choices in advance doesn't help matters, for that deliberation also reflects brain activity that must obey physical laws.

 

To assert that we can freely choose among alternatives is to claim that we can somehow step outside the physical structure of our brain and change its workings. We can't do that. Like the output of a programmed computer, only one choice is ever physically possible: the one we made. 

Taken from: The Story of Stuff, Annie Leonard

Taken from: The Story of Stuff, Annie Leonard

 

Please feel free to copy, paste, and adapt the sample letter below.

The Vinyl Institute's address:

 

Vinyl Institute

1737 King Street, Suite 390

Alexandria, VA, 22314 USA

 

Dear [Producer, Store, Vinyl Institute],

 

Enclosed is a [raincoat, handbag, rubber duck, binder, shower curtain, etc.] that I am returning to you because it contains polyvinyl chloride, or PVC. PVC does not contribute to a healthy household or a healthy planet. In fact, PVC is the most hazardous plastic at all stages of its lifecycle, from production through use and disposal. I encourage you to stop [making/selling/promoting] PVC and to instead opt for materials that are safer for workers, communities, consumers, and the planet.

 

Production: PVC production is especially hazardous for workers and communities where plants are located. PVC production requires vinyl chloride monomer (VCM), a dangerous explosive, and creates toxic waste, notably ethylene dichloride (EDC) tars—two things no neighborhood wants. Wastes from PVC production have been proven to contain the powerful carcinogen dioxin, which then is spread to wherever the waste is buried or burned. In addition to the inherent hazards of PVC, its production requires even more toxic chemical additives to prepare the PVC for different uses: plasticizers (such as phthalates) are added to make it soft and pliable, heavy metals (such as lead and cadmium) are added as stabilizers, and fungicides are added to stop fungi from eating the other additives.

 

Use: The chemical additives added to PVC are not bound to the plastic so they leach out or evaporate over time. That is why PVC items often reek of a "new car smell" and lead dust has been often found on PVC window frames and mini-blinds. The most common plasticizer used in PVC is DEHP, a suspected carcinogen and endocrine disruptor that is now showing up in human and wildlife bodies tested all over the planet. If we bring this stuff into our homes, schools, and workplaces, we end up with these toxics in our bodies.

 

Disposal: Whenever PVC is burned, dioxins and acidic gases are released. This happens when discarded PVC ends up in an open burn pile or a waste incinerator. It also happens when buildings catch on fire, since PVC is widely used in building materials. When PVC is dumped in a landfill, the additives leach into the environment, and it is also at risk of burning since landfill fires are common.

 

PVC recycling is not a solution. PVC recycling is technically difficult, not economically feasible, and polluting, releasing a range of toxics into the facility's air. Even more basic, though, recycling a hazard perpetuates a hazard. Faced with such a uniquely hazardous material, a better response is to reduce its circulation rather than to figure out how to use it yet again.

 

The good news about PVC is that it isn't necessary. Alternative materials are available, including many safer materials that PVC has displaced over recent years: glass, cotton, metal, paper, ceramics, leather, and wood as well as less hazardous plastics. Many companies around the world, including Nike, IKEA, Sony, the Body Shop, a dozen automobile makers, and even Wal-Mart, have taken steps to reduce or fully eliminate PVC in their products.

 

Knowing how hazardous PVC is, and knowing that alternatives exist, why are you continuing to [use/sell/promote] this material? If all those companies can take a stand on the side of community, worker, and environmental health, you can too.

 

Please write back to me to clarify [company name here]'s position regarding PVC. Specifically, I would like to know if you have a plan, with a timetable, to phase out PVC from your operations. I look forward to hearing from you.

Sincerely, [Your name here]

 

Create Jobs with Planned Obsolescence

When our the president and congress debate how to jump-start the economy they might want to look at history.

 

The idea of planned obsolescence gained legs in the 1920s and 30s when government and business people realized our industries were making more stuff than people cared to or could afford to buy. In 1932, Bernard London, a real estate broker, wrote and distributed his pamphlet called Ending the Depression through Planned Obsolescence.  His argument was for creating a government agency with the task of assigning death rates to specific consumer products, at which time consumers would be required to turn the stuff in for replacements, even if they still worked fine. London argued this system would keep our factories humming along.

In 1960 Vance Packard documented the debates about planned obsolescence in consumer products in the 1950s and 60s in his book The Waste Makers. Some individuals opposed the idea believing it to be unethical and jeopardized their professional credibility, others recognized it as a way to ensure continuous markets for all the stuff they designed, produced and advertised and accepted it wholeheartedly. He quotes an industrial designer, Brooks Stevens who is credited with the popularizing in the 1950s "instilling in the buyer the desire to own something a little newer, a little better, a little sooner than is necessary." Stevens said "we make good products, we induce people to buy them, and then the next year we deliberately introduce something else that will make products old-fashioned, out of date obsolete… It is organized waste. It's sound contribution to the American economy.

The strategy has worked beyond the wildest dreams of the people who instituted it. Planned obsolescence continues to dominate and define consumer culture today, and dispose of (often perfectly good) products at an ever-increasing rate. In the service of perceived obsolescence in particular, there's a whole industry hard at work spending billions of dollars each year to manipulate us into buying something new, better, different. That industry is known as ……advertising.

 

 

John Jenkins
865-803-8179  cell
Gatlinburg, TN


Email: jrjenki@gmail.com
Blogs: http://littlepigeon.blogspot.com/
          http://alumcave.blogspot.com/

 

"Think for yourself and let others enjoy the privilege of doing so too."

 

---Voltaire

 

 

John Brown's Speech at Trial

I have, may it please the court, a few words to say. In the first place, I deny everything but what I have all along admitted -- the design on my part to free the slaves. I intended certainly to have made a clean thing of that matter, as I did last winter when I went into Missouri and there took slaves without the snapping of a gun on either side, moved them through the country, and finally left them in Canada. I designed to have done the same thing again on a larger scale. That was all I intended. I never did intend murder, or treason, or the destruction of property, or to excite or incite slaves to rebellion, or to make insurrection.

I have another objection; and that is, it is unjust that I should suffer such a penalty. Had I interfered in the manner which I admit, and which I admit has been fairly proved (for I admire the truthfulness and candor of the greater portion of the witnesses who have testified in this case)--had I so interfered in behalf of the rich, the powerful, the intelligent, the so-called great, or in behalf of any of their friends--either father, mother, brother, sister, wife, or children, or any of that class--and suffered and sacrificed what I have in this interference, it would have been all right; and every man in this court would have deemed it an act worthy of reward rather than punishment.

This court acknowledges, as I suppose, the validity of the law of God. I see a book kissed here which I suppose to be the Bible, or at least the New Testament. That teaches me that all things whatsoever I would that men should do to me, I should do even so to them. It teaches me, further, to "remember them that are in bonds, as bound with them." I endeavored to act up to that instruction. I say I am yet too young to understand that God is any respecter of persons. I believe that to have interfered as I have done--as I have always freely admitted I have done--in behalf of His despised poor was not wrong, but right. Now, if it is deemed necessary that I should forfeit my life for the furtherance of the ends of justice, and mingle my blood further with the blood of my children and with the blood of millions in this slave country whose rights are disregarded by wicked, cruel, and unjust enactments--I submit; so let it be done!

Let me say one word further.

I feel entirely satisfied with the treatment I have received on my trial. Considering all the circumstances it has been more generous than I expected. But I feel no consciousness of guilt. I have stated that from the first what was my intention and what was not. I never had any design against the life of any person, nor any disposition to commit treason, or excite slaves to rebel, or make any general insurrection. I never encouraged any man to do so, but always discouraged any idea of that kind.

Let me say also a word in regard to the statements made by some of those connected with me. I her it has been stated by some of them that I have induced them to join me. But the contrary is true. I do not say this to injure them, but as regretting their weakness. There is not one of them but joined me of his own accord, and the greater part of them at their own expense. A number of them I never saw, and never had a word of conversation with till the day they came to me; and that was for the purpose I have stated.

Now I have done.

WhyDoes Anyone Want to be in Government

Why does anyone want to be in government, other than to increase their personal wealth? To do what is required takes character, ethics, morality, integrity and courage which in the political world are rare.

 

We love growth. It frames the political and economic strategy of every government in the world, democratic or not. It frames the strategy of every company and even determines the longevity of board directors, CEOs and corporate executives. It is, for most people, one of the key measurements of progress through life. We consider our success over time in the context of whether we see growth in our assets, income and financial security along with material manifestations as in our homes, cars, and lifestyles.

 

The end of growth is not going to be a smooth process. As population grows, we need more jobs which require growth. That will continue to be more difficult because technological efficiency and productivity improvements drive down the number of people needed to create the goods we produce. If the economy doesn't grow fast enough to overcome these efficiency improvements and deal with population growth, unemployment goes up, spending goes down, fewer products are produced, and fewer jobs are created.

 

Growth has effectively ended.

 

When five hundred million people lose their livelihoods and one billion people their protein because fisheries collapse growth for them will be a fading dream. If we have to eliminate the fossil-fuel industry to cut CO2 emissions, we will lose $3 trillion of economic activity. If we don't eliminate them we will face runaway climate change with the potential loss of the insurance industry, the collapse of food supply, and political crises and instability over water and refugees. If we get growth back we will face peak oil and food shortages with prices moving to new highs that stop growth again.

 

Why does anyone want to be in government?

Propaganda / Violence

Propaganda (violent movies, video games, television shows) is a form of communication that is aimed towards influencing the attitude of a community toward some cause or position by presenting only one side of an argument. Propaganda is usually repeated and dispersed over a wide variety of media in order to create the chosen result in audience attitudes.

As opposed to impartially providing information, propaganda, in its most basic sense, presents information primarily to influence an audience. Propaganda often presents facts selectively (thus possibly lying by omission) to encourage a particular synthesis, or uses loaded messages to produce an emotional rather than rational response to the information presented. The desired result is a change of the attitude toward the subject in the target audience to further a political, religious or commercial agenda. Propaganda can be used as a form of ideological warfare.

While the term propaganda has justifiably acquired a strongly negative connotation in its original sense was neutral, and could refer to uses that were generally benign or innocuous, such as public health recommendations, signs encouraging citizens to participate in a census or election, or messages encouraging persons to report crimes to law enforcement, among others.

Emial to Congress

 

Congress wins as a team and loses as a team. This morning you are a loser. You were not elected to create chaos. As you Republicans said during your convention, Barack Obama had been given a chance and failed to do the job, same with you. You and all your fellow Congress men and women should resign and give someone else a chance to govern responsibly.

 

You created the "Fiscal Cliff" in August 2011 to resolve a partisan struggle, also with a deadline and also self-created, over raising the federal debt ceiling.

 

Your record of not getting the job done goes way back. Setting a deadline to avert self-created calamity has become your preferred way to govern in recent years. When all else fails, as it often does, it's supposed to frighten members into action.

 

Now your constituents look forward to the next Congress made disastrous confrontation over the debt limit in two months, with the radical right wing of the House Republicans determined to send us over the edge if they don't get their way.

 

You continue to be the worst Congress in our lifetimes.

While you fail to do you job your constituents continue to experience a weak economy and no jobs.

 

Since I do not believe you have the integrity to resign the first thing Congress must do is elect new leadership from the top to the bottom. No one currently in a leadership position would be eligible for any appointment.

 

Governing requires compromise. Get busy and get the job done. Congress is an embarrassment.

Developing a Constitution

When we consider Egypt coming up with a Constitution we need to remember our process. The Constitution developed over a period of 100 days and was adopted on September 17, 1787, by the Constitutional Convention in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, and ratified by conventions in eleven states. It went into effect on March 4, 1789. The first ten amendments ratified by three-fourths of the states in 1791 are known as the Bill of Rights. The Constitution has been amended seventeen additional times (for a total of 27 amendments) and its principles are applied in courts of law by judicial review. The process is not an overnight process and we need to be patient with all countries.

 

What Sex and Killing Have in Common

In 1974 there was a movie "Death Wish." Eventually there were four sequels over a period of twenty years. At the time I was taking some psychology courses at a local university and I was subscribing to a magazine Psychology Today. In one issue there was an article on the reaction of audiences across the country when the hero killed his first bad guy, they stood and cheered.

 

The film was disliked by many critics due to it advocating vigilantism and unlimited punishment to criminals. The book upon which the movie was loosely based denounced vigilantism, whereas the film embraced the notion. It was seen as echoing a growing mood in the United States as crime rose during that time.

 

Hollywood is great at making war and killing seem simple and strait forward. It makes the watcher believe that people kill each other because they are told, because it is kill or be killed, the enemy is hated or whatever. Hollywood tries to make us believe that all soldiers shoot at each other, attempting to hit and kill each other. While in some situations there may be some truth in the matter, it is mostly wrong.

 

A book to read on the subject is :On Killing: The Psychological Cost of Learning to Kill in War and Society" by Dave Grossman.

 

When most people talk about killing, they are like virgins talking about sex. You can talk about it all day, you can fully understand the mechanics involved but when the time comes there is so much more involved than the person thought. As with sex until you kill you have no clue as to how you will react. I find the number of Christians who claim they are ready to kill to protect their property curious. I find them odd and far from being Christian. We have at least a couple of elders in waiting in that category.  

 

A look at history may shed some light on the subject. In World War Two, studies have shown that only 15-20 percent of the soldiers fired at the enemy. That is one in five soldiers actually shooting at a Nazi when he saw one. While this rate may have increased in desperate situations, in most combat situations soldiers were reluctant to kill each other.

In Korea, the rate of soldiers unwilling to fire on the enemy decreased and fifty five percent of the soldiers fired at the enemy. In Vietnam, this rate increased to about ninety five percent but this doesn't mean they were trying to hit the target. In fact it usually took around fifty-two thousand bullets to score one kill in regular infantry units!

If one studies history one will find that man is often unwilling to kill his fellow man and the fighter finds it very traumatic when he has to do so.

The solution is not to control weapons we need to understand why people are willing to kill. Millions if not billions of dollars are spent each year on advertising to influence the way consumers think but no one believes watching violent movies and television programs as well as playing violent video games influences us or our children.

John Jenkins
865-803-8179  cell
Gatlinburg, TN


Email: jrjenki@gmail.com
Blogs: http://littlepigeon.blogspot.com/
          http://alumcave.blogspot.com/

 

"Be a yardstick of quality. Some people aren't used to an environment where excellence is expected."

---Steve Jobs

Re: Update from Senator Bob Corker - December 15, 2012

The president has an advantage, he does not have to prepare for re-election where as members of congress must. Remember the Republican convention where the speakers said Obama had his chance but failed so the voters should give Romney a chance.

 

The Fiscal Cliff appears to be an artifical disaster caused by Congress' failure to do their job. It appears you all agreed to pass laws that if implemented would have such a negative affect on the country you were hoping the members of the other party would never let happen. You have reached the point where you expected your opponents to fold as they expected you to fold. One thing you must do is to elect new leaders in the next congress. Failure to do that will show the voters you are stuck in the past.

 

Congress succeeds together and fails together. We voters have long memories.

John Jenkins
865-803-8179  cell
Gatlinburg, TN


Email: jrjenki@gmail.com
Blogs: http://littlepigeon.blogspot.com/
          http://alumcave.blogspot.com/

 

"Be a yardstick of quality. Some people aren't used to an environment where excellence is expected."

---Steve Jobs

On Sat, Dec 15, 2012 at 12:48 PM, Senator Bob Corker <Senator_Bob_Corker@corker.enews.senate.gov> wrote:

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December 15, 2012 Unsubscribe Update My Profile Website | About Bob Corker | News | Services | Issues & Legislation | Contact E-MAIL UPDATES Yes, please periodically send me e-mail updates.* Click Here *By subscribing to my e-mail updates, you are authorizing me to send regular e-mail updates from my office to your e-mail account. Please select the areas of interest to you. Agriculture Budget/Economy Defense Education Energy Environment/Air Quality Foreign Affairs Guns/ 2nd Amendment Health Care Immigration Judiciary/Crime Protecting Life Social Security Taxes Transportation Veterans Affairs War On Terrorism *By answering this survey, you are subscribing to my newsletter. If you are having trouble, click here. Please Feel Free to Tell a Friend E-mail: E-mail: E-mail: Update from Senator Bob Corker December 15, 2012 Senator Corker made the following statement yesterday in response to the shooting at Sandy Hook Elementary in Newtown, Connecticut. "Like any parent, I am heartbroken to hear what has happened, and like other Tennesseans, I am saddened for all the victims and families and have them in my thoughts and prayers," said Corker. Meeting Our Obligation to Older and Younger Americans Anticipating the possibility that an agreement to avert the fiscal cliff might not adequately reduce the nation's long-term deficits, Senator Corker introduced "dollar-for-dollar" legislation on Wednesday to raise the debt ceiling by roughly $1 trillion in exchange for roughly $1 trillion in reforms to Medicare, Medicaid and Social Security. "I continue to hope Speaker Boehner and President Obama will negotiate a deal north of $4 trillion before year-end, but I think we should also prepare now for the possibility that they do not. The next opportunity we have to make the structural, transformative reforms to Social Security, Medicare and Medicaid that will save these programs and put our country on a path to fiscal solvency is the debt ceiling debate," said Corker. "I've introduced dollar-for-dollar legislation that will raise the debt ceiling by roughly $1 trillion in exchange for roughly $1 trillion in reforms to Social Security, Medicare and Medicaid. This bill incorporates many of the recommendations made in the bipartisan Simpson-Bowles and Domenici-Rivlin proposals. This bill meets our obligations to older and younger Americans. Young Americans expect us to solve our fiscal issues so they aren't saddled with debt and robbed of their opportunity for the American dream. And seniors expect us to honor the commitments we have made to them." Read more about Senator Corker's "Dollar-for-Dollar Act" here. Corker on CNBC's Squawk Box: Time to Discuss Social Security and Medicare Reform Knoxville News Sentinel: Corker ties debt ceiling to entitlement reform To Help Community Banks, We Should Fix Dodd-Frank Yesterday, the Wall Street Journal editorial page reported on the Senate's vote "to end a 2008 rescue program for banks," crediting Senator Corker for doing "as much as anyone to protect taxpayers in this debate." On Thursday, proposed legislation to extend the TAG (Transaction Account Guarantee) Program failed when a budget point of order raised by Senator Pat Toomey (R-PA) was upheld. The proposed TAG legislation violated the Budget Control Act passed by Congress and signed into law by President Obama last year. TAG was a temporary measure established during the 2008 financial crisis to provide unlimited federal insurance for noninterest-bearing business accounts. With banks now holding sufficient deposits to support their outstanding loans and data showing that large institutions are by far the largest holders of TAG deposits, the program's benefit to the community banking system is, at best, unclear. Prior to the vote, Senator Corker delivered remarks on the Senate floor urging his colleagues to uphold the budget point of order. "I [had] amendments that would have fixed this bill, made it work for community bankers… The only reason we are voting on this amendment is that my friends on the other side of the aisle know Dodd-Frank has hurt community bankers throughout this country." Earlier in the week, Senator Corker expressed his opposition to further extension of TAG. "Some of what we passed in Dodd-Frank makes a great deal of sense, but much of it does not. And it's time for us to devote energy to fixing and improving the law where there are flaws. If we really want to help community banks, that is where we should focus our energy. Giving out limitless deposit insurance is what some people have decided is a consolation prize. That's too bad. We should fix Dodd-Frank if we want to help our community banks. Liquidity to make loans is not the problem. Slow economic growth is the problem. Extending insurance to keep these deposits around, then, fixes a problem that simply does not exist… [I]f we really want to help community banks thrive and succeed, our focus should be on dialing back Washington's desire to micromanage our banking institutions," Corker said on the Senate floor Tuesday. Wall Street Journal: Put a Corker in It "Senator Bob Corker (R, Tenn.), who did as much as anyone to protect taxpayers in this debate, helped fill in the blanks on Thursday. 'The only reason that we're voting on this measure is that the Members on the other side know that Dodd-Frank has hurt community banks,' he said. By then it was clear that Mr. Corker had started a conversation that Democrats really did not want to have. Pro-bailout lawmakers became suddenly silent on Thursday when the program's fate hung in the balance. In the final debate on Majority Leader Harry Reid's bill to extend the TAG, not a single Senator rose to defend the program's merits. Mark down a victory for taxpayers, but there is more to do. Next year's priorities should be to end too big to fail for the biggest banks, while easing Dodd-Frank's regulatory burdens on community banks so they have greater freedom to succeed." Read more: http://on.wsj.com/TS7zU1.   CONTACT INFORMATION Washington, D.C. 185 Dirksen Senate Office Building | United States Senate | Washington, D.C. 20510 Phone: 202-224-3344 | Fax: 202-228-0566 Chattanooga 10 West MLK Blvd., 6th Floor Chattanooga, TN 37402 Phone: 423-756-2757 Fax: 423-756-5313 Jackson Ed Jones Federal Building 109 South Highland Ave., Ste. B8 Jackson, TN 38301 Phone: 731-424-9655 Fax: 731-424-8322 Knoxville 800 Market Street, Ste. 121 Knoxville, TN 37902 Phone: 865-637-4180 Fax: 865-637-9886 Memphis 100 Peabody Place, Ste. 1125 Memphis, TN 38103 Phone: 901-683-1910 Fax: 901-575-3528 Tri-Cities Tri-Cities Regional Airport 2525 Hwy 75, Ste. 126 Blountville, TN 37617 Phone: 423-323-1252 Fax: 423-323-0358 Nashville 3322 West End Ave., Ste. 610 Nashville, TN 37203 Phone: 615-279-8125 Fax: 615-279-9488 You can also Click Here to contact Senator Bob Corker using an online form Update My Profile - Unsubscribe - Privacy Policy

United Nations Convention on People with disabilities

Will this convention create obligations for states?

 

Yes. States will be obligated to introduce measures that promote the human rights of persons with disabilities without discrimination. These measures would include anti-discrimination legislation, eliminate laws and practices that discriminate against persons with disabilities, and consider persons with disabilities when adopting new policies and programmes. Other measures include making services, goods, and facilities accessible to persons with disabilities.

 

http://www.un.org/disabilities/convention/questions.shtml#ten

John Jenkins
865-803-8179  cell
Gatlinburg, TN


Email: jrjenki@gmail.com
Blogs: http://littlepigeon.blogspot.com/
          http://alumcave.blogspot.com/

 

“That is why you develop a brain, so you can think about more than one thing at a time.”
―    Bill Clinton

Senator Alexander Failure

Senator Alexander recently sent a news letter to his email list. What follows is my response.

 

Awards given to politicians are payment for something. Whenever a group wants recognition they give someone an award. Means nothing. You as well as your fellow senators have been an embarassment to the United States for the past four years. As a group you have failed the citizens of this country. You succeed as a team you fail as a team. Your record is nothing you or anyone can be proud of. Get about the country's business, not your own.

 

Pro-Life is a Non Issue

Being Pro-Life is to be on the losing side of the discussion. If you do not like abortion, do not have one but do not try to interject government into a decision that is not yours.

In 2002 Patrick Buchanan wrote “The Death of the West

In 2002 Patrick Buchanan wrote "The Death of the West." In it he wrote:

 

for a quarter century (1968-1992) Democrats were unable to pick the GOP lock on the presidency, because they could not shake loose the Republican grip on the white vote. With the exception of Johnson in 1964 and Truman in 1948 no Democrat won the white vote. What broke the GOP lock on the presidency was the Immigration Act of 1965.

 

During the years 1970 through 2000 we imported a new electorate, as Republicans cheerfully backed an immigration policy tilted to the Third World that enlarged the Democratic base and loosened the grip that Nixon and Reagan had given them on the presidency of the United States.

 

In 1996, the GOP was rewarded. Six of the 7 states with the largest numbers of immigrants---California, New York, Illinois, New Jersey, Massachusetts, Florida, and Texas---went to Clinton. In 2000 5 went to Gore, and Florida was a dead heat. Of the 15 states with the most foreign-born, Bush lost 10. But of the 10 states with the smallest shares of foreign-born, Montana, Mississippi, Wyoming, West Virginia, South Dakota, North Dakota, South Carolina, Alabama, Tennessee, and Arkansas---Bush swept all 10.

 

Among the states with the most immigrants, only Texas has been reliably Republican but now is going the way of California.  In the 1990s, Texas took in 3.2 million new residents as the Hispanic share of Texas's population shot from 25 percent to 33 percent. The day when whites are a minority in Texas for the first time since before the Alamo is coming soon. In 2002 the Dallas Morning News thought that by 2005 fewer than half of Texans would be white.

 

In 1960 the U.S. population was 88.6 percent white; in 1990, it was 75.6 percent; by 2020 the proportion of whites could fall as low as 61 percent.  By 2050, Euro-Americans, the largest and most loyal share of the electorate the GOP has, will be a minority due to an immigration policy that is championed by Republicans.

 

The Republicans can ignore the Latinos no more.

TeaParty and Health Care

Do you suppose the TeaParty knows: the origin of Obamacare and Romneycare goes back to President Richard Nixon, who saw that many people did not have adequate health care and wanted a solution, albeit a Republican solution. His plan had an employer mandate, forcing every business to buy health care for its employees, not unlike ObamaCare, that forces individuals to do the same. Later, the very conservative Heritage Foundation modified Nixon's plan and proposed that individuals, rather than businesses, be forced to buy insurance from private companies. For decades, this was the Republican response to Democratic attempts to expand Medicare to cover everyone. Only after Obama pushed it through did the Republicans begin objecting to what was, in reality, their own plan.

 

When Obama was elected president, I have to believe in response to all the prayers, the Senate Minority Leader said that the sole job of the Republican Party was to ensure that Obama was a one term president.  If Obama was for it the Republicans were against it. My guess is if Romney wins the Democrats will do the same thing.

 

Day After the Election

Confrontations abroad. A divided Congress at home. A budget stalemate on the horizon that threatens another recession. Don't forget the Middle East.

Come Nov. 7, President Obama or President-elect Mitt Romney might be forgiven if he pines for the good old days of campaign rallies and negative ads.

The world won't wait for either man to enjoy his victory celebration. The bad blood and battle lines between Democrats and Republicans are likely to spill over rather swiftly from politics to policy matters. And only 55 days will remain before a convergence of tax increases and spending cuts threatens to throw the slowly healing U.S. economy back into recession.

On November 7th all you're going to hear is "countdown to the fiscal cliff."

On Novenber 7th who will happier?

 

John Jenkins
865-803-8179  cell
Gatlinburg, TN


Email: jrjenki@gmail.com
Blogs: http://littlepigeon.blogspot.com/
          http://alumcave.blogspot.com/

''Being an executive requires a combination of charisma, a capacity to sustain boredom, and the ability to shallowly perform on harrying schedules.''

 —Nassim Nichols Taleb

Christian, Newsom Baumgartner

Doesn't "double jeopardy" prohibit retrials for Judge Baumgartner's bad behavior? It was government misdeeds. Why should the government get a second bite at the apple?

John Jenkins
865-803-8179  cell
Gatlinburg, TN


Email: jrjenki@gmail.com
Blogs: http://littlepigeon.blogspot.com/
          http://alumcave.blogspot.com/

''Being an executive requires a combination of charisma, a capacity to sustain boredom, and the ability to shallowly perform on harrying schedules.''

 —Nassim Nichols Taleb