That;s me in the middle

That;s me in the middle

Monday, November 23, 2015

JFK Lost In Paris



I post this picture of the flash fundraiser they held for Denise Juneau the evening that she announced she would run  against Zinke so that the bloggers can see that she does have the support of people that show up and do the work. Maybe you didn't notice because everyone has been so busy. I'm not quite sure what to think about the guy who is to challenge Tim Fox.

The Montana Innocence Project - a passion of former Senator Dan Weinberg - is going to release their first exonerated inmate like maybe later today, announced Barry Beach  at his own party with Margie MacDonald, Mayor Hannel, and a room full of  supporters at his home from prison gathering this weekend.

News of late has been non-stop ISIS, saber rattling and pressure to give up more of our civil liberties. Curious, so very curious that the TPP hasn't been on the news.
You can find some interesting stuff on banking and the transportation bill if you look.

Not much news happens anymore. There is terrorism, and long stories about Hillary's campaign, then something Trump said. Darn, I almost forgot that the news keeps reporting that we cannot afford to have clean air or water. Corporations are getting bigger (Plum Creek, Cabela's, Allergan, Canadian Pacific), changing their names, but why? Strandberg asked some interesting questions & observations last week.

With so much chatter about France and getting tough on terror, nobody thought to ask Jeb! about Rebuilding America's Defences. The 52nd anniversary of JFK's assassination was nearly unnoticed. I would have missed it myself if it wasn't for Justin Franz.

Thursday, November 5, 2015

Are You F***ing Kidding?

Was there a mishap with a nuclear missile in Great Falls this week?

How is it possible that I missed Rep .Ryan Zinke's lectures about irresponsible nuclear behavior that we can't afford? You may question why I would choose to go after Ryan Zinke for his lack of leadership on our safety from nuclear weapons, so pay attention.

The media silence on the 70th anniversary of "Trinity"s explosion at Alamogordo, New Mexico was completely overwhelmed by the news and that the United States joined an agreement concerning nuclear materials with Iran. Criticism of that agreement, much of it from Ryan Zinke, blew up the news coverage for the rest of July and then some.

The Names of Experiments did not enter into the discussion,


Japanese artist Isao Hashimoto has done a number of eye opening works on "the fear and folly of nuclear weapons", perhaps there could be a day that Americans would choose to feel safe enough to notice that ours is the only country to use nuclear weapons on human beings. The number of stockpiled global nuclear weapons is Over Killed.

Trinity

Wednesday, October 21, 2015

Zinke Protecteded Payday Loans


This post at Campaign For Accountability reminded me of the 2009 session that would not put cap on interest rated for Payday Loans. Ryan Zinke did not support the Cap The Rate Campaign in 2010, claiming that the Legislature should do it. That's the way he rolls.

Wednesday, October 14, 2015

Bernie!

Flathead area Bernie supporters crowded into the rooms upstairs to watch the first Democratic Party debate of the 2016 election earlier tonight.

Somehow or another we forgot to be on the look out for oversold Biden, and it didn't matter a bit. Bernie draws crowds of thousands because he been consistent with his words and actions and he participates in the conversations we want to have. We people are grateful for that. Grateful and creative and expressive. Take notice.

A beautiful young seamstress designed and sells these great Bernie Sanders Dolls

Others have written ballads and other songs about Bernie.

Mr. Sanders Bring Us A Dream


Hey Bernie Sanders

It was a fun evening; my friend Lynne Stanley and I even got to meet Christopher Cunningham a 26 year old candidate for city council. Christopher lives with Asperger's Syndrome, something that would likely keep him out of the public eye if he did not have a heart for service. The irony here is that Christopher's experience with Asperger's Syndrome allows him to engage in earnest democratic conversations that blow people away.

Saturday, October 3, 2015

Will Jon Tester Run Again?

It has been my guesstimate for nearly two years that Jon would not run for another term. I am aware of absolutely nothing about the way he shows up for his job that would indicate otherwise.

Photos taken from the Missoulian, and the Missoulian.

What do you think?


Thursday, September 24, 2015

"An Appalling Mix..."

Verdell Jackson and Bob Keenan are at it again with Jennifer Fielder et al in tow.

"Rivas and Tanner call the conference “an appalling mix of anti-Indian sentiment, one-world government conspiracy theories and militia-style ideas about federal government agencies.”

Verdell is a good neighbor of mine, and Bobby Keenan was a former employer in the 90's,way back when my brain condition still only caused intermittent difficulties back in the days I could still wait tables.  That, however, is another story for another day.

Meanwhile. life as I now know it is very different. I am pleased to let you know that I began working as a Peer last month.

Thursday, September 10, 2015

ISIS Is Evil

Honestly, I would not be surprised to learn that they tried to tempt Jesus in the desert or that the left wing media won't report on the babies they throw out of incubators.

Really.

They are the worst ever.

At least until someone creates our next enemy anyway.

Saturday, September 5, 2015

Dick Picks

When it comes to politics, it is helpful to remember that most dicks are not jerks that will ruin your life just because they can.

Cute, tiny costume
s.

Raising the bar for gays and girls
.

via


Thursday, September 3, 2015

Political Stalker to Pretend Fundraise at Crossroads Christian Church



Bigfork resident General Paul Valley is a master at employing his vast  "Special Operations, Psychological and Civil-Military Operations" experience to channel all the latest hype, tripe and right wing outrage to keep the the local yokels stirred up and feeling like good old patriotic heroes.  General Valley's Psy Ops were effective enough to get the Daily Interlake to provide major coverage for a Bengazi skit and ignore a packed meeting of local people with Agent Orange related illnesses last year.

This guy is slick, as well as politically connected to local power brokers like  Dee Kirk-Boon of the Lakeside-Somers Chamber of Commerce where business is conducted at the Vista Linda Restaurant because, Mark Blasdel.  The Daily Interlake notes that Tickets cost $20 per adult or $5 for those 18 and under to witness the puppet O'Keefe regale them with  tales of his many lawbreaking hi-jinks in service of keeping their Bogey men alive.

Valley is a genius to let the audience feel like their twenty spot helps the cause as they whip and  twist the scandals Du Jour until they climax in a pseudo patriotic frenzy  with an over riding desire to elect the Koch, Wilkes and AFP front men to the Montana State house once again. Please take my hypothesis with a grain of salt, as The Intercept's Jon Schwarz predicts that the Koch Brothers will Pour All Their Money Into Making Bernie Sanders President.

image


post has been updated with a pic from a Benhgazi Porn search 09-11-15 and a pic from an evil jpg search

Onions Lobby For Arctic Crude

The Intercept's Lee Fang reports that the National Onion Association very nearly replicated some  petroleum drilling financed astroturf. Who could predict that the onion industry would demonstrate such strong support for oil and gas development in the Arctic Outer Continental Shelf (OC)?

Sunday, August 30, 2015

Agenda for America: 12 Steps Forward

  1. Rebuilding Our Crumbling Infrastructure
  2. Reversing Climate Change
  3. Creating Worker Co-ops
  4. Growing the Trade Union Movement
  5. Raising the Minimum Wage
  6. Pay Equity for Women Workers
  7. Trade Policies that Benefit American Workers
  8. Making College Affordable for All
  9. Taking on Wall Street
  10. Health Care as a Right for All
  11. Protecting the Most Vulnerable Americans
  12. Real Tax Reform
 If you are as sick of 30 second political ads as I am, you can sign Bernie's petition to the Democratic party asking to Debate Early and Often.

Wikileaks Explains Three Big T's (Corporate Ownership)

TPP, TTIP and TISA, all of these secret laws are alive and well.

Saturday, August 29, 2015

Cleanliness Is Next To Donaldness!

The Domestic Donald video on the right won't make it any easier not to have some kind opinion about the Donald and his race for President, but it does illustrate the concept that anything we might see, think or believe  now is merely a snapshot of this current moment.          That said, enjoy this short video of the Donald hawking laundry detergent :)

Monday, June 22, 2015

Rep Cleve Loney's Vendetta- Why?





http://montanalegislature.granicus.com/MediaPlayer.php?view_id=5&clip_id=17987

http://billingsgazette.com/news/group-pickets-in-front-of-child-protective-services-in-downtown/article_834a4b52-1d91-5442-b88c-e7b078e6e54a.html#utm_source=billingsgazette&utm_campaign=most-popular-tabs-2&utm_medium=direct

Does anyone know how he has managed to get himself elected?

Check this out

Tuesday, June 16, 2015

Zachary Klundt Sentencing Today



I expected to be there while Zachary Klundt was scheduled to be sentenced for terrorizing long time health care provider Susan Cahill by trashing her clinic at 2:00 p.m. today. While the young Mr. Klundt was apparently struggling with some life issues and addictions after his divorce, but his crime did not happen in a vacuum. You may be aware, or you may not, that Klundt's mother is heavily involved with our local pregnancy crisis center. Update 

 A large nicely framed "Golden Rule" Norman Rockwell print hung right inside the entry to Cahill's clinic on Meridian before Michelle Reimer, director of our local crisis pregnancy center, bought the building to evict her.

Rumor has it that Reimer let the building go back to the bank some time after Zachary Klundt ruined this picture and every picture in Susan's newly reopened clinic on First Avenue East. Every picture. Why on Earth did the police/ prosecutors wait until yesterday to reveal that Klundt was coordinating with his mother before he chose to smash the pictures of Susan's family?

I know that Susan was looking into Restorative Justice in Kalispell without much luck, but anything else is insufficient address to the choices that created this tragedy.
Five Years







Monday, June 1, 2015

She's Beautiful

In the past, my thoughts about transgendered persons have been really all about me. First of all, there is the awkwardness of having to ask how they want to be addressed and not having a clue about proper etiquette for the situation. Then there is the gratitude  that I would never have to have the experience of making the difficult choices about how to proceed with life simply because I am what I was born to be.

 Caitlyn, though tempts me to say "I'll have what she's having"
 

Saturday, April 18, 2015

Brunch With The Unholy Trinity Was Last Sunday

I don't get it, there are so many decent people that support them.
Why?  Millions of Montanans want to know.

Sunday, April 5, 2015

Easter Feast

Enjoy this interesting read about the links between Passover and Good Friday, particularly notable because they fell on the same day this year.

Is Easter Christian or Pagan?

Oregon man purposely donates 33 bitcoin cents to the Snowden Fund in defiance of Obama's executive order.
to
Church attendance as an indicator of political preference.

Have you considered nutrient density rather than strict calorie counting to lose weight?

God rest your soul, Sarah Brady, you were quite brave to fight for common sense gun laws. Is the second amendment (as well as racism) a byproduct of the slave trade? Are the Moors to blame?

Enjoy your Easter today for tomorrow we will look at Mithras, Dionysus, Attis, and Horusas. Also, we can take a look at policies that affect families and poverty.

Thursday, April 2, 2015

Restorative Justice


to focus on healing the harm caused by crime;

to require/expect the offenders, to whatever extent possible, to take responsibility for making amends and healing the harm they've caused;

to recognize that crime is a community problem that can be addressed successfully only with active community participation -- not by delegation to law enforcement agencies, courts and corrections systems.

Although restorative justice might not be appropriate for someone that bites the head off of a hamster, it is certainly appropriate for a young man that terrorizes a physicians assistant by trashing her office.

Wednesday, March 25, 2015

Reposted For Carl Glimm and the Mean Gods

 Jocelyn "Howard, from Edinboro, Pennsylvania, uses the human figure in her work as a vehicle for narratives involving themes of sexuality, gender identity, religion, adulthood and play. She conjures fairy tale whimsy to reveal deeper, sometimes darker struggles, seeking to expose hidden complexities and struggles. The use of childhood objects reveals a more primal nature, she said, helping strip away the veneer acquired by adults."

 Howard, is one of the eight Red Lodge Clay Center artists with an Exhibit opening at the Northwest Gallery in Powell, Wyoming on Tuesday Feb. 24th.

 A red herring named Pedophilia crashed through the  planned civility of a Wyoming House  committee meeting, nosed around for sore spots, gathering all the sexual ambivalence it could muster before being sucked out of the room in the wake of  Go now Harlan 'when hell freezes over' Edmonds, just GO NOW!

Senate File 115,which adds “sexual orientation or gender identity” to existing laws that protect people from discrimination based on race, religion, age and other protected classes. passed the Senate and a House committee   Although it is not a full blown law yet, The first state to grant women the right to vote is already looking to put places like Billings to shame for it's fearful foot dragging. Again.
Rep. Harlan Edmonds, R-Cheyenne, was kicked out of the House Labor, Health and Social Services meeting Friday, after proposing an amendment to the bill that would make it effective when “hell freezes over,” instead of the date of July 1.
Committee Chairwoman Rep. Elaine Harvey, R-Lovell, had started the Friday afternoon meeting insisting that people would remain civil. She told Edmonds to leave after his comment, which followed a more than two-hour discussion in which he also asked the bill’s supporters why pedophilia wasn’t in the bill.
“We said civility would prevail,” Harvey said.
Senate File 115 passed with six representatives in favor and two in opposition.
As he was leaving the committee room, Edmonds tried to register a vote, but Harvey interjected and said his vote wouldn’t count.
Edmonds’ ejection was the talk of the Legislature for the rest of Friday. Many longtime observers said that while some members of the public have been tossed from committees, this was the first time they’d seen a lawmaker removed from a meeting.
Billings Mayor Tom Hanel is one of those unfortunate souls that lacks the ability to believe in anything more than the crumbs left under the table by lowest  common denominator  of society, tell him that we can have more good jobs with less pollution if we learn to keep our minds out of other peoples bedrooms. If Wyoming can do it...  why on Earth can't Billings?

Mowing Down Prejudice is a sweet video of Mr and Mr Johnson, 'naturists' in South Africa doing a little yard work with a really long extension cord. Warning-they don't compost their yard waste!

Wednesday, March 11, 2015

Operator, Could You Help Me Place This Call?

Walking through the Senate Gallery last Friday, I had the opportunity to hear Bobby Keenan give the same sad spiel about being fair to Centurylink's that Keith Regier gave the House. Yes, those wealthy men really did choose to nick the pockets of 11,000 of Montana's poorest citizens by stacking another $3.50 monthly charge on their phone bill.

What that means here, is that people like  Lena (the sweet young lady in the big wheelchair) and her Grandma could have had more of their $770.00 monthly income disappear because Centurylink has more lobbyists than little girls with big disabilities.

The Legislature just passed on the opportunity to create something efficient and necessary for the citizens of Montna

I don't know if Lena and her Grandma, Jeannie Brown were amongst those of us that Art Wittich dismissed as being bussed in and organized, but I do know that Jeannie Brown is not eligible for Health care coverage although she no longer holds a job to care for Lena. I abhor the mechanisms of power that have chosen to waste your taxes just to exclude people like Jeannie Brown, do you feel the same way, too?

The good news is that Jeannie is planning to challenge Art Wittich for his seat in 2016.

The other good news is that you still have the opportunity to help fund a reliable van to get Lena to her medical appointments .



Thursday, March 5, 2015

Weather Ready Nation

This is pretty cool, our government just launched a campaign to get us ready to learn how to survive the weather. Notice that this is a governmental function, not a private enterprise trying to save your lives.

Wyoming Did It, Why Not Billings?

 Jocelyn "Howard, from Edinboro, Pennsylvania, uses the human figure in her work as a vehicle for narratives involving themes of sexuality, gender identity, religion, adulthood and play. She conjures fairy tale whimsy to reveal deeper, sometimes darker struggles, seeking to expose hidden complexities and struggles. The use of childhood objects reveals a more primal nature, she said, helping strip away the veneer acquired by adults."

 Howard, is one of the eight Red Lodge Clay Center artists with an Exhibit opening at the Northwest Gallery in Powell, Wyoming on Tuesday Feb. 24th.

 A red herring named Pedophilia crashed through the  planned civility of a Wyoming House  committee meeting, nosed around for sore spots before gathering all the sexual ambivalence it could muster, before being sucked out of the room in the wake of  Go now Harlan 'when hell freezes over' Edmonds, just GO NOW!

Senate File 115,which adds “sexual orientation or gender identity” to existing laws that protect people from discrimination based on race, religion, age and other protected classes. passed the Senate and a House committee   Although it is not a full blown law yet, The first state to grant women the right to vote is already looking to put places like Billings to shame for it's fearful foot dragging. Again.
Rep. Harlan Edmonds, R-Cheyenne, was kicked out of the House Labor, Health and Social Services meeting Friday, after proposing an amendment to the bill that would make it effective when “hell freezes over,” instead of the date of July 1.
Committee Chairwoman Rep. Elaine Harvey, R-Lovell, had started the Friday afternoon meeting insisting that people would remain civil. She told Edmonds to leave after his comment, which followed a more than two-hour discussion in which he also asked the bill’s supporters why pedophilia wasn’t in the bill.
“We said civility would prevail,” Harvey said.
Senate File 115 passed with six representatives in favor and two in opposition.
As he was leaving the committee room, Edmonds tried to register a vote, but Harvey interjected and said his vote wouldn’t count.
Edmonds’ ejection was the talk of the Legislature for the rest of Friday. Many longtime observers said that while some members of the public have been tossed from committees, this was the first time they’d seen a lawmaker removed from a meeting.
Billings Mayor Tom Hanel is one of those unfortunate souls that lacks the ability to believe in anything more than the crumbs left under the table by lowest  common denominator  of society, tell him that we can have more good jobs with less pollution if we learn to keep our minds out of other peoples bedrooms. If Wyoming can do it... 

Mowing Down Prejudice is a sweet video of Mr and Mr Johnson, 'naturists' in South Africa doing a little yard work with a really long extension cord. Warning-they don't compost their yard waste!

Saturday, February 14, 2015

Happy Valentines Day, People!


Three days since a power outage in parts of Whitefish forces the cancellation of the second performance of "The Vagina Epilogues", an annual fundraiser for The Violence Free Crisis Line and Abbey Shelter, and not a word has been printed about it in the local papers.

Curious indeed.

Thursday, February 5, 2015

Too Legit to Quit

Some young'uns finally stepped in to fill the digital void that Amanda Curtis left behind, but day'um! My subscription to their site directed me to the "Joe Biden Random Compliment Generator" What business does it have to tell me "Thank God you look like your mother."?

Day'um!

Thursday, January 22, 2015

Water, Welfare and Waste



I find our *so called* conservative led Legislatures efforts to control all of our assets from food stamps, public lands and our waters ironic at best because while they pay so little attention to conditions and needs of the people they supposedly represent, our conservatives are eager to waste everything from time to our health by way of nonsensical grandstanding to gain public approval for attacking the poors to threatening to blow fifty-five million dollars on a lawsuit over the Water Compact.(Keith Regier)

It is doubtful that any of them are aware that there were 295 oil well blowouts and spills in Montana between 2009-2013 including 83 in 2012.


The Indy reported that fracking had polluted the water near Poplar
eleven months before a second pipeline burst on the Yellowstone River last Saturday, but safe drinking water does not begin arriving until Tuesday Morning.

One resident affected by both Yellowstone River spills,Dena Hoff, posed the questions "For the people in Lower Yellowstone Irrigation District, what's going to happen to their irrigation water?" she asks. "What's going to happen to the paddlefish at the intake diversion, where the paddlefish come up every May?"

That reminds me of something...

Weeks away from the spring herring season in 1989
, the oil spill occurred." Bombers full of oil dispersants started flying over Prince William Sound and they didn't know a school of herring from an oil slick and they bombed those schools of herring with chemical dispersants... son of a gun, the doggone herring died off. They're just-pretty much gone."

RJ Kopchak did the math for the damages to his own small family fishing operation at over half a million dollars and said that his settlement checks would amount to less than ten per cent of his losses.

"The lesson from these big oil spills is: A) the oil companies won't make you whole and; B) the damage is still going on twenty years later and there is no way fishing dependent or natural resource dependent communities will ever recover from major oil spills, at least during the lifetime of the people who were there when the spill happened."
-RJ Kopchak, fisherman, Cordova, Alaska

This is an unfortunately long story, and I have other points to get to so I will mention that Baker Hughes plans 7,000 layoffs in the oil field business and break from it for the time being.

All news is not bad for Montana, a low income community decided to purchase their trailer court so they can upgrade their sewer and water problems rather than stay at the mercy of an indifferent owner, and Neil DeGrasse Tyson will be speaking at the Fieldhouse in March!

Photo from California Sugar Queen.