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A memorial for one of Kansas' finest writers- Tim Pouncey, AKA Casher O'Neill

February 28, 2016, 5:25 am
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By SJ Otto
It has been more than fifteen years since Tim Pouncey (AKA Casher O'Neill) wrote for a local
newspaper. But he is still remembered by his many friends and fans who have followed his career with enthusiasm. Tim died Feb. 7.
Friends and family are invited to meet, March 12, at Kirby's for a memorial wake for Tim Pouncey, AKA Casher O'Neill. The event will be from 4pm to 7pm. He had made a lot of friends here in Wichita as well as many from around the world, online. Tim was known by his pen name Casher O'Neill to a lot of his online friends. He has made good friends from as far away as England and Australia.
Tim often worked with me on many of my writing projects. And most of my writing projects were left-wing. We met while I was still publishing the Public Voice. He helped me with my books writing projects and he wrote a review for one of them. In Kansashe worked at such newspapers as The Times-Sentinel, of Cheney, and their various newspaper chains; the Andover Journal Advocate and for The Pratt Tribune. And while he was at the many newspapers he worked at, his columns were read through-out Kansas and enjoyed by many. A lot of his old fans knew him from his days at the Wichita State University's The Sunflower. He was a columnist there for a few years and that is where he wrote some of his best stuff. That's not to say his later stuff wasn't good. He could always write a good column, especially if humor was needed. He was a wizard at satire and he went after some of our most notorious Republicans, especially Ronald Reagan and Bob Dole.
This is one last time to meet with other fans, family and friends to discuss Tim and his past career.
Where:
Kirby's            
3227 E 17th St N
Wichita, Kansas
(316) 239-7990

March 12
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My thanks to The Wichita Eagle for funnies and news

March 1, 2016, 1:38 pm
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By SJ Otto
Each week I check to see if The Wichita Eagle has any interesting topics I can write about for the week. This last weekend was a bonanza of ideas. For example there was an article by our idiot governor, Sam Brownback. The title was "Commonsense welfare reform is working."Of course I immediately knew our governor was writing some fiction for us. He may think some of us are stupid enough to really believe he is getting people off of welfare and into work, but some of us actually know of the people involved. We know that all he has ever done is throw people off of public assistance, or make it harder for them to get it at all. Then he has people play with statistical figures so he can tell bold face lies with a clear conscience. Luckily The Wichita Eagle had another opinion piece by Barbara Shelly, "Poor being 'freed from welfare'?"The article shined some light on Brownback's lies. If Brownback was trying to save or help a species of fish, he would throw them on land and after they all died he would pro-claim they are now liberated from the control of water. He is one of the, and possibly, the worst governor Kansashas ever had. His latest approval rating has actually gone up from 18%. We do have to consider that there are people in this state with mental illness and they are legally allowed to vote.

The next thing I got from The Wichita Eagle, last Sunday was this:

"But a GOP political memorandum from Kansas Senate Majority Leader Terry Bruce, R-Hutchinson, suggested less noble motivations. The memorandum said polling showed that voters were pleased with previous welfare restrictions, and that additional reforms could translate “into electoral success.” In an interview with the Topeka Capital-Journal, Bruce speculated that support for restrictions stemmed from Kansans feeling “anguish and uncertainty” about the new economy and wanting “to find something to alleviate it.” Welfare reform, Bruce said, “was a vehicle to take out some frustration.” – Phillip Brownlee
 For some time I have wondered what the Kansas Legislators had as a motive for their mean spirited attacks on Kansaspoor people. Are they just plain mean. Do they really hate poor people, or are they misinformed. This article sheds a lot of light on things. They seem to be opportunists who have simply taken advantage of the ignorance a lot of their constituents have, who still believe that poor people are getting a free ride at their expense. I have often heard in the past, people say such things as "half the country is living fee on welfare and the rest of us are paying for it." And many people seem to still believe that. Some time ago I did some research on what working people believe about the poor on assistance. It was staggering. Some working people believe poor folks get everything from free rent to free cell phones. They really don't. Public housing has a long waiting list of over a year. Our legislators have just once again reduced the amount of life time benefits a person can get. I doubt if anyone can stay on public assistance long enough to get free housing.
By now, any one who really needs public assistance (cash can only be paid out to a mother with children) is in a bleak situation. The assistance in food stamps and other gifts are way below what any one person can really get buy on. Any working person who thinks the poor are getting a free ride today should try and live as they do.

 I notice that Republican don't bothers to educate working people to what living on assistance is really like. Instead they want to milk the ignorance cow as long as they can.  
If I only had a brain.♩ ♪ ♫ ♬ ♭

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Sanders crew gets ready for Kansas caucus on March 5

March 3, 2016, 6:54 am
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Here in Kansas we will caucus on Saturday, March 5. Register to vote and go caucus in Kansas. – SJ Otto

From BernieSanders.com:

Sisters and Brothers,
There are two kinds of power in politics: organized people and organized money.
Thanks to more than 4 million individual contributions, we’re raising the kind of money needed to take on the billionaire class. But this week — before theMarch 5th contests — we really need to focus on organizing people.
We’re running the largest grassroots campaign in the history of presidential politics, and if every person who has signed up to support Bernie takes just a few hours to tell uncommitted voters about why they’re part of this political revolution, we’re going to win in Kansas on Saturday, March 5th.
RSVP today to an event happening near you this week:
GOTC Canvass for Bernie - Wichita!:
Wednesday, March 2ⁿᵈ in Wichita
GOTC Canvass for Bernie - Wichita!:
Thursday, March 3ʳᵈ in Wichita
GOTC Canvass for Bernie - Wichita!:
Friday, March 4ᵗʰ in Wichita
This is such an important stretch for our campaign. If we can win in Kansas and do well in other states, we’ll be on our way to winning this caucus, the White House, and taking back our country from the billionaire class.
Tens of thousands of supporters are already set to take action this week. Bernie needs you to join them.
In solidarity,

Kansas for Bernie
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Kansas goes to caucus- you can feel the excitement

March 5, 2016, 7:57 am
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By SJ Otto
The excitement is in the air as Kansans go to caucus. On the far-far-far right is Ted Cruz, Marco Rubio and Donald Trump. On the left of center is Hilary Clinton and Bernie Sanders on the US Democratic Socialist left.
My support today will go to Bernie. But I'm beginning to realize I should have stayed a Republican until today. I could go down and vote for Trump. That is because, even though I never liked him, he is monkey wrenching the Republican Primary. I love what he is doing. He is taking all the steam out of the professional far-far-far right politicians of the Republican Party. They are polished greedy little trolls waiting to plunder our country.
Since I could have registered at the Democratic Caucus, I could just register after I caucused for the Republicans and supported Trump. Then I could caucus for the Democrats and vote for Bernie.

I see this Bernie vote as more symbolic than anything. I originally thought he had no chance of winning. And he probably doesn't. But he shows that a socialist can run for office and run successfully. That is my message as I vote for him today. If he loses, I will probably vote for Hilary next fall. After all I do have to live in this country. And if Cruz or Rubio win it will be a matter of letting the ass holes have everything they want, crushing the rights of the poor and the left, while giving everything to the far-far-far right and the business community. If Trump wins, he will be a disaster, but it might be fun to watch him screw everything up.


The Three Stooges In Three Dark Horses


Part 1
Part 2
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Trump gets protested in Wichita

March 6, 2016, 11:30 am
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By SJ Otto

Although I didn't attend it, about 100 people from the Wichita area protested Donald Trump yesterday at the Republican caucus, as reported by The Wichita Eagle. According to The Wichita Eagle, there were shouting matches.
I didn't actually go to that, but I knew some people who did. The posted some pictures on Facebook. Bill Anderson was there and he took some photos, pictured below.
I've actually been enjoying Trump as he monkey wrenches the Republican Party's plans to put one of their professional weasels in as presidential hopeful. But I'm sure Trump deserves the protesting he got.



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To the Caucus I went- Bernie won

March 6, 2016, 12:03 pm
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By SJ Otto
I went to my caucus in North Newton, my designated place. We went to some building on TheBethel College Campus. The caucus was scheduled to start at 3pm. But there were so many new voters registering that it took to almost 4pm before the event started.
There were a speaker for both Hillary Clinton and Bernie Sanders. Cathy Anderson spoke for Bernie.
"Folks before Kochs," she said. "We need a democratic and peaceful revolution."
She also said that Obamacare (Affordable Care Act) was a step in the right direction but more needed to be done.  She said we need to tax the Wall Street speculators then use the money to pay for college tuition.
There was as spokes person for the Hillary side. His main message was that we needed a candidate to win. He brought up the example of  the George McGovern vs. Richard Nixon Campaign, where McGovern lost in a landslide.

There were a total of 963 voters registered to take part in the Caucus. Bernie won the day with almost 70% of the vote. The state tally was Bernie 68% to Hillary 32%, according to The Wichita Eagle.

Photos by James Lynch.
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Nancy Reagan- former first lady and partner in crime dead

March 7, 2016, 8:10 am
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From Otto's War Room:
For the next few days it will be hard to watch TV news or read a mainstream newspaper without massive coverage of the death of Nancy Reagan, the wife of our former president, Ronald Reagan, possibly one of the worst presidents of US history. He was definitely the worst president in my lifetime.
It was President Reagan who pushed this country to the far right. He viciously attacked leftists of every kind during his reign. On foreign policy he worked hard to try and destroy both the Soviet Union and the newly emerging Third world Marxist experiments, such as in Angola, Mozambique, but mostly inNicaragua and their Sandinista Government. The Reagans literally made war on Nicaraguaand supported right-wing fascist governments in Central America. This was worse than just a bad foreign policy, it was a series of war crimes.

Since Reagan Left office, this country has never really recovered and the far right has increased its strangle hold on the US. All this began with President Reagan and his co-conspirator First Lady Nancy Reagan.
 Nancy was more than just arm candy for President Reagan’s many press appearances. She was an advisor as well. The two were both far-right idealogs. All of their policies showed that.
The two also raised public relations to an all-time high, with all their dancing, acting, and nifty clichés. They won over the press. They were both master manipulators. And unfortunately they won over a lot of the American public, who liked the way they led the country even though many people did not like their policies. Together the Reagans made low wages, bad working conditions and lack of worker’s rights in general, standard fair here in America.
The two marked the beginning of a trend of Republican actors turning to politics, only to mess it all up. Most people think that most of Hollywood and most actors are liberal. But most actors, who went into politics since the Reagans, were more conservative, such as Fred Grandy, who used to be a shmuck character on The Love Boat, "Gopher".  He became a Republican member of the US House of Representatives from the state of Iowa. There was also Arnold Schwarzenegger, Republican Governor of California and Clint Eastwood became mayor of his adopted hometown, Carmel-by-the-Sea, California – a small, wealthy village and artists' community on the Monterey Peninsula.
Nancy started her “Just say no” campaign mostly as a way to improve her image, which was pretty bad before she started it.  Her aids wanted to improve how she looked to the American public, so they came up with her anti-drug crusade. It was heavy on law-enforcement and led to such problematic policies as “mandatory minimums.”  Nancy tried to convince people that smoking joints were somehow connected to the murders of the South American drug lords. The Reagans had an authoritative style of ruling that some of s called “friendly fascism.” Suddenly cocaine went from a drug some people wanted to legalize to a fate worse than heroin addiction. A new version of the drug made smokable, called crack, was supposed to be the most addictive drug to ever hit the streets.  It was all mostly bull-shit.
Today this country is just starting to recover from the damage of Nancy’s drug war. We have more people incarcerated in prison than any others in the entire world.
The Reagans inflicted a lot of damage to this country and the world. Neither of them or heroes, nor do they represent anything of value to progressive people everywhere.

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It’s international Women’s Day- for 8 March 2016

March 8, 2016, 11:57 am
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By SJ Otto
It is international Women’s Day. For a brief history of the day, I repeat an article from February 27, 2011, posted originally on Wichita Peace and Freedom Party Examiner:

InternationalWomen’s Day was declared following the decision agreed at Copenhagen in 1911. International Women's Day (IWD) was honoured the first time in Austria, Denmark, Germany and Switzerland, March 19. More than one million women and men attended IWD rallies campaigning for women's rights to work, vote, be trained, to hold public office and end discrimination. However less than a week later on 25 March, the tragic 'Triangle Fire' in New York City took the lives of more than 140 working women. This event drew significant attention to working conditions and labour legislation in the United States that became a focus of subsequent International Women's Day events.
Since that year Women’s Day is now celebrated all over the world, on or near March 8. It is celebrated in many countries, including China.
Some important Women of history:

Hillary Clinton This year we will probably see the first woman in US history to be a candidate for the presidency of the US. If she wins the general election she will be the first woman US president in history.  


Emma Goldman Was a famous anarchist writer and political activists. She was portrayed in the movieReds, 1981.

Margaret Mead From Time magazine: “Of her life's work, cultural anthropologist, museum curator and feminist scholar Margaret Mead once said, "I have spent most of my life studying the lives of other peoples — faraway peoples — so that Americans might better understand themselves."
Today she is a major figure of controversy from the religious right groups, who hate her studies of human sexuality.


Grace Slickwas a ground breaking singer for the Jefferson Airplane. She also sang for the Jefferson Starship at times and she had her own solo career for a while. When Slick started singing acid rock music there were few other women playing that role. Today many women sing for hard rock bands. Slick was perhaps the first of them.
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Kansas State Government wants our public school teachers beaten down and in-their-place

March 14, 2016, 5:12 am
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By SJ Otto
Never in the history of Kansashas a state government been so determined to beat down and humiliate Kansas public school teachers. From new laws to make it easier to fire Kansas teachers to new attacks on their union, our legislators and our idiot governor, Sam Brownback, have made it painfully clear how badly they dislike those in the teaching profession.
There is a law to make it easier to fire teachers, with the idea that they should have no more protections than any other worker in Kansas. It lets them know that they are just doing another low paying job, nothing more and nothing less.
Susan Wagle said it all in a statement to WIBW News,  “When you have a teacher that is impeding that system I believe an administrator should be able to let them go. That’s what happens in private schools.”
So teaching our future citizens is just business, like any other business. That is probably why they are working so hard to get rid of teacher's unions.
"Even the folks who fire teachers in Kansasaren’t sure what to make of a law change that would make firing teachers easier.
For generations, the state promised that before getting canned teachers could get an appeal. If a hearing officer disagreed with the teacher’s bosses, the instructor stayed in the classroom.
In eleventh-hour logrolling in the Legislature, that tenure-lite protection was wiped out by lawmakers venting the conviction that such safeguards intended to protect teachers from ax-grinding bosses serve mostly to coddle the lazy and incompetent."

This should surely let teachers know what the Kansas legislators think of them. Then there are the attacks on their unions. The Wichita Eagle had an editorial pointing out that no teachers came to support a new bill that teachers have to vote every three years as to weather or not to keep their unions.The Wichita Eaglefound there were plenty of teachers against such a measure. Unlike other union workers, teacher face a constant challenge, with parental complaints of all kinds, from presenting material that one or a few parents find insulting to their own personal beliefs from unfounded accusations that a teacher has presented something inappropriate or pornographic (usually by a parent who felt insulted by something that went against their core beliefs). Other workers don't face this kind of danger. Teacher unions are their only protection.
There is also a bill to allow teachers to be prosecuted for presenting materials deemed harmful to a minor. Again this is just an excuse to punish a teacher whose points of view may offend some parents or legislators. There is little evidence to suggest that any teachers are presenting pornography or anything like it in the class room.

But this fits in with attempts to make teaching like any other job. Groups that backed this new bill, such as the Koch brother's own front group, Americans for Prosperity, Kansas Policy Institute and the American Legislative Exchange Council (ALEC), want to destroy all unions. They want a work place where all workers are afraid of being fired. They want Kansas workers, all of them including teachers, driven hard, lacking any kind of benefits, low wages and a constant fear they can be fired at any time for any reason. They want them to feel as valuable as and similar to oxen.
According to the Kansas National Educational Association (NEA):
"Claiming that the school boards speak for the teachers, Rep. Marvin Kleeb tried to justify his behind closed doors meetings with superintendents and KASB which have resulted in a unconscionable attack on teachers and their right to a voice in the workplace.
Kansas Association of School Boards, the Kansas School Superintendents Association, and Rep. Kleeb believe that teachers must be silenced and their beliefs are apparent in Sub for House Bill 2027, rammed through Kleeb’s House Committee on Commerce yesterday without any opportunity for input from those most affected by the bill — classroom teachers.
Frankly, we are surprised and shocked by the positions taken by KASB and KSSA. In our experience, most individual school board members and superintendents have more respect for their teachers than is reflected in this proposal. We hope that more school boards will act as did Lawrenceand publicly oppose bills like Sub for HB 2027."


It should surprise no one that Kansas teachers are being driven away. Of course a lot of this has to do with low pay and a constant shortage of state money to pay for more teachers. But I for one have completely given up on getting full-time teaching job here in Kansas. Kansas' leaders really only want those teachers who are willing to give up all their dignity to work for sub-standard conditions and pay. To that I say "NO WAY!" 
Teachers pay is too low.
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Election update—The circus rolls along with Trump almost winning and Hillary almost locking it up

March 16, 2016, 5:00 pm
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As the primaries and caucuses play out throughout the country, we see the various candidates and what they stand for.

REPUBLICANS:
Donald Trump has been a thorn in everyone's side except a large section of the Republican electorate. I actually like what he is doing to the Republican Party. While he has been protested by leftists, he has been seen as a problem for the more professional political hacks, such as Ted Cruz, who wants him out of the way. And while Trump seems like a bully, a racist, intolerant of opposition and maybe even a bit of a fascist, Cruz is really no better. Cruz is a professional politician and like his other fellow candidates, he is extremely conservative; being anti-abortion, anti-Obamacare (Affordable Care Act ), anti-unions, Against legalizing undocumented immigrants, et cetera. He is a lot smarter and smoother. He is a slippery weasel and a very dangerous man. This country will be worse off if he gets to be president. Plus it is possible that Trump will be way easier to beat than Cruz.
The big score after Tuesday's primary in Florida, Illinois, Missouri, North Carolina and Ohio is:
673 delegates for Donald Trump
411 delegates for Ted Cruz
169 delegates for Marco Rubio
143 delegates for John Kasich
Rubio has dropped out and it looks like Kasich will also. That leaves it to a two man race. And even though Trump is way out ahead of all of them, it looks like he may never actually get the nomination. Republican hacks are talking about a "brokered convention."

There are those within the Republican Party who have made statements to the affect that their party does not have to listen to the will of the people.

For example: From Yahoo News;
"Political parties, not voters, choose their presidential nominees, a Republican convention rules member told CNBC, a day after GOP front-runner Donald Trump rolled up more big primary victories.
"The media has created the perception that the voters choose the nomination. That's the conflict here," Curly Haugland, an unbound GOP delegate from North Dakota, told CNBC's " Squawk Box " on Wednesday. He even questioned why primaries are held."

We live under a two party system and by the time the parties are done with their conventions we are handed two candidates of someone else's choosing. We get only two candidates and that does not leave us much choice. The system allows a third party candidate but the deck is stacked against them to the point where they really can't possibly win. So the real chance to choose a person who will run for president is in the primaries and caucuses. That is where we have a range of candidates. That is where we have more than just two choices. And it is quite elitist to insist that a group of party hacks- only- get to choose who runs for president. Then again this is not a pro-Republican blog.

DEMOCRATS:
There is less drama as Bernie Sanders and Hillary Clinton fight it out for the nomination. Hillary is now way ahead. And it is beginning to look like the end for Bernie and his "revolution."But he isn't throwing in the towel yet.

The score is:
1606 delegates for Hillary Clinton and
851 delegates for Bernie Sanders
As it stands now, there will be no brokered convention for the Democrats and there seems to be no bad feelings between the candidates. They are far apart on the issues, but both sides seem more concerned with beating the Republicans than blocking the nomination from each other. For those who want a more humane foreign policy—forget that. Both candidates support an imperialist foreign policy with support of Israel, drone strikes and a war against ISIS for the mid-east oil fields. Although to be honest, Bernie has made some complaints of Israel calling for a "level playing field" between Israel and the Palestinians.
Since the days of Bill Clinton, the Democrats have mostly followed the same foreign policy as the Republicans.
But on local issues, there is the supreme court justice choice, saving Obamacare and a possible end to the Republican's relentless war on poor Americans. There is also the possibility of a more humane policy on immigration. Bernie has made it OK to be a socialist for the first time in more than 100 years. That is something we will not get from Hillary. 
So that raps it up for now.




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St. Patrick's Day - 2016

March 17, 2016, 6:39 am
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Saint Patrick was just a missionary. He probably did little to improve the lives of the Irish and instead came to the island to fill people up with mysticism. He never drove out the snakes because there never were any to begin with.
Many of us celebrate this day because we are all or part Irish. Some of us support Irish nationalism and the Irish cause, with the symbol of the Starry Plough.
For many people this holiday is just an excuse to get drunk. Maybe that is OK too. Don't forget to drink an Irish Car Bomb, an Irish Stout or (yuck) green beer.
SJ Otto

 The Sick Bed of Cuchulainn by The Pogues



Black 47 Livin in America





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The night the Rolling Stones fired Donald Trump is a truly telling story—includes goons and knives

March 19, 2016, 4:41 pm
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From Daily Kos:

By Walter Einenkel  
This past summer, a story hit the internets and got passed around. It was the story that Michael Cohl related to an audience at a keynote address for Pollstar. Cohl was a concert promoter and producer who had worked with popular luminaries like Michael Jackson, Pink Floyd, and of course, the Rolling Stones.
The 1989 Steel Wheels tour was famous for many things, including its reunion of Mick and Keef but also for its profitability, grossing nearly $100 million – a tour manufactured by Cohl and one that changed the landscape of concert promotion. It wrapped with a $24.95 pay-per-view event at Atlantic City’s 16,000-capacity Convention Center.
Cohl figured out a way to sell the band on a big Pay-Per-View event, which ended up with the Stones having to get involved with Donald Trump. The Rolling Stones, even back in 1989, didn’t want to have anything to do with Trump—but Cohl promised he would “control” Trump. Part of the agreement Cohl makes with Trump is that he can’t be associated with the Stones. At all. Trump cannot even be on the premises when they perform for the Pay-Per-View. Well, with about an hour to go before the Rolling Stones do their press conference for the nightly news to promote this unique concert PPV, Cohl gets word that lo and behold, Trump is in the press room doing his own press conference, lying like a insane person.

For the rest click here.
Keith Richards pulled the knife, if you didn't already guess.
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On Terrorist Attacks in Brussels, Paris, San Bernardino, Madrid: US and NATO Imperialism Are Part of the Problem

March 22, 2016, 6:00 pm
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 By SJ Otto
While it is wrong to kill innocent civilians NATO and the countries in it are just as guilty. Why is Europeso deeply involved in someone else's war in the middle-east? They are obviously worried about Western powers having access to the oil fields. They harp about the human rights abuses in ISIS (The Islamic State) controlled territory and they ignore all the other abuses, especially by Turkeyand Saudi Arabia.
The war has nothing to do with human rights. And terrorism is just the tactics of a military power that does not have its own drones to launch at individuals it wants to assassinate. The fact that they chose the capital of the NATO alliance demonstrates that their targets are carefully chosen. How ever, the use of uninvolved civilians for such attacks is not justified for any reason.
While I don't believe in supporting ISIS, I do not consider this OUR war. It is a conflict with the imperialist powers and we, common citizens as our selves have nothing to gain by supporting it. We would not be targets of this group if we were not so involved in fighting these wars. There is also the fact that such miserable governments as those in Turkey and Saudi Arabiaare not popular enough to be able to depend on the support of their own people. Only the Kurds have been able to beat back ISIS on their own because they are the only government in the area that has popular support of its own people.


Also see Isis in Iraq: "Young Kurds flock to PKK to take up arms against militants after becoming disillusioned with their government" - Independent

Pix by anti-imperialism.com.
Pix by www.wired.com.

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Protesting Trump understandable, but not really helpful right now

March 23, 2016, 5:50 pm
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By SJ Otto
The recent protests against Donald Trump are understandable, but no really helpful right now. That is because most of the other candidates are just as bad as he is. That is especially true of Tec Cruz, who many non-Trump supporting Republicans want to win the nomination this summer.
The facts are that there is very little difference between Cruz and Trump on the issues. The main difference is that Trump is way less polished, speaks openly about his plans and has made a lot of inflammatory speeches leading to the impression that he is a racist.
But if he is a racist then so is Cruz. Presently Cruz is not having trouble from protesters but he really should. He would make a terrible president and his policies are almost identical to Trumps right down the line.

A few examples:

Immigration:

From Politico
"I was watching the other day. And I was watching Ted talk. And he said, 'We will build a wall.' The first time I've ever heard him say it," (Donald) Trump said in a TV interview on Sunday. "And my wife, who was sitting next to me, said, 'Oh, look. He's copying what you've been saying for a long period of time.'
"Every time somebody says we want a wall, remember who said it first," Trump groused at an event in New Hampshire on Tuesday evening. "Politicians do not give credit."
As Cruz has talked more often about building a barrier along the United States' southern border with Mexico, so too has Trump stepped up his complaints, mentioning the Texas senator's alleged intellectual theft every day so far this week.
But Cruz aides counter that their candidate broached the idea of a border fence long before Trump seized the agenda on immigration by vowing to deport 11 million undocumented migrants and promising to build a "big, beautiful wall" to keep them out forever.



CBSNEW York
Donald Trump wants to close the borders as Sen. Ted Cruz is calling for law enforcement to patrol Muslim neighborhoods following Tuesday’s deadly terror attacks in Brussels.

For his part, Cruz said the U.S.needs to “immediately halt the flow of refugees from countries with a significant al Qaeda or ISIS presence.”
“We need to empower law enforcement to patrol and secure Muslim neighborhoods before they become radicalized. We need to secure the southern border to prevent terrorist infiltration. And we need to execute a coherent campaign to utterly destroy ISIS,” Cruz said in a statement.
The Republican presidential hopeful said Obama has not been tough enough on ISIS.
“It is long past time that we had a president who will acknowledge this evil, will call it by its name and utilize the full force and fury of the United States to defeat radical Islamic terrorism to defeat ISIS,” the Texas senator said.

Israel:

Politico:
Ted Cruz took the stage Monday at a massive pro-Israel gathering and immediately tore into rival Donald Trump’s Israel-backing bona fides.
“Let me say at the outset,” the Texassenator said as he took the stage at the American Israel Public Affairs Committee’s annual gathering, “Perhaps to the surprise of the previous speaker, Palestine has not existed since 1948.”
Story Continued Below
That was a jab at Trump, who spoke right before Cruz and several times referred to the Palestinian territories, some of which are under Israeli control, as “Palestine” — a definite faux pas in some pro-Israel circles.
Cruz, who is seeking to emerge as the Republican Party’s anti-Trump standard bearer, sprinkled several other swipes at Trump throughout his address to AIPAC, a high-profile Washingtonconference that drew thousands of people and every presidential candidate except for Bernie Sanders.


Abortion:
Life News
Donald Trump has issued a short response to pro-life Republican presidential candidate Ted Cruz. Trump says Cruz’s recent television ad saying Trump “can’t be trusted” on abortion issues is off base. Trump says he is pro-life and has been for a long time.
Cruz is out this week with a new campaign commercial slamming businessman Donald Trump, who is running as a pro-life candidate, on abortion. With Planned Parenthood funding and a future Supreme Court nomination battle in mind, Cruz says voters “can’t trust” Trump on those key pro-life issues.

CNBC
World
Trump: Water boarding fine for terror suspects
Donald Trump said Tuesday that authorities interrogating Paris terror suspect Salah Abdeslam should "do whatever they have to do" to get information in light of the deadly terrorist attacks in Belgium.
Trump said on NBC's "TODAY" if he were elected president he would make sure the United States has "strong borders," and said people looking to come into the country would need "absolute perfect documentation."
He and other presidential candidates reacted to the deadly explosions that rocked the main Brusselsairport and the metro system near European Union buildings.
Brusselswas on lockdown, with Tuesday's blasts coming four days after the arrest of Abdeslam. 
Abdeslam should be subjected to harsh interrogation techniques, Trump told NBC. Belgian authorities should be able to "do whatever they have to do" to get information from the suspect, he continued, adding waterboarding "would be fine."
"If they could expand the laws, I would do a lot more than waterboarding," he continued. "You have to get the information from these people. And we have to be smart. And we have to be tough. We can't be soft and weak."
Dismissing critics who say harsh interrogations don't yield reliable information, Trump said: "I am in the camp where you have to get the information, and you have to get it rapidly."
Trump made his first remarks on the Brussels terror attacks on Twitter.
GOP rival Ohio Gov. John Kasich tweeted a statement on the Brussels attacks.
"We must ... redouble our efforts with our allies to identify, root out and destroy the perpetrators of such acts of evil," the Kasich statement read, in part. "We must strengthen our alliances as our way of life and the international system that has been built on our common values since the end of the Second World War comes under challenge."
Texas Sen. Ted Cruz released a statement on his Facebook page.
It read, in part: "Make no mistake — these terror attacks are no isolated incidents. They are just the latest in a string of coordinated attacks by radical Islamic terrorists perpetrated by those who are waging war against all who do not accept their extreme strain of Islam."
"When I am sworn in as president," the Cruz statement continued, "we will name our enemy — radical Islamic terrorism. And we will defeat it."
Cruz later criticized Trump for saying to The Washington Post that he favors a light footprint in the world.
"Donald Trump is wrong that America should withdraw from the world and abandon our allies," Cruz told reporters Tuesday.
The Texas senator also called for a halt to the entrance of Syrian refugees into U.S. until a screening review can be conducted.
Democratic front-runner Hillary Clinton said in a statement Tuesday: "Terrorists have once again struck at the heart of Europe, but their campaign of hate and fear will not succeed."
The statement also read, in part: "Today's attacks will only strengthen our resolve to stand together as allies and defeat terrorism and radical jihadism around the world."


-When Trump wins the nomination, then it will be time to protest him.
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A History of Drug Culture- Can You Pass the Acid Test?

March 25, 2016, 7:45 am
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Can You Pass the Acid Test? is a history of drug related culture. It includes everything from the Acid Tests conducted by the Grateful Dead to the 1930s exploitation movies about cocaine use, this book has it all.
The Acid Tests were concerts where those in attendance could take LSD. It was often given away.
Our drug culture goes way back to the early part of the 20thCentury. Early movie stars from the silent screen used heroin. Early jazz musicians and Mexican immigrants used Marijuana. This led to drug laws based on discrimination.


It is all here in this book, now available from Barns and Noble for $23.28.

Can You Pass the Acid Test?
Steve Otto

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Police raids on "drug paraphernalia" a sign of desperation for those who STILL want marijuana prohibition

March 27, 2016, 9:32 am
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By SJ Otto
Recently in Wichitawe see the desperation by police who realize their reign of terror with marijuana laws may be over soon. They attacked local stores, this last week, for selling so called "drug paraphernalia."
The state passed a law, In 2008, against selling products designed to use illegal drugs. The city also has one. There were also crackdowns on city head shops in 2010. But today many of the places the police have focused on are the new vape shops that sell equipment for e-cigs. It turns out that the equipment can also be used for drugs. But by that definition a shovel can be used to plant marijuana and is also a form of drug paraphernalia. This whole set of laws were ludicrous from the start. They only way to tell what a product is being sold for is the advertizing or if it has a picture of a drug on it, such as a pipe with a picture of a marijuana leaf.
Since this effort by the police began, some smoke shops plan to shut down, according to The Wichita Eagle. They had nothing to do with drugs. They were making money off of the new e-cig craze.
The Wichita Eaglealso cited a rise in drug using equipment which may be a product of the legalization of marijuana in Colorado and because if states such as Californialegalizing it for medicine.
The bottom line here is that marijuana prohibition is one its way out. It took me a life-time to see it come, but it is almost here. It should have happened years ago. These local police actions are those of desperate people who just can't accept the changes.

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Easter- for a non-Christian

March 27, 2016, 10:58 am
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I don't celebrate Easter because I am not a Christian. So while many of my friends and family have a big holiday today, it doesn't mean as much for me. I'm an Epicurean. It's not really a religious, but as with Taoism, people use the philosophy in place of one. One thing I do like to do is use such holidays as a time to remember lost battles of the past -SJ Otto

The Easter Rising 1916 Remembered 

From Democracy and Class Struggle:

Easter Rising (Irish: Éirí Amach na Cásca) was an insurrection staged in Ireland during Easter Week, 1916. The Rising was mounted by Irish republicans with the aims of ending British rule in Ireland and establishing the Irish Republic. It was the most significant uprising in Ireland since the rebellion of 1798

Organised by the Military Council of the Irish Republican Brotherhood, the Rising lasted from Easter Monday 24 April to 30 April 1916. Members of the Irish Volunteers, led by schoolteacher and barrister Patrick Pearse, joined by the smaller Irish Citizen Army of James Connolly, along with 200 members of Cumann na mBan, seized key locations in Dublin and proclaimed the Irish Republic independent of Britain.
There were some actions in other parts of Ireland but, except for the attack on the Royal Irish Constabulary barracks at Ashbourne, CountyMeath, they were minor.
The Rising was suppressed after seven days of fighting, and its leaders were court-martialled and executed, but it succeeded in bringing physical force republicanism back to the forefront of Irish politics.



James Connolly Tribute - His last speech and the song 'Irish Citizen Army'



The Easter Rising 1916 (real footage of aftermath)




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Bernie is not out of the election yet!

March 28, 2016, 6:52 pm
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-SJ Otto
Just as I was beginning to think the election between Hillary Clinton and Bernie Sanders was about over, Sanders made a big comeback. He took Alaska, Hawaii and he won big. The race is still on.
Here is the latest update from the Bernie Sanders campaign:

Sisters and Brothers -
You have to see this Wall Street Journal headline from late last week:
"Hillary Clinton Begins Shift to the General Election"
Unfortunately for the Clintoncampaign's plans, voters got in the way. We've won six of the last seven contests, and took 82% of the vote in Alaska, 73% in Washington, and 70% in Hawaii.
Here’s the truth: the Clintoncampaign and their allies in the financial and political establishment are desperately trying to write us off. Their goal is to get you to stop fighting — to stop volunteering, to stop donating — because they know that if we continue to stand together, we can win.
Now we have to focus on next Tuesday's primary in Wisconsin, another large state where we can do very well.
For the past several years, Wisconsinhas been ground zero for worker’s rights, women’s rights, and voting rights. Those people cannot afford to wait for incremental change — they need a president who will think big about the transformational change required of this moment. And that is what Bernie will deliver.
In solidarity,

Jeff Weaver
Campaign Manager
Bernie 2016

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A story of cheesy philosophy and politics, sex, nudity, depravity -book excerpts

March 30, 2016, 6:00 pm
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Excerpts from Memoirs of a Drugged-Up, Sex-Crazed Yippie Tales from the 1970s counter-culture: Drugs, sex, politics and rock and roll
By Steve Otto

“Surely you’ve had a few women since you left Janet?” Tony asked me shortly after I walked into his apartment one Thursday evening. “At least one?”
“No,” I answered.
“You’re kidding!”
“No. I just haven’t found any women who want to sleep with me yet.”
“It’s been almost eight months.”
“I know.”
“We got to do something about this. Let’s go to the 7th Spirit. I’ll drive.”
So away we went, downtown to a club that I was just getting to know and hang out in a little bit. When we got there, Tony parked on the side of the street and we went in. We both went to the bar and got a beer. It wasn’t long before we were standing in one of the darker back rooms of the club when Tony introduced me to Connie.
“This is a friend of mine,” Tony said to her.
“Glad to meet you,” Connie said as she shook hands. “Any friend of Tony’s is a friend of mine.”
Connie was a short, blond girl with short, bobbed hair. She was very tan, wearing a white knit top and blue jean pants over her voluptuous body.
“What do you do for a living?” I asked.
“I’m a stripper at a club south of Topeka. I dance both topless and nude. I like it real well. I’m an exhibitionist. I like getting naked in front of people.”
“I’m a student and I work part time at the Kansas Union.”
She was the complete opposite of most women I knew in Wichita, who would tell me they would never go skinny dipping or have anything to do with nudity.
“I’m not an exhibitionist,” they said often.
They said it with the assertion that they looked down on anyone who was. Some women at the skinny dipping ponds would scoff at the idea they were exhibitionists and say that nudity was simply a natural state. But this woman was clearly proud to be an exhibitionist. This was the first time I ever met a woman who was this open about it. We talked for a while at the bar
“You want to come to my place?” Connie asked.
“Sure.”
She had an apartment in the middle of town. She had a few roommates, but her room was in a loft. So we went in through the tiny kitchen with yellow walls and white appliances. She turned on the light.
“You want a beer?” she asked. “All we have is Coors.”
“Sure. That will do.”
We sat and drank the beers then headed up the brown wooden staircase to her loft. It was somewhat barren except for her dressers and the mattress on her floor. We got to the bed and we both undressed.
This ended my sexual dry spell. The year 1977 marked the beginning of a lot of changes. I was still living in Lawrence and continued to do so for the next few years. But a lot had changed in the last few months. Not only was I changing, but the world around me was also changing.
In the fall of 1976 there were many changes in the political climate. There were new cultural trends as well. The freak culture I had embraced in high school was beginning to fade away. That’s not to say the drug culture was coming to an end, but the music, the look, the dress and hairstyles were beginning to change.

My encounter with Connie came in the spring of 1977. I came back to her house, a week later, for a visit. She wore a pair of shorts cut so tight to the crouch that the lips of her virgina literally hung out over the thin strip of her pants that ran between her legs. Her auburn pubic hairs were always sticking out of her pants. She had a white blouse on.
“Do you want to go skinny dipping with me and some of my friends?” she asked.
“Sure.”
“We’re going to this new place called Bromalset.”
I sat there on the beach with her and her friends. By then I wasn’t thinking much about being a freak. That era had passed. I was becoming a modern day Cyrenaic. I was dedicated to a life of hedonistic pursuit. I no longer sought out enlightenment from drugs, only enjoyment.

I continued to study various Marxist writings, constantly trying to develop my own political philosophy. I had read Mao’s book, Analysis of the Classes in Chinese Society. I liked the way that he expanded on the divisions of different classes in society beyond Marx’s two classes; the bourgeoisie and the proletariat. I especially liked the way Mao saw the lumpen proletariat as a potential revolutionary class, since I considered myself a member of that class at that time.
Mao insisted these people had to be cured of their dangerous habits if they joined the revolution. Other Marxists writers believed this class was useless, dangerous and could not be trusted. I had a job that paid poverty wages and I tried to supplement it with petty drug deals. Naturally I appreciated a leader and philosopher who thought people like me had revolutionary potential.
This was how it was in 1977.

Now available for $12.95
Memoirs of a Drugged-Up, Sex-Crazed Yippie
Talesfrom the 1970s counter-culture: Drugs, sex, politics and rock and roll
By The publisher

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Ensure Access to Abortion Care! — Vote!

March 30, 2016, 6:16 pm
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From Julie A. Burkhart, Trust Women;

Spring is blooming around us.  Days are getting longer.  The weather is warming up. Time and weather wait for no one.  Legislative sessions across the country are continuing, and electoral races are moving forward.  News about the presidential election is inescapable, as states across the country continue to hold their primary elections and caucuses.  While the primary season will be winding down before party conventions at the end of summer, state electoral races will be starting soon.  

In Kansas, 2016 is a very important year; as not only House seats will be up for election, but also the entire Senate will up for grabs.  Some of these races will be decided by the primary election in late summer; others will be filled during the general election in November.  

Wherever you live, local elections are important for reproductive health access. Because reproductive health policy is created, for the most part, at the state level, state lawmakers have significant control over access to abortion services and other reproductive health care in their state.  This is why, as advocates for reproductive rights, we must remain vigilant during local elections.  We must ask candidates how they will vote on reproductive rights issues, how they will support or deny access to reproductive health care and how they will vote if their personal beliefs are different than the needs of their constituents.  

Just as we carefully weigh the beliefs of presidential and gubernatorial candidates, we must also ask legislative candidates what they would support if elected and how they will vote on reproductive rights restrictions.  We must also committee to holding our lawmakers accountable

Together, we can accomplish legislative change that will reshape the map of access to abortion, but we have to make our voices heard and use our votes to do it.  

Julie A. Burkhart
Founder and CEO
Trust Women                               Donate Today!



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