Greetings! I’m running late today.
Oh no! Is it that time already?
Well, we’re still waiting on news about NDAA so, in the meantime, what’s new?
Kim Jong Il has died.
From KABC LA
South Korea on high alert after Kim Jong Il’s death
“Tensions are high following the death of North Korean leader Kim Jong Il. His son, Kim Jong Un, is poised to take power, but the county’s future is very unclear.”
“The 69-year-old dictator died Saturday of a heart ailment while on a train, state media reported.”
“People were seen weeping in North Korea’s capital, Pyongyang, as the announcement of his death came in an emotional statement on national television.”
He's dead
Calico Blackie says:
Another ally of the NDAA bites the dust.
Let’s hope all those troops coming home from Iraq don’t get sent to Korea now.
Then, there’s this……………
From MSNBC
FBI: U.S. violent crime down in 2011 with fewer murders, rapes
“Murders, rapes and other violent crimes dropped sharply in the United States in the first six months of 2011, continuing a downward trend that has lasted 4 1/2 years, the FBI reported on Monday.”
“The FBI’s regular statistical report did not give any reasons for the lower crimes nationwide. But the latest numbers provided further evidence of no crime spike coinciding with the tough economic conditions and high unemployment.”
WOO HOO! I sure feel safer after reading this
Calico Blackie says:
“Tough economic conditions and high unemployment?”
Wait, weren’t we just told a few days ago that everything was all rainbows and unicorns?
The story continues…..
“Violent crimes went down about the same amount in all four regions of the country and decreased in big cities, smaller cities and rural areas. Property crimes, such as burglary, larceny, theft and motor vehicle theft, also declined in the first half of the year, with burglaries down 2.2 percent, larceny and theft down 4.0 percent and stolen vehicles down 5.0 percent.”
Calico Blackie says:
So, if the crime rate is down, why are there more people in prison now than ever before?
Ask yourself: Do you feel safer now walking the streets at night than you did a few years ago?
Meanwhile, in the rest of the world:
From AlJazeera
Egyptian army continues crackdown on protests
“Death toll rises to 12 as clashes between protesters and army enter fourth day, drawing UN and US condemnation.”
Not an "Occupy Wall Street" protest (yet). This is Egypt
“Egyptian security forces have fought opponents of army rule in Cairo for a fourth day, drawing condemnation from both the United Nations and the United States, as the number of civilians killed in the clashes since Friday rose to 12.”
“Hundreds have been wounded and scores detained in the wake of the clashes. Police and soldiers using batons, water cannons and tear gas drove stone-throwing protesters out of Cairo’s Tahrir Square, hub of the uprising that ousted Hosni Mubarak in February, over night.”
“The violence appeared likely to continue, after Egypt’s ruling military council claimed on Monday it had uncovered a plot to burn down parliament.”
Calico Blackie says:
Burn down parliament? Wasn’t this the same excuse Hitler used in 1933 to seize unlimited power in Germany?
German Reichstag building burning, 1933
“On February 28, 1933, German President Paul von Hindenburg, at the urging of Adolph Hitler, issued the Presidential Decree for the Protection of People and State in response to the burning of the Reichstag (the German Parliament building) on the previous day. More commonly known as the Reichstag Fire Decree, the law suspended many key civil liberties, such as free press, habeas corpus, and warrant requirements.”
What else is “new” today?
From USA Today (McPaper)
Scarlett Johansson thinks ScarJo nickname is ‘awful’
ScarJo and friend
“It’s a laziness,” the 27-year-old actress told USA Today in an interview about the nickname.
“People can’t actually say the whole name? It’s just bizarre.”
“So Cate Blanchett is not, like, ‘CaBla’? Why is that? Why do I have to get stuck,” she added.
“If I hear somebody say that, I know I don’t know them at all.”
Calico Blackie says:
Mindless entertainment and distractions for the masses. Also, every entertainer and politician knows that it’s when people stop talking about you that you need to start worrying.
Short column today. Too much to do.
On that note…….
Goodbye Lady Liberty
The cop with the pepper spray at UC Davis is Lt. John Pike of University of California Police. 530-752-3989
He should be fired and prosecuted for assault. Make an example of him to show our police around the country what can happen to them if they use brutality on citizens. WE WILL NEVER FORGET, NOR WILL WE ACCEPT A “SINCERE” APOLOGY.
OCCUPY WALL STREET
KEEP FIGHTING!
We are the 99%
Calico Blackie
