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In the News

Full Text of and Comments On: The Inspector General Report

Posted on 06/15/201806/15/2018 by Platypus

This is the full text (500 pages) of the recent report from the Office of the Inspector General titled, "A Review of Various Actions by the Federal Bureau of Investigation and Department of Justice in Advance of the 2016 Election." Trey Gowdy, who had as recently as last week praised the FBI and chastised people for denigrating a "great American institution" had this to say after reading the re...
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Mexicans seem caught in the middle of something

Posted on 06/09/201806/09/2018 by Platypus

There are a few things about this story that interest me even though I realize it is anecdotal. This 19-year-old young man was sent home to Mexico. He was convicted of some misdemeanor crime. The story doesn't give many specifics on that other than to say it was, "...a drug-related minor charge..." and some second charge that information is not given on but which was also a misdemeanor. He was ...
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Four Arizona police officers put on leave after video shows man’s beating

Posted on 06/08/201806/08/2018 by Platypus

By now you have likely heard about this case involving the Mesa, Arizona Police Department. I have heard many people defending the police because the suspect didn't comply with their commands and was clearly being "a jerk". It is wise when a police officer tells you to sit down to actually sit down. It is wise when the police are engaging with you to at least act like you actually care. The suspec...
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Collins v Virginia Supreme Court Case Important Protection for 4th Amendment

Posted on 05/31/2018 by Platypus

I like to share the text of the 4th Amendment whenever I get the chance. It serves as a reminder of the limitations of government and the right of the people in relation to their property. It reads simply: The right of the people to be secure in their persons, houses, papers, and effects, against unreasonable searches and seizures, shall not be violated, and no Warrants shall issue,...
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Trump signs ‘right to try’ drug bill – Might Save Lives Might Take Them

Posted on 05/30/201805/31/2018 by Platypus

I wanted to mention something that Congress and Trump did right. Anytime a bill is signed by the president it has to first be passed by both houses of congress. Any bill, therefore, is either a collective pat on the back or a collective kick in the crotch for all involved. In my opinion this one is a collective pat. "On Wednesday, President Trump signed the "right-to-try” bill, which now permits t...
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Is Jordan Peterson a Dangerous Man?

Posted on 05/26/201805/26/2018 by Platypus

I like Jordan Peterson. I listen to him frequently. I was first exposed to him years before he became famous through my studies in psychology and his book "Maps of Meaning". When I first saw the video of him in Toronto defying student protesters I thought, "oh, that's that guy" and that is why I watched. I continued to watch. His interests mirror my own and so he provided me with some interesting ...
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Facebook Does Not Understand the Conservative Grift

Posted on 05/05/201805/03/2018 by Platypus

"Conservative Grift". What do you all think that means? I'm not a conservative so I take no offense, but I do get the impression that the author of this article isn't the only one who doesn't understand conservatives. The author laments, "Breitbart and Newsmax shouldn’t feature in any “news” section: They’re not trustworthy or legitimate news sources. They are full of shite. A conservative or e...
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Hobby Lobby and the Case of the Smuggled Tablets

Posted on 05/04/201805/03/2018 by Platypus

This is just a fascinating story. As you can imagine I frequent Hobby Lobby to get clay for sculpting and materials for puppets (which I'm still struggling to complete) and a few other things they have that fit my creative side. As many of you know Hobby Lobby is a Christian-based organization much like Chick-fil-A. They aren't exactly a corporation one would imagine being a front for an antiquiti...
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Update on Fresno State professor Randa Jarrar and Her Barbara Bush Tweets

Posted on 04/27/201804/27/2018 by Platypus

Here's an update on professor Randa Jarrar that hate spewing "educator" from Fresno State University. First the president of the university, Joseph Castro wants everyone to know that her tweets do not "define the university". However, she won't be fired for her comments but will instead take a leave of absence through the spring semester. The university president went on to say, "This issue has ra...
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Leashes on Kids, Clothes on Dogs: A Meme

Posted on 04/26/2018 by Platypus

We put leashes on our children and we put clothes on our dogs and you think guns are the problem?

We often say we don't have a gun problem, we have a society problem. Though we can break that down to many levels I think it all boils down to one area - what it is that's important to us. For some the most important thing is their dog. For others it is their free time, their morning latte, their figure, their career. None of these things are - in and of themselves - bad. How we treat them can be....
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Is Facebook a Publisher or a Platform?

Posted on 04/11/201804/11/2018 by Platypus

This is terribly interesting to me from a legal stand point. As you may be aware Facebook's creator and founder has been at Congress talking about the platform and the perceived issues. I personally don't have issues with it. Even though a video I recently posted was removed, and I disagreed with its removal, I wasn't terribly upset about it. As a matter of fact I was pretty pleased. This page is ...
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Don’t Kill People With Down Syndrome

Posted on 04/01/2018 by Platypus

I've brought this subject up a few times before, the subject of people with Down Syndrome being aborted out of existence. I don't know if you have ever gotten to know people with Down Syndrome or not. I have been fortunate to. In some places when a child is diagnosed with Down Syndrome in the womb the mother aborts the child. Why she does that will likely differ from woman to woman. Some do not wi...
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That David Hogg Video that was Removed by Facebook

Posted on 03/29/201803/29/2018 by Platypus

Facebook removed my post which contained the below video. They simply said it was in violation of their standards. They were not specific about which standards, they did not specify what about the video, or my text, was in violation, nor did they provide any opportunity to grieve the decision to remove it. https://youtu.be/dHFK6W6DWa8 It is not my desire to offend. Meaning I do not try to be...
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Gun control is nothing more than pro-gun and pro-violence rhetoric from the uninformed

Posted on 03/29/2018 by Platypus

Wee, sleeket, cowran, tim’rous beastie, O, what a panic’s in thy breastie! Thou need na start awa sae hasty, Wi’ bickerin brattle! From Robert Burn's poem we get that famous line, "The best laid schemes o’ Mice an’ Men". This highlights that sometimes, what we plan out, no matter how much we think about it, isn't the thing that happens. Sometimes though, the failed plan is due to a failure t...
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Facebook Privacy Scandal and Scandals in General

Posted on 03/27/2018 by Platypus

A couple of observations about this story, three actually. First, It's frustrating when a story becomes a story only because of the figures associated with it. We know, since they admitted it, that the Obama administration did the same thing. But people seem upset now, because it's Trump. "On its face, the incident read as confirmation of many people’s worst fears — that the online platforms we li...
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