220419 Trash on the path

Gerrymandering is the fine art of political parties redrawing congressional districts so that the incumbent congress persons pick their voters. First you need to have a majority in a state’s legislature, so you choose the people redrawing the districts. Then you use your lack of fairness to change boundaries so that your party wins in every possible district, no matter how crazy looking the boundaries are. This takes skill because you don’t want a court to see the obvious and declare that you cheated.

This round,  Democrats got away with it in New York, Maryland, Illinois and Oregon. The Republicans succeeded in Texas, North Carolina and Ohio. This means that the congress member who couldn’t get anything done, set up their own guaranteed reelection. The same Washington dead wood will stay in congress to clog up any progress for anything.

Let’s have a fair representation so that voters, not representatives pick who wins.


“Twenty-three states no longer require a permit to carry a concealed weapon, which means people can buy guns without background checks or safety training. In Ohio, about 2,000 applicants were denied permits last year, but can now buy and carry weapons.” From The Washington Post via This Week of April 1, 2022.

The NRA says people kill people not guns. Is that comforting to know?



If teachers are effective role models, there would be a lot more nuns wandering our streets

But maybe they are in plain clothes.


Would you like to check out and then safely give to an effective charity then check out Charity Navigator?


“Just 34 of the world’s 195 nations are liberal democracies, down from 42n in 2012. 70% of the world’s population currently live under a dictatorship, while only 13% live in a liberal democray with free elections, the rule of law and individual rights.” Axios via The Week.


The U.S. was hit with at least 219 tornadoes in March 2022, the highest number since record keeping began in 1950 and nearly triple the historical annual average of 80. Via The Week of April 15, 2022.



“VICTORIA, Texas – Infowars filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection as the website’s founder and conspiracy theorist Alex Jones faces defamation lawsuits over his comments that the Sandy Hook Elementary School shooting was a hoax. The bankruptcy filing Sunday in Texas puts civil litigation on hold while the business reorganizes its finances.

In its court filing, Infowars said it had estimated assets of $50,000 or less and estimated liabilities of $1 million to $10 million. Creditors listed in the bankruptcy filing include relatives of some of the 20 children and six educators killed in the 2012 school massacre in Connecticut. The plaintiffs in that case have said they have been subjected to harassment and death threats from Jones’ followers because of the hoax conspiracy that Jones promoted. Jones has since conceded the shooting did happen.” Via 1440 News