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A National Emergency Believe It or Not Version, The Hill, Republican Congressional Representative Andy Bigg

It is hard to believe someone would write this stuff with any degree of being serious. This is why it should be reprinted as this Representative is an idiot.

“In this time of stasis in Congress and a national security crisis at the border, the president should strongly consider declaring a national emergency on the border and temporarily diverting a small fraction of the national budget to build the border wall. The invasion of illegal aliens has reached the point of a national security threat. Failure to recognize the gravity of the issue is willful submission to cognitive dissonance.

The border is wide open, and hundreds of thousands are entering the country illegally. On average we are interdicting more than 10 people every day who are known or suspected terrorists. While not all illegal aliens commit violent crimes against Americans, there are still dangerous gang members and other malevolent intentioned people who are pouring into America.”

There is no national security issue, no need to declare a national security crisis, no need to divert any money, no need for a wall, no invasion of illegal aliens, no suspected terrorists, no serious issues, no hundreds of thousands, no violent crimes, no large numbers of dangerous gang members, etc except in this man’s man.

Guaranteed’ Healthcare for All Residents – NYC, MedPage Today, Joyce Frieden

The program, which will cost $100 million annually, involves several parts. First, officials will work to increase enrollment in MetroPlus, which is New York’s public health insurance option. According to a press release from the mayor’s office, MetroPlus provides free or affordable health insurance that connects insurance-eligible New Yorkers to a network of providers that includes NYC Health + Hospitals’ 11 hospitals and 70 clinics. MetroPlus serves as an affordable, quality option for people on Medicaid, Medicare, and those purchasing insurance on the exchange.

Mayor de Blasio: “While the federal government works to gut health care for millions of Americans, New York City is leading the way by guaranteeing that every New Yorker has access to quality, comprehensive access to care, regardless of immigration status or their ability to pay.”

Grocery Store Chain Dismantled, investors recover their money, and Labor pensions short $millions. The Washington Post, Peter Whoriskey

The owner, a private-equity firm, sold off the vast retail empire, piece by piece, selling more than 100 convenience stores, pharmacies, and closed some of the 115 grocery stores. It previously auctioned off the real estate. In May 2017, the company announced the closure of the remaining 44 stores.

Founded in 1931, Marsh Supermarkets, filed for bankruptcy.

They didn’t treat employees right, and since the bankruptcy, everyone is out for their blood. The anger arises because although the sell-off allowed Sun Capital and its investors to recover their money and then some, the company entered bankruptcy leaving unpaid more than $80 million in debts to workers’ severance and pensions.

Many People are Dying in Canadian Clothing Donation Bins, National Post.

It was the third such Canadian death since November and at least the seventh since 2015.

The victims were homeless or suffering from addiction issues, and appeared to have been trying to remove clothing from the bins. “She climbed to get clothing and got hung up and succumbed to her injuries,” Assistant Vancouver Fire Chief David Boone said after a woman was killed by a bin in the city’s West Point Grey neighborhood.

Saudi Woman Fleeing Family admitted to Thailand, Bangkok Post, AGENCIES AND ONLINE REPORTERS

Hey I’m Rahaf. My father just arrived as I heard which worried and scared me a lot and I want to go to another country that I seek asylum in. But at least I feel save now under UNHCR protection with the agreement of Thailand authorities. And I finally got my passport back.

Australia said Tuesday it will “carefully consider” the asylum claim of an 18-year-old Saudi woman who fled alleged abuse from her family and is now in the care of the UN in Bangkok, after she fended off deportation in a gripping, live-tweeted ordeal.

Canada gave her asylum.

Shifting from Oil to Sun, The Manila Times, EI SUN OH

Tropical countries, Malaysia and the Philippines included, with their almost year-round exposure to hot sun and often breezy winds, should do a serious job of mapping out the most suitable locations for extracting solar and wind energy, not to mention harnessing geothermal and even wave energy. It is fortunate that some of us are blessed with oil and gas reserves, but all of us here in the tropics should cast our eyes far and wide and make our baby steps toward decoupling ourselves from the yoke of oil and perhaps also coal, and start taking energy nourishment directly from the sun, to name but one alternative energy source.

Merkel Appears to Take Aim at Trump with Vow to take on ‘More Responsibility’, Independent, Eleanor Busby

It appears to have been delivered as a veiled rebuke to Donald Trump as she vowed Germany would in the future play a larger role in the world. In her new year’s address, the German Chancellor said the concept of international cooperation was “coming under pressure” – which has been interpreted as a reference to strained relations with the US president.

Ms. Merkel said her country must “stand up for, argue and fight more strongly for our convictions” and “take on more responsibility in our own interests”.

The Chancellor devoted a large part of her speech to the benefits of bringing a multilateral approach to international problems – which she has defended in the face of Mr. Trump’s “America First” foreign policy.

Ms. Merkel said Germany will push for “global solutions” as it takes up a two-year seat on the UN Security Council, and she noted that the country is spending more on defense and humanitarian aid.

Ms. Merkel, who will step down as chancellor in 2021, pointed to curbing climate change, managing migration and combating terrorism as the kinds of challenges that benefit from international cooperation.

“We want to resolve all these questions in our own interest, and we can do that best if we consider the interests of others.

“That is the lesson from the two world wars of the last century. But this conviction is no longer shared today by everyone, and certainties of international cooperation are coming under pressure.”

What a White Boy Taught A Black Woman About Resistance, Medium, Autumn Allen

Two parent teachers had cookies and gave them out to the brown-eyed children only. The blue-eyed children sat and watched while the brown-eyed children enjoyed their cookies. Most of the blue-eyed children waited patiently, with hurt and confusion evident on their faces.

After the brown-eyed children had finished, the blue-eyed children were told to come up to get a cookie. They came eagerly except for Mark. Even though offered, Mark refused to line up with the rest.

The parent teachers then told the blue-eyed children they could have a cookie for one penny.

Shoulders drooped and hopeful eyes looked down to the floor. One boy dug in his pockets, hoping he could find a penny not realizing the rule was made specifically for his kind.

The experiment lasted for 5 minutes. In the end everyone received a cookie except for Mark who refused to take one even after the children were each given a penny. The teachers asked the brown-eyed children how it felt to take being privileged. Did they feel bad when the blue-eyed people were left out? Did anyone consider not eating their cookie until everyone got one?

They asked Mark why he didn’t come for his cookie. “Because I knew that  you were unfair. You were just gonna to keep being unfair. You were lying.”

The anger mirrored young black boys and also men who recognized the injustice and realized the whole system is corrupt and that participating in the system keeps you at its mercy while privileging others.

The Failure of Walls

There is speculation in some historical accounts as to why the Great Wall of China was built. The tribes in the north of China were militarily ahead but culturally behind the South of China. The northern tribes would drop down and raid southern China whenever possible to steal the riches of their neighbors. This is one reason as to why the Chinese opted to build the Great Wall.

Another speculation is the Great Wall was nothing more than an ambitious project contrived by a vain and glory seeking emperor. The Great Wall was supposed to show the world China’s superiority, making a clear distinction between civilized people of the north and the barbarians of the south. A simple barrier and very similar to what we are faced with today.

If you have not walked it, it is worth the effort to go to it and spend some time at it. North of Beijing and south of The Wall you will also go past the Ming Tombs.

In and around 122 AD, the Roman Emperor Antoninus Hadrian built a 70 + mile or what is called Hadrian’s Wall across England. Its purpose too was to keep the uncivilized from the south of England. was built after Hadrian had died by the new Emperor Antoninus Pius. Legitimately they were a defensive wall against the Picts; however, it was meant more for showing power and controlling the flow of people for purposes of taxation.

The Berlin Wall was built to keep people in Eastern Berlin preventing their escape to West Berlin. Thousands of ordinary Germans tried to breach these fortifications, to escape the GDR. Attempts were punished, and 138 people died trying, many of them shot, even pregnant women.

The Israel−Gaza security barrier is a border barrier first constructed by Israel in 1994 between the Gaza Strip and Israel. The barrier runs along the entire land border of the Gaza Strip.

The Maginot Line was a defense wall between France and Germany. Germans went around it. The Warsaw Ghetto was walled in and people still escaped from the ghetto.

Walls do not work and in each case people will eventually cross over or go under them to get to where they want to be. It is better to take the $billions and create a better environment on the other side of the wall or fence.

Texas: The time of parole cannot exceed the length of sentence ordered by the judge, Free Advice Staff

For example, if you were sentenced to ten years in prison, and released after three years, the length of your parole would be the balance of your sentence or seven years. If you were paroled after receiving a life sentence, then you would be on parole for the rest of your life.

If that is not cruel and unusual punishment, then what is?

White People Are Broken Medium, Katherine Fugate

Racism is not just an attitude or a feeling toward people who are different than you; racism is also a structural, institutional system which has benefited white people from the day Europeans landed on this soil.

White America owns the majority or wealth in this county. White people own the majority of real estate, run the vast majority of corporations, determine the cost of the products, and the pay of the employees. We control the political system, the judicial system, the educational system, the health system, and the legal system.

But none of these systems are broken. They were built this way. White people are broken. We built these systems this way.

That we live in a country where anyone would have to assert they matter at all, should tell you something is very wrong.

White people are broken, but we don’t have to be. Broken is not evil. Broken means something needs to be fixed. Healed. Changed.