Thursday, June 25, 2009

13 YEAR OLD GIRL STRIP SEARCHED IN SCHOOL WINS SUPREME COURT CASE


I've been paying attention to this case involving Savana Redding, pictured above with her attorney Adam Wolf because I believe the "zero-tolerance" policy schools and the Police have adopted lead to the abuse of children and adults. Savana, when she was thirteen, was forced by school officials to strip to her underwear and shake out her panties because she was suspected of carrying two prescription Advil.

What the hell?!?

This Supreme Court (8 to 1, the only dissenter was Clarence Thomas, wtf?) ruling reinforces my belief. Whether the student is a girl or a boy, schools are dead wrong when they force frightened school kids into their underwear without parental consent, oversight, and complete control. Try this shit with my daughter or son.

It is time to end this policy that assumes the citizenry is guilty of a crime or to be held in suspicion because they just might commit a crime at any time!

The "Zero-Tolerance" policy especially gives licence to those in positions of authority to abuse the more vulnerable in our society, the poor, working families, minorities and children.

Congratulations to Savana Redding in her monumental victory.

Peace!
Read the rest of it on msnbc.com
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Wednesday, June 24, 2009

ANOTHER ONE BITES THE DUST-AGAIN


So Governor Mark Sanford of South Carolina has been fooling around with a woman from Argentina. His wife isn't Argentinian, I'm pretty sure she's South Carolinian...Perhaps he was using public funds to get to Argentina...It looks like the "Family Values" Party is imploding on itself, more power to it, I'm sick of conservatives, both democrat and republican, this is just another affirmation of my correct decision to turn my back on the conservative movement completely.
Another shooting star for the Repubs in 2012 has shot himself in his (or rather with his) dick. Who do we have left? Sarah Palin? Bobby Jindal? Mitt freaking Romey? Please don't offer up the doofus Haley Barbour from Mississippi. Or maybe that would be a good idea...a sacrificial lamb.
Peace, y'all Obama '12, Health Care now...

COMMON SENSE BEGINGING TO REAR ITS HEAD REGARDING INTERNATIONAL DRUG POLICY?

As most of you know, I am for the legalization of marijuana. The following is from the HuffPo, it is in regards to the UN's drug report that praises Portugal's switch from incarceration of addicts to treatment. It makes sense, then we can have room for real criminals like Chris Flanagin, (chris@thurmanbishop.com Thurman and Bishop, Arkansas Community Foundation.)

Make no mistake: I am for the complete outlawing of hard drugs such as Cocaine, Meth, Heroin, Alcohol. (I know we already tried that, so I can hang that one up. However, Alcohol is the TRUE gateway drug.) Marijuana is a "soft" drug, with little or no collateral consequence, unlike Alcohol, which kills upward of 100,000 Americans yearly, and that statistic does not include deaths by vehicles. So onward Searchers, it is time for the legalization of marijuana, and a sea change in our Hemp production policy...Peace, I think I'll go smoke! From HuffPo:


UN Backs Drug Decriminalization In World Drug Report

In an about face, the United Nations on Wednesday lavishly praised drug decriminalization in its annual report on the state of global drug policy. In previous years, the UN drug czar had expressed skepticism about Portugal's decriminalization, which removed criminal penalties in 2001 for personal drug possession and emphasized treatment over incarceration. The UN had suggested the policy was in violation of international drug treaties and would encourage "drug tourism."

But in its 2009 World Drug Report, the UN had little but kind words for Portugal's radical (by U.S. standards) approach. "These conditions keep drugs out of the hands of those who would avoid them under a system of full prohibition, while encouraging treatment, rather than incarceration, for users. Among those who would not welcome a summons from a police officer are tourists, and, as a result, Portugal's policy has reportedly not led to an increase in drug tourism," reads the report. "It also appears that a number of drug-related problems have decreased."

In its upbeat appraisal of Portugal's policy, the UN finds itself in agreement with Salon's Glenn Greenwald.

The report, released at the National Press Club in Washington, D.C., also puts to rest concerns that decriminalization doesn't comply with international treaties, which prevent countries from legalizing drugs.

U.S. Drug Czar Gil Kerlikowske is scheduled to appear at the announcement of the report. (He has said "decriminalization" is not "in my vocabulary.")

"The International Narcotics Control Board was initially apprehensive when Portugal changed its law in 2001 (see their annual report for that year), but after a mission to Portugal in 2004, it "noted that the acquisition, possession and abuse of drugs had remained prohibited," and said "the practice of exempting small quantities of drugs from criminal prosecution is consistent with the international drug control treaties," reads a footnote to the report.

The UN report also dives head first into the debate over full drug legalization. Last year's World Drug Report ignored the issue entirely, save for a reference to Chinese opium policy in the 19th Century.

This year's report begins with a lengthy rebuttal of arguments in favor of legalization. "Why unleash a drug epidemic in the developing world for the sake of libertarian arguments made by a pro-drug lobby that has the luxury of access to drug treatment?" argues the report.
But the UN also makes a significant concession to backers of legalization, who have long argued that it is prohibition policies that lead to violence and the growth of shadowy, underground networks.

"In the Preface to the report," reads the press release accompanying the report, "[UN Office of Drugs and Crime Executive Director Antonio Maria] Costa explores the debate over repealing drug controls. He acknowledges that controls have generated an illicit black market of macro-economic proportions that uses violence and corruption."
Jack Cole, executive director of Law Enforcement Against Prohibition (LEAP) and a retired undercover narcotics detective, objected to the report's classification of current policy as "control."

"The world's 'drug czar,' Antonio Maria Costa, would have you believe that the legalization movement is calling for the abolition of drug control," he said. "Quite the contrary, we are demanding that governments replace the failed policy of prohibition with a system that actually regulates and controls drugs, including their purity and prices, as well as who produces them and who they can be sold to. You can't have effective control under prohibition, as we should have learned from our failed experiment with alcohol in the U.S. between 1920 and 1933."

Again, it is time for the legalization of marijuana, but I do want you to pay close attention to the ridiculous statement by the U.S. "drug czar" :"decriminalization is not in my vocabulary." Maybe our "drug czar" needs to be shitcanned so he can go back to fifth-grade vocab class.

Peace!

Monday, June 22, 2009

ON DEADBEAT MOMS AND DADS, AND A LITTLE HISTORY PART 2

I decided to post the third comment from "Anonymous" that appears after "On Deadbeat Moms and Dads..." because I wanted to discuss it briefly. Here is the comment:

"So why aren't you paying your child support if you love them so much? Do you think that clothes, food and the rest just fall from the sky? Do you think your excuses put food on their table? Although, truthfully they may be better off not knowing what a deadbeat their father is. What kind of man doesn't financially provide for his minor children? (that's a rhetorical question, by the way)"

And here is my rebuttal:

Anon's comment is typically American; it is one that ignores the body of the issues and focuses solely on one small aspect, and that aspect is always dollar-driven. Shortsighted, knee-jerk comments and actions are an unflattering trait we in the United States have developed over time, and they have led to debacles such as the Iraq War.

Your comment, "Anonymous" is the "drill baby drill" chant all over again.

"Anons" inability to look beyond today and look to the brighter future (thus the reason I am pursuing my University education) has become synonymous with American Culture today: Trade long term (future) stability for a quick profit today.

This mind set has driven our nation into deep economic trouble, just as the policies of the OCSE have driven families into deep economic trouble.

Couple the discriminatory policies of the OCSE with Conservatives, Democrat and Republican alike, that continue to allow the outsourcing of good manufacturing jobs, continue to slash money for education, and continue to slash social programs (while propping up our defense department) and you get economic hell for working families.

The Conservative Democrats and Republicans believe, as you probably do "Anon," that scrapping food programs for the poor children of our nation, or denying health care and education to millions of Americans is going to force poor working families into the middle class or beyond, so magically the world becomes an economic utopia for all.

That idea was bullshit when Ronald Reagan and Milton Friedman sold it to us in 1981 and it remains bullshit to this day.

"Anon"- get the back story right next time, read my posts in their entirety, and realize abusive comments designed to denigrate me regarding support and visitation with my children create not only dysfunction in the children, they also strengthen my tenacity (and my desire) in the fight for equality in this horribly skewed, abusive "child support" system in place in the U.S. today.

Thanks for the comment, "Anon", don't let the door hit you on the ass on the way out.

Peace, Searchers, we do need a systemic change in America.

Oh Yeah-The face of a true "Deadbeat Dad" Arkansas State Representative Pat Flanagin:
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Saturday, June 20, 2009

ON DEADBEAT MOMS AND DADS, AND A LITTLE HISTORY


Good Morning Searchers-
As I write this it is 10:11 pac time, "Tomb Raider" is on, and my littlest boy is munching on breakfast and drinking a glass of milk.

So let's discuss deadbeat parents. I posted a pic yesterday of a true deadbeat, Pat Flanagin, State Rep. from Forrest City.

I received a couple of comments,"Talk about calling the kettle black" and similar comments that don't really add to the discourse, they're just attack comments designed to hurt, rather than edify, or actually address the greater problems within the Child Support Industrial Complex.

Just to clarify: I AM going after the Office of Child Support Enforcement, and I will not stop. The system is designed to discriminate against the Non-Custodial Parent. From here on out, non-custodial parent will be referred to as NCP and custodial parent will be given the designate CP. The system is set up so tax dollars are used to prosecute and persecute a specific class of people which clearly violates the 14th Amendment to the constitution.

State and county governments are handing out millions of dollars in contracts to private firms, to harass and persecute parents. When the government privatizes anything, the people lose the ability to oversee the newly privatized program, and there becomes little, if any, accountability to the people whose money it is in the first place, the tax payer. Think Halliburton, KBR, (an American company currently killing troops in Iraq. A funny side note, KBR stands for Kellog, Brown, and Root, but the soldiers came up with something better: KBR, Kill, Bag, Replace. That is what privatization brings.)

Okay. On deadbeat parents. Indulge me as I define the meaning of a true deadbeat.

A true deadbeat is one that has the resources, i.e., the bank account, the education under his/her belt already, a good job that brings in a real paycheck, perhaps two good jobs, such as owning an insurance company and holding elected office, but hates his family, hates his wife and children so much that he simply refuses to pay support or support the children.


Let me repeat: A deadbeat dad is one that has the resources, yet hates his children so much that he simply refuses to pay support, or support his children in other ways. Just such an individual is pictured:

Pat Flanagin is a deadbeat, he had to be hauled into court on more than one occasion because his ex-wife, Mrs. Searcher's mother, had to file Motions for Contempt because as Mrs. has said, "getting child support from him was like pulling teeth." And here's the funnily (made up word) despicable part: Pat Flanagin was in elected office at the time, cashing Arkansas tax payer funded paychecks and still refused to pay child support. True Deadbeat. The OCSE refused to go after him, because they like the easy targets: the poor, and at the time they were busy going after my broke ass, an easy target.

Representative Flanagin is "deadbeat dad" personified. So when you read this Chris Flanagin, as well as my ex-wife...let's call her "Candy," ('cause you see "Candy" I don't use most names, such as childrens names because there are people out there like the Flanagins that would hurt my children if they thought they could get away with it, hell Pat Flanagin, Jr., would like my littlest son to get run over by a bus for fucks' sake) realize deadbeat dads have the resources; they simply hate their children.
(Understand, Candy, I do not have the resources or I would give my children the world. Newsflash assholes! That's why I'm in school!)

My own father was the same way, and remains a deadbeat to this day. He, like Flanagin, holds an advanced degree, my father earned the title "Doctor." I am confident he cannot name my children.

Now let us discuss History. My wife and I have been married for almost 9 years. I have two boys from the marriage with "Candy." Enough history for now. Let us move on to another type of deadbeat, the deadbeat Custodial parent, usually the mother, so let's call them "deadbeat moms."

Deadbeat moms hate their ex-husbands so much and love their children so little that they will use the children as leverage to punish the ex husband for all the perceived injustices they have suffered at the hands of the cruel ex-husband. Deadbeat moms put on a good show of love for their children but they will starve their children of the fathers' desperately needed love, affection, and direction. Back to History:

I did not abandon my children, I moved so my children and I, in the faithful future, may have a better life. I moved from the rural state of Arkansas which presented NO opportunity, to an urban area FOR opportunity. It is not my fault, Candy, that you could not then and cannot now cut the umbilical cord to your parents. It is also not my fault I have not seen the boys; it is yours. Read on:

Within weeks of relocating to Kansas City, I sent a great big box of goodies for my sons, "H" and "J" in Arkansas that contained clothes, toys, some books, a "beginner bible" for H, cookies, you know, a care package from their Daddy. I missed them. I don't remember if it was for their birthdays (they occur in the same month) or if it was for Christmas.

At any rate several weeks went by, I heard nothing. Then one day, the postman showed up with a box that looked familiar. It was the care package of presents for my sons.

The deadbeat Mom sent it back, unopened. She sent it back. Do you understand now, Searchers?
What kind of mother would send back presents to her children from the father of her children? I'll tell you. A deadbeat, one that wants to hurt the Father of her children even if it means hurting her children in the process and lying to them about their father.

Since then I have mailed H and J birthday cards, Christmas Cards, etc., and they have all come back. I have them in a file in my filing cabinet so one day, when H and J are older, I can say, "See? tried to contact you and send you things, but your mother was a fucking bitch."

Maybe not so harsh, but you get the idea, Searchers.

She refuses to supply her current address so I may contact my sons. She refuses to allow me to see them. She has poisoned my sons.

Currently, the way the Laws regarding child support enforcement are written, it behooves my family and me economically for me to pursue an education at the University, living on grants and student loans rather than work in a kitchen somewhere. You see? I am betting the future will be brighter for ALL of my children, (and I have five) if their Daddy has an education, because the conservatives, Democrat and Republican alike have shipped all of the good paying manufacturing jobs oversees. I am not going to kill myself in a kitchen for 10 dollars an hour when I can obtain an education and make 1000 times that. Hell, right now I'M on Medcaid and my family recieves food stamps to make ends meet while we successfully pursue our educations.

This is why I am attacking the Office of child Support Enforcement. It is not an office of "Enforcement" it is an office of "Extortion." I am going after the Office on both State and Federal levels, because I know the laws are written for a large part on the federal level, and the Feds use money as leverage against the States to acquiesce to their laws. I get it. But it does not let the likes of Percy Malone (pictured below) off the hook. I intend to be like my mother the attorney pitbull: I am not letting go.

The Office of Child Support Enforcement (from now on it's OCSE) focuses solely on money, they do not focus on the more important thing; involvement BY the NCP WITH the children. It is first class discrimination and it is all tax payer supported. It is today's version of the Jim Crow south.
Okay. So here's more history. I had two children with my first wife. Both grown. I have a very good relationship with their mother, a good relationship with my daughter, the relationship with my son is evolving, albeit slowly. They are both amazing people. Check it out, Candy, I have a good relationship with their mother. This tells me that you, Candy, are dead wrong. There is no kettle, the two don't compare.

It is apples to oranges, Pat Flanagin has money and plenty of it, he made that abundantly clear when Mrs. Searchers mother died. Pat had to steal the show, and because his sorry ass wasn't getting any attention, he sent an email to my wife telling her that when he dies, she aint gettin shit.

This is a true asshole. He craves attention so badly, and has such an infantile personality, completely needy and whiney, that within three days of Mrs. Searchers mothers' death, he was emailing Mrs. telling her how big of a piece of shit she is, how big of a piece of shit I am, he referred to his grandson as "offspring,"-the fucker doesn't even know his name.

He needs to be the center of attention so badly, this narcississtic dickhead, that he couldn't even afford Mrs. Searcher sufficient time to mourn the death of her mother before he was trying to steal the show. What a fuckstick. This is the personification of a true dead beat, and his name is Pat Flanagin. I will post excerpts from the shithead's emails at a later date.

I believe I have clearly defined deadbeats. They exist on both sides of the divorce decree. This is why we need an overhaul of the OCSE. We need equality in the system, even if it means yanking million dollar contracts from private corporations, and even if it means shitcanning some bureaucrats and putting them on unemployment. Fuck em. They have made their living from people's misery long enough.

Peace-

Friday, June 19, 2009

THE FACE OF A TRUE DEADBEAT: ARKANSAS' PAT FLANAGIN




Meet Pat Flanagin, deadbeat dad (pictured above) of Mrs. Searcher, and former Arkansas State Representative. This is the guy that spawned Chris Flanagin. This is also the guy that kicked his oldest son to the curb, (yes he has children by different women, which makes him, among other things, a total fucking hypocrite) sent his namesake, Jr., into exile, and abandoned his only daughter, all while defending, supporting, aiding and abetting his violent criminal son, pictured below daddy.

More on this dink as time goes by, believe me, there's plenty.
BTW, what's with the moustache?

Thursday, June 18, 2009

IRANIANS HIT THE STREET BY THE HUNDREDS OF THOUSANDS

*UPDATE* I had a video posted from a protest in Iran from YouTube, I don't know what happened to it. If I can get it back, I'll repost it...Peace*

Good morning, Searchers, I woke up to MSNBC this morning, the lead story I caught was about the alleged election fraud in Iran.

People have been demonstrating against the totalitarian government since June 12, when the Presidential election was held.

Searchers, this is huge. As I heard a commentator say yesterday, it may not be like Tiananman Square, but certainly may be similar to the fall of the Berlin Wall. Some of you remember neither, but when I saw the people standing on the Wall shouting triumphantly, and hitting the wall with sledgehammers, it sent shivers down my spine.
Equally so with the lone Chinese man facing down the tanks.
















These were people that were fed up with a regime that kept them down, and in the case of China, they had had it with the government "reforms" that destroyed their wage base, stripped them of jobs, and forced millions into abject poverty, so the Chinese gov't could switch to a capitalist economy. Read 'The Shock Doctrine" by Naomi Klein, it is a remarkable eye opener.

So the Iranaian people are protesting the outcome of the Presidential election. Let me put this in perspective: The Iranian Government hand counted millions of ballots, I read somewhere that the turnout was 65% of the population, here in the U.S., we're lucky to get 40% turnout, and after 3 hours of HAND COUNTING, the government declared the landslide victory of Mahmoud Ahmadinajad over his opponent, Mir Hossein Mousavi.

In the United States, it took a solid month, courtroom drama, and ultimately the Supreme Court to decide the election of 2000, that brought Bush into the White House. We all know how that turned out, perhaps we need the Iranian ultra smart state of the art ballot counting machine: the hand.

Seriously, I believe the Iranian election was hi-jacked by the Supreme Leader and the government. Ahmedinajad won by landslide numbers even in Mousavi's hometown where he polled in very high numbers. Mousavi is a reform candidate, and it appears the Iranian people want reform.


It is our duty as Americans to support their desire for an open, democratic government. That does not necessarily mean military intervention, so put away your guns and your ding-dongs, Americans, not everything has to be solved with force. The display of solidarity by the Iranians in the face of execution for demonstrating may be enough to topple the current regime, and if not totally topple, at least start putting chinks in the armour of the State. We can learn from this, and we need to revisit our own history and study again Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.'s manner of protest. Ditto with Ghandi.

It is time for a systemic change in the United States. It will come, albeit slowly, cause we are, after all, fat, dumb, and happy.

Peace-

Wednesday, June 17, 2009

ANOTHER ONE BITES THE DUST

Another "Family Values" Republican nosedived into a shit hurricane when he admitted to an extra marital affair with a campaign staffer.

Nevada Senator John Ensign can hang up his hope for the Presidency in '12.

Senator Ensign has in the past been involved with Promise Keepers, the Evangelical Christian organization that focuses on Husbands not treating their Wives like crap. Well, I guess this one didn't take.

It is hypocrisy from the evangelical right. (Think Ted Haggard, Mark Foley.) I do not have a problem with politicians, even right-wing politicians committing adultery. I am far more realistic, I know it is going to happen.
Shoot, Mrs. Searchers dad was sleeping around on his wife while he was in elected office in Little Rock, while his wife and kids were alone in Forrest City. The problems lie with the attempt by the right wing and the conservadems to legislate their view of Biblical morality, and when they advance their agenda to govern what happens in my bedroom when they are clearly having trouble staying in their own bedrooms having sex with their respective spouses.


It was different with Clinton. It's different with Obama. We understand where they stand on families; they believe in them as an important structure of our society. They also recognize families look different than the right wing white nuclear family of the 1950's, something the Right Wing, including George Bush the frat boy, and Dick Cheney cling to.
Obama understands (and Clinton knew as well) that not everyone wants to live their life by the Christian Bible, hell the posts I've been writing about the lunatics in Arkansas are all bible bangin' bible quotin' church attendin' god fearin' gun totin' Good, Proud, White Christians, proud members of the "Great White Right."

Things happen in marriages. But the Family Values ticket the right wing keeps trying to ram down our throats for the past thirty years rings more and more hollow as the days go by. Try something else, boys, 'cause that dog don't hunt.
Peace

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NEWLY OBTAINED DOCUMENTS REVEAL "DEADBEAT DAD(S)" IN ARKANSAS STATE LEGISLATURE

Searcher has obtained docs from a Circuit Clerk in the great State of Arkansas that will reveal child support payment issues (that is, lack of payment) while the Legislator in question was holding office.

Where are you Jonesboro Sun? Have you been burying more information about your elected officials at their behest?

I'll let you know more as I pore over the documents, and I will, of course, post them on the website.

Peace-

ARKANSAS' PERCY MALONE TOO BUSY FOR THE PEOPLE?

My, my, Senator Percy Malone is busy these days, now doubt handling all kinds of pressing matters, from D.C. to Little Rock. I called his office, and spoke with the ever-pleasant Amy, and she assured me she would send Malone a text(?) message with my number. I'm sure he'll be right back with me. Perhaps I should have a Twitter account so he can "tweet" me...
Seriously, there are laws written that are creating massive crisis to families, and Percy Malone of Arkadelphia is dodging my phone calls. Little 'ol me. Makes me feel good.

Senator Malone, I am awaiting your call. I want you to address the remarks you made regarding adults (see post "Pushing For Equal Rights In America..." ) I am not going to go away, the issues facing real working families in the United States are not going to go away simply because you refuse to pick up your phone.
For you Mr. Malone, I will give a refresher course: Pay attention:

The Policies of the Office of Child Support Enforcement:

1. Contribute to increased alcohol abuse.
2. Contribute to increased drug abuse.
3. Lead to crushing debt for the poor.
4. Contribute to domestic violence.
5. Lead to dysfunction in children.
6. Put families at odds with each other.
7. Are fundamentally discriminatory against the Non-Custodial Parent
8. Discriminate against and target a specific socio-economic class of people, those in poverty, as well as the working poor in America.
9. Lead to a relinqueshing of rights by the Custodial Parent, with insufficient legal counsel provided to the Custodial Parent.
10.Violates Amendment 14 of the United States of America, specifically the "equal protection" clause.
11.Violate Articles 7, 8, and 25 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights.


Read up, Mr. Malone, and realize statements you make, such as "I don't much care about the adults" show your lack of concern for real families, and it shows that you do not take your position seriously, unless it is to fill your pockets(?) Then perhaps you take it seriously?


Peace, Searchers

*UPDATE-'ON HATE AND GENERATIONAL RACISM'




I added a couple of things, not the least of which is the addition to the italics narrative regarding my wedding ring: the damage done to it as a result of the attack was irreparable.
The marriage, however, continues blissfully as Mrs. Searcher, our children, and I continue to push and improve our lives...

I am reposting Chris Flanagin's ( of Thurman and Bishop, Eureka Springs, AR also on the Arkansas Communtiy Foundation Carroll County board) mugshot again, and I will continue to do so, just so you don't forget the face of violent crime.

Peace-

Tuesday, June 16, 2009

WOULD THAT WE WEREN'T FAT, DUMB, AND HAPPY


Americans have long been fat, dumb, and happy, and a generation ago we elected Reagan and focused for a generation on little else except strenghtening our grip on the world, and filling our bank accounts.

There was an election stolen from the American People in 2000, and there was little resistance from the people, largely, I believe because the "trains ran on time" and we, collectively, are fat dumb and happy.

The Bush Administration cut and pasted the Constitution during his regime and we, collectively, allowed him to do that. And now the Rednecks and Religious Right, (the great white right) of America are going to bitch and moan (falsely) that President Obama is going to "take away our guns?" Where were you when Bush was wire-tapping your phone? Where were you when Bush suspended Habeus Corpus? (I know, I know, "habby-us core-pus" look it up, redneck, it is extraordinarily important.)

Oh-I forgot, you had better things to do like watch NASCAR or guffaw at foolishness such as "Larry the Cable Guy."

The Field Negro breaks it down. An excerpt:

"Sometimes I wish [Americans] had the passion for this stuff like our friends in other countries. But it's hard to be a revolutionary when your stomach is always full, you have hot and cold running water, and a big screen television to watch your favorite basketball team is on the wall."

There are people in Iran that are rising up against tyrannical rule. We, as Americans, owe them our support, it may mean the difference between war or peace, and please, let's put away our collective penis, wash our hands, and try to stop our pissing constest with the rest of the world.

Peace, Searchers

Thanks, Field

Monday, June 15, 2009

ON HATE AND GENERATIONAL RACISM

*Click on The pics for a near life size version of Chris Flanagin*
I've been trying to post this one for several days, since the psycho shot up the Holocaust Museum in D.C. The original post had started out discussing the man that was killed at the museum Stephen T. Johns.

The act by the white hater James von Brunn (not pictured, the story about the ridiculous person in the mug shot follows) that took the life of Stephen Tyron Johns at the Holocaust museum in Washington D.C. disturbs me on several levels. And it touches me on a personal level.



I lived in Arkansas for years as you know by now. While in Arkansas I witnessed cross burnings; I walked by a half dozen police cars, a fire truck and a smoldering cross on the front lawn of one of the two black families in Pocahontas on my way to work one morning at Ramon’s Grocery Store. Coming from Chicago, I was horrified at the behavior and stupidity and the overall dumbfuckery I witnessed while living in the “Gem” (you silly Roy Ockert!) that is Arkansas.


I was in a brief relationship with someone once upon a time; her dad liked to go by the nickname “Skip.” I guess he didn’t like “Jerry”. He was extraordinarily racist, he never referred to African Americans as Blacks or African Americans, it was always “niggers.” He was a retired manager from a factory in Flint MI. I remember him saying, as my sons played on his kitchen floor “Oh sure, when I was at the plant you could get a nigger by himself and he’s alright to talk to, but you get a bunch of ‘em together, and it’s “mothafucka this and mothafucka that… they’re all a bunch of goddamn monkeys.”

He loved to tell a joke that went something like this: “So, Abraham Lincoln woke up Monday morning after being on a weekend drunk and said, ‘I did what?!?’” The punch line being if Lincoln hadn’t been wasted all weekend he would have never freed the slaves.


Not so funny. He was one of those that liked to fight also, and we almost came to blows on at least one occasion when I dared to speak against “Rednecks” because as he informed me one blisteringly hot Arkansas summer afternoon, “when you talk about rednecks you’re talking about me.” It is little wonder why I rejected him as well as his rhetoric.


Let me move on to another racist, this one not afraid to use violence. Unlike Skip, (who liked to intimidate his sons in law, but tried not to get into too many scrapes with them,) this one has proven more than once his propensity for violence.

He is around 30; his date of birth is on his mug shot at the top of the post. (I'll try to configure it bigger) This is why I believe this is not going away; the old racists’ virus of hate has infected another generation, and so on. I believe we will see more violence from the right, and when I refer to the right, I do not necessarily refer to someone that would vote for Sarah Palin, or even the type that runs around skinhead-like shouting pro-white power slogans.


The family of this particular violent racist is one that traditionally votes Democrat, in fact, his deadbeat father served 11 terms in the Arkansas legislature as a Democrat. A Conservadem, little more than a center-left republican.

Pictured below is Samuel C. Flanagin, of Eureka Springs, AR. (formerly Forrest City, AR) He broke into my home with an accomplice, Michael Clark of Forrest City and violently attacked my sleeping wife and me on August 26, 2000:
It was a bloody scene, blood was splattered on the wall behind my bed, it had sprayed on the carpeting, it ran down my chest, my stomach, and my legs.
I remember Flanagin screaming "You Motherfucker! You Motherfucker! You motherfucker!" as he hit me in the face and head and body (I had deep bruising that lasted for weeks) with an oak stick as thick and long as a man's forearm. Then he was on top of me, stomping on my head, screaming insanely. Blood was flying. His sandal left a black scrape mark on the wall three feet up behind my bed.
My brand-new wedding ring lovingly inscribed with Philippians 2:2, "...we be of one mind and purpose," was smashed flat on my finger; it took a pair of plyers to get it off. Clark stood behind Chris, laughing.
Mrs. was screaming at the top of her lungs at them, she was covering herself with the sheet sitting up; neither of us had clothes on. It was a hot late summer Arkansas night; we were newlyweds.
I'm going to stop the narrative there, but I'll add quickly: I called the police from the apartment manager's office, and took pictures, I was out of my mind with what had just transpired, but I managed to call Chris' sorry ass (I'm a whole lot tougher than him) and I remember screaming at him to bring his ass back and stand up like a man and not be a coward. He had a chance earlier in the year, in February, in front of his momma's house, but he truly is a coward.
I remember him screaming and cackling insanely, and screeching, "I really dented your mother fucking head! I really dented your motherfucking head!"
I also remember thinking "This is the voice of someone truly psychotic."
I called the police, and they picked us up, and we rode with them to Mrs'. mother's house where they were hiding with the lights turned off. They had hidden Clark's truck out back. Paul Turney of the Jonesboro P.D. as well as his Lieutenant arrested Chris and Clark, and they were charged with several felonies between them. I'll write about it more later, there's plenty.

Since that time, he has stolen property from Mrs. Searcher, threatened to have me arrested if we came to Arkansas to attend Mrs. Searchers mother’s funeral, and this unrepentant, violent criminal that goes to church and claims to be a Christian has referred to me in an email to his sister as a “nigger.” This is common for Chris. He is a classless racist, a violent, intellectually retarded narcissist, and an utter waste of carbon, water, and trace elements. The following is the excerpt from the actual email:

Everyone's always picking on poor nigger Mike, boo hoo. Your detachment from reality is amusing but sad.












Words don’t mean much, especially from an individual such as Flanagin. He does not display a tenable grasp on the English language. (BTW, he works for Thurman and Bishop; a law firm in Eureka Springs, AR, the link is included.)

But the history of violence and the ease in which it appears to come to him, his desire to lash out at people that disagree with him, those that he fears, and those that he recognizes are his intellectual and moral superiors, is very troubling. Resorting to bloody violence (Chris was facing almost 20 years in prison for his actions) his use of racial epithets, against those who oppose his idiocy is a massive red flag-to thinking people.
He has also justified his actions in the past using the fact that I have children from a previous marriage as cause. See? Truly psychotic.
Mrs. Searcher has related to me that on numerous occasions as she grew up in the town of Forrest City, she was forced to flee from her home, (on more than one occasion jumping out of her second floor bedroom window) and run for safety to the neighbors because Chris was on a rampage, looking for blood, trying to rip her bedroom door off, again.
I believe classmates of Chris Flanagin could say the same. Any of them out there? From UALR School of Law? Uof A Fayetteville? Forrest City High School?
His deadbeat father Patrick H. Flanagin was close buddies with Coolidge Conley, the Sheriff of St. Francis County, AR, that approved of the assault and maiming of an individual; Conley displayed his testicles in a jar on his desk. (Make no mistake the accused criminal was a complete shit, but his assault and maiming happened to him while he was accused, not tried and convicted. And if the person was convicted of the crime, the county Sheriff cutting his balls off is still fucking illegal.)
Getting back to Chris, his actions are of course, his perverted way of trying to “equalize” the difference between people like him and people like Mrs. Searcher and me. Oh-as I mentioned before he also has in his possession a chair and ottoman that he swindled from his sister, it was lovingly recovered in leather for her by her Mother shortly before she passed away, and he fucking stole it from her…See? A true shithead. Where does it stop?

His older brother, Pat “Hank” Flanagin, Jr., attacked his step brother violently while he was in the shower. Hank actually went so far as to write in an email to Mrs. Searcher “I hope [your son, name withheld] gets hit by the bus.”

Former Arkansas State Representative Pat Flanagin has also threatened me with violence on several occasions, in person, on the phone, and in emails.
He offered me a car and "several thousand dollars" if I would drop the charges against Chris. Of course, I made it clear he could cram his money and the car up his ass. And bless his heart, I would twist his old, watermelon sized liver, droopy ass laden self into a pretzel like The Zohan
*Update* I've had to remove part of the post due to font issues. I'm not sure if it's Blogger or what, there is a scheduled outage tonight, so maybe that has something to do wth it. I'll finish the post tomorrow after it is back up.
I also have documents on the way that will help with equality issues with the Office of Child Support Enforcement...Peace
Chris Flanagin Chris Flanagin Chris Flanagin S. Christian Flanagin
Arkansas Community Foundation Arkansas Community Foundation Thurman Bishop arkansas eureka springs arkansas chris flanagin matt bishop greg thurman tasha flanagin hank flanagin
thruman and bishop

Sunday, June 14, 2009

CHECKING IN ON SUNDAY, BRIEFLY


I've been thinking about the shooting in D.C., at the Holocaust Museum, and I've been working on a post that I may have to break in a few parts.  Kinda like a mini-series.    So, I wanted to say hey- Peace, Searchers.

image

Saturday, June 13, 2009

CONGRATULATIONS TO MRS SEARCHER!!!!! WE'RE SO PROUD OF YOU!!!!!!!!!




Mrs. Searcher is the newest member of the Family to earn her Bachelor of Science, in Psychology!!!!!

Graduation was today-

Congratulations, Precious, and many blessings as you head toward your second B.S. degree, (already halfway completed) in Biology! Next step-Med School!!!!

Congratulations graduating from a
real school:

PORTLAND STATE UNIVERSITY

In and around
real States:

WASHINGTON/OREGON

In a
real Arena! A mere 20,000 people showed up to see your achievement!!!! SEE ABOVE PICS!!! The Rose Garden, Portland's Premier Arena Venue, home of the TrailBlazers!!!


Your little man and I are so proud of you, AND YOUR NEAR PERFECT GRADE POINT AVERAGE!!!!!

To the doubters, the criminals, the wedding boycotters and haters that laughed at you, those that you have proven are your moral and intellectual inferior-

Fuck-oh hell you know what I'm going to say...

Wednesday, June 10, 2009

AN OPEN LETTER TO THE MEMBERS OF THE UNITED STATES CONGRESS

Note: This is a long post, please take time to read it. In it I bring up the tragic case of Nataline Sarkisyan, the girl killed by insurance giant CIGNA, and I remind the recipients of the ridiculous Billy Tauzin (R, Louisiana), the fraud that went to work for PhRMA after he left congress. I am in the process of emailing it to my respective electeds in Washington as well as Arkansas. I am also snail mailing it. We have to make changes in our system, people are dying as a result of policies that our Lobby-Owned Congress refuse to change. Peace-

My Dear Elected Officials- Monday, June 8,

I am writing to request a full explanation regarding the "single payer" option being taken off the table in reference to health care reform.

As you are well aware, scare tactics abound when this subject is broached, as in the early 1990's when insurance lobbies spent upwards of 100 million dollars to kill health care reform when President Clinton first entered office.

I am confident you aware of at least one of the tactics used by Republicans, neocons, skinheads, and some Conservadems, the usual worn-out statement meant to scare people that goes something like this: your sick mother or grandmother will not be able to get treatment because of a government bureaucrat as a result of "socialized medicine." I have noticed some on the right beginning to use catch words such as “rationing of care” “long lines” “you may have to wait six months to see a dentist.” And other nonsense. There have been times I wished I could wait six months to see a dentist because as our current system is designed now, NEVER was how long I would have to wait to receive dental or medical treatment.

Let me remind you of W.J. "Billy" Tauzin, Republican, of Louisiana proclaiming over and over again how he "loves his Mama, I love that woman" while on a "family values" crusade and then went to work for PhRMA at a reported salary of 2.5 million dollars a year after he left office. So much for all of the love for Mamas everywhere.

I am confident you are aware of the current for-profit health industry, in which insurance companies such as Aetna, Blue-Cross, and Kaiser Permanente, companies that make billions of dollars profiting from people's misery, have the ability to deny claims.

Perhaps you recall the infamous case of
Nataline Sarkisyan, the 17 year old girl that died at the UCLA Medical Center on December 20, 2007 as a result of CIGNA denying her a liver transplant. Unfortunately, Nataline was one of approximately 20,000 American that are killed yearly, one could argue murdered, by the insurance companies they pay premiums to. Premiums that are paid by Americans for the express purpose of the insurance company paying up in the event of a claim being filed.

If you have seen the movie "Sicko," you will recall a scene in which a doctor is testifying before committee on Capitol Hill, and she recounts a particular case in which she had to deny a claim by a man that was dying because of the denial quotas she was expected to adhere to. She testified that had the man received the necessary care he paid for he would not have died. I do not understand why this woman was not immediately detained and charged with this man's death.

Please include an explanation of the lack of detention of this woman in your response. Be advised any references to any sort of immunity deal should be included, but as a taxpayer, I am uninterested in this. Had this scenario played out during a robbery anywhere else, the individual responsible would be imprisoned. In this case the CEO's of these companies are directly responsible, and they have blood of Americans on their hands. When health insurance companies take money for premiums from individuals and do not deliver, that is robbery. Furthermore, if that robbery results in an individual’s death, one could argue a murder occurred.

The current state of our health care system is in shambles. As you are well aware, the United States spends more money on health care than any other Western Nation, and we have less to show than most for our efforts.

I would like to include more statistics for you, but I am confident you already know the numbers.

Here is what I require from you, my dear elected officials: A full explanation of why my elected officials are bowing to the insurance companies by denying a single payer system for the American People. As members of my Congress, you are individuals that enjoy the benefits of health care funded by the American Peoples’ tax dollars. Armed with the knowledge that the paycheck you cash as a result of your elected position is drawn on my Treasury, I will need an explanation for the lack of Congressional regard for the American People, especially our children.

I will also require a detailed explanation as to why my government cannot negotiate with pharmaceutical companies for medication prices as is the practice in other countries. An explanation of the law as it is currently written is unnecessary. I am well aware of the legislation, what I require is detailed explanation of what you are doing to repeal this reckless legislation.

What must not be included in your detailed explanation is any defense of the current for-profit insurance nightmare that has been developed in the United States, which has been as successful as Milton Friedman's economic policies adopted by Ronald Reagan in 1981. We have learned that "trickle down" economics does not work, nor does our health care system. There is no reason to cling to either of these failed policies.

Let me reiterate: under no circumstances are you to defend the current system, it does not need to be defended, it needs to be dismantled completely and redone.

Even Margaret Thatcher, the Ronald Reagan counterpart that turned thousands of police officers and military against her own countrymen and women to break the labor unions, much like Reagan with the Air Traffic Controllers, said of the National Health Service "It is safe with us." Even Thatcher knew the U.K. National Health Service worked, and as one prominent Labour leader stated, "If they touched it there would have been revolution."

Perhaps that is what we need in the United States. Perhaps not, perhaps all we as constituents need to do is vote out politicians that live off the government dole, while they slash education, health, food programs, school lunch programs, while at the same time ensuring their own children and families are well cared for.

As a young man of 40, I have many years left, and while I am sinking myself into thousands of dollars of debt, (my wife as well) because of our abysmally planned higher education system, eventually I will be out of school armed with an education in Public Policy and Poli Sci from Washington State University, Vancouver. My wife will eventually be finished with her second Bachelor of Science, this one in Biology, from WSU Vancouver as well, her first a
B.S. in Psychology from Portland State, and she will eventually be in and out of Medical School, with a mere $200,000 dollars in debt, and together we will work to ensure the current system in the United States is turned on it head.

An interesting side note, at this point in time, due to the failed policies of the past 30 years, we are considered poor enough to qualify for the State of Washington health care system. Thank you Washington. My primary care physician is a remarkable woman from India, where, when she trained there 15 years ago, related to me just today in conversation that India has programs that put women into Medical Schools for free. She also related to me the appalling amount of waste in the United States in relation to health care. You see, the Indians are interested in investing in their people; they approach government as government and not as a corporation that only thinks about the P&L Sheet. It is time to once again wake up and realize the U.S. government is not a business; it is a government, one that must invest in its people, not its lobbyists, and the CEO's of massive financial firms on Wall Street.

Ms. Patty Murray, Ms. Maria Cantwell, and Mr. Brian Baird, my wife, son and I are constituents in Washington State.
Mr. Mark Pryor and Ms. Blanche Lincoln, I have two children of voting age in your state, and two more that will soon be of voting age.
I am including some of our Republican elected officials in my request, so be assured I hold all Members of my Congress fully responsible for the paralysis on this and many other extraordinarily important issues.

Mid-terms are just around the corner, and 2012 will be here soon. As a former Conservative that voted Republican for 22 years, (for Heaven's sake I voted for Mike Huckabee of Arkansas; sorry about that, my wife proudly proclaims she did not) I have fully embraced the Democratic Party's principle of people over profit. Please do not disappoint me.

Thank you for your time, I realize you are in session, and I will be patient. However, please understand paralysis in D.C. is trying most Americans' patience. I will be following up with each of you, and I will post this letter and your responses on my blog,
www.mikesearches.blogspot.com.

Sincerely,



It is time for systemic change in the United States.


Tuesday, June 9, 2009

REGARDING HUMAN RIGHTS AND DISCRIMINATION-STILL WAITING ON PERCY MALONE, OF ARKANSAS


I spoke with Senator Percy Malone's (D Arkadelphia) assistant a few days ago, she told me he was in D.C., no doubt standing up for an entire group of people he clearly discriminated against in the past. But I'm sure he has righted his ways, I'm confident he's had his "Road to Damascus" (or flight path to D.C.) experience. Probably not.

Mr. Malone, please come out from under your desk and address the comments you made to me, the comments I posted on my blog. I did notice that someone from Arkadelphia has been hitting my blog, specifically searching "percy malone." Could it be the elusive Percy Malone himself? We'll see, I will be around far longer than him, fighting for the rights of adults and children alike, and I will not relent.

The policies of the Office of Child Support Enforcement contribute to depression, abject poverty, despair, they harm children, they lead to dysfunction in children and families, they pit families against one another, and they lead to increased drug abuse, increased alcohol abuse, and domestic violence.
In addition, the laws as they are written violate Article 14 of the United States Constitution as well as a whole host of Articles from The Universal Declaration of Human Rights, adopted by the United States on December 10, 1948. And for the Intellectually Incurious out there, those that never heard of The Declaration, the Chairperson of this historical and monumental Declaration was First Lady of the United States, Eleanor Roosevelt.

I challenge you to prove me wrong Mr. Malone. Oh I forgot, you "don't much care about the adults," do you Percy? Did you ever stop to think "Senator" that the Government Check drawn on the Treasury you cash from your elected seat comes from the backs of tax paying adults? For some reason, I don't think you're much of a thinker...I am still awaiting your response to my email and my articles.

Peace-
Onward


SHELL OIL AGREES TO PAY MILLIONS TO RELATIVES OF MURDERED NIGERIAN WRITER




I posted about this and I have stayed on top of it. (I'm a writer and activist that has had threats of violence made against me and my family and there has been one attempt on my life to date) 15.5 million will be paid to the family of Ken Saro-Wiwa in an out of court settlement. It is a victory, as people will be compensated for a loved one's death. However, it would have been far better had the trial resulted in a judgement against Royal Dutch Shell, as State/Corporate sponsored terrorism has been practiced by Western Corporations for hundreds of years. Ford Motors is a good example. Below are some excerpts, read the story in entirety here.

Nigeria victims hail $15.5 mln Shell payout

Victims of murder, torture and other abuses by Nigeria's former military government on Tuesday hailed a landmark out-of-court settlement with Royal Dutch Shell over its alleged complicity in the crimes.
Shell agreed on Monday in New York to pay out 15.5 million dollars (10.7 million euros) to relatives of Nigerian writer and activist Ken Saro-Wiwa and others executed in 1995 in what plaintiffs said was a campaign of repression backed by the oil giant.
The settlement brings to an end a long battle by the Nigerian victims and means that Shell avoids a potentially embarrassing court case while having to accept no actual wrongdoing.
Saro-Wiwa had led a non-violent campaign to protest environmental destruction and abuses against the Ogoni people in the Niger Delta before he was hanged along with other activists after his trial in a military court.

"We welcome the 15.5 million dollars compensation for the illegal killings of Ken Saro-Wiwa and the other eight Ogoni leaders," Bariara Kpalap, spokesman for the Movement for the Survival of the Ogoni People (MOSOP), told AFP.

But Kpalap insisted Shell must still address the issue of environmental pollution and change the way it does business in the oil-rich Niger Delta, where farmers and fishermen are being driven off.
Again, I am thankful for the family being compensated, but capitalism is not working, and American corporations are responsible for this reprehensible activity, and they must be confronted and the demons of the past, such as slavery and unbridled capitalism, must be exorcised for the United States to move forward.

Peace, Searchers...Onward!


Monday, June 8, 2009

CRAZIES AT FOX NEWS JUST DON'T GET IT: THERE ARE MORE PEOPLE ON THE PLANET BESIDES AMERICANS-MORE IDIOCY FROM "THE GREAT WHITE RIGHT"

I still feel like an idiot for paying attention to Fox News for the years that I did. I am thankful I woke up and realized that Fox News is absolutely nothing more than a propaganda machine for the Christian Right, the Republicans, and the Right Wing terrorists like the guy that murdered a doctor in church last week.

Sean Hannity, Glen Beck and Bill O'Reilly, Meghan Kelly, Kilmeade, Doocy's dumbass, and the ever dumber Gretchen Carlson are propagandists that routinely spew hate, racism and fear, and they encourage violence against people they disagree with.

It worries me that a large portion of Middle America watches this drivel. It tells me that a vast portion of the population of the United States simply haven't a clue. Watch Jon Stewart break it down, he gives a commentary of Barak Obama's speech in Cairo, Egypt, and the ridiculous response by the brainless at Fox. Enjoy-And boycott Fox News.















The Daily Show With Jon StewartM - Th 11p / 10c
Looking for Comity in the Muslim World
thedailyshow.com






Daily Show
Full Episodes
Political HumorEconomic Crisis


Peace Searchers-

Sunday, June 7, 2009

"OH YOU DON'T NEED METH AND YOU DON'T NEED SPEED CAUSE EVERYTHING'S BETTER WITH A BAG OF WEED"

This episode of the Family Guy came on in April, on the 20th, it was replayed on Fox tonight, in celebration of all things herbage. I had to post it, there is no sense in hiding who I am. As I become more and more involved in policy in the United States, I am not going to sell out as some have tried to entice me to do. (Patrick Henry Flanagin, (D) Forrest City, AR.)

Regarding the issues I hold dear, the issues that affect my family and thousands if not millions of others, passion is me and I am passion.

I am for the legalization Marijuana. Hard drugs must be focused on, drugs like Meth, Cocaine, Heroin and alcohol. Marijuana is simply not on the same level as these others, and Pot contributes to far less horror, tragedy, depression and death as oh, I don't know, a legal drug such as Alcohol.

100,000 die in the U.S. from Alcohol every year, and that DOES NOT include car wrecks.

The foolishness regarding the obsolete policies of the vilification of hemp and marijuana have to be addressed and cast aside. They simply do not measure up to the science. This is just another addition of things on my plate. Enjoy, Searchers, and remember:

"A bag of weed, a bag of weed, everything's better with a bag of weed!"



Oh, and I wanted to point out that the border of the vid is green Ha,Ha...






peace, Love y'all

*update* I changed the title of this post, cause I wanted to.

Saturday, June 6, 2009

ON EDUCATION, HEALTH, AND SOULS, PART 2

Some time ago I posted regarding frustrations due to the lack of progress on education, health and souls.

I have plenty to say, but little time right now to expound. Subsequently, I have decided to re-post Bill Maher's "New Rules" from May 29, 2009.

Please take 7 minutes out of your day, fix a Mojito, and watch the following clip. It is beyond time for change in the United States. Below the video I have posted a link to "On Education, Health and Souls Part 1." Peace, Searchers...


Actually, I think I'll just paste the previous post...much love!
ON EDUCATION, HEALTH AND SOULS, PART 1
Trying to put the anger aside that has motivated me on several of my previous posts, I am exploring how I feel about this country, and its people.


There is something to be said about the soul of a country when that country makes taking care of one another a priority.It seems to me that priorities of a nation reveals its true nature; its soul.What does it say about the US that children don't have health coverage and we twice elected a President that doesn't want health care for a certain group of children?

What would Jesus do?

What does it say about the US when young college students enter the workforce thousands, perhaps hundreds of thousands of dollars in debt, and older college students those that are in their late 20's, early 30's and beyond to have to start sinking themselves into massive debt at a later age?

And from the perspective of a student/worker with his wife still in school and struggling to make ends meet, to have to go begging for help, feeling demeaned, with all of the resources in the US, instead of that help and support already there as a basic right. I believe healthcare and education are basic rights.

And the United Nation agrees:
Article 25 of the United Nation Declaration of Human Rights:
1) Everyone has the right to a standard of living adequate for the health and well-being of himself and of his family, including food, clothing, housing and medical care and necessary social services, and the right to security in the event of unemployment, sickness, disability, widowhood, old age or other lack of livelihood in circumstances beyond his control

And from Article 26:
(1) Everyone has the right to education. Education shall be free, at least in the elementary and fundamental stages. Elementary education shall be compulsory. Technical and professional education shall be made generally available and higher education shall be equally accessible to all on the basis of merit

Why do I care what the UN has to think? Because the United States signed it.

A single woman in Arkansas shouldn't have to worry about losing her home, working two or three crappy jobs to support herself, all the while wanting to go school (in a state with almost no services, or sympathy) to improve herself any more than a father in Washington should have to worry about milk for his son, or tuition for his wife or himself. To have to choose between groceries and electricity or rent/house payment and education in the United States of America in 2008 is obscene.

Equally obscene is the tendency of some to label the woman in Arkansas, or the man in Washington as lazy, or dumb, or deserving.

What would Jesus do?

The right wing has done a great job in feeding the nation the idea that the poor are fully responsible for their plight.Ditto for the brainwashing that cutting social services and education is somehow going to magically force the poor into the middle class.

What does it say about a country when you look at a map of the states red/blue, states like Arkansas, Alabama, Texas, these states of the Bible Belt where Obama is getting hammered, yet McCain and Palin have proven themselves to be frauds and liars, and people are still supporting them.Even if it goes against their personal interests.Amazing.

We need people in office that have the interests of the people at heart. It is time to bring back our social programs, shore up our infrastructure, and provide education for all. The only way to remain strong as a nation is to invest in the people. Period.
We need a systemic change in the United States.

Peace-Mike

REGARDING "THE POST AMERICAN WORLD" BY FAREED ZAKARIA


I have just completed his book, in which he discusses the up and coming nations, the "rise of the rest" as he calls it.


I found it to be an extremely easy read, Zakaria doesn't make you feel as though you need a degree in economics or poli sci to understand it.


I highly recommend it, every American should read it, it is that important. Americans need to realize that, as a nation, the United States shift in hegemony has to be addressed. Peace, Searchers!

REMEMBERING THE DEAD TODAY AND THE LIVES THEY SAVED


Today is the 65th anniversary of the Allied invasion of Normandy. I'm 40 years old, so as I grew up in my home in Chicago, when my parents referred to "The War" it was World War 2, not Vietnam or Korea.

The invasion of Normandy was the largest sea assault of its time. A massive air assault took place just before the sea invasion began. According to Wikipedia, 160,000 troops landed that day on the Normandy beaches in France. The numbers are staggering, and although I have not been able to back up his claim, my father told me that the life expectancy of a soldier landing on those beaches was five minutes.
These troops fought and died to battle the hideous ideas of Fascism and Nazism. It was a just war, one of necessity as opposed to choice.

I visited Europe when I was in third grade, but I did not visit the cemetery at Normandy (the American Cemetery at Normandy is pictured.) Thousands upon thousands of Christian Crosses and Stars of David, (forgive my ignorance but I am unaware if there are any Crescents of Islam) stand eternally at attention, marking the graves of Americans that are interred in France, never to be returned to their home soil of the United States. Rarely did I see my dad choked with emotion, but upon seeing the row after row after row of graves, I believe for a time he actually was human.

Reflecting upon the war we are in right now, not the foolish "war on terror" but the real combat situation in Iraq, I have to ask...why?

So, on this anniversary of D-Day, I give a somber thanks to those that fought and died and those that were maimed both physically and mentally to make damn sure we could live in a vastly freer society than Hitler, Hirohito, and Mussolini envisioned.
Peace, Searchers...

Friday, June 5, 2009

CHASING DOWN ARKANSAS LEGISLATORS


I posted a few days ago regarding Percy Malone of Arkadelphia, AR. (pictured) I have attempted to obtain a statement from his office, and at the time of this posting I am waiting on a call from Senator Malone to discuss the email I sent him as well as the post from a few days ago. I'll post the discussion when it occurs, I'm not holding my breath, but I'm confident I will be able to catch up with him.
A sidebar-he looks congenial enough (albeit a little squirrly) in his picture but (I've used this analogy before) dealing with him reminded me of watching John McCain wander around the stage during the 2nd Presidential debate like a octogenarian looking for his lost Poodle.


I will say I spoke with his assistant today, Amy Johnson, and she was as polite and gracious as always. Perhaps some of her personality will rub off on Malone. Again, no breath holding here.

Not much else to say at this point, except for this: Change will come to the system of the OCSE as we know it today. The policies of the OCSE lead to the destruction of families, the policies pit families against one another, and the policies discriminate against a particular group of people, with taxpayer money. Clearly this is violation of the 14th amendment of the Constitution, as well as numerous Articles of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. Peace-

VIGILANTE JUSTICE IN PHILADELPHIA

An 11 year old girl was brutally raped in Philly and the police distributed a photo of a "person of interest" to the girls neighbors asking for help in locating the person of interest, Jose Carrasquillo. The police put a $10,000 bounty on his head. The Field Negro breaks it down much more in depth.
So when Jose came walking down the street, a mob jumped his ass and beat him nearly to death. This is a problem.

The problem lies with several things, not the least of which is as follows:

Distributing photos of an individual that is a "person of interest," not a suspect, to people in the neighborhood where the crime occurred. Offering money to be paid immediately on the delivery of the "person of interest." I see the reasoning behind the distribution of pix, but I question the wisdom of the other. Read the article here, it's fucking nuts.

Mob mentality. I abhor anyone that commits violent crime against innocents be they children or adults. My wife and I are victims of violent crime, and I abhor that type of behavior. However, in the United States we have a system of laws that is meant to protect both the victim as well as the accused. Keep in mind Jose Carrasquillo had not been charged with the rape, he had not been tried for the rape, and he had not been convicted of the rape. This is what fucking pisses me off about mob mentality. Who the fuck are these people to attack an individual who could possibly be in the wrong place at the wrong time? This type of shit smacks of the type of mob mentality that took the life of young Emmit Till.


You remember Emmit Till, don't you? He was the 14 year old Black kid that whistled at a white woman in the Jim Crow South. They beat the child to death and gouged his eyes out. His body when recovered was displayed in an open casket at the demands of his mother so the entire world could see what these motherfuckers did to her baby.

Maybe Jose Carrasquillo did rape this little girl. If he did, hang the son of a bitch from the highest tree, AFTER a fair trial, fair conviction, and sentencing.

This also reminds me of an incident in Arkansas when another accused rapist was assaulted and castrated by local officials and the scumbag sheriff, who happened to be a friend of Mrs. Searchers father, (this asshole sheriff used to have drinks with him and kick it at their house for cookouts, etc.) displayed this guy's nuts in a jar on his desk. Sheriff Coolidge Conley of St. Francis county ended up dying in prison. A fitting end to a real piece of shit. Would that fate could occur to Mrs. Searcher's father as well.

This also reminds me of an incident that occurred on August 26, 2000, when Mrs. Searcher's brother broke into our home at 1:50 am and attempted to murder me. (Good job not running the story you fuckmooks at the Jonesboro Sun in Jonesboro, AR. Your paper aided and abetted in the promotion violent crime, and you hold at least some of the responsibility for the absolute abortion of justice in the case of The State of Arkansas v. Samuel C. Flanagin.)

I am against vigilante justice. However, in the case of the Flanagin's from Forrest City, AR, (all of them), I just may be a hypocrite. Or maybe not. It's okay, I subscribe to neither their warped version of christianity nor their insane view of reality.

Peace, Searchers