In the course of my government career, I developed a simple rule, which I have seen more examples of than I can count:

In Washington, whenever anyone does something wrong, everyone else gets punished.

This is yet another example of this rule being applied.

The banksters committed criminal fraud. For this, they were punished by being forced to accept billions of taxpayers' money getting shoved at them. There are welfare queens who use their welfare checks to buy luxury cars and live well; they are called investment bankers.

Meanwhile, millions have lost their jobs, and millions of others cannot get the loans they need even if they can afford to buy a home, or financing needed to start or grow businesses and grow the economy. My own situation is that I'm not making enough money to refinance, even though it would mean my payments would go down.

The only silver lining would be if millions of foreclosure victims would demand to see the proof that the bank actually owns their mortgages. When the banks can't produce the paperwork, these people could then petition the court, own their homes outright, and stop paying the banksters altogether. Now, that is a movement we could all support.

Just what are the "Jeffersonian principles" that ALEC thinks it's advancing?

Or...a high school student getting 10 years in jail for a relatively harmless prank.
"The question is what type of society we are creating when our children have to fear that a prank (could) lead them to jail for almost a decade. What type of citizens are we creating who fear the arbitrary use of criminal charges by their government?"

This 18 year old black student in a mostly all white Indiana town gets 10 years for placing a plastic "party doll" in the school restroom.

http://abcnews.go.com/US/wireStory?id=14002711

Or...19 people get arrested over Facebook posts...including this one of a picture of a baby with his mouth on a bong (used to smoke marijuana for those who don't know). The mother was arrested.

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2010/08/16/arrested-over-facebook-po_n_683...

And if you do a search on the internet of school's zero-tolerance policy you will read some really scarey things about what these Nazis are doing to school kids and their parents.

If they can keep us busy and distracted over all of these things they can keep us distracted and too afraid to demand that the real big-time criminals in the banking and Wall Street crowds get long jail time. They pick on the weak and avoid the strong....like they do in the IRS...they go after the weak and poor and avoid the rich and powerful with their lawyers.

Non-violence invites the opposition to follow the golden rule: treat others as you wish to be treated.

Violence invites the opposition to follow the silver rule: treat others as you have been treated.

And the guy that steals money from the delivery man gets 7 years in prison.

I suspect that even if banksters do get some jail time and/or financial penalties....it won't be much....not anything like what they have stolen. They set the example by which all Americans can aspire to.....if you are going to steal...steal really, really big. If you are going to commit crimes...the bigger, the better. You can buy corrupt politicians that will protect you. After all of the damage to the Indians, and the workers at the rape factories in the Marianas, Jack Abramoff only gets a couple of years in the can. Scanlon got off free and many of those high up officials that were taking bribes have not yet been prosecuted. They are still making laws and decisions that affect us all. Heck, many people would be willing to spend a little time in prison if they got to keep millions of dollars after all. The United States of Drug Lords and Bankster Criminals.

I've been pondering this all the time. If you now tell me, you wanna try something, I find this really great!

Right now you seem to sound like very loud music actually harmed your ears..... right? You know what? My trumpet caused bad-bad asthma during the first summer. I felt like proving a girl has power too and played very aggressive. When grass pollen began to be an issue in summer, the pressure was too much to my bronchi. Since then I changed to a very mellow style.

A trumpet can be a dangerous weapon -- cause literally physical harm to the audience. I'm actually not a Miles Davis fan, he sounds too depressed as I feel. But I copied his targeting the floor. You hear yourself better and don't have to play so loud -- it's really great sound monitoring. Above all you don't harm anybody in the audience by targeting them. By that you force your colleagues to restrain themselves too. "We don't hear your trumpet!" So what, turn down the volume, guys.

My old Swingtett was a drag at times. They loved to play very loud, as long as people didn't complain. Once we played in a club where people enjoyed the blast very much. It hurt my ears so much -- after my chorus I went outdoors and wouldn't return until all the other soloists were done.

http://www.birdlandmusic.net/item-HUB111--UPC-5685106690-Humes-Berg-111-...

Thanks for the tip...I ordered one and will let you know if there are any Made in China stickers on it. I've got two trumpets...actually 3 if I count the old battered one I got at a flea market many years ago. Nothing much to brag about though..a Conn Trumpet and a little Bestler shortie...looks a little like yours. Thanks for the inspiration! Gotta have something to tear me away from the computer once in a while. I think if I use the mute most of the time I shouldn't have to worry much about adversely impacting my hearing.

My seven year old raised money for orangutan conservation. We're ridiculously proud of her for thinking of the idea, organizing it, and having the stamina to see it through all by herself. see http://tobob.com/201202/how-to-save-an-orangutan/

We so often catch our children doing something wrong...we're really enjoying this chance to catch her doing something right.

Three Mile Island was our (first) turn. It's in Pennsylvania.

2/6/12 – Documentary – Hot Coffee

Subj: Tort reforms

Stella Liebeck Vs Mcdonalds over spilled very hot coffee

I actually remember this case since it got so much publicity after she was awarded $2.9 million. According to the documentary, it was not fully upheld and there was a private settlement with an unknown amount.

Pictures in the documentary showed the extent of her burns to the crotch and legs and it actually sickened me. I’ve been burned with hot coffee and it certainly didn’t produce burns like this. involving their coffee numbered 700. Their directive to stores was that it be kept between 180-190 deg.

The woman was not driving, contrary to what I’d heard at the time. Her son-in-law was and actually he had pulled over in the parking lot to allow her to add cream and sugar to her coffee. She held the cup between her knees and steadied it with one hand while trying to remove the lid and the coffee spilled backwards into her lap. Had this coffee been a normal hot temperature, she would have burned herself, but not to this degree.

Seeing the television and print ads calling her names and the list goes on, it was an all out campaign by business interests to make it all her fault. I’m ashamed now to say I too thought it was a frivolous lawsuit at the time and was even for tort reform in Colorado when it passed. If I knew then what I know now I would not be so happy about it.

The majority of people do not understand the word tort let alone what tort reform is. It was vastly misrepresented as a protection for business against frivolous lawsuits which cost us all in the end. Like tort reform for medical malpractice which would then cap the amount of damages awarded and that would hold down the costs of the doctors, hospitals, etc. on their malpractice insurance costs. Well, guess what, fooled again. A comparison against states with caps and those without the savings was no more then $1K.

There was an attempt to pass a tort reform law at the Federal level but Bill Clinton came out against it, so the states took it up and one by one passed one form or another of tort reforms. Some capped economic awards, which are for actual costs like lost wages, out of pocket costs and so forth. Others capped non economic awards, which would be pain and suffering, etc. Some 3 states capped both and some capped just economic or non economic. Only a few states did not set caps.

Seems money was behind stacking the courts with sympathetic judges, especially in the state’s Supreme Courts. Much of the money came from the U.S. Chamber of Commerce. Until now I had mistakenly thought this was a Federal agency, when it is actually made up of members from the business world and is a lobbyist. I must have confused it with the Small Business Administration. I’m probably not the only one to do this. Their name is very misleading.

Halliburton/KBR – A 19 year old woman who worked for Halliburton was sent to Iraq and promised a place of her own and instead was housed in a dormitory with a lot of men who drugged then gang raped her to the point that she required reconstructive surgery in her groin area. Halliburton did nothing nor did KBR. Seems that part of her employment contract called for mandatory arbitration of any disputes. Seems this is in a great many contracts unknow to most of us, such as cell phones and credit cards, for example. I’ll get into that later.

The woman would not let it go and contacted her Congressman who took an interest then Senator Franken of MN got involved and held hearings, which I saw a clip of. Took her 4 years to get into a court.

Seems the problem with arbitration, such as that forced on employees by their employers is that they get to pick the arbitrator. Seems these arbitration companies want repeat business so you can guess how they’ll rule. Problem with an arbitration is that it is binding and a court will uphold it. I remember when arbitration could be a good thing, but it had to be mutually agreed on and a disinterested 3rd party was used to arbitrate. Guess that right went away. The more I got into this documentary the more I realized how many of our rights have been legislated away, most likely by legislators who were bought and paid for by special interests. I was aware for some time of some things that we’ve lost, but the list is growing and with it my apprehension over what rights we the people have left in this country. Most people go about their daily lives in ignorance. Like with the tort law, they interviewed a guy who filed suit in a state and after the jury awarded the verdict in his favor did he learn that the amount they awarded was capped by law, only after the trial was over by the judge. The jury was not informed of this cap. He was then told what the tort law was and was astounded to find that he had actually voted for it and commented that he hadn’t voted for that, that that was for frivolous lawsuits, not his. Seems we only learn the truth after the fact. So many lies that no one knows anything for sure anymore. Big money is distorting truth and shaping our thinking to the point when I personally don’t know if I’m coming or going.

Back to this mandatory arbitration that we sign for, without really knowing we’re signing away our rights to file suit against a company for any reason, even if they defraud us. Many times it’s in a contract for a cell service or credit cards. It may not be in the original contract we sign, but then later then amend it which from contracts like this that I’ve read, they always advise they can do that. Then they slip a piece it will say something like the next time you use your cell or credit card you are agreeing to these terms. So, read the stuff they send you. No mention of how I’d know this if I get an electronic bill? I believe there is supposed to be some legislation on this issue, but I’ll check it out. If there isn’t, there needs to be.

We have the best government and judicial system that money can buy.