Elizabeth Taylor, RIP. You nailed it in "Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf"

March 24, 2011

BRUCE A. BRENNAN BLOG FROM THE WORLD AND MY MIND

The news as I see it and the views as I want them.

March 24 is … National Chocolate Covered Raisins Day

President Obama take heart and learn; Every anarchist is a baffled dictator.

On this date in 1966 The Beatles pose with mutilated dolls & butchered meat for the cover of the "Yesterday & Today" album. It is later pulled from the market. Boy have people changed.

Two time Oscar winner Elizabeth Taylor died on Tuesday evening. Often referred to as the most beautiful woman in the world by many, the London born Taylor, her parents were Americans from St Louis, MO, moved to Hollywood with her family at the beginning of WW II. She was under contract with Universal in 1942, at the age of ten. She made screen debut in 1942 in “There’s One Born Every Minute”. She was little before my time but I have enjoyed many of her performances. Later in life, she was more famous for being Elizabeth Taylor than her acting. A good life she led and she will be missed.

“To be or not to be ... the winner of an Oscar”. That was the question as the Academy Awards were passed out for the 21st time on this night in 1949. Actor/producer/director Robert Montgomery hosted the ceremony held at the AMPAS Theater in Los Angeles. Hamlet, produced by Lawrence Olivier for J. Arthur Rank-Two Cities Films, won Best Picture of 1948. Olivier also was pronounced Best Actor for his portrayal of Hamlet. The real star of the evening, however, was the Hollywood flick, The Treasure of the Sierra Madre, the story of a trio of prospectors in their search for gold in them thar hills. The search finally led them to gold in the shape of Oscar, three Oscars, to be exact, and a nomination for Best Picture. And, as far as we know, it was the first, and remains the only time a father and son both won Academy Awards on the same night. They were presented to Walter and John Huston for their stunning work in the 1948 film. Walter was awarded an Oscar for Best Supporting Actor and his son, John, received honors for Best Director and for Best Screenplay (based on a B. Traven story). Other winners of the treasured golden statuette on this spring night were: Jane Wyman (the former Mrs. Ronald Reagan) for Best Actress (film: Johnny Belinda); Claire Trevor for Best Supporting Actress (film: Key Largo); Jay Livingston and Ray Evans for Best Music/Song (Buttons and Bows from the Bob Hope/Jane Russell flick, The Paleface). And although Olivier won the Best Actor Oscar, Humphrey Bogart was superb as the paranoid, and ultimately, homicidal Fred C. Dobbs in Sierra Madre. “Golddd, Golddd.”

It's not easy for a woman to get an abortion in South Dakota. There is only one abortion clinic in the state. As of Tuesday, it got even more difficult.

Republican Gov. Dennis Daugaard signed a bill requiring women seeking an abortion to wait three days after meeting with a doctor and receive counseling before undergoing the procedure, news agencies reported.

The measure brought condemnation from abortion rights groups. CBS News.com said that the American Civil Liberties Union, ACLU of South Dakota and Planned Parenthood Federation of America announced Tuesday they plan to file a legal challenge to the law, which is to take effect July 1.

"I think everyone agrees with the goal of reducing abortion by encouraging consideration of other alternatives," Daugaard said in a written statement. "I hope that women who are considering an abortion will use this three-day period to make good choices." The governor said state attorneys have agreed to defend the law and that he's spoken with a sponsor who has pledged to finance the state's legal costs, the Associated Press reports. South Dakota is hardly alone in staking out new territory in the abortion battle. Many statehouses where Republicans have a majority are contemplating new abortion restrictions. "State bills are currently pending all over the country, and many states are considering multiple abortion-related bills," according to CBS News, which published an in-depth story on the issue.

In South Dakota, the three-day waiting period would be the longest in the nation, according to Planned Parenthood of Minnesota, North Dakota, South Dakota. Planned Parenthood operates the only health center in South Dakota that provides abortion care. "The voters of South Dakota, by resounding margins at the ballot box, twice have told their legislators that the decision to have an abortion is between a woman, her family and her doctor and that government should not intrude on that decision," said Sarah Stoesz, president and CEO of Planned Parenthood Minnesota, North Dakota, South Dakota. "We know that women reflect, talk with friends and family, and consult with pastors and their doctors before making this difficult decision. This bill intrudes on those relationships, shows contempt for women and disdain for voters' wishes."

The counseling provision of the bill has attracted a good deal of the criticism. According to Planned Parenthood, the law has no requirements surrounding the qualifications of the crisis centers' counselors. "Furthermore, the crisis pregnancy centers must have as their central mission a desire to dissuade a woman from having an abortion, no matter what her particular risks or circumstances," the group says. Abortion opponents, however, say the bill gives women thinking about an abortion "both sides of the story," as the measure's main sponsor puts it, according to The Christian Science Monitor. "This bill would ensure that the woman...will have access to some personal support as opposed to somebody just pressuring her to get an abortion," said Rep. Roger Hunt, the bill's main sponsor. "It seems to me that spending a little time talking to somebody and waiting 72 hours is nothing unreasonable."

Abortion is a local issue. It is only important around election time. I do not think the bloc of people that vote solely on a candidate’s position on abortion makes or breaks any election. South Dakota can determine its own laws. That is the concept of State’s Rights. If anyone does not like the law in South Dakota concerning abortion, don’t go there. Go somewhere else and kill the fetus if you cannot wait three days to end a human life. We house people on death row for decades, except in Illinois but Governor Milquetoast is pro-choice. He doesn’t mind killing the innocent but he does mind killing the depraved and guilty.

A few quotes from the mind of Steven Wright. He’s weird but he’s funny.

All those who believe in psycho kinesis raise my hand.

The early bird gets the worm, but the second mouse gets the cheese.

I almost had a psychic girlfriend but she left me before we met.

OK, so what's the speed of dark?

How do you tell when you're out of invisible ink?

If everything seems to be going well, you have obviously overlooked

something.

Support bacteria - they're the only culture some people have.

When everything is coming your way, you're in the wrong lane.

Ambition is a poor excuse for not having enough sense to be lazy.

Hard work pays off in the future. Laziness pays off now.

Everyone has a photographic memory. Some just don't have film.

Shin: a device for finding furniture in the dark.

Many people quit looking for work when they find a job.

I intend to live forever - so far, so good.

Join the Army, meet interesting people, kill them.

If Barbie is so popular, why do you have to buy her friends?

Eagles may soar, but weasels don't get sucked into jet engines.

Dancing is a perpendicular expression of a horizontal desire.

When I'm not in my right mind, my left mind gets pretty crowded.

Boycott shampoo! Demand the REAL poo!

Who is General Failure and why is he reading my hard disk?

What happens if you get scared half to death twice?

I used to have an open mind but my brains kept falling out.

I couldn't repair your brakes, so I made your horn louder.

Why do psychics have to ask you for your name?

If at first you don't succeed, destroy all evidence that you tried.

If at first you don't succeed, then skydiving definitely isn't for you.

A conclusion is the place where you got tired of thinking.

Music at the top of the charts on this day in history;

1947 The Anniversary Song - Dinah Shore
Managua, Nicaragua - The Freddy Martin Orchestra (vocal: Stuart Wade)
Oh, But I Do - Margaret Whiting
So Round, So Firm, So Fully Packed - Merle Travis

1955 The Ballad of Davy Crockett - Bill Hayes
Sincerely - McGuire Sisters
Darling Je Vous Aime Beaucoup - Nat ‘King’ Cole
In the Jailhouse Now - Webb Pierce

1963 Our Day Will Come - Ruby & The Romantics
The End of the World - Skeeter Davis
He’s So Fine - The Chiffons
Still - Bill Anderson

1971 Me and Bobby McGee - Janis Joplin
She’s a Lady - Tom Jones
Just My Imagination (Running Away with Me) - The Temptations
I’d Rather Love You - Charley Pride

1979 Tragedy - Bee Gees
What a Fool Believes - The Doobie Brothers
Heaven Knows - Donna Summer with Brooklyn Dreams
I Just Fall in Love Again - Anne Murray

1987 Lean on Me - Club Nouveau
Let’s Wait Awhile - Janet Jackson
Nothing’s Gonna Stop Us Now - Starship
I’d Still Be Loving You - Restless Heart

BRUCE A. BRENNAN

DEKALB, IL 60115

COPYRIGHT 2011

VISIT ANY OF THE SITES LISTED FOR REVIEW, RESEARCH, ORDERING MY WRITING PRODUCTS OR TO CONTACT ME.

Email: brucebrennanlaw@aol.com

http://www.brucebrennanlaw.com/

www.lawyerbruce.wordpress.com

http://www.brucebrennanattorney.com/

www.bruceabrennananddekalbilandtheworld.blogspot.com

www.lawyerbruce.blogspot.com

www.lawofficeofbruceabrennan.yolasite.com

www.lawyerbruceabrennan.com

http://lawofficeofbruceabrennan.law.officelive.com

http://lawofficeofbruceabrennan.webs.com

http://www.lawyerbruceabrennan.webstarts.com

http://www.linkedin.com/in/attorneybruceabrennan

Go to web sites below to buy books by Bruce A. Brennan. It is still a good time to purchase any of my books. The books are interesting and inexpensive reads. My third book should be available later this year, in late 2011. More information will be forthcoming.

http://ebooks.ebookmall.com/ebook/497984-ebook.htm

http://www.barnesandnoble.com/ (do a quick search, Title, my name)

www.smashwords.com Do a Title or author search.

www.kobo.com

https://dtp.amazon.com/mn/dashboard

"Superstition is foolish, childish, primitive and irrational -- but how much does it cost you to knock on wood?" - Judith Viorst

Are shoes a deadly weapon?

March 23, 2011

BRUCE A. BRENNAN BLOG FROM THE WORLD AND MY MIND

The news as I see it and the views as I want them.

March 23 is … National Organize Your Home Office Day and National Chip and Dip Day

To help illustrate what I was writing about yesterday, the following was reported by AP yesterday afternoon. I am not saying our government or any government employees were involved in the initial rape and attack just the cover-up and injustice. Nearly 70 years after she was raped by a gang of white men, Recy Taylor got an apology Monday from leaders of a rural southeast Alabama community who acknowledged that her attackers escaped prosecution because of racism and an investigation bungled by police. "It is apparent that the system failed you in 1944," Henry County probate judge and commission chairwoman JoAnn Smith told several of Taylor's relatives at a news conference at the county courthouse. Recy Taylor, 91, is seen in her home in Winter Haven, Fla. Black and white leaders from a rural southeast Alabama community apologized Monday to relatives of Taylor, who was raped in 1944 by a gang of white men who escaped prosecution because of what officials described as police bungling and racism. Taylor told The Associated Press in an interview last year that she believes the men who attacked her are dead, but she would still like an apology from the state. The AP does not typically identify victims of sexual assault but is using her name because she has publicly identified herself.

Taylor, 91, lives in Florida and did not attend the news conference. Family members said she was in poor health and was not up to traveling to Abbeville or speaking with reporters. But her 74-year-old brother Robert Corbitt, who still lives in town, was front and center and said he would relay the apology to his sister. "What happened to my sister way back then ... couldn't happen today," he said. "Boy, what a mess they made out of it. They tried to make her look like a whore and she was a Christian lady." Taylor was 24, married and living in her native Henry County when she was gang-raped in Abbeville. She was walking home from church when she was abducted, assaulted and left on the side of the road in an isolated area.

Two all-white, all-male grand juries declined to bring charges. Democratic State Rep. Dexter Grimsley of Newville said police bungled the investigation and harassed Taylor. "I would like to extend a deep, heartfelt apology for the error we made here in Alabama," Grimsley said Monday, looking straight at Corbitt. "It was so unkind. We can't stand around and say that it didn't happen." He said the statements from the mayor and the probate judge help to assure area residents that "that era won't return to us." He also said he is working on a resolution asking the state to apologize to Taylor.

Taylor's story, along with those of other black women attacked by white men during the civil rights era, is told in "At the Dark End of the Street," a book by Danielle McGuire released last year. McGuire said Monday she would eventually like to see more formal apologies from the state, city and county, but views the statements from officials, prompted by publicity about her book, as a good first step.

"The fact that they are acknowledging that this happened is important," said McGuire, a history professor at Wayne State University in Detroit. The case got the attention of NAACP activist Rosa Parks in the 1940s, a decade before she became an icon by refusing to give up her seat on a Montgomery city bus. Parks interviewed Taylor in 1944 and later recruited other activists to create the "Alabama Committee for Equal Justice for Mrs. Recy Taylor." Those efforts were later overshadowed by other civil rights battles. Corbitt said he felt like his sister's case was forgotten until he started doing some research several years ago and found out about the work that McGuire was doing. Mayor Ryan Blalock, who was among those apologizing Monday, said he had not heard about the case until recently.

"It felt good that the mayor said he is sorry about it," Corbitt said. Blalock got emotional when he told Taylor's family that Abbeville is now a good place to live and that white people and black people respect each other and work and play together. "My 8-year-old son has as many black friends as he does white friends," said Blalock, who is white. "They are welcome at our place and he is welcome in their homes."

Mistaken slaughter in America. A California man who was mistaken for a burglar lost his life last weekend when a victimized homeowner chased him down and hacked him to death with an ax, according to police reports. The homeowner, 29 year-old Steven Zinda, has been booked into the Sacramento County Jail on a single count of murder. He is being held without bail, and his arraignment is scheduled to take place Tuesday afternoon.

According to police documents and interviews, this is allegedly what happened.

Early Sunday morning, Zinda returned home and discovered someone trying to rob his home in Rio Linda, a small community in the Sacramento metropolitan area. The burglary suspect fled the house, Zinda said, according to Deputy Jason Ramos. At the same time that the man was running away on foot, 20-year-old David Valdez, a resident of Elverta, was driving his SUV and got stuck in a ditch down the street from Zinda's home. When Zinda saw Elverta, he assumed he was the same person who had just attempted to break into his home, police said. "Zinda confronted him with a weapon, and the man fled on foot," Ramos told AOL News. Zinda chased Valdez, eventually catching him about a mile away. In the ensuing confrontation, Zinda attacked Valdez with a "sharp-edged object," reportedly an ax. He then returned to his home and made a 911 call around 4:30 a.m., police said.

Paramedics found Valdez dead at the scene. According to Ramos, the victim "suffered trauma to his head and upper body." Authorities confirmed that there was a break-in at Zinda's residence, but they were unable to establish a connection between Valdez and the attempted robbery. "Detectives believe there is likelihood that the victim was killed under Zinda's mistaken assumption that he was involved somehow in the burglary," Ramos said. Valdez's mother, Maria Nunez, told Sacramento's KXTV her son had attended a party Saturday night and had called a family member early Sunday to report he was stuck on the side of the road.

"My son was looking for help. He was not trying to do anything bad," Nunez said.

This unfortunate event will be used by liberals in an attempt to outlaw axes, no doubt.

 And then there is this slaughter in America. A Montgomery County District Court judge ordered Brittany Norwood, 28, the woman accused of killing her co-worker Jayna Murray at the Lululemon store in downtown Bethesda March 11, held without bond in court Monday.

Montgomery County State's Attorney John McCarthy argued for no bond in court, arguing that Norwood posed a threat to public safety. “The nature of the crime is shocking in the level of violence directed during the attack,” McCarthy said. Murray's injuries, McCarthy said, were "catastrophic." The blows to her head were probably “too numerous to count,” McCarthy said, her skull was crushed, and there was a ligature wound around her neck. Norwood at first portrayed herself to be a victim of an attack by two masked men, he said, but her story later unraveled. Norwood said both women had been attacked by two masked men and sexually assaulted, but there was no evidence to support that, police later said. The crime initially characterized by police as "random" heightened fears in downtown Bethesda and left residents taking extra security precautions. “Her cunning and her ability to lie are almost unparalleled,” McCarthy said. McCarthy said that Murray suspected Norwood may have been stealing from the store, and called store management to report her suspicions. Murray found items Norwood may have stolen from the store in Norwood’s bag, McCarthy said. During the phone call with management, which happened the day of the murder, Murray was told it would be dealt with the next day, McCarthy said.

After closing the store on March 11, Norwood called Murray to return to the store just after 10p.m. because Norwood said she had forgotten her wallet, and a confrontation ensued, McCarthy said. The attack, which may have lasted as long as 20 minutes, took place at numerous locations within the store, he said. Witnesses at the nearby Apple Store heard two women screaming, but didn’t hear any male voices, McCarthy said. He said materials from inside the store itself were used as weapons. “The instruments used to take Jayna Murray’s life all came from within the store itself,” McCarthy said. McCarthy said Norwood told “pathological lies by the hundreds” and that much of what police found at the crime scene was a product of what she had staged. Norwood wore a pair of size 14 shoes that belonged to the store and tracked footprints through Murray's blood, he said. She later washed the shoes and put them back on the shelf, McCarthy said. Police found blood on the shoes “despite her own best efforts to wash the blood off,” McCarthy said. The rear of Murray's pants had been cut to make it appear as though she was sexually assaulted, McCarthy said. Later, Norwood tied herself up using her teeth, he said. McCarthy said police found a box of the pull ties she used to tie herself inside the store. Norwood's injuries were consistent with self-inflicted wounds, McCarthy said. Charging documents described them as “superficial scratches and parallel."

The crime scene, he said, was “awash as much as any crime scene I’ve ever been at with the blood of this victim.” Norwood also changed her story about Murray’s car, McCarthy said. Norwood initially said she had never been in the vehicle.  Officers found the car parked in the lot adjacent to the Montgomery Farm Women’s Cooperative Market on Wisconsin Avenue, McCarthy said. In it, detectives found blood that matched both Murray and Norwood. Blood was found on the door handle, the gear shift, and the steering wheel, as well as on a hat in the backseat, McCarthy said. It wasn’t until the fifth time that officers interviewed her that Norwood said she had “just remembered” that the assailants made her move the car, giving her ten minutes to return or they would kill her, McCarthy said. When asked whether she had asked for assistance during that time, she said no, McCarthy said.

Around the same time, a Montgomery County police officer observed what they thought to be Norwood sitting in Murray’s car for an extended time, he said. The officer “saw what he believed to be her sitting in the car for an hour and a half, trying to decide what to do,” McCarthy said.

Detectives in the case detailed what they had found to Norwood’s family, McCarthy said. She was later left alone with her brother while she was incarcerated. She told her brother, “I don’t want to disappoint you. I’m sorry. I don’t want to talk here, they might be recording it,” McCarthy said. When her brother asked her why she fought with Murray, she said, “I don’t know,” McCarthy said. Alan Drew, a public defender, didn't have a comment after the hearing. A public defender will be representing Norwood, he said. Norwood is scheduled for a preliminary hearing April 15. McCarthy told reporters the case would likely go before a grand jury for a potential indictment before the preliminary hearing. McCarthy said he would personally be handling the case at trial. Norwood appeared via closed circuit television before the judge, speaking only to state her name. The liberals will now want to take shoes and department stores away from American citizens.

I sure hope we can fix the world in a hurry so we can get back home and fix America.

  

BRUCE A. BRENNAN

DEKALB, IL 60115

COPYRIGHT 2011

VISIT ANY OF THE SITES LISTED FOR REVIEW, RESEARCH, ORDERING MY WRITING PRODUCTS OR TO CONTACT ME.

Email: brucebrennanlaw@aol.com

http://www.brucebrennanlaw.com/

www.lawyerbruce.wordpress.com

http://www.brucebrennanattorney.com/

www.bruceabrennananddekalbilandtheworld.blogspot.com

www.lawyerbruce.blogspot.com

www.lawofficeofbruceabrennan.yolasite.com

www.lawyerbruceabrennan.com

http://lawofficeofbruceabrennan.law.officelive.com

http://lawofficeofbruceabrennan.webs.com

http://www.lawyerbruceabrennan.webstarts.com

http://www.linkedin.com/in/attorneybruceabrennan

Go to web sites below to buy books by Bruce A. Brennan. It is still a good time to purchase any of my books. The books are interesting and inexpensive reads. My third book should be available later this year, in late 2011. More information will be forthcoming.

http://ebooks.ebookmall.com/ebook/497984-ebook.htm

http://www.barnesandnoble.com/ (do a quick search, Title, my name)

www.smashwords.com Do a Title or author search.

www.kobo.com

https://dtp.amazon.com/mn/dashboard

"Always try to do something for the other fellow and you will be agreeably surprised how things come your way -- how many pleasing things are done for you." - Claude M. Bristol

The Constitution is not a guideline, it is the law.

March 22, 2011

BRUCE A. BRENNAN BLOG FROM THE WORLD AND MY MIND

The news as I see it and the views as I want them.

March 22 is … National Goof-off Day

 More oppression, torture and crimes committed by the United States government and other branches of our government.

Remember the My Lai massacre during the Viet Nam War in 1968? I mentioned this atrocity in a column a few days ago. We invaded Viet Nam and then slaughtered women and children. I know this was war but what is happening in Libya is also war, a civil war. Chicago has gone through the police, State’s Attorney and FBI killing blacks during a raid in December of 1969. The raid was organized by the office of Cook County State's Attorney Edward Hanrahan using officers attached to his office. John Burge has been in the news lately for torturing suspects and a cop beating a bartender he outweighed by 100 lbs. and that is just a few of the Chicago examples.

Remember Rodney King? He was beat with sticks by LA Police, all caught on tape. The officers were criminally charged but found not guilty. Remember the beating of blacks and white supporters during the Civil Rights movement? Remember the FBI killing of three white, northern supporters of the Civil Rights movement? Remember the bombing of southern black churches during the 50s and 60s? Not always perpetrated by the government but it was tolerated by the government.

In New York within the last decade, NYPD officers tortured and sodomized an immigrant with a broom handle to get him to confess to a crime he did not commit. You stick a broom up my rectum in anger and I will follow you anywhere. So will must people or they will die in the struggle.

We are operating a prison in Cuba that regularly uses water boarding and other torture techniques during interrogations. We operated a prison in Iraq where we regularly tortured prisoners with dogs, naked women and simulated sex. Perhaps not torture to everyone but it is to the prisoners we had detained. Beginning in 2004, accounts of physical, psychological, and sexual abuse, including torture, rape, sodomy, and homicide of prisoners held in the Abu Ghraib prison in Iraq (also known as Baghdad Correctional Facility) came to public attention. These acts were committed by military police personnel of the United States Army together with additional US governmental agencies.

All of the incidents and many more were perpetrated by a branch of our government. No nation attacked us because we treated our people or any people roughly. What gives us the right to do so.

The only thing you need to learn in law school about International Law is taught the first day. Might makes right. Here endeth the lesson. The United States follows this law religiously.

Other examples of the government violating our the civil rights include;

(1st Amendment violations) On July 4, 2004 of all days, Jeff and Nicole Rank were handcuffed and removed from a speech President Bush was giving at the State Capitol of West Virginia, because they were wearing anti Bush tee shirts. The couple was arrested because Nicole had " Love America, Hate Bush" on the front of her shirt, and Mr. Rank's shirt on the back said "Regime change starts at home" Trespassing charges filed against the couple by Charleston police officers after they were removed from the event were later dismissed because a municipal judge determined city trespassing ordinances do not apply to Statehouse grounds. City Council and Mayor Danny Jones have publicly apologized to the Ranks.
A student was tasered after he asked Al Gore an unpopular question. These are just two examples of our 1^st Amendment right to free speech being violated by our government.

(2nd Amendment) I recall after Hurricane Katrina hit the government openly declared that no one would be allowed to have a gun, and that all guns would be confiscated. They made good on their threat, as they went door to door forcibly stealing citizens guns. This was a clear violation of our civil rights. Law abiding citizens were left with no way to protect themselves from criminals looting and looking to break into their homes.

(4th Amendment) The government violates this amendment all the time, and in so many different ways, the examples are just about endless. Looking back again at what happened after hurricane Katrina reminds me of the violation of peoples’ right to be secure in their persons, houses, papers, and effects, against unreasonable searches and seizures. Well, people were dragged from their homes by force in many instances. The government said it was unsafe for people to stay in their homes and must leave. When people refused to open their doors for the agents of tyranny, the doors were kicked in, another violation of our rights. The 4th amendment is clear when it says they need a warrant to enter someone’s home. Yet they did it anyway. Checkpoints along the road are or should be violations of peoples’ rights. The constitution states that they must have probable cause to stop someone and based on that probable cause a judge must issue a warrant. None of this happens in a checkpoint situation which makes checkpoints unconstitutional. Eminent Domain cases over the last few years are also clearly unconstitutional. The government is now forcing people to sell their property at whatever dollar amount the government, a Judge or a jury deems fair. The government they turn around and sell the property to private business. This happened a few years ago in New London Ct. They forced an entire community to sell their property to let Pfizer build a drug plant. Five years later Pfizer shut the plant down and shipped it overseas. Now the property is vacant. This was justified because the new use was a better way to capitalize on tax revenue.

(5th Amendment) It states that the government can't take your property without due process. Yet this happens all time as well. If someone is accused of Drunk Driving, they confiscate the vehicle without any due process. if they claim someone has sold drugs, they take anything they believe was purchased with the profits, like cars, boats, cash, ect. All of this without due process. We are innocent until proven guilty. So how can they take peoples things without a jury convicting them? One could also argue that by them forcing you to sign your tax return and then claiming you lied is self incriminating. Yet it says in the 5th Amendment that, "nor shall be compelled in any criminal case to be a witness against himself"

(6th Amendment) In all criminal prosecutions, the accused shall enjoy the right to a speedy and public trial, by an impartial jury of the State. We the people are supposed to have the right of a trial by Jury, but in some ordinance violation cases, we are not given the right of a trial by jury.

(8th Amendment) Excessive bail shall not be required, nor excessive fines imposed, nor cruel and unusual punishments inflicted. The problem here is that the word "excessive" is left to opinion by the Judge. The factors taken into account are public safety, family situation, work, ability to appear in Court as scheduled, the likelihood a defendant will appear in Court when scheduled, criminal history and history of appearing in the past.

(9th Amendment) This simply says that even if the right is not listed within the Bill of Rights does not mean that they don't have the right.

Many of these civil rights are routinely violated under color of law or by people who do not care. We have never had to defend ourselves from foreign invaders because we treat people poorly but we feel we can do this to other countries.

This is not meant to be an exhaustive or all-inclusive rendition of our countries transgressions against its own citizens, just a sampling. No system is perfect. We have the best system in the world but it is still abused. Perfection is unattainable, by us, by Libya and by all nations. We should let others do it their way. Pretend the world is a large Burger King. Let the world have it their way. Not everybody likes ketchup. That is why there is mustard.

Sorry for the rambling. I am just a ramblin’ man.

BRUCE A. BRENNAN

DEKALB, IL 60115

COPYRIGHT 2011

VISIT ANY OF THE SITES LISTED FOR REVIEW, RESEARCH, ORDERING MY WRITING PRODUCTS OR TO CONTACT ME.

Email: brucebrennanlaw@aol.com

www.brucebrennanlaw.com

www.lawyerbruce.wordpress.com

http://www.brucebrennanattorney.com/

www.bruceabrennananddekalbilandtheworld.blogspot.com

www.lawyerbruce.blogspot.com

www.lawofficeofbruceabrennan.yolasite.com

www.lawyerbruceabrennan.com

http://lawofficeofbruceabrennan.law.officelive.com

http://lawofficeofbruceabrennan.webs.com

http://www.lawyerbruceabrennan.webstarts.com

http://www.linkedin.com/in/attorneybruceabrennan

Go to web sites below to buy books by Bruce A. Brennan. It is still a good time to purchase any of my books. The books are interesting and inexpensive reads. My third book should be available later this year, in late 2011. More information will be forthcoming.

http://ebooks.ebookmall.com/ebook/497984-ebook.htm

http://www.barnesandnoble.com/ (do a quick search, Title, my name)

www.smashwords.com Do a Title or author search.

www.kobo.com

https://dtp.amazon.com/mn/dashboard

  "A man who lives right, and is right, has more power in his silence than another has by his words." - Phillips Brooks

Quarter of a billion dollars gone in an hour; even Bernie Madoff couldn't do that.

March 21, 2011

BRUCE A. BRENNAN BLOG FROM THE WORLD AND MY MIND

The news as I see it and the views as I want them.

March 21 is … Fragrance Day

Japanese death toll is now pegged at 18,000. It will go higher but we will never have an exact figure.

Illinois was destroyed by Kansas and former coach Bill Self, 73-59. It was a typical second half collapse for the Illini. If these guys still played high school minutes, they would be world beaters but they don’t. A change in strength coach, conditioning coach and head coach is needed in Champaign.

Something smells rotten in Denmark and everywhere else gasoline is sold. The law of physics teaches that everything falls at the same rate. It has something to do with gravity. Apparently the laws of physics do not apply to the price of gasoline. It rises much quicker than it falls. I have been telling a friend of mine, Glenn, that gravity is not a law, merely a guideline. The price of gasoline tends to prove my point.

He just had too big a nut to crack to make it in this world. Knut, the Berlin Zoo's world-famous polar bear whose fragile psyche became an international obsession, died after several hundred visitors witnessed him falling in his enclosure. The four-year-old was raised by zookeepers after being rejected by his mother. The cause of death has not yet been determined. "It's terrible," Berlin Mayor Klaus Wowereit told a local paper, according to the Associated Press. "He had a special place in all of our hearts. He was the star of Berlin Zoo." As a cub, Knut was known as "Knut the Cute." But later he became known as "Knut the Nut", a bear with serious psychological problems. His strange antics became a rallying cry for activists who believe it's cruel to confine a polar bear in a zoo. A study by the German arm of People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals found that most polar bears in German zoos are insane and Knut was the worst of the lot. That seems to be a hard thing to prove but PETA has never been accused of being objective.

The zoo said claims about Knut were overblown; in June, a spokesman called the statements "ridiculous" and maintained that "Knut is fine," according to AFP. Knut, the four-year-old polar bear at the Berlin Zoo, has died. Apparently the statement “Knut is fine.” was off base. Once photographed with Leo DiCaprio for the cover of "Vanity Fair," Knut became world famous, though as he grew older, many said he showed signs of mental deterioration. PETA said polar bears in zoos have one millionth the amount of space of those allowed to roam free and it's taking its toll.

"Some species fare worse in captivity than others and polar bears are certainly at the top of that list," Lisa Wathne, PETA's captive exotic animal specialist, told AOL News last year. "These animals are so severely restricted, it's literally driving them insane." She pointed to a 2003 study in Nature magazine that found that animals with the ability to roam vast distances in the wild, like polar bears, do especially poorly in captivity. Wathne, who was not involved in the Knut study, said bears in captivity also show bizarre behavior, such as incessant pacing and awkward twisting of the head and neck. PETA scientist Frank Albrecht told AFP that Knut suffered from panic attacks, swayed in an abnormal manner and mimicked picture-taking tourists by pretending to snap photos with his paws. This is not behavior normally scene in polar bears in the wild.

Last year, PETA made headlines with Knut when it called for him to be castrated to prevent him from mating with a blood relative and conceiving a child that would be born in captivity like Knut himself was back in 2006. Knut became a global sensation shortly after his birth when his mother rejected him and he was raised by keepers, including one who slept in his enclosure. At one point, the bear was photographed by Annie Leibovitz for the cover of Vanity Fair. (Knut was on the cover of the German issue by himself but shared the spotlight with actor Leonardo DiCaprio for the U.S. edition.)

As Knut grew up, the spotlight faded. "The really heartbreaking thing about Knut is he was so celebrated and so loved, and no one can deny that a baby polar bear is the cutest thing ever," Wathne said. "But as happens to all animals in zoos, as they outgrow that cuteness, the furor dies down and people kind of forget about them." Polar bears are not considered endangered in the wild. However, the IUCN Red List of Threatened Species classified them as "vulnerable" due to declining populations and the destruction of their sea-ice habitat due to climate change. Some pessimists predict that, as the polar ice cap vanishes, polar bears in the wild could be extinct within 100 years.

As I mentioned yesterday, the US military had launched 114 Tomahawk cruise missiles on Saturday. At 2 million dollars each, we spent nearly one quarter of a billion dollars on Saturday just on this type of weapon. Obviously, other expenses are involved.

I consider myself a hawk. I am not a dove of a peacenik but this madness has got to all end. We never seem to attack a real opponent. Afghanistan is not a power but we cannot win that war. Iraq is not a power but we cannot win that war. Libya is not a power but we will not win this war. We never attack North Korea, a real opponent. We never attack Iran, a stronger opponent than the ones we have attacked. We have not attacked Pakistan, a nuclear opponent. We pick on the weaklings and then we still fail.

The proponents of this newest aggression are saying we could not stand by while the Libyan leaders killed their own people. We have no proof this was happening. You clearly cannot trust or believe our intelligence apparatus. Other countries around the world are treating their citizens just as horrifically but they do not have oil.

This country does not have clean hands when it comes to killing its own citizens. Did Libya attack us when our government murdered Randy Weaver’s wife and children at Ruby Ridge, Idaho in 1992? Did Libya, North Korea, Afghanistan or Iraq attack the United States after the government shot and killed unarmed war protesters at Kent State University on May 4, 1970? National guardsmen fired 67 rounds over a period of 13 seconds, killing four students and wounding nine others, one of whom suffered permanent paralysis. Did any country attack the United States after our government murdered numerous people during a siege that began February 28, 1993 and ended fifty days later, on April 19, 1993 near Waco. Texas? Seventy-six people (24 of them British nationals) died in the fire, including more than 20 children and two pregnant women. The fire was set after numerous gun battles which killed some of the people. This transgression by our government so outraged Timothy McVeigh, he bombed the federal building in Oklahoma City, OK. We then put him to death for his protest and we should have but we should have also prosecuted some of those responsible for Waco.

Who are we to be the moral compass of the world? Our civilized society leads the earth in murders per capita but we think we know how to tell others how to run their country and treat their citizens. God help us all if the world follows our lead.

More to come tomorrow on the transgressions, tortures and citizen abuse by our government that is O K when we do it but is worth starting a war for if another country does it.

BRUCE A. BRENNAN

DEKALB, IL 60115

COPYRIGHT 2011

VISIT ANY OF THE SITES LISTED FOR REVIEW, RESEARCH, ORDERING MY WRITING PRODUCTS OR TO CONTACT ME.

Email: brucebrennanlaw@aol.com

www.brucebrennanlaw.com

www.lawyerbruce.wordpress.com

http://www.brucebrennanattorney.com/

www.bruceabrennananddekalbilandtheworld.blogspot.com

www.lawyerbruce.blogspot.com

www.lawofficeofbruceabrennan.yolasite.com

www.lawyerbruceabrennan.com

http://lawofficeofbruceabrennan.law.officelive.com

http://lawofficeofbruceabrennan.webs.com

http://www.lawyerbruceabrennan.webstarts.com

http://www.linkedin.com/in/attorneybruceabrennan

Go to web sites below to buy books by Bruce A. Brennan. It is still a good time to purchase any of my books. The books are interesting and inexpensive reads. My third book should be available later this year, in late 2011. More information will be forthcoming.

http://ebooks.ebookmall.com/ebook/497984-ebook.htm

http://www.barnesandnoble.com/ (do a quick search, Title, my name)

www.smashwords.com Do a Title or author search.

www.kobo.com

https://dtp.amazon.com/mn/dashboard

"Seize the moments of happiness, love and be loved! That is the only reality in the world, all else is folly." - Leo Tolstoy

I guess we had to start a third war, two wasn't enough.

March 20, 2011

BRUCE A. BRENNAN BLOG FROM THE WORLD AND MY MIND

The news as I see it and the views as I want them.

March 20 is … Proposal Day and Festival of Extraterrestrial Abductions Day

What a weird ending to the Butler vs. Pittsburgh game last night. Too bad somebody had to lose.

It was on this day in 1852 that Harriet Beecher Stowe’s classic book was published. Uncle Tom’s Cabin, subtitled Life Among the Lowly became an instant success, selling 300,000 copies in its first year. It has since been translated into twenty languages and performed as a play the world over. Uncle Tom’s Cabin was even spotlighted in the Broadway musical and film, The King and I. Maybe you remember the haunting chant from the show, “Run Eliza, Run!” Harriet Beecher Stowe’s novel remains a must-read for school children and a reminder to all of us of an ugly time in the history of the United States.

The antislavery novel and the adapted plays all feature the elderly, kind slave, Uncle Tom; the slave child, Topsy; Little Eva, the daughter of Tom’s owner; Eliza, a young mulatto woman and the cruel, northern-born overseer who beat Tom to death, Simon LeGree.

The book brought much sympathy from around the world toward the American “peculiar institution” of slavery. In fact, Abraham Lincoln told Harriet Beecher Stowe she was “the little woman who wrote the book that started this great war,” referring of course, to the Civil War.

’Til this day, we refer to an employer or any other with slave-driving tendencies as a ‘Simon LeGree’.

My brother E-mailed this to me I cannot vouch for its accuracy but it sounds like something a politician would do. No matter what side of the aisle you're on, this is funny! 

It just all depends on how you look at some things. Judy Wallman, a professional genealogy researcher in southern California, was doing some personal work on her own family tree. She discovered that Senator Harry Reid's great-great uncle, Remus Reid, was hanged for horse stealing and train robbery in Montana in 1889. Both Judy and Harry Reid share this common ancestor.

The only known photograph of Remus shows him standing on the gallows  in Montana territory. On the back of the picture Judy obtained during her research is this inscription: 'Remus Reid, horse thief, sent to Montana Territorial Prison 1885, escaped 1887, robbed the Montana Flyer six times. Caught by Pinkerton detectives, convicted and hanged in 1889.'

So Judy recently e-mailed Senator Harry Reid for information about their great-great uncle. Believe it or not, Harry Reid's staff sent back the following biographical sketch for her genealogy research:

"Remus Reid was a famous cowboy in the Montana Territory. His business empire grew to include acquisition of valuable equestrian assets and intimate dealings with the Montana railroad. Beginning in 1883, he devoted several years of his life to government service, finally taking leave to resume his dealings with the railroad. In 1887, he was a key player in a vital investigation run by the renowned Pinkerton Detective Agency. In 1889, Remus passed away during an important civic function held in his honor when the platform upon which he was standing collapsed."

Now that’s how it's done, Folks! That's real POLITICAL SPIN.

Now we will know if it has dirty pictures; You have heard of ".com" and ".org." Joining them soon will be their bawdy cousin: ".xxx."

On Friday, the board of directors of the Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers, which oversees the Internet's naming system, approved the creation of a red-light district online for pornographic websites. It follows a decade-long battle over such a name. The board of directors of the Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers approved the domain ".xxx" for pornographic websites. Religious groups argue that giving adult websites their own corner of the Internet legitimizes the content. Pornographers worry it will ghettoize their sites. Although it's meant to be voluntary, they fear governments could try to mandate the domain's use, so that pornographic content is more easily blocked. Diane Duke, executive director of the adult entertainment industry's Free Speech Coalition, said in a statement that ICANN has "disregarded overwhelming outpouring of opposition from the adult entertainment industry - the supposed sponsorship community" and dismissed the "interests of free speech on the Internet."

Supporters have maintained that approving the domain is in keeping with the principle of openness that has fueled the Internet's growth. While the idea of ".xxx" has provoked a philosophical debate, for the U.S. company that submitted the application for the domain, the issue is little more than a matter of dollars and cents. ICM Registry and its CEO, Stuart Lawley, who has led the fight for ICANN's approval of ".xxx," stand to profit handsomely from the rollout of ".xxx" websites because he will be in charge of collecting fees for the use of the new domains.

Lawley plans to charge registrars $60 per year for the domain names. He estimates that he could sell as many as 500,000 by the time he rolls them out this summer. "This was always going to be a very lucrative arrangement," he said in an interview Friday. Lawley's prices have been a critical issue for opponents to his plan, since domain names typically sell for a fraction of what Lawley plans to charge. They often sell for $10 or less. ICANN had repeatedly rejected Lawley's application since 2000, under pressure from Christian groups and governments unhappy with the spread of online porn. Lawley has pitched the suffix as a way for parents to more easily block access to the content. He argues it will be easier for Web filtering software to block ".xxx" sites since they are clearly labeled as porn.

It is always the money, no matter what spin or lies you tell, it’s always the money, which I got no problem with. The only thing wrong with it is that it is him and not me making the money.

The world is attacking Libya. It has been named Operation Odyssey Dawn. French war planes flew over Libya as Libyan forces ignored the cease fire and stormed the rebel stronghold of Benghazi. The United States, once again the main player in this insanity, is supplying the navy, the majority of the planes, personnel, bombs and Tomahawk cruise missiles. The cruise missiles cost well over two million dollars a copy. We have deployed over 110 so far.  Just in cruise missiles, the United States spent over 228 million dollars in a two hour period on a Saturday afternoon half way around the world while our President was out of the country and the rest of us watched the NCAA men’s basketball tournament. Life is timing.

The Tomahawks were fired by United States and British submarines and US naval destroyers. Someone has to explain to me why we are wasting that money to blow up a country and its infrastructure when we all know we will rebuild the damage done to Libya. Why don’t we tell Libya to go to hell, go ahead, kill each other. Call us when it is over. We will spend our money rebuilding our infrastructure, employing our people and upgrading our country.

This is not a world crisis. Genocide is not happening. The world and especially the US should mind its own business. A few weeks ago our Secretary of Defense, Robert Gates, said we should have are head examined if we involved ourselves in another Muslim war. It is time to make the appointment so we can candle our collective leader’s heads. Our military should act like Shane, “come back, Shane, come back”

Police engaged in a roughly 20-minute standoff with a knife-wielding man on the floor of Los Angeles' Staples Center, where the Los Angeles Clippers and Cleveland Cavaliers are set to play later in the day. Police tackled and apprehended the man Saturday after facing off against him on the basketball court near the visitor's bench area. Some spectators for the 12:30 p.m. game had begun filing into the arena, but were evacuated once the standoff started. The players were confined to their locker rooms. Police spokeswoman Officer Norma Eisenman says the report of the man with a knife came in shortly after 11 a.m. from an off-duty officer. She had no further information. Apparently no one was hurt or really in danger.

BRUCE A. BRENNAN

DEKALB, IL 60115

COPYRIGHT 2011

VISIT ANY OF THE SITES LISTED FOR REVIEW, RESEARCH, ORDERING MY WRITING PRODUCTS OR TO CONTACT ME.

Email: brucebrennanlaw@aol.com

http://www.brucebrennanlaw.com/

www.lawyerbruce.wordpress.com

http://www.brucebrennanattorney.com/

www.bruceabrennananddekalbilandtheworld.blogspot.com

www.lawyerbruce.blogspot.com

www.lawofficeofbruceabrennan.yolasite.com

www.lawyerbruceabrennan.com

http://lawofficeofbruceabrennan.law.officelive.com

http://lawofficeofbruceabrennan.webs.com

http://www.lawyerbruceabrennan.webstarts.com

http://www.linkedin.com/in/attorneybruceabrennan

Go to web sites below to buy books by Bruce A. Brennan. It is still a good time to purchase any of my books. The books are interesting and inexpensive reads. My third book should be available later this year, in late 2011. More information will be forthcoming.

http://ebooks.ebookmall.com/ebook/497984-ebook.htm

http://www.barnesandnoble.com/ (do a quick search, Title, my name)

www.smashwords.com Do a Title or author search.

www.kobo.com

https://dtp.amazon.com/mn/dashboard

By following the good, you learn to be good.