Hateful Republicans are scientifically wrong again.

Twenty pediatric endocrinologists across North Carolina have issued a statement about HB2.

http://www.newsobserver.com/news/politics-government/politics-columns-blogs/under-the-dome/article72408647.html

In part, it says..

“There are babies born in whom chromosomes suggesting one sex do not match the appearance of the genitalia,” they write. “This can be due to multiple biological causes such as chromosome abnormalities, abnormalities in anatomic development, environmental exposures during pregnancy, genetic mutations in the synthesis and actions of adrenal and gonadal hormones, and tumors that make sex hormones."
Do you need me to spell this out for you? Babies with female DNA can have a clitoris as big as a penis and may not have an opening for their vagina. Babies with male DNA can have scrotums that look like labias.

Note that they go on to say that if the assign gender at birth (which means cut off what THEY or the baby's parents believe is the wrong penis, clitoris, or labias), that gender reassignment at a later date (ie, when they reach puberty, or an age when they understand which sex they relate to) is often done.
Again, let me spell this out for you. Sex identity is not necessarily based on the appearance of one's genitalia, or DNA, as we currently understand and test it.
It takes parents with deep, profound love to raise a child not knowing if that child ultimately will be a male or female. One such couple was a Minister and his Wife. They let their twin children reach the age of puberty when the twins decided they really were women, not men. At that time, they did the assignment surgery that was never screwed up for them at birth.

Download their full letter You can note that the Doctors who signed the letter and determine they know a hell of a lot more about the subject than any politician does.

The world is not simple, even though many Republicans want it to be.

TSA and lines at the airport...

Congressman McCaul was on NPR this morning discussing this issue, which I understand has really gotten out of control recently.  My personal experience is that on the last outbound flight I had, I got a pre-check pass and didn't have to go through the long lines.  Then on the return, I was selected for a body scan in the machine.  WTF? Does this make any sense, or are they just playing some kind of sick game?

McCaul R-Texas said there was a bipartisan bill at the Senate that they refuse to act on for some unknown reason.  The House passed with with a big bi-partisan vote, but the Senate refuses to do anything on it.  We can only presume that since the President has said he supports the bill and will sign it that McConnell and the other hateful Senators will not act on it because the President favors it.

President Bush's Homeland Security has been the worst government program in my lifetime.  It is enormously expensive and accomplishes virtually zero of what it was promised us it would do. Here is my communication on the matter this morning.

However, Alexander and Corker will also get a copy asking them if the love America more than they hate the black man in the White House.


Representative Michael McCaul, Texas
House of Representatives
Washington, DC

President Obama
The White House
Washington, DC

RE: TSA

Dear Sir:

There are some obvious glaring issues with the check in procedures.

I have
• A US Coast Guard Masters License,
• A Coast Guard“BR” number (which I understand is difficult to get)
• A Transportation Workers Identification Card (Issued by the TSA, for God’s sake).

ALL OF THESE DOCUMENTS ARE ISSUED BY HOMELAND SECURITY!

Yet when I get to the check in line at an airport, they don’t know a thing about the multiple background checks I have been subjected too, let alone the random drug testing program I’m enrolled in, my US Pilot’s licensed in 1970, or Tennessee CPA license from 1973.

We were told President Bush’s Homeland Security Department would co-ordinated efforts from one department to another. What a joke! The TSA can’t even co-ordinate within itself, let alone other departments within Homeland Security. Heaven forbid it tries to do something with an agency outside its own department.

Homeland Security is a massively expansive failure.

Thank you for your attention to this matter.

Sincerely,

Bad Bob from Tennessee

A Brief History of Presidential Income Tax Returns

There are 2 candidates who refuse to release their income tax returns and one who has put a bunch of them online for everyone to analyze.

On one hand, I can empathize with not wanting to release them to the public.  There is a reason they are protected by very high standards at the IRS.  I appreciate that.

However, when you choose to run for President, you knew this was going to be expected.  If you are embarrassed, or have something to hide, you should have considered that before you started campaigning.  It is not hard to connect these dots - if you want to be President, have a tax return you are proud of and can withstand scrutiny by every tax expert in the country.

What really bugs me the most is that Trump and Sanders give BS answers that do not pass the reasonableness test.  They don't have the guts to come right out and be honest with us.

Bernie's wife does his taxes they claim and she can't find their copies.  Are you serious Mrs. Sanders?  You are so disorganized that you can not find your copies of the most basic documents of your family?  I'm sorry, people do not get to that level of success without having a personal filing system that can keep track of a multitude of documents - from medical records and car insurance to tax documents.  Unsuccessful people can't keep track of such things, but successful people do that kind of stuff automatically.  That's one of the reasons they are successful!



Trump says he is being audited for every year since 2009.  Uh, do you realize there is a statue of limitations on doing audits of 3 years?  They should not be auditing anything older than 2012.

Oh wait, did I forget about criminal activity?  If they suspect you of criminal activity they can go back another 4 years, or 7 years total.  Hmm, isn't it interesting how that coincides with the years Trump says he's being audited for?

LOL, in the interest of fairness, the IRS can ask you to extend the deadline for an audit, and you can agree to do that.  But, I certainly would not agree to it for as many years as he claims.

I think we have seen an inkling of Trump's problem.  His tax returns almost certainly contradict either what he has said publically, or given to others under oath (like the Nevada and New Jersey gaming commissions).

Some history I promised?  OK, while Nixon was in office, he took a charitable deduction for the fair market value of some property he gave to a charity.

The year he gave it, the laws on taking a deduction for land that had appreciated in value were changed.  Before a certain date, you could take the charitable deduction at the fair market value at the time of the gift without paying capital gains on the increase over your cost.  But after as specific date, like June 30, 1972 (I can't remember the exact date and don't want to look it up), you had to include the increase in value as taxable income before you could take the gift, or choose to only take your cost as the gift.

Nixon made a gift that was finalized after that date.  But he back dated the documents to show he made it before that important date. Some might call that forgery.  Others might call it fraud.  I would call it criminal fraud because it was in the amount of a few hundred thousand dollars and done specifically to lower his taxes.

Some of us were pretty upset over that because I had a client who gave a piece of land to Metro that year.  The Metro Council approved accepting the gift the Tuesday AFTER that specific date.  Of course, we did not have the ability to back date the Metro Council's meeting minutes.  As I remember, I argued we gave it to them, before the date, the fact that they took so long to officially accept it was their problem, not ours.  But I can't remember what my boss decided to have us do.

At any rate, most people understood that the President of the United States committed income tax fraud and that was the beginning of the end of respect for income tax laws.

The Joke's on Me!

I have the gray hair to prove I"m old enough to buy beer.  It really upsets me that I have to show my driver's license to buy a beer.   This is all about someone  trying to keep me from alcohol because they don't want to.  I really don't like people trying to force me to do anything.

So, I have my standard response to the clerks:  "I am sorry the Republicans in Tennessee don't trust your judgement enough to determine if I'm over 21, or not by looking at my gray hair."

A couple weekends ago the clerk said, "It's that President who forces me to do that." That was kind of a shocking display of ignorance, so I replied, "Gee, I'm sorry you don't know the difference between Tennessee and US law.  Beer sales are regulated by the state governments, not DC.  Tennessee is indeed controlled by Republicans, not President Obama."  Another older lady was watching and laughing,  and kicked, "That's right, Sir."

Of course, sometimes my response is: "I'm either old enough to buy this beer, or young enough to take you to a movie.  Your choice."  LOL

So, last night, I went to Musician's Corner, a great music happening in Centennial Park. Yazoo had a tent set up to sell me some Dos Perros.  Yipee.

Uh oh, I didn't have my drivers license!  Oh no.  Where could it be?  Did I leave it at the beer stand at Bridgestone arena Monday at the hockey game?  Well, I had my Pilot's license, issued by the federal government, of course.   I had my medical insurance card showing I was on medicare, for crying out loud.  So, finally they let me buy a beer.

Of course, this whole time, I'm ranting and going on about how much money the state has made replacing driver's licenses lost by taking them in and out of billfolds.  And how much I hate the Republicans and religious nuts who want to keep me from drinking, and on and on I go.

Then I remembered!  I sent off a Freedom of Information Request Tuesday and it required me to include a copy of my driver's license in the request.  My drivers license must still be in the copy machine.

And indeed it was!

But I'm still not going to apologize for my rant.  I'm old enough to be a grumpy old man, even if Tennessee doesn't believe it!  :)

Today's attempt to justify selfishness

Enough to fund the government. 

Enough to keep the richest people in the world from turning everyone else into slaves.  

You do know we have less upward mobility today than during the dark ages, right?  Sowell might want to read what happened to the rich people after enough people were left starving in the streets. A time when it was illegal to sell less than 2 apples because the the poorest people didn't deserve to be able to even buy food legally.  

A far stretch you say?

Before the American and French revolutions, it was illegal to sell less than two apples in England. The poor people could not afford to buy two whole apples. Yet, to keep from starving, they would spend everything they had for a slice or two of an apple. Wonderful capitalism saw a great opportunity and a whole illegal industry sprung up.  

Pearly Kings and Queens

These illegal merchants would buy the minimum 2 apples, then sell slices on the street to the poor.

They are now celebrated in England as the Pearly Kings and Queens. The black market is celebrated because they saved the lives of millions of people.

In order to hide their crimes, they devloped a language called "rhyming slang". I find the word usages most interesting, but I won't bore you with it today.

So it is in Tennessee today. Nashville elected a progressive mayor who vowed to help alleviate our community's affordable housing problems. The state government immediately stepped in and passed a law to prevent Nashville from implementing any of her plans. The Republcians in Tennessee govenment refuse to help people get health care (even though 60-70% of the state wants them to), and now they refuse to help poor people to even have a place to live. Does this remind you of the dark ages?

As a side note, the very afternoon Republicans prevented our city from helping poor people, the leader of the state Senate, Ron Ramsey, was eating lunch at Swetts dinette - the city's most famous soul food place which is located in the middle of a poverty stricken area. Freud would have chapters to write about what Ramsey was trying to do to save his own soul.

Back to Sowell. He seems to believe that the wealthy have no obligation to society or their less fortunate neighbors. He insinuates that all rich people are rich because they work harder than anyone else. Once one considers the absurdity or those "absolute" beliefs, his statement becomes even more obscene.  

Sowell and his ilk might consider the wealth of Ted Kennedy. Was he filthy rich because he worked so hard or because he inherited enough money to buy his way into the a career job as Senator? The Senate, of course where they work only 118, or so, days a year!

I know a fellow in Nashville who considers himself one of the best real estate developers to ever grace the great state of Tennessee. How did he get to be such a great developer? He inherited 300 acres of land from his grandparents. His grandfather was a farmer who bought land between two busy roads, next to the railroad tracks. Not exactly the most desirable land 100 years ago. But it had OK dirt and was close to other farmers who did own the best land for their dairy cattle. He could sell hay and grains to feed his neighbors cows. A couple of generations later, his grandson inherited the land when it was worth $100,000 an acre. So congratulations kid! You just inherited $30 million worth of land that your granddaddy paid $600 for. Lucky for you, the inheritance tax laws allowed to you inherit it at a much appreciated value, so you didn't have to pay tax on the difference between 2 cents and $100,000 per acre when you sold it.

At least you had the sense (or lacked the money) to not develop it all at one time. Now that land is worth $500,000 or more an acre. Of course, your grand parents' farm house was of no use to you - even though your Daddy and Uncle grew up there, and your Grandmother lived there till she passed away. You probably didn't even know what a kind, gentle, wonderful woman your Grandmother was. So, of course, you bulldozed the house and all the great memories of your family that lived there. It was Just so much trash that was not fitting to use as a house for you and your little royal family and I think or your arrogance every time I drive by the old homestead and think of the cookies and milk your Grandmother always had laid out for me when I visited.

But, I digress from the subject at hand. How much should the rich people give back? Well, like the kids who inherited their granddaddy's moonshine fortune, or his farm, you owe everything you have to someone else. Even people like Ted Turner, who is a self-made man by creating an entire industry, understands it. He chided Bill Gates for not having any charitable activities. And now Bill and Melinda Gates have the biggest charitable foundations in the world.

Imagine, if you will, one family that owns as much as 43% of the citizens of this country. Imagine this family pays such low wages that the employees of each of their stores gets an average of $235,000 worth of government subsidized housing, food and medical care. Don't you think that family has an obligation to pay their employees something other than a poverty wage?

So, Mr. Sowell, the answer is easy. The 1% owe everything they have to this country and our society. It is only your belief system based on selfishness and arrogance that leads you to believe otherwise.

Your homework is to try to figure out just exactly what is being protected by our HUGE military/industrial complex. :)