Palma Domincus
Palm Sunday

XII in crastinum autem turba multa quae venerat ad diem festum cum audissent quia venit Iesus Hierosolyma
XIII acceperunt ramos palmarum et processerunt obviam ei et clamabant osanna benedictus qui venit in nomine Domini rex Israhel
XIV et invenit Iesus asellum et sedit super eum sicut scriptum est
XV noli timere filia Sion ecce rex tuus venit sedens super pullum asinae
XVI haec non cognoverunt discipuli eius primum sed quando glorificatus est Iesus tunc recordati sunt quia haec erant scripta de eo et haec fecerunt ei
XVII testimonium ergo perhibebat turba quae erat cum eo quando Lazarum vocavit de monumento et suscitavit eum a mortuis
XVIII propterea et obviam venit ei turba quia audierunt eum fecisse hoc signum
XIV Pharisaei ergo dixerunt ad semet ipsos videtis quia nihil proficimus ecce mundus totus post eum abiit

From the King James Version, Gospel of John, Chapter 12 v 12-19

On the next day much people that were come to the feast, when they heard that Jesus was coming to Jerusalem,
Took branches of palm trees, and went forth to meet him, and cried, Hosanna: Blessed is the King of Israel that cometh in the name of the Lord.
And Jesus, when he had found a young ass, sat thereon; as it is written,
Fear not, daughter of Sion: behold, thy King cometh, sitting on an ass’s colt.
These things understood not his disciples at the first: but when Jesus was glorified, then remembered they that these things were written of him, and that they had done these things unto him.
The people therefore that was with him when he called Lazarus out of his grave, and raised him from the dead, bare record.
For this cause the people also met him, for that they heard that he had done this miracle.
The Pharisees therefore said among themselves, Perceive ye how ye prevail nothing? behold, the world is gone after him.

April 10

1606 – The Virginia Company of London is established by royal charter by James I of England with the purpose of establishing colonial settlements in North America.

1815 – The Mount Tambora volcano in what is now Indonesia, begins a 3 month long eruption, lasting until July. The eruption kills 71,000 people, and causes the 1816 ‘Year without a summer’ in the northern hemisphere.

1816 – The Federal government charters the Second Bank of the United States.

1864 – Archduke Maximilian of Habsburg is proclaimed Emperor during the French intervention in Mexico.

1865 – A day after his surrender to Union forces, General Robert E. Lee issues General Order No. 9, explaining the terms of the surrender and his farewell to his troops.

1866 – The American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (ASPCA) is founded in New York City by Henry Bergh.

1872 – The first Arbor Day is celebrated in Nebraska City, Nebraska with 1 million trees being planted.

1887 – On Easter Sunday, Pope Leo XIII authorizes the establishment of the Catholic University of America in Washington D.C.

1912 – RMS Titanic sets sail from Southampton, England on her maiden  voyage.

1916 – The Professional Golfers’ Association of America (PGA) is created in New York City.

1925 – The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald is first published in New York City, by Charles Scribner’s Sons.

1939 – Alcoholics Anonymous: The Story of How More Than One Hundred Men Have Recovered From Alcoholism, the organization’s “Big Book” and the source of its name, is first published.

1944 – Rudolf Vrba and Alfréd Wetzler escape from Birkenau death camp and write a detailed report, published by the U.S. government War Refugee Board, about the mass murder being committed there.

1963 – U.S. submarine SSN-593, USS Thresher sinks at sea during deep-diving tests about 220 miles east of Boston, Massachusetts with all 129 hands aboard lost.

1971 – In an attempt to thaw relations with the United States, China hosts the U.S. table tennis team for a visit called ‘Ping-Pong diplomacy’.

1979 – The Red River Valley tornado outbreak has an F4 tornado hit Wichita Falls, Texas killing 42 people.

2019 – Scientists at Event Horizon Telescope, a global networked array of radio telescopes, announce the first image of a black hole, located in the center of the Messier 87 galaxy in the constellation of Virgo.

 

Woman shoots attacker multiple times in self-defense

A Mississippi woman has been released from custody after authorities said they believe she acted in self-defense when she shot her alleged attacker Sunday.

The incident occurred at about 1:36 a.m. outside a club in the area around Coila, according to a report citing Carroll County Sheriff Clint Walker.

Michelle Hearn and a friend had left the club after Hearn and a man, identified by police as 31-year-old Lamarcus Woodson, had a dispute inside the club.

Woodson reportedly followed the pair outside and trailed them to a local residence, where he was warned to stay away.

The 31-year-old appeared to ignore the warning and grabbed Hearn, causing a struggle to ensue, according to the report.

During the melee, Hearn brandished a firearm and shot Woodson multiple times.

Woodson was airlifted to a local hospital, where he is reported to be in stable condition.

Hearn was taken to the Leflore County Detention Center but was later released because her actions appeared to “have been self-defense,” according to Walker.

The Only Way to Restore the Norms Is to Finish Them Off.

BLUF
For a long time, we had a norm about trying not to prosecute political opponents even when we could. You beat them at the ballot box. But then they got more brazen, and there was no ambiguity about their crimes. They were actual crimes, and they rubbed them in our face. The Felonia Milhouse von Pantsuit toilet server stuff struck a nerve because so many of us knew what a big deal treating classified materials like her husband treated interns is (or was) – if we had done that, we’d be charged and in some fed pen converting large rocks to tiny ones. But she did not get charged. That looming doofus James Comey invented a new legal requirement for the statute that never existed before and never would exist if it was us. And there’s the First Crackhead buying a gun when he’s a drug addict – again, you know that if we lied on a Form 4473 the AFT would be SWATing us in our cribs. They took the sensible norm of reluctance and mocked us with it.

So, let’s not do that anymore. Let’s not bend over backwards to avoid charging our political enemies with their crimes. And if we have to be creative about the crimes and create novel new theories to ensnare our opponents, so be it. Alvin Bragg was creative. That’s the New Rule. Let’s see how they like being served up a dose of that kind of legal suppository.

“BUT THE RULE OF LAW!!!!”

Yeah, what rule of law is that?……………….

Continue reading “”

Clearview AI Scraped Billions of Facebook Photos for Facial Recognition Database

Facial recognition firm Clearview has built a massive AI-powered database of billions of pictures collected from social media platforms without obtaining users’ consent.

In late March, Clearview AI CEO Hoan Ton-That told BBC in an interview that the company had obtained 30 billion photos without users’ knowledge over the years, scraped mainly from social media platforms like Facebook. He said US law enforcement agencies use the database to identify criminals.

Ton-That disputed claims that the photos were unlawfully collected. He told Business Insider in an emailed statement, “Clearview AI’s database of publicly available images is lawfully collected, just like any other search engine like Google.”

However, privacy advocates and social media companies have been highly critical of Clearview AI.

“Clearview AI’s actions invade people’s privacy which is why we banned their founder from our services and sent them a legal demand to stop accessing any data, photos, or videos from our services,” a Meta spokesperson said in an email to Insider. 

Ton-That told Insider the database is not publicly available and is only used by law enforcement. He said the software had been used more than a million times by police.

“Clearview AI’s database is used for after-the-crime investigations by law enforcement, and is not available to the general public. Every photo in the dataset is a potential clue that could save a life, provide justice to an innocent victim, prevent a wrongful identification, or exonerate an innocent person.”

According to critics, using Clearview AI by the police subjects everyone to a “continuous police line-up.”

“Whenever they have a photo of a suspect, they will compare it to your face,” Matthew Guariglia from the Electronic Frontier Foundation, told BBC. He said, “It’s far too invasive.”

The AI-driven database has raised privacy concerns in the US to the point where Sens. Jeff Merkley and Bernie Sanders attempted to block its use with a bill requiring Clearview and similar companies to obtain consent before scraping biometric data.

In 2020, the American Civil Liberties Union sued Clearview AI, calling it a ‘nightmare scenario’ for privacy. The ACLU managed to ban Clearview AI’s products from being sold to private companies but not the police.

Clearview AI is a massive problem for civil liberties. The easiest way to prevent Clearview AI from scraping photos from your social media accounts is to not be on social media. Alternatively, if you wish to maintain a social media presence, ensure that the images you post are not publicly accessible on the web.

April 9

1682 – Robert Cavelier de La Salle discovers the mouth of the Mississippi River, claims the area for France and names it Louisiana in honor of King Louis IV

1768 – When customs agents board to search John Hancock’s ship Lydia in Boston Harbor since he had a reputation for smuggling, he has them forced off since they did not have a warrant for the search. By many, this is considered the first act of actual resistance to British authority in the colonies and initiating the Revolution.

1784 – The Treaty of Paris, ratified by Congress on January 14, is ratified by King George III of Great Britain, ending the American Revolutionary War.

1865 – Meeting with General Ulysses S. Grant at Appomattox Court House, Virginia, General Robert E. Lee surrenders the Army of Northern Virginia.

1909 – The U.S. Congress passes the Payne–Aldrich Tariff Act, raising certain tariffs on goods entering the country.

1942 – Meeting with General Kameichiro Nagano, General Edward P. King surrenders the U.S and Filipino forces on the Bataan peninsula.

1945 – The United States Atomic Energy Commission is formed.

1947 – The Glazier–Higgins–Woodward tornado outbreak kills 181 people and injures 970 more across Texas, Oklahoma, and Kansas.

1948 –Riots break out when socialist presidential candidate Jorge Eliécer Gaitán is assassinated in Bogotá, Columbia.

1959 – NASA announces the selection of the first 7 astronauts for project Mercury.

1967 – The first Boeing 737 makes its maiden flight.

1969 – The first British built Concorde 002 makes its maiden flight from Filton to RAF Fairford.

1981 – About 110 nautical miles southwest of Sasebo, Japan, in the East China Sea, the U.S. Navy’s nuclear submarine USS George Washington accidentally collides with the Nissho Maru, a Japanese cargo ship, sinking it and killing 2 Japanese sailors.

1990 – Atlantic Southeast Airlines Flight 2254, an Embraer EMB 120 Brasilia, enroute from Gadsden, Alabama, to Atlanta, Georgia, collides in midair with a Cessna 172 over Gadsden, Alabama, killing both of the Cessna’s occupants with the Embraer returning safely to Gadsden.

1992 – Panamanian dictator Manuel Noriega is found guilty in U.S. federal court of drug and racketeering charges and sentenced to 30 years in prison.

2014 – A student  at Franklin Regional High School in Murrysville, Pennsylvania knifes 20 other students and a security guard before being subdued by an assistant principal, aided by another student.

Iran’s Ayatollah Khamenei Signals Regime Split

Has the ongoing insurrection in Iran, now into its seventh month, exposed glaring splits in the theocratic regime? In his Nowruz (Persian New Year) address to the nation, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, the elderly and increasingly delusional Supreme Leader, insisted that the main priority of the theocratic regime was to fight inflation.

Unveiling his concept of ‘The Year of Curbing Inflation,’ he indirectly acknowledged that his country is bankrupt, but failed to offer any way of resolving the perilous state of the Iranian economy. His mumbled remarks may have disappointed his hard-line followers, who prefer to hear pledges to “wipe Israel off the map” or cries of “death to America,” and have little appetite for economic reforms. But splits and divisions amongst the mullahs are now the trademarks of this failing fascist regime.

The Iranian economy is in plummeting decline. Spiralling inflation, currently at 43.4 percent, and a collapsing currency, have combined with tough western sanctions to bring the country to a virtual standstill.  Food prices in particular have suffered massive spikes over the past year, including a 125 percent increase for meat, 250 percent for onions, 82 percent for eggs, and 78 percent for rice.The active Iranian workforce is 26 million, of whom at least 10 million were jobless even before the Covid pandemic. Youth unemployment is at a staggering 40 percent. At least 60% of the population are living in poverty, unable to meet their essential daily needs.

Combined with the mullah’s own venal corruption and regional warmongering, it is little wonder that the country with the world’s second largest gas reserves and fourth largest crude oil reserves is now facing economic meltdown. Iran, despite its once rich, civilized and open culture, has become an international pariah, its religious fascist regime condemned for human rights abuse and the export of terror, while its 85 million beleaguered citizens struggle to feed their families.

Now, the nationwide protests which began last September, have spread from the main cities to rural towns and villages, uniting the impoverished working classes with hard-up middle-income earners, whose chants of “death to the dictator” and “death to Khamenei,” clearly signify the burgeoning demand for regime change. Facing the imminent demise of his dictatorship, Khamenei has clearly panicked, even denying in his Nowruz address that Iran was siding with Vladimir Putin in the Ukraine war, calling the claim “an utter lie,” despite the export of thousands of Iranian Kamikaze drones to Russia.

Continue reading “”

Do ‘More Guns Lead To More Deaths’?
No, and that good news needs to be front and center in all discussions of gun control, especially after school shootings

April 8

1271 – Using a forged letter purportedly from their Grand Master, Sultan Al-Malik Baibars of Egypt fools the crusader Knights Hospitallers at the Krak des Chevaliers fortress castle in Syria into surrendering after a short siege.

1730 – Shearith Israel, the first synagogue in New York City, is dedicated.

1820 – The Venus de Milo statue is discovered on the Aegean island of Milos.

1832 –  The U.S. 6th Infantry regiment is deploy into Illinois from St. Louis, Missouri to engage the Sauk tribe led by Chief Black Hawk who invaded from indian territory in Iowa.

1865 – At Appomattox Station, Virginia, Union cavalry under General Custer seize critical supplies needed by Confederate troops, also blocking General Lee’s line of march to the west.
General Lee receives a reply from General Grant about surrender terms and replies that he wishes to meet Grant in the morning of the next day.

1895 – In the case of Pollock v. Farmers’ Loan & Trust Co. the Supreme Court rules unapportioned income tax imposed by the Wilson–Gorman Tariff Act of 1894, to be unconstitutional. This ruling provided the impetus for the 16th amendment and the current income tax scheme.

1913 – The 17th Amendment to the Constitution, changing election of Senators by state legislatures to a direct popular vote, becomes law when the legislature of the state of Connecticut votes to ratify it.

1924 –Kemal Atatürk abolishes Sharia law courts in Turkey.

1943 – President Roosevelt, in an attempt to check inflation, freezes wages and prices, prohibits workers from changing jobs unless the war effort would be aided thereby, and bars rate increases by common carriers and public utilities.

1952 – President Truman ‘nationalizes’ all domestic steel mills several hours before steelworkers plan on going out on strike. The Supreme Court rules in the case of Youngstown Sheet & Tube Co. v. Sawyer that the seizure is unconstitutional and the steelworkers strike until late July.

1959 – The Organization of American States drafts an agreement to create the Inter-American Development Bank to provide financial services for central American and Caribbean nations.

1993 – The Space Shuttle Discovery is launched on mission STS-56.

2005 – A solar eclipse occurs, visible over areas of the Pacific Ocean and Latin American countries of Costa Rica, Panama, Colombia and Venezuela.

2013 – The Islamic State of Iraq enters the Syrian Civil War, merging with the Al-Nusra Front under the name Islamic State of Iraq and ash-Sham.

 

BLUF
It’s always problematic conducting polls about individual rights or personal freedoms. As a few of my colleagues pointed out, our gun rights are not subject to popular opinions, and popular rights do not need constitutional protections.

“The bottom line is this,” one said. “Had the residents of 1963 Alabama been polled regarding integration of Birmingham schools, the results would have shown overwhelming opposition. That’s why rights are independent of public opinion.”

Fake News: Debunking the media’s favorite constitutional-carry poll
Poll claims majority of Floridians oppose unlicensed concealed carry.

By Lee Williams

A few weeks before the Florida legislature began debating an unlicensed concealed-carry bill, which Gov. Ron DeSantis signed into law earlier this week, the legacy media started pimping a new public opinion poll that made some incredibly bold claims on the topic.

The poll, which was conducted by the University of North Florida’s Public Opinion Research Lab, or PORL, alleged that a vast majority of Floridians rejected the very idea of unlicensed concealed carry. Only 22% of Floridians supported the legislation and 77% opposed the bill, PORL claimed.

“Not only is there bipartisan opposition to this ‘constitutional carry’ bill, but folks seem to feel passionately about it with the majority (67%) saying they strongly oppose the bill. Even among Republicans, most people are against carrying weapons without a permit,” Dr. Michael Binder, PORL faculty director and professor of political science, said in a March 9 press release announcing the poll.

As you can imagine, a feeding frenzy ensued. Armed with Binder’s poll numbers, the legacy media went absolutely nuts.

“As Floridians apparently know better than their elected officials, public health research overwhelmingly shows that relaxing firearm regulations contributes to increases in violent crime as well as firearm-related death and injury,” Caroline Light, who teached gender and ethnic studies at Harvard University, wrote in a column titled “Expect more violent crime if Florida passes permitless gun carry,” which was published by the Tampa Bay Times.

“Permitless carry bill closer to law despite new poll showing that it’s vastly unpopular in Florida,” wrote the Florida Phoenix.

The media onslaught didn’t stop even after Gov. DeSantis signed the bill into law.

Continue reading “”

No one believes this

Bower: No One Needs Guns Today Because We Have Police and the National Guard.

 

Republicans won’t vote for gun control legislation for three main reasons: They receive hefty campaign contributions from NRA and gun manufacturers. They’re afraid of being voted out of office by their gun-loving constituents. They honor Second Amendment rights above all other Constitutional rights.

…The Constitution was written at a time when there was no police force. There was no National Guard. It stands to reason citizens were given the right to keep and bear arms; if threatened, they were the militia. Today, if we need protection, we call the police. If government officials determine a crowd is getting too threatening, they send in the National Guard. They don’t call on individual citizens to come out and lend help with their guns.

Doing nothing about gun violence is unacceptable. There have been 130 mass shootings just since Jan. 1. The number one cause of death of American children and teens is gunshot wounds. Sixty-three percent of Americans want more gun controls. Republicans always fall back on the excuse that gun violence is a mental-health problem; which by the way, they don’t fund adequately. They call for more security to barricade children inside their school buildings. Republicans’ lamest excuse for inaction? “We’ve already done about all that can be done.” …

The idea that guns are carried openly on the streets in several red states is obscene. Iowa doesn’t even require a permit to open carry. I saw a photo recently of a guy with an AR-15 strapped across his back while standing in line to buy a can of pop at a convenience store.

This is just sick

— June Bower in Column: This Is a Republican Problem

This is about using illicit drugs vis-a-vis possessing guns.

Tennessee House Expels Two Democrats Who Led Floor Protest Against Guns.

Tennessee House Republicans made good on their threat to expel two of three Democrats who interrupted the legislative session after making their way to the front of the chamber and using a bullhorn to lead anti-gun chants with the gallery.

It was an unprecedented violation of House rules that Republicans say needed to be punished with the most severe penalty possible to discourage other members from following suit.

Reps. Justin Jones and Justin Pearson were ousted on a party-line vote while a third member, Rep. Gloria Johnson, survived her expulsion vote. Both Pearson and Jones are black while Johnson is white, allowing Democrats to claim that racism was the reason for the members being kicked out. Johnson wasn’t expelled because she wasn’t using a bullhorn when leading chants with the gallery.

Ironically, the two Democrats are likely to be back at work next week. Under Tennessee law, county commissioners will appoint temporary replacements until a special election can be held and are likely to be named. Both expelled legislators are eligible to run in the special election as well.

Associated Press:

Thousands of people flocked to the Capitol to support Jones, Pearson and Johnson on Thursday, cheering and chanting outside the House chamber loudly enough to drown out the proceedings.

The trio held hands as they walked onto the floor and Pearson raised a fist during the Pledge of Allegiance.

Offered a chance to defend himself before the vote, Jones said the GOP responded to the shooting with a different kind of attack.

“We called for you all to ban assault weapons, and you respond with an assault on democracy,” he said.

Does anyone believe that if given the opportunity in the future, Democrats won’t continue to disrupt democratic proceedings on the House floor? It’s simple; all you need are a couple of hundred rabid, leather-lunged supporters to cram the galleries and a bullhorn. The prospect of protests without end bringing the people’s business to a standstill because a minority disagrees with a decision of the majority is enough to apply the harshest sentence possible on the guilty.

There are ways to protest and express your disagreement with the majority that don’t involve disrupting the decorum of the chamber or interrupting the business of the House. Jones and Pearson chose to turn the House into gun control theater. What other punishment would have been appropriate?

In Washington, President Joe Biden also was critical of the expulsions, calling them “shocking, undemocratic, and without precedent.”

“Rather than debating the merits of the issue (of gun control), these Republican lawmakers have chosen to punish, silence, and expel duly-elected representatives of the people of Tennessee,” Biden said in a statement.

Pearson and Jones had no intention of “debating” anyone. They were screaming into a bullhorn in order to silence any opposition to their own protest. And there was no gun control bill before the House to debate so what is the old man talking about?

What Biden and the Democrats fail to mention is that there are two sides to the gun control issue and the other side has perfectly legitimate concerns about giving the government too much power in the matter of Second Amendment rights.

Jones and Pearson will be welcomed back as heroes when they return. No doubt they’ll try to pull the same stunt again. And when they do, the rights of the opposition will once again fall victim to the theatrical tactics of the left.