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Changes in historic climate due to changes in land-use
What was the vegetation like 200 years ago? Did humans effect the climate before emitting CO2 by changing the vegetation? Rossby Centre is involved in a project dealing with reconstructions of past vegetation and the coupling between vegetation and climate in historic times.
Long before humans started to emit CO2 from fossil fuel we had an influence on the climate when cutting down trees to make way for graze land and agricultural land. Deforestation effects the climate in two different ways, the global climate changes because of the increased amounts of CO2 in the atmosphere from cutting down and burning wood, and the local climate changes when the land surface properties change due to changed vegetation.
Previously, the effects from increased atmospheric CO2 from changed vegetation and land-use over the last 8000 years have been discussed (Ruddiman, 2005) and the direct effects of changed vegetation have been studied on a global scale (e.g. Brovkin et al., 2006; Pitman et al., 2009). A new project has studied the direct effect from changed vegetation on a regional scale in Europe. The project includes simulations of past climate and past vegetation and also assumptions of historic land-use.
Using climate models to reconstruct historic vegetation
The Rossby Centre regional climate model (RCA3) has been run for two different time periods, 6 000 years ago and 200 years ago. For each period RCA3 was first run with modern day vegetation, the simulated climate was then used in a dynamical vegetation model, LPJ-GUESS, to produce potential vegetation that is consistent with the simulated climate. With this vegetation as a starting point, assumptions of historic land-use are applied to produce estimates of the vegetation.
RCA3 is run with three different vegetation, potential vegetation and two different land-use assumptions (Hyde (Klein Goldewijk et al, 2001) and Kaplan (Kaplan et al., 2009)). When trying to reconstruct historic vegetation (e.g. from pollen in lake sediments) information on how changes in vegetation and land-use effects climate is of great value when evaluating the methods of reconstruction.
Deforestation affects the temperature climate
In RCA3 changes in vegetation is mainly expressed as changes in the fraction of forest. When it comes to potential vegetation the forest is able to grow freely giving a large fraction of forest, while in the land-use estimations the forest is to a certain extent cut down giving a lower fraction of forest, i.e. more open land (Fig. 1).
Figure 1. Fraction of forest (%) in the three different vegetation estimates at 200 year before present. Potential vegetation (left), potential vegetation with land-use from Hyde (middle) and potential vegetation with land-use from (Kaplan). Enlarge Image
Deforestation mainly effects climate in two ways: by changes in albedo and by changes in evaporation and soil water. Albedo is a surface's ability to reflect solar radiation, open land reflects more solar radiation than trees and is therefore colder. This effect is enhanced in winter since open land more readily gets covered by snow and thereby reflecting even more solar radiation. At the same time deforestation reduces the efficiency of transpiration; giving lower latent heat flux and higher temperature. In some regions this effect exceeds the albedo effect.
The model results show that the simulations including land-use are colder in winter with 0-1.5 °C. In summer the picture is more complex, some areas get 0-1.5 °C colder and some 0-1.0 °C warmer (Fig. 2).
Figure 2. Mean temperature (°C) in January (top line) and July (bottom line) at 200 years before present. Left: absolute temperature for potential vegetation (PV) simulation. Middle: difference in temperature between PV and PVHyde (PVHyde – PV). Right: difference in temperature between PV and PVKaplan (PVKaplan – PV). Enlarge Image
The project is a collaboration between researchers from Rossby Centre, Linneaus University, Lund University and Tallin University.
Brovkin, V., Claussen, M., Dreisschaert, E., Fichefet, T., Kicklighter, D., Loutre, M. F., Matthews, H. D., Ramankutty, N., Schaeffer, M. and Sokolov, A.: Biogeophysical effects of historical land cover changes simulated by six Earth system models of intermediate complexity, Clim. Dyn., 26, 587-600, 2006.
Kaplan, J., Krumhardt, K., and Zimmerman, N.: The prehistoric and preindustrial deforestation of Europe, Quarternary Sci. Rev., 28, 3016-3034, 2009.
Klein Goldewijk, K.: Estimating global land use change over the past 300 years: The HYDE database, Global Biogeochem. Cy., 15, 417-433, 2001.
Pitman, A. J., de Noblet-Ducoudré, N., Cruz, F. T., Davin, E. L., Bonan, G. B., Brovkin, V., Claussen, M., Delire, C., Ganzeveld, L., Gayler, V., van den Hurk, B. J. J. M., Lawrence, P. J., van der Molen, M. K., Müller, C., Reick, C. H., Seneviratne, S. I., Strengers, B. J. and Voldoire, A.: Uncertainties in climate responses to past land cover changes: First results from the LUCID intercomparison study, Geophys. Res. Lett., 36, L14814, 2009.
Ruddiman, W. F.: How did humans first alter global climate?, Scientific American, March 2005, 2005.
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Julian Assange Loses Appeal: British High Court Accepts U.S. Request to Extradite Him for Trial, by Glenn Greenwald
This is indeed a dark day. Even if Assange wins his court case in the U.S., certainly not the betting favorite, the intimidation effect sounds the death knell for freedom of the press, and by implication every one of the other freedoms once nobly enshrined in the First Amendment. Glenn Greenwald's article is excellent. Read it and weep. From Greenwald at greenwald.substack.com:
Press freedom groups have warned Assange's prosecution is a grave threat. The Biden DOJ ignored them, and today won a major victory toward permanently silencing the pioneering transparency activist.
WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange speaks to the media outside the High Court in London on December 5, 2011 where he attended a ruling in his long-running fight against extradition to Sweden (Photo by GEOFF CADDICK/AFP via Getty Images)
In a London courtroom on Friday morning, Julian Assange suffered a devastating blow to his quest for freedom. A two-judge appellate panel of the United Kingdom's High Court ruled that the U.S.'s request to extradite Assange to the U.S. to stand trial on espionage charges is legally valid.
As a result, that extradition request will now be sent to British Home Secretary Prita Patel, who technically must approve all extradition requests but, given the U.K. Government's long-time subservience to the U.S. security state, is all but certain to rubber-stamp it. Assange's representatives, including his fiancee Stella Morris, have vowed to appeal the ruling, but today's victory for the U.S. means that Assange's freedom, if it ever comes, is further away than ever: not months but years even under the best of circumstances.
In endorsing the U.S. extradition request, the High Court overturned a lower court's ruling from January which had concluded that the conditions of U.S. prison — particularly for those accused of national security crimes — are so harsh and oppressive that there is a high likelihood that Assange would commit suicide. In January's ruling, Judge Vanessa Baraitser rejected all of Assange's arguments that the U.S. was seeking to punish him not for crimes but for political offenses. But in rejecting the extradition request, she cited the numerous attestations from Assange's doctors that his physical and mental health had deteriorated greatly after seven years of confinement in the small Ecuadorian Embassy where he had obtained asylum, followed by his indefinite incarceration in the U.K.
In response to that January victory for Assange, the Biden DOJ appealed the ruling and convinced Judge Baraitser to deny Assange bail and ordered him imprisoned pending appeal. The U.S. then offered multiple assurances that Assange would be treated "humanely" in U.S. prison once he was extradited and convicted. They guaranteed that he would not be held in the most repressive "supermax" prison in Florence, Colorado — whose conditions are so repressive that it has been condemned and declared illegal by numerous human rights groups around the world — nor, vowed U.S. prosecutors, would he be subjected to the most extreme regimen of restrictions and isolation called Special Administrative Measures ("SAMs") unless subsequent behavior by Assange justified it. American prosecutors also agreed that they would consent to any request from Assange that, once convicted, he could serve his prison term in his home country of Australia rather than the U.S. Those guarantees, ruled the High Court this morning, rendered the U.S. extradition request legal under British law.
This entry was posted in Civil Liberties, Collapse, Governments, Law, Media, Politics, Propaganda, Tyranny. Bookmark the permalink.
13 responses to "Julian Assange Loses Appeal: British High Court Accepts U.S. Request to Extradite Him for Trial, by Glenn Greenwald"
zrpradyer | December 10, 2021 at 7:48 am | Reply
We Brits have been, and are being, asset-stripped. Not just of our resources but of our democracy, institutional probity, moral compass and dignity.
This shameful case illustrates our demise. We shall rest and rot at the bottom, of the barrel.
The dignity with which you decry your country's descent (mirrored in the U.S.) is better than your country deserves.
Arizona | December 11, 2021 at 1:55 pm | Reply
BRITION has gone to far,EITHER YOU CLEAN UP YOUR COUNTRY OR OUR FATHER IN HEAVEN WILL DO IT FOR YOU,He will submerge..THE UK under thousands of feet of ocean and KILL you all..,giving up your WORLD WORLD TWO weapons,was not to smart.AMERICANS are pussies and cowards to..as is most western countries are..THEY FEAR THEIR POLICE GANGS AND MILITARY MORE THEN GOD…he'll kill them all…
Pingback: Julian Assange Loses Appeal: British High Court Accepts U.S. Request to Extradite Him for Trial, by Glenn Greenwald | NC Renegades
scuzzy | December 10, 2021 at 4:10 pm | Reply
Yup. We all know what needs to be done to regain freedom. And I remember Trump talking about Assange before he was elected saying what a help Assange had been in exposing Hillary. And then afterwards, once he was elected, when asked about Assange then Trump played stupid and asked 'who is Assange.' MF Trump could have pardoned him.
Tom W. | December 10, 2021 at 4:38 pm | Reply
Assange always asserted having a "dead man's switch" of info. Perhaps it's time before he gets Epstiened.
DWEEZIL THE WEASEL | December 10, 2021 at 5:21 pm | Reply
I would opine this poor soul will soon succumb to a terminal case of Arkansas Influenza. I hope I am wrong.
NorthGunner | December 10, 2021 at 6:21 pm | Reply
Dweezil,
The statement, "Assange DIDN'T kill himself" will have absolute validity when he is unlawfully returned to 'America'.
Hope that he doesn't die in the (((American Gulag System))) but look at how people are being treated under the (((system))) for the totally fake nothingburger of the 'Jan 6th False Flag'.
Where's that S.M.O.D. coming in at 30 Klicks a sec to give a kiss to d.c., langley and ft. Meade when one needs it…a football stadium sized one would be just about right….
Yes, a LOT of 'innocent' people would be vaporized instantly…but they CHOSE to live and work and support the heart of the beast,…fuck 'em!!
NorthGunner – The Truth Is It's OWN Defense!
DWEEZIL THE WEASEL | December 11, 2021 at 10:21 am | Reply
NG: My dear wife believes with all her heart a Deus ex Machina event will hit this corrupt, syphilitic, Godless empire before the end of 2022. I hope she is right. But, as we both know, hope is not a strategy. I prefer to continue to prep and stay vigilant.
Gun show today at the Greyhound Park. Range and PT the rest of the week, if I do not have to Sub. Merry Christmas and a safe and healthy 2022 to you and yours. Bleib ubrig.
Robert Gore | December 11, 2021 at 10:40 am | Reply
Likewise to you and yours.
WHEN america threw OUR FATHER AND HIS SON JESUS OUT OF AMERICA,that should have been when the MEN in america stood up and HUNTED down every government devil who could be found,including all media…BUT THEY CHOSE THE DEATH OF AMERICA INSTEAD,sadly not many americans will ever see the day they get into heaven,LUCIFER OWNS THE ENTIRE COUNTRY NOW,and it can't be changed,,all the men are pussies and cowards now..AND they've chosen to go to hell.. rather then take down satans army,OH you boys,and,girlymen have No idea how bad your screwing up…DEATH was a poor choice..BUT you threw away the children too..YOU"LL really pay dear for that…
Borbolactic | December 15, 2021 at 9:56 am | Reply
"Only paid subscribers can comment on this post" ~ greewald.substack.com
Long past time to create and unpeg our green, ethical and anarchic lives and, if we think it makes sense, our new currencies for that purpose, from those of the status-quo.
"Any dictator would admire the uniformity and obedience of the U.S. media."
"Propaganda is to a democracy what the bludgeon is to a totalitarian state."
~ Noam Chomsky
"The most dangerous man, to any government, is the man who is able to think things out for himself… Almost inevitably he comes to the conclusion that the government he lives under is dishonest, insane and intolerable…" ~ H. L. Mencken
con | December 20, 2021 at 2:58 am | Reply
Reblogged this on Independent Citizens.

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Fashion jobs, Fashion news and all other possible Fashion information fashion professionals need. Fashion design jobs in Australia and a Fashion News archive and links to international fashion jobs. Fashion designer, store manager, design assistant, fashion manager, fashion buyer, fashion marketing, stylist, junior stylist, pattern maker, pr executive, product developer and many other fashion jobs in Australia.


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Nathaniel Smith, MD, MPH – Director, Center for Global Health (Acting)
Nathaniel Smith, MD, MPH is the acting director for the Center for Global Health (CGH) where he leads CDC's efforts to protect and improve health globally through science, policy, partnership, and evidence-based public health action. Dr. Smith also serves as Deputy Director for Public Health Service and Implementation Science (DDPHSIS) where he leads, promotes, and facilitates programs and policies that identify and respond to public health threats, improve health domestically and internationally, and puts science into action.
Dr. Smith received a bachelor's degree from Rice University in Houston, Texas, and a Master of Arts from Dallas Theological Seminary, also in Texas. He completed his Doctor of Medicine from Baylor College of Medicine in Houston, Texas, and his MPH from the University of Texas School of Public Health, Houston. Dr. Smith is board-certified in Internal Medicine and Infectious Diseases. He received his Diploma in Tropical Medicine and Hygiene from the Liverpool School of Tropical Medicine and Hygiene in the UK. His clinical interests include HIV, global health, and emerging infectious diseases.
Dr. Smith previously served as Secretary of Health and State Epidemiologist for the state of Arkansas and voluntary Professor of Epidemiology at the University of Arkansas College of Public Health. He also served for 7 years as a medical missionary at Kijabe Hospital in Kenya. During part of that time he was faculty lead and Country Medical Director for the University of Maryland School of Medicine in Kenya and Senior Medical Technical Advisor for the PEPFAR-funded AIDS Relief program in East Africa. Smith is an ordained minister in the Anglican Church. He and his wife have four children adopted from Kenya.
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Home News Stop privatising Barnet!
Stop privatising Barnet!
Barnet Unison pickets out in force at the Mill Hill depot yesterday morning
BARNET Unison members were in determined mood yesterday as they began their 24-hour strike against privatisation of all Barnet Council services.
The dispute involves social workers, coach escorts, drivers, occupational therapists, school catering staff, education welfare officers, library workers, children's centre workers, street cleaning and refuse workers, all of whom have made it clear they want to remain employees of Barnet Council and don't want to be outsourced.
Barnet Unison Branch Secretary John Burgess warned: 'On Friday 2nd October 2015, Barnet Council published their devastating report on the future of the library service which reveals 46% of the workforce are to be sacked with redundancy payments costing £1.5 million.'
Unison notes that under this review the council is now proposing to cut the 634.5 staffed library hours a week to 188. Four libraries, Childs Hill, East Barnet, Mill Hill and South Friern will be run by volunteers. At 7am on the early morning picket outside Barnet House in Whetstone, Barnet Unison Branch Chair, Helen Davies, told News Line: 'This is the sixth day of strike action.
'We think we've got the depot closed down today. People are still really angry over potential cuts to their terms and conditions on the back of working harder and harder. Council leaders are pushing for the complete privatisation of all services. There are a lot of committee meetings between now and Christmas to start making decisions.
'The education and skills contract will be awarded in December. This is for the LEA workers who provide services for schools like transport, special educational needs statements and psychology services. We've got protests on 12th October at the town hall. We are going to talk to members about further strike action with a potential strike date of 2nd November. We welcome donations and messages of support.'
Unison member Caroline said: 'I work for social services. We work with some of the most vulnerable people. The Tories are attacking the most vulnerable. With the change in benefits, people with disabilities will find it harder. I also don't like the policy of selling off social housing. We need affordable homes more than ever, especially in London. A general strike is a good idea. We should get rid of the Tories.'
There was a lively 30-strong picket at the council's Mill Hill depot, where Mack told News Line: 'We're here because we want to keep this depot in-house. We want a fair crack of the whip. The majority of us live in the borough, so it's beneficial to the borough to keep us here. The privatisation needs to stop. We're here to show we won't have it. The government are affecting people's lives. They're trying to cut wages when prices and rates keep going up. It's like what they are talking about on the news, they are putting people below the poverty line. Everybody feels the same. Every time we have industrial action it doubles in size. I would definitely agree with a general strike to bring the government down.'
Labour's shadow chancellor John McDonnell joined the picket. He told pickets: 'If there's no deal, industrial action is the only way.' John McLoughlin, Tower Hamlets Unison Branch Secretary, brought a £100 donation and told the picket line: 'Thatcher was thrown out of office. We have to make sure the Tories are thrown out of office before they destroy the Welfare State.'
John Burgess told the Mill Hill picket: 'Our next strike will be on November 2nd, when the Tories debate the trade union bill. We are calling on everyone to go from the picket that day to join a mass lobby of MPs, called by the TUC.'
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Beta-Alanine is a non-essential amino acid that is used by muscle cells to synthesize Carnosine. Carnosine is a dipeptide (Beta-Alanine plus Histidine) that functions as a buffer for the hydrogen ions (acid) produced during strenuous exercise, thus helping to maintain optimum muscular pH. NOW uses CarynoSyn, a patented form of Beta-Alanine that has been clinically tested and shown to increase muscle carnosine content, allowing muscles to work harder and longer during intense exercise. NOW Beta-Alanine is backed by scientific research demonstrating that CarnoSyn supplementation results in delayed muscle fatigue and rapid recovery time, thereby helping you attain your strength and endurance training goals.
Take a 1/2 level teaspoon 3 to 4 times daily. Mix into 8 fl oz water or your favorite beverage. For best results, allow at least 2 hours between doses.
Caution: For adults only. Beta-Alanine may cause a harmless, temporary tingling sensation on the skin for some individuals. After a few weeks of supplementation with Beta-Alanine, this sensation normally lessens or subsides. Consult physician if pregnant/nursing, taking medication, or have a medical condition. Keep out of reach of children.
Do not east freshness packet enclosed.


There is no manual for dealing with reviews, but there is an unwritten rule.
This might come as a surprise to you, but not everyone can handle criticism. To step into the ring of writing, one has to have a pretty tough (though not impenetrable) skin when it comes to feedback. Your beta-reader, critique-provider, or editor may not have enjoyed a scene that you loved writing, or found something problematic with a relationship dynamic, and their insight could prove invaluable when constructing later drafts—and that is great!
That being said, they may respond with indifference or only be reading your work out of obligation and thus offer nothing constructive to the table. Some people may simply be outright rude—but what counts as rude? In the age of the internet, it seems the idea of critique often gets mislabelled as nastiness to those unable to hear a negative word said about their work. To make it simple: an opinion about your work is not rude, unless it gets personal for you as the author.
That is personal to the author and deliberately targets them rather than the work the reader is supposed to be critiquing.
So, what should authors look for?
Respectable, trusted beta-readers, sensitivity readers, agents, editors and such—all before publishing—should have their critiques formally engaged with. This is information that you can use before your work goes to print. Advanced Reader Copies (ARCs) are also a thing, where lucky select readers get to read the penultimate draft before the book finally debuts. This is version of the text won't be formatted or have any fancy dust jackets, and the text is subject to change depending on the reviews from those fortunate enough to read it (librarians, booksellers, competition winners, celebrities etc.). This is all valuable feedback and is why one's critiquing skin needs to be thick but not impenetrable. As much as we would love for our first drafts to be perfect (or even our 4th, 5th, or 10th…), this is not the case, but all this feedback helps an author grow.
You may have noticed that in the above list I didn't mention reviewers. Why is that? Well, a review isn't for the author. A review is written for other potential readers of your book. This is why in many reviews one will see words like "If you're not into X, then maybe this book isn't for you." Sometimes they might say something like, "I don't think the author should have done this." But that is simply opinion and also there is nothing the author can do to solve any issues, whether there are any or not, as by that point the book is already published and therefore in its finished (or abandoned) state.
Like in any creative industry, those who have been successful advise new arrivals to not read their reviews. That being said, we're human and so curiosity can be a hard vice to overcome. So, and I will say this now: if you do read your reviews, do not interact with them.
It's a toxic spiral to enter, with a self-destructive bottom. Reviews happen on a public forum, and as a result any instance an author takes to fire back at those who upset them can be taken as arrogance on the author's part. It demonstrates a lack of professionalism and showcases an inability to take criticism. Depending on how this is handled, could result in something worse than negative reviews: no reviews.
Who would want to write a review and risk being publicly attacked? Or actually attacked, in some cases, by some particularly thin-skinned authors.
It can be a difficult road to walk down, and sometimes reviewers will have valid reasons for disliking your work—and that can all be taken on-board when writing your next piece—but one has to accept that once it has hit the press, there's no going back on your text.
It is also worth noting that nine out of ten people could love your work, but that one that doesn't will affect you the most. They're the one you will want to please and chase down and say, "Look, I can do better!" but obsessing over pleasing that one person just won't do you any favours.
So write your novel, listen to the valid critiques and continue pushing forward. Do not feed the trolls and certainly don't go chasing people who didn't like your book, regardless of how they worded it.


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MeJah Books, Inc.
Online Bookstore and Gift Shop
Mejah's Journey
Letters to Ms.Em
Anu Direction Publishing
Letters to Ms. Em
"Letters to Ms. Em" are the reflections of Rainn – a young man who is presently doing life in prison. In 2006, he wrote a letter to Ms. Em which created a family-ship and changed both of their lives. In Rainn's letters and poems he shares his desire to be a part of a loving family; his attempts, beginning at ten-years-old to fight-off an abusive step-father in order to protect his mother; the calling of "the streets" and the anger and pain that followed him into adulthood resulting in a conviction of life without parole.
In "Letters to Ms. Em" you will experience Rainn's personal struggles to become the man he always knew he was destined to be. You will feel the compassion, the wisdom he earned from personal tragedies in his home and in "the streets," which he is now using to mentor America's youth heading down the wrong street.
While "Letters to Ms. Em" is heart-wrenching, Rainn's writing demonstrate his committment to redemption, rehabilitation, responsibility and reconciliation; they are filled with the message of hope and rich with his voice of change. In the words of Rainn "It feels good to be a part of something that's living instead of something that lived just to die."
MEJAH BOOKS AT PHILADELPHIA PIKE
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By simply creating a customized mobile application for a firm or a business, it will help in making it a stand out from others. Nevertheless, there is a need to have an effective and engaging design to set it various from the rest. With the help of mobile app developers and designers, the vision of the brand will be brought to life across operating systems and devices.
Are you looking for top Russian mobile app development companies? There are some points that service seekers must research about before hiring a company for their app development project. To help clients make a perfect choice, we have compiled a list of top mobile app development companies in Russia. The listed companies deliver world-class app solutions for enterprises and start-ups.
They determine the proper solution to their client's problem. Their expert mobile app developers have In-depth knowledge of different framework and platform. They are committed consultants with a certain purpose to help companies adequately perform online. They produce their word and are a joy to work with. It is a good mobile app development company.
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It is a development company providing full-cycle development services of any complexity with years of business experience. By having a great technology stack they deliver the most reliable custom built solutions to their clients globally. They constantly deliver value to a client. They know how to find best solutions and how to handle technical notes wisely.
Their expertise in mobile apps enables them to predict and solve the complex demands of modern businesses. Their background in development, quality assurance and design with an in-house team have brought success to some of largest companies and fastest growing startups in the world.
They help businesses to be ahead of competitors with the help of high-demand mobile products, using the experience of creating more than a hundred projects. They work as a partner, not just a performer. Together with the client, they go through all stages of the project development: from idea to launch. Each project is given with a dedicated team so as it always has enough resources to be finished in time.
They choose project management framework depending on the type of the projects, use both Scrum and Waterfall. They love what they do, and our passion is what keeps their customers coming back. Their aim is to drive mission is to help their clients develop integrative technology policies that are aligned with and drive the business' growth.
All mobile apps are developed by our team. We use only up to date innovative technologies to make mobile applications. A well-adjusted working process is a key feature to keeping the deadlines. They understand the importance of sticking to the terms and finalize projects by deadline. They offer best prices and have a flexible system of discounts for their clients.
We are a team of highly creative and naturally inspired by life individuals who work together to bring our client products that work. They work with clients all over the world to create custom-made mobile solutions for their business needs. Therefore they have polished our skills to deliver great quality products for all of them.


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All posts for the month August, 2014
Tased And Confused
Yet another video has surfaced that shows that being a black man in America comes with special responsibilities, like, say, staying out of public spaces so as not to arouse the suspicions of white policemen. Depending on the day and the city, arousing the suspicions of white policemen may get you tased and arrested or, well, killed.
Fortunately for the guy in the video below, Christopher Lollie, he was only tased and arrested. I guess it was his lucky day.
I suspect that most of the readers of this blog will find the video quite disturbing, as it not only demonstrates how stupidly reactionary some cops can be, but how racial profiling works in the real world and why it is un-American. But I also want you to think about something else. Tea Party enthusiasts and sympathizers say they hate big government. Some of them even went so far as to defend militia types earlier this year when they took up arms against federal agents in Nevada, after Cliven Bundy decided he was entitled to graze his cattle for free on federal land and then would not recognize federal authority to stop him. Many people made the point at the time that had the New Black Panthers taken up arms to defend a black freeloader, the Bill O'Reilly's of the world would have declared the end of civilization. But the Bundy case was a white man standing up against, let's face it, a not-very-white Barack Obama. Thus, in that case big government police were the bad guys and gun-toting government-haters were the good guys.
To be at least somewhat consistent, if Tea Party conservatives—and they do most of the talking for Republicans these days—were genuinely disturbed by big government and its overreach, they should be outraged at what happened to Christopher Lollie at the hands of St. Paul, Minnesota, cops, who are, after all, government employees. But I doubt you will find too many of them who are willing to express outrage. My guess is that most of them will say that Lollie should have just done what he was told by the police and nothing would have happened to him. Because, ya know, black people have no rights that white policemen are bound to respect, and Lollie should have known and understood that reality and been willing to live with it. For his own good.
The truth is that when it comes to most conservatives, they don't like big government when it is dispensing food stamps to black people. Oh, they hate that kind of government. But they like big government when it is dispensing Taser-powered electricity to black people just before hauling them off to jail. Or, as in Ferguson and elsewhere, shooting them dead in the streets.
Tagged christopher lollie, ferguson, racial profiling, taser
https://duanegraham.wordpress.com/2014/08/29/tased-and-confused/
Beware Of Dogmatists
dog·ma·tism: the tendency to lay down principles as incontrovertibly true, without consideration of evidence or the opinions of others.
When writing critically about religion, it is sometimes hard to adequately convey both the idea that fundamentalism is undesirable and dangerous and that other, less dogmatic, forms of spirituality can be, and often are, forces for good. People often conclude from some of my criticisms of religious faith: "You hate religion, period." Well, I don't. There are many religion-motivated people who do a lot of good in our communities. Each and every day. Thus, allow me to explain, in more detail, where I'm coming from. Then, I promise, I will resume my blogging on politics.
What I don't like, and what I believe all thinking people should aggressively attack, is any form of religion that does not admit to what a couple of commenters on my latest piece ("'Without God, I Am No One'—Bullshit That Needs Our Attention") called "humility," the idea that one's vision of God is not necessarily the correct one and that "the next person may understand God even better than I do." I have no quarrel with anyone who holds religious views in that context.
My quarrel is with the dogmatists. I believe, and I think the evidence from history supports it, that religious dogmatism is mostly a destructive force, even if it isn't (these days) always manifested in violence against others. I happen to think that dedicating precious time and minds and other resources to discussing or settling dogmatism-inspired controversies is a colossal waste, a form of destruction. (And I am one who has spent a lot of time exploring the meandering contours of Christian theology.) So, I want to be clear that the form of religion I dislike is not the kind that admits to uncertainty or doubt. With increasing passion, I am attacking the kind of religious dogma expressed by people like Douglas McCain, whose fanaticism and dogmatism may have finally led him to Syria to kill and be killed in the name of his religion, but who first began by embracing incontrovertible beliefs and essentially enslaving himself to his unquestionable notion of God.
Evidence should always be our guide, wherever it leads. As a former evangelical Christian, I am now open to evidence that God exists or that he doesn't exist. I have to admit that most of the evidence is for the latter, but I'm not dogmatic about it. I have before described myself as a theist, even though my faith is really a hope that there exists a being who will enforce common notions of justice at some point in the life of this universe or beyond. Really, I suppose, I am an agnostic. I don't know if it is even possible to discover the existence or non-existence of God. But I do know that I don't have much faith that a collection of old writings, written by ignorant and bigoted men, has anything at all to do with finding God. In fact, in so many ways, they lead the other way.
One commenter wrote,
It is entirely possible to be a serious, devout Christian and still maintain an awareness that, however binding you may personally find the Bible, the next person is entitled [to] view things differently.
Of course that is true. Most serious, devout American Christians do believe people are entitled to view things differently. After all, we live in a country with a secular Constitution that values no religion over another, and most of us have been taught to respect the religious views of others.
But my argument is not about whether this or that religious dogmatist thinks others are or are not entitled to hold one view or another. I am not saying that zealous believers necessarily want the government to step in and demand that people become fellow fundamentalists and fanatics. My argument is with the zealotry, the fundamentalism, the fanaticism itself. It is about whether we should continue to leave unchallenged the views of people who say things like, "Without God, I am no one," or, "The Bible is all I need in this life," people who enslave themselves to their necessarily imperfect idea of God. And I especially think we should challenge the views of people who teach their children such dangerous and injurious ideas. Deliberately closing the minds of children, essentially drowning their imaginations in dogmatism, shouldn't be something our 21st-century culture accepts in silence. We should object to it, and loudly.
In addition to all that, I think we should challenge religious dogma because—and this may be painful for some to hear—there is an element of narcissism involved in its expression. If you think about it, it is an amazing expression of egotism, even if it is in our culture a regrettably acceptable expression of egotism, to say after some personal escape from calamity, "God blessed me today." Let me give you an example.
The Christian medical missionary, Dr. Kent Brantly, was recently released from the hospital, to much fanfare, after he was apparently cured of Ebola. No one can say for sure that it was the experimental drug he was given or whether it was his own immune system or some other treatment or mechanism that made him well. It even may have been the prayers that people offered up to God that did the trick. That is certainly what Dr. Brantly claimed:
…there were thousands, maybe even millions of people around the world praying for me throughout that week, and even still today…what I can tell you is that I serve a faithful God who answers prayers…Through the care of the Samaritan's Purse and SIM missionary team in Liberia, the use of an experimental drug, and the expertise and resources of the health care team at Emory University Hospital, God saved my life—a direct answer to thousands and thousands of prayers.
"God saved my life." How often have we heard people say that? After the 2011 tornado here in Joplin, I heard that a lot. And I always wondered what those other people, those who didn't survive the tornado, did to not deserve God saving their lives. And I wondered, when I heard Dr. Brantly talk, why those other people, now in the thousands, who have died or will die at the viral hands of Ebola, did to not deserve God's blessings? Is Dr. Brantly's life worth more to God than those others? Are those who survived the Joplin tornado worth more to God than those who didn't?
People who claim that "God saved my life" should be challenged to explain why others were undeserving of such salvation. They should be challenged to explain why they were so special to the Creator Of The Universe. We would certainly challenge them if they said, "God exempted me from income taxes," or "God has a plan for my life that includes being President of the United States."
I submit to you that in any other context what Dr. Brantly said, and what some of those who survived the Joplin tornado said, would be taken as expressions of an unhealthy narcissism. But we don't bat an eye when people talk that way about God saving them after an illness, a car wreck, or a horrific storm. And my argument is that we should bat an eye. In fact, both eyes, and say, "How do you know?" Or, more to the point, "How can you know?"
I will end this with a YouTube video that was put together by someone named Devon Tracey, an atheist (unfortunately, a much too dogmatic atheist) who took a presentation by Sam Harris and cleverly matched it with images and other video to make Harris' speech on God and morality much more entertaining. Although there are some points I would quibble with, I urge you to watch with batting eyes:
Tagged Christianity, douglas mccain, dr. brantly, ebola, Islam, Sam Harris
https://duanegraham.wordpress.com/2014/08/27/beware-of-dogmatists/
"Without God, I Am No One"—Bullshit That Needs Our Attention
Fundamentalism kills. In more ways than one.
NBC News has reported that an American—a 33-year-old who was born in Illinois, raised in Minnesota, and studied in California—has now died in Syria, as a fighter for the barbaric jihadist group, ISIL. He was killed by another group of anti-Assad fighters, the Free Syrian Army.
Douglas McAuthur McCain, according to those who knew him, was a "a good guy who loved his family and friends," a smiling joker who loved music, liked to dance and play basketball. "He was a goofball in high school," one of his classmates told NBC.
Sometime in 2004, though, Douglas McCain apparently started taking religion seriously, as many Americans do. He posted on Twitter in May: "I reverted to Islam 10 years ago and I must say In sha Allah I will never look back the best thing that ever happen to me." "In sha'Allah" essentially means "God willing." Lots and lots of people, especially Christian people, say "God willing" and say that their faith is "the best thing that ever happened" to them. It's pretty common and not all that radical, unfortunately.
McCain also posted a picture of himself holding a Quran, with the caption,
The quran is all I need in this life of sin.
If you replace "quran" with "Bible," then you have a typical statement from many American Christians, a statement I have heard countless times in one form or another. Again, although it is unfortunate, there is nothing all that radical about someone claiming that an old, old book is all they need in this life, of sin or otherwise.
Another social media posting from McCain expressed what he believed was the source of his existence:
Allah keeps me going day and night. Without Allah, I am no one.
Let's remember that "Allah" is simply the Arabic word for "God." In other words, what McCain posted was this:
God keeps me going day and night. Without God, I am no one.
Again, I have heard that same idea expressed numerous times by Christians I have known. Right now you can check out your own Facebook page, if you have one, and probably see a version of it someone has posted. It is all too common to hear people, people who live in your neighborhood and share space in your community, say such things. As I said, it is unfortunate that such sentiments are so prevalent among us.
It isn't exactly clear how Douglas McCain went from expressing such things, such things that a lot of people express on any given day in America, to actually joining a group of bloodthirsty jihadist killers in Syria. It's not clear how he became "Duale ThaslaveofAllah," which reportedly was his Facebook name. We will probably never know the mechanics of how that transformation happened, even though it would help us all to know.
Fortunately, the overwhelming majority of people who say the things that Douglas McCain said don't end up either killing for, or dying for, their deity. Those who think their religion is the best thing that ever happened to them, or who believe an ancient book is all they need to guide them, or who believe that they are nothing without God—a being they have never seen and can't possibly "know"—most of the time live their lives relatively peacefully, many of them even doing a lot of good in the world.
But I have come to believe that we, those of us who have not utterly surrendered our minds to an unseen—and presumably unseeable—deity, those of us who maintain that any religious views should be accompanied by some degree of doubt and uncertainty, must call out those who say things like Douglas McCain said.
It is time that we make people—especially our young people—uncomfortable when they say things like, "Without God, I am no one." It's time we call bullshit on such sentiments. It is time we take on parents who teach their children that they are nothing without God. Or teach them that an ancient, pre-scientific book is an infallible source of information, especially about God, or history, or morals. It is time we stop being afraid of criticizing people's religious beliefs, if those religious beliefs include offering up their minds, or the minds of their children, as slaves to some Bible- or Quran-revealed divine being.
Because even though we don't know what exactly led to Douglas McAuthur McCain giving his body to a radicalized and militarized incarnation of Islam, we know that it began with him seriously surrendering his mind to Allah, to God, to a bloodthirsty being first brought to us by ancient and ignorant people who told us their God once murdered "every living thing on the face of the earth" (the Bible) and who told us that God will punish unbelievers "with terrible agony in this world and in the Hereafter" (Quran).
We should do our best to make sure that people understand what it means to completely turn their lives over to the very flawed star of a faith that first came into being in the Bronze Age. Perhaps, and only perhaps, we may be able to prevent more Douglas McCains from wanting to kill and die in the name of God.
Tagged Bible, douglas mccain, ISIL, ISIS, Islam, Islamic State, Quran
https://duanegraham.wordpress.com/2014/08/26/without-god-i-am-no-one-bullshit-that-needs-our-attention/
A Hard Rain's a-Gonna Fall On "The Worst People On Earth"
"Oh, what did you see, my blue eyed son?
And what did you see, my darling young one?"
"I saw a newborn baby with wild wolves all around it
I saw a highway of diamonds with nobody on it
I saw a black branch with blood that kept drippin'
I saw a room full of men with their hammers a-bleedin'"
"I saw a white ladder all covered with water
I saw ten thousand talkers whose tongues were all broken
I saw guns and sharp swords in the hands of young children
And it's a hard, it's a hard, it's a hard, and it's a hard
It's a hard rain a-gonna fall"
At times they cut the throats of children, or hang them or shoot them. At other times they, quite literally, saw off with dull knives the heads of men, women, and children, or hang them or shoot them. They rape. They rampage. They slaughter. And they openly teach their own children that such bloodthirsty acts are noble and godly, and a necessary and proper way to praise and honor Allah.
This photo, of a seven-year-old boy clad in a kids' Polo golf shirt and struggling to hold up a severed head, was posted on Twitter by a proud dad. That proud dad's name I won't share with you. That's exactly what this sick creep, a loser who left Australia with his family to become a jihadist in Syria, wants. This proud dad represents the kind of people I have described. In a very rare moment of agreement with a conservative columnist, I second Charles Krauthammer:
These are the worst people on earth.
These "people" are, of course, members of ISIL. And as Krauthammer said,
These are not the usual bad guys out for land, plunder, or power. These are primitive cultists who celebrate slaughter, glory in bloodlust, and slit the throats of innocents as a kind of sacrament.
And trust me, after doing some research on what ISIL has done in the past year or so, all of that is a serious understatement.
Speaking more clinically, General Martin Dempsey, Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, recently said of these jihadists,
This is an organization that has an apocalyptic, end-of- days strategic vision and which will eventually have to be defeated.
"Eventually" has already started. And those limited U.S. air strikes against ISIL have done a lot of good. More, many, many more, need to follow. And follow.
I heard someone say the other day that, when it comes to going after the ISIL bastards, he would countenance a hefty raise in his taxes. Me, too. I would gladly pay much more in taxes, if I knew the money was going toward missiles and bombs that would rain down hard, like a land-cleansing monsoon of justice, on the heads of these fundamentalist Islamists. On the heads of anti-humans who, in the name of Allah-God, commit intolerable, and I mean intolerable, acts of terror against not only Christians and people of other faiths, but of fellow Muslims.
President Obama, very soon, needs to address the country and make the case that the United States should, along with the Iraqi military who would provide the foot soldiers for such an effort, make a decisive war on the so-called "Islamic State." We should also undertake air strikes in what used to be Syrian territory in order to hit ISIL there. No need to worry about borders at this point. They have essentially been erased. If other nations around the world want to join us, and they should, that would be better still. If they don't, if they continue to tolerate these barbarians and continue to pay them ransoms for hostages or otherwise support them, then to hell with them. We can still act.
I would ask my fellow liberals again, many of whom are confidently balking at such a move by President Obama, just what the hell is our military for, if not to protect the interests of our own citizens right now—one of the best of them was just openly and barbarically beheaded by these bastards, after a failed mission to rescue him—and in the future, when a stronger ISIL may in fact, rather in the poisoned imaginations of these jihadists, actually have a real state? Not to mention help protect the interests of our friends, the Kurdish people? And help protect the rest of the Iraqis, to whom we owe at least something, after we destroyed their country and raised up and supported Nouri al-Maliki, who then helped make Iraq a place where ISIL could do its demonic work? And, finally, what is our military for if not to help ensure that the word civilization retains its meaning in this century?
Now is the time to rid the world of these, its worst people.
Tagged air strikes, ISIL, ISIS, Islamic State, islamist, jihad
https://duanegraham.wordpress.com/2014/08/22/a-hard-rains-a-gonna-fall-on-the-worst-people-on-earth/
"Barking Orders At A Person With Serious Mental Illness Doesn't Work"
Let's move a few miles away from Ferguson to the city of St. Louis.
On Tuesday I listened to St. Louis Metropolitan Police Chief Sam Dotson describe the shooting of yet another young black man, Kajieme Powell, who was killed that afternoon by St. Louis police, after he refused to put down a knife as he moved toward officers.
Those officers were responding to a call made by a store owner, who said Powell had stolen some energy drinks and pastries and was behaving strangely. Powell was, Chief Dotson said, "acting erratically, walking back and forth, up and down the street" while talking to himself. When officers arrived, Dotson said they exited their vehicles without initially drawing their weapons. He also said that Powell did not respond to"verbal commands to drop his weapon" and walked toward the officers, yelling, "Shoot me now! Kill me now!" And, most important, according to Dotson's version of what happened, the officers shot Powell because he had "closed within three to four feet with the knife in what is described as an 'overhand grip.'"
At the time, the explanation seemed reasonable to me. It seemed the shooting was justifiable. Claiming the man was only three or four feet away with a knife menacingly raised in the air seemed to leave the officers little choice. It seemed like a case in which a disturbed young man—neighbors later said he was mentally ill—had threatened the lives of two policemen and they responded with life-taking and life-saving force. But that was the picture the policemen painted of the scene, which often is the only view we get in matters like these.
But not this time.
As you probably already know, someone had a video camera and captured the shooting. And that video shows that what Chief Dotson said wasn't entirely accurate. And where it wasn't accurate, it happens to skew in favor of the shooters, the cops. In case you haven't seen it and want to, here is the video of the killing (be warned, it is graphic):
As you can see, the officers got out of their vehicles with their guns drawn, contrary to what Chief Dotson claimed. And as you can see, Powell did not have the knife up in an "overhand grip." Nor was he within three or four feet of the officers. And something Chief Dotson did not explain at his press conference on Tuesday was why the officers, between both of them, fired nine shots into Powell, at least two of them after he was down on the ground and clearly not a threat. Those last two shots are perhaps the most disturbing thing, among many things, about the video. Those last two shots certainly seemed gratuitous and seemed like one or both of the officers were in some kind of adrenaline-fueled shoot mode that they could not easily turn off.
The police union told St. Louis Public Radio that the video, which was released by the police chief with the union's consent, was "exculpatory." I suppose that is in the eye of the beholder. What I see when I see that video is a disturbed young man, who those around him find mildly amusing. The fact that he has a knife, of course, makes him a dangerous and disturbed young man. But all over this country, each and every day, police confront dangerous and disturbed people. And at least some of the time, perhaps much of the time, things don't end up like they did in St. Louis. Why is that? Why did these two officers respond the way they did? Why did they get out of their patrol car with weapons drawn? Where were their Tasars? And why have most people in law enforcement, perhaps some who would not have responded as those two St. Louis cops did, defended what happened on that St. Louis street on a Tuesday afternoon?
I suppose it all comes down to perception. And cops seem to have a different way of looking at their jobs than those of us who have never been in the position of a gun-toting authority. But surely it is not unreasonable to expect more out of the police than what they gave us in St. Louis. Surely it is not unreasonable to expect a little more patience from them, at least a little more than 15 or 20 seconds, when dealing with what they had to know was a disturbed man—who else yells at guns-drawn policemen, "Shoot me! Shoot me! Shoot me! Shoot me now, motherfucker!"?
Policemen wear uniforms for a reason. Those uniforms show that they are in a special category of people, people who have the authority to kill in the name of not only the law, but in the name of all of us. When they draw their weapons and aim them, much less shoot, we have every right to expect that they do so only when necessary. We have every right, as citizens, to hold our police to high standards of conduct.
But cops are only as good as the training they receive. Here what Salon's Joanna Rothkof has to say:
The stigmatization and lack of information surrounding mental illness directly affects the criminal justice system, resulting in inadequate treatment, inappropriate prison time and numerous deaths at the hands of police. Prisons are home to 10 times more mentally ill Americans than state psychiatric hospitals. The Los Angeles County Jail is the largest provider of mental healthcare in the country. Appallingly, 50 percent of Americans killed by the police every year are mentally ill, and this largely has to do with police training.
That is shocking. If police aren't receiving adequate training related to dealing with the mentally ill, then it seems unfair to blame them when they pull up to a situation, like in St. Louis, and demand compliance from someone who simply can't comply in the same way you or I could. Rothkof quotes a report ("How lack of police training can be deadly for the mentally ill") by Aaron Ernst and Christof Putzel:
"Traditional law enforcement tactics are rooted in logic, in reasoning – and in issuing commands for someone to comply so that we can make the situation safe right now by taking a person into custody," said Douglas County Police Capt. Attila Denes, who has spent much of his career in the Douglas County Sheriff's Office in Colorado trying to improve police interaction with the mentally ill. "But barking orders at a person with serious mental illness doesn't work."
Of course it doesn't work. But it goes on every day. And, in the end, if we the people allow it to go on, if we don't insist that our police officers get the training they most desperately need and then hold them to a high standard of conduct, we will continue to see cops killing mentally ill people and then having to defend themselves against the perception that something else could have, should have, been done.
https://duanegraham.wordpress.com/2014/08/21/barking-orders-at-a-person-with-serious-mental-illness-doesnt-work/
"No Just God Would Stand For What They Did"
"The United States of America will continue to do what we must do to protect our people. We will be vigilant and we will be relentless. When people harm Americans, anywhere, we do what's necessary to see that justice is done."
—President Obama, August 20, 2014
If I were a member of ISIL, the wicked Islamist group that even other terrorists find intolerable, I wouldn't be planning any "Islamic State" celebrations anytime soon. Or ever.
No amount of prayer to Allah, or whoever it is that these fanatics pray to when they are not killing and raping, will stop what will, eventually, happen to them. President Obama, speaking a short time ago on the execution of journalist James Foley, in a way that did not well hide his subterranean, and righteous, anger, said this:
Let's be clear about ISIL. They have rampaged across cities and villages, killing innocent, unarmed civilians in cowardly acts of violence. They abduct women and children and subject them to torture and rape and slavery. They have murdered Muslims, both Sunni and Shia, by the thousands. They target Christians and religious minorities, driving them from their homes, murdering them when they can, for no other reason than they practice a different religion. They declare their ambition to commit genocide against an ancient people.
So ISIL speaks for no religion. Their victims are overwhelmingly Muslim, and no faith teaches people to massacre innocents. No just God would stand for what they did yesterday and what they do every single day. ISIL has no ideology of any value to human beings. Their ideology is bankrupt. They may claim, out of expediency, that they are at war with the United States or the West, but the fact is, they terrorize their neighbors and offer them nothing but an endless slavery to their empty vision and the collapse of any definition of civilized behavior.
And people like this ultimately fail.
And these people will ultimately fail because of us, because of the United States of America. If there is a God, and if he is just, we will be his primary instrument of justice. The President, as anyone who watched him give his remarks could see, has had enough of ISIL, calling it a "cancer" that must be extracted "so that it does not spread," and saying:
We will do everything that we can to protect our people and the timeless values that we stand for.
Time will tell just what "everything that we can" means. But President Obama has, rightly, put himself and the country on the right side of histo ry by declaring that "a group like ISIL has no place in the 21st century." And for those, especially my friends on the left, who don't think he is on the right side of history, then they should declare just what kind of values, what kind of principles, this country and the civilized world actually do stand for.
More than that, those who oppose the United States helping to root out ISIL—killing every single member if necessary—have a duty to explain exactly what "civilization" means, if a group like ISIL is allowed to openly and proudly murder and rape in civilization's cradle, when we—Americans—most certainly can do something about it.
Tagged ISIL, Islamic State, James Foley, Obama
https://duanegraham.wordpress.com/2014/08/20/no-just-god-would-stand-for-what-they-did/
What A Nail Sees
A reader wrote a comment on my post about what was happening in Ferguson, Missouri,("Gove rnor Jay Nixon Should Call Out The National Guard—To Protect The Citizens of Missouri From The Police") that went like this:
The events occurring there only show the militarization of many police forces across the US. Surplus automatic army weapons and armored vehicles give local cops an opportunity to use them as lethal weapons. Remember the adage, "If your only tool is a hammer, everything looks like a nail."
Yes. And when you feel like a nail, as many African-Americans do, everything coming at you looks like a hammer.
If you don't understand that, if you can't fathom what it might be like to be the nail and also believe, with good reason, that those charged with enforcing the laws of this society have hammering on their minds, then you don't understand what is going on in Ferguson and elsewhere across the country.
Tagged ferguson, hammer and nail, Mo.
https://duanegraham.wordpress.com/2014/08/14/what-a-nail-sees/
Governor Nixon Steps In
"What's gone on here over the last few days is not what Missouri is about, it is not what Ferguson is about. This is a place where people work, go to school, raise their families and go to church, a diverse community, a Missouri community. But lately it has looked a little bit more like a war zone, and that is unacceptable."
—Missouri Governor Jay Nixon at a press conference in Ferguson on Thursday
Things may be getting better in Ferguson:
Missouri Gov. Jay Nixon (D) has given control of security operations in Ferguson to Missouri State Highway Patrol. Capt. Ronald S. Johnson, who heads the highway patrol's troop in the region, and will now direct the law enforcement response in the riot-riven city.
Johnson—unlike the overwhelming majority of police officers who have been on the scene—is African American—like the majority of people living in Ferguson. He also happens to be a 27-year veteran of the highway patrol who says he grew up in the community and has made it his home. He also said something that should have hope-generating relevance and comfort-generating resonance for Ferguson citizens and protesters:
I understand the anger and fear that the citizens of Ferguson are feeling, and our officers will respect both of those.
And thank you, Governor Nixon.
Tagged ferguson, Jay Nixon, protests
https://duanegraham.wordpress.com/2014/08/14/governor-nixon-steps-in/
Governor Jay Nixon Should Call Out The National Guard—To Protect The Citizens of Missouri From The Police
Posted at 11:10 p.m. local time on August 13, 2014:
On Tuesday night Governor Nixon publicly admitted that he "prayed for the parents and loved ones of Michael Brown," the 18-year-old-African American gunned down by a white policeman in Ferguson, Missouri. He said he also "prayed for the residents and businesses and children" of the community. He further claimed that he had "prayed for justice" and "for wisdom" and "for peace."
Well, there is no peace in Ferguson. There isn't much wisdom, and certainly, at least right now, no justice.
What looks like an occupying force, complete with military-esque armaments and attitude, has threatened the citizens of Ferguson, trampling not only their constitutional rights, but arresting and teargassing reporters who were guilty only of committing journalism. That occupying force is local police. Missouri cops.
This has to be stopped.
Where is not only the Democratic governor of our state, but where is our Democratic attorney general, Chris Koster? He's the top law enforcement official in the state. His job is to protect Missouri citizens, even if that job involves protecting those citizens from Missouri cops. The attorney general's only statement on what happened in Ferguson, as far as I can tell, is this:
I support Governor Nixon's call for a thorough, independent investigation by the United States Department of Justice of the circumstances leading to the shooting death of Michael Brown in Ferguson. An outside inquiry led by the DOJ provides both impartiality and credibility to the inquiry's ultimate findings.
That's as it should be. But what about the conduct of the local police departments after the shooting? What about this:
What happened on Wednesday night here in Missouri is outrageous. We employ a governor, who is the commander-in-chief of the Missouri Army National Guard, and attorney general to deal with such matters. They should stop hiding behind prayers and the federal Department of Justice and do their state jobs. Word is out that Governor Nixon has decided to go to Ferguson on Thursday. Good.
But he should be bringing the National Guard with him.
[Top photo: AP]
https://duanegraham.wordpress.com/2014/08/13/governor-jay-nixon-should-call-out-the-national-guard-to-protect-the-citizens-of-missouri-from-the-police/
"Takin' It To The Streets" In Ferguson, Missouri?
"There was an eerie flashback to 1965 in parts of the St. Louis region Sunday. Riot gear. Tear gas. German shepherds. Looting. Stores on fire. Dozens arrested."
—Aisha Sultan, St. Louis Post Dispatch
oday, eighteen-year-old Michael Brown was supposed to start classes at Vatterott College, presumably to pursue his version of the vanishing American Dream. According to a childhood friend, he wanted to start his own business, "make something out of nothing." But Michael Brown is dead. On Saturday, in the early afternoon, a policeman in Ferguson, Missouri, shot him multiple times and killed him, even though he was not armed. Reportedly, his uncovered corpse was left in the street for four hours. There are conflicting versions of what happened, with the police saying there was a struggle for an officer's weapon and witnesses saying the black teenager was shot while he was running away, frightened, with his hands in the air.
Senator Claire McCaskill said she was praying that the "God-loving people of Ferguson will find peace and patience as we wait for the results of what will be numerous and thorough investigations of what happened." Senator Roy Blunt said that Michael Brown's "recent high school graduation should have been a beginning of better things.
Ferguson, population 21,000, is part of greater St. Louis, and advertises that it is, "Proud to be a Playful City USA community!" Last night there was nothing playful about the rioting and looting that went on during what was supposed to be a consciousness-raising vigil for the dead young man, who was on his way to his grandmother's house when he was killed. During t he mayhem, a couple of policemen were injured, one after a brick was thrown at him, and many police cars were damaged. Shots were fired at officers and at a police helicopter, though apparently all missed their targets. There have been 32 arrests so far, with more on the way, according to police.
The mayor of Ferguson and its police chief said they were sure the rioters and looters were not from Ferguson, but came from other communities just to take advantage of the situation. Many local residents who were there said the same thing, and most of those interviewed by reporters were appalled at how the night developed, as USA Today reported:
"Most came here for a peaceful protest but it takes one bad apple to spoil the bunch," said Deanel Trout, 53, who has lived in Ferguson for 14 years. "I can understand the anger and unrest, but I can't understand the violence and looting."
And that is exactly right. Anger and unrest may be appropriate, but violence and looting never is. And that is the problem with this situation. People will tend to focus on the latter as an excuse to ignore the underlying causes of the former. In so many communities, black people have a sense that the lives of their children don't matter all that much to the a uthorities, whether those authorities be police officers or politicians. And in some more dire situations, the children themselves don't see much point in participating in a civilization that they believe not only ignores their interests, but is outright hostile to them. CNN caught a local cop on camera yelling at protesters in Ferguson: "Bring it, you fucking animals! Bring it!"
According to the Aisha Sultan of the St. Louis Post Dispatch,
Ferguson…is an inner-ring suburb, a place where it's easy for the economic recovery to bypass the poor. It's a city of 6 square miles, about 10 miles north of downtown. About two-thirds of the residents are African-American. The median income is $37,000, roughly $10,000 less than the state average. Nearly a quarter of residents live below the poverty level, compared with 15 percent statewide.
It's part of north St. Louis county, where whites left en masse beginning in the 1960s, creating one of the most extreme cases of "white flight" in the country. But many who remained in power are still white, including much of the law enforcement. A local lawyer said whenever she goes into the North County courthouse all the defendants are always black, the cops always white.
Sultan claims that,
The most economically depressed and violence-torn parts of the city and county, predominantly black neighborhoods, are largely ignored by the civic establishment, unless to explain why the city's high rank in violent crime isn't an accurate depiction of the region.
Until we can tell our children — and ourselves — a more honest story about race in this region, we will be left with far worse tragedies to explain.
Hopefully, we will soon find out whether this killing was justified. For now, as Aisha Sultan points out,
For those who have been on the receiving end of disrespect, mistrust, suspicion or brutality, the impulse is to believe Brown was brutally gunned down.
For those who are fearful anytime they cross into the city limits, most likely only for a sporting event, the young man must have done something to "deserve" his fate.
The FBI is opening an investigation of the shooting. Senator McCaskill said that Missourians "will not be satisfied until we have a complete and transparent understanding of all the facts and circumstances that led to this young man's death." Along with that, we need some kind of understanding of why it is that there exists in some American communities, whether it be Ferguson or elsewhere, a group of people who think that violence and looting are acceptable responses to real or perceived injustices. We need to figure out if listening to grievances and addressing the injustices will help reduce the violent responses.
We also need to know why it is, as American Progress points out, that, "1 in every 15 African American men and 1 in every 36 Hispanic men are incarcerated in comparison to 1 in every 106 white men." Or why it is that "one in three black men can expect to go to prison in their lifetime," and "African American women are three times more likely than white women to be incarcerated, while Hispanic women are 69 percent more likely than white women to be incarcerated."
And on and on. There is much to know and understand. Including why it is that a lot of Americans think angry blacks protesting the killing of a teenager in Missouri are thugs and angry whites threatening federal officers on a ranch in Nevada are patriots.
You have probably heard of one of Ferguson's most famous citizens, Grammy Award winner Michael McDonald, who was born and raised there. McDonald sang a lot of hits for The Doobie Brothers, and, ironically, the first hit he had with that band was one he wrote, Takin' It To The Streets:
You don't know me but I'm your brother
I was raised here in this living Hell
You don't know my kind in your world
Fairly soon, the time will tell
You, telling me the things you're gonna do for me
I ain't blind and I don't like what I think I see
Takin' it to the streets
Take this message to my brother
You will find him everywhere
Wherever people live together
Tied in poverty's despair
[Photos: top, from a posting on Facebook; riot photos, from stltoday.com; Doobies, Warner Brothers]
Tagged doobie brothers, ferguson, looting, michael brown, riots, st louis
https://duanegraham.wordpress.com/2014/08/11/takin-it-to-the-streets-in-ferguson-missouri/


text:
Q: How to add 1 to a class using jQuery I'm new to jQuery and JS and I'm trying to make a dynamic menu. It's really simple. I gave two links a class "parent0" and "parent1". Instead of having to do this:
 $('parent0').hover(function(){

   $('child0').slideDown();

  });
 $('parent1').hover(function(){

   $('child1').slideDown();

  });

Is there a way that I can make it so jQuery adds 1 automatically each time?
i tried:
var count = 0;
var parent = $('.parent' + count++);

but I guess that doesn't really work...
Edit: See link: http://www.jsfiddle.net/zpGDV/1/

A: var count = 0;
function addMenu(){
  $('.parent'+count).hover(function(){
    $('.child'+count).slideDown();
  });
  count++;
}

addMenu();
addMenu();

Really not sure what else you're intending to do here...
Though I should mention you should not use class names for this sort of thing. Keep classes for general data, and use ID's for specific elements.
EDIT
Here's a jsfiddle you can play with (and preview) of what I was referring to with classes versus ids.

A: try using .each

A: Depending on your HTML structure you might be able to just use the index (if the parent links correspond in order to the child elements).
html
link 1
link 2

child 1

child 2

jquery
$('.parent').hover(
     function(){
       $('.child').eq($(this).index()).slideDown();
     },
      function(){
       $('.child').eq($(this).index()).slideUp();
     }
 );

demo: http://www.jsfiddle.net/gaby/zpGDV/

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaStackExchange


Home Food Alcohol Let's Make Umeshu!
August, one of Japan's hottest months, has just arrived. Wouldn't it be great to enjoy a refreshing drink in this heat? Why not try something Japanese, like umeshu?
Umeshu is a light, tart alcoholic drink made from ume. Ume are commonly called "Japanese plums"; they are closely related to apricots, but look more like Western plums. The shu of umeshu simply denotes it as a sake, or alcoholic drink.
In English, umeshu is usually called "plum wine," even though it goes through the infusing process of a liqueur and not the fermentation process of wine. Uniquely, because no alcohol is produced in the production of umeshu, no permit is needed to make it in Japan. It is also very easy to make. In fact, probably the only hard thing about the umeshu process is waiting.
For the ingredients, you need ume, rock sugar and a clear liquor. Gathering them all should take just a short trip to your local supermarket. Hit up the baking section for the rock sugar. Look through the alcohol section for the clear liquor. Then head over to the fresh fruit section for the ume.
The ume are the only items that might be hard to find. Ume are in season right around June and July. Specifically, you are looking for bagged, unripe ume that are green in color, hard to the touch and no larger than golf balls. Sometimes 梅酒専用 (うめしゅせんよう umeshu senyou) – "for making umeshu" – is conveniently written on the bag. If not, just look for 1000g bags of a small, green fruit. You can't miss them.
The last thing you need is an appropriate jar for your concoction. In your nearby department store, and sometimes right next to where you found your ume, Japan stocks special jars for making umeshu. These jars have a distinctive red lid and usually come in 1L, 2L and 4L varieties. The inner and outer lids allow for an easy sealing of the container, and the glass is a thicker variety than usual.
I recommend choosing a jar based on how much umeshu you intend to make. The easiest size is the 4L jar because the ume are bagged and sold in the right quantity for one 4L batch. I like to break mine up into two 2L jars for better portability. You could perhaps make it with a friend and split the results.
*Go light on the sugar. You can always add more sugar later.
1) Wash and thoroughly dry your jar.
2) Wash your ume. Remove any loose debris (stems, etc).
3) Hand dry your ume.
4) Fill the jar (Do not fill the jar more than 4/5ths.).
Alternating layers of ume and rock sugar.
A) Make a layer of umein the bottom of the jar.
B) Add rock sugar until the ume are slightly covered.
C) Repeat layers until you are out of ume and rock sugar.
D) Pour in the white liquor.
5) Seal the jar and place it somewhere out of direct sunlight.
How long you wait is flexible and depends mainly on your patience and how you want the umeshu to taste. I recommend waiting at least six months, although some say you can enjoy umeshu as early as three months in. The earlier you open the umeshu, the more tart it will be. Waiting any longer than one year will make the umeshu progressively mellower. It will turn smoother, softer and easier to drink. So, if you want a really mellow umeshu, think about leaving it for two years or more.
When you do finally crack open your concoction, you can enjoy it neat, on the rocks, or with water or soda as a mixer. The ume fruits can be eaten, tossed or stored separately. They won't go bad easily with all that sugar and alcohol in them.
Finally, I want to leave you with some unique twists for your umeshu. Each set of ideas revolves around altering the basic ingredients of the mixture.
Don't add the sugar initially. Add it later to better control the sweetness. Or perhaps just skip the rock sugar altogether and use brown sugar, or even honey.
Switch out the ume for something else. Try biwa or kiwi. If you have caught yourself unable to find ume, try this to keep your jars busy until the next season rolls around. I have seen a variety of different recipes around and can attest to biwa-shu being top-notch awesome. Seek a recipe out, ask around, or experiment with something new.
Clear liquor, which is basically just vodka, is flavorless and allows you tap into the raw flavor essences of the ume. However, my friend Tyler recommends trying a brandy, or something with a little more character than vodka. Normal umeshu can be bought nearly anywhere in Japan, but a non-white liquor umeshu would definitely set your drink apart.
While you let your own umeshu age, take advantage of your time in Japan to sample the ones available around you. There are plenty of brands at the supermarket, and your friends and colleagues may have ready stashes of their own to share with curious taste buds. Umeshu is a simple refresher. In the heat of summer, I like to take it easy and enjoy mine cool, on the rocks.


text:
Scandal: Fitz and Olivia and The "Moonlighting Curse"
Posted in: Scandal
Tags:Fitgerald Grant, Fitz, Liv, Olivia Pope, Scandal ABC
I see that there are a few people pissed off that the Scandal writers are bringing down hell and damnation on Fitz and Olivia's relationship. Again.
I get it, I really do, but honestly, I think that our slight obsession with this couple, makes us a little crazy. I'm counting myself in there as well.
I've been watching couple-centred dramas for years, and it often takes a long time for the central couple to get together. You guys know this. We're only on episode twelve of the second season, and people are demanding an end to the angst already? No wonder so many shows get cancelled, the audience of today have no patience at all.
In my opinion, there has been progression, it may not be progression in the way we would prefer, but there's definitely been a shift between them, and that shift is the reason why so many of us are die-hard Fitz/Liv fans.
I loved Fitz and Olivia in Season One, but when she walked away from the White House in episode seven, I didn't feel the ache in my gut like I did when Fitz let her go in episode four of this season. That's called progression. I now feel emotionally attached to these two people, in a way that I didn't in Season One.
The reason that we feel the way we do about Fitz 'n' Liv is because the Scandal writers have taken us on this marvelous journey with their relationship. They've made us feel invested in what happens to them, so much so, that some of us feel sick at the thought of a TV president, throwing over his mistress, and getting back together with his wife. That there is genius writing.
People talk about the Moonlighting curse being an urban myth, but I disagree. In my experience, once a TV couple that you're pulling for make it, or are in a less stressed-out place, relationship-wise, there isn't the urgency to tune in to see what they're up to. You're not as worried about them, because when you last left them, they were doing ok.
I along with many of you have been watching The Vampire Diaries since the beginning, and I've watched the fans crying out for a Damon and Elena union. I also watch True Blood, and have also seen the fans clamouring for Sookie and Eric to get together. The thing that these two shows have in common is that the two lead characters got together fairly early on, which meant that the fans who loved them in the beginning, ended up not being as invested in their relationship as the show progressed, and they start eyeing up potential new suitors for the heroine.
I have no doubt in my mind, that if Damon had gotten together with Elena first, there would have been a campaign to get Stefan and Elena together – no matter how beautiful looking Ian Somerhalder is. Here we are in season four, and the fans have gotten what they wanted. Julie Plec's writing skills will be tested now, because she's finally given the fans what they've been longing for, for four seasons. Will that translate to more fans tuning in every week to see how their favourite couple are doing? You'd think so wouldn't you, but I bet in a few weeks, less people will feel the urge to watch TVD live.
I'm a huge Merlin fan, and for four seasons, I was desperate for Arthur and Gwen to get together. They finally got married in Season Four, and I was ecstatic. But then Season Five began, and I found myself no longer tuning in to watch it live. I started recording it and watching at my own leisure. I didn't even notice how my Merlin-watching habit had changed until recently, but it had. I still loved the show, but there was no longer this burning need to tune in asap to see what my favourite couple were up to.
I was a huge fan of Nathan and Haley on One Tree Hill, (and on some level, I always will be) but it's no accident that Season Three was my favourite of the nine that were aired. Season three was the season that Nathan and Hayley were most at odds with each other. They went through a lot that year, and I tuned in every week, desperate to see if this would be the week that they would kiss and make up. To the delight of fans everywhere, they eventually re-married at the end of the season, and all was well ( well apart from the crash at the end).
When Season Four of One Tree Hill came back, of course I wanted to see how things panned out for them, but as per usual, once all the legitimate angst was over, I no longer felt the burning need to tune in live to watch them.
I watch a British drama serial called Emmerdale, and for months I was desperate for two of its stars, Gennie and Nikhil to get together. I tuned in every night, desperate to see them interact, and oh it was agony because they had so few scenes together, but the scenes they had were great, and I really looked forward to them. Their will they/won't they story went on for ages, and then they finally got together. And guess what? That desperate need to see them interact died a little. Of course I'm still happy to see them on-screen, but that burning desire to tune in for the sole purpose of seeing them together died when they found their happy place.
The truth is, as much as we think we hate angst at the time, it's what keeps us tuning in to certain shows. Angst is watchable. Watching happy couples being happy, not so much. Unless it's a comedy of course:)
I write all of the above to say that there's simply no point panicking, regardless of your thoughts about previous Grey's Anatomy or Private Practice story lines. Shonda Rhimes is in control here. She's an evil genius who somehow was able to make so many of us root for an adulterous couple, and feel ok about it. I for one am going to get on her Shondaland Rollercoaster, and stay on until the ride stops, no matter how often I puke on the person sat next to me.
Fitz and Olivia are the endgame, but getting them to their happy place wont be easy, nor should it be, if the show is to last beyond its third season…
What would you guys like to see happen over the back nine episodes?
Oh by the way, apologies in advance for any typos that you find, editing wasn't a priority unfortunately:)
First, I enjoy your obsession with Scandal. I am right there with you.
Second, I think Shonda Rhimes had created a realistic enough impediment that even the most die hard fans know deep down that there is no way in hell Olitz can get together at this point. They may say they want them together but they know they would begin to question it if SR waved a magic wand and made it happen. I know I would. I love them being tortured. LOVE IT! I just want her to maintain the precarious balance she has so far — making all three of them Fitz,Mellie and Olivia morally ambiguous — which is working a lot for me.
Third, don't even get me started with Merlin. The fifth season was a dud all the way around. Personally, I don't think the snore-fest that was Gwen and Arthur had anything to do with them finally getting together. I blame the writers for not wanting to alienate their Arthur/Merlin slash fans or other vocal fans who didn't want the show to become a "love story." So to overcompensate they basically neutered them as a couple. However Gwen/Arthur's dismal marriage was the least of that season's problems…
@Tina: I hear you about Merlin and all the fans who were desperate for some Arthur and Merlin loving! Ridiculous! I was so annoyed that Gwen didn't even get to say goodbye to him, and he just died. What the fuck was that?
Re Olivia and Fitz, exactly! He's the president of the United States, his life is really not his own, so the conflicts are real enough, not just the contrived stuff that you see in so many dramas these days.
So with you on Olivia and fritz i feel all the angst just makes it better and that with all the angst these people get up and keep moving keep doing their job and thru it all they are smiling and happy but deep down they are hurting. Love love Scandal. So with you on one tree hill i just drifted away from it after the three season it was not destination tv for me anymore, I am fighting my apathy for VD hope it picks back up, cause where do we go after the conflict is resolved?.
jazzypom
To be honest with you, I'd like Rhimes to go back to the procedural bits in season 1. Now that we've acquainted ourselves with everyone (and how), I want to see the carnival aspect of politics.
In addition, I'd like to see each lead work out their own issues (Fitz, brown will get you down, and the gin is to sin!) before getting back together. I'd like to see Fitz grapple with the problems of the office more. The changing relationship between him and Cy, and how Macbeth he's going to be.
For Olivia, I want more background on her and her gladiators. Like, okay, they owe her, but I need to see why.
I want David and Abby together. #noshame
But you know what, I've learnt from my time with Shonda Rhimes and Grey's is that she does exactly what she pleases, so I have my defibrillator and smelling salts right beside me.


It is very important to know how often you should change the air filter of your HVAC system. While this is a common query of most of the homeowners, the reality is that there is no particular answer to it. There are a number of factors which determine when the filters should be changed.
The main rule of thumb here is that you should change the filter when it looks dirty. Do not wait until it is completely filthy because this means that there is some problem in your HVAC system which is not allowing the system to work at its maximum potential. To make things easier, we have listed 4 factors that will help you understand whether or not you should change the air filter of your HVAC system.
One of the most important factors which determine how often the air filter needs to be changed is the type of filter you have in your system. Filters differ on the basis of the materials from which they are created, their thickness, their form and several other variations.
Everyone loves to save money but buying cheap filters would also mean that you will be required to replace them more often. In the long run, you will end up spending the same amount of money that you would've spent on better quality filters. When purchasing an air filter, there should be a recommended time on the packaging after which it should be replaced. While some last for 1 month, there are others which can last for up to 6 months.
The next important consideration is your family members. If you or someone from your family suffers from allergies, it is better to change the air filter sooner than recommended. By replacing filters often, more number of allergens can be removed from the air.
On the other hand, if the filter is not changed often or as per the recommendation, it will get dirty and full and will not be able to trap more allergens and this can create problems for the sufferer.
Apart from your family members, you should also consider the presence of pets in your home. Most of the dogs and cats shed and the hair gets to every corner of your home, including the air filters. This can significantly impact the performance of your HVAC system.
So, if there are pets in your home, you should prefer changing the filters more often. Apart from this, you should also consider the seasons as pets are known to shed more during the summer months. Make sure that you check the filters more frequently in summer months.
If you are someone who likes to save money, changing filters as per the recommendation is important due to a number of reasons. For instance, clean filters help in reducing the energy consumption of your HVAC system.
Moreover, dirty filters require your system to work harder and this causes more wear on the system. Over time, there is a possibility that your system might develop some problem which might require major repairs or replacement.
You can look for a reliable servicing company to regularly check your HVAC system and its filter to make sure that the filters are regularly changed and your HVAC system functions flawlessly.


text:
Q: Validate a form before ajax post without jquery validation plugin I'm trying to write jquery validation, but I don't want to use a plugin
Here's my ajax I would like to know how to implement validation before posting.
    $('#insert_ticket').submit(function(e){
    var postData = $(this).serialize();
    alert(postData);

    $.ajax({
        type: 'POST',
        url: 'http://localhost/api/eric_api.php?q=insertseries',
        data: postData,
        success: function(response){
            $('#insert_ticket').find('.form_result').html(response);
        },
        error: function(){
            alert('error');
        }
    });
    e.preventDefault();
});

Ok now I've added a validation test
$('#insert_ticket').submit(function(e){
    var postData = $(this).serialize();
    $('.error').hide();
    if($('#user_error').length == ""){
    $('.error').show();
    return false;
}

    $.ajax({
        type: 'POST',
        url: 'http://localhost/api/eric_api.php?q=insertseries',
        data: postData,
        success: function(response){
            $('#insert_ticket').find('.form_result').html(response);
        },
        error: function(){
            alert('error');
        }
    });
    e.preventDefault();
});

My code doesn't work, but if I put it above it's sort of works as it hides the field unless the field is enpty. Yet if it is empty it still posts.
Here's my html code

Ticketing System

                <form  id="insert_ticket" method="post" action="">

                        User

                        <input type="user" name="user" id="user" class="post_fields" />

This is a required field

                        Email

                        <input type="email" name="email" id="email" class="post_fields" />

This is a required field

This is not a valid email

                        Summary

                        <input type="summary" name="summary" id="summary" class="post_fields" />

This is a required field

                        Due Date

                        <input type="due_date" name="due_date" id="due_date" class="post_fields" />

This is not a valid Date

                        Problem Type

                        <input type="problem_type" name="problem_type" id="problem_type" class="post_fields" />

                        Status

                        <input type="status" name="status" id="status" class="post_fields" />

                        <input type="submit" id="submit" value="Submit" />
                        <input type="button" onclick="window.location='index.php'" value="Go to List"/>

                </form>

A: Put your validation code in Ajax's beforeSend. i.e.
 $.ajax({
    type: 'POST',
    url: 'http://localhost/api/eric_api.php?q=insertseries',
    data: postData,
    beforeSend: function(xhr, options){
        // put your validation code here.
        // use xhr.abort(); if validation fails.
    },
    success: function(response){
        $('#insert_ticket').find('.form_result').html(response);
    },
    error: function(){
        alert('error');
    }
});

Further detail at jQuery.ajax()

A: You would do the validation at the line of alert(postData);  If it doesn't validate, show an error message and return false there.