The Guardrail For Our Society

Women, in general, and young women, in particular, used to be the guardrail for social behavior—essentially keeping males from acting too stupidly, brazenly, dangerously. Now young women are nearly just as bad, just as often.

My Die-For Girl - My Newest Song release

 

But What Is "Free Speech"?

But what is "free speech"?

It used to mean speech that couldn't be suppressed or intimidated by government. That notion is long gone. Now your speech can be suppressed, if not by government directly (though I think it absolutely is), certainly by its proxies, by media and social media outlets, by banks and corporations that can refuse to do business with you, by mob mentality in person or online that can get you fired from your job, have your assets confiscated, get you protested at home or assaulted in person.

Further, I submit, far more important than free speech is the idea of fair and honest elections. Now there are examples every election season, at every level of government, where elections are manipulated. In fact, we may never see honest and fair national elections ever again.

#freespeech #zerohedge #fairelections

[A comment made at https://www.zerohedge.com/geopolitical/mob-rule-versus-survival-west-why-americans-should-be-watching-uk]

Regarding The "TikTok Bill" (HR 7521

Please read the TikTok bill (HR 7521), it is only 13 pages (and most of that is government legalese). It appears to give an extraordinary amount of power solely to any President (with NO congressional oversight) to ban any websites, apps AND any companies that offer them. Key language here: "...foreign adversary controlled applications, such as TikTok..." So NOT just TikTok. And the 'foreign adversary' can be changed at the President's discretion.

As if Biden isn't dangerous enough.

https://docs.house.gov/billsthisweek/20240311/HR%207521%20Updated.pdf

"Partial To Roses" Is NOW On Spotify

https://open.spotify.com/album/1I3WvFWOItkK6ENpe2lYkG

COVID19 and Moderna, Inc.'s Financial Statements

In the long, deadly wake of the Covid vaccine debacle, we must never forget that for one of the principal manufacturers -- Moderna, Inc. -- the Covid vaccine was, according to its financial statements, the company's first and only commercial product, which was, of course, sold to the US and other countries' governments to be distributed to their citizens.

Further:

• For the 6 months ending June 30, 2020 -- before the development and rollout of the vaccine -- Moderna had losses of $241 million.

• One year later, the company had profits of $4 billion, 

It's also worth noting that, in 2016, the Gates Foundation gave Moderna access to funding of nearly $100 million.

Draw your own conclusions, but -- my God -- at the very least Americans should have been informed that if he or she was going to receive the Moderna vaccine, they would be guinea pigs for the efficacy and safety of the first and only commercial product from a company that, until then, was losing an extraordinary amount of money.

References:  https://investors.modernatx.com/financial-information/sec-filings

#moderna #covidvaccine #covid19 #Fauci

Letter To The Editor at THE FEDERALIST

Dear Editor,

Having just read the essay, Congress Must Hold Firm Against TikTok’s Legion Of Lobbyists And Cut Off Chinese Espionage, by Nathan Leamer, I have to wonder if there isn't a hidden agenda being pushed by Mr. Leamer and/or The Federalist. Though Mr. Leamer accuses the Chinese government of using TikTok for espionage, not once does he give any explanation for how this is done, in what manner it adversely affects the US government, or how the typical American user of TikTok might be influenced or harmed. Not once. (Really shoddy work from whichever editor greenlit the essay.) As an infrequent TikTok user who posts short video clips of my German Shepherd Gracie, I'd like to know how I, or my country, is being endangered.

From his short bio, I learned that Mr. Leamer is the Executive Director of a two-person organization, it seems, called Digital First Project, that offers zero information on where it gets its funding, or what corporations/government agencies it is affiliated with. Given the paucity of argument in the essay, I'm not sure why The Federalist would think Mr. Leamer is even qualified to give his opinion on why TikTok should be banned in the US.

I'm open-minded as to why TikTok is a national threat, but this essay doesn't offer a single reason. 

I expect more from something I read in The Federalist.

Sincerely,

Alfred C. Martino

Jersey City, NJ 07302

www.AlfredMartino.com

#thefederalist #tiktok #nathanleamer

Don't Think There's Election Manipulation? Consider the 2021 California Gubernatorial Recall Election...

Don't think there's election manipulation?

Consider California's gubernatorial elections of 2018 and 2022, and the recall election of 2021.

In November 2018, Gavin Newsom won the California gubernatorial election in a landslide—the biggest such victory in the state in almost 70 years—winning 61.94% of the 12,466,253 ballots cast.

This election was held on the same day as the national midterms elections, so California voters were making their choices for all 53 members to the United States House of Representatives, one member to the United States Senate, all eight state constitutional offices, all four members to the Board of Equalization, 20 members to the California State Senate, and all 80 members to the California State Assembly, among other local elected offices.

In addition, there were 12 propositions on the ballots regarding a wide range of issues--from bond issuances for a variety of state programs, to enacting daylight savings, to farm animal welfare.

In other words, Californians had a host of incentives to cast their ballots.

A little more than a year later, in February of 2020, a group of disaffected residents filed a petition with the state with their grievances: "People in this state suffer the highest taxes in the nation, the highest homelessness rates, and the lowest quality of life as a result."
After their petition was approved, and the requisite signatures were collected, a recall election was held on September 14, 2021.

As a result, Newsom retained the governorship with 61.88% of the total vote tally of 12,838,565. (Technically, voters were deciding not to remove Newsom from the governorship.)

In 2018, 61.94%.

In 2021, 61.88%.

Nearly identical.

So...

...with just one ONE issue on the ballot, and in the wake of Newsom's draconian Covid policies and his well-publicized debacle at The French Laundry restaurant (where he and his high profile guests flouted his own pandemic restrictions), amid the increasing problems of homelessness and illegal immigration, with a full-throated statewide opposition able to garner the funds to organize, and, subsequently, to collect 1,720,000 million verified signatures--all done during Covid--Newsom received nearly the identical percent of votes, and 220,000 MORE total votes than he did in his historic, landslide victory of 2018.

So, you say, Newsom was evidently a popular governor and the state's residents approved of his policies.

Perhaps.

However, just 13 months later, in November of 2022, when, again, the gubernatorial election coincided with the national midterms (and residents across California had many more reasons to go to the voting booth), Newsom would win his second term as Governor with 1.5 million FEWER votes than during the recall election (even though California had just adopted universal mail-in ballots, per a bill signed by Newsom).

While none of this is proof of election manipulation, if I were part of the ruling Democrat elite in California, and wanted to make a point to my opponents bold enough to garner the funds and support for a recall election, all the while wanting to maintain a presidential posture for 2024--in the event Biden is unable to be the Democrat nominee--but certainly with an eye for 2028, I would make sure my historic landslide of 2018 was replicated for the recall election.

#electionfraud #electionmanipulation #Newsom #California #recallelection

Partial To Roses - My Newest Song Release

New X/Twitter post.

https://twitter.com/AlfredCMartino 

Daisy and Sara

So I have these two wonderful dogs, Daisy and Sara. Both were adopted from the same agency: Daisy two and a half years ago, Sara a year and a half ago. I always wanted to have a dog for all the obvious reasons of having a companion, a protector, and something else living in my condo besides plants and me.

But, to be honest, my desire to get a dog was spurred by my father who had one when he was a teenager. The dog was a Doberman and, apparently, very loyal to him. Now, when I was a kid, my father said I couldn't have a pet because we travelled on vacation too often. This may or may not have been a valid reason, though I used to think he scheduled family trips just so this no-pet rule would be justified. Regardless, though he had experienced the joys of having a dog as a kid, he would not let me get one. The hypocrisy of this would be a mild annoyance for me, but never enough to compel me to do anything about it.

A few years later, my mother and father would go through a very acrimonious divorce and the relationship between my father and I would deteriorate to the point where we no longer spoke to each other. That was sixteen years ago. Unfortunate, but not unique. Nevertheless, anger toward my father was the compulsion (a kind of slow grind of pressure) that grew over time to the point where I, unwittingly, only needed a spark to change me into a a doggie adopter.

That catalyst came in the form of a very innocuous conversation with a dear friend who, after a few glasses of wine, said simply, "You can have a dog." She then immunmerated all the reasons why my life was ideal for a canine addition: Owning my own company (so a dog could come to work with me), owning my own condo (so I wouldn't have to worry about getting permission from a landlord), enough money, etc. etc.

Without trying to sound cliched, it was an epiphany of sorts. I suddenly saw all the many reasons for having a dog when I used to only see reasons not to.

And so, I adopted Daisy and, in a sense (at least in my own mind), one-upped my father. Silly, I suppose. But it made me feel better and I ended up adopting a darling shepherd-pit bull mix. And a beautiful shepherd a year later.

Daisy, Sara & Me 

A Beginning

Okay, so I'm completely new to blogs and blogging, and, generally speaking, exposing anyone but the closest of friends and my writing group mates to anything that remotely resembles my inner thoughts/feelings. However, in the interest of not making this remarkably boring, I will open up (sometimes) to you, my new closest friend.