Monday, December 24, 2012

26 Bells The Newtown Connecticut Children and Adam Walsh

Once Upon A Time, on July 27, 1981, a little boy went shopping with his mother at the Sears store in the Hollywood Florida Mall and never came home.
A beginning of a story that could have been my story; you see, I shopped at the Sears store several times a week. I lived in the neighborhood, as did Revé, John and Adam Walsh; my son was also in the same class as Adam at the St. Mark's Lutheran school. The news of Adam’s kidnapping and murder hit me very hard. I would look at my son and feel so grateful that this, the most horrific, devastating fate that a parent could ever endure, did not happen to me. That feeling didn’t make me feel lucky or special; it just made me realize that in this life, with a blink of an eye, you can be hit with a devastating blow that will alter the path of your short existence for the remainder of your days on this Earth.
After the abhorrent and gruesome incident that took place on December 14th 2012 at Sandy Hook Elementary School in Newtown Connecticut, my thoughts turned back to the time when Adam, a little boy, who because he became separated from his mother for a few short moments, was projected into defenselessness in a world full of demons and monsters. As with the children of Newtown but instead of a separation from safety to horror they were already subjected to terror just by living in a Nation who allowed weapons of war to be bought and sold by its citizens like so many pieces of candy.
I have been blogging on these dangerous laws that our lawmakers pass with hardly a thought, for some time now. A few examples below:
The only reward I get in trying to spread the word-- that semi-automatic weapons or concealed weapons or guns in general that can be waved around with little or no regulation, GUNS, WEAPONS that can cause devastating misery through massacres in which many people can be murdered at once within minutes-- is that it allowed me to voice my anger but nothing else, it's like spitting in the wind.
Deaf Ears, so the saying goes, is what all the opinions against gun violence, fell upon. A gnawing gut question keeps circling my brain… “WHY?” A WHY, that no one seems to want to answer, not truthfully anyway.
In the case of Adam Walsh, his dad John Walsh did not allow the “WHY?” to linger on, he was angry that there were no mechanisms or databases in place for the immediate search and rescue of kidnapped and exploited children, he set out to change it.
After hearing the convoluted thoughts of Wayne LaPierre (CEO of NRA) on TV the other day, I believe that he and the many others who share such a mindset are the reason for the gun violence in our country. He and his fellow 5th column co-conspirators (I label them this, not because they deliberately want to destroy Democracy but because they don’t care if it is destroyed, money is the bottom-line) are responsible for the deaths (indirectly or maybe not so indirectly) of so many 'innocents' (all of us who want only to live in peace). Please watch the video (below) '26 Bells' from NBC, without a doubt the saddest reflection of how our American Leaders have turned their backs on our precious children.

26 BELLS


Terrorism is well-established here in America, not by suicide bombers but by maniacs with blood on their minds, who can get ahold of a semi-automatic weapon with no effort WHATSOEVER and that is frightening. thinkingblue

Read on: Adam John Walsh (November 14, 1974 – July 27, 1981) was an American boy who was abducted from a Sears department store at the Hollywood Mall in Hollywood, Florida, on July 27, 1981, and later found murdered and decapitated. Walsh's death earned national publicity. His story was made into the 1983 television film Adam, seen by 38 million people in its original airing. Walsh's father, John Walsh, became an advocate for victims of violent crimes and the host of the television program America's Most Wanted.
Adam's kidnapping and murder prompted John Walsh to become an advocate for victims rights. Adam Walsh's murder was among those that helped to spur the formation of the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children (NCMEC). As a result of his advocacy, he was approached to host the television program America's Most Wanted.
The Code Adam program for helping lost children in department stores is named in Walsh's memory. The U.S. Congress passed the Adam Walsh Child Protection and Safety Act on July 25, 2006, and President Bush signed it into law on July 27, 2006. The signing ceremony took place on the South Lawn of the White House, attended by John and Revé Walsh. The bill institutes a national database of convicted child molesters, and increases penalties for sexual and violent offenses against children. It also creates a RICO cause of action for child predators and those who conspire with them.
The Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations Act, commonly referred to as the RICO Act or simply RICO, is a United States federal law that provides for extended criminal penalties and a civil cause of action for acts performed as part of an ongoing criminal organization. The RICO Act focuses specifically on racketeering, and it allows for the leaders of a syndicate to be tried for the crimes which they ordered others to do or assisted them, closing a perceived loophole that allowed someone who told a man to, for example, murder, to be exempt from the trial because he did not actually do it.

Sunday, December 16, 2012

Newtown Connecticut Massacre

A Time For Sorrow
A Time For Anger
How Much More Are We To Take?
thinkingblue

PS: THIS IS DISGUSTING!
I am ashamed of my fellow Americans who can think like this!
thinkingblue

Thursday, December 13, 2012

Obama To Give The GOP A Lollipop. SAY WHAT?

Ezra Klein gives a Factual Account on the Rachel Maddow Show, as to WHY President Obama is willing to throw old people under the bus to please the GOP. thinkingblue

Thursday, December 06, 2012

GOP Acts Out The Terrible Two's Here Everyday But Now...

It's Spilling Over Into The International Arena
Down with tyranny blog click here
Today on my Daily Kos Blog I was asked the question: thinkingblue - help me understand ...

I am not sure how these treaties work. Does the US have to approve this treaty for it to be effective? Or does each country sign if they agree to abide by the treaty, independent of what other counties do? If some number of member nations agree does that have any bearing on countries that don't sign? If the ADA is already in effect in the US does this treaty have a real impact on the disabled in the US if we sign, or not?

A very good question deserving a good answer, so I did a search and came up with these sites: thinkingblue

RatifyNow FAQ

"Before this convention, (treaty) disability was often regarded as a disease or illness, but now we have realized that disability is an interaction between a certain condition and society. Society must help to eliminate disabilities through accessibility, non-discrimination and protecting and enforcing the same rights to everyone.“ - Vice chair of the Ad Hoc Committee

What is a human rights convention?

A convention, or treaty, is a legally binding document between 2 or more countries. A human rights convention is a treaty that deals specifically with human rights. The International convention on the Rights of People with Disabilities is a “thematic treaty”, meaning that it defines the human rights of a particular demographic (in this case, the human rights of people with disabilities).

Is "signing" a convention the same thing as "ratifying" it?

No. A country that signs the Convention becomes a signatory, and a country that ratifies the convention becomes a States Party. Becoming a signatory qualifies the state (nation) to proceed toward ratification, and establishes an obligation to refrain from any acts that violate the principles of the Convention. Becoming a states party (ratifying nation) means that the country agrees to be legally bound by the treaty. If a nation both signs and ratifies at the same time, it is said to "ascend".

What happens if a country decides not to sign or ratify a convention?

First, a convention must be "adopted," which means it becomes open for countries to sign. It is then up to each country to decide whether it chooses to sign or ratify the convention. Like most conventions, the CRPD requires that at least 20 countries ratify it before it can "enter into force." To "enter into force" means a treaty becomes active, and the ratifying countries are required to implement it.

Once the Convention becomes international law, the core concept of equal rights for people with disability will become the norm. As has occurred with other treaties, this new recognition of basic human rights will begin to be incorporated into the national laws of nations which don’t ratify the Convention. This will benefit people with disabilities who live in those nations, and may spur additional nations to opt for ratification in the coming years as their laws begin to include the rights guaranteed under the Convention.

We have many other international human rights treaties. Why aren’t those enough to protect the rights of people with disabilities, too?

Unfortunately most of the existing human rights treaties don’t mention people with disabilities. Also, when governments monitor other treaties to ensure that they are properly implemented, they often do not report information about how these treaties affect people with disabilities. Furthermore, the few older human rights instruments that do mention people with disabilities do not address their right to participate fully in society. Over time, the international disability community came to realize that governments needed guidance in applying human rights to people with disabilities.

In the United States, we already have the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA). So why do we also need to sign and ratify the CRPD?

Although the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) has been very important to the daily lives of many Americans with disabilities, it does not, and cannot, fully cover all the basic human rights to which people with disabilities are entitled. The CRPD would supplement the power of the ADA to ensure that people with disabilities have stronger access to all the same human rights to which all people are entitled. Also, if the United States signs and ratifies the CRPD, it would help send a strong message to other countries that we, too, support human rights for people with disabilities. This may help inspire more countries to ratify the CRPD so that more people with disabilities around the world can enjoy its protections. MORE HERE: http://www.ratifynow.org/ratifynow-faq/

Wednesday, December 05, 2012

The Hands Of The GOP Are Quite Busy During 2012's End.

Republicans' Push America Over The Fiscal Cliff, With One Hand, While Pushing the World's Disabled Under the Bus With the Other.
Happy New Year Republican Style.
thinkingblue
WASHINGTON — Former Senator Bob Dole of Kansas sat slightly slumped in his wheelchair on the Senate floor on Tuesday, staring intently as Senator John Kerry gave his most impassioned speech all year, in defense of a United Nations treaty that would ban discrimination against people with disabilities.

Senators from both parties went to greet Mr. Dole, leaning in to hear his wispy reply, as he sat in support of the treaty, which would require that people with disabilities have the same general rights as those without disabilities. Several members took the unusual step of voting aye while seated at their desks, out of respect for Mr. Dole, 89, a Republican who was the majority leader.

Then, after Mr. Dole’s wife, Elizabeth, rolled him off the floor, Republicans quietly voted down the treaty that the ailing Mr. Dole, recently released from Walter Reed National Military Medical Center, so longed to see passed. More Here
 

 What does the Fiscal Cliff mean to you?

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