Will Assange Keep Promise?

@wikileaks When can we hope to see suspected rapist Assange board the plane to the U.S. now that @BarackObama has granted Manning clemency?

— (((Bock McMillan)))™ (@BockMcMillan) January 18, 2017

Julian Assange, suspected rapist, who has chosen to be in self-elected isolation at the Ecuadorian embassy in London for a longer period than he would probably have been jailed if he had instead chosen to stand trial for his alleged crimes in Sweden, recently offered to go to the United States if President Obama granted clemency for Chelsea Manning.

Well, now that President Obama has done just that, and Manning will be set free in May 2017, it remains to be seen if Assange will keep his promise. I most certainly will not hold my breath.

Incommunicado

The Much Honored Bock McMillan, laird of Southern Charm, prince of Cascade Falls etc. etc. will be unreachable this afternoon and evening. The official reason given is an alleged summit meeting among the world leaders concerning ramifications on International security by the election of Mr. Donald J. Trump as president of the United States.

The unofficial - and more truthful reason - is that the laird yesterday received the full DVD-collection of Game of Thrones, season 6, and will spend the Friday evening kicking back and frolicking in frisky murder and mayhem with the characters of that wondrous production.

We Will Survive!

I stayed up all night yesterday, following the elections in the USA. I was engulfed in a weird unreal feeling as time passed by. This couldn't be happening, it wasn't supposed to happen...

Well, it did happen and we must accept the results, however devastated or petrified we feel about them at this moment for the future of the American people or the world. An isolationist America is not what the world needs and we cannot let America slip into the grasp of the Russian bears warm and welcoming hug.

The election revealed an extremely divided America. Whites against people of color, men against women, old against young, uneducated against educated, straight against LGBT. Even the winners, the Republicans are severely divided. There is much that has been gained over the last 25 years that is at risk of being lost, universal health care (whatever deficiencies that still remain to be  corrected), same-sex marriages, a woman's right to decide what happens with her body, family planning etc., etc.

But I still remain hopeful and believe and hope that my American friends and family - after the first initial shock and devastation has ebbed out - will cooperate and form alliances to fight back at every turn and every step of the way.

The rest of us must encourage them and give them whatever support we can. The dinosaurs and the macho white supremacists will not prevail.

At the risk of being perceived as extremely cheesy...

"Only I Can Save You!" (Edited)

The presidential election in the United States this year has caused a great deal of unrest and many rifts in the gay community in SecondLife, at least the part of it that I am in. Old friendships are broken and harsh words and derogatory adjectives are thrown about frequently.

Vladimir Lenin (April 22, 1870 –  January 21, 1924)

I have a fundamental belief in mankind, that we all strive for what we see as the best solution for ourselves and - mostly - for society as a whole. Some say I am naive, but I don't give a damn. I also believe in democracy and the political system to attend to our societies and address the issues that arise.

Josef Stalin (December 18, 1878 – March 5, 1953)

In our societies people - and large groups of them - are sometimes afraid, due to economic setbacks, sickness, unemployment, globalization, civil unrest, whatever or just from a feeling of being disenfranchised. No one sees their plight or listens to their complaints. No one tries to assist them in bettering their conditions, everyone else is just thinking of themselves.

Benito Mussolini (July 29, 1883 – April 28, 1945)

When such conditions are present we have more than once in our history seen politicians or parties arise who say they have the absolute remedy or know exactly how to go about creating "change" (unspecified and vague enough). 

Adolf Hitler (April 20, 1889 – April 30, 1945)

Most of the time these politicians will claim to be "outsiders" or "not part of the establishment", even though a simple background check will show that they actually are and have been for a long time.

Mao Zedong (December 26, 1893 – September 9, 1976)

Their often simple solutions start with pointing out who is to blame for the present predicament, it can be a particular race, religious or cultural affiliation, nationality, sexual orientation or economic class. Or better still all of the above jumbled together.

Donald J. Trump (June 14, 1946 -  )

Whenever I encounter a person or a group of people seeking political power who claim to know the the quick-and-fast solution to a given problem and asks me to "Trust me, I am the only one who can save you!", I back away as fast as I can.

Vladimir "Little Father" Putin (October 7, 1952 - )

There have been man politicians and groups throughout history who have made claims on the absolute way to "save" voters. Here are a few examples of "savior politicians", demagogues and despots, in the present and not too distant history (ordered according to date of birth).
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So how do we go from the existence of "savior politicians" to how to handle our friendships and relationships in SecondLife?

In my mind, the absolutely worst way to go about it is to distance yourself. I will never allow myself to assume that one of my friends or acquaintances is a misogynist, racist, Islamophobe, anti-Semite, homophobe or indeed anti-anything merely by whom they support in the American election, not until they express such views and opinions. Until that happens they will remain my friends.

Edit October 23, 2016: The edit today consisted only of moving the pictures, not a word was changed except for "globalization" which was previously misspelled.)

Do the Right Thing!

Facebook tests cannot be wrong. If you are considering voting for The Donald or The Evan or The Jill, please write me in! #BockForPresident pic.twitter.com/9klRvXXUVV

— (((Bock McMillan™))) (@BockMcMillan) October 16, 2016

Ugh I forgot that guy that cannot name another country in the world and doesn't know of Aleppo in Syria, whatever his name is...

European Commission Approves Truvada

On August 22, 2016, the European Commission announced that it approves Truvada as PrEP (pre-exposure prophylaxis against HIV) in all 28 EU countries.

Truvada is the first antiretroviral drug to be licensed in all 28 countries of the European Union to reduce the risk for HIV infection, subject to national regulatory authority approval of required pharmacovigilance materials in each country.

Two major studies (iPrEx study and Partners PrEP trial) demonstrated substantial reductions in the risk for HIV-1 infection when Truvada was used as PrEP. Both studies linked better adherence to daily Truvada to better protection against HIV-1 infection.

Experts believe that it will be available on the pharmaceutical market in the next six months. Even now PrEP plays an important role, together with other measures, in HIV prevention.

PrEP is relatively costly (universally recognized is $1,539.90 for 30 tablets) if it is not reimbursed by health insurance and is affordable by very few people. Now many hope that alternative PrEP becomes available in the market and that this very effective method of prevention will be available to many more.

It is not yet clear when PrEP will be available in Sweden and at what cost.

In addition to the European Union, Truvada is also authorized for PrEP in the United States, Australia, Canada, Kenya, Peru, and South Africa.

Orlando, Fl

The homophobe and mass murderer Omar Mateen, 29, committed the worst mass shooting in American history yesterday, June 12th 2016, when he attacked the Pulse nightclub, a LGBT club in the heart of Orlando, armed with an AR-15-type assault rifle and other weapons, killing 49 people and wounding 53.

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Our thoughts at this time must go to the loved ones of the killed and to the wounded and their families. 

Gratitude

The World thanks @Rosie for very fittingly naming @realDonaldTrump #OrangeShitStain pic.twitter.com/UVzxOfr0gu

— Bock McMillan (@BockMcMillan) May 27, 2016

Donald J Trump, the reality tv-star and presumptive Republican candidate for the president election in the U.S.A, has made insults and name calling one of his most notable traits.

Today one of his fiercest and most longstanding enemies, Ms Rosie McDonald, got back at him. 

"Republicans May Vote For Bock", Laird Says

If you ever needed final proof that The Much Honored Bock McMillan, laird of Southern Charm etc. etc, is a softy, you got it today when the Laird's Household released the following statement. 

"My heart goes out to my Republican friends in the United States of America as they must choose a presidential candidate  among the bigoted, neo-fascist and despicable losers that have offered their names for consideration. They face the choice between pestilence and cholera, and there is no lesser evil among them.

After much contemplation and soul searching I have come to the firmly held belief that I must act to give the G.O.P. a reasonable and sane candidate at the upcoming convention. 

Although I do not share the usual Republican belief that economical issues and taxes are more important than human rights, I still feel they need to offer ya'll a better lineup to choose from.

Here are my positions on a couple of the issues in this year's political conversation. 

I am for

• equal rights and opportunities for all human beings

• a separation of state and church (incl. the removal of references to God on money)

• a woman's right to choose anything that concerns her body

• universal and comprehensive health care and expanding the ACA further

• very strict gun control

• same-sex marriage and adoptions

• a photo ID being required to vote

• continued government funding of Planned Parenthood

• health control providers being required to offer free birth control 

• requiring that businesses have both women and men on their board of directors

• the military allowing both women and men to serve in combat roles 

• legalization of marijuana

• raising the debt ceiling

• raising the minimum wage

• businesses being required to provide paid maternity leave for full-time employees

• trade unions

• affirmative actions

• increased government environmental regulations to prevent global warming

• the U.S. remaining in the United Nations

• declaring war on ISIS

• increased foreign aid spending

• government funding of stem cell research

I am against

• the death penalty

• secular business being able to deny service due to their religious beliefs

• states displaying the racist Confederate flag on government property

• cuts in public spending to reduce national debt

• juveniles being sent to prison and the use of solitary confinement for them

I believe in 

• the theory of evolution

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To avoid any "birther issues", please let me refer you to Second Life, who can attest to the fact that Bock McMillan was born on March 11th, 1997, on a server placed in California, U.S.A. I am therefore a "natural born citizen" of the United States of America. 

I offer my name with pride and confidence that you will do that right thing! Now the ball is in your court. It's easy peasy, just write me in next time you vote!

Yours always,

Bock McMillan

Laird of Southern Charm etc. etc. 

Live Long and Prosper!

Statement by the President of the United States of America on the Passing of Leonard Nimoy
"Long before being nerdy was cool, there was Leonard Nimoy. Leonard was a lifelong lover of the arts and humanities, a supporter of the sciences, generous with his talent and his time. And of course, Leonard was Spock. Cool, logical, big-eared and level-headed, the center of Star Trek’s optimistic, inclusive vision of humanity’s future.

I loved Spock.

In 2007, I had the chance to meet Leonard in person. It was only logical to greet him with the Vulcan salute, the universal sign for “Live long and prosper.” And after 83 years on this planet – and on his visits to many others – it’s clear Leonard Nimoy did just that. Michelle and I join his family, friends, and countless fans who miss him so dearly today."

Drugs & Politics

The Drug Policy Alliance (DPA) is the leading organization in the U.S.A promoting drug policies that are grounded in science, compassion, health and human rights. Ethan Nadelman, founder and executive director of the DPA, talks about the politics of drugs over a period of 150 years.

This gives food for thought.

Transcript

If you ask the question why are some drugs legal and others illegal. Why are cigarettes and alcohol legal and pharmaceuticals in the middle and these other drugs — marijuana and, you know, other ones illegal? You know, some people sort of inherently assume well this must be because there was a thoughtful consideration of the relative risks of drugs and, you know — but then that can't be because we know alcohol is more associated with violence than almost any illegal drugs. And cigarettes are more addictive than any of the illegal drugs. I mean, heroin addicts routinely say it's harder to quit cigarettes than it is to quit heroin.

So, it's not as if there was ever any kind of National Academy of Science that a hundred years ago decided that these drugs — these ones had to be illegal and those ones legal. And it's not as if this is in the Bible or in the Code of Hammurabi. I mean, nobody was making legal distinctions among many of these drugs back in — until the twentieth century essentially.

So if you ask how and why this distinction got made, what you realize when you look at the history is it has almost nothing to do with the relative risks of these drugs and almost everything to do with who used and who was perceived to use these drugs, right.
So there's — you know, back in the 1870's when the majority of opiate consumers were middle aged white women, you know — throughout the country using them for their aches and pains and for their, you know, the time of the month and menopause and there was no aspirin.

There was no penicillin. You know, lots of diarrhea because of bad sanitation and nothing stops you up like opiates. I mean, millions — many more — a much higher percentage of the population back then used opiates than now.

But nobody thought about criminalizing it because nobody wanted to put, you know, auntie or grandma behind bars, right. But then when the Chinese started coming to the country in large numbers in the 1870's and 80's and, you know, working on the railroads and working in the mines and working in factories and, you know — and then going back home at the end of the night to smoke up a little opium the way they did in the old country. The same way White people were having a couple of whiskeys in the evening.
And that's when you got the first opium prohibition laws. In Nevada, in California in the 1870's and 80's directed at the Chinese minorities. It was all about the fear — what would those Chinamen with their opium do to our precious women. You know, addicting them and seducing them and turning them into sex slaves and all this sort of stuff.

The first anti-cocaine laws were in the South in the early part of the twentieth century directed at black men working on the docks and the fear. You know, what would happen to those black men when they took that white powder up their black noses and forgot their proper place in society. You know, going out — the first time anybody ever said that, you know, the cops needed a 38 would not bring down a Negro crazed on cocaine. You needed a 45.

I mean, the New York Times, the paper of record, reporting this stuff as fact back in those days. That's when you got the first cocaine prohibition laws. The first marijuana prohibition laws were in the Midwest and the Southwest directed at Mexican migrants, Mexican Americans taking the good jobs from the good white people. Going back home to their communities, smoking a little of that funny smoking, you know, marijuana, reefer cigarette. And once again the fear, what would this minority do to our precious women and children.

So, I mean, it's always been about that. I mean even alcohol prohibition was to some extent a broader conflict between the white white Americans and the not so white white Americans, right. The white white Americans coming from northern and western Europe in the eighteenth, early nineteenth century with all of their stuff. And then the not so white white Americans coming from southern Europe and eastern Europe in the late nineteenth and early twentieth century bringing with them their beer and their vino and, you know, their schlivowitz, right. I mean, it was all about that type of conflict.

And it wasn't as if the white white Americans weren't also consuming. It's just many of them knew that when you criminalize a vice that is engaged in by a huge minority of the population and you leave it inevitably to the discretion of law enforcement as to how to enforce those laws, those laws are not typically gonna be enforced against the whiter and wealthier and more affluent or middle class members of society.

Inevitably those laws will be disproportionately enforced against the poor and younger and darker skinned members of society. So to some very good extent that's really what the war on drugs has been about. When people talk about it as the new Jim Crow in this wonderful book by Michelle Alexander with that title, it's about understanding that, you know, the war on drugs is not just about race and it's not just about targeting black and brown young people because, God knows, I mean, millions of white people have been swept up in the war on drugs as well. But it is disproportionately and overwhelmingly about that from its origins to its enforcement to who gets victimized today.

Damn!

The Democrats were slaughtered in yesterdays midterm elections in the U.S.A. The Republicans won a majority in both the house and the senate.

The above picture comes from the first page of Huffington Post, via J.M.G.

Damn, damn, damn! And did I say damn?

Fall Back in Europe 2014

Last night Daylight Savings Time (DST) ended in Europe, at 3 AM Sunday morning we had "fall back"and the hour we lost in spring was returned to us.

This as usual heralds a period of biannual confusion in a global community like SecondLife.

Australia and New Zealand have already gone "spring forward" on October 5, 2014, but SecondLife, the U.S.A and Canada do not "fall back" until Sunday November 2, 2014.

The European Union & The Malaysian Jetliner (Updated)

On Thursday May 17, 2014, Malaysia Airlines flight MH17 (en route from Amsterdam, the Netherlands, to Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia) crashed in Eastern Ukraine, killing all 283 passengers and 15 crew members.

The tragedy has since lead to many speculations concerning what caused the airplane to crash, among other theories so far it is believed that the plane could have been shot down by a missile.

John Aravosis, over at the AMERICAblog, yesterday posted an interesting analysis of the event and it's political ramifications involving Russia, the European Union and the United States, see Destruction of Malaysia Airlines flight poses huge conundrum for Obama, Europe.

At this point, US intelligence thinks the Russian-backed rebels in Ukraine shot down the Malaysian airliner, and they suspect it was with a Russian (Soviet) “Buk” missile. And the Pentagon said today that it was basically inconceivable that the rebels could have learned to operate the missiles without Russian help. There’s also a serious question as to where the Russian rebels got their Russian weapons from (take a guess).

But it’s worse than that. CNN was saying yesterday that while it would have been obvious to the Russians that this was a civilian airliner, it would have been next to impossible for the Russian rebels in Ukraine to know the difference between a Ukrainian military plane and a civilian airliner. The Russians knew they couldn't tell the difference, the Russians knew they were providing weapons and training to people who were planning on shooting down planes in an area that was a major corridor for international civilian air traffic. And the Russians went ahead and trained them to shoot down the planes anyway (if, everything we now suspect ends up being true).

That’s not an accident. And it’s not simple negligence. It borders on premeditated murder.

You train someone to shoot down planes, in a zone full of civilian airliners, knowing full well that the people you’re training have no way of knowing which planes are civilian and which are military. You know they’re going to be killing innocent people, and you simply don’t care (or perhaps even want them to). That’s not a “mistake.”

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Although we are still at an early stage, and there has been no formal inquiry into the cause of the crash yet, I believe that Mr. Aravosis is on the right track. 

It will now be very interesting to see if - and how - the European Union and the United States decide to take action against Russia and "Little Father" Vladimir Putin, the president of Russia, in the latter's attempts  "to reconstitute the Soviet Union in all its deadly glory".

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Update
Malaysia Airlines has released the full names and nationalities of every person on board. There were:

• 192 Dutch, including one who had a dual Dutch/U.S. citizenship
• 44 Malaysian
• 27 Australian
• 12 Indonesian
• 10 British, including one who had dual U.K./African citizenship
• 4 German
• 4 Belgian
• 3 Filipino
• 1 Canadian
• 1 New Zealander

Happy Independence Day, 2014

The American Declaration of Independence (declaring independence from the Kingdom of Great Britain), was adopted by Congress on this day in 1776.

The preamble of that declaration says, "We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness."

Even if Thomas Jefferson's words are heavily influenced by religion and natural law philosophy they, to this day, express what those of us that believe in a democratic society based on full and equal human rights for all citizens still hold true.
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I wish all my American family members, friends and readers a happy Independence Day!

HRC Wins "Best Social Media Campaign 2013"

From the Human Rights Campaign (HRC) blog:

"Tuesday night at Mashable’s inaugural award show in New York City, HRC was recognized as this year’s “Best Social Media Campaign” for the Supreme Court digital strategy that launched the red equality logo.

The Mashies celebrates the best in digital across marketing, advertising and social media. HRC was nominated alongside Wieden+Kennedy’s Nike Greatness campaign by and Ignition Interactive’s Prometheus Integrated campaign.

HRC’s campaign, which included the viral red equality logo, captured the attention of millions in the lead up to the historic Supreme Court’s marriage equality decisions. From actors to musicians and athletes to TV personalities, dozens of celebrities shared the modified HRC logo or supportive messages about marriage equality with millions of followers. According to an official Facebook analysis, 120 percent more people changed their profile picture on Tuesday, March 26 – the first day of oral arguments -- when compared to the previous Tuesday. It is the largest social media campaign analysts have seen to date."

Open Letter

Source xkcd.com

I didn't know the list of who really controlls the U.S. government was quite so extensive, but you learn something new everyday!

Extortion, Not Stalemate

I am still lingering on the shutdown of the American federal government, because I simply cannot wrap my mind around how something like this can occur in a democratic country with a healthy economy.

Time Magazine's cover for October 14, 2013

I think I may have stumbled upon a great article by US Political Commentator Brian Normoyle on Huffington Post's political pages. The article is entitled This Shutdown Is About Extortion, Not Stalemates.

"Those following or reporting on the U.S. government shutdown should refrain from using terms like "impasse" or "stalemate." These words imply two honest parties negotiating in good faith have arrived at a temporary but surmountable deadlock. That's not even remotely the case here.

Instead, two parties--the Senate Democrats and the House Republicans -- each passed divergent budgets earlier this year. The latter, propelled by a very small yet ideologically rigid minority of its members, made the calculated decision from the start not to negotiate.

Democrats made 18 requests since April to go to conference and compromise on a budget bill; Republicans blocked every single one of them. And now they are using a manufactured crisis to extract policy concessions on duly passed legislation they don't like and cannot repeal through the normal democratic processes: elections, legislative votes, and litigation.

Meanwhile, House Republicans continue to insist they're doing the will of the American people despite overwhelming evidence to the contrary. While a plurality or small majority of Americans remain confused about or opposed to the Affordable Care Act, a strong majoritywant a budget approved without conditions to repeal, defund, or delay it -- mainly because they see the law as a settled issue.

And so it is. Republicans lost this fight repeatedly:

• in the 2008 election in which this was a primary issue;

• in a year-long debate in the halls of congress, media, and the public square, after which the law was passed by both chambers of congress and signed by the president;

• in the Supreme Court--the final arbiter of the constitutionality of a law;

• in the 2012 presidential election, which 2/3rds of Americans now see as a referendum on Obamacare;

• in the 2012 congressional election, in which the GOP failed to take the Senate, lost seats in the House, and lost the popular vote in that chamber by more than 1,000,000 votes;

• in the 46 House votes to repeal, defund, or delay Obamacare that were dead on arrival in the Senate and had no chance of becoming law.

Most curiously, Republicans now have the votes to end the shutdown immediately by putting a clean resolution on the House floor with no riders or conditions. Such a bill certainly would pass, and 800,000 Americans could return to work tomorrow, but Boehner doesn't do it.

The evidence suggests the GOP intentionally put these workers out of a job by using a historically routine budget resolution to undo the outcome of three lost elections. And they now have the hubris to demand Senate Democrats and President Obama negotiate with that extremist position. As Republicans continually shift the political goal posts ever further to the hard right, negotiating now requires meeting them somewhere between extreme and preposterously irrational. Democrats justifiably have declined to do so here.

This is not an "impasse" or a "stalemate." It's an attempt at extortion that was prevented."

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I believe I finally understand what has happened in the US after reading this article. We have a bunch of lousy losers who cannot accept that they lost and now are trying to shove their point-of-view down everyone else's throats to make them accept it. It's no new tactic, I have seen it before in both my lives, although never on such a dramatic scale.

From Children and Fools...

There is a Swedish saying that goes, "From children and fools you get to hear the truth". I thought of it when I was reading about the United States federal government shutdown today and came across a quote from Michele Bachmann in an interview with World Net Daily (via Joe.My.God.) 

The federal shutdown was brought about by the Republicans in the House of Representatives. Michele Bachmann is an American Republican member of the United States House of Representatives, representing Minnesota's 6th congressional district.

The whole shutdown of the federal government of the greatest democracy in the world is extremely bewildering and totally offsetting for most of us not from the United States. We cannot imagine anyone going to these lengths, and to do so repeatedly is surely not helpful for the image of the United States abroad. 

Today I atleast, thanks to Ms. Bachmann, got an inkling of why the House Republicans were prepared to go so far.

“I think the reason is because President Obama can’t wait to get Americans addicted to the crack cocaine of dependency on more government health care. Because, once they enroll millions of more individual Americans it will be virtually impossible for us to pull these benefits back from people.”

The fact that American Republicans are afraid that the American public will get used to a universal. affordable, efficient and decent health care system, that all the other civilized and democratic countries in the world already offer their citizens, is scary and makes one (i.e. me) wonder why anyone in the world would vote for such people.

Welcome to Sweden, Mr. President!

President Barack Obama arrives to Sweden this morning for the first bilateral state visit to Sweden ever by an incumbent American president. We had President George W. Bush here a couple of years ago, but that was for an International summit meeting.

Although we are well aware that the American presidents short visit to Sweden occurs only because of the the gap that arose in his plans when the Americans decided to show displeasure with the Russians for granting a temporary refuge to Edward Snowden (who leaked information about America's massive surveillance online) and cancelled a scheduled meeting with the Russian President Vladimir "Little Father" Putin.

Nonetheless we are thrilled to receive Obama as a guest and hope that he will have a wonderful stay with some straightforward and serious discussions with the Swedish representatives.

Alas the Much Honored Bock McMillan, laird of Southern Charm, prince of Cascade Falls and sovereign ruler of The Commonwealth of Southern Enchantment with Outer Territories, will not be able to meet with the American President due to a "political flu", which has been brought on by the prevailing enmity between the beloved laird and the awful Silvia, Queen of Sweden.