Monday, April 30, 2018

Belly Dancers Performing at Shutesbury Athletic Club 4/20/2018

~ Antique Lithographic Print of Istanbul, Turkey ~

Back in 2013 I was on a Mediterranean Cruise from Barcelona, Spain to Istanbul, Turkey and was hoping to watch belly dancers perform at the end point of this journey. I acquired this lithograph of Istanbul when it was capital of the Ottoman Empire and was known as  Constantinople, founded in ancient Roman times...

~ Belly Dancing at the Shutesbury Athletic Club ~

Friday, April 20th was Mediterranean Dinner night at the SAC with local belly dancers in a demonstration of this middle eastern art form with a participatory lesson by the dancers included. This more than made up for what I missed at culmination of my 2013 "cruise of a lifetime" from Barcelona to Istanbul... ~ JDHWB-R

Sunday, April 29, 2018

Places Everyone! Curtain Call for PTW's Game of Life Finale...

~ https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gbpKnhxc8GE ~

#UNIVERSALCLEANUP In the Flow for The Finale
with Heather Ann Tucci-Jarraf

On April 27, 2018 I had a video visitation call with HATJ.

The sound is boosted and cleared as much as possible. I was using several different programs to try and capture the video visitation, wasn’t sure it would work… the audio capture was the one that worked.

She looks great and flowing with vibrant energy.

Heather shared some insights on the last parts and possibilities in the flow for the Finale of All.

Monday, April 23, 2018

Suppose Dr. Victor Frankenstein animated a woman's body first?

~ https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WYRyoUSGJQ4 ~
THE GUESS WHO: NO SUGAR TONIGHT

Outcome of his science experiment might have been very different!

Frankenstein; or, The Modern Prometheus is a novel written by English author Mary Shelley (1797–1851) that tells the story of Victor Frankenstein, a young scientist who creates a grotesque but sapient creature in an unorthodox scientific experiment. Shelley started writing the story when she was 18, and the first edition of the novel was published anonymously in London on 1 January 1818, when she was 20. Her name first appeared on the second edition, published in France in 1823.

Shelley travelled through Europe in 1814, journeying along the river Rhine in Germany with a stop in Gernsheim, which is 17 kilometres (11 mi) away from Frankenstein Castle, where, two centuries before, an alchemist was engaged in experiments. Later, she travelled in the region of Geneva (Switzerland)—where much of the story takes place—and the topic of galvanism and other similar occult ideas were themes of conversation among her companions, particularly her lover and future husband, Percy Shelley. Mary, Percy and Lord Byron decided to have a competition to see who could write the best horror story. After thinking for days, Shelley dreamt about a scientist who created life and was horrified by what he had made; her dream later evolved into the novel's story.

Frankenstein is infused with elements of the Gothic novel and the Romantic movement. At the same time, it is an early example of science fiction. Brian Aldiss has argued that it should be considered the first true science fiction story because, in contrast to previous stories with fantastical elements resembling those of later science fiction, the central character "makes a deliberate decision" and "turns to modern experiments in the laboratory" to achieve fantastic results. It has had a considerable influence in literature and popular culture and spawned a complete genre of horror stories, films and plays.

Since the novel's publication, the name "Frankenstein" has often been used to refer to the monster itself. This usage is sometimes considered erroneous, but usage commentators regard it as well-established and acceptable. In the novel, the monster is identified by words such as "creature", "monster", "demon", "wretch", "abortion", "fiend" and "it". Speaking to Victor Frankenstein, monsters says "I ought to be thy Adam, but I am rather the fallen angel" (which ties to Lucifer in Paradise Lost, which the monster reads, and which relates to the disobedience of Prometheus in the book's subtitle).


Last October, during the Hallowe'en season, I watched the play version of Mary Shelley's Frankenstein at Mount Holyoke College in South Hadley, Massachusetts, where a friend's daughter designed the costumes and viewed this show with her family and me... ~ JDHWB-R

Wednesday, April 18, 2018

Yesterday was Income Tax Day in the United States of America!

~ Woodrow Wilson, 28th President of the United States ~
He signed the Revenue Act of 1913 into law on October 3rd of that year.

Yesterday was "Tax Day" in the United States of America.   The origin of the income tax on individuals is generally cited as the passage of the 16th Amendment, passed by Congress on July 2, 1909, and ratified February 3, 1913. April 15th is usually the deadline for filing state and federal income tax returns by midnight, however due to it falling on a Sunday, followed by the Monday observance of Patriot's Day in Massachusetts, Tuesday April 17th at midnight was the deadline,  unless one files for an extension. I filed them yesterday, on time via the Liberty Tax Service office in Amherst. I AM good for another year before having to perform this ritual again. A history of taxation in America is presented below... ~ JDHWB-R

Revenue Act of 1913
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

The Revenue Act of 1913, also known as the Tariff Act, the Underwood Tariff, the Underwood Act, the Underwood Tariff Act, or the Underwood-Simmons Act (ch. 16, 38 Stat. 114, October 3, 1913), re-imposed the federal income tax after the ratification of the Sixteenth Amendment and lowered basic tariff rates from 40% to 25%, well below the Payne-Aldrich Tariff Act of 1909. It was signed into law by President Woodrow Wilson on October 3, 1913 and was sponsored by Alabama Representative Oscar Underwood.

Tariffs

Wilson summoned a special session of the Congress in April 1913. His immediate objective was to confront the perennial tariff question, and he brought special attention to the matter by deciding to appear in person before Congress to make his appeal. He was the first president since John Adams to do so.

The joint session was a spectacular event. A huge crowd gathered, and every seat in the House chamber was taken. Newspaper coverage was intense. Wilson spoke only briefly but made it clear that tariff reform was needed and that he would not be a party to a repeat of the embarrassment of the thwarted reform of 1894. The burden was clearly on the shoulders of the Democrats, as they controlled both houses of Congress for the first time in 18 years.

Underwood guided a reform measure through the House of Representatives, but his counterpart in the Senate, Furnifold McLendel Simmons of North Carolina, reverted to form and allowed numerous increases in the tariffs to be added. Wilson, unlike many of his predecessors, took the offensive. He went to the Capitol and twisted the arms of backsliding Democrats. He also warned the public of the invasion of Washington, DC, then underway by scores of lobbyists.

Wilson was successful with generating a public reaction. Angry constituents wrote to their representatives and demanded tariff reform.

The Act passed the House 281-139 on May 8, 1913. Wilson used his patronage powers to guide it to passage by the Senate, which occurred 44-37 on September 9, 1913. Politically, the Act was considered a major triumph for the new president.

The Act established the lowest rates since the Walker Tariff of 1857. Most schedules were ad valorem basis, a percentage of the value of the item.

The duty on woolens went from 56% to 18.5%. Steel rails, raw wool, iron ore, and agricultural implements now had zero rates. The reciprocity program wanted by the Republicans was eliminated. Congress rejected proposals for a tariff board to fix rates scientifically, but it set up a study commission.

The Underwood-Simmons measure vastly increased the free list, adding woolens, iron, steel, farm machinery, and many raw materials and foodstuffs. The average rate was approximately 26%.

Income tax

The Act also provided for the reinstitution of a federal income tax to compensate for the anticipated loss of revenue from the reduction of tariff duties. The most recent effort to tax incomes, the Wilson-Gorman Tariff of 1894, had been declared unconstitutional by the Supreme Court because the tax on dividends, interest, and rents had been deemed to be a direct tax not apportioned by representation. That obstacle, however, was removed by ratification of the Sixteenth Amendment on February 3, 1913. The Act, which was declared to be constitutional later that year by the Supreme Court in Brushaber v. Union Pacific Railroad, provided:

"...subject only to such exemptions and deductions as are hereinafter allowed, the net income of a taxable person shall include gains, profits, and income derived from salaries, wages, or compensation for personal service of whatever kind and in whatever form paid, or from professions, vocations, businesses, trade, commerce, or sales, or dealings in property, whether real or personal, growing out of the ownership or use of or interest in real or personal property, also from interest, rent, dividends, securities, or the transaction of any lawful business carried on for gain or profit, or gains or profits and income derived from any source whatever...."

The incomes of couples exceeding $4,000, as well as those of single persons earning $3,000 or more, were subject to a 1% tax. Also, the measure provided a progressive taxstructure; those with high incomes were taxed at higher rates.

In only a few years, the income tax became the federal government's chief source of income and greatly exceeded tariff revenues.

Less than 1% of the population then paid federal income tax.

The Act was applicable to incomes for 1913, 1914, and 1915.

Income tax table for individuals

A normal income tax and an additional tax were levied against the net income of individuals, as shown in the following table:

Revenue Act of 1913
Normal income tax and additional tax on individuals
38 Stat. 166

Income Normal rate Additional rate Combined rate
0 1% 0 1%
$20,000 1% 1% 2%
$50,000 1% 2% 3%
$75,000 1% 3% 4%
$100,000 1% 4% 5%
$250,000 1% 5% 6%
$500,000 1% 6% 7%

There was an exemption of $3,000 for single filers and $4,000 for married couples. Therefore, the 1% bottom marginal rate applied only to the first $17,000 ($374,400 in 2010 dollars) of income for single filers or the first $16,000 ($352,300 in 2010 dollars) of income for married filers (see also below the adjustments for inflation between 1913 and 2010 in the BLS table).

The ratio of top marginal rate to bottom marginal rate in 1913 was 7:1 (7%:1%). The last time a similar ratio was applicable was in 1980, when the ratio of the top rate to the bottom rate was 6.36:1 (70%:11%). In 1981, the top rate was reduced to 50%, and in 1986, it was reduced to 28% (the bottom rate rose from 11% to 15%). The 1986 change dramatically altered the ratio, from 6.36:1 to 1.87:1 (28%:15%). Today, the ratio is 3.96:1 (39.6%:10%).

Adjusted for inflation

Here are the rates adjusted for inflation by the average Consumer Price Index:

1913 dollars Inflation 2010 dollars Exempt - 1913 Exempt - 2010
$3,000 2,200% $66,100 Single filers $3,000 Singles $9,350 or 14.1%
$4,000 2,200% $88,100* Married filers $4,000 Marrieds $18,700 or 21.2%
$20,000 2,200% $440,400
$50,000 2,200% $1,101,000
$75,000 2,200% $1,651,600
$100,000 2,200% $2,202,100
$250,000 2,200% $5,505,300
$500,000 2,200% $11,010,700

All figures are rounded.

There was an exemption of $3,000 for single filers and $4,000 for married couples. Therefore, the 1% bottom marginal rate applied only to the first $17,000 ($374,400 in 2010 dollars) of income for single filers or the first $16,000 ($352,300 in 2010 dollars) of income for married filers (see also below the adjustments for inflation between 1913 and 2010 in the BLS table).

The ratio of top marginal rate to bottom marginal rate in 1913 was 7:1 (7%:1%). The last time a similar ratio was applicable was in 1980, when the ratio of the top rate to the bottom rate was 6.36:1 (70%:11%). In 1981, the top rate was reduced to 50%, and in 1986, it was reduced to 28% (the bottom rate rose from 11% to 15%). The 1986 change dramatically altered the ratio, from 6.36:1 to 1.87:1 (28%:15%). Today, the ratio is 3.96:1 (39.6%:10%).

In 2010 dollars, the 2010 personal exemption ($3,650) and the standard deduction ($5,700) for single filers were together $9,350, only 14.1% of the 1913 exemption of $66,100 in 2010 dollars ($9,350/$66,100).

In 2010 dollars, the 2010 personal exemptions ($7,300) and the standard deduction ($11,400) for married couples filing jointly were together $18,700, only 21.2% of the 1913 exemption of $88,100 in 2010 dollars ($18,700/$88,100).

Impact

The international economic picture was soon upset by the outbreak of World War I. American products were in great demand throughout the world, making the question of protectionism moot. The next reordering of national tariff policy would not occur until after the war ended, and the Fordney-McCumber Tariff of 1922 raised the rates.

There was an impact for the Cuban tobacco industry concerning their import to the States. Theodore Garbade, President of the Union of Manufacturers of Cigars of Cuba laid this out to Cuba's President Mario G. Menocal.

However, the top marginal income tax rate of 7% in the 1913 Act was mentioned in Ronald Reagan's remarks on the South Lawn of the White House on October 22, 1986, when he said that the top rate was for "the equivalent of multimillionaires today."

The Act also created a new group of tax-exempt organizations dedicated to social welfare. The provision was a precursor to what is now Internal Revenue Code Section 501(c).

Sunday, April 15, 2018

Sirius Outreach: The 9th Annual Amherst Sustainability Festival

     
 ~ Overview of Sustainability Festival ~

~ Ellen Wolfe & Jim Barron at Sirius booth ~

 ~ A Solo Performance on Festival Stage ~

~ The Declaration of Interdependence ~

Amherst Sustainability Festival
SATURDAY, APRIL 14th
10 AM - 4 PM
TOWN COMMON

Join us for a day of family fun, education and entertainment. The Sustainability Festival is in its ninth year and is bigger and better than ever! There is literally something for everyone with over 100 vendors of renewable energy, energy efficiency product suppliers, advocacy groups as well as sustainable crafts and artisans!

SCHEDULE OF STAGE PERFORMERS:
10 AM – Under the Tree Music
11 AM – Andy Stewart
Noon – Emma June
1 PM – The Greys
2 PM – The Frost Heaves and Hales
3 PM – Piti Theatre Company


CENTRAL DEMONSTRATION AREAS:

Demo Area 1

11 AM – "It's All in the (Reusable) Bag"- Jordan Lake
1 PM – Beth Fairservis Puppets
2 PM – "Pollinator Habitat Make 'n Take" - Robin Huntley
3 PM – Beth Fairservis Puppets

Demo Area 2

NOON– "Making Soy Kefir and Its Byproducts" - David Lovler
2 PM – "Dirty Secrets Composting" - Rachel Pride
Free FACE PAINTING - noon - 3 PM
HENRY THE JUGGLER - noon - 2 PM
PUPPET PARADE (by Beth Fairservis Puppets courtesy of Mothers Out Front) - noon and 2 PM

RECYCLING COLLECTIONS:
Pellet bags
Plastic bags—turn in your single use plastic bags at the Recycling Booth for a really cool reusable folding nylon bag!
Shoes (Rerun Shoes will give new life to your old shoes by helping people here in the US and in other parts of the world recycle old shoes.
Large Styrofoam chunks (no peanuts)
Textiles – Clean & Dry (ripped, stained clothing, stuffed animals, towels, pillows, linens & rags)
Cell Phones & Accessories (working or non-working)
Computers and Related Equipment (printers, laptops, scanners, faxes, NO TVs)
DROP OFF ON BOLTWOOD AVENUE ACROSS FROM THE LORD JEFF INN

THANK YOU TO OUR FINANCIAL SPONSORS: EVERSOURCE AND BERKSHIRE GAS

Saturday, April 14, 2018

BZ Riger ~ #HATJ: Urgent Message Out From Heather 4.13.18!

BY BZ ⒾAM RIGER/ FRIDAY, 13 APRIL 2018 / PUBLISHED IN HATJ


To: William Ferguson
From: 1369008: HEATHER TUCCI-JARRAF
Subject: message for francis
Date: 4/13/2018 12:50:41 PM
Purchase a Gold Pass for HEATHER TUCCI-JARRAF
___________________________________________

TO: Francis Lloyd, Esquire
FROM Heather Ann Tucci-Jarraf

A suspect incident involving the officers, supervisors, Mental Health (“MH”) Department, or MH official, presiding at RDWDF, occurred today.

The purpose of this email is to keep you and all teams informed, documentation/record of events, actions, and inactions regarding human rights abuse operations, and identification of said operations and perpatrators, for further appropriate actions under applicable executive orders and universal laws

Yesterday, the toilet in our cell, RDWDF 2A/111, floooded our room. It appeared to be from an incoming pipe and not an outgoing pipe leakage. However, I did call the emergency in on the cell intercoms. Officer Stringer responded immediately, to assess and officially take action. Eventually, an unidentified official made the decision to move us to RDWDF 2D/110 (Max/disciplinary pod), until it was fixed or we were reassigned to a different open pod. My roommate and I were not moved to D-POD due to any bad behavior or disciplinary action.

When we arrived in D-POD, we were not allowed an hour out, due to the fact we had had time out in our previous POD. Nor were we able to get cleaning supplies to clean the cell prior to or after moving. I received a roll of toilet paper upon entrance.

Today, I unexpectedly received my period, approximately two weeks in advance of its usual timing. I did not have any feminine hygene products due to the move. I bled through my uniform, and I expected to bleed through the second and last uniform in my possession if I was not immediately given feminine hygene products. I first used normal course methods to gain the pod officer’s attention that was on duty. She could not hear or see me with the disciplinary inmates that were out for their hour. I used the cell intercom to notify them of the emergency of bleeding through my uniforms, requesting pads immediately to avoid bleeding through my last uniform, and the pod officer could not hear or see me so that I could get them. The officer (WARREN) on the cell intercom responded, “ok, ok”.

Approximately no more than five minutes later, Sgt. Wolf showed up at the POD officer’s desk, and then pod-officer CHOW opened the cell door and said I was called to Medical. I indicated the stained clothes piled on the floor that I had just hand washed, why I had used the cell intercom to request the pads, as described above, and that I did not request medical or a sick call. I stated there has been a misunderstanding, and that I obviously did not make a request for medical. I was told that I would have to go to medical to refuse it. I responded I would go to Medical and explain it to them, with a non-consnt/refusal if they insisted or charged me for services not requested.

It was after that, Officer Chow told me it was actually mental health I was being called for. I asked how a “bleed-through” and request for pads gets confused for a call to see a Mental Health official. (Important note, I have personally observed other inmates request said, and it took between 4-6 weeks for a purported mental health official to meet with them.) I told Officer Chow that I did not request to see Medical or a Mental Health official. Officer Chow responded, that she didn’t know what was going on, just to go to the slider.

Officer Chow informed us that RDWDF 2C/208 had similar toilet breakage after we did… those inmates did not get moved to D-POD.

Sgt. Wolf escorted me into the slider from thepod. I opened and held the slider door open for the Sgt. as she pushed packs of toilet paper, and a large box of pads into the hall. Sgt. asked Officer Warren if she was ready for me, and Offficer Warren yelled back, “Not yet”, or similar to that affect. Sgt. Wolf left me in the slider… without pads. During the approximately no more than 5 minutes in the slider, I asked Officers Warrn and Chow for pads, and was not given any at that time.

Officer Warren opened the door and I spoke with her at the central desk, in the main hall., in front of 15+ waiting inmates. I immediately explained to Officer Warren what had happened, each specific and particular detail, as summarized abve, and requested to be given pads immediately, again, due to current soiling of my last uniform. I also informed her that I did not request to see medical or a mental health official.

Officer Warren reponded she didn’t know anything, and told me to go into the room down the hall and at my left, whose door was open, and talk to mental health. I said that I would do an official refusal and explanation there, because I could not fathom how a “bleed-through” and reasonable request for pads turns into any comptent individual thinking I requested to see a Mental Health official… or worse, ordering me to see one, without my due consent

I have never requested to see medical or a mental health official.
I have never consented for a mental health official, specialist, or otherwise licensed indvidual to meet with me.

After I gave said notifications, and was walkd down the hall to the opened office door, Officer Warren told me just to go the slider. I requested clarification, whether I was to lodge an official explantion and refusal with the purported mental health official in that office first, before going to the slider. Officer Warren clarified I was to go directly to the slider.

I passed and saw the purported Mental Health offical sitting at a desk, listening. An inmate hall worker, that witnessd the conversation, handed me four pads as I entered the slider, and Officer Chow gave me two more

——-end report———

Source: https://i-uv.com/hatj-urgent-message-out-from-heather-4-13-18

HATJ RKB: Whistleblower 001: Urgent Message from The Roger D. Wilson Detention Facility 4/13/2018

Wednesday, April 4, 2018

THE TRIAL OF HATJ & RKB: Is It The Beginning of The End?

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=k4vZPjoRq0Y

~ Alice Falls Down The Rabbit Hole ~
Alice's Adventures in Wonderland 1972

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t1tJ5bzq2DM

~ Alice in Wonderland Trial Scene ~
Alice's Adventures in Wonderland 1972

THE HOUSE OF CARDS IS READY TO COLLAPSE!

Monday, April 2, 2018

What is Behind the Double-Speak of President Donald J. Trump?

The Dark Magician, Infinite Visions Tarot

Advice: Now may not be the time to trust every stranger you meet, or play host to so-called friends whose state of depression or anger drains or disrupts your personal energy.


Pay attention to your own thought processes especially if they do not seem normal. Other thoughts could be intruding into your psyche that are not your own especially if you are a sensitive. This dark energy can come in the guise of a friend with a problem.


Beware the one who is angry or wounded and be aware that depression is simply repressed anger. A wounded animal is a dangerous one. This is also true with people, particularly the ones closest to you. Be alert.

To Order Infinite Visions Tarot Cards

Source: http://www.infinitevisionstarot.com/meanings/23-dark-magician.html

IMPEACH TRUMP NOW!

WHO WE ARE

The campaign is led by Free Speech For People, a national non-partisan non-profit organization that works to renew our democracy and our Constitution for the people, not big money and corporate interests, and by RootsAction, an online initiative dedicated to galvanizing people who are committed to economic fairness, equal rights, civil liberties, environmental protection, and defunding endless wars.

WHY IMPEACHMENT?

From the moment he took office, President Trump’s refusal to divest from his business interests has placed him in direct violation of the US Constitution’s Foreign Emoluments Clause and Domestic Emoluments Clause. Since then, his corruption and abuse of power have only increased. The President must be held accountable under the law, through the impeachment process, for these serious violations and for this unprecedented level of corruption of the Oval Office.

Free Speech For People and RootsAction call upon Congress to open an investigation to determine whether there are sufficient grounds to impeach President Trump, including:

obstruction of justice;

violations of the Foreign Emoluments Clause and Domestic Emoluments Clause of the United States Constitution;

conspiring with others to: (a) commit crimes against the United States involving the solicitation and intended receipt by the Donald J. Trump campaign of things of value from a foreign government and other foreign nationals; and (b) conceal those violations;

advocating illegal violence, giving aid and comfort to white supremacists and neo-Nazis, and undermining constitutional protections of equal protection under the law;

abusing the pardon power; and

recklessly threatening nuclear war against foreign nations, undermining and subverting the essential diplomatic functions and authority of federal agencies, including the United States Department of State, and engaging in other conduct that grossly and wantonly endangers the peace and security of the United States, its people and people of other nations, by heightening the risk of hostilities involving weapons of mass destruction, with reckless disregard for the risk of death and grievous bodily harm;

directing or endeavoring to direct law enforcement, including the Department of Justice and the Federal Bureau of Investigation, to investigate and prosecute political adversaries and others, for improper purposes not justified by any lawful function of his office, thereby eroding the rule of law, undermining the independence of law enforcement from politics, and compromising the constitutional right to due process of law; and

undermining the freedom of the press.

THE IMPEACHMENT PROCESS

The U.S. Constitution vests the power to impeach in the House of Representatives, while charging the Senate with the power to try impeachments. The House votes whether to bring the charge, and the Senate tries the case. The House vote is by simple majority, but the Senate requires a two-thirds majority to convict.

The grounds for impeachment are: “Treason, Bribery, or other high Crimes and Misdemeanors.”

To initiate the impeachment proceedings, a document or “resolution calling for a committee investigation of charges against the officer in question” must be referred to the House Committee on Rules, which may refer it to the Judiciary Committee for investigation. The Judiciary Committee may vote to try the case, and the Senate will proceed with a trial and a vote. In an alternate procedure, the resolution can directly call for impeachment, in which the resolution goes directly to the Judiciary Committee for review.