michelehope

ABUSE OF POWER Abuse of power or authority may be the prime source and true essence of moral EVIL - Evil is the ABUSE of power.  Moral EVIL begins to exist when someone refuses to accept responsibility for the welfare of others, especially (but certainly NOT restricted to) those naturally under his or her direct care.  It can be said that someone has POWER, if that someone can decisively influence (the) reality (of others). In this context, AUTHORITY is power that derives from a social accord or convention, such as the laws or customs of a social group such as a state or an organization. So then, what is an "abuse of power"?  ABUSE OF POWER is the illegitimate use of power.  ABUSE OF POWER is that situation that exists whenever someone who has POWER over others, (that is, the capacity to impose his or her will on those others) for example, by virtue of his or her superior mental dexterity, social position, physical strength, knowledge, technology, weapons, wealth, or the trust that others have in him or her, unjustifiably uses that power to EXPLOIT or HARM those others, or through lack of action, ALLOWS exploitation or harm to occur to them. It follows that someone who does not have (a particular form of) power cannot abuse it. It also follows that the main (and perhaps the only) principle of human ethics and morality should be to avoid the abuse of power. (It should be noted that the decision to adopt an ethical principle as one's own is a purely personal one, and cannot be forced on someone. However, one cannot adopt a principle one does not know exists. Also, it is not very likely that someone will adopt a principle that is not congruent with his or her mental structure - and this mental structure is so powerfully influenced by early childhood experiences). From this it follows that it is extremely unethical to put oneself (or to stay) in a position of conflict of interest, i.e., where one's benefit or profit depends on harming or exploiting others.  And of course, it also follows that putting a subordinate in a position of conflict of interest demonstrates a complete disregard for ethics. Additionally, it follows that if those who want to stop or impede the abuse of power (or those who are charged with this duty) do not have sufficient power (even if it were only moral power), they and their efforts will only serve as a source of amusement to those who abuse it. "Information is the negative of entropy." - Claude Shannon, 1948.

We remember the fallen. We honor their sacrifice. We cherish the freedom they paid for with their lives. Memorial Day 2026 | Arlington National Cemetery 🇺🇸

BREAKING: US forces struck two IRGC boats laying mines in the Strait of Hormuz and missile sites in Bandar Abbas, per CENTCOM spokesperson. A source close to Iran's Ghalibaf says Iran's "decisive response" is now underway. The deal is off.

@RapidResponse47 “To be brought home,” I believe is a key phrase in this message.

It is with deep sadness that I share with you the news that Kerry Sheron, a 69-year-old Army veteran, tragically passed away Sunday night after being brutally beaten by his neighbor, all because he loved our country and President Trump. Please send all your love and prayers to Kerry’s wife and family on this difficult day. May God bless his beautiful soul. We thank him for his service to our country. 😔💔

Pretty wild that the CEO of @DominionEnergy, Robert Blue (also on the Richmond Fed), doles out cash 💵 to both Virginia GOP & Dems, as consumers’ rates increase & the CVOW windmills cost billions Robert took in $15 million compensation, including $9 million in stock, in FY25

It was an honor to visit your husband’s grave today on your behalf, and to pay my respects. It was wonderful to see the beautiful flowers representing many others who did the same. Our nation owes a debt of gratitude to those who made the ultimate sacrifice, and to the loved ones they left behind. Thank you for your service and sacrifice @SharrellAnne2 🙏🏽

Trump just turned the Abraham Accords into an accountability trap for the Gulf states and Iran walked right into it. Gulf states like Saudi Arabia, Qatar, and Turkey have never held Iran accountable is due to exposure. They share a neighborhood. They can't sanction, shame, or confront Iran while having zero security architecture binding them to the West or to each other. The Abraham Accords change that math entirely. Once Saudi Arabia, Qatar, Pakistan, Egypt, and Turkey are signatories, they aren't just recognizing Israel they are locking themselves into a collective security posture. A breach of the Iran deal becomes their problem to call out, not just America's or Israel's. You can't sign a normalization framework and then look the other way when your new partner Israel is threatened by a nuclear Iran. The accords create skin in the game. If Iran violates the deal, the Gulf states aren't just silent bystanders anymore. They're co-signatories of the broader peace architecture. The political cost of looking away just went from zero to enormous. That's why markets are surging and oil is dropping. The world is pricing in something it hasn't seen in decades, a Middle East where the neighbors themselves have a structural reason to enforce the peace. Genius.

I love how he makes a point to say they were young people.

Good rainy morning from Arlington National Cemetery. Specifically, the final resting place of your hero husband Staff Sgt. Alan Shaw. His grave now has some fresh roses placed in front of it, alongside two American flags, a reminder that Americans truly appreciate his sacrifice. God bless you and your family on this Memorial Day 🙏🏻🇺🇸

If you're worried about ticks, put up an owl box. The animal driving most Lyme disease in the eastern US is the white-footed mouse. Ticks that feed on them are far more likely to come away infected than ticks that feed on other animals. The bigger the local mouse population, the worse the next year's tick year. A single barred owl pair raising chicks can take hundreds of rodents in a breeding season. Owls also don't carry Lyme. The bacterium can't survive their digestive tract, so an owl that eats an infected mouse is a dead end for the disease. Researchers at the Cary Institute, the leading lab on Lyme ecology, have been explicit about this: "Landscapes that support predators have reduced Lyme disease risk." One owl box on its own isn't going to fix a tick year. But a yard with owls, foxes, bobcats, and weasels in it has fewer mice, and a yard with fewer mice has fewer infected ticks. If you have woods or fields nearby, a properly sized barn owl or screech owl box (different species, different boxes) is one of the most useful single things you can do for tick exposure at the landscape scale. Match the box to the owl that lives near you. The mouse is the problem, owls are the solution.

@foxnewspolitics This communist has signed the state referendum to abolish the electoral college. A silent attack on America. We are a republic not mob rule as the democrats are pushing. The democrats are enemies of the US.

I will never forget and always cherish their sacrifice. 🇺🇸

@AmyMek Emailed! 🩷🐶

🚨 SHENANDOAH COUNTY, VA: Commonwealth’s Attorney Elizabeth “Liz” Cooper is actively pushing for the destruction of Lucy - a heroic war-zone rescue dog belonging to a U.S. Army veteran. This woman is clearly an advocate for animal cruelty. Instead of using her discretion to drop the case and return Lucy to her loving family, she’s persecuting a veteran and his dog. I will personally do everything in my power to make sure Liz Cooper is NEVER elected again in 2027. Everyone who cares about justice and animals - CALL her office and email her NOW: 📞 (540) 459-6129 ✉️ ecooper@shenandoahcountyva.gov Demand she drops the charges and releases Lucy immediately!

The mainstream media just had a full-blown meltdown and sprinted for the exits like the cowards they are. They were rock-hard for this one. Two young white teens storm a San Diego mosque, gun down three people on livestream, and flee in a BMW. “White supremacist domestic terrorism” bingo ... every hack in the building was already writing their Pulitzer acceptance speech. Chyrons primed, panels stacked, the entire anti-MAGA circus ready to perform. Then the manifesto detonated. Cain Clark and Caleb Vazquez weren’t right-wing. They weren’t MAGA. They weren’t even playing for the same team these frauds needed. Their “Sons of Tarrant” suicide note was a deranged antisemitic meltdown: page after page of “IT’S THE JEWS” screamed on repeat, while they proudly declared themselves Third Positionists hooked on Nationalist Socialism and Eco Fascism. One was an autistic kid radicalized by online poison with a year-long rap sheet of red flags ... FBI notification, 5150 psych hold, gun violence protective order on dad’s 12 registered firearms. The other had been force-fed mandatory high-school ethnic studies that spent the first two weeks hammering “whiteness” and “white privilege” until he believed the class was teaching him to view himself and his white family members negatively. Mom was blowing up police phones for two straight hours while short-staffed cops slow-walked it as a “runaway juvenile.” And when all that ugly, complicated truth flooded out? The 24/7 coverage didn’t just cool off. It was murdered in cold blood. These aren’t journalists. They’re agenda enforcers who only exist to protect the narrative. When reality won’t obey, they bury the story and run. The San Diego mosque massacre didn’t just expose the killers. It exposed the media’s black, rotten heart. (article below)

@Texas_jeep__guy Left San Diego and drove through the dessert to 29 Palms with a few wives to go see our husbands. We had to stop at a general store and buy shorts, T-shirts, and flip flops since we were all unprepared for the major difference in the weather. Have fun, make it an adventure!

They drove 6 hrs through Texas to get on a cruise to find out when they got there they had forgot their luggage at home. I honestly don’t know what I’d do in this situation. What would you do?

Statement from Director Curran regarding yesterday's shooting incident on 17th Street and Pennsylvania Avenue.