Category: politics

Bulletin: #Lois Lerner’s #Email has been lost!

Bulletin: Lois Lerner’s Email has been lost!

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As an IT expert I have to say, “REALLY!”  “How stupid do you think the American people are?”  I realize that is a rhetorical question because obviously there are either some awfully stupid people or awfully gullible people or even awfully greedy people who vote; but this is over the top!

 

There are federal laws that govern how e-mail is to be stored and for federal agencies, it is not on the desktop.

 

As a disaster recover expert again “do you really expect us to believe that the IRS does not store files in a redundant fashion either using RAID or SANS or the cloud…

 

Let’s examine the issues here.

 

Firstly as a publically traded company (which the IRS is not, but they are aware of the standards 😉 you are required to keep all e-mails under SOX.  For that purpose you would use something called e-mail journaling which keeps a copy of the e-mail in a separate area that cannot be deleted.  One would think that a federal agency would at least be required to do that.

 

Secondly, there is FISMA (Federal information security management act of 2002.)  According to FISMA, the term information security means protecting information and information systems from unauthorized access, use, disclosure, disruption, modification, or destruction in order to provide integrity, confidentiality and availability.  This is the FREAKING IRS, do they really expect us to swallow that her e-mails were only stored on her local computer?

 

Thirdly; there are multiple types of redundant technology available and I would have to guess that the IRS takes advantage of Either NAS, OR SANS or the cloud and of course Tape Backup, just in case.  NAS (network attached storage) or SAN (storage area network) allow data from the “email store” to be stored on multiple drives in something known as a RAID configuration meaning, if a drive fails the data is stored on multiple different drives so there is no data loss. With VMWare they can have multiple servers with multiple copies of the data so the e-mail system is incredibly robust.  They have access to all the money in the world; do they really expect us to believe that all of her e-mail was on a laptop?

 

There is also FIPS200 which is part of FISMA…  FIPS 199 (Federal Information Processing Standard Publication 199, Standards for Security Categorization of Federal Information and Information Systems) is a United States Federal Government standard that establishes security categories of information systems used by the Federal Government, one component of risk assessment. FIPS 199, along with FIPS 200, are mandatory security standards as required by FISMA.

FIPS 199 requires Federal agencies to assess their information systems in each of the categories of confidentiality, integrity and availability, rating each system as low, moderate or high impact in each category. The most severe rating from any category becomes the information system’s overall security categorization.

 

 

Just for grins and giggles let’s assume that the IRS is really that deficit of IT talent.  There is forensic software out there that can get e-mails and other data off of purposefully deleted drives or crashed drives.  Often time’s data that has been removed via formatting the drive can sometimes be recovered.  If the NSA wanted it; they could get it!

My final thought on this; the IRS is supposed to manage Universal Healthcare.  All of your personal information will be out there at their disposal; umpteen millions of us will be out there.  Is she going to keep it on her laptop?

This “excuse” is an affront to anyone with a brain; much less anyone with any IT knowledge.

 

-Best

 

 

 

 

#terrorist #AWOL #twelveyearold #slimman

Today

 

So much to talk about today it seems surreal.

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We unlawfully allowed 5 Osama Bin Ladens on the loose, negotiated with known terrorist to “get back” a solder that was AWOL, who had denounced his citizenship, converted to Islam, and is known for his stance on hating America! Was that a bargain or what?

 

On top of this we have his father, also who hates America Bless Allah from the White House and talk about how he intends to get more people released from Gitmo.

 

The White house of course is spinning this whole thing as an oversight!

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Along with that news, 2 twelve year old girls after planning for some months, try to kill their twelve year old friend to please some fictional character made up by some pretty twisted minds, even by Stephen King’s standards.

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Now the crime is so horrific that the girls are to be tried as adults!  You see it really doesn’t matter what the crime is; you really need all of the facts before you pronounce a knee-jerk reaction like trying them as adults!

 

While I detest what these girls did, they were/are  not mature enough to understand what they were getting into with the Slimman character; and they damned sure did not have the maturity to speak with Police after they were “assuming they were” Marandized.  There should in fact be a law that would prohibit the police from Marandizing or taking statements from children without the presence of their guardians and or lawyer.  They should in fact be required by law to only speak with them after the family has had the opportunity to get lawyers involved.  I know that you probably don’t really care at this point you want these girls put away!  This could have been your kids that fell into the wrong crowd or became charmed with mythical creatures that took over their lives!  They are children, not adults and even though they did something very heinous they are not adults and therefor should not be tried as such!

Kids do stupid things and if they don’t have the maturity to deal with the twisted stuff they are exposed to through Hollywood, books, violent Video games, and stuff on the internet, bad things will happen!   We have seen it time after time after time!  After something bad happens a bunch of anti-gun loons come out of the woods and start the same old tired rant about how evil guns are!  We simply never learn, or are too stupid to learn or most probably don’t want to learn as we have an agenda and we want that agenda to work, facts be damned!

 

Some “adults” can not wrap their minds around this crap so how in the world do we expect our children to?  On top of this we are such a non-functional family oriented country that because we are so motivated to succeed; our children suffer and are quite literally at the hands of Hollywood and other outside influences.  We are so removed from our family and friends that we have traded “pokes and likes” for real conversation!

 

And finally we have the Obama administration castrating the American Business man once again by calling for EPA regulations that will drive more and more companies overseas or out of business!

 

The Chinese may very well take the lead as an economic power but my guess is that they will also take the lead in cancer related deaths as they don’t have or care about clean air, water and so forth.  They are very much overpopulated so what if a few tens of thousands die early due to cancer!  They don’t have any kind of record of human rights or caring for, or about their people so, this does kind of fit.

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By the way Al, Global warming is a “global” thing and taxing business’s over here by selling them carbon credits will have no effect on our air or the worlds green house gas emissions as industry will simply move elsewhere.  Those who do not move will simply raise the price of their products in such a way that will take them out of the global market as China and other countries without these restrictions will make the widgets cheaper.

 

Yes you can charge some ridiculous import tax but, you will only continue to hurt the American People who can ill afford to live today, much less in the future.

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This is much like Seattle raising the minimum wage to $15 and hour.  If I have to pay my employees twice what I pay them now, I will have to raise the price of my “widgets” to make up the difference.  So those employees, who now have twice as much money to spend, will have to pay twice as much for goods and services by others.  But we as a country are so stupid, that we can’t figure that one out.

 

Macro Economics must not be taught anymore.  If you raise the minimum wage of “entry level jobs” guess what else you will have to raise? Yep, the salary of those who have worked their way up to $15 an hour as they are no longer entry level and it certainly is not fair to them to get the same wage as a rookie!  If I am paying all of my employees more guess what happens to the cost of my widgets, and the stuff that I need to make my widgets.

 

Of course with the way that we are printing money, it will not be too much longer when paper money will be absolutely worthless and your $15 an hour will be a hollow victory as your money will be worthless as well, as there won’t be anyone in business to pay you.

Imageweimar2-270x3201 (1)weimar republic2

In case you don’t have a clue what hyper-inflation looks like, follow this link.

 

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Weimar_Republic

 

Take a look at the stacks of money that the kids are using to play with instead of wooden blocks!  That basket of money is for A single loaf of bread… How is that $15 an hour looking to you now?

Minimum wage is for entry level jobs, not real jobs.  If you want more money; get a real job.  Stop the government from strangling American companies through these EPA regulations with your vote!  Become educated on what is going on in the world and stop listening to the Carney Spin from DC.  They don’t tell the truth.  Get your news from lots of different places and not just the main stream “lap-dog” media that we have “enjoyed” for the last 6 years.

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It will be very interesting to see how history treats this time in our history.  It will  be even more interesting to see how we survive it!

 

-Best

 

 

 

 

UFO Blows up Taliban

I am not sure if this is a Hoax or Hollywood or if the “truth is out there” however: here is the story borrowed from “the net”..  Watch the video and you decide.. 

U.S. Marines captured this incredible footage of what looks like a UFO hovering over a Taliban encampment – then blowing it to kingdom come.

With Nato forces withdrawing from the badlands of Afghanistan, the country’s people need all the help they can get to keep extremists from once again seizing power. But it seems a new intervention has come from an unlikely source… outer space.

The clip was reportedly filmed by U.S. troops fighting in Afghanistan in March. Shot by a soldier standing next to a stationary armoured column, it shows a bizarre triangular object hanging in the sky not far ahead.
As soldiers look on, the craft slowly moves into position, before what appear to be muzzle flashes soundlessly emanate from its underside.

A split-second later and huge explosions erupt as the fearsome space weapons hit the site of the purported Taliban camp, sending up plumes of smoke that obscure the view of the mysterious bomber.
After the smoke clears, the cameraman zooms in to shoot a close up view of the UFO, which looks unlike any known U.S. military drone.

If the unidentified aircraft is from outer space, it has come at the right time for the Western-backed government of Afghanistan.

Most international troops are slated to withdraw at the end of the year, and there are fears that the Afghan army and police are not ready to take over the job of securing the country.

Despite a decade of war since a U.S.-led coalition invaded Afghanistan and toppled the Taliban regime, it remains a crucible of extremism, a place where women have few rights, and a major source for the international heroin trade.

But with possible alien intervention, it could be that a new era has finally begun for Afghanistan’s embattled people. Perhaps it is time to rename the International Security Assistance Force (ISAF), to the Inter-Stellar Assistance Force…

NO!

No

 

“No” is a word that too many CEO’s need to hear.  The problem is that too many hire people that will agree with them or say “yes” or “great idea” or some other such yes-man technique as they either fear that their boss does not want to really hear the truth or they are cowards or simply not well informed. 

 

It is not only CEO’s that need to hear the word “no” but a lot of politicians need to hear it as well.

 

For instance, did Truman really need to drop not one but two atomic bombs on Japan to end the war?  I would argue that one would have been enough and I would also argue that it could have been dropped on a small island that we were loosing so many marines on or perhaps an unpopulated island. Leveling that island would have been enough to demonstrate our resolve and abilities.

 

The simple truth is that Japan was already war weary and the people of Japan did not want this war. We could speculate who and why things transpired the way that they did but the end results of those decision have still not fully played out.

 

Yes, Japan surrendered. But now any dictator or want-to-be dictator in the world set their sites on getting an atomic bomb too.  If the US had them than of course Russia needed them hence so many years of the cold war. Of course China would need them and of course any country with a dictator would need them as well!

 

Like Gunpowder, this is something that Einstein should have kept under his hat.  Any time anyone makes any sort of advancement in technology, the dictators of the world wonder how to use it as a weapon.   If one country has it, than they need it as well.

 

We have enough weapons of mass destruction to kill every living thing on earth many times over and yet we still keep trying to make something just a little more lethal.

 

No, that is not a good idea.  Wasting so much money and resources on finding better ways to kill is just so juvenile.  Now you put these weapons of mass destruction in the hands of irrational dictators and you place the entire earth and all of its inhabitants in grave danger.  Brinksmanship is not lost on today’s “leaders” who seem to be nothing more than your classic neighborhood bully who will gladly get someone else to do his fighting for him.

 

If a race of beings from another planet were to visit and watch some of our news or other “entertainment” they would most certainly put some sort of beacon around our solar system warning anyone else to stay the hell away!  We have entire countries to this day that are xenophobic in nature and bent on destroying anyone that does not agree with or cow down to them.   This is 2014 and this is going on today!

 

Imagine if you will the difference between you and the Chimpanzee. Where DNA is concerned there is exactly one percent difference between human DNA and that of the Chimpanzee.  That is 1%, that is it!  Now let’s talk about intelligence of humans compared to that of the Chimpanzee.  We think that we are intelligent because we have a space station, physics, music, weapons of mass destruction and of course we have E=MC2.  The Chimpanzee can make and use tools, stack boxes to get to a banana and even use tree branches to escape their confinement in a zoo.

 

If this race of Aliens were watching us they may very well compare us to their progeny when they are in kindergarten.
Their 1rst grade kids may come home from school with something that looks like your masters thesis while ours come home with macaroni art or clay ash trays.   To think that we are intelligent and that we could have anything to offer to a race of aliens that can traverse interstellar space borders on hubris.

 

One of our most beloved “inventors” was Thomas Edison.  What history does not tell you is that this man was anything but nice.  When Tesla came up with the concept of AC vs. DC as a way to power the city, Edison was furious. Instead of being an open minded person, he tried his best to discredit the idea.  One of the ways that he did this was to electrocute an Elephant in public trying to turn public opinion on AC.

 

While both men were “out of the box” thinkers, one needed some morals; the other needed some business acumen.

 

Some CEO’s of auto manufacturers really needed someone to say “no” to them.

 

The Chevy Vega with that crappy engine comes to mind along with the Pinto’s exploding gas tank.  GM using plastic parts in transmission was another not so bright spot in trying to make things cheaper.  Liquid filled motor mounts was another costly invention that failed and let’s not forget “air bag suspension!” “Not a better idea!” 

 

Bringing German engineering to Texas was really not too smart in the early days, as air cooled engines in 100 plus degree weather did not work so well.  The VW Microbus while a really cool looking van was not really very well suited for Texas or any place that was not flat.  They were so lacking in power that if one had to go up hill, they may very well not make it.  On top of that if the engine got a little oil and or grease on the housing and one did not take great care to keep it clean, it might very well catch on fire as was the fate of many of those vehicles.  It would be an interesting statistic to see what percentage of microbuses did not burn up compared to those that did.

 

Aluminum wiring for houses was another area where someone should have said “no.”  While aluminum wire conducts electricity better than copper and while it is cheaper than copper; that is where it stops.  When you connect aluminum wire to electrical outlets, switches and so forth that are not specifically designed for this, you increase the chance of fire.

 

Dissimilar metals have different coefficients of thermal expansion due to differing resistances of the metals. I have actually tracked down problems like this in a house that was made in 1957.  Using an old transistor radio tuned off of any station, I tracked the source of interference down to an electrical socket in one of the rooms of the house.  Removing the cover of the socket revealed a blackened terminal that was arcing right in front of me when a load was present. This arcing causes heat to be generated.  The heat can be sufficient enough to cause a fire to start.  Houses made in the late 50’s 60’s and 70’s in the US should be checked for such wire and if it exist, should be brought up to code.

 

Even though it would have cost the builder a few more dollars, they elected to save a few dollars on each house and use aluminum.  Someone should have said “no.” How many people have died in house fires caused by aluminum wire?

 

Ralph Nader, love him or hate him is such a person who is an activist for humanitarianism among other things.  Back in the day, I was not a fan because it was his activism which did away with the Corvair.

 

The 61 Corvair was probably one of the coolest cars to drive but also very dangerous.  Rear engine cars create an environment that would allow a car to spin out more easily as the weight was behind the axle.  Along with cars like this, his activism did away with the metal dash.  

 

I restored an old Victrola not too long ago. While the genius of the device “again thanks Edison” is impressive, looking under the hood so to speak is what impressed me more.

 

Under the deck is a large spring and a governor consisting of weights that move out the faster the turntable spins.  This governor is quite an impressive piece of mechanical engineering. The weights resemble steel balls that when expanded, slow the rotation down.  Much like a ballerina bringing her arms in, speed up; so too the governor of the Victrola.  This is where the phrase “balls to the walls” came from.  The idea was of course to go fast enough to cause the balls of the governor to expand far enough to hit the casing “walls” around them.

 

Anyone in power of anything needs a governor. Even Bill Gates needs such a thing, although I suspect it is his better half.  We all need someone to challenge our decisions from time to time.  Some would argue that religion serves in such a capacity, others would argue, that is why we have laws. 

 

So if we had neither; what would we be like as a people today?

 

One only has to study history to learn the answer to this.  The problems are that we are too busy doing other things to look back.  If I were to tell you that early man hunted, killed and ate each other as matter of day to day life, some of you would not believe me.  Some of you would say that you had heard of it in the deepest darkest parts of Africa a long time ago.  It amazes me that we have survived our animalistic instincts and tendencies.  

 

If I were to tell you that there was a group of people that considered torture an art form, you might shake your head.  Certainly not you decry..  [1]

 

If reading about the Assyrians does not give you nightmares, read about some of the 25 most brutal torture techniques. [2]

 

[3] Vlad the Impaler was someone history should learn from.  Real nice guy!

 

History is full of this stuff.  When we hear on the news that someone was murdered in some drive by shooting or some crime of passion, by histories standards, that isn’t nothing!  I don’t mean to diminish their acts but by yesterday’s standards, that is child’s play.

 

There is a culture that is into bondage and such and one has to wonder if it is a leftover from earlier times when nothing was off limits.

 

The very cross that people wear around their necks is a miniature copy of a device that was made for torture.  The traditional way to punish a criminal in those days was to nail them to that cross.  This made it very difficult for them to breath so they would let them suffer for several hours before they would come along and break their legs so they could no longer support themselves, thus suffocate.

 

When they execute someone by lethal injection they are executing them on a device that looks like that very cross, just a little wider place to place the body, soon to be corpse, arms stretched and tied and feet held in place while the paralytics enter into the body and stop the bodies ability to breath.   Some say that this is too kind and that they should be killed in some horrific manner.  Really, does that sound familiar?

 

These documents are hard to read.  This is important stuff as this is where the human race came from.  This is where you and I came from.  This is where Stalin and Hitler and many other modern day killers, came from.

 

We are capable of horrific acts!  We can choose.  We also come from the likes of Brahms, Ptolemy, Aristotle, Plato, Chopin, Pythagoras, Newton, and Voltaire to name just a scant few.

 

I often wonder about these violent video games that some play.  They are very much simulators for war, violence and the conditioning of the brain to accept such things.  We come from a very violent past and much like the alcoholic, steering clear of such things is probably a good idea.  

 

We have thousands calling for stricter gun control.  Do they think that laws regarding guns will affect criminals?  It is a knee jerk reaction to violence, nothing more, and would serve nothing other than emboldening the criminal element among us.

 

Japan would never invade the mainland and it was never their plan.  Why?  They knew even back then that most Americans had guns.

 

If you think that I am full of shit, ask yourself “why these video games are developed in the first place, who thinks up this stuff.”  Than ask yourself, “why do they sell so many of them, why are they so popular.”

 

Pornography fills something inside us that is basic and part of the programming.  Violence does the same thing both in movie and of course video game and I would argue that some people who practice it for real have the need for the adrenalin etc that it releases.   

 

It would be an interesting experiment for someone to develop video games where one can capture and torture their victim in ways mentioned below.  Complete with screaming and gnashing of teeth and so forth.  As sad as it is, I would bet that they would sell.  The interesting part would be to see what demographic buys them, how many hours they “play the game” and how does it affect them. I would argue that it would condition them to be “monsters in the making.”  The world needs less of this stuff, not more of it.  That is my humble opinion.

 

Science makes arguments against the existence of God.  A belief in God humbles one and I think assist us with being moral.  Some will claim that they are a good person and don’t need such a belief to “be good.”

 

If you use God as an excuse to stop asking questions than that is a problem.  Where there is mystery, a question to be answered, than search for that answer.  Science and God must necessarily co-exist.

 

The links below are to some sites that speak of evil people and or techniques used to torture people.  These are a scant few that history is full of.

 

All through the history of man, violence prevails.  Some of the violence is mystical in nature and some is downright evil.  The American Indian tortured white man by some horrific means as did the [6] Chinese torture people as did the Japanese. [5]

 

When you read about some of this stuff, it really makes you wonder why God would allow this?

 

[1] http://faculty.uml.edu/ethan_Spanier/Teaching/documents/CP6.0AssyrianTorture.pdf

 

[2] http://list25.com/25-most-brutal-torture-techniques-ever-devised/

 

[3] http://www.vladtheimpaler.info/the_impalement.html

 

[4] http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Captives_in_American_Indian_Wars

 

[5] http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nanking_Massacre

 

[6] http://www.ishr.org/Methods-of-torture-in-the-People-s-Republic-of-China.1047.0.html

 

These links are a drop in the bucket.  That is the sad part.

 

No, no advanced race or being would come here looking for anything from us.  They might come here to enslave us, eat us, kill us and take our resources much like we exterminate insects before we build a house on the land they occupied. 

 

Unless they like music, or poetry or our understanding of math and science and physics I would not hold much hope for a friendly meeting.

 

As always I welcome your thoughts, input, and of course enlightened conversation regarding this or any other blog that interest you.

 

-Best to you and those that you care about.

 

 

Out of the box thinking continued…

After doing a little research on prisons, I have come to the conclusion that there are huge financial gains for “thinking outside the box” on this issue.

 The average cost to house a prisoner is $20k per year, give or take.  These include statistics in states where there is over crowding and states where there is not.

 http://www.vera.org/sites/default/files/resources/downloads/Price_of_Prisons_updated_version_072512.pdf

 What if we took all prisoners with non-violent offenses, although I would start with the 75 thousand non-violent drug offense inmates and made farmers out of them?  This could be their choice but, time off for good behavior while learning how to farm and become productive would be a win! Monitoring of them could be easier and less expensive with technology i.e. drones or proximity devices etc.  

The simple facts are that this cost “the tax payers” tons of money each year, both at a state and federal level.

If we were able to get the 75 thousand currently sitting in prison on non-violent drug offenses off the prison role and working on a farm being productive, that alone is $1.5Billion a year of tax money that could be used for something else.   

 Now how many are in prison for other non-violent offenses?

Factor into this the folks that are on welfare that can work and don’t, as well as the street folks who might want to take part in this, (comes with a place to live, heat and food.)

 Lets get them to grow staples that the country needs and then they all of the sudden are a “profit center” if you will.

 Between making a business out of housing criminals, entitlement spending and spending on aliens that are here illegally; tax payers bear one hell of a burden.  We really need some “out of the box thinkers” to address these problems.

 We really need some of these thinkers for the illegal alien issues here in this country.  I really hate to use that terminology for them.  If I lived there, I would do my best to come here as well.  While I would do my best to come through the front door, that is certainly a lot easier said than done.   Some of the basic arguments that I read are false however.  There are plenty of “white people” that will do those jobs.  There are plenty of “Americans” that will do those jobs.  To say that white people and or Americans are too lazy to do them is a blatant falsehood and offensive to me.  If you need work, you will do what you have to.  If the government is paying you not to work, well that is really the cruckst of it, isn’t it?  Who would dig ditches if the government will pay you stay home and watch The View or some other absolute mind-rotting nonsense?

 Propaganda comes in all shapes and sizes.  It comes from those that you “trust” on the nightly news, to shows from Disney with fuzzy little creatures.  Third world countries are not the only ones brainwashing their citizens.  While we can still get multiple views on certain topics, some countries have state run everything so the only “view” that they get is whatever the “government in power” wants them to have.

Currently we have the first amendment (free speech.) That however is under attack by the political correct police.  This needs to be stopped.  If what you say offends others let them not listen to you.  They have the right to not listen just like you have the right to make a complete and utter ass of yourself.  If I can control what you say under the guise of political correctness, than I can have free reign on a myriad of subjects and you cant say anything bad about.  Friends, that is not right and “UN-American!” 

The real trick is finding the multiple views as for some reason the media is in love “or in bed” with the progressives in this country.  I personally read news from all over the world as there is always something going on that other countries find newsworthy.  The BBC which is liberal is for the most part “right” of most of our media.

 It would be refreshing to have objective journalist again.  It would seem that the only time that they are tough on the government is when the GOP in charge.  I am not saying that the GOP is right, what I am saying is that we need objective standards in the media.  If the president drew a crowd of 5000 at some event, both FOX and CNN should say 5000, not “that there were only a few thousand” or “there were absolutely THOUSANDS that showed up for the event!”  Both statements are correct, and both are misleading. 

 There are thousands of folks out there “speaking of thousands” who have probably thought about these issues from time to time.  Let’s noodle this around a little and see what we can come up with.  Let’s have a little “enlightened conversation.”

-Best to you and those that you care about!

An Open letter to those that can make a change, “You.”

Today I want to talk about the uber poor.

 Currently there exist three classes of folks; The Rich, the middle class and the poor.  I would argue that there are more than this.  I would argue that there are five classes, the Uber rich, Rich, middle class, poor and very poor.

 Anyone with over a Billion dollars is Uber rich.  When you get into this club you have enough “gold” to make the rules.

 The rich are really just upper middle class as they cannot make the rules and must live by the ones created by the uber rich however; since they are in the upper middle class they know some of the folks who make the rules and can have influence.

Before you write me and tell me uber rich don’t make the rules, I know congress makes the laws / rules but I am also savvy to Avenue K and lobbyist and who hires them…

 I am skipping the middle class at the moment to jump to the poor. 

The poor have apartments, houses, cable TV, one or more televisions, at least one computer and have most likely figured out how to get enough government assistance or other “invisible income” to make up the difference between being poor instead of very poor.  I would argue that these folks are really middle class; they for a large part just pay taxes as if they were poor or living in poverty.

Then there are the very poor, they are street folks who live under bridges and basically exist on the benevolence of others, charitable organizations or what they can find on their own.

 Now we have the middle class.  These are the folks that strive to be upper middle class or rich and really have too much pride to be anything else.  These are the people that get up every day and go to work whether they feel good or not.  These are the folks that take two jobs, take their kids to soccer, and do all of the other stuff that most do but they are driven to press on, to get ahead, to give their kids a “chance” at something better than what they have.

 Some would argue that their eye might not be on giving their kids something better but on having more “do dads, or gadgets” or trying to keep up with the millionaires.

These are also the folks who have little to no control over the rules.  These are the folks that try to vote for the right person, do the PTA thing, and use whatever influence they have to make a difference.

 These are also the folks who are most taken advantage of, not only by the rich and uber rich, but the poor as well. These are the folks who the 9000 pages of tax code screw the most because they don’t have enough power to anything about it!

 These are the folks who get the Cable, satellite radio, cell phones with data plans and other do dads to fill voids in their lives that life quite frankly is not fulfilling.  These are the folks who have the “universal fees” taken out of their ass-pocket, not knowing that they are one of the government’s ways of redistributing wealth!

 I was in a park not long ago.  While there, a guy, “street person” walked by me.  He smelled bad and was a good distance from me.  That is not however what got my attention.  He was talking on a cell phone.  He was in fact calling 911 because one of his fellow street people had taken his trash bag full of stuff or so he alleged.  I am certain that the local police were really happy that this gentleman was able to call 911 with his “emergency.”

This is the uber poor or poorest of the poor.  Not only is he relegated to living on the street, carrying his stuff in a trash bag but, he has no support system.  Even though this is Texas it still gets cold in the winter.  Instead of getting these people phones, would they not be better served with some other assistance?  Let’s start with clean dry clothes and a warm place to sleep and some warm food.  Let’s get them some medical care, including mental health.  Let’s teach them what constitutes and emergency.  While I am certain that was an emergency to him, that call could very well take away from a real life and death situation. There are other numbers for non emergency stuff and that should be the number he used. Truth be told if he had called sanitation he most probably would have learned that they pick up and discard full trash bags left alone.

Some folks are there on the street because that is where they want to be, I get that.  Some are there because of mental illness.  Some are there because they have no training to get a job or are wrapped up in some sort of substance abuse problem and waiting to hit “true bottom.” Some are undoubtedly there because of “shit happens.“

These folks don’t need a cell phone or internet, they need help!  There is no money to be made in helping these folks however; giving them something tangible like a cell phone and allowing them to vote without a picture ID makes perfect sense to the government, and creates “more useful idiots.”

 The purpose of this diatribe is to offer a solution to the problem.  Unlike Washington and the uber greedy, I think outside the box.  So, take that cell phone money and cable TV money and all of those other “universal fees” that Carter started, Clinton pushed through and Obama expanded upon and do this.

 Set aside government land outside of large cities that is “farm worthy.”  Enlist faith based groups, and other groups like habitat for humanity and set these folks up farms. 

I am not talking about buying $150K tractors, just land and some modest accommodations and some hand tools while they make it a working business.  A mule pulling a plow worked for our forefathers, maybe that could be located until they could earn their own stuff.  Using the habitat for humanity model, they must put in sweat equity…  I would say they must stay clean, pass drug test etc but that is just common sense, isn’t it?

 Farming is not rocket science but, it is becoming a lost art.  Kids today who grow up on the farm are leaving it at alarming rates.  Involve the Aggies in teaching these folks the principles of farming.  As the population continues to grow, does it not make sense that we could use some more farmers?

 Offer this to the street people that don’t want to be on the street.

Offer this to the poor and downtrodden trapped in desperate situations; in neighborhoods that are virtual war zones with drug and gang activity.  Offer them a way out, a hand up.

 Find leaders among these people to self police themselves. Assist these folks to regain some sense of self worth. 

 First, get them medical help including mental and drug rehab.  Part of that is learning how to farm.  They can learn to farm, run a business and sell their product on the markets.  Subsequently they can make profits and purchase tractors and what have you.  If they could just feed themselves, that would be a huge win! It would be a “shot!”

I would also offer these types of programs to the 75 thousand currently in prison for non-violent drug offenses. Put ankle monitors on them and give them a chance to re-deem themselves.  Prison is no place to “rehabilitate oneself.”  Prison is a good place to learn how to be a smarter criminal. What if we had them help the others to become something more than a lost soul.

 If we could get 75 thousand out of prison which the American people are currently paying to house,feed and manage, as well as help the poor to re-gain their lives and self worth, would this not be “giving them a shot” Mr. President?  Would this not be “spreading the wealth,” in a way that makes sense?  

Wealth is not just money Mr. President, it is knowledge.  If I give poor people money and phones and other stuff I am enabling the poor to stay poor and in effect, I am crippling them.  I am giving them a handout, instead of a hand up!  All they learn is how to take.. Kennedy said, “ask what you can do” (paraphrased) Should we not teach them to fish?

 If I take currently non-productive people and give them a sense of purpose; is that not giving them a shot?  

Instead of kicking this can down the road people, we need to take ownership of it and make it our problem; instead of our grandchildren’s’.  We need more givers than takers and it starts now.

There are smarter people out there than I, and possibly with enough “think tank” collective from the American people, maybe something good can happen.  We have enough bad things on the news each and every day, it is time for something good, don’t you think?

Here is the challenge to you the readers.  I am not trying to get anything out of this.  This is my way of giving back. Writing a letter to the white house would end up in file 13…the bin.  One voice in the wind is one voice.  I need millions of voices.  The only way that this has a chance is to re-blog, re-post, re-tweet and make it as viral as possible.  If enough read it, someone with some “influence” will get this to the right person or people. Maybe some Hollywood type that is tired of his or her tax dollars going to keep non-violent drug offenders locked up might think outside the box as well.

Let’s give this administration a positive way that they can “fundamentally transform this country in a good way” by teaching those that need help, how to help themselves.

Yes there are details that need sorting out and I would offer that private citizens do it.  Maybe, just maybe some benevolent Capitalist might have some good ideas or contacts, or a way to help.  If the government gets involved too heavily with the details, we will have another 9000 pages of tax code, 60 thousand earmarks, amendments creating turtle tunnels in the tundra, and nothing will ever happen to help these people.  This process needs to be streamlined and someplace like Detroit might make a good pilot as that place “like Chicago” is a war-zone.

These kids need an out and learning how to take from the government is not it.  Learning how to not get shot walking to school, or how to look innocent in a lineup is not what they need to be learning.

This would also work at the state level.  How about it Mr. Perry, can you make this work and show the Country /World how Texans take care of things?

 

Some prisons have farms already, are some of those inmates candidates to teach others?

 

-Best to you and those that you care about, now get reposting… Thanks!

“Schools are a pipeline to prison.”

 Those words were spoken by our not so illustrious AG, not so long ago.  I don’t know where this man got his degree but, I firmly suspect it came out of a package with a little blue man with a dog by his side as the logo.

 

The problems in our society are not a mystery as to how they happened and the “fix” is really not that esoteric either.  The simple facts are that there is no easy fix.

 

To repair the problem one first has to identify where the problems started and reverse the trend.  Any pilot knows that when you get into trouble or off course or what have you the first thing is not some knee jerk response but, slow small course corrections.  

 

It still boggles my mind that we are where we are at and the AG makes such a lame statement on national TV.  The answer he says is to “give minorities a pass.  Don’t correct them as harshly as you would someone who is not a minority.”

 

There are two basic problems.  The breakdown of the family unit, (no dad around) and the schools have been neutered by those that feel that grading with red pens or reprimanding children or heaven forbid, spanking a child is just simply not done!  You might damage their self esteem!  The parents have gone as crazy by giving into their children’s empty threats of “give me my way or I will hurt myself, I will cut my self and then you will be sorry!”  “Oh ok honey, here is your iPhone back and I have upped your data plan, please don’t hurt yourself.”  Kids have taken “I will hold my breath” one step further to cutting or worse.  If they do this parents, they need more help than you can give them with your parenting skills, seek help!

 

Consistent boundary setting is a lost concept today.  “Explain to the “child” I really wish you wouldn’t do that because there will be consequences to your actions if you do but, that is your decision.  I am keeping the phone for X weeks as I told you, because you did not do what you were supposed to….” 

 

When you set their expectation that “if they do or don’t do” as the case may be the consequence will be X,Y,or Z than you must follow through each and every time.

 

The legal system is real good about setting boundaries for all of us in that if we speed, and get caught, we will get a ticket which cost us money, time and yes it could be embarrassing.

 

When I was in school if we did something that was even slightly egregious, it usually meant a visit to the dean, coach or principal which usually ended up with a few swats and depending upon the offence, may be followed up with after school detention.

 

If you check the charts of people in prison in this country today you will see that there is a direct correlation between that rise in prison population and this drive to neuter the teachers from disciplining your child!  There are 2.2 million people in prison in the US, 75K from non-violent drug offenses.  If you could do the math you would quickly see that we have made an industry out of housing inmates! 

 

Let’s take that one step further, of the people that are currently on the government dole, how many of them could have benefited from a little “course correction” in school?  There is such a thing as character, and I think that between missing dad’s or sperm donors; and the lack of programs for young people and quite frankly the “Stuff” that these teachers are forced to teach, you have the elements for the perfect storm of mediocrity and or “failure as a people.”

 

For instance, if we could re-direct some of that money currently going out to welfare or to house prisoners and put it towards the space program, we no doubt would have people living on MARS by now.  Instead we have to waste our precious resources housing prisoners and paying people not to work. 

 

How about educating those “Americans” that would like to learn, before worrying about educating illegal aliens?  This is not a diatribe against Hispanics or others who come here to have a better life; it is however a statement that those that are here “legally” should have fist shot and not the other way around as we are currently doing in Texas and Mr. Christie is proposing doing!

 

The goal of school is to turn out taxpayers.  School by definition is part of the process and tax payers invest in you, your children and so forth in hopes that you will be a productive citizen. While I doubt few get up in the morning and say, “today I want to be a better criminal,” there are probably some who do, and that is a real loss, not only for them but for all of society.

 

Give the schools the power to discipline all children equally.  That means make the course correction in a way that will get through to that child.  If the consequence is embarrassing and painful enough, the odds of the kid doing something to earn it again are much lower than if you simply throw them onto the street!  You were right about one thing MR AG… We need to show these kids that “we do love them and care for them, and one way you do that is by not sparing the rod!”

 

The numbers don’t lie and I am aghast that no one has put it together and done something about it.  So get out those red pens teachers!  Not everyone wins a trophy and some need to see a big red “F” to get their attention.  No child needs to be on the street or swept aside in some “program” that is indeed a pathway to prison.  Make some course corrections before it gets that far.  How about spending some of that money allocated for “prisons” on programs aimed at working with those families with “no dad at home.”

 

It is not rocket science MR Holder but, if we would take some steps now, just maybe we could get to teaching “rocket science” instead of “how to look innocent in a lineup.” What kids see at home today they will no doubt re-peat in their lives thus adding to the already growing prison populations, broken families and homes and “Detroits,” all over America!  Stop the madness!

 

Happy 2014!

Rant for the summer…Enjoy

I have not written in a while. I have received multiple e-mails asking me about it.. So, here is my most recent rant… Hope you enjoy it or at least it gives you something to talk about with others.

With the upcoming elections in 2014 the spin is in full swing in the media. Create a schism or perceived schism between anyone and everyone is the end goal. They must have Americans divided on all issues so they, the democrats can make the conservative groups look like the bad guy in some form or fashion. Instead of looking for things that we have in common and building a relationship on those things they seek to divide everyone. That in and of itself is a travesty of everything that America stands for. To promote hate and discontent among Americans is well, Un-American!

Hollywood is complicit as well. When you are a “celebrity” you have a responsibility to watch what you say. To guard what you say as truth and not to put forth an agenda for political parties. Too many times we see celebrities “actors” acting as if they know something. They don’t and if you listen to them you will see that they are speaking to people who don’t read, don’t care but recognize them and if they say what to do, they do it.

This week CNN released two articles; one pitting blacks against whites and one pitting rich against poor. The articles were pure opinion and crap! Simply not true but, some people will read them and agree with this “writer.”

Somewhere women’s rights issues will rise back up and it wont be about killing 5 month old babies but somehow giving women some perceived right to not be inconvenienced with a child! What did Obama say, “I would not want my child to be “punished” with having a baby that she did not want.” He talks about pregnancy as if it is a disease like measles. Teach your daughters about safe sex Mr. President. Teach them that there are consequences to your actions. Sometimes those result in an unexpected pregnancy and sometimes, in some sort of STD or worse. When you say things like this your “character or lack thereof, is showing.”

We as a nation have drifted away from the simple fact that our actions have consequences. We are in fact held accountable for them, and should be. We as a people especially mothers protect their young from any and all harm. It is instinctual. Is there a safer place for a child than in its mother’s womb? What kind of people have we become that we would allow some “person” to suck the brains out of our 5 month old child crushing its skull and then rip it out of the womb because we are too busy to be bothered with a child? Those actions bespeak of a monster; both the person who would allow it and the “person” who would profit by doing it.

The ends do not justify the means. To further divide this country, manipulating everyone in the process is nothing less than evil. They cannot run on morals as they have none. They cannot run on character because theirs is corrupt beyond hope. So, they paint the republicans “or the other guy” as the bad guys.

A large majority will not pay any attention to the facts. They will in fact take the bait that celebrities, news outlets and others are spewing out to divide the country on any lines that they can. We have a complicit news media that I cannot figure out for the life of me why? Why are they in bed with this administration? What happened to journalistic integrity? What happened to reporting things objectively, as they are? Today you really have no idea if the news is actual news or some fantasy that is made up to sell subscriptions, or air time, or simply to pander to the current regime in order to get one on one interviews in the oval office, or possibly first question in the morning press meetings.

The political system today is a complete farce. We have law makers who make laws for us that don’t pertain to them. We have law makers that use your money to make money for them selves by manipulating public companies and practicing insider trading. They do this so they can live in opulence, while you and I barely scrape by. We have an administration that is crippling 50% of the country by not teaching them to fish. (Metaphor) We have an administration that wants to corrupt the voting process, so people of ill-repute can vote multiple times. They cannot win in a fair contest so they manipulate the votes, use the IRS to screw conservative groups, and who knows what other evil lurks. What other Chicago politics are under the surface?

We have people who call you a racist if you don’t agree with, and step in line with the thinking of the current administration. If “Stupid” is a race Mr. President; than I am proud to be a racist! We are being held hostage by those that scream political correctness at every opportunity! Screw that! We need to call it what it is and not sugar coat it so someone who has done some real stupid things doesn’t get their feelings hurt!

Every day we read in the news of corruptions within our government, corruptions that got Nixon impeached, today are child’s play. Where are the checks and balances?

Every issue turns into a political football. The game that they play is true brinksmanship, at its best. The result of their posturing and actions could very well put Americans at risk not only in this country but abroad.

We really have some dangerous, serious issues today and we should be focusing on dealing with them instead of winning yet another election. There are laws that need to be changed and they should start with restricting the power of the government. They have obviously forgotten that they work for us.