Tag: obama

#terrorist #AWOL #twelveyearold #slimman

Today

So much to talk about today it seems surreal.

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!

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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

Directive No. 3025.18, “Defense Support of Civil Authorities”

A 2010 Pentagon directive on military support to civilian authorities details what critics say is a troubling policy that envisions the Obama administration’s potential use of military force against Americans.

The directive contains noncontroversial provisions on support to civilian fire and emergency services, special events and the domestic use of the Army Corps of Engineers.

The troubling aspect of the directive outlines presidential authority for the use of military arms and forces, including unarmed drones, in operations against domestic unrest.

“This appears to be the latest step in the administration’s decision to use force within the United States against its citizens,” said a defense official opposed to the directive.

Directive No. 3025.18, “Defense Support of Civil Authorities,” was issued Dec. 29, 2010, and states that U.S. commanders “are provided emergency authority under this directive.”

“Federal military forces shall not be used to quell civil disturbances unless specifically authorized by the president in accordance with applicable law or permitted under emergency authority,” the directive states.

“In these circumstances, those federal military commanders have the authority, in extraordinary emergency circumstances where prior authorization by the president is impossible and duly constituted local authorities are unable to control the situation, to engage temporarily in activities that are necessary to quell large-scale, unexpected civil disturbances” under two conditions.

The conditions include military support needed “to prevent significant loss of life or wanton destruction of property and are necessary to restore governmental function and public order.” A second use is when federal, state and local authorities “are unable or decline to provide adequate protection for federal property or federal governmental functions.”

“Federal action, including the use of federal military forces, is authorized when necessary to protect the federal property or functions,” the directive states.

Military assistance can include loans of arms, ammunition, vessels and aircraft. The directive states clearly that it is for engaging civilians during times of unrest.

A U.S. official said the Obama administration considered but rejected deploying military force under the directive during the recent standoff with Nevada rancher Cliven Bundy and his armed supporters.

Mr. Bundy is engaged in a legal battle with the federal Bureau of Land Management over unpaid grazing fees. Along with a group of protesters, Mr. Bundy in April confronted federal and local authorities in a standoff that ended when the authorities backed down.

The Pentagon directive authorizes the secretary of defense to approve the use of unarmed drones in domestic unrest.

In 2010 we saw the uprising in the middle east and we saw how the Greece came apart when their currency became worthless due to hyper inflation and the government simply devaluing it by printing too much of it.

In Syria we see today the government “quelling civil unrest.” Admittedly they are the cause of the civil unrest that they are quelling by murdering their citizens with anything from typical gunfire to rockets to bombs to chemical attacks. I am guessing if they had unmanned drones they would use them as well.

Understand that the second amendment was designed for the people to keep the government in check through the use of militias if necessary, can you imagine a government run a muck like we see in the middle east today; here in the US where your sons and daughters are ordered by “not just this president but any elected official” to take up arms against you; their parents!

This bill “in my humble opinion” is so far off the mark of what our government is about, it boggles the mind.

For someone who used to teach “constitutional law” this guy and his people are so far left they make Putin look conservative.

Just my 2 cents worth…

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!

Trust Me

It never ceases to amaze me how people will blindly trust “in this case” the government.

People continue to surrender their rights to privacy in exchange for safety. How safe are you?

Here is an article I found most disturbing. http://www.nytimes.com/2009/05/14/us/14explorers.html?_r=1&

These are kids playing soldier. Does this not look eerily reminiscent of this?

The government has deals with cell phone providers to get anything that they want detailing your account and activity. My guess would be that they can also tell what you watch on TV and where you have been on the Internet, all without a warrant.

Bush opened this can of worms and Obama is just capitalizing on it. Do you know that once you surrender your rights that you will never get them back? Again, looking at history; it will take a war with our young men and women fighting each other to bring about some sort of government that is not so “corrupt” if we don’t start now. It will be that or the word “free” will have a whole new meaning. With each new law you loose some freedoms.

We learn that they have supercomputers which break your passwords and security algorithms (most probably using brute force) and that too is done without oversight from a governing body.

In months to come your complete medical history will be available online. That includes notes about your confidential conversations with your mental health provider. If you are prescribed any type of medicine for anything, big brother will know about it and most likely profile you in some sort of slot.

It would seem to me that they should tie this profile to a unique number. There would be no names in it that could identify the person to whom the medical information belonged. Until you provide them a number either by telling it to them or producing a card with it on it would they have access to it. I realize that it will take hundreds of thinkers in several states and committee meeting after committee meeting to think the process through and come up with this idea but, you can have it for free; and save the tax payers billions while you try to come up with it. Oh, and use a hexadecimal numbering scheme so you have lots of numbers.

We have many companies out there providing backup services to companies and individuals via “The Cloud.” Now how much would you care to wager that the same cloud that houses your encrypted data also provides a shadow over a less than honorable sector of our government? “all in the name of safety of course.”

Their reasons for originally doing this may seem honorable but with absolute power comes absolute corruption. If you doubt this, try reading some history. It happens to be rife with such events although the internet was not invented then..

We in fact are following cyclical history and we don’t ever seem to learn from it.

Like the frog in the boiling water, we just never saw it coming…

-Best to you and those that you care about!

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.

Nobody Wins

We live in a world today that is much more hostile than yesterday, “speaking figuratively.”

We have an economy that is literally based on a house of cards for a foundation. The Feds are printing $40B a month ($1.1trillion a year) saturating our economy, devaluing our currency with every dollar that they print. With oil based on the US dollar, is it any wonder why gas cost so much? The “booming economy” is most certainly the same today as the dot com fiasco of a few years ago, when Enron was in the news.

We are not the only country playing this game, others including China are as well.

The economy is based on fabrications and we might as well try and spend monopoly money as that is what your greenback may very well look like in the not too distant future.

Those who survive this will most likely be that small subset of humanity who “lives off the grid” as it were. The people who live in the inner cities and who depend on the government for their existence will be in trouble when this house of cards falls. The Farmers in this country and others may survive as they know how to live without going to the local grocery store every other day for something. They also see the inside of a restaurant far less than the folks in the inner city as they simply don’t enjoy the disposable income that others do. When the bible talks about the meek inheriting the earth, one can’t help but wonder if he is talking about the farmers.

On top of the shaky economy we have small countries with the keys to Nukes! There are no winners if someone drops a nuke. Our defenses have most certainly been hardened to sustain an EMP, and a retaliation of biblical proportions would most certainly follow.

This exchange would involve other nations who have nukes as they will have certainly picked a side. “The enemy of my enemy is my friend.” While I have full confidence in the American Military and their ability to intercept any missile headed this way; the following actions would have serious repercussions worldwide.

Any exchange of missiles with the US would not only devastate the offending country (s); I am certain it would also trigger an economic meltdown worldwide. Everyone looses. Never mind the radiation that would be released to poison every man women and child in the entire world, as well the animals and vegetation.

I can visualize that last man standing, holding the key to a spent nuke, standing next to the shell of building, scorched from fire, with dead creatures and plant life all around him, with radioactive ash falling from the sky, declaring victory; as the blisters from radiation sickness bubble up on his body. We are truly that foolish! Nobody Wins!

When E=MC2 was discovered, Einstein wrote an impassioned letter to the president urging him not to use the bomb. That letter and is German heritage earned him a one way ticket out of the program. Oppenhiemer and others took over, and of course the rest is history. A nuclear device of a relatively low efficiency was created and dropped on our enemy, twice. If those were of a low efficiency, can you imagine what is around today?

An alliance of the superpowers is critical to keeping the peace, and our current administration does not seem to embrace that. Foreign policy is critical at this stage of the “game.” America needs to sort out who its friends are relatively quickly, and form that alliance that was so strong under previous administrations.

In retrospect, what is important to you? Is having a lot of money in the bank important? Is having a lot of gold in some small vault in your house important? What about food, water and guns? Add whisky and cigarettes to the food and water and you may have something. Why? That may very well be the new currency, if this comes down badly. Keep a good supply of your personal medications on hand; several days if not weeks of fresh water, and having some gas stored somewhere may not be a bad idea either. If they are that stupid to launch nukes, it really doesn’t make much difference. There will be no survivors, other than the cockroach. Mutually assured destruction, either by nukes or the economy or both; is not a cheery outcome.

While it is my fervent prayer that no one is stupid enough to pull the trigger, North Korea continues to be very provocative in its talks with media and other news outlets. Today they gave the Brits till the 10^th to get out of their country. What will be the spark?

-Best to you and those that you care about!

Taxes and SEX?

It never ceases to amaze me at the absolute euphoria people exude, when they get their check from the IRS. Everything from a down payment on a new car or furniture or other household trappings are purchased. It maybe money spent towards a vacation, or maybe to pay off some credit card bill that you have had to carry a balance on. They seem to have forgotten that this was their money to begin with and that they are getting a small part of it back!

The parasites are also out to capitalize on your “good fortune” as well. Tax preparation services who only charge a “small percentage” to get you the most back from the “evil” IRS. Then there are the check cashing folks who only charge a “small percentage” to cash your government issued check. While there, the tellers will try and sell you lottery tickets instead of allowing you to take your money and run. There are businesses’ that will cash your check at their store, in hopes that you will buy stuff at their store. My favorite however this year is the “bunny ranch”

Dennis Hof who owns and runs a “legal brothel” in Nevada will cash your government issued checks by trading it for “bunny bucks.” He gives you two bunny bucks for one government dollar (so the story goes) which in today’s economy isn’t a bad trade except of course, the only place to spend bunny bucks is well on “professional services” at his brothel. www.bunnyranch.com

I personally would like (one) bunny buck, just to hang up next to my million dollar “fake bill” as that is what it is worth outside of the ranch. My hats off to his “entrepreneurial spirit.”

If your employer just gave you the money you earned, and then let you settle your taxes every two weeks with the different agencies both state and federal, we might hear a little louder scream from those who think that the government is currently doing a good job. The simple facts are that you never see it, everything happens behind the scenes through the payroll department. Unless you work in that department, you really have no clue how much of your weekly pay is going to someone else. They are simply numbers on a stub. Much like the “Paper or Plastic” article, that I wrote earlier, what you don’t handle you don’t really miss. It doesn’t make that much of an impact!

Consultants often do work that way. They are giving something called a 1099 which reports to the IRS that you were paid X amount of money and by April 15^th they have to come up with everything that is normally taken out of others paychecks and then some as there is the “self employment tax.” I would guess that those folks have a very keen understanding and appreciation of our “tax code.”

If you really want a wake up call, something to stir you inner emotions about the current tax code, do this. Add up all of the taxes and things taken out of your check everyweek. Next time you are at the bank, withdraw that amount, whatever it is and take it home and look at it. Count it a few times. Understand exactly how much you are giving away to “who knows where.” Now multiply that pile of money by 52 if you are a weekly employee and imagine what that pile of money would look like then!

Puts a little different spin on that windfall now doesn’t it. The simple facts are that revising the tax code is long over due. If you really want your head to explode start looking at how the government is spending your money. Really pay attention to where it is going and for what. Protracted wars fighting for people who hate Americans. Green power companies that go bankrupt after using all of the taxpayers money up. Million dollar golf outings to play with Tiger Woods. Sending tanks and aircraft to Egypt, to the Muslim Brotherhood. Who made that deal?

I could be wrong but I think his Ivory tower is so tall, that he really has lost sight of those that he is supposed to be working for. Maybe it is the thin air up there as I remember he had issues with that in Colorado during the 1rst debate.

According to the CCH Standard Tax Reporter, the U.S. tax code began with about 400 pages in 1913. Twenty-six years later there were still only 504 pages, but then it exploded to 8,200 pages by 1945. This blossom of growth was caused in part by finding ways to fund WWII.

It got to over 60,000 pages before the end of the first term of President George W. Bush, and it has now reached over 72,500 pages by the end of the third year of President Barack Obama’s current term of office. Politicians and bureaucrats are consistently adding or modifying this document, making it the monster that it is.

Does this seem like it is getting simpler to you?

In speaking with accountants who know this stuff they are left scratching their heads and searching through new books and guidelines to figure out the correct answer. The only people who can afford to do their own taxes are the people who don’t own a home, possibly rent and have no real property. Folks, we are going the wrong way with laws and taxes.

Every candidate running for office always talks about making it easier, flat tax and so forth and now you can see; that was never the plan. Today we learned that we will be printing $40 Billion a month with no end date. That works out to $1.1 Trillion a year! Feel your money shrinking yet? Wait till bread is $100 a loaf; then maybe the rest of the people will get the message.

-Best to you and those that you care about!

Gun Control, Abortion and Politics

These issues are so divisive, so volatile, that they have ruined many candidates’ chances for ever getting elected.

Case in point: Q: Mr. Ryan, how do you feel about abortion? A: As a Christian conservative I value all life and I believe that abortion should be very limited.

Correct Answer: My personal values and beliefs on this issue are not germane to the conversation. If elected, I will work hard to get these types of decisions pushed back to the state where they belong, so the people in each state can decide by the democratic process how they feel these issues should be handled.

His answer is of course paraphrased but you can see the difference. The correct answer would have garnered him more votes as he recognized the limits of government and even though the Christian conservative comment would have gained him some votes; he most likely already had those votes in the red states and lost votes in the blue states where they needed them. The real gotcha part of the question was diverted in the correct answer and instead of it being a negative as the “reporter” intended, it would have been neutered at the least and a positive at best.

The rhetoric that these issues generate alone, cloud the real issues of the day like the economy and or the events in the Middle East. These two issues take the forefront on the news and the campaign trial, instead of the issues that really matter. Gun control, dominates the nightly news rather than the media dealing with the real issues of the day.

The Middle East is on fire, hundreds of thousand are killed and we talk about creating a law that has no chance of working in this country, ever! They would have to shred the constitution for it to have a chance; and Uncle Joe touting his shotgun rhetoric would have to keep mute; as he gives the gun lobbyist more “ammo,” every time he speaks on the subject.

The simple facts are that there is not a “one size fits all solution” for an entire country on either of these two issues. On top of this if you bother to do any research, you will find places like Chicago who have some of the toughest gun laws, also enjoy some of the highest murder rates or crime rates committed with guns, anywhere in the country.

It is my contention that these issues are played up intentionally and strategically when there are other issues that are showing up on the radar that the administration wants to re-focus the public’s attention away from. Benghazi was one such issue, and Fast and Furious another; just to name two. I would bet that in the industry; issues like this have names, much like “puff piece,” which this would not be, or some such other type of piece like a “Houdini.”

The state should be the one to deal with these issues although I bet that they are happy that they don’t have to. There is a reason that we have red and blue states. The majority of the people in the “highly populated” areas of those states are fairly like minded for one reason or another. These areas attract more people who are also of similar ilk. That is perfectly ok as one should be allowed to vote with their feet.

If Colorado wants to legalize pot (which they did) and you are of the belief that it should be legal, you may be interested in moving there. If Texans think that wearing a gun should be synonymous with wearing clothes, you may want to live there (if you’re a good guy) or stay the hell away if you are prone to picking fights or doing stupid things. “An armed society is a polite society.”

Much like football, the quarterback fakes the throw and our attention “and the opposing teams attention” is momentarily taken off the real ball, and then the handoff happens. Politics or those who practice it, work the same way. The people that we hire, that should be watching out for us are all up there playing quarterback with trillions of tax payer’s dollars.

Of course if gun control and abortion are not enough to divert your complete attention; than the race card, the gay card, and the class warfare card and my personal all time favorite, some imagined war on women come into play. Never have I seen the “war on babies” card played, which it should be.

Keep your eyes on the ball. This is not an R or a D thing, it is a people thing, and those inside the beltway should be held not only to higher standards, but they should be held accountable; accountable not to the people who gambled millions of dollars on their reelection bid; but to us, the tax payer. When any of these cards are played, keep looking for what they are hiding. Start looking at other media rather than the main stream media for the answers. If you are a huge Fox news fan, make sure that you watch CNN as well. The reverse is true if you are a Chris Mathews Fan. I personally read news from all over the globe, as they are watching us, and there is a good chance that their dog in the fight is not that of the current administrations. The more that any of the above cards are dominating the news, or trending, the more I look elsewhere, to see what is happening.

To borrow a phrase from the X-Files, “the truth is out there,” seek and ye shall find. “The truth has no Agenda.”

-Best to you and those that you care about!

Liberals vs Conservatives

Liberals vs. Conservatives

The simple facts are that you win elections by defining the other guys as either for or against something, make blanket sweeping statements about them and then get millions of people to spread the lies, or at the very best, half truths.

As children we are brought up in school playing sports on one team or another. The concept is further propagated in sports like soccer or baseball or football or some other sport that happens as a function of school or after school.

We learn young through pep-rally’s and cheer squads and alike. We in fact make signs that say crush, kill or other wise destroy the competition. The other side or team does this as well. We are in fact programmed to be competitive at an early age and it carries with us the rest of our days.

We pick our sides on the political battlefield as well. We don’t want to be confused with the facts; we just want our “guy” to win. We will go door to door, make thousands of phone calls, even go to rally’s carrying on the tradition of “kill crush destroy” the other team.

I have made the analogy many times that it is simple a matter of Shirts vs. Skins and most people have lost sight of the fact that it is not about that, but the character of the individual.

This last election Obama won because their side painted the other side in a bad light. They in fact defined Romney as the problem and his policies would put us back into those problems, he is a rich guy and does not care about the little guy and so forth.

They painted Ryan as right wing nut job who would keep all women at home barefoot and pregnant in the kitchen and would throw grandma off the cliff!

The smear campaigns were ruthless and over a Billion Dollars was spent to win this election. I can think of a lot of hungry people who would have benefited from a billion dollars.

Not unlike the super Bowl, one side is giddy and the other side is downhearted.

While politics is an ugly game, and it is a game; the real losers were all Americans.

Why do I say this?

The issues that were the real issues of this last 4 years were not addressed. They in fact were swept under the rug by a very clever and expensive PR campaign that knew exactly how to manipulate the American voter. The GOP having everything they needed to win this election “the last 4 years” did not capitalize on it as they constantly had to defend the lies. Truthfully the facts of the last four years should have been all any voter needed.

A voters mind gets made fairly quickly. Most people do not spend much time getting the facts. Who can blame them, we are working more than forty hours a week, trying to keep food on the table, fill up our cars with gas as well as keep a roof over our heads.

I know people who cannot afford to heat their house over 50 degrees in the winter time. These are working people! I know people who work 60 odd hours a week at two jobs and still have no money left over to put into savings in case of emergency.

Americans are hurting and that is one of the issues that should have been addressed.

We can no longer afford to be loyal to a party. We the people need to vet these candidates better. Candidates will often change party if the constituents in their district change demographically. That should tell you that they are not even loyal to the party.

We have seen congressmen change party giving the other side an advantage. Voting the party line is bad for America.

We are manipulated at every turn in the road. We are manipulated by news Medias that unfairly slant a story one way or another either by embellishing the facts or by omitting some facts or simply by not covering it at all.

We are manipulated by Hollywood; from HBO series to movies that play to one party or the other.

Our children our manipulated by shows that have some agenda in them.

How do you know when you are being manipulated? For one thing manipulating can be done in many ways. First and foremost is to play on your emotions. If I show a devastated forest with dead animals, empty and discarded trash and evidence of pollution I have effectively made you susceptible to my message of recycling and anti-factories and anti-capitalism and so forth. If I wanted to make an argument against coal I might create an advertisement or even a movie that had this in it. The Lorax comes to mind.

If I made a commercial or movie that showed thousands of people in the street, starving, inadequately fed clothed or sheltered and then showed some fat cats looking out from their ivory towers lighting cigars with $100 bills; I could go anywhere with that. I could blame big government or I could blame capitalist. Whatever the message, I could sway voters.

Guess what, you are a victim of manipulation on a daily basis.

The trick is to know when you are being manipulated. Once you know how, knowing when gets a little easier.

To win an election first you remind people of simpler times. You remind them of $1 gallon gas, and inexpensive groceries. You then convince people that all of their misfortunes in life are the fault of the other guy and or his party. The one who has the most money to spend and gets their ads on TV in swing states early and often defining the other guy as the nemesis, wins! It really is that simple.

There is little difference between either party. They are in Washington or where have you, living like kings, while we the peasants “more like the stepford wives” sing their praises. We tweet for them, we argue with one another and we call one another names all in the name of our loyalties to the party. We don’t know history so we don’t learn from it.

The problems in this country can be fixed but we the people first have to realize what the problems are, so we can address them. Those who think that they know will argue and they may even take their shirts off so we can draw delineation between the shirts and the skins. The simple facts are that this is not a sporting event. When someone will spend $19 million of their own money to try and get a job that pays $174K per year; there is something wrong! The system is flawed and needs repair and it starts with us the people.

They work for us and are accountable to us. We need to get the facts and hold them accountable. I would start by boycotting news media outlets that slant the news one way or another. We disserve the news that is the truth. We need a news agency that does not have a dog in the fight that cannot be corrupted by money or bribed with one on one interview in the oval office. Demand better! In this case vote with your remote!

I welcome polite and civil discourse on this or any subject on this blog. -Best