tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-86631515550377340402024-03-14T08:15:40.699-04:00Freedom in an Unfree WorldRantings of an American Libertarian menace-to-society arrogantly hiding behind the First Amendment.Wal Manhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18088924489584208710noreply@blogger.comBlogger375125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8663151555037734040.post-85414459370317395612021-02-21T00:06:00.005-05:002021-02-21T08:52:28.386-05:00The Biden Regime: Destroy! Destroy! Destroy!<p> </p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiF0R_UQmeKjGP2-bzX6mxob5GUvLfC5IQVMChwO4CRTCfkrgTNeGyBP6as3zfmeiyW6B0se7uFweKvHCAJ9E1lMH7GJMb3NfhFjKohciTXK0MF1TCZ_oy_DU_OOLpFbDCyLMw7Uez_ynE/s310/old+joe.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="163" data-original-width="310" height="235" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiF0R_UQmeKjGP2-bzX6mxob5GUvLfC5IQVMChwO4CRTCfkrgTNeGyBP6as3zfmeiyW6B0se7uFweKvHCAJ9E1lMH7GJMb3NfhFjKohciTXK0MF1TCZ_oy_DU_OOLpFbDCyLMw7Uez_ynE/w447-h235/old+joe.jpg" width="447" /></a></div><br /><p></p><p>There is no end-game for the Biden Cabal that has, via the greatest purloinment of an election in the history of the United States, come to power in this nation, not with a parade but by sneaking in the back cellar entrance. </p><p>By trying to keep the Covid Scare lockdowns going as long as possible, these syndicate thugs hope to either come up with a brilliant plan OR just try to put off the inevitable economic retconning that will begin just as soon as the country is allowed to get back to business, IF it can get back to business. Once it does, the bills will start to come due and the whole mess will start to unravel. But it won't unravel slowly. It will make an incredible whirring noise like you get when you hook that big Marlin and it knows it has to dive. </p><p>But there will be no brilliant plan coming out of Joe Biden's head or any of the empty noggin's he's brought with him. They aren't looking that far ahead. The Plan was to tear down everything first. That's it. Just destroy everything. What comes after never concerned them. Governing isn't what this is all about. The whole of the game and the plan is and has been from the beginning, is to tear everything down. </p><p>Cancel the Keystone pipeline, put 11,000 people out of work. What is the plan to replace those jobs? No plan. "What's your point?" says Joe. South Dakota still has to get their oil to market so they'll just have to stick with driving their diesel powered tanker trucks over the state highways.</p><p>Good thinking. </p><p>But it was never about good thinking. It is about destruction. Because Keystone was a good plan, was being successfully executed and had a solid goal in mind; get oil to market safer and more efficiently. It had to go. </p><p>Open up the boarder with Mexico and let those people in. "Well sir, what are we going to do with them when they come? are we going to vet them? Discover who they are? Give them their shots to prevent them from bringing diseases into the country?" </p><p>"What do you mean?" says Joe Biden. "What are you trying to say?"</p><p>There is no plan for what happens next. Never was. It's just "Let them in!" That's the plan: Chaos. </p><p>All Anarchists know how to do is destroy. They can infiltrate, reconnoiter, plan, social engineer, undermine, threaten, loot storefronts, break windows and burn buildings down. But none of that has anything to do with GOVERNING. Radicals don't know how to govern, they are incapable. Look at Castro, the guy could lead an army and kill people. He took over, put himself in charge and look what he made. </p><p>Anyway, there are too many examples of this kind of failure. The Left keeps saying, in order to convince themselves, that the NEXT TIME they get a chance, that they will get it right. But they never do. There is no right way of Communism. It's failed every time it's been applied. </p><p>But the Biden Regime doesn't even go that far. They aren't even pretending to lead. The mission is to destroy. THAT, they are doing. </p><p>It hasn't even taken 4 weeks to start gas prices climbing. Now this time they do have a plan, raise the national gasoline tax! A regressive tax like this is just the thing to aid the poor and reduce the costs of shipping. Good plan. </p><p>The talk of re-entering the bad-for-us Paris Accord, even though nobody is going to pay any attention to it, including us. But there's money to be made for the Biden cronies, you can take that to the bank. </p><p>Getting involved with Iran again for lord knows why other than President Trump and all the people who voted for him was against it. The plan there is: IN YOUR FACE! After that, no plan. </p><p>And the "Plan" for Covid Relief is to, rather than getting people back to work, is to print more money and spread that bad paper around to the rubes. </p><p>You can bet there will be no plan once the inflation starts to rise and the job lose continues to pile up. Biden and his Henchmen will just sit and watch. Or they won't even bother to watch. They'll just keep saying nonsense and their Media Enablers will continue to broadcast it like it was something important.</p><p>And what a bunch of nonsense they have already been spouting. Does that Jen Psaki ever answer a question? She stutters like a tractor in need of a tune-up when she genuflects and contorts to avoid any semblance of certainty or truth. Let's see how long they all can keep that up. </p><p><b>The Complicity of the GOP</b></p><p>I blame the Republican Party for this debacle. They did nothing to scrutinize the election process or contest the dubious results. Instead they sat on their hands. They did nothing so this must be what they prefer. They would rather have the Biden regime than continued prosperity for the country. </p><p><b>Useless Supreme Court</b></p><p>They are supposed to hear important cases. They are required to hear cases brought forth by legal voters. They punted. Go ahead, expand the Supreme Court, who cares. Why defend them when their job is to defend us and they just plain did not. They've taken themselves out of their role in government.</p><p><b>Biden Should Come Clean</b></p><p>In an ideal world the Biden Group should just put their hands up, admit they subverted the vote to gain the Whitehouse, admit they are in over their heads and throw themselves upon the mercy of the American people for what they've done. They should just admit what all of us know and few dare to speak. </p><p>Let the person who was actually voted into the office, come up and run things. </p><p>Otherwise, there's no reason to vote again. It won't make any difference since the Leftists now control the voting machines so just go live your lives and prepare yourselves the best you can for what's coming next. </p><p><br /></p>Wal Manhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18088924489584208710noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8663151555037734040.post-63692835840651353472020-12-17T11:14:00.002-05:002020-12-17T11:18:02.442-05:00State Governors Killing the Economy<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj2sB3QrlRIxK3_eftgrDeMsPMV2HipM0d2o7-q731VMz9xc2yf1H3oyjLaiCrBR2mCLu1W_jY_BWCFBMxs071KSD9R8GGoe5xgv4hoIZTxFzfBYfpwBKN2JypFChGUWP90GunTorundlg/s311/out+of+business.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="162" data-original-width="311" height="208" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj2sB3QrlRIxK3_eftgrDeMsPMV2HipM0d2o7-q731VMz9xc2yf1H3oyjLaiCrBR2mCLu1W_jY_BWCFBMxs071KSD9R8GGoe5xgv4hoIZTxFzfBYfpwBKN2JypFChGUWP90GunTorundlg/w400-h208/out+of+business.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><br /><p>By now people should have figured this out. The lockdowns are not about public safety. They are about purging the optimism of the Trump Economy. They are about destroying what the last four years has built. </p><p>It isn't the Virus that is doing this, it is the actions of the Governors and especially the Leftist Governors in the states of Massachusetts, New York, Rhode Island, Michigan etc. They are purposely killing their economies with their shutdowns, rollouts and then return to shutdowns. They have just dangled hope of opening to these businesses for months when initially they said "three weeks". It's all bullshit and quite illegal since none of these actions have been taken with approval of the state legislatures. But the governors own the courts, they appoint the judges and they authorize their pay so when citizens appeal to the judicial branch, they get BUPKIS!</p><p><b>Living in Fear</b></p><p>There's very little truth being told over the airwaves and this is just the way things are going to be from now on with the recent overthrow of the Republic. You still have the same remote chance of succumbing to the Virus as you had 9 months ago which is less than 2%. The idea that nobody is dying from anything else these days should be a point for pause. The regular flu used to kill about 35 to 55 thousand people a year in the USA but I guess that it doesn't any more. </p><p>As Dean Wormer said back in the movie Animal House, "Fat, Dumb and Stupid is no way to go through life, son." and I have to conquer. You call this living? Living in fear of your fool life and afraid to live it? This is what this country was built on? I'm frankly surprised at how many Rubes bought into this scheme so quickly and so totally to the point where they'll walk in the street with their back to traffic just to avoid walking past me on the side walk. I say to them "You know, you can be killed doing that." and they never say anything back or change their stride. It's one big con and here we are 9 months on they STILL haven't figured it out! </p><p>Quite frankly, I'm appalled at the behavior. Yes, you can get sick and die. But you can do that every day of the week every year of your life. Death stalks the human race every day. </p><p>As social-psychologist Sheldon Solomon said in Michael Moorer's great environment scam expose' Planet of the Humans, "You can step out of your house and get hit by a fucking meteor!" And he's right. Any time you step off the curb to cross the street could be your last time. So you don't stay huddled in your house because of that? Concern for your life (or others for that matter) isn't causing you to drive the speed limit and almost 40 thousand people die each year driving. And many are not pleasant deaths. </p><p>It makes no sense to me, this abject, all-consuming...fear.</p><p><b>Moving the Goal Posts</b></p><p>Another action that should turn on the bell in you noggin' is that first the Vaccine will help us return to "a normal life" but now that it's actually been discovered and is being rolled out, the tune about it's restorative effects has changed. It's no longer the Elixir of Normalcy that it was touted as. Why? </p><p>Because the election isn't quite over yet. Until President Trump is actually out of the White House, this isn't going to let up. AND since the lockdown orders has worked so well on the dutiful public, they will want to see how long they can keep this going. </p><p>We could be wearing masks come this time next year. And we already know the people who will NEVER take them off again. </p><p>I am not my brother's keeper but you all don't know how silly or craven you look when I see you all on the sidewalk, OUTSIDE or driving INSIDE YOUR CAR with the windows rolled up WEARING A STUPID MASK. </p><p><b>Why the Governor's aren't wearing masks or staying home.</b></p><p>This is because they know something you don't. That the chances of them keeling over from the Virus is remote. That's why they're ordering restaurants and businesses to shut down one minute and the next they're either in the hair solon, dining out with friends or in a meeting with 20 people without masks. They aren't worried one whit!</p><p>You wanna be a drone and live like that, have at it. But your being played and have been from the beginning. Don't know when you all will smarten up but for the sake of the soon-to-be-lost Republic, I hope it's sooner than later. </p><p><b>Our loss of Freedom</b></p><p>You're not going to like the future if the future is going to look like this. I don't people have gotten it yet, the implications of what has just happened. They're still saying "We'll beat them next time!" when there will be no next time. No fair time next time any way. If allowed to stand, this Conspiracy of Leftist States will become the routine. And once a group convinces themselves that this was the right thing to do, they will forever delude themselves that their next step will be right also.</p><p><b>Voting with your Feet</b></p><p>New Yorkers have got the right idea. They're leaving the city and the state in droves in a Dysphoria of the Affluent. The people who can't work from home or afford to just pick up and leave will be stuck with the bill. </p><p>This has been happening in California also and is spreading across the country. The U.S. will stratify, I think, leaving the blue states very blue and the red states very red. Finding a place where there are people who think like you will be the main attraction and also not be picking your pocket every other day. </p><p><b>The Coming Fallout</b></p><p>You can't defy gravity for long. There will be a corresponding crash of some kind as a result of all this government spending and no money coming into the tax coffers. It's simple accounting that nobody is counting on to rear it's ugly head. They think the Federal government will just write a check and they'll be fine. But the Feds are $30 Trillion in the hole already. What ever check they write is borrowed. The states, like New York, were also in the red and what ever check they get will not be enough. Here in Massachusetts, they've not laid off one public services worker. Nobody is riding the trains, few are working in the city of Boston. They're not spending money to park, ride the trains, at restaurants, going to movies or plays, it's mostly stopped. So where is the city or state going to get the money to pay all these people? </p><p>Just wonder. So should everybody. Especially the Governor. </p><p><br /></p><p><br /></p>Wal Manhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18088924489584208710noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8663151555037734040.post-63722482433591956422020-08-28T01:04:00.004-04:002020-08-28T01:04:52.162-04:00The Covid Scare is Over<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjRdGzjlHLE8cjgSCRC4ztqipfOthhmahryBKJNJ6Hrennlv8OIvrbl2gf7y4_588Xw5dxNLZc1Eln9nJPCNAYXazFz8QVyGwG7IvKlKtwaz7ZG9QRBThlM-Yo1PnGAkPLn87AU41h2mBQ/s1600/61ICwJEJl3L._SL1500_.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1500" data-original-width="1500" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjRdGzjlHLE8cjgSCRC4ztqipfOthhmahryBKJNJ6Hrennlv8OIvrbl2gf7y4_588Xw5dxNLZc1Eln9nJPCNAYXazFz8QVyGwG7IvKlKtwaz7ZG9QRBThlM-Yo1PnGAkPLn87AU41h2mBQ/s200/61ICwJEJl3L._SL1500_.jpg" width="200" /></a></div>
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Oh but the Media fear mongering will continue. It just drones on and on every day without end to the point where anyone who is still listening and taking the "news" seriously has got to have a screw loose at this point since it's not just a lie, it is all an Obvious lie.<br />
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"How can you say that, people are dying, yes, DYING from the Covid Virus every day!"<br />
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Yep, but apparently they aren't dying of anything else yet death stalks us every day at every turn. You could find blood in your stool tomorrow morning. I'd bet the last thing that would enter your head after that would be if you were going to catch the fucking flu.<br />
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It's all been over sold and the lock-downs just an economic suicide attempt by the Leftist governors of the Leftist States of America. In a move reminiscent of the Old South, the LS of A have made their own move at Secession. And just like the antebellum South, they are desperately trying to hold onto their untenable and outmoded way of life, the life of Taxpayer Servitude, the new slaves of the Liberal wealth redistributors. In this world, nobody ever gets too much. What you earn, you do not own. Your money is theirs to dole out to whomever they deem downtrodden. Except you, you stupid shit, you just get to pay so shut up, sit down and keep pretending this is real.<br />
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<b>The Mask as a Symbol of Oppression</b><br />
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The hoax of the virus is that it's so deadly that the whole world has to stop, that you have to not work and go on the Dole, that you have to stop living your life and instead be in fear of losing it.<br />
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You call this living?<br />
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And the weird thing is, nobody really believes it anymore. People are walking around with their masks on their chins because it's ridiculous. Why are people wearing masks out side? There is a family that must live on my block because I encounter them out walking way too often for my liking. I call them the Fear Family because when they encounter me on the sidewalk, knowing full well by now that I'm not going to move, will walk in a line out in the street. And when they do this, I sing my "Covid Song" at them:<br />
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"Living in fear! Everybody's living in fear!<br />
Hold onto your life, oh what a fright.<br />
Stay away from every one, this is the life!"<br />
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Those stupid, stupid people. Wearing masks outside in the fresh fucking air and going out of their way to avoid people on the God-damned sidewalk. Fear much?<br />
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Few people are dying of this. Take away the 82.5% of the deceased Massachusetts residents who were in nursing homes and hardly anybody has died of this in the state. Nobody 20 and under has died.<br />
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"Oh, but people 20 and under HAVE died." the fearful will chorus but what does that mean? Someone, somewhere, in a nation of 300 plus million people, has died of this. What are the odds?<br />
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"You must watch quite a bit of television." I'll answer since it's the television watchers who are the most fearful and stupid people I've met since this bullshit started.<br />
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There was a woman in work who repeated the lie she heard on TV like it was the gospel, that children with not symptoms are the most likely to spread the disease. It was apparent to me that she was incapable of rational thought since all flues are spread by the most obvious symptom: coughing. If you ain't coughing, you ain't spreading the virus. The report was later rescinded but the damage was done.<br />
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It was all a big lie. Covid didn't stay alive on surfaces for 24 freakin' hours, didn't survive in the cold, people didn't have it for two weeks before they knew they had it, children, rather than being "carriers" rarely even got it and if you need a fucking test to tell you that you've got it, how sick are you really if you didn't already know?<br />
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How stupid you must feel. But you should be feeling angry at the politicians that tried putting this over on us.<br />
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The lie is that hardly anyone outside of a nursing home is dying of this yet the states are cracking down on business harder than ever. I have been getting my coffee at a local quick mart for the last six months where it's self-serve. After 6 months of this, the state has told them no more self-serve. They now have to pour people's coffee for them. Does that make sense?<br />
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None of this has made sense from the beginning. It's not about public health. It's about creating chaos. With mobs in the streets, the mayors and governors doing nothing about it, closing businesses and basically refusing to take charge, chaos grows.<br />
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<b>Riots Not Polling Well</b><br />
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Scaring Middle American has never been a winning strategy and the Political Left never seems to get that. Or it's that they are incapable of any other strategy since they don't actually have any ideas. The Obama brand of fatalist pessimism still permeates the Democratic Party. They've got nothing else to offer.<br />
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But now even the Democrats are getting uneasy. Not because of the riots and violence but at the Perception of the riots and violence. They seem to be concerned that people are seeing such things in a negative light. People aren't running to join the Anarchist Revolution, they are instead running out of the states where the Revolutionaries are going crazy with the looting and burning.<br />
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Bad optics, they're saying. But still not a finger lifted by state government to stop it.<br />
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<b>Everywhere, No Money</b><br />
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The states who've locked down the most stand to lose a bundle. But no Federal funds will be coming their way most likely ever. Since Donald Trump will win in a landslide, he's not going to be writing checks to New York, California, Main, Rhode Island or Massachusetts period. The House and Senate will look different and there may be less will on their part to even talk about state bailouts.<br />
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No, no, the states are on their own and have lost billions to the point of half the state budget is not coming in by way of taxes. How long the governors think they can defy gravity is anybodies guess but at some point, someone is going to need to get their money and it won't be there. <br />
<br />
Then what? </div>
Wal Manhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18088924489584208710noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8663151555037734040.post-24960717179834078702020-08-14T20:38:00.003-04:002020-08-16T00:04:01.730-04:00Mail-in Voter Fraud<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg-pa00bbUEUJnl0uzU7yDYmst1dXyeyqzNKz3UAisH3Ali60Z3da2e1FbC62EP28Ijmo3w7GPPhoM-Xad-rXiiJssJZtl28jzxZKe2gZFm1jQpB3FdoNQ77zjhnyVCmGMR8XaNqVZHiYg/s810/usps-nonprofit.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="455" data-original-width="810" height="288" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg-pa00bbUEUJnl0uzU7yDYmst1dXyeyqzNKz3UAisH3Ali60Z3da2e1FbC62EP28Ijmo3w7GPPhoM-Xad-rXiiJssJZtl28jzxZKe2gZFm1jQpB3FdoNQ77zjhnyVCmGMR8XaNqVZHiYg/w512-h288/usps-nonprofit.jpg" width="512" /></a></div>
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<span style="color: black; font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 150%;">Having the U.S. Postal
Service administer a mass mail-in voter ballot-by-mail distribution project on
a national level is like having your local Parks & Recreation Commission
running the Mission to Mars.</span><span style="color: black; font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 13.5pt; line-height: 150%;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="color: black; font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 150%;">As an alternative to this I suggest bringing back the Pony Express. Or perhaps we can implement Vote by Telegraph. THAT would be faster.</span></div>
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<span style="color: black; font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 150%;">While the cash-strapped,
massively debt-ridden, disorganized and antiquated postal service can still get
a letter across the country for what amounts to a pittance, an email still
beats them by four days, 23 hours & 58 seconds. While UPS and FedEx, two massive private enterprises
run circles around them and make a profit, the U.S. Postal service hemorrhages
money yearly by the Billions. Today USPS is just a massive, government-mandated
money pit that has undergone cutbacks, austerity programs and reductions in
workforce to try to stop the bleeding. </span></div>
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<span style="color: black; font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 150%;">This is the organization
we are going to entrust to suddenly send millions of ballots to every
registered voter in these United States? I’m always getting other people’s mail
in my mailbox even though their mailboxes have their names clearly on them, can
the rank and file postal service employee, mostly non-employee “casual” staff
who are paid a lower salary than the regular carriers and have fewer benefits,
care enough to even try? </span><span style="color: black; font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 13.5pt; line-height: 150%;"><o:p></o:p></span><span style="font-family: "times new roman", serif; font-size: 16px;">They have recently requested $25 Billion to pay for the delivery of the Mail-in Voting ballots but the Feds could give them $50 Billion and they're still not going to get the ballots delivered on time and there is nobody still connected to this organization that is happy. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times new roman", serif; font-size: 16px;">Rather than throwing good money after bad, the Federal government should finally allow the U.S. Postal Service to finally face the huge financial reckoning that should send it the way of the Dodo bird and the Dirigible. </span></div>
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<b><span style="color: black; font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 150%;">This is how this is
going to turn out</span></b></div>
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<span style="color: black; font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 150%;">Having heard the reports
of people receiving mail-in ballots for people who last lived at particular
addresses for up to 16 years, I can’t help but believe that the country is
already being flooded with ballots. When these ballots are returned en mass,
the local town and city clerks, who rely heavily on volunteers during votes,
are going to have to verify each one. It is apparent that each municipality
could potentially receive a much higher number of ballots in comparison to
registered voters. The process of verifying these voters will drag on for a
substantial period of time, not days. The ensuing chaos and lack of result will
give incentive for the Leftist Media to declare old Joe Biden as the winner and
start their screaming campaign for President Trump to immediately vacate the
Whitehouse. </span><span style="color: black; font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 13.5pt; line-height: 150%;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="color: black; font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 150%;">Doubt me?</span><span style="color: black; font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 13.5pt; line-height: 150%;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="color: black; font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 150%;">One doesn’t have to look
far for an example. Take the state of New York’s 12<sup>th</sup> Congressional
District primary election. It took over a month to determine incumbent
Representative Carolyn B. Maloney to win over challenger Suraj Patel in a race
that saw 1 in 5 mail-in ballots or 20% of the approximately 65,000 votes cast,
invalidated. This lead Mr. Patel to state “A 1 in 5 disenfranchisement rate is
far too high for a developed democracy.”</span><span style="color: black; font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 13.5pt; line-height: 150%;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: 12.0pt;">
<span style="color: black; font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 150%;">And of course, this has
now gone to the courts.</span><span style="color: black; font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 13.5pt; line-height: 150%;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: 12.0pt;">
<span style="color: black; font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 150%;">And this to me is
actually what this is all about, the creation of potentially invalid votes
aimed not to win an election but to throw the election into chaotic dispute, to
make the outcome impossible to determine.</span><span style="color: black; font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 13.5pt; line-height: 150%;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: 12.0pt;">
<span style="color: black; font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 150%;">The 15</span><sup><span style="color: black; font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 13.5pt; line-height: 150%;">th</span></sup><span style="color: black; font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 150%;"> and 16</span><sup><span style="color: black; font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 13.5pt; line-height: 150%;">th</span></sup><span style="color: black; font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 150%;"> Congressional
Districts also experienced the same delay and murky endings leading observers
to speculate this obvious omen for the November election.</span><span style="color: black; font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 13.5pt; line-height: 150%;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: 12.0pt;">
<span style="color: black; font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 150%;">Not looking good if this
is how the primaries are turning out. </span><span style="color: black; font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 13.5pt; line-height: 150%;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: 12.0pt;">
<b><span style="color: black; font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 150%;">Undermining the Vote</span></b><span style="color: black; font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 13.5pt; line-height: 150%;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: 12.0pt;">
<span style="color: black; font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 150%;">The California
Motor-Voter bill of 1993 was the first overt effort of the Left to undermine
the vote. Conservatives have had a hard time there ever since. This was set up to insure that while you are getting your illegal drivers license, you can also register to vote. And as a result, a
Republican presidential candidate hasn’t won California since the bill was implemented. Bill Clinton
carried the state in 1992 and the Democrats have been dominant ever since. </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: 12.0pt;">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;">And
it shows.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: 12.0pt;">
<b><span style="color: black; font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 150%;">Constitution on the
Ropes</span></b><span style="color: black; font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 13.5pt; line-height: 150%;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: 12.0pt;">
<span style="color: black; font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 150%;">Our democracy, already
hanging by a thread and facing this latest “Attack of the Governors” who seem
far too comfortable telling people what to do, where they can go, what to wear
and determining what businesses are to succeed, balances on the precipice of a
Totalitarian Regime.</span><span style="color: black; font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 13.5pt; line-height: 150%;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: 12.0pt;">
<span style="color: black; font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 150%;">But this time the threat
doesn’t come from the Federal Government. This time it’s the Leftist state
administrations that are driving the take-over and there seems to be little the
Federal Government can do to counter this Economic Suicide mission they are on
since the Governor’s don’t appear to care how much money they’re states are
losing or how they ever hope to recover…after.</span><span style="color: black; font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 13.5pt; line-height: 150%;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: 12.0pt;">
<span style="color: black; font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 150%;">If there is an after.</span><span style="color: black; font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 13.5pt; line-height: 150%;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: 12.0pt;">
<br /></div>
<br /></div>
Wal Manhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18088924489584208710noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8663151555037734040.post-33651575740472182212020-07-12T15:07:00.000-04:002020-07-12T23:44:03.059-04:00The Anarchism of the American Left<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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<br />
<br />
Usually, Anarchism, by definition, is the desire and execution of far left elements of society to bring down governments in an anti-authoritarian revolt, to bring chaos due to a breakdown of government's ability to enforce its laws.<br />
<br />
But what if your Anarchists ARE the government? What happens when they move to destroy their own states in an effort to destroy the over all economy and Federal government?<br />
<br />
Well look no further!<br />
<br />
The Leftists on the state level are exercising their own version of Anarchy by ignoring the Federal government and purposely sinking their state economies in an attempt to cripple the sitting President and exert jack-booted control of all business in their domains.<br />
<br />
This certainly turns the definition on it's head.<br />
<br />
<b>Understanding Anarchists </b><br />
<b><br /></b>
Regular folks have a hard time understand how Anarchists think. Like Suicide Bombers, why would somebody destroy themselves just to get at someone else? If the state Governors crash their economies, wouldn't that hurt them and their supporters also?<br />
<br />
Yes but...they don't care!<br />
<br />
The goal is to reach the target. The costs will be only be weighed AFTER, win or lose. The point is to tear down, disrupt and destroy and if they are blown up in the turmoil they cause, well it will all be worth it in the end. To them, Martyrdom is a desirable achievement for the cause.<br />
<br />
You, me, family, friends....all just collateral damage, means to an end. After all, this is War. Not for the hearts and minds of the people but for the fleeting opportunity to control them regardless if they want to be ruled or not.<br />
<br />
Who thinks like that?<br />
<br />
THEY do. And the sooner you figure it out, the better off we'll all be.<br />
<br />
<b>Crashing the States</b><br />
<br />
How else can one explain the economic destruction being forced upon the United States by Leftist Governors like California's Gavin Newsom, Illinois's J.B. Pritzker, NJ Governor Phil Murphy, Connecticut's Ned Lamont, NY Governor Mario Cuomo, Gina Raimondo of Rhode Island and Massachusetts own Charlie Baker, who are closing businesses, giving orders, making demands and sending the Men with Guns after, not the criminal element, since the state courts are actually releasing convicted criminals back into society during this lock-down but sending them after ordinary taxpaying citizens.<br />
<br />
This is for everybody, not just people who are at risk.<br />
<br />
Is this for the Public Health?<br />
<br />
Even if it saves JUST ONE LIFE, it'll all be worth it, won't it?<br />
<br />
Well poverty has it's own health downside. And if people can't open their businesses, can't work, can't travel and if the hospitals are seeing nobody but people with the virus, we're going to have poverty.<br />
<br />
So why would the Governors want to crash their own economies, it makes no sense.<br />
<br />
Already told you, they don't care. All that matter is the goal.<br />
<br />
<b>Get Trump</b><br />
<b><br /></b>
The President can't run on the economy anymore, it's gone. The highest unemployment since the first Great Depression. The states are running record deficits, many even before this happened. Very little tax money coming in, hospitals laying people off and right now, I can confidently say that every town in the state of Massachusetts this week will be holding meetings about how many town employees they will have to furlough or lay off. The longer this goes on, the less and less there will be for everyone.<br />
<br />
Still think this is to protect the populous from the Virus?<br />
<br />
<b>No Bailouts from the Feds</b><br />
<b><br /></b>
President Trump must stick to his guns about not rewarding this behavior and the chances are very good that no bailouts can even be possible before January since he has already vowed to veto bailout legislation. The Republican controlled Senate will not override a Presidential veto during an election year.<br />
<br />
Should the Leftist opposition candidate, by some happenstance, prevail in November, they would not be able to write a check until they take office late January of 2021.<br />
<br />
So...not gonna happen. The decision, should he actually sign such a bill, is the President's alone.<br />
<br />
<b>Square Yourself with God</b><br />
<b><br /></b>
We won't live forever and I for one am not interested in living like this. What an incredible waste of time it is running around being afraid you are going to die since, well, you're going to die, sooner or later. Most of us expect it to be later but we like to temp the Fates by seeing just what situations we can wriggle out of.<br />
<br />
There is a daredevil in all of us, some more so and less so. Some people's idea of adventure may be hiking New Hampshire's Lafayette trail and for others, they aspire to jump out of a balloon at the world's highest edge with space. But each experiences the same thrill when they take that very first step.<br />
<br />
After all, life is too short to live in fear.<br />
<br /></div>
Wal Manhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18088924489584208710noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8663151555037734040.post-71770816763257857792020-06-10T09:17:00.001-04:002020-06-10T09:20:43.306-04:00Will Dr. Fauci Ever STFU?<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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<br />
"<i>The only thing we have to fear is fear itself.</i>" - Franklin D. Roosevelt - 1933<br />
<br />
"<i>Run for the hills, everybody is gonna DIE!</i>" - Dr. Anthony Fauci - 2020<br />
<br />
"<i>Ever get the feeling you've been cheated?</i>" - Johnny Rotten - 1978<br />
<br />
<br />
Rather than refer to the Corona Virus as <i>his</i> worst nightmare, Dr. Fauci has presented himself as the NATION'S worst nightmare.<br />
<br />
As the country's top political fear merchant, Anthony Fauci is the worst kind of bureaucrat. A guy who has labored in obscurity for decades, sawing away at a job where nobody every heard his name and suddenly the President of the United States asks him his opinion on something and a camera turns on and he's suddenly everywhere at once. And what does he do?<br />
<br />
He scares the BeJesus out of everybody to the point where the politically Leftist Governors get the idea to shut down the world's largest economy for 3 whole months.<br />
<br />
And Fauci is still out there saying that it's just the beginning.<br />
<br />
No, Dr. Fauci, it's the END!<br />
<br />
Can somebody finally bring out the hook and get this LUNATIC off the stage? The country needs this guy like a hole in the head. Send him back to his office and quit asking him questions because you already know what "Dr. Death" is going to say; "This is going to be BAD! This will take YEARS to come out of! Better square yourself with GOD!"<br />
<br />
Can't this guy just shut up? Hasn't he played politics enough with people's livelihoods?<br />
<br />
The country has been crippled for years to come and it's all been one tremendous HOAX. Oh, the Virus is real but none of the information put out surrounding it has been right. The guy who said 2.2 Million people were going to die has been exposed as a fraud, The World Health Organization's information has been erratic at best and malicious at worst, the National Media seldom mentions details about who has died, where they died (like in a nursing home), how old they were and what their underlying conditions were. They've just counted numbers and those numbers too, are a lie.<br />
<br />
We haven't heard about one Opiod overdose in three months. In a nation where 67,000 people died of drug overdoses last year, One quarter of the year goes by and nothing. They're all now dying of the Virus, right?<br />
<br />
Now we're seeing thousands of looters and protesters looting and protesting in close quarters and no reported consequences. What's up with that? It's ok for them but YOU, shut up and stay home if you know what's good for you! Why is it that it always seems to be the criminal element that lives a freer lifestyle than the regular overly monitored citizen taxpayer? It makes no sense.<br />
<br />
Fauci is a career government hack who has suddenly gained a forum and has joined his deep state comrades to put the entire nation into a tailspin and he's not done yet. The Leftist Media obviously loves him since they think this is actually hurting President Trump by creating chaos in the marketplace. But fear can quickly turn to resentment, especially when people discover they've been lied to. We'll just have to see how many people figure it out before November.<br />
<br />
The cat is also out of the bag on how contagious the Virus is. Even though the WHO has been trying to walk it back, they said asymptomatic transmission of the Virus is rare. Combine this information with the total lie that a person could be asymptomatic for a full two weeks without knowing they had the Virus and one has to wonder just how stupid we all were to have believed word one about this considering the source of the information.<br />
<br />
It's all been a big CON.<br />
<br />
And here we still have some state Governors ignoring the new science because it conflicts with what they were trying to do in the first place, which was to crash their local economies to effect political change. They didn't give one Whit about public health or the science of the Virus. They have a mission to accomplish and facts and even their own careers seem to matter little in its execution.<br />
<br />
That's just crazy.<br />
<br />
But it's been a crazy political landscape for the last four years with one bullshit made-up attempt at the overthrow of the government and the Constitution after another. No plan is too extreme and no person too big to sacrifice.<br />
<br />
And here too we get Dr. Wacko Fauci who admits "WE" don't know much about the Virus but in the next breath knows we're still at the beginning. Who is still believing this guy?<br />
<br />
Turn this guy off. Turn off your television news, since that is your real problem if you think this is all being done for YOUR safety and the public health. If you haven't woken up to the con by now then there's nothing I can say to change things and you've just wasted 10 minutes of your life reading this far.<br />
<br />
The coming economic strife will also effect your health but you won't be hearing Dr. Anthony Fauci talk about that while the camera is rolling.<br />
<br />
You're on your own in that regard.<br />
<br />
<br />
<br /></div>
Wal Manhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18088924489584208710noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8663151555037734040.post-51839034860116884432020-06-09T00:36:00.000-04:002020-06-09T11:53:28.320-04:00Bringing Our Troops Home<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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<br />
The United States has approximately 800 military bases spread out across the world in 70 countries which cost somewhere between $85 and $100 Billion dollars per year to operate and even more in a war zone. Some are quite large and others are merely just outposts but the cost is substantial and in many cases, no longer necessary.<br />
<br />
Take the recent report that President Trump plans to withdraw 9,500 U.S. troops from Germany. They're upset about it because to the German government and the businesses located near the U.S. bases there, it's not about the loss of military protection, it's the loss of their consumer dollars.<br />
<br />
When all those men and women in foreign bases get paid, they're gonna spend it in where they're stationed. That also includes the families of the service people living with them so the economic impact is greater than just the 9,500 troops.<br />
<br />
Ultimately, we do not need a military base in Germany any longer. We don't need military bases in Italy, France, Afghanistan or Iraq either. If they speak ill of us, or want us out, we should leave and take our dough with us. Germany does not have a right or any claim to U.S. Taxpayer money. That money comes from the sweat of the brows of the U.S. citizenry and therefore should be spent with better discretion than keeps some other country's economy afloat.<br />
<br />
Germany disparages President Trump while they kissed Barack Obama's ass and he was a waste product who did nothing, delivered nothing and with one exception, everything he's done has been reversed. Now we have someone in office with some backbone and they don't want to deal. So we don't have to deal either. See ya later, bye!<br />
<br />
<b>Stagnant Leadership</b><br />
<br />
It is obvious that Angela Merkel has been around too long. Her tenure in office is approaching that of many Socialist Dictators. She has overseen a systemic stagnation where the only way she sees to solve a problem is to do more of the same. Instead of solving Germany's economic woes, she opens the borders. Instead of energy solutions, she doubles-down on more of the same; import, import, import. Both roads lead to a dead end.<br />
<br />
Nothing is going to get any better over there until she is out of office. I thought letting in one million unmixable Muslims into the country would have been enough for someone to step to the fore to oust her but nope, they all just took it. That's when you know something is wrong. Perhaps they're just too trusting. Perhaps they've all swallowed that "my brother's keeper" bullshit.<br />
<br />
Who knows? But it's not our fault and it's not our problem. If they don't like us, let's take our money and find something better to do with it than to keep Germany's drinking establishments afloat.<br />
<br />
<b>Germany's Need for Energy</b><br />
<br />
Germany isn't nearly as Green as they make out to be. They need more oil. Germany's demand is the highest in the EU. They need more natural gas too. Germany is the world's 7th largest consumer of natural gas. I guess the solar panels and the wind turbines ain't cutting it.<br />
<br />
So they make a deal with Russia. You remember Russia? The big Red Menace of Europe that our troops are in Germany to protect them from? Yes, THAT Russia. So now they are doing the Libertarian thing of turning a potential combatant into an economic ally. Nothing wrong with that. That is what we like to see.<br />
<br />
But you don't need a foreign army to protect you from an economic ally. It's just that simple.<br />
<br />
<b>Hard Working Americans</b><br />
<br />
Two weeks vacation. That says plenty. That's what most of us get. If you stay at a company for 5 years, you could get another week. After 10 years you may get 4 weeks off. A rare few places will offer 5 weeks after 15 years on the job. but that's the top end of it. For many small businesses, time off isn't even an option. We also have Over-Time. We all have worked over-time. That's extra. We get Time and a Half for each hour of overtime. For many, that's where the money for buying all our stupid stuff to make the world go around gets made. And have I mentioned all the taxes we pay?<br />
<br />
Ultimately, we bust our BALLS for that money. We work longer hours than any industrialized nation. That includes Japan where the average Japanese worker will cram 8 hours of work into a 12 hour day such is the state of their economic incentive these days. The U.S. is the biggest economy because the people in the U.S. put in the most productive hours. There's no shortcut.<br />
<br />
<b>Bring Them All Home</b><br />
<br />
It's time we empty out. Bring our troops home. Leave them in the tough spots like Taiwan and Japan but if there's no inherent danger like Germany, France and Italy, empty the place out. Out of Turkey, Syria, Iraq and Afghanistan. Time to draw down our forces and stop fighting everyone's battles for them AND being their gravy train. It's more than just wasteful.<br />
<br />
These deals we make aren't forever. We have been told that we are not the world's police and we should take that to heart. We certainly shouldn't be. Perhaps these countries would appreciate us a little bit more if we weren't there.<br />
<br />
After all, they can't miss us if we won't go away.</div>
Wal Manhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18088924489584208710noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8663151555037734040.post-32024600804520774822020-06-04T08:40:00.002-04:002020-06-05T08:08:53.561-04:00Protesting vs Looting<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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<br />
In 1963 the late Reverend Martin Luther King organized a march on Washington DC, where he made his "I have a Dream" speech, to foster change in the United States. Louis Farrakhan organized a march on Washington DC in 1995, the so called Million Man March, to also elicit personal pride and change in the country.<br />
<br />
Some say nothing much has happened to change things in this country since then.<br />
<br />
I can see why marching on Washington isn't doing much to change things. Our Constitutional Government, by design, is geared for measured change. So it stands to reason that frustration can occur when groups, hungry for acceptance, decide it's better to take a shortcut.<br />
<br />
But why, instead of marching to City Hall, The State House or head to Washington, do today's protesters head straight to the Mercantile Districts?<br />
<br />
If a march on Washington isn't going to do it for you, I can't see the political advantage of tearing into an Apple Store or a Macy's Department Store. All I can get from this is that, rather than this being about the careless murder of a man by the callous police, it's about getting free stuff for yourself. In fact, it's ALL about YOU, isn't it?<br />
<br />
Here in the city of Boston, last evenings "Protesters" marched right past the State House, where the State Legislature meets and where the Governor has his offices and headed instead down the street to nearby Downtown Crossing, where there are department stores, jewelry shops and other businesses big and small.<br />
<br />
Why pick there to do your protesting?<br />
<br />
Across the street from the State House is the famous Boston Common, which has been a traditional place to hold protests and rallies. The British garrison stationed on the Common, back when Boston was locked down and closed off by the British Empire following the Tea Party, watched Samuel Adams ride by on his way to the 2nd Continental Congress in Philadelphia to urge independence for the Colonies.<br />
<br />
But this place too, was overlooked for the expression of the personal moral outrage felt by those marchers who only wanted to show their solidarity with the spirit of George Floyd, I'm sure. The city common is just not a suitable place to fully communicate their view on race relations in these United States circa 2020.<br />
<br />
No, they have to go to the Shops!<br />
<br />
This is where they can best be heard.<br />
<br />
We just can't understand what it's like to be them! We can't walk in their shoes because we don't know, won't know, CAN'T possibly EVER know what it's like to be where they are at this very moment in their unrelenting grief.<br />
<br />
Which at the moment is standing outside the window of the Shop & Save with a brick in their hand and a firebomb in their backpack.<br />
<br />
"NOBODY knows how we FEEL!" they scream. "You racist, leave us alone to protest the only way we can to express our feelings."<br />
<br />
"After all, they're only stores and shops, they're not people. They have insurance! So whats wrong with tearing them up? "<br />
<br />
I've heard this lately from media people and Liberal politicians and it's unbelievable the lack of support for the people who risked their savings and put in the time to start a small business. Whole families depend on the income of many of these places and they all work there. With the taxes they pay, this is what they get? After being arbitrarily shut down and thrown out of work for 3 whole months, this is what they get?<br />
<br />
Contrary to popular belief, it is the Small Businesses that drive employment in this country. Businesses that employ under 100 people employ the most people in the U.S. and not the big corporations. And between the bizarre shutting down of "non-essential" businesses and now the direct burning and looting attacks directed, not at the seats of government but at them, small business in this country is suddenly very much on the ropes.<br />
<br />
This isn't an accident. This is by design to make sure the small businessman, a vulnerable pillar of our economy, is injured beyond repair. This is the double-whammy of being denied revenue combined with a guarantee of increased overhead because their insurance premiums will be going up, that is, if they're insured at all which many are not. It's not free money.<br />
<br />
And once they're gone, who will risk taking their place?<br />
<br />
Our local governors and mayors better wake up and drop the political game to stop this now.<br />
<br />
This is not a protest and these are not protesters.<br />
<br />
Time for the Governors to quit dragging their feet and open up the States already.<br />
<br />
Let's get back to work!</div>
Wal Manhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18088924489584208710noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8663151555037734040.post-66389386844764506772020-06-01T12:54:00.000-04:002020-06-02T15:13:36.216-04:00Organized Anarchy in the U.S.A.<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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<br />
This is not your father's protest and 1968, this isn't. Oh, there's righteous anger alright and deservedly so but there is also something more.<br />
<br />
With the well-funded professional Anarchist groups blending in and using the George Floyd protests as cover, we are seeing some well-organized and coordinated attacks. These groups have grown to the point where we are now seeing them able to throw big numbers of dedicated soldiers at the Walls of Government. And also, the Gates of the White House.<br />
<br />
The protesters and looters just an anticipated and welcome distraction. Consider them momentary volunteers for The Cause, human battering-rams and shields to enable their forces to enter the Castle. These people aren't after toasters and televisions but they want the burning buildings, smashed police cars and beaten bodies to be on YOUR television. They want you afraid and, in regard to race, ashamed. That's the aim. That's how they plan to get you to jump through their hoop...like a trained circus animal.<br />
<br />
So at this point in time, can we stop pretending this is a protest?<br />
<br />
These groups, ANTIFA, which stands for Anti-Fascism, was established to combat Fascism and other forms of "extreme right-wing ideology". So what group do you think falls on the Right?<br />
<br />
Conservatives spring to mind.<br />
<br />
And "Extreme" is just a state of perception. One person's extremist is another person's Republican Senator, or Republican President for that matter. <br />
<br />
But by their own definition, they are separate from the Right, so they must therefore fall somewhere else on the political spectrum. The Left perhaps, since they don't appear to be Moderates. And if they have shown up at these protests dressed in their uniforms of all-black with head scarves and incendiary devices in hand, then surely a case can be made that they fall somewhere on the FAR-Left.<br />
<br />
Then there is Black Lives Matter. Who can dispute this? Nobody. And don't say "All Lives Matter" because now you're being insulting.<br />
<br />
These are essentially the paid mobs of the Political Left, developed and organized over time into a stealthy fighting force that now has to be taken very seriously. We've seen them in action before, infiltrating college campus protests burning buildings and attacking when Conservative people speak.<br />
<br />
These college attacks, one at UC Berkeley in California and another at Middlebury College in Vermont, both in 2017, were dress rehearsals and recruiting drives. Although quite serious, these relatively small-time operations also served as tactical lessons since in both instances, they got away cleanly and their targets were totally unprepared and left bewildered at the intensity and scale that was exhibited. And most notably, even their Leftist enablers in government were caught off-guard.<br />
<br />
Clearly these were attacks of an unpredicted scale.<br />
<br />
And here we are.<br />
<br />
Now three years older, their young Generals and Lieutenants have matured and grown into their labors and planning. The Sargents and Foot Soldiers too, have drilled and learned their tactics to where they can perform them autonomously. With their recruitment goals met, their ideology and rhetoric set, they are ready for the national stage.<br />
<br />
All they needed was a catalyst.<br />
<br />
Unfortunately, these days it doesn't take long. After all these national incidents of outrage, how do you get the same thing happening over and over again so neatly framed for global broadcast? It boggles the mind.<br />
<br />
The Micheal Brown shooting in Ferguson, MO, may have been contrived but there have been two clearly negligent killings of black people that have stood out in our most recent past; Eric Gardner in New York City, chocked to death by a policeman using an illegal hold while he was selling individual cigarettes to people on the sidewalk. And Freddie Gray in Baltimore, a troubled young man who, at the very least, was not protected from falling while cuffed behind his back in the police van where, it was said, he stuck his neck and died from his injuries.<br />
<br />
So to discover yet another disconnected man-in-uniform capable of the very public and torturous death of George Floyd still on the city of Minneapolis's payroll is bizarre in itself. Why protect a potential liability like this? But this is not what the Brotherhood of Uniformed Policemen think. They just think "Protect Their Own".<br />
<br />
And that ain't YOU, brother!<br />
<br />
And this bullshit about "if you can speak, you can breathe..." had nothing to do with it. The artery that carries blood to your head is on the side of your neck and having someone's knee there to stop the flow of blood will kill you. And if these people had "underlying health conditions" perhaps the arresting officer should have taken a look at someone like, say, the 400 lb. Eric Gardner and thought "Gee, maybe if I do this, I could kill him?"<br />
<br />
Ya think?<br />
<br />
According to the last study I saw, just under 40 people are killed every year after being Tazer-ed and nobody seems to care about that.<br />
<br />
So the latest match has been lit and the fires for the Summer of 2020 have been started heading into the November elections. Will we see these same "protests" come to the national conventions? I think that would be a sound bet. This is going to be kept going along with the obviously political Covid-19 lock-downs and the economic havoc they are causing all the way to the November elections. That looks like the plan anyway.<br />
<br />
It will be important for these lock-downs to end immediately and for people to get back to work and try to salvage their livelihoods. Too many idle hands have made this whole situation worse. It's time for the Leftist Governors call off the game and to end this self-destruction as of yesterday.<br />
<br />
Just where and how far they are all willing to go just keeps getting more outrageous with each passing day. Do they really think they will be able to turn this all off like a switch even if their candidate wins?<br />
<br />
And what if they can't?<br />
<br /></div>
Wal Manhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18088924489584208710noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8663151555037734040.post-69830100639005150082020-05-13T15:26:00.000-04:002020-05-16T11:43:35.631-04:00Obama Finally Gets His Scandal <div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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<br />
And it's the biggest one we know of in the recent history of the United States!<br />
<br />
I guess it was worth waiting for.<br />
<br />
Yes, the 8 year historic reign of Mr. Obama who touted that his was the only incumbency that was scandal free, has now issued forth an epic tale of skulduggery. The level of underhandedness, straight-faced lies and judicial complicity that was undertaken by the Obama administration to undermine the 2016 Presidential election and turn it into a victory for Hillary Clinton was at a level that would make both J. Edgar Hoover and Nikita Khrushtchev green with envy. But while they may have referred to these acts of subterfuge as "business as usual", we will henceforth call it what it is:<br />
<br />
Treason.<br />
<br />
How else can you explain it? Ordering the FBI to tap the phone lines of the Presidential nominee of the opposition party, then giving that information to their party's nominee, then leaking other inside information to a willing and enabling press corps to cause scandal and disorganize that person's campaign. That would be, to clarify, Donald Trump, now President.<br />
<br />
This, unlike all the other non-scandals that didn't happen in the Obama White House, just might qualify. After all, mounting a Coup d'etat to preserve the linear Progressive power structure should add the needed criminality to surpass the past misdeeds of past Presidents that all appear so much smaller now.<br />
<br />
So, after coming so close during his American stewardship, this should put President Obama and his corrupt Administration over the top. Other scandal candidates include:<br />
<br />
<b>IRS Targets Conservative Groups - Not a Scandal!</b><br />
<br />
How about the IRS under President Obama going after groups that<br />
<br />
Groups with names that included terms like "Tea Party" or "Patriots" were subject to increased scrutiny and not given tax exempt status as allowed for political groups under IRS guidelines. They were asked for donor lists, details of their on-line content and information about family members. All while other "less-than-conservative" groups were given express service.<br />
<br />
Doesn't count, says the American Media!<br />
<br />
<b>Gun Walking - Not Scandalous!</b><br />
<br />
The infamous Gun Walking (aka Fast & Furious) plan, lead by a person totally loyal to the cause but certainly not smart enough to come up with the plan on his own, Obama's then Attorney General Eric Holder, had administration agents allowing American-made, high-powered armaments to be sold across our boarder with Mexico to the the very drug cartels our boarder agents were in conflict with. This was done to undermine the gun rights of the American citizen but instead resulted in the killing of boarder agent Brian Terry and hundreds of innocent Mexican citizens.<br />
<br />
But that was not a scandal in the eyes of the American Media. They still touted that the Obama Administration as Scandal Free!<br />
<br />
<b>Not Anymore</b><br />
<b><br /></b>
Well that's over.<br />
<br />
The phony Plan A and now the phony Plan B, the Russia, Russia, Russia, collusion effort has all been proven to be a hoax, a stall and yes, a crime.<br />
<br />
It's all about Get Trump and the biggest enemies of the People that he is battling are in his own government and the Anti-Constitutional agents of our future oppression. Oh, you can be as free as you want to be...just as long as THEY get to call the shots and continue to raid the U.S. Treasury and skim their take of the money from the U.S. Taxpayer.<br />
<br />
<b>Can Someone Finally Go to Jail? </b><br />
<b><br /></b>
Can someone finally get arrested for this stuff? Somebody? Anybody? How can these people just be walking around and getting television commentary jobs and writing books? Is there no downside to trying to overthrow the government anymore?<br />
<br />
Take the FBI - Federal Bureau of Instigation, with Director James Comey and Deputy Director Andrew McCabe. Can't we send these people to jail? It's their names on the line approving the phony investigation. A very public trial is in order. Somebody please get on that, won't you?<br />
<br />
And how about former CIA Director John Brennan? The suppression of evidence is a crime. That's what he did. He also said in his reports that Russia was interfering in the 2016 election to boost Donald Trump. A total fabrication. Can't someone find a nice cell for this Deep State operative?<br />
<br />
Then there are those two star-crossed conspiratorial love birds, Peter Strzok and Lisa Page? Surely at least <i>they</i> can be scape-goated to save the others.<br />
<br />
So many more to add but it's tiresome to think of the volume of Left Wing Revolutionaries that have conspired to steal the vote, railroad the innocent and sabotage the nation for their own gain. Until some of these Keystone Cops go to jail, this scenario will only repeat in the future.<br />
<br />
<b>The American Media</b><br />
<br />
While we're at it, can we just forget about the concept of "The Media Got it Wrong"? They haven't gotten anything wrong. They are in on the CON. The American Media isn't working for the Deep State, they ARE the Deeps State. They are just the Propaganda Wing. I don't know why anybody listens to them, watches them or pays any attention to what they say. Ditto for the so called Conservative media outlets. There is nothing to be believed from either of them. They are all cut from the same cloth. They're all con artists.<br />
<br />
Trust your own instincts, you'll be better off.<br />
<br />
<b>Our Constitutional Government</b><br />
<br />
The Ghost of Benjamin Franklin and his warning should dominate our minds: "Here's your Republic...if you can keep it."<br />
<br />
The framers of the U.S. Constitution weren't a bunch of powder-wigged fools from a bygone age. They were the most successful and educated people of the age and they lived in a time of Imperial rule and wanted to protect future generations from Kings and Dictators. That was the plan anyway.<br />
<br />
And so far, for the most part, this system still manages to work which the 2016 election has confirmed, at least in my eyes.<br />
<br />
There is a "push-pull" inherent in this system where each party has enjoyed an equal opportunity at governance under the law. Today we see two major and ideologically separate parties vying for governance. Historically, a swing too far to the Left has in the past resulted in a equalizing swing to the Right and so both these parties have played a roll in the governing of the country.<br />
<br />
The Obama administration is the first one that has been so blatantly caught red-handed attempting to change this push-pull dynamic to a Putch.<br />
<br />
And one certainly gets the feeling that this time around the Political Left felt that they were VERY close to finally taking control of the election process in 2016. Hillary Clinton would certainly have set about finishing the work that G.W. Bush and Barack Obama had laid for her and secured access to the Federal Government for the Leftist Progressives for who knows how long.<br />
<br />
Judging by the bizarre, transparent and incomprehensible reactions of the U.S. Media and the high crimes committed by planted agents of the Left in our government since the election of Donald Trump, one has to draw the conclusion that some long-laid plans by these Dictators-in-waiting were shot to hell in the last election.<br />
<br />
As the late, great, Fats Domino used to say, "Ain't that a shame."<br />
<br /></div>
Wal Manhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18088924489584208710noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8663151555037734040.post-31828386978842849562020-04-29T10:59:00.001-04:002020-05-14T09:04:05.391-04:00No More Bailouts Mr. President!<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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<br />
It's the Liberal State Governor's who've decided to scrap the U.S. Constitution, exert executive privilege and nuke their local economies with just a wave of the hand. These acts should not expect a reward.<br />
<br />
Corporations big and small are receiving federal funds. The hospitals and state unemployment offices are also receiving federal funds...until July. But unemployment insurance funds won't cover the damage being wrought by these illegal shutdowns. Independent enterprise is being destroyed. If you are drawing a paycheck, your views are vastly different from those people who are NOT drawing a paycheck.<br />
<br />
<b>Bloated State Pension Contracts</b><br />
<br />
It's a well known secret that many states, the Liberal States, have sold the taxpayer down the river with their incredible benefits hand-outs to their state workers. Over the years, due to declining tax revenues, the states have not kept up with their funding obligations, sending less money than required to fund the retirement funds these contracts require. Subsequently, most, if not all of these pension funds are WAY in the red.<br />
<br />
The Federal Government is not and should not be responsible for this lack of fiscal responsibility. It's all fun and games in "Other People's Money-Land" until the well runs dry.<br />
<br />
And here we are.<br />
<br />
It's not like the Feds don't have a few fiscal responsibility issues of their own. Our future generations will pay dearly if this problem isn't addressed.<br />
<br />
<b>A Great Opportunity</b><br />
<br />
This is a great opportunity to actually rectify the situation. It has been suggested by Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell to allow the states to file for bankruptcy. This will force them to go back and either re-negotiate these pension deals or render them void. There will be much political fallout to be sure but the problem will no longer be ignored.<br />
<br />
If the states, in what increasing looks to be like less concerned with public health and more concerned with politics, want to crash their economies then the responsibility for repair falls to them.<br />
<br />
<b>Unsustainable Lock-down</b><br />
<br />
I live in Massachusetts and our Liberal Governor, Charlie Baker, has determined that the lock-down will continue until May 18th. If Mr. Baker thinks he will reap political hay by crushing the livelihoods along with their Constitutional rights, he should think again. The consequences or his criminal acts will reverberate long after November. It'll take years to recover for some, never for others.<br />
<br />
How the American people will view one of the major players in destroying the national economy is open to interpretation but I'm going to guess it won't be viewed favorably. I could be wrong since I'm mostly appalled by how my local town's citizenry have taken this all lying down.<br />
<br />
<b>Living in Fear</b><br />
<br />
I'm here to tell you, you are going to DIE! As Hank Williams once sang, "No matter how I struggle and strive, I'll never get out of this world alive." And he should know, he died at age 27. So we're all gonna DIE!<br />
<br />
But not today and not tomorrow. Please try to stay optimistic about that. Staying shut in the house, not going anywhere and jumping out of the way of people on the sidewalk IS NOT LIVING.<br />
<br />
Right now, statistically, you have better odds of dying from the regular flu. That's right. You are not getting access to all the information. And if it wasn't for NYC's numbers, one would be hard pressed to say this Virus has had a more than average impact upon the nations annual flu-related mortality rate of 35,000 to 60,000 deaths per year. That's right.<br />
<br />
Which leads me to another issue I have with all of this fear-mongering. Every year in this country approximately 35,000 people are killed in motor vehicle accidents, many horribly, and the multitudes horrendously injured defy description. Yet nobody seems compelled to slow down. They fearlessly barrel down the local streets and highways 20 mph over the speed limit. And when they callously and fatally run someone down, there they are crying in court "I didn't mean to do it!".<br />
<br />
So why all of a sudden are people wearing masks outside (useless), treating people around them like Lepers and believing what the Governor says is the Law and Gospel?<br />
<br />
I swear I don't recognize this place anymore.<br />
<br />
<b>The Truth About NYC</b><br />
<br />
New York City is the biggest Welfare State in these United States. Their Elderly Services programs are the biggest and costliest in the nation. They offer extensive services to the elderly of low-means such as free housing, free food, assistance accessing Federal and State service health programs like Medicare, Medicaid and PACE. There are also numerous non-profit and faith-based organizations there that also provide assistance. New York City is sort of a Welfare Magnet for the elderly. So they have a boat-load of really old people not in very good shape, to be frank. A walk through the city will reveal the extent of it. There are huge high-rise elderly housing complexes and people brandishing their walkers dominate the sidewalks, everyone is living on top of each other.<br />
<br />
The nursing home system in NYC, in accordance with it's size, is equally extensive and have turned out to be the flash point for the city's disproportionate Virus mortality rate, now up to 17,638 as of this writing.<br />
<br />
So what does NY Governor Mario Cuomo do? Knowing that the elderly are the most susceptible to the Virus, he personally mandated the state nursing homes accept elderly applicants that are confirmed Corona Virus positive! Still wondering why the numbers are high there?<br />
<br />
You will think I've made this up and I don't blame you.<br />
<br />
<b>The Politics of it All</b><br />
<b><br /></b>
It is unbelievably extreme to lock down the country for the flu. Listening to the Media go after President Trump during his press updates tells a tail of their concerted efforts to blame him for the Virus response. Add to it the new lock-down extensions of the state Governors where even the state of Maine, with only 1,040 cases in total and 51 deaths, is now locked down into May.<br />
<br />
This is crazy. Our nation is currently $23 Trillion (I've also seen $ 26 T) so writing more checks isn't going to improve things. We're just printing money with no production behind it so throwing more paper at the states, especially since they're doing this on purpose, makes no sense. If the states continue receiving federal funds, they'll never open up.<br />
<br />
Let the chips fall for the lock-down states. It'll be open up or crash and burn. I also hope that all these businesses sue the state once the courts are re-opened.<br />
<br />
Judgement awaits.<br />
<br /></div>
Wal Manhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18088924489584208710noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8663151555037734040.post-1286344368195401572020-04-26T21:15:00.001-04:002020-04-27T08:05:43.360-04:00Media Spreading Virus Fear<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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<br />
Turn on the Television: Death!<br />
<br />
Turn on the Radio: Death!<br />
<br />
Listen to the news conferences, what are the reporters saying?<br />
<br />
"Mr. President, what can you say to the people who are going to DIE!"<br />
<br />
Are you kidding me? Who says things like that? Crazy people, that's who. Members of the National Media. Talking like the Virus is a virtual death sentence. You get it, you die!<br />
<br />
Dead, you, now, it's over!<br />
<br />
It's not a death sentence. Far from it. Yes, people are dying from it but the longer this goes on, the more people like myself are suspecting that there are other motivations behind the news beyond the concerns for public safety. The numbers just aren't adding up.<br />
<br />
<b>Governors Shut State Economies</b><br />
<br />
Although by law it is supposed to take an act of the legislature, the Governors of many states have simply closed almost all businesses in their states with a wave of their hand.<br />
<br />
California Governor Gavin Newsom, Mario Cuomo of New York, Gina Raimondo of Rhode Island and here in Massachusetts, Governor Charlie Baker have all crashed their state's economies in an effort to contain the virus. Well, I hope it's worth it because poverty has it's own health consequences, lots of them. Will there be someone keeping track of that?<br />
<br />
Whether you believe Self-Isolation works or if you are a fan of Herd Immunity, you've gotta admit that what is going on is over-the-top extreme to shut everything down in the states for over 2 months and counting. No sales, no taxes, no demand and no income.<br />
<br />
But the bills, they're still out there.<br />
<br />
My landlord has yet to call me saying not to worry about anything and I'll bet the phone hasn't rung for many of these business owners either. Deferring the payments isn't going to help since they aren't going to actually go away. But their income has and it may not be coming back. And if it does, chances are they won't be able to cover the loses. But we won't know for a few months down the road if they ever free us up from these open-air prisons we're living in.<br />
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I don't have the time or the fortitude to list how all this shit is rolling downhill. From leases, to lien-holders to banks to tax revenue, liability insurance, auto and homes sales...don't get me started. But it all has to get paid back.<br />
<br />
The names of these Governors will live in infamy if they don't get off their political high-horses and get people back to work sooner than later. If it goes on past May, who knows where they expect to get the money to cover the public service payrolls. Or will they actually cut the state budgets? They can't get the money out of all the private-sector unemployed they created. Good luck trying.<br />
<b><br /></b>
<b>Invoking Science!</b><br />
<br />
When someone says, "Listen to the Science!" or "People aren't listening to the Science!" I know that they are trying to pull the wool over my eyes. There's nothing to believe about science these days. There's always a political or monetary motivation behind the lions-share of scientific reporting that there's really no relying upon any of it for truth. Scientists have been caught cheating and colluding to "fix the problems" with their findings. We were better off with the Alchemists.<br />
<br />
So when these knuckle-heads predicted 2.2 million people dead, 200,000 in the U.S, how on God's Green Earth can you believe this in the first place? How stupid are you? You're obviously being PLAYED!<br />
<br />
And yet people just jump through the hoop every time the Media holds it out for them. Like circus animals. They're out there right now thinking wearing a mask is going to help, waging a finger at you for not "Social Distancing" like some Virus Nazi, or they leap off the sidewalk into the street when they encounter someone walking in their direction. Like if they do catch the Virus they'll say, "Perhaps I got it from that guy I passed on the sidewalk last week?".<br />
<br />
Turn off the television you stupid twit, you'll feel a whole lot better.<br />
<br />
And when this is over and the truth comes out, and it will come out, there are going to be quite a lot of people who should be totally ashamed of themselves and their behavior.<br />
<br />
I said SHOULD be ashamed of themselves since we all know many of these people do this sort of thing all the time for a living and so it's just a job to them. Nothing personal. The others will just rationalize it all away until something else comes along to make people look in a different direction. (Cue the Water-skiing Squirrel!).<br />
<br />
<b>Depending on Government</b><br />
<br />
Since the closing of the state businesses and the calling for bailouts, the Governors have forced President Trump into becoming FDR, to a point. The Feds were already running $26 Trillion in deficits before this happened so there's no money there either. They will have to print it if they want to hand it out. It won't matter how much they print, it won't be enough to cover the damage done.<br />
<br />
Mitch McConnell came up with a great idea, to let the states file for bankruptcy. That drew howls from the Governors since that's the signal that it's time to open up their economies because the Feds will not be writing checks to bail them out. They don't like the idea because should they file for bankruptcy, that will void all the municipal union and public pension contracts and they would all have to renegotiated and, most likely, adjusted downward.<br />
<br />
Time to open things up or face the music, Guv'nor.<br />
<br />
<b>The American Diet</b><br />
<br />
The studies coming out of New York City in regards to the 12,000 plus people who have been counted to have died of the Virus, 89% of them had other life-threatening conditions including coronary artery disease, hypertension, obesity and diabetes. The two studies I read pointed squarely to the American diet of takeout-food, high-fat, high-salt and high-calories combined with a sedentary lifestyle. This explains why Japan, with the worlds oldest population, doesn't come close to the numbers of NYC alone never mind the whole country. Even though they smoke like chimneys and drink like fishes, they don't eat like crap! Very little fat in the Japanese diet and they aren't that into sweets either.<br />
<br />
<b>Living in Fear</b><br />
<br />
Yes, pneumatic flu is a danger. It seems to ignore most but some people get it bad. And if you get it bad, you could die from it, like dozens of other things you could die from any time.<br />
<br />
Do you really want to live this way? Do your really think this is a new normal? I don't. The sooner we get out there and start living, the sooner the virus will disappear. I am not going to live this way. I refuse. I resent the Governors destroying my livelihood by royal decree and becoming a law unto themselves for whatever the motivation. I think it's political frankly, and it stinks.<br />
<br />
Time to give up the charade and get back to work. This is now not a crisis of epidemic but a crisis of government. The Virus didn't close down all the businesses, President Trump didn't close down all the businesses. The Governors, THEY closed down all the businesses.<br />
<br />
Nobody should forget this.<br />
<br /></div>
Wal Manhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18088924489584208710noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8663151555037734040.post-69154146448137740262020-03-09T23:06:00.004-04:002020-05-19T13:03:59.233-04:00Joe Biden for President<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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<br />
This is amounting to Elder Abuse.<br />
<br />
It's pretty obvious to anyone even partially paying attention that "Old Joe" has gotten a bit too old. And in their desperate bid to hound President Donald Trump out of office, the Democratic party is all too willing to throw this addled old man out in front of the world to ultimately publicly go off the rails.<br />
<br />
It's kind of heartless if you think about it for a minute.<br />
<br />
Joe Biden won't be able to do the job. The Biden Whitehouse, Heaven forbid, would be run by a shadowy committee of unelected "advisers" and Jill Biden.<br />
<br />
The enabling media is going out of their way to limit access to the gaffs but they're all coming through because, let's face it, they're happening every time Joe Biden opens his mouth.<br />
<br />
It's a sad state of affairs that the Democratic National Committee, in it's efforts to avoid a national referendum on Communism vs. Capitalism, would rather put up a man who is just not capable of debate or cognitive communication. It's actually unreal. And it could be a really sad spectacle should Joe be left one-on-one in a debate with President Trump, which would be inevitable should this charade continue. <br />
<br />
<b>Capitalism vs. Communism </b><br />
<br />
It's almost funny that after 16 years as a House representative and then 13 years as a Senator, the DNC has suddenly realized that Sanders is a...choke...Communist!<br />
<br />
That's right, he was ok enough when they screwed him over royally in 2016 but after whatever promises they made him then, it seems it's all forgotten now. The Democratic party is out to Get Bernie!<br />
<br />
And they're doing almost too go of a job. If they should stop and consider that they're putting all their money on a man who can't function, their alienation of Bernie Sanders could come back to haunt them.<br />
<br />
So again the American people, just as in 2016, are cheated out of a chance at the ultimate voting opportunity: Capitalism vs. Communism. This is just what the DNC doesn't want.<br />
<br />
It is plain to see that the Democrats don't want this out on the table for a vote. They instead prefer to sneak their Socialist ideology into Congressional bills and through Judicial decisions. An outright vote will never do since given the chance, nobody would legitimately vote for their own demise.<br />
<br />
It is in the Courts where the Democrats foist their wealth transfers and vote-buying social give-a-ways on the American public since they can't win a straight up vote on such policies.<br />
<br />
<b>A Third Party Run?</b><br />
<br />
But would Bernie Sanders even have the balls to do it? He has yet to demonstrate that he has.<br />
<br />
I laughed out loud at the criticism Hillary Clinton had for Bernie. She said that Bernie had cost her the Presidency because he HESITATED before he finally endorsed her for president. Talk about living in denial!<br />
<br />
First Hillary, Debbie Wasserman-Shultz and others in the DNC conspire to screw Sanders and all those idealistic people who busted their behinds on his campaign, out of the 2016 Democratic nomination and then wonder aloud why he "hesitated" to put in a good word for them! That's rich even for Washington politics.<br />
<br />
What Bernie Sanders should have done then and should do now is show how he feels about all the support he's gotten from the Democratic party and run as an Independent Candidate or the Presidency. Why the hell not? His supporters aren't going to vote for Biden anyway, they're just going to stay home. Bernie might as well give the people who believed in him a chance to do what the Democratic National Committee has twice denied them; A chance to vote for Bernie for President.<br />
<br />
It will also give the country a chance to vote definitively (for now) on which ideology they want the country to follow. It's a fair thing to ask.<br />
<br />
What has Bernie Sanders got to lose now?<br />
<br />
Nothing.</div>
Wal Manhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18088924489584208710noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8663151555037734040.post-22011303885732994012019-12-26T16:39:00.000-05:002020-01-21T21:00:54.488-05:00Let's Talk About the Weather<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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<br />
So French President Emmanuel Macron states that Global Climate Warming Change is a "Red Line" in the sand so to speak, for the world. This may be a reference, perhaps, to former U.S. President Barack Obama who famously referenced an equally meaningless "Red Line" in his planned usurpation of Syria back in 2012.<br />
<br />
THAT red line was a failure.<br />
<br />
So Global Climate Warming Change apparently is the biggest issue for France, judging by Mr. Macron's impassioned line drawing. He has also passed legislation and is raising taxes in an attempt to draw down France's use of fossil fuels. Those additional taxes and increases have fallen, not too surprisingly, on the Middle and Lower classes of France. And they haven't been too happy about it since they've been out in the streets blockading roads, destroying property, gathering in great numbers and making a run at Parliament but not in a political sense.<br />
<br />
But the Environment is the most important thing to France's government. The people must recognize that the President is acting for their benefit. He's saving the Planet for THEM!<br />
<br />
As we've seen in the not so distant past that there's no shortage of Anarchists in France to be sure who will gladly help you dump 12 tons of rotten tomatoes in the street at the blinking of Macron's left eyebrow but this yellow vested "Gilets Jaune" are made up of loads of just regular folks who are seeing themselves losing their purchasing power due to the regressive taxation they continue to undergo in their Social Paradise. We don't need yet another study to point out that gasoline taxes are regressive in nature and impact the lowest wage earners the hardest. It takes more money to basically do the same work of getting to where you need to go.<br />
<br />
<b>Transit Strike</b><br />
<br />
Then there is the French Government's attempt at reforming their ungainly and multifaceted pension schemes, which number 42 different plans and each hinges on what you do for work. There are different plans for bakers, opera singers, transit workers and the list goes on. The administration of 42 different plans has to be a costly bureaucratic nightmare but there it is, good jobs at good wages. And although this has been going on for some time, now seems like the perfect time to tackle this issue since the whole system is really starting to collapse under its own weight.<br />
<br />
It's not just a matter of the French government's desire to "want to" address the pension issue, it's a matter of "have to" address it. And the sooner they face reality on the costs, the better.<br />
<br />
But since they're still looking for shortcuts to straighten things out, the Macron government has proposed for the retirement age to go up to 64 from it's current 62. This news has earned them, as of this writing, 22 days of marginal if any transit service into Paris.<br />
<br />
That's good for the environment, yes? Hope so since it's the Environment that is the important thing there.<br />
<br />
Like every Ponzi scheme, whether it be France's Public Pensions or Social Security here in the U.S., the pyramid eventually inverts and when that happens it takes a whole lot of money to keep kicking bricks under the thing to keep it upright. That money only comes from the pockets of people who actually earn a WAGE. So now the people who pay, the taxpayers, are paying more and will be getting less and when people have less money to spend, business everywhere suffers too.<br />
<br />
France's Middle Class is reportedly living hand to mouth and the working class people out in the streets say that they are barely staying ahead of the bills. This, Mr. Macron, is a problem. The French people appear to be drowning in taxes but they are also being mandated into paying more for resources in a misguided effort to keep them from using them. It's winter in France, where there is a greater need to heat the house, taxes have eaten into people's wages and now the oil bill is due.<br />
<br />
But as we have heard, it's the Environment that's important to President Macron.<br />
<br />
And judging by the images and news coming out of France...the Environment isn't good. </div>
Wal Manhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18088924489584208710noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8663151555037734040.post-72032063299347953712019-11-11T16:31:00.000-05:002020-01-21T21:19:02.762-05:00Icon of the New Religion<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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<span style="background-color: transparent;">Love her or hate her, believe that she acted on her own or was manipulated by her social-activist parents or whatever, one has to see with clear eyes how Greta Thunberg has gained a more than mere cult following among the new wave of religious zealotry that is permeating the world at large.</span></div>
<br />
This is not a new thing as we know and although none of us living today were around when the last couple of religious cults started, perhaps we're seeing how it may have happened way back when. Young Ms. Thunberg didn't happen overnight, of course, since world society is heading into its third generation of people brought up as climate cultists.<br />
<br />
Many point to Rachel Carson's 1962 book "Silent Spring" as the "Bible" of the movement which had it's roots back in the 1950s when Ms. Carson, a trained Marine Biologist and nature writer, became interested in the effects of synthetic pesticides used in agriculture and DDT in particular. This book got DDT banned and sparked a movement that lead to the establishment of the Environmental Protection Agency.<br />
<br />
Given this sort of social success, the Climate Cult has grown larger around the world to the point where it is now in direct competition with the older more established cults of the past 2,000 years. In the same fashion that Paganism, which deified storms and other actions of the natural world, was eventually swept away by the Monotheists, so now the circle will be complete and society is again embracing natural phenomena as acts of the new, angry God.<br />
<br />
<b>The Mural in San Francisco </b><br />
<br />
So this Argentine artist, Andres Inglasias, is painting a 60 ft by 40 ft mural of Greta on a building in San Francisco and the non-profit group that commissioned the work has gone out of it's way to make any detractors aware that they only use water-based paints with eco-friendly spray cans and use electric vehicles, etc since there are two groups of people they have to be concerned with.<br />
<br />
On the one hand they have the Conservative Unbelievers who will point out any hypocrisy in materials and deeds that they should slip up on right down to getting coffee in a Styrofoam cup and on the other is their fellow Orthodox Environmentalists who will do the same thing but with more shaming.<br />
<br />
<b>Greta the Spiritual Icon</b><br />
<br />
To me, Greta Thunberg has an interesting face, not pretty, not ugly, more determined and always it seems unsmiling. This is the kind of face, with it's strength of conviction, that leads a cause. She's done her penances, she's made her pilgrimages, coming to the United States and even speaking to the United Nations. Who gets to do that? Not everybody.<br />
<br />
Although soon to be 17, Greta took Earth's Plight into her life when she was 8 years old and although welcoming of her strong stance, I don't believe her parents were behind her religious devotion to the cause of Climate Activism. We all know how young children can get fixated on an idea and even though she has adopted the religion of her parents, I believe it was she alone that chose to take the next higher step of the truly devout. She has transcended her mentors. <br />
<br />
She has organized strikes, gained followers and established her disciples to whom she has proven her devotion. She's now become the face of the new expansion, an icon for the new Masthead.<br />
<br />
Think of her as the young Mother Theresa of Climate Change, sacrificing all for her dedication to her cause, answering the call of her God and now, with divine light, they are ready to take over the world.<br />
<br />
<b>How to Spot Cyber Fraud</b><br />
<br />
In a somewhat related note, most of the working world who use computers and work on the World Wide Web have read about or taken training on how to spot what has become one of the worlds most prevalent dangers, Phishing Scams! So, as a sort of Public Service Announcement, I'd like to take this moment to point out the one glaring giveaway to look for as a sign that that you are being set up for fraud...<br />
<br />
a Sense of Urgency.<br />
<br />
Fraudsters are just using human nature against you. They know that most people just want to do the right thing and so they seek to exploit a person's sense of wanting to be helpful.<br />
<br />
By using call to action statements like; "We Need to Act Now!, We Can't Afford to Wait!, Time is Running Out!" and "There is No Time to Lose!", the fraudster is looking to hurry you into making a mistake that they can take advantage of and so stands as a clear sign that the person or people you are dealing with are trying to manipulate you.<br />
<br />
Hope this helps. </div>
Wal Manhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18088924489584208710noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8663151555037734040.post-48992346611565174602019-10-13T15:50:00.002-04:002019-10-13T21:58:18.154-04:00The Kurds Pay for Their Ambitions<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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It seems an improbable scenario that the Kurds would be able to establish and manage to actually keep a part of three established countries in order to manufacture their own country.<br />
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There was never really a "Kurdistan". And there never will be in our lifetimes considering the massive issues involved in such an undertaking. The Kurds not only want their own state...somewhere. They want a part of Turkey, a part of Syria and a part of Iraq. And that's a king-sized pipe dream no matter who you think can make it happen.<br />
<br />
This wishful thinking by the Kurds that the United States will use it's might and power to establish for them and thus be involved in defending into perpetuity, a Kurdish state in this manner should be looked upon by all as, at best, a bad gamble.<br />
<br />
And brow-beating President Trump in the press isn't going to help the situation much.<br />
<br />
If the Kurds didn't want to get slaughtered by the Turkish army, perhaps they shouldn't have blown up all those people in Turkey. I'm sure plenty of innocent Turkish citizens have been killed since the The Kurdistan Workers Party aka the PKK, a Marxist group by the way, started their Militant Armed Insurgency inside Turkey in 1984.<br />
<br />
But nobody seems to care about them now.<br />
<br />
This isn't the reason why the Turks hate the Kurds since that history goes way back but it is the reason why Turkish forces have been chaffing at the bit to finally go after them in a big way. They have been stymied by the politics of the Syrian Civil War and the intervention in it of the United States which then drew the forces of Iran and Russia into the conflict. And let's not forget that President Barack Obama was behind the arming of the ISIL forces and other militant Islamic factions in Syria. That helped a whole lot.<br />
<br />
Thanks Mr. Obama!<br />
<br />
At any rate, Turkey most likely has had it with the situation and have at least warned the U.S. about what they were going to do. It's their region of the world, not ours. If we left our small force in the way of the Turkish offensive, what good would that have done? Did we want to instigate World War III by letting our men and women stay where they were and dare Turkey to go over or around them?<br />
<br />
In a region of the world we had no right to be in the first place?<br />
<br />
Keep in mind that Turkey is a contracted ally. For what it is, they are in NATO with us and host U.S. military installations.There is an expectation of cooperation in matters such as this. Although a faction of the Kurds has fought on the side of the U.S., another faction is bombing Turkish government and civilian locations. So what's the good answer to that?<br />
<br />
The politics of the issue and the bottom line is that it was never really our fight. It's yet another internal struggle we would be forcing ourselves into like Libya and Syria and frankly setting up and holding a Kurdish state is an impossibility. None of the three countries involved would put up with it and "Kurdistan" would find itself under assault on three fronts. Good luck with that. Like Medicaid for All, there isn't enough money in the world to hold such bad ground. Just because they want it, doesn't mean it's going to happen and the Middle East is full of factions who's abilities do not come close to matching their ambitions.<br />
<br />
The Kurds are no different. They could try a more political approach since their violence has only been returned to them in spades.<br />
<br />
It is not the job of the United States to spend the money and spill the blood for every group that puts on airs and thinks they're entitled to their own piece of turf at the expense of others and the sooner the world figures it out the better off it will be.<br />
<br />
<br /></div>
Wal Manhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18088924489584208710noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8663151555037734040.post-65548888078465047982019-09-15T21:56:00.002-04:002019-12-26T17:05:39.331-05:00Why Boston Traffic Sucks So Much<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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<br />
The Boston area has been recently deemed the "Worst Traffic in the Country!" A dubious honor and with, what I had previously imagined, totally unbeatable competition!<br />
<br />
San Francisco for instance, was my first 5 lane traffic jam which I had the pleasure to experience on one of my trips around the country. I had at one point managed to get off the elevated highway and when I had to get back on a few hours later, I would swear the same cars were there from when I had gotten off.<br />
<br />
New York City is another perennial championship contender in traffic terror rankings. Hours long backups can occur without logic at any time of the day or night. Anyone who has taken 2 1/2 hours to cross the George Washington Bridge at 1:00AM, like I did, will understand what I mean.<br />
<br />
One time a group of us were caravaning to Philadelphia from the Boston area. With our friends directly behind us, we, the lead car, just managed to get by a traffic accident in the NYC stretch of I-95. We got to the hotel in Phili at 6PM, showered and sat at the bar to wait for our friends. We were still at the bar when they finally rolled in at 10:30PM.<br />
<br />
So traveling the old New England highways and byways just ain't what they used to be. The entire Boston area and well past it's suburbs is just grinding to a standstill with thousands of lost hours spent rolling, in a halting and jerking manner, in masses of wasted humanity in an endless stream of automobiles from the time you manage to take advantage of a distracted driver to find your opening and squeeze your way out of your driveway and into the ceaseless caravan of traffic that will, eventually lead you to the highway...where you will join a larger group of trout swimming upstream until you, eventually, arrive at work knowing full well in the back of your mind you will be doing it all again in reverse to return to your not-so-bucolic suburban home.<br />
<br />
And you do it because where you live is way cheaper (though not cheap) than living closer to Boston yet you don't dare give up the money you can earn by working there.<br />
<br />
So you get in your car and drive. Or at least you try to drive, into Boston every goddamned day.<br />
<br />
It's a living...or is it?<br />
<br />
Until recently, it took me 1.5 hours to drive the 26 miles to work and not much less to get back. Close to three hours a day to cover 52 miles. That's about 600 hours per year. Just spent in traffic.<br />
<br />
So how did we get here?<br />
<br />
<b>Blame Eisenhower</b><br />
<br />
We all know the story of how Eisenhower, when he was a general during WWII, admired the German's Autobahn and their ability to get troops and equipment across the country quickly. So he wanted to do the same thing with the United States. Problem is, the U.S. is 3000 mile across. And we already had a Transcontinental Railway.<br />
<br />
But that didn't stop President Eisenhower from building his national highway system. Which cut the American rail system to pieces, cut major cities in half and forced everything that should have been on rail onto the road. I suspect a major lobbying effort was made by Detroit automakers at the time since the American auto industry took off along with the highway system. More roads, more cars.<br />
<br />
Now some can argue whether this was a good or bad thing but the sacrifice of the rail system hurts us to this day and the short-sightedness of the highway system has cost us billions of dollars to modify, maintain and correct. What used to go by rail now goes on the road and not too long ago Boston spent $ 17 Billion of mostly Federal money to fix the central artery and join the city that Eisenhower's highway had cut in two back in 1959. Back then the 6 lane (3 lanes in each direction) highway could accommodate 75,000 per day. That's a drop in the bucket for what's going through there today. Plus the Big Dig didn't do a thing to make the road wider.<br />
<br />
So much for progress.<br />
<br />
<b>The Unfinished RT I 95 Project</b><br />
<br />
Interstate 95 is the nation's longest highway, running 1,920 miles from Maine to Florida but the most important part of this road was the 10 miles that wasn't built when it was supposed to run straight into the city of Boston. Although it had loads of neighborhood opposition, it was ultimately stopped by environmental concerns in the Mother Brook watershed area that the highway was to parallel on it's way into the city.<br />
<br />
So what we get is local RT 128 North is now also RT I-95 which joins RTs 24 and 3 in sending all its Boston area traffic onto the same local route in an incredible snafu that daily commuters suffer with every day. Had it been finished, RT I 95 would have provided a third access route into Boston and relieved traffic on the Expressway, RT 93 North, which is such a nightmare to travel in the morning that it is dubbed "The Distress Way" by it's put upon travelers. Think about what could have been while you're sitting in traffic. I do.<br />
<br />
<b>Thank Mayor Menino</b><br />
<br />
During his 21 long, long years in office, Mayor for Life, Thomas Menino did everything in his considerable power to keep middle-class housing from being built in the city of Boston. Under his steely eye the only housing that got built were either high-priced luxury condos or low-income only "Projects" for "da poor". and nothing in between. Every time some developer wanted to put up something else, Menino would raise the threat of bringing back Rent Control. Nobody wants to invest if the building is going to be under rent control since capping rents will eventually cause them to lose money. So subsequently the average wage-slave can't afford Boston real estate and so are pushed farther and farther out to find affordable housing.<br />
<br />
Fortunately, I guess, the new mayor, Marty Walsh, started his political career as a Union Thug so he's been giving the boys at the Union Hall plenty to do lately and is building, building, building everywhere. But it's going to take at least a decade to repair the damage Mayor Menino did just so he could say he was the longest sitting mayor in city history. That's quite an ego driven goal since he couldn't ever hope to match former mayor Kevin White's list of deeds and accomplishments. Perhaps Marty Walsh can do it.<br />
<br />
<b>The Benjamins</b><br />
<b><br /></b>
Since I finally managed to take a heaping pay cut to get off of the road to Boston, I wonder why more people don't just give it up and find a job in the suburbs where they live. I mean, life is too short to be miserable and so why would any sane person sacrifice all that time, aggravation and wasted time to commute up to 3 hours one-way into the city?<br />
<br />
I mean, besides the money. You can only make Boston money IN Boston.<br />
<br />
<b>Poor Public Transportation</b><br />
<br />
The MBTA Commuter Rail is expensive and doesn't go nearly everywhere it is needed and inadequately serves the suburbs. A Zone 6 one-way ticket is, as of today, is $ 10.50, a monthly pass is $340.00. But if you have to park, the parking fees for MBTA lots charge from $5.00 to $7.00 per day. Monthly parking rates have a range of $35.00 to $157.50. This doesn't reserve you a spot btw so if the lot is full, you're on your own.<br />
<br />
There are buses into the city but they're on the road too.<br />
<br />
<b>Everyone is a Road Tech </b><br />
<br />
And just to make things interesting, ie: worse, everyone and their brother is driving around for work. Everyone today is a Road Tech. The locksmith is a road tech, the windshield repair man comes to you, the people who hang your curtains, service your copiers, waters your company's plants, shreds your sensitive papers, delivers your water, delivers your groceries, fixes the coffee maker, walks your dog, delivers your lunch and empties your waste-paper baskets are ALL on the road driving around to different clients all the time. We can also throw in ride sharing services, airport limos and taxis.<br />
<br />
I had a phone interview with this place in Mansfield, MA and the HR person says that the person who takes this job has to also provide in-person service to their other location in Burlington, MA. I said "That's impossible, that's a 2 hour plus drive in the middle of the day and way longer if something should snag traffic. But they wanted to hire ONE person for BOTH locations and put them on the road to save money. So I told them "good luck". I don't know if they ever found someone to do that drive or if they smartened up but that ad was out there for a long time. What a bunch of cheapskates!<br />
<br />
There is now Amazon Truck out there driving around along with Federal Express (Ground & Express), United Parcel Service and the US Postal Service. I regularly see Amazon vans delivering packages as late as 8 PM on a Sunday evening.<br />
<br />
There are cable tv techs, satellite tv techs, painters, furniture delivery and repair people, security camera people, plumbers, electricians and building supplies people, all out on the road FOR work while you're trying to get TO work.<br />
<br />
I was talking to a Ricoh Printer tech the other day and he told me they don't even have an office. They just get up, go to the car and drive right to their first appointment. If they need a part, they just have it delivered to the site or a deliver hub and pick it up there. All they do is drive around.<br />
<br />
Just like the rest of us.<br />
<br />
<br /></div>
Wal Manhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18088924489584208710noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8663151555037734040.post-91248967848939931622019-09-07T12:11:00.000-04:002020-01-21T21:33:57.748-05:0024 Hour Bad News<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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<br />
I'd like to think I'm not that old but I remember when the news was only on at either 6 o'clock and 10 o'clock. And that was all. Before the news came on, you watched something else. Anything else.<br />
<br />
Then in 1980 CNN went on the air as a 24 hour "News" broadcast cable station and now everywhere you look there's "News".<br />
<br />
And it's not good news and these days we don't know which of it actually happened or whether most of it is true. Sure, storms really happen. Planes really crash but the other stuff, the subjective stuff, the things that happen in other places, we don't know the half of it and the only word of it we get is through the 24/7/365, never ending news channels.<br />
<br />
And we already know they're all full of SHIT.<br />
<br />
The local outlets are the worst at trying to fill up their massively expanded schedules. With their vans driving up and down the highways hoping something bad will happen because we all know this "news" has to be BAD.<br />
<br />
Bad news is important to the TV executives and it's important to advertisers. The term "If it bleeds, it leads" is now spread across the entire day. If a plane skids off the runway in Singapore or a car hits a tree in Dallas, it's on our local Boston "news", why?<br />
<br />
Probably because they have an "insert car crash here every day in this time slot" mandate and if nobody local crashes, they get footage off the wire to fill the spot. I don't really know but I always wonder why I'm hearing about something that happened in California like a car chase or a house fire when they happen on the East coast too but just not that day. There's a lot of time to fill up now so they have to keep the bad "news" coming.<br />
<br />
I remember Fox news used to love to broadcast California car chases. That's "news" as entertainment, watching a car chase. Here in New England, car chases suck because there are too many trees to block the camera crew. Car chases happen in Andover, Massachusetts I'm sure, you'll just never see one on television.<br />
<br />
<b>Bad News Over and Over</b><br />
<br />
But with all the satellite feeds, the global networks, the broadcasting vans looking for cats caught in the trees, these stations still run out of bad news to hit us over the head with. So what do they do? They REPEAT it over and over, sometimes for three days.<br />
<br />
In the Internet world, three days is an eternity to hear the same thing over again. Bad enough you hear it again in an hour but, just in case you somehow missed it, here it is again today. Damn it makes it hard to turn on the radio, I've long ago stopped watching television.<br />
<br />
<b>Casting a Pall</b><br />
<b><br /></b>
What this does, all this bad 'news", is cast bad feelings among the populace. People actually feel the world is going to Hell. The world is not going to Hell. The world is the same as it's ever been. It's always been turning, always there is turmoil somewhere. Just not the same place all the time if you don't count the Middle East. That's a world constant.<br />
<br />
But there's always a bad law about to be passed, always a "crisis" to be averted and always someone trying to convince you that unless you go jump through some HOOP, the worst possible outcome will be made real.<br />
<br />
But the 24 hour "news" cycle causes preoccupation with what's going on, or at least, what we THINK is going on. I wonder sometimes how information got around back in colonial times. Information traveled slowly and I'm sure was subject to miscommunication and modification.<br />
<br />
So the only thing that's changed is the speed of miscommunication and modification.<br />
<br />
<b>Why Television Exists</b><br />
<br />
Is it to inform you? It can do that. Is it to educate you? It can do that too. It certainly can entertain you. But the reason it's here is to sell you things.<br />
<br />
Beyond all the advertisements, the people who control the media and it's portals want to show you what they want you to see and only what they want you to see. And it's all pretty dumb and contrived. Most of the time, since television was developed, the government and the media were on the same page as to The Message they wanted to send the public. Right now there is a schism and the two are currently split.<br />
<br />
Mostly these days the media is selling fear, angst, worry and remorse. Fear of the outside, angst about your well-being and remorse over parts of our history you or your family was never a part of.<br />
<br />
It's about "helping" you form ideas and opinions that are of a certain perspective, their perspective. You're told either the truth when if fits, half-truths when it doesn't and outright lies when it suits them. And you have no idea which one you're getting.<br />
<br />
Yet people believe it just the same.<br />
<br />
<b>Swallowing the Elephant</b><br />
<br />
I never get people who, even though they know that they've been lied to, believe the next thing that the liar says! If someone lies to me once, I tend to have a doubt about the truthfulness of anything they say after that. But that's just me. It's more about how people are inclined to believe "facts" that fit their own opinion about a subject no matter what the source.<br />
<br />
We catch a "news" station deliberately distorting the facts and the next day someone says, "Hey, did you hear what's on _____?" Same station. I mean, they're not going to stop broadcasting just because they were caught in a lie.<br />
<br />
I don't know if anyone remembers back to 1993 when NBC News, not having success confirming the rumor that the pickup truck GM was making at the time had a problem catching fire in a roll-over accident, actually put a LIGHTED FLAIR on the gas tank and re-did their roll-over test. That worked! The truck finally caught fire.<br />
<br />
Of course, the flair showed up rather prominently when General Motors ran the footage in slow-motion.<br />
<br />
Oops!<br />
<br />
<b>Politics, Politics, Politics</b><br />
<br />
Politics was never far from "news" since the beginning of time. The way certain information is going to be perceived by the Public is always worrisome to those with something to lose.<br />
<br />
All news today is political. Why the car crashed, why the storm tore your roof off your house, why your wife left you and why your young kids come home from school and tell you that the number one priority of their lives will be to save the planet.<br />
<br />
And whether you think you're a Progressive or a Conservative, you just have to know you're not getting the whole story. The bubble you've built for yourself by only watching certain stations or reading certain publications that back up your thinking to the point where people who risked their very lives to bring you a different sort of news and put it out of reach of the people who don't want you to see it, are ignored.<br />
<br />
If the truth should suddenly hit you in the face, would you even know it?<br />
<br />
Believe it, don't believe it, that's not the point. The point is that you should have access to it and know it exists.<br />
<br />
Something to believe in. </div>
Wal Manhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18088924489584208710noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8663151555037734040.post-60687856428330498362019-08-23T19:24:00.000-04:002020-06-04T21:47:23.753-04:00Can China Oppress Its Way to Prosperity?<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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<br />
Remember Tibet? It used to belong to the Tibetans. Not any more. China took over. The outrage lasted minutes while Chinese policemen kicked protesters to death in the streets.<br />
<br />
How about Taiwan. It's a sovereign nation, right? Not to China it isn't and they never stop threatening to take it over. By force, of course.<br />
<br />
<b>China's Claims</b><br />
<br />
To determine ownership of a territory, China it seems merely has to claim it. "It's ours by right, stay off!"<br />
<br />
And that's all their is to it. Tibet...is China's. The South China Sea, well, it has the word China in it, see? Therefore it belongs to China. Nobody else gets to use it. It's China's.<br />
<br />
Taiwan is China's. Why? Because China says so!<br />
<br />
Taiwan may have something to say about that. "No they don't, it's ours!"<br />
<br />
Hong Kong wasn't China's for a long time. China was very different then. Different government, different economy and Hong Kong too is different, like a different country.<br />
<br />
But China claims Hong Kong just the same.<br />
<br />
Where do China's claims stop?<br />
<br />
There's a rumor going around this country that China wants to go to the Moon just to see if the American flag is really there. If it isn't, China will claim the Moon too.<br />
<br />
<b>How Will the World React?</b><br />
<br />
Hong Kong is, in my opinion, the last frontier of true economic freedom left in the world. A place where you can rent a storefront, put up a sign and call yourself a business. Very little red tape involved in comparison to say, anywhere in the United States. It's a city just teaming with commerce and ambition. Ambition for success and for something few on mainland China enjoy, Freedom!<br />
<br />
But don't worry, China will fix that. They'll eventually kick their way in and crush the local pro-democracy lunatics, killing the most resistant and sending the rest to be re-educated or harvested or both. They'll then look to their European enablers for signs of disapproval.<br />
<br />
But they won't see any.<br />
<br />
I mean, what nation cut ties with China over Tibet? None. Nobody did. If they do the same thing to Hong Kong, will it score a ripple on China's economic radar screen? Will they pay a price?<br />
<br />
Well, perhaps the UK may have had enough and actually speak up about what China is doing given it's past ties to Hong Kong but don't expect France, Spain or Germany to make much of a fuss. They all need the low cost manufacturing they've grown dependent upon. They're tied too tight economically to China to open their cringy yaps and do anything beyond a grandstanding speech or some-such.<br />
<br />
To them, Hong Kong is just another Tibet; "Pass the Bearnaise Sauce will you, my Filet Mignon is not as moist as it should be." "Send it back Angela, the cook will make you another!" "Good idea Annegret, I'll send it back."<br />
<br />
"Oh, those unfortunate people of Hong Kong." they will say. And that will be the end of it. It will take people marching in the streets of those nations to get a bigger reaction. But since it's only people getting killed and a major global economic engine being silenced and not something REALLY important like "Global Climate Warming Change", will they get much of a turnout?<br />
<br />
<b>China Roads</b><br />
<br />
China is good at taking over. They've bought their way into Africa although there are rumblings from South Africa about the deal they've made with the Devil, but they'll all regret taking the money China dangles in front of the impoverished nations of Africa.<br />
<br />
Nobody really TRUSTS China. They're serious as a heart attack and as funny as a crutch. They have a chip on their shoulder so big the Iranians can only look on in envy and they are out to pay back ALL the slights of history they feel have been directed at them because they are Chinese.<br />
<br />
China now says, "If the world will not love us, by _________, (*whatever Godless Idol Chairman Xi worships) they'll fear us!"<br />
<br />
And surely, where ever China goes these days, they make everyone around them nervous.<br />
<br />
And they should be.<br />
<br />
<b>Tienanmen Square Redux</b><br />
<br />
But China is at it's best at oppressing it's own. From the untold millions who were purged in the days of Mao to the extension of that control to the long segregated Muslim population. The control and subjugation of them and Christians too, is all just by rote these days. Nobody escapes and everybody is subject to social controls. The Muslims just get it worse, of course.<br />
<br />
It's all about control. China controls it's population. Telling them what they can see, what they can say, what they can do and where they can go. In this fashion, the government can feel secure that they will not be overthrown. With the country contained, they will feel much more secure as they expand and try to take over the weaker territories nearby and give them the same treatment. And then, they surmise, they will expand from there spreading the subjugation model they've perfected at home.<br />
<br />
<b>The Question</b><br />
<br />
Can China's economic business model sustain it's ambitions?<br />
<br />
Already being challenged on the economic battlefield, China's weakness is evident. The other major nations of the world must keep buying their cheaper products and feeding the Dragon. If they should decide to go elsewhere, the Chinese Juggernaut could hit the wall.<br />
<br />
But that would also help out the United States and President Trump. What to do, what to do?<br />
<br />
What will it take for the other nations of the world to decide to stop buying Chinese goods?<br />
<br />
If China should decide to go into Hong Kong with guns a-blazing, the reactions or lack thereof of the European nations will tell us a lot.<br />
<br /></div>
Wal Manhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18088924489584208710noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8663151555037734040.post-5320780463151577422019-07-27T23:06:00.000-04:002019-07-27T23:06:03.045-04:00Baltimore is a Dump!<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgkwYuXWeBhxNSVOzFGSPUm8Esw44XRcG1tfpZznuJsU6SoFbcMeS4Kpa_o8GgWC7EUJfpSueajS7fRFP_EtOZvg7NNGFf7n7zP7X92w5LpVc1fyjvWWLpeBrv7fL5eudi2qy9PKvPhciM/s1600/DOWNTOWN_BMORE_1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1237" data-original-width="1600" height="247" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgkwYuXWeBhxNSVOzFGSPUm8Esw44XRcG1tfpZznuJsU6SoFbcMeS4Kpa_o8GgWC7EUJfpSueajS7fRFP_EtOZvg7NNGFf7n7zP7X92w5LpVc1fyjvWWLpeBrv7fL5eudi2qy9PKvPhciM/s320/DOWNTOWN_BMORE_1.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
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And for as long as I can remember, Baltimore has had the reputation of being a "bad neighborhood". I don't drive by the city often but I can't help but see it from Interstate RT-95 when I'm on my way back from somewhere else. I always take a long look at the place.</div>
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And I shudder. Who can imagine living there?</div>
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Baltimore Maryland is a perpetual welfare city. According to the national census, Maryland is the country's richest state with a median income of $69,272.00 per person so imagine what that means when you factor in the poorest city in the country! </div>
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Did I mention that the current Mayor of Baltimore, Bernard Young, is a Democrat? I think the last Republican to run the city was in 1967. </div>
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The last Mayor of Baltimore, Catherine Pugh, also a Democrat, was forced to resign due to a corruption scandal involving a children's book she 'wrote" and coerced the city school system to purchase. It wasn't much of a book but it was a hell of a crime.</div>
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Maryland also has a Democrat for a Governor, Larry Hogan. I don't much about him since, I really don't pay much attention to the state in general since I would never think of setting foot there for any reason. It's just a name on a map to me. Sorta like say, Suriname, a place that might as well be on the moon. The only time you hear of such places is when bad things happen there. </div>
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Way back in the late 1980s I had a co-worker who was originally from North Carolina but he and his young wife moved to Baltimore, to start their life together. He was not familiar with the place but thought, since they were in their early 20s, that the city was a place they could build a life together.</div>
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But there was no work. Neither could get a job. Their money quickly ran out and they applied for public assistance. They were assigned an apartment. When they looked at the place, it was filthy, in a run-down building in a seedy area of the city. But they were stuck and had to make the most of it. The place was roach infested. When they started to clean the place up, he told me, there was a taped up cardboard box in a corner of the room. When he picked it up, the bottom fell out and "about 2000 cockroaches" hit the floor and scattered in all directions. He and his wife shared their first Baltimore freak-out during their eventful but short stay in that building. There was more but you get the picture. </div>
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What that lead to was the two of them frantically calling any relative and extended family member they could recall in the hopes that one of them would let them stay with them for even just a little while. One of them, who worked with me, told them that if they could get there, they could stay with him for as long as it took to get settled. He told me they each packed one bag and went straight to the highway and thumbed the first truck that would take them closer to Massachusetts and farther away from Maryland. </div>
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When the truck driver dropped them off at our towns highway rest-stop on Interstate RT-495, he drove off with their luggage and disappeared into the night. But that incident did not offset the relief they felt for finally getting out of Baltimore. </div>
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Since that time Baltimore has gotten worse. </div>
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Baltimore is a city of stark contrasts, the have's and the have-nots, empty buildings that serve as drug shooting-galleries a block away from a posh neighborhood, poor schools and poor people a block away from good schools and rich neighborhoods. Employment in much of the city is public employment since businesses are reluctant to move in. </div>
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People who live in Baltimore will tell you that there are a lot of great places to go there, museums, restaurants, art centers and other attractions. </div>
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But they will also warn you to be aware of your surroundings when out and not to walk and talk on your cell phone in public since this automatically makes you a target. They will also tell you to simply expect things to be stolen off of your porch and to not leave items visible in your car when you park. They will mention that your home insurance should cover break-ins. Everyone there will acknowledge that the crime rate is very high punctuated by a lot of shootings. </div>
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In 2017, there were a reported 343 murders in Baltimore but the good news is that it dropped in 2018 to 309. </div>
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But that could be anywhere in the country, right? </div>
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Since the Freddy Gray incident, where six Baltimore policemen were put on trial for the negligent homicide of Mr. Gray whom they left unsecured with his hands cuffed behind his back in the police vehicle and who subsequently died as a result of falling against the door handle, arrests have gone down and crime has gone up. </div>
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People there warn you not to come. Don't take my word for it, Google "Moving to Baltimore" and see what that gets you. Oh, there's some fake news out there but you'll know the real stuff when you read it. </div>
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All the money Baltimore gets in Federal Aid doesn't seem to help things. That's because the money isn't there to actually help people, it's good jobs at good wages for the people who dole it all out. Those are the people the money is for.</div>
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Nothing seems to get better in Baltimore. </div>
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Wal Manhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18088924489584208710noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8663151555037734040.post-74378788021831189372019-07-23T23:14:00.001-04:002019-07-23T23:14:37.349-04:00Joe Lieberman: Hypocrite of School Choice <div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiql4cvDkw3cT80Fr9o1JPV5S7FkcI7fFQiC678MTeKVN8-2cLY3YEp7ZApbSUlr_-o7h_HW7ClqtqpXBAr2F7qNv-FXDgiLkDrHeYaZ-O-igtDfY-e2UJGHHtS8XRBlDdXpID_gqRD4v8/s1600/Gore-Lieberman-resie.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="644" data-original-width="1144" height="180" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiql4cvDkw3cT80Fr9o1JPV5S7FkcI7fFQiC678MTeKVN8-2cLY3YEp7ZApbSUlr_-o7h_HW7ClqtqpXBAr2F7qNv-FXDgiLkDrHeYaZ-O-igtDfY-e2UJGHHtS8XRBlDdXpID_gqRD4v8/s320/Gore-Lieberman-resie.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
<span style="color: #373e44; font-family: "roboto" , "open sans" , "helvetica" , "arial" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 15px; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span></span><br />
<span style="color: #373e44; font-family: "roboto" , "open sans" , "helvetica" , "arial" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 15px; white-space: pre-wrap;">I can't believe this is still an argument. If it wasn't for the power of the National Teachers Union which is only rivaled by the other two public union powerhouses, The International Brotherhood of Police Officers and The International Association of Fire Fighters, this would have been settled ages ago. </span></span><br />
<span style="color: #373e44; font-family: "roboto" , "open sans" , "helvetica" , "arial" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 15px; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></span>
<span style="color: #373e44; font-family: "roboto" , "open sans" , "helvetica" , "arial" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 15px; white-space: pre-wrap;">But I was reminded of a bit of hypocrisy just now when I read an article by none other than Former Connecticut Senator Joe Lieberman advocating for, of all things, school choice.</span></span><br />
<span style="color: #373e44; font-family: "roboto" , "open sans" , "helvetica" , "arial" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 15px; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></span>
<span style="color: #373e44; font-family: "roboto" , "open sans" , "helvetica" , "arial" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 15px; white-space: pre-wrap;">And I had to laugh. </span></span><br />
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<span style="color: #373e44; font-family: "roboto" , "open sans" , "helvetica" , "arial" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 15px; white-space: pre-wrap;">NOW, he's the advocate for school choice...</span></span><br />
<span style="color: #373e44; font-family: "helvetica";"></span><br />
<span style="color: #373e44; font-family: "helvetica";">Again!</span><br />
<span style="color: #373e44; font-family: "roboto" , "open sans" , "helvetica" , "arial" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 15px; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></span><span style="color: #373e44; font-family: "roboto" , "open sans" , "helvetica" , "arial" , sans-serif; font-size: 15px; white-space: pre-wrap;">Oh, old Joe WAS a champion for the school voucher system right up until the moment he was picked to be Al Gore's running mate for the Presidency back in 2000. </span><br />
<span style="color: #373e44; font-family: "roboto" , "open sans" , "helvetica" , "arial" , sans-serif; font-size: 15px; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span>
<span style="color: #373e44; font-family: "roboto" , "open sans" , "helvetica" , "arial" , sans-serif; font-size: 15px; white-space: pre-wrap;">Then nothing, no</span><span style="color: #373e44; font-family: roboto, "open sans", helvetica, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; white-space: pre-wrap;">t a word about it was mentioned and nobody asked. </span><br />
<span style="color: #373e44; font-family: "roboto" , "open sans" , "helvetica" , "arial" , sans-serif; font-size: 15px; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span>
<span style="color: #373e44; font-family: "roboto" , "open sans" , "helvetica" , "arial" , sans-serif; font-size: 15px; white-space: pre-wrap;">But I remembered. </span><br />
<span style="color: #373e44; font-family: "roboto" , "open sans" , "helvetica" , "arial" , sans-serif; font-size: 15px; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span>
<span style="color: #373e44; font-family: "roboto" , "open sans" , "helvetica" , "arial" , sans-serif; font-size: 15px; white-space: pre-wrap;">Joe Lieberman remained in the Senate for 14 years after Al Gore's failed run for the presidency but until now we have not heard anything from the former senator advocating for school choice. </span><br />
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<span style="color: #373e44; font-family: "roboto" , "open sans" , "helvetica" , "arial" , sans-serif; font-size: 15px; white-space: pre-wrap;">Since that time the voucher system was instituted in the District of Columbia and working well until the Teacher's Union finally managed to squash it, forcing the school kids back to their sub-standard district schools. They could have used a champion then.
</span><span style="color: #373e44; font-family: "roboto" , "open sans" , "helvetica" , "arial" , sans-serif; font-size: 15px; white-space: pre-wrap;">
</span><span style="color: #373e44; font-family: "roboto" , "open sans" , "helvetica" , "arial" , sans-serif; font-size: 15px; white-space: pre-wrap;">Now , with nothing to lose, nothing on the line and perhaps looking for some sort of relevancy in a new age, good old reliable </span><span style="color: #373e44; font-family: roboto, "open sans", helvetica, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; white-space: pre-wrap;">Joe Lieberman </span><span style="color: #373e44; font-family: roboto, "open sans", helvetica, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; white-space: pre-wrap;">is again advocating school choice. </span><br />
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<span style="color: #373e44; font-family: "roboto" , "open sans" , "helvetica" , "arial" , sans-serif; font-size: 15px; white-space: pre-wrap;">After 19 years of silence, is anybody going to ask, "Where you been all this time, Joe?"</span><br />
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<span style="color: #373e44; font-family: "roboto" , "open sans" , "helvetica" , "arial" , sans-serif; font-size: 15px; white-space: pre-wrap;">Fox news won't be asking that question, you can bet on that. They ran the article.
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</span><span style="color: #373e44; font-family: "roboto" , "open sans" , "helvetica" , "arial" , sans-serif; font-size: 15px; white-space: pre-wrap;">What gall this guy has! Even for a former pol and lawyer. This sudden rekindled interest makes me wonder at what angle he's trying to play. Perhaps we'll find out in the near future. </span><br />
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<span style="color: #373e44; font-family: "helvetica";"><strong>School Choice</strong></span><br />
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<span style="color: #373e44; font-family: "helvetica";">This is the system where each family gets a voucher for the money they pay each year towards their school system or per student funds allocated to each child at any rate that then can be put that towards a different school of their choosing. The money follows the child. </span><br />
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<span style="color: #373e44; font-family: "helvetica";"><strong>Two-Tiered Education System</strong></span><br />
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<span style="color: #373e44; font-family: "helvetica";">It has been argued that the voucher system will create a two-tiered school system and allow the wealthy to pull their kids from public school or that there will be a migration from public schools. </span><br />
<span style="color: #373e44; font-family: "roboto" , "open sans" , "helvetica" , "arial" , sans-serif; font-size: 15px; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span>
<span style="color: #373e44; font-family: "roboto" , "open sans" , "helvetica" , "arial" , sans-serif; font-size: 15px; white-space: pre-wrap;">The wealthy have already pulled their kids out of public school. THEY have the money to pay twice. Once for the sub-standard public school they don't use and again for the private school they actually send their kids to. </span><br />
<span style="color: #373e44; font-family: "roboto" , "open sans" , "helvetica" , "arial" , sans-serif; font-size: 15px; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span><span style="color: #373e44; font-family: "roboto" , "open sans" , "helvetica" , "arial" , sans-serif; font-size: 15px; white-space: pre-wrap;">It's the poor people who can't afford to send their kids to an alternate or private school who get the short end. They can only afford the sub-standard. </span><br />
<span style="color: #373e44; font-family: "roboto" , "open sans" , "helvetica" , "arial" , sans-serif; font-size: 15px; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span><span style="color: #373e44; font-family: "roboto" , "open sans" , "helvetica" , "arial" , sans-serif; font-size: 15px; white-space: pre-wrap;">Without a school voucher program to even the field, the people without the means are also without the choice. The lack of school choice hurts THEM, the people who can't afford to send their kids any place else. </span><br />
<span style="color: #373e44; font-family: "roboto" , "open sans" , "helvetica" , "arial" , sans-serif; font-size: 15px; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span><span style="color: #373e44; font-family: "roboto" , "open sans" , "helvetica" , "arial" , sans-serif; font-size: 15px; white-space: pre-wrap;">The lack of competition for the monopoly of public schools means no challenges and no innovation or improvements. They never have to pay for their mistakes. Only the children will.</span><br />
<span style="color: #373e44; font-family: "roboto" , "open sans" , "helvetica" , "arial" , sans-serif; font-size: 15px; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span>
<span style="color: #373e44; font-family: "roboto" , "open sans" , "helvetica" , "arial" , sans-serif; font-size: 15px; white-space: pre-wrap;">So here's hoping Joe sticks with it the second time around since School Choice was and is a good idea. Introducing competition into the educational marketplace will make all the schools stronger. They will either change or be emptied out. </span><br />
<span style="color: #373e44; font-family: "roboto" , "open sans" , "helvetica" , "arial" , sans-serif; font-size: 15px; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span>
<span style="color: #373e44; font-family: "roboto" , "open sans" , "helvetica" , "arial" , sans-serif; font-size: 15px; white-space: pre-wrap;">But Joe Lieberman could have been fighting for this change for the last 19 years but abandoned his principles for the chance at glory and fame. </span><span style="color: #373e44; font-family: roboto, "open sans", helvetica, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; white-space: pre-wrap;"> </span><br />
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<span style="color: #373e44; font-family: "roboto" , "open sans" , "helvetica" , "arial" , sans-serif; font-size: 15px; white-space: pre-wrap;">He thinks everybody's forgotten it. </span></div>
Wal Manhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18088924489584208710noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8663151555037734040.post-12610248712412084182019-07-20T23:50:00.000-04:002019-07-21T00:10:24.766-04:00At What Point Do You Stop Listening?<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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The press just can't get enough of the "feud" between President Trump and The Squad of Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, Ayanna Pressley, Rashida Tlaib and that overt Jew hater, Ilhan Omar.<br />
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It's the media corps that have elbowed Nancy Pelosi to the back of the room and put the spotlight on these four Horsewomen of the Apocalypse and it is they who are the reason that this is all a big deal.<br />
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It's not a big deal.<br />
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If you're worried that people may be believing all the zany things these people are saying just because they're all over the airwaves, I wouldn't be.<br />
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It isn't like the political arena lacks for want of crazy, prescription-drug crazed politicos because there seems to be no short supply.<br />
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I don't blame the Socialist Sisters for being camera hogs, I blame the people who are supplying the cameras. It's Fox News and "The World is Coming to an End" Drudge Report that are making the most political hay out of this. Talk about "It's all about the Benjamins".<br />
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All the accusations of "Racist" and constant media deluge of media hate towards the president, the wobbly GOP who would still rather have Hillary Clinton than prosperity and a good economy, the radical leftist states that every day announce another reason for their working citizens to get the hell out of there, it's all for naught. It's just the constant stream of nothingness and minutia that the "News" has become today. Nothing more than an incessant drone of negative energy, causing no good and if you listen too long, will cause mental instability.<br />
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In the Oppressive Ogres Corp where I work I share an office with another person. He's a political guy and a Trump supporter and each day he can't help but peruse MSN, CNN, Politico and other such non-sense media sights and read me some of what they say. He gets upset about it. I say, "I don't understand why you do this to yourself, you already know what they're going to say." But he can't help it. He gets even more upset when Fox says the same thing.<br />
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"Stop reading that crap!" I insist, "You're going to drive yourself Koo-Koo!"<br />
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And here we are.<br />
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I've checked out. I don't give a flying Phitt about what any of these people have to say or the so-called "conservative" media outlet that gives them a forum because I know it's all just about ratings and the advertising dollars they bring. Fox isn't in business to "Defend the Republic", they're in business to make a buck and if you're stupid enough to jump through a hoop or run into the streets in outrage every time they come up with a "Crisis' then you have nobody but yourself to blame. It's all just Street Theater for the Rubes.<br />
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As my older brother used to say to me all the time...<br />
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"Don't be an idiot."<br />
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It's not going to make one iota of a difference when it comes time to vote. Nobody is actually picking up what they're putting down and all the dead people in the country won't be able to out-vote the living when the time comes.<br />
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Because, quite frankly, even though we are not all "Brothers under the Skin" like most whackos want you to think, we do all want the same basic things.<br />
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We all want a roof over our head. We want a good livelihood for ourselves and a future for our children. This includes an acceptable level of education and opportunity for them to pursue their interests when they are old enough to decide and choose.<br />
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We all want...stuff! Whether it be a nicer car than most people drive, a boat, a nice house with central air conditioning and nice patio furniture. Oh, and a patio!<br />
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And we're all too willing to work for it, to drive great distances daily to get to our chosen places of employment and to withstand most daily torments of American life to get this...stuff!<br />
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Now I don't care where you're from originally. If you grew up here, you'r ruined for any place else anyway. Once you are "Americanized" you're screwed. No, we should figure out what to do with the Dreamers because even though your name may be Hernandez and you're parents are from Mexico, you'd be fucking lost in Mexico. I have black friends that went to The Gambia for a visit. They're like, "Wholly shit, I couldn't live there!" Of course not, your a friggin' American. You haven't washed a dish by hand since childhood never mind having to live on rice and beans. They don't even have cable!<br />
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So anyway, no matter what your background, if you're working for a living, trying to play by the rules and putting up with hearing all this whacko bullshit on the television and radio, when you finally get to the voting booth this November are you really going to pull the lever for what these nutjobs are trying to sell you?<br />
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No, I don't think so.<br />
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Like me, you may not have the best setup but it's working. You can go out every so often, have dinner and drinks, maybe once a week, take in a show, go for a hike, hit the gym and have some semblance of a decent career and life. You're hanging in despite the effort. But you know as well as I do that if you let this group of Quarter-Stalins get a hold of the means to your paycheck and livelihood, it could all turn to shit in a hurry.<br />
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There'll be no place to go but down...<br />
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And everybody knows it.<br />
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Wal Manhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18088924489584208710noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8663151555037734040.post-87833485492602584922019-07-02T16:52:00.000-04:002019-07-16T16:14:30.267-04:00They're Not "Migrants"<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjaqQ9QE3g4dQPtDU3e2w4ix_dpTfwH4u4FYkm3bKh82_KBzQpNIZ1TkzgqkUN5ZfmxZcu_Q1CLn6-PfqNejow0jTz3xh7HEmsE1DgcYt1t_ZTPhXAOLSs-RakKQShTYwa1tbfo-Zm-xn0/s1600/migrants+2+%25282%2529.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="900" data-original-width="1209" height="238" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjaqQ9QE3g4dQPtDU3e2w4ix_dpTfwH4u4FYkm3bKh82_KBzQpNIZ1TkzgqkUN5ZfmxZcu_Q1CLn6-PfqNejow0jTz3xh7HEmsE1DgcYt1t_ZTPhXAOLSs-RakKQShTYwa1tbfo-Zm-xn0/s320/migrants+2+%25282%2529.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
<br />
They're being called "Migrants" but they're really not. These people crossing the boarder are the farthest thing from "Migrants" you can get. <br />
<br />
A better word would be "Goths" as in "Visigoths", the destroyers of mighty Rome, the most successful Republic before this one. It might as well be old Alaric himself crossing the Rio Grande as far as I'm concerned. These people are no less dangerous as when the Goths crossed the Rhine back in 400 AD. We all know what happened after that. <br />
<br />
These "oppressed masses" aren't here for asylum, although they'll take it if we're stupid enough to give it to them. They're economic refugees coming from the Continent of Failure that is South America. And they're here to put their thumb on the scales of our economic future. The nation's prosperity is not a given, it's not assured and there are many burdens on the other side of the equation that aren't as brightly lit when talk of the robust growth of the United States is discussed. <br />
<br />
These are the burdens of the Welfare State, the social insurances of Medicaid, Medicare, SSI, Food Stamps and the Affordable Care Act. Then there are the public service pension administrations both federal and state. These are massive programs and all fall on the Accounts Payable side of the ledger.<br />
<br />
Now add all these people to the welfare rolls, the food stamps, putting their kids into the public school systems, the hospital emergency rooms and WIC programs. Who will be paying for all this? <br />
<br />
Not THEM! <br />
<br />
Add to those costs the added price of fighting the diseases, some thought long gone, that have made their dubious return. Afflictions like Whooping Cough, Measles, Mumps and even the Plague. Find a bean-counter to figure that one out. <br />
<br />
<strong>A Nation of Laws</strong><br />
<br />
We have immigration laws and they're pretty much like those of other countries and U.S. Citizenship takes about as long as does most countries: About 7 years. <br />
<br />
And it takes a bit of work. You have to know about our system of government, how it works and how the people who run the country get to where they are. This is on the up and up. You have to learn a bit about our democracy and how it works. But the bottom line is...<br />
<br />
You can't just walk in and start working. Or at least you shouldn't. <br />
<br />
And one of the reasons you shouldn't is because there are thousands of naturalized U.S. citizens here already who played by the rules and waited the time it took and learned the things they needed to become a citizen of these United States. <br />
<br />
And why would they do that? <br />
<br />
Because they LOVE this country and want to be citizens. Because of that desire, they were willing to do the right thing. They didn't come here to just make a buck to send back to Whereverlahara so they could build a bigger house there. They want to build there house right HERE in the good 'ol US of A. <br />
<br />
<strong>The Migrants Pay Taxes Myth</strong><br />
<br />
If you're working under the table and doing your shopping at flea markets, how much in the way of taxes are you paying? And if you're collecting housing benefits and going to the emergency room for free treatments, how much are you taking in exchange? Plenty. Add your non-English speaking children to the local public schools in enough numbers that there won't be much learning going on for anyone as schools scramble to not only teach the subjects but to bring up the language skills of these kids so that they can be taught at all. And who'll pay for that? <br />
<br />
Not THEM!<br />
<br />
It's you, the legal, working American working stiff, the taxpayer who'll get the bill. I'm sure you'd rather have the money to put your own kids through school but heck, these people need it more than you do you rich, white sons-of-bitches! And so what if the rising costs and deductibles of healthcare under the ACA make you think twice before you get that lump on your side checked out, these people have a RIGHT to HEALTHCARE! Yeah, so they can't pay for it, now sit down and shut up, you racist bastard!<br />
<br />
<strong>Crashing the Welfare State</strong><br />
<br />
With all these illiterate, indigent masses crashing the gates of the kingdom, we will reach a tipping point in the costs of taking care of there "essential needs", meaning the people footing the bill will either get irate enough to rebel or the welfare systems will just go broke.<br />
<br />
In the Theory of Anarchism, this is a desired result of the political Left. I don't see how anyone will escape the pain to follow should this be allowed to happen but Anarchists don't really think about the future in those terms. They only wish for the downfall. What happens after that is not important.<br />
<br />
As a Libertarian, I too would like to see the end of the Welfare State as we see it today but would rather avoid an economic reenactment of the Hindenburg. <br />
<br />
<strong>Trump Represents American Success</strong><br />
<br />
You wonder why all the vitriol, hatred and bizarre contrarianism the Political Left has directed towards President Trump and every move he makes. He tries to cut taxes and they try to block it, he tries to secure the border with Mexico and they block him. He tries to make a trade deal with China and the European Union and he's immediately branded a failure. For an American president acting in the best interests of the United States and it's citizenry, it's all seems so upside down. <br />
<br />
Why? <br />
<br />
Because the President was a successful businessman prior to the presidency, remains a successful person in the White House and the United States is a successful country full of people working and striving to get the things they want in this life. They have goals they want to reach and are willing to put in the work to get them, the right way.<br />
<br />
Everyday we see Americans, from the newly naturalized to those here for generations, working, paying taxes, contributing to society and playing by the rules. <br />
<br />
And the Socialist Democrats HATE that. <br />
<br />
And they hate you. </div>
Wal Manhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18088924489584208710noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8663151555037734040.post-16334692454526493652019-06-23T23:28:00.000-04:002019-06-25T10:11:00.440-04:00My Message to Kelly Anne Conway<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgclg8JWvYiMgsBm8gMdkAXjOZJjM58n7LO-2NHamPHILZTRjqddvCFpjmPBSWCmmhgHdlSSKwUcoE9lOj3s2qkR8z66U8EMSkUaat1HyHNo9DW28yEr4gtGqQKDED7bFGNEmxEg-JcaZE/s1600/Kelly+Anne+Conway.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="989" data-original-width="1484" height="213" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgclg8JWvYiMgsBm8gMdkAXjOZJjM58n7LO-2NHamPHILZTRjqddvCFpjmPBSWCmmhgHdlSSKwUcoE9lOj3s2qkR8z66U8EMSkUaat1HyHNo9DW28yEr4gtGqQKDED7bFGNEmxEg-JcaZE/s320/Kelly+Anne+Conway.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
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<span style="color: #373e44; font-family: "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: 11.5pt; white-space: pre-wrap;">The first time I laid eyes on Kelly Anne Conway was she was on one of the Leftist Sunday morning political programs, I believe it was '</span><span style="color: #373e44; font-family: "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: 15.33px; white-space: pre-wrap;">Disgrace</span><span style="color: #373e44; font-family: "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: 11.5pt; white-space: pre-wrap;"> the Nation" or something like that. I was hanging at the counter of the my breakfast place which always had the one little TV on for our Sunday morning entertainment. The morning political shows were always a catalyst for lively debate amongst the morning rabble. </span></div>
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<span style="color: #373e44; font-family: "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: 11.5pt; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /><span style="color: #373e44; font-family: "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: 11.5pt; white-space: pre-wrap;">Well the show had the political hit squad on board and Kelly Anne lit into them like Grant at the battle of Richmond! She was so quick, </span><span style="color: #373e44; font-family: "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: 15.33px; white-space: pre-wrap;">articulate, factual and she remembered everything these people had said in the past and was using their own words to hit them over the head with and proving they were all hypocrites. </span></span></div>
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<span style="color: #373e44; font-family: "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 15.33px; white-space: pre-wrap;">She left them literally stuttering. They looked lost and grasping for something more to say. </span></span></div>
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<span style="color: #373e44; font-family: "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 15.33px; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span></span> </div>
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<span style="color: #373e44; font-family: "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 15.33px; white-space: pre-wrap;">And I was like, "Who IS this person?" </span></span></div>
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<span style="color: #373e44; font-family: "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 15.33px; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span></span> </div>
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<span style="color: #373e44; font-family: "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 15.33px; white-space: pre-wrap;">I knew she was on Donald Trumps campaign staff but I've never heard a Republican liaison speak like that to the opposition, ever. </span></span></div>
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<span style="color: #373e44; font-family: "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 15.33px; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span></span> </div>
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<span style="color: #373e44; font-family: "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: 15.33px; white-space: pre-wrap;">I mean, aren't Republicans supposed to just </span><span style="color: #373e44; font-family: "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: 15.33px; white-space: pre-wrap;">apologize for the </span><span style="color: #373e44; font-family: "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: 15.33px; white-space: pre-wrap;">accusations the media makes? They aren't supposed to fight back. I mean, they never did before. Not since Ronald Reagan. </span></div>
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<span style="color: #373e44; font-family: "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 15.33px; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span></span> </div>
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<span style="color: #373e44; font-family: "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 15.33px; white-space: pre-wrap;">This sort of offense was long over do.</span></span><br />
<span style="color: #373e44; font-family: "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 15.33px; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span></span><br />
<span style="color: #373e44; font-family: "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 15.33px; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="color: #373e44; font-family: "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 15.33px; white-space: pre-wrap;">Kelly Anne was so brave and fearless. She didn't care who she was talking to, she would blast them...with facts. That overstuffed Wolf Blitzer...she shredded him. No matter who went after her, she had something particular to say back to them. I can't imagine they would think it wise to keep coming at her but we all know by now that the political Left takes no backwards steps, feels no remorse or shame and will just come back day after day even when they know they're just taking a beating. If they can only convert but one soul to the dark side of human existence, then it will all be worth it to them. </span></span></span></span></div>
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<span style="color: #373e44; font-family: "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 15.33px; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="color: #373e44; font-family: "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 15.33px; white-space: pre-wrap;">There was another time they had some insolent Lefty chic have a go and the results were the same. They couldn't beat her. She was the smartest person in the room. And she would just wait, smiling, for the next question.</span></span></span></span></div>
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<span style="color: #373e44; font-family: "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 15.33px; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="color: #373e44; font-family: "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 15.33px; white-space: pre-wrap;">T<span style="color: #373e44; font-family: "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 15.33px; white-space: pre-wrap;">here is not doubt in my mind that Kelly Anne Conway was the juggernaut that lead the Trump Team to victory. The long-marginalized voting taxpayer finally had something to cheer about.</span></span></span></span></span></span><br />
<span style="color: #373e44; font-family: "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 15.33px; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="color: #373e44; font-family: "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 15.33px; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="color: #373e44; font-family: "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 15.33px; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span></span></span></span></span></span><br />
<span style="color: #373e44; font-family: "helvetica";">So Kelly Anne, If you read this, don't worry. This Hatch Act baloney is just more Never-Trumper hatred. You're doing an incredible job!</span><br />
<span style="color: #373e44; font-family: "helvetica";"></span><br />
<span style="color: #373e44; font-family: "helvetica";">But now, while I'm at it, there's something more I'd like to say to you...</span><br />
<span style="color: #373e44; font-family: "helvetica";"></span><br />
<span style="color: #373e44; font-family: "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 15.33px; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="color: #373e44; font-family: "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 15.33px; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="color: #373e44; font-family: "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 15.33px; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="color: #373e44; font-family: "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 15.33px; white-space: pre-wrap;"><b>Time to Dump George!</b></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></div>
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<span style="color: #373e44; font-family: "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: 11.5pt; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span>
<span style="color: #373e44; font-family: "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: 11.5pt; white-space: pre-wrap;">Really, don't you think it's time you leave this guy? This guy is your husband?</span><br />
<span style="color: #373e44; font-family: Helvetica;"></span><br />
<span style="color: #373e44; font-family: Helvetica;">How can this even be?</span><br />
<span style="color: #373e44; font-family: Helvetica;"></span><br />
<span style="color: #373e44; font-family: Helvetica;">I mean, when was the last time you even saw each other? I'm sure he's not allowed to visit you at the White House. I'm sure the guards don't even recognize him. If it wasn't for Fox News Channel putting up his picture ever time he opens his mouth, who would?. I never even heard of this guy!</span><br />
<span style="color: #373e44; font-family: Helvetica;"></span><br />
<span style="color: #373e44; font-family: Helvetica;">But anyway, what I'm saying is, you need a man in your life. Not a whiny, jealous of your success, more than half-crazed individual that keeps trying to publicly undermine your career. There are better men out there. Men who won't try to pull themselves up by pulling others down, especially their wife!</span><br />
<span style="color: #373e44; font-family: Helvetica;"></span><br />
<span style="color: #373e44; font-family: Helvetica;">You deserve better.</span></div>
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<span style="color: #373e44; font-family: Helvetica;">And just what is up with this George Conway anyway? </span></div>
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<span style="color: #373e44; font-family: Helvetica;"></span> </div>
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<span style="color: #373e44; font-family: Helvetica;">Thanks to Fox News and the Doom & Gloom Drudge Report, I can never escape the reports of George Coming out with the latest "Trump Revelation". The so-called Conservative Press reports every crazy thing he says. His vocabulary must be quite limited since he only ever says the same thing over and over again. "Trump Unhinged, Trump Unstable" Blah, blah, blah. I've already heard it from him more than once. No use hearing it again...and again.</span></div>
<br />
<span style="color: #373e44; font-family: Helvetica;">I'm minding my own business and look up and there's old nobody George again, blathering the same sad "warnings". I guess there's no cure for Trump Derangement Syndrome.</span><br />
<span style="color: #373e44; font-family: Helvetica;"></span><br />
<span style="color: #373e44; font-family: Helvetica;">And what kind of news station would devote so much time to an obviously sick man?</span><br />
<span style="color: #373e44; font-family: Helvetica;"></span><br />
<span style="color: #373e44; font-family: Helvetica;">Fox New will! Good ol' Fox "click bait" news.</span><br />
<br />
<span style="color: #373e44; font-family: Helvetica;">So what do you two even have in common? I don't see the attraction. Was it an arranged marriage back when you were both kids or something? That's ok, people make mistakes Kelly Anne but it's time you correct this one. Time to give big boy the royal shove.</span><br />
<br />
<span style="color: #373e44; font-family: Helvetica;">You'll be better off and hopefully George will get the help he needs down the road. But that will no longer be your problem!</span><br />
<span style="color: #373e44; font-family: Helvetica;"></span><br />
<span style="color: #373e44; font-family: Helvetica;">You've grown beyond him now. Way beyond. You are two people on opposite trajectories. </span><br />
<span style="color: #373e44; font-family: Helvetica;"></span><br />
<span style="color: #373e44; font-family: Helvetica;">You are on the ascension!</span><br />
<br />
<span style="color: #373e44; font-family: Helvetica;">And George is, as President Trump might put it, "Definitely not ascending"</span><br />
<span style="color: #373e44; font-family: Helvetica;"></span><br />
<span style="color: #373e44; font-family: Helvetica;">And he just can't take it that his wife has done so much better than he ever did. This jealous outrage will only get worse.</span><br />
<span style="color: #373e44; font-family: Helvetica;"></span><br />
<span style="color: #373e44; font-family: Helvetica;">So do the best thing you can do for yourself and send this loser packing. </span><br />
<span style="color: #373e44; font-family: Helvetica;"></span><br />
<span style="color: #373e44; font-family: Helvetica;">The sooner the better so don't wait too long.</span><br />
<span style="color: #373e44; font-family: Helvetica;"></span><br />
<span style="color: #373e44; font-family: Helvetica;">And when you do dump him, look, me up. </span><br />
<span style="color: #373e44; font-family: Helvetica;"></span><br />
<span style="color: #373e44; font-family: Helvetica;">I'll be looking for your reply.</span><br />
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Wal Manhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18088924489584208710noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8663151555037734040.post-9419588738089223182019-06-21T10:22:00.000-04:002019-06-28T10:49:44.864-04:00Don't Bomb Iran!<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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At least not yet anyway.<br />
<br />
It's pretty clear the Iranian totalitarian regime is looking to goad the U.S. into a first bloody strike. <br />
<br />
Shooting down the drone was a brilliant move since there won't be any grieving families on the television. Nobody got hurt. Then, by muddying the waters over the location of the drone when it was shot down, there will be uncertainty over which party is telling the truth. Is this a case of the "Bully of the World", the United States, looking for an excuse to attack Iranian or is it a war-like Iran attempting to start an international military conflict by shooting down a U.S. drone in international airspace? <br />
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The world will ponder since both sides are keeping a straight face. <br />
<br />
On the U.S. side, there are calls for reprisal but extreme caution should be observed if past experience will be given attention. If the U.S. should actually fire missiles into Iran or Iranian targets, you know the pictures coming back will be those of civilian casualties and the hurt looks of Iranian diplomats.<br />
<br />
Even if we should hit nothing but sand.<br />
<br />
It's a miracle of nature that the U.S. can't seem to hit anything but civilians in these Middle Eastern countries. We bomb a military installation and the pictures come back as women and children. In a past experience we bombed a toxic gas manufacturing facility in Iraq and, surprise, it was a children's formula processing plant! Amazing how, with the most advanced tracking systems in the world to date, we can barely hit a terrorist. <br />
<br />
But subsequently, the pictures aren't going to look good if we don't wait for further escalation from the ancient brain-trust of the Mullahs. <br />
<br />
And wait we should. <br />
<br />
We <em>could </em>send them the bill for $ 130 million, the cost of the drone. Then we could threaten to seize Iranian assets if they don't remit the balance within 90 days. That would be the businessman's answer.<br />
<br />
Besides, what's one lost drone to the Pentagon? It's a drop in the bucket in their massive secret budget which is most likely larger than 90% of the world's economies. <br />
<br />
They'll just order another dozen. <br />
<br />
<strong>War Mongers to the Front</strong><br />
<br />
I'm starting to see the roll a person like John Bolton plays in the Trump administration. With a guy like him always calling for the destruction of "Name-Your-Adversary", if I was sitting in Iran, I could never be sure if the President would be seriously listening to him or not. It would be hard to think he would but there he is chanting "kill, kill, kill" all the time. And President Trump is saying "I don't know how long I can hold this guy back." It makes one wonder if it's a tactic. <br />
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Would that it were but it's a deadly game both the U.S. and Iran are playing and it reminds me very much like what happened at Fort Sumter back in 1860 to bring the North and South to begin the American Civil War. <br />
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It was important to Abraham Lincoln for the South to fire the first shot in the war. You know, that's important in politics so he decides to just send an unarmed supply ship since North Carolina, having already seceded from the Union, had stopped suppling the fort which was on an island in the harbor. So the southern garrison on the shore, seeing the ship, launched an attack on Fort Sumter and the result was the "War of Southern Aggression" with just about every adult male alive at the time ending up dead.<br />
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<strong>Iran Becomes North Korea</strong><br />
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We know the sanctions are killing the Iranian economy, for what it is, and if we want to pursue any kind of retaliation, the U.S. would do well to keep it economic. The Iran government is trying to find a way to break out of this blockade and save face while doing it. A tall task. So they are rattling away and causing, in reality, minor destruction. <br />
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Planting mines above the waterline of a ship tells me they didn't want to actually sink it. They wanted a good fire but again, nobody got killed. I don't think anybody even got hurt unless they fell off of a ladder or something. The ships are insured for this sort of thing. Even the Japanese are downplaying the whole affair since the ship was bound for Japan. So this sort of non-aggressive aggression is mostly designed to bring attention to Iran's 'plight". Not enough there to start a fight. <br />
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Plus, it was not an American ship so just leave it to the insurance company accountants. <br />
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<strong>What to Do</strong><br />
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It's pretty obvious. With the pundits all describing Iran as playing a "Long Game", that should also be our strategy as well. The North Korean playbook as been to do just enough to make people nervous and Iran is making people nervous alright but that in itself does not constitute grounds for war. Also, just like North Korea, Iran has threatened destruction of the economic means of their neighbors should the United States intervene militarily. In the case of the Middle East, that's the oil fields. <br />
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So standing back and waiting to see just how far Iran is willing to go in this game of chicken will serve the United States interests. Meanwhile it's Iran's economic issues that will continue to work against them. They've squandered their meager GDP over the years on guns for the military and not butter for the people. And now it's come to bite them in the ass. Mullahs and Economics don't mix. <br />
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I don't see any other nations stepping up and offering any support for an armed solution to Iranian skullduggery so instead of putting on our "Defenders of the World" hats yet again, we should just wait until Iran does something to piss SOMEONE ELSE off. <br />
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Until a major country like France, Japan or Spain steps up and says "Something should be done" about Iran, we should just keep working on closing our southern boarder. It isn't like we've got nothing better to do. <br />
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So until Iran decides to definitively fire the first bloody shot at the United States, we should wait it out. But if they do decide to pull the trigger first...<br />
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That will spell the end for them.<br />
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Wal Manhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18088924489584208710noreply@blogger.com0