SIG HEIL TO TORTURE!

SIG HEIL TO TORTURE!

(Doug Linder/Reuters News/Frazer Chronicle)

Are we reverting to the old days, when people would come from miles around, kids in hand to watch a hanging? People would take the day off, get drunk the night before, just so they could watch the wheels of justice roll over some stupid slob who was dumb enough to get caught for stealing horses, robbing a bank, or shooting somebody to death.

 

Sure most of the people that were hanged "in the old west," deserved what they got, and I really do think that justice was mostly served, but gee, what kind of a ghoulish psychos were these people, I mean to almost declare a holiday to watch somebody get their neck snapped by a rope.....and to bring the kids.

 

Maybe some of the hangings were something like today's "kids day at the ball park," I can just see it, "Come on, bring the kids, tickets include a soda, a box of popcorn and a hot dog," however, no autographs allowed. Morbid really doesn't describe these old western folks who turned out for the scene of justice at work.

 

Golly.....it didn't work either, deterring really bad crime, because hangings were still legal in some states, to deal with capital crimes well into the 20^th century. I guess I kind of figured that if a person was convicted of murder, or taking people's livelihoods, or swindling folks, these people should all get the same, prison, prison, prison, I mean really long stays in the "bizz-bo," (jail) but to snap a person's neck, hung till they were dead was a little strong, kind of like two wrongs making a right, that thinking is never true, two wrongs do not make a situation right.

 

You read and hear a lot today about terrorism, the war on it, how we should all be vigilant against it, and how mostly people of color, or Arab decent need to be watched.....at all times, "you just can't trust em." However, on the other hand, we need to continue our daily lives, go shopping, get out to the movies, take in a ball game, vacation or take a walk, just like nothing dangerous was going on.

 

It really is a good thing that we as a people aren't easily swayed by these complex and abstract differing orders, otherwise we'd all be carrying some sort of weapon at all times, oh wait, I guess most of are carrying some sort of protection, it's like we "never leave home without it," protection I mean. And fellas, I'm not talking about the kind of protection you keep in your wallet.

 

Afghanistan doesn't even seem to be a topic in the presidential campaigns thus far; it's kind of like the deaths, the mangled bodies the country gets back to have to deal with matter to either candidate. The millions that are being pumped into the Pentagon so that they in turn can pump those millions into a foreign country doesn't matter at all. But that's for another time.

 

GUANTANAMO TRIALS ARE ALMOST AT HAND!

It's true.....I read it in Al Jazeera, so it's gotta be true.....right, those guys never lie, especially when it comes to reporting on the United States.....right? Actually, you know what, Al Jazeera really does report the news in an accurate, understandable way, doesn't pull any punches, and uses reporters, bloggers and resources that meat out a pretty damn good brand of news.

 

The United States has held what some refer to as detainees for as long as 8 or 9 years, of course some have been let go, while some have actually been brought to justice. I have absolutely no doubt that some of these people are dangerous terrorists who need to be brought to justice.....justice, justice. No fooling around, give then a trial, a fair trial, if they are found guilty, they get appropriate sentences, go off to jail, or in the really bad cases, where death has occurred, "off with their heads." It's really the few agreements I ever had with the Bush administration, those that killed American citizens need to be put to death.

 

There still are at least 5 alleged plotters of the September 11, 2001 attacks being held at Guantanamo Bay, seems to me as if they should already have had their trials, and their dispositions already been done with. Isn't it funny how slow the wheels of justice can move whenever the military is involved with the proceedings, everything seems to take forever, or is the slow-motion activity is because the military isn't done with procuring information from them.

 

According to reports, there are 168 prisoners left at "Gitmo," down from a peek population of 771 captured primarily from Afghanistan. These prisoners, suspected of supporting either al-Qaeda or the Taliban, or of committing outright terrorism acts. The C.I.A. "commandeered" the (high level) captives and transferred them to overseas prisons throughout the world, where "enhanced interrogation techniques were used including waterboarding, stress positions, mock executions, sleep deprivation, finger and toe -nail pulling were also undoubtedly used.

 

No matter what these people have done, as a free country, we have no right to hold these people for this length of time.....and we sure as hell have absolutely no right to use the dastardly methods that are listed above.

 

RULES OF THE TRIAL:

It's almost laughable, there are actually some cock-eyed rules that are either in place, or are being set up so that certain topics are "top secret," like certain words can't be used, or certain topics can only be discussed away from the "probing eyes or worse yet, the tape recorders" that the press wants to use.

 

Hey, I understand that there are certain people need protection from inquiring eyes or recorders, but torture, come on, everybody in the world, with access to a news paper, or radio, television, or a computer knows that the United States has used torture tactics, it's not our brightest hour as a world leader, but like my friend said, "Get the hell out of the closet, everybody knows your gay.”

 

I remember another famous war crimes trial; in fact former president George W. Bush referenced the war off and on during his two terms in the White House. The war was the 2^nd World War, and the trial was at Nuremberg, Germany. And you know what, nothing, absolutely nothing was left out of that trial.....and they killed millions upon millions of people.

 

The judges only wanted one thing, the truth, once that truth was found out, then the wheels of justice took over, and some heads rolled. It was however done with dignity, and with respect, even for some of the worst war time criminals in the history of man-kind.

 

The only people who should be protected are the people that gave evidence, or passed on information that lead to the capture of a terrorist. Without exception, everything else, the waterboarding, the mock executions and whatever type of depravities might have been used.

 

Talk about your transparency, let's get real, let's wash our hands, and let's get "Tide clean and Downy soft." There has been mistakes made, probably a boat-load, let's admit them, and move on. By setting silly rules, and playing word games, we, as center stage players need to lead by example, if we don't, by God, we are lost, and worst.....we lose.

 

There was another culture of people who let their leaders keep things from them, it was all in the name of and the good of the party, it was called Nazi Germany. We aren't there yet, we don't operate under a totalitarian state yet, but the longer we allow military attitudes to rule, we sure are driving towards that end.....and everybody remembers what happened to the leaders of the Nazis, don't we.

 

 

 

THE WONDERFUL WORLD OF BASEBALL!

THE WONDERFUL WORLD OF BASEBALL!

(The Associated Press/FoxSports.com/Frazer Chronicle)

Okay, I can't take it anymore, I mean, trading away entire teams, well, not really, but the Boston Red Sox might as well have, it's for sure that the Sox tossed in the towel for the rest of this year. Sorry Red Sox nation, you'll just have to wait until next year.

 

Baseball is a game for dreamers, it's a game where grown men run around in cut off pants, throw a ball, catch it or run after it, then throw it to a teammate and then start the process all over again. Baseball is the only game I know where you don't want the ball. Basketball is keeping the ball, passing it to other teammates and then throwing it in a hole to score points.

 

Football also covets keeping the ball so that offensive plays can be made to score points, maybe the rules should be changed in baseball, or rather go back to a time when a batter hit the ball with a stick, and the defense caught it and tried to hit the batter with the ball. If the batter was hit, he was out, sometimes "out cold." The game was simpler back then, in fact it wasn't called "base ball," it was referred to as "rounders," and it was played in merry old England.

 

Baseball, as we play it today can trace its roots to England, or American natives who actually used to use an enemy's severed head as a ball and they'd knock it around on horseback with sticks until.....well, the obvious would happen, the head would lose its shape, and the game would be over.

 

As with many things American, baseball, whenever it first appeared came from the east coast, New York State to be exact. Baseball was, in the beginning a rough and tumble kind of leisure game, played on Saturdays or Sundays on pasture-land ground, complete with the occasional tree stump, branches, pile of rocks, ruts, holes and bushes.....talk about your "home field advantage," it was brutal.

 

By the turn of the 20^th century, there was just a smattering of college educated players, major league baseball rosters were made up of farmers, lumberjacks, miners, factory workers, street toughs and your assortment of punks, gamblers and the occasional really, really bad guy.

Baseball had a gambling problem, baseball had a wage problem, and baseball was operated by owners with an iron fist who didn't really care what your numbers were, as long as they could get your services for as little as possible.

 

BASEBALL USED TO BE A BLOCK PARTY:

It wasn't until around 1960 that professional baseball players started to live in more exclusive areas of the towns that they were playing in. Before then, baseball players would live wherever they felt the rent was the cheapest. There was many a baseball player who would hold down an off season job to make ends meet.

 

The corner butcher shop or the grocery store always treated the ball player and his family with special treatment; after all, he was one of the guys, just a working stiff who happened to play baseball. Ball players would congregate on certain blocks, but mostly because they shared some of the same interests.

I read a story that told about PeeWee Reese and Duke Snyder walking to Ebbets Field from their "flats" on many occasions to play a ball game in the afternoon. It might seem strange by today's standards, but it's how it used to be.

 

Ball players and the fans had special relationships, there might be personal conversations, jokes shared, or "how about that hot honey in section 8." Baseball was more personal back then, and I think it was probably more fun.

 

INTO THE WONDERFUL WORLD OF BASEBALL!

Television brought America into focus, I mean crystal clear focus, the illusion was gone, the dreamy commentators’ account of play on the field was brought to baseball fans first through a radio, and in the 1950's, by television.

 

I watched a re-play of the 1960 World Series between the Pittsburgh Pirates and the New York Yankees and kept watching for the strikes, balls, outs and the speed of the baseball to flash across the screen, but of course it never did. The picture was black and white and the announcers, I think Curt Goudy did not talk like those nonstop announcers do today.....it was an enjoyable experience.

 

We now come down why I wrote today's blog, the Boston, Los Angeles Dodger trade and the kazillion space bucks that are involved, again, all I can say is wow, I can't even count that high, and I have absolutely no idea what in the hell these guys will do with all the money. Hell, some of these ball players make more than some developing countries entire GDP is.

 

If Don Mattingly, Dodger manager, can muzzle these guys’ egos, the Los Angeles club should go deep into the post season playoffs. Boston, well the promise that was in the spring just vanished with the trade, season ticket holders in old back bay, "Boston," should demand some of their season ticket money back.

 

Whether the deal is good or not for baseball is anybody’s guess, I'd guess short term, yes, but long term, not so much. Adrian Gonzalez, the star of the trade is now playing for his 4^th team, he is one of baseball's top hitters, yet he has been traded alot.

 

Josh Beckett, the other headliner of the trade brings a so so won-lost record to Los Angeles and about 8 ton of baggage. Remember last season in Boston and the locker room barbeque and beer junket, where was that guy’s head.

 

Although not headliners, the rest of the players may develop into sturdy major leaguers, only time will tell. I think that the top three Red Sox's coming to "Hollyrock" California might be bringing a whole passel load of problems with them, and I can only say "good luck manager Mattingly," I feel your gonna need it.

 

For the Boston faithful, remember the cry that well over 50% of baseball fans around the country say every October, "Next year we gonna kick butt."

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

RETIRED BUT NOT RETARDED.....YET!

RETIRED BUT NOT RETARDED.....YET!

(Huffington Post/Frazer Chronicle)

Uh oh, there I go, did it again, using a politically incorrect word, "retarded," I'm not using the word to offend anybody, but if I have, tough crap, this is my blog, I choose my words carefully, but in this instance, I figured, "What the hell!" It was the best word I could use to explain my situation.

 

Anyways, in a few minutes you-all will understand why I used the word, and how it explained ME, my station in life, and really how I feel. I'm talking about an undeclared war that has been going on for a long time, decades upon decades upon decades.

 

Bet many of you didn't even know you were in a war, no bombs going off, no snipers shooting from behind doors or buildings, and for damn sure no prisoner of war camps. There aren't any prisoners taken by either side, no first aid tents, not even one ambulance with the sirens blaring to clear a path through the traffic, and the waiting medical staff at hospitals.

 

It's a "cunning" type of war, both sides use the tactics of deceit and cleverness, and yes, both sides are shrewd and use clever performances to influence the media and public as well. It is so with most wars, and in the end, the causes tend to become blurred, and many lose sight of what they were fighting for in the first place.

 

As with most wars, one side usually has the advantage and in the end, the side that stands to gain the most usually wins.....at least so they think. In many cases, the vanquished rally in time, regroup and come back stronger than ever to engage the victors in one way or another.

 

I'm sure, by now, you've either quite reading, or are looking ahead to figure out exactly what I'm rambling on about, and if you are still reading, you are my chosen disciples, and hunger for truth and enlightenment. To you, I thank, and you will wait no longer.

 

WHY DOES MORE THEN 50% OF THE PEOPLE HATE UNIONS?

There, "the cats out of the bag," this blogs about unions, right.....well actually, wrong, this blog is about not having unions, about no representation, about forced overtime, work-place safety, about 6 day work weeks and about absolutely no respect or dignity towards workers from managers, shift supervisors, foreman and business owners.

 

The establishment of unions in America’s employer-employee world has been a long time coming, and has a storied, bloodied history, being whipped by supervisors to gain every single ounce of effort, forced into unsafe or dangerous work areas to further the potential production of product. Since the 18^th and 19^th centuries unions were being formed to help the worker gain all sorts of basic human rights.

 

Unions in the United States, in some form, are almost as old as the country itself, craftsmen, artisans, weavers, and cordwainers(shoe makers) attempted to get their "share of the pie" almost from the beginning, and met with the same kind of attitude as we find in today's work-place.

 

Those non-union workers in today's work-place can't figure out what good a union will do for them, when they aren't even organized and represented. Well my friend let me count the ways for you:

a. A living wage or the possibility of one

b. Health insurance

c. Income taxes

d. workers compensation for time lost on the job due to injury

e. Safety regulations in the work place

f. Paid holidays

g. Maternity leave

h. Sick days

i. Vacation time

j. Protection from unscrupulous owners, foreman and supervisors

 

There are just a few of the benefits that the everyday, "common" worker, who is not in a union can have access to because of union activity and organization.

 

Trust me on this one, those of you who are opposed to unions, go to bed at night, feeling safe and all comfy and warm, to a degree you have unions to thank. The reason people oppose union take-overs are really simple.....propaganda.....and how many of those who don't want unions are affected by that propaganda.

 

We are a country of middle classed people, there really isn't an upper class or a lower class, there are just us, the middle class, and then that 1 or 2 % everybody talks about, but nobody does anything about the inequality.

 

The union activity after the turn of the 20th century molded what happened in the 1950's, 60's and 70's. They were the golden age and building blocks that was the middle class. However, an actor got into the White House and began his "trickle down" system of government, which brings us to today's society.

 

Unions aren't bad, the union organizers just need to be watched, the same as we watch our government officials, unless you are telling me that there is no corruption on Capitol Hill, and every "back wash" town in the United States.

 

There is an open attack on union activity today.....I know, it affected my wife and our income as well as the benefits that she fought for through the years of her employment. The enemy of the working class stiff now wears a suit and tie, uses all sorts of "tricks" to scare people away from the concepts of equal pay for an honest 8 hour work day.

 

The really funny part off all this chattering, all this high ideal crap is this, I don't even like unions, think there, their own worst enemy, but like the man said, they’re the best we've come up with….Unions.

 

 

 

  

VAULTING OVER THE COMPETITION!

VAULTING OVER THE COMPETITION!

(Politico/Frazer Chronicle)

Did you ever wonder what in the hell possesses a person to reach for public office; I mean "what in the world are these guys and gals thinking?" To open yourself up to all the criticism, all the ugly innuendos, the half truths and the constant jabbing, pot shots and the really personal attacks seems to me to signal the possibility that these people are some sort of masochists. Do you really know what the word "masochist" means, well I do, and because this is a "family blog," I can only say that there is "pain" involved with the word.

 

We are now in what I like to call the "whoring around" part of our political season, you know, where completely sane competent people go off their rails, throw their common sense out the window, and join an almost barbaric ritual, take 2 and 3 steps at a time, wear a perpetual smile, point to nobody in particular in a crowd, and talk in riddles, project numbers that will never, ever come to pass.

 

This "whoring season" used to last several months, back in the good old days when there wasn't 24-7 news casts on both radio and television. Now through the magic of these two sources, some wimpy little punks have discovered that they too can be "nation builders," where their antics can actually make, or break a candidate.

 

In general, there used to be rules, "of sorts," when it came to choosing a candidate to run for public office in a political party. I have listed some in no particular order, and please remember that these rules are only my opinion feel free to add your own:

1. A good candidate has to have personal wealth, it's so the media can go after their tax returns

2. A good candidate must have had at least one extra marital affair, the juicier the better

3. A good candidate has to appear in tip top physical shape, even though most are past their prime years

4. A good candidate has had to have had a job where he worked in dirt, sweat, you know, common labor.....broken bones, or injuries suffered are extra special connectors to the lower middle class

5. A good candidate needs to appear like he is a "Teflon Don", nothing sticks.

 

I really don't know who set the standard for our elected officials, which jerk set the "bar" so high for them, what really has happened is that these whores are being set up to fail. Hell, most can fail all on their own.....they don't need anybodies help. I ask you, "What in the world do we expect from the people we elect to run the operations that make up our government?" These people are usually no better or worse than us, like the man said, "There trying to stay high and get by."

 

There used to be a time period, kind of like practicing in the minor leagues before you get called up to the big leagues. It's where a politician "hones" his abilities, gains some experience, learning how to stay away from the bad breaking pitches of life. But.....that all seems to have changed, look at the fast raise of our current president, he really came out of nowhere to grab the top spot, (some would argue) in the world.

 

Now we have another Obama, sure he's a different color, "white," but he doesn't have any experience for the job of president of this country, or for that matter, any other country. I'm talking about Paul D. Ryan, and his lack of experience, hell he even looks like a junior politician, wet behind the ears, and not old enough to have had one of those juicy type escapades.

 

Oh sure, he's only running on Mitt Romney's political ticket as the vice-president, but strange things can happen, you never know about these things. At least with Obama, we have Joe Biden, and he looks old enough to be the president’s dad, not so with the Romney-Ryan ticket.

 

Any more, what we, the general population, get for a president is a person who has been groomed for the position. I know, I know, you’re thinking "here he goes again off on another conspiracy junket," well I'm not.....you can look it up, most of these guys are like horses, after their 21st. birthday, "when their legal, they are run around the track a few times, win a few races, bang, there the next coming of General George Washington.

 

I don't like Paul Davis Ryan, I don't like Willard Mitt Romney, and I'm disappointed with President Obama. I don't have to (like) the countries president, but I do have to understand his basic ideals, and his agenda. The thing that is really wrong with our system of government is that you get either a liberal set of rules, or a conservative slant on everything.

 

That attitude will be the undoing of our country.....because frankly, no one party has all the right answers. Liberals need conservative ideas, and conservatives need some liberal ideas. We need to work together for a common goal, that goal for the betterment of the United States.

 

I don't see that "crossing the line" attitude with Romney or Ryan; it's what upsets me the most about their ticket. Obama seems to want to work with the conservatives, but you can never get a straight answer from him, and in many cases, no answer at all.

 

In order for this country to move forward.....and really be saved from itself, there needs to be a melding of the minds, answers for the better good of the country. Maybe we could call Mr. Spock....."Mr. Spock, where are you," Scottie maybe could beam the pointy eared one down to help us out.

 

I really think that we need some sort of "minor league" system to teach our political people the value of working together.....maybe this vaulting over people to the top isn't a very good system of government.

PIONEERING SCIENTIFIC MEDICAL KNOWLEDGE.....THROUGH PAIN!

PIONEERING SCIENTIFIC MEDICAL KNOWLEDGE.....THROUGH PAIN!

(Buzzle/The Guardian/Digital Journal/Personal Post/BBC News/Frazer Chronicle)

There is an ugly monster out there, ready to jump from the shadows, track their victims much the same as a dog hunts it's pray. The monster is diabolical, has absolutely no mercy and targets only under developed peoples with no past, present or future; the weak of mind, body or habitat in which they reside

They usually are people of color, or people unable to understand, defend or speak the language of their tormentors. They have usually been discarded, or are oppressed, have little or no education and in many cases are dependent on others for the simplest things in life, like bread, water, a place to sleep or a roof over their head.

Their life expectancy is usually low, death almost a gift to many of these people, their days can be measured in searching for the next morsel of food, or where to sleep at night. The clothes on their back are usually their only possession.

These people have no goals, no victories in life, and can be shunned by family members, and usually do not know the comfort of friends. These people do not have the proverbial "pot to piss in, or a window to throw it out." These people absolutely need help, but seldom get any.....throughout history.

Who are these people you ask, well my friend.....read on and discover a system of medical practice that has been going on throughout the world for centuries. Throughout the Middle East, Africa, Europe, South America, and North America as well, although usually not in the Continental US.

This type of searching for the answers to tough medical questions, treatment and cures has been going on for thousands of years, since the first time an Indian drilled a small hole into the temple of a head-ache sufferer before the birth of Jesus Christ. Was the recipient grateful, did the "driller" get a tip from the "drillee," history doesn't reveal the answer to that question, nor does it tell how the patient reacted, was he cured, or did the treatment (kill) the patient.

The point here is simple, whenever scientists pondered a medical question, and a solution to that question, he usually went looking for a guinea pig, "not in the literal sense," rather in the taverns, the flop houses, or to the grave yards for a freshly incarcerated cadaver. It has always been this way, and sadly probably always will.

THE HIT LIST OF DECEASES:

The list of medical maladies that have accosted the human race and baffled tribal witch doctors, so called healers, and the medical profession is long and filled with failed experiments, concoctions, herbs, ground up bugs and incisions on most parts of the human body way to numerous to list here, suffice it to say, very little of the human body has been left untouched.

It seems, throughout history that a cure has been sought so that people could enjoy the simplest of life's pleasures without any retribution for their acts from their fellow man, the laws that govern people, or the common decency.

Yes my friends.....I am talking about man's unquenchable appetite for carnal activity.....sex, all kinds of sex, anywhere, anytime, and in many cases, with anybody of the opposite sex. The deceases that can be transmitted from one partner to another reads like a long laundry list, while treatment can be long, arduous, painful, and.....depending on the type of decease, impossible to cure.

Gonorrhea, Herpes, Chlamydia (I thought this was a sea foot), HIV/AIDS, Hepatitis, Crabs, or Pubic Lice, Syphilis, Vaginitis, Genital Warts, Chancroid, Granuloma, Inguinale, Nongonococcal, Urethritis, Molliuscum, Contagiosum, and Lymphogranuloma Venereum to make the list complete.

To tell you the truth, some of these STD's I've never even heard of, and I'm wondering if it takes a special sexual position to contract some of these odd sounding and funny spelled words. Most of the above listed STD's can be prevented, if one considers the use of condoms as a precaution.....but since this blog is intended to enlighten the reader about how some cures were made, the use of protection is purely up to the individual reader.

GUATEMALA VICTIMS OF U.S. SYPHILIS STUDY!

1946, orphans, prisoners, military conscripts and prostitutes were all housed in Guatemala City detention center, and were easy prey for US military doctors eager to find a cure for "venereal" deceases that might be transported back to the mainland by G.I's returning home from the war.

According to one report, just recently made public, as many as 1500 men, women and children were infected with syphilis, gonorrhea and chancroid to test for early antibiotic, penicillin. These 1500, "some reports count as high as 2500," were never told what they were being given, never had a chance to refuse, and basically treated as "lab test rats."

The United States admitted to the secret experiment in October of 2011 through an apologetic statement issued by Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, and Health Secretary Kathleen Sebelius, calling the research "reprehensible." President Barack Obama called the research a disgrace, "under the guise of public health.”

The method of infecting subjects, as first was to have low ranking soldiers, delivered, by their superiors to the doctors, so that they could have sex with infected prostitutes. It didn't take the doctors involved with the experiment long to discover it was simply easier to inject the men and study the results.

The study was so "slip shod" that only 87% of the infected men were treated for the deceases, the other 13% were simply lost track of, and nobody knows what happened to them. Of the 87% that were treated, about 10% suffered recurrences.

TUSKEGEE EXPERIMENT RELIVED!

It seems as if the scientific world seemed to have a phobia regarding venereal deceases during the early part of the 20^th century, and again took advantage of people of color, however, the study of STD's was conducted right here in the United States.

The same doctor, Doctor John Cutler, a man that had to be fascinated with the sexually transmitted deceases, was in charge of the Tuskegee study as well as the Guatemala infestation. It seems as if the good doctor as well as certain officials in high places deemed it necessary to conduct the same study that began in 1932 and lasted until 1972.

The Tuskegee study involved 600 black men who were tracked to gain knowledge about the dastardly decease. The 600 unlucky recipients of the decease didn't even know that they had been infected.....and were never offered treatment.

Unethical you might say.....or think, well, ya.....there is no doubt that Doctor Cutler pioneered STD research not only in unethical fashion, but was a monster in so doing. His studies went on for 40 years in the United States, and for more than 3 years on foreign soil.

So the next time you hear somebody talking about how great the United States is, the land of the free and the home of the brave, or how "we are owed certain rights because we are the baddest kids on the block, remember Tuskegee, and remember Guatemalan, they are truly dark events in the recent history of our country.

At least 5500 prisoners, mental patients, soldiers, children and prostitutes were "drafted" into the experiments run by Cutler. These "patients-clients" were exposed to all sorts of sexually transmitted diseases, syphilis, gonorrhea and chancroid, a 2011 U.S. commission reported. At least 83 people died as a direct result. O course the number may be higher; there is no way to know.

Some will say that I am "bad mouthing" our country, but I'm really not, statistics (in this case) do not lie, however I know that every country has a closet, and in that closet are the bones of its past, and some of those bones aren't very pretty to look at and examine. Usually there are things that we all need to stand up and take responsibility for.

   



JULY HAS PROVEN TO BE ANYTHING BUT A CELEBRATION FOR FREEDOM!

(Huffington Post/Associated Press/Frazer Chronicle)

The war to end all wars, in terms of length saw it's bloodiest month of the year both on the battle field and for those either yet deployed or at home from their tour of duty. There were 26 active duty soldiers who took their own lives and another 40 who were killed in action in Afghanistan, that's 66 total military personnel who, for whatever reason no longer function as human beings.

Left behind are wives, husbands, girlfriends, boyfriends,  sons, daughters, friends, fathers, mothers, sisters, brothers, aunts, uncles, cousins and grand parents. A huge hole ripped away from communities all across our fair nation. Largely most of us seem not to care, kind of like a bum, or a long hair, or a group of black or Hispanic kids, we tend to cross the street and continue our daily lives.

I've said it before and I'll say it again, as a nation, we are not involved with our escapades that are called wars, we simply cross the street and continue our daily lives. We are detached, with no conscription, you remember that, "compulsory enrollment for military service," the draft, we really do cross the street and continue with our lives.

A goodly portion of those 66 people who died last month were preforming duties under the guise of protecting Americans from terrorists, the Taliban, or our way of life.....whatever that might be. In addition, another reason, one that isn't usually discussed by us local yokels, and is whispered about on Capital Hill,  a more sinister ploy of war.....is the United States interests. Petroleum products, minerals and whatever else these shady political types on Capital Hill decide is in our best interests.

It's funny how American citizens are always included whenever our interests are discussed, I can't remember the last time  I was approached so that I could throw my 2 cents worth into the pot. No-sir-e, nobody seems to come clamoring for my opinion.

I recall President George W. Bush's military advisers and members of his administration not wanting body bags photographed when they would arrive back home here in the states. I felt right off that that action and attitude was wrong.

Whenever military budgets are discussed, whenever "released" long range strategic is a topic, it is always done with a grain of salt, that's in case the Pentagon goes over budget, and if the war game planning lasts long, costs more, and takes more lives.

To wage war, two things are necessary, money and willing participants, without one, war can't happen. And it doesn't matter which one is missing, money and soldiers  need to be present for any kind of military engagement.

GOING OUT ON A LIMB:
I do not believe, and never have believed that Muslims hate Americans, our life styles, our politics, or our diversified religion practices that we have  here in this country. I do believe that there might be a little envy on how nice we live, or our houses, cars, SUV's and "their" perception of how we live here in the United States in Freedom.

I think that the war in Iraq was all about President Bush, Vice President Cheney, and those war hawks who wanted a "footprint" in the Middle-East. The September 11th. attach was a means to an end for the Bush administration.....it was about revenge for what had happened on that sunny September morning, but today, almost 11 years later why are we still at war in Afghanistan, and what shape is Iraq in?

This war, this insane war that we as a country are waging is for all the wrong reasons.....well mostly. I do understand Afghanistan, but my patience has run out, bring the troops home right now, within several months, every last swinging man and women, we are doing nothing that but spending money, and losing fellow citizens.

Iraq was never about September 11, it was always about oil, and killing Saddam Hussein. Granted, Hussein was a bad man, a degenerate with his people, but it has been proven beyond a reasonable doubt that he had no part in the September 11th. attack.

Osama ben Laden is now shark food, he lives with the fishes, and there is no future in that. He was shot to death and buried at sea.....don't we all know why he wasn't taken alive?  The revaluations that man could have given might have revealed many, many answers to questions  that the American people might want the answers to.

What we need, as a nation, is for the "boys" in Washington, and those hidden away in the military industrial complex(s)  to be rooted out, exposed, and brought to task for their dastardly deeds and their foolhardy thinking.

The world community doesn't hate us, they just kind of put up with us, they shake their collective heads and go on about their daily lives, and wait for the other foot that we have to be buried somewhere on our posterior. The world has changed, war can no longer be waged as it used to be, financial situations have taken a completely different path, and there are new developed countries that have picked up the staff of world leadership.

It's okay, we will now be dependent on other's whims, and their frivolous thinking and behavior, it's what the world has been putting up with from us for decades. This is a fact of the world today, that there is a demise in the United States.....how could there not be?

All a person has to do is look at how we operate as a people, how, "as we think" what activity we practice, and how we allow the less fortunate, the old, the sick and the destitute to wither on the vine, or how we take care of our war heros coming back from the so called war zones.

A fresh approach needs to be taken.....now, before it's way to late.





   

HOW OBAMA THINKS AND RYANOMICS, YES THERE IS A TIE!

(Forbes.com/the Root/Frazer Chronicle)

Strange bed-fellows would be Barack Obama and Paul Ryan, neither thinks on the same level as the other, and that's not to say that either is smarter then the other, here for the sake of argument, I use the term.

There is a movie coming out about President Obama, it's based on a book by Dinesh D'Souza, "The Roots of Obama's Rage." I haven't seen it, but as soon as it's available here in Packer-land, I will. D'Souza uses extensive interviews that he conducted, and apparently has come to the conclusion that Obama is aiming at denigrating America's image and power on the world stage.

Others have picked up the staff and are trumpeting the opinions of D'Souza that fit into their criteria, people like Sane Hanity, Rush Limbaugh, Glenn Beck, Lou Dobbs and Laura Ingram. Except for Laura Ingram, those other guys are political hacks, Laura is a fox, "have you seen her," what a beauty.

I don't know how President Obama thinks, I am beginning to understand a little, but interviews often times need to be taken with a grain of salt, I know, I've done a few. But lets get right to it with regards to D'Souza, he was born in Mumbai, Maharashtra, India to Goan Catholics from the state of Goa in Western India.

A Goan Catholic is an ethno-religion community of Roman Catholics and their descendants from the state of Goa. They are Konkani people, speak the Konkani language, have been conquered off and on throughout their history, rebounding each time to where today, the people are mostly well off, highly educated, and many work in the banking industry. Today nearly half of the Konkanis can be found outside India, particularly the Arab states and Anglo sphere, either as naturalised citizens or expatriates.

I think it's important to reveal some of the quirks of a person with apparently lots of political power, with friends in high places who have access to, and can influence large numbers of people through their association with the media.

Dinesh D'Souza was educated at Dartmouth, has authored 15 books and has written 12 articles, worked as an editor for Policy Review, served as an advisor to Ronald Reagan, was a research fellow at the Hoover Institution and is currently the President of the King's College in New York city. To say that this man is highly educated would, well.....be an understatement.

That said, I must admit to you all now that there might be a "chink in D'Souza's suit of armor," it's my job to find these "chinks," to better inform whoever I reach. D'Souza  is a noted conservative, defines conservatism in the America sense as "conserving the principles of the American Revolution.

One must remember that D'Souza adopted the United States as his homeland, and as such.....might have differing ideas then a true born American citizen. This is not a pre-existing opinion on my part, rather an observation on my part. D'Souza blames the cultural left for the attacks on September 11, 2001, and goes a step further, naming names, leftist allies in Congress, the media, Hollywood, the non-profit sector and the universities as the primary cause of the volcano of anger towards America that has erupting the Islamic world.

Of course D"Souza has an opinion about Christianity in America, and shouts his thinking with whoever is in listening distance. He maintains that "living creatures are the products of inteligent design, that there is an afterlife, given the available evidence, and that athesists have misrepresented the cased for Christianity on many fronts.

D'Souza thinks that Abu Ghraib torture and prisoner abuse was due to the "sexual immodesty of liberal America, and that Abu Ghraib reflected the "values of a debauched liberalism run amok." Dinesh also claimed that the Charles Graner and Lynndia England vidotape would have been manditory viewing if the two sholdiers would have been professors at elite liberal arts colleges.

Now I ask you, with an agenda like that, exactly how serious could people take this guy, however, as my wife say's "the squeeky wheel gets the grease."  And this guy, with the Konkanis accent is an A numer one squeeker.

D'Sauza has a movie out there, 2016 will surely make the rounds, and being a documentary, it's gonna make the film makers money. And as I said, "I'm going to go," spend $8 bucks for a ticket, get a tub of $5 dollar popcorn and watch.....but I bet I'll come away from the thing without much of a different feeling about Obama then I already have.

PAUL RYANOMICS AND THE TIE:

I have never been a big fan of Paul Ryan, he is like most of the other politicans that I watch every day of my life. He has a plan, a plan to get us out of the dull-drums of unemployment, entitlements, a fix for the economy, and a way to make government smaller, sleeker and able to do a better job at governing the people.

The only difference between Dinesh D'Souza and Paul Ryan is that Ryan speaks fluent Englash and Dinesh "attempts" to speak English, however, sadly at times his slight accent gets in the way, and he's probably pissed that he can never run for President because he was born in a foreign country.

Both Romney and his running mate have taken advantage of some of the programs that they now both want gone from the United States. Romney paid 13.9% on his wealth, too advantage of all sorts of  decutions. Ryan used Social Security collected from his father's death benefit.

Ryan and Romney believe in a "trickle down" sort of economy, a smaller government, and either disregarding or abolishing all sorts of enviornmental checks and balances. If there were only this trickle down and abolishment theories, it is reason not to elect the Romney ticket in November.

But there is more.....much more, everybody knows about Mitt Romney and his climb from riches to riches. Bain Capital should be enough to let everybody know how he feels about outsourcing, or moving companies completely overseas and returning only to make vast fourtains when they sell their product to a kind of unsespecting American public.

Mitt Romney initiated the same sort of health care on his home state of Massachusetts when he was governor as Obama has on the United States. Let's see, first he was for it.....and now he's against it, come on "Willard," it's really a yea or na situation, Obama-care is eather good or bad, there's no half way when it comes to the question of my health care.

Paul Ryan.....ah yes, I could write about this guy all day and still not have said enough, Paul Davis Ryan was born and raised in Janesville, Wisconsin, the son of an attourey. Ryan's grandfather was appointed U.S. Attorney for the Western Districtof Wisconsin Calvin College, probably casting the die for greater and higher things in the rest of the Ryan family.

Ryan's family established a construction company back in.....1854, and has evolved into one of the nations largest "the companies own words" site-work contractors, and preforms residential, commercial, industrial and power site work and in addition does landfill construction, capping and full-service golf course building/remodeling for both public and private customers.

Paul Davis Ryan might not have been born with a silver spoon, but it was just a few inches from  the baby carrage. He seemed to be groomed for political life and public service, his education, his early work for politicans, all were training grounds for where he finds himself today, on the threshold of the number 2 man in terms of world power, oh yes, make no mistake, the President of the United States has immense power.

Should we trust this guy, this young fellow from Wisconsin who seems to be just a chick away from being a king amoug men.....if anything were to happen to Mitt Romney.....if Romney wins the White House.....wow, just think of the rush.....I can't immagine it, I'm way to old, and besides, one of my Tru-TV programs is about ready to start, Hard Core Pawn, I love that show.



WHOOSH, THERE GO ALL THE GOOD JOBS!

(International Business Times/Frazer Chronicle)

Don't ya just get sick of all the talk about the economy, job loss, higher taxes and the stagnation of the American way of life. Hell I get tired of writing about it, and even though I've had a modicum of success in my writings, and the U.S. economy does give a guy like myself a fountain of material, I'd rather write about something else, like beach babes.

I read a report by John Schmitt and Janelle Jones, staffers for the Center for Economic and Policy Research, and now have more and better-er ammunition on the subject of what is really wrong with America in this global economy that we all most deal with to varying degrees. And once again, the  experts  seem to have it mostly wrong.....at least from my perspective.

The work I am referring to by the 2 above mentioned people is an essay titled Where Have All the Good Jobs Gone?  It starts out by saying the "America's workforce is substantially older and better educated then it was in the 1970's. It further states that the "typical worker in 2010 is 7 years older then in 1979. In 2010 over one third of U.S. workers had a 4 year college degree or more, up from just one-fifth in 1979.

That said, a reasonable person might think that being better educated would translate into a higher wage.....right, actually no, you'd be wrong. A workforce stocked with older employees for management to take advantage of, free from all the child-like hang-ups of sewing wild oats, drinking like there's no tomorrow and racing around the city streets like maniacs, would be.....a natural, right, again.....wrong.

Oh make no mistake, American business does take advantage of a workforce stocked with educated, more mature candidates. Actually the present attitude from management's prospective is to take advantage any way possible. It's the American way, the free market, competition.....capitalism at it's finest.

What is a "good" job, what does it pay, more important, "what are the benefits," how long before I start getting vacation days, and which national holidays are paid "off days?" $18.50 an hour, "about $37,500 annually," with health benefits, paid holidays and some kind of retirement plan, that's a good job, or considered a good job by the report that I read from the economist's point of view.

WHAT IS AN ECONOMIST?
A person who likes numbers, enjoys sitting in front of a computer screen all day, wears horn rimmed glasses, was a nerd in high school, and has ink pens in his shirt pocket. Well actually not really so, maybe in the past, but today's economists are a highly trained bunch that are highly educated and are experts in their field.

Economists study finance, market structures, historical trends, globally as well as domestic and econometricians use math, such as calculus and regression analysis and other math theories to investigate all areas of economics, using these techniques to explain business cycles, inflation and other types of economic occurrences.

In  my opinion, economists view national and global economies and their trends as one would a child growing up. First they are born, grow through their single digits, arrive at teenage-hood, are unruly, however in the process get a basic education, go to college, get a degree, and wonder through life, along the way acquiring a wife, 2.5 children, and a dog.

Economists point to trends in the marketplace, from which they form opinions, they look at consumer pricing, the buying power of vast portions of a countries citizens, and hypothesize what has happened, what is happening, and what is going to happen.

If their education, analogies and the perceived trends don't quite fit into those tiny boxes they use to explain financial happenings, they take "shots in the dark," to explain current conditions. Economist talk about decline in the economy's inability to create jobs, how this single act causes a deterioration in the bargaining power of works, especially those workers at the middle and the bottom of the income scale.

Economist use the standard excuse that workers inability to keep up with their education and skills is the reason the workplace does not create new, better paying jobs. But wait, hold onto your shorts Betty, education levels have made significant inroads to the education question over the past 30 years. Remember the number of college graduates over the past 30 years, their skills acquired through that higher education, that should translate into better, and higher paying jobs, if that's the way you think, you would be wrong.

The share of workers with "good jobs" fell from 27.% in 1979 to 24.6% today, what happened to cause this "trend bucking" happening. It defied every economists logic, it threw everything that an economist had learned.

       

FLASH.....HIGHER EDUCATION DOES NOT MEAN HIGHER PAYCHECKS:

The United States at the present time is in a surprising time, at least for economists, on the one hand you have more potential workers with a higher education, and on the other hand, these book-worms and geeks are hard pressed to make a living wage, way harder then back in 1979.

It boils down to the fact that  a vast majority of workers in the United States are having a tough time to make ends meet, and in many cases are just as mystified by the economy as economists. It's not supposed to be this way, a better education is supposed to equate into better job opportunities and a higher pay scale.

With the exception of the last half of the 1990's, a much greater emphasis was placed on controlling inflation then achieving full employment. These policies and decisions were rooted in politics and "according to some experts," are the explanation for the decline in the economy's ability to generate good jobs.

Some of the statistics released with the essay are startling and show exactly what is really going on with regards to paychecks and the earning power of the American worker. In 1979 19.7% of workers, in the 18 to 64 age range, had a college degree, in 2010, the same age groups has a 34.3% rate of college educated people.

The median age for workers in 1979 for workers 18 to 64 was 34 years old, in 2010 it was 41. Capital for work, in 1979 was 100% productivity, in 2010 the average work output for an employee was a whooping 151.4%, meaning through retirements, down sizing and work-load shifting, the average worker was producing over 50% more then in 1979.

WORKING CONDITIONS AND PAY SCALE FOR WOMEN ARE BETTER.....RIGHT!
Actually the answer is no, women were so far down back in 1979,  in working conditions, job opportunities and pay, any kind of change was an improvement. It still didn't get women into a slot where there were good jobs to be had.

Starting in 1979, for women, there has been an almost continuous  growth, from 12.4% to the present 21.1% for women and good jobs. During this 30 year period, women were less likely then men to be in good jobs. The gender gap shrank steadily as the labor-market prospects generally improved for women.

CONCLUSIONS!
So, does this meandering blog give you a new insight into what the American work place has become, I hope so, but if it hasn't.....well, there's nothing that I can do about that. Economists approach their profession as one would a living, breathing person, complete with it's own individual personality, wants and desires, just like anyone of us.

It's much the same approach as politicians feel about corporations, you know, "aw look, isn't that a cute little corporation, let's call him corp. until he grows into an adult." Corporations are businesss' not living, breathing people, and as such do not, I repeat not afforded the same rights as people.

Simply put.....and you all know I'm for simple, the work-place has always been, is and will be a battle ground of competing forces, both actually driven by the same forces of nature.....greed, a better position, more money and more power.

Sure these are simple terms, like greed, position and power, but they hit the bull's eye every single time. Until we, as a people realize that business is not and never has been an agent to create more jobs, we will struggle. Until we understand that the bottom line mentality in industry is to make money.....any way possible, we will struggle. Until we quit depending on business to give benefits, "paid health insurance, holidays and vacation," we will struggle.

There are really few issues that we need to concern are selves with, and address, they are basic needs, they are needs that make common sense and can be used in approaching business with. Safety in the work area, one thing business does not want to lose is an experienced worker, especially in today's market of highly educated older workers.

It probably is the least expensive investment for business to make, it protects workers, management, and when a worker either retires, moves to another job or leaves the company, the safety mechanism is still in place and the initial cost to the company is over.

Safe working conditions means so much more then guards on a motor,  sanded steps or railings, it also means workers do not have to worry about a co-employee going "postal." You'd be surprised at the number of work related fights, knifing and shootings that go on across America. So security has to be a part of any equation with regards to work-place safety.

Pay rates.....by far the most important issue for any employee can be a confusing and complicated issue. But remember....."my middle name is simple," and this word can also be used when it comes to individual pay scales. The power of the unions, at the present time is about 8% of all industry workers, no matter the job, the position, or the company. In 1979 unions were responsible for almost 34%  of all workers in the United States, for their pay scales, vacation time, paid holidays pensions and health care insurance.

Worker skills have kept up with new technology in the work-place, so that argument by business cannot be used. If however that were the case, educated workers would be substantially payed higher wages and that's not true.

Actually what has happened is that the Federal Government has rescinded, or deregulated all sorts of rules that in the past has held in check what business is really about about in America.....money. Deregulations have hit several large industries, including trucking, airlines and telecommunication, and with each deregulation act, it has cost the worker.

A much greater emphasis has been placed on controlling inflation then achieving a fuller employment figure in the United States. It is my view that these deregulation policies, rooting in political gain are the main problem with generating more and better paying jobs. Without the deregulation, business would be much more aware of their employees wants, needs and desires.

The best way to control this runaway purge of business over employees is to cut off the helping hand at it's source, state capitals all over the country and the White House itself. Until we raise up as underpaid and under-appreciated individuals, things will remain the same. In addition we need to be more vigilant  of government and their actions at all times. If we don't, we will be nothing more then some ignorant "crack pots," running around blowing opinionated air up somebodies skirt.

WHY DO WE KEEP VOTING THESE JERKS INTO POLITICAL OFFICE?

WHY DO WE KEEP VOTING THESE JERKS INTO POLITICAL OFFICE?

(Frazer Chronicle)

Caught several e-mails today from people that I have never met, have never wanted to meet, and am pretty sure I never will meet. One was from Democratic Milwaukee Mayor Tom Barrett, the other was from Eric Hovde, a business man from Wisconsin who is running for a Senate seat as a Republican. Both wasted little time letting people know how they felt about Paul Ryan being named as Mitt Romney's running mate on the Republican ticket which the nation will vote on in November.

Both were typical in their views.....right down the party line, saying exactly what their individual parties’ stance is on Ryan. I can't figure it out, here I am, this little, short, balding, 68 year old, with a few too many pounds around my generation gap, getting e-mails from two high powered fellows, one a mayor of a major Midwestern city, and the other a multi-millionaire who has made his mark in the Hedge-fund business.

I feel honored, why just yesterday, Sunday, August 12th. I was outside sanding my house, preparing the siding for a new paint job. Through the sweat and dust, and the occasional swear words, I felt I wasn't making fast enough progress, and am really worried that I won't get the paint on the "old shack" before snow flies.

After several hours of sanding, (I have a disc sander) I retreated into my "man cave" to read my e-mails and check up on the current online news. Imagine my delight and surprise when I discovered the two e-mails from such high powered people. I wanted to devour the morsels of intellect, and glory in the fact that I was important enough to be able to actually converse with these 2 paragons of leadership.

Imagine my deflated feeling when I read the messages; it was like the same model car, just a different paint job. If you’re looking for either of these jokers to "take you down to the waters and wash your illusions away," well.....you can just forget it, it was business as usual.

FOR THESE TWO GUYS, I'LL SPEAK:

Paul Davis Ryan is a good looking Republican member of the United States House of Representatives from Wisconsin's 1^st district. Born in 1970, educated at Miami University, Oxford, Ohio, Ryan has spent his entire adult "working" life as a political animal. Now before you get your shorts in a bunch, I really don't have a single thing against a person "working" as a politician, we need competent people to represent us in either the state capitol, or in Washington.

I guess I would call Ryan the "blanket man," he makes blanket statements, which, at least in his mind are true. Ryan is also a disciple of Russian born Ayn Rand, which he is more than welcome to advocate.....as long as he's a private citizen. However, he doesn't work in the private sector; he is a highly visible member of the United States House of Representatives, and as such, needs to have an open mind.

One simple building block of the Ayn Rand philosophy is that she advocated reason as the only means of acquiring knowledge, and rejecting all forms of faith and religion. Another of Rand's ideas was that a Laissez-faire, "French for (let them do)" atmosphere of no trade tariffs, no government subsidies, and enforced monopolies, with only enough government regulations sufficient to protect property rights against theft and aggression.

Of course, it was predictable, the more Ryan's star shined, the more he distanced himself from the teachings of Rand. For me, for a brief moment, I thought Paul Davis Ryan might sweep in, and with his like minded "new" members of elected politicians change things. Sadly it didn't take long for me to be put down by these people's antics.

Ryan and his buddies, "by and large" are quite the same as their predecessors, eliminate, eliminate, eliminate. There is a reason for big government.....and we are that reason, as a people, we can't seem to get it right. I'll bet Paul Davis Ryan sat around the old Ryan Ponderosa when he was just a young sprout, and made up budgets just to practice what he would be doing 15 or so years later.

Paul Ryan isn't a bad man, or evil, he's just another misunderstood conservative who happens to be in the political lime-light. Oh make no mistake; Ryan is absolutely where he wants to be, thus far, at the pinnacle of his political career.

And some of Ryan's desires and stated reform programs have merit; however some are also full of crap. To tackle all of his listed "wish list" reforms, you'd have to be super human, and in addition numbers of people would be thrown into harsh austerity situation.

Ryan lists problem areas as health care, Medicare/Medicaid, social security, tax reform, work force re-training and budget reform. Without exception, each of these issues need addressing, and dealt with in a common sense attitude. But all at once.....come on Paulie, "ain't gonna happen, you must know that, somewhere deep in that conservative mind of yours."

Is Paul Davis Ryan good for the Republican ticket.....only time will tell, but one thing is for sure, the United States didn't get to where it's at today.....overnight. It's going to take more than one term in office for any meaningful changes to happen.

Paul Davis Ryan and Mitt Romney will learn this fact, I'm sure Romney already has come to terms with this fact. The United States is made up of breathing, walking, talking human beings, who feel joy as well as pain. We are a funny lot, capable of tremendous achievements as well as huge blunders; after all.....we are just human.

It's the silly season out there....."in the political world," and the whoring is really just beginning, you just wait until the witching hour is upon us, about the 1^st of September, that's when these jokers really warm up to the task at hand, and really start making outrages comments. "Bon-appetite."

  

AMERICA'S STAND-IN!

AMERICA'S STAND-IN!

(Asian Times/ Common Dreams/Frazer Chronicle)

"My man".....I'm so glad that there are people out there who will take the heat, are willing to slay the dragon, defending our country, and all that goes along with that effort. I'm well past the defending age, having reached the "age of majority" almost 3.5 times ago, and anyways, I have my television schedule to consider.

I however can understand the attitude of a substitute, and the purpose of one, having been one off and on for well over 40 years. A substitute is kind of like a utility player on a baseball team, he's not real good at any position, but can play almost any position fairly well.....kind of like a "stop gap" guy, somebody not as good as the starter, but tolerable.

A proxy.....a stand in, the man/group who, for a price, is willing to deflect all sorts of crap, and among other things will take the losses that come with the territory of what a proxy stands for. For the purposes of this blog, the proxy I'm talking about is military, all military and nothing but the military.

Proxy's use all sorts of clandestine operations to achieve goals and objectives that the "agent" of an "event" wants. It's been going on for centuries, these proxy conflicts and wars, all the way back to biblical times, and the achievements garnered have help build nations, tear them down, and mold history, and effected the lives of almost every single human being that ever lived on face of the earth.

I guess a person might say that Blackwater Security Consulting "might" be viewed as a proxy entity, members of their "consulting team," possibly thousands, were in Iraq where the "shooting and body bag counts" happened on a daily basis.

It is estimated that the military contracted forces in Afghanistan now made up of a little more than 50% of all United States personnel. Contractors, security consultants, or whatever the Pentagon likes to call them operate under vastly different rules then the United States military, what they do often times is outside the parameters of what either the United Nations forces, or American forces want to do or accomplish, or do they!

And the raise in non-military personnel "employed" by the United States is at its highest rate ever, this according to the Pentagon. Sadly under President Barack Obama's watch, there has been an increase of 23% in the number of these "private security consultants or contractors that work for the Defense Department.

During the time that the United States was waging war in Iraq and Afghanistan there was a whopping 242,657 contractors working the two stages. And now, with U.S. forces (mostly) out of Iraq, and war efforts focused on Afghanistan, there still remains????? in Iraq, and over 100,000 in Afghanistan.

CHANGING WITH THE TIMES:

Some would argue that the employment of security consultants or contractors is nothing more than the changing times of how wars are fought in the world of the 21^st century. I seem to recall a Secretary of Defense, one Donald Rumsfeld wanting the U.S. military "meaner, sleeker, and smaller." Gee Don, I don't think your vision worked, unless you call what is left of Iraq, and what seems a never ending war in Afghanistan.

Rumsfeld didn't initiate security consultants or military contractors, but he sure did bring the idea into the 21^st century. Under his command, there were more private personnel fighting, doing security, rebuilding, and feeding our troops then at any other time in America's history.

Wars have always been waged for ideals, for land, for a way of life, for treasure, and out of fear, they have never been fought because it was fun. The weapons might change, but the face of war has never, nor will it ever change.

The face of war is a bloody, lacerated mess.....and nobody wins, that's right, nobody ever has won while waging war. It's funny, but most people will tolerate war if it's to help the oppressed, or to defend a "homeland," but everybody hates a bully boy attitude when it comes to waging war, no matter the size of the country, it must be a just war.

PROXY WARS ALWAYS GET OUT OF CONTROL:

Proxy wars are always based on deviate ideas, do not consider morals and rarely care about the overall results. Proxy wars might start down one path and then might change several different times during the course of the battle.

Proxy wars are always about a hidden agenda, they are always about our own interests, and what will do the United States the most good. President Obama is new at this proxy war game.....but he is learning. All over the Middle East, his administration has scrapped "for the moment" full scale invasions; he seems now to be embracing a multifaceted, light-footprint brand of warfare.

The fact of the matter is that the United States is a war-mongering imperialistic country, intent on world domination, the likes of which has never been seen during the entire history of the world. It's all about the money, the minerals and control.

Both Afghanistan and Iraq are perfect examples of how the United States supports proxy wars, unless you figure that the Pentagon didn't support both countries back in the 1970's and 80's. And guess what, the Pentagon is funded by us, the American taxpayer.

War is never the answer to any question, or actually any problem, no kind of war is ever devoid of mess, of cost, of rape, of pestilence, and of death. It's funny, as a people we figure that we have come so far; yet, we are really just inches from where we were 2000 years ago.

   



PANICS DEPRESSIONS AND RECESSIONS!

(Crisis Helper.com/Philly.com)

(Frazer Chronicle)

A funny thing happened on the way to the bank the other day.....the windows were shuttered, the doors were locked and there was a sign that read, (bank failed.) You think I'm kidding, well.....your right, at least today, August 10, 2012, but back-track 82 years ago, and you just might see that sign on your favorite lending institution, or where you put your hard earned cash, it's the reason many people kept their cash under their beds.

Money, the American dream, stature, owning a home and having a "nest egg" for a rainy day or retirement have all been a part of what we as Americans have dreamt about during our lifetimes in varying degrees. Some of us have attained what we "shot for" during our travels through life, others have failed. But you know something, it really didn't matter, whatever it was that we were reaching for, it was almost worth the thrill of being able to reach, dream and try. Actually it's what living in America is all about, and I've loved it.

It almost didn't matter from whence we came, in the beginning we were all foreigners, America has been the great melting pot of the world. Most of us immigrated to the United States to better our lives, and the lives of our loved ones. The woolen and fabric makers of the eastern seaboard, the coal, gold, and iron miners of  Pennsylvania, Colorado and the upper reaches of the Midwest. And the dock hands, or Stevedores on the New York harbor docks who unloaded freight and people, they too were hopeful of a better life.

America has had it all, and really still does, sadly what we "still have" seems is being shipped overseas. Steel, oil, coal, and other mineral treasures are on ships, bound for exotic ports all over the world, places that we only read about, or see on television, places that we will never actually visit.

So is another treasure going overseas from the United States, places that we read about, but never really want to visit. I'm talking about the jobs that are being spirited away by the very industries that depended on the United States for decades. Villages, towns, cities, states and the Federal Government helped all manner of business to grow from their infancy to the lofty positions and outsourcing  that they hold today.

ABOUT AMERICAN COMPANIES MOVING ON OUT!
When I say that "American companies moving on out," I mean literally thousands of big to small companies are leaving the United States for greener pastures overseas.  Countries like China, the Philippines, Korea, Israel, Ireland, India and Mexico. Asia is generally the country of choice for many other small to medium business ventures.

Over the past several decade or so there has been a remarkable migration of American companies moving overseas, resulting in the loss of hundreds of thousands of jobs in the U.S. economy. Major manufacturing companies have been taking advantage of lower overhead costs by going overseas for years, but now many, many more companies are taking advantage as well.

The reasons for American companies moving their operations overseas can really be equated to a one legged man entering an ass kicking contest, "he can't win." Low wages, no employee benefits, American companies are usually exempt from environmental and safety regulations, and finally these American companies have no obligation to remit taxes upon exporting their products to the United States.

Either outsourcing jobs, "lower wages, no benefits," or moving entire operations overseas has immense income,  property and corporate income tax advantages that American companies fall under, and the hefty tax rebates are opportunities many companies simply can't refuse.

The bottom line here is laughably silly, if a person takes a long serious look at the pros and cons of moving offshore with a business. Lower wages, no benefits, little or no regulations governing environment or safety rules....."hell, where do I sign up," and I don't even have a business.

There are in excess of  1500 American based companies that are on the outsource "hot list," way to many diverse companies for any kind of boycott to use. From 3M Alamo Rent A Car, to Bank One, to Bechtel, Travel Lodge to Honeywell.....the list goes on and on.

WHERE DOES THE AMERICAN WORKER FIT IN?
"A good question," and there is a long and a short answer, the short answer is.....you don't, unless you are willing to work 10 or 12 or 16 hour days, 6 days a week, and get paid a "buck" an hour. There would be no overtime, no benefits of any kind, and really no "vested" interest. You would come in before dawn and leave after dark.....over 300 days a year.

The great American dream would be gone, life expectancy would drop, "through the floor," illness would be on the rise, and the core belief in America, "of the family circle," would be a thing of the past. No family car, no life insurance, little health care and no retirement "nest egg". You would work until you die.....like in the old days.

The long term answer for where the American worker would fit into the new landscape of  employment in America would be lower pay, more work production with less people to do the jobs. Everything would be in a "downsizing" mode, automation would be the rule and watch-word of the day.

Incentives would be a thing of the past, wages would stagnate, "as they are today," and there really won't be any reason to reach for that higher plateau, because your already there.

America would become a nation of just two levels of people, the "haves and the have-nots," the upper middle, middle, lower middle and the low class would be replaced by the "class,  and the no class." It's how it was centuries ago and how it's going to be again.....unless!

HOW DID WE COME DOWN TO THIS?
How.....by swallowing all the crap that we are told, by not thinking independently, by not questioning, and by not being informed. How many times have we been told, "collectively" that the rich business-man will re-invest in his business, pay a better, and more livable wage, and offer better benefits....."well, I'm waiting." It's what I thought, more times then anybody knows.

The United States has lived under a democracy for more then 200 years, a land of laws that governs the citizenry. We also have lived under a free market society, where  demand regulates prices, and wages rather then the government. Of course free markets are associated with capitalism, free markets have been advocated by socialists and have been included in various different proposals for socialism.

According to Murray Rothbard, a free market economy refers to an economy were by buying and selling of goods and services is conducted without restrictions regarding price or valuation. The market players allow the market forces to determine the prices and value of the commodities and service that they offer.

Government regulations.....according to these "market players" is a bad thing and will in fact curtail the very concept of a free market. It works like this.....can anybody remember the "gas wars" that used to help regulate the price of gasoline at the pump. Well I do, and they were great, if one station had a price of .39.9 cents a gallon, the guy across the street would go down to .36.9 cents a gallon and everybody would go across the street for gas. That was the free market.....it helped save the consumer money.

Now gas prices are virtually the same at every station and the inducement to fill up are a lower price for milk, soda pop, or those belly bomb sandwiches that taste great, but do really bad things to the lower tract. However, lost in all the advertisement promotions is the fact that gas has remained the same, high, high higher.

The United States has seen more then it's share of hard financial times under the current programs that we subscribe to.....namely the free market with little or no governmental regulations. The first financial upset came way back in 1797 and lasted for 3 years and was caused by the deflation of the Bank of England across the Atlantic Ocean.

After that, there were panics, "recessions or depressions" in 1807, 1819, 1837, 1857, 1873 to 1893, 1907, 1918 and 1921, pre and post World War 1, 1929, 1945, 1948, 1953, 1958, 1960, 1969, 1973, "oil crisis," 1980, 1990, and finally 2008. Bet you didn't know that one.....a total of 20 listed recessions, depressions or panics.

Some of these "depressions" lasted just a few months while others lasted as long 23 years, "long depression, 1873-1893. There also were depressions within depressions, which happened at least 5 times over the history of the country.

THE AMERICAN DREAM TODAY:
The American dream today, the one where the country picked itself of the floor after December 7, 1941, or the America that has picked itself off the financial floor 8 different times not including the 2008 bubble buster.....it's still here, just harder to see, and becoming more of a trail for us to get up from.

Innovation is what has made our country strong, innovation is what we're all about, it's why we've been a world leader, and it's being taken away each and every day, we are becoming a 2nd. class society and a banana republic of a country.

Politicians talk on Capital Hill, industrial leaders talk in the board rooms of America, the Pentagon maps out war encounters and the C.I.A. conceives new enhanced ways to bring foreign countries in line with our hopes, desires and our needs.

There is a small group out there, a well heeled minority ready,  willing and sadly able to get their message across to the American public. I'm not talking about some silly conspiracy like a Mel Gibson movie, no, this is real, and if people got their collective heads out of where they sit, it would be easy to see.

With so many corporations moving overseas, how long do you figure it's going to take them to wise up to the fact that they don't need the classes of people in the United States. With the world as the market place, exactly how important is one consumer group to these elite people?

Make no mistake my friend, we are in trouble here in the land of the free and the home of the brave, we have only begun to struggle. It's not Democrat or Republican, most of them are already controlled by.....lobbyists, or don't you believe in them.  They are a slick lot, doing the bidding of the few so that they can control the masses.

It's going to be a mighty struggle, are we up to the task, can we band together and fight the good fight? I sure as hell hope so, I don't want my Tru-T.V. taken away in my twilight years.