WHAT DO FORMER POLITICIANS DO AFTER "PUBLIC SERVICE."

(Mike Krumboltz, Yahoo News/Frazer Chronicle)

 

I've always found it funny when people that are either voted out of, resign from, get pushed out of, or actually are fired from public office do with their time. Lobbyist are what many of these people do after "public service," its kind of like they are growing up when they are elected to, or appointed to a public service job.

 

I make this comparison because mostly, when former politicians, or appointed people are out of office for whatever reason.....they are older, have learned their craft pretty well, are well connected, and naturally are a big help to business, Kind of like a kid graduating from high school, then attending college to further their education, and then.....bingo, they get hired to be a lobbyist for some big deal company.

 

We now must add an additional "after government job" profession, a talk show host, just check out that foxy former Governor from Michigan, Granholm, or the dude from New York state, Spitzer, they have talk shows. Now we can add Mike Brown, former FEMA director.

 

You remember Michael Brown, ya he was the very first Undersecretary of Emergency and Response (EP&R) in President George W. Bush, and used that position to "spring-board" to the director of the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) in 2003.

 

It was the same Michael Brown who, in the 2005 Katrina Hurricane disaster himself was a disaster, resigning from that office September 12th. saying that "it was in the best interest of the agency and the President."

 

Mass incompetence was the term mostly used when referring to how Brown's actions and reactions were in the wake of one of the countries worst disasters. If I was Michael Brown, "and believe you me, I've pulled off some real bone head deals," I would have kept my mouth shut tighter then a bull's behind at fly-time.

 

BUT GUESS WHAT:

Being the real trooper he must be, Brown went to work for a cotton company and actually referred to the "lessons that he had learned from his experiences as the head of FEMA during hurricane Katrina, "talk about making hay from a bad deal," unbelievable.

 

Next Brown headed up some sort of Next of Kin Registry, or (NOKR) based out of Washington D.C. NOKR is the central depository for emergency contact information in the United States and 87 other countries.

 

Brown next took a position with Cold Creek Solutions which offers consulting practice for disaster recovery, Michael Brown's position, Vice President, disaster recovery service.

 

Brown also has a week-night talk show in Denver, Colorado, station KOA, and teams up with David Sirota on radio KKZN,  the two are known  as KHOW in the afternoon drive home.

 

In addition to his radio talk showing, being the VP of the Next of Kin Registry, and his consulting for Cold Creek, Brown finds time to write, he co-authored Deadly Indifference, The Perfect (Politician) storm, the Bush White House and Beyond.

 

YOU REACT WAY TO FAST:

And now, Michael Brown has taken on a new position, criticizing Barack Obama and how.....are you ready for this..... the President was TO FAST with his actions with regards to hurricane Sandy. That's right, good old "Brownie" as President Bush referred to his FEMA director for some unknown reason has forgotten about some of the emails that he wrote during the 2005 disaster, and how ill-equipped he seemed to be in his reaction and handling of Katrina.

 

The "can I quit now," or how about "can I come home now," are by far the best, (in my opinion), "I'm trapped now, please come and get me." All during these "frantic" emails for help, personal help, good old "Brownie" was taking home $148,000 a year, and he would continue getting paid for almost two months after he resigned his post on September of 2005.

 

Brown talks about how Obama "went to Las Vegas while Benghazi was happening, but left the campaign rail, returning to his D.C. digs to personally keep tabs of the disaster that Sandy has become.

 

Maybe, just maybe.....and I'm spit-balling here, but it seems as if "Brownie" might be barking up the wrong fire-hydrant this time. Taking advantage of a sitting president by talking about his response, a response that will cost billions, and has cost a minimum of 33 people is, well really.....come on "Brownie" get a grip.....oh, and by the way, "Brownie," I wouldn't  be making any trips up the east coast of the United States at least for several months.....you just might not return.

 

 

 

 

   

THE “N” WORD!

THE “N” WORD!

(Ron Fournier, National Journal/Jennifer Agiesta, Sonya Ross, Associated Press)

(Mark Felsenthal, Reuters/Frazer Chronicle)

So my friends, here we are, heading for the finish line with a Republican, Mitt Romney and a Democrat, incumbent, Barack Obama gouging huge chunks out of the others message, spinning, telling half truths and sometimes outright lies. Don’t worry, the half truths and lies department are pretty much right down the middle.

 

What we have here is two flawed candidates running for the highest office in the country; some say “the world,” but I’ll leave the answer to that statement to historians in the future. What we have before us is a race to the White House that is once again generating almost wholesale pros and cons of the men running, the parties that they represent and the people that they are supposed to work for…..us.

 

I watched Bill Maher last night on his weekly “Real Time” television show on H.B.O. it’s “at least for me,” amusing, entertaining, and also gives me some insight into how the Democrats are thinking on an intellectual plain…..Anyways, at times. Maher always has a mixture of both Republicans and Democrats on his panel, although it’s usually “slanted” towards the Democratic mentality.

 

Last night Maher brought up the problem with race and the political campaign for the White House and he, “Maher” has concerns about how race may determine the occupant at 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue come January of 2013.

 

RACISM IS ALIVE AND WELL HERE IN THE UNITED STATES:

Anybody who denies the fact that America isn’t a racist country either lives way, way out in the wilds of California, the Virginias’ or the Upper Peninsula of Michigan. The color of a person’s skin or how many “ya'lls” are in a sentence doesn’t really understand how racism works…..in any country.

 

My introduction to Wisconsin racism was during my first Packer football season way back in 1986, when, sitting in a tavern watching the “Pack” playing the Chicago Bears, somebody yelled out, “God, look at that nigger run.” I almost fell off my bar stool, never in, (at that time) my 43 years had I heard that term used in a public venue.

 

Here in Green Bay, Wisconsin I can truthfully say “race relations haven’t gotten any better,” people still us the “N” word, privately as well as in public. The mayor is white, 90% of the police force is white as well as publicly elected officials. With few exceptions, key positions are held by white people, few Blacks, Hispanics, or Asians have managed to “worm” their way into the hierarchy of either the business community or public office.

 

And Green Bay is nothing more than a microcosm of every city throughout the country; let’s face the facts of life with regards to how we, as white people, react towards black people, “do you want to live next door to a black family?” I live across the street from 2 Hispanic families, and every week-end, without exception, they are out fixing cars and trucks…..every week-end. I’ve gotten used to it, but it’s still kind of strange to me, why, because I’m not used to neighbors like that.

 

Neither Obama nor Romney talk about racial situations here in the country, they kind of ignore the obvious. I voted for Obama in 2008, and I will again in 2012, I wouldn’t vote for Romney even if somebody paid me…..well, let’s wait on that one because it would depend on the dollar amount, ha, just kidding.

 

It troubles me that color will play a part in the 2012 election, for a fleeting moment, back in 2008 I thought we had the racial problem here in our country “on the run,” but sadly I think the problem is bigger today then it was in 2008.

 

It’s my fault, yours and President Obama’s. Ya, that’s right, Obama has this detached attitude about himself, kind of like he understands, but somehow really doesn’t. He’s kind of aloof, you know, remote, like he is on a different plane than the rest of us.

 

Make no mistake, he understands the problems that everyday Americans have, but either his advisors, or he himself has decided to remain detached, separated almost, from everyday people like us. I think he still wants to help, to remain aware, but has a problem reaching out, touching as it were, the voters that put him in office.

 

WHO WILL WIN?

Until we quit this stupid white thing against all people of color we are destined to remain a jumbled mess, and a people who get next to nothing done in a positive manner. I don’t go along with that “we are all brothers and sisters of the world crap”, each ethic group has its very own habits, beliefs and favorite foods. Many people have a different religion, and I think that they have the right to worship however they want…..as long as it’s not in a threatening way.

 

Who’s gonna win in November…..you tell me, I don’t know, however I do know that if we aren’t as educated as possible about the issues and the man, we are, as a people destined to lose. After all the bull-crap, after all the half truths, the innuendos and the bald faced lies have been uttered, and it’s time for us to exercise are right to vote…..be vigilant, keep an eye on the polls, the predictions, and even the election booths, be involved.

 

Because this election just might be the most important in your life, for me, I already had my “most important election,” it was back in 1963 when I voted for John F. Kennedy. “He had a dream,” a dream that bore no fruit, but still it was a beautiful dream…..”Look it up sometime.” (Vote early and often.)  

HUT, HUT, $$$$$$$

HUT, HUT, $$$$$$$

(Jeff Graham/ Huff Post/Marquette Mining Journal/Frazer Chronicle)

 

Going, going, gone, or so tax advocates say, you know those groups that use as a corner-stone of their fair and reasonable platform on taxation issues. Like politicians, these jokers have never see a proposed tax, or an existing tax that they didn’t want to cut down, or abolish all-together. I hate to have to admit it, but on this particular issue, I gotta sit in their “camp.”

 

What would make me, a reputed flaming liberal cross over into the conservative side of at least this issue? What is the issue…..how high school athletics are funded throughout America. I know, I know, most of you know that I am a dyed in the wool sports nut. If it doesn’t take air, (basketballs, and footballs) or if wood can’t hit horsehide, its worthless right, well, I hate to admit it, but sports costs, and how those costs are paid for has always been a tough and touchy issue for me.

 

The time and effort that educators spend on creating funding for their extracurricular activities is at the very least commendable. Of course many of the programs for high school students aren’t really for the kids at all; it’s for the teachers that create them. Through these programs they “teachers” continue living their dreams’ and that’s okay, I have absolutely no problem with that attitude.

 

Athletic facilities, football stadiums, baseball fields and gymnasiums are built with taxpayer money and whatever donations can be obtained during construction. Once these facilities are in place, they should be used not only by high school students first and foremost, but by whomever else would like to shoot baskets, or swim in the pool, or try and hit a baseball over a ball diamonds fence. But student and school activities should always come first.

 

The first thing on the cutting block whenever school districts run short of funding is extracurricular programs, band, choir, and athletic programs. Sometimes the tactic is a scare tactic, everybody knows it, and sometimes it works. It’s less than an honorable way for school districts to get what they want, yet if all else fails.

 

The time that a school’s Athletic Director spends on raising outside funds to continue the sports programs is a full time job, yet most of these people are also full time teachers. The effort necessary for these people to accomplish their bottom line is herculean, and whatever extra money they might get is definitely not enough.

 

MOST EXPENSIVE SPORTS PROGRAM:

Football is definitely the costliest of the high school sports programs offered; it can cost as much as $1000 to completely outfit a player. Taking a modest figure, say $500, multiply that by 40 players and your getting into pretty reified air, say $20,000. Add in travel costs, maintenance and upkeep of the playing facility, insurances, coach’s pay and whatever other miscellaneous that are incurred, well, it’s not long before an operational budget gets up to a hundred grand real quick…..at the minimum.

 

What does football mean to a community, what are the benefits to those in attendance, and more important, is the teaching tool for the student athletes worth the time, effort, and the money? The answers to these questions aren’t arrived at quite as fast as a running back that can do a 10 second flat 100 yard dash, but they can be ferreted out if you look long enough.

 

Of course a school’s football program, basketball, baseball, hockey and even track, which “I hated in school,” are worth the price. We collectively just have to find a better way to fund them. I agree with the folks who talk about teacher paychecks at the end of the day as being way too inflated. I do however also realize that a teacher…..of our children is of utmost importance to us, to our cities, to our states, and in the end, to our country.

 

When that much importance is placed on an education, those people that administer the programs that are offered to students need to be “all encompassing,” they need to be strong building blocks in our kid’s lives. Culture isn’t just for the nerds, the rich kids, or kids with professional parents, culture, reading, theater, and the classics must be nurtured by teachers for all students.

 

Sure football games are more fun to watch, but the debate team needs the same kind of monitory support proportionately as football. The money sports have always been football and basketball, they fund most of the rest of the extracurricular programs, and I really don’t know how to get around that fact.

 

However, it appears that a new approach is going to be necessary in the not too distant future, so why not start right now…..today. I have a novel idea, all after school programs need to support themselves. A debate team sells tickets to their function, a Chess club match…..$5 admission, band and choir, part of the football program and baseball, advertising on outfield wall-signs.

 

It would require more attendance from parents, grandparents, friends and the general public, but just think of the rewards, lower taxes, or better yet, a better way to use our tax dollars. My idea…..everything must support itself. Gee, wasn’t that a simple act to a seeming confusion and involved problem, proving once again that SIMPLE is always better.

WHAT A DIFFERENCE LOCATION MEANS!

WHAT A DIFFERENCE LOCATION MEANS!

(Green Bay Press Gazette/Milwaukee Journal Sentinel/Chicago Tribune/Frazer Chronicle)

 

It is really interesting how a newspaper seems to mirror their communities’ attitudes with regards to the local news that is covered. Here in Green Bay it’s the Green Bay Packers first, in the middle, and at the end. During the season, the football season (is there any other) you’d swear that the local newspaper, the Green Bay Press Gazette was a major shareholder of the team.

 

During the season, almost every day, the front page of the sports section is headlined by Packer stories, their transactions, “even if one of the players has the runs,” and a continuing barrage of news, non-news, and what is called “filler articles,” stories with little or no purpose, but fill out a page.

 

The front page of the Press Gazette also reflects the importance put on the Packers in the community not only by the local fan, but the newspaper itself. Headlines about the Packers are a weekly routine, and I’m sure the coverage is popular with many, many readers in the entire region. I’m sure the newspaper uses this ”tool” to enhance sales…..and it is a service, but guess what, real news, real coverage of important issues suffer about as often as Packer stories appear on the pages of the paper.

 

I’m a sports fan, I root for the Packers just as much as my next door neighbor…..except when they play the Lions, but I also want to know what’s going on in the city as well as the region, and that is where the Press Gazette fails on all counts.

 

LOCATION, LOCATION, LOCATION:

Have you ever been to Chicago, well I have…..way too many times, I’ve been lost there, spent a couple of days there, toured the Sears Tower, some of the downtown sections, “ya gotta know what the different colored zones are to safely travel there,” and was awe struck with the beautiful buildings, their size, and their regal appearance.

 

Chicago is a wonderful city, and if you’re in the right parts of town, a tremendous experience. I remember taking a trip with a baseball team from Northern Michigan to Chicago, getting lost…..and low on gasoline…..not a good thing on a Sunday night. Getting directions and gasoline was like being in a “killing zone.” Windows were grated, there was a little square to either pay in cash or drop your credit card in, and the directions…..well let’s just say, we found our own way out.

 

I checked this morning’s headlines out on the Chicago Tribune’s online site and was astounded at the headlines. Murder, rape, thugs, rip-offs, rap feuds, thievery, headlines that do not appear in my local paper. The city has a problem, clearly any community that is billed as “Murder Capitol of the United States,” has issues that really…..really need addressing.

 

Again, the cities’ newspaper clearly reflects what is important to their community, anytime you count in the hundreds the deaths of kids under the age of 20, something is graphically wrong with a large section of the population. The actions of a few, speak volumes of what is wrong with an out of control segment of Chicago’s citizenry who, mostly are under the age of 25.

 

A FUNNY THING HAPPENED ON THE WAY TO THE BANK!

Milwaukee, Wisconsin, about a hundred twenty miles south of Green Bay is another example of how a newspaper mirrors its community, and potential readers. There is hardly a week that goes by without a story of some state of federal agency getting ripped off, or some service group absconding with funds that were meant for disadvantaged folks.

 

I know every community has to, is, or has dealt with unscrupulous organizations or key members in alleged absconding with funds, paid the wrong people, or have been lax in how their organizations were being run.

 

I like the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, I think that their paper is newsy, informative, and digs at the truth on a myriad of issues. In addition, they seem to have an investigative attitude and really root out stories on abuse by individuals, organizations, and don’t really care who the people are…..they just report the news.

 

Their latest jaunt into the darker side of government is how a state funded, “taxpayers” job-creation agency has lost (potential) millions of dollars because nobody was tracking who borrowed the money, where it went, and exactly who was repaying the loans.

 

If Chicago is the murder capitol of the nation, then I guess maybe Milwaukee would be the corruption capitol of the nation. Clearly corruption, mismanagement or ineptness in government or private benevolent agencies is running at an unchecked breakneck pace.

 

There has been and is corruption in local government, in Governor Walkers appointed officials in the city and county police departments, and even on the judicial levels. It is abundantly clear that the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel is taking advantage of the foolish business practices, the ethics of individuals, and the greed in community hierarchy.

 

The Milwaukee newspaper is doing it’s job in a credible manner, placing focus on a troubling aspect of the greater Milwaukee community with regards to those people seeming intent on ripping off taxpayers two ways, taking the tax money that Milwaukee residents pay for services, and then ripping of those people who need those services.

 

TROUBLE IN DREAMLAND:

Ah Traverse City, Michigan, a wonderful, beautiful place to live…..if ya got the money to do so, the fantasy that Traverse City is not touched by urban blight, homeless people, or that programs for the poor are being cut, or erased altogether truly is a facility.

 

The Traverse City Record Eagle is not one of my favorite newspapers, in my opinion the regions only daily paper is like a “homer umpire,” they make calls that please the home team. I lived my formative years in this beautiful northern Michigan community, tucked away from the big city squabbles, injustices and corruptions.

 

Like everybody else, I knew that the city and region had some of the same problems as the bigger communities to the south, cities like Lansing, Grand Rapids or Detroit. But whatever the problems Traverse City and the region had, we could overlook because they weren’t quite as bad as those down state metropolitan areas.

 

But come to find out, Traverse City does have some of the same big time problems as the rest of us have. Homelessness is viewed like some sort of unmentionable, and now there is a real possibility that a “wheel” has come off the Meals on Wheels program.

 

Meals on Wheels feed poor, elderly folks that have no other access to a decent well balanced meal, even if it’s only once a day. Let’s face the facts of life, for many old people; a visit from a “meal wheeler” is the only contact they get with the outside world.

 

Although Traverse City has a population of less than 20,000, it is a hub community, serving more than 100,000 visitors on at least a weekly basis. There is a cultured atmosphere and attitude that the community portrays, and it is exhibited with pride…..as it should.

 

But the hard hitting reporting of the Record Eagle on these two major issues is to be commended, possibly the paper is moving more towards reporting what I suppose could be called the “underbelly of the community and region.”

 

The issues, stories and the reporting of them are crucial to people of any community understand, reacting, and actually moving on some of the more important issues of the day. People in this day and age still do rely on the printed media. Coming home after days’ work, drinking a beer and reading the newspaper after supper is still popular.

 

Rising in the morning, cup of coffee in hand, and a newspaper in the other is a world-wide habit that won’t be broken unless the printed media allows it. For me, reading newspaper articles is how I get my information, it’s what I base my blogs on, it’s also how I conduct certain portions of my life.

 

Remember that the next time you pick up a newspaper at your local supermarket, newsstand, or read the day old stuff at your local library. Printed material is still important in the 21^st century, newspapers need to remember that.    

WORKING IN AMERICA…..YA BETTER BE A MAN!

WORKING IN AMERICA…..YA BETTER BE A MAN!

(www.survivalboards.com/Los Angeles Times/Chris Kirk/Frazer Chronicle)

 

It’s great to live in America, to work here, and it’s great to take advantage of arguably the very best medical care in the world. America, the United States is the greatest country on the face of the earth today, and some would argue…..the greatest country in the history of man.

 

So with all of these greats connected to our country, you’d figure that possibly the least of our problems would be to find a job, one that paid a decent living wage, one that encouraged employees to voice opinions, to be involved in their work-place, and for the employer to squeeze every ounce of the potential that their workers had.

 

But that isn’t the case in most jobs, you show up, punch a time-clock, go through the routine of the day, doing no more than is expected, and at the end of the day, punch out, stop at the tavern with the fellas, or go home, eat supper, watch television, maybe give the wife a little “pickle tickle” and do the exact same thing the next day.

 

Finding a job where a fella can obtain that “sustainable” position, that job that makes him feel good about himself, that strokes his intellect, a job where he supremely understands and knows his duties in the work-place, and a job that will pay the bills and put some money away for that dreaded rainy day, that really is all the 90% of American citizens want out of the work-place.

 

And now we have these two jokers, Obama and Romney, campaigning for the highest office in our country…..and possible the world, and one seems tepid at most, Obama, and the other, Romney, who says by far the most stupid things that I can imagine, “and I can imagine a whole bunch of stuff,” referring to job applications from women as “binders full,” or the 47% comment, WOW. Way to go “Willard” you just made the Democrats day.

 

I watched the debate the other night, well actually about 20 minutes, and then watched reaction the next day on both Fox and NCNBC. Here’s what I took from the second debate, interruptions, half truths, disrespect…..and sheer stupidity from both men. They reminded me of two kids on a playground, arguing over the last swing, neither smart enough to share…..no way, no how.

 

WOMEN IN THE WORK-PLACE, AND IN THE COUNTRY AT LARGE:

Okay, the above was slanted towards the male of the genders, I’ll admit that, but I wrote the above to illustrate some of the unbelievable thinking in our country, the fact that people do not understand that employers who sit in board-rooms with share-holders do not enter into a conversation about how they can me the work-place a more enjoyable setting for the workers. They do not entertain raising wages “across the board,” not gonna happen.

 

These people are bottom liners pure and simple, they are only interested in keeping production up and wages and benefits down. With the weakening union presence and authority in the workplace, people are basically left at whatever the employer and management decides is the best from their…..pocket-books.

 

Everybody in the workplace suffers under this crushing mentality and atmosphere of this bottom line mentality.  The “Captains of Industry” were never concerned with a workers work-place conditions, or the safety of the machinery in use, it was always the bottom line.

 

But with women it’s even worse, in many places and many professions; women are viewed and considered as “second class citizens.” Not strong enough, to emotional, unwilling or unable to do some jobs……and then of course there’s that dreaded 28 or so day cycle when the hormones’ are running wild, and she might as well go home time.

 

However for all the crap women have taken in the workplace, the sexual innuendos, and the down and dirty forcible threat sex, where a women’s job might be terminated if sexual favors aren’t forthcoming, women have survived, and in some quarters thrived in a man’s world.

 

I had an assertive mother, have three sisters, a lovely wife, and two daughters…..as well as a son, so I have seen inequality, I have felt it through the women in  my life, and I have seen the aftermath of lives wasted in the workplace, unrealized potential and of course the inequality in pay.

 

After all, employees also have a bottom line…..it’s the same as the employer, to get as much pay as possible for their sweat, their labor, and yes…..the risks that are taken each and every day in the workplace.

 

There is another way to look at women’s inequality in the workplace in general and actually the world in particular. Until women can do or don’t expect from men:

Storm the beaches at Normandy.

Who was in the lifeboats first on the Titanic? Yea that’s right, women and children.

Who is expected to lay down their lives for women?

Who is expected to sacrifice their life to save a child?

During World War 1, who was slaughtered by the hundreds of thousands?

When there is a dirty, stinking, repulsive job to do, who gets the call?

10,000 men die on a battlefield, its war.

10,000 women die; it’s a crime against humanity.

Of course I don’t agree with the above, but you girls have to admit it’s how many, many men view the differences between the sexes, as opposed to the obvious. There is another possible reason, but gee, can it really be as simple as I’m thinking?

 

Bosses, owners, supervisors, managers, shift bosses, and people with seniority might all view women employees the same way, as cute little things, to be pampered, to be protected…..and to be taken advantage of.

 

For 99% of men, women are nice to look at, objects of affection, and viewed as sexual playmates, honest…..I’m not kidding. To get past these physical barriers it takes men of vision and understanding, and women as well I might add.

 

Women deserve the same pay as men, if they are doing the same job…..period. Why should a business pay a man $10 an hour to bake bread and a women $9 to do the same thing. Who benefits from this inequality, the male baker, or the owner? ”I don’t know,” you be the judge.

 

In closing I would only say two little word to sum up this blog, and I could have said it up front and not have written the rest…..”You go girlfriend!”

THE 1000 POUND GORILLA IN THE ROOM IS SOCIAL SECURITY

(The Heritage Foundation/Huffington post/Forbes/Frazer Chronicle)

 

I couldn’t help it, I just love that term, for me, it’s almost as good as the “red assed Baboon” saying. Neither is possible, yet they seem so cool, just think how big a gorilla would have to be to weigh a thousand pounds and the size of the room, it would be enormous. I guess there really are red assed baboons, so even though I think the phrase is funny as hell, they do exist.

 

Social Security, I’m on it, and don’t figure on getting any raises, in fact when I opted to start receiving from the fund, I never even considered any kind of raises for any reason, cost of living, a nice jester, or just because the Fed had some extra money.

 

Something that few people understand is the fact that the original Social Security act, when enacted back in the 1930’s, the average life expectancy was 59, and social security didn’t kick in until a guy/gal reached their 65^th. year. A goodly amount of time for the act to gain some capital funds when people actually did live longer than 65.

 

Social Security actually is an act that was designed to help people in their “golden years,” or so they say, those years after 65, when people choose to retire, when they get sick, or when there to damn decrepit to work. Its kinda like how I go through the motions of life from day to day, just sitting, reading the news paper over and over, taking naps, and drooling all over the place.

 

The actuaries really got their bean counting fingers fouled up when they set the parameters originally for what was, at the time a revolutionary program. Employees   and employers setting aside a portion of the paycheck for a future pay-back. A retirement aid…..making employees set aside money, matched by the employer for the golden years.

 

Like I said, “the bean counters really screwed up,” they anticipated people not living to retirement, “65” so the pay-out from the newly enacted law would do nothing but build, and build, earning a simple interest rate, that over the years would grow to unimaginable amounts. Sadly mankind outgrew those early guesstimates of the aging process, and we now find the fund in a real precarious position.

 

CALLING DOCTOR FIX-IT:

It’s almost funny; the possible fixes that some people in high places, with degrees and pedigrees hanger all over their office walls talk about, when they suggest overhauls for the social security program. From higher taxes, to re-evaluating payments and benefits, to having younger people invest “on their own” or have private industry take over the stewardship of the account all-together.

 

All sorts of ideas start flying around, and conservatives actually start to salivate when talk centers on changes to the fund. Future generations deserve a prosperous and sustainable Social Security plan. Huh, why in hell does anybody deserve prosperous or sustainable, life is a crap shoot…..the best laid plans of men and mice, this dribble, “prosperous and sustainable” sounds like a bunch of liberal crap to me.

I read somewhere last week about some dude collecting unemployment benefits even though he was a millionaire, why, “because he earned it and was entitled to it…..”Shut the front door,” that attitude is differently part of the problem.

 

Or what about the couple of grandparent types collecting Social Security benefits even though between their savings, investments and pensions, they would live comfortably without the additional money from a program that is going broke.

 

Or what about the family of orphans living with a struggling mother who works as hard and as much as possible to provide for her family after a tragic accident has taken her husband. Oh sure, you say, the family is just collecting what the father had paid into the fund.

 

The above are real instances where people are drawing from a fund when, even though they can get by without the money, receive payment. The mother with her orphaned family actually needs help, but absolutely not from Social Security. Here is a place that can be “overhauled,” where money can be saved. The overhaul…..a half percent of Social Security payroll deductions go to an “orphan fund” for these kinds of unforeseen problems.

 

Doctor fix-it is now working overtime, he talks about “strengthening family bonds,” collecting a deceased person’s payments from some sort of Personal Retirement Accounts, P.R.A.’s in the event of an early death…..the family deserves it. Guess it doesn’t matter whether the kids are working or not, they deserve that money. “What a bunch of hog wash.”

 

A guaranteed minimum payment, above-poverty government benefit for all retirees, “Shirley you jest,” actually I’m not jesting, and please don’t call me Shirley. It’s another of Doctor Fix-it suggestions. How in hell can anything in today’s society be guaranteed, again, “Life’s a crap shoot.”

 

THE SIMPLE TRUTH:

A reality check people, Social Security, and actually Medicaid are in trouble, the reason, way too many people are living way to long, some people are collecting when they don’t need the added benefit, and with regards to Medicaid, many, many people are taking advantage that shouldn’t.

 

The Medicaid thing is for a different time, but Social Security needs an overhaul, of that I have no doubt. What to do…..well we could start by establishing a cut off figure. Anyone drawing 75% of what they made when they were working from whatever, needs to have their Social Security benefits slashed accordingly.

 

Anyone who made a certain amount of money during their working years needs to have their payments cut back, or possibly receive no payments at all. Some will say that this idea isn’t fair, “well gee whiz,” rotten luck, you shouldn’t have been so successful or lucky during your working years…..but for the good of the country…..”no soup for you.”

 

Change is tough, the older we get, the less we like change, it’s upsetting, it threatens our comfort zone, and it curtails the time that we have to watch entertaining programs on television like Tru-TV. I feel your pain, but it’s for the good of the country. So let’s pull up our collective boot straps, and get on with these changes, or like the man said, “Let’s call our elected officials,” and get the old ball rolling.   

MEDICINE, MY HEALTH, OR A CHEESE BURGER!

MEDICINE, MY HEALTH, OR A CHEESE BURGER!

(Bloomberg/Frazer Chronicle)

Well I finely understand firsthand what they mean when they say, "either choose food or your medicine." I had my six month diabetes doctor’s appointment Tuesday, October 9^th and was made aware of the cost of a different and new pill that would keep my condition pretty much the same. The choices were to continue taking my current medicine and also work-out six days a week for an hour each day with an elevated heart rate, or spend hundreds of dollars a month on the new wonder drug.

I have Medicare, which has reduced my social security benefit and additional health coverage that I pay for. Yet between my two insurances, I'm left out in the cold with regards to the new, stronger stuff that will probably make my quality of life a whole lot better.....I could steal that occasional piece of chocolate cake that I so desire.

Guess I can't get a break with a new drug that can help me enjoy a little bit of paradise and the sweets that I desire. You know it’s funny, when you can have something anytime that you want, it’s no big deal, you can grab it later, but when your desire is like a piece of fruit from the forbidden tree, you can never get enough.

For me it does gonna be the six day, six hour work-out because my alternative is the dreaded syringe, and a poke each and every day. Yup its either insulin or the Arnold Schwarzenegger style work-out, gee I can hardly wait, no telling where a new and rejuvenated body might lead me.....I do have the blood pressure of an 18 year old, 112 over 72 on Tuesday.

Seriously though, getting back to the subject at hand.....peoples health, medical attention, how accessible it is, and more important, how is it paid for, and by whom. Look enough of this Mitt Romney stuff about only 47% of American citizens pay taxes, or whatever the figure is, everybody pays taxes, whether land tax, income tax, an import tax, sales tax, or some local yocal tax.....everybody pays some sort of tax.

A universal medical insurance plan, paid for by all tax payers on a graduated basis, a trickle-up if you will, where the rich pay a higher medical tax, the middle class a lesser amount, and the poor next to nothing, and in some cases, nothing. And by the way, a major share of people that won't pay any medical tax in my plan are.....well, color people, blacks or whatever; at least everybody is medically covered.

I bring up the race issue with regards to entitlements, or because of people of color seem to be the brunt whenever the conversation centers on government programs, or give-aways. Why in this day and age of racial awareness and enlightened thinking with regards to the races would people point a bony finger at people of color?

MY WIFE HAS AN INTERESTING POINT:

My wife had an interesting point the other day when we were discussing government spending, how the budget affects American citizens, and the entitlement give-away programs. I have to confess, I never thought about where funds would come from for entitlement programs if the country shifted money away from the defense department.

Once again, Candace Joan was "right on" when she asked the question about funding entitlements. Her question, "where would the funds come from for all these programs," I of course jumped right in with my typical disdain for a thoughtful process whenever confronting my wife, and her opinions. I said, "from defense department spending." You should have seen my jaw drop when she calmly looked me straight in the eye and coolly responded, "How? We are already borrowing money from foreign countries to pay for our war effort."

I was thunderstruck, left speechless, and quickly had to admit that Candy Jo was right on.....once again. Of course it’s true, we are a big debtor country when it comes to defense spending.....it’s because we spend so much on defense.

BACK TO BASICS:

I lost a brother-in-law in August; I have a friend who has many ailments, and another pal who had a mini stroke at 50. In a time when each needed to concentrate on his health problems, problems jumped up and took energy away from a healing process, it made each of these people uneasy when they should have been totally focused on their issue at hand.

My wife had wonderful insurance through her job at the City of Green Bay, and frankly we both became complacent with regards to exactly how health covering insurance really works. The nature of the beast, "and it is a beast," can be summed up in one word, complicated.

Some companies rely on their customer’s inability to grasp the nooks and crannies of their chosen health plan. My wife and I still have the same insurance.....and we pay close to $400 a month, which is about three times what we used to pay.

And even though we pay around $300 a month more for health coverage, I still can't get every drug on the market for my health affliction, somehow that just doesn't seem right. In the olden days, people either doctored themselves, or relied on the good old "country doctor." The guy with pictures of every baby that he had delivered, the guy who took apple pies, or an occasional hog for payment

Of course those days are gone, I don't want those days back, we have progressed to a point where there seems to be a treatment for everything. We are ushered into a sparkling steel and concrete building, complete with all sorts of shiny new apparatuses designed to help in the treatment of a doctor’s case load.

Millions of people walk into these cathedrals of health treatments, and walk out either free of pain or have been shown a way to combat their illness. Sadly millions of other people are met at the gate of these places and basically told to "take a hike." No insurance, no funds to pay "get lost."

Oh sure hospitals are required by law to treat people for an injury, or a flare-up of an existing ailment, but directly after these people are treated for whatever ails them, the medical system cuts them from any further treatment.

It seems as if Republicans and Neo-Con conservative, (there is a difference you know), could care less about those less fortunate people. Guess they never heard the song, "We are the people, we are one."

These are the people, like Paul Ryan, or Michelle Obama who preach working out, watching what you eat, and to a degree live a stable life-style. Well guess what, it's really not how people life, some people do not have the time or the where-with-all to work out, and others simply grab whatever is handy.

I suppose in the near future there will be food cops, soda cops, midriff cops, and another cop to probe a person’s thinking process. I can hardly wait.

 

 

 

THOSE CONSERVATIVES ARE AT IT AGAIN!

THOSE CONSERVATIVES ARE AT IT AGAIN!

(N.P.R./Asian Times/Frazer Chronicle)

Oh no, just when I thought it might be safe to go outside, Mitt Romney is at it again, and where else was he when he uttered words that made me "duck," a state that lives on every word a conservative, any conservative speaks.....Virginia.

Ya, Virginia, a state that is heavy into the defensive thinking that is linked to our own war department, "oops," I'm sorry, I mean the Pentagon." You see, the Pentagon revels in a form of defense for our country that can be viewed as kind of unique, it's called "peace through strength," or, "if you don't sit down, shut up and do what I say, I'll kill you."

You didn't think that a war.....any war.....and for any reason didn't come with death, pestilence, savagery, homeless people, widows, and orphaned children did you. And in the midst of all this pounding of the chest, the patriotic speeches and the "Gods in our corner," crap.....did you lose sight of the fact that these conservatives are actually talking about untold cases of murder.

Conservatives talk about putting things in "proper prospective" regarding the deaths that the United States has suffered during the past ten years of war, it's minuscule when you compare the past ten years against, oh let’s see, say World War 11. I got a news flash for all of you conservatives out there, "we were invaded," ya, Pearl Harbor was, and still is a part of the United States. Whatever the Japanese got, they deserved, and you won't get an argument from me on that.

The second world war came mostly out of necessity, the United States was attacked, and just like the guy who comes over to my house and beats my wife and rapes my dog, there would be hell to pay, and Japan got their butts handed to them.....at the time.

But gee whiz, Afghanistan didn't invade Pearl Harbor, Washington, or the Twin Towers neither did Iraq, or for that matter Turkey, or Libya, yet we enter all of these countries to further world peace. If you might notice, I left Iran out of the mix.....for me, the jury is still out on whether they have a nuke or not.

Now if Iran gets the nuke, like I know there trying to do, then you know the conservative side of the room is gonna want to kick some "sand flea butt," as my friend would say. But I wonder, is it really worth the effort, I mean to "kick butt in Iran." Let’s see, we have nukes, some of our allies have nukes, gee, "why can't Iran have nukes.....I wonder." Guess I'll save that Iran issue for another time.

ROMNEY AND THE BOYS:

Mitt Romney gave a speech earlier this week in Virginia, it was full of vigor, "his speech," and he talked about pulling the empire, "United States" out of lethargy, pump a few million new jobs into the mix, and actually saving the world from.....itself.

No matter the legality of our move, we will invade, and stay even if illegally, it doesn't matter, where saving the Empire, and to boot, the entire world. If anyone complains, screw them, we'll invade them too.

But here's the best part, we have another war on the horizon, fresh onto the world stage is.....Syria, oh joy, no matter their fight is internal, or their border neighbors, Turkey, Jordan, Israel and Lebanon fear them. It's "pass the ammunition, keep your powder dry, and sharpen those knives time," we see another threat to our way of life.....that we want to push onto everybody else.

I read a blog on the situation.....recently, and was amassed at how simple some people look at things. I'm always talking about the simplicity of life's problems, and how the world isn't really as complicated as people make it out to be.....but this guy, he's way past me with regards to simplicity.

His reason for the problem in Syria, "those people want what we take for granted, FREEDOM, gee pal, you made the situation really, really crystal clear, a mostly nomadic people wants the right to crap behind a bush, live it the desert, and pro-create whenever they feel the need.

Has anybody here really taken a look at our political system, threats of voter I.D. cards, faulty election machines, voter fraud, people selling their votes, "it's happened, you can look it up," and this joker really thinks that a country wants to pattern itself after our template, only if their uneducated nomadic wanderers, "oh wait, isn't that what a whole bunch of people in that area are.....I guess I stand corrected.

GO GET UM MITT:

Presidential candidate Romney, in his Virginia speech the other day talked about Middle Eastern allies, prosperous people, "missing a chance to gain new friends, who share the same values as the United States. Romney went further, I would say....."right off the chart further," by talking about Middle Eastern "friends" who are fighting for their own futures against the very same violent extremists, and evil tyrants, and angry mobs who seek to harm us.

By now, Mitt was on a role, he was going to put everybody on notice, especially Iran, who better beware, "no nukes for you," Mitt also said that he would keep permanent aircraft carriers in both the Eastern Mediterranean and the Gulf region.

"The decision we make today will determine our ability to protect Americans tomorrow.....the first purpose of a strong military is to prevent war. Ya right Mitt, just like my neighbor with the big gun and I with my stick, rest assured I'll find a way to either get a gun, or kick his butt in some other way.

In closing Mitt said that he would "rally our friends and allies to match our generosity with theirs. And that I, "Romney," would make it clear to the recipients of our aid that, in return for our material support, they must meet the responsibilities of every decent modern government.....to respect the rights of their citizens, including women and minorities, to ensure space for civil society, a free media, political parties, an independent judiciary.....and to abide by the international commitments to protect our diplomats and our property.

Talk about a guy that covered all the bases, I don't know about any of you liberals, but I'm fired up, almost ready to vote for a Republican.....Romney kind of tugs at the heart when he talks like he did the other day in Virginia.

There's more.....I could go on, but I'm sure you get the jest of what old Mitty boy was talking about, ya that's right, he was talking about stuff that we have absolutely no right to interfere with, it's called keeping your nose out of other people's business.

Lately we intercede whether we are wanted or not, we bully our way through situation, just like my old buddy G.W. Bush did for almost eight years, and Obama is almost no better. It's too late for this election cycle, hell out on the campaign trail, the speeches change, depending on which state these guys are in. Employment, keeping our collective noses clean, and out of other people’s problems, and possibly re-thinking our foreign policies might be in order....."do ya think?"

There is a saying in baseball for all the teams that didn't finish first, it's, "wait to next year," the hell of it is, I'm beginning to wonder if we aren't running out of next years. Thank God for bubbles, if there weren't bubbles, where would Republicans live?

  

TWIST AND SHOUT

TWIST AND SHOUT

(Washington Post/Huffington Post/Frazer Chronicle)

A great song, "huh," I mean anybody can do the twist, and of course everybody can shout.....unless there is a medical problem, and then just "sit and shout, or stand and say nothing." During this election cycle or sorts of different issues are being discussed, except the ones that affect most of us. Those issues seem to be placed on the back burner as it were.

Yesterday Romney came out with "the President has a weak foreign policy," wow that makes next to no sense at all, but hey, politicians during the late stages of their campaigns "spit ball," and whatever sticks to the wall they run with, remember George W. Bush and his "flip flop" comment.....and it worked.

Thank God we aren't dealing with good old "G.W." anymore, hell, he'd have us in 5 or 10 countries, liberating the oppressed, and making the world a safer place even though thousands of people would have to die in the process.

Again we have the Republicans doing their worst impression of saving the middle class by kicking the crap out of the lower class....."you know, predominately black, or those low class white crackers who love government assistance." The Republican strong, "the conservatives," seem to always want to kick these people to the curb, and just walk past them on their way to.....well, I'm really not a conservative, so I don't know where in hell they are going.

Mitt Romney and his handlers sure as hell picked a beauty to do their bidding, and he's had several years to "hone" his abilities. Paul Ryan wants your vote, and he also wants to rid the country programs for the poor. Ryan has never seen a food stamp card that he didn't want to burn, no matter the circumstances.

Of course some of what Ryan wants to do won't get past Romney and "his boys" to the light of day, however, some will. Ryan wants to overhaul some aspects of Medicare, not touch the defense budget, cuts billions from educational training, and employment and social services. Ryan wants to cut about $5.3 tttrrriiillliiiooonnn, "sorry, I just can't seem to wrap myself around that number, trillion," but Romney is talking about $7 tttrrriiillliiiooonnn, "damn I did it again," trillion.

CUTTING POOR PEOPLE OUT OF THE LOOP:

Poor people do exist, they simply "are," you see them, and you might cross the street to avoid them, but that doesn't alter the fact that there still there. Many of these people are either ill of body, or mind, and in some cases, they are ill in both places.

We now have 2 Republicans saying somewhat the same things, "cut, cut, cut," but do not touch Medicare, or the defense budget. Guess who gets their "butts" handed to them if we believe this entire dribble....."ding, ding," everybody for the middle of the middle class on down.....that's who.

My Dad was a carpenter, I have dabbled in carpentry, and my son has, like the man said, "you are what you eat," it's true, or at least it has been in my life. My point is simple, if you are living in poverty, you probably came from poverty. To cut people out of a higher education, to keep people hungry, to give them less the best care, keeps that "daisy chain going."

Idiots like Mitt Romney and Paul Ryan, and to a degree Barack Obama, help to keep the status qua, our government.....on all levels helps to fuel the flames of low levels self esteem, poorly educated, hungry, under medically cared for group of people that continues to grow.

The homeless, the hungry and the dis-in-franchised will one day take over the country; sadly there probably won't be anything left. The rich will have taken all that there is of value.....and locked themselves into their gated communities.



LET'S MOUNT A RECALL!

LET'S MOUNT A RECALL!

(Bloomberg/Brian Bakst, Associated Press/Frazer Chronicle)

We are heading into the final lap of this country's current presidential race, and I for one can hardly wait for the damn thing to be over. What a royal pain in the buttock, between Romney's changing his opinions on "meaty issues," to the current resident "black man" in the White House, and his "out of touch" attitude with issues, what is an independent voter to do.

I cannot stand the Tea Baggers, it seem that they want to go backwards to the 1950's "at least, if not further, " and a whole bunch of their rhetoric makes little or no sense to me. The "baggers" seem like a bunch of old white people wanting, well....I'm not sure, and that is the real problem. And where are the black people in their, "baggers" equation?

Mitt "Willard" Romney and Barack Obama could be twins if it weren't for the obvious color difference. Romney spits out all sorts of tax relief, talks about how upper class folks are the "job creators," and how the middle class need not worry about a tax increase, "he's with us all the way." I'm not sure where he thinks were going, because frankly he doesn't have a clue how we live, and what it means to be a "middle classer."

President Barack Obama simple leaves me cold, I simply do not know what to make of the man, where's the passion, the "in your face" attitude. Conservative ideas as well as liberal thinking is by themselves unacceptable. Standing alone, ideal or thinking from of mind works, the country needs a bit of both, and a strong helping of (MIDDLER CLASSER).

What happens in every single election that has taken place for well over a hundred and fifty years can be summed up in one word, "lies," these people figure that they can bend, mold, re-construct, and sadly tell the people whatever "we" want to hear. In reality, not a single candidate has delivered on the things that were said on the campaign trail.

WE NEED A 3Rrd. PARTY AND I'M NOT KIDDING:

It's true, America needs a 3rd. party, if for nothing else then to keep the dominate parties honest, problem is, 3rd. parties want the same thing as the two conventional parties do.....total control over everything. And that, my friend is not good for the country.

Mitt Romney made an interesting comment last week at the debates, he said, "no matter which tax structure eventually happens, the upper percent of tax payers, "those rich people," will still make money. Just what I wanted to hear, a "rich kid with absolutely no idea what the middle class is."

Green Party, Brown party, Brown Baggers, Libertarian, I don't care, the country needs somebody to address what is really happening in this country. We are going broke; we are in the final stages of a somewhat enlightened period, complete with a middle class that enjoyed unparalleled growth and, to a degree financial parody.

But those times are at an end, why, "because it cost the upper classes way too much." They found that it was cheaper to ship jobs overseas, to pay an oriental $10 a day as opposed to paying an American worker $10 an hour. Can't really blame that thinking.....but is that type of thinking good for the country.....I don't think so. Hey boys, sometimes ya just have to bite the bullet.

I liked Ralph Nader, I like Ron Paul and I liked that old dude from Arizona, John McCain, and the lovely Sarah Palin. I also liked Michele "Bockman-Turner-Overdrive" Bachmann, "she's a fox." But would I want any of them to be "my president," absolutely not.

WHERE IN HELL IS PAT PAULSON?

That's right, bring back Pat Paulsen.....the S.T.A.G. party candidate, now there was a real leader who never won a public office in his life.....not even "dog catcher." Sadly Paulsen died back in 1997, leaving a void.....a hole in 3rd. party politics.

What does S.T.A.G. stand for, well my friends; hold onto your panty hose, S.T.A.G. "STRAIGHT TALKING AMERICAN GOVERNMENT." Now there's my 3rd. party.....can we get a real honest to goodness candidate in the next twenty days.....come on, let’s get a "grass roots" movement going.

  

GOBS OF JOBS!

GOBS OF JOBS!

(Huffington Post/Politico/Frazer Chronicle)

Oh happy day, we are getting on with our lives, coming out of whatever one might call a “depression, recession, panic, brother can you spear me a dime.....time, or just plain tough times.” The reason for all the commotion, the jobless rate in the United States went from 8.1% down to 7.8%. That's good, right?

Well not according to Allen West, a political animal from the great state of confusion....."No, wait, I'm just kidding," Big Al is a Republican Representative from Florida, that's the "gator state," right? Well anyways, Representative West called the latest "jobs report confusing to say the least."

West further states, that the Obama administration just might have "engineered" the jobs numbers to aid the president's reelection bid. "Well I never!" Actually I never have.....I mean rigged a political race, not even for dog catcher. I'm sure others have, in the long history of free open and honest elections here in the good old United States of America.

These days, people are ranting to their own crowd, what big Al said about the jobs report which was announced this morning, October 5, 2012, is really rather silly, I mean given the history of the most volatile of races, the presidency of the greatest country on the face of the planet, nothing would surprise me.

A CLOSER LOOK AT BIG ALLEN WEST:

Allen Bernard West was born in February 1961, educated at the University of Tennessee, Kansas State, and the U.S. Army Command & General Staff Officers College. Both of West’s parents were registered Democrats, but West remarked that they, (his parents) raised him "very conservatively." I'm not real sure what that last part means, but hey, it's his bio.

West entered military service in November 1983 and retired in 2004 with full military benefits. During his military career, "Big Al" was a decorated soldier with a Bronze Star, Meritorious Service Medal, three Oak Leaf Clusters, one Valor Device, Army Achievement Medal, Oak Leaf Cluster, Valorous United Award, Air Assault Badge and the Master Parachutist Badge.

Now at this juncture I gotta tell you, I'm impressed with all the "stuff" this guy earned for his "service" to our country. Hell with little exception, I couldn't tell you what any of those medals mean, except that he probably was one tough dude.....of course, remember, "I'm a lover.....not a fighter."

Of course there is one little bitty incident that I'm sure "Big Al" would rather forget, it involved an interrogation that happened in 2003, a weapon, a beating and left an Iraqi civilian with soiled underwear. The Iraqi, Yahya Jhodi Hamoodi, a civilian police officer allegedly plotted to attack "Big Al" and some of his men.

During the course of the interrogation, (by the way, West usually never attended interrogations) probably berating, kicking, punching and other such degrading efforts to get at the truth, "Big Al" pulled out his service revolver and fired a round close to "Yahya's" head. Of course the Iraqi police officer immediately sang like the proverbial canary.

There was no plot to ambush West and his men, and West was brought up on charges by the Army, receiving a $5000 fine. West commented after his article 15 hearing that "he knew what he did was wrong, but he would do anything to protect his men."

Now.....I ask you, "Do you really think that Lieutenant Colonel Allen Bernard West views the current presidential campaign much differently than the war in Iraq? I for one really, really wonder, is "Big Al" just protecting, and causing a diversion.....like the good soldier that he is?