UNTETHERED!

(New York Times, The Atlantic, Washington Post)

(Aljazeera, Belfast Telegraph, Voice of Russia)

(Abad-Santos, Huff Post, Frazer Chronicle)

 

Didn’t take much notice to the death by interrogation case involving law enforcement interview of Ibragim Todashev and his possible link to brothers Tamerlan, and Dzhokhar Tsarnaev, the reputed Boston Marathon bombers. I thought I’d wait a bit, and let the smoke and bull crap be cleared from the air before I took a closer look at the circumstances surrounding the bombing that caused the death of 3 and the injuries to 264 people.

 

Make no mistake about the bombing and the aftermath, the incident was a terrorist act, maybe domestic, but non-the-less, a terrorist act. The aftermath…..well the aftermath was pretty much predictable, cops, local, and state falling all over one-another. To compound an escalating situation, the F.B.I. poked their noses into the fray, further convoluting an already sticky situation.

 

Now right, up front, I completely understand that law enforcement had absolutely no other choice then to jump feet first into launching an investigation with whatever evidence there was, and to depose witnesses as quickly as possible.

 

Personally I think everything that law authorities did was proper and the prescribed way to conduct the post investigation of such an incident. That said, I find the interview with a possible third conspirator, Ibragim Todashev, to be highly questionable. Mixed martial arts, sabers or long knives, tipped over tables…..and no tape recorder, phone video, or interview notes…..sounds strangely like a Lee Harvey Oswald interview back in 1963…..did the interviewers have any links to the Dallas Police Department?

 

THE BROTHERS DZHOKHAR AND TAMERLAN TSARNAEV

Both brothers were born in Russia, Tamerlan in Kalmyk, ASSR, (Russia) in 1986, and Dzhokhar in Tokmok, Kyrgyzstan in 1993. Both were Islam, Tamerlan had dropped out of college, (Bunker-Hill Community College), while Dzhokhar was a college student at the time of the Marathon bombing, (University of Massachusetts).

 

The Tsarnaev family (the brothers have two sisters) moved to the United States in April 2002, using a 90 day tourist visa. The elder Dzhokhar, Anzor applied for asylum, citing fears of deadly persecution due to his ties to Chechnya, and during the next two years, Anzor Dzhokhar made arrangements for his entire family to move to the United States, and all became U.S. citizens in 2007.

 

Neither brother were either outstanding students or athletes, although Tamerlan became an accomplished boxer, both seemed to be popular, although Tamerlan seemed to have a quick trigger temper. The elder brother, Tamerlan, aspired to become a professional heavy weight boxer. In 2009-10 he (Tamerlan) was the New England Golden Gloves heavy weight champion, winning the Rocky Marciano Trophy. In May 2009 he fought at the nationals in the 201-pound weight division and lost a first round decision.

 

Dzhokhar, born in 1993 was a student at the time of the Marathon bombing, was taking a major in marine biology in hopes of becoming a dentist. Described as normal by fellow students and friends, most of those acquainted with Dzhokhar found it inconceivable that he could be one of the two bombers at first, calling it “completely out of character.”

 

The brothers are also accused of murdering an MIT Police Officer on April 18^th, carjacking an SUV and robbing the owner. In addition there are allegations of being involved in a 2011 triple homicide on September 11, 2011 in Waltham, Massachusetts.

 

To say the least the Tsarnaev brothers had a somewhat checkered background, but was there evidence of impending doom, and a terrorist act…..I guess only time will tell, but if law enforcement authority continues on eliminating witnesses or suspects, nobody will be around to depose, and attempt to get answers to some really weighty questions.

 

WHY DID THE AUTHORITIES KILL A SEEMING UNARMED MAN

What caused FBI agents and law enforcement officials to shoot and kill an unarmed man in Orlando, Florida on May 22, 2013? Why did law enforcement seem to release anonymous conflicting explanations so dubious all the information that was released needs to be questioned all on their own.

 

Okay I know what some of you are going to say, “if he was involved, (Ibragim Todashev) he got what he deserved,” well that’s not quite the way a democracy and a land that is governed by laws is supposed to operate, no matter the alleged crime.

 

Ibragim Todashev, a 27 year old Chechen was born in Russia in 1986, came to the United States on a student visa, was granted asylum, and in February 2013 was granted legal permanent residence. It is rumored that Todashev was about to sign a confession when he suddenly flipped out, threw a table at law enforcement, and came at them with a sword, or a knife…..some kind of fire-arm, or is this yet another example of law enforcement out of control.

 

According to the information that I’ve gleaned from already way too much about this incident, Todashev was being questioned at his apartment when he became agitated and attacked at least three law enforcement people that were questioning him.

 

Okay can we take this by the numbers, a possible accomplice to a terrorist bombing…..AND A TRIPLE HOMICIDE, and where does the interview take place, the possible perpetrators apartment…..and only by three, count um, three law enforcement people. And finally, last, but certainly not least, the questioning, sorry “I mean” interview, took place in the early morning hours, like 1 or 2:00 A.M.

 

The knife, or a gun, or some Oriental sward, forget about it, according to the FBI, Todashev was unarmed at the time of the interview. Plus according to a friend of Todashev, he, Todashev had a serious knee injury and was hobbling around just to get from his bedroom to the bathroom.

 

Apparently somehow Todashev first tipped over a table, catching law enforcement unawares, then threw a chair before the cops opened fire and according to Todashev’s father, shot his son 7 times, with the fatal shot being fired by an FBI agent who finished off the Chechen American citizen since February of 2013 with a bullet to the head.

 

Let’s see, Osama bin Laden dead, no interview,, several drone strikes, at least one killing an American citizen…..no interview, and the latest terrorist suspect not interviewed, do I detect a pattern here is America practicing what might be called expedient justice?  I advise everybody to take great care with the police and law enforcement attitudes and practices of the 21^st century!

 

HAVE A NICE DAY!

I HAVE A TANK AND NOWHERE TO PUT IT!

(USA TODAY, GFP Strength in numbers, Los Alamos Study Group)

(Stockholm International Peace Research Center)

(The Guardian, Frazer Chronicle)

 

I’m a dove, of that I’m pretty sure everybody that reads my blog knows, I hate war, conflict, or the act of subterfuge, which the United States seems to practice almost all of the time, and then covers that deception by declaring national securities risks. Ya, ya, I’ve heard about the military budget of the U.S. being more then the next 12 or 14 countries combined…..and I really don’t care, why should I, nobody else seems too.

 

I also know about those people who live by the motto, peace through strength, and what that connotation really means. I may have gotten off the banana boat a few days ago, but it’s for damn sure it wasn’t yesterday. The United States Pentagon, with mostly the blessing of Congress has developed a maze of complex and fragmented information, with hazy amounts for the defense of the United States, her allies, some developing countries, and even some of her enemies.

 

Because of this maze there is no clear path to the bottom line of spending by the Pentagon for the protection and safety of the United States, or her allies. Military retirement, veteran’s benefits and services, payments for past debts incurred and military experimentation and development of war machines.

 

I think that we can all agree that the United States, that would be us…..the taxpayer, spends far more than any country on the face of the planet…..in history. I have blogged in the past about the equipment that our military has, and some that is under development. War has changed since most military leaders were first in involved with making war, conflict, and skirmish plans.

 

I was in the military from 1963-65, that would be close to 48 years ago, and so military advancements would leave me well back in the dust of innovation at the Pentagon. Making war wasn’t quite so easy back in the late 1950’s and early 60’s, it was a lot more messy, blood, guts, brain matter were more pronounced back then.

 

Vietnam cost the United States more than 57,000 casualties, and several hundred thousand wounded and injured that needed long term care. Of course that was an undocumented number of veterans from the war that went untreated, and didn’t collect a penny in benefits. These people simply vanished into the fabric of the country that is an ever expanding war wounded that most people want to ignore, leaving them to their own devices.

 

WHAT BROUGHT THIS SUBJECT UP

Glad you ask that question, and it is germane to what seems to be happening in Syria today. I’m talking about a headline in today’s edition, May, 30, 2013, of the USA TODAY, (SYIRA’S WOUNDS BLEED INTO OTHER NATIONS). It seems that no world power can resist the aspect and potential of a war; they seem to almost gleefully grab a set on the train of war that is traveling happily towards the oblivion that war always causes.

 

 

 

 

Nothing is ever achieved by going to war, political peace talks (should) solve every war, or the prospect of war!  There is always blow-back, there are always after-effects, and with little exception, no country is ever fully prepared for war.

 

Russia lost a bloody assist war effort in Afghanistan, the French lost a war in Vietnam, as did the United States, and left Iraq without securing some sort of victory. And now the U.S. is in the process of losing an occupation war of attrition in Afghanistan. With the exception of the skirmishes that went on in Afghanistan, every other conflict that the U.S. has been in was preemptive.

 

It’s like the old movie Mafia hits, kill everybody cause someday one of the ancestors might take up a weapon and kill ya. It was fun to watch in the gangster movies, it made things exciting to see if a relative survived the killing purge.

 

But now, in 2013, when the United States has stretched that old band-aid war effort almost to a breaking point, it’s for damn sure that I don’t want the blood of the Syrian Civil War to touch the United States in any way, shape, or form, no room at the inn, all full, sorry, try a different country!

 

What is going on in Syria is a Syrian problem, I personally could care less about the Middle East, if Jordan, Lebanon, Russia and Iraq feel the need to join in, go for it. The Sunni and Shiite’s have been going at it for centuries, there used to hating one another. I see absolutely no reason on God’s green earth to stick our noses where it doesn’t belong, if you’d call me an isolationists, fine, happy to meet you…..it’s I guess what I am.

 

HERE’S MY REASONS

Here is a short list of why the United States cannot continue waging war almost on the world, are allies seem to turn into our enemies on a yearly basis. Without a program it’s becoming impossible to keep the players apart…..and really hard to identify the good guys from the bad, cause so many wars are fought against people that don’t wear conventional uniforms. Remember the good old days; a Nazi was a Nazi because of those squiggly insignias on their helmets.

 

Well now, the United States enemy wears what looks like bed-sheets with a bath towel wrapped around their head. Geez, everybody knows a bath towel will not stop a bullet, and a bed sheet absolutely will not act as body armor.

 

The United States spends, currently $682 billion, while the next 14 nations spend $800 billion, kind of ridiculous when one considers that that the next 14 nations, China, Russia, United Kingdom, Japan, France, Saudi Arabia, India, Germany, Italy, Brazil, South Korea, Australia, Canada, and Turkey are more or less our allies.

 

I mean where in hell are we going to put the following pieces of military equipment:

1. Active front line personnel, 1,477,896

2. Tanks, 8,325

3. Self-Propelled guns, 1,934

4. Towed artillery pieces, 1,791

5. Rocket projectors, 1,330

6. Portable mortar systems, 7,500

7. Portable AT weapons, 28,000

8. Logistical vehicles, 106,407

 

Air power:

1. Total aircraft, 15,293

2. Helicopters, 6,665

 

Naval power:

1. Aircraft carriers, 10

2. Frigates, 24

3. Destroyers, 61

4. Submarines, 71

5. Coastal craft, 12

6. Mine warfare, 14

7. Amphibious, 28

 

Logistical:

1. Labor force, 153,600.000

2. Merchant Marine strength, 465

3. Major ports and terminals, 21

4. Roadway coverage, 6,506, 304

5. Railroad coverage, 224,792

6. Serviceable airports, 15,709

 

Financial:

1. Defense budget, $689,591,000,000

2. External debt, $14,710,000,000,000

 

Debits and credits, it’s what accounting is all about, and it seems as if a defense budget  of more than 600 billion with an external debt of…..ah…..wait…..I don’t think that my calculator can compute that second number, so I guess I’ll long hand it, $14,710,000,000,000. I kind of think its 14 trillion 710 billion…..no matter, it’s a boat load of bucks!

 

The two things that scream out to me are the tanks and almost the entire naval strength, how are we ever going to deploy 8,325 tanks, and what good is our naval power when we seem to be fighting in sand dunes. I could go further, armored fighting vehicles, 18,539; 106,407 Logistical Vehicles, I’m not sure that the United States has enough area for close to 125,000 war wagons.

 

And the air force, 15,293 aero planes, what to do with those babies that cost millions of dollars a copy, I mean the last time I checked the people that we are fighting can’t even get a kite off the ground. I do however understand I aspect of our military spending, petroleum products, 18,949,000 barrels a day, we gotta get that from somewhere, and somebody…..sssssssssssssooooooooooo, that’s it, now everything becomes clear to me, we make war to replace the gas and diesel that we use!

 

HAVE A NICE DAY?

CENTER FOR DESEASE CONTROL AND MY TRUCK SEAT-BELT?

(Center for Disease Control and Prevention, USA TODAY)

(Larry Copeland, Oren Dorell, Alan Gomez)

(National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA)

(Frazer Chronicle)

 

Okay the Memorial week-end is over, we have honored our service-men, proclaiming each and every one heroes, and mostly they are…..but it’s time to move on to other meaty subjects, things that have bugged me for years…..let me see now, Roundabouts, I’ve done them, Government Interference With Our Daily Lives, a huge subject matter that I’ve barely touched, Police Violence Towards Citizens, done it several times, but again…..the subject needs watching all of the time, or what about the Silly, Stupid Wars That The United States Keeps Waging, just blogged that…..I’ve got it, Safety Belts!

 

I’m old enough to remember when safety devices that strapped a driver into his seat was called a safety belt, and it got me to thinking, exactly where did the modern seat belt come from, and who the hell was responsible for the sometimes restraining device.

 

It just had to be a European, right…..actually no, the designer of the American safety belt was patented by Edward J. Claghorn of New York, New York in February of 1885, and was…..with hooks, designed to be applied to the person, the hooks and other attachments for securing the person to a fixed object.

 

Nils Bohlin, a Swede, in 1959 introduced the lap-and-shoulder device, (the three point belt) that was a feature on the Volvo. For the time, according to auto safety buffs, the three point belt was an auto industry revolutionary safety feature which has grown to its current mandatory feature on every vehicle manufactured since either the late 1970’s, or the early 80’s.

 

In 1921, Henry Ford’s Model T was equipped with a kind of child car seat, for an extra few dollars, however they were vastly different then today’s high tech devices. Ford’s Model T child safety seat was a series paper sacks with draw-strings attached to the back seat…..still, a step towards a safer ride…..at least for kids.

 

Finally in 1978, Tennessee became the first state in the union to required child safety seats; however there is no universal safety standard in the U.S. with the exception of types and manufacturer of the safety device. The ages and where kids can sit in a car can vary from state to state, and booster seats can be required in some states in kids up to and including 9 years of age.

 

Without a doubt seatbelts has been a God-send to drivers as well as passengers, and their safety and as a tool in fighting injuries sustained in an automobile accident. However, there’s that pesky however raising its ugly head again in one of my blogs…..however, I have a little more than a spot of trouble whenever government mandates safety devises to safeguard the citizenry…..I feel that our safety is…..well, OUR BUSINESS!

 

DO SAFETY BELTS MAKE BETTER DRIVERS

That’s a trick question, of course seat-belts don’t make for safer and better drivers, some people aren’t ever going to be safe drivers. The air-heads, those absent minded jerks that have what I call the swivel heads, these people are continually looking from side to side, with little regard to where they should be looking.

 

 

Then there’s the rocking-chair driver, the person who goes between 35-55 miles an hour, even though they’ve got cruise control right at their finger-tips. These people can almost be more of a hazard on the roads that a full blown drunk.

 

There’s also the texting person, the cell phone user, the person, usually women who approach driving like their riding a horse, you know, the gal with one foot by the gas pedal and the other foot gammed up against the driver’s door with her left knee almost hanging out her window, boy is that position a ready one for a sudden miss-step by another driver.

 

I used to drive a semi-truck so I know what I’m talking about, and men usually are no better than women when it comes to safe driving. A vast majority of the drivers on the road today wear their seat-belts, however…..wearing safety belts will not guard against cell phones, food, drink, smoking, radio noise, and conversation with others in a car.

 

What can make for a safer driver on the highways of America today, as a former professional driver, I really do not have a clue. Oh sure, unsafe driving practices can be ticketed, but usually aren’t, the vast majority of unsafe bone-heads tool on down the road in blissful thought, not recognizing what either they just missed, or have caused.

 

EVERYBODY CAN NOT DRIVE A CAR

I recall my mother some 20 years ago lamenting about not being able to drive anymore…..the women was in her late 70’s, and actually didn’t have to drive, she lived with my sister. But she fought like the old hardened bat that she was, and although she finally gave up her license, she did so secure in the knowledge that she had taken several DMV administrators down with her.

 

Big misconception, people do not have the right to drive, it’s a privilege, we all know people that have as much business behind the wheel of a car is the little kid next door. Their perception might be awful, distances between cars, oncoming traffic, or the worst, oblivious to road conditions and the weather that can be a determining factor in so many accidents.

 

There is some kind of perception that wearing a safety belt can make a bad driver a better driver, the seat belt suddenly transforms a poor driver into at least a mediocre driver, and a fair driver and good driver. This miss-conception seems to be held by people, some in law enforcement, the Center for Disease Control and Prevention as well as the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration. 

 

This perception is far from the truth, and those agencies and people who prescribe to this notion are actually adding gasoline to the fire. Good drivers are made, not born, competent sound decision making drivers are aware people, they are aware to their surroundings, and are anticipating drivers, and I mean that anticipating drivers actually drive defensively, yet seem to drive aggressively.

 

Have I got you confused by what I just said…..defensive drivers, drive aggressively, what I mean is that good drivers drive almost every mile that they log with a defensive attitude, but based on their powers of observation follow the driving laws…..which if followed can be somewhat aggressive. Driving with the flow of traffic…..no matter the speed is the most logical thing to do. In Chicago or New York, if the posted speed limit is 50 MPH, and the average speed is 61 miles an hour, for safety sake, it makes little or no sense to observe the speed limit because you will become a danger to the majority of the traffic.

 

 

When you drive in traffic, bumper to bumper traffic, changing lanes, or tailgating makes little sense, and you are an accident waiting to happen. Seat belts do not make safe drivers; in fact it probably gives some people the false impression that they actually are what the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration might call you, a statistically sound driver, however beware, I call most of those statistically sound drivers white knuckle, they drive with tunnel-vision, looking straight ahead, and neither to the right or left, or I think even in their rear view mirror.

 

HERE’S THE LOW-DOWN GAG

Seat belt laws accomplish two very important things for the business community as well as law enforcement, why more people don’t understand these facts is way beyond me. Number one, when people wear seat belts, their injuries are usually less catastrophic…..and absolutely that is a good thing.

 

Air bags, and seat belts for automobiles, and helmets for snowmobilers and motorcycles make sense, the devises keep people safer, and the protection factor is undeniable. But let’s call a spade a spade here, a person in a vegetable state after an auto accident costs an insurance company millions of dollars during the victim’s life-time.

 

A broken are, leg, or wrist is a manageable injury, not only to a hospital, but to the insurance company as well. So for them, (hospitals and insurance companies), any protection devise is a panacea for their bottom line…..profit and loss.

 

And number two, law enforcement uses seat belt laws also as a sort of the same panacea that hospitals and insurance companies do, through a system of citation that are written for seat belt offenses, municipalities can rake in hundreds of thousands of dollars a year. It’s kind of like the month end, and ticket writing to fill quotas…..or don’t you believe that law enforcement depends on moving violation fine money to either pad or maintain the old operating budget?

 

As I’ve mentioned, (I use my seat belt whenever I drive), I initially didn’t care for a federal mandate, but I came around, relented, and I don’t really know what I’d do without seat belts. And ya, people that don’t wear their safety belts aren’t the cat’s behind, their just stupid asses.

 

HAVE A NICE DAY!

COME ON BOYS AND GIRLS, TAXATION HAS AN EXTREMELY LONG-ESTABLISHED HISTORY!

(WWW.WORLDWIDE-TAX.COM, New York Times, Frazer Chronicle)

 

Taxes have been around for centuries, they are why some people change their residence, and even country. There always seems to be a question about a government’s taxation program, wars have been waged, tea has been thrown into oceans, there’s been a sugar act, a stamp act, and a tea party, all either in response to a tax, or a tax levy.

 

People for hundreds of years have fussed, fought and finagled seeking ways to get around paying taxes. There have been thousands of books written about either the right or wrong way regarding the tax questions, and either why taxes are a necessity, or an abuse of power by a government.

 

Governments have passed import and export taxes, corporate tax, income taxes on us all, a negative income tax, Social Security Tax, property tax, inheritance tax, expatriation tax, transfer tax, wealth tax, taxes on goods and services, value added tax, sales and excise taxes, pigovian tax, all created to generate either revenue for specific services, or to address problems that are caused by either the use or to a market activity that is generating negative externalities.

 

I’m not sure that I understand these neoconservatives that want to cut the tax rate, and eliminate government. Oh sure I realize that of any organization that you might want to examine with regards to efficient operation wouldn’t include our Federal Government, pretty much because many officials are out of control and have lost sight of why they are in their current positions.

 

For some jack-ass like Grover Norquist to develop some sort of tax initiative where elected officials sign a pledge not to raise taxes, to me is really stupid. If they raise taxes, or are part of establishing a higher tax rate, do they lose their key to the executive rest-room because they broke their pledge?

 

People that want to down size government seem to never have an answer to what we will do without whatever program or department is cut; it is the fatal flaw in the argument of reducing taxes and government.

 

ARE WE PAYING TO MUCH RIGHT NOW

Is the United States paying too much of a percentage of their earnings, where do we rate on the world statistical scale regarding our corporate and their individual rates? I can tell you this, the United States is listed, (corporate wise) on the high side at between 15-35%, but is one of only a handful of countries that operate under a percentage variable rate, there are only 6 other countries in the world who operate under this type of system.

 

Denmark, 38-65%, Spain, 24.75-52%, Austria, 21-50%, United Kingdom, 0-45%, Italy, 23-43% all pay way more than the United States currently pays, (15-35%) for corporate taxes, yet the U.S. corporate structure hollers the loudest.

 

I personally think that the U.S. tax structure, for business as well as individual is relatively fair if you carefully examine what other countries tax their citizenry. I’ve heard all the arguments regarding tax reform, tax breaks, and how we need to shift the tax burden from the poor to the rich, and although I think that the rich should pay a fairer share of taxes, I think most individual taxpayers across the board do pay a decent amount of taxes.

 

I do not buy the argument that the rich and shameless would create more jobs if their taxes were lowered, or actually eliminated as some wish for. Corporate American does not survive by creating more jobs in the job market, corporate America survives by lowering their operational costs whenever possible, it’s their holy grail!

 

Taxing citizens has a long and established history, the ancient Egyptians appointed Tax Masters who increased the burden on the (children of Israel-slaves under Egyptian domination). As a general rule, tax is the source that is best exploited by the government. Taxes are imposed on individuals and companies to finance services that the state obligated to provide and to meet its goals, or at least it was the general feeling of the ancients in Egypt.

 

Tax is divided into two main categories, progressive and regressive, progressive tax is graduated and its rates vary according to the taxpayer’s income. Regressive tax is a tax at a fixed rate irrespective of the taxpayer’s income.

 

TAX RATES

This is the crux of the problem, or the battle ground of the question of tax-paying, and tax reform, and it’s been going on for years. With little exception the wealthy feel that they are paying too much, and the middle class on down figure that the top one or two percent should pay more.

 

A tax is imposed on individual income by the Federal Government, most states and many local governments. The tax is determined by applying a tax rate which may increase as income increases, and this were the battleground begins. Gray areas abound with regards to partnerships, are they taxable, do individual taxes apply, what percentage of taxes are in order, do off shore accounts considered, and on and on.

 

Until there is a drastic change in the thinking on Capitol Hill, tax rates and laws will favor the extremely rich, and the corporations that go along with them!  It seems that all of us would have wised up by this point, and come to some sort of mutual understanding about tax rates, and their collections…..BUT, not yet.

 

A flat tax would make things really, really simple, but don’t expect anything like that any time soon, legislators have loaded up on state and federal statute books with all manner of curious taxes, surtaxes, credits, exemptions, deductions, depletions, allowances and the occasional GOTCHAS.

 

AREN’T YOU GLAD YOU DON’T PAY THESE STATE TAXES

Arkansas, body piercing tax, 6%

California, deals for Ottoman Empire victims, (1915-1923), a tax exemption

Hawaii, grow a tree…..get a $3,000 tax deduction

Maryland, oyster break, aquaculture float credit, tax credit for oyster harvesting

Minnesota, toke tax, before lighting up pick up a tax stamp…..$3.50 per gram

New York, haunted house tax, covers Halloween show with music, surcharge if ticket price exceeds .10

Seattle, death tax, if you die within city limits, you owe $50

 

 

 

 

 

 

AND THE TAX DEDUCTIONS ARE

Body oil, body builders who use oil to highlight muscles

Pet food, cats protect business from rats and vermin

Swimming pool, deductable if swimming is prescribed by doctor

Babysitting fee, deductable if you volunteer for charity work

Free beer, the cost of beer, given to customers as a business promotion…..a deduction

 

NO YOU CAN’T DEDUCT THESE

Racehorses, you can’t declare a racehorse as a business deduction because you take a client to the racetrack

Therapeutic sex, you can’t declare sex with a prostitute and pornography as a medical expense even with a doctor’s prescription

 

Well there you have it, the serious and the not so serious; I’ve found it’s always better to somehow add a bit of comedy into the mix whenever possible.

 

HAVE A NICE DAY!

EVERYTHING IS TOPS-TURVY!

(ANTI WAR.COM, USA TODAY, Frazer Chronicle)

 

I’m a taxpayer, just like almost every other citizen in our country, I’m not special, or need some kind of perceived consideration because of my age, or station in life, I’m more then capable of doing for myself with regards to everything that goes in the rigors of everyday life. One thing I do however need, just like all the rest of the citizens that make up our country is the truth…..and when I find situations where I’ve been lied to, and things have been fabricated…..using my own money, I get really, really pissed off.

 

I was born in 1943, so I guess that makes me a war-time baby, my dad never served a single day in military service, he had a double hernia, actually what is called a Hiatal Hernia, a weakness in the diaphragm, it was operable, he just chose not to have the procedure done…..thus a get out of the war card.

 

I spent my time in the military, two years, I never ever liked my time there, I didn’t see the sense in running around the deserts of Arizona, or through the woods of Europe playing soldier. All of the cadre while I was in the military were either World War 2, or Korean veterans…..and they had some horrific tales to tell. I learned early on, that when the stories tended to glorify military events, they were usually not true stories; it was the more subdued, sad stories that were usually true.

 

There was propaganda before I was in the military, there was propaganda while was serving, and of course there’s been propaganda since my departure. I paid little attention to the seeming departure from the truth that our war department seemed to follow to sell their activity. After my active duty, and after I was basically through with raising my kids, I slowly became aware of the crap that our government sometimes laid on us…..thickly.

 

However over the past 12 years, the bull---- birds have really come to the forefront, and I feel the need to speak out, and admonish those people either in charge, or those in the back-ground who push the buttons of war…..enough already!

 

The Government Accountability Office, (GOA) takes a stab at the Pentagon for spending hundreds of millions of dollars over the past 8 years in an effort to sell the war against terror to the United States as well as many Middle Eastern nations. Although the stories of advertising programs of the Pentagon didn’t shock me, it did make me want to sit down and do my part as a dove and a peace advocate, I’ve had it with these war mongering dinks.

 

ANTI WAR .COM

Ya there’s a web-site out there called ANTI WAR .COM and I’m neither an advocate or supporter of the site, I’m just glad that somebody out there voices a different opinion about the war, the casualties, and the broken minds and bodies that come back home from these foreign lands…..it’s not right that they are broken beyond repair, they deserve better.

 

I’m a big stat person, way down at the end of the line; statistics can’t be disputed, if 18,584 military have been listed as wounded in Iraq and Afghanistan, and 4,488 have lost their lives in Iraq and an additional 2,224 have met their maker in Afghanistan…..these are undeniable facts, and they have effected well over 20,000 families.

 

 

Just think of that for a minute, a decent sized city of 20,000 inhabitance are in either mourning, or readying themselves for another day of care for a returned loved one from the battle fields of the Middle East who are broken, battered beyond repair…..all they are is a daily ritual of bed sores, colostomy bags and bandage changing.

 

For them, the war is over, sadly their life is mostly also over, depending on the extent of their wounds, they won’t ever throw a baseball to their sons, will never again want to pro-create, and in many cases will hide from the general public to ashamed to face even their closeted family members.

 

FROM BOYHOOD, TO THE BATTLEFIELD, TO THE GRAVE

The USA TODAY had a headline in the May 24, 2013 edition which read, FROM BOYHOOD TO THE BATTLEFIELD, and I understand where they were coming from, but I figured that expanding the headline to include TO THE GRAVE was a more complete and to the point headline. Included are stories about sons and family members lost in the two wars.

 

In every war mostly men get killed, come home in body bags, greeted by the anguished cries of mothers, fathers, sisters, brothers, friends and lovers. Without exception we need to focus on these scenes, it’s why we don’t want to make war.

 

I personally could care less why a young man or women felt the need to serve his country, the urge was misguided, misunderstood, and just plain wrong. If everybody laid their arms on the ground, how much war do you think would be made…..I guess a nice round figure of zero would about cover the equation.

 

However the people that are really misguided are the mothers, the fathers and the family members who talk tradition, that talk…..to me, is non impressive, doesn’t equate a feeling of thankfulness, or of patriotic duty, I just wonder how they figure on dodging the bullets that will be coming their way in a war zone.

 

I don’t blame the people that sign-up for military service, although I feel that whatever their reason, it is misguided, and a part of the convoluted reason is the propaganda that the Pentagon has put out there. Like the few, the proud, (the idiots), high powered stuff for an impressive kid to wade through, especially if a father, mother, sister, brother and family member has survived, or, God forbid, has been killed in action.

 

I WILL SHED A TEAR

I will shed a tear for those men and women that haven’t returned from the battlefields of the Middle East, but I also don’t want one more American to shed one single bead of blood in some God-forsaken sand box. I really don’t care why they say we need to be there.

 

It’s way past the time to believe the anorexic tail that both politicians and the Pentagon talk about with regards to Iraq, Afghanistan, Libya, Iran, North Korea, or any of the half dozen other war potential areas of the world that we want to spread our brand  of justice, political thinking or democratic lifestyle.

 

 

The Pentagon…..I’m almost at a loss for words, first, the Pentagon is the War Department of the United States, I’ve said it before, and I’m saying it now…..the Pentagon is the United States War Department and we’d better come to grips with that fact.

 

 

 

The Pentagon has zero interest in stopping waging war, it’s not in their best interest, and they’re the only organization in the United States that would suffer with an end to hostilities in the world. Not one military industry would fold up and blow away, they would simple diversify back into whatever they manufactured before war was declared!

 

I will not shed a tear if wars stop, if people come to understand that we are doing nothing more than to feed giant corporations an unending supply of monetary gain as more wars are declared. I will not shed a tear if the Pentagon falls on hard times if there aren’t any wars to fight.

 

PARDON ME…..I’VE GOTTA LAUGH AGAIN

How snowed does the Pentagon really think that they can shovel are way…..or maybe it’s not snow that there shoveling, but s---! Since 2005 the Pentagon has spent hundreds of millions of dollars on what they call, Military Information Support Operations, (MISO). Websites, leaflets and broadcasts intended to change foreigner’s attitudes, behaviors, and support of the United States Government.

 

There are still people (out there), I mean (really out there) who figure that we can alter by some simple advertising by some bozo military generals or worse, some professional advertising agency. The excuse to why the propaganda hasn’t worked very well…..so far, poor tracking procedures, that Congress doesn’t have a full picture, they Pentagon can’t measure effectively the results of the propaganda, and that the Pentagon and their propaganda lacks goals with regards to where they should put their propaganda.

 

I can’t help it…..harg, harg, harg, (a laugh from the bottom of my belly) a short laughable view into the secret attitudes of our defense department. Thanks boys, but I just didn’t need the laugh…..it costs way too much.

 

In the old days, when I was young, water was wet, the sun was bright, and winters were cold, now everything is TOPSY TURVY!

 

HAVE A NICE DAY!