TO CUT OR NOT TO CUT…..THAT IS THE QUESTION!

TO CUT OR NOT TO CUT…..THAT IS THE QUESTION!

(FRAZER CHRONICLE)

(All the News That Nobody Else Will Print)

 

I am so sick of partisan politicking…..and the silly season (election cycle) is almost upon us, I’m not sure what us quote-unquote sane people are going to do. The latest salvo across the bow, at least here in Wisconsin is Governor Scott Walker lumping Democratic candidate Mary Burke and former Governor Jim Doyle together when talking about Burke’s stand on raising taxes to the tune of billions of dollars between 2005 and 2010.

Walker accused Doyle of raising the burden of higher taxes on the middle class through tax hikes on nursing home beds, gas, phone and garbage. The tax hikes created billions in state deficits, and unemployment rates higher than the national average,

I believe that anybody who reads my blogs understands the disdain that I have for politicians, Democrats, Republicans, Teabaggers…..and any other political party that’s out there. The United States is in trouble…..deep trouble, almost to the point where a fix is impossible. Don’t get me wrong, America is, and has been, a grand experiment, possibly the grandest and greatest in the history of the world.

However there are forces out there who figure that the United States is an exception to the rules of…..well…..humanity. And that is just not true, there are rules and regulations, not written down, but non-the-less have to be followed, that the U.S. is simply oblivious of. At this point, the citizens of the world do not care about the needs of the United States; I’ll say that again, because it bears repeating; citizens of the world do not care about the needs of the United States!

I’ll tell you why I feel this way, and in the end, if you are swayed to my way of thinking, you’ll wonder why you didn’t see the simple essence of my thought process. With very little exception, country’s worry about their own, worry about the care of their own, and in the end do care for their own. That is not to say the country’s care for their people is always the best of efforts, however they do make an attempt to care for their own.

HERE IN THE UNITED STATES

Here in the United States, we have a jumble of contradicting issues in how to take care of our own…..and in some cases, the political forces would simply as soon take the ill, the poor, and the non-producers out into a field under a big oak tree…..and walk away. Walk away and let those people die, putting an end to the tedious job of taking care of those less fortunate, or those who aren’t willing to produce, and work.

When Governor Scott Walker, his administration, and his handlers throw out wild accusations of how a former elected official operated, there are actually two different trains of thought that emerge here. Of course number one, the American taxpayer is paying way too much on taxes; and number two, the programs that will benefit from these taxes are unnecessary.

Without exception when an additional tax is proposed, there is little or no talk about what the program that the tax would pay for will do for people, whether these people are in need, and actually who benefits from whatever program has been suggested.

I have decided to completely block off these silly politicians and their rhetoric concerning tax hikes, or those politicians who pledge to never raise taxes. The tax pledge thing is completely asinine; there are times when, in an emergency, additional funds are necessary, and the only way to get them is through our tax system.

Republicans are always talking about unbalanced budgets, Democrats are always talking about unbalanced budgets, and both parties are always talking about deficit spending. And both parties are always selecting committees to study why budgets aren’t balanced…..like it’s some kind of secret thing that can’t be understood.

The real problem is that we, as the constituency aren’t being represented properly; there are all sorts of in-fighting between the parties that wastes the efforts to address the real issues. As I mentioned at the top of this article, I’m sick and tired of partisanship, bickering like little kids. It’s a smokescreen that blocks the real issues from view.

I say we fire the whole lot of them…..no more incumbents, vote each and every jerk…..even those who aren’t jerks. I’m for term limits, get on the band wagon…..let’s go…..one term only, one term only, one term only. Sounds like a great war-cry to me!

 

HAVE A NICE DAY!

THE DELICATE CONDITION OF AMERICAN’S MEDICAL HEALTH CARE!

THE DELICATE CONDITION OF AMERICAN’S MEDICAL HEALTH CARE!

(FRAZER CHRONICLE)

(All the News That Nobody Else Will Print)

 

American’s health care and the value of a dollar bill, they go together like Mom and her apple pie, you read about it every day, but with little exception people don’t shout out in anger or despair, they bite the bullet or continue going to the emergency room for their health care maintenance. People simply do not talk about the issue because it touches so many and has the potential to touch so many more.

The loss of a job where health care is offered, a catastrophic illness or injury or those people who do not have access to medical health care can all end up in an emergency seeking some sort of medical care, knowing that they don’t have any type of medical insurance.

Health care insurance is less than a hundred year old concept in the United States and it took a tax exemption to get the ball rolling. In 1939 group health care was introduced as an employee benefit and in 1940 insurance premium funds were exempt from federal taxes. This exemption set the stage for the development of the group health insurance market. The tax exempt status of health insurance premiums remains in effect to this day.

In 1966 Medicare and Medicaid were introduced by the Lyndon Johnson administration, putting the federal government in the health insurance business in a big-time way, today these two programs are called entitlements and contribute significantly to the country’s deficit.

The Health Maintenance Organization Act of 1974 (HMO) was supposed to be a panacea for governmentally operated health care aid…..and did work for a while…..but not so much anymore. HMO’s were supposed to curtail out of pocket costs…..and to a degree it has, but overall the act has done little to combat the raising costs of medical care.

Of course everybody has heard about the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act, (PPACA) and the jury…..of course, is out…..way out with regards to how it will work. Enacted in 2010 with relatively little fanfare, the (PPACA) has become a political football, and whatever good the act was designed for is probably years off in measuring whether it was a good, mediocre, or bad idea.

THOSE THAT DESIGNED THE PPACA

Those people and organizations who sat down and designed the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act did so with little oversight from the actual people that it was supposed to benefit. Part of the problem IS the very people who’s task it was to design the act…..an act that, to a degree, would eliminate those people who are in position to gain the most from the patients who are supposed to be protected.

There was, and is, absolutely no benefit for doctors, medical clinics, or hospitals to change the programs that govern the costs of medical procedures, care, aftercare, and prescriptions that all help to doctor sick or injured people. Every time a patient walks through the entry doors of a doctor’s office, or a health care clinic, a hospital, or an emergency room there is a ka-ching that goes off at the admittance desk. What is the first question that you are asked when being admitted to a health facility…..”And you’re insurance company is?”

There is a similarity between a hospital and a gambling casino, they are both clean, brightly++++lit++++, and perform the very same service…..they take your money. Hospitals do however give something in return, medical treatment…..but down at the end of the line, each person feels the same, no matter which place they are talking about.

It was a stroke of genius, those people that submitted their names, or were nominated to be a part of the designers of the Patient Protection plan…..I know, I talk from experience, I spent a bit more than a week in a medical facility…..and am paying for the services rendered to this day, nine months later, and will continue paying for the foreseeable future.

Health care is a tempting target for thieves and legitimate health providers, how could it be any other way when one considers that more than $2.8 trillion a year is spent…..or approximately 17% of the Gross Domestic Product (GDP).  Hell, I’d be tempted.

AND THE PERPETATORS ARE

Well, I suppose just about anybody that works in the industry, from the heads of the medical care profession, to those that administer the care to the janitor who cleans up the mess. You didn’t really think that a band-aid costs $25, did you?

And the worst part of the entire situation is the fact that everybody knows that it’s going on, and we all know those that are cheating…..and we do nothing what-so-ever about it. Doctors, nurses, administrators, advertising agencies, pharmaceutical companies…..and government officials…..and patients…..we are guilty to some degree.

It is an atmosphere, an attitude…..and a business as usual practice that allows the carnage to continue, and it will continue until we wake up and smell the roses…..and I don’t mean the Four Roses either! We need a complete overhaul of our medical process in the United States, if we don’t; it’ll be one of the major issues that, in the end…..will spell our demise as a country.

 

HAVE A NICE DAY!

JUSTIFICATION FOR DRONE MURDER!

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(All the News That Nobody Else Will Print)

 

The United States can use lethal force against American citizens that are overseas, if that person is part of an enemy organization seeking to attack the United States, according to a once-secret memo released Monday. The 2011 killing of one such American, al Qaeda leader Anwar al-Awlaki…..was justified because it was carried out under applicable laws of war, the memo said.

I served in the U.S. military, so I was aware that wars did have rules…..in fact 161 such rules, but these rules of engagement can be defined differently, depending on which country is interpreting them. Apparently the United States figures that the use of drones to eliminate enemies against the state, no matter where they collect their mail from…..U.S. citizens.

It’s what happened to American citizens Anwar al-Awlaki, his teenage son, Abdularhman al-Awlaki, Abd al-Rahman Anwar al-Aulaqi, and Jude Kenan Mohammed. These targeted killings are unprecedented in the annuals of American military history, and speaks to exactly how antiquated the rules that govern military action, and the Geneva Convention rules that many nations have signed into, and accepted as the rule of law during military confrontations.

To my way of thinking, the above mentioned deceased were executed without the benefit of legal advice, a trial of their peers, and the chance to defend themselves…..and address their accusers. Each, as American citizens deserved these rights. The United States military acted as judge, jury, and executioners.

Eric Holder, U.S. Attorney General stated that “since 2009, the United States, in the conduct of U.S. counterterrorism operations against al-Qaida and its associated forces outside of areas of active hostilities, has specifically targeted and killed United States citizens.”

I HATE WAR

Without a doubt, when men make war, the activity brings out the very worst in man…..not just a few, but mostly every man. War is not romantic, and it does not bring out the best in man, quite the contrary, it brings out the beast that seems to be in every one of us.

We seem to be on a runaway train that is doing nothing but gaining speed, as a people, we are committing atrocities, one human against another. Nobody seems to be immune to the malady, and worse, few men seem to want to get off of the train.

I’ve said it before, and I’ll say it again…..As a people, we seem to need an enemy. Without Russia to kick around…..we went out looking for another combatant to play war against. The Middle East was ready, seemingly willing, and able to cross swards with the United States. The trouble is, these terrorists are proving to be a worthy adversary.

Throughout U.S. history war has been uppermost in our storyline, Revolutionary War, War of 1812, Indian wars, Spanish-American War, Civil War, World War I, World War II, Korean conflict, Vietnam, the cold war which lasted from 1946 into 1990…..and now the war on terrorists. Will it ever end…..this hunger for military confrontation?

HAVE YOU NOTICED THE REMOTE CONTROL APPROACH TO WAR

Modern warfare, the 21^st century war-making is totally different than any wars that have been fought, and in some cases even thought about. Medical research and practice has meant less death resulting from wounds, but many more debilitating injuries that need long term care.

There is no conscription in the United States and the management and release of news with regards to what is available is monitored like at no other time in the history of the United States. In addition a patriotism practice is at an all-time high.

And the trust factor seems necessary in today’s edition of how the United States practices its war encounters. Targeting U.S. citizens for drone strikes with the expressed purpose of their death is tantamount to murder…..there is no other way to view a situation where a remote controlled machine is sent out to identify, and then shoot a human being.

Are these people guilty of a crime…..of course they are, if you read, listen, and watch news coverage of the incidents. Our intelligence services, Homeland Security, and the Pentagon all are doing yeoman service that helps collectively to keep and protect American citizens.

Since the attacks in September of 2001, some in governmental positions, the intelligence community, and our military have been writing new, and far reaching materials that seem to be destroying some of our inalienable rights as prescribed by the Constitution. I’m wondering if the next drone eavesdrop activity, or a targeting of American citizens will be covered with vim and vigor by our media…..or if it will be quietly put in the middle of section C.

HAVE A NICE DAY!

IT’S WHORE-WOMPY TIME AGAIN!

IT’S WHORE-WOMPY TIME AGAIN!

(FRAZER CHRONICLE)

(All the News That Nobody Else Will Print)

I’m not sure why people still care whatever it is that Dick Cheney has to say, I personally tired of his act a decade ago…..and apparently time hasn’t helped this relic of a politician to come to grips with what he’s all about. Richard Bruce Cheney that’s who, the guy simply loves to hear himself pontificate…..do you know exactly what the word means…..pontificate, “to speak or write and give your opinion as if you actually knew what you were talking about.”

Yup that would be Dick Cheney alright; he’s never seen or heard of a political point of view that didn’t jibe with his wacky opinion that he didn’t either want to attack, or in fact did attack. What Dick Cheney has is a hard case of being vaccinated at birth with a Victrola needle (a Victrola was a phonograph machine that used to play records, the needle made the sounds on the (disc) audible to the human ear). The guy goes on and on, usually about America’s foreign policy and how only Dick Cheney knows what he’s talking about, and how the U.S. should act.

Now it seems that much of America’s news media, print, radio, and television are up in arms with how Cheney, and his daughter Liz disrespected President Obama, and how he’s carrying on with the mess in the Middle East. I hate to say this…..well wait a minute, I don’t actually HATE to say this, but the president being called out, or his decisions questioned actually is how a democracy is supposed to work…..jerks like Dick Cheney have the right to say whatever they might deem necessary about the president, his job performance, his decisions, in fact his mouth wash, and the brand of his cologne. It’s the great American experiment, and the experiment is ongoing, you know glass houses, stones and all that stuff.

WHAT RUFFLED FEATHERS THIS TIME

According to the former Vice President in the George W. Bush administration, the current president Obama is wrong on so many issues. Cheney stated that President Obama is “wrong about so much at the expense of so many.” “To many times to count, Mr. Obama has told us he is ENDING the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan---as though wishing made it so.”

How quickly Mr. Cheney forgets what his boss, Commander in Chief, U.S. President George W. Bush proclaimed back on May 1, 2003….war in Iraq was at an end…..and that “the mission was accomplished.”

Or the other times when Cheney, some other administration official, or the president himself talked about weapons of mass destruction, or Saddam Hussein’s involvement with the attacks on the world trade centers, the Pentagon, or a rural area in Pennsylvania.

How about Cheney’s assessment that there was irrefutable proof that Hussein’s weapons of mass destruction were in strategic areas throughout the country, or (Saddam) had, or shortly would have, access to nuclear weapons or that Saddam would have nuclear capabilities within three years.

So now after eleven years, Dick Cheney and his daughter, Liz seem confident that enough time has passed, and that American citizens will have forgotten about all of the “gaffs” that the Bush administration uttered and issued during the eight years that it was in power. Like a line out of the movie, the Marathon Man…..”is it safe out,” Cheney figures that it’s safe out…..and he can rant.

For whatever reason many conservative Republicans and Teabaggers figure that there can only be peace through power or aggression. That attitude is actually full of holes, unless suddenly people like being shoved around and intimidated.

I LISTEN TO LIMBAUGH, AND HANNITY…..AND THEY SOUND THE SAME

These talking Heads all seem to have a message, the same message, Limbaugh talked during his 6-18 broadcast that President Obama wants to destroy America, at least as it is known today. Late in the afternoon, Sean Hannity echoes the same message in substance as the Limbaugh talk, with just a different wrapping paper on the outside.

I think that it is silly for anybody to think that President Obama wants to weaken the nation through his actions as the countries commander and chief. After all, Obama’s got to live here too, he, his wife, and their two daughters.

How long does it take for these conservatives and Teabaggers to come to the realization that what is going on in the world…..today didn’t just happen overnight, it took at the very least a couple of decades for this silliness of what is now little more than a religious conflict of ideals.

Dick Cheney is 73, Dick Cheney is in ill health…..and the world, as Dick Cheney knew it, has passed him by. Sure, he might have more access to current events then I do…..but not much more. After all…..Dick…..you are a retired political official, and as such, you’ve been pushed out and to the sidelines.

Iraq, Afghanistan, and Iran are all sites of a smoldering caldron of differences in religion, elitist power, and opportunities for personal wealth beyond simple dreams. I suppose that you could add a dash of ignorance, a measure of misunderstanding, topped off with a few sprinkles of misguided attitudes.

Iraq and Afghanistan were never areas of conflict and war that the United States was ever going to WIN, U.S. troops were, and are viewed as invaders, infidels, and thugs with guns. Iraq, and Afghanistan as well as the entire region became a giant marketing project, the U.S. with its masterful war machines, and the “terrorists” with their sticks and stones.

ONE THING DICK CHENEY AND HIS PALS HAVE FORGOTTEN

Suicide bombers are a unique type of person, apparently they’ve got some sort of death wish…..the only thing that I’d strap around my middle would be a money belt. Dynamite or plastic explosives and my Dunlop shall never meet. My belly is reserved for sun-tan oil, and the occasional T-bone expansion.

The Middle East has been at war for more than a thousand years, their hardened, tough, and don’t play backyard baseball in their formative years. I would venture to say that they probably “play some sort of war game” that hones their survival abilities.

These Iraqi’s, Afghans, Iranies have fought wars, and made wars down through the annuals of their history, blood-baths, missing body parts, and shooting somebody’s head off is second nature to a portion of these Middle Easterners.

For breakfast these people fry up a Dick Cheney, have a side of Paul Wolfowitz, and wash it down with a generous portion of Sean Hannity. You know, even though I feel that these conservatives are bad for America, I really believe that they love their country, and that is really the sad part. We can’t get together and share ideas…..and work for a better America in particular and a better world in general.

 

HAVE A NICE DAY!

A MAN WHO TRADES FREEDOM FOR SECURITY DESERVES NEITHER!

A MAN WHO TRADES FREEDOM FOR SECURITY DESERVES NEITHER!

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(All the News That Nobody Else Will Print)

 

The above blog heading for June 10, 2014 is borrowed from good old Benjamin Franklin, and actually reads, “The man who trades freedom for security does not deserve nor will he ever receive either.” Now I’m not questioning the wisdom of Mr. Franklin, nor am I questioning his patriotism, no indeed, what I mean is that in Franklin’s time, war usually was a necessity. However, even during Ben’s time, the waging of war was not taken lightly…..pretty much unlike it is today.

The consequences of war carried a hell-of-alot more diverse effects on the population during the infancy of the United States than it seems to in today’s world. One’s got to remember that there wasn’t any electricity, paved roads, cars, trucks, or fast food establishments that cater to us…..today. Absolutely not, in the late 18^th century it was an almost a fulltime job to stay alive.

Since the Great War, World War I, the United States has been involved in 37 military conflicts counting World War II. To tell you the truth I was kind of flabbergasted, I looked for a list of casualties, and the cost of our warring mentality but could come up with neither. An educated guess would be a million deaths, and billions and billions of dollars spent in the name of…..well you pick-um, wealth, patriotic beliefs, fighting for freedom, policing the world, rescuing oppressed people, or job creation.

Putting a finger on the exact monetary numbers is really, really hard to do, pretty much because some of the costs for waging war are all over the board of budgets. It’s costly, this security effort that it seems like every American desires. Protection and serenity is necessary as we Americans go about our daily efforts to attain the American dream.

I’m not joking either, can you imagine having to devote much of your time to simply staying alive, and grubbing for something to eat every day…..like in the times of Benjamin Franklin. Wars have been waged and won by our forefathers so that we could devote much of our time to collecting as many greenbacks as possible.

Americans come from hardy stock; of course that stock has been diluted by the mingling of the races, as well as our core values and educational resources. Oh, oh, do you detect a touch of racial bias here…..absolutely not…..I’m simply stating a fact of our lives in the 21^st century. My meaning of dilution by mingling of the races is simply referencing to the fact that there is change taking place right under our eyes. History will judge the outcome of this unintentional cultural and physical revolution.

As far as I’m concerned, the mingling of the races is a good thing, because by doing so, everybody comes to realize that we really all the same, and the color of a person’s skin is, actually only skin deep. Once you get through that 16^th of an inch of skin there’s blood, muscle, grizzle, bone and body organs. To a degree body parts and fluids are interchangeable, no matter the ethnicity of the bearer, or the receiver.

VETERANS AFFAIRS…..THE CARE FOR RETURNING SOLDIERS, AND THE ROLE OF DONATING

Did you realize that the United States is spending more for soldiering than at any time since World War II, that includes the Korean War, and Vietnam? And it gets worse…..since 2001 the United States has spent more than $1 trillion, and that by 2018 that figure will be washed away in a flood of money that’ll amount to about $2 trillion dollars.

Can you imagine what you could do with $2 trillion dollars…..neither can I, and I’ve always dreamed the big dreams, forming huge business, Cadillac’s in my garage, houses in different climate zones to take advantage of temperate weather. Remember me being a baseball lover…..to live where baseball can be played, and I can have 12 months of it.

There are, of course, intricate lists of costs for the average taxpayer for our country’s soldiering all over the world…..and in many cases, not even asked to interject our military might, we take the initiative through our foreign policy priorities…..and of course that old bug-a-boo, to protect our interests.  

So you say that “how people receive us, what they think about our agendas and how we deal with foreign peoples is accepted, so we must be doing something right…..right.” Well actually we aren’t being accepted too well, and it’s been going on, this smoldering anger for decades. We’re just too damn preoccupied with chasing that almighty dollar bill to see what is way past the writing on the wall stage.

The price of freedom has been going up for decades, and it’s measured more in dollar bills (sadly) then in the body count. How has this been achieved you ask, the answer is easy, news correspondents are now imbedded, meaning that the news gatherer is fed all sorts of propaganda for his reporting, and he usually accepts what he’s fed.

You now also have Fox News, and conservative radio talk show hosts singing the praises of how our soldiering is saving the world, while quelling our enemies…..a super-human achievement. I hear, read or see about how our returning hero’s need our help…..additionally, to care for external wounds, and those pesky wounds that can’t be seen. To deny these people their due would almost be criminal. The VA clinics, hospitals, rehabbing, and the individual mental care can take forever…..and additional financial payment is necessary to care for these people.

There are dozens of veteran help organizations that civilian’s can support with monthly payments…..this (membership) patronage does not count against the Federal Governments military budgeting, and there is no accurate way to measure those that help make up the short-fall for our returning soldiers…..and I find this shortfall sickening and disgusting.

When will be wake up and understand that waging war is way too expensive for us to foot the bill, we don’t need a Republican, we don’t need a Democrat that holds sway on Capitol Hill, we need somebody with a distaste for wasting human beings, time and money on trumped up wars on terror, bully boys, conservative, liberal governments, Capitalism, Socialism, Communism. And America’s foreign policies…..please give me a large break, we need somebody who’s willing to accurately structure the policy that’ll serve people throughout the world.

 

HAVE A NICE DAY!

GAYS, QUEERS, AND FAGGOTS…..OH MY!

GAYS, QUEERS, AND FAGGOTS…..OH MY!

(FRAZER CHRONICLE)

(All the News That Nobody Else Will Print)

 

That’s right, I’m going to blog about homosexuals or gays, and I do so with a guarded feeling of excitement, I am so sick and tired of the subject, that I figured somebody who abhors the subject, but embraces the right of people to live and love however, and whomever they desire. To me the subject…..like most other seeming convoluted subjects are, well, really simple to deal with.

On the one hand, those who oppose gay relationships, bisexual or same gender living conditions want to have an end to the these people…..I say this, “go ahead, get your guns out, oil them, zero them in, and prepare to have a turkey hunt for these types.”  Isn’t that what those opposed to these types of shenanigans want…..to rid the world of these types, any which way possible?

Of course there are those who do not share ridding the world of gays by violent means, they say education would be the ticket for these people. Or maybe even better, corral these people up, and distribute them to camps around the country…..Queer camps I think is what they call these places. Every once in a while the issue of queers raises its ugly head and spews fourth its foul venom, forcing the hand of straights to act.

Oppression to an alternative lifestyle, man on man or women on women has been around and argued for ages, and in fact has been addressed in the Bible. In Corinthians there is talk about the wicked not inheriting the kingdom of God. In Genesis 19, God destroys the cities of Sodom and Gomorrah due to extensive sin and debauchery. Romans 1:26-27 discusses how people gave into their lust.

IT’S ALL ABOUT INTERPRETATION

I’m not here to list my interpretation of the Bible,,,,,I can only say this, the people who initially wrote the Bible were a hell-of-a lot smarter than I am and I really believe that in many cases, what these scholars wrote down was inspired by a  higher being, or voice. Which parts were divinely inspired is problematic, and the issues will be argued forever.

I can’t stand the idea of two men getting together and…..well you know, doing the old mattress mambo, front to back, ugh, I simply could never….ever…..it would be way too traumatic for me. I’ve been around guys in the locker room for more years then I care to think about, and I know that there have been several of these guys that were…..you know…..geez, do I got to paint a picture, it was obvious that they liked guys more than women.

I have a dear, dear friend, have known him for forty years and more, and I’ve known for half that time that he preferred men to women as partners.  I’d be checking out the chicks, and he’d be checking out the guys. As our friendship grew, it became more obvious, but he’s never said anything, and I’ve never inquired…..it’s his business.

In the same Bible where it talks about a man lying with a man, or a women lying with a women, it also talks about staying true to your chosen mate. Chastity is the goal in every relationship between a man and women, when marriage is the ultimate aim.

THE EXPERTS TODAY RATE MARRIAGE AS A 50 – 50 CHANCE TO SUCCEED

On average marriages today are successful right around 50% of the time, there are all sorts of reasons why marriages fail, but the most common reason for failure is money…..or the lack thereof. The word marriage doesn’t even mean marriage…..as we as a culture uses it!  The word derives from the Latin word mas, meaning (male) or (masculine.) The earliest known use of the word in English dates from the 13^th century.

Due to jobs, kids, television, the internet, hobbies, home and family responsibilities, the average married couple spends just four minutes a day alone…..together. More than 75% who marry from an affair eventually divorce, if you marry before 30 years of age…..chances are you’ll divorce…..and the numbers are dramatic, 65% of the time you’ll be paying child support through court decree and you’ll be living alone.

There is always the argument against same sex marriage that can be summed up in a single word…..sanctity, as in the sanctity of marriage!  I’ve been married for 47 years to the same wonderful women and counting. The entire superlatives that are written about a union between a man and a woman, my wife and I have…..she completes me.

However if some two people of the same sex want to enter into some sort of situation, like marriage, I have no problem with that desire. What same sex marriage boils down to is cash, paying taxes, buying insurance; the powers connected with marriage are the stumbling blocks as far as I’m concerned. And to my way of thinking, a damned silly argument for a union between two people, which at the end of the day is a private matter…..is it not?

There are problems in the world that need our attention, people are dying each and every day, kids are being sold into slavery, the elderly are being hoodwinked right out of their pants, and people’s civil rights are being trampled on right here in the United States.

It was against the law just 30 years ago for a black man to marry a white women; 85 years ago, the Irish were considered to be dirty and illiterate; and a hundred years ago, Polish were considered to be honkies and sub-human. The plight of these people was not addressed in the Bible…..maybe it should have, but for gay people to be labeled as bad people, as sinners, to me, raises some questions that should be answered.

After all, a gay man, or a lesbian women isn’t out to get into every man’s, or women’s pants, it isn’t how they operate. Like any straight, these people want meaningful relationships with substance, and a chance to grow and mature…..just like us heterosexuals. Even though I abhor seeing guys kiss one another on the mouth, I feel that it’s their right…..and we, as straights outta leave them alone.

 

HAVE A NICE DAY!

ENTITLEMENT PROGRAMS AND THE AMERICAN PUBLIC!

ENTITLEMENT PROGRAMS AND THE AMERICAN PUBLIC!

(FRAZER CHRONICLE)

(All the News That Nobody Else Will Print)

 

Okay let’s cut right to the chase here, I need better health care, not Social Security, not Old Age Assistance, not Temporary Assistance for Needy Families, General Assistance Cash, Assets for Independence, or Earned Income Tax Credit, (refundable portion), these programs aren’t for medical services anyways. That is not to say that I wouldn’t be interested, I think I could really dig that General Assistance Cash program…..if I didn’t have to repay whatever cash I got.

What in hell brought this on…..you might ask, well the answer is really simple, my buddy, United States Representatives, Paul Ryan, who is at it again, this time with his assurance that Medicare will be broke by 2026. I’m not sure whether “Paulie” uses a crystal ball, an Ouija, Spirit, or Talking Board, or simply rolls the dice with regards to how he arrives at his opinions.

I do know this, if people like Eric Cantor and Paul Ryan have their way…..old people will be lying in the streets, either dead or dying, kind of like the Jews and the ghettos back in World War II in Europe. I just had open heart surgery, (last October 8^th, 2013,) and the surgery and hospital care saved my life, of that I have no doubt.

However I am now saddled with hospital bills that run into the thousands, the parts that aren’t covered by my health insurance program, and Medicare. Right now the hospitals are left holding the proverbial bag with regards to my medical bills. I don’t have the money to pay my part of the responsibility for my procedure, that medical event that saved my life.

I feel bad about my financial situation, but not bad enough to sell off my personal goods to make restitution for the great services that were rendered last fall. There is some sort of assistance fund that I might be eligible for, as a way for the hospital to recover some of their financial outlay for my care. I’m not looking for a free ride, it PO’s me that I can’t meet my responsibility…..but it’s what it is.

So when I read an article penned by Tom Kertcher of the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel about Representative Paul Ryan, and his assertion that “Medicare is going broke, and in Ryan’s estimation, the fund will be bankrupt sometime in 2026, I get a large case of the preverbal red-ass when I read further in the article, and find out that not everybody aggress with Ryan.

If what Ryan says is true, and I’m still around in 2026, I’ll be 81 years old, and in less shape to care for myself then I am today. I’ll be moving in with my kids…..and living completely on the public dole. I don’t mind public hand-outs, sometimes, but not all of the time. It has to do with my pride and my feeling that I can take care of myself…..even when and if I can’t.

WHAT A COCKROACH

When a government official starts nay-saying about governmental programs…..he’d better have all of his ducklings in a row…..no politicking allowed. Some people are swayed by things that political figures say, so it behooves these people to research a subject before he makes any kind of bold statements. Everybody who’s anybody understands that governmental programs aren’t free, government programs and the money to pay for them come from…..well, us. Ya that’s right, the billions of dollars that are appropriated, and then spent for social programs come from the United States taxpayer.

I’ve said it before, and I’ll say it again, “the federal government is not a person, therefore the federal government does not earn money from some sort of a job.”  How it works is simple, very simple, we elect people to represent us, these people in turn listen to our requests, wants, needs and requirements, and then these people that are elected set at big tables in Washington D.C. map out a tax program to pay for our desires…..and then tax us. We pay our imposed taxes all sorts of ways…..and some don’t pay at all.

At the end of the year, our taxes are divvied up to the different departments that have been formed by the people that we elected to represent us. If there’s not enough money for one program, but an excess in another, the funds are transferred…..kind of like robbing Peter to pay Paul.

So when an elected official states that some program is going to go broke in little more than a decade…..that opinion does resonate with the public. However today, in the world of politics, everything isn’t like it is said to be, the truth gets stretched, numbers are altered to fit an agenda, and air-time is used to hammer home special interest’s points of view.

Total Social Security and Medicare expenditures in 2013 were $1.3 trillion, 8.4% of the $16.3 trillion Gross National Product, (GNP) (2013) and 37% of the total Federal expenditure budget of $3.684 trillion. In addition to government expenditures private welfare in the United States is thought to be about 10% of the U.S. Gross Domestic Product, (GDP) or another $1.6 trillion.

IMPACT OF SOCIAL PROGRAMS

Republicans and the Tea Party seem to decry the problems with entitlements or social programs, and they have a solid point, an opinion that really can’t be argued. According to the Congressional Budget Office, social programs significantly raise the standard of living for low-income Americans, particularly the elderly…..like me. The poorest 20% of American households earn a before-tax average of only $7,600, less than half of the federal poverty line. Social programs increase these household’s before-tax income to around $30,500. Social Security and Medicare are responsible for two thirds of the increase.

Now I cannot think of a single person who thinks that a working aged person in the United States can live on $7,600 a year. And I can’t think of a single person that I know who figures that a family of three can survive on $15,200 a year. So the root of the problem here is twofold, developing jobs that can pay and sustain a living wage, and employers who are willing to bite the bullet when necessary, and take a financial hit for the benefit of their employees.

Priorities need to be altered…..by everybody so that low paid American workers can access medical care just like those folks who have enough money to purchase their own medical care plans, or have employers either assume the burden of health care insurance, and share the financial burden of their employee medical care.

The United States cannot continue to deficit spend on either social or entitlement programs, Medicare right now is spending at a 3 to 1 rate (every dollar that a recipient pays in, is rewarded with $3 of care). Figures like these exist throughout social and entitlement programs in the U.S. and if we’re not careful, a major number of these programs will go extinct in my lifetime!

HERE’S THE SKINNY ON THESE PROGRAMS

I don’t like Paul Ryan, he speaks out of both sides of his mouth, but his analogy about Medicare is spot on, Medicare will go broke. What he has wrong is the date that the program will go belly-up; it’s gonna happen, sooner or later.

Another point that Ryan has that I completely disagree with is his posturing with regards to cutting parts of Medicare. You might as well send out a bunch of death notices to all sorts of low income people, and older folks living on a fixed income.

Prioritize…..a key word, a word that should be observed whenever anybody in any position in the government starts talking about ways to fix both Social Security and Medicare. For and foremost there has to be a mindset that acknowledges that both Social Security and Medicare are two programs that the United States cannot go without…..in fact additional benefits should be added.

It’s funny how the old and the young come together and don’t even realize that their traveling down the same road. Education is paramount to the future of our existence as a nation, and caring for the elderly, and those older folks on fixed incomes are as important as those young people who are being educated.

Older people are an almost untapped resource that is not being taken advantage of…..and its time that the resource was tapped into. A department of the aged, a department that seeks to blend the old and the young for the purpose of education…..now isn’t that a novel idea.

 

HAVE A NICE DAY!

THE MINIMUM WAGE FIASCO IN THE WORLDS GREATEST COUNTRY!

THE MINIMUM WAGE FIASCO IN THE WORLDS GREATEST COUNTRY!

(FRAZER CHRONICLE)

(All the News That Nobody Else Will Print)

 

Labor laws in the United States are…..well, a joke, there aren’t any laws unless you call employers attempts to circumvent whatever mandated edicts have been written down by our political leaders, and forwarded to us, the constituents, through silly laws that go largely unenforceable through a process of not caring.

We can go back to when a federal minimum wage was crated, when it was a cornerstone of President Franklin Roosevelt’s re-election in 1936. Prior to Roosevelt’s election promise during the ’36 election campaign, there had been several attempts by loose net union organizers to mandate a minimum wage, but the proposals were ruled unconstitutional by the U.S. Supreme Court on the grounds that they “restricted the worker’s right to set the price for his labor.”

Bizarre is the only word that comes to mind when a person reads in the history books about a Supreme Court ruling before 1936, and a United States worker having the ability to set his own wage for work that was rendered to an employer by an employee. Talk about not being the way it works, in America, this issue was the pinnacle of that unwritten law.

I have attempted several times to dictate my wage for services rendered, and each and every time I got slapped down like a wicked and ugly step-child, or worse. It never ceases to amaze me how out of touch authority figures usually are. The final negative ruling regarding a minimum wage by the Supreme Court was in the early 1930’s, apparently after high ranking political figures discovered that backing a higher wage in the country developed into vote creators.

During the depression there was an incredible demand for jobs by a work-force that would work for next to nothing. As the depression worsened, wages in the United States dropped even further…..to an all-time low. It got so bad, that the wages being paid by employers to their workers became a national disgrace and embarrassment, further driving more and more people deeper and deeper into poverty.

It was obvious that American industry was not going to address the issue in a positive manner, and it would be necessary for the government to step in, and literally save the day. Before 1938…..in the United States, there were two basic ways to accumulate a bunch of money, you were either born into it, or you stole it.

AFTER 1938 TIMES WILL NEVER BE THE SAME…..SORT OF

The Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) of 1938, also referred to as the Wages and Hours Bill became a federal statute of the United States. The act introduced a maximum 44-hour seven-day workweek, established a national minimum wage, guaranteed time-and-a-half for overtime for certain jobs, and prohibited most employers the use of minors (in oppressive child labor).

The law truly was a sweeping act that covered a multitude of employer misdeeds and sins, and had originally been drafted in 1932 by Senator Hugo Black. The 1938 version of Black’s proposal did have many of the earlier act’s points. There were approximately 700,000 workers affected by the FLSA, and Roosevelt called the act the most important piece of legislature passed since the Social Security Act of 1035.

As with any law, there are always loop-holes that people flock to like bee’s do to honey, and the FLSA was no different. There are exemptions, like executives, administrators, professionals, computer employees, food handlers, commercial-delivery truck drivers, and highly compensated workers may be exempt from the FLSA.

States may exempt themselves from federal guidelines, establishing their own minimum pay, however any federal governmental work does fall under the FLSA and the workers must be paid according to the federal guidelines.

There are huge misconceptions regarding what an employer operating here in the United States can do, and can’t, and what an employer has to and doesn’t have to offer. Contrary to wishful thinking by workers, business here in the U.S. does not have to give bonuses, holiday pay, vacations, sick days, personal days, and in many cases, maternity leave.

The niceties that employees get are usually bargained for through union organizations, longevity with a company, or employers becoming aware of the simple fact that well educated, experienced, and attentive employees actually are part of an employee’s attribute. Believe it or not some modern day employers don’t understand that concept…..or simply don’t care, and of course there are those jobs that do not require much of any kind of experience or education.

There now is a reversal of fortunes…..so to speak, politically some states are stripping union rights, and their operating procedures, as well as their power, away. There are those people who have actually applauded the erosion of some of these worker rights…..they have fallen for the political rhetoric that is prevalent in some states.

WHAT IS A FAIR LIVING WAGE, AND HOW DO WE GET EMPLOYERS TO PAY

If I were still working, a fair minimum wage for me would be about $25 an hour, that way I could have my toys, pay my bills, take vacations, eat pretty decent food, and still have money to salt away at the end of the month. Of course both my wife and I would need to get this $25 an hour.

$50 an hour between me and my wife working, 4160 hours x $50…..$102,000…..now where are you gonna get that kind of job and money at? A living wage, a minimum wage are two entirely different things…..for everybody. Me I’m greedy, at this station in my life, I want it all.

You can’t legislate a living wage, you can’t make laws, or attitudes, or an atmosphere that’ll bring workers enough money to live a constant, enjoyable life. It’s not in the cards, employers aren’t interested in a workers needs, wants’ and desires. The worker has to fight for everything that he gets, and you know what, getting a taste of the high life pisses of an employee, therein lays the problem.

Government needs to lay down a set of rules and regulations that will govern U.S. employees that encompass all business, no exemptions allowed. In hidden shelters, no off-shore accounts..,…and for damn sure no outsoaring. Made in America, bought by American workers needs to be the watch-word and the rules that we live by. In other words…..we need change, and the working man-women of the United States need to stick together, and address these minimum wage issues. Good luck, I can only add that I feel blessed to be retired at this particular point in our country’s history.

 

HAVE A NICE DAY!

IN TODAY’S WORLD…..EVERYTHING HAS CONTROVERSY ATTACHED!

IN TODAY’S WORLD…..EVERYTHING HAS CONTROVERSY ATTACHED!

(FRAZER CHRONICLE)

(All the News That Nobody Else Will Print)

 

Does everything in today’s world have to be viewed under a twisted, complicated, and opinionated light, can’t some things just be left alone? I’m talking about this guy, Army Sergeant Bowe Bergdahl, and his being rescued in exchange for five Taliban detainees’s who were incarcerated at Guantanamo. The length of the five terrorist’s imprisonment was not disclosed…..but the negative rhetoric spewed out of the Republican camp leaving little to debate as far as their mind-set on the issue.

And of course the issues are the (usual suspects) shock that the President would authorize such an agreement (5 for 1) or that the President did not follow normal protocol, that the terrorists were the WORST OF THE WORST, or that the President had put a price-tag on the value on other captured U.S. soldiers. Then there’s the argument about presenting to Congress a release, or swap of prisoners, and that there was a 30 day period to mull over the idea.

To my way of thinking, no matter the price, the United States got back one of its youngsters that were foolish enough to volunteer for a stupid war that was initiated for all of the wrong reason, and continues today, a decade and more after our President (at the time) declared that “all hostilities were over.” To me, what this issue is, is a study in exactly why we shouldn’t, as a nation, allow those chosen few (elected by us, the constituency) to bandy around the idea of war or military conflict. It has been proven over and over that the few that assume to have the power of the military to wage war do so with flawed vision and self motivated issues.

There are those people who talk about Bowe Bergdahl being a deserter, maybe he is, maybe he needs to be incarcerated here in the United States, I don’t know, and I’ll bet few people…..today…..do know. I think the simplest and the best way to deal with the Bergdahl issue is to keep your trap (mouth) shut, and to let the system work.

I do not have military roots in my family, unless you count a couple hundred years ago when most people’s primary job was to stay alive. My father wasn’t a military guy, my grandfather on either side held little interest in serving in the military. After catching a picture of Bergdahl’s parents in a news conference, I’m thinking that the hair care exhibited by the elder Bergdahl would not be viewed favorably by almost any military service.

WE HAVE NO CONSCRIPTION, THUS NOT MUCH OF A DETERRENT TO WAGING WAR

If it were tough to produce military soldiers, if appropriations for military machines were like pulling teeth out of an old hound dog, if the United States population met the drums of war with a modicum of disdain, if the U.S. population took to task those people who suggested a military solution to disagreement…..if the U.S. citizen questioned…..we would not be in the pickle that we now find ourselves in.

Patriotism is a wonderful feeling, it is made up of different parts of a person, pride, fear, anger, forthright caring towards our human brothers and sisters, a keen insight into what is right and wrong…..justice, and probably a faith to a higher order, a trust in man’s innate goodness, and a willingness to forgive, with however the proviso attached that there will be no second “forgiveness’’ for another transgression of the same type.

I’ve said it before, and I’ll say it again…..War or an armed military exercise is to be avoided at all costs, and the United States, for whatever reason fails to understand this conception. With little exception, every country in the world understands that the U.S. is far and away the most advanced military power in the history of mankind,,,,, yet we seem, as a nation, to feel the need to flex our military might every once in a while.

The United States seems to be a freewheeling military juggernaut that is usually unchecked, piling up all sorts of offensive exercises that, in the end, go unanswerable to anybody. The U.S. seems to be a power unto themselves and you know what they say about absolute power, it usually corrupts absolutely. Our foreign policy has special interests between almost every line, and it is used to quell, or push through ideologies that favor U.S. procedures or practices.

AND NOW WE HAVE SGT. BOWE R. BERGDAHL

Born in Sun Valley, Idaho, on March 28, 1986, Bowe Robert Bergdahl was home schooled by his mother, Jani, received a GED certificate through the College of Southern Idaho. Bergdahl studied and practiced fencing and martial arts before switching to ballet classes at the Sun Valley Ballet School in Ketchum, Idaho. Bergdahl never owned a car, instead rode a bicycle everywhere that he went.

Bergdahl graduated from infantry school at Fort Benning, Georgia, and was assigned to the 1^st Battalion, 501^st Infantry Regiment, 4^th Brigade Combat Team, 25^th Infantry Division based at Fort Richardson, Alaska. According to his fellow soldiers, Bergdahl did not socialize with his fellow recruits, instead spending more time with the Afghani, read maps, and according to the elder Bergdahl, his son was “psychologically isolated.”

Bergdahl went missing during the evening of June 30, 2009 near the town of Yahya Kheyl in Paktika Province. In a video Bergdahl states that he was captured when he fell behind on a patrol. A Taliban source alleges that Bergdahl was ambushed after he got drunk off base, thus beginning almost five years of imprisonment. Of course the U.S. military deny the Taliban version, saying that the Taliban “is known for lying,” and that their version is completely false.

No matter how Bergdahl got himself captured, he was held against his will for just a few weeks short of five years. I’m not the most stable person in the world, but compared to Bowe Robert Bergdahl, I’m solid as a rock. Bergdahl seemed to be having several epiphanies during his time in the military…..and I’d guess the milk money that he’ll run as far as he can from the military, once it’s done with their debriefing procedures.

THIS IS WHAT I’VE GLEANED FROM THE BERGDAHL INCIDENT

We are at war, as President George W. Bush explained, “we’ll be fighting terrorists for decades, and it’ll be called the long war!”  At the time, that statement by President Bush stopped me cold, in just a few words, I felt that Bush had summed up exactly what his administration was all about, and I felt that his legacy was complete, the “Bush war” would be carried on possibly for decades after his death.

Our military is completely volunteer, no draft or conscription, a young guy simply ambles into a recruiting office and signs on the bottom line…..and is off to exotic places, helping to protect freedom for the oppressed, to be ambassadors for the American way, and to keep American’s here, in the homeland safe from those people who hate our way of life.

Now if a pock marked acne riddled 20 year old falls for the above bull----, can he really be blamed, the kid who feels invincible, and is willing to take the extra chance to become a hero…..a living hero? I feel sorry for young people today, the crap that they have to go through, to digest, and to come out on the other end with a semblance of truth and a general idea of what is right and wrong is truly amazing. I couldn’t have done it…..hell I’ve got problems today in my life…..at 70 to understand all the bull---- that we are fed daily.

 

HAVE A NICE DAY!