SEQUESTRATION, JUST ANOTHER WORD FOR CASTRATION!

SEQUESTRATION, JUST ANOTHER WORD FOR CASTRATION!

(Portage Daily Register, Edmond Sun, Huff-Post, Frazer Chronicle)

 

When people said sequester, it was alright…..at least for me, like most people out there, my first thought was that a jury in some big time trial was being locked away until a verdict was reach, the scum-bag was put away for the dirty deeds that he had done, and jurisprudence had worked out again.

 

Imagine my shock when I read that when a government sequesters, all sorts of benefits can and will be taken away. Holy snickies, now the word had all sorts of connotations, what would be taken away, road construction, (which wouldn’t be all that bad from a convenience standpoint), law enforcement on the federal level…..basically services that we all depend on during the course of our daily lives.

 

You began hearing about the control towers at airports being terminated, a hundred forty nine to be exact. I couldn’t figure out how in hell that was going to be achieved, from the view of safe air travel, you no taking off, and landing. What in hell was the Federal Government doing up there on Capitol Hill, playing Twiddle-Winks with man-hole covers.

 

Way to go Capitol Hill, taking away a basic service that every flyer, private and commercial needs to achieve a safe flight. Oh ya, and what if there is a war brought to our shores by some terrorist group, how can our military air-force take off and land without these guidance towers, why to go Capitol Hill, another bang-up job.

 

BUT NOW THERE’S SEQUESTRATION

Now we have another word to ponder, its sequestration, what in hell does that mean, I’d better go to my handy dandy word look-up on my word processer………….(I’m back), wow, what a word, seems as if, like so many other words in the English language, sequestration has several meanings, from being in a state of sequester, to sequestering property, to removing ions from a solution, like the man said, “this word has everything.”

 

The parts of the word that I don’t like deal with the seizure of property…..who the hell died and made our government the Pope…..that I’d like to know. Sequestration can mean taking my property that allegedly belongs to somebody else. A writ that authorizes the seizure of my stuff, or a collection of rules imposed by authority.

 

No there ain’t much connected with this word, sequestration that I particularly care for, seems to me as if the use of this word simple is another tool for the fed to use against the electorate, namely you and me. I will say this, sequestration is an equal opportunity word, and shows absolutely not a smidgen of racial overtones…..it screws everybody equally.

 

Now before you all go off, and consider alternatives to replacing our government, or where you live, let’s examine one simple aspect of the sequestration that our government is going to impose on us. A 10.7 pay-cut. That’s right; let me say it again, 10.7 pay-cut. For easy figuring, (which I’m always for), if you earn a dollar an hour, right off the top, almost eleven cents will be taken…..and that’s before the rest of the normal taxes are taken out. After all the taxes have been extracted, you, my man are left with a grand total of .67 cents…..Betty, hold the horse, that will be a bitter pill to take, but take it you will…..and with little or no back-talk, thank you very much.

 

 

 

WHO DOES THIS CRAP HIT THE HARDEST

I don’t believe you would ask that question…..the middle class of course…..dummy, who else do you think can pull up its collective boot straps, the rich and shameless, surely you jest. No whenever addition financial burdens are passed out, political figures take a quick look and do the right thing, they lam-blast the middle class.

 

I’m going to say something that I’ve never said before…..you can look it up, anyways…..the rich can’t carry the country, it’s the middle class that pulls the country out of the dull-drums every time, and you can look that one up too. When there’s a war, who fills out the uniforms, who learns how to shoot straight, who learns how to operate the big war machines, and who makes the ultimate sacrifice…..that’s right, without exception, the middle class.

 

So would it be any different now, in this sequestration period, when the fed is looking for financial bail-out, could it be any different…..it’s the mighty middle class, or the M.M.C. “I just made that up,” But it’s true, there are more of us, we actually hold the power, so little guys unite, we are the hope of the country, no Obama, not Paul Ryan, really not your congressmen, and for damned sure not your mealy-mouthed senator, it’s us.

 

But we can take it, we are used to getting our face rubbed in the mud by the playground bully, we simply bounce back, it’s what we do. We understand the inner workings of government, better than we are given credit for. We know that 90% of elected officials are nothing more than whores standing on street corners waiting for their next trick, or in the case of politicians, votes!

 

THE CONSEQUENSES IN THE SHORT TERM

Most Americans know that we spend too much, I say we because the government is we, and the government does not create money. Oh sure they can print more, but in actuality, when money is printed by the fed in a glut fashion, it devalues the money that we either have saved, or work for. Let’s get one thing straight, nobody in America gets a free ride, that’s right, Welfare recipients, unemployment, and most of the other help programs are pretty much just loans from the populous, us, to those folks who collect the benefits.

 

With little exception, people want to work, people want to be challenged, they want to create, and they want to feel a sense of accomplishment at the end of their day. Sitting on your butt, watching the tube does not give a person a sense of accomplishment and those people who don’t care, well, them we will just have to support, kind of like writing off a bad debt.

 

Money, every day of the week, is wasted by our elected officials, we need to be more vigilant, we can’t trust, politian’s track record does not merit trust on our parts, the MMC. When a billion is spent on some stupid military weapon to guard against attacks from Canada’s borders, we need to have the voice to stop that weapon.

 

Slicing $1.2 trillion out of our operating budget, because after all, our tax money goes to make up our operating budget, sounds like a whole bunch. But first we, in the MMC need to understand that only $85 billion will be cut this year, not even a 10% of a trillion. Our operating budget is probably going to be around $3.5 trillion, so $85 billion really isn’t very much.

 

The sequestration is scheduled to happen over a ten year period, that’s probably if Democrats hold the Whitehouse, and maintain a robust number in either the house or senate. Of course one can never figure what the chances are that Congress or an administration won’t weasel out of the schedules.

 

The cuts that are proposed won’t mean much over the long haul, in the short view of things, I guess you’d have to say that business will be much more cautious, and that will hurt the slow recovery that we are in. I have never really understood why business swings with an economy, oh I understand about the spending patterns of an economy, but I’m not sure that it makes any sense.

 

Economists talk endlessly about the bull or bust in an economy, they trot out all kinds of facts and figures that back up their theories, but aren’t these some of the same guys who talk about a industry being a living, breathing person, and sometimes get fooled by an economy, aren’t this guys really in the same boat as us, guessing!

 

BABY BOOMERS BEWARE

We now come full circle, I was a war-time baby, date of birth 1943, and was eligible for retirement in 2005, my birth cycle is now reaping the fruits of our efforts through social security, and the longer we live, we will be dipping into the baby boomers of the middle 1950’s to around 1960.

 

You guys don’t have a short term with regards to budget cuts, social security benefits, and Medicare and Medicaid coverage…..me and my buddies will have already taken a McGriff bite out of your benefits, and the worst part…..I don’t even care.

 

Like me, somehow you’ll deal with the problem, the real problem will be my grand kids, when they reach retirement age, I will have long been forgotten, but that McGriff bite that I took back in the early part of the 20^th century could be their death null.

 

I’m sorry…..but I’m not, my grand babies will just have to fend for themselves, pretty much like I have, and all the rest of the MMC’s. I can give you a hint right now, it doesn’t have to be the way I’ve blogged herein, but it will take me, my fellow MMC’s, and the up and coming new ranks of the MMC’s to turn the trick.

 

Vigilance and involvement, knowledge, and understand, awareness of current programs, projects and national goals. It’s all there, all we have to do…..is do, stay active, search for the truth and facts, enter into conversation with peoples of all kinds of political backgrounds and beliefs, and never…..ever get ridged in your reasoning process, always remember that sometimes a good idea or process wasn’t your idea, but came from somebody else who used several opinions to garner his opinion, and remember to:

 

HAVE A NICE DAY!

STILL THE ROOT OF ALL EVIL!

STILL THE ROOT OF ALL EVIL!

(Asian Times, Filkis Dexter, Reuters, the Guardian, Associated Press, Deutschland Welle)

(Sydney Morning Herald, Frazer Chronicle)

 

Like the good book says, my mother said, and historical scholars wrote, (money is the root of all evil), and it hold true today probably more than at any time in our history as Homo sapiens. The things that we do for money, as a people truly is unbelievable.

 

The latest example of how money grubbing we can be comes from Afghanistan and our stupid occupation of the country to face the dilemma of terrorist’s activity. According to those high officials in our government, we first entered Afghanistan in search of Osama bin Laden, to punish him and his followers for the dastardly 9-11 attack, and we remained so that we could keep terrorist activity out of our country!

 

Initially I had absolutely no problem with that attitude, I did however hope that our military forces could capture Bin Laden alive, and bring him to justice through either a tribunal, or at a civilian court. I guess in the light of reality, hoping for a trial of any kind for a person so hated by the west was naïve on my part.

 

We now find ourselves in the traditional bog downed situation that we seem to always find ourselves lately, another military mission with a laughable exit strategy, kind of like up a s--- creek without a paddle. We never seem to learn, military activity never, never gives anybody the results that they were hoping for. In the case of the United States and Afghanistan, even though military men with tons of lettuce on their lapels, (awards) do not have a clear exit plan.

 

People die every day, we are told by our military leaders that training for the Afghan security forces may be years away from a satisfactory level. There is corruption galore at every turn, even at the highest levels, and now the Kabul Bank scam…..what in hell is going on?

 

From the very beginning I did not trust Hamid Karzai, way too much was going on around him during his first years as the president of the country. And today, some five or six years later, when Karzai talked the talk of a democracy, peace, and jobs for his people, the situation continues as before, and is possibly even worse.

 

The national economy of Afghanistan is, at best tenuous, and at worst, at the edge of collapse, you’d think that any responsible leader would have the best for his people at heart…..right? We now learn, from the foreign press, basically, that the great Kabul Bank that was touted by President Karzai and funded in part by the United States ended up being kind of like the great Northfield Minnesota bank robbery.

 

There, of course, are several differences when one compares the Kabul Bank and the Northfield Bank in Minnesota. The big difference is that the architects of the Minnesota fiasco, Jesse and Frank James, Cole Jim, and Bob Younger are all dead, and their haul amounted to $26.70. The designers of the Kabul Bank caper made off with millions of dollars, and the two men caught…..so far, we serve five year jail terms.

 

PRIORITIES, MY MAN

Washington has vociferously denounced Afghan corruption as a major obstacle to the United States mission in Afghanistan. Huh, now we have it, America’s mission in the hilly, mountainous dry and arid country that resembles more a sand box with prickly burrs covering more than half the region. The missions of the United States military…..to nation build---pure and simple.

 

Oh you won’t find that mission in any printed material, you won’t ever hear that from any military official, and you damn sure won’t here that from Capitol Hill. As in Iraq, nation building efforts in Afghanistan by American forces, to borrow a German word, is kaput. Sadly the United States government or its military leaders do not understand either the Afghani or the Iraqi peoples.

 

Neither country wants a democratically run government, they have practiced their own brand of government for hundreds of years, why in hell would they change in an overnight fashion…..the answer, they haven’t…..and won’t any time soon. Remember that the next time somebody gets sick and tired of the antics that happen in Iran, or the buffoon that is the mouth-piece for North Korea, both fall into the same category as Afghanistan and Iraq.

 

As with most countries, governments favor a select few people, those high rollers, the Robber Barons, those Captains of Industry. It’s what nation building militarily centered countries always do; it’s in their best interest. Oh sure they package whatever slop that they are dribbling about as a humane and just effort…..but in the end it’s all about the cha-ching that they can put into their back pockets.

 

Sherkhan Farnood and Khalilullah Ferozi, the names sound like some sort of seasonal ice-cream, have both been identified, tried, convicted and jailed for five years in Afghani jails…..where they both we be introduced to some guy named Ivan the Awful, and undoubtedly learn a whole new way to practice safe sex.

 

Both Farnood and Ferozi have had strong ties to the Karzai government as well as the United States C.I.A. The Karzai government has asked the West to help recover the illegal insider loans totally close to a billion dollars. Without a doubt, about as much cash will be recovered as pieces of paper in an Afghani wind storm.

 

You can say anything you want about Sherkhan Farnood, but ya gotta admit he has his priorities in the right place. He learned his banking practices in Moscow were he ran a Hawala, or a money transfer organization. The Hawala was rumored to be used by heroin and opium smugglers to transfer money to Tajikistan and Afghanistan. In 1998 the Hawala was closed down by Russian authorities for money laundering and its role in the transfer of drug money.

 

Farnood escaped criminal prosecution because he had left Russia months before the scheme was came to an end. Farnood is originally from Kunduz Province of Afghanistan and operated under the name of  Sherhan Mohammad Morad. Little information has surfaced thus far and about the banks Chief Executive, Khalilullah Ferozi, but he was found guilty of stealing $530 million, all we can say here at Chronicle headquarters to these two bankers is, “good luck with your new bunk mates.”

 

DON’T HOLD YOUR BREATH…..AFGHANISTAN

During the early part of the 21^st century, the United States government and its military have formed a habit of helping themselves, and simply saying “thank you very much.” Money won’t be returned any time soon by the Pentagon, the C.I. A. or the elected government of the United States.

 

Close to a billion dollars was taken in the latest scam to hit that part of the world, evidently military and private enterprise has discovered a jewel of a place to make money for those high officials in the war department as well as the private sector. Way to go boys, keep up the good work, and:

 

HAVE A NICE DAY!

I’VE OFTEN WONDERED!

I’VE OFTEN WONDERED!

(STREESBLOG.net, Martti I. Jaatinen, Ranko Radovic, Lauri Anttila, The New Yorker)

(Green Bay Press Gazette, Frazer Chronicle)

 

I used to drive a big rig, a tractor (truck) pulling anywhere from a 45’ to a 53’ trailer full of freight distend to cities throughout the United States. I enjoyed my driving career, the open road, the challenge of getting from point A to point B on time. I felt that I was my own boss, even though the company owner had invested in excess of $125,000, paid the licenses, the fuel, and stood the upkeep of the unit I was driving.

 

I’ve went through the mountains of both the Virginia’s as well as those Rocky Mountain skyscrapers in Colorado, Arizona, and the high grounds of California. It was always a thrill, breathtaking and humbling at the same time. There has never been a truck driver that who couldn’t have said that he was “wide awake” when he was maneuvering the winding roads of the mountains.

 

I have always marveled at the spectacular beauty of our country, and I should know, I’ve traveled from coast to coast almost always under the intoxicating spell of the grandeur of America. I’m not so sure that a road can have a character like breathing, walking, talking person, but road-ways do offer unique aspects that is usually identified as a part of that road-way.

 

I live in Green Bay, Wisconsin and the freeway, U.S. 41 that practically encircles the city has been, and is under construction, and will be for another year or two. The project involves traffic route changes, upgrades to on and off ramps, and those dreaded round-abouts on most of the get-off and get-on ramps. I’m not understanding the reason for these round-abouts, they seem to be a deterrent to traffic flow, and are costly to maintain…..pretty much because trucks, cars and big rigs have to circle around the damn things to get to whatever street they are going for.

 

I know it’s a European thing, England, Germany and France just to name a few countries that enjoy these things. I suppose it’s kind of cosmopolitan to establish these rather quaint foreign additions to United States roadways.

 

DID YOU REALLY THINK THE AESTHETICS WERE FREE

I can tell you for a fact that drivers on today’s highways do not need a flock of cement birds, or a concrete swamp scene, or some geeky looking cherub figures peering down at drivers from the side of the overpass.

 

If you figure that I’d call these designs distracting, forget it, they aren’t, if they were, that driver should be off the road because he’s an accident waiting to happen. These pictorials don’t enhance a passengers riding experience, nor are they a driver’s distraction, they are just there as a sidelight to a bridge, an overpass, wrought iron railings, stone work, or in some cases, road signs.

 

I can’t show you any figures with regards to the cost of these frivolous concrete images on our roads; I don’t have the time or the desire to research. I can tell you that the U.S. 41 project to the west of Green Bay has a budget of $1.5 billion dollars, and of that budget, the Wisconsin Department of Transportation will spend $21 million of these worthless murals, stone work, and iron railings.

 

 

 

 

 

IT’S ONLY A SMALL PERCENTAGE OF THE OVERALL COST

If I had a nickel for every time a governmental department said that, I’d be on a beach right now sucking one of those drinks with the umbrella. GIVE ME A BREAK, about a year ago we got a brochure from the Wisconsin D.O.T. in the mail, telling the Green Bay citizenry about the project on U.S. 41, the possible traffic back-ups, and to please be patient, and drive with care.

 

The cost, close to $2,000…..now that is a real minuscule portion of the U.S. 41 budget, but gee whiz, for weeks before ground breaking the project, the overall goal, and the timeline were plastered all over the media, you had to live in a cave to not have heard about the project.

 

Yet the D.O.T. decided to spend $2 grand on mailing the brochure as a sort of proclamation of the impending project. What idiot decided to do this…..who knows, somebody who undoubtedly sat behind a desk, completely unaware and made the stupid decision.

 

But when you get to talking about $21 million, well that is quite a bit more money than the $2 grand for a brochure in one city. Do I hear (out of control)…..these jerks are a power unto themselves, and figure that they know what is the best way to spend…..our money.

 

Well I’m one guy who doesn’t need road aesthetics cluttering up my highway, it isn’t a beautification,  interesting, or  provocative, and it sure in hell doesn’t make my trip any more enjoyable. The $21 million $2 thousand dollars can sure as hell be spent on more people friendly projects, like parks, picnic areas, ball diamonds, or shelters for family get-togethers.

 

This is just one more example of why we need a government that is active in how budgets are made, and what projects sidelights, or special interests need to be monitored, slashed, or redirected. In short we need our elected officials to do their jobs.

 

HAVE A NICE DAY!

WAS THERE A CROOKED MAN?

WAS THERE A CROOKED MAN?

(USA TODAY, Donna Moore Wesby,  MJ Logan, YAHOO SPORTS, Frazer Chronicle)

 

A man with more stops on his resume then United Airlines now sits as the tsar of the National Collegiate Athletic Association, N.C.A.A. Mark Emmert has…..to say the least, been around the block, several times it would appear. Emmert is…..well, a professional, I’m sure with just a few exceptions his hands have stayed relatively clean, his website states his profession as Academic Administrator, I’m not sure how many people strive to attain that lofty stature, but Mark Emmert has.

 

Look I’m not saying that this guy, Emmert, is a slug on society, or some sort of rip-off-artist, but there seems to have been a trail of disturbing aftermaths that seem to break just after he left his last job. The list seems damning. The list will come later; first I felt we should take a somewhat uneducated look at what the N.C.A.A. is, when it was initiated, and most important, what it stands for today in the 21^st century.

 

Inter-collegiate sports began in 1852 when crews from Harvard and Yale met in a challenge race in the sport of rowing. Sadly there was no television, radio or news cameras, just a few friends of the two rowing crews.

 

Things went along pretty smoothly, with the occasional rowing events until football was introduced to the young college steeds of the 1880’s and 90’s. By 1905 the annual body count from the game of football numbered 19 deaths and 149 injuries. Rules to govern the game were far and few between, and the protective equipment…..not really enough to comment on.

 

It was obvious that something needed to be done, and President Theodore Roosevelt was determined to be a leader of reforming college athletics. He held two White House meetings with college athletic leaders, and the Intercollegiate Athletic Association of the United States was formed. The name was changed to the National Collegiate Athletic Association, (N.C.A.A.) a year later and the organization has grown to its present size.

 

Located in Indianapolis, Indiana, the association has 1,281 schools, conferences or associations including the United States and Canada. All inter-scholastic sports are under the regulatory arm of the N.C.A.A. and with little exception all post season playoff systems are also regulated by the association, and the several hundred full time employees.

 

The N.C.A.A. has many dips, dives and turns during its formative years, moving to a couple different sites in the state of Kansas, and the ultimate move to Indiana had all the action or political movement of a Good Friday night at the movies. In addition to the high drama of which city and state would eventually land the association, several activities lacked any action by the association…..namely black participation and recognizing women’s sports, but that is for another time!

 

WAS THERE A CROOKED MAN

I’ll let you guys be the judge, the importance of your opinion, or mine doesn’t really matter herein, it’s more a conversation piece. Mark Emmert is, if nothing else a study in contrasts, several things cannot be denied, Number one, Emmert is a highly educated man…..I’m not sure how much weight that should carry, but it is an undeniable fact. Born in December 1952, and educated at first, the University of Washington, (B.A.) and Syracuse University, (PhD).

 

 

Before becoming the chief at the Indianapolis N.C.A.A. headquarters Emmert served as the President of the University of Washington, was the chancellor of Louisiana State University, and held faculty and administration positions at the University of Connecticut, Montana State University, and the University of Colorado. However without exception Emmert did not stay at any one place for a very long time.

 

Looking at Mark Emmert’s track record, I noticed the rather unusual short stay at each of his postings, usually a professional stays at a particular institution so that he may institute new programs, or eliminate others. One thing became crystal clear during his time before the N.C.A.A. gig; football played a major role in his professional and private life.

 

SCANDAL AFTER SCANDAL FOLLOWS THIS GUY

I do not have an ax to grind, or am I out for anybody, I just call um as I see um, it’s why I’m so popular…..right! For whatever reason, Emmert leaves jobs either just before, or right after investigations are launched or are pending. The luck of this guy must be unreal…..right.

 

The University of Connecticut launched a massive investigation, at the behest of the governor into a construction project worth more than a billion dollars with overruns that ran into the millions and safety and code regulations that weren’t addressed when the Chancellor, Mark Emmert, either didn’t receive notations regarding the overruns, or ignored altogether the problems.

 

Then there was the L.S.U. case and its football program where athletes’ classes and grades came into question. Grades changed, papers typed for football players, and students being paid to take notes for players.

 

Any person, man or women who ascend to the heights of their chosen profession in the professional world of today is good at two things, if nothing else. They number one watch their ass, and number two, have semi trusted people around them…..because in reality, these types of people do not and I repeat, do not trust people.

 

Emmert has made tons of money during his years as a professional…..professional; it’s listed in today’s USA story in the sports section where I got some of my information. The article kind of sounded like sour grapes, tracking his yearly income from stop to stop…..so what, I think most of them are overpaid, most are nothing more than glorified fund raisers, shysters, and people you shouldn’t trust.

 

What I have a problem with is that Mark Emmert has ascended to a position of power and authority over the very situations that he came from…..and his background isn’t squeaky clean. Emmert once said that “Athletics can be a window into the institution.” Wow, if that’s the case, we all need help…..just let the Mark Emmert’s of the world alone, we are the ones that need the help.

 

HAVE A NICE DAY!

AFGHANISTAN NOT READY, PREPARING FOR GLOBAL WARMING, STOCKTON BANKRUPTCY

HOW COMMON IS YOUR JOB?

(Martha Raddatz, Richard Coolidge, Jordyn Phelps/Power Players, CNN Money, Associated Press)

(Frazer Chronicle)

 

What the hell’s wrong with me, blogging with such a disjointed heading as the above…..well thank you, I’m glad I asked me that question. As most of you know I read anywhere from 10 to 30 news sources a day when I consider what to share with my readers. I have never said that I was an investigative blogger, I choose a topic and in many cases I use my life’s experiences to enhance the subject matter that I’ve chosen.

 

The news today is driven by the almost sensational value of a particular subject or the people involved, sadly most bloggers fall into the same category, and yes, even me. Major news sources, the Associated Press, United Press International, Gannet, the Chicago Tribune, the New York Press, the Boston Globe, the Washington Post, or the Los Angles media all play this game of sensationalism; it’s easy, grabs most news readers…..and is inexpensive.

 

No matter the reason behind the practice, it is true and doesn’t serve the public who deserve better, after all, with little exception the people who pay attention to the news by reading it in the printed form are paying for the medium. And no matter the current fad of people gathering their news information over the computer, millions still rely on the printed press that is either delivered to their doorstep, or is bought at the corner newspaper box.

 

Therefore it behooves the little voices…..like myself, to report whatever subject matter is chosen for a particular day, to write as accurately as possible the facts of the subject. Do I intertwine my personal opinions along the way, absolutely, but I hopefully base my opinion on at least three sources of information. I never shoot from the hip with any of my opinions; I can honestly say that I have never used just my own personal thoughts on any subject. I used a process of research before I put down on paper a conjecture or opinion.

 

With that in mind, I offer today’s quartet of subjects, each is current, vitally important, and thought provoking, they are:

AFGHANISTAN NOT READY!

It’s almost comical, whenever a military person talks about the conditions in a war zone, and how unstable things are. The latest, Commander of the International Security Assistance Forces, (ISAF) United States Marine Corps General Joseph Dunford, Jr. commented on one of the toughest jobs in the military…..preparing Afghanistan to stand on its own by 2014. 

 

That’s right, troops will not be leaving until sometime in 2014, that could mean almost two years, let me say that again, “troops won’t be leaving Afghanistan until 2014, are you out of your fricken mind. What in hell did Afghanistan do before the United States occupied the country, hide under rocks and boulders!

 

 

 

Dunford stated that “Afghanistan isn’t yet strong enough to provide for its own security but is optimistic about the country’s future.” Further the General stated that “conditions are not yet set for a stable and secure Afghanistan in the long term from which Al Qaeda and other international extremist groups will not be able to conduct attacks on the west.

Is there a “plan B” in case the country isn’t ready…..(whatever that means) well, err, ah, “don’t worry says the General, they will be ready.”  Gee General…..that makes me feel so much better, never before in the history of politics, or Generaling  has there been deceit or out and out lying.

 

Boy these guys really, really need a reality check…..exactly how long do they figure we are going to be able to keep picking up the tab for the clap-trap that these people keep telling us. General Dunford, it costs millions of dollars each and every day that you and your merry band of peacekeepers remain. Somebody needs to be held accountable for the millions that are being spent…..oh ya, and the occasional U.S., troop death, let’s not forget them.

 

PREPARING FOR GLOBAL WARMING!

God it can get hot out there, well that was the case at this time last year, but not really so far this year. So maybe global warming isn’t as severe as the naysayers talk about, right? I really have never understood why opponents of global warming talk about what climatologist stand to gain if their predictions are spot on.

 

Oh sure there is grant money that is granted to the study I suppose from both private and governmental sources. But it’s only projected to be in the hundreds of millions, which, to my way of thinking isn’t really that much…..in today’s world.

 

Nobody really has anything to gain whether we are in for an extended hot-house type of weather pattern. The arguments that opponents of global warming have are really thin, the very first thing that comes out of their collective mouths is “it would wreck our economy,” well cha if the world is in for a warming up, whatever economy there was would get burned to the ground…..so much for that argument.

 

Meg Caldwell, executive director of Center for Ocean Solutions says that the “impulse is to try to move quickly to put communities back together the way they were after devastation.” Gee Meg…..that would pretty much be impossible to do…..I’m thinking.

 

If the temperature went up, oh I don’t know…..say 3 degrees, it could mean all sorts of problems with the north and south ice caps…..wouldn’t it. I mean the ice-box of the world at the tips of our planet is already melting faster than usual…..doesn’t that mean global warming. I’m not an expert, but gee that would be my guess.

 

 

 

There is talk of sea walls, of moving structures further inland, of brand new water front property, of people losing everything. Well guess what, global warming would be a life altering event, would wipe out some people, and leave others with little opportunities to regain their former life-styles. It’s called a human altering experience, and probably no matter how prepared people might be, everybody would be caught off guard.

 

So opponents of global warming are shunning the crowd that is talking climate change, yet are in fact preparing themselves…..just in case. Food-stuffs gathered and stored, flash-lights, blankets, generators, alternative living styles contemplated, water sources searched out, and almost a bunker style mentality.

 

It’s always good to be prepared…..just like the Boy Scouts.

 

STOCKTON, CALIFORNIA, BANKRUPTCY

A federal judge ruled Monday, April 1, that Stockton, California can file for bankruptcy protection because they can’t pay their bills. Stockton, with a population of more than 300,000 is by far the largest community in the U.S. to use the financial protection act.

 

I wonder…..why in the world did it take a federal judge to decide that the community could in fact file the action. Maybe it was because the city either wasn’t paying their debts and responsibilities or was late with whatever payments they made, or the fact that they were cutting and slashing personnel at every turn.

 

Health and retirement benefits were the first to be pared down, that wasn’t a clue…..seems to me as if that move should have set off all sorts of bells and whistles. $165 million dollars in bonds that the city issued back in 2007 to keep up with payments to the California Employees Public Retirement System because property taxes plummeted…..another clue.

 

Stockton owes CalPers, California Public Employees’ Retirement System, an organization that provides numerous benefits to its more than 1.6 million members, including health insurance, long-term care, death benefits, mortgage programs and distribution of pension and retired related financial benefits.

 

At the core of the problem with the financially strapped mid-California city is the bickering between plaintiffs’ lawyers and lawyers for the city. Precedents will be set from this action by the federal judge, of that there can be no doubt. But I do have one question that seems to have evaded everybody involved, “with no money, which a city gets through its tax base, where will the money come from to pay the bills.

 

It’s almost like the man said, “the last one out turns off the lights,” no tax base, no money, no money, no services, no services, no quality of life, no quality of life, massive exodus, massive exodus, no more Stockton. The thinking can be no more logical than this.

 

 

HOW COMMON IS YOUR JOB?

If you work at J.C. Penney, ca-ching, you a liable to make around $25,000 a year, or as a cashier at the local 7-11, be prepared to make $20,370, and if you’re a waiter or waitress, the coin in your back pocket or purse will amount to around $20 grand…..if you’re lucky.

 

With gasoline edging onward and upward to that rarefied and heady $4 a gallon for the summer months, low paying jobs will continue to bug the country’s economical recovery. And if you’re a food prep worker, the guy or gal who makes your side salad or whatever, make sure you ride with a friend, or take public transportation, cause you might not have enough money to get to your job which pays annually around $18,000.

 

I was always what you might call “a common worker,” I usually didn’t stay at a job long enough to get to a position of authority, you know, a place where I learned enough to be important to the owner, or boss. Fairly quickly I grew tired of playing the boring games that almost everybody has to play to get ahead.

 

Clearly with more than 50,000,000 Americans making less than $30,000 a year, there needs to be some sort of a voice for these people. Almost without exception these people are non-unionized, and let’s face some hard cold facts, many of these people aren’t the brightest bulb in the box.

 

Not accomplishing a college degree, and in some cases even a high school diploma does not make these bed-rock of our society bad people, or people to be taken advantage of at every turn. I have asked this question on many occasions, and I’ll ask it again, where would we be without the food prep person, the waiter or waitress, the convenience store clerk, the janitor, or the laborer…..in a mess, that’s where.

 

These low paying jobs are a necessity of our lives, each and every one of us, so when we sit and eat at a restaurant, give .25 cents on a buck, treat these people with the same respect as you would a doctor, or lawyer, or any professional person, because, at their level, they are professional.

 

Thanks for partaking in today’s rant, the subjects are current, and thought provoking…..and:

 

HAVE A NICE DAY!

I'VE HEARD OF A FOOT-PRINT, BUT THIS IS RIDICULOUS!

I'VE HEARD OF A FOOT-PRINT, BUT THIS IS RIDICULOUS!

(United States Department of Defense, Jack Kim, Reuters, Frazer Chronicle)

 

It has to be true, not because it was on the internet, but because the information was obtained from the United States Department of Defense, or as hawkish war mongers call it…..the Pentagon. No matter what you call it, the Department of Defense, the Pentagon, or the War Department, the bottom line is always the same…..a money pit for the American taxpayer.

 

When the United States deployed its Stealth jet fighter planes, it was like the two bullies on the block flexing their muscles, and showing off for the girls that were watching. You know, two rival football teams getting ready for battle, and all that machismo bull-crap that really has little to do with the game at hand, it just feels good, and looks great at the same time…..or so they thinking is.

 

I guess I’d really like to know…..before Americans are sent into the north of Korea area exactly who died and made the United States the ruler of the whole wide world…..please, anybody. Don’t both country’s leaders understand what they are playing at…..it’s not a beat down with fists, clubs and sticks, it’s a conflict with guns, real bullets, bombs that actually explode and decapitate people, men, women, old people, and children.

 

North Korea isn’t a democracy; they do not work under a people controlled society, its clans, a dictator-ship, ruled by the most powerful of the clans. North Korea Saturday, March 30 said that they were entering into a state of war with South Korea in response to hostile military drills being staged in the South.

 

It’s a posturing situation for both the South and the North, again two kids on the same block flexing their biceps. And now, according to reports, South Korean local military units may engage the North if the local leaders feel the action is appropriate. Reminds me of a kid with his first B.B. gun asking his dad if he can take the gun out and play with the neiborhood kids…..guess what inevitably happens, somebody gets hit with a stray B.B.

 

The stalemate between the South, the North and the United States has been going on since the end of the Korean Conflict, July 1953. During the 3 year battle between the combatants, there was a total, both sides, of 565,000 deaths and more than 900,000 wounded. Additionally there were…..and are at total of 32,925 soldiers missing in action.

 

I have always viewed the Korean Conflict like two aging boxers, both with long histories of injuries, broken bones and wounds around the eyes, and mouth. Both pugilists are what fight game experts would call bleeders, meaning they have been hit so many times that they can bleed in a stiff breeze.

 

In short, the United States, the United Kingdom, and the newly formed United Nations had just fought a bloody five year war where millions of people had died. North Korea, China and the Soviet Union were in no better shape, having lost millions. And I never really have understood how the world could afford another conflict that would be on the center stage of world activity.

 

WE DO NOT LEARN FROM PAST MISTAKES

Without a doubt people do not learn from past mistakes, the peoples of the world seem to be riding on a wheel that continues to turn, and revisit past ports of call. It seems as if we are destined to repeat the same mistakes as our predecessors.

 

We always seem to need an enemy…..did you ever consider that…..at least for a moment? First it was the British, then Slavery, the Indian wars, the Spanish-American war, broken treaties with our European friends, then Fascism, Communism, and now terrorism. Will we ever enter into a tranquil peace with our brethren?

 

The United States entered into a combat situation with North Korea because of a threat to the security of Europe, and the fact that Communism had gained inroads in China, again far off from the United States shores. But undeterred by the geographical location of Korea, the American political and special interests cemented probably for all times, the fact that she would move against a perceived enemy and threat no matter the location.

 

President Obama continues this aggressive attitude, forget all the silly rhetoric that comes from some Republicans about Obama and Democrats being soft on the countries defense, Obama is front row when it comes to defending…..whomever against…..whatever.

 

The United Nations was militarily rebuffed; the United States was rebuffed at the 38^th. parallel, absolutely nothing was gained by belligerents. It was 60 years ago this July, yet the wounds ooze with the stinging fluid of defeat.

 

DEPLOYMENTS

We are the world’s peace keeper, the land of the free and the home of the brave, the United States is like the world’s big brother, protecting against any bully-boy tactics from the worlds bad boys. What a complete crock of s---, we are aggressive because it’s what we do best, like Jack Nicholson said in A Few Good Men, “you need me on that wall, you want me on that wall.” Gee (Jack), count me out…..I do not need any part of my military protection on some wall in Korea, or sailing around the world, or flying all over the place, and I sure as hell don’t need soldiers deployed in countries that I can even pronounce.

 

I’ve included a list of U.S. countries that American troops are deployed in:

Africa-Middle East:

Kuwait: 15,000

Bahrain: 2,902

Qatar: 800

Diego Garcia: 560

Egypt: 292

Saudi Arabia: 278

United Arab Emirates: 193

Asia-Pacific:

Japan: 52,692

South Korea: 28,500

Australia: 183

Singapore: 180

Philippines: 131

Thailand: 114

Europe:

Germany: 45,596

Italy: 10,916

United Kingdom: 9,310

Spain: 1,600

Turkey: 1,491

Belgium: 1,165

Portugal: 713

Netherlands: 374

Greece: 361

Norway: 90

Western Hemisphere:

Guantanamo Bay, Cuba: 988

Honduras: 388

Canada: 146

Greenland: 138

United States:

Contiguous United States: 1,123,219

Hawaii: 49,242

Alaska: 21,280

Guam: 5,646

Puerto Rico: 162

 

I’m not gonna add um up, let’s just say counting the totals up can be your home-work, when you do count the troop numbers up…..try and find out how much each soldier costs the American taxpayer to have these military personnel stationed throughout the world…..oh, and by the way, I could care less how many troops that are stationed in these foreign countries are attached to American consulates, maybe we should consider cutting back a bit on these gem jobs.

 

Anyways the point of today’s subject is really simple, we need to come to terms with why we need to have enemy’s to fight with almost all the time. When we figure that one out, I have our next meaty problem already picked out and ready to go…..till then.

 

HAVE A NICE DAY!