Monthly Archives: April 2021

Wake Up America

25 Sunday Apr 2021

Posted by in Respect

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            How and why has the respect for American institutions fallen so far and so fast? Granted Congress has not been above 50% since the 1950s, but it isn’t above the quarter now. Why? Respect has fallen dramatically during the last five years. I believe it is because a few of our elected officials have done so to enrich their campaign chests and themselves by denigrating others and the institution. Trump greatly increased disrespect by his constant attacks on it. Most of those negative comments were outrageous and completely unfounded.

            The military had the highest respect when Trump went into office before he hired several generals. When he fired them and started his diatribe against them, respect plummeted.

            The respect of the news media dropped when Fox News was conceived to divide us to increase the numbers and influence the far right. Their brainwashing was designed to destroy confidence in mainstream media while creating their own powerful political base. These divisive skills were designed to put divisive people in office and support them.

            We are told public schools are bad and private schools owned by some of the radial right are going to save our children by teaching them their philosophy. Remember a Representative’s comment about Hitler and training kids.

            Add to what a few Americans are doing to create division — the work of the Russians. We now know how they have used the right media and internet to put people in office and damage our institutions and companies.

            Fear is being created to divide us so a few Americans and Russia can benefit. Wake Up America while there is still time!

Blame Bad Parenting

19 Monday Apr 2021

Posted by in Parenting, Police

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            During his first term, Obama made a plea for parents to do a better job of parenting. Little was made of his plea for some reason. He summed up the problem of how and why kids got into drugs, guns, and gangs. Few if any kids joining a gang have been reared right.

            A great example is thirteen-year-old Adam Toledo. What parent allows a boy that age to be around a twenty-one year old gangbanger at 2:30 in the morning? Gangs are full of kids and adults who were the product of bad parenting. Who is the final person to correct the misguided kid? The cop with a gun who may have to shoot him or her? Sending a kid to a penal institution just makes them more hardened since gangs run the jails and prisons.

            How about throwing Mr. Spock’s child reasoning ideas out and getting back to kicking butt when a kid goes wrong? Sitting a kid in a corner or taking away their computer, phone, or TV doesn’t change a pre-teen or teenager who spends their time selling drugs or committing other crimes.

            Don’t blame a cop when they are faced with a kid with a gun or knife. Blame the parents who failed in their job of raising the child. Don’t march to the mayor’s home or to the police station. March to the kid’s home.

Bad Apples Everywhere

08 Thursday Apr 2021

Posted by in Violence

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            Perhaps the term I most remember my parents using about someone other than any other is “Bad Apple”. It meant that person lacked a good personality. The term relates to what happens when a basket of good apples contains one apple which has started to rot. All the good apples around it start to decay faster because of their proximity to the bad one. If the selection of which apples to put in the basket isn’t done well the whole basket can go bad more quickly.

            The larger the group of people, the more likely for a bad apple to be in the group. Sometimes an apple may look good on the outside but be going bad under the pretty skin. People are the same. Some examples are the military, the police, many organizations, and protest groups. After 9-11 the military needed to quickly expand so they took in people who were marginally within their personality parameters. A few years later when they reduced the need for bodies, those bad apples were dumped. Police officers are well screened but on occasion, a bad apple is put in the basket or one becomes a bad apple after constantly being put in bad situations every day. Many protests are branded because a few apples go bad by rioting.

            One thing we should all learn is to not judge all baskets because of a few bad apples.

Fix Old, Not Build New

08 Thursday Apr 2021

Posted by in Infrastructure

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            President Biden is pushing an infrastructure program to repair America’s decaying infrastructure. Fix means to repair the old broken roads and bridges, not to build new while continuing to let the old fall apart.

            Instead of building a new Lake Shore Drive, use the money to replace some of the thousands of miles of roads which are heavily potholed. Fix old so it will last for years instead of throwing some patch material into the same potholes each year.

            Fix right and without bribery or collusion or political connections. Chicago should put some impeccable honest people in a position to oversee the projects. Don’t use the funds to line some politically connected people’s pockets. Spend it wisely for the good of the people of Chicago.