Tag Archives: politics

Guns, Guns, and More Guns

23 Tuesday Apr 2024

Posted by in Gun Control, Gun Violence

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        The gun culture is winning out over commonsense. We are allowing teenagers, preteens, and even younger children to play with and carry guns outside the home. No wonder why we have bicycle and drive-by shootings where bullets are sprayed at groups of other children. More than once a week police shoot a kid with a gun.

            In the 1950’s the weapons were zip guns. They were homemade single shot devices using a rubber band. Now teenagers are carrying large caliber pistols with extended magazines or even an automatic with conversion parts bought off the internet.

            Why are parents allowing their children to become so involved with guns? Illinois may be the first state to put parents in jail for their child killing other students. Perhaps the police and courts should go farther and penalize parents just for allowing the children to be around guns. Parents of dead kids march after shootings to soothe their feelings about not protecting their own kids,. Why didn’t they keep their kids out of gangs and associating with gang members? If necessary move to a safer area.

            Yes, the police may be more strict and rough in some ethnic or race communities than safer areas, but it is from past experiences. Every day they put on body armor to try to go home at shift’s end. There are always bad seeds in the force and the community. It is the responsibility of the rest of us to eliminate them from being a problem. The problem is too many gangs and lenient courts, laws, and stupid parents.

When It Is Over

18 Thursday Apr 2024

Posted by in President Trump, Trials

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        Former President Donald Trump’s defensive plan is to stall all the trials until after the election. If he happened to win he thinks he would be safe for at least four years and then only if he can’t figure out how to extend his second term.

            Once he was indicted no time limit has an expiration date so he would still be in jeopardy when he left office. Maybe Trump is looking to pardon himself for all federal crimes and get the Republican Governors to pardon him for their state’s crimes. Both he and the Governors would pardon his co-conspirators so they wouldn’t be pressured to testify against him.

            One question is why would he be free from any trial if he won in November? He would not be president until January 20’s inauguration. What happens if he is found guilty? It will probably go to the Supreme Court.

            Another question is; if Trump is found guilty after the election but before January 20 and sentenced, does his Vice-President get sworn in as President? Back to the Supreme Court I suppose.

            So many questions; if he won but none if he loses the election. Let’s hope he loses and the country’s legal system isn’t put into greater disrepute! The three Justices he set on the Supreme Court have shown their loyalty to him so far. The Judges lied repeatedly during their confirmation hearings so they can be counted to always vote in Trump’s favor.

Today’s War on Disputed Land

05 Tuesday Mar 2024

Posted by in Israel

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        We have learned our Intelligence Agencies told the Israeli Agency about the activities in Gaza. For some reason they did nothing to counter the possibility of the massive attack. Israelis who survived the initial attack on their Kibbutz want to know why the army did not react to sappers opening the gaps in the wire barrier. One settler said the army was always there in minutes when a bird or pig touched it.

            The satellites showed Hamas was concentrating its missiles for a barrage on September 28th. October 5th, the CIA gave another warning and the next day the Israelis were reporting theirs and U.S. intelligence of the major increase in activity. The attack occurred the next day, October 7th, when Hamas launched its attack. An Israeli source said Netanyahu didn’t want to ruin the country-wide parties.

            We can be absolutely sure that Netanyahu was informed before the sixth so the warning could be distributed. Why did he not move troops to where the attack was aimed? Why did he not warn the area settlers? Did he decide to wait until the Hamas troops came over the border to kill them? Did his plan go awry? Did he allow this to happen so he could divert attention from the over 100,000 protesters that are against his pushing to cut the Supreme Court’s power and his taking the land on the West Bank for his ultra-right wing supporters.

            I don’t support either side in this war because both sides are to blame. The Israelis are finally going to do what we did when he moved the people off the land they had lived on for hundreds or thousands of years. We said it was God’s way of giving the Europeans a home. We only killed eighteen of the twenty million through diseased blankets, starvation, or with lead. I guess bombing ten story buildings with families in them is the modern way of exterminating those people Israelis don’t want.

History Repeats Itself

27 Tuesday Feb 2024

Posted by in Anti-Semitism, Repeating History

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        I wonder how many people knew how close America came to being taken over by the American NAZI Party before they watched the PBS American Experience. It was an in-depth history of the movement before and during the Depression. Nearly a third of the Senate was Nazis or supporters of the movement. Hundreds of famous people were supporting it with money and/or public commitment.

            With all my knowledge through college courses and studies, I did not know how powerful the Nazis were and how close they were to taking control of America. They had maybe a hundred boys and girls summer camps like the ones Hitler was using to indoctrinate German youth. Their parents were included with the children in training of hatred of non-European and non-Christian peoples. This hatred involved Jews, Blacks, and Browns. There was little difference between the rallies here and in Germany. The leaders and many others wore the Brown Shirt uniforms with the swastika and salutes. They hung their flags next to the American flag to transfer the patriotism of one to the other.

            When Germans invaded Poland the movement pushed to not support England in their war. One of their front men in the movement was Charles Lindbergh. Of course the public’s view changed after Pearl Harbor and Germany declaring war on America.

            However many Nazi-like groups have the same youth camps today. These Neo-Nazis and groups like them have been bringing their beliefs back. The rise of anti-Semitism and racial discrimination is returning. Added to the persecution of Jews are Muslims and other Religions.

            We must be aware that History is starting to repeat itself and most people are unaware of the danger. WAKE UP AMERICA!

Politics Over Patriotism

13 Tuesday Feb 2024

Posted by in Patriotism, Politics

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“Déjà vu all over again” and “history repeats itself” are two sayings which apply to Donald Trump’s claim to be able to quickly settle the Ukraine and Russian war. I laughed when he said it. Then I remembered past similar situations.

The first was former President Richard Nixon during his campaign against former Vice-President Hubert Humphrey. He said he had a secret plan to end the war within months. What we didn’t know is his people had been talking with the North Vietnamese. Whatever the plan was, it didn’t work.

The next scenario was former President Ronald Reagan’s people talking with the Iranians about keeping the hostages until he was sworn into the Presidency. They were released that day.

Former President George Bush II campaigned that Americans could handle money better than their government so he would cut taxes. Remember, former President Clinton was paying off the National Debt which was definitely more responsible than the people who were increasing their debt. His cuts started the huge increases in National debt.

Now Donald Trump says he can talk with his friend Putin and end the Ukraine War. He has pressured the Republicans in the House and Senate to reject an immigration bill with everything the Republicans want so he can use it in his campaign.

During the next eight months over a million more people will come across the Southern Border because the current laws can not stop them as per the Supreme Court during Trump’s administration. The Pandemic gave Trump a legal reason to close the border. When the pandemic died out the courts took away Biden’s authority. Trump says he could stop it but that will require passing a law that he couldn’t get passed during his term.

Think First

06 Tuesday Feb 2024

Posted by in Voting

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When I was in high school a classmate and I were walking in front of a line of stores. The pharmacy had a metal two sided sign hanging about eight foot above the sidewalk. He suddenly leaped up and gave it a karate chop, breaking a bone in his hand. Six weeks later he got the cast off and as we walked under that same sign he did the same thing with the same result. It was my first experience with “Doing the same thing over and over expecting a different result.” I think I learned that lesson from his pain but why do so many people keep doing the same stupid things? We keep electing the same candidates with the same insane goals they know can not or should not happen. Examples are former President George Bush campaigned against raising the income tax former President Bill Clinton was using to balance the budget and pay off the National Debt. He said he could cut the taxes and get more revenue. He cut taxes and the deficit took off again. Former President Donald Trump cut taxes as he promised and the deficit ballooned even more.

We elect people who say they are going to help us but they increases the debt. Getting re-elected is more important to them than doing the hard work. The social media CEOs were just in front of an “angry Senate committee.” The CEOs pledged to cut their involvement with kids; so the Senate will create another committee to look into it which means the matter will quietly die. Why? This is the second time they assembled with the same result.

I know Gary learned a painful lesson about hitting a sign but Americans keep hitting the sign when they should know the result will hurt. To reduce the National Debt, we heed people who know a substantial increase in taxes now is critical.

Time Changes Morality

18 Monday Dec 2023

Posted by in Gaza

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Today the count of civilians killed by Israel in their fight against Hamas is approaching 20,000. That number is more than one third as many as was killed by the first incendiary attack on Tokyo. It is about the same fraction as the intended experiment in creating a firestorm when we and the British bombed Dresden.

In Dresden people in the underground bomb shelters were suffocated when the raging fire burned up all the oxygen. The fire’s heat created a suction so strong fleeing people were pulled off their feet and into the flames from blocks away.

In the United States we put all ethnic Japanese in what were really concentration camps. Germans with the same skin color as the rest of the Americans were ostracized in most of the country. Long after the war both ethnics were “not good Americans” in my home county.

Advance the morals to 2023 and now it is terrible to bomb apartments killing Palestinians in Gaza. On a smaller scale than World War II, is Israel justified in killing people forced to live in the congested strip of land? Remember Israel exists on the former Palestinian land because the Israelis bulldozed the homes generations had lived in and destroyed their fields and groves so they had no choice but leave. Will killing thousands pacify the Palestinians or cause them to hate Israel even more, causing Hamas and other groups to get more support?

More and more people around the world are turning against Israel’s tactics and siding with the Palestinians. Israel is trying to wipe out Hamas with minimal loss of their soldiers. That means, as one cabinet member said, “Killing all the vermin.”

His Word Is Insufficient

16 Thursday Mar 2017

Posted by in Politics, Uncategorized

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History cites the power and honor of the President of the United States when the President of France was asked if he would like to see the photographic evidence of Russian missiles in Cuba. He said “No, the President’s word is sufficient.”

Can you image anybody taking President Trump’s word for anything? The only bi-partisan agreement in the House and Senate is the occupants of the White House are undependable and untrustworthy. The entire administration seems to be composed of multi-millionaires and billionaires with no board experience in running the second biggest corporation (China is biggest). Diplomacy with a level-head keeps us out of war with another country and gets us help from dependable allies.

President Kennedy’s level-headed diplomacy prevented World War III. If a similar situation happened today, you could kiss your butt goodbye!

Election Hacking

10 Friday Mar 2017

Posted by in Politics

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I was just reading another article on the possibility of our election being hacked. It caused me to remember an interview I saw two or three years ago. The guy was a government expert on computer security. He probably came closer to the truth than anyone else I ever heard. He talked about how cars, home appliances, power plants and yes, ComEd’s smart meters could be hacked.

The major discussion was the possibility of someone affecting an election by hacking. He said the official answer is over 99% secure, There is no system that isn’t hackable. Even air gap systems (meaning not attached by wire or WI-FI.) can be hacked if another device is temporarily attached and then connected to another system not air gapped. A 99% secure system means it is secure from the average hacker but not experts in the employ of certain countries and groups.

He said no system is completely secure but our computer system of voting and reporting is mostly secure. He said our defense is the tens of thousands of voting districts around the country. I would have asked him one question. Since the winning of the electoral votes of just a few states is required to be President and a few votes in several of those voting districts can sway the state, do you think it is still nearly impossible? Changing 30 or 40 votes a district between the two front runners could do it. It would be so easy!!

Maybe the old paper ballot manually counted and phoned in is the only system secured from hacking. A few dead voters are better than Russian’s or Chinese deciding the winner.

Anarchists Finally Win

26 Sunday Feb 2017

Posted by in Politics

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For many years the Koch brothers and their friends have been trying to take control of the federal government and as many states as possible. The new house, senate and administration are tied into the group; financially and idealistically. Their followers are in total control of 25 states, the legislatures in 7 more, and in 8 other states they just have the governorship. Illinois is one of the 8. (Alaska’s is independent.) In 19 states Republicans control either house or governor.

It is very well documented as to what the Brothers, their brethren, and their minions want for our country. They hate all government regulations and controls. They do not believe in any government financial help unless it benefits them. They believe people should be self-supporting while saving for retirement. Most of the cabal was either born multi-millionaires or billionaires. They don’t have a clue as to how minimum-wagers are supposed to live and yet save for retirement and medical expenses.

The programs they and their minions want to eliminate are: Social Security, Medicare, Medicaid, ACA, environmental laws, and banking regulations. They feel that they can exert a long lasting impact if they fill the 100+ federal judge openings with people who share their ideologies. Since they have complete control, all the nominees will be confirmed. They will be in line for later Supreme Court vacancies. In a few years they may have all nine seats.

The last President they consider worthwhile is Herbert Hoover. He helped the Great Depression to take down the financial system. FDR put through many programs and laws making the middle class grow and irritating the super rich. Ever since then, the super rich have been trying to turn the clock back. The Koch brother’s father founded the anarchist John Birch Society. He failed, but the sons won’t!!

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