The media will continue to stir up fear and anger. More 'news' about Russia, North Korea and the dangers of the Middle East will keep the citizens quiet about the billions approved for the military. Stories about those billions will include words to suggest this money if for the brave men and women in uniform. There will be no breakdown of the money in the latest Bill. Part of this Military Spending Legislation will be used by The Department of Energy. I wonder if it will help fund another 'green company' in bed with the President and some lawmakers . . .
With all of today's technology, the Congress will continue to avoid showing proposed legislation to the people. The media will make no demands. They are selling fear and anger, not news.
Sunday, December 4, 2011
Monday, November 28, 2011
New Accusations
The Penn State sex scandal will lead to additional accusations against schools and coaches. Long-term 'suppressed memory' cases and other sudden outcries will come in large numbers. Somehow, law-suits will help the victims live with their pain.
It is interesting to note that when taking my 'children' to college, I was told that because the 'children' were 18 years old, their grades were private. Although I could pay for my daughter's education, I was not entitled to see their grades. It is interesting to note that 18-year olds are of voting age.
In some states 17-year olds are tried as adults. Based on circumstances, some 15 year olds are tried as adults.
It is interesting to note that at 17, 18, or 19 years of age the 'children' cannot prevent another adult from molesting them. They do not know how to say 'no' or 'stop' and they do not know how to file a report with the college or the police.
Coaches that attempt to engage in inappropriate sexual misconduct should be reported and fired. School officials aware of such conduct should be reported and fired. All parties should be arrested and charged where sufficient probably cause exists.
Question: If an 18 year old man does not report a coach, is he libel for the abuse of children by the same coach tomorrow?
Eliminate monetary damages and watch the accusations go away.
It is interesting to note that when taking my 'children' to college, I was told that because the 'children' were 18 years old, their grades were private. Although I could pay for my daughter's education, I was not entitled to see their grades. It is interesting to note that 18-year olds are of voting age.
In some states 17-year olds are tried as adults. Based on circumstances, some 15 year olds are tried as adults.
It is interesting to note that at 17, 18, or 19 years of age the 'children' cannot prevent another adult from molesting them. They do not know how to say 'no' or 'stop' and they do not know how to file a report with the college or the police.
Coaches that attempt to engage in inappropriate sexual misconduct should be reported and fired. School officials aware of such conduct should be reported and fired. All parties should be arrested and charged where sufficient probably cause exists.
Question: If an 18 year old man does not report a coach, is he libel for the abuse of children by the same coach tomorrow?
Eliminate monetary damages and watch the accusations go away.
Saturday, August 13, 2011
Political Will
Last week's Wall Street Journal ran an editorial about the riots in England and much of what was written about cause and effect applies to situations in the USA. The stand-out paragraph answered the question, "What did we get for our liberal welfare programs?" Essentially we received groups that view work as a 'lifestyle option' that they are not interested in pursuing. In other words, people no longer view government polices that take money from workers to give to those in real need. They view this process as a right to choose work or living forever off hand-outs.
It makes sense. When the value of welfare checks, food stamps, medical coverage, subsidized housing, free meals at school, free or reduced membership at the YMCA and other organizations, and other programs are totaled they exceed minimum wage.
The answer is not to raise minimum wage. The answer is to only offer work programs in exchange for food stamps, etc. The answer is to eliminate 'unemployment benefits' and to offer work for payments. Its called a job. (Why should anyone benefit from unemployment? Don't we want people to work? Unemployment insurance should be used to provide temporary work where people can earn money. Many people interviewed on TV and Radio programs say that they will look for work when the benefits run out).
The lack of political will and the focus on getting re-elected almost guarantees that things will not change. Some are questioning if a democratic republic is possible because of this very situation. It certainly provokes intelligent thought.
It makes sense. When the value of welfare checks, food stamps, medical coverage, subsidized housing, free meals at school, free or reduced membership at the YMCA and other organizations, and other programs are totaled they exceed minimum wage.
The answer is not to raise minimum wage. The answer is to only offer work programs in exchange for food stamps, etc. The answer is to eliminate 'unemployment benefits' and to offer work for payments. Its called a job. (Why should anyone benefit from unemployment? Don't we want people to work? Unemployment insurance should be used to provide temporary work where people can earn money. Many people interviewed on TV and Radio programs say that they will look for work when the benefits run out).
The lack of political will and the focus on getting re-elected almost guarantees that things will not change. Some are questioning if a democratic republic is possible because of this very situation. It certainly provokes intelligent thought.
Monday, August 8, 2011
Who Has the Special Need?
At some point during the weekend, I began wondering what these children see. So many of them have eyes that drift upward and even some parents told me that they wonder how the children seem things. The closest way to describe the look on their faces is to imagine the look of people that are deep in prayer. I am not talking about endless repetitions of the Lord’s Prayer, but the type of prayer where one feels to be in communion with God. That is the look of these children.
We refer to these children as ‘special needs’ children, but I wonder. . .
Perhaps they can see the angels and see God in ways that we cannot imagine. Perhaps everyone else is really the ‘special needs’ person.
Certainly, these children are instantly trusting of everyone. They seem to just exist to love and to be loved. How odd that we others think that these children have ‘special needs’ when it may be that we have the real special needs. Suppose, as fanciful and Pollyannaish as it sounds, everyone trusted everyone and all we needed to be happy were to love and be loved. Perhaps a more accurate way of stating it would be to say, suppose every person recognized that all we needed to be happy were to love and be loved.
Tuesday, July 26, 2011
Violence in Mexico
The horrific acts of violence committed by the cartels are done so to intimidate the public and to project their image as powerful and beyond the control of the government. The U.S. media helps the cartels to project this image and we are too lazy to examine facts that put things into perspective.
First, almost every news article about violence in Mexico contains references to many previous stories about violence in Mexico. Suppose that were the policy for your city? If every murder, rape and robbery were reported on the front pages of every news paper in America; if every crime were the lead story on every news program the world would view your city as a horrible place. Recently, there were multiple murders in American cities. Although the news was reported, there were no references to earlier killings, rapes and robberies in these cities.
Searching for facts to put things into perspective, I read that some media sources believe as many as 40,000 people have been murdered in Mexico since 2006, largely due to the drug war. The fact is that most were murdered because of the fighting among the cartels and most of the dead were involved with a cartel.
Search for this fact. How many people were murdered in the USA since 2006? Over 70,000! Yes, we are twice the size with a larger population. However, most of our dead were not involved in crime. Most of our dead were innocents.
Instead of this comparison, the media compared the number of people killed in Mexico with the number of U.S. military killed in our current wars. A more realistic comparisons puts things into a more realistic view. Are there places in Mexico that are very violent? Yes. Are businesses in some cities paying 'protection money' to criminals ? Yes. Do I travel every two weeks and walk the streets in a Mexican border-city? Yes.
Although I do not see evidence of violence I do see evidence of the impact of our skewed reporting. Tourism along the border is gone. Both U.S. and Mexican border cities suffered huge losses in jobs because of relentless reporting in ways to terrify the public.
First, almost every news article about violence in Mexico contains references to many previous stories about violence in Mexico. Suppose that were the policy for your city? If every murder, rape and robbery were reported on the front pages of every news paper in America; if every crime were the lead story on every news program the world would view your city as a horrible place. Recently, there were multiple murders in American cities. Although the news was reported, there were no references to earlier killings, rapes and robberies in these cities.
Searching for facts to put things into perspective, I read that some media sources believe as many as 40,000 people have been murdered in Mexico since 2006, largely due to the drug war. The fact is that most were murdered because of the fighting among the cartels and most of the dead were involved with a cartel.
Search for this fact. How many people were murdered in the USA since 2006? Over 70,000! Yes, we are twice the size with a larger population. However, most of our dead were not involved in crime. Most of our dead were innocents.
Instead of this comparison, the media compared the number of people killed in Mexico with the number of U.S. military killed in our current wars. A more realistic comparisons puts things into a more realistic view. Are there places in Mexico that are very violent? Yes. Are businesses in some cities paying 'protection money' to criminals ? Yes. Do I travel every two weeks and walk the streets in a Mexican border-city? Yes.
Although I do not see evidence of violence I do see evidence of the impact of our skewed reporting. Tourism along the border is gone. Both U.S. and Mexican border cities suffered huge losses in jobs because of relentless reporting in ways to terrify the public.
Diffculty of Finding Facts- Immigration Example
Often we are overwhelmed with facts. The issues surrounding immigration provide but one example. Even expert studies cannot agree on the impact of illegal immigration. A federal study concluded that there are so many conflicting reports about the cost of illegal immigration to individual states, that it is impossible to agree on the actual cost. However, the federal government concluded that the cost is minimal and there actually may be no cost.
Social Security payments, Worker Compensation Insurance are two 'taxes' that are paid by many illegal workers that cannot be paid to these workers when they retire or are injured. Every illegal alien pays sales tax and support the U.S. economy when they buy goods.
For me it is all simple. Not too long ago most people agreed that there were 20 million illegal workers in the United States and many said that they were costing taxpayers millions.
Today, most agree that there are 10 million illegal workers. Most sources support this belief.
IF the illegal immigrants are responsible for high taxes to social service agencies, schools and hospitals I want my taxes reduced! After all, if half of the reason my taxes were high was due to the 20 million illegal workers and half are gone, we should be seeing a huge tax reduction.
Any law that is designed to reduce the number of people on U.S. soil without authorization that is created because of the impact those people have on taxes, schools and hospitals should be linked to an equal reduction in taxes and funding for schools and hospitals. After all, when 'those people' are gone, there should be a huge tax windfall.
Social Security payments, Worker Compensation Insurance are two 'taxes' that are paid by many illegal workers that cannot be paid to these workers when they retire or are injured. Every illegal alien pays sales tax and support the U.S. economy when they buy goods.
For me it is all simple. Not too long ago most people agreed that there were 20 million illegal workers in the United States and many said that they were costing taxpayers millions.
Today, most agree that there are 10 million illegal workers. Most sources support this belief.
IF the illegal immigrants are responsible for high taxes to social service agencies, schools and hospitals I want my taxes reduced! After all, if half of the reason my taxes were high was due to the 20 million illegal workers and half are gone, we should be seeing a huge tax reduction.
Any law that is designed to reduce the number of people on U.S. soil without authorization that is created because of the impact those people have on taxes, schools and hospitals should be linked to an equal reduction in taxes and funding for schools and hospitals. After all, when 'those people' are gone, there should be a huge tax windfall.
Class and Style
During an interview on BBC today, the person being interviewed said something that caused the host to interrupt. As the host realized that the person being interviewed was not finished speaking, he apologized and asked the speaker to please continue. When common polite behaviors stands out, we may be in trouble as a society.
Name-calling and being so uncertain of one's opinion that one must 'win' every argument is commonplace, especially on 'talk' radio and the Internet.
Too many people search for sources to confirm their prejudices or flawed beliefs. Often they fail to realize that the multiple sources that confrim their belief are all based on a single root source. People need learn how to search for facts.
Name-calling and being so uncertain of one's opinion that one must 'win' every argument is commonplace, especially on 'talk' radio and the Internet.
Too many people search for sources to confirm their prejudices or flawed beliefs. Often they fail to realize that the multiple sources that confrim their belief are all based on a single root source. People need learn how to search for facts.
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