The following is a reader response to blog entry 'Aborting the Cost of Anti-Abortion' as it was printed in Hernando Today.
LETTER TO THE EDITOR:
As a former columnist at Hernando Today it was my understanding that perhaps the first rule of thumb was to do proper research and assure the accuracy of statements published under my byline. Assuming this applies to conservative columnists as well as progressives, I must question the column by Ron Rae which appeared in Hernando Today on Sunday, June 14, 2009.
First, Ron’s claim that he is “not necessarily a Republican” is questionable since he mentions no Republican whose age is perhaps too advanced. He mentions Sen. Robert Byrd (D) W. V. as the oldest member at age 91. He next states “There are five other Democrats in the Senate who are 83 or older..” when actually only 3 are in that age group: Frank Lautenberg, N.J. (age 85), Daniel Inouye, Hawaii (age 84), and Daniel Akaha, Hawaii (age 84). He claims that term limits will give us a younger House and Senate, but that would depend upon at what age the candidates were first elected, would it not? So then, is this an issue of term limits or really an issue of age restrictions for candidates?
His real problem seems to be that he is a Republican who thought it was fine when the GOP had total control of the Executive and Legislative branches of our government for 8 long and devastating years, but now demands a bi-partisanship that was never extended to Democrats for that 8 year span. Incidentally, fast approaching the age limit(s) Ron is objecting to are following Republican Senators : Jim Bunning, Kentucky (age 77), Richard Lugar, Indiana (age 77), Chuck Grassley, Iowa (age 75), Robert Foster Bennett, Utah (age 75), and Richard Shelby, Alabama (age 75). Is Ron saying that none of these Republicans should be allowed to run for re-election because they would still be serving when they were in the over 80 age group?
Apparently, Republicans who have become the “party of no” are desperately trying to eliminate Democrats from the Senate with nothing but scare tactics, lies and innuendoes, with nary a responsible idea or plan to offer except more of what got us where we are today. Funny that Hernando Today, which appears if not 100% right wing, certainly comes really close to that figure, has had to go to 5-day publishing instead of 7 and seems to be losing some staff members of long standing.Apparently, all a right winger has to do is claim that he is "not necessarily a Republican" and try to pass himself off as what...an Independant? Anyone think that this “newspaper” might be losing readership due to its lack of fairness and accountability?
Frances Earl
177 Rusk CircleSpring Hill, FL 34606
(352) 688-5993
http://us.mc1101.mail.yahoo.com/mc/compose?to=fearl@tampabay.rr.com
Wednesday, May 27, 2009
Right On, Rush Limbaugh!
The First 100 Days handed populist President Barack Obama a high-five regardless which poll happened to cross your eyes. A CBS/The New York Times poll of 973 adults presented a 68% approval rating while a USA Today/Gallup poll shows that of the 1,051 Americans polled, 79% view his performance as having been at least "okay."
But what of Obama’s acclaimed nemesis, Rush Limbaugh? On January 16, in response to an invitation to express, in writing, his hopes of the new Administration, the talk-radio host decided to go loco-vocal, saying, “I would be honored if the Drive-By Media headlined me all day long: ‘Limbaugh: I Hope Obama Fails.’ Somebody's gotta say it.”
He expressed this hopelessness of the 44th President, “I know what his politics are. I know what his plans are, as he has stated them. I don't want them to succeed.” He then added, “….what is unfair about my saying I hope liberalism fails?”
At the 2009 Conservative Political Action Conference in February, he discussed 50 years of Democrats bridling Americans with a welfare system that has held so many back from being successful members of society. “… I want everyone in this room and every one of you around the country to succeed. I want anyone who believes in life, liberty, pursuit of happiness to succeed. And I want any force, any person, any element of an overarching Big Government that would stop your success, I want that organization, that element or that person to fail.”
During a March broadcast of Fox News Sunday with Chris Wallace, the host offered his interpretation of the Limbaugh broadcast that, instead of wanting the president to fail, it’s the policies to which Obama adheres that Rush wants to fail. Mr. Wallace was affectively chastised for his statement but, when taken in context, Limbaugh pointed out his personal concern for the country and the kids and grandchildren of Americans when he questioned, “Why in the world do we want to saddle them with more liberalism and socialism? Why would I want to do that? So I can answer it, four words, ‘I hope he fails.’”
On his April 22 radio show, Limbaugh said of the First 100 Days, “I'd like to refer to it, my friends, as “finals week.” And his take on Obama’s performance? “It's embarrassing incompetence and inexperience.”
He rattled off a roll call of Obama embarrassments: “Fidel Castro, one of Obama’s idols, call him superficial.” “We had the nomination of tax cheats to his cabinet… five tax cheats in the Obama administration.” “He has run around the world and apologized for the greatest, the most compassionate, the most innovative and freedom-loving country in world history.”
Speaking on behalf of his American followers, Rush said, “Obama doesn't know what he's doing. He doesn't know all this that's happening in his administration.”
Of DHS Secretary, “Janet Napolitano said the 9/11 hijackers actually got into our country through Canada. So now the Canadians are up in arms and the National Post in Canada today has a piece asking how in the hell did this woman get her job?”
Right on, Rush! You could justly question how other members of the Obama Administration were chosen for such high profile positions.
Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner is said to be the “wonder boy” but Paul Volcker, former Federal Reserve chairman and now head of the Economic Recovery Advisory Board, of which Geithner is also a member, told Congress during a February hearing that it was “shameful” Geithner has no assistants. Not so. Former Secretaries Lawrence Summers, his mentor, and Robert Rubin, a protégé, Geithner’s policies are anything but void of others’ influences. His experience relies on that of others.
Just as the president is pressing UBS to hand over a list of American companies guilty of tax evasion in Swiss bank accounts, the same should be pursued by Geithner for the billions of dollars handed over to Fed chairman Ben Bernanke and his cozy attachment to American bankers.
As a member of the White House Council of Economic Advisers, Austan Goolsbee appeared more juvenile than an American Idol contestant with his wrinkled nose and a childish grin during an interview defending the President’s intent on closing tax loopholes and tax havens for American companies. With achievements as a debater and an acclaimed economist, he remains an inexperienced cabinet member.
Perhaps most questionable of Obama’s appointments is that of Robert Gibbs as Press Secretary. If ever a person were in need of a teleprompter, Gibbs is the prime candidate; a robot would be a welcome improvement over his inexperience as a public speaker.
However “un-American” people view his repeated hopes for Obama to fail, I respect Rush Limbaugh for upholding the most precious of our freedoms: the First Amendment.
“Right” on, Rush!
But what of Obama’s acclaimed nemesis, Rush Limbaugh? On January 16, in response to an invitation to express, in writing, his hopes of the new Administration, the talk-radio host decided to go loco-vocal, saying, “I would be honored if the Drive-By Media headlined me all day long: ‘Limbaugh: I Hope Obama Fails.’ Somebody's gotta say it.”
He expressed this hopelessness of the 44th President, “I know what his politics are. I know what his plans are, as he has stated them. I don't want them to succeed.” He then added, “….what is unfair about my saying I hope liberalism fails?”
At the 2009 Conservative Political Action Conference in February, he discussed 50 years of Democrats bridling Americans with a welfare system that has held so many back from being successful members of society. “… I want everyone in this room and every one of you around the country to succeed. I want anyone who believes in life, liberty, pursuit of happiness to succeed. And I want any force, any person, any element of an overarching Big Government that would stop your success, I want that organization, that element or that person to fail.”
During a March broadcast of Fox News Sunday with Chris Wallace, the host offered his interpretation of the Limbaugh broadcast that, instead of wanting the president to fail, it’s the policies to which Obama adheres that Rush wants to fail. Mr. Wallace was affectively chastised for his statement but, when taken in context, Limbaugh pointed out his personal concern for the country and the kids and grandchildren of Americans when he questioned, “Why in the world do we want to saddle them with more liberalism and socialism? Why would I want to do that? So I can answer it, four words, ‘I hope he fails.’”
On his April 22 radio show, Limbaugh said of the First 100 Days, “I'd like to refer to it, my friends, as “finals week.” And his take on Obama’s performance? “It's embarrassing incompetence and inexperience.”
He rattled off a roll call of Obama embarrassments: “Fidel Castro, one of Obama’s idols, call him superficial.” “We had the nomination of tax cheats to his cabinet… five tax cheats in the Obama administration.” “He has run around the world and apologized for the greatest, the most compassionate, the most innovative and freedom-loving country in world history.”
Speaking on behalf of his American followers, Rush said, “Obama doesn't know what he's doing. He doesn't know all this that's happening in his administration.”
Of DHS Secretary, “Janet Napolitano said the 9/11 hijackers actually got into our country through Canada. So now the Canadians are up in arms and the National Post in Canada today has a piece asking how in the hell did this woman get her job?”
Right on, Rush! You could justly question how other members of the Obama Administration were chosen for such high profile positions.
Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner is said to be the “wonder boy” but Paul Volcker, former Federal Reserve chairman and now head of the Economic Recovery Advisory Board, of which Geithner is also a member, told Congress during a February hearing that it was “shameful” Geithner has no assistants. Not so. Former Secretaries Lawrence Summers, his mentor, and Robert Rubin, a protégé, Geithner’s policies are anything but void of others’ influences. His experience relies on that of others.
Just as the president is pressing UBS to hand over a list of American companies guilty of tax evasion in Swiss bank accounts, the same should be pursued by Geithner for the billions of dollars handed over to Fed chairman Ben Bernanke and his cozy attachment to American bankers.
As a member of the White House Council of Economic Advisers, Austan Goolsbee appeared more juvenile than an American Idol contestant with his wrinkled nose and a childish grin during an interview defending the President’s intent on closing tax loopholes and tax havens for American companies. With achievements as a debater and an acclaimed economist, he remains an inexperienced cabinet member.
Perhaps most questionable of Obama’s appointments is that of Robert Gibbs as Press Secretary. If ever a person were in need of a teleprompter, Gibbs is the prime candidate; a robot would be a welcome improvement over his inexperience as a public speaker.
However “un-American” people view his repeated hopes for Obama to fail, I respect Rush Limbaugh for upholding the most precious of our freedoms: the First Amendment.
“Right” on, Rush!
Right-Wing Radicals
“Rightwing Extremism: Current Economic and Political Climate Fueling Resurgence in Radicalization and Recruitment" What a title! Without following news sources, I might have thought there was evidence that Republicans and oil companies were enlisting an army of lobbyists to quell rumors that global warming poses a threat to the planet and that the banking industry was prepared to finance offshore drilling with taxpayer investment dollars.
The report, released on April 7 and labeled “Unclassified//For Official Use Only” by the Department of Homeland Security, ruffled some feathers, particularly with reference to the Oklahoma City bombing and wording that suggested disgruntled war veterans are likely to be recruited by extremist paramilitary groups for covert actions against select groups of Americans.
Timothy McVeigh, a Bronze Medal veteran during the Gulf War, masterminded the deadliest act of domestic terrorism. By lethal injection, he was the first criminal executed by the federal government since the 1963 hanging of Victor Fequer, who killed Dr. Edward Bartels seeking drugs that the doctor may have been carrying.
The outcry of invoking the memory of the 13 barrels of explosives loaded in, and exploded from, a Ryder truck seems disrespectful of the estimated 387,000 residents in the Oklahoma City area who knew someone directly affected by the bombing. Over 800 people were injured and 168 killed on the 19th of April 1995 – of which 19 were children. FBI investigations found evidence that McVeigh had been scouting the federal building since the previous December, aware of the daycare center. McVeigh showed no remorse for the deaths of the children, referring to them as “collateral damage”.
McVeigh’s anti-government feelings began when given orders to execute surrendering prisoners while serving in the Gulf War. His anger intensified in 1992 when FBI sniper fire murdered Vicki Weaver at Ruby Ridge, Idaho, as she stood unseen behind a door. 14-year old Samuel Weaver was shot in the back while retreating from gunfire.
McVeigh specifically chose April 19th for the bombing because on that day in 1993 the federal government ended a 51-day standoff with members of religious sect Branch Davidian in Waco, Texas, leaving 4 federal agents and 74 Davidians dead. Four hundred rounds of now-banned CS tear gas failed to flush the group out. The eventual use of assault tanks and explosive devices by the FBI ignited fires and destroyed the resident compound. These actions caused the majority of the deaths.
The Columbine High School massacre occurred on April 20, 1999, one day after the intended day of executions. The timing of the release of the report was appropriate.
The details of the report were justly assumptive. Foreclosures, job losses, unemployment, immigration, abortion and racist concerns over the election of the first black president are all probable causes that may attract enlistments into right-wing extremist groups.
Take note that one in five returning veterans (roughly 300,000) from Iraq and Afghanistan combat regions have been diagnosed with mental/psycho-social disorders They return to low wages, joblessness, homelessness and marital problems. Many forgo treatment because of the stigma surrounding mental health claims. A few receive minimal therapy while some are completely ignored and commit suicide.
Since these soldiers have no one to lean on for assistance, they may in fact respond to the recruitment of militia groups that seek their combat skills toward their causes and offer solace with the butt of a rifle positioned cheek to shoulder.
When released, the report spelled it out in black and white – it failed to acknowledge the majority of dedicated veterans who fought for the red, white and blue stripes of the American flag in defense of our liberties.
Steve Barry, a white supremacist and an Army Special Forces soldier, wrote in The Register, a publication of neo-Nazi group National Alliance, an article titled “Planning a Skinhead Infantry”:
“Light infantry is your branch of choice because the coming race war and the ethnic cleansing to follow will be very much an infantryman's war. It will be house-to-house, neighborhood-by-neighborhood until your town or city is cleared and the alien races are driven into the countryside where they can be hunted down and ‘cleansed’.”
“As a professional soldier, my goal is to fill the ranks of the United States Army with skinheads. As street brawlers, you will be useless in the coming race war. As trained infantrymen, you will join the ranks of the Aryan warrior brotherhood.”
The article was published in 1999. According to the Southern Poverty Law Center, a non-profit organization known for tolerance education programs, reported the number of hate groups have risen 53% in America from 602 in 2000 to 926 in 2008, including Neo-nazi, Neo-Confederate, black separatist, white nationalist, and various skinhead and Klu Klux Klan affiliates.
Therefore, “Rightwing Extremism: Current Economic and Political Climate Fueling Resurgence in Radicalization and Recruitment" was appropriate.
The report, released on April 7 and labeled “Unclassified//For Official Use Only” by the Department of Homeland Security, ruffled some feathers, particularly with reference to the Oklahoma City bombing and wording that suggested disgruntled war veterans are likely to be recruited by extremist paramilitary groups for covert actions against select groups of Americans.
Timothy McVeigh, a Bronze Medal veteran during the Gulf War, masterminded the deadliest act of domestic terrorism. By lethal injection, he was the first criminal executed by the federal government since the 1963 hanging of Victor Fequer, who killed Dr. Edward Bartels seeking drugs that the doctor may have been carrying.
The outcry of invoking the memory of the 13 barrels of explosives loaded in, and exploded from, a Ryder truck seems disrespectful of the estimated 387,000 residents in the Oklahoma City area who knew someone directly affected by the bombing. Over 800 people were injured and 168 killed on the 19th of April 1995 – of which 19 were children. FBI investigations found evidence that McVeigh had been scouting the federal building since the previous December, aware of the daycare center. McVeigh showed no remorse for the deaths of the children, referring to them as “collateral damage”.
McVeigh’s anti-government feelings began when given orders to execute surrendering prisoners while serving in the Gulf War. His anger intensified in 1992 when FBI sniper fire murdered Vicki Weaver at Ruby Ridge, Idaho, as she stood unseen behind a door. 14-year old Samuel Weaver was shot in the back while retreating from gunfire.
McVeigh specifically chose April 19th for the bombing because on that day in 1993 the federal government ended a 51-day standoff with members of religious sect Branch Davidian in Waco, Texas, leaving 4 federal agents and 74 Davidians dead. Four hundred rounds of now-banned CS tear gas failed to flush the group out. The eventual use of assault tanks and explosive devices by the FBI ignited fires and destroyed the resident compound. These actions caused the majority of the deaths.
The Columbine High School massacre occurred on April 20, 1999, one day after the intended day of executions. The timing of the release of the report was appropriate.
The details of the report were justly assumptive. Foreclosures, job losses, unemployment, immigration, abortion and racist concerns over the election of the first black president are all probable causes that may attract enlistments into right-wing extremist groups.
Take note that one in five returning veterans (roughly 300,000) from Iraq and Afghanistan combat regions have been diagnosed with mental/psycho-social disorders They return to low wages, joblessness, homelessness and marital problems. Many forgo treatment because of the stigma surrounding mental health claims. A few receive minimal therapy while some are completely ignored and commit suicide.
Since these soldiers have no one to lean on for assistance, they may in fact respond to the recruitment of militia groups that seek their combat skills toward their causes and offer solace with the butt of a rifle positioned cheek to shoulder.
When released, the report spelled it out in black and white – it failed to acknowledge the majority of dedicated veterans who fought for the red, white and blue stripes of the American flag in defense of our liberties.
Steve Barry, a white supremacist and an Army Special Forces soldier, wrote in The Register, a publication of neo-Nazi group National Alliance, an article titled “Planning a Skinhead Infantry”:
“Light infantry is your branch of choice because the coming race war and the ethnic cleansing to follow will be very much an infantryman's war. It will be house-to-house, neighborhood-by-neighborhood until your town or city is cleared and the alien races are driven into the countryside where they can be hunted down and ‘cleansed’.”
“As a professional soldier, my goal is to fill the ranks of the United States Army with skinheads. As street brawlers, you will be useless in the coming race war. As trained infantrymen, you will join the ranks of the Aryan warrior brotherhood.”
The article was published in 1999. According to the Southern Poverty Law Center, a non-profit organization known for tolerance education programs, reported the number of hate groups have risen 53% in America from 602 in 2000 to 926 in 2008, including Neo-nazi, Neo-Confederate, black separatist, white nationalist, and various skinhead and Klu Klux Klan affiliates.
Therefore, “Rightwing Extremism: Current Economic and Political Climate Fueling Resurgence in Radicalization and Recruitment" was appropriate.
Wednesday, April 29, 2009
Shoot 'em up! Bang! Bang!
If the dead could speak, William and Faith Kinkel would describe how their 15-year old son Kipland shot them dead in 1998 at their Springfield, OR, home; he in the back of the head and she in the face while climbing a stairway. The following day, Kip was armed with two pistols and a hunting knife but it was a Ruger .22 semi-automatic rifle loaded with 50 rounds of ammunition that killed two students and wounded 25 at Thurston High School.
In the 1999 Columbine High School Massacre, 18-year old Eric Harris fired 96 times from a Hi-Point 995 Carbine 9mm semi-automatic rifle with thirteen 10-round magazines. Fellow terrorist Dylan Klebold, 17, fired 55 shots from a 9mm Intratec Tec-9 semi-automatic handgun that in total carried one 52-, one 32-, and one 28-round magazine. They killed 12 students and a teacher.
The 2007 Virginia Tech shootings by Seung-Hui Cho killed 27 students and 5 instructors with the use of two semi-automatic handguns and an arsenal of 400 rounds of ammunition.
An AK-47 assault rifle converted to automatic caused the March 2006 death of 14-year old Starkesia Reed in Chicago; the following week, another stray bullet from a Tec-9 assault handgun killed 10-year old Siretha White.
An April 4th response to a call of domestic disturbance led to the death of three Pittsburgh police officers by an AK-47 assault rifle used by Richard Poplawskia.
On April 9, three stray bullets from more than 50 rounds fired from two AR-15 semi-automatic rifles killed 8-year old Paris Whitehead-Hamilton. St. Petersburg police Chief Chuck Harmon said, ”Assault weapons are good for one purpose only, and that’s to kill other human beings. They don’t belong on any city street in America.”
"It's almost like we have water pistols going up against these high-powered rifles," said John Rivera, president of the Dade County Police Benevolent Association. "Our weaponry and our bulletproof vests don't match up to any of those types of weapons.”
U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of Florida R. Alexander Acosta stated, “These bullets are very powerful: they go through walls, they go through cars, and if you just spray the general vicinity you’re going to get innocent bystanders. A shooting that might have been an injury previously is now a death.”
Gun rights expert David Kopel suggested Obama would seek new gun laws and become the most anti-gun President in U.S. history. As reported in The Outdoor Wire, a sports on-line publication, manufacturers are months behind on orders for semi-automatic pistols, AR and AK rifles, and anything with high-capacity magazines and that “buyers we've surveyed across the country seem to have a single explanation for their rush to purchase firearms – Obama.”
The hint of a revival of the 1994 Assault Weapons Ban, that expired in 2004, caused the average price of AK-47s to double from $350 last September to more than $700.
Kristen Rand, legislative director of the “Violence Policy Center” stated, “The 1994 law in theory banned AK-47s, MAC-10s, UZIs, AR-15s and other assault weapons. Yet the gun industry easily found ways around the law and most of these weapons are now sold in post-ban models virtually identical to the guns Congress sought to ban in 1994.”
Speaker Nancy Pelosi recently gave a gun lobbyist’s simplistic view that the answer to gun ownership is “enforcing the laws we have now.”
Private, unlicensed gun sales are currently exempt from federal background checks and sales retention requirements, such as purchases at gun shows, some of which are (conveniently?) attributed to robberies of homes, cars or dealer stores.
Surprisingly, only seven states and the District of Columbia require gun owners to report their guns lost or stolen – another reason for the need of national standards.
By some counts, of an estimated 300M guns in the U.S., there are close to 4 million assault weapons. The number of undocumented gun owners and their unregistered guns in this country may surpass the numbers of undocumented immigrant workers. All of the above infringe upon the rights of law-abiding Americans.
Legislation that would require the licensing and tracking data of all gun sales would make living in America much safer. The wording doesn’t have to infringe upon “the right of the people to bear Arms.”
Gun rights enthusiasts cite the Second Amendent as the right to acquire whatever firearms suit their deadly passions. But what about the precursor to the Constitution, the Declaration of Independence and the inalienable right to “Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness.” To gun-huggers, happiness is a warm gun; they place their liberties above defenseless Americans who are, at any given moment, put in harm’s way of unfriendly fire.
Guns don’t kill people. People kill people. People with guns kill people. People with semi-automatic guns kill a lot more people. Guns with multi-round magazine attachments are not defense weapons. They are assault weapons.
In the 1999 Columbine High School Massacre, 18-year old Eric Harris fired 96 times from a Hi-Point 995 Carbine 9mm semi-automatic rifle with thirteen 10-round magazines. Fellow terrorist Dylan Klebold, 17, fired 55 shots from a 9mm Intratec Tec-9 semi-automatic handgun that in total carried one 52-, one 32-, and one 28-round magazine. They killed 12 students and a teacher.
The 2007 Virginia Tech shootings by Seung-Hui Cho killed 27 students and 5 instructors with the use of two semi-automatic handguns and an arsenal of 400 rounds of ammunition.
An AK-47 assault rifle converted to automatic caused the March 2006 death of 14-year old Starkesia Reed in Chicago; the following week, another stray bullet from a Tec-9 assault handgun killed 10-year old Siretha White.
An April 4th response to a call of domestic disturbance led to the death of three Pittsburgh police officers by an AK-47 assault rifle used by Richard Poplawskia.
On April 9, three stray bullets from more than 50 rounds fired from two AR-15 semi-automatic rifles killed 8-year old Paris Whitehead-Hamilton. St. Petersburg police Chief Chuck Harmon said, ”Assault weapons are good for one purpose only, and that’s to kill other human beings. They don’t belong on any city street in America.”
"It's almost like we have water pistols going up against these high-powered rifles," said John Rivera, president of the Dade County Police Benevolent Association. "Our weaponry and our bulletproof vests don't match up to any of those types of weapons.”
U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of Florida R. Alexander Acosta stated, “These bullets are very powerful: they go through walls, they go through cars, and if you just spray the general vicinity you’re going to get innocent bystanders. A shooting that might have been an injury previously is now a death.”
Gun rights expert David Kopel suggested Obama would seek new gun laws and become the most anti-gun President in U.S. history. As reported in The Outdoor Wire, a sports on-line publication, manufacturers are months behind on orders for semi-automatic pistols, AR and AK rifles, and anything with high-capacity magazines and that “buyers we've surveyed across the country seem to have a single explanation for their rush to purchase firearms – Obama.”
The hint of a revival of the 1994 Assault Weapons Ban, that expired in 2004, caused the average price of AK-47s to double from $350 last September to more than $700.
Kristen Rand, legislative director of the “Violence Policy Center” stated, “The 1994 law in theory banned AK-47s, MAC-10s, UZIs, AR-15s and other assault weapons. Yet the gun industry easily found ways around the law and most of these weapons are now sold in post-ban models virtually identical to the guns Congress sought to ban in 1994.”
Speaker Nancy Pelosi recently gave a gun lobbyist’s simplistic view that the answer to gun ownership is “enforcing the laws we have now.”
Private, unlicensed gun sales are currently exempt from federal background checks and sales retention requirements, such as purchases at gun shows, some of which are (conveniently?) attributed to robberies of homes, cars or dealer stores.
Surprisingly, only seven states and the District of Columbia require gun owners to report their guns lost or stolen – another reason for the need of national standards.
By some counts, of an estimated 300M guns in the U.S., there are close to 4 million assault weapons. The number of undocumented gun owners and their unregistered guns in this country may surpass the numbers of undocumented immigrant workers. All of the above infringe upon the rights of law-abiding Americans.
Legislation that would require the licensing and tracking data of all gun sales would make living in America much safer. The wording doesn’t have to infringe upon “the right of the people to bear Arms.”
Gun rights enthusiasts cite the Second Amendent as the right to acquire whatever firearms suit their deadly passions. But what about the precursor to the Constitution, the Declaration of Independence and the inalienable right to “Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness.” To gun-huggers, happiness is a warm gun; they place their liberties above defenseless Americans who are, at any given moment, put in harm’s way of unfriendly fire.
Guns don’t kill people. People kill people. People with guns kill people. People with semi-automatic guns kill a lot more people. Guns with multi-round magazine attachments are not defense weapons. They are assault weapons.
Monday, April 13, 2009
The Immigration Situation
Imagine a human traffic jam of 12 million illegal immigrants in seemingly endless lines along highways branching from every nook and cranny of America as they’re herded back to their countries of origin. Imagine American patriots bordering a parade route spanning coast to coast, border to border, cheering and holding red, white and blue signs spelling out, “Adios!”
At 7 million strong, 56% of illegal immigrants are from Mexico, another 22% from Latin American countries and the remainder from Asia, Europe and Africa. Whatever the nationality, the demographics of immigration reform will be devastating to many and inconsiderate of the individual. Congress must be more productive with legislation than what resulted from the Senate immigration hearings for the Comprehensive Immigration Reform Act of 2007. Less than a month after the bill was introduced (May 9) it failed to pass a third test vote (June 7) by a margin of 45 to 50, well below the 60 votes needed.
As presented by then-Senator Obama, an amendment stated that "... parents of U.S. citizens would no longer be counted as immediate families... most parents seeking to join their children and grandchildren in the United States would be denied green cards. The rest of the current family preferences – siblings, adult children, and many parents -- would be eviscerated.” In other words, No way, Jose! your children born on American soil can stay, pero no otra familia! In real words: no family reunification.
Although more than 20% of immigrant children live in poverty, life in the U.S. is better than the destitute living conditions in their home countries. What further hardships would these and other children endure if either or both parents were deported? Through their fears of family separation they’re faith gives them hope that American lawmakers will provide them an equitable means for amnesty.
A Pew Institute Hispanic Center report states that 56% Hispanics are confident that police will treat them fairly. This is far better than 37% blacks. And 46% Hispanics, compared to 38% blacks, believe police won’t use excessive force. This suggests that Hispanics have, to a large degree, reached a comfort zone of maintaining residency in America.
From February 27 through April 4, Representative Luis Gutierrez, D-Ill., hosted a cross-country United Families tour to "stop the immigration raids and deportations that are tearing our marriages, families and children apart." Testimonies from immigrants related personal tragedies resulting from worksite enforcement by Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents that terrorize whole communities.
Texas and California were the most visited of the 11-state, 17-city tour. Both states have seen dozens of hospitals close their doors providing services regardless of citizenship, legal status or the ability to pay as required by the Emergency Medical Treatment and Active Labor Act of 1985. The numbers of non-paying illegal immigrants are cited as the cause of the closures.
As stated by John Vison, president of the American Immigration Control Foundation, "The child [of the illegal immigrant] is an automatic American citizen, thus entitled to all benefits of American citizens. This gives a certain financial incentive for people coming from other countries illegally to have children here." Such is the reason why pregnant women risk their lives crossing the Rio Grande to enter American hospitals to give birth.
Acknowledging this custom, Joe Riley, CEO of the McAllen Medical Center in Texas, said, “Mothers about to give birth that walk up to the hospital still wet from swimming across the river in actual labor … dirty, wet, cold,” he said. “We have uncompensated care of over $200 million a year.”
There seems to be a large disregard for the millions of American families whose lives have been unjustly disrupted due to lost wages, jobs and medical benefits that put them at danger of indigent status (homelessness) and life-threatening conditions. In many cases, American citizens have lost the means of attaining their inherent share of the American Dream, fast becoming an Impossible Dream.
As dialogue proceeds toward a statement to be delivered by President Obama in May, media will play a large role in providing coverage of the plights of both American citizens and the undocumented workers who have left them fewer job opportunities.
A split screen marathon might be appropriate. On the left, illegal immigrants would speak in broken English telling woeful tales of family separation due to “un-American” practices as expressed by House Speaker Nancy Pelosi. On the right, sons and daughters of American pioneers would counter in real life anger stories of lost jobs and homes. Stuck in the middle, out of viewer sight, would be naturalized Americans who have also been affected by undocumented workers.
Others will have to work out the details of immigration reform while I sit here cross-legged, chanting OM and meditate on the high cost to American taxpayers.
At 7 million strong, 56% of illegal immigrants are from Mexico, another 22% from Latin American countries and the remainder from Asia, Europe and Africa. Whatever the nationality, the demographics of immigration reform will be devastating to many and inconsiderate of the individual. Congress must be more productive with legislation than what resulted from the Senate immigration hearings for the Comprehensive Immigration Reform Act of 2007. Less than a month after the bill was introduced (May 9) it failed to pass a third test vote (June 7) by a margin of 45 to 50, well below the 60 votes needed.
As presented by then-Senator Obama, an amendment stated that "... parents of U.S. citizens would no longer be counted as immediate families... most parents seeking to join their children and grandchildren in the United States would be denied green cards. The rest of the current family preferences – siblings, adult children, and many parents -- would be eviscerated.” In other words, No way, Jose! your children born on American soil can stay, pero no otra familia! In real words: no family reunification.
Although more than 20% of immigrant children live in poverty, life in the U.S. is better than the destitute living conditions in their home countries. What further hardships would these and other children endure if either or both parents were deported? Through their fears of family separation they’re faith gives them hope that American lawmakers will provide them an equitable means for amnesty.
A Pew Institute Hispanic Center report states that 56% Hispanics are confident that police will treat them fairly. This is far better than 37% blacks. And 46% Hispanics, compared to 38% blacks, believe police won’t use excessive force. This suggests that Hispanics have, to a large degree, reached a comfort zone of maintaining residency in America.
From February 27 through April 4, Representative Luis Gutierrez, D-Ill., hosted a cross-country United Families tour to "stop the immigration raids and deportations that are tearing our marriages, families and children apart." Testimonies from immigrants related personal tragedies resulting from worksite enforcement by Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents that terrorize whole communities.
Texas and California were the most visited of the 11-state, 17-city tour. Both states have seen dozens of hospitals close their doors providing services regardless of citizenship, legal status or the ability to pay as required by the Emergency Medical Treatment and Active Labor Act of 1985. The numbers of non-paying illegal immigrants are cited as the cause of the closures.
As stated by John Vison, president of the American Immigration Control Foundation, "The child [of the illegal immigrant] is an automatic American citizen, thus entitled to all benefits of American citizens. This gives a certain financial incentive for people coming from other countries illegally to have children here." Such is the reason why pregnant women risk their lives crossing the Rio Grande to enter American hospitals to give birth.
Acknowledging this custom, Joe Riley, CEO of the McAllen Medical Center in Texas, said, “Mothers about to give birth that walk up to the hospital still wet from swimming across the river in actual labor … dirty, wet, cold,” he said. “We have uncompensated care of over $200 million a year.”
There seems to be a large disregard for the millions of American families whose lives have been unjustly disrupted due to lost wages, jobs and medical benefits that put them at danger of indigent status (homelessness) and life-threatening conditions. In many cases, American citizens have lost the means of attaining their inherent share of the American Dream, fast becoming an Impossible Dream.
As dialogue proceeds toward a statement to be delivered by President Obama in May, media will play a large role in providing coverage of the plights of both American citizens and the undocumented workers who have left them fewer job opportunities.
A split screen marathon might be appropriate. On the left, illegal immigrants would speak in broken English telling woeful tales of family separation due to “un-American” practices as expressed by House Speaker Nancy Pelosi. On the right, sons and daughters of American pioneers would counter in real life anger stories of lost jobs and homes. Stuck in the middle, out of viewer sight, would be naturalized Americans who have also been affected by undocumented workers.
Others will have to work out the details of immigration reform while I sit here cross-legged, chanting OM and meditate on the high cost to American taxpayers.
The Immigration Bill
The stories are well-worn tales of heart-rending misfortune and fears of persecution from law enforcements agencies and the many cities and towns that have had to lay down creative laws to give them pause of remaining in neighborhoods. The cries of malfeasance for actions that are of disregard to family values of illegal immigrants are like that of a Mexican jumping bean, spastic in motion, flippant in spirit and yet, after a lifespan of 9 months, another crop populates into action.
Unlike the egg laid inside the bean that goes through a metamorphosis until a harmless moth emerges, immigration reform will be a very costly burden to not only the next generation of American taxpayers but also to present-day working men and women until death do they depart from the liability.
According to the non-profit organization Federation for American Immigration Reform (FAIR), in 2005 the cost to Florida taxpayers amounted to $1.7B annually, a seemingly “cheap” figure when compared to the jump in price to $3.8B in 2008, taking into account the costs of K-12 schooling, health care and incarceration.
Out of fairness, FAIR acknowledges that if the estimated taxes paid by illegal immigrants are taken into account, the cost is reduced to “only” $2.3B. Of course, the organization doesn’t stop there. The report goes into the fact that if the jobs held by illegals had been gainfully earned by American workers taxes paid would be more representative of real-life contributions to the federal budget.
In 2007, the Heritage Foundation estimated the national annual cost was $2.5 trillion.
The Inter-American Development Bank estimated that in 2006 over $3B dollars earned by immigrants in the U.S. found their way to Latin American countries. If that doesn’t bring your patriotic blood pressure to dangerous levels, every Florida household contributes almost $700 per year to sustain the presence of undocumented workers and their families. Damn! As if you thought those reduced payroll taxes given to American workers are a federally sanctioned gift of stimulus dollars, think again. At best, it’s a washout.
The Center for American Progress, in 2005, estimated deportation costs to taxpayers would be as much as $230B over a five-year period, yet here we are 5 years down the dead-end road to immigration reform and the amounts have surely increased. Costs include detention, legal fees and transportation expenses.
On the other side of the deportation issue, FAIR had its own cost estimate of $275B over a five year period to allow illegal immigrants to remain in the country. The 2004 assessment includes the cost in American worker jobs, lost taxes and the continuing costs of maintaining non-reimbursement of social services.
The figures suggest deportation would be less costly than the status quo of continuing to be a host country to illegal immigrants. A free-for-all amnesty scenario would be a free-fall of American culture and the economy.
Truly no one really wants families to be split apart for any reason other than death by natural causes. It’s even exemplary that illegal immigrants have the determination and means to seek homeownership but how in the world of justice do they obtain mortgage loans in the first place?
It’s unfathomable that banking institutions can justify loans to any person without a valid Social Security Number. Since many immigrant workers’ jobs are supposedly temporary, there should be a concern that default rates would be higher than that of Americans. I don’t get it.
Eventually American families find themselves either on the street or with temporary residency in tent cities, facing the likelihood that at some point communities will prompt local law enforcement to oust them from their canvas/nylon “homes”.
Solutions to immigration reform might be financial goldmines to certain businesses interests (agriculture, construction) but they remain political landmines to public servants seeking reelection in 2010, then those in 2012, then those in 2014… However discompassionate to both sides of the immigration issue, politicians are decidedly inconsiderate of the American taxpayer to put off ‘til tomorrow what should have begun a decade ago.
Perhaps the U.S. Department of Justice should give the Immigration and Naturalization Service the wherewithal to declare an end to the hide-and-seek games played by undocumented workers and their families.
Agents could scour the countryside, crying out “Olly Olly Oxen Free”!, a phrase going back to the days of yore when a town crier in jolly old England signaled those outside the castle walls to come forth to receive a message from the King, “All Ye, All Ye, Outs in Free!” Alas, “No one loves the messenger who brings bad news.” (Sophocles)
Immigration issues remain largely void of racism. As Americans continue to lose jobs, homes and patriotic dignity, there are no guarantees that the two sides of immigration will remain civil. We all got guns, don’t we?
Unlike the egg laid inside the bean that goes through a metamorphosis until a harmless moth emerges, immigration reform will be a very costly burden to not only the next generation of American taxpayers but also to present-day working men and women until death do they depart from the liability.
According to the non-profit organization Federation for American Immigration Reform (FAIR), in 2005 the cost to Florida taxpayers amounted to $1.7B annually, a seemingly “cheap” figure when compared to the jump in price to $3.8B in 2008, taking into account the costs of K-12 schooling, health care and incarceration.
Out of fairness, FAIR acknowledges that if the estimated taxes paid by illegal immigrants are taken into account, the cost is reduced to “only” $2.3B. Of course, the organization doesn’t stop there. The report goes into the fact that if the jobs held by illegals had been gainfully earned by American workers taxes paid would be more representative of real-life contributions to the federal budget.
In 2007, the Heritage Foundation estimated the national annual cost was $2.5 trillion.
The Inter-American Development Bank estimated that in 2006 over $3B dollars earned by immigrants in the U.S. found their way to Latin American countries. If that doesn’t bring your patriotic blood pressure to dangerous levels, every Florida household contributes almost $700 per year to sustain the presence of undocumented workers and their families. Damn! As if you thought those reduced payroll taxes given to American workers are a federally sanctioned gift of stimulus dollars, think again. At best, it’s a washout.
The Center for American Progress, in 2005, estimated deportation costs to taxpayers would be as much as $230B over a five-year period, yet here we are 5 years down the dead-end road to immigration reform and the amounts have surely increased. Costs include detention, legal fees and transportation expenses.
On the other side of the deportation issue, FAIR had its own cost estimate of $275B over a five year period to allow illegal immigrants to remain in the country. The 2004 assessment includes the cost in American worker jobs, lost taxes and the continuing costs of maintaining non-reimbursement of social services.
The figures suggest deportation would be less costly than the status quo of continuing to be a host country to illegal immigrants. A free-for-all amnesty scenario would be a free-fall of American culture and the economy.
Truly no one really wants families to be split apart for any reason other than death by natural causes. It’s even exemplary that illegal immigrants have the determination and means to seek homeownership but how in the world of justice do they obtain mortgage loans in the first place?
It’s unfathomable that banking institutions can justify loans to any person without a valid Social Security Number. Since many immigrant workers’ jobs are supposedly temporary, there should be a concern that default rates would be higher than that of Americans. I don’t get it.
Eventually American families find themselves either on the street or with temporary residency in tent cities, facing the likelihood that at some point communities will prompt local law enforcement to oust them from their canvas/nylon “homes”.
Solutions to immigration reform might be financial goldmines to certain businesses interests (agriculture, construction) but they remain political landmines to public servants seeking reelection in 2010, then those in 2012, then those in 2014… However discompassionate to both sides of the immigration issue, politicians are decidedly inconsiderate of the American taxpayer to put off ‘til tomorrow what should have begun a decade ago.
Perhaps the U.S. Department of Justice should give the Immigration and Naturalization Service the wherewithal to declare an end to the hide-and-seek games played by undocumented workers and their families.
Agents could scour the countryside, crying out “Olly Olly Oxen Free”!, a phrase going back to the days of yore when a town crier in jolly old England signaled those outside the castle walls to come forth to receive a message from the King, “All Ye, All Ye, Outs in Free!” Alas, “No one loves the messenger who brings bad news.” (Sophocles)
Immigration issues remain largely void of racism. As Americans continue to lose jobs, homes and patriotic dignity, there are no guarantees that the two sides of immigration will remain civil. We all got guns, don’t we?
Wednesday, March 25, 2009
Hang 'Em High!
Dang ‘em! We ought to take a rope and hang ‘em! From higher than the tallest tree!
Who might be the targeted recipients of such a suggested act of vengeance? No doubt, Bernie Madoff, the $65B rip-off artist of thousands of gullibly stupid get-rich-quick investors, would be at the top the list. This firestorm of lost fortunes exceeds any single maelstrom of losses on Wall Street demands the man pay a just price for his extravagant lifestyle of nearly two decades.
The silver-haired, fork-tongued magistrate of greed has brought financial ruin to thousands of individuals, banks and, yes, charitable organizations that have subsequently had to close their doors due to lost funds. In the name of “tearorism”, how about saltwater-boarding Bernie with 65 billion tear drops streaming from the red and swollen eyes of the donors whose generosities will be denied of reaching their intended beneficiaries? And what of the multitudes of misty-eyed would-be recipients who may never realize the gifts that were meant to provide hope for those with physical and mental handicaps?
To a lesser extent, there are other Ponzi-schemers who have also caused financial ruin to too many lives. Take for instance, Lou Pearlman, the boy band mogul currently serving a 25-year sentence for jilting investors in an admitted sum of $300M, although a more realistic figure is said to be $500M, of which only $3.5M has been recovered. If the gravity of the situation weren’t so despicable, the offer from Judge G. Kendall Sharp would be laughable – one month taken off the sentence for every $1M paid back to investors.
Then there’s the likes of Robert Stanford/Stanford Financial Group/Stanford International Bank in off-shore Antigua that siphoned off over $8B from 50,000 dimwitted folks who actually believed riches could be had with CDs earning nearly twice the rate at American banks.
Merrill-Lynch. Citigroup. Morgan Stanley. Fannie. Freddie. Executive compensations in the hundreds of millions of dollars are justly criticized and loathed. AIG is a prime target of scorn. Executive retention is more of an excuse for continued abuse of investor and American taxpayer funds. This is an example of corporate protectionism in the context that boards of directors are hand-picked by their CEOs whereby each reap the benefits by scratching one another’s backs to keep the spandex money belts tightly harnessed around their fat-cat bellies.
In a broader sense, Congress, the SEC and the Fed can all be considered cohorts in the meltdown of financial institutions and the domino affect orchestrated by their corporate cohorts of wealthy campaign contributions. They’ve all made lackeys out of investors and taxpayers alike. Their oversights have led to this point of near-depression era statistics. You ask, How did we get to this point of despair?
The 1999 repeal of the Banking Act of 1933, the Glass-Steagall Act, was the culmination of two decades of a concerted effort to deregulate banking and investment vehicles.
The Depository Deregulation and Monetary Control Act of 1980 allowed banks to merge and charge any interest rates they chose, although it also increased FDIC guarantees from $40,000 to $100,000.
The Garn-St. Germain Depository Institutions Act of 1982 deregulated the savings and loan industry and proved to be one of the many factors that led to the S&L crisis less than a decade later. One provision, the Alternative Mortgage Transactions Parity Act loosened decades-long conventional loan mortgage lending practices to allow adjustable rate, balloon payment and interest-only mortgages. Call em anything you want but they’re all sub-prime boohoo home investment schemes.
The Gramm-Leach-Bliley Act of 1999, the Financial Services Modernization Act, allowed banks to engage in previously prohibited crossover activities such as financial services, securities investments, mortgage lending and insurance underwriting. It led to a one-stop shopping opportunity for these unregulated institutions to guarantee seemingly endless fortunes without disclosure of the high risks of becoming the debtor’s fool.
Fortunately, or not, in today’s society lynching isn’t an accepted means to bring villains to a just end. But what about bungee-jumping as an alternative to the ways of the bygone days of the Wild West? At 630 feet and the tallest monument in the US, the Gateway Arch in St. Louis may be the perfect execution site. Yes, sir, watch ‘em go down head first, on their way to Purgatory down below.
From the Old Courthouse the unscrupulous money-mongers would walk the 1076 steps to the top of the Arch whilst the rest of us would leisurely start from the Old Courthouse, continue our journey aboard the Arch’s Unique Tram System and follow the procession to the Observation Deck. Let the retribution begin!
Meet me in St. Louis.
Who might be the targeted recipients of such a suggested act of vengeance? No doubt, Bernie Madoff, the $65B rip-off artist of thousands of gullibly stupid get-rich-quick investors, would be at the top the list. This firestorm of lost fortunes exceeds any single maelstrom of losses on Wall Street demands the man pay a just price for his extravagant lifestyle of nearly two decades.
The silver-haired, fork-tongued magistrate of greed has brought financial ruin to thousands of individuals, banks and, yes, charitable organizations that have subsequently had to close their doors due to lost funds. In the name of “tearorism”, how about saltwater-boarding Bernie with 65 billion tear drops streaming from the red and swollen eyes of the donors whose generosities will be denied of reaching their intended beneficiaries? And what of the multitudes of misty-eyed would-be recipients who may never realize the gifts that were meant to provide hope for those with physical and mental handicaps?
To a lesser extent, there are other Ponzi-schemers who have also caused financial ruin to too many lives. Take for instance, Lou Pearlman, the boy band mogul currently serving a 25-year sentence for jilting investors in an admitted sum of $300M, although a more realistic figure is said to be $500M, of which only $3.5M has been recovered. If the gravity of the situation weren’t so despicable, the offer from Judge G. Kendall Sharp would be laughable – one month taken off the sentence for every $1M paid back to investors.
Then there’s the likes of Robert Stanford/Stanford Financial Group/Stanford International Bank in off-shore Antigua that siphoned off over $8B from 50,000 dimwitted folks who actually believed riches could be had with CDs earning nearly twice the rate at American banks.
Merrill-Lynch. Citigroup. Morgan Stanley. Fannie. Freddie. Executive compensations in the hundreds of millions of dollars are justly criticized and loathed. AIG is a prime target of scorn. Executive retention is more of an excuse for continued abuse of investor and American taxpayer funds. This is an example of corporate protectionism in the context that boards of directors are hand-picked by their CEOs whereby each reap the benefits by scratching one another’s backs to keep the spandex money belts tightly harnessed around their fat-cat bellies.
In a broader sense, Congress, the SEC and the Fed can all be considered cohorts in the meltdown of financial institutions and the domino affect orchestrated by their corporate cohorts of wealthy campaign contributions. They’ve all made lackeys out of investors and taxpayers alike. Their oversights have led to this point of near-depression era statistics. You ask, How did we get to this point of despair?
The 1999 repeal of the Banking Act of 1933, the Glass-Steagall Act, was the culmination of two decades of a concerted effort to deregulate banking and investment vehicles.
The Depository Deregulation and Monetary Control Act of 1980 allowed banks to merge and charge any interest rates they chose, although it also increased FDIC guarantees from $40,000 to $100,000.
The Garn-St. Germain Depository Institutions Act of 1982 deregulated the savings and loan industry and proved to be one of the many factors that led to the S&L crisis less than a decade later. One provision, the Alternative Mortgage Transactions Parity Act loosened decades-long conventional loan mortgage lending practices to allow adjustable rate, balloon payment and interest-only mortgages. Call em anything you want but they’re all sub-prime boohoo home investment schemes.
The Gramm-Leach-Bliley Act of 1999, the Financial Services Modernization Act, allowed banks to engage in previously prohibited crossover activities such as financial services, securities investments, mortgage lending and insurance underwriting. It led to a one-stop shopping opportunity for these unregulated institutions to guarantee seemingly endless fortunes without disclosure of the high risks of becoming the debtor’s fool.
Fortunately, or not, in today’s society lynching isn’t an accepted means to bring villains to a just end. But what about bungee-jumping as an alternative to the ways of the bygone days of the Wild West? At 630 feet and the tallest monument in the US, the Gateway Arch in St. Louis may be the perfect execution site. Yes, sir, watch ‘em go down head first, on their way to Purgatory down below.
From the Old Courthouse the unscrupulous money-mongers would walk the 1076 steps to the top of the Arch whilst the rest of us would leisurely start from the Old Courthouse, continue our journey aboard the Arch’s Unique Tram System and follow the procession to the Observation Deck. Let the retribution begin!
Meet me in St. Louis.
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