Worth Repeating (A post from 2010)

Sometimes I write something and come back to it years later and say "Wow, that was pretty good."

With the current elections being not only important but wildly out of focus, I think this article I wrote back in 2010 is very relevant. "Who do you listen to??"

One additional reference I might suggest. Its called On The Issues and can be found at www.ontheissues.org. I again provide the link as well as have the site linked because some people have a block on their links.

You can either go to the page and type in the candidate you want to kn ow about, or Google the person and add "on the issues". (For instance, "Gary Johnson on the issues".) Or you can go to the page and right there on the front page is a row of pictures with all the presidential and vice presidential candidates. (Except for Ajamu Baraka, Jill Stein's running mate on the Green Party ticket. Him you have to plug into the search engine. I don't know why.)

Please check it out, let me know if it was helpful or what you think.

Have a great day, keep thinking for yourself and stop being sheep.

This is just me, Thinking Out Loud!

Charles

Clinton Obviously Thinks Bernie Supporters Are Stupid

How stupid are Bernie Sanders supporters? Well, we don't think they are but apparently Hillary Clinton does. Her VP pick was out campaigning in Florida this weekend, and was chummy with Debbie Wasserman Shultz. Yes, Sanders supporters THAT Debbie Wasserman Shultz!

Kaine even called her his "friend"! ("I'm so excited to see my friend and your representative Debbie Wasserman Schultz," he said. )

Sanders supporters can not SERIOUSLY be voting for Clinton with this kind of attitude. She is not only ignoring the dedicated supporters of Sen. Bernie Sanders, but she is actually laughing at them by including Shultz in her campaign, by supporting her in her own re-election bid in Florida. Clinton and Kaine are proving that they are going forward with a politics as usual, the "I-was-mad-but-now-I-am-not" mantra of a typical politician in regards to Shultz.

Bernie supporters should still be angry at Shultz's political games, still be angry at Clinton for not keeping her distance and they should swing their support to #GaryJohnson - who embodies more of their ideas than either Clinton or Trump! If you don't think this, then just go to the Johson/Weld 2016 website and look over the issues. And if you think that is just rhetoric, as politicians usually do, go to On The Issues website to see his historically documented stand on the issues.

Stop being sheep and believing all the hype and lies of the party politicians and the media!

There IS another choice.

Just look for yourself!

Have a great day!

Charles

Let Gary Debate

Hi gang! Looks like Gary Johnson is becoming more and more known across the country. More people are realizing they have a choice.

Got this email from the campaign the other day:

****************

Let's Get People Talking About #LetGaryDebate! There's a reason why major digital media outlets like Mashable are talking about our campaign. Because you have all done an incredible job of pushing this campaign across social media. And over 600,000 people have signed the petition to #LetGaryDebate. Over 30 million people reached on Facebook alone just last week! Now, we have just launched a campaign that can help the #LetGaryDebate campaign go viral.

There is one simple way you can help: Change your social profile picture to let people know that you want to "Let Gary Debate!"

Changing your profile picture using Twibbon will keep your current social profile pic, but send a subtle message to all of your friends that you are one of the 62% of Americans that want a third voice in the presidential debates.

Change With Just a Click:

After you’ve added the #LetGaryDebate overlay to your social profile, pleaseSHARE with your friends on Twitter, Facebook, Instagram or your favorite social network. Imagine 600,000 social profiles demanding to #LetGaryDebate. This alone will catch the attention of the political community. All we need is your help.

Click HERE to Change your Profile! ***************************************************************** So lets all get out there and make a difference. Lets get Johnson on the debate stage. And I don't care if you intend to vote for him or not> We need the conversation he is going to bring. Lets get away from all the immature nonsense the Trump and CLionton campaigns have brought to this election. All the name calling, all the he said / she said B******T that has been the hallmark of this Presidential election season . . . all of it . . . will go away once Johnson makes them start talking issues and solutions. And who knows, the more you hear about his fiscally conservative (read responsible) ideas and his socially liberal (read caring) plans, you might actually come to realize that he is what is needed in America today. But even if not, you will have the two major parties (who have held a duopoly on this country for decades) getting back to putting needs of the country ahead of their egos! Agree or disagree, I'm just trying to help you be more informed. This is just me, Thinking Out Loud! Have a great day! Charles

Justice System or Joke?

What the hell is wrong with people today? What is up with judges?? I have always had a problem with the screwed up legal system in this country. And with the recent political cases that have been dropped or passed along to the next dupe, I have been truly shaking my head.

But here are two cases that just leave me outraged.

In one, a college student is raped and the boy, Austin Wilkerson, goes to trial (can't say man because he is NOT), and the case is not only made, his duplicity before, during and after the assault are enough to get him a guilty verdict. But then the judge gives him two years work release and 20 years probation. WHAT?!?!?

Even the District Attorney is as disgusted by this as I am.

"This defendant raped a helpless young woman after duping the people around her into believing he was going to care for her, tried to cover up his crime, and then repeatedly lied about what he did -- including under oath at trial," District Attorney Stan Garnett wrote in part in the sentencing memorandum.

"Nothing can mitigate that enough to not warrant incarceration."

But on Wednesday, Boulder District Judge Patrick Butler sentenced Wilkerson to two years of work release and 20 years to life on probation.

At least some people know better and have resorted to petitioning the judge be removed. (http://kdvr.com/2016/08/10/former-cu-student-convicted-of-rape-not-sentenced-to-prison/).

But then there is another case, where a couple broke tax laws and were slammed with three years in prison. (http://www.chicagotribune.com/suburbs/post-tribune/ct-ptb-lake-county-blotter-st-0809-20160811-story.html)

Couple sentenced to prison in tax case

A federal judge sentenced a former St. John couple this week to 36 months in prison over filing false tax returns that resulted in more than $1.28 million in outstanding taxes, interest and penalties.

George Gasich, 55, and Barbara Gasich, 54, who reside in Lakewood Ranch, Fla., were also fined $50,000 each, due immediately, according to a news release from U.S. Attorney David Capp.

To allow them to continue caring for their child, Barbara Gasich will not begin her sentence until after her husband completes his sentence, court documents stated.

The Gasichs, who had a 20-year dispute with the Internal Revenue Service, pleaded guilty to one count of filing false tax refund claims. An IRS agent testified the couple had earnings of more than $3 million since 2000, but had only voluntarily paid $7,458 in federal income taxes, according to federal authorities.

Really? I mean, okay, they broke the law. It was about money. No one was hurt. And they have a beef with the IRS. (Hey, who doesn't?) But yeah, they deserve to be punished.

But the kid who violently and sexually assaulted a young lady who will have to live with that for the rest of her life stays free? And they get three years in prison?

Where is the justice? Where is the outrage? I guess that is saved for when a criminal is shot by a law enforcement officer and the people rob, loot, pillage and plunder everything in sight because of this 'injustice'.

Or when a politician is indicted time and time again but is so rich and powerful they get away with it. And then their supporters cry foul. They say how could you keep harassing this politician when they obviously did nothing wrong.

But where are these people who cry over a criminal and show indignation over a crooked politician when it comes to such BS legal wrangling?

I guess I should not expect more from a system so rigged by money and influence that some rich kid can get away with murder and flight. The “affluenza” defense got Ethan Crouch 10 years probation. He fled the country, was captured and a judge is “considering” a sentence of 720 days in jail. (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ethan_Couch)

But NOT for killing four people in 2013. But for leaving the country and violating his probation.

Seriously?!?

I am just sick about how bad our justice system is.

Agree or disagree, just look into it for yourself and you decide if its working.

Have a great day.

Really? Cop Killing to Protest? Stupid!

COMMENTARY - You all know I am a vocal opponent to most of our elected officials and often call them out on their blowhardedness. And you know I have been outspoken about some of the stupid things Tom Marino has said. But on this one thing (despite the fact I know he has an agenda for everything he does), I have to agree.

Here is what Marino sent out to press:

Rep. Marino Responds to Dallas Attack

Washington D.C.—Congressman Tom Marino (PA-10) issued the following statement after the attack on Dallas law enforcement officials that left 5 dead and several injured:

“Yesterday our nation experienced the deadliest attack on law enforcement since 9/11. The senseless loss of life this week is horrific and my thoughts are with the families of those who have been tragically taken. Instead of unifying and bringing our country together, too many of our leaders, including our president, have been the driving force in dividing us and pitting our citizens against one another. Some of this rhetoric has vilified our law enforcement to the point where individuals believe it is ok to commit mass murder against this community. The Dallas police chief said it himself - most days he and his team do not feel support. The very people who have dedicated their lives to protect us feel ostracized. Still, these officers ran headlong into danger and risked their lives so that the people around them and the city of Dallas would remain safe. My heart goes out to the injured officers, the victims’ families and their communities. There is absolutely no place for this type of violence. This divisiveness must stop.”

But I will go a step further than him by saying that if there weren't so many lawless people who feel they have a right to be as asinine and disgusting and disrespectful of life and authority, cops wouldn't be so on edge. If parents weren't so lacking in teaching their kids respect and responsibility, we wouldn't have a generation who thinks they can tell cops to "F" themselves or think its open season on our law enforcement members.

Sure there are bad cops, I am not so naive to think that there aren't bad ones out there. However, that is just like there are bad teachers and bad retail sales people and bad you name it. But the percentage of cops who are bad are a small number. Most are there to protect and serve and keep our society from de-evolving into chaos.

And if you think that any person has a right to just go blow away a cop in protest of what some other cop has done, then you have to believe that I am justified in blowing away any black person because a group of them mugged me once. Or that I have a right to just go blow away any neighbor because one raped a young girl I knew and destroyed her life. Or maybe I am justified in blowing away a car salesman because one screwed me over and left me on the brink of bankruptcy. Or a blow up the home of some random bank employee because a bank foreclosed on my house and left me homeless.

Your justification are stupid, so just SHUT UP with your racist BS. Yes, I told you to SHUT UP! Why? Because all the babble out there and raised voices of gang members and poor people and Hollywood types and a President who is so out of control he doesn't know when a leader should NOT add to the babble, are not doing anything to FIX THE PROBLEM, just add to the disease that is spreading across this country like leprosy.

Yes, some cops are racist. And so are some grocery store clerks. So are gang bangers. So are lots of others. But the numbers of ACTUAL racist people is small compared to the number of compassionate and caring people in America. SO STOP LUMPING people into a category just because someone with an agenda tells you to.

This is the worst case of BEING SHEEP I have seen in years. If you used your brain, you would remember the cop who gave you directions when you were hopelessly lost and on the verge of tears. Or the cop who held the little old lady's hand who had just been t-boned and was waiting for an ambulance. Or the the cop who caught the scum who stole your purse, broke into your house, raped your daughter's best friend. You would remember the feeling of relief as you walk at night from your job to your care when you saw the cop on the street or in the parking lot. Because you felt safer.

And you would remember the people who are afraid of cops are those who have a reason to be afraid of cops. (And I don't mean because they were brainwashed into thinking all cops are bad. Those poor kids turned into adults who feared cops for NO REASON. Only because bad people told them to afraid of cops.)

Okay by now the rabid crowds are slathering at all I have been saying. Calling me a racist. (Go stuff it because you don't know me or my life.) Calling me whatever pops into their little pea brains. But here's the thing.

I think if a cop has a bad shoot, they should be investigated and punished. If it was a legitimate mistake (someone with a BB gun points it and they kill the person, they STILL POINTED A WEAPON), then they should be punished accordingly - reprimand, re-training, dismissal, whatever a review board decides is appropriate. If a cop kills someone and it is manslaughter, murder, whatever, they should be punished accordingly. BY AN APPROPRIATE REVIEW BOARD. And if you disagree with the board, then complain to the person who appointed them. But DO NOT - I repeat for emphasis - DO NOT TAKE IT OUT ON ANY COP YOU SEE ON THE STREET!

This is anarchy. This is BS. These good cops you are lumping with the few bad ones have families. They have saved lives. They have protected you and your family. And deserve respect for putting on that badge everyday to go to work knowing they might not be coming home each night. They have lives just like you. They go to the store just like you. They want to see their parents 50th anniversary, they want to see their kids graduate and get married, they want to see the joy on their spouses' when they open that special Christmas gift they have been saving up for all year.

THEY are not the problem.

The ANGRY MOBS causing chaos are the problem. People venting anger and frustration at the wrong people are the problem. Politicians - and yes I am pointing my finger at the President specifically - who have an agenda or abuse their office, are the problem. Not letting justice take its course, not changing a system if you feel it is corrupt or broken, lazy people in general who will not do the work to fix things . . . THIS IS THE PROBLEM! Scumbags and cowards who take pot shots at cops who are just out there doing their jobs ARE THE PROBLEM! A culture of hate and violence and crime and irresponsibility for their own actions IS THE PROBLEM!

Advocating killing cops is the criminals solution, because it suits them! Blaming some poor guy out there doing his job because they don't want you to see they are not doing their's is the politicians solution, because it suits them!

I am angry. So this edition is angry. But you don't see me taking it to the streets and saying "kill all the protesters". And you don't see cops doing this either. I am trying to educate you so you thin k for yourselves, so that you are honest with yourselves. You are looking for someone to take out your anger and fear and frustration on. But you are targeting the wrong group. You are venting your hate in the wrong direction.

Just stop reacting with hate and start thinking. Fix the problems instead of adding to them.

Agree or disagree, its up to you. After all, this is just me - one person - Thinking Out Loud.

Charles

Why ACA is bad . . . A Response to Facebook Post

A friend posted a negative comment about ACA, the Affordable Care Act - also known as ObamaCare. Another person responded to his Facebook post with a lt of drivel about ACA. SO I thought I would post some links here for him to check out.

* United Healthcare exits Healthcare Marketplace - leaving lots of people with no choices.

http://time.com/money/4300900/united-healthcare-obamacare-exit/

2017 will see a rise in ACA insurance costs.

http://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2016-01-27/obamacare-will-probably-cost-more-in-2017-top-insurer-says

There are still millions "falling through the cracks", identified as the working poor. And, of course, if not insured, you get fined.

http://healthjournalism.org/blog/2016/02/a-look-at-those-still-falling-through-the-cracks-in-aca-coverage/

Job do come as the price of Obamacare. Not just in the loss of real jobs being replaced by low paying / low hourly jobs . . . 

"It's easier to find a unicorn than a Walmart worker who has gotten a meaningful raise, or hasn't had their hours cut," United Food & Commercial Workers Union spokeswoman Jessica Levin said via email. "America's hard-working families expect better from a company that makes billions in profit a year."

http://money.cnn.com/2016/01/20/news/companies/walmart-pay-raise-wages/

. . . but in the health insurance industry.

http://www.chicagobusiness.com/article/20160204/NEWS03/160209875/blue-cross-parent-axes-workers-on-heels-of-obamacare-losses

These are just a few examples of the impact of ACA, in response to this individuals staunch defense. He obviously doesn't do much research and only believes what he is told to believe.

An example of a true American Sheep.

Don't be a sheep. Don't blindly accept spin.

But hey, as usual, this is just me Thinking Out Loud. Do your own research.

Have a great day.

Charles

Come On People All Lives Matter

There are some serious gaps in the education of our youth (and I mean going back decades, so that we find ourselves with an ignorant and uninformed adult population as well).

That has to be the explanation of all the very stupid things people are saying and doing these days. Right? I mean how else do you explain the stupidity of the Black Lives Matter movement? Or the This life is better than that life concept that has followed?

I say this because there is a storycoming out (not on any mainstream media outlet, of course) about a young ex-Marine who was assaulted by a gang of black youths (he figures five between the ages of 16 – 21, including one female) outside of a McDonald's. They had been harassing him inside, cornering him and shouting the question did he think black lives matter. He was knocked unconscious and robbed of money, credit cards, VA id and driver's license.

Here is a young man who surrendered his rights and the possibility of his very life to protect the freedoms these ignorant punks (and that is what they are, “usually a petty gangster, hoodlum, or ruffian”) enjoy.

So I am going to get real here. I mean really REAL. I am aiming this at EVERYONE! Men, women, children, politicians, civilians, black, white, red, straight, gay, transgender, rich, poor, middle class, the powerful and the powerless . . . EVERYONE in the United States!

The founding document of this country, the one that separated us from our colonizer nation, the one that outlined why we became who we became, explains things pretty clearly about who we should be as a nation.

The Declaration of Independence.

It starts out “We hold these truths to be self-evident . . .”.

For the uninitiated into the English language, let me translate. “Here is the obvious truth.” Its obvious, or self evident, to anyone who cares to simply open their eyes and see. Here are some truths and they are obvious. Pretty simple. But some people numbly look at you with a blank stare and go “huh?” and then ignore the document.

Okay, so we move on. “ . . . that all men are created equal . . .”. WOW! That line just blows away all of these separatist movements. All. Men. Are. Created. EQUAL! By men, the founders meant men as in mankind, as in humanity, as in EVERYBODY. So, everybody. Created equal. Boom! Black lives matter movement shut down. Because ALL lives matter. Says so in the founding document of this country. Rich lives, poor lives, homeless lives, working lives, black lives, white lives, ALL lives! End of discussion on that.

Now here comes the boom that makes the actions of thugs like the ones who attacked that Marine and like the ones in elected office un-American. “. . . that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable rights”.

You may ask what the heck “unalienable” means, and what are unalienable rights? Well you would be in good company because this has been discussed over and over by many people in the past. But here is the 411. Unalienable rights are rights that cannot be taken away. That's it. They are rights that you are born with. Like the right to breathe. No one can take that away. They can take away your ability to breathe. But your RIGHT to breath? No, they can't take that away.

So what are these rights? “Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness.”

Now these are not the only ones. As I said before, you also have the right to breath. But the founders thought that would be kind of obvious to anybody, so they prefaced these rights by stating “that among these are”. So there are others but they wanted to include these three specifically.

Everyone has a right to life, to be alive. Therefore taking a life is not to be done for the hell of it. Any life. (And yes, I know, the taking of lives in war, any war is necessary to preserve life. A contradiction to be sure, but as I said, not simply done for the hell of it. Self defense, protection of others. Usually undertaken by those willing to sacrifice their own lives to defend the freedoms of these rights I am discussing.)

Liberty. Freedom. Everyone has a right to be free. You can be enslaved, in so many ways, but you choose to fight for this because everyone has a right to freedom. We fought a war to be free. People have staged protests to be free. Because it is a right everyone is born with.

And finally, everyone has the right to pursue a happy life. To be happy. To pursue it. A right. Born with it. Not to be taken away. Ever. By anyone.

So how do we secure these rights so that no one takes them away? The Declaration answers this. “That to secure these rights, Governments are instituted among Men, deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed.” Which means it is up to the government to preserve these rights. Governments that derive their power from the governed. That's us. The governed. The people. The voters who put the government in place.

But here is the rub. We the people have to ensure the government abides by the tenets of our country. And what to do if they don't? Well, we have elections to make sure that the ones who fail are replaced. But what if it gets so bad that we find ourselves falling apart at the seams, as we are now? There is an answer for that, too.

“That whenever any Form of Government becomes destructive of these ends, it is the Right of the People to alter or to abolish it, and to institute new Government, laying its foundation on such principles and organizing its powers in such form, as to them shall seem most likely to effect their Safety and Happiness.”

Kind of extreme. So if we want to avoid the latter, the abolishment of it, then we need to get active and work on altering it. By voting in people who do not derive their popularity or power from dividing us.

United, we stand. Divided, we fall. In modern times, one of our Founding Father, John Dickinson, used these words in a pre-Revolutionary War song called "The Liberty Song". In July of 1768 Dickinson wrote: "Then join hand in hand, brave Americans all! By uniting we stand, by dividing we fall!"

These Black Lives Matter movements do just this. They divide us. As do all of these “fill in the blank” Lives Matter groups, and as do all those who seek to usurp power by dividing us. And politicians who only wish to garner the largest amounts of votes. And they not only do a disservice to us as a country, but they tear apart the very tenets this country was founded on. That every one of us are created equal.

To that point, there is not one single candidate for public office in a very long time that is not guilty of dividing us. And we let them. We fall prey and victim to their manipulations.

I say it is time to stop listening to them and start listening to the concepts that formed this country that is the envy of the rest of the world.

Only by standing united, as one citizenry, as Americans all, will we fight off those that would divide and conquer us. Whether they be outside sources such as ISIS or Communists or Socialists or money grubbing, power hungry corporations, we must battle them all by ignoring their attempts and uniting.

Another document that looked to create a better country, a better world for all that followed them – for posterity – is the Declaration of Independence.

“We the People of the United States, in Order to form a more perfect Union, establish Justice, insure domestic Tranquility, provide for the common defence, promote the general Welfare, and secure the Blessings of Liberty to ourselves and our Posterity, do ordain and establish this Constitution for the United States of America.”

It is time. To stop being sheep and to stop believing in “the spin” of all these divisive people and groups. We are ALL Americans. Not black Americans nor white Americans nor rich Americans nor poor Americans nor any other kind of such and such Americans. We are Americans and we need to stand united in the knowledge that ALL are created equal. All lives matter. Our Founding Fathers tried to make sure we understood this.

Normally I say agree with me or disagree with me, it doesn't matter. But I can't say that this time. Read it for yourself, don't just take my word on it. But if you disagree, if you think that all lives don't matter, that we are not all Americans, that we do not all have rights that cannot be taken away, that we don't need to stand united, then we will not all fall divided – then there is not much I can do for you. So just think for yourselves. Read what this country is all about. If you don't like that we are all one citizenry, then maybe you should think about finding a country that lets you feel divided and promotes divisiveness. But really, this is just me, Thinking Out Loud.

I hope you have a great day, and that you take my words into consideration the next time you hear someone saying something that divides us.

Charles