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Monthly Archives: November 2012

Too Fast ?


Fast food and beverage store tend to have an extensive menu which involves an assorted selections of the same product. Fast food should be just that- fast. It is not fast when you have to study the menu to purchase a sandwich or a beverage. To order a burger should be as simple as: burger with cheese, fries (if desired) and the basics ie lettuce, tomato and/ or pickle. Instead you are asked if you want fries or have it supersized.Currently you have specify: no pickle, no lettuce or whatever else you want  or not. . If you go through the drive through you are lucky if the order is correct when you get it. Looking at the beverage shops. what does it take to get a cup of coffee? Instead of getting a simple coffee, its 20 questions such as half caf latte, 2 or more shots of foam and or some flavors such as caramel, mocha, hazelnut etc.  If you want any of those things then  it’s the ritual of itemizing your  preference and waiting until it’s done. Sorry all you folks who frequent these places but my preference is buy coffee at a store where you can have it ground and cook your own burgers. You will find that the experience is rewarding.

Fiscal Shift


All of the individual and collective issuance from various Legislative and economic sources are at wide variance to the real issue. The bottom line issue is that tax cuts and  increases are not the whole answer. The current tax code is so convoluted that almost all of the proposed changes to the budget could be corrected by a competent revision of the tax code. As an example many of us would find it hard to believe how long the human intestine (large and small) really is. We do not know because it  is in a side to side pattern to fit. This is similar to the tax code as it is also folded to fit. The changes made over the years are made to fit the current code and there have been no real changes  made toward improvement. Many “new” parts do not mesh well with the old ones and create a situation of  ambiguity in interpretation. The IRS interprets each return according to the numbers matching using the total income and the deductions associated with it. There will always be errors due to a misplaced number, lack of a form or  some other mistake. We need a fiscal shift that will revamp the tax code to modern standards, this will create a better revenue flow and possibly eliminate the need for tax increases.

Ultimate Insult


The Springfield Urban League has committed a seemingly planned slap in the face of its area of service and its Head Start employees. The annual Gala (now called anniversary) has as guest speaker the U.S. Attorney of the Central District of Illinois. The speaker is Mr. Jim Lewis who in his career has been a civil rights advocate and Head Start worker with a grand reputation for fighting for the rights of minorities. They (The Springfield Urban League), in my view, have contrived to smear a coat of fresh paint on their faces to hide the evil deeds they have heaped on the community and its residents.  Mr. Lewis’ background would make him an excellent choice for the speaker if the League were a better community based organization. Mr. Lewis’ appearance, while not mitigating his accomplishments, adds an air of approval for the “League’s actions” of the past few years. I am sure if Mr. Lewis knew the poor track record of the Springfield Urban League, especially as it relates to the Head Start Program, he would surely have declined this invitation

No Call Registry


The National No Call registry currently serves to list calls that are considered nuisance calls from sellers, solicitors etc. Most of original numbers  that were eligible for listing were in the 800 series. This left the 900 numbers free to call you and recently the abusive callers began using ordinary area codes. I have determined that reporting any and all nuisance calls is a good thing since the No call registry has made no announcements banning the registry of these numbers. Many of us have forgotten the No Call registry and should begin using the service again to show the solicitors that we are still against random and nuisance calls. We should be aware that after 31 days of being on the registry, you should not receive any solicitous calls and if you do you can report that to the No Call registry website as a formal complaint.

Glocal Warming.Or?


The developed and developing nations are all concerned with the carbon outputs which have and apparently continue to raise the earth’s temperature (global warming). I wonder if these country’s and their environmental scientists have calculated in the historic earth shifts which tend to alter the weather patterns also. There is possibly prehistoric weather patterns which we have yet to experience or discover through geological records. Wouldn’t it be prudent to temper the global warming discussion with more facts from earth’s history than to make preemptive decisions which could have a worse outcome. This is not to say that our modern day style of living does not have an effect on the weather but how much is still speculative.

More Political Wool


Recently  two (2)Dupublican Senators have taken up the lead on the Benghazi embassy deaths. It is clear that something went terribly wrong as far as security and protection. It is unfortunate that erroneous information was first issued making subsequent information shaky and seemingly untrue. Even with these facts and the need for an investigation, the fiscal issue takes precedence. It appears to me that the Dupublicans are settling into the same old rut and avoiding doing what needs to be done as far as the economy. Wouldn’t these two “senior” Senators understand that the Libyan situation is important but not as important at this time as the fiscal issue. The attention to the Libyan issue has taken center stage to lead  up to the objection to appointing Susan Rice to the post to be vacated by Hillary Clinton. Gentlemen (if you deserve the title) take first things first, Economic stability then the appointment.

Not All Americans


Not all Americans are in step with the so called “White Majority”. Most of us (all color shades and ethnicities) believe in the America envisioned by the founders and further advanced after a wasteful civil war. There will always be the bigoted, small minded minority across the face of our country however the majority of us just want live the best lives we can and provide for our families. We are all subject to the results of bigotry from that recently emboldened  anti anyone not white and not ethnically correct minority. Those groups bolstered by radio and TV personalities who are supported by wealthy folks and companies who in the search for validation assume the mantle of radicalism. These are  promoters of the new wave of secession petitions in various states. What if they were able to secede? Would the loss of connection to the government be a hardship for those who are not in tune with these radical views? How would  these states deal with the loss of interaction and connections to financial and commercial sources they currently enjoy? Would they then be considered a foreign country? No matter how imperfect the U.S. appears to be in the eyes of  these malcontents, there is no country better as proven by the many residents of other countries have determined by their efforts to get here, raise families and do not forget the original settlers who are the ancestors of many of these anti everyones. The four (4) years of devastation  and loss of life in  the 1860’s should be a reminder that this is America and possibly the only country that allows fringe groups to express themselves without repression unless that expression undermines the freedom of the populace and government. Try that in Russia, Iran or some far eastern nations. I say to these people-“suck it up and get over it, this is America, home of the free” Read More »

The Information Age


The remarkable thing about this information age is that we now have much more information on companies and their top management. This election is heavily backed by industry moguls who have and would like to continue a bought and paid for relationship with political figures. These moguls (oligarchs) while supplying some jobs in the U.S. have moved as many if not more out of the U.S. Their deals have allowed the current fiscal morass to deepen while backing any candidate who will unseat the current President. One of the reasons it has been so hard to get any work done in Congress is the deep pockets of industry and their relationship to individual members and their party. Along with the money transfers between people is the idea that a non white has the audacity to buck the system. There we have it, aside from the unspoken bias yet often prominently inferred, we have ordinary people who fail to understand that this fiscal issue has been coming for a while but we have been misdirected  by patriotic speeches designed to keep our vision off of the obvious. Occasionally a bit of truth leaks out and we overall do not believe it  since the patriotism card is being played . We are experiencing sound bites from prominent figures who say a thing to get attention much like little children seeking attention. We have no end to the media seekers who continually resurrect ideas that have been proven wrong and inconsequential (enter the Donald). There are a multitude of information outlets that tell the real story but so many  succumb to the race and hate baiters who have no relevant information but maintain a truckload of innuendo and deceit. I believe once the followers of these lost souls see that there are other avenues of information then these miscreants will fade away like the smoke from a campfire.

Kathleen Parker opinion-with My Comment


“Republicans plan to commence focus groups and voter-based polls to discover the mystery behind their loss. Having sat staring into space the past couple of days, they now want to get to the bottom of it. The bubble in which most politicians and their staffs live is not just a metaphor, apparently. The answer has been so obvious for so long and in so many ways, one has to wonder what these people read in their spare time. Old issues of Boys’ Life? If nothing else, one had to look only at the two political conventions. One was colorful, vibrant, excited and happy. The other was pale, moribund, staid and restrained. If the latter sounds like something in the final stages of life, you’re not far off. A couple of weeks before the election, I spoke to an audience of about 450 in Florida, the demographics of which were about 80 percent male, 90 percent Republican and, oh, about 99.9 percent white. What could be more fun than that! Alas, the bulk of my talk was criticism of the Republican Party. If Mitt Romney loses, I told them, it will be largely the fault of the party. As I spelled out the details, nary a creature was stirring. It was painfully quiet. Even my best jokes fell flat. Hey, guys, that was funny!  It was hard to tell whether they resented the messenger or were trying to digest the unpalatable truth. Truth is often painful, and the days since President Obama’s reelection have been a salted slugfest. Amid the writhing, I rest my case. Some Republicans stubbornly insist, of course, that the problem was that Romney wasn’t conservative enough. Really? In his heart, this may be true. I never believed Romney was passionate about social issues. He embraced them because he had to, but he had no intention of pursuing a socially conservative agenda. But the real problem is the Republican Party, which would not be recognizable to its patron saint, Ronald Reagan. The party doesn’t need a poll or a focus group. It needs a mirror. The truth is, Romney was better than the GOP deserved. Party nitwits undermined him, and the self-righteous tried to bring him down. The nitwits are well-enough known at this point — those farthest-right social conservatives who couldn’t find it in their hearts to keep their traps shut. No abortion for rape or incest? Sit down. Legitimate rape? Put on your clown suit and go play in the street. Equally damaging were the primary leeches who embarrassed the party and wouldn’t leave the stage. Nine-nine-nine, we’re talking about you, Herman Cain. And Gov. Oops? You, too. And then there were Rick Santorum and Michele Bachmann, who never had a real shot at the nomination and certainly could never win a national election, yet they refused to surrender to the certain nominee. Did they have a right to persist in their own fantasies? Sure. But not if they were serious about getting a Republican in the White House. Thus, for months and months, Romney had to spend his energy and, as important, his money to prevail in the primaries against opponents who had no chance and who ultimately hurt him. During that same precious time, Obama’s campaign was busy pinpointing specific voters, practically learning the names of their dogs, and buying ads in niche markets. More to the point, the GOP seems willfully clueless. There’s a reason there are so few minorities in the party. There’s a reason women scrambled to the other side. There’s a reason Hispanics, including even Cuban Americans this time, went for Obama. The way forward is about love, not war, baby. Women’s reproductive rights need to come off the table. As Haley Barbour suggested long ago, agree to disagree. Compassionate immigration reform, including a path to citizenship, should be the centerpiece of a conservative party’s agenda. Marginalize or banish those who in any way make African Americans, gays, single women or any other human being feel unwelcome in a party that cherishes the values of limited government, low taxes and freedom. A large swath of conservative-minded Americans are Democrats and independents by default. Mitt Romney would have been a fine president and might have won the day but for the party he had to please.”kathleenparker@washpost.com This opinion explains a lot but the real problem is still in the Senate. Mitch McConnell has outlived his usefulness, his shoot from the hip approach which appears to be blatantly biased is not in the best interests of the country and possibly never has been. This is a very good example of having term limits on Congress no matter what party they are associated with. To advance the UNITED STATES we must decrease the long term influence of power mad national representatives who have no agenda beyond their own welfare.

The Civil War – 150 Years Later.


The past 2 Presidential elections have brought out the best and worst in Americans. All of vituperative and laudatory comments have been couched in some cases by the underlying racism that some Americans harbor. The civil war was more about economics (slaves as chattel) than freedom but the widespread bias and hatred against non white (including Native Americans, Chinese and Hispanics to name a few) served to fuel a divisive war with a terrible loss of life and economic instability for half of the United States. This loss affected the entire country for many years after but the underlying prejudices were still festering in some areas including the North. To become what many consider the greatest country in the free world, residents must put aside the issue of race and move to strike a better understanding and cooperative tone. The first step in this is understanding that we all suffer under the same impotent legislative leaders. Do not think for a minute that the people you have elected have only your concerns in mind. The evil tone  in the last 2 major elections has been viral in the media with no substance as to what the cures for the economy would be. Now that the same man is in the Oval office, the tone has changed because it cannot be business as usual. This modern day “Civil War” has the same effects as the past one without the massive loss of life but the same disastrous economic effect. When the majority of Americans (all of Us) allows themselves to think beyond our personal biases we will begin to see  that we need to elect some new people to the Congress who will do what is required but first change the pay rates, benefits and pensions of the current Congress.  What if we had a Congress that reflected the American public instead of the one that seemingly reflects the troop of apes that shares the Name?