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Tag Archives: As I see It

We Did It!.


The Middle East for several thousands of years has been a war zone in one area or another and by the same people (in ethnicity and religious beliefs). The names of the countries and the groups of people have changed over the years but the issues have remained the same. The intervention of Europeans and Westerners  did no more than exacerbate the issues primarily because we did not understand them. Even today we do not have a handle on the real issues yet we are still involved in their business (often without being invited). I am not against assistance but to what end? I believe that our messy intervention has more to do with the companies and or individuals who have the most to gain in these countries by supplying arms and other material support at the behest or at least with a wink of the government eye. This is not to say that as a country we condone these activities but possibly through some lobbying interests the activities occur.  Lobbyists usually approach folks who can help their causes, these folks could be in the administration, Congress or even Congressional staffers. These contacts for the sense of power, a promise of  work after an election or term of office and of money which for the payee can be substantial will, can and have committed breaches of  security. We as voters can complain for or against assistance but we do not fully understand ALL of the issues and may never get the true story until we access several sources to get a full picture. First and foremost we must not rely on the information issued by people running for office, this adherence to their message is as flawed as petting a snake and assume you will not be bitten. We as a country have allowed  our political groups to advertise us into voting for and approving their actions. It is these actions that have caused us more problems than we need or deserve but “WE Did IT!”

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Freedom


As a  free country, we will never be completely free until we control our Congress. Our current representatives have fallen under the influence of huge money and now they are owned by them. We have elected them over and over based on what they say, not what they do. How can you trust someone if they enact laws that hide their salaries and spending. Of course we can find these things out but how many of us can or will spend the time to search out this information? Our primary problem here is that we have no statesmen (or women), what we have are people who apparently lie for a living and take money from any source to keep a lucrative position long enough to make contacts that enhance their present and future lives. Their annual salaries as public servants would keep 5 families living above the poverty level each year. With these  statements in mind, who will you vote for the next time around and will you pay attention to what’s said or will you enjoy the Political equivalent of “Jerry Springer”? We will never be free until we address or at least acknowledge that we have been duped for years by the political theater of our political elections. It is unfortunate that the wide access to news and information via a multitude of  personal electronic devices is used to play games, text friends and not research the people we vote for.

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Global Warming?


The political climate in Washington D.C. is a big contributor to global warming due to the flaming rhetoric of the Congress  that we elected in good faith and trust. The politicians have relied on their ability to skirt the truth, misconstrue the facts and in fact  actually lie. It is difficult to cover all of the transgressions of our Congress due the depth of said transgressions. The choices we now have: elect the same people and expect different results (definition of insanity) or elect different people who we can plan to replace if they do  not perform as we need them to. It is important that we understand what it is that we want from our legislators. We ask for things that would benefit us personally but in the grand scheme of things will not benefit ALL of us now and in the future. That being said we have inadvertently created 535 people who feel they cannot please their “constituents” so they please themselves and their big dollar backers (who have bought and paid for them). We must understand that politicians use the public (all of us from non voters to voters) as pawns in their efforts to gain power to do the bidding of their true masters. If by some slim chance we (voters) could just step back and really look at our elected legislators we could really see that we have made some poor choices. The political system is designed to further their own ends not ours! Take the idea of redrawing (Gerrymandering) voting districts to help  a particular party or candidate, if each state were to use the normal county boundaries there would be no need to Gerrymander or redraw districts. It is conceivable that we as voters have ignored these seemingly minor things that our legislators do because we do not understand the long and short-range effects they have on our everyday lives. This what the seat fillers depend on our complacency and lack of knowledge along with the meandering language used to write laws. Suppose laws were written like an index, where you have detailed listing showing what a law is supposed to do  or needs to do. It is possible that our involvement in that way would give us a way to decide what we need as opposed to what we want (often what we think we want). Needs and wants are similar not the same and not necessarily interchangeable. It is and always has been incumbent on the voters to make real change in Government but we have made an unconscious decision to allow the political system to do what we will not.

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Failure to Communicate or Inform?


In the past 10 years it has become evident that America is not as progressive as Europe in spite of our industrial development. Britain has “socialized Medicine” where everyone has healthcare, the British Parliament discusses and resolves issues relating to the proper administering of the country’s needs rather than who marries who, who can live where or even what flag flies where. This Congress and the associated media has spent valuable time on innuendo, misconception and out right lies in some case to get their way with the voters. Shame on us voters for believing them. When a political “leader(?)” has to resort to subterfuge and disingenuous statements to keep or gain an office, then we need to provide a quick exit for them. Why does it take millions of dollars to gain election to a position that pays a lot less than the money spent to get it? There is an inherent flaw in the messages offered as truth and honesty to get to a high government (Local, State or federal) office. It is a failing on behalf of the voters to ascribe to the opinions of a heavily biased media who employ spokespersons who have a smattering of understanding about what real journalism is. These spokespersons are no more than sensationalists masquerading as experts. These people are as radical as any terrorist but using words as weapons. Their under and uninformed comments serve to inflame rather inform. WE as voters need to look behind the curtain of misinformation and  strip them of an audience for the illusory presentations  they assail us with on a daily basis. These are the times when the world bullies are on the move and using the same tactics  to spread THEIR propaganda. We  do not have a failure to communicate but more a failure to inform.

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Thanks To Congress


Our Congress has opened the door to the Racism against President Obama and by extension perhaps all non-white Americans. Israel has forgotten that they were once on the bottom and now it seems that they have forgotten the assistance America has given them in aid and arms. We still contribute billions to Israel and we allow this kind of  attack on our President. This is due to our inept Congress inviting a war hawk to speak in the combined chamber with speaking to the President. This is not to say that the President had any power to prevent it but our poorly functioning 535 has proven again that they are not the legislators they need to be. This tweet should have been directed at them but instead we see the Racism that is still prevalent in the world and how our “ally” is truly not as trustworthy as we need them to be. The Israelis for all of their travails should be a better friend but it is apparent that they have no loyalty to us in spite of the funding they receive and our Congress will no doubt ignore this since our CIC is not white. It is our duty as Americans (all of us) to stand behind the President especially as far as the world is concerned. This divisiveness is exactly why our country is in the financial and moral tumult we are now experiencing. Consider the message we are sending to our children and the haters of America.

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Insurance


All insurance is the best insurance until you need or use it. Do you find it curious that your policy is along the lines of a contract with fine print that is tediously involved with huge amounts of “legalese”? The reason many of us do not read contracts fully is the extensive amount of language in small print. The small print and language is a deadly combination for the best readers let alone the poorer readers. Insurance policies are especially bad as their contracts have many items that serve to deny payment on coverage and restrict payouts on coverage’s. Why can’t the contract be simple like an index? The contract could use a list type structure. this would make it simple as you could look at the list to see what is covered and what is not. Instead you have this mind-boggling,  multi-page, small print documents that when read gives one a headache (by design?) and halts the process of reading it. When you start a claim you have 50-50 chance of getting a denial, then you appeal according to their  (the company) process, you are denied again and you usually have another appeal. The next appeal stands a better than average chance of being denied, these appeals stretch over weeks and months until you grow tired of it or there is a final denial or if you feel up to it sue for payment and or damages. In my opinion we should be pushing our legislators to overhaul the contract wording to reflect a simpler form of understanding for the average person, this format should extend to all contracts. This may eliminate the use of some legal personnel in writing contracts but would be a boon to the everyday person who can then understand what they are signing on to. I have elected to pursue all denials until I reach the end no matter what the end result  and thereafter I look for hopefully a better (?)  company to do business with. In the pursuit of another company I know now what questions to ask and hopefully get a better deal overall. One part of all of this the agent you deal with, often their assistance can help but more often they are implicit in the denial while affecting a sense of caring about your situation.

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Haters Still Hate


Tennis is a sport that few Blacks have participated in, yet non players (spectators) who follow the game have not gotten the memo that they (non Blacks) are not the only “race” in the world. Deriding and slurring a player due to Race is at once ridiculous and out of touch. For years it was fine to have one of “them” once in a while but not to dominate as the Williams sisters have along with  Ali, Tyson, Holmes, Woods, Ashe and Jack Johnson just to mention a few have done. This about sports not race and Racial identity, it is well past time that the bigots (closeted, non closeted or hangers on). The bigots have to remember some of your ancestors “stole” millions of non whites from hundreds of countries around the world so they could amass fortunes and avoid hard labor. These pimps even imported their own (white) race from many places for the same reasons. We “real” people understand that they (whites of that ilk) are now more the exception than the rule and  “all” of us real people of all colors and cultures tolerate you until your “true colors” show then we out you and wish you were somewhere else. You have you favorites like “Rush, Bill and others on Faux news but those are not the standard bearers of the rest of us who read and understand the modern world. If it were practical we  (the real people) would gather you morons up and ship you somewhere else, that is if anyone wanted you! Keep in mind that “nobody wins when the price is hate” (this is a line from a song that many of you have heard but paid no attention to.

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535 Nattering Nincompoops


What ever happened to the premise , idea or fact that our elected officials represented us instead of praying to the dollar gods? Recent legislative actions aimed at cutting the Government deficits will directly affect the less fortunate and  financially challenged Americans (you know the same people who were slammed with subprime loans). Our erstwhile legislators have spent an enormous amount of our money (yes our money-remember our taxes pay their $175000 annual pay) crafting laws to cut expense to Medicaid, and other social programs while boosting the money for the war machine. This is not to say that the military spending should not be funded but at the same time many lower grade military families will be affected by the cuts made by the 535. I am wondering how long will it be before  the American people, who are so often cited by the legislators start to see the true nature of our political “leaders”. If we look at the really big picture we can easily see the trend of our current representatives from both sides to do as little as possible while espousing record of getting things done “for us”  (or more precisely -to us!). Our country is under the grip of huge moneyed people who have essentially bought and paid for our Congress and will attempt to purchase the Presidency in the next election. As a minor observer of politics and by no means an expert, I can see the forest for the trees and hope that some others will observe the same.

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The Clowns


 

The song ” Send in The Clowns” was written by Mr. Steven Sondheim, it was performed by Judy Collins when I first heard it and that’s the version I remember . That was just to present this theory: the “clowns” were sent to Washington to represent us. The Dupublicans are still using the media to campaign for the Presidency in 2016, the string of uninformed statements from various Congressional members on everything from Healthcare to Iran is as close to proof of ineptitude as you can get. We have a long way to go before we can fix this including the missteps by the High Court (which has comforted the misled constituents of the Dupublican base). I am hoping when the real dust settles many of us have the ability to vote the pimps out. We the people should and have to realize we have two houses of legislators whose sole purpose now is to gain the presidency of the United States to convert us all to conservatism whether we want to be converted or not. This is not to demean Conservatism as  in any belief needs to be taken in the context of other beliefs and realities while not infringing on those beliefs and rights held by other people. The current Congress has made the very office a joke and impugned the already fragile integrity of the office. We are experiencing the rise of deep pocket politics which is of no real benefit to the majority of us. If we are to survive this all, we should pay attention to who we elect and their long range effect on our future. A note to non voters-It is true our choices are not the best but we still need to exercise that right!

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Where Do We Go From Here?


How can we trust the upcoming Congress? During the last 6 years the rift between Congress and  POTUS has grown larger. It is naïve to think that this divide is not about power and who has it. Hypothetically the two major parties have the best interests of the people and our country yet we see the long term representatives  espousing the same rhetoric  to their constituents with a twist. Unfortunately it is human nature to align one self with some one who looks like you, has the same general (supposedly)  life desires. What this means is that except for people who recognize and embrace the differences in other people, our long termers are no more than “Bernie Madoff” in  politics. They have  perfected the knack of  promising enough to stay in office and enhancing their own  futures rather than taking care of the people who elected them time after time. This mid term election has shown that desperation leads ambitious people to do whatever it takes. It is not a far stretch to think that in close company the President has been labeled with the “N” word to forward an agenda. The new Congress still has to put up or shut up but be assured that any failure on the part of the House and Senate will be redirected to what ever the President has done or not done. We can already see the media campaign in the  press releases and talks from the two top Dupublicans but  onus is on them to produce results. The keystone pipeline is a sore spot and all of the information on it has never been revealed, the only information out is how many jobs will  created, no matter what the potential risk of  damage to the route of the pipeline. This pipeline will be delivering Canadian oil to the Gulf of Mexico for processing and shipment out of the country.

It is easy to present partial information and appeal to the  jobs situation but remember who has been in office during the fiscal troubles  of the past 15 years and did nothing to stave off the problems. To top it all, the Prime minister of Israel used  our Congress to further his own ambitions and he did in true Dupublican fashion and they willingly  (possibly unwittingly) allowed it because his speech was  without the normal courteous  notification to our President and the State department . The Leader of the House is now journeying to Israel (why?). Here at home the candidates are jockeying for position to run for President  but to no good end. We must understand that our political process is flawed and can only be repaired by the voters. Our task is simply to gather as much information as possible on the candidates and ignore 90% of what is aired in the media. Keep in mind that these candidates are spending millions to gain offices that do not pay millions which makes one wonder what the real reason for the campaigning?

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