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Tag Archives: current-events

Disengenuous Benefactors


Ongoing issues of politics and public ranting’s cover the scope from real truth to outright lies and every nuance in between. We have people who are spending billions to gain an office that pays a pittance in comparison. These funds are used to essentially “buy” votes not by paying voters (even though many of us could use some of it), but by the use of media advertising, space rental and door to door solicitors. All the while the media assault drones on and on, before and after the public debates. The messages while essentially the same they are only different in the small details. Each candidate is basically a disingenuous benefactor by design or in error. Some have great intentions but no means of fulfilling them. Some have the means but have not the judgment, intention or proper advisors to fulfill those intentions. The encircling force in this is the long serving and mostly do nothing Congress. I have stated before and firmly believe that our Government is being controlled by a 535 disingenuous benefactors who have and always contend that they are doing what best for the “American People” yet they never ask us what we think is good for us. What they have done for years is “tell” us what’s good for us in spite of many letters and communications from us actually telling them what we want. We all (the American People) want basically the same thing: good Government that does what is right for all of us, a government that tells as much truth as possible and be willing to admit to mistakes. We all would like to be properly represented according to our regional needs and not on narrowly focused issues selected to garner the most support and votes. We as voters have been bombarded by BULLS**T for years while our elected (we elected them) pimps continue business as usual and ask us to support what they do under the guise of “our best interests”. We need to stop the practice of “sleep voting” and determine our own future by electing new people and be prepared to out them in the next election if they prove ineffectual. The idea of term limits is a great sound bite but that power in the in the hand of the voters. You know -“the American People”!

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Crucial Votes


Beginning with the election season 2016, we have seen and heard some of the most outrageous statements from the candidates. These range from semi truths to fantasies. In some cases what’s said is outright racist and evil. What is it about the elections that causes people (the candidates and the public) to state and believe what ever is said. I have been poring over the election statements for weeks as I started this post months ago. I have a few conclusions that may or may not be of any consequence to anyone. We are all angry with our government but many for the wrong reasons. Begin with the 535 seat fillers who we have installed in office and kept there out of ineptness, laziness or perhaps fear (of change). Prime example” the leader of the Senate has been essentially a liar, fence jumper and altogether of no real value to his constituents or anyone else. His sole purpose has been to be the Leader of the Senate ( I believe he is totally unqualified to lead a horse to water). His ascension has been because of the lies and misinformative manner of campaigning. His Constituency may be more rural and dependent on the fossil fuel industry but he has treated them like idiots in statements like “Obama is killing the coal industry”, the coal industry has been dying for years due to major user transitioning to cleaner gas. It is also worth looking at the number of miners who are leaving the industry due to attrition and their children going elsewhere. We should note that the mine owners lack of upgrades for safety and having to pay huge fines which are drawn from the miners by way of layoffs and closures. Mr. “Mac” has not addressed these issues in the same way as he has addressed deterring  or stopping any of the Presidents agenda even if it is good for the  country and by extension his constituents. Getting back to the issues: we as voters have all of the government control we need and that control can only be taken away from us by death or incarceration. That control is the vote!. We need to begin that control by voting ineffective leaders out, there is no need to ask for term limits because to have such a law enacted by the same folks we are outraged with is ludicrous and ineffectual. Term limits should always and only be enacted by votes. In order for this to happen each of us needs to ignore 90% of the political rhetoric and pay attention to facts by listening and reading with an eye for the truth. We must remember that these campaigners deal in 1/2 truths and lies on a regular basis, we voters have often not voted for the most truthful person for the wrong reasons. Truth is not a single incident of voting for or against a bill or law in camera but how that person voted overall. If we really want retake our rights over government the path to that is voting poor legislators out and keep in keep in mind that we will make mistakes but we can correct those mistakes in the next election. The current election is so vile that we can only become angry and rally behind the angriest campaigner and that could be a costly mistake in the long run. You must understand that this anger without a merited basis becomes a fallacy in your electoral selection and will haunt you until the next election. Do your homework on your candidates and remember they are people and subject to the same mistakes, the words spoken on the stump are not necessarily factual and many times are written much like the ads on TV, geared to make activate you the way they want.

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Guantanamo Camp Cost $900,000.00 Per Prisoner Per Year


This posting from The Huffington Post shows what the cost to keep Guantanamo Camp open and what should be spent on the actual facility to bring it up to standards. Where could this amount be better used? We have several 
“High Security” prisons in the U.S. but due to politrics and fear mongering these facilities and the apparent boon to the communities as far as material resources like jobs, products sold to the facility and traffic from products being brought in has not happened. Maximum security is just that maximum security and would cost a lot less in the United States than off shore. This move would free up military forces now engaged in guarding this facility for other duties. The move would be n money saved and well spent.

WASHINGTON, May 3 (Reuters) – It’s been dubbed the most expensive prison on Earth and President Barack Obama cited the cost this week as one of many reasons to shut down the detention center at Guantanamo Bay, which burns through some $900,000 per prisoner annually.

The Pentagon estimates it spends about $150 million each year to operate the prison and military court system at the U.S. Naval Base in Cuba, which was set up 11 years ago to house foreign terrorism suspects. With 166 inmates currently in custody, that amounts to an annual cost of $903,614 per prisoner.

By comparison, super-maximum security prisons in the United States spend about $60,000 to $70,000 at most to house their inmates, analysts say. And the average cost across all federal prisons is about $30,000, they say.

The high cost was just one reason Obama cited when he returned this week to an unfulfilled promise to close the prison and said he would try again. Obama also said that the prison, set up under his Republican predecessor George W. Bush and long the target of criticism by rights groups and foreign governments, is a stain on the reputation of the United States.

“It’s extremely inefficient,” said Ken Gude, chief of staff and vice president at the liberal Center for American Progress think tank, who has followed developments at Guantanamo Bay since 2005.

“That … may be what finally gets us to actually close the prison. I mean the costs are astronomical, when you compare them to what it would cost to detain somebody in the United States,” Gude said.

The cost argument could be a potent weapon at a time of running budget battles between Obama and the Republican-controlled House of Representatives, and of across-the-board federal spending cuts that kicked in, in March. The “sequestration” as it is known, is due to cut some $109 billion in spending up to the end of September and has cut government services small and large.

Just one inmate from Guantanamo, for example, is equivalent to the cost of 12 weeks of White House tours for the public – a treasured tradition that the Secret Service says costs $74,000 a week and that has been axed under sequestration.

A single inmate is also the equivalent of keeping open the control tower at the Northwest Arkansas Regional Airport for 45 months. That control tower, another victim of cuts, costs $20,000 per month to run.

The $900,000 also matches the funding for nearly seven states to help serve home delivered meals to the elderly. Sequestration has cost Meals on Wheels a median shortfall of $129,497 per state, the organization says.

Or measured in terms of military spending and national security, the cost of four inmates represents the cost of training an Air Force fighter pilot – based on the Department of Defense’s figure of $3.6 million per pilot.

WHY THE HUGE COST?

The huge cost of running the prison and judicial complex stem from its offshore location at a 45-square-mile U.S. Naval Base on the southeastern coast of Cuba. Because ties between the two countries are almost nonexistent, almost everything for the facilities has to be ferried in from outside.

When the military tribunals are in session, everyone from judges and lawyers to observers and media have to fly into Guantanamo on military aircraft. Food, construction materials and other goods are shipped in from outside, experts say.

But despite the high cost of the camp, and despite the fact that Republicans traditionally demand belt-tightening by the federal government, a Republican aide with the House of Representatives Armed Services Committee said there was little point in asking if the price was worth it because “there isn’t an alternative at the moment.”

“No one has any particular affection for Guantanamo Bay, but no one has come up with a practical solution that’s better,” the aide said.

Obama needs to produce a plan for what to do with the detainees at Guantanamo “who are too dangerous to release,” Representative Buck McKeon, the chairman of the House Armed Services Committee, said in an opinion piece in USA Today this week. “Until a better solution is offered, at Guantanamo they must stay,” he wrote.

Among current inmates, nine have been charged with crimes or convicted, 24 are considered eligible for possible prosecution, 86 have been cleared for transfer or release and 47 are considered too dangerous for release but are not facing prosecution.

But until now, worries about security have prevented the idea of transferring some or all of the inmates to the United States from getting much traction.

Obama pledged to close the prison within a year after first taking office in January 2009 but his efforts ran aground, partly because of congressional opposition, from both Republicans and some in his own Democratic Party, to transferring prisoners to the United States.

Inmates started a hunger strike in February that has swelled to some 100 prisoners and has led to force-feeding of 23 of the prisoners. With the camp back under a critical spotlight, Obama told a news conference on Tuesday he would renew efforts to shut it down. He has an array of options, some of which would be more achievable than others.

Gude said it was difficult to figure out how much the United States has spent overall on Guantanamo detention facilities since it began housing prisoners there in 2002 because administrations only recently have been noting the expense in a budget line item.

“I don’t know if I’ve ever seen an estimate but it is certainly more than $1 billion by a comfortable margin, I would say, probably more than $2 billion,” Gude said.

Above the annual operating cost, capital spending on the prison could rise again if the Pentagon receives the funding it says it needs to renovate the place.

General John Kelly, the head of Southern Command, which is responsible for Guantanamo, told a House of Representatives panel in March that he needed some $170 million to improve the facilities for troops stationed at the base as part of detention operations. Kelly said the living conditions were “pretty questionable” and told the panel, “We need to take care of our troops.” (Reporting By David Alexander; Editing by Frances Kerry and Tim Dobbyn)

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Io’s rison Facility

 

Senator Franken Explains and Exposes


Senator Al Franken addressed the Senate’s failure to the country:

Senator Al Franken (D-MN) addressed the new justice vacancy in the Supreme Court on February 24. In opening, Franken told the Senate Judiciary Committee that “swift” action needed to be taken. He offered his “thoughts and prayers” to the family of the late Justice Scalia, adding he did not share Scalia’s views on the U.S. Constitution, nor on the country, and that Scalia had a great sense of conviction and humor. Franken then quickly gets down to the business at hand:

“Let us all remember that each and every senator serving in this body swore an oath to support and defend [the] Constitution,” said Sen. Franken in prepared remarks. “It is our duty to move forward. We must fulfill our constitutional obligation to ensure that the highest court in the land has a full complement of justices.”

Franken reminds the audience that the U.S. Constitution Justice Scalia loved is the same U.S. Constitution that allows the president to nominate a new justice, and with the “Advice and Consent of the Senate,” appoint a judge to the Supreme Court.

The senator notes with disgust that it took less than an hour after news of Scalia’s death hit the public for the GOP to announce they would not take up the business of considering a replacement until after the presidential election. Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY) said the American people should have a voice in the selection of the next Supreme Court justice.

The only problem with the Majority Leader’s reasoning, Franken adds, is that the American people have spoken. Twice.

He reiterates that President Barack Obama was elected and reelected by a solid majority of the American people who understood his role is to uphold his duties according to the Constitution and that includes appoint a Supreme Court justice should a vacancy occur.

Here’s where it gets good. One of the highlights of this speech was when Franken suggests the GOP apply their own reasoning to the Republican-led Congress.

If we were to truly subscribe to the Majority Leader’s logic and extend it to the legislative branch, it would yield an absurd result. 

  • Senators would become ineffective in the last year of their term.
  • The 28 senators who are now in the midst of their reelection campaigns and the 6 senators who are stepping down should be precluded from casting votes in committee or on the Senate floor.
  • Ten committee chairs and 19 subcommittee chairs should pass the gavel to a colleague who is not currently running for reelection or preparing for retirement.
  • Bill introduction, and indeed the cosponsor ship of bills, should be limited to those senators who are not yet serving in the sixth year of their terms. When a Republican says it’s been standard practice over the last 80 years to not confirm Supreme Court nominees during a presidential election year, Franken says, “I know that’s not true. And I’m not the only one,” mentioning several sources including the indisputable SCOTUS blog, which says, “historical record does not reveal any instances [in over a century] of the Senate failing to confirm a nominee in a presidential election year because of the impending election.” In closing, Senator Franken states the Supreme Court is a central pillar of our democracy. The women and men who sit on that bench make decisions that touch the lives of every single American—regardless of party or political persuasion. Franken urges his colleagues to “reject the impulse to put politics before our sworn duty” to uphold the Constitution. There is a video of Franken’s entire speech.
  • In his speech, Senator Al Franken describes the hypocrisy, negligence, and obstructiveness of Republicans that has taken place the entire seven years President Obama has been in office.
  • Franken tells the committee (and the public) that the day before, every Republican member of the Senate Judiciary Committee sent a letter to the Majority Leader vowing to deny a hearing to the president’s eventual nominee, saying they will not hold hearings on any Supreme Court nominee—until after their next president is sworn in on January 20, 2017. Franken calls their actions an historic dereliction of the Senate’s duty. He brings up that “Chairman Grassley gathered only Republican Committee members in a private meeting where they unilaterally decided, behind closed doors, to refuse consideration of a nominee.” Franken calls the action to refuse a hearing “shameful, and I suspect that the American people share that view.“

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The Little Stuff


With all of the attention being paid to the Presidential Race not enough of us are paying attention or thinking about the activities of the smaller elections. These smaller or less publicized activities around the country. These  small events are the real things that  shape our Government. The Congress is elected in these small statewide elections. The current Congress is made up of people who were elected and re-elected on a State level. This semi-annual elected return to Washington by the States is the biggest problem. Each of these Representatives uses local issues to stay in office while doing something different on the big stage. It needs to clear to all State voters that their representatives do not and will not represent them as long as their big donors pour money into their campaigns no matter what the candidate says to their faces. For instance Coal is a polluted form of energy which is being phased out by manufacturers and producers but the Coal States representatives use the decimation of Coal as a talking point to be re-elected. This bit of misleading  information is just one part of the bigger lies that people are told by our “representatives” for their own ends, not for the people they purport to represent. The American people that the political pimps are so fond of quoting seemingly have no idea what these guys are actually doing and maybe they (we) don’t) want to know. The key to better Government is better representatives and the use of the vote to change them when it is required but this will only happen when we (voters) look behind the proverbial curtain. It’s the Little Stuff that makes the difference.

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The Justice On Justice


 This post from “The Rude pundit” is indeed Rude an coarse however to keep it in context I have altered some words. And as an add of my opinion,: perhaps the “Justice” will answer to a higher Justice.
 
 
 3/03/2016

Samuel Alito: Supreme Dick (A Short One)

Yesterday’s Supreme Court hearing was on the insultingly dumb Texas law requiring family planning clinics where abortions are performed to meet rigid standards that virtually no other medical clinic where outpatient procedures are done must meet. The three women justices kicked so much ass that asses miles away felt it. Justices Ginsberg, Sotomayor, and Kagan, along with liberal male Justice Breyer, were all over Texas Solicitor General Scott Keller, taking apart the absurdity of his argument that the closure of all but 10 clinics in the entirety of Texas wasn’t an “undue burden” on the women of the huge fucking state.

Of course, back on the conservative side, Clarence Thomas didn’t say a goddamned thing, having gone back into a decade-long hibernation, like a particularly dumb and cruel cicada. Anthony Kennedy was at his weaselly peak in figuring out how not to make a decision. And John Roberts attempted to undo the arguments of clinics’ attorney Stephanie Toti. The ghost of Antonin Scalia was screaming from Hell.

But the king dickhead of the day was Samuel Alito, the bespectacled worm of the court. Alito took it upon himself to try to get Toti to admit that the clinics didn’t close because of the law. This mattered to him more than the lives of the women or the distance they had to travel or the money they had to spend or anything else, even though he was utterly f**king wrong:

JUSTICE ALITO: Well, there is very little specific evidence in the record in this case with respect to why any particular clinic closed. Basically, your argument is that the law took effect, and after that point, there was a decrease in the number of clinics…As to how many, of the total that you claim closed, do you have direct evidence about the reason for the closure?

MS. TOTI: Well, 11 of them, Your Honor, closed on the day that the admitting privileges took effect.

JUSTICE ALITO: Yeah. And as to how many…how many are you claiming total closed as a result of the law?

MS. TOTI: To…to date, roughly 20 clinics have closed.

JUSTICE ALITO: And of the 20, how…as to how many do you have direct evidence?

MS. TOTI: I…approximately 12, Your Honor, direct evidence.

JUSTICE ALITO: Because if…if you go through this ­­now we’re not talking about a huge number of facilities.

A few minutes later, Justice Kagan punched Alito right in the nutsack when she said, “Is it right that in the two­-week period that the ASC requirement was in effect, that over a dozen facilities shut their doors, and then when that was stayed, when that was lifted, they reopened again immediately?” Toti said that was true. Kagan then put mighty fist to tiny balls as she concluded, “It’s almost like the perfect controlled experiment as to the effect of the law, isn’t it? It’s like you put the law into effect, 12 clinics closed. You take the law out of effect, they reopen?”

Who knows how this will go at this point. But, obviously, there could be a law called “Keep That F**kin’ Baby, Whore of Babylon” and Alito would justify it somehow.

– See more at: http://rudepundit.blogspot.com/2016/03/samuel-alito-supreme-dick-short-one.html#sthash.Er0p9Osn.dpuf

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About Cosby


The ongoing Bill Cosby sexual allegations and public trail by media is not over but could be if the attorneys would get their acts together. At this time most people who follow this are at once surprised, amazed or not. The Many accusations have so many flaws or possible misconceptions as to muddy the waters on the real story. It appears that many well known personalities (including Mrs., Bill Cosby)are being deposed on their knowledge of his actions. I am concerned about the time span between the actual occurrence of the supposed acts and the current revelations. It may turn out to be true or not but the media frenzy has more to do with selling papers or air time than facts. We expect this type of coverage from the checkout stand journals rather than the mainstream media but it appears that any method of increasing revenue is fair game even if it may turn out to false. This is not to say that Mr. Cosby is innocent or guilty but a fair shake should be available for all  as this could happen to any of us for any supposed transgressions from the past.

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Handled Better?


The current public feud between Apple and the FBI is something that should never have been made public. I am for openness but sometimes it is improper or incorrect. I understand Apple’s viewpoint however a sit down with the Feds out of the public eye would have been a better approach. The information that may or may not be on the IPhone is definitely worth a look. If there is information that could prevent loss of life and/ or property it should be revealed. I think if Apple were to enter the phones system and down load what could be information relating to other potential terrorist attacks or information on network associations, then that is what should be done. I believe the Government should accept that information and move on. I do not believe the method of obtaining it should be given to the Government, Now that the issue is public you have people who for their own reasons jump on the bandwagon of misinformation and misplaced anger towards the Government and Apple. The issue is National security and should be seen as such. My fear is that too many people are too angry about almost everything to think clearly about what is really happening in this country. There are no longer only 2 sides to any story but most are multisided and all sides bear a look or a listen.

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The War Potential


Several candidates for the Presidency have espoused the idea of how to handle the conflict in the Middle east and Asia with no real knowledge of what is involved. Their rhetoric and the related theories of execution are no more than circa WWII thinking when we were attacked. The difference is: 1. We were already supplying our allies in their struggle with Hitler’s armies and associated allies

2. There was no UN

3. The combatants were some of the people we now are against.

4. We have been complicit in some of the issues that exist due to  our actions on behalf of several dictators

With the above in mind we still have several runners and their followers warfare who do not have a full grasp of the realities of war. War requires millions to billions of dollars to support the personnel and material needed. With our economy  in a just out of recession stage and stagnating due to an ineffective Congress that spends more time politricking rather than legislating, the last thing we need is another military commitment in another part of the world and especially the Middle east and Asia where we have had a less than stellar result. Any future military actions on our part should only occur  if requested by the affected Nation, the UN as joint venture or if we are attacked on a scale larger than the towers. The idea of attacking because it appears to be correct isn’t correct. Our focus needs to be here and now. If we in the heat of election campaigns elect a firebrand then the past 10 to 15 years will seem like paradise. If  we allow the existing Congress to put us in an unwarranted or unneeded, war we need to unseat them as they will not improve with age. The existing Congress is so filled with obstructionists as to be mildly effective at best but can weigh in events that have not happened. Remember it is our children, fathers, brothers and sisters that will be on the front lines not the warmonger.

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State Income Tax Refund Information


As I read this statement my mind went to the actual budget situation in Illinois, this statement is in fact possibly true until the last line, which I find possibly false in part.

Refund Alert

The Illinois Department of Revenue does not anticipate releasing any Individual Income Tax refunds between January 1, 2016 and March 1, 2016.

We are working with the IRS and other states’ revenue departments to protect taxpayers. Enhanced identity theft prevention measures and security protocols will lengthen timeframes for refund issuance.

Filing your return electronically and requesting direct deposit into your checking or savings account is still the fastest way to receive your refund.

For electronic returns filed prior to March 1, 2016 – We anticipate your refund will be issued within two to three weeks from the March 1st date when we begin issuing refunds.

For electronic returns submitted error-free on or after March 1, 2016 – We anticipate your refund will be issued within two to three weeks from the date you submitted your return.

Click here for Refund Delay Frequently Asked Questions.

Note: Tax refunds are not subject to budgetary appropriation by the Illinois General Assembly and are not impacted by the current budget impasse.