POLITICS – OPEN LETTER TO CHRIS WALLACE AND MEDIA

GOOD MORNING WORLD

I have been asked a couple of times lately what I think of the primaries going on right now.  I told everyone I would be posting thoughts on cornersoapbox.wordpress.com.  I have yet to do that.  I will be posting this on that site as well to get a start on political conversations.

Today however I am writing another – yet another – open letter to the news media.  Sunday afternoon I was watching Chris Wallace on Fox News Sunday.  I like Chris Wallace.  I liked his father Mike Wallace.  I believe both of them men of integrity despite Mike’s occasional scrapes.  I believe they look for truth and report it.  Sunday I was very disappointed in Chris Wallace.  So perhaps this is an open letter to Chris Wallace.  I just re-titled this blog!

On Sunday Chris was interviewing John Kasich.  For those of you who asked he is my choice for the man to run for President of the Republican party.

During the interview Wallace quoted Rubio , showed a clip and made a judgment that was incorrect.  You can find all of this by looking at the transcripts. (1)

Chris Wallace said this:

WALLACE:  Governor Kasich, you’re on the show today.  We’re very happy to have you here.

I want to ask you — I want to ask you about Marco Rubio because he has suggested to his supporters that to try to stop Donald Trump, maybe his supporters in Ohio should actually vote for you.  Take a look.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

RUBIO:  I have a voter in Ohio conclude that voting for John Kasich gives us the best chance to stop Donald Trump there.  I anticipate that’s what they’ll do.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

WALLACE:  Governor, following that same logic, should Kasich supporters in Florida support Rubio so he can beat Trump?  It’s winner-take-all, instead of splitting the anti-Trump vote?

You can see what Marco Rubio actually said by checking the video. (2)

Marco Rubio said:

“If a voter in Ohio is motivated by stopping Donald Trump and comes to the conclusion that John Kasich is the only one who can beat him there ten I expect that is the decision they’ll make.  I can tell you in Florida I am the only one that can beat Donald Trump.  If someone supports Ted Cruz or John Kasich if you vote for them in Florida you’re in essence voting for Donald Trump.  If a voter reaches the same conclusion in Ohio then I think that’s what they’re going to do as well.    (question by reporter) I’ve not talked to John Kasich about this – you asked me a question -I’m giving you my observation clearly John Kasich has a better chance of winning Ohio than I do.  If a voter in Ohio concludes that voting for John Kasich gives us the best chance of stopping Donald Trump there then I anticipate that is what they’ll do.”

As I read this nowhere in this statement did Marco Rubio say he wanted his supporters to vote for John Kasich.  Of course it can be taken or inferred that this is what he is saying.  In fact his campaign came out and said they urged voters to vote for Kasich.  Rubio did not say that in his statement.

This is the fine line of which I am speaking.  Even in the reporting and Wallace using the video clip from Rubio, Rubio did not suggest to his supporters to vote for Kasich.  He clearly stated that if voters made the assumptions and wanted to stop Trump they would vote for Kasich.  He did not release them to do so.

I hear you out there and yes I can see how this is a veiled release yet his words did not say that.  Chris Wallace came to that conclusion.  I must also add that Rubio’s campaign did come out and urge voters to vote for Kasich.  All that being said in this particular answer Rubio did not say those words.

The second media note I wish to make is from Breitbart.  Now again I like their news reporting and take umbrage with the headline that came up in a chat I had this morning.

The Headline was:

REPORT: Soros Money Funding John Kasich’s Presidential Bid

followed by:

According to the Center for Responsive Politics, Soros Fund Management is one of John Kasich’s top financial contributors.

Interestingly, as Breitbart News has previously reported, John Kasich has made a series of extreme statements on immigration that place him to the furthest leftward reaches of not just the GOP Presidential field, but the Democratic Presidential field as well. For instance, Kasich has said that enforcing our immigration laws and deporting the illegal immigrants is not “humane.” Kasich likened deportations to the Japanese internment camps of World War II. Kasich has also pledged that he will enact amnesty within the first 100 days of his hoped-for Presidency– in effect, meaning that those who support John Kasich’s presidential campaign are voting to enact the largest amnesty in U.S. history by April 30, 2017.

Breitbart goes on to show George Soros, a noted donor to liberal causes, gave John Kasich’s campaign $202,700.(3)  The inference of the article was that since Soros is funding Kasich that Kasich will be a liberal President – at least not conservative.  Where is the truth?  The truth is Soros gave Kasich $202,700.  I wonder if that is enough to buy legislation.  We must remember that the President cannot enact nor pass any legislation.

The third piece of questionable reporting is last night in the reporting of the primaries.  The Drudge Report had a screen shot of Trump over Cruz by 13% in Missouri when in fact at the time Cruz was leading by .7%.  Big difference.

My conclusion is I make up my own mind when I hear the words from the candidate themselves.  Sadly Chris Wallace has now joined the ranks of all the other reporters in that my trust at least needs to be earned back.

It is going to be a long campaign year I am afraid if the two winners now end up there in September.  It also will be very interesting and wild I believe.

…..ONWARD TO MORE MISADVENTURE…

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

(1) http://www.foxnews.com/transcript/2016/03/13/can-donald-trump-unify-republican-party-fractured/

(2) http://www.cnn.com/videos/politics/2016/03/11/marco-rubio-ohio-voters-sot.cnn

(3) http://www.nytimes.com/2016/03/10/us/politics/george-soros-and-other-liberal-donors-to-fund-bid-to-spur-latino-voters.html?_r=0

I FOUND YOU!!!

GOOD MORNING WORLD

In the early afternoon.

I received a letter from a friend of mine recently asking why I had not blogged on the most recent political situations.  Those that have read this blog for awhile know that I was very opinionated in 2012.  After that for that matter as the changes taking place in our government were not met with much enthusiasm by some.

Today I have chosen to answer this one terrific fan with a blog.

I did not blog the whole month of February.  This was not from not having anything to say.  It was from my own lack of organization and not keeping passwords in one place.  I had forgotten my password to this blog and could not get into it to post.  I have spent the better part of an hour now trying to figure out how to get back here.  I had to come a back way through my other blog that I set up specifically for political posts.  The lesson here Dear Readers is to have all your passwords be the same or to keep them all in a convenient place.

This brought back to mine a dear friend who passed away all too early.  I remember her daughter telling me that they went in to take care of her business and found a little piece of paper that had all her user names and coordinating passwords written down.  She said it was easy to get things completed with this one piece of paper.  You have to know that I have now my own ‘one piece of paper’ with all my passwords to gmail and yahoo and aol and comcast and our banks and credit cards all written down.  The banks are in a bit of a code so hoping whoever is left can figure them out.

The title above is a reference to our #1 grandson who used to run into our house with his arms open wide and say “Grandmama I found you!” complete with the big hug.  That feeling of joy and happiness was exactly what I felt when I got into my blog.  It was a coming home for which I was very grateful.

To answer my fan, I have not blogged about the political agenda as the last time I was cast out by too many friends and relatives.   I am getting too old and cannot afford to offend many other people if I still want to have friends.

To my fan – In addition, I believe I am going to have my say. When I do it will be on my other blog so people not of my political persuasion and not caring about what I think or hearing any opposing views to their own need not view it.   My other blog is cornersoapbox.wordpress.com.

I am now off to lunch feeling very accomplished and satisfied with the toils of this mornings adventures and writing.  I leave a quote………”I’ll be back.”

…..ONWARD TO MORE MISADVENTURE…

SPECIAL DAY

GOOD MORNING WORLD

What is 270 words give or take and last 2 minutes?  Easy for some.  It is the Gettysburg Address.  How many of you out there had to memorize this when we were in school?  I know we did.

I am not going to go into the content of the text.  Those approximately 270 words, depending on the copy can stand alone.  Read them – they are as important to day as they were 15o years ago.

Also I am not going to bore you with the history as you can google it yourself.   I will share a few tidbits though!

I was interested to find that there were five copies of this speech.  The one we most commonly assign to it is the handwritten one that is signed by Lincoln.  This fifth copy is called the “Bliss Copy”.   This copy was named for the family of Colonel Alexander Bliss who owned this piece of paper.

The second copy which I am noting with a footnote to the Library of Congress was thought to have been written by Lincoln upon his return to Washington after he delivered the speech.  He gave the paper to his secretary John Hay.

The first copy was the ‘first draft’ which became known as the Nicolay Copy.  It was handwritten and historians are not sure if it was the one Lincoln was holding at Gettysburg or not.  It later found its way into John Hay’s hands.

The Everett copy were written by Lincoln and sent to Edward Everett as Everett was collecting speeches from Gettysburg to put in a book for publication.

The Bancroft copy was commissioned for publication by George Bancroft.  Lincoln wrote it on both sides of the paper so it was not used.  This copy is the only one that is still privately owned and at the library of Cornell University.

As a kid I got a fake parchment copy of this on a trip to Washington DC.  I remember being really proud of it and sadly I may still have it somewhere – I really need to clean out this house!!  Back to the world of reality and not off in history and research!

Below the Bliss copy of the Gettysburg Address.

Four score and seven years ago our fathers brought forth, on this continent, a new nation, conceived in Liberty, and dedicated to the proposition that all men are created equal.

Now we are engaged in a great civil war, testing whether that nation, or any nation so conceived and so dedicated, can long endure. We are met on a great battle-field of that war. We have come to dedicate a portion of that field, as a final resting place for those who here gave their lives that that nation might live. It is altogether fitting and proper that we should do this.

But, in a larger sense, we can not dedicate—we can not consecrate—we can not hallow—this ground. The brave men, living and dead, who struggled here, have consecrated it, far above our poor power to add or detract. The world will little note, nor long remember what we say here, but it can never forget what they did here. It is for us the living, rather, to be dedicated here to the unfinished work which they who fought here have thus far so nobly advanced. It is rather for us to be here dedicated to the great task remaining before us—that from these honored dead we take increased devotion to that cause for which they here gave the last full measure of devotion—that we here highly resolve that these dead shall not have died in vain—that this nation, under God, shall have a new birth of freedom—and that government of the people, by the people, for the people, shall not perish from the earth.

November 19, 1863.

…..ONWARD TO MORE MISADVENTURE…

http://myloc.gov/Exhibitions/gettysburgaddress/exhibitionitems/ExhibitObjects/HayDraft.aspx

HAPPY 4TH OF JULY

GOOD MORNING WORLD

The unanimous Declaration of the thirteen united States of America,

When in the Course of human events, it becomes necessary for one people to dissolve the political bands which have connected them with another, and to assume among the powers of the earth, the separate and equal station to which the Laws of Nature and of Nature’s God entitle them, a decent respect to the opinions of mankind requires that they should declare the causes which impel them to the separation.

We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness.–That to secure these rights, Governments are instituted among Men, deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed, –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. Prudence, indeed, will dictate that Governments long established should not be changed for light and transient causes; and accordingly all experience hath shewn, that mankind are more disposed to suffer, while evils are sufferable, than to right themselves by abolishing the forms to which they are accustomed. But when a long train of abuses and usurpations, pursuing invariably the same Object evinces a design to reduce them under absolute Despotism, it is their right, it is their duty, to throw off such Government, and to provide new Guards for their future security.–Such has been the patient sufferance of these Colonies; and such is now the necessity which constrains them to alter their former Systems of Government. The history of the present King of Great Britain is a history of repeated injuries and usurpations, all having in direct object the establishment of an absolute Tyranny over these States. To prove this, let Facts be submitted to a candid world.

He has refused his Assent to Laws, the most wholesome and necessary for the public good.
He has forbidden his Governors to pass Laws of immediate and pressing importance, unless suspended in their operation till his Assent should be obtained; and when so suspended, he has utterly neglected to attend to them.
He has refused to pass other Laws for the accommodation of large districts of people, unless those people would relinquish the right of Representation in the Legislature, a right inestimable to them and formidable to tyrants only.
He has called together legislative bodies at places unusual, uncomfortable, and distant from the depository of their public Records, for the sole purpose of fatiguing them into compliance with his measures.
He has dissolved Representative Houses repeatedly, for opposing with manly firmness his invasions on the rights of the people.
He has refused for a long time, after such dissolutions, to cause others to be elected; whereby the Legislative powers, incapable of Annihilation, have returned to the People at large for their exercise; the State remaining in the mean time exposed to all the dangers of invasion from without, and convulsions within.
He has endeavoured to prevent the population of these States; for that purpose obstructing the Laws for Naturalization of Foreigners; refusing to pass others to encourage their migrations hither, and raising the conditions of new Appropriations of Lands.
He has obstructed the Administration of Justice, by refusing his Assent to Laws for establishing Judiciary powers.
He has made Judges dependent on his Will alone, for the tenure of their offices, and the amount and payment of their salaries.
 He has erected a multitude of New Offices, and sent hither swarms of Officers to harrass our people, and eat out their substance.
He has kept among us, in times of peace, Standing Armies without the Consent of our legislatures.
He has affected to render the Military independent of and superior to the Civil power.
He has combined with others to subject us to a jurisdiction foreign to our constitution, and unacknowledged by our laws; giving his Assent to their Acts of pretended Legislation:
For Quartering large bodies of armed troops among us:
For protecting them, by a mock Trial, from punishment for any Murders which they should commit on the Inhabitants of these States:
For cutting off our Trade with all parts of the world:
For imposing Taxes on us without our Consent:
For depriving us in many cases, of the benefits of Trial by Jury:
For transporting us beyond Seas to be tried for pretended offences
For abolishing the free System of English Laws in a neighbouring Province, establishing therein an Arbitrary government, and enlarging its Boundaries so as to render it at once an example and fit instrument for introducing the same absolute rule into these Colonies:
For taking away our Charters, abolishing our most valuable Laws, and altering fundamentally the Forms of our Governments:
For suspending our own Legislatures, and declaring themselves invested with power to legislate for us in all cases whatsoever.
He has abdicated Government here, by declaring us out of his Protection and waging War against us.
He has plundered our seas, ravaged our Coasts, burnt our towns, and destroyed the lives of our people.
He is at this time transporting large Armies of foreign Mercenaries to compleat the works of death, desolation and tyranny, already begun with circumstances of Cruelty & perfidy scarcely paralleled in the most barbarous ages, and totally unworthy the Head of a civilized nation.
He has constrained our fellow Citizens taken Captive on the high Seas to bear Arms against their Country, to become the executioners of their friends and Brethren, or to fall themselves by their Hands.
He has excited domestic insurrections amongst us, and has endeavoured to bring on the inhabitants of our frontiers, the merciless Indian Savages, whose known rule of warfare, is an undistinguished destruction of all ages, sexes and conditions.

In every stage of these Oppressions We have Petitioned for Redress in the most humble terms: Our repeated Petitions have been answered only by repeated injury. A Prince whose character is thus marked by every act which may define a Tyrant, is unfit to be the ruler of a free people.

Nor have We been wanting in attentions to our Brittish brethren. We have warned them from time to time of attempts by their legislature to extend an unwarrantable jurisdiction over us. We have reminded them of the circumstances of our emigration and settlement here. We have appealed to their native justice and magnanimity, and we have conjured them by the ties of our common kindred to disavow these usurpations, which, would inevitably interrupt our connections and correspondence. They too have been deaf to the voice of justice and of consanguinity. We must, therefore, acquiesce in the necessity, which denounces our Separation, and hold them, as we hold the rest of mankind, Enemies in War, in Peace Friends.

We, therefore, the Representatives of the united States of America, in General Congress, Assembled, appealing to the Supreme Judge of the world for the rectitude of our intentions, do, in the Name, and by Authority of the good People of these Colonies, solemnly publish and declare, That these United Colonies are, and of Right ought to be Free and Independent States; that they are Absolved from all Allegiance to the British Crown, and that all political connection between them and the State of Great Britain, is and ought to be totally dissolved; and that as Free and Independent States, they have full Power to levy War, conclude Peace, contract Alliances, establish Commerce, and to do all other Acts and Things which Independent States may of right do. And for the support of this Declaration, with a firm reliance on the protection of divine Providence, we mutually pledge to each other our Lives, our Fortunes and our sacred Honor.

---

The 56 signatures on the Declaration appear in the positions indicated:

Column 1
Georgia:
Button Gwinnett
Lyman Hall
George Walton

Column 2
North Carolina:
William Hooper
Joseph Hewes
John Penn
South Carolina:
Edward Rutledge
Thomas Heyward, Jr.
Thomas Lynch, Jr.
Arthur Middleton

Column 3
Massachusetts:
John Hancock
Maryland:
Samuel Chase
 William Paca
Thomas Stone
Charles Carroll of Carrollton
Virginia:
 George Wythe
Richard Henry Lee
Thomas Jefferson
Benjamin Harrison
Thomas Nelson, Jr.
Francis Lightfoot Lee
Carter Braxton

Column 4
Pennsylvania:
Robert Morris
Benjamin Rush
Benjamin Franklin
John Morton
George Clymer
James Smith
George Taylor
James Wilson
George Ross
Delaware:
Caesar Rodney
George Read
Thomas McKean

Column 5
New York:
William Floyd
Philip Livingston
Francis Lewis
Lewis Morris
New Jersey:
Richard Stockton
John Witherspoon
Francis Hopkinson
John Hart
Abraham Clark

Column 6
New Hampshire:
Josiah Bartlett
William Whipple
Massachusetts:
Samuel Adams
John Adams
Robert Treat Paine
Elbridge Gerry
Rhode Island:
Stephen Hopkins
William Ellery
Connecticut:
Roger Sherman
Samuel Huntington
William Williams
Oliver Wolcott
New Hampshire:
Matthew Thornton

ENOUGH SAID!

…..ONWARD TO MORE MISADVENTURE…

USA TODAY

GOOD MORNING WORLD

The state of our country is really interesting of late.  In the once strong proud America there is a less flag waving.  We are pulling back from waging war.  We are no longer standing strong to the world.  We are no longer helping out the ‘little guy’.  We are instead being led by a man who is apologizing for our actions.  We are being led by people who are trying to transform America. The question could be why?  Why do we have to be transformed.  What was so wrong with  America?

The USA today is once again embroiled in scandals.  We survived Watergate and will survive these as well.  Is it possible that so many things could be going so wrong in such a short span of time?   Or is it that I am finally becoming aware of the political nature of our country?  I try to be informed and yet the more informed I become the more sad I am about the state of the USA.

Today the USA is facing Obamacare once again.  This bill brought about a resurgence of protesting in this country.  The Tea Parties were born to ask strong questions and oppose this bill.  The bill was passed in 2010 for implementation in increments.  These were not teens protesting like in the 60s.  These were parents and grandparents – lots of gray hair – looking to find answers in Washington.

Now we hear that Obamacare which was passed without reading is not what it was touted it would be.  A few facts are that we could keep our same insurance.  That is true if your insurance comes from your company.  There is a caveat in all of this.  If an employer does not want to offer insurance they can stop.  Then you would not be getting your same insurance.  There is a fine in their Obamacare so that employers will not drop their insurance coverage.  The fee is steep and in some cases may still be cheaper than paying for employees insurance so dropping insurance and paying the fee may work better for larger employers.  OR they could simply pass the additional costs on to the employees so their insurance would cost more which Obamacare said it would not.

Businesses will cut employees and employee hours in order to comply with the law. The Bureau of Labor Statistics says 10 million involuntarily underemployed part-timers will be affected.

Obamacare kills small business. “If [employees] are thrown out of their medical plans now, where they’re covered in a good plan and thrown under the bus, they’re going to be destroyed,” The Home Depot Inc (NYSE: HD) co-founder Bernie Marcus said on Newsmax TV. “If, in fact, they don’t stay as full-time employees but go to part-time employees, they’re going to be destroyed. People have to understand that the villain is not their employer; the villain is the U.S. government. Obamacare is the capper. That’s the bullet to the temple.” (1)

Doctors are opting out.  The was a survey recently of over 13,000 doctors and 77% of them believe that Obamacare will not work.  Many are selling their practices.  With more people coming to insurance there will be longer lines waiting for services and fewer doctors.

From the outgrowth of Obamacare the Tea Party people decided that they wanted a larger voice in politics.  Many of them filed for the 501c3 tax status.  Move to the latest information that these people who had Tea Party or Patriot or even some faith groups have been targeted by the IRS for further review before giving them this status.  This has now blown up into a full problem.  It appears that this goes back to 2010.  The head of the IRS says they are not really aware of all of this.  The President fired one man though let him work for a week as he was going to resign anyway!  The lady in charge of all of this pleaded the 5th before congress and is now on administrative leave with pay.  She is earning $177,000 to sit at home right now.  That is more than 4 times the average salary in this country.  Most private companies have what is known as a ‘zero tolerance’ and if you do something against the company you are walked out the door – end of job and income. The administration knew nothing of this until they read it in the paper.

In the middle of all of this last September on 9/11 there was an attack on a Consulate in Benghazi Libya.  Four Americans were killed.  There was information that the Ambassador was abused before his body was recovered.  No one is talking much about that and they deny any wrong doing.  It makes no difference the former Secretary of State said before Congress.  I have written much about this.  There are questions that linger like where was the President and who pushed the video?

The Justice Department has targeted some AP reporters by getting some of their records.  James Rosen of FOX News was targeted under the espionage act.  Attorney General Eric Holder said before Congress that he knew nothing of this.  The Rosen papers had Holder’s signature,  Now if you say one thing and do another and then tell someone something else is that not called lying?  It is a crime to do that to Congress.  The President read about this in the newspaper.

Kathleen Sebelius is believed to have violated the Hatch Act when she gave endorsed Obama during the 2012 campaign.  She is now also asking for funding for Obamacare from industries that will be regulated by the bill.

The key to understanding this request is the nature of Enroll America.  It’s a non-profit group that will supposedly help to get Americans to participate in ObamaCare exchanges — a task of HHS, actually.  Sebelius wants the assistance to keep from having to ask for more funds from Congress to accomplish the enrollment, which could require tax hikes on insurers.(2)

AND there is more that is going on.  The EPA is out of control with new regulations and spending.  Much of the money however is not staying in the USA.

Ranking members of a congressional energy committee call it “foreign handouts” amid record deficits, soaring unemployment and U.S. cities declaring bankruptcy. The money — close to $30 million — has been issued by the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), which is headed by Ms. Jackson, according to Judicial Watch, a group that pursues government documents through the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) or through lawsuits filed in federal court.

The cash was distributed via 65 foreign grants that don’t even include what’s given to Canada and Mexico, according to a report released by the House Energy and Commerce Committee and obtained by Judicial Watch that reveals in the past the U.S. EPA over $100M in foreign grants to battle pollution … in grants to foreign countries aimed at reducing global pollution. (3)

It appears our country is in a free fall to destruction.  Then again that is transformation.

…..ONWARD TO MORE MISADVENTURE…

http://www.forbes.com/sites/carolynmcclanahan/2013/05/25/five-quick-and-important-facts-on-health-insurance-through-obamacare/

http://moneymorning.com/2013/05/14/15-obamacare-facts-the-president-doesnt-want-you-to-know/

(1) http://beforeitsnews.com/economy/2013/05/15-obamacare-facts-the-president-doesnt-want-you-to-know-2520076.html

http://dailycaller.com/2012/09/12/sebelius-violated-hatch-act-and-may-be-fired-obama-administration-lawyers-find/

(2)http://hotair.com/archives/2013/05/24/gop-widening-sebelius-shakedown-probe/

(3)http://www.conservativeactionalerts.com/2012/10/talk-radio-superstar-sues-obamas-epa-in-federal-court/

FRANK L. VANDERSLOOT

GOOD MORNING WORLD

I have not ever met Frank L. VanderSloot.  Never heard of him till this week.  I watched him on a talk show and seemed like a good man.  You know how you can get an impression of a person by their demeanor?  I thought to myself, I would enjoy talking to this man!  I liked some of the things I heard him say in the interview.  The only Van der Sloot I ever knew of before was connected to the arrests in Aruba – not so nice a person and no relation.  So I thought I would go see just who this Mr. Frank VanderSloot was on the internet.

It turns out he is very very rich.  The bio on the internet sidebar from en. wikipedia.org said:

Frank L. VanderSloot is an American entrepreneur, radio network owner, rancher, and political campaign financier. He is the founder and chief executive officer of Melaleuca, Inc. His other business interests include Riverbend Ranch and Riverbend Communications. VanderSloot also serves on the board of directors and executive board of the U.S. Chamber of Commerce. In 2011, the Land Report listed him as the nation’s 92nd largest landowner.

en.wikipedia.org · Text under CC-BY-SA license

I decided to look further and discovered he has a blog dedicated to him!!!  I could not find the author of the blog.  There was a comment that the author considered Frank VanderSloot a mentor.  The design was a WordPress theme.  I wish I could name the author.  What I can do is say the author documented his words with links.  Another thing I can say is the author really like Mr. VanderSloot.   From what I read so did I.  It is hard not to like someone who works hard for a living.

http://www.frankvandersloot.info/

So I looked up Melaleuca.  It too has its own website and facebook page and a foundation.

http://www.melaleuca.com/

https://www.facebook.com/melaleuca

http://www.melaleuca.org/

It turns out that it is a company like Herbalife and Amway.  It is a pyramid business.  Having worked in one of those with BeautiControl, I cannot condemn them.  It is like anything else if you work hard you will be rewarded.  If you do not you will complain.

Frank was born August 1948.  He is younger than I am!!!  He put himself through college with no loans.  He sold cheese from his own cow, worked in a Laundromat, sold beef jerky in bars and taught Dutch!  In 1972 he graduated from BrighamYoungUniversity with a BS in business.  He went to work for ADP, Cox Communications in Vancouver, Washington.  In 1985 when he was a VP at Cox he was approached by his brother in law about an opportunity to take over the helm of their Oil of Melaleuca, Inc., a startup business based in Idaho Falls.  According to the blog his wife was homesick and this seemed to be a good way to get back to Idaho from Washington.

When he got to Oil of Melaleuca, Inc. in 1985 he discovered it was a ‘mess’.  It was based on the tea tree market and that the company owned 80% corner of the market when it was more like 5%.  The FDA then came calling as it was reported that the products were being hyped with much exaggeration.  The other item is that VanderSloot did not like the multi-level practice of people being lured to buy $5000 of inventory.  Oil of Melaleuca, Inc was shut down by the partners later that same year.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Frank_L._VanderSloot

Melaleuca, Inc. [edit]

In 1985, VanderSloot founded Melaleuca, Inc., a multi-level marketing company that sells environmentally friendly[30][31] nutritional supplements, cleaning supplies, and personal-care products,[1][13][32][33] and he has been president and chief executive officer ever since. Melaleuca operates internationally, with U.S. operations centered in Idaho Falls, Idaho, and Knoxville, Tennessee.[34] Customers buy directly from Melaleuca’s website[35] or retail locations and[36] “independent marketing executives” receive commissions from Melaleuca for each purchase made by people they refer and by people their customers refer, through seven “referral generations”.[37] The company refers to this arrangement as “Consumer Direct Marketing,” a term it has trademarked.[38][39][40][41] Half of the legacy distributors from Oil of Melaleuca left after the new company was formed.[1]

Inc. magazine included Melaleuca on its Inc. 500 list of the fastest-growing private companies in the United States every year from 1990 to 1994 before inducting the company into its Hall of Fame in 1994.

 As any company of this kind they have endured their share of investigations into its practices.  Still I like the story that I think speaks to Mr. VanderSloot’s own beliefs of working for a living.

According to a 2004 article by Phyllis Berman, Melaleuca’s sales flattened in 1998, and VanderSloot “discovered that some senior directors were living off their residuals and doing little in the way of recruitment.”^[1] This resulted in “a new policy that reduced payments to those who didn’t either bring in new converts or help others do so.”^[1]

Again I worked for a multi-level company and I know you have to share your business to grow your business and having been part of a couple of different teams it can be fun as you work together!

I have taken way too much time on the business part of this post.  Yet it goes to who Mr. VanderSloot is in Idaho.  He bought a cheese farm to save the industry. Again from Wikipedia.

Snake River Cheese factory [edit]

In 1994, VanderSloot was approached by two dairy farmers with a plea to invest in the Snake River Cheese factory in Blackfoot, Idaho, after Kraft Foods had announced a decision to close it.^[73] Kraft had operated the plant since the early 1920s.^[74] In response, VanderSloot bought a $1 million interest in the plant, and an investment company assumed control, but the operation closed anyway within six months. VanderSloot then paid off a $2 million debt the company owed to the dairymen, staffed the plant with his own personnel and supplemented the milking herd with two thousand head of cattle.^[75][76] He promised that all five hundred people whose jobs depended on the plant would remain employed and leased the plant to Beatrice Cheese, a subsidiary of ConAgra.^[77] In 1999, the facility netted $278 million in sales. The next year, VanderSloot sold his interest in the company to Suprema Specialties^[75][78] after Beatrice broke its lease.^[79][80] VanderSloot again promised that employees would keep their jobs.^[81] In 2006, the factory, which by then had been renamed as the Blackfoot Cheese Company, was sold to Sartori Foods.^[82]

One of my favorite stories I read about this man had to do with his belief was in a Forbes article.

http://www.forbes.com/forbes/2004/1011/089_2.html

Most Melaleuca sales folks work hard and listen to VanderSloot’s advice about cleaning up their lives. Cathy Blandino of Las   Vegas recently sent him a package containing the shredded remains of her 36 credit cards, on which she owed $64,000, all paid off over five years with help from her company earnings (she scaled back her efforts and brought home $5,800 last year). “We could never have done this without Melaleuca,” she added in a note.

VanderSloot reinforces the message. When one of his sales staff pays off a home, he flies to the nearest airport, shows up and throws a mortgage-burning party. Over the last four years he and his wife, Belinda, went to 31 such events. That’s on top of all the incentives to spur sales, from $2 inspirational tapes and an annual Fourth of July party in Idaho   Falls (the largest display of fireworks west of the Mississippi) to the lure of car payments and exotic vacations with Frank and Belinda for the biggest producers.

Corny though they are, these gestures go the heart of VanderSloot’s values: hard work, decent rewards and simple living.

Seems like a nice guy.  Tough businessman as reported in the following articles.

http://www.capitalpress.com/newest/JO-VanderSlootDonation-082812

http://www.salon.com/2012/02/17/billionaire_romney_donor_uses_threats_to_silence_critics/

The interview I saw was on “Your World with Neil Cavuto”.  Frank VanderSloot has been audited by the IRS three times.  He was placed on an ‘enemies list’ by the Obama Campaign.  The following interview might have been lost or pooh pooh before this week.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AYRuUhCF8QQ

The interview I watched with Neil Cavuto was this same man as well spoken as you saw in the above video.  Check out the one I saw this week.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SPIYC1zq_co

A most important thought from Mr. VanderSloot in this interview I believe is:

“He (ref. Obama) has to expect they’re going to do something when he put the list out there.

He made the list.  He put the target up there.  He knew something was going to happen.”

The best line from a man who has incurred the wrath of this government is:

“I am hopeful that our country will no longer go down that path.”

I end with where I began.  This is a man I would like to meet.  I like his demeanor.  I like his story.  I like that he protects his family, business and good name.  After all the Bible says it best in Ecclesiastes 7:1.  “A good name is better than fine perfume…”,

Thank you Mr. VanderSloot for showing us that there is a there there with the IRS Scandal.

…..ONWARD TO MORE MISADVENTURE…

 

HOW DO YOU SPELL OBAMA? CORRUPT OR INEPT?

GOOD MORNING WORLD

Yesterday I told you that I watched all the Sunday news shows.  I learned a bunch of things and I call that a good morning.  I love learning and information.  I believe I have shared that often.  I also believe I have shared my distrust of the current government led by President Barack Obama.  Another President said, “The Buck stops here.”  On Sunday former Senator liberal Democrat Dennis Kucinich said it best.  He said, “The tone is set from the top.”

BENGHAZI

I learned that the ARB report on Benghazi was a report about the Security before and up to Benghazi not the whole incident.  I believe we have been led to believe that the ARB report was a review of oversight of the whole Benghazi attack through completion.  It was security alone.

I learned that if it is not heard on network news it may not be real.  FOX News has been following Benghazi since Sept.11, 2012.  It was not until this week when Jonathan Karl of ABC broke the news of the 12 talking point versions that Benghazi was important at all.  Steve Hayes of FOX had reported a timeline in the Weekly Standard a few days earlier.

I learned and knew actually on 9/12/12 that Mike Rogers Chairman of the House Intel Committee called this a terrorist attack.  I saw him do this in a Fox News interview from the House.  He did that in 9/12 before the administration did.  He never veered nor blamed a video.

I learned that former Senator Dennis Kucinich, a liberal Democrat, said that Benghazi was a “failure of policy”.  When asked if the talking points were scrubbed he answered, “Of course they were.”  He went on to say that this “had an impact on the 2012 election”.

Jonathan Karl of ABC said there is a “credibility issue with the White House”.

General Petraus said of the Benghazi Talking points that “I would just as soon not use them but it’s their call.”

There were three questions that concerned George Will, a newspaper columnist, journalist and author.  He gave the questions and answers.

Q. The security  A. was lax.

Q. The Rescue   A. doubtful.

Q. Were we mislead  A. certainly!

Many of the people on the panels believed there was much evidence of more than just scrubbing the talking points.  Cover up was mentioned often.  Even Sen. Diane Feinstein said we “should have moved faster to call it an attack.”  When asked if she could see political motivation she said, “It is hard for me to tell.”  I was surprised she did not simply say no.

Most poignantly Ambassador Chris Stephens’ mother was the most eloquent when she hoped Hillary had a nice Mother’s Day as she had her child with her.  She said she has heard from no one since the incident and they told her it was a video.  She is now angry.  I wonder why we are not hearing as much from her as we did Cindy Sheehan?  Both lost their sons in war.

NOTE:  I wrote extensively about this on Sept. 29^th in a ‘Thank you to Special Report and Brett Baier’ of Fox News who were on this from the very beginning much like the reporters during Watergate.  They gave a very definitive timeline of when the word terrorist was used.  Hillary first used it on Sept. 13 and Jay Carney on Sept. 20^th.  The day of Sept. 12^th Obama referred to ‘acts of terror’ not being specific and in fact later that day in a “60 minutes” interview clearly said he was not sure and did not want to rush yet.  He blamed the video up until Sept 25^th at the UN!!!

Yesterday Obama referred to the talking points issue as ‘politically motivated sideshow’.  Corrupt or Inept?  The buck stops at his desk.

IRS

When asked about the IRS scandal Kucinich said it was “not tolerable”.  He said “The tone is set from the top.”  This was referencing the IRS scandal as Doug Shulman, the head of the IRS and Bush appointee, had testified before congress that they had absolutely been no targeting.  If Kucinich thinks the IRS top sets the tone and lies occurred wouldn’t that also translate to the current Oval Office?  I wonder if this impacted the 2012 election as well.

Mike Rogers form the House Intel committee said the IRS issue ‘should send a chill up your spine”.  It needs to be investigated by and “external” authority and “fact based”.

George Will commenting on the IRS scandal asked, “How stupid do they think we are?” He went on to read item #1 of Article #2 of Nixon’s Articles of Impeachment remembering that this is the 40th anniversary of the Watergate summer.

No one was talking impeachment.  Nixon was not impeached.  Articles of Impeachment were drawn up however.  George Will was simply making a comparison. When I went to look for the item to post I decided to include the beginning part as well instead of just #1.

ARTICLE 2

Using the powers of the office of President of the United States, Richard M. Nixon, in violation of his constitutional oath faithfully to execute the office of President of the United States and, to the best of his ability, preserve, protect, and defend the Constitution of the United States, and in disregard of his constitutional duty to take care that the laws be faithfully executed, has repeatedly engaged in conduct violating the constitutional rights of citizens, impairing the due and proper administration of justice and the conduct of lawful inquiries, or contravening the laws governing agencies of the executive branch and the purposed of these agencies.

This conduct has included one or more of the following:

1. He has, acting personally and through his subordinates and agents, endeavoured to obtain from the Internal Revenue Service, in violation of the constitutional rights of citizens, confidential information contained in income tax returns for purposed not authorized by law, and to cause, in violation of the constitutional rights of citizens, income tax audits or other income tax investigations to be intitiated or conducted in a discriminatory manner.

Yesterday Obama spoke about the IRS issue in a presser.

“But I’ve got no patience with it, I will not tolerate it and we will make sure we find out exactly what happened on this.”

Read more: http://www.politico.com/story/2013/05/top-10-lines-from-obamas-presser-91264.html#ixzz2TGfmNWHb

Didn’t he say the same about Benghazi?

Being so vocal I wonder if we will be audited soon?  Making a note here just in case.  Taxes from this house are nevere fudged – not even a penny!!!

SYRIA

Much discussion was about the ‘Red Line’.  Remember I called it pink and fuzzy?  The best quote was about a parent moving the line they set when they raise their children.  Finally the kids do not believe there is any punishment at all.  Due to the slowness of our willingness to act it was a general belief that few other countries seem to be interested in our policy in Syria.

BREAKING NEWS YESTERDAY – THE JUSTICE DEPARTMENT SECRETLY OBTAINS AP NEWS INFO – UNFOLDING NEW SCANDAL???

The Justice Department is getting phone info from the AP news without going through the proper channels??  It has just begun.

Sunday I was feeling refreshed that real news was available.  We were no longer being fed the White House Wheaties.  We were being offered a full meal deal finally!  Disagreement over issues is upon what our America is based.  Get it all out there and let we the people decide.  I feared that was not done before the 2012 election.  It appears in a number of areas sadly this could be true.

Yesterday the President was mudding the waters again by trying to use hit and run quick comments.  President Obama your false outrage leads many of us to believe there is a ‘there there’!

…..ONWARD TO MORE MISADVENTURE…

SUNNY SIDE EGG – BENGHAZI – POLITICAL CARTOONS

GOOD MORNING WORLD

How appropriate for a morning post.  A couple of days ago a facebook friend shared a cartoon by a liberal outlet –

http://politicalhumor.about.com/library/bl-fox-news.htm.

It showed a whole egg standing on its end.  The line across it said “This is your brain”.  Below it was a sunny side egg in a fry pan.  The words across this said “This is your brain on FOX News.”

A favorite commercial of mine many years ago showed two hooded kids on drugs.  It showed the egg and then it showed the cracking of the egg and you could hear it sizzle in the frying pan.  Same message – egg was your brain and frying was the result of drugs.

So I could see the humor and appreciated it and then took it a step further as a FOX viewer.  I put it up on my wall with the comment that a sunny side egg is a wide awake viewer!!!  Sizzling to get all the news. It is all perception and we have to love the differences.

I love political humor so long as it is not over the top.  There is a fine line for me.  I also have to be cognizant that there is a fine line for others.  While I am clear in my opinion of the current administration I will not post things that call for bad things to happen to them – well with the exception of being accountable.

Political humor has been around for a long as printed news.  I think probably Poor Richards Almanac would be the forerunner of much of this literature.  Political Cartoons about the same time.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Editorial_cartoon

An editorial cartoon, also known as a political cartoon, is an illustration containing a commentary that usually relates to current events or personalities. An artist who draws such images is known as an editorial cartoonist.

They typically combine artistic skill, hyperbole and satire in order to question authority and draw attention to corruption and other social ills.^[1]

By the mid 19th century, major political newspapers in many countries featured cartoons designed to express the publisher’s opinion on the politics of the day. One of the most successful was Thomas Nast in New York City, who imported realistic German drawing techniques to major political issues in the era of the Civil War and Reconstruction. Nast was most famous for his 160 editorial cartoons attacking the criminal characteristics of Boss Tweed‘s political machine in New York City. In fact, Tweed was arrested in Spain when police identified him from Nast’s cartoons.^[2]

Notable editorial cartoons include Benjamin Franklin‘s “Join, or Die” (1754), on the need for unity in the American colonies; “The Thinkers Club” (1819), a response to the surveillance and censorship of universities in Germany under the Carlsbad Decrees; and E. H. Shepard‘s “The Goose-Step” (1936), on the rearmament of Germany under Hitler. “The Goose-Step” is one of a number of notable cartoons first published in the British Punch magazine

This week we have also seen the news come around to Fox News way of investigating news as Jay Carney finally answered real questions not softballs in the White House briefing room.  There was a great cartoon by Glenn McCoy about that as well – the lack of press coverage over those facts.  It showed the see no evil monkeys referencing investigation into Benghazi.

http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-YZruyMBVm4M/UImV-_ZvluI/AAAAAAAADD0/WuiFW0f9m_0/s1600/mccoy1025.jpeg

Another part of all of this is that there usually is truth behind it.  It is my best wish that truth be told and I work to that as well.  I read the following line and loved it.

“There are four boxes to be used in the defense of liberty: soap, ballot, jury and ammo. Please use in that order.”

In order to use it I had to verify this quote I went to easy wiki.  There seems to be no real author of it and on wikipedia.

 http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Four_boxes_of_liberty

It was attributed to three or more.  It was lastly to Larry McDonald, former President of John Birch Society or Frederick Douglass in 1867 or Stephen Decatur Miller in 1830.  Regardless it is still a good quote.  I see my blog as a soap box often!!!

I take my soap box seriously and call our news people into responsibility on occasion through emails or letters.  As I was ironing on Thursday I had the “Your World with Neil Cavuto” on the TV.  A reporter by the name of Guy Benson totally misstated the results of the hearings.  I reported it to Cavuto with an email!

Neil,

I watch Fox News almost exclusively and Your World most afternoons. Today I watched to entertain as I was ironing.

Guy Benson was incorrect this afternoon when he reported on the Benghazi hearings.  It is horrible and blatant.  He could easily have done better had he paid attention to what he was saying.   When people are looking to find fault with FOX News erroneous reporting gives them fodder.

Mr. Benson said Greg Hicks called Hillary Clinton at 2AM to tell her of the attack.  Wrong on both accounts.

Greg Hicks testified that he called the State Dept to tell them they were under attack.

Greg Hicks said that Hillary Clinton called him at 2AM about the situation never asking about protests or video.

Two errors too many for FOX.  I can no longer say FOX News is right.  I can now say we must all be vigilant.

Sad Neil. Very sad!  In the same report there was another error and did not have pen and paper to write it down.  I am available to report news anytime!

I signed my name and information.  I must check to see if I have had a response.

While I cannot draw political cartoons I can speak.  It is important to have conversaations through humor or words.  It is the conversation on many different levels that brings truth to light ultimately through words or pictures!

I have a friend who is very talented and draws a cartoon for our local hometown paper each week.  I cannot imagine the talent it takes to come up with the idea let alone the image.  Sometimes I agree with him – others not – and invariably I smile and isn’t that the best thing about the whole thing.

…..ONWARD TO MORE MISADVENTURE…

BENGHAZI REVISITED FINALLY

GOOD MORNING WORLD

Yesterday there were hearings on Capital Hill looking into the truth of the attack on Benghazi.  Did you watch?  Did you find it on TV?  It was there on FOX, CNN and C-SPAN.  Networks did not carry this one.  They did carry the hearings when Hillary lied before the Congress.

Yes I said it – Hillary Lied.  There is now proof that she was aware this was a terrorist attack on the day of the event and the next day. She blamed a video even at the hearings in January.

Greg Hicks, the second in command in Benghazi said he told the State Dept. when he talked with them that they were ‘under attack’.  He said he did not mention protest or video.  He is the man that Hillary talked with at 2AM in the morning after the attack.  He does not remember her even asking about either option.  Since he had reported in, he believed she knew the truth as she asked nothing further about the attack.

In the hearings there also was further information brought forth by Rep. Trey Gowdy of South Carolina about State Department emails.  It seems there was a Sept. 12th email from Beth Jones, Acting Assistant Secretary for Near Eastern Affairs that showed her stating that the strike was “affiliated with Islamic terrorists”.  As I watched Rep. Gowdy further said that he was an average judge, I believe.  At any rate he designated himself as average and that this information would have been strong proof for him to bring the case that people knew it was not the video.

Then we heard that the military was told to ‘stand down’.  These men are trained to go help.  To hear this twice – once that a FEST team would not be deployed and second when the military in Tripoli were told not to go.

On Fox and Friends this morning I heard Sean Smith’s mother say that Hillary Clinton and Susan Rice told her “nose to nose” that it was the video that was responsible for the killing of her son, one of the diplomats, in Benghazi.  They knew differently.  To tell someone a falsehood when you know the truth is lying in my book.

I am not going to recap all of this as you can find it somewhere on the web.  The TV news was visibly absent.  I looked at the couple of photographers in the well.  I saw there were empty seats.  Where were the news people?

I remember Watergate and the well of the congress was filled to overflowing with cameras snapping away as John Dean and all the others gave their testimony.  There was standing room only in the gallery.  My how times change.  The crimes are not dissimilar.  It is lying and cover up with the exception that four men died n Benghazi.

I watched most of the hearings yesterday on CSPAN as I did not want commercials or analogy.  I wanted to hear it.  I am sad I heard so much partisanship.  I was pleased with the couple of Democrats that seemed genuinely interested in getting to the truth rather than to just berate the Republicans for cutting the budget for State.  It was noted a couple of times that even the State Dept. Rep Charlene Lamb said in the first round of hearings that money was not an issue.

I look forward to seeing where this will go.  I am hoping for truth no matter where it is to come out.  I commend CBS for its presence this time around.  When I went to look for back ground this morning they were the only network, aside from FOX, that had anything available when I did a Bing search.

…..ONWARD TO MORE MISADVENTURE…

OBAMA – THE PETULANT CHILD BLAMER-IN-CHIEF

GOOD MORNING WORLD

It is fascinating to me to watch the current resident of Pennsylvania   Avenue work.  First of all he seems to do little of that.  I think it would be interesting to put his office time as a percentage to his living in the White House up against other people who have been in the same situation.  I understand he has a 24hr a day job.  Yet he is on the golf course often.  He parties often.  When the 3AM phone call came on Benghazi it appears he went to bed and we know he went to Vegas.

Today more information will be coming out about the actual goings on in Benghazi.  It will now be interesting as well to see if news agencies other than Fox and the one lady at CBS – Sharyl Attkisson – are as persistent or even cover this hearing that is happening today.  The one question that people do not even acknowledge is “Was Benghazi ignored as it did not fit the narrative before the election?” Romney tried and sadly backed down.

If in fact it comes out that a ‘stand down’ order was delivered I hope the news agencies go after this with the fervor and persistence they did with Watergate or Iran Contra or Lewinsky.  If the information has any hint of a cover up then it deserves scrutiny.  Real scrutiny that only a free and unbiased press can give it.  Unbiased being the operative word and I have written about this before.

The current President continues to ignore this.  He continues to lead with a hands off approach and blame and finger pointing.  He reminds me of a child who is in fear of being caught and says “He did it” or “it wasn’t me” or the old “I don’t know”!  As recent as yesterday he did it again with referencing the ‘red line”.

I watched the news last night with eyes wide open in disbelief.  My only comment was “Really?”  The President was questioned about his ‘red line’ with Syria.  [To me it appears to be more of a squiggly faded pink line as it is not being upheld.]  He actually said in an answer to a question that he wanted to be certain.  He had evidence that Syria had gassed its own people yet he wanted to be certain.  He said he would not be able to motivate the world leaders with the suspicions they had heard and needed fact.  He said we went to war on evidence once before and we know how that turned out or words to that effect.  Once again it was a Blame Bush.  Really this far into HIS second term he is still blaming Bush.  Obama is the kid who does no wrong.  Obama the kid who points to the others – “they did it!”

I think this man is the worst leader we have had in my time on this earth.  His ineptness actually frightens me.  He is leading this country to distrust and likes it.  I have compared him to Nixon often and that is as far as I will go.  Others go further.

One thing I have not done with this blog is to use someone else’s words to fill my page.  I have thought of guest bloggers and left it at thought.  Today I am making an exception and going further.  I tried to cut and paste the entry and it did not work.  So I am introducing a facebook page to you my blog readers.

The new face book page is called “The Right Vantage” and the author has written a terrific entry about Benghazi.  Instead of using my own words today to explore what is to come in the hearings, I am sharing the link to ‘The Right Vantage” as being a clearer voice.  I hope you can open it and enjoy it.  Thank you “The Right Vantage”.

https://www.facebook.com/permalink.php?story_fbid=499574190109990&id=499052863495456#!/pages/The-Right-Vantage/499052863495456

…..ONWARD TO MORE MISADVENTURE…

“…AT THIS POINT…”

GOOD MORNING WORLD

I believe our whole country has missed the boat.  While we all were slamming Secretary Clinton for her non caring of the Benghazi incident follow up, those interviewing her missed the most important part of the statement.  She was telling us the truth.  At some point it made a difference.  I would rather have had the panel ask her, “Madam Secretary if ‘AT THIS POINT’ it does not make a difference, when did it?”

‘AT THIS POINT’ Would it have made a difference in August of 2012 when the Ambassador contacted State to tell them that they needed more help?

‘AT THIS POINT’ Would it have made a difference if Chris Stevens had not been sent to Benghazi under confusing intentions?

‘AT THIS POINT’ Would it have made a difference on Sept. 11^th if the State Department had taken action to help when at 4PM the attack began and we were notified?

‘AT THIS POINT’ Would it have made a difference on that day at 5PM when the President was notified if he had taken some action?

‘AT THIS POINT’ Would it have made a difference if he had stayed with it?  The President of the United States was nowhere to be found after 5PM according to most reports.

‘AT THIS POINT’ Would it have made a difference if the State Department had that day disclosed that they had received an email at 6:07PM from Ansar AL Sharia claiming they were responsible?  This news was not discovered until Oct 24^th by Reuters News Agency.

‘AT THIS POINT’ Would it have made a difference in the announcement from the White House with Hillary standing next to the President when they blamed a video?

‘AT THIS POINT’ Would it have made a difference if the commercial to be shown in Libya blaming the video at the cost of $70,000 had not been made?

‘AT THIS POINT’ Would it have made a difference when we did not acknowledge the Ambassador of Libya’s apology for the terrorist attack?  Were we not calling them liars?

‘AT THIS POINT’ Would it have made a difference on Sept. 14^th when at the ceremony receiving the dead that the Secretary of State and President had called it a terrorist attack and not once again blamed the video?  They did call it an act of terror and still did not blame terrorists as if there was a difference?

‘AT THIS POINT’ Would it have made a difference if they had been honest before sending out Susan Rice on the Sunday shows on Sept. 15^th?

‘AT THIS POINT’ Would it have made a difference had the truth come out during the last Presidential debate on Oct, 10th?  Romney was close and shut down by the moderator.

‘AT THIS POINT’ Would it have made a difference, if the whole truth had been out, on Nov. 6^th when America voted for a new President?

From Factcheck.org we find the following information that came out after the attack.

http://factcheck.org/2012/10/benghazi-timeline/

Oct. 24: Reuters reports the White House, Pentagon and other government agencies learned just two hours into the Benghazi attack that Ansar al-Sharia, an Islamic militant group, had “claimed credit” for it. The wire service report was based on three emails from the State Department’s Operations Center. One of the emails said, “Embassy Tripoli reports the group claimed responsibility on Facebook and Twitter and has called for an attack on Embassy Tripol.” The article also noted, “Intelligence experts caution that initial reports from the scene of any attack or disaster are often inaccurate.” (It should be noted that Reuters first reported on Sept. 12 that unnamed U.S. officials believed that Ansar al-Sharia may have been involved.)

Oct. 24: Clinton warns at a press conference that you cannot draw conclusions from the leaked emails because “cherry-picking one story here or one document there” can be misleading. She said, “The independent Accountability Review Board is already hard at work looking at everything — not cherry-picking one story here or one document there — but looking at everything, which I highly recommend as the appropriate approach to something as complex as an attack like this. Posting something on Facebook is not in and of itself evidence, and I think it just underscores how fluid the reporting was at the time and continued for some time to be.”

Oct. 24: Carney, the White House spokesman, says that “within a few hours” of the attack Ansar al-Sharia “claimed that it had not been responsible.” He added, “Neither should be taken as fact — that’s why there’s an investigation underway.”

I believe our Representatives missed the mark at the hearings in January.  They missed the opportunity to ask deeper questions.  It is my hope that as further information comes out we will truly understand the difference it makes.

For me, I am jumping out on a limb and publically stating the obvious to which a few have eluded.  I believe there was a cover-up as the President wanted to win an election.  I believe the information was not forthcoming as Barack Obama and his team worked to keep it under wraps until after November 6^th.  I believe it was all political and about the election.  There is another thought.  It is that our current administration is simply inept.  I have written about that as well.

I have long contended in this blog that this administration is as bad as the Nixon crew.  I only hope that the Congress goes after them as strongly as they did Nixon for a simple break in at a hotel.  In Benghazi four of our fellow Americans died.  It is ‘AT THIS POINT’ that it makes a difference.

…..ONWARD TO MORE MISADVENTURE…

A SIMPLE CONFUSION

GOOD MORNING WORLD

I have spent the majority of these past few months in political confusion.  I could not understand how a video could be blamed for Benghazi.  I could not understand how Americans who want truth and freedom could re-elect Barack Obama.  I could not understand why budgets were not important and other lesser items were.  I was simply confused.

I think the world is going to make a sharp turn to clarity much like it did many years ago.  With all the talk about Benghazi and special sessions of congress and truth I think clarity may be coming out after all.  I have long contended that this mess is akin to Watergate and I think others may be on the verge of agreement.  I am looking forward to these hearings. Maybe it really was the video?

I watched a couple of the news shows off and on yesterday morning.  I was astonished to hear a Democrat Representative from Ma – cannot remember his name maybe Leach or Lynch – say that he did not believe there had been protestors at Benghazi and had no idea why the government spun it that way.  HOLY COW!

I also watched the recent vote in the Senate on gun control under the bill on background checks.  It did not pass.  The current resident of 1600   PA Ave. blamed the Republicans and the NRA.  Not sure how that works since it took Democrats to defeat this bill.  The Republicans do not have control of the Senate so some Democrat Senators had to vote to defeat this bill.  REALLY?

http://www.cnn.com/2013/04/18/politics/congress-gun-laws/index.html

I watched the debate over voter ID after the elections.  I really do not understand this one.  We have to have ID for the Drs., the airports, schools so why not to cast a ballot?  The Democrats believe voters will be disenfranchised?  WOW!

http://www.nationaljournal.com/columns/on-the-trail/the-democratic-comeback-to-voter-id-20130502

The Republicans and Democrats need to work together.  They need to listen to one another.  It makes no sense to me.  How can the Republicans want voter ID and not want background checks?  How can Democrats want background checks and not voter ID.  It is my belief that our vote is more powerful than our guns.

TRUTH – the kids on facebook use this word often as a game about each other.  TRUTH government we need it now.  It is spring and time to get all the cobwebs out of Washington, D.C.  Rip off the covers and shake out the dust of half truths and side stepping.  We need leaders to stand up to this administration.  We need leaders to sweep the halls of Congress clean on both sides.  It is not too late I believe.  ‘At this point’ it is more important than ever.

…..ONWARD TO MORE MISADVENTURE…

NON RELATED ITEMS COME TOGETHER, THANK YOU MR. PRESIDENT

GOOD MORNING WORLD

I awoke this morning with little on my mind.  I had a break from sleep about 2AM and finally fell back to dreamland restlessly.   I am hoping this is one of the last few nights of that.  If I do not sleep I am little good the next day.

I had no idea what the topic would be for this days blog.  As it does my mind went to issues of the day, what is in my heart, on my mind, anything grasping to find an interest on which to comment.  I went to facebook and voila a bevy of topics.

One of the first items I ran across was an inspiration quote from a friend who shares something almost daily along these lines intended to uplift I believe.  It is a quote from Tennyson.

”Words, like nature, half reveal and half conceal the soul within.” – Alfred Lord Tennyson

I thought about this and know I have written about words before.  I also think I have heard others speak about the importance of words.  I was right Barack Obama said the following during the campaign.  It does not matter which one as I believe he has not stopped.

“Don’t tell me words don’t matter! ‘I have a dream’, just words? ‘We hold these truths to be self evident that all me are created equal’ – just words? ‘We have nothing to fear but fear itself?’ – just words. Just speeches.” Obama preached, using the famous phrases to question the notion that words and speeches do not make a difference.

“It’s true that speeches don’t solve all problems, but what is also true is if we cannot inspire the country to believe again then it doesn’t matter how many policies and plans we have,” Obama said in front of the Wisconsin Democratic Party’s Jefferson Jackson dinner, “That is why we just won eight elections straight, because the American people want to believe in change again. Don’t tell me words don’t matter!”

Is this about words or empty rhetoric?

rhetoric

1-persuasive speech or writing: speech or writing that communicates its point persuasively

2-pretentious words: complex or elaborate language that only succeeds in sounding pretentious

3-empty talk: fine-sounding but insincere or empty language

If words matter how come he is not more careful about what he says.  Trayvon Martin could be his son.  Professor Gates creates an incident so Obama calls police ‘stupid’.   The current resident of 1600 PA Ave came up with the idea of Sequester.  Then he said in October of 2012 that it “would not happen”. Then he said in March,

“These cuts are not smart,” Obama said in his weekly radio and Internet address. “They will hurt our economy and cost us jobs. And Congress can turn them off at any time – as soon as both sides are willing to compromise.”

Then he said they would not be so bad.  Which is right?

I discovered the following article on facebook.  I was going to take some of the information and incorporate it into this post.  I believe it must be read in its entirety so am simply posting the link.  It is a wonderfully written piece about just how much “words do matter”.  Thank you Mr. President.

Read Stella Pauls words at:
http://www.americanthinker.com/2013/04/i_saw_something_so_im_saying_something.html

…..ONWARD TO MORE MISADVENTURE…

MIXED MESSAGES

GOOD MORNING WORLD

I got up this morning and the sky looked weird.  Of course I was not up at the crack of dawn.  Those days are long gone and usually only seen if I had been up all night.  The sky looked not bright yet not overcast.  It was like someone was holding a light behind a curtain and that was the light.  I know rain is forecast for the day so assumed it was about to arrive.  I now can see drops on the windows so my shopping will be in the rain – yuck!  ‘Shoulda’ gone yesterday!

I like most of you have been watching the news of the bombing in Boston.  My heart aches for those who died especially for the little boy Martin who is all over the news with his sign for Peace.  My prayer is that he knows the ultimate peace now – the peace of Christ.  Then again if he is not a Christian the peace his faith promises.

The mixed messages we get from an ever evolving investigation have been frustrating me some.  While I am not sure I want it to change, the 24 hour news cycle can get in the way of real information.  It also can help as the word gets out to encourage everyone that has information and/or pictures to bring them forward as it might help. Pictures are important.  In the book, “The Girl With the Dragon Tatoo” wasn’t it a picture she found that solved the case?

It still is confusing.  They had a suspect.  They didn’t have a suspect.  They now have two maybe?  It is a tan backpack the picture shows.  They have black back pack material that has been sent to the FBI for scrutiny.  Look, we all have seen the CSI shows and heard the head Medical Examiner say let the evidence tell us.  While it is important to be current in the news cycles lets not make up news.  Let the evidence show us.

On another moment of mixed messages.  Our current President refused to call this a terror attack.  Really???  A bomb by any means is an act of terror is it not?  How many times were kids accused of ‘terrorizing their friends’ with cherry bombs.  Please let us call it what it is.  A bomb went off in Boston. If it was not a public works problem, it is a terror attack.  Now the other side is we actually do not know from where this attack came.  The evidence will tell us.

Mixed message #3.  Quote from yesterday’s newswires……..

“All in all, this was a pretty shameful day for Washington. But this effort is not over. I want to make it clear to the American people: We can still bring about meaningful changes that reduce gun violence so long as the American people don’t give up on them.” -President Obama speaks about the background check plan defeated in the Senate

The mixed message here is if it is okay to do a background check on guns why is it not okay to have photo id to vote?

Mixed messages about guns is really in the forefront as well.  Guns plural did not kill children in Newtown a crazy man did.  The weapons he used were legally obtained.  Guns did not kill people in Boston this week.  It was a bomb.  Guns did not kill the people of Waco today.  That was an accident.

Lastly the mixed message of killing children.  All over facebook are notices about how sad it is that our children are being killed.  The women’s groups are all out with their causes as well.  I have often wondered where the rights of girl babies are when they are aborted?  The fact is more children have been killed by abortion, which is legal, than by any bombs or guns.  How does this make sense?  How can we justify this killing?

More mixed messages of the week include the protocol of sending a contingent to the funeral of Hugo Chavez and we sent no one to the funeral of Margaret Thatcher who in her term in office was a great friend to America?

We are told not to politicize tragedies and in is first speech about Boston BHO said:

“I’ve updated leaders of Congress in both parties, and we reaffirmed that on days like this there are no Republicans or Democrats — we are Americans, united in concern for our fellow citizens.”

I am not being picky here.  When I hear the words Congress I do not hear both parties.  I hear a whole.  Why did he not simply say we that he updated congress and all share concern?

The current President also said we would get to the bottom of Benghazi and then did little to help in the investigation.  He promised the victims of Sandy that all would be well and they would get “immediate” attention after the event which was just before the election.  He told Newtown families:

“We’re going to have to come together and take meaningful action to prevent more tragedies like this, regardless of the politics.”

He is a President not King and cannot guarantee anything.  We have a governmental process.  If the words were meant for inspiration then they have been proven to be like a metal trashcan.  Solid on the outside and hollow on the inside.  So as to his words, which are generally mixed messages I say,  “What difference, at this point, does it make?” to quote Hillary Clinton.

What I know is that the truth of Benghazi will come out.  England will forgive our breach of protocol.  There will be another election in 2016.  AND I know Boston.  I lived there.  I know all that can be done will be done.  The American people once again are leading the way not the leadership.  The American people sang at the Bruins game.  The American people played “Sweet Caroline” at the Yankees game.  The American people will persevere and be stronger.

…..ONWARD TO MORE MISADVENTURE…

THE NEWS AND NOTORIOUS KILLERS

GOOD MORNING WORLD

The following are noted killers.

John Wilkes Booth/Oswald/Sirhan Sirhan/John Hinckley/Mark David Chapman

OJ Simpson was acquitted of the 1994 murder of Nicole Brown Simpson and Ronald Goldman. It was all over the news for a year.  There were even parodies of the people involved on late night television show.  Everywhere you turned there was a news report of this trial.

The same can be said of Casey Anthony on trial for killing her daughter Dec 1 2008.  The trial ran for 6 weeks reports daily.  Now we are inundated with the news of Jody Aries.

The following are noted serial killers.

David Richard Berkowitz (born Richard David Falco; June 1, 1953), also known as the Son of Sam and the .44 Caliber Killer, is  a serial killer who killed six victims and wounded seven others beginning in the summer of 1976.  His was highly publicized in the press and the killings achieved worldwide fame as New York City was terrorized by this man.

From Wikipedia:

Intense coverage of the case by the media lent a kind of celebrity status to Berkowitz, and observers noted indignantly that he appeared to enjoy it. In response, the New York legislature enacted new legal statutes, known popularly as “Son of Sam laws“, designed to keep criminals from profiting financially from the publicity surrounding their crimes. Despite various amendments and legal challenges, the statutes have remained law in New York, and similar laws have been enacted in several other states.

Another serial killer was Ted Bundy who was also a rapist and kidnapper.  He confessed to 30 homicides in seven states between 1974 and 1978.  It was reported that he called himself the ‘most cold-hearted son of a bitch you’ll ever meet”.  A member of his defense team said he “was the very definition of heartless evil.”

John Wayne Gacy, Jr. another serial killer and rapist was known as the “Killer Clown”.  He was convicted of the deaths of ‘at least’ 33 teenage boys.  The killings were committed between 1972 and 1978 in Chicago.

Jeffrey Dahmer murdered 17 men and boys between 1978 and 1991.

Most recently Mass Murders such as Columbine, Colorado Theater, the Arizona Mall, the Uni bomber, Fort Hood, The Beltway sniper, Oklahoma bombing, Sandy Hook and the Twin Towers on 9/11 have made news that never seemed to stop.

All of the above were in our face in our newspapers and on out television channels network and cable both.  We heard the intimate details of all the cases or trials unless police kept information to solve the crime.  The news was filled day in and day out with the who, what and where of the crimes.  One could not pick up a paper or print media without finding page one covered with pictures of the accused and the latest update.

Once again is amazes me and points out clearly how the news is now being manipulated when a serial killer in Philadelphia fails to make the paper anywhere else other than locally.  CBS and CNN covered the mass killings when the man was arrested back in 2011.   No one, with the exception of FOX News has said anything about the lives of innocent children being taken.  Let me repeat this NO NEWS ORGANIZATION has covered the serial deaths of babies in Philadelphia. I am not going into the gruesome details.  I do not even read what little there is out there about this as it turns my stomach.

It is interesting to note that since Kirsten Powers of FOX and The Daily Beast wrote her column on the lack of coverage that today I note that CNN and The Huffington Post have articles on Bing!  I also must note that The Huffington Post also had an article earlier in March.  Below is the Kirsten Powers column that was printed in USA today earlier this week.  ALERT:  it is graphic.

http://www.usatoday.com/story/opinion/2013/04/10/philadelphia-abortion-clinic-horror-column/2072577/

All of this is that the story of Dr. Kermit Gosnell who is accused of the death of one woman in his abortion clinic and seven live babies.  The Doctor is on trial for the brutal murders of 7 babies older than 24 weeks who reportedly were moving after being aborted.

NOTE:  this is an abortion clinic where I believe lives are taken everyday as I believe life begins at conception.

Can the obvious avoidance of this case by the media be that it is about abortion?  They certainly report on all other serial killings.  Why not this one?

I post this today to be part of the information highway.  If serial killings are the norm in mainstream media why has Dr. Kermit Gosnell not made more news?  What he has done certainly is questionable.  If I were on the jury, with what little information there is out there now, my vote would be guilty as charged.

Isn’t news simply news?  Are we being fed stories the media wants us to read or are we getting all the news that’s fit to print?  You be the judge.

…..ONWARD TO MORE MISADVENTURE….

JESUS CHRIST

GOOD MORNING WORLD

I am not certain of any two other words in our vocabulary that can be used to inflict more angst in any one human being.  There are those that use these two words with love and devotion and humility.  Mother Theresa immediately comes to mind.  Or even the Pope and Pope Francis specifically as he has been in the news of late.

These words are often used with venom and people spit them out of their mouths as if they were disgusting food.  These two words create nations even people to go to war of reality with guns or words alone.  I am not aware of any two other words that are so diverse to the good or the bad.

Most recently a school in Jackson, Ohio which is 60 miles south of Columbus is removing a picture of Jesus Christ from their hallway.  It has been hanging there since 1947.  I understand it was given in memory of a teacher (not certain) who had passed away in an accident.  It was a gift to the school to honor someone.  The school has chosen to remove it rather than fight the ACLU.  It is a financial choice on their part.

http://ww2.onenewsnow.com/legal-courts/2013/02/11/after-65plus-years-jesus-portrait-suddenly-%E2%80%98unconstitutional%E2%80%99

This hits one of my pet peeves.  The Constitution does not say we have a separation of church and state.  It says the government cannot establish a national religion.  I wish I had the money to take a case to court against the ACLU from this point of view.

This Easter we watched the conclusion of the miniseries “The Bible”.  Not fans of commercials we have it on our DVR so we can watch it and zap the interruptions out!  As an aside – we do like commercials when they ARE the show as in “Funniest Animal Commercials” that bring our grandchildren to gales of laughter.  The fun of that is watching them laugh and joining in!

Back on track………..This mini series has created quite the talk.  I hear, and have not investigated, that the entertainment industry- one can no longer simply say Hollywood – is gearing up for Biblical movies as winners in the profit field yet again.

In my search of biblical movies I was interested to see that many have been made.  They have been about Christ, apostles, women in the Bible and specific events.  I was pleased to see that my conclusion that more had been made in the 50s and 60s than any other time.  I found 9 English speaking movies in the 50s and 5 in the 60s.  Realizing that I missed a few I am certain that is still 15 plus or minus movies with a scriptural basis made within 20 years.

In later years specifically 1973 we were treated with “Jesus Christ Superstar” and “Godspell”.  Probably the most controversial was “The Last Temptation of Christ” in 1988.  The most recent large box office movie about Jesus Christ prior to this mini series was “The Passion of Christ” by Mel Gibson in 2004.  I cannot watch the end of that particular movie without real pain and tears running down my eyes.

This whole dialogue this morning began with an email sent by a friend that included pictures of a cross in Groom, TX.  All you have to do is ‘bing’ cross Groom, TX and it will come up.  Or use this link: http://www.crossministries.net/  It is the world’s second largest cross.  Had been #1 until the cross was built in Effingham, Illinois.  I wrote about that earlier in a blog and actually saw it twice this last week!  When it was built it was 2.4m taller than the one in TX.

As I looked and investigated and wrote this morning there is something niggling at the back of my brain.  With “The Bible” being such a hot and the talk of more movies of the same type is there something spurring this interest?  Is it simply profits?  Is there something else?

Could the something else be the unsettledness of the country?  In the 50s and 60s we were embroiled in the Korean War and Vietnam?  Today this little twit in Korea is flexing his miniscule muscle.  Is there any correlation?

In the 50s and 60s we were a changing country.  In the 50s we were coming out of WWII and the new war – the Cold War – was beginning.  We did not trust Communism to the point of having Congressional hearings and calling forth some of our own with unverified accusations in some cases.  We fought the Korean War and covert operations throughout the world were used to try to help others (?).  We began the space race and most people owned televisions this decade.  Television began what was to become known as “The Golden Age” in the 1950s.  Music changed and we met Elvis!

In the 60s we had The Beatles!  The Grateful Dead!  The Stones!  Bob Dylan!  We now had ‘The Ed Sullivan Show’, ‘Doctor Who’, ‘The Wonderful World of Disney’, ‘The Tonight Show’ and various other situation comedy and variety shows.  The most controversial of the time would probably have been ‘The Smothers Brothers’ as they were outspoken against the government.

The term counter-cultural was born and lived out in the 60s.  ‘Hippies’ formerly Bohemians were ‘dropping out’.  These people were railing against the lifestyle of the norm and materialism.  They were revolting against conservatism, materialism and conformity.  Hippies wanted a more liberal society as they questioned authority and government. They wanted more freedoms for women and minorities.  They were openly living ‘free love’ with their sexual revolution.  Drugs and psychedelic music were the new norm for them.  The Feminist movement got a push with the publication of “The Feminine Mystique” by Bette Friedan.  The Gay movement we know today began.

An interesting political point I found on Wikipedia was:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1960s

New Left

The rapid rise of a “New Left” applied the class perspective of Marxism to postwar America, but had little organizational connection with older Marxist organizations such as the Communist Party, and even went as far as to reject organized labor as the basis of a unified left-wing movement. The New Left differed from the traditional left in its resistance to dogma and its emphasis on personal as well as societal change. Students for a Democratic Society (SDS) became the organizational focus of the New Left and was the prime mover behind the opposition to the War in Vietnam. The 1960s left also consisted of ephemeral campus-based Trotskyist, Maoist and anarchist groups, some of which by the end of the 1960s had turned to militancy.

Radical leaders of these movements were Bill Ayers, Abbie Hoffman, Bobby Seale, Bernadette Dohrn, Angela Davis and Saul  Alinsky whose ideas spoke to some U.S. college students and other young organizers became part of their strategies.

The Hispanic and Chicano movement began and the Civil Rights Act of 1964 was passed.

President John Kennedy was assassinated.  President Nixon, liar and crook in chief, was elected.  We experienced The Bay of Pigs, and Gulf of Tonkin.  The Vietnam War grew and the Berlin Wall came down.

All of this happened in 20 years.  So why all the attention to Jesus Christ and faith today like in the 50s and 60s?  Is our world today like then???  Too much for my small mind today.

…..ONWARD TO MORE MISADVENTURE…

TIME TO MAKE THE DONUTS AKA TAX TIME

GOOD MORNING WORLD

Every year I vow I am going to get these things done the first of February when the W2s come out.  Here I am once again in March looking at the end of it and they are still not completed.  I have started!

In starting that means I have taken all the papers from their various ‘stuffing’ places and assemble them in a box.  I have thrown out all the unnecessary pieces of paper and semi-organized the others to piles of coordinating info.

Every year I say I am going to keep up with all the inputs to a ledger and do really well until say about April. Then I assume there were flowers needing planting or activities that kept me away from my necessary bookkeeping.  So now is the time I have to find all the receipts to write in the ledger.

Then I have to gather all the various forms.  I usually take another sheet of paper and put all the things that can go on the different schedules there on a clean sheet of lined paper so I do not have to go through every one of them as I am inputting the info into the computer program.  That takes time.

Then I have to upload the computer program and start the arduous chore of following the links and putting the right numbers in there so that I can hit the NEXT button.  I one time took my taxes to company to do them for us.  I ended up sitting there and watching the lady do it with computer program following prompts.  I thought I can do that at home and have not spent money ever since!!!

The issue with ‘at home’ is that it takes second place to every other thing that is on the list or more interesting.  As the 15th of April looms I am putting it at the top of my list this week.  At least I want to end the week with a first pass at putting all the info into the program.

All of the above deals with the chore of filing taxes.  I am of the attitude that I am grateful to pay them as it means we have a job that sustains us.  It is a ‘Thank You God’ for the job.  It is a cursing to our government for abusing our hard earned funds.

Are you aware of all the abuse of taxes?  We are funding still the affinity of the current resident of 1600 Penn Ave for solar energy even though many of the first companies have gone into bankruptcy with the stimulus funds.  I have mentioned this before.  It bears a second mention.

Sen. Tom Coburn keeps track of these with his “Waste Book”.

http://www.coburn.senate.gov/public/index.cfm/pressreleases?ContentRecord_id=3b872d11-b6b5-4f72-9a0f-f95c79c99b6f

Examples of wasteful spending highlighted in “Wastebook 2012” include:

• Tax loopholes for the National Football League (NFL), National Hockey League (NHL) and Professional Golfers’ Association (PGA) – professional sports leagues that generate billions of dollars annually in profits ($91 million in taxes)

• Moroccan pottery classes (part of a $27 million grant from U.S. Agency for International Development)

• Efforts to promote caviar consumption and production ($300,000)

• Robotic squirrel named “RoboSquirrel” (part of a $325,000 grant from the National Science Foundation)

• Promotion of specialty shampoo and other beauty products for cats and dogs ($505,000)

• Corporate welfare for the world’s largest snack food producer, PepsiCo Inc. ($1.3 million)

• Government-funded study on how golfers might benefit from using their imagination, envisioning the hole is bigger than it actually is ($350,000)

• “Prom Week,” a video game that allows taxpayers to relive prom night ($516,000)

• Oklahoma’s layover boondoggle, a scarcely used airport in Oklahoma receiving nearly half-a-million in taxpayer dollars only to transfer funds elsewhere in the state ($450,000)

• The 2012 Alabama Watermelon Queen tour paid for in part by the U.S. Department of Agriculture, “to promote the consumption of Alabama’s watermelon through appearances of the Alabama Watermelon Queen at various events and locations” ($25,000)

Please go read the full article.  In the meantime it is time for me to do our taxes!!!

…..ONWARD TO MORE MISADVENTURE…

A SERVANT MENTALITY

GOOD MORNING WORLD

I sat in church this morning reviewing the last few days.  Yesterday was my day to be 12 and sad for a few minutes as I yearly get caught in the ‘what ifs’ of life.  I acknowledge the day, what I lost, wonder what could have been for a few moments then move on choosing to be happy as ever.  This morning I wondered as I sat in church with the sun streaming through the window like a beam directly from heaven coming to the altar what we would be like if we were servants to each other.

The Separatists that came to this country to create a new country and be free to live their faith as they chose.  As they landed they created the Mayflower Compact.  The modern version without the flowery verbiage is below.  As I read this it is calling them all to work together and order themselves for the general good of the colony.

Modern version

In the name of God, Amen. We, whose names are underwritten, the loyal subjects of our dread Sovereign Lord King James, by the Grace of God, of Great Britain, France, and Ireland, King, defender of the Faith, etc.

Having undertaken, for the Glory of God, and advancements of the Christian faith and honor of our King and Country, a voyage to plant the first colony in the Northern parts of Virginia, do by these presents, solemnly and mutually, in the presence of God, and one another, covenant and combine ourselves together into a civil body politic; for our better ordering, and preservation and furtherance of the ends aforesaid; and by virtue hereof to enact, constitute, and frame, such just and equal laws, ordinances, acts, constitutions, and offices, from time to time, as shall be thought most meet and convenient for the general good of the colony; unto which we promise all due submission and obedience.

In witness whereof we have hereunto subscribed our names at Cape Cod the 11th of November, in the year of the reign of our Sovereign Lord King James, of England, France, and Ireland, the eighteenth, and of Scotland the fifty-fourth, 1620.[12]

When the Founding Fathers put forth the Declaration of Independence they again reiterated in the preamble the ‘all men are created equal’ and endowed by their creator with certain unalienable rights’ of ‘life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness’.  This document also calls forth the right to throw off government and establish new.

We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed, by their Creator, with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty, and the pursuit of Happiness.

That to secure these rights, Governments are instituted among Men, deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed, That whenever any Form of Government becomes destructive of these ends, it is the Right of the People to alter or 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.

Prudence, indeed, will dictate that Governments long established should not be changed for light and transient causes; and accordingly all experience hath shewn, that mankind are more disposed to suffer, while evils are sufferable, than to right themselves by abolishing the forms to which they are accustomed. But when a long train of abuses and usurpations, pursuing invariably the same Object, evinces a design to reduce them under absolute Despotism, it is their right, it is their duty, to throw off such Government, and to provide new Guards for their future security.

The Preamble to the Constitution once again tells us we have the rights to work together and form a more perfect country.

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,[note 1] 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.

The Bill of Rights in its preamble calls forth for the congress to work together.  I believe we are so far from all of these in this country today.  We are still a young nation.  We learned and corrected ourselves over and over again.  Negroes were freed under Lincoln.  Women were given the vote under with an Amendment.  We learn and move forward for the good of all.  We serve each other as we serve our country.

For the life of me I cannot understand why we are creating slavery again.  It is there and those who are allowing themselves to accept it are choosing bondage not freedom.  Why are we not serving our fellow man by helping him find his own way?  Why are we not encouraging work and self-reliance?  I have no answers.

Why are we not serving each other by creating standards that our students must reach?  Why are we lowering those?  Does it serve a person not to have to reach a goal?  Does it serve them to simply give them what they want to sustain their life?  I see our country slipping and others are now passing us in education, goals, challenges and purpose.  We are accepting less.

I would rather our country turn back to serve each other.  Not give or carry along.  I see serving as helping others reach their own best!

The Definition of servant is one that serves others <a public servant>; especially : one that performs duties about the person or home of a master or personal employer.  The definition of service is an act of helpful activity; help; aid: to do someone a service.

The definitions connote hierarchy.  I do not believe that was what was intended in the beginning of this country back in 1620 or further.  While there will ever be people who have more than others either from inheritance or hard work we do not need to deride them or hold other people down either.

We are created equal.  We all have the same opportunities.  We all need to tap that in each other.  We need to find the passion to serve and help others up the way our faith based country did in the beginning.  No one – man or woman – is better than anyone else.

Christ said follow me.  He called us to service by doing unto others as you would have it done unto you.  Service to help and willingly becoming a servant for our fellow man not to our fellow man can be very humbling.  In my utopian world serving each other is a better way of life.

The Servant Song (again I think I have used this before)

Will you let me be your servant
Let me be as Christ to you
Pray that I might have the grace
To let you be my servant too

We are pilgrims on the journey
We are brothers on the road
We are here to help each other
Walk the mile and bear the load

I will hold the Christ light for you
In the night time of your fear
I will hold my hand out to you
Speak the the peace you long to hear.

I will weep when you are weeping
When you laugh, I’ll laugh with you
I will share your joy and sorrow
Till we’ve seen this journey through.

When we sing to God in heaven
We shall find such harmony
Born to all we’ve known together
Of Christ’s love and agony

…..ONWARD TO MORE MISADVENTURE…

FAITH BASED COUNTRY – THE U.S.A.

GOOD MORNING WORLD

One of my earlier blogs takes up the question of separation of state and church.  The fact is that this country was based on freedom of religion.  I documented that with words from the Founding Fathers and the Constitution.

I am not talking the Founding Fathers today I am talking about the Pilgrims.  They left England to get out from under the tyranny rule of the King.  Many of the Pilgrims were originally called Separatists when they left England to practice their faith and went to Leiden in the Netherlands.  They lived there for approximately 12 years and then chose to go to the New World instead of back to England where they still were not welcomed.

Imagine the courage.  They got on a boat that had never crossed an ocean.  The Speedwell the boat they took from the Netherlands leaked and all piled on the Mayflower.  The trip is documented as taking 66 days reaching Cape Cod on Nov 9, 1620.  All this history is documented on Mayflowerhistory.com.  It is fascinating.  There are many items we probably knew and have forgotten as well as maybe did not even know.

Wikipedia has a lot of info as well and says that:

The main record for the voyage of the Mayflower and the disposition of the Plymouth Colony comes from the letters and journal of William Bradford, who was a guiding force and later the governorof the colony.

Before they arrived on land they knew they were going to have a way to govern themselves.  They were different groups of people Pilgrims, Puritans and Separatists and needed to agree upon how they would live together.  They discussed this and on November 11 signed the Mayflower Compact.

From http://www.plimoth.org/learn/just-kids/homework-help/mayflower-and-mayflower-compact

The text of the Mayflower Compact:

In the name of God, Amen. We whose names are underwritten, the loyal subjects of our dread Sovereign Lord King James, by the Grace of God of Great Britain, France, and Ireland King, Defender of the Faith, etc.

Having undertaken for the Glory of God and advancement of the Christian Faith and Honour of our King and Country, a Voyage to plant the First Colony in the Northern Parts of Virginia, do by these presents solemnly and mutually in the presence of God and one of another, Covenant and Combine ourselves together in a Civil Body Politic, for our better ordering and preservation and furtherance of the ends aforesaid; and by virtue hereof to enact, constitute and frame such just and equal Laws, Ordinances, Acts, Constitutions and Offices from time to time, as shall be thought most meet and convenient for the general good of the Colony, unto which we promise all due submission and obedience. In witness whereof we have hereunder subscribed our names at Cape Cod, the 11th of November, in the year of the reign of our Sovereign Lord King James, of England, France and Ireland the eighteenth, and of Scotland the fifty-fourth. Anno Domini 1620.

They are in America and are establishing the country in which we now live.  It was established by faith.  It was established to live faith.  It was established by covenant!

One place I have not ever visited is Plymouth Plantation.  My folks did in a ‘parents only’ getaway when we were young kids.  Not sure where we went.  They took vacations together once a year without the two girls.  Smart people!  We got gifts!

As interesting as that will be I also want to see the National Monument to the Forefathers.  Did you know there was such a thing?  I did not until I watched a documentary.  It is on Allerton St. in Plymouth, MA.  It is in a residential neighborhood.  It simply sits there with no big fanfare.   It is not a National Landmark though it is on the U.S. Register of Historic Places.

Wikipedia does a nice job of describing it.

Located on Allerton Street in Plymouth, Massachusetts, the 81-foot-tall (25 m) monument was commissioned by the Pilgrim Society. The original concept dates to around 1820, with actual planning beginning in 1850. The cornerstone was laid August 2, 1859 by the Grand Lodge of Masons in Massachusetts, under the direction of Grand Master John T. Heard. The monument was completed in October 1888, and was dedicated with appropriate ceremonies on August 1, 1889.[3]

Hammatt Billings, Boston architect, illustrator and sculptor, originally conceived the monument as a 150-foot-tall (46 m) structure comparable to theColossus of Rhodes. Shortly before his death in 1874, Billings reduced the size of the monument, which was to be made entirely of granite. The project was then passed to Billings’ brother Joseph who, along with other sculptors including Alexander Doyle, Carl Conrads, and James Mahoney, reworked the design, although the basic components remained. The monument, which faces northeast to Plymouth Harbor (and, roughly, towards Plymouth, England), sits in the center of a circular drive, which is accessed from Allerton Street from the east. The plan of the principal pedestal isoctagonal, with four small, and four large faces; from the small faces project four buttresses. On the main pedestal stands the heroic figure of “Faith” with her right hand pointing toward heaven and her left hand clutching the Bible. Upon the four buttresses also are seated figures emblematical of the principles upon which the Pilgrims founded their Commonwealth, each having a symbol referring to the Bible that “Faith” possesses; counter-clockwise from the east are Liberty, Morality, Law and Education. Each was carved from a solid block of granite, posed in the sitting position upon chairs with a high relief on either side of minor characteristics. Under “Liberty” stand “Tyranny Overthrown” and “Peace;” under “Morality” stand “Prophet” and “Evangelist;” under “Law” stand “Justice” and “Mercy;” and under “Education” are “Youth” and “Wisdom.” On the face of the buttresses, beneath these figures are high reliefs in marble, representing scenes from Pilgrim history. Under “Freedom” is “Landing;” under “Morality” is “Embarcation;” under “Law” is “Treaty;” and under “Education” is “Compact.” Upon the four faces of the main pedestal are large panels for records. The front panel is inscribed as follows: “National Monument to the Forefathers. Erected by a grateful people in remembrance of their labors, sacrifices and sufferings for the cause of civil and religious liberty.” The right and left panels contain the names of those who came over in the Mayflower. The rear panel, which was not engraved until recently, contains a quote from Governor William Bradford‘s famous history, Of Plymouth Plantation:

“Thus out of small beginnings greater things have been produced by His hand that made all things of nothing and gives being to all things that are; and as one small candle may light a thousand, so the light here kindled hath shone unto many, yea in some sort to our whole nation; let the glorious name of Jehovah have all praise.”

The overall scheme was designed by architect Hammatt Billings. The 36-foot figure of Faith was based on a 9-foot plaster model by William Rimmer in 1875 [4], that was enlarged and altered byJoseph Edward Billings and a sculptor named Perry (probably John D. Perry). The subsidiary statues were executed by area sculptors including Alexander Doyle, Carl Conrads, and James H. Mahoney.[5]

[edit]National Register

The monument was listed on the National Register of Historic Places on August 30, 1974.

On this Sunday in the atmosphere that exists in this country it seemed appropriate to be reminded that God was guiding the establishment of this country.  I do not believe that He would build us and leave us alone.  God is still here though it may be hard to clearly understand where during these turbulent times.

…..ONWARD TO MORE MISADVENTURE…

THE WORLD STILL WORKS

GOOD MORNING WORLD

This morning the television still works.  The news is on and I am hearing that the current resident of the White House did in fact sign the Sequestration. The sun rose.  The sky is blue.  The squirrel is still stealing the bird seed from the feeder.

The White House told us that we would lose jobs, services – well their own words:

“Terrorist threats, they don’t go away,” Napolitano told reporters Monday at the White House. “We’re now dealing with the emerging cyber security threat. I say emerging – it really is here. We have huge responsibilities which are somewhat new, and Mother Nature doesn’t go away because of a budget cycle. So we have to deal with all that simultaneously.” – See more at: http://cnsnews.com/news/article/napolitano-sequester-americans-want-think-their-borders-are-secure#sthash.3PoXDfmr.dpuf

(Reuters) – President Barack Obama on Tuesday warned of threats to Navy readiness and a storm broke over the government releasing hundreds of illegal immigrants due to budget pressure as “sequestration” spending cuts crept closer. http://www.reuters.com/article/2013/02/26/us-usa-fiscal-idUSBRE91P0W220130226

White House rolls out the cabinet members to warn of cuts

http://firstread.nbcnews.com/_news/2013/02/25/17090580-white-house-rolls-out-the-cabinet-members-to-warn-of-cuts?lite

I wrote extensively about how the White House came up with this idea.  In fact the President said he would not sign any bill unless these automatic cuts were in there back in 2011.  How owns it.  It is his and now he is calling everyone else dumb.

WASHINGTON — President Barack Obama blamed Republicans Friday for the failure of Congress to reach an agreement to stave off the automatic budget cuts known as sequestration, calling the cuts “dumb” and “arbitrary.”

“At a time when our business has finally begun to get some traction, hiring new workers, and bringing jobs back to America, we shouldn’t be making dumb, arbitrary cuts to things that businesses depend on and workers depend on like education and research and infrastructure and defense,” Obama said. “It’s unnecessary, and at a thttp://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/03/01/obama-sequester-cuts_n_2790040.htmlime when too many Americans are still looking for work, it’s inexcusable.”

I told someone and posted on facebook that I believe this administration is acting like the Keystone Cops.  I was reminded the Keystone Kops did not know what they were doing.  The President knows what he is doing.  According to his own words this man has said he wants to ‘transform America’.  Perhaps Sequestration, the 1.2% reduction in already increased spending, may be the first step to restoring America to what our Founding Fathers wanted us to be all those many years ago.

I am tired of this man and his lack of transparency.  I thought it would be fun to be more involved in current events and writing about them.  This morning I find myself simply worn out from the vitriol, lies and manipulations.  He says he is not a dictator.  Perhaps that really is what he wants to be.

I am weary following the President’s deceptions.  Perhaps it is these darned symptoms of stuffy nose and headaches that have set in that are getting to me.  Hopefully my spit and vinegar will return.  While I am a small voice and tired it does not seem right to give up now.

…..ONWARD TO MORE MISADVENTURE…