Monday, March 6, 2017

REPREHENSIBLE BILLS INTRODUCED BY REPUBLICAN FASCISTS




Yes, I know the title of this blog is harsh.  There is good reason.  My cousin shared this article on Facebook this morning, and I'm sharing it on my blog right now.  The Republicans are going way too far, led by an unstable president who is trying to slander the free press, so that he and his Republican minions can abolish agencies that protect the American people and their lands, resources, and personal rights in order to protect and promote unsafe projects that benefit no one except big business and the private elite.  This is fascism, plain and simple. 



The American people need to protest in every way possible - phone calls, letters, marches, petitions.  Loud and long and clear, and stop this reprehensible behavior of politicians before they run our country into the ground and our inalienable rights along with it. 

And just for the record, I googled every single one of the bills listed in this article.  They are real bills on the site for the US Congress. 



For example:  I googled Bill HR 861 (to abolish the Environmental Protection Agency



https://www.congress.gov/bill/115th-congress/house-bill/861



**



http://resistancereport.com/politics/gop-bills-congress/



 

While we were distracted by Trump, Republicans advanced these 9 terrifying bills






Posted By: Tom Cahill March 4, 2017



The Republican-led Congress is wasting no time forcing through the most horrendous bills seen in decades while America’s eyes are on Russia.



With both houses of Congress solidly under Republican control, there’s little in the way to stop House Speaker Paul Ryan (R-Wisconsin) and Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Kentucky) from sending bills to President Trump’s desk that embody the most dangerous aspects of radical right-wing ideology.



However unlikely these bills’ passage would have seemed in the 114th Congress, the possibility of these nine bills becoming law is much higher now, especially considering the flurry of headlines around Donald Trump’s ties to Russia, Attorney General Jeff Sessions’ recusal on the ongoing investigation into the president’s Russian connections, and Russian ambassador Sergey Kislyak’s multiple meetings with several of Trump’s top lieutenants.



Here are the nine worst bills to keep an eye on:



1. H.R. 861: To terminate the Environmental Protection Agency



This bill — cosponsored by Republican members of Congress from fossil fuel-producing states — is just one sentence long, and says nothing about what would happen to the multiple environmental regulations the EPA has instituted since 1970, or its multibillion-dollar budget, or its thousands of staffers. H.R. 861 is currently awaiting action in the subcommittee on environment.



2. H.R. 610: Tax dollars for private schools



Rep. Steve King (R-Iowa) introduced this bill in January, which would redistribute funding earmarked for public schools in the form of vouchers for parents to send children to private schools. Over the long term, this would eventually bankrupt public schools, and create a stratified education system in which cash-strapped public schools would be unable to meet the educational needs of low-income students. The bill is awaiting action in the House Committee on Education and the Workforce.



3. H.R. 899: To terminate the Department of Education



If this bill, introduced by Rep. Thomas Massie (R-Kentucky), becomes law, the U.S. Department of Education would terminate by the end of 2018. The bill’s brevity leaves many questions unanswered, like what would happen with Department of Education grants for public schools and universities, its budget, or its staff. Education Secretary Betsy DeVos has said she would personally be “fine” if the agency she heads were to be abolished.



4. H.J.R. 69: To repeal a rule protecting wildlife



Rep. Don Young (R-Alaska), whose constituents likely include hunters who kill wildlife for sport rather than for food, introduced this joint resolution voicing displeasure with a Department of Interior rule that prohibits “non-subsistence” hunting in the Alaska National Wildlife Refuge. The resolution passed the House and is awaiting action in the Senate.



5. H.R. 370: To repeal the Affordable Care Act



While President Obama was in office, House Republicans voted at least 60 times to repeal the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act — also known as Obamacare — despite its futility. However, the Trump administration has made the repeal of Obamacare a top priority, meaning the repeal bill from Rep. Bill Flores (R-Texas) is likely to pass.



6. H.R. 354: To defund Planned Parenthood



Despite the widely publicized debunking of the video alleging the women’s health nonprofit was selling human organs, Republicans are still refusing to stop destroying Planned Parenthood. Rep. Diane Black (R-Tennessee) introduced a bill that would prevent any federal grants from going to Planned Parenthood for a full year unless they swore to not perform abortions. As the chart below from Planned Parenthood shows, only 3 percent of Planned Parenthood resources go toward abortions, while the vast majority of funding is used to help low-income women get STD tests, contraceptive care, and breast cancer screenings:






7. H.R. 785: National Right-to-Work legislation



Conservative ideologue Rep. Steve King (R-Iowa) is aiming to cripple unions at the nationwide level with a bill that would systematically deprive labor unions of the funding they need to operate. Unions often provide one of the crucial pillars of support for Democratic candidates and causes, and conservatives aim to destroy them once and for all by going after their funding. It’s important to note that right-to-work is bad for all workers, not just union members — in 2015, the Economic Policy Institute learned that wages in right-to-work states are roughly 3.2 percent lower than in non-right-to-work states.



8. H.R. 83: Mobilizing Against Sanctuary Cities Act



Multiple cities and states around the country have openly stated that they won’t abide by President Trump’s plan to aggressively round up and deport undocumented immigrants. A bill by Rep. Lou Barletta (R-Pennsylvania) would strip all federal funding of any city that doesn’t obey Trump’s immigration policies for up to a year.



9. H.R. 147: To criminalize abortion



Rep. Trent Franks (R-Arizona) wants to aggressively prosecute pregnant women seeking abortions, along with abortion providers, by making abortion a felony punishable by up to five years in prison. The bill is currently awaiting action in the Subcommittee on the Constitution and Civil Justice.



To fight back against these bills, call 202-224-3121, ask for your member of Congress, and tell them to vote no.







Tom Cahill is a writer for the Resistance Report based in the Pacific Northwest. He specializes in coverage of political, economic, and environmental news. You can contact him via email at tom.v.cahill@gmail.com, or follow him on Facebook








Sunday, January 8, 2017

TERRI'S BOOKSHELF - 13 HOURS IN BENGHAZI BY JIM MOORE


I wanted it set down without bias or party politics, and I think this book provides that. 

Basically we got caught with our pants down – again – like Pearl Harbor, 9/11, Bin Laden's escape into Pakistan, because cocky politicians ignored the intel. Of course there is added culpability in the case of Benghazi, since repeated and urgent requests for additional security forces were denied.  Everybody involved ignored the pleas from those who were actually in harm's way. 

It's a pathetic story (almost as pathetic as Bush ignoring intel about impending terrorist attacks planned for 9/11 – that's my input, not from the book). 

I found this book at once riveting, informational, sad, not particularly shocking – I'm getting used to our government dropping the security ball – but definitely frightening. 

This book does manage to skewer a few other government worms on the hook with Hillary Clinton, and rightly so. 

All in all it satisfied my quest for a non-partisan story, and also included the story about Ms. Clinton's email debacle. 

Three out of five stars, though, because there were serious mechanical flaws – sentences unfinished, wrong words not corrected.  Perhaps the writer will use trying to get the book out quickly as a reason for that, but that would be as flimsy an excuse as our government's for allowing our people to die due to woefully inadequate security.



9/9/2016




Wednesday, January 4, 2017

RANDOM PAUSES FOR THOUGHT - OR - FOLDER CLEANOUT FOR THE NEW YEAR


Okay, it's time for the opinionated bitch to toss in her two cents.  It's the New Year and I decided to clean out my very fat, very neglected Pause for Thought folder.  I tuck little notes into it on a very nearly daily basis.  Some subjects border on silly, some I take extremely seriously.  I have no doubt you will be able to tell the difference.  At any rate, these are some of the things I want to get off my chest and out of my PFT folder: 

First, I hope everyone has a wonderful year in 2017, and that your lives improve, and that sadness is virtually non-existent for each and every one of you and your families. 

Now – my opinions – mind you, I welcome comments and discussion…plenty of space below the article. 

I would rather have 1 scoop of real ice cream then 10 scoops of low carb, low fat, sugar free crap. 

And are diet industry reps that refute evidence that aspartame causes serious health problems inbred with the tobacco reps that used to say smoking didn't cause serious health problems? Just wondering…

Many of my friends say I will die behind the wheel of my car – not from an accident, but because I'll be behind some moron doing 45 in a 65 and my head will just explode.  Probably true. 

To all you politically correct fanatics, please lighten the hell up at least a little.  You're gonna stroke out trying to make the whole world perfectly bland.    


TV censorship – I like the way it is today – after nine o'clock at night, restrictions on language and adult situations lax up a lot.  Finally.  I know there are those who complain because they have little ones.  Well, train your children, not the whole rest of the world.  Use the controls on your TVs, and let the rest of us enjoy our entertainment.  I have no desire to go back in time to when TV couples had twin beds, couldn't show the inside of a bathroom, and had to refer to pregnancy as "in a family way."  TV kind of grew up along with me through the years.  I'm happy about that.  – I do however remember Janet Jackson's exposed boobs during the Superbowl.  Whether it was on purpose or not, I don't see much difference between that and those cheerleaders with their boobs and asses hanging out of their costumes.  If you are going to call the Superbowl family entertainment, then the cheerleaders could dress a little more conservatively.  I personally don't care it doesn't offend me, but I heard all kinds of bitching about Janet's "slip" – and it lasted forever.  Just like Miley's twerking.  If your kids are out in the world, chances are they've seen most of the things you're trying to shield them from.  In my opinion – and I'm stressing that it's my opinion – I think it's better to talk to kids about this type of thing instead of trying to protect them from it.  If you don't talk to your kids and clue them in about sex, believe me, there are perverts out there who will.  Children need to be prepared to go out into the world, or they're going to get eaten alive.  They need to know how to protect themselves. And not just from pervs, but from pushers, bullies, thieves, and other bad people.  They need to know that your rules and your protection are there for a reason.  Making them aware is ensuring their survival. 

Oil drillers:  Stay the hell off of Native American land.  Period.  Trespassing is trespassing.  And it should not depend on whether the land is sacred burial grounds or not.  What part of NOT YOUR LAND do you people not comprehend?  And while we're on the subject, oil people – it's not going to be long before fossil fuel is history.  Why don't you invest in alternate energy now instead of using your wealth to suppress it?  Instead of buying fracking equipment, why not by solar panels and equipment to build roads and houses out of them?  You won't continue to poison the water table, cause earthquakes, and pollute every inch of ground you venture onto.  So far your greed and selfishness has been astonishing.  Your lack of forethought is epic. How much power and money do you really and truly need?  Your behavior has gone far past criminal neglect, and proceeded into intentional endangerment of all living things.  Is that really how you want your grandchildren to remember you?  If, of course, they survive in the world you've turned into a polluted dung heap?

Bathroom stalls in ladies' rooms are too tight and the doors should open outwards.  In some of them you practically have to climb up on the toilet to get the door open.  What the hell?  Barely enough room to buckle a belt let alone change a sanitary product.  I stopped going to one restaurant because if my knees bumped the door the latch gave. 

So Trump is deporting all immigrants?  Cool.  American lands will finally go back to the Indians and wildlife when everyone of European descent ships out – including Trump and all of his white bread cabinet.  B'bye! 

I hope that all idealists can change the world so dramatically that it renders my skepticism and cynicism obsolete. 

I think the few politicians who exist who aren't lining their pockets and abusing their power are working against monumental odds. 

Why I like basketball best: it moves; uniforms show a lot of skin, the rules are simple, the scoring is simple, tall guys.  J 

Some of our technology is almost like Star Trek.  You can do everything with your phone – pictures, music, GPS, tracking devices, texting, internet access, and so much more.  When I was a teenager I had a little cassette recorder and thought it was cool that I could record music off my clock radio – even though you could hear my dog barking in the background.  And until I was ten years old our TV was black and white, there was an antenna on the roof, no cable.  VHS was 25 years away, let alone DVDs or TVs that recorded shows digitally or live feed.  It's exciting and confusing all at the same time.  Spock would approve. 

I don't understand why the citizenship requirements have to be so convoluted and take so long.  Instead of deporting people who want to work (I'm not talking about criminal element, gang members, etc – ship 'em the hell out of our country) make it easy for them to keep their green cards, and facilitate the citizenship process so that they can work and realize their dreams.  And it's win-win, because once they realize their dreams as American citizens, they give back via the taxes they pay.  And the only people who are allowed to bitch about immigrants are pureblood Native Americans.  Everybody else is only here because their families floated their butts over to America from other countries. 

Brock Turner only served three months for committing a brutal rape. Un-freaking-believable.  During that three months I hope he at least took it up the butt all day and night every day and night.  Little entitled bastard.

Never a fan of open floor plans – kitchen clatter is annoying when having a conversation or watching TV in the living area, not to mention reading or napping.  Plus, keep the heat in the kitchen in the summer when the air conditioning is running. A dining room table is a great place for kids to study and do homework, unless the TV is on in the living room that is not petitioned off. 

I wish politicians would stop using buzz-words and platitudes and just talk to people like human beings. 

70% - SEVENTY PERCENT – of Germany's energy is solar and non-fossil fuels.  That's been written into law there.  No more gasoline powered vehicles.  We need to put the oil industry in its place – stop fighting wars over oil which we wouldn't need if the fossil fuel industry didn’t spend vast amounts of money suppressing research and implementation of alternate fuel sources.  No dependency on filthy fuel and the Middle East.  No more fracking/drilling/leaking oil that poisons the soil and water, causes earthquakes, and destroys our environment. Why don't the oil fat-cats take part of their fortunes and invest in alternative energy – phase out fossil fuels and build up cleaner, safer energy industries?  That's where money is going to be made in the future.  You would think they'd be all over it.  I don't understand the stupidity – or the selfishness. 

I'm cutting way back on Facebook this year.  I learned a lot from this election – like bullies who post controversial memes or sentiments, and if you say something in disagreement, even politely they get all pissed off, unfriend you, then talk smack and mock you behind your back.  To me that's just chickenshit.  Cowardly.  I will debate with anyone.  Even on my own page.  Unfriending is the 21st Century equivalent of "well!  I'm gonna take my dollies and go home!  Hmph!"   It's almost funny. 

Just for the record, Professor Yancy, (teaching philosophy at Emory): The second you say "all white people are racist," you have made a racist statement.  If you reverse that sentiment and said "all black people are racist," would that be fair? Exactly what sort of philosophy do you teach?  Perhaps inflammatory speech designed to divide the citizenry? 

I never believed in imminent domain.  It flies in the face of personal freedom.  You build a house or a business, live in it all your life, raise your children in it, follow county codes and maintain your property just right, get it all paid off and all of a sudden the government comes along and seizes it to widen a freaking road.  Really?  They're widening a road through the town where I live.  They are destroying a building that houses several apartments and offices that a man leases to supplement his retirement. He's going to be wiped out.  Not right.  Build a freaking overpass or something.  Many businesses are going to be wiped out, and some private homes as well.  Aren't those people citizens and part of the public with rights? 

Meme:  when you see me in heaven, don't shit yourselves, you judgmental pricks!  J

For Trump to have his finger on the button of a weapon of mass destruction is kindof redundant: he pretty much is a weapon of mass destruction.  Oops!  Did I say that? 

I truly hope Trump proves me wrong – I hope in the last 35 years he's perhaps matured and grown some morals, but it's not looking that way.  I'm just hoping Congress and the Supreme Court won't let him go too far and run our already troubled country into the ground. 

You know, I can't help believing in capital punishment.  I read an article about two-year-old Glenara Bates who was bitten, scratched, burned, had teeth knocked out, whipped with belts, shaken hard enough to cause concussion, had a head wound that was hand-sewn (!), had nails driven through her foot, and starved to death (she was 13 pounds), by her mother and father.  I'm glad he received the death penalty, and could not believe that Glenara's family actually wept at his sentencing.  What kind of monsters are these creeps? The mother is being tried separately and their other children are in foster care.  The ten-year-old daughter testified for the prosecution.  The father is on death row.  I wish he was in general population with a chance of being tortured by other inmates.  Lethal injection is way too peaceful a death for him. And the mother too.  As far as I'm concerned, I don't want my tax money going to feed bastards like this.  Let them starve to death like they starved their tiny daughter. 
Also, no more death row.  Once a violent criminal is sentenced to death, that sentence should be carried out right then and there.  There should be a death chamber right off the courtroom.  March them right on in there and put them down like the mad animals they are. No goodbyes, no nothing.  They shouldn't receive any more sympathy or consideration than they gave their victims and their victims' families. 


How long is it going to take the Supreme Court to repeal Blue Laws?  If you want to observe superstitious/religious rules, that's your business.  Expecting me to observe them is NOT your business and it's unconstitutional.  Isn't that also covered by the rules of free enterprise? 

About people who bootleg music/movies and plagiarize books.  Fans do not steal.  Do not call these criminals fans or followers.  If you own a store and someone comes into it and takes a bottle of shampoo without paying for it, you do not call that person a customer, you call them a thief.  So please, let's not call people who download music or any other art or lit without purchasing it a fan.  The proper term is thief.  The laws should be taken seriously and enforced.  Someone steals my book or my stories, they might as well snatch my purse.  They've stolen something that is mine.

A thought for Christians who think writing a check is all they have to do:  Suppose Jesus had just thrown coins at those who came to him to be healed? 

In answer to people who piss and moan about Facebook updates and changes: I look at it this way.  Zuckerberg created an amazing social page.  If you think about it, there are so many apps, so many amusing aspects of it, so many ways to share your life with family and friends, the little imperfections are minor.  And it's free.  So until I can come up with something better (not in a million years) I should enjoy it and perhaps discuss glitches, but only if I present them in a positive way, and perhaps even come up with a solution for them.  As far as Zuckerberg's making a profit (even gazillions), if I came up with something as popular and amazing as Facebook, I should be able to profit from it (as long as his employees are all making a fair and livable wage).  And while changes can be aggravating, at least Facebook wasn't created and abandoned.  It's maintained and improved – maybe not to users' specifications or expectations, but we didn't create the thing, so who are we to tell the one who did how to maintain his creation? 

People who have good manners in public among strangers, but belch, fart, slurp, and are rude at home – why would you be considerate to strangers but a pig to those you love?  Seems a bit disrespectful to me. 

There should be no statute of limitations on ANY violent crimes – especially if they are committed against children. 

Sometimes it seems to me that HHPPA protects psychopaths. With no communication between families, courts, healthcare, law enforcement, schools, military, and religious organizations, especially with minors where parents are held responsible for their actions, how are problems ever supposed to be effectively addressed before someone with a problem explodes (like Cho at Virginia Tech who massacred students) or implodes and commits suicide?  Confidentiality should be secondary to public safety.  If there are psychopathic/violent tendencies the public should be warned, and the person with the problem closely monitored.  Too many seriously disturbed, violent people are slipping through the cracks. 

I wish people would stop taking the path of least resistance.  Freedoms must be earned.  Take back your health, liberty, pursuit of happiness, government, pride, economy, self-respect.  You can't get what you want sitting on your ass in front of the TV, behind a video game in a recliner, or on Facebook.  There are people in wheelchairs who would love to have your freedom to get up and move.   If we leave everything to the politicians, we're going to keep getting what we've been getting for the last century:  shit and shoved in it. 

While I agree with the overall sentiment, and agree that war will be humanity's doom, I also believe that Good has to defend itself or Evil will utterly and completely destroy it.  And I'm not talking religious comparisons or philosophical ideologies, because that's mostly esoteric crap that will never be resolved.  I'm talking survival.  Psychopaths like ISIS must be contained.  They are ruthless, they fall into the crazy not stupid category, and they are relentless.  Sometimes you have to fight fire with fire.  War might be our doom, but if I'm going to die anyway, I'd rather die taking evil out of commission as opposed to letting it step on my face while it destroys me anyway.  Suppose we hadn't stopped the Nazis?  Suppose we hadn't fought for our independence?  Suppose we don't stand up to ISIS?  Doesn't allowing genocide to happen make us collaborators in it to some degree? 

Bill Cosby.  I own the entire Cosby Show, as well as "Cosby Himself."  I felt like he was a part of my family – that used to be a good thing.  Now it's like he was a perv uncle who had a whole secret life and everything I knew about him was a lie.  And I was merely a fan.  I can't begin to know how betrayed his wife and children must feel.  If it had been a situation where things just got a little hot and heavy and he came on a little too strong, once when he was young, that would be one thing, but all the way back to 1965 with the drugs and the forced sex.  What I don't understand, is that he was an attractive man, who could have had sex any time he wanted.  Why force it?  Why rape? What a waste.  Pathetic, lying, creep. 
On the flip side of that coin, there are women who trade sex to get what they want and who are every bit as duplicitous as their male counterparts.  Everyone acted like Monica Lewinsky was a victim.  How's that again?  She got the job in the White House, publicizing the blow job got her fame, published in major magazine and newspaper, and book deals and later a clothing line.  In 2014 she's "breaking her silence" and later started doing interviews again while Hillary was running for office.  When exactly was she silent? Sexual whore then, media whore ever since.  If you type "Monica" into Google, the first search result that appears in the cache is Monica Lewinsky.   The thing is, when actual rape happens, especially with celebrities, the public thinks back on ho-bags like Monica and are skeptical about women who come forward who have truly been victimized.  When the media takes over and sensationalizes that horror when it's the real deal, it's a nightmare for the victim.  If it didn't happen and it's sensationalized, it's a nightmare for the accused – who actually becomes the victim.  And to be fair, it isn't always the men.  I fully understand the concept of rape culture, but there are some women who know that there is money and power between the sheets and don't hesitate to mine for it.  And then they find out there is more money and power to be had by blackmailing the men.  There are some truly insidious people out there – male and female.  It's not an easy thing to keep score.


Ever work for an employer that allowed you to determine your own salary? Or let you decide when you would get a raise and how much it would be?  Why should politicians? Our government is supposed to be for/by/of the people.  Salaries and raises for the government should be decided by public referendum.  The people should evaluate all local and federal legislators and officials, and decide if their performance has earned them a raise, annually, just like any other employees.  And if the economy plummets they should take pay cuts just like everyone else.  No tax shelters, no offshore accounts.  Their retirement packages should not be 100 percent of their pay, either.  They should only receive Social Security, and have to make their own personal retirement investments like everyone else.  Especially if they are hiking taxes for the middle class, and cutting Social Security, Medicare, and Disability benefits for average Americans. The United States were not formed to support and accommodate wealthy elitists; exactly the opposite. 

We need to rein in big business.  If a company is caught with offshore accounts, the entire company should be deported to the country where the accounts are.  If a company outsources all of their jobs to, say, India, then that company should be required to headquarter in India.  Including executives.  If they aren't employing Americans, and they aren't paying taxes in America, why should they live here, in luxury when their employees are struggling an ocean away?  For that matter, I think outsourcing jobs should be illegal.  American companies should employ Americans, and be completely part of the American economy. 

No more multi-million dollar corporate bankruptcies.  (That goes for you too, Donald Trump!)  If you own a multi-million dollar company, and it fails, and you have personal wealth, you should be required to pay off the debts, not declare bankruptcy and leave others holding the bag.  Nobody else gets away with that, why should big business? 

All the top-heavy businesses should be required to pay their employees fair salaries.  No more companies with execs making tens of millions a year while employees doing the actual work live below the poverty level. Especially in retail.  Wealth should be distributed. No executive should make millions of dollars a year while any of their employees qualify for food stamps.  That's a disgrace.   

No selling land to foreign entities.  Especially Native American land, John McCain and other despicable politicians like you!  Stealing the resources beneath land that doesn't belong to the government in the first place, trying to swindle the land out from under the owners in the second place.  Shame!  How do you bastards sleep at night?  How many times do you think you have the right to shaft a group of people?  And shame to any American citizen who allows this theft to continue.  If it can happen to the Native Americans, it can happen to you. 


With all the early pregnancy tests available there should be no abortions after the second month of pregnancy, though I do believe a woman has the right to choose, especially if her life is at risk, if the pregnancy is a result of rape or incest (including rape by a spouse).  She should not have the right to terminate a pregnancy after the first trimester – in fact, I think that's pushing it.  12 weeks is very close to when the heartbeat can be detected, and the fetus begins to become recognizable, as opposed to a clot of cells.  Two months seems fair- a period has been missed, and the tests work by then.  So, perhaps an 8 week soft deadline, and a 12 week hard deadline.


And a word to pro-lifers: Not everyone is perfect.  Before you go condemning a woman seeking an abortion, and picketing clinics that provide the procedures, perhaps you should go to the clinics and provide an alternative:  Contract with clinics, and women seeking abortions, to assume financial responsibility for the birth of the woman's child, and subsequent adoption.  If you are not willing to assume such responsibility in the name of saving that life, than perhaps you should back off.  And as far as those signs you carry with pictures of babies that survive the abortion and are killed – I'm not talking about that.  Those late-term abortions are already illegal, and certainly should be.  So you can put away all the horror-pictures and videos that you use to terrorize the uninformed over to your opinion.  And those of you who commit violent acts during your demonstrations and protests, you are hypocrites.  Human life is either sacred or it's not. 

Churches should be taxed just like any other business.  Televangelists are worth hundreds of millions of dollars, begging from people like they're floundering.  Really?  How do they sleep at night?  If an organization is non-profit, one hundred percent of the income should go to the cause.  Charitable organizations should be run by volunteers.  Period.  The second anyone in the organization, religious or not, collects a paycheck, the organization should be taxed just like any other business.  The second a church invests in any commercial stocks or financial accounts, it should be taxed like any other business.  I have no problem with churches accumulating wealth to accommodate their congregations and their charitable causes, but that's not what's happening. Church administrations are getting top heavy and rich.  They are not strictly charitable organizations.  Therefore they should be taxed like any other businesses.  If ministers, priests, nuns, and lay personnel receive payment for the jobs they do, they should be taxed just like any other citizen of this country.  And the Roman Catholic church is no exception.  Churches requiring a tithe from their congregants are requiring payment like a business.  If 'minimum donations' are demanded for priests and nuns to say prayers for congregants, those 'minimum donations' should be taxable.  They are not praying out of the goodness of their hearts, they are praying for profit, which is reprehensible to begin with.  I don't recall Jesus Christ ever accepting payment for his prayers and miracles.  Who do priests think they are? 

Criminals in prison should have to earn their keep.  Put them to work.  No rest for the wicked.  As much as possible they should grow their own food.  Exercise yards and all prison grounds should be turned into gardens. Work is exercise, let them stay in shape by working.  They work; they eat.  Simple equation.  If there is not enough work to keep everyone active, then upon leaving prison, convicts should be required to pay back society for their room and board.  I never understood why people should have to pay for the keeping of criminals who already harmed society.  It's like being victimized twice. 

Grocery stores and restaurants should be required to donate leftovers to shelters and charitable organizations.  This policy of throwing away leftovers at the end of the day when there are starving people out there needs to stop.  Nobody should be hungry when perfectly good food is tossed into dumpsters every single night.  And any frivolous lawsuits brought about saying that food is tainted by people looking to make a fortune via a lawsuit, should be thrown right the hell out of court. 

Every single American citizen, upon turning eighteen, should have to serve two years in the military.  Period.  No exceptions.  No college deferments.  No hardship nonsense.  If you are employed by the military, then you are supporting your family.  Whatever race, financial status, gender, etc.  If you are a citizen of this country, you should be required to serve.  And everyone should come up through the ranks, promotion by promotion.  One group of citizens should not have to risk their lives and limbs to ensure the freedom of another group that thinks they are too good to serve. Even citizens who are mildly disabled could serve in some way.  And if someone leaves this country to avoid military service, their citizenship should be permanently revoked.  It's time equality became a reality in this country.

And finally, to clarify things just a little:  Just because I cannot stand Trump doesn't mean I liked Hillary either.  Personally, I don't think either candidate was worth a crap.  Which is why I didn't vote.  As far as my personal politics is concerned, I'm conservative about some things, and liberal about others.  I think most situations are multi-faceted, and generalizations are dangerous.  As conservative as some of my above statements are, I abhor racism, bigotry, sexism, age discrimination, no matter where it comes from.  While I hope that humans can get a grip on themselves and end war, I know that there will always be fanatics and psychopaths who will require decent people with consciences to stand up to them. So, while I yearn for peace I support a strong military.  I think teachers, medical personnel, emergency responders, police officers, and military personnel should be paid better than sports figures and entertainers.  This country's got serious gyroscope problems.

Okay.  I think I'm finished for now.  Again, I welcome comments and discussion.  Drop me a line.