Greetings

 Beggars out tonight.

Goblins, Ghosts, and Princesses.

Happy Halloween.

Accusations

 There have been a number of stories recently accusing people of  racism, homophobia, transphobia,sexism, or any any other ism you can think of all  wanting us to believe the accused are horrible people. Some of these people maybe all of them may truly be horrible people but most of these stories don't tell us what was said or what was done except in vague statements. How are we to know  without accurate quotes, an accusation without evidence is slander. Sometimes accusers are thin skinned or the media are trying to push an agenda. If your going to accuse give evidence and context to  the accusation so we really know what is going on.

Big lies

 There has been much moaning and groaning over the so called big lie and how Trump's accusation was destroying democracy. The lies that truly tear at the fabric of the USA's democracy are the ones that aren't freely debated or even mentioned.

Take the budget bills being debated currently Democrats and Republican's both have claimed  they have their version weather 3.5trillion or 1.5 trillion fully funded. How has no one in the media asked how can this be funded when we run between a 1 to 2 trillion dollars deficit annually. We would half to almost triple our taxes to actually be fully funding anything. It's as if they are saying I can afford the Cadillac as long as I live in it.

Big Lies won't destroy America it's the lies no one sees that are destroying our democracy.

Racial disparity

 The Nord foundation in Lorain county did a commission to study racial disparity in the county. The foundation that does much charitable work to try to improve the lives people in Lorain county and the surrounding area was dismayed at the the growing disparity. 

Some numbers Latinos are 300 percent and blacks 400 percent more likely to live in poverty than whites.

White people average 175 % more than latinos and 200% more than blacks

housing 59% of blacks rent, 24% of whites rent, and 20% of latinos rent.

Life expectancy of 64.8 in a predominantly minority neighborhood and 80.2 in predominantly white neighborhood.

According to the article these gaps are growing, and while they don't suggest a cause or a solution it is implied that racism must be the cause.

The article and numbers are from Thursday's 8-12 edition of the Elyria Chronicle Telegram. 

While I have no doubt that the numbers are accurate I could tell you the cause without spending a huge amount of money on a study. If they weren't trying to sow racial discord they would have included the reason in the story. The three fastest growing cities in Lorain county are Avon, Avon Lake, and North Ridgeville largely because farm land is being turned in to very pricey homes. These three cities went from small rural communities to coming close to passing Elyria and Lorain to fading  industrial cities. It's pretty plain that adding huge numbers of wealthy people to an area  is going to make the poor look poorer.

The disparity that is not talked about is the disparity in children born out of wedlock. The numbers vary between studies in general 28% of white children are born out of wedlock as opposed to 72% black children. Which is a real problem single parenthood far more often leads to bad outcomes. It wasn't always this way before LBJ's so called great society black families were as likely if not more likely to be intact. There would be a far better outcome for minorities if we would quit telling them that the government can fix their lot in life. 

A good life is simple hammer this home in teaching children, A good life is simple do these things in order study hard, graduate high school, get a job, get married all before you have children.

Of course this is too simple for Democrats and robs them of control over the people they claim to be trying to help.

Elections

 For months since the last presidential election we have seen republicans try to tighten up security measures and democrats and their media pawns claim these new regulations are either undemocratic or racist or both. Basically the left claiming they should be the sole arbiters of free and fair elections. The funny thing is we can look at Democratic primaries for a view of what happens when Dem's are given sole control of elections. Bernie Sanders would be a good person to ask if these primaries are fair and free. 

You see the Democratic parties idea of what constitute free and fair elections includes being able to manipulate the outcome, and we are to believe that they only want to put their thumb on the scale when they choosing their own candidates not when they are trying to oust someone they despise.

Strange logic

A recent poll  by the AP NORC center for public affairs shows a majority of people believe abortion should be legal in the 1st trimester with no exceptions. The same poll shows a majority of people believe it should  be illegal for the 2nd two. 

You can argue legal or illegal but when you say it's okay now but not later you are being totally illogical. When is age the determinant factor for the morality of killing someone. 

Of course logic is not the most common trait of human beings is it?

A couple of random thoughts

 So president Biden has declared June Nineteenth as a national holiday, congress passed his declaration with little opposition. Those opposed argued that we don't need any more racial holidays, that we we should not look for differences but things that unite us. What a pile on BS total nonsense if we can't be proud of ending slavery what can we be proud of. My objection is more pragmatic do we really need another day where federal employees get paid for sitting home. Businesses for the most part ignore many of the ever growing list of holidays because they have to pay their employees with their own money.

Which brings me to my second observation Leonard Pitts wrote an opinion piece this week claiming paying taxes was not only the law but a patriotic duty. It might have been true at one time but what started out as taxation  has become something more akin to theft. When the purpose of taxes becomes a way to take money out one persons pocket and put it directly into someone else's pocket it's hard to feel patriotic about it.

More press hypocrisy

 For the past couple of weeks the press has taken Joe Manchin to the wood shed for "failing to save democracy" because he won't vote to end the filibuster  or vote for a national take over of election law. Of course these are the same media people that extol the virtues of Mitt Romney or Liz Cheney for standing up for their beliefs. It's okay to be frustrated with members of you own political bloc when they won't toe the party line. What's not okay is to portray these stand outs differently based on party.

Memorial Day

 Some heroes gave all.

Remembrance and thanks are due.

Small payment indeed.

Don't be a Dumbass

 I've consistently said the Covid "crisis" has been over blown. In fact some studies show that there were more excess deaths in the last year from sources other than Covid (basically the lock downs were killing more people than the disease.

The fear mongering has done it's job and if we want to put the fear behind us we can't be Dumbasses. So skip the excuses and go get the vaccine. The wife and I have been fully vaccinated for over a month a little discomfort the day after the shot and no side effects. It's a win-win weather you buy the hype or not it won't hurt you if it doesn't work and if it works you won't get sick.

So let me repeat don't be a Dumbass.

Lies

 You have to wonder how anyone would believe anything a Democrat politician says they can't even stick to one name they used to be liberals now their progressives. Democrats claim to be for the working class and wanting to fight income inequality or the ever widening gap between rich and poor. Yet every time I hear a proposal from the left it is detrimental to the middle class worker. Take Biden and his climate pledge, it all sounds good until the bill comes in everyone wants a clean healthy environment but at what cost. In order to reach his carbon reduction goals most cars will have to be electric and most power plants will have to stop burning fossil fuels. So what's the cost, I 've been looking at maybe getting a new car and the cost differential between gas and electric is any where from 8,000 to 17,000 dollars. Now for most working class people this puts owning a car almost completely out of reach and this is just one small part of the added expenses coming from the climate worriers. 

Maybe lies is too strong of a word well intentioned but ignorant assuming they can see all the consequences of their good intentions might be more accurate. One things for sure no politician cares about my wallet as much as I do.

It's going to be a long 4 years hide your wallet and hold on tight

New voting laws

 Many in the tv and print media are claiming the various voting laws being enacted across the country are racist because they are aimed at suppressing mostly poor and black voters. I've voted since I was 18 maybe twenty when I voted for Reagan. Always voting in person, in those early years I probably would have been considered poor never really had a problem voting. When the media portrays these laws as racist they are insulting the very people they claim to want to protect. The poor and blacks are not too stupid or poor or lazy to vote   they can figure out how to get a picture ID or get to the polls. 

Democrats are constantly griping about proper identification being a hindrance to voting or how purging inactive registrations is all voter suppression. Then they wonder why people call into question the validity if elections. Trump is the most recent example but Stacy Abrams and the Dem's are still questioning the results of failed gubernatorial bid several years ago.

Voting should be as easy and secure as possible so I make the following suggestions.

 All voting will be in person, at a persons proper precinct no provisional ballots.

No picture ID no vote.

All voting will take 2 days Saturday and Tuesday.

Absolutely no media reporting till the polls close Tuesday night.

Absentee ballots are only issued hospitalizations or out of the state.

No ballot counting physical or mechanical is allowed without each party having a representative present.

Voting is a civic and community event where people should gather and see their neighbors sharing in decisions and working to make their communities better.  Voting shouldn't be so much about every person voting but encouraging everyone to want to vote.

Rejoining Paris climate accord and World Health Organization

 Watching the ABC evening news Friday I saw Pres. Biden touting rejoining the Paris Accord and WHO and how America was back. The news anchors were almost glowing in their report of how happy and receptive the zoom conference of mostly European leaders were of Biden's announcement. It made me laugh, of course these leaders were glad that America was back. They aren't glad were back they're glad we are paying for these programs again. Much like NATO before Trump forced their hands we were paying the bills. 

People always complain that the U.S. is the world's police force, we're really the worlds pocketbook and everybody wants to put their hands in our pockets.

Impeachment

Well the farce is over a trial where people could take their last shots at Trump with no real chance for success is done with the predictable outcome. What a waste of time and money the Democrats knew they could not get the Senate to go along with impeachment but did it anyway. The real malfeasance was not Trump supposed incitement, after all he did say to march to the capitol peacefully, of course the media dismisses that out of hand and most people don't even know Trump said peacefully. The real problem is when claims of irregularities are dismissed out of hand. Weather you believe the vote was completely above board or completely crooked it should be given a fair examination. When people see complaints ignored by courts or other officials you inflame people far more than any speech could. 

Just a little food for thought if the election was so fair and honest why are the Democrats so afraid of investigation?

Lies

 We can all agree that lies are bad. In fact for 4 years we kept hearing about how many lies Trump was guilty of  spewing. Many of which while untrue probably should have been classified braggadocio or chest thumping. You know largest crowd ever, greatest this or that, even the Mexicans will pay for the wall. Either so outlandish the only a fool would believe it or effecting nothing. Fact checkers checking things that never mattered

During Obama's presidency, we got you will be able to keep your health plan, only that plan became so expensive that people couldn't keep those plans. Now we have Biden quoted on the campaign trail as I won't ban fracking Period!, first week in office executive order banning fracking. Now we hear Sen. Kerry saying the gas and oil jobs will be replaced by solar and wind power jobs, only solar and wind are only projected to replace about a quarter of those jobs.

You choose which lies are going to effect you more.

If the media was doing their jobs we would be hearing more about these lies that truly hurt people.

Biden and unity

 Biden's big selling point during the campaign was his ability to unify and that he is not Trump. Yet He starts his administration with a slew of executive orders aimed at alienating half the country. This has been going on at least the last three administrations presidents essentially enacting legislation  without going through congress. There isn't many things more devisive than one person dictaing what 350 million people should be doing. When I was a kid I remember JFK's executive order where he enacted the presidents council on physical fitness. This is the type of thing that can be put into place by executive orders not major policy changes or treaties.

Unity will never come to a country or a president that demands everyone must do it my way.

Gatsby

 Sometimes classic fiction  is avoided just because it  is classic and we have preconceptions of the style or content of the book. I read The Great Gatsby last weekend and was pleasantly surprised while a little slow in the beginning it made me think about people and greatness. Just like the book my conception of Gatsby and his character changed through out the book.

Classics

 Every once in a while I will come across a list of books and say I should read this or that. Recently I actually followed through and read Bram Stoker's Dracula and Mary Shelley's Frankenstein back to back. First off they were both worth the read I guess that's why there classics.  It was interesting to me how different they seemed from the old Bela Lugosi, Boris Karloff movies of my youth. Dracula surprised me with the level of spirituality and some of the late 1800's  phraseology, but a solid story if a little wordy in spots. Frankenstein although written almost a full century earlier had a more modern feel to the writing. The thing that struck me with Frankenstein was the impression that the doctor was acting maybe even thinking in a more female way.