The Betrayal of America’s Children‏

-By Vince Johnson

Here’s a statement worth repeating every morning:

“Any society will be judged how healthy it is, by the way it treats its children.”

These are the words of Graça Machel, international advocate for women and the rights of children. She is also the wife of Nelson Mandela, who served as President of South Africa from 1994 to 1999 after he was in prison for 27 years.

Here is a message from John F. Kennedy worth repeating every evening:
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The Betrayal of America’s Children‏”


OPEC Wins Again!

-By Vince Johnson

While destroying retirement plans in the U.K.

Barack Obama has inspired OPEC to boost the price of oil!

By requiring PB to cancel dividend payments to all shareholders (including U.K. retirees) and drastically limiting oil production in the U.S., he has created political diversions that will make it irresistibly expedient for OPEC to increase the price of oil to rates substantially higher levels than they are today.

The fact that the DNC openly supports Obama’s strategy is strong evidence that their first and foremost concern is focused more upon OPEC objectives than they are upon the needs of taxpaying citizens of the United Kingdom and the United States of America.
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OPEC Wins Again!”


It’s time to ask some “Hardball Questions!”

(Ed, a quick note from Mr. Johnson…)
-By Vince Johnson

There must be some reason why Obama and Congress are badmouthing Arizona’s call for help in enforcing immigration laws on the books for over fifty years.

Could it be that the Drug Lords have hired some “backdoor” lobbyists? If there were some other reason, you’d think the wealthy incumbents would have made it public years ago.

Why don’t the Drug Lords put their money in the bank? Is it because investing in political influence provides a far greater return on investment?
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It’s time to ask some “Hardball Questions!””


Class Acton Against Congress Considered

-By Vince Johnson

Vince Johnson, Vet WWII and Korea has appointed himself to the position of Pro Bono Amateur Lobbyist for over 867,000 Oregonians under the age of 18. He made this decision after noting that thousands of special interest groups from all segments of our culture and every industry in America invest large sums of money to influence Congressional activity through professional lobbyists. It therefore seems appropriate that Oregonians under 18 have someone that will show serious concern for their interests.

Johnson’s first project is to introduce the public to the idea of initiating a class action lawsuit against the U.S. Congress filed in behalf of all Oregonians under the age of 18. He stated that this action would be based upon the following realities:
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Class Acton Against Congress Considered”


Our Kids Will Pay For It

-By Vince Johnson

The Honorable Nancy Pelosi
The Speaker
U.S. House of Representatives
H-232 U.S. Capitol
Washington, D.C. 20515

Dear Madam Speaker:

This will convey the suggestion that you stand before a high school student body in the state of Oregon and explain how it is constitutional and ethical to borrow several trillion dollars from their future without their knowledge or consent. The phrase “without their knowledge” is defined as: “Without any serious effort to explain how this huge amount of debt will create a tax burden far greater than any previous generation in our nation’s history has ever faced.”
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Our Kids Will Pay For It”


A Tiger Tale

-By Vince Johnson

Watch the Tiger Woods affair closely. I have a theory that the negatives of his scandal are being turned into a positive. The realities are worth review:

1. 1. Any tournament Tiger competed in the past 6 years had a significantly larger audience than those tournaments where he was absent.

2. 2. To save Tiger’s amazing drawing power the PGA was forced to initiate a “damage control” strategy and in doing so may have stumbled upon an opportunity to substantially increase his TV audiences for the 2010 season.
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A Tiger Tale”


Disbursements by the Lower House will get Very Serious Attention in 2010

-By Vince Johnson

This scoop brought to you by G. R. Vince Johnson, Veteran WW II and Korea

On June 3, 2009 Speaker Nancy Pelosi requested the Statement of Disbursements for the House of Representatives be published online as part of her continued commitment to increase governmental transparency and accountability. You can use the surfing info appearing above the red line to review and evaluate these disbursements.

The report consists of 3,379 pages listing details of disbursement made by the House of Representatives during July, August and September 2009. (4th Quarter of Fiscal 2009)

Pages 2801, 2802 and 2803 list the names, titles and salaries for 87 professional staff members on the Committee on Financial Service Chaired by Barney Frank. Total salaries paid during the 4th quarter were $2,080,547 which means the average annual salary for each staff member on Barney Frank’s committee is $95,657. Example: Thomas G. Duncan, General Counsel received $42,674 in salary during July, August and September 2009. This amounts to a salary of $170,696 a year. (Barney’s annual salary as a Representative is $174,000.)
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Disbursements by the Lower House will get Very Serious Attention in 2010″


What Does ‘Flush’ Have to do With it?

-By Vince Johnson

I’ve spent four days in a state of deep confusion trying to comprehend the Senate version of the health bill which is now viewable on Internet. It is 2,079 pages of Senatorial gibberish such as you can see in 106 words from Page 1,760 as quoted below

“(2) PART B.—
(A) Section 1842(b)(3) of such Act (42
U.S.C. 1395u (b)(3)(B)) is amended—
(i) in subparagraph (B), in the flush language following clause (ii), by striking1761
‘‘close of the calendar year following the year in which such service is furnished (deeming any service furnished in the last 3 months of any calendar year to have been furnished in the succeeding calendar year)’’ and inserting ‘‘period ending 1 calendar year after the date of service’’; and (ii) by adding at the end the following new sentence: ‘‘In applying subparagraph (B), the Secretary may specify exceptions to the 1 calendar year period specified in such subparagraph.’’

The word “flush” appeared in the text and this made me curious. This web page has a feature where you can search the entire text for any word or phrase in the document and get the results in a split second. So I searched the word “flush” and discovered it appeared 9 times in the bill.

I wondered what 100 Senators meant by the word “flush” so I looked it up in the dictionary. I found 15 different definitions none of which gave me a clue regarding how the Senate might define the word “flush” in a bill devoted to health insurance. “Flush” has several meanings that make sense to me including the following: To blush; a good hand in poker, to be at the same level like “flush” with the counter top and of course, from those days when I was a kid when Mom would yell out “Don’t forget to flush it.”
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What Does ‘Flush’ Have to do With it?”


Special for the High School Class of 2010

-By Vince Johnson

Sixty-two years ago I was a 19 year old in the Class of 1947. Our commencement speaker emphasized how fortunate we were to be preparing for career opportunities in a world focused upon peace and prosperity rather than grieving over the death and destruction of the most devastating war in history. I had a unique appreciation for his remarks because in 1945 I quit school on my 17th birthday to join the U.S. Navy. After a tour of active duty I was finally back home graduating from high school.

During the Great Depression years of the 1930’s and the war years of 40’s, thousands of people sacrificed life and limb so their kids could live in a land of abundant opportunities rather than a world filled with the miseries of war and poverty.

In those days it would have been unthinkable to borrow trillions of dollars from the future of our children without their knowledge or consent. You may believe this could never happen in America, but this has been happening to you since before you were born! Politicians have decided that your parents and grandparents needed things they could not afford, so they paid for them with several trillion dollars borrowed from your future.
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Special for the High School Class of 2010″


The Great Health Insurance Mystery

-By Vince Johnson

I had a dream that several respected members of Congress tried to prove this bulletin was misleading and I quietly smiled when they gave up and went out to lunch. 

There is no mystery in the fact that Congress wants the government to be the only source for health insurance for over 306 million Americans.  However, there is great mystery in understanding why politicians do not realize that such an eventuality is bureaucratically impossible.   

Consider established facts: The Social Security Administration requires 62,000 employees to process applications, issue SS numbers, manage existing accounts, and disburse monthly payments to 50 million retired folks. The total U.S. population of people over 18 is about 230 million.  Assuming these people have SS numbers, it is reasonable to say that in any given month, the SSA is handling the accounts of 280 million people including 50 million retirees.

 Keep the above in mind as you consider what Congress will be coping with when the government becomes the sole provider of health insurance.
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The Great Health Insurance Mystery”


Obama Needs a Psychologist

-By Vince Johnson

Saturday, October 23, 2009 Vince Johnson – Aumsville, Oregon There is a growing need to find a team of qualified psychologists that would reassure the world that Barack Hussein Obama does not have a mental disorder rendering him incompetent to make rational decisions.

Perhaps this suggestion would be taken more seriously if made by a highly credentialed psychologist rather than an elderly veteran of WW II and Korea. One way or another, there is a critical need to have at least three professionally recognized psychologists willing to publicly declare that Obama is, or is not pathologically narcissistic and incapable of accepting criticism without serious detriment to his judgment.

My suggestion is based upon this basic definition of Narcissism:
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Obama Needs a Psychologist”


Important Stories in the News

-By Vince Johnson

October 14, 2009 – Aumsville, Oregon – Vince Johnson has temporarily vacated retirement to bring you up to date on what will be happening in the next couple years:

1). Congress will pass a Health Insurance Reform Act and within three years after its passage, all existing health insurance providers will be replaced by a government controlled health insurance program. The elite media will applaud this reality and explain that this outcome was inevitable because the majority of Americans lack sufficient education and initiative to resolve this issue on their own. The people will therefore gratefully accept the supreme wisdom of Congress with feeble complaint and the politicians will find it convenient to ignore any questions requiring an intelligent response.

2). The war in Afghanistan will continue without the addition of an adequate number of U.S. troops because the inner conscience of one who won the 2009 Nobel Peace Prize for indecisively allowing the war to continue indefinitely, is honor bound to remain indecisive as long as it takes.
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Important Stories in the News”


Revised apathey to dependence‏

-By Vince Johnson

There is an interesting opinion making the rounds that I believe precisely describes the realities of the current state of affairs.  There is  an issue as to who wrote it and when it was written but there is  no doubt in my mind that these words accurately describe what is happening in America today

A democracy is always temporary in nature; it simply cannot exist as a permanent form of government. A democracy will continue to exist up until the time that voters discover that they can vote themselves generous gifts from the public treasury. From that moment on, the majority always votes for the candidates who promise the most benefits from the public treasury, with the result that every democracy will finally collapse due to loose fiscal policy, which is always followed by a dictatorship.

The average age of the world’s greatest civilizations from the beginning of history, has been about 200 years. During those 200 years, these nations always progressed through the following sequence:
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Revised apathey to dependence‏”


From Apathy to Dependence‏

-By Vince Johnson

There is an interesting opinion making the rounds that I believe precisely describes the realities of the current state of affairs.  There is  an issue as to who wrote it and when it was written but there is  no doubt in my mind that these words accurately describe what is happening in America today

A democracy is always temporary in nature; it simply cannot exist as a permanent form of government. A democracy will continue to exist up until the time that voters discover that they can vote themselves generous gifts from the public treasury. From that moment on, the majority always votes for the candidates who promise the most benefits from the public treasury, with the result that every democracy will finally collapse due to loose fiscal policy, which is always followed by a dictatorship.

The average age of the world’s greatest civilizations from the beginning of history, has been about 200 years. During those 200 years, these nations always progressed through the following sequence:
 
From bondage to spiritual faith; 
From spiritual faith to great courage; 
From courage to liberty; 
From liberty to abundance; 
From abundance to complacency; 
From complacency to apathy; 
From apathy to dependence; 
From dependence back into bondage

Oddly enough, most commentary on this has to do with who actually wrote it and when it actually written.  To me it doesn’t matter.  We have reached the point where we vote for the candidates that will give us “the most benefits from the public treasury.”  At the moment I believe we are at the “apathy to dependence” phase. 

There is no true outrage when executives of companies who received billions in bailouts use much of our money to cover multi-million dollar bonuses.  There is no true outrage when we borrow trillions from our children without their knowledge and without their approval.  These are actions that destroy much more than they will ever save.  And the destruction phase is just beginning. 

What we are doing to our children’s future is unforgivable.  The least we can do is try to warn them.
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From Apathy to Dependence‏”


ATTENTION: ALL HIGH SCHOOL CLASSES OF 2010

-By Vince Johnson

As of August 3, 2009 each senior in High School owes me over $210,977!

If you doubt this, show these numbers to your teacher, or your Senator, or your Representative in the House. Ask them to tell you where it is inaccurate or misleading:
GAO estimate of unfunded liabilities to cover Social Security, Medicare, etc. $53,000,000,000,000. (Trillions) Add the National Debt currently at $11,700,000,000,000 (Trillions)

These add to $64,700,000,000,000 trillion.

Divide by 306,668,748 (estimated population of the US)

And you get $210,977 the amount of money Congress has borrowed directly out of your future. If there are 50 students in your class the total owed by all would be $ 10,548,850! (Millions!) It does not matter that this was done without your knowledge or permission.

What matters is that you will pay for this even if it is immoral to borrow money from kids without their approval.

What also matters is the fact that if you refuse to pay your share, you can be fined or sent to prison or both. Congress has passed laws that make this possible, so be advised: DO NOT COMPLAIN. Be prepared to do your duty and make your tax payments promptly and try to understand that this generation made a huge mistake. We elected politicians on what they promised rather than what they delivered.

All high school seniors should be forewarned that their future is going to be radically different than it was the first 17 years of their lives. Your taxes will be an excessive burden as long as you live!
If you agree, please print and post or pass along to a high school senior.
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ATTENTION: ALL HIGH SCHOOL CLASSES OF 2010″


Changing Realities – New Taxes in the Works

-By Vince Johnson

Don’t be surprised if you find that the FDA and HEW are working on new tax recommendations, like those listed below:

  1. Fast Food Tax on any food prepared for immediate consumption because most of it is artery clogging and has calorie levels that are dangerously high and thereby increase health care costs.
  2. Disposable Container & Utensil Tax collected at any restaurant or retail food outlet selling edibles in any kind of disposable utensil or container (This to help pay expense of landfill operations.)
  3. Extra Surtax paid by customers who purchase Take-Out Foods. (This to discourage wasting gasoline and substantially reducing emissions of unhealthy exhaust fumes in the area adjacent to where innocent people are consuming food.)
  4. Reduced benefits for health care services provided to those suffering from ailments and conditions caused by various factors such as overeating, aging, unapproved eating habits, exposure to stress levels considered excessive by the Surgeon General, and others as specified in the Health Reform Act. These would include obesity, having cholesterol levels and blood pressure readings that are higher than approved, Type II Diabetes, certain types of gastric disorders, and others to be determined by HEW and the FDA. (This to reduce costs of medications, treatment and therapy which should be reserved for the more deserving and younger patients as determined by agencies as authorized by the Health Reform Act.)
  5. Surtax on all clothing big enough to fit an obese consumer. This would be any male with a waist over 36 inches and any non-pregnant female with a waist over 34 inches.
  6. License to certify consumer can buy large size clothing tax free due to reasons other than over-eating such as glandular disorders, genetic flaws, etc. provided they have been officially diagnosed by physicians certified by the Health Reform Act. This license would be obtainable from the Department of Health, Education and Welfare.
  7. Unhealthy Food Tax paid by consumer at any retail outlet for all foods processed for preparation and serving in home kitchens having ingredients determined to be unhealthful by the Surgeon General. This to encourage removal of various additives and preservatives as well as high calorie natural sweeteners such as corn syrup and sugar as well as synthetic sweeteners such as sold as Equal and Sweet and Low.
  8. Second Language Tax on any food product sold where the Nutrition Data section on the product label is not imprinted in Spanish as well as English. (This to reduce ailments by making this vital information available to all, and thereby reduce illnesses resulting from lack of nutrition information.)

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Changing Realities – New Taxes in the Works”


Open letter to President Obama:

-By Vince Johnson

Dear Mr. President,

As a parent and grandparent, I urgently suggest that you prepare a special address to the thousands of High School seniors in the graduating Class of 2009. The purpose of this address would be two-fold.

1. Review the following in a clear and straightforward manner: According to official statements made by the Government Accountability Office, U.S Budget Watch, U.S. Office of Budget and Management, each Student’s share of the National Debt is $36,667 and rising. Add in $56 trillion for the unfunded entitlements (Social Security, Medicare, etc.) and you get a total commitment of $67.2 trillion or $220,409 per each American citizen including around 33 million kids under the age of 18.
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Open letter to President Obama:”

Dear American Kids: You OWE!!

-By Vince Johnson

This is my second effort (To get a response from the Peter G. Peterson Foundation)

On December 12, 2008 I wrote the Peter G. Peterson Foundation suggesting that they consider a full page ad based on the “Uncle Sam” concept ad which is enclosed. As yet, they have not responded. After re-reading their Mission Statement, I felt they might be receptive to a second effort. Their Mission Statement is repeated below:
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How Did the U.S. Senate Bail Out it’s Own Restaurants?

-By Vince Johnson

The U.S. Senate operates four restaurants with dining rooms in the Capitol Building and the Dirksen, Russell and Hart Senate Office buildings. The U.S. Senate Restaurants have been in business over 44 years and have been profitable for only 7 of them. According to the 2007 Financial Audit issued by the GAO (Government Accounting Office) these 4 restaurants operated at a $1,340,637 loss in fiscal 2007.

Some items from the Fiscal 2007 audit merit comment:

Gross Income $6,065,198 (After Cost of Food & Beverages @ 39.5% Sales)  
Total Operating Expense: $7,405,835  
Total Losses for Fiscal 2007 $1,340,637

Operating expense included the following:

Personnel and benefits $6,808,654 (Exceeds Gross Income by $743,456)  
Supplies and materials $561,001  
Miscellaneous $36,180  
Total Operating Expense $7,405,835

2007 Assets included $224,108 for china, glassware, silverware, and tableware.  
2007 Employee benefits came to $1,893,468  
2007 Cost of Food & Beverages came to $3,477,705  

Certain major business expenses appear nowhere in the audit. These include occupancy. No rent. No lease. No mortgage. No property taxes. Not ever!
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Christmas Letter from Ebenezer

-By Vince Johnson

I had to pay thirty-nine cents “Postage Due” in order to get it. Here it is, word for word:

Dear Vince:

If you tell the world the whole truth about me, you will have a scoop like the New York Times and the Washington Post dream about. My name is Ebenezer Scrooge and most people think I’m a fictional character in a Christmas story dreamed up by Charles Dickens back in 1843. According to the story, I was a miserly, penny pinching grump. That part is true. It is also true that I was mean and stingy with my employee, Bob Cratchit, who had a crippled son named Tiny Tim.

For some strange reason, Mr. Dickens decided that I changed from my natural mean spirited ways into a kindly and benevolent soul. This transformation supposedly happened when the ghost of Jacob Marley appeared in one of my dreams. Jacob was my partner who died in 1836. He was just as miserly as me and according to the story he came back to warn me to change my ways or suffer greatly in the afterlife.
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Grandiose Double Dipping Flip Flap

-By Vince Johnson

What percentage of the U.S. population understands the language used by those assigned to the task of getting our economy back on course? Take this quick test and you’ll see what I’m driving at:

Q: What does “PWG” stand for? A: President’s Working Group on Financial Markets.  
Q: When was the “PWG” established? A: Undetermined. Best guess is “recently”.  
Q: What authority does the “PWG” have? A: Undetermined.  
Q: What is an “Initiative to strengthen OTC Derivatives Oversight and Infrastructure”? A: Huh? Duh!  
Q: What is a “Credit Default Swap Central Counterparty”? A: Grandiose double-dipping-flip-flap if I ever heard it.

The above questions are based upon a News Released issued by the U.S. Department of Treasury on November 14, 2008. The first three paragraphs are quoted below. If you want the full text let me know and I’ll send it. You can also get to it using Google with key words “U.S. Department of Treasury News Releases”.
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Post Election Blahs

-By Vince Johnson

Blah #1. Now that the election is over I’m wondering what the News Industry will use to keep their journalists busy. Those reporters who were asked to take early retirement will probably follow Joe Biden around just in case someone asks him a question. They will do this out of habit and an inborn drive to come up with a scoop.

Blah #2. My understanding of the word “enormous” reached new heights when I read the autobiography of William F. Buckley, Jr. I refer to the awesome dimensions of his ego, of course. Despite the vastness, it had something that attracted thoughtful appreciation. Perhaps it was a twinkle from a group of his ordinary genes wishing they could come out of hiding and mingle with the rest of us.

Blah #3. For sixty years whenever I heard the word “scrambled” I always thought of eggs This all changed when the media focused so much attention upon Joe Biden’s untiring efforts to outdo Dan Quayle.
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Time to Accentuate the Positive

-By Vince Johnson

You can count me among the 56 million who voted for McCain, but you can’t count me among those who allowed any degree of disappointment to last more than an hour or so. Obama won, that’s reality. Anything else is like drifting around in dreamland. It is time to get on with life and one way to do it is expressed very nicely in a song composed sixty-four years ago.
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What Happened to Reality?

-By Vince Johnson

When I was a kid, banks focused upon finding ways to get people to stash a little of their money into a savings account. The idea was basic. If you wanted something, you saved up and bought it. That sort of reality no longer exists. The banks of today want people to borrow money instead of saving it. The ability to actually make the payments is incidental. What counts is a signature on the loan documents. The loans are sold to larger financial institutions, and when they (the larger financial institutions) get in trouble, arrangements are made to have Congress bail them out. That may not be the way it ought to be, but that’s the way it is.

As you can readily see, reality is imploding right before your eyes. Ordinary folks can invest in stocks, bonds, CD’s, real estate, their own businesses, education, precious metals and real things like that. Financial institutions and insurance companies, etc. have found it much more lucrative to invest in intangibles like political influence over Congress and billions for advertising programs designed to encourage people to have cars and houses and vacations and boats and TV’s and computers etc., by using credit rather than cash.
Continue reading “What Happened to Reality?”

What Happened to Reality?

-By Vince Johnson

When I was a kid, banks focused upon finding ways to get people to stash a little of their money into a savings account. The idea was basic. If you wanted something, you saved up and bought it. That sort of reality no longer exists. The banks of today want people to borrow money instead of saving it. The ability to actually make the payments is incidental. What counts is a signature on the loan documents. The loans are sold to larger financial institutions, and when they (the larger financial institutions) get in trouble, arrangements are made to have Congress bail them out. That may not be the way it ought to be, but that’s the way it is.

As you can readily see, reality is imploding right before your eyes. Ordinary folks can invest in stocks, bonds, CD’s, real estate, their own businesses, education, precious metals and real things like that. Financial institutions and insurance companies, etc. have found it much more lucrative to invest in intangibles like political influence over Congress and billions for advertising programs designed to encourage people to have cars and houses and vacations and boats and TV’s and computers etc., by using credit rather than cash.
Continue reading “What Happened to Reality?”

THIS TOPIC IS OFF LIMITS!

-By Vince Johnson

cc: The Jump$tart Coalition for Financial Literacy for Youth – 919 18th St. NW, 3rd Floor, Washington, DC 20006

The “topic” that no one in America will discuss has to do with what we adults are doing to our children. We are doing it without their approval or consent. Politicians are careful to never mention it. We have devised all kinds of gimmicks to divert their attention. We spend billions developing games and movies of the most violent nature we can conceive. We have loosened discipline in schools in a manner that encourages kids to engage in perverse diversions like drugs, edgy tattoos, body metal, too much teen pregnancy and disgusting fads that focus attention on belly buttons and snuggy jeans worn far too low.

Whether or not this laxity in discipline is by design or the result of overwhelmed school systems does not matter. What matters is that we are all aware of it and we are not sufficiently motivated to do anything about it. We have led the kids to believe that the teachers answer to the principal. That the principal answers to the superintendent. That the superintendent answers to the Board of Education. That the Board of Education answers to the parents. That the parents answer to their children. And therefore, the kids are not required to be answerable to anybody!
Continue reading “THIS TOPIC IS OFF LIMITS!”

Ordinary Folks Are Never Welcomed Here

-By Vince Johnson

 
Greystone Mansion, Beverly Hills, California – Obama Fund Raising Dinner for two $57,000 – Served Tuesday, September 16, 2008

 
Beverly Wilshire Hotel – Where Barbra Streisand performed Tuesday, September 16, 2008 – $5,000 per couple

Some very wealthy people had a party on Tuesday, September 9, 2008. Ordinary folks could not attend because the event was by invitation only and the fee was set at $28,500 per person! After the gourmet dining at the Greystone Mansion was over and the final toasts were orated, Barbra Streisand sang songs at a private concert held at the Beverly Wilshire. The cost to be present during her performance was $2,500 per person.

This means the affair was $62,000 per couple which is enough to more than cover the average salary of an experienced school teacher for an entire year. The proceeds from the event ($9 million) were given to the Barack Obama’s campaign.

Candidates often ask ordinary folks like you and me to send in $25 to $50 dollars or more. We never get invited to a party at a fancy mansion and many of us cannot afford to attend a Barbra Streisand “event” no matter where it might occur. The elite media treated this story with words that are very complimentary to all involved. I wonder how they would handle it if John McCain did the same thing?

Continue reading “Ordinary Folks Are Never Welcomed Here”

The First Rule of True Journalism

-By Vince Johnson

There was some minor media attention given to Ferraro’s qualifications when Walter Mondale selected her for his running mate in the 1984 Presidential Race. The Reagan/Bush ad campaigns treated her candidacy with caution based on a common sense strategy to avoid offending America’s women voters as well as an obvious need to avoid any mainstream backlash that might be generated by smear tactics.

Geraldine Ferraro – quick resume 
BA in English at 21  
Passed NY State Bar at 26  
Queen County DA staff at 39  
U.S. House of Representatives at 43  
Democratic Nominee for VP at 49  
Inducted into the National Of National Women’s Hall of Fame at 59

Back in 1984 there was ample opportunity to sling a lot of mud. During her campaign for VP, it was discovered that Ferarro’s husband, *John Zaccaro, was involved with some Income Tax issues. The media covered this news in a far more reasonable and professional manner than we see today.

On the other hand, anything that might indicate Sara Palin (nee Sarah Louise Heath) is not qualified to be VP gets intense examination. Example: In a recent interview on ABC News, Charles Gibson asked Palin if she had an opinion about “The Bush Doctrine” and she asked, “In what respect Charlie?” He acted like a bored teacher with a stupid student when he recited his definition of the “Bush Doctrine.” I will not embarrass Mr. Gibson by quoting the brief definition he recited. Instead, I will cite internet’s Wikipedia: “Jacob Weisberg, a political journalist, identifies six successive ‘Bush Doctrines’ in his book The Bush Tragedy, while former Bush staffer Peter D. Feaver has counted seven.” I am astounded that in posing this question, Mr. Gibson did not observe the first rule of journalism: CHECK THE SOUCE! Please note that in this case, the unchecked source is an intellectually pretentious assumption fabricated by Charles Gibson himself.
Continue reading “The First Rule of True Journalism”

The Final Daze of the Elite Media?

-By Vince Johnson

The inconsistencies we are seeing in the elite news media are disturbing.

Mention of Obama’s connection to Islam is considered lacking in news value and not a factor to consider during the 2008 Presidential Race. Obama has not denied that his father was a Muslim, that he spent time in Mosques, and that his name is more readily associated with Islam than Christianity. Despite the world wide presence of Islam, the elite news media accepted this without further ado and has moved on.

On the other hand, the elite news media has focused upon Sara Palin’s connection with a Pentecostal Church in a small Alaskan town and her degree from the little known University of Idaho. They hint that these realities indicate background might not be appropriate for the office of Vice President of the United States!
Continue reading “The Final Daze of the Elite Media?”

Some Endorsements Worth Review

-By Vince Johnson

Since Sarah Palin was nominated for Vice President my E-mail has been overloaded with negative and caustic commentary about both McCain and Palin. My response is herewith respectfully submitted.

Back in July 2008, Obama was proud to accept the endorsement of John Edwards. I can’t fault Obama for never mentioning this fact once since the day Edwards denied being the father of a baby born by a woman he was dating while his wife was battling breast cancer.

Jesse Jackson and Bill Clinton have endorsed Barack Obama. This is one endorsement I am absolutely certain that neither Palin nor McCain would object to.

Continue reading “Some Endorsements Worth Review”