Category: General

There has been much criticism around the world of what the Israel Defense Force is doing in Gaza. Our Secretary of Defense, John Kerry, is one of those critics. In two words, the critics should “ZIP IT!”
I cannot imagine what we would be doing in this country if thousands of rockets were being launched from Mexico into the United States. I think it would take about 5 minutes before our military would attack whomever and where ever launching would be happening. Israel has every right to seek out tunnels, people, rockets, and anything else that poses a threat to the people of that nation. They should not stop until all of the threat is destroyed. We wouldn’t.
No one wants innocents to perish. The problem is that Hamas is in control of that. All that would have happen is for the rockets to stop, the kidnappings to end, the tunneling to be collapsed, and the weapons to be melted down. Hamas has one goal: the destruction of Isreal. That is not going to happen.
The United States of America needs to quit mealy mouthing the situation and stand clearly and firmly with Israel. Period.

There was a panel of talking heads on Fox News discussing the Mexican border mess. To a person, they severely criticized our vacationing “President” for lack of leadership. Obama is becoming so non-presidential it is cause for deep concern among people who do care about the United States of America and its government of, by, and for the people (allegedly).
The flood of people crossing the border must stop. We are told most are from south of Mexico and that they ride trains from the southern Mexican border north to the United States border where they easily cross. How about sending a couple of drones down the rail lines into southern Mexico and taking a couple of pot shots at the tracks the trains run on. This would put a quick and serious halt to train traffic. Of course, Mexico would not like this much, but at this point they are doing nothing but facilitating transit of people; so who cares what they might think or do. Are they going to invade us? Hardly.
One of these days, people who are terrorists in disguise will be among the crowd making it into the United States. It may take another catastrophe like 9/11 to get action.
Now we hear that in addition to the people crossing, they bring all sorts of diseases along with them like tuberculosis, scabies, chicken pox, and who knows what else; maybe even Ebola. And we are scattering people all over the country without health checks. If the illegal had a phone number with them, we are making the call for pickup. We do not even check the identity or legality of those doing the picking up.
Honestly, I think we may have gone insane. We are on a very self destructive path. If we don’t secure the border — and that means slam it shut — soon, it will be too late.

In the days following 9/11, the world paused in grief and in honoring those who died in the collapse of the twin towers, at the Pentagon, and in a field in Pennsylvania. Now grief flowing from the blowing out of the sky of the Malaysian plane is palpable. The world grieves. There were people from many countries on that flight. Almost 200 were from the Netherlands. Bodies are now gradually being brought back to their homelands.
The passengers on that tragic flight included several from the United States of America. There are many in our country that feel the grief of the families of those who died from not only the USA but from around the world. That is, all but our President. He does not even have the decency to stop business as usual. He, today, is off to California for several fund raisers for the Democratic Party. He and the Party should be ashamed. Our country is better than that. It is too bad that our one most important leader is not.
I cannot wait for the time when he no longer holds the office of the Presidency. It cannot come soon enough.

I just took a hard look at a World Atlas. Allegedly, the flood of illegal alien “children” is coming from Guatemala, Honduras, Nicaragua, and El Salvador. In looking at the Atlas, it is crystal clear that the distance to Costa Rica (right next door), Panama, Columbia, Venezuela, Ecuador, and even Peru is less than to the United States. And all of these countries speak Spanish, the native language of most of the illegal aliens crossing the southern United States border. If the claim that poverty and crime are the driving forces for emigration from the four countries mentioned, one has to wonder why the flood is not going south as well as north. I think the belief is the United States is the land of  milk and honey. And everything is free. Otherwise why not “flee” to other countries as well. The closest country north is MEXICO. What are they doing to care for the “children” or stop them from coming north? 

It seems to me that MEXICO is a giant problem. They are acting as a highway north. It is time for that to stop. We do have leverage on MEXICO. Use it. The stopping should be at the southern MEXICAN border, not the southern US border.

And, by the way, time for the US Marine in jail in MEXICO to come home, too. Obama seems to have done nothing about this either. He is busy on Martha’s Vineyard playing golf.

This is a good one. The Supreme Court has spoken!

If you watched the news in the past couple of days, you have seen hundreds of mostly young men on top of train cars. The trains are carrying the young men from Central American countries through Mexico to the United States border by the thousands. The only response from President Barack Obama is to ask for $3.7 billion dollars to hire more judges and create more “detention” centers. We don’t hear anything about using the money to move military to the border to stop the flow of people.
One story showed Governor Rick Perry (Texas) on a gun boat on the Rio Grande river. The United States does know how to use gun boats. We used them by the hundreds in Viet Nam to patrol rivers. More are needed along with the manpower to run them. We also learned that the Border Patrol usually operates some 40-50 miles inside the United States from the border. What????? They have engaged in apprehension rather than prevention of crossing in the first place. So, more fence, drones, gun boats, airplanes, and boots on the ground are needed to stop what is happening. Perry has remained calm and reasonable. I don’t know why he is not angry as hell about what is happening to Texas.
We have enough problems in the United States without thousands of uneducated, illegal aliens flooding into the country. We have our own to feed, clothe, and find employment for. We need to get our own house in order.
The pressure for more and more immigration into countries less populated and better off economically will only continue to get greater and greater as the world’s population increases. If we do not control our borders and reduce rather than increase allowed immigration, it will be another race to the bottom.
 
 

Representative Todd Rokita, Indiana’s 4^th District Congressman, is opposed to mandatory labeling of genetically engineered foods (GMOs). The safety of the food on your table may be at stake.

Rep. Rokita became a co-sponsor of House Bill 4432 on June 24^th, 2014. This bill is titled, “Safe and Accurate Food Labeling Act of 2014”, by those who oppose labeling and titled, “Denying Americans the Right-to-Know Act (DARK)” by those who favor labeling. Mandatory labeling of GMO foods is required in over 60 countries worldwide, but not in the United States. Mandatory labeling is and has been aggressively opposed by such as Monsanto, Syngenta, Dow Chemical, DuPont, Bayer Crop Science, and the Grocery Manufacturers Association. The Grocery Manufacturers Association includes nearly all of the companies that supply food products for the middle aisles of your grocery store, except those labeled “Non-GMO” or “Organic”.

Vermont recently passed mandatory GMO labeling legislation. The Grocery Manufacturers Association, with others, has filed a law suit against Vermont to block implementation of their labeling law. Vermont plans to fight.

BUT, if House Bill 4432 is passed and eventually becomes law, no state will be permitted to require GMO food labeling. That authority would be only in the hands of the federal government. This is just where big chemical/seed and food manufacturers want the authority. The federal government has not, so far, acted in favor of labeling which is why efforts in a multitude of states to require labeling have been so numerous. People are concerned about the food they put on their tables.

There are two arguments. The first is whether the public has the right to know how food is produced and what is in it or on it. This should be a no brainer. The public should know everything. No secrets.

The second argument is whether GMO foods are different from non-GMO foods. Current federal regulations say not, but there are many in the scientific community that do not agree. There are remaining disturbing questions about the long term safety of genetically engineered foods and the pesticides typically used with them.

Again, there are over 60 countries worldwide that require labeling of GMO foods. Why should we be the only ones in the dark? The answer is that big chemical/seed and big food want us to be. Representative Todd Rokita sides with them.

Oh, I know…. some do not like the word, “aliens”, but this is a word directly from federal law. Sugar coating to some other word does not change facts.
The news is reporting the United States southern border (the one with MEXICO) is being inundated with minors trying to cross into the United States illegally. Already, thousands have been rounded up and taken to camps in the United States. I don’t know whether to call them detention centers, refuge camps, or first step camps to being free in the United States. It depends upon whom is talking. Whatever they are called, it is clear that citizens in the states most affected are getting pretty angry; and rightly so.
This situation cannot continue. The United States cannot become the repository of the world’s people who do not like living in their home country for whatever reason. It seems to me it is the responsibility of home countries to fix themselves rather than be launching pads for people headed for the United States. About all other countries of the developed world have no problem with securing their borders. The problematic one for the United States is the MEXICAN border. Always has been. We now have over an estimated 11 million illegal aliens living in the United States, mostly from MEXICO. The current flood includes MEXICANS and people from countries south of MEXICO in Central America. Mexico has become the highway from Central America to the United States border.
Now it is being reported that about 3/4th of the children crossing the border have a phone number in their pocket. Upon “processing”, the phone number is being used to call people to pick up one or more of the children. No questions are being ask as to the legal status of those called. What!
The simple answer to all of this is to secure our southern border. Slam it tightly shut with whatever it takes. Then let through only those we determine have legitimate reasons to be in the United States under the law…… and it should not take several years to determine this.
In the work that I do, I am in many smaller communities in Indiana. I would have to be blind not to notice that the percentage of the population in most of those communities that is Hispanic has increased significantly. As I drive through those cities and towns, I often wonder how many of the folks I see are United States citizens and how many are illegal aliens. Just wondering. I have a hunch that once in the United States, many illegal aliens will seek out smaller communities in which to reside fully knowing that the chance of being apprehended there is much lower than in more populated places.
So, shut the border, require employers to verify citizenship or legal status (E-Verify), and empower local law enforcement to help identify people in the United States illegally. Simple and effective remedies to a ridiculous problem. Those known to be in the US illegally must be required to depart. The only rights they should have are to return to their home country and seek US entry legally. Period. And, again, it should not take years to make a determination of legal status.
As to the “children” flooding the border, they should be promptly returned to their countries of origin. No questions asked and no consideration given. Humanely treated while here and en route home; that is it. We cannot fix the world.

Last evening there was a program on MSNBC that really caught my attention. I have to say up front that I am not a fan of MSNBC. I believe that network to be a mouthpiece of the far political left; a member of which I sure am not. However, when channel hopping, a program stopped me.
The program was called, “Hubris — Selling the Iraq War”. It was based upon a book by the same name. I will be purchasing this book.
If even half of what was presented during the program and attributed to the book was true; George Bush II, Dick Cheney, Donald Rumsfeld, Paul Wolfowitz, Condoleezza Rice, and Colin Powell should all be in jail. They were traitors to the United States. They took this country into a war through lies and deception. The cost was billions of dollars and the lives of thousands. Many of our warriors were killed and others maimed so badly that their quality of life will be forever damaged. And this says nothing about the over 100,000 Iraqis who lost their lives and the over 6 billion dollars that was “lost” and has never been accounted for.
Now the results of our intrusion into the Middle East are coming home to roost. Iraq is in total chaos. Islamic radicals gained stature and power in the Middle East pushing against Western ways. This goes back a long time into colonial days when European powers carved up territory in the Middle East at whim. It did not and does not work. The United States cannot now fix what we went a long way to break.
Our only real interest in the Middle East has been and is OIL. If there was zero oil there, we would have about as much interest as we did in Rwanda or now have in parts of Africa or Asia. If there are no resources to exploit, we have no interest, really. Always been that way and always will be. We are not the world’s policeman. It is up to others to manage their own countries. Oh, we may posture like we are the superior ones in power and ideals but it is smoke and mirrors. That may not have been at one time in history, but it has proven to be so now.
It is time for us to come home. We have enough problems in this country. We are broke. We finance everything we do on debt. We have our own to feed and clothe. Yes, we must do what is necessary to keep our nation safe, but it is time for other countries to step up to the plate for their own security. Where is India or China or Russia or the European Union or Japan or Australia….. forget about Africa who has no really stable country except for South Africa with limited armed forces.
The slope down is a slippery one… and we seem to be headed down it.

The Kokomo Tribune today reported that Indiana has filed an appeal with the United States Court of Appeals in Chicago to stop same-sex marriage in Indiana. The Indiana law banning same-sex marriage had been declared unconstitutional by a federal judge several days before. Many same-sex couples were married on Wednesday, Thursday, and Friday last week following the unconstitutional declaration from federal court.
The appeal is smoke and mirrors…. and a gross waste of taxpayer money. It has become crystal clear that the opposition to same-sex marriage has become impotent. A United States Court of Appeals for the 10th Circuit in Denver which consists of a 3-judge panel earlier last week declared same-sex couples have a fundamental right to wed. This upheld a lower court ruling that had nullified law in Utah that banned same-sex marriage.
The whole issue will wind up in the hands of the United States Supreme Court. Several states have said they will continue appeals until that happens. There is no doubt where this will end. Marriage for each person will be declared a right whether one wishes to marry a person of the opposite or same gender. The only folks that will gain from this whole fiasco will be the attorneys. The end point is inevitable.
Certainly, it is the right of any religious faith not to allow “marriage” ceremonies within their own denomination or faith. No one would question that. However, for those who choose to ban same-sex marriage, it is not the right of religions to dictate to others what they permit or don’t. The biggest issue in this country seems to come from the more fundamentalist religious Christian right. Several Christian denominations other than those already marry persons of the same gender. It is time for all to recognize that religious belief of one does not mean belief for all. In the United States, there is separation of church (dogma) and state. All persons are to be treated equally under the law.