Getting It Right - Say "Merry Christmas" Loud and Clearly Every Chance You Get Christians across the nation need to unite and fight the growing secular progressive influence in our society.
By Sid Riley
This column presents a conservative viewpoint about items of interest in our community and our lives. Focus is on items impacting your pocket book, your personal freedoms, and your rights. I hope you will read the column regularly and it occasionally influences your opinions and actions. Now, on to the subject of the week:
"The liberal secular progressive movement is steadily working to erode the basic Christian foundation of our nation."
The far left liberal secular progressive movement is steadily and significantly impacting our society as they use our own laws as effective weapons against the Judean-Christian foundations of our government, our families, and our society. It is important that all religions in the United States of America recognize the presence of this anti-religious movement, and actively work to expose and resist the growing impact this atheistic attack is having on our country.
Using a multi-pronged onslaught which includes the ultra liberal ACLU to fight their legal battles, the brainwashing of our children on liberal college campuses by liberal educators, and using the constant bombardment of liberalism from the liberal media to sound their horns of protest, they collectively work against the religious foundations of our society at every opportunity. Out of fear of losing the votes of their constituency, out of fear of being sued, and out of fear of negative publicity, our bureaucracy and elected officials often respond to their demands.
It is this influence that has led to the increasing hesitation of many "politically correct" people to use the phrase of "Merry Christmas" when greeting a friend or a crowd. Many retail stores have removed all "Merry Christmas" signs and substituted "Happy Holidays". Even the bell ringers for the Salvation Army Christmas Fund have been expelled from several malls and store fronts because of their impact.
The Governor of the state Washington recently allowed a religion demeaning, atheistic display to be placed on State property. This display proclaimed that religion was a sham, there is no God, and people who follow and believe in religion are fools. Throughout the nation, various government boards, commissions, and officials have made the decision to ban nativity scenes from being displayed on any public property, and have discontinued the use of ‘Christmas" and begun to use such meaningless terms as "winter festival", "winterfest", and "holiday season".
These same liberal groups have impacted our society by substituting a "Big Brother" mentality into expanding our laws so that parents can no longer physically punish their children, young girls can have abortions without the system letting their parents know about it, our schools can teach evolution but can not mention creationism, and birth control pills and condoms can be given to our daughters and sons without our knowledge. This group promotes abortions and condones the horrible practice of "partial birth" abortion.
This same group has used our rights in the legal system to create a process where the interest of the criminal is put ahead of the needs of the victim. The process of requiring absolute correctness in every minute step of arrest, investigation, trial and conviction has made it almost impossible for law enforcement and prosecution to obtain a conviction in the courts because of evidence being disallowed or thrown out. Liberal judges are prevalent in the system due to lifetime appointments made by the liberal politicians who appointed liberal judges. Then a system of appeal after appeal after re-appeal all combine to bog down the system, inflate costs to the public, and effectively ruin the court system.
The steady brainwashing from this liberal secular progressive group has moved our society away from traditional family structures and values. We now casually accept out of wedlock births, premarital sex, males and females living together, …to a point where almost 50% of all children born in the US each year are illegitimate births, with no formal marriage of parents and definition of responsibilities for raising the child. Why worry? "Big Brother" will help raise them.
Millions of children are raised by mothers and/or grandmothers, with no father on the scene. With this type of family structure for guidance of our youth, how can we expect anything but a declining level of scholastic achievement in our society, increasing crime and use of drugs, and an amoral outlook on relationships. It all stems from the secular progressive liberals who now have a huge wedge of influence over our congress and President.
So, when you hear someone or see a retail store cleverly using the phrase "Happy Holidays", or "Season’s Greetings" instead of proclaiming "MERRY CHRISTMAS", walk out of the store after getting in their face and telling them of your disgust, or reply loudly with a resounding "MERRY CHRISTMAS YOU LIBERAL FREAK"! Do this and you will be "Getting It Right"!
Rudiments- Odds and Ends Worth Mentioning:
● Our great U.S. Congress in that ant hill of Washington incompetence just voted itself a big, hefty pay raise using our tax dollars for themselves in a desperate economy. Effective January 1 they will receive a $4700.00 pay increase, raising their base pay from $169,300 per year to $174,000 per year. They criticize CEO’s in the private sector for taking huge salaries when their company is failing…can’t they see the hypocrisy in what they are doing? How many of the incumbents did you vote to reelect?
● Caroline Kennedy has decided to seek the Senate seat vacated by Hillary. I read one excellent comment on the possibility of her becoming a Senator. The article stated that in America we are supposed to have no royalty, and no royal families. So if Princess Caroline Kennedy wants to be a Senator she should have to compete for it just like anyone else.
● It is Christmas. Please love your God, your nation, and your family. Then take time to express your love to them all. Do this, and you will be "Getting It Right".
Note: The opinions stated in this column are solely those of the author and do not represent those of Hatcher Publications.
Wednesday, December 24, 2008
Thursday, December 18, 2008
Getting It Right -12/18/08
Who Should We Blame? Which Party? Which Politicians?
By Sid Riley
This column presents a conservative viewpoint about items of interest in our community and our lives. Focus is on items impacting your pocket book, your personal freedoms, and your rights. I hope you will read the column regularly and it occasionally influences your opinions and actions. Now, on to the subject of the week:
"Everyone is looking for a scapegoat which we can collectively blame for the national economic crisis we face…Who should we blame?"
The answer- We should blame ourselves.
Over the past forty years we have elected, re-elected, and re-re-elected a tribe of under qualified, self enhancing, system playing, over spending, wasteful, special interest serving, socialistic, ego headed, pompous, perk taking, political party dominated, Washington beltway brainwashed Senators and Congressmen. We are all guilty of lowering our standards and playing these foolish games ourselves. As long as they were also "greasing our palms" and "bringing home the bacon", we were willing to look past their shortcomings.
We have been a nation of excesses, foolishly living beyond our means. It appears that we are now facing a day of reckoning. Financial and economic Armageddon is upon us!
In their panic to respond to the impending doomsday, our wise and learned legislators are clutching at straws trying to seek out solutions as institution after institution, industry after industry, and even bureaucracy after bureaucracy run out of funding. Amazingly, the artesian well of never ending flow of public tax dollars from which they have always drank to their fill, is beginning to dry up! This condition is threatening our basic concepts of capitalism and free enterprise.
What caused this dire situation? What were the major errors committed which contributed to this dilemma? Which political party is to blame? What basic concepts and philosophies led us astray? Which politicians can we blame the most?
I will leave thinking out the answers to those questions to the evaluation and research of the individual reader. However, I will list some of the failures and suspect causes that have helped us evolve to this condition.
● Which political party and/or politicians fostered and protected pro union legislation long after the union movement was no longer needed and only remained to lower productivity, discourage industry, and serve the greed of the workers and the union itself? These policies helped lead to the demise of our national electronics, textiles, steel, toy, automotive, and many other industries.
● Which political party and/or politicians constantly pushed the national minimum wage upward in a pretense to help the poor, underpaid worker while in fact these increases eventually led to the demise of their industry, their company, and their job? The politicians voted these increases into law in order to get the votes of the poor workers they were pretending to help.
● Which political party and/or politicians promoted and enacted poorly conceived international trade agreements such as NAFTA, GATT, and Most Favored Trade Status for China? These trade pacts were entered into under the banners of "global markets", "free trade", and "global economy". However, there were few requirements attached that would force these trading partners to play the game fairly, on a balanced playing field. As a result we "gave away the farm"…or better stated, we gave away all of our industries due to political foolishness and ineptness. (And possibly a lot of international bribery payments housed in Swiss bank accounts.)
● Which political party and/or politicians forced our banking industry through federal regulators to make inappropriate and unwise home loans to hundreds of thousands of minorities, under-qualified borrowers, in order to use the entire national banking system as a "social benefit" program, and thus earn the support and votes of this group?
● Which political party and/or politicians has historically created the laws and regulations that have made it impossible for our nation to move forward on a national energy policy which would greatly decrease our nations dependence on the turbulent Mideast for our energy? This would include who has made it impossible to increase use of nuclear energy, prohibited off shore drilling, prohibited drilling in Alaska, prohibited mining of oil shale in the West, made the use of our coal reserves impractical and has generally thwarted all efforts to develop alternate sources of energy? They did this in the mindless fervor of the "green" movement in order to get the voting endorsement and political donations of that special interest group.
● Which political party and/or politicians created and supported the costly, unsupervised, overly aggressive policies of the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and the Florida Department of Environmental Protection (FDEP)? These agencies have greatly increased the cost of doing business and have prohibited expansion and formation of businesses. Many of these have moved to locations out of our nation to escape this over regulation.
● Which political party and/or politicians have created a corporate taxation structure that ranks among the highest in the world? This high tax rate increases the out migration of our industries, and weakens those that remain.
● Which political party and/or politicians have defended and abused the legislative loophole that allows wasteful, special interest funding to be attached to bills sponsoring needed legislation, thus enabling the wasteful spending of billions of taxpayer dollars on unjustified projects? The use of the line item veto would stop this practice if our legislators would promote enactment of this concept.
I could continue with page after page of abuses, foolish and self serving legislation, and other instances where our elected officials have served the interest of special interest and lobby groups instead of the interest of the citizens of our nation. It is a sad story.
I quote from a statement made years ago by Alexander Tyler, a Scottish Professor at the University of Edinburg, "A democracy will continue to exist up until the time that voters discover they can vote themselves generous gifts from the public treasury."
"From that moment on, the majority always vote 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"
I would have to say…our politicians have not been "Getting It Right!"
Rudiments- Odds and Ends Worth Mentioning:
● It appears that some of the local and national media is on a "witch hunt" trying to incriminate the past practices at Dozier School. Dale Cox, area historian and frequent writer for this paper has finite records as to the source causes of the deaths of the unfortunate boys who died during a turn of the century dorm fire, and a terrible flu epidemic that followed a few years later. They have made a big deal out of the testimony from former clients who were whipped while interned there. Well, during those years every school principal was also giving frequent butt overhauls in his office since corporal punishment was used instead of pleading with the irreverent student to "please stop" or go to "time out", or calling a judge or the sheriff. That is why some teachers now resort to duct tape restraints out of desperation as they try to maintain order in their classrooms.
Note: The opinions stated in this column are solely those of the author and do not represent those of Hatcher Publications.
By Sid Riley
This column presents a conservative viewpoint about items of interest in our community and our lives. Focus is on items impacting your pocket book, your personal freedoms, and your rights. I hope you will read the column regularly and it occasionally influences your opinions and actions. Now, on to the subject of the week:
"Everyone is looking for a scapegoat which we can collectively blame for the national economic crisis we face…Who should we blame?"
The answer- We should blame ourselves.
Over the past forty years we have elected, re-elected, and re-re-elected a tribe of under qualified, self enhancing, system playing, over spending, wasteful, special interest serving, socialistic, ego headed, pompous, perk taking, political party dominated, Washington beltway brainwashed Senators and Congressmen. We are all guilty of lowering our standards and playing these foolish games ourselves. As long as they were also "greasing our palms" and "bringing home the bacon", we were willing to look past their shortcomings.
We have been a nation of excesses, foolishly living beyond our means. It appears that we are now facing a day of reckoning. Financial and economic Armageddon is upon us!
In their panic to respond to the impending doomsday, our wise and learned legislators are clutching at straws trying to seek out solutions as institution after institution, industry after industry, and even bureaucracy after bureaucracy run out of funding. Amazingly, the artesian well of never ending flow of public tax dollars from which they have always drank to their fill, is beginning to dry up! This condition is threatening our basic concepts of capitalism and free enterprise.
What caused this dire situation? What were the major errors committed which contributed to this dilemma? Which political party is to blame? What basic concepts and philosophies led us astray? Which politicians can we blame the most?
I will leave thinking out the answers to those questions to the evaluation and research of the individual reader. However, I will list some of the failures and suspect causes that have helped us evolve to this condition.
● Which political party and/or politicians fostered and protected pro union legislation long after the union movement was no longer needed and only remained to lower productivity, discourage industry, and serve the greed of the workers and the union itself? These policies helped lead to the demise of our national electronics, textiles, steel, toy, automotive, and many other industries.
● Which political party and/or politicians constantly pushed the national minimum wage upward in a pretense to help the poor, underpaid worker while in fact these increases eventually led to the demise of their industry, their company, and their job? The politicians voted these increases into law in order to get the votes of the poor workers they were pretending to help.
● Which political party and/or politicians promoted and enacted poorly conceived international trade agreements such as NAFTA, GATT, and Most Favored Trade Status for China? These trade pacts were entered into under the banners of "global markets", "free trade", and "global economy". However, there were few requirements attached that would force these trading partners to play the game fairly, on a balanced playing field. As a result we "gave away the farm"…or better stated, we gave away all of our industries due to political foolishness and ineptness. (And possibly a lot of international bribery payments housed in Swiss bank accounts.)
● Which political party and/or politicians forced our banking industry through federal regulators to make inappropriate and unwise home loans to hundreds of thousands of minorities, under-qualified borrowers, in order to use the entire national banking system as a "social benefit" program, and thus earn the support and votes of this group?
● Which political party and/or politicians has historically created the laws and regulations that have made it impossible for our nation to move forward on a national energy policy which would greatly decrease our nations dependence on the turbulent Mideast for our energy? This would include who has made it impossible to increase use of nuclear energy, prohibited off shore drilling, prohibited drilling in Alaska, prohibited mining of oil shale in the West, made the use of our coal reserves impractical and has generally thwarted all efforts to develop alternate sources of energy? They did this in the mindless fervor of the "green" movement in order to get the voting endorsement and political donations of that special interest group.
● Which political party and/or politicians created and supported the costly, unsupervised, overly aggressive policies of the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and the Florida Department of Environmental Protection (FDEP)? These agencies have greatly increased the cost of doing business and have prohibited expansion and formation of businesses. Many of these have moved to locations out of our nation to escape this over regulation.
● Which political party and/or politicians have created a corporate taxation structure that ranks among the highest in the world? This high tax rate increases the out migration of our industries, and weakens those that remain.
● Which political party and/or politicians have defended and abused the legislative loophole that allows wasteful, special interest funding to be attached to bills sponsoring needed legislation, thus enabling the wasteful spending of billions of taxpayer dollars on unjustified projects? The use of the line item veto would stop this practice if our legislators would promote enactment of this concept.
I could continue with page after page of abuses, foolish and self serving legislation, and other instances where our elected officials have served the interest of special interest and lobby groups instead of the interest of the citizens of our nation. It is a sad story.
I quote from a statement made years ago by Alexander Tyler, a Scottish Professor at the University of Edinburg, "A democracy will continue to exist up until the time that voters discover they can vote themselves generous gifts from the public treasury."
"From that moment on, the majority always vote 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"
I would have to say…our politicians have not been "Getting It Right!"
Rudiments- Odds and Ends Worth Mentioning:
● It appears that some of the local and national media is on a "witch hunt" trying to incriminate the past practices at Dozier School. Dale Cox, area historian and frequent writer for this paper has finite records as to the source causes of the deaths of the unfortunate boys who died during a turn of the century dorm fire, and a terrible flu epidemic that followed a few years later. They have made a big deal out of the testimony from former clients who were whipped while interned there. Well, during those years every school principal was also giving frequent butt overhauls in his office since corporal punishment was used instead of pleading with the irreverent student to "please stop" or go to "time out", or calling a judge or the sheriff. That is why some teachers now resort to duct tape restraints out of desperation as they try to maintain order in their classrooms.
Note: The opinions stated in this column are solely those of the author and do not represent those of Hatcher Publications.
Thursday, December 11, 2008
Geting It RightHow To Become A Bureaucrat-11/11/08
B Sid Riley
This column presents a conservative viewpoint about items of interest in our community and our lives. Focus is on items impacting your pocket book, your personal freedoms, and your rights. I hope you will read the column regularly and it occasionally influences your opinions and actions. Now, on to the subject of the week:
"It takes unique qualifications to become a member of the ‘bureaucratic’ family".
The easiest, simplest, and quickest route to obtaining one of those revered jobs within a bureaucratic organization is to be born into the group. If you are fortunate enough to have a close family member, close friend, or other meaningful personal tie to one of the bureaucratic "chiefs", then the only qualification you will need to enter the fraternity is survive to become an adult.
Upon reaching the age of employability you will be automatically inducted into the brotherhood of bureaucrats, and will be awarded one of those secure, good paying, low requirement jobs with 14 paid holidays, liberal credit accumulations of sick leave days, and generously expanding vacation credits. If you then stay a part of the bureaucracy for twenty years or so, these benefits will be expanded to the point to where you can get paid for not working more days than the days you get paid for working.
Occasionally new people are added because they possess special skills which the system needs due to growth or added functions. For example, when the government decided to begin to provide ambulance service here in the county some twenty five or thirty years ago, they had to hire some new personnel who had the needed medical training and qualifications. Now, most new additions to this function are insiders who are groomed for these jobs, with prearranged entry into the group upon achieving certification.
Another way to open a doorway for entrance into the bureaucracy is the "coat tail" method. This approach involves finding a young, aggressive politician who has the necessary attributes of double talking skills, inside political "connections", money, and handsome appearance that combine to make the future elected official have a good chance for success. All you then have to do is become a big supporter, assist in his campaigns, help in fund raising, solicit votes, and get your man elected. As a reward, when he takes office he will be sure you are given a big, juicy bureaucratic position.
As part of the formal induction into the bureaucracy it is necessary to undergo a delicate medical procedure which accomplishes the transition from being a normal citizen into being a full fledged "crat" of one variety or another. This medical procedure is called a "Bureauinoctomy".
The procedure involves opening a small hole in one side of the candidate’s head, inserting a probe and carefully removing a significant portion of the brain. The focus is on removal of those portions of the brain which control logic, decision making, initiative, compassion, and a major part of the personality. Once the components of the brain have been removed, the surgeon then inserts the appropriate departmental Procedures and Policy Manual….and the process is complete. From that time onward, the new bureaucrat is devoid of any personal, individualized thinking or use of logic in handling situations. They can only function by turning their eyes upward until they can visualize the manual hidden inside their cranium, where they can then rigorously read and quote the rule which should be used to solve any problem.
The only remaining step in the induction ceremony is having the new "crat" recite the "Pledge of the Brotherhood of Bureaucrats", where they promise to always defend the necessity of all bureaucratic functions, to encourage a continual 3% growth in their function’s budget and staffing, to always spend all budgeted monies, to never become over productive, and to always put the needs of the bureaucracy ahead of the needs of the public. With this last step accomplished, they are certified as being fully qualified bureaucrats. They are awarded a government vehicle with a map to the best coffee shops and approved sleeping spots.
Their job for life is then permanently secured until they retire. Upon reaching retirement eligibility after a few years they will be given the choice of retiring with full benefits and most of their salary, or to enter the lucrative "drop" program where they can continue to work…but now at double their original pay. By engaging in this wonderful program they can accumulate hundreds of thousands of dollars in earnings during those last years of work, thus giving them the nest egg retirement benefit they really deserve.
I want to temper this critical description of the bureaucracy by inserting my respect for those public minded members of the bureaucracy who do their best to help and accommodate the public as they do their job. However, if you are one of those who use their authority to make things as difficult as possible for those citizens who must come past your desk to accomplish something they want to do, and each event is an ego trip for you…then this description applies.
Each bureaucrat reading this column will have to make their own evaluation as to how they approach their job.
It seems as you move away from the local bureaucracies and move into the upper levels at the state and federal levels, the occurrence of the abusive "crat" with the missing brain parts becomes more frequent. In this group I include our beloved IRS, the Corps of Engineers, the EPA and FDEP, the DOT, our group of intelligent airport TSA screeners, and many, many others. This listing is just the tip of the iceberg.
Rudiments: Odds and Ends Worth Mentioning-
● This weekend we attended the Christmas Presentation at the Bible College in Graceville. It involved approximately ninety singers, a full orchestra, song after song, numerous costumed acts with choreography and great music, and a great Christian theme. It was of professional quality and was without doubt the best Christmas play I have ever been to. If you missed it this year, you should do your best to go next year.
● A supporter sent me an article stating that Mexico has begun sending illegal Cuban immigrants back to Cuba. Previously they had been giving them visa’s and letting them use Mexico as a route to sneak into the USA.
● Another friend just dropped an article in the Democrat by for me to read. This article stated that our home grown terrorist, Bill Ayers, a leader of the bombing group called the Weathermen, is slated to speak at FSU. He is being sponsored on campus by a liberal student group called The Institute for Liberal Studies. School officials say they are not able to stop the presentation from coming on campus. I wonder if the KKK was being sponsored by another radical group if they would take the same position. It is a sad situation when you can’t have Christmas scenes on a college campus, but you welcome Bill Ayers for a visit.
● I saw one of Marianna’s finest lurking out in front of the Tom Thumb on Jefferson on Saturday afternoon, eagerly shooting his radar at the crest of the hill, hoping to catch some poor citizen who was still going 45MPH after the limit dropped to 35 MPH coming up the hill. I have been coming up and down that stretch for thirty eight years and can’t recall ever seeing a wreck along there, even back when the speed limit was 55 MPH ….but it is a good spot for them to snare someone and get some $$$ for the system.
Folks, our nation is about to enter a period of unprecedented financial stress, which will soon begin to severely impact most of the struggling citizens within our society. This includes you and me. I would suggest that we all should place our remaining liquid assets in the most secure place we can find, reduce our exposure as much as possible, and prepare for a period of financial strain. Do this and sadly, "You will be Getting It Right".
Note: The opinions stated in this column are solely those of the author and do not represent those of Hatcher Publications.
This column presents a conservative viewpoint about items of interest in our community and our lives. Focus is on items impacting your pocket book, your personal freedoms, and your rights. I hope you will read the column regularly and it occasionally influences your opinions and actions. Now, on to the subject of the week:
"It takes unique qualifications to become a member of the ‘bureaucratic’ family".
The easiest, simplest, and quickest route to obtaining one of those revered jobs within a bureaucratic organization is to be born into the group. If you are fortunate enough to have a close family member, close friend, or other meaningful personal tie to one of the bureaucratic "chiefs", then the only qualification you will need to enter the fraternity is survive to become an adult.
Upon reaching the age of employability you will be automatically inducted into the brotherhood of bureaucrats, and will be awarded one of those secure, good paying, low requirement jobs with 14 paid holidays, liberal credit accumulations of sick leave days, and generously expanding vacation credits. If you then stay a part of the bureaucracy for twenty years or so, these benefits will be expanded to the point to where you can get paid for not working more days than the days you get paid for working.
Occasionally new people are added because they possess special skills which the system needs due to growth or added functions. For example, when the government decided to begin to provide ambulance service here in the county some twenty five or thirty years ago, they had to hire some new personnel who had the needed medical training and qualifications. Now, most new additions to this function are insiders who are groomed for these jobs, with prearranged entry into the group upon achieving certification.
Another way to open a doorway for entrance into the bureaucracy is the "coat tail" method. This approach involves finding a young, aggressive politician who has the necessary attributes of double talking skills, inside political "connections", money, and handsome appearance that combine to make the future elected official have a good chance for success. All you then have to do is become a big supporter, assist in his campaigns, help in fund raising, solicit votes, and get your man elected. As a reward, when he takes office he will be sure you are given a big, juicy bureaucratic position.
As part of the formal induction into the bureaucracy it is necessary to undergo a delicate medical procedure which accomplishes the transition from being a normal citizen into being a full fledged "crat" of one variety or another. This medical procedure is called a "Bureauinoctomy".
The procedure involves opening a small hole in one side of the candidate’s head, inserting a probe and carefully removing a significant portion of the brain. The focus is on removal of those portions of the brain which control logic, decision making, initiative, compassion, and a major part of the personality. Once the components of the brain have been removed, the surgeon then inserts the appropriate departmental Procedures and Policy Manual….and the process is complete. From that time onward, the new bureaucrat is devoid of any personal, individualized thinking or use of logic in handling situations. They can only function by turning their eyes upward until they can visualize the manual hidden inside their cranium, where they can then rigorously read and quote the rule which should be used to solve any problem.
The only remaining step in the induction ceremony is having the new "crat" recite the "Pledge of the Brotherhood of Bureaucrats", where they promise to always defend the necessity of all bureaucratic functions, to encourage a continual 3% growth in their function’s budget and staffing, to always spend all budgeted monies, to never become over productive, and to always put the needs of the bureaucracy ahead of the needs of the public. With this last step accomplished, they are certified as being fully qualified bureaucrats. They are awarded a government vehicle with a map to the best coffee shops and approved sleeping spots.
Their job for life is then permanently secured until they retire. Upon reaching retirement eligibility after a few years they will be given the choice of retiring with full benefits and most of their salary, or to enter the lucrative "drop" program where they can continue to work…but now at double their original pay. By engaging in this wonderful program they can accumulate hundreds of thousands of dollars in earnings during those last years of work, thus giving them the nest egg retirement benefit they really deserve.
I want to temper this critical description of the bureaucracy by inserting my respect for those public minded members of the bureaucracy who do their best to help and accommodate the public as they do their job. However, if you are one of those who use their authority to make things as difficult as possible for those citizens who must come past your desk to accomplish something they want to do, and each event is an ego trip for you…then this description applies.
Each bureaucrat reading this column will have to make their own evaluation as to how they approach their job.
It seems as you move away from the local bureaucracies and move into the upper levels at the state and federal levels, the occurrence of the abusive "crat" with the missing brain parts becomes more frequent. In this group I include our beloved IRS, the Corps of Engineers, the EPA and FDEP, the DOT, our group of intelligent airport TSA screeners, and many, many others. This listing is just the tip of the iceberg.
Rudiments: Odds and Ends Worth Mentioning-
● This weekend we attended the Christmas Presentation at the Bible College in Graceville. It involved approximately ninety singers, a full orchestra, song after song, numerous costumed acts with choreography and great music, and a great Christian theme. It was of professional quality and was without doubt the best Christmas play I have ever been to. If you missed it this year, you should do your best to go next year.
● A supporter sent me an article stating that Mexico has begun sending illegal Cuban immigrants back to Cuba. Previously they had been giving them visa’s and letting them use Mexico as a route to sneak into the USA.
● Another friend just dropped an article in the Democrat by for me to read. This article stated that our home grown terrorist, Bill Ayers, a leader of the bombing group called the Weathermen, is slated to speak at FSU. He is being sponsored on campus by a liberal student group called The Institute for Liberal Studies. School officials say they are not able to stop the presentation from coming on campus. I wonder if the KKK was being sponsored by another radical group if they would take the same position. It is a sad situation when you can’t have Christmas scenes on a college campus, but you welcome Bill Ayers for a visit.
● I saw one of Marianna’s finest lurking out in front of the Tom Thumb on Jefferson on Saturday afternoon, eagerly shooting his radar at the crest of the hill, hoping to catch some poor citizen who was still going 45MPH after the limit dropped to 35 MPH coming up the hill. I have been coming up and down that stretch for thirty eight years and can’t recall ever seeing a wreck along there, even back when the speed limit was 55 MPH ….but it is a good spot for them to snare someone and get some $$$ for the system.
Folks, our nation is about to enter a period of unprecedented financial stress, which will soon begin to severely impact most of the struggling citizens within our society. This includes you and me. I would suggest that we all should place our remaining liquid assets in the most secure place we can find, reduce our exposure as much as possible, and prepare for a period of financial strain. Do this and sadly, "You will be Getting It Right".
Note: The opinions stated in this column are solely those of the author and do not represent those of Hatcher Publications.
Wednesday, December 10, 2008
Getting it Right- Dec. 4, 2008
By Sid Riley
This column presents a conservative viewpoint about items of interest in our community and our lives. Focus is on items which are impacting your pocket book, your personal freedoms, and your rights. I hope you will read the column regularly and it occasionally influences your opinions and actions. Now, on to the subject of the week:
"As traditional fleecing methods become less productive, Big Brother Bureaucracy will undoubtedly seek new, unique ways to get into the pockets of the public."
As I was driving to an interview this morning I was listening to the Neal Boortz conservative talk radio program, when he related how the "Crats’ in New York City had come up with another way to harass and dominate the public and simultaneously create more revenues for their system. In the City of New York, if you have a tree in your front yard, which is growing on your property, and you wish to decorate it for the Holiday Season (they won’t use the word Christmas) you must first obtain a permit from the city to get permission to decorate your tree.
As ridiculous as this may sound to some….unfortunately it is true. And equally unfortunately, this is the direction we are heading everywhere in America as we create a more controlled, structured, government dominated society and lifestyle. As the bureaucracy slowly whittles on our freedoms and areas where we can exercise choices, we become more sheep-like as successive generations accept this way of life as necessary and acceptable.
Eventually those of us who can recall the days when we enjoyed personal freedom of choice, and personal rights and property rights had meaning, will all be gone. The evolution into the Orwellian society visualized by Orson Wells in his book "1984" will be a reality. Wells was right in his vision, he was just fifty years or so too early in his dating.
In order to assist Big Brother and his tribes of "Crats" in their continuing quest to find new ways to force the citizens of every city, county, and state to "render unto Cesar" as much as is possible, I am offering the following possibilities for new taxes, permits, fees, and other clever devices for gleaning money from the flock. (These are no more ridiculous than a permit to decorate a tree in your front yard.)
● Boat Motor Registration: We already license and register our boat trailers and our boats, but what if someone stole the motor from the boat? Why not register every outboard motor and create an annual sticker that must be displayed on the side of the motor? This would create millions and would help create new jobs for those who produce, issue, and keep records on the motor registry.
● Lawn Mower Registration: This is a fertile field. In order to protect us from having our lawn mowers stolen, a lawn mower license should be required to be issued each year and displayed on the back of the lawn mower.
● Lawn Mower Operators License: We should all have to pass a government run course on lawn mower safety which certifies that we have passed this course and are now qualified to operate our lawn mowers. This certification would have to be renewed with retesting each five years.
● Lawn Mowing Permit: Each summer as the growing season begins, every home owner or renter would be required to purchase an annual lawn mowing permit which would give you the right to mow your lawn any time you please, all summer long.
● Gutter Cleaning Permit: On those occasions when your home guttering becomes clogged and must be cleaned, you should be required to obtain a permit which gives you permission for one cleaning of all gutters as necessary. However, this permit should be clearly displayed any time you are upon your roof, in case your intent might be misinterpreted by any passing police or government officials.
● Roof Repairing Permit: Oops! You already have to get one of these.
● Home Parking Permit: If you own a home with a garage or driveway where you plan to park your personal automobile, you should first be required to obtain an annual parking permit. This will assure officials that the vehicle is parked at an authorized site.
● Planting Permits: If you wish to plant anything in the ground, you should be required to describe exactly what plants you are planning to plant, your reason for this action, and what you plan to do with any blossoms, leaves, or produce from these plants. This will assist law enforcement in control of illegal drugs, spread of unwanted weeds and plants, and will create millions of additional revenue for government.
(Farmers would only have to buy a five year planting permit at reduced cost.)
● I would also encourage municipal governments to reinstall parking meters and pay toilets in all public buildings.
● I thought about forcing couples to pay for a renewal of their marriage licenses each year….but there might be too many non-renewals.
Folks, this is where we are headed under the leadership of Big Brother, if you will just think about what we already have to do….in many cases we are already suffering this ridiculous level of over regulation, much of which is designed for the purpose of revenue generation for government. Permits, Licenses, Fees, Certifications, Penalties, Fines, Forfeitures, ….they are all TAXES! We also pay millions in taxes without even being aware of them. Just look at your phone bill or utility bill in detail and you will see a long list of fees and taxes which have no meaning to you yet you are forced to pay each month.
As the "Crats" seek new sources of revenue to make up for revenue shortfalls created by our faltering economy, be aware. Resist all attempts they make to dig deeper into your pockets…and you will be "Getting It Right".
Rudiments: Odds and Ends Worth Mentioning-
● Upon returning home after a Thanksgiving trip I was saddened to discover two families I care about had suffered the loss of a family member during our absence. The first was Mary Fears, wife of Elwin Fears. She died of cancer after a brave thirteen year battle. The second death was of my old friend, Ed Revell. He was a former neighbor, and his children and ours grew up during the same period. He was a fine man and I will miss his presence.
● The Marianna Christmas Parade and Winterfest festival will be held Friday afternoon. This will be a great way to begin the holiday season, so bring out the family and participate. Also, BCF is having a Christmas music presentation by their entire show band with Friday evening, Saturday afternoon, and Saturday night performances. I plan to attend both events, maybe some good Christmas music will brighten things in the gloom of our national economic condition. P.S. I am glad Marianna still uses the words "Christmas Parade".
Note: The opinions stated in this column are solely those of the author and do not represent those of Hatcher Publications.
This column presents a conservative viewpoint about items of interest in our community and our lives. Focus is on items which are impacting your pocket book, your personal freedoms, and your rights. I hope you will read the column regularly and it occasionally influences your opinions and actions. Now, on to the subject of the week:
"As traditional fleecing methods become less productive, Big Brother Bureaucracy will undoubtedly seek new, unique ways to get into the pockets of the public."
As I was driving to an interview this morning I was listening to the Neal Boortz conservative talk radio program, when he related how the "Crats’ in New York City had come up with another way to harass and dominate the public and simultaneously create more revenues for their system. In the City of New York, if you have a tree in your front yard, which is growing on your property, and you wish to decorate it for the Holiday Season (they won’t use the word Christmas) you must first obtain a permit from the city to get permission to decorate your tree.
As ridiculous as this may sound to some….unfortunately it is true. And equally unfortunately, this is the direction we are heading everywhere in America as we create a more controlled, structured, government dominated society and lifestyle. As the bureaucracy slowly whittles on our freedoms and areas where we can exercise choices, we become more sheep-like as successive generations accept this way of life as necessary and acceptable.
Eventually those of us who can recall the days when we enjoyed personal freedom of choice, and personal rights and property rights had meaning, will all be gone. The evolution into the Orwellian society visualized by Orson Wells in his book "1984" will be a reality. Wells was right in his vision, he was just fifty years or so too early in his dating.
In order to assist Big Brother and his tribes of "Crats" in their continuing quest to find new ways to force the citizens of every city, county, and state to "render unto Cesar" as much as is possible, I am offering the following possibilities for new taxes, permits, fees, and other clever devices for gleaning money from the flock. (These are no more ridiculous than a permit to decorate a tree in your front yard.)
● Boat Motor Registration: We already license and register our boat trailers and our boats, but what if someone stole the motor from the boat? Why not register every outboard motor and create an annual sticker that must be displayed on the side of the motor? This would create millions and would help create new jobs for those who produce, issue, and keep records on the motor registry.
● Lawn Mower Registration: This is a fertile field. In order to protect us from having our lawn mowers stolen, a lawn mower license should be required to be issued each year and displayed on the back of the lawn mower.
● Lawn Mower Operators License: We should all have to pass a government run course on lawn mower safety which certifies that we have passed this course and are now qualified to operate our lawn mowers. This certification would have to be renewed with retesting each five years.
● Lawn Mowing Permit: Each summer as the growing season begins, every home owner or renter would be required to purchase an annual lawn mowing permit which would give you the right to mow your lawn any time you please, all summer long.
● Gutter Cleaning Permit: On those occasions when your home guttering becomes clogged and must be cleaned, you should be required to obtain a permit which gives you permission for one cleaning of all gutters as necessary. However, this permit should be clearly displayed any time you are upon your roof, in case your intent might be misinterpreted by any passing police or government officials.
● Roof Repairing Permit: Oops! You already have to get one of these.
● Home Parking Permit: If you own a home with a garage or driveway where you plan to park your personal automobile, you should first be required to obtain an annual parking permit. This will assure officials that the vehicle is parked at an authorized site.
● Planting Permits: If you wish to plant anything in the ground, you should be required to describe exactly what plants you are planning to plant, your reason for this action, and what you plan to do with any blossoms, leaves, or produce from these plants. This will assist law enforcement in control of illegal drugs, spread of unwanted weeds and plants, and will create millions of additional revenue for government.
(Farmers would only have to buy a five year planting permit at reduced cost.)
● I would also encourage municipal governments to reinstall parking meters and pay toilets in all public buildings.
● I thought about forcing couples to pay for a renewal of their marriage licenses each year….but there might be too many non-renewals.
Folks, this is where we are headed under the leadership of Big Brother, if you will just think about what we already have to do….in many cases we are already suffering this ridiculous level of over regulation, much of which is designed for the purpose of revenue generation for government. Permits, Licenses, Fees, Certifications, Penalties, Fines, Forfeitures, ….they are all TAXES! We also pay millions in taxes without even being aware of them. Just look at your phone bill or utility bill in detail and you will see a long list of fees and taxes which have no meaning to you yet you are forced to pay each month.
As the "Crats" seek new sources of revenue to make up for revenue shortfalls created by our faltering economy, be aware. Resist all attempts they make to dig deeper into your pockets…and you will be "Getting It Right".
Rudiments: Odds and Ends Worth Mentioning-
● Upon returning home after a Thanksgiving trip I was saddened to discover two families I care about had suffered the loss of a family member during our absence. The first was Mary Fears, wife of Elwin Fears. She died of cancer after a brave thirteen year battle. The second death was of my old friend, Ed Revell. He was a former neighbor, and his children and ours grew up during the same period. He was a fine man and I will miss his presence.
● The Marianna Christmas Parade and Winterfest festival will be held Friday afternoon. This will be a great way to begin the holiday season, so bring out the family and participate. Also, BCF is having a Christmas music presentation by their entire show band with Friday evening, Saturday afternoon, and Saturday night performances. I plan to attend both events, maybe some good Christmas music will brighten things in the gloom of our national economic condition. P.S. I am glad Marianna still uses the words "Christmas Parade".
Note: The opinions stated in this column are solely those of the author and do not represent those of Hatcher Publications.
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