REMOVE THE Monsanto Protection Act!

REMOVE THE Monsanto Protection Act!

Barbara Mikulski (D-MD) has attached the Monsanto Protection Act Section 735 (HR 933) to the spending bill.  This is the same company which created Agent Orange during the Vietnam War.  Agent Orange is the combination of the code names for Herbicide Orange (HO) and Agent LNX, one of the herbicides and defoliants used by the U.S. military as part of its chemical warfare program, Operation Ranch Hand, during the Vietnam War from 1961 to 1971. Vietnam estimates 400,000 people were killed or maimed, and 500,000 children born with birth defects as a result of its use.^[1] The Red Cross of Vietnam estimates that up to 1 million people are disabled or have health problems due to Agent Orange (Wikipedia).  Not only were the people of Vietnam adversely affected but so were US soldiers. The Department of Justice (Eric Holder) launched an extensive investigation.  This investigation ended abruptly without any explanation.  For more information please refer to the article entitled “Justice Department Shuts down Monsanto Investigation without Explanation”.  http://www.corporatecrimereporter.com/news/200/monsantoantitrust11282012/

The NRA is CORRECT

Based on all of the rhetoric that has been floating around about the massive shootings in recent history, one would conclude that certain weapons should be banned i.e. assault weapons.  I recently visited the NRA’s website (http://www.nraila.org) and found a host of information that has NOT been properly reported.  First of all, a clear definition of an assault weapon should be given.  There seems to be confusion with the public over differences between fully automatic and semi-automatic firearms.  The difference is that a fully-automatic firearm can fire repeatedly and quickly as long as you hold down the trigger, but a semi-automatic, like any firearm other than a fully-automatic, fires only once when you pull the trigger.  Gun control supporters say that semi-automatic rifles like the AR-15 are “military-style assault weapons” designed for “war” on “the battlefield.” But the military uses fully-automatic rifles, which are regulated as “machineguns” by the National Firearms Act of 1934. I decided to review the Constitution and initially made the mistake of thinking that the “Founding Fathers” did not have semi-automatic weapons in mind when the Constitution was conceived and therefore the Second Amendment was not applicable.  I am a “techy” and I applied this thought process to modern communication to the first Amendment.  I immediately concluded that this amendment would be moot.as applied to modern communication.  As technology has evolved then our interpretation of the Constitution must do so.  I am quite certain the “Founding Fathers” did not have computers, faxes, cell phones, etc. in mind when the First Amendment was conceived.  Our weapons have evolved.  Sticks and stones were our first weapons.  By the time our Constitution was implemented, the basic weapon had undergone major transformation.  For example, in the ancient days, when Egypt was at its peak, the Hyksos invaded it only because they had superior weapons made of iron. They thrust into Egypt using chariots — a tactical and logistical innovation which amazed the Egyptians.  The Macedonians surged ahead of all other civilizations by introducing siege weapons such as the catapult, and field weapons such as the pike, which was employed to deadly effect by heavily armed infantrymen arranged in phalanxes. The Romans subsequently improved the quality and technology of siege equipment, arms and armor, and battle tactics and so on (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_weapons).

Apart from using weapons in combat and warfare situations, they have been used for hunting and gathering since prehistoric times.  A gun has been utilized as a great equalizer i.e., a ferocious animal versus a human or a weaker individual versus a stronger individual).  The Gatling gun is one of the best known early rapid-fire weapons and a forerunner of the modern machine gun. Invented by Richard Gatling, it is known for its use by the Unionforces during the American Civil War in the 1860s, which was the first time it was employed in combat.  The first illustrations of the Gatlin gun date back to 1865 and was patented by the United States Patent and trademark office.  The legal basis for the United States patent system is Article 1, Section 8 of the United States Constitution.  So, the Constitution guarantees the right to obtain a patent on any invention.

Now, let us get back to the latest shooting in Connecticut.  Adam Lanza brought three weapons inside Sandy Hook Elementary school on December 14 and left a fourth in his car, police said. Those weapons were a Bushmaster AR-15 rifle and two handguns -- a Glock 10 mm and a Sig Sauer 9 mm.

In the car he left a shotgun, about which police have offered no details. Lanza used one of the handguns to take his own life, (CNN).  All of these weapons were obtained legally by Lanza’s mother.  The guns appear to have not been properly secured.  Lanza’s mother was at fault for not securing the weapons.  She knew that her son was emotionally unstable.  There was a report that he was seen at the school on a previous day arguing with the principal and other faculty members. Nevertheless, he was allowed access to these weapons and he committed a horrific crime.

There are municipalities across the US that ban law abiding citizens the right to obtain weapons in order to protect their family and their possessions.  I would like to note that there has not been any appreciable decline in gun violence in those areas.  I listened to a CNN host state that weapons should be banned in the US but the track star (blade runner) in South Africa needed weapons for protection.  WOW what a double standard.

Baseline, we need our second Amendment right protected more now than we have ever needed.  REMEMBER:  The Second Amendment (Amendment II) to the United States Constitution is the part of the United States Bill of Rights that protects the right to keep and bear arms. It was adopted on December 15, 1791, along with the rest of the Bill of Rights (Wikipedia).

 

The 2012 Presidential Candidates on Foreign Policy

First of all, I applaud you for asking serious international questions that should have been asked during the debate.  The debate moderator (Bob Shieffer) lost control of the Foreign Policy debate and it turned to domestic jobs and the economy.   To give you a perspective of the extent to which the candidates discussed non-state actors during the debate, the U.N. was mention only 4 times yet jobs were mentioned 32 times.  The U.N. was the only intergovernmental organization mention during the debate.  A specific multinational corporation was not mentioned.  The candidates mentioned terrorist groups such as al-Qaida, Hamas, Muslim Brotherhood, and Hezbollah.

President Obama said the administration’s goal is to get Iran to abide by the U.N. resolutions that are already in place.  President Obama detailed that he has begun the process of doing so by working with the other nations in the U.N. including Russia and China to put in place sanctions against Iran that have been crippling Iran’s economy so that Iran continues to feel the pressure by the international community to comply. 

President Obama discussed how the world “needs a strong America” and that we’re “stronger now than when he came into office” because we ended the war in Iraq so we could focus on the terrorist threat in Afghanistan.  President Obama then explained that our alliances have never been stronger and we have unprecedented military and intelligence cooperation in Asia, Europe, Africa and Israel.  He then told how he has created partnerships in Somalia, Yemen and Pakistan to deal with extremism and how he has engaged these governments in reforms to stop government corruption, give women rights, and to establish a “free market system that works”.  “Al-Qaida is much weaker than it was when I came into office, and they don't have the same capacities to attack the U.S. homeland and our allies as they did four years ago.”  President Obama made it clear that the terrorist networks are a greater threat to nation security and that China is a potential partner to the U.S. in the international community.   President Obama then spoke of Hamas and the missiles they launched to attack Israel threatening the lives of many children which factored in to his decision to fund “an Iron Dome program to stop those missiles” from continuing  to attack.  President Obama ended the discussion on demobilizing terroristic groups throughout the world by giving his track record and credentials as the most credible candidate to deal with the different countries of the world.

Mr. Romney said that Russia was our biggest “geopolitical foe” because Russia battles the U.S in the U.N. and he plans to give Russia more “backbone”.  Mr. Romney also stated that he would have left 5,000 troops in Iraq.

Mr. Romney did not mention how he would give Russia more “backbone” or if he would actually send our troops back to Iraq during the debate. 

Mr. Romney first congratulated the President on taking out Osama bin Laden and going after leadership in al-Qaida then he proposed a plan to “kill” the bad guys and get the Muslim world to “reject extremism on its own” (very similar to his self-deportation plan).  His plan consisted of investing U.S. dollars into economic development, education, gender equality, and the “rule of law” in the Muslim world (he will most likely get the money to invest in the Muslim world by cutting economic development, education, and gender equality for Americans from the U.S. budget).  Mr. Romney acknowledged that Pakistan is on its way to having over 200 nuclear weapons and they have arrested the man who helped the U.S. capture bin Laden.  He stated that regardless they are our allies and if we don’t spend the money needed to protect Pakistan the Taliban will get a hold of all those weapons.  Finally Mr. Romney made some geographically false statements about Iran, Syria and Lebanon.

Mitt Romney’s foreign policy proposal is quite expensive and the U.S. taxpayers will suffer because of it.  His lack of willingness to compromise will cause World War III and military drafts.  His policies regarding Russia, Iran, and Iraq are more radical than George W. Bush’s foreign policies.  Remember back in 2007 President Bush threatened Russia with World War III and his advisor said that drafts were a possibility.  If President Obama had not been elected we would be fighting World War III right now. 

I am the Real Life Julia

The following is a letter someone I know wrote to President Obama about The Life of Julia:

October 12, 2012

 

Dear President Obama,

             I was watching a PBS program with my daughter and I started to reminisce about my early school years.  She immediately told me about your female “model” (Julia) and how Julia started her education in a Head Start Program.  I realized how similar my life was to President Obama’s campaign “model” of how government implemented policies can have a positive effect on people’s lives.  It became clear to me that I was the real life “Julia” of the policies implemented by Democratic Presidents Lyndon B. Johnson and John F. Kennedy. 

I was enrolled in a Head Start program in 1965 to get me ready for school. If I am not mistaken, this was the launch of the Head Start program in the United States.  I was the youngest of 8 children and we lived in subsidized housing in Nashville, Tennessee.  I started this program when I was 5.  I entered first grade already reading and I knew how to count.  Because of the Head Start program, both of my parents had the ability to work and they were able to save enough money to purchase our first home on the South Side of Nashville and leave subsidized housing by the time I was enrolled in third grade.   I strongly believe had the Head Start program been implemented a decade earlier I would never have lived in subsidized housing.  Skipping forward to sixth grade, I was reading at the 12^th grade level.  I won numerous awards throughout my pubic school education including being voted Most Studious in the 9^th grade.  During my High school years, I played team sports and ran track.  I was voted my high schools first female and first Black Senior Class President.  I graduated with a 3.74 GPA.  I enrolled into the Electrical Engineering program at Tennessee State University in 1978.  I did not initially receive a scholarship but a visiting professor from Bell Laboratories suggested that I apply for a scholarship at his company.  I did and I was amongst thousands of applicants from all over the United States.  I was the first recipient of the Bell Laboratories Engineering Scholarship Program (BLESP) from the state of Tennessee.  This scholarship was highly coveted by many schools of Engineering throughout the United States.  It included full tuition, summer internships and guaranteed employment.  While I was in college, I was inducted into the Golden Key Honor Society, I served as officers in many Engineering Societies and I was President of Eta Kappa Nu (Electrical Engineering Honor Society).  I had many employment opportunities upon graduation.  I worked in private industry and eventually for the Federal Government.  The bulk of my Federal Employment was spent working for the Intelligence Community.  During my first year of employment with the Federal Government, I was accepted by both Georgetown and George Washington Universities Law Programs.  I chose to attend Georgetown University’s Evening Law Program.  I was selected by the National Society of Black Engineers as one of the top black female Engineers during my tenure as a Federal Government Employee.  I received a top agency award for revamping their computer systems.  I was medically disabled by the Federal Government because my insurance would not cover the intensive therapy I needed to recover my ability to function in the work environment after a major auto accident in 2000.  I am quite sure had ObamaCare been the law of the land at the time of my automobile accident I would have been able to return to my job as a Federal Government Employee.  In 2002 I was able to obtain a comfortable lifestyle on Social Security which still pales in comparison to the lifestyle I had obtained while working. My Social Security income was only ¼ of the income I made when I was working and I was left in debt like many other Americans after a lopsided divorce where my ex-husband was awarded all of our possessions and I was awarded all the bills. 

Fast forward to the present, throughout a “majority” of my life I have been just as successful as Julia.  Julia and I have two major differences: Julia’s timeline did not account for divorce and your health care reform had not been enacted in 2000 when I needed it.  Just like Julia I was put on a path to success at an early age in a Head Start Program and given opportunities that only the wealthy could afford.  Presidents Lyndon B. Johnson and John F. Kennedy helped level the playing field and gave me the opportunity to work hard and get ahead just like wealthy, non-minority, males.  Unfortunately for my 8 other siblings the Head Start Program was not implemented soon enough and they were not given a more level playing field.  America is so close to having a level playing field and I am confident that if you are re-elected and your government policies continue to be the law of the land there will be millions more real life “Julia” success stories in the future. 

President Obama: Jobs and Unemployment

With a nationwide unemployment of 12 million, 3.8 million jobs in the U.S. remain unfilled.  If all available jobs were filled we could cut the unemployed number in the U.S by nearly one third.  The number of unemployed would be the same as it was in 2004 (8.2 million) when President Bush told Americans to “get a job” and to be like his friend and not bitch and moan about it (imagine the public outrage if President Obama had said something like that).  President Bill Clinton stated “there are already more than three million jobs open and unfilled in America today, mostly because the applicants don't have the required skills."    President Obama is investing in community colleges to provide education and career-training programs, ensuring that everyone who works hard can get ahead.  In contrast, Presidential Candidate Mitt Romney cut funding for community colleges in Massachusetts by 17%. By 2006, tuition in Massachusetts was 59% higher than the national average.  I searched indeed.com to see how many jobs were available in Miami, FL the results were 17,812 full-time positions.  130 of the results were for shift manager which just requires basic skills that should be taught to students in school.  We should see improvements in skills being taught in schools once the results start coming in from President Obama’s Race to the Top initiative, which has already helped spur 46 states to raise standards by rewarding innovation and positive reforms in local schools.  America needs to be educated and ready for the future in order to be competitive in the workforce.  If we don’t reform our Nation’s schools soon manufacturing jobs will be leaving the U.S. for skilled labor instead of cheap labor.  Millions of manufacturing jobs are being lost to automation all over the world.  US manufacturing output is increasing all the while the number of jobs is decreasing because of productive advancements in robotics.  In the future, many will need an Associate’s degree in Robotics Technology or a Bachelor’s in Engineering to work in the manufacturing field. 

 

For decades, Mike Hummon, an unemployed substitute music teacher, was frustrated in his quest to become a school band director.

Now, he good-naturedly endures frustrations of a different sort as a 53-year-old student in an accelerated manufacturing class.

He isn't just seeking a new career as an operator of computer-controlled factory machines. Hummon, a dishwasher, two social service workers and several laid-off manufacturing and construction workers are on the front line of a campaign to close a puzzling gap in the labor market that has many U.S. employers struggling to find skilled workers despite the 7.8% jobless rate.

They're among 64 students taking part in a new program at two Minnesota community colleges called Right Skills Now that trains them in just about 4 months to run computer numerical controlled (CNC) machines. At graduation, they're virtually assured a job in the Minneapolis-St. Paul area at a starting wage of about $18 an hour after a six-week paid internship.

Experts say the program could serve as a national model for employers needing skilled workers yesterday and many jobless Americans unable to spend two years earning associate degrees.

It's one of the early efforts to close the nation's much-bemoaned skills gap. Economists say many unemployed workers don't have the skills for new, highly technical jobs in manufacturing, health care, information technology and other fields — mismatches that keep unemployment higher than it should be in an economic recovery.

“Last year, Darlene Miller, a member of President Obama’s Council on Jobs and Competitiveness, approached the Manufacturing Institute, the industry's workforce training arm, and the two groups developed the fast-track program. The first session, at the Minnesota colleges, ended in late spring, with the vast majority of students landing jobs after graduating.”   -USAToday

A Right Skills Now program recently began in Nevada, and one will soon launch in Michigan. The initiative is expected to spread across the country and graduate more than 100,000 in the next few years as part of President Obama's goal of awarding manufacturing certifications to 500,000 community college students by 2016, says Jennifer McNelly, who heads the Manufacturing Institute. Courses in welding, production and other factory skills are also planned.  A pipeline of skilled factory workers is sorely needed, especially with Baby Boomers retiring. A year ago, 600,000 skilled manufacturing jobs were unfilled, and 80% of manufacturers couldn't find proficient workers, according to a survey by the institute and Deloitte.

After shrinking by 2.3 million in the recession, manufacturing employment has grown by 500,000 since early 2010 on rising exports and a resurgent auto industry. Many former apparel and textile workers whose jobs were shipped overseas lack the skills to operate automated machines in expanding sectors such as autos, aerospace and medical devices.

Mike Hunter, a 23-year construction worker who's been out of work since he was hurt on the job a year ago, says simply, "I needed to do something different."  The program "gets you in the workforce so quickly,"

Hunter says the hourly pay of a CNC operator is comparable to construction, but he expects to earn more because the work is steadier.

The Right Skills Now approach — rapidly giving workers specific expertise — could be a new protype. Manufacturers that routinely trained new employees no longer have the time or resources because entry-level skills are more sophisticated in a digital age, says Anthony Carnevale, head of the Georgetown University Center on Education and the Workforce.

"You really need something to get you through the door" at a firm — then acquire more skills later, Carnevale says.

By contrast, workers who take two years to earn an associate’s degree may find their skills less relevant upon graduation in light of ever-evolving technology, says Deloitte director John Hagel.

A stream of qualified CNC operators can't come quickly enough for New Hope-based Custom Mold & Design, which has sought several for months. General Manager Mark Morris says the company, which makes factory molds, robot parts and surgical tools, could boost production by 50% if it were fully staffed. Instead, raw metal for planned jobs piles up and some CNC milling machines sit idle, doors open and inner chambers darkened.

Dave Swanson, operations manager of Viking Drill & Tool in St. Paul, was so desperate for a CNC operator that he hired Ryan Lohoner even before Lohoner completed his Dunwoody class. Lohoner, 36, who was laid off from his courier job last year, more than doubled his former $10 hourly wage.

2.5 million American manufacturing jobs were lost to outsourcing in the last decade.  38% of North American manufacturers surveyed by manufacturing sourcing Web site MFG.com in June 2011 had plans to research a move back to North America.  S. 3816 (111th): Creating American Jobs and Ending Offshoring Act would have given tax cuts to American manufacturers that bring jobs back to the United States.  S. 3816 provided tax cuts for manufacturers coming back to the U.S. by taking the tax cuts from outsourcers.  Without this proposed amendment outsourcers can deduct costs for moving expenses to leave the U.S. and stick it to the U.S. taxpayer.  S. 3816 was blocked by the Senate GOP in September of 2010.  Based on my calculations assuming that 1/3 of the manufacturers in the Survey were U.S. based and adjusting for the fact that automation allows one U.S. worker to do the work of 3, had the Senate GOP voted in favor of the Democrats bill we would have brought back 108,333 manufacturing jobs in addition to the 459,000 U.S. manufacturing has added since January 2010—the most growth in a decade.  If re-elected, President Obama plans to sign legislation like S.3816 after it is passed by Congress.  But he can’t do it alone. Remember his 2008 campaign slogan “Yes We Can”.  Well I bolded the WE for a reason.  If the President could pass bills without Congress his slogan would have been “Yes I Can”.  In the upcoming election if you want to see real “change” please vote out any Congressional obstructionists.  I will post a list of elected officials who blocked S. 3816 in the comments soon. 

President Barack Obama’s signature health care legislation will provide an economic boost to Maryland, according to a report by the Hilltop Institute at the University of Maryland, Baltimore County.  The report said it would create 26,000 jobs in the health care and other sectors and pad state and local coffers with $237 million in new tax revenue each year. Additionally, by 2020, 330,000 more Marylanders would be given health insurance.  State savings were projected at $672 million.  I searched indeed.com using the terms “health care” refined by full-time jobs in Baltimore, MD.  The results as of 10/9/2012 were 4,090 jobs in the “health care” industry.

Moody’s Analytics, in an August forecast, predicts 12 million jobs will be created by 2016 based on the current trajectory of the U.S. economy and Macroeconomic Advisors in April also predicted a gain of 12.3 million jobs.  If re-elected president Obama will have created an estimated 12,632,000 jobs in his eight years as President even if we continue with all the blockage (I couldn't think of a better word, Congress is constipated) in Congress.  Imagine how great our country could be if we vote out all the incumbents who want to attach abortion and religion to every bill.

If you support President Obama and you'd like to donate follow this link

GOP Congressional Candidate's Crazy Conspiracy Theory

Recently, Republican mayor of Utah and GOP congressional candidate, Mia Love, received an envelope that contained images showing Love, her husband and a hooded Ku Klux Klan member and aborted fetuses.

Mrs. Love believes that she's become a target because of her opposition to the Obama administration and claims those kinds of attacks are being used to divert her from the issues of the congressional race. 

Mia Love’s conclusion is completely illogical.  It is a known fact that some Christians, ant-abortionist groups and Pastors believe that Planned Parenthood has connections to the Ku Klux Klan and is “accomplishing” “what the Ku Klux Klan could only dream about”

For instance, the anti-abortionist group Klan Parenthood is linked to the harassment of a Colorado Springs woman.  Klan Parenthood has pictures of fetuses and a Klan member on their website.

I am concerned that a person who could be elected to Congress believes such an irrational and farfetched conspiracy theory (Michelle Bachmann part 2?). 

Mitt Romney: No Tax Cuts For You

Presidential Candidate Mitt Romney, in an interview with CBS News Wednesday, said “This is a campaign, not about character assassination, even though that’s what I think has come from the Obama camp by and large,”

Isn’t accusing your opponent of character assassination actually assassinated your opponents character?  It’s ok Mitt we‘re all grownups here we know elections involve character assassinations.  But I think Mr. Romney should know that he is the one assassinating his own character every time he has been dishonest with the American people about his plan to permanently cut taxes (I read his plan on his campaigns website).  Mr. Romney needs to muster up the courage to tell his super packs that he is not going to cut taxes and that they should stop running false ads on his behalf. 

 Mr. Romney told a crowd in Westerville, near Columbus Wednesday he is “going to lower deductions and exemptions,”

A staff member told The Wall Street Journal another scenario would maintain deductions for people who earn $100,000 or less, consequently increasing revenue by allowing fewer taxpayers to get deductions.

“it’s not a tax cut,” a campaign staffer told the Journal referring to Mr. Romney’s tax reform proposal.

Mr. Romney told CBS’s “60 Minutes” in a broadcast that aired Sunday that because he plans to limit exemptions and deductions, most people will essentially pay the same taxes as before.

Romney has said lower rates would spur economic growth.  So if most people will pay the same taxes as before…There will be no spurring of the economy.

“But by bringing rates down, we’ll be able to let small businesses keep more of their money, so they can hire more people,” he told the aforementioned crowd in Westerville, near Columbus. “My priority is jobs and I’ll make it happen.”

I wonder what Mr. Romney’s plan is to fill the current 3.7 million unfilled jobs in America and to ensure that Americans are qualified to fill an additional 12 million jobs he plans on creating on top of that? 

I did read Mr. Romney plan released in September of 2011 that suggested filling jobs that Americans lack the skills to obtain with foreign nationals.  Mr. Romney’s plan suggests removing and or raising the limit of H-1B visas allowed in the U.S. annually.  This plan of action will not solve the unemployment rate that American citizens are facing. 

As for the 12 million jobs plan... Mr. Romney's plan is to do absolutely nothing and go down in history as the greatest president ever.  Moody’s Analytics, in an August forecast, predicts 12 million jobs will be created by 2016, no matter who is president. And Macroeconomic Advisors in April also predicted a gain of 12.3 million jobs.  Presidents are often at the mercy — or are the beneficiary — of broad economic trends, and Romney’s pledge appears to be an effort to take advantage of that.

Based on the facts in this article Mr. Romney’s character has not existed for at least a year so it couldn’t have suffered character assassination.