Interesting times

I have been watching the latest City Council meeting on our
government access channel and realized something in that
there is truth in the old saying that the more things change
the more they remain the same. It was almost like the Circus
has returned to the east coast of Iowa.

A few zoning variances came before the board which brought the
NIMBY (Not in my backyard) crowd to the microphone during the
public comment portion of the meeting. The public spoke while
the City Council listened and then the public listened as a few
members of the Council spoke. The Council voted in favor of
these variances.

Then came the hot button topic of the Civil Rights commission
and all hell broke loose. If I understand things correctly, our
city government wants to change the name to the Civil Rights
Agency and put a few Aldermen to the board. During the public
comment section many got up and spoke eloquently on the subject
while some just ranted or yelled.

Members of different groups including the Civil Rights
Commission, a Latin American group, a Native American, African
Americans, the disabled, the LBGT group, and supporters of civil
rights in general. I was a little surprised to find that some of
these speakers made it clear the white members of the council
had no knowledge of civil rights or need for them.

Then came the time for council response and the public would
interrupt council members trying to voice their side. It got so
crazy the Mayor called for a 10-minute recess. Things went a
little smoother after the break and the council decided to table
the idea for a few sessions. There were not a lot of happy
campers in the public seating as the Mayor stated the proposal
would be voted on at a later date.

Perhaps I’m different, but after watching this twice I felt the
hecklers tarnished the good points some of the speakers had
made with their total lack of restraint. Granted I don’t know
everything the council wants to change in the proposal yet do
know the public disregard for decorum was unwarranted.

Enjoy our Monday as it is the first day of the work week and
I’ll be doing some of that later. Now I need some coffee.
Comments are always welcome.

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What the?

I’ll forewarn the few Liberals who read this post that this
contains my opinion on sensitive matters which may offend
you. It is not meant to be racist, sexist, or part of a right
wing extremist campaign. If this opinion offends you, please
take a deep breath and find safe space elsewhere.

As some of us know new Medicare cards are being sent out and I
just got mine. Silly me, I assumed it would just be a copy of
the old card sent out because the paper card gets worn out in
billfolds. So I set the old card next to the new and they were
not the same.

The old card had name, Social Security number, what plans one
is eligible for, and when you signed up. The entire card was in
English. The new card no longer has my Social Security number,
that has been replaced with a slightly longer code with letters
and numbers.

And the new card is sub-titled in Spanish! With the new card
Name has been replaced with Name/Nombre and so on. Even the
cover letter from the Department of Health of Human Services is
bi-lingual in English and Spanish.

But the other piece of paper in the envelope really frosted my
tomato. Thinking this second sheet explained a little more about
the changes I was not a happy camper when I read the header
which stated ‘Help in other languages’. Huh?

Yes it appears you can call 1-800-MEDICARE and get help in
Armenian, Chinese, French, German, Haitian Creole, Italian,
Japanese, Korean, Polish, Portuguese, Russian, Tagalog, and
Vietnamese.

I may be old school, but this bugs me. If you have lived here
long enough to pay in for enough quarters to be eligible shouldn’t
you be speaking English anyway? No wonder there aren’t many cost
of living increases.

On top of being government run, which we know is not cost
effective, our government sees fit to hire interpreters in case
someone calls who doesn’t speak English? I’d keep my old all
English card but the number wouldn’t work anymore.

Enjoy our Tuesday. Now for some coffee and a Snicker’s.

About the 3rd

Tomorrow is the 4th of July and many will celebrate the holiday
and since we feel every day we wake up breathing is important,
here are a few things that happened on July 3rd. If you already
know what occurred you can look at the picture.

On July 3, 1754 in the French and Indian War George Washington
surrendered Fort Necessity to the French forces.

On this date in 1775 George Washington takes command of the
Continental Army during the Revolutionary War.

The Wyoming Valley massacre occurred on this date in 1778 during
the Revolutionary War when the Iroquois, who allied with Britain
killed 360 people.

On July 3, 1819 the first savings bank, The Bank for Savings
in the City of New York opened.

In 1852 Congress established the United States 2nd Mint in San
Francisco.

In 1886 the New York Tribune became the first newspaper to use
a linotype machine which eliminated typesetting by hand.

In 1890 Idaho became the 43rd state on this date.

In 1938 the world speed record for a steam locomotive was set
in England at 125.88 mph.

In 1938 President Franklin D. Roosevelt dedicated lit and
dedicated the Eternal Light Peace Memorials eternal flame at
the Gettysburg battlefield.

In 1962 Jackie Robinson became the first African-American
inducted into the National Baseball Hall of Fame.

In 1979 President Jimmy Carter signs the first directive for
secret aid to the opponents of the pro-Soviet regime in Kabul.

Much more happened on this date including the fact that I got
a haircut. And I can honestly say this is the first time in two
years my ears and back of my neck have felt sunshine on them in
two years.

Enjoy our Tuesday and the 4th tomorrow. Now I need more coffee
and some leftover pizza.
Comments are always welcome.

Not my circus

We will forewarn those who think there are no bad kids, are
easily offended, or believe your feelings override everyone
else’s rights; this post is not for you.
——————————————–

After an increase in the number of shots fired calls and stolen
vehicle calls our Mayor became spokesperson for the upcoming
Youth Community Action Summit. On the local TV news he stated
that this recent spike in juvenile crime wasn’t a Mayor problem
or a Police problem, but a community problem.

So over meetings involving the city council, the police, a
local civil rights group, preachers and the public it is thought
the problem will be solved by mutual agreement. Personally I
believe it is too little too late.

Roughly 50 juvenile offenders are responsible for the vast
majority of the crimes mentioned. Isn’t it past time for some
tough love? Why not a juvenile 3 strikes you’re out? No, not
life in prison for the 3rd offense but perhaps some jail time.

On another track, a historic business district in our city
hosted a Pride event that is getting way too much media
coverage. As someone who was not in attendance I don’t have a
clue what went on other than what I catch on the local TV news
when I’m calm enough to watch it.

This all started when a representative of the Pride group went
before the city council for a permit to close the street. Also
at this meeting were people from the business owners association
who informed the council that they had not been notified or met
with those who wished to use the area for the event.

At some point in the event a business owner wanted some porta
potties moved away from his business and words were exchanged.
It is said the business owner used some bad language and the
porta potties were being used for testing. Now some of the
group who put on the event are talking lawsuits against the
business owner, a boycott of his business has been called for,
and people are worked up.

Even if said business owner did used some derogatory language
this has gotten out of hand. Enjoy our Monday as you know we
will. Now for some coffee and a Snicker’s.
Comments are always welcome.

Thinking all over the place

I made the mistake of buying a newspaper Sunday and after
perusing said paper felt like the $4 would have been better
spent elsewhere. After the wife got up and read the paper later
she said the same thing.

We just heard former First Lady Barbara Bush has passed away,
she was 92. Our condolences to the family. Perhaps TV coverage
of that will slow the Trump lawyer bull the media has been
pushing.

There was a black squirrel bouncing around the back yard that
must have been looking for goodies he buried in the yard. As I
get older I appreciate the enthusiasm. When we see him again we
might get a picture.

Since I found a Rural Farming channel on the TV I have watched
the tractor auction about 6 more times. Don’t know if that means
I’m hooked or just like tractors.

Dad was in good spirits today and on the mend. Turns out he has
pneumonia and his medicine is doing a good job of getting rid of
it. Tractors came up during the visit but in my defense he
brought the subject up.

Finally, by the sound of it we are going to get a few inches of
snow tomorrow along with some rain and freezing rain. We are
hoping for the best while preparing for the worst as we had a
high of 50 today.

Enjoy our Wednesday as the working folks are halfway to the
weekend and we retired folk are observing just another day. Now
I need more coffee.
Comments are always welcome.

Really?

I just finished looking over H.R.5087, the Assault Weapons Ban
of 2018, which has been referred to the House Committee of the
Judiciary on February 26 of this year.

Said purpose of this bill is to regulate the importation,
manufacture, possession, sale or transfer of assault weapons,
and for other purposes. Huh? If this is indeed in response to
the uproar to keep our kids safe from school shootings, we have
some questions.

First, for no other reason that it makes no sense in stopping
the school shootings, is why the ban on semi-automatic assault
weapons with missile launchers and grenade launchers? And if
these are popular with those who shoot up schools why haven’t
we heard of it before now?

The ban on assault weapons is painted with a pretty big brush.
By definition this is an attempted ban on much more than
assault rifles. The bill states a semiautomatic assault weapon
means any of the following:

A semiautomic rifle that has the capacity to accept a detachable
magazine and any of the following; pistol grip, forward grip,
folding, telescoping or detachable stock, a grenade launcher or
a rocket launcher, a barrel shroud, a threaded barrel.

A semiautomatic pistol that has the capacity to accept a
detachable magazine and any of the following: threaded barrel,
second pistol grip, barrel shroud, the capacity to accept a
detachable magazine at some location outside of pistol grip, a
semiautomic version of an automatic firearm, a semiautomatic
pistol with fixed magazine that has the capacity to accept more
than 10 rounds.

A semiautomatic shotgun that has any of the following: a
folding, telescoping or detachable stock, a pistol grip, a fixed
magazine with a capacity to accept more than 5 rounds, the
ability to accept a detachable magazine, a forward grip, a
grenade launcher or missile launcher.

I did see the Marlin 22 rifle with tubular magazine was
exempted as an assault weapon though. The link at the top of
this post will take you to the official text of the bill if
you wish to learn more.

We may be wrong but we’re calling this attempted gun grab that
will do nothing to stop any shooting while costing law-obiding
citizens more.

Enjoy our Sunday as the work week is only a dream away.
Comments are always welcome.

And I’m the crazy one?

If I understand correctly the FBI failed to enter data into the
system and allowed the school shooter to purchase an AR-15
‘assault rifle’ yet the fault lies with not enough gun control
laws, the NRA, legal gun owners, and the fact that his mother
didn’t have an abortion.

As for the rifle, it was never clarified if said weapon was a
Colt AR-15, an Armalite AR-15, or an AR-15 style rifle. The
Colt was a semi-automatic version of the M16, which was used by
our military. The current version is marketed to civilian and
law enforcement customers. The Armalite is similar to the Colt
and the AR-15 style rifles came about after Colts’ patents
expired in 1977. They are for sale because people buy them.

And if the FBI doesn’t keep the data updated we’ve had more
luck than sense lately. Anyone who could explain how more gun
laws, restricting the 200 million other gun owners who didn’t
shoot anyone, would help the FBI ensure their list is current
please inform us. How about the government enforcing the laws
we have?

The NRA was founded in 1871 by Civil War veterans Col. William
C. Church and Gen. George Wingate to promote and encourage
shooting on a scientific basis because of the poor marksmanship
of their troops during the war. It in no way supports school
shootings. Yes, they have lobbyists in Washington. So does
everybody else.

Finally, we’re not sure why his mother didn’t have an abortion
nor do we care. It was her choice. We do know we’d like the
Country we grew up in to make a comeback.

Enjoy our Wednesday. Now I need more coffee and some leftover
pizza.
Comments are always welcome.