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The Time For Repealing JASTA Is Now!
Recently, on September 28, the United States Congress passed JASTA, the Justice Against Sponsors of Terrorism Act, but I think that was a mistake. The United States is a sovereign state on the world stage meaning it sets its own foreign policy and decides how things will operate inside its boundaries. What If They Just Stop Watching?
In the beginning, what excited people most about traveling to the new world was freedom to practice their religion without persecution or being treated differently for not adhering to a state mandated religion. As time passed, people were compelled by the idea that they could grab a piece of land and create their own wealth. These two ideas best characterize the American dream, the freedom to have a set of beliefs and not be compelled to follow the group and the freedom to build wealth from a wing and a prayer. Our governing system evolved from these two important rights. More These Dead Shall Not
Have Died In Vain It is rather for us to be here dedicated to the great task remaining before us -- that from these honored dead we take increased devotion to that cause for which they gave the last full measure of devotion -- that we here highly resolve that these dead shall not have died in vain -- that this nation, under God, shall have a new birth of freedom -- and that government of the people, by the people, for the people, shall not perish from the earth. –Abraham Lincoln Last evening, we shared a table with a young group of marines en route to SERE (Survival, Evasion, Resistance, and Escape) training in Maine. I woke up this morning feeling especially thankful to those who put themselves in harm’s way to protect our nation and yet I kept thinking about the Gettysburg Address. This is because I worry whether our soldiers (and their families) deployed after 9/11, many injured or in coffins, sacrificed in vain. Social Engineering is a lot like Socialism
Recently, two articles gave me pause. The first by Alana Semuels, “How Chicago is Trying to Integrate its Suburbs” caught my attention because I spent many formative years in Glenview, the suburb highlighted in the article. Reading about the new low income housing there, a collaboration between the Chicago Housing Authority (CHA) and Regional Housing Initiative (RHI), I recalled a conversation... More |
Click Here to listen to my 7/14 interview with Chuck Wilder about Hillary Clinton and the racial divide in this country.
*Blog 7/19/16
The Meaning Behind The "Words Matter" Is What Is Important It is clear that the essence of the speeches were not even remotely similar. Melania spoke for about 17 minutes on how proud she was of our country. She highlighted the opportunities available to the citizens of the United States. Contrast that with Michelle’s comments about how she was proud of our country for the 1st time in her life because her husband was the presidential nominee. These are two starkly different messages. *Blog 1/9/16
Why so many kids can’t sit still in school today Parents and teachers may find this very disturbing. Why have the education system, medical experts and parents not rallied on behalf of our most precious resource, our children? Why do we continue to disregard the full extent of their physical needs, when it is common knowledge that we need to address the whole child? Unfortunately, a two minute brain break isn't going to solve this development, nor will yoga balls. *Blog 8/2/15
Free Speech and Flags Here is some fascinating footage of William F. Buckley and Gore Vidal arguing about the difference between offensive speech and provocative speech. I'm wondering which justices on the Supreme Court changed between this debate and the Nazi march in Skokie, Illinois? How does this help us better understand feelings about Confederate flags? More to come. |
Why are TPA and TPP being referred to as Obamatrade?
In an article by Connor Wolf called This Is The Difference Between TPP And TPA (Hint: They Are Not The Same Thing), he explains that these two bills are linked together because Trade Promotion Authority (TPA) is a means to fast track passage of the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP). I am confused by this line of reasoning because as a stand-alone bill, TPA is intended to provide transparency to all trade negotiations by soliciting public and congressional input throughout the process, however, TPP as a stand -alone bill, is behemoth and most of the information to which the public has access has been leaked. Furthermore, it was negotiated behind closed doors. According to the verbiage of TPA, if TPP is not negotiated using TPA guidelines, the fast track option is negated. So why do news outlets and a wide range of legislators portray these two bills disingenuously? More |