****Warning – The commercial is very graphic and may not be suitable for younger audiences or those who might be offended.

Keira Knightley Brutally Beaten for Charity

British actress Keira Knightley is the star of a new ad campaign, aimed at bringing awareness to domestic violence.  The advertisement will run on over-15 movies and on television after the watershed.  It is directed by Atonement director Joe Wright.

In the ad, it shows Knightley returning home after being on a film set, only to be beaten by her partner.  The camera then pans out as the beating continues, revealing a film set.  The advert was made by Grey London.

Knightley speaks over the commercial, saying, "Domestic violence affects one in four women at some point in their lifetime.”  The slogan then is "Isn't it time someone called cut?”  The ad begins airing today in the UK.

Source: news.bbc.co.uk

****Warning – The commercial is very graphic and may not be suitable for younger audiences or those who might be offended.

In the wake of Chris Brown and Rihanna altercation earlier this year in which domestic violence was brought to the forefront, I am glad to see some light being shed on this subject!

I feel strongly against Domestic Violence or any physical violence for that matter.  That is not to say I would not defend myself or my family nor is it saying I have not been in my share of bar fights.  I am saying that I think Domestic Violence whether physical, mental or verbal is wrong!

I have never raised my hand to my wife or child and am very troubled by those that do.  I am very bothered by violence of children, that after the third season of Law and Order SVU I stopped watching after the show started to be come overwhelming violent against children.

Again, this is very graphic and might be too disturbing for some to watch!

Keira Knightley filmed an incredibly graphic and hard-hitting anti-domestic violence commercial -- and, WARNING, it's really hard to watch.  She Gets Beat Up ... So You Won't

Source Site

Warning, click on the video only if you feel you can handle it!  It is graphic and disturbing!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eTYir_48EZk&feature=player_embedded

Please, if you know someone or you find yourself in a Domestic Violence situation, please seek help.  People that show true LOVE do not have to resort to violence to show it!

I have listed a few websites that can help and contain more information on the subject.

http://www.domesticviolence.org/

http://www.ndvh.org/

http://www.helpguide.org/

http://www.helpguide.org/mental/domestic_violence_abuse_types_signs_causes_effects.htm

This is a poem I wrote for my aunt’s funeral.

The Flowing River Of Life

2-16-09

A raindrop lands on the ground followed by a few more
They collect the sadness and the grief that have pooled up.

As the tears stream down our faces emotions cannot be dammed up from the loss
We are seeing a rough and turbulent time of currents and eddies

As our pain meanders from bad to awful that is the way it has to be
For we know that in time calmer waters and waves of laughter can eventually heal the heart

I cannot even fathom what you are going through
For I only know the depths of my own pain and sorrow

I have no words to offer that could make you feel better and bring a drought
Looking at her reflection in the water will bring smiles to your face.

I wish you God’s peace and hope for kindness in your journey
We will soon see land and will no longer be a drift

I offer you a paddle of hope that you may be able to navigate the rapids
For her memory lives on in the flowing river of life.

Today my son Ryan Dean would have been 4 years old.

“To outlive one's children is a curse of the gods.”

– Old Chinese proverb

In life, I know there must be death.  I can accept that.

People expect to lose grandparents and eventually parents to old age or sickness.

When someone old is suffering, we say they had a good life and now need to go to a better place.

When your spouse dies, you are a widow.

When a child of whatever age is left behind when both parents die, you are an orphan.

But there is no word to describe the greatest loss of all: the death of your child.

There is no word to describe when your child dies!  None.

I know I am not alone when it comes to feeling this pain.  It is a fact of life, but that doesn’t mean it doesn’t suck or hurt any less. 

I am very grateful for my daughter Ria and understand that in some ways it was a trade off.  If my son were still here, I would not have my daughter Ria.  We planned on having more kids, but most likely would not have had another child so close in age.

I think of my son daily and the pain has diminished somewhat, but the rawness is still the same.

Ria looks up at Ryan’s picture and knows that that is baby Ryan, her big brother.  At the age of two and a half, she knows that he is in heaven watching her.  My eyes gush with tears when she asks me, “When are we or Ryan going to visit!”  I try to explain as best as I can that we will not be going to visit him in heaven for a while and when we go to the cemetery where Ryan is sleeping we are whole as a family.  I tell her that Ryan is always watching over us and he is always with us.  She then asks me, “Did you hurt something?” since she doesn’t understand that heartache causes tears just as easy as a booboo.

I will leave you with a poem I wrote about my son Ryan Dean.  Faith brings the only real HOPE.

Fly, fly high into the sky

Fly so high that I hope to touch you

Fly to see you one last time

Fly, fly for I know nothing

Fly so I can understand why

Fly to be with you

Fly, fly my pain must die

Fly so high that I can float with wings and clouds

Fly to be free

Fly, fly high into heaven

Fly so I know why

Fly to be whole again

Fly, fly for I just gotta know

Fly so high that my tears dry away

Fly to be alive

Fly, fly my love knows no bounds

Fly so I can find a way

Fly to bring you back with me

US Mints $ 36 Million Worth of Pennies - Costs $ 50 Million

The US government has redesigned and minted 3.6 billion pennies for a total face value of $ 36 million.  At a cost of $ 0.014 each, the pennies cost $ 50.4 to actually produce.

The coins 4 designs are set to commemorate the 2009 bicentennial of Abraham Lincoln's birth.  It is the first redesign of the coin in 50 years.  A Lincoln commemorative dollar coin is set to be released next year also.

As in World War II, it has been suggested to use steel in the making of the coins or even to abolish them completely.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/09/22/AR2008092202565.html

I just don’t understand why the U.S. Mint cannot just mint pennies every other year.  This would save the U.S Mint and thus us, the taxpayers, money.  We have plenty of pennies in circulation with many of them in people’s jars at home.  I turn my change in every few months and my daughter gets the money for her account.

It just doesn’t make sense (no pun) to produce the penny every year when we lose money making it.  My understanding is that the cost of all the change added together still comes out ahead, so it is a wash!  I don’t want to do away with it because of the rounding and increase of a cost, albeit a penny.  Pennies add up!

Parenting from a new father’s perspective.  First I would like to share my thoughts on Fatherhood.

Fatherhood is a 'true joy' and the “Best thing I ever did” or better to correctly say, the best thing to happen to me.  Not that Carrie and I didn’t plan my daughter Ria, because we did, but that GOD allowed me to feel the love and joy of fatherhood.  Gone were the feeling and thoughts of holding something so small and precious all the while feeling I could accidentally break her or the guilty feelings of having Ria to hold close to my heart while she sleeps and not being able to do this with my son Ryan.  No father should ever have to bury his children or know the pain left by the void, as others and I have. 

Scars don’t move or go away, but they do heal and fade a bit.  But, this makes my time with Ria all that more special. Fatherhood completely changes your perspective and certainly takes the focus off yourself, but having kids is really the most extraordinary thing I've ever taken on and have had the pleasure of doing.  Seeing my daughter smile and laugh is the greatest joy I could ever ask for!!  I can barely wait to what is to come.

Advice from others comes fast and most are upset when the advice is not taken.  I know everyone means well, but I listen to all, but take only those I find meet my ideals.  One person was even mad to the point she said that things don’t change and my kids turned out fine. 

I look at this way, if they were having kids now, they would do the things that the experts say today to do.  Those that act that way need to remember, did they take all the advice that was given to them?  Family is the most important thing in life, and I look forward to my kids doing better than I.  If they don’t, then I failed them.  One must not be envious or jealous when the children do better then the parents, that is the way of the land.

Family is kids, mother and father period.  The extended family is great, but the internal family of the kingdom is what matters.  When people live under one roof a society forms.  A pecking order and government with laws, rules, and commandments, so know your place in it and know their place.  I believe we are all equal, but we are not all the same, and that equality within society and the law should give the benefits to those individuals seeking it whether they are fortunate enough to be blessed with it or work for it.  Don’t stand in the way, lead by example and guide them.  Be the light for their path, not the lines or rails of it.  In life there is ONLY one thing and only one thing that is for sure and that is death.  Be thankful of what you have.

Lee Iacocca said it best:  “Lead, Follow, or Get Out of the Way!”

As NASA has stated many times, “Failure is not an option!”, and it should never be.  Don’t give up.

Ten Commandments of fatherhood as told to me and have come to me from others.

1. Let it be known that a lie is much worse than telling the truth no matter what it is.  Lies just make things worse and erode the fragile bond of trust one might call the family.

2. Be the dad first and best friend second.  You must know when to whisper. Know when to shout.  Know when to say NO and when to say yes.  Teach them to know when to forgive.  Teach them patience and tolerance.  Know when to take the training wheels off, just as easy as when to take the gloves off.

3. Be strong, yet bendable when it comes to disciplining.  Don’t insist on always having things your way.  Listen to their side of the story before making a decision.  Remember there are always three sides to the story, yours, theirs, and the truth, which is somewhere in the middle.  Hard and fast rules have a way of backfiring.  Learn to compromise and adjust to the situation.

4. See the long and big of the picture.  You are the role model, the measuring stick that they may gauge their future mate to.  Little girls first fall in love with their daddy, and look for someone like them for a husband.  Your kids will listen to you more times than not.  My dad said to me “Son, the longer I live, the more right I will be!”, and for the most part he was correct.  Not always, but a good part of the time he was and is right.  Your kids will learn values/morals from you.  That old thing we call right from wrong.  For the rest of their lives, one of their first thoughts in most situations will be, “What would dad do or say!”

5. Strive for perfection, but know that there will never be perfection and at times their best is good enough.  Let them know you are not perfect either.  People have a hard time dealing with me because I am the type of person who is right most of the time, about 98.6 percent of the time to be exact.  I am very black/white, right/wrong, yes/no person.  My grey area is very small.  I have an awe that intimidates some, make others feel uncomfortable, some even feel scared of.  I do make mistakes and when I do I am big enough of a man to admit it.  Don’t be too stubborn not to admit a mistake to your children.

6. Spend as much time with them, because at some point they will want to spend very little time with you and more becoming an individual.   They will disengage from parents and before long, develop their own family.  Be sure to always wave and blow kisses when are doing their play at school.  Be as important as they want you to be, show up for their track meets or wrestling matches.  Know what activities are in their hearts not just in their lives.

7. Show them we should be fair, but all things are not always fair. Life isn’t fair and that is a hard lesson to learn even for adults.  If you should be so lucky that they have an exceptional high IQ, teach them you don’t have to feel sorry that others don’t.  Allow them to share, but not to be taking advantage of.

8. Show them that planning and organization is very important, but so is improvisation/shooting from the hip.  You can plan for all outcomes and still not get it correct.  You should have a BP (battle plan) and also a plan B.  Teach them the “6P’s”--- Proper --- Planning --- Prevents --- Piss --- Poor --- Performance.  Tell them that the lines are not always your friends and sometimes thinking outside the box is not enough.  Sometimes you have to live outside the box.  Teach them that a circle block will fit in the circle hole, but also in the square hole with enough force.

9. Help guide them, but realize you cannot relive your life through them.  You cannot vicariously relive your life through your kids.  You had your chance.  This is their time to shine.  Support them on whatever path they may choose to take.  You can makeup for mistakes your parents made with you, but you will make new ones.  After all, they are your mistakes to make, even GOD allows for mistakes in your and their DNA.

10. Let them be kids.  Most of the time kids need to be kids.  Many parents try to turn their kids into mini-adults and some think that the two are the same.  They are not, there are some things that kids should not see, hear or experience.  Too often, because it is convenient for the parents, they allow their kids to act or do adult things.   A lot of parents signup their kids for all these activities, just so their kids are busy.  Just so the parents don’t have to spend their time with the kids, much like an activities babysitter.  Kids want to play and have fun with other kids, not always just learning how to hit a baseball, or shoot a jump shot, or stuck in some classroom.  Teach your daughter that if she wants to be a race car driver or a fighter pilot, she can go for it.  She can do what ever she puts her mind to it.  Don’t let old school, chauvinistic pigs tell her or influence her that she cannot or should not.  A few things in life are truly men’s or women’s only.  If she has a stick in her hand it maybe to her a magic wand or a sword.  Let her play along.  Forget being “PC”, but be mindful not to fall into the society pressure to turn boys into girls and girls into boys.

Ages to allow:

15 - Go to mall alone

10 – Ride bike alone

13 – Be home alone or baby sit

13 - Ride in front seat of car

Walking to school:

8 - With help

10 - Alone

1 in 3 parents lacks knowledge about babies

Many have little understanding of infant development, study finds

Source Here

Breast-feeding may boost children's IQ

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/24482257/

One of my Professors in college told me “The victor writes the history!”  One of his most famous discussions was “The Midnight Ride of Paul Revere” and how we in fact don’t know if Paul Revere was the one to warn the colonists at the time in question.  He could live with the fact we don’t know exactly which leg of the ride the quote came from (multiple riders on the route), but the fact that the quote of "The British are coming!" is wrong. 

At the time, colonial residents considered themselves British as they were all legally British subjects, and the correct saying would be “The Red Coats are coming!”, since the colonists, which would become Americans, wore “Blue”.

A more modern humorous one is Darth Vader from Empire Strikes Back.  Most people think the quote is “Luke.  I am your father” and it really is “No.  I am your father.”

Over time quotes change and become accepted with the change.

History is a pack of lies we play on the dead.
- Voltaire

First some info on the Webkinz so readers are up to speed courtesy of Wikipedia.

Webkinz ($15-30) are stuffed animals that were originally released by the Ganz company on April 29, 2005.  The toys are similar to many other small plush toys, however they come with a special code on their labels that allows access to the "Webkinz World" which is a website to own a virtual version of the pet for virtual interaction.  There are also smaller, less expensive versions of the toys called Lil' Kinz($8-15).

Each Webkinz stuffed animal and Webkinz accessory comes with an 8-character code.  By registering this code on the Webkinz website, you "adopt" this pet in the virtual Webkinz World, which is an online play area with its own economy.  The user receives money (called KinzCash) by adopting new pets, playing online games, answering general knowledge questions, and through daily activities like clicking "I love my Webkinz!", spinning the Wheel of WOW, playing Wishing Well 2, or completing jobs (minigames) available once every 8 hours.  Each day, there is a Game of the Day, which can be played for bonus KinzCash, and other bonuses are available each hour.

Offline, users can purchase clothing, body spray, lip-gloss, backpacks, purses, Figures, trading cards, or charms for their pets.  They each come with a code to type in online and receive prizes.

Users can spend their KinzCash at what is called the W Shop, where they can purchase food and clothing for their pet, items for their pet's room or to build additional rooms onto their house, or outdoors areas etc.  Users can decorate a room for their pet with pre-made themes, or mix and match their own furniture.

The online world also contains many rare or exclusive items.  Some of these items require developing a friendship with the Curio Shop owner to purchase, while others you get for registering other Webkinz accessories you purchase in the real world.  Each type of pet gets a special food available exclusively for them.  Also, a Pet of the Month is announced at the beginning of each month.  If a person registers the announced pet in that month, they will receive other exclusive items.

Many of the tasks in Webkinz World involve collecting items.  For example, recipes are released for the players through cookbooks you can purchase or one of the TV Shows called The Secret Chef.  Gems can be mined once a day at the Curio Shop, with a full set of gems being turned into the Webkinz Crown of Wonder.

Another feature of Webkinz includes the ability for players to create their own shows with the Webkinz Studio, and enter to be chosen to appear on the Webkinz television.  Other features include buying a swimming pool, where you can have your Webkinz swim around, which increases their health, sending gifts or letters to friends on a peer-to-peer network, invite a friend over to your house, participate in the hourly events, play Wacky Bingoz, a form of bingo where you get one, two, and three ball games every day, and many more.

Whew… Now that is over. 

About a month ago, a good friend of mine told me all about the Webkinz.  He went on to tell me how this was good life lessons for his children.  They have to learn responsibilities to feed (good food vs. bad food), walking and pet love, how a better education gets them better jobs that pay more.  This would instill life values while entertaining them.

This all sounds great.  It came across that children can have fun while learning.

Today, a month later.  Now comes the bomb.  Besides the cost of buying the toys and charms, he informed me that on the Internet are cheat codes.  He then said he was going to cheat for his kids.  I was stunned he was going to try this.

We stopped at a store to buy a stuffed animal to try the cheat codes on.  He was worried that if his children used the codes and got caught they would lose everything they worked so hard for.  The policy is to delete the virtual world account for cheaters.  I said that I was very disappointed in him that he would use these cheat codes, and what message was this sending to his kids.  Big mistake on my part.  Other parents don’t want another parent critiquing or giving advice.

Things then changed that it was not a learning tool, now it was just for fun.  He then asked me if I have ever used a cheat code on video games.  To which I told him NO!  I have never seen the allure to cheating.  In school, I was an “A” student.  In college, I was a 4.0 student and belong to Phi Delta Kappa.  I was one of those students that could do well with little effort.

Now if it was for him, I would careless.  However, this is for his children.  I  think that showing and allowing children to knowingly cheat is wrong.  This sends the wrong message.  It tells them that it is okay to cheat.  Cheaters only cheat themselves in life.  While playing the games inside when it comes to questions, the questions are age appropriate.  You select the age category you are.  There is no one stopping a child from selecting an age under what they are, but as a parent, you should tell your children not to cheat.

So where does this leave us, he asked me.  DISAPPOINTED I told him!  Yes, it is cheaper to cheat, easier to cheat, just not wiser.

Microsoft's Xbox Live Publicly Humiliates Cheaters

Microsoft has made good on threats to make 'bad things happen' to users who artificially inflate their Gamerscore.  The Gamerscore is built up by playing games and meeting objectives but some users have been doing so by hacking.

Microsoft has punished cheats by resetting their score, making it impossible for them to complete falsely claimed objectives, and putting "I'm a dirty cheater" on their profile.

Microsoft has not provided any avenue for appeal, saying that they identified players "who have used external means to earn achievements without really playing the game" using "specific and automated criteria.”

Source Here

Day 20 – Still No real response from the Mayor – Inability to make decisions based on anything other than his own self-interest

I hope everyone has a safe Memorial Day and pauses to remember those in the military that are no longer with us!

In one of my writing classes in college years ago, my teacher gave us a print out/hand out of Logical Fallacies to watch for.  I have scanned them and converted them to word.  There was no mention of a source nor did she cite it (I guess teachers can forget to work cite in handouts, such an oversight.  Should we flog them or let them off.  What do you think Mike?).  I was able to track down the current source of it as the Simon & Schuster Handbook for Writers, Seventh Edition and it has a few new things to which I didn’t include.

She said it was so important to watch these unfold in debates.  Since we are in the mitts of the Presidential debates, each week I will post one.  Watch for them and you will see them happen all around you.  You might even become more educated/informed and isn’t that a good thing.  To one person I think not.

Logic is correct reasoning.  Logic is the process by which statements are supported with adequate proof by being tested against the right amount and kind of evidence, the process by which knowledge is rendered reliable—in short the “Science of proof.”  Pure Logic is unbeatable. 

How can I recognize and avoid logical fallacies?

Daily Practices to improve logic:

1. Don’t accept anything as true, which you do not clearly know to be such; that is, avoid hasty judgments and prejudice will prevent jumping the gun.  It requires a disciplined mind.
2. Divide each difficulty under examination into as many parts as possible, or into as many as necessary for the solution of the problem.  Most problems are combinations of problems and this failure to understand such will lead to jumping to conclusion.
3. Begin with the things that are simplest and easiest to understand, and then ascend to knowledge of the more complex.
4. Make enumerations so complete, and reviews so comprehensive, that you may be assured that nothing is omitted.
5. Draw out in tables or lists of what you know, and that which is wrong.  If Boolean algebra is needed make, your truth tables of items.  Make flow charts of the problem(s).
6. The answer is in the details. Study each part as itself and then as a whole.
7. Ask yourself this: “Is it logical, illogical, or nonlogical?  Nonlogical does not mean illogical.  Nonlogical is a statement like “I like to travel,” or “I love you” (showing emotion or opinions) are ordinarily regarded as nonargumentative and do not require supporting evidence since it solely is in the head of the person making the statement.  Illogical is one, which violates the rules of sound reasoning (like added 2 plus 2 and getting 5).
8. Do not use All, Always, Never, Forever, Not ever, as they lead to false conclusions by over simplifying and generalizing.
9. The most simplest answer may or may not be the one.  If it truly is only one problem, then the simplest answer is most likely the correct one.  If it is a series of problems, or more than one interconnecting problem, then it is no longer just simple.

Here are the topics I will be posting on this subject.  I will post one or two of them together depending on size.

Hasty generalization

False analogy

Begging the question

Irrelevant argument

False cause

Self-contradiction

Red herring

Argument to the person

Guilt by association

Jumping on the bandwagon

False or irrelevant authority

Card-stacking

The either-or fallacy

Taking something out of context

Appeal to ignorance

Day 19 – Still No real response from the Mayor – We expect more & got less

As with past posts, when I defined words, I use dictionary.com unless otherwise specified.

One problem with talking about words is those parties talking must agree on the definition.  Most words have multiple meanings and multiple words that mean similarly but not exactly the same things.  Many words are subjective and to each person they personally mean something different.

The English language in some aspects has words that have lost the impact and meaning since we devalue and dilute the words, like when bad means bad or when bad means good.  Even the temporal or timing order can change meaning in language sentences just as choosing slightly different words.  Even between dictionaries, there can be slight differences.  Did you ever ask yourself, “How can that be?”

A good friend of mine and I were discussing this very topic a few weeks ago.  Here is what my friend had to say.

“I have read in several books and writings by C.S. Lewis  and  G.K. Chesterton,  they have made references to this in making a point, but I don't know if any of them have written an entire book or essay just on this topic (but if I were to guess, I bet they did)  The only one I can provide a direct reference  to off the top of my head was from "Mere Christianity" by C.S. Lewis.  Here is the excerpt:

 The word gentleman originally meant something recognizable; one who had a coat of arms and some landed property.  When you called someone 'a gentleman' you were not paying him a compliment, but merely stating a fact.  If you said he was not 'a gentleman’, you were not insulting him, but giving information.  There was no contradiction in saying that John was a liar and a gentleman; any more than there now is in saying that James is a fool and an M.A.  Then there came people who said - so rightly, charitably, spiritually, sensitively, so anything but usefully - 'Ah but surely the important thing about a gentleman is not the coat of arms and the land, but the behavior?  Surely, he is the true gentleman who behaves as a gentleman should?  Surely in that sense Edward is far more truly a gentleman than John?’  They meant well.  To be honorable and courteous and brave is of course a far better thing than to have a coat of arms.  But it is not the same thing.

Worse still, it is not a thing everyone will agree about.  To call a man 'a gentleman' in this new, refined sense becomes, in fact, not a way of giving information about him, but a way of praising him: to deny that he is 'a gentleman' becomes simply a way of insulting him.  When a word ceases to be a term of description and becomes merely a term of praise, it no longer tells you facts about the object: it only tells you about the speaker's attitude to that object.  (A 'nice' meal only means a meal the speaker likes.  (A gentleman, once it has been spiritualized and refined out of its old coarse, objective sense, means hardly more than a man whom the speaker likes.  As a result, gentleman is now a useless word.  We had many terms of approval already, so it was not needed for that use; on the other hand, if anyone (say, in a historical work) wants to use it in its old sense, he cannot do so without explanations.  It has been spoiled for that purpose.

Now if once we allow people to start spiritualizing and refining, or as they might say 'deepening', the sense of the word Christian, it too will speedily become a useless word.

In the first place, Christians themselves will never be able to apply it to anyone.  It is not for us to say who, in the deepest sense, is or is not close to the spirit of Christ.  We do not see into men's hearts.  We cannot judge, and are indeed forbidden to judge.  It would be wicked arrogance for us to say that any man is, or is not, a Christian in this refined sense.  And obviously a word which we can never apply is not going to he a very useful word.  As for the unbelievers, they will no doubt cheerfully use the word in the refined sense.  It will become in their mouths simply a term of praise.  In calling anyone a Christian, they will mean that they think him a good man.  But that way of using the word will be no enrichment of the language, for we already have the word good.  Meanwhile, the word Christian will have been spoiled for any really useful purpose it might have served.

One G.K. Chesterton quote - “Men do not differ much about what things they will call evils; they differ enormously about what evils they will call excusable."”

For argumentative sake, here are some definitions of words I will talk about.

Ethics - a system of moral principles or the rules or standards governing the conduct of a person or the conduct of the members of a profession.

Ethical - pertaining to or dealing with morals or the principles of morality; pertaining to right and wrong in conduct.

Moral – of, pertaining to, or concerned with the principles or rules of right conduct or the distinction between right and wrong

Standards - those morals, ethics, habits, etc., established by authority, custom, or an individual as acceptable or a rule or principle that is used as a basis for judgment

Rules – principle or regulation governing conduct, action, procedure, arrangement, etc

Laws - A set of rules or principles dealing with a specific area of a legal system

Mistake – an error in action, calculation, opinion, or judgment caused by poor reasoning, carelessness, insufficient knowledge, etc.

Intent - meaning or significance

Isn’t it neat how many of those words mean similar things or reference each other, while truly never defining themselves.

We live in a world governed by standards not necessarily morals or ethics; they are not always the same thing, just as the truth and facts are not always the same thing.  A house and a home can mean two different things.

In an email to me, a reader ended their sentence with “…who understands and lives by his ethics.”  The major problem to that is “his ethics” is subjective.

Case point – In the West it is not morally nor a standard practice to stone someone to death, yet in the Middle East that is acceptable behavior.  Who are we to put our values on to others?

Death penalty is always a good one to look at for standard and moral.  Just because a state has the death penalty (standard) and carries out with a death penalty doesn’t mean it is moral or right.  To me I am a supporter to the death penalty and I don’t have any ethical nor moral objections, but I don’t support abortions except in a few cases.  That would seem to some as a moral paradox or an ethical conundrum, but to me it isn’t.  See the subjective of morals and ethics.  What needs to be the important factor is the intent.

Should our ethics preclude us from doing something wrong?

Who deems it right or wrong must first be answered.  You, me, society, law.  Second, the intent of the action needs to be looked at without a jump to a conclusion.

We all break the law at some point.  Remember speeding just a little bit to get where you needed to go or borrowing that tape of Lost from last week to your co-worker, converting your CD’s to MP3’s is now against the law according to RIAA, or having friends over to watch that rented movie, read the fine print (only for those who live in the house hold).  How about copying a CD from your best friend, to which most younger people find as morally acceptable even though it is against the law.  What about going to the store and the casher gives you too much change back or do you put the cart back to the cart corral or do you just leave it in the parking lot?  What about helping your children with homework, where you really did it for them or throwing your cigarette butts out the window or in the street?  Is it unethical to date one of your employees?  Does it change if you happily marry one of your employees?  The list goes on and on.

I guess those infractions don’t matter to some, but to others it does.  So you didn’t stop for the full four seconds or forgot to use your turn signal.  The bible tells us we are sinners and saints!

My mom always told me “People in glass houses should not throw stones” simply put don't criticize other people when you yourself have faults and weaknesses (click there for more info).  By the way, I don’t think she came up with that saying, but over time we lost who originally came up with it.

We find ourselves ignoring (ethics) even the basic ones (cheating, copying, lying, stealing, embellishing, defraud and taking advantage of someone, breaking trust and confidentiality, befriending ) for a shortcut or a quick chance to get ahead in life (right now to some I could be guilty of a moral infraction – I didn’t say that sentence the reader who emailed me did).  Some mistakes are just that mistakes, some are over looked infractions with no intent to harm, and some are blatant subversions of the law.

Ethics is influx, it is more of what society deems acceptable, of course unless you might get caught and the penalty is high or unlawful.  Even things against the law are open to subjection and interpretations or when the ends justify the means, which is why we have a judge and jury.  We do have honest mistakes and the law and those in charge understand that!

Do we have a moral decay going on in the world, I would say yes, but you may say no.  You must be faithful to who you are, (remember peer pressure) show common decency and not sway from what you feel is morally inappropriate.

Moral Considerations in Military Decision Making Of Moral Advisors for Army Leadership it is stated, “The leader must understand that to live one's ethics on a daily basis is considerably more complicated that just using the ethical reasoning process in decision-making.”  This is the same people who think water-boarding is not morally wrong, to which I agree with them.  The U.S. follows the ethics and standards set down by the Geneva Convention to which water-boarding was never discussed or even thought of then.  Does it make it wrong or right?  What is clear to me may be muddy to you.

In the end, we are human and to be human is to err.  We all make mistakes; it is how we fix them and our intent that is just as important as the mistake.  One must act professional even when you are not a professional but an amateur.  Try and do the right thing, be honest, be the bigger person when you make a mistake, move forward to be a better person.

We all must live by a code of conduct, guiding principles to do the right thing.  Just who tells us if it is right, and is it right for all?  We now live in a world in the shades of grey; the time of black and white is long gone.  It is unfortunate the many times the shades of grey (or gray is there a right one, does it matter) creep into the fuzzy shadows of dark where right and wrong don’t live.

Dedicated to Scott, Mike P, and the Mayor.  All for different reasons!

While listening to the Jay Weber show Wednesday May 21, 2008, Jay was talking about how the Democrats have changed after the Vietnam War.  When I would hear my dad talk to and about my Grandpa and how he was a Democrat until after the Vietnam War, I never really understood it.  The Democrats, lead by the Liberals, went on a campaign to hate the military, our military, and work to dismantle it.

It is not the Democrats, but the Liberals that are the problem.  The far left people are the ones that give Democrats a bad name.  In a discussion with fellow blogger Greg Kowalski, I was misinformed that he was a Liberal.  You can be a Democrat and be a Liberal or you can be a Democrat and not be a Liberal.  They are not the same!

Here is a letter from Democrat Joseph Lieberman about his party and a youtube video called “In 52 Secs Why Barack Obama Cannot Win A General Election” that shows Obama's disgust and dismantle of American values.

The far left has taken over the Democrats and have earned the title “Liberals - The Loony Left”.

The Greatest American President in my lifetime so far was once a Democrat, until he felt the Democrats were moving to far off course and switched to become a Fiscally Social Conservative Republican, Ronald Reagan was that man.

I have used many of President Ronald Reagan’s quotes and have had some Liberals and Democrats quote their Presidents, but it is the old Democrats that were not far to the left’s quotes.

Please give the letter a read and watch the video even if you are a Democrat or Liberal since they are both from your party.  Give each one the proper thought.

Democrats and Our Enemies

By JOSEPH LIEBERMAN

May 21, 2008; Page A19

How did the Democratic Party get here?  How did the party of Franklin Roosevelt, Harry Truman and John F. Kennedy drift so far from the foreign policy and national security principles and policies that were at the core of its identity and its purpose?

Beginning in the 1940s, the Democratic Party was forced to confront two of the most dangerous enemies our nation has ever faced: Nazi Germany and the Soviet Union.  In response, Democrats under Roosevelt, Truman and Kennedy forged and conducted a foreign policy that was principled, internationalist, strong and successful.

This was the Democratic Party that I grew up in – a party that was unhesitatingly and proudly pro-American, a party that was unafraid to make moral judgments about the world beyond our borders.  It was a party that understood that either the American people stood united with free nations and freedom fighters against the forces of totalitarianism, or that we would fall divided.

This was the Democratic Party of Harry Truman, who pledged that "it must be the policy of the United States to support free peoples who are resisting attempted subjugation by armed minorities or by outside pressures."

And this was the Democratic Party of John F. Kennedy, who promised in his inaugural address that the United States would "pay any price, bear any burden, meet any hardship, support any friend, oppose any foe, to assure the survival and the success of freedom."

This worldview began to come apart in the late 1960s, around the war in Vietnam.  In its place, a very different view of the world took root in the Democratic Party.  Rather than seeing the Cold War as an ideological contest between the free nations of the West and the repressive regimes of the communist world, this rival political philosophy saw America as the aggressor – a morally bankrupt, imperialist power whose militarism and "inordinate fear of communism" represented the real threat to world peace.

It argued that the Soviets and their allies were our enemies not because they were inspired by a totalitarian ideology fundamentally hostile to our way of life, or because they nursed ambitions of global conquest.  Rather, the Soviets were our enemy because we had provoked them, because we threatened them, and because we failed to sit down and accord them the respect they deserved.  In other words, the Cold War was mostly America's fault.

Of course, that leftward lurch by the Democrats did not go unchallenged.  Democratic Cold Warriors like Scoop Jackson fought against the tide.  But despite their principled efforts, the Democratic Party through the 1970s and 1980s became prisoner to a foreign policy philosophy that was, in most respects, the antithesis of what Democrats had stood for under Roosevelt, Truman and Kennedy.

Then, beginning in the 1980s, a new effort began on the part of some of us in the Democratic Party to reverse these developments, and reclaim our party's lost tradition of principle and strength in the world.  Our band of so-called New Democrats was successful sooner than we imagined possible when, in 1992, Bill Clinton and Al Gore were elected.  In the Balkans, for example, as President Clinton and his advisers slowly but surely came to recognize that American intervention, and only American intervention, could stop Slobodan Milosevic and his campaign of ethnic slaughter, Democratic attitudes about the use of military force in pursuit of our values and our security began to change.

This happy development continued into the 2000 campaign, when the Democratic candidate – Vice President Gore – championed a freedom-focused foreign policy, confident of America's moral responsibilities in the world, and unafraid to use our military power.  He pledged to increase the defense budget by $50 billion more than his Republican opponent – and, to the dismay of the Democratic left, made sure that the party's platform endorsed a national missile defense.

By contrast, in 2000, Gov. George W. Bush promised a "humble foreign policy" and criticized our peacekeeping operations in the Balkans.

Today, less than a decade later, the parties have completely switched positions.  The reversal began, like so much else in our time, on September 11, 2001.  The attack on America by Islamist terrorists shook President Bush from the foreign policy course he was on.  He saw September 11 for what it was: a direct ideological and military attack on us and our way of life.  If the Democratic Party had stayed where it was in 2000, America could have confronted the terrorists with unity and strength in the years after 9/11.

Instead, a debate soon began within the Democratic Party about how to respond to Mr. Bush.  I felt strongly that Democrats should embrace the basic framework the president had advanced for the war on terror as our own, because it was our own.  But that was not the choice most Democratic leaders made.  When total victory did not come quickly in Iraq, the old voices of partisanship and peace at any price saw an opportunity to reassert themselves.  By considering centrism to be collaboration with the enemy – not bin Laden, but Mr. Bush – activists have successfully pulled the Democratic Party further to the left than it has been at any point in the last 20 years.

Far too many Democratic leaders have kowtowed to these opinions rather than challenging them.  That unfortunately includes Barack Obama, who, contrary to his rhetorical invocations of bipartisan change, has not been willing to stand up to his party's left wing on a single significant national security or international economic issue in this campaign.

In this, Sen. Obama stands in stark contrast to John McCain, who has shown the political courage throughout his career to do what he thinks is right – regardless of its popularity in his party or outside it.

John also understands something else that too many Democrats seem to have become confused about lately – the difference between America's friends and America's enemies.

There are of course times when it makes sense to engage in tough diplomacy with hostile governments.  Yet what Mr. Obama has proposed is not selective engagement, but a blanket policy of meeting personally as president, without preconditions, in his first year in office, with the leaders of the most vicious, anti-American regimes on the planet.

Mr. Obama has said that in proposing this, he is following in the footsteps of Reagan and JFK.  But Kennedy never met with Castro, and Reagan never met with Khomeini.  And can anyone imagine Presidents Kennedy or Reagan sitting down unconditionally with Ahmadinejad or Chavez?  I certainly cannot.

If a president ever embraced our worst enemies in this way, he would strengthen them and undermine our most steadfast allies.

A great Democratic secretary of state, Dean Acheson, once warned, "no people in history have ever survived, who thought they could protect their freedom by making themselves inoffensive to their enemies.”  This is a lesson that today's Democratic Party leaders need to relearn.

Mr. Lieberman is an Independent Democratic senator from Connecticut.  This article is adapted from a speech he gave May 18 at a dinner hosted by Commentary magazine.

In 52 Secs Why Barack Obama Cannot Win A General Election

Obama Claims He's Visited 57 States 5-9-08

Day 10 – Thursday May 15th 2008 - Still No real response from the Mayor – His public forum response said nothing

I recently was talking to a politician recently and he told me he doesn’t lie.  He also told me that he teaches his children to tell the truth.

This got me thinking.  Remember I did the tell the truth thing in the public forum.

Just a brush up for a few who may have forgotten what the means are.

Lie - a false statement made with deliberate intent to deceive; an intentional untruth; a falsehood.

Truth - conformity with fact or reality; verity, a verified or indisputable fact, proposition, principle, or the like

Fact - a truth known by actual experience or observation; something known to be true

Fiction - something feigned, invented, or imagined; a made-up story

White lie - An often trivial, diplomatic or well-intentioned untruth

Embellish - to enhance (a statement or narrative) with fictitious additions

Opinion - a belief or judgment that rests on grounds insufficient to produce complete certainty, a personal view, attitude, or appraisal.

I was watching the Star Wars movies on Spike (even though I own the DVDs) and the Obi-Wan Kenobi Quotes of “Many of the truths we cling to depend greatly on our point of view” and “So what I told you was true-from a certain point of view.”

People’s point of view really is the key.  Some people feel that not telling all is not a lie, or hiding parts as well not a lie.  Some people interrupt words, things in different ways, as it is human nature for us to be different.  One can reason with themselves that telling something from a certain point of view makes it not a lie.

Let’s at least get the misleading sleight-of-hand synonym subterfuge right, so does a magician lie when he displays subterfuge?

Heck even rumors have a sliver of truth.  Does truth have to have no lies as no lies can contain truth?  If a lie contains some truth, is it a lie?  Is a truth that contains a part of a lie still the truth?

Omit even the smallest bit from the truth and is it still the truth or is it now a lie?

Truth and facts are not the same.

Suspicious thoughts are common but error-prone.

Is a twisted truth when convenient a lie?

The truth of science is even cloudy.

The only proven fact in science is that nothing can be proven, only disproven.  That is the only firm foundation of science.

The basis behind science is to nothing as concrete, because you can't understand or observe everything that happens.  That's why every "law" in science is referred to as a theory, and not a proof.  Mathematics has proofs, literature and languages have laws, science only has theories.

So when a politician tells you he doesn’t lie, do you believe him?

Can a politician be trustworthy and honest?

Is it that this once noble profession has been reduced to people who lie for a living? 

Is lip service a lie?  Is lip-syncing a lie?

Day 5 – Still No response from the Mayor

Amazing, the leader (in name only) votes something down, is silent, and will probably gets away with it.  Hey, only in Cudahy!

It was requested that I do a monthly review of the most looked at topics I wrote.  I will run down the top 10 and give a small overview of each. 

Some of these have an unfair advantage because they are older and have had the chance to be looked at longer.  By far, the shorter time Wal-Mart articles have more people view them quicker.  Many people still want to hear about Wal-Mart from both sides of the issue.

People keep emailing me offline in private and that is good.  I would like people to start making comments.  The South Shore viewers don’t seem to want to publicly comment, by how many private emails I get vs. the comments feature used.

1. Turf War – What to Build? –Yes it is a Wal-Mart post and I talked about TIFs and how the Mayor doesn’t want the Wal-Mart and how this chance may not come again. I also included a letter from a reader that they sent to the Mayor and my responses to what the Mayor replied.

2. Real Voter Intimidation – I talked about how during the 2006 election my neighbor was intimidated and took down his sign in fear of retribution from his union steward.

3. ** Adults Only **  – The title maybe misleading to a few, but the subject matter was how adult content is on the web and we must watch what our children do on the web.

4. One Must Look Back To See The Future  – Here I wrote about that sometimes one must look back to see the future and how Mayor McCue had some foreshadowing in his campaign pledge about Wal-Mart.  Cudahy, as is the nation, is in a recession and how in a downturn we should not pass up the opportunity of this Wal-Mart.

5. History Repeating Page Two  –I wrote about the info a reader emailed me about a Cudahy School closing and Wal-Mart spin.

6. Plan Commission   – I wrote about what happen at the last Plan Commission meeting about Cudahy Station.  How some members didn’t even understand what they were to be voting on that night.

7. Proposal On The Table  – I wrote about what is the Wal-Mart proposal, TIF, and the Plan Commission.

8. Teen’s Common Sense Sometimes Lacking  – I wrote about a report I came across on how Florida legislators are encouraging a review of their "abstinence only" sex education programs after a recent survey completed by Florida teens returned some curious results of not understanding things like drinking bleach prevents HIV.  By now way am I attacking "abstinence only", just bring to light what they found.

9. Flamethrower  –I wrote about what a person said to me about how I deal with the Mayor and if I hate him.  I may be ruffling feathers and again once you write it, and sign it, you can’t hide from it something I wish the city would do.

10. Keeping Us In The “Noir”  – Keeping Us In The "Noir" is about how we are in the dark (Noir) on may things in government and how with open records laws, the information should be public and easily obtainable.  I wrote about how many of these very things should be on the web at a mouse click away from you and I to read and know.

I hope everyone enjoys reading my posts.  You may not agree with me, but maybe what I have to say will shed some new light on matters and make you pause.  I am not a reporter, but a commentator.  I do not get paid, work for the city, or have a secret agenda.  I gain nothing personally from doing this blog other than the satisfaction of being able to put “The Way I See It” out for others to read.  I do it because I think it needs to be said.  I try to be fair and when I see something I don’t agree with, I let it be known.

Many people have said I am hard on the Mayor in his first year and I write blogs that don’t show his job performance in a good light.  When I see something that he does great, I will blog on it.

Hey, I am not the only one blogging on the Cudahy Now website, Greg Janisch was McCue’s campaign Treasurer and he can blog.  Just because I am critical of the Mayor’s job performance, does not make me a person who is attacking Ryan McCue personally nor am I character assassinating him!  This is about his job performance period!  We all have freedom of speech and a voice; I just choose to use mine.

Here is what a reader, Dave Taylor, said in a comment:

“Randy, there's a lot of people in Cudahy who back you up, even if they are too scared to admit it.  We should all be thankful that someone is willing to take a stand for what is right for our city; like you said, "...just want Cudahy to be better", too bad there are egos that get in the way of the good the city could do.  There isn't any reason to be shameful of an opinion, that's what makes us human (not robots) and why our country is a great one!

Sometimes you may feel your comments fall of deaf ears, but the truth is that people ARE reading and they ARE listening.  We rally behind you and hopefully, you are stronger in your plight for a better Cudahy because of it.  You are a voice that matters!  You are looking out for the betterment of Cudahy!  You are taking a stand, unafraid of whose feathers you ruffle!  Those of us who stand behind will continue to support you, even if the “powers that be” wish we weren’t listening!

Keep up the good work…your supporters need your voice!”

Someone has talked to my superiors at mycommunitynow.com to have my work censored or shutdown.  The claim was I lie, spread rumors, and have false and inaccurate information.  I try to source my work and some comes from people in government that do not like the direction we are headed or people close to a situation that feel some injudicious is being done.  I have always believed in correct information and not disinformation.  If something is truly wrong let me know and I will correct it, but don’t be all that upset and try and shut me down because you don’t LIKE what I am saying!  People if what I am hearing from those inside is true, some scary things are coming or happening.  Hypothetically, it might even be something like a change of salary ordinances for health insurances that is not fair and done evenly.  Should it not be changed for all and not leave out anyone?  Fair is fair.  That is a hypothetical, but watch it might just come true.

I will not stop until the misinformation, disinformation and no information are brought to light.  More and more people are emailing me with things.  These are very reliable people and trustworthy people.  Together we can all make a difference.  I will NEVER sell you out and I have been asked who is telling me things.  The wheel of information doesn’t need to stop spinning just because it might ruffle some feathers.

So, you want to be a better person for yourself and your fellow mankind.  If you so choose to make it happen, it is as easy as four simple steps.  Here is how you can accomplish that.

First, remember to treat others how you want to be treated.  Most people develop the “mirror” syndrome.  They will mirror how you are treating them and reflect it back towards you.

Second, don’t be faultfinding in others.  Everyone has flaws.  Try not to focus on them, but try to look at the good.  In doing so, you will notice just how much others have to offer.  If you can overlook your own faults, you may even surprise yourself.

Next, don’t try to change people.  People are creatures of habit and don’t change easily.  You should not spend time and effort trying to do so.  What you need to do is accept people for what and who they are.  Draw out the goodness in others and the goodness in you shall shine through like the sun’s rays on a clear day.

Finally, if someone should fail at school, home, work, or life help him or her up.  From this type of generosity comes the bigger person.  How easy is it to stand on the sidelines watching others fail or not to even notice those struggling?  As you lift others up, you too shall be lifted to a higher plane along with them.

After following the above steps, you are guaranteed to be a better person for yourself and your fellow mankind.  This comes with a lifetime money back offer, but I have yet to have someone ask for a refund since it is free.  Once you have tried it, you will be completely satisfied with the new you as have millions of others who have tried it.

Plagiarism – Most people do it every day without even knowing about it.  You hear something on the news or in talking and now you accept it and state it.

One of my writing instructors told me that all words and thoughts get plagiarized.  While having a discussion with one of my friends we talked about Copernicus and his “The Revolutions” on how he was not the one who discovered it first.  Yet he gets the credit. 

Oh, here is the rub…

Do we as people go around saying the Earth revolves around the sun and still give Copernicus the credit?  Have you done that when explaining it to children?  How about educators?  Many of them are the first to cry “Plagiarism,” yet they do it.  Just think about if you give the proper credit to those who create or discover something in your worksheets, lessons or handouts.  How about in your verbal communications?

So where is this going?

Warner Bros & J K Rowling has a legal battle over who first thought of Harry Potter.

John Buechler was behind a little known film called Troll, released in 1986, which featured a young boy called Harry Potter Jr.

J K Rowling says the idea just came to her.  John doesn't think so.  There are a lot of similarities between the theme of her books and the original Troll.  John was shocked when she came out with Harry Potter.

Is it possible J K Rowling saw or heard about the idea from the movie or book?  Maybe she did and truly doesn’t know she did.  Maybe she did know?  Honest mistake or not?

Another article on this subject stated the John Buechler waited until there was the most amount of money and impact before bring his lawsuit.

Source Here:

Source Here:

Here's an unknown to consumers and not talked about fact about cigarettes from the manufacturers.  The reason why tobacco plants produce nicotine is because nicotine is an insecticide.  And it is a potent one -- 50 milligrams of nicotine is enough to kill an adult human being.

When a person smokes a filtered cigarette, all of the smoke passes through the cigarette's filter and the smoker receives two or three milligrams of nicotine from the smoke that he or she inhales.  This small dose is not toxic enough and has several effects on the smoker -- it increases the smoker's heart rate for example, and causes blood vessels to constrict.

When the smoker finishes the cigarette and flicks the butt away, the butt actually contains a significant amount of nicotine trapped in the fibers of the filter -- perhaps 20 milligrams.  That is enough, it turns out, to kill your child.  If 20 milligrams of nicotine is ingested by a small child, the nicotine will cause respiratory failure and paralysis.

We all know how excited infants and toddlers are about putting everything they find in their mouths.  If you put your infant or toddler on the sidewalk, and if the child happens upon a fresh cigarette butt, and if the child does the completely normal thing of putting the butt in his or her mouth and swallowing it, then you have an emergency.  It is definitely time to call the poison control center and/or head for the emergency room, because that cigarette butt may very well be lethal.

Even if you do not smoke, someone else around does.  Most smokers are careless with the cigarette butts.  They flick them out of their cars; drop them while they walk on to the sidewalk.  That is littering.  Dangerous littering!

Your neighbor either next door or a few houses away could be a smoker. They may have a can that they use for their cigarette butts and just dump the butts in the garbage can afterwards.  You should ask them to please put them in a bag first so when the garbage trucks pickup the trash and dump it they don’t have a chance to fall out.   

Did you ever wonder sometimes how a cigarette butt makes it way in your backyard?  Many birds try to eat them thinking they are worms and just drop them.  Now your child could unknowingly and unfortunately pick it up and eat it.

I am going to ask the Mayor if they can maybe post something in one of the newsletters we get about proper disposal of them and the dangers that lurk with them.

This is my email to Gerber about the safety of plastics for children and their response.

4/3/2006 2:59 PM

With all of the scientific unknowns about the use and chemicals in the manufacturing of #7 plastic that are known to leach the hormone-disrupting chemical bisphenol-A (BPA), it maybe prudent to err on the side of caution and stop using the plastic containers for your Gerber Baby food (for example Applesauce).  The recommendation has been not to microwave anything in a #7 container, but your foil top on the baby food states “remove foil seal before microwaving.  I implore you to stop for our kid’s sake, this may turn out to be the smoking gun for the rise in Autism and you would not like to be the company that sat on their hands with this issue.  Gerber has always been known to be first and foremost for kid’s safety.  Make a statement, step out and step up and show people that Gerber really does care about kids.  Be the leader and do something about this.

The following is the web site and a small excerpt from it

http://www.ewg.org/reports/bisphenola/consumertips.php

While the levels of BPA that leach from hard plastics are generally low, we recommend avoiding use of plastic containers to heat food in the microwave, especially food for children.  Ceramic, glass, and other microwaveable dishware are good alternatives.  Avoid using old and scratched plastic bottles.

Randy Hollenbeck

Thank you for the information; this should be something that you are telling people, on your web site, on the packaging, in commercials.  Just get the word out.

Randy

Gag Order - Judicial ruling barring public disclosure or discussion (as by the press) of information related to a case; broadly: a similar nonjudicial prohibition against the release of confidential information or against public discussion of a sensitive matter.  (Definition by Merriam-Webster)

Someone in the public forum had stated that maybe Mayor McCue had placed a gag order on our elected officials from posting or emailing about Wal-Mart (while understanding “working in good faith and the walking quorum” problems) and with information about the pending lawsuit (s) it maybe true then.  The poster went on to say that the Mayor doesn’t want anything in print so he/they can deny whatever is said and conversations on the phone, therefore it would be hearsay.

During the State of the City meeting, Mayor McCue stated these close door meetings protect the city and don’t show our hand.  On his campaign website (http://ryanmccue.com/IcePort.html) he states “As a citizen, I was frustrated that the mayor scheduled numerous closed session meetings, excluding the public.”

Maybe there are valid reasons that at the time McCue was unaware of why the Mayor (to which one is he talking about) had for the closed meetings.  Maybe he sees things in a different light now.

If they had been told in closed session by legal counsel, to keep their mouth's shut, not to further damage the city’s position, then they should just come out and say so.  We don’t need all of this secrecy and mystery.  This muzzle, without explanation, just creates mistrust and distrust, misinformation and rumors.

With all of this information that was stated in the public forum, like the Eminent Domain put out there months before it was publicly announced and now this, I stated this before it sounds like someone inside the local government is not happy with the direction our captain and the ship are heading.

If I were the Mayor, I would be very uneasy if there truly is this secret discontent floating information out.  It begs the question, is there more coming? 

I don’t care who it is as long as it is the truth that comes forward.

It is just like “Deep Throat of Watergate” and makes this interesting!

At this moment, we will classify it as a rumor, until the press (Cudahynow) releases a statement from the Mayor’s office telling us that it is true.  My money is on that it is true to some degree.

By the way, a neighbor of mine has made an observation that things in meetings get tabled if there is no media present to record them and passed when someone is there to report on it.  You and I will have to watch for that.  If it is true, we have egomaniacs in office.

Gates Says Web Helps Government Transparency

Using Denmark and Sweden as examples, Bill Gates credited the internet with making governments more transparent.  According to Gates, those two governments have taken steps to have detailed postings of all government activities.

While not as easy to access as their Nordic counterparts, he said that the US government has made a lot of data available, but it is complicated by jargon and often difficult to navigate.

He also indicated that the Nordic countries are the model to follow, not the US.

While bopping around on the other My Community Now cities sites.  I came across this link and story on Franklins’:

Police Officer Told to Remove U.S. Flag Decal From Locker

We do have a policy in place that prohibits anything posted on lockers," Franklin Police Chief Rick Oliva

See that is when a policy can and should be changed.  It is a policy/rule, which can be changed and broken.  It is not as if it is against the law --- yet I guess.

I guess there is a limit to the amount of U.S. flags they can have on display.

Obama no flag pin, will not say the Pledge with his hand on his heart, will not sing the National Anthem ----  Yeah I guess taking down all U.S. Flags is next.

God help us!!

Many communities have found the right mix of housing, retail and manufacturing to keep it viable and Cudahy needs to do the same.  Cities are places where people can live, learn, work, visit and play.  They should offer a wide range of services - schools, parks, health care, stores, restaurants and transportation, just to name a few.  Cities that are vibrant, safe, and attractive are where residents, visitors and businesses want to be.  Cudahy has what is necessary to be successful; it just needs to move forward.

To move forward you have to identify your problems, except them and fix them.  Currently our city is in denial of many issues that plague our wonderful city.  Also, Cudahy has a sort of Identity crisis I am told which I covered in “Cudahy's Image Problem”.

Job number one must be to stop the decline in our city’s population, job losses, and keep Cudahy money in Cudahy.  To do that we must lower our crime and taxes.  Crime and population go hand in hand though; do GHOST TOWNS need to worry about crime and we can have all the development in the world and the greatest park system but if everyone is afraid of going there then what's the point?

Job number two is to increase tourism traffic to Cudahy and to bring in money from outside our city.

Look at the pie chart at the bottom of this post as to “The concerns of Wisconsin Residents”

Cudahy needs to find its identity and niche.  Obviously, the economy is foremost...having lost that much of the population I could only assume it was an economic issue again, taxes and a rise in crime (the issue of crime was so big I covered it in two blogs earlier).  By niche, I mean find an industry, which could thrive and then create economic incentives for corporations to move here.  We need to target biotech, drug industry, software and technology businesses.  We must identify areas that definitely need improvement and intervention.

One of Mayor Ryan McCue’s platform statements was “We need to concentrate on keeping businesses in Cudahy and make it easy and attractive for new businesses to locate in Cudahy.”  It is essential for Cudahy to keep the trucking companies that call Cudahy home.  These trucking companies pay good wages and has excellent benefits.  We need to keep the moniker of truck alley.  I know many people in attendance at the common council meetings in the past have talk bad about all of the trucks on the streets of Cudahy.  That is a sign of a living city, I have told them.  One woman told me “I just wish they were in some other city, not ours.”  We will never make everyone happy.  This is the same sediment the Wal-Mart has on some people.

Right now, we are a city losing jobs and people who live in the community.  Our enrollment in Cudahy schools is down.  Some people confuse the issue of specialty stores with big business retailer.  We need the big business retailer, Wal-Mart, to increase the standard of living of the residents who live in Cudahy.  The specialty stores help increase tourist traffic, not to say the Cudahy residents will not shop them because they will, but the very nature of the word “specialty shops” should be a clue.  This is not a daily or weekly destination, but a place to go for a special need, which is why many of them fail.

Once Wal-Mart is given the go ahead “The Shops of Cudahy” will fill-up with tenants.  Currently the prospective tenants would like to hangout in the weeds until Wal-Mart is named.  There is to be a hotel built on this 26-acre property.  That too is in limbo until Wal-Mart is named.  You have the classic “Chicken and the Egg.”

Yes, we need to increase tourism, but it is more important to stem the tide of good residents leaving our community and jobs moving elsewhere.  One-person blogged on the public forum about Generations of pride and that his own kids have moved out of Cudahy.  This is exactly why we need to make a reason for people to stay living in Cudahy.  Having a high tourism and high amount of people moving out will not cancel each other out as some people think.  It starts with this Wal-Mart, which is a destination of Cudahy residents.

Of course, the Mayor doesn’t like this Wal-Mart, check that, is not a fan of Wal-Mart and he doesn’t feel it is a destination spot, because he is looking through glasses marked tourism.  The part of the Master Plan is an excuses, it is not ridged but flexible.  Many communities have a Wal-Mart in them, why would someone from outside our community want to shop our Wal-Mart if they already have one.  They wouldn’t unless their Wal-Mart is out of a particular item, ours is closer to where they work, or they simply like to shop ours.  It is mainly for the residents, not tourism.

Obviously, the Mayor (who shops Wal-Mart) is not concerned enough about the citizens living in Cudahy, and is worried more about just how to drive up tourism to Cudahy.  That is only one side of the problem.  Take off the tourism glasses and use your own eyes to see that both can be accomplished.  Wal-Mart for the Cudahy citizens and the specialty shops for tourism along with the Wave Center.  There are plenty of vacancies dotting Cudahy that would work perfectly for specialty shops besides this need to be placed in Cudahy Station.  We only need find them and to fill them.

The Wave complex can host soccer training in 60,000 sq ft and doubles as a 40,000 sq ft convention center once converted to that mode.  It will have a pull of 100-mile radius.  That includes 60,000 soccer moms and dads shopping, eating and driving around Cudahy.  Talk about large numbers of shoppers!

Cudahy needs this Wal-Mart and we need it to be successful.  Our future depends on it.  This Wal-Mart is not the savior, but it is the first piece of a puzzle called “How to grow and fix Cudahy.”  It is imperative to our revitalization that this large retailer comes to Cudahy and the responsible thing to do for our city to prosper.  Some say that we are just copying what other cities have and that it does not set us a part.  To this I say, why not move out all grocery stores, gas stations since everyone has one.  The answer lies in conveniences.

Cities on the rise are enjoying developmental booms, embracing their history and their geography.  Stimulating the local economy for businesses and the job market, will in turn keep people in Cudahy and will keep us growing.  The military has a saying called the “6P’s”--- Proper --- Planning --- Prevents --- Piss --- Poor --- Performance, and if we follow that, we cannot fail.

What has plagued us in the past will haunt us.  A lack of vision and the carelessness nature of local politicians in the past has cost us dearly.  The town was governed by entirely by old-timers who were dead set against any kind of change and are running the town into the ground.  Status Quo is the term to describe that type of thinking.

It's the "we can do without that" mentality that suppresses new ideas for economic expansion.  I think that is what has kept young people from being drawn to and staying in Cudahy.  We need to engage them and entice them to stay.

Many locals want to retain a mid-sized city atmosphere but there is a great deal of influence from developers to change the demographics.  I am in favor of that as well, as long as the intent is not to push out the lower income elderly.  If we could push out or evict the lower income people who don’t want to work but instead live off the system, let us do it.  Far too long Cudahy has allowed the slumlords to use Cudahy and us.

Renters are fine as long as they care about the property, and contribute to the prosperity of the community.  Many do not.  Sometimes it does follow the lower income, but that is a case-by-case thing.  Would I like have the tax revenue of $300,000 plus homes, yes as long as it doesn’t change who we are.  Too many people would like to remake Cudahy into Whitefish Bay and that will not happen.  Cudahy is hard working class of people.  We can have a successful mix.     

I would support the KRM if taxes didn’t go up and the answer to that is private funding.  Funny how the people upset with the TIF are okay with taxes going up to fund the KRM.

So funny, don’t you think?

Yes, it would be an excellent opportunity existing to lure some of those new transplants into our neighborhood with several mixed-use projects featuring condos, lofts, and apartments in various price ranges.

Yes, tourism development would be nice.  Many proposed projects in Cudahy are shot down because the taxpayers are tired of paying for everything.  With some outside (tourist), revenue coming in we could get some help then the rest could follow.  I am just not convinced the KRM will make it and I don’t want to be the one paying for it then.  We you are on the right side you don’t have to do any convincing!

New residences downtown will generate more foot traffic that will help to sustain existing businesses, encourage new businesses to develop, deter crime, and boost the city's tax base.  We can entice people to move to our downtown, which already has all of the ingredients necessary to sustain residents (library, restaurants, shops, bars, pharmacies, banks, workplaces, houses of worship, etc.) if only Cudahy didn’t have the stigma of land of high taxes.  Adding more taxes for the KRM is not the answer especially as the country heads for a long recession.  We need to conserve our money.  I understand the philosophy that “you have to spend money to make money,” just now is not that time.

The "growth of a city" depends upon each individual in it.  Simply put, how we are treating each other.  I have said this before.  It’s not size.  It’s not money.  The better we treat each other that is the growth.  A modest size city where people treat each other well will attract much to it, everything that it needs to expand.

Yes, I become very discouraged and feel very sad to see so many people bashing my city all the time, but I know only better times are ahead for it (especially if and when I climb the political ladder as many of you would like me to do).

Cities need visionary, non-corrupt governments to progress and grow (I am not necessarily saying ours is).  The officials need to stop focusing on such micro issues, where if they focused on bigger picture problems, the micro problems would eventually be fixed.  The free market place has, in many cases led the change, as long as it was not tampered with.  Good planning leads to orderly growth and helps us to have the type of community we want.  Cities on the rise are enjoying developmental booms, embracing their history and their geography.

The Mayor's job responsibilities vary widely, but all are intended to ensure the well-being of the city and its people.  The Mayor and council members have the responsibility of representing not only the people who elected them, but all citizens.  Council members also serve as a resource to the residents of their district, making sure they receive quality services and helping them to solve problems.  Priority must be given to the well-being of the city and its people and is in an ongoing process to do so.

None of us are Mayors or are in charge (except the Mayor, Ryan McCue), but through this forum/blog our voices may be heard.  We still may not hear from the powers that be, but they will read your comments.

Everyone is looking for a formula that will provide healthy growth and stimulate the local economy for businesses and the job market.  With the challenges and opportunities we have, we can move forward and succeed.  We all must be trying to breathe life into our city and care about each other.  We must stem the tide of population and job loss.  We must lower crime and taxes.  We must, because if you don’t, Cudahy will become a GHOST TOWN.

Does the Mayor and its city officials get a report card?  I am working on that!

Maybe we should do an online one.

What problems does our city have and what suggestions do you have to help our city grow? 

Drinking Bleach Prevents HIV, Mountain Dew Prevents Pregnancy

Florida legislators are encouraging a review of their "abstinence only" sex education programs after a recent survey completed by Florida teens returned some curious results.

According to some of the teens, drinking a cap of bleach will prevent an HIV infection, a dose of Mountain Dew soda will stop pregnancy and smoking marijuana will prevent pregnancy.

Knowledge of condoms and other forms of sexual health appeared to be comparatively lacking.

You know, the teens may be on to something here, drinking bleach may very well prevent an HIV infection…because you’ll be DEAD!!!!!!

State officials believe that the myths are spreading due to the lone focus on abstinence, rather than other proven methods which encourage sexual health.  A new, more comprehensive Bill has been drawn, and has passed its first committee vote.

http://www.local6.com/news/15773787/detail.html

I know teens are not ready for the real world, but come on!  What about some common sense here!  This is not like not knowing grapefruit or grapefruit juice makes the pill less or even non-effective.

Now the teens could have banded together to say these things, but for what reason?  And we talk about the lack of third world education!  We need to take care of things at home in the U.S. before worrying about other countries!!!!