What's in My Wallet?

You've seen the commercials on tv and the ads in magazines. With that catchy phrase, "What's in your wallet?". It is suppose to make you think that unless you have a Capital One card in there, then you are pretty much doomed to nothing but trouble and heartburn when it comes time to pay the piper.

Well, I can confirm that the now household concept is absolutely true! It really does matter what is in your wallet. And it will pay for ALL to be very aware of what is in your wallet and which card you decide to pull out for your next dinner date, or your next business purchase.

Unfortunately we all seem to have them and we all seem to use them for things that we may not need to, but they are very convenient, even now at fast food chains. That little plastic card that seems to make every payday feel a little less painful. By using it, we have what appears to be endless streams of cash available. But have you ever max'd out one of those baby's? And then had to face the next months bill and not have quite enough to cover it?

But.....I must interject here that it isn't all the credit card companies fault for those double sized payments, OR IS IT?

"People are now in a revolving debt cycle that they'll never escape," says Adam Brauer, a debtor advocate and in-house counsel for Debt Settlement USA in Scottsdale, Ariz. "So the government nudged credit card companies into saying, 'This isn't working.'"

Specifically, regulators with the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency began pressuring credit card companies to raise minimum payments. Another incentive for change: The newly enacted Bankruptcy Abuse Prevention and Consumer Protection Act of 2005, which requires credit card companies to post a kind of Surgeon General's warning on monthly statements that notifies consumers about how long they'll be in debt if they make minimum payments.

This is where most people find themselves today. If you had the cards reaching their limit when all the rules were changed, you found yourself in a very bad situation, and for most, with no way to come up with the extra funds to cover the now double sized payments necessary to keep the account current.

So now what? Exactly! This is exactly where I found myself.

I had leveraged a few cards to help extend the life of a business that was tetering on the brink of either making it good, or losing forever. The hope was in the former, that a little extra help would see it through and then the proverbial light would appear at the end of the tunnel. Then the reform! It was as though the system had sealed off the end of the tunnel and I was stuck inside and no way to get the train turned around or slowed down. Not to mention the price of driving that train just grew over-night to extremes I in no way could afford at the time. That was that! No parachute, no light, no help. The business stopped, the income ceased and all the bills piled up where a dream used to be.

But that was my fault. It was my decision to use the funds in that manner. I leveraged on what appeared to be a solid business. I have no one to blame but myself. But in my own defense the plan did not include the restructuring of the credit system in the world. I never imagined in the beginning that at the very brink of possible success, the whole financial system would change and pull the legs out from underneath me.

But that brings me back to my opening. The damage was done and there is nothing I can do to change it or fight it. I had to pick up the pieces and try to pay off what I owe, no matter how long it takes. But I also didn't expect what happened next.

The credit I had used included Bank of America, Citibank and Capital One.

Can you pick the cards in your wallet against the three I just listed here? Well you need to and plan accordingly because one of them does not have any program what-so-ever to help you if you happen to find yourself in the same situation I did. I was paying minimum payments at the time of about $120.00 each card. When the rate changes were implemented those payments were raised on average to $349.00 which now included increased percentage rates which went as high as 30%, late fees, etc.

I had decided that I was in big trouble and I didn't have a clue what to do or how to it. I knew only one thing, I didn't have enough money coming in to cover all of those payments. I was barely making the lower payments, but the key was, I was making them. And with a little luck and good fortune business would have excelled and I would have been able to pay them off in short order. But that was then. This is now.

Of course the phone calls started and before long every credit card company I owed was calling. Then I found out something interesting. There is help and there is hope, from some. Just not from all! I was being hammered, starting at 8am every day but Sunday, till 9pm every night. And I was making payments. I would answer the phone and the voice on the other end would dutifully tell me the obvious, that I was delinquent and that I needed to pay more and I just as masterfully explained to them that if I had more I would surely give it to them. Then one day a nice lady from Citibank called me and asked me if I knew about their customer help program that would allow me to stop the calls, the interest, the late fees and everything else for 12 full months while paying a minimum payment. This was all designed to help me get back on my feet, for 12 months, then I would resume normal payment schedules. I was elated. I asked why it had to coem to this to find out about it. But I was so excited, I don't even remember what her response was. But I signed up right away. They automatically withdraw a set amount from your account every month and in turn you get relieve to try and get yourself back on track.

I had two cards from Citibank and got both of them signed up on the system. Then came a call from a Bank of America representative with the same offer. It had to be a miracle. Of course I signed up. It has been a wonderful relief. But the story does not end. Guess what? The calls are still coming from guess who?

You got it. Capital One. They have no in-house system to help customers who, like myself, find themselves in a bit of a jam and can't afford to pay the new incresed payment amounts. I have talked with nearly every collector they have, because they have all called me, and they apologize for not being able to help. They just simply have no recourse to help. They want your account brought current or they want the full pay-off amount. Of course, if I had the full pay-off amount, I could surely pay the full payment of $349.00 per month, but I don't, so I continue to pay the $100.00 per month, every month, till I am able to pay more. Well it has now progressed to their in-house attorney services. Something called "NCO Financial", who is the employer of the collectors that have been calling me from California. I have told them all that I need a little help for a little while, but there is none available.

Obviously I am not alone in my credit misery.
I actually found a site where others speak out about their problems. I have not posted to this site and do not anticipate doing so, but it makes you wonder.



There is a new player in the collection process at "NCO Financial", which is called the "Attorney Network" and a young man named Anthony Capollo. They need 30% down, which is about $3600.00 and $500.00 a month thereafter. That's the only arrangement they can offer at this time and according to the voice mail left by Mr. Capollo,
.........."he has seen Capital One sue people for a mere $500.00 and get their money".
The next step if I do not agree to their terms is they are sending my account to an attorney in my area which will result in judgement and subsequent leins against personal property, bank accounts and whatever else they can find to take.

Well........... and all because they don't have a customer relations help program available to their customers that found themselves in a bind when the rates were changed, without asking me if I agreed to the rate changes. Yes, I know it was my fault for getting into debt. And I accept that. But where is the spirit of americans, helping americans. I have not refused to pay my debt. The credit company is in the business of extending credit. I am paying as I previously agreed. I didn't change the rules! But I am being shacken down to comply with their demands. And all the while they scour the electronic score boards looking for more potential victims. I found this interesting article while looking around the web. Capital One Blitzes Credit Reports Looking For New Prey

Did I mention that I also have a separate Capital One account that is current and up to date and paid as agreed? Makes you wonder who is running the place? Who sees thier tactics as good for business? I am positive that I am not the only one caught in this situation without recourse. I am not the only one that found themselves unable to pay. I am sure a good portion of the others decided to file Bankruptcy. Ever notice that the bankruptcy laws changed at the same time the credit rules changed? It became harder to file bankruptcy? Hmmmm.... Curious huh?

So now I find myself in the curious situation of what to do next. I definately did not want to file bankruptcy, but if Capital One continues to pursue this to a court of law to get a judgement and then continue to levy everything that I am already barely hanging onto, then I may not have a choice. I may have to file bankruptcy just to make sure I am protected and able to pay everyone. This is the point that makes it hard for those who actually do want to do what is right and pay their obligations and not try to scam others. One company want to move to the head of the line and take everything right now, instead of waiting patiently and accepting payments.

Well, we shall see. I feel for the guy at I Am Facing Forclosure.Com.
He admits to his mistakes and is struggling to pay his bills but when there is no good outcome what are we left with? He doesn't want to file for bankruptcy, at least I don't think. I know I don't. But what choice will I be left with? One of the points that Mr. Capollo left on a previous voice mail was that he had been in contact with someone and found that I still had the ability to get credit and hinted that I should get more credit to take care of his credit bill. Is that insame or what? I don't get it.

All I want is a chance to make it all good. What I'm getting from Capital One, believe me, will never fit in my wallet!

Daddy's Got Rights Too?

I remember very well the sinking feeling and the dread when I realized I wasn't going to be seeing my kids faces every morning and that I would no longer be laying in the floor playing with them every evening or laying on the couch with them watching their favorite cartoon. I also remember the incredible pain in my guts as I was forced to walk away from my son who was barely 8 months old, knowing I may never see him again. Sad huh? Not nearly as sad reading as it was to actually live those moments.

Today, it seems like a life time ago. But the casualty of it all is very real and very lasting. It was seven (7) years nearly before I saw my son again. Nothing I could say or do seemed to change matters at the time. My ex-wife even refused support. She figured that if she refused help she could justify her desire to never let me have contact with him. Not sure how the courts overlook this type of thing and it amazes me that it can even be allowed. If I had it to do all over again, I know that I would do things a little different. AT the time, I felt like I had no choices and therefore no rights. Today I know better, and it seems the legislation, at least in Michigan, is trying to change this as well.

Dad's need help. It's just plain and simple. Women have always had the upper hand when it came to marriages being dissolved. Women got custody and the men got the bill. That's just not fair. Children need their parents. Both of them! And they need the courts to act on their behalf, not on behalf of just one spouse over another. Fair and equal punishment under the law, should be the mainstay of treatment in marriage disputes as well. Fair and equal treatment in divorce. Equal representation under the law and equal and fair settlements.

I am not blind to the fact that some parents are not deserving of equal custody and in those instances the court needs to always ensure that the well-being of the child is placed above all other factors. Parents who are known abusers, addicts or other types of offenders should be evaluated prior to decisions being made on their behalf. Despite a parents rights, child safety has to be the priority. But such allegations cannot and should not be based on the word of the ex-spouse alone. I know of a case recently where a couple separated and the wife informed the day-care that the husband was not to be allowed to pick up the children because he was mentally and physically unstable. I know the guy. He is neither. It was an out-right lie, that not only punished the children, but caused hurt and suffering to the husband who loved his kids more than anything.

If I had been able to have equal custody of my children as they grew, I am positive that some of the problems that they have dealt with through the years would not have come about. There have been many emotional problems that have had to be worked through and many mixed feelings on their part as to their role and their acceptance by me. All of this could have been avoided if shared custody was the mandate instead of the exception.

I love my children very much and I have missed them and cried for them on too many occasions, when all I ever needed was to be able to share their lives on more than just a weekend, or a few weeks out of the year. This is not only unfair and devastating to the father, but it is detrimental and life changing for the child. Children need both parents, preferably in one household, but if the marriage is lost the best thing for all members of the family is for both parents to suck it up and do what's right for the child, by sharing responsibility for every aspect of the child's development and seeing that the welfare of the child is placed above the petty pride and ambivalence of the parting parents. "Can't we all just get along"?

On August 11, 2007 there is going to be a bike ride from Lansing, Michigan to Washington DC, to raise awareness of this situation and to try and get the word out that Daddy's need equal time with their children. Check out Daddy's Blog.

Mom's, love your children and let them spend time with their dads. It's the best thing you can do for your children. Dad's, don't turn away from marital counseling as something you see as pointless. The first thing is to try and save the marriage. It can be done if both parties will step out from behind the mask of pride, selfishness and self righteousness. There is no greater gift you can give to your children than dedication, commitment and and a strong sense of character brought to your relationship with your spouse. But if it doesn't work out, remember it isn't about you! Our differences with our spouses need to take a backseat to the needs of our children and our children need us both. Equal time and shared responsibility. Make it work.

When a friend isn't !!!

When you think of a "Friend", what comes to mind?

Is it your boyfriend? Your girlfriend? Someone you've known forever? Someone you may have just met? Who is it that listens to your problems or helps to meet your needs when you are having a problem, or is there with you through thick and thin? Someone who parties with you or works side-by-side with you even though it is not their project. You are together because you enjoy the other persons problems.

Does that person go out of their way to help when really needed? Do they bring you chicken soup when you are sick, or drop off aspirins when you have none? Are they willing to stop what they are doing to come to your aid or are they always too busy. Do they answer the phone no matter when you call or do they wait and let you leave a message? Does your friend hear you when you are speaking or do they always dominate the conversation with things about them.

I have had many friends through the years and always wonder what happened to them. How is it that when you make a friend, they end up disappearing? Are they really to be considered friends? Is life truly so busy in everyone's world that they have absolutely no time any longer to share themselves even for a short conversation with those they counted as, friend?

I have lost track of many friends that I never wanted to lose. I have also left messages for many friends that I have never received a call back from. That part I truly don't understand. I try to respond to all of my calls and when a friend calls I am always eager to take it. I am not needy, and I don't require anything from anyone so I find it odd that a friend would not return a phone message. And I find it even more odd when a friend really needs something that no one is willing to reach out and at least try to help. Being realistic, we cannot always help. We do not always have the resources to do everything that comes along, but there are many times when all someone needs is a friend to listen or just a hand with a heavy object.

Today I had a friend who was feeling under the weather and just needed a couple of aspirin. He phoned a mutual friend whom he had recently done some things for, as a friend, and asked if they could drop some by on their way home. The friend responded that they did not have anything with them, nor did they have anything at their house. BUT, they were currently at their parents house and could have easily obtained a few aspirins there and dropped them off. (How many of your mothers don't have some form of pain reliever in the house? -- Exactly !) But they refused to return favor by doing the good deed and bringing some relief to a friend. What kind of friend is that? I offered to bring something immediately but the friend said they were already going out for something but would stop over to get it, rather than going to the store. I gave them extra for later.

I am no hero. I am no different than what anyone should be. I didn't go out, but I offered and I would have. That is the difference.

My friend got what he needed, but will the other friend get what they need when it comes back around? We should all take inventory of the list of people we consider friends. Are they really? How good a friend are they?

I am, in no way, perfect. But I do appreciate my friends. I have some pretty good ones right now and I pray I never lose them. I have some previous ones that I would like to have back. But I do not know what the problem is to begin with so I guess we wait.

There is an old saying: "If you want a friend........Be One !"

Who's In Charge Anyway

It's the end of a busy week for what seems like the whole world.

When we have an election it tends to reverberate around the globe with mixed emotions. This one happens to have the radicals excited and gleeful that the democrats took over control. If you think about that idea for one minute and let it sink in, can you understand the impact this has? The fact that the democrats won control of both houses of congress and this makes our enemy happy. It makes them jump for joy! Can no one else see the irony in this picture? It doesn't take a rocket scientist to understand the implication that if this is something that they are happy about, then we all should be very nervous and afraid.

The thing that many americans continually forget is that our enemy; communism and radical islamists, never forget that they are at war. When we think that we are in the midst of peace, they are at war. Their idealism does not sleep and it does not die. It grows and spreads like a cancerous disease. Those that are fighting this war on our behalf, the men and women in uniform, know full well that we must never become complacent or we will die. But we vote and we go about our daily lives as though we are safe and content. But what we must never forget is that our enemy wants us to drop our guard. They want us to decide to go home. The want us to cut and run. They want very much to be able to come to our country and wage this war, the same way they did on 9/11/2001.

People blame Bush for this war and for everything that has happened since 9/11/2001. But if people would remember their history correctly, there was an attempt at a 9/11 style attack years before while Clinton was President! The enemy bombed the World Trade Center, but they didn't use enough explosives to cause the damage they wanted. They realized from that error that they would need much more to inflict the kind of hurt they wanted to impose on us. There were many other attacks against us that we never did anything about because of the democratic President and leadership we had, such as the bombing of the USS Cole in Yemen in 2000, the bombing of our embassy's in Tanzania and Kenya in 1998 and our marine barracks in Beirut in 1983. Our democratic government never did anything about those attacks and it emboldened our enemy. They wanted to do more.











On 9/11/2001 we wanted our government to protect us and to push back this enemy from our borders. Unfortunately in order to do that, you have to take the battle to their borders. It's sort of like the saying, ("if you build it they will come"), well if you create a battle the enemy will show up. They honestly believe that they can beat us merely by killing a few of our people. Because the democrats are not militarily endowed. They think you should be able to talk about it and fix it. Our enemy does not believe that way. Our President did the right thing by taking the war to their borders. And we repay him by cutting the legs out from under him before the battle is even half way over. It just shows that the majority of the American people are exactly what the enemy say we are. Cowards! At the sight of blood, we want to cut and run. Yet at the sight of blood, our enemy gets stronger.

Anyone ever heard of Bosnia?

The following is a short recitation about the Bosnian conflict that President Clinton got us into and guess what? Yes, we are STILL there! I, personally, have a nephew that returned from a tour there this year.

The Yugoslav Wars were a series of violent conflicts in the territory of the former Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia that took place between 1991 and 2001. They comprised two sets of successive wars affecting all of the six former Yugoslav republics. Alternative terms in use include the "War in the Balkans", or "War in (the former) Yugoslavia", "Wars of Yugoslav Secession", and the "Third Balkan War" (a short-lived term coined by British journalist Misha Glenny, alluding to the Balkan Wars of 1912–1913).

They were characterised by bitter ethnic conflicts between the peoples of the former Yugoslavia, mostly between the Serbs on the one side and Croats, Bosniaks or Albanians on the other; but also between Bosniaks and Croats in Bosnia and Macedonians and Albanians in Republic of Macedonia. The conflict had its roots in various underlying political, economic and cultural problems, as well as long-standing ethnic and religious tensions.

The wars ended with much of the former Yugoslavia reduced to poverty, massive economic disruption and persistent instability across the territories where the worst fighting occurred. The wars were the bloodiest conflicts on European soil since the end of World War II. They were also the first conflicts since World War II to have been formally judged genocidal in character and many key individual participants were subsequently charged with war crimes. The International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia (ICTY) was established by United Nations to prosecute these crimes.

We are at a point in the world of conflicts that we have to take a very serious look at the state of affairs, not just in our country but in all the world. Radical Islam, is not going away. They have one goal and that is to kill those they oppose. One of those happens to be us, US.

Anis Shorrosh, author of "Islam Revealed" and "The True Furqan", is a Christian Arab-American who emigrated from Arab-controlled Jerusalem in January 1967.

"The following is my analysis of Islamic invasion of America, the agenda of Islamists and visible methods to take over America by the year 2020", Shorrosh says. "Will Americans continue to sleep through this invasion as they did when we were attacked on 9/11?"

We need to be proactive in our position, not reactionary. If we chose the later, we will be too late. If you don't believe it just see the documentary Obsession, Radical Islam's War Against The West . This is truly an eye opening movie and every American should see it.

But what do I know? I'm just one of you.
The only difference is, I know, and you are wondering, is he right?

How safe is safe, and how do we achieve it?

There is very little that the average person on the street really knows about how our government keeps us safe, and actually it is a subject that really has no bearing on how we feel about our safety. The average citizen assumes that our police and military are doing what they do, and that is about the extent of it. We assume we are safe, because we have a police structure in place and that the various branches of the military are where ever they are doing what they do and we don't have to worry about anything except the hoodlum in our own neighborhood or the thieves and weirdo's of our own cities.

But do we really know what the real mechanism is that actually keeps us safe around the country? Is it really the police? Is it really the military? Yes, they do have their individual roles, but they are extremely limited in scope. Where our real protections come in is behind the scenes of what we assume to be truth.

It is our system of secret intelligence that has the front line of safety in our world. Not just our country, but our world. It is the efforts of secret agents that go into places we often never know about to learn about people and efforts around the world that seek to kill us. In their efforts, they are left with few remedies in which to "get information" from known terrorists. The ways that do work and the methods that are necessary are not always thought of as "proper", but let me pose a question to you. IF A CRIMINAL WAS IN YOUR HOUSE ABOUT TO HARM YOUR FAMILY AND YOU HAD THE MEANS TO STOP THEM, WOULD YOU? Even though, after the fact, everyone may question your means? Did you have to use such force? Was there another way to do what needed to be done? Maybe? The problem with most Americans is that you never know what you would do until you were placed in that very situation and had to make the split decision of whether to take drastic and lethal action, or stand by and let the police handle the matter when they arrive.

All scenarios are not the same. Not all victims end up the same and not all criminals are violent. A thief may not take anyone's life, but when you are the victim, you don't know that. You want to protect yourself and all you know is someone is there that doesn't belong. What do you do? Well, depending on what part of the country your in, you may get differing answers. You may also get differing answers from people with differing religious beliefs. And you will even get different answers from people with differing political beliefs.

However when it comes to our secret agencies and their mission they have one agenda and that is to gather intelligence, regardless of the means, that will help defer attacks by known enemies, foreign or domestic. And we do have both. We cannot afford to tie the hands of these people who put their own lives on the line in an effort to try and save ours.

When I think of the efforts of our own elected officials, (not elected by me), such as Senator. John McCain, it makes me just downright sick. We have enough problems in the world without our own legislature trying to purposely tie the hands of the very people we count on to try and save us from attack. The lame and pathetic excuses used in their efforts are as weak as they are as legislators. Who are they trying to kid? Anyone that has half a brain knows there is no link between what we believe in and what other countries and our religions believe in. Trying to say that we do not want to change the meaning of the Geneva Convention articles is ludicrous. The communists never followed the Geneva Convention, the Nazis never followed the Geneva Convention, and the radical Terrorists that we are fighting today do not and never will follow the Geneva Convention and thinking that we can play on their level and follow every rule to the letter and treat them as we would expect them to treat us is not only foolish, it is plain stupid and anyone that thinks not, needs to open their eyes and get a glimpse of reality.

And to prove the point in Senator. McCain's case here is an excerpt, written about him and his imprisonment while serving in the Vietnam war. Please read this and ask yourself why the Vietnamese did not follow the Geneva Convention rules. They were in effect at that time and because those captors were a military force, they were obligated to follow it to the letter. Yet they did not. Why? Read on!!!

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On October 26, 1967, McCain was shot down in his A-4 Skyhawk over Vietnam, by a Soviet-made anti-aircraft missile, landing in Truc Bach Lake. McCain was held as a prisoner of war in Hanoi for five-and-a-half years, mostly in the infamous Hanoi Hilton. He suffered two broken arms and a broken leg after ejecting from his plane. After he regained consciousness, a mob gathered around him and stripped him of his clothing. He was then tortured by Vietnamese soldiers who bayoneted him in his left foot and groin. His shoulder was crushed by another soldier's rifle butt. He was then transported to the Hanoi Hilton, also known as Hoa Lo Prison.
Once McCain arrived at the Hanoi Hilton, he was placed in a cell and interrogated daily. When McCain refused to provide any information to his captors, he was beaten until he lost consciousness.

When the North Vietnamese discovered his father was the Commander-in-Chief, Pacific Command, (CINCPAC), in charge of all US forces in Vietnam, he was offered a chance to go home, in an effort to embarrass the American military. Senior POWs had ordered there would be no return home unless all POWs were permitted to, and McCain, as did most POWs, followed orders, and refused to be repatriated back to the United States.
McCain signed an anti-American propaganda message which was written in Vietnamese, but did so only as a result of torture (to this day, he cannot raise his arms above his head, due to his two broken shoulders from the severe beatings administered by the North Vietnamese). It is that period during his capture that he most regrets. After McCain signed the initial statement, the Vietnamese decided they could not use it. They tried to force him to sign a second statement. This time, he refused. He received two to three beatings per week because he refused to sign any more statements for his captors.
He was released from captivity in 1973. (used from info. on "Wikipedia")
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Now, does this sound as though Senator. McCain was treated under the rules of the Geneva Convention? No, of course not. There are very few countries that actually follow the old rules governing the treatment of prisoners during a time of war. Today's terrorist is no exception. How many be-heading have you read or heard about on news? Not just military personnel, but reporters, aide workers, civilians. They all meet the same fate and there is no regard for their rights as human being, nor for the rules of engagement according tot he Geneva Convention.

I am not an advocate against the use of the Geneva Convention. I was in the military and I would have hoped that if I had been captured, that my captors would have treated me humanely, but the fact remains that today's terrorists do not and will never abide by anything that is not a part of their fanatic beliefs. They want to kill Americans. They do not care who or what our status is, as long as we are dead. And that includes you and me. We need our secret agencies to be able to use every means at their disposal to obtain information from captives as to what may be planned and or how and where to prevent further attacks or killings.

There is no nice way to fight this war. And there is no gain to think we can right a wrong by trying to allow our terrorist enemy the same rights we are afforded under OUR constitution and laws. These are enemy combatants and trying to make them anything other than what they are, (terrorists), is a crime against our own sensibilities. We have a right to expect our government to do everything in it's power to try and protect us from foreign enemies and we expect them to fight for us, NOT fight for the rights of the enemy.

In my book, Sen. John McCain and his other leftist thinking friends are not doing us any favors, but actually inflicting great harm and danger, not only to us but to those who are working on the front lines on our behalf.

Here is a quote from Senator McCain during an interview to Newsweek

"While some enemies, and Al Qaida surely, will never be bound
by the principle of reciprocity, we should have concern for those
Americans captured by more traditional enemies, if not in this
war then in the next." (Nov. 21, 2005 issue)

Sen. McCain knows full well that this enemy will never follow the rules of engagement that we set forth and we cannot expect them to. He is trying to use this as a political edge that will get some of the democratic vote. But I think he is stepping onto the proverbial limb that will be his undoing and rightly so. Just as Bill Clinton "loathed" the military, Sen. McCain's efforts here shows that he loathes the current administration and will do anything just to be president. Hopefully the majority of Republicans have seen through his thin facade and want nothing to do with him in 2008. He has proven himself to be exactly what this country does NOT need in a leader. Someone that has more concern for the feelings and respectability of our enemies than he does in the safety of the citizens. He is exactly what is wrong with the politicians of the day. Even in time of war, the politics are foremost on their agenda, and the people are subjugated to a place at the back of the political bus.

Mind you, I am not advocating torture as it were. None of this has anything to do with torture. I know that Sen. McCain was tortured, which is meant by the Geneva Convention analogy, but his actions serve to remove the available tools used by current operatives and leave the door open to allowing enemy prisoners rights equal to our own. We need to be able to use sophisticated, technological and possibly psychological surveillance and interrogation. And I am sure there are plenty reading this that even include physical torture to be okay, which I do not. Once we have the prisoner, we have him and we are not obligated to let him go. However, we do not need to stoop to giving him protections covered under our own American laws. He needs to be handled by the military system using military tribunals and let them never be included into our system of police rights.

This is a problem people and we need to take a stand and back our President and the measures he has been using to date in order to keep us safe, or we may find ourselves in 2 years wishing we had. Our safety in our country is crucial and the person leading that effort needs to be on the same page as our current president. If not, we are in for big problems following the 2008 elections and it may a problem we will regret for many years to come.

Protect us from all Evil

I am always amazed at the constant argument of who has the right to do and say what they want, based on their 1st. Amendment rights to a free press. What is a free press anyhow? And who gets to say what is free?

I have the right to sit here and voice my opinion on what I think is the truth. But where does opinion become inflammatory? And where does a free press which we all enjoy, become dangerous to others? There is a line that is becoming far too often crossed and the reasons for crossing it do not seem to have the best interest of ANYONE at heart.

I am, of course, speaking of the New York Times most recent outing of the governments most secret efforts of checking foreign, (off-shore) banking transactions in the search for enemy activity. Where in the constitution or the free press rights do we glean the assumption that we have the right to purposely endanger the lives of millions of Americans as well as our allies in the pursuit of a "hot scoop"? Do we really have the right to know EVERYTHING?

It is my personal opinion that the New York Times and those employees involved should be prosecuted for treason to the fullest extent possible. Our country is at war. This is not a game and it is not a test of what we can or should be able to get away with under our so called freedoms. We do not have the right to undermine the efforts of our government who is desperately trying to thwart the efforts of a dangerous enemy that is using every means at their disposal to try and do great harm to our country and our men and women in uniform.

There has been a saying in use for many years that was taught to us when I was in the Navy, that "loose lips sink ships". This is a very true and real situation that holds true in everything we do regarding national security. During times of war, there are very real laws that apply to those that work against our government and cause harm to our ability to wage war, and that offer aid and comfort to our enemies, which is exactly what the New York times has done.

Funny thing though, this is not the first time this so called "news" paper has gone out of it's way to try and undermine the efforts of our government by revealing secret information that has been highly classified. There was the phone records program that was reported and many others. This banking information is just the latest in a long line of efforts to try and embarrass the President and his Administration. But these efforts are purely political in nature and have no place being exposed. The damage done by this type of reporting will undoubtedly be felt for many years to come and the repercussions will be wide spread.

Treason is an ugly and damaging label to wear, but it is time for the government to step up and put a stop to this type of damaging reporting. And their efforts need to include finding those officials inside the government that gave the classified information to the press. They need to be put away and never see the light of day again. And if the reporters refuse to give up the names of those treasonous government employees, then the reporters should be held in contempt of court and the key thrown away, in addition to the charges they face.

This is a serious situation and it is this writers hope that our government flexes it's muscle and weeds out those who would dare to put their ratings above the lives of those who willingly volunteer to serve and protect the lives and rights of all Americans, here in our own country and those serving abroad.

A Long Hard Road

The time has past far too quickly since I last posted and I really don't like when that happens. And boy oh boy has a lot happened in the world since then. It would be futile to try and recap anything about then and now for it would take too long and far too much space to try.

So I will suffice it to apologize for my negligence here and try to do better at this.

One thing that I would like to say about the current events of the day is that we seem to slip further and further into stupidity and arrogance the more politicians try to please "everyone" and the more they try to legislate based on moronic polls. Polls that are not even a true reflection of the country. How can you get a measure of what anyone thinks, via a poll, when the questions asked are not asked in a way that an honest answer can be given. There are many ways to ask a question about a certain subject. By the wording and emphasis, the answer can reflect either a positive outcome or a negative one, regardless of what the person answering the question really thinks or understands about the subject.

Take for instance the average Americans perception about the war in Iraq. Say we posed a question as follows.

1. Do you know that the intel available on Iraq's weapons of mass destruction was the same intel that was gathered by the intelligence community during Clinton's Presidency and that all of the Senators and Congressmen and women knew all of the same information for over 10 years and that all of them including democrats and republicans alike agreed that Iraq was an imminent threat and something needed to be done? Yes or No ?

2. Do you know that all of the Senators and Congressmen and women voted for our President to take the action taken prior to going to war and prior to the Presidents speech laying out the plan? Yes or No ?

3. Given the true information in questions 1. and 2. do you agree that the Congress and the Senate are equally responsible for the actions in Iraq? Yes or No ?

4. Given the fact that the President was given authority by the Congress and Senate to wage war on our behalf, do you agree that all current and past politicians are more or less responsible than the President? More or Less ?

5. Given the facts as stated, do you believe the senate and congress are doing their best to protect our nation? Yes or No?

6. Do you approve or disapprove of the job the Senate and Congress are doing in their support of our troops and their mission? Disapprove or Approve ?

7. Given the understanding we have that the Democratic party of political congressmen and senators and the previous President all had the same intelligence information that our current President had and they never implemented any plan of action to protect us from attacks such as 9-11, even though we had suffered previous attacks by the same terrorists, do you feel more safe today under the current Administration that has implemented safeguards, or the previous administrations that had the information and did nothing? Safer Now or Safer then ?

8. Knowing the truth that the previous democratic party of politicians had information and did nothing to protect us or defend us, would you be more inclined or less inclined to trust them in the future with the security of our nation and your family? More inclined or Less Inclined ?

Okay, hopefully you get the picture.

The people that are getting asked questions generally know nothing about the truth. Some of them can't even name the members of the current Administration or their own Congress and senate members. They have one idea and that is that war seems bad and we should not be there. However, if those people asked were to be informed and educated about the truth of what has been and is now taking place, they would be able to answer questions and make more informed responses.

But as long as the questions are tainted and asked in a manner that gets the results that the pollsters want, then the polls mean absolutely nothing and intelligent people will not make decisions based on their results.

I love this country and it pains me to see the mainstream media work so hard to try and make it a socialist wasteland. There is so much mis-information and lies being told and it is just amazing how so many people are duped by it all.

GOD help us and forgive us because that is the only help we may have left.