The Coltons Point Times: press

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Monday, November 14, 2016

An Election Analysis by Actual People - Not Politicians, Pollsters, Press, or Pundits - Part 5

They are not seasoned journalists but they are dedicated, patriotic Americans. At times it is refreshing to hear honest observations rather than biased news so do not expect to hear from any professional politicians, pollsters, press, or pundits.

I want to thank the contributing writers and hope we can all learn more about each other if we will just take the time to read.

This Contributing Author post is hosted on the Coltons Point Times. Contributor authors control their own work and the views do not reflect those of the Coltons Point Times. If you need to flag this entry as abusive, send us an email in the comment section.

A Report on the Election from the People's Republic of Johnson County Iowa

By Charles Kapp

November 14, 2016

I live in Iowa City, home of the University of Iowa, and a place the rest of the state sneeringly calls "the People's Republic of Johnson County." I grew up in Southeast Iowa, not in Johnson County, however, and felt I had a reasonable grip on my state's electorate.

For the last three months I have been telling my Iowa spouse, my Iowa offspring, my Iowa friends, and pretty much any who would listen that the Trump campaign would implode in a debacle that would do harm to the Republican party that would take them decades to undo. Watching returns the other night on most of the networks it was pretty clear that my wildly mistaken analysis was shared by many.

The Donald made good on his boast. The upset was "Uge." Iowans returned their all-Republican-less-one delegation to Congress and supported Trump. We are a red state.

I can only assume that votes for Donald Trump were of the "at least he isn't one of them" stripe and a vote against a woman whose bad press made that act an easy pleasure. "He can't screw it up any more than they have" is profoundly naive. Or is it pure cynicism? Or just giving up?

What it is, first and foremost, is sexist. The question became "Are you going to support that nagging wench that we can't trust because right-wing quasi-news media tell us so or the strong 'broad shoulders' of the man?"

I have spoken with countless Iowans who I now suspect planned to vote Trump from the get-go. A few were vocal supporters but most breasted their cards. These are fine, loving people. They do not want others to suffer. But they do feel threatened.

A changing world continues to whittle away at our livelihoods. People of color are encroaching on our white melting pot. Our nation has actually been successfully attacked. Violence, while hardly on the scale of so many places in the world, moves ever closer to us all. And so, we must need more guns to protect ourselves. We must need a strong, blustery man to protect us.

An Election Analysis by Actual People - Not Politicians, Pollsters, Press, or Pundits - Part 4

I want to thank the contributing writers and hope we can all learn more about each other if we will just take the time to read.

This Contributing Author post is hosted on the Coltons Point Times. Contributor authors control their own work and the views do not reflect those of the Coltons Point Times. If you need to flag this entry as abusive, send us an email in the comment section.

Just Relax and Feel Good About the Future

By Ed O'Connor
November 14, 2016

I have been thinking about my impressions and thoughts after the election. Today it hit me while smoking a cigar on my back patio. I realized I was no longer worrying about what kind of second amendment attack will the Federal Government unleash tomorrow.

Nor was I worried about what person they try to put on the Supreme Court, what kind of regulations are they try to implement to stop Fracking here in Colorado, or what we do about boarder security.

Perhaps somebody will stand up and tell some of these foreign leaders where to go and not mince words. Lastly, John Bolton may get the position he truly deserves.

Now it is the progressives turn to worry about all of this stuff. I finally felt there was peace at last in my mind. Maybe it will not last, but it sure felt good this evening.

I guess this pretty much sums up how I have felt this last few days. I was not looking forward to the future prior to the election as I felt I knew what road Clinton was going to take us down.

Now the road seems wide open like the front range out here in the Colorado foothills. I only pray Donald Trump makes some bold moves and gets us rolling down that open road.

Maybe it is this sense of relief I feel that I can just relax and feel good about the future.

An Election Analysis by Actual People - Not Politicians, Pollsters, Press, or Pundits - Part 3

One of the pleasures of publishing the Coltons Point Times is the opportunity to share with you the comments of my readers, the everyday persons working to survive and filling their life with everything they love. A series of post-election analysis will be offered from contributing writers sharing their thoughts on the election.

They are not seasoned journalists but they are dedicated, patriotic Americans. At times it is refreshing to hear honest observations rather than biased news so do not expect to hear from any professional politicians, pollsters, press, or pundits.

I want to thank the contributing writers and hope we can all learn more about each other if we will just take the time to read.

This Contributing Author post is hosted on the Coltons Point Times. Contributor authors control their own work and the views do not reflect those of the Coltons Point Times. If you need to flag this entry as abusive, send us an email in the comment section.

Preamble 2016

Michael Wm. Krafka

November 14, 2016

We the People, in order to form a more perfect union, have some serious work to do. We are not, at this point in history, beset by an occupying external power. Rather, we are dealing with what the business community calls “disruptive change” because of this presidential election. The foundational fissures have been opening over the years from the lingering frustration that economic well being remained out of reach for the vast majority of hard working Americans. They have watched their incomes stagnating and declining in purchasing power while the corporate profits they delivered through their hard work continue to flow to those at the very top of the economic ladder. These pent up frustrations have vented and found a singular and unusually disruptive voice. That voice, through the unexpected co-opting of a major political party, was freely elected into power by marginally less than a plurality of “We the People” who cared to exercise their right to vote. This duly elected voice makes bold promises he guarantees to deliver, apparently through the messianic force of his being. Those promises are paired with a corresponding and alarming set of threats to re-impose the centuries-old restrictions to freedom that our Constitution explicitly protects against.

Specifically, establishing Justice and insuring domestic Tranquility may once again be made subject to determining if one is of a preferred race or religion, potentially subject to government verification. Our next president has called for racial profiling by law enforcement. His desire to impose these restrictions was regularly in evidence as he loudly incited mob rule at his political rallies.

To provide for the common defense with an all-volunteer military is a bipartisan congressional responsibility of adequate funding and a militarily strategic matter for the commander-in-chief to deploy that military in the most responsible manner with declarations of war approved by congress. Today, we are taken aback by cavalier talk of nuclear proliferation to our non-nuclear allies, and, compounding this alarm, by his questioning why we should not consider actually using our nuclear arsenal. This recklessness not only jeopardizes our freedoms but our very being.

This seventy-year-old has already lived on the nuclear precipice in 1962 during the Cuban missile crises as a high school student in a military academy, certainly not oblivious to that national existential threat. The entire nation was transfixed on its black and white televisions at that time to watch President Kennedy’s address on the developing situation as he cautioned against initiating nuclear war, where the “fruits of victory would be ashes in our mouth..” In the White House, the president was counseling with his Joint Chiefs, some of whom were favoring a strike as they opposed the option of a naval blockade. I would refer the new presidential advisers to Robert Kennedy’s memoir, Thirteen Days, where he recalled:

“One member of the Joint Chiefs, for example, argued that we could use our nuclear weapons, on the basis that our adversaries would use theirs against us in an attack.”

Apparently, our president-elect has been contemplating this dangerous logic based upon the questions he has raised. Robert Kennedy continues his observation:

“I thought, as I listened, of the many times that I had heard the military take positions which, if wrong, had the advantage that no one would be around in the end to know.”

As they say, elections have consequences – God forbid.

The political divide on how we should promote the general Welfare is foremost in the minds of those who voted for this celebrity business mogul, trusting that he will help them reach a level of prosperity they know they deserve but are unable to achieve in the current political-economic climate. Unfortunately, for them, his aligned party has consistently stacked the deck against the average wage earner.

He and his party continue to champion financial deregulation, which was at the core of the 2008 financial crisis, allowing predatory lending to run unchecked. The poster-child of entrenched income inequality is how the bailed out Wall Street banks paid millions in employee bonuses while accepting taxpayer-provided TARP funds to cover their losses. Citigroup reportedly rewarded over 700 employees with at least $1 million in bonuses while losing nearly $19 billion during that year.

Yes, the investment banks largely repaid those government loans, but those executives directly responsible for causing the worst recession since the Great Depression continued receiving increased incomes and bonuses. As a result, the middle class lost their jobs and their homes, triggering the global financial crisis, a crisis the president-elect said he was openly rooting for to engineer a personal financial windfall.

However, by 2008 the middle class and the poor had already found themselves dealt out of the game for some time. In the forward to his fortieth anniversary edition of The Affluent Society, economist John Kenneth Galbraith discussed what might have changed from his 1958 observations with a perspective of forty years later. On the attitudes of achieving affluence, he notes:

“Forty years ago I did not fully foresee the extent to which affluence would come to be perceived as a matter of deserved personal reward and thus fully available to the poor, were they only committed to the requisite effort.”

Galbraith’s 1998 observation was just taking root. Fourteen years later the 2012 GOP convention championed the attitude of affluence equating to personal and moral worth. Then VP-nominee Paul Ryan coined the term “hammock of dependency” to demean the initiative of those still struggling to recover from the Wall Street catastrophe, or who looked to find a leg up in life.

He insinuated those who were down and out lacked the dreams for themselves and their children, favoring to live out their lives in government-subsidized poverty. He would divide the worthiness of Americans into two classes, “the makers, and the takers.”

Presidential nominee Mitt Romney put the nail in his electoral coffin with his infamous “47%” address to wealthy donors, charging that the lower income group would never accept livelihoods out of poverty, apart from government aid. Those nominees that year found new ways to shrink the Republican tent that resulted in their defeat.

Yet, this “47%” now makes up some of the electorate throwing their support behind this new outsider and his party, and they may ultimately find that they have voted against their own best interests. The GOP, again in the Oval Office after eight years and with continued control of congress, will primarily pursue tax cuts first before programs to drive growth. This will continue to put the middle class at the bottom of the heap.

Speaker Ryan’s Medicare and Medicaid restructuring will first and foremost directly impact senior citizens “by raising out-of-pocket costs for some and shifting others from traditional Medicare coverage to commercial insurance”, according to a Forbes magazine article. There has been no disclosure on the amount of offsetting tax credits seniors might receive, along with ambiguity on many other details, which is typical for Ryan-authored proposals.

Then will come the promised large tax cuts for the wealthy and corporations which could spike the national debt by $11.5 trillion over ten years according to the bipartisan Committee for a Responsible Federal Budget. Once again, we find the middle class voters who elected this upcoming government left holding the bag to pay the debt. Par for the course, the net gains from these tax reductions will likely find their way through the loopholes and to the offshore havens that keep the tax rate percentages of the wealthiest lower than 90% of the country.

We have yet to see anything from this next president or his congress that would un-rig this game for the people who put them into office.

Now the election is over and the vote count completed. The voters constitutionally handed the presidency to Trump, the rogue Washington outsider, widely seen as an ethically and morally challenged demagogue. The numbers, data, and evidence matters as the results are in and we are required to accept them.

Just as climate science confirms the trend of global warming, we, in the global community, largely accept those results. If a doctor were to diagnose you with a serious illness, not accepting the result would be foolish. We must accept the results in each of these cases. However, accepting the results is not the same as saying these results are acceptable. Illness, climate change, and this election present long-term outcomes that can trend toward the unacceptable and potentially on to cataclysmic unless corrective intervention is applied.

So how do we now secure the Blessings of Liberty for us and our Posterity, with the promised threats and observed recklessness this election has delivered? Fortunately, our Constitution has inherent remedies. Elections are transient events and no single person or party can fail outrageously and then continue in power perpetually. However, this election’s outcome also conclusively indicates a need to address symptoms of national fracturing.

First, the tribalization of our country has been exacerbated primarily due to the middle class losing out economically. People are becoming less and less comfortable, not to mention less tolerant, of those not sharing their ethnic heritage. Cable and Internet “news” media outlets have been the primary accelerant to tribalization, seeing an opportunity to drive racial animus as a political tactic against the first African American president.

This was in full force in 2012 with the current president-elect serving as propagandist-in-chief until Obama was re-elected. The results of the ensuing “autopsy” prescribed by the GOP party chairman recommended more outreach to minorities and more tolerance of the progressive social views of millennials in order to expand the Republican base. That recommendation lasted up until the 2016 nomination process where the nominee, with his characteristic unreserved vitriol, carved up

America

into the racial, ethnic, and religious groups to be demonized, monitored, and otherwise dealt with as his supporters cheered his new xenophobia platform

In the end, the GOP did win the Electoral College but has now lost the popular vote in six of the last seven elections, 2004 being the lone exception. This election has been characterized as a “white wash”. Eventually, the concept of a whites-only firewall to protect Republican candidates is a losing strategy, especially given the outcome of this latest popular vote. (Yes, maybe Bernie would have won it all.)

But this tribalization is of no benefit to any group politically or economically. The entire middle class and those economically below that line need to unite to challenge the policies that will continue to be passed by this new president and his party that, as history has shown, will continue to undercut their well being.

Secondly, civil discourse has devolved into one-hundred-forty-character road rage. (Need I point out who champions this method as his favorite form of retribution? Leadership, anyone?). The cure to our divisions will not occur via text, or Facebook, or impulsive, angry and anonymous comments on a newspaper opinion writer’s column. Offering opposing and constructive views without personal insults might be an approach one would typically use if not separated from another by the Cloud. We rarely see this in practice, especially in the political context.

Finally, elections are cyclical, and in two years will come another opportunity for adjustments. The separation of powers defined in our constitution might supply sufficient safeguards in the interim to constrain someone familiar only with unconstrained authority from acting irresponsibly, but this would not be something we should take on faith.

This nation has been said to be an ongoing experiment. Had the election results been as all the polls mistakenly forecast with Hillary emerging as the winner, then the outcome of that experiment could be easily predicted; we would have potentially endured four more years of congressional gridlock and ongoing investigations of the new president in order to render her ineffective and, perhaps, impeachable.

However, those were not the results and we have cast ourselves into an unforeseen period of disruption. Now, our current experiment can potentially result in resetting many of the controls on which we have historically relied to sustain our national identity as the model of freedom and democracy, and as the world’s most responsible superpower. By nature, experiments frequently deliver unexpected outcomes.

If we’re fortunate we may get penicillin. NASA crashed several unmanned launches before putting Alan Shepard atop a Redstone rocket. In this case we have neither a laboratory nor a test launch pad. This experiment will be done live and in real time. It requires close monitoring and the readiness for an immediate response if and when things begin to trend toward the detrimental.

About the author:

Mike Krafka is a native of Ottumwa, Iowa and currently resides in the Providence, Rhode Island area. Mike has a degree in composition from the Berklee College of Music in Boston, and a graduate certificate in Business Analytics from Bryant University in Smithfield, Rhode Island. He has a career over the past thirty years working primarily in the financial industry as a technology executive with a speciality in systems capacity management. Mike is the father of three sons who are musicians and educators in the New York City and Boston areas.

An Election Analysis by Actual People - Not Politicians, Pollsters, Press, or Pundits - Part 2

A Personal Analysis of Donald J Trump, 45th President Elect of the United States of America

By Mary Patricia Jones

(Walsh High School Class of ’63)

Many months ago, an unlikely businessperson announced his candidacy for President. After leaving 15 other candidates in the dust, he became the nominee of his party. Pitted against a seasoned female politician, after months of campaigning and three debates, Donald J. Trump emerged to become the 45th President-Elect of the United States of America.

He has a vision; something every real leader possesses. His platform involved the people. A platform, which focused on the economy, security of the people, jobs for the people, and an improved infrastructure for the country, among other things. After 7 ½ years of burdensome rules and regulations that took our faith in the government to its lowest point, Trump gave us a sliver of hope that his platform might work.

He brought the people into his campaign; he supported the people because he cares for the future of the people. He wants the people to have the same chances he had; the chances that gave him the opportunities to become the person he is today – a very successful executive, a businessperson who owns his own company. a man, who, when he failed, picked himself up and continued trying.

His style, while not politically correct and disliked by many, involved telling the people the truth. And he will continue to tell “we the people” the truth. Truth can be blunt; it can be hurtful. But with truth comes solutions. Donald Trump will help the country find the right solutions so the country can continue to succeed. We will pick ourselves up from past mistakes and try again. We can do this. We are Americans and we will continue our “can-do” attitude.

He will work with everyone even those he disagrees with. He did write “The Art of the Deal”! He knows how to work with others because he wants the best for the people so we can grow and make our future better, just as he did with his business and employees. Trump’s win is like opening a door. You are not sure what is on the other side, but you open it anyway. You take a chance. For only by taking a chance will things ever have an opportunity to change. This was an election of change, and change it will. From a Democratic President in 2008 with a Democratic congress for his first 2 years, to a Republican President with a Republican Congress, America is in for “one hell of a ride” come January 20, 2017.

About the Author: A self-employed, small businessperson for 27 years, ready for retirement but cannot due to current rules and regulations. Educated in the 50’s and 60’s when life was not as complicated or politically correct, living when it was safe to walk a mile to school, or be out after dark with no fear of harm. She wants everything for her children and grandchildren, she had as a child - safety, and prosperity.

An Election Analysis by Actual People - Not Politicians, Pollsters, Press, or Pundits - Part 1

Observations on the 2016 Presidential Election - Anxiety, Fear, and Failure

By Michael Thomas Kelly,

Illinois

“Mild restrictive fears affect 90% of our society…,” states the continuing education seminar on ‘Anxiety’, I recently attended on the subject. The sources of anxiety include health, assets values, environment, self-concept, role function, needs fulfillment, goal attainment, personal relationships, sense of security, etc. The most prevalent groups are 60 plus years of age, not college graduates, low income, unmarried, and unemployed. They experience nightmares, flashbacks, grief, emotional numbness, depression, and avoidance behaviors.

Knowing the above to be true, I can begin to understand the 2016 election. Donald J. Trump, (hereafter known as DJT) was a master at appealing to those fears and won the most states and electoral votes. He started out across the Mississippi River in the state next to where I live, Iowa. I went to a grade school auditorium for the Iowa Caucus named after a past president, to see people move to one area of seats and root for their candidate. DJT had earlier, landed in Des Moines, Iowa in his Trump helicopter, with what was to become his signature arrival with much fanfare.

Then in September of this year, I heard former Sec. Ray La Hood who was prior to being Sec. of Transportation, the Congressman from nearby Peoria, IL. To quote, somewhat loosely, the former Secretary, “Donald Trump’s influence on the Republican Party will be felt for over 50 years…” He also said he was not supporting him and gave a list of reasons. Well, now the ‘influence" of President-elect Trump is written in the history books.

However, the personality of the 90% of people in the USA who suffer from episodes of anxiety tend to be ‘Perfectionistic” with their unrealistically, high standards going largely unmet. They deny their anxiety, hold their emotions in an attempt to avoid more confusion, and have a strong need for control while attempting to maintain control by insisting on controlling others.

Low self-esteem and poor coping skills such as the use of alcohol, tobacco, caffeine, and other substance abusing techniques prevail.

“A sense of helplessness, loss of confidence and self-doubt evolve until an inability to decide what to do results in doing nothing at all.” Symptoms include pacing, shakiness, restlessness, fidgeting, hyperventilating, dry mouth, increased muscle tension, poor eye contact, impaired concentration, and overwhelming fear and panic, resulting in painful, intense memories for those who have anxiety.

This was the animus of the vox populi that DJT so readily tapped into resulting in his Electoral College win 2016. I facilitated much of this animus as a deputy registrar during 2 weeks of early voting in a local area of mostly Republican, about 60-40/70-30%, voters in the home town of John Deere International headquarters. On Election Day, I was at a more Democratic voters’ area but I still saw many white, males who needed two forms of I.D. to renew their voting status. Many used their ‘Firearms’ state of IL card for identification. I have not previously seen so many as some have feared showing this I.D. yet this time they were very proud to show it.

It was an instant start of conversation for us while I did the paper work. There were strength, confidence, and eye contact, I had not seen in some of these people before. They told me of their new-found faith in the possibility of change coming their way for a change. It was renewed interest in politics by different segments of our society who felt empowered by someone who was expressing the feelings as they had previously not felt welcome to express because of our very primitive fear of “…not making enemies aware of their whereabouts…” has led to more than eight years of “selective mutism”, being the silent majority.

Now, as for former Secretary and former Senator and former First Lady Hillary R. Clinton, she saw some of the instant karma that happens when you weave webs of intrigue. The Democratic Party made Sen. Bernie Sanders pay for being an Independent all these years. I saw that baggage coming before the Iowa Caucus. His age did not deter him from speeches & stumping for HRC in Davenport, IA in the final days of this very long campaign. I think in hindsight there will be soul searching about the ‘finger on the scale’ by FBI Director James Comely.

I always thought HRC would have the baggage of her past ghosts and the contempt by Americans for nepotism. Even though we (in the USA) managed earlier in our history to elect two men president from the Adams, Roosevelt, and Bush families, the Clinton family will not make the list.

Lastly, the question we the people, will be asking is, 'are we ready yet for women in the White House?" So far the result is two resounding “NO's” for vice presidential bids by Geraldine Ferraro and Sarah Palin, and one conflicted, anxiety generating Presidential race resulting again in, “NO!”

Someone had to do it first. HRC did make history as the first woman to run for President, the first woman nominated by a major party, and first to win the popular vote, but alas, she lost the war. Not surprising since women have only had the vote in the USA, (yes, I know about the state of Wyoming), for barely a century. More women than men live in the United States and the gap will continue to widen in the future. One day a woman will become President of these United States.

Thank you, my grade school friend, Jim Putnam for the invite to’ journalize’ “Election 2016”

(About the author - Michael Thomas Kelly is a retired Registered Nurse and a Board Certified Medical-Surgical nurse who spent the last decade of his career in Emergency Nursing. Michael and his wife I live in Rock Island, IL. He has written half a dozen books of poetry but this is his first venture in journalism. Michael earned a B.A. in English-philosophy and Education. Kelly is a practicing Tibetan Buddhist and recently spent a month travelling with his Root Lama in the western part of China's Tibetan speaking area of Sichuan. He is active in his community and sits on the Board of the county owned Hope Creek Care Center, a skilled nursing facility. Poetry, philosophy, politics, and nursing are his main passions in life.)

Thursday, August 04, 2016

Racism, Discrimination, Inequality, Judgment, or Bias - the Causes, Conditions, or Results of Something Worse?

When it comes to judging racism in America, when did MSNBC and CNN become the custodians and enforcers of racial equality in America? For a couple of news services who operate under FCC licenses from the government you would think they have assumed the role of the Justice Department and the Courts along with prosecutor and jury.

The cable news media in America has become the Kangaroo Court of First resort for select groups of citizens though it has no Constitutional basis for such actions, it is not part of the FCC license, and there is no liability for the volumes of lies they may broadcast in order to control or manufacture news.

The phrase "rush to judgment" means ignoring the judicial process and the Constitutional safeguards inherent in our system of justice. Our Constitution requires such a process to protect people from the abuses of unregulated justice. It also directs that a person is innocent until proven guilty by the judicial system.

We all know our judicial system is filled with legalese doubletalk and gobble de gook in order to intimidate the public, provide jobs to our law school grads, and overload the circuits of our news media. In this way the innocent can be convicted, the guilty can be protected, and the lawyers can join the country club.

When you add to this already rather dismal system the mouthpieces and talking heads for every non-profit (most certainly including preachers and churches) dedicated to protecting the social interests of our citizens from the predator practices of our legal institutions (law enforcement), manipulation by our financial institutions, and discrimination by everyone else, you have a recipe for sure failure.

So, we now have our politicians, preachers, prosecutors, and press, the latter the procrastinators and perpetrators of the news media whose very jobs, ratings, and profits depend on perpetuating pipe dreams on the public. How many special interests does it take to protect the public interest?

Excuse me, does anyone besides me see a problem here? Polls show people do not trust these groups. Polls show people trust anyone but these groups to accomplish anything. So, why are the people dependent on these same groups to protect them, advise them, or speak on their behalf?

Too many of these people operate under the old theory that if you don't like or can't stand the truth, then change it. That ancient philosophy is what has kept civilization from getting beyond the Neanderthal age all these millennia. Sometimes it seems we have more in common with such barbarian behavior than with what one might expect from the evolution of civilization.

In short, people are fed a steady stream of lies, distortion, or misinformation to keep us apart, distrustful of different races, hateful of other religions, suspicious of motives and to convince us anyone of any other color is out to take what you got.

So, here are a few truths that may help you penetrate the fog. First about grand juries, everyone has an opinion about them but few speak the truth. Here is part of what New York state law says about the grand jury process.

New York State

GRAND JUROR’S HANDBOOK

THE ROLE OF THE GRAND JURY IN THE CRIMINAL JUSTICE SYSTEM

The grand jury is an arm of the court. It is not an agent of the prosecutor or the police. A grand jury does not decide whether or not a person has been proven guilty. That is the trial jury's job. The grand jury decides whether or not a person should be formally charged with a crime or other offense. The grand jury makes that decision based on evidence presented to it by the prosecutor, who also instructs the grand jury on the law. The grand jury's decision must be based on the evidence and on the law.

In general, the grand jury makes one of three decisions:

A. The grand jury may vote to formally accuse someone of a crime. This accusation is called an “indictment,” also known as a “bill” which is short for “bill of indictment.”

B. The grand jury may vote to dismiss the charges, also known as a “no-bill.”

C. The grand jury may direct the prosecutor to file an information accusing the person of an offense less serious than a felony.

There are also rare circumstances where a grand jury recommends that a case should be sent to Family Court or where the grand jury makes a report to the court.

WHY WE HAVE GRAND JURIES

The use of trial juries (also called petit juries) and grand juries goes back approximately 800 years. Beginning around 1215 A.D., both types of juries were used in England. The grand jury made the formal accusation, known as a “bill of indictment” or “presentment.” The trial jury decided whether the accusation was proven.

The grand jury is included in the United States Constitution and the New York State Constitution. In New York State, a person cannot be brought to trial for a felony unless that person has been indicted by a grand jury.

The grand jury has an awesome responsibility. It uses its power both as a sword and as a shield: a sword to accuse or indict those whom there is reason to believe have committed crimes; a shield to protect the innocent against unfounded accusations.

Hum, a grand jury does not decide if a person is guilty or innocent. A grand jury can be a sword or a shield to accuse or indict or to protect the innocent. Don't hear many media or "experts" saying this, they just want a conviction which no grand jury can provide.

Personally, I think these tragic events taking place are not rampant racism smoldering below the surface of society but are more symptomatic of the unequal economic opportunity plaguing our nation.

First, why are cops involved in these incidents? Are they are trying to stop criminal activity or are they enforcing stupid laws of the government. In New York, the city and state wanted more tax revenue, so 60% of the cost of cigarettes is now taxes. Imagine what would happen if you paid 60% of your income to corrupt governments.

Well the cigarette tax is like the gas tax, it don't care what your skin color may be or how much money you may have, it is the epitome of equality, the poor and the super rich pay exactly the same tax, even if the poor have no money, no jobs and no hope.

Therefore, unscrupulous people buy cigarettes out of state where governmental greed is not prevalent and bring them to the poor parts of town to sell them on the streets without the onerous taxes but for a fee. Of course, the rich just send their jets to a country where there are no taxes on cigarettes to feed their addiction.

When the city needs more money to fund corruption they go after the citizens cheating on taxes and for the cost of lost cigarette tax a dead body lies on the ground. Why did the government order the police to enforce tax collection? Isn't that the job of tax collectors?

As for Ferguson, the entire city is trapped in economic despair, like so many parts of so many cities around the nation. Abraham Lincoln once said all people were not equal, but all people must have equal opportunity. They still don't.

However, unequal opportunity is not just a racial issue. There are poor whites just like there are poor every other race. Where poverty breeds there is attendant crime. Those trapped in poverty are also trapped in an endless circle of crime which leads to hopelessness, which leads to envy, and then to revenge against those who have what the poor person does not have.

The effort to break the cycle of poverty has been one of very slow progress, dependent on many uncontrollable forces like the world economy, honesty in government officials, etc., etc. The victims and the perpetrators of crimes are generally from the same race no matter what the professional mouthpieces tell you.

Contrary to what some of the mouthpieces have been saying to the media, the jails are not just filled with kids busted for petty possession of marijuana. Many violent criminals are incarcerated, for victimizing their own people.

When our leaders get past pointing fingers and making judgment on people, and police are people too, then maybe we can get to the serious problem of creating economic opportunity, meaningful economic opportunity, and get on with solving our real problem of poverty for all races and genders. Poverty, the underlying cause of economic inequality that results from lack of economic opportunity.

Wednesday, July 27, 2016

What to do about the 2016 Presidential Election?

Call in supernatural help to protect us from both parties.

You can use the spiritual -

or you can use the extraterrestrial -

either gives us more hope than we have got.

Or is time really running out!

Friday, December 11, 2015

The Rights and Responsibilities of the News Media

The press, or news media, are protected by the First Amendment of the Constitution of the United States of America.

Amendment I

Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the Government for a redress of grievances.

This is the Code of Ethics used to guide the news media in the exercise of their work. Do you think they are following their own Code of Ethics?

Society of Professional Journalists
Improving and protecting journalism since 1909

SPJ Code of Ethics

Preamble

Members of the Society of Professional Journalists believe that public enlightenment is the forerunner of justice and the foundation of democracy. Ethical journalism strives to ensure the free exchange of information that is accurate, fair and thorough. An ethical journalist acts with integrity.

The Society declares these four principles as the foundation of ethical journalism and encourages their use in its practice by all people in all media.

Seek Truth and Report It

Ethical journalism should be accurate and fair. Journalists should

be honest and courageous in gathering, reporting and interpreting

information.

Journalists should:

Take responsibility for the accuracy of their work. Verify information before

releasing it. Use original sources whenever possible.

Remember that neither speed nor format excuses inaccuracy.

Provide context. Take special care not to misrepresent or oversimplify in

promoting, previewing or summarizing a story.

Gather, update and correct information throughout the life of a news story.

Be cautious when making promises, but keep the promises they make.

Identify sources clearly. The public is entitled to as much information as possible

to judge the reliability and motivations of sources.

Consider sources’ motives before promising anonymity. Reserve anonymity for

sources who may face danger, retribution or other harm, and have information

that cannot be obtained elsewhere. Explain why anonymity was granted.

Diligently seek subjects of news coverage to allow them to respond to criticism

or allegations of wrongdoing.

Avoid undercover or other surreptitious methods of gathering information

unless traditional, open methods will not yield information vital to the public.

Be vigilant and courageous about holding those with power accountable.

Give voice to the voiceless.

Support the open and civil exchange of views, even views they find repugnant.

Recognize a special obligation to serve as watchdogs over public affairs and

government. Seek to ensure that the public’s business is conducted in the

open, and that public records are open to all.

Provide access to source material when it is relevant and appropriate.

Boldly tell the story of the diversity and magnitude of the human experience.

Seek sources whose voices we seldom hear.

Avoid stereotyping. Journalists should examine the ways their values and

experiences may shape their reporting.

Label advocacy and commentary.

Never deliberately distort facts or context, including visual information.

Clearly label illustrations and re-enactments.

Never plagiarize. Always attribute.

Minimize Harm

Ethical journalism treats sources, subjects, colleagues and members of

the public as human beings deserving of respect.

Journalists should:

Balance the public’s need for information against potential harm or discomfort.

Pursuit of the news is not a license for arrogance or undue intrusiveness.

Show compassion for those who may be affected by news coverage. Use

heightened sensitivity when dealing with juveniles, victims of sex crimes,

and sources or subjects who are inexperienced or unable to give consent.

Consider cultural differences in approach and treatment.

Recognize that legal access to information differs from an ethical justification

to publish or broadcast.

Realize that private people have a greater right to control information about

themselves than public figures and others who seek power, influence or

attention. Weigh the consequences of publishing or broadcasting personal

information.

Avoid pandering to lurid curiosity, even if others do.

Balance a suspect’s right to a fair trial with the public’s right to know. Consider

the implications of identifying criminal suspects before they face legal charges.

Consider the long-term implications of the extended reach and permanence of

publication. Provide updated and more complete information as appropriate.

Act Independently

The highest and primary obligation of ethical journalism is to serve

the public.

Journalists should:

Avoid conflicts of interest, real or perceived. Disclose unavoidable conflicts.

Refuse gifts, favors, fees, free travel and special treatment, and avoid political

and other outside activities that may compromise integrity or impartiality,

or may damage credibility.

Be wary of sources offering information for favors or money; do not pay for

access to news. Identify content provided by outside sources, whether paid

or not.

Deny favored treatment to advertisers, donors or any other special interests,

and resist internal and external pressure to influence coverage.

Distinguish news from advertising and shun hybrids that blur the lines

between the two. Prominently label sponsored content.

Be Accountable and Transparent

Ethical journalism means taking responsibility for one's work and

explaining one’s decisions to the public.

Journalists should:

Explain ethical choices and processes to audiences. Encourage a civil

dialogue with the public about journalistic practices, coverage and news

content.

Respond quickly to questions about accuracy, clarity and fairness.

Acknowledge mistakes and correct them promptly and prominently. Explain

corrections and clarifications carefully and clearly.

Expose unethical conduct in journalism, including within their organizations.

Abide by the same high standards they expect of others.

The SPJ Code of Ethics is a statement of abiding principles supported by additional explanations and position papers (at spj.org) that address changing journalistic practices.

It is not a set of rules, rather a guide that encourages all who engage in journalism to take responsibility for the information they provide, regardless of medium. The code should be read as a whole; individual principles should not be taken out of context. It is not, nor can it be under the First Amendment, legally enforceable.

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