A RACIST BIGOTED REDNECK?

SO, WHAT"S NEW?
Johann Wagener 12-19-13

What is also not surprising is that the majority of "Duck D" and "H Booboo" fans are also. Add COPS , WWW, Glen Beck, R. Limbaugh, FOX, and a slew of other silly so-called "reality" shows, and you have the cast for the sequel of "Idiocracy."


Duck Dynasty's Phil Robertson Says Being Gay Is Illogical: A Vagina Is More Desirable Than a Man's Anus

Duck Dynasty’ star Phil Robertson took aim at homosexuality in an interview with GQ. Equating same-sex relationships to bestiality, he called homosexuality ‘not logical’ — and was subsequently suspended from the reality show by A&E Networks.

Read more: http://www.nydailynews.com/entertainment/tv-movies/duck-dynasty-phil-robertson-equates-homosexuality-bestiality-article-1.1551556#ixzz2nyhPxGLQ

THE COLUMBINE GENERATION

A SHOOTING GALLERY
Johann Wagener 12-15-13

We live in a society that glorifies violence. A society that entertains itself with violence. A society that views violence as a sign of strength. A society that raise their children to worship violence through the heroes they emulate.

Still, the majority of Americans persist on holding on to their distorted (and often psychotic) perception that none of this is related to the actions and beliefs of people who act out and slaughter countless innocent Americans.

Since Columbine these mass murders are becoming routine and almost predictable. Yet, the reaction is always one of disbelief; how could this happen here?

The rituals remain the same; flowers, memorials, parades, funerals, testimonials, congressional hearings, prayers, tears, books, documentaries, all serving to veil the reality of the role we all play in perpetuating this human tragedy.

Those that profit continue to use the same nonsensical rhetoric that this is a "2nd. Amendment" right. That video games, movies, TV shows, football, cage fighting, bullying, hero worship have no influence or relationship to these acts of violence.

Americans are so naive that they believe these are isolated incidents committed by disturbed individuals who, in hindsight (always) showed all the warning signs that we somehow continue to miss.
As this latest shooting spree unfolds we are again hearing the same talking points;
HOW COULD THIS HAPPEN?

 "He's a funny kid. He's smart. He's in the Eagle Scouts, a very intelligent kid. Did not like being wrong," said August Clary, who was a friend of Pierson. "If you're arguing with him, it's going to be, that's a feat if you win an argument against him."

"He would not be afraid to tell someone how he feels," said Zach Runberg, 18, a senior in Pierson's English class.

Pierson legally bought a shotgun on Dec. 6 at a local store, and he purchased ammunition the morning of the shootings. He managed to ignite a Molotov cocktail inside the school library before he killed himself as a fast-acting school security officer, a deputy sheriff, closed in, Robinson said.

As usual, politicians put a positive spin on this shooting, complementing themselves on their ability to lower the number of victims and fail to point out that this shooter was armed with a shotgun, not an assault weapon, which was most likely to determining factor for the lower causality count.

 After the Aurora, Colo., theater shootings and the Newtown, Conn., school shootings, Colorado's Democrat-led legislature this year implemented gun control measures that limited the size of ammunition magazines and instituted universal background checks. Colorado also appropriated more than $20 million for mental health hotlines and local crisis centers.

The measures were intended to address violence associated with so-called assault rifles, not shotguns that are widely owned for hunting and sport.

Hickenlooper acknowledged the latest shooting raised again questions about guns and violence. But he noted that Pierson "didn't seem to exhibit any signs of mental illness," and he cautioned that the investigation was in its early stages.

"Everyone in Colorado is asking the same questions," the governor said. "On the one hand there is a deeply held conviction for the freedoms laid out in the Second Amendment, but also a very, very strong conviction about the safety of children and the safety of the community."

As is also usual, politicians fear being held accountable, not by the voters, but the lobbyists and special interest groups, in pointing to the obvious factors that consistently play a part in this shootings, bu rather makes an absurd statement like this;

Friday's shooting, he said, "defies any explanation, and you know we are searching for some pattern."

Maybe the governor and all those who continue to deny reality should begin to connect the dots. For example, in the Newton Massacre  AN OBSESSION WITH COLUMBINE there are more than ample clues on explaining what drives these kids.

Social Impairment

Today’s report sketched a picture of a young man diagnosed with Asperger’s disorder in 2005 who, starting in seventh grade, withdrew from playing baseball, soccer and the saxophone. After showing signs of the social impairments and extreme anxiety associated with the disorder, Lanza refused medication and therapy.

In the house he shared with his mother, the windows were taped and covered with black trash bags in Lanza’s bedroom and a computer room on the second-floor, the report said.

Investigators found a spread sheet of mass shootings over the years, and materials that indicated the obsession with Columbine. That shooting on April 20, 1999, left 12 students and a teacher dead. The two student shooters also killed themselves.

On computer hard drives and memory cards, investigators found pictures of people killing themselves with guns and rifles. They also found evidence of a 

computer game titled “School Shooting” having been played. In the game, a player controls a character who enters a school and kills students.

 154 Shots

In March, Sedensky said the Bushmaster .223 caliber model XM15 rifle used by Lanza had a 30-round capacity magazine. The 20-year-old shooter used a single shot from a Glock 10mm handgun to kill himself before police arrived and had a 9mm Sig Sauer P226 handgun with him, Sedensky said.

It took Lanza less than five minutes to shoot his way into the school and fire 154 shots from the Bushmaster on his way to gunning down the children, the staff and finally himself, Sedensky said.

The guns, which also included a 12-gauge shotgun found in Lanza’s car, were all purchased by Lanza’s mother, Nancy Lanza, Sedensky said in the March statement, when warrant returns were unsealed in court. Lanza killed his mother in their home before heading to the elementary school.

 Without going into long explanations arguing either side of the debate there are 3 obvious clues that anyone with an ability to reason will see;

1) Obsession with violence  2) Violent Video Games  3) Obsession and access with guns.

Contrary to the Governor's statement these factors do not "defy explanation"  and there is a "pattern."  Time to act, not talk.

AMERICA'S BODYGUARDS

BIG GOVERNMENT
Johann Wagener 12-14-13

Representative government; one created by the majority of it's citizens, is much like a bodyguard. The bigger the better!
Those who oppose big government are usually small "special interest" groups that have little or no clout in a functional democracy and can only operate in an environment where there is little or no oversight or regulation. Much like we have witnessed time and time again when the country is brought to the brink of destruction by self-serving destructive forces that are allowed to go unchecked and grow to be so powerful that they are "too big" to fail or jail.
These "too big" entities exist because of "too small" government. Underfunded or non-existent regulatory agencies unable to enforce or exert controls that are often gutted by corrupt politicians who pander to special interests who fund their campaigns. Or politicians gerrymandered into office which effectively nullifies majority representation and renders the government ineffective as we have been witnessing these past 6 years.
What we are witnessing today is the dismantling of our government and the foundations it was built on. At the same time our bodyguards become weaker and less effective as many Americans continue to buy into the myth that Reagan (or those who wrote his speeches) perpetrated on us along with the ill fated concept of "trickle down economics; both miserable failures.
Just as time is running out in curtailing climate change, the clock is also ticking when it comes to salvaging what remains of the "American Dream." In order to survive America needs a "big" strong government and effective regulatory agencies that can guard Americans from predators that relentlessly look for ways to exploit and oppress our government and citizens.
2014 mid-term elections is the next opportunity for Americans to take this country back from those who threaten our way of life.  Americans need to remember that this country is at it's best when the majority of it's people determine the direction in which it goes; not allowing 1% of the population to walk away with 45% of our wealth, or imposing economic slavery on our working class. Allowing individual rights to be superseded by corporate interests or our Presidents to be elected by the courts instead of our citizens.
Small government, weak bodyguards, rampant cronyism and corruption are the precursors to a complete breakdown of this society. There's still time to save ourselves.

WHAT'S THAT SUCKING SOUND?

IT'S THE 1%
Johann Wagener 12-09-13

Draining the life-blood from this country by exploiting and oppressing Americans for their own personal gain.

The majority of them hide behind tinted glass and gated communities and circulate in social circles comprised of their kind.

Pope Francis called them out in his recent proclamation, EVANGELII GAUDIUM

While the earnings of a minority are growing exponentially, so too is the gap separating the majority from the prosperity enjoyed by those happy few. This imbalance is the result of ideologies which defend the absolute autonomy of the marketplace and financial speculation. Consequently, they reject the right of states, charged with vigilance for the common good, to exercise any form of control. A new tyranny is thus born, invisible and often virtual, which unilaterally and relentlessly imposes its own laws and rules. Debt and the accumulation of interest also make it difficult for countries to realize the potential of their own economies and keep citizens from enjoying their real purchasing power. To all this we can add widespread corruption and self-serving tax evasion, which have taken on worldwide dimensions. The thirst for power and possessions knows no limits. In this system, which tends to devour everything which stands in the way of increased profits, whatever is fragile, like the environment, is defenseless before the interests of a deified market, which become the only rule.

Three Ways the Super-Rich Suck Wealth Out of the Rest of Us

To briefly summarize, the richest 5 percent (six million households) own about two-thirds of the wealth, or about $10 trillion of the $15 trillion in financial wealth gained since the recession. That's $1,667,000 per household. Calculations based on alternate sources resulted in a gain of over $2 million per household.
With the U.S. driving the expansion of this great bubble of wealth, our nation has become the fifth-most wealth-unequal country in the world, while global inequality (between rather than within countries) has become even worse than for any one country. Just 250 individuals have more money than the total annual living expenses of almost half the world—three billion people.

MADE IN AMERICA!

LOW-WAGE WORKERS
Johann Wagener 12-06-13


Several of the news media outlets are making a "Made In America" pitch to Americans and showing spot ads of companies plugging the slogan.

Unfortunately, the "Made In America" and "America Strong" media blitzes don't include those commonly labeled as "the unskilled" much like the "scarlet letter A" of times past, and now replaced with a "U".

These are the Americans that tirelessly work but are hardy able to survive on wages that are so low they remain below the poverty line and many need to be subsidized by the American taxpayer with welfare, food stamps, and healthcare. They and their families live day-to-day, in fear of losing what little they have and ending up in the streets, homeless and even more desperate.

 They are not "unskilled" as employers would like you to believe. They provide Americans with a much needed, and in demand, service that millions of Americans use daily.

Americans seem to forget that these human beings are also "made in America."

Raise The Minimum Wage

To those who claim that "higher wages means higher prices" tell them "higher wages means lower profits."

THE "S" WORD; SLAVES STRIKE!

99% vs 1%
Johann Wagener 12-05-13

These $7.25 an hour workers have nothing to lose by protesting their working conditions. They already qualify and collect welfare, food stamps, and healthcare because of the slave labor wages they are paid by some of the largest and wealthiest corporations in the world.

These corporate oligarchs complain that if they were to pay employees a "living wage" they would have to pass the cost on to shoppers and raise prices rather than lower their profits.

Let the American shopper decide; higher prices? or Lower profits?

The six Waltons on Forbes’ list of wealthiest Americans have a net worth of $144.7 billion. This fiscal year three Waltons—Rob, Jim, and Alice (and the various entities that they control)—will receive an estimated $3.1 billion in Walmart dividends from their majority stake in the company.

The Waltons aren’t just the face of the 1%; they’re the face of the 0.000001%. The Waltons have more wealth than 42% of American families combined.

Why does all of this matter? While the Waltons are building billion-dollar museums, driving million-dollar cars, and jumping between vacation homes, Walmart, the country’s largest private employer, is paying its associates an average of $8.81 an hour. The Waltons make billions a year off of a company most of them don’t even work for, while Walmart associates struggle for respect on the job and enough pay to make ends meet.

“We Can’t Survive on $7.25”: Fast Food Workers Kick Off National Day of Action for Higher Pay

The federal minimum wage – which many fast food and retail outlets pay employees – is $7.25, or about $15,000 a year for full-time work. That rate was set in a 2009 measure that increased the minimum wage but still left it, in real terms, at the same rate as when Harry Truman was in office – a fact Obama mentioned in his speech on Wednesday.

In Chicago, hundreds of protesters gathered outside a McDonalds at 6.15am. As a large "Christmas Grinch" ambled about in freezing temperatures, demonstrators chanted for the minimum wage to be increased to $15 per hour.

It was the first of nine strikes in Chicago, with employees at McDonalds, Wendy's, Walgreens, Macy's and Sears also due to walk off shift. Low wage workers were due to strike across 100 cities through the day, including Boston, Detroit, New York City, Oakland, Los Angeles and St Louis.

"To put it in perspective, yesterday I got paid, today I have not a dollar in my pocket," said Akilarose Thompson, 24.  

THE DAYS-AFTER HOLIDAY SALES

75% PLUS DISCOUNTS
Johann Wagener 12-01-13


Now that actual holidays are turning into shopidays maybe it's time to rethink your shopping strategy in finding the best cluck for your buck.

Rather than suiting up and battling your way through hoards of often angry shoppers who are willing to kill to get that door-buster why not wait a few more days; even up to a week before plunging in?

If you think 35% or 50% is a deal what about 75% or 90% off? Now, that's a deal!

That's what usually happens when retailers end up overstocked when the few door busters were not enough to sucker anyone into buying something else and instead went home empty handed.

All you need to do is hold your breath, disconnect from the marketing blitz by putting everything on fast-forward and wait. Especially for those electronics. If you dare wait a month you'll find that $1,000 flat screen cut to $600 for the holiday door-buster now dropped to $300 to make room for another of a never ending string of "new and improved" whatever.

Retailers plan how to hook shoppers months in advance and are counting on them to take the bait, year after year in order to continue pumping up the bottom line and beating the previous years figures. That's the way business works in America. There's never enough profits so by hook or by crook they look for ways to outsmart shoppers. Since last year was pretty much lackluster they invade the holiday itself to kick off what used to be "black Friday" and create "grey Thursday" mania.  I can't wait to see what they come up with for Christmas.

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