From The News Desk

[swanny]

Larry K, thank you for the posting!!What a great story and the RED Friday is a great idea that I hope catches on!!Semper Fi.....Dale

[LarryK]

Now The NEWS...............Just in to The NEWS DESK.................

This News Reporter has just learned that the MARINE CORPS has
just increased their training programs. Because of situations around the world, The Commandant of The Marine Corps has made these orders to start today.................

This will include The OLD SALT CORPS. The Commandant wants Every Marine combat ready. So the following training has been
developed


SUMMER CLASSES FOR OLD, OLD, OLD MARINES (Old Retirees)
MAINSIDE SPECIAL SERVICES. (ADULT LEARNING CENTER)


...............................WE KNOW WHO YOU ARE.................................


REGISTRATION MUST BE COMPLETED
By Friday, August XX th 2XXX.
NOTE: DUE TO THE COMPLEXITY AND DIFFICULTY LEVEL
OF THEIR CONTENTS, CLASS SIZES WILL BE LIMITED TO SQUAD SIZE (13 PARTICIPANTS) MAXIMUM

Class 1
OJT Field Day (house cleaning) --- Step by Step, with Slide Presentation.
Meets 4 weeks, Mondays and Wednesdays for 2 hours beginning at 1900 Hours (7:00 PM)

Class 2
The nuts Paper (Toilet Paper) Roll---Does It Change Itself?
Squad critique (Round Table Discussion).
Meets 2 weeks, Saturday 1200 hours (noon) for 2 hours.

Class 3
Is It Possible To Pee (Urinate) Using The Technique Of Lifting The Seat and Avoiding The Deck (Floor), Bulkheads (Walls) and Nearby Bathtub (Shower)?--- Docs Hygiene Tactics (Group Practice).
Meets 4 weeks, Saturday 1000 Hours 10:00 AM for 2 hours.

Class 4
Fundamental Differences Between The Dirty Clothes Bag (Laundry Hamper) and The Deck (Floor) --- Demonstrations Platoon (Pictures and Explanatory Graphics).
Meets Saturdays at 1400 Hours (2:00 PM) for 3 weeks.

Class 5
Mess Duty (Kitchen Work) --- Mess Gear (Dinner Dishes), Can They Levitate and Fly From The Mess Hall (Dining Room) Into The Galley (Kitchen) Sink?
Training Film (Examples On Video).
Meets 4 weeks, Tuesday and Thursday for 2 hours beginning
At 1900 Hours (7:00 PM)

Class 6
Loss Of Identity --- Name, Rank And Serial Number Only (Help Line And Support Groups).
Meets 4 Weeks, Friday and Sunday at 1900 Hours (7:00 PM ) For 1 Hour.

Class 7
Learning And Remembering How To Find Things --- Junk On the Bunk (Clothing Inventory), Wall Locker/Foot Locker (Closet & Storage Area) And 782 Gear (Tool Box etc) Inspections. This Exercise will eliminate the Marines's (Retiree's) Need To Turn The Barracks (House) Upside Down While Scrounging (looking) for His Gear (Possessions).Open Forum


Mondays at 2000 (8:00 PM), For 2 hours.


Class 8
Sick Bay (Health Watch) --- Shot Cards/Health Records (Dr Appointment)
Graphics and Audio Tapes.
Three nights; Monday, Wednesday, Friday at 7:00 PM for 2 hours.

Class 9
Retired Marines (Guys) Sometimes Ask For Compass/Map (Directions) When Lost--Real Life Testimonials.
Tuesdays at 6:00 PM Location to be determined

Class 10
Is It Genetically Impossible To Sit Quietly While She Parallel Parks?
Driving Simulations.
4 weeks, Saturday's noon, 2 hours.


Class 11
Life After The Marine Corps (Learning to Live) --- Basic Differences Between Mother and Wife and, The Marine Corps.
Platoon Sergeant (Supervisor) And Training Film (Online Classes).
Tuesdays at 7:00 PM, location to be determined


Class 12
How to be the Ideal Shopping Companion ---
General Orders (Minimizing Suggestions, Relaxation Exercises, Meditation and Breathing Techniques).
Meets 4 weeks, Tuesday and Thursday for 2 hours beginning at 7:00 PM.


Class 13
Code of Conduct (How to Fight Cerebral Atrophy (Wasting Away)) ---Remembering Birthdays, Wedding Anniversaries, The Marine Corps Birthday, Marine Corps Anniversaries, and Other Important Dates and, Above All, Calling When You're Going To Be Late for Muster/Chow (Getting Home/Dinner).
Cerebral Shock Therapy Sessions and Full Lobotomies Offered.
Three nights; Monday, Wednesday, Friday at 7:00 PM for 2 hours.


Class 14
The Galley Equipment (Stove/Oven etc) --- What It Is and How It's used.
"Demonstrations Platoon" (Live Demonstration).
Tuesdays at 6:00 PM, location to be determined.


Upon completion of any or all of the above courses, Promotion (Diplomas) will be Issued (presented) to the Troops (survivors).


We here at THE NEWS DESK wants to say GOOD LUCK. And don't
forget one important thing....Telephone numbers of Ambulance, and Hospitals

That's the NEWS from THE NEWS DESK.......What is Your News.....

PS Thanks JoeD

[LarryK]

From the NEWS DESK........................This was sent to me from a young Lady from Michigan Who's Father is a Marine and wanted to show her Dad that she was PROUD of him.

This is a story about 1 half Man and 1 half Boy.

The average age of the military man is 19 years.
He is a short haired, tight-muscled kid who,
under normal circumstances is considered by
society as half man, half boy. Not yet dry behind
the ears, not old enough to buy a beer, but old
enough to die for his country. He never really
cared much for work and he would rather wax
his own car than wash his father's, but he has
never collected unemployment either.



He's a recent High School graduate; he was probably an average student, pursued some form of sport activities, drives a ten year old jalopy, and has a steady girlfriend that either broke up with him when he left, or swears to be waiting when he returns from half a world away. He listens to rock and roll or hip-hop or rap or jazz or swing and a 155mm howitzer.

He is 10 or 15 pounds lighter now than when he
was at home because he is working or fighting
from before dawn to well after dusk. He has
trouble spelling, thus letter writing is a pain for him, but he can field strip a rifle in 30 seconds and reassemble it in less time in the dark. He can recite to you the nomenclature of a machine gun or grenade launcher and use either one effectively if he must.

He digs foxholes and latrines and can apply first aid like a professional.

He can march until he is told to stop, or stop until he is told to march.


He obeys orders instantly and without hesitation,
but he is not without spirit or individual dignity.
He is self-sufficient.

He has two sets of fatigues: he washes one and wears the other. He keeps his canteens full and his feet dry.

He sometimes forgets to brush his teeth, but never to clean his rifle. He can cook his own meals, mend his own clothes, and fix his own hurts.
If you're thirsty, he'll share his water with you; if you are hungry, his food. He'll even split his ammunition with you in the midst of battle when you run low.

He has learned to use his hands like weapons
and weapons like they were his hands.

He can save your life - or take it, because that is his job.

He will often do twice the work of a civilian, draw half the pay, and still find ironic humor in it all.

He has seen more suffering and death than he should have in his short lifetime.


He has wept in public and in private, for friends
who have fallen in combat and is unashamed.

He feels every note of the National Anthem vibrate through his body while at rigid attention, while tempering the burning desire to 'square-away ' those around him who haven't bothered to stand, remove their hat, or even stop talking.

In an odd twist, day in and day out, far from
home, he defends their right to be disrespectful.

Just as did his Father, Grandfather, and Great-
grandfather, he is paying the price for our
freedom. Beardless or not, he is not a boy. He is the American Fighting Man that has kept this country free for over 200 years.


He has asked nothing in return, except our friendship and understanding. Remember him, always, for he has earned our respect and admiration with his blood.

And now we even have women over there in
danger, doing their part in this tradition of going
to War when our nation calls us to do so.

As you go to bed tonight, remember this shot. . .

A short lull, a little shade and a picture of
loved ones in their helmets.


Prayer Wheel

'Lord, hold our troops in your loving hands.
Protect them as they protect us. Bless them and their families for the selfless acts they perform for us in our time of need. Amen.'


When you read this, please stop for a moment
and say a prayer for our Marines and ground troops in
Afghanistan, sailors on ships, and airmen in the air, and for those Marines and ground troops in Iraq.

God Bliss The Marine Corps and God Bless America .................... This was very special to Me.............Because this was sent to Me

From Niki Kendall, My Daughter........................................

Thats the news for now From The NEWS DESK..............LarryK

[joed47]

It's special to me because it was sent by you. Semper Fi JoeD.

[jarhead32]

LarryK, That was some posting & as JoeD said ,"It is special & besides it came from your daughter"? God bless our troops & our Country!SEMPER FIDELIS,Marines & all Americans!-RichW/49

[LarryK]

From The NEWS DESK....................Economic Stimulus Payment......

'This year, taxpayers will receive an Economic Stimulus Payment.

This is a very exciting new program. I wanted to try to get a good
understanding of this program. I called the IRS to answer some question. This is what happened.


'News D. What is an Economic Stimulus Payment?
'IRS. It is money that the federal government will send to taxpayers.

'New D. Where will the government get this money?
'IRS. From taxpayers.

'News D. So the government is giving me back my own money?
'IRS. Only a smidgen.

'News D. What is the purpose of this payment?
'IRS. The plan is that you will use the money to purchase a high-definition TV set, thus stimulating the economy.

'News D. But isn't that stimulating the economy of China and Japan?
'IRS. Shut up...

Well thats the News from the NEWS DESK.................................
.......................Remember, Buy American. If you can find it..........

That's our thought for today...........Whats yours..............LarryK

[LarryK]

From The NEWS DESK ........................ 'FENDER SKIRTS'.


I came across this phrase yesterday 'FENDER SKIRTS.'

A term I haven't heard in a long time, and thinking
about 'fender skirts' started me thinking about other words that quietly disappear from our language with hardly a notice like 'curb feelers'


And 'steering knobs.' (AKA) suicide knob.


Since I'd been thinking of cars, my mind naturally went that direction first.

Any kids will probably have to find some elderly person over 50 to explain some of these terms to you.

Remember 'Continental kits?'

They were rear bumper extenders and spare tire covers that were supposed to make any car as cool as a Lincoln Continental.



When did we quit calling them 'emergency brakes?'

At some point 'parking brake' became the proper term. But I miss the hint of drama that went with 'emergency brake.'

I'm sad, too, that almost all the old folks are gone who would call the accelerator the 'foot feed.'

Didn't you ever wait at the street for your daddy to come home, so you could ride the 'running board' up to the house?

Here's a phrase I heard all the time in my youth but never anymore - 'store-bought.' Of course, just about everything is store-bought these days. But once it was bragging material to have a store-bought dress or a store-bought bag of candy.

'Coast to coast' is a phrase that once held all sorts of excitement and now means almost nothing. Now we take the term 'world wide' for granted. This floors me.

On a smaller scale, 'wall-to-wall' was once a magical term in our homes. In the '50s, everyone covered his or her hardwood floors with, wow, wall-to-wall carpeting! Today, everyone replaces their wall-to-wall carpeting with hardwood floors. Go figure.
?
Whens the last time you heard the quaint phrase 'in a family way?' It's hard to imagine that the word 'pregnant' was once considered a little too graphic, a little too clinical for use in polite company, so we had all that talk about stork visits and 'being in a family way' or simply 'expecting.'

Apparently 'brassiere' is a word no longer in usage. I said it the other day and my daughter cracked up. I guess it's just 'bra' now. 'Unmentionables' probably wouldn't be understood at all.
?
I always loved! going to the 'picture show,' but I considered 'movie' an affectation.

Most of these words go back to the '50s, but here's a pure-'60s word I came across the other day - 'rat fink.' Ooh, what a nasty put-down!

Here's a word I miss - 'percolator.' That was just a fun word to say. And what was it replaced with? 'Coffee maker.' How dull. Mr. Coffee, I blame you for this.
?

I miss those made-up marketing words that were meant to sound so modern and now sound so retro. Words like 'DynaFlow' and 'Electrolux.' Introducing the 1963 Admiral TV, now with 'SpectraVision!'
?

Food for thought - Was there a telethon that wiped out lumbago? Nobody complains of that anymore. Maybe that's what Castor oil cured, because I never hear mothers threatening kids with Castor oil anymore.

Some words aren't gone, but are definitely on the endangered list. The one that grieves me most, 'supper.' Now everybody says 'dinner.' Save a great word. Invite someone to supper. Discuss fender skirts

I guess you would have to be a CERTAIN AGE.................

IF YOU AREN'T OF A CERTAIN AGE. THEN YOU MISSED A LOT

That's all from the NEWS DESK.....What do you think..............

........................LarryK

[LarryK]

From the NEWS DESK................Flash.....................LarryK has

returned From his Sick Leave but He is still only with one hand to

work with. Operation was good.....Stiches will come out next

Tuesday. Thank you for your support...................................

This is MK for Larryk.............Thats the NEWS

[LarryK]

From The NEWS DESK........................................

This next item came to me from JoeD. It is called Memories.

I liked it so much I wanted to shear it with everyone...............

Thanks JoeD


I have no idea who put this together, but, it's FANTASTIC!!



Long ago and far away, in a land that time forgot,
Before the days of Dylan, or the dawn of Camelot.
There lived a race of innocents, and they were you and me,

For Ike was in the White House in that land where we were born,
Where navels were for oranges, and Peyton Place was porn.

We learned to gut a muffler, we washed our hair at dawn,
We spread our crinolines to dry in circles on the lawn.

We longed for love and romance, and waited for our Prince,
And Eddie Fisher married Liz, and no one's seen him since.

We danced to 'Little Darlin,' and sang to 'Stagger Lee'
And cried for Buddy Holly in the Land That Made Me, Me.

Only girls wore earrings then, and 3 was one too many,
And only boys wore flat-top cuts, except for Jean McKinney.

And only in our wildest dreams did we expect to see
A boy named George with Lipstick, in the Land That Made Me, Me.

We fell for Frankie Avalon, Annette was oh, so nice,
And when they made a movie, they never made it twice.

We didn't have a Star Trek Five, or Psycho Two and Three,
Or Rocky-Rambo Twenty in the Land That Made Me, Me.

Miss Kitty had a heart of gold, and Chester had a limp,
And Reagan was a Democrat whose co-star was a chimp.

We had a Mr. Wizard, but not a Mr. T ,
And Oprah couldn't talk, yet, in the Land That Made Me, Me.

We had our share of heroes, we never thought they'd go,
At least not Bobby Darin, or Marilyn Monroe.

For youth was still eternal, and life was yet to be,
And Elvis was forever in the Land That Made Me, Me.

We'd never seen the rock band that was Grateful to be Dead,
And Airplanes weren't named Jefferson , and Zeppelins were not Led.

And Beatles lived in gardens then, and Monkees lived in trees,
Madonna was a virgin in the Land That Made Me, Me.

We'd never heard of microwaves, or telephones in cars,
And babies might be bottle-fed, but they weren't grown in jars.

And pumping iron got wrinkles out, and 'gay' meant fancy-free,
And dorms were never coed in the Land That Made Me, Me.

We hadn't seen enough of jets to talk about the lag,
And microchips were what was left at the bottom of the bag.

And Hardware was a box of nails, and bytes came from a flea,
And rocket ships were fiction in the Land That Made Me, Me.

Buick's came with portholes, and side shows came with freaks,
And bathing suits came big enough to cover both your cheeks.

And Coke came just in bottles, and skirts below the knee,
And Castro came to power near the Land That Made Me, Me.

We had no Crest with Fluoride, we had no Hill Street Blues,
We had no patterned pantyhose or Lipton herbal tea
Or prime-time ads for condoms in the Land That Made Me, Me.

There were no golden arches, no Perrier to chill,
And fish were not called Wanda, and cats were not called Bill.

And middle-aged was 35 and old was forty-three,
And ancient were our parents in the Land That Made Me, Me.

But all things have a season, or so we've heard them say,
And now instead of Maybelline we swear by Retin-A.

They send us invitations to join AARP,
We've come a long way, baby, from the Land That Made Me, Me.

So now we face a brave new world in slightly larger jeans,
And wonder why they're using smaller print in magazines.

And we tell our children's children of the way it used to be,
Long ago and far away in the Land That Made Me, Me.

For those of you. too young to remember Bob Hope,
ask your Grandparents!!! and 'Thanks for the Memories'


I HOPE THIS WILL PUT A SMILE ON YOUR FACE AND IN YOUR HEART.




Again Thanks JoeD..................................................................

That's it from The NEWS DESK........What do you think....LarryK

[LarryK]

Today from the NEWS DESK.

A letter to the Editor of Orange County Newspaper in California

would not printed for one reason or another. I found it to be

interesting. So I wanted to shear it with you.


> Orange County California Newspaper
>
> This is a very good letter to the editor. This woman made some good points.
> For some reason, people have difficulty structuring their arguments when arguing against supporting the currently proposed immigration revisions. This lady made the argument pretty simple. NOT printed in the Orange County Paper..................
>
> Newspapers simply won't publish letters to the editor which they either deem politically incorrect (read below) or which does not agree with the philosophy they're pushing on the public. This woman wrote a great letter to the editor that should have been published; but, with your help it will get published via cyberspace!
>
> From: 'David LaBonte'
> My wife, Rosemary, wrote a wonderful letter to the editor of the OC Register which, of course, was not printed. So, I decided to 'print' it myself by sending it out on the Internet. Pass it along if you feel so inclined. Written in response to a series of letters to the editor in the Orange County Register:
>
> Dear Editor:
>
> So many letter writers have based their arguments on how this land is made up of immigrants. Ernie Lujan for one, suggests we should tear down the Statue of Liberty because the people now in question aren't being treated the same as those who passed through Ellis Island and other ports of entry.
>
> Maybe we should turn to our history books and point out to people like Mr. Lujan why today's American is not willing to accept this new kind of immigrant any longer. Back in 1900 when there was a rush from all areas of Europe to come to the United States, people had to get off a ship and stand in a long line in New York and be documented . Some would even get down on their hands and knees and kiss the ground. They made a pledge to uphold the laws and support their new country in good and bad times. They made learning English a primary rule in their new American households and some even changed their names to blend in with their new home.
>
> They had waved good bye to their birth place to give their children a new life and did everything in their power to help their children assimilate into one culture. Nothing was handed to them. No free lunches, no welfare, no labor laws to protect them. All they had were the skills and craftsmanship they had brought with them to trade for a future of prosperity.
>
> Most of their children came of age when World War II broke out. My father fought along side men whose parents had come straight over from Germany, Italy, France and Japan. None of these 1st generation Americans ever gave any thought about what country their parents had come from. They were Americans fighting Hitler, Mussolini and the Emperor of Japan. They were defending the United States of America as one people.
>
> When we liberated France, no one in those villages were looking for the French-American or the German American or the Irish American. The people of France saw only Americans. And we carried one flag that represented one country. Not one of those immigrant sons would have thought about picking up another country's flag and waving it to represent who they were. It would have been a disgrace to their parents who had sacrificed so much to be here. These immigrants truly knew what it meant to be an American. They stirred the melting pot into one red, white and blue bowl.
>
> And here we are in 2008 with a new kind of immigrant who wants the same rights and privileges, only they want to achieve it by playing with a different set of rules, one that includes the entitlement card and a guarantee of being faithful to their mother country. I'm sorry, that's not what being an American is all about. I believe that the immigrants who landed on Ellis Island in the early 1900's deserve better than that for all the toil , hard work and sacrifice in raising future generations to create a land that has become a beacon for those legally searching for a better life. I think they would be appalled that they are being used as an example by those waving foreign country flags.
>
> And for that suggestion about taking down the Statue of Liberty, it happens to mean a lot to the citizens who are voting on the immigration bill. I wouldn't start talking about dismantling the UNITED STATES just yet.
>
> (Signed) Rosemary LaBonte

> Thats the NEWS from the NEWS DESK for today.

What are your thoughts.....Til the next time........LarryK........

[LarryK]

Now the NEWS from THE NEWS DESK.............Larryk reporting....



THE MEXICANS ARE COMING..... THE MEXICANS


ARE COMING.


Mexican Troops Cross Border, Hold Border Agent

Wednesday, August 6, 2008 10:33 AM

By: Jim Meyers Article Font Size



Mexican troops crossed the border into Arizona and held a U.S. Border Patrol agent at gunpoint on Sunday, according to a published report.

Agents assigned to the Border Patrol at Ajo, Ariz., said the Mexican soldiers crossed the border into an isolated area southwest of Tucson and pointed rifles at the agent, who has not been identified.

The Mexicans withdrew after other American agents arrived on the scene, The Washington Times reports.

It’s not known why the troops crossed the border, but American law enforcement authorities have said that current and former Mexican soldiers have been hired to protect drug and immigrant smugglers.

“Unfortunately, this sort of behavior by Mexican military personnel has been going on for years,” union Local 2544 of the National Border Patrol Council said on its Web site.

“They are never held accountable, and the United States government will undoubtedly brush this off as another case of, ‘Oh well, they didn’t know they were in the United States.’ It is fortunate that this incident didn’t end in a very ugly gunfight.”

Ricardo Alday, a spokesman at the Mexican Embassy in Washington, told the Times on Tuesday: “Law enforcement operations have led, from time to time, to innocent incursions by both U.S. and Mexican law enforcement personnel and military units into the territory of both nations…

“We always try to solve these incidents in a cooperative fashion, and as acknowledged by the Border Patrol, this was the case in the episode at Ajo.”

The General Accounting Office estimates that $23 billion in illegal drugs flow across the border each year.

According to The Times, a coalition of border sheriffs has demanded that the American and Mexican governments probe incursions into the U.S. by heavily armed drug escorts dressed in Mexican military uniforms.

My question is can or will we stop Them?

Thats the up to the day News From

................................THE NEWS DESK................

.......What do you think.............LarryK signing off til the next time...

[LarryK]

From THE NEWS DESK...................

TS FAY hit FLA. Never had a chance to become A Cat. 1.....

And again Tampa Bay missed it all together. I'm still dodging

them. Thats it for now............LarryK

[LarryK]

From the NEWS DESK....................


A little humor from the Southwest. We finally hear from South of the Border


Mexico is angry at the influx of Mexicans into Mexico !



The worm has turned. Wait till Arizona ships a bunch more back home.. the yelling will be deafening.


The Mexican State of Sonora is angry at the Influx of Mexicans into Mexico ... Can you believe this? Can you believe the nerve of these people? Nine state legislators from the Mexican state of Sonora traveled to Tucson to complain about Arizona 's new employer crackdown on illegals from Mexico . It seems many Mexican illegals are now returning to their hometowns and the officials in the Sonora state government are ticked! A delegation of nine state legislators from Sonora was in Tucson on Tuesday to say the State of Arizona 's new employer sanctions law will have a devastating effect on the Mexican state.


At a news conference, the legislators said Sonora - Arizona 's southern neighbor, made up of mostly small towns - cannot handle the demand for housing, jobs, and schools it will face as illegal Mexican workers in Arizona return to their hometowns without jobs or money. The law, which took effect Jan. 1, punishes employers who knowingly hire individuals who don't have valid legal documents to work in the United States . Penalties include suspension or loss of a business license.

The Mexican officials are ticked off because their own citizens are returning to their hometowns, placing a huge burden on their state government. Mexican State Representative Leticia Amparano-Gamez, who represents Nogales , has some nerve. She wants to tell the state of Arizona how the law will affect Mexican families on both sides of the border. 'How can they pass a law like this?' asked Mexican Rep. Amparano- Gamez. 'There is not one person living in Sonora who does not have a friend or relative working in Arizona ,' she said in Spanish. 'Mexico is not prepared for this, for the tremendous problems it will face as more and more Mexicans working in Arizona and sending money to their families return to hometowns in Sonora without jobs, she said.' 'We are one family, socially and economically,' she said of the people of Sonora an d Arizona .


Wrong. The United States is a sovereign nation and its states and its citizens are not responsible for the welfare of Mexico 's citizens. It's time for the Mexican government to stop parasitically feeding off of the United States and start taking care of its own citizens.



Too bad all the states don't pass a law just like it.


Maybe that's the answer since Congress will not do anything.


Thats it from THE NEWS DESK...............What do you think..........

[LarryK]

From The NEWS DESK................This is something to THINK about.

In these days of trying times and being an election year, We try to find someone to blame. Here is one train of though


545 PEOPLE by Charlie Reese


Politicians are the only people in the world who create problems and then
campaign against them.

Have you ever wondered why, if both the Democrats and the Republicans are
against deficits, we have deficits?

Have you ever wondered why, if all the politicians are against inflation and
high taxes, we have inflation and high taxes?

You and I don't propose a federal budget. The president does.

You and I don't have the Constitutional authority to vote on appropriations.
The House of Representatives does.

You and I don't write the tax code, Congress does.

You and I don't set fiscal policy, Congress does.

You and I don't control monetary policy, the Federal Reserve Bank does.

One hundred senators, 435 congressmen, one president, and nine Supreme Court
justices 545 human beings out of the 300 million are directly, legally,
morally, and individually responsible for the domestic problems that plague
this country.

I excluded the members of the Federal Reserve Board because that problem was
created by the Congress. In 1913, Congress delegated its Constitutional duty
to provide a sound currency to a federally chartered, but private, central
bank.

I excluded all the special interests and lobbyists for a sound reason. They
have no legal authority. They have no ability to coerce a senator, a
congressman, or a president to do one cotton-picking thing. I don't care if
they offer a politician $1 million dollars in cash. The politician has the
power to accept or reject it. No matter what the lobbyist promises, it is
the legislator's responsibility to determine how he votes.

Those 545 human beings spend much of their energy convincing you that what
they did is not their fault. They cooperate in this common con regardless of
party.

What separates a politician from a normal human being is an excessive amount
of gall. No normal human being would have the gall of a Speaker, who stood
up and criticized the President for creating deficits. The president can
only propose a budget. He cannot force the Congress to accept it.

The Constitution, which is the supreme law of the land, gives sole
responsibility to the House of Representatives for originating and approving
appropriations and taxes. Who is the speaker of the House?
She is the leader of the majority party. She and fellow House members, not
the president, can approve any budget they want. If the President vetoes it,
they can pass it over his veto if they agree to.

It seems inconceivable to me that a nation of 300 million can not replace
545 people who stand convicted -- by present facts -- of incompetence and
irresponsibility. I can't think of a single domestic problem that is not
traceable directly to those 545 people. When you fully grasp the plain truth
that 545 people exercise the power of the federal government, then it must
follow that what exists is what they want to exist.

If the tax code is unfair, it's because they want it unfair.

If the budget is in the red, it's because they want it in the red.

If the Marines are in IRAQ , it's because they want them in IRAQ .

If they do not receive social security but are on an elite retirement plan
not available to the people, it's because they want it that way. There are
no insoluble government problems.

Do not let these 545 people shift the blame to bureaucrats, whom they hire
and whose jobs they can abolish; to lobbyists, whose gifts and advice they
can reject; to regulators, to whom they give the power to regulate and from
whom they can take this power. Above all, do not let them con you into the
belief that there exists disembodied mystical forces like "the economy,"
"inflation," or "politics" that prevent them from doing what they take an
oath to do.

Those 545 people, and they alone, are responsible.

They, and they alone, have the power.

They, and they alone, should be held accountable by the people who are their
bosses provided the voters have the gumption to manage their own employees.

We should vote all of them out of office and clean up their mess!

Charlie Reese is a former columnist of the Orlando Sentinel Newspaper.

What you do with this article now that you have read it is up to you, though
you appear to have several choices.

1. You can send this to everyone in your address book, and hope they do
something about it.

2. You can agree to vote against everyone that is currently in office,
knowing that the process will take several years.

3. You can decide to run for office yourself and agree to do the job
properly.

4. Lastly, you can sit back and do nothing, or re-elect the current bunch.

YOU DECIDE, BUT AT LEAST SEND IT ON.

From The NEWS DESK................What do you THINK?...........

[swanny]

Thank you Larry!! Seems to me that we all need to vote the bums out! I don't think we can get rid of the 9 supreme courts justices I believe they are appointed for life! But we can vote the rest out! Semper Fi!.....Dale