Manns Medium

For years many of us have been saying that in order for America to take back their prospective political parties, they must first remove big money but the Supreme Court and gerrymandering districts as well as the lack of true will from voters have done little in that regards.  All parties are subject to big money influence but it appears that one party, in particular, seems to be strangled by it.  Even though large donors get to have voice in the say of the Democratic Party, we are still allowed to look forward to things like the unemployment rate dropping, the stock market reaching new heights, the life-long wars end, the economy recovering, the deficit dropping and consumer confidence returning but for those in the Republican Party, nothing says more about where it stands that this article titled “ In Leaked Tape Mitch McConnell Admits The Koch Brothers Are Running The Republican Party” written by Jason Easley for Politicus USA. In it Mr. Easley reveals “Sen. Mitch McConnell (R

Before I began, please know that I am about to rant and rave, I am about to hurt someone’s feelings and I am about to try again to teach your so-called experts about a disorder that they are being paid good money to know more about than even those suffering.  I am tired of hearing people called experts step in front of a microphone and tell America who suffers from what based on how some text in some book instructed them on what to look for.  I say this at the beginning to give all you who have a sensitive nature to stop reading now. I’m reading the article titled ‘ American Sniper’ Jury Finds Ex-Marine Guilty of Murder Written by Manny Fernandez and Kathryn Jones for The New York Times in which they report the following; “Eddie Ray Routh, the mentally disturbed veteran who killed Chris Kyle, the former Navy SEAL marksman who inspired the movie “American Sniper,” was sentenced Tuesday to life in prison after a jury here found him guilty of murder, rejecting his claims that he wa

Like the rise of some many things that make you go WTF, we have been plagued with “foot in mouth” disease which seems to be affecting our lawmakers both State and Federal.  These are supposed to be the best and the brightest and representative of our nation as a whole.  Being human we are well aware that people will make mistakes but some of the things that escapes the mouths of politicians play more toward a thought that either they don’t know, don’t care or have staffers who don’t know or don’t care.  Have we gotten as bad as a nation that we are willing to accept any kind of representation or are we the ones who don’t know or don’t care? Take a look at the following stories about politicians who seem to love filet of sole.  The first is an article titled “ Nevada Lawmaker Says Cancer Is A Fungus, Recommends Simply Washing It Out” by Josh Israel for Think Progress who reports that “Nevada Assemblywoman Michele Fiore (R) wants to reform the rules of end-of-life medical care so t

What do you call it when those hired to protect and defend our rights are the ones who violate them?  Some called it Enhanced Interrogation Techniques, some called it justified and others called it torture.  Whichever name you use, the fact that it is no longer executed on foreign soil but right here in our back yard should put all of us to shame and compel us to make that change. In an article titled “ The disappeared: Chicago police detain Americans at abuse-laden 'black site' Exclusive: Secret interrogation facility reveals aspects of war on terror in US” compiled by Phil Batta for The Guardian; editing: Mae Ryan and Spencer Ackerman in Chicago, it is reported that “The Chicago police department operates an off-the-books interrogation compound, rendering Americans unable to be found by family or attorneys while locked inside what lawyers say is the domestic equivalent of a CIA black site.  The facility, a nondescript warehouse on Chicago’s west side known as Homan Squa

I keep hearing of some who wishes to push this idea that those within the ISIL camp may have a legitimate reason for hating America and The West but still cannot find it within my heart to accept such a premises.  I find it hard because I know of so many more groups and sections of people who have a much more legitimate case for hating America but will never turn to joining a group which seems bent on destruction instead of construction. Those who pushes ISIL justification say that it is because America invaded their sovereign country and killed their citizens but correct me if I am wrong, did not those who appear to be at the head of this group not invade other countries?  These justified saints are not being bombed because they peacefully protested their leaders and murdered no innocents.  These justified saints are not ordained by higher power with the rights and authority to bully, intimidate and kill those who may stand in opposition of them.  These justified saints must be c

I consider it quite ironic that many of those who claim to love this country so much would do whatever may prove beneficial to them or their cause to achieve that goal at the expense of anything and anyone else.  Image in one breath saying how much you love your country and in the next, using language that gives those who don’t the ammunition they need to prove to their followers just how bad your country is.  And to top this off, those same mouthpieces has the audacity to say that their truth is not what anyone should be focused on, it should be their enemies’ faults. Take for example and article titled “ Giuliani in WSJ: 'I Didn't Intend To Question President Obama's Motives'  written by  Catherine Thompson in which she reports that  “former New York City Mayor Rudy Giuliani (R) on Sunday took to the editorial pages of the Wall Street Journal to try to clarify his comments about President Barack Obama's love for the country.  Giuliani told a conservative audi

For years now I have been fighting this invisible enemy and just recently come to realize who and what this enemy is.  This enemy used to get the best of me in the beginning but until recently I truly thought I had it under control.  Those nightmares and wondering minds as well as those hype-reactions took its toil but I made a fight of it.  I was just sitting here a few minutes ago and thinking that I had endured enough.  I couldn’t seem to stop the voices but as my day was getting darker, it finally occurred to me why. The enemy is PTSD and whether those in the medical community wish to acknowledge it or not, I know that it exists.  It’s invisible to many but ever present for many more.  People wish you to believe that it is only exclusive to a certain segment of society but I know that it is not.  People want you to think that they understand what it is and how to treat it but they have no clue.  People want you to believe that only those who have spent massive classroom hours

Call it cynicism or skepticism but whatever you call it, I have to wonder why after all these years and millions of dollars Wal-Mart made off the backs of its employees they all of a sudden decided to do right by them and give them that pay raise.  In an article titled “ Wal-Mart will give half-million employees pay raises ” written by Katie Little for CNBC.com, it is reported that “Wal-Mart will give a half-million employees pay raises, the discount retail giant said Thursday as it announced a mixed quarterly earnings report.  Hourly workers will earn at least $1.75 above the current federal minimum wage, or $9 per hour, in April. By next February, it will rise to at least $10 per hour.  "I think it actually is good news," Deutsche Bank analyst Paul Trussell said about the wage move. "Frankly part of Wal-Mart's problem has been concerns around inventories being out of stock, been about bad customer service, long lines at the checkout counters. There have been a lot

I have often asked the question of what does those who support wrong think is going to happen once the target of that wrong is done humiliating and degrading them.  Do they think that their task will be over and everyone will then move on to bigger and better things?  There is a story originated by CNN affiliate WFSB reporting “an anonymous letter bitterly insulting African-American officers was recently found in mailboxes at a Connecticut police station.”  It said that this letter specifically mentioned an Officer Higgins who did nothing to restraint the police brutality caught on tape and even joined in on the misconduct.  The fact that he was acquitted on those charges and this letter being found says to me that he may have spilled his guts about the other officers involved and therefore needed to be reminded of the power of their Police Union.  He joined them as many under the hood of a white sheet did but now he is a target so what does that say to the rest of us. It should s

I, like all others I have come across, would surely love nothing better than to find that one way to secure my place within the gates of heaven.  I sometimes see this as my one and only main task while visiting here on this earth and in this flesh but certain things have come to light which is beginning to make me think that this will never happen and that maybe the primary reason that it won’t is I am stuck living in the same manner that so many of us find ourselves.  I’m beginning to think that the way I was raised to believe in eternal life and how to get there is nothing more than a trick.  I’m beginning to think that while Christianity is a faith, the different branches like Baptist, Catholic, Evangelist and so forth is religion and it is the trap.  Attempting to live my life not by the word of God as interpret by me but as told to me by another just as mortal as me.  I’m beginning to think that the only true way to secure my place in heaven is to listen to the words of others, c

T here is this group of scam artists who has now appeared to have set their sights on veterans and many of whom may already suffer from Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD), have found that they were subjected to contaminated drinking water on the U. S. Bases on which they were assigned, currently fighting with the V. A. regarding disability, education and other benefits of which they earned and convincing an employer that they are hirable thereby living day to day unemployed.  For some reason, these crooks think this is a target enriched environment from which to operate but what they may not have counted on is veterans are much similar to a bunch of snakes, you mess with us and we bite back. Image coming home after serving your country in uniform and after being promised so much not being able to get any of those promises answered because while you were busy defending their freedom, some were changing the rules and policies which now deny you those promises.  But before you can

Everybody knows that stress can kill yet many of us either don’t wish to or do not know how to reduce it.  Sometimes the attempts that some of us make to reduce our stress are often viewed by others as a form of quitting.  They say we refused to fight hard enough for something and just do not wish to take into consideration that maybe we have seen it best for us to close out that chapter and move on.  Is it because they really care or is it because they are still trying to make us live our lives as they live theirs?  No one will truly ever know because no one has the ability to tell what is truly in the hearts and minds of man, we can only make educated guesses based on our personal experiences of observation and discovery through the years. In order for many to reduce their stress, you have to make up your mind that you are only going to stress over the things that you can control and not stress over those things that you cannot.  If you do this, you are guaranteed to reduce your

As defined by Stop Bulling dot Gov, bullying is unwanted, aggressive behavior among school aged children that involves a real or perceived power imbalance. The behavior is repeated, or has the potential to be repeated, over time. Bullying includes actions such as making threats, spreading rumors, attacking someone physically or verbally, and excluding someone from a group on purpose.  Wikipedia says it is the use of force, threat, or coercion to abuse, intimidate, or aggressively dominate others. The behavior is often repeated and habitual. One essential prerequisite is the perception, by the bully or by others, of an imbalance of social or physical power. Behaviors used to assert such domination can include verbal harassment or threat, physical assault or coercion, and such acts may be directed repeatedly towards particular targets. Rationalizations for such behavior sometimes include differences of social class, race, religion, gender, sexual orientation, appearance, behavior, body

So many are frustrated and confused as to what we have to do to defeat ISIL and many are considering that all that is necessary is to cut off the head of the snake but today, it has occurred to me that this is and never will be the way ISIL will ever get defeated.  Some are correct that military force is necessary but it will never end them.  Some are correct that it will take a diplomatic answer to solve this issue but that alone is also not the case.  So with that, quite a few are confused and frustrated so they lash out at anyone or anything else that is marginally offensive to them in order to find a place for their frustrated-laced anger.  So what do we do?  First we need to understand the problem before we can find the solution. The first thing, I think we need to teach ourselves is ISIL is not one main operating group but a series of self-lead branches which follow their own brand of justice.  The overall message may be the same but the actions and operations are different

Nikole Hannah-Jones wrote an article for ProPublica titled “Housing Enforcement Group Sues M&T Bank for Discrimination” and reports within it that “The unusual lawsuit draws on secret videotapes and recordings to argue that the bank’s loan officers discriminated against blacks, Latinos and Asians who applied for mortgages.  One of the nation's largest banks discriminates against black, Latino and Asian homebuyers by offering lesser qualified white borrowers higher loan amounts and using hidden racial criteria in one of its loan programs, according to a lawsuit filed this week in federal court in Manhattan. The suit also accuses the bank of steering homebuyers to certain neighborhoods based on their race or ethnicity.  The lawsuit claims that M&T Bank violated the landmark Fair Housing Act, a 1968 law that sought to end discriminatory lending practices and limit the historic segregation of many of the country's cities. The suit was filed by the Fair Housing Justice Cent

I remember when I was in school, how great my teachers made this nation of America sound and how proud I was to sing those songs like America the Beautiful which lead me to gladly donning that military uniform.  That was then and this is now, my pride still is as strong as it ever was but my fear is now America the Beautiful is now America the Hypocrite.  Thanks to so many who seem to have forgotten what those before us endured to gift us this awesome land of ours and began to look only at themselves when it came to getting as much and amassing as much material things as they can.  They only consider others when it is convenient for them or others are blocking their way up the ladder.  They only consider others when there is something that they need done but are too lazy or ignorant to do it themselves. Classic example, in my State of Illinois, it was reported that the funds for the mentally ill was broke and that services for them would have to be cut in order for the state to ev

As a beloved follower of some political shows on MSNBC, I was both a little confused and sadden when I read about the comment made by MSNBC’s Andrea Mitchell while being a guest on Meet the Press.  I was confused because here was an elite media member who has always in the past compared where we came from to where we are today in order to draw a contrast and possibly find solutions to our problems.  I was saddened by the fact that she sat on television and began to attempt an education on what words or language should be used while in the office of president.  Saddened that she, of all people, should know that before any person or country can ever move forward, that they must first be well aware of how they got to where they are and from whence they came.  If memory serves, she, herself, has said that you will never know where you are going unless you know where you came from. The article can be found at TPM Livewire under the title “MSNBC's Andrea Mitchell Rips Obama For '

First you need to understand what the dictionary definition of Armageddon is then decide if the way it is being used today fits that description.  The dictionary defines Armageddon as the place where the final battle between good and evil will be fought; a final completely destructive battle or any large scale and destructive conflict.  Now does this fit the way this word is being used in conversations of today, I personally think not.  When religious leaders speak of Armageddon, they want you to image an epic battle where everything is destroyed even the planet.  When politicians use the word they want you to think of an exploding earth, killing anything and everything left on it when it explodes.  None of these fits the description according to the dictionary and it doesn’t hold water according to the Bible.  Check it out for yourself if you have questions. An article in Mother Jones Magazine written by Eric Holthaus titled “World Leaders Will Meet This Year to Decide the Fate o

Far too often we sell ourselves short and prevent ourselves from ever becoming the kind of Christian that God has always known us to be.  For those who still do not believe that the greatest dangers posed to us is that danger which is brought on by us, this story should give you all the proof that you need in order to see that what you thought was indeed the truth.  We are our worst enemy and only those we allow can break us down.  We often spend so much time blocking our own way and blame others for the obstruction.  Sad really, if you think about it, God gave us the power and authority over our lives, desires and direction but instead of us stepping up to take hold and control of them, we give that power to someone else in order to avoid being blamed or held responsible if they appear to go wrong.  You do not have to look for the larger things to show you just how special God knows that you are, look to the small things, the things you do each and every day without even thinking abo

This is the question that people have been asking for quite some time.  To many it seems never too important unless it deals with them directly.  We are often conditioned to think that as long as something does not directly affect you, then it is no big deal but then isn’t that the trick that Satan plays upon us every day?  Getting us to ignore things going on around us so that he and his demons can continue to rap society at will and with no recourse?  Perhaps understanding better why we get so angry may just help us curtail the primary driving force in many of our thoughts, ideas and actions. Try this on for size.  An article, from the Associated Press out of Washington, about a 911 dispatcher and the call from a 13 year old girl about an accident that both parents were involved in may just shine some light on the subject.  It reports that “a 911 dispatcher twice told an emotional 13-year-old girl to "stop whining" as her father lay dying after a hit-and-run on a Maryl