Manns Medium

When I first heard this story on The Rachel Maddow Show, I was immediately concerned that something just wasn’t right.  Based on the story, it was assumed that Missouri State Auditor Tom Schweich’s “suicide” came at the hands of the Missouri GOP chairman John Hancock’s false assertion that he was Jewish and the “suicide” death of his aide, Robert Jackson was a result of the many other prominent Republicans did not demand Mr. Hancock’s dismissal.  It is being seen as the results of the new GOP’s brand of politics.  I just can’t see that. As reported in an article titled “ Tom Schweich spokesman Spence Jackson found dead of apparent suicide ” by Dave Helling and Jason Hancock for the Kansas City Star, it states “For the second time in a month, Missourians struggled Monday to understand the unfathomable — why a leading political figure in the state would take his own life.  Robert “Spence” Jackson, a prominent Republican spokesman and media liaison for more than a ...

Media assumed that by labeling their story “Soldier kills 14-year-old girlfriend’s mother after she tried to break them up in Pennsylvania” that this would draw more page views instead of calling it what it really is.  The story should have been simply evil man kills his underage girlfriend’s mother and buries her with the girlfriend’s help because evil can take any form and in this case it took the form of a U.S. soldier. The article was written by Rachelle Blinder for the New York Daily News and it reports “a 20-year-old soldier is charged with murdering the mother of his 14-year-old girlfriend and burying her in southeast Pennsylvania with the girl's help after the mom tried to put a stop to the illicit relationship, authorities said.  Caleb Barnes allegedly stabbed Cheryl Silvonek, 54, in her car in front of her Upper Macungie house after an argument early Sunday, according to the Allentown Morning Call.  Once Silvonek was dead, Barnes and the girl reportedly hop...

If you have ever had to face this, you will understand what I mean but if you have never had to face this then take a few minutes, go to a juvenile court waiting room and just sit there listening to the stories.  There are truly some horrific stories about child endangerment and neglect but there are also those stories that are fabricated and are so very far from the truth.  For those stories that are true, it is quite understandable why outside forces step in and attempt to give all children a shot at a decent life but for those stories that are discovered early enough in the process to lack credibility but are still push because of someone’s lack of conscientious or just plainly hate to be wrong, this is more than just a travesty of justice, it is downright criminal in its own right. You are notified that your children will be removed from your home for an offense that never took place but because they have those who appear to be carrying a grudge or clearly short-sight...

Received this email from the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs around 7:24 PM yesterday 18 March 2015 in which they seemed excited to announce new improvements here let me have them tell you.  “Effective March 24th, 2015, VA is implementing improvements to make it easier for you to apply for benefits.  Online application tools, standardized forms, and a new intent to file process will create faster and more accurate decisions on your claims and appeals.  What does it all mean?  As part of the VA’s full-scale transformation in 2015, these new changes will: Streamline the benefits process, making it faster and easier Use standardized forms to file disability claims and compensation appeals Establish a new intent to file a claim process” Now to those who are or may not be aware, if the main issue was applying to benefits that you earned, this would be a welcomed change and things would began looking better for the less than 1% who don those uniforms and mak...

Presidential Historians are always attempting to vocalize what an American President will be forever known for.  Many see President Obama’s legacy as quite clear and simple.  He will be forever known as the first Black American President, he may be known for being the one to usher in health care for all, he may be known for turning around a dying economy, a growing deficit and closing down two wars but there is a portion of his legacy that seems to go unseen and unspoken.  President Obama may be known for removing the curtain behind which so many of us have hid and revealed an even more disturbing and deeper truth that has been facing us since the dawn of time.  President Obama may just be remembered as the president who forced all of us to face that image in the mirror and face racism head-on once and for all. I say that because lately it appears clear that so many people who would normally not utter any statement remotely close to a racist statement are speaki...

Many have grabbed a microphone and made claims that they think America is not as trusted in the world as it may have been some time ago and most of us would probably agree but while the majority of us just sit back and complain, a group of American citizens and this administration’s Department of Defense is making very strong strides to right that ship.  No further proof is needed than the article titled “ Chemical-arms destruction could start Wednesday in Colorado ” written by Dan Elliott for the Associated Press, but will even this be enough for some? The article reports that “the U.S. Army could begin destroying the nation's largest remaining stockpile of chemical weapons as early as Wednesday. The Defense Department has given the go-ahead to start eliminating 780,000 shells containing 2,600 tons of mustard agent at the Army's Pueblo Chemical Depot in southern Colorado. Work could begin Wednesday if the weather is favorable for moving the material from a storage bunker ...

There are hundreds of people who rail against what they call “the welfare state” that we are in.  Many prominent players have been quoted as calling some “the takers” and others “the givers” and some have settled with the labels and titles of “the haves and the have nots” but all are really saying the same thing.  They divide this nation into section probably because it is easier for their minds to wrap around if this very large pie was divided into sections instead of seeing the entire forest.  The sad part is that many of whom gravitate to these labels or titles are typically not those who live within them.  The takers are not those who call themselves takers because to them they do not take but to a giver who gives but never receives, they may just seem like it.  It’s pitiful that we need these divisions in order to even pretend to deal with each other as human beings but until we get to the point where each of us look at the other as a real true human bein...

For those of you who may not know and ask the question who is Gordon Gekko?  Gordon Gekko was a character made famous by Michael Douglas in an Oliver Stone film called “Wall Street” in 1987 but what made Gordon Gekko more famous was his saying which many have embraced and swear by today.  The character said that greed was good and since then many have been trying to prove this statement.  Most dictionaries define greed as “an excessive desire to acquire or possess more than what one needs or deserves, especially with respect to material wealth” and in that regards many say this is what makes it bad and not a good thing.  They say greed makes one selfish and insensitive to the needs of others because they are so consumed with their needs only.  They say that greed leads many to risk their very soul to obtain that high again and again never getting enough of living by a means envied by others.  I must say I agree with many of these takes and know deep within...

So many of us live our lives with a desire to do so with compassion and sensitivity.  There is nothing wrong with that except for when it comes to making decisions or choices in your life.  We carefully plan our decisions or choices in order not to be seen as selfish, arrogant or rude toward another human being.  We carefully step in order never to offend another and in doing so, we wonder why much of our life is spent wondering why things do not work out well for us.  Our first thought is to blame God for the direction our lives may be headed and if that doesn’t work we tend to then blame anyone and everyone else because we cannot figure out how a caring, loving person, such as ourselves, could end up in so much mess.  The problem is, we fail to consider that the reason our lives are in so much of a mess is we fail to honor that simple phrase given to us by Jesus Christ himself when he says that before you attempt to help your brother remove the splinter from ...

For quite some time now, I have been trying to convince people that we are much more than this man-made shell and that the reason to never fear death is life for us does not end with an earthly death.  We are and always will be a spirit and our true selves is and always will be our soul and since God is the only person who can kill the soul, anything that man does will only affect the shell which houses this soul that we call a body.  Until that day, that God determines what the results of our existence upon this earth shall be, we shall remain captured in our man-made bodies or in the cases of murder, killings and capital punishment, existing in spirit.  My desire to express my thought of getting rid of the death penalty is clearly defined within the below mentioned article simply because when we commit this act we get rid of the body which houses that soul and if that soul is dark, angry and evil, our actions does not provides the protection of society that we claim....

It’s not hard to figure out just who may be pulling for the City of Ferguson to finally find closure in the shooting death of Michael Brown and who may not be just listen closely at those whom a microphone is placed in front of.  Much of what may be said will clue anyone who is scarcely even listening.  From where I am standing, it appears that the majority of the residents of Ferguson, Missouri would like nothing better than the recommendations handed down by the Department of justice be followed as closely as possible and the people of Ferguson finally receive that service and protection that all Americans, regardless of color or economic status deserve but as life would have it, there are still those who seek nothing but destruction and not constructions.  Bad things happen in our lives everyday but those who are righteous shall always find a non-violent way to deal with it and even come away with a lesson to insure that this particular savagery of a nation never happ...

This story raised my conspiracy hackles when I read it, considering the recent resignations, firings and removals of key personnel after the release of the DOJ investigation.  It truly appears strange that no officer were shot, no lethal force was ever visited upon officers in this manner until the resignation of Ferguson’s Police Chief Tom Jackson.  The article is titled “ 2 Police Officers Shot During Ferguson, Missouri, Protests ” posted by ABC News via Good Morning America.  In it we learn “Two police officers were shot during overnight protests in Ferguson, Missouri, the St. Louis County Police Department said.  A St. Louis County officer, 41, was struck in the shoulder; while a Webster Groves police officer, 32, was struck in the face, said county police Chief John Belmar, who spoke to media members outside of Barnes-Jewish Hospital in St. Louis.  “These police officers were standing there, and they were shot just because they were police officers,” Belma...

A unanimously passed bill through their committee including co-sponsorship from two Democrats and no one noticed the language until it hit the floor of the full Senate.  This bill could have passed and been signed into law by this president only to have it later used against not only him but any other Democrat that runs for any office and no one caught it until it was nearly too late.  Either our elected officials have too much vacation on the brain, are too busy jockeying for camera positions or have hired the most inept staff known to man, whichever it is, they need to wake up and realize that maybe this was how so many State Governments got so many draconian laws passed and made the Koch Brothers the happiest men in America. This comes via an article titled “ GOP Quietly Inserts Anti-Abortion Provision In Human Trafficking Bill ” by Sahil Kapur for Talking Point Memo reporting “It may be the quintessential story of the 114th Congress: An overwhelmingly bipartisan bill ...

We could all see this day coming, at least those who were not so enamored with ISIL/ISIS.  We all knew that the bombings were going to eventually have the intended affect even if our own media would not admit or report it.  We knew that they day would come when Muslims would finally get tired of being associated with ISIL/ISIS and their way of damaging the religion.  We knew that eventually, those who truly have the power to rid this planet of ISIL/ISIS would finally step up and do so; all we needed to do is show and demonstrate a little faith.  We knew this and I think this article by Jacob Siegel titled “ The Real Target of ISIS’s Child-Soldier Execution Video ” proves it. The article reports “The latest ISIS shock tactic—using a young boy to shoot at point-blank range a ‘spy’ for Israel—is aimed at stifling internal dissent amid reported infighting and losses in Iraq.  In ISIS’s ongoing war in Iraq and Syria, the group regularly publicizes its killing of...

Stumbled upon this article titled “Commentary: Walker’s budget calls for schools to stop reporting sexual assaults” written by Shane Nicholson, Managing Editor of The Rock River Times.  It was so unbelievable that I had to read it several times to make sure that what I thought I read was really what I read.  If you haven’t read it, pick up the March 4-10, 2015 Volume 22 Issue and find it on page 12 in the Commentary Section.  I am sure you are not going to believe your eyes. The commentary reports that “ Buried in Scott Walker’s proposed budget for the state of Wisconsin, which calls for over $300 million in cuts to higher education, is a small note of massive consequence.  The Republican governor would like schools to cease the reporting sexual assaults on college campuses.  Here’s the passage in its entirety: 25. DELETE LANGUAGE RELATED TO SEXUAL ASSAULT INFORMATION AND REPORTING Delete the requirement that the Board direct each institution and colleg...

Before any of you blow a gasket, listen to my evidence before making your decision if what I say is a lie or not.  The dictionary defines royal as “descended from or related to a king” and if you truly believe in the Bible, call yourself a Christian or believe in a higher power, you have got to admit that the evidence I am about to lay out to you is quite compelling. Every single human being in this and the other universe were made in the image of God, can we agree on that?  I say that because, in my opinion, there is no way that Earth is the only planet in this vast universe where God only saw fit to create a world such as the one we are occupying.  If we can agree on that then consider this.  The Bible tells us that God is our father and Jesus is his son which makes Jesus our brother.  The Bible says that Jesus is a descendant of God’s throne, should that not also apply to us as well.  Are we not descendants to God’s throne as well?  To those wh...

As a retired U.S. Marine who served from 1981 till 1991, I am amazed at how often those with thoughts of revisiting the Christian Crusades occupy our control centers when it comes to saber rattling, fear mongering and cowboy justice.  I am amazed because I wish to think that we have hired the best and the brightest to occupy the seats of government and therefore wonder how so many could be led by the nose by those who have little to no risk involved in the decisions that they push or make. In an article titled “Netanyahu Warns Congress Iran Deal Guarantees Nuclear Arms ” written by Jonathan Ferziger for Bloomberg News, Mr. Ferziger reports that “Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, directly challenging President Barack Obama in a speech to U.S. lawmakers, said an emerging agreement with Iran would backfire and ensure the Islamic Republic gains a nuclear arsenal.  “That deal would not prevent Iran from developing nuclear weapons -- it would all but guarantee that Ira...

If anyone still wonders, is still confused or even still care about why the Klan still has power, the Holocaust still bears us pain, the Trial of Tears still rings in the ears of Native Americans and slavery still has not been reconciled by a nation, this may just help you understand why.  I simply call it the absence of closure because with any event or occurrence, there must be closure in order for the wound to heal and those wounded or effected by it to move on.  We have not moved beyond these things because we have gotten no closure to them and now add to this wound more damage caused by the failure to get closure on the Wall Street wreckage of the economy and now the rising number of police involved shootings of unarmed people.  Mount St Helen was once a quiet volcano until the heat built up and it blew.  These situations must be fixed and the newer ones need to stop before this entire nation blows over. I’ve reached this conclusion after reading this artic...