A massage from S A C (get off your butts and do something)

December 20, 2010  //  Posted by: Irv  //  Category: Irv's soap box

Ladies and Gentlemen,

 

We need your HELP!  We have been going through a yearlong process to get the regulations amended regarding the Cow Cod Conservation Area.  Our proposal was to permit the retention of shelf rockfish and to move the fishing depth to 30 fathoms.  There has been some resistance and NOAA/NMFS is asking for more public comment before making a final decision.  This is one of those time E-mail form letters are not appropriate.  We request letters be written on company letterhead and sent to:


William Stelle, Administrator

Northwest Region, NMFS

Attn: Becky Renko

7600 Sand Point Way

NE., Seattle, WA 98115-0070

 

A sample letter is as follows:

 

Dear Mr. Stelle,

 

The CCA creation was a necessary reaction to concern over protecting cowcod.  It was at the time of creation extremely restrictive.  After almost a decade of monitoring, I believe the science regarding this species would indicate that they live in much deeper water than originally thought.  It would seem reasonable at this point to move the depth of permitted fishing to a point above which cowcod reside.  Additionally, the original rule making prohibited retention of shelf rockfish in this area.  I believe this is overly restrictive, if not wasteful of resource.

 

Fishing activities are an important part of my life and an important part of the local economy.  In this age of closures it would seem appropriate to reopen areas when facts logically indicate it is the right thing to do.  This recommended change will have a major impact on the Sportfishing activities in the California Bight.

 

The purpose of this letter is therefore to respectfully request that NOAA consider two items.

 

  1. Permit fishing in waters out to thirty fathoms in the CCA, shallower than cowcod reside.
  2. Permit retention of slope rockfish in the CCA.

 

Again, the CCA was created to protect cowcod.  The best available science indicates much more area was closed than necessary.  The CPFV catch data “MRFS and CRFS” has only recorded one cowcod caught in the 20 to 30 fathom depth range in ten years.  Opening the area shallower than cowcod reside, and permitting the lawful take of shelf rockfish, would restore a critical fishing area to the sportfishing community.   Additionally, the time actually required to obtain a target limit of ten rockfish will be reduced, resulting in a reduction in the impact to the groundfish stocks.  Anglers are disheartened when they have to throw back a fish that is legal anywhere else in the state, just to have expire on the surface and drift away.  This action would eliminate such waste and would shorten the amount of time an angler is on the fishing grounds.

 

Sincerely,

 

 

It’s time to get off of your butts and do somthing!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

December 20, 2010  //  Posted by: Irv  //  Category: Irv's soap box

O K  Boys and Girls

Hear is another issue that needs to be addressed and you can help

below is a letter about the COW COD closures.

please read it and follow the instructions

The public comment instructions are at the bottom.

Remember a comment on this Blog all tho welcome it’s preaching to the Quire

 

 

We need to get public testimony to the Feds by Jan 4th on the 2011- 2012 rec. management cycle, which is the by-annual management cycle that will dictate our sport regs and which the proposed changes to the Cow Cod Conservation area fall under. The 11-12 spec management cycle has been passed by the PFMC with one “no” vote from Frank Lockhart NMFS (the Feds) rep on the council. The best I can tell from my short dance with the process is that PFMC can vote things in and the Feds have the ultimate say and can veto what the council approves. From what I can see the Feds are running scared because of the continuous threat of lawsuit from the enviro’s and are really going through the 11-12 specs proposed by CA with a fine tooth comb and unfortunately, the main snag I think is the changes to the CCA. The Feds have not approved or disapproved the 11-12 specs yet leaving the process in limbo and on Jan 1st 2011 we will be using our 2010 regulation book with April 1st being a tentative start date for the new management cycle .My take on the CCA matter is that the problem with them not approving the proposed changes is not science driven, its not a matter of there not being enough fish on the table to support things, its a matter of the Feds not wanting to go to court over this. There is also the fact that there are people out there that are very influential to this process that don’t want to see the CCA tampered with. And last but not least the commercial sector (Tim Athens) that were shot down on the outer line changes to the CCA and have been lobbying and writing letters in a “sour grape” fashion against this.
There are two proposed changes to the CCA and I think it is very important to recognize that one is to move the line from 20 to 30 fathoms a 30 fathom line represented by a set of gps coordinates. And the other is the retention of shelf rockfish in the legal depths of the CCA no matter what the Feds decide on the line. I am of the opinion that the line moving is the snag and retention of shelf rockfish is maybe a easier catch and is of equal importance. There is a lot of by-catch going on inside 20 and this will create a big opportunity in its self.
 
The things we need to touch on in our testimony in my opinion are:

*
 

 

That all ports are effected in the Southern California byte from San Diego to Santa Barbara.
*That there is a huge economic benefit in both the proposed changes to our fleet.
*That the the shift in effort created by this opportunity from a 0-60 depth range to a 0-30 depth range will create a savings in cowcod at the end of the year.
*That the Science supports a 50 fathom inner depth range and this will still leave a 20 fathom buffer.
*That the CPFV catch data “MRFS and CRFS” has only recorded one cowcod caught in the 20 to 30 fathom depth range in ten years.
*That the retention of shelf rockfish in the legal depths will stimulate our business because there are groups that want to fish these zones but don’t want to throw back fish.   
*That we will obtain our target limit of ten rockfish quicker with no by-catch and move us off the rockfish grounds by being able to retain shelf rockfish in the legal depths.
*

That the CCA is the only managed area on the coast that shelf rockfish can not be retained in legal depths.I Cc’d Maria and Marcy from the CA DFG who have really pushed hard for opportunity for our fleet up and down the coast. Maybe they can chime in and give us more insight to points that should be made in public comment or things that I brought up that should not be brought to light if they feel it is appropriate.

The public comment instructions are below.
 

 

You may submit comments (identified by the RIN number 0648-BA01), no
● Electronic Submissions: Submit all electronic public comments via

the Federal eRulemaking Portal http://www.regulations.gov.● Fax: 206-526-6736, Attn: Becky Renko.● Mail: William Stelle, Administrator, Northwest Region, NMFS, 7600Sand Point Way, NE., Seattle, WA 98115-0070, Attn: Becky Renko. 

 

 

Sportfishing banned in vast areas of coastline off Southern California

December 17, 2010  //  Posted by: Irv  //  Category: Irv's soap box, MLPA

Dear Fishermen

I am republishing several comments and articles on the resent MLP voteplease read them all.  Your comments are welcome.                                                                                         Please don’t take this sitting down. Complaining on this forum is great but remember you are preaching to the quire hear . Make your voices heard in the Mainstream media and to the elected officials in Sacramento and Washington.

Lets go get them

Irv

 From S A C

Ladies and Gentlemen,

 

On December 15, 2010, the Fish and Game Commission (Commission) voted (3 to 2) to create a series of Marine Protected Areas along the South Coast.  The Partnership for Sustainable Oceans (PSO) presented an eight page document to the Commission on behalf of SAC and the member parties to the PSO.  The document contained factual critical flaws with the process, setting the foundation for future legal action.  The PSO will continue to strive to come to a reasonable and appropriate resolution of this matter.

 

There will be some substantial changes in the near future which will potentially affect the MLPA path.  These include a new state governor and the replacement of member(s) on the Commission.  We will keep you informed as to the progress on this matter.  Our compliments to the fishermen who took the time to attend the meeting.

 

By JIM MATTHEWS

The state Fish and Game Commission adopted sweeping closures of ocean waters off the Southern California coast, eliminating sportfishing and most other uses in these areas in a vote on Wednesday in Santa Barbara. In adopting the regulations, mandated as part of the Marine Line Protection Act (MLPA), three words come immediately to mind about the process:

Corrupt, unfunded, and unnecessary.

The process has been flawed from the beginning.

First, there is massive conflict of interest that should disqualify two of the commissioners from voting: Commissioner Michael Sutton, whose employer stands to gain financially with the passage of massive closures, is violating conflict of interest laws every time he votes on MLPA issues, but the body that investigates these issues has been silenced by the Governor’s office. New commissioner Jack Baylis has ties to Heal the Bay, an environmental group that has lobbied for massive closures and also should have recused himself. He only was recently appointed to the Commission, when it appeared another appointee would vote against the closures, sending the plan back to the drawing board.

Second, the “science” outlining the need for the closures is dubious at best. George Osborne, representing the Partnership for Sustainable Oceans, a sportfishing group formed to respond to the MLPA closures, said it clearly and succinctly: “Proponents of the MLPA will have you believe that California marine resources are in dire straits…. This is simply untrue. There is not one marine fish stock experiencing overfishing in California’s waters.”

Third, the idea of reserves in both oceans and on land for preserving fish and wildlife populations is proving false where there have been experiments reserve-creation. The reserves on land or in water don’t appreciably help. In fact, in California there are “game reserves” all over that state that ban all hunting, the equivalent of what is happening to fishing in the ocean. The Department of Fish and Game’s biologists have examined many of these areas and have been unable to find any benefits to them. In fact, they have pursued legislation that would eliminate them statewide because there is no scientific justification. Yet Commissioner Sutton pointed to the shining example of terrestrial “reserves” throughout the MLPA process, ignoring the facts.

Fourth, management options outside of complete closures to fishing, were off the table from the beginning. An area couldn’t be managed, for example, with catch-and-release fishing or reduced bag limits to protect species, proving the process was flawed from the start. The reason California’s marine environment is so healthy (outside of pollution) is because we do manage fish stocks with commercial and sportfishing regulations based on science — not whim or feel-good closures.

Fifth, there has never been funding approved by the legislature to implement the MLPA. The money for the work done so far has largely been redirected from other Department of Fish and Game and other agency programs, much of that money diverted illegally from earmarked funds with slick accounting moves.

The bottom line is that implementation of the MLPA has been corrupt (if not downright illegal), unnecessary biologically, and a huge waste of funds from other programs that needed the money.

This is what Michael Munn had to say about going to the meetings
I went to a couple of the MLPA meetings and it was the most disgusting thing I have ever seen. The public input time was a sham, as the closed areas and the outcome were already predetermined. They were merely paying us lip service and wasting everybodies valuable time.

I also spoke with a “Professor” from either UCSB or UCSC and all he kept talking about, is the degredation of the water quality affecting the resources. I think we can all agree that that is a BIG problem. However, when I asked him, “how is urban runoff the fault of fishermen?” He had no answer for that, except that we need to close all these areas to fishing. Oh, guess what else? The “Professor” who was for the closures, gets to “study” the affects that the closures have on the marine habitat. Can anyone guess what his “findings” are going to be? The whole procedure was/is a sham and a fraud! It just disgusts me!

 

From my good friend and long time sportfishing skipper

Garry Black

Thanks Irv, like you don’t have enough to do. I’m just curious about area off La Jolla, I grew up on the beach, later on a paddle board off Marine Street and Wind and Sea, fishing by and in the kelp. I know someone traced over 8 million dollars back to the Packard family, even though they tried to launder it passing thru other banks and businesses. Evidently the mainstream press is siding with the other side that says”there’s nothing left out there” You should hear our friend Adriana talk about La Jolla Cove and the seals (not the Harbor Seals at Casa) she swims from the cove to LJ Shores and back almost every day and says the larger seals challenge them and make  torpedo runs at them out on course they swim, and at the cove and cliffs next to it the bulls will not back down and snarl at them.. Sounds like a good area to slow troll a whole barracuda at dusk.

JAKE WE NEED MORE BEER!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

April 21, 2010  //  Posted by: Irv  //  Category: Irv's soap box, Sportfishing

NOW THESE WHERE SOME REAL MEN

LITTLE KNOWN TIDBIT OF 
NAVAL 
HISTORY…

 

 

The U.S. S. Constitution (Old Ironsides),

as a combat vessel, carried 48,600 gallons of  fresh water

 for her crew of 475 officers and men.

This was sufficient to last 
six months of sustained operations at sea.

She carried no evaporators

(i.e. fresh water distillers). 

 

 

 

 


However, let it be noted

that according to her ship’s log,

“On July 27, 1798, the U.S.S. Constitution sailed from Boston

with a full complement of 475 officers and men,

48,600 gallons of fresh water,

7,400 cannon shot,

11,600 pounds of black powder and 

79,400 gallons of rum.” 

 

 

 


Her mission:

“To destroy and harass English shipping.”

Making Jamaica on 6 October,

she took on 826 pounds of flour and 

68,300 gallons of rum

 

 

 

 


Then she headed for the Azores ,

arriving there 12 November.

She provisioned with 550 pounds of beef and 

64,300 gallons of Portuguese wine

 

On 18 November, she set sail for England .

In the ensuing days

she defeated five British men-of-war and

captured and scuttled 12 English merchant ships, 

salvaging only the rum 

aboard each. 

 

 


By 26 January,

her powder and shot were exhausted.

Nevertheless, although unarmed she made a night raid 
up the Firth of Clyde in Scotland .

Her landing party captured a 
whisky distillery and transferred 

40,000 gallons of single malt Scotch 

aboard by dawn.

Then she headed home. 

 

 


The U. S. S. Constitution

arrived in Boston on 20 February 1799,

with no cannon shot, no food, no powder, 

no rum, 

no wine, 

no whisky, 
and 

38,600 gallons of water. 

 I don’t know if this is true but I’m haveing Jake put more beer on the boat.

 

 

Please take a little time to remember this man

April 20, 2010  //  Posted by: Irv  //  Category: Irv's soap box, thankyous

This isn’t current Captain Freeman passed away in 2008. He was a true hero
and deserves our remembrance and respect.

In this time of great uncertainty we could use more men like him.

Pray for our country and it’s people.

Courage.

You’re a 19 year old kid.

You’re critically wounded and dying in
the jungle somewhere in the Central Highlands of Viet Nam.

It’s November 11, 1967.

LZ (landing zone) X-ray.

Your
unit is outnumbered 8-1 and the enemy fire is so intense, from 100 yards
away, that your CO (commanding officer) has ordered the MedEvac helicopters to
stop coming in.

You’re lying there, listening to the enemy machine guns and you know you’re not getting out.

Your family is half way around the world, 12,000 miles away, and you’ll never see them again.

As the world starts to fade in and out, you know this is the day.

Then - over the machine gun noise - you faintly hear that sound of a helicopter.

You look up to see a Huey coming in. But … It doesn’t seem real because no MedEvac markings are on it.

Captain Ed Freeman is coming in for you.

He’s not MedEvac so it’s not his job, but he heard the radio call and decided he’s flying his Huey down into the machine gun fire anyway.

Even after the MedEvacs were ordered
not to come. He’s coming anyway.

And he drops it in and sits there in the machine gun fire, as they load 3 of you
at a time on board.

Then he flies you up and out through the gunfire to the doctors and nurses
and safety.

And, he kept coming back!! 13 more times!!
Until all the wounded were out. No one knew until the mission was over that the Captain had been hit 4 times in the legs
and left arm.

He took 29 of you and your buddies out that day. Some would not have made it without the Captain and his Huey.

Medal of Honor Recipient, Captain Ed Freeman, United States Air Force,
died last Wednesday at the age of 70, in Boise, Idaho .

May God Bless and Rest His Soul.

I bet you didn’t hear about this
hero’s passing, but we’ve sure seen
a whole bunch about Michael
Jackson and Tiger Woods.

Medal of Honor
Winner Captain Ed Freeman

Shame on the American media !!!

Semper Fidelis, May Bless the United States Marines

April 10, 2010  //  Posted by: Irv  //  Category: Irv's soap box, Sportfishing

Something I thought you might like to read.

DID YOU all know about a day care center in the PENTAGON.?????.. Read
this and then you will know all about it.

This is little-known story from the Pentagon on 09/11/2001.

“During a visit with a fellow chaplain, who happened to be assigned to
the Pentagon, I had a chance to hear a first-hand account of an incident
that happened right after Flight 77 hit the Pentagon. The chaplain told me
what happened at a Day-care Center near where the impact occurred.

This day care had many children, including infants who were in heavy
cribs.. The Day-care Supervisor, looking at all the children they needed
to evacuate, was in a panic over what they could do. There were many
children, mostly toddlers, as well as the infants that would need to be
taken out with the cribs. There was no time to try to bundle them into
carriers and strollers..

Just then a young Marine came running into the center and asked what
they needed. After hearing what the Center Director was trying to do, he ran
back out into the hallway and disappeared.

The Director thought, ‘well, here we are - on our own.’ But in about 2
minutes the Marine returned with 40 other Marines in tow. Each of them
grabbed a crib with a child, and the rest started gathering up toddlers.

The Director and her staff then helped them take all the children out of
the center and down toward a park on the Potomac near the Pentagon. Once
they got about 3/4 of a mile outside the building, the Marines stopped
in the park, and then did a fabulous thing - they formed a circle with the
cribs, which were quite sturdy and heavy, like the covered wagons in the
Old West.

 

 

 

Inside this circle of cribs, they put the toddlers, to keep them from
wandering off. Outside this circle were the 40 Marines, forming a
perimeter around the children and waiting for instructions. There they
remained until the parents could be notified and come get their
children.”

The Chaplain then said, “I don’t think any of us saw or heard of this on
any of the news stories of the day. It was just an incredible story of
those Marines responding willingly and quickly to a tactical problem
that presented itself. - But would we have expected any less of them?”

“Most of us wonder if our lives can make any difference. Marines don’t
have that problem.”

 

 



Semper Fi ….This just one story told about America ’s courageous soldiers protecting
the children of the United States of America . I am proud and feel very
lucky to be an American.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Sport Anglers Alarmed by Proposed Obama Policy

March 18, 2010  //  Posted by: Irv  //  Category: Irv's soap box, MLPA

A controversy has erupted in the sport fishing community over a new federal management plan for oceans and Great Lakes waters. Recent opinion pieces circulating on the internet and reported on numerous radio stations have stoked the flames through revelations that the policy, if implemented, would prohibit recreational fishing within vast areas of public water.

 

It has also been reported that many organizations with a history of being against fishing access played large roles in its formation and that the plan could be finalized by the end of March with President Obama able to implement it through Executive Order. 

 

Despite the firestorm, it should be pointed out that the plan is not currently finalized and, according to a Department of the Interior fact sheet, the Administration denies any intent to restrict fishing access.  However, there remain causes for concern.

 

The U.S. Sportsmen’s Alliance (USSA) reported on the draft plan in October, 2009.  At the time a combination of factors raised concern with the USSA and other pro-fishing organizations that plan could result in restrictions on sport anglers.

 

First, there was a lack of any reference in the report to the positive impact recreational anglers have on aquatic conservation.  In turn, this raised an alarm as to what the framework for zoning in these waters will be when the final report is issued. 

 

Other factors included a history of anti-fishing interests that have been pushing the creation of “Marine Protected Areas” where angling would be prevented.  Several of these areas already exist off theCalifornia and Florida coasts. 

 

Additionally, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, an agency within the U.S. Department of Commerce that guides the use and protection of ocean and coastal resources, has also imposed restrictions on sport anglers in Alaska, the Gulf of Mexico and the South Atlantic.  Finally, there is a general concern related to some of the key anti-hunting regulatory appointees made by the Obama Administration such as Cass Sunstein.

 

When looked at comprehensively, these factors made it necessary that the USSA and other groups ensure that the voice of recreational anglers be heard by the Administration during the formation of its policy.  According to several leading recreational fishing groups, this has not happened and those groups have urged supporters to make their concerns known to their members of Congress. 

 

For example, the American Sportfishing Association has stated  “It is important that the administration recognizes and promotes the economic and conservation contributions of outdoor recreation, including recreational fishing and boating.”

 

Jim Donofrio, the Executive Director of the Recreational Fishing Alliance (RFA) said in a recent press release that “I don’t think this president would consider banning recreational fishing outright, but it’s clear to us that the Obama Administration would like to severely restrict recreational fishing.”

 

Additionally, the U.S. House of Representatives Congressional Sportsmen’s Caucus leadership, with the support of the Congressional Sportsmen’s Foundation, has also sent a letter to President Obama stating that recreational fishing deserves “full consideration and incorporation” in the proposed plan.

 

The USSA joins these pro-fishing organizations, legislators and others in urging sportsmen to contact their U.S. Representatives and Senators about this proposed policy. It is essential that the Obama Administration appreciates the importance of recreational fishing to conservation and local economies. 

 

“Recreational anglers provide the bulk of the funding for fisheries and aquatic conservation,” said Bud Pidgeon, USSA president and CEO.  “Their voice should be heard before any policy is enacted limiting access and causing a decline in resources for conservation, not to mention job losses in areas supported by fishing.”

 

Take Action! Sportsmen are urged to contact their U.S. Representative and two U.S. Senators and urge them to include recreational fishing protections in any federal management plan for the oceans and Great Lakes.

 

To find your members of Congress, visit the Legislative Action Center at www.ussportsmen.org/lac.
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PLEASE READ ALL OF THIS THEN SEND IT ON IF YOU AGREE!!!

February 26, 2010  //  Posted by: Irv  //  Category: Irv's soap box, Sportfishing

The following letter read on Glenn Beck’s show, is rapidly circulating around the country. Americans everywhere identify with this 53-year-old woman. She has given us a voice. Once you read this, you will want to forward it to all of your friends.
 

 
A woman in Arizona wrote an open letter to our nation’s leadership:
“I am a home grown American citizen, 53, registered Democrat all my life. Before the last presidential election I registered as a Republican because I no longer felt the Democratic Party represents my views or works to pursue issues important to me. Now I no longer feel the Republican Party represents my views or works to pursue issues important to me. The fact is I no longer feel any political party or representative in Washington represents my views or works to pursue the issues important to me.   Instead, we are burdened with Congressional Dukes and Duchesses who think they know better than the citizens they are supposed to represent.
There must be someone.. Please tell me who you are. Please stand up and tell me that you are there and that you’re willing to fight for our Constitution as it was written.
Please stand up now.
You might ask yourself what my views and issues are that I would feel so horribly disenfranchised by both major political parties. What kind of nut-job am I? Well, these briefly are the views and issues for which I seek representation:

One, illegal immigration…. I want you to stop coddling illegal immigrants and secure our borders. Close the underground tunnels. Stop the violence and the trafficking in drugs and people. No amnesty, not again. Been there, done that, no resolution. P.S.., I’m not a racist. This is not to be confused with legal immigration.

Two, the STIMULUS bill. I want it repealed and I want no further funding supplied to it. We told you NO, but you did it anyway. I want the remaining unfunded 95% repealed. Freeze, repeal.

Three, Czars. I want the circumvention of our constitutional checks and balancesstopped immediately. Fire the czars. No more czars. Government officials answer to the process, not to the president. Stop trampling on and ignoring our Constitution, and honor it.

Four, cap and trade. The debate on global warming is not over. There are many conflicting opinions and it is too soon for this radical legislation. Quit throwing our nation into politically-correct quicksand.

Five, universal healthcare. I will not be rushed into another expensive decision that will burden me, my children, and grandchildren. Don’t you dare try to pass this in the middle of the night without even reading it. Slow down!  Fix only what is broken — we have the best health care system in the world — and test any new program in one or two states first.

Six, growing government control. I want states’ rights and sovereignty fully restored. I want less government in my life, not more. More is not better! Shrink it down. Mind your own business. You have enough to take care of with your real (Constitutional)obligations. Why don’t you start there?

Seven, ACORN. I do not want ACORN and its affiliates in charge of our 2010 census. I want them investigated. I also do not want mandatory escrow fees contributed to them every time on every real estate deal that closes — how did they pull that one off?  Stop the funding to ACORN and its affiliates pending impartial audits and investigations. I do not trust them with taking the census with our taxpayer money. I don’t trust them with any of our taxpayer money. Face up to the allegations against them and get it resolved before taxpayers get any more involved with them. If it walks like a duck and talks like a duck, helloooo. Stop protecting your political buddies. You work for us, the people.. Investigate.

Eight, redistribution of wealth. No, no, no. I work for my money. It is mine. I have always worked for people with more money than I have because they gave me jobs — and that is the only redistribution of wealth that I will support. I never got a job from a poor person! Why do you want me to hate my employers? And what do you have against shareholders making a profit?

Nine, charitable contributions. Although I never got a job from a poor person, I have helped many in need. Charity belongs in our local communities, where we know our needs best and can use our local talent and our local resources. Butt out, please. We want to do it ourselves.

Ten, corporate bailouts. Knock it off. Every company must sink or swim like the rest of us. If there are hard times ahead, we’ll be better off just getting into it and letting the strong survive. Quick and painful…. (Have you ever ripped off a
Band-Aid?) We will pull together. Great things happen in America under great hardship. Give us the chance to innovate. We cannot disappoint you more than you have disappointed us.

Eleven, transparency and accountability. How about it? No, really, how about it? Let’s have it. Let’s say we give the buzzwords a rest and have some straight honest talk. Please stop trying to manipulate and appease me with clever wording. I am not the idiot you obviously take me for. Stop sneaking around and meeting in back rooms making deals with your friends…. It will only be a prelude to your criminal investigation. Stop hiding things from me.

Twelve, unprecedented quick spending. Stop it now.
Take a breath. Listen to the people. Slow down and get some input from nonpoliticians and experts on the subject. Stop making everything an emergency. Stop speed-reading our bills into law. I am not an activist. I am not a community organizer. Nor am I a terrorist, a militant or a violent person. I am a parent and a grandparent. I work. I’m busy. I am busy, and I am tired. I thought we elected competent people to take care of the business of government so that we could work, raise our families, pay our bills, have a little recreation, complain about taxes, endure our hardships, pursue our personal goals, cut our lawn, wash our cars on the weekends and be responsible contributing members of society and teach our children to be the same all while living in the home of the free and land of the brave.

I entrusted you with upholding the Constitution. I believed in thechecks and balances to keep from getting far off course. What happened? You are very far off course. Do you really think I find humor in the hiring of a speed reader to unintelligently ramble all through a bill that you signed into law without knowing what it contained? I do not.
It is a mockery of the responsibility I have entrusted to you. It is a slap in the face. I am not laughing at your arrogance. Why is it that I feel as if you would not trust me to make a single decision about my own life and how I would live it but you should expect that I should trust you with the debt that you have laid on all of us and our children. We did not want the TARP bill. We said no. We would repeal it if we could. I am sure that we still cannot. There is needless urgency and recklessness in all of your recent spending of our tax dollars…

From my perspective, it seems that all of you have gone insane. I also know that I am far from alone in these feelings. Do you honestly feel that your current pursuits have merit to patriotic Americans? We want it to stop. We want to put the brakes on everything that is being rushed by us and forced upon us. We want our voice back. You have forced us to put our lives on hold to straighten out the mess that you are making.. We will have to give up our vacations, our time spent with our children, any relaxation time we may have had and money we cannot afford to spend on bringing our concerns to Washington . Our president often knows all the right buzzwords like unsustainable. Well, no kidding. How many tens of thousands of dollars did the focus group cost to come up with that word? We don’t want your overpriced words. Stop treating us like we’re morons.

We want all of you to stop focusing on your reelection and do the job we want done, not the job you want done or the job your party wants done.. You work for us and at this rate I guarantee you not for long because we are coming. We will be heard and we will be represented. You think we’re so busy with our lives that we will never come for you? We are the formerly silent majority, all of us who quietly work, pay taxes, obey the law, vote, save money, keep our noses to the grindstone . . . and we are now looking at you.
You have awakened sleeping bear, the patriotic freedom spirit so strong and so powerful that it had been sleeping too long. You have pushed us too far. Our numbers are great. They may surprise you. For every one of us who will be there, there will be hundreds more that could not come.. Unlike you, we have their trust. We will represent them honestly, rest assured. They will be at the polls on voting day to usher you out of office.
We have cancelled vacations. We will use our last few dollars saved. We will find the representation among us and a grassroots campaign will flourish. We didn’t ask for this fight. But the gloves are coming off.. We do not come in violence, but we are angry. You will represent us or you will be replaced with someone who will. There are candidates among us who will rise like a Phoenix from the ashes that you have made of our constitution.

Democrat, Republican, independent, libertarian. Understand this. We don’t care. Political parties are meaningless to us. Patriotic Americans are willing to do right by us and ourConstitution, and that is all that matters to us now. We are going to fire all of you who abuse power and seek more.. It is not your power. It is ours and we want it back. We entrusted you with it and you abused it. You are dishonorable. You are dishonest. As Americans we are ashamed of you. You have brought shame to us. If you are not representing the wants and needs of your constituency loudly and consistently, in spite of the objections of your party, you will be fired. Did you hear? We no longer care about your political parties. You need to be loyal to us, not to them. Because we will get you fired and they will not save you.
 
If you do or can represent me, my issues, my views, please stand up. Make your identity known. You need to make some noise about it. Speak up. I need to know who you are. If you do not speak up, you will be herded out with the rest of the sheep and we will replace the whole damn congress if need be, one by one. We are coming. Are we coming for you? Who do you represent? What do you represent? Listen. Because we are coming. We the people are coming.”
 
 
 ”The Constitution is not an instrument for the government to restrain
 the people, it is an instrument for the people to restrain the
 government, lest it come to dominate our lives and interests.”
 
 Patrick Henry
 1736-1799
 

SOMETHING TO THINK ABOUT

February 24, 2010  //  Posted by: Irv  //  Category: Irv's soap box

 

O K I HAD THE GUTS TO PUBLISH THIS WILL YOU PASS IT ON  ?

By Rush Limbaugh:

I think the vast differences in compensation between victims of the September 11 casualty and those who die serving our country in Uniform are profound. No one is really talking about it either, because you just don’t criticize anything having to do with September 11. Well, I can’t let the numbers pass by
because it says something really disturbing about the entitlement mentality of
this country. If you lost a family member in the September 11 attack, you’re
going to get an average of $1,185,000. The range is a minimum guarantee of
$250,000, all the way up to $4.7 million..
If you are a surviving family member of an American soldier killed in action,
the first check you get is a $6,000 direct death benefit, half of which is taxable.

 

Next, you get $1,750 for burial costs. If you are the surviving spouse, you get
$833 a month until you remarry. And there’s a payment of $211 per month for each child under 18. When the child hits 18, those payments come to a
screeching halt.

 

Keep in mind that some of the people who are getting an average of $1.185 million up to $4.7 million are complaining
that it’s not enough. Their deaths were tragic, but for most, they were simply in the wrong place at the wrong time.
Soldiers put themselves in harms way FOR ALL OF US, and they and their families know the dangers.. (Actually, soldiers are put in harms way by politicians and commanding
officers.)

 

We also learned over the weekend that some of the victims from the Oklahoma City bombing have
started an organization asking for the same deal that the September 11 families
are getting. In addition to that, some of the families of those bombed in the
embassies are now asking for compensation as well.

 

You see where this is going, don’t you? Folks, this is part and parcel of over 50 years of entitlement politics in this country. It’s just really sad. Every time a pay raise comes up for the military, they usually receive next to
nothing of a raise. Now the green machine is in combat in the Middle East while their families have to survive on food stamps and live in low-rent housing.  Make sense?

 

However, our own US Congress voted themselves a raise. Many of you don’t know that they only have to be in Congress one time to receive a pension that is more than $15,000 per month. And most are now equal to being millionaires plus. They do not receive Social Security on retirement because they didn’t have to pay into the system. If some of the military people stay in for 20 years and get out as an
E-7, they may receive a pension of $1,000 per month, and the very people who
placed them in harm’s way receives a pension of $15,000 per month.

I would like to see our elected officials pick up a weapon and join ranks before they start cutting out benefits and lowering pay for our sons and daughters who are now fighting.

 

“When do we finally do something about this?” If this doesn’t seem fair to you, it is time to forward this to as many people as you can.

NOW IT’S UP TO YOU!!!!!!!!!

A HISTORY LESSON/REMINDER

January 25, 2010  //  Posted by: Irv  //  Category: Irv's soap box

OK I’M BACK ON MY SOAP BOX 

 AFTER THE MIDNIGH VOTE THIS LAST SUNDAY  I THOUGHT A LITTLE HISTORY LESSON WAS NEEDED 

The author of this article lives in South Dakota . Please read!Google Kitty Werthmann and you will see articles and videos

You can also check out the Snopes site at: 
http://message.snopes.com/showthread.php?p=1166666>

 

 

America Truly is the Greatest Country in the World. Don’t Let Freedom Slip
Away
By: Kitty WerthmannWhat I am about to tell you is something you’ve probably never heard or
will ever read in history books.
 
I believe that I am an eyewitness to history. I cannot tell you that
Hitler took Austria by tanks and guns; it would distort history. We elected
him by a landslide - 98% of the vote.. I’ve never read that in any American
publications. Everyone thinks that Hitler just rolled in with his tanks and
took Austria by force.
 
In 1938, Austria was in deep Depression. Nearly one-third of our workforce
was unemployed. We had 25% inflation and 25% bank loan interest rates.
 
Farmers and business people were declaring bankruptcy daily. Young people
were going from house to house begging for food.. Not that they didn’t want
to work; there imply weren’t any jobs. My mother was a Christian woman and
believed in helping people in need.. Every day we cooked a big kettle of
soup and baked bread to feed those poor, hungry people - about 30 daily.
 
The Communist Party and the National Socialist Party were fighting each
other. Blocks and blocks of cities like Vienna , Linz , and Graz were
destroyed. The people became desperate and petitioned the government to let
them decide what kind of government they wanted.
 
We looked to our neighbor on the north, Germany , where Hitler had been in
power since 1933. We had been told that they didn’t have unemployment or
crime, and they had a high standard of living. Nothing was ever said about
persecution of any group — Jewish or otherwise. We were led to believe
that everyone was happy. We wanted the same way of life in Austria . We
were promised that a vote for Hitler would mean the end of unemployment and
help for the family. Hitler also said that businesses would be assisted,
and farmers would get their farms back. Ninety-eight percent of the
population voted to annex Austria to Germany and have Hitler for our ruler.
 
We were overjoyed, and for three days we danced in the streets and had
candlelight parades. The new government opened up big field kitchens and
everyone was fed.
 
After the election, German officials were appointed, and like a miracle,
we suddenly had law and order. Three or four weeks later, everyone was
employed. The government made sure that a lot of work was created through
the Public Work Service.
 
Hitler decided we should have equal rights for women. Before this, it was
a custom that married Austrian women did not work outside the home. An
able-bodied husband would be looked down on if he couldn’t support his
family. Many women in the teaching profession were elated that they could
retain the jobs they previously had been required to give up for marriage.
 
Hitler Targets Education - Eliminates Religious Instruction for Children:
 
Our education was nationalized. I attended a very good public school. The
population was predominantly Catholic, so we had religion in our schools.
The day we elected Hitler (March 13, 1938), I walked into my schoolroom to
find the crucifix replaced by Hitler’s picture hanging next to a Nazi flag.
Our teacher, a very devout woman, stood up and told the class we wouldn’t
pray or have religion anymore. Instead, we sang “Deutschland, Deutschland,
Uber Alles,” and had physical education.
 
Sunday became National Youth Day with compulsory attendance. Parents were
not pleased about the sudden change in curriculum. They were told that if
they did not send us, they would receive a stiff letter of warning the
first time. The second time they would be fined the equivalent of $300, and
the third time they would be subject to jail. The first two hours consisted
of political indoctrination. The rest of the day we had sports. As time
went along, we loved it.. Oh, we had so much fun and got our sports
equipment free. We would go home and gleefully tell our parents about the
wonderful time we had.
 
My mother was very unhappy. When the next term started, she took me out of
public school and put me in a convent. I told her she couldn’t do that and
she told me that someday when I grew up, I would be grateful. There was a
very good curriculum, but hardly any fun - no sports, and no political
indoctrination. I hated it at first but felt I could tolerate it. Every
once in a while, on holidays, I went home. I would go back to my old
friends and ask what was going on and what they were doing. Their loose
lifestyle was very alarming to me. They lived without religion. By that
time unwed mothers were glorified for having a baby for Hitler. It seemed
strange to me that our society changed so suddenly. As time went along, I
realized what a great deed my mother did so that I wasn’t exposed to that
kind of humanistic philosophy
 
Equal Rights Hits Home:
 
In 1939, the war started and a food bank was established. All food was
rationed and could only be purchased using food stamps. At the same time, a
full-employment law was passed which meant if you didn’t work, you didn’t
get a ration card, and if you didn’t have a card, you starved to death.
Women who stayed home to raise their families didn’t have any marketable
skills and often had to take jobs more suited for men.
 
Soon after this, the draft was implemented. It was compulsory for young
people, male and female, to give one year to the labor corps. During the
day, the girls worked on the farms, and at night they returned to their
barracks for military training just like the boys. They were trained to be
anti-aircraft gunners and participated in the signal corps. After the labor
corps, they were not discharged but were used in the front lines. When I go
back to Austria to visit my family and friends, most of these women are
emotional cripples because they just were not equipped to handle the
horrors of combat. Three months before I turned 18, I was severely injured
in an air raid attack. I nearly had a leg amputated, so I was spared having
to go into the labor corps and into military service.
 
Hitler Restructured the Family Through Daycare:
 
When the mothers had to go out into the work force, the government
immediately established child care centers. You could take your children
ages 4 weeks to school age and leave them there around-the-clock, 7 days a
week, under the total care of the government. The state raised a whole
generation of children.. There were no motherly women to take care of the
children, just people highly trained in child psychology. By this time, no
one talked about equal rights. We knew we had been had.
 
Health Care and Small Business Suffer Under Government Controls:
 
Before Hitler, we had very good medical care. Many American doctors
trained at the University of Vienna . After Hitler, health care was
socialized, free for everyone. Doctors were salaried by the government. The
problem was, since it was free, the people were going to the doctors for
everything. When the good doctor arrived at his office at 8 a.m., 40 people
were already waiting and, at the same time, the hospitals were full. If you
needed elective surgery, you had to wait a year or two for your turn. There
was no money for research as it was poured into socialized medicine.
Research at the medical schools literally stopped, so the best doctors left
Austria and emigrated to other countries.
 
As for healthcare, our tax rates went up to 80% of our income. Newlyweds
immediately received a $1,000 loan from the government to establish a
household. We had big programs for families. All day care and education
were free. High schools were taken over by the government and college
tuition was subsidized. Everyone was entitled to free handouts, such as
food stamps, clothing, and housing.
 
We had another agency designed to monitor business. My brother-in-law
owned a restaurant that had square tables. Government officials told him he
had to replace them with round tables because people might bump themselves
on the corners. Then they said he had to have additional bathroom
facilities It was just a small dairy business with a snack bar. He couldn’t
meet all the demands. Soon, he went out of business. If the government
owned the large businesses and not many small ones existed, it could be in
control.
 
We had consumer protection. We were told how to shop and what to buy. Free
enterprise was essentially abolished. We had a planning agency specially
designed for farmers. The agents would go to the farms, count the
live-stock, then tell the farmers what to produce, and how to produce it.
 
“Mercy Killing” Redefined:
 
In 1944, I was a student teacher in a small village in the Alps . The
villagers were surrounded by mountain passes which, in the winter, were
closed off with snow, causing people to be isolated. So people intermarried
and offspring were sometimes retarded.
 
When I arrived, I was told there were 15 mentally retarded adults, but
they were all useful and did good manual work. I knew one, named Vincent,
very well He was a janitor of the school. One day I looked out the window
and saw Vincent and others getting into a van. I asked my superior where
they were going. She said to an institution where the State Health
Department would teach them a trade, and to read and write. The families
were required to sign papers with a little clause that they could not visit
for 6 months. They were told visits would interfere with the program and
might cause homesickness.
 
As time passed, letters started to dribble back saying these people died a
natural, merciful death. The villagers were not fooled. We suspected what
was happening. Those people left in excellent physical health and all died
within 6 months. We called this euthanasia.
 
The Final Steps - Gun Laws:
 
Next came gun registration..People were getting injured by guns. Hitler
said that the real way to catch criminals (we still had a few) was by
matching serial numbers on guns. Most citizens were law abiding and
dutifully marched to the police station to register their firearms. Not
long after-wards, the police said that it was best for everyone to turn in
their guns. The authorities already knew who had them, so it was futile not
to comply voluntarily.
 
No more freedom of speech. Anyone who said something against the
government was taken away. We knew many people who were arrested, not only
Jews, but also priests and ministers who spoke up.
 
Totalitarianism didn’t come quickly, it took 5 years from 1938 until 1943,
to realize full dictatorship in Austria ..Had it happened overnight, my
countrymen would have fought to the last breath. Instead, we had creeping
gradualism. Now, our only weapons were broom handles. The whole idea sounds
almost unbelievable that the state, little by little eroded our freedom.
 
After World War II, Russian troops occupied Austria . Women were raped,
preteen to elderly. The press never wrote about this either. When the
Soviets left in 1955, they took everything that they could, dismantling
whole factories in the process. They sawed down whole orchards of fruit,
and what they couldn’t destroy, they burned. We called it The Burned Earth.
Most of the population barricaded themselves in their houses. Women hid in
their cellars for 6 weeks as the troops mobilized. Those who couldn’t, paid
the price. There is a monument in Vienna today, dedicated to those women
who were massacred by the Russians. This is an eye witness account.
 
“It’s true.those of us who sailed past the Statue of Liberty came to a
country of unbelievable freedom and opportunity.
America Truly is the Greatest Country in the World. Don’t Let Freedom Slip
Away
“After America , There is No Place to Go”