Remembering JFK

Ham on Wry devotes this post to the memory of John Fitzgerald Kennedy and his unrealized potential to spur the transformation of America into a place where all citizens enjoyed the rights promised in the United States Constitution and the Bill of Rights. I must write this blog entry in the first person because I am sharing personal memories of that fateful day 50 years ago when Lee Harvey Oswald assassinated President Kennedy and my world splintered.

President Kennedy took office in a time of great upheaval in our nation when a burgeoning civil rights movement shook the core of our national pride. We were definitely not "one nation, under God, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all" as our Pledge of Allegiance proclaimed. Kennedy envisioned a nation where freedom and justice applied equally to all its citizens and along with his brother, Attorney General Robert F. Kennedy, pledged to move our country in that direction. His murder dashed the hopes of all who believed his promises.

Ironically, November 22, 1963 was exactly 50 years ago, for it also fell on Friday. I was a freshman in college and was hurrying to my French class, finding it odd that the halls were so quiet. As I neared the classroom, my French teacher leaned against the door, looking somewhat dazed. Usually, she stayed in the room speaking with students in French. One of my classmates followed close behind me, and she halted us both at the door. Speaking rapidly amidst her tears she announced, "President Kennedy was shot and killed. Class in canceled."

I was stunned and felt as though my body had turned to jello as I leaned against the wall for support and wailed. As more students appeared, the sounds of grief reverberated through the halls, creating a mournful symphony reminiscent of a funeral dirge. Eventually, we abandoned the building in silence, moving zombie-like toward our dorms.

My mom was waiting for me when I reached the dorm because I had a doctor's appointment in another city. Instead of going there, she took me home and rescheduled the appointment. We watched the news unfold on TV, and I regard that as a turning point in the way reporting happened on television. Live coverage of events did not occur prior to JFK's assassination, but that changed when he was murdered.

Many reporters who were just starting their careers during that time have said that they will never forget that day, and neither will I. To this day, no explanation that makes sense has emerged about Oswald's motive for assassinating President Kennedy, and I don't think any stunning revelation will answer that question in my lifetime. I keep thinking of Don McLean's song The Day the Music Died and wonder if we couldn't say that Kennedy's assassination was The Day the Our Nation Cried.

The image of Jackie Kennedy in her blood-spattered pink suit is forever etched in my memory. It came in part from the effect of the bullets that hit President Kennedy and partly because she climbed onto the back of the convertible in which they were riding in an attempt to gather some the matter that had landed there when one of the bullets hit his head. I can’t help but grieve for the unrealized future, especially when I see the utter calamity that calls itself Congress. Perhaps Kennedy’s memory can serve as a wake-up call to put aside the nonsense and remember Kennedy’s words. My fellow Americans, ask not what your country can do for you; ask what you can do for your country.

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Bring Jobs Back to America!

USPS Forever Stamp Honoring American Workers

Ham on Wry takes great pleasure in offering the link below, which takes you to a YouTube video detailing a plan to return jobs to America. Nicky Smith discusses the Million American Jobs Project, a basically foolproof  method of creating jobs in this country. Its stark simplicity makes it easy to follow with no risk.

This blogger has offered previous posts dealing with the economic woes in America and has long believed that the overemphasis on consumerism has undermined our economy. However, because of that situation, Americans can use their buying power to help turn around the economy by pledging to buy American. Click the link below and follow the plan. It does not require major sacrifices and nets huge rewards for our nation without government action required. Take the pledge now!

http://www.youtube.com/embed/4FrGxO2Fn_M?feature=player_detailpage

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Happy Holidays from Congress-Food Stamp Cuts Take Effect Today

Jim Cole/AP file photo

For the first time in the history of the food stamp program (SNAP), across-the-board cuts totaling $5 billion over the next year start today affecting approximately one in seven Americans. Evidently the members of Congress who voted for this have their heads buried in the sand and don't understand that most Americans have lost ground since 2008 and still need a boost to feed themselves and their families. Timing could not have been worse, since Thanksgiving will soon arrive, increasing an already heavy burden on food banks and other organizations that provide food to those in need.

SNAP allocations built into President Obama's 2009 stimulus package ended yesterday, and Congress made no provisions to continue it. That programs was designed to improve nutrition and eliminate junk food so that recipients could buy more nutritious food rather than buying the cheapest food available. SNAP recipients will now face the same tough choices they had prior to the stimulus package.

This blogger knows all to well the plight of people who can't stretch their budgets far enough to include meat, fruit and vegetables as staples of their diets from her experience in the non-profit sector. They overly rely on simple starches and canned goods that don't offer enough protein and vitamins to meet daily requirements.

The extreme conservative wing of the Republican Party is clamoring for more cuts to SNAP, a position this blogger considers an absolute outrage. Citizens of this country should always have enough food. Ham on Wry once again offers the words of our Founding Fathers when they created the Preamble to the Constitution of the United States of America, to remind the Tea Party and all who think they have the right idea of where the focus of our government should lie, and it isn't with support for businesses and corporations. We, the People of the United States, in order to form a more perfect Union, establish justice, insure domestic Tranquility, provide for the common defence (sic), promote the General Welfare (bold purposely chosen), and secure the blessings of Liberty to ourselves and our Posterity, do ordain and establish this Constitution for the United States of America.

Nowhere does the Preamble indicate an emphasis on business, commerce, trade, etc., yet the current Congress places more focus on that than citizens' general welfare. Perhaps those elected officials who have forgotten the tenets on which this country was formed should review the entire Constitution in order to perform their jobs more effectively. Surely, they can find bloated programs to cut rather than tampering with food sources.

The penurious supporters of further cuts to SNAP should be forced to live on it for a month to see the real consequences of their actions. In fact, their salaries should be cut in conjunction with the cuts they force on others.

It's time for change, voters. Remember the government shutdown and any cuts to vital programs that ensue at the polls next year. These idiots need a dose of their own medicine and should suffer the consequences of their ignorance.

 

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Beware the Anti-virus Pro Malware

Ham on Wry woefully reveals that the computer normally used to produce posts has been highjacked by an insidious malware that has rendered it temporarily useless.  Even though this blogger has a fair degree of internet savvy, she fell prey to a message stating that Microsoft detected high-level viruses that required immediate repair.

The message duped me into approving the repairs, which caused immediate problems and disabled Windows Defender.  Despite my best efforts and those of an organization that had published repair instructions for this malware, nothing worked.  In order to remove the malware, the skills of a technologist trained in malware removal are necessary.  Let this serve as a warning to all who read this post.  Microsoft doesn't use messages of that type, so never allow access if you receive one.  Do not purchase anything from Anti-virus Pro, because you will get nothing in return and the malware will still exist, according to the service person who tried to eradicate the problem by phone.

When the computer returns to functionality, posts will resume and occur more frequently.  Until then, may your computing proceed with no issues.  

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Dexter and Gizmo's Great Escape

Ham on Wry happily ends a roller coaster week of political wrangling by offering some humor. Dexter the cat helps Gizmo his dog pal escape the kitchen, despite their owner's best efforts to keep them confined. This should prove once and for all that cats have an amazing ability to problem solve. Click the embedded link after opening post and enjoy the show.

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/10/17/cat-helps-dog-escape-_n_4115354.html?utm_hp_ref=email_share
 

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Tea Party Should Separate From Republican Party

Ted Cruz photo/salon.com

Ham on Wry has followed the proceedings during the 16-day government shutdown with deep interest and much research to separate fact from fiction by studying information presented by both sides. This blogger now concludes that a fundamental flaw exists in the Republican Party of today: the inclusion of the Tea Party in its roster. The Tea Party has radical views that one doesn't find in the Republican platform. That faction introduced the inclusion of the fight over the Affordable Care Act as part of the strategy to avert a shutdown and force President Obama to negotiate. That law passed in 2010 and the Supreme Court upheld it, yet Republicans wait until the brink of disaster to negotiate change. The government is operating again, but for just a few months.

The Tea Party strategy, heavily influenced by Heritage Action, damaged our nation in myriad ways. Globally, industrialized nations view the entire shutdown debacle as evidence that the United States can no longer claim leadership in either political process or economic security. Standard and Poor's estimates that the shutdown reduced the flow of money in the economy by $24 billion, and the Fitch rating agency announced that it might downgrade the AAA rating on US debt after a thorough review. People have lost their homes, their jobs, and face great uncertainty in their finances. Thanks to ill-informed House members like Ted Cruz, our nation appears financially ignorant and deeply divided, but reality shows a different view altogether.

A recent study showed that 51% of Americans fall in the middle politically and don't believe either party reflects their views. They feel disenfranchised with no one representing their beliefs in how government should run. The majority of them feel that the government should offer health care and emphasize citizens' interests over that of business. In addition, they express concern about the government consistently operating with budget deficits and believe financial matters should take priority along with basic human issues. It seems that neither party represents those of us who want reason and sanity to prevail.

The Tea Party's callous disregard of the negative consequences surrounding their stubborn refusal to deal with the issues other than the ACA reveals an entirely different focus than that of the mainstream Republican Party. Therefore, it should establish itself as a separate party and develop a platform congruent with its followers. It will make voting easier and allow Americans an alternative to the two-party system.

Ham on Wry also calls for those who believe no party represents their interest to form one that does. Perhaps then voters would engage more actively in the selection of candidates by means of independent thought rather than political ads designed to denigrate opponents rather than to inform about ideology.

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House Republicans Ignore Reality of Damage They Create

bossip.com image

Republicans will soon adopt an identical visage to that of John Boehner pictured above. Those who still insist on attaching provisions about the Affordable Health Care Act to reopen the government and stave off a crisis when the United States can no longer borrow money in two days will face the wrath of many Americans if the worst case scenario is realized. Any member of the House who displays the gross ignorance of believing that no lasting effects will occur if the deadline passes with no settlement have little understanding of the economics that will come into play.

Ham on Wry chooses to address this issue once again in order to send a wake up call to those citizens who still support the band of Republican conservatives whose stubborn adherence to this ridiculous ploy. Behind the scenes, Michael Needham, 31, who heads Heritage Action, a conservative group funded by the Koch brothers, has orchestrated this nonsense. For Republicans who refuse to join in lock step with Heritage's vision of future government, Needham raises the threat of using the vast sums available to Heritage and work against their re-election by supporting Tea Party candidates. He obviously doesn't subscribe to the power of a Supreme Court ruling or show concern for the harm his intransigence has already caused millions of Americans. Needham's smug words at a recent Christian Science Monitor breakfast reveals his lack of compassion. He told the attendees he is happy to sit in a situation that has shut down the NLRB and the EPA "until President Obama stops this unaffordable and unfair law." Needham displays a total disregard for citizens in both word and deed,

Citizens of this country must inform themselves by reading information from all sides and can find ample information available online and in libraries. All Americans bear the responsibility of making informed decisions about the government. The framers of the constitution could not have envisioned the havoc wreaked by allowing corporations to be considered citizens. No organization can realistically be defined as a citizen, but those with political motives now run the country, it seems. Voters don't elect them, but some members of Congress behave like their puppets.

Ham on Wry has included the following quote from the movie Network in previous posts, and it expresses this blogger's current frustration eloquently. "I'm mad as hell, and I'm not going to take it any more." Join me in bombarding Congress with demands to end this impasse and move forward.

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