July 4th Videos

The History of the drafting & signing of the Declaration of Independence
Video Courtesy Of "Stanley Klos"
Stanley Klos- LinkedIn



"God Bless America"- Celine Dion (With Lyrics & History)
Video Courtesy Of "ClaudiaMontana8"



"God Bless America"- Kate Smith
"This Is The Army" 1943Video Courtesy Of "Nome De Plume"

Voter ID And The Good Old Days

There's a lot of squawking going on about getting back to the early days of this country. A time many think our country's principles have drifted away from. Let's talk about one of these... who can and cannot vote.In 1790 only white males who owned property could vote.
It wasn't until 1810 the last religious prerequisite for voting was eliminated.
By 1850 the property ownership requirement was dropped (but still only white men could vote),
In 1870 black men were then allowed to vote.
Up until 1913 Senate members were elected by state legislators.
Finally in 1920 women were allowed to vote.
Some states required a poll tax be paid in federal elections up until 1964.
Some states required a literacy test. By 1965 this was eliminated by federal law.Amazingly there are a handful of conservatives today who have spoken of getting back to requiring literacy tests. Some conservatives even spoke of going back to property ownership. Both democrats and republicans think gerrymandering voting areas is a swell idea. Democrats in particular on the other hand would prefer a free-for-all. In several states voters can cross party lines in the primaries to vote for jerks hoping their own party's candidate can then win against them in fall elections.

As you can see there is little uniformity from state to state. Thus voter laws can vary greatly from state to state. Is this anyway to run a national election for president? I think not.

As we look back upon history there's no good reason to go back to the "good old days". They weren't that great. Voter ID is yet another attempt to manipulate election outcomes. So is the lack of having one.

What I Suggest (It'll never happen)
(1) Everyone be issued a voter ID card by the United States government (not by each individual state).
(2) Each state agrees to the same rules. (Example: No one can cross party lines in the primaries).
(3) Gerrymandering be eliminated strictly determined by population shifts via the census bureau.
(4) Everyone votes on the same day and hours. Same goes for absentee ballots & early voting.

There's simply too much gaming the system from state to state when it comes to national elections. There's those who'd have us go back to the bad old days in certain states who refuse to compromise on uniformity. Liberals are way too loose when it comes to voting. Why not a national voter database instead of a state by state? Conservatives on the other hand are accusing liberals of voting multiple times or are ineligible.

A single national database easily linked by computer lookups solves all of these. No duplicate votes. No ineligible voters. Every voter is treated exactly the same no matter which state they are voting in.

Of course states that consider themselves rogue nations apart from Washington, D.C. will never agree to this. Mostly those states fall into the camp of conservatives. In states liberals exist they resist anything that even smells of voter suppression even if it means there's a few who slip by the portals at the voting booths.

We now have the technology to do this. What we don't have is either side's willingness to do this. Each want to game the system to their own advantage. Today is not the time to go backwards in history. Rather it's time to move forward as a nation of each individual deserving one vote as was intended. We have the technology, what we don't have is a consensus. That has been a problem for as long as this country has existed. Isn't it about time we set our differences aside and unite ourselves for once... and for all?

SCOTUS Companies Can Have Religious Beliefs

A whole bunch of FOX News hosts and their guests are taking victory laps over the latest Supreme Court decision. Not so fast. File this one under careful what you wish for.

It was only a short time ago the gang at FOX News went off the rails opposing the building of a mosque near ground zero. What if this same group decides to buy up a couple of businesses now knowing that certain companies can express their religious preferences? Will these same FOX News bloviators be crowing the same tune?

Yeah this kind of stuff is all fine and dandy when Christians got possession of the ball. But when the opposing team gets possession not so much, eh?

This is the stuff that happens when religion starts getting mixed into politics and business. All this is quite clear to me. No good can come from government sticking it's nose into religious ideologies anymore then the other way around.

I don't want a hear a damn thing from the good folks at FOX bellyaching when investors who are followers of Sharia open a few store fronts either. Another group they've been shrieking about as a threat for years.

All of this is a result of what happens when companies and government blur the lines between personal religious beliefs. Once that door opens it's nearly impossible to shut it again. This country simply can't have it both ways. It can't chose one religion then exclude the other. The framers of the country were wise enough to know that. Somehow along they way we've become stupid.

Well actually not all of us. It's my hope the majority of people have more common sense. It's likely these rebel rousers in the media are doing this kind of bullshit for their own gain. They know where their bread is buttered. By preying on the gullible they are going after the low hanging fruit who walk amongst us.

Blue Mountain Bike Park

'Discover Lehigh Valley' posted on 'Blue Mountain Ski Area's' new bike park. According to the ski slope's website a bike park season pass is $250.

Oh freaking WOW!

Several years ago I took my bike up there in the summer. The place was 100% totally abandoned for the summer. I rode my bike alone down their ski slopes and trails at the top never giving a second thought that one day they'd charge $250 for it. I never saw a single person that day other then myself. Not a single employee or otherwise. Frankly I didn't find it all that great and didn't go back taking the wife with me. Does that make me a trespasser? If so I wasn't aware of that at the time.



I remain simply amazed how things can become monetized with the right kind of hype. I guess that's why I remain poor. Hey, whatever floats your boat :-)

All my best and more power to em'.

Space: Will The U.S. Be Left Behind?

India launches four satellites into space using less money than Hollywood spent on ‘Gravity’
By Agence France-Presse
Tuesday, July 1, 2014 11:15 EDT

"India’s domestically-produced Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle (PSLV) blasted off Monday morning from the southern spaceport of Sriharikota, carrying satellites from France, Germany, Canada and Singapore."
My Comments About The Article AboveThis is yet one more example of how the United States is slowly falling behind. The scientific world holds no allegiance to the USA. If we can't do it cheaper or at least better they will go elsewhere. Our shuttle program offered what no other program could. Since we retired them, it's no longer the case.

It's all fine and dandy to say when it came to space we once were in first place. So were the Yankees baseball team at one time.

Once we were the envy of the world when it came to innovative technology and science. These days when it comes to space, green energy, manufacturing efficiency, medical advances and the major exporters of these we no longer hold a monopoly. So the question going forward is what are we going to do about that? How will we react? Will we react?

Advances will take place with or without us. I for one tend to think we are focusing way too much time, effort and money on nation building in foreign countries and feuding politically among ourselves. It's past time we wake up and realize most other countries focus far less on these. Thus they are able to attain the technological and economical advantages in the areas we are not concentrating our efforts on.

The short and long of this is... snooze, you lose. The world waits for no one... not even us.

Congressional Junkets

Congress Quietly Deletes a Key Disclosure of Free Trips Lawmakers Take
By Shane Goldmacher | National Journal

June 30, 2014-- "It's going to be a little more difficult to ferret out which members of Congress are lavished with all-expenses-paid trips around the world after the House has quietly stripped away the requirement that such privately sponsored travel be included on lawmakers' annual financial-disclosure forms.

The move, made behind closed doors and without a public announcement by the House Ethics Committee, reverses more than three decades of precedent. Gifts of free travel to lawmakers have appeared on the yearly financial form dating back its creation in the late 1970s, after the Watergate scandal. National Journal uncovered the deleted disclosure requirement when analyzing the most recent batch of yearly filings."

My Comments About The Article Above
Who said congress isn't doing anything!
They may not have found time for reforms in immigration, education, campaign finance, the federal budget and so forth, but hey there's always time available for congress to powder it's own behind.

When the Supremes decided companies have the same rights as individuals along with their religious beliefs it's only befitting members of congress assume it's none of the public's beeswax if they want to party with them.

Ever get the feeling year after year no matter who gets voted out of office or which party get elected the results are pretty much the same?
     Well, you're not alone!

SCOTUS Decision On Obamacare

(CNN) -- "The Supreme Court ruled Monday that closely held companies cannot be required to pay to cover some types of contraceptives for their employees,"

COMMENTARYI have more questions then answers as a result of the SCOTUS decision..* How will this affect employees working for businesses held by 'Christian Science' or the ' Jehovah’s Witnesses'? There are also a whole bunch of fundamentalist Christian groups that believe only in 'faith healing'. Who knows how many companies identify themselves with these?

* What's to stop any company what-so-ever from chartering itself as a faith based company? One which then declares it's a disciple of the 'spaghetti monster' allowing it to cherry pick medical benefits for it's employees.

* Does not the constitution dictate that religious beliefs be protected? If so then the SCOTUS decision on one hand protects owners rights under the constitution while at the same time denying those same protections for workers who's beliefs may differ.

* If a woman is medically diagnosed to be at extreme risk or placed in a life threatening condition from a possible future pregnancy (or that of a future fetus) due to a medical condition would she be denied medical coverage? Would coverage be denied on the basis of birth prevention rather then that of a life threatening treatment for a condition for either her or the baby? Not just pregnancy but any condition what-so-ever that wasn't deemed necessary regarding the religious beliefs held by it's owners'.

* This kind of cracks the door open to all kinds of stuff. There are all kinds of screwy beliefs held by religions. Which ones should employees be protected or not protected from if the company they work for is faith based? To name only two some believe it's OK to beat or stone women, others require religious garb. Is the SCOTUS going to decide each on a case to case basis or rule separate on the birth control issue only? If not, why not?

Personally I think all of this could be easily resolved by expanding the current Medicare program to everyone. Then following that enact legislation which would allow employees the opportunity to either participate in their employers plan or be compensated by them for the government run Medicare program. This would create a entirely a voluntary (non mandated) 'national healthcare' program if so chosen by the people who wished to join. This would solve two major problems. What employers choose to offer coverage for while at the same time lowering healthcare costs for both.


Best of all it leaves the SCOTUS justices out of this and their making all these decisions on what we can and cannot have regarding our families healthcare.


I don't know about you, but I have no desire to tell religious people what they should or should not believe in. AND I sure as hell don't want them cramming their views down mine either.

"Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion..."
Yet isn't that, in effect, what this SCOTUS ruling has just done?

I truly believe the framers not only wanted to protect religion, but us from it as well. Religion and government do not play well together. One need look no further then the current situation in the Middle East or in any other part of the world as far back as history itself for that matter!