a favor to a friend

I promised a friend that i would post this for him.  I believe that it shows the frustration common with citizens of our country.  So many times it feels like our electorate thinks that the average citizen doesn't understand what is going on in his or her own government.  This may be true with a portion of the citizens, but I do not think it is the norm.  My friend is an example of "Joe American".  He works hard every day to support his family.  He is a devout christian patriotic American.  He is not rich, and did not go to an ivy league school.  He has seen good times and bad, and still he pushes forward to raise his children and serve his community.  He has shared with me his  fears for the future of our country.  I wish I could be more reassuring...............                                                                                         

Billy Reed

     Because I have been asked sooo many times, here’s my take on Pine Bluff , its crime and it citizens, for what it’s worth: IT IS MY OPINION AND IT IS BIASED, FLAWED, INCOMPLETE AND MOST OF ALL IT IS MINE!! I EXPECT SOME TO DISAGREE AND SOME TO AGREE. IT IS NOT RACIALLY MOTIVATED NO MATTER WHAT YOU THINK OR HOW YOU TWIST IT. IT IS MY OPINION AS I HAVE DEVELOPED IT THROUGH MY EXPERIENCES AND THROUGH TIME. FEEL FREE TO JOIN IN OR DON’T. I DON’T CARE.

I have worked here for a long time as a “referee”. I have noticed poor city leadership where Aldermen and Mayors have wanted too much control.  They have set aside rules as they apply to them in order to accomplish their personal agenda. This desire to CONTROL by what ever means is necessary has caused good people and good businesses to leave our area and seek a more cooperative government to build their businesses. They took with them convenience stores, grocery stores, gas stations, etc, to another city. So, poor leadership in search of too much control, breaking rules to make bad decisions has run off business and citizens. Raising taxes several times to make up for lost taxes placed a burden on business and citizens and then increasing business licenses to offset more lost taxes placed such a burden on business it caused the remaining businesses to make up their minds and move. Come on Mayor, Wake up! This is just more working class paying for everyone again. Without the taxes collected from those businesses, you can’t provide the services required to make our city safe. Without tax money to take criminals to trial, plea offers are at an all time high! Don’t commit your crime in some “hanging judge” city, come to Jefferson County . If you’re caught, you’ll only have to do a small portion of the time. It’s a great slogan. Do a big crime, do a little time. Oh wait, I meant the second time you get caught. What was I thinking? Silly me.

At the same time, a large portion of our citizens have taken advantage of the government assistance made available to them. I define “taken advantage of” to mean what it would mean to convince an elderly person to give up their life savings for your personal gain when you were lying from the beginning. I am referring to our large “welfare” population who believe the world owes them something. Our government not only allowed this it encouraged it. And these types of people seem to congregate in cities where these benefits are more easily obtained. What are all of these unemployed people doing? Who knows?  And what about the people who deserve these benefits? You know, the people it was created for. Some receive it and some can’t qualify even when they meet the qualifications to the letter. Hmm? And what about the people who ARE working, who ARE paying their taxes, who ARE supporting their city? They are fed up with paying for those who don’t! Yet another reason to move away from here to a place where they can see where their tax dollars are going. Yes, working families, both black and white, have moved away from the streets that are filled with parentless children and crowds of people who think the world owes them something. They have sought better paying jobs and cities run more efficiently. Those very few people with good paying jobs in our city have moved to neighboring communities so they feel safer when they go to sleep at night. Where did their tax money go? It went to their new city or county.

At the same time, for reasons I can’t comprehend or even attempt to explain from my own understanding, a very large number of people in this city, have decided they want MANY children but don’t want to raise them. I have personally found, on several occasions, children under 6 years old down to infants at home, alone, with no supervision or being watched by other children. Where did we find mom? She’s at the club. No, literally, she’s at the club. This is factual and can be confirmed in arrest reports which are public information. Where did we find dad? In most of those cases we didn’t find dad at all. He was non existent in his children’s life. There was no one to share the load of child rearing with the mother and she couldn’t afford a baby sitter. She was tired of sitting at home alone and wanted to get out or in some cases just didn’t care at all, so she chanced it and lost.  When children reach early teens, the love they are missing from the absent dad and missing mother is replace with a fraudulent friendship from other, a little older kids, on the street. This is unsafe and unreasonable but it beats the nothing they were getting. This is where petty theft, vandalism and minor drug use is born out of boredom. This contributes to poor education. If no one is there to make the children go to school and get educated, how will they learn. Trial and error? This method often encourages the bad decisions that sometimes lead to jail or worse, death. The street is not a good educator. So where are the police? Because of increasing crime more officers are needed to maintain the same level of safety. Unfortunately, the above reasons, along with other reasons, have reduced the tax base to the point where the City honestly can’t afford to pay any more money for its officers nor can it add any more. Because it can’t pay more, the higher quality applicants are going to cities who can afford it. The lower quality applicants are applying here and accepting the lower pay to “get their feet in the door.” Once certified, many of these, “lower quality Officers” are leaving to better paying departments. This causes the vicious circle to start all over with the applicants again. Constantly hiring new employees to replace the ones who couldn’t afford to raise their families on this salary. And NO, I am not referring to any race or color. I am referring to their ability to BE a Police Officer. Now you have a Police Department with a larger number of “lower quality” officers. They take longer to do the job and don’t seem to finish it. They are always willing to pass the buck to someone else. They’re lazy plain and simple. They are here for a paycheck. Why? Because THERE ISN’T ANOTHER GOOD PAYING JOB IN PINE BLUFF ANYMORE!!

And the Mayor. Control issue again. Pine Bluff government has proven time and time again they will do what they want, legal or not, and to hell with the rest of the world. Redus is no different. He has joined the band wagon. And why not? It’s not his money and he has a job. We tried to tell the fine citizens he was part of the problem and not the solution. But not once, but twice, the fine citizens of Pine Bluff elected him. After talking to as many people as I can find, they all swear they didn’t vote for him. So who did? And bad decisions seem to keep Pine Bluff government motivated. Ya know, if it makes sense, don’t do it.  If I’m wrong, then why have we paid out nearly a million dollars in lost law suits.  And where is that money coming from? 

Redus’ argument that sparked the firing of the Chief: His demand to do things that aren’t possible with the resources he has limited us to, with the money he has limited us to, in not enough time.  His words “Learn to do more with less.  I’m not giving you any more.” 

So here we are. Full circle. The control that ran away the good jobs, helped cause taxes and revenue to fall, which caused taxes and fees to be raised while all the time services are being under funded and society’s morals and sense of responsibility are declining combining to bring about more uneducated people in a crime ridden city where some Police work hard and others don’t collectively causing good people to move away to escape to a better government where control means consequences for actions and safety at night. There. I’m sure I pissed off someone. Let’s hear it.

Jim

Understanding Modern Racism

I'm sure that everyone is aware of the current media blitz concerning racial tension in our country.  After all, Mr. Obama has been touted as the first post racial president of the United States.  I decided to take this opportunity to discover for myself why there is such a deeply rooted racial divide between black and white Americans, and how this animosity has survived for several generations.

I did this by talking to my good friend Ken.

Ken and I have been friends for years, and although we regularly debate a variety of subjects we both seem to shy away from the discussion of race.  But now that we have a post racial president, I thought it would be the perfect opportunity for me to get some questions answered that have been bothering me for years.

Ken, being the open minded man that he is, told me the reasons in a context that was simple and clear.  He told me that his people had suffered greatly at the hands of white Americans for generations and that he understood how a white person today may find it hard to understand just how severe our prejudice could be.   
He told me that his people have been ridiculed for years.  Characters like Al Jolson, a white man who portrayed a comical black character in vaudeville shows. He stated that the black Americans have always been subjected to cruel jokes and harsh names (i will not print these different slang terms, but we all know what they are).

He said that his people were subjected to discrimination and segregation. They were not allowed to participate in whites only events, join whites only clubs, go to whites only colleges, and they were refused scholorships based on their race.

He said his people lived in fear of groups such as the KKK, and other white supremacist groups. He said I've never experienced being refused the right to vote, or intimidated at the polls by these groups.  He said that his people were afraid to go into certain parts of town that were considered white areas.

He told me that I would never understand because I had not lived through discrimination the way he had......

After our little talk, I was feeling really guilty.  I went home sat down on the couch and turned on the television. There I sat, flipping through the channels until I came to the BET Network. As I sat there pondering what my friend said, I listened to Dave Chappelle tell a series of white cracker jokes during his comedy special. He then made fun of he way white people walked and danced and told how stupid they were. hmmm...

I decided to watch something else so it started changing the channels.  I passed a commercial for an upcoming NAACP meeting.  That led me to remember the Miss Black America Pageant, United Negro College Fund, and all the black fraternities and sororities at the predominantly black college just up the road. hmm.......

I kept flipping through the channel and settled on a news commentary show.  They did several pieces that night.  One was on  Dr. Kamau Kambon, a former NCSU professor who stated, "The problem on the planet is white people" .  He also said that all white people should all be exterminated.  Then I saw a film clip of two new black panther party members standing outside a polling station turning away white voters.  They were dressed in military type clothing.  One of them, a Mr. King Samir Shabazz was carrying a nightstick.  That's the same Shabazz that said all black men need to kill some crackers and kill white babies.  hmm...............

I was still thinking about it as I told my wife that it wasn't safe to visit a particular grocery store because it was "in a bad neighborhood" and not safe.  She was upset to miss the sale, but told me she would stay away so I wouldn't worry.  You see, we just can't go to into some parts of town anymore............hmmm.........

Maybe I understand Ken more than he realizes.

Partisan Politics

I have recently changed political parties.... I am now the party of the independent thinker.  It's a wonderful party, no one argues with me about the positions I take on certain issues, and I am free to vote for the candidate that I feel will best represent me.  The good thing about my new party is that I am free to vote across party lines guilt free from thoughts of betraying anyone (almost like our founding fathers meant for it to be).  I believe more people should form their own party, it's very liberating.

I find it fascinating that so many Americans don't know how to describe their political ideology.  I will use a conversation I had with a family member last year as an example. 

My uncle has been a self proclaimed die hard democrat his entire life.  He considers it a "family tradition". My grandfather was a democrat as was his father.  My uncle believes the term democrat is synonymous with rural living.  After hearing my uncle complain about the infamous stimulus bill, I asked him if he had voted for President Obama.  He stated he had not, and in fact had not voted in the last presidential election at all.

The sad fact is that after asking him a few simple questions, he realized that he identified with the republican party, and not only that he was actually a very conservative republican.

My point is that party affiliation (especially in rural areas) tends to pass from generation to generation.  There are a significant amount of people in this country that vote along party lines not because of their ideology, but because their parents voted that way. 

I have been following politics for twenty years, I feel it is my right and responsibility as an American.  Sadly many people from my generation do not feel this way.  They tend to feel that politics are better left to the politicians and are to busy just living their lives to worry about the nation that we have placed in the hands of professional politicians.

The line that separates parties has become less distinct.  Politicians make deals to saciate their benefactors instead of their constituents.  They flip flop, change parties, and "vote their conscience" throughout their terms in office to satisfy "IOU's" made during campaigns, and then do a dance to explain their actions when election time rolls around. 

Our founders created a government by the people for the people.  Their vision was for a governing body that viewed representing their constituents as an honorable burden.  They envisioned a country where citizens sent the most respectable, honest, and brightest from their community to represent them at their nation's capital.  These were farmers, shop owners, preachers, tradesmen.  Why has that changed?

Now, when you say politician  you immediately think lawyer, lobbyist, or academic.  Most of our electorate have never been anything but a politician.  What vested interest do they actually have in the country that they govern. 

Take Ms. Hillary Clinton for example, she moved to New York solely to become a senator.  She had no vested interest in the state, she didn't grow up there, she didn't own a business there or work there prior to moving to the state and running for office.  How can she represent those citizens?

President Obama is another example of a professional politician, every move he has made throughout his entire life has been made to futher his career in politics.  He has never run a business, never produced anything, never sacrificed for his country, yet he now leads it.

At what point to we say enough is enough, when do we stand up as a nation and shout, "This is not the path that was laid out for us by the founders of our country".    

Immigration Vs. Isolation

  Wow! They are demonstrating in Arizona, but which side should I take?  I mean it doesn't effect me does it, and those poor people just want a better way of life.  I mean, most of the Hispanics do the jobs Americans don't want to do, or are to lazy to do anyway, right?  Wrong

Here is my take on Illegal Immigration in general; wrong is wrong.

Our country is being systematically invaded by a foreign nation.  The Mexican president has even complained about SB1070 being passed in Arizona. WHAT?  A foreign government complaining about a sovereign country securing it's borders, you've got to be kidding me. 

I am not opposed to legal immigration, this country was founded on immigration.  I do believe the following requirements should be met by any immigrant that enters our country.

The person should immediately begin learning our language upon applying for citizenship.  The person should be able to pass an English as a second language test prior to receiving citizenship.

The person should be given no more than sixty days to secure reportable employment once they have entered our country (reportable means that they will start paying taxes).  If that person has not secured employment, they will be deported and unable to apply for reentry into our county for the period of one year.

The person will not be eligible for government assistance until five years after the person has become a citizen of the country.  This will ensure that the person has made a genuine attempt to integrate into our society instead of living off of it.

The person will be required to report for drug screening prior to and for a period of two years after becoming a citizen.  This will ensure that the new citizens are responsible and dependable.  If the person fails a drug screen, the person's citizenship will be revoked and the person will be deported.

Anchor babies should not be an excuse or pathway to citizenship. 

Any person convicted of felony within ten years of receiving citizenship should have their citizenship revoked and be immediately deported after the completion of their incarceration. 

This brings me to my philosophy on how to handle illegal immigrants. 

Any illegal alien caught within US borders should be treated arrested and sentenced to no less than two years of hard labor.  Illegal alien are not guaranteed rights under our constitution and such have no right to due process.  Once it has been verified that the person is not a legal resident of the United States, that person goes straight to jail.  There is no need for a trial. 

Notice that I said two years of hard labor, I really mean hard labor, working on the nations roads, cleaning up our parks, etc.  If they don't like it then they shouldn't have entered our country illegally.  No comfortable rooms, air conditioning, televisions, high school equivalency programs, or trade schools; just a plastic bag and a yellow reflector vest.  Once their sentence has been completed they are taken to the nearest port and handed over to their nation of origin.  If the person is caught a second time, the sentence is doubled, and so on.

If an illegal alien turns up in an American hospital, they will be treated, then incarcerated, then deported.  i believe that this policy would cause a drastic decline in the illegal aliens crossing our borders.

Now, as for illegal aliens that cross our borders and commit crimes against citizens.  I believe they should be treated as enemy combatants.  I mean lets face it, they have entered our country through illegal and clandestine means, and committed a physical crime against a citizen of our country.  This sounds to me almost like an act of terrorism or even an act of war.  Seems to me that should be a capital offense punishable by death doesn't it.  Or maybe we should just try them in accordance to the laws of their own country.  I'm sure they would love that.  I believe that the minimum sentence for illegal alien who commits a crime should be double that of an American citizen followed by immediate deportation.

Well, that's my opinion

Welcome to my Blog

Hello everyone and welcome to Independent Thinking.

I began this blog as a way to express my philosophy of the social experiment that we call modern politics.

I consider myself a conservative independent, and do not fully conform to any party line ideology.  I believe in self accountability and prosperity through individual achievement.  I do not believe in affirmative action, social justice, reparations, distributive economic change, the tooth fairy or aliens that walk among us.  I am not a conspiracy theorist, militia member, "truther", "birther", and I have no "ism" attached to my belief system. 

I am not politically correct.

I am an American.

I have proudly served my country in the military, I have proudly served my state and local community as a police officer.  I place God above all things and my family a close second.

I believe that as an American I have certain inalienable rights, I also believe that as an American I have certain responsibilities.  I love my country and it saddens me to see our citizens lose faith in our leaders.