John Demjanjuk (dem-YAHN’-yuk). A name most of you have heard, recently in the news. Mr. Demjanjuk was born 91 years ago in Ukrainian SSR (Russia). His given name at birth was Ivan Mykolaiovych Demianiuk. Was convicted as an accessory to murder of 28,060 people at Sobibar camp in Poland. He was sentenced to 5 years in prison. Pretty minor time for the number of people killed and the families affected. John Demjanjuk served as a Soviet soldier fighting the Germans. As the story goes, he was wounded, captured and held prisoner of war, before joining the Vlasov Army (an anti-communist group formed by Soviet POWs and others to fight with the Germans against the Soviets) This was near the end of the war. Not knowing all the facts, if he were tortured, or brainwashed. This would seem to be a treasonous act against the Soviet government. Demjanjuk served as a “Wachmann”, the lowest rank of volunteers subordinate to the German SS. from March, 27 1943 until mid September 1943. About 6 months. I personally find it appalling that the Nazis could kill that many people, so ruthlessly, in that amount of time. Demjanjuk came to the United States in 1952, was granted citizenship, and worked as an autoworker until his retirement. And now suffers a variety of ailments and needs medical attention daily. In the 1988 he was accused of being the guard called “Ivan the Terrible. Convicted and sentenced to death, until the conviction was overturned as a case of mistaken identity. Now the things that bother me in his case. 1. He was stripped of his US Citzenship before being convicted. As a US citizen you are innocent until proven guilty. Therefore no call for losing citizenship. But as we all know “INNOCENT UNTIL PROVEN GUILTY” is not the way it works, Just as in your workplace; The company makes a charge against you. You are guilty unless you can prove yourself innocent. A good example of this is in your place of employment. The company in most cases, (Unless you are a UNION member) Is the prosecutor, jury, and JUDGE). 2. If he was of the lowest rank, he probably had a choice (if he actually participated) KILL or be KILLED. I can relate this to an incident I had when I was a factory worker. The parts I was making were no good, we tried to everything we could to make good parts, but the machine just could not make them. I told my foreman, who said to run them anyway. Now my choices were run them, and get a write up. Ask if it were a ‘DIRECT ORDER, and if told it was a “DIRECT ORDER”, I could refuse it and be fired on the spot. Or run them, supposedly without the danger of a write up. I ran them. The next day I got a write up anyway. So I’m not saying anything on the verdicts. or the trials. I am just raising these questions in the interest of justice. There are other things to consider than whether a guard was stationed at a Death Camp. His superiors who made the decision should be the ones who paid the price unless he voluntarily did acts of this sort. Of course we all know the winner of wars write the history. Had the Nazis won he may have been considered a Hero. Feel free to reply with your comments, how you feel about this trial By the way according to German law he is free during the period from now until his appeal process is closed. That Is How I See It. have been find find find Post Views: 132
Category: USA
Dollars equal Taxes
Have any of you considered how much tax is generated by a single dollar bill over it’s life? If anyone knows will you please let men know? Say I make $1 a day. Out of this dollar I pay taxes. First right off the top is Federal Income Tax, FICA, State Income tax, and Local Option tax. I’m probably forgetting something here (remember I haven’t had a check in 3 years now. Then we have State sales tax, property tax, excise tax, wheel tax, we pay sales tax on anything we buy except some food. We have gas tax, NOT just STATE, FEDERAL, (don’t forget the sales tax here too) and we have road tax. There are probably, I’ll bet taxes we do not know we pay. So now you take all these taxes on my dollar, multiply it by everyone who gets my dollar. Because they have to pay these same taxes. You know I think could retire on the tax that only one dollar makes. That Is How I See It. they have Post Views: 110
Is Bin Laden Dead?
I wonder if Bin Laden is really dead. Or has he been dead for sometime? several years ago psychic Sylvia declared “Bin Laden is dead”. Now Obama says Osama is dead. Which is right. For you conspiracists out there. Doesn’t it make you wonder? We know that these leaders like Bin Laden, Castro, and Hussein all have doubles out there. Scenario 1: We all know Obama needs a boost right now. What if Obama said to Osama I need a big boost right now. I know you are tired of running. Let’s do this. I will send a group of my military in, we kill one of your doubles, dispose of the body rapidly so no one will be able to get any proof positive it isn’t you. Osama says, sounds like a win -win situation to me. Let’s do it. Scenario 2. Sylvia Browne was right. Osama has been dead for some time. Obama repeats the same as in scenario 1, but with one of the current leaders. They say OK it will help you fool the people of the free world into thinking you did something. OUTCOME. The same. I think (I admit I know little about their religion) the Muslims believe people are to be buried in a 24 hour frame after death. So why the rush to bury him at sea. Where he can not be dug up and DNA tests, and other tests made. That is my question. No real proof it was Bin Laden. I hear they did a DNA test that matched his sister’s DNA. BUT if they had hers could not they have used hers, or another close relative to make matching DNA’s? I think there had to be a body to fool the soldiers. BUT. Was it the real Bin Laden? Maybe it was. How will we ever know? That Is How I See It. several years they have Post Views: 98
Fast Food Garbage
Remember when you could go to an eatery, and order a hamburger or cheeseburger, and paid extra for onion, lettuce, or tomato? Those were really scrumptious burgers. Usually ground fresh that day. I remember we had a little shanty of an eatery, only about 8 stools, and a stand up counter on the outer wall. We would go in, order our hamburger, fries, and a milk shake. I never got the fixins. (occasionally I would get onion on my burger). I preferred my sandwich plain. I would order my milk shake made with chocolate milk, chocolate ice cream, and chocolate syrup. MMMMM triple chocolate shake. We could sit right there and watch the hamburger shaped, (it was usually stored in a ball and then flattened on the grill). You could watch them make the milk shake. We had our Root beer stands, and drive up restaurants, too. It was the same thing, good quality meat, and you paid extra for the fixings. Then one fateful day they built a new fast food joint. It had a futuristic style building and was called The Satellite. I tried it one time. The meat was very bland, and of poor quality. Now some of my friends who would get the fixins, thought these were OK because their sandwiches were cheaper, and they didn’t have to pay for the lettuce, onion, tomato or their special sauce, which was mostly mayonnaise. This was when the term “garbage” came into use, as with all the fixins it looked like garbage on their sandwich. To compete with this chain our other fine establishments started putting the garbage one their burgers. Then they realized they would have to buy cheaper meat in order to compete. That is when the quality in most of our eating establishments sank to the bottom, Today we still have no good place to eat. We have many places to eat, but you can’t find good food at any of them. The eateries have to put the garbage on to give any hint of taste to their sandwiches. My question is: WHY do I have to PAY for this garbage when I request they omit from my sandwich. Granted the meat has no quality flavor on it’s own. That is why you need to put a lot of salt on them. I wouldn’t mind paying more for quality sandwiches. But having to pay for the garbage I don’t get really irks me. Bting back the days of quality meat and paying extra if you want the garbage. That Is How I See It. find find find Post Views: 101
Court Sentences.
I was just reading over some of the recent court documents, for my county. This is what I found. All sentences were issued during the same week. MONDAY; Female age 19 . Theft. Class D Felony., One year in prison. All suspended but Four days. Credit given for two days already served. Why sentence to One year, if the actual sentence is merely four days. Just say a Four day sentence for a Class D felony? Male age 50. failure to register as a sex offender, Class D felony. One year, six month with credit for 180 days already served. So he gets a one year sentence. Assuming he gets good behavior credit for the 180 days served, (which is usually 1 day for each day served). Equals 270 days credit. Which in turn means he has credit for 270 days. Which leaves him 275 days in jail. Assuming good time credit for time he will spend in jail he will serve 137 days, or 4.5 months in jail of a 1 1/2 year sentence. TUESDAY Male age 32. Domestic battery Class D felony. Criminal confinement, Class D felony. Intimidation. Class D felony. Sentenced to 3 years in prison with credit for 163 days served. Female age 43. Theft, Class D felony. Sentenced to ONE (1) day, with credit for 1/2 day served as a Class A misdemeanor. WEDNESDAY Male age 28. Attempted dealing in methamphetamine. Class B felony. Neglect of a dependent. Class C felony. Two counts of aiding in theft. Class D felony. Ten years in prison with credit for 89 days earned. Thursday Female age 23. Possession of methamphetamine. Class D felony. Ssentenced to a year and a half in prison. ALL suspended. WHAT? Why bother to sentence her? Female age 26. Neglect of a dependent, Class D felony sentenced to ONE day in prison with a HALF day credit earned. Male age 56. Criminal recklessness with a deadly weapon. Class D felony as a Class A misdemeanor, Sentenced to 180 days in prison with all but TWO days suspended. Does any one see a trend here? Very small sentences, (in the end). For felonies. I remember reading about a man many years ago in Texas who received a life sentence for stealing a 5 cent candy bar. Do these small sentences curtail future crimes.? Probably not. That Is How I See It, merely Post Views: 345
Time for National Anthem Change?
In light of all the criticism of how the ‘STAR SPANGLED BANNER” has been performed and questioning if it is appropriate for sporting events. I think it is time to consider a change. The “STAR SPANGLED BANNER ” is a war inspired song. A poem set to the tune of an old ENGLISH drinking song. Very hard to sing. (I suppose if you were in an English Pub and had been putting down a few pints. It would not matter). Besides the “STAR SPANGLED BANNER”, only pertains to a single battle, long ago in our history. My preferred replacement song would be ” GOD BLESS AMERICA”. This is often sang at sporting events in lieu of the “STAR SPANGLED BANNER” and I think it better fits the thoughts of our founding fathers as they created this great country. I know you have the minority atheists who would complain because they want to kick GOD out of America. But it still fits our roots much better, and doesn’t sound so war like. I don’t think the U.S.A. really wants to sound like we are a warring nation. My SECOND choice is “MY COUNTRY TIS OF THEE” Which served as our unofficial National Anthem prior to the adoption of “STAR SPANGLED BANNER”. I, for one do not like change. I like tradition. But in my search I found that of many years as a Nation, “THE STAR SPANGLED BANNER’ has only been our National Anthem since March 3, 1931. By Congressional Resolution. A short span in our history. How do you feel? Is it time to get a more appropriate National Anthem? One that better reflects the Ideals of the United States of America. That Is How I See It. Post Views: 177
State Looks to Raise Gas Tax
Our state. like most states, is looking for more money. With our unemployment above 9%. Where do you go. The solution they think of is raising GAS TAX. Earlier our Government was telling us to combat high prices drive less. Then we had the clunker thing. (All that accomplished was taking many a vehicle the lower income people could afford to buy and do necessary travel), out of service. Now Our State Servants, have an attitude of: if we need money add taxes, or increase taxes, or somehow get the people pay for it. An Aside here. I just looked and our Servants in the state capital make in excess of $30,000 a year for about 2 months of service. Not bad for a part time job. Any way now with less gas sales due to the economy, and as I see it Price Gouging by the greedy oil companies. Price in our state is now, as I write, is $3.55 9/10 a gallon for regular. We pay sales tax on gas at the rate of 7% (supposedly pre-tax STATE and Federal), we don’t know for sure as it is figured in at the pump. We presently pay 18% a gallon State tax. With 18.4% Federal tax. I’m not a mathematician so I won’t TAX my brain to figure out what the untaxed price of gasoline is. Just guessing total tax Federal what 65 cents, a gal. and about the same for State. That takes the price to what about $2.25 per gal. which would make us paying about 15 cents per gallon sales tax. Hmmm. Looks to me like the Government is making more per gallon than the dealer. So right now it appears that our State government is making about 80 cents a gallon from taxes. That with no expenses. I say no expenses but the dealer gets maybe a penny or two for collecting the sales tax. Will our state be satisfied making $1.00 a gallon. That would be about a 20 cent hike in taxes. Like I said our state likes taxes. You pay tax on everything you buy, rent, use, sell, earn, we even pay sales tax on every game we bowl. Use less gas. Pay more taxes per gallon. Combat greedy oil companies use less gas, they raise their price so they can live the high life at our expense. To me we taxpayers are in a no win situation. Government and Oil Companies are going to maintain their profits plus, regardless of the hardship it brings the people. Perhaps the hardest people hit by this is the people out of work and the retired person who has lost his savings due to the economy. For these people it is like locking them in their homes. Limited income will only stretch so far. When gas prices rise, so do prices of food, and about everything else. The increased cost of production and transportation has to be absorbed somewhere, (we the consumers). Oh and a bonus for the STATE increased price means more sales tax money. That Is How I See It. Post Views: 106
St. Patrick’s Day
St. Patrick’s Day. A day we celebrate with parades, shamrocks, and green beer. But who was St. Patrick, and why do we celebrate a day with his name. St. Patrick a, Christian leader, is revered by Roman Catholics, Eastern Orthodoxy, Lutheran Church, and the Anglican Communion. Patrick, the only name I could find, was born in the year 385 at Banna Venta Berniae. of Roman Britain, and died March 17, 461 age 75 or 76 depending on month of birth. (There are some who believe his death was in 493.) The son of a high ranking Roman family. Around his 16th year he was captured by marauders, and sold into slavery as a shepherd for an Irish Chief, from Antrim, (a country in N.E Ireland). While tending these flocks he would pray to God as many as one hundred times a day. It was in those six years young Patrick learned the Celtic language . His master ,Milchu, was also a high druid. Thus Patrick learned of the primeval Irish religions. He fled to Tours (a city in Western France). While at Tours, Patrick became a missionary and later was dispatched to Britain to combat wrongful teachings of Pelagius, (an English monk whose teachings opposed those of St Augustine). Although St. Patrick is accredited with ridding Ireland of snakes, evidence supports the theory after the Ice Age, Ireland never had snakes. It is suggested the “snakes” referred the serpent symbolism of the Druids. The shamrock, you see in so many St. Patricks Day was used by him while explaining the Holy Trinity. St Patricks Day parades was started by the American-Irish who celebrated the saint’s feast day by marching through the streets of New York in 1792. Although Chicago is host to the most famous St. Patrick’s Day celebration. Kiss me I’m Irish. Some enterprising person came up with this idea, because of the Blarney Stone of Irish legend. Supposedly kissing the Blarney Stone, (A stone built into the Blarney Castle; which one has to lean out on a ledge look up and kiss), brings one the gift of gab. The thinking was….If you can’t kiss the stone, then kiss an Irishman. When drinking your “green beer” say “slainte! (Pronounced slancha). Irish version of “cheers.” Slainte means health. Again, we have here a holiday no self respecting atheist can celebrate without being a hypocrite. Too Bad. Happy St Patrick’s Day!! That Is How I See It. Post Views: 208
Day Light Savings Time
I’ll start this by saying. If you have a bank and you have a savings account, would you not be able to have at least a little bit of money saved? If you went six months later to withdraw some of that money, and found you had none, WHAT would you do? Would you go see a lawyer, just complain to the bank, or would you have an alternative of some kind? I have been on this futile trip many years, and when I go to withdraw the daylight I have none. So if you have a secret of how to get that daylight let me know. PLEASE! If you are a poor working stiff I’d be willing to bet you don’t like losing an hour of sleep. A shorter weekend. I know of some people who have lost their jobs because their body cannot adjust to the change. People who do make it to work on time are often drowsy, an inability to stay awake, thus increasing accidents not only at work but on the way to work. Till Roenneberg, is CHRONOBIOLOGIST, (that is a fancy way of saying he is an expert of how time affects life). Roenneberg is staff member of the University of Munich. Here is what he has to say about Daylight Saving Time. “Our internal clocks set themselves according to the environment”. “So, our natural chronometers keep time with the sun, not the alarm clocks sitting by our beds, and this is the main reason it is hard for us to adjust”. “The social time changes but the sun does not.” Supposedly, (per our government), The change is to save energy. There has been no proof of any such savings. There IS proof, however, the consumption of gasoline rises. I know most of my friends have to be at work between 6 am and 7am. It is still dark. When it doesn’t get dark until around 10pm it makes it harder to fall asleep at a proper time. Not to mention, have you ever tried to get children to bed when it is daylight? Good Luck. Children start going to school at dark. Not a real safe thing to do. While growing up in a small town, one of the rules was be home by sunset. Now that would mean 10 pm. Too late. Farmers do you have more daylight time to get your work done? Apparently not I see many of you in your fields after dark. Do your animals know you have changed the time on your alarm clock? ARIZONA is the only state that has a state government smart enough to leave the clock alone, and let nature take it’s course. Now for some it is even worse. You take Indiana for example. Indiana is a state which is actually situated in the CENTRAL TIME ZONE. But during the switch from mainly agricultural to manufacturing, the government decided to align itself with NEW YORK, rather than CHICAGO. My friends there tell me a few years ago, their Governor, Mitch Daniels, forced them to change to ATLANTIC TIME, during the daylight savings period. I guess the people never got to vote on it and some of their representatives even faced divorce, It seems the government did not have the votes in the Capitol Building to pass this atrocity, so what did they do. They put a hold on the voting for at least a day so they could bully the dissenters into changing their votes, going against the wishes of their constituents. The result is Indiana is 2 hours ahead of the sun. I would like to see them admit that there is no daylight saving, merely a shift of time zones. EDT = Atlantic Standard Time. CDT= Eastern Standard Time. etc. You get the picture If we have to endure this hardship so a few wealthy executives, can have a little more time to get their GOLF in, then why can’t we at least have a truth in time law. That Is How I See It. Post Views: 481
Trump for President??
For those of you who don’t watch commercials, and things. Donald Trump has been bantering about a run for United States President. The Donald, as I believe his first wife Ivanka, referred to him, seems to have all the qualifications to become President of the United State. 1. He has a college degree: (not so much in the COMMON SENSE department). 2. Born with a silver spoon in his mouth. (Never knew the joys of getting by week to week with a dead end job.) 3. Began his career with, (as I understand), a million dollar apartment building, given to him by his father. 4. No REAL WORLD experience, 5. He does have a real plus. He has probably more experience filing bankruptcies than any one of us. (Or several of us put together, for that matter). As for me I view him as a POMPOUS, and OBSTINATE. person I would not even want to call friend: let alone, Mr. President. He calls himself an Independent Voter. Yet he jumps from Republican, Democrat, or whatever party will support him. As a true INDEPENDENT VOTER (who claims no party, thus I can’t even vote in primaries, because I believe: POLITICS makes for bad Government. No vote from me for The Donald. That Is How I See It. Post Views: 138
