(from (http://www.nbcnews.com/politics/donald-trump/fact-check-trump-says-he-passed-more-bills-most-presidents-n771116))
". . . "I will say that never has there been a president - with few exceptions, in the case of FDR he had a major Depression to handle - who's passed more legislation, who's done more things than what we've done," President Donald Trump boasted on Monday morning, touting his executive orders, Supreme Court judge appointment, and rate of bill signing. "We've achieved tremendous success. I think we've been about as active as you can possibly be at a just about record-setting pace.". . .
But a stack of paper does not productivity make: As PolitiFact noted previously, "None of the bills Trump has signed into law are particularly significant.". . . Three of those bills were appointing three members to the Smithsonian's board, another approved a war memorial, a fifth promoted women in entrepreneurship, and a sixth encouraged the display of the American flag on Vietnam War Veterans Day. . . While their bill signings may trail Trump's, many of his predecessors won significant legislative achievements in their first 100 days. . . Obama signed an $800 billion stimulus. Bill Clinton inked the Family Medical Leave Act. Lyndon Johnson championed the stalled Civil Rights Act. John F. Kennedy established the Peace Corps. . .A federal appeals court refused to reinstate his (Trump's) travel ban on residents of a group of Muslim-majority nations, dealing his second order barring certain travelers yet another legal blow. He's yet to fully repeal and replace Obamacare or secure funding from Mexico or Congress to begin any kind of meaningful border wall construction. . . . he's had little legislative action on the slew of vague plans he's released on issues like infrastructure and tax reform. . . Most of his agenda remains just that: Plans that have yet to be accomplished. . ."
Basic human decency is being polite, courteous, civil, thoughtful, and using tact and diplomacy when with others, thus treating them as you wish to be treated. . . the proverbial 'placing of yourself in someone else's shoes.'
. . . pretty simple huh? (Why do so many just NOT get it?)
. . . in my insulated little world. A Serious Problem in OUR human one.
(from http://www.baltimoresun.com/news/breaking/bal-orioles-protests-freddie-gray-camden-yards-20150425-story.html)
" . . . When Saturday’s (Baltimore Orioles baseball) game. . . went to extra innings, fans were asked to remain inside the ballpark until further notice. Soon, they were prohibited from leaving Camden Yards, and every gate around the concourse was closed as word traveled that protesters were heading back downtown. In the bottom of the decisive 10th inning, the gates opened and fans were allowed to leave. . . "
(from http://ftw.usatoday.com/2015/04/orioles-john-angelos-baltimore-protests-mlb by Orioles COO John Angelos, son of owner Peter Angelo-in response to scattered violence during protests on Saturday)
". . . the principle of peaceful, non-violent protest and the observance of the rule of law is of utmost importance in any society. MLK, Gandhi, Mandela and all great opposition leaders throughout history have always preached this precept. Further, it is critical that in any democracy, investigation must be completed and due process must be honored before any government or police members are judged responsible. That said, my greater source of personal concern, outrage and sympathy beyond this particular case is focused neither upon one night’s property damage nor upon the acts, but is focused rather upon the past four-decade period during which an American political elite have shipped middle class and working class jobs away from Baltimore and cities and towns around the U.S. to third-world dictatorships like China and others, plunged tens of millions of good, hard-working Americans into economic devastation, and then followed that action around the nation by diminishing every American’s civil rights protections in order to control an unfairly impoverished population living under an ever-declining standard of living and suffering at the butt end of an ever-more militarized and aggressive surveillance state. . ."
(from http://www.nytimes.com/2015/04/28/us/baltimore-freddie-gray.html?_r=0# - after Monday's
riots in West Baltimore)
". . . Maryland’s governor activated the National Guard on Monday and the city of Baltimore announced a curfew for all residents as a turbulent day that began with the funeral of 25-year-old Freddie Gray, the nation’s latest symbol of police brutality, ended with rioting by rock-throwing youths, arson, looting and at least 15 police officers injured. The violence that shook the city broke out in the late afternoon in the Mondawmin neighborhood of northwest Baltimore, where Mr. Gray’s funeral had taken place. Angry residents threw bottles, rocks and chunks of concrete at officers who lined up in riot gear with shields deployed. Cars were set on fire, store windows were shattered, a CVS drugstore was looted, and the cafe inside a century-old Italian deli was destroyed. Trouble also erupted at the city’s Lexington Market. . . "
OHO's "Ocean City Ditty," the CD single is now available at http://www.cdbaby.com/cd/oho4
(and, if you're in town, at Trax On Wax on Frederick Rd. in Catonsville, MD) OHO is Jay Graboski, David Reeve & Ray Jozwiak. Please Visit http://www.ohomusic.com
My latest solo offering, Just More Music by Ray Jozwiak, featuring original, instrumental piano music is now available at - Just More Music by Ray Jozwiak
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(from Ain't Nothing Like Freedom by Cynthia McKinney)
". . . The old 11th District that first sent me to Congress was Georgia's second poorest district. People paid rent, but didn't have running water in their homes. Why was it, then, that when Blacks finally did get representation, the Anti-Defamation League, an organization that purports to be a "civil rights organization," filed an amicus curiae brief on the side of the five White plaintiffs, and against the 649,995 Blacks and Whites who were working together in that district, in a lawsuit designed to dismantle that district and allow insensitive representatives to continue to fail to serve Georgia's poor, rural, and much-neglected Black Belt? Surely, the Anti-Defamation League would support poor Blacks who had never had authentic Congressional representation, right? Wrong.
And as I think about it, it might have also had something to do with me not signing the pledge for Israel. . . "
(from http://www.cnn.com/2013/05/18/opinion/brazile-democracy-in-danger/index.html?iid=article_sidebar) Donna Brazile says our democracy is endangered. ". . . Not by the Russians, North Korea, the Iran regime, or even terrorists. To quote Pogo: "We have met the enemy and he is us. . . "
Knee-jerk partisanship rules. Abraham Lincoln said, "From whence shall we expect the approach of danger? Shall some trans-Atlantic military giant step the earth and crush us at a blow? Never...No, if destruction be our lot we must ourselves be its author and finisher. As a nation of free men we will live forever or die by suicide."
People must go back to talking to people. It's okay to disagree. Just disagree civilly. The IRS debacle, the Department of Justice's tapping of reporters' phones and the congressional investigation of Benghazi all illustrate the danger of NOT talking, really talking.
We all need to stay focused on facts, causes and solutions. The inspector general himself said that it was bureaucratic mismanagement and no evidence of any political motivation or influence from outside the IRS that brought about the first of the three. The focus must shift to solutions.
Leaked White House e-mails allegedly showing a coverup of a terrorist attack in Benghazi were actually shown to be altered.
The Department of Justice secretly obtained phone records of reporters as the result of a serious security leak. In short, Obama is not in charge.
Both Democrats and Republicans have misused and abused their constitutional powers. In a nutshell, Donna Brazile says, in her quite convincing way, that we're shooting ourselves in the foot.
(from The Baltimore Sun, February 07, 2010|By Frederick N. Rasmussen | fred.rasmussen@baltsun.com)
There was one battle the late Sen. Charles McC. Mathias Jr. couldn't win during his 26 years in the House and Senate - where he had championed such historic causes as civil rights legislation, women's rights and restoration of the Chesapeake Bay while defying the Republican Party with his opposition to the Vietnam War - and that was concluding the Civil War for his hometown of Frederick.
For all of his political power and acumen, Mathias was unable to persuade Congress to pay back the original $200,000 ransom that the city of Frederick had paid in 1864 to Confederate Gen. Jubal Early to stop his troops from torching the town.
Brewer's Alley Restaurant & Brewery (Songwriters Showcase-Upstairs) takes place every Monday night (except during December) in this very room, which was formerly the office of the mayor of the town of Frederick.
My latest release, Black & White Then Back,
can be downloaded digitally at:
(or you can copy-and-paste this URL directly to
your browser: http://www.cdbaby.com/cd/rayjozwiak3)
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