Thursday, December 31, 2015

OUTSIDER POLITICS WINNING

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Letter to the editor: Why the outsiders are succeeding

Tuesday, December 29, 2015 8:01 AM
I really like Page 21 of the National Republican party’s platform titled “Reforming Government to Serve the People.” This is what our elected Republicans should be doing to represent us in the state, city and county. Republicans should be reaching out to the citizens with this platform in mind and give the benefit of knowing what the Republican values really should be and the culture of service that used to be at the forefront of the Grand Old Party.
Contrast the Democrats’ platform of social engineering and blatant corporate welfare programs that are now running rampant throughout the entire country. The Republicans’ national platform of responsibility of the individual citizens is such a great contrast to the giveaway liberal social engineering and corporate welfare. The Democrats’ policies of taking care of everyone and everything is costing the middle class and lower middle class our future by taking away our ability to move up in the culture as we pay the toll for the social engineering and the corporate welfare that is now the normal way for government. It is about the money, I have no question about that. The ones with the gold make the rules, but the little piece of gold I have to give to the government can be a very big piece if we all get together and push for reforming our government and move away from the liberal Democrat emotional economic development.
The Republicans have given a pass to the Democrats time and time again without any questions of the long-term effects of the social engineering and the emotional economic development being forced on the taxpayers.
Win, lose or draw, the Old Guard National Republicans are missing the point of Donald Trump, Dr. Ben Carson and Carly Fiorina. These outsiders have brought back the individual into the election process and life back into the tired, old worn-out GOP. The new ideas that are coming from true outsiders of the Republicans Party need to filter down to state and local Republicans. Pay attention to the Grassroots! The National Republicans and their platform of government for the people and by the people should be echoed by our state and local Republicans! Why not stand with the national platform that promises freedom and access for the people to our elected officials’ policies and agendas? Why not stick to the Republican platform and fight for those values and stop the bleeding of liberal social engineering and do something outrageous for a change and be part of the published Republican platform? Stand up and be the leaders we need; be the men and women with ideas that challenge the individual to become involved.
The low voter turnout shows the lack of interest in the political classes in straw man issues. The thinking of the voter is why get involved with something that is only going to enrich the political class and the insiders of the political class. Maybe it’s not the citizens who have the problem with voting; maybe it’s our political class’s problem of not wanting the citizens to vote. The political class can control the election with a 10-15 percent turnout. It is an oligarchy that masquerades as a democracy. The choice is really no choice at all if everyone has the same agenda. So tell me, Republicans, what is it — a democracy or an oligarchy ?
The basic Republican values are great; why not be proud of the basic values of self-respect, self-reliance and small government?
John Modezjewski
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COMMENTS:
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  • Sniff. There it is again. "...the liberal Democrat emotional economic development." Emotional. Bleeding heart liberal. Got it. Same stuff for the past 50 years. Self-respect, self-reliance and small government. Mom, apple pie and ... what? Smaller than what? Smaller than it is now? National-state-county-municipal... all smaller? How does one determine size? Budget? People? Square footage? What?
    And the Ds got "Moving America Forward." Away from/ toward...? Barely evolved advertising derp from the '50s to sell political vaporware obsolete since the '80s: left-right liberal-conservative are now meaningless. So it may be true: "The low voter turnout shows the lack of interest in the political classes in straw man issues." Oh? Like self-respect, self reliance, and small government?
    How is that going to fix the potholes, overhaul the energy/ environmental/ economic infrastructure with secure productive work for decent pay, access to healthcare, education and time enough to dream? Respect your self, rely on your self and don't expect any government to do anything, is that it? Democracy or oligarchy? Are you serious?
    We have an oligarchy NOW. Bernie Sanders is the *only* presidential candidate even talking about this. But he's too "far-left," isn't he? Even though at least 60% of Americans agree with him. And that number is growing every day. The "political class" knows what's happening. And so do you. Break this down to the local level-- even in corn-servative Indiana... and it aint no "pipe dream." All the people bound to choose.
    All you fascists bound to lose.
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        This is something i posted a month or so ago.
        I don't trust Republicans and the The Tea Party. Every move they make or don't make leads us laborers to lowering our standard of living. Working hard just doesn't do it anymore in this country. It takes capital and the hard working skilled laborers that make a decent wage and have the whits, like me, have very little left over to risk in this economy. I don't trust the economy enough to put my savings, my home, my children's college, and our retirement on the line to start a business that has to openly compete with China wages.
        Yes I am taxed enough! However, The Republican Party and The Tea Party preach patriotism while playing footsie with multi-nationals that make huge profits off our infrastructure and our protection, while the average joe family that makes 75k-150k, like mine, foots the bill. More tax breaks for corporations? 1 in 4 fortune 500 companies already pay no tax. It's absurd and The Republican Party as a whole supports tax breaks for corporations.
        Instead, tax the heck out of the multi-national corporations and give families like mine a tax break. The average joe's use of the infrastructure is minuscule compared to the net cost.
        I want a tax form that says "I Win!" at the bottom too. I say if the state and the federal government want to spur growth and move money they should give startups with less than 5 employees and it's employees a zero income tax that is progressive over time. The zero tax is a reward for taking the risk of starting a business and for risking to work for a startup that might fail. If the subsidiaries are located on American soil, offer multi-nationals and corporations the same deal.
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          I'M THE POSTER CHILD -CHARACTER ASSASSINATION

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          http://www.news-sentinel.com/opinion/One-good-hit--and-so-long--reputation
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          One good hit, and so long, reputation

          Accuracy is sacrificed to speed in today's news

          Tuesday, December 29, 2015 8:01 AM
          Today’s lesson in the modern media reality comes to us courtesy of current Denver Broncos and former Indianapolis Colts quarterback Peyton Manning and the Al Jazeera news organization.
          Manning, Al Jazeera said, first online and then on the air, was one of several athletes who got human growth hormones, classified as a banned performance enhancing drug by the National Football League, from the Guyer Institute in Indianapolis. And the drugs were shipped to his home in the name of his wife so his name was never attached to the shipments.
          All this was in an “explosive” new “documentary” by the news organization with information supplied by a “pharmacist” named Charlie Sly.
          “It’s a joke. It’s a freaking joke,” was about the mildest thing Manning said in vehemently denying the story. And almost as soon as the story hit, Sly, a pharmaceutical intern, denied everything. He said he had made the whole thing up, either to impress the “undercover reporter” or to test his knowledge — he was just a little bit unclear on his motive.
          In a case like this of an explosive accusation and an unequivocal denial, it is, of course, best to wait for all the facts to be in before making a judgment call. But, given the way the news business operates these days and given what we know of Peyton Manning’s character, we’re going to go ahead give Manning the benefit of the doubt.
          In journalism’s more halcyon days, when print was still at the top of the pyramid, editors insisted that reporters have more than one source to consider a story’s facts verified. Deadlines were never an excuse to sacrifice accuracy.
          But today, the rush to be first trumps everything. No rumor is too wild, no speculation too unfounded, to be thrown out for public consumption. And then the story is picked up and run by everybody. And when the accused issues his denial, that’s the excuse for absolutely everybody to pile on. They can report his reaction, then repeat the initial story, no matter how thin it is, and not feel a whit guilty.
          By the time the dust has settled, and we finally know everything, it really won’t matter whether Manning is guilty of anything or not. That story will always be around now, and a certain number of people will believe it, and Peyton Manning’s reputation will never be quite the same.
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          KEVIN LEININGER LYING ABOUT IT AGAIN

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          NEWS SENTINAL IS A SLEAZY SUPERMARKET TABLOID PAWNING ITSELF OFF AS A LEGITIMATE NEWS PAPER WITH JOUNRALISTIC ETHICS. A LIE!
          their main modus operandi- is the big lie- tell a big lie keep telling it and soon people will believe it to be true.
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          http://www.news-sentinel.com/news/local/Pssst--Did-you-hear-about-the-quarterback-who-got-doped-up-then-joined-the-Klan-
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          Pssst! Did you hear about the quarterback who got doped up then joined the Klan?

          Tuesday, December 29, 2015 12:01 AM

          What's the difference between the media and monkeys?
          Monkeys learn from their mistakes. Whether alleged journalists' failure to do likewise represents a lack of judgment, intellect or character is open to legitimate debate.
          Less than two months ago, you may recall, some "news" outlets -- including at least two Fort Wayne TV stations -- repeated allegations originally attributed to the "Anonymous" Internet group naming two local politicians among a group of officials with ties to the Ku Klux Klan. No proof was offered, and in fact Anonymous subsequently distanced itself from the story. But a lot of reputations were called into question, none more legitimately than those of people who chose to repeat hurtful rumors from a questionable source that would be impossible to independently verify.
          Now, in an appalling example of short-term, industrywide memory loss, history has repeated itself -- only worse.
          In a story that was given little credibility even by those repeating it, Al Jazeera reported over the weekend that several prominent athletes, including a well-known and respected quarterback with Hoosier ties, had used performance-enhancing drugs. The Arabic network isn't exactly known for investigative sports exposes, it was noted; the story's main source has recanted and the quarterback has dismissed the report as "garbage." But numerous national and local media outlets (not including The News-Sentinel as of Monday, thankfully) ran with the story anyway.
          Does that mean Al Jazeera's report was false? Not necessarily. Many athletes have been proved to be liars after denying the use of performance-enhancing substances, and there is a curious link between the quarterback's wife and the clinic in question that deserves further investigation. One day, perhaps, such scrutiny would produce irrefutable facts -- or at least credible suspicion.
          But that day is not yet here, making those who repeated the story gossip-mongers, not journalists.
          Most of what fills the airwaves and newspapers today, frankly, is not really journalism at all. As budget constraints lead to smaller staffs, there is an increased reliance on meetings, news conferences, news releases and other time-saving shortcuts. Genuine reporting is more like fishing: You pick your spot and drop a line in the water not knowing when, or whether, you will catch something. But unless you want to buy bland, prepackaged fish, you've got to give the process the time it demands.
          This is just a sports story, true, but the stakes are high. As noted in November in the wake of the "Klan" story, the Gallup Poll has found that just 40 percent of Americans have a "great deal" or even a "fair amount" of trust that the media will report the news accurately and fairly. When people don't trust journalists, they'll either avoid the news entirely or pay attention only to those sources that reinforce their preconceptions. Neither is likely to produce an electorate capable of making well-informed decisions, whether that mistrust is justified or not.
          In 1956, the American National Election Study found that 66 percent of the population thought newspapers were fair. Even by 1973, just 15 percent told the General Social Survey that they had "hardly any" confidence in the press -- a figure that by 2008 had risen to 45 percent in the same study. Some have blamed this on the fragmentation of the news business, but if that's true it's only because new sources of news have exposed biases that were less obvious when a handful of newspapers, wire services and TV networks could control what Americans were told. In 2004, Pew Research Center researchers polled 547 journalists and found that 34 percent considered themselves liberal but just 7 percent conservative.
          But the quarterback story, like the Klan story before it, is not an example of political bias. Both are examples of the kind of lazy, sloppy journalism that is becoming all too common in the age of the Internet and 24-hour cable news cycles, where information is disseminated without proper verification then revised or withdrawn as necessary, as if no one ever noticed.
          As a journalist, I'm far from perfect and have the corrections to prove it. But most consumers of news know the difference between an honest mistake, sloppiness, indifference, bias or worse -- and they'll learn from our blunders even when we don't.
          This column is the commentary of the writer and does not necessarily reflect the views or opinions of The News-Sentinel. Email Kevin Leininger at kleininger@news-sentinel.com or call him at 461-8355.
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          Tuesday, December 29, 2015

          MAYOR HENRY'S PIE IN THE SKY

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          http://www.news-sentinel.com/opinion/letters/Letter-to-the-editor--More-money-for-the-mayor-s-pipe-dreams
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          Letter to the editor: More money for the mayor's pipe dreams

          Thursday, December 24, 2015 3:21 PM
          We need to ask why all the northeast Indiana funds are going to downtown development and the riverfront development, I have not heard any plan for the neighborhoods or park system to share in the taxpayers’ funded development moneys.
          Why is it alright to support corporate welfare with tax money and I don’t care what is said about the funds the city is getting from the state of Indiana. To me, it’s all tax money no matter where the money comes from, if it is government giving money to government its tax money and that means citizens’ money ,so who’s looking out for the neighborhoods and our park swhen it comes to our money and the way it’s being used?
          Could it be because the big political donors and power players of the City of Fort Wayne spent the time drawing up a plan on how can we support the corporate welfare system and the emotional economic development of the Henry administration by going after more corporate welfare money from the State of Indiana?
          The Henry administration is spending more and more on emotional plan for building an emotional downtown with little or no reguard for the neighborhoods or the parks system and their needs when it come to funds for the future or to keep the “Tipping Point” going in a positive direction.
          The NUG, Northwest partnership (Quardent) and the Sherman Boulevard Business Corridor Group need to be asking the Henry administration why has he forsaken the neighborhoods with yet another corporate welfare scheme for downtown and his spending of tax payers treasure on a maybe development success.
          The patterns that the Henry administration has used in the past of getting a lot for downtown and his empty emotional economic schemes and then giving very little back to theneighborhoods and park system.
          This patten needs to be broken and his emotional economic development thinking needs to stop with the empty echo’s of his administration plans that are nothing but corporate welfare and emotional economic development for the few insiders and businesses that are feeding at the corporate welfare trough of Greed.
          Emotional development and corporate welfare is not a stainable or attainable plan for building a strong city for all citizens. It feels good for awhile when using emotional thinking and not a reasoned business plan for building the yellow brick road prosperity for the entire city of Fort Wayne.
          John Modezjewski
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          COMMENTS:
          sniff. smell a letter-writing campaign? 
          few key words: "corporate welfare" (borrowed from #Occupy-- you're welcome). "emotional" (heard that one before?) and of course... money money money tax dollars money. 
          Guess what? "Money" isn't real. Especially now that we're throwing around astronomical numbers that are supposed to represent more "stuff" than there is on earth. Thanks, banksters.
          Yes, the spinning plates are about to become a china shower. But don't look up. Watch the puppet show and root. Left wing right wing same old thing. Let's invest our fake money in fake paper. Oh- we're about to see some fun.
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          Sunday, December 6, 2015

          CITY COUNCIL E-MAILS TILL JAN 1 2016

          martin.bender@cityoffortwayne.org, jncrawfordmd@gmail.com, jhshoaff@proparkwest.com, tsmithdistrict1@gmail.com, russ@russjehl.com, tdidiers5@frontier.com, MitchHarperCouncil@gmail.com, geoffreypaddock@aol.com, glynnhines@aol.com