Rita's Spur to Action

The population of the United States is 326 million people. There are more than 393 million firearms in the America, or enough for every man, woman and child to own a gun, and still have 67 million guns left over. Those numbers come from the latest edition of the global Small Arms Survey, a project of the Graduate Institute of International and Development Studies in Geneva.(the washing Post information) The right of an individual to bear arms has been argued since the constitution was ratified on September 17, 1787. The Second Amendment was ratified on December 15, 1791, as one of the first ten amendments to the Constitution, known as the Bill of Rights. The Bill of Rights expanded upon the Constitution by establishing clear individual rights, limiting the government’s powers, and further laying the foundation of American freedom. The right to bear arms for individuals was not originally written into the constitution . It was only granted years later in the second amendment. It is barely conceivable that this discussion is still going on years later. The second amendment still affords the individual the right to own arms, but only for self-protection or protection of their home. At the time that this second amendment was ratified, a gun rifle was capable of shooting one bullet at the time. Today an American made semiautomatic rifle can shoot 600-950 rounds a minute or more discharges in a single shot, with each pull of the trigger. Anybody in American above the age of 18 can buy semi-automatic rifles, capable of shooting hundred bullets a minute. Until very recently a repetitive rifle and guns were available at any Walmart. No one today is being denied the right of an individual to own a gun for self protection, and protection of their home. This does not afford the right for an individual to carry arms in public places, or anywhere outside of the home. Get rid of all the guns on the streets of America, and there would be no reason to feel unsafe on those streets. We as Americans, whether Democrat or Republican, should join together to promulgate and support a law forbidding anyone to bear arms of any kind on the streets of America. Only members of law and enforcement agencies should have the rights to bear arms in public places. For other groups such as hunters, they should have to undergo an extensive training program, before obtaining a license to bear arms, as is common in other countries. Americans, whether Democrat or Republican, we must UNITE to get guns off the streets of America. The penalty for bearing arms in public should be severe even considering the death penalty, with which I personally do not agree. However, putting people in prison for an extensive period of time, is very expensive for tax payers. Strict laws and severe penalties, including heavy fines, rehab centers and community services over extended periods of time, might act as a deterrent to carrying weapons, producing substantial results in securing our streets and public places. We are no longer the Wild West. We must get guns off the streets of America.

Friends and fellow citizens of USA. Those of you who are interested and who value the democracy under which we have all lived for several hundred years must now support Biden in the midterms. 

Whether one agrees with all of President Biden’s policies or whether we do not agree with all of them the only way to save this democracy in the next period of time will be to support him in the midterms.

Trump and his Nazi party and white supremacist followers who want to destroy this country, are well into the process to do so. They are working day and night to do everything possible to suppress the voting rights, to promulgate, publicize and communicate misinformation and lies. 

If Biden is not supported at the midterms, if the republicans regain the senate this country will fall into the hands of Donald Trump and his republican sycophants posing as members of the senate. They do not represent a true Republican party. They represent Trump and themselves with a single aim to destroy this country and the 

Democracy and destroy our democratic form of government under which we have lived and thrived for more than 200 years.

Biden has not always been right a 100% of the time. However at least he is dedicated to the service and salvation of this nation of ours. 

He is blamed for everything that is wrong and goes wrong in this country and beyond. 

The truth of the matter is that starting with Afghanistan and the withdrawal of the American troops, Biden was blamed for the messy exit. 

Nobody seems to remember that the former president Donald Trump had a contract with the Taliban to get all Americans out in 10 days. If this contract was not fulfilled every American in Afghanistan would have been killed by the Taliban. 

Biden inherited that contract and managed to get a 170.000 people out of Afghanistan in 10 days. Most of those people were Americans and many others were people from Afghanistan or people who have worked for America. 

Of course, it was messy and of course it was most unfortunate and sad that some people were lost along the way. 

The sad truth of the matter is that Trump’s arrangements are always inhuman and inconsiderate of the human beings involved.

Now Biden is being blamed for the inflation. It is possible that Biden’s build back America was too generous. Perhaps some families should have been deprived of the $1400 allowance that was distributed. When you are dealing with a society that is suffering from a worldwide Pandemic, and the ensuing unemployment and starvation and death, there is no known mechanism available to go from family to family to investigate the financial status of each claimant. 

The covid epidemic had caused the closure of businesses and corporations leaving people unemployed, sick, and hungry and dying. 

It is certainly possible that less money might have been spent in this regard. However, the situation was desperate urgent and required immediate attention. 

Remember that Trump have failed utterly to do anything to help this nation to survive the covid Pandemic.

Yet another major contributing factor to the present inflation is of course the war in the Ukraine. 

President Roosevelt kept WW2 over there for as long as it was possible. Remember Cash and Carry project, remember the arms sent to the Russians to help them in the war against Hitler, remember the America help to England and France and the rest of Europe.

It was not until after Japan attacked the USA in the Pacific and that Hitler would attack the USA from Europe that the USA had to enter the order by sending troops. 

We are in a similar situation right now. The world is again facing a criminal, inhumane mad man who will stop at nothing. This man Putin cares cares nothing for human life, who thinks nothing of useless, unforgivable destruction and torture only to salve his own ego. 

Biden by supporting the Ukraine and the battle against Putin is fighting a war over there. 

By weakening Putin’s army, and holping to destroy it. We are keeping the war over there.

War is costly. 

In order, to support Ukraine, we have to pay. There is no alternative. 

There is a cost to the combination of the loss of Ukrainian grain to the world and the shortage of oil in Europe as consequence of the shutting down off the Russian oil flow.

We have inflation and we will continue to have inflation as long these condition lasts.

If Putin is in the stopped in the Ukraine, he will push into all the neighboring countries and alternated the NATO will be forced to declare WW3. 

We must recognize that Putin from overseas and that Trump within our own nation are both determined to destroy our democracy. Each for their own divisive purposes but allied to create an authoritarian pro-Russian government in the USA.

This may sound insane but look back at the roots of the WW2 and you will see that Trump and Putin together have a similar aim as did Hitler and as did the Japanese at that time.

America support Biden now and in the midterms. 

If Biden loses in the midterm, if the democratic senate is lost to the right wing, narrow minded and anti-democracy, fascistic, our democracy is lost.  

. 

These people are not dedicated to our democracy or to our nation. They are only interested in their own power and in their lifetime gratuities.

They are not interested in benefiting this country. 

Only by supporting Biden and the democratic senate in the midterms can we at this time hope to preserve our democratic way of life and the democratic government under which we all abide. 

Hit the streets America. 

Support Biden now. 

Support Biden and the democratic senate now in the midterms. 

Address his deficiencies later. They are far less serious than the present danger and potential immediate loss of our democracy.

Hit the streets America. Vote for Biden in the midterms and send this blog onto as many people as you have in your list and encourage them to send it to their lists.

Are women not equal under the law?The equal rights amendment was passed and made into law in March 1972.    Trump managed to keep it out of sight and off the books along with his other plans to destroy our democracy.   He managed to hide the equal rights amendment as though it had never existed.   The fact is that women in America today have equal rights under the constitution.    They have the right to determine what they should do with their own bodies.    The rights of women, today, cannot be taken away or destroyed by some Nazi, right wing, fascists, or religious fanatics who are trying to take over this country.    This has been Trump’s aim from the beginning. He has had the support of the narrow minded, right wing, republican senators.    It will not stop until WE THE PEOPLE of America wake up and stop this anti-democratic movement in America.    Every woman who receives this blog and every man who supports women’s rights and the constitution should stand up and scream out against the suppression of equal rights in this country.    For those who may agree with this, please read it, and send it on to others whom you know.   Let’s get women’s rights back on track.   Let’s get all rights back on track.   Let’s get our democracy back on track.

The shocking news of the murder of the Reids makes one aware of the incredible amount of racial hatred in this country. The Reids obviously are a mixed racial couple. This is probably and the most likely the irrational reason behind this heart-breaking murder. It is heartbreaking for friends and family to lose parents and friends at any time in any way but in this manner, it is particularly sad and savage. It is certainly hoped for that the Hampshire police will find this vicious assassin and lock him forever and throw away the keys. It is pure guess work to believe that this is a racially motivated murder but somehow that is what comes to mind when you look at pictures of the couple. It is just another example of the deep racial divide in America. It is having a disastrous and destructive effect on our nation as a whole and then in the end could destroy our democracy. 

We should all thank Mr. Bloomberg, the ex-mayor of NYC, for his contribution toward making the city increasingly ugly and unlivable.

The licenses and the encouragement that he gave the construction business has created a forest of tall, mostly empty buildings clustered in the center of NYC blocking the view of great buildings such as the Chrysler building on the east side of Manhattan and the empire state building on the west side. 

The most iconic buildings in the city of NY, have now been virtually obliterated from the landscape of Manhattan. 

These new buildings are not only excessively tall, but they are architecturally devoid of any interest or character. 

In the end they are just massive, tall brick, glass steel structures that seem to be largely uninhabited.

The rumor is that the new Mayor of NYC, Eric Adams, has it in mind to convert these buildings to some kind of combination of office and apartments.

Basically, this is probably a good idea. But what he needs to add to his concept is a number of floors dedicated to public parking spaces, where people can park their cars at the same price as parking on the streets. This has been done in all major cities in Europe. 

All cars should be taken off the streets, especially in midtown. This would increase the number of traffic lanes which would then enable the traffic to flow more quickly through the city. 

This would also enable the streets to be cleaned everyday as they used to be years ago, in the distant past.

NYC has become a filthy, dirty city. Manhattan, the Bronx and all the way out to the airports.

It is the only city in the developed world that has piles of garbage on the streets. Even in the cities of Africa the streets are not piled with garbage. 

Better planning and less greed would make a huge difference to the reopening of Manhattan. After all, it is the iconic center of America, if not the world. 

Part of the solution to the garbage problem could be to force buildings to provide space for storage bins. These bins could be made on wheels with doors that would open easily, enabling the garbage collectors to remove the garbage as easily as they do by picking it up off the streets. 

This solution seems inexpensive and probably immediately feasible. 

This combination of getting the parked cars off the streets and getting the garbage off the sidewalks would then make it a very simple job for the little hose and brush carts that we used to have running around the streets and keeping the city immaculately clean. 

This project should be carried out city wide. It should cover Harlem and the Bronx, the upper east and west side, lower east and west side and any other part of Manhattan known to man. 

This is the moment, the reopening of Manhattan that this plan can really be put into effect. 

This goal at this time can be easily achieved because we have the empty buildings in which to create the solution. 

Let’s get it done and let’s get the city back to being the clean and pleasant place that it once was long ago in the too distant past.

The city should also go back to enforcing trash laws that we used to have. They were very effective because we had police on the streets who fined people who threw garbage on the streets. 

Those were the good old days. Better time than these.

As we reopen our city after the Covid Pandemic can we not also improve it?

Oh, what a wonderful world this could be.

Any sanctions that we might levy against Putin will take time and in the end may not be successful. He has insulated himself from western retribution.

Putin is a maniac, a psychopath , a mass murderer. The only way that he can be stopped is by eliminating him. 
There would be nothing wrong with the secret services of all nations seeking him out wherever he is hiding and eliminating him.We did it with Gaddafi for less reason and we did it with Bin Laden and others.

This man Putin is worse and more dangerous , more insane, more inhumane than all of them put together. He must be destroyed. NATO must act, America must act. The longer we wait the more damage he will do. 

He totally destroyed Syria only to keep assad in power and he will totally destroy a nation close to Europe for absolutely no reason except to satisfy his maniacal ego. This man must be stopped and destroyed. 

If he gets way with the physical and inhumane destruction of an entire nation he will not stop here. 

Remember Hitler! Remember Hitler! 

He took over one country after another starting in eastern Europe walking his way across Europe to Britain. As long as Putin is alive he will not be stopped and one way or another we will be ultimately involved in a war to preserve civilization as we know it. If he is successful in the Ukraine nothing will stop him from going into Poland, Finland or wherever he chooses. 

There maybe a danger of retaliation if he is eliminated but there is a far greater risk if he is allowed to survive. Putin must be eliminated as soon as possible now.

It is totally heart breaking to be standing by and watching the Ukraine been decimated by a maniac.  Like Hitler he is repeating the same story .

We The USA cannot once again stand by as we did in 1940 allowing Hitler to killed 6 millions jews and an untold numbers of other people as well.

Here we are again standing by doing nothing to help while the Ukraine is being invaded and decimated by a maniac.

Putin is Hitler all over again! We are facing the same dilemma. 

Do we let our neighbor house burn, or do we get involved in saving our neighbor house and perhaps getting ourselves involve in the fire.


In  this case it may be the start of the WW3. 


A friend of mine Connie Erlanger send me a letter that she posted with The New York Times . I want all of you to read it , so I post it here.

In 1940 President Roosevelt made the analogy of our neighbor’s house being on fire and the urgent choice - either to help put out the fire, or not (at that time it was about providing support to the UK in defense of democracy there and here in our own country.)  Today we are faced with the same circumstance: our neighbor Ukraine’s house is on fire and if we do not take aggressive action to help put out the fire, it will burn down the neighborhood. 

We refer to the men and women who responded in 1940 as The Greatest Generation. The generation that saved the world from tyranny. Today, we observe the unfathomable tragedy unfolding before us - on TV. 24/7. Like a movie. But it is not a movie. This is a real life horror and we, the United States of America, can not stand by as observers and sympathetic commentators. 

Now, as was the case in 1940, the fear of engagement is that it will lead to world war, only this time it will be nuclear war. I am not an expert, but I suggest that we are already in WW3, and it is being waged on the ground, in the air, on the sea, in cyber space, and all the while real human lives are lost and shattered - in the real world.   
The way to avoid more war, nuclear war, is to respond immediately to the urgent pleas of Ukraine, for their sake and our own. 

Our neighbor’s house is on fire. We must rush to provide Ukraine with all the fire hose and water and fire retardant and fire prevention material possible, without limit or hesitation.  

Connie Erlanger

The start of this new year is no less depressing than was the end of the last year.

 In these first days of 2022, this country, the United States of America, the leading democracy in the world is tethering on the brink of 

facing the possible loss of our democracy and becoming a dictatorship.

Never at any time since the civil war has this country faced such imminent danger.

The times seem very much like the end of the Weimar Republic of Germany in the 1930’s.

Adolf Hitler became chancellor of Germany. Between the time of his election and the start of WWII, he and his henchmen managed to imprison and exterminate six million Jews and at least five million other people. 

This period is known as the Holocaust.

It was Hitler and his Nazi party whose intention was to create a pure Arian race. 

If Donald Trump and his ignorant sycophantic followers gain power and  have their way, they would probably exterminate not only Jews, but Asians, Hispanics, and certainly  all black people as well. 

Their goal is to create a pure, blonde haired, blue eyed white skinned America.

Since the schools in America teach history only superficially, few Americans under the age of sixty seem to know anything about Hitler and the causes of WWII. 

Without the understanding of Hitler and his rise to power, Americans do not realize that Donald Trump has modeled  himself and his party after the greatest tyrants of the world, Hitler, Mussolini, Stalin, Putin, and Kim Jong-un.

Few Americans have participated in public service since the end of The Vietnam war in 1973, when the draft was abolished.

As a consequence the knowledge and interest in what is happening in this country has diminished. 

The generation under the age of 60s seems to have little knowledge or interest in what is happening to their country.    

Since they do not know or understand the rise of Hitler’s Germany, they do not recognized the similarity between Donald Trump and Hitler. 

President Biden is doing everything that he can to address the problems facing this country and the failures in our system. 

Joe Manchin the Senator who were against Biden reconstruction, is standing in the way of progress. He made his money in the Coal business and is protecting his familybusiness and in doing so is preventing Biden from doing exactly what this country needs at this time. 

Biden’s build back America program is exactly what Roosevelt accomplished with “The New Deal “in the 1930s.

It made it possible to rebuild the country with roads, bridges, housing, schools and medical care.

Part of Biden’s policy is the protection of the right of citizens to vote. The only way forward for this country at this time and to save America and our Democracy, is to support Biden.

It should be an imprisonable crime for anyone under any circumstances to attempt to suppress the vote in any city or state in the United States of America.

Everyone who can vote must support the access and the freedom to vote for all.

The democracy can only survive  at this time by supporting President Biden and the democrats against a totally corrupt Republican Party.

Rise up and support president Biden, the right to vote and the build back American program.

The time is now.

Beginning with the attack on the Capitol of the USA on Jan 6 2021 by an unruly and violent group of Americans, it has been clear that the Democratic base of the US is in serious jeopardy.

Our freedom is at stake by those very people who are attacking the government in the name of freedom.

Their absolute freedom is absolute chaos.

Laws are made to protect every citizen and it is only when the law is there and observed as an umbrella that we, as individuals, have freedom.

We are free to walk on the streets when laws are provided and observed.

For instance traffic lights: the law requires that cars stop at traffic lights. As long as the law is observed it provides us with the freedom to cross the street without fear of being run down.

Often when the law is broken, cars turn against the light and someone may be hurt or even killed.

Of course some people brake the law and when they do we are less safe and less free as a consequence.

It is the concept of the total right to total freedom that explains the thinking behind the violent lunatics who attacked the Capitol and sought to kill members of congress.

This is no longer freedom.
This is chaos and chaos only leads to destruction. The social order and the very society from whence they have sprung are endangered by them.

Freedom to be sure seems not much to lose to some members of our society but some of us still think it is a battle that must be fought and won.

It seems totally clear that freedom exists only within certain limitations.

The militia organizations gaining support and followers across the country are a clear and eminent danger to freedom.

The stem from a total misunderstanding and misconception as to what freedom is, what it is and who shall have it.

Individual groups of people bearing arms and joining forces to attack the government of the USA or the Capitol of the USA is not an expression of freedom.

Although the second Amendment to the constitution provides individuals with the right to bear arms, it does not provide the freedom to attack the government of the USA. It only vaguely provides the right of citizens to form militia only to protect the government of the USA.

An organized militia, recognized by the government, made up of volunteer citizens, often called the Home Guard, stands ready to protect the government of the USA.

If the pro Nazi militias and anti-government militias proliferating around the USA today are free to attack the government of the USA to break those laws protecting all the citizens of America, then none of us will be free any longer.

We will all be living in a world of total chaos.

We must be fiercely vigilant both of people desirous of breaking the law and also that the law is fair and provides us all with the protection that enables us to be free and to live in a free society.

We the people must all take action to save our democracy now or we will lose it and we shall descend into the the abyss of chaos, tyranny and the ensuing dictatorship.

Looking at America today is absolutely amazing, astounding to see the incredible divisions within the country. 

Try as one may to rationalize and find reasons for  these divisions more and more it seems that it is a combination of the power of social media and the incredibly low level of education that prevails in this country. 

The lack of education alone makes it impossible for people to be able to recognize truth from fiction. 

These divisions also seem to have aided in the sudden deterioration of values in this country: family values, the value of education, responsibility of social media and respect for the law.

When an ignorant and stupid man like governor Abbott of Texas can take the law into his own hands, can suppress the vote so that he can win and can deny women their legal right under the law to make decisions about their own bodies, we are faced with a society in disrepair. 

What possible right does this idiot have to control the rights of women? 

A man who is so stupid that he does not even understand the menstrual cycle of a woman. A man so stupid as to believe and state that he is going to rid the streets of rapists. What is he going to do? Is he going to walk the streets, approach every man on the street and ask him if he is a rapist? The only way to counter an idiot like Abbott and all the other people around the country who support him is to pass a law that every boy over 12 must undergo a vasectomy. 

If men can not take the responsibility of the sperm that they so easily release they should pay the price by not being able to reproduce without government accountability. They would have to get certificate from the government that would enable them to go and have a reversal of their vasectomy. 

In this manner maybe we could prevent sexual crimes, unwanted pregnancies and reduce the need for abortions.

The other thing that is happening to this country is that we have a supreme court that seems to be driven more by religious affiliations than by intellectual questioning and investigation. Maybe we have to change the constitution so that people appointed to the supreme court by half witted lying presidents should be forced to retire. 

It is totally appalling that this country has been taken over by racists, by religious fanatics, by liars and by thieves with absolutely no oversight as to the character of the members of our governing body. 

More effort is put into the character check for a prospective buyer of an apartment in a New York co-op than it is to run for any elected office, including the Congress.

It is astounding that one year after the election of our current president of the USA the ex president who is a known thief, a known lier, a known cheater, a known ignoramus, a known woman abuser still has an enormous following.

There is something fundamentally wrong with this country. It is totally demoralizing to watch the demise of our democracy. 

Social media must be controlled. It is hard to know whether controlling social media impinges upon freedom of speech or freedom of the press but it is imperative that we find a solution before it is too late. Even with the corona virus pandemic, tremendous amounts of misinformation and changing information, reached the ears of people who were unable to distinguish truth from fiction.

The consistent misinformation being disseminated by these groups including the voter suppression in many states and the constant diminution of individual rights is undermining confidence in government, in values and destroying America democracy and the USA. 

This country is on the brink and could easily fall into the hands of tyrants and dictators. It is more important now than it has ever been before to seek out the truth and expel from government those whose intent is to destroy our democracy and our country. 

Mitch McConnell and his Republican party are truly not representatives of the check and balance system that was envisioned in the constitution of the USA. Perhaps the only solution would be in the creation of a 3rd party which would represent conservative democrats and liberal republicans.

We must look at the causes and the weaknesses in our system that have enabled people such as Trump and Abbott and DeSantis and McConnell and religious fanatics- weakness that have confused issues regarding the governing of the USA and have ultimately compromised our constitution.