And here we go again with more of America, by the numbers!
More than 4,000 inmates die behind bars every year. The leading cause of death in detentions is suicide. Even with the three hots and a cot, prison is not such a great place after all. It may, however, be getting better. Within the next three weeks the feds will be reducing the overcrowded prison population by releasing more than six thousand nonviolent drug offenders. Most of them will be brought to a half-way house first. It would be wonderful if they all learned lessons on how to live an honest life but….there is a recidivism rate that the authorities don’t seem to want to talk about. In the meantime the United States is still the home for about one-fourth of the earth’s prison population.
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Six billion dollars are being slashed from the fund for our veterans. Why? I don’t know but I do care. Our military has given its all to keep us safe. They deserve all the help this country can give them. So what is our president doing besides playing golf? He is taking some of the benefits away from our veterans and giving the bucks to illegal aliens so that they can “fit in to the American way of life.” I guess the American way of life for many is to hold your hand out for a hand out.
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Since Obama took office the Federal debt has increased over 70% to over $18 Trillion. It’s Bush’s fault.
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My roommate and I do quite a bit of traveling. I, therefore, find it necessary to create my columns several weeks in advance. The poll numbers you see the day you are reading this may not be the same as on the day I wrote them. Following are the national GOP poll leaders of a few weeks ago. Donald Trump is leading the pack with 23%. Dr. Ben Carson and Carly Fiorina are tied at 13%. It boggles the mind when we note that 46% of right wing voters would sooner trust their political futures and the futures of the nation with ambitious patriots who have never held office before. They are referred to by much of the media as “The Outsiders.” With all that has happened in the U.S. I am not sure if I blame them.
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I was impressed with the way America gave the red carpet treatment and displayed her love for the Pope. I was taught many years ago that if you want to keep your friends don’t discuss religion with them. With the Pope’s visit being on the top of the list of current events, it is almost impossible not to talk about him but I did and by listening very carefully I managed to learn a lot. The editorial of one magazine stated, “For every American converted to Catholicism six abandon it.” I could probably offer several reasons but as a Jew I prefer not to offend anyone. They would be probably the same reasons that only 74% of Catholics approve of the Pope instead of that number being 100%.
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The United States Secret Service employs approximately 3,200 special agents, 1,300 Uniformed Division Officers and more than 2,000 other technical, professional and administrative support personnel. How many of them carry firearms? No! The better question should be how many do NOT carry firearms? The most important person in the world to me is my roommate Carol and I would love knowing that she has as much protection from the crazies as possible. It would be wonderful if she and all of her close friends have guns with them. I am StanG
