Stop Pulling the Wagon

Are You Tired Of Government Lies, Hypocrisy and Corruption?
Subscribe Free

Archive for the ‘In the News’

NO ADULTS – NO RULES – NO MERCY

October 14, 2022 By: bob Category: Culture, In the News, On Bob's Mind, Something To Think About

LET’S SEE HOW MANY PEOPLE I CAN MAKE ANGRY TODAY

The above photo was taken at a “Drag Queen” performance for a group of children.  These Drag Queens are men masquerading as overly made up, sexually and suggestively dressed women flaunting themselves before 5-8 year old children.  These “Drag Queens” are being guarded by Anti-Government ANTIFA Radicals, funded in part by Anti-American zealot George Soros, armed with AR-15 rifles and flanked by an LGBTQ  Pride Flag.  This stirred up no interest from the Justice Department or FBI.

The above photo is a group of Pro-Life demonstrators doing a “sit in” at an Abortion Clinic.  Recently a man was arrested by the FBI/Justice Department for singing a Hymn during a “sit in”.  This man is facing a possible 11 year prison sentence for his “crime”. 

The above photo is a group of parents at a School Board meeting protesting against the sexually explicit books and curriculum found at their grade school children’s Library and in their study materials.  At one point the Justice Department labeled them as “Terrorists” and instituted investigations pending prosecution.

The above photo is of the remains of a Pro-Life office destroyed by Abortion Rights Activists.  No interest in investigating this from the FBI or Justice Department.

This is Ma & Pa of the Clinton Crime Family.  They live the “jet set high life” in good part from funds flushed through their “charitable” “Foundation”.  No IRS Audits here.  Nothing to see.  Instead these IRS folks will concentrate their efforts on “Joe or Jill Sixpack” hoping to find a math error on his/her Tax Return so they can run up thousands of dollars in fees, penalties and legal costs.  Maybe even file a lien on their home or property and ruin their life.

This is a photo of the “mostly peaceful” riot and looting of Madison, Wisconsin where millions of dollars in damage was done in the name of “racial justice”.  Part of the damage included the looting and burning of stores owned by people of color.  What few looters and burners who were arrested were quickly released and any criminal record “expunged”.  No need to bother the folks at Justice Department or the FBI.  This kind of destruction is allowed if your cause is politically correct.  To bad about all the good folks who lost everything.

This is a photo of a third trimester fetus in the womb.  Those who favor abortion without any restraints don’t like this photo because it makes the near born look “too human” in appearance.

I could go on but have probably stirred up enough hornets nests for one day. 

No Adults, No Rules, No Mercy.

(Lord of the Flies)

Bob Bandy – October 2022

PROTECTING THE MOST VULNERABLE

October 05, 2022 By: bob Category: Culture, In the News, On Bob's Mind, Something To Think About

WE ALL HAVE THE OBLIGATION TO PROTECT THE MOST VULNERABLE AMONG US

I am sure there are some out there who are going to be angry with me for what I am writing.  That’s okay.  Be angry.  I am past angry, I am outraged with what I see is happening in some of our schools nationwide to the young, vulnerable and innocent youth of America.  Our children are more important than your opinion of me.

First, let me say that I am not a “Gay Basher”, I do not hate Gay People or other members of the LGBTQ community.  I have worked with, shared food with and respected many of this group for many years.

I am writing about the latest militant activist generation of this group coming out of our new “WOKE” Colleges and becoming “Educators” in our Grade Schools with an agenda to indoctrinate and recruit CHILDREN into the Gay and Transgender elements of our society.

We do not allow CHILDREN to buy guns, get drivers licenses, serve in the military, be doctors or work in dangerous jobs for a reason.  They are not mature enough to make life changing decisions about something they do not understand.  Children do not understand sexuality and fall easy prey to teachers whom they respect. 

What I am witnessing that has me so irate is what is happening in some of our schools with the youngest and most vulnerable of our children.  I am talking especially about little ones in the K-6th Grade.

There are many well documented reports:

  • I have seen on television video clips of strident, militant LGBTQ Grade School Teachers bragging about how they love sharing their “orientation” with their grade school students.  “Teach them while they are young”.
  • Giving children instruction on how to choose their own preferred pro-nouns and choice of sexual identity.
  • Children in grades 3-6 being given graphic pictorial curriculum on sexual body parts and their functions – even reports of how to perform oral sex on one another.
  • Giving CHILDREN the knowledge of full acceptance of all types of sex in the LGBTQ community. 
  • Full support for those CHILDREN who decide they are Transgender and how to “transfer” to the sex of their choice.  In many locations the schools are making available the pharmaceuticals and other resources for CHILDREN, PRE-TEENS and EARLY TEENS to pursue these life changing decisions, often without parental consent.
  • In many, many locations throughout America Schools are restricting or prohibiting parents from access to these curriculum or any parental rights to exclude their own child from these materials.
  • A school is forced to permit a “suddenly” “Transgender” boy access to the girls Locker Room and Showers.

Are you angry yet?  Many people are very upset about what is happening but afraid of the power of those “pushing” this agenda, including Teachers Unions and the National LGBTQ Community.  Fear of being “Cancelled”, reprisals from employers, even government agencies that are in the “pockets” of the above powers.

We, me, you and all our fellow citizens and neighbors need to be (non-violently) pounding on the tables at School Board Meetings, writing, calling and challenging our elected leaders at all levels and speaking out boldly against this monstrous abuse of all our CHILDREN, GRANDCHILDREN, NEIGHBORS CHILDREN and all CHILDREN everywhere. 

The above is pure evil.  Our CHILDREN deserve to be children and play as children.  They must not be rushed into the world of adult sexuality and the adult decisions that come with it.

Children our our most treasured and vulnerable asset.  We must protect them.  Be angry with me if you wish.  Hate me if you wish.  But, if you agree that our children must be protected, please share your thoughts, copies of this and similar articles with your family, your neighbors, your School Board, Educators/Teachers,  your elected officials, anybody who will listen and help stop this madness.

For those readers of Faith – Pray for our Children.

 

Bob Bandy – October 2022

A JOE BIDEN DIGITAL CURRENCY FUTURE?

September 08, 2022 By: bob Category: In the News, On Bob's Mind, Something To Think About

Joe Biden is planning a new digital currency.  Here’s why you should be very worried. 

By Justin Haskins – Contributor – thehill.com – 03/26/22

Excerpts from article follow my introduction – complete article available online at thehill.com

********************

Introduction

I have been reading and hearing for some time bits and pieces of desire from our government to retire the “Greenback” Dollar and replace it with some form of Digital Currency.  A Currency that will let Government track every Nickel that you spend and what you spent it on.  One day at the Bank for example I was informed by Wells Fargo that they no longer accept Cash Deposits into Personal Checking Accounts.  On multiple occasions we have encountered while shopping various businesses  that accept only Debit or Credit Cards.  No Cash.  Also various reporting services have commented on the subject.

So, “What would a digital dollar be like?” “Unlike the current dollar, a central bank digital currency would not exist in physical form, meaning you wouldn’t be able to go to a bank or ATM and withdraw it. It is important to understand that the digital dollar would not be similar to cryptocurrencies like bitcoin.”
In the following article from The Hill  I have made bold those areas I find most concerning.   – Bob
*******************
Joe Biden is planning a new digital currency.  Here’s why you should be very worried. 
By Justin Haskins – Contributor – thehill.com – 03/26/22

On March 9, the Biden administration released an executive order (EO) instructing a long list of federal agencies to study digital assets and to propose numerous reports about their use and proposals to regulate them.

If the United States were to adopt a digital currency like the one discussed in Biden’s executive order, it would be one of the most dramatic expansions of federal power ever made, one that could put individuals and businesses in grave danger of losing their social and economic freedoms.  Among other important actions, the White House executive order directs several federal agencies, including the Treasury Department, to study the development of a new central bank digital currency (CBDC) and to produce a report within 180 days of the EO discussing the potential risks and benefits of a digital dollar.

The order further directs the Treasury Department, Office of the Attorney General and Federal Reserve to work together to produce a “legislative proposal” to create a digital currency within 210 days, about seven months.

Unlike the current dollar, a central bank digital currency would not exist in physical form, meaning you wouldn’t be able to go to a bank or ATM and withdraw it.

It is important to understand that the digital dollar would not be similar to cryptocurrencies like bitcoin. Cryptocurrencies operate on blockchain technology, which is decentralized by design. No group or individual can truly control cryptocurrencies once they are launched.

Digital dollars, on the other hand, would be traceable and programmable. The Federal Reserve (or some other designated entity) would have the ability to create more digital dollars whenever it sees fit, and, depending on how the legislation is written setting up the currency, the dollars could be formulated to have various rules and restrictions built into their design.

For example, a digital dollar could be crafted to restrict fossil-fuel use, to give bonuses to people for spending at particular businesses, to enact de facto price controls by disallowing users from spending too much on particular products, or even to redistribute wealth.

In one report about the development of a central bank digital currency published by the Federal Reserve in January, the Fed outlined a few examples of possible “design choices” for a digital dollar, including that “a central bank might limit the amount of CBDC an end user could hold.”

Biden’s executive order states that the CBDC and other policies governing digital assets must mitigate “climate change and pollution” and promote “financial inclusion and equity.”

In fact, “financial inclusion” is mentioned five times in Biden’s order, and “equity” and “climate change” are mentioned four times each.

There are many reasons to believe Biden’s plan for a digital dollar involves a design that will give the federal government and/or Federal Reserve control over much of society and the economy.

Further, in a background call with reporters about the executive order, a “senior administration official” (the name was curiously removed from the White House transcript) promised that in creating a new digital currency, the Biden administration will “continue to partner with all stakeholders — including industry, labor, consumer, and environmental groups, international allies and partners.”

Why would labor unions, industry organizations and environmental groups be involved in the development of a new currency — unless, of course, there is a plan to program that currency to advance various causes special-interest groups care about?

Even more stunning, in a 2021 question-and-answer session about the development of a digital dollar, David Andolfatto, a senior vice president and economist in the St. Louis Fed’s Research Division, was asked whether the Fed could “assure us [the public] that these digital currencies won’t ever be used to tell us when, how or where our money can be spent?”

If the Fed has no plan to use a future central bank digital currency to control Americans’ behavior, Andolfatto’s response is incredibly bizarre, to say the least.

“In life one can’t give absolute assurances of anything,” Andolfatto responded before suggesting that “the best we can hope for” is for Congress to “respond to the electorate’s concerns” about privacy.

It’s clear that the Biden administration and Fed are working together to create a controllable, traceable, programmable digital currency. And if they are successful, life in America might never be the same.

Justin Haskins (Jhaskins@heartland.org) is the director of the Socialism Research Center at The Heartland Institute

*******************

ARE YOU SCARED YET?

Anytime I hear the words “Inclusion”, “Equity” or “Climate Change” from a bureaucrat – I “shudder”

This is a bit longer than my usual postings but incredibly important to understand.  If our government implements such a plan you would no longer have control over your own financial resource, merely a “digital” card (like a credit card) that would give you limited access to “your” government controlled money.  Ultimate control would reside in Washington DC and some Bureaucrat setting at a keyboard somewhere can decide “Bob” should not be spending these dollars to buy gasoline for his car because it could contribute to “Climate Change” and with a few keystrokes the card would not work at a gas pump.  Think about this.  And you could not dig out a few “Greenbacks” to make the purchase because all paper (and coin) currency will have been demonetized and now “worthless”.  All of this of course because “Government knows best” and must control every aspect of our lives.
Ronald Reagan once said that the scariest words in the English language are; “We are from the Government and are here to help you”.
Bob Bandy – Part I – September 2022
“so that no one could buy or sell unless he had the mark, which is the name of the beast or the number of his name”  Revelations 13:17  (NIV)

WHAT’S WRONG WITH CALIFORNIA

September 02, 2022 By: bob Category: Culture, In the News, On Bob's Mind, Something To Think About

30k+ Trailer Truck Pictures | Download Free Images on Unsplash

WHATS WRONG WITH CALIFORNIA? – HOW MUCH TIME HAVE YOU GOT?

LIFE IN A ONE PARTY STATE

If you wanted to make a list of what ails California it would be a very long list.  Basically we have a state that is completely under the control of one very far left party under the leadership of an ego-centric, far left policy devotee with unbridled ambition, no common sense and who displays little in the way of personal integrity – example – “The French Laundry” incident. 

A man, who as Mayor of San Francisco, turned the Pearl of the West Coast into a drug and crime ridden pest hole littered with homeless encampments and despair.  Now he appears bent on doing for the rest of California, as Governor, what he did to San Francisco.

I am copying below a well written article from the California Globe that well outlines coming disasters because of poor decisions by our Governor and one party ruled Legislature.  The article is by Karen Anderson, dated September 1, 2022  and can be found on their website:  CaliforniaGlobe.com 

**************************************

 

An Unhappy Labor Day for California Workers

‘California state lawmakers just can’t keep their laws off our livelihoods’

By Karen Anderson, September 1, 2022 2:45 am

Labor Day pays tribute to America’s workers, but here in California, job-killing legislation and regulations continue to harm independent professionals, small-business owners and essential workers across the state.

Currently awaiting passage in the California State Senate, the bill known as Assembly Bill 257, or the “Fast Food Accountability and Standards (FAST) Recovery Act,” seeks to install a 13-member council of unelected political appointees, with no business experience needed, to oversee California’s entire fast-food restaurant industry. Appointed by the governor and by a scant few individuals from the Democrat-led super-majority legislature, council members would come from labor advocacy groups, unions, and the very state regulatory agencies that enforce labor laws.

This posse of union-backed appointees would have absolute power to establish wage rates, working hours and other broad rules that could put a small restaurant or franchisee out of business. Layers of burdensome regulations will inevitably result in increased operating costs for restaurants, higher prices for consumers and fewer jobs. A provision that allows the Labor Commissioner to pursue “joint employer” claims could upend the franchise business model and prompt some brands to leave the state altogether.

Meanwhile, another board of unelected officials continues to wreak havoc on California’s trucking industry. The California Air Resources Board (CARB), which determines emission standards in California, is comprised of 16 members appointed mostly by the governor. In just a few short months on Jan. 1, 2023, nearly one-quarter of trucks serving Los Angeles-area ports will be prohibited from entering the gates when the latest round of CARB rules banning engines older than 2010 could sideline 80,000 trucks in California. Because of manufacturing shortages due to the pandemic, the dearth of new trucks being produced makes it almost impossible for fleets to comply by the deadline.

If CARB doesn’t put truckers out of business, Assembly Bill 5 will. Now in effect on the trucking industry after ongoing legal challenges came to an end this June, the anti-freelancer law AB 5 applies to 70,000 independent owner-operator truckers who can no longer conduct business as independent contractors in the state of California.

The double whammy of CARB regulations and AB 5 on trucking can be traced to cronyism at the Capitol. The author of AB 5, former San Diego Assemblywoman Lorena Gonzalez, recently accepted a position as leader of the powerful California Labor Federation representing 2,100 unions. Not coincidentally, Gonzalez’s husband Nathan Fletcher served on CARB from 2019 to 2022, appointed by Gov. Newsom during the height of Gonzalez’s destructive AB 5 policymaking.

Since its passage in Sept. 2019, AB 5 has shattered the careers of hundreds of thousands of independent contractors across a vast array of professions — everyone from transcriptionists, performing artists and pharmacists to forensic nurses, mall Santas, music therapists, translators, video journalists and tutors. Now that the U.S. Supreme Court has declined to hear the California Trucking Association’s lawsuit against AB 5, more job destruction is on the way, threatening the already-tenuous supply chain.

Whether banning independent contracting, banning pre-2010 trucks, banning gas-powered lawn equipment used by gardeners and landscapers, or banning the sale of new gas-powered cars by 2035, California state lawmakers just can’t keep their laws off our livelihoods. The heavy-handedness of their decisions fails to take into account the economic realities for the average small-business owner or solo-preneur. On this Labor Day, Sacramento should instead start focusing on retaining small businesses in the state rather than creating barriers and burdens that are bankrupting the working class.

****************************************

What is really frustrating is that the governor keeps coming out with ideas like mandating purchasing of electric cars (which the majority of Californians can’t afford) and then mandating “everything” be carbon neutral and, oh, by the way we don’t have the electric grid or infrastructure to support all of his mandates.  And then he wonders why there is a mass exodus from our state to places that are more business friendly with lower taxes.  Duh!

Seems to me California is well on the way to repeat the “brain-dead” High Speed Rail System which has wasted Tens of Billions of Dollars and never hauled a single passenger a single mile…….  and likely never will.  For a history of this doomed project use the article search box on the left and type in: California’s High Speed Rail 2.0 and hit enter or simply go to:

www.stoppullingthewagon.com/?s=high+speed+rail     

for a series of articles on this “boon-doggle”.

Karen Anderson is right:  ‘California state lawmakers just can’t keep their laws off our livelihoods’

Bob Bandy – September 2022

SITUATION ETHICS IN MATTERS OF TRUST

August 17, 2022 By: bob Category: Culture, In the News, On Bob's Mind, Something To Think About

Christopher Wray – Director FBI

 

TRUST IS A FRAGILE THING

ONCE BROKEN IT CAN ONLY BE REPAIRED WITH GREAT EFFORT

 

I heard the phrase “Situation Ethics” the other day in reference to Mr. Wray and others in the current Administration and it got me to thinking. 

I wanted to know the definition and so decided to Google the phrase.

I found that the term is a noun defined as:  “The doctrine of flexibility in the application of moral laws according to circumstances.”

That definition either sounds sort of “snake oil salesman” slippery or an attempt to put lipstick on saying its okay to be dishonest and lie when it suits your agenda.

I would define it as having a standard of personal integrity that is negotiable depending on the current circumstances.  Or, in other words, a set of core values that are “for sale” at the right price.

I remember as a boy that my father told me “Always remember that you can’t be a little bit dishonest any more than you can be a little bit pregnant.  You are either honest or you are not.  Be honest.”  I don’t think my father was referring to being personally honest in terms of “Situation Ethics”.  

I don’t know, but I would suppose that there is not a one of us who has not at some time (to our regret) told a lie or at least “fudged the truth” when we found ourselves in either an embarrassing or dangerous situation.  I know that I have,  am not proud of the fact, learned from it and made a decision not to do so in the future.  Still, the temptation will always be there.  Human nature.

If a child gets caught with their hand in the cookie jar and lies about it, we usually forgive them and try to use the incident as a teaching moment.

When an adult does this in the family or a tight knit group we become less forgiving and continued lying can lead to that individual being shunned, even ostracized or banned from the family or group.

A business that practices “Situation Ethics” will find itself losing customers and frequently either out of business or bankrupt.

When this happens in the public arena governments that utilize “Situation Ethics” lose the trust and support of the very people they are supposed to be serving and finds they must resort to totalitarian means to enforce their will on subjects who are no longer willing or participating citizens but unhappy and unwilling drones that despise being ruled as serfs.

The fundamental problem with “Situation Ethics”  is that when caught lying you lose credibility and any organization you represent also loses credibility.  After being caught in a lie, every time you make a statement after that, listeners wonder if it is another lie or not.  It is hard to build back trust. As more lies are told, building back trust becomes impossible.

At this time in our history there is a sizeable, perhaps plurality, of United States citizens that no longer trust our government to be truthful and honest in dealing with them.  It does not matter whether you agree or disagree with them,  their feelings of fear and distrust of government are genuine and many fear government agencies that they previously held in respect.  

You cannot legislate or buy trust.  It must be earned and maintained with trustworthy conduct and practices.

Bob Bandy – August 2022

 

 

MOTHER OF ALL CONSPIRACIES – X2

August 05, 2022 By: bob Category: Culture, Humor, In the News, On Bob's Mind, Something To Think About

 

I seem to be in a retrospective period at this time and with all the madness and destruction coming out of both Washington D C and Sacramento, California I find myself looking back to a time when I saw more humor in the “Tragi-Comedy” chaos being imposed on our lives by our “leaders”. 

I also get requests from readers to republish “favorite” articles from the past that are still relevant today.  The following is a piece I wrote some 11+ years ago in an attempt to provide some humor to salve the pain of the damage being done by those we elect to “protect & serve” us in public office.  

SOMETIMES SATIRE IS MORE INSTRUCTIVE THAN ANGER

*****************************

MOTHER OF ALL CONSPIRACIES

If  I wanted to destroy the United States economy and impoverish its citizens here is what I would do in five steps:

Step 1.  I would seek out and recruit incompetent people to infiltrate and take charge of our government.  Next, I would split them into two groups, which I will call, lets see, how about “Congress” and “Administration”.  The folks chosen  need not be co-conspirators,  just big spenders with big egos and no common sense.  All of these folks would be given unlimited borrowing and spending  power and the bills would be sent to the taxpayers.

Step 2.  I would have laws and regulations passed to make it nearly impossible for any individual or company to drill, mine, extract or in any way acquire any of the natural resources we need as a nation, within the physical boundaries or territorial waters of the United States.  All such needed materials would be required to be imported, preferably from countries not friendly to us.  This would be done in the name of protecting the environment.

Step 3.  I would have the government pass laws and regulations to punish hard work and financial success either by individuals or companies with a combination of regulations, fees and  confiscatory taxes.    For whatever “profits” were left over after the fees and taxes were paid I would unleash packs of morally bankrupt, ravenous Trial Lawyers to file endless lawsuits and litigation.   This would encourage any individual or company to move production (and jobs) out of the U.S. to places with more friendly environments to manufacturing and employers.

Step 4.  I would have “my” government reward laziness, incompetence and failure with government handouts, grants, promotions, do nothing projects and various “freebies”.  These same people could later be hired into government make work  jobs in a variety of government agencies and departments  where nothing useful or productive is accomplished or expected.   That way they could continue to get paid for producing nothing and retire to fat lifetime pensions and benefits .  They would fit right in.

Step 5.  I would make sure the government kept increasing the national debt to the point that even paying the interest on the debt became impossible.  They could then destroy any remaining wealth in the country by hyper-inflating the currency,  just as Germany did following World War I.   In Germany at that time it got to the point that it took a wheelbarrow full of money to buy a loaf of bread.  For a more recent example one need only look to Zimbabwe where inflation reached 79600000000% per month in just the last couple of years. 

What’s that you say?   I’m too late?  Somebody stole my idea? 

(From February 2011)

Bob Bandy – August 2022