GOV. SNYDER: Bills on abortion...

Michigan governor Rick Snyder signed a bill that would regulate abortion clinics and he vetoed a bill that would prevent private health insurers from providing abortion coverage as a normal part of their insurance policies.

I have always said that I support Rick Snyder because I consider him to be the best Michigan governor for our time; he is not a politician but a businessman who looks at issues in an objective way that normal politicians can never do because they are tied to their party ideology making them incapable of using common sense.

I was disappointed that he signed the bill saddling abortion clinics with more regulations that the Republicans passed in a never ending battle to ban all abortions which are legal and the law of the land. But on reading the actual law, I can see where Snyder did not think that the bill would prohibit abortions from being performed and may actually make things a little safer for the women seeking abortions.

My disappointment was tempered somewhat when I read that he had vetoed the law which would make Blue Cross/Blue Shield a “regular” medical insurer that paid taxes which they have not in the past because they were deemed “the insurer of last resort” which meant they had to offer medical insurance to anybody and everybody that requested it.

Why did Snyder veto a bill that he actually inspired and promoted? Well, the idiot Republicans in their quest to hinder abortion rights added a paragraph to the bill that would have prevented all private medical insurers from offering abortion coverage as part of their regular policies; they could offer abortion coverage only as a “special” rider that the insured would have to request at additional cost.

The fact that he vetoed the bill that he basically asked for because of that controversial and idiotic anti-abortion add-on makes me respect his judgment even more. He truly is a man of the people and for the people and not a politician representing only narrow interest groups.

A MOVIE FOR OUR TIMES...

Just saw a great FOREIGN movie called “IN A BETTER WORLD” which dealt with violence, turning the other cheek, revenge and when using violence is actually the proper thing to do.

This is a powerful movie regarding teaching our kids about the violent world we live in and how to cope with it.

In light of the Connecticut massacre, this may be a good movie to watch.

ARM TEACHERS?

Michigan Governor Rick Snyder vetoed a bill that would allow “highly trained” people to carry concealed weapons in schools and churches.

His veto was no doubt prompted by the massacre of school kids and teachers in Connecticut.

But taking emotion out of the argument for one minute, does banning concealed weapons in schools and churches help protect students and parishioners or leave them unprotected.

I don’t see a problem of training teachers in using firearms which they could store locked in their classrooms; at least when they heard shots ring out, they would not be just sitting ducks but could protect their kids.

You notice that as soon as the shooter hears cops coming after him, he commits suicide. Knowing teachers are armed might dissuade him all together from entering a school to shoot innocent kids and teachers.

I know this is starting to sound like a Wild West movie but what we are dealing with is our modern reality, something my generation never had to go through; all we had were nuns with rulers.

I know that banning assault weapons would help and so would very strict background checks but here, the shooter’s mother purchased the guns and took her sons to a practice range knowing full well that one of her sons was a mental case…how do you prevent that?

I think it is about time we started thinking outside the box and start thinking logically how best to protect our kids and trained, armed teachers is not so crazy as it first sounds.

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POPE BENEDICT'S Bah Humbug Christmas message...

Pope Benedict XVI said that gay marriage poses a threat to ‘Justice & Peace’ in the world whatever the hell that means.

In his annual Christmas address, the pope said that gay marriage is unnatural and against human nature and constitutes an offense against the truth of the human person. He also added that gay marriage destabilizes the role of marriage in our society.

Pope Benedict is an expert on marriage, sex and procreation and what is natural and normal in our world and what is not but he refuses to look in the mirror and see what is truly unnatural and abnormal.

Benedict refuses to acknowledge that homosexuality is a product of nature or if you prefer, a creation of God and since God only creates good things then what is your problem?

Yes, a gay union is unnatural in the sense that procreation cannot occur but nature is well known to create creatures that are now extinct because they were created with flaws that doomed them to an early extinction and there are thousands upon thousands of examples.

Fortunately, humans have learned to adapt and so too have gay humans. Gay adoptions are on the rise and for that you need a stable relationship which translates into a committed marriage and that has to be good and in the best interest of our society.

I was hoping that the pope’s Christmas message was more in the spirit of Christmas which is inclusion and not exclusion, love and happiness to all in this season of joy…but alas all we get from the pope is Baaaah Humbug!

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NEWTOWN: Thoughts...

Our brains are very powerful organs. When healthy, they can be responsible for so much good in the world, when sick they can lead to unspeakable acts against humanity.

The Newtown massacre was such an unspeakable act that our own brains tried to shield us from an unfathomable reality by blocking our ability to even process what has happened.

There for a while, my wife and I talked about turning off the TV as the images and information became too much to bear.

My grandson Ben is 6 and the thought of him being in a similar situation is not permitted by my brain as a protective measure.

After each gun tragedy, the talk of gun regulation is brought up but there is no easy answer here because ultimately we cannot in reality ban all guns as evidenced by countries that have tried to. The newer argument about guns is that if more people carried them, maybe we could prevent some of these gun tragedies.

I do not have an answer but I do know that there are some things that could be done to minimize this problem.

One is to require extensive background checks on individuals that want to purchase weapons especially in cases of mental illness or instability. This is probably impossible because one would need a mental health data base where each individual being treated for mental instability would be registered…like a sex offender listing.

Another, more doable step, is to ban all “assault” weapons and all large ammo clips. Assault weapons are really only adult toys macho men need to satisfy their combat fantasies.

Protecting one’s home and family is of paramount importance but you don’t need a 50 caliber machine gun to do that.

Here in Michigan, our legislature just passed a law allowing people to carry concealed weapons even in where weapons were banned such as schools and stadiums. To get permission to carry a CW, one would have to undergo extensive training in the safe use of these weapons…our governor has not yet signed the law but said he would review the law’s implications in light of the Newtown tragedy.

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RIGHT-TO-WORK: Union violence...

There was one disturbing aspect to the union protest against Right-to-Work legislation and that is the role of VIOLENCE that seems to always be a part of union protests and strikes.

Democrats arguing against the legislation in the legislative chambers kept repeating that THERE WILL BE BLOOD.

Outside, unionists punched people opposing them and ripped down signs and a tent belonging to groups for the right to work legislation. Caught on cameras were unionists threatening people with violence and screaming at them as if they were in some kind of frenzy.

Unions have had their share of violence throughout the years as have employers. But in modern times, it is the unions that bully and intimidate people into signing union pledge cards in attempts to physically force unionization on workers that do not want to be represented by a union.

Looking at the protesters act like wild animals makes those watching all this on TV realize what some unions are all about and how out of touch with modern reality they are; they are still living in the 30s, 40s and 50s.

Union ugliness was on full display during the Lansing protests which is not winning them any new supporters…

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RIGHT-TO-WORK: Facts 1...

Well now that Michigan is a Right-to-Work state, lets talk about what that really means and forget about the total bullshit screamed by very angry union workers who were either badly misled by their union bosses or just want to believe things that are just not true.

1.                    The law does NOT bust unions. Unions have a legal right to exist and to collectively bargain with employers for workers that are members of the union, , just like they always have so nothing changes.

2.                   The one big change is that under the law, workers can refuse to join a union and/or refuse to have dues taken out of their wages by the unions.

3.                   Unions say that this creates “free riders” which are workers that don’t pay dues to the union but enjoy the benefits the union provides for them through collective bargaining such as higher wages and various benefits.

4.                  This is best answered by actual union members who support Right-to-Work laws. These union members say that unions in “closed shops” where every worker HAS to join the union, have no reason to listen to individual workers about what they want in the working place because the workers have no choice but to be in the union.

5.                   The rationale of the Right-to-Work law gives each worker a choice whether to join or support a union if that union is not working in the worker’s best interest. This freedom to choose will make unions way more responsive to worker needs than they have been in the past.

6.                  Statistics show that in Right-to-Work states, 75% of workers who have a choice about joining a union do.

7.                   Many union workers do not like the lavish spending of their dues on perks for union bosses. Or they don’t like the union using their dues to politically support people the workers do not support. Now their voices will be heard because they have a choice!

8.                  How does this law affect the way unions have operated in Michigan in the past? Well for one, the unions will be way more sensitive to their member’s needs, wants and opinions. Union bosses now may be limited as to their political agenda with workers not wanting their dues going for politics they may not agree with or for politics at all instead wanting their dues money saved in case of a strike or for worker benefits.

9.                  I don’t think there will be any dramatic change to the labor field here in Michigan. The United Auto Workers have a long history here (birthplace) and things will remain status quo but I will be watching with interest how this law affects all the other unions and if there will be competition between unions for members or even within unions themselves.

10.                More later…

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