Stephen Martino

As the Occupy Wall Street movement of hippies is coming to a well overdo demise, these same people are now turning their attention to fast food restaurants. On their website it reads the following:
Rise Up New York! Smash Austerity! Support Workers! The article had the above picture along side of it. Call me a little paranoid but doesn’t their slogans and the picture have a strikingly similarity to the slogans and pictures of the 1917 Russian Bolshevik Revolution led by Lenin? Well if it doesn’t, it should.

Now the Occupy Wall Street movement has turned their misguided attention and communistic diatribe to the fast food industry. Calling for a living wage, they demand fast food companies increase their minimal wage from 7.25 up to 14 or 15 dollars. Emotionally, I hope one day all people can earn a livening wage. Rationally, what I know that these people in the Occupy Wall Street movement fail to realize, is that such a rise would essentially bankrupt all small business.

You may scoff at this statement, but crunch some of these numbers. I will low ball it. Say McDonalds is open 16 hours a day and has on average 6 employees there at a time. It would be an increase of 7 dollars an hour X 16 hours X 6 employees = 672 dollars a day. Then you times that by 363 days open and you have a total of $243,936 dollars per year.

Because the profit margins are relatively low for fast food restaurants, there is not much room to make up the difference. Fast food comes cheap and for a reason. The only way they would be able to pay 15 dollars an hour is if they raised their prices. And if they did that, no one would go there- especially when the hot ticket items exclusively come off the dollar menu.

Plus, who would have to make up the quarter of a million dollar increase in expenses? The answer is, the owner of the local McDonalds chain. And I can tell you that if that owner received a pay cut of a quarter of a million dollars, they would be bankrupt. Then, they would have to shut down their store and not ever open a new one. And where does that leave all those employed by that McDonalds or the possible future employees if the owner opens up a few more restaurants? It leaves them unemployed. Also, not to point out the elephant in the room, but who is going to pay all their health benefits once Obamacare comes into play? Money doesn’t grow on trees.

You want a true American solution to the problem and not another socialistic/communist approach that raises taxes or makes running a business no longer profitable? How about the government make proper monetary incentives for the business owner to raise the employees’ income and start new businesses. Instead of making the economic burden always on the entrepreneur or tax payer, give that person financial incentives to raise their employees pay and grow their business. That’s how the government can help. That’s why Obama’s plans are all failures and the Occupy Wall Street movement has no legitimacy- because neither understand how the real world works!

I’d like to add onto the post that I wrote yesterday and ask the question, “Are we doing more harm than good in the Middle East?”. The answer over the 2 years seems to be a resounding no. Yes, we have made great strides in both Iraq and Afghanistan. And yes, our returning military say they have been seeing a significant amount of good being done in those countries. When President Bush went in there was a clear policy, goal and directives to our military presence.

And then came Obama with no consistent or even rational foreign policy. As I mentioned previously, Egypt was and is a failure. However, what people don’t know the continuing disaster unfolding in Libya. Nor do most realize the gravity of the situation in that country or the high potential of an exact same  scenario unfolding in Syria if we intervene. The following was an article I just read on the Drudge Report:

A little under two years ago, Philip Hammond, the Defense Secretary, urged British businessmen to begin “packing their suitcases” and to fly to Libya to share in the reconstruction of the country and exploit an anticipated boom in natural resources.Yet now Libya has almost entirely stopped producing oil as the government loses control of much of the country to militia fighters.

It just dawned on me yesterday that during the first month of Obama’s ignominious reign he won the esteemed Nobel peace Prize. I thought it was laughable back then but now I find it disgraceful.

To begin, let’s break down his Middle East Foreign policy. He came into office with the promise of getting us out of Iraq and ending the ongoing war in the Middle East. However, when the first test came to this policy during the Arab Spring in Egypt, we saw it almost immediately dissolve. Muhammad Hosni El Sayed Mubarak was our ally that we’ve been giving billion of dollars to each and every year. He was also the leader with peace agreement with Israel, and tensions between the two countries were at an all time low. Plus and more importantly, we had him under control. Then, an uprising came about and instead of supporting our ally of many years, we supported the rebels- many of whom were our enemies? We then went on to legitimize Morsi and the Muslim Brotherhood as he brought in terrorists and raped the country of its wealth and morality. Now that Arab Spring has turned into a disaster as poverty and death run ramped in that impoverished country.

Next came Libya. I’m not saying Muammar Gaddafi was a good guy by any means. However, we had him under control and he willingly gave up his weapons of mass destruction. Then, when another rebel group wanted to seize power, we again chose not to endorse the man who we had under our belt. Now, Libyans suffer from ongoing violence, with tribal clashes, deadly attacks on foreign diplomatic missions and international organizations, the destruction of Sufi religious sites, kidnappings for financial and political reasons, and targeted killings of former Gaddafi security officers. Non-Libyans from sub-Saharan Africa face arrests, beatings, and forced labor. Plus, the Libyan jihadist militia known as Ansar al-Sharia was blamed for the attack on the American consulate in Benghazi on September 11th that led to the death of the American ambassador.

Now is Syria we again want to intervene. Plus, Syria poses absolutely no threat to American security and has the potential to erupt into a major international crisis. Has two failures not taught us anything? Have we not learned that we don’t know who the good guys verse the bad one ones are? Does anybody realize that we have done more to empower our enemies in Middle East than stabilize the situation or help our allies. Has anybody seen the signs in the US army which state that they didn’t enlist to fight a Syrian civil war?

In summary, you can all plainly see that Obama’s Middle East foreign policy has turned into a nightmare- destabilizing the region, empowering the terrorists and costing countless lives. Good job Nobel Peace Prize winner!

I think this drawing adequately sums up Obama’s Middle East policy

Thank God somebody talked sense into Obama. The following was just released by the AP:

WASHINGTON (AP) — President Barack Obama says he has decided that the United States should take military action against Syria in response to a deadly chemical weapons attack.
But he says he will seek congressional authorization for the use of force.
He says congressional leadership plans to hold a debate and a vote as soon as Congress comes back in September.

This solution is a simple and efficient way for an egotist like Obama to save face. Though he still looks like a complete ass and warmonger, this decision allows his ego not to be harmed. It’s sad to say that is the truth. It was never about teaching Syria a lesson, removing some presumed weapons of mass destruction, keeping us out of an other war in the Middle East or possible starting an international crisis across the globe. It was all about obama and his narcissistic ego. It’s a pitiful situation when the fate of possibly the entire world rests upon obama’s self-centered shoulders.

When you think out it, isn’t ironic how the tides have turned. Now, Obama and the democrats are calling for war based upon suspect evidence when a few years ago they were crucifying President Bush for the same thing. Hyporacy runs wild.

I’m not writing this post to defend Bashar al-Assad, nor am I writing this post to expound upon all the qualities of life the Syrian people enjoy under Assad’s leadership. Truthfully, I think he is as crazy as Hussein (not Hussein Obama), Mahmoud Ahmadinejad and all of the leaders and former leaders in the Middle East. Why I am writing this is to question the rationale for any military action against Syria.

First of all, the premise for the strike is that Assad allegedly used chemical weapons on his own people. Yet, the UN inspectors have yet to finish their report or come to any conclusion. However, when you look at the facts, the alleged chemicals behind the Aug. 21 attack that killed up to 1,300 Syrians could not have been weapons-grade material from the Russians. If it were, the entire area would be vacated and no life could survive there for months, if not longer. With that obvious conclusion reached, you may ask yourself that if chemical weapons were used, what type would they be. The answer is that they would be certain unstable, and difficult to manufacture chemicals that quickly degrade and lose their efficacy rapidly. Such a gas would be similar to, if not the same as the Sarin gas that was used in Japan. We can remember how quickly the gas degraded and how the amount of carnage was minimal as compared to a weapons-grade gas attack.

However, let me step back a second. We also must ask if the pictures of the carnage is real or not. It seems reasonable to ask, especially if we are ready to start possible a world war over it. Remember the alleged Syrian massacre in Houla that turned out to be a 2003 picture taken in Iraq? Or how about the other alleged massacre in the Sunni Muslim village of Tremseh? That one also turned out to be a scam. Those that were killed were “rebels” organized by the CIA and NATO to overthrow the al-Assad regime and were killed by the Syrian Army. So after 2 false alarms, why do now want to commit ourselves to another military action when we still have no proof of the authenticity of this massacre? And Obama said President Bush was a war monger.

Also, you must ask yourselves, “Who could have access to non-weapons grade chemical weapons?”. Could it be another NATA/CIA backed group of rebels attempting to perpetrate an atrocity in order to incite a US attack against Syria? Could it be a Muslim Brotherhood backed group of rebels who also wanted to commit a chemical atrocity in order to incite American intervention and march in amongst the political instability? It’s not like we don’t have convincing evidence that show different rebel groups with these suspected chemical (wait, we do). Both of these explanation are at least a thousand times more plausible than Assad using chemical weapons on his own people. With so much to lose, and with different rebel factions having so much to win, it seems more than reasonable to believe that if chemical weapons were used, they did not come from Assad.

So now the final question, after all this evidence, is, “Why does Obama want to attack Syria?”. It seems absolutely illogical that Obama would want to attack Syria- especially after he and Biden vehemently condemned any military use by President Bush. Is it because Obama’s ego is at stake after he drew an arbitrary red line in the sand? Is it because he wants to flex his muscles? Is it because he is really just a puppet who is being controlled by higher forces? Or is it because he is similar to all the other egotistical, narcissistic socialist dictators in the 20th Century who wanted to expand their power and influence unsuccessfully all over the world?

I don’t have the answer.

TO ALL GOOD DEMOCRATS, THE FOLLOWING FACTS ARE TRUE.  SEE HOW YOU CAN
SPIN THEM TO MAKE YOU AND THAT PRESIDENT LOOK GOOD.

Let me introduce you all to a wonderful State with ZERO Republicans:

1. There are more people on Welfare in Illinois than there are people
working.
2. Chicago pays the highest wages to teachers than anywhere else in the
U.S. averaging $110,000/year.
3. Their pensions average 80-90% of their income. You can’t blame that on
republicans because there aren’t any.
4. Body count: In the last six months 292 killed (murdered) in Chicago .
221 killed in Iraq AND Chicago has one of the strictest gun laws in the
entire US.
5. Here’s the Chicago chain of command:
. President: Barack Hussein Obama
. Senator: Dick Durbin
. House Representative: Jesse Jackson Jr.
. Governor: Pat Quinn
. House leader: Mike Madigan
. Atty. Gen.: Lisa Madigan (daughter of Mike)
. Mayor: Rohm Emanuel
. The leadership in Illinois – all Democrats.
. Thank you for the combat zone in Chicago .

6. Chicago school system rated one of the worst in the country.

7. State pension fund $78 Billion in debt, worst in country.
8. Cook County ( Chicago ) sales tax 10.25% highest in country.

9. George Ryan is no longer Governor, he is in the big house.
10. Of course he was replaced by Rob Blajegovitch who is…that’s right,
also in the big house.
11. And Representative Jesse Jackson Jr. resigned because he is fighting being sent to…that’s right, the big house.
12. The Land of Lincoln , where our governors make our license plates.

You can’t blame Republicans because there are none. But you know what? As long as they keep providing entitlements to the population of Chicago , nothing is going to change, except the state will go broke before the country does. “Any man who thinks he can be happy and prosperous by letting the Government take care of him; better take a closer look at the American Indian.”

Churches burn in Egypt. Christians are be paraded around the country and killed by armed militants. And you may ask: where is the cry for human rights? While we talk of invading Syria over chemical weapons, nothing is being done currently to stop the current persecution of Christians in Egypt. Most of the media remain silent as if nothing is happening. Worse yet, Christians have not united against this persecution occurring in the country. There is no excuse for what is happening over there, and we must all let the US government know our outrage over the situation and our outrage over their outright neglect of the entire incident. The following article summarizes the current state of affairs:

CAIRO (AP) – After torching a Franciscan school, Islamists paraded three nuns on the streets like “prisoners of war” before a Muslim woman offered them refuge. Two other women working at the school were sexually harassed and abused as they fought their way through a mob.

In the four days since security forces cleared two sit-in camps by supporters of Egypt’s ousted president, Islamists have attacked dozens of Coptic churches along with homes and businesses owned by the Christian minority. The campaign of intimidation appears to be a warning to Christians outside Cairo to stand down from political activism.

Christians have long suffered from discrimination and violence in Muslim majority Egypt, where they make up 10 percent of the population of 90 million. Attacks increased after the Islamists rose to power in the wake of the 2011 Arab Spring uprising that drove Hosni Mubarak from power, emboldening extremists. But Christians have come further under fire since President Mohammed Morsi was ousted on July 3, sparking a wave of Islamist anger led by Morsi’s Muslim Brotherhood.

Nearly 40 churches have been looted and torched, while 23 others have been attacked and heavily damaged since Wednesday, when chaos erupted after Egypt’s military-backed interim administration moved in to clear two camps packed with protesters calling for Morsi’s reinstatement, killing scores of protesters and sparking deadly clashes nationwide.

Obama legitimized Morsi and continued to fund his regime while they were actively recruiting terrorists from Afghanistan along with letting other terrorists out of prison. This is our president’s foreign policy! Morsi is letting terrorist out of jail and bringing more into the country that not only want to kill the Christians but also every American citizen! Plus, it’s our taxpayer dollar that has funded their weapons of war. We must stand up now and stop an end to the madness.

House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi brushed off questions about coming to Massachusetts Friday to appear alongside Rep. John Tierney even though he is the target of an ethics investigation. Pelosi made an appearance with Tierney, who represents the state’s 6th Congressional District, at a forum on economic issues for women in Beverly.

“Well, we have cleaned up Washington. We did. And now it has lapsed, but that’s not the point,” Pelosi said. “I want to go to your question. I’m here to stand with John Tierney and thank him for what he has done for our women’s economic agenda.”

What world does Pelosi live in? You talk about someone being out of touch with reality, that is her. She flies coast to coast each week, costing tax payers millions; yet, she speaks of austerity. She believes that she is the great uniter, but instead polarizes the parties. She touts all these remarkable deeds she has accomplished, yet she has done less than squat to help America. Remember, she the one who said, “Pass it to see what’s in it”. When I think of what’s wrong with America, I think of her. Here are a couple of my favorite quotes of her’s:

1. No Spending Problem Here

“It is almost a false argument to say we have a spending problem. We have a budget deficit problem that we have to address.”

2. Unemployment Creates Jobs

“[Unemployment benefits] creates jobs faster than almost any other initiative you can name.” Pelosi also said it has the “double benefit” of helping those who lost their jobs and acting as a “job creator” on the side.

3. Health Independence?

“This week marks one year since the Supreme Court upheld the Affordable Care Act. It captures the spirit of our founders. The spirit they wrote in the Declaration of Independence.”

4. Obamacare Allows People to Quit Their Day-Jobs

“Think of an economy where people could be an artist or a photographer or, eh, a writer without worrying about keeping their day job in order to have health insurance, or that people could start a business and be entrepreneurial and take risk but not [be] job-locked because a child has asthma or someone in the family is bipolar. You name it. Any condition is job-blocking.”

5. Obamacare is Slashing Deficits

“Many of the initiatives that he passed are what are coming to bear now — including the Affordable Care Act,” Pelosi said. “The Affordable Care Act is bringing the cost of health care in our country down in both the public and private sector, and that is what is largely responsible for the deficit coming down.” The Affordable Care Act is already three times original cost estimates at $2.7 trillion over ten years and will add $6.2 trillion to the long-term debt.

Plus, don’t forget that Pelosi believes abortion is sacred because of her Catholic Religion. Maybe she’s attending mass with Obama at Reverend White’s church? The bottom line is that the democrats have been hijacked by lunatics like Pelosi and are leading America down the path to destruction. With the thought processes like the examples given, no wonder why our country is doing so poorly.

If you have not read the story, a decorated and wounded WW II vet by the name of Delbert Belton was beaten by 2 African American men and left for dead.

Where is Obama’s outrage? Where is his plea to the use to stop violence and maybe stay in school? Where is the media outrage? Hey, that guy could be me when I’m almost 90. The truth is that is not their agenda. If Obama and people like Sharpton wanted to reconcile race relations, he would have said something. Instead, they want to fuel the fire and keep us divided. In order for Obama’s revolution to take place, he must first divide the country before he takes it over.

If all the media and Obama had any credibility, they would comment on this situation. Better than that, they could use this horrible event to bring the country together. They could call on the youth to be better people and to end the violence. They would stand up for this American hero and publicly say that his beating and slaughter is not only an offense to this vet but also a slap in the face to America. You hurt a vet, you hurt America. They are the reason we are all here, not speaking German or writing Russian. They have protected our freedom and the American way.

However, the truth is that Obama never liked America or its history. Vets to him are people who upheld the despicable, American history to which he loathes. He hates what they stand for and the country they represent. When people come to that realization, they will finally understand at least one of the reasons Obama remains silent of this pertinent issue. But when you really think of it, how can a man who hates America be in his second term as president? Sad days are ahead of us.