No More Mr. Nice Guy

Being Nice Didn't Work

Up to this point I've been docile and polite in my vocal disdain and disgust for the shitheads running and ruining our country. It's not just those smiling political whores fucking things up. 

Be forewarned if you are prone to fits, convulsions, vomiting, or seizures upon reading colorful wording or about shit you didn't know, didn't think, or had hoped was not real. 

My generation fucked up every segment of our society and We the People are running out of time to peacefully regain control and fix it. We have not yet reached that tipping point, but it ain't gonna magically happen - We the People can no longer passively watch from the sidelines.

Too Much Money in Politics? What are you doing about it?

If you and the majority of Americans believe there is too much money in politics, why do we only complain? We continue to vote against the least-worst Corporate Candidate when we can vote FOR someone we want! Voting against someone is not the same as for someone. While the person you vote FOR may not win, you're exercising your right to vote for someone you want.

Would You Rather Spend Three Billion Tax dollars, or Seven Billion Tax Dollars

In 2013 We the People paid $7 Billion Fighting Afghanistan's Opium Trade

Afghanistan's opium trade generated $3 billion, most of which went to insurgents and terrorists. Is it me, or would it have been cheaper if we had simply paid and protected the Afghan poppie growers to grow something else?

Dear America, I apologize for Rick Scott and Charlie Crist

Dear America, Please Accept My Apology

Dear America,
    Please do not judge us Floridians on the debate by Governor Rick Scott and ex-Governor Charlie Crist. These are simply the two people that our media machines have chosen as candidates for governor. I’m sure you understand.
    Including me, Florida has nine additional candidates running for governor. Unlike Rick and Chuck, we have chosen not to pay Media Inc. millions in exchange for their exposure. The bottom line is that Media Inc. is simply exercising its capitalistic Quid pro quo muscle. Why would they pay a reporter to interview a non-revenue producing candidate when they can earn a massive 1,000-to-1 return on their investment by sending a reporter to a gala sponsored by Corporate Candidates?
    As a candidate, I questioned a political reporter from the Miami Herald about gaining  their exposure, he replied that, “We cover news people will read. Long shot candidates who don’t make news don’t make for good reading. It’s a decision rooted in writing stories people read, not protecting a certain corporation or special interest.”
    So I guess a “long shot candidate” is not determined by their qualifications, but by how much news they make and revenue they generate for the media’s advertising department. Apparently, the sales pitch for a media approved candidate is, In exchange for piles and piles of non-traceable cash, you qualify for our First Tier Candidate Coverage. You cannot be turned down. But hurry, this is a limited time offer and our top tier openings go fast. Rest assured that the bigger your pile, the higher you will climb.
    There you have it America. We Floridians are as disgusted with the media’s choices for our governor as you are with your "choice" of candidates. 
In November, We the People have an opportunity to regain control of our nation. I will not be voting against Rick Scott. And I will not be voting against Charlie Crist. I will be exercising my right to vote for the person of my choice. I will be voting for myself.
    When was the last time you voted for someone and not against someone?
   
    Keith Stegath – www.fla-gov.org
    Gainesville, FL

The Super Rich Trend Began with the Me, me, me, mine, mine, mine Reagan Admin

So, When Did the Crazy Super Rich Trend Begin?

When Does $105 million Equal "Hundreds of Millions"?

AT&T to Pay $105 Million for Bogus Charges

Apparently our Federal Trade Commission (FTC) thinks that their settlement of $105M against AT&T will deter similar big businesses from bilking us for bogus charges. In the the AT&T case, customers were bilked for "hundreds of millions" of dollars in bogus charges, and settled for a "hefty $105 million".

I'm not an accountant (but I did stay at a Holiday Inn), but if they stole "hundreds of millions" from us, it seems like they should have to pay us "hundreds of millions". Plus a fine. Plus adjust for the rate of inflation.

Is, "Because We Can", a Good Reason?

Just Because We can do Something, Does Not Mean We Should

I'm all for science and technology, but sometimes we need to ask, "Just because we can do xxxxxxxx, does not mean we should".

1. Recently a woman gave birth after she underwent a womb transplant. I'm sure this was exciting for the mother, father, family, and doctors, but I wouldn't call it science, technology, lifesaving, or useful. It was a mechanical process with a little bit of chemistry to keep her body from rejecting the foreign object (another person's womb). 
2. Male or Female Infertility - this opinion will not go over well, but... Unless the infertility was caused by physical trauma, the reason someone is infertile is a genetic defect. While I have great compassion for the infertile person, (here we go) artificially creating a person passes the defective genes into the human gene pool. And (more facts) ... weakens the human gene pool. It's called Natural Selection and Survival of the Fittest. With the number of adoptable children throughout the world, I don't think infertility is the problem
3. 
   

Climate Denier Contract

Climate Change Deniers Should Sign a Contract

It's time for the Rush Limbaughs, Marco Rubios... to show their true colors and conviction against climate change. They need to swear an Oath on the life of their children and grandchildren and sign a legally binding contract that effectively states:

I,_____________________, agree that my Last Will and Testament and Family Trust Fund will be amended and all my worldly belongings will go to ______________ upon scientific proof that the Atlantic Ocean has risen at least _____ inches on January 1, 2030.

Furthermore, I will:

_____  Relinquish my US citizenship
_____  Live outside the US for the remainder of my life
_____  Forfeit the life of my wife
_____  Forfeit the life of my husband
_____  Forfeit the life of my children
_____  Forfeit the life of my grandchildren


 Legal stuff, blah, blah, blah

Notary Signature____________________

Signed ________________________

Print ______________________         Date: __________

Obama Could Force Congress to get off its Ass

We the People need to Stop this Train Wreck

Sometimes the best option to stopping an impending train wreck, is to derail the train.  That's the state of our nation - We the People can be victims and passively watch as events happen to us, or We the People can have some control of where, when, and how far down the pit our nation declines.

We the People are in trouble and we're running out of time to regain control of our nation. The longer We the People wait to derail this train wreck, the harder it will be for We the People to recover.

Our Prison Disaster

For $30,000 a Year, We Need to get More for Our Money

Our prison system (like most things in our country) is a mess and it costs us a fortune with little/nothing to show for our investment in the people we imprison. Long prison sentences for drug offenses, especially users and non-violent crimes, should not occur - it is useless and expensive.

The focus of our prisons should not be to simply lock someone away. We cannot lock someone up for years (decades) and expect them to magically become a functioning member of the outside world. We spend $30,000 a year for each prisoner, so we should insure that when they are released they have the skills and knowledge that enable them to choose if they want to move forward with their life, or return to the same behavior that sent them to jail/prison. Currently, released prisoners have little if any new skills that prevent them from falling backwards.

I believe that a very small step is to allow all prisoners vote. To become a contributing member of our society (the outside world), they need to feel that they are member. There is massive resistance to change - entire communities are built around the prison industry. To change opinions, we need to show the huge, and increasing, costs of doing nothing. We need to show that prison reform will improve our society.

I have researched the governors authority to reduce these ridiculously long prison sentences for drug and non-violent crimes and have not found any reason that prevents it. While there are tens-of-thousands of these cases in FL, I see no reason why they cannot be addressed quickly - a few months.

When is a Name a Name and not a Cult

They say ISIS, ISIL, Islamic State... I say Cult

For thousands of years the middle east has been in conflict. The new threat is a cult that believes it alone is The Islamic State.

Why are we so hung-up on the name? When was the last time you were fooled by someone claiming to be Jesus Christ? Did you call them "Jesus", or delusional/crazy/insane? Why are we so willing to accept that this new "Islamic" group is the real thing and not a cult of very disturbed people. We embolden this new cult when we refer to them by the name they choose. We should refer to them as CCSP - Cult of Crazy Stupid People.

For at least another 18 years, extremists in the middle east will claim to be the true followers of Islam. The only way we have of dealing with this nonsense is the same way we deal with weeds growing in our garden. It's an unfortunate analogy, but occasionally we pick the weeds or use weedkiller. The same will be true with extremists - there will be a sudden growth and we'll cut them back, sudden growth and cut back, sudden growth and cut back. If we do it right and catch it soon enough, each regrowth will be smaller than the previous.

Dear Teens, Twenty, Thirty and Forty Somethings,

I'm sorry my generation fucked-up our country.

Some of us (Fifty and Sixty Somethings) have been trying to fix this mess but we're running out of time and need your help.

Modern Marvels: "No Deposit, No Return" Simply Throw it Away.

Everything We Manufacture Contains Energy

When we bury an item we lose that energy. Plus, we use and lose the energy required to bury that item. With most containers and packaging (plastic, glass, metal, aluminum,...) we can recapture that energy. 

In the '60s, the beverage companies began advertising No Deposit, No Return. They had spent $ billions increasing the production efficiency of the container. 

The reason it is not "cost effective" to recycle is that very little money has been spent designing the machines needed to make it "cost effective and efficient." There is no incentive to spend $ billions when we can simply bury it.

**** News Flash **** It is Legal for Your Vote to be Ignored **** News Flash ****

It's official. If We the People write the name of who We the People want to elect, our vote may not be counted.

I'm not talking about writing in a vote for Micky Mouse (okay, I could discuss the benefits voting for this person (if Micky is a corporation) but I'm not). I'm talking about We the People writing the name of a real person We the People want to vote for.

The law makers of our state have decided that a person cannot decide to be a Write-in Candidate "late" in the election process - for this November's election that date was September 4.

This issue is not a discussion about a candidate's name being printed on a ballot. This is about writing the name of candidate that We the People want to elect.

So, if millions of Floridian's (perhaps a majority) join together and write-in my name, those votes will not be counted.

We the People aren't the Problem

We the People have become addicted to bashing the other side.

You know the feeling; someone voices an opinion different from yours and your anxiety rises. Your body's natural stress response kicks in and it's "Fight or Flight". If this were to occur occasionally, your body's response and brain-chemistry would quickly return to normal. But this isn't happening occasionally - it has been repeated hourly, day after day, for the past 20 years. Your body and brain-chemistry has not had time to return to normal, so now you have a "new normal" state.

Believe it or not, you've become addicted not to your opinion, but to one that's been pounded into your head day after day. 

We the People are being attacked, but not by each other. Our attackers have studied the science behind emotional addiction and desires. Our attackers must keep us distracted by feeding our addiction with repeated droning of their message.

We the People are not the problem.

Fix the Symptom or Fix the Problem

Politicians Continually Confuse a Symptom with a Problem

The debate over the medical marijuana Amendment 2 ignores the fact that a medical doctor must determine if a patient is qualified for the "prescription". All prescriptions for all drugs are the responsibility of the doctor. If the concern is doctor shopping or doctor's qualifying a patient for the mundane hangnail, that is a separate issue. 

As usual, the Corporate Politicians ruining our country confuse a symptom with a problem. Trying to fix the symptom is not the same as trying fix the problem.
Example: 

• The Symptom: Your leg hurts
• Our Politicians suggest to fix it with a pain reliever
• The Problem:   You fell out of a tree and broke you leg

Today's Quiz

Something to ponder

1) How much would you rather spend in a year to keep one person in prison?
      a) $2,700,000
      b) $75,000

2) What did We the People spend $454,000,000 on in 2013?
      a) Improving our public schools
      b) Maintaining secure room and board for 170 people

3) In 13 years, what did We the People buy with $5,232,000,000
      a) New shoes for natural disaster victims
      b) A prison system for 500 prisoners

4) The answer to each question is in reference to:
      a) Helping to feed and house homeless Americans
      b) The cost to We the People for the Guantanamo Bay military prison

Answers: a, b, b, b

Migrant Workers Hack into Computer at Home Depot

*****   News Flash  *****

Illegal Migrant Workers use Tomatoes to Hack Corporate Data Center

Gosh, who would have thought. 

Those geniuses ruining our country better start building more border fences and increase the number of border agents to prevent those South American children from hacking into our computer networks. 

Or is it the migrant workers using a tablet computer in a Florida tomato field who keep hacking our Corporate Data Centers?

Moving Florida Forward with Equal Pay for Equal Work

Equal Pay for Equal Work

1.  All businesses contracting with the State of Florida must sign an affidavit that they adhere to Equal Pay for Equal Work
2.  All publicly funded businesses must review and correct pay discrepancies. This includes universities, colleges, state and county and city commissions. Corrections will occur over a period of three months (maximum). This time period is based on the discrepancy and to lesson the burden for very large discrepancies.
3. Those organizations violating this ordinance will be held responsible and fined a rate higher than discrepancy
4. It is up the those experiencing unequal pay to come forward to the State of Florida - not to their employer.

The Plight of the Unknow Candidate - Why is Water Wet?

Candidate Name Recognition - Why is Water Wet? 

Mainstream media usually argues that the reason they don't cover less-known candidates is that they don't have name recognition. Umm, sure..... And the reason water is wet, is because it's water! 

Isn't the function of the media to inform its readers? 

For decades, We the People and the media have been complaining about our dysfunctional government and the method of campaigning. I find it disturbing and symptomatic of our nation's decline that the media has not figured out how to create a balanced (not biased) method of media exposure for the candidates and the campaigning process. As an engineer, I don't see it as a daunting challenge. 

Perhaps the reason lesser-known candidates don't get media exposure is simply that the media is a purely capitalistic business and it does not make sense for them to spread the word about candidates who don't have buckets of money? 
Between Scott and Crist, Florida's media consortium will take in $150,000,000. That is big money. 

I suspect the media feels as downtrodden and impotent as our huddled masses trying to fix this mess? Our country is running out of time to stop its continuing decline. If we don't start fixing problems faster than we create them, we will lose our status as an economic and technological leader. Once we lose that status, it will take generations before we regain our status. 
I believe the media must play a role in fixing our dysfunctional government and campaigning process. I believe it can do so without the suggestion of favoritism or endorsement of a candidate. If We the People want to fix this mess, we the need the media's help.

Canada, You Owe Us Big Time for Ted Cruz

The election is 2-1/2 months away. Why has the media declared the election over?

In some 21st century nations campaigning only last 4-6 weeks - weeks, not months or years. So what has led to our seeming inability to think and reason in real-time? Have we become so downtrodden that we can no longer imagine something better?

As a business owner, I would say that our "company's" morale is in the toilet. While our "company" hastens its decline, those in charge blame and purge those at the bottom.

If Scott is such a great business man and "job creator" why does our "company" have such anger, distrust, and hatred? It seems like he and the conservative talking heads prefer to foster our declining morale? Could it be they are distracting their followers so as to ignore the man pulling the levers behind the curtain?

Don't Simply Change Brands of Toilet Paper

Florida voters, while in the kitchen during a TV commercial break, do you find yourself suffering from uncontrollable dry-heaves when you hear the word "Scott" blaring from the television? And then discover that it's not a political ad, but a commercial for a brand of toilet paper? (Wait, do they have same purpose? I know,... cheap shot.)

Are you going to perpetuate the decline of our state (and nation) with a vote for Crist because Florida's current brand of toilet paper is too abrasive?

Courageous people take chances. Take a chance. Have you forgotten (or never experienced) what it is like to vote for someone you want, not against someone you don't?

In November, vote for who you want.

Ted Yoho's National Security Views are from the 20th Centruy

Like most of the technically challenged people ruining our nation, large animal veterinarian and Florida GOP representative Ted Yoho believes the biggest security threat facing our nation is our debt and protecting our borders.

Yoho's technical expertise, like 95% of those who keep getting elected, dates back 50 years, when high-technology was a color television.

The biggest threat face America is not our border security or our national debt. It is not terrorists capturing a nuclear bomb, a chemical bomb, or crashing planes into buildings. While these issues cause local disruption and destruction, they are not national issues. A chemical or nuclear bomb detonated in NY would cause massive local death and destruction, but what physical effects will occur in Ohio, Colorado, or California?

The biggest security threat facing our nation is a Cyber Attack.

Relatively speaking, the attacks and hacks we have experienced are little more than an annoyance. If you think that your experience with identity theft, a computer virus or having to wait a couple hours to read your email was a major attack, it wasn't. It was nothing more than a pinprick. For prospective on my view, I consider 911 to be nothing more than a bloody nose, and look what happened to our country!

If we continue to elect people who live in a 20th century world, a massive and well organized cyber attack will have the same effect on our nation as the destruction caused by the isolated bombing of Pearl Harbor.

As an engineer, I love bombs, boats, planes and missiles. They are impressive for physical attacks and destruction, but well-designed and placed computer viruses will render these billion dollar machines useless.

Political Inbreeding

Today's politicians are the result of too much inbreeding.

For centuries we have known that the spawn created from repeated mating between siblings weakens the species. 

When viewing the people ruining our nation from a scientific perspective, it would appear that we are witnessing the effect of a 40 year experiment where the male politicians have repeatedly bred among themselves.

If We the People are to end this perverted experiment, we must elect someone outside the diseased gene pool. 

In November's election, vote to end this failed experiment: Write the name: Keith Stegath

An Optimist, a Pessimist, and a Republican are Lost in the Desert

Suddenly, the optimist's eyes widen as he looks 20 yards ahead. Dust fly's as he scrambles to the object. Falling face first, he cradles the divine object between his hands.

- The optimist stands and looks back at the pessimist and 
republican. He beams as he holds the object above his head. "We're saved. We have a glass of water that is half-full."

- The pessimist doesn't bother crawling any further. With his face in the sand he croaks out, "We going to die. We won't make it to that bush with that half-empty glass of water."

- The republican leaves the pessimist behind, stumbles up to the optimist and stares at the glass with suspicion. The optimist gently places the glass of water in the hands of the republican. The republican carefully looks it over, examining nicks and chips.
"Bullshit" he says and dumps the water on the ground then smashes the glass on a rock.

- The jaws of both the optimist and the pessimist drop.

- The republican, looks at the two with contempt and disgust. "That was my glass and I can do with it whatever I want!"

Scott Lacks Insight

Scott Lacks Insight as He Tries to Fix Our Springs by Throwing Money at the Symptom
As a candidate, I find that Scott’s 10-year pledge of $500M for repairing our springs lacks insight; he is throwing money at the symptom, not the problem. If my house were flooding because of a massive hole in the roof, Scott would likely hire his friends to mop the floor and ignore the hole in the roof.

Like my flooding house, the degrading water quality of our springs is a symptom. We need to attack the reasons for their degradation. The reasons for our degrading springs are: 1) We are withdrawing too much water. 2) We are overloading the springs with toxins and nutrients because of overuse of pesticides, herbicides, and fertilizers. 3) Climate change is causing large shifts in historical weather patterns. 4) We are paving and over-developing land that functioned as a natural and free filter.

The problem with Scott’s water and environmental plan is not limited to our springs. To address the agriculture destruction of the Everglades and to oversee its restoration, Scott appointed Mitchel A. Hutchcraft. Mitch is the Vice President of King Ranch, a massive South Florida farming firm with land holdings of 20,000 acres. King Ranch’s cane sugar farms are part of “Big Sugar”, which is responsible for much of the Everglades’ destruction.

We are running out of time to fix our ever-increasing list of problems. We need elect someone who understands the difference between a symptom and a problem. Someone who is not beholden to their overseers. Someone willing to attack the problems at their source.

Most of those caught up in our corrupt and dysfunction political system say that fixing our problems is easier said than done. To address the degradation of our water and over-development of our land, I say that as Governor, I will use the power of the office and Declare an Environmental State of Emergency.

Keith Stegath, Candidate for Governor
www.fla-gov.org