BTS On The Road 6 Jackson TN

Turtles VS. Ranchers, How The West Was Lost!!

I find it hard to believe that people are actually on the side of the BLM on this one. Even if Mr. Bundy should be paying a grazing fee, which by common law standards it is questionable, the way this is being taken care of is atrocious!!


                            Truth Be Told: Turtles VS. Ranchers, How The West Was Lost!!

 

The last line of my previous post "Truth Be Told :The Bank of America Looses $800 Million and so does it's Customers!" was " Who's going to protect us from the protectors?!"  I thought of that line as I kept hearing more and more about the situation between Nevada rancher Cliven Bundy and The U.S. Bureau of Land Management. 

 

 It seems it all started 20 years ago when the BLM changed the rules in the middle of the game (that they were decades late joining in on) and Bundy refused to pay his "Grazing Fees" because he felt the changes infringed on states rights. The changes were made by the BLM to protect an endangered desert turtle. How the hell does forcing someone to pay money for grazing their cattle on land that their family has been grazing since 1877 help save turtles? Telling them NOT TO GRAZE there seems to be the common sense thing to do, but that's not how our government operates. It's about MONEY, not the turtles! It's about POWER, not the environment.

 

 The Governor of Nevada, Brian Sandavol, does not like the way the BLM is confining protesters to "First Amendment" areas where they're allowed to protest. Also, if the animal rights people who pushed for this rule change were really serious about their convictions, wouldn't they be alarmed by the reports of cattle being killed just to get rid of them? If I do not hear of any animal rights groups questioning the treatment of these cattle, I will NEVER take any of them seriously again and will remind anyone of this event anytime they try to shove their " I Love Animals and You Don't" ideology down my throat! We do need to protect the endangered species of the planet, but it's time for common sense solutions instead of alarmist reactions!

 

 These animal rights groups and our government could care less about this family's way of life! They are pigs without honor in this instance!  If you do not believe this man is being treated wrongly, then why the hell should you believe in FREEDOM? There could not have been another solution to this? Whoops, turtles are dying, you got to pay the BLM money now! No meeting of the minds, no getting the BLM, Animal experts and the rancher together to find a solution that does not include just paying a damn fee? Why does it always come down to paying our growing government money and the citizen, a cattle rancher in the instance, getting screwed? Why? I'll tell you why, because we let it!! WE ALLOW THIS CRAP! Oh, he supplies meat, he's evil, this turtle must be saved! We listen to these idiots without saying "No, your wrong and you will always be wrong!".

 

 I really don't think this is a Liberal/Conservative issue. I think it's a Patriot/Traitor issue, yes I wrote "Traitor". There are people in our government and in our citizenry who are traitors to the values this country was founded on. Our forefather's believed that men were endowed with inalienable rights by our creator. I heard Obama state that finally the government recognized that Health Care was a right of every citizen, a right mandated by our government. That's not true and our government was never supposed to dole out rights on a whim, but to protect rights. Whose right is our government protecting out in Nevada? Their own, I believe. We'll see what happens, I hope it ends well but hope is a fragile thing these days.

 

 Truth Be Told: Our Government is kind of like a turtle, it's slow but once it bites you, it doesn't let go!!!

Bank Of America Looses $800 Million and so does it's customers

Another post for the Weekly Telegram. Usually I do one a week, then post it here. This time I was so angry, I posted this as soon as I wrote it. I think we really need to look beneath the surface a lot more as a country. It is OUR responsibility to make sure we are governed properly!!


           Truth Be Told: Bank Of America Looses $800 Million and so does it's customers.

 

 

 Here's a quote straight out of one of the reports from Fox Business on this story. If you can't tell what's wrong with this picture, I will enlighten you.

 

 

 "Bank of America (BAC

BANK OF AMERICA CORP.

) is reportedly in talks with the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau to settle an investigation into the banking giant's credit card add-on products for at least $800 million.

A settlement would represent the newly-created agency's fifth settlement with a credit-card provider over add-on products like identify-theft protection and debt cancellation."

 

Got it yet? Let's go over this. The government starts yet another agency, the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, because there's just not enough government agencies. No other agency could have handled what ever the hell this one is doing, they could not have just added some personnel and a couple of more desks, they needed another AGENCY!! That's my first problem here. This is one of those things a President or Congressman proposes to add something to their legacy. " Oh yeah, I started that Bureau and we've taken it to those bad ole banks!!! Yes, sir!!". I'm sorry, but growing government with another such Bureau is good only about 2% of the time.

 

 " But Mr. Shirley, they socked it to the Bank of America, that's damn good!!"  you may be thinking. Let me first say that I just opened a savings account with said bank and I don't want them pushing me into protection or extras that I don't need. I do believe the government should make sure these things don't happen, but there's already agencies and bureaus that can handle such things. More bureaus means more man power, more investigations as they have to justify their existence, more paper work, more money needed to fund these.....

 

There's what I was coming to, the MONEY!! $800 MILLION DOLLARS and this is the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau's (What a BS name) FIFTH settlement!! Well, they sure are well funded if you ask me. They should not need ANY taxpayer money for about 100 years. Let's look at that $800 million, where does it come from? The Bank of America will be giving to the CFoB the money from where? That's right, the money they have made from their customers. So this government Bureau protects us by finding a wrong doing by the bank, then hitting the bank with a heavy fine and then the bank will find a way to offset the fine by getting it from the customers some how. Our fees will be raised or the minimum requirement for a free checking/savings account will go up, etc. , etc...

 

How come the customers whom the bank perpetrated these extra protections upon don't get a piece of the $800 million? That would be protection I can believe in!! That would be true justice from an upstanding government agency that puts it's money where it's citizens are! But, NOOOO, they will celebrate this victory in the CFoB and at the end of the year they will party down! There will be a big banquet in a swanky hotel with award plaques, a catered buffet, open bar and a service staff of Bank of America employees. I'm outraged all the way around and I'm not sure why more people aren't.

 

 Actually, I have a good idea why there's no outrage. People want the government to do everything for them and when a Bureau from the government, especially a new created one, hits a bank with a disciplinary action like this, folks only see the bad old bank not the Bureau taking the cold hard cash. We get ripped off either way!!

 

 Truth Be Told: Whose going to protect us from the protectors?!! 

Celebratitng The Little Things!!

Continuing with my theme from last week because I believe it's important!! Also, The BTS Radio Show turn celebrates it's 1 year anniversary this week, coincidental to this post, I did not plan it this way. The Web TV show "Comics On Parole" acknowledged the anniversary and I must day that it's a testimony to my recent posts. If we support each other, we can accomplish what we set out to do and even more!!



                                                    Celebrating The Little Things!!

 

 I have a saying from one of my comedy books that goes  " Learn to appreciate the little things in life and maybe your wife will too." and although it's a joke, I thinks it's funny because it's true.

 

 In last week's column I talked about the rich getting richer and the mindset of us folks who want to succeed. Let me say first that it's not all about money, success, that is. My mindset has evolved and I'm seeing that we measure our own success a lot different than those who "support" us. I once had someone tell me years ago when I started doing  stand-up comedy that they would come and see me when I got big and famous. "Don't bother" would have been a good response, but a waste of breath. This person represents a small minded approach to life who's children will be told "they won't amount to much" unless they do succeed despite the terrible upbringing. These are the types of people who never rise above their station in life and it's pretty much their fault, although they are happily ignorant of it. They're the type that scream about "The Rich Folks!!" but never really aspire to be one unless they win really big on Bingo night. They, as I wrote last week, repeat the same economically terrible decisions as their parents and blame the outside world for their circumstance. Some of the blame does belong on the outside world, but repeating the same behaviors generation after generation only solidify the grip the outside world has on these folks. They have relinquished their power to change, as Johnny Hotshot said on our "Pros & Cons" segment during the Weekly Telegram last week, due to a certain comfort level. "I Want My MTV!!".

 

 I've learned that hard work, determination and sacrifice can get you turned and headed in the right direction. These things can even get you where you want to be in your career. What these things can't do is bring you happiness in what you choose to do with your life, that comes from appreciation. Looking at the small victories, enjoying the ride on the way up and surrounding yourself with people who are there to cheer you on the whole way, not just part of it, that's where the true joy in life comes from. Having folks to share these things with and celebrating the successes on their path are where the true riches come from. I have been blessed enough to build a community such as this and I really do celebrate when I see people I know succeeding. There's no jealously because I working hard on my success as well. Can you imagine whole communities such as this? What about cities, county's or even an entire state?

 

What would happen if the folks who were in the lower to middle class started supporting each other in this way? What if we saw each other through the small steps right up to rest of the process. Instead of waiting until someone "made it", we were there at all times.

 

I'll give you an example from my industry that you can equate to other professions. A sitcom star's show will get canceled. He will then decide that to make money, he will hire some writers and hit the road as a comedian. Has he performed as a comic before? No, but how hard could it be? You would think it would be tough for him to get work, but not so. The comedy clubs will hire him in a second because he's been on TV and guess what? People will line up to see him and he'll sell the club out, so he'll get work every where and get paid just about what ever he wants to charge. Meanwhile, guys such as myself who have been struggling for 20 years, will be regulated to opening for this guy or just loosing the work. I may sound bitter, but this is not a drill folks, this is reality. What really sucks is the guy's performance, so the people who came to see him are disappointed and don't come out to watch me or one of my peers who are much funnier that "Mr. Sitcom" when we're are at the club. Now expand this out to life and industries at large and you see the "small mindedness" of the situation. Everyone shares the blame. The Sitcom star, the clubs and the people who support him and not the true comedians.

 

Life happens in increments, people fail or succeed at their own pace. We should support the good people around us however possible. You will be pleasantly surprised to see what happens, especially when they start to succeed and that support come back to you!!

 

Truth Be Told: Celebrate the little things that happen in peoples lives, otherwise why the hell would they want you there when the big things happen!!