Thursday, January 29, 2015

MICHALE MOORE vs. Movie 'American Sniper'!




29 JANUARY 2015, Vol.2, No.4 > MICHALE MOORE vs. Movie 'American Sniper'!

The POCAHONTAS CRIER
‘When the Righteous succeed the people rejoice,
But when the bad govern, men groan!’ – Proverbs 29:2


MICHAEL MOORE vs. Movie
‘American Sniper’!

Controversy abounds as a new Hollywood movie, ‘American Sniper’, directed by Clint Eastwood has hit the American movie theaters all across the country grossing over $200-Million in its first three weeks.  Part of the controversy is whether or not the ‘sniper’, the late Chris Kyle, a Navy SEAL, actually had 160+ ‘kills’ as he’s claimed to have had by the Navy since many of ‘the kills’ went ‘undocumented’, meaning they were unconfirmed by military witnesses.  And ironically, as real life would have it, Chris himself was shot & killed at a shooting range by a former Marine Veteran inflicted with PTSD who goes on trial in Texas next month.  Nevertheless, a controversy has erupted in many quarters as those in favor of the numerous-Wars have clashed with those opposed to the never-ending-Wars and can be heard wherever folks gather who have seen the film, from barbershops to mainline-corporate-news-services! 

While Clint Eastwood portrays the ‘Sniper’ as ‘protecting’ fellow service members by killing anyone deemed a ‘threat’, the film also shows the heavy price paid by all involved whether on or off the battlefield with PTSD (Post Traumatic Stress Disorder) – and of course the never-ending faces of those being killed by the ‘Sniper’ and those spotting for him in majority of cases. 

For those that have been trained in such skills to be called a ‘sniper’, what does one do when ORDERED to pull the trigger and take out the target’ instead of a simple Order to just ‘kill’?  When the ORDER is given to ‘proceed’, it becomes a rather easy choice of ‘Just Following Orders’ – but when the ORDER is given to ‘Use Your Own Discretion’ – then THAT is the time the burden of taking-the-life of someone else becomes a ‘personal burden’ instead of just ‘military business’!  IT’S THOSE KILLS THAT REALLY COME BACK TO HAUNT IN THE YEARS THAT FOLLOW…should the ‘sniper’ live to an older age!  Those who have served in the military, paramilitary, & Special Forces in the ‘60s, ‘70s & ‘80s can easily relate to such circumstances since ‘Snipers’ in those years were both feared & respected within military & civilian paramilitary ops since all ‘Missions’ were ‘Top Secret’!  ORDERS came from the ‘shadows’, without ‘names or ranks’ over an earplug on a handheld radio to a trained ‘sniper’ or his ‘spotter’ expected to ‘carry out ORDERS without question’! 

Nowadays ‘Snipers’ conduct their affairs BOTH on the ground within distances of 300 – 10,000 yards (depending on caliber of weapon-in-hand), and in the air via ‘Drones’ that target their victims upwards to five (5) miles high – and as we’ve all seen on TV, far too many VICTIMS of Drone-strikes have been members of weddings, funerals, and family meetings because some ‘Idiota’ got or reported the wrong Intel!  While the kills of the ‘sniper’ on the ground go unnoticed and unreported outside some obscure military Intel Report – the mistakes & killings by ‘Drones’ are very much public-knowledge within minutes of any given incident – thanks to Cell Phones! 

At any rate, while there are indeed many folks that need killing for the wrongs that they have done or are conducting – the ‘sniper’ who pulls the trigger is left with the burden of believing he had to do what he has done – and be able to live with that knowledge & belief for the rest of his life!  So it may not be an easy task for some down the road as politically things change and the ‘Right becomes Left & the Left become Right’ as has taken place this past half-century!  As seen below, documentary-film-maker, Michael Moore, while questioning the ‘stupidity’ of taking America to War by the ‘Bush-regime’ – just to steal OilMoore became embroiled in a misdirection by the corporate-media as also being against the new Eastwood film, ‘America Sniper’ – when the facts speak otherwise.  

The same can be said of actress, Whoopie Goldberg, as she called the new film, ‘extraordinary’ for the exposure of the side of human-nature not normally captured on film!  The truth is that WAR HURTS EVERYONE for what one does to someone else – THEY DO ALSO TO THEMSELVES to one degree or another!  Just think of all those in the military, and as civilian doctors & mercenaries, who have TORTURED OTHER PEOPLE TO DEATH!  Is this really what ‘America is all about’?  And THAT’S exactly WHY those associated with the ‘Bush-regime’ cannot leave America and travel abroad for fear of being arrested on International Warrants for CRIMES AGAINST HUMANITY!  May the ‘LAW’ get the All!

Meanwhile the following was provided by the Internet Blog, The Wrap’

“Documentary filmmaker notes again that his uncle was killed by a sniper and explains his views in a Facebook post, as follows:

Michael Moore took what seems like another shot at the Iraq War film “American Sniper” on Twitter Sunday, and explained his position on the film and the war in an extended Facebook post.

Along with a photo of a gravesite with an American flag, the documentary filmmaker tweeted a tribute to his uncle, a World War II veteran, who was killed by a sniper’s bullet.

The Oscar winner went into more detail in a lengthy Facebook post he titled “My 12 Years of Support for the Troops.”

He wrote: “Before I post my more general thoughts later today or tomorrow about the ruckus of the past week regarding the response to my heartfelt comment on Twitter about my uncle who was killed in World War II by a sniper – and how I was taught to despise snipers of any stripe – I would like to address this one insane mantra that the right-wing has twisted my tweet into: ‘Michael Moore hates the troops.'”

The director went on to criticize those who supported the war, writing: “Well, who would know better about hating our troops than those who supported sending them into a senseless war Iraq in the first place?”

Sunday’s social media posts came after Moore last week defended an earlier tweet that said “snipers aren’t heroes.” He came under attack when several websites wrote stories on his comments, prompting Moore to deny that he was weighing in on the debate surrounding Clint Eastwood’s “American Sniper.”

“But Deadline Hollywood and the Hollywood Reporter turned that into stories about how I don’t like Clint Eastwood‘s new film, ‘American Sniper’ I didn’t say a word about ‘American Sniper’ in my tweets,” Moore said as he refuted claims he was firing shots at America’s No. 1 movie.

The Warner Bros.-distributed Village Roadshow war movie starring Bradley Cooper was nominated for six Academy Awards including Best Picture and Actor on Jan. 15. It opened wide the next day and shot to No. 1. It has since broken box-office records for January and raced to $200 million in grosses in just 10 days.

But Moore and a number of others have been critical, saying the film wrongly glorifies Chris Kyle, the real-life Navy SEAL marksman whose autobiography is the basis of the film.

Below is the director’s Sunday Facebook post in its entirety.
“My 12 Years of Support for the Troops”

Before I post my more general thoughts later today or tomorrow about the ruckus of the past week regarding the response to my heartfelt comment on twitter about my uncle who was killed in World War II by a sniper – and how I was taught to despise snipers of any stripe – I would like to address this one insane mantra that the right-wing has twisted my tweet into: “Michael Moore hates the troops.”
Well, who would know better about hating our troops than those who supported sending them into a senseless war Iraq in the first place?

And, for 4,482 of them, a senseless, unnecessary and regrettable death.

If you supported that invasion, if you voted for George W. Bush and the Republicans and Democrats who backed this war, then you are the ones who have some ‘splainin’ to do. Not me. You.

Because only “haters” of our brave young men and women would recklessly send them into harm’s way for something that had absolutely nothing to do with defending the United States of America.  Nothing.  Nothing to do with 9/11.  Nothing.   

In fact, WE, the USA, were the ones who provided Saddam with his weapons in the 1980s that he used against the Kurds. We wanted him to use them against the Iranians, but you hand a crazy guy crazy weapons, something crazy is probably going to happen.  Ask Osama bin Laden about that — what he did with the crazy training, crazy money and crazy weapons that WE gave him.  Oh wait.  You can’t ask him.  Because the new president took him out.  No 150,000 troop invasion necessary.  Just 12 or so Navy SEALS and two and a half choppers.

Here’s the truth they can’t or won’t report: I’M the one who has supported these troops – much more than the bloviators on Fox News.  To prove it (and I know this is going to crush some of you out there), here’s just a partial list of all the things I do and have done for those men and women who serve — and I guarantee you, you’ve never heard any of this reported about what the real me does because, frankly, it messes up their little story of the fictional “Michael Moore” they’ve created for your hate and enjoyment (please feel free to cut, paste and send this to your conservative brother-in-law):

** I have an aggressive affirmative action policy specifically to hire Iraq and Afghanistan veterans at my film production company, my movie theaters in Michigan and my film festival.  I have asked other businesses in my town (and nationwide) to join with me on this. http://www.traverseticker.com/…/michael-moore-asks-business… .  A vet was an editor on my films Fahrenheit 9/11 and Sicko and a vet (who served in both Iraq AND Afghanistan) is the projectionist at my flagship theater in Michigan (to name a few).

** I also ask people to post a sign I designed and have made available: “I Shop Where Vets Work”.  Here’s my policy and the poster: http://www.statetheatretc.org/veterans#opening (Can someone at Fox News send me your posted affirmative action program to hire Iraq and Afghanistan vets?)

** Since I opened my movie theaters in northern Michigan, this has been my admission policy:  “Admission to all movies at my theaters is FREE, 365 days of the year, for ALL active duty military and their families.”

** I allow local veterans support groups to use my theater to meet for PTSD issues, I host quarterly PTSD summits, and I’ve hosted a conference to start a jobs movement for vets in our town.

** I have raised tens of thousands of dollars through my website for groups that help veterans and wounded warriors: http://web.archive.org/…/20140829053240/ & http://fa…/soldiers/   

** In the early years of the war I made all my books and DVDs available free of charge to all service members through www.BooksForSoldiers.com  

** I produced and hosted a benefit for military families at the House of Blues that received national attention to their plight (raw clips here from the AP: https://vimeo.com/117687290 )

** I will NOT do business with vendors who don’t have a policy to hire vets.

** I gave voice to the troops who weren’t being heard by publishing a book of their letters from the front lines in “Will They Ever Trust Us Again?” (NY Times bestseller for 4 weeks)

** I regularly post blogs from troops http://www.ivaw.org/blog/ivaw-featured-michael-moore and I show and support many movies about what they’ve gone through in the past 12 years at my theaters.

** I took vets, soldiers and their families on a 60-city tour of the country so their concerns could be heard: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wm3IsgoBNc0
 
** I helped Iraq Vets against the War with “Operation Recovery” http://www.ivaw.org/operation-recovery  and http://www.huffingtonpost.com/…/how-bout-dinner-just-you _b_…

** My movie,
Fahrenheit 9/11 – #1 selling/#1 rental on all military base PXs

** My books were the #1 requested books by troops from the nonprofit www.BooksForSoldiers.com  

** I sit on the Advisory Board of the Pvt. Bradley (Chelsea) Manning Support Network.

** From the Dept. of Irony: I only hire Navy SEALS and ex-special forces for when I need security – such as this week, when so-called supporters of those SEALs want me harmed.

** When my father passed away this year, in lieu of flowers I asked that donations by made in my dad’s name to the veterans group, Veterans for Peace.  Enough money was raised so that the Vietnam Vets chapter could build a home in Vietnam for a family still suffering from the effects of Agent Orange.  It’s being dedicated in my dad’s name.

** I am currently showing “American Sniper” at my theater that I helped restore and that I program and help run in Manistee, MI.  Not because I like it, but because, unlike the other side, I’m not a censor.  I trust smart people and people of good heart will know what to do.  You can’t have a conversation about what Clint Eastwood is up to if you haven’t seen what it is he’s up to. And regardless where u are on the political spectrum, you’ll see that every character in Clint’s film comes out dead or permanently damaged.  This ain’t no John Wayne rah-rah pabulum.  Eastwood made maybe the greatest western ever – “Unforgiven” – but now it’s sad seeing him talking to an empty chair on a stage or making an Iraq movie that Rolling Stone this week called, “too dumb to bother criticizing.”

In the end, the thing I’m most proud of for what I’ve done for the troops was sticking my neck out 12 years ago to become a leading opponent to Bush and the war.  I tried to save more lives than a sniper ever could hope to — by preventing us from going to war in the first place.  Well, I failed at that.  But I’ve done everything else humanly possible to try and make it up to those troops when they return home — that is, the ones lucky enough to return home.

So, Fox News and the other lazy media — quit making shit up about me!  You look ridiculous.  If you want to have a debate with me about the ISSUES and the POLICIES, then let’s have it.  If you want to debate a movie that’s trying to rewrite history, then let’s have that.  But when you hide behind falsehoods and then use them to try and manipulate the public, then all you are is afraid. Afraid of me, an unarmed American, and the truth I bring along as my sidekick.  Only cowards have to lie.  Be brave.  Report the truth.  It will feel good.”



Last but not least by a long shot, former Navy SEAL and former Governor of Minnesota, Jesse Ventura, has condemned the film saying Kyle was ‘No Hero’!  Ventura won $1.8 million in a defamation lawsuit last year against the estate of the late Chris Kyle, the SEAL protagonist of the movie, which has sparked debate over whether snipers should be considered heroes. Ventura said Wednesday he won’t see the film partly because Kyle is no hero to him.  "A hero must be honorable, must have honor.  And you can’t have Honor if you’re a liar.  There is no Honor in lying," Ventura told The Associated Press from his winter home in Baja California, Mexico.  Ventura also dismissed the movie as propaganda because it conveys the false idea that Iraq had something to do with the 9/11 attacks.

Ventura testified Kyle fabricated a subchapter in his American Sniper book in which Kyle claimed he punched out a man, whom he later identified as Ventura, at a California bar in 2006 for allegedly saying the SEALs “deserve to lose a few” in Iraq. Ventura said it never happened.  The jury gave Ventura the legal vindication he craved.  Publisher HarperCollins removed the passage from the best-seller, and it gets no mention in the movie.  Kyle’s estate has appealed.  Ventura’s separate lawsuit against HarperCollins remains pending.

The former wrestler is now working on the second season of his online-only political talk show Off the Grid at www.Ora.tv , which he records in Mexico, where he lives in a solar-powered home with a satellite Internet connection.


To say the least, Hollywood has ALWAYS taken great leave on its own to EXAGGERATE or SPIN any given story this way or that to suit its purposes, whether for propaganda purposes or not and at the expense of Truth & History!  While the movie, ‘American Sniper’, is meant to be an EMOTIONAL ROLLER-COASTER for the audience in this Age of one ‘Oil War’ after another in the Middle-East – the new movie, ‘EXODUS’, takes great liberty diverting AWAY from the actual Biblical account in order to present a ‘war-movie’ about ancient times when Moses lead the Israelites out-of-Egypt!  The movie shows Moses as a young, vivant WARRIOR without a ‘staff’, while the Biblical account claims Moses was 80 years & older!  Either way the ‘special effects’ experts really know how to do their jobs…& then some!


ONE WAY OR ANOTHER…WE ALL REAP WHAT WE HAVE SOWN…& then some!

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The Pocahontas Crier is an independent, free, non-subscription, Internet News Service providing in depth reporting on important issues directly affecting the Citizens
of Pocahontas County, West Virginia, and meant for entertainment in the true ‘muckraking’ & ‘iconoclast’ tradition of questioning authority, challenging corruption, exposing impropriety and the appearance of impropriety, and offering Common Sense Alternatives for
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or any Special Interests! 
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Wednesday, January 21, 2015

'FIRE FEE' = 'GROSS EXAGGERATION'!



21 JANUARY 2015, Vol.2, No.3 > ‘FIRE FEE’ = ‘GROSS EXAGGERATION’!

The POCAHONTAS CRIER
‘When the Righteous succeed the people rejoice,
But when the bad govern, men groan!’ – Proverbs 29:2


‘FIRE FEE’ = ‘GROSS EXAGGERATION’!

These days in the ‘land of the have-nots’ it seems the easiest way to extract & extort money from the po’-folks of Pocahontas County is try and SCARE THEM into empting their piggy-banks & handing over their last shekel…OR ELSE!  On the national scene, this is the same tactic used by the Military Industrial Complex (MIC) to ‘scare-us’ into one WAR after another by having so-called phony ‘terrorist-experts’ on the corporate-media hourly frightening us about ‘Muslims’!  And historically it seems that King John tried doing the same thing and look what happened to him!  But the same-scare tactics now being employed by the area ‘fire-stations’, i.e., ‘Fire Association’, is the exact same ‘scare-tactics’ employed by the local Board of Education in the last election when it claimed the combined school-system needed MORE MONEY at the same time the Board’s Administrative regime were receiving their highest salaries EVER on record in this county!  And instead of using the federal & state funds received from the ‘Severance Tax’ from coal, gas, oil, timber & such other state Natural Resources extracted by private-corporations for PROFIT – that’s supposed to go to local schools for services it renders – instead, the school-administrators simply RAISED THEIR SALARIES by almost 10% while laying off both teachers & staff under the pretext of having diminishing funding!  And speaking of which, has the missing $500+K funds been found yet that dear-ole Alice Irvine seems to have ‘misplaced’ prior to her resignation from the three ‘titles’ that she held at the same time and from which she was being paid a salary for each ‘title’?  Talk about a ‘piggy’ at the trough living off ‘public-funds’…that makes dear-ole Alice the largest recipient of ‘public-welfare’ in the history of the county!  Those funds were FEDERAL FUNDS were they not, and have the Men-in-Black been called in to do a real audit?  Want to bet the Feds would find those missing funds and the bank(s) that it’s hidden in just as they did when the Feds shut down the former First National Bank (FNB) all across West Virginia for the almost $20-Million in UNSECURED ‘good-ole-boy-loans’ that were discovered missing & off-the-books – the same time that the FNB & the Marlinton Bank were shut down & ordered sold pursuant to each of them holding a lien against public-land without approval of the Voters in the West Virginia Shoe Co. scam and the banks taking public-CD-funds originally designated for flood reconstruction following the 1996 flood!  Good-ole boys Walt Helmick, Phil Cain, Dana Moyers and others of their ilk all narrowly escaped the ‘hoosegow’ in that fiasco just as they did previously in the Denmar Hospital Scheme & Scam!

And now the Citizens of Pocahontas County are faced with yet another SELF-SERVING FIASCO this time called a ‘FIRE-FEE’ under the pretext that:  An analysis of property records at the Pocahontas County Assessor’s Office shows that the proposed fee would generate approximately $300,000 for the Fire Association each year, including approximately $150,000 from Snowshoe Mountain residence and business owners.”
IS THIS NOT THE SAME SCAM & SHAKE-DOWN BEING PERPETRATED UPON EACH HOUSEHOLD BY THE POCAHONTAS COUNTY SOLID WASTE AUTHORITY (PCSWA)?
Instead of the PCSWA following the state law, as done in other counties, and charging for ‘usage, volume & weight’ to bury trash in its landfill, the PCSWA thinks it can simply arbitrarily charge an ‘assessment-fee’ of its choosing upon each landowner regardless of ‘usage, volume & weight’!  And just look at the havoc THAT SCAM has caused whereby almost ONE-THIRD of the county households have been unlawfully sued for non-payment – AND IN WHICH A CLASS-ACTION LAWSUIT MUST NOW BE  FORTHCOMING SINCE THE PCSWA HAS FAILED TO PROVIDE THE EXEMPTIONS REQUIRED BY LAW FOR ALL THOSE ON A FIXED-INCOME, as well as the exemptions BEING DENIED for all those that recycle, compost, take to another landfill, or dispose in an otherwise lawful manner!  The discrepancies of the PCSWA are now infamous & then some… and soon EACH MEMBER will be called to a witness stand to answer for their corruption & stupidity!  The simple truth is that this county now has a population TOO SMALL to support a full-pledged fully-stocked fire-station in every direction one looks just because a few folks want to dress-up in rubber-suits and play with matches – SO OUTSIDE FINANCIAL ASSISTANCE IS NEEDEDNOT MORE EXTORTION FROM THE ALREADY OVERTAXED & OVER-BURDENED LOCAL POPULATION!
SO IS TRYING TO GET ‘BLOOD OUT OF A STONE’ REALLY POSSIBLE?

Just WHERE are the local folks supposed to come up with the personal funds to provide a ‘FIRE-FEE’ – when the proposed funds will ONLY COVER A FRACTION of the actual costs of the alleged new equipment needed for each fire-station – and of course, isn’t the ultimate intention of the ‘Fire Association’ to have FULL & PART TIME EMPLOYMENT for a handful of ‘firemen’?  Let’s face it, IF the fire-stations had enough funds – THEY’D ALL WANT TO BE EMPLOYED on a public-payroll and sit around playing cards until an actual fire occurred!  BUT THIS AIN’T NO CITY NOR SUBURBAN AREA – that’s why it’s supposed to be VOLUNTEERS – since in this part of the Appalachia Mountains, the EVENING & MORNING DEW keeps the chances of fires to a minimum in the forests – especially now that the likes of Ferrell Kelly is incarcerated!  So just how many ‘fires’ have been responded to in the past year – heck what about the past five (5) years – compared to any given metropolitan fire-station?  And now that the ole-McKay Building in Marlinton has burned to the ground, where else is a ‘hook & ladder’ truck needed in this county –  except to perhaps get a cat out-of-a-tree?

THERE ARE OTHER ALTERNATIVES!

We are all aware that the Office of the Sheriff has its own military “APC” (Armor Personnel Carrier) just so the Sheriff & Deputies can ride together into battle in case there is a Citizens Uprising or a gunfight taking place somewhere in the county!  Where is it?  Well it’s being cared-for by a local Deputy so ‘war-games’ can be played in the back hills of the county – just in case!  Would that we all had such a ‘dune-buggy’!  But the important aspect is that the APC was obtained via a request for SURPLUS MILITARY EQUIPMENT!  And the same kind of equipment requests can be made by the local fire-stations individually or collectively!  There is a constant turn-over of Metropolitan fire-equipment pursuant to actual usage that can be redirected to rural areas such as Pocahontas County – not to mention the vast array of MILITARY FIRE-FIGHTING EQUIPMENT!  Stuff that’s right up the ally of the U.S. Core of Engineers & the State National Guard!  SO WHY NOT ASK… before trying to financially-bleed the local folks yet again?

The FIRST DUTY of government is to protect the necessities of life for its Citizens and NOT to secure the highest possible profits for moneylenders & profiteers!  Therefore, just like the Board of Education is required by law to provide the necessary buses and equipment to protect the well-being of its students to and from school – SO TOO must the County Commission provide whatever is necessary for EACH FIRE-STATION within the county – and IF the County Commission cannot add such costs into its local operating budget expenses – then the County Commission can request whatever additional funds, or equipment, from the State government, and in turn from the Federal government!  Heck, the total amount of PUBLIC-FUNDS given to the privately-owned so-called High Rocks Academy in the last few years is IN EXCESS of $300,000+, about the same amount allegedly ‘assessed’ by the Assessor’s Office in the new ‘Fire-Fee’ scheme!  And IF one looks at ALL THE PUBLIC-FUNDS given to private-groups by the Three-Stooges on the county commission – then a NEW FIRE TRUCK or two & PROTECTIVE GEAR FOR ALL COULD HAVE BEEN PAID FOR IN CASH & then some!

With some of the WARS IN THE MIDEAST now winding down – there are many funds being freed up not to mention that the fire-equipment in Pocahontas County gets used for PRACTICE far more often than it is used in PURPOSE for fires!  In fact the mileage on many fire-vehicles consists of them being pulled out of the fire-station in the morning & driven backwards at night – just to air them out!  Does it really make sense to purchase a NEW FIRE ENGINE, pay whatever interest/usury a bank requires, just to have the vehicle DEPRECIATED IN VALUE just waiting for a fire?  It’s like buying a new car only to not use it full time but see it lose its value by sitting in the driveway!  And whenever there is a FLOOD, then as we all know, the oldest equipment is LEFT IN THE FIRE-STATION to go under water while the newer equipment is driven to higher groundthen the new is splashed with mud just before the FEMA representatives arrive!  Is this not what happened in the last two floods that hit the county?

In the 1996 flood, by 4:30 am Durbin notified Marlinton that Durbin was going under water, and instead of EVERYONE BEING WARNED at once in Marlinton, ONLY THREE, the fire-station, Mitchell’s Chevrolet & the Ford Garage were warned FIRST – so they could get their new vehicles moved, and leave behind enough used-vehicles to obtain insurance recovery!  As for the local-Folks, they found out at 8:30 am that high water was coming when the manhole-covers popped up from the raging water – that’s how well the local-‘benevolent’-yocal-powers-that-be thought of ‘We The People’ in time of crisis & high water!  Now those same folks want to be bailed-out by the rank & file Citizen when THERE IS NO WAY THAT THE CITIZENRY CAN AFFORD any extra ‘taxes or fees’!  DID EACH CITIZEN GET A PAY RAISE the likes of the County Commissioners & others in the Courthouse?  Folks on SS & SSD just received a monthly $20 increase, or LESS THAN $250 a year, while each commissioner gets about $1700 PER/MEETING TWICE A MONTH, or ABOUT $3500 PER/MONTH, or about $40,000 for 24 meetings a year?  How many folks on SS, SSD, or some other fixed-income gets that much or even close to that much?  Each commissioner gets about HALF in one month what most folks on SS, SSD, or some other fixed-income gets in ONE YEAR!  Do the math…for those that can count!

The State Legislature RAISED their own salaries and that of every other state employee without the consent of the public – and the pay raises for some folks in the courthouse was INCREASED from about $4000 per/year to over $11,000 in our county courthouse – YET AT THE SAME TIME THE STATE LEGISLATURE LOWERED SOCIAL PROGRAMS BY AS MUCH AS 15% ACROSS THE BOARD!  That would have bought a lot of ‘fire-equipment’ & then some if any of them had any COMMON SENSE or were made aware of the problem! 

At the same time the government has a Duty to protect the basic necessities of life, i.e., food, clothing & shelter, for its Citizens; the Citizens have a Duty to keep ‘public officials’ accountable as ‘PUBLIC SERVANTS’ and NOT as ‘public masters’!  That’s why state & federal funds are available for low-income families & COMMUNITIES and it’s only a matter of ASKING for those funds!  Yeah, we know, THAT becomes a problem when the Three-Stooges on the county commission DON’T KNOW THEIR JOB REQUIREMENTS, or who to ask!  Nevertheless there are other alternatives other than trying to extort more funds from an already beaten & limited local population that is either on some form of Fixed-Income or Minimum-Wage whereby PAUPERISM has become a way-of-life in this feudal-county where a handful of self-serving & self-styled ‘pagan fertility-cultist’ are ‘benevolent’ only unto themselves first & foremost!

THE BOTTOM LINE is that the county commission CANNOT impose any type of additional ‘fee’ without VOTER APPROVAL, and CANNOT impose such a ‘fee’ without establishing EXEMPTIONS for those on a fixed-income in the same manner as the Supreme Court of West Virginia EXEMPTS all persons of low income from having to pay any ‘fees’ for the filing or costs involved in any law suits.  And it’s the same reason the ‘AFFIDAVIT OF EXEMPTION’ is available for all persons charged with a Debt to exempt them upwards to $15,000 FOR EACH DEBT!  That’s why no one should ever sign any form of PROMISSORY NOTE with any ‘shyster-lawyer’ as the PCSWA would have you believe!

Believe it or not – there is a CHECKS & BALANCES and at all times IT DOES APPLY!  And the same applies to all government agencies such as the PCSWA!  If not, then what’s to stop the Library from establishing & imposing a ‘library-fee’ upon each property-owner, or the Chamber of Commerce from establishing a ‘commerce-fee’ for its self-serving ends!  Where would it end?  The CRUEL HOAX is that the Local-Pokey-Times is going to publish several SOB-STORIES about just how great the fire-stations are and the individual efforts of local fireman – and the stories will be true for the most part as far as PROPAGANDA goes –

BUT DON’T LET SOB-STORIES GET IN THE WAY OF REALITY WHEREBY A LARGE COUNTY GEOGRAPHICALLY WITH A SMALL POPULATION CANNOT PAY FOR EVERYTHING ON ITS OWN WHEN THE ONLY INCOME IS A FIXED-INCOME OR MINIMUM-WAGE BASE!

And need we remind everyone AGAIN – that Hardy County attempted to try the same dumb idea of a ‘Fire-EMS-fee’ against its Citizens?  Here…take look see for yourself:

It ain’t over by a longshot!

ONE WAY OR ANOTHER…EACH WILL REAP WHAT THEY HAVE SOWN…& then some!

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The Pocahontas Crier is an independent, free, non-subscription, Internet News Service providing in depth reporting on important issues directly affecting the Citizens
of Pocahontas County, West Virginia, and meant for entertainment in the true ‘muckraking’ & ‘iconoclast’ tradition of questioning authority, challenging corruption, exposing impropriety and the appearance of impropriety, and offering Common Sense Alternatives for
THE GREATER COMMON GOOD BEFORE SELF…
or any Special Interests! 
We fight for Social Justice on all fronts and are an integral part of The Crier Coalition of Internet News Services comprised of  The Pocahontas Commentator, The Pocahontas Crier,
Signal Fires of WV, & Rolling Thunder in association with Echoes from the Holl’r.  

Email comments & suggestions to: pocahontascrier88@gmail.com  

Saturday, January 17, 2015

JOIN WITH ROBERT REDFORD FOR THE ENVIRONMENT!



12 JANUARY 2015, Vol.2, No.1 > JOIN WITH ROBERT REDFORD FOR THE ENVIRONMENT!

The POCAHONTAS CRIER
‘When the Righteous succeed the people rejoice,
But when the bad govern, men groan!’ – Proverbs 29:2
[New Email address: pocahontascrier88@gmail.com]


JOIN WITH ROBERT REDFORD FOR THE ENVIRONMENT!


“Congressional leaders will soon launch a sweeping legislative attack on our environment. Please watch my new video and help us mobilize to stop them."
- Robert Redford

CLICK NOW TO THIS LINK:




NATURAL  RESOURCES DEFENSE COUNCIL

FELLOW AMERICANS…
No one voted on Election Day to force construction of the disastrous Keystone XL tar sands pipeline ... open the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge to oil drilling ... gouge the Pebble Mine out of the Bristol Bay wilderness ... or let power plants spew unlimited amounts of climate-destroying pollution into our atmosphere.

But the new leaders of Congress, sworn into power just last week, are claiming a mandate to do all those things, and more.

NRDC has produced a bold action plan for rapidly responding to this Big Polluter Agenda -- but they need our help!

That's why I've recorded this new one-minute video especially for NRDC BioGems Defenders like you. Please watch the video now -- then join me in telling President Obama to take immediate action in defense of our environment.
You see, even before Congress acts, President Obama has the executive power to reject the Keystone XL pipeline ... to stop the Pebble Mine ... to impose a moratorium on fracking on public lands ... to ban oil and gas drilling in the Arctic Ocean ... and to deliver on his bold plan to crack down on the out-of-control pollution from power plants that is driving climate chaos.

Our job is simple: Prevail on the President to use that power now to short-circuit the Congressional onslaught. I'm convinced we can do just that if millions of us make our voices heard at this critical moment.

My new video is a vital part of NRDC's online strategy to Stop the Big Polluter Agenda by reaching millions of Americans with the facts about what is at stake -- and escalating massive public pressure on the President to stand up to Congress and defend our climate, our environment and our health.

I'm doing my part to help sound the alarm. Will you do yours?

Please watch the video now and then urge President Obama to take swift action in defense of our environment. Thank you.
Sincerely,

Robert Redford
Robert Redford
Trustee, Natural Resources Defense Council


P.S. After you send your message to the President, you’ll have a chance to spread the word to your friends and family who care about the environment as much as you do. Please help us build this campaign as quickly as possible.

The mission of the Natural Resources Defense Council (NRDC) is to safeguard the Earth: its people, its plants and animals, and the natural systems on which all life depends.



ONE WAY OR ANOTHER…WE WILL REAP WHAT WE HAVE SOWN…& then some!

♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦

The Pocahontas Crier is an independent, free, non-subscription, Internet News Service providing in depth reporting on important issues directly affecting the Citizens
of Pocahontas County, West Virginia, and meant for entertainment in the true ‘muckraking’ & ‘iconoclast’ tradition of questioning authority, challenging corruption, exposing impropriety and the appearance of impropriety, and offering Common Sense Alternatives for
THE GREATER COMMON GOOD BEFORE SELF…
or any Special Interests! 
We fight for Social Justice on all fronts and are an integral part of The Crier Coalition of Internet News Services comprised of  The Pocahontas Commentator, The Pocahontas Crier,
Signal Fires of WV, & Rolling Thunder in association with Echoes from the Holl’r.  

Email comments & suggestions to: pocahontascrier88@gmail.com