President Obama Orders Gitmo to be Closed

President Obama (still getting used to that) on his second day in office has ordered the closing of Guantanamo Bay. Gitmo has been used as a detention center and prison for suspected terrorists since 2002. During the Bush administration Gitmo was used extensively in holding and imprisoning suspected terrorists until they could be tried for their alleged crimes. President Obama has since suspended the trials of these persons in order to "review the military tribunals".

Gitmo has not been looked upon by the world (allies and enemies) with favor in the recent past. Some have seen it as a reason to detain anyone for any reason. Others view it as a place for 'sanctioned' torture. I believe it is necessary. Imagine that your neighbor is an accused terrorist. Would you want your children walking by his house on the way to the school bus knowing full well that he is under investigation? No, you would want him detained. That is the role of Guantanamo Bay and responsibility of the U.S. armed forces, to protect us from all danger foreign and domestic. The goings on at Gitmo may not be pleasant but as the saying goes "freedom isn't free."

Read the full story as reported by the AP at http://www.google.com/hostednews/ap/article/ALeqM5gQOzRNnZMLweaYkGryXPvQFlG6mgD95SART00

I am American. I am Everyman. I am Countryman.

:(

Well .....
It's November 5th, and I'm disappointed. This is the time that we need to pick ourselves up, dust ourselves off and show our support. Although the new commander-in-chief is not who I would have liked to be in office, we must support him and the decisions that he will inevitably have to make. I will keep this post short so that you may go and finish your mournful vigil.
I am American! I am Everyman! I am Countryman!

Pumpkin Season

Sorry for the short hiatus.  I was busy carving this pumpkin for the Halloween season.  This pumpkin was made by me on Thursday the 23rd of October.  I wanted a carving that would reflect my views to the parents as the families walk up my walkway to enjoy the bounty of candy I will have ready for the youngsters.  I have only one concern about this pumpkin carving and that is that it fall prey to liberal hooligans before October 31st!  Lions and tigers and liberals ... oh my!!!!  This pumpkin originally weighed about 35 lbs. and is around 3 x 1.5 feet.  It took me about three hours to carve.  I hope you enjoy it!!!!!!!!  I am American, I am Everyman, I am Countryman!

Sex Ed for Kindergarteners?!?

A six year-old raises her hand in class one day and asks, "Mrs. Smith, where do babies come from?" The teacher looks at the young girl for a moment and then proceeds to tell her about how the reproductive system works in the human body. She explains to her how sex, from a biological standpoint, works.
This story is a fabrication. But a certain presidential candidate, Sen. Barack Obama, is willing to let this happen. He is willing to forego the rights of the parent to educate thier children about sex at whatever age they deem appropriate. The Obama campaign states that Sen. Obama "does not support teaching explicit sex education to children in kindergarten. . . The legislation in question was a state Senate measure last year that aimed to update Illinois' sex education standards with 'medically accurate' information . . . 'Nobody's suggesting that kindergartners are going to be getting information about sex in the way that we think about it,' Obama said. 'If they ask a teacher 'where do babies come from,' that providing information that the fact is that it's not a stork is probably not an unhealthy thing. Although again, that's going to be determined on a case by case basis by local communities and local school boards. (Daily Herald, 10/6/04)'"
Children of this age do not have the cognitive capacity to process this type of information. In addition, they have not yet mastered 'discretion' when it comes to telling thier peers about they have learned and separating truth from fiction. They will, in this blogger's opinion, take away some fact from the teacher and some untruth that they inevitably will get from other peers/TV/radio/print media and jumble it together until they create thier own pseudo-truth. There are sexual education programs put in place around the country already stating scientific fact educating at around grade six. This is ok, this is what is needed! When we as a country start showing children how sex is performed then we will end up with more curiousity. The more curious the person, the more apt they will be to try out what this new information teaches.
That said, I believe it is up to the parents whether or not thier childen should learn about sex and at what age. I took a sexual education course as part of the curriculum in the seventh grade, and the parents had a right to include thier child in the course (some of which chose not to include thier children). I found the information adequate and also found that I was told at the right age. I could process this information more adequately given my knowledge at the time and my experiences. Six years old is much too young and inexperienced to be able to handle what would be taught to them, but as I stated before it should be left up to the parents. Parents should have the right to educate thier children how and when they deem it necessary. You still have rights! Read the full story from ABCNEWS at http://blogs.abcnews.com/politicalradar/2007/07/sex-ed-for-kind.html
I am American! I am Everyman! I am Countryman!

Ask Not What Your Country Can Do For You!

I have spoken with many people over the last few months about the issues that matter most to them. Universal healthcare, social security reform, the "No Child Left Behind" debacle, et al. One thing that seems to be apparent is that We, as Americans, have become too dependent on the government. We look to the government for handouts in everything. "I don't have healthcare, so the government should provide me with some!" That statement is completely and utterly ludicrous. When did it become a right to obtain what your neighbor has.

John F. Kennedy once said "Ask not what your country can do for you - ask what you can do for your country."

This mentality is exactly what we need in this country again. People need to stop asking for welfare just because they view it as an easy way to survive. Don't get me wrong, I believe that some people need welfare because of layoffs and general hard times as a means of getting by for the time being. That said, some of the people that are on welfare, are on it for the proverbial 'long haul'. It is these people that I think need to own up to thier shortcomings and get out into the workforce. Secure a job, any job! Noone is 'above' working 8 hours a day flipping burgers to put food on thier family's table. The government is not in place to give you handouts. It is instead there to protect us from those that wish to take away our rights as citizens of this great country. The freedom of speech, assembly, to bear arms, etc. Government is there to allow our pursuit of life, liberty, and happiness to progress unimpeded!
With government doing it's job in protecting and upholding our inalienable rights, we are then free to help our neighbors and friends. This is where charities come into play. Charities help the less fortunate, that is thier creed. Give money to charities if you feel the need to help people, because it is not the responsibility of Washington to do so. Show pride in the fact that you provide for yourself and your loved ones. Show America you care! Take responsibility!
I am American, I am Everyman, I am Countryman!

Universal Healthcare? Thanks, but no thanks!

Universal healthcare is a hot topic in our country today. Should we implement a universal healthcare system that is run by the government? That is the question I am going to address today.
Universal healthcare, according to some in Washington, is a necessity. I do not believe this to be true. According to the current presidential candidate Barack Obama, a universal healthcare plan would provide for everyone in the United States of America either by "employers, private health plans, the federal government, or the states" (http://projects.washingtonpost.com/2008-presidential-candidates/issues/candidates/barack-obama/). This sounds all well and good, right? Wrong! The plan that he would like to introduce would force all employers to either contribute to a plan of thier choosing or to the public plan. The public governmental plan would be substantially cheaper to contribute towards, so most if not all employers are going to contribute toward the public governmental plan. The governmental plan will obviously cover the basest of healthcare needs (i.e. checkups, follow-ups etc.) but would make YOU pick up the slack on other things that you may have been covered by in your original employers health plan. I'll explain. Let's say you have acid reflux disease. The public plan would cover, according to my understanding, your doctor visits but would not cover the endoscopy that you would need to diagnose any underlying diseases that cause the issue since you would need to be referred to a specialist. So the full cost of the procedure would come out of your pocket with no help coming from the government-run public plan.
Private health plans now are costly because they cover things that you may not ever need. Guess what, that is why it is called insurance. They cover you IN CASE you contract or develop a disease or injury. I understand that some people want insurance and they cannot afford it. Many providers are willing to work with you to figure out a plan that is right for you and within your price range. If we let the government step anymore into the ring of healthcare by telling us that we can either have a public health plan that covers almost nothing and pay everything else including coverage for chronic diseases out of pocket OR get health insurance from our employer that will most likely buy into the governmental plan, well I guess that's not much of a choice is it.
I would say that America has the BEST health care doctors, facilities, and resources in the world. If a public plan does go into effect then the doctors and facilities will lose thier private funding because they are now funded by the government. However, the government (without raising taxes exponentially) cannot possibly keep up the needed funding that each clinic/hospital needs and thus the care will suffer. The doctors and nurses numbers will dwindle because they are underpaid and overworked. The emergency centers will be overwhelmed because every scrape and bruise will need to be looked at by a health professional because the masses won't have to distinguish whether a hospital visit is warranted or not because it is free. In time the system will eventually worsen to the point that the care that was once the best in the world is is in shambles and will need to be revived. Revived most likely through a free market that thrives on competition, which was ripped from us in the first place.
Remember that health care, like everything else, is not free! Everyone pays!
I am American. I am Everyman. I am Countryman.

Introduction

Hi everyone,
I am The Countryman. I have started this blog to discuss the things that many of you are sharing amongst yourselves in your homes. I will discuss the issues plaguing our society as well as possible solutions. I will talk about race, creed, gender, education, experiences, politics, emotions, patriotism and many other topics as this blog evolves. But first, a little about myself. I am male, age 18-35. I live in a rural community and commute to a city everyday. I am a college graduate. I am American. I am Everyman. I am Countryman. Stayed tuned for more blogs.