Are you facing a stop sign? Take a deep breath and then look away from it. Look around it, underneath it, beside it. Consider whether it’s time to bring out the sledgehammer or simply look for another road, but keep moving… what’s on the other side just might surprise you.
- http://theleadershipprogram.com/stop-signs/
OK. Let’s just stop it now, can we? Just for one...lousy...minute. See, I don’t really seem to be getting your attention here. I don’t hear the cheers I used to. I think we have some doubting Toms and Tamis here. Either that, or you’re getting as sick of this as I am. Noooooooo....surely not. Sorry kids, gotta go with option A.
Now looky here. I’m going to present this in a logical, simple, down to earth manner, from the heart. From me to you.
There are a number of things here that are driving me a little batty. If this all continues in such a manner, I may literally jump off a bridge and call it a day. So, per usual, I will calmly and politely, without a shred of anger or dissidence, talk it out, and see what goes.
I present to you, this scenario. 2 adult people.
One is 53, ADD riddled, a little on the overbearing side, but intelligent, still in possession of most of his marbles, mixed with a touch of rebelliousness. He’s got mad skills, yet he’s had a slight scrape here and there, and has a bit of a problem keeping it together sometimes. He’s a bit in your face, has courted the law a couple times and been in a little trouble in his life a couple of times, minor stuff...but there’s nothing serious, really.
The other is 36, pretty, kind, quiet, has had the same job all her life, hasn’t hurt a soul ever, doesn’t have a person in the world who’s brave enough to ever accuse her of doing wrong (with 1 exception, naturally), and hasn’t ever been in jail, or has ever been in possession of a parking ticket.
Now what is it that people are, am or were that would have them believe that, out of nowhere, these two people do and deal drugs, do meth, neglect their one and only 9 day old child, and need to be put on an offender registry for 10 years...all because they refuse to accept all that a rogue agency of state government claims as proven fact the things that they’ve been accused of, or that they don’t want to do what the bad agency wants, because “they’re crying foul to our charges, regardless of the fact that they were caught red-handed. They’ve gone against the grain and ignored the reasonable efforts that we’ve provided them with in order to re-unify them, and now, we’re going to take the mother’s child permanently. Justice has been served, and another child SAVED BY US!!” And whilst they feed the public or those who might be overseeing this in any way this bullspit, everyone else in their court hearings plays along with the game the judge is playing, because they realize that if they don’t, the carefully crafted laws of Iowa will turn around and bite them in the ass...so they all play nice with the judge, and in 6 months, it’ll all be over. “We’ll make a ton of money off of both the child being in the system for that 6 months, and, if the parents fight it off, well, we’ll go all the way, terminate the rights and win all the way around (off the adoption as well) and we’ll just continue on to the next one...because you know it’s coming anyway, no matter what we do, and hey, it’s a job! I don’t care how I feel about it, it pays the bills...right?”
Then, let’s talk about accountability. Responsibility. Respectability. Your gut feelings. Guilt. Logic? “Noooo, that’s too hard for me. Let’s stick with what works for me...ok?”
Fine. We’ll move on. OK, this couple is of the lower class. Middle America (they say....whoever THEY are) makes somewhere in the range of $45,000/yr. I would like to know where they get that average, myself. Even at a whopping $12/hr. I’m only getting an annual net (and you know it’s all about the net. Do you notice that the only thing they WANT to know is about is your gross? Why? No matter how many times you say it, you DON’T make that, but it would seem to be that the gross is the only figure they care about. And nobody sees this?) of around $15,600 a year...after taxes, social security, medicare/medicaid...who the hell knows what it goes for anymore...unemployment insurance (that you may never be covered for)...my net. The money I REALLY make. So, because of this “net”, I’m in the lower class. All because some yahoo somewhere says we make an average of $45,000 a year. People like us can’t afford lawyers at $150 an hour. Yet everyone advises that I have an attorney for this. You need to talk to your attorney....you need an attorney. Don’t you have an attorney? You can talk to your attorney about it. Screw the attorney. The one the state appointed tried to mess us over, and we can’t trust him, or anyone else this judge appoints either. Why would I think real attorneys to be any better? If nothing else, the judge can control the attorneys, at least somewhat. They can’t control you or what you do without throwing you in the clink, so they don’t care for the type who wants to represent themselves...so they make sure and rub in the fact that if you waive having an attorney, you’re probably due to LOSE...over and over again. Every hearing I attend he says “Mr. Bruce, are you still wanting to represent yourself? You do realize that without an attorney, you might have your rights terminated?” I like to run that one around in my brain, while it usually answers him back, in silence “what, and with your attorney that you appoint me, I may not? I’d say my chances are better right where I’m at, thank you. I say, If the laws we have were understandable to all common people....even UNCOMMON people, I wouldn’t need an attorney. Isn’t that easier? Can’t we do that instead?”
Here’s the one that really gets me. This is the mama of all of ‘em. “It happens. It’s going to happen...but as long as it doesn’t get me, and as long as they go their way, and don’t bother me, I’m ok. And that’s that. I just want to live out the rest of my life in peace, enjoy a bit o’ retirement, and just enjoy the grandkids I have.
NO!! THAT ISN’T THAT. IT DOESN’T HAVE TO BE “IT IS WHAT IT IS”....YOU PEOPLE HAVE GOT....TO WAKE UP!! Just because the law says these people are bad, doesn’t always play right. We have always claimed that you’re innocent until proven guilty....but it hasn’t been that way for over a century, so why do you continue to believe it? How can you be sure that the corruption, which is rampant in our country today (and you KNOW it IS!!) doesn’t apply to the lawyers who represent you, to the branch of government that used to do good, and who is absolutely believed to continue to do so, to the very judge presiding over your case even....how....do....you....know??? You don’t...and worse yet, you won’t either....until it comes to your doorstep. Until these things play in your court. Until it’s you that has to deal with reality. Until then, “baaa-aaa” is all you have to say about it.
OKOK...you want an example then. I think it’s fair, and your request, granted.
Here’s the same couple. They have some folks staying with them. They have a baby, and ask those people to leave. The folks are pissed, and call DHS on the nice people. They make 10 false claims, and DHS pays the nice folks a visit. The nice people explain their side of things, and it makes perfect sense...but the bad DHS people don’t care about their nice story, they just need victimized kids who they can say have been neglected so that their little plan to make money will work and these nice people would work out fine. And since they have no proof of anything that might be going on, then instead make up some reasons that all coincide with Iowa code, and make it stick, using their corrupt district attorney, their own corrupt judges, and their own state appointed lawyers. When the nice people figure it out, they dump their attorneys, yet the judge keeps saying “look you people...I will have to tell you that, without an attorney, you may lose...and by the way? You lose. You lose this one, you will lose that one..and then you’ll lose what you’re fighting for...all because you won’t play along the way WE want you to. We wanna make money, and you’re not wanting to play along....so you lose. You’re bad people (mostly because you don’t have the resources to both live AND fight), and we’ll find a way to make people believe that.”
So you say “OKOK, I can see where you’d be a bit upset”. But you have rights!” (that doesn’t matter because the child is in the legal custody of the bad state agency, and will be gone permanently in around 6 months, per Iowa Code, along with your “rights” if you don’t play their game)...you should play their game!, THEN, when you get your kids back THEN you can get ‘em (no we can’t...they are all immune to any prosecution concerning the child protective covered stuff)...”but you can appeal it! (only once, to a line of judges that used to be where these judges are...and there’s only one appeal option...to them)...ask for another judge! (there’s only a handful that hear cases like this. If there is only a choice of 4 judges, how do you know if you have a good one?) “But how do we know that your side is right, the other wrong?” Well...I guess you don’t. See, the bad side finds ways to make us look bad, then the bad judge makes up his own facts, and rules against you...so it looks good...but it’s bad. Nothing you do or say makes a difference.
All of these people, in this state, where Des Moines is the biggest city, only has 4....count ‘em, 4 judges that hear juvenile cases. Everyone that is involved in this case is immune to prosecution. The judges are immune, the D.A. is immune, the lawyers are immune, the court reporter is even immune, surely. DHS is immune. And the healthcare giant and all that work for them? Yup. Immune.
This is where it happens people. And the moustache writes their law into effect....the MOUSTACHE RULES HERE IN IOWA...DOESN’T THAT CONCERN YOU PEOPLE AT ALL? Here’s a guy, who, 20 years ago, got his son off on a double murder charge....he paid, I think, around $18 in court costs....eighteen DOLLARS. Bet he made that in about an hour, according to our wage average. ARE YOU PEOPLE INSANE....WAKE THE F*** UP!! This man, when confronted with the murder of the 5 yr. old who was killed by his 17 yr. old foster brother, all because some mental doctor (who they’d love me to go see) didn’t want the nice state to pay for caring for him in their care anymore, so they Ok’d him to be in a foster home...and this is what happened...and the Governor, Terry the moustache Brandstadt, our Governor, turned his back on it. Walked away. Washed his hands of the responsibility. And you turn around and vote for the guy next time? “I’M Not doing too bad, I’m making $45,000 at MY job pally. I LOVE Iowa, and I love Des Moines! Long as it doesn’t happen to me, I’m good. You go your way, and I’ll go mine, and perhaps the twain shall never meet.” Riiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiight.
Then, you lose your home, all because your life was so busy, you forgot to meet the mortgage this month, and you get behind...then, just when you needed it most, your Christmas bonus didn’t happen like it did for the last 10 years, and you aren’t able to quickly make up the difference...you go for a loan, but your credit is bad...somebody stole your identity, and, since there aren’t good enough laws in place that cover you, your credit is JUST BAD...PERIOD. So sorry, have a nice day, enjoy your NEW life..as...who again? I’m not me, so who am I now? 575 BILLION is lost globally each year to identity theft....because there’s no regulation, hasn’t been, isn’t now, and never will be....why? Because there are folks out there who believe that if they start regulating the internet, it’ll violate their rights. WHO GIVES A FLYING RAT’S COHONY about your RIGHTS?? If you lose all your money to identity theft, are you gonna care that you still have your right to free expression on the internet? ARE YOU REALLY THAT STUPID??
Oh yeah, almost forgot where I was...so now, you lose your home, and you can’t afford the car payments anymore...and you and your kids move into a larger apartment...but now these things have crept into missing a lot of work....and you get fired. Replaced by a gung-ho kid barely out of college, because he has A DEGREE”....yeah, but he’s not gonna last...got no EXPERIENCE...real world experience beats out education, I can get another job in a SNAP...hate to tell ya pally, unemployment’s up over 10%, and that position you’re sure you’ll get? There’s a hundred people applying for it as well, and your chances of getting that primo job are next to zippo. You sell everything you own trying to keep up with the bills, but it doesn’t cut the mustard. So you take whatever job you can get...at $12/hr, working 20-24 hours a week, or around $1200 a month....NET.
All of a sudden, it’s not just me down here in the muck....now it’s you too. And the chances of what happened to me, are now very possible to happen to you. Because THIS is the way it is. Reality is dealt with every day down here folks. This is where we find out what’s really messed up. And in case you’re wondering what happened to those nice neighbors, the Johnson’s? All that I just said happened to them...oh those poor people! The husband just lost it, killed the wife and his kids, and shot himself after...tsk, tsk. What a crying shame. All because he lost his home. Wow. That’s not just because YOU people don’t wanna see reality, don’t ever wanna have to FACE reality...hell, don’t even wanna HEAR ABOUT reality, but if you actually FACED reality, you wouldn’t have a clue to handle it, mentally or physically. How many Americans these days do you know who actually have the skill set to survive any more, under the worst of circumstances? How long would you survive on a desert Island, for instance? Not long, I’ll warrant. So faced with the real deal, there’s only one more way to think left, and it’s: ”As long as they go that way, I’ll go this way..and maybe I have a shot at making it to 71, the new retirement age they implemented last year, and I may get about 2 years worth in before I go...but by god, let the next generation worry about the problems”....and they don’t think about it, but the next generation includes those grandkids they enjoy putting on their knees every time they come to visit. Those are the ones that are gonna have to grow up and deal with the s*** you ignored back in your day. And by then, because it grew unchecked and unchallenged, it’s bigger...and badder than it was to begin with, back in your time. And soon, it’ll come for people like you AS WELL. Feel better now? NO? FABULOUS....because there’s absolutely no good reason that you should.
Your country, America....the one you worked so damn hard to keep a hold of...it’s as good as gone. What those people are going through, it’s ok, as long as it happens to them, and not me. This is what we’ve come to, what we’ve decided to keep going for...work two jobs for...you’re just gonna continue to do what you’re doing, and maybe no one will notice me, won’t put me through what THAT guy’s going through...it’s ok, it’s ok...and if it does happen? It’s ok, cause you’ll just flip out...because you won’t have a clue how to survive it, since you didn’t wanna hear about it, now you know nothing about it, and will lose with your eyes and ears CLOSED.
My point to you, America, is this. I’m going through a story right now, that if I had the money to make it go away, I still wouldn’t spend it. Wanna know why? Because, uiltimately what they did, as well as the way they did it, wasn’t RIGHT. It didn’t begin right, it hasn’t gone right, and it’s going to very obviously end up going wrong. Because YOU didn’t wanna hear about it. You refuse to believe it could be that bad. You’e been led to believe that these people are bad people, and they got caught doing bad things...and the court is just serving the riff-raff right. You could be right...but you could be wrong too.
Think about this though. If these people were wrong, and doing bad...do you really believe, even for a minute that they’d be fighting it? And not just fighting it, but fighting it this hard?? For 6 straight months? And putting it out there for the world to see?
Think about this, while you’re at it...Let’s say that DHS gets a few immunity and confidentiality laws passed, then comes at the people who are responsible for serving justice in these cases, as well as a major healthcare network too, and presents to them a way for everyone involved to make a lot of money, and because the way the elections (as well as retention laws) for judge choices or for better ones are so thin there was no other way to go...wouldn’t this be possible in our fair state? Think about it. This is the biggest city in Iowa...and there’s only 4 choices for juvenile case judges. 4. For over a half a million people. And that’s in this county alone. And you don’t think there’s the POSSIBILITY THAT THOSE 4 CHOICES AREN’T ALL ON THE TAKE????? That there isn’t a great chance of it, if the money’s real good, and the whole bunch gets a cut, and as long as they all play the game, and cover each other up that they won’t do it? GET REAL!! Look at the citizens of America, today, as opposed to yesterday. Yesterday, we helped each other when things got bad. Now we cover up our hoarded wealth and scream “MINE”, then look at others suspiciously, thinking everyone’s out to get their hands on it. Breath in the stench of greed, it’s EVERYWHERE...with every job lost, with every cut in benefits, with every new nest-egg lost, this country and all who reside in it get greedier and greedier with their portions. There are literally MILLIONS OF DOLLARS available to all involved in our case in federal monies, to get kids into the system, keep them there, then put them up for adoption....MILLIONS! I can really just hear Judge Price now, as he hears of this little scheme for the first time - “Oh, I dunno...I don’t know if I could live with myself...and yet...that judge is playing along, and he’s doing real well for HIMSELF...so why not? He isn’t getting caught, so why not? The judge does it...the D.A. does it....DHS guarantees we will get through it unscathed, as long as we follow the federal stuff...and we are just doing it to minorities and people that can’t afford real lawyers. They’re on food stamps and FIP, and just sucking this state dry anyway....so why the hell not? Maybe I’ll FINALLY get that Ferarri I always wanted...”
You folks here in Iowa are SCREWED. AND I HEREBY LEAVE YOU TO YOUR FATE. GLWT!! I am, after I lose (mainly because you’re blind and refuse to see), LEAVING this state to what it’s had coming for a long time. I may go to another state with more of a population, because really, this one, the way it sits..well, they can have their moustache. I won’t deal with this idiot. I’m going to a state with a population of 10 mil or better, those people CARE about their lives and who sits in the governor’s office...this one? All they care about is positive outlooks, young professionals, art fairs and under the radar tech hub ratings, as they drift carefree in the sinkhole that is Des Moines, Iowa; where they’ve pulled the plug and are just waiting for the filth that roams the streets to go down the drain, yet don’t realize that, as the filth goes down the drain, they’re locked in the whirlpool with ‘em. Where do you think these social workers are going to start going when they run out of people like me to pick on? Let ‘em have it all, I say. ‘Til it happens to them that is. A little reality is good for the constitution, I say. Wakes up the sheep real fast. Enjoy, Iowa. Let me know when you folks get some real sense. :D
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