GUN VIOLENCE IN AMERICA: FOR WHO THE BELL TOLLS NEXT.

Just five people shy of Sandy Hook elementary school mass shooting incident that claimed 26 lives, the Uvalde Texas Robb elementary school mass shooting at 21 victims, now ranks among the highest grossing gun carnage in America. It is sad that such frequent blood spilling has tragically become part of our culture as a society. May the souls of the killed now rest.

25th AMENDMENT: ITS NOW ALL CRICKET.

Madam Speaker Nancy Pelosi once questioned former President Donald John Trump's fitness to remain in office due to what she claimed was his declining mental capacity. Does anyone know what Madam Speaker presently thinks about the incontrovertible case which America is now saddled with? Just curious!

WHO WILL REBUILD UKRAINE?

The West should convert frozen Russian assets, both state's and oligarchs' owned, into a full seizure and set them aside for the future rebuilding of Ukraine. Like the Marshal Plan, call it the Putin Plan.

A HERO IS BORN.

I am staying put. I will not run away and abandon my people. The fight is here in Ukraine. What I need are weapons and ammunitions, not a ride out of town like former Afghanistan President Ashraf Ghani - President Volodymyr Zelensky.

IT IS WHAT IT IS.

"There is too much hate in America because there is too much anger in America." - Trevor Noah.

WORD!

A life without challenges is not a life lived at all. A life lived is a life that has problems, confronts problems, solves problems and then learns from problems. - Tunde Fashola.

NOW, YOU KNOW.

When fishing for love, bait with your heart and not your brain, because you cannot rationalize love. - Mark Twain.

JUST THE FACT.

In our country, you can shoot and kill a nigger, but you better not hurt a gay person’s feelings - Dave Chappelle

DO YOU?.

“What you believe in can only be defined by what you’re willing to risk for it." - Stuart Scheller.

HEDGE YOUR CRISIS.

Never get in bed with a woman whose problems are worse than yours. - Chicago PD.

PROBLEM SOLVED.

'The best way to keep peace is to be ready to destroy evil. If you Pearl Harbor me, I Nagasaki you.' - Ted Nugent.

OUR SHARED HUMANITY.

Empathy is at the heart of who we are as human beings. - Cardinal Matthew Kukah.

WORDS ON MARBLE.

"Birth is agony. Life is hard. Death is cruel." - Japanese pithy.

REPENT OR PERISH - POPE.

Homosexuality is a sin. It is not ordained by God, therefore same sex marriage cannot be blessed by the church - Pope Francis.

CANCEL CULTURE IS CORROSIVE.


FOR SAKE OF COUNTRY.


MAGA LIVES ON: NO RETREAT, NO SURRENDER!

TWITTER IS BORING WITHOUT HIS TWEETS. #RestorePresidentTrump'sTwitterHandle.


WORD.

"If you cannot speak the truth when it matters, then nothing else you says matters.” - Tucker Carlson.

#MeToo MOVEMENT: A BAD NEWS GONE CRAZY.

"To all the women who testified, we may have different truth, but I have a great remorse for all of you. I have great remorse for all of the men and women going through this crisis right now in our country. You know, the movement started basically with me, and I think what happened, you know, I was the first example, and now there are thousands of men who are being accused and a regeneration of things that I think none of us understood. I’m not going to say these aren’t great people. I had wonderful times with these people. I’m just genuinely confused. Men are confused about this issue. We are going through this #MeToo movement crisis right now in this country." - Harvey Weinstein.


RON DELLUMS: UNAPOLOGETICALLY RADICAL.

"If it’s radical to oppose the insanity and cruelty of the Vietnam War, if it’s radical to oppose racism and sexism and all other forms of oppression, if it’s radical to want to alleviate poverty, hunger, disease, homelessness, and other forms of human misery, then I’m proud to be called a radical.” - Ron Vernie Dellums.


WHAT REALLY MATTERS IN LIFE - STEVE JOBS

“I reached the pinnacle of success in the business world. In others’ eyes, my life is an epitome of success. However, aside from work, I have little joy. Non-stop pursuing of wealth will only turn a person into a twisted being, just like me. God gave us the senses to let us feel the love in everyone’s heart, not the illusions brought about by wealth. Memories precipitated by love is the only true riches which will follow you, accompany you, giving you strength and light to go on. The most expensive bed in the world is the sick bed. You can employ someone to drive the car for you, make money for you but you cannot have someone to bear sickness for you. Material things lost can be found. But there is one thing that can never be found when it is lost – Life. Treasure Love for your family, love for your spouse, love for your friends. Treat yourself well. Cherish others.” - SJ

EVIL CANNOT BE TRULY DESTROYED.

"The threat of evil is ever present. We can contain it as long as we stay vigilant, but it can never truly be destroyed. - Lorraine Warren (Annabelle, the movie)


ONLY THE POOR WISH THEY HAD STUFF?

“I’m not that interested in material things. As long as I find a good bed that I can sleep in, that’s enough.” - Nicolas Berggruem, the homeless billionaire.

Friday, July 30, 2010

REP. CHARLES RANGEL, WRANGLED BY THE HOUSE ETHICS COMMITTEE!

"Sixty years ago I survived a Chinese attack in North Korea and as a result I haven't had a bad day since. But today I have to reassess that statement." With those words Democrat House of Representative member from New York, representing Harlem for nearly forty years now, Charles Rangel finally came to terms with his fate - a corruption tarnished congressional tenure!
Icheoku says it is only a matter of time before the congressman resigns his office or is expelled/fired by his colleagues for being such blemish on the House. What a low note to end a towering political career which spanned four long and meritorious decades. This is another example of the irony of life which no mortal can ever predict, that man majority of the time is his own greatest worst enemy. Oh Charlie, why?
Representative Charles Rangel was accused by House investigators of 13 count violations of congressional ethics standards including failure to report rental income from vacation property in the Dominican Republic, hundreds of thousands of dollars in additional income and assets on his his financial disclosure statements. his use of congressional staff and stationery to raise money for a center in City College of New York named after him; accepting favors and benefits from the donors that may have influenced his congressional actions; use of a subsidized New York apartment as a campaign office instead of a residence; and misuse of the congressional free mail privilege.
At 80 years old, Icheoku asks, what use is putting old Charlie through the grueling mill of a prosecution and trial; instead let the House force his resignation and then rest the matter. Mr. Rangel served his country both as a young military serviceman and also as a congressman for forty years without blemish until this current episode. Icheoku says it is possible that old age associated 'senility' clouded Charlie's rationality to the extent that he did not fully appreciate the gravity of his indulgences which in turn brought about his current travails? No one died in the process; so instead of crushing old man Charlie with a sledge-hammer, let his past records come to his aid and with a reasonable fine, allow Representative Charles Rangel to just 'disappear' into a well deserved, earned and long over-due retirement where he could live out his golden age in peace. We are not condoning his infractions nor advocating a no-guilty acquittal but that justice be tampered with mercy, his well advanced old age and years of service to his country considered.
Icheoku adds that forty years is such a long time for just one person to be occupying a public office; and this should serve as another ground to let old Charlie go. Therefore it is about time that Representative Charles Rangel yielded that Harlem seat to a younger more dynamic person with added stamina and fresh new ideas to move legislations forward. Charlie's longevity in the House of Representatives and its approaching inglorious end helps persuade the argument by some school of thought that it is about time term limits are set for our national assembly just like some states in the union are already doing with the California's example.
Finally Icheoku says, whether or not, as the Republicans who have already smelled blood in the water and plans to use Charlie's mishap as a campaign tool against the Democrats in the upcoming November mid-term elections, insists that 'the plea bargaining phase is now over and that the House is now in the trial phase," only one end-result can be achieved - his conviction. So why proceed with the drama of a circuitous trial if Charles Rangel agrees on his plea bargain to fall on his sword by admitting his culpability. This is a meaningful resolution of his ethical violations and one that will admit Rangel a more respectful exit from a scene which he had bestrode for a very long time. But either way and no matter how the matter is finally resolved, what a pitiful way to end a very long and otherwise would have been a stellar political career; it also adds another impetus to the existing cynicism in the polity that Washington politicians are there for themselves only, and that they are all the same irrespective of the partisan strips they may be wearing. But hey, a belated draining of the swamp promised by Madam Speaker Nancy Pelosi?
FYI: Lawyers for indicted Charles Rangel and the House Ethics Committee finally worked out a plea deal, which the Committee on Standards of Official Conduct have to approve in order to give it any efficacy; provided of course that Republicans do not insist on proceeding full steam with the trial.

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