Happy Thanksgiving America

As we celebrate Thanksgiving, lets take a moment to remember WHY this day was proclaimed a national day of thanks and to WHOM the President of the the United States of America was directing that gratitude toward.

While you read the proclamation below, ask yourself

 these questions.

Would our President say those same words today?

Would it be such a bad thing if we had leaders with the courage and conviction to say those words today?

Happy Thanksgiving America.

October 3, 1863

By the President of the United States
A Proclamation

The year that is drawing toward its close has been filled with the blessings of fruitful fields and healthful skies. To these bounties, which are so constantly enjoyed that we are prone to forget the source from which they come, others have been added, which are of so extraordinary a nature that they cannot fail to penetrate and soften the heart which is habitually insensible to the ever-watchful providence of Almighty God.

In the midst of a civil war of unequaled magnitude and severity, which has sometimes seemed to foreign states to invite and provoke their aggressions, peace has been preserved with all nations, order has been maintained, the laws have been respected and obeyed, and harmony has prevailed everywhere, except in the theater of military conflict; while that theater has been greatly contracted by the advancing armies and navies of the Union.

Needful diversions of wealth and of strength from the fields of peaceful industry to the national defense have not arrested the plow, the shuttle, or the ship; the ax has enlarged the borders of our settlements, and the mines, as well of iron and coal as of the precious metals, have yielded even more abundantly than heretofore. Population has steadily increased, notwithstanding the waste that has been made in the camp, the siege, and the battlefield, and the country, rejoicing in the consciousness of augmented strength and vigor, is permitted to expect continuance of years with large increase of freedom.

No human counsel hath devised, nor hath any mortal hand worked out these great things. They are the gracious gifts of the Most High God, who while dealing with us in anger for our sins, hath nevertheless remembered mercy.

It has seemed to me fit and proper that they should be solemnly, reverently, and gratefully acknowledged as with one heart and one voice by the whole American people. I do, therefore, invite my fellow-citizens in every part of the United States, and also those who are at sea and those who are sojourning in foreign lands, to set apart and observe the last Thursday of November next as a Day of Thanksgiving and Praise to our beneficent Father who dwelleth in the heavens. And I recommend to them that, while offering up the ascriptions justly due to Him for such singular deliverances and blessings, they do also, with humble penitence for our national perverseness and disobedience, commend to His tender care all those who have become widows, orphans, mourners, or sufferers in the lamentable civil strife in which we are unavoidably engaged, and fervently implore the interposition of the Almighty hand to heal the wounds of the nation, and to restore it, as soon as may be consistent with the Divine purposes, to the full enjoyment of peace, harmony, tranquility, and union.

In testimony whereof, I have hereunto set my hand and caused the seal of the United Stated States to be affixed.

Done at the city of Washington, this third day of October, in the year of our Lord one thousand eight hundred and sixty-three, and of the Independence of the United States the eighty-eighth.n

The Food Stamp Factor is Killing Our Republic

Census Bureau: Means-Tested Gov't Benefit Recipients Outnumber Full-Time Year-Round Workers - See more at: http://cnsnews.com/news/article/terence-p-jeffrey/census-bureau-means-tested-govt-benefit-recipients-outnumber-full#sthash.TLT6Pkt3.dpuf

I grew up poor, Black, inner-city dwelling, and was raised by a single parent, in my case, my great grandmother. I’ve been on welfare and actually used food stamps. In short, I’m the picture that many liberals hold up when they stridently declare, “We have to do something to help these poor people!”

Here’s what I know from first-hand experience. Food Stamps, while helpful in the short term, will not lift you out of poverty, only your hard work and individual choices can do that. There is not a single government program that has ever made one person financially independent. Only you can do that for you.

The major flaw in the well-meaning government largess aimed at helping people that look like me and others who don’t, and winning the “war on poverty” is that it is killing our work ethic and sense of individual responsibility.

This nation cannot survive if the majority of the population is depending on others or the father figure government to do the achieving for them. We must dial back the entitlement mentality or our Republic will indeed be lost.

If you agree, please consider giving a generous donation at the link below to help inspire our high school students with the courage to pursue their dreams on their on terms and to see their education as way to do it.

Thank you.

BRAVE ENOUGH TO FAIL

PLEASE HELP US INSPIRE OVER 1000 BRIDGEPORT STUDENTS on MAY 21st AND MAY 22nd

We have a great opportunity to make a big difference in our community and across our state by helping our young people become more successful.

Victor Black Ed. D. Principle of Warren Harding High School in Bridgeport has invited Wayne Winsley to deliver the "Brave Enough to Fail" presentation to his entire student body of over twelve hundred students on may 21st and 22nd at 9:00am.

The first session will be with 850+ students and the second session will be with the freshman class of over 350 students.

we urgently need your help to raise the $3,000 needed to fund these presentations!

Please make a tax deductible contribution for as much as you can to,
Water Innovations Foundation/BETF

Please click here to donate online now

By inspiring young people with the courage to pursue their dreams, gifts, and talents while highlighting career opportunities in the fields of science and technology, we are promoting next generation science and technology while cultivating the next genration of  scientists and technologists .
We are also  empowering people to break the cycles of poverty and dependency through courage, individual achievement, entrepreneurism, and hard work.

Any donation of any size is welcome.  

Thank you so much for help. 


Mail your check to Water Innovations Foundation/BETF
4 Research Drive, Suite 402 Shelton, CT 66484

                       OR

Please click here to donate online now

The Water Innovations Foundation is a 501(c)(3) organization that works in conjunction with the Water Innovations Alliance. www.waterinnovations.org

Help Inspire Our Students to Succeed and Live the American Dream!

CLICK THE PIC TO DONATE

CLICK THE PIC TO DONATE

Today I am using my blog to ask for your financial help in a very worthy cause, our children.

My main motivation for running for U.S. Congress was to secure a better future for our children.

That mission has not changed.

 

Since the campaign I have joined with the Water Innovations Alliance Foundation, a 501(c)(3) non-profit based in Shelton, CT.

 

Our goal to promote next generation science and technology while cultivating the next generation of scientists and technologists.

 

America is the land of opportunity and as you know, the biggest gateway to opportunity is education.

That is why my partners and I at the Water Innovations Foundation are spearheading the Brave Enough to Fail® program to bring a message of achievement, courage, achievement and hard work to Connecticut high school students throughout the state and particularly in lower achieving schools.

 

The presentations are offered to schools and students at no charge,

That is why I am asking you to click here and make a tax deductible donation to make this possible.

 

The following schools have already requested presentations which must be funded

AI Technical High School in Hartford in (Junior class)
Hillhouse High School in New Haven (Junior Class & Senior class)
Harding High School in Bridgeport (ENTIRE STUDENT BODY OVER 1,000 STUDENTS) 
 
We urgently need your help to reach our goal and bring a message of motivation to  sixty high schools and reach over 15,000 students. 
 
What I have learned since launching this program is that our schools are desperate for anything that might help the thousands of struggling students in our high schools to invest themselves in their own education.
 
I won't bore you with a whole lot of nonsense and hype, any amount of money that you can contribute is welcome and we need it as soon as you can send it.
I thank you for your support and for taking the time to  read this and please share it if you will.
 
Sincerely
Wayne Winsley
Conservative Capitalst. 

Take Action Now to Control Your Medical Records!

A proposed bill in Connecticut needs your help getting out of the Public Health Committee so it can go to the House and Senate for a vote. House Bill 5737, “An Act Concerning the Use of Patient Health Care Information in the All-Payer Claims Database Program,” would protect your privacy by giving you the right to chose whether or not your information is included in the state’s All-Payer Claims Database, which collects, stores, and uses information from health care claims

You should be able to decide how and by whom your sensitive health information is used. Let your legislators know that having control over your medical data is important to you by contacting them and encouraging them to support HB 5737. You can see a full list of the Public Health Committee members and how to contact them here. To contact your own district Representative or Senator to ask them to vote for the bill, you can follow this link to find out who represents you.

Is Discrimination Against Women Okay in CT Legislature?

At first it might seem like a silly question but in view of the Ernest Hewett situation, it needs to be asked.

This is what CT. State Representative Ernest Hewett ACTUALLY said in defending his now infamous “snake under my desk” comment.

According to The Hartford Courant, the New London Democrat told the paper that he

"purposely will not have female interns. My intern now is a male. I want to keep it like that. I've had female interns in the past that sit in my office all day. I thought it was totally weird and I didn't want another."
"That's why I was so leery about staying away from interns," he told The Courant. "I don't know what they're going to give me. They may give me a female, but I don't want a female intern. That may sound sexist but I really don't. That way that keeps me good and that keeps everybody else good." Read full story here

To me, the above statements sound really outrageous, offensive, archaic, and sexist. In fact the word Neanderthal comes to mind.   

But I could be wrong so let us do a small experiment and flip it around a bit and pretend that the legislator in question is a white Republican and the intern in question is black. In that case the statement would read as follows.

According to The Hypothetical paper, the imaginary Republican told the paper that he

"purposely will not have black interns. My intern now is a white. I want to keep it like that. I've had black interns in the past that sit in my office all day. I thought it was totally weird and I didn't want another."
"That's why I was so leery about staying away from interns," he told The Hypothetical. "I don't know what they're going to give me. They may give me a black, but I don't want a black intern. That may sound racist but I really don't. That way that keeps me good and that keeps everybody else good."

Would these imaginary comments be okay if they were uttered by a sitting Connecticut lawmaker? Or would they be viewed as outrageous, offensive, archaic, and racist?

If so, then why are the very real comments above that were actually put forth by State Representative Ernest Hewett being ignored, particularly by the many women who are serving and working in and around the Connecticut Legislature?

Is discrimination against women okay in the CT Legislature?
Or does it depend on who is doing the discriminating?

Why Does Government Want to Disarm You While Arming Itself?

 

 

In recent months we have seen proposed gun control legislation that seeks to do everything from banning certain types of weapons, limiting magazine sizes, to even taxing the bullets themselves.

Meanwhile, our government is literally buying bullets like they are going out of style.

The Department of Homeland Security is set to purchase a further 21.6 million rounds of ammunition to add to the 1.6 billion bullets it has already obtained over the course of the last 10 months alone

To put that in perspective, during the height of active battle operations in Iraq, US soldiers used 5.5 million rounds of ammunition a month. Extrapolating the figures, the DHS has purchased enough bullets over the last 10 months to wage a full scale war for almost 30 years.

This is not a conspiracy theory or even a pro-second amendment statement. I am simply posing a question that even the most ardent gun control supporter should be asking.

Why?

If your next door neighbor went to the local store and purchased 200 rounds of ammunition, many of you would be very concerned and want to know, “What on earth do they need that much firepower for, what are they planning to do?”

Well…your civilian government is stockpiling ammo at a faster rate than the military and at the same time seeking to restrict civilian access to firearms and even ammunition.

You might want to ask, Why, exactly, is the DHS stockpiling massive amounts of ammo?

 

This post cites and reprints information taken from the sources linked below.

http://www.infowars.com/dhs-purchases-21-6-million-more-rounds-of-ammunition/
http://news.investors.com/ibd-editorials/021213-644201-dhs-buys-7000-semiautomatic-assault-weapons.htm

Your Kid Gets a Checkup from the Neck Up Need it or Not

General Assembly		Proposed Bill No. 374
January Session, 2013		LCO No. 2001
Referred to Committee on PUBLIC HEALTH
Introduced by:
SEN. HARP, 10th Dist. REP. WALKER, 93rd Dist.

AN ACT REQUIRING BEHAVIORAL HEALTH ASSESSMENTS FOR CHILDREN.
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives in General Assembly convened:
That section 10-206 of the general statutes be amended to require (1) each pupil enrolled in public school at grades 6, 8, 10 and 12 and each home-schooled child at ages 12, 14 and 17 to have a confidential behavioral health assessment, the results of which shall be disclosed only to the child's parent or guardian, and (2) each health care provider performing a child's behavioral health assessment to complete the appropriate form supplied by the State Board of Education verifying that the child has received the assessment.
Statement of Purpose:
To provide behavioral health assessments to children.



Spotting a mental health problem early and preventing another tragedy like the recent one in Sandy Hook is important.

But as the parent of a school aged child, I find the above proposal dangerous, invasive, and outrageous.

Our well-meaning legislators want to ensure that every child whether in public school or home school, is given periodic behavioral health assessments, whether they need them or not, whether they have shown any signs of having a problem or not.

These assessments are usually given to children who have already been determined to be in need.  Now even the most well behaved child would be given these tests.  

The proposal is Dangerous, because the government has now created a small, “big brother” that will follow my child around for the rest of her days.

You may say that they are just children and this record won’t follow them. But if your insurance company requires records, it may or may not affect their quality of care (pre-existing condition) in the future. If your child has gone through a stressor that would affect their assessment (divorce, family job loss, housing change etc…) they may now test as an “in need child” or “problem child” as mental health professional would tell us.

The proposal is invasive because unlike health vaccinations which are administered to prevent contagious diseases, this testing requirement now goes not only into our public schools which is invasive enough, but in the case of homeschoolers it is even more frightening. Homeschooling parents have chosen to have freedom of religion, freedom of nutritional choice, and freedom of educational choices, but now the government has found a way to burst through those freedoms and into their child’s life.

The proposal is outrageous because the eight simple lines are so open to interpretation on so many levels that the potential for abuse and mismanagement are huge.  

This proposed piece of legislation should never leave the committee room. Call or email your representative whether they are on the public health committee or not and urge them to stop this proposal in its tracks.

Game Day

 

 

 

On Sunday February 3rd. I was invited to speak to a meeting of the Connecticut Union of College Republicans. Here is a portion of what I shared.

Take the 2nd Amendment as Seriously as the 1st or Shut Up! (It could be the law)

To those strident voices who are, in the wake of the Sandy Hook tragedy, calling for the abolition of the 2nd Amendment to the U.S. Constitution because it is old and outdated, I offer this.

The 1st Amendment, ratified 222 years ago, guarantees your freedom of speech. You may not like what I say, but I get to say it, AND you get to disagree with me without fear of being locked up or shut up.

The 19th Amendment, ratified 93 years ago, protects the voting rights of women. Frankly, I've heard my wife, my mother and my sister say things that make me cringe at the very idea that they get to help elect our leadership. (I love you ladies dearly) But guess what? That freedom should always remain.

In my humble opinion, the rap star Flavor Flav (google him) is as dumb as a box of rocks, but his right to enter a voting booth and fill out a ballot is sacred according to the 143 year old, 15th Amendment and it should remain so.

Only one time has the U.S. Constitution been amended in the direction of restricting freedom, that was the short-lived Eighteenth Amendment which brought us Prohibition and a flourishing black market in alcohol. It lasted only 13 years and was overruled. The people's right to drunken debauchery shall not be infringed.

Should the President be able to repeal, by executive order, the 222 year old, 2nd Amendment? The answer is no! Remember, the U.S. Constitution was written with the express purpose of limiting the power of the Federal Government. The Federal Government cannot now remove amendments to suit a given agenda.

The constitution of the United States is the bedrock of our freedom and should only be amended in the direction of expanding our liberties and not restricting them.

Everyone should be concerned when government begin talking about restricting our freedoms.
Whether you have a black or brown face, whether you shave your legs before going out, like to enjoy a beer during the playoffs or blog your content or discontent with our current President, your rights are being protected.
Persons who own guns deserve to have that right protected as well.

Why White America Ignores Urban Gun Violence

While we as a nation continue to try and wrap our collective head around the unspeakable tragedy that occurred in Newtown on December 14^th 2012, and as the issues of gun control, gun violence and mental health are now firmly planted on the front burner of our political stove, there are some people in the black community asking the question, what took you so long to recognize gun violence as a problem because black people have been dealing with this for years?  Dr Cornel West laments that there is “not a peep, not a mumbling word when black folk get shot.”

 Truth is…black children shoot each other with such regularity that it is no longer a big deal.

 The list of young black homicide victims and their murderers is so long that it just blurs into a large bloody tapestry on the back wall of American society that goes largely unnoticed because it is always right there.  

 The questions that I am more interested in are…Why do so many of our children have so little regard for the sanctity of human life that they can pull a trigger and end a life as easily as flicking off a light switch? And, what can we do to reverse this process? Because new gun laws alone aren’t going to do it. We have far too many young black men with no fathers, no values, no direction, and no hope.

The city of New Haven alone has seen fifty-one murders in the past twenty-one months but the level of outrage from the parents, politicians, and clergy that matter most is sadly lacking. Then of course there is the city of Chicago with 500 homicides in 2012 alone.

By the way, since 2001 the number of American troops killed in Afghanistan is about 2000. During the same time period more 5,000 people have been killed by gunfire in and around Chicago, the overwhelming majority of the victims were black.

 With numbers like these it is no wonder that there is little to no media coverage of violence in our urban centers.  In American culture things that happen every day and all day aren’t special.

It doesn’t mean that not every violent death is a tragedy because make no mistake every life that is cut short is a huge loss not only to the family but to society as a whole which is robbed of the promise that resides within every human life.

 I’m typing these words on the morning of January 1^st 2013 and already in Chicago 11 people have been shot since midnight, including 20 year old Octavius Dontrell Lamb, who will never see a full day of 2013.

In Philadelphia at around 12:30am a 17 year old boy was shot and killed. By 3:00am there were two more bodies littering the streets of the city of brotherly love.

In my native city of Cleveland, at  2:50am police found an unidentified black male shot to death on the front porch of an east side home.

The reason the mainstream media pays so little attention to these killings of mostly black and brown people has less to do  with racism than the simple fact there are just too many of them.

 If we believe that constant exposure to violence on television and in video games desensitizes children and adults to violence in real life, then why is it so hard to believe that constant exposure to gun violence in our minority communities would desensitize the rest of the nation to the true impact and depth of this very real national tragedy?

 Black people shoot each other with such regularity that it is no longer news, it is just normal.

And folks, white people can’t fix that, only black people can.

This is why I am choosing to focus my efforts on inspiring and motivating as many young minds as possible with the idea that their lives are valuable and filled with the promise of greatness and opportunity. Maybe some of those young minds will in turn begin to see value in the lives of their peers as well.

 

Wayne Winsley is a former U.S. Congressional Candidate, award winning speaker and author. He lives in Connecticut.