PERVERSELY; GOOD CITIZENS ARE BEING PUNISHED NOT THE CRIMINALS

PERVERSELY: GOOD CITIZENS ARE BEING PUNISHED NOT THE CRIMINALS

By Domenick J. Maglio PhD. Traditional Realist

The entire “gun control movement” does not seem to comprehend that guns are not the issue. The real problem is that mental health and criminal background restrictions are not being enforced effectively. The lack of follow up of law breakers who falsify information and professional personnel who do not do the due diligence reporting dangerous mental health patients and dangerous criminals is the culprit.  These so called professionals should be held accountable through appropriate punishment. Almost all of the mass shootings have been committed by people with known psychological or criminal history but have fallen off the radar screen.

In 2013 Brevard county schools introduced the Promise Program. This program emphasized positive reinforcement intervention rather than punitive and criminal consequences for violent student behavior. Serious violence by students went purposely unreported to higher school authorities to receive more federal funds by falsely lowering violence statistics in our public schools. Now Brevard County schools have the unenviable distinction of having the most profoundly violent and chronic juvenile offenders in Florida.

Disregarding violence and law breaking promotes it, while restricting law abiding citizen’s rights to protect themselves will increase the likelihood for it to occur.

We as a society are going down an absolutely wrong path. In certain locales we are allowing illegal immigrants not to be deported. The corrupt elite politicians in our federal government are self righteously throwing the book at less powerful rivals for minor transgressions. The objective is to tarnish their reputation while protecting their cronies. Without justice administrated equally and fairly, justice will cease to exist and injustice will flourish.

No fault auto insurance and no fault divorce were passed to streamline and unclutter court dockets. It has made it too easy to rationalize bad choices and behavior.  Auto accidents and divorce have sky rocketed. The stigma and shame for reckless driving and easy divorce has practically disappeared. This has tarnished the reputation of our court system.

In the current Florida legislation there are state laws being proposed to supposedly improve the quality of education that impact private schools.  Some politicians want the department of education to inspect non public schools to increase compliance with county and state laws. The goal is to raise such basic and easily prevented standards as hiring teachers with criminal records, falsifying fire and safety inspection records or hiring teachers without a four year degree. They also want owners not paying the rent or who have had recent bankruptcy kept from administrating a private school. Any private school would lose its accreditation and would be closed down with these types of violations by its accrediting agency.  Private schools that have spent years developing a great reputation would unnecessarily be forced to have staff energy diverted to comply with increased paperwork and bureaucratic restrictions. Again the conscientious people are being burdened for the lack of enforcement of existing standards and laws.

Our culture seems to be delusional thinking if you pass many laws criminalizing certain actions the society will be more orderly and civilized. The writing of laws without enforcement does nothing to change behavior. In fact, as more authorities ignore attaching the appropriate consequence to the clearly illegal actions, the less likely will the people comply with the law. 

Many modern parents lecture their children and establish numerous rules. Most of these parents choose not to monitor their child’s behavior or follow through on the needed consequences. It is similar to a president who creates a red line in the sand, not to cross and then does nothing when it is dishonored. The president or the parent should be discounted as a paper tiger.

Our national laws have exponentially increased while the punishments for breaking the law have practically vanished. The transgressors are getting away with murder while the law-abiding citizens are picking up the tab for anti social behavior. We are paying higher car insurance premiums for those with no insurance.  No fault divorce often has the good parents suffer the ill effects of a horrible judicial decision that not only punishes responsible parent but most importantly, the child.

The resolution of getting back to punishing the criminals and not the law-abiding citizen is simple. We need to unequivocally punish all criminals, rich or poor and those here legally or illegally. This will signal to the marginal citizens that they better stop walking on the illegal side or receive a heavy dose of punishment.  Justice delivered, not more laws, will turn the tide against anti social and immoral behavior eroding the nation’s unity and stability.

Domenick Maglio, PhD. is a columnist carried by various newspapers, an author of several books and owner/director of Wider Horizons School, a college prep program. Dr. Maglio is an author of weekly newspaper articles, INVASION WITHIN  and a recently published book, entitled, IN CHARGE PARENTING In a PC World. You can visit Dr. Maglio at www.drmaglio.blogspot.com.

LIVING IN THE PAST IS A GATEWAY TO MENTAL ILLNESS

LIVING IN THE PAST IS A GATEWAY TO MENTAL ILLNESS

By Domenick J. Maglio PhD. Traditional Realist

People who are stuck in the past are extremely susceptible to make poor choices. Their inner energy is directed backwards toward things they cannot change. Many psychological counseling clients resent and conceal negative past treatment by a family member or someone else they feel has mistreated them. On some level they want to move forward but are drawn back to their unresolved issues. Instead of taking risks to better meet their needs and wants, they blame people and past incidents that no longer allow them to control their actions.

Many modern children find it more pleasing and comfortable to live in fantasy rather than dealing with reality. Today there are many avenues to escape the monotony and discomfort of learning the habits, skills and values of our traditions. Additionally parents have little time, motivation or insight into training them. In the recent past books were available that taught moral values through lessons. The Harry Potter type books, futuristic movies and Internet games have trapped children in the world of imagination. These children have become addicted before they have reached the stage of reason to make good decisions. Many children have unknowingly become exploited victims of the entertainment industry to continue down the road of being consumers of fantasy escape.

Both the people who are emotionally fixated on a past trauma or are in a virtual realm of fantasy are not learning the lessons of reality in order to become productive and functional citizens of the world. Reality is in front of them although they are not learning the lessons they are being taught. They are not open or sensitive to other individuals resolving their issues, instead they are focused only on their own woes.

All people no matter how rich or powerful they are will face failure, disappointment or injustice. The sooner they are introduced to appropriate lessons that reality has to teach, the better able they will be to accept and overcome its challenges. A dysfunctional parent often role models inappropriate behavior and thinking instead of teaching the youngster what to do or what not to do. Nevertheless, many people have learned lessons from abusive, addictive, deceitful or lazy parents. These lessons propel many of them into higher functioning lives.

A person who reaches his potential normally focuses on the future. He is looking forward analyzing how each choice will move closer to his goals. Blaming past events or emerging themselves in a fantasy lifestyle they realize is a detour from confronting and solving obstacles on the way to reaching their objective.  They have learned from other everyday experiences that persevering to develop a skill or finding an answer to a complex issue takes concentration and thought.

When a major negative event such as a death, divorce, disease or other unforeseen situation blocks their advance, healthy persons focuse intensely on the issue to find the best corrective response for themselves and everyone else. These seekers of well-being live in the here and now, not in the past. They are problem solvers not excuse makers. They possess personal integrity.

On the other hand, looking back or turning to a diversion to forget about the unexpected harsh reality confronting a person is a recipe for the issues to grow and become more embedded in the person’s mind.  This approach does nothing to unburden the person of the challenges facing them. The longer the person procrastinates, the more consumed the individual becomes in the unresolved issue. Too many of these people turn inward or to a chemically induced fantasy or other form of addiction to rid themselves of the pain and inability to learn positive insights from life’s changing events.

Life is painful enough without being stuck in the quagmire of past events.  The longer an individual remains in the quicksand of unresolved issues, the more the person misses the positive events that pass before their eyes. Eventually the pain intensity increases to a level where the person has few options.

Insanity becomes more attractive to the psychologically wounded casualties. Often the depressed person turns to psychotropic medication or street drugs. Alcohol, opium and a wide variety of prescription mood altering drugs are available. These are abused by a frightening number of people.  The ultimate solution to severe depression is suicide. It is a quick but fatal solution to their nightmare.

The better answer to personal issues is to confront them and learn the necessary lessons. Understanding the alternative way a person could have interpreted and acted presents insight into the problem. Learning from healthy role models is an effective method of understanding how to resolve issues to better face reality. Thus they could handle their present dilemmas themselves and better face their future.

Domenick Maglio, PhD. is a columnist carried by various newspapers, an author of several books and owner/director of Wider Horizons School, a college prep program. Dr. Maglio is an author of weekly newspaper articles, INVASION WITHIN  and a new just published book, entitled, IN CHARGE PARENTING In a PC World. You can visit Dr. Maglio at www.drmaglio.blogspot.com.

BIG TECH AND THE INTELLIGENCE COMMUNITY BY0PASSES THE 4TH AMENDMENT

BIG TECH AND THE INTELLIGENCE COMMUNITY BYPASSES THE 4^TH AMENDMENT

By Domenick J. Maglio PhD. Traditional Realist

It all happened so quickly. One day in the 1990s dotcom appeared on the scene. Dotcom stocks took off to great heights with little revenue produced but with great potential to change the way everything is done. In early 2000 there was the Dotcom bust due to over valued Dotcom stocks although some took root and grew to be powerful institutions in our nation.

Today Google, Apple, Amazon and Facebook are among the richest and politically powerful corporations in the world. They have changed the financial, cultural, social and political landscape of the United States and the entire world. Cyber space has replaced Main Street, libraries, maps, entertainment and social interaction. We are now learning it has invaded our privacy and the 1st and 4^th Amendments of the Bill of rights.

There is now an unholy alliance between Big Tech and the federal government’s intelligence community.  The intelligence community with bloated budgets does not have to go through a bidding process to choose the best bid. Instead they secretly pick a corporation that has political contacts with the government bureaucrats instrumental in this process. It is a subtle form of crony capitalism. High power lobbyists are able to pass statues and laws to protect and give unfair advantages to preselected technological firms. It is a behind closed doors agreement that favors the elite technological corporations.

Google maps was created by the intelligence community, which demonstrates an on going interplay between the intelligence community and Big Tech. This allowed Google to leapfrog over their competitors. Amazon has reshaped all types of commerce and has been given a large government contract to store government data on the Cloud. Facebook has been found to sell valuable data from 2.2 billion users without their knowledge to various companies for pinpointing potential people interested in specific advertising. When Mark Zuckerberg was questioned about Instant Messages on September 13, 2010 by Jose Vargas about Harvard student users of Facebook who just submitted information, he said they “were dumb f***s.” This shows Zuckerberg’s supreme distain towards the users of Facebook.

Amazon, Facebook, Google and other social media mammoths are not only privy to innermost social interactions and are able to censor information but are selling this information to other corporations for profit or favor. Our personal data when pieced together reveals our preferences, attitudes and even our political thinking. It is a detailed profile of each citizen. President Obama’s staff member stated that they had extracted the entire social network of the people of the US from Facebook’s data. This allowed President Obama’s campaign to micro target personal issues to engage and entice future followers to vote for him.

The power of Big Tech is not only used for direct advertising purposes but it can bypass the Fourth Amendment of the Bill of Rights. According to the latest revelations, not only does our searching for particular items on the Internet generate more pop up ads but our home conversations with a cell phone or personal assistant device nearby can recognize, record and store information that was merely discussed in an audible area of the cell phone’s internal speakers. Our medical records now can readily be accessed with the newly available data and Facebook is planning to enter.

Edward Snowden tried to warn us that the NSA was recording and storing our telephone conversations. He was instantly portrayed as a liar and a traitor although he was right.  He was a hero in his attempt to warn us of government intrusion into everyone’s detailed daily actions and thoughts. He was correct and knew that the Big Tech was also being enlisted by the intelligence community.

The purpose of this unholy alliance is to enhance and better utilize technology to

target politically incorrect speech and electronically perform “search and seizure” into our supposedly sacred homes.

The ability to record and access personal conversations and information is a potent tool to establish a strong totalitarian government within the United States without firing a single weapon. These tech companies have already identified conservative Americans to undermine their future potential before it could take root.  They are systematically censoring individuals that these companies disagree with. (Facebook’s refusal to carry Diamond and Silk commentary and others.) This computer surveillance is beyond the average person’s comprehension. The future advances in technology will make keeping our liberties even more precarious or even impossible if we do not create government safe guards to protect the people

This nexus between surveillance agencies and Big Tech has the potential to stifle free speech and intimidate citizens into accepting governmental dictates of PC behavior in our daily interactions even with family members. The knowledge of our thoughts in every setting will facilitate selecting and forcing citizens into reeducation camps.

The odds of establishing a totalitarian government with these new surveillance techniques have become quite favorable. Something has to be done!

Domenick Maglio, PhD. is a columnist carried by various newspapers, an author of several books and owner/director of Wider Horizons School, a college prep program. Dr. Maglio is an author of weekly newspaper articles, INVASION WITHIN  and a new just published book, entitled, IN CHARGE PARENTING In a PC World. You can visit Dr. Maglio at www.drmaglio.blogspot.com.

ENOUGH OF PROTESTS, NOW GET TO WORK

ENOUGH OF PROTESTS- NOW GET TO WORK

By Domenick J. Maglio

Too many human beings complain about everything. You see youngsters saying “no” to their parents. “I don’t want to eat this breakfast.” “ I am not going to grandma’s house.” Protesting things we do not like is common among people of all ages and in all cultures. It is part of our human nature.

Strikes are a form of group protest against a government or employers’ actions. Sometimes they succeed and changes occur to sufficiently satisfy the group. Sometimes they fail and the group energy dissipates. In some countries like Italy, protests and strikes are so ingrained in the culture the same strikes happen like clockwork every year.

National protests against a government work only when an overwhelming number of citizens are convinced the rules are abusing their fellow citizens. This happens only after there were many participants and leaders of the movement attempting to get the government or the employers to make changes. When there is no reasonable negotiation something seemingly minor could ignite a massive uprising with many unintended negative consequences.

In a freer country the people have many more recourses to transform their own conditions. Free speech, assembly and an abundance of job opportunities allow citizens to alter their situation to get what they want. In the USA people are able to move to a different state or community for jobs to better meet their desires.

Yet no mentally stable person can expect everyone to treat him like royalty, laying down a red carpet. Even some people in England find the royal family not to their liking. Everyone has different ideals of fairness, beauty, politics, goodness or whatever. You cannot appeal to everyone or be liked by everyone. To think everyone should treat you in a specific subjective manner is on the verge of insanity.

Many progressive college students are so thin-skinned that they are demanding “safe spaces” to regain their composure after someone says things with which they disagree. These students are the victims of coddling and immaturity. You cannot dictate how people should treat you. Many other groups in America are no longer protesting legally sanctioned discrimination against their group but are now demanding certain privileges written into law to repair past subjective hurts and perceived discrimination. The expectation of special treatment from diverse groups is extremely dangerous. This is setting oneself up for a letdown and failure. As long as people are free to do what they want in private without government interference they should celebrate their freedom not fret over it.

Coercing people to treat certain privileged groups in a special manner over another would infringe on the freedom of speech and assembly to the other group. Any government cannot prescribe specific scripts to certain groups and remain a free nation. The LGBTQ coalition is guaranteed all the rights other groups have. The NFL protest movement had the right to protest any grievances they perceived as long as they did it on their own time. They do not have a right to protest when they are paid entertainers, especially when their behavior has caused a significant decrease in the league’s profit. They would have greater impact by going into their communities and being role models to help out the people they feel are not being treated well.

Many ethnic groups at various times have migrated in large numbers to the “land of

opportunity” to confront horrendous discrimination. Chinese in California, Irish: “no Micks need apply” in the mid 1800s then later Pollocks, Squareheads, Hymies, Spics, Guineas and many other foreign arrivals met hatred, not acceptance.

As each group became known as individuals who did good work, the stigma faded. They became Americans whose ancestors came from other countries but most became Americans in three or less generations. Others did not want to deal with the US culture’s hassles, language difficulties, food and traditions of America. Hundreds of thousands returned to their country of origin. They did not spend the majority of their energy protesting to change America instead they placed their efforts to seek out the best America offered and to avoid the worst.

These immigrants were not perfect. Many took shortcuts by entering into criminal enterprises. Others chose to place their energies in developing ethic organizations to help families to create pride and to struggle to the top of the economic ladder. Immigrants developed their own athletic leagues, social clubs, churches, literary classes, tutoring and financial assistance groups to help their own people. As they gained confidence and a sense of ethnic accomplishment they could easily melt into the acceptance of mainstream America.

There is no special privilege government can grant to any group without someone else losing his freedom. All groups can earn prestige with strong and greater demonstrations of their worthiness to themselves and other Americans. It takes sacrifice and good deeds, not government mandates to become solid American citizens who are judged by their character not their ethnicity.

Domenick Maglio, PhD. is a columnist carried by various newspapers, an author of several books and owner/director of Wider Horizons School, a college prep program. Dr. Maglio is an author of weekly newspaper articles, INVASION WITHIN  and a new just published book, entitled, IN CHARGE PARENTING In a PC World. You can visit Dr. Maglio at www.drmaglio.blogspot.com.