In that the Ten Commandments can't be displayed on government grounds, I guess the following could not be displayed either, although it doesn't have a religious connotation! While the Church vs State groups argue (for profit), the morals of our society are being destroyed.

You're the Poet!

Fill in the below blanks with the following words or use your own words.

Believe, conceive, distress, life, me, perceive, possess, speak, strife, to, you, week.

The Ten Morals By L. Don Oliver (Revised)

It is morally right to have, Faith for what you _; It is morally wrong to worship, What others falsely __;

It is morally wrong to assail others, Even the words we __; It is morally right to rest, On one day of each _;

It is morally right to honor parents, Even if there should be ___; It is morally wrong to purposely, Take another person's _;

It is morally right to be honest, To the one you're committed ; It is morally wrong to take, That which doesn't belong to _;

It is morally wrong to utter untruths, Most often it leads to __; It is morally wrong to be jealous, Of what others do _;

I've always lived by the "Golden Moral", Of everything that I _; "To always do for others, What I wish them to do for _";

Previous Poem.

Knock! Knock! Knock! By L. Don Oliver

There came a knock, upon my door, Too afraid, that I should explore; Could it be for me, to just ignore, The knocking there, upon my door; The knocking there, became so loud, I search within, for a comfort shroud; To hide from, the gathering crowd, The knocking, that was so loud; The knocking continued, into the night, Anxiety flare, to take to flight, Over the hill, beyond the sight, Fleeing there, into the night; Into the storm, through the rain, It was mine, this foolish vain, In complete seclusion, I will remain; When Opportunity returns, to knock again;

Recently I came across an animated cartoon called "Make Mine Freedom" on You Tube. It was produced by Harding College (A christian conservative college) in 1948. It was produced soon after the Soviet Union exploded their Atom Bomb and the cold war began. It was about Capitalism versus Communism. It brought back memories of when I was eight years old and still in elementary school. At the time we had classes in Americanism versus Communism. It was later changed to Capitalism versus Communism. In the early 1950's, after the Korean War, it was discontinued and the New Age educational system began.

After watching this cartoon, I ask myself, has the times really changed. I came to the conclusion they hadn't, Just the ISMs have changed to Progressive(ism) only (both parties), with Freedom its victim.

Swampyville's Ask the Politically Correct!

Question: What was the Sixteenth Amendment?

Politically Correct Resolution:

Sixteenth Amendment (The Income Tax Law) and the Revenue act of 1913! (Wikipedia)

An income tax amendment to the Constitution was first proposed by Senator Norris Brown of Nebraska. He submitted two proposals, Senate Resolutions Nos. 25 and 39. The amendment proposal finally accepted was Senate Joint Resolution No. 40, introduced by Senator Nelson W. Aldrich of Rhode Island, the Senate majority leader and Finance Committee Chairman.

Nelson Wilmarth Aldrich (November 6, 1841 – April 16, 1915) was a prominent American politician and a leader of the Republican Party in the Senate, where he served from 1881 to 1911. (Better known today as Nelson and David Rockefeller's maternal grand-father)

Because of his impact on national politics and central position on the pivotal Senate Finance Committee, he was referred to by the press and public alike as the "General Manager of the Nation", dominating all tariff and monetary policies in the first decade of the 20th century. In a career that spanned three decades, Aldrich helped to create an extensive system of tariffs that protected American factories and farms from foreign competition, while driving the price of consumer goods artificially high—which hurt many workers and farmers. He was a party to the re-structuring of the American financial system through the institution of the federal income tax amendment, which he originally opposed, and the Federal Reserve System. He stated that he believed these reforms would lead to greater efficiency. Aldrich became wealthy with investments in street railroads, sugar, rubber and banking. His son Richard Steere Aldrich became a U.S. Representative, (Of course this isn't new - many have enriched themselves over the years by receiving inside government information) and his daughter, Abby, married John D. Rockefeller Jr., the only son of John D. Rockefeller. Her son and his grandson Nelson Aldrich Rockefeller, served as Vice President of the United States under Gerald Ford. (A family affair?)

The Sixteenth Amendment (Amendment XVI) to the United States Constitution allows the Congress to levy an income tax without apportioning it among the states or basing it on Census results. This amendment exempted income taxes from the constitutional requirements regarding direct taxes, after income taxes on rents, dividends, and interest were ruled by the Supreme Court to be direct taxes. Something had to be done to make up for this loss in revenue. The 16th Amendment was ratified on February 3, 1913.

The United States Revenue Act of 1913 also known as the Tariff Act, Underwood Tariff, Underwood Tariff Act, or Underwood-Simmons Act, re-imposed the federal income tax following the ratification of the Sixteenth Amendment and lowered basic tariff rates from 40% to 25%, well below the Payne-Aldrich Tariff Act of 1909. It was signed into law by President Woodrow Wilson on October 3, 1913. (Which gradually lowered the taxes on imports and through treaties over the years this nation has a minus in trade - making it more advantageous to move manufacturing off shore)

The Revenue Act also provided for the reinstitution of a federal income tax as a means to compensate for anticipated lost revenue because of the reduction of tariff duties. The most recent effort to tax incomes (Wilson-Gorman Tariff of 1894) had been declared unconstitutional by the Supreme Court because the tax on dividends, interest, and rents had been deemed to be a direct tax not apportioned by population. That obstacle, however, was removed by ratification of the Sixteenth Amendment on February 3, 1913. (In other words, taxes were being paid by landlords, stock and bond holders, and on the interest the banks were receiving - The Sixteenth Amendment/Revenue Act change all of this by requiring individuals to pay these taxes instead).

The Revenue Act provided additional parts to the Sixteenth Amendment:

"subject only to such exemptions and deductions as are hereinafter allowed, the net income of a taxable person shall include gains, profits, and income derived from salaries, wages, or compensation for personal service of whatever kind and in whatever form paid, or from professions, vocations, businesses, trade, commerce, or sales, or dealings in property, whether real or personal, growing out of the ownership or use of or interest in real or personal property, also from interest, rent, dividends, securities, or the transaction of any lawful business carried on for gain or profit, or gains or profits and (income derived from any source whatever)".

The incomes of couples exceeding $4,000, as well as those of single persons earning $3,000 or more, were subject to a one percent federal tax. Further, the measure provided a progressive tax structure, meaning that high income earners were required to pay at higher rates.

It would require only a few years for the federal income tax to become the chief source of income for the government, far outdistancing tariff revenues.

Less than 1 % of the population paid federal income tax at the time. Those making $20,000 per year were taxed at 1% rate progressing to 7% for those making over $500,000 per year.

The Sixteenth Amendment was a "Progressive" tax indeed; whereby, the wealthy progressively over time paid less and the increasing middle class paid more in taxes!

Since its (16th Amendment) inception, the wealthy have sent their lobbyists in and had the income tax system changed where they pay little or no income tax at all. Yes, the wealthy has more deducted from their income during the tax year; However, with all the loop holes they've had created, they receive most of this back when they file their income tax statement in April of the following year. There is nothing wrong with being wealthy as long as it was gained "fairly" and not through corruption of the Tax System or using the Tax System to destroy your competition! Don't fall for the politicians using the Wealth/Race card to fulfill their agenda!

The Progressives and their benefactors have loaded both barrels of their shotgun (Congress) and they're aiming it at the middle class!

"CAUSE LATET, VIS EST NOTISSIMA" (The cause is hidden, but the results are well known)

You're the Poet!

Fill in the below blanks with the following words or use your own words.

Again, crowd, door, door, explore, flight, ignore, loud, loud, night, night, rain, remain, shroud, sight, vain.

Knock! Knock! Knock! By L. Don Oliver

There came a knock, upon my _, Too afraid, that I should _; Could it be for me, to just , The knocking there, upon my _; The knocking there, became so _, I search within, for a comfort ; To hide from, the gathering , The knocking, that was so _; The knocking continued, into the , Anxiety flare, to take to ___, Over the hill, beyond the , Fleeing there, into the __; Into the storm, through the _, It was mine, this foolish _, In complete seclusion, I will ; When Opportunity returns, to knock ;

Previous Poem.

Bartering IT Away!! By L. Don Oliver

Give me a rose, I'll show you a pose, That no one else can see; If you give me a rose, Then I will suppose, That it was meant to be; I'll give you a rose, If you show me a pose, That only I can see; If I give you a rose, Then you can suppose, That it was meant to be; Some use it I propose, At each day's close, As a reason to sway; Rose, Rose, rose, That's how it goes, Bartering Freedom away;

Swampyville's - Ask the Politically Correct!

Question:

What was the Progressive Era?

Politically Correct Resolution:

(Wikipedia was used for much of this article) (My use of Wikipedia is because most of it mirrors what I learned in History classes at LSU in New Orleans. Our history professor was Stephen Ambrose who many of us in the military referred to as "that long haired hippy professor")

The First Progressive Era!

In the early years of American history, most political leaders were reluctant to involve the federal government too heavily in the private sector, except in the area of transportation. In general, they accepted the concept of laissez-faire, a doctrine opposing government interference in the economy except to maintain law and order. This attitude started to change during the latter part of the 19th century, when small business, farm, and labor movements began asking the government to intercede on their behalf.

By the turn of the century, a middle class had developed that was leery of both the business elite and the somewhat radical political movements of farmers and laborers in the Midwest and West. Known mostly as (Progressives), these people favored government regulation of business practices to, in their minds, ensure competition and free enterprise. Congress enacted a law regulating railroads in 1887 (the Interstate Commerce Act), and one preventing large firms from controlling a single industry in 1890 (the Sherman Antitrust Act). These laws were not rigorously enforced, however, until the years between 1900 and 1920, when Republican Progressive President Theodore Roosevelt (1901–1909), Democratic Socialist President Woodrow Wilson (1913–1921), and others sympathetic to the views of the Progressives came to power. Many of today's U.S. regulatory agencies were created during these years, including the Interstate Commerce Commission and the Federal Trade Commission. Muckrakers (journalists) during this period encouraged readers to demand more regulation of business. Upton Sinclair's The Jungle (1906) showed America the horrors of the Chicago Union Stock Yards, a giant complex of meat processing that developed in the 1870s. The federal government responded to Sinclair's book with the new regulatory Food and Drug Administration. Ida M. Tarbell wrote a series of articles against the "Standard Oil" monopoly. The series helped pave the way for the breakup of the monopolies. (Who later regrouped, recharged and minipulated the system).

When Democrat Woodrow Wilson was elected President with a Democratic Congress in 1912 he implemented a series of progressive? policies. In 1913, the Sixteenth Amendment was ratified, and the income tax was instituted in the United States. Wilson resolved the longstanding debates over tariffs and antitrust, with the Sixteenth Amendment and creating the Federal Reserve, a complex business-government partnership that to this day still dominates the financial (World). (Their New? One World Order).

It was during this era that many of the Progressives (including so called conservatives) adopted the Fabian philosophy of the "Gradual Transformation" of society. The prevailing capitalists of the time wanted to extend their National monopolies to an International monopoly. The biggest stumbling block was this nations protectionism (their term was isolationism). Thus, began the road to Internationalism. Changing society has never been about ideology; but, about profits and the American fish fell for it, hook, line and sinker!

"DIVIDE ET IMPERA" (Divide and Conquer/Rule)

You're the Poet!

Fill in the below blanks with the following words or use your own words.

Away, be, be, close, goes, pose, pose, propose, rose, rose, rose, rose, rose, see, see, suppose, suppose, sway.

Bartering IT Away!! By L. Don Oliver

Give me a _, I'll show you a , That no one else can ; If you give me a , Then I will _, That it was meant to ; I'll give you a _, If you show me a , That only I can ; If I give you a , Then you can _, That it was meant to ; Some use it I _, At each day's __, As a reason to ; Rose, Rose, _, That's how it , Bartering Freedom __;

Previous Poem.

The Garden! by L. Don Oliver

She planted a flower garden, In the early spring; When the Eagle soars, And the Robins sing;

Pretty carnations and marigolds, Planted all in a row; She planted red roses, And watched them grow;

Every morning she cultivated them, With her lovely delicate hands; Until one day she succumbed,
From all of life's demands;

Most of the flowers lived, Some we could not save, We picked all the remaining ones, And placed them on her grave;

We planted a vegetable garden, In the early spring; Now that the Eagle isn't allowed to soar, And the Robins are forbidden to sing;

Swampyville's Ask the Politically Correct! (A History of how we got to where we are today - each individual should make their own judgement(s))

Question:

What were the Banana Wars?

Politically Correct Resolution:

(Most of this article from Wikipedia)

The Banana Wars were a series of occupations, police actions, and interventions involving the United States in Central America and the Caribbean. This period started with the Spanish-American War in 1898 and the subsequent Treaty of Paris, which gave the United States control of Cuba and Puerto Rico (in addition, the Philippines and Guam). Between the war with Spain and 1934 the United States conducted military operations and occupations in Panama, Honduras, Nicaragua, Mexico, Haiti, and the Dominican Republic. The series of conflicts ended with the withdrawal of troops from Haiti.

Reasons for these conflicts were varied but were largely economic in nature. The term "Banana Wars" arises from the connections between these interventions and the preservation of American commercial interests in the region. Most prominently, the United Fruit Company had significant financial stakes in production of bananas, tobacco, sugar cane, and various other products throughout the Caribbean, Central America and Northern South America. The United States was also advancing its political interests, maintaining a sphere of influence and controlling the Panama Canal, (critically important to global trade and naval power).

United States influences and occupations:

Cuba and Puerto Rico, with the United States interventing in Cuba and the invasion of Puerto Rico in 1898.

Panama, United States interventions in the isthmus go back to the 1846 Mallarino-Bidlack Treaty and intensified after the so-called Watermelon War of 1856. In 1903, Panama seceded from the Republic of Colombia, backed by the US government, amidst the Thousand Days War. The Panama Canal (Theodore Roosevelt was the driving force behind the construction of this canal) was under construction by then, and the Panama Canal Zone, under United States sovereignty, was then created (it was handed down to Panama as of 2000 by order of Jimmy Carter "a Progressive Socialist" when he was President). China immediately became the major influence of the Panama Canal.

Nicaragua, which, after intermittent landings and naval bombardments in the previous decades, was occupied by the U.S. almost continuously from 1912 through 1933.

Cuba, occupied by the U.S. from 1898 to 1902 under a military governor and again from 1906–1909, 1912 and 1917–1922; governed by the terms of the Platt Amendment through 1934.

Haiti, occupied by the U.S. from 1915 through 1934, which led to the creation of a new Haitian constitution in 1917 that instituted changes that included an end to the prior ban on land ownership by non-Haitians.

Dominican Republic, action in 1903, 1904, and 1914; occupied by the U.S. from 1916 through 1924.

Honduras, where the United Fruit Company and Standard Fruit Company (Today, Chiquita Brand International) dominated the country's key banana export sector and associated land holdings and railways, saw insertion of American troops in 1903, 1907, 1911, 1912, 1919, 1924 and Writer O. Henry coined the term "Banana republic" in 1904 to describe Honduras.

Mexico, The United State's military involvements with Mexico in this period are related to the same general commercial and political causes, but stand as a special case. The Americans conducted the Border War with Mexico from 1910 through 1918 for additional reasons: to control the flow of immigrants and refugees from revolutionary Mexico, and to counter rebel raids into U.S. territory. The 1914 U.S. occupation of Veracruz, however, was an exercise of armed influence, not an issue of border integrity. In the years prior to World War I, the United States was also alert to the regional balance of power against Germany. The Germans were actively arming and advising the Mexicans.

Other Latin American nations were influenced or dominated by American economic policies and/or commercial interests to the point of coercion. Theodore Roosevelt declared the Roosevelt Corollary to the Monroe Doctrine in 1904, asserting the right of the United States to intervene to stabilize the economic affairs of states in the Caribbean and Central America if they were unable to pay their international debts. From 1909 to 1913, President William Howard Taft and his Secretary of State Philander C. Knox asserted a more "peaceful and economic" Dollar Diplomacy foreign policy, although that too was backed by force, as in Nicaragua.

American military interventions!

These military interventions were most often carried out by the United States Marine Corps. The Marines were called in so often that they developed a Small Wars Manual, The Strategy and Tactics of Small Wars in 1921. On occasion, U.S. Naval gunfire and U.S. Army troops were also used.

Perhaps the single most active military officer in the Banana Wars was U.S. Marine Corps Major General, Smedley Butler, who saw action in Honduras in 1903, served in Nicaragua enforcing American policy from 1909 to 1912, was awarded the Medal of Honor for his role in Veracruz in 1914, and a second Medal of Honor for bravery while "crushing the Caco resistance" in Haiti in 1915. In 1935, Butler wrote in his famous book "War Is a Racket":

"I spent 33 years and four months in active military service and during

that period I spent most of my time as a high class muscle man for Big Business, for Wall Street and the bankers. In short, I was a racketeer, a gangster for capitalism. I helped make Mexico and especially Tampico safe for American oil interests in 1914. I helped make Haiti and Cuba a decent place for the National City Bank boys to collect revenues in. I helped in the raping of half a dozen Central American republics for the benefit of Wall Street. I helped purify Nicaragua for the International Banking House of Brown Brothers in 1902-1912. I brought light to the Dominican Republic for the American sugar interests in 1916. I helped make Honduras right for the American fruit companies in 1903. In China in 1927 I helped see to it that Standard Oil went on its way unmolested. Looking back on it, I might have given Al Capone a few hints. The best he could do was to operate his racket in three districts. I operated on three continents". (Using Patriotism for Profits)

Whether or not this nation retains it's sovereignty or becomes a satellite of the new "One" world order should be left to the people to decide and not to the "Paid For" politicians!

"AB OVO USQUE AD MALA" (Loosely-From the beginning to the end)

You're the Poet!

Fill in the below blanks with the following words or use your own words.

Demands, grave, grow, hands, row, save, sing, sing, spring, spring.

The Garden! by L. Don Oliver

She planted a flower garden, In the early ___; When the Eagle soars, And the Robins _;

Pretty carnations and marigolds, Planted all in a ; She planted red roses, And watched them _;

Every morning she cultivated them, With her lovely delicate __; Until one day she succumbed,

From all of life's __;

Most of the flowers lived, Some we could not _, We picked all the remaining ones, And placed them on her __;

We planted a vegetable garden, In the early __; Now that the Eagle isn't allowed to soar, And the Robins are forbidden to _;

Previous Poem.

The Banshee's Cry! (The Death of a Nation) By L. Don Oliver

Walking down a darkened street, Within the silence of my mind; Searching for I know not what, That was so very hard to find;

Stumbling alone into the night, I felt something go rushing by; An apparition all dressed in gray, I heard the Banshee's cry;

Screaming all about me, Darting here and to the fro; Swirling around my very being, Relieved as I watched her go;

Her wailing was so haunting, But I did not take time to see; When I turned the final corner, She was waiting there for me;

You're the Poet!

Fill in the below blanks with the following words or use your own words.

By, cry, find, fro, go, me, mind, see.

The Banshee's Cry! (The Death of a Nation) By L. Don Oliver

Walking down a darkened street, Within the silence of my _; Searching for I know not what, That was so very hard to _;

Stumbling alone into the night, I felt something go rushing ; An apparition all dressed in gray, I heard the Banshee's _;

Screaming all about me, Darting here and to the _; Swirling around my very being, Relieved as I watched her ;

Her wailing was so haunting, But I did not take time to _; When I turned the final corner, She was waiting there for ;

Previous poem:

Father's Day Tribute! By L. Don Oliver

Many of children, go to bed; Nary a pillow, for their head; Making do, with what they've got; Fatherly affection, they have not; Mothers cry, alone each night; Hopes and dreams, far from sight; Two or three jobs, they daily go, What tomorrow brings, they never know; To the single mothers, I wish to say; Thank you all, on this Father's day;