Guns Are Under Attack Yet Again

As Seen in the KO-Times and other Times Community Newspapers

            Kasandra Perkins is dead. The 22-year-old mother of a 3 month-old child lost her life just as it was beginning really. If you believe sports mouth Bob Costas it’s the fault of the piece of metal that killed her rather than the maniac who took her life.

            I’m a NFL junkie. This past weekend you had to really listen hard to even hear Perkins mentioned. Her name popped up in between messages about the tragic loss of Kansas City Chiefs linebacker Jovan Belcher, the cold blooded murderer who killed Perkins, his girlfriend, who then took the coward’s way out and offed himself in front of his coach and GM.

            Was the murder-suicide a tragic event? You bet it was. But did it have anything at all to do about Belcher’s potential, record, camaraderie in the locker room, hard work on the practice field or mourning his loss on that football Sunday? That shouldn’t have been the focus at all. It was obvious to even the simplest of minds that he knew exactly what he did, and was doing.

            Then Costas, as so many lame and liberal media types do, had to inject his anti-gun, anti-Constitution pabulum into the conversation using Kasandra as a pawn in the gun debate. If you didn’t see Costas’ 90 second rant, check it out here https://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=uOi7If0zW9s .

            I can’t believe I have to still fight this battle supporting our 2^nd Amendment rights in America. To put it quite simply (as we have again and again) guns don’t kill people. People kill people. Criminals will NEVER obey gun laws, only defenseless law-abiding citizens will obey those laws. If we simply enforce the laws on the books when an individual uses a gun to commit a crime, that would be sufficient.

            Big government liberals always want honest Americans to be defenseless. It’s worked when governments/dictators in other countries have decided to take over, why not here?

            Costas says in his tirade “If he did not have a gun, they would all be alive”. Aside from being wrong, it is quite likely the method used by this madman to carry out his will would have been far more hideous than what he did. And if those guns are taken out of the hands of honest Americans Bob, perhaps someday soon you won’t be allowed to sit on the tube and flap your gums without being locked up; or worse. Think about that!

 Mike Scinto is a 35 year veteran talk show host serving locally, statewide and nationally behind the microphone. For the past dozen years he has authored this award-winning column. You may have also seen him offering his unique insights of Fox News Channel. “Friend” Mike at http://www.facebook.com/mikescintoshow or visit http://mikescintocolumns.blogspot.com and with your morning Java or evening reading check out, comment on and subscribe to the best 60 seconds of your day http://www.youtube.com/InaScintoMinute

Vote Robin Hood; Change We Can Count On

As appearing in the K-O Times and other Times Community Newspapers

It’s no secret to readers or listeners who spend any time at all sifting through my thoughts; I know it’s time for a change at 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue. And it can’t come soon enough.

As all of us watch the polls, interviews, pundits, news reports and listen to water cooler chat we get at least a fairly decent sampling of where the lines are drawn this year. To be honest, those who don’t follow politics much, and even some who do, have had it up to here with the back and forth this election cycle.

My ride has been much like a roller coaster through the primaries, and now the general sweepstakes. I have reservations, but I have always had hope that Americans would rush in at the eleventh hour and realize what’s at stake and do the right thing. But I’m feeling more and more like any arguments against Robin Hood may be falling on deaf ears.

Yes, I said Robin Hood. While President Obama isn’t the infamous “criminal” woodsman of Sherwood Forest in green tights, robbing from the rich to give to the poor, that message certainly has to ring clear to all of us who’ve suffered through the campaign rhetoric these oh so many months.

But this isn’t Nottinghamshire and “Robin” doesn’t carry a bow and arrows but rather a Blackberry. And the reality is the problems faced by the poor can really only be solved long-term BY the rich.

Government wasn’t intended to, and has shown it can’t fix the private sector economy. It can offer patchwork fixes that are band-aid at best. And that’s where this “Robin” trades his bow for a quick snake oil salesman’s pitch. Give more “stolen” trinkets to the peasants, and they’ll follow you anywhere. Problem is, the peasants don’t realize the trinket supply is limited; and made in China.

In the past, the majority of Americans were brought up with a strong work ethic, by parents and grandparents who’d rather work three jobs than take “charity” from anywhere, including government. But I believe we’ve crossed the line in our country where the majority has grown up, at least to some degree, nursing at the breast of Uncle Sam to survive and being told not to worry, “we’ll take care of you” by liberal leaders.

While the reality is that’s a short fix that, if implemented long term will bankrupt all of America, all the recipients can see is the short term remedy that allows them live a reasonably comfortable life for contributing nothing in return.

How do you argue with “something for nothing” to folks raised to that mantra?  This nation truly has divided right down the middle; those who create and those who consume. Our schools, teachers, parents, business leaders and many in this generation have allowed that division to grow and it could just be out of control.

            How do you teach values and work ethic unless it’s learned by example from a very young age? So my fear is we’re fighting against the guy with the bow and arrow in the green tights and the Sheriff of Nottingham might not arrive in the nick of time to save us from our own greed and laziness. I pray I’m wrong; for all of us!

Back To School; At Home

**As it appeared in the Kettering-Oakwood Times and other Times Community Newspapers**

I remember it was a very hot summer day, much like the ones we are experiencing now. It was sometime in the mid 1990s. I had been out in the heat much of the day and needed air conditioning and a cold drink. I found both. After sipping the ice cold water and getting comfortable in my seat I tuned out all around me and the next thing I knew it was time to head back out into the oven. I suppose the only bad thing about my siesta was that it happened during a very boring, but mandatory, continuing education class for real estate sales. I hope I didn’t snore.

I have been a licensed real estate agent since 1992. I am still licensed but I haven’t been practicing since 1999. I do keep up on real estate trends and practices just in case I get the urge again. I loved real estate sales. And most of the continuing education classes were not as boring as the one I slept through, but they were always inconvenient. I had to block out three hours (plus travel time) here, or four hours there and was locked into that classroom for the entire time. If I missed something the instructor covered, that was just too bad. I needed some way to take my thirty hours, every three years, do it when it was convenient for me and actually get something out of spending my time in the class. Well, I found it this go-around for my license renewal.

I had wondered for some time just how comprehensive, well-planned and convenient education on line would be. I discovered that a real estate salesperson could take some, or their entire CE block on line. I checked online for the best reviewed, most affordable, asked former colleagues and ended up with McKissock Professional Education. McKissock offers a multitude of online courses for real estate professionals. But would I really learn from the classes I took on my computer? You see, some folks in careers requiring continuing education just go through the motions. I have always valued my time and wanted whatever I do to be more than just spinning my wheels.

I loved it! I could go through the classes at my own pace. I could go back over material that I thought was especially important and deserved another look. I didn’t have to listen to self-aggrandizement of instructors in a classroom, or hear their same bad jokes over and over again. I could work a little on a course after supper and pick it up again after watching “Letterman” (without getting dressed). The courses were set up by highly trained and skilled pros who know the business and the course layout seriously makes you feel it was set up just for you.

I can’t speak for all online university or continuing education courses. But I can tell you that at least for my profession, McKissock is the total package and I will, and already have recommended it to my friends in the business. I hope whatever training or education you seek online works out as well as mine did. And for those Realtors weighing the difference of classroom versus online, for me online wins hands down. McKissock can be contacted at http://www.mckissock.com or if you prefer to call, the number is 1-800-328-2008.

By the way, if you need a mid-summer afternoon nap, there are more refreshing ways to get that sleep than sitting through a class on radon gas!

A Eulogy for Joe Paterno

by

Mike Scinto

Talk Show Host and Award-Winning Newspaper Columnist

as it appeared in Times Community Newspapers and the K-O Times

            One of the saddest stories, most disagreed upon issues and hottest postings on my Facebook page relates to the passing of former Penn State head football coach Joe Paterno. Relieved of his duties after allegations he knew about, but looked the other way, when Asst. Coach and longtime friend Jerry Sandusky was charged with sexual violations of young boys, Paterno lived the past months in seclusion and disgrace.

As I said on Facebook I always admired Joe Paterno as a coach, and as a man. We’ve heard great things said about him now that he has passed. As far as I am concerned there are things people can do (or not do) that erase any good they might do in life (like some Catholic Clerics). One of those is allowing the alleged sexual abuse of young children who can't defend themselves. While Jo Pa was never convicted of knowing I will simply say, if he knew and didn't do what needed to be done, as far as I am concerned he should have NO statues, awards or accolades.

One Facebook defender of Paterno said on my page “I believe that he did report this to his supervisors and they failed to act on what he had told them”.

Another enabler claimed “….but I still think that Joe Paterno was used as a scapegoat...sure he probably could have done more, but have you forgotten about grace and forgiveness...isn't that what it is all about...don’t be so harsh on your brothers and sisters...we are ALL recovering from something...enough said”.

Far more suggested things like this “I think the library on campus named in his honor should be renamed. In my eyes he is AS GUILTY as Sandusky for letting it to continue to happen”.

One sports anchor/reporter added “Having been a PSU fan from the time I was 10 years old until November and having covered PSU before coming to Dayton I consider myself to be quite knowledgeable on the program. Paterno had ZERO superiors at PSU! He did the bare minimum of what he should've done. He chose to protect the programs image over the welfare of kids and it's disgusting. That being said he did do a lot of great things but unfortunately this trumps them all.

And yet one more added “I'm sorry, but for me his memory will always be tarnished. Football means nothing compared to the lives of all those children.

Some of his defenders say he shouldn't be judged on this one mistake. Tell that to the boys who were allegedly raped; rapes that could have been prevented! If I drive the getaway car for you when you rob a bank, sit on the knowledge that you did rob it or just bury my head in the sand there are legal and moral ramifications for my actions, or inactions. Robbing a bank is nothing compared to these allegations.

            Once we put on those big boy pants and shoes in life and say goodbye to Mom and Dad, we assume the responsibilities of adulthood. With those responsibilities come consequences. And by the time you’re in your 80s all that should be perfectly clear. I am sorry for his family and for those who mourn for the good days, and years, of Joe Paterno, but I cry inside for the young lives that will be damaged forever by any alleged abuse that may have been ignored by the Coach.

The Best Doesn’t Come Cheap

by

Mike Scinto

Talk Show Host and Award-Winning Newspaper Columnist

as it appeared in Times Community Newspapers and the K-O Times

I don’t know about you, but when I step onboard that Boeing 747 to fly to Florida for a much-deserved week in the sun with my family, I want the best pilot they can afford to be in the cockpit. For that matter, I want the best entire crew money can buy!

If I’m ready to have IV medications started before going into surgery, I need to know the person with the scalpel has the motivation to be there doing the surgery.  I at least want to believe whoever that surgeon is, they are the best in the country; the best money can buy!

I’m sure most of you are not unlike me in those beliefs. That’s why it’s puzzling to me that Barack Obama, the Occupy movement and liberals in general are so resentful of successful folks in America who are paid commensurate with their abilities.

A professional baseball team wants the best manager it can find to handle its multi-million dollar roster. The same is true for the head coach on a professional basketball or football team. They don’t come cheap.

While all the aforementioned professionals are guided to a great extent by a passion and dedication to the activity involved, the location where those activities are carried out, I assure you, is guided in large part by the great American capitalist dollar!

This movement in America to penalize those with ambition, skill and wealth so those with none of those can have more is beyond me. That road to fortune in this great land is paved with the stories of individuals who did lack those three attributes in the beginning. But with hard work, dedication and searching within themselves they scratched and clawed their way into a comfortable lifestyle.

Let’s face it, that philosophy isn’t going to get a politician far these days. The lazy, government-dependent masses who want something for nothing are growing in number.  There was a time, and not so long ago, when pride wouldn’t allow a healthy, creative and proud American to take a dime they didn’t earn. They’d rather starve than to feel they didn’t provide for themselves or their loved ones. And that motivation alone made them morph an excuse into a job; and into a sense of pride, regardless of the bottom line on the paycheck.

And those individuals, rather than criticizing, hating and viewing their employers through the eyes of that green-eyed envious monster, learned from those who achieved and thanked them for the opportunity.

Does that mean there are no rich and powerful folks who abuse that strength? Of course there are. But left alone, the free market tends to take care of those sharks far better than any government committee, or bug-infested hippie mob camped in a park could.

           Get government out of it, turn true free-marketeering loose again on America and feel the magic………again! 

Losing Sight of the Ultimate Goal in 2012

by
Mike Scinto
Talk Show Host and Award-Winning Newspaper Columnist
as it appeared in Times Community Newspapers and the K-O Times
      

  I hope the Democratic National Committee and the Obama re-election team plans to thank the GOP this year. We’re saving them quite a bit of money. When it comes time to run ads for the general election the DNC won’t have to spend a dime. The tacky ads and televised comments run by Mitt Romney’s opponents will do the job of keeping Obama in the White House just fine!


I’m no novice at observing, commenting on or covering presidential races. And I am not naïve. I know the back and forth attacks are commonplace. But these are not normal times. If you look at the elections since 2000, it shows a country, for all intents and purposes, evenly divided. Every vote counts literally. The economic, strategic and social issues we face are world-changing and if we take a wrong turn now (and we’re well on the way in that direction under Obama) it could mean the end to the freedoms and independence we have enjoyed for most of our lives as a nation.

The attack should be against the socialist in office now, not each other. I understand the desires to be elected. Most only get one shot at it. But do you sacrifice all the conservative values and ideology that made this country great, and to which most Republican candidates ascribe to achieve that personal goal? Or do you take one for the team and unite behind a single GOP candidate to unseat the current American king?

I believe, as Newt Gingrich “claimed”, that a solid attack on Obama, without nasty stones thrown at GOP challengers, could be just as effective if not more so.

To say I am disappointed would be an understatement. This campaign is what I normally expect from Liberals. It will be costly in the end. Four more years of Barack Hussein Obama will surely send America into a tailspin from which it might not be able to recover. We might end up like the European nations economically and some third world dictatorship militarily.

               My hope is that it’s not too late and that bruised egos can be set aside. Republicans need to unite behind Romney. It’s fairly obvious he will be the party nominee. He wouldn’t be my choice but any of the candidates would be light years ahead of who is in there now. The old saying about losing the battle but winning the war certainly applies here. And if we don’t accept that now, it may be too late tomorrow to turn this country around and get it back on track. That would translate to losing the war. And that, my friends, would be too bad for all of us!