Life is a journey, not a destination.
RR
RONNIE’S RAMBLINGS
vol. 01 Issue 45 01.19.2015
PUBLISHED BY SPORTS & MORE
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Cover photo:
Tri-West’s Trevor Waite dives to the floor for a loose ball versus Lebanon.
WHAT TO EXPECT
In this issue...
Ronnie’s Ramblings
Four Swimming/diving
Six basketball
fourteen 2
Neuter your dog - an ounce of prevention is better than a pound of curs.
follow us on twitter! @Ronniesrambling
RR PUBLISHED BY SPORTS & MORE
RONNIE’S RAMBLINGS vol. 01 Issue 45 01.19.2015
To purchase/view photos go to hcsportsandmore.smugmug.com
Masthead RONNIE WILSON -
FOUNDER PUBLISHER EDITOR WRITER PHOTOGRAPHER
&
NOELANI LANGILLE - CREATIVE DIRECTOR - ART DIRECTOR - DESIGNER - PHOTO EDITOR - PHOTOGRAPHER column photo, pages 4/5
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RR
RONNIE’S RAMBLINGS
S
by ronnie wilson
Sometimes I am a bit slow at garnering as much of the civics information I would like. Recently, I read a piece, written by Robert Sobel, that originally was published in December of 2011 and updated in April of 2014. The piece describes the “accomplishments” of a specific United States President. (You get to determine which one.) Below is a summary of a few of those accomplishments. 1 – He reduced taxes for the rich and raided taxes on the middle and lower classes. At the end of his eight years as president, the top tax rate fell from 70% to 28% and middle/lower class taxes were raised eleven times. He raised taxes in seven of his eight years in office. 2 – The national debt more than tripled to approximately $2.8 trillion. 3 - He not only negotiated with terrorists, he gave them weapons and money which were in turn used to fund enemies of the United States. 4 - He provided U.S. weapons
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to terrorists under the guise they were going to use them to fight an enemy of the U.S. Ultimately, those weapons were used against the U.S. 5 – At the beginning of his term unemployment was approximately 7.5%. Less than two years later it was 11%. The few jobs that were created were low paying menial activities. 6 – At the beginning of his term a national medical/disease crisis existed. He did nothing to address the problem. It is said, he could/would not even say the name of the disease until seven years into his presidency. 7 - He granted 3 million illegal immigrants amnesty. 8 - He hated unions. He fired more than 11,000 striking federal workers for wanting safer working conditions and equitable pay. 9 – With his tax cuts to the wealthy causing
government expenditures to greatly exceed the needed dollars to adequately fund the government and the tax increases to the middle and lower classes were not compensating for the tax revenue shortfall, a significant monetary gap was developing. To bridge this gap he “borrowed” money from other non-operating budget federal funds and replaced the money with IOUs. (Those IOUs are still outstanding today.) 10 – In the current political climate he is revered by most of his party’s followers, even
though today his politics/policies would not be able to pass muster and be perceived as too moderate. Let me know if you think you know who this U.S. President is/was. 1. Reagan cut taxes for the Rich, increased taxes on the Middle Class Ronald Reagan is loved by conservatives and was loved by big business throughout his presidency and there’s a reason for it. When Reagan came into office in January of 1981, the top tax rate was 70%, but when he left office in 1989 the top tax rate was down to only 28%. As Reagan gave the breaks to all his rich friends, there was a lack of revenue coming into the federal government. In order to bring money back into
the government, Reagan was forced to raise taxes eleven times throughout his time in office. One example was when he signed into law the Tax Equity and Fiscal Responsibility Act of 1982. Reagan raised taxes seven of the eight years he was in office and the tax increases were felt hardest by the lower and middle class. 2. Tripling the National Debt As Reagan cut taxes for the wealthy, the government was left with less money to spend. When Reagan came into office the national debt was $900 billion, by the time he left the national debt had tripled to $2.8 trillion. 3. Iran/Contra In 1986, a group of Americans were being held hostage by a terrorist group with ties to Iran. In an attempt to free the hostages, Ronald Reagan secretly sold arms and gave money to Iran. Much of the money that was received from the trade went to fund the Nicaragua Contra rebels who were in a war with the Sandinista government of Nicaragua. When the scandal broke in the Untied States it
became the biggest story in the country, Reagan tried to down play what happened, but never fully recovered. 4. Reagan funded Terrorists The attacks on 9/11 by al-Qaeda and Osama Bin Laden brought new attention to international terrorism. All of a sudden, Americans coast to coast wore their American flag pins, ate their freedom fries and couldn’t wait to go to war with anyone who looked like a Muslim. What Americans didn’t realize was that the same group that attacked the United States on 9/11 was funded by Ronald Reagan in the 1980s. Prepping for a possible war with the Soviet Union, Ronald Reagan spent billions of dollars funding the Islamist mujahidin Freedom Fighters in Afghanistan. With billions of American dollars, weapons and training coming their way, the Taliban and Osama Bin Laden took everything they were given and gave it back to the United States over a decade later in the worst possible way imaginable. 5. Unemployment issues When Ronald Reagan came into office 1981, unemployment was at 7.5%. After Reagan cut Continued on page 36, see RR-2
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Swimming/ Diving Photos by Ronnie Wilson
Avon’s Emily Smith swims the Breaststroke portion of the 200 Medley Relay versus Cathedral.
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Jack be nimble, Jack be quick ... Be like Jack; by advertising in Ronnie’s Ramblings!
Your business message can reach thousands of readers each week in Ronnie’s Ramblings.
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Avon’s Hallie Jones swims the 200 Freestyle versus Cathedral.
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Avon’s Connor Capstick versus Cathedral.
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Avon’s Grant Sprout swims the backstroke portion of the 200 Individual Medley versus Cathedral.
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Avon’s Natalie Myers swims the backstroke portion of the 200 Individual Medley versus Cathedral.
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Avon’s Abby Unrue versus Cathedral.
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Avon’s Parks Jones swims the butterfly portion of the 200 medley Relay versus Cathedral.
Avon’s Gabe Cauldwell begins the 200 freestyle versus Cathedral.
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Girls Basketball Photos by Ronnie Wilson
The claws of defense are about to clamp-down on Tri-West’s Claire Johnson versus Lebanon.
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Tri-West’s Madison Sprecher versus Lebanon.
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Tri-West’s Lexi Jobe snarls her way to the basket versus Lebanon.
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Danville’s Morgan Bear scores two of her 10 points versus North Montgomery.
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Danville’s Nicki Kiefer (22) and Hannah Newby (33) work in tandem to make the steal versus North Montgomery.
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Danville’s Ashlyn Simms versus North Montgomery.
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Boys Basketball Photos by Ronnie Wilson
Tri-West’s Nick Sprecher scores versus Lebanon.
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Tri-West’s Tyler Watson scores versus Lebanon.
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Danville’s Luke Callahan versus North Montgomery.
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Danville’s Jacob Fulton versus North Montgomery.
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Danville’s Cole Potts versus North Montgomery.
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Cascade Basketball Photos by Hannah McGlaun and Dan McGlaun
Cascade’s Bailey Walker versus South Vermillion.
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Cascade’s Katie Smith blocks this South Vermillion shot.
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Cascade’s Makayla collier versus South Vermillion.
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Cascade’s Zac butler versus South Vermilion.
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Cascade’s Evan Burch versus South Vermillion.
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County Results Basketball - Girls
Avon - Lost to Decatur Central, 48 - 34. Brownsburg Cascade - Defeated Cloverdale, 73 - 42. Defeated South Vermillion, 62 - 39. Danville - Defeated North Montgomery, 59 - 27. Lady Warrior Maleha Motter recorded a double-double, scoring a gamehigh 13 points and grabbing 14 rebounds. Teammate Morgan Bear tallied 10 points. Plainfield - Defeated Terre haute South, 49 - 42.
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Tri-West - Defeated Speedway, 70 - 44. Trevor Waite scored 58 - 31. Katrina Headlee scored a game-high 22 points for the a game-high 19 points. Bruins. Lost to Lebanon, 72 - 40. Defeated New Palistine, 92 80.
Basketball - Boys
Avon - Defeated Decatur Central, 71 - 65.
Swimming/ Diving
Plainfield - Girls defeated Brownsburg - Lost to Fishers, Mooresville, 142 - 29 - Boys defeated Mooresville, 102 - 76. 55 - 51. Cascade - Lost to Cloverdale, Wrestling 75 - 32. Lost to South Vermillion, 55 Danville - Finished fourth at the Sagamore Conference - 54. Danville - Defeated North Mont- Meet. Plainfield - Finished 6th at the gomery, 55 - 49. Plainfield - Defeated Northview, Mid-State Conference meet. 52 - 40. Nathan Mills tallied 19 Tri-West - Finished eighth at the Sagamore Conference points for the Quakers Tri-West - Defeated Lebanon, meet.
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RR-2,
continued from page 5
taxes for the wealthy, he began raising taxes on the middle and lower class. Corporations started to ship more jobs out of the United States while hiring cheap foreign labor in order to make a bigger profit. While corporations made billions, Americans across the country lost their jobs. As 1982 came to a close, unemployment was nearly 11%. Unemployment began to drop as the years went on, but the jobs that were created were low paying and barely helped people make ends meet. The middle and lower classes had their wages nearly frozen as the top earners saw dramatic increases in salary. 6. Ignoring AIDS -
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By the time the 1980s came around, AIDS had become one of the most frightening things to happen to the country in recent memory. No one understood what AIDS and HIV really were and when people don’t understand something, they become scared of it. The fear of the unknown was sweeping across the country and Americans needed a leader to speak out about this horrible virus, that leader never came. Instead of grabbing the bull by the horns and taking charge, Reagan kept quiet. Reagan couldn’t say the words AIDS or HIV until seven years into his presidency, a leader not so much. 7. Reagan gave amnesty to 3 million Undocumented Immigrants In today’s GOP, the idea of any
immigrant staying in the United States whether they are legal or illegal isn’t something that conservatives embrace. What might shock them is that in 1982 Ronald Reagan gave nearly 3 million undocumented workers amnesty. The biggest reason for undocumented workers coming to the United States is because corporations hire them at a cheaper rate than they would an American citizen. All the laws that would have cracked down on companies who hire undocumented workers were, of course, removed from the bill. 8. His attack on Unions and the Middle Class The Republican war on unions and the middle class has been Continued on page 37, see RR-3
RR-3,
continued from page 5
heating up in states like Wisconsin and Ohio, but it has been going on for a long time. Unions are formed to give a united voice to the workers in an attempt to create fairness between the corporations and their employees. On August 3rd, 1981, PATCO (Professional Air Traffic Controllers Organization) went on strike in an effort to get better pay and safer working conditions. Two days later, taking the side of business, Ronald Reagan fired 11,345 workers for not returning to work. 9. Reagan raided the Social Security Trust fund With Ronald Reagan cutting taxes so drastically, the U.S government was beginning to starve. Reagan added to the government and didn’t make enough spending cuts to offset the tax cuts, so the money needed to come from somewhere. Ronald Reagan knew that his polices would create economic bubbles, unemployment would drop and some jobs would be created, but in time the bubble would burst leaving the economy in ruins. In order to counteract his own economic policies, Ronald Reagan needed
to find somewhere else to get revenue. Listening to Alan Greenspan and other advisors, Ronald Reagan raided the Social Security Trust Fund and replaced it with glorified IOU’s. Ronald Reagan raised the Social Security tax rate which did add to the revenue, but because there is a cap on Social Security, currently no income over $113,700 is taxed for Social Security, the wealthy didn’t feel the tax increase and the pain was pushed to the middle and lower classes. 10. Endless worship and neverending praise Ronald Reagan left office in January of 1989 and nearly 25 years later he is held up high by the modern Republican party.
As nearly three decades have gone by since Ronald Reagan was in the White House, reality and history has faded with time. Conservative figures like antitax Grover Norquist created the “Ronald Reagan Legacy Project” with a goal of memorializing Reagan in all 50 states. As stated in this article, Ronald Reagan did a lot to hurt the United States, not just while he was in office, but in the years that have followed. What’s scary about today’s current Republican party is that while Reagan was one of the worst presidents this country has had to endure over the last 100 years, he would be considered too moderate to be nominated by today’s conservative standards.
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Life is a journey, not a destination.
follow us on twitter! Ronniesrambling
RR PUBLISHED BY SPORTS & MORE
RONNIE’S RAMBLINGS vol. 01 Issue 45 01.19.2015
To purchase view photos go to hcsportsandmore.smugmug.com
established Viii-Xiv-mmxiv