Happy Halloween ...

 

Be vigilant at the polls ...

Words of advice:

1) DO NOT TAKE A PIC OF YOUR BALLOT IN THE VOTING BOOTH

2) Do not post ANY photos of you beyond the door of the poll

3) ABSOLUTELY do not vote straight ticket. You will not be voting for the right people.

1) & 2) could result in your ballot being voided, a fine, or even jail time.

________________________________

Who was on the republican ticket in 2012?

Who high up in politics has been against Trump?

If Hillary wins on Nov. 8th and then indicted after the election. Then the indictment results in Hillary not being able to serve as President. Kaine becomes President and Paul Ryan VP.

__________________________________

 

The prize ...

 

Joke Of The Day: Questions From Kids For Hillary

Hillary Clinton goes to a gifted-student primary school in New York to talk about the world. 

After her talk, she offers to answer questions from the kids. One little boy puts up his hand. Hillary asks him what his name is. "Kenny," he says.

"And what is your question, Kenny?" she asks.

"I have three questions," he says.

"First -- what happened in Benghazi? Second -- why would you run for president if you are not capable of handling two e-mail accounts? Third -- what happened to that six billion dollars that went missing while you were Secretary of State?”

Just then the bell rings for recess.

Hillary tells the students that they will continue after recess. When they resume Hillary says, "Okay, where were we? Oh, that's right, question time. Who has a question?” 

A different boy -- little Johnny -- puts his hand up. Hillary points to him and asks him what his name is. "Johnny," he says.

"What is your question, Johnny?" she asks.

"I have five questions," he says. "First -- what happened in Benghazi? Second -- why would you run for president if you are not capable of handling two e-mail accounts? Third -- whatever happened to that six billion dollars that went missing while you were Secretary of State? Fourth -- why did the recess bell go off 20 minutes early? And, fifth -- where's Kenny?”

Public input?

If there's no public input at a meeting of public servants, it's basically the monthly reading of the seven laws of animal farm.

 

Hillary laughs at removing "under God" from pledge quote ...

Why, as a "Tech guy" I cannot vote for Hillary Clinton and why as an extreme couponer, I'd vote for Alex Saitta & Joey L

Why, as a "Tech guy" I cannot vote for Hillary Clinton and why as an extreme couponer, I'd vote for Alex Saitta and Joey Lum 

by Rus Smith

Being a nerd about networks, I've studied how the Clinton campaign has dismissed the Wikileak's release of the infamous "deleted emails" and multitudes of others as faked, forged, and out of context information. Clinton campaign manager and former Bill Clinton aide, John Podesta is the main source of this denial. He's also responsible for putting the rhetoric into Clinton's debate talking points. 

It's an outright lie that the emails are faked, forged, or that their content is treasonous to read or disseminate (as CNN has so stereotypically, biased media reported), or that they were "deleted".

What's in those emails can be verified by markers known as a "raw header". If you analyze this info and verify it - it tells all sorts of information. It reveals everything from who sent and received the email, the exact tenth of a second it was sent, the character count (and word count), if it was read (or not), if it was part of a previous reply, and what type of device and email client sent it. In fact, it's even evident from Wikileaks information that the emails were purposely wiped with a hard drive erasure program. Not "deleted". Not "lost". Erased. On purpose. Maliciously. Criminally.

I've laboriously poured over this information. These emails contain everything from accepting illegal donations for favors to discussing "speaking fees" instead of having limitations on donations. Even Facebook's own top executives tried to "make deals" with the Clinton campaign  in barter for "shaping policy". Emails also discuss that the Clinton campaign knew everything about Benghazi and purposely covered it up - many emails discussing damage control or "that it should blow over". It truly is incomprehensible the amount of illegal and classified information that is discussed in these emails.

As an "IT guy" I cannot vote for Clinton.

I therefore choose Donald Trump. I do not endorse him. I am voting for him. Our country needs a businessman. Period.

Similarly, I recommend to all my friends that can and all my friends that can influence others to please vote for Alex Saitta. Alex has been a great resource for the School Board of Pickens County. Your property tax bill would be triple (or more) without him. There would be no prayer at board meetings and most likely the county - at any school function. He fought against the school closures. Even though Alex has never been in my district - I have always been able to get an answer from him - quickly - with facts. He listens and responds with well thought out, researched, eloquent action. Alex is a business guy - a financial guy - he is EXACTLY what the county needs. Like Trump, Alex isn't beholden to special interests like other board members. Alex's impact on every office in Pickens County is immeasurable.

For Liberty and Pickens residents, I recommend Joey Lum as your District 4 representative to Columbia. Joey has campaigned on the fact that finances and taxes in the area are out of control. But here is my absolute reason NOT to vote for his opponent, incumbent Davey Hiott - Hiott took money from the Veterinarian Association then sponsored a bill to rid the state of mobile pet vaccs. Friends, I love animals. I think a pet, even to lower income families, is an important part of a family. After coupons, I get Rachel Ray Nutrish premium dog food for free. I have food and care covered. Shots are a different matter. If mobile pet vaccs didn't exist - I most likely would have reconsidered purchasing my dog (Scruffy). That saddens me greatly. Not having mobile pet vaccs removes this integral part of family life from all but the wealthy. It puts the public at risk.  The sponsorship of the bill wreaks of corruption. And like Trump, I believe Joey Lum will not be beholden to special interests as Hiott is.

* The mobile pet vacc is an enormous economic boost too.

What does the SC Constitution say about Public Meetings?

Public Notice and Agendas

 

In response to the state Supreme Court’s ruling in Lambries v. Saluda County Council, the Freedom of Information Act, S.C. Code Ann. § 30-4-80, was amended in 2015 to require a written public notice and agenda for all meetings of appointed public bodies. S.C. Code Ann. §§ 5-7-250, 30-4-80(a)

 

This notice requirement applies to meetings of a quorum of school board or its appointed public bodies regardless of the name used to describe the meeting, including any special, called or rescheduled meeting. A copy of the public notice and an agenda must be sent to individuals, news media and organizations requesting notification of meetings.

 

For all regularly scheduled meetings, public bodies must give written public notice at the beginning of each calendar year. The annual meeting notice must include the dates, times and places of all regularly scheduled meetings pursuant to S.C. Code Ann. § 30-4-80(a) and (d). An agenda for regularly scheduled meetings must be posted on a bulletin board in a publicly accessible place at the office or meeting place of the public body and on the municipal website, if the municipality has a website, at least 24 hours prior to such meeting.

 

For any special, called or rescheduled meeting, a public notice, including an agenda containing the date, time and place of the meeting, must be posted as early as is practicable, but no later than 24 hours before the meeting, on a bulletin board in a publicly accessible place at the office or meeting place of the public body and on the district’s website.

 

If an unforeseen situation arises that requires immediate action, the board members may call an emergency meeting. The school district should hold emergency meetings only if there is a crisis and council must act with a sense of urgency (e.g., a natural or man-made disaster). The board and its appointed public bodies must exercise great caution when calling emergency meetings because they are not subject to the Freedom of Information Act’s public notice and agenda requirements for public bodies.

Pickens County School Board Holds Meetings Without Public Input ...

As reported by Ron Barnett, Greenville News:

Two Pickens County School Board members and a charter school applicant are crying foul at the board chairman’s decision to cancel the board’s regular monthly meeting Monday night and hold it instead last Friday morning, with no opportunity for public input.

Chairman Judy Edwards said she rescheduled the meeting because she planned to be out of town this week, according to trustee Alex Saitta, one of the two board members who are complaining that holding meetings at unusual times has become a pattern this year which they suspect is aimed at limiting public access.


"Either there is a purposeful desire to have meetings when the public is unlikely to attend or there is a disregard for the public’s schedule and when they could attend," Saitta said. "It is not about the personal schedule of any one board member.


Henry Wilson, vice chairman of the board, said he was unable to attend the Friday morning meeting because of his work schedule and wasn’t given adequate notice to make arrangements to be there.


He said he also wasn’t asked if he could preside over the regular monthly meeting Monday in the chairman's absence.
Since the beginning of the year, the School Board has held four Saturday meetings and five meetings that started at 7AM or before.
Three of those Saturday meetings – at 6:30AM, 7AM, and 7:30AM, involved discussions of closing schools in the district
Anna Gainey, a member of the group attempting to start a charter school in Easley called Clearview Collegiate Academy, said she was upset when she learned that Monday’s meeting would be canceled because she had intended to speak in support of its application during the public session. 
Friday’s 9AM meeting didn’t include a public session, and the first item on the agenda was cancellation of the October 24, 2016 meeting
The motion passed, 3-1, with Saitta opposing, and Wilson unable to attend the meeting.
“Just like everybody else, I’ve got a job and I’ve got a schedule that’s a week or two out in advance,” Wilson told The News. “The last two times I’ve missed these meetings, it’s because they’re basically only letting me know two days beforehand.
“Public schools is the business of the public and should be done in a public way.”
Clearview Collegiate Academy has submitted an application to the district to operate a charter school in which students would be earning college credit in high school. It opted to try to get approval through the local district rather than the state Charter School District.
“I have pulled myself away from my job and my family in order to fight for something I believe in and I don’t even get a chance to talk in public about it,” she told The News.
Addendum Alex Saitta:
When they called for a vote to cancel Monday's evenings regular meeting, I asked why are they cancelling the meeting? The chairman said she has scheduled this special meeting Friday at 9 am because she would be out of town next week. I then said, a chairman has never tried to cancel a regular Monday evening meeting because they were not going to be here. The vice-chairman has the job to run the regularly scheduled meeting when the chairman is out. I voted against cancelling the Monday night meeting. It passed 3 to 1. 


The meetings are for the public, are scheduled when the public and the press is available to attend -- weekday evenings.


I also object to the developing trend of regularly having meetings when the public and press is unlikely to attend. Look at these dates and times of many meetings this year.


Jan 30, Sat 7 am,
Feb 6, Sat 6:30 am
Mar 12, Sat 7:30 am
Apr 12, 7 am
Apr 21, 7 am
Jul 21, 7 am
Aug 6, 12:30 pm
Sep 23, 8:30 am
Oct 21, 9 am


Henry Wilson has not been able to attend the last two because they were during working hours.


That’s 9 meetings this year on off-days or off-hours of the day. Either there is a purposeful desire to have meetings when the public is unlikely to attend or there is a disregard for the public’s schedule and when they could attend.

Is Big Brother far worse than we can imagine?

If we don’t speak up now, the days when we can walk around with our heads held high without fear of surveillance are numbered. Federal and local law enforcement across the country are adopting sophisticated facial recognition technologies to identify us on the streets and in social media by matching our faces to massive databases.

Read more here:

https://www.eff.org/deeplinks/2016/10/memo-doj-facial-recognitions-threat-privacy-worse-anyone-thought

What you do ...

 

I am baffled by the lack of interest by the people of Pickens County in the corruptness of their government institutions like the School Board and in a few cases the County Council. It even reaches to the various departments like the sheriff's office, SLED, and the solicitors office. The County treasurer and Auditor play their role in not following the laws of this State. The School Board members and all elected County officials take an oath to defend, preserve, and protect the Constitutions that govern us and them. This means that their every action they consider should be ruled by whether the action they are taking is Constitutional and then the statutory laws that follow agree in principle with the Constitution.

For instance the County Council recently considered a request from Tri County Tech for $6.5 million dollars for a student union building. It is clear that the State of South Carolina under Article 11 Section 3 is responsible for funding Tri County Tech needs. Even the other millage that exists for Tri County Tech operations expense is not within the Constitution. Yet, according to the County Council the President of Tri County Tech has threatened our students from Pickens County with a penalty fee because we did not give him the money. The School Board is guilty of such actions also.

Every year for the past 30 years, the School Board of Pickens County has over collected revenue by rigging the budget. They set the collectability per cent at less than 100% say 95% and collect more than is needed in the budget. They use at least 10 other ways to get money without a tax increase by setting the millage rate too high and collecting more money than is budgeted. 

Please go to Conservativesoftheupstate.com (archives) to see some of these methods of over collection. This procedure has given them millions of dollars of extra money to spend on items that are not Constitutional; like teacher's salary increases (which should come from the State) capital items not voted on by the people. They have exceeded the capacity of many of the citizens of Pickens County to pay. Thousands of properties have been sold on the Court House steps. Then they close our northern elementary schools against their constituents wishes saying that they are wasting money, when it has been proven that elementary education is one of the most important pieces of the children's total education package. They have violated Article 11 Section 3 (Funding by the State), Article 10 Section 5 ( All taxes instituted must have a specific purpose) and SC law 12-43-285 (gives the procedure for setting millage and refunding over collection), and other laws. All this information was given to members of the school board, SLED, the solicitor, the Sheriff of Pickens County, the Governor of the State of SC, the Attorney General of SC, and others over the years.

In my opinion all this is a conspiracy to over collect and take money and property from the people of Pickens County. It is not against the law to over collect but to keep the money and do the same thing year after year is against the law and should be stopped and the people refunded as prescribed by law.

Junius Smith

President, Conservatives Of The Upstate 

Learn about Agenda 21 ...

So, it won't be rigged aye?

 

Watch this video of different Hillary campaign directors talking about how they will avoid letting republicans vote and register.

24 of 32 ...

Just take a second and think of this figure. If Hillary wins the election, at the end of her first term the same two families will have controlled the presidency for 24 years of the last 32!

 #isthatwhatwereallywant

~ Rep. Joshua Putnam / Powdersville

Pardon me ...

In case you missed it ...

At the recent press conference dinner that benefited charity ...

Trump quipped:

"Just before the debate, Hillary bumped into me, and she was very, very nice. She said, "Pardon me."

I said, "If I'm President, I won't."

The best way to watch the debates ...

 

Summary of the 2016 Presidential election ...

 

Platforms vs Soap Boxes ...

 

Reading about the election ...

 

For your consideration ...

Netanyahu condemns UNESCO maneuvers ...

On Friday, I spoke with newly elected UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres. I shared with him the outrage of all Israelis following Thursday's UNESCO decision that once again denied the over 3,000 year old connection between the Jewish people and its holiest site in Jerusalem, the Temple Mount. This was the site of Solomon's Temple described in book of Kings in the Bible. It was the site of the second temple built by Jewish exiles who returned from Babylon some 500 years later. It was this second temple that was refurbished by King Herod and visited by Jesus as recounted in the New Testament.

Decisions like this distort historical truth that Jews, Christians and most of humanity know to be fact. These decisions also do nothing to advance peace. On the contrary, they only fuel the Palestinian fantasy of a Land of Israel with no Israel. They falsely teach Palestinian children that the Jews have no history and no rights here and therefore there’s no need to make peace with them.

Yesterday the United Nations further demonstrated its moral bankruptcy when it comes to Israel.

The Security Council discussed what it calls "Illegal Israeli Settlements.” According to the UN concept paper, the very presence of Jews living in Judea and Samaria, the West Bank, "seriously jeopardizes" the viability of two states.

That claim only makes sense if you ignore thousands of years of Jewish history, as UNESCO did this week.

That claim only makes sense if you accept the anti-Semitic Palestinian demand for a state free of Jews as somehow essential for peace.

Over a million and a half Arabs live in Israel as full citizens. Does their presence constitute a barrier to peace? Of course not. That some Jews live in Judea and Samaria is no more a barrier to peace than that.

No matter how often lies about Israel are repeated, this doesn't make them true.

The real barrier to peace is not the settlements but the persistent Palestinian refusal to recognize a Jewish state in any boundaries.

That's why the Palestinians attacked the Jews for half a century before there was a single settlement and continued to attack Israel after it dismantled all the settlements and withdrew from Gaza entirely.

The real barrier to peace is the outrageous idea that Jews cannot live in their ancestral homeland and need to be cleansed from it.

The real barrier to peace is terrorist regimes like Hamas that launch tens of thousands of missiles at Israeli civilians and call for genocide of all Jews.

But the UN, and the so-called peace groups that testified there on Friday, are too busy denying Jews our rights, spreading lies and distorting history to recognize and condemn the actual barriers to peace.

Until that changes, until the UN drops its double standards towards Israel and stops ignoring Palestinian terror and rejectionism, peace for Israelis and Palestinians will not come from the United Nations any more than security for Israel will come from the Security Council.

I said recently at the UN that there may be a storm before the calm in the coming months. We are in the storm. But I also said that "I have total confidence that in the years ahead the revolution in Israel’s standing among the nations will finally penetrate this hall of nations."

It will take some time, but that too will come, when most of nations of the world will decide to stop using the UN as a platform for lies and hate and it will reclaim its noble mandate to advance truth and peace.

Benjamin Netanyahu 

Bottom Line in the Election November 8 2016

Bottom line either Trump or Clinton is going to win...I don't care what meme or what video or what quote from a famous person says ... or even what Pickens Legislative Delegation member Rep. Neal Collins says...everyone with half a brain should know...that the reality is no matter whether you like it or not that Hillary or Trump is going to be the next POTUS... they are the only viable candidates...Do I like that? NO I don't..but it is what it is! I am a realist, It would be so nice to be able to say I can vote for whomever I want...it's my vote and it is not a wasted one; however, that is not reality! You are delusional if you think because you go vote for someone other than Trump you have helped our country.... Voting for anyone other than Trump means you are saying you are fine with Hillary period. I honestly wish we did have a viable third party candidate...BUT WE DON'T...so get over it! WE MUST KEEP HILLARY OUT OF THE WHITE HOUSE...THAT IS THE GOAL! The ONLY possible way to maybe save our nation is by giving Donald J Trump a chance...WE already know what Hillary will do. She will continue down Obama's path of destroying what's left of our once great nation. If we don't make sure Trump is elected...our country will be in final stage of Cancer and there is no cure...kiss your Constitutional Republic good bye.

Johnnelle Raines

Pickens SC

Our Help In Ages Past ...

 

Bible facts ...

There are 929 chapters in the Old Testament. There are 260 chapters in the New Testament. This gives a total of 1,189 chapters (on average, 18 per book). Psalm 117 is the middle chapter of the Bible, being the 595th Chapter.

 

Money matters ...

 

Homeless ...

 

Alex Saitta: The people's balance

I read about the filing for local school board elections in Pickens County with some concern. School board trustees are to balance the wants of the school administration with the wants of the public. 

In Clemson, Betty Bagley is a former superintendent and is running unopposed. I can’t see how a former administrator who didn’t have to spend anytime talking with the people of Pickens County during the campaign will be anything but biased toward doing what the district administration wants. 

The same in Easley, where Betty Garrison a former principal is running unopposed. Garrison has praised Judy Edwards, who ignored the public when she voted to close A.R. Lewis and Holly Springs schools and just followed the district administration.  

Add in Brian Swords, who is an administrator at Tri-County Tech and voted to close the schools, too.

Our only hope is Alex Saitta in the Pickens election, who showed he is independent minded by voting against the closings, and has the experience and grit to stand as a counterbalance to Bagley, Garrison and Swords, who will rubber stamp district administration plans.  

Let’s not forget state. Rep. Neal Collins of Easley wants to add a seventh seat to the school board, and it will be in his area of Easley. Sen. Larry Martin stopped it before, but he is no longer there to stop this. 
District administrators and the Easley and Clemson crowd are trying to hijack the school board, and this is not good for our county.

by Dennis Reinart

Essentially ...

 

Who is Paul Ryan?

Paul Ryan, current speaker of the house, has been openly critical of presidential nominee Donald Trump. He was was almost a step away from the presidency himself on the 2012 Romney/Ryan ticket ...

But who is he really? Well, we know who his wife is at least ...

Meet Janna Ryan:

http://www.biography.com/people/janna-ryan-20950271

Trump is not ...

I've heard too many say lately that we - the American people - have no choice in the upcoming November election!

 

Do you really think that God would leave us with no  choice?

 

Come on people! Where's your faith? He has heard our cries!

 

In defense of Donald Trump: Try to keep these points in mind,

 

Donald Trump did not steal your money.

 

Donald Trump did not raise your taxes.

 

Donald Trump did not quadruple the price of food.

 

Donald Trump is not starting a race war. 

 

Donald Trump did not leave any US soldiers in Benghazi to be slaughtered and desecrated by Muslims.

 

Donald Trump did not send the US Navy to fight for Syrian Al-Qaeda.

 

Donald Trump did not arm ISIS and systematicaly exterminate Christians throughout the Middle East.

 

Donald Trump did not betray Israel.

 

Donald Trump did not provide financing and technology to Iran's nuclear weapons program.

 

Donald Trump did not give our military secrets to China.

 

Donald Trump did not remove our nuclear missile shield in Poland at the behest of Russia.

 

Donald Trump did not shrivel our military, and betray our veterans.

 

Donald Trump did not cripple our economy.

 

Donald Trump did not increase our debt to 20 trillion dollars.

 

Donald Trump did not ruin our credit, twice.

 

Donald Trump did not double African American unemployment.

 

Donald Trump did not increase welfare to a record level for eight years.

 

Donald Trump did not set free muslim terrorists in Guantanamo bay.

 

Donald Trump did not steal your rights, violate US Constitutional law, or commit treason hundreds of times.

 

 

Yet Trump is being ripped apart in the news, nonstop, while Barrack Hussein Obama, Hillary Clinton and the criminals occupying our government, are not.      

The media IS the Democratic Party; Save our culture. Stop listening to them! 

 

By Dalton Douglas

Trump: An analysis, not a defense.

 

Think about this for a second. You are friends with your parents, your family, your coworkers, your church congregation, your community on facebook - you - for the most part temper your words - so as not to offend anyone. You are worried about your job. You want to keep it. You don't want glances at church. 

Trump is the head of Trump Enterprises Incorporated. Trump, ever since I've known the last name has always been there, where he is, in charge - no worries about money, fame, character, behavior.

For the most part, he's a good guy, but he is a billionaire. Not a millionaire. A billionaire. He can go no higher. He won't go lower.

Please, if you say that winning a billion in the lottery wouldn't change you into somewhat of a Trump; you are a liar. 

I have a few friends on Facebook that are well set financially - and you are not Trump. I know no billionaires.

I have however read about Steve Jobs extensively. Jobs was so arrogant, so egotistical that he was ousted from Apple. The main difference between Trump and Jobs is - Jobs was not the brand, Jobs chose a private life so as to resist those temptations. When he returned to Apple and turned it into the most valuable company in the world - he relinquished control to a team and had less than 5 people reporting to him.

Trump has 1000s that report directly to him. 

Trump is from New York. I'm sorry, but I've always seen New Yorkers as rude Yankees. It's a stereotype. But, it fits.

Jobs was a hippie from California. That fit him.

The media is trying to portray Hillary Clinton as a prim and proper - caring lady "who knows this country".

She is a murderer. That's the blunt way to put it. She is a liar. She's a thief. The worst part about all those statements is that you know, without me linking or sourcing that all of those statements are true.

Trump is a businessman. He's made tough - cut throat business decisions - he's milked the system to his benefit - he has no superior (other than the Lord Almighty) - but Hillary Clinton he ain't - when sin to sin is compared.

Thoughts on the Wikileaks leak ...

Unlike the mainstream media, Wikileaks has a ten year history of releasing verified documents and being a beacon of truth in journalism. No one ever questioned their veracity when their document leaks fit the narrative of the democrats. Now, they're "in bed with Putin and Trump" and "untruthful". 

 

If ...

 

Three Part Video: Refugee Resettlement In Upstate SC

Here is the 3 Part Video of recent meeting of Refugee Resettlement Project in the Upstate by World Relief and Dept of Soc. Services (Stakeholder Meeting)

I hope you will watch these three videos and take action in passing a strong resolution to send out that Pickens County does NOT want to participate in these resettlements...And make sure in the next budget the Proviso stating our county will not participate.

Thank you,

Johnnelle Raines

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7dqp81w5k2M 

Part 1 Recent World Relief Refugee Resettlement Video in Spartanburg and Greenville vicinity

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=junIHZcVYPc 

Part 2 Recent World Relief Refugee Resettlement Video in Spartanburg and Greenville vicinity

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Zb__DucrHPs 

Part 3 Recent World Relief Refugee Resettlement Video in Spartanburg and Greenville vicinity

It seems like ...

 

PCBs: Admission of contamination?

 

The Conservatives of the Upstate tried our best to warn the cities of Easley and Pickens about the potential PCB and other contamination hazard along the "Doodle Trail". We furnished a witness that said he knew for a fact that the railroad dumped barrels of liquids all along the railroad. The STB and DHEC were aware of our findings and did not even interview our witness. A fifty two page report by the EPA was prior issued forbidding the use of one property (Welborn property) forever and it was to be fenced and gated. This property fronts on the trail. It was also observed that barrels of contaminates were about to be disposed of by burying them. Of note -  the barrels came up missing. About that time barrels containing contaminates were dumped in the Spartanburg, SC drainage system.

http://www.goupstate.com/news/20130907/pcbs-found-at-other-sewer-sites-in-upstate

It was also noted by the Conservatives of the Upstate that the sand blasting of train cars had left contaminates in the soil at the railroad station. Someone dug a ditch and washed that blasted material on to the streets of Pickens. 

Now the city of Pickens is paying thousands of dollars of the taxpayer's money to clean up the station, but has taken no action on the PCB problem. 

The cities of Easley and Pickens say they have run their "own study" and found nothing even after the 52 page report condemning some of the property. The cleanup of the station comes too late to avoid poisoning a child's system had they fallen or put their hands in their mouth,etc. as this contamination was reported years ago.

Our County Council has received much criticism for not supporting the taking of this property and the refusal to be involved with the trail when there was so much evidence of the problems and the fact that the property was taken without compensation to the property owners. Now we know that it was a wise decision by the County Council. Yet some of the newly elected Council members continue to be in favor of this trail.

Junius Smith

Conservaties of the Upstate

No meeting this month ...

Thank you conservatives for all your work ...

There is no scheduled monthly COTU meeting  for October because of the joint Taxpayer/ COTU forum held last week.

Have a good month. 

PLEASE make sure you are properly registered to vote and that everyone in your family is prepared to vote in this upcoming critical election. Your last day to make sure things are in order is tomorrow.

To be clear about Hillary Clinton ...

Hillary Clinton did her college thesis on the writings of Saul Alinsky and Obama wrote about him in his books. (The same books he praises Malcolm X for using lewd comments)

http://youtu.be/_IGzuhOuz00

The book, Rules For Radicals by Saul Alinsky has the following epigraph, where not only does Alinsky appear to dedicate his work to and admikre Lucifer, but also claim that religion (mostly Christianity) is mythology ...

Lest we forget at least an over-the-shoulder acknowledgment to the very first radical: from all our legends, mythology, and history (and who is to know where mythology leaves off and history begins — or which is which), the first radical known to man who rebelled against the establishment and did it so effectively that he at least won his own kingdom — Lucifer.
  ~ SAUL ALINSKY

How to create a social state by Saul Alinsky:

There are 8 levels of control that must be obtained before you are able to create a social state.

The first is the most important.

1) Healthcare — Control healthcare and you control the people

2) Poverty — Increase the Poverty level as high as possible, poor people are easier to control and will not fight back if you are providing everything for them to live.

3) Debt — Increase the debt to an unsustainable level. That way you are able to increase taxes, and this will produce more poverty.

4) Gun Control — Remove the ability to defend themselves from the Government. That way you are able to create a police state.

5) Welfare — Take control of every aspect of their lives (Food, Housing, and Income).

6) Education — Take control of what people read and listen to — take control of what children learn in school.

7) Religion — Remove the belief in the God from the Government and schools.

8) Class Warfare — Divide the people into the wealthy and the poor. This will cause more discontent and it will be easier to take (Tax) the wealthy with the support of the poor.

Now, think ...

Does any of this sound like what is happening to the United States? Does any of this sound exactly like what's being promoted by Hillary Clinton?

Halloween ...

  

Let's elect a dumb president ...

The extension of the Clinton campaign, The New York Times, giddily — and maybe illegally but certainly without authorization — revealed a portion of Donald Trump's personal tax return from 1995, which showed him taking a $912 million loss. Maybe the documents came from Obama's IRS henchmen, the Special Lois Lerner Division.

If you do not understand taxes, you do not understand that this is a non-event. And the Democrats count on voters not understanding these things.

Real estate was in a big downturn in the early '90s, and the FDIC was auctioning buildings. Trump lost money that year, which is really not a news story. The story is that he came back and is now worth $3 to $7 billion.

In 2014, The New York Times itself had $1.5 billion in revenue, $92 million in income and paid no taxes. In fact, the IRS cut The New York Times a check for $3.5 million that year. Liberal billionaires like George Soros and Warren Buffet have both taken roughly $1 billion losses in business and written them off over time. In the hypocrisy category, guess who else has done this on their taxes? The Clintons.

Trump is good with numbers. Here is a man who bought the Miss Universe Pageant, which allowed him to watch women in bikinis parading in front of him, and he got to assign them a number. The next liberal attack will be that the Miss Universe Pageant is galactically biased since only women from Earth have ever won.

Democrats try to conflate a tax loss carryforward, a standard and very legal tax accounting practice, with Trump not paying his taxes. It's the same lie the Democrats told about Mitt Romney not paying taxes. Yes, it's underhanded and misleading, but this is how Democrats win. You can't really expect them to win on their own ideas or results.

The real financial question is how the Clintons, lifelong "public servants," have become worth about $100 million — or more. They have not started a business that employs people. The only jobs they've created are for prosecutors, subpoena deliverymen and their defense attorneys.

Getting rich off the taxpayer is OK with Democrats as long as they act like they feel bad about it. The Clinton Foundation is America's largest personal 401(k), a perpetual tax advantage for the Clinton family. There is no estate tax on it and no scrutiny. It collected "pay-to-play" money for a past president and a then-current secretary of state who was also an all-but-assured future president. The money was all tax deductible to donors, funneled through a non-U.S. bundler who didn't fully disclose sources.

Democrats, who generally toe the party line without much thought or debate, are nervous. And they are about as comfortable with Hillary as their nominee as they would be with Anthony Weiner borrowing their iPhones.

Quick: Think of the biggest issue being debated in this campaign. The national debt? Crime? Our role in wars worldwide? The disaster that is Obamacare? No, we are talking about a "he said, she said," angry beauty pageant contestant who might have been called portly more than 20 years ago.

The Trump campaign wrestles with how much to remind folks about the Clintons going after the women who accused Bill of rape, aggressiveness and lying in the 1990s. Maybe they should counter with the line that "few people understand our complex tax code, but everybody understands sex."

Both candidates are unlikable and tarnished. Neither will make our country proud. Therefore, the biggest issue facing Americans in this election is that one of these two will win.

Trump may be direct, crass and brag about his money like a rap star, but Hillary is just unlikable. Bill Clinton carried on for 30 years with "rodeo queens," as Hillary called them. He has been impeached and disbarred; he has been accused of rape, lying and philandering. Yet America still likes him much more than Hillary.

Ron Hart

Chattanooga Times-Free Press

Why I've decided to stop supporting Trump ...

 

You know you're a ....

 

Winning Again ...

"WINNING AGAIN"

by Dean Allen

There is a huge problem within the Republican Party, the conservative movement, the tea parties, and most especially the Christian church.

We have been the "loyal opposition" for so long we have forgotten how to win. We have just about given up on the concept that it is even possible to win. There is a clear reason for this destructive malaise.

For decades we have become really good at knowing what we are opposed to and why. We are masterful complainers. We possess some of the finest minds in the galaxy, and they have written eloquently about the diagnosis of our sick republic, and how it has sunk into the depths of depravity. Our intellectuals, from Hillsborough College, to the Heritage Foundation, to the Cato Institute, to the Vatican itself, are adept at telling us what is wrong with America, and why we are so wrong.

The surviving manifestation of western Christian civilization is a loosly disorganized confederation of disparate groups and interests, now collectively described as what is left of the conservative movement. We have not merely mastered the art of pointing out the rot within the American body politic; we now possess the wizardry to point fingers, and assign blame.

That is the grand sum total of the two abilities within our skill set; we  describe deficiencies, in gruesome detail, as well as assign blame for those errors, failures, and weaknesses. That's the extent of our whole strategy since the Reagan Revolution died in 1989, we can complain, and we can point fingers in blame.

More often than not, we point those fingers at portions of our own conservative movement. We buy  into the left wing paradigm, that some of our own troops are racist, sexist, xenophobic, or what ever. We complain about every politically correct utterance of the far left; even while we grudgingly, but meekly, comply with it. 

Our libertarian element says, frame arguments only in economic terms, with no moral component. Our wimpy Churches are capable of sanctimonious superiority to the rest of us, but are too weak and afraid to actually live out their own platitudes. When is the last time any mainline religious body publicly proclaimed the message in Ephesians that we battle against principalities and powers and EVIL IN HIGH PLACES?

We, as the loyal opposition, worry more about not losing our 501 (c)(3) status, and not being labeled as racists, xenophibic, sexist, Islamophobic, or bigoted. We care more about not being called names, than about solving problems, and saving western Christian civilization.

We have been the retreating loyal opposition so long, we have mastered the artful retreat under fire. Nobody dares turn and actually assault our enemies, putting them on the defensive. We have forgotten how to lead, and blindly worship a Speaker, or a Majority Leader who does not LEAD, but rather skillfully retreats while blaming continued failure on someone else, and even more skillfully, he does it without being zinged with several of the ubiquitous labels the left passes out with gleeful abandon.

Into this sordid state of affairs, where we complain, point fingers, and retreat gracefully; the Creator of the universe has sent us a champion. He has called one man to greatness. We are so adept at following wimps with excuses, who can point the finger at others; we actually fear a strong leader who says "I WILL FIX THAT." It has been almost four decades since a real American leader stood on the world stage and said "I will make America great again."

As rioters, looters, foreign terrorists, and anarchists, burn what is left of western Christian civilization to the ground, we fear the one leader who says we will have "law and order" once again.

Our 240 year history can be summed up in two words American Exceptionalism. We teeter on the brink of a chasm, and if America falls, the light of liberty on this planet is extinguished. Ronald Reagan explained, freedom is not a birthright born in our DNA, but rather something that must be fought for anew in each generation. Thomas Jefferson said the tree of liberty must be watered with the blood of tyrants.

If we are to save western Christian civilization, we are going to have to point our fingers at Islam, not each other, embrace Donald John Trump as the next president of these United States, roll up our sleeves, and start using our sharp knives on the enemies of freedom, instead of each other for a change. 

On November 8th it will be your solemn duty to quit bitching, moaning, bellyaching, whining, complaining, making excuses, and pointing fingers at each other. Your patriotic duty as a God fearing American is to stand like a man and elect Donald Trump, Mike Pence, and the entire GOP ticket. This is the epic battle you have prepared for all your life, quit sniveling, and start WINNING again. Winning will be a new experience for some of you - trust me, you are going to like it.

An update from Jeff Duncan ...

Last week I filed a bill called "The Terrorist Deportation Act." Some Democrats in Congress (and again, I'm not trying to partisan but this is an effort being led by them) are attempting to ban Americans on the "No Fly" list from purchasing a firearm. This misses the mark, ignores due process, and forgets that the real threat is Radical Islamic Terrorism. Therefore, my legislation proposes the following: if you are a non-citizen residing in the United States and your name appears on the Terrorist Screening Database (which roughly 90% of all names on there are for non-citizens), then you will have your visa revoked and be deported barring the results of a deportation hearing. If you're a non-citizen and we have any suspicion you may be a terrorist, there is no reason for you to be in this country.

Read more:

http://www.miamiherald.com/news/politics-government/article104767071.html

Are you bold enough?

 

Doctor Trump ...

 

Summary of the October 2016 Pickens County Council Meeting ...

First, I want to thank Steve Haynie and the fireman(name unknown) who found my cap that I had left under my seat and returned it to my house. Your kindness is appreciated.

The council meeting was very frustrating to me. I have worked long and hard to emphasize that the council takes an oath to preserve, protect, and defend the constitution of the state and federal government. That the constitution is the final word not a document that the General Assembly can change on a whim or that the County Council or the School Board can ignore anytime they please, and say to the taxpayers"sue us if you don't like what we are doing". The constitutions are not a documents that the press should ignore, but that is what they have done for 40 years that I know of.

The evidence that some of the County Councilmen presented about Tri County Tech last night was very unsure of themselves and needed clarification: That it was the choice of the Council to fund Tri County Tech in anyway they deemed fit while recognizing that Article 11 Section 3 says that the state is responsible for all of their funding. The main reason for the establishment of the Tech schools was to train the people for industrial jobs, thereby creating a desire by companies to locate in the area. Tri County Tech has miserably failed at their mission and the Pickens County schools and taxpayers have had to absorb tens of millions of dollars to build a career center for the purpose that Tri County Tech was organized. They have done a creditable job, but some of you will remember that the 12th grade was put on in the 1950's in South Carolina to teach students in higher math and sciences thereby getting them ready for college. As soon as it was seen that students were still not prepared for college, Tri County Tech started to become a junior college, offering courses that were supposed to be taught at Clemson. Many students attending Clemson went over to Tri County Tech in order to avoid"hard or bad professors". I have pointed out to the Council that Pickens County is not responsible for building new buildings of any kind. The people of this county are not responsible for any, I repeat any of the funding for this institution: Article 11 Section 3 SC Constitution. The state over collected 1.6 billion dollars from the tax payers of the state this year. A large part of that money was collected for education purposes . The State under funded our schools by at least 10 million dollars based on statutory law and 50 million based on the Constitution and millions to our County government.

There have been many court cases on this subject and lawyers continue to litigate cases based on statutory laws rather than the Constitution. The Abbeville case, widely known by school finance minded folks was partially tried on the Constitution and so confused the judiciary that they could not complete the case for years until lawyers got back to Statutory laws and past opinions.

The next problem I had with last night's meeting was the $7.8 million dollar general obligation bonds. I have heard at least two versions of why we need to borrow all this money. The first version was that the money was being borrowed to replace a like bond that was maturing. Answer was not given as to what the money was to be spent on which potentailly breaks the SC Constitution law in Article 10 Section 5 which says that a tax levied on the people must have a specific purpose and Sections 12,13, 14, or 15. The second version I have heard was that the 7.8 million was due to being part of the 23 million set aside for the new jail. If this is true then operational money has been set aside for capital expenditure which in my opinion is illegal as those funds were collected to fullfill the needs of budgeted expense items in this years or even next years budget.

A third problem is that the County Council has over collected revenue from the taxpayers that makes up the $23 million and should refund, credit at the end of the year. If two above is correct, then $15.2 million of this money should be in a special account in the treasurer's office ready for refund. I recommended that the Council put the $15.2 million on a provisional ballot in November to see if the people wanted to spend the money on a new jail. Other wise the new jail is being crammed down our throats.

Other Conservatives of the Upstate spoke at the meeting: Patricia Watkins on mental health, Steve Haynie on Tri County Tech and GPATS, Junius Smith on the above items and Humane Society.

Junius Smith

President of Consevatives of the Upstate

Letter sent World Relief concerning refugee resettlement ...

I just sent the following FOIA request to World Relief of Spartanburg. Will keep you updated on response:

Pursuant to the South Carolina Freedom of Information Act, I request access to and copies of any and all correspondence, memorandum, and emails, including but not limited to any official email account as well as any private email accounts used for any official purpose, in the use of taxpayer funds and the number of refugees and their country of origin being used in your participation in the Refugee Resettlement Program, including but not limited to phone calls, emails, Specifically I would like to know : 

1. The current number of Refugees and their country of origin that have been placed in the state of South Carolina as well as in which county they have been placed. 

2. The proposed number of Refugees and their country of origin that will be placed in the state of South Carolina as well as in which county they are proposing to be placed. 

3. The total amount of taxpayer funded assistance any and all of the Refugees living in South Carolina have received from 2007 to present date. 

4. Please provide all correspondence your office has with the Office of Refugee Resettlement or any other Governmental agency concerning the 2016 and future 2017 State and Federal Refugee Resettlement Plan. 

5. Was there an Amber alert for Child W the child placed in Beaufort County. Family Court Case 2015-DR-07-229? If not please explain reasoning. If reasoning includes your agency was not informed, please state which day your agency was informed. If this FOIA is the first you are hearing of the missing child please state so. File with: ORR-SC, State Police, County Sheriff, and Municipality. 

6. Who pays for Refugee State ID's? If it is state taxpayer funded, please provide budget code and resolutions justifying expense. 

7. How much state taxpayer funding has been allocated to pay for Refugee housing each year from 2007 to 2016? 

8. Include a detail account of the vetting policy. What is the background or qualifications of the sponsors of any unaccompanied children. What is the policy on follow up so these children so they do not go missing? 

9. Are there plans to settle any Refugees in Pickens County SC and if so how many and from what country of origin. Please waive any applicable fees. Although your agency may be legally allowed to collect a fee for satisfying this request for public records, the FOIA specifically requires that any fees are not to exceed the actual cost of searching for and copying records and that the records must be furnished at the lowest possible cost to the person requesting the records (§30-4-30(b)). Since release of the information is in the public interest because it will contribute significantly to public understanding of government operations and activities I request that you please waive any applicable fees. Nonetheless, I agree to pay reasonable duplication fees for the processing of this request in an amount not to exceed twenty-five dollars ($25). 

Please notify me in advance of the total fees to be charged, if in excess of that amount. If my request for information is denied in whole or part, I ask that you justify all deletions by reference to specific exemptions of the act. I will also expect you to release all portions of otherwise exempt material, which can be separated. Of course, I reserve the right to appeal your decision to withhold any information or to deny a waiver of fees. I look forward to your reply within fifteen (15) days excepting Saturdays, Sundays, and public holidays, as the statute requires. As this information is of timely value, I would appreciate your communicating with me via email, rather than by postal mail, if you have questions regarding this request. Thank you for your assistance. 

Thank you for your assistance. 

Sincerely, 

Johnnelle Raines

Tonight ...

 

The media is attacking Trump baselessly...

Here's a sample of the average headline from multiple media sources this morning ...

 

This is a false and misleading headline. He said nothing of the sort.

Here's what he ACTUALLY said ...

"Yes I would. We need that so badly. And when you talk about the mental health problems when people come back from war and combat and they see things that maybe a lot of folks in this room have seen many times over.

And they're strong and they can handle it, but a lot of people can't handle it. And they see horror stories, they see events that you couldn't see in a movie, nobody could believe it.

We need mental health and medical, and it's one of the things that is least addressed and one of the things — one of the things that I hear most about when I go around and talk to the veterans. So we are going to have a very robust, very, very robust level of performance having to do with mental health."

GPATS met today ... know who "facilitated" the meeting ...

Ten at the Top of course... "Helped facilitate development of a regional Memorandum of Understanding between Greenville Pickens Area Transportation Study (GPATS), Spartanburg Area Transportation Study and Appalachian Council of Governments that allows these transportation organizations to partner on initiatives, grants and projects"

^ each of the above buzzwords and organization are Agenda 21 operatives.

* Thank you Johnnelle Raines for this info

 

 

Important Meetings this week ...

The Pickens County Council will meet at the County Administration Building tonight at 6:30 PM . The Council is deciding on whether or not  to hold an advisory vote during the November elections - giving Tri-County Tech $6.5 to $6.7 million to build a new student Union building. 

This is against the law in my opinion (Article 11 Section 3 of the SC Constitution) - the state is responsible for funding this building if it is to be built. Since all of our over-collected funds are already obligated, in my opinion illegally reserved, for a new jail, this will mean a tax increase. Such a tax increase would also be illegal because the 8% for educational funding -,using general obligation bonds - is already used up by the School Board. 

Pickens County has already spent tens of millions to finance a career center that is Tri-County Tech's main mission, at a direct cost to Pickens County tax payers, but hidden in the Pickens County School Board's budget. 

Come and protest or have your taxes go up.

Tuesday Night, October 4, 2016, COTU will have a joint Meet the Candidates meeting with the Pickens County Tax Payers Association at 7 pm at the Water Department Building on Highway 178 just beyond Cannon Hospital coming out of Pickens (Bethlem-Roanoke Water District 4502 Moorefield Mem. Highway). 

Questions will be allowed from the floor. 

YOU ALL NEED TO COME AND HEAR WHAT ALL THESE REPUBLICANS SAY ABOUT WHAT THEY WILL DO WITH YOUR MONEY THE NEXT FEW YEARS.

Junius Smith

President Conservatives of the Upstate

The God Of Peace ...

 

Famous Quotes ...

 

Let's hear it from a "trusted source" ...