An Open Letter to the
Supreme Court of the United States
As an ordinary citizen of the United States I congratulate the members of the Court for serving this great country by taking up the burden and privilege of being the final arbiters of law for us all. It cannot be denied that each of you are distinguished not only in the field of law, but as worthy, honorable and notable scholars of American justice as well. I know that your days and nights must be filled to capacity with the labors of the court but I hope you will find some time to listen to an ordinary citizen about his and other’s honest concerns about the Supreme Court. For example, take the matter of what most people call “common sense”. I realize that when an expert labors exclusively in their field of endeavor, like being a Supreme Court Justice, a job related hazard common to all savants is the gradual, but inexorable, slide into an esoteric world where nuance is regularly raised to equal importance as the rudiments, or perhaps as an ordinary person would say, a loss of “common sense”. In this regard, take the matter of the US Constitution itself. Most ordinary citizens understand that when the Constitution was written, it was the several states that came together and granted, very grudgingly, certain enumerated powers, and only enumerated power, to a federal Government that was to be created. In other words, there was not yet in existence the Federal Government that very grudging granted enumerated power to the several states. Of course this salient is codified by the founders as Amendment X, to wit: The powers not delegated to the United States by the Constitution, not prohibited by it to the States, are reserved to the States respectively, or to the people. It would seem unnecessary to restate the obvious that the Federal Government serves at the pleasure of the States, i.e., The States do not serve at the pleasure of the Federal government. However, the tenth Amendment has been the most disregarded requirement in the constitution by the Supreme Court, and today, the reality is that the States are now, for all practical purposes, subservient to the Federal Government because of the rulings of the Supreme Court. Perhaps this lack of fidelity to the Constitution is a result of nuance, or at least, expediency (the most deadly sin of all), taking precedence over common sense. While we are on the subject of the Constitution, let’s also restate another obvious fact that most ordinary citizens understand but this fact may have become lost within today’s esoteric world of Constitutional law. The fact is that the Constitution of the United States is an “entrenched” Constitution and this fact along with the requirements of Amendments IX and X, make the argument concerning Strict Construction versus Loose Construction an invalid argument. I believe T. Jefferson supported Strict Construction by saying that if the entrenched Constitution does not grant a power or right, then it is unconstitutional for the legislature, court or anyone else to grant such an unremunerated power or right. I believe A. Hamilton supported the notion of Loose Construction that held if the Constitution did not specifically prohibit a power or right then any unremunerated power or right would be legal and constitutional. The later argument is patently absurd because a free people already enjoy all that they themselves say is not illegal by their Constitution and State, otherwise, they would not be a free people as the Constitution guarantees. This is so because if the Constitution doesn't specifically prohibit a power or right, then Government is free to enact any law they wish that would restrict the inherent right of freedom for the people. A Constitutional loss of individual freedom is exactly what is happening today under the doctrine of Loose Construction because the doctrine does not prohibit anything and this situation can be laid directly on the bench of the United States Supreme Court occupied by those misguided Justices who practice Loose Construction. The doctrine of Loose Construction may be misguided, but it is at least understandable. The practice of the Court to reach across any nuance to confer constitutionality upon a freedom usurping law not only defies common sense, it is not understandable. For example, Justices John Paul Stevens, Steven Breyer, Ruth Bader Ginsburg and David Souter recently dissented the majority decision of the D.C. gun ban. How these learned scholars could deny the unambiguous second Amendment is beyond understanding by the common man unless they purposely found some nuance derived justification for what they personally believed rather than what the Constitution says. Indeed the second Amendment is not really about the right of the people to keep and bear arms, it is about the right of free citizens to form and maintain a Militia. In order to have a Militia, free citizens must have their own arms, after all, that is exactly what the second Amendment says, doesn’t it? And don’t even go the nuance position that the National Guard is the people’s Militia, the National Guard is an arm of the standing United States Army and a standing Army is the very situation that the founding father’s were deathly afraid of. The right to form and maintain an armed Militia was thought to be the final line of defense against a freedom usurping Government and when you rule against the second Amendment you are tearing down the last line of defense for a free people. Other examples that perplex plain citizens like myself is the ongoing Court rulings that support a Loose Construction derived doctrine of separation of Church and State. Just where in the Constitution is the separation of Church and State codified? Indeed, I would hope that when the “cross in the desert” case comes before the court, the court would simply instruct the plaintiffs forthwith: Bring forth to this Court the law respecting an establishment of religion that Congress has made. I believe that the first Amendment is the only reference that the Constitution has made concerning the state and religion, that is, unless you disregard the repeated reference to God and stuff like that. The point of this open letter is that the Supreme Court of the United States is our next to last line of defense against a freedom usurping Government and that next to last line of defense appears to be crumbling before our very eyes as Loose Construction and the personal ideology of the Justice’s serving the court lay waste to our carefully constructed entrenched Constitution. I, and the Citizens of this great freedom loving country, beseech the august court to put politics and personal ideology aside in the greater purpose of service to the fidelity of the Constitution.
Saturday, October 24, 2009
Monday, October 19, 2009
Geezer Rant
Geezer Rant
How did it happen that manly men started replacing a hearty handshake with an embracing hug?
How did it happen that a proud free people began letting the Government completely run their lives?
How did it happen that shapely women are now kicking manly men’s butts in pop media?
How did it happen that even sailors blush when hearing mainstream movie dialog?
How did it happen that modern women have now become the sexual aggressor?
How did it happen that grade and high school students now feel free to cuss-out and physically threaten their teachers in the classroom?
How did it happen that it is now socially acceptable to scorn Christianity?
How did it happen that Governments and people are afraid to criticize Islam?
How did it happen that the New York Times changed from the paper of record to an ideology rag?
How did it happen that people who don’t want to work have now become respectable welfare recipients?
How did it happen that it is socially acceptable and celebrated to have children outside of marriage?
How did it happen that the great American stock exchange has become a casino?
How did it happen that Government now sponsor and encourage citizens to gamble?
How did it happen that the emotion of hate has now become a hideous crime?
How did it happen that labor unions now negotiate for lower wages and less benefits?
How did it happen that US Corporations became global Corporations?
How did it happen that personal heath care has now become a Government responsibility?
How did it happen that 47% of Americans pay no federal income tax?
How did it happen that a father is no longer required for anything except money?
How did it become impossible to buy American?
How did it happen that Government says there is no inflation when a loaf of bread has went from 19 cents to $1.50?
How did it happen that science became politicized?
How did it happen that the Holocaust can be denied?
How did it happen that the US Constitution has become a living document that now means what eggheads say it means in today’s world?
How did it happen that lawmakers make laws without reading or understanding the laws they are making?
How did it happen that it is impossible to live a free life without breaking laws and regulations that are without number?
How did it happen that responsible citizens keep on electing lying, cheating and corrupt politicians?
How did it happen?
How did it happen that manly men started replacing a hearty handshake with an embracing hug?
How did it happen that a proud free people began letting the Government completely run their lives?
How did it happen that shapely women are now kicking manly men’s butts in pop media?
How did it happen that even sailors blush when hearing mainstream movie dialog?
How did it happen that modern women have now become the sexual aggressor?
How did it happen that grade and high school students now feel free to cuss-out and physically threaten their teachers in the classroom?
How did it happen that it is now socially acceptable to scorn Christianity?
How did it happen that Governments and people are afraid to criticize Islam?
How did it happen that the New York Times changed from the paper of record to an ideology rag?
How did it happen that people who don’t want to work have now become respectable welfare recipients?
How did it happen that it is socially acceptable and celebrated to have children outside of marriage?
How did it happen that the great American stock exchange has become a casino?
How did it happen that Government now sponsor and encourage citizens to gamble?
How did it happen that the emotion of hate has now become a hideous crime?
How did it happen that labor unions now negotiate for lower wages and less benefits?
How did it happen that US Corporations became global Corporations?
How did it happen that personal heath care has now become a Government responsibility?
How did it happen that 47% of Americans pay no federal income tax?
How did it happen that a father is no longer required for anything except money?
How did it become impossible to buy American?
How did it happen that Government says there is no inflation when a loaf of bread has went from 19 cents to $1.50?
How did it happen that science became politicized?
How did it happen that the Holocaust can be denied?
How did it happen that the US Constitution has become a living document that now means what eggheads say it means in today’s world?
How did it happen that lawmakers make laws without reading or understanding the laws they are making?
How did it happen that it is impossible to live a free life without breaking laws and regulations that are without number?
How did it happen that responsible citizens keep on electing lying, cheating and corrupt politicians?
How did it happen?
Friday, October 16, 2009
CERN
CERN
I’m guessing that most readers of this have not had a great deal of interest in or knowledge of the Large Hadron Collider (LHC) at the European Organization for Nuclear Research (CERN). This massive facility is located on the border between Switzerland and France and will be the subject of a great deal of news in the coming months. The reason that this facility will be newsworthy is because of the experiments in nuclear research that is about to get underway. The experiment will be conducted with the Large Hadron Collider (LHC) which is a massive underground tunnel that houses a gigantic ring some 27 KM in circumference and containing some 9300 super conducting magnets with the whole thing cooled down to –192.2°C (-313.96°F) and evacuated to a vacuum better than outer space. Added to the scientific mix is a computer that can probably be qualified as the world’s largest and fastest with enough power to compute all of our federal income taxes in one fell swoop. And finally, some very special detectors that will be the center of attraction when the experiment finally gets underway after a false start a few months ago. What’s this all about? The multinational scientists and technicians will inject nuclear sub-particles called Hadrons and accelerate the particles around the ring until the particles reach a speed of over 99.999% the speed of light. But wait, there’s more. They will inject another batch of Hadrons into the ring, also going 99.999% of the speed of light, but heading in the opposite direction (one group of particles will be traveling in a clockwise direction and the other batch will be traveling in a counter clockwise direction at the same time). When every thing gets all revved up and everything is just right, they will cause to counter rotating beams of particles to collide head-on. If you had a smattering of science in your youth, you will realize that when things are accelerated they pick up momentum and when that momentum is suddenly halted, the momentum is converted into energy, and in this case, massive amounts of energy. Why are they doing this? They are trying to find all of the constituents of matter by banging them together with enough energy to cause all of the sub-particles to separate and go flying off. The separated particles will be detected and the scientists will study the flying chaos to determine how matter is made. The whole purpose of this experiment is meant to advance our understanding about the universe we live in. If this seems a bizarre way of trying to understand things, you are not alone. The banging together of particles in order to understand matter has been likened to banging two watches together and then studying the flying parts of the destroyed watches in order to understand time. I, along with many others, think these kinds of massive experiments misuse precious resources that could be better used elsewhere to further more practical findings. After all, a single man sitting alone with only a pencil and a pad of paper on his lap, provided most of the insight and knowledge we have today about the universe we live in. That single man was Albert Einstein. Einstein used his logic, reason and power of observation to make all of his discoveries and those discoveries and insights have never been disproved or improved upon. Oh, by the way, Einstein did it all without the necessity of a massive Large Hadron Collider. But wait, there is even more. There are some knowledgeable people who are concerned about colliding two counter-rotating beams of particles together with a relative speed nearly two times the speed of light. They are concerned that when that happens, a black hole will be created, and in an instant, the earth will be swallowed up and no more Monday night football with a cold brewski for any of us. Surly God will not be happy about this.
I’m guessing that most readers of this have not had a great deal of interest in or knowledge of the Large Hadron Collider (LHC) at the European Organization for Nuclear Research (CERN). This massive facility is located on the border between Switzerland and France and will be the subject of a great deal of news in the coming months. The reason that this facility will be newsworthy is because of the experiments in nuclear research that is about to get underway. The experiment will be conducted with the Large Hadron Collider (LHC) which is a massive underground tunnel that houses a gigantic ring some 27 KM in circumference and containing some 9300 super conducting magnets with the whole thing cooled down to –192.2°C (-313.96°F) and evacuated to a vacuum better than outer space. Added to the scientific mix is a computer that can probably be qualified as the world’s largest and fastest with enough power to compute all of our federal income taxes in one fell swoop. And finally, some very special detectors that will be the center of attraction when the experiment finally gets underway after a false start a few months ago. What’s this all about? The multinational scientists and technicians will inject nuclear sub-particles called Hadrons and accelerate the particles around the ring until the particles reach a speed of over 99.999% the speed of light. But wait, there’s more. They will inject another batch of Hadrons into the ring, also going 99.999% of the speed of light, but heading in the opposite direction (one group of particles will be traveling in a clockwise direction and the other batch will be traveling in a counter clockwise direction at the same time). When every thing gets all revved up and everything is just right, they will cause to counter rotating beams of particles to collide head-on. If you had a smattering of science in your youth, you will realize that when things are accelerated they pick up momentum and when that momentum is suddenly halted, the momentum is converted into energy, and in this case, massive amounts of energy. Why are they doing this? They are trying to find all of the constituents of matter by banging them together with enough energy to cause all of the sub-particles to separate and go flying off. The separated particles will be detected and the scientists will study the flying chaos to determine how matter is made. The whole purpose of this experiment is meant to advance our understanding about the universe we live in. If this seems a bizarre way of trying to understand things, you are not alone. The banging together of particles in order to understand matter has been likened to banging two watches together and then studying the flying parts of the destroyed watches in order to understand time. I, along with many others, think these kinds of massive experiments misuse precious resources that could be better used elsewhere to further more practical findings. After all, a single man sitting alone with only a pencil and a pad of paper on his lap, provided most of the insight and knowledge we have today about the universe we live in. That single man was Albert Einstein. Einstein used his logic, reason and power of observation to make all of his discoveries and those discoveries and insights have never been disproved or improved upon. Oh, by the way, Einstein did it all without the necessity of a massive Large Hadron Collider. But wait, there is even more. There are some knowledgeable people who are concerned about colliding two counter-rotating beams of particles together with a relative speed nearly two times the speed of light. They are concerned that when that happens, a black hole will be created, and in an instant, the earth will be swallowed up and no more Monday night football with a cold brewski for any of us. Surly God will not be happy about this.
Thursday, October 15, 2009
World Federalist Movement
World Federalist Movement
(or how I learned to stop worrying and love the (Convergence) Bomb)
The World Federalist Movement, American Movement for World Government, Citizens for Global Solutions, Democratic World Federalists, One World Trust, The United Nations and other like organizations only feed the conspiracy minded that there is a vast and loosely organized intellectual Cabal out there that is leading and pushing the world’s struggling masses towards a utopian One World Government. Conspiracy or not, there is little doubt that an acceleration towards a One world altruistic (ethical) community is occurring within the world body politic and this new one world community will seek to end, for all times, the collection of self-centered (rational) nations that are now free to go about their own ways at the expense of all others and the planet. The race towards One World Government may not be obvious to all of us at this point in time, but I’ll wager we all instinctually feel that something very big is happening to our country and culture even if we don’t yet understand what is happening or why it is happening. I believe the unknown thing that is happening that feels so big nowadays is that the international intellectual community now believes that a rare confluence of events has occurred that will enable the dream of a One World Government to become reality and so a lot of seemingly unconnected things are being pursued in the furtherance of One world Governance. A theory that has been out there for a very long time now is that divergent political thought, like Communism and Capitalism, will eventually converge into a single socialistic movement, and when this happens, it will pave the way for One World Government. This event of convergence is now happening. Other of the more importance events that has happened, and has made the international intellectual community so giddy and hopeful, is that the United States has finally elected a progressive leader who also embraces the One World notion which means the timing is now perfect for acceptance of a One World Government by the rest of the world at large. The timing is now perfect because the world community, including the United States, has been conditioned by the mass media, academia and science that the human race has finally outgrown its regressive tribal instincts and is now ready for the enlightened notion of a single human family all living in peace and harmony under one World Government: Kumbaya, y’all. You know; Save the Planet, the United States uses an inappropriate amount of the world’s resources, it takes a village to raise a child, only the entire world can stop global warming and save the planet, immigration is a human right, it’s Government’s responsibility to ensure no one goes hungry, it’s Government’s responsibility to ensure all have the same health care, the Planet’s resources belong to all of the people, etc. Of course these words sound familiar because these, and other such rhetoric, are part and parcel of the progressive indoctrination, or education if you prefer, that has been going on for sometime now and is supported by the mass media, intellectual community, Academic and Scientific communities, and others that generally support a movement towards an altruistic world government. The timing is perfect because, of all things, the United States has even elected a black President who supports the One World Government movement. To really understand what is happening, we should visit why the One World Government movement began in the first place. The One World Government movement really got going as a result of World War I & II, which resulted in the very real and commendable desire to find a way to prevent such human catastrophes from ever happening again because science and the resulting technology will increasingly make it possible to destroy us all if unlimited war between nations continues unabated. No thinking individual could possibly be for unlimited war and destruction of all of mankind, could we? The problem is that there is no proof that One World Government is the way to prevent world war and strife by raising all of mankind up to a common and sustainable level of existence and governance. Indeed, civil wars still happen today in the modern world and neighbor still kills neighbor even though democratic governments strive to make all equal under the law by promoting and embracing an enlightened progressive philosophy. Certainly One World Government is the ultimate social course to pursue but only if the human family is ready for it. Regrettably, I believe it is far to early in our social development to even consider such a thing. Why, you ask? Even though we humans are the sentient life on this beautiful blue planet, we are, nevertheless, still only just one of the animal species that lives here. I know we all believe that we are well beyond mere animal existence, but like it or not, we all still have the antecedent animal instincts still encoded within our DNA (that is, if you believe in Evolution) and we behave the way we do because we are hard-wired by evolution to do so, i.e., we will always be burdened by our primitive animal past. By the way, isn’t it paradoxical that those who believe life accidentally sprang from an inert soup of materials which then allowed evolution to propelled us humans to where we are today, developmental wise, but yet question that our behavior is still governed by our antecedent animal ancestors as well as our evolution derived superior cognitive brains. What’s that you say? You don’t believe we are governed by our primitive past? Oh really. Was that you that ate that nice juicy steak? You are an animal that eats other animals just as big fish eats smaller fish. And don’t hide behind “Well, I’m a vegetarian and I would never eat animal flesh”. Plant life is life just like animal life with the exact same life giving DNA, and the fact is, life must consume life in order to live (at this point in our development, that is) and is just one aspect of our primitive past that we all must live with. I recommend that you read the book “THE MIND OF THE MARKET”, by Michael Shermer, to investigate this line of reasoning further because you will be surprised to learn such things as “fairness” was derived from our hunter-gathering past when those who did not contribute to the clans existence were shunned. This understanding of how we developed a sense of “fairness” goes a long way in explaining why we get so upset today with welfare programs and the like. So, as much as we all would dearly love to live in peace and harmony as one happy human family, we simply have not progressed far enough from our primitive animal past to do so. Personal freedom enabled by democracy and free markets within our respective cloistered nations is still the best possible choice until we all have raised ourselves to the same level of existence and governance. Whenever that happens, we should finally then be really ready for one world Government as a human family. Unfortunately until that time, it is probably true that those who are now clamoring for One World Government are doing so because of the desire for unlimited power. I don’t think you could ask for better proof that our primitive past is still governing our behavior in today’s supposed enlightened environment than the primordial yearning for power over your fellow man. God help us all.
(or how I learned to stop worrying and love the (Convergence) Bomb)
The World Federalist Movement, American Movement for World Government, Citizens for Global Solutions, Democratic World Federalists, One World Trust, The United Nations and other like organizations only feed the conspiracy minded that there is a vast and loosely organized intellectual Cabal out there that is leading and pushing the world’s struggling masses towards a utopian One World Government. Conspiracy or not, there is little doubt that an acceleration towards a One world altruistic (ethical) community is occurring within the world body politic and this new one world community will seek to end, for all times, the collection of self-centered (rational) nations that are now free to go about their own ways at the expense of all others and the planet. The race towards One World Government may not be obvious to all of us at this point in time, but I’ll wager we all instinctually feel that something very big is happening to our country and culture even if we don’t yet understand what is happening or why it is happening. I believe the unknown thing that is happening that feels so big nowadays is that the international intellectual community now believes that a rare confluence of events has occurred that will enable the dream of a One World Government to become reality and so a lot of seemingly unconnected things are being pursued in the furtherance of One world Governance. A theory that has been out there for a very long time now is that divergent political thought, like Communism and Capitalism, will eventually converge into a single socialistic movement, and when this happens, it will pave the way for One World Government. This event of convergence is now happening. Other of the more importance events that has happened, and has made the international intellectual community so giddy and hopeful, is that the United States has finally elected a progressive leader who also embraces the One World notion which means the timing is now perfect for acceptance of a One World Government by the rest of the world at large. The timing is now perfect because the world community, including the United States, has been conditioned by the mass media, academia and science that the human race has finally outgrown its regressive tribal instincts and is now ready for the enlightened notion of a single human family all living in peace and harmony under one World Government: Kumbaya, y’all. You know; Save the Planet, the United States uses an inappropriate amount of the world’s resources, it takes a village to raise a child, only the entire world can stop global warming and save the planet, immigration is a human right, it’s Government’s responsibility to ensure no one goes hungry, it’s Government’s responsibility to ensure all have the same health care, the Planet’s resources belong to all of the people, etc. Of course these words sound familiar because these, and other such rhetoric, are part and parcel of the progressive indoctrination, or education if you prefer, that has been going on for sometime now and is supported by the mass media, intellectual community, Academic and Scientific communities, and others that generally support a movement towards an altruistic world government. The timing is perfect because, of all things, the United States has even elected a black President who supports the One World Government movement. To really understand what is happening, we should visit why the One World Government movement began in the first place. The One World Government movement really got going as a result of World War I & II, which resulted in the very real and commendable desire to find a way to prevent such human catastrophes from ever happening again because science and the resulting technology will increasingly make it possible to destroy us all if unlimited war between nations continues unabated. No thinking individual could possibly be for unlimited war and destruction of all of mankind, could we? The problem is that there is no proof that One World Government is the way to prevent world war and strife by raising all of mankind up to a common and sustainable level of existence and governance. Indeed, civil wars still happen today in the modern world and neighbor still kills neighbor even though democratic governments strive to make all equal under the law by promoting and embracing an enlightened progressive philosophy. Certainly One World Government is the ultimate social course to pursue but only if the human family is ready for it. Regrettably, I believe it is far to early in our social development to even consider such a thing. Why, you ask? Even though we humans are the sentient life on this beautiful blue planet, we are, nevertheless, still only just one of the animal species that lives here. I know we all believe that we are well beyond mere animal existence, but like it or not, we all still have the antecedent animal instincts still encoded within our DNA (that is, if you believe in Evolution) and we behave the way we do because we are hard-wired by evolution to do so, i.e., we will always be burdened by our primitive animal past. By the way, isn’t it paradoxical that those who believe life accidentally sprang from an inert soup of materials which then allowed evolution to propelled us humans to where we are today, developmental wise, but yet question that our behavior is still governed by our antecedent animal ancestors as well as our evolution derived superior cognitive brains. What’s that you say? You don’t believe we are governed by our primitive past? Oh really. Was that you that ate that nice juicy steak? You are an animal that eats other animals just as big fish eats smaller fish. And don’t hide behind “Well, I’m a vegetarian and I would never eat animal flesh”. Plant life is life just like animal life with the exact same life giving DNA, and the fact is, life must consume life in order to live (at this point in our development, that is) and is just one aspect of our primitive past that we all must live with. I recommend that you read the book “THE MIND OF THE MARKET”, by Michael Shermer, to investigate this line of reasoning further because you will be surprised to learn such things as “fairness” was derived from our hunter-gathering past when those who did not contribute to the clans existence were shunned. This understanding of how we developed a sense of “fairness” goes a long way in explaining why we get so upset today with welfare programs and the like. So, as much as we all would dearly love to live in peace and harmony as one happy human family, we simply have not progressed far enough from our primitive animal past to do so. Personal freedom enabled by democracy and free markets within our respective cloistered nations is still the best possible choice until we all have raised ourselves to the same level of existence and governance. Whenever that happens, we should finally then be really ready for one world Government as a human family. Unfortunately until that time, it is probably true that those who are now clamoring for One World Government are doing so because of the desire for unlimited power. I don’t think you could ask for better proof that our primitive past is still governing our behavior in today’s supposed enlightened environment than the primordial yearning for power over your fellow man. God help us all.
Saturday, September 19, 2009
SAVANTS INSULAR
Savants Insular
I read Paul Krugman’s “How Did Economists Get It So Wrong?” in the 2 September New York Times Magazine in which the Nobel Prize winner in Economic Science tried his best to bring us up-to-date on the latest battles within the ongoing Macroeconomics intellectual wars. I will bet the entire sum of the $787 Billion “Stimulus” that just the mention of Macroeconomics was enough to cause you to quickly look over what’s on TV tonight. Mr. Krugman’s riveting account of how our Economic Savants, who are in charge of the economy nowadays, mussed up nearly everything concerning the current financial crisis and his dissertation about this situation should be cause enough for citizens to once again examine the wisdom of permitting Insular Savants (the inward-looking community of Profoundly Trained Experts) to be at the helm of our economic or any other state ship for that matter. As I tried my best to understand all of the esoteric economic babble that was being sprayed about in Mr. Krugman’s piece, an old saw surfaced from my memory, to wit: War is too important to be left to the Generals. I believe the saying about war and the Generals came to mind because I saw a corollary between the practice of war and the practice of economics where the practice of war employs insular military Generals to guide and direct the combat and the practice of Economics employs Insular Economists to guide and direct the financial system. The reason that Generals and Economists are insular is because, by necessity, both profoundly practice their professions exclusively within their respective professional communities and this situation promotes an intellectual isolation (insular) that makes it very difficult for them to consider the entirety of the state when practicing their respective professions. So, I believe that it is just as profound to say, “The economy is too important to be left to the Economists.” I say this because the practice of war and a practice of economics can both be summed up very nicely by what Sun Tzu said about war well over 2,000 years ago, to wit: “War is a matter of vital importance to the state; the province of life or death; the road to survival or ruin.” Or, in other words, war, and/or the economy, both affect the entirety of the state in much the same way so the entirety of the state must either support the morality and justness of the two enterprises or failure and ruin will be the inevitable result. In the case of the economy, if the Economists are at the helm of the economy, it’s unlikely that the entirety of the state will be considered in their practice of economics and there is little doubt, that at some point in time, events will overwhelm the knowledge available and ruin will follow as surely as day follows night, to wit: War and the Economy is too important to be left to the Generals and Economists. A case in point about Economists and the Economy is that throughout the entirety of Mr. Krugman’s dissertation about the failure of the Economists to get it right, not one mention was ever made concerning money. This omission is both important and revealing because money is to the economy as electricity is to an electric motor, i.e., if you are to understand and design a predictable and workable motor you need to fully understand electricity and if you are to understand and design a predictable and workable economy you need to fully understand money. Money, that invention in antiquity to facilitate commerce (not to facilitate politics), is suppose to be a medium of exchange that represents real value, like property or labor. Money is the raw material of the Economy just like is electricity is the raw material that makes the electric motor work. Here is an example about the importance of understanding money. The Financial Services industry accounts for over 21% of our economy. The product of Financial Services is new money that adds no value to real money, in short, they only make money off of money and produce nothing of real value. This created money can only devalue real money, and thus release an infinite number of human responses into the economy. Today’s Economist’s are now trying to codify these infinite number of human responses into a workable economic theory by injecting a continuing load of psychobabble about human responses to changing economic conditions. This is the height of foolishness because without an understanding or control over the value of money (e.g., letting the Financial Services Industry continue to create financial derivatives, leveraging, claims on claims, etc., and thereby create and inject worthless money into the economic system) you have no control over the most important element within the Economy (the human response). In other words, you have a non-controllable and continuously variable element (human responses) that you yourself are creating by your lack of understanding and control of the most important element of all, the value of MONEY. Good luck with that. To read Mr. Krugman’s article for yourself, click the following: http://www.nytimes.com/2009/09/06/magazine/06Economic-t.html?_r=1&scp=5&sq=paul%20krugman&st=cse
I read Paul Krugman’s “How Did Economists Get It So Wrong?” in the 2 September New York Times Magazine in which the Nobel Prize winner in Economic Science tried his best to bring us up-to-date on the latest battles within the ongoing Macroeconomics intellectual wars. I will bet the entire sum of the $787 Billion “Stimulus” that just the mention of Macroeconomics was enough to cause you to quickly look over what’s on TV tonight. Mr. Krugman’s riveting account of how our Economic Savants, who are in charge of the economy nowadays, mussed up nearly everything concerning the current financial crisis and his dissertation about this situation should be cause enough for citizens to once again examine the wisdom of permitting Insular Savants (the inward-looking community of Profoundly Trained Experts) to be at the helm of our economic or any other state ship for that matter. As I tried my best to understand all of the esoteric economic babble that was being sprayed about in Mr. Krugman’s piece, an old saw surfaced from my memory, to wit: War is too important to be left to the Generals. I believe the saying about war and the Generals came to mind because I saw a corollary between the practice of war and the practice of economics where the practice of war employs insular military Generals to guide and direct the combat and the practice of Economics employs Insular Economists to guide and direct the financial system. The reason that Generals and Economists are insular is because, by necessity, both profoundly practice their professions exclusively within their respective professional communities and this situation promotes an intellectual isolation (insular) that makes it very difficult for them to consider the entirety of the state when practicing their respective professions. So, I believe that it is just as profound to say, “The economy is too important to be left to the Economists.” I say this because the practice of war and a practice of economics can both be summed up very nicely by what Sun Tzu said about war well over 2,000 years ago, to wit: “War is a matter of vital importance to the state; the province of life or death; the road to survival or ruin.” Or, in other words, war, and/or the economy, both affect the entirety of the state in much the same way so the entirety of the state must either support the morality and justness of the two enterprises or failure and ruin will be the inevitable result. In the case of the economy, if the Economists are at the helm of the economy, it’s unlikely that the entirety of the state will be considered in their practice of economics and there is little doubt, that at some point in time, events will overwhelm the knowledge available and ruin will follow as surely as day follows night, to wit: War and the Economy is too important to be left to the Generals and Economists. A case in point about Economists and the Economy is that throughout the entirety of Mr. Krugman’s dissertation about the failure of the Economists to get it right, not one mention was ever made concerning money. This omission is both important and revealing because money is to the economy as electricity is to an electric motor, i.e., if you are to understand and design a predictable and workable motor you need to fully understand electricity and if you are to understand and design a predictable and workable economy you need to fully understand money. Money, that invention in antiquity to facilitate commerce (not to facilitate politics), is suppose to be a medium of exchange that represents real value, like property or labor. Money is the raw material of the Economy just like is electricity is the raw material that makes the electric motor work. Here is an example about the importance of understanding money. The Financial Services industry accounts for over 21% of our economy. The product of Financial Services is new money that adds no value to real money, in short, they only make money off of money and produce nothing of real value. This created money can only devalue real money, and thus release an infinite number of human responses into the economy. Today’s Economist’s are now trying to codify these infinite number of human responses into a workable economic theory by injecting a continuing load of psychobabble about human responses to changing economic conditions. This is the height of foolishness because without an understanding or control over the value of money (e.g., letting the Financial Services Industry continue to create financial derivatives, leveraging, claims on claims, etc., and thereby create and inject worthless money into the economic system) you have no control over the most important element within the Economy (the human response). In other words, you have a non-controllable and continuously variable element (human responses) that you yourself are creating by your lack of understanding and control of the most important element of all, the value of MONEY. Good luck with that. To read Mr. Krugman’s article for yourself, click the following: http://www.nytimes.com/2009/09/06/magazine/06Economic-t.html?_r=1&scp=5&sq=paul%20krugman&st=cse
Friday, September 4, 2009
SCARE du jour, Inc.
Scare du jour, Inc.
(Global Warming, Global Ice Age, Pollution, Nuclear Anything, Frankenfood, Dying Seas, Overpopulation, Violent Weather, Asteroid Mass Extinction, etc.)
Scare du jour, Inc. is not an individual but a loosely organized scare industry ably aided and abetted by the ideologues and moneygrubbers in the fourth estate. This industry makes money or promotes causes by scaring the crap out of people with an endless stream of scientific babble to support apocalyptic suppositions of calamity that is about to befall us all of one sort or another. The scientific babble is usually supported by enough of the ideologues and moneygrubbers within the scientific community that it seems like the entire scientific community is supporting the scare du jour by lending a measure of scientific credibility to the issue. The best example in this regard is the case made by that scientific giant and inventor of the Internet, Al Gore, in his explaining how Global Warming will destroy us all (Oh, by the way, Al Gore is chairman and co-founder of Generation Investment Management, a London-based business that sells CARBON CREDITS for profit, of course). Scare du jour, Inc. uses scare as an operational imperative in order to stampede public opinion into a desired awareness that will greatly aid in the eventual selling of a commercial or Governmental solution to the impending stated calamity. For example, in the case of Global Warming, Cap and Trade is the desired solution not only for Global Warming, but for many unrelated reasons as well. The scare industry, and it’s practitioners, have now gone scientific by designing “Choice Architectures” as a way of guiding decisions after scaring the people into an awareness of the chosen impending calamity. The Proletariat (that would be me and most others) will be amazed to discover that designing “Choice Architectures” is one of the ways that the Intelligentsia practices the discipline of “Heresthetics”. What’s that you say? What is Heresthetics? Heresthetics is the framing of a debate or issue so that one is always on the superior or winning side, or by saying it in another way, having one’s choices better received by others. Or better still, structuring the world so that you can always win. Doesn’t the above definitions give you a really good warm and fuzzy feeling? Perhaps you might even get an apprehensive feeling that you are being “nudged” to make a decision based solely on the merits of a “Choice Architecture” that has been presented by the Intelligentsia rather than subjectively examining the relevant facts and deciding the facts, as presented, don’t address your personal concerns on the matter. This is exactly what has happened in the current debate on Universal Health Care after regular people finally began to examine the details of the proposed new law. The people are now beginning to understand that the Universal Health Care program would be, in reality, a means for the Government to gain unprecedented power to implement social policy that would not be otherwise supported by a free people (that would be us). In other words, Universal Health Care is a “Trojan Horse” created (for the good of all, of course) to hide the real purpose of the Government and that is to gain unprecedented power to implement otherwise unacceptable social policy. The employment of “Trojan Horses” as an operational means to govern a free people is a despicable subterfuge and has no place in our or any other human society for that matter. All in all, it is always wise to become suspicious about other peoples motives when you discover that a “Choice Architecture” has been employed that will logically lead you to make a decision that might not be in your and your family’s best interest. In that regard, as the current Universal Health Care debate has illustrated, your and other Governments have now joined the scare industry as a fortuitous way to create “Trojan Horses” that can create consensus on a scare issue that can promote a popular decision that in turn can enable hidden social or economic policy to be implemented that otherwise might not be supported by the general population (that would be us Proletariat again). For example: Global Warming is the Trojan Horse, and Cap and Trade is the hidden agenda to gain power through taxation, regulation, fines and law to gain complete control over the economy in order to affect an unacceptable social policy. You can also make the same case that the “Broken Health Care System” is the Trojan Horse and Universal Health Care is the Government solution that will enable the hidden socialist agenda that will further Government’s Power to control. The financial crisis and immigration are also Trojan Horses and there will be others in the future as opportunities present themselves. After all, did not the White House Chief of Staff announce in a fit of arrogance “You never want a serious crisis go to waste”. If all of this sounds like something right out Orwell’s 1984, I’m afraid you are correct.
Note: The best ever and most definitive info yet on Global Warming: http://www.geocraft.com/WVFossils/ice_ages.html
(Global Warming, Global Ice Age, Pollution, Nuclear Anything, Frankenfood, Dying Seas, Overpopulation, Violent Weather, Asteroid Mass Extinction, etc.)
Scare du jour, Inc. is not an individual but a loosely organized scare industry ably aided and abetted by the ideologues and moneygrubbers in the fourth estate. This industry makes money or promotes causes by scaring the crap out of people with an endless stream of scientific babble to support apocalyptic suppositions of calamity that is about to befall us all of one sort or another. The scientific babble is usually supported by enough of the ideologues and moneygrubbers within the scientific community that it seems like the entire scientific community is supporting the scare du jour by lending a measure of scientific credibility to the issue. The best example in this regard is the case made by that scientific giant and inventor of the Internet, Al Gore, in his explaining how Global Warming will destroy us all (Oh, by the way, Al Gore is chairman and co-founder of Generation Investment Management, a London-based business that sells CARBON CREDITS for profit, of course). Scare du jour, Inc. uses scare as an operational imperative in order to stampede public opinion into a desired awareness that will greatly aid in the eventual selling of a commercial or Governmental solution to the impending stated calamity. For example, in the case of Global Warming, Cap and Trade is the desired solution not only for Global Warming, but for many unrelated reasons as well. The scare industry, and it’s practitioners, have now gone scientific by designing “Choice Architectures” as a way of guiding decisions after scaring the people into an awareness of the chosen impending calamity. The Proletariat (that would be me and most others) will be amazed to discover that designing “Choice Architectures” is one of the ways that the Intelligentsia practices the discipline of “Heresthetics”. What’s that you say? What is Heresthetics? Heresthetics is the framing of a debate or issue so that one is always on the superior or winning side, or by saying it in another way, having one’s choices better received by others. Or better still, structuring the world so that you can always win. Doesn’t the above definitions give you a really good warm and fuzzy feeling? Perhaps you might even get an apprehensive feeling that you are being “nudged” to make a decision based solely on the merits of a “Choice Architecture” that has been presented by the Intelligentsia rather than subjectively examining the relevant facts and deciding the facts, as presented, don’t address your personal concerns on the matter. This is exactly what has happened in the current debate on Universal Health Care after regular people finally began to examine the details of the proposed new law. The people are now beginning to understand that the Universal Health Care program would be, in reality, a means for the Government to gain unprecedented power to implement social policy that would not be otherwise supported by a free people (that would be us). In other words, Universal Health Care is a “Trojan Horse” created (for the good of all, of course) to hide the real purpose of the Government and that is to gain unprecedented power to implement otherwise unacceptable social policy. The employment of “Trojan Horses” as an operational means to govern a free people is a despicable subterfuge and has no place in our or any other human society for that matter. All in all, it is always wise to become suspicious about other peoples motives when you discover that a “Choice Architecture” has been employed that will logically lead you to make a decision that might not be in your and your family’s best interest. In that regard, as the current Universal Health Care debate has illustrated, your and other Governments have now joined the scare industry as a fortuitous way to create “Trojan Horses” that can create consensus on a scare issue that can promote a popular decision that in turn can enable hidden social or economic policy to be implemented that otherwise might not be supported by the general population (that would be us Proletariat again). For example: Global Warming is the Trojan Horse, and Cap and Trade is the hidden agenda to gain power through taxation, regulation, fines and law to gain complete control over the economy in order to affect an unacceptable social policy. You can also make the same case that the “Broken Health Care System” is the Trojan Horse and Universal Health Care is the Government solution that will enable the hidden socialist agenda that will further Government’s Power to control. The financial crisis and immigration are also Trojan Horses and there will be others in the future as opportunities present themselves. After all, did not the White House Chief of Staff announce in a fit of arrogance “You never want a serious crisis go to waste”. If all of this sounds like something right out Orwell’s 1984, I’m afraid you are correct.
Note: The best ever and most definitive info yet on Global Warming: http://www.geocraft.com/WVFossils/ice_ages.html
Wednesday, September 2, 2009
Science, Science
Science, Science
(The Science Cheer)
Gimme a S…Gimme a C…Gimme a I…Gimme a E…Gimme a N…Gimme a C…Gimme a E…What does it spell?
Science, Science,
You’re OK,
Bring us a better life,
With each passing day.
When was it agreed to and decreed that only science can be the judge of fact and truth? How did that happen? How has science become the final say on subjects when science almost always gets it wrong on the way to getting it right? After all, making mistakes is one of the most important parts of the scientific method because mistakes and human misjudgments are the only way of discovering the final truth. By the way, it is virtually impossible to arrive at the “final” truth anyway because the final truth is like beauty, that is, it’s in the eye of the beholder notwithstanding the fact everything in this universe is constantly changing so such a thing as the “final truth” is probably not unobtainable in any event. This is true because the human mind is indeed a wonderful thinking machine but having complete knowledge of all things in order to discover the “final truth” is well beyond human cognition capabilities at this point in our development, even if it were possible. Of course, this means we must get it wrong before we can finally get it right, or as someone once said, “To error is Human.” So at what point should people believe that scientific method has ground out enough of the truth on the matter to be useful? When advocacy groups or Government quotes “Science” as having unequivocal knowledge about a certain matter, e.g., Global Warming, how do people know that enough truth has been arrived at by science to allow society to act in a responsible and knowledgeable manner? There are a number of problems facing society in this regard. First, science is a discipline, not an organization, and so there can never be unanimity on a subject regardless of the amount of time and effort spent to discover the truth. Further, because science is a discipline, no one speaks for all of science on a matter, but anyone or any organization can use or misuse scientific findings as they see fit without consequence to the discipline of science. Most important in this regard is the dark side of knowledge (see my piece, “The Dark Side of Knowledge”), e.g., making an atomic or hydrogen bomb from knowledge of E=MC2, practicing eugenics from knowledge of evolution, etc. Second, science is better at describing things while not truly understanding things, and if you don’t truly understand things, how can you know the full truth. For example, Maxwell’s equations fully describe electromagnetic fields to such an extent that engineers can use the equations to design many modern things such as electric motors, Radio, and on and on, but no one completely understands why there are propagating electric and magnetic waves associated with the spinning particles of matter. Third, science has always been susceptible to political manipulation and control. The classic example being, of course, the conviction of Galileo for heresy because of his scientific founded views. The modern politicization of science has now reached such a level that the discipline is rapidly losing credibility as a force for finding the truth. The politicization is occurring within the scientific community itself because of ideology beliefs held by the scientists and sponsors of scientific research. Published findings of research are often manipulated nowadays to be more compliant with the political views or competitive objectives of sponsors, be they government entity or commercial enterprise. The politicization of science colors research and subsequent findings with a desired political or competitive requirement rather than objective absolute scientific truth. These and other problems with the scientific community, makes the use of modern scientific research for Governmental policy justification and commercial enterprise suspect, at the very least. Now don’t get me wrong, I’m a great believer in the scientific method of investigation because, in the course of time, science usually gets it correct. Science eventually gets it right mainly because of the peer review that has a vested interest due to good old fashioned human competition. But alas, there is also a growing problem with peer review because in today’s confrontational environment even peer review is being perverted by political groupthink and monetary objectives. The scientific community should be soundly reprimanded for squandering it’s hard earned credibility upon the alters of ideology and money and letting society to fend for itself in trying to decide the truth in scientific matters.
(The Science Cheer)
Gimme a S…Gimme a C…Gimme a I…Gimme a E…Gimme a N…Gimme a C…Gimme a E…What does it spell?
Science, Science,
You’re OK,
Bring us a better life,
With each passing day.
When was it agreed to and decreed that only science can be the judge of fact and truth? How did that happen? How has science become the final say on subjects when science almost always gets it wrong on the way to getting it right? After all, making mistakes is one of the most important parts of the scientific method because mistakes and human misjudgments are the only way of discovering the final truth. By the way, it is virtually impossible to arrive at the “final” truth anyway because the final truth is like beauty, that is, it’s in the eye of the beholder notwithstanding the fact everything in this universe is constantly changing so such a thing as the “final truth” is probably not unobtainable in any event. This is true because the human mind is indeed a wonderful thinking machine but having complete knowledge of all things in order to discover the “final truth” is well beyond human cognition capabilities at this point in our development, even if it were possible. Of course, this means we must get it wrong before we can finally get it right, or as someone once said, “To error is Human.” So at what point should people believe that scientific method has ground out enough of the truth on the matter to be useful? When advocacy groups or Government quotes “Science” as having unequivocal knowledge about a certain matter, e.g., Global Warming, how do people know that enough truth has been arrived at by science to allow society to act in a responsible and knowledgeable manner? There are a number of problems facing society in this regard. First, science is a discipline, not an organization, and so there can never be unanimity on a subject regardless of the amount of time and effort spent to discover the truth. Further, because science is a discipline, no one speaks for all of science on a matter, but anyone or any organization can use or misuse scientific findings as they see fit without consequence to the discipline of science. Most important in this regard is the dark side of knowledge (see my piece, “The Dark Side of Knowledge”), e.g., making an atomic or hydrogen bomb from knowledge of E=MC2, practicing eugenics from knowledge of evolution, etc. Second, science is better at describing things while not truly understanding things, and if you don’t truly understand things, how can you know the full truth. For example, Maxwell’s equations fully describe electromagnetic fields to such an extent that engineers can use the equations to design many modern things such as electric motors, Radio, and on and on, but no one completely understands why there are propagating electric and magnetic waves associated with the spinning particles of matter. Third, science has always been susceptible to political manipulation and control. The classic example being, of course, the conviction of Galileo for heresy because of his scientific founded views. The modern politicization of science has now reached such a level that the discipline is rapidly losing credibility as a force for finding the truth. The politicization is occurring within the scientific community itself because of ideology beliefs held by the scientists and sponsors of scientific research. Published findings of research are often manipulated nowadays to be more compliant with the political views or competitive objectives of sponsors, be they government entity or commercial enterprise. The politicization of science colors research and subsequent findings with a desired political or competitive requirement rather than objective absolute scientific truth. These and other problems with the scientific community, makes the use of modern scientific research for Governmental policy justification and commercial enterprise suspect, at the very least. Now don’t get me wrong, I’m a great believer in the scientific method of investigation because, in the course of time, science usually gets it correct. Science eventually gets it right mainly because of the peer review that has a vested interest due to good old fashioned human competition. But alas, there is also a growing problem with peer review because in today’s confrontational environment even peer review is being perverted by political groupthink and monetary objectives. The scientific community should be soundly reprimanded for squandering it’s hard earned credibility upon the alters of ideology and money and letting society to fend for itself in trying to decide the truth in scientific matters.
Tuesday, August 25, 2009
See Hear Now!
See Hear Now!
A Child wants what he can see.
(Russian Proverb)
The above Russian Proverb may provoke a knowing smile from most of us because, of course, it’s true. Rather than trying to deconstruct the Russian Proverb with a bunch of child psychobabble, suffice to say, the truth of the Proverb is that children lack the wisdom of experience to judge whether or not what is set before their eyes is in their best interest to have. My Grandmother instructed me long ago about the same general subject but in a different manner, to wit: The difference between an adult and a kid is that an adult can walk down the street with $20.00 in his pocket and return home with the $20.00 still secure for another day while a kid will spend the $20.00 at the first opportunity. Ah yes, the eternal wisdom of Grandmothers. I think an adjunct that is equally true can be added to the Russian Proverb and it goes like this: A child believes what he can hear. Of course, you deep thinkers will immediately understand that the Russians who quoted the Proverb over and over to their fellow Russians were not really commenting on children’s lack of wisdom, they were making a judgment about the dumb adults who still behave as children. The latest manufactured “crisis”, The Broken Private Run Health Care System, is the very reason that the Russian Proverb comes to mind because the Government takeover of health care is being promoted as yet another entitlement of the people and this new entitlement is a created vision that has been set before our naive eyes that induces childlike want. When we talk about entitlements, it is vital that we all understand, once and for all, that the Government has no money to provide for the entitlements it seeks to provide. Money can only be created by the productive people of society (see my piece, “Stimulus”) and was created in antiquity as a means to facilitate commerce, not as a means to facilitate politics. The Government can only take money from people and redistribute it in a manner to its political liking. A perfect example of the political judgments Government makes with other people’s money is the $787 Billion Stimulus that has most of it’s impact in time for the 2010 elections, and you wonder why I’m cynical, but I digress. I am reminded of my Grandmother’s lecture about walking down the street with money in your pocket when I consider Government entitlements like Social Security, Medicare, Medicaid, Welfare, etc. What these Government Programs represent is our collective inability to “walk down the street” with our money remaining in our pockets to secure for the rainy day of required medical care, retirement, and the like. Because of our inability to be “adults”, and manage our own money and our own living affairs, we allow the Government to take our money to do with it what we are unable to do, that is, to provide for our welfare. The truth is we seem to be increasingly satisfied with being less and less free and in charge of our own destinies as time rolls by and even more content to scuffle like hungry dogs for the largess scraps secured by the Government from other people’s tables. Amazing. I’m always surprised how easy it is for the Government, or other policy activists, to create a vision to set before our eyes and cause our childlike instincts to want it. We never seem to understand that the promoters are the ones who are creating the vision for our eyes to behold and the rhetoric for our ears to hear and are thereby creating the “want” and the “belief” that only they can satisfy. If you think I’m again being too cynical, I refer you to my piece, “Prepare To Be Nudged”, which discussed the science behind creation of “Choice Architecture” to influence human judgment. Creating “Choice Architecture” is the deliberate imposition of structure in an environment to induce people to make a second party (in this case, Government) shaped choice. It is our elected Government that now has scientific experts hard at work to create “Choice Architecture” after “Choice Architecture” in order for the citizens to make the necessary choices about Cap and Trade, Stimulus, Health Care, etc. and will result in our elected Government having nearly complete control over our lives, fortunes and destines. Those wacky Russians and their goofy proverbs.
A Child wants what he can see.
(Russian Proverb)
The above Russian Proverb may provoke a knowing smile from most of us because, of course, it’s true. Rather than trying to deconstruct the Russian Proverb with a bunch of child psychobabble, suffice to say, the truth of the Proverb is that children lack the wisdom of experience to judge whether or not what is set before their eyes is in their best interest to have. My Grandmother instructed me long ago about the same general subject but in a different manner, to wit: The difference between an adult and a kid is that an adult can walk down the street with $20.00 in his pocket and return home with the $20.00 still secure for another day while a kid will spend the $20.00 at the first opportunity. Ah yes, the eternal wisdom of Grandmothers. I think an adjunct that is equally true can be added to the Russian Proverb and it goes like this: A child believes what he can hear. Of course, you deep thinkers will immediately understand that the Russians who quoted the Proverb over and over to their fellow Russians were not really commenting on children’s lack of wisdom, they were making a judgment about the dumb adults who still behave as children. The latest manufactured “crisis”, The Broken Private Run Health Care System, is the very reason that the Russian Proverb comes to mind because the Government takeover of health care is being promoted as yet another entitlement of the people and this new entitlement is a created vision that has been set before our naive eyes that induces childlike want. When we talk about entitlements, it is vital that we all understand, once and for all, that the Government has no money to provide for the entitlements it seeks to provide. Money can only be created by the productive people of society (see my piece, “Stimulus”) and was created in antiquity as a means to facilitate commerce, not as a means to facilitate politics. The Government can only take money from people and redistribute it in a manner to its political liking. A perfect example of the political judgments Government makes with other people’s money is the $787 Billion Stimulus that has most of it’s impact in time for the 2010 elections, and you wonder why I’m cynical, but I digress. I am reminded of my Grandmother’s lecture about walking down the street with money in your pocket when I consider Government entitlements like Social Security, Medicare, Medicaid, Welfare, etc. What these Government Programs represent is our collective inability to “walk down the street” with our money remaining in our pockets to secure for the rainy day of required medical care, retirement, and the like. Because of our inability to be “adults”, and manage our own money and our own living affairs, we allow the Government to take our money to do with it what we are unable to do, that is, to provide for our welfare. The truth is we seem to be increasingly satisfied with being less and less free and in charge of our own destinies as time rolls by and even more content to scuffle like hungry dogs for the largess scraps secured by the Government from other people’s tables. Amazing. I’m always surprised how easy it is for the Government, or other policy activists, to create a vision to set before our eyes and cause our childlike instincts to want it. We never seem to understand that the promoters are the ones who are creating the vision for our eyes to behold and the rhetoric for our ears to hear and are thereby creating the “want” and the “belief” that only they can satisfy. If you think I’m again being too cynical, I refer you to my piece, “Prepare To Be Nudged”, which discussed the science behind creation of “Choice Architecture” to influence human judgment. Creating “Choice Architecture” is the deliberate imposition of structure in an environment to induce people to make a second party (in this case, Government) shaped choice. It is our elected Government that now has scientific experts hard at work to create “Choice Architecture” after “Choice Architecture” in order for the citizens to make the necessary choices about Cap and Trade, Stimulus, Health Care, etc. and will result in our elected Government having nearly complete control over our lives, fortunes and destines. Those wacky Russians and their goofy proverbs.
Saturday, August 22, 2009
Gracious Tyranny
Gracious Tyranny
I really like my car. I can get into my Detroit Clunker any time I want to, turn the key, endow life to my belch-fire eight engine, grasp the ergonomically correct shifter knob, authoritatively yank the transmission into drive, lead foot the pedal, and head out to anyplace my prerogative dictates. Does this sound somewhat familiar? Of course it does. We all do it as many time as we wish, sometimes, many times in a single day. And when we head out, we traverse on endless ribbons of concrete and asphalt that go to any one of the greatest or least of places within any part and parcel of this vast country, and we go without impediment of any sort, save our ability and desire to do so. It has been said that the private automobile and the web of highways and byways are the ultimate practical enabler of personal freedom because if a place where you are located becomes undesirable or oppressive, well now, you just load up the old freedom machine and take off to a more friendlier place and time. And if the authorities don’t like the thought of your unauthorized rearrangement, well, they can just smell your departing exhaust. Getting into our private vehicles and going to wherever we want to go is such a commonplace occurrence in this country that we hardly ever think about the importance of the personal privilege that this represents in regards to our practical individual freedom and liberty. I am now going to ask for your indulgence as we use the above ordinary account of your personal automobile usage as a surrogate to illustrate the thought processes, rationale and justification that the “progressives, socialists, liberals, et al”, that have now gained prominence in our Governance and national life, would employ if they selected personal automobile usage as a “crisis” that required fixing at the national level. The surrogate example of your personal automobile usage “fixing” is intended to illustrate the same thought process, rationale and justifications that are now being employed by our Federal Government to “fix” your personal health care, usage of the environment, real and personal property rights, cap and trade, legal and illegal immigration, financial meltdown, failing economy, unemployment, ad infinitum. Be advised, there will be even more urgent “crisis” to be identified later on that require national “fixing”, as fortuitous situations warrant. In all fairness I hasten to point out that the “Progressive” movement started in the 1900s, and now fully employed in our Government, is not a wholly evil movement regardless of what Mr. Glenn Beck alludes to in his book, “Glenn Beck’s Common Sense.” The Progressive movement is responsible for child labor laws, woman suffrage, and a rather impressive list of worthwhile accomplishments that enhances our personal freedom as well as promoting civil justice for all. However, like all good things when taken to the extreme, they can injure and cure with equal vitality, but I digress. Let’s say that a Governmental Educated Idiot (or Idiot Savant), perhaps even one of the current 24 National Czars, commissioned a select panel of “experts” to study the cost effectiveness and social morality of our current personal transportation system. Select portions of the expert study began to trickle out which showed the costs that our personal automobiles were incurring on the environment and economy were staggering, notwithstanding the social injustice that was being done to those unable to afford a personal automobile equal to that of the more affluent of our society. The study clearly shows that the estimated costs being incurred were beyond anything approaching a cost effective way of transporting people about and the social unfairness of the current personal transportation system was a disgrace to an enlightened and civilized people. A series of recommendations began to surface from the Government that not only highlighted the cost effectiveness of public transportation over the current private transportation system but also how a national regulated transportation system would slash the appalling carnage on our nation’s streets and road that are now exceeding 43,000 a year. This tragic loss of life on our highways is a loss we can no longer endure as a Nation and the Government must act on behalf of the people to fix this inexcusable loss of life and treasure due to the inefficiency and unrestrained nature of the current personal transportation system. The study also pointed out that those who now drive on the nation’s roads have not had any kind of uniform national training to ensure safe driving across state lines and this situation will be addressed by a national public transportation system that will have uniform trained and licensed operators of public transportation vehicles and systems to safeguard all citizens. Of course, in order for the new Public Transportation System to become effective, private transportation must be suppressed through “true cost” taxation on private automobiles and supporting infrastructure along with other fair and appropriate Governmental means to supplant a Private Transportation System with a viable National Public Transportation System. I could go on and on, but there is no point of further burdening you with more conjured Governmental scenarios that should be frightening to a freedom loving people because they are as real as today’s news. One salient that should be remembered at all costs, the mortal enemy of liberalism is personal freedom, and this is why we are slowly coming under the sway of what I call Gracious Tyranny, i.e., it’s a Tyranny because an Oligarchy of an elite few are perverting the democratic process to assert complete control of the nation’s society and culture, for the Gracious good of us all, of course.
I really like my car. I can get into my Detroit Clunker any time I want to, turn the key, endow life to my belch-fire eight engine, grasp the ergonomically correct shifter knob, authoritatively yank the transmission into drive, lead foot the pedal, and head out to anyplace my prerogative dictates. Does this sound somewhat familiar? Of course it does. We all do it as many time as we wish, sometimes, many times in a single day. And when we head out, we traverse on endless ribbons of concrete and asphalt that go to any one of the greatest or least of places within any part and parcel of this vast country, and we go without impediment of any sort, save our ability and desire to do so. It has been said that the private automobile and the web of highways and byways are the ultimate practical enabler of personal freedom because if a place where you are located becomes undesirable or oppressive, well now, you just load up the old freedom machine and take off to a more friendlier place and time. And if the authorities don’t like the thought of your unauthorized rearrangement, well, they can just smell your departing exhaust. Getting into our private vehicles and going to wherever we want to go is such a commonplace occurrence in this country that we hardly ever think about the importance of the personal privilege that this represents in regards to our practical individual freedom and liberty. I am now going to ask for your indulgence as we use the above ordinary account of your personal automobile usage as a surrogate to illustrate the thought processes, rationale and justification that the “progressives, socialists, liberals, et al”, that have now gained prominence in our Governance and national life, would employ if they selected personal automobile usage as a “crisis” that required fixing at the national level. The surrogate example of your personal automobile usage “fixing” is intended to illustrate the same thought process, rationale and justifications that are now being employed by our Federal Government to “fix” your personal health care, usage of the environment, real and personal property rights, cap and trade, legal and illegal immigration, financial meltdown, failing economy, unemployment, ad infinitum. Be advised, there will be even more urgent “crisis” to be identified later on that require national “fixing”, as fortuitous situations warrant. In all fairness I hasten to point out that the “Progressive” movement started in the 1900s, and now fully employed in our Government, is not a wholly evil movement regardless of what Mr. Glenn Beck alludes to in his book, “Glenn Beck’s Common Sense.” The Progressive movement is responsible for child labor laws, woman suffrage, and a rather impressive list of worthwhile accomplishments that enhances our personal freedom as well as promoting civil justice for all. However, like all good things when taken to the extreme, they can injure and cure with equal vitality, but I digress. Let’s say that a Governmental Educated Idiot (or Idiot Savant), perhaps even one of the current 24 National Czars, commissioned a select panel of “experts” to study the cost effectiveness and social morality of our current personal transportation system. Select portions of the expert study began to trickle out which showed the costs that our personal automobiles were incurring on the environment and economy were staggering, notwithstanding the social injustice that was being done to those unable to afford a personal automobile equal to that of the more affluent of our society. The study clearly shows that the estimated costs being incurred were beyond anything approaching a cost effective way of transporting people about and the social unfairness of the current personal transportation system was a disgrace to an enlightened and civilized people. A series of recommendations began to surface from the Government that not only highlighted the cost effectiveness of public transportation over the current private transportation system but also how a national regulated transportation system would slash the appalling carnage on our nation’s streets and road that are now exceeding 43,000 a year. This tragic loss of life on our highways is a loss we can no longer endure as a Nation and the Government must act on behalf of the people to fix this inexcusable loss of life and treasure due to the inefficiency and unrestrained nature of the current personal transportation system. The study also pointed out that those who now drive on the nation’s roads have not had any kind of uniform national training to ensure safe driving across state lines and this situation will be addressed by a national public transportation system that will have uniform trained and licensed operators of public transportation vehicles and systems to safeguard all citizens. Of course, in order for the new Public Transportation System to become effective, private transportation must be suppressed through “true cost” taxation on private automobiles and supporting infrastructure along with other fair and appropriate Governmental means to supplant a Private Transportation System with a viable National Public Transportation System. I could go on and on, but there is no point of further burdening you with more conjured Governmental scenarios that should be frightening to a freedom loving people because they are as real as today’s news. One salient that should be remembered at all costs, the mortal enemy of liberalism is personal freedom, and this is why we are slowly coming under the sway of what I call Gracious Tyranny, i.e., it’s a Tyranny because an Oligarchy of an elite few are perverting the democratic process to assert complete control of the nation’s society and culture, for the Gracious good of us all, of course.
Wednesday, August 12, 2009
Bad Moon
Bad Moon Rising
I see the bad moon arising,
I see trouble on the way,
I see earthquakes and lightin’,
I see bad times today.
John Fogerty
The Southern Poverty Law Center, USA Today, CBS, Associated Press, Digital Journal, Cleveland Leader and Politics Daily all report that Militias in the USA are surging. Why is this happening? What motivates good and peaceful Americans to think that the only remaining way to protect the American Constitution and liberty is to become a member of a local Militia? Before we search for the answer, I respectfully request you revisit my piece “God and Guns” posted be me some time ago. You may recall that I advanced the idea that the 2nd Amendment to the Constitution was not really about the right to keep and bear arms. The amendment was enacted to ensure that the people had the right to form and maintain citizen Militias and in order for a Militia to be viable, the citizens must have the right to keep and bear arms, after all, that’s what the 2nd Amendment said in plain language. In other words, the citizens of the United States of America have a Constitutional right to form and maintain citizen Militias and the right to keep and bear arms only makes a Militia viable. Let’s revisit what James Madison said in the Federalist Paper #47 about Militias, to wit: “Besides the advantage of being armed, which the Americans possess over the people of almost every other nation, the existence of subordinate governments, to which the people are attached and by which the militia officers are appointed, forms a barrier against the enterprises of ambition, more insurmountable than any which a simple government of any form can admit of.” Perhaps the colloquial language used in bygone days is somewhat confusing today and the meaning of what Mr. Madison was saying prohibits understanding in today’s world. I believe what Mr. Madison said was that armed citizens organized into Militias was the final safeguard against a usurping Government. And I again urge you not to buy into the hooey that the National Guard is the people’s Militia. The National Guard is an adjunct to the standing United States Army and citizen Militias are Ad Hoc organizations formed from the citizens at large to address a specific threat, two very distinct and different organizations. During times of national peril in days past, citizen Militias were formed and equipped by the citizens themselves and then inducted into the United States Army to meet a current national threat. After the national threat was attended to, the Militia went home, disbanded, and the citizens went back to farming and the like. The Founding Fathers said over and over again that they were deathly afraid of standing armies and the citizen Militias were a protection from the nefarious use of a permanent standing army. The National Guard is funded, equipped, and is part of the United States Army Chain of Command and so it can in no way resemble a citizen’s Militia and in truth is part of the standing army that the founding fathers were so afraid of. The National Guard is not a Militia, period. How diabolical it is that the US Government has went to such great lengths to foster the notion that the National Guard is a Militia, i.e., why are they so afraid of citizen Militias that has been guaranteed by the Constitution? I will wager the entire stimulus package amount that if you are part of a local Militia and went public about it, you would be labeled a cult or something worse, prosecuted forthwith, and the Federal man would come and take you far away. I guess a Constitutional guarantee nowadays is only worth the paper it’s written on. But wait, I believe that we have just discovered what it is that people are getting all riled up about enough to seek out and join a local clandestine Militia. Here are a few things that people are upset about: the Constitution has been systematically disregarded and rewritten without the benefit of the Constitutional amendment process, citizens find they are unable to affect their own government, an unprecedented move by the Federal Government to usurp not only citizen Constitutional rights but local governments as well in a headlong rush to gain complete control over the country at large. The current Universal Health Care plan just might be the “straw that breaks the camel’s back”, and oh Lord, I see a Bad Moon Arising.
I see the bad moon arising,
I see trouble on the way,
I see earthquakes and lightin’,
I see bad times today.
John Fogerty
The Southern Poverty Law Center, USA Today, CBS, Associated Press, Digital Journal, Cleveland Leader and Politics Daily all report that Militias in the USA are surging. Why is this happening? What motivates good and peaceful Americans to think that the only remaining way to protect the American Constitution and liberty is to become a member of a local Militia? Before we search for the answer, I respectfully request you revisit my piece “God and Guns” posted be me some time ago. You may recall that I advanced the idea that the 2nd Amendment to the Constitution was not really about the right to keep and bear arms. The amendment was enacted to ensure that the people had the right to form and maintain citizen Militias and in order for a Militia to be viable, the citizens must have the right to keep and bear arms, after all, that’s what the 2nd Amendment said in plain language. In other words, the citizens of the United States of America have a Constitutional right to form and maintain citizen Militias and the right to keep and bear arms only makes a Militia viable. Let’s revisit what James Madison said in the Federalist Paper #47 about Militias, to wit: “Besides the advantage of being armed, which the Americans possess over the people of almost every other nation, the existence of subordinate governments, to which the people are attached and by which the militia officers are appointed, forms a barrier against the enterprises of ambition, more insurmountable than any which a simple government of any form can admit of.” Perhaps the colloquial language used in bygone days is somewhat confusing today and the meaning of what Mr. Madison was saying prohibits understanding in today’s world. I believe what Mr. Madison said was that armed citizens organized into Militias was the final safeguard against a usurping Government. And I again urge you not to buy into the hooey that the National Guard is the people’s Militia. The National Guard is an adjunct to the standing United States Army and citizen Militias are Ad Hoc organizations formed from the citizens at large to address a specific threat, two very distinct and different organizations. During times of national peril in days past, citizen Militias were formed and equipped by the citizens themselves and then inducted into the United States Army to meet a current national threat. After the national threat was attended to, the Militia went home, disbanded, and the citizens went back to farming and the like. The Founding Fathers said over and over again that they were deathly afraid of standing armies and the citizen Militias were a protection from the nefarious use of a permanent standing army. The National Guard is funded, equipped, and is part of the United States Army Chain of Command and so it can in no way resemble a citizen’s Militia and in truth is part of the standing army that the founding fathers were so afraid of. The National Guard is not a Militia, period. How diabolical it is that the US Government has went to such great lengths to foster the notion that the National Guard is a Militia, i.e., why are they so afraid of citizen Militias that has been guaranteed by the Constitution? I will wager the entire stimulus package amount that if you are part of a local Militia and went public about it, you would be labeled a cult or something worse, prosecuted forthwith, and the Federal man would come and take you far away. I guess a Constitutional guarantee nowadays is only worth the paper it’s written on. But wait, I believe that we have just discovered what it is that people are getting all riled up about enough to seek out and join a local clandestine Militia. Here are a few things that people are upset about: the Constitution has been systematically disregarded and rewritten without the benefit of the Constitutional amendment process, citizens find they are unable to affect their own government, an unprecedented move by the Federal Government to usurp not only citizen Constitutional rights but local governments as well in a headlong rush to gain complete control over the country at large. The current Universal Health Care plan just might be the “straw that breaks the camel’s back”, and oh Lord, I see a Bad Moon Arising.
Monday, August 10, 2009
Rabbits and Squirrels
Rabbits and Squirrels
Some time ago, when I was more intellectually active, I recall being engaged in an absorbing discussion concerning the meaning of life and why hair on your arm doesn’t grow any longer, when one of my peers looked me straight in the eye and asked, “Do you know why there are more rabbits than squirrels?” This seemingly non sequitur question, that came out of the blue and stopped the more serious give and take about “palming the ball” during dribbling in professional basketball, caused a mostly vacant stare aimed at the Einstein who had asked the question. The answer to this dumbfounder wasn’t long in coming. With somewhat watery eyes and slightly slurred speech, the Einstein answered his own question thusly: “because, have you ever tried doing it in a tree?” The answer, of course, highlighted the importance of the practical aspects of life to the discussion participants in general and so had an obscure link to the current discussions about the meaning of life in particular. More importantly, the citizen who asked and answered the question seemed to derive a great deal of intellectual satisfaction from the exchange. To this day, I don’t know why this exchange could generate even a small amount of intellectual satisfaction from anyone, but I digress. This obscure bit of personal history popped into my nomadic musings the other day while trying to understand the esoteric explanations of the proposed Universal Health Care plan by the proponents of the plan and their supporters. The only reason that my brain forced an involuntary recall about the mating habits of Rabbits and Squirrels during the current inane health care discussions must be because of the intellectual satisfaction being displayed by both sides of the proposal when they make their points about the plan. Again, I don’t know why anyone could derive even a small amount of intellectual satisfaction from the current discussions, which reflect, in so many ways, the meaning of life discussions held so long ago by my intellectual peers. But wait, you know what? The difficulty of doing it in a tree versus the straightforwardness of doing it on the ground being an explanation of why there are more rabbits than squirrels can also go a long way in understanding what is going on in the current dustup over Universal Health Care. The only reason that the rabbits and squirrels explanation makes any practical sense at all is because you must juxtapose the difficulty humans would have “doing it in a tree” with that of the perfectly adapted squirrel, who can instead, do it in a tree with considerable ease. In the same manner, the Government proposal for Universal Health Care being advanced fails the practical test because the Government wants it’s citizens to juxtapose their personal health care with a Government run health care system. Ah yes, therein lies the problem. Most free citizens instinctively know that Governments cannot make personal health care decisions because Government is a political entity and therefore can only make political decisions, not personal health care decisions. So it is patently impossible for a free citizen to juxtapose their personal health care requirements with the political decisions that would be made by a Government running a Universal Health Care system. This is exactly why the current Universal Health Care proposal being advanced by the Government makes no sense to free citizens. The juxtapose health care impossibility results in the complete frustration of the still free citizens in trying to reconcile what the Government is trying to do with their personal health requirements without really knowing what is going on and why the Government proposal is so wrong other than the Government simply hungers for the power that a Government run health care system would bring. Of course, the result of this frustration being that voices and blood pressures continue to raise in direct proportion to the continuing Government advocacy of this plan. Hum, I wonder why there really are more rabbits than squirrels?
Some time ago, when I was more intellectually active, I recall being engaged in an absorbing discussion concerning the meaning of life and why hair on your arm doesn’t grow any longer, when one of my peers looked me straight in the eye and asked, “Do you know why there are more rabbits than squirrels?” This seemingly non sequitur question, that came out of the blue and stopped the more serious give and take about “palming the ball” during dribbling in professional basketball, caused a mostly vacant stare aimed at the Einstein who had asked the question. The answer to this dumbfounder wasn’t long in coming. With somewhat watery eyes and slightly slurred speech, the Einstein answered his own question thusly: “because, have you ever tried doing it in a tree?” The answer, of course, highlighted the importance of the practical aspects of life to the discussion participants in general and so had an obscure link to the current discussions about the meaning of life in particular. More importantly, the citizen who asked and answered the question seemed to derive a great deal of intellectual satisfaction from the exchange. To this day, I don’t know why this exchange could generate even a small amount of intellectual satisfaction from anyone, but I digress. This obscure bit of personal history popped into my nomadic musings the other day while trying to understand the esoteric explanations of the proposed Universal Health Care plan by the proponents of the plan and their supporters. The only reason that my brain forced an involuntary recall about the mating habits of Rabbits and Squirrels during the current inane health care discussions must be because of the intellectual satisfaction being displayed by both sides of the proposal when they make their points about the plan. Again, I don’t know why anyone could derive even a small amount of intellectual satisfaction from the current discussions, which reflect, in so many ways, the meaning of life discussions held so long ago by my intellectual peers. But wait, you know what? The difficulty of doing it in a tree versus the straightforwardness of doing it on the ground being an explanation of why there are more rabbits than squirrels can also go a long way in understanding what is going on in the current dustup over Universal Health Care. The only reason that the rabbits and squirrels explanation makes any practical sense at all is because you must juxtapose the difficulty humans would have “doing it in a tree” with that of the perfectly adapted squirrel, who can instead, do it in a tree with considerable ease. In the same manner, the Government proposal for Universal Health Care being advanced fails the practical test because the Government wants it’s citizens to juxtapose their personal health care with a Government run health care system. Ah yes, therein lies the problem. Most free citizens instinctively know that Governments cannot make personal health care decisions because Government is a political entity and therefore can only make political decisions, not personal health care decisions. So it is patently impossible for a free citizen to juxtapose their personal health care requirements with the political decisions that would be made by a Government running a Universal Health Care system. This is exactly why the current Universal Health Care proposal being advanced by the Government makes no sense to free citizens. The juxtapose health care impossibility results in the complete frustration of the still free citizens in trying to reconcile what the Government is trying to do with their personal health requirements without really knowing what is going on and why the Government proposal is so wrong other than the Government simply hungers for the power that a Government run health care system would bring. Of course, the result of this frustration being that voices and blood pressures continue to raise in direct proportion to the continuing Government advocacy of this plan. Hum, I wonder why there really are more rabbits than squirrels?
Monday, August 3, 2009
Waltzing Lady Liberty
Waltzing Lady Liberty
When Bill Maher recently declared that America was a “stupid country”, my sprit soared, because Maher’s assertion that our country is stupid is like the Devil declaring that the righteous are wicked. My sprit soared because Maher’s contemptuous contention is a fortuitous counterpoint that shines a rare bright light on what is “smart” about our country, i.e., it is the ultimate confirmation that the country must be heading in the right direction because it is analogous to when an enemy speaks ill of you. You have commanded the ultimate confirmation of your rectitude from an impeccable source. I’m not saying that Maher is an enemy of America, I’m only saying that Maher is just another unofficial mouth-piece for many of our self-assured elite of this country, and he, and others of his kind, gives meaning and dimention to the wise words spoke by Heraclitus so long ago (circa 540-480 B.C.), to wit: “Much learning does not teach understanding”. I don’t know why Maher and his brethren have so little understanding of America that would cause them to declare that America is “stupid” but perhaps it’s because of their long association with the disconnected segment of our society that continuously reinforce their insular beliefs by an elite groupthink mentality. It really matters little because his specious remark has given us an opportunity to rediscover what is “smart” about America. America is really smart because with each passing day, race matters less and less, just as it has always been. America continues to be a “melting pot” of a just and enlightened people that really cares little about color or race, Americans care about freedom, character and responsibility and we fought a great war to enforce that principle. America is really smart because liberty has real meaning here because you are in actuality free to succeed or fail because of equal opportunity for all. America is really smart because it is a Democratic Republic that gives meaning to freedom by maintaining a free marketplace open to all. America is really smart because you can worship any God or no God if you so choose and you can educate yourself or remain ignorant of modern ways if you are of a mind to do so. America is really smart because we are a mostly civil society that practices patience when others are uncivil. America is really smart because people like Bill Maher can say stupid things with no fear. I could fill many pages about why America is smart and I hope you will take the time to reflect on the many ways that America is, indeed, “smart.” In the meantime, lets all, Bill Maher included, keep on Waltzing Lady Liberty, it’s the smart thing to do.
When Bill Maher recently declared that America was a “stupid country”, my sprit soared, because Maher’s assertion that our country is stupid is like the Devil declaring that the righteous are wicked. My sprit soared because Maher’s contemptuous contention is a fortuitous counterpoint that shines a rare bright light on what is “smart” about our country, i.e., it is the ultimate confirmation that the country must be heading in the right direction because it is analogous to when an enemy speaks ill of you. You have commanded the ultimate confirmation of your rectitude from an impeccable source. I’m not saying that Maher is an enemy of America, I’m only saying that Maher is just another unofficial mouth-piece for many of our self-assured elite of this country, and he, and others of his kind, gives meaning and dimention to the wise words spoke by Heraclitus so long ago (circa 540-480 B.C.), to wit: “Much learning does not teach understanding”. I don’t know why Maher and his brethren have so little understanding of America that would cause them to declare that America is “stupid” but perhaps it’s because of their long association with the disconnected segment of our society that continuously reinforce their insular beliefs by an elite groupthink mentality. It really matters little because his specious remark has given us an opportunity to rediscover what is “smart” about America. America is really smart because with each passing day, race matters less and less, just as it has always been. America continues to be a “melting pot” of a just and enlightened people that really cares little about color or race, Americans care about freedom, character and responsibility and we fought a great war to enforce that principle. America is really smart because liberty has real meaning here because you are in actuality free to succeed or fail because of equal opportunity for all. America is really smart because it is a Democratic Republic that gives meaning to freedom by maintaining a free marketplace open to all. America is really smart because you can worship any God or no God if you so choose and you can educate yourself or remain ignorant of modern ways if you are of a mind to do so. America is really smart because we are a mostly civil society that practices patience when others are uncivil. America is really smart because people like Bill Maher can say stupid things with no fear. I could fill many pages about why America is smart and I hope you will take the time to reflect on the many ways that America is, indeed, “smart.” In the meantime, lets all, Bill Maher included, keep on Waltzing Lady Liberty, it’s the smart thing to do.
Saturday, July 25, 2009
Readin', Writin' and Money
Readin’, Writin’ and Money
I think we all understand the education of our children is a key element in the survival of a viable democratic Republic, i.e., a population that is ignorant about our history, philosophy of Government, responsibility of freedom, unable to effectively read or write, etc., will be unable to function successfully as a free and responsible citizen. For some time now, we, as a people, have been encouraged to throw more and more money at the education establishment in the hope of stopping the continuing downward spiral of education achievement. Good luck with that. Without knowing one wit about the educational system, anecdotal evidence abounds that educational achievement is inversely proportional to the money allocated to it. My personal anecdotal evidence supports this notion as well. For example, I went to a two-room school in Jordan Indiana, in my younger years, that had a pot-bellied stove for heat, an outhouse, a hand pump for water, lawyer-free discipline and not a piece of recreational equipment in sight and yet learned to read, write and do arithmetic. I also was taught our country’s history and how our government governs, and most importantly, how to be civil. I began to think about how badly our public education system has become when I was reading a small book about New England lighthouses by Bruce Roberts and Ray Jones. The authors were recounting a tale about the Matinicus Rock lighthouse, located some 25 miles out to sea off the coast of Maine, and included a letter by a lighthouse resident who was a girl of seventeen years (Abbie Burgess) and had written to her pen pal about the place, to wit:
“You have often expressed a desire to view the sea out on the ocean when it was angry. Had you been here on 19 January (1856), I surmise you would have been satisfied. Father was away. Early in the day, as the tide rose, the sea made a complete breach over the rock, washing every movable thing away, and of the old dwelling not one stone was left upon another. The new dwelling was flooded, and the windows had to be secured to prevent the violence of the spray from breaking them in. As the tide came, the sea rose higher and higher, till the only endurable places were the light towers. If they stood, we were saved, otherwise our fate was only too certain. But for some reason, I know not why, I had no misgivings, and went on with my work as usual. For four weeks, owing to rough weather, no landing could be affected on the rock. During this time we were without assistance of any male member of our family. Though at times greatly exhausted with my labors, not once did the lights fail. I was able to perform all of my accustomed duties as well as my father’s.
You know the hens are our only companions. Becoming convinced, as the gale increased, that unless they were brought into the house they would be lost. I said to my mother, “I must try to save them.” She advised me not to attempt it. The thought, however, of parting with them without an effort was not to be endured, so seizing a basket, I ran out a few yards after the rollers had passed and the sea fell off a little, with the water knee deep, to the coop, and rescued all but one. It was the work of a moment, and I was back in the house with the door fastened, but I was none too quick, for at that instant my little sister, standing at the window, exclaimed, “Oh look! Look there! The worst sea is coming.” That wave destroyed the old dwelling and swept the rock. I cannot think you would enjoy remaining here any great length of time for the sea is never still and when agitated, its roar shuts out every other sound, even drowning our voices.”
This girl of seventeen years, who could only go to school on the mainland whenever the sea permitted a boat to make the trip to the little school, and yet she, Abbie Burgess, wrote this beautiful letter. I have hired graduate Engineers who could not string two coherent sentences together and yet this isolated girl of 1856, without computers or modern technology, was educated to the extent that she could communicate with her fellow man by the written word that should be the envy of us all. How is this possible? I have never heard a convincing argument of how this can be other than a lot of very thoughtful people have placed the starting point for our public educational system decent at the same point in time when the “Progressive Movement” started in the 1890s. Could this be? I really don’t know either, but I do know that continuing to throw money at the educational system does not work and only demonstrates our collective lack of understanding on how to educate our children nowadays. This is particularly frustrating because, as Abbie Burgess’s letter demonstrates so skillfully, we used to know how to do it.
I think we all understand the education of our children is a key element in the survival of a viable democratic Republic, i.e., a population that is ignorant about our history, philosophy of Government, responsibility of freedom, unable to effectively read or write, etc., will be unable to function successfully as a free and responsible citizen. For some time now, we, as a people, have been encouraged to throw more and more money at the education establishment in the hope of stopping the continuing downward spiral of education achievement. Good luck with that. Without knowing one wit about the educational system, anecdotal evidence abounds that educational achievement is inversely proportional to the money allocated to it. My personal anecdotal evidence supports this notion as well. For example, I went to a two-room school in Jordan Indiana, in my younger years, that had a pot-bellied stove for heat, an outhouse, a hand pump for water, lawyer-free discipline and not a piece of recreational equipment in sight and yet learned to read, write and do arithmetic. I also was taught our country’s history and how our government governs, and most importantly, how to be civil. I began to think about how badly our public education system has become when I was reading a small book about New England lighthouses by Bruce Roberts and Ray Jones. The authors were recounting a tale about the Matinicus Rock lighthouse, located some 25 miles out to sea off the coast of Maine, and included a letter by a lighthouse resident who was a girl of seventeen years (Abbie Burgess) and had written to her pen pal about the place, to wit:
“You have often expressed a desire to view the sea out on the ocean when it was angry. Had you been here on 19 January (1856), I surmise you would have been satisfied. Father was away. Early in the day, as the tide rose, the sea made a complete breach over the rock, washing every movable thing away, and of the old dwelling not one stone was left upon another. The new dwelling was flooded, and the windows had to be secured to prevent the violence of the spray from breaking them in. As the tide came, the sea rose higher and higher, till the only endurable places were the light towers. If they stood, we were saved, otherwise our fate was only too certain. But for some reason, I know not why, I had no misgivings, and went on with my work as usual. For four weeks, owing to rough weather, no landing could be affected on the rock. During this time we were without assistance of any male member of our family. Though at times greatly exhausted with my labors, not once did the lights fail. I was able to perform all of my accustomed duties as well as my father’s.
You know the hens are our only companions. Becoming convinced, as the gale increased, that unless they were brought into the house they would be lost. I said to my mother, “I must try to save them.” She advised me not to attempt it. The thought, however, of parting with them without an effort was not to be endured, so seizing a basket, I ran out a few yards after the rollers had passed and the sea fell off a little, with the water knee deep, to the coop, and rescued all but one. It was the work of a moment, and I was back in the house with the door fastened, but I was none too quick, for at that instant my little sister, standing at the window, exclaimed, “Oh look! Look there! The worst sea is coming.” That wave destroyed the old dwelling and swept the rock. I cannot think you would enjoy remaining here any great length of time for the sea is never still and when agitated, its roar shuts out every other sound, even drowning our voices.”
This girl of seventeen years, who could only go to school on the mainland whenever the sea permitted a boat to make the trip to the little school, and yet she, Abbie Burgess, wrote this beautiful letter. I have hired graduate Engineers who could not string two coherent sentences together and yet this isolated girl of 1856, without computers or modern technology, was educated to the extent that she could communicate with her fellow man by the written word that should be the envy of us all. How is this possible? I have never heard a convincing argument of how this can be other than a lot of very thoughtful people have placed the starting point for our public educational system decent at the same point in time when the “Progressive Movement” started in the 1890s. Could this be? I really don’t know either, but I do know that continuing to throw money at the educational system does not work and only demonstrates our collective lack of understanding on how to educate our children nowadays. This is particularly frustrating because, as Abbie Burgess’s letter demonstrates so skillfully, we used to know how to do it.
Tuesday, July 21, 2009
Qui Tacet Consentire
Qui Tacet Consentire
The Pew Research center is reporting a rapidly changing political landscape. The latest research of political party identification indicates that as of April 2009, 33% of the people identified themselves as Dems, 22 % as Pubs and 39% as Indies. If one adds the above percentages the total would be 94% which leaves nearly 10% who are either apolitical or are the traditional 10% who just never goes along with the rest of the people. The Pew Research Center is one of the most respected polling organizations around and is generally viewed as being apolitical so the above political identification trend data probably reflects a great deal of reality. However, just as Will Rogers repeated the famous retort that “there are lies, damn lies, and statistics”, polling and the resulting published data and analysis can be manipulated just as easily as statistical data and analysis. That is to say, polling results should be viewed with a great deal of suspicion, and by all means, one should never accept polling data from any political entity as truthful because such political polling is the AK-47 of political combat. In general, one should always be skeptical of any polling data, even data from the Pew Research Center. Here is anther reason why. I always refuse to participate in polling because I don’t think it is anyone’s business what I think, notwithstanding my natural resistance to being manipulated by some existential psychology major who has crafted leading and deceitful questions for me to answer along with God-only-knows-what other modern polling tomfoolery. In other words, I take the Don Vito Corleone instruction to Sonny very seriously, "Never tell anybody outside the family what you're thinking." And besides, when they hold elections in a democracy, they will find out rather quickly what the electorate is thinking. If I, and others like me, refuse to participate in polling, how is that situation accounted for in the polling data? For example, lets say 30% of the people contacted were just like me and refuse to be polled. Lets also conjecture that of that 30% that refused to be polled, 70% now consider themselves Independents. How is this data factoid accounted for in the Poll analysis and final published data? There is an even a darker side to political polling. The Flim Flam politicians that sponsor polling are trying to find out what is trending in the general population so that they can craft positions and expenditures to gain advantage over other politicians. In other words, the politician is only concerned about the expediency of the moment and the polling is the time-honored way of gaining political Intel in order to do so. Polling is not required if a Politician presents their political philosophy and positions and then debates the advantage of their candidacy in today’s circumstance. Why should anyone trust a Politician’s position that always twists and turns with expediency that polling has enabled? Here is even a greater problem with polling. People read and digest polling data and the ensuing debate in the media provides for a feeling that the people are being heard. Nothing could be further from the truth because those who design the polling are establishing the agenda and resulting conversation. In other words, the national political conversation is not the spontaneous voice of the people, it is instead, contrived dialog designed and manufactured by those in power in order to control popular political thought and remain in power. I believe most people understand what is going on but there is a general feeling of hopelessness because the political system as outlined in the Constitution is not working and so the great silent majority remain just that, silent. I believe the silent majority remains silent not out of apathy, but they are silent because most of us believe we have no real say in our Government and there is no way for our voice to be heard. I believe this is why people are rapidly changing their political identification as Independent rather than Dem or Pub because there is no real difference between the two national parties and the two political parties are corrupt to the extent they only view the electorate and citizens as vehicles to maintain personal power and so care little about what the public really thinks. The current Professional Politicians populating the national political Parties are people only interested in obtaining and remaining in power and they can hardly be described as patriots worthy of a vote or affirmation. Herein lies the problem, Qui Tacet Consentire. (Who is silent gives consent.)
The Pew Research center is reporting a rapidly changing political landscape. The latest research of political party identification indicates that as of April 2009, 33% of the people identified themselves as Dems, 22 % as Pubs and 39% as Indies. If one adds the above percentages the total would be 94% which leaves nearly 10% who are either apolitical or are the traditional 10% who just never goes along with the rest of the people. The Pew Research Center is one of the most respected polling organizations around and is generally viewed as being apolitical so the above political identification trend data probably reflects a great deal of reality. However, just as Will Rogers repeated the famous retort that “there are lies, damn lies, and statistics”, polling and the resulting published data and analysis can be manipulated just as easily as statistical data and analysis. That is to say, polling results should be viewed with a great deal of suspicion, and by all means, one should never accept polling data from any political entity as truthful because such political polling is the AK-47 of political combat. In general, one should always be skeptical of any polling data, even data from the Pew Research Center. Here is anther reason why. I always refuse to participate in polling because I don’t think it is anyone’s business what I think, notwithstanding my natural resistance to being manipulated by some existential psychology major who has crafted leading and deceitful questions for me to answer along with God-only-knows-what other modern polling tomfoolery. In other words, I take the Don Vito Corleone instruction to Sonny very seriously, "Never tell anybody outside the family what you're thinking." And besides, when they hold elections in a democracy, they will find out rather quickly what the electorate is thinking. If I, and others like me, refuse to participate in polling, how is that situation accounted for in the polling data? For example, lets say 30% of the people contacted were just like me and refuse to be polled. Lets also conjecture that of that 30% that refused to be polled, 70% now consider themselves Independents. How is this data factoid accounted for in the Poll analysis and final published data? There is an even a darker side to political polling. The Flim Flam politicians that sponsor polling are trying to find out what is trending in the general population so that they can craft positions and expenditures to gain advantage over other politicians. In other words, the politician is only concerned about the expediency of the moment and the polling is the time-honored way of gaining political Intel in order to do so. Polling is not required if a Politician presents their political philosophy and positions and then debates the advantage of their candidacy in today’s circumstance. Why should anyone trust a Politician’s position that always twists and turns with expediency that polling has enabled? Here is even a greater problem with polling. People read and digest polling data and the ensuing debate in the media provides for a feeling that the people are being heard. Nothing could be further from the truth because those who design the polling are establishing the agenda and resulting conversation. In other words, the national political conversation is not the spontaneous voice of the people, it is instead, contrived dialog designed and manufactured by those in power in order to control popular political thought and remain in power. I believe most people understand what is going on but there is a general feeling of hopelessness because the political system as outlined in the Constitution is not working and so the great silent majority remain just that, silent. I believe the silent majority remains silent not out of apathy, but they are silent because most of us believe we have no real say in our Government and there is no way for our voice to be heard. I believe this is why people are rapidly changing their political identification as Independent rather than Dem or Pub because there is no real difference between the two national parties and the two political parties are corrupt to the extent they only view the electorate and citizens as vehicles to maintain personal power and so care little about what the public really thinks. The current Professional Politicians populating the national political Parties are people only interested in obtaining and remaining in power and they can hardly be described as patriots worthy of a vote or affirmation. Herein lies the problem, Qui Tacet Consentire. (Who is silent gives consent.)
Thursday, July 16, 2009
We're Going To Save Money
We’re Going To Save Money
No Matter How Much It Costs
For those of you who have spent a fair amount of your life in a corporate or company work environment, the above statement should bring forth fond memories of past work-place follies. You know what I’m talking about here, don’t you? Come on now. Think back to when a big meeting was called at your respective workplace and the Harvard Business School trained suits would do a stand-up about how the latest management brain-fart would save the Company, reap huge profits, and probably save the free world from tyranny in the bargain. Wow, a delicious Chris Matthews type shiver runs down my leg just thinking about it again. Do you remember how we would go back to our workstations with the soaring buzzword laced rhetoric ringing in our ears as we bent our intellectual backs to the company wheel in order to make happen what the suits and management said needed to be done. After a fair amount of management-induced enthusiasm had worn off, reality began to kick in when the graybeards of the company begin to question the wisdom of the new program or policy. The graybeards actually had numbers to show that the new “thing” would cost five times any conceivable return on investment, wreck the engineering department, and make it impossible for the field salespeople to operate. The usual response from the suits and management, after concerns were expressed, was to label the graybeards as dinosaurs and accuse them, and everyone else associated with them, of being obstructionists and an unnecessary impediment to business progress. One of two things usually happened at this point. (1) Mouths would snap shut for fear of losing one’s job and the employees would work around the new thing in order for business to remain profitable thereby saving one’s job in spite of the suits and management new directives. Of course, this course of action by the employees was accompanied by sincere sounding lip service to management’s cause while doing what was necessary to keep the company ship afloat. (2) Even though the responsible employees knew that the suits and management new directives would wreck the company, they would follow the directives right down to the last crossed “T” and dotted “I”. This course of action would come to be called “Malicious Compliance” because it would eventually demonstrate to management that they had their collective heads stuck up somewhere where the sun doesn’t shine while avoiding being labeled an obstructionists and impeding management directives. All in all, this method of responding is a rather intellectual and oblique way for mere employees to support management. I keep hoping that a merciful and benevolent God will some day point his finger down at the Harvard and Yale business schools and cause great sinkholes to swallow them up before the country is driven into final ruin. But I digress. I got to thinking about this saving money at all costs while observing the goings on in Washington these days. You know, “Cap and Trade’, “Health Care for All”, “Government Motors”, “Financial Collapse”, etc., because most of these programs have been presented as absolutely necessary in order to save money and the country from ruin even though we all know that these programs are in reality “Trojan Horses” that provide a fortuitous way for the Government to expand their power in order to implement great social change. I guess people will never learn that it is impossible for the Government to make business decisions because Government is a Political entity that can only make political decisions. When the graybeards challenge the wisdom of the programs by pointing out that there is no way on this beautiful blue planet that these programs can save money, they, along with all of their associates, are labeled obstructionists and even worse. It looks like responsible graybeard citizens, and those who are of like political persuasion, are beginning to react with a “Malicious Compliance” course of action in order to let reality demonstrate to a swooning public that these current Government actions will be the cause of their eventual loss of freedom and wealth.
No Matter How Much It Costs
For those of you who have spent a fair amount of your life in a corporate or company work environment, the above statement should bring forth fond memories of past work-place follies. You know what I’m talking about here, don’t you? Come on now. Think back to when a big meeting was called at your respective workplace and the Harvard Business School trained suits would do a stand-up about how the latest management brain-fart would save the Company, reap huge profits, and probably save the free world from tyranny in the bargain. Wow, a delicious Chris Matthews type shiver runs down my leg just thinking about it again. Do you remember how we would go back to our workstations with the soaring buzzword laced rhetoric ringing in our ears as we bent our intellectual backs to the company wheel in order to make happen what the suits and management said needed to be done. After a fair amount of management-induced enthusiasm had worn off, reality began to kick in when the graybeards of the company begin to question the wisdom of the new program or policy. The graybeards actually had numbers to show that the new “thing” would cost five times any conceivable return on investment, wreck the engineering department, and make it impossible for the field salespeople to operate. The usual response from the suits and management, after concerns were expressed, was to label the graybeards as dinosaurs and accuse them, and everyone else associated with them, of being obstructionists and an unnecessary impediment to business progress. One of two things usually happened at this point. (1) Mouths would snap shut for fear of losing one’s job and the employees would work around the new thing in order for business to remain profitable thereby saving one’s job in spite of the suits and management new directives. Of course, this course of action by the employees was accompanied by sincere sounding lip service to management’s cause while doing what was necessary to keep the company ship afloat. (2) Even though the responsible employees knew that the suits and management new directives would wreck the company, they would follow the directives right down to the last crossed “T” and dotted “I”. This course of action would come to be called “Malicious Compliance” because it would eventually demonstrate to management that they had their collective heads stuck up somewhere where the sun doesn’t shine while avoiding being labeled an obstructionists and impeding management directives. All in all, this method of responding is a rather intellectual and oblique way for mere employees to support management. I keep hoping that a merciful and benevolent God will some day point his finger down at the Harvard and Yale business schools and cause great sinkholes to swallow them up before the country is driven into final ruin. But I digress. I got to thinking about this saving money at all costs while observing the goings on in Washington these days. You know, “Cap and Trade’, “Health Care for All”, “Government Motors”, “Financial Collapse”, etc., because most of these programs have been presented as absolutely necessary in order to save money and the country from ruin even though we all know that these programs are in reality “Trojan Horses” that provide a fortuitous way for the Government to expand their power in order to implement great social change. I guess people will never learn that it is impossible for the Government to make business decisions because Government is a Political entity that can only make political decisions. When the graybeards challenge the wisdom of the programs by pointing out that there is no way on this beautiful blue planet that these programs can save money, they, along with all of their associates, are labeled obstructionists and even worse. It looks like responsible graybeard citizens, and those who are of like political persuasion, are beginning to react with a “Malicious Compliance” course of action in order to let reality demonstrate to a swooning public that these current Government actions will be the cause of their eventual loss of freedom and wealth.
Wednesday, July 8, 2009
Governor Sarah Palin
Governor Sarah Palin
Did you see her? Did you see Governor Palin in chest waders pulling a net full of fish? This all-American woman who can fell a moose with a high-power rifle, work a fish net (can you just imagine Jackie Kennedy, Eleanor Roosevelt or Michelle Obama pulling a fish net?), run a huge state as Governor, deal with lying cheating politicians, and all with a kid on her hip, and yet, still find time to look like a woman. Sarah Palin reminds me of the original All-American woman, the quintessential pioneer woman of the plains, multi-tasking with her husband to help build a home and family in the wilderness. You would think an original like Sarah Palin would be celebrated by press and mainstream media, but think again, how Governor Palin has been treated by the mainstream media and the agents of personal destruction is a total embarrassment for this magnificent country. For example, the following is just one example of the multitude of nastiness that has been written about Sarah Palin. This particular piece was written by Paul Lewis Hackett and published in the Daily Kos on 12 Sept 2008, to wit:
“The message (would be) simple and the professionals can refine it but essentially it should contain these elements: Sarah Palin? Can't keep her solemn oath of devotion to her husband and had sex with his employee. Sarah Palin? Accidentally got pregnant at age 43 and the tax payers of Alaska have to pay for the care of her disabled child. Sarah Palin? Unable to teach her 16 year old daughter right from wrong and now another teenager is pregnant. Sarah Palin? Can you trust Sarah Palin and her values with America's future?”
If you have been reading my pieces posted on Bangingthedrum, you will remember that I have fearlessly made two predictions in the past:
1. The economy will tank during the late summer period of 2009 when the cascade of job losses and funny money begin to have their full impact.
2. The Educated Idiots in Washington will complete their mastery over the home of the brave and the land of the free when they enact a National Sales Tax either in the form of a VAT Tax or one taken at the cash register.
I will make a 3rd prediction and this one concerns Sarah Palin. I believe that Palin will run for the office of President in 2012 and do it after organizing a new political party that will probably be called “The Independent Party”. Think about it. Most people are coming around to the notion that there is really no difference between the Democratic and Republican parties because most of the politicians associated with the two major parties are in reality Professional Politicians only interested in personal power. The Pew Research Center indicates that people identify themselves with the political parties in roughly the following manner: 1/3 Democratic, 1/3 Republican and 1/3 Independent. This make up of political identification has been rapidly changing lately. It is now approximately ¼ Democratic, ¼ Republican and ½ Independent. Now when you consider that the conservative base of the Republican Party and the Blue Dog Democrats are basically of the same political persuasion and the fact that these political elements are becoming increasingly “out of step” with their party leadership, I believe you have the same opportunity available now as when the Wigs morphed into the Republican Party due to the issue of slavery. The issue now is Constitutional America or Socialist America. I believe that these political elements would probably jump at the opportunity to be associated with an a new political party that represents basic American Constitutional values and if they joined with those identified as Independents, you would have a new Political Party with a considerable majority. All in all, a rare opportunity for a patriot with vision and the will to go down the road less traveled. Sure sounds like Sarah Palin to me. Well, let’s just sit back and see what happens.
Did you see her? Did you see Governor Palin in chest waders pulling a net full of fish? This all-American woman who can fell a moose with a high-power rifle, work a fish net (can you just imagine Jackie Kennedy, Eleanor Roosevelt or Michelle Obama pulling a fish net?), run a huge state as Governor, deal with lying cheating politicians, and all with a kid on her hip, and yet, still find time to look like a woman. Sarah Palin reminds me of the original All-American woman, the quintessential pioneer woman of the plains, multi-tasking with her husband to help build a home and family in the wilderness. You would think an original like Sarah Palin would be celebrated by press and mainstream media, but think again, how Governor Palin has been treated by the mainstream media and the agents of personal destruction is a total embarrassment for this magnificent country. For example, the following is just one example of the multitude of nastiness that has been written about Sarah Palin. This particular piece was written by Paul Lewis Hackett and published in the Daily Kos on 12 Sept 2008, to wit:
“The message (would be) simple and the professionals can refine it but essentially it should contain these elements: Sarah Palin? Can't keep her solemn oath of devotion to her husband and had sex with his employee. Sarah Palin? Accidentally got pregnant at age 43 and the tax payers of Alaska have to pay for the care of her disabled child. Sarah Palin? Unable to teach her 16 year old daughter right from wrong and now another teenager is pregnant. Sarah Palin? Can you trust Sarah Palin and her values with America's future?”
If you have been reading my pieces posted on Bangingthedrum, you will remember that I have fearlessly made two predictions in the past:
1. The economy will tank during the late summer period of 2009 when the cascade of job losses and funny money begin to have their full impact.
2. The Educated Idiots in Washington will complete their mastery over the home of the brave and the land of the free when they enact a National Sales Tax either in the form of a VAT Tax or one taken at the cash register.
I will make a 3rd prediction and this one concerns Sarah Palin. I believe that Palin will run for the office of President in 2012 and do it after organizing a new political party that will probably be called “The Independent Party”. Think about it. Most people are coming around to the notion that there is really no difference between the Democratic and Republican parties because most of the politicians associated with the two major parties are in reality Professional Politicians only interested in personal power. The Pew Research Center indicates that people identify themselves with the political parties in roughly the following manner: 1/3 Democratic, 1/3 Republican and 1/3 Independent. This make up of political identification has been rapidly changing lately. It is now approximately ¼ Democratic, ¼ Republican and ½ Independent. Now when you consider that the conservative base of the Republican Party and the Blue Dog Democrats are basically of the same political persuasion and the fact that these political elements are becoming increasingly “out of step” with their party leadership, I believe you have the same opportunity available now as when the Wigs morphed into the Republican Party due to the issue of slavery. The issue now is Constitutional America or Socialist America. I believe that these political elements would probably jump at the opportunity to be associated with an a new political party that represents basic American Constitutional values and if they joined with those identified as Independents, you would have a new Political Party with a considerable majority. All in all, a rare opportunity for a patriot with vision and the will to go down the road less traveled. Sure sounds like Sarah Palin to me. Well, let’s just sit back and see what happens.
Tuesday, July 7, 2009
Right and Wrong
Right and Wrong
Right and wrong, good and evil, just and unjust, fair and unfair, biased and unbiased; these are just a few of the arguments that each of us try to resolve on a daily basis as we make necessary personal decisions about what to do, how to do it, and react and adjust to circumstances beyond our personal control. The problem is, of course, each of us makes a subjective judgment about what is right or wrong within our particular circumstances based on our personal experiences, education, social pressure, state of comfort or discomfort, ad infinitum, and these differences in personal circumstances leads each of us to have a different opinion of what is, right or wrong. This leads us to the notion of Relativism that argues that ethical truths (right and wrong) in society depends upon the individuals and groups holding them (ethical truths) versus a steady Moral Compass that argues that ethical truths (right and wrong) in society are an unequivocal moral standard that is indifferent to subjective circumstances. Here is the problem with these two notions. Relativism can justify any social behavior and a Moral Compass cannot allow for changing circumstances. For example, racial discrimination against white people is allowable today in order to balance out the past racial discrimination against black people, i.e., relativism argues it’s Right to racially discriminate against white people in order to correct the Wrong of past racial discrimination against black people. As you can see, it’s no longer the unequivocal notion that racial discrimination is always wrong regardless of when, were or whom, it’s relative to the circumstances of blacks being racially discriminated against in the past that makes it Right to racially discriminate against white people today. How about an even easier example of relativism? Within a civil society it is wrong to kill another human but relative to a time of war it is right (or at least not wrong) to kill another human who is an enemy combatant. A Moral Compass can argue that it is unequivocally wrong to racially discriminate, and if everyone agrees with that ethical truth, all is well within the body social. But what happens when circumstances are such that racial discrimination is practiced as an ethical truth (right)? For example, the Germans practiced eugenics in order to produce the Master Race. This practice of eugenics to create the Master Race was an extension of the theory of evolution that held that survival of the fittest justified the mass murder of Jews and others thought to be inferior races. If you are a Jew or another of a race that the Germans sought to eliminate, is it right to racially discriminate against Germans by killing Germans until the Germans stopped killing Jews? In this circumstance, a Moral Compass that unequivocally says racial discrimination is wrong would be an objective ethical guidance that lacks a subjective equilibrium, and as such, would be an impractical and deadly compass for a moral people. On balance, I believe that a Moral Compass is a greater problem than Relativism. I say this because the unequivocal right and wrong that a Moral Compass promotes can be misused for nefarious purposes by those in power and authority, and indeed has been misused throughout the history of mankind, i.e., right and wrong are only subjective metaphors that twist and turn with expediency rather than a real social construct that offers eternal moral guidance. Further, an unequivocal right or wrong relieves the individual of the necessity of subjectively deciding what is right or wrong within a civil society and thereby does not serve the cause of individual liberty. All of this cogitation about right and wrong is really about what is going on today in our country and society. I believe that to try to assign right or wrong, good or bad, etc., to the Bernie Madoffs, Flim Flam Politicians, greed, dishonesty, and on and on, offers no solution or true understanding of problems facing us today. That is to say it is the essence of democracy to judge, decide and vote on the basis of individual liberty and justice and not on a notion of right or wrong. In so doing, correct decisions and judgments will be rendered and collective society will be served.
Right and wrong, good and evil, just and unjust, fair and unfair, biased and unbiased; these are just a few of the arguments that each of us try to resolve on a daily basis as we make necessary personal decisions about what to do, how to do it, and react and adjust to circumstances beyond our personal control. The problem is, of course, each of us makes a subjective judgment about what is right or wrong within our particular circumstances based on our personal experiences, education, social pressure, state of comfort or discomfort, ad infinitum, and these differences in personal circumstances leads each of us to have a different opinion of what is, right or wrong. This leads us to the notion of Relativism that argues that ethical truths (right and wrong) in society depends upon the individuals and groups holding them (ethical truths) versus a steady Moral Compass that argues that ethical truths (right and wrong) in society are an unequivocal moral standard that is indifferent to subjective circumstances. Here is the problem with these two notions. Relativism can justify any social behavior and a Moral Compass cannot allow for changing circumstances. For example, racial discrimination against white people is allowable today in order to balance out the past racial discrimination against black people, i.e., relativism argues it’s Right to racially discriminate against white people in order to correct the Wrong of past racial discrimination against black people. As you can see, it’s no longer the unequivocal notion that racial discrimination is always wrong regardless of when, were or whom, it’s relative to the circumstances of blacks being racially discriminated against in the past that makes it Right to racially discriminate against white people today. How about an even easier example of relativism? Within a civil society it is wrong to kill another human but relative to a time of war it is right (or at least not wrong) to kill another human who is an enemy combatant. A Moral Compass can argue that it is unequivocally wrong to racially discriminate, and if everyone agrees with that ethical truth, all is well within the body social. But what happens when circumstances are such that racial discrimination is practiced as an ethical truth (right)? For example, the Germans practiced eugenics in order to produce the Master Race. This practice of eugenics to create the Master Race was an extension of the theory of evolution that held that survival of the fittest justified the mass murder of Jews and others thought to be inferior races. If you are a Jew or another of a race that the Germans sought to eliminate, is it right to racially discriminate against Germans by killing Germans until the Germans stopped killing Jews? In this circumstance, a Moral Compass that unequivocally says racial discrimination is wrong would be an objective ethical guidance that lacks a subjective equilibrium, and as such, would be an impractical and deadly compass for a moral people. On balance, I believe that a Moral Compass is a greater problem than Relativism. I say this because the unequivocal right and wrong that a Moral Compass promotes can be misused for nefarious purposes by those in power and authority, and indeed has been misused throughout the history of mankind, i.e., right and wrong are only subjective metaphors that twist and turn with expediency rather than a real social construct that offers eternal moral guidance. Further, an unequivocal right or wrong relieves the individual of the necessity of subjectively deciding what is right or wrong within a civil society and thereby does not serve the cause of individual liberty. All of this cogitation about right and wrong is really about what is going on today in our country and society. I believe that to try to assign right or wrong, good or bad, etc., to the Bernie Madoffs, Flim Flam Politicians, greed, dishonesty, and on and on, offers no solution or true understanding of problems facing us today. That is to say it is the essence of democracy to judge, decide and vote on the basis of individual liberty and justice and not on a notion of right or wrong. In so doing, correct decisions and judgments will be rendered and collective society will be served.
Wednesday, July 1, 2009
Seadog Rhapsody
Seadog Rhapsody
The restrained movements of the boat on anchor and the first light of dawn beginning to filter through the forward hatch are combining to gently nudge consciousness into existence after a sound night’s sleep. There is something about sleeping on a boat that is securely anchored in a snug harbor, it promotes a restful sleep that can’t be had in a landlocked bed held firmly in place by gravity. Some have speculated that the gentle rocking of the boat at anchor mimics the gentle movements we experienced while warm and secure in our sweet mother’s womb and this is why sleeping on a boat is so restful. Some may find it hard to believe that a rough and ready sailor sleeping on an anchored boat could earn a lovely metaphor like being all warm and secure in your mother’s womb, but stranger things have happened, you know, like really smart people giving Bernie Madoff all of their money. Slowly your eyes begin to adjust to the brightening environment, and now fully awake, it’s time for the rituals of awaking to begin, you know, rubbing the sleep from your eyes, sloughing your tongue around a foul mouth that still has the telltale remains of last’s night feasting and drinking, stretching muscles back into shape, the pure pleasure of reaching down and scratching your, well, you know what I’m talking about here. It’s time to swing the legs out of the rack and onto the deck and test the old trusty lower limbs to see if they can still answer the call to walk about fully upright like a proper bipedal. Speaking of answering the call, you hurry to the head and find sweet relief after a full night of not once getting up to satisfy a more urgent than sweet relief. You slide open the main deck hatch and expose the morning sky and the fresh sea air. Sweet Jesus, that smells good. You stick your head up and look around to survey your surrounding and the sounds of seabirds begin to fill the air, especially the gulls. The gulls are laughing like a madman mocking the sane people. Off to the galley, fill the on- stove coffee percolator with water and coffee grounds, you know, the one that still has a small glass bulb on top so that you can watch the coffee get darker and darker until its “just right.” One of the last pure pleasures in life is smelling coffee brewing in an honest to God on-stove percolator that has really hot coffee bubbling up into that little glass bulb so that you can watch it, and watch it, and build up the anticipation of sipping your first cup of really hot steaming coffee. It is absolute nirvana to smell hot percolating coffee and fresh sea air all mixed in together. With the treasured hot cup of coffee clutched firmly in your hands, you enjoy the beginning of a new day while sitting in the cockpit of the boat and contently watching the world come alive after a hard day’s night. Well enough of the finer things in life, it’s time to ready the boat for some serious sailing east so that the Bahamas banks can be made at “Memory Rock” before the brand new day can turn into night again. Go below, secure everything that can become loose in high seas, secure the hatches, set the battery switch to “battery 1”, turn on all navigational instruments including the GPS, turn on VHF radio and set to the international hailing and emergency channel 16. Hurry back up topside, don life vest, place engine control to neutral, fire up the Yanmar diesel, check the exhaust to make sure the engine water pump is pumping cooling water out the exhaust port, check the charts for tides, verify a waxing tide by reading the current going by the boat, go forward and haul the “delta” and “danforth” anchors and be quick about it before the boat follows the current into some other boats at anchor. Hurry to the helm, engage the engine and head for the channel while avoiding boats at anchor and constantly reading depth because there are many places where you can run aground while navigating the harbor to the channel. Locate the green channel buoy and make way while keeping the green buoy to starboard and the red marker buoy to port. Now, very carefully make your way against the strong current out to sea between the red/green channel buoys and finally into blue water and good seas. It’s always very comforting to watch the water depth go from 6 to 7 feet and start dropping off to 10, then 50, and eventually to over 100 feet. The seas don’t become orderly until you can get into at least a 100-foot of water depth. Adjust the GPS to the proper chart and visit the NOAA weather channel on the VHF radio one last time to verify favorable weather, wind and wave. Confirm that a 10-15 knot wind is making headway from the southwest and set an initial compass course to 120° magnetic. Carefully observe the wind vane on top of the main mast and determine that you have a starboard wind that will allow a starboard reach. A beam reach is a very favorable point of sail and you will have it this day with seas running about 3 to 5 feet and a slowly building swell out of confused seas while still in the lee of the land. You should never cross the gulf steam with a north wind blowing because the gulf stream flows northward and a wind from the north will blow against the current and generate very bad waves that will increasingly become steep and treacherous. These kind of seas are the cause of many a boat to founder while trying to make way across the gulf stream when a spirited north wind is blowing. A direct course to Memory Rock is 99° magnetic but you must calculate the amount of drift northward the gulf stream current (4-6 knots) will have on the course of the boat, depending, of course, on the speed of the boat, i.e., the slower the boat, the more time in the gulf stream current and the more northward you will be taken instead of the east heading of the boat at 99° magnetic. So you will set a heading of 120° to allow for a northward drift and carefully monitor your GPS course in route to make the necessary corrections in order to arrive at memory rock at the end of the day instead of someplace where you don’t want to be. Having steadied the boat on a 120° heading, throttle back the engine enough to make head way straight into the wind and come starboard until the wind is straight onto the bow. Engage the autohelm to maintain the boat heading into the wind and carefully make your way on top deck to the mainmast to change the main sail furling ratchet from “ratchet” to “free” which will allow the main sail to be pulled from the furling inside the mainmast once the outhaul line is unblocked from the line clutch. Set the boomvang to 2 inches for a beam reach while at the mainmast in order to set the proper sail twist for a reach, and carefully make your way back to the helm in order to avoid falling into the sea. If you are the only one on the boat and you fall into the sea, you will become another unexplained missing at sea incident. Back at the helm, unblock the mainmast furling line from the line clutches and wrap the main sail outhaul line 3 wraps clockwise around the starboard winch, insert a winch handle and grind away on the winch until the mainsail is fully extended from the mainmast. Secure the mainsail outhaul line. Unsecure both the starboard and port headsail sheet lines and unsecure the headsail furling line. Because the wind is to starboard, the headsail will fill to port so wrap the port headsail sheet line three wraps around the port aft winch and while holding the headsail furling line with just enough pressure to make a firm wrap around the headsail furling hub, insert a winch handle into the port aft winch and grind away until the headsail (jib) is fully extended. Secure the jib sheet to the port aft winch and secure the furling line. Now disengage the engine by placing the throttle into the neutral position and pressing the engine “Stop” button to turnoff the engine. Place the engine throttle into the reverse position in order to stop the propeller from turning while the boat is underway which will cause a drag that will slow the boat speed through the water. Disengage the autohelm and bring the boat heading port back into a 120° heading and engage the autohelm to maintain a heading of 120°. Slowly ease the jib port sheet line until the headsail fills, and while watching the telltales on the jib sail, adjust the headsail point of entry into the wind until most of the telltales are streaming aft. Secure the port jib sheet line to the port aft winch. Locate the mainsail sheet line and wrap 3 turns clockwise around the starboard forward winch and while holding fast to the line, unblock the mainsail sheet line from the line clutch and slowly ease the mainsail port to take the wind. While watching the mainsail leach telltales, adjust the mainsail point of entry to the wind until the telltales are streaming aft. Secure the mainsail sheet line with the clutch block and remove the line from the winch. Locate the mainsail outhaul line and wrap 3 turns clockwise around the winch and while holding fast to the outhaul line unblock the line from the clutch block. Slowly ease the outhaul line until the draft of the mainsail is about 12 to 14 inches windward from the mainsail boom and secure the outhaul line with the clutch block. Disengage the auto helm and take control of the helm by taking manual control of the rudder. Keep adjusting sails until you can obtain maximum boat speed while balancing the helm. The boat is now taking a fine 15° list to port while making 5-6 knots on a starboard beam reach with a freshening wind blowing a fine mist of salt water that tastes great when you lick your lips. The boat is making a beautiful wake and cutting into the waves nicely as you make you way on a 120°heading. Surely God must be a sailor.
The restrained movements of the boat on anchor and the first light of dawn beginning to filter through the forward hatch are combining to gently nudge consciousness into existence after a sound night’s sleep. There is something about sleeping on a boat that is securely anchored in a snug harbor, it promotes a restful sleep that can’t be had in a landlocked bed held firmly in place by gravity. Some have speculated that the gentle rocking of the boat at anchor mimics the gentle movements we experienced while warm and secure in our sweet mother’s womb and this is why sleeping on a boat is so restful. Some may find it hard to believe that a rough and ready sailor sleeping on an anchored boat could earn a lovely metaphor like being all warm and secure in your mother’s womb, but stranger things have happened, you know, like really smart people giving Bernie Madoff all of their money. Slowly your eyes begin to adjust to the brightening environment, and now fully awake, it’s time for the rituals of awaking to begin, you know, rubbing the sleep from your eyes, sloughing your tongue around a foul mouth that still has the telltale remains of last’s night feasting and drinking, stretching muscles back into shape, the pure pleasure of reaching down and scratching your, well, you know what I’m talking about here. It’s time to swing the legs out of the rack and onto the deck and test the old trusty lower limbs to see if they can still answer the call to walk about fully upright like a proper bipedal. Speaking of answering the call, you hurry to the head and find sweet relief after a full night of not once getting up to satisfy a more urgent than sweet relief. You slide open the main deck hatch and expose the morning sky and the fresh sea air. Sweet Jesus, that smells good. You stick your head up and look around to survey your surrounding and the sounds of seabirds begin to fill the air, especially the gulls. The gulls are laughing like a madman mocking the sane people. Off to the galley, fill the on- stove coffee percolator with water and coffee grounds, you know, the one that still has a small glass bulb on top so that you can watch the coffee get darker and darker until its “just right.” One of the last pure pleasures in life is smelling coffee brewing in an honest to God on-stove percolator that has really hot coffee bubbling up into that little glass bulb so that you can watch it, and watch it, and build up the anticipation of sipping your first cup of really hot steaming coffee. It is absolute nirvana to smell hot percolating coffee and fresh sea air all mixed in together. With the treasured hot cup of coffee clutched firmly in your hands, you enjoy the beginning of a new day while sitting in the cockpit of the boat and contently watching the world come alive after a hard day’s night. Well enough of the finer things in life, it’s time to ready the boat for some serious sailing east so that the Bahamas banks can be made at “Memory Rock” before the brand new day can turn into night again. Go below, secure everything that can become loose in high seas, secure the hatches, set the battery switch to “battery 1”, turn on all navigational instruments including the GPS, turn on VHF radio and set to the international hailing and emergency channel 16. Hurry back up topside, don life vest, place engine control to neutral, fire up the Yanmar diesel, check the exhaust to make sure the engine water pump is pumping cooling water out the exhaust port, check the charts for tides, verify a waxing tide by reading the current going by the boat, go forward and haul the “delta” and “danforth” anchors and be quick about it before the boat follows the current into some other boats at anchor. Hurry to the helm, engage the engine and head for the channel while avoiding boats at anchor and constantly reading depth because there are many places where you can run aground while navigating the harbor to the channel. Locate the green channel buoy and make way while keeping the green buoy to starboard and the red marker buoy to port. Now, very carefully make your way against the strong current out to sea between the red/green channel buoys and finally into blue water and good seas. It’s always very comforting to watch the water depth go from 6 to 7 feet and start dropping off to 10, then 50, and eventually to over 100 feet. The seas don’t become orderly until you can get into at least a 100-foot of water depth. Adjust the GPS to the proper chart and visit the NOAA weather channel on the VHF radio one last time to verify favorable weather, wind and wave. Confirm that a 10-15 knot wind is making headway from the southwest and set an initial compass course to 120° magnetic. Carefully observe the wind vane on top of the main mast and determine that you have a starboard wind that will allow a starboard reach. A beam reach is a very favorable point of sail and you will have it this day with seas running about 3 to 5 feet and a slowly building swell out of confused seas while still in the lee of the land. You should never cross the gulf steam with a north wind blowing because the gulf stream flows northward and a wind from the north will blow against the current and generate very bad waves that will increasingly become steep and treacherous. These kind of seas are the cause of many a boat to founder while trying to make way across the gulf stream when a spirited north wind is blowing. A direct course to Memory Rock is 99° magnetic but you must calculate the amount of drift northward the gulf stream current (4-6 knots) will have on the course of the boat, depending, of course, on the speed of the boat, i.e., the slower the boat, the more time in the gulf stream current and the more northward you will be taken instead of the east heading of the boat at 99° magnetic. So you will set a heading of 120° to allow for a northward drift and carefully monitor your GPS course in route to make the necessary corrections in order to arrive at memory rock at the end of the day instead of someplace where you don’t want to be. Having steadied the boat on a 120° heading, throttle back the engine enough to make head way straight into the wind and come starboard until the wind is straight onto the bow. Engage the autohelm to maintain the boat heading into the wind and carefully make your way on top deck to the mainmast to change the main sail furling ratchet from “ratchet” to “free” which will allow the main sail to be pulled from the furling inside the mainmast once the outhaul line is unblocked from the line clutch. Set the boomvang to 2 inches for a beam reach while at the mainmast in order to set the proper sail twist for a reach, and carefully make your way back to the helm in order to avoid falling into the sea. If you are the only one on the boat and you fall into the sea, you will become another unexplained missing at sea incident. Back at the helm, unblock the mainmast furling line from the line clutches and wrap the main sail outhaul line 3 wraps clockwise around the starboard winch, insert a winch handle and grind away on the winch until the mainsail is fully extended from the mainmast. Secure the mainsail outhaul line. Unsecure both the starboard and port headsail sheet lines and unsecure the headsail furling line. Because the wind is to starboard, the headsail will fill to port so wrap the port headsail sheet line three wraps around the port aft winch and while holding the headsail furling line with just enough pressure to make a firm wrap around the headsail furling hub, insert a winch handle into the port aft winch and grind away until the headsail (jib) is fully extended. Secure the jib sheet to the port aft winch and secure the furling line. Now disengage the engine by placing the throttle into the neutral position and pressing the engine “Stop” button to turnoff the engine. Place the engine throttle into the reverse position in order to stop the propeller from turning while the boat is underway which will cause a drag that will slow the boat speed through the water. Disengage the autohelm and bring the boat heading port back into a 120° heading and engage the autohelm to maintain a heading of 120°. Slowly ease the jib port sheet line until the headsail fills, and while watching the telltales on the jib sail, adjust the headsail point of entry into the wind until most of the telltales are streaming aft. Secure the port jib sheet line to the port aft winch. Locate the mainsail sheet line and wrap 3 turns clockwise around the starboard forward winch and while holding fast to the line, unblock the mainsail sheet line from the line clutch and slowly ease the mainsail port to take the wind. While watching the mainsail leach telltales, adjust the mainsail point of entry to the wind until the telltales are streaming aft. Secure the mainsail sheet line with the clutch block and remove the line from the winch. Locate the mainsail outhaul line and wrap 3 turns clockwise around the winch and while holding fast to the outhaul line unblock the line from the clutch block. Slowly ease the outhaul line until the draft of the mainsail is about 12 to 14 inches windward from the mainsail boom and secure the outhaul line with the clutch block. Disengage the auto helm and take control of the helm by taking manual control of the rudder. Keep adjusting sails until you can obtain maximum boat speed while balancing the helm. The boat is now taking a fine 15° list to port while making 5-6 knots on a starboard beam reach with a freshening wind blowing a fine mist of salt water that tastes great when you lick your lips. The boat is making a beautiful wake and cutting into the waves nicely as you make you way on a 120°heading. Surely God must be a sailor.
Friday, June 19, 2009
President Barack Hussein Obama (BHO)
President Barack Hussein Obama
(BHO)
A Tiger would be more successful if it looked like a Labrador Retriever.
(BHO)
A Tiger would be more successful if it looked like a Labrador Retriever.
Thursday, June 11, 2009
In God We Trust, All Others Cash
In God We Trust,
All Others Cash
Most people believe when Jesus cleared the Temple of Money Changers it was because of the despicable business the Moneychangers were doing within the confines of the holy Temple. However, most scholars agree that the primary reason that the Moneychangers were tossed from the Temple was that they were causing such a ruckus doing business that it was impossible to do the church’s work. But, of course, there was more to this episode than simply eliminating noise and commotion because when Jesus cast the Moneychangers out he said, “My house shall be called a house of prayer, but ye have made it a den of thieves.” Why would Jesus say that the Moneychangers were turning the Temple into a house of thieves if the Moneychangers were only causing a disturbance? Well, it seems that the Moneychangers had a monopoly on creating a certain coin that was used by worshipers in the Temple and the Moneychangers used this monopoly to charge interest on the coin (money) they created and in so doing had become quite wealthy making money off of money. Wait a minute. Does this sound vaguely familiar? Of course it does because the United States Federal Reserve Banks, the United States Federal Reserve, AIG, Financial Institutions and endless others in today’s modern economies, does exactly the same thing, i.e., they create money and then charge interest on it when other people or entities use it. This begs the question; why did the charging of interest for the use of money motivate Jesus to call the Moneychangers thieves? The answer to this question is much easier than it would seem because throughout the history of civilization the charging of interest for the use of money was considered a grave sin and an abomination. Anyone who engaged in such a despicable business of making money off of money was shunned as being not worthy of any honorable standing in the community. I will leave it to each reader’s conjecture that perhaps this dishonorable practice of making money off of money is where a particular racial discrimination got its start and still exists throughout much of the world today because it was, in general, been only one race of people that thought it was not dishonorable to engage in the business of charging interest on the use of money. The fact that this race of people were nearly the exclusive practitioners of this business of making money off of money can go far in explaining how this age old scourge of discrimination got it’s start. Well that was then, and this is now. I will wager that most people consider the charging of interest for the use of money is only another way of making a profit and therefore this profit making is Capitalism in operation, i.e., if it’s Capitalism, then it cannot be a dishonorable thing to do nowadays as it was in days gone by. Well perhaps. I won’t bore you with a standard definition of Capitalism but basically one invests their real money into a privately or Corporate held business and that business then does business well enough to make a profit that is returned to the investors. The investor now has a capital gain in addition to the original capital invested and the investor can now use the capital gain to invest in new businesses, and viola, a vibrant economy. The profit earned from doing real business was earned by creating something of real value that the business sold, so therefore, the capital gain achieved is real money because was created by the real bussiness creating something of real value. You see, here’s the thing about making money off of money, it’s not a real business. You might turn a profit from making money off of money but in so doing, nothing was added to the economy because no real business was done to earn the profit and create real money. The money made off of money is not real money because nothing of value is the basis for the profit money. And it follows if the economy is awash in “not real” money, money will lose its value to the point where the economy will eventually fail. The only way an economy can continue that is constituted with “not real” money is for continuous inflation to occur and constant inflation is indeed the characteristic of the modern American economy. The political trick is to keep inflation as low as possible in order to continue the economy for as long as possible, but it will eventually fail for some future generation. This, of course, gets us to the subject of credit. Credit is the modern, new and improved, way of making money off of money, but the results are the same; the money made from extending credit is not real money and the economy will eventually fail. You can see first hand what credit can do when multiplied by “leveraging”, credit default swaps, and endless other ingenious ways of making money off of money but, of course, the money made is not real money and this “not real” money is what is causing the current financial crisis. Oh well, In God we trust, all others cash.
All Others Cash
Most people believe when Jesus cleared the Temple of Money Changers it was because of the despicable business the Moneychangers were doing within the confines of the holy Temple. However, most scholars agree that the primary reason that the Moneychangers were tossed from the Temple was that they were causing such a ruckus doing business that it was impossible to do the church’s work. But, of course, there was more to this episode than simply eliminating noise and commotion because when Jesus cast the Moneychangers out he said, “My house shall be called a house of prayer, but ye have made it a den of thieves.” Why would Jesus say that the Moneychangers were turning the Temple into a house of thieves if the Moneychangers were only causing a disturbance? Well, it seems that the Moneychangers had a monopoly on creating a certain coin that was used by worshipers in the Temple and the Moneychangers used this monopoly to charge interest on the coin (money) they created and in so doing had become quite wealthy making money off of money. Wait a minute. Does this sound vaguely familiar? Of course it does because the United States Federal Reserve Banks, the United States Federal Reserve, AIG, Financial Institutions and endless others in today’s modern economies, does exactly the same thing, i.e., they create money and then charge interest on it when other people or entities use it. This begs the question; why did the charging of interest for the use of money motivate Jesus to call the Moneychangers thieves? The answer to this question is much easier than it would seem because throughout the history of civilization the charging of interest for the use of money was considered a grave sin and an abomination. Anyone who engaged in such a despicable business of making money off of money was shunned as being not worthy of any honorable standing in the community. I will leave it to each reader’s conjecture that perhaps this dishonorable practice of making money off of money is where a particular racial discrimination got its start and still exists throughout much of the world today because it was, in general, been only one race of people that thought it was not dishonorable to engage in the business of charging interest on the use of money. The fact that this race of people were nearly the exclusive practitioners of this business of making money off of money can go far in explaining how this age old scourge of discrimination got it’s start. Well that was then, and this is now. I will wager that most people consider the charging of interest for the use of money is only another way of making a profit and therefore this profit making is Capitalism in operation, i.e., if it’s Capitalism, then it cannot be a dishonorable thing to do nowadays as it was in days gone by. Well perhaps. I won’t bore you with a standard definition of Capitalism but basically one invests their real money into a privately or Corporate held business and that business then does business well enough to make a profit that is returned to the investors. The investor now has a capital gain in addition to the original capital invested and the investor can now use the capital gain to invest in new businesses, and viola, a vibrant economy. The profit earned from doing real business was earned by creating something of real value that the business sold, so therefore, the capital gain achieved is real money because was created by the real bussiness creating something of real value. You see, here’s the thing about making money off of money, it’s not a real business. You might turn a profit from making money off of money but in so doing, nothing was added to the economy because no real business was done to earn the profit and create real money. The money made off of money is not real money because nothing of value is the basis for the profit money. And it follows if the economy is awash in “not real” money, money will lose its value to the point where the economy will eventually fail. The only way an economy can continue that is constituted with “not real” money is for continuous inflation to occur and constant inflation is indeed the characteristic of the modern American economy. The political trick is to keep inflation as low as possible in order to continue the economy for as long as possible, but it will eventually fail for some future generation. This, of course, gets us to the subject of credit. Credit is the modern, new and improved, way of making money off of money, but the results are the same; the money made from extending credit is not real money and the economy will eventually fail. You can see first hand what credit can do when multiplied by “leveraging”, credit default swaps, and endless other ingenious ways of making money off of money but, of course, the money made is not real money and this “not real” money is what is causing the current financial crisis. Oh well, In God we trust, all others cash.
Wednesday, June 10, 2009
Rust Never Sleeps & Weeds Don't Rest
Rust Never Sleeps &
Weeds Don't Rest
If you awoke soon enough from your nocturnal regimen this morning you might have been treated to the sight of Rosy-Fingered Dawn pulling herself up over the eastern sky while dragging Old Sol behind to begin lighting up the world. It’s a reassuring sight. So, while all warm and fuzzy in your queen size cocoon, you rub the sleep and crud from your rested eyes and turn to see if the world is still out there. Sure enough, Old Sol is beginning to light up the world so that the struggling masses can pursue labor’s rewards and assure lazy-butts still in bed that the world is also, still there, bathed anew in fresh light and ready to go. Some apprehension about what a new day might bring is very understandable because, after all, just before hitting the sheets, you were treated to your nightly ration of murder, mayhem, avarice, natural and man-made calamity, guesses about tomorrow’s weather, without which, you would find it impossible to function without such prior knowledge of impending climatic conditions, and all brought to you by your favorite and smiling Nightly Television News Team. Small wonder then that a rational person would greet a new day with some apprehension about what might be coming their way after bearing eyewitness to such routine calamitous television events. I guess one of the realizations that increasing age brings is that it’s wise not to get too excited about what’s going on around you because, quite frankly, there is very little you can do about it anyway so what’s the point in getting all riled up and becoming personally concerned? In other words, with gray hair and sagging butts comes the knowledge that rust never sleeps and weeds never rest. This is as it has always been and will always be. The only difference is today’s modern world inundates us with nonstop information that for the most part is about the decay (Rust) of human nobility and the uncivilized (Weeds) louts causing mayhem so that the beautiful and gracious is most often drowned out by the raucous clamor of information flow. This situation contributes to a general feeling of depression and can lead to drink and dour demeanors. How about some good news? I have tried the following two things and they have always worked without fail to brighten ones day and change a dour demeanor into a pleasant and comfortable disposition. Of course, you could always stay in bed all day and avoid all contact, but most of us are not quite ready for that situation yet so I encourage you to try my two remedies because they cost nothing and are quite effective. The first one is quite easy and only requires the use of a single finger to switch channels on the television whenever the news comes on and to never pick up your reading glasses to read a newspaper. I know, it sounds extreme, but turning off television news and never reading a newspaper really works and besides if something really important is going on you will know about it soon enough from friends and neighbors. I am almost embarrassed to disclose the second remedy because it will sound like one of those feel-good, up with people things. I have run this experiment many times and the results are always the same, so try it, you’ll like it. Whenever you are out walking about, always smile at the stranger you pass. Now don’t flash a great big smile, just a small smile acknowledging the person that you are passing and what will happen next will surprise you like it has surprised me every time. The person you smiled at will more than likely smile back at you, and in addition, most likely will say, “good morning” or some other pleasantry in return. Presto! Dour attitude destroyed and outlook much improved and the prospect for an agreeable and profitable day is now at your doorstep. We all know rust never sleeps and weeds don't rest but we really can do without the constant reminder of their nefarious activities that can change our precious life into a frightened drag. To hell with that.
Weeds Don't Rest
If you awoke soon enough from your nocturnal regimen this morning you might have been treated to the sight of Rosy-Fingered Dawn pulling herself up over the eastern sky while dragging Old Sol behind to begin lighting up the world. It’s a reassuring sight. So, while all warm and fuzzy in your queen size cocoon, you rub the sleep and crud from your rested eyes and turn to see if the world is still out there. Sure enough, Old Sol is beginning to light up the world so that the struggling masses can pursue labor’s rewards and assure lazy-butts still in bed that the world is also, still there, bathed anew in fresh light and ready to go. Some apprehension about what a new day might bring is very understandable because, after all, just before hitting the sheets, you were treated to your nightly ration of murder, mayhem, avarice, natural and man-made calamity, guesses about tomorrow’s weather, without which, you would find it impossible to function without such prior knowledge of impending climatic conditions, and all brought to you by your favorite and smiling Nightly Television News Team. Small wonder then that a rational person would greet a new day with some apprehension about what might be coming their way after bearing eyewitness to such routine calamitous television events. I guess one of the realizations that increasing age brings is that it’s wise not to get too excited about what’s going on around you because, quite frankly, there is very little you can do about it anyway so what’s the point in getting all riled up and becoming personally concerned? In other words, with gray hair and sagging butts comes the knowledge that rust never sleeps and weeds never rest. This is as it has always been and will always be. The only difference is today’s modern world inundates us with nonstop information that for the most part is about the decay (Rust) of human nobility and the uncivilized (Weeds) louts causing mayhem so that the beautiful and gracious is most often drowned out by the raucous clamor of information flow. This situation contributes to a general feeling of depression and can lead to drink and dour demeanors. How about some good news? I have tried the following two things and they have always worked without fail to brighten ones day and change a dour demeanor into a pleasant and comfortable disposition. Of course, you could always stay in bed all day and avoid all contact, but most of us are not quite ready for that situation yet so I encourage you to try my two remedies because they cost nothing and are quite effective. The first one is quite easy and only requires the use of a single finger to switch channels on the television whenever the news comes on and to never pick up your reading glasses to read a newspaper. I know, it sounds extreme, but turning off television news and never reading a newspaper really works and besides if something really important is going on you will know about it soon enough from friends and neighbors. I am almost embarrassed to disclose the second remedy because it will sound like one of those feel-good, up with people things. I have run this experiment many times and the results are always the same, so try it, you’ll like it. Whenever you are out walking about, always smile at the stranger you pass. Now don’t flash a great big smile, just a small smile acknowledging the person that you are passing and what will happen next will surprise you like it has surprised me every time. The person you smiled at will more than likely smile back at you, and in addition, most likely will say, “good morning” or some other pleasantry in return. Presto! Dour attitude destroyed and outlook much improved and the prospect for an agreeable and profitable day is now at your doorstep. We all know rust never sleeps and weeds don't rest but we really can do without the constant reminder of their nefarious activities that can change our precious life into a frightened drag. To hell with that.
Wednesday, June 3, 2009
E Pluribus Unum
E Pluribus Unum
I would like to advance a thought on a subject that perhaps we haven’t given much purchase to as we look at what going on in our world today and try to make sense of it all. If we step back and try to list all of the things, from our perspective, that has been going wrong and identify all of the current and potential problems that our country has to face, the list would be as varied in number and subject as there are people making up the lists. This would be so because we all bring a different perspective to the table when we advance an opinion about what constitutes a right or wrong, or, what is a problem or not a problem. Having said all of that, it becomes obvious that personal perspective (e.g., a teenager view versus a senior citizen’s view) is the bottom-up method of constructing a society perspective about what is right or wrong, and, what is a problem or not a problem. For example: a Muslim society, Christian society, Secular society and a Spiritual society would each look and behave differently because each society is a composite of all the people that make-up those societies and each society in general would be reflective of the beliefs and values of the people in common. If you again step back, and look at what has just been said, I think we all would agree that what we are discussing here is the culture of a given society. The subject of culture is the subject I alluded to in the beginning of this discussion. For the record, let’s give Webster’s definition of the most pertinent meaning of culture from an Anthropology perspective, to wit: the sum total of ways of living built up by a group of humans beginnings and transmitted from one generation to another. It has always been an opinion of mine that culture is the single most important factor when trying to understand what is happening and why it is happening to us. Bearing in mind, of course, that culture is never static. Culture is dynamic and is always changing because it is made up of continuously changing people. I believe that culture is the only way of understanding what is going on in our society because most of what goes on is simply reflective of what our changing culture now believes and values. For example, rampant greed is understandable if the culture has changed from a spiritual society governed by beliefs in a higher order morality about honesty, fairness, truthfulness, etc., into a secular culture that is now governed by the notion that materialistic things are more important than spiritual things and therefore society has come to believe that “Greed is Good.” So condemning greed as the culprit that is ruining our country offers no way of correcting the offense of greed because greed is only a symptom of what a changing culture has spawned. The only way that greed can be brought to bay is a culture change from a Secular society that believes materialistic things are paramount into some different kind of society that comes to believe that materialistic things are not paramount and therefore, “Greed is Bad.” If we are to correct what we think is wrong and is a problem for our society then we must first understand what caused our culture to change in the first place. I will advance, for your consideration, four events I believe caused the greatest changes in our society that has in turn changed our culture and spawned so many of what many of our citizens think are our troubles and problems of today. Bear in mind that all of the citizens might not think that that our culture has changed for the worst, because after all, this is our new culture and this culture reflects the new values and beliefs of the majority. I believe the pace of change quickened in our culture as a result of the great depression and is the first of four great events that changed our culture the most. The great depression was the event that caused people to vow that they would never again deprive their families of the materialistic necessities of life and so began that transformation into a more materialistic society. The second great event that occurred was World War II. World War II facilitated the actual liberation of women by unshackling females from home and family and thereby into equal and full citizens. The actual equality of women that WWII facilitated began the transformation into a more liberal society. The third great event was the creation of civil rights by inclusion of civil rights into the Constitution. The civil rights codified into law and practice transformed guaranteed society rights into guaranteed individual rights and thus began the transformation of a homogeneous society into an individual and special interest society. The fourth, and I think the event of utmost importance, was society’s acceptance of the notion of diversity rather than the guiding principal of E Pluribus Unum (out of many, one). This event completed the transformation from a homogeneous and “melting pot” society that allowed for a unified culture into a discontinuous society with no unified culture at all. The notion of diversity has promoted the acceptance of subcultures (drug culture, race culture, science culture, this culture and that culture and has resulted in no viable culture at all. The point being that some of the things that facilitated the making of a great country, like basic honesty, truthfulness and fairness were products of a unified culture and these cultural traits made business easy and profitable, human relations civil, and in general, made for a just and fair society without the necessity of endless laws and courts to enforce what was willing enabled by the force of culture. Finally, the current fractured culture we now have will continue to change as events dictate and the troubles and problems attendant to our current situation will remain unresolved because they are a product of our culture. However, there are a large number of people, particularly the young, who believe in the culture we now have and nothing short of a great event will change things in a meaningful way regardless of how some of the citizens think. But never ever forget, it is now and forever, The Culture.
I would like to advance a thought on a subject that perhaps we haven’t given much purchase to as we look at what going on in our world today and try to make sense of it all. If we step back and try to list all of the things, from our perspective, that has been going wrong and identify all of the current and potential problems that our country has to face, the list would be as varied in number and subject as there are people making up the lists. This would be so because we all bring a different perspective to the table when we advance an opinion about what constitutes a right or wrong, or, what is a problem or not a problem. Having said all of that, it becomes obvious that personal perspective (e.g., a teenager view versus a senior citizen’s view) is the bottom-up method of constructing a society perspective about what is right or wrong, and, what is a problem or not a problem. For example: a Muslim society, Christian society, Secular society and a Spiritual society would each look and behave differently because each society is a composite of all the people that make-up those societies and each society in general would be reflective of the beliefs and values of the people in common. If you again step back, and look at what has just been said, I think we all would agree that what we are discussing here is the culture of a given society. The subject of culture is the subject I alluded to in the beginning of this discussion. For the record, let’s give Webster’s definition of the most pertinent meaning of culture from an Anthropology perspective, to wit: the sum total of ways of living built up by a group of humans beginnings and transmitted from one generation to another. It has always been an opinion of mine that culture is the single most important factor when trying to understand what is happening and why it is happening to us. Bearing in mind, of course, that culture is never static. Culture is dynamic and is always changing because it is made up of continuously changing people. I believe that culture is the only way of understanding what is going on in our society because most of what goes on is simply reflective of what our changing culture now believes and values. For example, rampant greed is understandable if the culture has changed from a spiritual society governed by beliefs in a higher order morality about honesty, fairness, truthfulness, etc., into a secular culture that is now governed by the notion that materialistic things are more important than spiritual things and therefore society has come to believe that “Greed is Good.” So condemning greed as the culprit that is ruining our country offers no way of correcting the offense of greed because greed is only a symptom of what a changing culture has spawned. The only way that greed can be brought to bay is a culture change from a Secular society that believes materialistic things are paramount into some different kind of society that comes to believe that materialistic things are not paramount and therefore, “Greed is Bad.” If we are to correct what we think is wrong and is a problem for our society then we must first understand what caused our culture to change in the first place. I will advance, for your consideration, four events I believe caused the greatest changes in our society that has in turn changed our culture and spawned so many of what many of our citizens think are our troubles and problems of today. Bear in mind that all of the citizens might not think that that our culture has changed for the worst, because after all, this is our new culture and this culture reflects the new values and beliefs of the majority. I believe the pace of change quickened in our culture as a result of the great depression and is the first of four great events that changed our culture the most. The great depression was the event that caused people to vow that they would never again deprive their families of the materialistic necessities of life and so began that transformation into a more materialistic society. The second great event that occurred was World War II. World War II facilitated the actual liberation of women by unshackling females from home and family and thereby into equal and full citizens. The actual equality of women that WWII facilitated began the transformation into a more liberal society. The third great event was the creation of civil rights by inclusion of civil rights into the Constitution. The civil rights codified into law and practice transformed guaranteed society rights into guaranteed individual rights and thus began the transformation of a homogeneous society into an individual and special interest society. The fourth, and I think the event of utmost importance, was society’s acceptance of the notion of diversity rather than the guiding principal of E Pluribus Unum (out of many, one). This event completed the transformation from a homogeneous and “melting pot” society that allowed for a unified culture into a discontinuous society with no unified culture at all. The notion of diversity has promoted the acceptance of subcultures (drug culture, race culture, science culture, this culture and that culture and has resulted in no viable culture at all. The point being that some of the things that facilitated the making of a great country, like basic honesty, truthfulness and fairness were products of a unified culture and these cultural traits made business easy and profitable, human relations civil, and in general, made for a just and fair society without the necessity of endless laws and courts to enforce what was willing enabled by the force of culture. Finally, the current fractured culture we now have will continue to change as events dictate and the troubles and problems attendant to our current situation will remain unresolved because they are a product of our culture. However, there are a large number of people, particularly the young, who believe in the culture we now have and nothing short of a great event will change things in a meaningful way regardless of how some of the citizens think. But never ever forget, it is now and forever, The Culture.
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