...and there you have it

Why we need to help Haiti

2010-01-27T00:06:00.003-06:00

The disaster is Haiti has elicited all kinds of response from outpouring of donations and support to moronic drivel such as (actual quotes, with spelling and grammar mistakes left in):

“HELP Hiati!!!!! What about helping Americans who have lost everything due to the poor economy?”

“Why should we help the people of Haiti. All they want is America to help them. They are nasty, lazy people who dell in evil and voodoo. God didn’t like there nasty ways and all the evil and voodoo they perform in the world.”

It is a sad commentary on our society that ignorant people choose to display their stupidity and ignorance so openly. Before you open your mouth and insert your foot you might want to do a little research and try using that brain of yours. Most things are not as black and white as you think they are.

To blame all their problems on corruption is easy and fits into a nice little box most simpletons can comprehend. Is there corruption in Haiti? Yes. Is there corruption in the United States? Yes, and I would argue that corruption in the United States is more pervasive and overt.

To claim some stupid notion that voodoo had something to do with it just reinforces how small minded you really are. Facts cited by other comments show that Haiti is a very Christian nation. There are many Catholic, Episcopal, and Baptist groups from cities across the United States that sponsor churches, schools, and orphanages in Haiti. The fact that Haiti retains some of its history and voodoo culture in no way means that god is cursing them - it enriches their own culture.

Haiti is a victim of history. Part of that history involves the United States and mistakes our country has made in Haiti. Ever hear of the Iowa pigs that our country tried to bring to Haiti because we thought that the native pigs were bad? Well, that was a stupid idea – the Iowa pigs could not acclimate and died – there was never anything wrong with Haitian pigs. Our policies impact countries like Haiti. For example, you can buy imported rice cheaper than locally grown rice.

Whatever our own situation may be (and it is bad, I do not discount that) we have a duty to help Haiti. Whether you like it or not, we should be willing to help our neighbor. A superpower’s power is not dictated by how many missiles or guns one has, but the ability to have compassion and to mobilize and help those most in need. Any idiot can make war. It takes a smart person to build something productive and positive. Would you rather have a country known for destroying things or one known for lending a helping hand in crisis? I prefer the later.

I have been to Haiti several times over the last year and a half. The last time I was in Haiti (November 2009) I thought that some improvements had been made. The roads were in better condition. The people seemed to me to be more optimistic. There was a peaceful transition of government. Some debt had just been forgiven. I think Haiti was really getting it and moving forward; small steps, but steps in the right direction. This earthquake has really set them back. I am very sad for the country and I will be doing whatever I can to help them get back on track.

It is easy to discount Haiti. When I was traveling back one time, a security bag checker saw my biography of Einstein I had been reading. He said that he was a physics student at University and loved Einstein. I gave him the book figuring that he might be inspired by Einstein. The sad thing is that there are many stories like that in Haiti; smart young people with education but no outlet for that education because the opportunities are not there. They want to succeed. We need to give them the opportunity to do so.

My wife has a theory: Somewhere in some village in some developing country is a child that may end up finding the cure to cancer or unlocking the mysteries of the universe or making some other awesome discovery. We should be striving to help people in need and not turning our backs because it may be inconvenient for us.

Why I am Angry

2009-09-02T08:59:00.004-06:00

The Kansas City Star’s front page article recently was about anger of town hall meeting participants. They only partially got right why people are angry in the first place. I agree that many people are acting rather stupidly by comparing Obama to Hitler, but our anger is very real and the actions of a class of morons should not diminish that fact. I am also disturbed that the Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi has the gall to call the anger an astro-turf movement. There is nothing fake about the anger; let me tell you why I am angry, and I don’t need some schmuck from a right-wing organization to coach me either:

We, the people, feel we no longer have a voice. We call our elected representatives in Washington, D.C. to tell them in overwhelming numbers that we do not support TARP or a stimulus plan and they refuse to listen and pass those measures anyway. We are suffering through a terrible economic downturn and are cutting back our own spending habits while the Washington, D.C. crowd continues to dole out the pork. They give themselves a pay raise while millions of jobs are being lost. They decide that health care reform is needed immediately, which I agree it is, but they try and ram through complex legislation that they have no time to read, no one really understands and it does not even include the basics like tort reform. It appears that over and over again, legislation is being written by special interests for special interests and not for the people. Meanwhile our national debt continues to increase to an unfathomable $12 trillion, the budget deficit for this year alone is nearly $2 trillion, and we pay over $300 billion a year in interest on debt. A recent Kansas City Star article stated that the latest forecast from 2010 to 2019 estimated an additional $9 trillion budget deficit for a potential national debt of more than $21 trillion. How are we supposed to dig ourselves out of that hole? Washington, D.C. is not making tough decisions for fear of the political ramifications; rather they continue to pass legislation that is dubiously funded by increasing the taxes on the “rich” while ignoring the very real long-term fiscal consequences. They are intent on a carbon cap and trade system, which some have argued will not do anything against “global warming” and it gives away most of the initial credits instead of charging for them (again special interests and their influence). They institute a cash-for-clunkers program that is not well administered and is nothing more than a car bubble akin to the housing bubble. At a time when more and more people are getting back to basics they seem to be running in the opposite direction.

I have no ties to the “invisible hand” supposedly behind all the “manufactured” outrage. I am an independent voter that despises the republican and democrat parties. I worry what the future has in store for my children because I see that they will have it very hard if we continue down the road we are currently on. Our elected officials consistently refuse to change course. It is simply unsustainable to continue to run this country the way they are doing. It is not working and the rest of the world is beginning to see that. And I refuse for my children to be sold into debt bondage because of the ambivalence, ignorance, and arrogance of our elected officials. They seem to be more concerned with getting their names on bridges and buildings than doing the right thing.

Gee, I wonder why we are angry.

“Your silence gives consent.” - Plato

State of Bliss

2009-08-29T12:45:00.010-06:00

For those of you that frequent my blog I should provide an explanation as to my extended absence. There are several reasons for this: 1) My trip to Haiti in late April; 2) my journey along the path of Ignorance to find that elusive sanctuary of Bliss; and 3) I have been swamped at work. The first two reasons are intimately tied to each other, although maybe not in the way you might think.

When I returned from a week long Engineers without Borders implementation trip in Haiti I was in a good mode, relaxed, and oddly stress free. We had installed perhaps the largest solar array in Haiti. The solar array is able to provide all the electricity needs for a health and birthing clinic in rural Haiti with the sun. We are potentially saving the NGO thousands of dollars per month in diesel fuel costs.

I had not listened to any news in more than a week and did not know the crap our politicians were up to in my absence. I decided that I would continue to ignore the news, stop watching TV, and stop listening to NPR and the all news channel on the radio. I had decided that ignorance was truly bliss after all. I read books and listened to music stations. I was happy and my wife were not getting into political arguments.

My experiment at closing myself to the realities of today thereby saving my sanity, not to mention my health, lasted for a couple of months. Occasionally, a colleague or friend would impart some of the insanity Washington, D.C. was cooking up. I would go off the deep end for about an hour or two and then slowly come back to my senses. I reasoned with myself that it did not do any good to get upset with the morons running the country. I reminded myself that they would do whatever they were going to do no matter how stupid or irrational it was. I was ignorant about cash for clunkers and the health care debate did not seem to upset me. I got a little upset when I was looking at a newspaper in Nebraska and there was nothing but bright red budget deficits projected every year for the next ten years. I firmly reminded myself that it was not my problem. It was helpful that I was working overtime every week and had no time to surf the interweb or watch inane television programming.

Alas, my blissful existence did not last long. While I was staining my deck and thinking deep thoughts I came to the conclusion that, while ignorance is indeed bliss, I cannot remain silent while the ridiculous self-importants in Washington, D.C. decide that a national debt of $12 trillion is not enough and they are willing to allow that to grow to $21 trillion over the next 10 years. I cannot remain silent while they take this once great country and through ignorance, arrogance, and ambivalence slowly run it into the ground. I cannot stand idly by while our so called elected representatives lay the groundwork for my children to be quasi sold into debt bondage because they are weak and stupid. I decided that I needed to get back into the game.

I mostly maintained one aspect of those blissful months; I hardly watch any television anymore. This more than anything has perhaps helped me as I continue to struggle with the addiction of futilely fighting the stupidity of the democrats and republicans. Television is one tool in their arsenal to make us complacent robots. For your sake, as well as your children’s, turn off the drug – you will feel better after about a week. You may go through some withdrawal, but in the end you will never know you missed it.

Photo of Phase I MN Solar Array Installation Team "Caption Ron and the Kissing Gourami"

RAW: Socialism versus Capitalism

2009-04-24T21:47:00.002-06:00

Some nutter on a website left a comment that 7 of 10 Americans prefer socialism to capitalism.

First, I doubt those polled could even give the proper definition of either (the definitions are below in case you were wondering.) Second, if they really knew the definitions I doubt they would chose one over the other. When you get down to it, neither in their true form is palpable.

There is much hype on talk radio about how we are marching towards socialism. However, the reality is that the United States is already part of the way there. I would also argue that the United States will never be 100 percent socialist, just like the United States will never be 100 percent capitalist. Why you may ask? Because of what it is that makes the United States unique. We value freedom. We also look out for one another.

You see, the United States is neither a capitalist nor a socialist country. Even the European countries are not socialist by definition, they just pay more taxes and have larger social programs. The United States has a combination of socialist tendencies (defense, health care, education, social security) and capitalist tendencies (incentives to produce, ability to own shares of companies, own property, invest your money). Government also regulates the capitalist system.

We have a prime example of when capitalism is allowed to run amuck with the real estate bubble and the subsequent fall out which is why capitalism cannot be allowed to run unchecked. On the other hand, without a capitalistic system creating goods and services that the government can tax we cannot provide for the socialist programs which we can agree, to one degree or another, is needed for those destitute and downtrodden. Yes, when government grows too much and people start seeing everything as a right we tip the scales towards socialism. However, socialism may work on a micro level (Amish farmers come to mind – but even they sell goods for money), it does not work by itself on a macro level. Even countries like China are using capitalism – they have no choice but to embrace certain aspects of it.

The key to everything in life is finding moderation (the foods we eat, the debt we take on, activities we are involved in, etc.). The key for the United States is finding the balance between socialism and capitalism. I hope that President Obama and his fellow democrats in Congress understand that economic freedom is good for the economy and the American people just has I hope Rush Limbaugh and the republicans understand the need to keep businesses in check (everyone is human afterall).

socialism–noun (http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/socialism)
1. a theory or system of social organization that advocates the vesting of the ownership and control of the means of production and distribution, of capital, land, etc., in the community as a whole.
2. procedure or practice in accordance with this theory.
3. (in Marxist theory) the stage following capitalism in the transition of a society to communism, characterized by the imperfect implementation of collectivist principles.

capitalism–noun (http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/capitalism)
An economic system in which the means of production and distribution are privately or corporately owned and development is proportionate to the accumulation and reinvestment of profits gained in a free market. In such a system, individuals and firms have the right to own and use wealth to earn income and to sell and purchase labor for wages with little or no government control. The function of regulating the economy is then achieved mainly through the operation of market forces where prices and profit dictate where and how resources are used and allocated.

Do the opposite of whatever they want to do

2009-04-15T06:25:00.004-06:00

Caveat: I know full well that the policies of President Bush and others got us where we are today. I was against all of his fiscal policies. I also know that the democrats sat idly by and said nothing about the explosion in spending. They certainly did nothing about Freddie Mac and Fannie Mae. Sure they protested the Iraq war, but I never heard them complain about the other $4 trillion Bush added to the debt.

There are many within the “intellectual” elite circle and ruling class calling for more stimulus. Paul Krugman, Nobel Laureate, and Robert Reich, former Secretary of Labor under President Clinton, are among those that support such thinking. President Obama appears to be listening to these wunderkids and is making rumblings of more stimulus spending coming our way. They say we need more stimulus than Japan had in their lost decade. Really? Have any of them stopped to think about what that would mean? If you compare the size of the Japanese and American economies and extrapolate we would need a stimulus package worth more than $20 trillion. Now does that pass the sniff test? I don’t think so. Most people in their gut know that this, just like bailing out AIG or GM, is the wrong course. Unfortunately for us, those people are not in charge.

Many of these people wanting more stimulus spending subscribe to Keynesian economics. Keynesian economists believe that government spending is the only way to get an economy in the doldrums going again. Please someone explain to me how the path we are on is sustainable and will not have long-term consequences. Let’s sum up where we are today:

National debt: $11 trillion and growing.
Budget deficit: $1.5 trillion this year and likely $1 trillion for years to come.
Unfunded liabilities for Medicare, Medicaid, and Social Security: $60 trillion and growing.

Looking at those numbers I cannot fathom how spending more money will help. Sure short-term, it may do some good, but then how are we going to pay the tab? It is the height of irresponsibility to push this bill onto our children and grandchildren. President Obama wants more programs and more spending. How is that possible without completing destroying the dollar and creating a Wiemar Republic scenario? Even Keynes pointed out that “governments, unable, or too timid or too short-sighted to secure from loans or taxes the resources they required, have printed notes for the balance.” Sound familiar? That’s where we are at now folks. But there are some people out there that have no problem with monetizing our debt. While small, short-term monetization may not pose a problem we are well beyond that. And I think they know it and are trying every stop gap measure hoping that the economy will turn around enough to naturally get us out of trouble. Of course they will claim that it was their massive spending that lifted us out of this recession. BULL SHIT.

Frederick Soddy, a 1921 Nobel laureate in chemistry turned economist, understood how bad debt was. In a recent op-ed piece in the New York Times, Eric Zencey, a professor of historical and political studies at Empire State College, wrote that Soddy

offered a perspective on economics rooted in physics — the laws of thermodynamics, in particular. An economy is often likened to a machine, though few economists follow the parallel to its logical conclusion: like any machine the economy must draw energy from outside itself. The first and second laws of thermodynamics forbid perpetual motion, schemes in which machines create energy out of nothing or recycle it forever. Soddy criticized the prevailing belief of the economy as a perpetual motion machine, capable of generating infinite wealth — a criticism echoed by his intellectual heirs in the now emergent field of ecological economics.

A more apt analogy, said Nicholas Georgescu-Roegen (a Romanian-born economist
whose work in the 1970s began to define this new approach), is to model the economy as a living system. Like all life, it draws from its environment valuable (or “low entropy”) matter and energy — for animate life, food; for an economy, energy, ores, the raw materials provided by plants and animals. And like all life, an economy emits a high-entropy wake — it spews degraded matter and energy: waste heat, waste gases, toxic byproducts, apple cores, the molecules of iron lost to rust and abrasion. Low entropy emissions include trash and pollution in all their forms, including yesterday’s newspaper, last year’s sneakers, last decade’s rusted automobile.

Matter taken up into the economy can be recycled, using energy; but energy, used
once, is forever unavailable to us at that level again. The law of entropy commands a one-way flow downward from more to less useful forms. An animal can’t live perpetually on its own excreta. Neither can you fill the tank of your car by pushing it backwards. Thus, Georgescu-Roegen, paraphrasing the economist Alfred Marshall, said: “Biology, not mechanics, is our Mecca.”

Following Soddy, Nicholas Georgescu-Roegen (a Romanian-born economist whose work in the 1970s began to define this new approach) and other ecological economists argue that wealth is real and physical. It’s the stock of cars and computers and clothing, of furniture and French fries, that we buy with our dollars. The dollars aren’t real wealth, but only symbols that represent the bearer’s claim
on an economy’s ability to generate wealth. Debt, for its part, is a claim on the economy’s ability to generate wealth in the future. “The ruling passion of the age,” Soddy said, “is to convert wealth into debt” — to exchange a thing with present-day real value (a thing that could be stolen, or broken, or rust or rot before you can manage to use it) for something immutable and unchanging, a claim on wealth that has yet to be made. Money facilitates the exchange; it is, he said, “the nothing you get for something before you can get anything.”

Problems arise when wealth and debt are not kept in proper relation. The amount of wealth that an economy can create is limited by the amount of low-entropy energy that it can sustainably suck from its environment — and by the amount of high-entropy effluent from an economy that the environment can sustainably absorb. Debt, being imaginary, has no such natural limit. It can grow infinitely, compounding at any rate we decide.

Whenever an economy allows debt to grow faster than wealth can be created, that economy has a need for debt repudiation. Inflation can do the job, decreasing debt gradually by eroding the purchasing power, the claim on future wealth, that each of your saved dollars represents. But when there is no inflation, an economy with overgrown claims on future wealth will experience regular crises of debt repudiation — stock market crashes, bankruptcies and foreclosures, defaults on bonds or loans or pension promises, the disappearance of paper assets.
It’s like musical chairs — in the wake of some shock (say, the run-up of the price of gas to $4 a gallon), holders of abstract debt suddenly want to hold money or real wealth instead. But not all of them can. One person’s loss causes another’s, and the whole system cascades into crisis. Each and every one of the crises that has beset
the American economy in recent years has been, at heart, a crisis of debt repudiation. And we are unlikely to avoid more of them until we stop allowing claims on income to grow faster than income.

Soddy would not have been surprised at our current state of affairs. The problem isn’t simply greed, isn’t simply ignorance, isn’t a failure of regulatory diligence, but a systemic flaw in how our economy finances itself. As long as growth in claims on wealth outstrips the economy’s capacity to increase its wealth, market capitalism creates a niche for entrepreneurs who are all too willing to invent instruments of debt that will someday be repudiated. There will always be a Bernard Madoff or a subprime mortgage repackager willing to set us up for catastrophe. To stop them, we must balance claims on future wealth with the economy’s power to produce that wealth.

Now I agree that Soddy and Georgescu-Roegen were on to something: too much debt is bad and our economic model based on consumerism and loose credit hurts us. But Soddy could not leave it at that. He had to develop his own five policy principles that he thought would combat that. His first four were once considered eccentric but are now conventional practices.

1. Abandon the gold standard
2. Let international exchange rates float
3. Use federal surpluses and deficits as macroeconomic policy tools that could counter cyclical trends
4. Establish bureaus of economic statistics (including a consumer price index) in order to facilitate this effort

I would argue that these principles have led to the situation we are in. Abandoning the gold standard has led to the ability to print money and fund government programs that are unsustainable and allows trillion dollar deficits and an $11 trillion debt – the fiat currency.

Letting exchange rates float has hit Greenland and the former Eastern Bloc countries particularly hard as loans made in a foreign currency have created havoc as loan amounts increased as a result of a floating exchange rate – the owners of those loans cannot afford to pay them now. This has also allowed people like George Soros to speculate on currencies and make billions by gaming the system.

Soddy’s third principle is the most nefarious of them all. This principle has produced the mindset that cyclical trends are bad and government intervention is good. This is a very dangerous idea in my opinion. Cyclical trends are natural and we want them; they naturally regulate economies. The idea that a government can manage an economy is ridiculous – that should not be the role of government in the first place. Yes, you can provide some monetary policy, but controlling the economy like he suggests is the same stupid notion that we can control the climate. When people like Paulson or Greenspan meddle they make things worse, not better – like keeping interest rates artificially low. Government debt also takes money away from other private entity capital projects that create real jobs and not the government ones that leech money from our economy (made up work that has little to no value). Government surplus should be used to pay down debt and if it is not needed for that it should go back to the people so that they can use it how they see fit.

The stock market and our lives are now ruled by economic statistics thanks to Soddy’s fourth principle. We hear how the markets react to various economic statistics. Bad stats lead to bad days on Wall Street. Good news and the markets go up. More data manipulates the system and places value on short-term outcomes rather than long-term reality.

“Soddy’s fifth proposal, the only one that remains outside the bounds of conventional wisdom, was to stop banks from creating money (and debt) out of nothing.” Well, this runs counter to his first principle above anyway. The Federal Reserve has long been creating money out of nothing. If you want to stop them from making money out of nothing you need something like the gold standard. This has led our ruling political class to seek our favor by showering us with fake money in the form of inefficient and incompetent government programs we can’t afford. The more they sink their talons into our lives the less likely we are tell them to go to hell.

Lastly, Mr. Zencey, probably as much of an economist as I am, claims that we need a “100-percent reserve requirement on demand deposits”. This is unworkable and would unnecessarily lock up capital in banks and make investment onerous. Please leave the economics to those with common sense. The intellectual elite that include Krugman, Reich, and Zency, should shut themselves up in their offices and leave us alone. Please keep your intellectual workouts to yourself. Have you not done enough damage already? We do not need more of your meddling. You and your ilk landed us in this mess in the first place.

Finally, one last anecdote to dispel the notion that we need more stimulus or onerous regulation (some regulation, yes, not what Reid, Pelosi, Frank, or Schumer want). On a radio program here in Kansas City they were talking with a local bank president. His bank is largely unaffected by the whole subprime mess because he followed two simple rules:-1) they did not make risky loans and 2) they did not allow loans to exceed 70% of their deposits. He claimed that the banks now suffering had loan to deposit ratios greater than 100% and they invested heavily in the subprime market. Damn that Midwestern common sense.

The fix is pretty simple when you get down to basics and let common sense guide your business model. What the brain trust in government does not understand is that we are paying for years of negligence. We cannot simply make a 180 degree turn and suddenly everything is sunshine and lollipops. We need to let the markets correct themselves. Will it be painful? Yes. Will it be better this way and not place a huge burden on our children? Yes. There is no need for complex economic models or scraping our economic system; we just need to do what makes sense, and that does not include what the ruling class is suggesting we do. A better approach may be to do the opposite of whatever they want to do.

Misplaced Anger

2009-03-19T22:22:00.006-06:00

There goes President Obama whipping up the populist anger once again. He goes in front of town hall meetings and talks about how angry and disappointed he is that AIG gave $165 million in bonuses. Our lawmakers than decide that they need to punish those receiving bonuses in companies that receive government bailout money and pass legislation to tax the bonuses at 90 percent. They hope the states follow suite and tax the remaining 10 percent.

No matter if you are against or for the bonuses, you should be very concerned about the knee-jerk measures Congress is taking to appease the populists. Where are those crying fascism now? This is the government leading us down a slippery slope we do not want to start down. What next, more legislation targeted at another specific group of people they disagree with or that President Obama decides to target? A contract is a contract, no matter how much it disgusts you. If you want to be disgusted, try looking in the mirror.

How about this for an example and let’s rate its fairness. Let’s say I work for a company that is getting money from the government for one reason or another. The reason the company is getting this money is that one or more divisions of the company really screwed up. But the division I am working in is going gangbusters. In fact, I did very well last quarter and exceeded my targets. According to my employment contract if I meet or exceed my targets I am entitled to a bonus. Now should I not be given the bonus just because the other divisions caused my company to be in such dire straits that it needed to belly up to the Frank-Reid-Pelosi-Dodd trough?

Try this one. I work in a competitive market. My job skills are constantly sought by other companies. I could go anywhere and they would pay me well. My company is going through some rough times and happens to be receiving government bailout money. They want to make sure they keep me because they know full well I can jump ship. So they provide me an incentive to stay through a cash bonus. Now should I not be given the incentive just because my company needed to belly up to the Frank-Reid-Pelosi-Dodd trough? Shouldn't my company try to retain talent it desperately needs as it rights its ship?

All the supposed outrage at AIG is another way to misdirect our ire at the complete incompetency of our federal government. The fact remains that Congress did not act as it should have when formulating the bail outs.

Democratic leaders scrambling to strip AIG executives of bonuses are having a hard time answering a key question: Why didn't Congress act to prevent the bonuses in the first place?
"There's always more we can do, and hindsight is 20/20," said Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid Tuesday.
But though some lawmakers did move to prevent bonuses in the stimulus bill last month, the final language actually makes an exception for pre-existing contracts, effectively exempting AIG.

Senate Banking Committee Chairman Chris Dodd, D-Connecticut, who originally proposed the executive compensation provision, said he did not include the exemption clause, which said new rules "shall not be construed to prohibit any bonus payment required to be paid pursuant to a written employment contract executed on or before February 11, 2009."

Really Senator Dodd? You do not know how that got in there? Let’s see, does you and President Obama the leaders in AIG political contributions have anything to do with it? I wonder.

The top ten recipients of AIG donations for the 2008 election cycle:

Sen. Chris Dodd, D-Connecticut: $103,100
President Barack Obama: $101,332
Sen. John McCain, R-Arizona: $59,499
Secretary of State Hillary Clinton: $35,965
Sen. Max Baucus, D-Montana: $24,750
Former presidential candidate Mitt Romney: $20,850
Vice President Joe Biden: $19,975
Rep. John Larson, D-Connecticut: $19,750
Sen. John Sununu, R-New Hampshire: $18,500
FormerpPresidential candidate Rudy Giuliani: $13,200

Oh yeah, Senator Dodd did have something to do with that after all. Huh, I wonder if that $103,100 jogged his memory.

Senator Christopher Dodd (D-Conn.) suffered a political blow Wednesday with the
admission that he had been involved in key legislative changes that helped pave
the way for AIG to pay controversial bonuses.

In a retreat from earlier statements, Dodd said Treasury Department officials had come to him last month urging him to modify an amendment to the stimulus bill that capped bonuses for firms receiving aid.

The real people that should be punished here are the members of Congress. They should forgo any pay increases until the budget is balanced and I would recommend that we retroactively tax them at 5 percent per year for each year there was no balanced budget and they served in Congress. Now that would be a step in the right direction.

All this misplaced anger is yet another smokescreen created by those in Washington, D.C. to hide their truly ugly incompetency. Thanks. This is definitely not change I can believe in.

Really as Bad as You Think

2009-02-18T01:00:00.008-06:00

“One of the most important skills for political success is the ability to make confident assertions of absurdities or lies.” -Thomas Sowell

If you think I am some rethuglican, guess again. I opposed the Bush tax cuts. I opposed the Iraq War. I opposed the Bush stimulus in early 2008. I opposed TARP 1. I also opposed Obama’s stimulus. Why? I see ineffective and dangerous governmental policy behind each one. I look beyond the short-term effects to the long-term consequences. Looking at the result of the first four I can state with some confidence that I was right in opposing each and every one of them.

The stimulus touted by Obama to create 3.5 million jobs (funny how that number keeps increasing) provides a paltry $16 extra per paycheck this year ($400 dollar credit divided by 26 paychecks) which drops to $8 per paycheck next year. NPR was interviewing some so-called expert. The interviewer asked if the “expert” really thought that extra $16 per paycheck would be stimulating. The “expert” actually said that he thought it would. You have got to be kidding; what freaking planet was this idiot from? The only thing an extra $16 per paycheck will stimulate is McDonald’s. Don’t get me wrong, I am all for creating jobs. But this is not the way to do it.

The stimulus is nothing more than a spending stop gap to hide the underlying issues of our economy and delay the inevitable real pain (You can put your finger in the dam to stop the leak…). It does very little to stimulate innovation which creates real jobs. True stimulus would have been a massive $500 billion+ investment in energy of the future and a rehab of our electric grid - I could have supported that because I understand the need for it and I can see how it would benefit our economy. The little dribs and drabs towards an investment in infrastructure in the current stimulus plan fall far short of providing a healthy footing for an economy beyond the next election cycle. As one comment put it: “[The stimulus is] like eating more food to lose weight!”

We had the tech bubble, the housing bubble and next we will have the government spending bubble. When the government money runs out, what then? Will we be told that we need another porktastic spending spree because the first one was not large enough? Can’t we see that this is simply no longer sustainable? And here I thought the progressives were all about sustainability. It is obvious that their idea of what sustainability is does not translate to the pocket book. Of course, if they really adhered to the idea of a sustainable society they would kill themselves because the majority of what humans do is not sustainable. But I digress.

Do not believe for one instant the pundits when they say that the national debt is still only a percentage of the gross domestic product (GDP). They forget to add in the debt held by business and you and me. That total is $52 trillion – three times the GDP of around $14 trillion. Adding more debt is a very bad idea. Some pundits want us to do what Japan did in the 1990s. If only it were that simple. We would have to have a stimulus package worth more than $20 trillion to match what Japan did because we have a much larger economy. And I am not including the unfunded liabilities of social security and Medicare that is an estimated $60 trillion.

Even scarier is what the Federal Reserve (Fed) is doing to straighten out the mess the banks are in. The Fed has committed trillions to the bail out of insolvent financial institutions. Robert Reich in his blog recently wrote:

“To date, the Fed has already committed some $2.5 trillion to rescuing the financial ystem, yet no one outside the Fed knows exactly how or where this money went. The Fed is subject to almost no political oversight. Yet if the trillions of dollars the Fed has already committed and the trillions more it's about to commit can't be recouped, the federal debt explodes and you and I and other taxpayers are left holding the bag.

In other words, Geithner and Fed Chair Ben Bernanke continue to do pretty much what Hank Paulson and Bernanke did: They hide much of the true costs and risks to taxpayers of repairing the banking system.”

And we should trust Turbo Tax Tim? Why am I and others like me marginalized for speaking out? We are raising the alarm and the sheeple simply would rather watch American Idle. Congress voted on nearly a $1 trillion spending plan that contained more than 1,000 pages of text and had less than 24 hours to look it over before voting on it. We are simply to take on faith that politicians are looking out for our best interests?

The dumb are leading the dumber towards the cliff. The sheeple look idly by without a clue as to what is going on. We the Idiots deserve every bit of what we have sown.

Question everything and everyone. Trust no one.

Photo by KCThinker, Butterfly at Ohama Henry Doorly Zoo

Repeating Mistakes of the Past

2009-02-13T03:51:00.006-06:00

Probably one of the most frustrating things about the financial crisis we are in is that the response is eerily familiar to past crises. Yes, I am talking mainly about the Great Depression. The history we learned in school that FDR’s New Deal brought us out of the Great Depression is patently false.

World War II did end the Great Depression, as revisionists are apt to claim, in a manner of speaking, but not in the way you may think. The U. S. did benefit from the massive war building effort, but after the war was over all that manufacturing had to be turned somewhere else, it simply could not keep churning out guns and ammo for a war that did not exist. When WWII finally came to a close the majority of countries with industries similar to ours before the war were in shambles. The U. S. was intact, had the manufacturing infrastructure and was able to quickly start producing. Another key was that the war effort led to considerable innovations which spurred more job growth. In conclusion, FDR’s New Deal did nothing. In fact, Henry Morgenthau, FDR’s Treasury Secretary, testified before the House Ways and Means Committee in May 1939:

“We are spending more money than we have ever spent before and it does not work. I want to see this country prosperous. I want to see people get a job. We have never made good on our promises. I say after eight years of this administration we have just as much unemployment as when we started and an enormous debt to boot.”

Of course the economists today (and even presidents) don’t let the truth stop them from making idle claims. It is interesting to note that, like psychologists, economists adhere to different schools of thought (or ideology if you will). There are the Keynesians, the Austrian School, and others. Frederic Bastiat, a French politician in the 19th century wrote:

“Essentially, economics is the science of determining whether the interests of human beings are harmonious or antagonistic.”

In a way, economics is like psychology because much of it is based on human emotion and interaction, so it should not come as a surprise that economists rally around different schools of thought than reality.

The idea that the government is like Superman coming to save the day is absolutely ludicrous. Time and time again, history has shown us that the government is inept. Yes, they are necessary, but only to a point. The role of government is not to be some big brother making sure you don’t fall and if you happen to fall not only picking you up, but dusting you off and carrying you to bed to rest. Government may provide some programs for people to better themselves by, but for the most part it is not government’s responsibility to make sure you have a roof over head and food on your table – that is called personal responsibility, something that seems to be a foreign concept nowadays. The role of government is to provide a safe environment for life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness; to ensure there are sufficient, but not burdensome, laws to protect society. Government is at its best when it gets out of the way of commerce. Government also wastes a lot of our tax-payer funded time on moral issues like homosexuality, abortion, and gay marriage, and non-political issues like steroids in baseball and the NCAA football championship.

What is now going on is the perversion of the idea of government. President Bush presided over a doubling of our national debt and was at the helm of largest expansion of federal government in decades. Republicans insisted that regulations on financial institutions be relaxed. Democrats forced banks to make bad loans. The Federal Reserve cut interest rates to rock bottom levels. You and I spent more money than we had. Everyone wanted everything now. People borrowed against a home with an inflated value. They ran up their credit cards. People bought houses with no credit, no job, and no money down. Financial instruments like Credit Default Swaps were created. Banks bundled the loans and sold them off only to be sold again by others. The result: a combined $56 trillion debt - $12 trillion for the government and $44 trillion for businesses and individuals. That is approximately four times our annual gross domestic product. How is something like that sustainable? It simply is not.

The government’s response? Pump billions (soon to be trillions, mark my words) into insolvent banks. Spend nearly $1 trillion to get the economy going. It did not work in the 1930’s and it won’t work today. Why? Even though the circumstances are somewhat different, the fundamentals are the same. The banks also don’t trust anyone, especially government, after they got burned for making stupid decisions. They are rightfully (and finally) tightening up credit again. There is no credit crunch. Banks are just getting back to fundamentals. If you don’t have a job you should not be given a loan for a car, let alone a house. The government refuses to understand that the last couple of decades have been built on personal and public debt. The government tries to prop up businesses that should be allowed to fail because they are poorly run (banks and American car companies). The government also refuses to understand that government spending projects do not grow an economy. There needs to be real demand and not more artificial demand based on borrowed money no one has. Once the money is spent to build a road, there is no incentive for that employer to employ that person any more. Once the food stamps are spent, more are needed. Yet, the government, in its infinite wisdom (more like denial), is galloping to the rescue of an empty burning building.

As usual, the government is blind to the consequences of its actions. It cannot think beyond Stage One. “In the Economic Sphere,” Frederic Bastiat wrote:

“An act, a habit, an institution, a law produces not only one effect, but a series of effects. Of these effects, the first alone is immediate; it appears simultaneously with its cause; it is seen. The other effects emerge only subsequently; they are not seen; we are fortunate if we foresee them.”

To prove his point, Bastiat described what happens when a vandal breaks a shopkeeper’s window. The seen effect is that repairing the glass creates economic value in the payment to the glazier, who then has money to buy a new suit or hire a part-time employee. What is unseen is that the shopkeeper has to pay the glazier with money that he would otherwise have used to buy a suit or add an employee. “The broken-window fallacy, under a hundred disguises, is the most persistent in the history of economics,” wrote the economic journalist Henry Hazlitt in 1946. Another similar parable is Uncle Sam, Cousin Maynard, and the miracle seeds.

There is a hidden cost to everything. It is in the stimulus package and it will be in other legislation that the Obama administration will try to ram through Congress. This so-called stimulus will cost each and every household approximately $6,700 in additional debt, paid for by our children and grandchildren. That does not include the $12 trillion of debt we already have - add each citizen's share of that debt is more than $35,000!

The longer government keeps its blinders on, the more likely the real problems will never get solved and the more likely the future integrity of the U. S. is in doubt. Of course, historians will probably take creative license with Obama’s story and undoubtedly shape it in positive nature, much like they have with Lincoln and FDR.

Photo by KCThinker. My daughter walking along the beach.

Why the Stimulus is a Bad Idea

2009-02-07T19:34:00.005-06:00

I may just be a simpleton from "fly over country" who sees this stimulus as an utter waste of money. Only about $100 billion is for true infrastructure. You might as well as throw the rest in the fire along with the TARP money. That’s trillions of dollars we will never see any benefit from and that my children will have to pay for now. Why is no one asking how this largesse will be paid for? They simply take it on face value that we need to rush headlong into unwisely spending nearly a trillion dollars. The same crap was pulled with TARP and the Patriot Act and look at where it got us. I am tired of the fear mongering. I thought that would be over when President Bush left office. However, President Obama obviously took a page out of Bush’s playbook and is using fear to get this travesty of a spending bill passed.

What will creating a massive spending government spending bubble actually do? The way I see it, once the money is spent the jobs go away. Government spending as a means to create jobs is not sustainable from my perspective, especially when you have to borrow that money in the first place. How does the stimulus provide long-term sustainable job growth, if at all? That is not change I can believe in.

A good number of jobs were created under during the Clinton Administration because there was innovation in the form of the internet boom. Innovation leads to positive job growth. Under the Bush Administration there were far fewer jobs created because there was no innovation behind the government’s deficit spending. The majority of the stimulus is deficit spending. Little in the stimulus package is geared towards innovation. Sure there is a portion directed to renewable energy and increasing broadband accessibility, but the vast majority of the $800+ billion package is directed to short-term jobs with absolutely no innovation.

The whole idea of getting back to where we were is ridiculous. It was all artificial in the first place. Just when we are finally coming to our senses after decades of spending like sailors in a whore house and now everyone wants to once again spend money no one has. Have we learned nothing? How can that possibly be a good idea when we have so much debt in the first place and we are nowhere close to addressing the long-term fiscal problems associated with social programs such as Medicare?

My gut tells me that this is a bad idea and we will regret it. I look at it and I shake my head because it seems common sense has left the building. You can quote all the economists you want, cite all the job creation numbers from one president to another, and compare it to Sweden or Japan, but ask yourself if you can truly make those apple to apple comparisons. Something tells me that the situation we are in is far worse, much deeper, and far more complex than any of those other situations. Throwing money at it is not necessarily the answer to every problem. Taking a step back and coming up with the right response is always better than merely responding quickly.

We need to feel some true pain. And an unemployment rate of 7.6% is not true pain (yes, those without a job would disagree, but let’s be realistic and look at historic jobless rates and we must also consider ourselves fortunate when looking at the state of the rest of world). All we are doing is providing temporary pain relief but not looking at the symptoms. We want to give aspirin when we may have to amputate a leg.

Please keep in mind I am no economist, I am just a simple civil/environmental engineer who has not knowingly cheated on his taxes so obviously I am not qualified to have made any of the comments above.

Photo by my daughter. Winter weather in Iowa.

Living Beyond Our Means - A Short Story

2009-02-02T22:47:00.007-06:00

"A democracy cannot exist as a permanent form of government. It can only exist until the voters discover that they can vote themselves largesse from the public treasury. From that moment on, the majority always votes for the candidates promising the most benefits from the public treasury with the result that a democracy always collapses over loose fiscal policy, always followed by a dictatorship." - Unattributed

The curator sighed. After 36 years working for the Smithsonian he was filled with sadness. This is not how he wanted to end his career. This would be the last piece of artwork that would be boxed up from this gallery. It was one of his favorites from the early 1900s – a beautiful painting from the Arts and Crafts era of the Snake River with the Grand Teton mountain range in the background.

Under the Debt Reconciliation and Repayment Act all valuable artwork was categorized and sold off in large lots to countries holding the United States’ massive $43 trillion national debt – even after making payments it was now still 127 times the current estimated gross domestic product. Most of the extremely valuable pieces had already been packed up and sent away. Even priceless artifacts were given an estimated value. The majority of the Library of Congress had been divided up and sold to collections in Europe, Asia, Africa, and South America. The most horrifying acquisition was the sale of the Declaration of Independence to China. He supposed that everything had its price in the end. He wondered why America was still suffering when the rest of the world had returned to ecomonic normalcy more than 6 years ago.

The less valuable pieces and displays were merely discarded or burned rather than being placed in long-term storage. During a recent trip to a Smithsonian Warehouse to catalog a number of items destined to Venezuela, he had even caught a glimpse of a minor modern piece of art being used as a roof in one of the many shanty towns outside of Washington, D.C. The Emergency Homeland Austerity Measures Act called for strict budget expenditures. They had no choice; the International Monetary Fund and World Bank had stepped in to mediate the settling of the America’s debt in the aftermath of the collapse of the dollar. Under the terms of the agreement, the United States had to enact the EHAMA. Such trivial things like preserving history were ignored in favor of feeding Americans.

His thoughts drifted to the many times he discussed the economy with friends. They all assured him that everything would be fine. He was convinced that America could no longer afford to live beyond its means. His friends told him that he was overreacting, that the trillions spent in financially securing the banks and the many stimulus packages would finally set America on the right course. Of course, no one in the government considered how all that spending would be paid for. They were all surprised when foreign investors stopped buying U.S. Treasury Bills. With no funding, the bottom finally fell out from under the unsustainable initiatives. He grimaced with a pang of guilt at being right. He felt the heat in his head rising as his anger of what had been done to his country surfaced.

Five years ago a ragtag contingent of Iraq and Afghanistan war veterans disabled security and managed to storm the Capital. They demanded real change and ended up killing 15 senators and 53 congressmen before being killed themselves in the standoff. The government fearing another act like that quickly instituted martial law, disbanded the armed forces, formed the National Police, and passed The Firearm Prohibition Act. It took over three years but the majority of firearms had been confiscated. Rumor had it that there were some serious firefights between the National Police and the last holdouts who loudly proclaimed “…From My Cold, Dead Hands.” Well that is exactly what ended up happening. The metal from the guns was melted down and sold to countries to pay down the debt. The remaining gun stocks were initially destroyed in huge public bonfires vaguely reminiscent of the infamous Nazi book burning pyres. Later they were quietly destroyed after some environmentalists complained about the pollution. Now and then there was a report of someone who had slipped through the system and was caught with a firearm – mainly hunters trying to feed their families – and were sent to prison work camps without a trial. It was hard labor. Many in the camps died.

The official government press was tightlipped during the firearm prohibition campaign. The main news providers quickly towed the government line. Those that did not where conveniently shut down by the Federal Communications Commission under an emergency law. What real news was available from the internet was quickly silenced when Congress passed The Fairness in Media Act in an attempt to control what was being said in the media. The act essentially shut down the internet. They felt that too much negative news would incite more violence and demoralize Americans.

He stared at the blank walls around him. After so many years of providing the public with a venue to see, hear, and touch the history of the United States and the world one more Smithsonian Museum would be closed. Not that the public had been allowed access to the National Mall in several years; the entire area around the Capital and White House was cordoned off and only accessible to government employees on official business. The public was not allowed to enter the area because of security concerns.

The painting he was packing up was part of a collection destined for Brazil and their new museum of North American Art History. Not much he could do about it now. He called his wife and told her that he was leaving soon. It would be the last call made from the building. The workers were coming tomorrow to salvage the wiring and gut the building of anything of worth. The windows and doors would be bricked over and the yet another government building would be mothballed. He doubted the interiors would ever see any daylight except when the roof finally caved in. There was no money in the budget for even simple maintenance. The only living things to step in these halls again would likely be rats, spiders, and other insects.

Over the phone his wife told him that the elderly man next door had died that day. One of the more heinous parts of The Emergency Homeland Austerity Measures Act was the refusal of medical care for anyone over 65 years of age. The man next door had a history of cancer. Ten years ago at the age of 63, he had survived colon cancer. He was supposedly in remission, but he had not been feeling well of late and many of the same pains he had when he had first been diagnosed with cancer were returning. The hospital turned him away saying there was nothing they could do for him. They told him that he had no right using up valuable medical resources. His wife could not afford any outside treatment. They were left to suffer. To add insult to injury, dead bodies were discarded on the streets because no one could afford burial or cremation. The government came around and collected the bodies and dumped them in large pits. He was thinking of setting fire to his house just before he died to save them the trouble. At least he would go out on his terms.

He hoped that he would not have to wait long to get his rations today; one piece of hard bread, a bit of meat with questionable origin, rice or potatoes and if he was lucky a piece of fruit or vegetable. A tear rolled down his cheek as he turned from the building and walked down the overgrown and unkempt National Mall to his government-issued home.

An original short story by KCThinker. The story pretty much sums up how I feel right now – hopeless.

Give, Give, Give... for a party of all things?

2009-01-10T08:33:00.010-06:00

One would think that spending nearly $1 billion on a political campaign is enough, now they want the most lavish inauguration funded off the backs of the people. How absolutely shameless. Where is the humility - where is a tame event in light of the financial mess the country is in? You lead by example Mr. Obama.

Will he start asking for donations to decrease the national debt? Unlikely.

Will he start asking for donations to help get Medicare back in the black? Doubtful.

No, we should give money for a party. That money won't even go to starving kids in South America or a potable water program in Africa. It will go for a celebration. This is what we can expect from an Obama presidency? That is not change I can believe in.

Below is an actual email my wife, an Obama supporter, received recently:

On January 20th, our journey to bring change will officially begin.

We're organizing the most open and accessible inauguration in our nation's history. And we're doing it without contributions from Washington lobbyists or big corporations.

Just like we did on the campaign, we're relying entirely on supporters like you -- ordinary people giving whatever they can afford to make this an event for all Americans.

I know we've asked a lot of you. But changing the way business is done in Washington will take a commitment from all of us. Right now, you can help give this administration a strong start [by throwing a huge party?].

And if you make a donation of any amount before midnight tonight, you could be selected to come to Washington, D.C., and be part of the welcome ceremony, the swearing in, the Inaugural Parade, and the Inaugural Community Ball.

Will you make a donation of $100 or more and be part of the historic moment you made possible?

We have a long road ahead of us, and we're going to face some major challenges as soon as we start. But I know I can count on you every step of the way.

Thank you for everything you've done and happy New Year,

Barack

P.S. -- You could be there for this historic moment even if you cannot make a donation. You can show your support by sharing what this inauguration means
to you.

Photo by KCThinker, Batey outside of La Romana, Dominican Republic.

Madoff: Not the Biggest Ponzi Scam Ever

2008-12-17T03:28:00.005-06:00

Sure Bernard Madoff ripped people off for more than $50 billion. In one of the largest Ponzi schemes to date Mr. Madoff bilked investors ranging from individuals to charities (yes, even charities – what a scum bag) out of large sums of money. The losses which will likely be more than $50 billion, are more than the MCI Worldcom and Enron debacles.

But Madoff’s Ponzi scheme is not the largest, nor the most nefarious scam ever. I would argue that the largest, most expansive Ponzi scheme is the United States of America. That Ponzi scheme will cost trillions upon trillions of dollars. Why do I say that? Quick answer: TARP (isn’t it funny how something like a blue piece of plastic used as a temporary measure to keep water out after roof damage is used to name the bailout plan?). Long answer: Deficit spending – taking money from others (children and future generations of Americans in the form of debt) to pay for current programs.

The United States has been unsustainable for some time. Many financial bubbles have been created in the past, only to burst or slowly deflate. I contend that each bubble is a sort of Ponzi scheme. The credit bubble has been one of the worst and the resulting “rescue” plan will only make matters worse. The invented money (speculation on real estate and bad loans) led to more invented money etc. We have seen the effects of that now. All the building and real estate speculation was not sustainable. So now the federal government will “stimulate” the economy to create (invent) jobs and consumer demands etc. in an attempt to keep the bubble from deflating even more. Eventually the bubble created by that will also burst. It seems that the majority of pundits, politicians, and economists fundamentally do not understand or want to accept that there needs to be a severe retraction before everything can start again (even now they are scratching their heads wondering why the infusion of hundreds of billions is not helping – silly humans). Maybe there a good automotive analogy would be flooding the car – you have to wait a bit before trying to start the car again.

By trying to reverse something that was invented we are just setting the system up for yet another failure. Mr. Madoff could not reverse his Ponzi scheme unless he actually invested that money and had real returns on that investment. The federal government will not get away with its own Ponzi scheme unless it rights the fiscal ship. We simply cannot continue to borrow heavily against the future to pay for the present.

Other good reading: Congress in a Glass House

Photo by KCThinker, Blue Door, San Juan

After the Hangover Wears Off

2008-11-02T07:15:00.006-06:00

On Wednesday morning, after the long night of drinking to celebrate or lament, we will wake up and guess what – nothing has changed. We are still the same country with $11 trillion in debt and $54 trillion unfunded liabilities. We are still the same country with unpopular wars in the Middle East. We are still the same country with a crumbling infrastructure. We are still a country that sends more than $700 billion a year offshore for its energy. Most importantly, we are still the same country with an egotistical political establishment; one that would prefer to pander than lead.

This was an election about the last 8 years of Bush more than anything else. Let’s be honest, the electorate is not smart enough to actually look at the issues and make an informed decision, they would rather base their selection on emotion. The contradictory political ads make it even more difficult for the shallow to make sense about where the candidates really stand. In the end, America is all about making themselves feel better – whether that be at the shopping mall or in the voting booth.

After the congratulatory back slaps, lip smacking at the new found political power and the statements of an imagined mandate are over, there still looms the 800 pound gorilla in the room. I stand by my belief that no matter who gets elected (I am about 95% certain that Obama will be elected) nothing will really change where it really matters. The only change will be who is called president. Sure there will be some other changes –Obama will change from Bush’s tax-cut-and-spend administration to a tax-increase-and-spend administration. Oh yeah, Obama will enact cap and trade of plant food (carbon dioxide) which will significantly increase all of our energy bills (although, to be honest, McCain is also talking about that).

What really needs to happen? We need a real leader that would present America with a plan that will include touch choices. A real leader will work with Congress to enact those tough choices. What would those tough choices be?

Balance the budget with the current revenue stream and that includes excluding social security revenue from the revenue stream. That means across the board cuts, including the military.

A tax increase levied only to pay down the debt and pay back the trillions in IOUs to the social security fund. I propose a modest national sales tax in lieu of increasing income taxes.

Consolidate government, reduce duplicity, and increase governments’ effectiveness and efficiency.

Reform Medicare and Social Security. That means cutting benefits and eliminating the maximum earnings amount above which you stop paying the social security payroll tax.

Reform our education system and invest in math and science education.

Drill more and invest in renewable energy. We need to be leaders in the renewable energy field.

Close military bases around the world and pull our military back. We need to defend OUR borders first and foremost.

Squash the climate change nonsense which would waste trillions trying to reduce global temperatures by a tenth of degree. Taking that money and investing it in math and science education, renewable energy research, and infrastructure would have a far greater impact.

If the $11 trillion in debt and $54 trillion in unfunded liabilities does not say it all, you, quite frankly, are a moron of massive proportions. These two numbers alone provide enough justification for the measures I propose above. These two numbers provide a measure of the precariousness of our situation. Americans need to realize that the run is over. America needs to rethink its priorities. America needs to realize that money does not grow on trees and cannot be printed wantonly without dire consequences. America can no longer enslave on our children and grandchildren with debt. It is time we take responsibility for our actions, at a personal level and at a national level.

Wake up America. Take some aspirin and drink some water. Shake the hang-over off and demand real change, not the change promised in pretty speeches.

Photo by fellow Engineers Without Borders member, Sugar cane fields, road, railroad, and mountains, Dominican Republic

A Simple Request

2008-10-21T13:37:00.004-06:00

I only have a few simple requests of our politicians:

1. Please explain to me how you are going to pay for your policies and spending proposals and have a balanced budget without counting the social security surplus.

2. Please justify deficit spending with more than $10 trillion in debt and $54 trillion in unfunded liabilities.

3. Please justify the burden you are putting on my children and their children with reckless policies and spending habits.

4. Please look into my children's eyes and tell them what you just told me.

Welcome President, er, Chairman Obama

2008-10-20T19:22:00.004-06:00

Senator and future President of the United States of America Barack Obama promises a change from the last 8 years of Bush. I believe he will deliver that change. It is just not the type of change that you and I are really expecting. It is not the type of leadership this country needs in the face of an unprecedented economic turmoil. Not that that old guy would be any better. We basically have a leadership and intellectual vacuum in D.C.; unfortunately I am ninety percent certain that Obama will be elected because cultural change is more important than substantive issues like debt, deficits, and fiscal responsibility.

The last 8 years of Bush were all about tax cut and spend. How will Obama change that? Will he cut spending? No. He will increase spending by billions taking the nearly $500 billion budget deficit for fiscal year 2008 and increase it at a time we need to be cutting spending across the board including the military. Neither candidate does not take into account the trillions spent trying to “save” the system (oh wait, that was “printed” money – my mistake that doesn't count).

Will he increase taxes? Yes and No and Yes. Those making more than $250,000 a year or the top 5% of income earners (those making more than $150,000) will pay more, (not sure which number he means) but those making next to nothing will get money. However, Obama will make plant food (CO2) a major pollutant and likely enact cap-and-trade of plant food (CO2). The dirty, little secret on that is that all our energy prices will sky rocket hitting every income class. Obama giveth with one hand and taketh with the other.

Another change under an Obama administration will be reverting to Woodrow Wilson era politics where those critical of the administration will be silenced. We already have seen the beginnings of that with the handling of Joe the Plumber. An innocent question about Obama's tax policies by "one of us" leads the press to investigate Joe's taxes and licensing. It turns out that all of a sudden Joe needs to be silenced and discredited. Wouldn't you know it, Joe owes back taxes. Never mind that a member of the United States senate, Senator Rangel (D), owed back taxes recently too, but then again he did not have the audacity to question Obama’s policies. Obama had the arrogance to say that he never heard of any plumbers making $250,000. I suppose only elitists with degrees from Harvard and Presidents of the United States are allowed to make that much. How out of touch can he possibly get? He obviously has never run a business or knows anything about running a business based on a comment like that.

Now Obama by himself with a republican controlled house and senate may be held in check and things like the Fairness Doctrine would never see the light of day. Unfortunately, we have the dumb leading the dumber. The combination of Pelosi and Reid will make a nasty three-headed monster that should keep any child from getting a good nights rest. The Obalosied tax monster is coming for your pocket book. Oh, it is a nice monster to poor people, but you rich people better watch out. The Obalosied monster will have the audacity to steal from your pocketbook in the middle of the day. Wow, I really am looking forward to the next 2 to 4 years. If you thought things were rough now, just wait, worse is around the corner.

We are so screwed. Thanks for nothing democrats and republicans. You both have put us in an untenable position. Instead of being so self-absorbed in your party’s power you should have been looking out for America. You should have been leading and not pandering. I hope you can look in your children and grandchildren in the eyes and know that you had a chance to turn the tide, but you chose to be selfish. Thanks for nothing, now go to hell.

Undecided; Leaning Towards Ambivalence

2008-10-15T21:15:00.007-06:00

I can’t take it anymore. Listening to the presidential debate makes my head want to explode. First, McCain needs to shut his pie hole and stop sounding like a broken record. He used the same washed up arguments from the other debates tonight. Can’t you come up with anything new and better, McCain? One thing is for certain, and that is that McCain lost the election tonight.

Those of us in the undecided category were listening tonight to maybe help us make up our minds on which of these morons would be the lesser of two evils. I bet Obama sounds like a good choice to many undecided voters after tonight’s performance. He even sounded reasonable to me at times.

Before you utter your disbelief that there are people that actually have not made up their minds yet in this election, let me tell you that those of us that are undecided are probably more thoughtful about our vote than the rest of you. There is a lot riding on this election. We won’t just vote for someone that has a D or R behind their name and we won’t just support a candidate based on one favorite hot-button issue. I personally have been weighing the issues and pluses and minuses of the candidates. Even right now, after McCain’s mind numbing performance I am sitting here with absolutely no clue on how to vote. If Obama gets in and has Pelosi and Reid and democratic house and senate there is no telling what will happen – look how bad it got when the republicans controlled everything for six years. If McCain gets in there is no telling what he will do because I am not sure what the guy stands for – look who we will have waiting to take the reigns if he kicks the bucket. My third option is a write-in candidate by the name of Mr. None of the Above. That third option is looking better and better the closer we get to the election.

Please, Mr. Obama, instead of using the word “fair” just say what you mean – “redistribution”. Obama says that the Buffets of the world can afford a tax increase. Of course the Buffets of the world can afford a tax increase, but there are less than 500 billionaires in this country (500 out of 300 million – do the math). Tax those guys all you want; they probably won’t miss it (By the way, do you ever wonder why they just don’t “donate” their money to the government? Instead they set up their own charities. Seems to me they know how inefficient and ineffective the government is). He says that he will increase taxes on the top 5% - the income split for the top 5% is $153,542. The top 5% pay 60% of the income taxes in this country. The top 10% pay 70% of the income taxes – the income split at that level is $108,904. What is fair in that? I am going to be punished for working hard because you feel the need to fund worthless, bloated government programs and have a vastly different idea of what “fair” means. If someone makes $150,000 they likely have a mortgage and expenses that reflects that $150,000. You take money out of their pockets you take money out of the economy and especially from charities. And believe me charities do a whole lot more than any government program has done or will ever do.

Instead of increasing our taxes (and asking us to be “patriotic”) or borrowing money from our children and grandchildren start by shrinking government spending first. You could get me on board with a tax increase if you cut spending and produced a balanced budget (how about a Balanced Budget Amendment to the Constitution) and then you came back to me and said that now we need to increase taxes and that tax increase will solely go to pay down the debt in 10 years, for example, and make sure that social security and Medicare are solvent. Once that 10-year plan is accomplished we will remove the tax increase. But you can’t promise me anything like that because you have such disdain for the taxpayer and quite frankly I can’t trust you. You say one thing one week and then something else the next. You move to one end of the spectrum to placate some moronic voting block and then just as fast swing the other way. I simply cannot take your word. Once we start giving to you, you take and take and take. Plain and simple; you, Mr. Obama, and you, Mr. McCain have lost my trust. I did not hear anything tonight that makes me think I can trust either of you with the top job. Where is the talk of balanced budgets, fiscal responsibility, and solving the unsexy problems of Medicare and Social Security? By not talking about the really vexing issues I tend to think that you 1) don't care, 2) don't know, or 3) know but don't want to tarnish your precious political backside by making the necessary but unpopular reforms. I know AARP votes and children don't.

VOTE
NONE OF THE ABOVE

FOR PRESIDENT 2008

Photo by KCThinker, Beach near La Romana, Dominican Republic - a little tranquility in an otherwise turbulent and uncertain world.

Poison is still poison no matter how much sugar you add…

2008-10-10T08:56:00.005-06:00

Despite a large majority of American people telling them that they opposed the bail out (oh sorry, McCain, I meant rescue plan), Congress passed and President Bush signed the Emergency Economic Stabilization Act of 2008 into law. Our two presidential candidates both voted for it. Obama and McCain voted for perhaps the worst legislation ever, maybe even worse than that wonderfully crafted piece of crap Prescription Drug Plan. Despite the alarm and speedy passage of the bill the DOW continues to drop. Everyone with common sense knows we need a correction. Common sense left Washington, D.C. long ago.

The details of this bill are coming out and they literally pulled the wool tax credits over our eyes. For someone opposed to pork, McCain had no objections to voting for this bill laden with tens of billions dollars in giveaways. For someone opposed to tax loopholes for businesses, Obama had no problems forking over more than $700 billion in debt for a dubious fix and the same tax credits for businesses he is always railing against. I wonder if he could even look his daughters in the eye that night. I wonder if he sees the same dark and cloudy future that I see when I look at my children. But then again when has any candidate really truly cared about the children, after all they can’t vote, but they sure do make for good political spin. Every day the clueless at the helm of this country enslave our children and grandchildren more and more by adding more and more debt.

Oh by the way, the stock market still tanked after the being signed into law and continues its slide. Makes one wonder what the rush was Mr. Chicken Little Bush? The fact remains is that the bubble needs to burst. The stock market housing bubble and its paper value need to deflate. It will probably tank until hits its below 7000 points.

One thing is for certain and that is that both parties are guilty as hell in allowing this to happen. But you will not see them pointing the finger at themselves. You will see Congress trot financial scapegoat after scapegoat out to be grilled to make themselves look good. In the end nothing will change. Saturday Night Live had it right with this sketch. There are actual truths to the sketch that actually also blamed the democrats for the crap sandwich we all have to take a big bite from so I am surprised that they even allowed it to be aired.

What is coming? More rescue packages that will do nothing. Once Obama is elected we can expect to see a big, fat New New Deal that will hasten our demise and prolong any recover (read the real history of the great depression in The Forgotten Man by Amity Shlaes - history does not repeat, but it rhymes awfully well). Congress is clueless and thinks that pumping more money into the system will solve the problem. Both candidates are highly unprepared and will not do the right thing. They are pumping bad money in to prop up a system that needs to fall. This has large and imminent failure written all over it. We need to start working on our representatives and senators and let them know that this is not a road we can afford to go down. Tell them “NO. HELL NO.”

Under Cover of Darkness...

2008-09-30T20:39:00.011-06:00

Disgust and revulsion are only a couple terms that come close to describing how I feel about the Emergency Economic Stabilization Act of 2008, also known as the “bail out plan”. This terribly crafted and short-sighted legislation is being rammed down our throats. Thankfully, a good number of democrats and republicans voted against the “bail out plan”. Please thank your representative for voting against it if they happen to have done that. If your representative voted for it, well you know what to do on November 4, 2008 to show your “appreciation” for their stupidity.

The same President Bush that cried out that Iraq was a major threat to the United States came on the radio this morning on my drive to work and claimed the sky is falling. He claims we need to implement immediate measures or we will suffer dire consequences. You really have to question his motivation here. So what if the Dow dropped 777 points in one day (an estimated $1 trillion in paper money – all I hear are crickets chirping); it went back up 485 points the next day. The markets are based on emotion not reality and not a good indicator to base economic policy on.

Most folks in the know look at the London Interbank Offered Rate (LIBOR) to determine how the credit markets fair. The LIBOR is the interest rate at which large international banks are willing to lend each other money on a short-term basis. Many home equity lines of credit, small business loans and student loans also use LIBOR as an index, and this interest rate has been increasing which makes loans more expensive.

I do not believe President Bush. How can you trust Secretary Paulson after what is coming out with regard to the AIG bailout? Speaker Pelosi is utterly clueless. I have no faith that Senator Reid knows what he is doing. They are politicians first and foremost and care more for their own backsides than what is best for America. This is a housing bubble of an estimated $8 trillion of which only $4 to $5 trillion has been lost – meaning more losses to come. We should be very skeptical and extremely suspicious of anyone using the argument that we will make money from this deal. They screwed up and we are supposed to look the other way and pick up the stinking pile of crap they left for us? No thanks.

Dean Baker from the Center for Economic Policy Research was on C-SPAN talking about the failed bail out. He penned a plan that makes more sense than what Bush and company are proposing. There is absolutely no reason to rush into this. Most reasonable economists agree and would rather see a fiscal stimulus such as investing in infrastructure and direct intervention by trying to work with home owners on the edge rather than sending hundreds of billions through the financial institutions. Let the failed financial institutions hang.

Now the Senate is set to vote on their plan (read: push their failed policies) on Wednesday, 1 October 2008. The Senate will call up H.R. 1424: Genetic Information Nondiscrimination Act of 2008, the text of which will be substituted with the economic rescue plan (a Dodd amendment which must have the consent of both the Majority and Minority Leaders).

Other than the bailout, what does their plan include?

Raises federal deposit insurance (FDIC) limits to $250,000 from $100,000
Adds a set of popular business tax breaks
Adds legislation to prevent more than 20 million middle-class taxpayers from feeling the bite of the alternative minimum tax

A little bit of sugar with a whole lot of poison. Please call your senators and send them a message loud and clear that we do not like this plan and would rather see it defeated.

Photo by KCThinker, Butterfly - Omaha Zoo

The Bail Out to End All Bail Outs?

2008-09-26T21:51:00.003-06:00

Soon our elected representatives will vote for an extremely large plan to help the struggling financial markets in the United States. The urgency has been made clear by Treasury Secretary Paulson and President Bush. It is obvious that such a plan is needed in order to make sure that businesses can continue operating as intended. However, there should be sufficient concern with the haste that this plan is being put together. Through this urgency and typical partisan politics a great opportunity to make sure we do this the right way the first time will surely be missed.

The bail out must contain, at a minimum, the following four key items:

1. There should be crystal clear transparency into how this money is used and to what companies this money goes to. This is a gamble with an extraordinary sum of money that our children and grandchildren will be beholden to pay off. We cannot afford to let it be used without knowing how and why and where.

2. There should be no compensation (i.e., golden parachutes) for the executives that have been at the helm of any companies receiving government-funded help. They were the leaders and they should be held accountable for their actions. Through their actions they will also likely cause thousands of Americans to lose their jobs. There should be no reward for landing their companies in the positions they are in.

3. If any profits (highly unlikely) are realized from this venture they should, first and foremost, be used to pay down the national debt, which is almost $10 trillion. No profit should be used to justify more spending or tax cuts or more risky government programs. The only place that profits shall go is to reduce the debt burden on future generations of Americans.

4. The government should enforce the existing rules and regulations or create new ones to prevent this from happening again. The idea that everyone should own on a home is a good one, but we need to make sure that people buying homes can afford them, can prove that they can afford them and understand what they are getting into. This crisis has been largely created as a result of congress men and women letting politics cloud judgment. The full extent of the law should be used to prevent discrimination of race, religion, etc. being used to prevent someone from securing a home loan. However, this notion has been abused to the extent loans are given to people who simply could not afford them.

The bail out will likely happened whether the majority of the American people are pissed off by it or not (it’s torches and pitchforks time people!). In my opinion we are propping up a bubble built with made up money with more made up money. The end result may be far worse than if we had just let the bubble burst to begin with. Something about this whole situation just plain stinks and makes me feel dirty.

I am not sure most Americans understand the gravity of the situation. We are at a key turning point in this country; we may not recover from the fine mess Congress and the President has created. More than the executives of these failing firms, we should blame our elected officials for allowing this to occur in the first place. While playing politics like kids play house they failed to realize what is more important than being a democrat or republican and that is being an American.

Photo by KCThinker, Passage in San Juan, Puerto Rico

The (un)Likeliest of Consequences

2008-09-25T03:37:00.003-06:00

While I was in Haiti recently, I was discussing politics and economic issues with several Haitians at a clinic in Les Cayes. This was early September before the recent calamity in the banking industry took center stage after having a minor billing previously. The signs of the coming economic turmoil were there – it is just plain obvious that when you create a bubble from nothing, back to nothing it must go. It seems that the “smart” people running the show are having a hard problem comprehending this fact.

Back to my real point; I was telling the Haitians that the United States was heading for tough times when really hard choices will need to be made and that I thought that our self-appointed role as world police and shining example to the poor would most likely change for the worse. I explained that we have the current problem but the undercurrents of the larger problems with our entitlement programs are far worse. One of the doctors then asked if the United States could no longer be the world's police force who then would assume our role. He added that he did not think that China or Russia would assume it in our stead.

The question/comment struck me. There are many people in third world countries that look to the United States for many reasons. I am not sure the average American can appreciate the standing we have in the world and how this standing is affected by our actions both politically and economically.

Our own depravity is not only having consequences on Main Street in America but will also have long term consequences for those living in shanty towns throughout the world. The consequences will be felt through fewer charitable contributions to the many non-governmental organizations (NGOs) working in countries like Haiti to less foreign aid from the United States. In countries like Haiti where there is controlled chaos, the consequences of the bubble bursting will be disastrous.

Photo by KCThinker. Women washing clothes in stream, Haiti.

This November 4 Check “None of the Above”

2008-09-20T11:18:00.009-06:00

Now more than ever this country needs a leader that understands the complex and vexing issues that face this country. We have a financial crisis created by our lawmakers and greedy bankers that has bankrupted numerous banks and financial companies. We have a seemingly never ending war against terror. We have an energy crisis. We have a vacuum of leadership. The so-called leaders refuse to address the looming fiscal crisis of Medicare, Medicaid, Social Security and the massive debt piled up as a result of failed government policies. In a campaign where all the talk is about “change” the real thing we need is massive reform.

For me this election is about the economy, the short-term and long-term fiscal stability of the United State, and a diverse and secure energy policy. If we do not get a handle on those things, you can forget about all the rest because there won’t be a United States of America anymore. We will soon likely have a country in Chapter 11 with foreign governments helping us “reform” or the World Bank treating us like Haiti. Our AAA bond rating will be downgraded meaning that we will have to pay a higher interest rate on our debt which will overnight increase the trillions in unfunded liabilities that are not being addressed.

More than ever we need a leader that will care more for this country than for his party. After more than a year of pure political torture (and hundreds of millions of wasted dollars – the economy seems good enough for Obama to raise more than $390 million off the backs of the “working people”), this 4 November 2008 we will finally get to vote for president of the United States of America. Our choices: Barack Obama (D) and John McCain (R). Given these choices I wonder why I should even vote for president. I would be better off with a box “None of the Above” or “Can I please have a real choice?”

Why should I vote for Barack Obama?

The main reason to vote for Obama is that after the last 40 years we need something new. Obama is young, energetic, healthy, dashing, and a decent orator with a teleprompter. He would bring life back into the stale politics of old, white men. Obama had it right when he opposed the start of the war in Iraq.

Why I should not vote for Barack Obama?

His main mantra is bringing change to Washington, D.C. Yet his policies are largely the policies of the democratic party. The only change he will bring is who sits in the White House, and thankfully that was going to occur regardless. I do not agree with the majority of his policies. From biofuels to taxes, he comes across as a naïve upstart. After the last 8 years I want a president that I think is smarter than me. Obama is definitely not smarter than I am. He is first and foremost a politician that can give a good prepared speech.

Here are a few reasons I will not be voting for Barack Obama:

He thinks people that make $250,000 are rich. Really? He would increase taxes on the “rich” and cut taxes on the lower middle class at the same time he is proposing billions in new spending. That does not equate to a balanced budget. We simply cannot afford more deficit spending.
Like his main rival, his energy policy is too one sided and not diversified. Obama likes biofuels. Any civilization that burns food should be severely punished in my opinion. His policy relies too much on alternatives with no realistic fossil fuel bridge. By the way, we still need oil to make the stuff we use everyday – you know, stuff like plastics, drugs, chemicals, and hundreds of thousands of other everyday items we take for granted.
He wanted to sell oil out of the strategic reserve to lower gas prices. I suppose he does not understand what strategic means unless he thinks it means pandering.
He believes climate change should and can be fought. The war on climate change brought to by Al Gore. We have seen how effective the war on poverty, the war on drugs, and the war on terror have been (ergo wasted trillions of dollars for very little to show for it).
Obama preaches change yet he picks an entrenched career politician, fellow senator Joe Biden, for his vice president. Biden has been in the senate for 36 years. Obama complains that McCain has not made any meaningful changes during his 22 years in congress, yet Obama picks a stale old white man to be his running mate. For all his supposed foreign policy expertise, Biden suggested dividing Iraq up into three countries; that would have had disastrous consequences.
Obama thinks that a strong economy will strengthen the dollar and lower gas prices except he wants cap-and-trade for carbon dioxide (higher energy prices) and he is silent on debt, a balanced budget, and unfunded liabilities (strength of the dollar). A strong economy needs a secure financial structure and cheap energy…endless do loop begins.
He thinks it is the government’s responsibility to grow the economy. Here he is wrong again - the government is there is provide a stable and responsible platform from which the economy can grow.
Obama thinks we should to take to people like Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, President of Iran, who has called for wiping Israel off the map. He naively holds the belief that if only we talked to Iran and engaged them they would not be so belligerent. Looking back at history I see now how effective Chamberlain was in preventing WWII by talking to Hitler.
For all his talk about reaching across the aisle, there is very little evidence of it. We need someone that will get past the Karl Rove divisive political game. I do not see Obama rising above typical Washington, D.C. politics despite all his "talk".
Then there are all of his personal entanglements with unrepentant domestic terrorists and racist preachers. Given his quick and convenient disassociation with these people that have supposedly formed him as a man one wonders what he really believes in.

I look at the Obama platform and I see BIG GOVERNMENT. I see us moving closer to socialism where we tax the crap out of everyone and “fairly redistribute” wealth; I see this country digging itself deeper and deeper into debt with yet more failed government and more debt that our children and grandchildren should not be on the hook for. The net result of his platform is that the government will take care of us from cradle to grave. That is fine for hazardous waste management but not for the future of this country.

Why should I vote for John McCain?

He is the maverick. He is a straight talker and calls it as he sees it. He is a fighter and a survivor. Instead of giving up in Iraq he supported the surge (it appears to have been the right move, but the jury is still out on that one). He is saying the right things when it comes to both the democrats and republicans being at fault for the financial crisis. He does not want to bail out any more banks and financial companies. Unlike Obama, he has reached across the aisle, working with Kennedy and Lieberman (of course, we can debate the wisdom of the legislation that came from those pairings). On the face of it, his vice-presidential pick of a reform-minded Sarah Pahlin is refreshing (although her negatives are outweighing her positives). Overall, I believe him more than Obama when it comes to bringing reform (change) to government.

Why should I not vote for John McCain?

Here again, after the last 8 years of Bush I want someone smarter than I am. I want someone with good judgment. There is the stigma that he will be beholden to his party and his party is stuck in the backwoods when it comes to social issues. The republicans also have not shown that they can govern for the people and not for big business.

Here are a few reasons I will not be voting for John McCain:

McCain is yet another old, white man from the entrenched political establishment. Instead of running a country the guy should be in Florida enjoying retirement. We need a leader that understands the role technology plays in today’s society. I am not sure McCain understands that role. There is also the likelihood that he will die in office during his first term.
He has stated that we may need 5 more years of budget deficits. We can no longer afford to NOT have a balanced budget. I am not sure he understands the gravity of the situation we are in.
How can we afford his proposed tax cuts? We are already running a deficit and McCain’s proposals would just increase the deficits. The suggestion of tax cuts increasing revenue just does fly especially when our economy is being hit with this mortgage crisis that is sending it into a tailspin. The bailouts only make the situation more tenuous.
His vice-presidential pick, Sarah Pahlin, has made statements that worry me. How can I vote for a ticket on which there is a person that would not even allow abortion in the case of rape or incest?
Although McCain had an interesting pick for vice president, her inexperience and religious right baggage will ultimately be the downfall of the ticket. I have no interest in having another born-again like Bush in the White House.
McCain’s energy policy is lopsided to the policy of drill here, drill now. We need a balanced approach which only Paris Hilton seems to understand.
He appears to be a war monger. Just like Obama, he has a naïve approach when it comes to Iran and Islamic fundamentalism. McCain’s policy is at the opposite end of spectrum from Obama’s.

I look at the McCain platform and I see more of the same failed policies of the Bush administration. Our international standing is at all time low and I doubt McCain can help that.

There you have it; all the reasons to simply skip over the presidential part of the ballot on 4 November 2008. Concentrate on the local elections, although to be honest, until we get a true centrist third party what’s the point. The whacked out fringes of the two party system will continue to dictate the worthlessness of the majority of the candidates that we can elect.

Are you disgusted? I am.

2008-09-19T13:07:00.008-06:00

The recent bail outs of financial giants are unconscionable. The government should not be bailing these institutions out of the mess they created. By providing this support the government delays the necessary and painful correction that must occur. All that is being done is propping up a house of cards with used toothpicks. Reckless, short-term policies and the interference with the natural evolution of such things are creating the conditions for a major collapse that will have dire consequences. There is no such thing as an institution that is “too big” to let fail.

Instead of investigating steroids in baseball, maybe our elected officials should be investigating how we got into this mess and measures to prevent it from happening again. Where are the emergency sessions that spotlight the financial mess? Of course such an investigation would also point the finger at them for allowing lax lending practices in the first place for the misnomer of home ownership for everyone regardless if they could really afford it. Such inquiries would also inevitably shed light on the thousands of dollars of political contributions received by politicians from Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac (The Clinton administration's White House Budget Director Franklin Raines ran Fannie Mae and collected $50 million. Jamie Gorelick — Clinton Justice Department official — worked for Fannie Mae and took home $26 million. Big Democrat Jim Johnson, briefly on Obama's VP search committee, has hauled in millions from his Fannie Mae CEO job). They probably know that these skeletons will have disastrous consequences shortly before an election which is why I fear that nothing is being done but putting the proverbial finger in the failing dike. Unfortunately, I, like many other Americans, are tired of the divisive politics that permeates Washington, D.C. We want solutions, not half-measures and more political pandering.

It is time our "leaders" stopped thinking about themselves and their political careers and started thinking about the country and its citizens. They need to stop thinking about themselves as democrats and republicans and instead see themselves as Americans first. Continuing down this road of billion dollar deficits and billion dollar bail outs will be the end of this country. You are probably aware of the testimony of David Walker, former Comptroller General and his forecasts of tens of trillions of dollars of unfunded liabilities. Maybe they should turn Sarbanes-Oxley on the financial books of the United States government. Where is the accountability? Stop pointing fingers at one another and start with constructive governance.

I sure hope they can sleep at night knowing that our children and grandchildren will suffer in debt bondage due to the actions and inactions of selfish politicians and greedy bankers.

Photo by KCThinker. Street side in Les Cayes, Haiti.

The Convenient NAFTA Scapegoat

2008-05-14T21:52:00.005-06:00

All too often trade agreements like the (NAFTA) are used to explain the job losses in manufacturing. It is politically convenient to blame one thing (i.e., NAFTA) when there are really many issues at play. I hear Hillary Clinton and Barrack Obama bemoan free trade agreements on the campaign trail.

There is still manufacturing here, it is just not at the same scale as we have seen in the past. I see many small manufacturing companies in the most unlikely places throughout the Midwest. I have worked in towns like Pella, Iowa which hosts companies like Pella and Vermeer. I have worked in towns like Columbus, Nebraska which hosts companies like BD Medical, Behlen, Flexcon, and Vishay. Among the larger manufactures in these towns there are typically numerous smaller ones.

While there has been a decline in United States manufacturing, these declines cannot be solely attributed to NAFTA and other free trade agreements. Detroit and the Big Three auto manufacturers have been hit hard, but there have been plants built in other areas of the United States by Subaru, Toyota, Honda, and BMW. The Big Three are in decline, not because of trade agreements like NAFTA, but because they have been stubborn when it comes to their products, not embracing quality that leads to consumer loyalty, and have been burdened by the union system among other things. When looking at a decline in manufacturing jobs you also have to consider productivity gains and the continued automation of manufacturing. If a company is going to survive, grow and provide more jobs it needs to cut costs.

Let's be honest about wages, health care costs and corporate taxes. The standard of living continues to go up and with it the cost of living. Cost of living and inflation pressures wages to go up which makes it more expensive to make things. Health care costs are increasingly a larger share of doing business in the United States, but companies in other countries do not necessarily have to shoulder this burden because they are in a country with a nationalized health care system. Finally, the United States has the highest corporate tax rate in the world. A company wants to make money and not break even or lose money. They need to make money to also invest a portion of that money back into their company to develop new products to keep competing, keep making money, and keep employing. The higher the taxes the less profit and can go to innovation and the less motivation to grow your business. If that company cannot do those things there is no incentive to keep their doors open. Companies under such pressures will close doors, cut back, or simply leave for somewhere that provides a more conducive environment to do their business. First and foremost, a company is there to make money and not be a government job service program.

Free trade agreements break down the barriers erected by tariffs. And trade often goes both ways. Before complaining about something try and look at the total picture and not just a one sided politically influenced view. The majority of issues are not black and white, but rather gray through and through.

Photo by KCThinker, Roman ruins in the middle of town.

Senate Rejects Earmark Moratorium for 1 Year

2008-03-14T22:52:00.003-06:00

The senate rejected a 1 year moratorium on earmarks by a vote of 71 to 29. According to Senator Harry Reid (D - NV) earmarks are only a drop in the bucket of the federal budget – only $17.2 billion in fiscal year 2008.

Citizens Against Government Waste (CAGW) has this to say about the rejection of Senate Amendment 4347. CAGW rightfully named all 71 senators voting against this amendment as Porkers of the Month.

In light of more than $9 trillion in national debt how can they say that $17.2 billion does not matter? Unbelievable.

The Stupidity of It All

2008-02-29T22:08:00.005-06:00

It is Friday evening. My wife and I both did not feel like cooking so we did the slovenly thing and went to CiCi’s Pizza. I knew from the moment I stepped out of the car that I was going to be depressed. I saw the overweight people going to the feeding trough and caught the reflection of myself in the glass and was reminded that I am one of them. We sat down and I looked around at the people there. What were their lives like? Do they worry about the same things I do? Do they know how bad it really is and how bad it will become? Are they ready for it?

I wish I could be optimistic about the future of this country. I want to have hope for my children. I just cannot. I see what is happening and I think about a car accident one witnesses in seemingly slow motion. You know it is going to happen but there is nothing you can do to stop it except watch and marvel at the ensuing carnage.

Now you may be wondering what the heck I am talking about. I am talking about the economy, the devaluing dollar, the credit crunch, the overwhelming national, state, and local debt, and the understated incompetence of our leaders at every level of government.

I will preface this by saying that I am no economist. But I am a thinker. Here are a few of the issues that I see as bringing us to brink of collapse:

The government making money cheap for banks to loan out to artificially prop up the housing market.
The banks making risky loans to people who in all reality should never have been given a loan.
The government borrowing massive amounts of money to pay for huge spending increases in the wake of a tax cut and an epic military campaign in the Middle East.
The homeowner who thinks they need it all and subsequently borrow more than their house is worth.
The pending retirement of the baby-boomers.
The thousands of bureaucrats whose action or inaction has far reaching consequences that they are either to dim to understand or could care less about the repercussions of as long as they get reelected.
The falling dollar as a result of foreign investors who see an unsustainable economy and no leadership at the helm of a rudderless ship.
An education system that fails to produce students capable of competing in a global market.

People are defaulting on their loans. House prices are falling. Banks are losing billions. There is panic in the halls of Congress. “We need to do something” they cry. What do they want to do? They want to dust off a 1930’s program called the Home Owners’ Loan Corporation (HOLC). The HOLC was established in June 1933 to help distressed families avert foreclosures by replacing mortgages that were in or near default with new ones that homeowners could afford. It did so by buying old mortgages from banks ... and then issuing new loans to homeowners. The HOLC financed itself by borrowing from capital markets and the Treasury. On the whole this sounds benign enough. But if you were to actually strip the emotion from it and step back and think about it you would come to several realizations: 1) the banks and people should not be bailed out by the government; 2) we have more than $9 trillion in debt and cannot really afford to borrow any more money to bail them out in the first place; and 3) Fannie Mae reported that rising defaults and falling home prices contributed to a $3.56 billion loss in the last three months of 2007 and now we want to put more liability on the taxpayer. None of it adds up. But then again, the politicians are accustomed to fuzzy math; how else could you justify using the Social Security surplus to balance the budget.

The reality is that the housing market was artificially inflated and now we are witnessing the impact of bad monetary policy and piss poor decisions by greedy assholes in the banking sector. Why are housing prices falling? Well in some markets they were hyper-inflated to begin with and in other areas there is too much supply and not enough demand. Hear that? SUPPLY AND DEMAND. Of course falling housing values have other consequences, namely the municipalities that have bet on increasing property taxes to finance public projects will soon find less money in the coiffeurs.

The response from Washington, D.C. is long in thoughtlessness and vote pandering and short in common sense. The sky is falling, the sky is falling. So they pass a $150 billion fiscal stimulus. They talk about things like the HOLC. Not once do they consider the long-term impacts of their policies. Not once do they consider the billions we will have to pay on the $150 billion we had to borrow for the fiscal stimulus. Not once do they consider the long-term impacts of inappropriate measures like the HOLC. They give me the impression that they could care less what shape they leave this country in.

The housing crisis alone would probably not be a deal killer for our country. But the real problem is only a few years away – the retirement of the baby boomers. On the horizon is another fiscal crisis we are not prepared to deal with and that is funding Medicare and Social Security. Add to that the reports that state and local government pensions may be underfunded by $1 trillion or more (Illinois alone has a $40 billion unfunded pension liability). Ouch.

If you want to know why I am so depressed you need to read a book called the “The Forgotten Man: A New History of the Great Depression” by Amity Shlaes. You can literally watch the car wreck that became the Great Depression unfold in front of your eyes. History does not repeat itself but it does rhyme. What we are seeing today is reminiscent of the actions of lawmakers before the Great Depression. I even think the conditions are much worse today than they were back then.

From The Angry Economist:

"I saw a bumper sticker today saying "If you're not OUTRAGED, you're not paying attention". This was on a Toyota Prius, the official automobile of the "Let's Ignore Economics and Do The Right Thing" crowd. I remarked to my wife "I'm outraged, too, but probably not about the same thing. I just want more control over my life." She quipped "Oh, no, they want the same thing as you: more control over your
life."

Photo by KCThinker, alley in Village of Simiane la Rotonde, Provence, France, October 2007

Thank you Congress. You are the best at what you do!

2008-02-08T13:05:00.001-06:00

The senate passed the Fiscal Unstimulus Package yesterday. I am absolutely disgusted by this for a number of reasons. First, they have no clue about economics and the so-called experts testifying in front of these senators have even less understanding of the economy in my opinion. Second, the economy really does need any stimulus in the first place. All this bill does is provide people with the ability to buy more crap from China with money we had to borrow from China in the first place. Did we not learn a thing from Bush and his “go shopping” attitude? And yes, I am pissed that I will not get a rebate. What? Don’t think I could use some money? Instead I just have to pay for everyone else to get one.

I have already taken the opportunity to share my thoughts with my esteemed senators on this borrow and spend measure. See how your senator voted here. Please share my outrage with your senator.

Dear Senator _______:

I would like to thank you for voting for the fiscal stimulus package (H.R. 5140). Even though I will not benefit from the stimulus package because of its income thresholds it is good to know that Congress has acted in increasing the level of national debt for such a noble cause. Regardless of the fact that such a "stimulus" will actually do nothing for the economy or long-term fiscal stability I am reassured that my government still does not have the foggiest idea when it comes to real economic policy.

Please keep up the good work. I am sure future generations of Americans will be happy to know that you supported dubious measures and short-term political gain over long-term planning and fiscal responsibility.

Sincerely,

[Insert your name here]

Photo by KCThinker, subsidence pit in Kansas – much like the one I would love to shove all the politicians in Washington, D.C. into.

Why I will never vote for Hillary Clinton

2008-02-02T21:49:00.000-06:00

I will not vote for Hillary Clinton because she is a woman. I am not some sexist bastard. It is not because she does not have enough "experience." There are plenty of experienced women I would vote for. Senator Clinton is not one of them.

When I listen to Senator Clinton speak this is what I hear:

You know, we've got an economy that is increasingly interconnected with the global economy. It is shaped each day, not just by the billions of decisions that 300 million Americans make, but by billions more that are made around the world. TAKE OUT THE GARBAGE BEFORE YOU SIT YOUR FAT ASS DOWN IN THAT LAZY BOY. And something that now happens far away from Iowa can have a ripple effect that impacts the quality of life and the standard of living for Americans. PUT AWAY THE DISHES. Our economy in recent months has been the subject of increasing worry. CAN'T YOU DO ANYTHING RIGHT? We've got rising oil prices; we've got a deepening housing crisis; we have a falling dollar, in terms of its value; we have a ballooning national debt; and we have weakening consumer onfidence. STOP GETTING CRUMBS ALL OVER THE COUCH. So we understand that we've got real problems, but we see nothing happening under this president to address those problems. HEY, USE A BEER COASTER YOU MORON. Unfortunately, the president either doesn't see them or refuses to deal with them. DAMMIT! I TOLD YOU TO PICK UP YOUR UNDERWEAR! And the net effect of it all is that the economy is not working for middle-class families. IF YOU CAN'T PICK UP YOUR UNDERWEAR I AM GOING TO MAKE YOU WEAR THEM ON YOUR HEAD. Now, we all hope that the economy will remain resilient, and we know that, if we make the right choices, the American economy can, once again, create millions of jobs and lift up the middle class. YEAH, YOU HEARD RIGHT - MAKE YOU WEAR THEM ON YOUR HEAD IN FRONT OF YOUR FRIENDS! But instead of positive policies aimed at making that happen, we've had the opposite: reckless fiscal policies and a president with a tragic habit of ignoring problems until they become crises. MY MOTHER WAS RIGHT ABOUT YOU. The next president will be a steward of our economy at a time when the bills from eight years of neglect and mismanagement will be coming due. The next president will have to turn around our nation and our economy. I SHOULD HAVE LISTENED TO MY FRIENDS. YOU ARE SO STUPID.

And on and on it goes while she blathers on about some very important policy issues. She comes off as a super abusing nag. Now parts of the above excerpt were taken from an important speech on the economy Senator Clinton gave in Iowa on November 19, 2007. Of course, I missed the important parts because all I could hear was her constant nagging and the fact that when it comes to fiscal restraint she does not have a clue either. When have the democrats ever talked about fiscal restraint aside from the war in Iraq and defense spending?

That alone is probably not enough reason to not vote for her. Here is the second and probably more compelling reason not to vote for her: she has poor judgment. After nearly 8 years of poor judgment in the form of President Bush we do not need 4 to 8 more of someone else with poor judgment. Experience may matter, but judgment is more important. I am sure you want some examples to bolster my argument. I will give you two important ones: 1) her vote on the Iraq war and 2) her husband Bill Clinton.

She voted for the Iraq war. No matter how you cut she voted for it. Anyone with half a brain knew that we should not invade Iraq. Saddam was contained and posed no real threat. Anyone with any common sense knew what would happen when an iron fisted dictator was ousted and replaced with politically correct armed forces. Senator Clinton along with a number of other democrats and republicans voted for the war. That was bad judgment.

She remains married to a man that has cheated on her time and again. He even did it in the Oval Office. Sure, forgive and move on, but any normal woman would have left the cheating bastard. That she remains married to him after all that can only mean one thing: she cares more for attaining power than doing the right thing. That’s bad judgment. Former President Clinton did fairly well in his eight years despite some of his “distractions”. But this country does not need the distractions that he will likely bring to the White House for 4 to 8 years.

DO NOT VOTE FOR SENATOR HILLARY CLINTON. She and what she brings is no change. It is merely a continuation of the tired same-old-same-old.

Photo by KCThinker, stone archway in Goult, France, 2007

What do Economic Stimulus Packages and Drug Users have in Common?

2008-01-16T22:16:00.000-06:00

A stimulus package will do absolutely NOTHING FOR LONG-TERM ECONOMIC STABILITY. I liken it to a drug user on a high. The user takes more drugs to maintain the high. Eventually the user runs out of drugs and crashes. This country has run out of “drugs” and is set to crash. It is inevitable and all the morons in Washington, D.C. are doing is delaying the inevitable and making the crash worse in the end.

I am listening to Senator Chuck Schumer on C-SPAN. He is talking about an economic stimulus package. His naivety is plainly obvious. Senator Kennedy promptly outlines a litany of government spending. He does not get it. Representative Phil English is clueless. Everything they do is merely putting a band aid on a gushing wound. They trot out supposed experts on the economy like Lawrence Summers, Lawrence Mishel and William Beach that do not address the real issue. They want more tax cuts and more spending. They want a rebate. Now that we need a “stimulus” they want spending on infrastructure as a stimulus. They want the tax cuts to be permanent. Nothing is said about reigning in spending habits and debt. They dance around the real issue of their complete and total incompetence. They have no realization that the government should not be micromanaging the economy. They cannot even manage the government properly.

The last thing the nation needs now is more intervention from lawyers who, in general, have never run a business. The last thing this nation can afford is a policy based purely on political gain. Short-term rebates and small injections of money will not solve this problem. ALL of these problems come back to stupid people. Greedy bastards giving out loads have caused this. Ill-informed and ill-prepared homeowners have caused this.

The housing market was artificially created through low interest rates and poor loans. The truth is that the people getting sub-prime loans should have never been given them in the first place. Truth hurts. Greedy banks have oversold what these people can afford. These people are generally poor savers and cannot weather even a small emergency. Any small emergency and an increase in mortgage payment results in them not being able to afford their homes anymore and consequently they default on their loans. This should hardly come as a surprise to anyone.

When my wife and I went to buy a house the bank told us we could afford a much more expensive house based on our income and some other factors. But we knew better and looked at less expensive houses. Our mortgage payment on our 30-year fixed loan was reasonable. Due to poor information where our property taxes were concerned our payment increased by $500 a month last year. No interest rate change – just a screw up by the bank. We were able to weather that increase because we were reasonable when we went down the road of the single biggest liability one typically takes on in their life (notice how I do not say investment – home ownership is a LIABILITY – you have maintenance, taxes, interest on loan, etc. etc. – it is generally NOT an investment). Many people defaulting now simply cannot weather an increase because they were over leveraged to begin with.

America is spending and spending and spending. On the federal, state, local, and personal levels America is in massive debt. The dollar is falling because of ill-thought out policies from the Federal Reserve, the massive debt at all levels nation wide, and NO PLAN for sound long-term fiscal or energy policy. One bright spot in all this is that it looks like exports are up because the dollar is down. Home prices are falling because the demand is down and the market is flooded. Supply and demand folks. The falling home values have far reaching consequences where local property taxes are concerned. Many of the localities count on increasing property values to keep their coiffeurs flush with more cash.

A comment on a left-leaning blog recently equated the typical republican plan for the economy as: 1) cutting taxes, 2) massive borrowing, and 3) massive spending. Funny, but the democratic plan is typically: 1) increasing taxes, 2) massive borrowing, and 3) massive spending. The only realistic and responsible plan that will work and provide long-term economic security is: 1) increasing taxes, 2) stop borrowing, and 3) massive spending cuts. Sure there will be an initial hurt, but it is a long time in coming anyway. We need a reckoning for the unsustainable path we have led before we can right the ship.

NONE of the presidential candidates are looking at the realistic and responsible plan. And that should concern everyone. Meanwhile the word of the day is stimulus without realizing how short sighted of an economic policy that really is.

Photo by KCThinker, Old Lead/Zinc Mine Ruins, Cherokee County, Kansas, 2007

One Nation Under A Mountain of Debt

2008-01-08T21:56:00.000-06:00

Some say that Iraq is the most important topic for the upcoming election. Some say immigration and others say the economy. Some say healthcare while others say education. The most important topic for this election is really all of these and none of these. The most important topic should be fiscal policy because it encompasses all of these topics and should be at the forefront of all the debates. Fiscal policy will dictate whether we can afford to have a military presence in the world. Fiscal policy will dictate if we can afford Medicare and Medicaid. Fiscal policy will determine where our economy goes.

If you are at all following fiscal policy you know that the national debt is around $9.1 trillion (Bush has increased the national debt by an on the books amount of $3.4 trillion). If you had no idea what the national debt is you should now be outraged at the utter irresponsibility of our federal government. Now the other shoe drops – the real debt is much, much more. What the morons running this country do not want you to know is that there are no trust funds for Medicare and Social Security – only a bunch of worthless IOUs in a “lock box”. The accountants for the federal government make the accountants at Enron and Worldcom blush. The sheer scope of the fraud that is occurring in Washington, D.C. when it comes to the keeping of our nation’s books is absolutely mind boggling. The real debt is more than $50 trillion according to David Walker, Comptroller General of the United States of America.

While the presidential candidates are busy debating who the real candidate for change is, Mr. Walker is coming out and talking about the important issues. While Senator Hillary Clinton and Senator Barack Obama were stumping in some diner in New Hampshire Mr. Walker was talking to CBS and raising the alarm. While former Governor Romney was schmoozing at an Iowa farm Mr. Walker was talking to USA Today. While Mike Huckabee was trying not to evolve Mr. Walker was. While Senator John McCain was developing yet another miserable failure of a bill, David Walker submitted testimony to the U.S. Senate Committee on the Budget. While former Senator John Edwards was getting a hair cut for $400 and giving a speech about two America’s the Washington Post said the following:

"The largest employer in the world announced on Dec. 15 that it lost about $450 billion in fiscal 2006. Its auditor found that its financial statements were unreliable and that its controls were inadequate for the 10th straight year. On top of that, the entity's total liabilities and unfunded commitments rose to about $50 trillion, up from $20 trillion in just six years.

If this announcement related to a private company, the news would have been on the front page of major newspapers. Unfortunately, such was not the case -- even though the entity is the U.S. government."

If you think what I am talking about is unimportant take a look at the federal budget and where our money goes. It shows a troubling trend. Medicare/Medicaid, interest on Debt, defense, and Social Security make up the majority of the money the United States spends every year.

Instead of talking about the one issue that dictates all the others, we are stuck with speeches filled with senseless rhetoric only meant to appeal those with a low IQ. The budget determines what we can do and what we can’t do. Simplistic statements like taxing the rich by bigger simpletons are not enough to solve this problem. Wake up America. It is time to demand real change where our fiscal policy is concerned. If we don’t address fiscal policy you won’t get healthcare and you won’t get defense. You won’t get anything at all but a bill saying Due in 30 days.

Photo by KCThinker, Roman ruins, Vaison la Romaine, France.

While America Slept

2007-11-24T21:07:00.000-06:00

Most Americans are clueless. There really is no arguing about it. If I asked someone on the street what the national debt is they would probably not be able to tell me. If I asked that same person what the Law of the Sea Treaty was they would have no idea. If I asked that person who Ben Bernanke was I would probably not get a correct answer. If I asked them what the SPP was they would probably give me blank look. Now, I ask that same person what Britney or Paris or some other celebrity was up to that person could probably provide me with an up-to-date description of the celebrity’s latest escapades.

We work hard all day long. We spend time with our family and friends. At the end of the day we do not have the energy to pick up a book about economic policy or foreign relations or read the newspaper or a news magazine like the Economist. We tend to get our news in little 30-second bites and we have no time to think critically on some of the most important issues of the day. Most Americans could care less. We have our circus maximus in ESPN and FOX Sports. Most Americans are content. They have a decent job; life is not too bad. America is working too hard and doing too many things to have time to wake up, shake off the haze, and really understand what is happening with their country.

“A person is smart. People are dumb, panicky dangerous animals and you know it. Everything they've ever "known" has been proven to be wrong.” - Men in Black,
1997

Most Americans are so disenfranchised that they prefer to get their news from Jon Stewart and Stephen Colbert. They would rather read People Magazine. They prefer to hear about the sexual exploits of so-and-so. They want to see the celebrities fall flat on their face. Meanwhile their country is being sold or given away one piece at a time.

I look at America and I see Rome before the fall. We are fat and happy and have no idea that the Visigoths are about to cut our throats. There are so many issues that need to be dealt with now, not later. China has us by the economic ball sack. Our debt is sending investors to Europe, China and India. Our education system is not keeping up with the demands of our knowledge-based, global economy. We have no border security and that leaves us open to crime, terrorism, and illegal immigration. All I see in Washington is a bunch of talking heads that either have no clue what is happening, are complacent and allowing it happen, or helping it along for reasons that are a mystery to me.

Debt

We have amassed a national debt of more than $9 trillion (that is trillion with a T, not billion). Our national debt has nearly doubled in 10 years. Hard to believe that under President Bush’s watch we have borrowed nearly $3.4 trillion. That alone is a staggering number. Sure he cut taxes and we have record revenue coming in, BUT the federal government is still running a deficit in the billions of dollars. Unconscionable. This is under the watch of a “conservative” president. This is from a guy who wants to abolish abortion but could care less about the mess he is living our children.

Do not believe the economists that are being trotted out saying that it is not a big deal. They say that the United States can handle this level of debt. The harsh reality is that the national debt does affect the economy. The world is seeing how unsustainable the United States lives. They are pulling out of the dollar because they see that we are not a good investment anymore. They see the current leadership and the lack of any mention of national debt and economic policy in the debates and have lost confidence in the United States. They see we have no intention of implementing a sound energy policy. The implosion of the sub-prime mortgage market is only the beginning.

Hugo Chavez is selling all his country's oil and gas infrastructure in the United States. Meanwhile we stand in line at Best Buy or Kohl’s at 4 AM in the morning on the Friday after Thanksgiving to get a “deal”. What a sorry statement on the United States people. How far we have fallen.

Here is an interesing post about what the future may hold for our economy.

Education

An Associated Press story in 2005 about education rankings in the world found that the United States was already slipping. Not good signs for a country whose economy base has shifted from manufacturing to knowledge. President Bush’s No Child Left Behind Act may have increased test scores but those improvements have only resulted in an increase in the ability to take a test and not an increase in the ability to think critically. Education should be our number one priority. The smart kids are not motivated, the dumb kids are given all the resources, and the kids in the middle get by. That is not education.

We have a 19th century education system when we need a 21st century system. Why do we have such a long summer break? We have one of the shortest school years because it is based on an agricultural economy. The vast majority of kids no longer have to help their parents on the farm. Let's lengthen the school year by reducing the summer break to 4 to 6 weeks maximum.

Why are teachers paid so little? They are responsible for educating future Americans, yet we pay them very little in comparison to engineers and scientists. If you want to attract better teachers you need to pay better. You also need to address the teacher’s union which is holding our education system back from changing.

We need to change the way we teach. Teaching for the test will not provide children with an ability to effectively compete in the global economy. We need to change our programs. The Cloud Institute is at the forefront in changing our education system. We need to embrace these kinds of initiatives and put an end to worthless buearcratic intervention like the No Child Left Behind Act.

Borders and Immigration

We need border security. This is not just about illegal immigration; this is about drugs, arms trafficking, gang activity, and terrorism. For some reason border security has been equated with racism. What? Are you that naïve or stupid to think that having a secure border is a racist act? I am not against immigration. My parents came over from Germany in the late 1960’s. I am the son of immigrants. This country has been built by immigrants. What I am against is the notion that we need to tolerate people breaking the law and the circumventing the system to come here illegally. I asked a friend of ours from Peru what he thought was one of the biggest threats to America. He answered illegal immigration. He is here in the United States legally. He has had to jump through the legal hoops. His family is building a dream here.

And please do not buy the line by President Bush that these people are the doing the work Americans won’t. The truth is that Americans are not willing to do the work for the wages employers are paying the illegals. Americans are so used to having everything so cheap that they have fostered this system. Our tax system has fostered this problem (America has the highest corporate tax rate in the world). Our government’s lack of law enforcement has only encouraged it. What really gets me is that if I used a fake social security number or fake documents and was caught my ass would be in jail.

What should we do?

I am so cynical that I think we should march on Washington, D.C. and demand our government back from the special interest groups. I often joke that I am sharpening the pitchforks and preparing the torches (which I am anyway by the way).

The reality is that we need real leadership. Not false leadership like President Bush. Not the false promises of Hillary or the hope-will-do-everything speeches by Barrack. Not the isolationism of Ron Paul or the 9/11 mentality of Rudy. We need to demand that our leaders start thinking about America and put themselves way down on the list.

We need campaign finance reform that forces all candidates to only use public money. This does not limit free speech. No one is stopping you from standing on the street corner and stating your opinion or views. We need to get money out of politics period. The fact is that billions of dollars will be spent by the 2008 presidential candidates alone. We need to rethink our election process and stop this stupidity of starting the campaign two years before the election.

We need new ideas in Congress and the only way to do that is through term limits. We have term limits for the President, why not for Congress? I recommend two terms for Senators and six terms for Representatives.

We need to look at ourselves and decide if we really want the vision that the founding fathers had for this country. If we do, then we need to change our attitudes and demand leadership. Otherwise, just sit back and watch the downward spiral.

Photo by KCThinker. Gordes, France, October 2007.

Open Letter to Osama Bin Laden

2007-09-12T23:26:00.000-06:00

Dear Mr. Bin Laden:

You recently called for us to convert to Islam again. You are persistent; I will give you that. And you have been patient with us as you have time and time again asked us to convert to Islam. You have even given us warnings.

Yet, I have to admit I am confused. Which brand of Islam should I convert to? Should I convert to the moderate, mainstream version of Islam? You know the peaceful one. Or should I convert to your violent brand of Islam? Should I give myself to the brand that makes women second class citizens? Should I give myself to the brand of Islam that worships wonton death and holds life in contempt? Should I give myself to the brand of Islam that hides behind religion to justify acts of atrocities? Or should I give myself to the brand of Islam that merely teaches religion without all that pesky mathematics, science and philosophy? I suppose those that cannot think for themselves are easier to control.

Does the West have it right? No, the West is imperfect. The West has been consumed by want and they will be overrun by it soon enough, with or without your help. Does your brand of Islam provide a respite from that want? No. All your brand of Islam does is take that desire and channel it to conduct immoral acts. Your brand of Islam is used to justify those immoral acts. Your brand of Islam and the immoral acts you carry out in the name of it shed a bad light on the rest of your peaceful Islamic brothers and sisters.

Being a rather independent minded person I can tell you I have very little patience with religion. I do not believe some omnipotent being would waste time telling us what to believe. That being would let us be to find our own way. I believe that the human race is a wonderful creation. I believe that we have yet to find our true potential. And I believe religion, especially your brand of religion, is holding us back from finding that true potential. Your brand of religion, and others like it, is used to control people, and the only thing you want to do is to control us. We should be reaching for the stars. Yet, because of people like you, Mr. Bin Laden, we remain anchored to this planet. We cannot see beyond our differences of religion, race, gender, or socio-economic class. Your violent brand of Islam will not change that. After all, you kill your own brothers and sisters because you find their brand of Islam does not agree with your own.

You do not need to be a religious person to know right from wrong. You do not need to pray to an alter or a direction to be a moral person. You do not need a religious text to show you how to be a moral person. I consider myself to be a moral person, and I know that I am a more moral person than you are or will ever be. I do not need some nut job; waste of skin; holed up in a cave telling me what I should and should not believe in.

When will you understand that violence only begets violence? Peace begets peace.

Peace be unto you!

KCThinker

Photo by KCThinker, Clouds

The War on Climate Change

2007-08-01T09:03:00.000-06:00

I, like many others, are merely observers in the global warming (aka climate change) debate, and not neck deep in the peer-reviewed articles. But some of us observers can and do think for ourselves. I would like to believe that my engineering background provides me with some critical thinking tools. As has been pointed out by many of the naysayers, there are many variables to take into consideration, not just CO2. The hysteria over global warming is just another in a long line. It bothers me that people think so statically and are immediately prone to extremism when things change. We saw the same thing in the 1970s with global cooling.

Are we contributing to climate change? Some of the warming can be attributed to our actions, but certainly not all of it. You are foolish to think that we, as a species, do not have some impact on our environment. Do we have that much of an impact that such an extreme Algorean-type reaction is needed? No.

Are all the weather extremes we see today a result of global warming? No. We have a little more than 100 years of good data. That is an awfully small window when compared to the age of the Earth. We also tend to have a short time perspective. We also forget that we are our own worst enemies when we change our landscape to suite our needs. When we channel streams and rivers, pave land, do not manage our forests properly, and build our houses on steep slopes, in flood plains and below the mean sea level we pretty much guarantee that we will suffer at the hands of Mother Nature. We also tend to forget that when a severe storm hits a highly populated area there is a higher probability for misery. Why blame a nameless and faceless threat like climate change when we should blame ourselves for being so arrogant and stupid in the first place?

Is it a pending disaster as folks like Al Gore would have you believe? Probably not. I am definitely not willing to bet the house on long-term modeling forecasts. I have enough problems with simple groundwater models at work that I find it hard to believe that climate models can be accurate. In fact, climate change may actually benefit some people.

Can we actually do anything about climate change? Probably not. We cannot even provide clean and safe drinking water to 1.1 billion people. How exactly do you expect to change the climate? How do you change the mind set of billions of people. How do you reduce CO2 emissions without nuclear power? How do you reduce CO2 emissions without stabilizing or reducing population? Are Al Gore and his merry band of hypocrites going to stop flying private jets and go commercial or do away entirely with using air planes? Are you going to stop eating meat and drinking bottled water? It is folly to think that merely increasing the fuel efficiency of cars and trucks and getting rid of coal fired power plants will result in “positive” climate change or reversal of current “trends”. The same arrogance and stupidity that had us build in areas where we should not, will have us “burn” money for the sake of a tenth of a degree.

What should we do then Mister Smarty Pants? Let’s change the debate from the War on Climate Change to economic prosperity and security. Let’s cut the use of oil to get us out of the Middle East and stop us from providing cash to sociopaths like Chavez and Ahmadinejad. We should be the leaders of alternative energy research and innovation. Let’s be honest, there is not enough oil and coal to last us forever, so let’s make sure that when supplies tighten up we are ready with answers. Being leaders in alternative energy makes economic sense. Let's provide incentives for people to be their own energy suppliers. Stop touting this ridiculous notion that we need to save the polar bears. Sure they are cute and cuddly, but they would just as soon sink their teeth into an environmentalist as a baby seal. And no, they do not drink Coca Cola.

Sure, I drive a fuel efficient car and I will do what I can to reduce my emissions without going overboard and becoming a vegan and wearing hemp-only clothes. And I do think we need to use and find reliable alternatives to oil and coal for security and economic reasons, not merely environmental. But am I worried? Not in the least. There are other things going on right now that I am much more worried about; for example, a clueless democrat or republican getting elected President of the United States of America. Now that scares the living bat crap out of me.

The Arrogance and Hypocrisy of the Global Warming Crowd

2007-07-11T21:25:00.000-06:00

We can't eliminate HIV/AIDS, malaria, or tuberculosis, but we think we can control the climate.

We can't feed every person on this planet, but we think we can control the climate.

We can't provide everyone on this planet with safe drinking water, but we think we can control the climate.

We can’t make sure that every boy and girl in this country can read and write and do arithmetic, but we think we can control the climate.

We can’t make sure that every man, woman, or child in this country has health insurance, but we think we can control the climate.

We can’t win the war on drugs, but we think we can control the climate.

We can’t win the war on terror, but we think we can control the climate.

Do I really need to make any more points?

Interesting how all of a sudden the gloom and doom of climate change trumps all of our other societal woes. Yes, the climate is changing. Yes, it is getting warming. Yes, it will affect people, but when has change not affected people? No, we do not need to make this priority number one. The climate is not static just as forests are not static (they do tend to burn every now and then – it is healthy for forests to burn – preservation is a myth). Take a geology class and you might learn about the billions of years of change that has already come before us and our minute snap shot in time.

The climate change movement cares more for some lonely polar bear floating on a chunk of ice than for the woman with HIV that has been shunned by her village or the little boy dying from dysentery. And you would call me a flat-earther because I see the woman and little boy and not the polar bear? Don’t get me wrong. I try to do what I can for the environment. I am an environmental engineer after all so I know better than most about environmental damage.

It is the height of arrogance to think we can control Mother Nature. Mother Nature will punish us one way or another; with or without increasing the level of carbon dioxide and methane in the atmosphere. Addressing cars, trucks, airplanes, and coal fired power plants is a miniscule part of the problem. Are you a vegan? No? Even if you ride your bike to work everyday you won't impact the climate if you continue to sit down and eat chicken, beef, and pork every night. Do you only buy locally grown food? No? Think about the carbon dioxide emitted to bring you those fresh fruits and vegetables that are out of season here not to mention the majority of your groceries. Are you willing to take the drastic role of stopping and even reversing population growth? No? More people consume more releasing more carbon dioxide. Are you willing to look at all energy alternatives including nuclear power? No? Then again, some of the rich elite do not want to have a wind farm seen from the posh living room of their palatial estate. There is more to this issue than the silly little idea of Kum Ba Yah at a stadium. Interesting how Al Gore’s Seven-Point Pledge does not specifically call for specific changes like becoming a vegan. Eat meat lately Al?.

Having a concert series where you fly people in to "entertain" people around the guise of indoctrination in the global warming religion is the another sign of hypocrisy in action. Just because all the “artists” drove a Prius from the airport to the concert does not make it an environmentally friendly affair. Just serving veggie burgers next to regular burgers does not make it an environmentally friendly affair. Buying carbon offsets does not make it an environmentally affair. If you really want my attention then have it all online without a single person having to fly or drive anywhere. We do have the technology for that nowadays. That would be groundbreaking. Instead you just told me you are a bunch of hypocrites. Do as I say and not as I do. Al Gore is the top ring-leader in this church of hypocrisy. The man makes millions off of his “religion”. More or less, another evangelical who does not practice what he preaches.

Now they want to levy a carbon tax on us. Nice. And how do you suppose the money collected will get spent? Are you going to put it into a “lock box” Al? Give me a break. Trust the federal government with more of our money? I do not think so. The federal government will just waste it on some frivolous pork barrel project to make a senator or representative look good in his or her district. A use tax such as the carbon tax will only hurt the poor. But when has that ever stopped the liberals? There is not a tax increase they wouldn’t vote for unless it is right before an election.

You would get more people on board for reducing carbon dioxide emissions if you took a broader approach. Not everyone believes that global warming is such a threat. What they do see is that we are stuck in the Middle East in part to maintain our access to oil. Sell carbon dioxide emissions reductions through increasing the fuel efficiency of vehicles and work to get us off oil and out the Middle East (by the way, that whole biofuel thing is not the answer – in fact, it is probably the dumbest boondoggle ever). Work on researching carbon sequestering from coal fired power plant emissions. You still need power to surf the net and cool your Red Bull. If you want something done you have to work with people instead of just ramming your ideology down everyone else’s throats. What are the commonalities of your cause to other causes? Take concrete small steps instead of immediately going for the whole enchilada. But of course that would make too much sense and I know that when it comes to ideologues the last thing they want anything to do with is common sense.

Photo by KCThinker, Doorway, San Juan, Puerto Rico

What do Democrats, Fatah, Hamas, and Republicans Have in Common?

2007-06-20T20:46:00.000-06:00

On the surface you would not think these groups have much in common. Violence rules one set and ignorance rules the other. But they do have much in common. Each group, in their own way, put their agendas and ideologies over the good of their people.

Hamas and Fatah recently went through an internal power struggle in the Palestinian territories. The result is many dead and wounded, looting, a fractious government, and leaving the Palestinian people with little hope of ever being able to have a true country of their own. It did not need to happen. But once again the pride and arrogance of men trying to ensure they seize or remain in power has resulted in misery. Hamas would not bend on their stance towards Israel. Hamas would not cease firing rockets at Israel. Israel would not stop responding. Pride, foolishness, and arrogance rule the Middle East. Pride, foolishness, and arrogance keep the Middle East from maturing.

The partisanship in Washington, D.C. has not resulted in the chaos like was seen in the Palestinian territories. However, partisanship has resulted in 74 percent of the American people feeling that the United States is not heading in the right direction. Naturally, such an open-ended question will result in significant distortion of reality. For example, is it the economy that is not heading in the right direction or is it education? Are we not heading in the right direction with respect to foreign policy or fiscal responsibility? Or is the stalemate on immigration reform causing this “feeling”? I think that the United States is heading in the wrong direction for a variety of reasons and I blame the partisanship of the democrats and republicans for that. Here again is yet another example of two parties more concerned with maintaining or seizing power while the real needs of the American people are forgotten. They seem to think that they alone have the best ideas and they alone know what is best for us. Guess again. The democrats and republicans are clueless as to what is best for the American people. Once again, pride, foolishness, and arrogance blind these groups to reality and what really needs to be done. The democrat’s hatred of George W. Bush blinds them to the point of doing whatever they can to undermine his presidency. The democrat’s ideology blinds them to the reality that this country was founded on Christian principles and causes them to needlessly burden our society with over-political correctness. The republican’s ideology of religious conservatism causes knee-jerk reactions like removing evolution from biology classes and vetoing stem cell research initiatives. Both parties cannot see the forest for the trees when it comes to fiscal responsibility and ensuring the long-term security and fiscal well being of the United States. Both parties push problems on future generations of Americans; the Americans without a voice.

In the end, unless these groups can work together, find common ground, and work to achieve goals based on that common ground everyone else will suffer in one way or another.

HAD ENOUGH?
DON’T JUST VOTE FOR A DEMOCRAT OR REPUBLICAN
VOTE FOR COMMON SENSE

Photo by KCThinker, Old Mine Structure, Cherokee County, Kansas

Does Anyone Care what Hollywood Thinks?

2007-06-15T23:18:00.000-06:00

Steven Spielberg is endorsing Hillary Clinton for President of the United States.

By BETH FOUHY, Associated Press Writer Wed Jun 13, 10:49 AM ET:

NEW YORK - Democrat Hillary Rodham Clinton has won the endorsement of film producer and director Steven Spielberg, ending a tug-of-war between Clinton and Barack Obama (news, bio, voting record) for the Hollywood heavyweight's affections.

“I've taken the time to familiarize myself with the impressive field of Democratic candidates and am convinced that Hillary Clinton is the most qualified candidate to lead us from her first day in the White House," Spielberg said Wednesday in a statement released by the Clinton campaign.

Spielberg has been a supporter and contributor to Clinton in the past, but his support for her presidential bid wasn't always certain. In February, he co-hosted a Beverly Hills fundraiser for Obama with his DreamWorks production partners David Geffen and Jeffrey Katzenberg that brought in more than $1.3 million. Katzenberg is backing Obama, as is Geffen, a former Clinton ally turned critic.

Spielberg has directed some of Hollywood's most admired films, including "Jaws," "E.T. The Extraterrestrial," "Jurassic Park," "Schindler's List" and "Saving Private Ryan."
Let me tell you, I was on pins and needles waiting to hear who Spielberg was going to endorse. It’s settled, now I have to vote for Hillary because E.T. is endorsing her.

Hollywood obviously thinks that their opinion matters that much that we should blindly vote for someone because they endorse them. Why the flip should I care what Steven Spielberg thinks or who he intends to vote for? He makes movies. He entertains us. His opinion, along with all the other entertainers, on political matters means nothing to me. Just make the freaking movies with the neat little special effects and let us do the thinking for ourselves. What a bunch of self-involved, ego-maniacs.

Do the research and decide for yourself. If you are someone who makes a decision on who to vote for based on an endorsement from a person or an organization you are a moron, in my humble opinion. If you need a helping hand from an actor, please do us all a favor and shot yourself, because you are a waste of skin.

Photo by KCThinker, Farm Equipment

Tax Hikes on You and Me Made Possible by the Ruling Elite

2007-05-30T19:53:00.000-06:00

They know what is best for us. So they think. Why is it that the first thing politicians do when they propose a new program or policy is to assume that tax hikes are needed? Both Senator Hillary Clinton (D-NY) and Senator Barrack Obama (D-IL) have proposed programs and policies during their presidential campaign stops that will require additional spending. In order to pay for it they want to increase our taxes and take away tax cuts for businesses.

“Under a nine-point plan, Mrs. Clinton proposed to let President Bush's tax cuts for top earners expire, scrap subsidies for oil and gas companies, and require large oil companies to invest in alternative energy or pay into a national research fund. She also called for greater scrutiny of the salaries of chief executives. In a bid to keep jobs in America, she is pushing to eliminate an element of the tax code that allows companies to defer taxes on profits they earn overseas.

In ending what she called Mr. Bush's "irresponsible" tax cuts, the former first lady said she would revert to the tax rates for "upper-income Americans" during the 1990s. She did not specify an income cutoff, but a campaign spokesman said later that it would be $200,000.”

- The New York Sun, May 30, 2007

President Bush’s tax cuts were only irresponsible in that they did not come with spending restraints and cuts. Senator Clinton is just as guilty as President Bush in this regard. I have not heard the esteemed Senator proposing tax cuts or railing against the billions of dollars of pork in the spending bills she votes on. Don’t throw stones when you live in a glass house, Senator.

Once again the politicians show how clueless they really are by fostering a protectionist mentality. If they really understood the way the world works they would understand that we are in a global economy and in order to compete in a global economy companies need to make sure they keep their labor costs down. What they also fail to realize is that successful companies grow and hire people stateside. Protectionist attitudes to lock up the labor vote are shortsighted and harmful to the economic future of America.

“Presidential candidate Barack Obama’s plan for universal health care for all Americans require $50 billion to $65 billion in new revenue, according to estimates released this morning by his campaign.The campaign suggested tax increases for the wealthiest Americans may be the way Obama would pay for his plan. The campaign released estimates from the Urban/Brookings Tax Policy Center saying the money could be raised by restoring the top two personal income tax brackets and rates on dividends and capital gains to Clinton-era levels.”

- Des Moines Register, May 29, 2007

Now, I do not necessarily disagree with Mr. Obama’s plan. I do think we need some form of universal healthcare. Let’s face it; in a country supposedly as prosperous as America, there really should not be millions without health insurance. Here are the highlights as reported by the Des Moines Register:

• Obama will tell the crowd his plan would reduce the typical family’s health-insurance premiums by $2,500 a year.
• Businesses that don’t make a meaningful contribution to health coverage of their employees would do so by supporting the new plan.
• The government would pick up the tab for some of the most expensive illnesses and conditions, which would reduce costs for businesses.
• Much of the extra costs would come from savings in such things as health screenings and better management of chronic conditions that Obama has said can save the system billions of dollars.
• Increasing insurance industry competition and reducing underwriting costs and profits, which Obama’s campaign staff say will reduce insurance overhead.

I like these suggestions. The insurance industry is woefully inefficient (I suppose they look to the federal government for their business model.) What I disagree with his assertion that we need to increase taxes in order to pay for it.

It bothers me that these politicians automatically assume everything needs a tax increase. I think that the answer really lies in making government more efficient. They require it of their contractors (I know because as a government contractor they nickel and dime us on every project nowadays) maybe they should start looking in the mirror and at the bloated and inefficient way THEY do business. I am tired of funding this thoughtless government and its plethora of wasteful, duplicitous, and mostly needless programs.

One last thing…

Senator Clinton also said the following during a campaign stop in Manchester, New Hampshire:

"It's time for a new beginning, for an end to government of the few, by the few, and for the few, time to reject the idea of an ‘on your own' society and to replace it with shared responsibility for shared prosperity," she said. "I prefer a ‘we're all in it together' society."

- The New York Sun, May 30, 2007

Really Mrs. Clinton? You are for an end to government of the few, by the few, and for the few? We normal folk out here in fly over country have been saying that for years. It is you politicians in Washington, D.C. that refuse to listen. In order to make government more transparent and accessible to the American people we need term limits for our senators and representatives and meaningful campaign finance reform (not the type we have now that requires hundreds of millions to run for president). Senator Clinton, will you vote for term limits? Will you vote for comprehensive campaign finance reform? I doubt it. You are part of the system, so spare your lectures for the doped up dregs of our society. Your attitude of the socialist “we” without personal responsibility will further disintegrate this society. It is the “on your own” aspect of this country that has in part made it great. It seems to me like you are part of the problem not the solution. And like all problems, we hope they will go away and not turn into something worse like cancer.

Photo by KCThinker, Barbed Wire on Fence Post, Iowa

The Bush Presidency – A Legacy of Failure?

2007-05-28T18:37:00.000-06:00

If you told me in November 2000 that the Bush presidency would be littered with policy missteps, scandals, and outright embarrassing failure at almost every turn I would not have believed you. I probably would have thought “How bad could it possibly get?”

Nearly seven years later I have to contend that George W. Bush ranks up there with the worst presidents. He has earned his place on the table with the likes of Jimmy Carter.

Because there are so many ways in which President George W. Bush has failed the United States I will at least first bring up the one and only area in which he has succeeded. President Bush has done one thing right. With the cooperation of the House and Senate, he cut taxes and provided a spark for the American economy in the aftermath of 9/11. You can say what you want, but the United States economy is doing alright.

Now that the kudos are over let’s examine where he has fallen far short of expectations. I am sure there are others. Feel free to let me know what I missed.

1. Education. Crafted with a worthless democratic senator, the No Child Left Behind Act misses the mark on education reform. This act has decimated education in America. It does not provide the necessary tools for our children to compete in the global economy. Another well intentioned, poorly thought-out piece of legislation – just one more in a long line coming from Washington, D.C. The only thing that the No Child Left Behind Act guarantees is that today’s children will not be smart enough to recognize the ways its government is failing them in the future therefore ensuring that selfish and clueless politicians remain in power.

2. Prescription Drug Plan. Another example of the federal government doing what it does best – waste taxpayer money – one of the most ill-conceived modifications to an ill-conceived government program. In one swipe of the pen, President George W. Bush bankrupted future generations of American citizens. Thanks W for not looking out for the unborn.

3. Energy Policy. Crafted with oil and natural gas in mind it falls far short of bringing this country into the 21st century and providing the means for the United States to kiss Middle Eastern and South American oil good bye. Bush’s short sighted policy comes at a time where far sightedness is needed. Instead of ensuring that the United States is a leader in renewable energy technology it ensures that the United States is kept in a 20th century frame of mind.

4. Budget. If you would have told me seven years ago that the Republicans would spend like the Hollywood elite in a cosmetic surgery and recreational drug store buying frenzy, I would have told you that you were off your rocker. Needless to say, under President George W. Bush, we have spent like money was going out of style. Recession or no recession, there is no justification to borrow nearly $2 trillion in the last seven years. Congress, with President George W. Bush’s guidance should have cut spending. Unlike the conservative talk that got him elected, President George W. Bush has been at the helm of one of the largest expansions in federal government. Thanks for increasing the mediocrity of our society, President George W. Bush and again not looking out for the unborn.

5. Iraq and Afghanistan Wars. The war in Afghanistan was justified; the one in Iraq was an unfortunate decision. We should have concentrated on Afghanistan and rounded up and killed each and every Taliban fighter. But, instead, President Bush did not heed any of the obvious warning signs and decided to take on Iraq as well. Now we are fighting a half-assed effort in both countries. Once again President Bush and his team had no plan for maintaining peace and transiting government after an easy win. Years later Bush is finally getting it by providing more troops (still not enough in my opinion) but the American public with its 60 second attention span has lost its taste for these wars. It does not help that UBL, or OBL or whatever the pricks real name is, has not been caught either.

Now I should not lay all the blame on President George W. Bush. He had his willing helpers (both democrat and republican) in the House and Senate. And if you think a democrat as president would do any better, guess again. None of these morons has a clue as to how their actions today will affect future generations of Americans. They only think one election at a time.

Photo by KCThinker. In-law's farm in Iowa.

Global Warming: Real Crisis or Fashion Fad?

2007-04-08T23:15:00.000-06:00

In case you have not heard, there is a global crisis. It is not HIV/AIDs. It is not malaria. It is not hunger. It is not lack of clean drinking water. It is not lack of basic sanitation facilities. It is not lack of access to basic health care. It is the earth’s climate changing.

The United Nations has provided a report that suggests that we need to immediately do something about this crisis. Not all the other ones I mention above, but climate change. I find it interesting that of all the global crises, global warming seems to be the only one we should get motivated about; maybe because this “crisis” has no face. When you think global warming, you do not think of a starving child in Africa. When you think global warming you do not think of a village in Haiti without clean drinking water. When you think global warming you do not think of the children orphaned because of HIV. When you think of global warming you do not think of the person dying from a mosquito bite. When you think of global warming you think of ice bergs melting and palm trees in the Artic. Sure some polar bears are having a tough time, but you rarely think of a child in need or the gaunt face of a struggling mother.

Everyone, it seems, is on the global warming bag wagon. From Al Gore to Hollywood (the biggest hypocrites of them all) to politicians to scientists everyone is jumping aboard and purporting that there is consensus in the global warming debate. The science is infallible they say. The computer generated models are very accurate they say. Just look at the trend and the delta they say. Say something contrary to what the global warming aficionados think and you are liable to receive death threats and become black listed by those with an “open” mind. The whole attitude of these elitists makes me think the whole fiasco is akin to Big Climate Change; another all powerful, but secretive entity, that is intent on controlling humanity.

I am not disputing the trend of overall global warming. I am disputing the cause and I am trying to be rationale – not something the elite snobs want when so much funding is on the line. I will give you a few things to think about:

1. Ice core data indicated that in past warming cycle’s temperature increases before carbon dioxide levels increase. What then caused the increase in temperature if it was not carbon dioxide? Could it possibly be other factors?

2. The ice core data shows temperature and carbon dioxide increases but then the temperature and carbon dioxide levels decrease again. I thought that once you had an increase in CO2 levels there was no return. The aficionados claim that we will burn up. What caused the decrease of temperature and carbon dioxide in the past? Remember these records come before man had invented the SUV. How did those intrepid cave men fight global warming in the past – maybe there is a missing link and a missing solution on a cave wall tragically demolished due to our ignorance. That mural was not depicting a hunt; it probably was the formula to stop global warming.

3. In the 1970’s, scientists were worried about global cooling. Yes, global cooling. The levels of CO2 did not decrease during this time period. On the contrary, CO2 levels have been steadily increasing for more than 50 years. Those scientists were quite certain of the crisis and crazy ideas were brought forth to stop global cooling. Now crazy ideas are being proposed to fight global warming.

4. If CO2 is really to blame, can you really do anything to curb CO2 emissions without controlling population? As I have said before, more people require more resources, and more resources results in more CO2 and other greenhouse gases such as methane being emitted.

5. The Earth’s climate has changed without human intervention many times over thousands upon thousands years. Glaciers have been receding for thousands of years. What makes us think we are that special to cause it this time? Our science? Our computer models? Our infallible knowledge that only man can control the Earth?

There are lots of good websites like RealClimate.org that think that the rise in greenhouse gases is a cause for alarm. You can sift through all their editorials and resultant comments by scientists. I have spent many an hour looking through their website, but for some reason I do not find myself convinced. They present many plausible ideas and studies to support their stance, but I feel like something is missing. My bullshit meter is in alarm mode when I read it. Just when I think they may have a point because it is in the 80’s in Kansas City in March, the following week it gets to below freezing in Kansas City. Mother Nature can be fickle; another reminder that the climate can change at the drop of hat.

Photo by KCThinker, water tap in batey, La Romana, Dominican Republic

The Trouble with Political Pronouncements

2007-04-03T21:43:00.000-06:00

Martin Frost, a former democratic congressman to the U.S. House of Representatives, wrote the following in a Foxnews.com editorial about energy independence: "Like so many other Bush pronouncements, it turned out to be a statement made for political expediency with no substance or commitment behind it."

Newsflash: ninety nine percent of all political pronouncements, from both democrats and republicans, are politically expedient with no substance or commitment behind them. I have the utmost contempt for the politicians in Washington, D.C. who find it easy to promise so much and deliver on so little of substance. They play their little game with the future of the United States hanging in the balance. If there is pork to be had then everything is easy, but to actually address a real problem like energy independence or the burgeoning national debt or the unfunded trillions in Medicare and social security liabilities the politicians are strangely noncommittal and provide us with nothing but political expediency. No one wants to present the very tough and unpopular decisions needed to address these problems because they fear for their chances of re-election. All the solutions require sacrifices**: cuts in spending, cuts in benefits, and an increase in taxes - that is the truth, you have to have all three - there is no hiding from that reality. Who is willing to go to the American people and present that? Who is willing to look their campaign bankrollers in the eye and say the trough is closed? And if you do present a proposal like that you are shot down. The only thing you hear from the talking heads is criticism, nothing constructive whatsoever. Each of the key issues above needs to be addressed soon otherwise we will saddle our children and grandchildren with an enormous burden. I just do not see anyone in Washington, D.C. that cares about America. I think they care more about ensuring their party benefits and stays in power. I have found that they are all talk. Pretty speeches and flowery rhetoric does not solve problems. And I do not think I am alone in America in thinking this way.

You can think what you may, but I am as cynical as I have ever been about our elected officials and their chances of finding a "consensus" on any issue. Let's just look at becoming energy independent. It will take nuclear power. It will take new coal power plants with carbon sequestering. It will take coal to oil. It will take more wind and solar power. It will take more drilling in areas like ANWR. It will take more fuel efficient vehicles. It will take higher gas taxes to encourage a reduction in consumption. It will take significant investment in renewable technology. It will take more than just biofuels (never mind that we are taking land away from food production for energy production). It will take a change in mindset. It would not take much to convince me to change, because I know what is at stake. You need someone that has a grasp of how to convince everyone else including the anti-nuclear crowd, the auto manufacturers, the oil companies, and the citizens of this country. You need someone that can convince the left that this is a responsible way to become energy independent and reduce greenhouse gas emissions. You need someone that can also convince the right that this is a reasonable way to get us out of the Middle East and other areas run by despots. In the present political climate I do not see anyone that has the ability to unify people to make the changes necessary and that is a sad commentary on our society as a whole.

**Sacrifice is not in the American dictionary anymore. It is a word that is fading fast with the greatest generation. Our society has become fat and lazy. And so have our politicians.

Photo by KCThinker, sugar cane loading appartus, March 2007

Finally Iraq is Vietnam

2007-03-27T22:13:00.000-06:00

I did not think Iraq would become another Vietnam. But with the micromanagement of the war by politicians in Washington D.C. and a media machine bent on spinning the war against the president they despise, they have finally achieved what they have wanted for the last four years.

I am utterly disgusted by the way the Washington D.C. is playing politics with the supplemental spending bill. First, the bill is loaded with so much excess spending that has nothing to do with the military. Peanut storage? NASA exploration capabilities? What are they thinking in Washington D.C.? Can they not pass a bill that only focuses on one thing? Second, a timetable for the withdrawal of troops from Iraq is an utter slap in the face to the troops, to the American people, and to the Iraqis. I did not agree with the war in Iraq, but I see now that we must do our utmost best to provide every opportunity for a stable Iraq. It is unbelievable that the people in Washington D.C. are so deluded to think that by pulling out the civil war will stop. We must provide security for the tensions to dissipate; otherwise there can be no hope in Iraq. My only hope is that the President vetoes this ridiculous and obviously politically partisan supplemental spending bill. Maybe then the idiots in Washington D.C. can actually put politics aside and just get it done without the wasteful pork and a timetable that is only suited to the politics of Capital Hill and not the streets of Iraq.

This bill is a potpourri of programs that have nothing to do with defense. Here is a “short” list of the completely unrelated items put into this bill:

Milk Income Loss Contract Program
Peanut Storage Costs
Losses due to Aphis Emergency Order
Architect of the Capital
Payment to Widows and Heirs of Deceased Members of Congress
U.S. Geological Survey
U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service
National Park Service
Department of Interior
Minimum Wage Increase and Small Business Tax Relief
Educational and Cultural Programs
International Broadcasting Operations
USAID Child Survival and Health Programs Fund
International Disaster and Famine Assistance
Operating Expenses for USAID
NASA Exploration Capabilities
Bilateral Economic Assistance Economic Support Fund
Assistance for Eastern Europe and the Baltic States
International Narcotics Control and Law Enforcement
Migration and Refuge Assistance
Hurricane Disaster Relief and Recovery
NOAA Administration operations, research, and facilities

Have you ever looked at a dragonfly?

2007-03-23T21:42:00.000-06:00

Have you ever looked at a dragonfly? How unique its shape is. How colorful it can be. How small it is on your knee. How delicate its wings are.

Have you ever watched a hummingbird fly to one plant after another, its wings beating so fast it is just a blur to the human eye?

Have you ever wondered about the stars? How many there are. How beautiful an untainted night sky is. Have you ever stared at the night sky on a breezy, warm summer night holding someone you love and just thought that it could not possibly get any better than this.

Have you have ever felt cold sand around your toes? That gritty yet soothing and squishy feeling. The salt water lapping against your ankles. Breathing the warm salty air. The sun sinking into the ocean sending hues of blues, greens, pinks, and purples bouncing off clouds and water and sky.

Have you ever stopped at the thought of an old memory that brings a smile to your face? Have you ever reveled in that memory and found yourself brushing your lips with your fingers or stroking your cheek?

Have you ever listened to a song that lifted your soul with joy? You could feel the piano or cello or guitar or clarinet flowing through you and making you rise and fall with the tempo or crescendo or decrescendo.

Do you ever stop and wonder about life? How amazing it is that we exist and breathe and create and even destroy. The intricacies of life and the mysterious web that weaves through our lives connecting seemingly distant and uncommon people never ceases to amaze me.

I have met extraordinary people in my life. These wonderful people gather others around them like a shepard. To protect them, to nurture them, to help them grow. Some of these people become shepards themselves, others are content to remain in the flock and work within to make the flock stronger. Whenever I meet people like this I imagine I can see their aura. They just appear to be larger than life. I am thankful that they exist. They show me hope.

As long as there are those of us that have hope that is stronger than despair there is a chance for the human race. Hope for the best and nurture those around you to be their best.

Amen.

Photo by KCThinker, flower in the Black Forest, Germany

Open Letter to Senator Barack Obama

2007-03-19T20:48:00.000-06:00

Dear Senator Obama:

I am amazed at the masses mobilizing behind you for a run in 2008. I am trying to figure out what exactly you stand for. Your website is filled with nuance and vagueness. You speak of Homeland Security on your website and the need to protect chemical plants and drinking water supplies, yet I find no mention of border security. How can you protect the homeland without addressing our porous borders? I am looking for a candidate with real solutions to the problems that vex our nation. I have not found any on your website. You fail to address the nearly $9 trillion debt. It seems that you do not have a plan to address the trillions of dollars of unfunded liabilities in Medicare and Social Security. Your suggestions for improving our educational system do not even begin to address its basic shortfalls. You talk a good talk, but where are the real, implementable ideas? A story about how you grew up and a pretty speech about coming together does not provide me with your stances on critical policy issues that could either impoverish my children and grandchildren or set the course straight. Will you be able to make the tough decisions that many of your colleagues on Capital Hill refuse to make or even think about for fear of their political careers?

We the People or We the Lobbyists or We the Professional Politician?

2007-03-12T23:00:00.000-06:00

“We the People of the United States, in order to form a more perfect union, establish justice, insure domestic tranquility, provide for the common defense, promote the general welfare, and secure the blessings of liberty to ourselves and our posterity, do ordain and establish this Constitution for the United States of America.”

We the people, my ass. This country is being run by self-serving bull shit artists who pimp themselves to every Tom, Dick, and Harry lobby group with some cash to stuff in their g-strings. Most of these politicians fall somewhere between a lawyer and a prostitute - pretty far down the evolutionary ladder.

Every election cycle billions of dollars are spent. For what? Opponents of campaign finance reform declare that their freedom of speech is violated by enforcing spending restrictions. Seems to me candidates get a good amount of free air time on various news and talk shows (how much do you think that bit Obama had on Oprah was worth?). They get to debate other candidates on free air time. They are oft-quoted in any number of newspapers, magazines and internet news sites. The only thing I see the money being spent on are slick PR spin people and attack ads that provide NO knowledge of a candidates ideas or their solutions to problems. And real, substantial, implementable ideas and solutions are what we crave (well, at least I do). Any moron can put together an attack ad or a feel-good ad presenting the candidate as a saint. It still will not tell me how he or she will accomplish anything of substance if we elect them.

How do you get an elected official to willingly cut off the gravy train? McCain-Feingold is an absolute joke. Any meaningful campaign finance reform is watered down to the point of being ineffective. We need serious campaign-finance reform coupled with term limits for our representatives and senators. We need to limit spending on campaigns to only those dollars from the federal government. No option of using matching donations or private donor money – that way no candidate is beholden to a special interest other than the American people as a whole. I would recommend six terms for representatives and two terms for senators. We need to get away from the professional politician mentality that has permeated Congress. The longer they are in Congress, the longer they lose touch with reality.

I would recommend an overhaul of the primary and caucus system. The whole election cycle from the first primary to the November election should be a maximum of 6 months. No campaigning for a November election before January 1 of the same year. The primaries and caucuses would have 4 to 5 months to finish and then 1 to 2 months for the parties' candidates to campaign before the November election. Enough of this ridiculous state maneuvering to become the first state to hold a primary. If a candidate cannot get their message across in 6 months then their message is not very good to begin with. How much does a candidate's message really change over the course of 6 months anyway, let alone two years? Don’t we have access to all their position papers through the internet or their campaign offices?

I suppose I am an idealist when I think how much more we can do to alleviate the suffering of people here and abroad with those billions of dollars being spent by a bunch of blowhards in the name of free speech. I think we are heading down a dangerous road when someone reports that the entry fee for the 2008 presidential race is $100 million. It is a message that should give us pause and it is also NOT a message we should be broadcasting to the world as an example of "democracy".

Photo by KCThinker, Batey 50, La Romana, Dominican Republic

Where are our leaders?

2007-03-10T01:33:00.000-06:00

Is it sad that I wish for some incredible event to make us see that our differences are imagined? Yes, we have differences of race, class, religion, and gender. But why can we not put those behind us and look forward, use our potential, and harness our energy to do good works instead of destructive ones. When I walk through an international airport I witness first hand the slow mixture of the societies of the world. We have thousands of years of history at our disposal. Yet, we seem to make the same mistakes over and over and over. We learn nothing from those who came before us.

Being a parent I often think what this world will be like for my children. Will they have the same opportunities that my wife and I have had? Will they know a world at war with itself or will they know a world at peace? Will they know a world barely surviving with rampant famine and disease or a world that has figured out how to supply the needs of an ever growing population?
I think part of the pessimism that people feel is that there are so few real leaders out there. There are not enough people that will stand up and shout “Enough!” The few people willing to go against the grain are either marginalized because they are not politically or media savvy or they quietly go about their work, making a difference, but only reaching and inspiring a few people at a time (I realize that even a small number of people can make a difference, but I fear that the situation is slowly spiraling out of control and real leadership on a large scale is needed immediately).

Many of our “leaders” are in my opinion not leading; rather they are leaches. They suck the goodness out of everything for their own gain whether that is monetary, political, or both. This world has become one that rewards greed and selfishness. The concept of sacrifice does not go beyond the cross that Jesus bore. It seems most people find excuses for not doing their share. The concept of selflessness is outdated. Real leaders are not nurtured in such an environment; only greedy CEOs and unscrupulous politicians are.

I am disappointed in our government’s inability to properly lead as the world’s only willing “superpower”. The United States seems willing to do what is in its own best interest. The United States has meddled in a number of countries only to fail miserably because it refuses to listen and learn. The United States fails to recognize its lack of true leadership. The United States is divided because of our “leaders” inability to find common ground and realize that is not about the “me”, it is about the “we”.

I am disappointed in the United Nations and its inability to lead. This august organization has the potential to help bring about the societal change needed to address the concerns of 21st century; however, they care more for crafting resolutions and being word smiths than a body that actually does what it says it will do. A resolution is only works if you intend to go through with it. The United Nations has been absent in the Balkans, Rwanda, and now in the Sudan. There is no will to put the hammer down on Iran and North Korea. Words and more words is the only thing the United Nations is good for. We learned nothing from the Nazi concentration camps and the end game of fascists. Not much leadership is present in that organization when it counts.

You can say what you will but I do not see a true leader in any of our elected officials at the national level. I cannot say I really see one person in particular willing to make the hard decisions and explain to the American people or even the world why those hard decisions need to be made. Every decision and every sound bite is crafted for political purposes.

People from all walks of life are clamoring for real leadership. Are we coming up on a new revolution? Is there a ground swell forming of people willing and ready to shout “Enough!”? I know I am ready. I am tired of the “me first” attitude. I am tired of our attitude towards poverty and crime (the two go hand in hand). I am tired of our society's cavalier attitude towards morality. I am tired of the Hollywood elite telling me what to think (they are actors - what makes their opinion more valid than mine?). I am tired of the posturing. I am tired of useless rhetoric. I am tired of the politicians. I am tired of the leaches running our countries. I know have had ENOUGH!

It is every generation’s responsibility to leave the world a little better for the next. The generation with the power today is definitely asleep at the wheel and heading towards a cliff. Please take a moment and thank them for their ignorance.

Photo by KCThinker, Dominican Republic, Batey 50

Al Gore’s Dirty Little Secret

2007-02-24T07:00:00.000-06:00

Assume global warming is a result of more carbon dioxide (CO2) being released into the atmosphere thereby trapping more heat. Global warming is caused by people then. The more people, the more CO2 is emitted. To reduce global warming you need to reduce the number of people, not just the cars and trucks and coal fired power plants. That is the dirty little secret, or inconvenient truth, Al Gore does not want you to know about. If you truly believe that people cause global warming then carbon caps alone will not address the problem.

Imagine for a minute that you replace all the cars and trucks on the road right now with hybrids. That would make a remarkable difference where air pollution is concerned. At some point, assuming we have not kicked the oil habit, the CO2 emissions from the increase in the number of hybrids over a certain period of time due to population increase will equal that of the current emissions. Then what? My hope is that technology will have improved by then that we will not be reliant on fossil fuels. But if you think beyond cars and look at the overall impact of people just consuming to live, the picture becomes much worse.

More people require more resources. Whether you live in Brazil, Germany, Japan, Senegal, or the United States of America, more people consume more. More food needs to be grown, more food is consumed, more energy is expended for cooking food, more energy is expended to cloth people, more energy is expended to house people. The People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA) is claiming that our hunger for meat requires more cows. More cows means more methane which contributes to more global warming.

In 1900 the estimated world population was 1,650,000,000. In 2005 the estimated world population is 6,453,628,000. In 105 years the population has increased by an estimated 4,803,628,000. That is a huge impact on the system. Even at the base level, more people emit more CO2 just breathing. According to a study by the USDA, an average person's respiration generates approximately 450 liters (roughly 900 grams) of CO2 per day. That is approximately 1.98 pounds per person per day. On a global scale we have increased the amount of CO2 emitted annually, just from us breathing, by 3,478,000,000,000 pounds of CO2 per year (that is 1.739 billion tons of CO2 annually). With the current population at 6.453 billion we emit roughly 4,673,000,000,000 pounds of CO2 annually (2.336 billion tons of CO2 of annually).

You can demand that the Kyoto Treaty be implemented. But the reality is that we will never be able to meet the Kyoto goals if we do not address population. And that is the reality that a leer jet environmentalist, who won an Oscar for a questionable documentary, can not comprehend or does not want to address. It does not fit nicely into his little box of understanding. It is easier to blame big business than to look in the mirror. You really want to achieve the Kyoto goals? Plant billions of trees, stop flying around in jets, and replace cars with the horse and buggy. That in my opinion is the only way to “stop” global warming if it is indeed the result of human activity.

I agree with some of Al Gore’s recommendations like using energy efficient products and living in energy efficient homes. I, for one, am tired of being beholden to Islamic fundamentalists and communists for our energy supply. You also cannot complain about saving money, can you? But instead of investing in dubious schemes like carbon trading, let’s invest in the research into technology that will increase energy efficiency in the home and at work. We need to further the science and engineering of energy if we are going to make a difference. Such an investment will be good for our economy as well. We also need to embrace technologies like wind and solar power; even it that means that your “precious” views are spoiled by wind and solar farms. Sacrifices need to be made folks – although sacrifice is sadly not in many people’s dictionary nowadays.

Now, let's assume that there are other factors responsible for global warming, I mean climate change. The other thing the leer jet environmentalist crowd cannot accept is that climate changes and has changed over millions of years with and without humans roaming the surface. Glaciers have formed and receded. That pesky science called geology gives us this knowledge. The leer jet environmentalists (let’s lump the dopey Hollywood crowd in there) think we can keep the earth static. These are same people that want to “preserve” the old growth forests – even when it is not healthy for the forest to do so. Nature changes. Climate patterns change. Our sun’s output changes. We change.

There are so many variables with regard to our climate that is folly to think we can model it accurately enough to foretell the future. I am by no means an expert in computer modeling, but I did take a computer modeling course in graduate school and I do use computer models in my work. I would argue that I have more of a perspective on modeling than an average person does. Modeling is as much art as science in my opinion. Even simple models, a groundwater model for example, can be difficult to get right. The interactions of complex models, like our climate, are very hard to figure out (we are still uncertain of how clouds form and interact with the climate). In order to use a model you need to calibrate it against real data – you need to figure out how it compares to a known data set and tweak it until the model correlates reasonably well with the known data set, only then can you make predictions of how it would react under other inputs. We only have about 150 years of decent data for calibration of a climate model (I do not consider ice core data as valid for model calibration mainly because it is interpreted data). That, in my opinion, is not enough for such a complex model. The models out there are much better than the ones that were used in the 1970’s when global cooling was a concern, but they still lack sophistication in my opinion. The current models predict global temperatures rising anywhere from 1 to 8 degrees Fahrenheit. That is a huge spread.

If CO2 is inexorably linked to temperature increase, why were we so concerned with global cooling in the 1970s? The amount of CO2 emitted did not go down in the 1970’s. It has steadily increased along with population. Why was there a warming period several hundred years ago that allowed grapes to be grown in England? We were not emitting nearly as much CO2 back then. I am not convinced that CO2 emissions by man are solely to blame for an increase in global temperatures. We think we are so smart that we can deduce without a doubt that man is solely responsible for this trend in global temperatures. I say that we are not very smart and cannot jump to that conclusion no matter how you massage the data in a slide show. Don’t forget that CO2 is only part of the “problem”. There are also other chemicals such as methane and the chemicals that replaced CFCs that contribute to more warming than just CO2 on a pound for pound basis.

Another “impact” of global warming is a supposed increase in “extreme” weather. There is growing fear of more massive mudslides and floods due to global warming. Is it really due to global warming or is it due to poor land use planning? More population means you end up building where you are not supposed to. New Orleans and southern California come to mind. In New Orleans communities were flooded when a major hurricane hit that city. The city is below sea level, what do you expect to happen? It was not global warming it was just that the likelihood of this event happening was foretold decades before it did. In California, poor land use planning results in mudslides during heavy rain. I see it here in Kansas City as well. Poor urban planning has resulted in flooding during heavy rain events. Even without global warming you are going to have heavy rainfall events that exceed design parameters. There is a certain amount of risk accepted during design and construction. Designing to the 1,000 year rainfall event would be cost prohibitive. Do I need to mention that there were no major hurricanes to hit the United States in 2006?

In the end global mean temperatures may or may not continue to rise whether we do something to curb CO2 emissions or not. Honestly, even if we wanted to I doubt we can do anything about it in the next 50 years. It requires a global political will. We can not see eye to eye on even the most basic issues. More people means more CO2 emitted from their overall actions. China and India are growing by leaps and bounds and everyone wants to live like an American. We need to take the next 50 years and invest heavily in energy research; a Manhattan Project type effort if you will. Blacklisting scientists who do not agree with your point of view in a McCarthyian effort will not solve this problem.

One also has to step back and wonder if man can truly reverse or control what he has supposedly set in motion. Maybe it would be better for the world if man leaves it. We have thousands of years of history that illustrate that we behave like little children and never grow up. Maybe global warming is Nature’s time out for mankind.

The Unfortunate, All Too Binding, Iraq Situation…

2007-02-19T22:50:00.000-06:00

The United States of America is in Iraq. That is the cold, hard fact. No matter how you feel about how we got into this mess, the fact remains that we are there now. And no amount of hindsight will alter that fact (even if you are running for president). It does not matter if you are a democrat or a republican. It does not matter how you voted. It does not matter if you are a liberal, conservative, green, libertarian, or independent. It does not matter if you were for or against the war in Iraq. It does not matter what the reason for going into Iraq was. WE, as AMERICANS, are solely responsible for success or defeat in Iraq. The world does not care if you are pacifist, an atheist, a born again Christian, a vegetarian, or a redneck. You are seen as an American, and Americans have the responsibility to see that we leave Iraq better than before we went into Iraq.

Many mistakes have been made by foolish men who had little understanding of that region. That said, we need to look at the big picture of the region as it stands now and not just the blood and treasure that America is losing everyday. We need to realize that there are many people out there counting on America to get Iraq done and get it done right. My problem with the democrats is the problem I have with the republicans. Every thing boils down to the least common denominator - how it impacts the re-election efforts of the politicians and how much damage they can inflict on the opposing party. They could care less what really matters to the future of this country (if they did we would not have these ill-conceived social programs that we cannot afford or an education system that leaves our children ill-equipped to compete in the global economy – other topics for another day). We are there and we need to figure out how we can best help to provide a stable Iraq - if that is even possible, I am not sure. We also need to get Iran and Syria to stop meddling in Iraq as well. Iran and Syria are adding gasoline to the fire because it suits their interests in making America look weak. The democrats (and some republicans) and the media are doing their part by fanning the flames of discontent here. Discontent spread here adds fuel to the insurgent engine by making them think they are succeeding. Cutting and running (call it redeployment if you want) allows Syria and Iran to win and makes us look very weak in the eyes of the Arabs. But politicians rarely care about the over reaching impacts of their decisions or sound bites. All they care is doing what is best for their re-election efforts, presidential bids, and lobbyists.

Has the war been grossly mismanaged? YES. Is the situation becoming worse? In some parts of Iraq it is. Does the dissent in the United States undermine our efforts? Definitely. Think about in terms of the hype before a big football game. If the other team says something about their opponent it may get posted in the opponent’s locker room as a motivator. When senators like Harry Reid spout off at the blow hole you can be damn sure it gets posted in an insurgent locker room in Iraq.

The editor-in-chief of U.S. News and World Report, Mortimer B Zucherman, stated in a 22 January 2007 editorial that “American forces … cannot stop this sectarian war. The Iraqis must do it.” But “nothing good can happen without security, which is the sine qua non for success.” “We cannot just turn our backs on Iraq and hope for the best.”

A story on NPR the morning of 8 February 2007 was about the sectarian violence. The NPR correspondent interviewed a Shiite. The Shiite spoke of militias and their efforts to wipe out Sunnis (I am sure that some of that is also going on against the Shiites). But this Shiite was protecting other Sunnis. The interview ended with the Shiite stating that he wanted Baghdad flooded with American troops to provide peace and stability.

Now we have two options. We pack up and leave and watch Iraq spiral out of control into chaos, or we provide security until that indeterminate time at which the Iraqis can find peace among themselves. The situation is not going to miraculously be solved in the time it takes to make a bag of popcorn in the microwave or in the span of a 60 minute TV show or 90 days or 9 months. Despite what President Bush claimed at the beginning, anyone with real common sense knew this would take years or decades. I knew it. Could we bring Iraq back from the brink of all out collapse? Maybe or maybe not; but we owe to it the Iraqis, to the world, and to future generations of Americans to try with ALL our will and not a fraction less.

Winston Churchill once said “Once you are so unfortunate as to be drawn into a war, no price is too great to pay for an early and victorious peace.”

What exactly does a non-binding resolution accomplish? Does it not mean anything to these democrats and few republicans when General Patreous says a congressional resolution against a troop build up in Iraq essentially emboldens the enemy? They say they support the troops, but a vote for the non-binding resolution is a vote against the troops in my opinion. A vote to defund the war effort is a vote against the troops. We did not learn a damn thing from Vietnam. We did not learn that when it comes to war, we should not let the politicians make operational decisions. The only thing we learned from Vietnam was to not call our troops “baby killers” and to not spit on them when they come back to America. It is amazing that we learned anything.

Disgust

2007-02-15T23:34:00.000-06:00

I am completely disgusted with our "leaders" - and I use that term loosely - in Washington, D.C. and elsewhere. Here are some examples of my disgust:

1. Taking more than 3 years to realize that you really f---ed up Iraq because you refused to listen and think about the consequences of your actions in an area with THOUSANDS of years of history. Then still not listening to what the real solution should consist of.

2. Being asked to guard our border but not being allowed to shoot back when shot at by criminals.

3. Kicking off your presidential election campaign in New Orleans by complaining about two Americas and then returning to your 28,000 square foot house (supposedly "connected space") on 100 acres across from a trailer park.

4. Spending more than $300,000 for a ONE-WAY trip across the country arguing that because you are the first woman speaker of house you have security issues and you do not want to stop to refuel a plane. A ROUND TRIP first class ticket from Washington, D.C. to San Francisco costs $1,937 (an equivalent coach ticket costs $283.80). To top it off, complaining about global warming while flying on these planes that emit more carbon dioxide in one trip than I do in a year driving around in my VW Jetta diesel.

5. Providing immunity from prosecution to a known drug smuggler who later on sues the United States for $5 million because he was shot in the ass while smuggling drugs into the country (last I checked I thought it was illegal to smuggle illicit drugs into the country). Sending the border agents who “covered up” shooting the smuggler in the ass to jail for 11 to 12 years because they really did not think they hit him.

6. Claiming that you need 5 years to balance the budget when you have a $9 trillion "credit card" bill.

7. Lying to (sorry, "misleading") United States representatives during a congressional inquiry into the shooting in the ass of the drug smuggler mentioned above essentially throwing the border patrol agents under the bus.

8. Providing social security benefits to illegal aliens who worked in the United States for 18 MONTHS as long as they provide their paycheck stubs that have their illegal identities on them. A United States citizen must work at least 10 YEARS before being eligible for social security benefits.

9. Black listing scientists and lay people who disagree with your self-righteous slide show while flying around in your personal jet to tell us how bad carbon dioxide emissions are screwing up this planet. This coming from a man whose father made millions in the oil industry. Al Gore is the modern day Joseph McCarthy.

10. Worthless politicians doing what they do they best – NOTHING. Debating a non-binding resolution ad nausea. I think we know where they stand on the Iraq issue. When can we finally move on and tackle other issues that this country is also facing. How about tackling that balanced budget thing? Let’s come up with a real plan and decide the best course of action? And no, pulling out is not an answer. It is time we became accountable for the messes we create. And the United States has made some really big ones.

11. Studying the No Child Left Behind Act and determining that only minor changes need to be made to the act while turning a blind eye to a broken system. Teaching for a test does not provide the tools necessary for our children to learn and prosper and ensure they can compete in a GLOBAL economy. It only creates a generation of morons that cannot think for themselves – I suppose that is what the democrats and republicans really want.

12. Allowing a former Clinton cabinet official to get away with stealing official documents. Wow.

13. More or less giving a pass to a democrat who made some stupid remarks about Obama when a republican would have been asked to resign under the same circumstances. Hypocrites.

14. You and me sitting on our asses and letting the idiots in Washington and in the media run our country into the ground. Nice.

"The past does not repeat itself, but it rhymes." ~Mark Twain

Photo by KCThinker, Door in German castle

The First 100 Hours...

2007-01-26T22:30:00.000-06:00

What exactly has been accomplished in the first 100 hours of the democrats rule of the house and senate? Sure they voted on some feel good legislation that means absolutely nothing to 99.4 percent of America. But have they unveiled any strategy to tackle the insolvency of Medicare and social security? Have they decided to cut out the pork and balance the budget this year instead of having a five-year program? Have they decided to take a real critical look at the Iraq situation and realize the true impact of their "redeployment" scheme on the region? Have they done anything other than pat themselves on the back because they are the kings and queens of Washington, D.C. again? Does proclaiming your support for your state's college team in the bowl championship game on the floor of the house and senate count as doing anything of substance, or was that part of the 100 hours? Please tell me how the democrats are any different from the republicans. In my opinion they are more of the same just under a different moniker.

Photo by KCthinker

Politics as usual

2006-11-06T15:38:00.000-06:00

Is anyone else disgusted with the estimated $2.6 billion being spent on the mid-term elections? Does anyone else find this unacceptable? I am absolutely flabbergasted by the way our political process has been high jacked by political action committees (PACs) and big money contributions. If ever there was a reason for real campaign finance reform this is it.

If you think that big money is only going to the republicans, think again. I heard a story on National Public Radio recently how businesses are hedging their bets and funneling money into both the democrats and republicans coffers. The majority of this money is spent on attack ads which have no substance and rarely tell a voter anything about the candidate. Unfortunately Americans are stupid enough to believe the attack ads because we are lazy and refuse to do our homework. We refuse to critically think about the issues and instead accept what is told us or merely vote along party lines.

People talk about making the political system accessible to the American people. But this type of campaigning shows me that only those that are rich or those with one hand in the pocket of a multiple PACs can win. That goes for both parties. We have truly lost our representative democracy. When are we going to take it back?

Open Letter to the Democrats and Republicans

2006-11-02T22:59:00.000-06:00

Something unique is occurring this election season. I hear more and more people fed up with Washington. The media is quick to seize upon this and proclaim that people are fed up with the republicans and Bush’s failed approach in Iraq. Of course, the media never listens to anyone but themselves. If they listened closely they would hear the discontent of the American people with the entrenched two-party political system.

I have heard some people refer to the two-party system as the repubicrats and the democlans. Is there really a difference between the two parties? Yes and no. The differences are only apparent when it comes to the fringe topics like abortion, gay marriage, stem cell research, and flag burning. When it comes to spending like a kid in a candy shop there is no difference. When it comes to doing what is best for the country beyond their term in office they both chose political self-preservation for short-term gain over smart, long-term solutions. When it comes to making the hard choices they both prefer to focus on nonsensical, unimportant issues that are easy to solve instead of digging into the details, rolling up their sleeves and solving the problems that vex us now and will vex their grandchildren in the future. When it comes to presenting real ideas and talking about the issues both parties prefer to attack and attack and attack the other instead of propose, debate in a civil manner, compromise and solve.

I firmly believe that the republican and democratic parties have completely lost touch with what is important for America and its citizens. The republicans have absolutely squandered their opportunity for the last six years to be the party of ideas and solutions. The people speak out and our elected officials do not listen. These parties have no answers for me. In fact, I have no choices in this election. I can vote for either the democrats or the republicans and comfortably know that our national debt will increase, pork barrel spending will remain the same or increase, our borders will not be protected, we will not be given choice when it comes to our inadequate education system, and our hemorrhaging social programs will not be overhauled. I know this because the political system we have now is impotent. I know this because there are NO leaders in either party.

So democratic and republican candidates, what am I to do? You do not give me a real choice. I can’t vote for the progressives (just a different name for socialists) or the libertarians (come on, this is not an option).

This is a particular problem in Missouri this year in the senate race. McCaskill is clueless. Anyone that thinks the Bush administration can control the price of gasoline is an idiot in my book. How can I elect a senator that has no understanding of supply and demand and the futures markets? Then there is Talent, or as I like to say Talentless. I have met the man and am far from impressed. He was one of the brain trust behind the $100 rebate to Americans when gas prices were increasing and stupid people in SUVs were complaining. Instead of making sure that America is the leader in renewable energy technology (which would be a good thing for our economy, no?) he thinks more of the same is needed. The man is merely a talking head for the republican party. I doubt he has a single unique thought attributable to his own intellect.

That is how bad it has become. We are left with a choice of the lesser of the two evils. Is that really a choice? I suppose my only choice is to write myself in this year and hope that a real candidate will emerge in future elections. Until then I will dream the impossible dream of a REAL third party option.

Photo by KCthinker. Cat in doorway, San Juan, Puerto Rico

Society in Decay

2006-10-08T21:23:00.000-06:00

My soul had been filled with hope and new energy upon my return from the Dominican Republic. Being back in the United States and listening to politics-as-usual, senseless shootings of innocent girls, and the general ridiculousness of our society I have found my soul aching with the same feeling that I had before I went on my trip. It is no wonder that many teenagers have an empty feeling nowadays. Can someone please tell me what we have to be joyful about in the United States other than the obvious freedoms that come with our representative democracy? Yes, freedoms are great to have, but if you feel there is no hope how can you make the most of those freedoms? If you feel like there is nothing more to life than the disconnected relationships we have and the latest X-box game, how can you feel love and hope. I know I do not find joy in the crap coming out of Hollywood. Yet most people tend to spend most of their free time watching TV instead of talking or reading or living.

Our society is in decay. If you have not noticed this you need to get your head out of the sand. I have said it a hundred times and I will say it again. We have come to value selfishness over selflessness. We have come to believe that the American Dream is to be famous. We value things more than people. We have lost touch with what is important because we value money over relationships. We need to reconnect with each other on a more personal level than a My Space page or a blackberry. Take a look at the news for all the evidence of how our society is rotting. More prisoners than we know what to do with. Violent crimes against children. Sexual exploitation being sold on the internet, TV, and radio. People killing people over the most trivial things.

The true American dream I believe is the dream of most every person on this planet (I say most because there is the minority whose dream is to inflict suffering on everyone else). The American dream is to have the opportunity to do unique and creative and awesome things no matter where you come from. From the simplest to the complex; whatever it may be it is the dream within each of us to soar and achieve whatever we set our mind to. That is what makes humans so unique. We have the ability to reach for the stars. We have that imagination. We can have that determination. We must recapture that dream. We must hold it within our souls so that it may warm us and comfort us even during the most trying times. We owe that to our parents, our grandparents, our children, and our grandchildren.

I do not have all the answers. I just know with every fiber of my being that we are heading towards a cliff. The only way to avoid the cliff is to turn away from it. We must figure out what is really important and what is not and make changes in our lives so that our children do not grow up to be selfish empty shells.

The start is as simple as turning off the TV and computer. Reach out to a real person.

2006-08-07T22:53:00.000-06:00

"When what you have done in the past looks large to you, you haven't done much today." ~ Roycrofters: Epigrams of the Day

La Romana, Dominican Republic Batey Water Study: Part I

2006-08-06T21:56:00.000-06:00

I recently went to the Dominican Republic for an opportunity to give back. I went under the auspices of testing water in rural areas of the Dominican Republic. More specifically the bateys (think small villages) in and around the sugar cane fields (think fields of corn) outside of La Romana. I never went to the beach or the resort; I was too busy for that and I did not seem to mind in the least. My experience rejuvenated my soul and filled my heart with hope.

If you have read any of my other posts, you will get a sense that I have been somewhat depressed. I am frustrated with our consumer-driven, selfish culture. A culture which now thinks that being famous is the American dream. I am angered by our government’s lack of will to deal with the real issues in favor of the easy, petty ones. Needless to say, I jumped at the chance to go to La Romana and begin what I hoped would be a new journey. My education and training have largely been focused on wasting tax payer dollars (another frustration which has seated itself fairly deeply in my soul). I wanted to actually use my education and training to help people that really need it and want it.

To make a long story short I became involved in the La Romana project because my wife took a drive through West Virginia and read Mountains Beyond Mountains: Healing the World: The Quest of Dr. Paul Farmer. In the past year my wife has visited Rwanda with Dr. Farmer, participated in a medical mission to Haiti, and organized a global health symposium in Kansas City. Through her I was introduced to a local math teacher who has been working in Haiti. Through him I was introduced to a woman who has been going to La Romana for many years conducting medical missions to the bateys. As part of the medical mission she had long been wondering what the quality of available drinking water was in the bateys (dirty water makes it difficult for people to remain healthy). She wanted to replicate the program started in Haiti. She has also worked with a local engineer for a few years and was wondering if I could go down to La Romana and work with him and train him. The task of collecting and surveying the water sources in the area is immense. There are over 120 bateys outside of La Romana that the medical missions serve.

I arrived late at night because of a lengthy delay in San Juan. Danny, the local engineer, and his wife met me anyway. I was grateful that they waited as long as they did. Although I could probably find my way to the dormitory I would be staying at, it was late and I was in a country I never had been to before. Did I mention that I do not know any Spanish? Danny drove me to the dormitory where all the mission groups stay. When I arrived the team from Azusa Pacific College was fast asleep. I lay in a bunk bed and sweat away my first night in La Romana.

The Azusa Pacific College team welcomed me as if I were part of their team. They were a small group of 6 women and 4 men. Each day they would visit one or two bateys and hold a medical clinic in the batey’s church or school. Because Danny and I made our own schedule I only saw them in action twice when our paths happened to cross. I commend these college students and their professional leaders for the work they do. If it were not for the medical missions the people in the bateys may not receive any medical care at all. I would be exposed to this kind of selfless service again and again during my stay in La Romana. Good people using their vacation to help people who need desperately need it.

Photos by KCThinker. La Romana, Dominican Republic, July 2006

"It does not take much strength to do things, but it requires great strength to decide on what to do." ~ Roycrofters: Epigrams of the Day

Voter ID?

2006-07-18T10:26:00.000-06:00

In the last Mexican election voters were required to show ID. The election was hailed by many international observers as a model election. To be fair, there are accusations of fraud, but it is Mexico; do we really expect anything less?

Now let's look at the United States. Many states like Georgia and Missouri have passed laws to require photo ID to vote. This sounds like a simple measure to prevent fraud. This should be straightforward and easy to implement. No additional equipment should be needed. But the usual suspects are claiming that these kinds of policies that are intended to limit voter fraud limit access to the process. Yes, there are people that do not drive and travel and therefore would not necessarily have a driver's license, passport, or other type of ID. So let us work to get them the necessary ID. I suppose the naysayers would rather allow illegal aliens and others not elegible to vote to participate in our representative democracy.

http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,204003,00.html

Clueless

2006-06-28T22:41:00.000-06:00

Okay. I get that flag burning is seen as unpatriotic and some people have a problem with it. Do we really need an amendment banning it? Aren’t there more important things that need to be debated and legislated than flag burning? Is flag burning a matter of life or death? Does flag burning limit our pursuit of life, liberty, and the American Dream? How exactly does an amendment banning flag burning affect the American people? The only flag burning I see is being done by people not in this country (e.g., Iraq, Palestine, Afghanistan, Iran, etc.).

By the way, the proper way to dispose of a used and tattered United States of America flag is summarized as follows:

“There are several ways in which you may give your American flag the proper retirement without showing disgrace to this great country. If you would like to dispose of the flag yourself then the most fitting way is to hold your own, private ceremony. The U.S. Flag Code states, "The flag, when it is in such a condition that it is no longer a fitting emblem for display, should be destroyed in a dignified way, preferable by burning." After your flag has been burned, the ashes should be buried.”

This begs the question: “If I burn it for disposal purposes would I be breaking the law if the anti-flag burning amendment were passed?”

The real answer as to why the Republicans are hell bent to debate such trivial issues like flag burning is a simple one. In the run up to the fall elections, the politicians are acting like second grade school children. They figure that by “debating” such legislation as flag burning, gay marriage, and the Iraq war they will have ammo come fall. They can point to their opponent and say that he/she is an unpatriotic, pro-gay that does not support the military. In other words, it is a simple child’s game being played with our tax dollars. It galls me that people in such seats of responsibility can be that careless, inconsiderate, selfish, and moronic.

Off hand I can rattle off at least 10 things that are more important than a flag burning amendment.

1. MEDICARE REFORM – Fix the ill-conceived Medicare program before it totally cripples our economy. Any expert worth their salt has been saying for years that this is a huge looming problem. The completely ridiculous and costly prescription drug plan only makes matters worse. Thanks for mortgaging my children’s future for AARP votes.

2. SOCIAL SECURITY REFORM – Fix the ill-conceived Social Security program before it totally cripples our economy (notice a trend here?). Again, thanks for not discussing this to pander to the AARP crowd. And yes, John Kerry, saving social security includes cutting benefits. Anyone that can do math can understand that the current system is not sustainable without HUGE payroll tax increases that will result in an enormous burden on generations to come.

3. ILLEGAL IMMIGRATION – Enforce the existing laws, hold employers accountable, and secure the border. This should be a simple fix but both parties are playing the numbers here. Both parties want the future Hispanic vote.

4. BALANCED BUDGET – Stop being irresponsible with our tax dollars and start being fiscally responsible. Here again, pork = reelection.

5. ENERGY POLICY – Figure out a meaningful energy policy to start eliminating our dependence on fossil fuels. The United States of America should be the leader in this field. It just makes economic sense, whether you agree with Al Gore or not. And to all those limousine and leer jet environmentalists, get off your high horses and embrace the wind farms that ruin your precious view. Don’t preach to us and then go all NIMBY.

6. HEALTH CARE – It is a crying shame that the “richest” country on the planet cannot provide adequate health care to all its citizens. (I say “richest” because we have an $8 trillion national debt and much more than that in consumer debt.)

7. REAL CAMPAIGN FINANCE REFORM – Stop giving me the bullshit line about it limiting free speech. Not much of a level playing field if I run against someone who happens to be a multi-millionaire with lots of money to spend on radio and TV adds and I being a simple civil/environmental engineer have very little money to spend on such frivolities. Personally, the ads never affect me because I happen to be able to look at the facts instead of swallowing every hook, line, and sinker on TV. Not to mention that the billions of dollars wasted on these elections is morally reprehensible.

Okay, I could only think of 7 things. At least it would be a start in the right direction.

If the waste-of-skin politicians cannot even do 1 of the 7 things I listed above, they should at least provide us with some flag burning safety legislation. I mean, a serious fire could be started by accident while waving around that burning flag. Not to mention the toxic fumes released by burning the polyester flags. EPA could get involved and do a risk analysis. NOAA could do an analysis of the proper weather conditions for flag burning. OSHA could draft some safety regulations. It would at least justify some of the fat in those governmental organizations.

Photo from http://www.theodora.com/flags/new8/flag_burning_1.html

What are you offended by?

2006-06-13T21:38:00.000-06:00

It seems lately everyone is immediately offended by something, no matter what the context is or how inconsequential that something may be. Feel free and try my little quiz below to see how you rate on the offensive meter.

1. Are you offended by a fictional book which questions the pillars on which a religion was built or a severely battered woman who clings to life in a hospital because her husband came home in a bad mood and didn't like her cooking?

2. Are you offended by the nativity scene in a public square at Christmas or a homeless person shivering to death in the cold of December?

3. Are you offended by little girls and boys dressed up as witches and devils and cowboys and hobos at Halloween or a known child molester set free to rape, molest, and possibly kill children?

4. Are you offended by a football locker room in pink or politicians deciding that it is too difficult to implement HIV/AIDS programs in Africa so why bother?

5. Are you offended by Bill Cosby telling the truth or a man fathering several children by several different women and not supporting any of them?

6. Are you offended by a sports team with a native Indian mascot or a mother holding her dying child with no hope because she cannot get the medicine or clean water she needs to care for her child?

7. Are you offended by cartoons questioning the violent nature of a religion or the religion itself being used to justify violence?

8. Are you offended by God on our money and in the pledge of allegiance or that one of the richest countries in the world cannot provide adequate healthcare to all its citizens?

9. Are you offended by teaching safe sex in any context to stop the spread of STDs and unwanted pregnancies or insisting that only abstinence be taught because of religious reasons?

10. Are you offended by providing a cervical cancer vaccine on the grounds that it may or may not increase the likelihood of kids having sex or NOT providing a life saving cervical cancer vaccine that will save thousands of women every year?

11. Are you offended by two loving and committed gay people joining in holy matrimony or the 50 percent divorce rate among heterosexual marriages (not to mention the fly-by-night marriages of the Hollywood elite)?

Yes, these examples are extreme opposites. But they drive home the point of what is important and what really is not. If you thought the first example was more offensive than the second in all of the above, your priorities are really screwed up. I recommend getting out more and looking beyond Survivor, 700 Club, Lost, or American Idol. Take the earbuds out, turn off the ipod and smell the roses.

If you thought the first example was more offensive than the second in some of the above, there is still hope for you. Try to understand what is important and what really does not amount to a hill of beans in the greater scheme of things.

If you thought the second example was more offensive than the first in all of the above, I commend you. You have opened yours eyes and see that there is more to life than the meaningless and ridiculous crap we seem to put up with everyday. But let me ask you one more thing, what are you doing about it?

Photo by KCThinker, Waterfall, Catskills, New York

The Ruling (Dullard) Elite

2006-06-01T21:52:00.000-06:00

I shook my head when I heard Representative Dennis Hastert (R-Illinois) denouncing the recent FBI search and seizure of documents from Representative William Jefferson’s (D-Louisiana) office. The fact that the FBI had a warrant made no difference to Mr. Hastert. The fact that Mr. Jefferson had hid $90,000 in his freezer made no difference. The fact that a judge had issued the warrant to the FBI to conduct a search of Mr. Jefferson’s office made no difference. The gall of Mr. Hastert to say there needs to be separation of powers and that the FBI could not conduct a warranted search of a U.S. representative’s office shows us average Americans, yet again, just how out of touch our government officials are with the real people. Let me get this straight, warrantless wiretaps can be conducted in the name of national security, but warranted searches in support of a bribery investigation of a U.S. representative is off limits. Oh, I see, it is okay if our rights are trampled on, but lord forbid you investigate a U.S. representative because heaven help you Dennis Hastert will get all over you.

They have no clue. The only time these morons seem to listen to us is when they think they can easily garner our favor by enacting some worthless legislation such as the $100 gas tax holiday that was recently proposed. I am insulted that these representatives and senators think I am that dense that I do not see through their political pandering. I am insulted that these cretins think they know better what is best for this country and me. All they know how to do is spend the future away through self-serving pork barrel projects and unaffordable entitlement programs.

We need to throw the bums out – democrats and republicans. We need to form a Common Sense party. We need term limits to fire the career politicians. (Think how long some of these guys have been in there. Is that good? I say no.) We need real campaign finance reform. (Sorry McCain, your reform sucks.) We need elected officials that will put the interests of the American people as a whole above the lobbyists. We need elected officials that will think beyond their re-election cycle and consider the impact their legislation has on future generations of Americans.

I rue the day I have to tell my daughter that we knew we could not afford Medicare and Social Security long before she was born and we did NOTHING about it.

Side bar: Did you know that more than $4 BILLION was spent overall on the 2004 election cycle? You can provide a lot of poor people with clean drinking water for that amount of money.

Photo by KCThinker. Perennial Garden, Powell Gardens, Kingsville, Missouri.

Who is to Blame for High Gas Prices?

2006-04-28T14:45:00.000-06:00

A while back I was in Paris, France. Next to the restaurant we were eating at I saw a drunken homeless guy passed out. Amazingly enough he managed to hold up his hand in the hope of getting some money. Unbeknownst to him, his cheap wine was spilling from his bottle onto the ground. That is how I equate our addiction with oil. We are vastly ignorant of the world around us, but we complain and demand that something be done about high gasoline prices while we willingly fill the tanks of our cars and trucks.

How about some perspective? No one complains when they pay $7.50 a gallon for bottled water or Coca Cola or Mountain Dew at the gas station (take a 0.5 liter bottle for $1 and do the math – 1 gallon is approximately 3.785 liters). By the same token, a 0.5 liter bottle of $3 a gallon gasoline is about $0.40. There is significantly less processing and handling with water when compared to gasoline.

No one was complaining when oil was less than $15 a barrel (a barrel is 42 gallons by the way) and gasoline was less than $1 a gallon and oil companies were losing money and laying people off. No one was complaining when gasoline hit $2 a gallon. Now with gasoline breaking the $3 a gallon barrier again this year people are clamoring for “help” and our politicians are more than ready to oblige with ridiculous legislation in order to garner our support in the upcoming election cycle. The latest Senate bill includes an increase in refining capacity and development of known oil reserves in ANWR and in the Gulf of Mexico which is important in reducing gasoline prices and our dependence on foreign oil over the long-term. However, words cannot begin to describe the exasperation that I have with the following portions of this bill:

A gas tax holiday rebate for consumers of $100;
Suspension of deposits into the Strategic Petroleum Reserve for six months to make more oil available for consumer use; and
Consumer Anti-Price Gouging Protection

The $100 rebate check is the most irresponsible idea to come out of Washington D.C. in recent times. This is a meaningless gesture by our government representatives to garner favor in an election year. First, the $100 will not solve the problem. It only puts a small band aid on a larger, gaping wound. Second, we have record deficits and are borrowing more than $1 billion a day. Now you want to spend even more money that the federal government does not have. Third, it will do nothing to lower gas prices.

How exactly will this work? Do both my wife and I get $100 because we both drive? Do we get $300 because we have daughter? What is the cost of producing the checks and sending them out? How much more of a burden will this have on the federal deficit? I personally do not feel comfortable with borrowing $100 from my daughter and future grand children to satisfy the reelection goals of career politicians.

Suspending oil deposits into the Strategic Petroleum Reserve will have NO affect on gas prices and is also very shortsighted. Without increased oil refining capacity the extra oil will have NO impact on gas prices. Instead, the legislation should have included measures to unify the formulations of gasoline so that these refineries do not have to make a certain blend for a certain part of the country.

I am no apologist for the oil companies; however, they are making money because we consume a large volume of gasoline and diesel. Exxon-Mobil sold 89 billion gallons of gasoline last quarter. Higher consumption means more sales which translate into more profits. The profit margin per gallon of gas is roughly $0.09 per gallon. State and federal taxes per gallon average $0.459 per gallon (The federal government gets $0.184 per gallon). Who is gouging who? I would posit that they are making money through volume and not through price fixing. Will you suggest price controls? We saw how well that worked in the 1970’s.

Doesn’t the federal government already tax the oil companies’ profits? What exactly would be gained by taxing them more? Where was the government when oil companies were losing money and jobs because of the low price of oil and gasoline? The people to blame for their obscene profits are you and me because we do not reduce our consumption. We belly up to the gasoline trough on a daily basis.

Oil prices will continue to go up as China and India begin to surpass our consumption rates. That is a fact. Will the federal government continue to have inquiries and hand out checks because the law of supply and demand increases gasoline prices? The days of $1 or even $2 a gallon gasoline are long gone. The days of $3 and $4 a gallon gasoline are here. Deal with it. Use it as an opportunity to see that America has an oil addiction. Use this opportunity to look forward and invest in new technology that will make America the leader in alternative fuels and energy. We can sit around and mope and institute worthless stop gap measures, or we can heed the early warning and create and prosper by a different path. Change is upon us and unless you realize it and act upon it America will become nothing more than an addict wandering around mumbling about how it needs more oil.

If you want to do something about high gasoline prices sell your SUV, buy a diesel (my diesel VW Jetta wagon gets on average 45 mpg) or hybrid automobile, car pool, bicycle, walk, or use the bus. Stop bitching about it, because we are all part of the problem. And if you drive a large SUV like an Excursion, Yukon, or Hummer I do not want to hear your woes. You made your bed now sleep in it.

Photo by KCThinker. Street sign on side road in the Black Forest, Germany.

It is Time for a Revolution

2006-04-12T21:37:00.000-06:00

It is time to take back our government from the special interests and the wannabe movie star-like representatives and senators. It is time to kick out the Democrats and Republicans and try something new. They have had more than 100 years to figure it out and I have had it with them. Okay, every once in awhile they have done something right (civil rights legislation, for example), but the last 15 years have seen our government representatives turn into adults with nothing more than a grade school mentality. They argue like two third graders except with bigger words and an all too willing press corps.

It is time to call bullshit on both parties. I am sick of both parties dodging the big issues in favor of steroids in baseball or complaining about how unfair the college bowl championship series is or finger pointing after Hurricane Katrina or why a United Arab Emirates company should not run some of our ports or using a controversial topic like immigration to pull out the race card. (Look over there stupid Americans while I screw you over here and over here). I am tired of hearing one party complain about the other parties’ ideas without proposing their own ideas. I am tired of our politicians changing their stances at the drop of some stupid poll that sampled two hundred people. I am sick of the pork barrel spending projects. I am disgusted by the lack of responsibility these government representatives have for our hard earned money (we are borrowing over $1 billion a day to keep this country running). I am flabbergasted that these folks do not have a single unique idea in their heads and care more for their political careers than their country.

This country needs leadership desperately. Neither party has impressed me lately. I think a comparison of the Al Franken show on Air American and the Rush Limbaugh show on the EIB network sums it up best for me. While listening to Al Franken recently I heard that the Republicans were screwing up national security and do not have a plan. Tuning into Rush Limbaugh I heard that the Democrats were screwing up national security and do not have a plan. I think both are right in a manner of speaking. Neither party has a clue nor are they willing to stick their necks out for fear of the electorate. It is a bloody shame because the time to act with common sense is upon us. We need to get serious about our skyrocketing national debt, the impending social security and health care crises, failing education, illegal immigration, and a myriad of other important topics. Let’s figure out what went wrong when something goes wrong and fix it instead of playing the blame game and having hearings after hearings after hearings, and months and years later rehashing it again because we learned nothing from all those hearings. We keep making the same mistakes over and over. Partisan bickering does not do this country any good.

We need real leaders who are willing to fight the K Street special interests and do what is right, not what is politically expedient for their careers. We need to work together to solve problems. We need to take back our representative democracy.

I used to think that the Democrats had it right. Then I decided that they did not and started voting for Republicans. Now I find myself with no one to vote for. Voting for the lesser of two evils at this point is not a real choice. Is it wrong to want real choice when it comes to our elected representatives?

Photo by KCThinker. Root in rocks with leaves and water. Catskills, New York.

Immigration Reform

2006-03-31T05:48:00.000-06:00

Nothing bothers me more than having a complex issue boiled down to a simplistic statement on a cardboard sign while waving a Mexican flag. Americans are not racist for suggesting that immigration reform is needed. This is not a black and white issue and the time for immigration reform is long past due.

Do I mind that there are illegal immigrants here in the United States? Yes and no. I do not like that these people are thumbing their noses at our laws; however, American was built by immigrants. I am the son of immigrants.

Do we need illegal immigrants? It seems that some companies are not willing to pay top dollar for jobs that are not very desirable and Americans appear to be unwilling to do the "dirty" and hard jobs. Illegal immigrants provide cheap labor to these companies, keep prices down for Americans and, undeniably, illegal immigrants work harder than most Americans. However, I do not buy the excuse wholesale that illegal immigrants do the work that Americans do not want to do. That may be the case in some jobs, but I think Americans would do the work if those jobs paid more. Some Americans are losing their jobs to cheaper illegal immigrant labor - this is particularly prevalent in the construction industry (where people are willing to work - just not at cut-rate wages).

Should illegal immigration be a crime? Technically, it is already. If I were to enter another country by sneaking across a border, I would be entering illegally and breaking that country's laws. If I entered a country and started working on false identification, I would be breaking the law. That said, what do we do with the estimated 12 million illegal immigrants? It does not make sense to round them up and deport them. It does not make sense to charge them with a felony. But it is also not fair to allow them easy legal status when those who come here legally have to jump through so many hoops. We need to implement immigration reform that requires them to register and start the process of becoming legal immigrants. However, this kind of “amnesty” means nothing without significantly tightening our border. We need a guest worker program of sorts.

Illegal immigration has burdened our social systems (health care and education), particularly in the southern states. Illegal immigrants go to the emergency room for minor issues like colds and never pay the bills and our schools have to spend money on English-as-a-second-language programs. Illegal immigration encourages identity theft. I would rather see Spanish and Mandarin Chinese being taught as second languages to grade school children. My parents came from Germany in the late 1960’s and have learned English. They did not expect the country they have adopted to learn their native language.

Our politicians need to think about this reform carefully and not rush headlong into reform for the sake of political maneuvering in the upcoming 2006 election cycle. Our politicians need to listen to the American people not the mobs of illegal immigrants protesting immigration reform. Smart immigration reform and not knee-jerk reaction will set us in the right direction. We need a debate where ideas are shared. Immigration reform without effectively dealing with the borders is not reform only maintenance of the status quos. Without addressing the border situation we will land right back where we started.

And please, get informed about the complexity of this issue before you start protesting. Don’t be a simpleton.

Photo Credit: High school students dance as they protest house bill HR4437 which calls for tougher border protection and immigration laws in San Francisco, California. Tens of thousands of Latinos protested across the United States, the fifth day of snowballing protests against plans for what they say is a racist a crackdown on illegal immigration.(AFP/Getty Images/Justin Sullivan)

What Are We Leaving our Children?

2006-03-28T20:43:00.000-06:00

Why does no one stand up and say that we cannot place the burden of $9 trillion of debt on our children and grandchildren. We have to make sacrifices, we have to cut spending and have a balanced budget this year, not in five years. I compare this to a college student taking a cash advance with their credit card so that they can deposit the money into their checking account to pay the minimum balance on the credit card. And I know college students that have done this. Another example of fiscal irresponsibility is home owners that take a home equity loan to pay off their credit cards. You may be consolidating your debt, but you are still taking a loan to pay off a loan. That does not sound very responsible, does it? Well, neither is borrowing more money to pay the interest on the debt you already have. And I know senators and representatives that have done this.

Could you look your child in the eye and apologize for not having any food to eat or clothes to wear because you went out and spent all the money on a TV you did not need? It seems that our government representatives are too busy buying TVs.

Numbers of Interest:

$8,347,486,113,319.40: National Debt as of March 23, 2006
$27,800: Your share of the national debt
$184 Billion: 2005 Net Interest on the National Debt. More than Education, Homeland Security, Environment, Agriculture, Healthcare Research and Foreign Aid combined
2023: Year when Social Security, Medicare, Medicaid, and Interest on the Debt will exceed all federal revenues
60%: Amount Total Federal Spending must be cut to balance the budget by 2040
2.5 times current tax levels to bring budget into balance in 2040
$35.6 Trillion: Social Security and Medicare (parts A,B, and D) shortfall

All numbers are from either the Government Accountability Office (http://www.gao.gov/) or the U.S. Treasury’s Bureau of the Public Debt (http://www.publicdebt.treas.gov/opd/).

Photo by KCThinker, Frieburg, Germany, 2005

The Beauty of Nature

2006-03-22T20:49:00.000-06:00

On my way home today after spending three days in snow-choked Nebraska, I saw a beautiful site that reminded my of the beauty of nature and the wonder of spring. In the distance on east side of the road I saw a large tree with a swarm of black birds around it. As I approached, the throng of birds started moving away from the tree in the form of a strand of DNA. The teeming birds made it appear as though the DNA was twisting as it moved away from the tree, almost as if the tree were unfurling its DNA. Nature and its mysteries never cease to amaze me.

Photo by KCThinker. Butterfly in flowering bush, September 2004.

The “Threat” of Out Sourcing

2006-03-18T20:20:00.000-06:00

"Life is a process of becoming, a combination of states we have to go through. Where people fail is that they wish to elect a state and remain in it. This is a kind of death." ~ Anais Nin

The term “out sourcing” creates very different responses depending on who you talk to. Out sourcing is a reality of today’s global economy. It is a phenomenon that we can not dismiss in favor of protectionism and isolationism. The world becomes more and more interconnected everyday. Thanks to the boom years in the 1990’s, thousands of miles of fiber optic cable have been laid and now countries like India and China are taking advantage of that infrastructure. Information can be shared faster and more efficiently than at any time in our history.

What does this mean for the United States and Europe (the “old” economies)? We have to change and “go with the flow” so to speak. We can be unrealistic like the French youth who look to the past and see the socialistic comforts their parents enjoyed, or we can face reality and change our attitudes and embrace the opportunities that lie ahead in the global economy.

I understand that this is something that is very difficult for many people to accept; particularly those that have lost jobs due to out sourcing. Economies change, and with that change come hardships. Our economy in the United States has been changing over the last few decades from one based on manufacturing to one more reliant on information technology. U.S. companies are slowly adapting. And yes, there are growing pains.

But let us look at out sourcing more critically. Jobs are transferred from someone in the United States or Western Europe to countries where wages are less. This reduces operating costs for the companies (since the name of the game in the corporate world is “profit”). Share holders want returns on their investments. Unfortunately, these share holders and the stock markets in general have become greedy and even if a company meets the quarterly goals the stock can take a hit. That is the reality.

From a different perspective, the job that went to India, or elsewhere, provides an income for a family. That family’s standard of living has been raised. They can now afford more materialistic things. They may buy American made products, providing growth for American companies. The American companies may in turn expand their business and hire additional employees stateside.
Okay, still not good enough for you? The worker in a foreign country has a job that provides for his family. That person is less likely to be embittered and join with extremists bent on violence.

A colleague of my wife’s was recently remarking that he was worried for his children because of all the jobs being “exported” to India and China. Upon hearing this, my initial response was that he should be worried; especially if his kids are not learning the skills they need to survive in the global economy. It seems that everyone is concerned, as well they should be. However, no job is certain. You would still have to compete with other Americans in a non-global economy. You still have to out shine your peers. Your peers today are just across the ocean or south of the equator.
"The dogmas of the quiet past are inadequate to the stormy present. The occasion is piled high with difficulty, and we must rise with the occasion. As our case is new, so we must think anew and act anew." ~ Abraham Lincoln

Manufacturers of horse drawn buggies had to adapt with the advent of the automobile. We have to adapt to the changing economy by being better educated and better trained and more flexible. There are many opportunities out there for those Americans willing to adapt. It just requires work, something not many Americans are used to or willing to do.

Photo by KCThinker. Tree along fence line.

2006-03-14T23:31:00.000-06:00

"That's the way things come clear. All of a sudden. And then you realize how obvious they've been all along." ~ Madeleine K. L'Engle

I Want a Do-Over

Don’t you wish that sometimes you could ask for a do-over like you did when you were in grade school? That is the attitude I have with a lot of things in life right now. From the subject I chose to study at university to our elected politicians, I want a do-over.

This is not to say that my job as a civil/environmental engineer is not stable and has not rewarded me. I have a good job with a good company. Sometimes I just wonder if I was meant to do more. I think there are many people like me that come to a point in their life when they ask themselves whether what they are doing is worth it. Approaching my mid-thirties, I am asking myself “What do I want to be when I grow up?” I have many options thanks to a great education and supportive wife. What can I do that will make a difference and answer my question. There always seems to be an excuse for not taking the risk and sticking my neck on the line. Regardless, something needs to change.

Some of my options, as I see them, are teaching and public service. I feel the need to use my education and experience to make math more interesting for kids. I hear horror stories about the lack of a decent education our children are receiving from our public schools. I hear that there is a shortage of math and science teachers. I think I could fill that gap. America needs more students interested in math and science. Unless we change our attitude towards education in this country, America will continue to fall behind. Countries like India and China will be the centers of research. They have the desire. Americans’ only desire is to wallow in mediocrity and spend our future.

My other option is public service. The latest debacle over the Dubai-based company running American ports has left me very disappointed, even ashamed, with our politicians, the media, and our citizens. My encounter with a citizen in Columbus, Nebraska recently hit it home for me. I was speaking with this gentleman about the ports deal and he summed up his opinion by saying that he did not want any Arabs running our ports. It was the way he said; almost racially. The politicians taking stock of the political winds and making an issue of the ports to gain political capital for the next election cycle made it worse for me. From the moment the deal was announced I did not think this would be an issue. Former President Carter was reported to be in support of the deal. Rush Limbaugh was in support of the deal. Bill O’Reilly was in support of the deal. Heck, former President Clinton has been reported to be working behind the scenes for the Dubai-based company. If these four agree on an issue, I would think one of two things would happen: the world would end or the ports deal would be a non-issue. I did not count on the third, a complete lack of common sense by our media and our politicians.

Last week I was New Jersey for work. On my way back to the airport I was flipping channels and trying to find some decent talk radio station. The best reception was Air America and the Al Franken show. I had found the polar opposite of Rush Limbaugh. Rush constantly attacks the Democrats and Al was attacking the Republicans. This is what our political system has turned into. Each party attacks the other for political expediency. Al was complaining that President Bush was out to lunch on the ports deal and is weak on national security. Rush was complaining the Democrats have no plan and are weak on national security. Listening to both made me realize that we need a major political change in our country. The minor issues are blown out of proportion to draw attention away from a total and complete lack of regard of the bigger issues.

An independent candidate for governor in Texas, Kinky Friedman, summed it up best for me by saying the following in an article by John P. Avlon on FoxNews.com:

“There are very few Republicans and Democrats left in Texas,” Kinky says from his ranch in the Hill Country outside of Austin, where five dogs run around and Fox News plays on the TV in the background (not a plug, just a fact). “I think there are just people who are disgusted with politicians; people who are mad as hell and not going to take it anymore.”

He describes the two-parties as “the Crips and the Bloods, playing little insider games with each other, like neighborhood bullies…. The only time they got off their asses is to attack each other. And they’ll do it forever. They’ll never stop until there’s an alternative available.”

I am disgusted by Washington, D.C. and the complete and utter lack of common sense. Stupidity seems to hang over the town like thick smog choking the intelligence out of our duly-elected politicians. Here are two examples of the absence of leadership in Washington, D.C.:

The first is the most recent, the Dubai ports issue. Clamoring about national security issues, the Democrats and Republicans focus on the security risks involved with handing over management of the ports to an Arab-owned company. Never mind that the United States would still be in charge of security. Never mind that our porous border is more of a security risk than the ports (read the Tom Clancy novel The Teeth of the Tiger for a scenario in which terrorists enter the United States by being smuggled across the border). If someone wanted to get something in through the ports they can do so whether the managing company is American, Arab, Chinese, African, or European. Do you really think the Dubai-based company would spend billions of dollars to blow us up when they can bribe the right people for far less? Again, distract with a minor issue and ignore the major one. To top it all off, we get knee-jerk reactions like inspecting 100 percent of containers (do you realize how many come into the country?) and mandating that ports are managed only by American companies (have you forgotten that isolationism and protectionism are not good attitudes to have in a global economy?). The Dubai-based company was pursing capitalism, not terrorism.

My second example is less obvious, Social Security reform. I blame President Bush for botching this one. I will soon be 34 years old. I fully expect that I will not see a penny of the money I pay into the Social Security system when I retire. I want control over my money. To President Bush’s credit he put it out there. He realizes that there is a problem and that we need to address it now and not in 2017 when some far flung estimate says we really need to start worrying about solvency. However, President Bush did not want to compromise. The Democrats would hear nothing of any meaningful reform and did not present a realistic plan. No honest conversation was started. The reform suggestions of the Concord Coalition, a bi-partisan think tank, are ignored in favor of pandering to AARP members. Here again, tough decisions that would not garner political capital are side stepped because the prevailing attitude of these men and women running our country is that “We do not need to do anything because the problem is so far off and I do not want lose all my AARP votes.” Instead the problem still looms out there and becomes more and more unmanageable as more and more baby boomers retire. My daughter will be paying for the inaction of our so-called leaders today. The facts are that we need to cut benefits, increase FICA taxes, and provide a personal savings plan option. Please read Running On Empty: How the Democratic and Republican Parties are Bankrupting Our Future and What Americans Can Do About It by Peter G. Peterson for a sobering reality check and to understand why Social Security reform is needed now.

Where have all the leaders gone? There used to be real leaders in this country; business men and politicians that sought real solutions to problems that vexed the nation. We are led by the dumb and dumber crew. Today’s leaders are more interested in amassing a power base, dolling out political favors, and acting like movie stars. They are courted by special interests that flaunt money and power. Both Democrats and Republicans maneuver their staff into lobbying positions in a game of nepotism.

I would like to think of myself as an independent. I think we should provide health care to those that need it. I would be willing to look at universal health care. We could make our companies more competitive by reducing the health care costs they currently incur through a nationalized system. We also need to look at prevention of diseases instead of fixing the problems. An emphasis on prevention will reduce health care costs. We also need to streamline our health care system (I was dealing with paper work from an automobile accident more than a year after my accident).

I would like to see less taxation and a more frugal government. We have a national debt of more $8 trillion. I know these are boring topics, but these are real issues that require our politicians to make tough decisions. We need to make significant cuts in spending. Tax increases are not an acceptable solution in my opinion. I liken it to personal behavior. I cannot give myself a raise just because my expenses increase. I need to cut my expenses to be in line with my income.

I do not see meaningful leadership from our President on down. I have lost faith in our elected officials and their ability to do what is right unless it helps their political “bank”. Maybe I need to jump into the fray and start my own campaign of common sense leadership. I would like to think that I would be immune from the political intrigue and the need to accumulate power. I would like to think that my common sense would filter the smog of stupidity and prevent me from becoming yet another talking head. Or maybe I should just become a math teacher to give young men and women the tools to succeed in life and hopefully guide some of them to a career in science and engineering.

Photo by KCThinker. Flock of birds on farm field in Iowa.

The Hypocrisy of Washington, D.C.

2006-02-22T21:10:00.000-06:00

A company based in the United Arab Emirates (UAE) is purchasing ports in the United States. The Bush administration once again screws it all up by not talking to the right people ahead of time to smooth the waters. The administration is once again seen as being “secretive”. When will those clowns learn? All of sudden everyone is in an uproar. They complain of the security risks involved with selling the ports to an Arab company. A company based in UAE. The UAE happens to have had some shady dealings with terrorists in the past, but has cleaned up its act and is now cooperating with the United States. On the whole from the beginning I thought this was a non-issue. I was wrong. Left and right have united in outrage over this deal; another knee-jerk reaction by ill-informed people using this issue as an opportunity to show boat and claim to be tough on national security. Now they want hearings to show boat some more and position themselves for the next election cycle.

Today I was listening to NPR and they were talking to some Senator (does it really matter which one – they are all worthless) about the sale of the ports to this UAE company. A merchant marine called into the show. He has not agreed with a single position of the Bush administration until now. He has worked on cargo ships that have been into U.S. ports and recently a port in UAE. He claims that the UAE port is one of the most modern and efficient ports he has ever seen. He complained that ports in America were substandard. After seeing what he has seen he stated that he would welcome the UAE company to run ports in the U.S. And to add icing to the cake, he stated that the Senator that was on the show did not have a clue. Here is someone who has real experience in this matter and does not feel threatened by an Arab company taking over operation of these ports. Has anyone mentioned that security will still be controlled by the U.S.?

Why would a company spend billions to buy ports only to smuggle something into the U.S. to blow us up? They are trying to make money - that is called capitalism not terrorism. This is the same country that is investing $15 billion in aerospace. What forward-looking country would risk an investment like that on bombing a has-been, backward-looking country like the U.S.? Am I missing something here? Please let me know where my logic is failing. It would certainly be cheaper to bribe some officials to get the job done or just smuggle the explosives into the country through our porous borders. Which brings me to the hypocrisy of our politicians... Why get your panties in a wad over the purchase of six ports by an Arab country when hundreds of thousands of people and thousands of pounds of contraband are smuggled into our country every year across the U.S.-Mexico border? Because our border security is a politically sensitive issue and these politicians would rather insult the relatively small Arab population than the growing Hispanic population. Border security would require real work, hard decisions, and practical solutions. Our Senators and Representatives are too busy basking in the glow of the media lights than to roll up their sleeves and get real work done. That is the sad truth and that is why more and more people in this country do not have a positive outlook towards the future of the U.S.

2006-02-11T22:36:00.000-06:00

“For hatred can never put an end to hatred. Love alone can.”
~ Passage from The Dhammapada

2006-02-05T00:56:00.000-06:00

The Power of a Cartoon...

Outrage over a cartoon? This is what the world has come to. So some Dane wants to express his opinion that Islam is a religion of violence. Is there any evidence to the contrary? Usama Bin Laden threatens to destroy the United States and even attacks the United States, and continues to threaten the United States in the name of Islam. Moslems seem to have no regard for life and kill other Moslems. Some harebrained idea that by killing people in the name of Islam you get to go to heaven and have your way with some virgins (makes you wonder what is promised the female terrorists). Daily we see images of suicide bombers that appear to have their direction from the Islamic faith. In the name of Islam, innocents are beheaded and the whole grizzly scene is captured on tape to be replayed to the delight of millions on Arabic speaking news stations. A cartoon is published that in the artist's opinion, Islam is a religion of violence and all of sudden riots break out that lead to the destruction of foreign missions in Syria and Lebanon. Why should we believe that Islam is not a religion of violence? I do not see important Islamic figures making important speeches denouncing violence. I do not hear Islamic religious leaders calling for peace. THE CARTOON IS THE WAY THE WORLD SEES ISLAM. Maybe instead of rioting and complaining about how we are constantly offending Moslems, Moslems everywhere should sit back and wonder why exactly the world has this notion that Islam is a religion of violence. Maybe Moslems should realize that actions speak louder than words. Maybe Moslems should be concerned that a minority in their faith have hijacked Islam for destructive purposes. Maybe they should look at the root cause for religious extremism - poverty, lack of opporunities, corrupt governments, and poor education. Where does all that money go that Moslems obediently tithe? Maybe they should take responsibility for their faith. Stop blaming the heathens for the way Islam is portrayed - start looking inward at their own faith.

To top it all off, a contest was held to find some demeaning portrayal of western religion. The best they could do is put a bomb in the arms of Jesus. Last I checked there were no lunatics running around bombing people in the name of Christianity. Bush may be a Christian, but he is not bombing anyone in the name of Jesus, he is just bombing. Then the publishers were surprised that there was no outrage by Christians - no riots, no mass protests. Just goes to show that most extremists just do not get it.

I wish we could just ignore the Middle East. Forget the oil and let the region fall back into the Middle Ages as it desperately wants to and routinely acts like. As far as I am concerned the Middle East has not shown me that they are ready and willing to be part of the 21st century. Now we have a lunatic in Iran that wants nuclear capabilities. A country run by extreme religious fanatics. Wonderful (heavy does of sarcasm added here).

The other thing that bothers me is that once again religion is used to propagate hate. I tire of religion and the people that use it to justify violence, stupidity, laziness, ignorance, and small mindedness. I myself have no need for religion. I used to, but I have come to believe that religion in one form or another has been created to comfort those who need comforting, for those who need to believe in a purpose of life, and most importantly to control people. I believe in a supreme being, but that is as far as I will take it. To think that some all powerful being would give a rat's ass what we do on Earth is ludicrous. A God that picks and chooses who can get into heaven is not the type of God I subscribe to. A God that demeans a sex, a race, or a class is not the type of God I would want anything to do with. I shun religion of any kind that says that I have to believe a certain way to be accepted by a God. You do not need religion to be a good, moral, kind, thoughtful human being. You do not need religion to do good works. You do not need religion to be just. If you live your life well, are kind to those in need and those not in need, I believe that God would be pleased and let you into heaven, even if you were not a devout subscriber. Stop thinking about the afterlife and start thinking about the now. Life is too short to create suffering; it is better spent helping people, building a good life, and doing good works.

To see all the controversial cartoons and decide for yourself, visit Michelle Malkin's website.

2006-01-16T23:51:00.000-06:00

Lately I have been hounded by an occasional depression that seems to grip me in its tight clutches for a time. During this time I am so sad. I feel like the world is going fast as it can towards a cliff. No one knows how to use the brakes. We are on a course of disaster because no one can see what I see. No one understands like I understand. I want to scream at the top of my lungs so that everyone can see where we are headed, but no sound comes out. Despite all that we have gone through in thousands of years of human history we are still very immature as a society. We are still divided by political ideology, class, religion, race, and sex. We value possessions over our relationships with people and our community. We value selfishness over selflessness. During my lapses into the darkness I imagine what kind of world my daughter will grow up in and I am only drawn into the darkness more. I have a sense that we will be falling on hard times soon. There are too many pressures on the world economy and geopolitics for there not to be a consequence to our immaturity. We seem to be bound for the stars, yet because we are always looking into the future we ignore the lessons of the past and this more than anything keeps us from progressing to the next step God intended for us. Unless we can truly embrace each other regardless of the invisible divisions that keep us apart we will remain a society of children with adult faults. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. understood this all too well. He was shouting it out at the top of his lungs. Millions of people have heard him, but too few have actually understood the message and acted upon it.

“We have flown the air like birds and swum the sea like fishes, but have yet to learn the simple act of walking the earth like brothers.” ~ Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.

2006-01-08T13:20:00.000-06:00

"If you have always been spoon fed, how will you learn to feed yourself?" -KCThinker on people who only listen, read, or believe one source of information instead of getting all the facts before they make a judgement on something.

2005-12-17T08:50:00.000-06:00

On Christmas…

It seems that the true meaning of Christmas (at least as I see it) has been lost on the general public. Instead of a time of peace and love and generosity towards our fellow companions on this spinning rock in space, we spend money on stuff and bicker about naming Christmas and how saying Christmas might offend someone. Every year the stores role out the Christmas decorations earlier and earlier; some stores had begun setting up their displays in September this year. I think that the commercialization of Christmas misses the whole point of the season. But before I opine on this much beloved holiday of children everywhere we need a history lesson of how it started and look at some its traditions.

A Brief History of the Origin of Christmas

The history of Christmas dates back over 4,000 years. Many Christmas traditions were celebrated centuries before Christ was born. The 12 days of Christmas, the bright fires, the Yule log, the giving of gifts, carnivals with floats, carolers who sing while going from house to house, holiday feasts, and church processions can all be traced back to the early Mesopotamians.

“In the Roman world, Saturnalia (December 17) was a time of merrymaking and exchanging of gifts. December 25 was also regarded as the birth date of the Iranian mystery god Mithra, the Sun of Righteousness. On the Roman New Year (January 1), houses were decorated with greenery and lights, and gifts were given to children and the poor. To these observances were added the German and Celtic Yule rites when the Teutonic tribes penetrated into Gaul, Britain and central Europe. Food and good fellowship, the Yule log and Yule cakes, greenery and fir trees, gifts and greetings all commemorated different aspects of this festive season. Fires and lights, symbols of warmth and lasting life, have always been associated with the winter festival, both pagan and Christian.” (Encyclopedia Britannica, 15th Edit. Vol. II, p. 903)

The exact day of the Christ child's birth has never been pinpointed. Traditions say that it has been celebrated since the year 98 AD. In 137 AD the Bishop of Rome ordered the birthday of the Christ Child celebrated as a solemn feast. In 350 AD another Bishop of Rome, Julius I, choose December 25th as the observance of Christmas. According to researchers of the Christian scriptures, Christ was probably born in the fall instead of the winter. December 25th was most likely not selected because it was the birth of Christ or because it was even near it. It was probably selected because it coincided with pagan festivals such as Saturnalia.

The Brief History of Gift Giving

The idea of Santa Claus developed from stories about a real person named Saint Nicholas. Historians know little for certain about him. He was probably born in Patara, in what is now Turkey. When he was 19 years old, Nicholas became a priest. He later served as bishop of Myra, near Patara. He died during the A.D. 300's.

According to legend, Saint Nicholas once aided a poor nobleman who had three daughters. No men would marry the daughters because the nobleman did not provide any of them with a dowry. Saint Nicholas threw three bags of money through an open window of the nobleman's house to show that the daughters now had dowries. As a result, they were able to marry. The legend of Saint Nicholas as a man who brings gifts may have developed from this story.

The custom of giving gifts on a special day in winter was practiced before Christianity was founded. After Christianity was well established, Saint Nicholas became a symbol of the custom among Christians. During the Reformation of the 1500's, Protestants substituted nonreligious characters for Saint Nicholas. In England, for example, the saint was replaced by a gentleman called Father Christmas.

The Origin of Other Christmas Traditions

In Scandinavia, a period of festivities known as Yule contributed another impetus to celebration, as opposed to spirituality. As winter ended the growing season, the opportunity of enjoying the summer’s bounty encouraged much feasting and merriment. The popular ritual was the burning of the Yule Log, which is strongly embedded in the pagan worship of vegetation and fire, as well as being associated with magical and spiritual powers.

The Celtic culture of the British Isles revered all green plants, but particularly mistletoe and holly. These were important symbols of fertility and were used for decorating their homes and altars.

New Christmas customs appeared in the Middle Ages. The most prominent contribution was the carol, which by the 14th century had become associated with the religious observance of the birth of Christ.

In Italy, a tradition developed for re-enacting the birth of Christ and the construction of scenes of the nativity. This is said to have been introduced by Saint Francis as part of his efforts to bring spiritual knowledge to the laity.

A prominent figure in today's Christmas is Saint Nicholas who for centuries has been honored on December 6th. He was one of the forerunners of Santa Claus.

Legend has it that a 7th century a monk from England, used the triangular shape of the Fir Tree to describe the Holy Trinity of God the Father, Son and Holy Spirit to people in Germany. The converted people began to revere the Fir tree as God's Tree, as they had previously revered the Oak. By the 12th century it was being hung, upside-down, from ceilings at Christmastime in Central Europe, as a symbol of Christianity (It would seem that this tradition is making a come back…so that we can put more presents under the tree!).

The first decorated tree was at Riga in Latvia, in 1510. In the early 16th century, Martin Luther is said to have decorated a small Christmas Tree with candles, to show his children how the stars twinkled through the dark night.

In the mid 16th century, Christmas markets were set up in German towns, to provide everything from gifts, food and more practical things such as a knife grinder to sharpen the knife to carve the Christmas Goose! At these fairs, bakers made shaped gingerbreads and wax ornaments for people to buy as souvenirs of the fair, and take home to hang on their Christmas Trees.

The best record we have is that of a visitor to Strasbourg in 1601. He records a tree decorated with “wafers and golden sugar-twists (barley sugar) and paper flowers of all colors”. The early trees were biblically symbolic of the Paradise Tree in the Garden of Eden. The many food items were symbols of Plenty, the flowers, originally only red (for knowledge) and White (for innocence).

Tinsel was invented in Germany around 1610. At that time real silver was used, and machines were invented which pulled the silver out into the wafer thin strips for tinsel. Silver was durable, but tarnished quickly, especially with candlelight. Silver was used for tinsel right up to the mid-20th century

Why Have We Lost the Meaning of Christmas?

Merchants regularly report that over 60 percent of their annual retail sales occur during the Christmas shopping season. This represents a tremendous amount of gift buying. Most today believe that gift-giving comes from the Bible example of the “three wise men” presenting gifts to Christ. A long-standing, ancient custom of the East was to present gifts when coming before a king. These men understood they were in the presence of the “King of the Jews.” The Bible carries many examples of people sending gifts to kings or presenting them upon arrival into their presence. This custom is common today when ambassadors or others come into the presence of a world leader.

This season leads the entire year in adultery, loneliness, jealousy, drunkenness and drunk driving, family arguments (and worse), and accumulation of debt that often lasts until March. This problem is so significant that almost all churches typically report that their incomes, ironically, drop during this period as people “recover” from all their spending!

Some children expect big presents and become disappointed when they do not get them. There always seems to be ”the present” that every kid wants. It all hit home on Saturday morning after Thanksgiving when I was watching the news reports of the shopping “sales” that began early in the morning the day before. People were falling down and getting trampled in the rush to get the best “deals.” Fights were breaking out because of this. This is what Christmas has become; nothing more than a gluttony festival – harkening back to some of its pagan roots.

Then there is the whole political correctness ridiculousness. Why are we offended when someone says Merry Christmas? Why are we offended by a nativity scene? Why do we spend so much time (and in the case of the ACLU, money) fighting this issue? I used to be a Christian (I will not get into the reasons for my moving away from the faith at this time), but I am not offended by Christmas or a nativity scene. It is part of our history. Instead of rewriting history, as many liberals are apt to do, we should learn the lessons it can teach us. In the case of Christmas there is more than meets the eye because it is a culmination of many cultures and many traditions. What offends me is the blatant disregard for this season and the incessant need for ever increasing political correctness in our culture. The secularists are screaming that it is too religious. The moment you slap Merry Christmas on a store front selling widgets it has already become secularized, don’t you think? Political correctness in this country has become so bad that we are proposing to hide historical paintings and cover up famous sculptures. Don’t get me wrong, I am for being sensitive to a degree, but the moment we turn our backs on history or try to rewrite it we run the risk of repeating it.

Instead of being offended by Christmas or God in the pledge or on our money or the Ten Commandments (good general rules to live by whether you are Christian or a pagan), we should be offended by racism, poverty, homelessness, HIV/AIDS, cancer, battered women and children, and religious extremism (NO, celebrating Christmas is not religious extremism). But those issues would require too much energy to solve, so we wallow in mediocrity and are offended by inconsequential annoyances; much like our politicians who would rather debate the bowl championship series or steroids in baseball instead of rolling up their sleeves and doing something about the deficit.

I like the idea of this holiday. For me it celebrates hope and peace and family. Unfortunately, these things have been lost in the media and in our hearts.

May the holidays be good to you and may you treat others this season as you would like to be treated.

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!

2005-12-08T17:34:00.000-06:00

“The ultimate measure of a man is not where he stands in moments of comfort and convenience, but where he stands at times of challenge and controversy.” ~ Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.

2005-11-21T00:15:00.000-06:00

On the Iraq War…

Why are we talking about pulling out before the job is done? What did the American people think was going to happen? Did they expect a Grenada? I suppose the politicians and public are so deluded to think that democracy can brought to Iraq in the span of a reality show. I am tired of the negativity and more importantly I am tired of America’s short attention span. I maintain that if we had this kind of attitude during World War II we would have called it quits before the first troops hit the beaches on D-day. Thank god that that generation had the spine and balls to see that ugly war through and defeat the fascists before they had a strangle hold on the world. The Americans in charge of our political system today are weak, spineless, lazy, and decadent. They are more concerned about which way the political wind is blowing than doing what is right. It’s a wonder we have held it together for this long.

Did I support the war initially? NO. I did not think Saddam was a threat. I thought it would be best to concentrate on Afghanistan. Do I think that the Bush administration deliberately lied to America to go to war? NO. If you are so deluded to think that a president of the United States of America would intentionally lie to America and sacrifice the lives of men and women of this country for oil or some other far fetched idea you need some serious psychological help. Please seek help immediately. Please spare me the evidence Mr. Wilson supposedly brought back from his “trip”. Consider for a minute that Mr. Wilson could have been told what he wanted to hear. Do you really think that a bureaucrat could get real intelligence? Consider that many other countries had intelligence that Saddam had WMDs. Consider for a minute that Saddam was in violation of a number of United Nations resolutions. Consider for a minute that he had to appear as though he had WMDs to look credible in a region where power is everything. Fine, the intelligence today looks suspect, but would we have found that out if we had not gone into Iraq? I postulate that we would not have.

Well here we are. Iraq is not stable yet and we have all these factions going at each other. Killing each other in mosques, nonetheless (and we Americans get yelled at if we bomb the mosques when our enemies hide in them – yet Moslems are free to kill other Moslems in them – even during worship). DO I SUPPORT A PULL OUT? NO. WE STARTED IT AND WE MUST SHOW THAT WE ARE WILLING TO SEE IT THROUGH. What the majority of the spineless Americans calling for a pull out do not understand is that power talks. Being spineless wins no one over in the Mid East. I just do not understand what America was expecting. I was under no delusions when America went in that it would be easy. Before you enter such a situation, you damn well better know the history of the region and factions involved. I guess that kind of knowledge was not very sought out by the Bush administration or more likely ignored before deciding to get into nation building.

That said, we must see this through. We must support the fledgling democracy in Iraq to our fullest capability. To bow out now because we have lost too many soldiers and spent too much money is showing the real enemy (Islamic extremism) that America is weak and will bow if enough pressure is applied.

Are we helping the Iraqis? YES. I recently had reason to speak to a person who has been going to Iraq to help the Iraqis rebuild the agriculture machine that Saddam had run into the ground. She presented a picture of hope. She told me that a group had traveled from southern Iraq to be part of a training she was helping facilitate. Along the way they encountered a checkpoint at which point they were told they could not proceed any further because of danger. They waited and then finally got through and made the training late. But they were so excited at the opportunity of this training that they immediately engaged and did not want it to stop. She has seen hope. Yes, there are problems. The main stream media does its best by telling us morning, noon, and night of the death toll. What they do not tell us is that schools are being built and kids are going to school; people are learning about opportunities and trying to make a difference; progress is being made. I have heard firsthand accounts of engineers returning from Iraq and stating that yes, they are getting there. Will it be accomplished by the time the last person is voted off that ridiculous reality show? Probably not, but what did you really expect?

2005-11-16T20:51:00.000-06:00

“There are two kinds of people in this world - those who are always getting ready to do something, and those who go ahead and do it.” ~ Roycrofters: Epigrams of the Day

2005-11-08T22:57:00.000-06:00

On the French problem…

What do you expect will happen when hooligans this age have nothing to do? What do you expect will happen when none of these scum bags have any respect for authority? What do you expect in a socialist society where the hand outs are never enough?

Twelve days. It took the French government 12 days to get off their asses, admit there was a problem and implement a solution. And we thought FEMA was bad? The French solution is even half-assed. A curfew? Give me a break. How about implementing martial law? How about letting your police officers shoot to kill when shot at. Hama rules; that is all the Muslims understand.

I think what these Muslim hooligans are doing is downright despicable. Do these idiots really think that mayhem and destruction will make the authorities respect them?

More than 5,000 cars have been set on fire during the 12 days of unrest (http://today.reuters.co.uk/news/). I guess that news will at least make the environmentalist fringe happy. I think I will throw a party when say, 6,000 cars have been torched. Maybe I will protest at the United Nations at the injustice of this massive squandering of resources. I will propose that automobile manufacturers in France start a phased pull-out because 6,000 cars have been lost.

The French claim that these Arabs and North Africans are not assimilating into French culture. These ethnic groups are forming their own cohesive areas, a la Little Italy or German Town. News flash to the French: They have a lot in common so of course they group together. Maybe if France had given the youth better educational opportunities the French would not have such a quagmire on their hands. The French should spend their outrageous tax revenue on education and expanding business opportunities instead of these socialist programs that encourage laziness. Spend it on programs that help all French to get ahead not stay behind, and they may be surprised at the outcome. Other developed countries take note: We are all in the same boat. Unless we recognize that the world is changing and we need to change with it, we will be in for a long hard slog.

2005-11-06T19:55:00.000-06:00

"Don't tell what you would do if you were someone else - just show what you can do yourself." ~ Roycrofters: Epigrams of the Day

2005-11-02T22:57:00.000-06:00

On the Federal deficit…

In case you have not heard, the Federal deficit has recently exceeded $8 trillion. Okay, not the most exciting topic. Most of you would probably rather hear the latest celebrity gossip, but it does affect you. I am disturbed by the tax cut and spend Republicans just as much as I am worried about the tax increase and spend Democrats. I think that politicians have lost touch with what is important and why we elect them to office in the first place, which is why I have decided to start writing my representatives. I want to show them that I am watching and I want my view to heard. Below is a letter I wrote to Senator Kit Bond (R) of Missouri the other day.

Dear Senator Bond:

The Federal deficit has recently gone over $8 trillion. I am outraged that the Republican majorities of the Senate and the House have not shown any fiscal restraint, but have supported tax cuts. Tax cuts have helped our economy, but spending cuts go hand-in-hand with tax cuts.

Please spare me the excuses of 9/11, a war in Iraq, and the multiple hurricanes making deficit spending necessary. Please do not come back with the argument that deficit spending is okay. I have heard it before and those are two lines that I will not accept as excuses. If I have an unexpected expense I cut back my spending in other areas. If I spend beyond my limit I incur expenses in the form of interest on the money I borrowed which also reduces my future spending power. The Federal government should show more responsibility towards the budget and fiscal restraint. I had hoped with President Bush winning re-election that a message had been sent by the American people. My hope was finally squashed and spit on when the Senate refused a simple request to eliminate unnecessary spending in the recent transportation bill. Obviously, those in Congress were not listening to the American people as usual.

I find it difficult to support anyone in Congress that wantonly spends America's future. It is high-time that the Federal government learns to tighten its belt. If I had the same cavalier attitude towards my money that you politicians seem to have with America’s money, I would be bankrupt ten times over.

Need I remind you of the trillions in unfunded Medicare and Social Security liabilities? Spare me the argument that all will be okay until 2018 or some other far flung year based on projections. Not committing to a reasonable plan of action now will have unintended consequences far into the future.

Please support bills that encourage spending cuts and fiscal restraint. If we can’t afford it, we need get by without it.

I encourage every citizen of every persuasion to lift themselves off the couch, turn off the “reality” TV, and get involved. Unless you speak up your voice will not be heard. Please look at the links on this blog to find out how you can get in touch with your congress people.

2005-10-31T21:27:00.000-06:00

"There is no joy in life equal to the joy of putting salt on the tail of an idea." ~ Roycrofters: Epigrams of the Day

2005-10-28T21:50:00.000-06:00

On why Americans are disengaged from the political process…

I finally figured out why Americans are apathetic towards politics in this country. After I came back from a two-week vacation last June I was in one of the best moods I have ever been in my life. For those two weeks I did not pay attention to national or world events. I went hiking and sightseeing and truly relaxed. I did not watch television or listen to the radio. I spent time with my family. We discussed politics occasionally, but no heated arguments, we were amongst family after all. Shortly after coming back to the real world I started paying attention to news and listening to the talking heads. My mood started to darken. I now shout at the radio and TV regularly because I am so pissed off at the demagogues on the left and right. It seems at times that, as before my vacation, I am the only one that gets it. I am sick of the “corruption” of our political system from the federal to the local level. Money talks and common sense walks. Politicians no longer think of what is best for the American people (maybe they never have), but rather what keeps them getting elected and what is “politically” popular with their constituency. As these thoughts converged in my brain of average intelligence I discovered why Americans do not want to discuss politics or engage in the political system… ignorance is bliss.

Just once I would like to meet a politician that thinks like I do. This politician would serve the people that elected him or her. However, getting elected is not about how much pork you can bring back to your district; it is about using common sense to help the people of your district and America as a whole. It is about fighting for the future of America and not saddling future generations with huge debt or ill-conceived programs. This politician would support common sense legislation even if that would mean he or she would not get reelected. This politician would not bow down to the lobbyists who throw money wantonly around Washington, D.C. and our state capitals for one cause or another. This politician would realize the importance of honesty, fairness, dignity, compassion, and common sense. This politician would reject the demagogues.

Alas, no such politician exists or will ever exist.

1 November 2004

We need meaningful change. From the media to our government.

The economy is not in shambles as the media would like to portray. Have we increased the number of jobs in the U.S.? Yes, there is a 5.4 percent jobless rate (envy of the EU). Is the economy growing? Yes. Are there lower paying jobs? Yes. You cannot compare the unsustainable years of the internet bubble to today’s job market. President Bush inherited a recession. September 11 took a huge toll on the economy (1 million jobs lost). That takes time to recover from. What about outsourcing? Well, if you look at the facts and not a distortion by the media, you will see that the majority of jobs lost are not due to outsourcing, they are due to productivity increases. In other words, we are working ourselves out of our jobs. How do you to create jobs? You have to grow your economy. Companies have to grow. To remain competitive with other companies the world over, they must reduce operating costs. Unfortunately, outsourcing is a necessary evil. It reduces operating costs. When the company grows again, it may then be able to add stateside jobs. Here is another way to look at it. Outsourcing provides jobs to people in less developed countries. If they have a job they are more likely to be peaceful and buy goods from us instead of turning to fundamentalism and try to destroy us. As bad as it is to lose jobs to outsourcing, we have to take a more pragmatic, bigger picture of the world economy and our place in it.

Both political parties are undesirable in my opinion. Neither has a meaningful plan to save Medicare or Social Security. We are heading into a financial disaster (which is coming fast) no one wants to discuss because it is not a “sexy” topic. The Democrats do not see the problem and assume tax increases will solve everything, while the Republicans see the problem but think supply-side economics will solve everything. Neither party is be willing to make the hard choices needed to maintain these programs: cuts in government spending, cuts in social security and Medicare benefits, and an increase in taxes. Americans need to change the way they think. We need to have a frank discussion of what needs to happen so that we can keep our promise to those retiring but not bankrupt our future at the same time. I am 32-years old and have already concluded that I will not be getting a social security check when I retire. Both Republicans and Democrats have no plan to fix it the way it needs to be fixed. If I ran my books the way our government runs its, I would have been bankrupt tens times over. Our lawmakers are too busy focusing on the small cracks and are simply ignoring the huge crevices.

We need to come together and debunk this hypothetical division the media is so keen to point out. I, for one, do not the see the division. I see a minority of leftists and a minority of rightists arguing with each other. The independent minded, more centrist majority of this country (me included) just does not understand this "divided nation" bull. We were so united after September 11, 2001. I was very proud to be an American and see the nation come together, I still am. Unfortunately, Americans, which tend to have a short attention span, soon forgot that unity. I still hear complainants in the media about the 2000 election and now the 2004 election. What exactly are you trying to accomplish? Does anyone but an extreme Al Franken-like zombie liberal care?

You may ask yourself what exactly am I trying to say? We need Americans to stop and think about what is important. We need to look at our society and how we are portrayed by the world (Hollywood is not helping by putting out all the mindless crap on the airwaves – reality TV and other mind dulling, drool inducing crap to say the least). We need to ignore the pundits and come up with our own conclusions based on the facts. We need reporters to report the facts and not opinions. We need to say to our lawmakers (both Republican and Democrat), enough is enough. We need pay-as-you-go reinstated. We need meaningful entitlement reform. We need our representatives to be there for us and not be a politician working for themselves and special interests (that goes for both parties in case you think it is just a Republican problem). We need to stand up to the status quo and say enough is enough, do what is right for once, not what is convenient.

On losing shining stars before their time…

It is very sad to me when someone so young and full of promise dies. Youthful vigor and optimism are replaced by a cold and lonely place in the earth. A life cut short due to tragedy; cancer, AIDS, or some other disease does not seem fair to me. Why should this person with so much potential be taken away while I should remain? A deep sadness invades my soul. What do I have to offer? What have I offered? Through my sadness, all the regrets I have in life well up within. What if I had done this instead of that?

Those of us, like me, that live life without really experiencing it just wander day in, day out worried about the most inconsequential bull shit. Am I making enough money? Is my car cool enough? Am I dressed right? The list goes on and on. We lose sight of what is important. We become obsessed with the minutia and forget to see the bigger picture. We are so consumed with mundane aspects of everyday life that the magnitude of losing truly good people to a tragic event before their time is lost on us.

Life is too short to worry about whether your café latte is properly prepared. We should focus on what is important. Family, Friends, Community. That is what is important.

2005-10-27T23:30:00.000-06:00

After hearing once again about the insanity of political correctness, I banged out the following testament to frustration with our social and political system. The letter of angst (which has a little bit for everyone) below is timely as the stores are already laying out the holiday decorations for another season of gluttony.

19 December 2004

Over my brief 32 years I have noticed a steady decline in civility in the United States. We had a brief respite after the tragedy of 9/11. Americans soon woke up though and it was business as usual. Here are a few examples: all time low respect for law enforcement, authority in general, and the elderly; more people are running red lights; road rage; gangster rap which glorifies drug dealing, pimping, and violence; and the degradation of the family unit. Children are raised by a stupid sponge, a purple dinosaur, or video games because their parents are too busy making money to teach their kids values and personal responsibility.

What is at stake today? The United States of America. We are divided by the far left led by Michael Moore, MoveOn.org, out of touch rich Hollywood types, and Al Franken. The far right led by Rush Limbaugh, Sean Hannity, Ann Coulter, and Michael Savage attack the middle from the right. Who speaks for me? No one, as far as I can tell.

Somewhere along the line we have lost our common sense. If you listen to any media outlet we have drifted from the middle and now lean one way or the other. I think the majority of Americans are centrists and may lean slightly to left or the right depending on the topic. You would never think that listening to the media. One part paints half of America as out of touch with the 21st century and hanging onto evangelical beliefs. The other part paints half of America as whacko’s bent on destroying religion and industry and legalizing drugs and gay marriage. The whole time these two extremes, which dominate our media, are arguing over which is worse while important issues are being ignored in favor of petty ones (just look at some of the cases the ACLU has pursued recently and the criminals the ACLU is defending).

I do not fit into either category, left or right. For one I am an agnostic. However, I respect our history and accept the religious beliefs of our forefathers. I think the Ten Commandments are generally excellent rules to live your life by. I say “Merry Christmas” and not “Happy Holidays”. I am not offended by any aspect of Christmas. I do not have the feeling that religion is being shoved down my throat. In fact, I am angered every year by more and more extreme political correctness taking the important message out of Christmas and replacing it with commercialism. It is Christmas not Merry Spend Lots of Money and Dig Your Debt Hole Deeper Day. Get over it. Are you really that offended, or are you just an idiot? Be offended by a more than $7 trillion national debt. Be offended by poverty and starving children in the most prosperous country in the world. Be offended by child pornography. Be offended by battered women and children. Be offended by more than $4 billion being spent on the 2004 political campaigns. Be offended by cancer, AIDS and other diseases that impact the lives of many Americans everyday. Be offended by an inefficient public education system that is not teaching mathematics and science to a level our children need to remain competitive in the world. Please see that there are many more important things in life than whether a Christmas carol is sung in a public place or a tree is called a Christmas tree or a manger scene is displayed in a public place or whether the Boy Scouts are being sponsored by an Army base or whether a tiny cross is being shown on the seal of a county. We are spending so much time worrying about the small, inconsequential BS that we fail to see the larger picture.

After witnessing the birth of my daughter I think that abortion is appalling. Life is precious and I think that this idea has been lost on the throw-away society we have created in America. Abortion is being used more and more as “extreme” birth control. Let’s face it, thanks to Hollywood more and more kids are finding sex earlier and earlier. Maybe we should teach responsibility in this society rather a quick fix for everything.

I am fiscally conservative. I think the government should rein in its spending. I think we should face reality and realize that entitlement programs will not be affordable as they are now structured (economists from our own federal government to the International Monetary Fund have long established this as FACT). I am 32 years old and am not counting on any Social Security from the government when I retire. The baby boomers demand their share. They worked hard, but by giving them everything they think they deserve an insurmountable burden (in the form of an economy crippling national debt and sky rocketing income tax) will be placed on my generation and future generations of Americans. I welcome personal savings accounts. The $2 trillion it would cost to implement this program is nothing compared to the trillions of dollars in unfunded liabilities the Social Security and Medicare programs are already running. I have ownership of my 401K, IRA, and other personal investments. I have no ownership over the portion of my paycheck I forfeit to the Social Security Administration every other week.

I am environmentally liberal. I think that the without some form of regulation industry would not be environmentally sensitive in their operations. However, I realize that environmental laws need to be structured so that they work with industry without impacting the bottom line.

I do not support gay marriage. I do not see why this needs to be legalized. However, I do support civil unions. I guess in this respect I am old school. I cannot explain why I lean this way, I just do. I will say this much though; folks like Britney Spears, other celebrities, and ordinary heterosexual Americans besmirch the institution of marriage by their cavalier attitude towards this sacred union.

Where do I fit in? In that silent, middle majority which leans left on some topics and right on others. I ask again, “Who represents me?”

2005-10-27T20:59:00.000-06:00

Against the Odds