Subpoena Lois Lserner's records

Enough complaining. E-mails , opinions, and complaints don't work. This time the editorials, are about the IRS to the house oversight committee's request for Lois Lerner's e-mails. Of course everybody knows this is nonsense. Even the mainstream media felt compelled to give advice- try iron mountain they never throw anything away, the IRS is lying because there are always backups;  the timing is too remarkable to be an accident,  The IRS destroyed the evidence knowing there would be  big trouble if the truth came out. Remember her answer to every single question asked by the congressional committee:   "On the advice of my counsel I respectfully exercise my fifth amendment right and decline to answer that question." Odd that she should exercise her fifth amendment rights after preventing  who knows how many Americans  from exercising their first amendment rights to a degree that makes Watergate look like a minor event.

When it is clear that the American's rights are being violated the response of Americans and Congress and journalists and everyone else responds in one way: they get angry, point fingers,  complain, verbally and in writing.

When this administration arrested 'lone terrorists" some people complained, when  swat teams broke into peoples' houses there were complaints. There were many angry complaints, articles, videos and speeches about no fly lists, about pat downs at airports and about US citizens  imprisoned indefinitely without lawyers, or juries. The angry editorial tactic isn't working very well.  We lost our  civil rights, became a police state  Miranda rights disappeared, anybody can be labeled a terrorist without the right to know why, personal information and property can be taken people disappear and presidents have kill lists and are proud of it.

Most Americans don't want to live in that country. Schools being what they are, people are  a bit fuzzy about exactly what rights they are being denied, but they
know they deserve better than what this government is giving them, that they are entitled to be left alone, live in a free country where they can say what they want without getting arrested, wear crosses to school if their religion favors that and that  life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness ---are not candidates for hope and change

 If I were were Lois Lerner, Valerie Jarrett, Eric Holder or an other democracy-loathing, communist and my goal was to remake this turn this country into fascist communist regime; if I trampled on Americans' legal rights and the only reaction was angry words  , I would pat myself on the back knowing that our tactics are working so well.  The Soviet method of changing social beliefs works well and I would use it, starting slow, testing the waters , pushed as far as I could go, waiting and then pushing a little more, and then more. Each time we did something to move people towards communism and saw them accepted it by doing nothing other than complain in angry editorials from groups whose credibility our mainstream media could dismiss as tea-baggers, and extremists, my comrades and I would plan something more extreme and celebrate: Nastrovya Tovarishch.

Let them vent. If it becomes a problem we can always use the NSA's records of a every telephone call, every e-mail  every credit card charge and more to blackmail people and keep them quiet.

Somebody in this country has to do more than complain. If Egyptians in Tahrir square were able to overthrow fascism twice, surely we can prevent this democracy from becoming a dictatorship.

The information congress needs exists and congress has the right and obligation to get it. Arguing about backups is pointless.  How about something completely different for once. What if The House Oversight and Government Reform Committee, instead of complaining immediately subpoenaed the NSA records immediately.  If NSA has a record of former General Pertraus's e-mails and his mistresses credit card charges, copies of information on computers of journalists, telephone records of every American, they have records of Lois Lerner's e-mails.

There is no downside  here. Why not serve the subpoena on camera and post it on the internet if the media won't pick it up, There is always a remote chance it could work. If it doesn't Congress would the executive branches feet to the fire by demanding the White House  follow its own rules.  It's a tactic Saul Alinsky taught these socialist Americans in "Rules for Radicals" and it worked for them.

Lois Lerner a potential threat to this country should be subjected to the same scrutiny as Richard Nixon.

Federal Monopoly on Insane Management 7/4/p014

No private business, or organization is managed as poorly as federal government.  This is what causes annual deficits greater than a trillion dollars, $17.5Tr in debt, over $50Tr in unfunded liabilities, the anemic GDP, non-job market, high costs, and our bleak future. If federal government managed itself half as well as a dollar stores chain, the country would recover and prosper.

Ask a business why it exists; you’ll get an answer. The federal government can’t answer because of wide disagreement about the scope of its powers. Businesses don’t make a habit of making changes without evidence that they’ll work. In federal government, there is no such thing. Legislators pass laws, but an agency of bureaucrats accountable to no-one decides how to implement them. The result could be what legislation intended, or the opposite, or be so expensive it isn’t worth doing. Mechanisms to test effectiveness, provide ongoing reports, identify opportunities and implementing changes, provisions for pulling the plug, and backup plans appear to not exist.

No pizzeria going through bad times borrows money from the competition, uses it to give raises to overpaid workers, or research better pizza-making techniques, and then borrows more to pay the rent. The federal government sold debt to China and didn’t stop until the Chinese decided US bonds weren’t worth buying. The requested  2015 budget includes a 1% salary increase for federal workers ($1B) whose compensation is higher than their private sector counterparts.  At least a third of the requested 2015 discretionary budget of 1.16Tr ($39B) is for untested initiatives, (job training for disadvantaged, grants to community colleges, underwriting small business loans), new building requests, and IT systems. Congress could say no to these, but it can’t change funding for portions of legislated (mandated) programs without passing another law.

Why deliver pizza to a house a mile away when you can send it to pizza regulators in Washington who, after taking a slice or two, send what’s left to your state to schedule delivery if the customer deserves the pizza based on a long list of criteria.  That’s how federally mandated unemployment compensation works. Businesses footing the bill could pay people the way they pay severance.  Instead, companies pay federal taxes which are distributed to states that administer and enforce federal regulations.  This odd delivery system is often used in federal government. Large changes are usually not tested on a small scale and good ideas can become nightmares. The ACA, bailouts, stimulus programs and common core are a few examples that add up to tens of trillions. It’s not hard to wreck an economy if you do things this way.

You can balance the budget by eliminating or cutting departments, calling a moratorium on new initiatives, privatizing functions businesses can do (e.g. selling real estate, and job training), legislating a moratorium on mandatory government programs that are not essential (e.g. than food and shelter, medical), testing their impact and eliminating those with no impact. Streamlining processes and regulations that implement laws and testing to quantify  the impact (positive and negative) of regulations would eliminate many. Keeping more programs discretionary, implementing a process for changes in mandatory programs,  selling public land, drilling rights and mining rights, replacing the federal reserve with decentralized clearing houses, eliminating or reducing attempts to stabilize the economy through monetary policy, eliminating stimulus programs that give funds to specific businesses, cutting aid to enemies of the US and reducing all foreign aid. Legislating a flat tax for all people, businesses and organizations (nonprofit included) would reduce the IRS budget to a small fraction of what it is now.

Finding the money is the easy part. Getting commitment to run this country as well as a chain of dollar stores is not impossible but is difficult. The combined effort of elected representatives, a number of state governments, with wide organized grassroots support, could work. The commitment required, a big one; it means putting the goal of fixing this country above career, above leisure time, long hours, doing unpopular things that will anger people.  One filibuster, one legal  case, sporadic protests, will not do it. Talk will not do it. Coordinated relentless barrages of actions against the executive branch, bureaucrats or Washington insiders for corruption, for failure to represent, for illegal actions, and  a commitment to  continue regardless of apparent success could work.

Confress wakeup 7-13-14

President Obama is complaining about that "Do nothing Congress" again, this time
because Congress will not do anything to prevent illegals from giving him the 3.5 Million dollars needed to protect the US border. The MNM agree. Again not surprising. His hands are tied? If only they were.

There is an arm of the government charged with insuring that mandated funds go the intended. Plainly stated in the constitution, the power is intended precisely for times like these -- to prevent the executive branch from gaining executive power.

Congress has the power to:
   1) pass provide funds ONLY  for border control
   2) use their oversight function to insure these and other allocated monies are distributed as budgeted. This was intended to be a check on the power of the executive - to limit power a president can gain fro using all funds for whatever he wishes
   3) Repeal Bush legislation that provides preferential treatment to OTM illegals crossing the border
   4) To provide finds directly to states should the Federal Government should the Administration fail to implement mandated functions
 
These powers re not specific to immigration. They pertain to all laws. Think about how different the situation of this country would be of congress exercised it's mandated functions by auditing every agency either directly or through contracted groups outside government to insure that mandated functions are implemented and that agencies have not strayed beyond their mandated functions. In areas where agencies have strayed from mandated functions, their charter and scope could be restricted.  This had been done in the past,  is long overdue and has enormous implications for the deficit and debt in this country. For example:

   If congress found that programs intended to help poor did not accomplish these goals, such programs could be eliminated. The number of programs that could be eliminated is amazing and could include the majority of discretionary employment programs, welfare in its current form, headstart, aid to foreign countries, the Justice department and department of Indian affairs and Obamacare, the department of education, the department of treasury and the Fed, reallocating functions of the Fed that do not meet it's mandated purposes. This is just a tip of the iceberg.

  Imagine how much more effective congress would be by setting the agenda rather than waiting for problems to occur and then conducting lengthy hearings whose results are questionable and that appear more like theater than investigation.

 Nobody, no arm of government will demand that congress do its job. As this function has been used only on occasion, there would be resistance. American citizens and their representatives cannot afford to base their actions on fear or entropy, if they want their country.

 Congress wake up. America needs you

Congress

President Obama is complaining about that "Do nothing Congress" again, this time
because Congress will not do anything to prevent illegals from giving him the 3.5 Million dollars needed to protect the US border. The MNM agree. Again not surprising. His hands are tied? If only they were.

There is an arm of the government charged with insuring that mandated funds go the intended. Plainly stated in the constitution, the power is intended precisely for times like these -- to prevent the executive branch from gaining executive power.

Congress has the power to:
   1) pass provide funds ONLY  for border control
   2) use their oversight function to insure these and other allocated monies are distributed as budgeted. This was intended to be a check on the power of the executive - to limit power a president can gain fro using all funds for whatever he wishes
   3) Repeal Bush legislation that provides preferential treatment to OTM illegals crossing the border
   4) To provide finds directly to states should the Federal Government should the Administration fail to implement mandated functions
 
These powers re not specific to immigration. They pertain to all laws. Think about how different the situation of this country would be of congress exercised it's mandated functions by auditing every agency either directly or through contracted groups outside government to insure that mandated functions are implemented and that agencies have not strayed beyond their mandated functions. In areas where agencies have strayed from mandated functions, their charter and scope could be restricted.  This had been done in the past,  is long overdue and has enormous implications for the deficit and debt in this country. For example:

   If congress found that programs intended to help poor did not accomplish these goals, such programs could be eliminated. The number of programs that could be eliminated is amazing and could include the majority of discretionary employment programs, welfare in its current form, headstart, aid to foreign countries, the Justice department and department of Indian affairs and Obamacare, the department of education, the department of treasury and the Fed, reallocating functions of the Fed that do not meet it's mandated purposes. This is just a tip of the iceberg.

  Imagine how much more effective congress would be by setting the agenda rather than waiting for problems to occur and then conducting lengthy hearings whose results are questionable and that appear more like theater than investigation.

 Nobody, no arm of government will demand that congress do its job. As this function has been used only on occasion, there would be resistance. American citizens and their representatives cannot afford to base their actions on fear or entropy, if they want their country.

 Congress wake up. America needs you!

Activism

As you probably noticed the United States is in trouble and the only people who can fix it are us-- Americans. I am not saying this for effect, to get people to listen to this or that party, read my blog, vote, join this or that resistance movement. I am saying it ad nauseum, constantly, because it's true and it's the only hope this country has.

Face it.

.....On futility of immigration reform

In an ideal world, our country would have enough resources to welcome all " tired and hungry huddled masses". This is not that world.

Proponents of a socialist America are  doing  their best to make you feel guilty if you say the words “illegal alien,”. They will try  to convince you that you are a racist, child-hater who gets his/her kicks torturing children by taking them from their parents for thinking  people should not be allowed to stay in this country illegally. They will do everything they can to make you feel ashamed and guilty for thinking you are "better" than poor people and that your penance should take the form of supporting illegal immigration.

Don’t fall for the truths sold to you by people who don't have the guts to grow up,  take off their rose colored glasses,  see the world as it is and absorb the numbers of people who we would be welcoming into our borders based on their logic.

There are horrors in this world much worse than being poor and having trouble feeding families. Genocide [as in Hitler, rape camps, bodies hacked to death] to the tune of the tens of millions is alive and well,  people dying of feces in their water supply before hunger can get them, widespread slavery,

There are hundreds of millions of people who would love to come to this country. Excessive immigration solves nothing and simply impoverishes the lives and morale of the one country that could be part of the solution instead of the problem. An America that is strong, prosperous, proud, and free is a model for humanity. A broken former democracy can't help anyone.

The Cowboy and the Federales

" No I will not stop my animals from grazing on "Federal property" my family had before the bureau existed.

Clivan Bundy of Nevada said no to the Bureau of Land Management as they were rounding up his cattle. Not an unusual scene in the US these days of 'government overeach.' The BLS then noticed that over one hundred armed militia from surrounding states were there pointing guns at them and retreated.

 The media calls the people put their lives in the line to protect freedom  "redneck hating anti-militia people" and the other usual epithets. Old story. Isn't there anything we can do?

Ahh wait I have it1 Send the Feds to the folks that like them - Democrats 

Anti-militia people who  live in places like NY and California,  love  big government,  know that tortoises are more important than people and if that means not using millions of acres of land, well to bad . They live in righteous terror. What the world is coming to when any jerk can just buy a gun. Guns  need to handled only by trained professionals like police and soldiers and swat teams, and the Bureau of Land Management and Homeland Security.  Since they sneer at people who take a stand against thugs who wear uniforms and  since Nevada ranchers and  their friends obviously don't like the Feds  why not send the Feds to them instead?

  I'm sure folks in NY or California would  welcome the BLM with open arms . Imagine the their  joy as they watched the feds  gobble up their land, tell them what flowers they can't plant {to protect endangered plant species} where they can't go [ rare species of ants they might step on], ], where they can't build telephone poles [ dangerous bird proliferation] And that's just the beginning. Perhaps Manhattan north of 23rd Street could become a wildlife preserve. Most of the Bronx and Westchester are wetlands that need to be protected, and thousands of beachfront acres in the Hamptons and Martha's Vineyard would have to be expropriated to protect the nearly extinct Periwinkle. Some minor inconveniences well worth it.  Think of how secure they'd feel knowing that  government is expanding its power only to  do what's best for them and protecting them from us.

An open letter to the U.S. from an American Israeli

.... On the Wests Inability to understand Arab communications


As a citizen of both the United States and Israel, the dual perspective I have allows me to form a perspective that can view the actions of both countries from a distance and sometimes see and accept realities that an Israeli or an American might not see, or might have hard living with. Being outside events may allow me to see things that others don't. I am writing this based on my experiences and thoughts alone. Many Jews speak as if they represent Israel, Jews. I don't. This is my personal view, different than what you will usually read, a little long but worth a read




The west is convinced Israel is an apartheid state. We build walls, refusing to believe that Palestinians would live in peace with us if we gave them a fair deal, stopped killing their babies and stealing their land, got rid of our creepy blockade  On campuses students learn that we deserve BDS, that   Natanyahu is a crazy fanatic ,persistent about Iran when  Israel has nuclear weapons and Iran just wants peaceful nuclear energy. Our  fixation on recognition Jewish state is racist. The way we  harp on it. The Palestinians don’t. Yassir Arafat might have been a terrorist once,  but he denounced violence. How do we know? He said so. More than once.

As a Israeli American, the naiveté of Americans about Arab communication astounds me. Israelis seem like Europeans in many ways. We speak English. We start businesses. We seem at home in the west. Actually, are equally at home and not at home almost anywhere in the world. Our country is a diverse middle eastern nation, Over half of us hail from Arab countries speak Arabic; the culture, it’s rich layered nonverbal nuances, indirect manner of responses, seemingly evasive and contradictory responses that are so very different from direct western approach. We understand  ‘ arabic thought and communications’ just as we understand ‘western’.

When we hear a speech by a Muslim leader in English, we admire his PR skills  knowing  that what he is saying to his own people in Arabic is not what he is telling you. He knows that and we can detect the pride in his stance at your gullibility.  Since you seem to be oblivious to these contradictions, there  is almost no attempt to hide it in the Arab world- other than by using different languages. One needs only to read Arabic newspapers to see vast differences.

How do you manage, with all of your intelligence to miss this; to  hear  Palestinians on the west bank say“ we want peace”  in english but not hear  them chant “ we love death”   at the same time in Arabic.   How is it that Nasa’s satellites manage to not hear Iran’s former Atomic Energy director Abbasi’s  say  on public TV that Iran had concealed information on its nuclear program for years in public television because Western intelligence had used  information provided to the UN in 2006 to sabotage nuclear development.

American strategists views on Israel-Palestine and the interests of  U.S. betray a surprising misunderstanding of  how Arabs communicate. Experts who inform U.S. strategy actually  base the policies they recommend on the public statements of  Arab terrorists in English.

As a clear enemy of the U.s. the case of El Quaida is especially relevant leaders say in public in English.   Ossama bin Laden son of an Egyptian billionaire says that his identity was shaped by the Palestine Israel conflict, Zawahiri ,  directs followers to support Palestinians in their struggle against Israel describe and these statements are taken at face value t Why and I quote “because they said so-- straight from the horses mouth -- both of them so it must be true.Right? Anybody living in the middle East would find this shocking.

    If you accept what you are told, it is not surprising that you conclude peace- between Palestine and Israel would would not  replace fury completely but would considerably diffuse anger. Are you really that naive?

    Don’t your political strategists know how to play poker?  When you buy oil do you just pay the first price quoted, not realizing that price is  lie, that there are many layers of lies and somewhere between one of those lies and another you settle on some agreement. Never ever do you take a statement at face value.

    Despite evidence to the contrary, westerners refuse to believe the a bible, that the Koran sanctions lying? Why? Because they are constantly told by people who proclaim themselves to be Moderate Muslims ( and therefore must be) that Islam is a peaceful religion and that they speak the truth. They are able to not only get away with this, but convince westerners that they are the true victims, that they are violent because they have no other option, that they and only they have a right of return generations after a war ended. Success  makes such a  lie all the more delicious, masterful, a gem to be proud of.  The Westerner who believes this nonsense earns no respect. He is an easily manipulable absurd idiots, to be laughed at and all the more despised for this weakness.  They know you belief what they tell you, that a suit, a tie and good English will convince you they are moderates leaving the, freedom to say what they wish in Arabic. They find this more absurd then we do.

When Abbas publicly lied to Kerry and told him that the organizations he had joined were not UN related and then went on Palestinian TV and announced that they were the next day, he gained honor from his people because he humiliated America by humiliating Kerry. This  insult was directly aimed not at us but at the US. How very odd that it passed you by. That when Abbas continued to rub it in by ignoring you other than to make demands , you stepped into his shoes, played  his role and offered something of your own - a deal you knew we would not refuse. Pollard. And however infuriating, however much we knew we shouldn’t we put one even just one of our own first before Arab terrorists. The Ayatolla of Iran was amused at what he perceived as our weakness. Iranian students were not.  They marched against the Ayatolla and told him in no uncertain times acting to help his own people the way Israel did was the type of admirable action they wanted to see from him.

Kerry told us time and time again that recognition of Israel was not important. As citizens in the South were again being hit by rockets from Gaza due to the failure of  the U.S. and Morsi to fulfill their obligations, and because we made ‘peace’ with Abbas who was promptly replaced by Hamas Kerry pressured ranted on about our unhelpful actions and said, besides Arafat made said he recognized Israel years ago. Yassir Arafat lie?

The U.S, must have missed the Television interview interview  with Arafat’s bodyguard of many years, also on public TV and translated on-line ion Memri-TV. Arafats bodyguard was asked whether Ariel Sharon was right when he used to say that Arafat was a pathological liar. Did he lie in your presence? asked the interviewer. Oh yes, said The bodyguard. noting that it was Mubarak the most moderate of Muslims, first Nobel Peace Prize winner for mid-east peace, who would call Arafat after a bombing in Tel Aviv and tell him to “denounce it or they will screw you.”  The bodyguard then goes on to say what many have said before and somehow Westerners cannot manage to grasp. Lying in politics is permissible by the Koran,  Lying to nonbelievers is not only permitted but at times required to advance the cause of Islam to gain the trust of non-believers in order to draw out their vulnerability and defeat them. 

In the end the west will suffer because of their refusal or inability to grasp this.  We will stop warning you since your response is to blame us.  It is not in our interests to keep pointing out again and again and again that the long range missiles Muslim countries are collecting are not for us. Their hate for you will not change  if  Israel and the Palestinians reach some agreement.  In fact, if we were no longer there as a distraction the utter hatred solely directed towards you will surprise you.

We expect you to deny this,  to believe that your problems in the middle east are our fault and that if only we retreated to suicidal borders , everything would be fine for you. LIke many before you suffer from “Appeasementitis” - a contagious disease  American leftist Jews and some leftist Israelis have acquired, borne our of  a guilt that gives absurd levels of power to people who in reality have none.

Before I close I will address a common reaction from people who read what I’ve written. Westerners are not naive;  they choose to blame Israel for their problems. The fact that westerners make the same errors when dealing with Arabs when Israel is not involved argues against this.  Motives are, however,  irrelevant. Whatever the socio-psychological causes, the west acts as if Arabs and westerners communicate in the same way, take their public statements at face value and look no further. 

This policy is as dangerous and perhaps more dangerous to west than Israel.  International theatre substitutes for action as Iran develops nuclear arms, as Egypt plans on doing the same with Russia’s help. Other countries with follow. Despite their vast oil reserves they will say they are doIng all of this for energy.

The United States has opened its  border to terrorists who pass as hispanics and cross the Mexican border. The Muslim countries bury their hatchets annually to review their plans to Islamize the west. Stage one is to use and leverage democracy
as a tool to spread Islam, respect for  and fear of Islam, and
irradiate criticism or acts against Islam in western countries, while verbally diminishing the power of competitive religions. In the west, they are on track. If you have any doubts, go to a college campus, search youtube for anti-Catholic, anti-Jewish and anti-Muslim, and you will get your answer.

  I challenge you to compare the level of your democracy to ours. Israeli Muslims have the same rights as other citizens,  are members of the Knesset, and have freedom of speech even at the expense of security. As Pollard languished in your prisons, we released hundreds of terrorists  to demonstrate our “good faith” to Palestinians”  We regularly treat people from Gaza in our hospitals. We have no free speech zones and break of demonstrations [Jewish and Aran equally] when they become violent.
  Since our survival is at  stake we come to our senses when pushed to far. We are opening our eyes. We do not appreciate the recent anti-semitism spreading across Europe nor the violence, nor the fact that traditionally Jewish French Jews are in danger going to the synagogue; they are forced to come to Israel because France, an alleged  democracy, allows this to happen, We do not appreciate an English MP daring to call Gaza a warsaw Ghetto and Hamas Freedom fighters. What about the British genocide against the Irish people. What about the refugee camps of Holocaust survivors the British created to stop surviver of Nazi death camps from entering IsraelWe do not appreciate U.S news, the Pravda of the U.S, singling out AIPAC as if it were the only lobby when your entire form of government is based not on representative democracy as much as payoffs from big business. What happened to your first amendment freedom if the press or equal right to pursue  happiness. Neither to we appreciate discrimination that would never be tolerated against other groups.  ‘hate crimes’ are more than 7x more common against Jews than any other group in the country but hate crimes against Jews receive no attention. Jewish groups conducted the white house. When a response was finally received  said that calling Jewish students Nazis,  substituting a swastika for the star of David in the Israeli flag,  allowing Arab students to build mock walls,  mock machine guns, and even physically harm Jewish students are acceptable activities that a college student should be expected to put up with.  This could never happen In Israel.

At this juncture Israeli politicians are still largely European. They hang onto a delusional beliefs that the west and the United States in particular are their best friends, as if international politics were a high school dance where special relationships develop. They have convinced themselves that Israel cannot survive without the United States-- and endlessly speak about  common interest and special relationships. But this is changing.

We will not be sacrificial lambs to your inability  to perceive reality nor will we forever shoulder the blame for all of your problems.  Israelis are seeing through motives of the U.S,  Your president Obama and his band of  Muslim Brotherhood white house advisers have helped us to see reality The next generation of leaders will not take alliances with the west as a given. Having scant memories of diaspora, they do not share a desperate need for a ‘sponsor’. If it were up to me, we would forgo your  financial and other “help” today.  Politicians , in any country, do not act quickly. It will take longer but we will go our own way.

Abbas and the Arab world are suspicious about your motives. So are we. Not only because you seem to not care whether our country’s borders are suicidal, not only because you push aside our need to be recognized as a Jewish state as petty when Palestine, hoping to be an Arab state demanded that no Jews be left there, not only because it was Your president who publicly announced that our settlements are illegal without so much as a word to us. when a country funds all sides in a conflict, the last thing they are interested in is peace.

If you continue managing your country the way you are now, if you continue to censor news, lie to your people about China’s success, cripple innovation in the name of a clean planet, allow the Sierra Club lobby to cripple your coal industry, and your oil, force businesses into insolvency because you have proclaimed carbon dioxide to be an evil planet destroying gas based on bad science, agriculture lobbies, fortune. If you continue reward those businesses that are the worst performers under the guise of some  twisted version of economic stimulus, and  too big to fail absurdity, sell your gold mines to China, you will go down.

We will not come along for the ride and we will not be sacrificial lambs to your ability or unwillingness to understand and/or address Arab communications.

And now for something completely different

Wearing your countries flag is Illegal: What does that say about the future of a country

Which of these things is not like the other?

Americans’ confidence in News media has dropped since the 1980s. In 1985, 55% thought news got

their facts straight compared to 20% in 2009. In
1989,  36% thought media dealt with all sides fairly compared to 18% in 2009. Yet, all in all, Americans believe that despite problems, with internet availability, and watchdog groups, the truth comes out and that we get a more accurate pictures of what is going on in the world than other people

If this more or less captures you view,  brace yourself.   Reddit has archived all of he magazine covers since 1923, but you don’t have to look at many to get the point but you don't have to go far back to get the point,



In the latest issue of the Time magazine the cover story for Europe, the Middle East, South Africa, Asia and South America, focused on Pena Nieto’s attempts to introduce reforms in Mexico. Nieto’s success in Mexico and the investment community is recognized internationally & Mexican bonds have been upgraded (embarassingly close to  US') , His focus is economic and  nationalistic, and he is less willing to confront drug lords  or deport them to US prisons than his predecessors.  This should be of particular interest to Americans. It could effect detention as a means of reducing re-entry of illegals and require changes in methods of securing borders .

Yet, instead of highlighting this article, the Time magazine cover in the US  was about a six year high school geared to minority students with a high success rate of job placement.



In an issue where the Time Magazine Cover page  focused on US debt for the rest of the world  the US focused on things that could go wrong on election day,


US Tim cover focused on the new “silent majority in the US, while the rest of the world focused on why the US  will never save Afghanistan.

These are not factual errors or leaning towards one side more than another. They are deliberate attempts to manipulate Americans into not seeing issues that effect them and that the rest of the world is concerned about.  Bring out the football and happy minority high school grads. Why think about Germany and the Euro? Isn’t the prospect of life without children more interesting? People from other countries might want to read an article about why Gitmo will never close. but Americans?
For an excellent review of Us medias role as a willing political tool that focuses US citizens attentions away from international (and largely negative) reactions to US government policies see

19 Puzzling Differences Between “Time” Magazine U.S. And International Covers

Bring on the race Card

AP Photograph

Holder did yesterday,  Inspired by injustice and being a man of conscience he called on lawmakers and us ( the American people) to fight felony disenfranchisement which is too unjust to tolerate.States aren’t ending misguided policies that unjustly restrict the ‘most basic right’ of American citizenship”. He will do it with our support.

Emotional appeal, has a powerful appeal that can be misused by politicians (even Afro-American politicians talking about Afro-americans) In this age of so many problems we can't seem to count them, why are votes for former felons the issue that should cause Americans to rise up and demand that the Federal government take away states rights because they are doing the right thing but not fast enough.  Notice this: Holder does not say that last part out loud. It wouldn’t fly well.  Giving the President more power than he has-- after Obamacare? after a messed up economy? after higher taxes?

Now Eric Holder, in case you forgot, is head of the Justice department and should know many intolerable, laws that discriminate against African Americans that aren’t changing fast enough and  don’t require a federal takeover of states rights to fix.

But just in case he can’t think of one , how about. voting for women and men of the armed forces where African Americans  contribute more than their share. Disenfranchisement of these men and women of color is infuriating. They get to die for their country but not vote. Jim Crow would be  proud.

Legally, these soldiers have the right to vote. BUT their ballots don’t arrive on time,  vanish into a black holes, are flown back to the US by planes that mysteriously crash,etc.  If Air Force One plane can fly a dog to a presidential vacation, this should be an easy fix. This is the 21st century?  If a drone it can kill an American in a foreign country it should be able to get the darn ballots and bring them back without crashing. right? . During a hurricane that hit NY close to election day, there were backup plans for people to vote on-line. I have no qualifications. Experts could come up with better ways, I am sure.

People of color have fought long an hard to be recognized in the US armed forced and they deserve an attorney general who stands up for their rights before those of felons, before he treads on constitutionally questionable grounds of federal vs. state power.

If fighting for the rights of felons to vote is more important than members of the armed forced, the obvious question is what is Holders REAL agenda. What is this business of "fast enough." Why the sudden rush? Could this have anything to do with the 2014 elections for congress and the senate? Is the White house worried that the the same Republicans they call Does this man care about African Americans, or is he just one more corrupt Washington insider that will do anything, trample on states rights, throw the constitution to the winds to get more democratic votes.  Big surprise: Guess which states these felons live in?

That’s the problem with the race card folks. You never know where it will go. It’s a bit amusing to see a high level African American Politician stereotyping his own.

Counting the votes: A hypothetical Tale

There is nothing mysterious about voting. We vote with our pocketbooks every time we buy something.

People who own businesses do surveys of their customers all the time. Getting the numbers right are important because business decisions and investments will be based on the assumptions that the numbers that the results are correct.

Imagine a restaurant chain that serves two deserts- cheese cake and apple pie on Friday nights. Because Friday nights are crowded, they don’t know which they make more money on. So, they decide to do a survey.


The central office could decide how the counting should be done and have all stores do it the same way. Each store should decide how to do it the way it wants. Some stores could count the receipts and other stores might buy computers and survey counting computer software

They could count the number of apple pies and also chocolate pies bought on Friday night from the sales slips

Get a computer whiz who works at the restaurant to write at the bar to write a program
Get some clerks in their down time to make sure the results of the computer are the same as the results of counting the slips

-Between these two extremes there are different option
-Train people to ave check each of the steps of the computer program and
   • make sure the deserts are copied correctly
   • make sure none of them are missed
   • none of them are coped twice
- Decide what to do about biases like the restaurant gives chocolate cake for birthdays, chocolate cakes are more often shared, most waiters like chocolate cakes a lot better.

A committee of representatives from each store is tasked with recommending what method should be used. To make sure that they covered everything they examined machines and software that has been built for polling and surveys. They learn that prices vary widely, that you can buy just software and hardware (computers). The biggest companies do not let you see the programs they wrote. 
“ How do we test them to make sure they work for what we are doing?”
“ We have experts that are trained to do that, so you don’t need to worry about that. That’s the beauty of our solution. We do it all”
“ How would we know if you made a mistake”?
“ We don’t make mistakes”

The company lawyer has a few words to say.
"Business relationships are of course based on trust, gentlemen and trust is earned. We would , of course be prepared to sign a nondisclosure agreement and consider your system despite its high cost, and then if it worked, which I assume it would, endorse your product. Can we get past this and move further."
  "I’m afraid that’s out of the question".

  A puzzled look crosses the lawyers face. In all my years dealing vendors. I have never been asked to spend millions of dollars on a product that I know nothing about. Who are your usual clients? the government?

Why my own party makes my blood boil

Is this not incredible? Wendy Davis could actually win the Texas gubernatorial race. Not because she has the credentials. Not because she is widely respective, or represents Texans, who have a very low tolerance level for self promoters who ridicule people in wheelchairs. Who would have ever thought that that Texas pride, gumption to the point of insolence in the 'whole other country' could morph into fear at the power of the democratic "machine". Said a staunch republican pundit yesterday. We can't rest on our laurals. She may not represent the state. But the Obamama, Democratic, machine is powerful. We have nothing like it.

This talk is infuriating. Why did Romney lose the election? Why is the senate democratic, why is there even a remote change the republicans could lose it AGAIN, when every survey shows averge Americans leaning 7 points towards republicans. Why do even our strongest supporters like Glenn Reynolds say "They don't call it the stupid party for nothing.

At the Red State Conference, I suggested that we will never win, until we adopt the tactics of our opponents. I don't know whether the responses whether the reactions were sad or alarming. "But then we would be stooping to their level... WHATTTTTT??????  These are the leaders, the people who are going to bring about social change? How? By maintaining the Moral high ground???

They are very nice people. They are principled, devoted, and unwilling to compromise. They also have no idea, not are they being told that politics is a dirty business, that winning and principles are not the same things, that winning means getting dirty and doing dirty, fighting dirty, knowing your enemy and winning on the battlefield.  The last presidential election was proof
   "A lousy platform and a good vote machine can win"
   "A god platform and an ineffective vote machine looses"


We will lose and lose and lose until we start fighting the war with the right tactics. Polls are useless when actual votes have another major component. The voting "machine" the democrats have is not "magic," We can have the same. If we dedicate ourselves to this. If we do it ourselves [ and not hire a bunch of consultants we don't know]. If we man polling places, have hackers, etc etc. None of this is difficult. Republicans ignore it. That is idiotic and infuriating.

This is not new technology. I and many others have build large databases, used them to predict models predicting product loyalty, incluencability, odds of success and methids/ approach likelt to succed. Updating databases online,is an old technology using hierrchies by zip codes to direct activities of  service reps was done 25 years ago. Database speed and size is known, as is methods of testing  backups, and in critical sitiation, live runs, and backups to backups. In Politics one criticl decision is when do you stop convincing people (a) and start getting out the vote (b). This also can be calculated and used to use staff.. The greater the staff, The greater the odds of winning,

I am less angry at Democrats than I am republicans for being naive idiots, and even more anbry at tea party members and the red state, the Heritge foundation and the Cato foundation who have no excuse for behaving in such an idiotic fashion. For analyzing what Substantantive, communicative or
other essential characteristic Republicans do not have and treating Democratic criticisms with all the seriousness they do not deserve. Letting your opponent set the agenda is always a lousy strategy,

Imagine , if, Romney, instead of graciously, conceding to Obama, and kvetching for poor Ann who would have made such a wonderful first lady, instead of sayong we put up a goiod fight and he wo n fair and square, leaving the stage with his tail between his legs,

Imagine if he said. I do not condede. He did not win. This fraud is a travesty that puts a democracy to shame. In x county and Y county 125% if the population voted. I did not spend years running for president to leave Americans in a banana republic.

Anybody want to do something about it?

All sorts of organizations call me for money. Now  I don't care how good the cause is. I don't give money. I used to. If someone managed to play my emotions well enough, not because I am a female canine (not sure what censorship policies exist here in the political correct) but because I have a litmus test.

In most cases I can spot a sales call in the first three words and hang up. There's that roboto-speech if you know what I mean. Robots, on the other hand have mastered the art of sounding human so well that I found myself chatting with one last week. I have this high IQ and did eventually foure out that he was a recording.

Back to the litmus test which is based in this premise. Most people are inflexible and lazy. If they call for money and I offer something of far greater value they will reject it. This will be true even when I am not speaking to a telemarketing firm based in India.

So last week, the Heritage think tank called me. for some money. Whatever I could spare. As usual, we are at a "critical juncture" , democracy is at stake, the country, the socialists are turning the universities into a Marxist ideology breeding ground on our tax dollars. Aha, something I could bite my teeth into.

After relishing a moment of visualizing me as Buffy wandering around Washington, in my invisible suit, teeth gleaming,  I decided to respond. No great hopes. It's amazing. The things people will say for 15 bucks. Just because they're on your side don't be an idiot and believe them. Trust and verify.

So I wrote a letter, Told them they were brilliant. An that I do that. (I do). We have a GREAT opportunity right now because Universities are failing, the Millenials don't feel like being indentured servants to government crooks fir the rest of their lives, and the time is now for a different kind of college/University. We could be teaching libertarianism, free market capitalism, organizing experimental communities, free speech, critical thought. What balance of powers is. Federal vs. State powers etc. I pointed to specific programs we could join with and how we could and asked if anyone had thought of it and what their stance on "higher education was".

I got no letter but I did get an invitation to a weekly meeting of sentinels the grass roots arm of the organization apparently. These are the people who lobby republican congress people to behave like republican congress people. Up on the agenda this week: Do not extend the unemployment benefits because this sort of thing 'never works' and we have a budget deficit. I will grant that most likely encouraging long term unemployment is a lousy way to get people working again but without a cent and without articulating why this is a lousy idea and pretending it will have an effect on the budget is silly. Next up is immigration. Focus. It's important to NOT have any discussion of immigration because then then congress will go to committee and they will pass the dream act. I was getting worried. Outside of government, the country thinks the dream act has been passed. Hasn't it? Kids get social security numbers, medicaid, low cost tuitions? How are they not citizens? How about talking about this. No immigration legislation by presidential degree. Secure the borders and then we'll talk.

I hadn't read the news for a few weeks. Too depressing perhaps. What a bunch of WIMPS. Nobody talks about Obamacare anymore. One more "feature" of the new normal.
To end the conference call issues were poorly explained, nothing organized, no talking points, no prioritization. Last question was Do you think the Republicans will take both houses in November?

It wasn't just the lack of conviction by an organization that is one of the best hopes in the country or so I thought. It was the blase manner, as if unemployment benefits and winning the vote in November are equally important or maybe as if it doesn't matter.

Have you noticed that so many of the folks that used to launch battle cries are writing books-- Glenn Reynolds, Charles Krauthmauer, Mark Levin.  What the country does not need is one more conservative book or radio show. Yoo Hoo... Anybody out there?  Don't all answer at once....Helllo...eloooo..loooo...oooooo...

If there are hate crimes, they are all created equal

I never thought they would be implemented as equal. I have yet to find a case where more regulations solve problems caused by failure to enforce prior regulations. Government, and change, are by nature slow, and when pushed to quickly nothing good happens. But ,most unfortunately, nobody has asked me how to run the country. The courts rules that hate crimes are recognized as crimes whose motivation earns extra added punishment.

The FBI, monitors hate crimes annually based on police reports. Decisions are very ambiguous and politically vulnerable to the "right answer" from the":top brass." who make it clear that African Americans should emerge as victims and not perpetrators of hate crimes. Nevertheless, the group who are most often victims of hate crimes relative to their presence in the population are Jews. The difference between hate crimes against Jews and hate crimes against any other group is almost unbelievable. If Jews are defined as other religions are (based on self report-- are you Jewish), thgere are @ 3MM Jews in the Us and hate  crimes against Jews are 12 to 1 their fair share in the population. This is in sharp contrast to Muslims. If Jews are defined racially (either birthparent Jewish, the odds are 7 to 1.

There is no other group that remotely approaches this level. Crimes against Africam Americans are higher than the national average .    Crimes against Musims account for      for all the crimes against religiouns. The number of muslims in this country is very doffoicult to determine and based on.. if higher are minimal, Crimes against Christains are higher and on the rise. Not issues in the FBIO reports are crimes of blacks against whites, specifically .  Crimes are chilling as groups involved are games    . Crimes by police against citizens are also unrecorded but are on the rise

The FBU has been reporting hate crimes for x years, The findings  re Jews have been the same, and although there has been a change in favored minorities insofar as as homosexuals, lesbians, transvestites, in all cases, Jews, have been consistently been the victims of hate crimes, no decrease has been noted as with blacks and no efforts to do anything about this have been done.

The FBI in discussing religious discrimination, failed to normalize hate crimes against the number Jews and more important failed to conclude that anything should be done about it. Each year the conclusion was the same, We must redouble our efforts to eliminate any vestige of hate against African Americans.

Hate speech is not illegal and for the most part when cases are brought to court, courts rule in favor of free speech. Yet the vast majority of Universities including state universities funded by tax dollars have rules about what students may and may not say.

The rationale behind this practice raises questions about whether Universities educate or even aim to educate.  Push politics aside completely for a moment and think about Universities as they were a few hundred years ago or if that isn't far back enough try Ancient Greece. Wasn't the purpose of
education, the way Socrates taught it to examine any and all ideas through the lens of Aren't Universities precisely the place where all ideas are game?

Words.. words... which brings us back to today. Unless you are crying fire in a crowded theatre sticks and stones break my bones, words don't hurt, not unless they are followed by actions. Do they?
Maybe, sometimes. Are people who speak hatred, more likely to act hatefully. probably. What would Socrates have said. Something like: Put your faith in reason and in the University as the place, perhaps the only place where reason is free to flourish without interference from the realities if later existence. Let all state there views and subject them to the test of reason and not fear the results. It is not our job to rule reason, but to use it as a most precious tool with which to find truth. There are many in the world who will try to rule reason- politicians, men that seek power, and philosophers whose fears overwhelm their courage. The search for truth demands courage and is not the vocation of every man.

In a true University if there were one, a modern day confederate and a liberal would have a conversation made possible because of the common set of rules of discourse they shares. A socialist and a capitalist and everything in between would speak, the size of government could be discussed, the impact of insults on people and groups would be discussed studied measured without pre-conception. Contrary points of view would be welcome because they bring us closer to our own truths. Emotions would be muted, questions would outnumber answers. The institutions that are called Universities today to not earn the name. In my own field, social psychology, a witch hunt to prove that republican personalities are inferior to democratic personalities is underway , papers published in peer reviewed journals. There is even  study showing neurological differences. The one shocker to the democratic researchers that republicans are better at math and science is never referenced. This is not a desire to learn.

Perhaps a University is a pipe dream. Perhaps it is much too late to be in speaking terms. If that is true, what are the odds that these hate speech codes will be enforced equally. Of course they won't everybody is a member of some group. If people for some reason now have a right to not be insulted, unless nobody insults anybody, people are constantly discriminating against other people. Some of the codes are in fact so broad that students self censor because they have no idea what could qualify.

Example from the University of Buffalo:

     " Students are expected to act with civility.  To be civil means to be courteous and polite or, simply put, to be mannerly.  Acts of incivility—whether verbal, written, or physical—will not be tolerated by the Residential Life community…Hostile or inappropriate language or gestures, words that penetrate and hurt, words that destroy relationships rather than sustain them, or physical aggression in any form are not welcome in our university or residence hall community."

The basic ones are:

    " “stereotyping, negative comments or jokes, explicit threats, segregation, and verbal or physical assault when any of these are based upon a person’s race, sex, color, national origin, religion, age, disability, veteran status or sexual orientation.”  

In reality and not surprisingly enforcement bears no relation to even the second statement below. In actuality relative to their numbers experience many more hate crimes than any other group including blacks. The level of hate crimes were @ 30% higher for blacks  but  based on the lowest estimate 7:1 meaning 700% as high as their presence in their presence in the population. These data are not taken from a study conducted by some Jewish organization but from the  annual FBI hate crime statistics report which does note that Jews are not Muslims are the religious group that is targeted for discrimination. 

These numbers are alarming, Yet there is every reason to believe that they are understated and that they are being ignored deliberately and that this policy is supported by the white house. The difficulty or coming up with a definite figure depends on who one classifies as a Jew. If this is based on church membership of self report. (answers to questions like what is your religion), there are less than 3 million Jewish Americans with a decreasing number. If one uses Jewish parentage and includes people who explicitly say they are not Jewish or say they are Catholic or some other religion, there are approxiomately 5 million. Jews, possibly due to fear of extinction tend to gravitate to higher numbers. Using the 3 Million Jews figure of 12:1 or 1200%. The figure does not change from year to year, does not include hate crimes on campus where Jews are victims, but dies where Jews are perpetrators, according to police interviewed they are pressured to not classify crimes against Jews as hate  crimes especially when they are committed by groups of black teens, In general, knockout games are under-reorted as more examples were filmed than reported.

It gets worse. Universities sanction this behavior and only retract when the media picks up a story and embarasses them as it did when.

 Jewish students on campuses have been  threatened for peacefully demonstrating their support of Israel. Rallies interrupted with shouts if sig heil. Events demonize the Jews and glorify their murderers under a thin veneer of anti-Israel and University administrators. Given the strong tie between Obama and the Muslim brotherhood, Obama's failure to act on this issue does ot come as a shock. When a letter was sent to complaint that had accused a California state university of allowing a hostile environment for Jewish students to exist on campus, the education department’s Office for Civil Rights wrote:

    “In the university environment, exposure to such robust and discordant expressions, even when personally offensive and hurtful, is a circumstance that a reasonable student in higher education may experience. In this context, the events that the complainants described do not constitute actionable harassment.”

The mildest critique of a Muslim is Islamophobia, while threats against Jews are not actionable harassment. This double standard encourages more and bolder anti-semitism. The anti-defamation league found that 40% of Jewish students in a study of 1400 Jewish students were aware of anti-semitism on their campus


Actions against Jews Universities are not limited to speech. They include physical violence.  promoted by well funded Muslim organizations associated with the Muslim brotherhood such as Students for Justice in Palestine (SJP) and the which unlike bad worlds against "protected minorities" is ignored by University personnel and the Muslim Student Association. Jewish students on campus have been physically attacked for demonstrating support for Israel.  A young woman stood near a setup with a fake wall and machine guns in exhibit blaming Jews/Israel for apartheid holding a sign saying "Israel wants peace" One of the people from the exhibit rammed a shopping cart at her so forcefully, she had to be taken to the hospital


This is not limited to Berkley. SJP has organized a pattern of events at a growing number of Universities , setting up mock checkpoints, asking students passing by what their religious affiliation is and intimidating the Jewish students

Trusting Government means never having to grow up

Most people, if asked,  realize that government does do things that are not in their best interests,
that their taxes go to people who use money  frivolously, that it's hard to get things done in government, that they don't really think  any politician does all the things he or she promises, that an honest person would go into some other line of work, and that these guys get paid too much.

But say the word government partial government shut-down and major freak-out. Partial government shutdown was, of course, a joke. Some people had to take unpaid vacations, there was that couple who couldn't get married in Yellowstone because it was closed, memorials that were closed. People got their social security checks, and medicaid, the free phones worked, foodstamps cames . Alcohol tobacco and forearms were there. homeland security made a show of it and then returned to whatever essential stuff it is that they do that we can't know about because it's classified, As for those three and  the department of education, agriculture, forestry. most of the state department, Indian affairs, the part of the IRS that gives you advice that can be wrong, IRS tax auditors that didn't bring in more money than their fully loaded salaries two years in a row... ( I could go a lot further but you get the idea) please go home and stay home). Nobody would miss these people, regardless of party.

Unlike others who believe this was just one more example of democratic maliciousness, I  believe the thought of no government scared people even though they knew it wasn't really true and that it wouldn't last long just like the other times and people wouldn't die of food stamp deprivation. This is a difficult one for me to accept but I believe it's accurate. Most people don't want independence that comes from being responsible for yourself. Not here in NY in the city and Ohh, 100-200 miles out. It isn't simply gaming the system. Its needing and knowing that someone is going to take care of you. The thought of government scared them so much that they prefer a strong one that takes freedoms away that one that is more constitutional. Actually they probably like the strong one better. A bigger government takes care of people more than a smaller government and gives them fewer decisions to make.

But, I say "What if they take care of you like the mafia takes care of you?"

And they don't seem to care. This cartoon captures that sentiment.

On what we can do about it

Can the wave of dissatisfaction, frustration & anger in this country translate into action.
There are a few excellent think tanks [Cato Institute, Heritage]  a multitude of blogs, radio shows, congressmen and senators taking a stand in public in the legislature, bumper stickers, rap songs.. We have a long way to go.

We have allowed the left to turn American education system into socialist ideological training. College campuses have become very expensive socialist indoctrination camps. Critical thinking has been replaced by social indoctrination that aims to overturn our way of life--  capitalism, individualism and the right to pursue happiness are replaced with government mandated paternalism marketed as outcome equality.

Those of us who stand by liberty have failed to communicate an alternative that the American people can embrace as an ideal. Individualism and liberty have an almost quaint sound these days. A few scholars -- Milton Freidman, Ayn Rand-- speak about free market capitalism and the cost of government. To the average person this means nothing,  We haven’t communicated the high economic and costs of regulation that go way beyond their budgets, that strangulate economic prosperity, then job market, and the quality of our lives.  are causing and know there is a better way worth fighting for,

Obama and democreats are able to say over and over agaib that we offer no alternative to Obamacare because we haven't put one single simple alternative out there. Proposals made by a few people, by the Cato or Heritage foundations don't exist, not to the average person who would have to SEE what it would be like Imagine a website, that looked like the ACA site and lead people to different options, that do not exist, that could exist, and that are simple.  We do not have the organized ‘machine’ that our opponents have, know about but have no game plan to combat voter fraud. We may very well have lost the 2012 election because of this or rather won it. We will never know. Nor will we win the next one unless we fight that battle.

We are paying a high cost for the liberal university takeover. I checked my own field before writing this [psychology]  and was aghast. A growing research field in social psychology is scientifically documenting differences between liberals and conservatives, to prove that republicans are inferior. According to peer reviewed papers published in journals, conservatives are more fearful, less receptive to new ideas, and less tolerant. Even the structure of the brain of democrats and republicans are different. [ I am not kidding)  Economics and all social sciences, humanities, english courses are taught on campuses with an anti-imperialist, anti-conservative bias based on bad but accepted science. I know the biases in these studies but that isn't the point. [ see "Fake science and politics"] A generation of students will believe this nonsense just as they believe carbon dioxide is evil and global warming is science.

Our ideas are better but that does not spell success.

 College in their current form are declining; that gives us an opportunity we haven’t taken advantage of. We could be the Kahn University equivalent of history, government, and economic and a different way to think about  humanities , philosophy, sociology and psychology. There is a younger generation that want to know libertarianism whether or not they can articulate it, that disrespects government. There is also a much better way to speak to Americans than Paul Ryans confused blabberings about sequester deals. Ronald Reagen did it.  No Uber-president,  he went on the air with simple charts that explained what he wanted to do to American people.

The millenials ‘get’ the raw deal they’ve been dealt. They don’t see any other possibility because we haven’t presented it. Conservatives to them are people who are unkind, who do not care about the poor, whose main goal is stopping abortion and shutting down the government. Most don’t pay it much attention to politics anyhow because it isn’t relevant to their lives.

When I was young, I was a committed leftist. I didn't understand or reason. Kids don't do that. I knew this -- the world wasn't good as it was, I shared a vision of a world without war or hunger, love and freedom.  Our "vision" was unrealistic, naive, dogmatic, and ripe for abuse by Stalinists and the Chicago mob. Nevertheless, the committment (however wrong) to the better reality at the end of the tunnel  galvanized a generation and led to social change. Some of the changes have become nightmares. Nightmares, however, can end, when people have a better reality that they can SEE feel and want. The power that fueled change then can be unleashed again

Americans deserve better from us. Young people deserve the opportunity to experience life in a microcosm of free market capitalism in the same way that their grandparents/parents once lived in communes. Listening to libertarian debates is as useful as counting the number of angels who can dance on a pin.  “Who is John Galt” communities (like a kibbutz, but not socialist) could be living market capitalism. If Israel's ventures against poverty  sponsored by the United as a solution to unemployment can succeed in third world counties, Imagine what could happen here? Productivity and innovation are not dead. They have no outlet. And we are the people who can create those social experiments and learn about how free market capitalism. principles and equality co-exist? How would a libertarian community care for poor? What would be expected of them? What common principles would develop? How?

If you are reading thank you for putting up with my stream of consciousness. I will work towards these ends and am getting closer to a n action list.  If you are interest in either joining me or helping me and others do this, contact me.

On the Fragility of Democracy

I never met a government I liked, past or present. Governments may start with noble goals but loose their original purpose too easily.  ‘survive and expand’ for the benefit of a small group becomes the goal.

This happened in Greece (ancient) and Rome. Athens became more than just another city state, as the keeper of the city-states’ war funds. Athenians used monies that didn’t belong to them to build beautiful statues, and expand power. Original principles were lost, Athens grew weak and was conquered by barbarian tribes.

The Roman Republic had more checks and balances than ours does.  To prevent the situation of an Uber-president, the highest office was held by two consuls each of which could veto the decisions of the others. The executive branch was a group , the senate, and was not allowed to own or run businesses while in office. The legislative body was a direct democracy;  all citizens debated proposed laws which were read aloud prior to voting.  A complex veto system further limited power of specific government bodies.  In emergency situations, when a single leader was needed, the senate declared the emergency and gave temporary power to the consuls- one of them became ‘dictator’ for no more than six months. [This avoided the conflict of interest if the same person that declares the emergency becomes the dictator]

Roman democracy has been criticized in textbooks because it was not a ‘real’ democracy. The senate was not elected. Women and slaves were not included.  Nevertheless, it’s checks and balances deserve a hard look because they are the most extensive ones that ever existed. Nevertheless,  all the checks and balances in the world couldn’t save the Roman Republic when masses of furious unemployed and overtaxed Plebeians, who had lost their jobs to slaves  (many former soldiers,) formed populist groups, rioted and found the senate willing to appease and unwilling to compromise.   In the U.S, the biggest threat to democracy comes from the White House, in Rome it came from the senate. The results could be the same.

Checks and balances are necessary in a democracy but they are no guarantee.   The original purpose of any arm of government can always morph into self interest of one group with power.  Democracy may be the best of governments, but in reality , it is fragile. The rules that keep it in place are only as strong as peoples’ commitment to underlying principles and the democratic philosophy. [Maintaining this commitment in a country as diverse as ours is especially difficult.]

The erosion of checks and balances under President Obama should concern us. This is not, however,  the doing of one President. Would it have been possible for an executive to violate each of the bill of rights, to pass laws by using  ‘executive orders’ without repercussion, to make treaties without congressional approval if the stage had not been set before?

It’s becoming harder and harder  to find aspects of our lives, from education, to work, to health, to say what you wish (as long as it’s politically correct) to privacy, to the right to property that are not controlled by government. This process did not happen overnight. There are numerous contributors that have been eating away at our core philosophy and way of life for a long time.

The elimination of the gold standard, the power of the Fed, the unlimited involvement of government in the economy, out of control regulations that nobody understands but everyone is forced to comply with, the president’s power to use money it doesn’t have without enforceable limits, the alignment of the press with one party and ideological changes in our educational system all contributed to the erosion of our commitment to freedom, liberty and individualism in principal and practice.

The Conservative solution is go back to the constitution.  That would be a TREMENDOUS improvement and very hard to accomplish. We face a government today  that is very committed to maintaining the status quo and is structured with layers of agencies and bureaucracies that keep things the way they are.

If this country is a democracy, citizens have ultimate power. If the majority of people in a country want one thing and the government does another, we have a problem. In a real world, this will happen sometimes - people in government aren’t the most selfless sorts -- but not all the time, not most of the time, and not a lot of the time.  A situation in which most citizens do not agree with what their government is doing is a prescription for trouble.

Changing this is a tall order - not the sort of challenge people ask for in life. Hopefully knowing what we are up against is a start.

Capitalism isn’t a four letter word

What's Capitalism, anyhow

Capitalism has a bad rep these days. Media is partially responsible. So are those who claim they want a smaller government, and who say they want fewer regulations. We don’t explain it well. People have this idea that capitalism means big businesses who stomp on poor people and on regular folks like you and me, who take all the money and leave none for us. Socialism seems attractive. It seems like real equality until you live it, (See: My socialist adventure) as any immigrant from a communist country will tell you

Capitalism isn’t a dirty word or a plot against poor people.  It’s  people free to buy and sell what others want and keep the profits, freedom to invent new solutions, rewards for the hard work of making useful   products and selling them, and keep the money. You get to do this without the government in your face.  The innovation America was known for grew out of this idea.

The waves of immigrants that came to this country with very little are a testament to that,  A man starts with nothing works buys a car, gets paid to drive people, provides good service and builds a limousine service. A woman works long hours,  saves money buys a house, pays it off and becomes successful in real estate, a young kid obsessed with technology builds a computer, or software or.... in his garage and builds a successful. business. People pursue happiness, they don’t always succeed, but they have the right to give it their best shot build something, feeling proud and live good lives. 

If you think ‘but that was then’ or ‘ but not me’ perhaps these examples will work better: Making a living selling on eBay is capitalism, a kid who saves broken bicycles and sells the parts is capitalism. the entire underground economy is capitalism, farmers markets, flea markets....

The less involved government is, the better economies work. In of technology sector, where government is not very involved, there are constant new products, growth, quality and economic prosperity. People expect quality and get it; companies that don’t deliver are replaced.  Healthcare, and banking are highly regulated  and don’t work as well. But no part of the economy works as poorly as government.

How peoples’ actions regulate the private sector

People also hold the mistaken idea that capitalism if not controlled by government is chaos, no rules , anything goes. Not true.

In the private sector we vote with our pocketbooks every day.  For the most part, this works. The food at restaurants is safe to eat not because it has a license, not because of all the regulations ot has to follow but because it wants your business.

Elevators don’t usually kill people, not because of those certificates and inspections you see on their walls,  but because people won’t ride in elevators that kill people.

Disposal companies for the most part, don’t dump garbage in peoples’ backyards --  not because of all the environmental laws and regulations -- but because they want to stay in business.

Accountants don’t steal your money for the most part because they want your business and the business of your friends.

This pocketbook voting of capitalism keeps business honest, and protects people. Of course, the system is far from perfect. People would have to get injured in elevators or even killed before people boycotted them, Crooked accountants might steal money before pocketbook voting kicked in and so on.

But ask yourself this,  Does government improve on that? Make it worse? Improve some things and make other things worse? On balance are the laws, the procedures and rules worth it?

Other protections in the Private Sector-

Insurance is another way that capitalism protects consumers. Most professionals and commercial builders have insurance,; insurance contracts require businesses to meet standards, may require evidence, and will  not payout if those standards aren’t met. Any business that breaks the rules,  won’t get insurance again. Of course, insurance companies can be corrupt; insurance agents can get paid off to “look the other way”. but again only to a certain extent.  Lose money for your boss and you get fired. [ Here’s something to think on-- If a government inspector is paid off, what will stop him from doing it again? Who would be easier to pay off -  an insurance agent or a government inspector]

The same motive limits corruption of insurance companies. They want the words Insured by Geico.. to mean something to keep customers and get new ones.

Consumer feedback groups from Angie’s list to consumer reports serve a similar function in some areas. On-line feedback about businesses do as well. Book reviews, seller statistics, do the same. Consumers are willing to pay for this.

The feedback people give and get in the internet and the speed at which it occurs and is used keeps people honest. Why would a salesman lie about a cars previous accidents, when the consumer can just check the VIN number using his mobile phone and see if he is telling the truth.

Getting rid of government completely is a nice fantasy, I know I am not the only one who wished it really had during the alleged partial shutdown. I am not proposing that.

Consider this as a possibility to think on. We have separation of church and state in this country, How about separation of economy and state?