Behind the Squeaking Door

The Unlivable Wage Revolution Has Begun

2011-10-09T11:48:00.000-06:00

During the last several weeks people from all walks of life who are mostly living as part of the "invisible class" have become visible. I believe we are witnessing the beginning of a true people's revolution aimed at upsetting the great and growing disparity between typical wages and incomes and the top scales of income and wages.The demonstrations that began on Wall Street are now spreading and the message is becoming clear. The protesting voices say simply that they will no longer remain invisible and unheard! They demand economic fairness.During the last 60 years, since the end of WWII we have emerged from a brief livable wage era (from about 1950 to 1970) and relative income parity to what is now an excessively unbalanced income distribution. The very rich have acquired Sheik-like wealth of Arabian oil barons, while the so called "middle class" Americans have seen their share of the "American Dream Pie" shrink to the smallest bite in modern times.At least 81 million American are now either unemployed, working part time while seeking full time employment, working for minimum wage of $7.25/hr, and sunk or sinking into poverty. These 81 million men, women, and children represent nearly 30% of our population. Their voices are generally ignored by many of us, and by most callous politicians who beckon to the call of their special money bag lobbyists and campaign donors. They will be heard loud and clear as their thousands will grow to tens of thousands and then multiply to the millions. Millions more who are one job away from foreclosure and destitution will join the swelling tide of protestors and become unstoppable. Politicians and others who dismiss this popular uprising against unfair economic conditions and unlivable wages will eventually learn that they are part of the minority and they, the politicians, will have to relent. Those of us who have been fortunate to have lived during periods of economic fairness and who now enjoy the benefits will also rally to the support of the "Wall Street Protestors" because we know that the protestors are speaking for all who have worked for a living. Financial institutions and their shenanigans finally were exposed at the expense of typical working American and their families who lost their savings, jobs, and health insurance as part of the present economic recession that mimics the Great Depression of the 1929-1939 period. The path from that Great Depression to now is a history lesson that deserves careful study and analysis. A separate series of articles on the latter subject is in my blog "Twenty-First Century Life on Earth".I for one am jubilant to witness the young and older American to join hands and demonstrate against the economic unfairness that has been the status for the last three decades, and to demand fair wages and incomes for all Americans. Hooray for the "Unlivable Wage Revolution"! Hold on to your seat. It is likely to be a bumpy ride and one that is long overdue.

The Joke's on US--Mr. Boehner and Mr. McConnell, Enjoy Your Laughs While you Can.

2011-08-04T16:25:00.000-06:00

After the Tea Party/Republican Party succeeded to ransom the USA for a Debt deal, House Speaker Boehner joyfully exclaimed that he got "98 % of what he wanted". Whether or not the USA benefited mattered not to Boehner, he was overjoyed. Seems that the stock market investors are less than gleeful as the NYSE has plummeted since the Tea Party/Republican extracted there pound of flesh from President Obama and our nation. Now the world markets recognize the stupid action taken by the Tea Party/Republicans and the inevitable economic damage that it will cause. Millions of jobs will be lost in addition to the nearly 15 million Americans now unemployed. Consumers will be less able to spend their hard earned dollars as their incomes decrease, and social programs disappear.

Time has come to rally for the American people who work for a living and kick the Tea Party/Republicans and some wandering Democrats out of Congress and state governments also. They represent the most irresponsible self interested segment of society and must not be allowed to govern for the sake of our country.

House Leader Tea Party/Republican Boehner and his boundless happiness over sinking our country economically is itself self evident admission by Boehenr that he cares less for the American people than for his rabid and illogical money bag supporters. Sen. McConnell, leader of the Senate Tea Party/Republicans who filibustered all Democratic debt ceiling bills joined the joyous Boehner by stating they have established a standard plan to hold the American people hostage forever for all future debt ceiling bills. Seems that chaos forever is their idea of comedy.

Thanks "happy men" for your gleeful promises to screw up Democracy the genuine Tea Party/Republican way. If you were Abbot and Costello instead of Boehner and McConnell we might all have a belly laugh instead of a belly ache. However you and your lemmings and some Democratic fools pulled a joke on the rest of America as the economic downfall of our county will prove. Perhaps then we will upchuck you out of our system once and for all. If so the last laugh will be ours.

March of the Dead Brains

2011-07-28T07:54:00.000-06:00

Like zombies emerging from a swamp, the Tea Party/Republicans march onward displaying Dead Brains leading the brainless and brain impaired masses over a cliff. Hooray for such an esteemed and enlightened segment of US politics. We should all be joyous as this display of brave brainlessness engulfs our entire nation. Eventually with a bit of luck we will be unable to think at all. This ultimate pinnacle of human achievement will finally restore total stability. No one will notice the difference. Let us all join the march of the dead brains, and bask in a glorious and brainless future.

Tea Party-Republican Deadbeats Rebuke Paying USA Debt

2011-07-14T12:30:00.004-06:00

We all must know that when money is borrowed it must be repaid in accordance to our agreements with the lender or we become deadbeats subject to penalties and bankruptcy claims. Today the Republican/Tea Party Congress essentially opposes paying the debts that our country has incurred during the Bush Administration period of 8 year binge spending starting two unfunded wars and an unfunded Medicare prescription benefit. When Bush took office our country had zero incremental debt and a surplus, that was squandered by Republican budgetary negligence. Now the Republican/Tea Party advocates that our country become a deadbeat country and refuse to pay our growing debt. If the individual Republican/Tea Party member is ready to stop paying all their personal debts as a protest against any interest and principle payments due, than at least we might understand their opposition to paying our country's debt. They know if they individually refused to pay their personal debts that they would be subjected to very damaging financial consequences, and possibly be subjected to civil law fines and penalties. Their collective holier than thou arrogance aimed at defeating President Obama and the Democrats serve only their self interest and not the financial trust and well-being of our country.

If the Tea Party/Republican Congress blocks our country's repayment of our debt we will become the leading world deadbeat country, and our country's financial stability will be come sent into a downward spiral. Investors in treasury bonds will bail out and our debt will escalate. Interest rates will skyrocket in our country, as money flows out of USA Treasury bonds into higher interest securities. Stocks and employees savings will decline in value and all individual loans will carry higher interest rates.Inflation will spiral out of control as our dollar is devalued against more stable currency. Social Security and Medicare will be threatened as`will all federal and state government funding. We will begin to sink into a depression that will dwarf the 1930's Depression and unemployment will increase since most of us will have less money and our dollars will lose value.We will be unable to afford things that are beyond necessities. Unemployment will increase every where in our country, and roads and highways we depend upon will further disintegrate as government spending becomes curtailed. Home foreclosures will escalate and homeless will roam the streets unable to find a simple shelter. A Depression of unimaginable magnitude will soon grip our country and the lemming march to self destruction will become a steady march

Do the apparent delusional Republican/Tea Party Congressional members really want our people to suffer the consequences of being a deadbeat country? Or do they really want to change our course and responsibly work to eliminate the past excesses and rationally work with our President to solve rather than exacerbate the financial excesses that now threaten our country's future as the Earth's first Democratic Republic? The course that the Republican/Tea Party is charting will lead us into the perfect storm that will inevitably cause chaos and mass suffering that is unimaginable. The Republican/Tea Party mission is akin to the lemmings'suicidal death march that leads to their hypnotic self destruction. Are the Republican/Tea Party Congressional members following the lemming act? Will rational human intervention succeed in stopping their suicidal behavior? Or will the Republican deadbeats rule the day and lead the charge to self destruction of our Nation? You must take action if you care! Otherwise, ready yourself for the consequences of the Deadbeat Politics of the Republican/Tea Party.

Door County Roadside Wildflower Reprieve Has Ended--Next Year and From Then On Let Door County Roadside Wild Flowers Thrive!

2011-06-23T16:20:00.000-06:00

Previously I explained how the interior roadside wild flowers of Door County had been spared the guillotine this spring and we residents and lucky tourists were greeted with wild grasses and wild flowers in all their budding glory. Now the pardon has been withdrawn and the Door County Highway Maintenance Department have begun their methodical destruction of all this beautiful enhancement of our roadways needlessly. We are told that this must be done for road safety reasons. Dear Town, Village, and County Boards who are responsible for the roadside mowing of roadside wild flowers how flimsy beautiful columbine, Indian paint brush, daisies, hare bell, prim rose, wild geranium, and so many other temporal flowers and willowy including rare lady slipper orchids can possibly be safety hazards?

These Door County enhancements are deliberately cut down during their peak blooming periods along dirt and gravel roadsides extending about 8 to 10 feet from the actual roadway edge. Except for a few high grasses growing at obstructed intersections it is impossible for these willowy relatively short stemmed flowers to obstruct vision or pose a safety hazard in any discernible way. When the growing season ends these flowers die back naturally and decompose, and subsequently any remnants would be severed during winter road plowing.

Meanwhile the beauty of roadside wild flowers would add to tourist incentives and used to attract photographers and travel groups who rarely have the opportunity to view wild flowers that grow in Door County along our roadways. The naturally growing roadside wild flower could become a tourist draw throughout the brief seasonal period that they grow.

Those of you who think that the roadside wild flowers of Door County should be a treasured asset that are allowed to bloom in all their glory and not be subjected to the County Highway Maintenance Department mow-down operations, please contact your local town and village boards and you county board representative representative. Speak up for an even more beautiful and self sustaining Door County by preserving the beauty of roadside wild flowers for all to enjoy during our brief flowering season.

The five lady slipper orchards (bright yellow spots) shown in this

along a portion of the roadside adjacent to our property have recently been mowed down after a very short but very appreciated life. Here is a close-up view of one of the five. Perhaps next year these treasures in Door County will be spared, and all roadside wild flowers can live for all to enjoy and treasure.

Dances with the Daffodils

2011-06-13T10:10:00.003-06:00

The roadside wild flowers abound in Door County! Thanks to the price of gasoline and the budgetary constraints in local and county governments we have been given a treat of a lifetime. As William Wordsworth wrote in his poem, "The Daffodils", we are given the pleasure of viewing myriad daffodils, columbine, daises, forget me nots, lady slippers, and numerous other roadside wild flowers that are normally guillotined by the Door County Road maintenance department. This year their premature deaths have at least been delayed by budget limits. Be it so every year so that the joys of spring, summer, and fall can become an annual event as we drive along the interior roads of Door County and view the wildflowers dancing.

Government Run by Indentured Fools for Corporate Puppeteers

2011-04-13T11:25:00.000-06:00

The USA is a nation where Federal, State, and local governments have degenerated and are incapable of governing in accordance with the Preamble of the Constitution. We are constantly told what "Americans Want" by politicians who are bought by Corporations who tell the politicians, that we elect, what to tell us and do to us. They, the politicians, create laws and policies that force us to do what they are told do by their Corporate Monarchs. This form of government has evolved from September 17, 1787, when our Constitution became reality and was enacted for the purposes described in the Preamble and that was discussed in a previous blog.

The cultural, economic, and political changes that have taken place since 1787 are so enormous that we cannot imagine what the drafters of our Constitution would say if they were alive now. Our Constitution as written was for "the people", not for corporations and power brokers who dole out unlimited $$$$ to support their lackeys in government. "We, the people of the United States" are now subservient to Corporate powers and the politicians who are controlled by far reaching Corporate tentacles, including Multi-National Corporations headquartered in foreign countries, and often are exempt from US taxes. Governments of all types throughout our country are beholden to the strangle hold of Corporate powers, and those who obligingly serve their Corporate masters. "We the people" are caught in their stranglehold and foolishly allow the indentured political lackeys who govern us to do as they please, as long as it pleases their Corporate money bags to whom they are forever indentured.

We are without doubt becoming a country of fools who obligingly follow our favorite political leaders into their traps. Whether Republican/Tea Party or Democratic Party we are controlled by corporate $$$$$, since all politicians are beholden to $$$$$$ that flow from Corporations and very rich puppeteers as described in my previous blog under "Behind the Squeaking Door".

Can we, and will we cut the Corporate grasp that is about to transform our country into an Orwellian Dictatorship in which "we the people" are but pawns for the Ultra Corporations and their Lackeys to manipulate for their own purposes? Will we the subservient fools allow the indentured fools follow to the demands of their Corporate slaveholders, as we the people become disposable errata?

We still have an influence, albeit diminishing, and must awaken soon to avoid the fate that George Orwell describe in his book, "Nineteen Eighty Four", written in 1949, when I first entered UCLA to study Engineering. Much later in my life, after becoming a Corporate Vice President did I begin to realize how Corporations and Politicians become synergistic parasites that seek total control over all people not only employees. Since retiring about 15 years ago, I have witnessed the powerful growth of this parasitic synergy between Corporations and Politicians, and the reduced economic and political influence of ordinary people, and the extreme poverty becoming common for many millions of our citizens. I believe that we are on the cusp of Orwellian control, and we must confront and combat this impending threat to freedom, else we become totally enslaved.

The mathematical angst of everyday life - Healthzone.ca

2011-04-10T08:34:00.000-06:00

This report from our northern neighbor, Canada, provides food for thought. Or, more appropriately, questions about what we eat. What are the questions and answers? The answer to any question is apparent. We are generally ignorant as a population and are unable to reason sufficiently about anything, not just numbers. Consider the state of the world. Draw your own conclusions.Perhaps it would be best to count toes and fingers.

The mathematical angst of everyday life - Healthzone.ca

The Tea Party/Republican Party--A Sure Path to Enslavement Ala Orwell

2011-04-08T11:20:00.006-06:00

Today the Republican Party led and intimidated by the empowered Tea Party are spinning out of control and attempting to harm everyone except their corporate money bags and the ultra rich. Many honest but ill informed Americans are swallowing the TEA PARTY/REPUBLICAN DIATRIBE TO JUSTIFY SHUTTING DOWN THE FEDERAL GOVERNMENT refusing to compromise on environmental and social policy issues! The Tea Party/Republican Party insists on attaching non-budgetary policy riders to the budget that have absolutely nothing to do with budgetary issues. The Tea Party?Republican Congress insists on degrading the Environmental Protection Agency's to reduce pollution and contamination, and hence causing our air, water supplies, and our foods to become more likely to make us sick. The Tea Party/Republican Party also demand that Planned Parenthood be given no funds allocated for prevention of insemination or women's health-related needs, claiming that Federal funds are being used for abortions by Planned Parenthood. The latter is a blatant lie. No Federal funds are allowed to be used for abortion by law, and the Tea Party/ Republicans lies are used to influence the susceptible, and gullible public to support their actions that are based upon deception.

The Tea Party/Republican Plan for America was engaged after the last national elections in which Tea Party/Republican Governors and state legislatures were elected in many states. Wisconsin, Michigan, Ohio, New Jersey,and North Carolina are some states where Republican/Tea Party actions have extended beyond budgetary matters on which the were elected to social policy issues that were absent from the election campaigns. Elimination or substantial reductions of workers union rights, health benefits, retirement benefits, and subsidy's for health care for those unable to afford insurance, are all being supported by TEA PARTY/REPUBLICAN politicians who are backed by very rich individuals and supportive corporate funds that are unlimited by virtue of a recent US Supreme Court ruling.

The typical man, woman, and child in our country are under assault by the TEA PARTY/REPUBLICAN COMBINE FUNDED BY MILLIONAIRES, BILLIONAIRES, and MULTI-NATIONAL CORPORATIONS who, I believe, have one objective: TOTAL CONTROL OF THE WORLD ECONOMY. Thereby, domination is assured.

We and the rest of the WORLD will become enslaved and indentured to those who control the flow and allocation of money and the power that is thereby attained. This scenario, in my opinion, is inevitable unless the average citizen becomes aware of how they are being manipulated to become totally subservient to the Economic Power Brokers of the world. The TEA PARTY/REPUBLICAN PARTY adherents are at the forefront, being manipulate by Master Puppeteers (the ultra powerful richest individuals in the world, and the 100 largest corporations, and financial institutions listed in the Fortune 100) who manipulate the strings by feeding as much money as required to secure the bait in unwitting or willing arms of Tea Party/Republican coffers). Eventually the bait will entwine even the Republican/Tea Party advocates and members who are being lured into subservience by a continuous stream of $$$$$ from their behind-the-scenes money bags and corporations.

Their ploy will initially ensnare all who are most gullible and ill informed. Ultimately, Orwell's description of society, in his book "1984", will become entrenched reality, as tentacles of control spread before our seemingly blindfolded eyes. Unless we collectively open our eyes and fight against this rapidly engulfing reality it will hit us with a resounding thud before we know what hit us. The great majority of us will become slaves of MASTERS who Dominate and Control all human actions. Even the TEA PARTY/REPUBLICAN puppets of today will become enslaved, with the exception of the few who became the Maters' Second, Third, and Fourth Tier of controllers who enforce their Master's orders. Your acquiescence or indifference to the Tea Party/Republican Agenda will hasten this day of enslavement.

All political parties are potential players in this movement toward enslavement of society, not only the Tea Party/Republican Party who represent the present threat. When $$$$$$$$ dominate and control actions and outcomes, and most of society is gullible, we become transfixed and unknowingly programmed with subliminal messages intended to either mummify or "zombify" our responses. We become willing victims or unconscious followers. This is the prelude to total control by the Master Class who control $$$$$ and the message, and are now shaping legislation that becomes law. Eventually law becomes irrelevant and the MASTERS ARE LAW. Become aware of what is happening to you and how your blind acceptance of subliminal propaganda will eventually enslave you if you live. Action now can change the present path if you care.

Take action to prevent the spread of the Tea Party/Republican agenda as they represent the PRESENT DANGER. Be forever aware, however, that enslavement by Masters can arise form any political source or party who are dominated or controlled by $$$$$$ and corporate power. Are you prepared to open your eyes to become informed and act? If not, be prepared to become enslaved as the Orwellian script plays out for you and future generations. NOW is the TIME to act.

The Genie is Out of the Jar--the People Will Prevail and Corporate Power Will Lose

2011-03-10T12:42:00.000-06:00

The actions of Republican Governors in Wisconsin, Ohio, Florida, and other states against public workers' unions have enlightened and energized the working middle class in our country. Wisconsin's Democratic Senators and the mass demonstrations in Madison, WI, revealed that the Republican/Tea Party cares not a whit for the average American worker, and is totally beholden to their moneyed lobbyists and corporate supporters. Even our supposedly impartial Supreme Court minimized average people of our country when they ruled that a corporation has the same rights as an individual person as was granted by the First Amendment of our Constitution. The 5 to 4 decision by the Supreme Court in the Citizens United v. Federal Election Commission Decision in January 2010 equated corporations to people and allows unlimited amounts of money to be given by corporations to their favored candidates or elected office holders, for political campaigns (my comment:to those legislators, administrators, and all candidates who were provided or have provided legislative favors, or put bluntly, handouts equal to bribes for legislative favors).

Today elections in the USA are decided by corporations who spend whatever they wish to elect someone (virtually always a Republican) who they know will vote for laws favoring Corporations, not primarily for laws benefiting the People of our Country. This type of attempted election rigging for political payoffs is now unabashedly escalating, and is not much different from so-called elections held in dictatorial countries that are controlled by a single Party--the Dictator's Party.

Last year the Wisconsin's Governor's election demonstrated how influential these anonymous "donations" enable vaguely identified political advertising on television and the internet to baffle and bewilder the voter into believing deceptions and downright lies. Republican Walker was the beneficiary of over 4 million dollars of these "anonymous" (probably form The Koch Brothers)donations and he was elected Governor, along with a controlling majority of Republican state legislators. The pay off worked and we now know the result. Walker and his gang of Legislators have run roughshod over Wisconsin's long standing union bargaining rights in an effort to unleash an anti-union movement wherever Republicans control including the US House of Representatives, and numerous other state legislators and Governorships.

The net result of this "Conspiracy-Like" (my opinion) decision by the five members of the Supreme Court who were appointed by Republican Presidents, will henceforth give Republican candidates the financial clout to dominate the TV screens and internet with their often untruthful sound bytes intended to sucker the unaware or uninformed voter into voting against their own interests. Unless, that is, you happen to be one of the Corporate Executive elite class, not one of the regular voters who can refuse to swallow the corporate bunk, and vote for peoples' legislators who are actually working to serve us, not corporations and their lobbyists, and wealthiest supporters.

Without question, the Supreme Court's ludicrous (my opinion) and devastating decision (also my opinion) has enabled Republican candidates in all legislative bodies and elected Administrative offices to rake in unlimited amounts of money in an attempt to buy any election they desire, and to eliminate all unions that are the main source of funding Democratic candidates for office. All this transpired when 5 Supreme Court Justices became convinced that our Constitution's First Amendment somehow meant that CORPORATIONS are people and Corporate Executives can spend corporate money to exercise FREE CORPORATE SPEECH, UNLIMITED . Henceforth, our Preamble should be modified to say "government by, of, and for Corporations, and the people they control" including all the rest of regular citizens". And the body of our Constitution must be amended to make clear that Corporations are unequivocally, People. This Supreme Court Decision and the surge of money that followed to embrace Republican ideology that supports Corporate Rights over People's Rights may, however, have backfired.

The Wisconsin Revolt we are witnessing was engendered by regular working people who have spontaneously awakened the vast majority of American to the true motives of the Republican Party, emboldened by Tea Party extremists who somehow now control the Republican Party. This popular awakening is akin to letting the Genie escape from the jar and expand so that it cannot return. We the people have started to realize that our Country's future must belong to all of our people.

The Republican/Tea Party/Corporation Party is a fossilized remnant of the Party of Abe Lincoln who said in one of his speeches; "I leave you, hoping that the lamp of liberty will burn in your bosoms until there shall no longer be a doubt that all men are created free and equal." These words are ringing in the ears of all people who have begun the "Peoples' Revolution". The genie will never slink back into its hiding place. Having awakened, our Country's People will prevail.

The Incredible Shrinking Oil Supply and Our Refusal to Do Anything About It

2011-03-06T11:38:00.002-06:00

Is it possible that we will never be able to do what is required to avoid the avoidable? Experience suggests that the answer is emphatically, "NO". The short span of human life relative to the often gradual development of changing conditions make our ability to intervene to alter inevitable consequences. This short-life span barrier is worsening as the world's population grows. The collective impasse becomes greater because greater numbers of people must be influenced to change or accept change. Let us consider one example that is illustrative.

For more than 50 years it has been recognized that natural oil supplies were limited and access to whatever is available beneath the oceans and land of the world are progressively more difficult and costly to retrieve. The leaders of the countries of the world were unable to consider this fact until after WWII. Once recovery from WWII became reality in the early 1950's we were blinded by the sudden joy of living normally again, while other countries devastated by the war were dealing with basic issues such as food, water, sanitation, housing and the rebuilding of all infrastructure. Many so-called third world countries were also struggling just to survive.

By the time the mid 50's arrived, and US living conditions improved substantially we and our leaders in the USA were preoccupied enjoying the good life.We were the automobile capitol of the world, and few other countries had as many automobiles as were driven in California alone. Long range oil price issues simply were beyond our horizon and certainly the availability of oil and gasoline was unquestioned, and nobody could tell us otherwise. The warnings about "Peak Oil" were laughed at and ignored even by leaders of our country (with rare exceptions) and everyone was happy driving cars that consumed at least one gallon of gasoline every 15 miles. Why would there be concern when gas was about 20 cents a gallon. So called "Peak Oil" was no more than a joke.

Now, more than 60 years later the joke is on us. Third world countries that barely used automobile for daily transportation, and other countries nearly obliterated by WWII are now overflowing with automobiles where only 60 years ago cars were rare. Now the nearly 7 billion occupants of our planet are at least familiar with oil consuming autos and in the USA the average number of cars per person exceeds seven!! World wide the average number of cars per person is almost two. In the USA alone we consume over 882 million gallons of oil per day, mostly in the form of gasoline. Approximately 20 gallons of gasoline are yielded from 40 gallons of oil. We in the USA use about 140 billion gallons of gasoline annually, the equivalent of nearly 300 billion gallons of oil per year or almost 800 million gallons of gasoline daily. This compares to about 150 millions of gasoline consumed per day in 1960. As the population of the world increases and we become more dependent upon automobiles for transportation required for daily use, the world natural oil supply becomes more depleted and more costly and difficult to
pump out of deep subsurface natural reservoirs, even miles below the ocean floors.

You do not require a PhD in geology to realize that we cannot pump oil out of the bowels of the Earth indefinitely. Eventually oil will become so depleted that it will no longer be economically viable to try to recover the last vestiges of natural oil. Nature will simply become to resistant to our boldest efforts, and we will no longer have oil. This is not speculation. The reality of today's technical retrieval efforts and price trends proves that we will eventually priced out of the remaining market for oil, or simply become broke trying to pay for it.

Neither option makes sense. Why do we fail to do something about this urgent issue that will slam right into our faces when we are unable or unprepared to do anything about it? The answer is that incompetent leadership is oblivious to or indifferent to the reality of the problem. When gasoline reaches $10 a gallon we will all be screaming and playing the blame game, and there will be no one to blame other than ourselves. We elect incompetent legislators and other political leaders who are elected because of our apparent inability to see beyond our own noses and allow our apparently shrinking brains to allow the Peter Principle allow the crap to float to the top. Unless we demand foresight from our political leaders and we ourselves assume responsibility for the future well being of our progeny we will continue to find ourselves behind the curve. Intelligence, not popular image , is the most vital ingredient for public leaders. We, however have turned election into popularity contests that are paid for by special interests and the Peter Principle becomes, unfortunately the common denominator that characterizes most of our elected officials. WE and only we, in a democracy, have the ability to force change. Unless we become aware of what our negligence is causing and change path quickly, the impending oil disaster is inevitable, as well as other preventable debacles. It may in fact be too late to do anything about the oil crisis since we have squandered over 60 years debating the issue and doing virtually nothing to overcome the impending economic consequences.

The Wisconsin Walker and Congressional Boehner Assault on American Workers

2011-03-03T19:02:00.058-06:00

The Republican takeover of Wisconsin's Governorship and Legislature, and the Republican takeover of the House of Representatives have created a pincer attack against the worker's of our country aimed at decreasing the cost of labor. Below are the pending actions in Congress and Wisconsin that could impact all of us if enacted. Careful examination of these pending Republican Wisconsin and Federal Budget actions that benefit the wealthy and harm all middle class working families, union or not, blue or white collar, lower level management and middle management is becoming a corporate driven juggernaut that if successful will permanently reduce the economic status of all workers. Benefits for all will decline, not just for union workers. If you care about you future economic viability get informed and join the opposition to actions by Governor Walker and Republican legislators in Wisconsin where the public unions have already agreed to all monetary and benefit reductions. Congressman Boehner and the Republican/Tea Party
members of Congress are attacking workers and giving tax reductions to Corporations and to the top 2% of US tax payers. These inequities must be defeated for the sake of all American workers and their children.

I have never been a member of any union, however, for most of my professional career I was a high level, well paid, manager and V.P., responsible for managing both non-union and union groups of dedicated workers. I know first hand that the wages and benefits negotiated by unions are beneficial for non-union worker as well. Management must give their non-union workers at least the same benefits and exempt wages that comparable union workers get or they will lose their ability to attract qualified non-union employees. The real reason behind union busting is to eventually reduce benefits and wages for all employees, except the elite executive management ranks, and who often make many millions in perks, bonuses, and stock options, in addition to those who do nothing but juggle and sell financial instruments for millions of dollars in compensation. These are the same "elite" individuals who were responsible for the recent financial collapse and the steep decline in home values and retirement investments, that mainly hurt the middle class who were dedicated corporate workers.

The time has clearly arrived for the middle class workers to reject the Republican tactics to diminish the real workers in the USA at the expense of elevating even higher the economic benefits to Corporations and the wealthiest individuals.
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Congressional Republican Pending Legislation would:

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*Give $19 billion in from our taxes to subsidies the oil and gas Corporation that is the most profitable industry in the world. Many avoid taxes in the USA.

*Cut 44% for the Consumer Financial Product Bureau to police the big banks, mortgage and credit card companies and guard against deceptive practices.This Bureau monitors actions that could cause another greed-induced financial meltdown.

*Give $500 billion in tax loopholes that permit companies to ship their profits overseas and hide them in offshore tax havens—including 83 of the top 100 publicly traded companies. This allows more corporations to avoid all US taxes while the middle class continue to pay for what corporations don't pay.

*Eliminate funding for the Consumer Product Safety Commission to track and inform the public about dangerous products, thereby allowing unsafe products to be used by infants, children, and all of us.

*Spend $185 billion in orders for obsolete military equipment that the Defense Department and Pentagon do not want creating additional long term deficits.

*Cut $88.4 million for food safety inspectors who ensure that the nation’s egg, poultry, and meat supply is safe and wholesome rendering all food less safe.

*Give $1 billion for trade associations for multinational corporations to market their products overseas, thus a giveaway to corporations that often pay no taxes in the USA.

*Decrease Pell Grants to enable students to get help paying for college by $5.7 billion.

*Increase by $34 billion Homeland Security contracts that have been plagued with waste, abuse and mismanagement going back to 2001.

*Eliminate all funding for high-speed rail. This will make us even more dependent on foreign oil as gasoline prices skyrocket.

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Wisconsin Gov. Walker and Republican Legislators "Budget Repair Bill" Will:
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*Limit the right to collectively bargain for all employees who are not public safety employees(general employees) to the subject of base wages limited to bargaining
over a percentage of total base wages increase that is no greater than the percentage
change in the consumer price index. This bill also prohibits municipal employers
from collectively bargaining with municipal general employees in matters that are
not permitted under MERA.

*Require an annual certification election of the labor organization that represents each collective bargaining unit containing general employees beginning in April 2011 regardless of existing contracts.

*Eliminate the collective bargaining rights of University of Wisconsin (UW) System employees,
employees of the UW Hospitals and Clinics Authority, and certain home care and child care providers to bargain over wages, hours, and
conditions of employment.

*Require that the employee required contribution rate for general participating employees and for elected and executive participating employees must equal one−half of all actuarially required contributions, as determined by the Employee Trust Funds Board. For protective occupation employees, the bill provides that the employee required contribution rate must equal the percentage of earnings paid by general participating employees.

*Require that an employer (local municipality) may not pay any of the employee required contributions under the WRS pension or under an employee retirement system of a first class city or a county having a population of 500,000 or more.

*Under current law, state employees become participating employees in the
WRS if they are expected to work at least one−third of what is considered full−time
employment by the Department of Employee Trust Funds (DETF) and have an
expected duration of employment of one year or more. If a state employee becomes
a WRS participating employee, the employee is also entitled to receive health
insurance under the Group Insurance Board (GIB) program. A current group of state
employees are appointed to state positions as limited term appointments in the state
civil service, which are provisional appointments or appointments for less than 1,044
hours per year. This bill prohibits limited term appointments from participating in
the WRS, as well as prohibits these employees from receiving health insurance under
the GIB program.

*Require the Secretary of Administration, the director of the Office
of State Employee Relations (OSER), and the secretary of employee trust funds to
study the WRS. The study must specifically address establishing a defined
contribution plan as an option for WRS participating employees; establishing
different vesting periods for employer contributions and eligibility for WRS
retirement benefits; modifying the supplemental health insurance premium credit
program for state employees; and permitting participating employees to not make
employee required contributions under the WRS and limiting retirement benefits for
these employees to a money purchase annuity. Under the bill, no later than June 30,
2012, the secretary of administration, the director of OSER, and the secretary of
employee trust funds must report their findings and recommendations to the
governor.

*Require that the state pay less than 88 percent of the average premium cost of plans offered in the tier with the lowest employee premium instead of 80%, thereby shifting nearly 10% more cost to the union worker.

*Require beginning in April 2011 that state employees, as well as employees of public authorities created by the state,who work more than 1,565 hours a year shall pay $84 a month for individual coverage and $208 a month for family coverage for health care coverage under any plan offered in the tier with the lowest employee premium cost; $122 a month for individual
coverage and $307 a month for family coverage for health care coverage under any
plan offered in the tier with the next lowest employee premium cost; and $226 a
month for individual coverage and $567 a month for family coverage for health care
coverage under any plan offered in the tier with the highest employee premium cost.
UW System graduate assistants and teaching assistants must pay half of these premium costs.

*Increase co-payments by state workers for their health care coverage plans for the 2012 calendar year and may require health risk assessments ( for existing health problems)for state employees and participation in wellness or disease management programs.

*Require the Secretary of Employee Trust Funds (appointed by the Governor) to allocate $28,000,000,from reserve accounts established in the public employee trust fund for group health
and pharmacy benefits for state employees, to reduce employer costs for providing
group health insurance for state employees for the period beginning on July 1, 2011,
and ending on December 31, 2011, thereby increasing health care premiums and co-pays and decreasing coverage for union workers.

*Require that the State Attorney General designee for health care benefits contracts must be an attorney (not a medical professional).

*Authorize any state agency to discharge any state employee who fails to report to work as scheduled for any three unexcused working days during a state of emergency or who participates in a strike, work stoppage,sit−down, stay−in, slowdown, or other concerted activities to interrupt the of operations or services of state government, including specifically purported mass resignations or sick calls. Under the bill, engaging in any of these actions constitutes
just cause for discharge.

*Give authority to all State agencies to reassign an employee in a career executive position to a career executive position in any state agency if the appointing authority in the state
agency to which the employee is to be reassigned approves of the reassignment. This bill increases the number of unclassified division administrators by 35 FTE positions thus giving the Governor more administrative power and political influence in all agencies directed by Governor appointed Secretaries.

*Give the Governor the authority to determine how all state owned and operated heating, cooling, and power plants (that were constructed by the state form WI and Federal taxes) to provide heating, cooling, and power to determines the method of operation of these plants and to delegate this authority to any other state agency that has managing authority for a plant. This bill permits the Governor to sell or contract for the operation of any such plant. The bill exempts such sales and contracts from the requirement for approval of the Public Service Commission.

*Eliminate the UW Hospitals and Clinics Board from entering into a contractual services agreement with the UW Hospitals and Clinics Authority to provide the services of state employees who are in clerical, blue collar and nonbuilding trades, building trades crafts, security and
public safety, and technical collective bargaining units. The bill also transfers all
employees of the UW Hospitals and Clinics Board to the UW Hospitals and Clinics, thereby putting them under the Governors control.

---------------------------------------------------------------------

I apologize fro the poor layout--it was out of my control--seems that Google blogs had a hiccup that was not correctable.!

Episode 2--The Subterranean Life Form Reappears

2011-02-18T14:35:00.000-06:00
If you read my previous blog about my first encounter with Quad-0 may harbor some doubt about my state of mind. I was too. Since the notion that I may have been delusional at the time I had my first encounter with Quad-0, I decided to return to the area where it first appeared. This time our two dogs were left at home for fear that they may get spooked. They exhibited no unusual response initially so my precaution was probably unnecessary.

As I approached the white beach area where I first encountered Quad-0, I felt a sense of unease. The ocean waves were gently washing the sandy shores, yet there was no sign of Quad-0. I decided to stretch out on the soft silky sand and simply soak in the sunlight.

As I relaxed supine on the sand sudden oscillation of the nearby beach caused jumping particles of shiny silica and the sudden appearance of Quad-0 emerging. "It" came wobbling toward me on the two bulging bottom pads and seemed to be inspecting me. I remained perfectly still believing that the slightest movement could cause it to react in some dangerous manner.

Instead Quad-0 continued to wobble around me in a generally elliptical path while seemingly gathering information. I remained still and pretended to be unaware of its hovering presence. Suddenly, without advance indication Quad-0 waddled onto my stomach and its presence there sent chills of terror through my body. Not knowing what to expect I tried to remain still but the tickling caused by Quad-0's "mobility pads" caused me to erupt with laughter. Quad-0 seemed to be entertained by my laughter and stated to make repeated sounds that resembled the sounds emanating due to extreme flatulence. Indeed, the accompanying odor suggested "that" was exactly what was happening. I rapidly jumped to my feet fearing what might follow and dashed back to the safety of our vacation home without looking back. Wow, that was a close call.

Our Earth is Inhabited by a Subterranean Race

2011-02-15T16:42:00.000-06:00
Yesterday I was greeted by a strange looking oval shaped bipedal animal with four eyes, two located facing forward and two backward, or vice versa. This strange animal, or form of vegetative life was able to walk, or more appropriately move about in any direction without and apparent movement of strange protuberances resembling buttocks.This object appeared suddenly out of the ocean off the Coast of Panama City Beach, as I walked our two dogs along the pure white sandy beach. Both my dogs froze upon seeing the object as did I. It exuded an overwhelming and enticing aroma similar to eucalyptus and as it moved along the beach I was transfixed by the surety with which it matriculated. Without notice this object began to speed towards the three of us. It bellowed a strange beguiling sound that was immediately translated to a garbled English and sounded like: "Wink and stink and blink." The same sounds were repeated and became melodious as we became mesmerized in place.

I do not remember what occurred next, but realized that we Earth humans are not alone. There lives somewhere below a subterranean race of life forms that has made itself known to me an our two dogs for some unknown reason. I will try to keep you posted as more encounters occur.This is without doubt the most important emergence of intelligent life other than humankind since Neanderthal. Please advise me if you have a similar encounter with our subterranean "anti-clones". We may be on the verge of a New Age!Please communicate with me to summarize world findings that relate to the next encounters with the "Quad-O" (so named for their eyes and general O-shape). I anticipate that future encounters may reveal some very unique purposes for our apparent Earth companions. Mark this date, February 15,2011 as "Quad-O Day" to be celebrated annually as the beginning of Holistic life on and in Earth.We are becoming whole!

President Obama's Memorial Speech--A Chance to Unify and Compromise

2011-01-13T13:50:00.000-06:00
President Obama spoke last night at the memorial service for those killed and injured by an enraged killer. President Obama's words focused upon the need to restore morality in our nations political arena for the benefit of all Americans. Read the link noted by clicking on the title of this blog to read his speech. His words echoed the belief that understanding, tempered dialogue is essential for civilized governments to work for the benefit of the people. Please open the link and listen or read the President's words as he reached out to change the vitriolic dialogue of many politicians and mold a climate for conciliation and cooperation for the good of our country. His words must be understood and acted upon for the betterment of our nation and the world.

He knows, much better than most of us, that words can be potent and their use or misuse can cause unintended consequences, or intended consequences. History is laden with hateful inciteful words spoken and written by leaders who deliberately tried to cause chaos or change for their personal cause or beliefs. Words are uttered by leaders to mobilize nations at time of dire need. Words virtually always proceed action, either to plan or implement a plan. Action follows.

Unintended words spoken or written as`an immediate knee jerk reaction to an event or someones' words are generally irrational and likely to worsen understanding rather than improve. We humans are unconsciously guilty of such irrational reactions. Deliberate thought before responding is essential to minimize misunderstanding and irrational behavior.

I believe that our President displayed a deep sense of morality and compassion as he memorialized the dead and wounded. He attempted to open the door again to political opponents for rational, thoughtful dialogue to solve our nation's problems. He spoke with humility and hopefulness that this tragedy will help restore a national sense based upon our common interests and national needs.

Words are used for a purpose. Words have meaning. Words are intended to promote action or at least agreement. Words have consequences. The speaker's words are received by a reader or listener, and the latter may remain unmoved or may be stirred up. Action may or may not follow, but the words, spoken or written, have a purpose. President Obama's words must be heard by all in our country, and we must respond to calm the turbulent political rhetoric and return to sensible solution-centered dialogue.

To do otherwise will cause intended consequences of more hateful rhetoric to incite disruptive actions and more intended consequences, even random violence against those who have differing opinions. Random violence can erupt and cause mass violence. The history of Hitler and Nazi Germany is an example where his hateful speeches against "inferior" non Aryans and others including Jews, blacks, and homosexuals erupted into a genocidal pogrom followed by World War II, and the eventual deaths of tens of millions of people and the virtual destruction of large parts of Europe,Japan, Russia, and nearly the complete destruction of Germany as it was under Hitler. Words have consequences. Words can incite actions that are as destructive as was intended by Adolph Hitler, who can be considered as the master of hateful speech.

The climate in Germany when the Nazis were in control was tailored by using words that told the German citizens that they were the superior race of Aryan whites who deserved to control the world. Hitler and his propagandists, under Goebbels, spread the word of superiority and soon the Germans included in the pure Aryan bracket believed the word and became puppets as part of Hitler's plans to control the world. Words have consequences.

Germany, just prior to Hitler's dominance was suffering from high unemployment and inflation that caused enormous discontent and economic hardships amongst the workers. The workers were unsure of their next meal, and looking for a quick solution. Hitler entered the scene and soon beguiled the people with his National Socialist Agenda (shortened to Nazi) and the belief that he would bring a quick solution for the pure German Aryan Nation under his dictatorship. The unsure and worried masses of people who sought a savior accepted Hitler's words, and the mass genocide of scapegoat Jews,Gypsies, gays and lesbians, and other undesirables including German dissenters, began in the mid 1930's that terminated in September 1945 when finally WWII ended with the USA and its allies victorious. The cost of Hitler's words and the actions that it ignited are immeasurable. Tens of millions of lives were snuffed out; many millions in gas chambers or shot dead as they clung together not knowing what would happen next. Countries were devastated and millions of innocent men, women, and children who survived were left to recover midst carnage, desolation, and decaying body remains buried under the remains of once habitable buildings, and cultural edifices. Words have consequences.

President Obama has again shown that he is committed to reconciliation of political differences though rational dialogue and compromise. He understands that hateful words can cause hateful actions. He again asks us to measure our words and seek mutual understanding. We must do so for the sake of our country and the world.He opened the door for compromise and rationality.

We must follow President Obama and walk though the door to reconciliation and political compromise..

Hateful Words, Symbols, and Bullets--A Potentially Deadly Mix

2011-01-10T12:37:00.005-06:00
The virulent words and symbols used by the Republican/Tea Party members to assail Democratic Party policies and politicians have ranged from skull and cross bones emblazoned across images of President Obama with threatening words connecting his Health Reform legislation with death squads and Nazi symbols, to cross hairs on gun sights targeting specific Democratic politicians. These kinds of words and symbols that filled the air waves, web, and paper publications and that reverberated in the halls of Congress to incite irrational fear and active opposition to all Democratic candidates for political office, and to create ongoing suspicion of President Obama's authenticity as President did have their intended result.

Tea Party/Republican candidates for Congress won overwhelmingly and they continued to inflame the people by labeling their attempt to repeal President Obama's health reform legislation with the following words: ‘‘Repealing the Job-Killing Health Care Law Act’’. "Killing" is actually used in the short title of the Republican repeal bill. The virulent words aimed at Democrats and the symbols of killing are now used in a Republican Congressional Bill aimed against Democratic Party and President Obama's legislation. First the legislation was attached to skull and cross bones, and symbolic death squads, and now the repeal attempt with the word "KILLING" as a key word in a repeal bill. The word "repeal" was not enough to satisfy the Republican/Tea Party agenda; the word "killing" had To be used to create and incite fear and insure that real Republican intent was implanted.

Words and symbols are used to influence people and they do. It is one matter, however, to influence ill-informed voters with scare tactics, but it is an entirely different matter to use these hateful symbols and words to incite others to enable or justify their acts of violence. Acts of violence against gays and lesbians, Muslims, black Americans,Hispanics,and Jews, and political activists and politicians have recently increased. Our country has had its share of political assassinations and attempted assassinations that were at least in part caused by vitriolic words and symbols that were deliberate;y used to generate fear and hate. Violence is directly caused by fear and hate, and inspires an individual or group to believes that there is support for their beliefs and actions. The human animal is as vulnerable as a trapped lion who senses danger from a hunter and reacts by attacking the hunter first. Our political environment is akin to a jungle hunt where the hunted are targeted with words and symbols aimed at their elimination from the political arena. Bullets do sometimes follow, and they did again in Tuscon Arizona when six innocent men, women, and children were shot dead and another 13 were wounded at a Democratic political assembly led by Congresswomen Gabrielle Giffords who was critically wounded. This attack must be an awakening and spur realization that words, symbols, and bullets do mix and too often results in senseless mayhem.

Those in the media, and Tea Party/Republican Party, and we in the general populace of all political persuasion, who have resorted to vitriolic use of hateful scare tactics laden with deliberate words and symbols to scare people must stop this insane behavior before assassinations become commonplace and irrational fear permeates our vulnerable society.

Behind the Squeaking Door

2010-12-18T18:05:00.000-06:00
Behind the Squeaking Door: "- Sent using Google Toolbar"

What "Intelligence" Committee? The Bachmann Blunder.

2010-12-18T17:55:00.000-06:00
On should believe that the Congress of the United States of America does the best job of secret intelligence administration and operation in the world. Both the Senate and House of Representative have Intelligence oversight committees to assure us that we do in fact operate all intelligence branches of government at the highest possible efficiency to secure our country against terrorist attacks and other possible attacks against tangible and intangible targets by unfriendly governments and groups. Since 911 we are told that we are always on the high alert against such potential attacks. The Intelligence Oversight Committees are responsible for monitoring and budgeting these activities.

We are all familiar with the implementation of airport security operations that include chemical sniffers, dogs, and imaging devices that disclose foreign objects that may be concealed anywhere on or in our bodies. We are perpetually under an Elevated Alert status according to the Intelligence Advisories, and must constantly be diligent against any suspicious activities. The Intelligence Committees are involved in establishing and monitoring these activities.

Our Federal government employs many tens of thousands of top secret agents and operatives throughout the world to attempt to intercept any information that might prevent a possible attack. Very advance detection and surveillance technology is part of their arsenal. The Congressional Intelligence Committees are involved in this also.

The House and Senate Intelligence Committees exercise vital roles in our Constitutional Republic. They provide civilian review and assessment of all intelligence and security functions to prevent illegal and subversive activities that could undermine our Constitutional form of government. They also help establish budgets and monitor the effectiveness of our intelligence expenditures that represent a major component of our overall military and security budget. Excellent intelligence and analytical capabilities are essential for the committee members to fulfill their responsibilities.

The role of Intelligence and Security is among the top priority tasks of our government and , therefore, we expect the most intelligent and highly qualified members of the House of Representatives and Senate to be selected by their respective party leaders to their respective Intelligence oversight committees. Every new Congress appoints their committee members and the predominate leadership party hold the chairperson post. The coming 112th Congress that convenes on January 5, 2011. Committee members are being assigned or retained to serve.The committee Chairman are responsible for the selection of their part members and the majority party has a proportionate representation on the committee. The party leaders in each body of Congress validates the Chairman's selections. The American public is dependent upon the selections that the political parties make for our day to day security. Bad selections will mean bad results.

One rather astonishing assignment has already been announced by the Republican Party Chairman whose party will control the new House of Representatives. Congresswomen Michelle Bachmann, a very vocal Republican/Tea Party "anti-government, anti-all-tax" Congresswoman who was reelected in Minnesota, has been appointed to the House of Representatives Intelligence Oversight Committee. After being cleared by the CIA for "Top Secret" clearance, she and all other committee members will have access to the most sensitive and secret information retained by our government, that is used to provide security in this age of unpredictable group terrorism. If Michelle Bachmann is qualified, the Republican Part must explain why.

I cannot say that any one member of the House Intelligence Committee is more or less qualified than Michelle Bachmann for this a Top Secret assignment. During the recent campaign for reelection, however, she aligned herself politically with Sarah Palin and shared her vitriolic and often hateful ant-Obama and ant-government tirades side by side with Palin. Some relevant campaign statements are contained in this link. There are many speeches and quotes that proves her erratic actions and statements disqualifies her for such a responsible, high clearance assignment.

Is Michelle Bachmann qualified to have access to our most highly classified intelligence information and operations? If so, what qualifies her? Does she exhibit sufficient emotional and intellectual stability to be trusted to retain secrecy? Will she use the secrets and intelligence information solely to boost her electability? Does she posses the intelligence and intellect required to participate in decisions pertaining to national security?

Are there not better qualified members of the House, perhaps with intelligence or military experience, who are available in the Republican Party? Who will oversee the oversight committee to monitor the highly erratic and potentially unstable Congresswoman Michelle Bachmann? This confounding selection by the Republican Party hierarchy is a telltale statement against rational thinking in a sector of government where the slightest misstep can be catastrophic. Does her selection foretell the Republican House incompetency in the 112th Congress? Does it represent a potential threat to our security?

Her selection is, in my opinion, atrocious and should be withdrawn by the Republican Party leaders in the House for the safety and security of our country.

Behind the Squeaking Door: Speaker of the House of Representatives Sheds Tears After Republican Senate Stiffs the 911 Rescue Workers

2010-12-13T13:18:00.000-06:00
Behind the Squeaking Door: Speaker of the House of Representatives Sheds Tears After Republican Senate Stiffs the 911 Rescue Workers: "- Sent using Google Toolbar"

Speaker of the House of Representatives Sheds Tears After Republican Senate Stiffs the 911 Rescue Workers

2010-12-13T12:58:00.003-06:00
Many of us witnessed tearey-eyed Speaker of the House Boehner mumble about all the little American children he worried about in their quest for the "American Dream" The tears were real as `were the emotions that drove them, but neither tears nor emotions suffice, and in fact betray Congressman Boehner's actions that deprive little American children from taking their first step toward that American Dream. Unless, Congressman Boehner,is tearing up because he is schizophrenic and unable to distinguish hope from despair, joy from sadness, some inherited physiological neural response, or he is totally muddled in his thought. Whatever the reason this display is the epitome of arrogance and indifference based upon his recent NO vote in congress against the "911 Medical Health Care Bill" for the Twin Tower workers who have since become chronically ill and disabled from exposure to toxic dusts, fumes, and other direct causes. Many thousands of the over 100,000 workers who voluntarily tried to save survivors under conditions that duplicated war devastation at its worst. Many died attempting to save others. The final death toll directly caused by the terrorist action was about 3,000 men, women, and children. The real final death toll will include the many thousands of our military personnel who have already perished in the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, and the tens of thousands of civilians workers whose lives will have been shortened as a result of toxic dust and chemical exposure during their brave efforts to save lives as skyscrapers toppled and giant jet aircraft exploded spewing death amongst the innocent people below.

When a Democratic bill in Congress finally was presented in the House of Representatives in September 2010 to fund long-term care for the innocent workers who have become sickened, Mr. Boehner was amongst 140 other Republicans (17 Republicans also voted for the bill) who voted NO, claiming that 7.4 billion dollars was more than we could afford. The House of Representatives, because of the Democratic majority passed the bill and sent it to the Senate. The Senate under their rules (not laws) can prevent a vote on any bill by claiming a cloture vote and if sustained by a minority of 41 out of 100 Senators the bill can be set aside and not even voted on. The Republicans in the Senate did so and the vote to fund long term medical care for the brave 911 workers and their families was killed.

Possibly Congressman Boenher shed tears for all the good he and the great majority of Republican Congress members did to help the thousands of ill and suffering 911 workers recover and help their families live more normal lives.

Our country has spent well over one trillion dollars on the Afghanistan and Iraq wars, and tens of thousands have been maimed and over 5,000 killed in combat. Yet the very terrorist action that sparked President Bush to declare two wars is forgotten, except for 911 memorial, attended by brain-dead Republicans and Democrats alike.

Wake up Americans. Speak out against the callous disregard the Republican's in Congress have for those 911 workers who unhesitatingly attempted to rescue survivors in the New York 911 War Zone.

Wake up America before the Republican led Congress continues to disregard and minimize the workers of America. The 911 workers dilemma is the beginning of what promises to be a protracted battle between callous indifference represented by the Republican Party and well meaning, but thus far mostly ineffectual actions, by the Democratic Party. The Democrats must awaken and act on behalf of the workers. Alternatively we must start a New Independent Party. The word FIGHT is not a dirty word. To all who care, do so by FIGHTING BACK against the unconscionable actions of the Republican Party, and shed no tears.

The Republican/Tea Party "A Pledge to America" Starts to Take its Toll

2010-12-02T09:38:00.000-06:00
Hip, Hip, Horay, the Republican/Tea Party Pledge to America is in gear and grinding up their first victims. The first to get chewed up in their "Pledge" to Americans are those who have been unemployed for 99 weeks. More than 2 million Americans are enduring this debilitating situation and the Republican/Tea Party powers in Congress respond to their plight by answering "too bad, no more unemployment insurance checks for you, your children, your spouse to help you and your family survive". The Republican/Tea Party have blocked a vote to even consider extension of unemployment benefits, let alone a vote on the bill to actually extend unemployment insurance itself.

More than two million Americans are the first to feel the brunt of their "A Pledge to America", that was the foundation of their Congressional campaign, and another 13 million unemployed Americans may face the same situation if they are unable to find a job during the coming year.We are witnessing the beginning of the meat grinder. The Republican/Tea Party members of Congress seem to relish their power to inflict harm on their fellow Americans.

These Americans are like you and me. They must have food and shelter. They must have heat to survive the winter cold. They must cope with illnesses, and have fresh, clean water to drink. Without the unemployment insurance checks these Americans will struggle to find the necessities to survive. Many will be unable to stay in their homes and will be forced to live on the streets or find charitable shelters. Many will become overwhelmed by depression and become suicidal. All this will happen because the Republican/Tea Party members of Congress who will block any legislation are now vowing to stop future unemployment checks because "we cannot afford them".

This despite the following words on the first page of "A Pledge to America": "America is an inspiration to those who yearn to be free and have the ability and the dignity to determine their own destiny". Of course the unemployed do not count since they are not inspired to be free, nor do they have the ability and dignity to determine their own destiny. They need food and shelter for themselves and their families and dignity does not supply food and shelter.

We cannot stand idly by and do nothing as millions of us suffer through no fault of theirs. Do not allow the Republican/Tea Party members of Congress to starve and deprive millions of American men, women, and children in the name of fiscal discipline. Speak up and tell these insolent, insensitive politicians to do the only right thing: help our citizens survive until they are able to find self-sustaining employment.Provide unemployment insurance checks to all in desperate need!

NPR versus Roger Aisles and FOX News, Destroyers of Free Speech and Democracy

2010-11-18T11:47:00.001-06:00
Some of you probably listen to and watch NPR, the only nationwide non-commercial news media operation in the USA. Their reports are aired on National Public Radio stations in every state and relished by millions of radio, TV, and internet listeners and viewers for the variety of in depth discussions, and seldom discussed issues that their reporters and hosts regard as important. Since NPR is supported by our tax dollars and individual donations the reporters try to present calm and rational discussions of important issues. Their audience involvement allow diverse opinions to be voiced without challenge by the hosts. Sometimes the hosts favor one viewpoint or another but seldom, if ever, will they interject their personal opinions.

Since NPR was enabled in 1967 by Congressional legislation and is the only non-commercial media network in the USA to inform the public the fairest most non-partisan and complete coverage of cultural, scientific, political, environmental reporting available in the USA. We are very fortunate to have such an uncensored source of information and should treasure its existence. Democratic President Lyndon Johnson signed the enabling legislation in 1967 and Republican President Richard Nixon approved the organizational structure and original funding in 1970, both actions with virtually unanimous bi-partisan support. Federal taxes contribute about 15% of the funding and the remaining comes from public and private support.

With this history and background one might reasonably believe that NPR provides its widespread audience with intellectually stimulating conversations and unbiased information. Lately with the bitter rancor voiced by Republican/Tea Party members against the very existence of NPR we must be particularly diligent or the proverbial rug will be pulled out and NPR will collapse.

Roger Aisles the Chairman of the Board of FOX Network News have begun the attack against NPR, with the support of henchmen Limbaugh and Beck amongst others, to destroy NPR. Howard Kurtz a long time news commentator heard and recorded these words from Mr. Aisles in a recent interview (open the link above for more of the interview):

“They are (referring to NPR executives), of course, Nazis. They have a kind of Nazi attitude. They are the left wing of Nazism. These guys don’t want any other point of view. They don’t even feel guilty using tax dollars to spout their propaganda. They are basically Air America with government funding to keep them alive.”

This explosive and irrational attack on NPR by The Fox News Chairman clearly shows that Ailes and Fox News will try to eliminate NPR with an onslaught of lies and hateful rhetoric aimed at legislating NPR out of existence. With the new rabid Republican/Tea Party House of Representatives about to take control, they and Fox News will be on the warpath to end all funding and repeal enabling legislation to take NPR down, in the name of course of reducing spending. Their real purpose is to control and eliminate all contrary commentary whatever it source. Intimidation, incitement, hate, and fear are the tools funded by Roger Aisles and his boss Rupert Murdoch to eliminate all viewpoints but theirs in their conquest to dominate all media and political power.

As the USA opposed and helped defeat the Hitler led Nazi takeover of the world we must now all stand up and fight back against the apparent new Hitlers', Aisles and Murdoch, and their Fox News subordinates in their attempt to eliminate the only non commercial network in America, NPR. Roger Aisles cannot be allowed to prevail. Fight back now--support NPR. Support democracy, and your liberty in our country that is now threatened by those who claim to be protectors of our Democratic Republic and who are in fact
Destroyers of Free Speech and Democracy
.

What Mandate?

2010-11-16T13:09:00.000-06:00
The Republican/Tea Party claims a Congressional mandate to propose and enact legislation to their liking while disregarding any other political viewpoints and proposals. This arrogant stance effectively disregards nearly the same number of voters who believe to the contrary. The Republican/Tea Party domination of the House of Representatives enables them to propose budgetary and political legislation and to block Democratic proposals but does not confer a mandate for their policies.

We are a country of more than 310 million persons, and about 200 million potential voters. About 45% of these are registered voters and roughly 45% million of them actually voted. Therefore, about 35% of the eligible electorate voted and overall about 47% of the votes were cast for Democrats and about 53% for Republican/Tea Party candidates.The Republican/Tea Party claim that they have a mandate is based upon their accumulating about 37 million out of the 200 million plus eligible voters, or about 19%. About 81% percent of the eligible voters either voted Democrat (about 33 million) or did not vote (130 million).The Republican/Tea Party claim of a mandate is about as hollow as their "Pledge to America" that they ballyhooed just before the election.

The 75% of our eligible voters who decided not to vote discloses the real
Mandate of Disbelief
in our political system's ability to deliver what is beneficial to all of our people. We want the truth from our political leaders and a plan to work together to solve the serious problems that confront our country. The Republican/Tea Party claim of a mandate is another ploy to dangle empty promises before the impatient American people. How much more of their arrogance will we take?

The End of US Manufacturing Domination and Manufacturing Jobs

2010-11-05T11:25:00.001-06:00
Previous blogs have dealt with the MBA wave that began in the 1960's and the corporate rush to outsource manufacturing to low cost labor countries. The end result of this profit driven mind set by MBA's running American corporations is now very apparent. Virtually all consumer products including household appliances, computers, cell phones of all types, radios, televisions,shoes, clothing, and virtually most of the non-consumable consumer products that we buy are made outside of the USA. In most cases the materials that are used to produce these products also originate in other countries. We have become a consumer country where all of us purchase products that are largely made from materials and processes implemented by people who live in other countries. This benefits those who live elsewhere and that is a good result for many poor people. The American blue and white collar workers who once had well paying manufacturing, technical, and support jobs are now unable to obtain even service jobs that pay considerably less than the were earning in the recent past. New entries to the job markets in our country face even more difficulties since even service jobs often paying the minimum wage of $7.75 per hour are scarce, as our population becomes progressively trapped in a ever extending web of poverty and homelessness.

The future is even bleaker for American workers as I view the prevalent circumstances and the near-term future. The mass departure of manufacturing plants and resultant product origin from our country has also caused a even more dramatic shift in the origin of ideas that are transformed into products as`well as manufacturing equipment to make the products. Whereas the USA was once the incubation hot spot of innovation, we are now following behind the emerging leaders in China, South Korea, Germany, Japan, Sweden, Denmark, India, and elsewhere. Product innovation is closely linked to manufacturing because ideas are often stimulated by all the steps of creation, particularly previous experience and serendipity that comes from the process of designing and making something.

We have witnessed this in our life times when Microsoft became a world leader by making computers come to life by creating packages of instructions (software), and developing methods of production that spurred further research and development. Apple is another contemporary company where an innovative individual combined product and process to generate a new wave of electronic communication products. The same pattern existed when Edison developed the electric light through laborious trial and error and observation. From his work, General Electric emerged during the early 1900's and until about 60 years ago developed, designed, and manufactured most of their products in the USA. These combined activities from R&D to manufacturing resulted in one of the most innovative corporations in the world. All of this began to disintegrate when manufacturing was outsourced to areas where labor cost appreciably less than in the USA. Product R&D was curtailed or discontinued in this country, and disconnected from the production locations. Innovation began to flow from countries where the products were made.

Many foreign sources of manufacture eventually developed their own companies and acquired the US developed technology and continued to innovate. The US originators were left behind as Japan, South Korea, China, and India, etc. spawned corporation after corporation where both innovation and manufacturing flourished. Eventually GE became mainly a financial and insurance service corporation , rather than the world's foremost consumer appliance and electronic innovator and manufacturer.The product that GE markets are almost all produced in foreign countries.

This patten exemplified by GE was replicated my many hundreds of major American corporations that were leaders in innovation and production and that collectively employed tens of millions of well paid American workers directly, and spawned demand for millions of more jobs that were needed as suppliers to the major corporations in the USA. This was the backbone of our countries middle class and white collar workers from the early 1950's till the late 1970's when the decline began coincident with the mass influx of the bottom line mentality of the new wave of MBA executives and managers. Of course willing politicians paid homage to the "Service Industry" mantra that was promised to provide equally good jobs, and passed legislation that further enabled off shore production to reduce corporate taxes and increase their profits as workers lost their jobs and faced steep pay reductions.

Today, the same type of politicians who acclaimed the service industry as our country's job savior now proclaim that manufacturing jobs are needed. Where were they when Corporate America decided otherwise? Both the Democratic Party and Republican Party were and are co-conspirators in our race to unemployment and the loss of decent paying jobs. The Republican party, however, now bolstered by the Tea party, has always supported corporate America and unregulated business practices. The hollow talk of restoring manufacturing jobs is but meaningless blabber. The die was cast about 60 years ago, and we cannot squeeze the Genie back into the bottle. Job prosperity cannot return until our country returns to its innovative manufacturing roots. Even then we will compete in a world where innovation is now leaping way ahead of us, and we will never retain the once dominant status from which our workers benefited. We will share in the overall escalation of living standards world wide, but our relative position will diminish and can never again reach our once reasonable expectations. Even the MBA's who initiated the mass exodus of jobs from the USA must realize this indisputable fact.Some day our politicians may, but do not hold your breath waiting.

Why The Democrats Must Retain Congress for Workers' Economic Conditions to Improve

2010-10-26T16:54:00.095-06:00
Today the population of the USA is about 310 million and approximately 150 million of us seek or require jobs to live. Nearly 15 million workers are now unemployed,and many have been for more than two years. Job loses have permeated every class of worker from the highly skilled college graduate to typical blue collared workers. Typical workers who are employed are facing lower pay and higher cost of living than just 10 years ago. The median pay of American workers has declined in real terms since 1960, and will very probably sink further as unemployment increases and our workers compete with workers in developing sectors of the world in Africa, China, Indonesia, South America, India, Central Asia and numerous other countries whose workers pay in dollars is often less than 30% of the minimum USA pay of $7.75 per hour. Even technical service jobs that once paid about $40,000 annually for US workers have been replace in such countries as India with equally skilled workers paid about $10,000 annually.Our country's once reasonably paid workers, who were able to own a home, send their children to college, and save for retirement, are essentially unable to do so now. The rich have generally prospered whose income is at least 200 to 500 times greater than the median worker's wage of about $22,000 annually, that is declining steadily in real purchasing power, as the rich top 4 million of us continue to gain more economic power and wealth.

The reason behind this degradation of the US standard of living for typical workers that began about about 1960 is that we no longer employ workers who would otherwise buy products that they produce in our country. The corporations in the USA that once employed millions of our workers to manufacture the products that we also purchased are now employing millions of people elsewhere in low cost labor countries who are being paid a small fraction of what our workers were once paid. The rich corporate executives, financial executives and investors, famous sports people, entertainment icons and those who inherited their wealth continue to prosper beyond comparison to the typical worker in our country. Underlying this destructive economic imbalance is an often neglected factor that explains the depth of the economic problem facing the workers in our country and the extreme difficulty to reverse course.

Since 1960 our trade balance (referred to as balance of trade, BOT) has declined from a high positive number (surplus) to nearly the worst negative value (deficit) in the last half century. In other words we are buying more imports than we are selling our workers made exports. The trade balance shows how our workers spend the money they earn and who that money actually benefits. Over the last 50 years an approximate four billion dollar a year trade surplus has bexome a trade deficit of about $600 to $900 billion annually. Simply stated, in 1960 our population of about 180 million people(about 90 million workers)supplied much of the rest of the world with products, the workers in the USA created a net surplus per worker of nearly $50 per year. Overall employment was essentially 100% of the work force and the unemployment rate of about 5% was equal to the steady value representing "normalcy" compared to over 15 million or nearly 10% who are officially unemployed now..

Now, instead of a trade surplus each US worker(approximately 150 million if all were employed, and at least 15 million are unable to find work)incur a net loss of about $6,000 per worker per year. The turnaround from a surplus to a loss took hold in the early 1970's when outsourcing of US jobs and relocation of US plants to low wage regions beyond our shores accelerated. Numerous plants have shut down and workers fired who found any re-employment progressively more difficult. The actual unemployment rate in the USA today approaches 20% as those who have lost hope of finding any job grows in number and are excluded from the official unemployment statistics.

The net turnaround of more than $6,000 per US worker per year is equivalent to taking that same amount out of each workers annual pay check plus the real depreciation in value of the median pay. The total loss in real purchasing power for the typical two worker family is at least $15,000 to 25,000 annually. The loss is equivalent to the amount paid two workers, plus corporate profits that entirely benefit US corporations that are responsible for outsourcing and plant relocation's to low-labor cost foreign countries. Additionally these corporation avoid paying taxes on sales of foreign made products in plants operated by US corporations that ship the products back to the US for sale. American consumers buy foreign made goods and services that drive down their own wages without realizing the downside that has been created by allowing corporations to control trade policy by paying for political campaigns of their beholden politicians. The politicians in turn turn a deaf ear to the necessity of taxing corporations that profit from the use of low cost labor in other parts of the world.

Another way of measuring the magnitude of the problem is to divide the present total annual merchandise deficit of about $800 billion annually by the median wage of a worker in the USA today. The result is the approximate number of jobs that this deficit would generate if US median pay labor were doing the work instead of outsourced workers. The number of jobs that would be generated is a staggering 22 million. In other words, if our merchandise trade deficit was the same as in 1960, more than 20 million of us would be able to obtain jobs at the median pay of $22,000 annually. Unemployment could fall to near zero.

Neither major political party, it seem to me, is willing or completely able to comprehend and tell the public the full truth and scope of our economic problems caused by our self made trade deficit, and to enact all necessary trade sanctions and taxation to help restore American jobs. Nonetheless, the Democratic Party seems to recognize and acknowledge the real problem of our ballooning trade deficit, and seems much more willing to take actions against corporations that are typically indifferent to American workers, and who continue to outsource jobs.

The Democratic party must retain Congress for our workers to have any chance to improve their economic conditions. Turning around the 50 year deterioration of the economic status of American workers cannot occur quickly. The damage done over the last half century is far too severe to respond to any quick fixes. It is without question, however, that the Democrat Party and the Obama administration offer the only chance to do anything that will help the American workers out of this long developing economic decline. The choice is ours and the outcome will be all of ours. Vote wisely. Vote for the workers of our country. Vote for all Democratic Congressional candidates and give the workers in our country a chance to improve their own and their families well being.

Mute, Think, Hoot, and Vote

2010-10-24T10:42:00.011-06:00
What do you do when you hear and see the fifteen to thirty second political blurbs that try to get you to vote for their candidate? My wife and I mute the sound,and hoot. We do not care what the commercials claim. Your vote must be based upon facts and principles that are based upon reality not propaganda. Here are specific suggestions to consider before you cast your vote, from my biased viewpoint.

1. If you are committed to the double superlative Republican motto, "The least government is the best government" then vote for no government that is the least, and vote Republican. Accept the consequences. The least of anything is zero or none. Republican seem to believe their frequently acclaimed motto, that no government is best, so take them at their word and vote for change where our taxes for roads are eliminated and roads crumble, school taxes are eliminated and schools decay, water treatment taxes are eliminated and clean drinking water disappears, sewerage inundates our communities, etc., since if the Republicans achieve their goal all taxes will be reduced to zero, government becomes non-existent, and we all fend for ourselves. The "common good" becomes "indifferent neglect" and few if any of our shared community needs will be available. The rich would prosper while the majority of our citizens would be neglected and suffer.

2. If you believe that "government for the people, by the people, and of the people", and that we are guided as our Pledge of Allegiance avows:
"I pledge allegiance to the Flag of the United States of America and to the Republic for which it stands, one Nation under God, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all", what choice have you other than vote Democratic.

The Republican/Tea Party candidates universally advocate for "the least government", separation and division, and some even claim that violent armed revolution is "on the table", despite our Constitution's underlying purpose to "form a more perfect union". The Republicans often favor separation from "the Union of States" and dissolution of our Union of States.

The fundamental distinctions between the Democratic and Republican Parties are clear and indisputable. You, a thinking person, are able to understand the facts and vote accordingly. The extremes that I used to describe the distinctions may seem absurd, but they would be the result of "Least Government" that guides the Republican vision and policies.

Fifteen second bits of video and radio propaganda that aim to influence your thinking and capture your vote are valueless and must be ignored. Vote instead for the underlying principles that you support, and your vote will at least reflect your beliefs, not a TV or radio political advertisement.

"Mute" the propaganda and "Hoot" for what you believe after understanding why you believe what you believe. Vote for the politician that you rationally believe will best serve our nation, and your basic needs as a citizen of the United States of America.

The Age of Materialism, the Consequences, and the Return of Humanity

2010-10-08T11:55:00.001-06:00
In 1949 I graduated from high school in Los Angeles and began studying Engineering at UCLA. There is nothing particularly special about that. About one year earlier, however, something that would become a major world changer did happen in a nearby city of San Bernardino, California near the foothills of the Angeles National Forest. This event heralded the impending age of corporate domination of the USA, and was the unrecognized beginning of the age of the diminished middle class.I personalize some of this narrative to emphasize that there wsa a time. not very long ago, when we lived a simpler and much more fulfilling life that many in our country do now. Many of the reasons are because of our own behavior, yet we often want to blame someone else, and seldom accept our own possible blunders that contribute to the mess we find ourselves in. Perhaps this essay will open awareness to real factors that have sent us along the path that terminates today or tomorrow. Perhaps this awareness will help change tomorrow for the better. This is my purpose, to reach a few people who will reach a few more, and maybe our nations future will improve person by person.I will try.

In 1949, Los Angeles was a sprawling area from the mountains in the east to the ocean in the west that was attracting thousands of people from other parts of the USA. WWII was over and job opportunities were abundant . The climate and seashore were added inducements for growth. Mom and Pop shops sprung up everywhere selling groceries, clothing, shoes, chickens for dinner just beheaded and feathered, and virtually anything else that was available. Privately owned movie theaters showed first run movies for 10 to 25 cent admission fees, including 3 or 4 hour long triple horror shows replete with walking and talking vampires and zombies. Electric street cars and buses enabled easy and cheap transportation. Cars were often more than 10 years old since WWII eliminated their production since tanks and military vehicles were needed. Dentists and M.D.'s owned their own offices usually as the only practitioner and public health clinics were available to all. Los Angeles was very much like a big "small town" where neighbors knew one another and said greetings upon meeting in the street and while shopping at the local family owned stores. Aside from the rebounding auto industry, corporate America was relatively small and even car dealerships were "down home" privately owned endeavors that usually served the local neighborhood. American cars, made in the USA were the norm. My first car was a 14 year old, 1936 Pontiac straight eight coupe with a rumble seat, that I bought in 1950 for $500. Used cars were still expensive because of the scarcity caused by the war.

The beginning of the new corporate era was, however, about to blossom. It was in the Los Angeles area, nearby in San Bernardino, where Dick and Mac McDonald opened their first "McDonald Restaurant" in 1948. The two brothers previously opened a barbecue restaurant called McDonald's Barbecue on a prominent intersection. After changing the menu and name in 1948 they started what was to become one of the world's largest corporations. Ray Kroc purchased the McDonald brothers operations in 1954 for 2.4 million dollars, and officially opened his first corporate McDonald restaurant in Des Plaines, Illinois near Chicago.

McDonald Corporation is now the 108th largest American corporation with over 24 billion dollars annual sales and more than 4.5 billion dollars net profit, or about 20% of their annual sales. According to net profit McDonald is the 50th in the USA. The growth of McDonald from small two-brother owned fast food restaurants to a world wide fast food corporate giant parallels the growth and transformation of American corporations, society, and culture since the end of WWII.Ray Kroc who saw the potential of the small McDonald Brothers chain and changed his life at the age of 55, used his ingenuity and marketing savvy to alter the fast food business as never before. His embryonic company remained privately owned by him until 1965 when the first public stock offering of McDonald was made. Kroc became an instant multimillionaire, as did many later franchisees and executives as well as many stock investors.

In 1948 when Mr. Kroc purchased the McDonald Brothers business, the typical food server worked for tips and a minimal hourly wage generally less than $1 per hour. I had a job at a Green Eyed Monster Ice Cream Sundae and Hamburger restaurant that was part of a small privately owned Los Angeles chain. I was paid $1.05 per hour as "assistant manager". The title meant that I opened the store on weekends and was the morning cook and ice cream sundae maker. This job helped pay my entry to college the following year.

After admission to UCLA in 1949, I continued working 20 hours a week for $20 at Americo Fontana's independently owned Flying Horse gas station in the then small town of Westwood where UCLA is located. I also worked as a food server for room and board at a nearby private dorm without additional compensation, but having a very generous cook who permitted the servers to eat whenever and as much as they desired, and a shared apartment that had a private entrance attached to the dormitory. Americo Fontana the Flying Horse owner, an ex boxer with a well flattened nose and cauliflower ears, was another generous and warm person who patiently taught me to do auto maintenance. Basic car maintenance was then commonly offered at small private gas stations. I did not have a car at the time so had not been to the school of hard knocks (engine "knocks", that is), so Americo had to train a raw neophyte. I guess since I was beginning Engineering studies he figured I would catch on. Eventually, I did but not without a few blunders that really inconvenienced some car owners when I inadvertently drained their transmission fluid thinking it was engine oil, and then overfilled the oil tank!

Clearly, the American work opportunities I experienced when a teenager were much more worker friendly then now and very personal. By today's standards pay was much less than the present legal minimum pay of $7.25,but life's necessities and college education costs were much more affordable for all but the very impoverished in our country. UCLA and UC Berkley did have small tuition fees for C nonresidents, and you could become a legal resident in one year of residency in the state. The cost for a resident for a full year,was a total fee of under $90! The most expensive book required generally cost less than $2. Students in my financial situation could graduate from UCLA without any debt, ready to continue studies, work, and get on with your life.

The Korean War did interrupt my plans and sadly ended the lives of more than 55,000 thousand American combat military personnel and hundreds of thousands of North Korean civilians. I was drafted before the conclusion of the Korean War (that never officially ended) and my PhD studies ended, but I somehow was not sent into a war zone during my nearly two years of service at Fort Ord, as a vehicle maintenance instructor in The Third Army training base and headquarters. After being discharged I was required to remain in the inactive reserves ready for recall at any time for eight more years. I was not recalled during the next American war in Vietnam that also began by an American President and Congress based upon false pretenses just as the Korean War. Wars often seem to start for the same unfounded and illegitimate reasons. What definitely has changed in the USA are educational and job opportunities, and the changes are partly due to our citizen's compulsive desire for material things well beyond the necessities of life.

The USA population was about 144 million in 1948 and grew to approximately 165 million in 1956 (when I was discharged from Active duty from the US Army), compared to over 310 million today. As our population more than doubled since 1948 our country has progressively lost many millions of once well paying manufacturing jobs to foreign countries where wages are usually substantially less than they were in the USA in 1955. The exodus of well paying manufacturing jobs has and will continue to leave our country as the countries that are populated with over 6 billion more people in total than the USA continue developing .China and India alone have an aggregate population of more than 2.5 billion people and will most certainly become the economic powers of the world within the near future. China follows us by economic standards as #2 in the world and is advancing quickly while we are declining economically. I think our country will never regain its once unchallenged manufacturing status and the relative prosperity that it provided for our workers after WW II for about 30 years. The decline of manufacturing in our country paralleled the boom in low-paying service-type jobs that McDonald Corporation and other major corporations exemplify.

For comparison purposes consider one of the most well recognized corporations in the world, aside from McDonald, the GE Corporation. GE is presently the second largest corporation in the world (according to Forbes ratings based on financial and employment assets and world scope) with over 160 billion dollars in sales annually, and net annual profits between ten and twelve billion dollars. Founded by the most prolific American inventor Thomas Edison in 1890 as Edison General Electric, the company was renamed public General Electric in 1896, and one of eight companies that made up the NYSE at its inception over one hundred years ago.

In 1955 GE was the third largest corporation in the world, employing about 210,000 mainly American manufacturing workers. By then GE was the worlds leading manufacturer of electrical household devices and appliances, aircraft engines and parts, and all types of power generation equipment, and other household needs from light bulbs to toasters. The majority of GE employees were working in manufacturing jobs in the USA, producing products that the typical worker bought for home use and applications. The comparatively well paid workers generated the demand for all types of goods and the demand grew beyond the wildest imagination and spiraled into what I call the "Age of Materialism". This unfettered demand that sky rocketed during this Age that we are still part of, generated millions of manufacturing jobs in the USA and prosperity for all appeared to be around the corner. Increasing demand inevitably causes increasing prices as costs for raw materials also increases, and new investments are required to produce goods to satisfy demand. The simple supply and demand cycle ensues with its inevitable result, increasing prices follow increasing demand. New things are developed to encourage more buying.

As long as wages and jobs followed the upward prices of goods and services all was well in the USA, except for brief slowdowns and some inflationary periods when demand slacked off or suddenly increased causing brief periods of recessions or inflation. Demand did not slow much even during recessionary or inflationary periods through the early 1980's, since generally well paying jobs were still available to most sectors of middle class America, even though the single family breadwinner was replaced by the two worker household since their demand for more material goods required more money than a single family worker could generally earn.

The steel industry, auto manufacturers, and emerging electronics and computer corporations mainly located in the USA through most of the 1970's provided well paying jobs and continued to enable the demand for more material goods. Without public awareness the roots of change that would upset the dynamic balancing act of higher prices permitted by better paying jobs, the situation began to destabilize in the 1960's when the prestigious universities in the USA created the MBA, Masters of Business Administration degree. Universities including Harvard, Stanford, Yale led the wave soon followed by thousands of other colleges and universities producing many thousands of MBA's whose main goal in their future business careers was to fatten the bottom line, increase profits. Higher profits led to better pay and bonuses for the MBA elite who soon rose to manage and control the increasing number of corporations, in the USA particularly.

This infusion of MBA's into American corporations was initially beneficial, since they were able to consolidate operations, increase productivity and meet the ever increasing demand for stuff and associated services. We individually in quiescent collaboration with the emerging multi-national corporations were setting the table for unemployment and low paying jobs in the future, while all the while believing that the middle class gravy train was bottomless and forever.

The manufacturing jobs that GE provided were well paying in 1955. The typical middle class worker earned enough to purchase a family home, auto, and send their children to college with no debt except an affordable, low interest rate mortgage of 4% or less, that generally ranged from $5,000 to about $15,000, in nice, clean neighborhoods. College kids were able pay incidental costs by working part time (10 to 20 hours a week depending upon personal circumstances)in jobs that typically paid about $1 per hour.

The typical blue collar worker in 1955 earned between $150 to $300 monthly generally including full health care and pension benefits paid by GE. Most manufacturing jobs in the USA paid about the same range where ever unions represented the workers, and some benefits were typically paid by employers. White collar workers in middle class America were paid somewhat more, depending upon their skill and training levels,ranging from about $300 to $600 per month as a starting salary.

Ordinarily only one member of the family unit worked out of necessity, while, usually, the mother stayed home and maintaining home and family needs. Children were met at home my mothers who needn't work unless they were the sole breadwinners. Many were following the Great Depression and often worked in sweat in non-union sweat shops as dis my mother for bare subsistence wages.After WWII individual opportunity to economically advance was available to almost all young people after graduating from high school.If college was not their desire many on-the job training programs were available at large corporations as well as small new companies who often welcomed new hires for extended training before becoming productive employees. Most high school curriculum in Los Angeles high schools (I attended two, and both had excellent teacher/ disciplinarians) required at least basic math and sciences, shop skills, home economics and solid courses in English, history, civics and a good dose of physical fitness. Most schools in Los Angeles, during the time I was attending public schools, were run by dedicated professionals who, it seems to me, were superior and dedicated administrators and teachers who also had the parental-given authority to dispense appropriate disciplinary action when necessary.

My view of our country, based upon my admittedly narrow slice of low income American life during my childhood in Los Angeles in the 1930's and 1940's through my early college years in late 1940 and early 1950, and being drafted into the US Army in the 1950's, although oppressively difficult for my mother before her early demise at age 45 years, who provided for my and her needs as well as a sister and brother-in-law, was in my mind generally livable and satisfying albeit sometimes sad and depressing.

Most of you realize that America of the 1930's to 1960's was irrevocably different from America that we live in today. We know that time is not reversible, and yesterday cannot be recovered even if sought. The America we live in today, however, did not suddenly sprout. We collectively and individually did what ever we did and each of us who lived since the Great Depression, just as before, influenced the resultant societal conditions that now prevail. We collectively allow ourselves and our political and military leaders to make decisions that shape today and tomorrow. Political, corporate and military leaders do not alone determine tomorrow's national conditions. Our today is the accumulative result of what each one of us individual in our country, and indeed the world, passively or actively, consciously or indifferently, allows and promote. We often fail however to look inward to examine our own behavior to ask how can we make our national condition better. We create our own soup and then when it becomes bitter we often blame someone else for the bitter results.

The middle-class ability to afford a decent and satisfying life after WWII is without question illusory now. Two or more family members work to barely get by. Who can afford a college education today when saddled with a college educational debt that is $50,000 to more than $200,000 for a four-year undergraduate degree-- even at the largest California public University, UCLA, that cost me less than $700 a year for all expenses.

Even the basic necessities of life are so costly today that an individual working full time at McDonald or similar service job barely earns $15,000 annually, and are barely above the official poverty level. Those who are considered within the middle class family status, if both husband and wife work will have a typical combined income of about $50,000, unless working for minimum pay as more that 15 million of us do. Compared to the lower class and middle class of the 1940's--1960's are the middle class better off economically, educationally, or any aspect of societal affordability including health care that was once affordable and provided by general practitioners who made house calls when required. The changes that we face today are largely of our making!

We tolerated the political and societal changes and road the wave of what many of us believed was ever-increasing prosperity, fueled by our unbridled desire to buy on credit and believe that a judgment day would never occur. We participated in a popular wave of greed and acquisition of things that have very little to do with the needs of life and societal peace and harmony. We have largely brought today on ourselves and we can restore balance and common sense if we decide to do so. The return to some form of normalcy will require many years of work, just as the decline that we now are part of of took over 50 years to implode on the middle class in our country. Decent jobs are certainly needed, but that alone will not correct the decay that we supported and are still indulging in. The quest for more and more stuff that most of us equate to progress has just the opposite effect, economic and moral decline. We must abandon this madness for possession of more things and become part of humanity that is willing to share the gifts of nature without obsessive desire for more and more. Only then do we have a chance to attain a satisfying life where we all become part of a grateful, not greedy world. Let us return to another reality for the moment that we must see as truth.

Most of the jobs today at GE in the USA are not in manufacturing, but rather related to financial and insurance service markets that are the GE corporation's main profit sources. Aircraft engines are still manufactured in the USA, but most of the 200,000 plus manufacturing jobs that were in the USA in 1955 are located in foreign countries where lower paid workers, many employed by Chinese, Indian, Japanese, Taiwanese, and other Asian corporations, making products that once were made by American workers in the USA at wages that are generally a small fraction of our county's minimum wage of $7.25 per hour. Now virtually all household appliances, electronics, computers, clothing, virtually everything we buy in the USA are made elsewhere in the world, mainly by workers who have the jobs that were once all USA jobs, and for which the workers are typically paid less than the manufacturing workers were paid in the USA 1955.

The MBA wave that began in the late 1950's has achieved one its main goal. Lower cost of production by lowering labor costs, while improving productivity at the same time. More profits are realized and corporations and executives flourish. Politicians beholden to corporations for campaign funds cater to corporations that in turn expect "their" political hirelings to enact legislation that further increases corporate profits. Meanwhile, workers suffer, and unions that once were able to help their workers lose power since they are unable to pay off politicians as well, all legally of course in the name of free enterprise.

Small family owned businesses and companies have largely been replaced by multinational, publicly owned, corporations that sprouted from American workers efforts, ingenuity, and loyalty and the mutual loyalty of many such businesses owners to their employees, to present day indifference and dispensable treatment of most worker hired by internationalized corporations. McDonalds Corporation (MCD) is but one example. Since virtually everyone in our country has or will consume food at a McDonald restaurant we all relate to their presence as personal consumers. Is your moral responsibility to buy from one of the world's largest corporations and allow them to pay a barely sustainable wage to their workers who serve and prepare foods? What is your moral responsibility? Do you even care?

Why have prices for many basic necessities risen so much that the minimum wage workers can barely afford them? What has driven most of us to buy things that are not necessities, that are well beyond our ability to pay for without assumption of excessive debt? What has driven the price of public university education costs to levels that are not affordable for the majority of our young people? Why have we placed material goods above the value of almost all else? Are you an individual who is satisfied with the quest for more materialism? If so our present status is just fine. If not you must do what you can to change. Do not blame everyone else for our problems. We share in their making. Our appetite for more stuff and endless pleasure are the main causes of economic and societal problems we have today.

If you are upset about this nearly 80 year trend, what will you do to change it? Only when a large enough number of people decide that our present materialistic age must transform into a morality-based era can this begin to happen, person by person, community by community. We must reject the bait that the most powerful corporate and political interests offer, and instead direct ourselves to nourish and cultivate a foundation of morality and acceptance of human differences and likenesses. The instinctive precious human desire to mother their infants so that a meaningful life will emerge is a purpose that we all should and must share and protect. Basic necessities are grounded in this instinct that has permitted our human species' survival for millions of years. Will we reach back and mold this basic instinct to adapt our turbulent time for good will we be able to stop rampant materialism from consuming our society? Are we all up to this essential change or are we gong to allow ourselves to continue to be consumed by the Age of Materialism?

Another Part of The Republican Pledge to America and Another Reason to Vote for Congressional Democrats

2010-10-02T15:51:00.001-06:00
In my previous blog about the Republican Pledge to America I discussed why I think that the Democratic Congress must be retained. This blog is a follow up that reaches my same conclusion for another reason.

The Republican Pledge to America states that they pledge to place "hard caps" on all discretionary spending. I interpret the phrase "hard caps" to mean specific dollar amounts that cannot be exceeded. As previously discussed in my blog discretionary spending includes all military expenditures, which is about 50% of all discretionary spending. I am for a hard cap on all military expenditures and if I believed the Republican Congressional leadership were truthful I would accept it as usual political propaganda. The Republicans, however , have shown that the words of their Congressional leaders are often lies, and the pledge to hard cap all new discretionary spending I believe is also a lie. They initiated two wars that were neither capped nor budgeted, and are responsible for at least 30% of our countries present debt.

Their meaningless words in their "Pledge" are contradicted in the very same Pledge when another section pledges to "Fully Fund Missile Defense". The Republican Congressional statement on page 39 of The Republican Pledge to America is: "There is real concern that while the threat from Iranian intercontinental ballistic missiles could materialize as early as 2015, the government's missile defense policy is not projected to cover the U.S. homeland until 2020. We will work to ensure critical funding is restored to protect the U.S. homeland and our allies from missile threats from rogue states such as Iran and North Korea."

Leaving aside the technological feasibility of destroying an intercontinental ballistic missile with another ballistic missile, analogous to shooting down a bullet with another bullet, the required research and development program cannot be "hard capped" as the Republicans promise they will do for all new discretionary spending.

Research and development are, as the two descriptive words mean, the exploration and eventual development of designs, processes, materials, and manufacture of a missile capable of destroying an intercontinental ballistic missile both probably traveling over 16,000 miles per hour.

Billions of research and development dollars have already been spent since the late 1980's on anti-missile defense and the technical solution is unfulfilled. It may not be possible to accomplish and the cost of the R&D work cannot be closely estimated. Probably well over one trillion dollars will be spent to just determine the feasibility, and another one trillion to implement the technology if feasible. The Republican Pledge to America to hard cap all new discretionary spending would require a cap in excess of 2 trillion dollars for this one program and still may yield nothing. I have participated in and managed numerous private and government funded R&D programs in my professional career and can speak with authority on this subject. The Republican pledges are contradictory and ludicrous for this reason alone.

Again the Republican Pledge to America tries to fool the American people with jargon and pledges that are impossible to honor. This has been the Republican Congressional and Tea-Party tactic to regain control of Congress. Promise pie in the sky and criticize everything the Obama administration proposes. I think the Congressman Boehner Republican Congress will cause more chaos and impasse if they were to control congress.

The Republicans in Congress have uniformly been opposed in the Senate and House to every attempt by the Obama administration and most of Congressional Democrats to enact any legislation including health reform, financial reform, consumer protection reform, and even extending unemployment insurance to the many millions of Americans who are unemployed because of the recession caused by the Republican dominated Congress during the Bush administration.

The Republicans now favor maintaining tax cuts for millionaires and billionaires and oppose tax cuts for middle America unless the ultra-rich get tax cuts also. They do not care if hundreds of billions of dollars are added to our debt by so doing yet state that they will impose hard caps. Republicans in Congress are not the only liars and hypocrites,Democrats have their share, but I think that the Republican-Tea Part leaders are the masters of lies and hypocrisy.The Republican party has proven their opposition to all progressive Congressional legislation and Republicans must not be voted to control Congress. The Democratic Party Congress must be retained for any semblance of orderly governance and progress.

The Space Age Survives--No Thanks to Six of Eight Wisconsin House of Representaives Members

2010-09-30T12:02:00.000-06:00
Today the House of Representatives voted to accept the already passed Senate Bill that funds NASA through 2013. Fifty-eight billion dollars was approved to essentially keep our country as an important player in space technology. Had this bill not passed China and Russia would have dominated space research and development and we would be relegated to onlooker status. Fortunately 308 members of the House approved the Senate Bill including about two-thirds of the Republican Party members and a similar fraction of the Democratic members. Sadly from my perspective, six members from Wisconsin voted no, and only two voted yes. Had the entire House of Representatives voted in the same relative proportion as the Wisconsin delegation, our NASA space program that President Kennedy launched in 1960 would have tragically ended. The Wisconsin Representatives who voted to end this vital program are Tammy Baldwin (D), Steve Kagen(D), Gwen Moore(D), Thomas Petri(R), Paul Ryan(R), Jim Sensenbrenner(R). The two Wisconsin members who voted to continue NASA are Ron Kind(D), and David Obey(D). In my opinion the stupidity of the no votes are equally shared by three Republican and three Democrats. Two Democratic Members exhibited the type of foresight that we should expect from our elected Congressional members.

Why do I assert that the no votes by six Wisconsin Representatives amounts to either blatant ignorance or very misguided judgment? Here are my reasons. The NASA space program is responsible for the technological advances during the last 50 years. They were spurred by President Kennedy's leadership. We not only were able to land humans on the moon within ten years of the program launch, but the space program also sparked technological advances in electronics, solid state devices, computer technology, medical devices, robotic controls, satellite communication, advanced material developments, energy efficiency, weather forecasting, environmental analysis and assessments, and myriad of technological devices that we take for granted today. From MRI machines to the compact mobile phones and communication devices; from heart transplant machines to water treatment filters; the technological spin-off from the Space Program directly benefited our country, and humanity at large more than any comparable investment using our taxes.Tens of millions of well paying jobs were created in the private markets as the space program spin-offs spread and technological diffusion sparked new ideas and practical developments. Unfortunately, the millions of excellent jobs gradually were out-sourced by US corporations and subservient politicians who decided that profits and corporate hand outs, respectively, were more important than full, well paid employment in the USA. But that is another story.

Many politicians today do not comprehend the importance of our space program and would readily halt funding. This type of politician, apparently disproportionately represented in Wisconsin, lacks the requisite judgment and understanding of the role of science and technology in our society. This may not be surprising since most of our citizens are also illiterate in even the fundamentals of science and engineering. That too is another issue. Meanwhile try to learn and gain perspective on the importance of scientific literacy and basic understanding. Failure to do so will lead our country into a rapid competitive descent on the world's stage, and further diminish the economic well-being of our nation. We must not allow this to happen!

The Republican Pledge to America and the Reason to Retain Democratic Control of Congress

2010-09-25T17:23:00.000-06:00
The Republican Party has just announced their pledge to America in a new document heralded by the Republicans as their pledges and plans for the future under Republican Congressional control. This bold document, the true intentions of the Republican Party/Tea Party combine, is a warning to all Americans to oppose the Republican attempt to control Congress.

The Congressional leadership of the Republican Party released their document entitled, “Pledge to America” on September 23, 2010 that set forth their plan to move America in a different direction if they obtain control of Congress in the forthcoming Congressional elections. The document is very colorful and pictorial and the 48 pages including 22 pages of text and charts that could easily be condensed to 15 pages.

Pages 2-3 consists of a recitation of what the Republican Congressional leadership believe is the purpose of our country, the Democratic administrations faults as they portray them, and the overall pledges that will be the focus of their actions if Republican control of Congress becomes a reality on Nov. 2, 2010. Here are their pledges as written on page three of their document.

"With this document, we pledge to dedicate ourselves to the task of reconnecting our highest aspirations to the permanent truths of our founding by keeping faith with the values our nation was founded on, the principles we stand for, and the priorities of our people. This is our Pledge to America."

"We pledge to honor the Constitution as constructed by its framers and honor the original intent of those precepts that have been consistently ignored – particularly the Tenth Amendment, which grants that all powers not delegated to the United States by the Constitution, nor prohibited by it to the states, are reserved to the states respectively, or to the people."

"We pledge to advance policies that promote greater liberty, wider opportunity, a robust defense, and national economic prosperity."

"We pledge to honor families, traditional marriage, life, and the private and faith-based organizations that form the core of our American values."

"We pledge to make government more transparent in its actions, careful in its stewardship, and honest in its dealings."

"We pledge to uphold the purpose and promise of a better America, knowing that to whom much is given, much is expected and that the blessings of our liberty buoy the hopes of mankind."

"We make this pledge bearing true faith and allegiance to the people we represent, and we invite fellow citizens and patriots to join us in forming a new governing agenda for America."

These statements represent the bases of the Republican Party—Tea Party campaign to gain control of Congress after the November 2 elections. If you can derive any real substance from these pledges, please tell me what they are. To me they are vague statements for motherhood and apple pie, and do not even include our country's basic Pledge to the United States of America---one Nation, indivisible, under God---etc.

Following their pledges, the “Republican Pledge to America” continues with statements of plans, photos of Americana including The Statue of Liberty, Mount Rushmore, The White House, and numerous photos of Congressional Republican politicians. Two specific plans are notable. Two are discussed in this blog. Others will be discussed in future blogs.

On page six is the following statement:

"We offer a plan to
repeal and replace the government
takeover of health care with common
sense solutions focused on lowering costs
and protecting American jobs."

In addition, on page Page twenty-one:

"Establish a Hard Cap on New
Discretionary Spending"

We must put common-sense limits on
the growth of government and stop the
endless increases. Only in Washington is
there an expectation that whatever your
budget was last year, it will be more this
year and even more the next. We will set
strict budget caps to limit federal spending
on an annual basis. Budget caps were used
in the 1990s, when a Republican Congress
was able to bring the budget into balance
and eventual surplus. By cutting
discretionary spending from current levels
and imposing a hard cap on future growth,
we will save taxpayers hundreds of billions
of dollars."

If the Republicans gain control of Congress they pledge to repeal all the benefits of the new health care plan as detailed in my previous blog, and additionally put a limit (cap) on new discretionary spending. Discretionary spending includes National Defense and everything else except Social Security, Medicare, Medicaid and Health Care, Unemployment and Income Aid, and Federal interest payments on the Federal debt.

The two wars in Iraq and Afghanistan were not budgeted as part of our National Defense discretionary budget by the Bush Administration and Republican controlled Congress, and accounts for over one trillion dollars of our present debt, that continues to grow as veteran care mounts and war costs continue. How then can we trust the Republicans’ in Congress, if they regain control of Congress, to cap new discretionary spending when they allowed two wars to be budgeted by supplementary budgets? This Republican trick created a major part of our present debt, and economic problems. The Republican Party showed us how they act when in power. Can they be trusted now?

These two parts of the Republican Pledge to America are examples of Republican Congressional skulduggery that alone are enough to stop the Republicans before they cause more harm and prolong our economic recovery. Vote Democratic for all Congressional candidates on November 2, 2010, or accept the certain consequences of more economic hardship if Republicans take charge of Congress.

Stop the Republican's Promised Hatchet Job on Health Care---Vote for Democrats for Congress

2010-09-23T11:15:00.001-06:00
Approximately six weeks remain before the mid term elections. This election may be a decisive turning point for health care reform in the USA if Republicans take over Congress. The Republican party under the leadership of Rush Limbaugh, Glenn Beck and their congressional Republican advocates have pledged that they will repeal the new health care law, many items of which kick in today, September 23, 2010. Here are the major items that the Republicans pledge they will repeal (eliminate from present law by repealing the entire health care legislation) if they take control of Congress this November.

1)Allow coverage to kids with pre-existing conditions. Health plans cannot limit or deny benefits or deny coverage for a child younger than age 19 simply because the child has a pre-existing condition like asthma.

2)No lifetime limits on benefits. Health plans can no longer put a lifetime dollar limit on the benefits of people with costly conditions like cancer.

3)Cannot cancel your policy without proving fraud. Health plans can’t retroactively cancel insurance coverage – often at the time you need it most - solely because you or your employer made an honest mistake on your insurance application.

4)Cannot deny claims without a chance for appeal. In new health plans, you now have the right to demand that your health plan reconsider a decision to deny payment for a test or treatment. That also includes an external appeal to an independent reviewer.

5)All policies must offer cost-free preventive services. New health plans must give you access to recommended preventive services such as screenings, vaccinations and counseling without any out-of-pocket costs to you.

6)All policies must keep young adults on a parent’s plan until age 26. If your health plan covers children, you can now most likely add or keep your children on your health insurance policy until they turn 26 years old if they don’t have coverage on the job.

7)All policies must allow you to choose a primary care doctor, ob/gyn and pediatrician. New health plans must let you choose the primary care doctor or pediatrician you want from your health plan’s provider network and let you see an OB-GYN doctor without needing a referral from another doctor.

8)All policies must allow use of the nearest emergency room without penalty. New health plans can’t require you to get prior approval before seeking emergency room services from a provider or hospital outside your plan’s network – and they can’t require higher co-payments or co-insurance for out-of-network emergency room services.

All eight of these important health care benefits that were enacted by the new Democratic health care bill will be eliminated if the Republicans regain control of Congress. Although the recently passed Democratic (all but one Republican in Congress voted against the legislation) health care bill is not as beneficial as many hoped for, it does make substantial improvements that protect Americans from arbitrary denial and limitations of necessary health care services by insurance companies and HMO's.

The Republican Party has pledged to repeal all these consumer protections. If the Republicans take over control of Congress insurance companies and HMO's will again be able to resume their dirty tricks that Republicans vigorously support. Health care insurance companies, HMO's and their multi-millionaire executives who control them will fatten their already bulging bank accounts, and continue in-turn to finance the Republican Party of
NO
.
Independents, Democrats, and empathetic Republicans must say NO to the Tea Party/Republican Party opposition. Vote Democratic on behalf and for the average citizen of the USA, and protect the American health care improvements that we now have from the promised Republican hatchet job. Vote to protect our new health care insurance rights. Vote Democratic for all candidates for members of the House of Representatives and Senate when you vote on November 2, 2010.

THE NEW REPUBLICAN PARTY

2010-09-15T12:14:00.000-06:00
We are all aware of the NEW REPUBLICAN PARTY. No longer the party of Abraham Lincoln, Dwight Eisenhower, or Ronald Regan it is now the party commandeered by Newt Gingrich, Sarah Palin, Glen Beck, and Rush Limbaugh. This leadership quartet leads the regular ranks of virtually all OLD REPUBLICAN Congressional members and phalanx of citizens who now call themselves the TEA PARTY. Imagine this assembly orchestrated by Rush Limbaugh and his conductor-like arm waving rallying against the British Army and Navy during our Revolutionary War against the Colonial Empire, Great Britain. Whoa Nelly, dare I mention the word “Colonial Empire”? Could the NEW REPUBLICAN PARTY possibly be pro-colonial?

Newt Gingrich, the ex-Speaker of the House called President Obama a “Kenyan , anti-colonial”. Like all of the countries in the African continent, the country now called Kenya was subject to colonial occupations by many countries that possessed ships capable of circumnavigation of the Earths’ oceans. The once great British Navy enabled The Royal Kingdom of Great Britain to colonize much of Africa as they did in what is now the United States of America, Canada, and many other regions of Earth.

The colonists in America eventually rebelled against Great Britain, declared independence, and then fought a bloody 8-year war against the Kingdom of Great Britain that ended in 1783. The thirteen individual British colonies became “anti-colonial” and after failing to be granted independence fought against the seemingly overwhelming forces of the Kingdom of Great Britain, led by General George Washington. As we know, George Washington became our First president in 1789 after our constitution was ratified by the 13 former British colonies that then became the first 13 states of a new country, The United States of America. Our country was born because of intense “anti-colonial” feelings against the most aggressive colonizer in modern history, the Kingdom of Great Britain.They fought because they believed that their freedom from colonial domination was worth risking life and limb for.

Likewise, the African country of Kenya was a colony under the control of the Kingdom of Great Britain. For more than two centuries, the country now known as Kenya was servile to Great Britain and other colonial interests as well. Finally, in 1963 under the leadership of George Washington’s counterpart, Kenyatta, Kenya became an independent country, freeing itself from the colonial control of Great Britain, just as our country had been liberated from the same colonial power nearly two centuries earlier. Kenyatta, who led the last effort for freedom from colonial dominance, was elected as Kenya’s first president just as Washington was in our country. The country of Kenya was named after the last liberator, something George Washington was not granted. Perhaps had it been we might be more cognizant of our anti-colonial roots.

Now let us return to Newt Gingrich’s speech on behalf of the New Republican Party stalwarts and the Tea Party compatriots. Gingrich further stated that as a result of his (President Obama’s) “Kenyan, anti-colonial the he (Obama) was “out of touch with how the world works, who happened to have played a wonderful con, as a result of which he is now president”. Gingrich went on to voice the New Republican Party mantra as follows: “I think that Obama gets up every morning with a worldview that is fundamentally wrong about reality. If you look at the continuous denial of reality, there has got to be a point where someone stands up and says that this is factually insane.”

Thank you for the invitation Mr. Gingrich. Everything that you spoke on behalf of the New Republican Party (or "NEWT" REPUBLICAN PARTY) is factually insane! Had we followed your apparent support of British colonialism our country would still be a collection of colonies governed by the Kingdom of Great Britain. On second thought that would probably suit your ambitions very nicely, Royal Highness!

Why are so many voters in the USA swallowing the “factually insane” ramblings of the NEWT REPUBLICAN PARTY? Is there mass amnesia? Vote sanely this November to preserve our Declaration of Independence and Constitution against future colonial-type domination. Vote against every NEW REPUBLICAN CANDIDATE or any other party candidate who support NEWT’S beliefs, unless you want future colonial rule, so that you may affirm your allegiance to King Newt and his Royal Court.

The Future for Ear-Lobe Wiggling

2010-09-12T10:31:00.000-06:00
Approximately 70% of the US population, over 200 million individuals, have access to video games in their homes. Young and adult players alike spend many hours daily trying to kill more opponents or score more points using their enhanced visual and finger dexterity. As this educational activity increases our population becomes very adept at activities that prepares our population for intelligent voting decisions and other essential brain use. Perhaps the next generation of video games will only require the use of our ear lobes and whomever masters the brain-ear wiggle neural connection will become skilled future leaders of our country. We should all welcome the advent of this coming era and start practicing ear wiggling to be ahead of the game.

The CEO Syndrome Spreads to Elected Politicians

2010-09-09T15:50:00.000-06:00
It should not come as a surprise that the typical pay of a Fortune 100 corporate CEO is, according to Fortune Magazine,ranges between 8 and 12 million dollars per year, plus perks that usually add many millions more in compensation.CEO pay has escalated in hockey-stick form since the 1970's while the typical middle class worker has seen their real pay decline to an average of about $30,000 to $45,000. Those in lower pay categories typically earn less than $15,000. The middle class and lower wage earners are headed down hill economically while corporate executives are paid progressively higher wages from year to year. Additionally, these multi-millionaire executives gain even more compensation when they lay off thousands of workers, ship jobs overseas, and successfully reduce worker's pay and benefits.

The corporate executives are not alone in this takeover of purchasing power. Politicians at all levels have learned that they too deserve more pay. The small Town of Gibraltar Board of Supervisors voted unanimously for a 6% pay increase, while many in our community have lost their jobs and seen their pay take a hit. One member of the Town of Gibraltar Board of Supervisors who voted for the 6% pay increase is Mr. Dick Skare who is now running for state assembly under the Democratic Party banner.

The big-time politicians, Republicans, Democrats, and Tea Party Republicans who aspire to state offices must be asked if they will reject pay increases. Presently in Wisconsin and other states the state politicians have increased their pay annually, while state employees are now forced to take unpaid time off.

The big wigs in the U.S. Congress up their pay annually; the latest increase is about $10,000 raising their pay to between about $155,000 to about $195,000 plus benefits and ample travel and staff allowances. Our Congress sucked up the tax payer's money while at the same time eliminating cost of living increases for aged Social Security retirees. Whose side are those who voted for these political hijacking of tax dollars are these corrupt politicians for?

Their is no question that the contemporary politicians, with some notable exceptions who refuse pay increases while our economy lags and workers suffer, are clearly greedy. The majority of them seem to care only about their own bank accounts. In the state of Wisconsin, Russ Feingold and Steve Kagan are two politicians who have refused their pay increases and really work for the people of our state and district, respectively.

As politicians and corporate executives seem to join the greed spectacle, the typical worker is often buffaloed into believing the propaganda that they spout claiming that they have our interests at heart. Why then do they show their colors by scooping as much pay as they can while claiming that they are working for a better America.

With elections soon upon us, we must compare the words of prospective elected officials to their real deeds, not promised actions. What does their past tell? Do not accept propaganda as fact. Do your own homework independently of the talking heads that saturate the media with their own brands of propaganda. Dig and get facts for yourself and vote accordingly. Do not be a dupe for self serving individuals who are eager to follow the corporate executive pathway to achieve influence, power, and a free ride on worker's taxes. Be aware that slogans and promises on TV advertisements must be checked against reality. A sucker may be born every minute, but we must not take phony bait for realty no matter how glorious it seems.

Ralph Nader's Very Meaningful Words About Labor Day

2010-09-03T09:16:00.001-06:00
The Labor Day weekend is upon us. Most of us have no idea that the real purpose of Labor Day is to recognize all of those whose work makes possible the benefits that we have in our lives. The workers who toil and who are seldom recognized are given the recognition that they are due, or they should be given. We lose sight of the real meaning of Labor Day and instead use the weekend to play and barbecue. This is normal. But also take a few moments and read Ralph Nader's words to remember the real intent of Labor Day. Then enjoy the fruits of their labor. Here are Mr. Nader's comments:

"What does Labor Day mean anymore other than another day off, another store sale and, in some cities, parades ever smaller and more devoid of passion for elevating the well-being of working people?

Philosopher/mechanic Matthew B. Crawford, in his recent, embracing book, Shop Craft as Soulcraft has a thoughtful consideration. He deflates the high-prestige workplace and makes the case for millions of Americans who still make and fix things with their hands.

“I want to suggest we can take a broader view of what a good job might consist of, and therefore what kind of education is important. We seem to have developed an educational monoculture, tied to a vision of what kind of work is valuable and important — everyone gets herded into a certain track where they end up working in an office, regardless of their natural bents.
But some people, including some who are very smart, would rather be learning to build things or fix things. Why not honor that? I think one reason we don't is that we've had this fantasy that we're going to somehow take leave of material reality and glide around in a pure information economy.”

Dr. Crawford has a PhD in political philosophy and is a mechanic who runs Shockoe Moto, an independent motorcycle repair shop in Richmond, Virginia. This gives him a deep sense of skill and broader perspective with which to evaluate these ways of satisfying one’s value of locally-rooted work. He contrasts these traits with the deadening assembly line and computer focused office work, both of which can be outsourced on the whims of a boss.

The Winsted, Connecticut Deck’s Fix-It Shop, operated joyously by an aunt and her nephew, until they retired last year, would have been exhibit A for Dr. Crawford. They fixed hundreds of different products brought to them by the townspeople. Their small shop was filled horizontally and vertically with items donated, about to be fixed or were unfixable by the manufacturers’ design. They could have charged a museum entrance fee for browsing if their shop had more room. Oh, what pride they regularly took in their work.

Electricians, plumbers, carpenters, painters, tailors, car and bike repairers, restorers of stoves, refrigerators, air conditioners, furnaces, locks, windows, sidewalks and streets enjoy a special kind of personal job gratification that is alien to the pre-designed, robotic labors of their friends who come home every day with clean clothes.

I’ve often wondered why the knowledge of tradespeople about the best, middling and worst brands of equipment, products and materials they work with or have to install (such as furnaces) isn’t collected by some magazine or consumer group. After all Angie’s List is surveying what their customers around the country think about the quality of the service.

Along with the repairers, we should recognize the inspectors—millions of them working for government agencies and companies to assure that health and safety laws are observed and quality controls are maintained. They are the meat and poultry inspectors, OSHA and Customs inspectors, sanitation inspectors of food stores and restaurants, motor vehicle inspectors, nuclear, chemical and aircraft inspectors, inspectors of laboratories, hospitals, clinics, building code inspectors and the insurance inspectors assigned to loss prevention duties.

The more conscientious of these inspectors are vulnerable to being over-ridden by their less committed superiors (such as meat inspectors for the U.S. Department of Agriculture) or harassed (inspectors for the U.S. Forest Service on corporately exploited federal timber land.) Sometimes inspectors so commit their conscience to their work that they become whistle-blowers about safety hazards or hanky panky, which too often invites career-ending retaliation.

How little attention we devote to those inspectors who are sentinels for the well-being of the American people. As a result, the courageous are not honored—if only to motivate the young to choose these careers. Moreover, a culture of corruption, that can erode their alertness or burdens them with weak standards to enforce, escapes exposure.

Then there are the near invisibles—the cleaners who do their thankless but essential jobs in hotels, airports, bus and train stations, office buildings, factories, schools, libraries, museums, streets, restaurants and homes.

Strange how we don’t react to cleaners—rarely thanking them or greeting them with salutations. Notice how airline passengers rush past them on the jetway while they wait to clean up the messes under severe time pressure. People who babble incessantly at airports or bus and train stations, while waiting for their departure, ignore the sweepers and dusters, automatically averting their eyes, and almost never acknowledging their work.

Taxi drivers are often tipped and thanked. How many hotel maids, who clean twelve or more soiled rooms and toilets a day, receive any thanks or tips by the guests? Cleaners are among the lowest paid workers, often handle not the safest of chemicals, and receive very little respect or recognition. Their lowly status has to affect their morale and maybe their performance.

Yet what would we do if these workers went on a general strike from the nursing homes to the garbage trucks? We’d feel it a lot more than if the overpaid Wall Street traders went on strike.

One day I was at BWI airport and went to the crowded men’s room. As I entered, the elderly cleaning man erupted in frustration. “I’m sick of this job,” he shouted to no one in particular. “Hour after hour I clean up, come back, see the crap, clean up some more. It never ends,” he wailed. The men who were wiping, flushing, washing, drying and zipping were stunned and silently shuffled out, as if he wasn’t there. I thanked him for his work and candor, calmed him down and gave him a gratuity. The others looked at me blankly as if I was dealing with a ghost they never see as a human being.

Cultures can be astonishing. The hands-on workers who harvest our food, clean up after us, repair our property, look out after our health and safety conditions and serve as nannies to our children receive few honors, status or anywhere near the compensation of those who gamble with our money, entertain us or drive us into wars they don’t fight themselves.

Shouldn’t Labor Day be a time to gather and contemplate such inverted values and celebrate those who toil without proper recognition?"

Thank you Mr. Nader for reminding us all!!

Reason and Truth--Where are They? Can They be Regained?

2010-08-28T10:50:00.003-06:00
When the US Constitution was ratified by the 13 original states in the union to be, the Bill of Rights was not included because of disagreements among the states. After our Constitution was drafted by 39 delegates representing the 13 colonies,now called states or commonwealths,much more was required to establish our Constitution as the foundation of a government "by, for, and of the people".

Today, most of us do not realize that the Constitution and particularly specific Amendments in first ten, referred to as the Bill of Rights, were added by Congress nearly 3 years after the Constitution was ratified.The 39 educated and pioneering founders and framers could not agree on adding a Bill of Rights because of strong differences of opinion. They left this task to the Congress after it first convened in 1789. Two years later Congress ratified the first ten amendments, our nation's Bill of Rights. The progression from the drafting of the Constitution until ratification and inclusion of the Bill of Rights took approximately 15 years from the Declaration of Independence to the final inclusion of the Bill of Rights. Our nation's foundation was created, and the world's first experiment of government based upon the peoples ability to exercise reason and truth was established.

The Federalist's who opposed the constitution, led by Alexander Hamilton, believed that such a form of governance was futile and unworkable because the general population was stupid and ignorant and could not be trusted nor were they capable to govern. Thomas Jefferson, who was neither a Federalist nor did he call himself an anti-Federalist, realized that this new form of government was premised upon the belief that reason and truth could prevail, but he admitted that this was an experiment. It was the first experiment of its kind in the recorded history of humankind on Earth.

Today, I believe that we are on the brink of destroying this grand experiment, known as democracy. We are no longer capable of exercising reason and truth and necessary according to Jefferson for establishing a true democracy. Can a significant fraction of our people reason or distinguish lies from truth when so many barely graduate from high school and many drop out and are essentially totally uneducated? Can we be expected to apply reason and truth to the solution of problems when even higher education has become degraded by overspecialization and trade school mentality?

The 39 original founders and the early Congress were problem solvers who were capable of applying reason and truth since they were all educated and very literate. If we had to start drafting a Constitution now it would take at least a century and probably be resolved by another Civil War. We are now a largely illiterate, unreasonable, and untruthful population of lemmings who grasp at lies as truth and have lost whatever reasoning power we once had as a nation. Where has reason and truth gone? Without these two vital cornerstones our Nation's grand experiment is doomed to collapse. Can we rebuild these essential cornerstones or is collapse inevitable?

Zippers and the World Unemployment Conundrum

2010-08-20T15:19:00.004-06:00
How many of us have used zippers? Safe to say that virtually every person over the age of one year has, at least in the USA. Today about 54 companies manufacture zippers world wide, and more than 80% of these producers are in China or Asia. The exact number of miles of zippers produced annually is anyone's guess, so here is mine. There are nearly six and one half billion humans on Earth and my guess is that at least 80% use zippers regularly. Considering the fact that zippers are commonly used for clothing, recreational equipment, luggage, briefcases, laptop computer cases, shoes,and special military equipment, etc.,etc. it seems plausible that each zipper user has an average of about 200 feet of zippers. Check this for yourself. If this estimate is reasonable the total feet of zippers in use in the world is nearly one trillion feet. Since zippers are used for things that wear out and disposed of we can expect a replacement rate of at least 50 feet per person per year. This is equivalent to about 250 billion feet of zippers produced annually by approximately 54 companies located mostly in China and Asia, or an average of about 5 billion feet of zippers per manufacturer.

At this juncture you will probably ask, "so what, or who cares"? Everyone of us should care. It is as obvious as the zipper on your jacket that zippers tell the story of unemployment if we consider the underlying meaning of the numbers presented above.

The modern zipper was invented by a Swedish inventor in 1913, who worked for an American company when patented in 1917. The machine that Gideon Sundback also invented to produce the zipper (it was called "separable fastener" at the time) was capable of making approximately 300 feet per 10 hour working day, or about 30 feet per hour. The machine required one operator full time. If the Sundback machine were used today to produce the annual consumption of 5 billion feet, at least 333 million machines and the same number of machine operators would be working on a 10-hour work day.This would amount to at least 2 shifts for the 140 million employable workers in the USA labor market, and no other production employment would be required to have full employment.

We all know that such is not reality. No more than an estimated 20,000 people produce the 250 billion feet of zippers (as they are now named) with automated machines that are capable of producing more than 400 feet per minute.Today's zipper machine is capable of producing in about 45 seconds what one Sundback machine could make in about10 hours. All the world's zipper demand can be satisfied by about 20,000 people and approximately 250-300 machines per factory operating about 16 hours a day.

This illustrative example shows that many fewer workers are needed to produce today's products in manifold quantities compared to production requirements not many years ago. Contemporary production technology and highly automated machines do the work that required several orders of magnitude more workers and machines in the past. This fact and the emergence of international work forces working for less pay than Americans has caused massive unemployment world wide and the USA is no longer immune.

Stuff needed or believed to be needed for daily life is itself finite and the worlds population of about six and one half billion people cannot consume more stuff than that reasonably required to live with life's necessities. The rich can and will indulge themselves with frivolous and unnecessary opulence, but their perceived needs will not even create a small fraction of additional work needed to assure full employment. Furthermore, low cost labor will draw investment for production, where highly automated machinery reduces the need for a skilled and educated workforce.

The world today is vastly different from the world when the "separable fastener" was first produced about 90 years ago. Then production was`labor intensive. Now production is automated machine intensive.We in once the world's leading manufacturing country have become just one relatively minor manufacturing country, having been displaced by countries such as China, Japan, South Korea and many other once tagged, "Third World Countries" who are now first class manufacturers of the world's consumer products of virtually every type, including zippers.

We must face the reality that gluttonous consumption cannot change this fact even if we were to gorge ourselves with wasteful and unnecessary products that we cannot afford. The world's population is capable of producing more manufactured goods than we can ever consume. Therein is the conundrum that politicians and all of us, ordinary citizens, refuse to face. What do we have to do to employ our citizens with fulfilling and adequate employment for life's basic necessities? Pretending that we can work ourselves out of the unemployment hole that will become deeper and deeper is a day dream. We must construct a new society based upon providing fundamental needs for people, not pipe dreams aimed at ever increasing consumption.

The industrial revolution of the 19th and 20th centuries is morphing into a new paradigm. As the world's population increases the disparity between needs and capacity to produce the needs will increase, probably exponentially as more automation is used and fewer workers are required.We are at a point in the history of mankind where full employment cannot be realized from the production and services of more and more tangible things and pleasures. The time has come to accept the reality and begin to adapt society to this monumental change that is upon us with dire consequences if we do not adapt soon.

Why Gary Bies Deserves our Votes for Wisconsin Assembly

2010-08-10T16:34:00.002-06:00
All Assembly members deciding to run again, and many Senate members will be up for reelection in November. We will be plastered with campaign ballyhoo tooting one candidate or another. Fortunately, here in Door County and part of Brown County (WI District 1) we have Assemblyman Gary Bies who deserves our consideration.The League of Conservation Voters lists Assemblyman Bies from Sister Bay in the League's Honor Role with an 86% score favoring environmental and public health issues. Read the scorecards and see for yourself. Congratulations, Mr. Bies. You have earned my vote as a resident of District 1, and I support your reelection whole hardheartedly. Thanks for protecting our States' environment with your Assembly votes.

Too Bad Plankton Don't Vote

2010-07-29T08:53:00.000-06:00
If intelligence grew on trees we would probably cut them down and burn them all. Intelligence is not the hallmark of today's social fabric. Many of us condemn intelligence as a disease akin to leprosy--certain to cause slow degradation and cause demise. Many of us elevate the anti-intelligentsia to pinnacle of trust and honor while demeaning those who exhibit some level of intelligent thought and action.

Sometimes, my belief is that we would all be better off if plankton could vote. Alternatively maybe we could vote for them by understanding how much we all depend upon plankton for our survival. If planton die away so will we, so it is in our best survival interests to listen to what they are saying or maybe what they are not saying. Scientific studies described in the title link to this blog proves that plankton are slowly diminishing in the oceans of the world. This fact, associated with the gradual warming of the Earth's temperature and increased atmospheric carbon dioxide means that live on Earth will become problematical unless the plankton recover and their abundance increases as carbon dioxide decreases and global warming diminishes.

I am not a betting person, but since many decision making politicians are virtually ignorant of physical sciences why should we expect them to understand and plan a way out of the eventual demise of the oceans' plankton? Maybe if they were plankton they would see the light and lead the plankton brigades to salvage the Earth's environment for future generations. My, such wishful thinking. Instead we can expect the onging thought process of many politicians to continue to shrink , alas to the eventual size of the mighty plankton. Maybe, then, the plankton of the world will unite and lead us all to a sustainable environment on Earth.

Public Trust or Public Betrayal

2010-06-27T11:54:00.003-06:00
Few of us are familiar with the Public Trust Doctrine and its significance to environmental reality. The broad meaning of this Doctrine that is part of governing regulations of all nations in the world is simple and direct. Earth's environment is a shared resource, and belongs to all life. In a narrower sense, the Public Trust Doctrine refers to the public use of all waterways including lake and ocean that are navigable and within the boundaries of a country.Every country protects or should protect their resources for the benefit of their nations people without causing degredation of the public environments. If every country did this our planet would achieve a sustainable environment. We have been unable or unwilling to accomplish this objective.

All ocean and ocean floor within 12 miles of the USA shorelines are part of the USA territorial boundaries, as it is for all nations. Our country has rights to all ocean floors and waters extending 200 miles from the shorelines as an Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ). EEZ's are recognized by world traties and are the exclusive economic use og the specific ocean-boardering country. International treaties have established territorial and economic zones for all countries bordering oceans.

The BP Oil Drilling platform that exploded and collapsed about 41 miles from the Louisiana shore was erected by the Swiss company, Transocean, Ltd., as part of a program approved by the Bush Cheney Administration in 2001. Hyundai Corp built the exploration rig, for Transocean who leased the rig to BP until 2013. The US Department of Interior, under the then Secretary of the Interior, Christine Todd Whitman, sold the original oil exploration leases to BP under 1982 laws and regulations that gave the authority to the US Mineral Management Service (MMS) within the Department of the Interior. The Energy Policy Act of 2005 further empowered the Mineral Management Service to regulate the permits that they issued. Thus began the incestuous relationship between the permitted and the regulator. The Department of the Interior was and is the issuer and regulator of all oil exploration and drilling in the US ocean Exclusive Economic Zone. The MMS name has recently become the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management, Regulation, and Enforcement after recent corruption allegations.

BP purchased drilling components and devices from Cameron Industries a Texas based corporation. One hundred and twenty six workers were on board the rig when an explosion ensued and eventually sunk, killing 11 workers. The rig that reached five stories above sea level, and was like an anchored floating Arc de Triomphe de l'Etoile in the Gulf of Mexico. Halliburton Corporation, now incorporated in Dubai, United arab Emirites was involved in the well cementing operations that failed along with the Cameron built fail-safe blow-out prevention devices that also failed.

How did BP obtain the right to drill and explore for oil within our country’s EEZ? The bigger question should be; “What corporations have permits for more than 4,000 oil platforms now in the Gulf of Mexico and why? When were the permits issued and to whom? What compensation has been paid to the USA for the leases that were sold and operated? What is done with all revenues received? Are these operations for the exclusive benefit of the USA? Where besides the Gulf of Mexico have oil platforms been permitted and where are they now operating? What corporations own these leases and platforms? What was paid for the ocean floor leases and when?

These questions and many other questions must be answered, and we the US public must be informed about the details of use of our country’s ocean EEZ’s extending as far as 200 miles off shore in the Atlantic, Pacific, and Gulf of Mexico oceans. Why are foreign owned corporations profiting from EEZ’s that are part of our country? Why do we allow them to profit and cause environmental disasters that poisons all fish in the very oceans that are part of the USA EEZ? Speak out, demand answers from your members of Congress, and keep agitating for answers until they become public.The blatant abuse of public waters and land must be stopped. The oceans and shores and the natural life that abounds must be preserved and protected and carefully used for sustainable purposes, not given to the highest bidder for trans-national corporate profits.

You Have to Read it to Believe IT!

2010-06-18T10:29:00.001-06:00
Rise up annd cheer! Take a swig of your favorite beer! Then vomit!!! But please read this link issued by the Republican Study Committee yesterday after the BP Conressional House inquiry concluded yesterday.If this doesn't make you regurgitate nothing ever will.

Row, row, row your boat merrily down the stream and away from all the muck and poison and death that BP unleashed in the Gulf of Mexico. Perhaps, you can tell the Republican benefactors of BP(campaign donations) to enjoy their great sense of indignity over President Obama's "fleecing" of BP by sending the Republican Study Committee a bottle of your "pure vomit" with a bit of crude oil and a drop of blood to show your support!

BP Oil Disaster and the Need to Renew Higher Education

2010-06-03T09:45:00.002-06:00
Another round of product recalls is flashing. Maytag issued recall notices for 1.7 million dishwashers that could ignite a fire (and electrocution?) because of defective electrical circuits. Toyota, Ford, and Honda and the other major auto manufacturers recalled millions of cars for various safety defects because of design problems and resultant accidents and deaths. Mattel has to recall toys for kids made from toxic lead. Graco and Simplicity baby cribs that have a design defect that caused baby injuries and some deaths issued recalls for over 200,000 units.The and many other design and product failures reflect upon the overspecialized nature of higher education today, particularly in the field of engineering.

The BP oil disaster stands out as the most publicized and disastrous product design blunder of the last 35 years, with the possible exception of the unanticipated collapse of the Twin Towers after aircraft impacts that should not have caused total collapse and the deaths of thousands of additional people. The Minnesota bridge collapse a few years ago that also caused many deaths and injuries, and the explosion a Challenger Space Shuttle in 1987 that killed seven astronauts were also definite engineering design failures. The latter occurred because of the failure of an improperly designed rubber seal made by Thiokol, a prominent aerospace company, whose engineers and management shoul have been able to avoid by simple testing.

These types of engineering design failures are just a few of those that have occurred since the 1970’s, and the incidence of similar deadly engineering design failures are likely to increase in the future as engineering education continues to become over specialized. Product design and engineering of products from autos to super high buildings to aircraft and oilrigs and including virtually all infrastructure necessary for modern life are becoming more prone to catastrophic and unpredictable failure because engineers who design the various things are themselves the products of a failing engineering education system.

Engineering is inherently an interdisciplinary holistic application of science and mathematics preferably for the benefit of humankind. Education must achieve this essential result. When I attended UCLA in the 1950’s and 60’s it did. No longer are engineers educated holistically anywhere in the USA. Aspiring engineers are educated as specialists that are becoming narrower each passing year such that the individual knowledge base becomes concentrated about a narrow slice of science and technology. The real world in which we all live requires holistic understanding of a broad range of knowledge, not a narrow slice. Engineering education produces just the opposite of what is necessary. Therefore, when engineers are employed by corporations, government agencies, or educational and research institutions they enter as specialists who are not educated to approach design and manufacturing of products with the broad base of knowledge required. They depend on other specialists who are also victims of overspecialization in other slices of engineering specialties. Designs conceived and developed by teams of specialized engineers may sound nifty, but it just cannot produce the intended safety and reliability of a product that is necessary. As the saying goes; “Too many cooks spoil the broth”. This is as applicable to excellent food preparation as it is to the excellent engineering of a product. The more complex the product the more critical it is to approach design and production with holistic engineering. Every aspect of the product; its use, the methods of manufacture and the end operation in service must be considered to achieve a result with the necessary service life and maintainability. This is virtually impossible if the overall engineering approach consists of inputs of a conglomeration of specialists who do not share a common knowledge base or technical understanding.

Engineering requires the amalgamation of many scientific and mathematical understandings including materials and their physical and chemical properties, environmental influences, structural design and properties of structures, welding and joining technology, forming and shaping technology, and most importantly the influence of manufacturing processes on material properties including fracture resistance, corrosion resistance, and imbedded defects among some of the more salient. Engineering education has become so overly specialized that even the specialists are often unable to understand one another. How could a team of such specialist expect to finalize a design that has the necessary attributes and safety? The likelihood is remote. Even when engineering is accomplished holistically with individuals trained and educated so as to speak in common terms and relate to real engineering needs it is impossible to assure absolute safety of any product or to assure avoidance of premature failure. Engineering at its’ very best is still no more than an attempt to use materials having properties that are not always predictable for purposes that are subject to unexpected conditions and use. Therefore, unanticipated failures are inevitable.

The worst outcome of a failure must always be a prime consideration and the decider for the implementation of any design, and every engineering design must be subject to detailed down side failure analysis with this in mind. Engineering education today produces a schizophrenic approach to product development, design, manufacture, and end use where engineering responsibility is so badly fragmented that the resultant products are ones that no one is responsible for and that everyone is at fault for if catastrophic failure occurs. Management ultimately must shoulder the greatest share of responsibility for premature failure of any engineered product since management is responsible for hiring, and organizing their engineering departments and establishing engineering budgets and functions. Corporate management hires inadequately educated engineers because they do not know any better. Most corporate executives are overly specialized as MBA’s, lawyers, accountants, or other narrow specialty fields as well as the engineers that they hire. Management is itself often unqualified to tell academic institutions that they failing to train and educate holistic engineers.

Unfortunately, necessary improvement in the education of engineers will be very difficult and extremely slow to accomplish because universities have gradually become institutions where specialists teach future specialists. Narrow specialist train more and more narrow specialists. Academic institutions foster specialization and invariably award and promote individual specialists for excellence in their narrow field of research and publication. When students have no other option for their education, who is at fault when engineering failures in the real world occur as the BP disaster brings home dramatically. Engineering education in the USA, and most other educational disciplines as well, are overspecialized to the detriment of those presumably educated, and to our country’s detriment at large. We must not continue to produce narrow specialists after four or more years of higher education. Time is late, but holistic education in engineering and all other disciplines is more essential than ever for survival in the 21st century and beyond.

What a Difference a Day plus 43 Days Makes

2010-06-01T19:11:00.000-06:00
Somewhat more than 43 days ago, the Republican far right under the leadership of Sarah P and her Tea Party stalwarts agitated our country. They and essentially all of the Southern states Republicans and every Republican in the US Congress were advocating refusal of economic stimulus money to aid their states economic recovery by stimulating more employment. From Florida to Texas along the Gulf of Mexico shores, the Republican state leaders were virtually universally condemning the Obama administration for their “dangerous stimulus legislation” that every Congressional Republican except one, voted against along, with about 35 Southern State Democrat members of the House of Representatives. The one Republican Congressman was from Louisiana, the state that has suffered the most so far because of the ongoing oil surge fron the failed deep sea BP well, and who voted with the Democratic majority. The stimulus bill passed much to the dismay and chagrin of most Republicans and Sarah P and her Ultra Right Tea Party. "Government Handouts" as the Republicans called the stimulus money in their calmer moments and "Government Tyranny" when they really let out their opposition to their imagined source of all evil: President Obama and the Democratic Party.

Governor Perry from Texas even advocated secession from the Union and Sarah P roared approval as Rush Limbaugh, the actual spokesperson for the Republican Party, condemned the Obama administration with nearly every vile word and description imaginable. The Southern States were also an echo chamber in which the words “Drill Baby, Drill” represented a sweet lullaby that kept Sarah P, Limbaugh, and all Republicans harmonizing and jubilantly taunting opposing Democrats and most environmentalists. The entire Republican was overjoyed about the Cheney-Bush legacy that secretly made agreements allowing oil companies to drill for oil wherever it might exist including the deep seas in the Gulf of Mexico. They were again cheering mutely when President Obama seemed to be going along with the Cheney-Bush oil drilling plans. The objections of environmentalist were subject to derision and rejection by almost all Republicans in Congress, by Republicans in state legislative bodies, and Republican Governors’ as well as many Democrats from Southern Stares who expected huge economic windfalls. How things have changed.

The one time hit song, “ What a Difference a Day Makes” originally written by a Mexican composer in 1934 and turned into a English translation hit song in 1944 hits the bull’s-eye pertaining to the changing attitudes about government subsidies for state aid. Every Governor in the Southern states who in a day plus 43 days were completely absorbed by opposition to virtually any government stimulus money is now begging for financial help and government intervention. They now are asking for to help those who are unemployed because of the BP oil disaster and the likely permanent and likely to become a very long-term economic and environmental catastrophe in their states and our country at large. The Tea Party has clammed up about federal government “unwanted” assistance just as the dead clams in the toxic marshlands have shut and died. The clams and all other sea life, along with the fishermen and fisherwomen who as private entrepreneurs are now dying literally and figuratively. Those who are dependant upon what the uncontaminated ocean water, wetlands, and marshes have provided are now without employment and income because the natural environment is dying due to toxic oil.

Have you heard a single Republican official anywhere, but particularly from the southeastern states that boarder the Gulf of Mexico, admit that they were wrong about criticizing the Obama administration concerning the Democratic Party stimulus plan? Without apology or recanting their opposition, they now are begging for Federal Government help for the people of their states’ survival through this manmade environmental and economic disaster. They rightly ask for the very help they deplored before this disaster. Will they ever understand their own shortsightedness and hateful opposition to an essential purpose of our Federal Government? I think not.

Nonetheless, the Republican and Tea Party tune has mellowed a bit as their needs for urgent help from our Federal Government expands. Their song has changed. “What a Difference a Day Makes”, or better said in the original 1934 Spanish lyrics by a Mexican composer, “Cuando Vuelva A Tu Lado” that is much more appropriate for this man made disaster in the Gulf of Mexico that does not care about boundaries or nationality.“Cuando Vuelva A Tu Lado” neighbors, y hasta luego.

The Possible Pearl in the Toxic Oil Contaminated Shores of the Gulf of Mexico

2010-05-29T15:45:00.001-06:00
I graduated from John Marshall High School in Los Angeles in 1949, and was then accepted to UCLA College of Engineering in Los Angeles, when university education was affordable even for students who worked and paid their way as I did (earning about $1 per hour). Upon becoming an undergrad, and later a graduate student in the 1950's, I along with about 100 College of Engineering freshman students were extremely fortunate. We entered the College of engineering to be stewarded by the Dean of the College of Engineering, Llewellyn K. Boelter. I also had the great fortune to meet and have as a mentor and dear friend, Professor Alan E. Flanigan. Some comments about these two educators follow to provide some background in the wake of the oil rig failure and relaes of many millions of gallons of toxic oil that is now endangering all life as the toxins contaminate water and land. You will understand the connection if you read on.

Llewellyn Michael Kraus Boelter was born in Winona, Minnesota, on August 7, 1898. In 1917 he received the Baccalaureate degree from the College of Mechanics of the University of California at Berkeley. He continued his studies and in 1918 was awarded the degree Master of Science in Electrical Engineering. His vision of engineering as began to shape. Dean Boelter began his long career in teaching with his appointment in 1919 as Instructor in Electrical Engineering, and his initial interest in the development of the heat-power laboratory and the upgrading of instruction in the field of internal-combustion engines. Both were hands on engineering that required experimental lab work to verify designs and actual mechanisms. In 1923, he was advanced to Assistant Professor of Experimental Engineering in the Department of Mechanical Engineering, and in 1927 to Associate Professor of Mechanical Engineering, and in 1934 to a Full Professorship. Each step entailed multiple disciplines of science, and experimental verification of his ideas.

He became the Associate Dean of Engineering at UC Berkeley in 1943, and was selected to lead, organize, and implement the College of Engineering at the University of California at Los Angeles, which began under his Deanship in 1944. He put his ideas on engineering into practice and established a College of Engineering without specialties. His purpose was to instill in his students the idea that scientific disciplines applied in engineering are inseparable. Basic knowledge derived from sciences is applied for practical purposes for engineering. He believed that engineering must not be divided into separate academic fields that bear no relationship to the real holistic world. Based upon this strongly held belief, upon establishing the new College of Engineering at UCLA, he abolished all specialized engineering departments and unified an interdisciplinary educational approach that integrated all engineering disciplines into one field: Engineering. UCLA stood virtually by itself in the education of engineers. A few Engineering Colleges instituted similar approaches, but the march to specialization and compartmentalization of engineering education prevailed. This is a basic cause of the Gulf of Mexico oilrig failure and the consequences of the disaster that follow.

Boelter and his hand picked faculty abolished the use of professorial titles and addressed each other as mister (at that time all faculty were male) or by their last names in a collegial manner. Typical academic formality was absent. Interdisciplinary education was stressed and all areas of science and mathematics essential to tackle real-life engineering problems and needs were emphasized. Courses in humanities and economics as well as history and philosophy were required. Engineering today is rarely taught using the interdisciplinary and unified Boelter method, and engineering education has become instead a highly specialized fragmentation of scientific disciplines manipulated by computer programming to create a world of “virtual engineering” that has less to do with realty and more to do with computer simulation. Thus, the failure of the Gulf oilrig and blowout preventer took place, and continues to poison the planet that all animal and plant life and we inhabit. Under Boelter’s leadership if implemented, this catastrophe would not have happened. Future similar man made catastrophes are inevitable if we fail to learn essential lessons from this disaster that require fundamental changes in engineering education and engineering management as`well.

All freshmen first met Dean Boelter when he addressed the new undergraduate class, as he did annually. A key part of his words of guidance always included the following: "Education proposes to rescue men from slavery and make them free, in case they want to be fre e. It proposes in the second place to make them free from the bondage of prejudice, routine, and the rule of thumb. A free man is a man who can initiate; who has sufficient control over his walks and ways to do as his reason and outlook tell him is right and best. A man who acts on prejudice, or drives his wagon in any other rut, is a slave, no matter how much he may pride himself on his prejudices and loyal adherences". He was quoting Benjamin Ide Wheeler who was the President of the University of California (Berkley was the only campus then) from 1899-1919. Boelter stated his deep belief in President Wheeler's definition of a university “The whole purpose of the university is to provide men with the means of seeing into things themselves, so that they shall not be dependent, but independent. Education must never be by rule of thumb...education is a path to independence and individual responsibility for everything one does". Dean Boelter instilled a sense of values and responsibility in all students who attended UCLA College of Engineering during his 22 years as Dean, and I consider myself very fortunate to have been an undergraduate and graduate student there during that period.

Another faculty member who influenced me greatly was Alan E. Flanigan, Professor of Engineering, who was my principle guide both as a teacher and as a human. He taught me so much about engineering as a discipline wherein science, math, and analysis and testing is necessary to achieve some practical purpose for the benefit, not harm, of people. Alan Flanigan imbued me with the understanding that the disciplines of engineering are ultimately rely upon empirical testing and the outcome of such testing. Engineering is not the theoretical use of scientific principles, but rather the application of scientific principles to the design and construction of devices and things that are proven safe and reliable by means of actual physical tests. Experimental testing is the essence of engineering, and cannot be ignored or excluded because of some theoretical reason or postulation. Under Alan Flanigan's guidance, I was consistently reminded of the basic requirement for all engineering as displayed by a prominent sign in his office that was evident upon entering his office: "One test is worth a thousand expert opinions."

Engineering cannot me accomplished without testing to avoid unanticipated failures of structures or devices. This essential aspect of engineering was basic at UCLA at the time I was a student. Laboratory and testing experiences requiring individual use of a wide variety of laboratory equipment was a mandatory part of the engineering curriculum. These included X-ray equipment, 500 ton compression/tension testing machines, materials property testing and evaluations, electrical circuits and measurements, chemical analysis and testing , land surveying, and other lab apparatus to teach students that engineering requires physical testing and assumptions must be tested before they are allowed to be implemented. These lab classes were team projects where a team of four students actually set up and operated the testing equipment and individual reports were submitted analyzing the results and presenting conclusions. Such labs were part of most courses.

Sciences were the underpinning of engineering and testing was the required validation of all engineering developments. No exceptions allowed regardless of the mathematical formulae and scientific tools that were used to aid in the development. Real testing would tell whether the engineering result was what you intended or not

That was engineering as it was taught at UCLA from about 1949 through 1966 when Dean Boelter was in charge, and faculty like Alan Flanigan were in the trenches teaching young students the art of engineering. That art is the blend of science, math, and their application to the world of human invention and physical things that are man made. The art of engineering is absent if testing is omitted or ignored. Unfortunately testing is largely ignored today in Engineering Colleges at most universities because the computer has replaced expensive a space intensive laboratory testing equipment, and because our educational system produces theoreticians who have been taught that the computer when programmed properly is a deity that cannot produce an incorrect solution to any problem. Nothing can be more false. Engineering has become a computer art or technological game, and the fundamental requirement of testing is becoming extinct. Today’s engineering graduates from even the most prestigious universities are mainly computer trained specialists in highly specialized engineering fields rather than generalized holistic engineers who understood the practice of the real art of engineering as taught at UCLA under Dean Boelter and with faculty like Alan Flanigan.

Now let us relate of this to the failure of the gulf oil rig. The failure and the death of eleven workers and injuries of many others would not have occurred if true engineering had been applied. The resultant toxic contamination of millions (or possibly billions) of cubic feet of ocean water, the toxic contamination of millions (or billions) of acres of wetlands and beaches, and the deaths of untold numbers of bird and sea life would have been avoided if real engineering were applied. The loss of employment in the fishing industry, and the eventual toxic and carcinogenic contamination of drinking water (as the ingress into groundwater aquifers occurs) was avoidable and would not have occurred if engineers had done engineering as was taught a long time ago at UCLA.

Firstly, engineers must make the basic decisions concerning safety of any device or structure, not business executives or corporate CEO's. A good engineering CEO would not have made the decision to drill in deep ocean water. Such a decision must be made after complete system testing is conducted, under conditions that are actually duplicative of the deepwater mechanisms and ocean bottom conditions. Large laboratory pressure vessels and massive apparatus are necessary, and I bet my bottom dollar that the essential testing apparatus was not even considered by the CEO's running the show. Engineers involved should have said no to the entire project without testing of the mechanisms and control systems intended to stop a leak once one started. The testing of mechanism and control systems if conducted under truly simulative conditions and replicated numerous times would have proven their inadequacy and unreliability. Engineers who were independent thinkers and educated as Boelter and Flanigan taught engineering would have stopped the work and refused to participate in untested technology that could cause disastrous consequences if failure of one or more of the untested mechanisms or structures occurred. Furthermore, they would have informed regulators of the shortcomings and the responsible regulators should have denied the permit to drill the well. If this indeed took place, and was ignored, then criminal actions not just punitive civil damages must be initiated against all those who collaborated in this debacle. However, deliberate intent was not probable as more likely pure incompetence and stupidity grounded in motivating greed were more likely the cause of this catastrophe.

There is a lesson that should result from the deadly man made disaster that will have consequences for decades to come as possibly billions of cubic feet of underwater plumes of contaminated ocean water spreads and poisons everything that comes into contact. The environmental and societal harm is incalculable, and never be fully remediated. The damage done “is”, and will worsen even if the gushers of oil soon stop. This disaster occurred because the discipline of engineering was` prostituted by the blind greed of corporate purpose, and burecratic incompetency. Engineers working for the corporations are responsible, and the regulators who failed to grasp what engineering testing is all about are responsible. The incompetency of government agencies and politicians who suffer from the delusion that science is exact. Engineering is not science but rather the application of science to obtain approximate solutions and developments. Empirical testing must always occur before implementation of any engineering technology when the consequences of failure are so immensely damaging. Our educational system that should produce real engineers is now producing computer specialists in narrow engineering fields. Today's engineers in large engineering petrochemical and construction companies are generally under the thumb of administrators and executives who seek instantaneous profit and juicy bonuses. Inadequately trained engineers have become lackeys of corporate executives. They are incapable or reluctant to stop projects when such actions would jeopardize their own careers.

We can expect many more failures of man made engineering monstrosities like that of the deep water oil rig in the Gulf that will unleash even greater damage and environmental disasters, unless real engineering and regulatory oversight is applied. This is not a matter for politicians who are influence by lobbyists’ dollar contributions, just as under-educated engineers are paid off by corporate bonuses. Such disasters, spurred on by greed and the unbridled quest for money, without consideration of the probable system failure, is a symptom of a technical shortfall that must cease. Dean Boelter, Alan Flanigan, and Benjamin Ide Wheeler words of wisdom can lead the way if we are awakened by their words and deeds and remake engineering to benefit humankind. Engineers must take responsibility for their actions and be accountable for their gross incompetency just as CEO’s and political leaders for their stupidity, greed or deliberate avoidance of the real world of technology and the potential disasters that always lurk. Ultimately, properly educated and trained engineers and societal leaders who put life and environmental sustenance, as top priorities, are essential for all humanity. If this lesson is the hidden jewel from the manmade gulf oil disaster, we may benefit after all. Let us all help discover the pearl in the oyster shell emblematic of the good derived from this disaster in the sea and amongst the marshlands of Louisiana and the sandy shores of the Gulf of Mexico. The pearl is there if we learn the lessons.

Our Constitution--Slip, Sliding, Gone----OR?

2010-05-11T10:44:00.004-06:00
Have you as a child played with forbidden fruit? Perhaps you made lead toy soldiers that are now forbidden. Maybe you played with mercury and created Santa Claus whiskers with aluminum foil. This is also a no,no! Just maybe you spoke on the street corner and claimed you were going to be the next president of the USA. If so you would continue to blab and hardly a soul would listen to you. Maybe you would be taken to a looney bin.

Today, right wing Democrats and Republicans will probably jump up and down and shower you with accolades of support, if you insist that our Constitution and Bill of Rights and all amendments are ill conceived and require rewriting or elimination to permit all actions to kill suspected terrorists,round up suspected illegal aliens, and incarcerate anyone else who our government believes is a threat. Wow, what is forbidden fruit today?

Sadly, our Constitution is under attack even by those who are sworn to uphold the the very same Constitution they want to ignore or abandon. I suggest that each of you read our Constitution and all amendments to it and ask yourself what the words mean. An excellent book on the subject, "Understanding the Ideas and Ideals of the Constitution--We Hold These Truths", by Mortimer Adler, is brief, to the point, and very readable. Read it and think as you do. Dig in as a citizen of of this country and ask what each word means to you.

Remember our Constitution and Bill of Rights was written and enacted by individuals from all walks of life who wanted to break free from the British Monarchy and create an independent country. Most of the 39 people who were involved in its development, over 200 years ago, were educated by reading classic literature. Few of us do that today. The ubiquitous computer, iTouch, iPhone, and 3G and 4G mobile devices continually mesmerize hundreds of millions of semi-illiterate people who have never read the Constitution, and who further care less as to what it says or means. Everyone is a critic, but few have intelligently read our Constitution and digested its significance. Our educational system is geared for producing quasi-literate people who can't understand the words that our founders wrote. Instead we have become lemmings of the right or left, willing to follow scatterbrained leaders who have little sense of history or our Constitution.

As our Constitution gradually slips away under the belief that too much protection of individual liberty is itself evil we will see more decay and outright abandonment of our Constitution and morph into a Orwellian nation where Big Brother is always checking our every action and words! We are gaining on that eventuallity daily so hold on to your seats as our Constitution slips, slides, and dissappears before our very eyes. Better to be blindfolded, deaf, and speechless since we essentially act that way even if were not.

We often are irrationally spooked by ghosts and allow reality to be buried beneath the words and actions of fools who have never read a word of our Constitution, or if they have ignore every word they have read. Enjoy our slide into anarchy or worse as we tumble into the 21st century helter skelter and gleeful in our ignorance all the way. Enjoy your 3G and 4G devices as we become more ignorant of the real meaning of liberty and our Constitution. Continue to be distracted by B.S. on the tube and elsewhere, and gobble up all froth as the protection of our Constitutional rights evaporate.

Today we are told by our President, Attorney General, and many members of Congress, as well as aspirants to elected office, that our Constitution is basically no good. The Bill of Rights are particularly cited as being harmful and inadequate.

The First Amendment has been rattled by the Supreme Court after they made a decision that gave rights to corporations that were intended for the protection of individual's freedom of speech. Now, a corporation that spends millions of dollars lobbying Congress for legislative hand outs can also spend any amount of money , under the guise of free speeh, to influence the outcome of an election or a favored piece of legislation. All this is now legallized by the recent Supreme Court decision. Do the Justices of the Supreme Court really comprehend our heritage?

President Obama has ordered and/or allowed secret agents to execute individuals suspected to be terrorist agents/masterminds without trial. Never mind that our Constitution and many amendments assume individuals are innocent until proven guilty in a court of law. Members of the Senate and House of Representative also support these secret actions by saying or doing nothing or by encouraging even more of the same.

Furthermore, the Congress is considering junking the Sixth and Fourteenth Amendments because they get in the way of executive actions to incarcerate or kill individuals or subject them to questioning without access to a lawyer. Better to eliminate some Constitutional rights than let a possible bad guy hurt us.

Piece by piece our Constitution is decaying such that some day in the near future we will have the form of Government and lemming population that our Founding Fathers hoped to avoid.

The relevance of our Constitution is becoming lost in this era of political showmanship and ignorance, fear mongering, blatant lies, and corporate influence/corruption. If we do not awaken soon our Constitution will evaporate under the swelling tide of irrational blame and fear of Government "By, of, and for the people"--we are the Government!. "We the people" are responsible for intelligent and reasoned action to assure the preservation of our Constitution, or alternatively its ultimate demise if we so allow. Do you care? If so speak out and tell your elected political leaders what you think. But first read our Constitution and analyse what it means to you and your family. Then speak out and demand that our basic Constitutional rights as individuals must be preserved. If you elect to say or do nothing enjoy your future under Orwell's vision. Big Brother will be there with you assuring that you only know what, and act only according to Big Brother's orders.

Political and Engineering Incompetency, and Catastrophic Disasters Like the Gulf Coast Oil Rig Failure

2010-05-01T13:12:00.000-06:00
In every state in the USA and in our Federal Government politicians make or do not make decisions about matters that they are generally unqualified to make any decision. Among these topics are physical science, engineering in general, environment, and biological sciences (including the practice of medical treatments of all kinds). The recent oilrig disaster in the Gulf of Mexico is an example of political incompetency that resulted in allowing deep sea drilling for oil to begin with. The technology involved in designing, site selection, and erecting oilrigs in the ocean is a field that virtually only a handful of legislatures at any level of state or federal governments know a gnat’s ass about. Yet, it is through political decisions that rigs are built that will inevitably fail and nothing within the technical practices of engineering can prevent the eventual failure of all deep-sea oilrigs. Furthermore, any engineered structure, device, plant, etc. has a finite life span and the possibility of a premature failure and resulting unexpected consequences is always present and will always be lurking.

Bridges collapse, auto control systems fail, propane tanks explode, water mains brake, gas lines rupture, buildings collapse, replacement hip and knee joints fail, tires blow up, bicycle frames brake, etc. The list is nearly infinite. The point is simple. Engineering is an imperfect art and application of sciences, and always will be since the interactions of any engineered product and the user and the environment within which the item is used are not quantifiable. Failure at some juncture in use will take place. Every engineer should know this reality. Many do not since the present education of engineers has become mainly a computer game. Engineers, scientists, and technicians use convenient computer programs embedded with complex equations, that they the engineers themselves do not fully understand, to solve complex problems of structural or device design. They are incapable of using the mind's eye training of engineers that has fallen by the wayside. Engineering requires an understanding of the interaction of many independent variables for which, there are no precise arithmetic equations. Hence, critical engineering judgment is necessary and present over specialized engineers and scientists are inadequately educated and experience to use their mind’s eye. This has become a progressively worsening problem. Engineers and scientists must recognize that their analyses and designs are simply estimates based upon imperfect knowledge and data. This fact is obvious to most marketers of engineered products whose product warranties limit their responsibility for failure beyond a certain period of use. However, we the public and the politicians who we elect to make decisions that are beyond their scope seem to believe differently. The common belief, based upon the claims of surprise or disbelief, is that no durable engineered products should fail. Automobiles, bridges, roadways, buildings, nuclear bombs, nuclear plant power plants, water mains, oil rigs, etc., once built are expected to last forever and/or if failure is imminent we will be tipped off in advance and avoid an unexpected consequence of the failure when it does occur. Such beliefs and expectations are pure fantasy. All engineered structures will fail and the exact moment of failure is not predictable and the consequences of failure will range from insignificant to catastrophic dependent upon the precise nature of the failure, the type of structure, and the surrounding habitation and environmental situation.

Many examples of unexpected failures of engineered plants and structures proves that the unexpected dose and will happen. The explosion at a chemical pesticide plant and release of deadly gaseous toxins in Bhopal, India over 25 years killed over 20,000 people is an example of the deadly consequences of an engineering failure. More recently, the coalmine explosion in West Virginia showed how imperfect engineering is as related to mine design and safety. The 2008 dam failure in the TVA area of Tennessee buried a nearby town with toxic coal sludge that caused severe environmental damage and long term ground water contamination with carcinogenic chemicals. The 2008 bridge failure in Minnesota that killed 13 and injured 100 people is another example of a recent unexpected failure of an engineered structure These types of unpredicted failures of engineered structures have been occurring throughout the history of engineering. Prior to and during WW II the USA Navy purchased about 4,700 Liberty Ships from about 1930 to 1942 that were used in combat on the high seas. These ships were based upon engineering know how and design of maritime vessels. Unpredictably, nearly 2,700 of these ships sunk or became useless in service because of catastrophic fractures of the welded structure often causing complete rupture of the vessel into two sections. Many hundreds of sailors perished and vital war ships were lost. In 1919 in Boston, a welded steel molasses tank holding thousands of gallons suddenly ruptured and about 21 drowned and 150 injured by the unexpected tank failure. These examples are but a few of the hundreds of thousands of engineered structures and devices that unexpectedly failed causing fatalities and sometimes severe environmental degradation. The fact that unexpected failures of major engineered structures, plants, and devices are inevitable and unpredictable is undisputable.

The populace at large, views the field of engineering as a political domain wherein all politicians are experts, and people like the new political leader, Sarah Palin have peppered the news ways with the slogan, "Drill Baby Drill". Many Republican and Democratic legislators who know nothing about engineering but pass themselves off as experts seem to know what is best technically and environmentally. Even President Obama spoke out for renewed deep sea drilling just before the recent failure of a BP oilrig in the gulf occurred and should dampen the enthusiasm for immediate drilling in the seas of US coastlines. I hope that he will rescind the approval and weigh the benefit of a small temporary output in oil production as not worth the environmental damage caused by inevitable failures of these types of structures. The fortuitous timing of this unfortunate and deadly failure may result in greater good if future deep-sea explorations are forever illegal near all of our nation’s coastal shores and other environmentally fragile areas. I hope that the politicians will stop making decisions that they are unqualified to make. They must give the responsibility for decision making to impartial technical and environmental people who understand the basics of engineering, science, and structures to make sound judgments based upon realistic engineering, scientific, and environmental and human/life risk analyses. We must not permit totally unqualified elected politicians make decisions based upon politics, expediency, or corporate profits. We have only ourselves to blame and be responsible if we do not insist on this essential change in government policy.

America's and Arizona's Lapse of Memory About the Causes of WW II

2010-04-29T12:21:00.001-06:00
The actions of the Arizona government to gather up suspected illegal immigrants (code for primarily Mexican nationals who entered the US illegally and those of Mexican heritage who are related to them) unfortunately demonstrates that Arizona government's memory of WW II, its origins, and consequences, have been forgotten (if ever consciously known). Remember, Nazi Germany under Hitler prior to WW II took action against Jews, homosexuals, and others opposed to the Nazis, and tagged them as undesirables. This soon culminated in the imprisonment and elimination of millions of innocent "undesirable" people throughout Europe, and then engulfed the world in World War II.

We fought WW II along with an alliance of European and Western countries and defeated the Nazi military combine of Germany, Italy, and Japan and their plans to control the world. Nearly two million of our military draftees and volunteers and our ally combatants and civilians died and millions more were wounded and disabled in combat to stop the Nazi plans to rule the world. All this began because one nation under one crazed leader decided to terrorize innocent people, making them register, and then imprisoning them if they were classified as "undesirables". Subsequently, the gas chambers became their fate, or gradual starvation and slave labor ensued. Few survived. Nearly 6 million innocent civilian "undesirable" men, women and children were liquidated by the Nazi hate and kill machines in addition to the millions of military allies who died and were wounded in combat. All this ensued because Nazi Germany began a policy of "eliminating undesirable people".

The actions by the Arizona legislature and governor in enacting a law to gather up individuals at will if they seem to police as "reasonably suspicious and possible illegal aliens" is a step, albeit small,that parallels what the Nazi movement was, and still is about as the "Neo Nazi" movement. I believe that Arizona government has joined this Neo Nazi movement, probably unconsciously and unwittingly, and has given legitimacy to the Neo Nazi movement that would, if enabled, repeat the actions that caused WWI II, and again eliminate those people who are labeled by them as "undesirable".

Recent history has apparently been totally ignored by Arizona politicians as they attempt to gain political advantageous and/or solve a real immigration problem. Their new law is an unwitting and probably unconscious attempt to lead us down a Neo Nazi pathway and must be resisted in the courts before it gets out of control and inflames our country and the world with hate and Nazi-like actions against individuals believed by them to be "undesirable". Our country is already being stirred up by the far right members of the Republican Party and "Tea Party" who seems to advocate similar actions. This boiling pot of hate can do no good, and will if allowed to simmer will lead to virulent and unanticipated consequences.

A coordinated "racist, homosexual, and other undesirable people elimination action" must never be allowed to occur again. Wake up Arizonians and Americans. Remember WW II and its causes, and stop the hate and racial politics now before it further infects and damages our country and the world.

"InciviliTEAS" or the United States of America?

2010-04-24T12:39:00.001-06:00
From the mouths of right wingers including members of Congress, TV talking heads, radio talk show hosts, and the likes of Sarah Palin, Micheal Baronne, Mark Williams and the Tea Party members at large we are barraged with near-seditious slanders of our President and Federal Government. If this were to have occurred during WW II those uttering the virulence and inciting, inflammatory words would probably have been incarcerated for sedition or treason. But, instead President Obama and our Federal government shrugs and allow the hate to spew out as mere "inciviliTEAS" that are allowed under the First Amendment of our Constitution. A recent poll by the NY Times suggests that the Tea Party and their supporters, that comprises about 18% of the USA population (approximately 55 million people), are mainly educated, older, and wealthier Republican citizens who are seemingly dissatisfied with their economic status and want even more possessions to gloat over. Their tactics consist of carrying placards that depict our President as a shadow Hitlerian dictator and Communist combined. Other Tea Party members claim that our President is a foreign disciple-born agent attempting to destroy democracy. Michael Barrone compared President Obama to Al Capone, while Congresswomen Bachman from Minnesota says that President Obama may be "anti-American".

Seems to me that the right wing Tea Party that has captured the Republican Party (or vise versa) and is promoting dissent and the destruction of our government under President Obama's administration (that was elected by democratic vote). They, The Republican Tea Party, are opposed to anything and everything that the Democrats and President Obama proposes regardless of the benifits bestowed upon the American people. Their total and blind opposition creates a war-like resistance that resmbles a seperate country battling the USA for dominance. The Republican Tea Party apparently cannot oppose policies without vitriolic and hateful actions and words. They are caught in a spiral of self-destruction that will ensnare innocent bystanders just as in real war. Why can't the political leaders of the Republican Tea Party recognize their acts and words for what they are--blind allegianace to emotionally ignited slogans that serves only one purpose? That purpose is to cause fear and hate among the citizens of our country that is entwined with racial bigotry and whie supeiority to foster their control of our goverbment.

If our country were originally founded under such hysteria the result would have been another monarchy or a dictatorsip instead of the creation of the world's first Constitutional Republic. For more than two and one half centuries our form of government has become the model for most third world countries and has become the basis of governments in the very axis countries that we helped defeat in WW II. Yet, the Republican Tea Party would rather destroy our Democratic Constitutional Republic that allows every citizen a vote, and would instead gut the very democracy that they pretend to defend. Bigotry and white superiority has never been the foundation for democracy any more than bigotry and black superiority. Genocide in Africa or Nazi Germany is genocide. If the Republican Tea Party is now marching along the path that other genocidal political parties have marched they must be stopped now.If they are not consciuosly so doing they must be awakened and stop themselves.

If the recent action that Arizona took to stop illegal immigration in Arizona is an example of Republican Tea Party actions to eliminate "undesireables" we are beginning on the same path that the Nazis started when they began to eliminate "undesireables" in Germany and then attempted to obliterate all jews and others opposing Hitler. That ignited WW II. A very small hate-motivated Nazi movement soon engulfed the world and resulted in the most destructive war in the history of the world. The seeds of hate spread from Nazi Germany who allied with other nations that created the German, Italian, and Japanese alliance that attempted to control the world. Our country along with embatteled European countries and China soon recognized the need to coloborate and stop the Nazi movement. The allies prevailed and our form of government survived and spread to those nations that were defeated. We helped the former enemies recover so that our world might avoid another catashrophic world war. So far WW, III has been avoided though world geo-political instabilities are plentiful and precarious. Some of the dangers are beyond our control or influence, while others can be mediated or stopped and the dangers reduced. The Republica Tea Party represents an inciteful danger now, but can erupt and become an unquechable fuse if not stopped soon. The leaders of the Republican Tea Party must stop their volatile rhetotic and return to sensible dialogue if we are to avoid a movement that could ignite WW III just as the seemingly "insignificant incivilities" in Hitler's Nazi Germany spurred the hate-driven horrors of WW II. Will the Reublican Tea Part stop their "inciviliTeas" or continue to march along the path of hate-driven rhetoric and violence? Our country's future and world's democracy is at stake. The outcome is uncertain but there is time to stop the movement to self destruction and return to the Constitutional Republic that are Founders established, based upon rational dialogue and compromise that unified the original 13 Colonies and created the United States of America. We showed the world what a democratic country was capable of in the last presidential election. Let's show them again how a democratic republic can function without hateful rhetoric and incitement of violence.

Tea for Who?

2010-04-22T10:27:00.001-06:00
Today we have a very vocal minority in our country who seem to believe that they are the true believers in tea and the USA. Not "Tea for Two" as sung in the 1950 hit movie by the same name:

Picture you upon my knee
Just tea for two
And two for tea
Just me for you
And you for me alone
Nobody near us to see us or hear us,
No friends or relations
On weekend vacations,
We won't have it known, dear,
That we own a telephone, dear...

Day will break and you'll wake,
And start to bake a sugar cake
For me to take for all the boys to see.
We will raise a family
A boy for you
And a girl for me
Oh, can't you see how happy we would be...

,but instead this version, "Tea for Who", that goes:

Picture Uncle Sam upon his knees,
Begging for mercy as we seize,
All the lefties who eat our taxes,
And show them who wields the axes.

We will raise a family of lily-white puppies,
And some pure-bred giant white guppies,
To guard us from marauders stealing our purified white teas.
We will leave the stinky commies sour milk and smelly cheese,
And cage them with angry stinging bees!

No more off-white puppies to take our feeds,
When we are finished only the pure will breed,
And all the shady commies who pollute our seeds,
Will be put to pasture with bitter foreign teas.

"Tea for Who?"---For me, not you. Only for those who are really TRUE BLUE, whoops, a slip of the tongue, meant to say WHITE and TRUE. Adieu.

Wisconsin Town Government ---How Your $ Disappears Behind the Scenes and What You Can Do About It

2010-04-15T12:57:00.064-06:00
On April 13th, 2010 throughout the state of Wisconsin the 1,259 towns in Wisconsin held Annual Town Meetings at which town residents could participate in democracy at its best and sometimes at its worst. The Annual Town Meetings are held on the second Tuesday in April at the same location that the previous annual meeting was held. The Town Board is NOT required to post three notices in the town as is required for all other town sponsored meetings. Posting notification of the Annual Town Meeting is apparently legally not required by statute. Wisconsin legislators must believe that everyone knows the date of Annual Town meetings and keeps note of it, even if they just turned voting age or moved into the community. HA! SURE! Could it possibly be that the Town Boards have made it clear to their local elected state representatives who make the laws, that they prefer doing their work behind the scene and with minimal notice? More on this point later.

The designation of "Town" in Wisconsin refers to a certain category of municipality that usually is lightly populated (generally under 1000 and often less than 500 voting residents) and typically rural. Such WI towns operate under Wisconsin laws that that are very specific. These Towns are governed by a Town Board of Supervisors consisting of 3 to 5 elected Supervisors that includes a Chairperson who is given specific statutory responsibilities. Approximately 1.7 million residents live in the 1,259 Wisconsin towns resulting in an average town population of about 1,350 residents.

The Town of Gibraltar where my wife and I live has a population of about 1,100 that results in a population density of approximately 30 people per square mile. The capitol city of Madison has a population of about 232,000 people and population density of nearly 3,030 residents per square mile, or more than 100 times that of Gibraltar.

Gibraltar has 5 members of the Town Board who serve part time, and an appointed Town Clerk plus a Deputy Town Clerk who are paid for their full time work. The Clerk and Deputy Clerk administrate the day-to day activities, maintain records, and serve at the pleasure of the Chairman of the Board and Board members who set their pay. The Town of Gibraltar also employs three maintenance personnel, one police officer, and a part time fire chief who directs the volunteer fire department. Various committees appointed by the board serve in voluntary capacities for purposes ranging from parks and garden services, historical preservation, marina operations, etc. The Town of Gibraltar includes the unincorporated district of Fish Creek and is contiguous with the very popular Peninsula State Park in Door County, the shoreline of which is still in a comparatively primitive and untouched environmental condition.

Although the Town of Gibraltar is very sparsely populated with full time residents there are many property owner who live elsewhere and maintain vacation homes and cottages for their personal or rental use. Therefore the Town's annual budget of about $1.8 million is bolstered by revenue derived from largely absentee property owners who pay about 60% of the property taxes, a share of which feeds the town budget. The Town Board is responsible for developing the annual budget and overseeing the administration by the Town Clerk and the Deputy Clerk.

Two days ago at 7:00 pm the Annual Town Meeting of the Town of Gibraltar and the other 1,258 towns holding their annual meetings, representing about 30% of Wisconsin's population, convened. The purpose was to review and approve the budget, listen to committee reports, take motions from the floor and vote on them, and decide on how much of a pay raise to give the Town Board. Approximately one and one half hours was consumed by committee reports made my appointed committee members and sometimes paid employees. Aside from the five Town Board members including the chairman, the clerk and deputy clerk those in attendance (total of about 50 of the approximately 1,100 town residents) consisted of large majority of individuals who were essentially part of the Town of Gibraltar "operating group". About 40 individuals are paid something by the Gibraltar Town Board for their work that are included in what I call the "operating group". I estimate that fewer than 15 people attending the annual meeting were unaffiliated with the town or it' paid "operating group". The pay for those in the "operating group" in 2009 ranged from about $100 to nearly $45,000 for the Town Clerk who is also Administrator and Treasurer. The Deputy Clerk was paid about $34,000 plus nearly $3,000 for gardening work. Numerous local businesses and some of the Town employees were also compensated additionally for service work and supplies for the Town of Gibraltar. The total expenditures for all individual salary compensation for 2009 was about $215,000 including pay for volunteer fire department personnel. Purchased services and supplies from local businesses exceeded $100,000. The point of all these $$ and who gets them from the Town of Gibraltar is that the Town Board through its financial reach develops a loyal cadre (that I call "the operating group") in the community who will support the Town Board's requests for more tax money and virtually any action enthusiastically. This support includes the granting of pay raises whenever requested, which is annual and about 6% per year.

Two days ago at 7:00 pm the Annual Town Meeting of the Town of Gibraltar and the other 1,258 towns holding their annual meetings, representing about 30% of Wisconsin's population, convened. The purpose was to review and approve the budget, listen to committee reports, take motions from the floor and vote on them, and decide on how much of a pay raise to give the Town Board. Approximately one and one half hours was consumed by committee reports made my appointed committee members and sometimes paid employees. Aside from the five Town Board members including the chairman, the clerk and deputy clerk those in attendance (total of about 50 of the approximately 1,100 town residents) consisted of large majority of individuals who were essentially part of the Town of Gibraltar "operating group". I would estimate that fewer than 15 people were unaffiliated with any of the committees or town operations, based on my observations of local meetings, probably very characteristic of most of the 1,258 other Annual Wisconsin Town Meetings. As a result of the poor and biased attendance, the annual Town Meetings that represent about 30% of Wisconsin population are actually controlled by fewer than an estimated 0.5% of the residents of these 1,258 towns. The public attendance at the monthly Town Board meetings is even less, probably representing fewer than 0.1% of the represented population. Yet these towns in total are responsible for an estimated annual expenditure of tax dollars amounting to an estimated one billion dollars plus (more likely about 1.5 billion dollars). Fewer than about 6,000 residents from the total of 1.7 million total residents (or a total of 1 million eligible voters) decide for almost all the remaining town residents how much of our tax dollar should be spent to run the town as the very small minority determines. This is not democracy but boarders an oligarchy or near monarchy doing as it pleases. Clearly, town government as practiced in Wisconsin towns are democratically operated. They are not democracies even though the intent is stated in Wisconsin laws. In practice local town governments (and villages likewise) operate under the guise of democracy while in practice, because the populace seems not to care, local town government in Wisconsin operates behind the scene doing whatever the elected boards think is appropriate with the full support of the "operating group".

To illustrate the latter point what happened at the recent Town of Gibraltar Annual meeting is rather typical and illustrative of how behind the scene tactics operate. Each year at the annual meeting a motion is made near the conclusion of the meeting to increase the pay of the elected members of the Town Board. At the Town of Gibraltar Town meetings this motion is usually made by the deputy clerk. At last years Annual Town Meeting the deputy Clerk made a motion to increase the pay of the Town Board members by 6% (this becomes effective after the 2010 Annual Town Meeting) and it was approved unanimously.

At this years Annual Meeting I made a motion to rescind the 6% pay increase approved last year, that was seconded, and a short discussion followed. My reasons for making the rescind motion was:1)The town went into the red during 2009 spending about $200,000 more than income, 2) All state and county employees were required to take a total of eight week unpaid furloughs in 2009 and 2010 amounting to a 4% annual pay cut for each year. 3) Social Security recipients are not getting any cost of living increase this year or next. Hence, why should the Town Board get the 6%, particularly during a high unemployment and deficit in the Town of Gibraltar? A discussion followed that voiced almost total opposition to my motion (one other person spoke in favor) to rescind, by members of the "operating group" including some board members and the Town Clerk who is appointed by the Town Board along with the Deputy Clerk,the marina manager, and some others who are on various committees, my motion to rescind was resoundingly defeated with only two in favor and almost all others voting to retain the 6% pay raise. If that was not a enough of "nepotism-like behavior" at work, another 6% pay raise was approved for next year. If this ludicrous action continues with 6% compounded annually, the total compensation (not including per diem expenses that typically range from about $35 to $50 per day on official business) of the five board members will increase from about $29,000 now (or about $100 per hour of Town Board meeting time per year)to about $51,000 (or about 2+% of the annual budget) by 2020. This average about $10,200 per year, per board member, to attend approximately 25 Town Board meetings per year (lasting around 2 hours apiece), and equals about $200 per hour plus per diem and tax deductions for expenses. Compare this to the typical part time worker in Door County who is fortunate to be paid $15 per hour and only for the four month tourist season. The full time workers in Door County have been severely economically impacted since the recession began in 2008 and many remain unemployed as elsewhere. This matters naught to the Town of Gibraltar Board and the "operating group" who seem very willing to grant and accept more money from our tax dollars.

The lesson is: Watch out for your tax dollars or a very small minority of Town officials and and the "operating group" will certainly try, and probably succeed, in extracting more from your pocket and wallets as you stand unknowingly on the sidelines harboring the possible illusion that local government is looking out for your interests only. To assure that this is reality you must get involved and let the local "operating group" and Town Boards hear from you. Vote for your interests not theirs, unless you are certain that they respond to all the community. The Town Board of Gibraltar and the "operating group" seem to be interested in their own benefits. Its up to the ordinary residents of Gibraltar to change this attitude. DO IT!

Funny Money

2010-03-26T14:17:00.000-06:00
When was the last time you thought about the value of money? Possibly this morning when you filled up your gas tank with $3.00 a gallon gasoline? Or was it last night on the way home from work when you paid more than $2.00 for a cup of coffee at your favorite expresso cafe. Maybe neither activity spurred you to give the transaction of money in exchange for service and stuff a second thought. However, the act of giving something called money for something else you wanted or needed has implications that reach dizzying heights.

Each and every transaction that you make infers that you believe that you received a fair exchange or why would you do it? How do you know if the exchange was fair? What is fair? How do you measure fairness? Most of us seldom think about the fairness of smaller transactions such as buying a cup of coffee for $2.00. We simply pay and walk or drive away without a second thought. However, behind these transactions and every exchange of money for something else is the inherent belief that you are getting fair value for the money you spent or you would not have made the transaction.Without conscious thought you actually gave the vendor of service or stuff or both money that you worked for or derived from investment or inheritance or possibly unlawful acts. Whether you secured the money illegally or not, whether it was from physical work or investment, or from royalties or intellectual pursuits you were paid money for those acts and used the money to obtain something you needed or desired.

Whether you are the richest person on Earth or the poorest laborer in a third world country the same exchange process occurs when money is exchanged for something else. Neither the money nor the service or stuff has intrinsic value beyond what you believe it has. Their is no such thing as absolute value. Value is in the mind of those involved in any particular transaction, and very dependent upon the economic circumstances of those making the transaction.

Let's consider the example of buying your first home. Regardless of the amenities when you offer to pay for a home you first consider what and where and then how much you can or want to spend. Others build or previously built your prospective home and were paid money for their design work, materials, and physical labor. The list of people eventually involved includes many who were not directly involved in the final transaction but were essential for the final exchange of money or promise to pay money for the house you finally decide to purchase. Every individual involved in providing materials and labor from the extraction or processing of raw materials to the finished part or structural component engaged in a similar transaction for which they earned money in exchange for their individual contribution to make your eventual home a reality. The sum of all these exchanges of work or material for money creates some sense of value, but the value cannot be considered exclusively a matter of adding all the exchanges for a total value.

Some exchanges are not based on hours of labor but rather the subjective value of a particular service or component. A gold plated shower head with lavish crystal glass adornment serves the same function as a chrome plated brass shower head but is perceived to have much greater value because of the material used and their comparative rareness. Some people are able and willing to spend much more money for the same function then others. The shower head there is valued not for function but for subjective reasons that have no intrinsic value. The transaction involving the home buyer and the included amenities and the contractor or seller is always a function of perceived value often based upon subjective or emotional responses. Of course ones ability to spend more money than another buyer is a function of acquired wealth.

Needless to say only the very rich would be able or willing to buy a home with gold plated and crystal embellished shower heads. This type of transaction clearly demonstrate that value is not purely dependent upon function, but is substantially dependent upon the economic status of the individuals making the transaction. Clearly value is not determined objectively. Value is not absolute.

Where is all of this blabbing about money and value taking you the possibly puzzled reader? Please wait for the next episode of Funny Money that will follow once the value that I attach to writing it exceeds the value of my time thinking about Funny Money. Thanks for your patience and fortitude reading this blurb. Meanwhile you may find it interesting and useful to begin analyzing your transactions involving the exchange of money for goods and services by considering the reasons that you are making the transaction before you put down your Funny Money. The reasons may shock you and even change your mind.

"Tantrumship"--The New Republican Political Tactic

2010-03-09T11:02:00.000-06:00
When very young most of us went through a phase of testing authority called tantrum. We unconsiously were demanding attention to get our way. Often the ploy worked as parents did anything to quell our outbreaks of screaming, shouting, crying, and throwing whatever was nearby. Some of us became very adept at getting what we wanted, as submissive parents became conditioned to relent and give in instantly to avoid further chaos. Today in our political arena we are exposed to a rebirth of tantrum tactics by the Republican Party, especially the Republican members of Congress. The election of President Obama seems to have let loose their instinct to use tantrums to get their way. The Congressional Republicans have perfected the art of "Tantrumship" to epochal status. Virtually everything that President Obama supports is uniformly opposed by Congressional Republicans who have unleashed a fine-tuned version of Tantrumship and encouraged public participation by many spurious groups encouraged to oppose any idea proposed by the Obama Administration or the Democratic Congressional majority.

Republican Tantrumship includes screaming down Democratic party speakers who support different actions. Tantrumship is honed to a fine piercing point of belligerance that falls just short of physical violence. The sole purpose is to prevent the opposing viewpont to even be discussed and to stop dialogue. This is their way to get their way, just as many of us did during our "terrible twos". Fortunately most of us grew out of this knee-jerk behavior and learned that there are better ways to moderate difference.

Seems that Congressional Republicans have regressd enmasse and become masters of Tantrumship along with growing numbers of their equally vocal disciples. Isn't it wonderful to witness such constructive behavior displayed by adults witout bibs, who have resurrected the art of "Tantrumship" to solve our contry's problems.

We are Sucked in by Our Own Ignorance--The Failure of Education and the Fix

2010-03-08T09:55:00.000-06:00
We are constantly deluged with the morsels out of the mouths of wise politicians and talking heads who have the solution to all problems, or so they believe. Public polling is used by pundits to explain how people respond to specific questions and then the responses are used to generalize and attribute much more than the answer to the specific question for purposes of propaganda. We exist in a bouillabase of words that are suppose to mean something, while more often than not are simply intended by their purveyors to shape public opinion regardless of the facts and actual knowledge about the specific subject. Too often unqualified people are asked to investigate or expound on subjects about which they lack basic knowledge, and despite this they present expert opinions or even are asked to legislate laws based upon erroneous or inadequate understanding of the problem.

We are inclined to want simple solutions to complex problems but refuse or are unwilling to use our brains to either get more information or admit that our comprehension of a particular issue is such that we are unable to understand its full complexity.Often full comprehension requires advance training and studies in physical science, mathematics, life sciences, environmental and engineering training and education, or other subject that the majority of us lack. Hence, we often accept simple minded solutions offered by untrained politicians and talking heads or our own emotionall-based opinions to construct solutions for complex problems, and the outcomes are what you would expect: failure to solve the problems and simply handing them off to others or giving up altogether and allowing the problems to fester and deepen.

Problems are not all of the same type. Purely technical problems can and should be approached by applying necessary scientific and technical knowledge bases appropriate to the specific problem. Implementation of the possible solutions will often be influenced by economic and social needs or problems.Complex problems will always require multiple disciplines that can be applied simultaneously, but the technical solution or solutions must always be accepted by non-technical policy makers and the general public when public action is requires. Often organizations do not employ sufficiently educated and knowledgeable people to deal with complex problems and proposed solutions are frequently inadequate. Institutionalized incompetency is the result and such organizations will inevitably decline because bad actions will follow bad ideas. This is equally true for governments and commercial organizations regardless of the endeavors. Incompetency at policy making levels always breeds failure and sometimes disaster.

The long term survival of any organization or society requires competent people who are educated in a broad array of interdisciplinary sciences, technology, and humanities that encompasses a knowledge base that breaks the boundaries of today's over specialized technical professionals. Our educational system has essentially become collections of trade school where capable people are funneled into specialty niches for future employment purposes, rather than expanding their knowledge base and broadening their abilities to grapple with very complex problems. Hence, the human outputs of higher learning institutions are individuals who are usually narrowly educated in one specialty field and nothing more. Scientific and technical training is overly focused on anarrow specialties, and fails to require studies of humanities, philosophy, history, etc. Likewise those studying humanities, history, literature, etc. are generally not required any more than very elementary math and science subjects. The consequence of our present higher education system is that we generate a society in which individuals who take their studies beyond high school cannot grasp fundamental scientific and technical issues, and the scientific and technical specialist cannot grasp anything beyond numbers and very narrow scientific or job-specific specialties. Effective communication between these inadequately educated groups generates immediate distrust or over-dependence one for the other. A truly educated society must be able to carry on intelligent dialogues that are based upon reasoned thinking and not emotionally based opinions. This does not mean that passion about an issue is wrong, but passion must be based upon some reason and facts, not feelings alone if effective remedial action, without violence , is desired.

Our world, consisting of over six and a half billion people, is now so complex that simple-minded solutions to enormously complex problems cannot be approached with the equivallent of a high-school education, present over-specialized higher education, or even less. Unless individuals who assume or are selected to control large organizations or governments recognize the value of interdiscilinry education and demand that the educational institutions at all levels produce broadly educated people instead of pin-head specialists we will continue to lack the ability to intelligently understand or deal effectively with complex problems that ultimately will detemine every individulas' well-being or lack, and the destiny of our planet in the long, long term.

Many generations of educational restucturing will be required to attain some semblance of the type of education that we need to deal with tomorrows growing problems and required solutions. The failure to change educational systems to produce individuals with the interdisciplinary education do so will bring more chaos and diminishing ability to do anything other than become the victims of our own ignorance.

The Myth of State Insurance Rate Regulations and the Need in Health Care Reform

2010-03-05T11:50:00.000-06:00
When did you last contact your state insurance commissioner's office to contest a rate increase on your health insurance premiums. If you had that experience recently it probably was totally futile. You probably wondered why your taxes paid for the State Insurance Commissioner and staff if all they did was rubber stamp all insurance rates as acceptable regardless of the size or reason for the increase. My recent experience went as follows.

Last year we experience a 31% increase for one of our Medicare supplement premiums and that prompted a change of insurer and changing both of our supplement policies to non-age based. Both of us had lost my employer supplemental policies when the company dropped all retiree health benefits.This year I experienced a 9% premium increase and for that reason decided to send a letter of inquiry to my insurance company and the State Insurance Commissioner's office. The simple question was why a 9% increase? The insurance company replied by stating that the increase reflected the increase in payouts for all policy holders in Wisconsin who were covered with the same type of policy. No other explanation was given even though I requested back up information. A subsequent letter from the Insurance Commissioner's office simply said in formal words that increases are a way of life and that they had no power to limit premium increases. Follow up phone calls with the insurance company and the State Commissioner's office confirmed that fact and also verified that premium increases by my insurance company ranged from about 8% to 12% for the same types of policies in other states served by this company. None of the rate increases were subjected to any limitations imposed by so-called State Insurance Regulators in any of the states included.

My obvious question was what is the purpose of the State Insurance Commissioner if they have no influence over rates? If you find out please let me in on the secret. The purposes have little or nothing to do with limiting premium rate increases.

The underlying reason for this blog is to reveal to those of you who may not have considered the impotency of State Regulatory Insurance Commissioners to limit rate increases, and the necessity to include regulatory price control power in any health care reform legislation. Such regulatory power is unlikely to become part of the final Reconciliation of the Senate and House versions unless we the people demand that it be included. The Health Insurance Industry and Republican Party are vehemently opposed and will spend as much money as required lobbying against any regulations that could control the premium price increases that Health Insurance Companies decide. Without price regulations and meaningful price control enforcement, health care insurance premiums will continue to escalate, and we will all break the bank trying to pay for our health care. Speak out now and let your Congressional members hear your support for real health insurance cost containment by enforceable regulations. Interstate competition will not suffice without the power to regulate premium increases in all 50 states.

Overcoming The Republican Bean Ball Pitch

2010-03-02T08:52:00.002-06:00
When was the last time you attended a major league baseball game? Maybe it was last year or decades ago. Whenever it may have been you surely remember the 7th inning stretch when everyone in the ball park stood and bellowed out in full discord and joyous disposition:

Take me out to the ball game,
Take me out with the crowd;
Buy me some peanuts and Cracker Jack,
I don't care if I never get back.
Let me root, root, root for the home team,
If they don't win, it's a shame.
For it's one, two, three strikes, you're out,
At the old ball game.

Even if the home team was behind your voice would blast the words into the stadium and echo around the ball park. The 7th inning stretch was an event to celebrate regardless of the score.

Today we are greeted by the bellowing cries of an ex-major league pitcher, Sen. Jim Bunning of Kentucky, who along with all Republican Senators are engaging in a stand up Senate filibuster to prevent any extension of unemployment benefits to unemployed Americans who have lost their jobs through no fault of theirs. Sen. Jim Bunning and the Republican Party Senate team are deliberately throwing bean balls to extinguish the opposition, one batter at a time. The unemployed Americans represent the batters who are struggling to survive another inning while Bunning and his Republican team mates continue to deliver bean balls to eliminate needy American families one at a time. Bunning and the Republican team of "NO" seems to become more joyful as more Americans are disabled by pitches that are intended to cause more suffering and despair.

However, even ex baseball star Jim Bunning was sometimes a loser during his major league career. He heard boos and felt the agony of defeat. The crowd sometimes gets vocally belligerent if you don't win. Sen. Bunning and the Senate Republicans are certain to lose and America will win when enough Americans stand up and sing together, "Take Me Out to THe Ball Game" with spirit and care for one another. Stand up and take a swing that knocks the ball out of the park for all needy Americans, and overcome the Republican bean ball pitches.

Hippocratic Oath or Hypocritical Oath?

2010-02-26T10:02:00.000-06:00
Do you really believe that health care reform will change the fundamentals of the medical industry even is some type of increased access and affordable insurance rates are the eventual best possible outcome? If you answered yes you might reconsider your answer. If no, what is the likely scenario. Today the medical/health/pharmaceutical industrial complex comprises the largest interdependent group of profit generating businesses in the world. Probably 20% of the world's GDP, or over 20 trillion dollars are generated by this complex annually.

The profits generated probably exceed those produced from the military-industrial complex that is probably the second largest profit producer. On one side are the purveyors of the Hippocratic Oath and their hypocritical profit gatherers, and on the other side is the war group and their adherents to blood money. The sum total of the Hippocratic and Hypocritical money suckers is the simple reason that the result of any health care reform will be largely insignificant. The only way to eliminate the greedy profit-motivated health and war industries money making ambitions is to eliminate all profit incentives in both complexes. Funnel all proceeds from both industrial complexes into activities for human benefits and eliminate all profits. Limit the pay of all executives to a maximum of 10 times the average workers pay. Eliminate all world military personnel and use the funds for expenditures to achieve world peace and improved living standards for all peoples.

My you say such idealistic bunk will never become reality. You are probably correct. But, the option will be more of the same. Remember the Roman and Ottoman Empires once ruled the world and both empires collapsed. Why? Read some historical accounts and see how greed destroys the greediest and often the innocent onlookers who are swept into the morass.

Members of Congress Should Emulate Professional Athletes

2010-02-08T11:56:00.000-06:00
Many of us watched the Super Bowl spectacle yesterday and aside from the New Orleans Saints thunderous victory over a favored Colts team we may have dismissed the event as another game. However, if we examine the game and the coaches and players we can learn something that our politicians in Congress fail to grasp. Regardless of team partisanship and the intense fan loyalty to one team or the other all fans were able to accept the outcome and cheer for the sport of professional football. Peyton Manning the quarterback of the losing Colts congratulated the Saints and their team and accepted the fact that the Saints outplayed them. He accepted the Saints team and praised them for their play.

Regardless of the distress felt by the loss by one side, all players accepted the outcome and will continue to work hard for their teams and the professional sport of football. Winning and losing is an inherent part of all professional sports. Yet the losers and winners alike accept and respect their opponents and following each game their bond as players strengthens and helps make the professional football game more than a game. All professional sports today are color blind, and all religious beliefs are accepted. Since the days of Jackie Robinson when professional baseball was first integrated by Branch Rickey professional sports in the USA have led all other businesses and government institutions in the elimination of racial segregation.

Todays professional sports teams consist of players who excel in their respective sports regardless of their color or lack thereof, their religions or lack thereof, their intellect or lack thereof, their political leaning or neutrality, or any other trait that you select except for their athletic abilities. They are professional athletes whose purpose is to help their team win. Losing takes place every game, as does winning, and the outcome does not tear the sport asunder and the professional athletes remain bonded to their team and their opponents as well. This bond for team and opposition alike exemplifies the respect that the players have for one another and for their chosen profession. Yes, winning is the ultimate purpose of all professional athletes, but losing is inevitable and losers do not carry animosity for their opponents. Contrarily, admiration and respect for the victorious opponent, although not always voiced, is inherent in the make up of all dedicated professional athletes.

Today our country is torn apart by political actions in Congress and throughout our population that, unlike professional sports, is considered normal behavior. Could any professional athlete or sport survive very long if hate and degrading your opponent resulted after every event. The outcome would be chaos and the inevitable decline of the profession. Such is the reality in our country since the infestation of hate and irrational opposition that has infected many politicians, political organizations, and media commentators. Hate and rancor has disabled our country's ability, possibly desire to govern responsibly. Political purpose can and must be fulfilled without hate and rancor among the professional politicians who are elected to govern. They were not elected to spew hate and inflammatory bile. They are hired to work for the American people.

If professional sports athletes were to behave like some members of our Congress, we the fans would stop paying to support the sport. Why do we keep paying to witness the political spectacle that has paralyzed our government? The answer is that we have no choice if we want to avoid jail. The penalty for refusal to pay our taxes, that pays all government workers and elected officials, is much more severe than that for refusing to pay for attending or watching a professional sport event, where the only outcome is that we save the price of admission. However, unless all members of Congress begins to emulate the actions of most professional athletes as they participate in their chosen profession we will will all pay the price for Congress's ineptitude and disrespect for one another, and the American people. We as viewers of the Congressional spectacle must also share the responsibility for the behavior of members of Congress. We members of the public arena cannot be silent while the political gladiators slay one another and take us down the path that causes decline just as the Roman Empire self-destructed. We must insist upon civility and respect even when our beliefs are opposite.

Our country can become one nation again, even with different preferences and purposes as individuals. The time to act is now. Remind your elected representatives that emulating professional athletes is worth doing. The Super Bowl is an example of how professional athletes can bond diverse people even when, as is inevitable, when one side loses the individual game. The bond of professionalism is retained. If enough politicians joined our country's league, even if on different teams, we could still flourish as a country where life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness exists for all. The time to do so is NOW!

Welcome to the Corporate Take Over--Wake up America!

2010-01-22T10:03:00.003-06:00
Thanks are due to the U.S. Supreme Court for elevating our status as individual citizens under our Constitution. We are now corporations as well as citizens, just as corporations are now people and allowed to spread their beliefs as free speech under the orders of corporate executives who use the stockholders money to spread their word! Welcome to the world of Alice in Wonderland where everything is just as you are able to imagine. Just imagine yourself as a corporate CEO telling your underlings to march in unison, high stepping to his or her commands to spread the corporate mantra: hail to the corporation, the all mighty!! The CEO charges forth with his hirelings, under threat of being fired, to spread the gospel of the corporation who knows what we need and desire, for money of course.

We must all rejoice, for now the corporations, unions, and other business entities and organizations and groups are indeed given all the rights that our Constitution confers on "we the people", than we have as individuals, and that all all corporate entities have now as a result of the Supreme Court edict, including tax deductions for all costs. WOW!! What a bonanza. We should all be thankful for the sudden enrichment, ALL of our expenses are now TAX DEDUCTIBLE, just as for Corporations!

If Thomas Jefferson were here today his writing of The Declaration of Independence that started our country on the pathway to independence from the English Monarchy and its Royal orders would now be rewritten as follows: "We hold these truths to be self evident, that all Corporations are created equal that they are endowed by the Supreme Court, their ultimate creator, with certain unalienable rights; the unlimited pursuit of power, the use of unlimited tax-free expenditures to obtain their purposes, and their unhindered right to pursue their purposes to maximize profits regardless of the consequences on society at large and any single individual. Corporations shall have all the rights previously bestowed to citizens. Corporations must be obeyed as is self evident. All individual citizens must adhere to the law of the Supreme Court and Corporate Policies. "

We citizens of the USA are indeed fortunate to be directed by such an esteemed Supreme Court and the presidents who selected the 5 justices who just bestowed upon us the privileges of Corporations. So what if corporations are now about to completely rule our country. They have nearly been anyway! Are we in a perpetual swirl with Alice? Are we all sleepwalking? Wake up America before it is too late!

Constipated by the Double Superlative and the Cure

2010-01-15T14:57:00.048-06:00
My last blog, "Lost Midst the Double Superlative Conundrum" explained what this phrase means. Now let's explore a consequence of the unconscious affliction of the double superlative to legislative action in the US Congress today. The Congressional Republicans have demonstrated by their unified opposition to anything proposed by President Obama pertaining to internal US social policy is totally unacceptable to them. This is equivalent to saying that President Obama's proposals are the worst possible and only we have the best possible policies.

Well Mr. and Mrs. Republican Congressmen and Congresswomen you are all constipated by the Double Superlative Constipation Syndrome (DSCS), whether you recognize the disease or not. Most likely your brains are fossilizing as the constipation takes over, and you are unable to recognize your own plights being so very irritable. All the laxatives you take will not help unless your brains are flushed and cleared. Of course some Congressional Democrats have the same malady as it applies to any Republican proposals, but the extreme one-sidedness of the disease affecting all Congressional Republican demonstrates that the Congressional Republicans spread the contagion among their ranks and have become infected like a phalanx of zombies aimlessly seeking their next target to infect. Democratic Congress members apparently have much better immune systems against double superlative constipation, however those Democrats who are infected with DSCS must also consider the CURE.

Those who suffer from DSCS should easilly recognize the consequences of their disorder. Constipation is not the only distressing symptom, but also displays of perpetual arrogance, petulance, and indifference to the needs of our entire population are prevalent. Mr and Mrs Congress members of the USA who are stuck in more ways than one with the consequences of the Double Superlative Constipation Syndrome here is the only possible CURE: GET INSTANT RELIEF, LET GO
. This CURE will do miracles for your distress and dispositions and the American people will be very greatful!

Lost Midst the Double Superlative Conundrum

2010-01-14T12:36:00.008-06:00
The people of our country and of other nations in the world are caught in a web of paradoxes that are generally described by the two words: "Double Superlative". Many of us are not aware of the fact that we are entwined by impossibility when either consciously or unconsciously we become enamored by these two words.

For example we expect the most from least taxes. Right? What is the "most" and the "least"? Nothing exceeds the "most" or is there anything less than the "least". So even the thought of the "most" for the "least" is a delusional brain exercise that too many of believe, and you want infinite numbers of stuff for nothing.

Yet, this is exactly what is implied by extremists on both sides of the current health care debates, airport security demands, and protection from all diseases, etc. We in the USA often demand nothing less than perfect the most comprehensive health care for the least amount of cost, perfect airport security for the lowest cost and least inconvenience, maximum disease protection for the least cost and so on. These examples are illustrative of the "Double Superlative Conundrum" and are all impossible!

Our brains seem to be caught in perpetual traps the are fostered by all extremists on the right and left and most of us in the middle too. We have yet to come to grips with reality that seldom offers us heaven on Earth without cost. Each of the three examples noted above are but a tiny sampling of the myriad array of subjects that are also part of the Double Superlative Conundrum that saturates our thinking and often our actions. Realty be damned full steam ahead on the Double Superlative Express!! Believe it or not the Express is stuck in a continuous Mobious Strip cascading loop and we will soon catch up to the rear end and an inevitable collision if we continue. Wake up to reality.

President Obama and Rudyard Kipling and the Shape of Things to Come

2010-01-09T12:06:00.015-06:00
There are notable human behaviors and conditions that Rudyard Kipling wrote poems and novels about during his life time that spanned the years from 1865 till 1936. Many of you may not be familiar with this Nobel Prize winning British writer. If you are not you may enjoy reading a bit about him by clicking on the title of this blog that links to a Wikipedia biographical summary.

If you are not familiar with Rudyard Kipling's poem "If", written in 1910 here it is:
If

If you can keep your head when all about you are losing theirs and blaming it on you;
If you can trust yourself when all men doubt you, But make allowance for their doubting too;
If you can wait and not be tired by waiting, Or, being lied about, don't deal in lies,
Or being hated don't give way to hating, And yet don't look too good, nor talk to wise;

If you can dream--and not make dreams your master;
If you can think-- and not make thoughts your aim,
If you can meet with Triumph and Disaster And treat those two impostors just the same;
If you can bear to hear the truth you've spoken Twisted by knaves to make a trap for fools,
Or watch the things you gave your life to, broken, And stoop and build 'em up with worn out tools;

If you can make one heap of all your winnings And risk it on one turn of pitch and toss,
And lose, and start again at your beginnings, And never breathe a word about your loss;
If you can force your heart and nerve and sinew
To serve your turn long after they are gone,
And to hold on when there is nothing in you
Except the Will which says to them;"Hold On!"

If you can walk with crowds and keep your virtue,
Or walk with Kings--nor lose the common touch,
If neither foes nor loving friends can hurt you,
If all men count with you, but none too much;
If you can fill the unforgiving minute
With sixty seconds worth of distance run,
Yours is the Earth and everything that's in it,
And--which is more--you'll me a Man my son!

We must overlook Kipling's gender reference that emphasized the male gender and realize that his words apply to all genders. What is inescapable is the potency of his word and how well they apply to our chaotic time. Rudyard Kipling expressed his view of how humans could and should live in this simple yet powerful poem. His words will stand for all times.

We are very fortunate to have the leader of our country, President Obama, a human who exhibits all the virtues that Kipling held dear. Perhaps, the media talking heads and all politicians, by reading Kipling's poem "If", would stop irrational and hateful speech and begin to become the kind of humans that Rudyard Kipling wrote about. President Obama deserves all of our support to help him guide us through these turbulent times.

Thank you President Obama for your steadfast and rational leadership that embraces Rudyard Kipling's portrayal the best of manhood. Rudyard Kipling deserves our tribute for his insight, and I for one am very grateful for his vision. Perhaps many of us will read his words and thoughts expressed in "If" and begin to live by them. Perhaps then our world will respond to thoughtful realism, humility,and rational behavior that are so vital for survival in our era. Our children and grandchildren must also read Kipling's poem since they will inherit the Earth as we leave it, and may offer more hope for their children and the world they inherit if they can adopt the essence of Rudyard Kipling's words.

Morality and Politics Spanning 80 Years

2009-12-24T09:42:00.016-06:00
This morning in the US Senate health care legislation was approved by a filibuster proof vote of 60 to 39. All democrats voted "aye" and every Republican voted "nay" (except Sen. Bunning who did not vote). This followed a House vote that passed their legislation 220-215 that included 20 Democrat's voting Nay and all but one Republican voting "nay" also. Clearly, the Republicans in both the Senate and House were and still are opposed to legislation that will provide insurance to virtually every citizen regardless of their ability to pay. Although far from a single payer plan that was opposed by many Democrats as well as well as all Republicans, our country will soon underwrite health care for all of our citizens and adequate health care will be provided to all citizens for the first time in our nation's history. I personally consider this a step in the morally correct direction. Adequate health care for all is in my opinion a human right that will hopefully be attained in the future.

Medicare currently provides substantial medical care for about 35 to 40 million citizens (mainly for those 65 and older) through a single-payer government run-program. Medicaid, an individual state and federally aided program assist in providing some medical care for about 50 million men, women and children in our country but care is spotty and limited and quite different being administered differently from state to state. Medicaid was approved in 1965 as part of Medicare legislation when enacted. S-CHIP is another Medicaid type of government fund that provides medical aid to about 10 million children who otherwise would have no health care.

Social Security was enacted in 1935 for the purpose of providing a base, but barely livable income, for retirees who contributed to the Social Security fund while being employed. Approximately 44 million of our citizens receive some income monthly from this fund that is regularly employed by our government for other purposes and supported by government IOU's (but that is another matter for another time).

Today these two (Medicare and Medicaid are included as one program) social programs are aiding approximately 80 to 100 million of our citizens to some extent. However despite the Medicare and Medicaid related programs we still have about 30 to 40 million of our 307 million citizens without any health care at all except for possible spotty emergency care. The present legislation that was passed by the House and Senate when finally reconciled in the Senate-House Conference and signed by the President will help provide medical care to all those without any access or very limited aid. This legislation will avail about 15% of our citizens health care that they are denied (because of cost/price) today.A serious and unacceptable moral wrong will be righted as for Social Security and Medicare in the past.

Historically, since 1935 the Democratic Party in both the Senate and House and Democratic Presidents were in control when Social Security and Medicare were enacted and coverages expanded. Republican leadership invariably opposed these social programs in the past as they do now. However in the past at least some Republicans saw merit in Social Security and Medicare/Medicaid whereas today virtually every Republican in the Senate and House have voted against the current health care legislation that will provide health care for all citizens.Clearly the partisan divide is now chasm that separates the two main parties as never before in our history on these social issues.

In 1935 under President Roosevelt the Senate voted 60 to 17 for passage of Social Security, including 16 Republicans, and only 4 of the 12 nay votes were cast by Republicans. In the House in 1935 the vote was 365 to 33 in favor with 81 Republicans casting aye votes and a mere 15 opposed. Despite the strong political party differences the support of this very significant social program bridged the partisan gap and displayed the moral commonality of both parties.

Similarly in 1965 when Medicare was enacted under President Johnson the vote cast in the Senate was 70 ayes to 24 nays with 13 Republicans voting aye and 17 voting nay while two did not vote. Seven Democrats also voted nay. In the House the vote was 237 Democrats aye, 70 Republicans aye while 48 Democrats and 68 Republicans voted nay. The overall vote was 307 for and 140 against. Once again our country exhibited a high level of bi-partisanship for the benefit of our citizens.

Today we have a virtually insurmountable barrier dividing the Republican and Democratic Parties that is unlike anything that we have seen during the last 80 years. We hear vitriolic and evil statements made my the far right Republicans, even those who you would expect some civility from those who are members of the Senate and House. Whereas once not many years ago strong differences prevailed between the two parties there did also exist a sense of morality that included members of both parties regarding significant social issues. That sense of morality has all but vanished from today's Republican Party. For the sake of our country let us all hope that moral balance is regained and that we can differ without hate and hostility as we pursue governance that is beneficial for all our people.

May the spiritual morality return to our country in 2010 for the sake of all of us.

Do constructive activities to restore the sense of morality and decency we seem to have lost in the political milieu that exists.

Happy Holidays and Happy New Year to all.

Reject the Paroxysms of the Left and Right and Help the Needy

2009-12-17T08:32:00.008-06:00
Have you been following the very heated verbal assault that the knee-jerk reacting media have been unloading on President Obama's effort to get health care for the millions of uninsured men, women, and children in our country? If so you have witnessed paroxysms of vitriolic claims from both sides. The Right includes every conservative pundit and talking head, and the Left every liberal talking heads and columnists. The right opposes any legislation at all the extends health care for those who cannot afford the price of insurance, and in effect snubs their collective noses at the millions of Americans who do without health care, and get sick and often die because they cannot pay. The left cries out that we have been deceived by President Obama and the Democrats in the Senate for their apparent failure to achieve complete reform of health care. Complete reform means to the left leaning media a public system like those in other advanced countries such as Great Britain, Germany, France, Canada, etc., where the governments assure health care for all of their citizens with some form of single payer arrangement. Or at least the oft heard "Public Option".

One side represents the Republican opposition to any government involvement in the dispensing of health care and the liberal side represents those who desire a complete take over of health care by our government to assure access for everyone now. I personally believe that the latter is the best solution to our nation's health care problems. However, what I believe is a microcosm of values and beliefs and matters very little except to me.

What does matter? The millions of Americans without access to any health care must be provided with affordable access. We cannot continue to be a country in which family members and individuals suffer and die because they are denied affordable health care. Any legislation must prevent suffering and death because of cost or access to health care. Any legislation must provide an eventual pathway to universal access to health care. This must be the bottom line. But instantaneous total gratification is not the objective.

The liberal clamor for instantaneous government single-payer health care or at least a "public option". To them anything less is unacceptable even if millions of our citizens will be assured access to affordable health care. The right side composed of ALL Republicans and a few Democrats and one Independent in the Senate are opposed to virtually any changes that help the uninsured in our country get health care. The right conservative side rejects the idea that everyone is entitled to health care and instead seems to accept the notion that if you can't pay you do not deserve health care. The effectively shout "drop dead" to those who are sick and suffering without affordable health care.

President Obama certainly did not realize that the conservative right in our country would display a paroxysm of hateful opposition to ANY health care legislation. The reality is that they have and will attempt to prevent any type of legislation that helps the millions of families who cannot afford to access medical care gain affordable access.

The liberal left reject the idea that a half a cup is better than none and insist it must be all or nothing. Both sides are displaying their own individualized paroxysms that resembles two gladiators who are forced to fight to death to accomplish just that. If both the right and left prevail with their knee-jerk reactions the needy uninsured will be left alive and suffering and dying because the two combatants did indeed fight to death.

Our country is suffering from a wild-west complex in which the Lone Ranger and Tonto combat the evil crooks and kill them off or fight to mutual destruction, while the law abiding people are inadvertently killed by their bullets that went astray. Hooray for the victorious and the innocent dead and glory to all the dead who fought in vain.

The time has come to get off the knee-jerk reaction path and pass legislation that gets the train going in the correct direction toward health care for all of our citizens. Our form of government wherein the Senate filibuster has been a tool used by both major political parties to kill legislation must not be allowed to stop the engine that begins to open the door to health care for all of our citizens regardless of their ability to pay. Unless this train starts moving and is started toward the ultimate goal of universal health care nothing will be achieved now or possibly for many years to come. We must get aboard the train even if the destination is not instantly reached. The left must stop their verbal regurgitation of opposition because their ideal form of health care is not attainable now, and allow the train to be boarded by millions of people who are now left off and suffering.

The vocal media and politicians of both sides do not represent the suffering people who are for the most part also voiceless or unheard midst the raucous voices of the left and right media pundits and the political party extremists. Those without any health care will be the innocent victims of well paid affluent talking heads and politicians, and by the media networks to draw ratings for their corporations even if health care legislation fails. The only ratings that count now are the ratings that measure whether some form of health care access will be provided for those who have none and who cannot afford the costs of insurance or are denied coverage by selective insurance companies.

Those without health care access in our country must be assured health care when needed. The paroxysms of the left and right must be ignored for the benefit of the millions of Americans who suffer every day without access to any health care. Fight for them and push for legislation that allows the voiceless poor amongst us to have some level of health care that we are all entitled to have. Reject the vitriolic voices that exclaim their way is the only way, and open your hearts and tax wallets to help those who are unable to access health care in our country. Resolve to help the needy and support legislation that starts to get them on board the health-care train!

Do Your Elected Officials Pay Their Taxes?

2009-11-29T15:29:00.020-06:00
Most of us pay our taxes when they are due. Some do not. Most of us expect that those we elect to offices and who supposedly represent us must be especially punctual. Surprise!! Some, perhaps many, are amongst those whose names may be found on federal, state, and local tax delinquency roles. One might be a bit befuddled about how elected officials can be elected and reelected even when the owe back taxes. You would probably be very befuddled if the tax delinquencies were persistent and spanned many tax years. Some of you living in Door County, Wisconsin may be most interested in this blog. However don't assume that you are immune to similar tax delinquencies committed by elected officials located elsewhere and everywhere. Find out for yourselves if the tax delinquency records are public as they are in Wisconsin.

The Green Bay Press Gazette in Wisconsin had the courage to run a story by reporter Ramelle Bintz that revealed tax delinquencies on the part of three local elected office holders. The article is linked above. Read it to learn about the public tax delinquencies of three prominent elected officials in Door County: Merrell Runquist (Town of Gibraltar Chairman and Member of Door County Board of Supervisors), John Cox (Village Chairman, Village of Ephraim), and Gardner Supervisor Mark Stevenson. Their individual tax arrears vary from relatively small amounts to substantial with Merrell Runquist tops at just under a total of $90,000 due. Mr Runquist has consistently been reelected for Gibraltar Town Chairman and County Supervisor for many years. Perhaps the voters were unaware of their difficulties with tax collectors. They are no longer uninformed thanks to the Bintz report and the Wisconsin Tax Delinquency list Wisconsin Delinquent Tax Payers list.

Wisconsin law effective since 2006 and amended in 2007 and 2008 requires that certain tax delinquencies be posted on the internet. The article written by Rammel Bintz used information from this source. He has opened a door for Wisconsin voters to check out elected officials and those running for offices before we vote. Perhaps, the next time around we will all do this and vote accordingly.

Wisconsin: An Example of Political Arrogance at Work

2009-11-22T09:06:00.017-06:00
How much longer are we to remain silent while those we elect to office simply establish one set of rules for themselves and a totally different set for the rest of us? The legislators and Governor of Wisconsin are an example that merits discussion. The Wisconsin budget is a biannual wing ding that require establishing pay raises for elected state officials to get pay raises in advance. Note the word s "pay raises". These pay raises are enacted to law by the State Assembly and Senate and signed by the governor. All this tax money laundering is at the expense of the tax payers of the state of Wisconsin who simply look away and unwittingly agree. We are consumed by political arrogance by politicians from both major parties who seem to disdain the voters with their display of perpetual arrogance.

The pay raises that the Wisconsin legislature and governor approved in the 2007-2008 budget included a 5.3% increase for the base pay of all members of the state Assembly and Senate (and the same percentage increase for all other state elected office holders) who increased their pay from $47,413 (2007 and 2008) to $49,943 for 2009 and 2010. This does not include per diem and allowances for a second residence, travel to and from Madison, health care insurance, and state pension contributions that when totaled probably exceeds $12,000. Their total compensation approaches an estimated $65,000 or more annually. They are also provided budgets for staff and office allowances that are all paid by Wisconsin tax payers. In addition to the tax payers moola, the legislators have their coffers filled with political contributions that are tax free and can be used for any purpose they deem fit. Pretty lush for a part time job that requires their presence in Madison about half time or less.

Meanwhile our Wisconsin legislators and governor decided to deduct 3% of the pay to all unelected state employees for two years beginning in 2009. This was done by mandating forced furloughs without pay for the more than 69,000 full-time (equivalent) state workers as of the latest published count (2008). All of these employees are forced to take pay cuts by our state governor and state legislators are awarded with self-legislated pay raises. Why not have them vote to roll back their pay and reduce it by 3% of their pay in 2008? We cannot, they will acclaim because the law (that they created) does not allow a sitting legislative body in Wisconsin to alter pay scales of elected legislators (increase or decrease) during their 2 year budget term in office. Well we can wait for 2010 for them to cut their pay back to 2008 levels, can't we? Why not ask your state legislators who run for election next year whether or nor they will do so. Put their butts to the fire and force them to commit one way or another before you vote.

Although this particular issue of "behind the Squeaking Door" deals with Wisconsin, the same situation probably applies to all of our states. If yo don't live in Wisconsin find out how your elected state legislators dole out the tax dollars to themselves. You will probably be surprised and nauseated by what you find.

Meanwhile, spend some of your time questioning your representatives in state government and force them to treat the voters who elected them just like thy treat themselves. Nothing more, nothing less. This should be the American way!

Maybe the status quo is all we can expect. It will be if we allow the present legal corruption in the guise of state law to remain intact. Each of must and can do something to change this abuse of our tax dollars. Attend campaign debates in your state next year and ask hard questions and demand straight answers. It is all up to you to eliminate legal corruption and special treatment for those we elect to state office. Of course the same applies to the Federal elected officials as it does to locally elected people who represent our cities, towns, and villages. Do not sit back and accept what you are dished. Become active . Your tax dollars are being spent by the people you elect so hold them accountable and force them to explain their misuse and abuse of their actions. Speak up and take action. Our elective form of democratic government requires civilian involvement and action, not complacency. Ask tough questions and get truthful answers from everyone you may vote for before doing casting your vote. Listen and read their statements and press releases. The people you vote for must be told that you will hold them accountable if they are elected to office. Stop the arrogance of your elected officials before it becomes entrenched and institutionalized.

Thumbs Up for War; Thumbs Down for Health Care

2009-11-17T12:42:00.019-06:00
Remember the lead up to our Invasion of Iraq. The Bush-Cheney machine steamrolled our country into believing that Saddam Hussein and Iraq was responsible for the Twin Tower and other attacks on 9/11/01 that killed about 3,000 civilians.By Oct. 7, 2001 we under the auspices of a NATO Joint Force invaded Afghanistan to get Bin Laden and his Al Qaeda terrorists who were responsible for the attacks.This invasion was not enough for the Bush Administration who with the approval of Congress then decided to start a war against Iraq. Blind fury ignited Congress to acclaim The Iraq Resolution of War in Oct. 2002 based upon the false claims by the Bush administration that Saddam was ready to unleash Weapons of Mass Destruction against us, and was involved with Al Qaeda terrorists in the 9/11 attacks. Within several months after Congressional approval of the Iraq Resolution of War we invaded Iraq in March, 2003. We have continued sending American troops to fight both wars since they began and to date more than 5,000 American have been killed and tens of thousands maimed or mentally deranged as a result of the two wars. Hundreds of thousands of Iraqis and Afghanistan civilians have also perished and been maimed. Both countries are in shambles and refugees are barely living in refugee camps where meager food supplies and medical needs are inadequate. We have spent about two trillion dollars of our taxes for these "off-budget" wars and war supplies authorizations. The Veterans Administration will spend an estimated 3 trillion dollars for the lifetime care of wounded and disabled veterans. As of this moment we are still fighting in both countries and Bin Laden and most of the Al Qaeda leaders remain free. This fact should be sufficient to realize that the two wars have failed to eliminate Al Qaeda, and a valid argument can be made that Al Qaeda in fact has become stronger and more dangerous than ever. The two wars have rained havoc, desolation, despair, and death on all involved for what purpose? Yet, we seem to accept the status and take timid steps to end the wars while continuing to lose American troops and spend billions more for no rational reason. This clearly demonstrates that Congress continues to give "Thumbs Up" to war even after President Obama has been in office for about 10 months.This delusional behavior is constantly favored by both political parties, however the Republicans are more vociferous in their support for war than the Democrats.

While the two wars continue to take their tolls in both lives and money our Congress dilly dallies with health care reform that at best may help insure more Americans at reduced cost, and at worst will further fatten the bottom lines of insurance companies by requiring insurance for everyone without any cost reduction benefits.

Have you watched any sessions of the Senate and House on C-span TV during the last 10 months. If so, you are aware of the constant bickering and obstruction by the Republicans and the gradual acquiescence of the Democrats to Republican demands to limit health care coverage and oppose a public insurance option that could reduce costs for everyone covered. Meanwhile the so-called debate goes on and on while a Harvard University study estimated 45,000 American citizens die annually because they cannot pay for medical care. Additionally hundreds of thousands face bankruptcy and foreclosure of their homes because of extravagant health care costs that they are unable to pay, often even if they have insurance coverage. Possible poverty becomes their fate. The debate over health care for all Americans has been resounding periodically in the Senate and House chambers for nearly a century, and this time the Congress has been vociferous. The Republican Party has steadfastly opposed any reform while the Blue Dog Democrats us double talk as they stealthy try to water down any reform. No one can predict the outcome but we can all agree that health care is less important than war to our elected Congressional representatives.

War in Iraq and Afghanistan that our country has fostered and supported for nearly a decade proves beyond doubt that our appetite for war far exceeds that for health care reform even if more than 45,000 of us die in our country annually because they cannot pay for health insurance. At the present rate of loss of American lives in Iraq and Afghanistan it will take at least 90 more years of war there to equal one year of loss of life due to inability to pay for health care. Congress, particularly Republican seems to care less. They clearly acclaim "Thumbs Down" for health care reform. Death is preferable just as in war.

Revitalize The American Dream and Make it Reality

2009-11-14T10:15:00.012-06:00
We who live in the USA are very fortunate compared to billions of humans who reside in countries where abject poverty is virtually the norm. Billions of people on our planet barely live from day to day attempting to avoid starvation and struggling to avoid contaminated deadly water. The life expectancy for billions of our global human cohabitants is barely 35 years, during which debilitating diseases are rampant and violent death is often served by genocidal leaders. Over 300 million of us are indeed very fortunate compared to so many who suffer and barely survive. However, we living in the USA are not all so fortunate.

Millions of us barely survive and skirt by near or below the poverty level. Millions of us are homeless and are forced to seek basic shelter and bare food rations daily. The multi millions in these categories include citizens of all ages and colors who have fallen into a form of shadow life that is ignored by most of us and who are often treated as miscreants or worse by others who subconsciously despise them. In addition to those who subsist in poverty and those who are homeless and barely exist we now add the many millions who are more recently unemployed or have been chronically unemployed for extended periods of time. An approximate estimate of the totals in each group is as follows; homeless = 5 million humans in USA, at or below poverty level = 40 million humans in USA, unemployed including chronically unemployed = 20 million humans in USA, or a total of about 65 million of the men, women, and children in our country are struggling to barely get by day to day. And this situation is permitted in the "richest country in the world".

These humans amongst us are part of a country where political leaders claim we all have an equal opportunity to live the "American Dream". Each and every one who comprise the living poor range in age from new born to the elderly, includes infants and adolescents, disabled, veterans from our wars, and mentally impaired of all ages. They live in all of 50 of our states and all our territories and comprise over 20% of our total population. The next time you attend a major college football game in a large stadium imagine that every one sitting between the 40 yard lines on both sides of the stadium represent these 20%, and maybe you will begin to realize how enormous this disgraceful situation is in a country of relative abundance. If this is part of the American Dream they are clearly living a dream that most of us would call a Nightmare. However that Nightmare is Reality.

We often seem to treat the suffering poor and unemployed people in our country as untouchable lepers to be ignored or worst. We as a country have indeed lost our humanity towards one another. How can we possibly justify the continuation of this travesty that engulfs more than 60 million of us in the wealthiest and most powerful country in the world?

As long as we the average American citizen allows greed to dominate all forms of life in the USA, and to allow bottom-line corporations ignore the poor and ego maniacal politicians to consume our taxes for destructive rather than constructive purposes we will spiral into a whirlpool of abject poverty wherein the 60 million who are now suffering will enlarge in numbers and encompass more and more of us. If this scenario is allowed we as a country will become as morally bankrupt as those who are directly responsible for allowing their suffering poor to wallow in abject poverty and die young as is happening in many parts of the world.

We must awaken our leaders and demand an enlightened approach to governance that is truly for the purpose of assuring life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness for every one of us. Speak up and speak out for a true American Dream that includes all of us. Help our neighbors and fellow citizens emerge from poverty and suffering to share in an equitable life where humility and concern for others dominates our landscape. Shake up the politicians who are steering us deeper into the abyss and tell them no more! Revitalize the American Dream and make it Reality.

Congressman Anh "Joseph" Cao--A Man of Honor

2009-11-09T09:09:00.005-06:00
Saturday, Nov. 7, 2009 was a very noteworthy day. The House of Representatives voted 220 t0 215 for the health care reform plan offered by the Democrats in Congress. Thirty-nine Democrats voted against the legislation and a lone Republican voted in favor. This Republican from Louisiana was Congressman Anh " Joseph" Cao representing a district that was devastated by hurricane Katrina. Congressman Cao and his family lost their home and Congressman Cao then a practicing lawyer lost his office as Katrina devastated New Orleans. However these losses paled by comparison to the daily experiences he lived through while a child in Vietnam. At the age of 8 he and two siblings weer able to escape from Communist controlled Vietnam and eventually he became a US citizen and now a Congressman. Few of us have lived through such experiences. He survived and thrived, and now represents a district in New Orleans that is still recovering from the devastation of Katrina. Tragedies and overcoming obstacles are not new to this heroic man who now faces the scorn of the Republican Party because of his vote for health care reform.

He explained his reason for voting for the legislation by in part saying: "I have always said that I would put aside partisan wrangling to do the business of the people. My vote tonight was based on my priority of doing what is best for my constituents." He further explained : “Today, I obtained a commitment from President Obama that he and I will work together to address the critical health care issues of Louisiana including the FMAP crisis and community disaster loan forgiveness, as well as issues related to Charity and Methodist Hospitals. And, I call on my constituents to support me as I work with him on these issues."

Congressman Cao is truly a man of honor who stands above party politics and reaches out to serve the people he represents for their benefit. His vote proves that their are some Republican who will defy their part rhetoric and be guided by their conscience. Congressman Cao's life experiences have molded his beliefs and conscience in a manner that few have experienced. Perhaps we can all learn something from Congressman Cao. Please join me in acknowledging this man of honor.

Welcome Mr. and Mrs. Percentage Points--Are We Alive?

2009-11-07T10:26:00.005-06:00
Are you accustomed to the title that governmental agencies and politicians use when talking about us. We are not people . We are percentage points. Unemployed people are referred to as part of the "Unemployment Rate" in percentage points. Vote differences in elections are measured in percentage points. A babies birth is part of the " Birth Rate" also in percentage points. Virtually all government statistics are boiled down to percentage points for the purpose of comparing economic growth or contraction.As far as our governments are concerned we are all bundled in neat packages referred to as a demographic statistic, also in percentage points. We all have been unwittingly morphed into a convenient statistic that removes our individual existence as humans or even numbers of people and relegated to the title of Mr. and Mrs. and junior and baby "Percentage Points". The subliminal reason for this subjugation is that we lose our individual identity as humans and politicians and media experts can dismiss our existence by referring to us as simply percentage points.

Think about this for a while before you decide what this means. Future editions of this blog will amplify what this means to me. Meanwhile let's just share the thought that we are Percentage Points! Are we alive?

Hitler's Ghost Haunts Us Against Health Care Reform

2009-11-06T07:54:00.006-06:00

This photograph displays a large banner with the words, "National Socialist Health Care, Dachau Germany-1945" over the corpses of poisoned concentration camp victims of the Nazis at the gas chambers that were used to liquidate as many Jews as possible during the Nazi realm in Germany before and during World War II. This banner was prominently waved above the heads of Congresswoman Michelle Bachman (R,MN) and Congressman John Boehner (R,OH), and many other prominent Republicans (who oppose health care legislation that assures coverage for all citizens regardless of ability to pay) and several thousands of people who rallied in opposition to the pending Democratic health care reform bill. There were many other signs and banners displayed at this rally that attacked the Democratic bill as a form of Socialism or Communism. Actor John Voight joined the Republican legislators at the rally voicing his opposition to the health care bill and virtually everything else that President Obama is trying to accomplish. Imagine this scene where prominent Republican leaders are stirring up thousands of citizens under a banner likening the Democratic Health Care bill to the genocidal acts committed at the Nazi Concentration Camp at Dachau under Adolph Hitler's orders to exterminate all Jews and other undesirable people.

Several years ago while in Germany on business I went to the Dachau Camp Memorial Site that is maintained by the German government as a reminder of the indescribable starvation, murders, and torture of thousands of Jews, Russian prisoners of war and others who Hitler deemed to be undesirable. The stark gas chamber (called a shower room) and crematoriums still stand as testimony to the horrendous acts that humans committed against other humans. Death and the smell of burning skin haunts the place and will do so forever. The photographs take after Dachau was liberated by American soldiers are displayed at the Memorial Site and viewing the photos that show mounds of skeletal bodies piled on top of one another as sunken eyes stare as if asking for help glare at you and you are forced to look away from the ghastly reminder of man's inhumanity to man.

The banner above displays bodies that are shown in the photographs at the Dachau Memorial Site that was the first of Hitler's extermination camps built in 1933 and used for mass murders until it was liberated on April 29, 1945. No one knows exactly how many innocent men women and children were exterminate at Dachau during the 13 years it was in operation exterminating people. However Dachau and the 19 other major and over 1,500 smaller Concentration Camps probably accounted for the extermination of more than six million people, mostly Jews.

Those of us who lived before and during WW II at least have some memory of what took place on the major battlefields during the war. Few of us have any recollection of life and death in a concentration camp. The Holocaust survivors are few and will soon all be deceased. The memory of these horrendous atrocities against fellow humans will never fade. the Republican rally at the White House displaying naked bodies of Dachau victims was as surreal as the acts committed at the Dachau Concentration Camp.

How could Republican opponents including members of Congress stand below such a banner and compare a piece of legislation to help assure health care for all American citizens to the Nazi atrocities at Dachau? The souls of the dead must have regurgitated as they witnessed the so-called civilized Republican use of the innocent victims of Dachau. Apparently Hitler's Ghost haunts us in the form of Republican opposition to universal affordable health care for all. Will the demons of hate ever recede? Will the souls of the dead from Dachau ever rest?

Demand Health Care for All

2009-11-03T12:02:00.014-06:00
We are in the midst of a Republican vs Democrat battle in Congress the outcome of which will determine how much it will cost and who will get health care. Virtually all the Republicans voice total opposition to a plan that will include a non-profit insurance alternative to that offered by private, profit maximizing insurance companies. Nearly all Congressional Democrats favor a non-profit option because lower operating costs and the elimination of profit will reduce the costs. The Republicans infer that this is Socialism if not Communism and will lead our country to self destruction and the decay of our Constitution.

One might believe that the respective positions of the Congressional Democrats and Republican are based some factual support. The Democrats point out that more than 47 million Americans cannot afford health care and that is reason for change and the public, non-profit, plan. The Congressional Republicans respond by saying in effect, "so what". Why should any of them care with such great pay and benefits? At least the Democrats are trying to remedy a mighty problem while the Republicans oppose every attempt to provide health care for all citizens. The Democrats in Congress deserve our praise because they are working for all Americans. The Republican seem to care only about those who can afford to pay for their health care. This distinction is clear.

The members of Congress all are paid salaries of at least $174,000 annually or about five times the median pay of a typical American family income. They also have health care insurance that include taxpayer subsidies that pays for about 75%. This is equivalent to another tax payer benefit that averages about $8,000 annually depending upon their family size. Collectively the 535 members of the House and Senate receive over $97 million dollars in pay per year (plus an annual cost of living adjustment) for their services to we the people. This is merely the direct labor cost and does not include the operating costs that exceed several billions of dollars annually (the actual amount is well disguised in the overall budget appropriations and is not easily separable). Are we getting our money's worth?

If you have watched c-Span TV you are aware that most of the time the Senate or House is in session passes as "quorum calls" and nothing but chatter and speeches to otherwise empty or near-empty chambers occur. One might suppose that serious work is taking place elsewhere, and if so why refer to this as an operating session when at least 50% of the time is wasted. Assuming that the combined designated operation of Congress equals 1000 hours per year and that half is spent doing nothing we are paying our Congress members at least 30 million dollars annually for doing nothing. Perhaps the other 1000 hours per year is spent constructively, but one is inclined to question even that possibility. Are we getting our money's worth?

The health care debate that is more like a war between Republicans and Democrats is a noteworthy example of how our tax dollars are wasted by vacuous and vindictive speeches and meaningless diversions and Republican scare tactics to delay or prevent any health care reform. If this is the norm, as it appears to be, why do we pay a Congress that has nearly 40% of the members refusing to legislate. They want to obfuscate, delay, and prevent any meaningful health care reform. If they refuse to work for the American people they should not be paid. Give them a permanent vacation by voting them out of office the next time we have an opportunity. Tell them that we are not getting our money's worth! Meanwhile demand health care for all of our citizens.

Where are Decent Paying Jobs? Why Have They Dissipated?

2009-10-22T08:53:00.010-06:00
The date was in the early 1960's when a major Boeing contract for the Air Force was cancelled and the result was that tens of thousands of aerospace employees of Boeing and other aerospace contractors in California, Washington and many other states were laid off. This sounds like a calamity but and reminiscent of today's bleak employment situation. However, the thousands who were laid off quickly were reemployed in comparable aerospace jobs by other aerospace companies who had or were getting other major aerospace contracts. The 1960's were the hay days of aerospace and hundreds of thousands were employed as the US embarked upon a race into space against Russia. Government money flowed into the economy and created boom times for our economy.

In addition all kinds of manufacturing jobs and small businesses thrived as our country produced virtually everything that we consumed. "Made in the USA" was the hallmark of our daily lives and virtually everyone benefited. Unemployment was as low as 3.5% and averaged about 4.85% for the decade beginning in 1960. High school and college graduates found jobs quickly and affordable homes, rents, health care, dental care, transportation, and food was generally available. Gasoline cost about 25 cents a gallon and a nice two bedroom home could be purchased for about $17,000 (in Los Angeles). A Chevy four door sedan cost about $3,000 and a Volkswagen Beetle about $1,500. The air and water was still breathable and drinkable and relatively clean in most regions except the heavy steel making and petroleum/chemical operations were prevalent. Families were able to pay for their children's education without accruing significant debt and tuition at most public universities was modest or negligible. Racial strife was not negligible but we were becoming a more homogeneous society and beginning to develop a color blind society.

The United States of America was working for the benefit of most Americans and relatively secure jobs were abundant and generally satisfying to most of us. Life was generally peaceful but the Vietnam War was lurking and beckoning the instincts that stir antagonism and war. The cold war with the USSR and flare ups with Cuba were ongoing but nonetheless not responsible for many deaths or maiming. We had emerged from the Korean War in the mid 1950's and over 35,000 of our troops were killed and hundreds of thousands wounded and maimed. The Vietnam War would eventually nearly doubled that number before it ended.

Generally the decade of 1960 was a prosperous time for most Americans and although irrational pay disparities existed between the typical worker and executives they were small compared to today's obscene spread that often is more than one thousand to one. The typical family was able to get by with one bread winner and children usually had their mothers home caring for their needs.

All of the positive aspects of the decade of 1960 were generally possible because we shared the economic benefits of essentially full employment, equitable pay, and available and affordable health care. But warning signs were beginning to show. The beginning of our economic decline was brewing in the class rooms of prestigious universities where business departments started to blossom a new breed of enlightened business executive, the "Master of Business Administration", otherwise known as the "MBA". Literally hundreds of thousands of MBA's graduated from prestigious universities and later less prestigious institutions with an inflamed passion to grow the "bottom line" of their businesses as the sole objective of management. They along with new economists who were considered to be experts in the mathematical modelling and predictive outcomes of economic systems began to proliferate throughout American businesses and vigorously started to transform business operations and purposes to a single purpose. That purpose was to increase profits by any legitimate (and some times illegitimate) means.

The most obvious way to increase profits was to decrease costs of production. The best way to cut costs of production is to reduce costs of labor. The best way to decrease cost of labor is to find people who will work for less pay. The solution was self-evident. Establish production facilities in countries where labor costs were significantly less than in the USA. This simple minded solution to maximizing profits started a wave of US production re locations to other countries in Asia and South America where workers were paid about 10% to 15% of the American worker counterpart. The cost of relocation and facilitation of new foreign plants was quickly recovered and increased profits fattened the bottom lines of American Corporation who were American mainly in name only and whose production operations were located where labor costs were very low. These new operations were helpful to the foreign economies where jobs were created and a common justification was that more consumers of "American products" would be created while at the same time lowering production costs and increasing profits even more. The golden goose was indeed discovered and every egg hatched more cash for executive pay, bonuses, and stock awards while American jobs dwindled and workers pay began to decline. The handwriting was firmly etched while most American blithely ignored the indelible future results for many years.

We have finally awakened to reality that began to shape our economic destiny in the decade of the 1960's. That reality is reflecting in our eyeballs with every blink. Virtually every piece of clothing we wear, every durable household product we us in our homes, every shoe we wear, every TV we watch, every electronic communication device and computer we use contains or is entirely produced in a foreign country where labor cost are still very low and regulatory impediments are nil. Without a stir from the American public American corporations have made the American worker almost extinct in all forms of production that mass produces product at the lowest possible labor cost.Technical support jobs have also disappeared from the USA and the typical American workers are relegated to mainly number crunching and other service jobs that pay minimal wages except for the executives who manipulate the puppet strings with the able assistance of government that enables more of the same by favoring corporations with low or sometimes zero taxes on foreign operation that are headquartered in zero-tax havens.

We American have become puppets because we have accepted this gradually sublimation of our economic survival to multi national corporations whose sole purpose is to maximize profit. We have acquiesced and blindly allow "made in XXXXX" to become our pathway to increased subservience to corporate domination. Will we ever wake up and demand that our government prevent the ongoing wreckage of American workers lives at the alter of corporate profits and use of least cost labor. Will we ever refuse to buy products "Made in XXX" and demand products made in the USA by reasonably paid USA workers? Or are we suckers who really believe that maximizing profits represents the best way to prosperity? Next time you buy something determine where it was made or grown and than ask yourself this simple question: Where are the jobs that produced this product and its parts? Then ask yourself what you can do to change your answer to "Made in the USA"? Then help do it. American jobs that pay a decent wage must be realized again if we are to become a nation where life, liberty , and the pursuit of happiness is available to all of us.

The Sure Cure

2009-09-13T09:31:00.008-06:00
No more debate on health care is needed. The "Sure Cure" is available now! If we open ourselves to the best in ourselves we can discover the only path to health and for virtually little additional cost. In fact enormous cost reductions will inevitably occur.

Let's begin by making alcoholic beverages mandatory and start the economy rolling in dough. We currently spend about $100 billion dollars a year on alcoholic drinks, so my making them mandatory we could add at least the same amount and create many millions of new jobs. Nobody will work very efficiently if a pint of booze per day was the law, and therefore many more people will be required to do all the work. If most of us were half sopped health care wouldn't matter. Much better to drink ourselves into oblivion than to worry about health care.

To top this plan off we can also make tobacco use mandatory and stop all this nonsense about curtailing smoking. Let's get real and foster more, not less, tobacco consumption and double the money spent to about $170 billion annually.

Imagine the job benefits with nearly $200 billion more spent for these two discretionary expenses that will become legal requirements. No more worry about death squads mandated by health care reform. We will take care of that ourselves. No more wasted dollars on rehab or liver transplants. Forget lung cancer for the good of society as a whole!

The "Sure Cure" is within reach. Contact your elected congressional representatives and insist that sanity be restored. Demand mandatory booze and tobacco consumption laws for the good of our country. Stop senseless debate over health care and vote for the Sure Cure now.

Zombies Don't Need Health Care

2009-09-11T07:22:00.007-06:00
Those of you who are from my generation may remember the Saturday night triple header horror movies that induced a state of near trauma in the teen age crowds that attended this weekly event. Popcorn, three horror movies and all the screams you could endure without a drop of blood. Zombies, who were the main event, don't bleed.

The need for health care would be eliminated if we were all Zombies. Therein lies the solution to health care reform. We must all become Zombies.

Seems that many of us are on the way. Virtually all Republicans must be part Zombie and quickly becoming 100%. They are on their way to the ultimate solution to needless health care. They will soon be the stars of the new Zombie series to hit Washington, D.C. entitled "Zombies Don't Need Health Care". Senator Chuck Grassley will star and be supported by the second lead Russ Limbaugh in the the rollicking final scene where the hungry Zombies devour each other to prove that they are invulnerable to all diseases, and that they can digest anything, except Kieth Olberman.

The surprise climax to this very enlightening movie occurs when the last surviving Zombie, Glen Beck, regurgitates all the Zombies who then march on Washington to prove that health care is an obsolete idea. Go Zombies Go!

A, B, C's of Health Care Reform

2009-08-11T08:31:00.004-06:00
If you are serious about the issue of health care reform please consider the following questions. Your own answers will suggest what is or isn't needed from your perspective.

1. Do you believe that you should have access to health care when you require it?

2. Do you believe that you have a greater right to health care than anyone else?

3. Do you believe that health care must be available to you even if you are unable to pay for it when needed?

4. Are you able to pay for your health care regardless of the amount it costs?

5. Are you willing to do without health care if the cost is to much for you to pay?

6. Are you willing to get sicker and possibly die if you cannot pay for the health care you need?

7. Do you believe that the health of your loved ones represents the most important aspect of your life?

8. Will you willingly allow your loved ones get sick and possibly die if they cannot pay for their health care?

9. Will you pay for your loved ones health care if they cannot?

10. Will you accept health care for yourself and loved ones who need it even if you are unable to pay for it?

Your answers to these ten questions will help you decide what is needed and may aid in assessing the sometimes irrational words used to take one side or the other. A dose of reality based upon your own thoughts and answers is more useful than the hoot and holler that seems to take the place of rational thought and action.

Don't Yawn in Court

2009-08-10T09:17:00.006-06:00
This is too good to overlook. The link attached (click on title) explains that Judge Rozak sentenced a young man to six months in jail for contempt because he yawned loudly. Is this Justice Chicago style or does Judge Rozak believe that any natural bodily action in his Court deserves swift and decisive retribution--jail time?

It is entertaining to speculate how many times Judge Rozak has audibly FARTED in his own court room during his many years on the bench. Poor bench. If the bench could impose jail sentences, Judge Rozak would be in jail for life. You Judge Rozak should be a Supreme Court Judge in Illinois and start airing out the political stench. Better yet keep farting, but please do not fall asleep or yawn.

Headless Chicken Dance

2009-08-04T11:03:00.006-06:00
As a child growing up in the farming section of Los Angeles (yes there was such a thing), I witnessed headless chickens scurrying about after being decapitated before becoming a family dinner. Today my memory was stoked by seeing podcasts of similar activity at Health Care Reform forums. People are scurrying about yelling and shouting to drown out informational sessions because they are opposed to reform or are led to believe it would be bad for them.

They are different from the headless chickens in one respect. Their heads are intact but their brains have been detached. If they were truly interested to learn facts their brains would have closed their lips and listen and then ask relevant questions. The headless chicken dance of death is the epitome of closed minds and such actions are not represntative of democracy as our founders envisioned.

If all debate about crucial issues emulate the headless chicken dance our country will become a third rate chicken pen suitable for chicken fights and little else. Is it not time to engage in serious discussion based upon factual information instead?

The Unlevel Health Care Playing Field

2009-07-27T09:28:00.009-06:00
Why is needed health care unavailable and unaffordable to so many of our citizens? Why does the cost of health care continue to escalate faster than general inflation? Why does the USA spend about 16% of our Gross Domestic Product (GDP) on health care compared to about 8% in countries that have subsidized single payer universal health care for all their citizens? Why do all government employees get liberally tax subsidized health care benefits that are tax free while many wage earners pay through their noses without any subsidy at all, if they are able to pay? Even employer subsidized health insurance is provided tax free to the recipient. The rest of us pay taxes on all taxable income without these tax benefits.

The approximately 3 trillion dollars that is spent annually for all health care in the USA is equivalent to 100 billion dollars per person per year, and increasing every year. Assuming that 250 million of us are covered at an average price of $4,000 per year or a total of $1 trillion annually, where does the remaining $2 trillion go out of the $3 trillion?

Private health insurance companies and other private health care and pharmaceutical companies make very lucrative profits and pay multi million dollar compensation to their executives. Stock holders are awarded with significant investment returns. Doctors paid by fee for service, that is most common, are paid hundreds of thousands of dollars for family care and generally more than $500,000 annually for specialty medical services. The few hospitals and clinics that pay salaries are exceptions. Hospitals too are typically profit making institutions. Administrative costs range from about 10 to 20% of revenues, and total salaries are about $ 11 billion dollars annually according to the US Bureau of Labor Statistics. We still have to account for over $1 trillion annually, and this pays for operating costs, research, and education plus accrued earning and taxes. The health care industry is a profit making cash cow that has become the second highest money making operation only exceeded by the military weapons industry. The prices of services and goods from both are determined by profits and established by the executives who manage the businesses. Both industries share the mind set of bottom-line performance as measured by return on investment, just as any business usually does. However, both the health care and military weapon industry are essentially oligopolies or near monopolies that are able to set prices with little or no regulatory or competitive constraint.

The US medical industry has changed over the last 60 years from family oriented practices where house calls were the norm to conglomerate corporate operations where care is secondary to profits. We cannot return to the small family practice model but we can change the purpose of the health care industry from profit making to health making.The two purposes are not compatible. This requires the health care industry to become non-profit and to adopt a salary structure for all practitioners and executive pay limits, or alternatively have total take over by government that already pays for about 40% of all health care costs with subsidies and tax write offs. Anything short of single payer non profit health care system will result in uncontrollable costs as the profit motive drives prices higher and higher and more people are left without affordable health care. Possibly, fixed salaries and pay limits can suffice for the short term, but only if the long term objective is single payer government subsidized health care for all paid for by prioritized and allocated taxes.

A level health care field must replace the very unlevel field we now struggle on. Bold action and return to the Hippocratic Oath is essential if we as a country believe that health care must be a right not a profit making venture. Speak out for what is right. Tell your elected Congressional representatives what you believe and why. The time to act is now.

Health Care Cost vs. War Cost--Your Priority

2009-06-20T11:00:00.009-06:00
The battle cry against health care reform echos through Congress and the talking heads of the right wing media as: "How will it (health care reform) be paid for?" This rhetorical question is never answered in a positive manner, as if there are no answers other than more of the same. The sooth sayers of doom would rather do nothing about health care than accept the status quo. Allow more than 100 million of our citizens do without adequate health care while all of those working for government are given subsidized health care. If all local, state, federal employees are counted plus all elected officials plus all veterans, plus all active military, plus all medicaid recipients, plus all medicare recipients the total now covered by some form of tax payer subsidized health care must exceed 150 million people (about half the USA population).

More than 17% of our gross national budget of $13-14 trillion dollars is annually spent on health care in the USA. This is more than double the percentage spent in countries that have universal, single payer health care for all of their people. Nonetheless, countries that have universal single payer health care have better health care outcomes as measured by recoveries and overall quality of health and everyone has access. England, Ireland, Scotland, Wales. and all Great Britain surpasses our country as do Germany, France, Brussels, Spain,Canada, Japan, Norway, Denmark, Holland, Sweden and all economically advanced countries of the world. Ours is the only advanced country that fails to provide health care for all citizens paid by taxes. We seem to have more important priorities, mainly war and military objectives that must be paid before such silly purpose as universal health care be supported.

The cost of the Iraq War alone, since 2002 is nearly $700 billion dollars, and our world wide military expenditures exceed $2 trillion dollars annually when all related expenditures are included (VA, CIA, many hundreds of world-wide military bases, military reserve and national guard, weapon procurement and development, military pensions and disabilities, Pentagon, NSA, and untold secret expenditures). Including World War II, the total cost of all USA war related expenditures easily exceeds $500 trillion dollars in todays dollar, or a minimum of $8 trillion dollars per year.

Imagine what could be achieved with just one-fourth of this amount per year. Two trillion dollars per year deducted from war related expenditures could finance universal health care and leave more than a trillion dollars for other essential purposes. Improved schools, roads, public transportation, energy research, and ongoing educational opportunities for all citizens.

Today those opposed to universal health care claim that the cost will exceed $1.6 trillion dollars over 10 years, or about $160 billion dollars per year. This is considered to be excessive by the same Congress that allows military and war-related costs to grow unchecked and virtually unquestioned, and that is about 10% of war-related annual tax expenditures.

If the spiral of military spending continues unchecked our destiny will be involvement in endless wars to justify the expenditures. As the former presidential Republican candidate, Sen, John McCain gleefully sang during the recent campaign, "Bomb, bomb, Iran" as he danced a jig, his refrain will ring continuously as we joyously engage in one war after another to "save the world".

We have an opportunity to advocate health care for all and reset our national priorities, but only if we the people stand up and tell the political leaders that they must change course. If we fail, the pathway to perpetual war will propel our country and the world into an unimaginable abyss. Advocacy of Universal Health Care will help change our course as a nation as our sense of priority becomes renewed for constructive purposes. Act now and contact your elected representatives in Congress and state legislative bodies. Our generation and our future loved ones depend upon your involvement and actions.

Support Presiden Obama for Your Health's Sake

2009-06-04T08:16:00.021-06:00
Our President sent a letter to Congressional leaders, who are engaged in developing a health care reform bill, including a strong call for a public option. The public option, in contrast to private health insurance, would provide a health care plan equal to that every member of Congress and every employee of our federal government obtains immediately upon starting work. Pre-existing illnesses are covered and there are no waiting periods. Furthermore, all members of Congress can choose form many options and our taxes pay up to 75% of the cost. In reality we pay it all because their salaries are paid from our taxes as well.

So all of the Congress and federal government employees essentially get health care paid by taxes. As a matter of fact every full time employee of government (federal, state, county, city, town, village, etc.) get tax paid health care from taxes. Even the taxes of all government employees are paid from taxes since taxes pay their salaries and all benefits. All government employees obtain irrevocable benefits that taxes pay including those for retirement and saving plans. Can you understand why Congress and government employees are as happy as can be about their tax paid benefits? Yet many Republican and some Democratic members of Congress decry the very idea of a public health care option for the rest of Americans who are not government, or ever have been government, employees. Furthermore, private sector employees often have their benefits canceled by employers who decide that they do not want to pay them any longer. Privately employed tax payers have virtually no assurances that the benefits they were promised when first employed will be kept. They often are not! And, they have no recourse.

There are about 20 million federal employees including about 3 million in military service. The total number of state and local government employees, according to the US Bureau of Labor Statistics, is about 8 million. Therefore, approximately 28 million of about 140 million employed workers in the USA today are given bountiful health benefits from taxes. The nearly 14 million currently classified as unemployed and many millions who have given up hope of employment and are not included in the BLS data are up the creek without an oar. Furthermore, millions of privately employed workers are required to pay more co-pays and deductibles for their private health insurance. Those who have Medicare and supplement insurance plans to avoid catastrophic costs for prolonged illnesses have seen their costs increase more than 10% annually during the last several years. Insurance costs have risen so rapidly and excessively that health care coverage has become unaffordable for millions of Americans, employed or not.

America must support President Obama's call for a public option for health care. Congress must be told to give back the money private insurance companies and HMO's pay them for their political campaigns for preferential treatment to take a hike. Stop the greedy profit motive that drives the insurance industry. All Americans are entitled to the same health care benefits that government employees get from taxes that are mainly paid by the rest of us who have not been employed directly by government.This special treatment is tantamount to creating a privileged health care class, and kicking the majority of us in the butt. Enough already.

Support President Obama and tell your Congressional representatives to vote for a public option and hardship coverage. Tell Congress that all Americans are entitled to the the same health care coverage that they get and at most, at the same cost. Act now. Your health care future and health will depend upon your actions.

How Bean Counters Destroyed the US Auto Industry

2009-05-29T18:06:00.007-06:00
We are lectured by politicians about the demise of the domestic auto industry. Unions are blamed. Health costs are blamed. CAFE limits are blamed. Who has suggested that the auto executives who counted the beams were to blame? Have you ever visited the Corporate Office of major auto companies in the USA during their hey days. Large signs in the office lobby auspiciously displayed the daily stock price. The CEO and most of the officers were trained as MBA's and accountants who lived by the bottom line and occupied luxurious offices and were paid multi million dollar annual salaries. Quarterly profits and stock dividends drove their delusional decisions. Short term views prevailed. Marketing was based on glitz and more powerful engines. Long term R&D was minimized for short term profits.

The real cause of the demise was AWOL management. Top level management led their blue collar and white collar employees and stock holders into an abyss that cost our country most of our remaining manufacturing assets. Now they are bailed out despite years of mismanagement and the workers suffer along with long term stock holders. The beans were counted and swallowed by the executives who became bloated with hot gas and blinded by their own short sighted management.

The bail out will save some jobs, but unless management methods and goals improve the small three domestic auto companies will get smaller and require another bail out. Mismanagement must be allowed to fail. Our government must protect the workers but not inept management. Assign the workers full management responsibility and get the government out of paying the bean counters for their blunders.

The Senatorial Brain Drain

2009-05-20T13:24:00.007-06:00
We are sometimes given the opportunity to witness grown people elected by us to the US Senate behave like brainless idiots. Yesterday was a good example of Senatorial Brain Drain in its full glory. The Senate voted 90-6 against funding to close the Guantanamo Detainee Prison because they objected to the prisoners being relocated to prisons in the USA that are used to imprison the most violent criminals anywhere in the world. Now if I am correct are not the US prisons, such as Alcatraz and other equally isolated prisons, used to incarcerate serial killers, murderers including mass murderers, domestic terrorists, presidential assassins, weapon smugglers, mailbox bombers, traitors, and death row inmates?

Well the US Senate seems to think that those imprisoned at Guantanamo are too dangerous to be imprisoned with the likes of those included in the latter list. If this is not the epitome of total brain drain it must be very close. We should all be overjoyed to have Senators who are so intelligent that they want to segregate the most violent prisoners currently in Federal penitentiaries from the possible terrorists in Guantanamo. Perhaps we should send all viscous prisoners now in US prisons to Guantanamo and allow mass mayhem to settle the problem.

Now that our esteemed Senate is emboldened to protect us from contaminating violent prisoners with possible foreign terrorist detainees (even if they are kept in solitary confinement) we can all rest assured that our Senators will always be alert and think sensibly about all the issues that confront our nation. We are certainly in good hands even if the brains are missing!

GM's Reign of Mismanagement--The Workers Pay

2009-03-31T09:49:00.014-06:00
After loaning GM about $17 billion dollars our Government said goodbye to GM CEO Rich Waggoner. And, Waggoner had the last laugh. The UAW line workers who are paid wages of about $50/hr garner a pension of about $25,000/yr after 30 years of building GM cars. CEO Waggoner will receive a lump sum pension of about $23 million for his 30 years of service in management. This is equivalent to the total pensions paid to about 920 GM retired line workers for one year. The line workers manned the manufacturing lines that produced many millions of GM cars annually and as retired CEO Waggoner receives his pension the workers still employed by GM see their pensions threatened and diminishing. Why not give all GM employees lump sum retirement pensions based upon the total number of cars produced? CEO Waggoner is the latest of a list of GM CEO's who have helped GM dive into near bankruptcy while claiming that the line workers are paid too much. Have you ever heard one of the CEO's or Presidents of GM state that they were overpaid?

If their pay was determined by long term growth they would have received constantly diminishing pay for most of the prior 30 years. However, the GM Board of Directors continued to pay more to themselves and their top executives as the company spiraled downward year after year, unable or unwilling to respond to the new markets and growing competition. GM management was clearly retarded and behind the times as they lost market share year after year. Yet their management cadre and boards were very generous in paying their incompetent leaders. The workers did not cause GM's near demise. The Board of Directors and Executive Managements were responsible.

If Waggoner is worth $23 million upon retirement for helping to screw up GM then all the line workers should be paid lump sums retirements of at least $500,000 for doing what they were told and doing it well enough to pay multi million dollar salaries to their management. The line workers at least produced cars and trucks while the GM Boards and top Executives steadily destroyed their ability to do so, by lack of vision and incompetent management. Why are the executives awarded while line workers are penalized? Our Government must protect the pensions of and speak up for the loyal and dedicated UAW line workers and general salaried workers who are the victims of GM's many years of greedy executive mismanagement.

Where Do You Scratch When You Itch?

2009-03-22T08:43:00.003-06:00
We all too often blame someone else for our self-inflicted itch. The bug did it or my neighbor sprayed me with a pesticide or a fungus got between my toes. Seldom do we look within ourselves to determine the cause of the itch. Our Topsy-Turvy economic turmoil is a good example worth analyzing to seek the real cause of the itch that has all of us squirming and blaming others for the endless scratching.

Those of you who live in the USA know the county in which you live. Do you know how many municipalities a located in your county? Do you know the budget of each municipality? Do you know the budget of the municipality in which you live? Do you know how many people are employed by your municipality? Do you know what they do? Do you know how many school districts there are in your county? Do you know how much you pay in property taxes? Do you know what the property taxes are spent for? Do you know how many school superintendents and administrators are employed by the school districts in your county? These types of questions could go on and on, and most of us would answer "no" to most of them, except the question about property taxes. You probably know how much you pay to the nearest penny.

The taxes we all pay are the sum total of all the costs we incur by allowing our governments do what they and we say they can do. Local government within the municipality of the county in which you live starts the base of the cost pyramid that ends at the point where the sky is the limit. If the base is ignored than all piled on top matters naught. The itch for more starts in our own back yards with local government and spreads like a wildfire to ignite the whole county, state, and federal system with uncontrollable waste. Similarly, the so-called private sectors of our economy begins with the belief that more is better and the quest for more of everything creates a senseless and avaricious oneupmanship to male more money than anyone else regardless of the harm you may do to others. The financial mess spurred by greed-motivated use of bank and investment funds proves the point better than any number of words. Waste, abuse, and indifference peppered with a dose of greed and self-interest has infected our country with a itch that defies description as it inflames tempers to blame someone else for our malady. Blame ourselves.

We allow the itch to begin in our own back yards where local government does what the elected or appointed officials decide. It spreads to each and every municipality government group in the county and to the county government and finally to the most wasteful of all, state and federal governments. Each level digs deeper into our pockets for more tax dollars. Have you ever heard a word about consolidation of municipalities and elimination of redundant costs within your county? Have you ever heard school districts within your county discuss consolidation and the elimination of wasteful duplicate costs for such administrative expenses and for school superintendents for each district? Have you asked your local chairman of your town, village, or city board of supervisors how much they are paid and what they do for the money we pay them? How many clerks and deputy clerks do they hire to do their work?

If you are really serious about stopping the waste of your tax dollars and the endless itch that is generated start looking into your own backyard where local government starts the itch pyramid as it grows to an infinite hight, adding layer upon layer of redundancy and waste.

If you are really serious about doing something about the spreading itch, start in your own backyard and ask your local town, village , county, city government officials that you elected and had appointed for copies of their budgets and actual expenditures and what exactly was done with your money and why. Do the same with each school district, and ask why they don't consolidate and eliminate waste. Ask your elected state assembly person and senate member why consolidation is not mandated to reduce costs and eliminate redundancy at all levels of government?

Our country has lasted for 213 years and most of the municipalities in which we live are much younger. The government structures that originated over 200 years ago when agricultural employment spread over vast distances required numerous local governments and distributed school districts and the redundancy that was dictated by archaic communication and horse and buggy transportation systems. Living as we do in 2009, the landscape is quite different. Electronic, instant communication is standard. Transportation is vastly different. Agriculture is no longer the dominant life style. Yet, our government systems from local, county, state, and federal are still structured as they were during the horse and buggy era. We are stuck in the past and complain about the itch as it consumes the quality of life that existed when common sense prevailed.

Our founders in 1776 were true frontier blazers. They firmly believed that the monarchy they left behind was immoral and tantamount to taxation without representation. Yet we have become the very "tail between our legs" monarchy K.A.'s that our founders left behind to create a new country. They did not believe that the change to a constitutional republic meant immutable bureaucracies would result. We allowed these bureaucracies consisting of local fiefdoms, county bureaucracies, state big wigs, and federal big shots to call the shots without asking a simple question: WHY?. Archaic, wasteful layers of government at every level must be eliminated and consolidation at all levels is mandatory. We are infected by an intolerable itch that must be cured by starting with local, and county reform that sets the framework for a new government era, that truly eliminates tax waste.

Dancing in The Dark

2009-02-17T09:46:00.012-06:00
As a teenager at UCLA I recall listening to and clumsily dancing to the song, "Dancing in the Dark", a melodic romantic song. Written in 1931 for the Broadway musical "Band Wagon" starring Fred Astaire, the song was recorded in the 40's and 50's by such famous vocalists as Ella Fitzgerald, Frank Sinatra, and Bing Crosby. The mood set by the song was that of love and faith (check the link if you want to read the lyrics). Seems to me we need much more of these ingredients today, particularly in Congress where most Republicans seem to have closed their eyes to reality as they bask in darkness. They are "Dancing in the Dark", but not with a sense of love and faith resonated by the song.

As the Republican and Democratic Governors of our 50 United States of America are sinking in a quagmire of budgetary problems they collectively support or are willing to receive help from the Obama stimulus plan (just passed without a single Republican vote in the House and only three Republican votes in the Senate). Republican Governors from Florida, California, Vermont, and others have openly supported the Obama Stimulus plan even though the Republican Congressional representatives from these same states were consistently opposed and virtually all voted, "nay".

How is it that most Republican Governors welcome the financial help for their states while the Republicans in Congress say nay? Is it possible that those Republican in Congress care more about party allegiance than they care about allegiance to the United States of America? If any Republican Congress members are old enough to remember how the Depression influenced their families (as I do remember) and this second Depression is now creating austerity among most Americans, perhaps they can rekindle the original meaning of the 1931 song, "Dancing in the Dark", and break out of their self-imposed hibernation. Hopefully, they will then see the light of day while really "Dancing in the Dark", and regaining hope and faith to help restore the dreams of American families.