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Monthly Archives: July 2012

Just Passing It On.


This Economist has stated this before. If we look carefully and remember that
this situation has been brewing for 10 plus years (before Barack Obama and
slightly before George Bush). The sitting Congress however has been in place
through all of this and done nothing except grandstand on issues that serve to fire up the people and solve nothing. How many of these sitters have lowered their pay and benefits? What we have is a failure to act responsibly on behalf of the Congress we elected. Looking beyond this economic situation. The Congress is more concerned with trashing the President’s so called failure on the economy and the Affordable health care act that they cannot address the issues of the economy. The election of Mr. Romney will not result in any big changes in the economy because it has gone too far to turn around with legislation. What we may see is the Dupublican faction and their big money supporters do some of the things that this current President has begged for and not received. It is unfortunate that we have elected folks who are as Racist as they are greedy and they keep trying to pull the political wool over our eyes. The problem is that people are desperate for someone to blame and Mr. Obama fits the bill as so many people of color have in the multitude of lynchings years past. Our task as voters is simply to empty the bias box of our minds and pay attention to and find the facts. Remember if it quacks like a duck, walks like a duck, guess what -it is a duck! Apparently our Congress lies for a living as evidenced by the press conferences that occur immediately after any speech the President makes. This  a portion of Mr. Roubini statement:
“Roubini: My ‘Perfect Storm’ Is Unfolding Now “Dr. Doom” Nouriel Roubini, says the “perfect storm” scenario he forecast for the global economy earlier this year is unfolding right now as growth slows in the U.S., Europe as well as China. In May, Roubini predicted four elements – stalling growth in the U.S., debt troubles in Europe, a slowdown in emerging markets, particularly China, and military conflict in Iran – would come together in to create a storm for the global economy in 2013.
“(The) 2013 perfect storm scenario I wrote on months ago is unfolding,” Roubini said on Twitter on Monday.
Chinese inflation data released on Monday, suggested that the economy is cooling faster than expected, while employment data out of the U.S. on Friday indicated that jobs growth was tepid for a fourth straight month in June.
Roubini said that unlike in 2008 when central banks had “policy bullets” to stimulate the global economy, this time around policymakers are “running out of rabbits to pull out of the hat.”
Policy easing moves by the European Central Bank (ECB), Bank of England (BoE) and the People’s Bank of China (PBoC) last week did little to inspire confidence in global stock markets.
“Levitational force of policy easing can only temporarily lift asset prices as gravitational forces of weaker fundamentals dominate over time,” he said.
Bill Smead, CEO of Smead Capital Management, agrees that there is little central banks can do arrest the global slowdown.
Last week, he told CNBC that there is “virtually zero chance” that pump-priming by central banks will succeed, suggesting that policymakers should instead let the economic bust work itself through the system.”

Being The Best


I do not want to be the best: Black man, White man, Indian.

I do not want to be the best: Irishman, Russian, Italian

I do not want to be the best: politician, CEO, Minister

I do not want to be the best: man or woman

I just want to be the best Human Being I can be.

Afghan Waltz


I was listening to a talk show today (on Point) and it discussed Afghanistan and a book written by Rajiv Chandrasekaran.

The Book is entitled “little America: the war within the war in Afghanistan”.

The discussion was essentially about our failure to accomplish very much in that country due to a lack of understanding of the people and their needs. We based our actions on the idea that everyone wants to be like America. This theory caused billions of dollars to be spent in  non productive ways. There was no consideration given to the tribal divides and regional needs. Russia was defeated in that country yet while being hated by the people did better things than we did, they paved some areas for their use but it helped the people. We attempted to turn a sows ear into a silk purse  when all that was required was just a way to get the sow to market in the most efficient way. The region has specific needs in order to grow crops but we never understood the land or the use of it. We attempted to train their army by leading them rather than train their people and allow them to train themselves. We did not teach, we did and expected the example to be followed exactly. The excerpt from the book is available online at “onpoint.com”.

Corruption


We usually think of thugs, hoodlums and generally thieves when we hear about corruption. What about other corrupters and corruptees? What about other types of corruption other than money changing hands? What about moral corruption and moral bankruptcy? We have in every level of public  service office holders who through their  ineptitude, lack of vision and often personal biases are as corrupt and morally bankrupt as any crass  individual or corporation covered in the news. What made us  think they were honest and upright people?, we wanted to believe in them and their campaign ads (negative or positive) held up the idea of and possibility of better government.  The ads that made the most impact seem to be the negative ones. I submit that we as voters dwell on the least favorable ideas while the important parts of the message goes  past us and later returns to haunt us. We all need to go back to the time when one had to pay attention to a persons message by way of  listening and not seeing (when we had only radio). The visuals of modern campaigning are overwhelming and often deceptive in that all that looks good now may be just fools gold later. This current presidential campaign is all about Race not the real issues. The ethnicity of the candidate should be of no importance since being an American automatically precludes that issue as we are all a mix of every known race and class of people in the world. The origins of each of us can be traced to somewhere else in the world going back to prehistory but we seem to delight in maintaining a separation based on skin color, religion and known country of birth. This is a form of corruption that is more detrimental than the others and we need to cease promoting it.

Opinion


I read an opinion offered in the 7/05/ issue of the SJ-R and while the primary comment appears to be about “Obamacare” which is really “The Affordable Healthcare Act”, I submit that the real thrust of this opinion is a get out and vote message and it should be aimed at the longtime residents of the Congress. The President can present or offer any bills for action but it is Congress that makes the final decision good or bad. It was more up to the Congress to address any issues with the proposed law to make it work instead these idiots hit the airwaves with mis information and innuendo with the same furor as the mobs who destroyed the Eastside of Springfield in the early1900’s. The message to All Americans should be change the Congress and their terms of office, then monitor their work instead of reading the comics and obituaries.

A Puzzle


The recent coverage on Chicago’s “gun buyback” programs for gift certificates was called a great success, this program removed a number firearms from the streets. This was designed to help reduce violent crimes by firearms. Unfortunately the only firearms turned in were by ordinary citizens not the real perpetrators of crime. I have included a recent  excerpt from a local Chicago newspaper.

“The violence has alarmed city leaders and law-enforcement officials, who say that up to 80 percent of the shootings and homicides are gang-related. To help combat the problem, Police Superintendent Garry McCarthy announced this week that he plans to hire 450 to 500 officers this year to maintain the department’s current strength, according to the Chicago Sun-Times”

I find it difficult to understand how gathering legally owned firearms can reduce crime. My opinion has nothing to do with any national organization but all to do with rational thinking.

What I dislike


Reading several publications on a regular basis has given me a broad view of what we are as people. Many of us have no idea of who they are. They think they are liberal but how liberal? They think they are conservative, but how conservative? They think they are somewhere between but where? This brings up the issue of what we actually believe about the economy and what we know. What we Think we  know about the Affordable Healthcare act and what we know. If we read more about these issue ourselves, we would come to the conclusion that we actually know little. The  dependence on what is aired is often short of real facts. The constant nattering of the party political faithful is often  skewed to garner the most support. Many people will vote in the upcoming Presidential election under a  veil of misinformation and the unspoken (and ignored) issue of Race. For clarity: the economy will get better at some point no matter who is in office as sure as it went south with no help from the government. The Congress we have now is as useless as the proverbial teats on a “Boar hog”. Our salvation will come when we the people control the congress instead of relying on them to do what they were elected to do. We do not need media darlings in Congress , we need serious people to do serious work. The key is term limits and revision of their benefits with pensions that mirrors the voters.

Just Wondering.


Our known historic records only cover written records regarding climatic changes. There have been and are many factions that uphold the notion that we the citizens of the world are responsible for the climatic changes that affect all of us. These  issues are correct up to a point. While we as people have contributed to some of the air quality and global warming but the unwritten and unknown historic records could give a different picture. The earth before people has possibly gone through this climatic shift before. Even with the advent of a written or pictorial record we have limited information. The first cave pictures and other pictographs just depict the information on climate as known then and these  pictorials could be possibly incomplete and erroneously translated. I am just making an observation to say nature has been in command of this planet for Eons and the events we now see could have occurred several to many times before our existence and even after with no written or depicted record. These events are evident in some cases by geological records in the fossils, rocks and existing traces in various parts of the world. Geologists and  natural systems explorers have not all agreed on this but each sector or faction have made discoveries that point to the current events have occurred before in early earth history.  In considering the global warming argument, how much real fault do we have in this situation? The recent firestorms in the west should give rise to the idea that nature in its naturalness used periodic burning to improve the  land and create new growth. The native Americans understood the value of this and used that method to good effect. Now the folks who have essentially encroached on natures natural “burn” areas are feeling the brunt of misconceived residential location. This error in judgement was shown in the Mt. St. Helen’s disaster, the Hawaiian islands burn and the plains fires of the west. having the freedom to build or reside among the natural areas is fine but is it worth the risk? No amount of greening up will eliminate all of the natural processes set in motion by nature eons ago.

It will be Obama’s Fault


The recent news about the European factory and business slowdown has begun to affect the USA. This news has been awaited for a while but you can be sure the Congress and Dupublican candidate for the White House will hit the airwaves to blame the current resident of the White House. The division in this country is no longer subtly Racist so those factions that are adamantly against Mr. Obama for any one of many conjured up reasons will jump on this one. We have seen the outright  animosity from the Congress (on both sides), we have seen  the business moguls weigh in for no more than the publicity and other very well offs pour millions into the coffers of the aspirant and his party members who are seeking election and re-election. This begs for an answer which to me can only be get a new Congress and punish the wealthy evil doers whose sole purpose is to continue to fill their coffers on the back of the American people. How do we punish them?, simply buy fewer of their products, assail their headquarters with letter of protest and indignation. Hit the streets  if need be to let them know we have had enough. What if we as voters terminate the services of the sitting Congress as their current terms end and insist that a law be created to make their terms of service one  (1) twelve year term or no more than 13 years, eliminate office perks like Franking, free rides on military aircraft, eliminate additional pay for chairmanships, remove current pension and special committee pay. There would be no incentive make friends who need favors and thereby control the Government.

Justice


Our Congress is the largest acting troupe in America. These folks spend more time in the media than the real entertainers and we pay them for it. They cannot seem to do their work with out media presence to show case their pomposity. There are issues that require discussion without fanfare until the discussion is done and the job completed. The Contempt citation of the  attorney general is rooted more in politics (and possibly race) than anything else. The idea of weapons going across the border did not start this week, it began much longer ago under the previous administration. The Congress again is playing politics and using the media to do it, They have spent countless hours and money ( ours) to discredit the current administration. It has been shown that Mr. Holder did not start this action and was not aware of it until it went wrong. Our Congress lead by the “Scamocrats” is again spending time and money on flawed information to get airtime. Our real problem now is a Congress that has assumed Imperial status on our behalf while giving us half truths to accomplish their ambitions. This is again a situation that requires investigation within the walls of Congress before airing it in the media. You may notice that Congressional leaders are not prone to retractions when they are wrong (much like Kings of old).