In the beginning they were given two choices.
They took the easy way out. They always do. The politicians bailed out the banks, the bankers, and stole a cool trillion from the treasury which they used to make fractional loans.
They didn't avoid a depression- they simply postponed it.
Wall Street survived in some zombie fashion- inflating real estate and stock markets to astronomical levels. That is where we've been since the fall of '08 and the beginning of the Mar. '09 bull.
Every one has been playing along because there isn't much else you can do. Go to work, grind out a bunch of taxes for the government and take out ridiculously sized loans on property to maintain the banker's profit margins. The American dream. Or nightmare depending on who you ask.
This winter I spent six months touring the south. I traveled through Arizona, Texas, Louisiana, Arkansas, and Oklahoma. I spent time on the beach, ate at nice restaurants. What I didn't do- is look for one of these pathetic, miserable, crappy jobs with no benefits. I giggled every time I went to a restaurant or a bar and saw a "help wanted" sign. I can't tell you how many "help wanted" signs I've seen. Maybe 100 or so. I saw signs offering 11 bucks an hour- well over minimum wage- with no takers. Truck trailers with placards offering sign up bonuses. Outdoor billboards asking for help.
This has been going on for months.
I am part of the 100 million workers who dropped out. No more shitty jobs without benefits. No more immature, ego maniac bosses telling me what I can or can't do. You can have some measure of free speech just so long as you don't whore yourself out to some crappy job. The employer over reach in this country has never been worse. The government can't steal more from me. I don't have to meet deadlines, beg for time off, work overtime, or bite my tongue.
What all of this amounts to- is a strike. No union. No dues. Just 100 million people who have figured out a way to survive- and who know that taking one of these crappy jobs is simply not worth all of the headaches it generates. There is virtually no upside and 11 bucks ain't gonna make a difference.
The best part about the crash of '08- the unintended consequence- was that 100 million of us learned that we cannot depend on these jobs. We became self sufficient.
I'm sure you can still get a decent trailer house and a used car for 1100 a month. After taxes that should leave workers 300 a month for utilities, health care, gas, food, and maybe a t-shirt or two. The next step is labor camps- ya know the kind where you eat, work, and sleep on your employer's property.
Wages in this country have not really budged in 40 years. The talent pool is drying up and the people with any sort of know how aren't coming back.
When the Depression finally arrives- that day when debt levels go supernova and the dollar collapses- we can finally restructure our society. In the meantime, let's enjoy watching these bullshit artists try to repeal the laws of mathematics.
I can't even begin to imagine what will happen next- especially if the DNC nominates some communist like Bernie Sanders. This is the party that brought you Hillary Clinton.
We live in very interesting times.
Thursday, April 18, 2019
Monday, September 17, 2018
The Second American Revolution
The America I once knew was mixed with equal parts of capitalism, greed, and some modicum of fair play. Laws were meant to be obeyed not rendered useless with creative arguments from lawyers.
In the intervening 50 years of my life- the political class crawled into bed with the rich and elite. A depraved oligarchy emerged. They are driven by power and greed and they can never be satiated. They are international bankers, Wall Street types mostly, and old men like Warren Buffet who use their power and influence to get what they want and find ways to get even more. They offer up little pledges to try to make us believe they are benevolent and charitable. It's just a facade. A little damage control to confuse the onlookers while they go about the business of exploiting and fleecing others. That's what they do.
In the intervening 50 years of my life- the political class crawled into bed with the rich and elite. A depraved oligarchy emerged. They are driven by power and greed and they can never be satiated. They are international bankers, Wall Street types mostly, and old men like Warren Buffet who use their power and influence to get what they want and find ways to get even more. They offer up little pledges to try to make us believe they are benevolent and charitable. It's just a facade. A little damage control to confuse the onlookers while they go about the business of exploiting and fleecing others. That's what they do.
In 2008, amidst my personal renaissance, I started this blog. There was a massive stock market sell off led by banks that year and near the end of that debt driven carnage- the politicians and the bankers did an act wholly illegal and unprecedented. The politicians simply stole a trillion or so from the American taxpayers and gave it to the banking cabal so that they could keep the whole sector from going broke and bankrupt- which is precisely how mal- investment ends. If you make a huge business mistake- you are supposed to go broke. That's how capitalism works. Open a business with a bad business plan, poor location, or offer a service people can do without- and the business fails. That's capitalism.
So the politicians literally stole one trillion dollars on behalf of the bankers- the Federal Reserve loaned out trillions by issuing electronic zeroes all over the world and the whole party started over again in March of 2009. The banking system should have died then. Rather, it was at that moment when Frankenstein Government was created. President Obama could have come in and prosecuted the whole cabal but unfortunately he had compromised himself by taking hundreds of millions of dollars from bankers for his campaign- so enforcing the rule of law was not going to happen. He had been bribed in advance.
I don't think people realize yet what a watershed moment that was.
Very often in our lives, things happen and at that moment, we don't understand the importance of what just transpired. Months or years later as we reflect, it suddenly becomes clear. One day, that moment in 2008 and the drip, drip drip, incremental seizure of every last piece of wealth in this country is going to result in a national moment of clarity and a second revolution.
I guarantee it. Taxicab Depressions wrote an excellent blog about the "Pig Trap." You condition animals to behave a certain way, slowly gain their trust, then trap and slaughter them. http://taxicabdepressions.com/?p=1193
That's what they've been doing to blue and white collar America since the 60's. Conditioning us. We fought the Revolutionary War over a 3% tax. It is relatively common now to pay 50% of our incomes for gas tax, property tax, sales tax, state and federal taxes. Taxes never go down. People don't bat an eye- in fact they will actually make excuses for why that level of taxation is necessary. The United States demands and has passed laws like FATCA- laws that demand that anywhere in the world you decide to flee to- you must still pay taxes and foreign banks must disclose your assets.
The banking cabal, i.e. the Federal Reserve, can issue as many electronic zeroes as they need. The people who use counterfeit money first always get full value and the Fed distributes those funds to it's member banks. Once the bankers spend the money- it enters the pool of existing money and increases the supply and cheapens the whole pool. That is called inflation. The greatest stealth tax we will ever pay.
You have no appeal process with regard to any of this. Fair or not, you will not be able to win a case in front of a government court. Federal courts exist simply to expand the power of government. They never expand the power of people.
The rich and elite have gamed the system. They have the best lawmakers, presidents, and tax system money can buy. And if any of you think for one moment that elite billionaire President elect Donald Trump is any different- you are an idiot. He is just another rich elitist who has been preying on working stiffs his whole life. He is already assembling his cast of fellow elitists- and trust me- they aren't going to institute a fair tax or bring labor unions back.
The dilemma- the Yin and Yang of capitalism- is that I am convinced that capitalism is the best economic system ever conceived. It might have survived had the rule of law been strictly enforced rather than corrupted. Greed in a capitalistic system is the Yang. For all the economic good that might have been- greed and corruption are going to have the last laugh. That's why 2008 was such a watershed moment. That was the moment when government realized it could do whatever it wanted to do- and the citizens of this country were powerless to stop it. They would cower in fear. Until the second revolutionary war.
You see, the people with all of the power and assets don't want to relinquish what they have. They want every last asset that they can put their grubby, little hands on but they want to socialize all of the losses. That way they can steal the fruits of cheap labor while forcing taxpayers to pay their medical insurance through programs like Obamacare- another tax. Like Walmart. Rich people love Obamacare. They don't have to pay for it- they have the best care imaginable for themselves- and they have managed to spread the burden of Obamcare on the middle class just as they have done with the tax code. They reap the profits. They own the insurance companies, big pharma and devices, and they own all of the stock that all of those public companies issue. They own the banks. They own the slave labor pools they are importing from China. They own this place.
The bottom line is this. The more they take- the less is available to you. It is that simple and that is how the rich and elite in this country have gutted the middle class. With uncontrollable greed. It is a sickness. Watch Shark Tank to get a good feel for it. They should call it Warren Buffet disease.
There will never be a day of clarity in which all of the greedy people in this country wake up and say, "Wow we have really gutted this place." Greedy people are never content. That's who they are.
The American Revolution was brought about by the efforts of 3% of the population and with the support of 25%. The other 70% or so, were all still loyal to the King and fearful of the British and treason. All the settlers ever wanted back then was freedom. The King could have agreed but people with power do not often relinquish it. He sacrificed tens of thousands of lives and probably would have sacrificed more but King George lost all of his political support and could not continue because he had other wars brewing. In the Revolutionary War, each side lost about 24,000 men.
So when will the Second American revolution begin?
The government and their elite owners have been very successful at incrementally stealing us blind while turning us against each other. So I don't think any flash point occurs if the oligarchy incrementally continues to raise taxes and steals our wealth that way. The bankers will be more than happy to continue to glean billions while we fight amongst ourselves over ridiculous issues. I honestly think the minions in this country will continue to give away their work product. They are too afraid to take a stand. Think of the 75% King loyalists in 1773. Look at California.
The top of the elite pyramid has always been the money changers. The Federal Reserve and their continual manipulation of the money supply, the buying of influence, their infiltration into every aspect of our lives. They have complete control over us. Killing the Federal Reserve might not cure all of our problems but it would be a great place to start.
This will all end badly. The rich and elite won't compromise. They have the government machine at their beck and call. They are not going to negotiate.
The top of the elite pyramid has always been the money changers. The Federal Reserve and their continual manipulation of the money supply, the buying of influence, their infiltration into every aspect of our lives. They have complete control over us. Killing the Federal Reserve might not cure all of our problems but it would be a great place to start.
This will all end badly. The rich and elite won't compromise. They have the government machine at their beck and call. They are not going to negotiate.
Kennedy once said, "Those who make peaceful revolution impossible, will make violent revolution inevitable."
They'd probably lock Kennedy up for trying to say that today.
Monday, June 25, 2018
Adams Saw This Coming
"A government of laws, not men."
Our forgotten president, the second one, has never received the acclaim he deserves. As one of the original framers of the Constitution, John Q Adams incorporated some of the philosophies of Thomas Hobbes and John Locke on government. Locke was one of the leading political philosophers of his time- a time which predated the Constitution by about 100 years.
So what made John Adams so special?
On a personal note, one that I agree with, Adams feared the aristocracy. The willingness of men to enrich themselves at the expense of others. He feared an oligarchy of rich men running the country. The only way to keep them in check was a government of laws and not of men- otherwise we would devolve into a nation where the aristocracy arbitrarily ruled and did what they wanted to do at the expense of the powerless. A government of laws leveled that playing field considerably.
Here is a summary and link which cites historical accounts and two books that have been written on Adams. http://www.claremont.org/crb/article/a-government-of-laws-not-of-men/
Adams, well educated like his contemporary Thomas Jefferson, knew the past. Knowing history allowed the framers to predict the future. Think of them as the risk managers of their day. Government, with all of it's trial and errors throughout time, had always been an evolving process. An educated man could avoid the historical failures of the past.
I have a friend who believes the constitutional framers were simply the aristocracy of the 1700's in America.That's probably true because educated men could read, write, and interpret the mistakes of the past. I simply can't see cobblers and blacksmiths authoring a Constitution and correctly interpreting history and philosophy- a process which gave us a Republic with a representative government with checks and balances built in.
Was Adams correct to fear the aristocracy? Here is a snip from wiki.
In 2011, according to PolitiFact and others, the top 400 wealthiest Americans "have more wealth than half of all Americans combined."
A study conducted by political scientists Martin Gilens of Princeton University and Benjamin Page of Northwestern University was released in April 2014,[25] which stated that their "analyses suggest that majorities of the American public actually have little influence over the policies our government adopts." The study analyzed nearly 1,800 policies enacted by the US government between 1981 and 2002 and compared them to the expressed preferences of the American public as opposed to wealthy Americans and large special interest groups.[26] It found that wealthy individuals and organizations representing business interests have substantial political influence, while average citizens and mass-based interest groups have little to none. The study did concede that "Americans do enjoy many features central to democratic governance, such as regular elections, freedom of speech and association, and a widespread (if still contested) franchise." Gilens and Page do not characterize the US as an "oligarchy" per se; however, they do apply the concept of "civil oligarchy" as used by Jeffrey Winters with respect to the US. Winters has posited a comparative theory of "oligarchy" in which the wealthiest citizens – even in a "civil oligarchy" like the United States – dominate policy concerning crucial issues of wealth- and income-protection.[27]
Despite Adams' fear of the aristocracy taking over- he knew they were a necessary evil and it was highly unlikely that we could ever prevent or stop them. The best we could hope for was that they would act with benevolence and adhere to the morality of law and the social contract.
Which brings me to the concept of a government of laws and not of men.
When we abandon the rule of law, we install the rule of man. The rule of man has been a violent failure where innocent people have been mass murdered. Think about men like Stalin and farther back, King John.
Many historians have suggested that Stalin was responsible for death total of around 20 million, citing much higher victim totals from executions, Gulag camps, deportations and other causes. Simon Sebag Montefiore suggested that Stalin was ultimately responsible for the deaths of between 20 and 25 million people..
King John, an especially evil tyrant, gave rise to the Magna Carta- the original social contract.
In America we currently have a rule or law which is being eroded, chipped away at, and rendered useless. When the rule of law is abandoned, and often by lawyers themselves, we get a two tiered justice system where Adam's fear of the aristocracy is coming true. The aristocracy is often not subject to the same punishments that the rest of us are. They evade everything from taxes to criminal charges. Jon Corzine, Bill and Hillary Clinton, are both glaring examples of a two tiered system- a system where the aristocracy can influence charging decisions through money, influence, and implied force to evade the law- and the lower tier of folks who are routinely charged and punished.
It takes courage and a working knowledge of history to uphold the rule of law despite the consequences. We are at the crossroads. We either return to a government of laws where ALL people are treated equally or we abandon that idea and subject ourselves to the arbitrary rule of men.
If Adams were alive today, he might very well say, "I told you so."
Our forgotten president, the second one, has never received the acclaim he deserves. As one of the original framers of the Constitution, John Q Adams incorporated some of the philosophies of Thomas Hobbes and John Locke on government. Locke was one of the leading political philosophers of his time- a time which predated the Constitution by about 100 years.
So what made John Adams so special?
On a personal note, one that I agree with, Adams feared the aristocracy. The willingness of men to enrich themselves at the expense of others. He feared an oligarchy of rich men running the country. The only way to keep them in check was a government of laws and not of men- otherwise we would devolve into a nation where the aristocracy arbitrarily ruled and did what they wanted to do at the expense of the powerless. A government of laws leveled that playing field considerably.
Here is a summary and link which cites historical accounts and two books that have been written on Adams. http://www.claremont.org/crb/article/a-government-of-laws-not-of-men/
Adams, well educated like his contemporary Thomas Jefferson, knew the past. Knowing history allowed the framers to predict the future. Think of them as the risk managers of their day. Government, with all of it's trial and errors throughout time, had always been an evolving process. An educated man could avoid the historical failures of the past.
I have a friend who believes the constitutional framers were simply the aristocracy of the 1700's in America.That's probably true because educated men could read, write, and interpret the mistakes of the past. I simply can't see cobblers and blacksmiths authoring a Constitution and correctly interpreting history and philosophy- a process which gave us a Republic with a representative government with checks and balances built in.
Was Adams correct to fear the aristocracy? Here is a snip from wiki.
In 2011, according to PolitiFact and others, the top 400 wealthiest Americans "have more wealth than half of all Americans combined."
A study conducted by political scientists Martin Gilens of Princeton University and Benjamin Page of Northwestern University was released in April 2014,[25] which stated that their "analyses suggest that majorities of the American public actually have little influence over the policies our government adopts." The study analyzed nearly 1,800 policies enacted by the US government between 1981 and 2002 and compared them to the expressed preferences of the American public as opposed to wealthy Americans and large special interest groups.[26] It found that wealthy individuals and organizations representing business interests have substantial political influence, while average citizens and mass-based interest groups have little to none. The study did concede that "Americans do enjoy many features central to democratic governance, such as regular elections, freedom of speech and association, and a widespread (if still contested) franchise." Gilens and Page do not characterize the US as an "oligarchy" per se; however, they do apply the concept of "civil oligarchy" as used by Jeffrey Winters with respect to the US. Winters has posited a comparative theory of "oligarchy" in which the wealthiest citizens – even in a "civil oligarchy" like the United States – dominate policy concerning crucial issues of wealth- and income-protection.[27]
Despite Adams' fear of the aristocracy taking over- he knew they were a necessary evil and it was highly unlikely that we could ever prevent or stop them. The best we could hope for was that they would act with benevolence and adhere to the morality of law and the social contract.
Which brings me to the concept of a government of laws and not of men.
When we abandon the rule of law, we install the rule of man. The rule of man has been a violent failure where innocent people have been mass murdered. Think about men like Stalin and farther back, King John.
Many historians have suggested that Stalin was responsible for death total of around 20 million, citing much higher victim totals from executions, Gulag camps, deportations and other causes. Simon Sebag Montefiore suggested that Stalin was ultimately responsible for the deaths of between 20 and 25 million people..
King John, an especially evil tyrant, gave rise to the Magna Carta- the original social contract.
In America we currently have a rule or law which is being eroded, chipped away at, and rendered useless. When the rule of law is abandoned, and often by lawyers themselves, we get a two tiered justice system where Adam's fear of the aristocracy is coming true. The aristocracy is often not subject to the same punishments that the rest of us are. They evade everything from taxes to criminal charges. Jon Corzine, Bill and Hillary Clinton, are both glaring examples of a two tiered system- a system where the aristocracy can influence charging decisions through money, influence, and implied force to evade the law- and the lower tier of folks who are routinely charged and punished.
It takes courage and a working knowledge of history to uphold the rule of law despite the consequences. We are at the crossroads. We either return to a government of laws where ALL people are treated equally or we abandon that idea and subject ourselves to the arbitrary rule of men.
If Adams were alive today, he might very well say, "I told you so."
Friday, May 25, 2018
All Men Are Created Equal, Well That's the Theory Anyway
Thomas Jefferson once penned the following,
"We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the Pursuit of Happiness."
Of course, Thomas Jefferson wasn't referring to the slaves he owned at the time he penned the second paragraph of the Declaration of Independence and you can also bet that the King of England disagreed with that premise. This "lording over" of other people has gone on since time began. It is what separates the haves from the have nots.
About 30 miles NE of my current home lies an area called "Hunt, Idaho" I guess. There is no town there. It is just an area- truly in the middle of nowhere.
So last Sunday in the rain, my wife and I ventured there. It's hard to find. This was where the United States stockpiled about 13,000 Japanese Americans in what they are now calling the Minidoka National Historic Site. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Minidoka_National_Historic_Site
In early 1942, after the Japanese bombed Pearl Harbor in December 1941, President Franklin D. Roosevelt signed an executive order that enabled the United States to round up 130,000 or so Americans of Japanese ancestry and imprison them in ten "relocation camps" throughout the west.
These citizens lost their homes, businesses, and their lives because America was afraid that some of them were more loyal to Japan than to the United States. It has always puzzled me that despite our three branches of government with checks and balances, a Congress full of lawyers, and documents such as the Declaration of Independence- that one man, a President, can simply issue an order and eliminate all of the civil rights of an entire demographic group of citizens- and nobody apparently utters a peep about it.
It is one of the reasons that I detest executive orders. They allow Presidents to circumvent all of the discussion and sanity that may come about as a result of introducing a bill- subjecting it to scrutiny and group think- into a legislative branch comprised of hundreds of lawyers. Would FDR's executive order pass as legislation in the 1942 Congress? It's difficult to predict. But at least the act would have been offered up and perhaps just one courageous soul might have taken the floor of the House or Senate and mentioned that we had this document called the Constitution and the Bill of Rights which protects citizens from unlawful search and seizure and entitles them to due process. Nowhere in that document will you find an exception to that rule.
But that didn't happen.
When you get to Hunt, you'll find the relocation camp is mostly gone. There are a couple of rock structures still standing near the main gate. The camp once had 8 gun towers which were all removed- although they have recently constructed one to give visitors an idea of what they looked like.
The barracks and fences are long gone. All you will find now is a few signs here and there pointing out where things once were.
I have always thought it interesting that when men want something- such as freedom from a King- that they can pen a few words such as "all men are created equal" while owning slaves who were not entitled to all of the freedoms and civil rights nor were they equal. Slaves may have been created equal- but the haves interfere with that process.
In a nation of laws and a Republic- the rights of a minority are supposed to be protected from the oppression of the majority. It is an interesting theory but in reality that's all it really is. A theory. It is clear to see that throughout history if men want something bad enough they will simply exert control over it and take it, ignoring existing law in the process. They'll use terms such as "all men are created equal" or "manifest destiny" or "taxes." It has always been that way.
Each year, I have a friend named Jim Azumano who travels to Hunt to speak at a gathering at the place his father was imprisoned. He carries a rock with him, a souvenir of his father's time spent there. Oddly, the family has never been bitter over the ordeal- choosing instead to adapt, overcome, and move on with their lives in constructive fashion. I have always held Azumano in the highest regard.
I thought about all of this as I wandered around, reading signs in the rain last Sunday. You can learn a lot about people from a place like Hunt.
"We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the Pursuit of Happiness."
Of course, Thomas Jefferson wasn't referring to the slaves he owned at the time he penned the second paragraph of the Declaration of Independence and you can also bet that the King of England disagreed with that premise. This "lording over" of other people has gone on since time began. It is what separates the haves from the have nots.
About 30 miles NE of my current home lies an area called "Hunt, Idaho" I guess. There is no town there. It is just an area- truly in the middle of nowhere.
So last Sunday in the rain, my wife and I ventured there. It's hard to find. This was where the United States stockpiled about 13,000 Japanese Americans in what they are now calling the Minidoka National Historic Site. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Minidoka_National_Historic_Site
In early 1942, after the Japanese bombed Pearl Harbor in December 1941, President Franklin D. Roosevelt signed an executive order that enabled the United States to round up 130,000 or so Americans of Japanese ancestry and imprison them in ten "relocation camps" throughout the west.
These citizens lost their homes, businesses, and their lives because America was afraid that some of them were more loyal to Japan than to the United States. It has always puzzled me that despite our three branches of government with checks and balances, a Congress full of lawyers, and documents such as the Declaration of Independence- that one man, a President, can simply issue an order and eliminate all of the civil rights of an entire demographic group of citizens- and nobody apparently utters a peep about it.
It is one of the reasons that I detest executive orders. They allow Presidents to circumvent all of the discussion and sanity that may come about as a result of introducing a bill- subjecting it to scrutiny and group think- into a legislative branch comprised of hundreds of lawyers. Would FDR's executive order pass as legislation in the 1942 Congress? It's difficult to predict. But at least the act would have been offered up and perhaps just one courageous soul might have taken the floor of the House or Senate and mentioned that we had this document called the Constitution and the Bill of Rights which protects citizens from unlawful search and seizure and entitles them to due process. Nowhere in that document will you find an exception to that rule.
But that didn't happen.
When you get to Hunt, you'll find the relocation camp is mostly gone. There are a couple of rock structures still standing near the main gate. The camp once had 8 gun towers which were all removed- although they have recently constructed one to give visitors an idea of what they looked like.
The barracks and fences are long gone. All you will find now is a few signs here and there pointing out where things once were.
I have always thought it interesting that when men want something- such as freedom from a King- that they can pen a few words such as "all men are created equal" while owning slaves who were not entitled to all of the freedoms and civil rights nor were they equal. Slaves may have been created equal- but the haves interfere with that process.
In a nation of laws and a Republic- the rights of a minority are supposed to be protected from the oppression of the majority. It is an interesting theory but in reality that's all it really is. A theory. It is clear to see that throughout history if men want something bad enough they will simply exert control over it and take it, ignoring existing law in the process. They'll use terms such as "all men are created equal" or "manifest destiny" or "taxes." It has always been that way.
Each year, I have a friend named Jim Azumano who travels to Hunt to speak at a gathering at the place his father was imprisoned. He carries a rock with him, a souvenir of his father's time spent there. Oddly, the family has never been bitter over the ordeal- choosing instead to adapt, overcome, and move on with their lives in constructive fashion. I have always held Azumano in the highest regard.
I thought about all of this as I wandered around, reading signs in the rain last Sunday. You can learn a lot about people from a place like Hunt.
Monday, March 26, 2018
Why Can't Big Pharma Discover a Cure For Outrageous Drug Pricing?- The Sunday Collage
There is always an element of fear in advertising. Often it is subtle- you'll be left out if you don't buy this or you don't know what you are missing- those are the underlying messages.
So I have noticed something new and over the top. It is a result I think- of how effective big pharma and their drug lobby has become. Buying our politicians with re-election bribes has certainly paid big dividends. It doesn't hurt that millions of otherwise uninsured people are still clinging to their Obamacare policies either.
The direct advertising and marketing of drugs to consumers is illegal in most countries. It used to be illegal here. That all changed sometime before the discovery of Viagra, Cialis, and Levitra. The boner pill market was so huge- that big pharma couldn't stand it and put the full court press on to make the direct marketing of those drugs to consumers legal around 1997. Big pharma of course, got what they wanted. As a result, I can't tell you how many ads I've had to watch. Older women laying across beds and couples walking hand in hand. The direct to consumer advertising and the 4 countries that allow it can be found here: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Direct-to-consumer_advertising
So this latest round of direct to consumer advertising occurred when they discovered a cure for Hepatitis C. It is much more aggressive and in a way- simply scandalous.
A few months ago, I saw a television ad that said millions of Americans were living with undiagnosed Hep C. This was potentially a giant untapped market for big pharma. The ad urged people to get checked. What the ad did not say was that the newly discovered treatment/cure for Hep C costs upwards of 100,000 dollars. With patent protection laws- Congress has essentially given big pharma a license to steal. http://www.pharmacytimes.com/resource-centers/hepatitisc/will-hepatitis-c-virus-medicaton-costs-drop-in-the-years-ahead
Big pharma always whines about recovering research and development costs when accused of price gouging and fixing which they routinely engage in. The problem with R and D costs is that they never submit those costs to any private, independent accounting firm so that we may actually see what those expenses are. So as it stands- they get the best of both worlds. A monopoly on price fixed drugs and a bought off Congress that has given them 20 year patent protection to recover R and D costs without ever asking precisely what those costs are.
This form of government, the Congressional form which allows the routine gouging of "We the people" by corporate America- is called an oligarchy.
a government in which a small group exercises control especially for corrupt and selfish purposes
Recently, I've seen ads where big pharma is now directly marketing tests to former smokers for cancer and heart disease. Those ads show a mountain of cigarette butts and urge viewers and former smokers to get checked. To be honest, I refuse to watch this latest round of ads. I get sick to my stomach watching this garbage knowing that all big pharma cares about is using you as a conduit to enrich themselves- rather handsomely.
Nobody cares either. Some people actually see big pharma's advertising assault as beneficial. Not me.
The only cure I want to see is a free marketplace where drugs can be developed because they can turn a profit on their own merits without help from our bribed political class offering protection.
Find a cure for outrageous drug pricing. That's the only cure I'd like to see.
So I have noticed something new and over the top. It is a result I think- of how effective big pharma and their drug lobby has become. Buying our politicians with re-election bribes has certainly paid big dividends. It doesn't hurt that millions of otherwise uninsured people are still clinging to their Obamacare policies either.
The direct advertising and marketing of drugs to consumers is illegal in most countries. It used to be illegal here. That all changed sometime before the discovery of Viagra, Cialis, and Levitra. The boner pill market was so huge- that big pharma couldn't stand it and put the full court press on to make the direct marketing of those drugs to consumers legal around 1997. Big pharma of course, got what they wanted. As a result, I can't tell you how many ads I've had to watch. Older women laying across beds and couples walking hand in hand. The direct to consumer advertising and the 4 countries that allow it can be found here: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Direct-to-consumer_advertising
So this latest round of direct to consumer advertising occurred when they discovered a cure for Hepatitis C. It is much more aggressive and in a way- simply scandalous.
A few months ago, I saw a television ad that said millions of Americans were living with undiagnosed Hep C. This was potentially a giant untapped market for big pharma. The ad urged people to get checked. What the ad did not say was that the newly discovered treatment/cure for Hep C costs upwards of 100,000 dollars. With patent protection laws- Congress has essentially given big pharma a license to steal. http://www.pharmacytimes.com/resource-centers/hepatitisc/will-hepatitis-c-virus-medicaton-costs-drop-in-the-years-ahead
Big pharma always whines about recovering research and development costs when accused of price gouging and fixing which they routinely engage in. The problem with R and D costs is that they never submit those costs to any private, independent accounting firm so that we may actually see what those expenses are. So as it stands- they get the best of both worlds. A monopoly on price fixed drugs and a bought off Congress that has given them 20 year patent protection to recover R and D costs without ever asking precisely what those costs are.
This form of government, the Congressional form which allows the routine gouging of "We the people" by corporate America- is called an oligarchy.
a government in which a small group exercises control especially for corrupt and selfish purposes
- a military oligarchy was established in the country
- An oligarchy ruled the nation.
Recently, I've seen ads where big pharma is now directly marketing tests to former smokers for cancer and heart disease. Those ads show a mountain of cigarette butts and urge viewers and former smokers to get checked. To be honest, I refuse to watch this latest round of ads. I get sick to my stomach watching this garbage knowing that all big pharma cares about is using you as a conduit to enrich themselves- rather handsomely.
Nobody cares either. Some people actually see big pharma's advertising assault as beneficial. Not me.
The only cure I want to see is a free marketplace where drugs can be developed because they can turn a profit on their own merits without help from our bribed political class offering protection.
Find a cure for outrageous drug pricing. That's the only cure I'd like to see.
Sunday, February 25, 2018
The 32nd Victim- The Sunday Collage
On Valentines Day, 2018, Nikolas Cruz walked into Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, Florida and killed 17 people and wounded 14 more. The wounded are expected to survive.
Police officers and soldiers have one thing in common. Killing people or being killed is not a game. It is serious business.
Police officers and soldiers are never looking for a fair fight. We don't want a fair fight- in fact we want a very unfair fight. We want a playing field where we have every advantage. We want the best weapons, the best protection, the best training, the best tactical plans, we want overwhelming numbers, we want surprise on our side, we want emergency operation pre- plans and we we want the smartest brain. In short, we want every conceivable advantage- because losing is a permanent condition.
And when we pray for our lives, we want God to listen to us and not our adversaries.
So when I discovered late last week that an armed Broward County Sheriff's Deputy was on duty the day of the Parkland school massacre- I was baffled. When I learned that he ran outside, drew his gun and did nothing- I felt sick. Now there is an additional inquiry as to why 3 additional deputies did not go into the school- when Coral Springs police officers did. I clipped this piece because it is the latest and most current news article out there. https://www.zerohedge.com/news/2018-02-25/forida-governor-orders-investigation-parkland-shooting-response
Since the Columbine school massacre, every law enforcement agency in this country has had the opportunity to examine what happened that day. They have the opportunity to develop operation plans, drill them, equip police officers with the appropriate arms, ballistic shields, vests, helmets, and superior tactics. There is simply no excuse for the type of response seen at Stoneman Douglas High School. Not any more.
And I have another question bugging me. Why on earth would a school shooter go into a school and begin shooting knowing that there was an armed police officer on campus? It begs the question. Did the kid shooter know the cop was a coward or did Nikolas Cruz expect to die that day?
Many years ago, I had a kid wave or point a gun at another kid at our local high school. It turned out that it was one of those realistic looking toy guns- but to the parents picking up their kids that day after school- they were concerned it was real and they reported the incident to our school resource officer. The incident happened after school on a Friday- and our school resource officer did nothing. No report, no investigation. He went home for the weekend and when those angry parents called me on Monday, I had nothing to tell them. This angered them even more and they called my boss (the Mayor) and the school district. All hell rained down on me and subsequently I laid that shit storm- and the policy violations that occurred squarely on my school resource officer who I removed from the school. That level of incompetence was appalling.
It was my mistake for hiring this guy. A man who was a nice enough human being but probably never cut out to be a cop. It takes a while to sort those things out. Just the other day I saw him and we spoke, some 15 years later.
There are times in every police officer's life where he or she will be confronted by circumstances they cannot control.
We are taught to call for backup. Hell the FBI can't make an arrest with less than 8 agents in attendance. But sometimes you don't get the luxury of picking when and where the battleground will be. On Valentine's Day, that was the problem confronting Scot Peterson. Someone had brought the fight to him. There would not be enough time for backup to arrive. Kids were going to be killed. The only chance those kids had was going to be the intervention of Scot Peterson. Scot was going to have to take whatever skill set he had, whatever equipment he had, whatever training he had, whatever cover and sneaky hiding place he could find- and his 54 year old brain- and out smart a 19 year old killer. Or die trying.
It didn't happen. And so it is that I have to ask Sheriff Scott Israel- was Scot Peterson the right guy for this job? How could they not have known? What planning (or no planning) had the Sheriff done?
So I'm sorry Broward county folks. You don't just have a school resource officer that failed to do his job- but you might have a whole chain of command problem that includes a Sheriff that didn't do his job.
I know so many good cops. The good cops accept that they may have to kill someone one day or that they may be killed. We agree to those terms. We train and train, we prepare, we beg our bosses for the guns and armament that will give us a fighting chance to survive a bloody encounter such as this. The right tools and preparation give good cops the confidence that they will need to go in and stop a homicidal maniac. That and a little courage.
Perhaps Scot Peterson was dispossessed of those things. We don't know. Scot Peterson must now spend the remainder of his life wrestling with the shame and guilt of what happened that day. What a horrible way to live, what a horrible sentence to hand yourself.
Nobody involved in this is going to be made well again anytime soon. As baffled as I am by all of this- I want to pray for all of the victims and Scot Peterson. All 32 of them.
Nikolas Cruz is on his own.
Today (2/26} I found this- http://www.breitbart.com/radio/2018/02/25/exclusive-michelle-malkin-broward-county-sheriff-scott-israel-should-absolutely-resign/
Police officers and soldiers have one thing in common. Killing people or being killed is not a game. It is serious business.
Police officers and soldiers are never looking for a fair fight. We don't want a fair fight- in fact we want a very unfair fight. We want a playing field where we have every advantage. We want the best weapons, the best protection, the best training, the best tactical plans, we want overwhelming numbers, we want surprise on our side, we want emergency operation pre- plans and we we want the smartest brain. In short, we want every conceivable advantage- because losing is a permanent condition.
And when we pray for our lives, we want God to listen to us and not our adversaries.
So when I discovered late last week that an armed Broward County Sheriff's Deputy was on duty the day of the Parkland school massacre- I was baffled. When I learned that he ran outside, drew his gun and did nothing- I felt sick. Now there is an additional inquiry as to why 3 additional deputies did not go into the school- when Coral Springs police officers did. I clipped this piece because it is the latest and most current news article out there. https://www.zerohedge.com/news/2018-02-25/forida-governor-orders-investigation-parkland-shooting-response
Since the Columbine school massacre, every law enforcement agency in this country has had the opportunity to examine what happened that day. They have the opportunity to develop operation plans, drill them, equip police officers with the appropriate arms, ballistic shields, vests, helmets, and superior tactics. There is simply no excuse for the type of response seen at Stoneman Douglas High School. Not any more.
And I have another question bugging me. Why on earth would a school shooter go into a school and begin shooting knowing that there was an armed police officer on campus? It begs the question. Did the kid shooter know the cop was a coward or did Nikolas Cruz expect to die that day?
Many years ago, I had a kid wave or point a gun at another kid at our local high school. It turned out that it was one of those realistic looking toy guns- but to the parents picking up their kids that day after school- they were concerned it was real and they reported the incident to our school resource officer. The incident happened after school on a Friday- and our school resource officer did nothing. No report, no investigation. He went home for the weekend and when those angry parents called me on Monday, I had nothing to tell them. This angered them even more and they called my boss (the Mayor) and the school district. All hell rained down on me and subsequently I laid that shit storm- and the policy violations that occurred squarely on my school resource officer who I removed from the school. That level of incompetence was appalling.
It was my mistake for hiring this guy. A man who was a nice enough human being but probably never cut out to be a cop. It takes a while to sort those things out. Just the other day I saw him and we spoke, some 15 years later.
There are times in every police officer's life where he or she will be confronted by circumstances they cannot control.
We are taught to call for backup. Hell the FBI can't make an arrest with less than 8 agents in attendance. But sometimes you don't get the luxury of picking when and where the battleground will be. On Valentine's Day, that was the problem confronting Scot Peterson. Someone had brought the fight to him. There would not be enough time for backup to arrive. Kids were going to be killed. The only chance those kids had was going to be the intervention of Scot Peterson. Scot was going to have to take whatever skill set he had, whatever equipment he had, whatever training he had, whatever cover and sneaky hiding place he could find- and his 54 year old brain- and out smart a 19 year old killer. Or die trying.
It didn't happen. And so it is that I have to ask Sheriff Scott Israel- was Scot Peterson the right guy for this job? How could they not have known? What planning (or no planning) had the Sheriff done?
So I'm sorry Broward county folks. You don't just have a school resource officer that failed to do his job- but you might have a whole chain of command problem that includes a Sheriff that didn't do his job.
I know so many good cops. The good cops accept that they may have to kill someone one day or that they may be killed. We agree to those terms. We train and train, we prepare, we beg our bosses for the guns and armament that will give us a fighting chance to survive a bloody encounter such as this. The right tools and preparation give good cops the confidence that they will need to go in and stop a homicidal maniac. That and a little courage.
Perhaps Scot Peterson was dispossessed of those things. We don't know. Scot Peterson must now spend the remainder of his life wrestling with the shame and guilt of what happened that day. What a horrible way to live, what a horrible sentence to hand yourself.
Nobody involved in this is going to be made well again anytime soon. As baffled as I am by all of this- I want to pray for all of the victims and Scot Peterson. All 32 of them.
Nikolas Cruz is on his own.
Today (2/26} I found this- http://www.breitbart.com/radio/2018/02/25/exclusive-michelle-malkin-broward-county-sheriff-scott-israel-should-absolutely-resign/
Wednesday, February 14, 2018
MetLife Loses 13,500 Customers They Owe Money To...Another Corporate Shocker
I have always detested insurance companies. I cannot imagine how much money I have paid them over my 40 years of home ownership, car ownership, health insurance, and even a little life insurance.
I am going to say 50k in vehicle insurance, 12k homeowners insurance, and probably 200k in health insurance. About a quarter million is what I've paid them thus far.
I have made claims totaling about 20k for auto and homeowners related losses, maybe another 50k for a couple of hospitalizations- the last one about 20 years ago. All in all, I have had claims totaling less than a third of what I have paid in over the years. My guess is that most healthy people have had a similar insurance experience.
That is a lot of money. Compulsory I might add. The government or corporate America forces most of that on us and I am not even going to speak to unemployment insurance or Workman's Comp Insurance- both items required by government entities. I actually know small businesses that threw in the towel over those expenses- giving rise to the contract labor boom in this country.
Today's topic du jour is Metropolitan Life. MetLife has stated that they have 13,500 customers which they have lost track of and owe money to. I have clipped the article because I'd like to point out how a smart CEO gets in front of a train wreck and takes responsibility before getting into trouble. http://money.cnn.com/2018/02/14/news/companies/metlife-retiree-payments/index.html
MetLife suddenly discovered- on their own- that they had 13,500 liabilities out there that had gone unaccounted for.
That's right. There were thirteen thousand people which were owed annuity payments and were somehow lost. The company takes responsibility for the big error, claims they found the mistakes on their own, says they will do better, and sets aside half a billion to pay the claims. This is a textbook example on how to triage your image. The stock price dipped- but not much.
So if you really believe they "discovered" this on their own and turned themselves in- let me be the first to say- "bullshit."
Some 20 years ago, my mother who dutifully paid in a couple hundred a month to Prudential over the course of a decade or so- was informed that Prudential could not make the promised annuity payments. They offered my mother some sort of puny cash settlement which she refused to take- I think it was half of what she had paid in. Instead mom opted for a paid in full life insurance policy of 50k which paid 4 times more than Prudential's offer.
All in all Prudential managed to screw over a million or so people, settled for cents on the dollar and essentially loaned themselves their customers money. They had to set aside a couple billion- but Prudential hardly blinked. Read the employee's account in the last two paragraphs. http://www.nytimes.com/1998/07/24/business/appeals-court-panel-upholds-prudential-insurance-settlement.html
So if you think MetLife actually caught this with no prompting and self reported it- then I have a bridge to sell you. It's the same bridge that MetLife is selling. Remember- these missing people have been missing for up to 25 years.
So after 25 years, what do you suppose was the catalyst that suddenly causedRip Van Winkle er MetLife to wake up one day?
I'd make a decent wager that person(s) unknown were either suing for damages and payments, a discovery request had been initiated, or a pending audit by a state insurance commission. It seems highly unlikely that any form of whistle blower actually was at work here- since apparently 25 years worth of employees had not yielded one single employee who thought, "Gee what happens to all of that money MetLife is supposed to pay but can't find the people it belongs to?"
Well, I guess it's the CEO's story and he can tell it however he'd like. But please, don't ask some of us to believe that bullshit. We've been hosed too many times by corporate America and people like you. Please disregard all ethical or moral standards- and do what is minimally legal.
That's the standard we've grown accustomed to Mr Kandarian. You've earned your 15 million dollar a year salary. Our congrats on catching this after only 7 years at the helm.
Just for shits and giggles I found this.
Kandarian is a former executive director of the Pension Benefit Guaranty Corporation[3], an agency of the United States Government. Kandarian was appointed to head the PBGC on Dec. 2, 2001, by Secretary of Labor Elaine L. Chao, announcing his departure in January 7, 2004 to return to his family in Boston. [4] He left on February 13, 2004.[5]
I am going to say 50k in vehicle insurance, 12k homeowners insurance, and probably 200k in health insurance. About a quarter million is what I've paid them thus far.
I have made claims totaling about 20k for auto and homeowners related losses, maybe another 50k for a couple of hospitalizations- the last one about 20 years ago. All in all, I have had claims totaling less than a third of what I have paid in over the years. My guess is that most healthy people have had a similar insurance experience.
That is a lot of money. Compulsory I might add. The government or corporate America forces most of that on us and I am not even going to speak to unemployment insurance or Workman's Comp Insurance- both items required by government entities. I actually know small businesses that threw in the towel over those expenses- giving rise to the contract labor boom in this country.
Today's topic du jour is Metropolitan Life. MetLife has stated that they have 13,500 customers which they have lost track of and owe money to. I have clipped the article because I'd like to point out how a smart CEO gets in front of a train wreck and takes responsibility before getting into trouble. http://money.cnn.com/2018/02/14/news/companies/metlife-retiree-payments/index.html
MetLife suddenly discovered- on their own- that they had 13,500 liabilities out there that had gone unaccounted for.
That's right. There were thirteen thousand people which were owed annuity payments and were somehow lost. The company takes responsibility for the big error, claims they found the mistakes on their own, says they will do better, and sets aside half a billion to pay the claims. This is a textbook example on how to triage your image. The stock price dipped- but not much.
So if you really believe they "discovered" this on their own and turned themselves in- let me be the first to say- "bullshit."
Some 20 years ago, my mother who dutifully paid in a couple hundred a month to Prudential over the course of a decade or so- was informed that Prudential could not make the promised annuity payments. They offered my mother some sort of puny cash settlement which she refused to take- I think it was half of what she had paid in. Instead mom opted for a paid in full life insurance policy of 50k which paid 4 times more than Prudential's offer.
All in all Prudential managed to screw over a million or so people, settled for cents on the dollar and essentially loaned themselves their customers money. They had to set aside a couple billion- but Prudential hardly blinked. Read the employee's account in the last two paragraphs. http://www.nytimes.com/1998/07/24/business/appeals-court-panel-upholds-prudential-insurance-settlement.html
So if you think MetLife actually caught this with no prompting and self reported it- then I have a bridge to sell you. It's the same bridge that MetLife is selling. Remember- these missing people have been missing for up to 25 years.
So after 25 years, what do you suppose was the catalyst that suddenly caused
I'd make a decent wager that person(s) unknown were either suing for damages and payments, a discovery request had been initiated, or a pending audit by a state insurance commission. It seems highly unlikely that any form of whistle blower actually was at work here- since apparently 25 years worth of employees had not yielded one single employee who thought, "Gee what happens to all of that money MetLife is supposed to pay but can't find the people it belongs to?"
Well, I guess it's the CEO's story and he can tell it however he'd like. But please, don't ask some of us to believe that bullshit. We've been hosed too many times by corporate America and people like you. Please disregard all ethical or moral standards- and do what is minimally legal.
That's the standard we've grown accustomed to Mr Kandarian. You've earned your 15 million dollar a year salary. Our congrats on catching this after only 7 years at the helm.
Just for shits and giggles I found this.
Kandarian is a former executive director of the Pension Benefit Guaranty Corporation[3], an agency of the United States Government. Kandarian was appointed to head the PBGC on Dec. 2, 2001, by Secretary of Labor Elaine L. Chao, announcing his departure in January 7, 2004 to return to his family in Boston. [4] He left on February 13, 2004.[5]
Saturday, February 3, 2018
Amazon Now Equipping Employees With Monitoring Devices - The Sunday Collage
Like shock collars for dogs- it just delivers a different kind of shock.
I have a special kind of dislike for dominant, controlling bosses. I think those feelings are sourced from the thousands of miners who died putting "rock into the box" from the underground operations in my hometown. As a child, we traded those stories of the people who died and who was responsible for their deaths. It doesn't take long to identify the villains.
So when I read that Amazon Inc., had invented and patented a wristband to track employees, it made the hackles on my neck stand up and brought me out of hiding. https://www.zerohedge.com/news/2018-02-03/amazon-patents-ultrasonic-tracking-wristbands-control-workers
For years, I've been reading blurbs here and there from current and former Amazon employees about what a crappy place it is to work.
The problem of course- is that corporate America and it's rich campaign contributing owners- get away with this type of conduct. Treating people like dogs, swapping shock collars for wristbands, seems ok we rationalize. We tell ourselves, "Well they can always quit." Unless that's the only job available since Amazon has destroyed every mom and pop business in the U.S. Or until you find yourself wearing a wristband.
That was the dystopian future painted by Orwell's novel, "1984." A future where everything sucks- which is starting to sound a lot like an Amazon warehouse. When you can electronically watch employees you can pressure them into working harder and cut employee overhead because you are forcing one person to do the work of two at a more casual, decent pace.
In the end, those kinds of working conditions trace right back to management and it's owner, Jeff Bezos. Bezos is worth a staggering 120 billion dollars- not quite enough I suppose- to curtail his electronic monitoring of employees. Guys like Bezos can never have enough. That ego of his must be the size of Vermont. You wanna hear the best part?
Wikipedia calls him a "philanthropist." One of the reasons they use this term is because Bezos and his wife contributed 2.5 million for a referendum for same sex marriage. He also donated 33 million for the education of illegal aliens. So I guess if you spend your money on gay marriage and illegal aliens that makes you a philanthropist. Oh and I forgot- Bezos bought the Washington Post so he could slam President Trump. More Bezos philanthropy.
They should let Amazon warehouse employees write the Bezos' biography for wikipedia. I have a strong feeling that despite all of that alleged philanthropy- the warehouse workers might not see it the same way.
Pay attention to how people treat the help. One day, they will treat you exactly the same way.
I've worked for people like Bezos. One place I worked at monitored employees with video cameras- they even caught me putting my feet up on a chair during the graveyard shift- about 3 a.m. one morning. They called me into the office to issue a warning about my deviant and aberrent behavior while the ten other residents of that sober house were sleeping.
Maybe they should have focused more on the residents and a little less on the employees.
Mostly, I considered the job a volunteer gig and at nine bucks an hour- I wasn't looking for a career. A year or two after after I left that job- one resident killed another resident one night. Beat her with a pipe. Thankfully, I wasn't around with my feet up on a chair when that shit happened. https://www.idahopress.com/members/police-murder-victim-beaten-with-pipe/article_60692fae-7c63-11e5-a410-934c3e92c51e.html
I am grateful that I no longer have to work for blood sucking, control freaks who must patent electronic devices to take the place of decent human supervision. Perhaps Bezos could take a few million and instead of endowing it to illegal aliens- offer the same benefits to his employees.
I'm not going to hold my breath looking for a little human decency here though- guys like Bezos never disappoint me.
Saturday, September 9, 2017
Colin Kaepernick Could Have Used a Civics Class- The Sunday Collage
So this is what happens. Briefly, some background.
I have loosely followed the Kaepernick saga since Colin decided to sit for the national anthem. Colin was protesting racial inequality I guess, in as much as a guy making millions apparently felt like he wasn't getting a fair shake. This week, I read an article wherein Ray Lewis, former Baltimore Raven great, explained why Colin Kaepernick can't find a job in the NFL. According to Lewis, Kaepernick's girlfriend apparently likes to run her virtual mouth on twitter in addition to her day job. A racist tweet from her caused Ravens' management to drop any thought of signing Kaepernick. After reading this, I believe Ray Lewis is probably correct. https://www.usatoday.com/story/sports/nfl/ravens/2017/09/06/ray-lewis-ravens-backed-off-colin-kaepernick-after-girlfriends-tweet/636586001/
The other odd thing that happened is that I read that false letter on Facebook- attributed to the Kansas City Chief's owner- in which he demands that his players and staff all stand and respect the national anthem or he will fire them. Suspecting this was bullshit, mostly because of contracts and pussified owners, a quick check or two proved the letter was indeed, false. I also read where a few people refuse to watch pro football and are boycotting it. In all likelihood, these were not fans to begin with.
When I say odd things, I use the term "odd" because I find it strange that I have not been able to find a writer anywhere who can articulate with any level of precision- what the real issue is.
I'm not talking about residual racism or using the wrong venue to protest. I think we can agree on those things. This brings me to the topic du jour.
The study of the duties and rights of citizenship or civics. We attended civics class. We said the pledge of allegiance every morning.
I was a child of the Vietnam War. My uncle fought in it and my father, a rural news anchor, reported on it. The Vietnam War was unpopular and still remains so. The problem was that whether we agreed with the war or not- real friends and family were dying in it- some 58,000 souls.
That is where my reverence for our country began. Real people, many volunteering and getting wounded or killed, in a war with no support. Who would sign up for that?
Our country was made up of patriots. We attended civics classes. We believed in the mission of America and all of the opportunities we were given. We believed this was a great place to live and we had gratitude. So people signed up. They shouldered that duty and responsibility.
The Vietnam War probably changed our opinions of leadership forever. What it didn't change was the definition of a patriot. A patriot loves his country but a patriot doesn't have to love his government. In fact, some of our most famous patriots detested government and they died proving it. But the patriot spirit lives here.
So we can debate wars and inequality forever. What is not subject to debate is that hundreds of thousands of Americans that have been wounded and killed protecting our way of life.
That is the same way of life that allows me to speak here. That is the same way of life that allows Mr. Kaepernick a college education and a job making millions to play a game. One of the luckiest people on the planet, rich by every measure, born in a country where his physical skills mean big bucks. In another place, Colin's skills would probably go un-noticed.
When I hear the national anthem and see our flag, I think of our war wounded and dead. I think of all of the fallen police officers and funerals I have attended. Flags draped over coffins, bagpipes, widows and children crying or bewildered. The thought of disrespecting all those people who have sacrificed so much- while enjoying all of the freedoms and opportunities those sacrifices have given me- never enters my mind.
In uniform I stand and salute. As a citizen, I stand, I take off my hat and I place my hand over my heart. I do that to honor the dead and all of the gifts I have been given because of those folks. Standing at attention and showing some respect takes very little effort.
I do that I think because I was given all of those gifts including a civics class- where we discussed all of those issues. That is where I formed my opinions of patriotism, reverence for our dead, and a sense of gratitude.
I can't help but think that Colin might have had a different view of things had he been given an opportunity to discuss and debate the merits of citizenship within the confines of a civics class while an un popular war raged on.
I'm not upset with Mr. Kaepernick. In a way I am sorry that he did not get the same education that our generation received. If he had, I think he would still be playing football.
I have loosely followed the Kaepernick saga since Colin decided to sit for the national anthem. Colin was protesting racial inequality I guess, in as much as a guy making millions apparently felt like he wasn't getting a fair shake. This week, I read an article wherein Ray Lewis, former Baltimore Raven great, explained why Colin Kaepernick can't find a job in the NFL. According to Lewis, Kaepernick's girlfriend apparently likes to run her virtual mouth on twitter in addition to her day job. A racist tweet from her caused Ravens' management to drop any thought of signing Kaepernick. After reading this, I believe Ray Lewis is probably correct. https://www.usatoday.com/story/sports/nfl/ravens/2017/09/06/ray-lewis-ravens-backed-off-colin-kaepernick-after-girlfriends-tweet/636586001/
The other odd thing that happened is that I read that false letter on Facebook- attributed to the Kansas City Chief's owner- in which he demands that his players and staff all stand and respect the national anthem or he will fire them. Suspecting this was bullshit, mostly because of contracts and pussified owners, a quick check or two proved the letter was indeed, false. I also read where a few people refuse to watch pro football and are boycotting it. In all likelihood, these were not fans to begin with.
When I say odd things, I use the term "odd" because I find it strange that I have not been able to find a writer anywhere who can articulate with any level of precision- what the real issue is.
I'm not talking about residual racism or using the wrong venue to protest. I think we can agree on those things. This brings me to the topic du jour.
The study of the duties and rights of citizenship or civics. We attended civics class. We said the pledge of allegiance every morning.
I was a child of the Vietnam War. My uncle fought in it and my father, a rural news anchor, reported on it. The Vietnam War was unpopular and still remains so. The problem was that whether we agreed with the war or not- real friends and family were dying in it- some 58,000 souls.
That is where my reverence for our country began. Real people, many volunteering and getting wounded or killed, in a war with no support. Who would sign up for that?
Our country was made up of patriots. We attended civics classes. We believed in the mission of America and all of the opportunities we were given. We believed this was a great place to live and we had gratitude. So people signed up. They shouldered that duty and responsibility.
The Vietnam War probably changed our opinions of leadership forever. What it didn't change was the definition of a patriot. A patriot loves his country but a patriot doesn't have to love his government. In fact, some of our most famous patriots detested government and they died proving it. But the patriot spirit lives here.
So we can debate wars and inequality forever. What is not subject to debate is that hundreds of thousands of Americans that have been wounded and killed protecting our way of life.
That is the same way of life that allows me to speak here. That is the same way of life that allows Mr. Kaepernick a college education and a job making millions to play a game. One of the luckiest people on the planet, rich by every measure, born in a country where his physical skills mean big bucks. In another place, Colin's skills would probably go un-noticed.
When I hear the national anthem and see our flag, I think of our war wounded and dead. I think of all of the fallen police officers and funerals I have attended. Flags draped over coffins, bagpipes, widows and children crying or bewildered. The thought of disrespecting all those people who have sacrificed so much- while enjoying all of the freedoms and opportunities those sacrifices have given me- never enters my mind.
In uniform I stand and salute. As a citizen, I stand, I take off my hat and I place my hand over my heart. I do that to honor the dead and all of the gifts I have been given because of those folks. Standing at attention and showing some respect takes very little effort.
I do that I think because I was given all of those gifts including a civics class- where we discussed all of those issues. That is where I formed my opinions of patriotism, reverence for our dead, and a sense of gratitude.
I can't help but think that Colin might have had a different view of things had he been given an opportunity to discuss and debate the merits of citizenship within the confines of a civics class while an un popular war raged on.
I'm not upset with Mr. Kaepernick. In a way I am sorry that he did not get the same education that our generation received. If he had, I think he would still be playing football.
Monday, September 4, 2017
The Only Winning Move Is Not To Play- The Sunday Collage
- from the movie, WarGames.
In his book, "A New Earth", Eckhart Tolle talks at great length about the damage that the human ego causes.
Ego is a false sense of self, or who you think you are, created in your mind. This is what you present to the world as you. Of course it is false- but you can't possibly allow the world to see who you really are. Or so you think.
Imagine inheriting some kind of dictatorship such as the Supreme Leader of the Democratic Peoples Republic of Korea. You've done absolutely nothing to earn such a position- but there you are- leading 26 million people around by the nose.
You buy in to the whole illusion. You must be great you tell yourself. The people around you expect great things, your ego convinces you that you must do great deeds, and so you begin all of your anti-American sabre rattling with a giant false sense of self- furthered along by those who surround you.
You kill a few people, including your uncle, aunt, and your brother, because you fear them. You fire missiles to and fro, issue threats, fire a missile over Japan, and then conduct an underground hydrogen bomb blast that appears to be successful. You are trying to convince the world that you are this fearless man that must be taken seriously.
And so it is, this version of the insanity of the planet emerges.
Your false sense of self is now in direct conflict with other people who are just as unconscious as you are- they have their egos and false sense of self to attend to as well. These are our leaders, our politicians and generals.
Eckhart Tolle revealed all of this insanity in his book, A New Earth. It wasn't exactly proprietary information but I think the way Tolle revealed it was most effective. If you truly comprehend what Tolle writes, then you are left with the intrinsic truth that what he says is true. Because you have done those things so you know they must be true.
I remember reading A New Earth at the rate of 20 pages per day. It was hard for me to digest and comprehend. There would be days where I would read what Tolle had written, realize I was guilty of some ridiculous behavior, and find myself feeling ashamed. Two great benefits of comprehending what Tolle had written. I was no longer unconscious. I realized just how insane I had become over the years. The other great benefit was that the insanity of others becomes glaringly obvious.
I learned a lot over the intervening ten years. Not only is this planet inhabited by billions of unconscious nut jobs, but there is nothing you can do about it. We cannot slow them down. Their journey here apparently does not include a stop at the Port of Consciousness.
There is no intervention for this.
Millions upon millions of people have lost their lives over things as ridiculous as which make believe God to believe in- or which political system is best. The same topics banned from many homes- talk involving politics and religion- are the same things we've been dying over for thousands of years.
You'd think we'd have learned by now.
In the movie WarGames, the computer plays tic-tac-toe by itself until it learns that it is a game if played correctly- there can be no winning outcome. The computer then simulates global missile launches wherein mutual destruction is guaranteed. Like tic-tac-toe, the computer learns that there is no point in playing a game where there can be no winner.
The only winning move is not to play. Could we disengage? Sure. If the United States said "ya know Kim Jung un, we're not going to play. No more war games with South Korea, no sanctions, no threats of war- you just go ahead and do what you want. You are a sovereign state, we're going to let you behave like one.
Is that going to happen? Not a chance. Because the egos on our team are every bit as big as Kim's.
In a way, it really might be a zombie apocalypse. Their unconscious egos versus ours.
So sit back, relax, and watch this latest episode of uncontrolled egos playing out. No need to worry about it, there is nothing you can do. It's not like Kim or Don are going to grab Tolle's book and come to their senses.
Just remember that Kim Jung un had his uncle, aunt, and brother killed. What's the worst thing that could happen with a psychopath who finds nothing wrong with killing his own family?
I gotta run now, I've been looking at generators and nitrogen packed foods. I think UPS is at the door...
In his book, "A New Earth", Eckhart Tolle talks at great length about the damage that the human ego causes.
Ego is a false sense of self, or who you think you are, created in your mind. This is what you present to the world as you. Of course it is false- but you can't possibly allow the world to see who you really are. Or so you think.
Imagine inheriting some kind of dictatorship such as the Supreme Leader of the Democratic Peoples Republic of Korea. You've done absolutely nothing to earn such a position- but there you are- leading 26 million people around by the nose.
You buy in to the whole illusion. You must be great you tell yourself. The people around you expect great things, your ego convinces you that you must do great deeds, and so you begin all of your anti-American sabre rattling with a giant false sense of self- furthered along by those who surround you.
You kill a few people, including your uncle, aunt, and your brother, because you fear them. You fire missiles to and fro, issue threats, fire a missile over Japan, and then conduct an underground hydrogen bomb blast that appears to be successful. You are trying to convince the world that you are this fearless man that must be taken seriously.
And so it is, this version of the insanity of the planet emerges.
Your false sense of self is now in direct conflict with other people who are just as unconscious as you are- they have their egos and false sense of self to attend to as well. These are our leaders, our politicians and generals.
Eckhart Tolle revealed all of this insanity in his book, A New Earth. It wasn't exactly proprietary information but I think the way Tolle revealed it was most effective. If you truly comprehend what Tolle writes, then you are left with the intrinsic truth that what he says is true. Because you have done those things so you know they must be true.
I remember reading A New Earth at the rate of 20 pages per day. It was hard for me to digest and comprehend. There would be days where I would read what Tolle had written, realize I was guilty of some ridiculous behavior, and find myself feeling ashamed. Two great benefits of comprehending what Tolle had written. I was no longer unconscious. I realized just how insane I had become over the years. The other great benefit was that the insanity of others becomes glaringly obvious.
I learned a lot over the intervening ten years. Not only is this planet inhabited by billions of unconscious nut jobs, but there is nothing you can do about it. We cannot slow them down. Their journey here apparently does not include a stop at the Port of Consciousness.
There is no intervention for this.
Millions upon millions of people have lost their lives over things as ridiculous as which make believe God to believe in- or which political system is best. The same topics banned from many homes- talk involving politics and religion- are the same things we've been dying over for thousands of years.
You'd think we'd have learned by now.
In the movie WarGames, the computer plays tic-tac-toe by itself until it learns that it is a game if played correctly- there can be no winning outcome. The computer then simulates global missile launches wherein mutual destruction is guaranteed. Like tic-tac-toe, the computer learns that there is no point in playing a game where there can be no winner.
The only winning move is not to play. Could we disengage? Sure. If the United States said "ya know Kim Jung un, we're not going to play. No more war games with South Korea, no sanctions, no threats of war- you just go ahead and do what you want. You are a sovereign state, we're going to let you behave like one.
Is that going to happen? Not a chance. Because the egos on our team are every bit as big as Kim's.
In a way, it really might be a zombie apocalypse. Their unconscious egos versus ours.
So sit back, relax, and watch this latest episode of uncontrolled egos playing out. No need to worry about it, there is nothing you can do. It's not like Kim or Don are going to grab Tolle's book and come to their senses.
Just remember that Kim Jung un had his uncle, aunt, and brother killed. What's the worst thing that could happen with a psychopath who finds nothing wrong with killing his own family?
I gotta run now, I've been looking at generators and nitrogen packed foods. I think UPS is at the door...
Wednesday, August 30, 2017
44 Days of Hell
I lost 35 pounds and 1 girlfriend. It was a good trade.
I aggressively applied the Atkins diet on Jul 18 to my 290 lb frame. When I say "aggressively" I am talking 30 carbs or less per day, every day. No creamer, no orange juice, no booze, no breath mints. The only carbs I would take in came from vegetables.
Coconut oil. On a tip from a commenter, I started using coconut oil. Three big globs in my three cups of coffee in the morning, I also used it to saute' vegetables at night. Costco has virgin, organic oil in 5 pound containers. I am a believer. My energy levels shot up almost immediately. After my coffee, I would drink one low carb protein drink, swallow my supplements, ( I am a huge believer in turmeric) and headed out for the gym.
I run/walk 5k every day which took me about 34 mins. I can usually make 4 days in a row before I have to take a day off. As my weight came off, my times improved and my knees hurt less.
I am an over pronator with flat feet. My heel strikes the ground first- so I bought a couple pairs of running shoes made for over pronators from 6 PM. com. I bought an inexpensive pair of Nikes just to walk around in. I bought an expensive pair of Sauconys to run in. I am a big Brooks fan but I find that those shoes break down on me after a month or so.
For lunch, it was usually salad to go- 4.51 cents at Pizza Pie Cafe or chicken. Dinner was usually a big chunk of meat, steak, hamburger, ribs, with sauteed vegetables.
I finally broke down and bought a scale and then I did something really sadistic. When my weight would refuse to go down for three days- I would crank up the exercise to 5 miles and fast on the same day. All I would consume was coffee, 1 protein drink in the morning, and water the rest of the day.
I lost a total of 8 pounds on the 3 days I fasted. Eating nothing and burning 1250 calories forces your body to burn fat. It's not just the 1250 calories you burn exercising on those days- it's all of the other calories you burn during a normal day and while sleeping.
Somewhere in the middle of all of this, I lost a girlfriend. We made a deal, at least I thought we had, to stick this diet thing out. She tapped out at the two week mark and that as they say, was that. I kind of take a que sera view to women and dating. I just haven't found anyone I can't live without. I know that sounds horrible but dating at my age is a different animal than when I was young. At my age people are through raising kids, everyone has had their career and most of us are financially secure. Men and women have leaned how to live without asking permission. So people date for different reasons at this age. Mostly it's companionship. It's not easy finding a good companion- or harder yet- finding someone you want to make some sort of longer term commitment with. That's been my experience thus far.
A friend of mine told me recently that the reason I was single was because I was an asshole. That may be true I thought- while silently noting that she too was single and at least two divorces ahead of me. Maybe she just has bad luck...
So what's the long term prognosis? Can I keep gaining weight every two years and then put myself through 6 weeks of hell? I don't think I wanna be pushing 60 and doing this again. I have a friend who eats properly 6 days a week and then on Saturdays- he eats nothing but garbage. I think I might give this a try- this one day a week junk food binge. My big fear here is that my shitty eating habits will spill over into other days.
Atkins works. It's just hard to stick with it although I did it once for 10 weeks and lost 82 pounds. The key I think is finding low carb foods you can tolerate and then combining it with as much exercise as you can. Just walking works well.
I have noticed that this diet gets harder and harder as I get older. The other day I was in the grocery store and looking in people's carts. My gawd we eat an unbelievable amount of pure shit in this country. It almost makes you wonder if the corporate oligarchy, big pharma, big insurance and healthcare, and corporate fast food- do this on purpose.
They keep winning and their customers- keep losing. The rest of us have to find a way out of the matrix. No wonder every parking lot has 20 handicapped spaces. They knew.
I aggressively applied the Atkins diet on Jul 18 to my 290 lb frame. When I say "aggressively" I am talking 30 carbs or less per day, every day. No creamer, no orange juice, no booze, no breath mints. The only carbs I would take in came from vegetables.
Coconut oil. On a tip from a commenter, I started using coconut oil. Three big globs in my three cups of coffee in the morning, I also used it to saute' vegetables at night. Costco has virgin, organic oil in 5 pound containers. I am a believer. My energy levels shot up almost immediately. After my coffee, I would drink one low carb protein drink, swallow my supplements, ( I am a huge believer in turmeric) and headed out for the gym.
I run/walk 5k every day which took me about 34 mins. I can usually make 4 days in a row before I have to take a day off. As my weight came off, my times improved and my knees hurt less.
I am an over pronator with flat feet. My heel strikes the ground first- so I bought a couple pairs of running shoes made for over pronators from 6 PM. com. I bought an inexpensive pair of Nikes just to walk around in. I bought an expensive pair of Sauconys to run in. I am a big Brooks fan but I find that those shoes break down on me after a month or so.
For lunch, it was usually salad to go- 4.51 cents at Pizza Pie Cafe or chicken. Dinner was usually a big chunk of meat, steak, hamburger, ribs, with sauteed vegetables.
I finally broke down and bought a scale and then I did something really sadistic. When my weight would refuse to go down for three days- I would crank up the exercise to 5 miles and fast on the same day. All I would consume was coffee, 1 protein drink in the morning, and water the rest of the day.
I lost a total of 8 pounds on the 3 days I fasted. Eating nothing and burning 1250 calories forces your body to burn fat. It's not just the 1250 calories you burn exercising on those days- it's all of the other calories you burn during a normal day and while sleeping.
Somewhere in the middle of all of this, I lost a girlfriend. We made a deal, at least I thought we had, to stick this diet thing out. She tapped out at the two week mark and that as they say, was that. I kind of take a que sera view to women and dating. I just haven't found anyone I can't live without. I know that sounds horrible but dating at my age is a different animal than when I was young. At my age people are through raising kids, everyone has had their career and most of us are financially secure. Men and women have leaned how to live without asking permission. So people date for different reasons at this age. Mostly it's companionship. It's not easy finding a good companion- or harder yet- finding someone you want to make some sort of longer term commitment with. That's been my experience thus far.
A friend of mine told me recently that the reason I was single was because I was an asshole. That may be true I thought- while silently noting that she too was single and at least two divorces ahead of me. Maybe she just has bad luck...
So what's the long term prognosis? Can I keep gaining weight every two years and then put myself through 6 weeks of hell? I don't think I wanna be pushing 60 and doing this again. I have a friend who eats properly 6 days a week and then on Saturdays- he eats nothing but garbage. I think I might give this a try- this one day a week junk food binge. My big fear here is that my shitty eating habits will spill over into other days.
Atkins works. It's just hard to stick with it although I did it once for 10 weeks and lost 82 pounds. The key I think is finding low carb foods you can tolerate and then combining it with as much exercise as you can. Just walking works well.
I have noticed that this diet gets harder and harder as I get older. The other day I was in the grocery store and looking in people's carts. My gawd we eat an unbelievable amount of pure shit in this country. It almost makes you wonder if the corporate oligarchy, big pharma, big insurance and healthcare, and corporate fast food- do this on purpose.
They keep winning and their customers- keep losing. The rest of us have to find a way out of the matrix. No wonder every parking lot has 20 handicapped spaces. They knew.
Sunday, August 20, 2017
Taking the Context Out of History- The Sunday Collage
"For everything you know, there was a time when you didn't know it."
I remember my first commercial plane trip very well. I was pretty excited about it. It was uneventful as plane rides go. That trip in the early 70's had something not found on commercial airliners anymore.
The plane was full of cigarette smoke.
Everyone seemed to smoke back then. There was simply no point in complaining about it because you would be told to shut up by the smoking mob. That's how it was.
Today, nearly 50 years later, our culture has changed dramatically. The smokers are all dead or recovering. Smoking today is not only frowned upon and illegal in any number of venues- smoking in public may subject you to any number of verbal assaults and shitty looks. That type of obnoxious behavior never happened in the 70's. Some people feel entitled to engage others with that type of obnoxious behavior because now they stand with the new majority. I know that mentality well.
The point of this vignette is that our history is a shared experience. Human beings have been making mistakes for thousands of years and undoubtedly, we will continue to do so. We realize smoking is harmful and kills us now. The vast majority of us have learned that lesson, some of us the hard way, and most of us no longer smoke.
Our shared historical experience is full of mistakes. People generally don't make decisions thinking that they are bad decisions at the time or that their decisions will go horribly awry later on. That is the context of decision making- we take our best shot given the circumstances at that moment. We do the best we can and yet, our best decision making has spawned some remarkably bad mistakes with horrific consequences throughout history.
The truth is- we may not be that smart to begin with.
Owning slaves was considered normal back in the 17 and 1800's. Slaves were brought here and sold by other black "slavers" or traders. Slowly, covering some decades and perhaps a century, our collective conscience got the best of us. Treating people like property, like farm animals to be bought and sold at auction, was losing favor.
If you love irony, I have always loved this. A slave owner himself, Thomas Jefferson penned the famous sentence in the Declaration of Independence that "All men are created equal."
Can you imagine what might have happened if you had stood in front of the Second Continental Congress and asked, "Umm Tom, that "all men are created equal phrase" does that apply to slaves like the ones you own or did God just sort of exempt them according to your interpretation of God's intent?
Our collective history is full of mistakes. That's how we learn. That's not something to be ashamed of- that's something to hold sacred and not forget lest we keep making the same mistakes.
In 1862, we had the mass hanging of Indians in Mankato, Mn. Originally our government was going to hang over 300, but instead hanged just 38 at once. They were not tried or convicted of anything really, other than they were Sioux. It was all part of a war or uprising brought about by our own government- as is often the case. The great emancipator, Lincoln, settled on the number 39 and ordered the executions. (one Indian received a reprieve)
Who could forget the 1890 massacre at Wounded Knee?
In 1917, mine owners in Arizona rounded up nearly 1300 striking miners, kidnapped them and forced them into rail cars, and dumped them in a desert 200 miles away. I can't even begin to list all of the laws that were broken and civil rights violations that took place. Not one person was ever prosecuted for the Bisbee deportation.
The 1942 illegal seizure, deportation, and false imprisonment of 130,000 Japanese- Americans. Our country ruined their lives, they lost most if not all of their property, and a few lost their lives.
I want you to remember that according to our Constitution in place at the time- all of these men were created equally and endowed with certain inalienable rights. They were also entitled to freedom from illegal search and seizure, due process, trial by jury, and all of the other protections in place and afforded to them by the Bill of Rights. Yet somehow, we simply ignored all of those inalienable rights as we deemed fit.
That is part of our history. Horrible mistakes made by our best and brightest leaders. Yet every one of those mistakes seemed justified at the moment we made our decisions. The context in which all of those mistakes were made can never be forgotten. They were all thought to be good decisions at the time. You cannot simply erase our collective history by tearing down statues or declaring certain individuals as racist. The time and the context are long gone.
History is our collective, cultural memory- attempting to erase our history will not change anything. The dead will not care. The history books will not change. Robert E Lee will still have come from a family of slave owners. So will Andrew Jackson, John Jay, Thomas Jefferson, Andrew Johnson, Sam Houston, John Hancock, James Madison, Zachary Taylor.
Are we going to declare all of them racist, remove all statues and documents tied to them, tear out pages of our history books?
I love history. Transcribed as accurately as possible by the winners, I try to understand what it must have been like to be a soldier out on the South Dakota prairie that winter at Wounded Knee. Or who were those people who had to physically round up Japanese Americans and take them away? I try to understand how they must have thought and felt- like they were doing the right thing. I find it all quite fascinating but the one thing I never want to forget is that at the time those things were done- those were the best choices and solutions available to us. History and the context in which it happens- are inseparable.
Like smoking on planes.
Once again I shall leave you with my all time favorite quote which sums up this piece quite nicely.
“Most of the harm in the world is done by good people, and not by accident, lapse, or omission. It is the result of their deliberate actions, long persevered in, which they hold to be motivated by high ideals toward virtuous ends.”
― Isabel Paterson, God of the Machine
I remember my first commercial plane trip very well. I was pretty excited about it. It was uneventful as plane rides go. That trip in the early 70's had something not found on commercial airliners anymore.
The plane was full of cigarette smoke.
Everyone seemed to smoke back then. There was simply no point in complaining about it because you would be told to shut up by the smoking mob. That's how it was.
Today, nearly 50 years later, our culture has changed dramatically. The smokers are all dead or recovering. Smoking today is not only frowned upon and illegal in any number of venues- smoking in public may subject you to any number of verbal assaults and shitty looks. That type of obnoxious behavior never happened in the 70's. Some people feel entitled to engage others with that type of obnoxious behavior because now they stand with the new majority. I know that mentality well.
The point of this vignette is that our history is a shared experience. Human beings have been making mistakes for thousands of years and undoubtedly, we will continue to do so. We realize smoking is harmful and kills us now. The vast majority of us have learned that lesson, some of us the hard way, and most of us no longer smoke.
Our shared historical experience is full of mistakes. People generally don't make decisions thinking that they are bad decisions at the time or that their decisions will go horribly awry later on. That is the context of decision making- we take our best shot given the circumstances at that moment. We do the best we can and yet, our best decision making has spawned some remarkably bad mistakes with horrific consequences throughout history.
The truth is- we may not be that smart to begin with.
Owning slaves was considered normal back in the 17 and 1800's. Slaves were brought here and sold by other black "slavers" or traders. Slowly, covering some decades and perhaps a century, our collective conscience got the best of us. Treating people like property, like farm animals to be bought and sold at auction, was losing favor.
If you love irony, I have always loved this. A slave owner himself, Thomas Jefferson penned the famous sentence in the Declaration of Independence that "All men are created equal."
Can you imagine what might have happened if you had stood in front of the Second Continental Congress and asked, "Umm Tom, that "all men are created equal phrase" does that apply to slaves like the ones you own or did God just sort of exempt them according to your interpretation of God's intent?
Our collective history is full of mistakes. That's how we learn. That's not something to be ashamed of- that's something to hold sacred and not forget lest we keep making the same mistakes.
In 1862, we had the mass hanging of Indians in Mankato, Mn. Originally our government was going to hang over 300, but instead hanged just 38 at once. They were not tried or convicted of anything really, other than they were Sioux. It was all part of a war or uprising brought about by our own government- as is often the case. The great emancipator, Lincoln, settled on the number 39 and ordered the executions. (one Indian received a reprieve)
Who could forget the 1890 massacre at Wounded Knee?
In 1917, mine owners in Arizona rounded up nearly 1300 striking miners, kidnapped them and forced them into rail cars, and dumped them in a desert 200 miles away. I can't even begin to list all of the laws that were broken and civil rights violations that took place. Not one person was ever prosecuted for the Bisbee deportation.
The 1942 illegal seizure, deportation, and false imprisonment of 130,000 Japanese- Americans. Our country ruined their lives, they lost most if not all of their property, and a few lost their lives.
I want you to remember that according to our Constitution in place at the time- all of these men were created equally and endowed with certain inalienable rights. They were also entitled to freedom from illegal search and seizure, due process, trial by jury, and all of the other protections in place and afforded to them by the Bill of Rights. Yet somehow, we simply ignored all of those inalienable rights as we deemed fit.
That is part of our history. Horrible mistakes made by our best and brightest leaders. Yet every one of those mistakes seemed justified at the moment we made our decisions. The context in which all of those mistakes were made can never be forgotten. They were all thought to be good decisions at the time. You cannot simply erase our collective history by tearing down statues or declaring certain individuals as racist. The time and the context are long gone.
History is our collective, cultural memory- attempting to erase our history will not change anything. The dead will not care. The history books will not change. Robert E Lee will still have come from a family of slave owners. So will Andrew Jackson, John Jay, Thomas Jefferson, Andrew Johnson, Sam Houston, John Hancock, James Madison, Zachary Taylor.
Are we going to declare all of them racist, remove all statues and documents tied to them, tear out pages of our history books?
I love history. Transcribed as accurately as possible by the winners, I try to understand what it must have been like to be a soldier out on the South Dakota prairie that winter at Wounded Knee. Or who were those people who had to physically round up Japanese Americans and take them away? I try to understand how they must have thought and felt- like they were doing the right thing. I find it all quite fascinating but the one thing I never want to forget is that at the time those things were done- those were the best choices and solutions available to us. History and the context in which it happens- are inseparable.
Like smoking on planes.
Once again I shall leave you with my all time favorite quote which sums up this piece quite nicely.
“Most of the harm in the world is done by good people, and not by accident, lapse, or omission. It is the result of their deliberate actions, long persevered in, which they hold to be motivated by high ideals toward virtuous ends.”
― Isabel Paterson, God of the Machine
Friday, August 11, 2017
Aesops Fables: Finding Russkies
There once was a woman who coveted power and wealth. She would do anything if it meant enriching herself or elevating her status so that she could control the outcome of things.
She was childlike in that when she did not get her way, she would throw tantrums. But mostly, like her secrets and dirty deals, that was kept hidden for one does not gain power and wealth by acting like a baby in front of others.
One day, there was a great election. The woman was sure she would win. She had snookered the people into thinking that she was a decent human being and the prize, tremendous power and wealth, were there for the taking.
But not all of the people were snookered. She lost the election. Disbelief and anger followed. She threw such a giant tantrum that she could not even appear in public to congratulate her opponent. When asked why she lost, the woman blamed everyone she could think of but herself. It must have been the russkies she lamented. The same people who she had snookered then began a grand search for the russkies who had stolen the election from her.
Of course there were no russkies. But that did not stop the snookered people from looking very hard and wasting hours, days, weeks, and months looking for those allegedly clever russkies. The subject of our fable can find Russkies easily, Russkies with money. http://www.nationalreview.com/article/446526/clinton-russia-ties-bill-hillary-sold-out-us-interests-putin-regime
Moral of the story. Don't be a conniving, pig headed bitch. Take responsibility for your failures for they are many. Don't blame others. Grow up. Many of us learn this as children.
She was childlike in that when she did not get her way, she would throw tantrums. But mostly, like her secrets and dirty deals, that was kept hidden for one does not gain power and wealth by acting like a baby in front of others.
One day, there was a great election. The woman was sure she would win. She had snookered the people into thinking that she was a decent human being and the prize, tremendous power and wealth, were there for the taking.
But not all of the people were snookered. She lost the election. Disbelief and anger followed. She threw such a giant tantrum that she could not even appear in public to congratulate her opponent. When asked why she lost, the woman blamed everyone she could think of but herself. It must have been the russkies she lamented. The same people who she had snookered then began a grand search for the russkies who had stolen the election from her.
Of course there were no russkies. But that did not stop the snookered people from looking very hard and wasting hours, days, weeks, and months looking for those allegedly clever russkies. The subject of our fable can find Russkies easily, Russkies with money. http://www.nationalreview.com/article/446526/clinton-russia-ties-bill-hillary-sold-out-us-interests-putin-regime
Moral of the story. Don't be a conniving, pig headed bitch. Take responsibility for your failures for they are many. Don't blame others. Grow up. Many of us learn this as children.
Saturday, July 29, 2017
All You Can Eat Meat, The Diet That Works
Today I'd like to talk a little bit about my favorite subject, me.
About two weeks ago, while on the Beartooth Rally in Red Lodge, Montana....friends of mine shot photos of me. I guess I must have been in denial over my weight gain. I had ballooned up to 285 pounds and although I am 6'4"- I still looked like a sausage on a stick.
It is so easy to eat this shit they sell us. The weight gain is always subtle. Just a pound or two here and there and voila! Before you know it- you look normal in a buffet line or at Walmart.
I can't give up that easy.
I have been fighting a war with my body for ten years now. My fattest was in 2007- I tipped the scales at 300. My slimmest was also that year, 218 pounds. From a 40" waist to a 34" and I could have fit into a 32".
Each time I gain weight which tends to be every two years, I get fed up and employ the masochistic Atkins diet. It works. But I have made improvements on it. That's what I want to talk about today.
As you know, Atkins is basically all you can eat protein. Meat, cheese, eggs, and a few vegetables. At first you don't mind it- but after about 100 eggs, 50 steaks, and 10 pounds of bacon it gets old. I used to supplement the diet with V-8 juice every morning, a few dietary supplements.
The other problem with Atkins is that as you are starving your body and giving it no carbs- it in turn is shutting you down. I tend to feel sleepy and lethargic on this diet.
This time around I adjusted for all of that. It has been working well.
I went to Costco and bought two cases of those 11 oz protein drinks, one case of V-8. Some diet green tea, water, and coffee. About 100 bucks. I use Splenda or sugar free creamer.
Every morning, I drink 3 cups of coffee. I grab one of the protein drinks and swill that along with a handful of supplements, royal jelly, turmeric, multi vitamins. Once in awhile I throw in a boner pill. (Ha, just making sure you are still with me)
Lunch is always the hardest for me. I found something that works. Pizza Pie Cafe has a salad to go for 4 bucks or you can sit down for 6 bucks and and run through the salad bar twice. The advantages to this are enormous.
If you don't have a PPC near you- I'll bet you can find a decent salad bar and cut a deal with them.
PPC's salad bar is great. Everything you can eat on Atkins is in this salad bar. They have spinach or romaine- instead of that worthless iceberg lettuce. Toppings are black olives, mushrooms, sliced eggs, cubed ham and turkey, pepperoni, cubed red beets, shredded cheese, bacon bits and sunflower seeds. Cauliflower and broccoli. I shy away from the sunflower seeds in the first two week induction phase of Atkins.
The salad bar means that I don't have to go to the store, buy all those ingredients, boil eggs, cube meats, and then watch it all spoil sitting in my fridge. At six bucks a day, every day for 40 days, lunch is going to cost me 240 dollars. It would cost me more than that in time, gas, and the checkout line.
For dinner I always eat some meat, usually steak, hamburger, or chicken and cook some vegetables. You cannot use anything that is not green like carrots or corn. There is a lot of carbohydrates in those and not much vitamin value. I pretty much limit myself to 5 vegetables. Spinach, cauliflower with shredded cheese, green beans, brussel sprouts, and my favorite- asparagus.
For snacks I use pork rinds, pepperoni sticks, beef jerky. I drink lots of water. My entire fridge is filled with ten different kinds of drinks incl. sparking water, a case of Powerade Zero, Diet Splash, and almond milk is the only milk I like. Not only is it acceptable on the diet but a friend of mine (this is dairy central here) owns a giant milk operation. After hearing what he injects his cows with- I changed my mind about milk permanently. Not to mention- it has an animal smell to it that kind of makes me nauseous anymore. Almond milk is twice as expensive but it is healthier and Atkins acceptable. Get the original, sugar free kind.
I try to exercise just as often as my body will tolerate it. This is a must if you want to take weight off fast. I run/walk 5k every day, right after consuming coffee and my protein drink. This is probably at my peak energy level of the day. Exercise forces my body to burn fat because it has no carbohydrates to use.
I will only weigh myself three times. Once at the beginning of the diet, at day 20, and day 40. I am not interested in weighing myself every day because sometimes you lose nothing day to day and that tends to discourage me.
My best friend Doug lives in Hawaii. At age 55, he has a ripped, six pack ab package. Doug eats properly. Rice, tuna, black beans. He eats for fuel, not for taste. No cheap carbs, salt, or sugar. I was talking to him the other day and he said something that I will pass along here.
Doug said if people would simply wake up everyday and ask themselves, "What can I do that will be good for my body today" and then do it, our society wouldn't be the fattest in the world. A healthy lifestyle tends to be free of pain in later years. I get it. I have to get to the gym. I shall leave you with this.
About two weeks ago, while on the Beartooth Rally in Red Lodge, Montana....friends of mine shot photos of me. I guess I must have been in denial over my weight gain. I had ballooned up to 285 pounds and although I am 6'4"- I still looked like a sausage on a stick.
It is so easy to eat this shit they sell us. The weight gain is always subtle. Just a pound or two here and there and voila! Before you know it- you look normal in a buffet line or at Walmart.
I can't give up that easy.
I have been fighting a war with my body for ten years now. My fattest was in 2007- I tipped the scales at 300. My slimmest was also that year, 218 pounds. From a 40" waist to a 34" and I could have fit into a 32".
Each time I gain weight which tends to be every two years, I get fed up and employ the masochistic Atkins diet. It works. But I have made improvements on it. That's what I want to talk about today.
As you know, Atkins is basically all you can eat protein. Meat, cheese, eggs, and a few vegetables. At first you don't mind it- but after about 100 eggs, 50 steaks, and 10 pounds of bacon it gets old. I used to supplement the diet with V-8 juice every morning, a few dietary supplements.
The other problem with Atkins is that as you are starving your body and giving it no carbs- it in turn is shutting you down. I tend to feel sleepy and lethargic on this diet.
This time around I adjusted for all of that. It has been working well.
I went to Costco and bought two cases of those 11 oz protein drinks, one case of V-8. Some diet green tea, water, and coffee. About 100 bucks. I use Splenda or sugar free creamer.
Every morning, I drink 3 cups of coffee. I grab one of the protein drinks and swill that along with a handful of supplements, royal jelly, turmeric, multi vitamins. Once in awhile I throw in a boner pill. (Ha, just making sure you are still with me)
Lunch is always the hardest for me. I found something that works. Pizza Pie Cafe has a salad to go for 4 bucks or you can sit down for 6 bucks and and run through the salad bar twice. The advantages to this are enormous.
If you don't have a PPC near you- I'll bet you can find a decent salad bar and cut a deal with them.
PPC's salad bar is great. Everything you can eat on Atkins is in this salad bar. They have spinach or romaine- instead of that worthless iceberg lettuce. Toppings are black olives, mushrooms, sliced eggs, cubed ham and turkey, pepperoni, cubed red beets, shredded cheese, bacon bits and sunflower seeds. Cauliflower and broccoli. I shy away from the sunflower seeds in the first two week induction phase of Atkins.
The salad bar means that I don't have to go to the store, buy all those ingredients, boil eggs, cube meats, and then watch it all spoil sitting in my fridge. At six bucks a day, every day for 40 days, lunch is going to cost me 240 dollars. It would cost me more than that in time, gas, and the checkout line.
For dinner I always eat some meat, usually steak, hamburger, or chicken and cook some vegetables. You cannot use anything that is not green like carrots or corn. There is a lot of carbohydrates in those and not much vitamin value. I pretty much limit myself to 5 vegetables. Spinach, cauliflower with shredded cheese, green beans, brussel sprouts, and my favorite- asparagus.
For snacks I use pork rinds, pepperoni sticks, beef jerky. I drink lots of water. My entire fridge is filled with ten different kinds of drinks incl. sparking water, a case of Powerade Zero, Diet Splash, and almond milk is the only milk I like. Not only is it acceptable on the diet but a friend of mine (this is dairy central here) owns a giant milk operation. After hearing what he injects his cows with- I changed my mind about milk permanently. Not to mention- it has an animal smell to it that kind of makes me nauseous anymore. Almond milk is twice as expensive but it is healthier and Atkins acceptable. Get the original, sugar free kind.
I try to exercise just as often as my body will tolerate it. This is a must if you want to take weight off fast. I run/walk 5k every day, right after consuming coffee and my protein drink. This is probably at my peak energy level of the day. Exercise forces my body to burn fat because it has no carbohydrates to use.
I will only weigh myself three times. Once at the beginning of the diet, at day 20, and day 40. I am not interested in weighing myself every day because sometimes you lose nothing day to day and that tends to discourage me.
My best friend Doug lives in Hawaii. At age 55, he has a ripped, six pack ab package. Doug eats properly. Rice, tuna, black beans. He eats for fuel, not for taste. No cheap carbs, salt, or sugar. I was talking to him the other day and he said something that I will pass along here.
Doug said if people would simply wake up everyday and ask themselves, "What can I do that will be good for my body today" and then do it, our society wouldn't be the fattest in the world. A healthy lifestyle tends to be free of pain in later years. I get it. I have to get to the gym. I shall leave you with this.
Saturday, June 10, 2017
The Citizens' Arrest of Hillary Clinton- The Sunday Collage
One of the most profoundly puzzling pieces of American history came about in early 1942. It was the FDR executive order which allowed 140,000 Japanese Americans to be rounded up, arrested, and imprisoned for no other reason than our unfounded "fear" that maybe they might be sympathetic to the Japanese war effort rather than the US war effort.
To my way of thinking, FDR single handedly destroyed every Constitutional guarantee afforded to any citizen of this country. The Japanese were illegally seized, denied due process or a speedy trial, their homes and businesses were lost, and they were falsely imprisoned.
All of that would be bad enough but something even worse happened.
I can find no historical record anywhere, that any individual here in America, ever filed a lawsuit on behalf of those Japanese Americans who had been stripped of their rights. You'd think somebody, somewhere, might have offered an opinion that perhaps, not only were we doing the wrong thing at that time- but that it was all quite illegal.
This fact speaks loudly about the lack of courage of people in groups, the herd think.
This fact speaks loudly about the lack of courage of people in groups, the herd think.
Cooler heads did not prevail. Oh sure, I get the whole emotionally charged rationale for our illegal conduct. I have argued it with the great generation and I will tell you- I give them no quarter. It was an act of unbelievable cowardice that many still justify. It is one of those regrettable acts that others would like to forget.
And the reason I mention all of this is because of something Ron taught me. Ron taught me that when I see an obvious wrong or an act of indecency that I should have the courage to stand up and be counted even when vastly out numbered by a sea of cowards. http://thecivillibertarian.blogspot.com/2017/05/what-ron-taught-me-sunday-collage.html Which brings me to another profoundly puzzling piece of current American history. How does Hillary Clinton escape the rule of law?
In order to keep this simple, I am going to forget about the 17 scandals including Whitewater and my personal favorite- the cattle futures bribe. Let's forget about the Vince Foster suicide and subsequent theft of evidence, let's forget about all of the millions in bribes she has taken and funneled back to herself through her make believe charity- and let's even forget about Benghazi. Let's focus on one thing only. The destruction of 33,000 emails and tampering with evidence.
Now I'm no lawyer thank gawd, but I was once charged with enforcing the law. To be sure, I never engaged in many cases involving the destruction of publicly owned records, or emails for that matter but I have done a few cases which involve the destruction of evidence and the intimidation of potential witnesses.
Here is an interesting piece where Senator Chuck Grassley states the obvious- that Hillary Clinton very likely broke the law. The piece documents the areas of law which apply to Hillary Clinton. http://www.npr.org/sections/itsallpolitics/2015/04/02/396823014/fact-check-hillary-clinton-those-emails-and-the-law
You'll find as you read this article- that it really fails to address the issue of destruction of evidence. It simply talks about personal email as opposed to public email. The focus of the piece is so ridiculously narrow that virtually all of the larger issues go unmentioned.
I want to remind you here that Hillary Clinton is a lawyer. She knows the law. When she breaks the law she does so knowingly and with intent. When she deletes public records, she knows this is illegal. This is not a 19 year old girl that has been told by her boss to shred a few pieces of paper.
Public records include emails generated at work. They are owned by the government and by virtue of that, become public records. You don't get to break one law (use your own server) and then imply that because you broke the first law- that this gives you the right to delete and destroy public records and evidence by stating that they were on your private server.
So let me summarize up to here. Public records are supposed to be kept and accessible. They are not personal property. They are supposed to be done on government hardware. Moving a public record from government hardware to personal hardware does not change the status of a public record. You are not entitled to destroy evidence of a crime pending an investigation. Your intent was made clear when you did so- coupled with the fact that you as a lawyer and servant of the court- thus you have no excuse in that you were unaware of the law.
That is 33,000 potential counts or violations. Here then is the federal statute governing such willful conduct. https://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/text/18/1924
In fact although those emails may be lost forever- Hillary forwarded gawd knows how many to Huma Abedin which subsequently landed in the hands of Anthony Weiner wherein the FBI executed a search warrant and knows the precise content of those emails. These may have been emails which Hillary originally deleted from her private server which could be corroborated and proven through an actual investigation by an an actual police department not headed by a co-conspirator (Comey) to hide or aid in the destruction of evidence. I am no fan of politically minded law enforcing.
The extent of this bullshit is mind boggling.
So what happens when the rule of law is somehow replaced by the rule of man? What happens when a Presidential candidate promises to "prosecute crooked Hillary" and then fails to do so? What happens when the entire system fails for the myriad of reasons that it obviously has?
The law has a remedy. It is called a citizen's arrest. It normally occurs when a citizen observes a criminal act and arrests the suspected guilty party and turns them over to a competent authority or jail. This can be accomplished by physical arrest, arrest warrant or summons- I prefer the former. Of course one would risk a lawsuit from the Clintons' therefore we would have to find one courageous and judgement proof citizen who would ask among the plea bargaining arrangements that Ms. Clinton as part of her sentencing- would release any damage claims and thus end this 20 year criminal charade wherein every compromised lawyer up and down the beltway pretends to be Sergeant Schultz despite their expensive Ivy League educations.
If only we had a few good people left. I wonder if anyone felt the same way in 1942. Please view this clip and think of all the prosecutors, or cops for that matter, that think and act like Sgt Schultz...
P.S. I stole this from Trump. Like who am I?? Only the head of the executive branch- ya know the one that prosecutes criminals. Geezus. You can't make this shit up.
The extent of this bullshit is mind boggling.
So what happens when the rule of law is somehow replaced by the rule of man? What happens when a Presidential candidate promises to "prosecute crooked Hillary" and then fails to do so? What happens when the entire system fails for the myriad of reasons that it obviously has?
The law has a remedy. It is called a citizen's arrest. It normally occurs when a citizen observes a criminal act and arrests the suspected guilty party and turns them over to a competent authority or jail. This can be accomplished by physical arrest, arrest warrant or summons- I prefer the former. Of course one would risk a lawsuit from the Clintons' therefore we would have to find one courageous and judgement proof citizen who would ask among the plea bargaining arrangements that Ms. Clinton as part of her sentencing- would release any damage claims and thus end this 20 year criminal charade wherein every compromised lawyer up and down the beltway pretends to be Sergeant Schultz despite their expensive Ivy League educations.
If only we had a few good people left. I wonder if anyone felt the same way in 1942. Please view this clip and think of all the prosecutors, or cops for that matter, that think and act like Sgt Schultz...
P.S. I stole this from Trump. Like who am I?? Only the head of the executive branch- ya know the one that prosecutes criminals. Geezus. You can't make this shit up.
A.G. Lynch made law enforcement decisions for political purposes...gave Hillary Clinton a free pass and protection. Totally illegal!
Sunday, June 4, 2017
An Old Demon Comes Calling- The Sunday Collage
Last week I did something that many people would never do. I looked up a fellow cop that we very nearly fired, some 20 years ago. The reason I did this is because I always liked him and maybe deep down, I needed to get ok with what happened.
Sometimes in life you do something for one reason expecting one outcome- and an entirely different result happens. So as we sat down last week, I never saw the slow moving emotional train wreck that was headed my way.
Mostly I think, that was a result of my bad memory and poor judgment. But then again, I have always been that way.
So we sat down and talked and eventually the conversation turned to that three month time frame some twenty years earlier- a time when he was very nearly fired and ultimately resigned. Back then I had chalked the whole episode up to his immaturity and nothing else.
What I failed to do, quite honestly, was examine my own behavior and how I handled things.
And as I sat there talking and listening, I heard an angry 20 something recount what happened blow by blow. I couldn't stop thinking about how poorly we handled that situation. I also noticed a failure on his part to take any responsibility for what happened. Twenty years of anger was on full boil.
And for everything you know in life- there was a time when you didn't know it. You get schooled and taught. That's how life works. Nobody is born a great manager but many of us think that somehow we have some intelligent skill set that sets us apart. That of course is unconscious ego and pure bullshit. The reality in my life is that most people suck as managers. Like most, I had no reference point. No way to measure where I stacked up in the world of people managing until just a few years before I retired. I met a truly great manager and human being with an outstanding sense of right and wrong. He was committed to helping people when they were down. He didn't throw good people away. He was fair. He was absolutely dedicated to being a decent human being, he was selfless, and he always used impeccable speech. So through him, I began to realize how inadequate I had been as a manager myself. Not because he was trying to prove some point to me but because he was simply a great manager. That's how he worked. He became my mirror- just a little too late I'm afraid.
That is the irony of my resume'.
So about the time my friend had summarized his feelings from way back when- he volleyed the subject back to me.
I told him the truth. I probably sucked as a manager. I could have handled that situation far better with the emotional equipment I have now. Back then, in some unconscious way, I probably thought I was a good manager. I simply didn't know the difference between good or bad. None of us are born with some operating guide- we are simply the sum total of all of the crappy and average managers we have ever had. We act like them mostly, thinking we've made some vast improvement, because we manage to cut a bad habit here and there.
I did the best I could at that time. It probably wasn't that good. I know that now because I found good once. I know how that guy would have handled it.
The other odd thing I've learned is that I am no longer invested in being right. You don't "win" conversations by arguing about who was right or wrong. You take responsibility for your shortcomings without pointing out theirs. With luck, they will discover that all on their own.
Just like I did.
My friend gave me a B- as a manager. I'll take that. I hope the two of us can be friends again.
Sunday, May 21, 2017
What Ron Taught Me- The Sunday Collage
Today's piece is a little long but it is a truthful account in as much as all of the information I pass along here has either been corroborated or proven out thus far. I hope you find it insightful.
I think it was 1978 or pretty close to that. I was an impressionable teenager in the Order of DeMolay, a masonic organization that transforms young DeMolay disciples into adult Freemasons. The organization endorses ethical and moralistic conduct within it's membership which is a main ingredient in this story. I would have been 16 or 17 during that particular year which is entirely dependent on my rapidly deteriorating memory.
The DeMolays employ a type of hierarchical structure wherein members in good standing, those with experience obtain leadership positions within the organization. I forget the names of all of those positions now except the top rung. The top position within the Order of DeMolay is called "Master Councilor."
Ron was our Master Councilor. Ron's induction a year prior had been pretty seamless and everyone seemed to like Ron back then. I did too. I considered Ron among my best friends. He had worked his way through the ranks of DeMolay to secure that position.
To this day, I'm not sure what happened. All I can tell you is that Ron started using and selling drugs during the year that he served as Master Councilor. He went from a happy, good grades with good attendance sort of kid- to a sullen, lying, skipping school sort of kid. Ron worked nights watering the public golf course and we talked a lot back then but our friendship was waning. I could tell things were changing. I was not part of the drug culture and Ron had less time for his old friends as he acquired new ones. He angered a lot of people including his DeMolay brothers- people who he simply abandoned for new friends, the friends he was smoking dope with.
So as Ron's year as Master Councilor was coming to a close it was time for the annual changing of the guard. The pinnacle of that ceremony occurs when a new Master Councilor is elected and the past Master Councilor is thanked for his service and steps down. There had always been a huge round of applause when that event took place but this time around nobody uttered a peep. In a room of 30 or so people- not one person clapped or applauded for Ron. It was as though he had been shunned and excommunicated. It was one of the most awkward moments of my life. I didn't have the guts to clap for my friend either. When Ron needed a friend the most- not one person in that room stepped up. Crickets.
I have regretted that moment for 40 years. But I have not forgotten it.
So it was that I spent 25 years in small town America working my way through the ranks of our police department.
Throughout most of those years, every other day, the same UPS employee would show up. I would bullshit with him, exchange information, and he would tell me about his family. That's how it is in small town America. I have no idea how many years we knew each other, somewhere around 10 or 15. Bob was a genuinely nice guy and I actually looked forward to visiting with him.
Then one July day in 2009, I got a call from an old friend asking me if I knew a guy named Bowe Bergdahl. My friend who has C.I.A. and United Nations/Afgani experience told me that Bergdahl had walked away from his post and base in Afghanistan and had been captured by the Taliban. Most importantly my friend said, Bergdahl had left a note behind essentially renouncing his citizenship. He had become friends with the exterior perimeter (and unscreened) Afghani guards- a force that had been infiltrated by the Taliban. My friend assured me that the military was well aware of this and so were the soldiers on that base. I was, as usual, sworn to secrecy before the phone call ended.
My heart sank. That was Bob's son.
I had been retired about 18 months when this ordeal began. I have not seen Bowe's father Bob since then- except on television or while reading articles about Bowe. Bob retired at some point after I did.
In the propaganda emitting and bullshit filtering world that has become our way of life- it was never disclosed to the American public that Bowe had simply walked away on his own accord. They call that desertion which is a serious offense. Instead, it was delivered to the American public as though Bergdahl had been forcefully taken and captured. I of course knew otherwise and I trusted my source.
Had Bowe been killed as many suspected he would be- the real story of Bowe's desertion might very well have been covered up just like other embarrassing events (Pat Tillman) that the government likes to cover up.
In another heart breaking twist, I began to read accounts of soldiers being shot and killed or wounded- soldiers deployed to search for Bowe. Recent accounts have not proven this out.
So as the years rolled by, I silently prayed that Bowe would not be killed or beheaded in some savage middle eastern way. I prayed that some terrible footage would not find it's way to my friend Bob who is a kind and decent man.
People in our small town rallied for Bowe. The strung up yellow ribbons at a local coffee shop hoping for his safe return.
After nearly 5 years of captivity, President Obama arranged for the exchange of 5 very dangerous Taliban members held at Guantanamo Bay for Bowe Bergdahl. The public was still not aware of the details surrounding Bowe's capture. I suspected, and this is simply an opinion, that President Obama who had campaigned on promises of closing the Guantanamo prison was trying to move some of those prisoners out. In a way I thought, this was a win-win for Obama.
At any rate, Bowe was released in late May of 2014. Around that time, perhaps a little before, the truth about Bowe's desertion started leaking out.
I was in a unique position to watch this ordeal having been apprised of the truth from start to finish. There were plans in my little town for a huge celebration which had city officials preparing for the joyous moment when Bowe would return home a war hero. And then...
The truth that Bowe had actually been a deserter eventually reached the mainstream media. It was everywhere. People began scrambling for cover. City officials, facing a public outcry which included people all over America, cancelled their last minute plans for a public celebration. Most people were shocked and embarrassed. In that prolonged and seemingly eternal moment when you have been convicted by the court of public opinion, where there is always guilt and shaming by association, where friends become scant, we wait for the whole sordid affair of Bowe Bergdahl to reach a conclusion.
Indeed it has been a shit show- complete with angry and upset veterans, lawyers concocting half baked defenses, and a new President who calls Bergdahl a "dirty, rotten traitor." A President who obtained deferments to avoid service himself. If you want to read an interesting account of this mess, wiki seems to be a good place to start with it's long running chronology despite some "facts" which remain up in the air. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bowe_Bergdahl
So what did Ron teach me and what does that have to do with Bowe Bergdahl?
Ron taught me that we must never let one bad moment define our lives. Sometimes we get lucky and face no consequences for our mistakes. Sometimes, in the case of Bowe Bergdahl, we get to spend years in captivity under severe conditions. Perhaps a few more years in limbo with a healthy dose of public ridicule and scorn, while the best and the brightest try to determine a fitting outcome for you which might involve even more captivity.
Ron taught me that bad people get a few things right and that good people get a few things wrong. People cannot be defined by bad decisions- or we would all find ourselves on the scrap heap of humanity. I learned that if there is one ounce of mercy, compassion, and forgiveness in people- that sometimes people are just too cowardly to bring it when it's needed the most. It is easier to stand silent, refusing to call attention to yourself because you are afraid of the scorn and ridicule it might bring. That happens when a guy you used to call "friend" scans the room for just one friendly face and finds none.
It's got to be lonely being Bowe Bergdahl right now- thinking the world hates you.
I don't. I pray they find a little mercy and a little forgiveness for a young, impressionable kid that made one bad decision which subsequently turned into a national nightmare. I hope they find the courage to go easy on Bowe, who was just a kid for chrissakes, and give him some shot at a normal life. Mostly, I think beyond his decade of captivity and the stigma that will surely follow him the rest of his life, that's punishment enough. We shall soon see what the deciders decide.
Be someone's friend when they desperately need you. Stand up and give the finger to a leering world. It ain't all about you. That's what Ron taught me.
I think it was 1978 or pretty close to that. I was an impressionable teenager in the Order of DeMolay, a masonic organization that transforms young DeMolay disciples into adult Freemasons. The organization endorses ethical and moralistic conduct within it's membership which is a main ingredient in this story. I would have been 16 or 17 during that particular year which is entirely dependent on my rapidly deteriorating memory.
The DeMolays employ a type of hierarchical structure wherein members in good standing, those with experience obtain leadership positions within the organization. I forget the names of all of those positions now except the top rung. The top position within the Order of DeMolay is called "Master Councilor."
Ron was our Master Councilor. Ron's induction a year prior had been pretty seamless and everyone seemed to like Ron back then. I did too. I considered Ron among my best friends. He had worked his way through the ranks of DeMolay to secure that position.
To this day, I'm not sure what happened. All I can tell you is that Ron started using and selling drugs during the year that he served as Master Councilor. He went from a happy, good grades with good attendance sort of kid- to a sullen, lying, skipping school sort of kid. Ron worked nights watering the public golf course and we talked a lot back then but our friendship was waning. I could tell things were changing. I was not part of the drug culture and Ron had less time for his old friends as he acquired new ones. He angered a lot of people including his DeMolay brothers- people who he simply abandoned for new friends, the friends he was smoking dope with.
So as Ron's year as Master Councilor was coming to a close it was time for the annual changing of the guard. The pinnacle of that ceremony occurs when a new Master Councilor is elected and the past Master Councilor is thanked for his service and steps down. There had always been a huge round of applause when that event took place but this time around nobody uttered a peep. In a room of 30 or so people- not one person clapped or applauded for Ron. It was as though he had been shunned and excommunicated. It was one of the most awkward moments of my life. I didn't have the guts to clap for my friend either. When Ron needed a friend the most- not one person in that room stepped up. Crickets.
I have regretted that moment for 40 years. But I have not forgotten it.
So it was that I spent 25 years in small town America working my way through the ranks of our police department.
Throughout most of those years, every other day, the same UPS employee would show up. I would bullshit with him, exchange information, and he would tell me about his family. That's how it is in small town America. I have no idea how many years we knew each other, somewhere around 10 or 15. Bob was a genuinely nice guy and I actually looked forward to visiting with him.
Then one July day in 2009, I got a call from an old friend asking me if I knew a guy named Bowe Bergdahl. My friend who has C.I.A. and United Nations/Afgani experience told me that Bergdahl had walked away from his post and base in Afghanistan and had been captured by the Taliban. Most importantly my friend said, Bergdahl had left a note behind essentially renouncing his citizenship. He had become friends with the exterior perimeter (and unscreened) Afghani guards- a force that had been infiltrated by the Taliban. My friend assured me that the military was well aware of this and so were the soldiers on that base. I was, as usual, sworn to secrecy before the phone call ended.
My heart sank. That was Bob's son.
I had been retired about 18 months when this ordeal began. I have not seen Bowe's father Bob since then- except on television or while reading articles about Bowe. Bob retired at some point after I did.
In the propaganda emitting and bullshit filtering world that has become our way of life- it was never disclosed to the American public that Bowe had simply walked away on his own accord. They call that desertion which is a serious offense. Instead, it was delivered to the American public as though Bergdahl had been forcefully taken and captured. I of course knew otherwise and I trusted my source.
Had Bowe been killed as many suspected he would be- the real story of Bowe's desertion might very well have been covered up just like other embarrassing events (Pat Tillman) that the government likes to cover up.
In another heart breaking twist, I began to read accounts of soldiers being shot and killed or wounded- soldiers deployed to search for Bowe. Recent accounts have not proven this out.
So as the years rolled by, I silently prayed that Bowe would not be killed or beheaded in some savage middle eastern way. I prayed that some terrible footage would not find it's way to my friend Bob who is a kind and decent man.
People in our small town rallied for Bowe. The strung up yellow ribbons at a local coffee shop hoping for his safe return.
After nearly 5 years of captivity, President Obama arranged for the exchange of 5 very dangerous Taliban members held at Guantanamo Bay for Bowe Bergdahl. The public was still not aware of the details surrounding Bowe's capture. I suspected, and this is simply an opinion, that President Obama who had campaigned on promises of closing the Guantanamo prison was trying to move some of those prisoners out. In a way I thought, this was a win-win for Obama.
At any rate, Bowe was released in late May of 2014. Around that time, perhaps a little before, the truth about Bowe's desertion started leaking out.
I was in a unique position to watch this ordeal having been apprised of the truth from start to finish. There were plans in my little town for a huge celebration which had city officials preparing for the joyous moment when Bowe would return home a war hero. And then...
The truth that Bowe had actually been a deserter eventually reached the mainstream media. It was everywhere. People began scrambling for cover. City officials, facing a public outcry which included people all over America, cancelled their last minute plans for a public celebration. Most people were shocked and embarrassed. In that prolonged and seemingly eternal moment when you have been convicted by the court of public opinion, where there is always guilt and shaming by association, where friends become scant, we wait for the whole sordid affair of Bowe Bergdahl to reach a conclusion.
Indeed it has been a shit show- complete with angry and upset veterans, lawyers concocting half baked defenses, and a new President who calls Bergdahl a "dirty, rotten traitor." A President who obtained deferments to avoid service himself. If you want to read an interesting account of this mess, wiki seems to be a good place to start with it's long running chronology despite some "facts" which remain up in the air. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bowe_Bergdahl
So what did Ron teach me and what does that have to do with Bowe Bergdahl?
Ron taught me that we must never let one bad moment define our lives. Sometimes we get lucky and face no consequences for our mistakes. Sometimes, in the case of Bowe Bergdahl, we get to spend years in captivity under severe conditions. Perhaps a few more years in limbo with a healthy dose of public ridicule and scorn, while the best and the brightest try to determine a fitting outcome for you which might involve even more captivity.
Ron taught me that bad people get a few things right and that good people get a few things wrong. People cannot be defined by bad decisions- or we would all find ourselves on the scrap heap of humanity. I learned that if there is one ounce of mercy, compassion, and forgiveness in people- that sometimes people are just too cowardly to bring it when it's needed the most. It is easier to stand silent, refusing to call attention to yourself because you are afraid of the scorn and ridicule it might bring. That happens when a guy you used to call "friend" scans the room for just one friendly face and finds none.
It's got to be lonely being Bowe Bergdahl right now- thinking the world hates you.
I don't. I pray they find a little mercy and a little forgiveness for a young, impressionable kid that made one bad decision which subsequently turned into a national nightmare. I hope they find the courage to go easy on Bowe, who was just a kid for chrissakes, and give him some shot at a normal life. Mostly, I think beyond his decade of captivity and the stigma that will surely follow him the rest of his life, that's punishment enough. We shall soon see what the deciders decide.
Be someone's friend when they desperately need you. Stand up and give the finger to a leering world. It ain't all about you. That's what Ron taught me.
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