New Orleans, Gulf Coast, Watches Frankenstorm

I moved to New Orleans about two years after Hurricane Katrina paid her visit there.

You learn a lot about human nature when money and lives are at stake. Here then were some of my observations in New Orleans in 2007.

The streets and highways were still torn up. Construction had closed a number of lanes. There was a military presence still guarding certain parts of town although I saw a lot more of that in the summer of '07.

The French Quarter was on higher ground than other places. It fared pretty well. In fact I noted no vacant buildings or construction there. Other areas of town, mid city and a couple of wards, received the worst of it. Streets were missing man hole covers. Every once in awhile somebody would ride a bike into one of these open holes and lose a few teeth. They were also pretty hard on cars.

Buildings and entire neighborhoods were left to rot. Chain link circled vacant lots and abandoned buildings. I passed several everyday on Canal, N of the  bridge. Debris was piled everywhere. Homes were crooked and listing. High water marks on the siding. There had been a shortage of licensed contractors and most of them were fraudulent. Many had greased city officials to get licenses. Fraudsters, posing as contractors, were paid exorbitant amounts from some homeowners who simply got screwed.

Two class action lawsuits were filed trying to recover damages from insurance companies. Flood damage wasn't covered so homeowners without a spare 100k or so had no recourse but to sue- hoping that a judge or jury somewhere might agree the storm surge was caused by wind which was covered- rather than water. I thought it was a reasonable argument.

Of course the homeowners lost. Like all good crony capitalist ventures- insurance companies vigorously fight paying claims and even when they lose...they manage to socialize losses through a pool of people whose premiums go up- or through taxpayer subsidies. George Soros has close ties with Progressive, Warren Buffet owns Geico. In the elite world- elites win and you lose. Always. Who wouldn't want to own a company wherein the government forces you to buy their products?

I was amazed at New Orleans. The government didn't really give two shits about that town. Hundreds of thousands of people left and never came back. Their houses, uninsured and destroyed with no flood insurance, were uninhabitable. Often I think, Katrina was the first domino of our great recession. Odd that we always have money for war. We invest in killing.

There will always be those that say people in New Orleans were too stupid to evacuate. Or that they were too poor. Or that they should not live on a coastline. I could say the same things for the east coast and indeed, those things are partially true. But even if it were all true, it still doesn't absolve the government's incredibly shitty response. If New Orleans is or was the baseline- you can bet residents there will be watching everything unfold in NYC. I can already hear the comparisons.

I send my money in. But I don't get to elect where it goes. I bet nearly 100% of us would elect our own U.S. disaster relief. We'd invest in  American lives rather than some eternal war in Afghanistan.

A cop in New Orleans told me once that the police department shot 180 looters and drug dealers after the storm. I have never been able to substantiate that number. It is probably grossly exaggerated, but I'm not entirely sure.

So what is different about Frankenstorm, Jersey, and the NY coastline? All the money and influence in the free world is there. You can bet your ass that no matter how bad Frankenstorm is- NYC and the surrounding area will not be waiting two years for contractors and manhole covers. Nobody is going to string chain link around the financial district. Looters will not be shot, bodies will not be left floating in stagnant floodwaters.

If you are stuck on the upper east coast- I wish you the very best. I hope your losses are minimal. It will be interesting to see the response there v. the Gulf Coast response in 2005. You can bet the folks in Louisiana and Mississippi will be watching.

Eating Yourself, California Style

Heh... and I'm not talking sexual innuendo, either.

Years ago, I think in South Carolina, politicians had this brilliant idea. Let's tax the rich! We'll take their money from them and redistribute it to everyone else. Which if you think about it- is all that government does. Never do the statists consider spending less. Thus anytime you have a revenue problem, the statist solution is to take more money from people. Usually from those rich bastards. There's not that many of them and we don't like them anyway. 

Mostly, the statists don't even know they are statists.

So this year, Jerry Brown's strategy is....drumroll here....tax the rich! Try to hide your surprise. http://www.smdailyjournal.com/article_preview.php?id=1756839&title=Tax%20measure%20tug-of-war:%20Hundreds%20of%20local%20tax%20measures%20find%20way%20onto%20California%20ballots 

People are leaving California by the thousands already. When you begin to tax the rich like they did in South Carolina years ago...guess what happens? The rich leave. Tax revenue actually went down. But state doesn't quit taxing. They go after the remaining survivors.

So people don't just sit idly by and let government steal their money. Weird, huh?

The problem California has is that it is filled with people willing to implement and initiate new programs as long as they can do so with your money. Laws for cross dressers and happy meals coupled with welfare for everyone, guarantees that sooner or later you will run out of other peoples' money. Then you are forced to start using your own money to administer that bullshit. One day, all of that good will gets out of control and voila! Everyone is drinking your milkshake- except you.

Elite Nudists Pressure Frogs Into Action!*Warning Royal Nudity

Photographing Kate Middleton's boobs is apparently a non starter in France. Now I've avoided posting nude photos on FG for a number of reasons, however, for illustrative purposes only- I have hijacked a photo of Kate Middleton's boobs. I can only pray that the French or Interpol won't storm my house.

Royal Boobs Look A Lot Like Regular Boobs, Odd Huh?

Here's one of the few reasons I take a Huffington Post feed. Where else can you find worthless shit to read about? My hometown paper only publishes twice a week. http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/10/29/kate-middleton-nude-photos-pictures-photographer-arrested_n_2037696.ht

I remember a day and time when my thought process went like this. Hmmm..."I don't want anyone photographing my private parts today- therefore I don't think I will expose them in a public place."

That's how cloudy my thinking is. Apparently I had it all wrong. If you are famous and have a little clout and money- you can have anyone arrested while your role in the matter becomes inconsequential or conveniently invisible.  In fact here in Idaho, Ms Middleton's the one that would get arrested for indecent exposure. They would call that photo "evidence." That's how backward we are.

Most of the clothing worn now days really exposes a lot of boob. So apparently catching glimpses of boob is ok as long as it's areas of the boob that are deemed harmless. Upper and side boob shots are legal. The nipple, under boob, or heaven forbid- the full boob photo is how the criminal clock gets wound up in France.

Now don't get me wrong, I am a libertarian. That means that I prefer no laws regarding nudity. I don't mind Kate Middleton's boobs, either. I think the real story here is that the French police finally found something to do. Dangerous criminals, like the one that photographed Kate, have me worried.

I will sleep better knowing this madman is off the street and behind bars.

The God of the Machine- The Sunday Collage

Today during breakfast, I had an inspired moment. These moments come when someone else sparks something, my mind immediately wanders, and I stumble onto a philosophical truth. This morning's thought occurred as another person was telling me about a forklift accident.

We've only got 10 days left until the national insanity is over. So let's start here...

Currently there are nine recognized types of intelligence. Here's a test to confirm what you probably already know or suspect. http://www.literacyworks.org/mi/assessment/findyourstrengths.html For the record, I score highest in intra personal intelligence followed closely by interpersonal intelligence. That means that I can process my own thoughts and emotions pretty well- including the emotions of those folks that I am in contact with. There are seven other types of intelligence and quite honestly, I'm not sure that I possess much if any, of the other types. Two out of nine. A typical score for me.

Writers and philosophers share those traits. Go figure.

The sub heading on my blog is a quote from the 1943 book, "The God of the Machine." It essentially states that mostly, all of the harm in the world has been done via the well intentioned acts of others. The "God of the Machine" and then some 15 years later, "Atlas Shrugged" help define the boundaries of current libertarian thought. Both books also spell out quite accurately- what happens when government interferes with the lives, liberty, and freedom of it's citizens.  You can download the God of the Machine for free on the internet. Here's the Cliff Notes version of "Atlas Shrugged." http://www.cliffsnotes.com/study_guide/literature/atlas-shrugged/book-summary.html

We all have to make choices and decisions about our lives. Nobody makes a decision thinking at the time that they are making it- that it is a mistake. It is only after a decision is made and it goes wonderfully well or woefully bad- that we are able to reflect back on it. Our memory of these choices and decisions is what gives us wisdom and maturity. Real wisdom can also help us to distinguish decisions which were uniquely situational. Choices that may have had a different outcome because the circumstances were different.

It is a complete and utter disaster when we make a bad decision and suffer the consequences, plot corrective action, and then make the very same mistake all over again.

We did it in 1929. And nearly 80 years later, we did the very same thing. The economic meltdown of 2008 was a preventable disaster with a historical precedent. It begs the question. How could we have been so remarkably stupid? Sometimes we are out right lied to and deceived. That happened with the 1913 Federal Reserve Act. So this time around- not only did we make the same mistake- but we have doubled down on the damage by wasting an additional 6 trillion dollars we don't have. So mostly...

We forget. We forget who the villains are. But mostly we forget who we are. We do all sorts of things intending to help others when in fact- we are not helping them at all. We make the same mistakes over and over again. We don't think our decisions through. But mostly we don't learn from our mistakes. Oh sure, we bullshit ourselves and say that we do- but we really don't. Or we think the mistake that we made once was isolated- and somehow not our fault- perhaps just some freakishly bad luck.

In our world it seems that it is no longer honorable to be a student while many think they are qualified to be teachers. Never have I seen so many people- so self deluded. People practicing contempt prior to investigation- launching attacks because in their minds- all of the evidence is in. The issue was decided long ago. I am right and you are wrong. I wish I could tell you that I was above all of that insanity. Unfortunately for about 46 years, I practiced all of the self delusion that a person can lay hands on. One day in 2007, the universe just kind of ground me up and spit me out.

Somehow I think, human beings should have more evolutionary capacity than plankton. We keep getting a few things wrong and we keep repeating the same mistakes. We are about to do it again. I am getting comfortable with that process. I have listened to a lifetime worth of vitriol directed by one group of people practicing contempt prior to investigation- ridiculing an equally armed group of people yelling back. I have to get ok with the idea that millions upon millions of people are entitled to make the same mistake over and over again, dutifully believing that they are doing the right thing. Just like last time. One day, there will come some painful reckoning when the universe spits all of that out and we will define a whole new system of governance.

So I think mostly- people are trying to be good. They do a lot of damage in the process. I think that's necessary.  I don't think anybody wakes up and says, "ya know, I think I'll go to work today and wreck the forklift. That sounds like a lot of fun." But mistakes, and more importantly the consequences, are how we learn not to repeat them.

I just wish when it came to politics- we could learn a little faster than plankton. Maybe increase our speed to full ahead glacial.

Of Course Our Tax Code Sucks, They Like It That Way

Congress writes the tax code. It is beyond complex and simply ridiculous. It hoses the middle class because we don't make enough to qualify for big exemptions and loopholes.

I kind of giggle when I hear people talk about the mortgage deduction. At 4% interest- the standard deduction provides more tax relief than itemizing. For me, the mortgage interest deduction is a waste of time.

It has been that way for years. It doesn't change because Congress and their cronies- like it just the way it is. Check out this list of government assisted tax dodgers. Don't expect it to change with Obama or Romney in. It won't.

I don't call these folks tax dodgers- tax cheats per se- because Congress created these loopholes for their corporate benefit. I am trying to fact check this list. Please don't be confused by the inclusion of CEO names...these are not individual returns, they are corporate.

OCT 25, 2012

2:18 AM UTC

1). 1. Bank of America CEO Brian Moynihan
Amount of federal income taxes paid in 2010? Zero. $1.9 billion tax refund.
Taxpayer Bailout from the Federal Reserve and the Treasury Department? Over $1.3 trillion.
Amount of federal income taxes Bank of America would have owed if offshore tax havens were eliminated? $2.6 billion.

2). Goldman Sachs CEO Lloyd Blankfein
Amount of fed
eral income taxes paid in 2008? Zero. $278 million tax refund.
Taxpayer Bailout from the Federal Reserve and the Treasury Department? $824 billion.
Amount of federal income taxes Goldman Sachs would have owed if offshore tax havens were eliminated? $2.7 billion

3). JP Morgan Chase CEO James Dimon
Taxpayer Bailout from the Federal Reserve and the Treasury Department? $416 billion.
Amount of federal income taxes JP Morgan Chase would have owed if offshore tax havens were eliminated? $4.9 billion.

4). General Electric CEO Jeffrey Immelt
Amount of federal income taxes paid in 2010? Zero. $3.3 billion tax refund.
Taxpayer Bailout from the Federal Reserve? $16 billion.
Jobs Shipped Overseas? At least 25,000 since 2001.

5). Verizon CEO Lowell McAdam
Amount of federal income taxes paid in 2010? Zero. $705 million tax refund.
American Jobs Cut in 2010? In 2010, Verizon announced 13,000 job cuts, the third highest corporate layoff total that year.

6). Boeing CEO James McNerney, Jr.
Amount of federal income taxes paid in 2010? None. $124 million tax refund.
American Jobs Shipped overseas? Over 57,000.
Amount of Corporate Welfare? At least $58 billion.

7). Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer
Amount of federal income taxes Microsoft would have owed if offshore tax havens were eliminated? $19.4 billion.

8). Honeywell International CEO David Cote
Amount of federal income taxes paid from 2008-2010? Zero. $34 million tax refund.

9). Corning CEO Wendell Weeks
Amount of federal income taxes paid from 2008-2010? Zero. $4 million tax refund.

10). Time Warner CEO Glenn Britt
Amount of federal income taxes paid in 2008? Zero. $74 million tax refund.

11). Merck CEO Kenneth Frazier
Amount of federal income taxes paid in 2009? Zero. $55 million tax refund.

12). Deere & Company CEO Samuel Allen
Amount of federal income taxes paid in 2009? Zero. $1 million tax refund.

13). Marsh & McLennan Companies CEO Brian Duperreault
Amount of federal income taxes paid in 2010? Zero. $90 million refund.

14). Qualcomm CEO Paul Jacobs
Amount of federal income taxes Qualcomm would have owed if offshore tax havens were eliminated? $4.7 billion.

15). Tenneco CEO Gregg Sherill
Amount of federal income taxes Tenneco would have owed if offshore tax havens were eliminated? $269 million.

16). Express Scripts CEO George Paz
Amount of federal income taxes Express Scripts would have owed if offshore tax havens were eliminated? $20 million.

17). Caesars Entertainment CEO Gary Loveman
Amount of federal income taxes Caesars Entertainment would have owed if offshore tax havens were eliminated? $9 million.

18). R.R. Donnelly & Sons CEO Thomas Quinlan III
Amount of federal income taxes paid in 2008? Zero. $49 million tax refund.

Eighteen of the 80 CEOs who signed the call for deficit action are actually some of the biggest outsourcers and tax cheats in America. First, they crashed the economy in 2008. They followed that up by taking billions in taxpayer bailout dollars. Their next step was to outsource jobs and evade taxes. Now they are calling for action on a deficit that they helped create over the past four years.

Bin Laden, Gaddafi Proven Dead

Funny stuff. http://directorblue.blogspot.com/2012/10/finally-proof-of-death-papa-b.html

Never Write Faster Than You Can See

One of the problems with being an insanely popular blogger is that you are your own editor. I work on a razor thin margin. So finding quality help on the cheap can be difficult. In the old days, I would write something and save it, then view the blog the following day for accuracy and editing.

Sometimes I just shit canned the whole piece. I still kill 10-15% of my blogs. When you are a Police Chief in a small town- you simply can't tell the world that your boss is a self absorbed narcissist. You have to be careful. Your on the job life expectancy can drop precipitously based on content. Just because something is true- Eugene used to say- doesn't mean you gotta tell anyone. (Eugene was an old salty cop and one of my heroes) So content can be a problem but mostly- it is difficult to edit your own stuff.

Grammar and sometimes mistakes can you make.

Having said all of this- and having broken free of those chains that once bound me- let me offer up this advice.

If you write faster than you can see, go back and look at your writing often. Read it out loud. That's how I catch mistakes. I constantly re-read things I have written and I always seem to be editing. It's like a never ending process.

When I go to a new blog and read some horribly written stuff- that pretty much does it for me. The author of any given blog might be a genius but they still have to convey what they write in some understanding and meaningful way using decent, not perfect, writing.

I'm still not sorry I dumped English for law enforcement. It was a good trade.