Issue 141 Race in America August 13, 2013

Now that the Zimmerman trial is over, and for the most part the race baiters have put down their swords, I feel I can do a little retrospect on the whole issue at hand. That issue is that racism is alive in America, but it is being upheld by its victims more than its former oppressors.

Tragic: If you have been following the trial you will know that George Zimmerman shot and killed Travon Martin. Zimmerman was a member of his neighborhood watch in an area that has been victimized by buglers in the recent months leading up to that night when he would shoot Travon. Travon with his hoodie was walking close to the neighbor hood homes in the area to try to get out of the rain and thus looked like a thief casing houses for later. Zimmerman saw him and followed, all the while calling 911. Zimmerman was not supposed to follow Travon, but report suspicious activity to the police and then move on. The 911 operator told Zimmerman to stop following Travon and move on. Zimmerman as far as we can tell moved on. But then Travon would appear later on to apparently confront Zimmerman. Here is where everything gets hazy. Zimmerman testified that Travon asked him (I paraphrase) "do you have a problem" before attacking Zimmerman. Whether Zimmerman did anything to provoke Travon beyond following him moments before is questionable. At this point, Travon is onto of Zimmerman who wants to go for his cell to call for help. He perceives that Travon sees the gun he has and apparently they both go for it. I think it is possible that Travon thought Zimmerman was reaching for the gun in the first place and went after it in fear of his own life. But Zimmerman got it first and shot Travon once in the chest. There was never any question about whether Zimmerman shot Travon; it was the circumstances in which he did so. Thus, I believe they both thought they where in danger and both instinctively went for the gun to protect themselves with a tragic result. However, the media then taints the entire trial.

The Taint: Instead of waiting for the facts, the media looks at Zimmerman's skin color in comparison to that of Travon's and automatically concludes the shooting is based on race. However, Zimmerman is a white skinned Hispanic, not actually white. This gets the attention of the race baiters and activists who go off and start protests and make Travon a symbol that racism is not over in America complete with pictures of Travon from when he was around 13 or 15 wearing a hoodie. Travon was actually some where closer to 17 or 18. Travon was at the time when he was killed 6 feet tall and muscular. This guy was no weakling and certainly not a kid anymore, but a fully grown man. However, the younger photo stuck and was used to garner out rage, while Travon's photos with guns, when he was high, and with jewelry where ignored. Zimmerman's actual race and his accomplishments as a tooter for disadvantaged kids, along with his friendship to members of the black community was also ignored. What was wanted out of this tragedy was not justice or the truth, but a ratings hike for failing television news outlets. Even the President got involved, saying (paraphrased) "I could have been him" and "If I had a son, he would have looked just like Travon." Last I checked a President is not supposed to get involved with any such incidents due to how it could create an unfair trial. In fact the pressure by these race baiters, and media forced pressure on the local police to arrest Zimmerman and caused the State of Florida to rush to trial before all evidence could be properly collected and analyzed. Who knows what verdict would have come out of the court if these fools looking for money and power did not corrupt the trial. But we know the result, Zimmerman was declared innocent.

Conclusion: The reason why race issues live on in America is because stupid people in the media and race baiters want to keep the lens of race alive. They do not want hero's that preach true and lawful equality, or people who say it is time to work and show our kids the right way to live. A race baiter and the media that supports them want these people in squalor, and subject to things like welfare so as to manipulate them when the need arises. Sure race as an issue will continue to exist, but don't keep people as victims for the rest of their lives, and don't take the death of a young man and turn it into your symbol for another round of blame whitey for all my problems for if you do that, then you are the same as the KKK and the Neo Nazi's who blame blacks and other people for their troubles. Don't be like them, rise above and see things for what they are. And as far as I am concerned, the Zimmerman and Travon case is a tragedy brought about because of fear and misunderstandings. No one deserved to die that night.

Issue 140 Is there a culture war? August 12, 2013

I believe there is a culture war happening right now. Not just in America, but throughout the entire world. People are fighting (not literally) for their cultural norms, against what is counter to those norms. Let us look at what these cultural battles revolve around.

Treatment of Gays: Yes, one of the biggest battles in the culture war is how a society treats its homosexual populations. Many societies in general suppress these individuals or have a cultural norm that tolerates them, but then they are expected to marry and have children anyway. In America, the treatment of this community along with transgendered, and other groups who challenge the traditional male/female sexual roles has garnered many conflicts. At this point however, Gay members of American society, with their compatriots are not just tolerated, but have in many areas of the country become accepted. This is a good thing as they after all are people to and what happens in the bedroom stays in the bedroom. But there are still those who are squeamish when people of this community and their allies in the bisexual and transgender community challenge traditional forms of dress. In other words, some people don't like it when a guy tries to look too feminine or a girl too masculine. However, dress code battles are a non-issue and thus I personally do not care if that battle is lost. So long as you cover your privates and maintain decency (no sex in public, which includes straight people to) then I really do not have a problem.

Marriage: This is mainly an issue in countries that have traditional marriage between one man and one woman. Groups like the Gay community want to redefine marriage to allow gay marriage. There are also those who want polygamy and its associated forms such as one woman with a number of men, or even women and men being married to multiple other woman and men at the same time, even if not with each other. Legally, gay marriage is winning irrespective of the fact that marriage is a religious sacrament that the U.S. Constitution forbids by way of keeping government out of the faith based institutions. So this battle has yet to reach its ugly head when those who want government to return what belongs to faith and those who want all the governmental benefits of marriage collide. How it works out is anyone’s question as traditional faith and religion erode.

Religion: Religion is also apart of this culture war. People are in general faithful, but are not religious. They generally do not attend church, but will still believe in God. Even the non-believers categorize as being spiritual, but not faithful. The churches are trying to get their congregations back into the pews, but they are having trouble. Pope Francis has helped bring many Catholics back into the fold with his powers of persuasion and humility as he attempts to fix the wrongs in the church, but he faces an uphill battle. Other faiths are not so lucky and face more obstacles. Some institutions turn to preaching hatred about being disadvantaged and blame others for their plights to maintain a congregation, which of course contradicts Jesus’ and Gods teachings (Christian Churches in general). Faith based institutions want their congregations to come back and they are trying things like rock'n roll and other ideas to make church exciting and fresh whilst keeping the faith. But religion will still struggle on until it is needed once again.

Traditional Values: The values of hard work, thrift, compassion and love are also apart of the culture war. Certain values are timeless, but people who seek to change the world around them are rejecting these traditional norms in favor of whatever they deem more important socially. So compassion may give way to barbarism in respect to treating those who find themselves in the poor house. They may blame the person for being in the situation that their in as a stereotype over helping them out in their time of need. Hard work has taken a back seat to the quick fix, as people want short cuts to success of which there are none. People don't save their money so as to save it for when it is really needed, for they want self gratification. Even love has devolved in some instances to quick sex and pleasure as an escape from reality. However, these values while old help protect us and maintain us in our times of need and are compatible with any and every change society decides to make. If we followed these old school traditions which are really morals on how to be successful, be a good person and maintaining a successful relationship with the ones you love, then maybe we would have a few less problems than we do now.

Conclusion: A culture war does not discriminate, and every society is going through it. Some may be dealing with issues in their culture that confound outsiders, while others face cultural battles on a smaller scale with things that other people take for granted. I cannot hope to discuss them all here as I am only capable of looking at the larger scope of this usually non-violent war and mainly through an American lens. But if you feel your countries values are slipping away causing your fellow people to become unrecognizable, know that you are not alone. Everyone knows that change is inevitable, but what kind of change is really up to us and our fellow countrymen to decide.

Issue 139 Is there Global Warming? August 9, 2013

Count me as a skeptic. I am not sure if it is actually real, let alone a proven science. From my perspective based on some climatologist’s testimonies, this is the natural cycle of the planet. Here are the problems I have with this "science."

Climate Gate: This was what first got me thinking that this is a fluke. Two British scientists, the ones responsible for the hockey stick model that apparently "proved" global warming turned out to be to con-artists. Don't get me wrong, they are still professional scientists, but a hacker hacked into their accounts and found out (to the hackers delight) that they made up the entire model that "proved" global warming. They overlapped two separate graphs to create the model. These scientists as it turns out are funded by the British government along with other government entities who wanted proof that global warming existed. How else are you going to keep getting research funds in a science that is not exact?

Polar bears: There is a claim that their numbers are shrinking. It is claimed that because to northern ice cap is melting the polar bear is starving for a lack of means of finding and catching pray. One problem, the polar bear population is actually up and growing. This means there is plenty of food.

Faulty science: Scientist, out side of the ones in the climate gate scandal, have done tests themselves claiming that global warming exists. But their science is not yet complete as they took measurements at specific locations and those locations where not sufficiently measured over the course of time to get an accurate reading of the changes in climate. In other words, more locations need to be monitored and over a longer period of time to get the best and most accurate results.

Global Cooling?: Apparently in the 1940s they feared global cooling, then the 60s, it was global warming, then the 80s it was global cooling again. Now we got global warming once more. Every time, science backed the idea that the planet was warming or cooling. Is it any wonder that they started saying climate change rather than global warming?

Storms: The zealots claim that the horrible hurricanes, tornados and other crazy weather like Hurricane Sandy and its Nor'easter brother Nemo were all caused by climate change. One, the last time weather like Sandy hit New York and the upper eastern sea board was in the 1930s during the global cooling hype. If you talk to scientists like Joe Bastardi who study weather for a living, however that kind of weather is 100% natural when certain weather conditions are met. The tornado's, the hurricanes and the rest of that wicked weather happen in a sequence with the natural cycle of the planets weather cycle.

Final Nail: For me the last piece of evidence was when the spokesman for the climate change movement (former Vice President of the United States Al Gore) bought a beach house. Not just any beach house, but one in the so called 200 foot flood zone when the water level rises due to glo....excuse me climate change. If your own spokesman is buying a beach house in the same place that is supposed to flood, then a lot of red flags are going to begin to pop up saying something is wrong here.

Conclusion: There is a major lesson to be learned here. If the government is paying for proof of something, they will find it, especially if they are funding that research. Let us also not forget, they will not let a good crisis go to waste. Those in the climate change movement are supporting certain politicians and as such parts of the green agenda come through as policy. While I don't mind solar panels, wind farms, and other green technology, don't do it at the expense of people tax dollars. Also, don't lie to people about a problem that has been conjured up. Sure we should keep our planet clean, because no earth, no us. But convince us rationally and for those who aren't convinced, show them how to get rich being green.

Issue 138 Ryan Plan: the updates August 8, 2013

 
As promised I have read through the Ryan Plan, the conservative budget proposed by Republicans in the House of Representatives. Keep in mind, the U.S. still does not have a working budget. Paul Ryan had initially come up with his plan for the 2010 through 2012/13 time frame which I wrote about in issues 26, 27 and 28. So when I say it is the same as the previous plan, you can go to my summary in those three issues. Let’s get started.

The same: The idea to means test people’s income and finances to determine their benefits is the same. He seeks to reform Medicaid by block granting money to States which would give them flexibility on what benefits they provide especially when combined with the work requirements that would be re-instated under this plan. It is believed that by allowing this flexibility that it would support upward mobility by removing barriers (and certain benefits) to keep people poor or incentivize them not to work.

It would consolidate job programs and shut down failing job training institutions funded by or run by the federal government. With respect to taxation, the goal is still to remove taxation from a number of areas while creating a two tear tax program with the lowest rate being 10%, and the highest being 25%. In addition, spending caps would be put into place just like in the original.

What's different?: The plan deals with energy independence by opening up federal land and ocean to drilling for both oil and natural gas. However, it does not say if oil and gas will receive government subsidies and how many if any subsidies for "green tech" will be reduced. Also, the plan will block the Department of Interior from getting 70% of monies generated from the land being used for drilling and set it towards paying off the federal deficit, rather than allowing the money to be used to buy up more land in the United States.

Under this plan the military and the Veterans administration (VA) will be fully funded. The soldiers will get a budget in excess of $500 billion to develop technology to defend our nation from "threats" and redeploy where needed. As to the Veterans, well apparently the VA is underfunded, but I don't put much stock in that. I feel that it is more likely that the VA is inefficient due to government regulations on how to take care of veterans, aka, it lacks flexibility to both treat veterans with custom care, or to outsource to cheep but equally/more effective charities who may be able to do the same job for less.

Ryan want to eliminate Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, the home mortgage giants that have a monopoly on the U.S. housing sector, while fixing flawed regulations. He also want to update accounting rules for programs and departments, cap pell grants while eliminating barriers to education that restrict innovation (like online teaching). This includes eliminating duplicate and failing programs in the Department of Education (currently 82 programs already are in operation). I would eliminate this department as it limits innovation (as Ryan pointed out) by preventing innovation. But the department exists to send out money to schools and students if they meet certain requirements (either through loans or grants) but only serves to restrict how that money is spent and placing conditions on schools that cause school taxes to rise unnecessarily.

In a move to save money, Ryan wants have all members of the federal government pay more toward retirement as their total compensation (an elected and unelected members pay, retirement and other perks) is 16% more than the private sector. It is estimated that it will save at least $132 billion.

Finally, a board will be created staffed by members of bi-partisan watch dog groups and government auditors who will decide where to cut and how to do it. This is Ryan's alternative to letting the heads of the federal agencies cut spending as part of reconciliation as they have been purposely not cutting waste such as their party budgets, but seem intent on cutting everything else. The board’s decision will be final and will be implemented.

Conclusion: I agree with getting government out of the way. In addition I want America to be prosperous, but I do not agree on spending more money. The federal government is too slow to adapt to the changing job situations and thus cannot successfully make any job program work properly. It should be cut, and given to the private sector who will after a period of time innovate to make job training quick and efficient. With respect to schooling, the government is equally as inept in its adapting to changing market trends. It will further stifle education even with reforms that try to slim the system down. In this situation it is better left to the local government and their welfare offices along with private scholarships to help children go to college. I agree, Fannie and Freddie's hold on the housing market must disappear, and I like the commission idea (so long as they are not paid to do it). I am troubled by how the plan still spends more that what we as a nation have financially despite all the cuts (not taking into account accelerations in economic growth). Overall, it is an "OK" plan, but it needs more government out of the way rather than trying to help but gumming up what works.

Issue 137 Obama Care: Really??? August 7, 2013

I will tell you that I never supported the Affordable Care act, better known as Obama Care. The reason is due to the fact that it was a law that I knew would fail from the outset, and that is disregarding its use of legal force to make the American populace buy health insurance. By the way the use of force to make some one buy a product from any company violates the first amendment to the U.S. Constitution with respect to the freedom of association derived from the peaceable assembly clause. Simple solutions could have been implemented that would have avoided all this mess and corruption that resulted, but I'm not here to discuss those today. I'm here to tell you why else it is a bad law.

Selective enforcement: The Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) has the discretion to give certain groups and businesses exemptions from specific parts of the law. And they have been giving out a lot of exemptions. Exemptions that have been given out so far are to Unions, big businesses that have the money to lobby the HHS and businesses and groups that supported President Obama. More and more people are trying to get away from as many of the mandates as possible. But here is the real problem beyond this selective enforcement of the law. It punishes small to mid -sized businesses so that they have those extra costs placed on them that hinder their growth to the point where they cannot grow to become big businesses. Let us face it, small businesses don't have the money to provide health care via insurance. There are alternatives popping up here and there (see past issues) but they are not enough to save the majority of these businesses and still act as a hindrance to growth. I am not saying providing health insurance, let alone health care is a bad thing, I am just saying the way it was done and how it is enforced in the law is corrupt, especially when the true goal of politicians should be dropping the costs of health care to the point that insurance is not required.

Constitutionality: As I said prior, this law is unconstitutional based on it violating our right to the freedom of association. That is right, the freedom of association expands to private businesses as well otherwise how are we be able to boycott a business without such a right. The penalties that force people to buy health insurance are also unconstitutional irrespective of the Supreme Court ruling that was handed down. A penalty is not a tax in any way shape or form, but the court ruled against the people in a 5 to 4 decision. However, there is a loophole that can be exploited. The U.S. Constitution lists exactly 4 types of taxation. They are Impost, Expost, excise and income taxes. Impost and Expost have to do with the import and export of goods while excise taxes are taxes on goods and services in general. Income taxes are obvious. So it can now be argued that the Federal government can only tax the American people with these 4 types of taxes exclusively. So as I said, it is another possible out.

They could have just spread the wealth: Obama care is going to cost over 1 trillion dollars. That is a 100 million billion. A very large number. But guess what, if the Federal government collected just 311 billion, they could have made each U.S. citizen a billionaire. As it cost well over a trillion, the U.S. can afford to give every single person on the planet at least 1 billion dollars. Does it make sense that it costs so much to insure and enforce a law that is made to make people buy health insurance, or to provide them with health insurance in the event they cannot afford it. Heck, some Native Americans, Blacks, Latinos, and other ethnic groups claim that the government owes them for what occurred during slavery and for when they were discriminated against. This could become the ultimate form of reparations. But no, we are spending billions to provide health care and enforce a law for an estimated 150 million people (those who can get insurance, and those who cannot afford insurance combined). It does not make sense at all does it?

Conclusion: Obama care is a total flop. It has provisions in it that have nothing to do with health care such as the usual pork barrel projects like shrimp on a treadmill, bridges to no where and studying the sex habits of drunk Chinese prostitutes (don't laugh, the Federal government actually paid for those programs). On top of that, Obama care adds taxes on medical devices, and other parts of the health care industry causing costs to rise. I have seen personally in New York, co-pays alone rise on prescription drugs. Namely Eye drops, Ear drops, and inhalers, along with selective increases in women's birth control medications where one is completely covered for a few months, only for coverage to switch to a different birth control medication later on, and then change again a few months after that. Our health care costs are rising, and that even includes health care premiums like that in California and Maine where cost have risen well over 15% and even broaching 65%. Can you see now why we need to repeal this law, and even some older ones with it to start from scratch?

Issue 136 predictive policing August 6, 2013

Did you know that police are now able to use software to predict where some crimes may occur? Apparently crimes committed in areas form a pattern. This data can then be used to figure out such things as when a crime is likely to occur and where it might occur.

How it works: By taking data from how often crime occurs in an area and the times in which they occur along with the likely target of a particular type of crime police can send out a patrol to deter that crime before it starts. When police receive a call, they operate as normal, but other wise they are placed in a spot where crime is likely to occur based on the software which takes into account broken lights and unsecured property that may encourage crime. By using this data, they can in certain instances have police cars driven through an area by trainers as the symbol of a police car deters crime to begin with.

It currently works best against burglary and theft of vehicles and their contents, as the historical data is very extensive with respect to these types of crimes. Adding details such as road maps and road networks enhance the effectiveness of the software. According to the Criminologist Shane Johnson at the University of College London a criminal offender likes vulnerable targets that are easy to spot, with easy access and can make a quick getaway. Thus, the data aids in finding those spots criminals like best. Even such things as when people get paid, the weather and local events affect the out come of the predictions.

Problems: This tool of law enforcement if not capable of stopping crimes root causes. It just helps with deterring crime. It positions police in a crime hot spot, but does not stop a criminal seeking out a less likely target in an area that was not predicted to be a crime hot spot.

Another issue is that if the data is misused or overused in a way other than intended, it may create a bias toward certain areas and the people that live in them. This may mean that police may become more active in rich neighborhoods rather than poor ones where the most crime typically occurs. Though, these same numbers have the potential to eliminate prejudice as well when it comes to deciding if some one should be paroled rather than deciding by stereotypes.

It starts a conversation: It makes people decide what they want from their justice system. For instance if you want to curb people from becoming repeat offenders authorities have to define how tough they are going to be on high risk and low risk parolees. But there is a fear of the justice system becoming too reliant on this technology and thus garner the same problem as the justice system has already with the CSI effect (thinking evidence has to be present to convict someone or exonerate someone irrespective of reason).

Fear: So far, the software developed has been used to target criminals and even to predict their future behavior. However, the Department of Homeland Security is using it to detect suspicious behavior, while some law enforcement is using it to see if parents using social services are likely to abuse their children. But it does not stop there as information like this can be used to predict our behavior from such things as social media. It has the potential to tell government what patterns we make as we go about our daily lives. Even if you use it to predict if a person is likely to commit a crime for the first time, how do you distinguish from the show boats, the load mouths and people just blowing off some steam. And guess what, social media has their own software doing the same thing to alert investigators to a potential threat, but unlike police they don't need a warrant.

Conclusion: There is some great potential in this technology. It has the power to reduce the most pervasive of crimes and may even be useful in arming citizens with information that they can use to batter secure their property. However, privacy concerns and misuse are still an issue. How much information are you willing to share for safety and security? Questions like these must be asked if this technology goes beyond just predicting crime hot spots.

For more see the article in "The Economist" magazine July 20th-26th 2013 issue, article name "Predictive Policing: Don't even think about it."

Issue 135 FDIC reform!? August 5, 2013

Have you ever heard of a Re- Insurer? It is a concept that Conservatives came up with as an alternative to the current Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC) current form of bank insurance. Basically, this change would be used to save money in the event of a financial crisis like the one that started back in 2007. Let's get started.

What is the FDIC: Created in 1933, the FDIC is a quasi government agency that protects all bank accounts in the United States in the event of financial crisis. They insure that each account is covered so that if you loose money due to a financial or bank collapse you will still have money so as to prevent you falling into poverty. Interesting to note is that you do not have to be a United States citizen, or be a resident of the U.S. to have your money insured as the FDIC protects depositors who deposit money in U.S. banks, and only that. If your bank should fail the FDIC insurance will insure up to the first $250,000 with only a few exceptions getting more depending on how they deposit their money. The FDIC also has a role in managing failed banks helping to ease the transition of failure or even being bought out.

Current: Right now however, traditional insurance companies have take over much of the role of the FDIC. During the financial crisis, they provided money to banks that were failing to prevent their collapse while insuring the money of the banks depositors. In some instances protecting (insuring) more money than the FDIC's $250,000 limit. During the financial collapse however, some of these private insurance companies ran out of money (some of them even had the money they were sending out insured as well). Once they ran out of money, the banks collapsed despite the FDIC stepping in to help. This is where the idea for change came in.

The change: It was felt that these private insurers did a better job at keeping these banks open and may have contributed to preventing a worse situation during the financial crisis. So the idea was to have the FDIC switch from insuring bank accounts, to insuring a banks private deposit insurance companies instead who would only access the money in a financial collapse and they ran out of money themselves. Thus the creation of the term "re-insurer" to provide financial backup to insurance companies that run out of money. Basically, it help keep the government from having to bail out individual accounts and even getting involved until it is absolutely necessary while having the private insurance companies protect peoples accounts first. As to whether traditional FDIC insurance being necessary in this new role is questionable as private companies tend to be more efficient at cost savings, have a penchant for innovation and generally provide better benefits and do a better job. So it is imagined that the old form of insurance would disappear.

Conclusion: The financial crisis hurt everyone back in 2007 and is still impacting us even today. It is believed that if this new concept was implemented at the governmental level (depends on which political party or ideology you talk to) that more banks would have been saved and less people would have lost their money (both rich and poor). So from my perspective it is a concept worth investigating further to see if it can help protect us from a future financial collapse.