HELP!

This month marks two full years of my blogging. My greatest satisfactions are the many with whom I have become friends and from whom I learned much.
I have watched myself become older, and society age as well, and have been struck by how little we have prepared for the changes that will result from a substantial growth in the elder population, and their increasing life span.
Those will affect every aspect of our society: What we eat, how we dress, how we travel or are transported. The places we shop will require modification, as will medical care, where and how we take our recreation, our politics, our libraries--
--everything about how and where we live our changed lives.
I have been asked to devote some of my time to designing a course that would train people in preparing for, and making the changes society will increasingly confront. I will do it pro bono to avoid tackling such a project in a period of government and
private charity austerity.
Are there any among my friends and readers who would find such a project of interest and would volunteer to participate? It will be a creative and learning experience.

Marty's Almanac Vol 1 #4

At the season of good will toward all, a gift we can give ourselves is a resolve
to restore that communal spirit which characterized the early years of our nation. Years during which immigrants looked to us as a beacon among nations, a light unto
a world in which there was much darkness.
Now, in a time of trial let us open our hearts to any who are troubled. Let us share
what we have that they need. Doing so will return to us what we need--a generous and loving nature, gratitude that we have enough to share, and opportunity to restore this nation to the glory that once was ours.

Bulls--t from a Pundit!

I am as close to tears of frustration as I can get and still remain non-violent.
Charles Krauthammer published a column "The New Comeback Kid" in the Sunday Palm
Beach Post. In it he discusses the Great Tax Cut Deal of 2010, an important piece of legislation which was enacted last week. The column is a classic, revealing example of the corruption of bias that has infected the journalism profession. He concerns
himself with the POLITICAL MANEUVERING by Obama and the Republicans, by which he outwitted them and gained a political victory which enables him to recover his
support among liberals. He holds that by the political ineptness of the Republicans
they have allowed Obama to regain political credibility and he is again a viable and likely re-electable president.
Nowhere does he devote any meaningful expression to the merits or failings of the
legislation, or its effects on our rapidly approaching bankruptcy. He does drop a
few words of complaint that the benefits to the unemployed and the beleaguered
middle class are another $300B stimulus adding to the deficit.
Krauthammer and his ilk are so poisoned against Obama that the possibility he may
be an effective president during the remainder of his first term, thus helping the nation in a critical time, petrifies them. How about some good old fashioned PATRIOTISM Charlie???

Have you no shame?

That was the question the exasperated counsel to the Senate asked
Senator McCarthy after the Senator had slandered a number of his innocent targets.
Now Rush Limbaugh should be asked the same question after he called Nancy Pelosi
and Senator Harry Reid the real terrorists against America.

Perhaps his drug addiction rotted his teeth so that only foul words and foul odors emanate from his mouth. Even in the poisonous partisan atmosphere which prevails in Congress there must be some respect for truth. Limbaugh, the mouthpiece for the
Republican party, exercises no prudence in the propaganda he spouts. For the multitude who follow his lead, the inevitable result is a loss of respect for truth, for congress, for the individual members.
I ask: "what positive contribution to our national welfare can be traced
to Limbaugh and his ilk"?

Marty's Almanac, Vol. 1,#3

As we drive the highway of life to our final destination, the best navigational aid
is a loving and generous heart.
And, if in the dark hours we use the light that heart emits to illuminate the path for others who share the road with us, our journey will be safer and more enjoyable.

A spoonful of sugar.....

.....makes the medicine go down. So we solve our threatening problems by sweetening
them with sugar, lots of sugar. This addicts and diverts us, and even turns us into
sugar junkies, some reaching diabetic levels.

The Tax bill which Obama and the Republican leadership have agreed to has sugar, lots
of sugar, for everyone. Some people didn't need the sweetener, some will suffer
declining ambition as a side effect. Although some need the boost the sugar will
bring, it may have a side effect of making our state of financial health more precarious when the present high wears off. Only a permanent return to a sensible diet of living within our means will cure us without killing us first. Unfortunately
the doctor (Congress) is out and won't return until November 2012. Until then Bert
and Mary Poppins are in charge.

Destruction by Rescue

What a fix we have gotten ourselves into! The severe recession/depression we
borrowed ourselves into requires mammoth stimulus to turn it around. That requires
mammoth borrowing which increases the deficit which thus gives us no spare resources
to invest in growing the economy, which prolongs unemployment, etc., etc. Maintaining a military establishment larger than the rest of the world's combined
in what is now a worthless symbol of power on the world stage, compounds the descent
into bankruptcy. A militantly reactionary Republican contingent in Congress and
a cowardly Democratic counter force refuse to make the hard choices needed to
deal with our fiscal problems. So we continue to bribe the voters with benefits and
goodies, and free lunch for the wealthy. We lull them into the belief that we can stimulate ourselves out of each crisis that arises. Instead we are stimulating ourselves into insolvency. The consequences of the Irish, Spanish, Greek financial collapses are small in comparison to what will happen when our economy collapses, and were within the capacity of the European Union to handle.
Nowhere will there be resources able to deal with our collapse.
Fasten your seat belts Americans, you are in for a bumpy ride!

Marty's Almanac Vol. 1, Number 2

It is said that faith can move mountains. I have begun to detect the spirit of
Christmas/Hanukah moving some small hillocks away from the economic gloom that
has weighed upon us. Let us make it so, and grow.

Marty's Almanac

WITH APOLOGIES TO BEN FRANKLIN:

How blessed are they who have received much from this country, when they give back
some that won't be missed so that those who have little will not end up with nothing.

Conservatives will call that socialist redistribution of wealth. What would Jesus
call it?

Between a rock and a hard place.....

....either way the nation suffers further economic damage, which hastens our already
oncoming default. President Obama has accepted a deal with the Republicans to extend
the Bush tax cuts for the affluent, and in exchange get what the Republicans could not have refused----an extension of unemployment benefits that are expiring for millions of Americans, and a reduction in FICA taxes which will further increase the deficit. No Republican would have dared to allow millions of Americans to completely run out of income, before the holidays. Obama didn't need to surrender, and didn't buy any good will for doing so. But, sad to note, the deal ignored the immediate
deficit budget crisis we face which will more than obliterate the benefit of the short term stimulus of more debt. The Republican leadership in Congress knows where
the nation is headed, and is working to have the coming bankruptcy shelter the
wealthy, at the expense of the middle class. But our country will not survive as a democracy on a class system with a tiny minority of very wealthy sitting atop a pyramid of an impoverished middle class.

Spartacus in Washington

The Colosseum of Rome should be moved to Washington to be the suitable venue for
the gladiatorial contest which is now under way. As in the ancient games there, gladiators battled to the death, not for noble purposes, but to entertain the masses and divert them from their problems. The ruler of the day (read Mitch McConnell) had the ultimate power of life or death for the losing fighter (read the hapless American citizens). With a thumbs-up, or down, the winner would administer the final fatal stroke to the loser or allow him to survive.

The middle class Americans, in a struggle for economic survival, is battling the
rich elite to determine on whose back the cost of approaching national bankruptcy will land. The hired hit men for the privileged are the Republican leadership in Congress. If there is to be a morsel of bread for the beleaguered there must first
be cake and caviar for the wealthy. That is only fair!
In the bleachers the Tea Party know-nothings are urging thumbs-down for everything
and everyone. Bring on the apocalypse so we can take back our country. From whom? We'll figure that out later.

Like the old time movie serials the U. S. economy is tied to the rail road track, and
a train is approaching. Even if Obama had the solution, the Republicans are determined to make him fail, at whatever cost to the nation.
Who else will play the hero and release us from the track?

What's Wrong With WikiLeaks?

The great to-do about the release of the purloined 250,000 State Dept. Emails,
cables and memos is a tempest in a tea pot. The authors of the documents know the
contents and purposes. Their opposite numbers who dealt with each other are pretty
much aware of the opinions about each other, whether or not couched in diplomatic language. So the release is a case of "bad manners", a breach of diplomatic form.

There is however a real danger posed by WikiLeaks, which is not so obvious. Machiavellian minds can use it to plant mischievous and untrue material designed to
be discovered and released. The damage that could result could vary from nuisance to calamity. Because of its success in gaining access to classified material, WikiLeaks
enjoys great credibility. That lends itself to material which it releases. So let us
consider a hypothetical scenario: WikiLeaks uncovers a top secret memo from the
Israel government to the U.S. President, planted by the Saudis, advising him that Israel has decided that for its survival it must eliminate nuclear weapons that would become available to Iran. Further, that if international pressure does not succeed in halting Iran's development of such weapons,
Israel will launch an all out attack to destroy Iran's nuclear manufacturing facilities. The deadline is the approaching Ramadan Muslim holy period.
When the memo falls into the hands of Iran imagine the consequences.

Such scenario is not far fetched. Recall the case of the "man who never was" in
WWII. The British planted a corpse on a Normandy beach, who had been disguised as
a high ranking officer, apparently lost from a sunken British vessel. Chained to his wrist was a diplomatic pouch containing the plans for the site of the D Day invasion.
That was not the site to be. Believing the very credible hoax, the Germans diverted their powerful back-up forces and assured the success of the actual invasion.

Could the "man who never was" be the Email that never was?

Hysterical Blindness

Early in my practice I was consulted in the case of a 40 year old woman who was "blind" and no physician had been able to discover an organic cause. She was brought into my office, on the second floor of a no-elevator building in a small town in upstate N.Y., assisted by her mother. They came to me in some desperation
because they had heard of a young doctor who had recently started practice and was
reputed to be up on the latest developments.
I used every test I knew, plus some improvising, including psychological tests
using other sensory stimulation, testing for malingering. Throughout a long day the patient rarely spoke, answering only specific questions. The mother did all the talking, in a tone suitable for addressing a naughty child. I learned the patient was unmarried, had only one brief relationship with a man, of whom the mother disapproved. None of that was solicited by me.
In the end I told them I could find no physical reason for the blindness and recommended a psychiatrist as well as a therapist.
When they left I discreetly observed their movements. The daughter handled a stairway, exit to the street, crossing a busy main thoroughfare, with no hesitation.
I concluded the daughter had withdrawn from a very unpleasant and negative situation.

This morning I encountered another case of such blindness. I read Cal Thomas' column,
in which he blames the state of the nation on excessive liberalism and compassionate
government. He longs to return to the days of the 13 colonies, when everyone was
self sufficient and independant and government had to deal only with foreign affairs.
He takes no account that we were a huge country with a tiny population, largely
seperated in the countryside, with little that a big, central government could,
or needed, to do. The policies which brought us to our present precarious state
were fashioned as much by conservatives as liberals---lessaiz faire on the
financial institutions, rewards for exporting jobs, reckless real estate speculation
and generally hands off big business, and senseless wars financed by tax cuts.
He wants the bad old days of George Bush back! What makes him think repeating the
same policies will lead to a different result?

Post Thanksgiving

The festivities are over, but the left-overs will go on---for days.
One of the required exercises of the Thanksgiving celebration is to review the events since the last one, and give huzzahs for our good fortune, friends, and survival. In many homes, yesterday evoked few huzzahs--more likely gratitude for that survival, mixed with apprehension about the days to come.
In my ripeness I can recall other difficult times--depressions, recessions,
wars, disease epidemics. Each such period made it difficult for the nation to find
much for which to be thankful. But America survived, and grew better and stronger
to cope with the next setback. And so it will be again, if we can return to the
altruism and unselfish ideals which made us "that shining city on the hill" to
the world.
For that to return we will need to abandon identity as Republican, or Democrat, and become just people sharing a common destiny, with shared ideals and aspirations. That will require an understanding that bettering ones lot does not have to result
in beggaring our neighbor.

Time to burn a Witch!

Today one of the most amazing achievements in human history was introduced on the
CBS TV program "60 Minutes". A brilliant, famous scientist has synthetically created
a living bacteria, using only man-made chemical compounds. The bacterium exhibits
all of the functions of life, including growth, mitosis and replication, which are
triggered by man made compounds. The implications for the God/Religion industry are
enormous. The threat this development represents to the fundamentalist minds is so
grave they will be unable and unwilling to accept it as fact, and the scientist needs
to fear for his life. After all, in the span of human history it is not so long ago we in America burned witches. The creation of the bacterium was based on knowledge acquired during the decoding of the human genome double helix and the analyses of
the complex proteins making up the genes.
The doors opened by this breakthrough lead to miraculous possibilities in medicine,
surgery and human development; assuming the Luddites among us don't stifle them.

It is crunch time!

The time for some hard decisions in the financial life of our nation has arrived.
We will choose between bankruptcy at worst, or second tier international status at
best. Ireland faces a similar problem but the scale of the two nations makes the problem in Ireland more manageable and within the capacity of the European Union.
For a graphic illustration of what ails us, examine some paper money
in your wallet. It is
named "Federal Reserve Note" and carries the assurance that it is Legal Tender for
all debts, private and public. It does not say it can be redeemed for gold, silver, wheat, corn, petroleum or anything else than another Federal Reserve Note. What stands behind its value is the full faith and confidence that it will be accepted
in exchange for goods or services provided by someone else.
If our budget is in increasing deficit our credit becomes questionable, countries and people who invest in our debt paper become unwilling to do so unless we pay
exorbitant interest rates, which exacerbates the deficits. At some point they will
refuse to buy our paper, or worse ask us to redeem it. We would have to give them
the hard assets which underlie our power and standard of living, thus becoming a colony of our creditors. Would that be better than taking the difficult measures to
keep us free, powerful and with our high quality of life--a significant player on the world stage? Ask our children!!

Joyful tidings!

A just posted news flash reports that Alaska Senator Lisa Murkowski became the first write-in senator since 1954, recapturing the senate seat that Sara Palin had
attempted to donate to lightweight Joe Miller. This triumph of good sense over nonsense indicates that there is still a survival instinct among some voters, and that even Sara couldn't sell an empty suit as Alaska's savior. A little humble pie is now in order for Sara and might salvage some credibilty for her.

Doom the Gloom--Let the sun shine in.

A week or so ago I was the beneficiary of a random act of kindness, and I have waited for a gloomy moment to counteract by posting it. When the Republican Senate leader Mitch McConnell states boldly that the prime goal of the Republicans for the next two years is to assure that Obama will not have a second term I knew it was time
to give out some cheery news to cover the stench of that cynical statement.

I was in Bloomingdales to purchase a gift for my new born niece. I selected a silver cup and looked for one of the several clerks standing around to come and complete my purchase. None bothered to stir themselves despite my obvious signals, so I left the item, to return later. After a 45 minute stroll I returned to find the same situation, so I collected the sample from the shelf and went looking for a cashier.
I found one, with a trainee at her elbow leisurely checking out one purchase return. Neither bothered to speak to me. Two young ladies wearing Bloomies badges were nearby and I asked if they could accept my money. No such luck, they were temporary assistants for shoppers and not authorized to use the register. I blew my top, whereupon the lovely lady who was at the moment dealing with the confused cashier asked her to stop her transaction and attend to me. She got everyone scurrying around completing the purchase, getting it gift wrapped so I could be on my way. That lovely lady, Meryl Deutsch, by her act of kindness made
my day, and spread sunshine all over the place. She also made a lifetime friend and admirer. Meryl, I salute you.

Will the American public grow up?

The initial revelations about the recommendations of the Deficit Reduction Commission
drew the expected response from all sides and revealed that the public is unwilling to accept any solution to the ballooning deficits if they require any present discomfort. The need to raise taxes drew howls of rage from the right. The need to rein in welfare type benefits, Social Security, Medicare caused the Left to go
ballistic. Each constituency was saying "tax him,not me", and "cut his benefits, not mine". It is highly unlikely that the bunch of "Cowardly Lions, Congress", led
by "compromiser in chief, President Obama" will summon the courage to move the public
toward the unpleasant choices that must be made. But the choice will be made, by events, the bankruptcy of the nation.
For example The Social Security deficit could be eliminated for many decades if
eligibility for benefits were to be means tested. Does anyone see this as likely?

In coming days, as the arguments surface, I will have more to say on the subject.
This should start the dialogue.

Musings Redux

Shakespeare said so aptly "All the world's a stage, and all the men and women merely players". That set me to wondering who were the playwrights, the librettists, the
composers and directors? In my long, inquiring life I have witnessed, and participated in countless performances, the vast majority innocuous and forgotten.
But at times there was a HIT, that changed lives, even the path of history. Each of
us bit players can remember some on both a personal scale, and as well as societal.

If we all had labeled a bean for each such HIT, and put it in a lifetime jar, how
informative it would be, from time to time, to compare the contents of our jars.
Would they agree in the majority, or disclose differences in importance, values and
circumstances? What a fascinating exercise to relate the relationships of our varied life experiences to the differences between the contents of the jars.
How much we would learn of the human condition. This could be a subject for a book,
which I have too little time left to write. Perhaps one of you among my readers would give it a thought?

Exports: Our jobs or our products?

Americans love the good life, and for good reasons. Up until the 1970's our
productive machines of goods, foods, services, were the world's best and
highest qualities. We had an efficient and prosperous middle class matched nowhere
in the world. That also made us the largest market---for our own, and imported,
goods. But we became a fat, comfortable and complacent consumer society. We didn't notice that others were catching up and passing us in education, and modernized production capacity, and government subsidies to manufacturers. With vast reserves of workers they were also able to keep wages and benefits under tight control and at very low levels. Suddenly the disparity between the cost to produce
our products at home vs. in low wage venues grew too great to ignore. Our industrial
base looked abroad as the place to produce at lower cost and still continue to sell
in the American market. That is an unsustainable strategy. The outsourced jobs have
eroded our middle class consumer economy. Trying to work our way out of this deep recession solely within the American economy is a recipe for a steep decline in our
standard of living. We must again become a leading exporter. To do so, will require a number of actions:
All subsidies to job exporters must end.
Tariffs must be imposed on imports which enjoy government subsidies abroad.
Labor must accept restraints in work rules, benefits, wage increases to reduce
domestic production costs, until exports reach relative equilibrium with imports.
That certainly is preferable to permanent unemployment.
The federal government should be willing to offer incentives to firms which recall
jobs from abroad.
American entrepreneurs should be incentivized to go into manufacturing for the
coming green energy explosion, creating new jobs instead of abandoning this enormous emerging market to Asia.
We are a resourceful and courageous people when called to action. Now is the time for
the new congress to sound the clarion call. The nation will respond!

Where now brown cow?

I used a nursery rhyme title because we are entering a political never-never land
post election, in which little of real worth will occur in congress. All will likely
be maneuvering with nothing solved. The Republicans have not put forth any agenda
that will lead to solutions to the deficit, the Democrats are demoralized and frightened and will play defense. What is required to make significant change for the better would ask sacrifices by all segments of society. The very wealthy have clearly
indicated in this election that sacrifice is not an option. They will not permit the
Bush income tax cuts to expire despite the fact that they were designed to end after a decade because they were not payed for and added to the horrendous deficit.
The original purpose for the cuts was to stimulate private investment to create jobs. Can anyone prove they accomplished their purpose? If not, why expect them to do so now?
The Obamacare law will not be substantially repealed or changed because the public
will realize that despite the barrage of negative propaganda, there are significant benefits that they will not surrender when the light of reason turns on.
Social Security, Medicare, Medicaid and Veterans benefits, all of which are and will be drivers of annually increasing deficits, are sacred cows. Any politico who
attempts real cost controls will end up working for lobbies instead of Congress. But these are the areas where the largest deficit reductions would be found. That would require courage, and hard work to educate the voters. Does anyone see that happening?

Most amazing in the campaign was the total absence of attention to our two wars! Those are the major consumers of revenue, growing exponentially while the prospects of successful outcomes for us grow increasingly unlikely. And as our defeat becomes more apparent our international prestige and influence shrinks. America is becoming irrelevant on the international stage. The Republican glee of victory may soon tarnish as they assume the greater responsibility that comes with greater power.

The morning after

After the dust has settled, and the window to the future is again clear, permit your
humble servant a few observations about the election just completed.

It was first and foremost an admonishment to the sizable majority who had the temerity to administer a defeat to the ultimate establishment candidate, John McCain
and elect a totally non-establishment figure as President.

The Republicans vowed from the moment the election results were official that they
would destroy the Obama presidency. That such a goal might also inflict almost
irremediable damage on the nation was considered an acceptable risk in the drive to
regain power. "We will fix it once we are back in control" was the mantra. So began their "just say no" agenda, and sure enough the damage occurred. That then gave them
the perfect second ploy. Everyone should know that economic catastrophes can occur
in the blink of an eye, but to repair a broken economy, particularly one damaged in
such massive areas as the financial and real estate segments, will take years. After
about 18 months into the new administration, the laboriously slow recovery
gives the obstructive opposition the opportunity to blame the catastrophe on the administration.

The anger and fear that accompanies unemployment, loss of homes and security can then be exploited to oust the party in control at the next mid-term election. The victors are usually demagogues who were elected on a tide of anger and
extremism and usually have no viable governing philosophy or agenda. The nation becomes starkly polarized and the parties incapable of the necessary compromises.
The nation loses more of its economic vitality and continues its decline.

Only statesmanship at the top of both parties can avert that decline. I have
not observed such statesmanlike conduct in the past two years. I don't expect to see it in our present perilous state. I would be delighted to be proven wrong.

Over at last.

We have come to the formal end of the mid-term campaign process, and a disappointing process it has been! Enormous sums of money were spent on behalf of candidates who
were, in their own rhetoric, unworthy of the offices they sought. Very little was revealed about how the candidates would approach solving the serious problems facing the nation. A great deal was exposed about their personal characters.
For me, I found a few pearls among the garbage. I encountered and exchanged with
some bright, thoughtful and articulate people. Our orbits now intersect, and our
lives have been enriched because of that.

Whatever the outcome when the votes are tallied, let us now proceed to "bind the nation's wounds" and to restore the international luster to America's image.
We can hope that the winners will see the need for cooperation for the benefit of
all. Anything less will be unworthy of a great nation.

Fork in the road

A dispassionate observer of the American scene today could be led to conclude that
events are going one way, and our response is going in the opposite direction.
Our economic and international problems are becoming larger while the vision and minds of the people we hired to face them are growing smaller.
Many segments of the economy are stagnant. Unemployment stays stubbornly high. The
national debt is growing on steroids, devoted to unproductive activities. The sums of money to fund nine years of senseless, and perhaps unending wars would have been enough to provide middle class jobs to everyone willing to work. Even if those jobs were in the public sector, such as restoring and building infra-structure, the long term effects would be enormously beneficial. They would more than compensate for any slow down in the military-industrial complex.
A simple cost-benefit analysis would disclose that there are no benefits justifying our wars. The costs include the damages to the American economy and psyche, all of which delight our enemies and benefit our competitors. If our competitors could vote in our election, they would make the Republicans and blue-dog Dems the overwhelming
controlling force in our government, a fifth column. This mid-term election could very well turn out to be a coup d'etat in which reason and intellect
could be banished from the national and local governments.

Mid-term Madness

One of my readers reminded me about the old aphorism "a new broom sweeps clean",
expressing hope that the Obama administration would suffer a "necessary" defeat
on Nov. 2. There is another adage "marry in haste, repent at leisure". If the people,
in their wisdom, decide to divorce the Democratic party and remarry the Republicans,
will that be a repeat of a relationship which brought on the worst recession in history, involvement in two senseless wars, and a state of economic disparity in which 1% of the population became obscenely wealthy while the entire middle class approached poverty?
According to the radical Tea Party zealots, government is the enemy, the bigger
it gets, the more evil it becomes. But so much of our existence is now dependent
on what government does, that treating it as the enemy threatens the most basic
foundations of our way of life. Imagine life without Social Security, Unemployment Compensation, Medicare; No regulations governing safety of medications, food and
water; No consumer protections in the functioning of Stock markets, banks, credit cards; No minimum standards for construction of roads, tunnels, bridges, homes
schools, hospitals; No educational requirements for practicing professions---physicians, attorneys; No environmental controls; No police, firemen, para medics, sanitation workers, armed forces; No courts of law. Without all of those, what would we have--AFGHANISTAN.
Ours is a huge country, with complex economic and social relationships which took a long time to develop and will take a long time to alter.
Throwing out the "Bums" now in charge and replacing them will not produce rapid, productive change. Expecting that will mean that each mid-term election will resemble the previous one.
The dilemma in which we find ourselves grew over many years. To blame it all on Obama is juvenile. Repeating the policies which put us here, in the hope they will change our condition, meets the definition of insanity.

A matter of style?

My most recent blog, "The Year of the Women" was my second foray into satire. It brought down on me a torrent of criticism. That is OK with me. It is more rewarding to a writer to be read and criticised, than to be ignored. I may try it again if a suitable topic presents itself.
For now I'll try some pathos.
This midterm election will determine if America is to reverse its economic and political decline, or continue its slide into second world status. If we are to make a sensible vote, and have it count, I suggest voters ask themselves some questions:

At what point in time did we begin to change from a creditor to a debtor nation?

What policies led to the change?

Who were the politicians in control of the government when those policies were implemented?

Are any supporters of those policies running for election or reelection? Should they
be rewarded for their failures?

Which issues are more vital to our national survival: Abortion, Gays in the military,
immigration reform, jobs and economic revitalization? Which candidates are likely to
competently address the most vital?

How many of us will consider those questions instead of appeals to emotion, when we
cast our ballot?

Year of the Women

This mid term election marks a milestone in American political life that is as
significant as the extension of the right to vote to women. The crop of leading
candidates now includes many more women than any election I can remember.
A significant percentage of the crop consists of kooks who would never have made
it to the ballot if Obama had not been elected to shatter the President stereotype.
If a "black, non citizen Muslim" can be president, why not a witch who believes that
masturbation makes hair grow on the palm of the hand--the hand that once could
aspire to little more than rocking the cradle.
It has been a cherished truism that if women ran the governments of the world,
war as an instrument of policy would disappear. But seeing this field of distaff
candidates I am led to believe they would see war as a means of eliminating pesky male opponents, thus casting mankind into unremmiting conflict until men completely
surrender and accept an inferior standing in human hierarchy. The lady candidate who kicked a male referee in the groin is running for office on a platform that balls are misplaced on males. She is very testy about testes. Next the ladies will work on
conception without male representation. I wouldn't be surprised if they pull it off.

Hitting bottom.

Having reached a ripe age I assumed I had seen all the forms of politicking
that money can buy, and couldn't be surprised. How wrong I was. It is to be expected that in a two party system campaigns will be spirited, even heated, and some excesses may occur. It was equally expected that after an election the
parties will come together for common purpose---to provide for the welfare of the citizens of all persuasions, and the efficient use of public resources. The past decade has witnessed a breakdown in the comity among our national legislators,
particularly in the Senate. Politics there has become a blood sport. The divide
between "liberals" and "conservatives" has become an unbridgeable chasm. Compromise
has disappeared from the lexicon of political process. As a result the nation's problems can no longer be dealt with, as the lingering recession clearly demonstrates.
This failure at the national level has created real economic pain and insecurity
in the vast middle class and turned them from their usual middle of the road conservatism, to angry and unreasoned radicalism.
The anger has manifested itself in the support of nut cases as candidates.
Many of these nut cases have no concepts of the economic and political interrelationships among nations, or even sectors within our country. They have narrow,
often bigoted views of persons different from themselves. They tend to blame
unknown "others" for their troubles and look for scapegoats, not solutions based
on knowledge and experience which they may lack. They are very good at rabble rousing. They may also win election. There is the danger. When resentment and anger
take control of the engine of government it can lead to conflict among nations
as has often occurred. Germany's resentment after the consequences of its defeat in WWI led to WWII.
Our founders created a superb government structure. The quality of the politicians
that must function within that structure has declined. They have sold out. Therein lies the difficulty. The current crop of candidates appear to me to be the worst in my memory. That the public is buying their nihilism and ignorance is sad, and dangerous.

Triumph of the human spirit

Only hours ago the last of the trapped Chilean miners emerged into the sunlight to
cap a survival and rescue epic of historic proportions. The event was a triumph of the human spirit on several fronts:

The miners were able to stay emotionally stable and united under unimaginable
confinment in a tomb-like environment.
Their families and loved ones remained on the site non-stop, praying and joined
in common fear, concern and hope.
The technological resources of Chile were brought to bear, joined by assistance from
other nations, in a feat of engineering of a scale never before attempted.
The attention of the entire civilized world was held captive in real time by
what was happening in Chile.
A depressed world had something exalting to cheer. We needed that.

Our species has capabilities which no other can approach. We have just witnessed how to apply them for noble purposes. Rejoice, there is hope.

Fiscal obesity

During the Clinton presidency we were fiscally trim, consuming revenue at a rate lower than it was created. We were able to store a surplus, to be used to reduce the national debt. The 8 years that followed Clinton were years of national economic
disaster. We undertook a two front war in distant theatres, financed off-budget,
while at the same time cutting taxes. That converted our budget process from "pay
as you go" to "pass the bills to the next generation". We embarked on a borrowing binge of incalculable dimension at a time when our outlays were increasing at a geometric rate. The military build-up to sustain the wars, plus the cost of caring for the veterans, plus the costs of nation building and rebuilding of the countries we were breaking, plus the fraud and waste that are endemic in wars, were
not offset by the growth of the military-industrial complex. Military expenditures are not investments in long term economic expansion. They are the least
productive use of national resources.
Now, in recession, the costs for Medicare and Medicaid are growing at an unsustainable rate. Yet the congress is unwilling to deal with one of the major cost centers---the built-in expense in the private insurance market.
With multiple vendors, each
with expense loads of 30% or more on top of the benefits payed out, it is almost
impossible to get control of those costs.
Changing the players in the election game of musical chairs will not solve our
problems. Changing the mind set of the politicians to put the interests of the nation before the interests of party, should be the priority. They can then change the public attitudes. That is the essential effort we need to make in this election.

"Change of Ownership" Sale

The ongoing mid-term political campaigns are shaping up to be the most expensive in history--obscenely so. Some candidates are spending 50, 100 million dollars or more
to buy the office. WHY?
The motive is POWER. With power come the keys to the public treasury. But most of all, with power comes a big eraser with which the power holder can erase laws and regulations of infinite variety which tend to limit the ability to profit by whatever means; requirements that products and services sold be safe and benign, made under fair labor standards; that financial products and services be fraud free and offer fair treatment to customers. And significantly the eraser can be used in
changing tax and inheritance laws to favor the wealthy power brokers, at the expense of everyone else.
Only a few can run for office. But multitudes of power seekers can purchase politicians to achieve the same results. If I outbid the competition and get a proxy
who will do my bidding, it isn't necessary for me to have the inconvenience of pretending to serve the public.
The road to power is paved with deceptions. Voters are manipulated by media campaigns characterized by blatant lies and distortions about the opponents and
concealment or exaggerations of the candidates actual record. As IBM preaches,
GARBAGE IN, GARBAGE OUT. The public often buys it, and gets what it doesn't deserve.
The Florida Governor's race is an example. One candidate headed a company which stole $1.7 billion from the taxpayers, was rewarded with a reported $300 million severance bonus, and used millions of that to buy the Republican nomination for Governor. Point made!

Hey diddle diddle, who's in the middle?

As a metaphor:
Imagine the American political scene as a playground teeter-totter. On each end of
the board sits a political party. And the board rests on a fulcrum, which represents
the middle ground---independents and moderates whose support usually determines which end of the board carries the most weight. If the party numbers would be exactly equal the board would be in equilibrium, exactly horizontal. Moving the fulcrum closer to one end would make the other end heavier. That is the principal of levers and underscores the importance of the center, the fulcrum. On the end that is nearest the ground it is easier for new voters to mount. It is harder for people to join the party up in the air. When the numbers are essentially equal, money can be
the grease for moving the fulcrum and can also be a step ladder to either end.
The elemental question is why is the teeter-totter there? Is it for the enjoyment of the entire voter community, or for a favored few? If for the few it is possible to
mount the board in a permanent location on the fulcrum so there is a built-in
favored end. The wealthiest neighbors have put the playground managers on payroll to assure their end will always be favored. So cooperation among neighbors that would lead to common enjoyment has been replaced by gridlock in the playground. This will lead to neglect of maintainance, and decline in the communal spirit that sustains
a society. The playground deterioration mirrors the deterioration of the society.
Eventually the neighborhood will turn into a slum.
Such an outcome is not inevitable. There is time to restore American vigor, entreprenour spirit and vision for the future. To make that happen our politicians
must return to their true mission---working for the general welfare instead of their's alone. We voters must make that happen by our activism and determination.
We can do it, starting now. This is a fork in the road election. Do not fear embarking on a new direction. The old has led us astray.

Peace in the Holy Land

The peace conference between Israel and the Fatah faction of the Palestine Authority
now going on in Washington is on its death bed. The Palestinian President Abbas
represents only a minority of the Arabs who call themselves Palestinians. He does
not speak for the irredentist factions--Hamas, Hezbollah, Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine and other splinter groups. Any "peace" made with him would
be an illusion, and would likely bring on him the same violence which is daily visited on Israel. Netanyahu is also unable to speak for all Israelis. The religious
settlement zealots could bring down his government if he compromises their agendas.
But he has more gravitas to make an agreement than any other Israeli politician, and
could make one stick if the advantages to Israel, in terms of security, were sufficient.
If the Palestinians could be given the hope of a better, more prosperous, healthier life while dwelling on this earthly realm, perhaps the zeal of the terrorists to get to Paradise by killing Israelis, Westerners and Arabs from other religious factions, might cool. Israel is in a position to help make that a reality for the
Palestinians, but only if they abandon their dream of wiping Israel off the map
and give up terrorism as an instrument of policy.
As with many Arab states, the controlling oligarchy has failed to improve the lives
of their subjects. Many motives---desire to maintain control, rejection of modernity, suppression of women, corruption, greed and zealotry can be cited for those failures. Israel is a roaring success, politically, economically and socially.
That alone is enough to feed the Arab hatred of a successful non-Muslim state in their midst. If such attitudes were changed, Israel would play a significant role
in improving the lot of their Palestinian neighbors.

The economy of the Palestinian territories is based on agriculture, of a relatively
primitive form. It competes with the highly advanced Israeli agriculture. However, that is not the reason for their poverty. Lack of access to the Israeli market and ports, because of border closings for security concerns, is the main cause.
If the Arabs would accept the reality of Israel, and coexistence as the future, Israel could become the engine of a powerful revival of the Palestinian people, in
a thriving state, as part of a natural regional economic entity. Israel would have to open its market to Palestinian agricultural products. They would need to provide technical assistance to modernize farming methods, improve roads and water supply to bring the Palestinian farmers up to Israeli standards. To compensate for the impact of food imports Israel would concentrate on the export market, where it already has a major presence.
For some period certain, perhaps twenty years, Israel would pledge to extend to the Palestinian state any improvements it makes to Israel's infrastructure so the viability of that state would be bolstered. In the absence of terror Israel could open its borders and its impressive medical facilities to Palestinians. During those twenty years Israel, together with the international community, could assist in building infrastructure, clinics, hospitals, and schools in the Palestinian state
so that it will be able to offer to its citizens the quality of life found in its neighbor.
The cost to Israel for the assistance it provides will be offset by the savings from reduced security requirements and from the increased trade and tourism which peace will permit. For the Arabs, Paradise would be available in the here and now.

Once upon a time in America

In the year 1690 a sailing vessel bearing immigrants from Spain, attempted
to land its human cargo on the shores of what would one future day be Rhode Island.
The native Indian tribe, the Merrymacks, mobilized their militia. Armed with
writs of attainder, and bows and arrows, they apprehended the "illegals" and incarcerated them in a village of animal skins tents, known to the natives as
Guantanamera. Negotiations began for the deportation of the illegals during
which one of them proposed that, in exchange for cancelling the deportations the
illegals would agree to perform any unpleasant work the Indians themselves disdained. They also agreed to receive whatever amount of
Wampum the Indians would pay, and not divert the required tribute to the tribal chief.
The arrangement worked so well, the Indians grew lazy and selective about what
work they would perform. It became necessary to encourage increasing numbers of illegal immigrants to come to Rhode Island from the depressed and war torn areas of Europe. In time the supply of shells for Wampum ran out. The illegals insisted on
procreating causing a need for more animal skins to supply their shelter needs. This in turn increased the costs for the natives. Suddenly the illegals were a problem
not a resource. A rival chief came forward and proposed a ban on future immigrants, and rounding up and deporting those allready here. There arose a heated conflict
between the deportniks and the amnestniks threatening to split the tribe. The
deportniks were victorious and carried out their intent. The resulting collapse of the tribal infrastructure led to overflowing latrines, overgrown paths and collapsing bridges, uncollected garbage, leaking tents and run-a-way live stock.
The Merrymacks learned the hard way that they were part of an interconnected
world and could not survive and thrive in a Fortress Rhode Island.

Don't ask, Don't tell, Do punish!

Hey pastor, does God make mistakes? That is a question which is asked by Gays and
Lesbians--too often silently. A child is born to heterosexual parents, with certain
genitalia identifying the child's body as male or female. But for some children, by the time the child begins to master speech it becomes obvious that the mind and disposition of the child does not match the genitalia. The penis endowed child shows a disposition in action and demeanor to mimic a vagina endowed child. The vagina endowed shows a masculine inclination. In speech, mannerisms, choice of games, toys, and dress the very young child acts as if the genitalia should have been of the opposite sex. The confusion in mind, and the responses of the parents and others create guilt feelings in the child. To the devout it is not possible that God made an error---we are all God's children. So the problem must be the result of sinful choice made by the child (or visited on the parents)--original sin updated. The child must change the evil ways, or hide the shame. And so the punishment begins, and the suffering.
In many animal species hermaphrodism is normal and so are role reversals. Offspring are raised by males and females do the foraging for food. Sexual orientation is
then a variable scale from all male/all female, to blends of both. Is that not
possible in humans, the peak of the pyramid of living creatures?
If we accept that proposition then we can accept that gays and lesbians are different, not by choice, but by nature and deserve to be treated with the respect due all God's creatures. They in turn must respect the sensitivities of others and
not seek exemption from moral and accepted standards of behavior.
Don't ask don't tell is demeaning to God's creation if you believe. It is demeaning to the right of each citizen to equal protection under the law, if you do not believe. Other nations have encountered no problems with gays in their military.
Why is our Puritan ethic so traumatized at the thought?

Economics 101. Which way is up?

The U.S. economy is between a rock and a hard place. U. S corporations have drastically slashed labor costs in domestic facilities and shipped many jobs overseas to lower wage venues. As a result they have accumulated large hoards of cash
which will increase as the economy gradually improves. If concerns about regulatory and fiscal policies keep them from investing in growth and new employees they will be
inhibiting growth in demand. That is self defeating and a recipe for losing market share to foreign competition.

A certain amount of regulation is necessary to eliminate deceptive practices and dangerous products as well as predatory anti-competitive strategies. The results would be a more stable business environment and greater confidence among consumers.
But regulation must be tempered in amount that will not make our industries non competitive with more permissive societies.

As for tax increases, low taxes which lead to deficit government spending impose the cruelest tax of all by devaluing the dollar. That increases the cost of raw materials, makes our imports more expensive and decreases the purchasing power
for average consumers. In theory it should increase our exports, but our largest trading partner and potential customer, China, manipulates its currency to keep out our products so our massive trade imbalance remains. And we are reluctant to pressure them because we need them to finance our debt.

Instead of hunkering down and hoarding cash business should aggressively invest
in new technology in production and new fields in the coming green revolution.
They could then return to our shores manufacturing operations which were sent offshore earlier. In time the relative wage advantages abroad would narrow anyway as
their economies and public expectations mature. Sitting tight and hoarding money puts us further behind foreign competition every day.

Will our economy turn up significantly in the near future? It is any one's guess.
Mine is "not likely" without a major effort to adjust to the new realities of a less powerful and less affluent nation. We concentrated on being bigger and more powerful, but neglected to become better and smarter.
So, if banks can borrow from the Fed at near 0% and buy bonds yielding 5-8% they will stay out of the business of providing capital to new enterprises. And if the old enterprises find it more profitable to invest in paper rather than humans, economic recovery is a distant dream. Why not tackle the new challenges to work
smarter, to green the planet with new techniques. new products and new visions?

IRAN; Intransigent Republicans Acting Normally

The congressional conflict over the mandated end of the Bush tax cuts has brought out
the usual "just say no" response from the Republicans. We are in the midst of the
worst recession in the memory of most Americans. Governments at all levels, city,
county, state and federal are facing huge shortfalls in revenues. These could lead
to drastic cuts in vital public services--police, firemen, teachers, sanitation,
maintenance of public facilities, etc. The revenue deficits reflect the collapse of
real estate values, the slowdown of economic activity and the rise in unemployment.

The Bush tax cuts were supposed to lead to increased private investment in economic
activity, creating new jobs and generating government revenues. After ten years
the predicted results have not happened. The tax savings to the wealthy were hoarded. Those for the middle class were too little to have a substantial economic impact. Job growth was anemic during the decade. But they did create the illusion
of wealth by the unreal increase in real estate prices (not values). Federal
Government intervention is now the only life support system with any promise of keeping our many jurisdictions functioning. But that will require revenues if we
are to avoid more dangerous deficit spending. So the tax cuts should be allowed to expire, but not for the endangered middle class. They represent the best hope
for an eventual turn around in the economy. The wealthy, who acquired the greatest
share of the national treasure during the Bush era, should now pick up the greatest share of the tax burden, which in the U. S. is lower than most of the developed nations of the world.
The Republican are refusing this sensible compromise. They are insisting on an all or none extension of the tax cuts. If they get their wish, will they still complain
about the huge deficits? Or will they further devastate the middle class by draconian cuts in programs and services which keep the middle class temporarily afloat?

Coming: deja vue all over again

All the polling data indicate that in the upcoming mid-term elections the Republicans will win back many seats in the House, with an outside chance to take control. John Boehner, R.Ohio, minority leader is the likely Speaker if that should occur.
This morning on Face the Nation, Rep. Boehner stated with no uncertainty, that it is
the Republican Party intention to reinstate the tax and fiscal policies of the
Bush administration---low taxes, less regulation of business and drastic spending cuts. He included repeal of "Obama Care" the new Health Insurance Reform program and the Banking Reform act as first actions.
I am reminded of the old aphorism "insanity is repeating the same action and expecting a different result". We are in this deep recession as a direct result
of those policies prevailing and compounded by our participation in two off-budget wars, which still continue. None of our wars were financed by cutting taxes, particularly those which impact primarily on the most affluent. To act as if those wars don't exist is recklessly criminal behavior. Are those the hands
into which we should commit our nation's financial survival? Is a reprise of the
failed policies which devastated middle class Americans a responsible approach to
restoring their financial health, their jobs? Trickle down economics trickled down
misery on the middle class while further enriching the allready wealthy and making them insensitive to the plight of the less fortunate. How much is enough?

A little optimism, maestro.

From all sides, media, commentators, pols, come doom and gloom about the economy and America's future. This writer has been no exception. It doesn't require any perspicacity to see the signs and omens and make such predictions. But could they
be the cause as well as the register of some of that gloom?
Gloomy projections about the future change people's behavior. They become cautious,
reduce expenditures and increase savings. Their perspective becomes short term---
hunker down. Such sentiments are immediately translated into reduced demand, turning the gloom about the economy into a self fulfilling prophecy.
The remedy for recession is to stimulate demand. Private enterprises are constrained by stockholder interests from doing so. The government is left as the only source of such stimulus, but the very cautions that reduced demand act to inhibit such stimulus because of aversion to increasing deficit spending. As a result the recession is prolonged and more damaging.
Capitalism of which this nation is a disciple, is characterized by cyclical expansions and contractions. We can allow these to play themselves out in their
usual time span, or apply counter measures which have been shown by experience, to shorten that span and contain the damage to the security of the majority of our citizens. The task for our politicians is to lead public opinion to accept those measures in spite of their fears or ideology. When will they grow up to that task?

Flight from reality.

August 31 marks the end of our combat role in Iraq---Hooray? But 50,000 troops remain behind to "assist in training" the Iraq army and constabulary. It will undoubtedly be necessary for them to engage in combat operations because AL QUEDA and the Taliban will be holding our troops hostage to their desire to bleed and humiliate us. We are assisting them by weakening our fighting capability in the Iraqi theatre. Only a complete withdrawal from Iraq will free
us of that cancer. Iraq must stand on its own feet as a sovereign nation at some point. Playing perpetual cop and nursemaid to them will delay that forever
at enormous cost to us.

In Afghanistan we offer the Taliban a perfect assist. We provide a continuing supply of our valiant troops to be killed and maimed, at little cost to the Taliban. Their
fighters value death more than life so our counter attacks do nothing to dissuade them from continuing the fight. When we leave, Karzai the thief, and his Mafia will
also leave to enjoy their loot from our aid packages. The Taliban will take control
as if our interlude had never happened. That has been and will be the way of it in
that part of the world. Outside conquerors end up as the conquered.

Where art thou JFK?

Throughout history public sentiment about the state of affairs of our nation has
fluctuated between optimism and pessimism---feeling good/feeling bad. These moods
have sometime led the rest of the developed world's demeanor, and at other times followed.
At few periods in our history was our economy in danger because of a deep
decline elsewhere. Usually we were the bell sheep that led the others. When we
went into recession others eventually followed. So it was with recoveries. Our
current recession seems to be different. It is deeper, longer, wider and more
damaging than conditions in the other developed nations.
In trying to understand it certain factors come to mind:

We have taken on the role of policeman to the world. As such we must
maintain a military establishment larger than the rest of the world
combined, at home and in many foreign lands. This diverts resources from
more productive pursuits.

Our citizens have developed a sense of entitlement to government
services without a commensurate obligation to pay for them in the form
of taxes.

We have accepted living beyond our means as a normal life style, both
as individuals and as a society.

Our sense of common purpose and concern for the general welfare has eroded
and been replaced by "anything goes in pursuit of a buck".

The recipe for recovery is, in each of the above factors, to return to the way things were before, to the status quo ante. Perhaps it should begin in Washington
with politicians who place the general welfare above their own self interest.
Who will say "we ask not what our country can do for us, but what we can do for our country". Imagine what would happen if all of us did that!
Lets get to it!

Setting the record straight

There seems to be some confusion about my stand in the Mosque at Ground Zero
controversy. I accept the blame for not clearly distinguishing between the
Mosque siting, and the Caliphate agenda of militant Islam.

Establishing a Mosque on any site in the U. S. that conforms with zoning laws
is a constitutional right. The public relations impact is a separate matter and
must be considered by the congregation---it is not an acceptable ground for others
to try to bar the edifice. That would be censorship of the right to practice whatever
religion you choose. There are limits, for example human or animal sacrifice.

Islam is a proselyting religion. That is not unique. There is a significant segment within it who believe it is a divine order to convert or conquer non-believers, infidels, by whatever means---force, intimidation, deception, persuasion. There exist wide schisms within militant Islam which play out in murderous Muslim on
Muslim violence. The West becomes an enemy of some sect if it shows support for
another. The friend of my enemy is my enemy.

One of the most militant, regressive sects are the Wahhabi's, centered in Saudi Arabia. Their goal is to reestablish the Caliphate which dominated large parts
ot the world in the 8th to 10th centuries. It is that sect and that country which
are subverting Europe, and want to do the same here. That is what I caution against.
All religions are welcome and protected in our country. None is welcome to alter
our culture for theocratic purposes.

Dupe a dope a day.

Many people believe that if it appears in the media it must be true. Countless examples have shown that assumption to be false--the Sherrod case and Muslims praying on the streets of N. Y. C. are examples. Most people are too busy or disinterested to take time to check the veracity. Or the item may conform to their prejudices or biases and they accept it at face value.
This "credibility" factor has been carried over to the Internet, which offers fertile ground for demagogues and scam artists. They can enter your home uninvited, without knocking, and plant propaganda disguised as information. Their nefarious purposes are to get your support for their drive for power, to part you from your money, or to create animosity against their opponents.
When the deception involves forgeries or doctored pictures and captions they
are a danger to the social contract among the people, and between the people and their government. That contract depends on trust, and respect for the rights of others to be different.
Please, my friends and colleagues, when you receive inflammatory Emails, ask why.
What is the agenda of the senders? Check it out on "snopes.com". Don't become an
accesory to a fraud by passing it on without filtering it through a truth test.

The persistence of Illusion

In the 20th century the United States was supreme among nations. We had the greatest
prosperity, the largest economy, the most powerful military and the most
free populace in the world. Now, in the 21st century, that status is gone, but
many of us will not, or cannot accept the new reality;
we are no longer the world's mover and shaker. As a result, when things go amiss here or anywhere it is
Obama's doing, or a failing of the U. S.
The rest of the world has moved on. China is now the number two world economy and is breathing down our neck to reach number one. Our vaunted military is being defeated in the Mid East by rag-tag bands of
rebels who fight unconventionally and are not intimidated by a modern military colossus. The dollar which has been for a century the international medium of exchange is now in danger of losing that status.
To use a metaphor, the U. S. has a head cold, which if not treated could turn into pneumonia. The measures that would cure the cold are unpleasant---they would require all of us to make sacrifices. But the altruism and patriotism required for that seems to have emigrated elsewhere. We are caught in a class war, and the middle class is losing. No country can prosper without a middle class!
The solution is not, as conservatives believe, unbridled capitalism coupled with
low taxation and absence of sensible governmental regulation .We tried that under George and got the worst recession on record. Nor is it a tightly controlled
economy and extreme austerity. The solution will be in a compromise between
lessaiz faire and stifling controls and taxation. There is the rub. Compromise is now
the N word in politics. So the class war continues, and so does our decline!

Money Talks......

......but does it make sense? The sums of money spent on lobbying for the extension of the income tax reductions for the wealthy, if laid end to end, would still not
justify the lost government revenue for a program with no proven economic value to
the overall economy. The theory that reduced taxes lead to greater investments in
the private sector economy, thus producing higher employment has had ten years in
which to prove itself, and it has FAILED. What did occur was a mass export of jobs, a speculative inflation in property values beyond rational boundaries, and the creation of paper assets which turned out not to be worth the paper they were written on. Along the way some unscrupulous snake oil salespeople in the banking and investment fields
became obscenely wealthy, at the expense of vast numbers of savers, pensioners, home owners and individual investors. The wealthy prospered while the middle class majority was taken to the cleaners.
The irony is that the wealthy are now allowing the impoverishment of the
middle class to become a structural feature of our economy, thus not amenable to government action. This is balm to the anti government, anti welfare state constituency. It will also serve to restrain wage increases, and increase profits.
But who and what will sustain our consumer based economy? Prosperity for the middle
class means prosperity for commerce and industry. Mass unemployment and wage stagnation will result in a falling standard of living and a shrinking economy.
We need a new "Age of Enlightenment" to re-energize our people and banish ideological
devotion to selfish, class driven behavior. And we need it now!

The impossible dream.

When a nation takes on a project as deadly dangerous as waging a war, that undertaking must be grounded on an objective which is worthy, attainable at acceptable cost, and with the prospect that victory will serve the nation's essential interests. Do our Iraq and Afghanistan wars fit those parameters?

The stated objectives in both were primarily to change the controlling regimes.
Our interests were to be served by replacing autocratic rulers with some
form of democracy in each country. The hope was based on the assumption that democracies practice peaceful foreign relations. Little attention was payed to the qualifying conditions: worthiness, acceptable attainability, and the best interests of the United States.

We have arrived at the denouement of our war efforts as total
failure. The internal political and social structures in both those countries are
tribal, infertile ground in which to plant democracy. No surge, no expenditure of lives and treasure, can change those facts. Only evolution offers a possibility,
and evolution occurs over eons, beyond the life spans of our crusading politicians.
How many more of our heroes must be killed or maimed, how much more of our shrinking
treasure must be wasted, before our legislators recognize the futility of our efforts? There are some objectives which even the mighty United States cannot attain.
Can't we come to grips with that and stop these tragic foreign adventures?

Show me the Money!

An upcoming election should be an opportunity for candidates to expose their positions and persuade the voters of their merits. I have been waiting, and searching the campaigns for such information, but to no avail. What I have
been subjected to is a contest on money raised, and still to be raised
by each party. Almost breathlessly they inform me that they are within so many
dollars of out raising the opposition and my contribution will bring victory
in the contest by some deadline. The media will then report which party raised the
most, as if that is meaningful in governing the nation.
This afternoon, after some absence from the computer, I found 16 inbox Emails, most
from well known political figures. Those were requests for money, none of which contained useful information that would influence my vote. But money does influence the votes of our legislators---not the $10 or $20 I might send, but the thousands that special interests give. Those contributions come with strings attached which
morph into chains on legislators independence.
Would public financing of elections, honestly and fairly administered eliminate the
corrupting influence of campaign contributions? It is worth exploring.

Declare defeat and go home.

No matter what spin the administration will put on our Afghanistan affair, we have
lost that war. Pouring more men and resources into that quagmire will compound the
damage to our nation, on many fronts.
The Taliban does not seek to defeat us by military means. It is their strategy to bleed us---to expose our impotence in that theatre of the conflict. As a side affect
the ongoing conflict is sowing division and rancor in our body politic. And they use
our presence in their lands as an effective propaganda tool to preach that America is out to destroy Islam.
Our policy relies on someday having a stable, honest, moderate, effective central government in Afghanistan. To bring that about we are working with Karzai, a brutal, corrupt, thieving scoundrel. His aim is to amass a fortune from American aid funds, and jump ship to the French Riviera or some like. Obama and his team have been so
intimidated by fears that the extreme right will blame them for defeat in Afghanistan that they are continuing to compound the damage of our inevitable retreat by surging troops and pouring in more treasure.
The lessons of Vietnam have been forgotten. We cannot defeat an indigenous insurgency in a far-off primitive theatre unless the native population is with us.
We are seen as foreign invaders who are bringing death and destruction to the civilian population in our wake.

In Defiance of Logic

The Bush tax cuts will be expiring soon. That is causing panic in the ranks of
the wealthy, and the foes of Big Government. Those are the very same people who
are also in a lather about the enormous national debt, the cosmic sized annual
deficits, and the economic drag resulting from interest payments on the debt which
make up one of the very largest non-discetionary portion of our annual budget.
Strangely, they seem to be blind to the contradictions in their positions.

The tax cuts were intended to stimulate employment and economic activity. There is plenty of evidence they did not serve those purposes. Job growth during the decade the
tax cuts were in effect was anemic at best, and any increased activity was based on bubbles and the creation of phony assets. We are now paying a severe price for
a failed policy. Even if we shrink the government significantly by cutting many
services the citizens have come to value, we can't shrink the interest we must pay.
Nor can we dodge the huge costs of wars on two fronts, and a bloated military.

If the tax cuts for the affluent are extended we will further starve government revenue and be forced to compensate by more deficit spending. That will mean more
heartburn for the deficit hawks. Why can't they see the connection?

Is it idealogical blindness?

Buried treasure

The latest financial reports of major companies reveal that many have enjoyed robust
earnings and accumulated large hoards of cash. It would seem logical that they would
put that cash to work, in the classic capitalistic fashion, to expand their ventures,
increase their market share, and earn greater returns for their stockholders. Such
reinvestment would create jobs in the private sector, which in turn increase demand--
all good for business. But this has not happened. It would be useful to learn why.

We can assume there exists a substantial lack of confidence in the fiscal policy of
the government, particularly as to taxes and deficit spending. The size of our
trade and budget deficits threaten the value of the dollar as the medium of exchange in international finance.
The continuing crisis in the real estate markets has eroded the asset base which supported our consumption based economy. Our failure as a nation to address our
reliance on imported petroleum bloats our deficit, further devaluing the dollar. Add to the above a dysfunctional Congress which cannot meaningfully address any of
these problems, and they all appear to explain the corporate decisions to hoard cash
and not hire. In the immediate future this might seem logical. In the long term this
policy is a recipe for extinction. Other developed countries will not sit on their
hands, or cash. They will capture our markets, domestic and foreign, and we will stagnate.
Where are the vaunted American enterprise, ingenuity, and boldness of yore when we desperately need them? Where is the leader who can inspire and motivate our business leaders to innovate and accept risk to seek reward? Our greatest danger may come from
playing it safe.

For whom the bell tolls..

How does one say a permanent farewell to a beloved adult son who
is departing in the prime of life? What hurts the most? What memories rise to comfort
a parent? What can bring understanding, if not acceptance, to an adoring wife?

Confronting these puzzling and troubling questions helps me understand the faith in
the deity which supports those who mourn the death of loved ones, even if I
do not share that faith.
I have always believed that by our behavior and principles we can act divinely. It is within us, by the nobility of will, not in some mysterious godlike power.
So, in grieving the death of my younger son David I will test my faith in my humanity. I will keep him with me, with all the memories, and he will for me
be eternal.

Watch out, here comes an intellectual.

We have come to the point, in our campaigns, where candidates for elected office believe they have to play dumb to be elected. The campaign commercials running
reflect the most elementary reasons for choosing a candidate, and usually negative
information about the opponents character and positions. Discussion about the nation's problems is kept to simple terms, all black and white, so the voting public can avoid thinking and vote by emotion or party loyalty. Digging deep you will
discover that most candidates are more intelligent than represented by their campaign, but in the prevailing political mood intellect frightens many potential voters. The simplistic, jingoistic Sarah Palin/Tea Party philosophy has so intimidated politicians that they feel compelled to echo it, even if aware of how
empty it is.

I could name several candidates for national office who have achieved brilliant
records in academe, and in public office, who are playing down or concealing their
achievements. I won't because revealing them may impair their election chances.
How sad! If ever we needed the Best and Brightest, now is the time. Let them rise
above ambition and teach while campaigning instead of joining the howling pack!

Playing with fire!

Each day I encounter propaganda, from left and right, which makes me think common
sense and reason are rapidly disappearing commodities in human behavior. The political temperature has risen to fever level and the
space between left and right in America
has become a chasm which could become unbridgeable. It may lead to violent confrontations between factions who harbor powerful emotional but erroneous opinions which they are convinced are facts. Those convictions are reinforced by
contrary opinions from LIBERALS, or TEA PARTIERS, or CONSERVATIVES, or RACISTS.

The PROTOCALS OF ZION were ancient forgeries created to stir up violent anti-Jewish
attitudes. They were long ago and time and again proven false, but every year they
appear, as truth, in some anti-semetic tract or speech and are believed by millions.
Today forgeries of TV clips, or media articles are becoming common in the anti-Obama crowd. This morning I saw an NBC video purportedly showing President Obama admitting,
in a speech to journalists that he was not born in the U.S. and is not eligible to be President. When the opposition stoops to lies and forgeries where are we headed?
Is some sick political ploy worth surrendering our nation's integrity and credibility? STOP, think, weigh the consequences of dishonest debate to our
vaunted democracy! It is too high a price!

Hold back the tide!

Immigration reform is now on the national stage, and as ever is the subject of more
rancor and partisan conflict than any of the other big legislative initiatives, including universal health insurance.
With thousands of miles of land border and coastline we can no better control the flow of immigrants than we can order the tides to stop.
The cycle of invasion by illegals parallels the state of the world economy. When ours is booming we are a magnet for the poor in other lands. Our entrepreneurs will
welcome, even assist, migrants to fill mostly laboring jobs. That labor enjoys no
protective labor and minimum wage laws. Most are paid in cash, the bulk of which they remit to families back in their home countries. Many are exploited
by substandard housing and living conditions. But there are some who are well treated. Some have taxes deducted from their wages even though they will never receive Social Security benefits.
Because of their illegal status they drive cars without driver licences or insurance.
If they are injured or ill, they use public hospital emergency services without payment.
If our economy slows, the tide reverses and they flow back to their home country.

The American people must recognize the vital contributions the illegals make to our economy and take measures to rationalize the flow and their status. We also need to take better control of our borders, recognizing that, at best we can only divert some areas of the tide. Let us do that in a rational and merciful manner. Provide
an opportunity for illegals to become legal and eventually citizens. If we manage our borders by temporary work permits, with employer cooperation, they and we can benefit from their labor while treating them humanely and respectfully.
We will be a nobler people for it.

The CALIPH Rides again!

At the death of Muhammad in 632 two branches of his family claimed to be his heir
and sole legitimate disciples. Leadership alternated among a small group and the leader that emerged was given the title of Caliph and centered in Damascus. Over the
balance of the seventh and eighth centuries the Islamic culture flourished. Great advances were made in Medicine, mathematics, science--particularly architecture,
literature and art. As a result their influence grew in many quarters of the ancient world. From the eighth to the tenth century the caliph used military power to expand
his empire to many parts of No. Africa, the Iberian peninsula, Persia, the Hindus valley, and Asia. But their rule was benign. They did not try to execute control from
Damascus but allowed the local chieftains to continue day to day rule. They allowed
freedom of worship and freedom of local customs, including for the Jews. Their
occupation left many architectural jewels throughout the lands they controlled,
particularly Iberia.
The Caliphate gradually succumbed to a series of external invasions, by the Mongols,
Ottomans and even Russians and was forced to shrink back to its state as of the eighth century. In the following centuries they began a decline and became a backwater of culture, confined to the middle East.
The hostility of Europe, manifested by the Crusades, turned Islam to isolation, the rejection of all Western culture, and beliefs, and transformed Islam into a militant,
proselyting, enemy of all things modern and Western.

Now the militant Muslims are embarked on a campaign, to restore the Caliphate, not by force of arms, but by the power of numbers, and using the liberal democratic
foundations of Western society to subvert and undermine the indigenous populations
in the lands they are "invading".
Today there are an estimated 54 million Muslims in Western Europe and Scandinavia.
In each city where they settle they establish a ghetto in which it becomes hostile for non-Muslims to live, or even visit.
Their rate of propagation is so high they will
in one or two decades outnumber the population native to that country. Such a large
disciplined bloc of voters is tempting to politicians who court them by allowing them
privileges and political rights not available to the native citizens These include
the right to be governed by Sharia law instead of the constitutional Civil code; the right to attend private religious schools and pay no taxes for public schools; the
right to receive free public health care because paying for insurance is gambling and
forbidden by the Koran. They change the skylines by constructing imposing mosques
not in keeping with neighboring architecture and in all ways resist assimilating into
the country that welcomed them. Most of the funds to support their migration, their schools, madrases and mosques come from Saudi Arabia, that most regressive, misogynist medieval kingdom. Their purpose is conversion and/or control.
Their conquest of Europe is now certain. We in the U. S. are the final prize and we
can see the beginnings of an Islamic invasion in places like So. Florida and the middle West. We need to start thinking of a vaccine for the disease to come.

Amusing musings about TIME

Many philosophers hold that time is an illusion. I hold that time is real--the unit
of measure for intervals between sequential events. We live in an ever flowing river of time, ever existing in three of its dimensions--present, future, and past. For example driving in your auto, the space you are passing is the present;
looking through the windshield you see the future approaching: glancing into your rear view mirror you see the past receding.
There are many versions of time, of more common variety than Relativity.

There is the perception of time--"Time flies when you are having fun, and drags when
you are having trauma". Or the time it takes to drive to a previously untraveled
destination seems longer than the return.

Time controls our lives. We live in a rhythm of schedules. It influences how we interact with our fellows. For example, if someone wishes to communicate with Marty
they click on his name in their cell phone and in seconds a long string of digits
separates Marty from all the other Martys, locates and rings him. Compare that to the Pony Express.

Time also dictates our success in life. One person says I don't have the time to
acquire new skills to enhance my performance. Another says I devote most of my free time to learning new skills required for me to increase my earning power. It even
influences our health and lifespan if we spend it in healthy pursuits.

Time can be a master, friend and ally, or foe. Use it wisely---you only get a
limited ration of it.

Alchemy: Paper to Money

Printing is believed to have begun in China around the year 200, in the form
of Woodblock images. The Chinese progressed to movable type, individual characters
on mini woodblocks around 1040. In 1969 laser printing was developed, creating a
revolution in printing which could be called ALCHEMY. With such printing plain
paper of little value could be converted into currency, of any value desired. That
changed the value system of entire societies. No longer were the stores of real value and wealth--labor, land, and natural resources. Wealth could now be in the form of paper assets. A huge variety of such paper assets were created and marketed. And the governments discovered that printed money could supplement tax receipts for
paying the costs of running the country, funding programs, bribing or doing favors for special interest groups such as the military-industrial complex, etc. Even wars
could be financed by paper as long as someone would buy it. There's the rub! When
the amount of debt, in relation to the nation's ability to generate wealth in the
form of GDP, was manageable there were buyers and holders of our debt instruments.
With the 2008 crash because of phony derivatives, the stimulus spending needed to get employment up must be financed by printing money, inflating the deficit and
deflating the dollar. Because Europe is in even worse shape the dollar deflation is
not as great as it might be.
So, until the populace accepts the reality that more taxes are required, and our
participation in useless wars must be ended, printed money is greasing our skids to third world status.

Hold you nose, Rep. Joe Barton is here

If ever we needed corroboration that Congress has corrupted our constitutional
governing process, the current BP hearings are visual and auditory proof.
By some amazing coincidence the ranking Republican congressman on the Energy committee, Rep. Joe Barton, Tex. received an unusually generous campaign contribution
from BP. Good ol' Joe would be the committee chairman if the Repubs take over the house next election.
In questioning the BP CEO Joe expressed deep chagrin that Pres. Obama had treated him so harshly, suggested that Obama apologize to him, and stated that the $20B
compensation fund was in effect presidential blackmail. According to good ol' Joe,
BP is the victim of excessive governmental zeal. To follow his logic, the U.S.
should establish a compensation fund for BP to ease the losses BP's shareholders
are suffering.
Pardon me, i'm going to the bathroom to retch.

Atilla the Hun is alive and well in America

Dear readers, I have been absent from the internet due to a lengthy hospital stay
caused by pneumonia during which I was kept at a distance from a computer. Except
for an occasional glimpse at CNN I was cut off from much of the daily happenings. Now that I am home and caught up I feel as Rip Van Winkle, awakening to a world that
has continued its descent into chaos.
The calamitous oil spill that has damaged the ecology for generations is still
spewing its poison into the Gulf. The damage to earth, air and sea continues unabated
and human lives and livelihoods have been devastated. Wildlife by the multitudes have been lost, and the entire food chain has been broken.
But what astounds me the most is the failure of the general public to grasp the
lessons of it all. They worry that they will not be able to work on the very drilling rigs that destroy our planet. They worry that we will face a shortage of the petroleum that is draining our wealth into the coffers of countries and tyrants who wish us ill while it fouls the air we breathe. All that while they should be worrying that we continue to depend on a diminishing resource in control of opponents, and which damages our health, our wealth and our home planet.
This would be the moment for all Americans to do what they must to assure a decent
future for their young children and grandchildren. Is there any more wise and patriotic national service than to devote our hearts and resources to developing clean, renewable fuels?

Oil and Water Don't Mix!

The Gulf oil leak has been with us for some five weeks. I have refrained from commenting about it because the implications are so profound. I wanted to get my mind around the facts and scope before entering the arena.
The disaster is so immense, with enormous effects on the planet and all life forms, it is time for the American people to grow up and face the consequences of their addiction to cheap, carbon based energy.

Because the leak is at such sea depth, much of the oil may not surface and affect
shore lines, beaches and estuaries, where it would be easy, and expensive, to clean
up. Huge quantities will remain in deep water plumes, travelling long distances before settling on reefs, spawning grounds and protected nesting sites. This will alter the food chain upon which so much life on the planet depends. Plankton, Krill,
tiny herrings, reef eggs will become scarce or disappear. This will impact
further up the chain and is vital to our survival. Our health will be affected, as will what we eat , how much we pay for it. Our access to cheap energy will be limited
because deep sea drilling will face severe restrictions.
If ever there was a time to mobilize America for an all-out effort to convert to
renewable, clean energy, whatever the cost, this is the moment. In WWII we assembled
scientists and industrialists in the Manhattan Project, which produced the atom
bomb and gave us victory. The stakes in the oil leak crisis are even higher. The future of mankind could depend on our success.

Throw the bums out!

The anti-incumbent tide is approaching full flow, and rightly so. Since the Obama
election congress has calcified into gridlock, and the nation's business has
been neglected, replaced by petty partisan vendettas. As a result crises which
could be ameliorated by concerted action by both parties in both houses, have continued to fester and become worse, weakening the nation at home and abroad.
The general public, suffering the damaging effects of losses---jobs, savings, homes, retirement income, health insurance, security, and pride, have turned angry, and ugly. Many have turned against the one entity, government, that can offer any chance of changing things. There is a longing to return to the "good old days" of
rugged individualism--every man able to take care of himself and his family. But that
world disappeared with the telegraph and sailing ships.

If changing the guard in Congress would lead to meaningful, cooperative action
among members, the tide would be positive. It appears however that the replacement
senators and representatives are primarily rabble rousing, narrow minded,
who sought election by stirring people to be "against" things, not for things
that would bring us together. Discord is mounted on a run-away horse and will hold sway for some time. Does that hold out the prospect of making things better for America?

Beware of Greeks Bearing Debts!

The European Union has finally suffered severe indigestion because of the welfare state diet on which it has been living. The old fashioned virtues of diligent work
for reasonable pay, and benefits commensurate with an individual's contribution
to the social well being were abolished during the recovery years following WWII--
a recovery greatly assisted by our generosity under the Marshall Plan.

Social subsidies such as a 35 hour work week, monetary benefits and lengthy paid
leaves for childbirth, six weeks paid yearly vacations, numerous paid holidays,
retirement with generous pensions at relatively early ages, government provided
health care, free college tuition, all cost mucho dinero, requiring high personal
taxes. Workplace productivity due to short work weeks, leaves, holidays and vacations is low, increasing prices and reducing exports. So some of the smaller
nations are building debt. Servicing debt, as we in the U.S. know, drains resources which could go into development and infrastructure.

The E.U. has just bitten the bullet and established a massive trillion Euro
stabilization (bail out) fund. The first beneficiary is Greece. The severe austerity
program which Greece must implement to stabilize its economy and repay the loans
has aroused fury among the working class which must bear the impact. The survival of
Greece as a democracy is under serious threat.

There is a lesson in this situation for the U. S. and Great Britain. We cannot continue to wage two wars, and to maintain troops and bases all over the world, and a bloated military establishment to support them, unless we are willing to pay for them, NOW, by means of Taxes and austerity. If we continue our profligate ways, living on borrowings and spending multi billions for imported oil the dollar will
collapse and the nation's power with it.

Poisoning our own well

Since Obama's election a cottage industry of "Hate Obama" Email screeds has sprung up
in the nation. It parallels and goes hand in hand with the Tea Party movement in
that both have an unreasoned anger against "the government", "them" (who took OUR government away from us), a black Muslim President who is single-handed turning our country !!Socialist!!, who had the gall to want to give medical care to millions of TRUE Americans who didn't have it, and many more equally absurd gripes.
Under all there hides a venomous racist resentment and a refusal to accept that this nation is a democracy, which means we accept the decision of the electorate and wait until the next election to change it if we lose. We don't promote a revolution to undo it.
By trying to undermine and nullify a president we POISON the social contract which sustains our democracy, to the detriment of all. We have only one president, and he is subject to the restraints of the legislative and judiciary branches. No President can turn our nation Socialist, or any other ...IST by himself. And no President can govern responsibly if he bends to the passions of each and every protest group. That way lies chaos, because never in our history has the populace been unanimous about any policy! Informed and vigorous dissent is the lifeblood of our democracy. Don't
spill that blood recklessly!

Rotten Eggs do not a Good Omelette Make

The congressional hearings investigating the role of Goldman Sachs in the financial
meltdown beginning in 2007 has exposed a sewer inhabited by some of the most
sophisticated, ruthless thieves to inhabit any profession. The star performer in the firm was an egomaniac Fabrice Toure who designated himself "Fabulous Fab". His forte, of which he boasted openly and in written communications, was designing useless, worthless financial products which, in his own words, he sold to widows and orphans, pension fund managers, and the like. The products were designed to fail and he profited therefrom by selling them short at the same time he was selling them long to clients. While pillaging the "ordinary" people he made a huge amount of profit for the firm and fattened his obscene bonuses. It tells the entire sordid truth about the sleazy, thieving ways of Wall Street and the large banks that Fabulous Fab was idolized, held up as a model for other snake oil sales people who aided and abetted, such as the rating services, and professional hedge fund managers.

Congress, urged on by Obama, is considering legislation to reign in the most egregious risky and dishonest practices in the securities industry, including
provisions to protect consumers. That the Republican senators are in opposition is a violation of their oath of office and of their obligation to protect the public who elected them. If there are features in the proposed legislation which they honestly believed could be improved, let them propose, not simply oppose! The goal should be that never again should greed, arrogance, and deception be the modus operandi of our financial industry.

Birthday wishes

Observing the occasion of my 91st, as I blew out the candles on the cake my fellow
revelers told me to make a wish. It is customary to wish for things that involve
one's self and friends. But in the ambiance in which the nation is currently functioning, a wish of broader scope seemed appropriate. So adding a serious note,
I asked my friends to talk about what in our state of affairs concerned them, that
my wish could improve. My cocky nature doesn't allow me to consider that my wish
would be of no consequence.
After great argument about it and about, the consensus
was that governments at all levels had become non-functional in matters of
general public welfare, and that this was because political positions had morphed
into careers under our two party, bi-Cameral system. As with any career, increasing
one's material wealth and power is paramount. Catering to the wealthy and powerful,
especially those who control the media, is the recipe for political career advancement.
So my wish, agreed upon by all present, was that there would be a rebirth of Wisdom,
Honesty and Altruism among those who guide the fate of the nation. That would be
a birthday gift for all, and all time.