Obviously, we live with and depend on business corporations to provide us with what we need. Competitive markets encourage innovation and invention to our benefit. What motivates these corporations? According to Milton Friedman the only purpose of a corporation is to make a profit for the shareholders. There are some well-known companies that pursue a broader and socially responsible agenda: Patagonia and Ben & Jerry’s are prominent examples. But corporations are run by a variety of people who sometimes make . . .
Category: Politics
Short Term Decisions
The outgoing administration has a self-served view of the world. Behind the obvious distractions and pandering to the benighted, are destructive tampering with relationships and regulations and short-sighted decisions. Purged Cuban Doctors The US along with Brazil’s Bolsonaro (“Trump of the Tropics”) expelled 10,000 Cuban medical workers from poor areas of Brazil, Ecuador, Bolivia and El Salvador months before the Covad19 pandemic struck. This was done to curb Cuba’s most important export, medical experts. How the doctors and nurses get . . .
Anti Fascism
Is the US descending into fascism?What would be the indicators? Fascism: authoritarian ultra nationalism characterized by dictatorial power, forcible suppression of opposition, as well as strong regimentation of society and of the economy which came to prominence in early 20th-century Europe. Chicago Anti Fascism Rally 9-5-20: I wanted to learn more about the current anti-fascist movement which is worried about encroaching authoritarianism in the US. So, I attended an anti fascist rally in Chicago sponsored by a few different organizations. There . . .
Cost of Poverty
Poverty Here? A 2017 study by OECD (Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development) measures the US poverty level at 17.8%, which is worse than Mexico (16.6%),Russia (12.7%), and Denmark (5.8%) . When it comes to child poverty, things are even worse. A UNICEF report found that the United States ranked 34 of 35 developed countries – only Romania had a higher child poverty rate. Inequality? It is interesting that when comparing income inequality before taxes, the US is similar to . . .
Warp Speedster
An ironically named committee is being assembled to conquer the new corona virus. What is warp speed? There is the science fiction concept first introduced by John F. Campbell in his novel from 1931, Islands of Space, as a technique for traveling faster than light. Then there is Einstein’s theory of special relativity, which, upon casual interpretation indicates that matter (having mass) cannot travel at the speed of light. It would require an infinite amount of energy. So here we . . .
Speed Talking Lies
Trust? It looks like IMPOTUS, like Julius Caeser, has decided to take us across the Rubicon. According to our pompous speed talking Secretary of State, we are executing our “national security strategy.” We have a strategy? The senior senator from Florida is also speed talking a defensive sounding rationale on the Sunday talk shows. Talking fast gives a sense of urgency. But this is about desperate domestic political pandering – not about the many words. Meanwhile we wait for the . . .
IMPOTUS's Dark World
Children, farm workers anyone down wind be damned! People with opposing ideas are “human scum” in this world of the self-defined stable genius with his great and un-matched wisdom and attempted cyber bullying of teenager, Greta. Normally, these public musings would end a public career in disgrace. But our reality show tycoon has convinced his political aspirants high and low that they can’t survive a primary attack and would lose their perk-laden jobs if any dissent is uttered. So, a . . .
C’mon Eddie!
Poke the Bear, Get A Response. Eddie Johnson made a public “values” statement by not attending the “commander’s” speech at the recent International Police Chief Association conference in Chicago. This is bear bating and got a predictable response: “Chicago is, unfortunately, the worst sanctuary city in America. Chicago protects criminals at a level few could even imagine… It’s embarrassing to us as a nation. All over the world, they’re talking about Chicago. Afghanistan is a safe place by comparison. ” . . .
Human Rights Reevaluated?
The Universal Declaration of Human Rights (UDHR) was adopted by the UN General Assembly in 1948 in Paris. The U.S. State Department has something new: a Commission on Unalienable Rights to provide “fresh thinking about human rights discourse where such discourse has departed from our nation’s founding principles of natural law and natural rights.” The Secretary in a recent WSJ op-ed complained that human rights advocates have created “new categories of rights” that “blur the distinction between unalienable rights and . . .
2020
The “Make America Great Again” experiment has issues. What should we look for in 2020? Character Needed? Honesty Yes Effort Yes Experience Yes Intelligence Yes Maturity Yes What about a combination of honesty, effort, intelligence and maturity? Despite being a “stable genius” and “very rich” the current “Commander” does poorly with the requirements above. Maybe we allow partial credit for thirty months and no new direct “kill chain” wars? The other aspirants offer an array of experience (Vice President, Governors, . . .