According to the Commerce Secretarypaying $175 more for a car is “trivial”. Does having $700 million salted away help? At the whim of the “commander” and without a rational strategy , significant tariffs are planned for imported raw materials, steel and aluminum. For the rest of us these are new taxes. Normally buying cheaper is a good thing. But, in this case it is bad? The Chinese have dug themselves a hole with over capacity, producing half of the worlds . . .
Category: Politics
Guns and The Money
Safety versus Gun Sales We are not winning The National Rifle Association was founded in 1871 to advance rifle marksmanship, motivated by the poor shooting skills demonstrated by the Union army during the Civil War. Since 1975 the organization has directly lobbied for favorable legislation by spending $millions donating to “A” rated candidates. Favorable to whom? Follow the money:Total revenue in 2016 was $436 million. In 2015 CEO Wayne Lapierre took home $5.1 million for a job well done selling . . .
One State?
Time For A One State Solution? Israel West Bank & Gaza Population 8.8 million 5 million Median Age 29.9 19 Birth Rate/1000 1.81 2.456 GDP Per Capita $44,019 $1,997 Life Expectancy 82.01 77.17 Literacy 97.8 95.3 Growth Rate 2 2.6 As demonstrated by the 1947 Partition of India, spawning Pakistan and Bangladesh in 1971 this approach can be fraught with internecine trouble with a nasty tendency to linger forever. I think it is time for a democratic solution to the . . .
Nuclear First Use?
2018 Nuclear Posture Review Moving Closer to Earthly Annihilation? The preliminary NPR document is available and the final version is scheduled to be released in February. The tone is obvious and in line with the iron triangle’s major ingestion of blood and treasure – follow the money! Now we want to expand the “first use” of nuclear attack and the trigger finger gets a little itchier. One idea is to develop less potent nuclear bombs that presumably could be used . . .
Button Finger FaceOff
Government Purpose?
What is the role of government? We may believe the government should provide protection from fire, floods, crime and foreign incursions. What about help for poor parents, health problems, job loss, polluted air, unsafe water or even bad decisions? According to the current Speaker of the House, Medicare, Medicaid and Obamacare violate the liberty of the taxpayers whose earnings are transferred to the less fortunate but also squash the spiritual needs of the recipients. He believes that federal programs offer . . .
Mendacity in the Air
At this point there is an unsurmountable barrier to acceptance of any of the “commander’s” executive orders, appointments or strategies. I doubt there was any willing collusion with the Russians simply because of demonstrated incompetence. Obviously if the “commander” was offered the opportunity to collude, it would have been taken. Benefit of the doubt is gone, erased by mendacity, venality and pettiness. Any accidental good idea stumbled on will not pass the test of time and eventually will be corrupted . . .
Freedom School – Strategy or Ignorance
The “commander” has been fed the philosophies of Robert LeFevre’s Freedom School – spooned out by his erstwhile chief strategist. Did he actually understand what he consumed? Are the bizarre tweets, attacks on journalists, and outrageous feuds part of a deliberate strategy to distract while institutions are destroyed? Freedom School Philosophy:All government consists of customs and institutions that control our lives by stealing our property, restricting our freedom, and endangering our lives with the rationale of protecting us from ourselves. . . .
Proposal: Mandatory Travel
We have a ruthless and childish “commander” without a strategy, other than reversal and revenge, who has conveniently cut the military machine loose from civilian oversight. We are now bombing in Somalia, Syria, Iraq, Afghanistan and indirectly in Yemen. Now the Pentagon “needs” $700 billion to keep up? I see no evidence that our sixteen-year military approach has been anything other than a cause for unforgivable civilian death and disruption and creation of scattered but motivated resistance driven by resentment . . .
Navy Report: “Loss of Situational Awareness”
USS John S. McCain – Arleigh Burke-class destroyer Commissioned July 2, 1994 Length 505′ Beam 66′ Motto “Fortune Favors The Brave” Nickname “Big Bad John” Speed 30+ knots The recent collisions of our US Warships and huge container ships in the busy shipping lanes of the Western Pacific were caused by a “loss of situational awareness” according to the Navy report released on 11/1/2017. The details of the errors made prior to the collision of the USS John S. McCain . . .