$212,000, You Say? That's too Much

    OK, is it good that Nancy Pelosi raised the maximum salary for House staffers to $212,000 today? She cited the need to retrain and recruit the best talent in the nation. Isn't hat's the usual justification when government wages go up?

   You can live quite comfortably oon half that much. Am I a fool for thinking this pay raise isn't necessary? If an employee wants to take a better job, that's great. Am I a fool for thinking you can't replace them with someone who will do just as good of a job?  If you truly were having trouble filling the staff positions, that would be different, but I don't believe that is the case. 

   Yes, half that -- $106,000 -- would bring in plenty of talented workers. If you were underpaying them, that would be different. But, $106,000 is a reasonably generous amount. 

   Washington, D.C., is one of the most-expensive cities in the nation. Rather than argue that that means they need a higher salary to pay their way in that city, I would suggest the price of living would come down if the average worker weren't making such a splendedly large sum of money. We call it a market economy. Or, if you like, call it supply and demand. Prices go up when people can afford to pay more.

    Thirty-eight percent of Washington, D.C.'s employment force works for the federal government. With the high salaries they command, they are driving up the price of living in D.C. The median American makes about $33,000. If the salaries for government workers were more inline with those of the average American, the cost of living in D.C. would come down, and the average American would be more likely to afford living in D.C. Instead, we have a city of rich bureaucrats. They are financially too good to have too many average Joes (and Josephines) rubbing shoulders with them as neighbors.

   When you can't afford to live amongst your leaders, it might be that the leaders are treating themselves a little like royalty. We don't need royalty in America. 

Only the Author Should Remove the Content

Reading some thoughts from Jack Dorsey, the founder and former CEO from Twitter, I am persuaded.

Dorsey says he’s come to believe in three principles: (1) Social media must withstand “corporate and government control.” (2) The author should be the only person who can remove content they produce.  And (3) “Moderation is best implemented by algorithmic choice.”

Perhaps the key of the three is the second principle. Only the person who does the tweeting should be have power to erase the tweet. 

I believe I read elsewhere where Dorsey suggested one reason for Twitter should not be deleting tweets is that then the tweeter remains responsible for what he (or she) said if you leave the comment up. If what they said is slanderous, they can more assuredly be held accountable. And, if the person doing the tweeting deletes his tweet in attempt to step clear of the law? While they can remove their words from the public square, there should remain an archive of all their tweets -- both those left up and those removed. That way, there is a record of the libel.

And, what of Dorsey's saying, "Social media must withstand 'corporate and government control"? Keep government and Big Tech out of the business of saying which tweets are libelous. Don't allow government or Big Tech to ban anyone, nor to shut down any of their websites. The web user remains accountable to the laws of free speech, but free speech is not ripped away from him (or her). 

And, what of fake news and misinformation? Perhaps -- instead of censoring content -- you allow the populous to attach corrections. Yes, surely lies and false innuendos should be challenged. You can already respond to tweets. We just need to have vigilant citizens willing to set the record straight. In addition to the fact-checkers writing critiques on their own websites, they should attach their comments directly to the false tweets.

An Encyclopdia of Success

An encyclopedia (OK, maybe that's a bit much) of tips on how to become the premier coach in all of the NBA (or anywhere):

Love what you do. Passion is the birth of greatness. Live and breathe the game you coach. Some days, that means saying goodnight to the night only when the next day has begun. 

Know the game inside-and-out. Observe what's working with other franchises. Be the world's utmost student of the game. Stay abreast of the changing landscape of the game. 

Know the stats for your players, including the plus-minus and true shooting percentage. Be able to recognize when players are in with weaker units, dragging down their plus-minus and other numbers.

Tune in to the vibes of  your players; make good reads on when they are feeling confident and when they are ready to spark the team. 

Stay positive. Not many things matter in coaching as much as this. You smile your way to success, but a frown brings only failure. The spirit you exude carries to the players. If you aren't upbeat, don't' expect them to be upbeat. If they "lack energy," it just might be because you lack energy.

Nothing grows unless it's fed. If they are to grow into great players, you must feed them the things that will bring them greatness.

Praise your players. The coach who praises small victories builds the confidence that brings great victories. A person must believe in himself. You don't become a great player unless you envision yourself as a great player. Focusing on their positives zeros in on their potential. To each of your players, be their greatest cheerleader. 

Give them heroes to emulate and dreams to chase. When someone in the league explodes with a great game, share and savor it with your players. Get them to wishing they might do the same. 

Instill in them a work ethic. Dreams don't become reality until work becomes a pleasure. Teach them to love working on their game, their bodies, and their talents.

Work on their weaknesses. Convince them that just because they're career 60 percent free throw shooters, doesn't mean thay can't become better.

Don't burden them with unreasonable expectations -- demands might be a better word. You want them to be the best they can be, but if expectatons run too high -- if you demand too much of them -- you'll only break their spirits. Teach them that being their best is all that you ask.

 Don't teach "have to, but "want to." Instill in them the desire to win, but not the fear of failure. 

Keep them looking for success even when they hit a row of defeat. Failure only sweatens tomorrow's success. 

Esprit de corps. Lockerroom chemistry. Love of their fellow players. Almost as much as anything, the team that succeeds is the team whose players band together and bond. You'll pass the ball to the open man, the hot hand, more often if you aren't saying, "Hey, I don't want to give that person the chance to get all the credit." Unity is the meaning of team.

Listen to Jack Dorsey

 The Twitter Files? Listen to Jack Dorsey, the founder and past Twitter CEO, when he suggests everything should be released, not just selected passages as Musk is doing. Also, don't give the communications just to select journalists; give them to everyone. And, release not only the communications before Musk arrived, but those after he purchased the social media account. It's called transparency. Musk ought to be willing to live with that.

On Being a Coach: How to Become the Best

   If you were to aspire to be the best coach in NBA history, you would need to find methods all the others failed to find. Now, suppose you thought you could learn from the best -- say, be an assistant to Gregg Popovich in San Antonio -- and that would be enough.

  Wouldn't.

  If you took up every trait Popovich had -- but did nothing new -- your ceiling would be no higher than what Popovich achieved. That's good, but we want to go beyond that. What is it Albert Einstein said? "Insanity is doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results. That applies at the top rung same as it does at the lower.

   If you are to go beyond Coach Pop, you must add something beyond what he offers.

  Plus, consider that Pop is not perfect. Maybe he rants a bit too much at times -- I don't know. Whatever his bad traits, you are likely to assimilate them, as well as the good -- unless you make a concerted effort to recognize those bad traits and not repeat them.

  So, sit down in your chair and ask yourself what makes a good coach. Try to find something that isn't being done. And, as you sit there thinking, reflecting on all the values learned while coaching under Pop, or Steve Kerr, or whoever, stroke your mind hard enough that you (1) realize what they did wrong, and (2) come up with things they didn't do at all.

Maybe This List Will Shock You

The list might shock you. Look at the number of American companies that Hong Kong and Chinese investors have bought out:

Dirt Devil, with original headquarters in Cleveland, Ohio, was purchased by Hong Kong's Techtronic Industries in 2003.

Hoover Company, with headquarters in Charlotte, North Carolina, was purchased by Hong Kong's Techtronic Industries in 2007.

Smithfield Foods, with headquarters in Smithfield, Virginia, was purchased by China's Shuanghi Group (now known as WH Group) in 2013.

Forbes, with original headquarters in Manhattan, New York, 51 percent majority stock was purchased by Hong Kong's Integrated Whale Media in 2014.

Motorola Mobility, with headquarters in Chicago, Illinois, was purchased by the China's Lenovo in 2014.

Segway Inc., headquartered in Bedford, New Hampshire, was purchased by China's Ninebot Inc. in 2015.

GE Appliances, with headquarters in Louisville, Kentucky, was purchased from General Electric by the Chinese company Haier in 2016.

Legendary Pictures Productions, with headquarters in Burbank, California, was purchased by China's Wanda Group in 2016.

Strategic Hotel Resorts (with properties including four Four Seasons Hotels and two Ritz Carltons), headquartered in New York, New York, was purchased by China's Anbang Insurance Group in 2016. Anbang went out of business in 2020 and was succeeded by China's Dajai Insurance Group. 

Snap Inc. (Snapchat), with headquarters in Santa Monica, California, had a 12 percent stake purchased by China's Tencent Holdings in 2017.

Universal Music Group, headquartered in Santa Monica, California, had shares purchased by China's Tencent Holdings in 2020.

No Paid Sick Leave? Really?

   The agreement with the railworkers was hailed by some unions as the most generous in railroad history. Still, there are some things that still aren't right and definitely call for change. No paid sick leave? That's a standard in most professions. Long hours? That's not true for most, but for some. If these things are in the hands of Congress, Congress should correct these two things.

   With the economy so much in the public's eye these days, Congress likely felt beholden to avoid a rail strike that would have subtracted $2 billion a day from the economy. Also, one wonders how the 24 percent pay increase will affect inflation. The average rail worker makes $49,000 a year. To me, as a poor boy who never drew near that much of a wage, it sounds adequate. However, if it is not enough to attract more workers so that the ones that are there do not need to work such long hours, then perhaps the raise is justified. 

Cobalt, Cobalt, Cobalt: Let it Benefit Congolese Instead of Hurting Them

   In excess of 40,000 children are working in hazardous conditions in cobalt mines in the Democratic Republic of the Congo. Now, cobalt, used to maximize the life of lithium batteries, is making people rich. Is there any reason profits from Cobalt shouldn't be shared with the workers -- and any reason those workers shouldn't be their parents instead of the children themselves?

   Two dollars a day -- that's the going pay for this work. Could we up it to $15 an hour? That would cut into the profits of the top 1 percent, who in this case, are primarily Chinese. Chinese companies own or finance 80 percent of the cobalt mines in the Congo.

   Hunter Biden haters are likely aware that an investment firm co-founded by him helped a Chinese conglomerate get control of a large mine in the Congo. And Joe Biden? Earlier this month, the Biden administration announced an agreement with Zambia and the Congo that opens the door to more financing of the cobalt mining projects.

   Almost 50 percent of the world's cobalt reserves are in the Congo. They go into lithium batteries used for cell phones and electric vehicles. Tesla? Yes, their cars rely on cobalt from the Congo.

   Complicid might not be the right word, or is it? Complicit means being involved with others in an illegal activity or wrongdoing. So, are you complicit in the child labor abuses in the the Congo? -- Unknowingly complicit, but yes, if you own a smartphone, you probably are reliant on cobalt mined using child labor in the Congo.

  Elon Musk and Tesla -- along with every EV maker in the world that utilizes Congolese cobalt -- should be telling the cobalt companies they are going to stop buying if those companies do not drastically improve working conditions and pay in the mines. Tesla did announce in April that it is moving away from cobalt. Perhaps an even better approach would be to get better pay and working conditions for the Congolese laborers.

 

Roomful of People Getting No-Charge Roofs

   The room is full, and the people in it are lined up to sign up for -- as the sign on a registration table says -- "Home Improvement Roof Repair." So many people are lined up you wonder if the picture was staged. As you consider, you conclude the picture is real.

   But don't try counting the people in the picture; that could be difficult.

   The Facebook picture -- advertisement -- is posted by M&M Exteriors, and the lead-in says, "Utah Homeowners Pay $0 for a New Roof." Go to the website and it says, "Damaged Roof? Let Your Insurance Pay for a New One."

   So, routine business? There are normally that many people packing a room to get their roofs repaired courtesy of their insurance companies?

   Or, is it possible it is all made possible by government funding?

An Intelligence Unit that Helps Prisoners Escape

   Dozens of Americans are being detained in foreign countries. And prisoner exchanges should not be the first resort to free them. If you can pirate them out, do so. It would serve us well if we had a unit specializing in freeing prisoners, an intelligence unit that attempted to help the prisoners escape.

   Doesn't have to be a large agency, just a unit of a few officers. And, they should not believe it their job to free all prisoners. Some have committed crimes for which they should pay.

   Hey, they do this in the movies, so why not more often in real life? Not that we should expect them to be able to free every prisoner held unjustly. Don't even expect them to be able to spring a quarter of them. But, if they free just a few, the effort will be worth it. 

The Pluses and Minuses of President Biden's Economic Record

Joe Biden, then -- that's President Biden to all of you in America -- just how is he doing on the economy? Best modern-age president yet? Worst? We should take a peek at his numbers.

Positives:

+ He's on pace to having the best economic growth (by far) since Bill Clinton, according to a metrics created by Bloomberg columnist Justin Fox. Fox combines the gross domestic product (GDP) with the gross domestic income (GDI) and it comes out giving Biden a reading of 3.3. That betters the marks of 1.8 by Trump, 2.2 by Obama, and 1.5 by Bush. (Clinton comes in with a shiny and showy 4.0.)

So, should we just give the crown of best economy of late to Biden, or keep on looking? How about the stock market, inflation, and poverty rate? First, let's finish up on the positives. 

+ Child poverty was about even as of January, 2022. Still we should count the child poverty rate as as a positive for Biden as the American Rescue Plan, instituted at the beginning of the Biden administration, had cut child poverty in half. Just today, word came that child tax credits were left out of the spending bill. "Republican leaders decided to send a lump of coal to America’s children this year,” said Colorado Sen. Michael Bennet. (One can look at it two ways, however, as the failure to extend the tax credits will help hold down the national debt.) 

• + Ten million jobs have been created; total employment is now half a million higher than before the pandemic. Biden says the job growth is the fastest in our nation's history.
• + Unemployment had fallen to 3.5 percent as of October.
• + After-tax corporate profits have set new records. 
• + The number of people without health insurance has dropped by 1.1 million.
• 
  
• And now, it's time to get to the negatives. Where can we ding this guy? The negatives:
• - The S&P 500 dropped 5.6 percent from when Biden took office to October of this year.  
• - Gas prices have increased (shot up would be a more accurate discription). The average price for a gallon of gas was $2.39 when Joe entered the White House. Now? After dropping substantially the past month or two, they are still high at $3.48.
• - Inflation whipped up to it's highest level in more than 40 years. Consumer prices have increased 13.2 percent. 
• - After adjusting them for inflation, earnings have dipped 4.4 percent.
• - The trade deficit has continued to expand. 
• - Home prices are up 29 percent. 
• - The national debt has continued to balloon. It stood at $27.7 trillion when Biden took office and is now over $31 trillion.
• 
  

A Look at Trump's Economic Record

Let's look back at Donald Trump's economic report card. This young man is running for president again, and he's touting his economics, so: On the positive side:

Wages grew faster than inflation. Average weekly earning were up 8.7 percent after inflation.

Corporate profits increased, and the stock market sailed to new heights. The Dow Jones Industrial Average gained approximately 56 percent. An asterisk belongs here, however: The annualized returns remained below the levels under Presidents Bill Clinton and Barack Obama.”

The overall yearly Gross Domestic Product growth for 2018, 2.9 percent, was the best performance in a decade.

Median household income reached $68,700 in 2019, the highest since records were started in 1967.

The poverty rate fell to 10.5 percent in 2019, the lowest since records were started in 2019.

IRS records show that on average all income brackets benefited very measurable from the tax reform law . . . and the biggest beneficiaries were the working and middle-income filers, not the top 1 percent, as many Democrats would have you believe.

On the negative side:

We lost 2.9 million jobs. The unemployment rate went up by 1.6 percentage points to 6.3 percent. He became the first president since Herbert Hoover during the Great Depression to leave office with fewer jobs in our nation than when he entered.

The international trade deficit Trump had promised to reduce instead went up. The trade deficit in goods and services in 2020 was the highest since 2008 and jumped 40.5 percent from 2016.

The number of people without health insurance rose by 3 million.

The national debt rose by almost $7.8 trillion during Trump’s time in office, reaching about $28 trillion.

Home prices rose 27.5 percent, and the homeownership rate increased 2.1 percentage points to 65.8 percent.

GDP grew slower under Trump than under any other president except for Bush I and Bush II going back to Eisenhower. Under Bush I, it was 1.7 percent. Under Bush II, it was 1.5 percent. And under Trump, it was 1.8 percent. This poor performance for Trump, though, comes with an asterisk, as the pandemic pulled down his numbers. Taking GDP growth by each year, Trump was 2.3 percent in 2017, 3.0 percent in 2018, 2.2 percent in 2019, and minus 3.7 in 2020.

The homeless population under Trump went up by some 30,000 people. The number of unsheltered homeless (those without any sort of nighttime shelter at all) went up by 28 percent. The number of chronically homeless people (people who have been homeless for over a year or who are consistently in and out of homelessness) went up by a staggering 40 percent. 

Twitter & Associates Is a Whale of a Problem, Needs to Be Reeled In

There was a day when government was the gatekeeper of free speech. Still is, of course. But look, steaming up the track is the new kid on the block, and he's taking on more and more of the role.

Social media. Twitter & Associates. They call the greater entity Big Tech, and while I like that, I think I'll go with Twitter & Associates, uppercase. Big Tech includes all the important and dominant companies in the information technology industry, and I just want to zero in on the social media firms. 

So, along comes Twitter & Associates and starts determining who can and who can't speak on the Village Square, who is and who isn't using hate language, and who is and who isn't spreading misinformation.

Now, there's a lot of that that they have no choice but to do -- maybe, all of it. You have to have rules, and when they took on the task of being the Public Square, they took on the responsibility for making rules. But, the point is, they are now doing it instead of the government. They don't control all free speech -- the government is still in the business --  but a share of it.

And, they are stumbling at many a juncture. They were stumbling long before Elon Musk ate up Twitter. And if we don't do something, they will continue.

One escape from the mess is to have government step in and reclaim its domain. Uncle Sam -- that's Big Sam to me and you -- needs to reel in the whale that is swallowing up free speech. Big Sam needs to make the rules for who speaks on the Village Square, the Public Square. Big Sam has an unruly member and it must be responsible for giving the unruly memeber rules. I know some of you aren't fans of government. You quote that old statement, "That government governs best that governs least." But, without government, you have anarchy, and we are having a little bit of that with Twitter & Associates. 

Which will it be anarchy . . . or law and order? 

Aldrich Never Should have had Opportunity to Kill Five People

   "I wish I can shoot all of you." Those words should have been enough to send Anderson Lee Aldrich, the mass killer in the Colorado Springs shooting last month, to jail.

   When he uttered them, he was on a flight from Californa to Colorado. He became disruptive, and made the threat -- which was caught on video. That should have been enough to convict him. The video showed him making the threat, and passengers heard it. Isn't that case closed?

  But, wait, he had made terroristic threats worse than that. He even once had a stand-off with a SWAT team. Seems he held his grandparents hostage in their own home and told them of bomb-making materials in the basement, and told them of his plans to become a mass killer.

  He livestreamed the standoff on Facebook. Seems that alone would be enough evidence to convict him at least of resisting arrest. His family refused to answer subpoenas and refused to cooperate. The district attorney then decided to drop charges. One wonders on that. The district attorney is responsible for prosecuting dangerous criminals. Other evidence existed besides the family's testimony. On a matter as serious as this, the attorney should have made a house call to the family, explaining to them why they needed to step up. One also wonders if they could have been forced to be hostile witnesses.

  What did the judge make of it all? Perhaps it is that she had no recourse but to accept the prosecuting attorney's request to drop charges. But, she knew the danger to society. "Wow, Just really, really scary," she said. "You clearly have been planning for something else, and it didn’t have to do with your grandma and grandpa," the judge said. "It was saving all these firearms and trying to make this bomb, and making statements about other people being involved in some sort of shootout and a huge thing," she said. "Things just went unhinged. And it looks like it could have been worse because you had plans for it to be worse," she said. 

  Colorado has a red flag law -- and, even if it didn't, there was enough evidence to put Anderson Lee Aldrich behind bars. Why wasn't he?

No "Chaos," Just an Opportunity to Help Others

   I'm viewing from a distance, admittedly, but I do not see the chaos to come when Title 42 expires next Wednesday and immigrants come across the border.

   Hundreds, maybe thousands are waiting in shelters at one site, just waiting until Title 42 expires so they can ask for asylum as they cross. Trump's Title 42 forbid them from claiming asylum and allowed the U.S. government to expel them.  So when Title 42 is gone, the doors will be open. Some say as many as 18,000 a day -- that's every day -- could be crossing into America at our southern border. 

   "It's  going to be utter chaos," Texas Gov. Greg Abbott says. 

  "Migrant surges hint at chaos at US-Mexico border once Title 42 expires," opines a headline in The Guardian.

  Voices on social media explode, saying chaos is coming. 

  Is it? There will be thousands and thousands crossing into America. They will be requesting asylum. The question is, is that chaos? The border agents will be busy; the immigration courts will be packed. Those are chaotic things.

   But, will there be chaos in terms of the danger to America?

   I don't see it. These are largely poverty-stricken people. They seek a better life; that's all. Accept them and absorb them. It might be "chaos" for those who are trying to keep them out. They might feel hopeless as their efforts become vain and they can find no way to stop the immigrants. It might be "chaos" to them.

  But to those who don't mind sharing the freedoms of their country, no chaos -- just an opportunity to help people coming from afar. 

Do Two Things to Fight for Release of the Kennedy Assassination Files

    OK, those of us who believe the full library of information on the Kennedy assassination should be released should push for two things: 

   (1) Push to find out if President Biden is being told what it is in the documents that is so super sensitive. Are the FBI, CIA, and other agencies sharing with him exactly what it is that is so dangerous? If not, shouldn't the president demand that they share the specific information? How can he make a decision to withhold information if he doesn't know the bare-bones reason for withholding it? If the sensitive information shows that the agencies bungled and missed on opportunities to arrest Lee Harvey Oswald before the assassination, has Biden been made aware of that? Ask the president, at the next opportunity. Ask him specifically if the agencies had Oswald in their scopes, but failed to act. Ask him if that is why all the files are not being released.

   (2) Push the agencies' heads to release all the files. Biden has said that come June, all files must be released . . . except those for which the agencies say there are strong reasons not to release. If he is leaving it to the agencies -- if he is leaving it to them to tell him if the library should be made public -- then it is they who should be pressed. Ask the CIA and FBI directors if they will be releasing everything. And if not, why not.

   November 22, 2023, will mark the 60th anniversary of the Kennedy assassination. It is way past time that the government be transparent and release all the files. 

Does the Internet Leave Something Out on What Increases Oil Prices?

  You can listen to the Internet, if you like, but I will take issue with what it says when you ask it what determines oil prices. Go ahead, ask it what the determinants are, and it will say:

"The two primary factors that impact the price of oil are: Supply and demand. Cost of production. Market sentiment."

I wonder, though, whether demand varies much. There is some variation, but is there enough to account for the rise of gas prices in the last 50 years? Gasoline and heating fuel are constant necessities. If you need 15 gallons of gas one week, you need the same 15 gallons the next. If you need so much heating oil to keep you house warm one winter, you usually need about the same the next winter. Supply and demand doesn't explain the rise in gasoline prices from 36 cents a gallon 50 years ago to $3.19 today.

A Simple Recipe for the Destruction of America

   A simple recipe for the destruction of America:

   First, bake up some stories against the leaders. The people are not going to rebel unless you give them someone to rebel against. They must hate their leaders if you are going to get them to throw them off. 

  Second, heat up them up. Discontent -- you need discontent. They need to be mad, mad, mad. Maybe America is not as great as it used to be. Maybe it's too woke. There are a ton of issues you  can call on to heat them up and make them mad. Heat to about 350 degrees.

  Mix in some patriotism. Convince them that what they are doing is simply what any patriotic person must do.

  Any good recipe requires some stirring. So, stir them up. Stir them up against each other. Democrats need to be stirred up against Republicans; Republicans need to be stirred up against Democrats. Stir, stir, stir. 

  Bake until they are convinced to rise up in insurrection and rebellion.

Don't Bite on the Bait

  Do not swallow on the bait that Biden and others are so wicked that it has reached a point that we must rebel against America in order to get rid of them. That is bait. Don't bite on it. Don't swallow the lie that they offer.

  Romney, Soros, Fauci, Gates, Bush, Obama . . . and the list goes on. Our leaders might have stands you disagree with, but don't throw out the baby with the bathwater. Don't throw out the freedom America enjoys just to get rid of them. Don't suppose the Jan. 6 insurrection was justified. Don't suppose further insurrections are worthy. 

  If you do, yo are taking the bait of those who would orchestrate the destruction of our nation. 

Marjorie Taylor Greene and Gavin Wax are Guilty of Treason

    Haven't heard a word about charging them with treason, but Marjorie Taylor Greene and Gavin Wax are guilty of it. The Constitution defines treason, saying it is levying war against our country, adhering to our enemies and giving them aid and comfort.

  Greene and Wax are guilty of that. 

   Greene, a U.S. representative from Georgia, speaking Saturday at a gala sponsored by the New York Young Republicans Club, spoke favorably of the Jan. 6 insurrection at the Capitol, saying that if she and Steve Bannon had organized it, "we would have won." Those words reflect an adherence to U.S. enemies and giving them comfort. 

  Wax, president of the New York Young Republicans, called for "total war."

  No, I do not wish Greene and Wax to be arrested for treason. Give them their free speech. But, they are guilty of treason, the same.  

Sometimes, the Voices of Rebellion Come Right Out and Say It

    Sometimes, the voices calling for a revolt against America come right out and say it.

   “We want to cross the Rubicon (that means to pass the point of no return). We want total war. We must be prepared to do battle in every arena. In the media, in the courtroom, at the ballot box, and in the streets,” New York Young Republican Club president Gavin Wax said Saturday at a club gala in New York City.

   During the gala, at least one speaker lauded the attendance of members of an Austrian political party founded by World War II-era German Nazi party members.

  U.S. Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene took hold of allegations that she had led tours of the Capitol for those preparing the Jan. 6 insurrection. “I will tell you something, if Steve Bannon and I organized that, we would have won,” she said.  “Not to mention, it would’ve been armed.” (The point is that she believes in the rebellion against the U.S., and laments that it wasn't successful.)

  Though the Donald Trump Jrs. and the Rudy Giulianis (Trump Jr. and Giuliani were in attendance at the gala) of the world might agree and be comfortable with the spirit of rebellion against the U.S. displayed at the gala, hopefully most Republicans are not.  

Prisoner Exchange: Trump for Obama, Clinton and Biden

   I propose a prisoner swap: Democrats give up Donald Trump if Republicans release Barack Obama, Hillary Clinton and Joe Biden. I know a three-for-one trade doesn't seem fair, but fair is what's on the table when you take it, so if the Republicans take the trade, it's fair.

  The trade will best be executed in the middle of the night. The Democrat populace will not be pleased to hear that Trump is going free, and the Republican base will be very upset that here they have fought all these years against Obama, Clinton and Biden just to have them set free. But, if their leaders say it should be done, it should. 

   And, it should. Republicans have been so insistent on sending Obama, Clinton and Biden to jail, and Trump is in so much trouble that he likely will end up in jail, that there just is no other path forward.

  Now, to rip this prisoner-exchange conversation from being pure silliness, and move it into the realm of reality, I would ask what "prison" am I talking about? The prison of public opinion, of course.  

There's a Scandal in Kansas City Like Few Others

There's a scandal in Kansas City. Call it the Golubski Scandal, and it taints the police there like few scandals have ever tainted police departments.

The question is whether there's a sincere effort to clean it up. Crime of this magnitude must be cleaned up. But, it might not happen in Kansas City.

Name it -- the scandal -- after Roger Golubski. He's the former detective who allegedly preyed on innocent women, sexually assaulting them, abusing them, and threatening to kill them. It was Golubski who allegedly protected drug dealers. It was Golubski who allegedly framed innocent people and sent them to jail.

So, you would ask, if it was just Golubski, why blame the whole department?

Start with the fact that Golubski spent 35 years in the department. Start with the fact that others in the department were well aware of his activity. Start with the fact that former police chief Terry Zeigler served as Golubski's partner for several years.

And take it from there.

A retired Kansas City detective, in a 2015 deposition, said it was well known throughout the department that Golubski was "having sex with Black, drug-addicted prostitutes."

Others knew.  

“Even if someone wants to argue it is just (Golubski), there’s an entire system that not only permitted him to do it, but supported him and promoted him,” said Tricia Rojo Bushnell, co-director of the Wrongful Conviction Clinic. 

Rojo Bushnell and a host of others have called for a federal investigation. The mayor, himself, once called for a federal investigation -- but that was when he was running for mayor. Once he was elected, he backed off.  “After talking and consulting with the law enforcement community here, if that’s something where I need to stand with them in that regard. I’m going to follow their lead because they’re the law enforcement professionals, not me,” Mayor Tyrone Garner said.

Somebody should remind him that when the wolf is guarding the chicken house, an internal investigation is not nearly enough. There should not only be a DOJ investigation, but a start to cleaning up the mess. You might say that is already underway, as a new police chief is conducting the internal investigation. 

My reply? The new chief is beholden to those over him. He's rubbing shoulders every day with officials who are persuading him everything is all right. When you are investigating your buds, that's called a conflict of interest. If you were a judge, you'd have to recuse yourself; if you are the chief, you should excuse yourself.

More than just that, what is the harm of a federal investigation? If you just want to get the truth, why ever would you say, "No, no, we don't want federal officers snooping around here. This is our job"? If you want the mess cleaned up, you welcome the federal officers. You say, "Yes, we are going to continue our own, internal, review, but of course you are welcome to also look. The more eyes that are on it, the better."

Coverups begin with those who try to keep things inside. Kansas City must not let that happen.

The Constitution Could Have Been Abused to Elect Trump . . . Legally

    Do not believe for a minute that I believed this way of getting Trump re-elected would have been just. It is ironic, though, that this past week he suggested throwing out part of the Constitution in order to get elected while the same document has hidden in it a path that could have elected him. If the state legislatures in a few states had thrown out the Democrat electors and appointed Republican ones in their places, what havoc and chaos it would have caused . . . yet how legal it would have been.

   I blogged three years ago today:

   An idea out of Georgia has potential to turn this election on its end, and sweep Donald Trump into office, after all.  

   It's hidden there in the Constitution. "Each State shall appoint, in such Manner as the Legislature thereof may direct, a Number of Electors." Let those words echo, "In such manner as the legislature thereof may direct." The Constitution grants state legislatures power to select the electors to the Electoral College -- and it doesn't restrict the legislators in any way in how they go about it. It doesn't say they can't retract one set of electors in favor of another. It doesn't say they can't make the change after the popular election has already taken place. It doesn't say they have to abide the popular vote. 

   "In such manner as the legislature thereof may direct . . .  In such manner as the legislature thereof may direct . . .  In such manner as the legislature thereof may direct."

   It's all up to them. 

   While this idea has potential. It won't make it. Georgia's Governor Brian Kemp has issued a strong statement against the six legislators from his state who want to replace the existing electors. And, in no other state, to my knowledge, is there even a move to replace electors.  

   It wouldn't be just. But, it would be all so constitutionally legal.  

Farmers and Ranchers Should Be Allowed to Use Our Water

Salt Lake Tribune's Pat Bagley posted this cartoon on Facebook with the note, "Alfalfa slurps up 67% of Utah’s water, yet is only responsible for .2% of the Utah economy. What do you think?"

Pat, Can you complain about alfalfa taking the water while still running off to McDonald's to grab a hamburger?

I grew up on a farm in Idaho where we grew alfalfa. Raising sheep, we fed the hay to them, and then sold off the rest to cattle ranchers and dairymen. While a lot of the Bear River water does go to Idaho, I don't believe we used any. A large underground reservoir was discovered as the settlers were moving in, and it provided the irrigation water.
But, I sympathize with Utah farmers and ranchers. Yes, I can see outlawing the sale of alfalfa cubes to foreign countries, but what water is being used for our own crops and cattle should not be taken from the farmers, ranchers and dairymen. If you think otherwise, quit drinking milk.

We were warned that all our growth would eat up our water. I'm not against growth, per se, but if the projections tell you you are going to run out of water, yes, you should put a stop to the growth. I don't know whether alfalfa farmers slurp up 67 percent of our water, but it seems questionable. If we took away the alfalfa farmer and still had the urban growth, would we still have a water problem? I'm guessing we would. But, if we took away the urban growth but kept the alfalfa farmer, would we still have a water problem? Something tells me no.

 

The Subleties of Today's Memes

 There's a new meme circulating on Facebook. It comes with a picture of an American flag, a rainbow, a soaring eagle, and a shiny old-model pickup truck. "I miss the America I grew up in!" it says.

I would ask, what's changed? We still live in the land of the free. What is the purpose of such a statement? When a person reads it, they consider all the ways America was better back then. "I miss the America I grew up in"? Underlying that statement is the insinuation that this is not the same America; America is not as great as it was back then.

There are those who would stir up discontent and foment discord and lead us on a path to insurrection. We know they are using social media. We've been warned. Yet, when we see memes such as this, we fail to recognize them for what they are: subtle messages seeking to align us with those who would rise up in rebellion. 

I Will Wonder; I Will Hope

 We can wonder if competition between ham, chicken, and beef helps keep the cost of meat down. How many times have you wanted meat, but not wanted expensive meat, so you bought tuna fish?

So, should we wonder if the lack of other cars (other than gasoline cars) has contributed to the high price of gasoline today? You may argue that all this is just silly, as the very reason there haven't been non-gasoline vehicles is that they are not anywhere near as inexpensive, in the first place.

I will wonder. 

All I know is that competition never hurts.

You might also argue that electric vehicles are now bursting on the market, yet car prices are higher than ever.

Inflation, in general, is up, and that might be the big factor in car prices. So, perhaps it is too quick to say EV's won't help. All I can say, is we can hope EVs flood the market, and that abundance pulls the price of all cars down. 

(Index -- Climate change info)

Love Samuel Adams Words, but not How They Are Being Used

"If you love wealth more than liberty, the tranquility of servitude better than the animating contest of freedom, depart from us in peace. We ask not your counsel nor your arms. Crouch down and lick the hand that feeds you. May your chains rest lightly upon you and may posterity forget that you were our countrymen." -- Samuel Adams

 I love the quote. I love the sentiment. I just fear when I see it on Facebook, it is being used to foment rebellion against the U.S. government. These are times when, "Go home from us in peace. We ask not your councils or arms," can be used to suggest the time has come and only cowards would not take up arms against the government.

We Are Lambs Being Led to Slaughter If We Fall for These Posts

The following is a post being circulated on Facebook. I will repeat what I have suggested before: Someone (through social media posts) is stirring up discord, attempting to undermine America. The post promises that war is coming, and it endeavors to prove government is the cause of all our problems. The insinuation is clear: We need to rise up in rebellion against the U.S. government. Like blind lambs being led to slaughter? That's what we are if we fall for posts like this.

The FB post:

"I don’t give a Rats ass, who this offends, but I stand by it. War is coming, sooner or later! You the Government!! You are all a bunch of cowards! You raised the cost of living so high that both parents are always at work, rather than spending time with their children (single parents stand no chance)

"😥. You took God out of schools. Parents were told 'No you can't discipline your kids'. Well, now most of those kids are rude and out of control. You shall reap what you sow! We have taken a whole generation and turned them into selfish, entitled brats who have no respect for people, property or authority! You deem people with terminal illnesses and some with only a few months to live…fit for work!!! You allow our veterans of war to go homeless and hungry but give out millions to foreign aid!!! You save drug addicts over and over again but refuse to give free diabetic supplies to those who need them to stay alive. You bend over backwards to be politically correct, too scared to say enough is enough, in case you offend someone. You put the retirement age up so people must work until they drop. You take care of prisoners and give them everything under the sun (food, medical, education, representation, money, rehabilitation) yet you cause the elderly, those that have paid their debt to society and their families, to go broke caring for them either at home or in a nursing home... THINGS NEED TO CHANGE!
"Copy & paste if you have the guts! I did!!
"( I am betting most of my friends don't have any guts. Offended now? I don't need to be popular I just need to be true to myself and my standards!) Can I get an amen?"

I Searched, but Found no Justification for Gasoline-Price Increases

 So, the average price for a gallon of gas is down to $3.45. Should we be satisfied, or say, no, that's not near enough?

  Say, no, it's not near enough. It was 36 cents fifty years ago. What's changed? Is oil more expensive to drill for, produce, or distribute? Or, have the oil barons just been increasing their take all along? An almost tenfold increase in price argues that it is being sold for vastly more than it needs to be. 

  Crude oil was about $25 a barrel fifty years ago; today it's about $80. So, the increase in money being taken is being taken mostly after being refined. Has the process of refining oil gone up, became more expensive? We can guess it hasn't had that significant increase, but what of mandates imposed to cut down on pollution? 

   It was also about fifty years ago that the EPA started to phase out lead in gasoline. Lead gas was about 3 to 10 cents cheaper than no-lead. That is worthy to note, but hardly indicative of gas prices going up so much over the years. 

   There are fewer refineries in operation than there once were; has that led to such a massive increase in the at-the-pump price? I doubt it.

   We pay 18.4 cents federal tax on a gallon of gas. That's significant. It was only 4 cents in 1972, and did not jump until 1982 and 1990 -- but pump prices declined, if anything, after both jumps. So, don't blame it on federal taxes.

   State taxes have soared. They were about 7 cents a gallon fifty years ago. Now, the average tax is about 29 cents a gallon. That still doesn't account for a tenfold increase in prices at the pump. One of the bigger jumps came when the state tax average went up just more than 2 cents from 1990 to 1991. Pump prices dropped 14 cents. So, don't blame it on state taxes.

   There's my search to see if there's justification for gasoline prices being so high. I can find no reason. Reason for gas to cost more than it did fifty years ago? Yes. But reason for it to be tenfold more expensive? Not at all. Prices having soared from 36 cents a gallon fifty years ago to $3.45 now just are not justified. 

Internet Swift in Responding to Trump's Call to Suspend Constitution

 Reaction was swift and condemning as President Trump today called for suspending the Constitution in order to reinstate him as president. 

"Internet cries 'TREASON' as Donald Trump bizarrely calls for termination of Constitution!" -- news blogger  Meenakshi Sengupta

"You cannot only love America when you win,” said White House spokesperson Andrew Bates.  “. . . Attacking the Constitution and all it stands for is anathema to the soul of our nation."

CNN's Jim Acosta said Trump was demonstrating his "hostility to the American way of life and democracy in this country," then added, "It is a reminder of what the country was going through around January 6th."

"The only accurate thing Donald Trump says is that to do what he is recommending would require termination of the constitution which, of course, would leave us without a democracy." -- legal analyst Elie Honig

"A few hours ago the leader of the republican party donald trump called for destroying the Constitution and making himself dictator," -- New Jersey Rep. Bill Pascrell

"Have we become immune to how radical and dangerous this all is?" -- blogger Rick Hasen

"Just some casual Saturday treason," -- The Daily Beast's Matt Fuller.

 "No American conservative can agree with Donald Trump's call to suspend the Constitution." -- former National Security Advisor John Bolton

"Donald Trump has openly declared himself an enemy of the Constitution." -- Virginia Rep. Don Beyer

"The unsettling totalitarian tendencies of Donald Trump have long posed an imminent threat to American democracy and freedom." -- Daily Kos 

Trump's own words were, in a social media post:
"So, with the revelation of MASSIVE & WIDESPREAD FRAUD & DECEPTION in working closely with Big Tech Companies, the DNC, & the Democrat Party, do you throw the Presidential Election Results of 2020 OUT and declare the RIGHTFUL WINNER, or do you have a NEW ELECTION? A Massive Fraud of this type and magnitude allows for the termination of all rules, regulations, and articles, even those found in the Constitution. Our great 'Founders' did not want, and would not condone, False & Fraudulent Elections!"

Genius is 50 Percent Staying Calm and Collected

    The wise ones will tell you about their compositon. "Genius is one percent inspiration and 99 percent perspiration,” Thomas Edison -- one of the wisest of them all -- is said to have said.

   He should know.

   From the dunce's end of the court, I would offer an additional formula. Genius is 50 belief, desire, and staying cool under pressure. All people have brain cells. Not everyone uses them, but we all have brain cells. How about we theorize that since brain cells are pretty much the same, the ability of those brain cells is pretty much the same? 

   But, brain cells can freeze over under pressure. Even people with brains can be intimitated. They can decide not to give the effort. (Edison warned us on that one, didn't he?) They can fail to believe in themselves. And, they can be distracted by various forms of entertainment, and responsibilities.

   It's like the engine of a car: it only works if you put it in gear. 

Ads Need to Turn to Creativity, not Negativity

   How about just creativity -- not negativity -- in those political ads? I mean, we live in a world where music videos just blow you away, and where TVs and movies are so unbelievably creative. 

   I don't know. I don't watch much TV, so perhaps I'm just off a channel. But, it seems to me campaign ads have no where near the dramatic effects that music videos have. Not even close.

   So, how about we drop that into the ads and drop out all the negativity? I mean we should be able to do some phenomenally clever ads depicting candidates in favorable ways. Attack ads out; just good, clean, fun ads in their place.

   If you do a good job selling yourself, you don't need to sell the other person short. All the tools and talent are there to make this happen. Mudslinging, be gone. Cute and creative, be in.

You Still Can't Afford an Electric Vehicle, But . . .

   Yes, it's true, it's true. I'm fully aware that the average price of an electric vehicle is $64,000, while the average for a gasoline car is, well, $48,000. (I'd say, "just $48,000," or "only $48,000" or "but $48,000," but those words are hardly appropriate when the price is that high. "Only a staggering $48,000" works, though.)

  But I need you to consider a few things. You won't need to change the oil, so no cost there. You won't have so many repairs since there are not so many moving parts, so time and money spent in the garage will be down. And, if you do the recharging at your home instead of relying on commercial rechargers, you are going to save a bundle from the fuel price of a gas car.

  Oh, and the government will give you a $7,500 tax credit, and some states offer price rebates. Take those off the sticker price and the average difference between N old-fashioned gas car and A new-fashioned EV is drastically reduced.

  Okay, we still haven't arrived at making it affordable for you to buy an EV, but we've come a long ways. And, as far as an EV costing more to buy and run than a gas car? It's probably just about even.

(Index -- climate change  info)

The Strange Case of 'PacMan' Pacquaio and 'Skinny' Hussein

Manny Pacquiao, one of the greatest boxers of all time -- they called him "PacMan" -- benefited from the cheating help of a referee to get there. Perhaps it should be the man who outboxed him that day -- a fighter you probably have never heard of, -- who deserves the greater legacy.

Nedal "Skinny" Hussein from Australia. Hussein came into the match undefeated, and on the verge of international stardom. He floored Pacquiao in the fourth round, but referee Carlos Padilla -- the same Carlos Padilla who had refereed The Thrilla in Manila and many other of boxing's greatest matches and was now refereeing his final bout -- gave Pacquiao a long and generous time to recover (eighteen seconds).

Padilla? He was a local, a Filipino -- same as Pacquiao,  

There were signs there would be foul play even before the two boxers touched gloves to come out fighting. Hussein was placed in a hotel two hours away from the venue. He was given different gloves. And, in the fight, itself, the long count in the fourth round was not the only thing that tilted things for Pacquiao. In the deciding round, Padilla encouraged the doctor to stop the fight due at a cut on Hussein from a headbutt.

So, PacMan was awarded a technical knockout, vaulting him into a big title fight. He went on become one of the most revered athletes on the planet. Later in life, he entered politics, serving as a senator and running for the presidency of the Philippines.

Hussein? Even though he remained undefeated for the next few years -- other than the loss to Pacquaio -- he was not even given a chance to fight for a world title, "I know for a fact that it took the soul out of me," he told the Sporting News. He suggests there were likely shenanigans in other fights Padilla refereed. “He had obviously done it before," Hussein said.

"I hated the sport after that," Hussein said. "I just couldn’t handle the politics."

Hussein ended his career in 2007 with a 43-5 record, compared to the 62-8-2 mark posted by Pacquiao when he left the ring in 2021. PacMan was the first fighter to win titles in eight different weight divisions, He is the first boxer ever to hold world titles in four different decades. And, of course, he was inducted into boxing's hall of fame. 

The crooked ref, Padilla, was also inducted into boxing's hall of fame.

Now, here's the interesting thing about this story: How do we know of Padilla's corruption? Well, from his own lips. Padilla spilled the beans on himself in a recent interview. "'I thought he was going to get up, but his eyes were cross eyed," Padilla. laughing, said of Pacquiao being knocked down in the fourth round. "I am Filipino and everybody watching the fight is Filipino, so I prolonged the count. I know how to do it."

Padilla spoke of how if there's a headbutt, the ref stops the fight for a moment and tells the judges to deduct a point from the fighter doing the headbutting. In the tenth round, Pacquaio headbutted Hussein, resulting in a cut. At that time, Padilla said,  he hinted to the doctor to stop the bout: “The doctor -- he already sensed what I meant -- he climbed up (and I waved off the bout).” 

History was made, but it is just now being told.

Election Results by Trump Decree?

If you don't like the way the election turned out, appoint the loser to be the winner. I refer to a news story titled, "Trump Demands Kari Lake Be Made Arizona Governor After Her Defeat."

And we suggest that Democracy in America is not under siege? Most troubling to me is a word Trump used -- "Installed."  "Kari Lake should be installed Governor of Arizona," he said. "Installed," to me, has little regard for who won the election or whether his (and her) charge that the election was rigged should be proven. Dictators might be "installed," but in America, we elect our leaders.

In America, you don't have the power to just accuse the other side of cheating and therefore be awarded the office.

But, are the protections against that eroding? Is Trump chipping away at Democracy? Is a day coming when the vote will no longer be meaninful, but rather who Trump declares the winner be given the office?

Impersonating Us on Facebook? Throw Them All in Jail

The thieves of Facebook. They come along and impersonate your account with a fake one made from stealing your pictures. 

Fraud. 

And, we ought to be doing more to fight it. Is there not a way to trace back when people steal your pictures and info? Or, once the fake account is up and running, surely it is possible to tie it to a computer source. 

We have the FBI for a reason, but I often think they don't do much against Internet fraud. I'm not sure these thieves should be so hard to catch. Or, is it that there are no laws against taking someone's pictures off their page and using them to create a fake account?

We need one of two things, or maybe both. (One) /A law enforcement agency dedicated to fighting Internet fraud. If that is there only job, they will be forced to be more accountable. It becomes that if you don't solve the crime, you are an abase failure. (Two) we need laws that outlaw all the specifics of Internet abuse.

The idea is, when someone commits a crime, you track them down. We are not getting much but a limp effort out of our current law enforcement.

Don't Have To, Want To

 It is not the person -- or team -- that has to be good, but the one that wants to be good that ultimately gains the victory. What I'm saying, is that the weight of heavy expectations has ruined its share of players.

Left them feeling like a deer in the headlights. Made them freeze in the middle of the game. Gave them a mental block. Left them panic-stricken. . . . However you want to say it, the have-to, have to, have to feeling has torn apart more players and teams than it has ever lifted to glory.

Don't say you have to do it, say you want to. Thirst to be great. Dream of reaching the goal.  Want something so bad it's a joy just to go out and pursue it, but don't want it so bad you become a broken person if you don't get it.

You know the old adage, Enjoy the ride. 

Never give up on yourself. Keep wanting and plotting, and planning and pursuing. Continue to think you can do it.

Just don't think you have to. Enjoy. Have fun. Be happy. Drowning in your tears is a poor way to fill a swimming pool to swim in, but laughing in the rain just might get it done.

There Should Be Three Filters

 Such a great story belongs up there with the one about Thumper being told that if you don't have anything nice to say, don't say anything at all. Or, the one where Chicken Little says the sky is falling in. Or, "The Emperor's New Clothes by Hans Christian Andersen.

You know, stories with morals. 

This story is so great, it ought to be required reading. Well, maybe let's not go that far, but if people were to take the advice offered in this story, the world would be tenfold better. Don't know who wrote it, but it is wonderful. 

And now, our feature attraction:

Socrates, one of the greatest Greek philosophers, who lived from 469 – 399 BC, shunned gossip. It is said that one day he came upon an acquaintance who ran up to him excitedly and said, “Socrates, do you know what I just heard about one of your students?”

“Wait a moment,” Socrates replied: “Before you tell me I’d like you to pass a little test. It’s called the Triple Filter Test.”

“Triple filter?” his friend asked.

“That’s right,” Socrates continued. “Before you talk to me about my student let’s take a moment to filter what you’re going to say. The first filter is Truth. Have you made absolutely sure that what you are about to tell me is true?”

“No,” the man said, “actually I just heard about it and…”

“All right,” said Socrates. “So you don’t really know if it’s true or not. Now let’s try the second filter, the filter of Goodness. Is what you are about to tell me about my student something good?”

“No, on the contrary… “

“So,” Socrates continued, “you want to tell me something bad about him, even though you’re not certain it’s true?” The man shrugged, a little embarrassed. Socrates continued. “You may still pass the test though, because there is a third filter – the filter of Usefulness. Is what you want to tell me about my student going to be useful to me?”

“No, not really,” the man admitted.

“Well,” concluded Socrates, “if what you want to tell me is neither True nor Good nor even Useful, why tell it to me at all?”