Newt (The Politician not the Amphibian)

I attended a conference this week at which Newt Gingrich was the Keynote Speaker. He was very good. Some of what he said, mainly about the environment and oil, I adamantly disagreed with him. However, his points on education, immigration and technology were reasonable in my view.

The most interesting thing he said, and I have no way to verify these assertions, was in regard to an impending technology explosion. Newt claimed that in the next 25 years technology will change 4 to 7 times faster than in the past 25 years.

His examples were: For us to understand the technology of 2033 would be equivalent to us explaining today's technology to folks in 1860's America. Cars, planes, phone, electricity, nuclear power, computers, TV, etc. didn't exist in those days. This is if the multiple is 4 times.

If the multiple is 7 times faster, for us to understand the technology of 2033 would be equivalent to us explaining today's technology to Sir Isaac Newton in the 1600's. Wow.

The technology is basically about computing power via the wireless world. Thus science and math become even more critical for us as a nation and ultimately the world. Another presenter at the conference asserted that 70% of math and science classes taught in U.S K-12 public schools are taught by non-mathematician and non-scientists.

This is totally unreasonable and very scary.

McCain

In order to mitigate his desire to mess up Alaska, the oceans, etc. to get more domestic oil, McCain now says he will give someone $300 million dollars if they develop a super battery on which to operate a car. Further, he will give a tax credit to folks buying a zero emission car. How nice when compared to George's credit for buying a 5,000 pound rig that gets 7 miles to the gallon.

Since we have to get less dependent on foreign oil and it will take time, I guess this is as good a plan as possible. I hope he means it about the credits, etc.

Score one for McCain for proposing something reasonable.

5 Months and Counting

With less that 5 full months to the general election, where are the normal cast of characters to tell us what to think?

• NRA? Haven't heard much since Moses died.
• ACLU? Who cares what they have to say anyway?
• Religious Right? Gotta be lurking somewhere getting ready to tell us that Christians run this country and that we are all going to hell soon.
• Anti-Religious types? Also have to be lurking waiting to tell us that religion is cloudy and has no role whatsoever in making up people's minds.
• Pro-Choice? Laying low waiting for McCain to decide. I think he is a bit fuzzy here.
• Anti-Abortionists? Explaining how abstinence is the answer to begin with. Then when the young lady gets pregnant and ends up on welfare, they run for cover and say giving a handout to the girl is to condone her amoral life.
• Anti-Illegal Immigrants? Alive and well, at least here in AZ. Go get'm Sheriff Joe!
• Pro-Illegal Immigrants? trying desperately to tell us that we are not forward thinking enough since we are a nation of immigrants. Somehow, those of us who favor tough laws are unfeeling.

I trust all the extremists will be out in full force soon. Otherwise, reasonable people won't know how to think.

Something in the Air

There sure have been a lot of famous people dying lately. Today we get word that George Carlin has died of a heart attack.

Shit!

Oh yea, that is one of the seven words George deemed to be off limits for the airwaves. Google him and you will find the other six. As my mother reads this blog, I cannot repeat them in this space.

I hope George found a place for his stuff.

He was a funny guy.

Shit!!

Tim Russert

I admit that during the normal course of a year I might watch Meet the Press about two times on a Sunday morning. I was certainly counting on watching regularly as the election season dragged on.

I planned on watching Meet the Press because of Tim Russert. I agree with the accolades bestowed upon Mr. Russert over the past week. He was well informed, impartial, tough, and fair. When I was done watching, I felt like I learned something. I didn't feel like facts were being left out or exaggerated to influence me one way or another.

Thomas Sowell, the conservative pundit wrote about Mr. Russert, "His agenda was bringing out the facts. He didn't let the politicians he interviewed get away with slippery statements and inconsistent positions. But it was not "gotcha" journalism. It was not trying to filter or slant information to promote some political or ideological agenda."

I believe that is the highest praise one can give to a journalist. It is ridiculous that you have to watch CNN and Fox both just to hear both sides of an issue. There was Russert to fill that role and now there isn't.

Bird Feeder

This was sent to me (no original thought on my part), but I like the analogy. It is reasonable to reprint.

I bought a bird feeder. I hung it on my back porch and filled it with seed. What a beauty of a bird feeder it is, as I filled it lovingly with seed. Within a week we had hundreds of birds taking advantage of the continuous flow of free and easily accessible food.

But then the birds started building nests in the boards of the patio, above the table, and next to the barbecue. Then came the poop. It was everywhere: on the patio tile, the chairs, and the table. Everywhere!Then some of the birds turned mean. They would dive bomb me and try to peck me even though I had fed them out of my own pocket. And others birds were boisterous and loud. They sat on the feeder and squawked and screamed at all hours of the day and night and demanded that I fill it when it got low on food.

After a while, I couldn't even sit on my own back porch anymore. So I took down the bird feeder and in three days the birds were gone. I cleaned up their mess and took down the many nests they had built all over the patio. Soon, the back yard was like it used to be....quiet, serene and no one demanding their rights to a free meal.

Now let's see. Our government gives out free food, subsidized housing, free medical care, and free education and allows anyone born here to be an automatic citizen. Then the Illegals came by the tens of thousands. Suddenly our taxes went up to pay for free services; small apartments are housing 5 families; you have to wait 6 hours to be seen by an emergency room doctor; your child's 2nd grade class is behind other schools because over half the class doesn't speak English. Corn Flakes now come in a bilingual box; I have to 'press one' to hear my bank talk to me in English, and people waving flags other than 'Old Glory' are squawking and screaming in the streets, demanding more rights and free liberties.

Just my opinion, but maybe it's time for the government to take down the bird feeder. If you agree, pass it on; if not, continue cleaning up the poop.

Obama on Black Fathers

While I continue to be unsure of Barack Obama's worthiness of the presidency, I also continue to marvel at his forthrightness on race.

He is uniquely qualified as a minority-major candidate to tackle certain issues, if for no other reason than he is half Black. When he says that Black fathers need to be involved with their kids, he knows of what he speaks.

In my opinion, that shows leadership.

Think if George, who showed great leadership after 9-11, had shown the same on energy; as an oilman he was uniquely qualified to say, we need to get less dependent on oil and find other ways to provide energy to our country. We would be 8 years ahead of where we are today - hostages to an angry South American-Arab group of oil suppliers.

Score one for Barack. We need a leader more now than perhaps anytime since the post-Vietnam War era.

The Best

Today was a great Father's Day. My two teenage boys got up early and took me to Breakfast. Fabulous.

Interesting

Did you ever notice that conservative pundits spend an enormous amount of time bashing the media? That isn't so interesting; it is expected and getting old, frankly.

What is interesting is that these same pundits always justify staying in the Iraq war because of the great gains being made as reported in the media. Huh? They write/say things like, "people who want to get out of Iraq prematurely should read the newspaper reports about the great gains our brave men and women are making."

The only reasonable thing these pundits should be railing about is how poorly we treat the "brave men and women" when they come home from this ridiculous war.

Now that is interesting.

Laughing is Wonderful!

After the last blog entry I decided that a good laugh was needed. No original thought here.

In the beginning, God created the Heavens and the earth and populated the Earth with broccoli, cauliflower and spinach, green and yellow and red vegetables of all kinds, so Man and Woman would live long and healthy lives. Then, using God's great gifts, Satan created Ben and Jerry's Ice Cream and Krispy Creme Donuts. And Satan said, "You want chocolate with that?" And Man said, "Yes!" and Woman said, "and as long as you're at it, add some sprinkles." And they gained 10 pounds. And Satan smiled.

And God created the healthful yogurt. And Satan brought forth white flour from the wheat, and sugar from the cane and combined them. And Woman went from size 12 to size 18. So God said, "Try my fresh green salad." And Satan presented Thousand-Island Dressing, buttery croutons and garlic toast on the side. And Man and Woman unfastened their belts following the repast.

God then said, "I have sent you heart healthy vegetables and olive oil in which to cook them." And Satan brought forth deep fried fish and chicken-fried steak so big it needed its own platter. And Man gained more weight and his cholesterol went through the roof. God then created a light, fluffy white cake, named it "Angel Food Cake," and said, "It is good." Satan then created chocolate cake and named it "Devil's Food."

God then brought forth running shoes so that His children might lose those extra pounds. And Satan gave cable TV with a remote control so Man would not have to toil changing the channels. And Man and Woman laughed and cried before the flickering blue light and gained pounds. Then God brought forth the potato, naturally low in fat and brimming with nutrition. And Satan peeled off the healthful skin and sliced the starchy center into chips and deep-fried them. And Man gained pounds.

God then gave lean beef so that Man might consume fewer calories and still satisfy his appetite. And Satan created McDonald's and its 99-cent double cheeseburger. Then said, "You want fries with that?" And Man replied, "Yes! And super size them!" And Satan said, "It is good."And Man went into cardiac arrest.

God sighed and created quadruple bypass surgery.

Then Satan created HMOs.

Long Blog

First an apology and a couple of notes. This is a very long blog - thus the apology. Notes:

• These two emails were forwarded to me, thus there is limited original thought
• I do not agree with all parts of the reprinted items
• With the overall tone of both I do agree

By David Brooks. The people who created the United States built a moral structure around money. The Puritan legacy inhibited luxury and self-indulgence. Benjamin Franklin spread a practical gospel that emphasized hard work, temperance and frugality. Millions of parents, preachers, newspaper editors and teachers expounded the message. The result was quite remarkable.

The United States has been an affluent nation since its founding. But the country was, by and large, not corrupted by wealth. For centuries, it remained industrious, ambitious and frugal. Over the past 30 years, much of that has been shredded. The social norms and institutions that encouraged frugality and spending what you earn have been undermined. The institutions that encourage debt and living for the moment have been strengthened.

The country's moral guardians are forever looking for decadence out of Hollywood and reality TV. But the most rampant decadence today is financial decadence, the trampling of decent norms about how to use and harness money. Sixty-two scholars have signed on to a report by the Institute for American Values and other think tanks called, "For a New Thrift: Confronting the Debt Culture," examining the results of all this. This may be damning with faint praise, but it's one of the most important think-tank reports you'll read this year.

The deterioration of financial mores has meant two things. First, it's meant an explosion of debt that inhibits social mobility and ruins lives. Between 1989 and 2001, credit-card debt nearly tripled, soaring from $238 billion to $692 billion. By last year, it was up to $937 billion, the report said. Second, the transformation has led to a stark financial polarization. On the one hand, there is what the report calls the investor class. It has tax-deferred savings plans, as well as an army of financial advisers. On the other hand, there is the lottery class, people with little access to 401(k)'s or financial planning but plenty of access to payday lenders, credit cards and lottery agents. The loosening of financial inhibition has meant more options for the well-educated but more temptation and chaos for the most vulnerable.

Social norms, the invisible threads that guide behavior, have deteriorated. Over the past years, Americans have been more socially conscious about protecting the environment and inhaling tobacco. They have become less socially conscious about money and debt.

The agents of destruction are many. State governments have played a role. They aggressively hawk their lottery products, which some people call a tax on stupidity. Twenty percent of Americans are frequent players, spending about $60 billion a year. The spending is starkly regressive. A household with income under $13,000 spends, on average, $645 a year on lottery tickets, about 9 percent of all income. Aside from the financial toll, the moral toll is comprehensive. Here is the government, the guardian of order, telling people that they don't have to work to build for the future. They can strike it rich for nothing. Payday lenders have also played a role. They seductively offer fast cash - at absurd interest rates - to 15 million people every month. Credit card companies have played a role. Instead of targeting the financially astute, who pay off their debts, they've found that they can make money off the young and vulnerable. Fifty-six percent of students in their final year of college carry four or more credit cards. Congress and the White House have played a role. The nation's leaders have always had an incentive to shove costs for current promises onto the backs of future generations. It's only now become respectable to do so. Wall Street has played a role. Bill Gates built a socially useful product to make his fortune. But what message do the compensation packages that hedge fund managers get send across the country?

The list could go on. But the report, which is nicely summarized by Barbara Dafoe Whitehead in The American Interest (available free online), also has some recommendations. First, raise public consciousness about debt the way the anti-smoking activists did with their campaign. Second, create institutions that encourage thrift. Foundations and churches could issue short-term loans to cut into the payday lenders' business. Public and private programs could give the poor and middle class access to financial planners. Usury laws could be enforced and strengthened. Colleges could reduce credit card advertising on campus. KidSave accounts would encourage savings from a young age. The tax code should tax consumption, not income, and in the meantime, it should do more to encourage savings up and down the income ladder.

There are dozens of things that could be done. But the most important is to shift values.Franklin made it prestigious to embrace certain bourgeois virtues. Now it's socially acceptable to undermine those virtues. It's considered normal to play the debt game and imagine that decisions made today will have no consequences for the future.

Now, the other email which is a prayer and I suppose quite out of character for a reasonable blogger.

Billy Graham's prayer aired by Paul Harvey

Heavenly Father, we come before you today to ask your forgiveness and to seek your direction and guidance. We know Your Word says, 'Woe to those who call evil good,' but that is exactly what we have done. We have lost our spiritual equilibrium and reversed our values. We have exploited the poor and called it the lottery. We have rewarded laziness and called it welfare. We have killed our unborn and called it choice. We have shot abortionists and called it justifiable. We have neglected to discipline our children and called it building self esteem. We have abused power and called it politics. We have coveted our neighbor's possessions and called it ambition. We have polluted the air with profanity and pornography and called it freedom of expression. We have ridiculed the time-honored values of our forefathers and called it enlightenment. Search us, Oh God, and know our hearts today; cleanse us from every sin and set us free. Amen!

Again, I don't agree with all parts, neither will you, but I find it interesting that the general theme is one and the same.

George and Iran

I hope and pray that someone in the Bush administration gets George to go quietly to the end of this term. Unfortunately he has about 6 more months to get us mired in some ridiculous situation in Iran.

The Iranian government is run by clerics and the largely powerless President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad. The clerics don't much like Ahmadinejad's rhetoric either. They do however have the same dislike for the west (read us.)

Still, with U.S. troops now taking Prozac to cope in Iraq, the foe in Iraq being faceless non-Iraqis, and all the other nuttiness over there, we need to stay away from Iran. Let the EU put the pressure on Iran with the U.S. being in the background.

It is totally unreasonble to think that we can fight in Iran.

Water - The Most Important Liquid

In the Southwest of the US there is a drought. Arizona is about half-way through an expected 25 year drought. The two fastest growing large U.S. cities are in the SW - Phoenix and Las Vegas. We get the majority of our water from the Colorado River. Interestingly, we get the water before the folks in Colorado.

In the Midwest, there is a flood from time to time. 1993 was bad and this past weekend didn't look too good either. In 1991 we fought the Gulf War and helped rebuild Kuwait. In 2001 we fought another Gulf War and are rebuilding Iraq.

What if Presidents Clinton and Bush had used this time and money since 1993 to build a series of pipelines to move water from high flood areas like the Mid-West, New Orleans, etc. to chronically thirsty areas like the Southwest? Think of how different Katrina aftermath would have been.

I know you are scoffing and saying, "Jeff has lost his mind." Why would the government build a pipeline to move water? I say we build one because water is more important than oil and we built an oil pipeline that worked just fine.

Building it would create jobs that actually served a purpose. Insurance companies might even help pay the freight if they saw a way to save billions of dollars endlessly rebuilding homes, businesses, etc. in high flood areas.

Maybe the next president or congress will quit rebuilding other countries and rebuild our own, creating jobs along the way. Wouldn't that be nice?

More About Which to Laugh

No original thought here. This was sent and it made me laugh. We need to laugh.

How times have changed.

I saw a billboard sign that said NEED HELP?

CALL JESUS 1-800-005-3787

Out of curiosity, I did.

A Mexican showed up with a lawnmower.

I Know the Phone Book Still Has Some Worth

Sometimes you just gotta laugh!

Finally, a Winner!

Barack Obama is going to be the candidate for the Dems and John McCain for the Reps. A liberal versus a moderate.

This is going to be a tough 5 months for all of us. We should have a contest to guess how many times we will see ads such as these:

• Democratic Ad showing John McCain with George Bush, either literally or figuratively. Bush III will be the theme, ad nauseum. (Probably accurate on the war, Iran, but not so true in many other areas.) War = huge deficit and McCain voted for and championed the war. This would fall into the No Tax, but Spend Anyway Catagory.
• Republican Ad indicating John McCain is very experienced and Barack Obama is not - evidenced by B.O.s willingness to talk to Iran, Cuba, etc.. True, but the question is, does that experience hurt or help us, since we have grave problems that are being ignored? The term Tax and Spend Liberal will arise once again.

I predict it will be close. The factors for the Dems are this: will the young new voters come out in November to support Barack Obama and will moderate White folks, when put to the test, really vote for a half-Black man? Prejudices are alive and well in this country. Will Hillary's supporters vote for Barack Obama or go with the moderate McCain. Very interesting!

The factors for the Reps are this: Can McCain distance himself from George Bush? It will be hard. If Iraq is stagnant or violence escalates-declines, then will the war factor rise? The economy will be huge and can McCain carry on an intelligent conversation about how to fix the mess? Will Conservatives sit this one out in order to punish the Republican Party for putting up a moderate candidate who has not supported the Religious Right over the years? (He has pandered a bit in this race however.)

The race is too close to call today, but I sure wish it would be sooner than 5 months to get the answer. The process is unreasonably long, but we will endure.

Timing is Everything

Wow, this morning in the AZ Republic there is an extensive article about gas prices fundamentally changing the auto industry in the U.S.. Finally Detroit has to admit that the falling sales of SUVs and trucks is not a trend or short term situation but a fundamental change in the business. Based on the chart I posted yesterday, its about time.

GM (remember them - "What's good for GM is a good for America") is closing 4 plants, costing 10,000 jobs over the next couple of years. These are plants that manufacture SUVs and trucks. They are adding shifts at plants that make cars. Their Hummer division is especially being hammered.

Now, who do you suppose was responsible for all those Hummers and huge trucks being sold? George Bush - that's who! He gave a tax credit (not a lowly deduction) for purchasing a vehicle over 5,000 lbs. or something ridiculous like that. Yes, he also provided a much smaller credit for buying a hybrid, but that batch of credits ran out very early on.

So what is going to happen to all those trucks and SUVs sitting on dealership lots? That is a reasonable question that will end up with an unreasonable answer.

Gas is our Achille's Heel

Here is a chart of recent gas prices from various places around the world. I found conflicting information in other publications but they were all indicating the same thing - GAS IS EXPENSIVE! (Click on the chart to expand.)

As Americans we should be very concerned about being held hostage by the oil producing countries. As American Nationalists we need to become more dependent on wind, solar, natural gas and less dependent on oil. If not, $4 per gallon is just the beginning. One report had gas in Turkey at $11 per gallon. Ouch. Notice the bottom 6 or 7 country's gas prices. Venezuela, whose President refers to us as "American Pigs" is apparently subsidizing his citizen's gas with money from us.

Write your congressman, your senator, the next President, whoever, and tell them to move along our national energy policy to be inclusive of alternative fuels and conservation. It is the only reasonable thing to do.

Leno - NOT!

I received a commentary piece via email attributed to Jay Leno. It was lamenting that we Americans are spoiled and really have nothing to be depressed about; We should be thankful for all that we have here in the USA. Agreed - this is still the greatest country on the planet. (I would just like to see it stay that way.)

This commentary was not written by Jay Leno. It was written by Craig R. Smith in an ezine called Worldnetdaily. It was first published in 2006 under the title, "Made in the USA: Spoiled Brats."
Jay Leno did during a monologue say, "As you know Hurricane Rita is headed toward Florida, Texas, and Louisiana. Another hurricane! It's like the 9th hurricane this season. Maybe this is not a good time to take God out of the Pledge of Allegiance."

Now don't get me wrong, the list of things to be grateful for is good. Mr. Smith said, "I started thinking, 'What are we so unhappy about?''
A.. Is it that we have electricity and running water 24 hours a day, 7 Days a week?
B.. Is our unhappiness the result of having air conditioning in the summer and heating in the winter?
C.. Could it be that 95.4 percent of these unhappy folks have a job?
D.. Maybe it is the ability to walk into a grocery store at any time and see more food in moments than Darfur has seen in the last year?
E.. Maybe it is the ability to drive our cars and trucks from the Pacific Ocean to the Atlantic Ocean without having to present identification papers as we move through each state?
F.. Or possibly the hundreds of clean and safe motels we would find along the way that can provide temporary shelter?
G.. I guess having thousands of restaurants with varying cuisine from around the world is just not good enough either.
H. Or could it be that when we wreck our car, emergency workers show up and provide services to help all and even send a helicopter to take you to the hospital.
I.. Perhaps you are one of the 70 percent of Americans who own a home.
J.. You may be upset with knowing that in the unfortunate case of a fire, a group of trained firefighters will appear in moments and use top notch equipment to extinguish the flames, thus saving you, your family, and your belongings.
K.. Or if, while at home watching one of your many flat screen TVs, a burglar or prowler intrudes, an officer equipped with a gun and a bullet-proof vest will come to defend you and your family against attack or loss.
L.. This all in the backdrop of a neighborhood free of bombs or militias raping and pillaging the residents. Neighborhoods where 90% of teenagers own cell phones and computers.
M.. How about the complete religious, social and political freedoms we enjoy that are the envy of everyone in the world?
Maybe that is what has 67% of you folks unhappy."

It then went on with some propaganda which seemed highly unlikely that Jay Leno would write. The last paragraphs call for us to ignore the media which just didn't ring true. It didn't seem reasonable.

To be sure, the media is obsessed with the negative, rich and famous, etc. because the masses buy it. They are trying their best to tell us the economy is totally tanked. I clearly think there are big problems with the economy, but I also see that the parking lot at the airport is full as are the lots at the mall. However, calling for the demise of the press is dangerous; dictators usually dismantle the press. We just need to evaluate what we are hearing and decide for ourselves what is important, true, etc. We need to think critically.

I have not published the narrative at the bottom of the piece because I refuse to assist in keeping this urban myth moving.

Catching Up

Been gone for a while. Went to Wisconsin which was beautiful but cold, then sort of warm and very humid, and then cold, and then windy but humid, and then really cold, nicely warm, bordering on hot, and then windy and cold, or something like that.

Just because I was away doesn't mean that the goofy world of politics didn't keep turning. Barack probably should become an atheist because the nut jobs at Trinity in Chicago apparently grow on pulpits. White, Black, doesn't matter - they apparently don't want Obama to be President.

McCain is getting endorsements (and trying to say he doesn't want said endorsements) from "religious leaders" who say bad things about Jews and Muslims, etc. Who labels them "religious leaders" any way?

Hillary is fighting for Florida and Michigan delegates to be seated at the convention. Apparently the Dem leaders decided their votes were worth half. Half? Maybe that works for Florida residents who cannot do anything right in an election. But Michigan folks are sort of salt-of-the-earth types who probably don't even know what is a "hanging chad."

George's ex-Press Secretary McClellan has written an unflattering book. He says George lied about Iraq - really? Poor George.

In all, I didn't miss much. They didn't solve the Iraq problem, terrorism, the economy, and gas is $4+ per gallon. Yikes.