It is not just Sheldon Silver. As I pointed out before, this bunch of politicians were electing Sheldon Silver Assembly Majority Leader year after year after year knowing he was blocking good clean government and doing something on the side.
So now they have a chance to clean up and present New Yorkers with their idea of good government.
So what do they do, they appear to be coalescing around that well known leader Carl Heastie of the Bronx. His claim to fame is (i) only having the Moreland Commission be able to cite him for having $25,000 of undocumented campaign expenses (you would think a professional statistician would know how to keep receipts) and (ii) he is convincing other NYC politicians that the issues the Assembly deals with soon are too important to trust an honest guy from Rochester with.
What are these issues NYC Democrats care about so much? the budget of course, charter schools, rent regulation and real estate developer tax breaks. If there were any four issues that required honest clean government avoiding back room passing of envelopes with money in them, it is these four issues.
And why do I think Mr. Heastie is not on the up & up? Well, he surrounds himself with sleazy staff. The Daily News even says the use of the term sleazy is a compliment to these people, they are so down in darkness of corruption. A key advisor to Heastie is Stanley Schein. An aide to multiple party bosses who have gone to jail. A man who has been banned from court appointed positions because he abused them for his own financial gain. There is also Howard Vargas as an aide and he has used his position as an aide to court appointed real estate receivership work. Let's see, buying bankrupt real estate out of bankruptcy on the cheap could not possibly be a conflict of interest when zoning laws determine the value of city property. Both of these guys are seen as Bronx borough "fixers".
My guess is there are more NYC Democrats than upstate Democrats in the Assembly (and not enough Suburban Democrats to make a difference) and we are going to see this sleazy Heastie anointed the new leader of the Assembly.
This crab is almost enough to make me vote for a Republican State Senator to keep someone honest in this process. And the Democrat State Senators wonder why suburbanites don't trust them.
Look at the Assembly for your answer.
Friday, January 30, 2015
Friday, January 23, 2015
Sheldon Silver a "Man of Integrity"????????
Mayor de Blasio really put his foot in his mouth yesterday saying "Sheldon Silver has always seemed like a man of integrity". What has Mayor de Blasio been doing for the last 20 years when I, as a working business person, could over time discern that Sheldon Silver was (i) corrupt and (ii) an abuser of power and enemy number 1 of good government in NY State. I have had that conclusion for at least 10 years and maybe longer. I can't remember when I began to consider him Enemy #1.
Meanwhile, the Daily News summed up the crooks discovered in NY State Government. This is not a race won to be proud of. Democrats 25 Republicans 4 And that is just in the last 9 years. 29 politicians elected to state government in 9 years have resigned and or been convicted of Bribery, Assaults, sexual harassment, mail fraud, campaign cash misuse, embezzlement, and general corruption.
I don't understand why Andrew Cuomo disbanded the Moreland Commission. Seems like they are needed more than ever.
The amazing thing to me is that New York State operates well at all with that record.
And while RedStateVT may bemoan the Democratic dominance of Vermont politics, at least they are honest politicians. You can't say that about the state he grew up in, which is NY.
Meanwhile, the Daily News summed up the crooks discovered in NY State Government. This is not a race won to be proud of. Democrats 25 Republicans 4 And that is just in the last 9 years. 29 politicians elected to state government in 9 years have resigned and or been convicted of Bribery, Assaults, sexual harassment, mail fraud, campaign cash misuse, embezzlement, and general corruption.
I don't understand why Andrew Cuomo disbanded the Moreland Commission. Seems like they are needed more than ever.
The amazing thing to me is that New York State operates well at all with that record.
And while RedStateVT may bemoan the Democratic dominance of Vermont politics, at least they are honest politicians. You can't say that about the state he grew up in, which is NY.
Thursday, January 22, 2015
Cristina Fernandez de Kirchner is a Mafia Wanna Be, Vladimir Putin, Sheldon Silver, & Other Quick Takes
Intercepted telephone conversations in Buenos Aires captured the Argentine government trying to evade the Iranian Sanctions and its own problems (brought on by the disastrous economic management of the Mr. & Mrs. Kirchner) by agreeing to "disprove" the Iranians were behind the 1994 bombing of a Jewish center that killed 85 people and injured 300 more) in return for opening an oil for food barter exchange.
Mrs. Kirchner, whose government was leading that charge, now has had the prosecutor who found it murdered with a weak effort to prove it was a suicide. Mrs. Kirchner is the embodiment of a despicable human being.
There is a news report that Sheldon Silver will be arrested today, after 20 years of using the New York State Assembly as his personal vehicle for corruption at the expense of New York Tax Payers. We can only hope this leads to him leaving government. Although, his district keeps reelecting him, so who knows who will replace him. At least, he/she won't be leading the Assembly, but the idiots who voted for Sheldon Silver will still be there voting for the next leader. Oy Vei!!! Update: Sheldon Silver surrendered to authorities this morning and is being booked as I write this.
Meanwhile, Putin keeps supplying the breakaway Ukrainian rebels with heavy arms and other types of necessary military supplies (like food and fuel). After shooting down a Malaysian Air Heavy killing all the innocent passengers, which included all the Netherlands leading AIDS researchers on their way to a conference, and seeing his country go into a recession, you would think Putin would find a way to change his path. But then again, given the way political opponents of Putin disappear, perhaps Mrs. Kirchner was just following his lead.
What a trio of despicable human beings.
Meanwhile, Sunni Jihadists in Yemen can't defeat Shia rebels who don't like the President, that the U.S. has supported 2011. So, it appears the only people who support Yemen's President Hadi are his bodyguards and the U.S. We are left contemplating supporting the Shia Houtis because they are anti-Al Qaeda in Yemen or whatever they call themselves despite the fact that the Houtis favorite motivating chant is "God is Great; Death to America; Death to Israel". Yemen has probably never worked as a viable government, but until technology and oil money made Jihad a global problem, it didn't matter. I don't know what a good solution is, perhaps Salmon Fishing Tourism, but I do know a U.S. military presence would not have an exit solution and I don't want Yemen to be a U.S. Colony.
What does the world know that we don't? In the rest of the developed world, 70% of 3 year olds go to preschool. In the U.S., 38% do. That is much more than poverty would suggest. It suggests that a big percentage of adults don't value education and we see it in crazy voting for populist candidates who spout conspiracy stuff and other untruths as if they were facts. And they vote for people of both parties, Sheldon Silver and numerous Tea Party candidates.
I need to analyze the Senate vote on Climate change in the Keystone Pipeline bill. I saw one headline 16 Republicans voted for it, but it still failed. I don't understand that math.
Mrs. Kirchner, whose government was leading that charge, now has had the prosecutor who found it murdered with a weak effort to prove it was a suicide. Mrs. Kirchner is the embodiment of a despicable human being.
There is a news report that Sheldon Silver will be arrested today, after 20 years of using the New York State Assembly as his personal vehicle for corruption at the expense of New York Tax Payers. We can only hope this leads to him leaving government. Although, his district keeps reelecting him, so who knows who will replace him. At least, he/she won't be leading the Assembly, but the idiots who voted for Sheldon Silver will still be there voting for the next leader. Oy Vei!!! Update: Sheldon Silver surrendered to authorities this morning and is being booked as I write this.
Meanwhile, Putin keeps supplying the breakaway Ukrainian rebels with heavy arms and other types of necessary military supplies (like food and fuel). After shooting down a Malaysian Air Heavy killing all the innocent passengers, which included all the Netherlands leading AIDS researchers on their way to a conference, and seeing his country go into a recession, you would think Putin would find a way to change his path. But then again, given the way political opponents of Putin disappear, perhaps Mrs. Kirchner was just following his lead.
What a trio of despicable human beings.
Meanwhile, Sunni Jihadists in Yemen can't defeat Shia rebels who don't like the President, that the U.S. has supported 2011. So, it appears the only people who support Yemen's President Hadi are his bodyguards and the U.S. We are left contemplating supporting the Shia Houtis because they are anti-Al Qaeda in Yemen or whatever they call themselves despite the fact that the Houtis favorite motivating chant is "God is Great; Death to America; Death to Israel". Yemen has probably never worked as a viable government, but until technology and oil money made Jihad a global problem, it didn't matter. I don't know what a good solution is, perhaps Salmon Fishing Tourism, but I do know a U.S. military presence would not have an exit solution and I don't want Yemen to be a U.S. Colony.
What does the world know that we don't? In the rest of the developed world, 70% of 3 year olds go to preschool. In the U.S., 38% do. That is much more than poverty would suggest. It suggests that a big percentage of adults don't value education and we see it in crazy voting for populist candidates who spout conspiracy stuff and other untruths as if they were facts. And they vote for people of both parties, Sheldon Silver and numerous Tea Party candidates.
I need to analyze the Senate vote on Climate change in the Keystone Pipeline bill. I saw one headline 16 Republicans voted for it, but it still failed. I don't understand that math.
Tuesday, January 20, 2015
The Problem with Creating a Democracy in the islamic Middle East
I am not renewing my Economist subscription when it runs out 2/14/15 because it is priced for people who have income and I am now retired. Also, my compulsion to read it cover to cover has become a burden and I don't really need to know what is going on Sri Lanka anymore. But I will miss it because somehow they have knack for analyzing what is going on the in the world better than any other newspaper and certainly better than any cable channel. The complexities of the world do not fit into sound bites.
My old headline didn't create any readers, so I renamed this (for my one reader who read it already).
Two weeks ago's issue did an excellent job of explaining why Islam has to overcome the Jihadists and the rest of us can't do that, we can only try to protect ourselves from the Jihadists, difficult as that is.
I reproduce some of their paragraphs below:
"Their goal is nothing like the tempering outcome hoped for by those calling for a Reformation along the line of Europe's five centuries ago, but the process has at least one similarity. As in the religious wars that followed on from Europe's Reformation, the worst violence perpetrated by Jihadists is felt by their co-religionists. Most of the victims of resurgent Islamic fundamentalism have been Muslims."
"Islam has never acknowledged a separation of religion from the state: from the time of the Prophet both developed together. The challenge of reconciling this with the workings of the post-colonial states set up in the Middle East during the 20th century has proved a difficult one. It is made more so when these modern states fall into a despotism which combines political repression with economic stagnation. Such stagnation is particularly hard on the young people who make up most of the population in most Arab countries. It leaves them without the money to start a family and deprived of a sense that their life has much meaning outside religion."
"To the religious, Islam cannot be blamed for these miserable conditions. Hence the argument that, rather than mimic the modernized West, and rather than allow the West to intervene in their affairs, as it has done recently, Muslims should create new forms of politics and government proper to their faith. The Islamists who hold such ideas take their faith as providing ultimate guidance not just in the personal realm but in the social and political realms too."
The article goes on to explain the differences between Shia and Sunni and the Sunni subset, Salafis. I don't know about you, but I find all this (i) very complicated, (ii) creating a wish to not have anything to do with it, and (iii) realize that military action without diplomacy is only going to stir the well some more because money flows to people who want to kill Americans and especially American military stationed in the Middle East.
Jihad's revival from centuries ago started with the Russian occupation of Afghanistan and it has not been put back in the bottle since as the Taliban and Al Qaeda stirred the pot in post-Russia Afghanistan, then the U.S. invaded Iraq, and the ensuing chaotic transition from Dictator Saddam Hussein to the Shia gave birth to ISIS, and somewhere along the edge of chaos in Africa, Al Shabab and Boko Haram and whatever organization invaded Mali came into being. I didn't even know people could live in the Sahara and I am a pretty well read traveler of the world. Just shows, you don't know what you don't know and you can always learn something new. Something for the neo-conservatives to think about.
My only certain conclusions are there is only so much the U.S. military can do, the Congress should definitely pass a Constitutional Amendments authorizing the NSA to conduct surveillance of electronic transmission and phone calls to get Google Twitter and Facebook on the right side of this picture, and as for Israel, they need to wake up and face reality.
Islamists have been screwing with each other for centuries. The most secular Muslims are historically the Palestinians. Give them a country and remove that irritation from the picture. Yes, Israel will still have to fight Hamas and Hezbollah, but there will be a State of Palestine that needs to be governed well. The people will demand it. And the Conservative Jews that want to settle in the West Bank will have a choice, live in the minority of the State of Palestine or move back into Israel. What is more important? Keeping Israel proper safe or keeping the settlements safe at the risk of Jihad with Israel as a prime target into infinity. It is obvious where I come out.
My old headline didn't create any readers, so I renamed this (for my one reader who read it already).
Two weeks ago's issue did an excellent job of explaining why Islam has to overcome the Jihadists and the rest of us can't do that, we can only try to protect ourselves from the Jihadists, difficult as that is.
I reproduce some of their paragraphs below:
"Their goal is nothing like the tempering outcome hoped for by those calling for a Reformation along the line of Europe's five centuries ago, but the process has at least one similarity. As in the religious wars that followed on from Europe's Reformation, the worst violence perpetrated by Jihadists is felt by their co-religionists. Most of the victims of resurgent Islamic fundamentalism have been Muslims."
"Islam has never acknowledged a separation of religion from the state: from the time of the Prophet both developed together. The challenge of reconciling this with the workings of the post-colonial states set up in the Middle East during the 20th century has proved a difficult one. It is made more so when these modern states fall into a despotism which combines political repression with economic stagnation. Such stagnation is particularly hard on the young people who make up most of the population in most Arab countries. It leaves them without the money to start a family and deprived of a sense that their life has much meaning outside religion."
"To the religious, Islam cannot be blamed for these miserable conditions. Hence the argument that, rather than mimic the modernized West, and rather than allow the West to intervene in their affairs, as it has done recently, Muslims should create new forms of politics and government proper to their faith. The Islamists who hold such ideas take their faith as providing ultimate guidance not just in the personal realm but in the social and political realms too."
The article goes on to explain the differences between Shia and Sunni and the Sunni subset, Salafis. I don't know about you, but I find all this (i) very complicated, (ii) creating a wish to not have anything to do with it, and (iii) realize that military action without diplomacy is only going to stir the well some more because money flows to people who want to kill Americans and especially American military stationed in the Middle East.
Jihad's revival from centuries ago started with the Russian occupation of Afghanistan and it has not been put back in the bottle since as the Taliban and Al Qaeda stirred the pot in post-Russia Afghanistan, then the U.S. invaded Iraq, and the ensuing chaotic transition from Dictator Saddam Hussein to the Shia gave birth to ISIS, and somewhere along the edge of chaos in Africa, Al Shabab and Boko Haram and whatever organization invaded Mali came into being. I didn't even know people could live in the Sahara and I am a pretty well read traveler of the world. Just shows, you don't know what you don't know and you can always learn something new. Something for the neo-conservatives to think about.
My only certain conclusions are there is only so much the U.S. military can do, the Congress should definitely pass a Constitutional Amendments authorizing the NSA to conduct surveillance of electronic transmission and phone calls to get Google Twitter and Facebook on the right side of this picture, and as for Israel, they need to wake up and face reality.
Islamists have been screwing with each other for centuries. The most secular Muslims are historically the Palestinians. Give them a country and remove that irritation from the picture. Yes, Israel will still have to fight Hamas and Hezbollah, but there will be a State of Palestine that needs to be governed well. The people will demand it. And the Conservative Jews that want to settle in the West Bank will have a choice, live in the minority of the State of Palestine or move back into Israel. What is more important? Keeping Israel proper safe or keeping the settlements safe at the risk of Jihad with Israel as a prime target into infinity. It is obvious where I come out.
Monday, January 19, 2015
Wise Words from Martin Luther King
"Hate gets in the way of progress."
Something for the Tea Party legislators to remember and something for Jihadists to remember.
Something for the Tea Party legislators to remember and something for Jihadists to remember.
Thursday, January 15, 2015
The Pope has a Good Point
The Pope today suggested that perhaps Freedom of the Press should have limits when it comes to respect of religious beliefs.
After all, even if there are 100,000 jihadists across ISIS, Hamas, Hezbollah, the Taliban, Al Qaeda and anyone else, that is only about 7 one ten thousandths of a percent of the world's 1.5 billion followers of Islam. And I think 100,000 is probably too high.
Jihad wouldn't have any momentum without financial support. The West needs to work with the government's of the Arab world to cut off the financial support that Jihad benefits from. And if they won't work with us on them, we have to find ways to cajole them into working with us. That is diplomacy, and sanctions if Western Europe will agree with us. Military force without any work on this has led to the undesirable conditions in Iraq and Afghanistan.
As for the concept of respect. Right now there is ridicule in conservative circles about anyone who suggests the Charlie Magazine or anyone else should curtail their statements. Yet, when Duke University wanted to let Islamic students use a traditional call on Friday afternoons to come to service, they were relentlessly criticized by Evangelical Christians to not allow it. But what would those Christians say if I as an Atheist suggested that all religions were a crock of sh*t and that anyone who has beliefs is an idiot. They would come down on me with the full force of their fury and I am sure someone from within their midst would want to take their automatic assault weapon and kill me. What if that same killer thought arose in an Islamic youth who feels discriminated against by the Evangelicals? There is a horrible circularity here that must be broken through respect.
That is why I believe that all religions should be respected, even though I as a non-beleiving Jew am an Athesit. I don't criticize anyone for having faith in God through whatever religion. There is no answer to the unknowable. I may be right, you may be right, they may be right. And Islam is as deserving of respect as Mormanism. After all, Mohammed was Joseph Smith 1400 years earlier and half a world away. And Mohammed was following Jesus's disciples after his death. That is why I believe that if I am wrong as an Atheist, the only answer is Judaism, Buddhism, or Hinduism because we were 1st and everyone after that definitely made it all up, except for what they copied. But that doesn't mean the followers of any religion today do not deserve respect. A failure to respect 1.5 billion Muslims or 2.0 billion Christians will not lead to peace. The Pope has a good point.
And Franklin Graham, the son of Billy Graham, should know this when he criticizes all Muslims for the acts of a minority. After all, does he care about the NRA's position on teen age access to assault rifles for school shootings. I doubt it and that is terrorism also.
RSL disagrees with me on this coming down on the concept of absolute freedom. But I prefer to call it a preference for civility and a recognition that we all need to get along.
After all, even if there are 100,000 jihadists across ISIS, Hamas, Hezbollah, the Taliban, Al Qaeda and anyone else, that is only about 7 one ten thousandths of a percent of the world's 1.5 billion followers of Islam. And I think 100,000 is probably too high.
Jihad wouldn't have any momentum without financial support. The West needs to work with the government's of the Arab world to cut off the financial support that Jihad benefits from. And if they won't work with us on them, we have to find ways to cajole them into working with us. That is diplomacy, and sanctions if Western Europe will agree with us. Military force without any work on this has led to the undesirable conditions in Iraq and Afghanistan.
As for the concept of respect. Right now there is ridicule in conservative circles about anyone who suggests the Charlie Magazine or anyone else should curtail their statements. Yet, when Duke University wanted to let Islamic students use a traditional call on Friday afternoons to come to service, they were relentlessly criticized by Evangelical Christians to not allow it. But what would those Christians say if I as an Atheist suggested that all religions were a crock of sh*t and that anyone who has beliefs is an idiot. They would come down on me with the full force of their fury and I am sure someone from within their midst would want to take their automatic assault weapon and kill me. What if that same killer thought arose in an Islamic youth who feels discriminated against by the Evangelicals? There is a horrible circularity here that must be broken through respect.
That is why I believe that all religions should be respected, even though I as a non-beleiving Jew am an Athesit. I don't criticize anyone for having faith in God through whatever religion. There is no answer to the unknowable. I may be right, you may be right, they may be right. And Islam is as deserving of respect as Mormanism. After all, Mohammed was Joseph Smith 1400 years earlier and half a world away. And Mohammed was following Jesus's disciples after his death. That is why I believe that if I am wrong as an Atheist, the only answer is Judaism, Buddhism, or Hinduism because we were 1st and everyone after that definitely made it all up, except for what they copied. But that doesn't mean the followers of any religion today do not deserve respect. A failure to respect 1.5 billion Muslims or 2.0 billion Christians will not lead to peace. The Pope has a good point.
And Franklin Graham, the son of Billy Graham, should know this when he criticizes all Muslims for the acts of a minority. After all, does he care about the NRA's position on teen age access to assault rifles for school shootings. I doubt it and that is terrorism also.
RSL disagrees with me on this coming down on the concept of absolute freedom. But I prefer to call it a preference for civility and a recognition that we all need to get along.
Wednesday, January 14, 2015
Good Point: Wahhabi is just one step short of Jihadism
I will put in a link to Thomas Friedman's column, but the real story on this was somewhere else. 2 days ago it snowed in Saudi Arabia. You would think a cleric would find that reason to thank God for providing some water in the desert to melt and filter down to the aquifer.
Instead, the cleric said anyone who built a snowman would be deemed an infidel and punished in some way. Frosty apparently is only a symbol of heathens.
Now I will note this is a Saudi Wahhabi cleric, not an Indonesian or Malaysian or even a Shia cleric. I'm not sure, but I don't believe the Ayatollah has banned snowmen in the mountains of Iran, where it definitely snows every year. If only Iran were not anti-Israel and want a nuclear bomb, they might be a worthy ally.
So, just remember, there are basically 4 causes for Jihadism. (i) Autocratic governments and poor education and poor economic development. (ii) Failure of Israel to find a way to establish a State of Palestine. (iii) The tremendous wealth of Wahhabi Saudi Arabia supported by the U.S. military and foreign policy. (iv) Rich people in Saudi Arabia, Qatar and the Emirates who think sponsoring Jihadism is a positive.
That's a lot to overcome, requires Arab governments to work on ending Jihadism and will take a long time. Meanwhile, the fight to contain Jihadism requires a lot of NSA and CIA type work. Something the pro-Snowden and anti-NSA crowd doesn't understand.
Link to Thomas Freidman column
Instead, the cleric said anyone who built a snowman would be deemed an infidel and punished in some way. Frosty apparently is only a symbol of heathens.
Now I will note this is a Saudi Wahhabi cleric, not an Indonesian or Malaysian or even a Shia cleric. I'm not sure, but I don't believe the Ayatollah has banned snowmen in the mountains of Iran, where it definitely snows every year. If only Iran were not anti-Israel and want a nuclear bomb, they might be a worthy ally.
So, just remember, there are basically 4 causes for Jihadism. (i) Autocratic governments and poor education and poor economic development. (ii) Failure of Israel to find a way to establish a State of Palestine. (iii) The tremendous wealth of Wahhabi Saudi Arabia supported by the U.S. military and foreign policy. (iv) Rich people in Saudi Arabia, Qatar and the Emirates who think sponsoring Jihadism is a positive.
That's a lot to overcome, requires Arab governments to work on ending Jihadism and will take a long time. Meanwhile, the fight to contain Jihadism requires a lot of NSA and CIA type work. Something the pro-Snowden and anti-NSA crowd doesn't understand.
Link to Thomas Freidman column
Tuesday, January 13, 2015
Antonio Weiss: I would have done the same thing
In the summer of 1974, I was a Congressional Intern. From that lowly position, I saw the fun of working government and the frustration of working in government. And that was at a time when Congress actually passed legislation.
Now Congress doesn't pass much legislation and certainly does not address the big issues in a manner that moves the country forward.
So, I went into business, had a career in many different aspects of the economy, and developed a knowledge of how different aspects of the economy fit together to work well. I also developed a knowledge of how capitalism uses the markets and the free flow of ideas, capital, and labor to create the best society in the world to live in.
That took time and experience, which is what you need in the Under Secretary of Treasury for Domestic Finance. This position cannot have lawyer or ideologue who is anti-market's. Such a person, by not understanding the nefarious ways in which different forces interact within the market, will institute policies that harm the economy. A well functioning market and economy is what provides the revenues necessary for the government to function.
So, it is really to bad that Antonio Weiss decided to take a different position in the United States Treasury Department, but I get it. The GOP wanted to let the Democrats fight it out and didn't want to rescue the appointment of a Democrat, even to a necessary position, and the hearings prior to potential approval would have taken most of the year, leaving only 12 months to do anything. I would not have pursued that if I were in that position.
I hope Antonio Weiss can fulfill the same role from his new position that does not require Senate confirmation and, if so, I suspect the position will go unfilled for the remainder of President Obama's term.
But I fail to understand how that is good government and it affirms my decision to not work in government and fuels the disdain I feel for politicians of all persuasions. They are scum of the earth in so many ways. But I do know that some of them are honorable and I wonder how they can stand dealing with the idiots and scumbags on a daily basis.
Now Congress doesn't pass much legislation and certainly does not address the big issues in a manner that moves the country forward.
So, I went into business, had a career in many different aspects of the economy, and developed a knowledge of how different aspects of the economy fit together to work well. I also developed a knowledge of how capitalism uses the markets and the free flow of ideas, capital, and labor to create the best society in the world to live in.
That took time and experience, which is what you need in the Under Secretary of Treasury for Domestic Finance. This position cannot have lawyer or ideologue who is anti-market's. Such a person, by not understanding the nefarious ways in which different forces interact within the market, will institute policies that harm the economy. A well functioning market and economy is what provides the revenues necessary for the government to function.
So, it is really to bad that Antonio Weiss decided to take a different position in the United States Treasury Department, but I get it. The GOP wanted to let the Democrats fight it out and didn't want to rescue the appointment of a Democrat, even to a necessary position, and the hearings prior to potential approval would have taken most of the year, leaving only 12 months to do anything. I would not have pursued that if I were in that position.
I hope Antonio Weiss can fulfill the same role from his new position that does not require Senate confirmation and, if so, I suspect the position will go unfilled for the remainder of President Obama's term.
But I fail to understand how that is good government and it affirms my decision to not work in government and fuels the disdain I feel for politicians of all persuasions. They are scum of the earth in so many ways. But I do know that some of them are honorable and I wonder how they can stand dealing with the idiots and scumbags on a daily basis.
Sunday, January 11, 2015
Higher Standards Needed to Change Reality: All Police Forces and Israel
I hope I can write this succinctly.
First, let me state unequivocally that I understand and believe that both Israel and policeman have every right to protect themselves from anarchists, terrorists or whatever one wishes to call murderers. But as representatives of civilized society they have to adhere to the highest standards possible to gain the good will of those who they police. Otherwise, they are occupying enemies, which inspires anarchist behavior.
Nicolas Kristof dissected the pro-police propaganda that supposedly fed the feeling of disrespect some NYC policemen feel. There are false statements about things President Obama said (things he did not say, I repeat) and there is quoting the reality that 93% of murdered African Americans are killed by other African Americans.
But there is also the reality that 84% of of murdered Caucasians are killed by other Caucasians. There are very rarely Police shootings of unarmed white people.
There is some reason that police shoot far more unarmed African Americans than they do Caucasians. And what I don't understand is why the criminal justice system and the Police Internal Affairs system cannot separate and punish, in the name of promoting respect within the policed community, those instances where the murdered individual was guilty of nothing other than being African American: Eric Garner, the Wal-Mart shopper who was buying an air rifle and talking on his cell phone, and a 12 year old boy with a toy come to mind (as someone who has fond memories of playing WWII with a plastic machine gun that went rat-a-tat-tat, I am sympathetic with the concept of toys).
How do we know this racism exists? Kristof interviewed retired African American NYC policemen. Almost to a man, they had been subject to unwarranted incidents where they were treated like criminals before it was known that they were policemen. The treatment included heads being slammed, handcuffing, and having guns drawn on them. Then there is the reality that in the last 15 years, 10 of 14 mistaken identity shootings were officers of color shot by Caucasian policemen. Young black men are shot at 21x the rate of young white men and Black people are only 20% of the population. There is clearly racism in the ranks of the police forces of America when it comes to the execution of their jobs and the criminal justice system and Internal Affairs Departments must do a better job of distinguishing between justified shootings and unjustified shootings. Policemen face a tough job, but the community will only respect those who do it well and without prejudice.
There is video of a Billings, Montana policeman stopping a vehicle that did no wrong, although the people inside were high on methamphetamine. He saw a hand move and fired 3 bullets into the unarmed man, killing him, simply because he was afraid of harm. I get it. I am afraid of anyone I don't know with a gun. I work very hard to avoid places where I will run into people with guns.
But if you are afraid of being killed by handguns, call in reinforcements before you place yourself in a position where you can be harmed. Cop Cars have loudspeakers and radios.
I included thoughts about Israel here because it peaceful relations between the Palestinian people and the Israeli people will only come about if the Palestinians believe their lives are respected and they have hope for a future. Expanding settlements that require a police state presence for protection reduces hope and shows no respect. Israel is a modern economy that could do much for the Palestinian economy if there was a better balance. I know in tough negotiations, you don't want to give up something for nothing, and the Palestinians need to control the terrorists that live within their jurisdiction, so why not require that before Israel gives anything. Well, as I stated before, a community that does not feel respect from the police will generate individuals who believe that terrorism is the only answer.
Someone has to break that cycle. Israel is the only one who can do it with the Palestinians and the police and local politicians are the only ones who can do it in America's cities.
Link to Kristof column
First, let me state unequivocally that I understand and believe that both Israel and policeman have every right to protect themselves from anarchists, terrorists or whatever one wishes to call murderers. But as representatives of civilized society they have to adhere to the highest standards possible to gain the good will of those who they police. Otherwise, they are occupying enemies, which inspires anarchist behavior.
Nicolas Kristof dissected the pro-police propaganda that supposedly fed the feeling of disrespect some NYC policemen feel. There are false statements about things President Obama said (things he did not say, I repeat) and there is quoting the reality that 93% of murdered African Americans are killed by other African Americans.
But there is also the reality that 84% of of murdered Caucasians are killed by other Caucasians. There are very rarely Police shootings of unarmed white people.
There is some reason that police shoot far more unarmed African Americans than they do Caucasians. And what I don't understand is why the criminal justice system and the Police Internal Affairs system cannot separate and punish, in the name of promoting respect within the policed community, those instances where the murdered individual was guilty of nothing other than being African American: Eric Garner, the Wal-Mart shopper who was buying an air rifle and talking on his cell phone, and a 12 year old boy with a toy come to mind (as someone who has fond memories of playing WWII with a plastic machine gun that went rat-a-tat-tat, I am sympathetic with the concept of toys).
How do we know this racism exists? Kristof interviewed retired African American NYC policemen. Almost to a man, they had been subject to unwarranted incidents where they were treated like criminals before it was known that they were policemen. The treatment included heads being slammed, handcuffing, and having guns drawn on them. Then there is the reality that in the last 15 years, 10 of 14 mistaken identity shootings were officers of color shot by Caucasian policemen. Young black men are shot at 21x the rate of young white men and Black people are only 20% of the population. There is clearly racism in the ranks of the police forces of America when it comes to the execution of their jobs and the criminal justice system and Internal Affairs Departments must do a better job of distinguishing between justified shootings and unjustified shootings. Policemen face a tough job, but the community will only respect those who do it well and without prejudice.
There is video of a Billings, Montana policeman stopping a vehicle that did no wrong, although the people inside were high on methamphetamine. He saw a hand move and fired 3 bullets into the unarmed man, killing him, simply because he was afraid of harm. I get it. I am afraid of anyone I don't know with a gun. I work very hard to avoid places where I will run into people with guns.
But if you are afraid of being killed by handguns, call in reinforcements before you place yourself in a position where you can be harmed. Cop Cars have loudspeakers and radios.
I included thoughts about Israel here because it peaceful relations between the Palestinian people and the Israeli people will only come about if the Palestinians believe their lives are respected and they have hope for a future. Expanding settlements that require a police state presence for protection reduces hope and shows no respect. Israel is a modern economy that could do much for the Palestinian economy if there was a better balance. I know in tough negotiations, you don't want to give up something for nothing, and the Palestinians need to control the terrorists that live within their jurisdiction, so why not require that before Israel gives anything. Well, as I stated before, a community that does not feel respect from the police will generate individuals who believe that terrorism is the only answer.
Someone has to break that cycle. Israel is the only one who can do it with the Palestinians and the police and local politicians are the only ones who can do it in America's cities.
Link to Kristof column
Friday, January 9, 2015
Some Facts That the GOP Doesn't Agree With
I know politics is all about spin to keep the political base fired up so they keep sending $ into the candidate for the campaign, but finding compromise in policy to move the country forward requires an acknowledgment of facts.
I will reproduce here a few facts that the GOP is not admitting because it doesn't fit their spin. And, I don't understand why any Democrat would agree to a compromise with the GOP point of view when their policy recommendations don't fit the facts.
Keystone Pipeline: In 2009 President Obama approved the Alberta Clipper pipeline that brings 400,000 barrels of Tar Sands Oil into the U.S. every day. It provides a good measure for what employment the Keystone Pipeline will produce if built: About 35 permanent jobs. Yes, it will employ about 4,000 during construction, but those construction workers could be working on road, sewage and water repair. And the reason I support the pipeline, and believe the President will also ultimately, is once the court process is complete in Nebraska, a pipeline is a safer way than trains to bring oil into the U.S. We need to get the oil off of those trains which derail next to rivers and usually explode violently. And for the environmentalist opposition, we won't burn less oil and Canada won't produce less Tar Sand Oil if the pipeline isn't built, so the cessation of train derailments is the only environmental improvement from building the pipeline. There is no environmental damage provided the aquifers in Nebraska are protected by routing the pipeline around them.
Economic Growth: Economic Growth is like an Ocean liner. It doesn't change on whim unless there is a systemic shock like a cessation of credit. And it doesn't restart unless there is business confidence in policy continuity. So the current economic growth is the result of the U.S. standards for proper conduct of business, the steadiness of the monetary policy and the steadiness of demand for U.S. goods and services. When gridlock is the dominant political feature, the party in charge does not effect a manager's decisions to hire someone.
ObamaCare has not curtailed economic growth. The U.S. is on a job creation tear. Now the government could make productive changes on the margin to any number of issues for valid reasons, but let's agree on the facts.
Monetary Policy: The GOP has been anti-Fed for some time. But their policies have kept inflation low while encouraging job creation. If the U.S. had followed the German model, we would be like them: In recession and facing deflation. That is not a productive path when you are in a credit restraint generated recession. That is not a productive path when you are in any type of recession.
Climate Change: The average temperature of the earth moves higher almost every year and we can't do anything about it that will have an immediate reversal effect. But carbon dioxide in the atmosphere causes the atmosphere to warm. That has been scientific fact for over 100 years and no reputable scientist can disprove that. Consumption of fossil fuels creates carbon dioxide in the atmosphere. There is global political agreement that we should take gradual measures to reduce human carbon generation. A little macro policy encouragement would be productive, but the GOP will not even discuss that because of their position that science does not produce facts. Of course, many of these science deniers also believe in home schooling and the teaching of creationism, so I am not hopeful for the future of this debate.
And not to leave the Democrats out.
Trade Agreements: To think that if the U.S. had trade barriers and no trade agreements, our economy would be better off, please think through some basic economic facts. Stock prices are based upon profits. U.S. companies are amongst the most competitive in the global economy. Their profits are produced all over the world and require freedom of capital and the ability to produce and sell goods wherever they can make a profit. This creates higher value added jobs in the U.S. Technology would have created the pressure on U.S. labor and free trade offsets the job reduction that technology creates.
America cannot return to the 1950's economic model no matter what you want, anymore than the U.S. will return to the 1950's family model, no matter what the GOP wants. It is not reality anymore. Policy needs to be based upon reality and reality must be recognized and agreed upon, if good policy changes are to be the result.
I don't know if a 30 hour week or a 40 hour week is the better definition for full time employment and the provision of health insurance. What I do know, is that obtaining health insurance should not be contingent on having an employer providing it and needs to be affordable. How best to do that would be a proper debate.
I will reproduce here a few facts that the GOP is not admitting because it doesn't fit their spin. And, I don't understand why any Democrat would agree to a compromise with the GOP point of view when their policy recommendations don't fit the facts.
Keystone Pipeline: In 2009 President Obama approved the Alberta Clipper pipeline that brings 400,000 barrels of Tar Sands Oil into the U.S. every day. It provides a good measure for what employment the Keystone Pipeline will produce if built: About 35 permanent jobs. Yes, it will employ about 4,000 during construction, but those construction workers could be working on road, sewage and water repair. And the reason I support the pipeline, and believe the President will also ultimately, is once the court process is complete in Nebraska, a pipeline is a safer way than trains to bring oil into the U.S. We need to get the oil off of those trains which derail next to rivers and usually explode violently. And for the environmentalist opposition, we won't burn less oil and Canada won't produce less Tar Sand Oil if the pipeline isn't built, so the cessation of train derailments is the only environmental improvement from building the pipeline. There is no environmental damage provided the aquifers in Nebraska are protected by routing the pipeline around them.
Economic Growth: Economic Growth is like an Ocean liner. It doesn't change on whim unless there is a systemic shock like a cessation of credit. And it doesn't restart unless there is business confidence in policy continuity. So the current economic growth is the result of the U.S. standards for proper conduct of business, the steadiness of the monetary policy and the steadiness of demand for U.S. goods and services. When gridlock is the dominant political feature, the party in charge does not effect a manager's decisions to hire someone.
ObamaCare has not curtailed economic growth. The U.S. is on a job creation tear. Now the government could make productive changes on the margin to any number of issues for valid reasons, but let's agree on the facts.
Monetary Policy: The GOP has been anti-Fed for some time. But their policies have kept inflation low while encouraging job creation. If the U.S. had followed the German model, we would be like them: In recession and facing deflation. That is not a productive path when you are in a credit restraint generated recession. That is not a productive path when you are in any type of recession.
Climate Change: The average temperature of the earth moves higher almost every year and we can't do anything about it that will have an immediate reversal effect. But carbon dioxide in the atmosphere causes the atmosphere to warm. That has been scientific fact for over 100 years and no reputable scientist can disprove that. Consumption of fossil fuels creates carbon dioxide in the atmosphere. There is global political agreement that we should take gradual measures to reduce human carbon generation. A little macro policy encouragement would be productive, but the GOP will not even discuss that because of their position that science does not produce facts. Of course, many of these science deniers also believe in home schooling and the teaching of creationism, so I am not hopeful for the future of this debate.
And not to leave the Democrats out.
Trade Agreements: To think that if the U.S. had trade barriers and no trade agreements, our economy would be better off, please think through some basic economic facts. Stock prices are based upon profits. U.S. companies are amongst the most competitive in the global economy. Their profits are produced all over the world and require freedom of capital and the ability to produce and sell goods wherever they can make a profit. This creates higher value added jobs in the U.S. Technology would have created the pressure on U.S. labor and free trade offsets the job reduction that technology creates.
America cannot return to the 1950's economic model no matter what you want, anymore than the U.S. will return to the 1950's family model, no matter what the GOP wants. It is not reality anymore. Policy needs to be based upon reality and reality must be recognized and agreed upon, if good policy changes are to be the result.
I don't know if a 30 hour week or a 40 hour week is the better definition for full time employment and the provision of health insurance. What I do know, is that obtaining health insurance should not be contingent on having an employer providing it and needs to be affordable. How best to do that would be a proper debate.
Thursday, January 8, 2015
Terrorism or Islamic Terrorism
I will agree that most terrorist attacks these days are committed by people who profess to follow Islam, even though the commitment of a terrorist act strikes me as a very non-religious act as so far as I know, all religions agree that one should do unto others, as one would want done to them.
But there appears to be a move on the part of Fox News to get the President and others to acknowledge that the killings in France were Islamic Terrorism, not simply terrorism.
My question to people who advocate naming everything Islamic Terrorism is, what do we do about the motivations of other kinds of terrorists?
Was the African American who assassinated the 2 NYC policeman a terrorist, absolutely. But should we be calling him an black terrorist, implying that he represented all people of color?
What about Timothy McVeigh who committed the Oklahoma City bombing? He was absolutely a terrorist and raised as a Catholic. Should he be noted as a Catholic terrorist? What about the IRA, were they Irish or Catholic terrorists or just simply a terrorist organization that did not need to be aligned with any number of Catholics or Irish who had nothing to do with the IRA.
And what about Ted Kaczynski? He was the Unabomber, who committed terrorist murder with mail bombs. Wikpeadia doesn't state a religion for him, but being Polish, he was probably also a Catholic, but nobody would insist on calling him anything other than a murderer.
And don't get me started on the Israeli's right wing vigilantes that kill Palestinians from time-to-time. They are terrorists, but they don't represent the Jewish faith.
Bottom line, as long as terrorism is called terrorism, I don't think Fox News has anything to complain about.
I would prefer they be called anarchists because anarchy is what they cause, and anarchy is known by all to be bad and something to be fought against, without castigating any other beliefs.
But there appears to be a move on the part of Fox News to get the President and others to acknowledge that the killings in France were Islamic Terrorism, not simply terrorism.
My question to people who advocate naming everything Islamic Terrorism is, what do we do about the motivations of other kinds of terrorists?
Was the African American who assassinated the 2 NYC policeman a terrorist, absolutely. But should we be calling him an black terrorist, implying that he represented all people of color?
What about Timothy McVeigh who committed the Oklahoma City bombing? He was absolutely a terrorist and raised as a Catholic. Should he be noted as a Catholic terrorist? What about the IRA, were they Irish or Catholic terrorists or just simply a terrorist organization that did not need to be aligned with any number of Catholics or Irish who had nothing to do with the IRA.
And what about Ted Kaczynski? He was the Unabomber, who committed terrorist murder with mail bombs. Wikpeadia doesn't state a religion for him, but being Polish, he was probably also a Catholic, but nobody would insist on calling him anything other than a murderer.
And don't get me started on the Israeli's right wing vigilantes that kill Palestinians from time-to-time. They are terrorists, but they don't represent the Jewish faith.
Bottom line, as long as terrorism is called terrorism, I don't think Fox News has anything to complain about.
I would prefer they be called anarchists because anarchy is what they cause, and anarchy is known by all to be bad and something to be fought against, without castigating any other beliefs.
Monday, January 5, 2015
Police Under Fire and Their Fighting Back
No one is comforted by seeing policemen disrespecting Mayors and Police Superintendents; just as no one wants to see policemen assaulted or assassinated. And most people don't want to see the police shooting and killing unarmed citizens.
There is real anger in the NYC ranks of citizens about police behavior. And there is real anger in the ranks of NYC policemen that they are not being respected. Yet, those policemen don't want anyone held accountable for the death of Eric Garner, who was selling cigarettes that he bought retail, paying the tax on, and resold them as individual cigarettes, paying no further tax on. Hardly a serious crime, but he was choked to death by a policeman. Why? There was no answer to that in the grand jury that did not indict anyone.
And there is real reason the police used stop & frisk and don't like seeing protestors running amok on the streets. Bad people exist in this world, the police are our front line in protecting us from them, and many of those bad people have guns that they will use to harm our police.
While almost all police are good people, there are some who stray off the path of righteousness. The people have a right to be protected from them and in return, the people have an obligation to protect the police who protect them.
Effective gun control would be a good place to start, but the NRA and the GOP won't allow any discussion of how that might be a good place to start protecting the police. The NRA and the GOP believe the only effective defense is a good old fashioned gun fight between the good guy police and the bad guys. But the good guys don't always get a chance to defend themselves and innocent people get hurt in gun fights.
The NRA/GOP position is insane.
There is real anger in the NYC ranks of citizens about police behavior. And there is real anger in the ranks of NYC policemen that they are not being respected. Yet, those policemen don't want anyone held accountable for the death of Eric Garner, who was selling cigarettes that he bought retail, paying the tax on, and resold them as individual cigarettes, paying no further tax on. Hardly a serious crime, but he was choked to death by a policeman. Why? There was no answer to that in the grand jury that did not indict anyone.
And there is real reason the police used stop & frisk and don't like seeing protestors running amok on the streets. Bad people exist in this world, the police are our front line in protecting us from them, and many of those bad people have guns that they will use to harm our police.
While almost all police are good people, there are some who stray off the path of righteousness. The people have a right to be protected from them and in return, the people have an obligation to protect the police who protect them.
Effective gun control would be a good place to start, but the NRA and the GOP won't allow any discussion of how that might be a good place to start protecting the police. The NRA and the GOP believe the only effective defense is a good old fashioned gun fight between the good guy police and the bad guys. But the good guys don't always get a chance to defend themselves and innocent people get hurt in gun fights.
The NRA/GOP position is insane.
Thursday, January 1, 2015
GOP is apparently fighting Evidence Based Accounting for Social Programs
Who knew?
President Obama has been pursuing hard data on what accomplishments various social programs actually generate. But I guess that now that results are starting to come in, various programs that the GOP and Democrats have supported are being shown to be ineffective and the Congress wants to cut funding to the effort to maintain Evidence Based Accounting.
Count on Congress to support ineffective programs if it provides money to them somehow. That is true of both parties.
Link to article written by ex-Bush staffer
President Obama has been pursuing hard data on what accomplishments various social programs actually generate. But I guess that now that results are starting to come in, various programs that the GOP and Democrats have supported are being shown to be ineffective and the Congress wants to cut funding to the effort to maintain Evidence Based Accounting.
Count on Congress to support ineffective programs if it provides money to them somehow. That is true of both parties.
Link to article written by ex-Bush staffer
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