Not That I think Any of my usual Readers come here anymroe

But I am speechless.  The manners and ways in which President Trump demeans us and shows himself unworthy of being in office is too numerous in number to list here.  And the fact that the Republicans support him is beyond any words I can put to it.

A Drug that Could Help Alzheimer's Patients

There is some drug out there that is being advertised for Bi-Polar disease.  In the fast paced small print at the end, they say not to be used to treat Alzheimer's patients because it might cause an early death.

I have dealt with an Alzheimer's parent.

If there is a drug out there that could improve an Alzheimer's quality of life, only to shorten it, I would want to be treated with it.  The extra longevity with a better quality of life would in all likelihood outweigh the shortened life, which without it, is not a high quality of life.  The end of life for an Alzheimer's patient is most likely a life with zero quality.

Why wouldn't they test the drug for Alzheimer's?

NRA = A Terrorist Supporting Organization and

you know what the alt-right would be saying if such an organization existed in the following manner espousing the same policies the NRA supports.

An organization is formed saying all American Citizens who support Radical Islamism should buy AR-15's and other useful weapons and give them to people willing to use them in support of Radical Islamism somewhere in the world.  This is protected by the 2nd Amendment even if the guns are used in the U.S., although the perpetrators of such acts would be committing crimes in the U.S.  But if all the guns were provided to ISIS and Al Qaeda and used in the chaos of the Middle East, it would likely be all protected by the 2nd Amendment with no crimes committed.  This is why most of the guns in the hands of Mexican Drug Lords and their armies come from the U.S.  Now suppose this new organization also uses its member dues to provide financial support to politicians who support an unconstrained by any laws 2nd Amendment.

Now suppose such an organization which is would mirror NRA.  Would the Alt-right media be supportive of that?  No, because it is sponsoring Islamic Terrorism.

But that logic means the NRA is sponsoring Domestic Terrorism. Why doesn't the Alt-right media come out forcefully against the NRA?  After all, the greatest threat to America is Terrorism of all forms and that is where the Alt-Right and I agree.

Musings Before I Disappear to Ski Out West

No one wins a trade war.  Comparative Advantage is a basic truth of economics.  There is much about economics that is not predictable, because variables change.  But there are tenants that run true regardless of the variables.  Comparative Advantage is one of those.

Comparative advantage says if every country produces what it does so at a lower cost than other countries, then all countries will benefit from a higher standard of living.  And the market is what determines the clearing price, the profit that can be gained from the clearing price by each potential producer who has their own cost profile, and the result is a global production pattern that maximizes profit and consumption.

If you disrupt that process with tariffs, you will lower consumption by increasing profits in your own country and if everyone responds with various tariffs, every country will have higher inflation and a lower standard of living.

It is hard to believe our President studied economics, since he believes economics is a zero sum game.

Meanwhile, this is just one element of the chaos in public policy and we can only hope that 2018 elections bring us to a better place in 12 months.

OK, 2nd Amendment Repeal is a bit too Ambitious, But

there are some things that I think common ground can be found by all who are appalled by the terrorist carnage that our insufficient gun regulation allows.

Universal Background checks and gun registry for semi-automatic weapons that are not otherwise outlawed.  If you want to own a military style weapon, you have to be willing to be called up on quick notice with your weapon to defend the United States and the United States must be knowledgable about that willingness.  And no one under 21 would be allowed such a weapon and if they possess such a weapon, the parents are legally responsible for any and all legal ramifications of anything that transpires.

A effective mandatory process for getting the mentally ill and violent people with restraining orders against them into a database that supports the Background checks.

Make any mechanism that turns a gun into a more automatic weapon illegal.

People who are on terrorist watch lists should not have any rights to weapons.

People should not be allowed to purchase more that one gun a year.

There are 300 million guns in America and only 15% of the population owns all of them.  That is an average of 6.2 guns per gun owner.  How many more do they need to purchase in any one year?

I would also like to see no legal ownership of any gun more powerful and rapid than what any policeman carries.  A policeman should not be outgunned.

Repeal the 2nd Amendment

This is actually Bret Stephen's, a conservative columnist, idea.  I happen to like it.  It is simple.  It is democratic.  And it will relieve the Supreme Court of bizarre contortions that states and Congress don't have the right to regulate things that in the absence of regulation cause public harm.

Bret's Stephen's Original column


It will not be quick, but it could be a winning campaign strategy for 2018 and 2020 for the Democrats.  The Congress would have the ability to set national policy and States would have the right to set their local policy within that national framework.  Hunters will still have hunting rifles and people afraid for their personal safety can have their handguns in their homes and on their property.  A tourist in NYC doesn't need a hidden weapon.  There are amble police everywhere tourists go.

This Blog will Be Becoming Inactive After this one

Most of my reader hits are from Italy and I don't believe that many Italians love my writing even though I love Italian food, wine and visiting Italy.  Instead, I think those hits from Italy are Russian botts trying to accomplish heaven knows what.

But for those of you who are not Russian botts, I leave you with this thought.

I recently saw a historical review of Birth of a Nation.  This film made about 100 years ago revealed how widespread racism was in America.  Even President Wilson, who I always thought of as a liberal leader, believed in racist separation and Jim Crow laws.  I think he thought of Separate but Equal as being a good state of affairs even if there was no equality in such a state.

But reviewing the controversy surrounding the movie, the widespread support and viewership of the movie in the countryside, there can be no doubt that racism was widespread in white America.  The KKK had even been put to rest prior to the movie and the movie revived the KKK and made it more popular than ever for the next 30 to 40 years.

And I believe Donald Trump knows about his history because his campaign playbook is right out of it.  He panders to racists in the same manner the movie did.  And just as the movie revived the KKK, so shall Donald Trump's words revive racist action.  Donald Trump can protest that he is not a racist, but if you pander to racists, you are guilty of pandering to racists which will get you accused of being a racist.  I happen to think Donald Trump is an economic racist.  If you are not rich, you are not worthy.  If you are not working to support him personally, you are not worthy.  He can only care about those who care about and pander to him.  That is narcism and that is what Trump is.

So racism is alive and well in the U.S.  And it must be fought so it has no political standing.  Not every Trump supporter is a racist, but if they don't disown Trump's racist actions, like him they will be subject to accusation of being a racist.  I know the GOP wants to free people who they believe the welfare system is holding back by creating a culture of dependency.

But I ask you, how are so many Medicaid people who don't work able-bodied and not looking for work.  I have never met such a person, although I do not doubt that a small number might fit this profile, it is a large country.  But a small number should not determine how we fund a necessary support scheme for public health care.

And, as my final parting, I repeat what I have written before.  Fear drives much use of guns.  And the widespread availability of guns makes the police legitimately afraid, but there can still be no forgiveness for a police officer who lets fear generate the killing of an innocent human being.  That is why I do not understand why police across this nation are not speaking out for sensible gun control.

A Coherent Explanation of Why the Nunes's Memo Doesn't Destroy the Investigation

I will admit I had trouble reading the memo because it is a bunch of gobbledygook.  Then this morning I read how it was written by a staffer who went to a foreign law school and then couldn't pass the bar exam so he went to work as a Congressional staffer.  Talk about hiring the best and brightest!

Anyway, Bret Stephens explains coherently why this memo is worth the paper it is written on from a legal perspectives.  It is just a political rant.  Why the GOP insist on protecting Trump when they have a perfect foil for their political goals in the Vice President baffles me.

Link to "NothingBurger"

And from the WaPo.

From the memo
“The Papadopoulos information triggered the opening of an FBI counterintelligence investigation in late July 2016 by FBI agent Pete Strzok,”

From the WaPo
That timing is significant, given the FBI did not seek authorization to conduct surveillance on Page until three months later, on Oct. 21, 2016.


So the lier in Chief, our President, is wrong when he says the investigation is finding nothing.  If it was finding nothing, why have two people from the Trump campaign pleaded guilty.

And why doesn't everybody want to see Trump's tax returns?

72% of Republicans Believe Trump is a Good Moral Leader

1st, let me say that I do not agree with that.  Trump violates so many of the 10 Commandments that the only real lesson here is that white Evangelical Christians do not believe in the 10 Commandments, rather they believe you can do what you want and then ask for forgiveness from Jesus, and everything is OK.

In the last two weeks, Trump has been caught lying again about wanting to fire the Special Prosecutor investigating his ties to Russia.  He has been caught committing adultery with a Porn star and then paying her hush money.  Hush money is bribery.  He has American troops caught between Turkey and the Kurds and he is reducing funding to the PLO, which in turn will reduce their ability to offer hope, and likely lead to increased terrorism.  I have no doubt that somewhere in his past, Donald Trump hired someone to be a hit man for him and get rid of a troublesome individual.  And that is just the stuff Trump does that violates the 10 Commandments.

Every day is a violation of the Constitution Emoluments Clause.

If a Democrat were doing this, I guarantee you the GOP would be having a fit.  But no Democrat has ever stooped this low, and the GOP is accepting Trump's definition of morality as their own.

All Donald Trump cares about is his personal financial condition.  He cares about nothing else.

And I wish there was a decertification process for news organizations because clearly Fox News does not research anything and should no longer be allowed to call themselves a News Organization.  What Fox, Breitbart, NewsMax, and Drudge do would make the KGB and Gestapo proud of the effort if they had done it.

I wish I could move to another country, but RSL would never do it.  So I will stay here and just be in the Resistance and hope things improve in November.

meanwhile, I will be shocked if the House passes anything that helps the Dreamers. Not because there would fail to be sufficient votes on a bi-partisan basis, but because leadership will not bring it to a vote to appease the Freedom Caucus.

GOP Redefines Morality

And google SNL last Saturday and watch their take on how none of this matters anymore.  They are right, only it is not funny, Trump can do anything and the GOP will not hold him responsible for moral leadership.

The Upside to a 3:15 a.m. dog walk

We never had to do this with our Bouvier's, but our current dog is not as big and she occasionally cannot get her schedule right for we humans, or should I say me; as there is no way RSL is going to get up and go out at 3:15 a.m.

The unfortunate part of all this is that once I am up and had some exercise walking, I don't go right back to sleep.  So I listen to the BBC.

This morning on Hard Talk, the interviewer, who has a real talent for pushing people (thus the show called Hard Talk), interviewed Michael Steele, an African American, who is the former head of the Republican National Committee.  He is also a Never Trump'er and did not vote for him.

He explained coherently why GOP Congressman and many Senators will not go against Trump.  While Trump is supported by only 36% of the Electorate nationwide, within Republican geographies, 60% of Republicans support Trump.  While Steele felt Jeff Flake and Bob Corker should have taken the risk of a primary to make the case against Trump to the GOP base in their states, he stated that is why GOP Congressman take Trump's bad as a cost of achieving their policy goals.

And don't forget, Trump is making excellent progress for GOP policy goals.  Tax cuts are done, the individual mandate to buy health insurance is ended, regulations are being rolled back, Federal land is being reduced and opened to mining and logging, and conservative judges are being confirmed.

So, that is the reality and winning elections is the only way to reverse this.

And gaining understandings like that from Hard Talk is the upside to a 3:15 a.m. dog walk.

How Low Can We Go

We are pretty low right now and seemingly heading lower.  I know we are better than this, but the President sets the tone, words matter as any child is taught and knows, and this is where we are.

this guy says it better than me

Why I have not written anything lately.

1st, it has been the holidays.  2nd, nothing has changed.  The GOP Congress kneels over and kisses Trump's hand.

Nothing the GOP legislators do or do not do surprises me. While they are not necessarily racists, they condone racism, bigotry, and fail to govern on behalf of everybody preferring to be slaves to supply side economics and alt-right social policies favored by the NRA and social conservatives.

Corporations and GOP Donors Win Big in Tax Bill

and reveal how corrupt Citizens United has made the Republican Party.  If this were private business, it could be prosecuted for the giving and accepting of bribes.  But it's politics, and political donations followed by favorable tax treatment is just fine.

Link to E.J. Dionne column

5 Year's After Sandy Hook

I just don't understand.

This country suffers gun violence on such a frequent basis and nothing is being done to address it.

Yes, the Sandy Hook parents are trying to work on educating people about how to identify people at risk of doing such horrible things.  That is good.

But, you can still buy unlimited number and types of weapons in certain states in order to sell them in states where that is not legal.  And the NRA and the GOP want to allow that and concealment of such weapons anywhere including states where it that is illegal.

Why do people need weapons that can be made into machine guns with bump bump stocks?

Why do people who are terrorists, criminals, abusers and other violent people, allowed to buy guns no matter what their personal history?

Why are people allowed to buy semi-automatic weapons that they can adapt to fire faster?

Why are people allowed to buy hand-guns that they can conceal and frighten policeman to the extent that they shoot anybody they fear may have such a gun?  Even when the victim shows no move toward such a weapon.

This Congress will not do anything.  I can only wait for enlightened people to be elected.

Sunday Musings 12/10

Actually today's paper was a very quick uninspiring read.  The themes today were Hate is everywhere and very unproductive.  No one who is hated will have an incentive to listen to the hater to learn anything.  If you want to get someone to see things your way, you have to be respectful of them at all times.

Meanwhile, we have a President who asks people to hate him.  He supports a pedophile for the Senates on the grounds that a pedophile who supports me is better than someone I would have to negotiate with and try to convince  to see things my way.

So I understand all the reasons why Trump and various other people think moving the Embassy to Jerusalem is appropriate.  As much as I think we should have gotten Israel to stop building settlements on The West Bank in return for this, we didn't.  So much for the negotiator in chief being the best negotiator ever.  But I think it is causing the Palestinians to rethink what their goal should be.

They have been aiming for a Two State Solution, but frankly because of Arafat's obstinance and, after his death, general PLO ineptitude, Israel has had sufficient reason to offer nothing serious about a two state solution.  So I think the PLO should simply demand that Israel incorporate the West Bank into Israel and make the Palestinians Israeli citizens with all the rights of citizens.  To me, that is an unthinkable position for Israel to be in because the Palestinians have a much higher birth rate.  But it might force Israel to get serious about a Two State Solution because the current situation is not sustainable over the long run.

For some reason I have a number of readers that come from all over Europe in batches from a single Country.  1st, it was Russia, then Poland, then France, now it is Italy.  I frankly think it is botts from somewhere where illegal things can be gotten away with:  Russia, Kazakstan, etc.

But in case y'all are real readers and are wondering what is going on here in the U.S. with women objecting to be made 2nd class citizens who are objects of desire by men who cannot control themselves, I have the following observation to make.  Since WWII, many women have been raised from childhood to have the belief that they are equal to men in all respects.  And even women in the 1st wave who may have been raised with conflicting messages or even traditional messages, raised the next generation of women to believe they are equal to men in all respects and deserve to be treated that way and not as a sex object.  And with a President who has never understood that, and has violated many women's sense of self, women are tired of being abused and willing to go public with their disgust at what certain men have done to them.  And it does seem that some of these men would possibly have been guilty of rape if the proper steps had been taken at the time.

What is interesting is that the GOP cannot overcome their sense of war with the Democrats to deal with the undesirables in their midst.  They accuse the Democrats of tolerating all sorts of misbehavior but refuse to do anything about bad behavior within their party.

David Brooks Friday column was worth reading for a summary of just how far the GOP has fallen below any resemblance of decency in politics.

Link to "The GOP is Rotting"

Michael Gerson Sees Hope For Some Progressive Ideas

that are opposed by mostly old religious white men.

The most priceless quote is:

"And where did this urgent assertion of moral principle come from? Not from the advocates of “family values.” On the contrary, James Dobson, the founder of Focus on the Family (now under much better management), chose to side with GOP Senate candidate Roy Moore of Alabama against his highly credible accusers. “I have been dismayed and troubled,” Dobson said, “about the way he and his wife Kayla have been personally attacked by the Washington establishment.”

"It is as if Dobson set out to justify every feminist critique of the religious right. Instead of standing against injustice and exploitation — as the Christian gospel demands — Dobson sided with patriarchal oppression in the cause of political power. This is beyond hypocrisy. It is the solidarity of scary, judgmental old men. It is the ideology of white male dominance dressed up as religion."

The lesson for advocates of progressive ideas is that you have to just keep making your point and letting the generations absorb it.  And eventually, if the point has a reasonable spot in the moral landscape, societal opinion will galvanize on the point and permanent change will happen.

Link to Gerson column

Depressing Descriptions of Reality

David Brooks wrote a thought provoking column yesterday.  It was not an optimist piece particularly when you add in Thomas Egan's column today.

1st Egan's point.  We are a nation of opinionated ignorants.  That is why Donald Trump can get away with telling on average 5 lies a day.  He says it and his supporters believe it.  That leaves me speechless so I will just put in the link.

Link to "We're with Stupid"

As I have written before, we expect our leaders to lead.  My original purpose in writing this blog was to promote governing from the middle taking the best ideas from the Right, Center and Left to solve problems in the interaction of government and the citizens.  The U.S. has not moved in that direction.

And as Brooks writes, that is the fault of our government leaders in both political parties have they have obfuscated the legitimacy of the other political party's point of view to the point where large bodies of citizens believe their point of view is the only legitimate one.  Since no one is perfect, policies are complex in how they interact with the citizenry, this is a prescription for frustration and failure to move the country forward in a productive manner.

What Brook's focuses on is the roots of belief in the political parties.  The GOP has become a slave to the mantra that each person has to be free to maximize their economic condition.  The Democrats have become a slave to the mantra that each person has to be free to maximize their right to personally be treated fairly by society.  The result is a hyper focus on identity politics that has no roots in communal well being.  Political parties used to share common values respecting the roots that belonging to a community generated.  That loss of sense of community and belonging has been replaced by splintered identities.  Politicians created this situation and Brooks is not sure how we get back to that better place.

That is my take away 24 hours after reading the column.  The column is a complex thought and well worth reading.  So I will put in a link in now.

Link to Brooks Column

I can't really put a finger on how society got here.  Economic conditions (globalization and technology) certainly created stress on segments of society and a complex web of issues created a serious separation between rural and urban voters in how they prioritize their thoughts that determine how they vote.  I want to blame Mitch McConnell for saying he wanted Obama to have a failed presidency.   That goal and how he accomplished it certainly laid the foundation for where we are today, but he is a politician and that thought did not materialize out of the ether, it had to have some basis in reality that I cannot identify any more.

I long for a government that understands its responsibilities to govern well and produce a steady state of the nation.  That means agreement on certain basic goals and they compromise or experimentation at the state level to figure out the best way to get to those goals.

Who are the Great figures of History?

I really enjoy perusing the NYT Book Review.  It is a great way to provoke thoughts that get you out of the here and now.

I missed the original book review, but saw a short blurb on a new book about Michelangelo.  And I had the thought that he was certainly one of the top 10 people who ever lived.  Which started me thinking who else would be on that list.  So I started to create one in my brain, and I have come up short.

Einstein would be on the list.  Freud would be on the list, perhaps.

After that, it gets a bit jumbled up.

What are the criteria?  My 1st one is that there has to be no question that the person lived.  So that leaves out all the people in the various bibles, because I am not sure any of them really lived.  So I guess any creationists reading this will sign off now.

My 2nd criteria is the person had to have a dominating influence on much that has happened since their being alive in their discipline.

My 3rd criteria is what they did has to stand head and shoulders above what others did.

So after Michelangelo, Einstein and Freud, where can you go?

It does seem like Thomas Jefferson would deserve some consideration, but what in the documents that founded the U.S. were ideas that were his alone?  What about the reliance on the Magna Carta and who was responsible for that? I don't think it was any one person.

And while there were other U.S. politicians responsible for the great ideas that form U.S. Democratic ideals, I don't think any of them individually rise up to the level of the 3 have already named.

Similarly, the great composers get all mixed up in my mind and while collectively Mozart, Beethoven, Brahms and Tchaikovsky belong on the list, I cannot say a single one of them does.

On the Evil side, Karl Marx, Lenin, Hitler, Napoleon might belong on the list, but I am reluctant to put them on it.  And if they are not on it, how can Churchill, FDR or Lincoln be on it.

Since it was the writing of books that started this, what about author's.  I know there is a generation of Americans who might put Herman Hesse on this list, but he doesn't have the permanent stature that I was thinking of when I started this.

Then there are sports, but other than Michael Jordan, few star athletes are global or will persist for generations.  If this list were limited to Americans, I would put Babe Ruth and Michael Jordan on it.

So I am 7 short of my desired number and for the moment I will leave it at Michelangelo, Einstein and Freud.  If you have any candidates, leave them in the comments section.

P.S. one week later.  I would put Leonardo da Vinci on this list.  So we are up to four.

And Bill Gates/Steve Jobs would merit consideration as a duo.  Although while they had vision, they obviously had to hire a lot of people to create the products that changed the world.

P.S.S.  Benjamin Franklin definitely belongs on the list.  Discovery of Electricity, creation of the Post Office, and many other things.

P.S.S.S  I will now add Aristotle and Sir Isaac Newton.

So the list now consists of Aristotle, Sir Isaac Newton, Michaelangelo, Lenonardo da Vinci, Benjamin Franklin, Einstein and Freud.  And my son who was visiting as I wrote this put forth Confucious.  I do believe he is worthy,  so now we have 8.   My son thought I was being too critical about Evil people and said I should consider Ghenkis kahn but after reading about him I deem him not up to the high standards of this list.

Democrat's Need to Ignore the Hillary Blasts

Democrats need to look forward.  They need an economic message that rewards work, encourages work, and offers hope that the world will be a better place.  That is what motivates voters to go to the polls and vote for a person.  Let King Donald waste his time and energy on the past, but Democrats should not get drawn into his trap.  People want a positive campaign.

What did or did not happen in 2015 - 2016 is done and past unless laws were broken and that is for the Justice system to figure out.  Candidates and people already elected need to focus on making government work for the people and come with policies that will help that message and reality.

How I Went from Supporting the GOP to being a straight Ticket Democratic Voter

First, how I was/am a Conservative. I respect the need for the military and honor and support veterans. I respect and honor 1st responders. I believe in individual liberty and freedom of the press and religion. I do not want tax rates to make the U.S. uncompetitive on a global basis, but I want a balanced budget when the economy is near full employment. That is the time to pay down your debt, so you have dry powder to counteract recessions, when there is a need to borrow to support deficit spending.

I voted for Ronald Reagan twice and George Bush Senior. I have voted for every Democratic candidate for President since. Why?

I felt that the gap between the rich and the poor was growing too big. I felt that the poor were not getting the education or health care they needed. I felt that the deficit spending from supply side economics was inappropriate and only the Democrats believe in a balanced government fiscal status.

More recently, I can add to that list of reasons the I am a Conservative Liberal or Centrist. While I still believe all those things in the 1st paragraph, I also believe in Universal Health Insurance because without it, we all pay for everybody through our health insurance. That is because the Reagan Administration passed a law requiring hospitals to serve anybody who shows up regardless of whether they had health insurance or not. The hospitals had to recover those costs somewhere and did so by charging those with health insurance more. And because the Health Insurance Companies must be profitable, they charge policyholders higher premiums to cover the uninsured. ObamaCare was designed by the GOP focused Heritage Foundation as an alternative to a Single Payer Plan. ObamaCare is the GOP solution to the problem of the uninsured, but the GOP has no current policy that will solve the problem of the uninsured. How could I ever vote for them?

I also believe in Science. CO2 in the atmosphere traps solar energy heating the atmosphere. That was proven in 1852 long before anyone could create a false conspiracy, which is what the climate deniers claim. Scientists have replicated that test repeatedly over the last 165 years and no one has disproved it. A good chemistry teacher could do it in a High School Chemistry lab. We have to start to reduce carbon emissions. Cap & Trade was a GOP idea on how to use the market to manage down carbon emissions, but now the GOP disowns it. How could I ever vote for them if I care about trying to keep sea levels constant? If the ice all melts, sea levels will rise somewhere between 20′ and 100′. I don’t know how they estimate that so I don’t know how high an elevation my descendent’s should live. I am currently 35′ above sea level, but my access road to higher ground is only 20″ above sea level.

Finally, while I respect what the police do for us all, I also want the police to respect people of all races. People with darker shades of skin pigment should not fear being stopped by the police. Yet, numerous African American men have been murdered by policeman who do not suffer any consequences for their actions. If I was an African American, I would most certainly move to somewhere I felt safe and I would not carry a gun, even legally, because as we saw in Minnesota, that can get you killed by a policeman, who fears for their safety just because they do. Black Lives Matter, Blue Lives Matter, All Lives Matter.

Which brings me to sensible gun control. Hunters do not need semi-automatic weapons. Police should not have to fear people possessing concealed pistols. The GOP is a prisoner of the NRA. As someone who has been repeatedly appalled by the gun carnage in the USA where 38,000 people died last year from gun violence, I want sensible gun control, but I know the NRA GOP will not allow that to happen if they have political power. How can I vote for them if they believe that?