Monday, August 31, 2015

Trumps opponents just keep getting dumber

Presidential candidate Scott Walker said that we should consider building a wall between the United States and Canada. This idiot and Chris Christie (who wants to track visitors like packages) don't even consider how foolish they look to other countries and how their words may hurt the travel industry. They just want to prove that they are dumber than Trump.

There is a very real problem with illegal immigration from Mexico; but, not Canada. Here is the real difference between Trump and these other idiots. Trump would actually try and get the wall between Mexico and the United States built if he were elected. Neither Christie or Walker would actually try the plans they have suggested and we all know it. It is just more hot air from lying politicians trying to take votes from Trump. Their insincerity is what this election is showing and they don't know how to stop themselves.

The problem with this election is that they are not discussing the real issues. The one's that will be important to the future of this nation. What about discussing rebuilding our infrastructure and our manufacturing base? That is a real issue. What about eliminating deductions that go to companies that outsource jobs to other countries? What about putting people in jail for rigging the financial markets. Heck, the only one even talking about making hedge funders pay the same tax rate as the rest of us is Donald Trump.

Here is a big question, who is talking about removing all our troops from Iraq and Afghanistan and using the savings to take better care of our veterans. Why, if they are fiscal conservatives, not talking about putting rules back in place to prevent banks from gambling with our deposits. Why if they believe in freedom and the Constitution are they not calling for the repeal of the Patriot Act and reinstating the Posse Comitatus Act which prevented the military from being used within the United States?

Saturday, August 29, 2015

Trumps Gutless Opponents

The professional politicians, especially in the Republican party, are deathly afraid of Donald Trump and have no idea what to do. It is shaping up to be one of the most amusing elections in a very long time. He is leading the polls among Republicans in just about every demographic including the Tea Party. His opponents don't want to take him on because they fear alienating his supporters so instead they try and put a different spin on his biggest issues.

Jeb Bush who calls the children of illegal immigrants "anchor babies" has also said the real problem is Asian illegal immigrants, not Mexicans, and that deporting the ones who are here is "un-American". Huh? He doesn't have the courage or conviction to pick a side and stick to it.

The real wacko, Chris Christie, tried the illegal immigration question differently. He wants to track people that come into this country like Fed-ex packages. I guess that means we give them all barcodes or RFID chips. Yahoo - Reuters - Republican Christie proposes tracking immigrants like FedEx packages.

Now that Trump is talking about simplifying the tax code and eliminating deductions, his opponents don't know what to say so they say nothing. Republicans have long claimed that taxes are too high; but, they don't want to get rid of deductions because the vast majority of them only apply to the very wealthy and businesses. A couple of Republicans have said they would support a flat tax; but, want to keep the deductions. That is not a flat tax.

Neither the media nor his opponents are willing to see and admit where Trumps support is really coming from because in the end it is a rejection of the status quo and the system that has allowed this country to be dismembered economically for the benefit of a few.

Friday, August 28, 2015

Conspiracy Porn

As I have said before, I read a lot of news and even watch YouTube videos. In the course of my day I come across a lot of garbage, most of it I never mention because it is not worth my time. Most of the "conspiracies" I write about and confirmed or discussed in their own writings. JP Morgan paid around $30 Billion for rigging markets. The market rigging by them and other banks was real and people should have gone to jail.

Here is one of the problems in the United States, people don't trust the politicians or big business. They do not believe that either has the best interest of the people or this nation at heart and I agree with that. I believe that is why Donald Trump is having such a surge in popularity even more than the issues he raises. When you continually lie to people, as the politicians and media have done, they stop believing anything you say and distrust everything you do and that is what we are seeing.

Let me give you an example of my take on something and a different popular view held by many others. I believe genetically modifying food is a bad idea because we don't know what effect it will have long term and too much consistency in a food source makes it susceptible to complete annihilation by pestilence. I should also point out that I tend to buy free range and hormone free meats. The hormones in food are causing children to experience puberty at an earlier and earlier age, this is a bad thing. Now, many on the internet actually believe that these things are being done to kill us. Some of the biggest web broadcasters are openly saying that the government and the wealthy want to kill 90% of us. I will not post to their sites; but, you can go on to YouTube or search the internet for the term "depopulation".

Right now a popular belief is that the military is about to take over the population and put us all in concentration camps. I am not making this idiocy up. Search the terms, "fema camps" and or "Jade Helm 15". Just so you understand, Fema Camps are temporary holding facilities for people after a natural or other disaster and Jade Helm is a military exercise that is going on that involves using the military in a natural disaster or in the event of social unrest. I am absolutely against using the military to quell civil disturbances and believe that what happened to the Occupy movement because of the federal government getting involved in local issues was unconstitutional. Yet there seems to be a whole industry being built to peddle fear. I will call in conspiracy porn and it is behind the rise in radicalism.

I should point out a couple of things. The "conservatives" in this country are no longer true conservatives, they act and talk like Ayn Rand followers, they are extreme forms of a sort of libertarian dog eat dog fascists. I will say this for Mitt Romney, at least he openly declared that he did not believe most people were anything other than leaches on society. Others who feel the same way try and couch it in nicer terms. Trump is just a lot more blunt, he says that all illegals are rapists and murderers. The reason the other Republican politicians and the media don't know how to respond to him is because fundamentally, they agree with him.

A little history. First, I want to be absolutely clear that I don't think Donald Trump is a fascist. From what I have been told by people who knew him, he is actually a really nice person to be around and is very giving. If the election comes down to Trump versus Hillary Clinton, I would vote for Trump. If the election comes down to Jeb Bush versus Sanders, I would vote for Sanders. And if neither Trump nor Sanders is the candidate then I probably won't bother voting at all. Now the history. In Germany after World War I the people needed someone to blame and they blamed the communists and jews. Hitler did not start that, he merely believed it and promoted it with more force than others. Hitler was a true believer rather than just being some political whore selling the blame game. What is going on with Trump is the same thing. Trump is saying to the Republicans, hey, if this is what we believe then we need to put our money where are mouths are and do something about it. There is actually a "conservative" radio host who has said that if we find an illegal alien we should turn them into slaves. That guy makes Trump sound like a pro-immigration fanatic.

I want to change the subject for a moment. Do you remember when all the Cuban boat people left Cuba and landed in Florida? Remember how they were cheered because they left that bad communist nation? Why is our response different when they come here from central America to flee equally bad governments?

One trend I see on the conspiracy porn sites is that they are almost always anti-Israel. Personally I believe Israel has a right to exist; but, I do disagree with some of the things it has done. I think Israel has way too much sway on our politics. You can disagree with a nations actions without being against the nations existence. Heck, I disagree with many US policies; but, I think we have a right to be our own nation. The conspiracy porn sites are just a bunch of anti-Semites who spin it differently.

Wednesday, August 26, 2015

God Doesn't Believe in Democracy or Capitalism

God did not have people vote over the great flood? It wasn't up to them, it was up to him. God is not into democracy, he doesn't believe we are free either. Jesus said we are all slaves and that we choose to whom we are slaves. By the way, this is a religious and not a political post.

God does not believe in capitalism, he believes he owns everything including you. Think about it.

Monday, August 24, 2015

Lying is the new Normal

As many of my readers know, I occasionally write about the stock market. I have written about the myth of the black swan that was used to excuse the media for not seeing the stock crash coming and about how wall street thinks it's okay to steal from pension funds. I have also written about how the big banks have rigged all the markets. I think it is important to see how the media helps them in stealing from us.

I was watching the markets over the weekend (yes, limited trading goes on during the weekend). While most of us never see it, the trading companies know in advance what bets their customers are making for Monday during the weekend because many people place their bets from their computers during the weekend so they can get their first trade in when the market opens on Monday. You never hear the media talk about that little tidbit.

Anyways, by Sunday I was convinced that the markets would be down again on Monday, rather than pop back as they have in the past couple of years and believe me, this correction is not over. Most market corrections do not happen in one day, it is a long drawn out period with some good days in between. None of this is really the point of this post, just background.

So, with the beginning of the correction many stock analysts began bracing for it over the weekend in the financial media. Their basic statements repeated all over was that corrections are inevitable, people should not panic and that buying during a correction can be a smart move. They didn't blame any one thing for the downturn but instead said these things are to be expected. Monday came and suddenly the media began quoting people (politicians and zealots) blaming everything from Obama to China to Planned Parenthood (that one was from Pat Robertson). The reality is much more complex.

In todays world, unlike in the 1920s, we instantaneously get our news from around the world and trades are made in milliseconds by computers based on complex algorithms. In the past the financial markets were not as interconnected or controlled as they are today. What happens in the Asian or European markets is immediately felt in America and vice versa. The fact that the media would promote and repeat lies by people blaming these downturns on the bad guy of the day is the problem, the media should be explaining how the markets really work.

Saturday, August 22, 2015

Are You a Capitalist or a Christian?

We live in a world of propaganda and spin, it is about all we hear anymore and I have spent the last few years writing this blog and trying to point that out. There is no left or right, it is not the good guys against the bad guys, it is big money versus the world. Some of the wealthiest have pointed this out and were vilified for doing so as traitors to their own economic class. Warren Buffet said the rich should pay more in taxes and the Republicans told him he should send a check; but, that it was a personal choice. Mr. Buffet gathered wealthy people together to pledge to give more and he was ridiculed for that. Others who are extremely wealthy have claimed that the rich shouldn't pay any taxes and that their votes should count for more than the average person's vote (I posted the quotes and links to the interviews previously).

The new pope came out and said that income inequality and our failure to take care of the poor was wrong and that we needed to change. He was then attacked by "Christian" Republicans and even Catholic Republicans for making "political" statements. Huh???? The same conservative Republicans that encouraged the religious right to fight "gay marriage" and "abortion" complained that a Pope was arguing for helping the poor. That is called a hypocrite. They are Christian until it effects their pocketbook or that of their donors.

If you are a Christian and have read your bible then you might remember where Jesus was asked if the people in Israel should pay a particular tax and Jesus response was to ask them whose face was on their money and they said it was Caesar's and his response was to tell them to give unto Caesar that which was his. He basically said, it is not your money. In case your wondering, he also said to be good slaves. He never said blow up a federal building in Oklahoma to protest. The first Christians were basically communists by the way, they gave all their money to the church.

Now, you can like it or not but what I wrote is the truth and is in the New Testament, you can even look it up. Jesus was not a conservative, he was a radical and a pacifist. If you wish to go back to the old testament, the rules were even tougher. No debt could last for more than seven years at the end of which all debts were forgiven and it was considered a sin to charge interest on a loan. Let us not forget that you were also expected to give 10% of your income to the synagogues along with special extra times of giving.

I certainly don't expect atheists to believe in these things, though some like Buffet have given way more that 10% to charity, not to the church as he is an Atheist; but, to take care of others. I'm pretty sure Warren Buffet is a capitalist.

I should reiterate something I wrote about before. I did preach for a few years; but, was not an Evangelical, I never tried to "make" someone a Christian, it is not my job, my job is what the bible says, to have an explanation for why I believe and have hope. I don't expect non-Christians to abide by Christian values, that would be ludicrous. I expect Christians to abide by Christian values. I thought I might add some verses from the bible.

Matthew 19:16-30King James Version (KJV)
16 And, behold, one came and said unto him, Good Master, what good thing shall I do, that I may have eternal life?
17 And he said unto him, Why callest thou me good? there is none good but one, that is, God: but if thou wilt enter into life, keep the commandments.
18 He saith unto him, Which? Jesus said, Thou shalt do no murder, Thou shalt not commit adultery, Thou shalt not steal, Thou shalt not bear false witness,
19 Honour thy father and thy mother: and, Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself.
20 The young man saith unto him, All these things have I kept from my youth up: what lack I yet?
21 Jesus said unto him, If thou wilt be perfect, go and sell that thou hast, and give to the poor, and thou shalt have treasure in heaven: and come and follow me.
22 But when the young man heard that saying, he went away sorrowful: for he had great possessions.
23 Then said Jesus unto his disciples, Verily I say unto you, That a rich man shall hardly enter into the kingdom of heaven.
24 And again I say unto you, It is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle, than for a rich man to enter into the kingdom of God.
25 When his disciples heard it, they were exceedingly amazed, saying, Who then can be saved?
26 But Jesus beheld them, and said unto them, With men this is impossible; but with God all things are possible.
27 Then answered Peter and said unto him, Behold, we have forsaken all, and followed thee; what shall we have therefore?
28 And Jesus said unto them, Verily I say unto you, That ye which have followed me, in the regeneration when the Son of man shall sit in the throne of his glory, ye also shall sit upon twelve thrones, judging the twelve tribes of Israel.
29 And every one that hath forsaken houses, or brethren, or sisters, or father, or mother, or wife, or children, or lands, for my name's sake, shall receive an hundredfold, and shall inherit everlasting life.
30 But many that are first shall be last; and the last shall be first.

Friday, August 21, 2015

Biased Reporting by the Associated Press and News

Yahoo - AP - Cheating website subscribers included WH, Congress workers. That was the title of the article. A website was built for adulterers, it had millions of subscribers, millions. The website was hacked and the names of the people who joined it were made public. That is the story. What do you think the odds are that the users came from all walks of life and industry? Yet these reporters seemed stunned and offended that some of them were in government.

Lets be clear on my feelings about adultery, I don't respect it, never engaged in it and was a victim of an adulterous spouse. While homosexuality did not make the ten commandments, adultery did. People in America excused Bill Clinton's adultery and his perjury on the matter; but, voted against gay marriage. There is not one state that penalizes people who are getting divorced for adultery, they get the same alimony as if they had been faithful to their spouse. Gay marriage is not destroying the family, the acceptance of adultery is because that destroys trust in the family. Have I made my position clear? By the way, the old testament said to stone adulterers, not gays.

Why did the article focus on government workers and ignore the bigger issues, like, I don't know, showing how many people accessed the site from their work computers and then naming them by company. What do you think the odds are that some of the people working for the Associated Press also accessed the cheating website from their work computers? It might help to know which industries had the most cheaters, at least it might help their spouses. Think about it.

Yahoo - The myth of Trump’s angry legions. The article basically claims that Trump just represents a fraction of Republican voters, he represents a quarter and is the front runner. It also implies that the Trump supporters are the only ones outraged on the right by what is going on, don't bet on that. The article completely ignores the fact that congress only has an 11% approval rating. The media is incapable of discussing how the Tea Party, Occupy Movement, Sanders and Trump represent a growing dissatisfaction with where America is going and how the system is rigged against the average American. When I wrote my post about Sanders and Trump being the only ones worth voting for President, I assumed everyone would disagree; but, now I am hearing people like Jesse Ventura and other independents saying the exact same thing. People are angry with the status quo and the establishment wants to convince you that you are not.

Monday, August 17, 2015

The "Establishment" Versus Trump

I am not a Republican, let me make that very clear. I am also not a Democrat, those are parties and not beliefs. Like Groucho Marx, I would never join any organization that would have someone like me as a member. I am a fiscal conservative with a socially liberal perspective. I don't respect people who vote their pocketbook at the expense of what they believe is right. My motto in business was, "Do the right thing for the right reason".

In the past the well to do believed that some of us were just genetically inferior, that was called Social Darwinism. The new rich believe they "single handedly" earned everything they have with no help from the rest of society and believe those who are not rich are just lazy. The new rich don't care about our country, they don't care about anyone who is not successful in their mind if you are unsuccessful, you don't deserve to be. The new rich believe in Ayn Rand and that the 99% are anchors holding the world back.

What Trump and Sanders have in common is that they believe we are in this game as a country and that everyone who is a member of this country deserves a chance. Now, Trump believes that being born here is not enough to make one a citizen and I disagree with this and where it could lead immensely. I do not believe Trump would make a great president; but, I believe the others will all be more of the same lies. Trump and Sanders are showing us one thing more than anything else, they are proving how the game is rigged in politics.

Yahoo - The Fiscal Times - 9 Trump Positions that Make Liberals Want to Move to Canada.

I love this article, it is a conservative, Republican leaning, paper telling Democrats why they should be against Donald Trump. I guess that Democrats should just ignore the, just as many, reasons they should be against Jeb Bush and the other Republicans, including Rand. The Democrats are just as irrationally afraid of Sanders. The media is afraid of them both because they haven't sold out to the corporate interests, remember 5 organizations own over 90% of all the media.

I don't think we will see this; but, the best situation we could hope for is a Presidential election between Trump and Sanders, it would be a total rejection of the status quo, the establishment and how they are selling this country out. Whoever won would tell us if  the country was moving true left or true right.

Ronald Reagan asked a simple question once, he asked people if they were better off than they were before Carter got elected and the answer was no. I will ask an equally simple question, do you think the country will be better off or even changed if we vote for anyone other than Trump or Sanders. Do you think Jeb Bush or Hillary Clinton will return this this country to where it could be?

Wednesday, August 12, 2015

Two News Articles, Maybe Three

I was reading the newspapers recently and came across an article in the Los Angeles Times about how the city had settled an agreement with the largest union of city workers. It stated that they had agreed to not have any pay raises for the next three years. Now I know a lot of people are not getting raises, that in and of itself raises issues; but, what made this interesting was the fact that the City of Los Angeles has just voted to enforce a $15 minimum wage for people who don't work for the city. Doesn't it all seem a little hypocritical? Maybe there is a reason this is going on because we are seeing in in other places.

Right now we are seeing cities begin to raise minimum wages and many news articles are claiming that the other people working for the companies are upset because even though they have worked there longer, new employees are being given raises to the same amount as them and they are not getting increases. I ask my readers to not have an emotional response to this based on how it effect them personally; but, to look at the effect of these things. Pitting the lowest paid against underpaid people that have been working at their jobs longer. Now, Los Angeles has also implemented a system whereby people get raises based on years of service for a total of 15 annual raises; but, the raises are less than the cost of living increases that they would otherwise be entitled to. Do you see what is really going on? Oh, and don't think the City won't have to pay more in contracting out or be effected by the raise in the minimum wage. They will pay more to contract out and less to keep work for government employees.

The real fight is not between government employees and private industry or even between senior employees in private industries low paying jobs and new employees getting paid the same. The big picture is just that, bigger. Estimates say that we could expect to see over 40% of our jobs over the next five to ten years because of automation; but, you watch it will be blamed on raising the minimum wage. The real intent is to have everyone work for minimum wage.

Now in another article I read how the City of Los Angeles has just committed to decrease the number of traffic lanes used by cars while dedicating lanes to busses and bikes. Los Angeles is not alone in this, we are seeing this across the nation. Cars have been sharing the road with busses for about 100 years, why would you need to dedicate lanes just for busses on city streets?

Monday, August 10, 2015

More on Trump and Sanders and Representative Democracy.

Apparently some columnist wrote that Trump and Sanders were this years Ron Paul and that their ideas were things that the "majority" of Americans did not support. Hmmm. Do you really believe that the majority of Americans are against controlling the borders and keeping out illegal immigrants or regulating banks better? I then read another article that said that Trump had not stated his policies. These two things seem to contradict one another. Either he has policies that would not be popular with the majority of people or he has no policies, you cannot accuse him of both.

I am much more liberal than most of my friends of my age and they are almost exclusively Republicans with many being ex-military and not one of them has been upset by Trump. They don't feel they are being listened to by their party and why should they when they are ridiculed along with Trump for believing that they are not being well represented?

I am not an Obama supporter and disliked Clinton and the Bushes as well. Having said that, I will ask a question that Ronald Regan asked when running for President. Were you better off after Bush was elected? Remember the stock and housing crashes occurred while Bush was in office. The answer is slightly different for Obama as when Bush left we were losing hundreds of thousands of jobs a month and under Obama we have seen "some" job growth; but, my question about him is different. Did he do the things he promised he would. I can only thing of one and that was the healthcare change, you may not like it but he at least kept one promise. Neither put the countries interest ahead of business and big money.

The battle ground today is a very simple question. Who do you think will attempt to keep their election promises? Let us say for the moment that 60% of Americans were in favor of becoming a "social democrat" nation where there was universal healthcare, government control over the printing of money rather than the Federal Reserve (a private bank) controlling the money supply and getting the interest from the government and a guaranteed minimum standard of living. Now as an ardent anti-socialist and Republican against all these things, if 60% of the people voted for it and their candidate was elected, would you support him doing the exact opposite of these things? Would you support him not representing the people who elected him? I am sure you can flip this question on Democrats fairly easily, my answer would not change. I believe in Democracy and think that if we vote for someone, they should do what they were elected to do.

While I personally would vote for Sanders over Trump, I think Trump has a better chance of being effective than Sanders at getting his policies through. The real issue in this election is not whether or not we lean left or right; but, whether or not we force our elected officials to represent us or accept the way things are. Does it matter who you vote for if they don't try and do what they were voted to do?

Sunday, August 9, 2015

The Confusion Over Donald Trump

I am immensely amused by the media's inability to understand the attraction of Donald Trump to voters. If I were to vote Republican, I would chose him above the others myself. If I were to vote Democrat, I would vote for Sanders. I would not vote for Bush or Clinton as they are already owned and (Ayn) Rand Paul is no better. Trump and Sanders are not just a new approach they are the outgrowth of the Tea Party and the Occupy Movement, they are the building frustration of those who know we are all being screwed by the system which has been purchased by the financial system. That is the one thing the media will not discuss about them.

How can we call ourselves a democracy when only 11% of the people approve of congress? The truth is that we don't trust the politicians and we don't trust the financial leaders, they have all sold out the United States. Here is the essence of the problem, who do you believe our politicians will work for, big business and the financial industry or Americans when their interests differ? We would like to think that they would put the interests of Americans first; but, we all know that they do not. That is why companies that outsource jobs to foreign nations still get tax breaks. Think about it.