Nelson Mandela has passed away. Mr. Mandela led an interesting life and after taking over South Africa managed to prevent it from sliding into what could have been a horrendous civil war. Not an easy thing to do. Prior to the end of apartheid in South Africa many westerners made a lot of claims against apartheid; but, rarely was the whole story told and part of it has some relevance for the United States.
South Africa, like many other countries, allowed people from neighboring countries to come there on work visas for decades. These people were not considered citizens. One of them was a young Indian attorney named Gandhi. He later left and return to India where he was the primary force behind freeing India from English control. While in South Africa, Gandhi set out to give Indians the vote; but, they were not citizens. In fact many were indentured servants who had come there with no expectation of citizenship. Here is the hypocrisy, today many are applauding Mr. Mandela's life, as they should; but, many of these same people are outraged that the United States has illegal aliens here from Mexico.
Some may argue that these people are here illegally and they are; but, many of them have been here for decades working in the fields. How is it that we allow so many people to come here to work as undocumented workers picking our fruit and being given so few rights? You cannot have it both ways. There is a discussion going on right now about giving citizenship to "illegal aliens" in America and I think we need to see how we had called for the same in South Africa.
Part of the reason that we don't see the similarity is because many viewed the situation in South Africa as being the same as it was here; but, there were some real differences. You might be interested to know that South Africa abolished slavery before the United States did. Most people don't know that. It should also be noted that South Africa had a lot less slaves than we did.
I am not arguing for open borders, I am questioning our claim on moral superiority over what went on in South Africa. We have whole families that were born here to parents who came here illegally. If caught, the parents can be sent back to Mexico and the families ripped apart as their children have no right to Mexican citizenship. Over the next few days we are going to hear a lot about how great Mr. Mandela was for ending apartheid, my question is, how much sympathy and compassion can we find for people who come here without permission that work the most menial jobs in our country?
Friday, December 6, 2013
Tuesday, December 3, 2013
A Few More Thoughts on Pastor Daniels
In the last few days I have received some comments on the case of Pastor Daniels. I checked to see if there were any news updates and found none other than what I posted recently. In the course of this I was talking to a friend about the comments I had received and up showing him the site on Google Earth and explaining some of my thoughts on the matter. It got me thinking about the facts of the case again.
We do not believe that the murderer enterred through the front door because the front of the church could be seen by cameras and the police said that no car pulled up in front other than hers based on the camera footage. We know that the police took the back door into evidence and have reason to believe that something was written on it in the Pastor's blood. While I have never read about what was written or drawn on the door, we know they kept the door as evidence. It is also most likely that the murderer entered through that door. If a window had been broken, I think that would have come out. In fact, we were told that a couple of her friends had come by and found the front door locked, they would have checked the windows to try and see inside and would have noticed if any were broken.
This is probably a minor point; but, how did the intruder open the back door? Did they have a key or did they force it open? If they did not force it open then where did they get the key from? If they forced it open they must have lived close by. There are at least four or five houses with line of site views of the back of the church. It can also be seen from the convenience store. I am sort of train of consciousness writing this, so excuse me if it is not completely thought out and develops as I write. A group of people could not have entered the church they would have been noticed. My guess is that the door was forced open by one person.
Another thought. Anyone just passing by would not have known there was a back door. I had considered the possibility that someone headed to the casino up the road could have done it; but, it doesn't make sense that they would know there was a backdoor unless they had been behind the church previously. Why would anyone think that church had a back door and not be afraid to be seen entering through it? How did this person know that they could break open the back of that church, get inside and not have the cops called. This is especially odd as the police station is so close by, about a block away.
I read somewhere that one of Pastor Daniels relatives asked what happened to her briefcase, I found that odd at the time; but, didn't quite know why. I have preached many times and have never brought a briefcase with me, I just bring my bible. It is not as if she thought she would be taking up a collection because everything I have read said that many times nobody showed up. It is my understanding that she really went there to serve two elderly members of the church. She would not need a briefcase to carry their contributions if they made any.
I had asked myself at a time if there could have been an economic motive behind the killing. I wondered if someone had wanted to acquire the property; but, it is a memorial and as far as I know, nobody tried to buy it. To the church it is a loss of an asset economically. They did not sell it off. I cannot see how anyone benefited economically from the Pastor Daniels death. A planned murder like this always has a motive. The most common motives for crime are money or personal revenge. We know that most people know their murderers at least on some level. Who did she meet in Anadarko that would want to harm her? How many people did she even know in the whole town, she only went there on Sundays for a couple of hours. It is not as if she went door to door inviting people to the church or at least I have read such a thing.
I believe we must assume that Pastor Daniels had met her killer previously. I believe the person was a local and felt secure in entering through the back door without being noticed in broad daylight. Kicking a door in makes a fair amount of noise, I have done it. If you kicked in my neighbors door, I would hear it and respond. The church was next door to a house. I assume the person in that house could have heard the door being forced open unless they were deaf or not at home. In either case, how did the murderer know it was safe to kick in the door or otherwise force it open?
The rational options are limited. It is possible that some random Satanist that hated Christians or Blacks randomly chose this church; but, that really makes no sense. We have been told that they brought some chemical to destroy the DNA evidence and I am convinced this murder was planned and targeted at just Pastor Daniels.
My problem with this case is that is does not make any sense to me. My little autistic brain hates a broken pattern without a good reason. I can understand how the crime was committed technically, we have sufficient information on those aspects. The motive escapes me completely. It was not random, was planned, yet, was not the work of a serial killer. Why didn't the killer set fire to the building, that would have destroyed all DNA evidence and could be done in a delayed manner. The killer was willing to do horrific things to Pastor Daniels body, why not just torch the building to hide what happened and even possibly the crime? They wanted people to know or they were concerned that a fire might impact them.
I should be sleeping; but, my mind is now too busy. The person who killed her wanted others to know that she had been killed. That effects the motive. Why would you want people to know that someone had been murdered and not want them to know that you had done it? That may sound strange so I will try and explain. When I was younger, I was very cold. My father was in federal law enforcement. My belief is that if you believe it right to kill someone (as police do on occasion) then you do it in public and take responsibility (yes, I am now a pacifist). The opposite end of that spectrum is that you don't want people to know what you have done or have any chance of catching you, you torch the building and leave no evidence that a murder even happened.
This murder was both planned and involved rage, very rare. A long time ago I learned something. Gay murders of other gays tend to be very brutal. I want to point out that I am not anti-gay, I could care less what people do in there bedroom. There are many gays that are brutalized by their self condemnation because the world tells them that they are evil. This is why we believe they can brutal in their killings of fellow gays, a sort of self hate. Brutal and explicit murders are rare. The person who killed Pastor Daniels was making a statement. If the statement were anti-Black, it would be very fuzzy as they placed her in the crucifix position according to all reports. If this then was an anti-Christian killing, it makes little sense as the church was so small.
My problem is that I cannot think of a motive that matches the method. If the police have any skill whatsoever, they have a pretty good idea of the height of the murderer. If you torch the building that would not be possibly known. The easiest thing to protect yourself from being caught is torching the building and that was not done nor planned. If there is an answer to this case, it just might be that back door and what was put on it. It may not be decisive information; but, it may be the most important clue that is left.
We do not believe that the murderer enterred through the front door because the front of the church could be seen by cameras and the police said that no car pulled up in front other than hers based on the camera footage. We know that the police took the back door into evidence and have reason to believe that something was written on it in the Pastor's blood. While I have never read about what was written or drawn on the door, we know they kept the door as evidence. It is also most likely that the murderer entered through that door. If a window had been broken, I think that would have come out. In fact, we were told that a couple of her friends had come by and found the front door locked, they would have checked the windows to try and see inside and would have noticed if any were broken.
This is probably a minor point; but, how did the intruder open the back door? Did they have a key or did they force it open? If they did not force it open then where did they get the key from? If they forced it open they must have lived close by. There are at least four or five houses with line of site views of the back of the church. It can also be seen from the convenience store. I am sort of train of consciousness writing this, so excuse me if it is not completely thought out and develops as I write. A group of people could not have entered the church they would have been noticed. My guess is that the door was forced open by one person.
Another thought. Anyone just passing by would not have known there was a back door. I had considered the possibility that someone headed to the casino up the road could have done it; but, it doesn't make sense that they would know there was a backdoor unless they had been behind the church previously. Why would anyone think that church had a back door and not be afraid to be seen entering through it? How did this person know that they could break open the back of that church, get inside and not have the cops called. This is especially odd as the police station is so close by, about a block away.
I read somewhere that one of Pastor Daniels relatives asked what happened to her briefcase, I found that odd at the time; but, didn't quite know why. I have preached many times and have never brought a briefcase with me, I just bring my bible. It is not as if she thought she would be taking up a collection because everything I have read said that many times nobody showed up. It is my understanding that she really went there to serve two elderly members of the church. She would not need a briefcase to carry their contributions if they made any.
I had asked myself at a time if there could have been an economic motive behind the killing. I wondered if someone had wanted to acquire the property; but, it is a memorial and as far as I know, nobody tried to buy it. To the church it is a loss of an asset economically. They did not sell it off. I cannot see how anyone benefited economically from the Pastor Daniels death. A planned murder like this always has a motive. The most common motives for crime are money or personal revenge. We know that most people know their murderers at least on some level. Who did she meet in Anadarko that would want to harm her? How many people did she even know in the whole town, she only went there on Sundays for a couple of hours. It is not as if she went door to door inviting people to the church or at least I have read such a thing.
I believe we must assume that Pastor Daniels had met her killer previously. I believe the person was a local and felt secure in entering through the back door without being noticed in broad daylight. Kicking a door in makes a fair amount of noise, I have done it. If you kicked in my neighbors door, I would hear it and respond. The church was next door to a house. I assume the person in that house could have heard the door being forced open unless they were deaf or not at home. In either case, how did the murderer know it was safe to kick in the door or otherwise force it open?
The rational options are limited. It is possible that some random Satanist that hated Christians or Blacks randomly chose this church; but, that really makes no sense. We have been told that they brought some chemical to destroy the DNA evidence and I am convinced this murder was planned and targeted at just Pastor Daniels.
My problem with this case is that is does not make any sense to me. My little autistic brain hates a broken pattern without a good reason. I can understand how the crime was committed technically, we have sufficient information on those aspects. The motive escapes me completely. It was not random, was planned, yet, was not the work of a serial killer. Why didn't the killer set fire to the building, that would have destroyed all DNA evidence and could be done in a delayed manner. The killer was willing to do horrific things to Pastor Daniels body, why not just torch the building to hide what happened and even possibly the crime? They wanted people to know or they were concerned that a fire might impact them.
I should be sleeping; but, my mind is now too busy. The person who killed her wanted others to know that she had been killed. That effects the motive. Why would you want people to know that someone had been murdered and not want them to know that you had done it? That may sound strange so I will try and explain. When I was younger, I was very cold. My father was in federal law enforcement. My belief is that if you believe it right to kill someone (as police do on occasion) then you do it in public and take responsibility (yes, I am now a pacifist). The opposite end of that spectrum is that you don't want people to know what you have done or have any chance of catching you, you torch the building and leave no evidence that a murder even happened.
This murder was both planned and involved rage, very rare. A long time ago I learned something. Gay murders of other gays tend to be very brutal. I want to point out that I am not anti-gay, I could care less what people do in there bedroom. There are many gays that are brutalized by their self condemnation because the world tells them that they are evil. This is why we believe they can brutal in their killings of fellow gays, a sort of self hate. Brutal and explicit murders are rare. The person who killed Pastor Daniels was making a statement. If the statement were anti-Black, it would be very fuzzy as they placed her in the crucifix position according to all reports. If this then was an anti-Christian killing, it makes little sense as the church was so small.
My problem is that I cannot think of a motive that matches the method. If the police have any skill whatsoever, they have a pretty good idea of the height of the murderer. If you torch the building that would not be possibly known. The easiest thing to protect yourself from being caught is torching the building and that was not done nor planned. If there is an answer to this case, it just might be that back door and what was put on it. It may not be decisive information; but, it may be the most important clue that is left.
Monday, December 2, 2013
Ayn Rand the Swine
There was a female writer named Ayn Rand, she wrote a book called "Atlas Shrugged". She created a "philosophy" which she called objectivism, in simplest terms she believed in selfishness and did not believe in "collectivism" which she defined as being required to contribute to the society that you live in. The famous conservative, "William Buckley" considered her extreme.
YouTube - William Buckley on Ayn Rand & Atlas Shrugged
Ms. Rand did not believe in empathy, sympathy or compassion. One of her followers was Alan Greenspan who went on to control the Federal Reserve and was responsible for a lot of the deregulation of the financial system. If we are to understand why the economy collapsed (and will again) and if we want to understand why the corruption on Wall Street and in the City of London went on and continues to go on, it is because many in charge of the system follow Ayn Rand's beliefs.
The people who run this world, that benefit the most from it, often seek to justify not contributing back. We saw this when Warren Buffet said that the wealthy could and should pay taxes at the same rate as the middle class. He was attacked for saying this by some politicians and bankers. One of the reasons I do not support Ron Paul is because he seems to think like Ayn Rand.
YouTube - Firing Line: Ron Paul and William F. Buckley (1988) - Part 1 of 4
. A quote from the video - "Dr Paul wants to abolish the CIA, the FBI, the draft, welfare, foreign aide."
The point is that Ayn Rand was an extremist and there is no example in history of a society being successful based on her types of beliefs. Traditional conservatives, such as Mr. Buckley, know this. My issue with the current Republican party is that it has moved in the direction of Ms. Rand.
YouTube - William Buckley on Ayn Rand & Atlas Shrugged
Ms. Rand did not believe in empathy, sympathy or compassion. One of her followers was Alan Greenspan who went on to control the Federal Reserve and was responsible for a lot of the deregulation of the financial system. If we are to understand why the economy collapsed (and will again) and if we want to understand why the corruption on Wall Street and in the City of London went on and continues to go on, it is because many in charge of the system follow Ayn Rand's beliefs.
The people who run this world, that benefit the most from it, often seek to justify not contributing back. We saw this when Warren Buffet said that the wealthy could and should pay taxes at the same rate as the middle class. He was attacked for saying this by some politicians and bankers. One of the reasons I do not support Ron Paul is because he seems to think like Ayn Rand.
YouTube - Firing Line: Ron Paul and William F. Buckley (1988) - Part 1 of 4
. A quote from the video - "Dr Paul wants to abolish the CIA, the FBI, the draft, welfare, foreign aide."
The point is that Ayn Rand was an extremist and there is no example in history of a society being successful based on her types of beliefs. Traditional conservatives, such as Mr. Buckley, know this. My issue with the current Republican party is that it has moved in the direction of Ms. Rand.
Sunday, December 1, 2013
The EU and the Ukraine
The Ukraine recently made the decision not to join the EU. Not surprising considering the current state of the EU and the Euro (their currency). I think the better question is why they would even consider joining the EU at this time as they could then be liable for lending money to Spain, Ireland, Portugal and Greece. So in response to the decision people actually rioted. The fact is the people living in the Ukraine want to join the EU; but, Russia is opposed to the idea.
The media for their part have not done a credible job explaining what is going on. Simply put, Russia abused the people of the Ukraine for about the last 100 years. The history includes starving the people, removing them from their land and extreme prejudice against Ukrainian Jews. I dated a woman from the Ukraine for a bit, she told me about how she had managed to get into college only because of her parents (one a scientist and one a doctor), she was Jewish (although an Atheist by philosophy).
Why do the Ukrainians want to be in the EU, simple, to free themselves from Russian influence over their countries affairs. That really is the bottom line, it is not about money, it is not about national freedom. Why does the EU want the Ukraine to join them, they have little to offer? The reasons are also simple, the EU is seeking to become a nation unto itself and wants to cover as much of Europe as possible.
Russia claims that the Ukraine should sign a free trade agreement with them; but, why can't it sign free trade agreements with both Russia and the EU. The United States is currently working on a free trade agreement with the EU and Asian countries. So, what is a free trade agreement? In theory and the way it is portrayed in the media, it is nothing more than an agreement to not put tariffs on goods from another country. In reality, it regulates what the laws of a country are. Currently, 80% of the laws in England come from the EU.
For those who have not been following the story, this is meant as a small summary.
The media for their part have not done a credible job explaining what is going on. Simply put, Russia abused the people of the Ukraine for about the last 100 years. The history includes starving the people, removing them from their land and extreme prejudice against Ukrainian Jews. I dated a woman from the Ukraine for a bit, she told me about how she had managed to get into college only because of her parents (one a scientist and one a doctor), she was Jewish (although an Atheist by philosophy).
Why do the Ukrainians want to be in the EU, simple, to free themselves from Russian influence over their countries affairs. That really is the bottom line, it is not about money, it is not about national freedom. Why does the EU want the Ukraine to join them, they have little to offer? The reasons are also simple, the EU is seeking to become a nation unto itself and wants to cover as much of Europe as possible.
Russia claims that the Ukraine should sign a free trade agreement with them; but, why can't it sign free trade agreements with both Russia and the EU. The United States is currently working on a free trade agreement with the EU and Asian countries. So, what is a free trade agreement? In theory and the way it is portrayed in the media, it is nothing more than an agreement to not put tariffs on goods from another country. In reality, it regulates what the laws of a country are. Currently, 80% of the laws in England come from the EU.
For those who have not been following the story, this is meant as a small summary.
An Information Dump
I have a lot of articles that I saved and don't know which I have posted, so I will post them all with little comment.
LA Times - JPMorgan's Dimon put in a rough spot. The man should in be in jail for the fraud his company committed.
The Independent - Exclusive: 'Jaw-dropping' breakthrough hailed as landmark in fight against hereditary diseases as Crispr technique heralds genetic revolution. If I could put a virus in you and change individual genes in your body for good, couldn't I do it against your will? How would you know?
Rolling Stone - Chase Isn't the Only Bank in Trouble. The author of the article is one of the best around right now.
Yahoo - AP - Biometrics researchers see world without passwords.
Yahoo - CNBC - Americans are worried about work: Poll. This is good information as they keep trying to tell us that we are lazy and don't want to work, it is a lie. People are worried about losing their jobs.
Yahoo - Reuters - Illinois legislative leaders strike deal on pensions. The thing that scares me the most in this world is genetic modification; but, the biggest lie is that pensions are in trouble when they are not. The US Postal Service, we are told, is in trouble because of pensions and inefficiency and that is a lie. A few years back they were forced to front load all their pensions, to have the money now for people who will not retire for 30 years. They are the only group required to do this, state and local governments are not and the neither is the federal government. You have to ask yourself why and who controls where their pension money is invested.
Lets talk about work benefits for a moment. Europe has traditionally provided more benefits than the US. They give more vacation, sick time, health benefits and better retirements. Still, Germany continues making high quality cars and items and being able to afford these things. We on the other hand have given away our manufacturing to China. Donald Trump complained that he couldn't buy windows made in America for some large projects he was working on. It is not that our workers are lazy, it is that our business leaders are lazy and that is because they are not businessmen, they are financial people. Business people create new industries, they create companies that make things that people want. With all of our financial resources, why are we not creating manufacturing jobs. We could still make steal if we wanted.
The story we have all been told is that manufacturing went to China because the labor was cheap. The truth is that today most manufacturing is automated and it is assembly that is not. Think about your computer, do you really believe a person made the computer chips by hand? Machines made the chips, people assembled the product. This is another example of why what Steve Jobs said was a lie. He said Americans were too dump to manufacture IPhones. Too dump to turn little screws? If we can build houses, we can turn screws.
Now I want to get back to pensions. The financial people decided they could send the jobs overseas and not have to be committed to their employees. Mr. Jobs was notorious for not caring about employees. He would work people beyond their breaking point. How can a Republican applaud sending jobs overseas to a Communist country; but, they support it. Once they decided to send the jobs overseas, they no longer felt a need to provide a pension to those in the United States. Why provide benefits to people you don't need even if they already earned the benefits. That is why they are killing public pensions, they don't need us to do well themselves.
Lets talk about oil for a moment. We are told that both clean water and oil are limited resources. We have all heard about peak oil. The story goes that there is X amount of oil in the world and once that is gone there is no more. Sounds reasonable; but, is by definition a lie. Oil is organic, which is to say that it came from something living. When I was young, I was told it came from dead dinosaurs; but, that is simply foolish and there is no evidence that it is true. We drill for oil in the middle of the ocean where no dinosaurs died. You probably think what I am saying is silly. Lets try an easy one, why does Alaska have so much oil when it was frozen? Why is there oil under the ice of the north pole? Is that where all of the dinosaurs decided to die?
I want you to go back and reread the last paragraph and really think about what I said. Now, if oil is an organic compound and came from a living thing, why would it stop being created? Are oil fields created from the bottom up or the top down? The LaBrea tarpits are interesting. We know that these oil fields were like little lakes and that animals got caught in them because we have been able to retrieve very old animals out of them. The saber tooth tigers we have retrieved from them did not turn into oil, they were preserved by it. So, how do oil fields that go thousands of feet below get created and how come the earth is no longer creating them?
If what I just said is hard to wrap your head around, lets try this. During World War II, the Nazi's were producing fuel that did not require oil. They could not get enough oil so made alternate fuels and managed to put on a pretty good fight. Our government knows how the Nazis did it, we got all of their scientists after the war. Heck, they created our rockets. The people that made those fuels were brought to America under Operation Paperclip, this is a fact and I knew one of them.
Here are a couple of things to consider. While the world is working on taxes for carbon emissions, China (the biggest polluter) is practically exempted. China is buying American coal mines and heavily investing into oil. Soon, China will not need dollars to buy oil. The west is moving towards "green energy" or "renewable energy" which brings down the cost of oil for China as we compete less to buy it. Last year, China was the largest oil purchaser in the world. If we don't need workers in the United States then we don't need the oil to transport them, heat them or make things here.
Something else to consider. Why do the Chinese outsource to Africa? We are told that we outsourced to China because of cheap labor; but, the Chinese outsource to Africa because their labor is even cheaper. Does that make sense? Why didn't we outsource to Africa and build up that part the world that isn't communist? We wanted China to be heavily invested in capitalism, money is the drug. China cannot afford a world war, a nuclear war or any other real war or their economy will be completely and utterly destroyed and the problem they will face will be with their own people.
Most people tend to look at the obvious; but, do you really believe that people like me do not exist? I personally have changed four industries and some of my readers watched me do these things. They know that I think more than one step forward and anyone who reads my blog should know that. If I can think more than one step ahead then so can others. If I am trained in looking beyond the obvious then so are others. If I could predict, as I did, the housing bubble and the market crash then so could others. Why didn't the mainstream media tell us these things were coming?
I have a friend that tutored, she is a wonderful lady that will do very well. While we were working together the head of a hedge fund and the head of real estate for the Rockefellers contacted us. I was in a bad place at the time and didn't really care what they had to say. I was acting merely in an advisory position with my friend, I needed a distraction from the horrors that were going on in my life. None of the deals went through and I later discovered that the people involved didn't care about the deals, they wanted to know how my friend knew what was coming. She knew because of me and they wanted to talk to me, never happened. I had a rule, I didn't want to talk to anyone other than my friend and was very rude when I had to talk to others. Do not allow yourself to assume that the world is run by idiots, it is not, that is the propaganda. If it is run by people smarter than you then you must ask yourself if that has anything to do with their winning the class game and taking advantage of every advantage they have, including having resources that the rest of us do not.
LA Times - JPMorgan's Dimon put in a rough spot. The man should in be in jail for the fraud his company committed.
The Independent - Exclusive: 'Jaw-dropping' breakthrough hailed as landmark in fight against hereditary diseases as Crispr technique heralds genetic revolution. If I could put a virus in you and change individual genes in your body for good, couldn't I do it against your will? How would you know?
Rolling Stone - Chase Isn't the Only Bank in Trouble. The author of the article is one of the best around right now.
Yahoo - AP - Biometrics researchers see world without passwords.
Yahoo - CNBC - Americans are worried about work: Poll. This is good information as they keep trying to tell us that we are lazy and don't want to work, it is a lie. People are worried about losing their jobs.
Yahoo - Reuters - Illinois legislative leaders strike deal on pensions. The thing that scares me the most in this world is genetic modification; but, the biggest lie is that pensions are in trouble when they are not. The US Postal Service, we are told, is in trouble because of pensions and inefficiency and that is a lie. A few years back they were forced to front load all their pensions, to have the money now for people who will not retire for 30 years. They are the only group required to do this, state and local governments are not and the neither is the federal government. You have to ask yourself why and who controls where their pension money is invested.
Lets talk about work benefits for a moment. Europe has traditionally provided more benefits than the US. They give more vacation, sick time, health benefits and better retirements. Still, Germany continues making high quality cars and items and being able to afford these things. We on the other hand have given away our manufacturing to China. Donald Trump complained that he couldn't buy windows made in America for some large projects he was working on. It is not that our workers are lazy, it is that our business leaders are lazy and that is because they are not businessmen, they are financial people. Business people create new industries, they create companies that make things that people want. With all of our financial resources, why are we not creating manufacturing jobs. We could still make steal if we wanted.
The story we have all been told is that manufacturing went to China because the labor was cheap. The truth is that today most manufacturing is automated and it is assembly that is not. Think about your computer, do you really believe a person made the computer chips by hand? Machines made the chips, people assembled the product. This is another example of why what Steve Jobs said was a lie. He said Americans were too dump to manufacture IPhones. Too dump to turn little screws? If we can build houses, we can turn screws.
Now I want to get back to pensions. The financial people decided they could send the jobs overseas and not have to be committed to their employees. Mr. Jobs was notorious for not caring about employees. He would work people beyond their breaking point. How can a Republican applaud sending jobs overseas to a Communist country; but, they support it. Once they decided to send the jobs overseas, they no longer felt a need to provide a pension to those in the United States. Why provide benefits to people you don't need even if they already earned the benefits. That is why they are killing public pensions, they don't need us to do well themselves.
Lets talk about oil for a moment. We are told that both clean water and oil are limited resources. We have all heard about peak oil. The story goes that there is X amount of oil in the world and once that is gone there is no more. Sounds reasonable; but, is by definition a lie. Oil is organic, which is to say that it came from something living. When I was young, I was told it came from dead dinosaurs; but, that is simply foolish and there is no evidence that it is true. We drill for oil in the middle of the ocean where no dinosaurs died. You probably think what I am saying is silly. Lets try an easy one, why does Alaska have so much oil when it was frozen? Why is there oil under the ice of the north pole? Is that where all of the dinosaurs decided to die?
I want you to go back and reread the last paragraph and really think about what I said. Now, if oil is an organic compound and came from a living thing, why would it stop being created? Are oil fields created from the bottom up or the top down? The LaBrea tarpits are interesting. We know that these oil fields were like little lakes and that animals got caught in them because we have been able to retrieve very old animals out of them. The saber tooth tigers we have retrieved from them did not turn into oil, they were preserved by it. So, how do oil fields that go thousands of feet below get created and how come the earth is no longer creating them?
If what I just said is hard to wrap your head around, lets try this. During World War II, the Nazi's were producing fuel that did not require oil. They could not get enough oil so made alternate fuels and managed to put on a pretty good fight. Our government knows how the Nazis did it, we got all of their scientists after the war. Heck, they created our rockets. The people that made those fuels were brought to America under Operation Paperclip, this is a fact and I knew one of them.
Here are a couple of things to consider. While the world is working on taxes for carbon emissions, China (the biggest polluter) is practically exempted. China is buying American coal mines and heavily investing into oil. Soon, China will not need dollars to buy oil. The west is moving towards "green energy" or "renewable energy" which brings down the cost of oil for China as we compete less to buy it. Last year, China was the largest oil purchaser in the world. If we don't need workers in the United States then we don't need the oil to transport them, heat them or make things here.
Something else to consider. Why do the Chinese outsource to Africa? We are told that we outsourced to China because of cheap labor; but, the Chinese outsource to Africa because their labor is even cheaper. Does that make sense? Why didn't we outsource to Africa and build up that part the world that isn't communist? We wanted China to be heavily invested in capitalism, money is the drug. China cannot afford a world war, a nuclear war or any other real war or their economy will be completely and utterly destroyed and the problem they will face will be with their own people.
Most people tend to look at the obvious; but, do you really believe that people like me do not exist? I personally have changed four industries and some of my readers watched me do these things. They know that I think more than one step forward and anyone who reads my blog should know that. If I can think more than one step ahead then so can others. If I am trained in looking beyond the obvious then so are others. If I could predict, as I did, the housing bubble and the market crash then so could others. Why didn't the mainstream media tell us these things were coming?
I have a friend that tutored, she is a wonderful lady that will do very well. While we were working together the head of a hedge fund and the head of real estate for the Rockefellers contacted us. I was in a bad place at the time and didn't really care what they had to say. I was acting merely in an advisory position with my friend, I needed a distraction from the horrors that were going on in my life. None of the deals went through and I later discovered that the people involved didn't care about the deals, they wanted to know how my friend knew what was coming. She knew because of me and they wanted to talk to me, never happened. I had a rule, I didn't want to talk to anyone other than my friend and was very rude when I had to talk to others. Do not allow yourself to assume that the world is run by idiots, it is not, that is the propaganda. If it is run by people smarter than you then you must ask yourself if that has anything to do with their winning the class game and taking advantage of every advantage they have, including having resources that the rest of us do not.
Friday, November 29, 2013
The War On The Poor Spin With Update
The Mainstream media or at least 90% of it is owned by 7 companies. In many ways it has become nothing more than a propaganda arm for the financial system. In the past year I have seen a very disturbing trend where it has been used to demonize the unemployed, college students and the poor. I have seen this not just in America; but, in the western world as a whole. I want to look at some of these spin games.
Yahoo - How Complainers Wreck the Economy. I will sum up the video. Basically, if you went to college and don't have a job it is because of you. It doesn't matter that there are no jobs to be had, the problem is that this upsets people.
NY Times - Dealbook - Considering the Fairness of JPMorgan’s Deal. Here is the short on this, JP Morgan and companies it took over were involved in fraud. They defrauded investors and supported mortgage fraud by others to make a profit. They were being sued by the government and others and have agreed to pay $13 billion in fines. Some on Wall Street have complained that JP Morgan is being picked on. Really? They made hundreds and hundreds of billions of dollars by rigging markets and lying to people. They caused the worldwide economy to crash, have caused millions to lose their jobs and houses and were given massive bonuses for taking a bailout from the government. Oh, by the way, their settlement is tax deductible which means that you and I will suffer the burden of the tax loss.
The "City of London" is a small part of what most of us think of as London, it is the financial district and has it's own laws. The head of it is called the Mayor of London and is currently a man named Boris Johnson. He was born to wealth and privilege and was a member of a group known as the Bullingdon Club, a group of wealthy students who are known for taking over restaurants, destroying them and then paying the cost of repairs afterwards. NY Times - London Mayor Raises Eyebrows, and Ire. Basically he said that people are poor because they are stupid and that greed is good and that inequality was good. He also said that the 10 people making the most money in England should all be knighted regardless apparently on whether or not they were guilty of crimes.
Steve Jobs said that he didn't make Apple products in America because we were too stupid to make them. What? We build the highest tech planes and bombs and spying devices; but, we cannot build a phone?
So what is going on, it is pretty simple. The economic inequality in America is at an all time high and getting worse. Millions who want to work cannot get a job and millions more are losing their homes and savings because of actions by the Federal Reserve and the big banks. People are upset by these things and whether it be Tea Party members or Occupy members, they are talking about it. Each of these groups may disagree on the solutions; but, they are clear on the problems and want to see an end to the privilege and corruption by those in charge. That is scary to those who have benefited from the market rigging and insider trading.
If you are in Manhattan and get caught with a joint, you will probably go to jail. It should be noted that New York has a policy of stop and frisk and that it is disproportionately used against blacks and other minorities. During the Occupy Wall Street movement the big banks and investment firms gave the city money to pay the police overtime to watch the group. Yet, nobody has gone to jail for all of the Wall Street fraud. When the collapse comes, probably next year, they will be even more scared and they know what is coming.
Warren Buffet has tried to get the wealthy to contribute more to the nation. I know not everybody likes Mr. Buffet; but, I think both Mr. Buffet and Mr. Bill Gates are honorable men, I may not agree with their spiritual beliefs (they have none) and I may not believe in transhumanism as Mr. Gates does; but, I believe they are basically honest, decent and concerned about others. Mr. Buffet said that this is class warfare and that his class (the rich) are winning. He did not say this to brag, he was trying to tell the rest of us that we are under attack by the wealthy.
Now I want to say right here that I do have some wealthy friends and they worked hard and appreciate what they have or they would not be my friends. The struggle is not really against wealthy people, it is against those in power who rig the system to benefit friends rather than the deserving. Why would anyone attack new college graduates for complaining that they cannot get a job? Remember that first video where the speaker claimed that people don't work because they can get paid on unemployment to lay around the house? New college graduates don't get unemployment, they get nothing and want to work. How do you criticize young people for wanting jobs and then criticize others for not having jobs?
Consider how the media let the wealthy be called "job creators", where are the jobs for these young people with college degrees. When I graduated Law School the nation was in a recession and jobs were hard to find; but, I found two full time jobs that each paid $4 an hour. I had a doctorate and was working in factories for bare minimum wage. I believe in hard work and had a heart attack to prove it. I cannot make fun of young college grads who are willing to work at McDonalds; but, cannot get a job. It is actually harder to get a low paying job for someone with a college degree than it is for someone without one. I know this from personal experience, when I graduated I couldn't get a job if they knew I had a college degree, I was told that if they gave me the jobs I would just leave for a better one if I had the opportunity. I had worked since I was 12, I worked during college, got laid off once and couldn't get unemployment because I was in college. I got my jobs through a temp agency because the people that hired us didn't care about our experience or education and left that up to the temp agency to determine.
I want to go back to the garbage that was spewed by Boris Johnson. He claims that the rich are basically genetically better and smarter. He doesn't accept that the game is rigged even though there have been numerous cases of market rigging in the City of London, LIBOR being just one of them. When I was in college and Law School I regularly beat everyone else; but, I did not come from money. In Law School, 95% came from money, were renting nice places, had tutors and additional resources and still I kicked their little rearends; but, the game was still rigged, we did not compete evenly or they would have lost even worse.
Lets take two kids, both with IQs of 100 (the standard and average IQ for people). Now have one of them be born to a Mexican who lives in the city dump for Mexico city and the other is the child of wealthy person living in New York. Is that an even playing ground, is it not obvious who is more likely to succeed? Exceptionally brilliant people do well in any situation; but, how many people are truly that brilliant? There is no way to even the playing ground; but, the rules should not benefit one group over another. It shouldn't be legal for the wealthy to riot and destroy someone's restaurant and not go to jail. That is what Mr. Johnson and his friends did.
I remember when the automakers came to congress to get bail-outs. The media made a big deal about how they used private jets. I didn't care about the private jets, I cared about the bonuses they received for getting the rest of us to bail them out. We bailed out the banks and they gave even bigger bonuses. We have been told that they have paid the money back; but, at 0 interest. We give money to banks at 0% interest; but, charge college students high interest for their student loans and then blame them because they complain that they cannot get jobs. How can any college graduate support any mainstream media that would say they are all lazy when they cannot get a job? Turn them off, stop watching Fox or any other channel that blames you for not having a job if you are looking for one.
UPDATE:
I was just reading different news stories when I came across this. Yahoo - Kiplinger - 10 Reasons You'll Never Be Rich. Another example of what I was writing about earlier. You are not rich because you are not good enough. The article lists ten things that "prevent" people from being rich. Wait a second, if everyone did these things, would everybody be rich? Remember where I quoted Boris as saying that we need inequality to motivate people? I actually agree that we need inequality; but, I am consistent. People should benefit as they contribute unless they cannot contribute.
The argument is skewed and misrepresented in the media. It is not a fair fight if I am given a pointy stick and my opponent is given a machine gun. I could be rich if I wanted; but, that is not my goal. Knowing that I can be rich does not mean that everyone should or could be rich. To claim that the system is other than it is, is just a lie. We cannot all be rich unless there were very few of us and everything was done by robots. What a sad world that would be.
During the economic meltdown someone contacted me and presented me with a question. They, in a very Ayn Randesque manner, asked me if I had the chance to leave and just be around others who are accomplished, would I stop wasting my time with worrying about the less fortunate. Basically, would I just look out for me if I had the chance to have everything. My answer was no. Recently, one of my relatives complained that I helped others too much. Hmmmm. I think I should be free to help whoever I want and do.
If the people in charge really believed in this Social Darwinistic garbage, they would design and insist upon a system free of privilege and equal reach to education. They would wish to prove that they truly were genetically gifted and not be afraid of competition.
Yahoo - How Complainers Wreck the Economy. I will sum up the video. Basically, if you went to college and don't have a job it is because of you. It doesn't matter that there are no jobs to be had, the problem is that this upsets people.
NY Times - Dealbook - Considering the Fairness of JPMorgan’s Deal. Here is the short on this, JP Morgan and companies it took over were involved in fraud. They defrauded investors and supported mortgage fraud by others to make a profit. They were being sued by the government and others and have agreed to pay $13 billion in fines. Some on Wall Street have complained that JP Morgan is being picked on. Really? They made hundreds and hundreds of billions of dollars by rigging markets and lying to people. They caused the worldwide economy to crash, have caused millions to lose their jobs and houses and were given massive bonuses for taking a bailout from the government. Oh, by the way, their settlement is tax deductible which means that you and I will suffer the burden of the tax loss.
The "City of London" is a small part of what most of us think of as London, it is the financial district and has it's own laws. The head of it is called the Mayor of London and is currently a man named Boris Johnson. He was born to wealth and privilege and was a member of a group known as the Bullingdon Club, a group of wealthy students who are known for taking over restaurants, destroying them and then paying the cost of repairs afterwards. NY Times - London Mayor Raises Eyebrows, and Ire. Basically he said that people are poor because they are stupid and that greed is good and that inequality was good. He also said that the 10 people making the most money in England should all be knighted regardless apparently on whether or not they were guilty of crimes.
Steve Jobs said that he didn't make Apple products in America because we were too stupid to make them. What? We build the highest tech planes and bombs and spying devices; but, we cannot build a phone?
So what is going on, it is pretty simple. The economic inequality in America is at an all time high and getting worse. Millions who want to work cannot get a job and millions more are losing their homes and savings because of actions by the Federal Reserve and the big banks. People are upset by these things and whether it be Tea Party members or Occupy members, they are talking about it. Each of these groups may disagree on the solutions; but, they are clear on the problems and want to see an end to the privilege and corruption by those in charge. That is scary to those who have benefited from the market rigging and insider trading.
If you are in Manhattan and get caught with a joint, you will probably go to jail. It should be noted that New York has a policy of stop and frisk and that it is disproportionately used against blacks and other minorities. During the Occupy Wall Street movement the big banks and investment firms gave the city money to pay the police overtime to watch the group. Yet, nobody has gone to jail for all of the Wall Street fraud. When the collapse comes, probably next year, they will be even more scared and they know what is coming.
Warren Buffet has tried to get the wealthy to contribute more to the nation. I know not everybody likes Mr. Buffet; but, I think both Mr. Buffet and Mr. Bill Gates are honorable men, I may not agree with their spiritual beliefs (they have none) and I may not believe in transhumanism as Mr. Gates does; but, I believe they are basically honest, decent and concerned about others. Mr. Buffet said that this is class warfare and that his class (the rich) are winning. He did not say this to brag, he was trying to tell the rest of us that we are under attack by the wealthy.
Now I want to say right here that I do have some wealthy friends and they worked hard and appreciate what they have or they would not be my friends. The struggle is not really against wealthy people, it is against those in power who rig the system to benefit friends rather than the deserving. Why would anyone attack new college graduates for complaining that they cannot get a job? Remember that first video where the speaker claimed that people don't work because they can get paid on unemployment to lay around the house? New college graduates don't get unemployment, they get nothing and want to work. How do you criticize young people for wanting jobs and then criticize others for not having jobs?
Consider how the media let the wealthy be called "job creators", where are the jobs for these young people with college degrees. When I graduated Law School the nation was in a recession and jobs were hard to find; but, I found two full time jobs that each paid $4 an hour. I had a doctorate and was working in factories for bare minimum wage. I believe in hard work and had a heart attack to prove it. I cannot make fun of young college grads who are willing to work at McDonalds; but, cannot get a job. It is actually harder to get a low paying job for someone with a college degree than it is for someone without one. I know this from personal experience, when I graduated I couldn't get a job if they knew I had a college degree, I was told that if they gave me the jobs I would just leave for a better one if I had the opportunity. I had worked since I was 12, I worked during college, got laid off once and couldn't get unemployment because I was in college. I got my jobs through a temp agency because the people that hired us didn't care about our experience or education and left that up to the temp agency to determine.
I want to go back to the garbage that was spewed by Boris Johnson. He claims that the rich are basically genetically better and smarter. He doesn't accept that the game is rigged even though there have been numerous cases of market rigging in the City of London, LIBOR being just one of them. When I was in college and Law School I regularly beat everyone else; but, I did not come from money. In Law School, 95% came from money, were renting nice places, had tutors and additional resources and still I kicked their little rearends; but, the game was still rigged, we did not compete evenly or they would have lost even worse.
Lets take two kids, both with IQs of 100 (the standard and average IQ for people). Now have one of them be born to a Mexican who lives in the city dump for Mexico city and the other is the child of wealthy person living in New York. Is that an even playing ground, is it not obvious who is more likely to succeed? Exceptionally brilliant people do well in any situation; but, how many people are truly that brilliant? There is no way to even the playing ground; but, the rules should not benefit one group over another. It shouldn't be legal for the wealthy to riot and destroy someone's restaurant and not go to jail. That is what Mr. Johnson and his friends did.
I remember when the automakers came to congress to get bail-outs. The media made a big deal about how they used private jets. I didn't care about the private jets, I cared about the bonuses they received for getting the rest of us to bail them out. We bailed out the banks and they gave even bigger bonuses. We have been told that they have paid the money back; but, at 0 interest. We give money to banks at 0% interest; but, charge college students high interest for their student loans and then blame them because they complain that they cannot get jobs. How can any college graduate support any mainstream media that would say they are all lazy when they cannot get a job? Turn them off, stop watching Fox or any other channel that blames you for not having a job if you are looking for one.
UPDATE:
I was just reading different news stories when I came across this. Yahoo - Kiplinger - 10 Reasons You'll Never Be Rich. Another example of what I was writing about earlier. You are not rich because you are not good enough. The article lists ten things that "prevent" people from being rich. Wait a second, if everyone did these things, would everybody be rich? Remember where I quoted Boris as saying that we need inequality to motivate people? I actually agree that we need inequality; but, I am consistent. People should benefit as they contribute unless they cannot contribute.
The argument is skewed and misrepresented in the media. It is not a fair fight if I am given a pointy stick and my opponent is given a machine gun. I could be rich if I wanted; but, that is not my goal. Knowing that I can be rich does not mean that everyone should or could be rich. To claim that the system is other than it is, is just a lie. We cannot all be rich unless there were very few of us and everything was done by robots. What a sad world that would be.
During the economic meltdown someone contacted me and presented me with a question. They, in a very Ayn Randesque manner, asked me if I had the chance to leave and just be around others who are accomplished, would I stop wasting my time with worrying about the less fortunate. Basically, would I just look out for me if I had the chance to have everything. My answer was no. Recently, one of my relatives complained that I helped others too much. Hmmmm. I think I should be free to help whoever I want and do.
If the people in charge really believed in this Social Darwinistic garbage, they would design and insist upon a system free of privilege and equal reach to education. They would wish to prove that they truly were genetically gifted and not be afraid of competition.
Thursday, November 28, 2013
HAPPY THANKSGIVING
I had reservations to be out of town for Thanksgiving; but, got the stomach flu and had to stay. I am better today and have had my turkey dinner. This is the first time since I lost my house that I have been home for the holidays and I didn't plan on being here.
I have intentionally downsized my holidays and refuse to celebrate my birthdays. I enjoy not having the pressure. I do hope that all of my readers are enjoying their Thanksgiving. It is good to remember our blessings. While I write a lot about problems in the world, especially the destruction of our financial system. We still have it pretty good compared to the rest of the world. I know I do.
I had the five bedroom house with the jacuzzi in the back, I had the Mercedes and the BMW, I had lots of money in the bank. All those things are gone because of the divorce and you know what, I still have it good. I have an apartment that I feel comfortable in, great friends and will not go hungry. I have fresh water and a bathroom, not everybody can say that. I don't have to worry about drinking water that will kill me or leave me sick. I am thankful for the things I have. If I am sorry about anything, it is that I believe average people will not be able to have the things I have gained in my life.
To put it all in perspective. The Pilgrims celebrated Thanksgiving while living in little tiny houses that had no bathroom, no running water, no heaters and they didn't know if they would have food everyday. Still, they were thankful for what they did have.
I have intentionally downsized my holidays and refuse to celebrate my birthdays. I enjoy not having the pressure. I do hope that all of my readers are enjoying their Thanksgiving. It is good to remember our blessings. While I write a lot about problems in the world, especially the destruction of our financial system. We still have it pretty good compared to the rest of the world. I know I do.
I had the five bedroom house with the jacuzzi in the back, I had the Mercedes and the BMW, I had lots of money in the bank. All those things are gone because of the divorce and you know what, I still have it good. I have an apartment that I feel comfortable in, great friends and will not go hungry. I have fresh water and a bathroom, not everybody can say that. I don't have to worry about drinking water that will kill me or leave me sick. I am thankful for the things I have. If I am sorry about anything, it is that I believe average people will not be able to have the things I have gained in my life.
To put it all in perspective. The Pilgrims celebrated Thanksgiving while living in little tiny houses that had no bathroom, no running water, no heaters and they didn't know if they would have food everyday. Still, they were thankful for what they did have.
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