Some Annoying News Articles and Something Really Interesting About History.

Rolling Stone - 5 Bizarre Conservative Theories About the Mizzou and Yale Protests. If we are going to promote capitalism then we have to live with it. If we are going to promote democracy then we have to live with it. If I spend $500 on a meal at a restaurant, I expect a great meal. If I hock my life with loans for the next 30 years and spend as much as a house would cost me, guess what, I have a right to complain if I feel I am being treated unfairly by the college that is getting that money. It is one thing to disagree with their complaints of racism, it is another to say that they don't have the right to raise them.

Yahoo - AFP - GM to sell Chinese-made cars in the US: report. Lets just title this one, American companies pouring salt in the wounds of American workers. By the way, GM says that this isn't even a cost saving purpose. You mean they could have made it for the same here and chose to have it made in China without saving a dime? That is their claim.

Washington Post - Time for GOP panic? Establishment worried Carson or Trump might win. Another article about how the "Republican Party" establishment wants to tell you who should be the party nominee. If Trump or Carson is the nominee you watch, the party will change the rules of getting nominated just like the Democrats with their "super delegates".

Rolling Stone - Matt Taibbi - The Case For Bernie Sanders. Like my recent post on how the Republican party wants Trump and Carson out, this is an article on how the Democratic party wants Bernie Sanders out. Neither party wants to know what you think.

Now for something fun on a very late Friday night - Saturday morning.

Gobekli Tepe.

Archeology has argued for years that man was pretty stupid for just about all of our history and then somehow miraculously became smart about 5,000 years ago. Prior to that it was believed that people barely worked together, were uncoordinated in any real way and were "hunter gatherers" What they did not believe is that farming communities were around longer than 5,000 years or so or even real cities. It is also believed that Sumeria was the seat of civilization and then Egypt. The Egyptian pyramids are believed to be about 5,000 years old (I should point out that there are questions about the Sphinx's age). Well, not long ago giant monoliths were found in Turkey that are 12,000 years old and they have art carved in them.

Now here is where it gets fun. It is believed that about the same time as GT was built, man learned to farm because it is believed that about 20 miles away the first wheat was farmed. I should point out that up until the 1800s most people never travelled further than 20 miles from their home. No cars, no trains and few owned riding horses. The only time large groups of people travelled far even 1,000 years ago was either for war or trade, not to grow wheat. If we accept that answer then we must conclude that 12,000 ago the people of GT invented both farming and the creation of giant monoliths that weighed tons and constructed buildings with them.

So here is my question. If man creating farming allowed him to build giant building because he was freed up from hunting and gathering all the time, why didn't anyone else build such structures for another 7,000 years. We know farming took off like mad. By the way, the people who built GT continued using it for a few thousand years so they didn't just die off. Oh, and when they did disappear they buried the whole place under dirt not to be found until the 1900s.The truth is that we don't know much about the years prior to Sumaria 5,000 years ago. In fact, we know practically nothing about those times as GT is proving.

These are some interesting things to look into. Here is what is not interesting. Ben Carson claims that the pyramids were used to store grain, supposedly by Joseph. That is idiotic. Firstly, no evidence of grain storage has EVER been found in the pyramids. Secondly, it would be the dumbest place in the world to store grain as it was completely enclosed, there was no way in until it was robbed and the robbers basically burrowed into it. I should also point out that the bible does not talk about the pyramids as far as we know. The truth is that the open areas inside the pyramids are incredibly small compared to the overall size and not even suitable for grain storage as it is a complete waste of structure. Beyond all that, why would people spend years building a pyramid to store grain when they could build storage buildings in months and big ones that were well protected. Egypt had a pretty good army.

The Democrats Are Not Having a True Primary, It Is Already Decided.

Yahoo - AP - Big nomination lead for Clinton: pocketing 'superdelegates'.

Talk about a rigged game. Party candidates for President are eventually chosen by only the party at their conventions. People used to joke about how presidential candidates were chosen in back door smoky rooms by the power brokers. This upset people so much that they required the parties delegates to vote for who they voted them to vote for. That is to say that when you vote in the primaries, you vote for a person; but, what you are really voting for is someone who theoretically supports the same candidate that you voted for. That delegate then goes to the primary and only if a majority candidate cannot be found do they have the chance to vote for someone else. That is representative democracy. That has ended with the creation of so called "super delegates" who can vote for whoever they want and are not bound by their states primaries.

Without a single primary vote the majority of "super delegates", party establishment insiders, have already said that they will vote for Hillary Clinton. What is the point of having the primaries? Both the Democratic party and the media are dismissing Bernie Sanders because he cannot win even if he wins the popular vote. This election is a party establishment election in both parties. Both parties are also at risk of losing ANY credibility with their own supporters. If either Sanders or Trump wins the popular vote in the primaries and is not given the party support, people will leave the part.

We need to eliminate the parties and get rid of primaries. That was how we did it back in the beginning of this country. With the parties not representing who people actually voted for, why have them at all or parties?

Illegal Immigration, Trump and the Republican Party.

If you wish you can call this post "The Insincerity of the Republican Party" rather than "The Passion of the Christ". For years the Republican party has complained about illegal aliens as the root of all evil. Trump did not invent that. In fact conservatives have historically been worried about foreigners. With a decrease in the number of jobs available in America it was to be expected that people would question both legal and illegal immigration. I would like to say that it is something to consider, if we don't have enough jobs for the people of this country, why should we allow people to immigrate here? I don't care if they pick fruit or write computer programs, we have enough people to do those jobs, just pay them enough.

So after Trump made one of his biggest issues illegal immigration the other Republicans were all okay with it and some actually began using similar terms like, "Anchor Baby". There is not one Republican presidential candidate that will not say they are against illegal immigration. So, why does the Republican establishment and Trumps opponents say that we shouldn't try and remove illegal aliens from the United States?

The Washington Post - Time for GOP panic? Establishment worried Carson or Trump might win.

The above linked article is all about how the Republican party is freaked out that the Republican voters don't want paid for, party controlled politicians. Rather than listening to their members and supporters, the party believes they should be telling the voters which of their candidates they should vote for. That is the problem with parties, rather than representing the voters, they expect to control the vote and the voters options.

Why Do Video Games Stink Today?

I used to like video gams. When Nintendo came out I bought each new console and my children loved them. They used to have a lot of games that the whole family could play. I was watching some videos on YouTube and was reminded of what it was like when Nintendo resurrected the video game industry. Then something changed and it got expensive to create video games, the graphics got better and the games were not for kids as much as they are now for people in their late teens and twenties.

Video games used to have more variety with funny games and adventure games. They don't even make adventure games anymore, now everything is a shooting game. Adventure games were basically puzzle solving games where you had to figure out a mystery. The last big adventure game was called, "Grim Fandango". It was fun, funny and any age could enjoy it.

One of the reasons kids could play video games was because they were simple to control and often were side scrolling where your path was predetermined and the issue was how you dealt with the challenges along the way. One of my favorite games was called, "Pilot Wings". It was a flying video game with really pleasant and calm music. It didn't matter if you won or not, it was just relaxing, not frantic like the shooters. Heck, I liked some of the shooters and really enjoyed Grand Theft Auto - Vice City. It was like travelling back to the 80s.

Here are some of the things destroying video games. Firstly, the cost to create them. The early games were easier to make because the animation was less complicated due to the restrictions of what the computers and consoles could reproduce. If you played Donkey Kong and look at any game today you can see how much the graphics have advanced; but, the original Donkey Kong is still a fun game. Games used to be made by small teams of a dozen or so people and finished in a couple of months. Today it is tens of millions if not more and can take years, literally some games took ten years to produce. It is big business and one game can make or break a company.

I have to say that I have been writing about politics and economics a lot lately and this post may seem like a puff piece; but, I think there are still some insights to be found. Did you know that Atari both popularized and destroyed the play at home video game business. Sometimes success is proceeded by suicide. Atari's success led to them selling garbage games, things they didn't care about and churned out in weeks. They concluded that as long as there was a brand to tie into, the game could suck. That proved wrong and led to the video game "E.T." (just like the movie). The games was rushed out, had nothing interesting about it and they ended up burying untold copies in New Mexico (pretty sure it was New Mexico; but, you can look it up online). After that fiasco video games just stopped being popular until Nintendo came out. Nintendo introduced us to Super Mario Brothers and arcade style Donkey Kong on your television. The complexity of the games and story became important. You didn't have to have a great story, more of a theme. The super Nintendo pushed the envelop even further with creative and interesting worlds and things to do. Games were still pretty inexpensive to design back then and chances could be taken by developers.

With every success comes new challenges. I was just wondering, why can't they make cheaper and easier games for kids and families? Why is the industry only interested in "serious" gamers? Well, the reason is simple. The video game industry is focused on online games that are massive multiplayer games and that requires you pay money. There is one place where there is still innovation and that is games that are played on your phones. Those games do not cost a lot to make and are still varied which is why I believe there is still a niche out there that is not being met and that is simpler video games that can be played at home. Look at the enormous success of some of the phone based games and it is clear that people don't just want shoot em ups.

Why Are The Political Parties Against Americans Getting American Jobs?

I was watching some videos and reading some news reports when I came across an interview of presidential candidate, Ohio governor Kasich. He had said that he believed that we should build a wall between the United States and Mexico; but, would not send illegal aliens back. That is one of the more moderate conservative views this election. I might even be in favor of such a program. It was what he said next that bothered me. He said that those illegals allowed to stay should be made legal but not be allowed to become citizens. Rather than immediately make an opinion, I ask my readers to stop and think about the consequences of this plan.

If we created this new class of citizen, what rights would they have? Could they be refused passports? If they left the country on a trip, would they be denied re-entry? Would they be allowed to own guns or vote? If not would they have at least the same rights as convicted felons?  By the way, a lot of people who are here illegally did not arrive illegally. Not all people classified as illegal aliens entered this country. Some entered this country on legal visas and stayed after the visas expired. A wall would not have stopped them as they entered the country legally. I guess we could prevent people from even entering this country legally; but, that would be the end of tourism.

This is where Mr. Kasich gets stranger; but, more telling about what he does care about. He states that we should consider instituting a seasonal worker program. In other words, you cannot live here and be a citizen; but, you can come and take jobs away from American citizens. Why should we have ANY worker visas when there are not enough jobs for the citizens of this country? I think we should call for the end of ALL work visas. Think about it. If you want to work here become a citizen. Mr. Kasich lives in a farming state and he wants to bring in non-Americans to work the corn fields. I wonder if his concern about throwing illegal aliens has anything to do with the fact that his state has many illegal aliens working for farms.

Fox - Kasich: Unrealistic GOP tax plans improve Clinton's chances.

Jobs, Taxes and Infrastructure.

I recently received a comment from a reader asking which candidate I favored and which policy Kool Aid I would drink. While I do not support any of the candidates, I would like to see either Trump or Sanders win and would prefer Sanders. Obviously Trump and Sanders are vastly different so it is not their personalities or their policies that makes me prefer them. In fact, I don't think either could change the laws as neither would have their parties support. The fact is that it is easier to pay off and control a party then it is to control every politician. A Trump Sanders presidential showdown would tell the politicians that voting only the party line will not get them elected.

The biggest issues facing the United States are our long tern health are not gay marriage, abortion or even immigration. Lets look at the individual issues facing the country and talk about how the two parties view them as neither will solve them.

JOBS

Since the Reagan era we have seen an increasing push to ship jobs oversees for slave wages (some actual slave workers in China) and avoiding environmental and safety laws and any regulation. It should be noted that these same companies are failing to pay taxes and keep the money oversees. While shipping jobs oversees the nation has seen an attack on wages in this country. The leading factors in this are increasing automation, "subcontracting" and financial manipulation by the finance industry. Most of the presidential candidates were part of the problem that caused these things in the first place, Trump and Sanders were not. Trump is a "realist" and would tell you this is the game we are playing and we need to play it smarter. Sanders would say we need to change the rules.

Let us look at the Republican parties answer to these questions. The vast majority of the party wants to eliminate income tax, eliminate regulations and allow more educated immigrants to come over and take jobs away from citizens. The Democratic party has given up on trying to change these things and are just looking to slow down the changes. Neither is putting forward plans for changing the game in any significant way and that is what is needed. The next wave in job destruction in America is going to be self-driving trucks.

Huffington Post - Self-Driving Trucks Are Going to Hit Us Like a Human-Driven Truck.

Huffington Post - Self-Driving Trucks Will Actually Be Great For Truckers, For Now.

Please read the articles in the links. The biggest job in 29 states is trucking and that is going to go away with self-driving trucks. While this new technology will require someone to build the trucks, it will not be Americans. The estimate is that these self-driving trucks will become common in about 5 years, not forty. All of the people running for president know this and they have no solution. Well Marco Rubio thinks we should be cheaper than machines, he also wants to eliminate the minimum wage. I guess if we require self-driving trucks to have a human on board, the human will only get $5.00 an hour. That is not a solution. His other idea that we all become welders is equally ludicrous.

The idea that eliminating taxes on the rich will increase job creation in the United States is equally ludicrous.. If it is cheaper and easier to build in China then the companies will continue to and they are increasingly automating their businesses. If employees in China cannot compete with automation at $1.00 an hour, how can Americans? If the United States eliminated any wage guarantees and all regulation, it still wouldn't bring the jobs back because the companies already have the industrial capability in China. We need to change the laws that make it profitable to ship jobs oversees.

TAXES

There are two, equally dumb, approaches to taxes that the Republicans want to initiate. While some believe we should cut the taxes on the rich others are calling for a flat tax; but, both believe we should cut the total amount of taxes going to the government and thereby reduce government services. I should point out that at least Rand Paul and Bernie Sanders want to decrease military spending. The Democratic party calls for increasing the tax rate for the rich; but, doesn't seek to eliminate all the deductions which just means that some very profitable companies will continue to pay no taxes. Whether they don't pay 35% or 40% is irrelevant when the taxes are not being paid.

What if we only gave tax cuts to companies that either increase overall wages or created more jobs in the United States? If they don't do either of those things, then we increase their taxes. We also need to eliminate all of these free trade agreements that are only hurting American workers.

INFRASTRUCTURE

We all know that our roads, bridges and industrial capability needs to be rebuilt. We need to spend on these things so that we can make us able to compete with foreign countries. Rebuilding our infrastructure will also create jobs in America. The Republicans are not even willing to transportation funding and have consistently held up fixes to the Transportation fund. Sanders would push for more funding of infrastructure.

ANSWER

My answer to the question I was asked is that I will vote for whoever will support and promote the policies I have outlined above.

Reagan, Bush and Clinton - Iran Contra and Illegal Drigs in Arkansas.

Some of my younger readers may not remember when Reagan became president. Well, the Iranians had been holding people from our embassy hostage in Iran for months and just before Reagan was sworn in, they let them all go. It later turned out that we had been supplying the Iranians with parts for their military and weapons in exchange for letting the prisoners go. At least that was what the papers at the time claimed. What we found out later was even more disturbing.

YouTube - The Secret Government - The Constitution In Crisis -Bill Moyers (PBS 1987).

YouTube - THE CLINTON CONSPIRACY - MUST WATCH

YouTube - CIA Drug Ops Conspiracy : (Unaired Documentary)

YouTube - The Mena Connection: Bush, Clinton, and CIA Drug Smuggling (1995) Full Length

YouTube - 12-24-92 Nightline on Bush Iran Contra Pardons