An Open Statement to Pastor Daniels Killer

To Whom it May Concern,

I never met the fine Pastor, I doubt I have ever met you. There is a chance that you search the internet to find information about what you did. There is a chance that you have read my writings. If you are reading this and it matters then it is not a chance it is God at work. It certainly is not me, I am an illusion or at best some remote person who took an interest in a news article.

I have never been to Anadarko or whatever your city is called. Nobody knows or cares about the town, it is nothing to the rest of us. I bet money you live there. I bet money you will make a mistake, you are an idiot and will talk. Every day you pray that you will not make a mistake, everyone makes mistakes, nobody is perfect. Lets say that you never make a mistake, what will your life be? It can only be a life of separation from others, a life of lies. I have seen that in others, it is not nice, it is solitary confinement by choice. The choice you are making, the only result of failing to admit your choices and choose anew, with a renewed mind, one that learned from it's mistakes.

If you had any sense, you would go back and read as much of this blog as remains. It predates what you did, you made choices and need to take responsibility for your choices or you can never forgive yourself. And here is the most amazing thing in the universe, I truly believe that if you turned your heart to one of forgiveness and love, I believe she would have forgiven you and I believe her whole family would forgive you.

Do you understand that you killed one of the good ones? You actually killed someone who cared more about others than herself. What does that leave you? Is your next step to kill anyone that cares about you, you got one person who cared about you, what is left? I do not believe that Pastor Daniels would hate me for anything I said that was of heart and love and that is the person you killed. I don't hate you and I don't think she would either, she was a woman of love and concern. I believe her family is also, I think she knew how to raise a family better than me. I believe she was better than me or at least stronger

Dear Mr. Killer, you may never read this, in which case nothing I write matters. I can live with that. Now, on the other hand, you might read it once. You will or not read this, what does that cost me in my search. It costs me nothing, no chance of loss. As a consequence, I can address you directly and I do. Pastor Daniels wanted everyone's salvation, she wished none to hell. She and I may have agreed or not agreed on the details of salvation, I am not a member of her church. It really doesn't matter. I believe in my heart that she cares more about your heart than anyone else, I believe that even if you cannot understand that, she cared more about you than herself.

I do not ask you to turn yourself in, I don't really care if you do or don't. I care about your soul and that is what I believe she would have cared about. She forgave you, I believe her family would forgive you and I know I forgave everyone. True forgiveness requires that we accept that others hurt us for the wrong reasons and still love them and then it requires that we accept that we have hurt others with no justification and love them. I have now been contacted by Pastor Daniels family and they can correct me if they think she would feel differently. I personally believe that Pastor Daniels would give her life to save another and that just may be what she did for you. What you do with your life is your choice and God can decide to give you what you asked for, complete selfishness and completely being alone with yourself.

Look, I have plenty of posts for you to review, they are all the same, they are what I think and I believe Pastor Daniels would want you to love others and forgive yourself; but, that requires accepting that you did something wrong and taking responsibility for it. Do it or don't, that is you choosing who you are. Good luck with that if you choose for others not to matter, that is choosing solitary confinement. Have fun.

Funny Money and Other Things

Here is a lovely article from the Huffington Post which explains why you will go all electric in the future. It even discusses how the Federal Reserve wants to get rid of checks. I seem to recall writing recently on how England is getting rid of them next year.

Check Cashiers, Banks Prepare for Paperless Future

You might think it will take a lot of time to eliminate cash, it will not, look how quickly the corner telephone went away.

I Love Being Right or Not

This is from the NY Times, I only found it today.

F.C.C. Proposes Rules on Internet Access

The New York Times - The Program

I know, you get no commentary. I am not in a chatty mood. I am pensive, a word I like. I write; but, with ennui. You don't see that word often, I read a story when I was a kid and it used the word. It is a good word. Sort of a loving pain, what a concept. Words can be so useful, they can summarize the most delicate thing in the most precise manner. The intricate made meaningful and concise.

Does anyone appreciate the English language anymore, it is an amazing construct and allows for so much thought. It seems anymore we tend to pervert it and I am not just talking about LMAO and that stuff, I am talking about spin. We don't kill, we have abortions, we have causalities, we have collateral damage. Nope, we killed people, we can justify it or not; but, we kill people. We don't execute, we murder. We should be simple with our words or we begin losing the meaning behind our actions.

I wrote the published author that joined this blog as a follower. She did not write me back. I guess I wasn't that interesting. I have no idea why she joined this pitiful blog. LOL. I had hoped she would give me advice on my writing. I could use it.

I forgot to mention, the President just signed an executive order that says that can shut down private internet communications and let theirs go through. LOL.

The FCC to control all

The Federal Communications Commission (FCC) regulates the airwaves. They regulate television and radio. They are also looking at regulating the internet and it will begin with taxing it.

The Hill - FCC eyes tax on Internet service

When radio began, there was only limited radio frequencies avaiable. Radio stations would buy the rights to a frequency; but, had to promise to provide certain limitations on it;s use as it was a public airwave. This is why there wasn't any cussing or nudity.

The creation of cable television changed the game. The government couldn't use the FCC to regulate it as it did not go over the airwaves. Now here is where it gets interesting.

NBC News - ‘Invisibility cloak’ science to bring broadband Internet to everyone, everywhere

When the internet was dial up, there was no justification for the FCC regulating it. With universal wifi, they will have a justification. Wireless means you use the airways. This is the same FCC that is looking to take control over the public right of ways that are owned by cities and counties.

The actions by the FCC are the single greatest power grab in history and nobody is paying any attention.

Back for a bit

For the moment I have decided to limit my writing to certain issues. I am still not sure how I feel about writing about real people and will continue to think about it.

Water, water everywhere and not a drop to drink. We are getting there. A bit back I wrote about how the City of Los Angeles was allowing people to row Kayaks down the L.A. Storm channel (often called the LA River). I stated that the "LA River" had historically been considered NOT a navigable waterway and was not a natural water course and was therefore exempt from Federal control and regulation. The Kayak trips were done so that the Federal government could declare it a navigable water course and thereby regulate everything near it.

Within the last couple of months there has been some additional scams. A man in Oregon was sent to jail for collecting rainwater on his own property. That made the national news. It is left out of the story that he did more than just collect rainwater, he created small ponds and in Oregon the state has all the water rights. I don't want to get into the very complicated riparian (water) rights issues; but, they are different in different states and the general idea is that you can't cut off the water on a stream from a guy down the way and keep it all to yourself. Well water is different because it is under your property.

Now I will talk about a silly thing that I saw. In the desert I saw a natural underground water course be encased and there was no good reason for doing it. Well, it makes stops it from being a natural water course and thereby keeps it within local control (it also keeps out pollution).

Today I was reading and came across this story. The PPJ Gazette - Globalist Plot to Blow Up 26,000 Dams & Takeover Water. If you are interested in why water is being increasingly regulated by the federal government, it has some interesting things to say.

The author of the article makes the point that navigable waters are controlled by the Federal government because of their effect on commerce. I believe that is why the people had to pay for permits to Kayak down the "LA River". When I was a kid if you got in the channel, you got arrested. They are coming for your water and they are gonna get it.

Buying gold is foolish and the media is trying to fool people into it. It has just been announced that the Republicans are going to call for the United States going back to the gold standard, that is stupid. The intent it to drive up the price of gold, get your money and they will come collect the gold from you at a later date at a set price (lots less than you paid). It happened during the great depression. There will be no free water in the future, all regulated and you will trade all your gold for a single glass of water.

The United States will not return to a strict gold standard in my opinion. I think it is much more likely that we will go to an international standard that is based on your nations natural resources. The hot minerals are not gold and silver, they are the rare earth minerals that are used in high tech things, such as your phone and computer. China will demand that any standard includes these minerals as they represent the true "wealth" of a nation.

I Fall Quiet

I think I shall be silent for a little bit, I think I will take a week or two off from writing, unless I see something important for my dear readers. Helping my ex and being contacted by Pastor Daniels family has really got me thinking.

This blog has always been a very casual affair, me reading the news, finding something that matters to me and writing about it. My thoughts on a thing to people who knew nothing about me or what I was talking about, you know, news. I don't think about what I am writing, I write as I think it. I also write very quickly. I never really thought about effecting someone personally. It makes me think about how important it is that I be more careful with what I write.

This blog is never meant to cause anyone pain, there is enough of that in the world without me contributing. I might get direct and I might talk about corruption; but, I am a commentator and a pacifist. Heck, I preach on the weekends. I have to think about all of this. If I am to continue blogging, I should consider that I might talk about things that could cause pain to others and I don't wish to do that.

When I talk to someone that I know, I have a pretty good understanding if a remote news story effected them personally and know to consider what I am saying to them. I had a friend in high school whose father was well known, he was killed and it made the international news, I knew not to bring the issue up. The internet is random and people you talk about may read it even if it is not intended for them. I don't know hot to be free with my words if I do not know who will read them. I knew who would read the early versions of this blog. It had a targeted audience.

You know, I said I would tell Stephen Hawking to his face that he was a douche bag, I would if pushed; but, I would rather have a real conversation with him. I would much rather debate the essence of matter and time with him than insult him. That personal contact changes how we deal with one another. We are all just people, like I said, "You matter".

I want to be clear, anyone who comes to this blog matters and so does everyone who never comes here. We all matter and we should treat ourselves as if we all did. I need to think about my blog and writing so that, that is always on my mind when I write; but, I also have to make sure that I address what needs to be addressed or I am useless.

I will come back dear readers and I will explain my thinking. I really need to think about these things as I effect others more than I had intended. I much prefer a target audience and that is not the internet. I do not like collateral damage. I am autistic, I think autistic, I think what I think, no filters, the truth is.

I look at a crime scene like my daddy taught me, no emotion, no nice, clinical, no emotional concern over the victim, concern over the outcome and catching them. That is all I know. I thought that I had gotten better; but, regret that I have not. I can still turn the switch on and off. When I write, the switch is off, I say what I mean and I mean what I say, not filter; but, maybe there should be.

This blog was meant to play with people who sought to impact my reality, that was it. I had a target audience. I called them out and played with them. I never meant to be anything more than that. I need to think about this.

A Comment has been posted and I am humbled

On the 23rd of this month it will be the three years since Pastor Carol Daniels was killed. Today I received a comment from her sister in law and I have published it. I had forgot the date, I have lost many friends and family and intentionally do not remember the dates for anyone who has passed away.

The Pastor's sister in law thanked me for my blog and asked me to keep their family in my prayers, which I do. She mentioned the memorial to her sister in law. If I get the chance one of these days, I would like to visit it and maybe post some pictures of the memorial.

I never thought about what this blog would become. I never imagined it would do anything per se. My wild ramblings on the world around us. I had never heard of Pastor Daniels until after she had died and I had never heard of the small town that she visited on Sundays. Her story touched me and I wrote about it. I have often feared that her family might read my writings and think I had not been respectful. It helps to know that they did and are okay with what I have written.

When I first began preaching about a year and a half ago it was hit and miss. Sometimes there might only be two of us there (our lead Pastor has a better turn out). On those occasions when there might or might not be anyone at the church, I would remember how Pastor Daniels drove like 60 miles to go to a church and possibly have someone come in. She is an inspiration for me in that regards.

I never thought that I would interact with the people or news that I write about. I don't expect Stephen Hawking to call me out for saying he is a douche bag. I would say it to his face; but, doubt that will come up. When I began this blog a deceitful one tried to tell me that nobody would understand me, that it was too deep. My first posts were about the nature of man and about God. I destroyed the first two versions of this blog and it has changed over time.

I wish to thank her family for their kind words, I could not be more humbled. I have great respect for Pastor Daniels and her dedication. My sympathies go out to her family and my prayers are with them. I believe God has a special place in his heart for such a good servant of the word. I am sorry that I don't have any answers; but, will keep this blog up even when I am done with writing in memory of Pastor Daniels.

I don't usually post pictures; but, I will post a picture of Pastor Daniels.

L.A. is one Crooked Town

I just want to do a quick recap. Members of the LAPD were charged with selling guns to gang members. The Sheriffs Department allowed prisoners to be abused while Sheriffs were smuggling drugs and other things into prisoners. Judges have been bought off and it has been claimed that some prosecutors and government attorneys are on the take. Now it turns out that a Court Clerk for the Federal Courts was selling information regarding impending arrests. And to think that according to one university we are only the second most corrupt place with Chicago being number one. They may be number one but we try harder.

The Smoking Gun - FBI: Court Clerk Sold Secret Info To L.A. Hoodlums

Tech in the News Again and the Ex

I had these really great articles that I wanted to post about yesterday; but, I was forced to address other things. My ex-wife needed some help and called me for advice. I'm not really sure what to say about that. I helped her; but, I doubt she would ever do the same for me. She turned my middle daughter against me with her lies and gave out my personal information to the man she cheated on me with. I told her that I didn't trust her; but, that I would help. That is a pretty accurate explanation of how I feel. Privacy matters and once destroyed cannot be returned. Think about that as you read these stories.

The first article is about a new Facebook project called "Facedeals". Basically, Facebook will install cameras in stores, the cameras will identify you by your biometrics and then it will send you discounts that are tailored to your purchasing practices and preferences. Trading your privacy for discounts.

MSNBC - What's privacy worth? 'Facedeals' app to scan your face in exchange for discounts


The next is a video about a new system for paying by phone. It involves the company Square, the one that Apple just bought. When you go to the store (or Food Truck), the operator can ask your name, put it in the system and your name and picture will show up so the vendor can verify it is you. You watch, in the future the vendor will point the camera phone at you and it will bio-metrically verify who you are.

CNN - No cash and no credit care? Pay by phone.

This article is about making gadgets that can read your emotions by the look on your face. Predictive programming in real time.

BuzzFeed FWD - If Gadgets Could Only See Our Faces

Finally, an article about a story I have been following for a hot minute. The Federal government is going to require cars to have "black boxes" in them, just like planes. Something to record your every action and be used against you. These boxes will allow them to eventually record everything you do in your car and maybe even issue you speeding tickets. The noose tightens.

The Hill - 'Black box' standards coming for cars

Your government and corporations do not respect your privacy, it gets in the way of controlling you, monitoring you and selling you garbage that you do not need. You are a product and you choose whose product you are be it Facebook, Twitter or whatever. People associate themselves with specific products be it Coca Cola or Gucci, it really doesn't matter. People define who they are by the images that these companies portray and they are all just that, images. Define yourself by your moral choices and not by the products you use.

Apple is Watching You

It is Sunday and you have gotten two posts and it is hot where I am. Read the article and enjoy the song.

Yahoo - Today in Tech - New iPhone app checks your heart rate by reading your face

YouTube - Rockwell - Somebody's Watching Me

Electronic Cashless Society and Starbucks

It is too hot to write anything worthwhile; but, I came across this article and thought I might post it and throw out a couple of thoughts.

Reuters - Starbucks and Square want your phone to be your wallet

Now, if your phone is going to be your wallet and currency is electronic then what happens when you go somewhere with no cell phone reception? Also what happens if your cell phone is lost or stolen or broken? It won't matter because you will be able to use any cell phone once it recognizes your biometrics and logs you into your account.

What will it take to convince grandma and grandpa to stop using cash? That will require an epic event.

Reuters - Chicago Tribune - Exclusive: U.S. banks told to make plans for preventing collapse

All in the Family, LA Style

I saw this article and got sick to my stomach. The judge in the case against a Los Angeles Councilman (who apparently did not live in his district) is the sister of the Mayor of Los Angeles. Wait, it gets better, the Mayor appointed the daughter of the councilman to the Board of Public Works in Los Angeles and it pays six figures.

LA Daily News - Judge in Alarcón hearing is mayor's sister

Feeling Under the Weather

I was tired this morning and woke up late; but, I went to work and felt fine. I had an Arnold Palmer, drank lots of water, didn't eat (don't usually) and about halfway through the day I just started feeling bad. My right sinus was kinda cloggy and I ended up with a headache and queezy stomach. It was hot and I think that sort of contributed to it a lot. I don't usually react badly to heat and I was hydrated.

So, I got home and just sat in my chair, laid down in the bed, sat in the chair, drank water and wanted to feel better. Eventually I decided to have some crab salad, it was a little difficult to eat; but, I began feeling better after I did, not fantastic, better, I still had the junky sinus and headache.

The person I live with went across the street and got me some more water and stuff to make a sandwich in case I feel better later and get hungry. When he got to the store, they asked about me and said they hoped I felt better. They always ask about me and actually care how I am doing. That is a good feeling. I always ask about them too and actually know lots of their stories and lives.

I really like where I live, it has a nice warm feel. A little bit more personal.

Ambiguity over Ambiguity

Not long ago there was a story about a little boy who had two lesbian parents. The parents decided to put him on hormone therapy and dress him femininely. A lot of people were really angry about this including many in the homosexual community and many lesbians were outraged. It gives the appearance of choosing the child's sex against nature and heavy handedness in pushing him to choose other than his natural sex.

Recently, it has been discovered that some doctors were giving pills to women that would decrease the likelihood that their children would be born lesbian or with ambiguous genitalia. In other words, parents deciding that they would use hormones to promote their child's sex to be different than it would be naturally. A pill to change a little boys sex is wrong and a pill to change a little girls sex is wrong. I am pretty sure that two wrongs do not make a right; but, lets discuss this a little deeper.

Is it right to change your child's natural sex? If you are the most gay hating idiot in the world, would you have your spouse take a pill that would change the gender of your baby? That would be unnatural. I have a problem with sex change and I have a big problem with them being performed on minors or prenatally. I have a problem with transhumanism; but, I am consistent on it.

Maybe some that will read this do not have a problem with giving their unborn child steroids to make sure that they are born straight; but, where does it end? I do not have one doubt in my mind that if they could have given my mother a pill that would have prevented me from being autistic, they would have and I don't think she would have taken it knowing that. Many women would have taken the pill and you would not have the Pimpernel that you know and love, I would have been "normal". You would not have my writings and I would not have had the achievements that I did. I would not have liked that, I like being me.

The transhumanist agenda is basically you selling your soul to be like everyone else, less than you. To take these pills in exchange for some increased ability and give up a piece of being you. So what other "defects" would you eliminate, blindness, deafness, bi-polar, committed, dogmatic, religious? So many to choose from based upon whatever.

I fear I am going to easy on my readers and they will feel that I am just not trying, so lets try this. Lets say you knew your baby would be born with an 80 IQ, would you take hormones or gene therapy so that the child would be born with an IQ of 130? What if you could take these therapies to change a midget into a six foot adult?

In England there was a guy who fathered hundreds of children through a sperm bank. The women and men liked his picture and intelligence. He was very popular. The point is people would quite often pick the same traits and our biodiversity will be eliminated. For the non-religious, it is anti-Darwinism, it is not natural selection, it is unnatural selection. God and Darwin agreed that selection should be natural.

HuffPost - The Sad Lengths Some Go to Avoid Having a Lesbian Daughter

Fox News - Controversial Therapy for Pre-Teen Transgender Patient Raises Questions

I think I should mention something else. The lesbian couple say that the child claimed to be female at a age three and they tried to convince him he was a boy. The pills he is being given will not change what he becomes, it delays puberty so that he will have more time to understand what he is asking. Most gay men have absolutely no interest in becoming women and most lesbians have absolutely no interest in becoming men. His parents are trying to buy him time and not feel the pressure of all the hormones during puberty. The parents who would choose to take hormones to prevent their child from becoming gay before it was even born, the child would have no say in the matter. A morality question.

Failure to be socially networked

An amusing article from Mail Online about how some psychologists are saying that failing to have a Facebook presence may show that you may not be well adjusted. I don't know how many of my readers use Facebook, I don't. I have an account but have never posted to it and wouldn't know how nor care to learn.

Is not joining Facebook a sign you're a psychopath? Some employers and psychologists say staying away from social media is 'suspicious'

So why should I have an online identity, why should it be real? Why should I put all of my personal information, whey I go, what I do, pictures of me and my friends and my opinion about every little thing that happens during the day on the internet? I recognize that may sound funny coming from someone who is a blogger; but, if you didn't know me personally, you wouldn't know this was my blog. I even allow people to post anonymously.

You may think nobody would bother you or care what you say; but, sometimes things go viral (as they say). One guy over at Nasa recently was observed during the Curiosity landing on Mars and his profile went from 100 or so friends to 15,000 roughly in about an hour. The news picked up on it and now he has been seen by millions.

The article states that many employers won't be as likely to hire you if you don't have a Facebook page. That is just too funny. So, what is the real reason why the media wants us on Facebook? Lets start with this, it has about 900 million users, that means that almost 1/7th of the world is on it, that is an attractive audience to reach. Eminem has had over 60,000,000 likes on Facebook, that is a larger audience than any regular television show that I can think of.

If we were required to identify ourselves, I would have to end my blog. I have mentioned my ex and people who I know; but, I never identify them because what I write about is not really them, they are just real life examples of whatever I am discussing. As far as I know my ex has never read my blog and doesn't even know what it is called. I simply never post her name or any specifics that would allow her to be recognized, it would be unfair as she has not had her opportunity to give her side of the story to my readers and might not care to. My blog is one sided, my side.

My blog is not about debating points, it is my perspective. It is editorializing the news and the world around us and not just reposting news stories. I don't twitter every little thing in my life or even mention it here. I may go days without posting until something attracts my attention. This blog is not a diary, though I may use real life examples. I try and discuss issues or maybe provide some music for a lazy day. This blog is not me and it is not about me, it is about ideas and things that others may have not considered. I succeed or fail based upon my readers reactions and currently I am seeing about 1,500 views a month. Not a lot but a surprising amount for something that is not advertised in any way, the readers that come here come by word of mouth or random searches.

I don't know how many people came here because I wrote about Pastor Carol Daniels and I don't know how many people came here because I write about the abuses of the pension system. I could not have predicted that people would enter the search terms Stephen Hawking and douche bag. The site is not and never has been monetized, no advertising, you don't need it and I don't want it. I don't believe I have ever uploaded a video and have only posted a couple of pictures. I posted a person's real name once and then immediately took it down.

Why does this matter, it matters because if you post and write without thinking about what you are going to say, you end up saying things that you shouldn't, I think we should think before we publish. It is one of the reasons that I am more careful when using forums. Well, thats it for now.

Kristen Stewart

I think I spelled her name right; but, I really don't care. That girl from the Twilight series. From what I have read in the headlines, she cheated on her co-star who she lived with and now feels really bad. I have little if any sympathy for her, she was a tramp and betrayed him and after getting caught she felt bad. She should and it is reported that she does.

Here is the thing, at least she regrets it. So many people today cheat on their partners and just shrug it off as a thing. They act as if it is meaningless and don't care how it effects the person they claimed to love or the others around them including their families. At least she felt bad, that means that there is still some good in her.

One of my favorite lines from the bible, it was one of the exes favorite lines too, was that Israel had lost the ability to blush, to feel guilt. I don't know much about the two people, I have not seen any of the movies nor is likely that I will. I know practically nothing of what they are like in person and don't care. This post is about morality and forgiveness and hope. She cannot take back what she did and there is no reason for him to trust her again, they had not even married. I have been cheated on and know what it feels like, they get to do it in public and I can only imagine that just makes it even harder. People who meet my ex do not know she cheated on me, everyone knows that this actress cheated on him and he is probably embarrassed knowing that everyone knows he was cheated on.

In the end, it is just two people and her unilateral decision will effect them both for the rest of their lives; but, they can both choose to learn from it. It is my hope that he learns that he can fully love again and that not everyone cheats. For her, I hope that she learns that you cannot have your cake and eat it too. She has a good start if she truly regrets what she did, she can learn from that. It might be tougher for him, you can only risk your heart so many times before you give up on believing you can choose better.

I Dislike Romney

The more I read about things that he is said, the more I dislike him. I need to remind people that I don't like Obama and didn't like the Bush's or Clinton. I don't trust any of them. At least the others lied, that is better than this guy. He flat out says that he doesn't represent the poor and that the Republican party is a party of people who want to be rich. He doesn't seem to thing about people are Republicans because of the other values that the party holds.

People who read this blog might assume that I am am anti-Republican, I am not. I am also not anti-Democrat. I am a moderate extremist. I believe in doing the right thing for the right reason. I was also a registered Republican and voted for Reagan.

Here is my question, why is anyone voting for him. There were other candidates that at least said they cared about everyone. Mr. Romney only cares about one thing and his business life proved it, he believes in getting as much personal benefit as possible. He said it, didn't he. The people he supports are people like him and he specialized in outsourcing jobs to other countries. He believes in every man for himself and do anything to come out on top. I cannot believe that all of his supporters feel the same way. It is the most anti-American thinking I can conceive of. Are we no longer a nation, do we no longer support our community and each other?

I am Libertarian in regards to personal freedom; however, I am against them when it comes to leaving my brother to fend for himself should he join after the game has begun. You were born rich or poor and don't tell me it didn't effect your odds in life. If you tell me that is just the way life is, then I will say okay, so lets make sure that ones on the bottom are at least okay.

Mr. Romney has appealed to the lowest common denominator, selfishness and he won lots of elections based on it. When did even the conservatives stop thinking about country before self? I have no respect for the man. Mr. Romney is not an American, he is a Romnian and we shouldn't vote for such people. This is not an endorsement of anyone, I am not voting because they are all the same. They are all bad.

Three Articles on Government Employees

The first article is about how the Congress is putting forth a bill that would allow them to fire federal employees that are behind on their taxes. Yea, yea, everybody cheer about getting those bad federal employees. I want my readers to take a moment and think about this rather than just react. Lets put this in perspective.

Firstly, the congress is more than happy to allow insider trading by congressmen and it is not illegal for them to do it. Secondly, most congressmen make their money from their investments and are not taxed at the same rate as people who make their money from their wages. Finally, there are a lot of reasons that people are behind on their taxes, especially if they are self employed. Finally, if they work for the federal government then the government should be taking the money out in advance of the employee being paid, just like they do for everyone else (and they deduct federal taxes from federal workers the exact same way). We should also remember, as I previously wrote about, that the federal government has also passed a law that allows them to cancel or suspend your passport if you are behind on your taxes.

AP - House bill: Fire US workers who are tax deadbeats

This one is just ridiculous. The L.A. Times reported that LA City Hall employees were streaming the Olympics and it was causing their computer system to slow down. This article was picked up internationally. Really? Personally, I have not watched the Olympics except for the opening ceremony, I don't watch television as a rule. But, lets be serious, how many people in the world are watching parts of the Olympics at work? I would not freak out if I found out that one of my employees had watched a swim race or something that was special to them, I would just expect them to make sure they completed their work for the day. In either case, does this really deserve to be international news? I file this one under over-reacting and exaggeration in order to impact ongoing negotiations with unions.

What the article didn't say was which departments they were in. I wonder how many of the people streaming it had desk jobs? I would guess all of them. The guy picking up your trash cannot watch the internet in his garbage truck. I wonder many of the people streaming the internet were in Council Offices or the Mayor's Office, they tend to have more control over their time.

L.A. Times - L.A. City Hall employees urged to stop watching Olympics at work

Finally, an article on the Post Office. I have written on the post office a few times; but, want to re-raise some issues. The post office is not technically a governmental agency anymore. It has also managed to survive with no government subsidy since being set on it's own. What changed was that the Postal Service is now being asked to fund employee benefits in advance of them being used. This is really nothing more than an attempt to benefit Wall Street and privatize the Post Office. The point people miss is that if they privatize the Postal Service then your mail will cease being private, it is not constitutionally protected as private with UPS.

It is not that the Post Office lost money, in fact, the Post Office has been amazing at finding ways to survive in a world of e-mail. They changed their business model and made it work. Nope, they are being asked to fund retirement benefits 10, 20 and 30 years before they might come due.

Time - Moneyland - Post Office to Default on $5.5 Billion Pre-Retiree Health Payment