Millenials and Clinton

I am going to tell you a secret, Hillary Clinton does not get the youth vote. Nope, millennials do not like her, trust her or believe she will create jobs for them. That last part is the key, millennials know they are getting screwed and they know the status quo does not benefit them. Her response to them is to say that they live in their parents basements (yes, she is actually on tape saying that) or that millennial men are Bernie bros who go to his events just to get women. Wow.

Here is the issue for millennials and it is not college tuition. The issue for millennials is whether or not there will be good jobs for them that they can retire from, that is the new American dream. They don't dream about a three bedroom house with a white picket fence and three children, they dream about a job that lets them live in an apartment by themselves and not need roommates, they dream about being able to promote if they work hard. They dream about having a decent future and being able to retire someday. I don't consider that outrageous or privileged. Hillary is not offering that or even coming up with plans that are aimed at that.

The above is why millennials went for Sanders or Trump; but, not Hillary or Jeb. The media is owned by six multinational corporations and they have never cared for Sanders, millennials or Americans. The millennials were the first to complain about the trade agreements and protest them, they were ridiculed by the media. The millennials were the founders of the Occupy Movement and the media made fun of them. The millennials voted for Sanders and Trump and the media made fun of them.  Tonight I watched both Seth Meyers and Stephen Colbert make fun of millennials for not supporting Hillary, yeah, good luck in the ratings long term, they will remember your mocking them. Contrary to what these two idiots think, millennials know they are getting screwed and they are right that Hillary won't even attempt to change that as she is a corporatist. Hey, Meyers, Colbert, you are now officially whores of the corporate media, you know, that thing you used to make fun of until you joined it to make millions. No wonder you side with politicians who have also sold their souls.

By the way, did you know that Hillary had called for a wall to be built between Mexico and the United States? Yep and a very liberal person named Jimmy Dore even posted the video and he intends to vote for Hillary. If you want to see where she said it go to 1:50 into the video, that is the first video of her talking about it, wait a minute and you can see the second one where she actually says a wall.

Remember the real focus in on the media. Lets talk about them a little bit more. Lets start with this video of celebrities telling who you can and cannot vote for, not who they support but who you cannot vote for.

YouTube - IMPORTANT - Save The Day. 

 There are other people who think they can demand that you vote for someone.

USA Today - USA TODAY's Editorial Board: Trump is 'unfit for the presidency'.  Here is a quote from the article, "Whatever you do, however, resist the siren song of a dangerous demagogue. By all means vote, just not for Donald Trump."

Geez, isn't it nice to have so many celebrities and people in power telling you who you are not allowed to vote for? Now here is the real question, who the hell are these people to say who we can and cannot vote for? Do they not believe in democracy? I do not tell my friends who wish to vote for Hillary that they cannot or attempt to shame them, that is tyrannical behavior. I don't even bother telling people who like Hillary about all of her crimes or flaws.

It is funny how the most "liberal" of us are the most dismissive of millennials, of the young people who will have to live in this country when we die off. Those in power seek to leave them a country where only college graduates have good jobs and few middle class people will be able to afford college. If you don't have connections you will not get an even halfway decent job. That is what millennials are being left with. Oh, I forgot and the people competing for those jobs will be from other countries because the Democratic party believes in open borders today.

Here is the amusing part. The mass media is killing itself because it is alienating it's future viewers, the millennials. It is a shame, when we had a diversified media and news was not entertainment, it thrived. Now that six companies own 90% of our media we only hear the same talking points as are used by the establishment and the young people have noticed. Goodbye heyday of newspapers. Goodbye heyday of broadcast news. Goodbye sensible diversity. Monopolies destroy true freedom of thought and action.

Sanders Supporters and the Media.

Bernie Sanders had many supporters and I believe was a sincere man. If anything his problem was that he tried to play a game and didn't understand the rules or how to keep true to his beliefs when confronted with the need to drop out of the race. While I have said that I detest the Clintons and the Bushes, I have never said I disliked Bernie, what I have said is that I am disappointed in him. Since he has supported Hillary, I am not alone in being disappointed. Imagine if Jeb Bush had won the primaries and Trump came out and supported him, how do you think the Trump supporters would have felt. Trump and Sanders both ran on being against the establishment and a rigged system.

One thing I have not done is insult Bernie, Hillary, Bush, Trump or anyone else's supporters. That is the last sign or desperation and is despicable in a democracy. To describe anyone's supporters as all the same is both stupid and stereotyping. I have seen a lot of that this year by the establishment media. I have seen Trumps supporters all be called racist, stupid, joe six pack, women haters and everything else you can think of, oh yeah and Nazis. That last onw bothers me and is an insult to all the people killed by the Nazis. I have seen the same type of stereotyping used against the Sanders supporters by the Democratic establishment. They are accused of being young, stupid, crybabies and disloyal to the Democratic party. People, they are not members of your party or your establishment, that was what this election was all about, the establishment versus the people. At the convention Sarah Silverman called Sander's supporters "ridiculous" for not wanting Hillary Clinton while also wanting them to chant "unity". People don't want unity with people who call them ridiculous. Think about this, Trump never slammed his opponents supporters, not Hillary's and not Bushes.

I watched a number of videos today about the election. Lets see, there are more articles asking whether or not the Russians hacked the DNC's e-mails than discussed the fact that they showed the DNC was actively working to get Hillary elected and undermine Sanders. They wanted to attack Sanders for being an atheist. Wait, please tell me what religion Clinton is. Is she a Baptist, Lutheran or what. She is no Christian. Nobody is voting for Hillary because of her devout Christianity. The fact of the matter is that Hillary is smug, condescending and insincere.

Why has this come up? Well, I have been collecting videos to compare and contrast; but, I cannot post them until after the DNC has closed. It will be a post about media manipulation and propaganda. In preparation of the post, I have been watching all the late night shows. The post will be about how the media treats Hillary and Trump. In the course of watching these videos I found one particularly annoying, smug, condescending and insincere and it is by Seth Meyers. It is an attack on Sanders supporters and you should watch it. He can kiss away lots of his younger audience and rightly so.

YouTube - Hey! A Message to Bernie or Bust Die-Hards.  He begins by saying that the Sanders supporters who booed the head of the DNC that actively worked to help Hillary and hurt Sanders were all white. Wow. He then says that "We don't have time for this", I don't recall him saying that about the Cruz supporters who attempted to steal the election by changing the majority rules at the RNC. He then tells Sanders supporters to "stop crying". He also says, "I don't know what class you ditched to go to those Sanders rallies". What he knows is that the younger people don't trust, like or want Hillary and he proceeds to chastise them and threaten them will Trump taking over as a dictator.

I should also point out that Meyers says about 48% of all Americans are crazy. He then goes on to say that even though the Bernie supporters hate her, they should have the decency to not say it and he says that Bernie is too old and needs to retire. This is his appeal for Democratic unity. He finishes by telling Sanders supporters to be quiet and basically shut up.

Many pundits have said that Trump is the end of the GOP; but, this election will probably be the end of the Democrats. Those young people who are roundly being insulted by the Democrats do not like globalism or the establishment and they are being slapped in the face by the Democratic party.

UPDATE:

You know what is really upsetting me, I didn't know all of it; but, I am mad at Sanders for not standing up for his supporters.

L.A. to Evict the Occupiers

According to reports Los Angeles plans on removing the Occupy LA protesters on Monday. What will this look like? Will it involve the police using batons and pepper spray or will it be peaceful? I guess we will see, lets hope it is peaceful.

Why You Should Not Vote For Any Presidential Candidate

What happened at U.C. Davis has made international news and made us look like a third world dictatorship. I personally am not very happy with that. Here is something else to consider, how many presidential candidates have said anything about what happened and I don't even care what position they took, here is why you cannot vote for them, because they have yet to take a position on what happened. They are waiting to see how it will effect them in the polls.

Our politicians have no opinions, they only think about what will get them elected. Even the idiots Gingrich and Cain have not come out with strong support or any comments that I can find on what happened at U.C. Davis and they both oppose the Occupy movement, they are cowards. Come out and say that this is how our citizens and students should be treated if you believe it. Prove to us that you are capable of firm and decisive decisions regardless of the effect on your popularity. If you actually believed what you say you do then you would say that, "While I may not agree with them, I will defend to the death their right to say it". Isn't that what the Tea Party was about Mr. Cain or was it just about taxes moron?

I have no political affiliation so don't think the Democrats are any better. Where was the President during all this, where are his statements. If you can't comment on this how can we listen to you berate other countries for doing the same. You lack all moral authority Mr. Obama.

People might think that this post is about the Occupy movement; but, it is not, it is about the lack of honest, selfless political leadership in this country. It is about asking ourselves the same questions we ask of other governments.

No Big Deal, Not My Fault, I Made a Mistake, What Now

An open post to Lieutenant P of the U.C. Davis Police,

I am writing this as if I were talking to you, perhaps you will find it and perhaps you will not; but, it is going to be good advice to both you and other police. Firstly, my father was a highly decorated law enforcement officer and many of my friends were either in intelligence, law enforcement or the military. I myself work for the government. If you had worked for my father, it would not have been for long.

I don't know what you were thinking when you so casually pepper sprayed those students; but, it sure didn't look like you cared about their well being. My guess is that you thought you were doing your job, exercising the authority of the state. You do work for the state of California's University system. I read that you were trained in the use of pepper spray; but, that doesn't mean you are supposed to use it.

As you walked out to the small group of people sitting in the quad you probably thought the most important thing was to remove them for not listening to authority; but, you were wrong. Your first and highest priority is to the citizens and not to the university authority figures. It is claimed that you have two awards from the university for your actions in the past. It is possible that you have protected in the past and did not understand your number one allegiance is protect others even more than enforcing rules. Lots of people get that wrong.

I wrote earlier about the incident, my focus was more on the media; but, I did predict what would happen next. Your name and face and address and phone number have all been released on the internet. I do not agree with what has been released; but, I expected it. One way or the other it would have gotten out eventually. You are no doubt concerned about you and your family and probably should be, I would be. When I was a child, criminals targeted my family. I feel sorry for your children, should you have any, having to experience what I did. The difference is, my father was targeted by criminals.

You have a couple of choices. You can leave and hide, find a place where you are not known or is supportive of such tactics; but, do you really want to live in a place full of right wing militia types? The second choice is that you can attempt to stay. Because of the publicity, there is a good chance that the university will throw you under the bus even if you were following directions. Nope, don't expect help from the university. You might think the police union will support you; but, then what, you stay on knowing that everyday the students hate you. That does not sound like a good idea. You might go out on stress, then you can be an example and a reason for people to go after the pension benefits for all state police. Bottom line is you are going to be used by everybody with any agenda and you put yourself in the situation.

I will make a different recommendation. Make a public statement and tell the truth. If you truly thought what you were doing was right, whatever the reason, then publicly announce it. If you thought you were right; but, truly now believe you had overreacted, then say that; but, don't say it if it isn't true. You showed no courage when you sprayed them; but, you can show it now.

You might think this will all blow over; but, it will not. It will lessen; but, things will never be the same for you at the university. Now, if you truly do believe that you were wrong, you have an opportunity for redemption. Come out, say why you did what you did, why it was wrong and that you are going to dedicate your life to being a example and mentor to other police officers to tell them that acting with aggression on the people you are supposed to protect is wrong. Tell them where you went wrong and how things should have been handled. By the way, when it is peaceful protest the correct response, if people's lives are not being threatened, is for disengagement. You are supposed to leave and then come back in plain clothes and talk to the people, it is a community approach to policing.

This should also be a lesson to all people who should be honored to be responsible for the security of the citizens. Think about all the information that you have on citizens, they have the same on you. Lt. P, they will no doubt hack your phone and your internet. There is the chance that they will release your browsing history. I say this so that you have a chance to protect your information.

My opinion is that none of your information should have been released unless and until the university had the chance to either deal with what happened or put out what I expect from them, a watered down explanation. In everyone's lives there are moments of truth, the first one for you was when you chose to douse the students in the manner that you did, the next one is in how you deal with the consequences of your actions and the truth is, the whole world is watching.

The first step, if you do believe your actions were wrong, would be to invite the students who you pepper sprayed to meet with you in person so that you can see how it effected them. That could be very tough to do; but, it would show some sincerity and remorse. It was your job to make the students feel safe on campus, I assume you have seen the videos, would you feel safe if you were them?

You are no doubt getting a lot of advice and hate. Advice from those who love you and hate from those who don't know you. Worse yet, you are probably getting support from people who don't know you at all and just like to see people "put in their place". Think for yourself, decide if what you did is right, if you would feel the same way if it was your family and friends.

This is an opportunity for you to grow and learn a whole lot about yourself and how society should work. It is my prayer for you that you make the best choice and understand that it is your privilege to protect others from authority, not abuse it.

Health Benefits of Pepper Spray"

As the chancellor of UC Davis said that the police were sent because of health concerns for the students, I decided to look up the medical benefits of being sprayed in the face with pepper spray. According to Wikipedia:

"The US Army concluded in a 1993 Aberdeen Proving Ground study that pepper spray could cause "[m]utagenic effects, carcinogenic effects, sensitization, cardiovascular and pulmonary toxicity, neurotoxicity, as well as possible human fatalities. There is a risk in using this product on a large and varied population".[13] However, the pepper spray was widely approved in the US despite the reservations of the US military scientists after it passed FBI tests in 1991. As of 1999, it was in use by more than 2000 public safety agencies.[14]"

Now if I read that correctly some of the health benefits include death. I don't really see that as very beneficial. I mean even if you believe in assisted suicides for the terminally ill, those kids looked sicker after being sprayed then before. Obviously I am being sarcastic; but, they make it so easy. The truth was that the University didn't want the kids occupying the campus so why lie. I would have a lot more respect if the chancellor had said that the university did not want to be disrupted and that the officers had overreacted.

The chancellor's answers were just stupid and politically aimed and it failed. If the chancellor thought the officers were using pepper spray as some sort of vaccination against disease then maybe she would be willing to stand in the quad and prove that it is a good form of vaccination by being sprayed in the face herself. If she is so stupid that she believes that there are health benefits to being pepper sprayed then she does not deserve to run anything and should be removed.

The students were protesting the fact that their tuition had doubled in the last seven years. I went to a website that showed the salaries for people working for the university in 2007 or 2008 and it said that the head coach of the football team made over $2 million a year. It was amazing how many working for the university were making around a million.

The way the universities look at students anymore is purely business. The universities promote the kids taking out as much in loans as possible in order to pay the administration and faculties salaries. The UC system was theoretically created to educate Californians; but, out of staters and foreign students pay more so the Universities have been letting more in with fewer Californians being accepted even though our taxes pay for the system.

UC Davis chancellor says student safety dictated tent removal

This article is from the Sacramento Bee. UC Davis chancellor says student safety dictated tent removal.
Is that what was on the officer's minds, they were trying to protect the health of the students by shooting industrial strength pepper spray into their faces? Are there no nurses or doctors on the campus that could have given the kids physicals, it seems more sensible. If I am not mistaken the police were also carrying weapons that looked like paintball guns, maybe they were really advanced medical equipment; but, it didn't look that way to me.

Now if we can cut through the spin and lies, we all should be able to figure out what happened. Around a dozen students decided to pitch tents on their campus in support of the Occupy movement. The University did not want it to spread, ordered it's removal and the officers came with an overwhelming show of force in order to make an example of the students in order to intimidate others to not participate in further occupations. That is a much more likely scenario than that they came to protect them from the flu or whatever nonsense.

Rather than sending in the campus police with weapons and body armor, maybe the Chancellor could have walked down to the encampment and talked to the students and worked out something where they could have camped during the day and returned to their dorms at night. Certainly something could have been attempted rather than sending the police to break it up. The Chancellor is probably very well paid, I would have hoped she could have come up with better answers.

Spike in Readership

I am off this week, sort of, and slept till noon. It was very nice to just lay in bed. When I woke up I logged into my e-mail accounts and then checked the blog. Since yesterday I have seen ten times as many readers as normal. The number one post that people read was about Ms. Rothschild complaining about the Occupy movement. I have no idea why as no comments were left.

Now, to tell you the truth I don't really care who she is, I haven't been impressed by her articles or condescending approach. From the comments left on her article at Huffington post, a lot of people found her annoying. In the end, she misses the biggest point of all, how should society be organized so that we have a decent life for as many people as possible. That is what philosophers have questioned for thousands of years.

We have become a world of very educated people with some being very good at taking advantage of the system to benefit themselves at the expense of others. We do this on a national level and on a personal level. The idea was that someone should be compensated based on how much they contributed to society and that we should protect people who could not contribute. It was based on morality and not just money.

There are those who talk about the "job creators", okay what if we compensated people based on how many jobs they created rather than the value of a companies stock. That would change how CEOs operated (this is an example, it would not be as easy as it sounds).

Here is something to consider just for the fun of it. Many police departments were given stimulus money to "create jobs" and they used this money to hire police and buy supplies. Wouldn't it be nice to know how many jobs were created by the police buying pepper spray. Maybe the cop from Davis felt he was creating jobs by spraying the kids with pepper spray, I mean you have to use it up to justify buying more. Maybe the cop thought of himself as a job creator.

It sounds completely ridiculous because it is insanity. It takes the human element out of how our society is organized and should function; but, that is what happens when it stops being about people and is just about money. Hey, this may not be my best post ever; but, I am still drinking my first cup of coffee.

Ms. Rothschild offers nothing on how to improve the world, status quo seems quite alright with her; but, the status quo is failing at every level of society. The world has become bankrupt on an international, national and personal level because people have ceased believing in a greater morality than just personal gain.

U.C. Davis's chancellor is calling for a 30 day review of what happened and has put the two officers involved and the chief on administrative leave. That means they will be paid for not pepper spraying people, I mean working. It means that the Chancellor is now a job eliminator. I am okay with that, those officers need to find new jobs.

Now knowing a bit about politics, there are only so many ways that the investigation can end. Lets consider them. First, they find the officers guilty of abuse of power and fire them. Second, they find the officers guilty of overreacting or some nicely worded justification. If that happens the cops could stay at UC Davis where they will be under constant risk of whatever or they are transferred to another campus. If that happens then everyone at the new campus will feel they are being threatened. Perhaps the officers will be allowed to retire; but, one of them it said was relatively new.

Now another possibility is that the officers are not disciplined other than being sent for retraining or sensitivity training or whatever, that is not going to please anyone. Here is the problem, the investigation will not be about if the officers were guilty, it will be about finding a Public Relations answer, not about fixing what led to the situation.

As for the individual officers involved, I bet they are having a bad week. While the officers may not have thought anything of what they did at the time, I would hope that rather justifying it to themselves they would sit back and ask if what they did was morally right. I would hope they would ask them how they would have felt if it was their family that was pepper sprayed. At some point they will be interviewed and their answers will determine how people respond; but, true rehabilitation does not happen in a day. Maybe they will be given jobs in the prison system because so few care about how we treat prisoners, just consider the L.A. County jails problems.

I find it interesting that the governor and the mayor's have not said anything about what happened at the university. They don't have much to say because there is a good chance in their minds that we might need more pepper spray in order to stop the Occupy protests.

Nathalie Rothschild and Occupy Wall Street

I was reading at the Huffington Post about what happened in Davis and decided to read some other articles when I came across this. "This Preoccupation With Playing the Victims of Wall Street Is Pathetic".

I am sitting here reading the name, Rothschild, hey I have heard that name before. Her bio on her website did not identify who her parents were or whether or not she is part of the Rothschild banking family; but, it is still sort of off-putting. I mean it gives the appearance of the privileged attacking the those who have been taken advantage of by the system.

Will U.C. Davis Lose in Court

Two quick points, the police officer that pepper sprayed the students at UC Davis, well, his name has been published in the news. The protesters have also announced that they plan to sue in court.

The Sacramento Bee, which used to be a decent paper, posted a very biased article. 10 Occupy protesters arrested at UC Davis quad


The article begins with this,"A confrontation between police and Occupy protesters at UC Davis ended Friday afternoon with the arrest of 10 students after police officers used pepper spray to force protesters from an encampment in the campus quad, according to protest supporters and a campus spokeswoman."

What, did the spokesman not view the video or do they just not care about the truth and how could the "reporter" not bring this into question. Does that look the people getting pepper sprayed had surrounded the police? You can watch the video it is linked to in one of my earlier posts. Does that cop look scared of the kids sitting on the ground, were they intimidating him by sitting down. Does it look like they are preventing him from doing anything?

Do the people getting pepper sprayed look like they are inside an encampment? The first picture is the one published by the Sacramento Bee to accompany the story. The second picture is what really happened. That my friends is media dishonesty and propaganda. Read the article in the Bee and watch the video and tell me that the reporter was unbiased.

Buffalo Springfield - For What It's Worth

Buffalo Springfield - For What It's Worth


Apparently Newt Gingrich made a comment about the protesters. He said they should get a job after they go home and take a bath. Wait, did he just call them the great unwashed masses? What a stinking piece of garbage he is and how out of touch he is. Hey Newt you were supposed to represent everyone not just the people who gave you all that money.

Enough Already

A Moron Leaves U.C. Davis, The Chancellor

Chancellor Katehi of U.C. Davis decided it was time to leave the school for a bit. It will be longer. Here are two videos worth watching. The first is of her leaving the school and she second is of the students after her departure. I want to talk about both after you have viewed them.

UC Davis Chancellor Katehi walks to car amidst protesters

11/19/2011 UC Davis students celebrate after Chancellor Katehi takes walk of shame

The thugs masquerading as campus police have a problem. The Chancellor has a problem and it will not just go away in a couple of days. By intentionally pepper spraying students peacefully sitting on the ground in protest with no reason only caused the whole school to come together and the reason is simple, they knew that they could all be treated the same way.

All across the United States we are hearing mayor's say that they are concerned about the safety of the Occupiers because of "health" concerns they instruct their police to go out and pepper spray, beat and arrest them. I'm glad they aren't concerned about my health, I prefer seeing a doctor to being beat. What type of logic is it that justifies such a thing? Warped logic.

Look you don't have to agree with the Occupy movement or everyone in it; but, you should be able to tell when the politicians are lying. Out of concern over the protesters health they shot them with dowels and bean bags in Oakland. If there is going to be any meaningful discussion the first thing that needs to happen is that the politicians need to listen and recognize the people that they are supposed to represent.

My advice to the police is also simple, don't beat the people who you are supposed to protect because not everyone is a pacifist as I am. The cop that sprayed those students should probably just resign because my guess is that everybody will know who he was. Who will listen to him and how will he react towards every student who he sees saying, "Shame on you".

The protests are not going to stop. Not in a day and not in a month. New ways will be utilized for protest, this is history, learn from it. We don't want to live in a radicalized and polarized nation. Who would want to live in such a state? Attempts to clamp down peaceful demonstrations only highlight what is wrong with the people running our institutions.

This is Disgusting - The First Amendment Matters

I want everybody who reads this to watch the linked video. A group of students sitting on the ground in protest at U.C. Davis are pepper sprayed by what I assume are campus police for no apparent reason. The officer pepper sprays them as if they were not human at all. Watch the video and then read the linked article. In the article one officer says that this approach is standard for people who don't comply. Really, you watch the video and tell me that this is right and by the way, how many people will seek to go to a university where this is how they are treated after paying their money to get an education.

The video - YouTube - Police pepper spraying and arresting students at UC Davis
The article - Officers in pepper spray incident placed on leave

"Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the Government for a redress of grievances."

You better respect the constitution as it applies to all especially those you disagree with or it has no meaning and you have no rights. When the people with authority violate the laws then the people will soon follow and ignore them also.

UPDATE:

You know I went back and read a couple of articles on this and I am more disgusted now then when I first saw the video. The moron in charge of the campus police said that the officers had been surrounded by protesters and had to use pepper spray in order to get away. Really? Is that what you see in the video? The officers didn't pepper spray people surrounding them, they pepper sprayed people sitting on the ground. The police had no problem leaving and had weapons.

Do we hire any police with and sense anymore? U.C. Davis has had many protests, why is it the the Occupy movement protest was treated harsher? The protesters were not intimidating the police, they were just sitting on the ground, walk around them. What effect will this episode have on the campus police and the university itself? Not a good one.

As I have said in the past, this is not about a law or series of laws, this is about the system itself and that is why it is found so threatening to people who presume they have authority. The video highlights who is truly guilty and it is the police. Could you casually use heavy duty pepper spray on someone just sitting on the ground as the officer did? How do you do that to someone, I could not and my father who was a distinguished would not have.

There are those who think that they will simply remove tents from lawns and that the issues will all go away; but, that is not history. UC Davis Police Chief Annette Spicuzza stated that the police had been encircled and were forced to pepper spray so that they could exit. She is a liar and the video shows that. Shame on her, she should be removed from her position as she clearly is incapable of taking the appropriate action in order to restore some dignity to the force that she commands.

An Interesting Letter Regarding the Occupy Movement

Couple of minor points first. Recently it was announced that the government was considering eliminating options trading. Didn't I mention that over a year ago? Yes, I said that this would happen. I am not patting myself on my back for knowing what would happen, it just proves to me how fixed and planned the system is.

A letter has come to surface, it is very interesting. It is from one of the lobbying firms, it asks the American Bankers Association for almost a million dollars to conduct "opposition research" in order to discredit the Occupy movement. I will post a link to the MSNBC article which has a link to the letter.

Why would a lobbying firm offer to discredit the movement and any politicians who support it when as the media regularly reports, nobody knows what they believe. Why discredit a group that the media says has no unified agenda or leaders? And why send the offer to the American Bankers Association?

Well, to begin with the lobbying firm must have made two assumptions. The first was that the bankers saw the movement as an attack on how they do business. The second was that the bankers would pay almost a million dollars just to do an initial study of the movement, that is a lot of money.

MSNBC - "Exclusive: Lobbying Firm's Memo Spells Out Plan to Undermine Occupy Wall Street (VIDEO)"

I just had to post this because I thought my readers should know what is going on. I care about what I write and I care because people read my words. This may not be the most read blog in the world; but, it is read and I do care about those who read it. I want it to be informative.

I have to out myself about something unrelated to this post. Not long ago I posted about how I was thinking about dating again. I let myself look at women again, I gave myself that permission. I went to an event tonight celebrating the life of a friend of mine who passed away and I hate to say it; but, I found myself looking at some of the women. I know, at a wake, really Pimpernel. Sorry, but it is true. I did not hit on any of them; but, I thought about how attractive women can be. Now, I will sound like a real jerk, one of the women was the daughter of my friend and I happen to know she is single. There is nothing to be concerned with, she lives very far away and I don't expect to see her again; but, I feel pretty bad about even having thought about how attractive she was. Am I a complete jerk for that?

I sort of feel dirty for having appreciated the beauty of a lady who was in morning. Yet, I am human and we have thoughts as we have thoughts. A pretty woman is a pretty woman and I am straight so I like pretty women. No, she was not just pretty, I happen to know that she is also very accomplished in her field. If you can understand what I just wrote then I ask you to not hate the lobbying firm for presenting a proposal to the bankers. It is a lobbying firm, it is their job to find out if people want them to push for someone's agenda.

Please understand that it is okay for industries to make sure that their interests are heard and they should be allowed to hire people who can present their side of the story in the best manner possible. I know, I support the Occupy movement, sort of, and then support the bankers having a right to promote their side of the argument. I believe in free speech for all.

My problem with the article is that the lobbyists were willing to misrepresent the truth and work only off spin rather than honest arguments. Law school presented many challenging questions. One moral question we had to address (if we were honest with ourselves) was whether or not it was right to represent people who were guilty. A friend of mine who was a famous attorney, told me the answer. He told me that it was not the job of the attorney to be the judge or jury, it was his job to make sure that the person had a coherent response. It was not a lawyers job to lie for a client; but, it was their job to make sure that they put forth their clients best arguments in order to make the opposition prove their case.

It is not wrong to have feelings. My friends daughter was attractive to me. What would have been wrong would have been to acted on such thoughts in such a situation. Same is true for this lobbying firm. What they did wrong was not that they sought business, what was wrong was that they openly sought to portray others in a negative light regardless of the issues. They basically acted like ambulance chasing attorneys and that is not productive for the nation. It is cookie chasing regardless of the consequences to anyone else.

In every situation our minds toss around a variety of possible responses. We are human, it is how we work; but, we can choose to not act on every impulse. We can choose to eliminate some possibilities because we can choose to act on intent rather than impulse. We can choose to do that which is best for all rather than just act in selfishness. We can choose to matter, to make a difference an to exercise free will with responsibility rather than with only self interest.

Okay, I think that is it for the day. So much has gone on and I am going to listen to some music and drink some wine in a toast to a friend, heck, maybe a friend and another. Be well.

Random Thoughts in a Random World

It came out today that Homeland Security had worked with police in Portland regarding the Occupy movement, no kidding. Meanwhile CNN has published an article saying that America is not on a decline. It sure looks and feels like one, what am I missing? If this is things getting better than someone needs to tell me what better means.

Warren Buffet has been telling people for years what direction the nation is headed in and what is wrong with the way that Wall Street and big business are failing us as a society. I think it is important that people go back and read what he said; but, I will give some of the essentials. The biggest problem is that we set up a system of rewards for Wall Street and CEOs that was not based on how well a company performed within it's industry. Instead, we have set up a system that rewards people based on how it's stocks perform, not dividends; but, the value of the stock. It promotes short term trades rather than true investment in stocks. That is why CEOs can get bonuses even when the company if failing or in bankruptcy.

I wrote a very long time ago how option trading could be halted. Now, people are actively looking at ending such trading. I read an article about it today. The way business works today has a lot to do with insurance. People who don't have insurance for their decisions often make riskier decisions.

AIG insured bad investments. High risk and high return go together and that is fine; but, you shouldn't insure high risk investments because it promotes bad investments. Let us be very clear, that is not good capitalism. I personally believe in capitalism, though it is not about democracy, those are two different concepts.

Capitalism is the idea that individuals should be rewarded for their efforts if they result in improvements or production that is valued by others. Our system is not capitalistic and hasn't been for a long time. Instead we have a ponzi capitalism where government backed insurance protects those who are big investors and it is paid for by your taxes.

The housing bubble was backed by tax dollars as insurance, because of that the banks profited by lending to anyone regardless of their ability to pay. You see, the second aspect of real capitalism is that you have to live with the consequence of your bad decisions and that didn't occur for the wealthy that own the big banks.

What we really have is a form of oligarchical socialism for a few and an insurance class totalitarianism for the rest of us. Same for our so called democracy, our political class represents not the people; but, the privileged. After all they were the ones who got bailed out. People on both the left and the right understand this, they just differ on some of their solutions.

Who is against having a level playing field and having the rules apply to everyone equally? I was not a big supporter of the Tea Party because I saw how quickly it was overtaken by monied interests. One of the biggest supporters of the Tea Party was the Koch brothers and their history is a little questionable to say the least.

MF Global is an excellent example of how we are not living in a capitalist society. MF Global invested other people's money in commodities, if the value went up then the company benefited even more than the people whose money they invested. If the commodities dropped in value then the people who invested had to pay the debt. There was no risk for MF Global itself unless people couldn't pay the companies debt.

Here is a Huffington Post article that sums it up - The Koch Brothers and MF Global - Friends to the End. The reason I support the Occupy to any extent is firstly based on their right to air their grievances and secondly (and as importantly), it is an opportunity to identify what the problems with the system are rather than thinking that electing "new" politicians will change the system because it has not.

The problem with the system is that is it unfair, undemocratic and fixed so that some have no risk and others bare the risk for them. AIG went bankrupt; but, Berkshire Hathaway did not and their biggest investment is in insurance. So why didn't Berkshire Hathaway go bankrupt? The answer is simple, they didn't insure bad investments to an insane amount.

The highest purpose that the Occupy movement can cause right now is not in proposing legislation, it is in awakening the nation to how we were taken advantage of and how our system is no longer capitalistic. My question is how the protesters will now find a way to start consolidating on what needs to be fixed and in what manner, the same is true for the Tea Party and Cain is not the answer.

Here is an article from Market Ticker - Oh Oh. "Regulated" Derivative Markets About To Blow Up? I like the part where the investment broker says that the market is fixed the best.

More Media Spin

We have a new story. ABC News - DC Shooting Suspect Could Be Threat to Obama, Police Say As you read the story wait till you get to the part where it says that "U.S. Park police say Ortega may have spent time blending in with Occupy D.C. protesters." Really, based on what, the fact that he was in D.C.?

Turns out the guy is 21, from Idaho and has a history of mental instability. Jeez where have I heard that before. Now, why say he may have been with the Occupy movement? He may have been with the Republican movement or the Tea Party too, he may have been anything; but, shouldn't there be some evidence before the media makes such assertions?

I have been in front of the White House, how the heck did this guy manage to fire at it and hit the window is way beyond me. Reports say that the shots came as he jumped out of a car and fired. He must be an amazing shot. There are snipers on the roof of the White House, even terrorists who are willing to kill themselves haven't achieved this. They want to eliminate open carry of guns and this is going to be used to do that. They will start by making it illegal in Washington D.C., one step at a time kids.

On a lighter note, a group of millionaires went to Washington to ask the people making more than a million dollars a year be taxed a little more. They were ridiculed by the politicians. Associated Press - Millionaires on Capitol Hill: Please tax me more!

Do you understand how crazy are legislators are? Put the pieces together, the politicians have figured out how to steal money by making stock investments (as reported by 60 minutes and others) and they don't want to be taxed on it because most of the people in congress are millionaires. The lunatics truly are running the asylum. I forgot something, certain news sources are now reporting that Homeland Security may have been the people who organized the mayors to take out the Occupy encampments at the same time.

Not every millionaire is crooked or evil; but, our political class is out of control. Here is a YouTube Video - Amazing video of violence at #OccupySeattle Unprovoked assault by police. Is this the kind of nation we want, one where the police pepper spray people for standing on the street in peaceful protest? They are protesting a system that is corrupt as proven by our politicians using insider information to make investments and enrich themselves and this is in Seattle a pretty liberal city.

How about this, in New York the police are keeping people out of Zuccotti Park even though there is a court order allowing people in during the day and as previously mentioned by their mayor himself, the park is private property and the City had previously passed laws requiring it to remain open to anyone at anytime. The law does not apply to the police in New York as they explained when they said they had a right to fix tickets for family members and it doesn't apply to the mayor.

Now here is something that will make it easy to understand. How many cities across the U.S. that are facing shortfalls have cut the salary of the police and how many have given them raises as we did in Los Angeles. Why did they get raises and why do they get paid overtime to watch peaceful protesters and pepper spray them? Because if you cut the salary of the police then they might side with the protesters.

The NYPD has become part of the Occupy movement, they are Occupying Zuccotti park to make sure that nobody enters it. The protesters surrounded them. Do you not see that our nation is occupied by morons and corrupt politicians? The people in charge don't know what lie to tell, things are moving too quickly and not following the established patterns. Their actions are dangerous and ill advised. Common sense doesn't seem that common right now.

What use is a political class that is supposed to represent the people when 90% of the people feel that they are not being represented? I really do want to know what type of idiot looks at this economy, this blatant corruption and thinks this country or this world for that matter are working?

Now a little history. Remember the movie "Braveheart", I have another for you to watch it is called "Zulu". Many people do or have seen other such films. The kids today know military techniques, they play fricking video games like "Call of Duty". Think they won't figure out how to respond to the police tactics? I don't wish to see violence in our streets, not from the cops and not from the protesters and the police and politicians are pushing them to respond violently.

This can either come down as shared sacrifice and we get things back in order or it can be where a few benefit and everyone loses. I prefer the first choice. Why don't our politicians and why are the police supporting violating the law in New York? Think about this, people who were hippies in the 60s are preventing their grandchildren from protesting and ridiculing them for doing so.

One More Bloomberg Statement

Now I do recall statements being made that the people at Occupy Wall Street were violating the hours of operation of the park. Okay, that would validate a trespass charge; but, I just read a statement by Bloomberg that was different.

Originally from the Associated Press and re-broadcast by Yahoo. "Crackdowns reach epicenter of Wall Street protests". I like his statement, "The law that created Zuccotti Park required that it be open for the public to enjoy for passive recreation 24 hours a day," Bloomberg said. "Ever since the occupation began, that law has not been complied with, as the park has been taken over by protesters, making it unavailable to anyone else."

Did you get what he just said. This is simple property law. He said that a law created Zuccotti Park and required that the park remain open to the public 24 hours a day. Now, why was a law required to create a private park? That is strange. I know of a park in California, it is called Griffith Park. The City was given the land on the grounds that if never charged a fee for it's use. It he 80s, the City tried to charge for parking and almost had to return the park to the family of the person who dedicated it to the City. Someone should probably do some research into the title of the park and the laws that were passed. Bet the police and mayor both broke the laws.

The New York Police Department was more concerned about the poor police dressed in riot gear getting taunted. Really? Here is the quote, "Arresting people is not easy," he said, adding that he thought the officers showed great restraint in the face of "an awful lot of taunting, people getting in police officers' faces, calling them names." Wow, the NYPD showed a lot of restraint in the face of being taunted, how brave they are, those who claim "professional privilege" while illegally fixing tickets for family and friends. When people call me names I don't find it hard not to hit them with batons. What restraint, didn't we hire them for that?

People's words outlive them. The mayor's words will outlive him and his actions will define the type of person he was. He does not care about the people of New York, he does not care about the law and he is not part of the 99%, he is of the 1%. When this all began, Bloomberg more than any other mayor had a chance to show compromise. He could have said what he knew, that the financial system was corrupt and then had some of the people who benefited the most from the bubble put in jail. He did not, he arrested the people who complained about what happened.

Bloombergs Possibly Illegal Gift of Public Funds

For the past couple of months the Mayor of New York, the Billionaire named Bloomberg, has stated how the park in Wall Street that was occupied is private property. Over the last three days Occupy movements were removed from the parks in multiple locations. Now, I shall show you a lie and a crime. Mr. Bloomberg has broken the law.

Firstly, here is an article from MSNBC, "Mayors deny colluding on 'Occupy' crackdowns". It flat out admits that 11 Mayors participated in conference calls about how to deal with the Occupiers. By coincidence (I don't believe in such things) the largest groups were all taken out on the same following weekend. You might also consider the fact that some of these groups were removed using police from outside their districts, that required coordination didn't it? CNN reported that the Oakland police were joined by dozens of police from other jurisdictions, didn't that required them to coordinate with other mayors?

Now, Bloomberg has a different problem. He spent all this time saying that the park was private property, yet, immediately after the police removed people from the park, the City's Sanitation department showed up and removed articles and pressure washed the area. It is interesting to note that the Sanitation people did not wear face masks, it implies that it didn't smell. There is a real issue though, why were public employees used to clean up private property? That can only be done in two situations, one is when the property owner has allowed a nuisance on his property in which case he must be officially noticed and is responsible for the cost of clean up. The second is when a gift is made of public funds and that requires a council action and a public hearing and that was not done. Sounds like Mayor Bloomberg may have been involved in a criminal act.

Lets consider what did occur. The police "evicted" people. Where the heck is that from in the penal code. The people were trespassing, not renters. Under what authority do the police "evict" people, were those laws followed? No, therefore the law that was in place is for trespassing and they should have arrested everyone; but, they couldn't do it, it is too expensive.

By the way, because Council action is required, it cannot have been mutually agreed to by the City and the owner of the property unless there is a law specifically allowing such actions. If they attempt to claim the right under emergency powers then they will have to show that an emergency was declared.

You cannot call for lawfulness when you yourself are breaking the law. You cannot call for peace whey you yourself are beating the peaceful. I spent two hours after work with a small group discussing how we can feed as many people as possible. Apparently, Mr. Bloomberg spends his time trying to figure out how to take peoples sleeping bags and tents while very likely breaking the law. It must be nice to be a Billionaire.

I knew a Billionaire, he actually was a "job creator", he worked his way up and started as a truck driver. He liked giving people jobs and worked till he no longer could. I wish he and I could have discussed the Occupy movement with him. I liked our conversations and respected his mind. I remember a conversation we had after the crash, he had to lay some people off; but, he had the opportunity to bring some back. He called one person and offered them their job back, it paid over $40,000 a year. The person turned it down because he was making about the same on unemployment and didn't have to work. It stunned him that people could think like that.

I don't agree with people who will not work because they think a job is beneath them or because they are willing to milk the system. That is corruption and all good Republicans would be horrified by such a thing. I also do not agree with people who believe that because they have money they can take advantage of their position and don't owe something back, I don't care much for Mr. Bloomberg. "Pull up the ladder mate, I am aboard" is an old saying regarding sailors. All the sailors leave for shore leave and as one comes back he says it, not asking if everyone is aboard.

I am sick, I have a cold or flu. My throat hurts and I am cold. I hate being sick. I got home late and haven't eaten dinner yet. I decided to write before I lost my thoughts. Let me ask you a question, one of the complaints from the mayors and police was that the homeless were infiltrating the occupy encampments. The encampments were feeding them, giving them medical help and in Los Angeles, trying to get them social welfare help. The homeless turned to the protesters rather than their cities because they know the mayors and police will not help them and could care less about them. Is the complaint that the homeless were infiltrating camps that the mayors and police didn't want there or that the homeless were finally getting help?

Think about the moral corruption that goes into saying that people who are protesting corruption in government and industry are feeding the homeless and that it is a bad thing. Are the pidgeons? You should have a sign out showing your heart which says, "Do not feed the homeless", God will remember all of what happens and is continuing to go on. Shame on you Mr. Bloomberg and even more to the mayor of Oakland. It is not supposed to be about you and your control over the cities, it is supposed to be you and helping your residents, listening to their grievances and addressing them. You are supposed to be shepherds and not predators.

A Summary

I have written a number of posts about the Occupy movement by now. I find it a fascinating subject because of the reactions it has received. I find it interesting that conservatives who have always been proponents of the first amendment are taking such a negative attitude, even many liberals have taken a negative approach.

My reaction is slightly different. I think it is fantastic that the youth of this nation are participating in the political discussion rather than sitting at home playing online video games. Lets tell the truth, we are leaving them with less than we had and they don't like it. They shouldn't like it, heck, who does like it?

Is there anyone who thinks this nation is better off than it was ten years ago? Is there anyone who thinks that having millions of homes in foreclosure and millions of people unemployed is the sign of a healthy nation? How can anyone applaud the Tea Party and not applaud the Occupy movement, they are merely two sides to the same coin.

Politics has become a complete sham. The TARP bill, the stimulus bill and the Patriot act were all passed by a congress where none of the members even read the darn things. What kind of nation have we become when we no longer allow people to peacefully assemble and complain about conditions that we have to live under?

I have read too many times that some of the protesters are communists, don't they get to protest too even if I disagree with them. Didn't we used to believe that we might not agree with people; but, we would give our life for their freedom of speech?

I would hate to be a police officer right now. Their job is to protect the rest of us and instead they are being used to suppress peaceful demonstrations. Their alternative is to refuse to follow the commands of politicians that they know are corrupt and lose their jobs.

Lets say that all of the Occupy encampments are taken down, then what? Is that the end of the protests or will they merely take on another form. History says it will morph into something new, not go away. Does anyone really think that if Ron Paul gets elected anything will change? Your congress is owned by big money and lobbyists.

Consider Obama, he made all sorts of promises and nothing changed for the better. Solyandra was a joke, hundreds of millions in bad loans with nothing to show for it. Almost a trillion dollars in Tarp and stimulus money and nothing gets any better. Much of it was given to foreign banks, that is insanity.

What is the message to today's youth, our children? The message is that we messed up, you will have to work longer and get less than we did. Oh, and by the way, we don't to hear your complaints about it and there is nothing you can do about it.

I don't expect the Occupy movement or the Tea Party to change anything for quite awhile. The corruption within our political system is so ingrained that it will just continue to be more and more removed from the citizens. As the voice of the system continues to be dismissive of the citizens, it loses more and more moral authority and validity. It promotes people ignoring the laws and that will only cause a further degeneration of our whole society.

Some might think that I am overstating things; but, really, look around you, read the news. What kind of nation tolerates it's local and federal police being involved in drug running and gun running to gangs and criminal cartels? Let us consider what has happened in Italy and Greece. Their leaders passed laws that take even more from their people and then immediately leave office. Hey, that is the exact same thing George W. Bush did and you can expect Obama to do the same.

None of this is unexpected. Think tanks, such as the RAND Corporation, are tasked with predicting these things. The truth is most of us would like to see things go back to the way they were, we like comfort and stability and there is none given and none expected.