A Baloney Sandwich and a Story

I read a lie recently, I don't know what the truth is; but, I was lied to, we all were. Lets start with the story.

NBC News - Spy Plane Fries Air Traffic Control Computers, Shuts Down LAX. The air traffic control at LAX in Los Angeles went down and planes were forced to delay landings and take offs. It was blamed on a U2 jet. That is what the article says. The first thing in the article that caught my attention was the claim that Edwards Air Force Base is "30 miles" from the center of Los Angeles as that is wrong. Nope, Edwards is more like 80 miles away. Palmdale comes before Edwards and it is about 60. In case you are wondering, Palmdale is in the County of Los Angeles. For the moment, lets just say the writer was stupid and cannot count.

Now, lets talk about the plane, it is blamed on a U2. The plane is used by NASA, not the military or intelligence. It is a very old plane, impressive in it's day; but, quite a few generations old. It has no use in intelligence work anymore and has not for awhile. The original articles all tried to imply that it was doing spy work and had super sophisticated jamming stuff; but, that is nonsense. You see, super secret planes land at Edwards all the time. Even the space shuttle used to land there and you know what, they never shut down LAX. Anyone in Air Traffic would know this story was baloney and not even properly fried; but, when you need a story, you make up a story.

Some of my readers may think I am just guessing; but, they confirmed it. The FAA has now announced that the U2 messed up it's tracking software because of it's flight pattern. Huh? Wait, the plane was not on a secret mission and NASA filed a flight plan, same as it does everyday, same as Edwards does, everyday. I lived in that desert for half my life, I know that desert. I have visited Edwards and dated a woman who work at the Skunk Works in Palmdale. She was a lovely and sweet woman and I am sorry that we just saw things differently.

I could always tell when a secret flight was going up. It wasn't that hard. You see, the old timers that had worked there on the flights knew which days the flights were and would go out and park to watch them and plant a flag behind them. A great big American flag, the guys that worked on the super secret stuff and Apollo were proud of what they created even after they retired. I am not going to talk any more about security measures or lack there of. Suffice it to say that people know when special flights are going up or coming down most of the time.

Go back to the first paragraphs. LAX never gets shut down and hasn't gotten either further away or closer to either Edwards or Skunk Works, it is the same distance. LAX knows how to deal with traffic to Skunk Works and Edwards. This leaves us with two choices, even Edwards and LAX did not know in advance about this flight or the flight was of a higher clearance than the Space Shuttle, U2s, the original Stealths and every other secret plane with unusual flight patterns that this country has ever created. Read up on Skunk Works and Edwards.

Look, planes at Edwards have exceeded Mach 5 and may have done Mach 10. It you don't know what that means, it means that planes from Edwards have gone 10 times the speed of sound. The space shuttle which goes higher than any plane and used to land at Edwards didn't shut down LAX and planes going faster than anything else in history did not shut down LAX. That means that the story we have been told is a lie.

I don't know what flew into Edwards on that date; but, it wasn't a U2 that caused all the planes to be kept from flying. Maybe they didn't want people to see something. Heck, maybe it was Malaysia Flight 370, maybe it was the famous plane Aurora. I don't know; but, it wasn't some old U2 working for NASA.

Rigged Markets and Nobody Cares

Yahoo - Reuters - U.S. SEC chair to Congress: 'The markets are not rigged'. Beautiful, the head of the organization responsible for tracking Wall Street traders refuses to accept that they are breaking the law or look for financial crimes.

Yahoo - Wall Street Journal - Chuck Jaffe: The Market Is Rigged. So What?. Basically, the Wall Street Journal is arguing that high speed traders are stealing from everyone; but, it is only a small amount. The reality is that the market is rigged and they don't want to change.

Los Angeles Times - Immigrant tuition bill slated for a vote in Florida with GOP push
. The Republicans are pushing for legislation in Florida to provide some in-state tuition for illegal immigrants. Now, you might think they are looking out for Hispanics; but, the reality is that they are pushing for more immigration from India and China.

Fox News - Taking a Toll: Administration wants to let states charge on interstate highways
. The government is changing it's policy on states charging a toll for using the interstate highways. Well, if you recall, not long ago I pointed out that local streets are now being treated as part of the interstate highway system and it is illegal to charge for using streets as local governments don't actually own them; but, instead have an easement only. And where is all of this headed? Eventually you will pay a fee for every mile you drive each year.

It's Friday Night, Lets Dance

YouTube - Don Mclean - Dreidel.

YouTube - Crying - Don Mclean (with lyrics)

YouTube - Rick Derringer - Rock & Roll Hoochie Koo (studio)

Thank You Kareem Abdul-Jabbar

I could not be more impressed than I am by the writing of Kareem Abdul-Jabbar about the Donald Sterling situation. He said even better than I did what I was trying to express in my last post.

Time - Kareem Abdul-Jabbar: Welcome to the Finger-Wagging Olympics

Aside from being one of the greatest players in history, heck, even I know who he is, he also achieved a degree in History from UCLA while leading in just about everything involving basketball. I just didn't know what a tremendous writer he was. This is a man who knows about racism; but, still understands that there are often bigger issues. To throw away all of the things we hold dear because of one issue is suicide as a nation and a people. He is also responsible for some the funniest lines in the movie "Airplane".

I don't like basketball, I am not a Muslim (Mr. Abdul-Jabbar is), I think Donald Sterling is a scum bag; but, he is an old fool scumbag and should have been kicked out of the NBA for being a scum bag and a slum lord, not for being an ignorant bigot. Mr. Abdul Jabbar nailed a really important issue that I did not; but, was at the heart of what I wrote, he just said it so much better. We take the moral high ground complaining about the government "spying" on us; but, destroy a mans life because of an illegal recording that was made in private. That is why I was outraged when the head of the NBA said that the conversation may have been private; but, it was public now.

I was asked to do something today. The person who asked me was under instruction to ask me the question. The person who had to ask me the question felt bad that they had to ask me as they knew that it would upset me. I was asked to do something that they knew would offend me. I have a moral, the moral is "do the right thing for the right reason". That is my belief and what I instruct the people who work for me to do. It may sound sappy; but, it is what I believe. Doing the right thing for the wrong reason and doing the wrong thing for the right both destroy your soul, they are sell outs and justifications for being selfish and corrupt. That is the challenge to our souls and ourselves and Mr. Abdul Jabbar knows that and could see the truth and the bigger issue.

Mr. Abdul Jabbar is never going to read this pitiful little blog' but, if he ever does I want to say something to him. Thank you. Not thank you for standing up and calling for reason; but, thank you for knowing reason and not being another media whore. Thank you for showing integrity, honesty and intelligence. Thank you for showing that we don't all have to be knee jerk, emotional morons seeking public acceptance.

A young kid, trying to make his life, trying to be the greatest basketball player ever, he also got a degree in History. My first degree is in History, you learn a lot about the world. This young man stood up and changed his name from Lewis Alcindor to Kareem Abdul-Jabbar. He faced a lot of hate for that. It was sort of okay to be black; but, a Muslim. It seemed so anti-American at the time to many fools. It is hard for people to remember the 60s and what sort of courage that took; but, he did it and risked a career. That is impressive to me.

Crime and Punishment - Donald Sterling

I have to give a whole bunch of history for people to understand this. First off, I don't watch basketball, don't know the teams, the owners or even the players. When I was a kid I used to play it. That is my basketball knowledge. As you may also know, I don't usually write about big stories in the news that are meaningless to the bigger picture. I didn't really even know about this story, I saw something in the news about some team owner saying bad things about blacks. That was all I knew until today.

I was driving and heard on the radio that Mr. Sterling, the owner of the "Clippers" was told that he was banned from life from basketball and a couple million in fines. I didn't really care about him or the penalty he was facing, I am sure he can afford it and won't end up as homeless for being a bigot. That is the problem, I had to ask myself if the punishment fit the crime. Sorry, my doctorate in law demands it of me.

I think the thing that bothered me was that you could lose so much without even having a trial or a hearing by an impartial judge. The people that made the decision were far from impartial, they have a business interest in the NBA. I decided to read some of the news stories to understand what had happened. Funny thing, those kind of convinced me that he was being punished in a way that did not fit the crime; but, there was something even worse. He was never punished in the past for things that should have gotten him in the same position.

If the moral of this story was simple, I wouldn't write about it so play along with me while I show my logical progression. The moral of the story that the NBA, mass media and many players is that he was appropriately punished for being a bigot. Minutes after the decision the Mayor of Los Angeles came out at a press conference to declare that he supported the punishment.

Los Angeles Times - NBA's use of 'hammer' on Donald Sterling welcomed by Garcetti
Not to be outdone, a number of councilmembers also expressed their support for the decision by the NBA. I did not read one person who questioned any of this. Wow. There is a little irony in all of this for me. My popular post is about a black, female pastor who was killed in the south. 60 years ago when someone like her got killed, the little Louisiana, Mississippi and other southern state governments would not have spent hardly a minute looking into what had really occurred. Back in the day there was two types of justice, black and white. Especially in states that prohibited blacks from voting, they therefore could not be on juries.

Mr. Sterling was tried by public opinion and the mass media. Shouldn't the opinions of other bigots be considered? I'm not being funny. I don't find any of this funny and have no use for Mr. Sterling; but, everybody deserves to be heard and considered when there is so much at stake. I know a woman, she is black and does not like white people very much. I used to supervise her. I have funny ways of thinking about employment. People ask me who I work for and I say myself, if I don't get paid, I don't work. I work with people that are to differing degrees willing to work with me. Anyways, I had left my organization for a few years and then returned in higher position. There were a lot of people who didn't want me back because they did not wish to compete with me. They lied about me and made many false statements. Yeah, well, the black lady that didn't like whites much, she straightened them out because in the end she was a Christian and had to tell the truth. The only reason I know this is because she told me about it and others told me what she had done.

Now, lets talk about God, I will get back to the story. Every day and every night and every moment, Satan is before God accusing us of being sinners and we are. Every second Satan is telling God what horrible things we be; but, he is deceiver and ignorant. We are born into a world blind and confused, barely able to understand our senses. Babies cannot focus on what is in front of them, they are babies. Jesus died for our sins because he knows we are human and knows what that feels like as he took human shape and then died so that we were not punished for being less than perfect. That is the essence of the bible. Maybe some of you forgot that I preach for free some of the time. I preach like I write, from the heart. I think I am a better writer; but, any audience is an audience.

Now, back to Mr. Sterling. No, wait, not Mr. Sterling the crime. Lets start with the basics. What should the penalty be for being a bigot who hides it in public and is taped by a mistress, illegally in California as far as I know as in California you have to tell someone their words are being taped. Does that bother anyone? I haven't read anyone mention it in the press and that is what got Nixon impeached and people outraged. At the time they were shocked that Nixon was secretly taping people. It is another Mel Gibson moment except government officials don't go on the papers and news talking about how it is justice that he does not get a part in a movie.

This all sort of gets us back to the question about justice and state action, crime and punishment You have a private conversation, don't know you are being recorded, your in your eighties and make a racist comment. Should you be fined over 2 million dollars and be forced to leave your industry for life? I am not asking about Mr. Sterling, read what I did ask, it is a hypothetical.

There was a post in the New York Times during the potato famine in Ireland when 1/4 of us, yes, I am Irish, died from starvation. At the time, the food from Ireland was being shipped to England. As they starved to death. The article talked about how the famine could be a good thing because it might eliminate the "Irish problem". If that would have happened, I would not be here. I think about that sometimes. I am an American first; but, am Irish in my bones. My loyalty is to the country that took my family in when my birthright and land are Ireland. I chose to die in America and have my body planted here because it is now my home because we, my family was allowed her, the miscreants that we are and I have placed allegiance with the same causes that this country tried to be founded on. Fairness, Love of God, belief in a fair chance and freedom to explore your beliefs. That is why I hold the constitution second to the bible in my heart and mind.

I do hope my readers are getting this, I will stay up until I am done writing it and it is later than I had wished. I find myself defending a person I would want to be around. I cannot get away from the bigger issue. At what point in time did we decide that we could take everything away from a person because we don't like them because they are a jerk, because they hate us for just being. I wouldn't feel that way about the jerk that wrote how all of my people should be dead by starvation. I don't have that in my heart.

The purpose of discipline is to change behavior, that is a tenet of human resource work and I have managed such a section for decades. When people do wrong you want to learn from them, to become better. Mr. Sterling was not taught to be better, he was banned for life. Not much of a chance for redemption. That is not the end of the story, as you credit all the people in the media and government and ex-players who decried Mr. Sterling and applauded his condemnation by the NBA, ask yourself why they did it. Now here is where it gets really interesting. Seems Mr. Sterling is scum bag in many ways and has been for a long time.

Los Angeles Times - Banned Clippers owner Donald Sterling--not just racist but sexist, too
. This article outlines how Mr. Sterling was a slumlord and sleazy in other ways. Yahoo - Commish Adam Silver's bold ban of Clippers owner Donald Sterling was long overdue from NBA
.

Kind of interesting that it was long overdue, why wasn't his attitude been corrected earlier? We can also get into how the NAACP is now taking back their commendation for him or how people are returning contributions to help others because he is a bigot.

They Don't Like You Knowing What They Are Stealing From Us

Los Angeles Times - Americans differ sharply on causes of income inequality, study finds. There are so many problems with this article. It states that Republicans believe that people are poor because they are lazy. It attempts to polarize people by political parties as to the cause of income inequality and implies that only Democrats believe it is because of tax laws that primarily benefit the rich. Well, follow it up with this article.

Huffington Post - The Big Fix: How Congress Rigs the Rules. Congress is about to make permanent tax breaks that it gave to the people who destroyed the financial industry and let unemployment payments expire. The thing to watch is not tax rates, it is deductions.

Huffington Post - What Problem Is Privatizing Fannie and Freddie Meant to Solve?. This is one of the only articles to talk about something I wrote about weeks or months ago. A couple of Senators want to sell Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac for pennies on the dime when they are about to provide over $200 Billion back to the taxpayers who bailed them out.

The State of Finance and Industry

The Independent - Stop moaning about our bonuses: Barclays boss slaps down investors angry at bank's pay practices.

Corporations were created to benefit the owners, the investors. They were not created to benefit just the executives. The way the laws have been changed, the owners do not benefit as much as the executives and neither does the average employee. The investors can change all of that and make American companies benefit Americans and the British and the Europeans can do the same.