Category: Politics

What has happened to this country…

Posted on

Chrome Wheels and Bagdad

I was listening to an NPR story about payday loan companies outside of Fort Pendleton in California.

There was a big push on to do something about them for various reason, not the least of which is that some of them were charging what was effectively 300% interest per year.

They were interviewing one of the operators of a payday loan operation, and one of his comments was, “Who are they to tell a boy about to go over to Bagdad that he cannot have $1800 wheels on his vehicle?” His comment just blew my mind for some reason.

Having never taken a payday loan, I don’t quite understand the concept.  But if I were to do such a thing it would not be for $1800 chrome wheels.

And if I were charging 300% interest I sure as heck would not use a kid wanting $1800 chrome wheels as justification.

Posted on

Health Care Triage

I was passed an email that was basically trashing Hillary and Hillary’s proposed health care plan in particular.   Frankly, I have not studied or read enough about her plan to really comment on it.   And normally, I just let emails like this  pass, but for some reason I felt compelled to respond to that one.   Below is my response:

I’ve been thinking about this a little. One the issues with any health care plan is triage.   Basically, there are limited medical resources to go around no matter what the system.  So the question becomes how do we distribute those limited resources and who makes that decision.

Route 1:
This method would be by finances, which is basically in effect today.  If you got the money, you got the care.  Obviously this favors the wealthy over the poor and increasing the middle class

Continue reading “Health Care Triage”

Posted on

Link to interesting article on Global Warming

You’ll need Adobe Reader for this, a free download

Here is the link to the article:  Article no longer on web site

Below is an excerpt from that article:

Usufruct is as American as the Declaration of Independence, implicit in the Preamble “to ourselves and our Posterity”. It is explicitly discussed in a famous letter of 6 September

Continue reading “Link to interesting article on Global Warming”

Posted on

Chinese factory suicide a good thing?

I’m still trying to get my mind around this.   Mattel has had to recall a million or so toys because of lead paint.   I heard on the radio that the plant manager from the Chinese factory responsible for putting the lead paint on the toys committed suicide.

A gentleman in the business segment of the morning NPR news show was commenting on the suicide story.   He said it was fairly common in Japan and Korea for business executives to commit suicide, but not very common in China.   He felt that this was possibly a good thing.   It might mean the Chinese were caring more about the quality and the safety of their products, and possibly a little less about the bottom line  at the expense of everything else.

This is about the time my head starting spinning, or maybe that was from getting out of bed too fast.  Continue reading “Chinese factory suicide a good thing?”

Posted on

Ten Commandments for Politicians

I’m trying to come up with ten commandments for politicians. This is a far as I have gotten:

  1. First, do ye no harm
  2. The majority rules, not the dollars
  3. Ye live in a glass house, act accordingly
  4. Thou shall avoid in all ways the trough of the lobbyist
  5. If it looks like pork, if it oinks like pork, if it sizzles like pork, vote ye not on it
  6. Remember ye that Squealor was not right, “All animals ARE equal, but some and no animals are more equal than others.” This includes politicians and government officials.
  7. Usufruct – Remember ye that we are but Stewards for those that come after us, as those who came before were Stewards for us.
Posted on

Congressional Pay Raises

I was utterly shocked to see that Congress is considering voting itself a $4,400 pay raise.

If it based on merit and what they have accomplished, it ought to be a negative pay raise.

When Congress gets us out of Iraq, brings real ethical reform to Congress, and does something about illegal immigration, and then they can give themselves a pay raise.   Until then they should suffer like the rest of us with declining buying power.