Items from The Nation Dec 21, 2015

One of every seven black children has a parent in "behind bars', while one in every 57 white children do.  Jailing of blacks, while obviously impacting the male black population, is also having a huge negative impact of children, something that is not often noted.

Ralph Nader, consumer advocate, wrote Unsafe At Any Speed causing a major impact on auto safety in this country.  It is noted that his book caused the creation by LBJ of the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration.  The standards the NHTSA created (safety regulations) "reduce(d) the rate of deaths per mile driven by nearly 80 %"...saving as many as 3.5 million lives (some experts claim).

"Laissez-faire" is really "laissez isn;t always fair" re article on Nader.  There are three ways that capitalism can be improved by government.  First, prohibit, like discrimination in hiring.  Second, mandate "floors of behaviour" like how much pollution can be tolerated.  Third, disclosure of things like nicotine and tar in cigarettes, or industrial pollution, or cribs that kill, etc.

United States history;  the period after the Civil War was marked by and increase in democracy-former slaves could vote.  That was called Reconstruction.  That was followed by a reduction is voting rights for black, a period called Redemption.  Then with the passage of the Voting Right Act in 1965 (VRA) a period called the Second Reconstruction.  Now with the Roberts Court and the gutting of the VRA we have a Second Redemption period.  What next?

Some thoughts for today Dec 13

One of our few key Arab allies in the Middle East has just now decided to let women vote.  Saudi Arabia- an oil rich dictatorship with human rights issues and possible support for Islamic terrorist-is a partner of ours in bringing democracy to that part of the world.  Doesn't seem to me like the plan is working.

In an op ed article in The Record today a writer for the Bloomberg news noted that a "erstwhile Republican campaign icon" (?) wrote a letter to a father who lost a child in a shooting rampage in California in 2014 and said that while he sympathized with the father for the loss of his child he also said "...your dead kids don't trump my Constitutional rights".  Could someone have really sent that letter?

The Navy reported today that its newest ship-USS Milwaukee-broke down at sea on the way to its home port in Mayport, FL and had to be towed home by a salvage ship.  This is the littoral combat ship (whatever that is) 

My Bio re Ben Carson.

I was just re-reading the Ben Carson bio the other day and I thought I should up-date my own.

Just in case I decide to run for president one day (of my nursing home), I thought it would be wise to start on my biography so that I could use it for a campaign book at that time.

My life started at a young age and the first memory I have is the attack on my mother when I was 8 years old.  She had tried to limit my time reading smutty magazines so I attacked her with a meat cleaver.  But it wasn't too serious, other than to drive our car with on one arm (standard shift); it was only a "flesh wound".

In high school it was during the time of the Soviet space shot of Sputnik.  Students in my school were very much enraged as this was the time of the Cold War and many kids wore t-shirts with phrases like "Kill a Commie for Mommy" on them.  Tensions were very high and at that time there was a foreign exchange student, a Union of Soviet Socialist Republican, who was under threat of physical abuse.  I took it upon myself to shelter the young lade-whose ID number was 34-22-34...wait that was another number.  Well never mind that.  At risk to myself i sheltered the young lady in the back of my family station wagon in the parking lot of the high school; the school backed on to a wooded area and was very private.  We had to hide under blankets to keep from being seen by the squads of roaming students bent on violence toward this young thing.  It was touch and go the entire time.

Nearing graduation I was in a quandary as to where to continue my education.  I was pleased to have received a full scholarship to the Electoral College, but realizing that I would only have to go to class one day every four years, it was obvious that completion of a degree would have taken a lifetime.  For that reason I decided to enroll in NorthEast Puduck University in rural Missouri.  It was just a coincidence that the Union of Soviet Socialist Republican babe was enrolled at the same school (in order to escape form those right wing nut jobs in my high school).

It was at NEPU that I encountered personal violence of the extreme nature when I was held at gunpoint by a gang of gun toting militia members in a Mexican fast food exchange.  They were determined to find the cook's helper-a Mexican-and do violence to him.  I protected him by shoving him into the meat locker.  Unfortunately, I forgot that I hid him there till the next week when he was found frozen stiff.  I tried to do the right thing but in fact I just f---ed it up.

I will continue with my bio at some later time.  Stay tuned.

Pentagon Spending

The US spent $ 150 million on "unnecessary housing(villas)" and security for an ultimately doomed Pentagon (effort) to revitalize Afghanistan's "economy" according to a "congressional  watchdog".  This reported on huffingtonpost.com 12/3/15.  Those in the housing could have stayed in the US Embassy in Kabul for a fraction of the cost.  A Pentagon "task force" on business operations spent $ 800 million between 2009 and 2014.  "Billions in US spending on Afghanistan "may have been misspent due to "poor American and Afghan management".  Why don't we spend that money to "revitalize" Detroit?.

Hawaii and the US Supreme Court

Hawaii may be on to something.  Many there want an election to determine if a new status for the island is needed; the Supreme Court ruled it could not hold that election.  If they were to become a "break away republic" the US would have to invade and then billions of dollars in construction and aid costs would occur, just like in other counties we invade (Iraq and Afghanistan).  Hawaii could stay in the Union and be ignored or revolt and be heard. 

It would place us in a situation like Russia when faced with the loss of their Black Sea naval base they had to invade Crimea when the Ukraine broke away from Russia.  We would have to invade Hawaii to protect Pearl Harbor.

On a bright note, conservatives could then claim that Barack Obama was not born in the United States and repeal the last eight years.

Some Thoughts for Today

The 2016 fiscal year military budget has been approved by the US Senate by a vote of 91 to 3.  The total amount is $ 607 billion and makes provisions for a pay raise of 1.3 %, a 401(k) style retirement plan and a ban on the closure of the prison camp at Guantanamo Bay Cuba (which come election time the GOP will blast Obama for not closing as he promised when elected).  There is $ 51 billion "for US combat operations abroad" and "$ 715 million to help Iraqi forces fight Islamic State and $ 406 million to boost Syrian opposition forces" (something we were told was a complete failure and going to be shut down).  Another $ 50 billion for active duty and retiree health care.  The issue that I have a problem with is that less than 10 % of this budget is for military activities in the field of combat.  So where does the rest of the money going?  Into someones pocket, I would guess.  (Info from "How they Voted" in The Virginian Pilot on 9/15/15).

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Racism in America.  An article in The Virginian Pilot on 11/22/15 reports on a World War II military unit of African American women from Virginia.  They were the 6888th Central Postal Directory Battalion and were the "first and only all-black women's Army unit sent overseas".  Their job was to organize the mail delivery system to the troops in the field.  The article was about the families of two of the women who served in that unit and had died recently.  It was reported that in Virginia, educational opportunities for blacks was limited due to the fact that the state didn't offer high school classes for African Americans before 1934.  It is also noted that "Jim Crow" was present in Europe for these women.  When several of the women from the 6888th were selected for a WAC all-star basketball team went to London in 1945 to compete they were told "official policy forbade mixed race teams" so they could not compete.  At the same time the Red Cross wanted to but the black players in a segregated hotel; they refused to patronize.

(Source:  "Delivering Morale" by James F. Lee of the VP)

Immigration Policy

Some incomplete thoughts on the issue of immigration in this country today.  Why not create a policy where the present immigrants in this country would be granted permanent legal status as "resident aliens".  That way they could be granted some legal and workplace protection.  They  would be expected to pay social security taxes as well other taxes that they are obligated to.  They would not be citizens so they could not vote (which should put the conservative mind at rest).  Maybe most important of all, their children born in the US would be recognized  by all as being US citizens (even thou they are already, it would also serve to end the argument of "birthright citizenship".  A major plus of this policy would be the wages earned would be subject to FICA taxation thus bulking up the Social Security Trust Fund.  Maybe the biggest benefit of this approach would be to bring the 11 million people here illegally out from the shadows providing them a better life and providing the nation with a needed workforce.