Income tax

Every once in a while some Libertarian will come up with the idea of getting rid of the income tax but they are always frustrated when they find out it would take a constitutional amendment. The 16th amendment enacted in 1913 legalized income tax. If they just dug a little deeper they would have discovered an easy way to get around that. Turns out that in 1943 congress authorized the use of payroll deduction for tax collection. What congress can do, congress can undo. If people were required to come up with all the tax they owe for the year in April there would be such an outcry that the 16th would go the way prohibition.

Where are the jobs

Over the years the democrats have been given the pejorative title of the tax and spend party and this year is a prime example of that philosophy. While all of the candidates have grandiose plans for providing government benefits to the citizens there is an unfortunate lack of plans for people to help themselves. Where are the jobs? Meanwhile the democratic party is looking for ways to help illegals cross the southern border, promoting sanctuary cities, having members expressing anti-Jewish positions (BDS), actively opposing police (Black lives matter) and many see free market capitalism as a failing economic system. The leadership promotes separating people by groups based on characteristics such as race and life style. Even things like saluting the flag and saying the anthem have come under attack. There is a large group who fail to see America as the land of opportunity but concentrate instead on Americas short comings which makes it more difficult for them to improve their status. These changes in attitude have been growing for many years but accelerated since Bush 43 was elected in 2000.

Minority voters

For the past 50 plus years, politics in America has been on a slow but inexorable march toward democratic dominance. The demographics dictated that the growth in minorities would eventually overcome the white majority and the Republican Party would just go away. All that has suddenly changed. These minorities are not just the robot voters that most thought but thoughtful voters who can think for themselves and they are more concerned about jobs and pay rates than party loyalty. Several recent polls show that upwards of 30% of minority voters are leaning toward Trump. If this trend continues it spells disaster for democrats. 16 million blacks voted in the last election and a swing of 20% of those would mean over 3 million. Add to that another 3 million Hispanic votes and the election turns over. Once these people start voting with their pocket books, the long predicted demographic will be turned on its head. The cry of racism that has helped to keep these voters in line, will lose its power as their economic situation improves.

Read and write

It is my contention that unless you are going to be an engineer or a scientist, you do not need to take algebra 2 and chemistry in high school. Those courses should be replaced with writing courses. Each day the student would have the option of selecting an article or be assigned an article to read and then write a summery of that article. The article should be ten to twenty pages and the summery should be one page. After doing this every day during their junior and senior years they will leave high school knowing how to read and write down what was read. These courses would be called reading comprehension one and two. There are many reports on the Internet indicating that majoring in English in college is a waste of time and money. Learning how to read an write should be done in high school and one of the reasons that people major in English in college is because they didn't learn how to read and write in high school. This extra time in college could be used to study civics, economics, and personal finance. These courses would include business, basic accounting and taxes. Throw in a course on interpersonal relationships and this person will be ready to go to work. If the students choose not to go to college they will be equipped to meet the challenges of the work place because they can read and write and write down what they read.

Repo's

Banks must carry a reserve of 10%. If a bank has deposits of $100 they can loan out $90 and must keep $10 in reserve. They do not keep this money in cash but use it to buy government securities so they earn interest on their reserves. The amount of loans varies daily and thus the banks need for cash varies. To keep things in balance banks use repo's, that is, overnight purchase or sale of bonds. If the bank needs cash for loans it will sell bonds to get cash and if it has excess cash it will purchase bonds. These operations often occur overnight. Last September the demand for overnight cash increased so rapidly that the interest charge rose above what the Fed had set as a control on inflation and a mini-panic set it. In order to prevent that from happening again the Fed started to sell bonds to get a reserve of cash to be used for repo's. This will continue at the rate of about $60 billion per month thru next March. This is different from the quantitative easing that was set up during the last recession when long term bonds, one to ten years, were purchased to increase the amount of cash to encourage banks to make business and consumer loans to stimulate the economy.

Free and fair trade

For many years Germany has placed a ten percent import tax on US cars while the US has a 2.5% import tax on German cars. Trump challenged that and this caused some turmoil in the Germany economy especially in the auto industry. Trump asked for a fair trade and when nothing was done, he put an import tax on steel and aluminum from Germany. Germany threatened to tax imports of US goods. Trump then proposed a 25% tax on German auto imports and this has caused the German economy to go into a downward spiral and is now heading toward a recession. Recently the German auto industry has proposed eliminating the ten percent import tax on US cars. Trump wants fair trade and uses the threat of import taxes as a negotiating tool. He has the upper hand because the US has a negative trade balance with the rest of the world. He has proposed getting rid of all import taxes but that was met with silence. That would be real free trade.

NPR

I read the NPR news because I want to get an impartial view but apparently others who read NPR are looking for a more biased view. I base that on the NPR report of what their viewers looked up and this can be found at https://www.npr.org/2019/12/27/790803528/our-10-most-read-political-stories-of-2019-reflect-a-shifting-capitol-power-dyna 10 Get rid of the electoral college. 9. Ban lawmakers from lobbying 8. Fact check Trumps claims about the border wall 7. Trumps approval with the base slips. 6. Make raising the debt ceiling automatic 5. Most illegal immigration doesn't come from the Mexican border 4. The Mueller Report 3. Fact check Trumps State of the Union message 2. The green new deal 1. Pelosi revokes Pence's house office space This tells me that most of the viewers are liberal and select liberal stories to view.

Bias in the senate

There are eight sitting senators who were or are running for president and they will sit in judgment of Trump during the impeachment trial. While these senators have a right to disagree with Trump on policy issues they have gone further by making derogatory remarks about Trumps behavior indicating a strong dislike for him on a personal basis. This makes it extremely difficult for them to judge in an impartial manner and under normal court proceedings they would be disqualified as jurors. Remarks like he is a racist and a bigot and is wholly unfit to be president can be reasons to predict bias

Wedding

On the news today the subject was what to do when planning a wedding and this brought me back to my day and I strongly recommend that all young men follow my lead. I was on business in Grand Forks living in a motel for three months when I met my wife to be. In early February of 68, I left for Georgia and over the next week by phone we decided to get married, so that left all the preparation up to my wife since I would fly up there get married and fly back. While I was breaking in my new job she was busy handling the wedding details. She planned the whole thing including who would be in the wedding, where it would be held, who would attend and where the reception would be. She paid for everything including the rings and then sold her duplex and car and we moved. I left town with a new wife and a handsome dowry. Now this may seem a little one sided to many and when they asked what is was I brought to this arrangement, I merely tell them that according to my wife what I brought was potential.

Bernie Sanders

It is very interesting that Bernie Sanders seems to be making a comeback. He is a 78 year old white male who is not a member of the democratic party, for universal government healthcare, free college tuition, higher taxes on the rich, reduced defense spending, eliminating private pensions, for reparations to Blacks for slavery, canceling student debt, ending the electoral college, closing down nuclear power plants, universal free meals in schools, ban fracking and for the new green deal. He was a member of youth group associated with the socialist party and is today a democratic socialist. His administrative experience is limited to being mayor of Burlington and his health is questionable since he suffered a heart attack a few months back. His major strength is that he has always been up front with his position on issues and that is where many of the other democratic candidates seem to waiver when the going gets tough.

Brokered

With the continued emphasis on impeachment dragging on by the house refusal to send things to the senate, the candidates find themselves on the back page of the news. This once again adds credence to the theory that the power brokers in the democratic party are angling for a brokered convention. This has been in the backs of many minds since the insiders appeared to be unhappy with the base moving too far left. The question still remains as to whom they will pick. Biden seems to have lost some of his energy both physically and mentally. Bernie had a heart attack and says he will raise taxes. (Remember Mondale). Warren's $50 trillion dollar plan for healthcare has damaged her some say beyond repair and Mayor Pete is hampered by his sexual orientation although most will not admit to this. Will Hilary rise from the ashes like the Phoenix or will the call for Mrs. Obama be so strong that she will have to accept? Is there a savior hiding in the weeds?

With the continued emphasis on impeachment dragging on by the house refusal to send things to the senate, the candidates find themselves on the back page of the news. This once again adds credence to the theory that the power brokers in the democratic party are angling for a brokered convention. This has been in the backs of many minds since the insiders appeared to be unhappy with the base moving too far left. The question still remains as to whom they will pick. Biden seems to have lost some of his energy both physically and mentally. Bernie had a heart attack and says he will raise taxes. (Remember Mondale). Warren's $50 trillion dollar plan for healthcare has damaged her some say beyond repair and Mayor Pete is hampered by his sexual orientation although most will not admit to this. Will Hilary rise from the ashes like the Phoenix or will the call for Mrs. Obama be so strong that she will have to accept? Is there a savior hiding in the weeds?

Muslims and the Koran

The Muslim world flourished during the 8th to 13th centuries but then started to decline. One of the main reasons was the belief that all knowledge could be found in the Koran. This became a disincentive to learning and is destructive to creative thinking. While the Western world went though the industrial revolution the Muslim world held tight to the Koran. The Jews on the other hand opened their eyes to science and engineering and moved into the modern world. It is spectacularly enlightening to know that the Jews with a world wide population of 15 million have earned (204 prizes) 23% of all Nobel Prizes in chemistry, physics, medicine and economics while the Muslims with a population of 1.8 billion have won three. Even the Muslim countries of today are only modernized because British and American engineers have developed the oil industry. This lack of technology has caused the Muslin nations to lose five wars against the Jews since 1948 and is a source of humiliation which fuels their anger.

Hate

Nancy Pelosi says she doesn't hate anyone and I agree with her. The word hate is thrown around with reckless abandon and most people don't really mean hate when they say it. Webster says hate is "intense hostility and aversion usually deriving from fear, anger, or sense of injury". I have never hated anyone and I have never known anyone who hated. The word is used when a dislike for what someone does transfers to who someone is. If we dislike people because we disagree with what they say, we will have a very small circle of friends. We should strive to disagree without being disagreeable. When we dislike people for who they are it becomes an emotional response without the constraints of reasoning. This clouds our judgment and leads to a biased opinion of others without us realizing it. It also causes unneeded stress on everyone involved and can even destroy relationships. An old adage says you get back what you send out.

Can you prove bias

A headline the other day said that the ninth circuit court, the bastion of liberalism is threatened by new Trump appointees. When judges are deemed to be biased it only makes sense that those in congress would be biased. It then follows that those who work for these politicians would be biased. In spite of that investigators keep saying they could find no proof of bias. Those being investigated say they are biased but it does not effect their work. Senator McConnell is accused of bias toward Trump. Will the democratic senators running for president who will act as jury members in the impeachment be biased. They say they will not let their personal opinions cloud their judgment.

Non-citizens vote

President Trump is still fighting what appears to be a losing battle trying to get a citizenship question on the census form. The census is used for two main purposes. The first is to determine how $675 billion dollars of federal government money will be distributed to the states. This is over $2,000 for every person. If there are 12 million undocumented immigrants in the country this means $24 billion dollars is up for grabs. The second reason has to do with the electoral college. One vote is assigned for every 750,000 people so this means that illegals will get 16 electoral votes. Considering the people of North Dakota only get three votes this is significant. People who are not citizens are literally voting for president.

Clinton impeachment

Many people believe that telling a lie is not a crime and for the most part that is true. These same people understand that lying under oath is a crime but they often do not realize that lying to the government is a crime. This is what got President Clinton in trouble. In a deposition in the Paula Jones case he said he never had sexual relations with Monica Luwinski. Normally this type of lying in a civil case is not prosecuted but this was not to be with Clinton. Special prosecutor Ken Starr went ahead and charged Clinton with perjury and the rest is history. Later during the impeachment hearing Starr told Clinton about the blue dress before he questioned him publicly and this kept Clinton from further incriminating himself. Such consideration would not happen in today's environment.

Tax or no tax

In 2018 corporations paid $94 billion less tax because of the Trump tax cuts. Individuals paid $240 billion less and total government revenues increased by $14 billion. This is called income redistribution from the government to the people. This is called growing the economy. The democratic candidates are saying they will reverse the tax cuts and this will result in redistribution of income from the people to the government. They can then use that money to redistribute to the people. In return for their generosity they will ask for votes so they can raise taxes and redistribute more. This is called growing the government. This is all based on the premise that the government can overcome the unfairness in the free market system.

Pay your own way

Students frequently have conversations about what it means to be grown up and the answer is simple. You are grown up when you start paying your own light bill. Young teens living on their own can be considered grown up. A unemployed thirty year old living with mom and dad is not grown up. The key word is employed. Andrew Yang the son of immigrant parents is a lawyer and businessman. After failing at several businesses he finally hit success with the idea of helping others start new business. He now has a charity that does that same thing. His role in politics has changed from concentrating on jobs to handing out $1,000 per month to every citizen over age 18. He joins the other candidates in that regard, that is, not emphasizing jobs. Being able to pay your own way is the dream of most.

New religion

There is a new religion spreading across the land, and it is called the religion of politics. It was born in the New Deal and matured in the Great Society. It is based on the mission principal that those who have more should give to those who have less. Its basic doctrine is fairness and its purpose is the redistribution of wealth. The determination of who gets what is not based on economic principals but rather on moral guidelines. You can find out if you are a member in this new sect by asking yourself the following question. Why is it better for the economy if the government spends my money than it is if I spend my money? If you agree that the government is the place to send your money you will justify this not on economic principals, but with moral imperatives, and you are a believer in the new religion. Upon further evaluation of your justifications you will be surprised to discover how much they sound like a fundamentalist discussing a religious concept. You will find that you are assuming a position of being on the high road. You will assume an air of moral superiority as you preach the values of fairness. Should we not feed the hungry, cloth the naked, and house the homeless? What type of heartless person could ignore the plight of those who have not? If only others were as caring as I, the world would be so much better off. What is wrong with this approach? From a theoretical sense, nothing, but from a practical sense, there are unintended consequences. When we began to give to those who were in need it was appreciated and productive, but those who were in charge of the giving got carried away with their own good deeds. They got bigger and better at what they were doing and soon it became more than a helping hand to the recipients, it became a way of life. We are now three generations into this way of life for millions of our citizens and they have come to depend on us for their survival. They no longer believe in their own ability to rise above their situation, but only wait for some new program to come to their rescue. It is like the well-meaning father who always got his son out of every difficult situation only to find that he had raised a child who could not cope with the problems of life. We have done these citizens a grave disservice, and must now take steps to recapture our original intent. We must once again promote the concept of self-reliance and the work ethic, and over several generations we can succeed in giving back the self-respect we inadvertently stole from those we meant to help

Projects

When I was in college in the 50's the government began building what became known as "The Projects". These were high rise apartment buildings to house homeless and others who could not afford housing. 40 years later the government torn down the projects. What happened? I called these projects the modern day equivalent of the reservation. A lot of decent people moved into these apartments but a share of bad apples also moved in and like the old saying goes, one bad apple can spoil the barrel. The buildings became crime invested with drug dealers and the whole country learned an important lesson or so I thought. This week, Los Angeles has announced that they will build a new city filled with affordable high rise apartments for those now living on the streets. I say, good luck.

Biden

During the last presidential debate democrats expressed their displeasure when Warren and Buttigieg went after each other. If the candidates refuse to challenge one another and they create a brokered convention the elites will chose the winner. As it stands now that means that the super delegates will line up behind Biden and the insiders will pick the old white guy.

FISA

The chief VISA court judge Rosemary Collyer has expressed surprise that the information given to the court was tainted. In February of 2018 Congressman Nunes wrote to Collyer explaining that information given to the court in 2016 regarding Carter Page was misleading and inaccurate. Nunes was ridiculed by the press and Collyer never responded to his letter. Now she says she is dismayed by what has happened and acts as though this is the first she heard about it. Did she like many others assume that Hilary would be elected and this would never be made public.

Chicken pot

After 8 years of republicans in the White House during the 20's, Hoover came along in 1928 pledging a chicken in every pot and a car in every garage. Hoover got 444 electoral votes in a landslide victory. The economy was roaring and here is part of a newspaper ad. Republican efficiency has filled the workingman's dinner pail and his gasoline tank besides, made telephone, radio and sanitary plumbing standard household equipment. And placed the whole nation in the silk stocking class. The following year the Great Depression hit and went on for ten years.

Capitalism

Bernie Marcus, the child of Russian Jewish immigrants, was born in New Jersey in 1929. He worked at various jobs and ended up with Handy Dan home improvement stores where he became CEO. He was fired and in 1979 founded the Home Depot. Like all new businesses owners he worked long hours for very little pay and after a number of years the business took off. He retired in 2002 and spends his time doing philanthropic work. Home Depot employs 400,000 people most of whom whose education is high school or less. This is capitalism at its finest. Lets get rid of any corruption but don't throw out the baby with the bathwater.

Food stamps

Cost for the food stamp program now called SNAP was $15 billion in 2000 and rose over the next 6 years to $76 billion and has since declined to $58 billion. Much of the increase occurred during the recession of 2008. There are an estimated 5 million able bodied men between ages of 25 and 55 who are not working. Trump has proposed changes in the law which will address this situation and some 700,000 people will lose their benefits. And the problem at hand isn’t a skills gap. It’s that too many able-bodied adults are on the sidelines. According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, nearly three-quarters of the job openings that will occur over the next decade require a high school education or less. Nearly four out of five job openings require no training or less than a month’s training on-the-job, while a whopping 87 percent require no prior experience.

Affirmative action

Tonight's presidential debate will feature the remaining seven candidates all of whom have garnered at least 4% in the polls. The most diversified field in history has narrowed to one Asian American and six White Americans. One solution would be to use affirmative action and require only 2% in the polls for minority candidates.

Trump voters

The Trump voters are standing by their man because they agree with his policies. They like lower taxes and fewer regulations. They like getting out of agreements with Iran and not participating in the TPP and the Paris accords. They like the new trade agreement with Mexico and Canada. They like the tough stance on trade policy with China and the upcoming tough stand with Europe. They like a stronger military and backing police. They like the booming economy, record stock market and low unemployment along with rising wages especially for the lower income groups. They like 9 million fewer people off food stamps. They like the new border wall. They like the fact that the US is now the largest energy producer and energy exporter. They like allowing people to keep their private healthcare. Vets like going to non Vet hospitals. They like the close partnership with Israel, moving the Embassy to Jerusalem and keeping the Golan Heights in Israels control. They like the fact that he is not presidential and speaks bluntly. The democrats big mistake is allowing their distrust for Trump to morph into disgust with Trump voters calling them cultist.

Politicians

Today's politicians find themselves in a quandary and the cause is video. Case in point is the way they talk about impeachment. They seem not to realize that everything they said about the Clinton impeachment is on video and they are talking out of both sides of their mouths. It is not limited to one party. While they may be oblivious to what they said, the public is treated with a daily show of their hypocrisy and it just adds to the distrust that most have with politicians and accounts for their low approval ratings.

China import tax

China's growth in exports accelerated after they entered the WTO which meant they must follow the trade rules of other countries. Although China agreed they did not obey these rules and the enforcement mechanism was weak. It was based on arbitration but when China ignored the rulings nothing else was done. Trump has changed this. He applies import taxes on China's exports to the US and this gets their attention. Phase one of the new trade agreement carries this same enforcement concept. Trump uses the threat of import taxes as a negotiating tool. It is only effective because he has carried out the threat. Businessmen understand that agreements aren't worth the paper they are printed on without effective enforcement. Too many diplomats think that if a country signs an agreement that is all it takes. The most recent example is Russia violating the 1987 missile agreement and Trump has suspended the deal.

Fusion power

The ultimate solution to the climate change problem will be nuclear fusion. This is the process by which the stars make energy. Inside the star hydrogen is converted to energy. One pound of hydrogen provides the same amount of energy as 50,000 tons of coal. In fusion the hydrogen conversion releases heat which in turn can be used to drive turbines which produce electricity. This electricity is then used to change water into hydrogen and oxygen and the hydrogen then becomes the fuel needed for transportation. The only bi-product is water and this becomes the hydrogen cycle. Water is converted to hydrogen and oxygen and the hydrogen is used as fuel in an internal combustion engine and changed back into water. Power plants use heat from fusion to make electric power which in turn is used to change water into hydrogen to power internal combustion engines. This leads to an almost unlimited supply of inexpensive electric power which can then be used to desalt sea water and irrigate the deserts of the world.

Company paid insurance

Last year 156 million people had company paid health insurance. The cost for the company was 82% for single plans and 71% for family plans. Employers paid out $13,927 for families and $5,655 for single plans. The total cost of health care is $3.5 trillion and government health plans cost $1.5 trillion leaving $2 trillion that private companies pay out. I can't believe that Senator Warren has not discovered this and suggested that these companies just send this money to the feds and they will decide how to spend it on government provided healthcare. The companies would go for it since it gets rid of a big headache for them which saves on administrative cost and they no longer have to worry about future increases. She could have a kind of one plan fits all and save money on administration cost. The big company unions which have bargained for the Cadillac plans would object but they are a small minority.

Impeachment and resentment

The second most powerful motivator after love is revenge and many democrats see impeachment as revenge for the 2016 election results. Revenge often has its roots in resentment and being resentful is like taking poison and expecting the other guy to get sick. The election has caused such a strong dislike toward Trump that many have lost their objectivity. The impeachment process has grown into a take that you rat feeling but it is not getting the expected result. It is very similar to what happened during the Clinton impeachment. It is a sort of cut off your nose to spite your face thing. There is the added incentive of expecting a Trump reelection that pushes the impeachment but unless something unexpected comes up this is likely to be what happens.

Boris Johnson

The goings on in England mirror the US and seem to be a repeat of the Reagan/Thatcher years. Three years ago the British voted to leave the EU but the establishment failed to act and now Boris Johnson, England's version of Trump. has won on the promise that he would defy the establishment. It appears that the election today, will give Boris the votes he needs to leave the EU and in doing so will upset the apple cart of the bureaucrats, who have vested interest in the status quo and they don't like it one bit. When people who have spent years finding their niche as insiders, suddenly find themselves on the outside looking in, they are not happy. The labor party that opposed Boris was promising a government take over much like Thatcher spent years undoing. His opponent promised to nationalize public utilities and railroads and offered many new welfare benefits but the people wouldn't buy it. Will this be a precursor of the upcoming election in the US?

Stereotyping ads

The Peloton ad that is getting all the attention is an example of what many consider to be stereotyping. Other ads make a deliberate approach to avoid stereotyping and in the process conflict with what most people think. Case in point are ads for sheets and mattresses. One shows a man in bed who is too cold and his wife who is too hot. The other shows a man complaining that his bed is to hard and the woman saying her side is too soft. Bah, humbug.

Super majority

FDR was elected in 1932 winning all but 6 states. He had a super majority in the senate and a large majority of 313 democrats in the house. Because of this he was able to pass 15 major acts in the first 100 days. This became known as the New Deal. These were all government programs paid for by deficit spending. Even with all this the depression didn't end until WW 2 started some nine years later. The courts then said that The President had overstepped his authority and threatened to undo and did undo some of the basics in the New Deal. FDR then decided to pack the court with friendly justices by adding six new judges but the congress would not go along with it. Many people were concerned that the government was assuming to much power and many thought the government should do even more, not unlike what we face today. Recall that FDR wanted a second bill of rights which included a guaranteed job with a living wage, a house to live in, health care for all, government pensions and free education. He got social security and free public education. In contrast President Obama had a super majority for 150 days and passed only Obamacare.

Cost of Medicare

Today I got my annual social security notice and Medicare Part Be is now $144 per month. Since 2000 Medicare Part B cost have risen 5.9% per year and during this time inflation has been 2.1%. Medicare started in 1966 at $3 per month and has risen at twice the inflation rate since that time. At its start, in 1966, Medicare cost $3 billion. The House Ways and Means Committee estimated that Medicare would cost only about $12 billion by 1990 (a figure that included an allowance for inflation). This was a supposedly "conservative"estimate. But in 1990 Medicare actually cost $107 billion. Keep this in mind when you see estimates of the cost of Medicare for all. Once a benefit is given there is no going back regardless of the cost.

Work place

The story about the Saudi serviceman who shot four US servicemen in Pensacola reminded me of the Fort Hood shooter in 2009. His name was Nidal Hasan. He was an American citizen born in Virginia and his parents were Palestinians who immigrated from the West Bank. He yelled Allahu Akbar! and shot 13 fellow US servicemen and the government declared this a work place incident. It was six years later when President Obama announced that this was a terrorist attack. Will this latest attack be called a work place incident?

Lady Justice

As the impeachment proceedings unfold the concept of law and order is being eviscerated. The republicans say there is no evidence of a crime and the whole case would be tossed out of court. Jerry Nadler said today that it would take a jury 3 minutes to convict Trump. No republicans will vote for and no democrats will for against impeachment. There is got to be reasonable doubt somewhere in that mess and lady justice is crying in her beer.

KSA

An old adage says that politics makes strange bedfellows and the same can be said of war. In WW2 the allies sided with Communist Russia to defeat Fascist Italy and Nazi Germany. The same dilemma now faces the US regarding Saudi Arabia (KSA). The Saudi's are the supply line for the Madrassa around the world that produce terrorist. While the US no longer depends on KSA for oil they have become bedfellows because the are opposed to Iran. KSA even sends out signals that they may be willing to line up with Israel to oppose Iran. While this cold war between the Saudi's and Iran is an ongoing power struggle it is also strongly influenced by religious beliefs since Iran is most Shia and KSA is mostly Sunni.

Algebra

There are many things wrong with our high schools but one important area could be improved without adding any financial burden to the budget. Required courses like algebra 2 and chemistry should be changed from required to elective just like physics and calculus. Student who are interested in careers in science or engineering could continue to take these courses but others would have a choice. They could instead concentrate on reading and writing and take two years of what would be called reading comprehension. This does not mean reading the words, it means being able to write down in a summarized form what was read. This is hard work and develops the mental discipline to read, recall and understand what was read. These students would be required to read articles of ten or twenty pages on subjects that interest them and then write up a one page summaries. If they graduate with this skill they will do well at any career they choose. It is painful to sit in chemistry class and see students who are unable to comprehend and the same is true for algebra 2 and it is no less painful to the teacher.

Conspiracy

The march toward impeachment opens the door to some conspiracy theories. If it is a forgone conclusion, that unless some new information is discovered, that the senate will not vote to impeach, what is the reason for going ahead. One side believes that the damage to Trump will be enough to prevent his reelection but others feel it will cement his victory. The most popular conspiracy revolves around Joe Biden. It was after the republicans said they welcome a trial in the senate where they will call Biden and his son as witnesses that the impeachment phase seemed to get a boost. This led to the idea that democrats wanted to spoil Biden's bid for the presidency. With Senator Warren fading fast after announcing the cost of medicare for all, doubts about Bernie's health after his heart attack and Mayor Pete's less than stellar record being exposed, the party is looking for a savior. Will they turn to Bloomberg the old white guy billionaire? Will some new face come out of nowhere as some who look to Michele Obama dream? If the whole purpose is to beat Trump will any warm body with that possibility be the nominee. The next conspiracy is the super delegate count. These votes only count if there is a brokered convention and then they could determine the nominee if they stick together and once again the insiders will win.

Persona

According to psychologist Karl Jung, we all have a face that we show to the public which he called our persona and it is exaggerated with most politicians. Yesterday a video was released of several high ranking people at the NATO conference making disparaging comments about Trump. They did not know they were being recorded. Trump on the other hand is accused of having too little persona in that he just comes right out with it. A great example was Nancy Pelosi saying yesterday that impeachment is not about politics while the votes will be overwhelmingly one sided. This is the same thing the republicans said when they impeached Clinton. The question is, do most people believe these politicians when they make statements like that or are they so used to it that people just ignore it. It is so common it is referred to as Washington speak.

Import tax

Trumps recent moves have added credence to the contention that he prefers to use economic power in lieu of military power. He will place import taxes on steel from Argentina and Brazil while threatening to tax French wines. When other countries place import taxes on US goods he counters by placing import tax on their goods.

Birthday

My son would be 52 today and next month marks 12 years since he passed. I stay in touch with music and here is my favorite. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=I0XFiYDJBXQ