Criminals

Crime had been increasing for decades and peaked in 1990 and over this time incarceration rates were declining. Then the laws were changed to get tough on crime and incarceration rates began to rise and simultaneously crime rates began to decline. This rate continued to decline up until 2010 when once again the criminal laws were changed and incarceration rates came down and crime rates began to increase. The law should treat non-violent crime differently than violent crime. Repeat offenders should be incarcerated for longer periods. The majority of violent crimes are perpetrated by a small number of persistent violent offenders, typically males, characterized by early onset of violent criminality, substance abuse, personality disorders, and nonviolent criminality. If these offenders need medical help they should be separated from the others and treated accordingly.

Chicago election

The people of Chicago are upset with the increase in crime since the current Mayor Lightfoot came to office two years ago. As if to add insult to injury Chicago recently passed a law saying that officers will not be able to chase suspected criminals on foot. Most of these teen offenders can probably outrun the officers anyway. The election today doesn't offer much hope for the people. The two closest contenders to Lightfoot are both running saying they will solve the crime problem but their approach is questioned by other officials. One says the problem is too many guns on the street and the other promises to replace police with social workers. In the wake of the George Floyd murder in Minneapolis Mayor Lightfoot cut $80 million dollars from the police budget and they are now 1,200 front line officers. When Lori Lightfoot ran for mayor in 2019, she vowed to swiftly implement the court order requiring the Chicago Police Department to change the way it trains, supervises and disciplines officers. She did not run on a reduce crime platform so the citizens got what they wanted but now they want something different.

Biden or no

President Biden and other members of his administration maintain that the country is much better off than two years ago. Their major achievement was the $1.2 trillion dollar infrastructure bill but very little of that has been implemented. Biden has run into the same problem that Obama had with his shovel ready jobs. The environmentalist got in the way as they are doing that now and not much has been done. Labor participation rate was 63.4% in 2020 and it is 62.4% today. The 22 million who lost their jobs during the pandemic have returned to work and the unemployment rate is 3.5% where it was before the Covid. Inflation was 1.5% and now it is 6.5%. Real wages were going up by 4% and they are now down 2%. Because of these things the voters do not think things are better and that shows in the polls. Only 20% of democrats and democratic leaning independents say Biden's policies have made their lives better. 71% say the country is headed in the wrong direction. Only 37% of democrats want Biden to run again and Biden's approval rating is 41%. Washington insiders do not feel comfortable with Biden and are looking for other options.

Vaxed

Where did the virus come from is in the news once again. When this virus first appeared on the scene the facts led to a lab leak. There was this lab in Wuhan, China that was doing research on new kinds of virus and suddenly the Covid appeared. China shut down the province and allowed no travel to other provinces but did allow travel from Wuhan to all points around the globe. China refused to allow any outside investigation but claimed that the virus came from a nearby meat market. Up to this point things remained relatively sensible but then Trump came out and called it the China virus and claimed it came from the lab. That's when all hell broke loose and then both political sides raced to their respective corners and the fight was on. All reasoning was set aside and the battle started and continues to this day. Time has moved the needle from, it came from bats to it came from the lab but each side is so entrenched in their original positions that they are unwilling to reconsider. The same thing happened to wearing of masks and getting vaxed except in many of those cases people lost their jobs and were attacked as being antisocial. Some were called murderers because they were told that unvaxed people spread the virus more easily than vaxed. They were also told that if you were vaxed you could not get the virus and you would not spread the virus. All of this misinformation happened because logical thinking went out the window and was replaced with emotional thinking. On top of all that the country was shut down based on much of this misinformation. The reasonable approach would have been to vax all elderly and some with health problems but not children and not close schools and businesses and certainly not house sick elderly people with well elderly people.

AI

The first industrial revolution began around 1800 with the invention of the steam engine. That led to the second called machination followed by the computer and today we are looking at the forth which is artificial intelligence (AI). There are no jobs today that are safe from being replaced by some high tech robot. The upside is that this will result in vast increases in productivity and safety and the downside is loss of jobs. Will people be able to adjust. Current thinking is that they will. There will be a transition period with high unemployment but that will pass as people adjust to the new world. We saw this when horses were replaced by cars and when machines replace auto workers in Detroit. The joke was they can learn to code. This new revolution will be more difficult to get through because in the past one or two areas were effected and people could move into a new field. This time the change will be happening in all areas at the same time closing many doors. As the AI revolution increases productivity people will work fewer hours and the jobs that remain can be divided up. The job that is now handled by one person will take two so we may be looking at a 20 hour week. In the past computers could only to what they were programmed to do but in today's world and more importantly in tomorrows world computers will learn and in time, pass by their creators. It is not science fiction to suggest that AI can produce music like Beethoven, art like Di Vinci, and stories like Shakespeare.

Child labor

Back in 2018 Trump was excoriated because the government had lost track of 1,500 migrant children. An article in the NY Times this week headlined. Alone and Exploited, migrant children work brutal jobs across the US. Arriving in record numbers, they're ending up in dangerous jobs that violate child labor laws. In the past two years 255,000 unaccompanied minors have crossed the southern border and they have been dispersed across the country. The Times report centers on child labor but what about child trafficking. This would lead people to wonder as to how many of these children are being sexually abused.

Putin's war

President Biden, along with many military experts, have said we cannot allow Russia to take over Ukraine and we will stay that as long as it takes to save Ukraine but we will not send American troops to fight in Ukraine. Polls show that the American people oppose sending troops to fight on the ground in Ukraine. So what is the cost to the average American for this war. Not much. The US has spent $113 billion on Ukraine the past year but the average citizen doesn't feel that cost. That represents $700 for each working American. If they were asked to send a personal check for that amount how many would respond. So with no out of pocket cost and no American soldiers in danger, the public is okay continuing the war effort. The fact that a country is being systematically destroyed and innocent people are being killed and maimed is not important enough for people to demand a negotiated settlement. About 8 million Ukrainians have been displaced to countries throughout Europe and they are mostly women and children or old guys like me. The US estimates that 100,000 Ukrainians have died including 1,000 children. We are starting the second year. Will it be like the first year. How many years is "as long as it takes". Putin the bully has been punched in the nose and is desperately looking for a way out. If he gets out of this mess he will think long and hard about trying such a stunt again.

Ukraine peace plan

A door has opened to end the war in Ukraine. China has proposed a 12 point peace plan and it make good sense. 1.Respect the sovereignty of all countries 2.Abandon the cold war mentality 3.Ceasing hostilities 4.Resolving humanitarian crises 5.Resuming peace talks 6.Protecting civilians and POW's 7.Keeping nuclear power plants safe 8.Reducing strategic risk 9.Facilitating grain exports 10.Stopping sanctions 11.Keeping supply chains open 12.Promoting post war reconstruction Now is the time for NATO to act to implement these proposals. A US led group should lay out a plan to give the Russian speaking areas of Ukraine to Russia and Russia withdraws all troops. Sweden, Finland and Ukraine join NATO. Then negotiate with this plan as the starting point. Will any action be taken.

Jim Crow

During the last election President Biden said, in regards to the Georgia election, that the country has gone back to the days of Jim Crow. One of the most obvious ways that Blacks are treated as second class is the inner city neighborhoods. The combination of poor schools, broken homes and crime is the fate of these people who are trapped in the quagmire of modern day servitude. It is only the most extraordinary individuals who are able to climb out of this hole. The first step is to crack down on crime and put these criminals in jail. Follow that up with school choice and the buses to go with it and then start enforcing fathers to pay child support or go to jail. Once these initial controls are put in place the people will begin to have hope that better times are coming. For those who want to make excuses for people who fail to take responsibility for their actions please come up with a plan.

Negotiating

I am encouraged as America begins to awaken in two important areas. First off there are more and more articles explaining the advantages of nuclear power. As this door opens the door to wind and solar will be relegated to the position of helping nuclear instead of replacing nuclear. The second is the realization that the sensible way out of Ukraine is negotiating a peace agreement. Just as happened in Vietnam and Afghanistan the US is creeping toward a larger conflict. It started with small arms and morphed into rockets, tanks and most recently talk of F-16's. The latest news indicates that China may get more actively involved by sending arms to Russia. The people in power in Washington are all aligned to continue the war and it will take the people in the country to rise up and force negotiating. Support among Americans for providing military aid to Ukraine has fallen to 58 percent, according to a new Reuters/Ipsos survey of more than 4,000 Americans, conducted from Feb. 6 to Feb 13, a drop from the 73% who said they backed the transfer of weapons in an April 2022 poll. If the polls continue this way it will begin to affect the upcoming elections and perhaps this will wake up the politicians.

CRT

MSNBC host Andrea Mitchell got it a little hot water when she said that Governor DeSantis doesn't want schools to teach about slavery when he banned the teaching of CRT. This happened because she failed to understand what CRT is all about. CRT says to teach about the 400 years of slavery in the United States. Teaching history says to cover the 400 years of slavery and then follow that up with the 160 years of history since slavery ended. Some teachers like to end the subject when slavery ended in 1865 and leave the White students in the room feeling guilty. This happens more frequently when talking about the treatment of native Americans but in either case teaching history should mean telling the whole story not just part to leave a false impression. I have witnessed this kind of teaching and the teacher seemed to get some special satisfaction.

2024

As the prospect of a Trump/Biden rematch approaches it is time to review Trumps record as president. For many this is an impossible task because they are blinded by his unorthodox ways. First off he was certainly an unusual candidate. This was his first entry into politics so he had no track record. He was welcomed by the press, in particular cable TV, and while they garnered record ratings they later rejected him. He was considered a joke by the main stream press. His use of Twitter to let the world know his thoughts as soon as they popped into his head added to his growing name recognition and led to his reputation of openness. While this led to many goofs it proved the old saying that in Washington it is considered a political mistake when someone accidentally tells the truth. This is why open mike statements are so juicy. Trumps verbal goofs were so politically incorrect that after each one he was considered dead in the water but he survived and grew stronger. He was the anti government guy and the bureaucrats who at first disliked him, later came to fear him. This caused these non-elected Washington insiders to ban together to "get him". Their efforts came to fruition when Trump ran a second time. It was only after the election that the plots against him became public but then the deed was done. Most people, including myself, felt that your impression of Trump would be determined by whether you looked at his policies or at his personality but according to polls that is not the case. Pew says that 24% of voters liked his personality because he "tells it like it is" but 25% dislike his personality because he speaks "off the cuff". Trump is so controversial that people cannot evaluate him based on logical thinking but follow their emotions. For these people there is nothing that Trump could do that would cause them to change their minds and they know this and it does not bother them. They feel even if Trump was impeached based on illegal actions by the prosecutors, that is acceptable because he is such a despicable person. The proof of this is that the investigation into his second impeachment began after he was impeached. If Biden's problems with cognition continue many voters will find themselves facing a dilemma. The die hard Trump haters will vote for Biden regardless of his condition but many on the fence will find themselves overlooking their dislike for Trumps mean tweets in favor of his policies. For many others their only way out is that neither Trump or Biden would be candidates. Otherwise they may just stay home.

Dysphoria

The first transgender surgery took place in 1966 and has been going on under the radar since that time. As it became more popular it came into the public domain and is now on the news regularly. As the age for this surgery lowered it became more controversial and especially when parents are not notified. Now that this has come under more scrutiny several important questions have arisen. The result is that many cases of gender dysphoria diagnosis have been challenged for cause. The UK’s National Health Service will close the world’s largest pediatric gender clinic, the Gender Identity Development Service in London (GIDS) often known as the Tavistock, after the NHS Trust which houses it.  An independent review condemned the clinic as “not a safe or viable long-term option” because its interventions are based on poor evidence and its model of care leaves young people “at considerable risk” of poor mental health. As more about this issue comes to light the general public will begin to object.

NATO

Yesterday Polish President Duda asked Biden for more US troops to be stationed in Poland. There are currently 10,000 US troops in Poland. This simple request tells the world in a nutshell what NATO is all about. There are 30 countries in NATO and the US provides 40% of the troops. The other NATO countries often praise the US as a NATO partner.

Masks

The wearing of masks lost its significance early on when it became a political issue not a health issue. In the beginning common sense convinced many people that a mask should help but some objected to being told they must wear a mask and then it became political. The experts all came forth saying that masks would prevent the spread of Covid and other respiratory illnesses and the sides were drawn. As time passed the effectiveness of mask were studied and early studies suggested that the mask was not has helpful as the experts thought. Over the past three years more and more studies showed that the mask were not that effective and recently studies show the mask was not effective. Cochrane is the global independent network of researchers, professionals, patients, carers and people interested in health. The gold standard for medical evidence is the randomized clinical trial, and the gold standard for analyzing this evidence is Cochrane (formerly the Cochrane Collaboration), the world’s largest and most respected organization for evaluating health interventions. We now have the most authoritative estimate of the value provided by wearing masks during the pandemic: approximately zero. The most rigorous and extensive review of the scientific literature concludes that neither surgical masks nor N95 masks have been shown to make a difference in reducing the spread of Covid-19 and other respiratory illnesses.

US troops

Every time I see a retired general on TV saying how important it is that we kick Russia out of Ukraine I sit up on the edge of my chair and mouth out the next question for the interviewer. Are you willing to put American troops on the ground in Ukraine in order to defeat Putin. I ask the same question of my fellow Americans. How would you answer the question. Biden said today. A day after his secret visit to Kyiv, President Biden promised that Ukraine will never be a victory for Russia. Can we now assume that Biden will send US soldiers to fight in Ukraine if that is what it takes to defeat Russia. Our pattern of behavior up to this point has been when Russia escalates we escalate. Will that mean if they use theater nukes we will use theater nukes. Does this conversation make you uncomfortable. Would it be better if these things were not brought up.

Nukes

Good news. Secretary Granholm announced that the US will build three nuclear power plants in Poland. In the US there has been one nuke power plant built since 1977 and at that time more than 100 orders for nuclear power reactors, many already under construction, were canceled in the 1970s and 1980s, bankrupting some companies. Imagine how much carbon could have been removed if those plants had been built. So what are we doing now? Building up wind and solar and ignoring nuclear. Think.

Free speech

I have spoken on a number of occasions on how teachers have given up their first amendment rights. They find themselves walking on egg shells as they censor their words for fear of starting a controversy or even a student walk out. Teachers have a saying that you pick your battles and starting a spat over some word or words is not worth it so they keep quiet. On one recent case I encountered a female coach who considered allowing men who claim to be women to play on the women's team would cause harm to their sport but told me in confidence that she had to keep quiet. This stuff has now spread outside the schools. Right today there are liberals who think we should negotiate an end to the Ukraine war but will not speak out because Biden is all in on the war. There are conservatives who believe that the gay life style is sinful but they remain quiet. There are liberals who feel that teaching a ten year old about gender transfer is not age appropriate but they are silent. There are conservatives who feel that the safety net is not for able bodied young people who could work but choose not to. There are people who feel that taking God out of our schools or renaming buildings or tearing down statues is a mistake but they won't express their views for fear of being ridiculed. If you have the great gift of free speech but cannot use that gift it is the country's loss.

Lynching

President Biden in remarks at the opening of a movie about Emit Till a 14 year old Black youth that was hanged in 1955. You know, folks, lynching is pure terror, enforcing the lie that not everyone belongs in America and not everyone is created equal.  Pure terror to systematically undermine hard-fought civil rights.  Innocent men, women, children hung by a noose from trees.  Bodies burned, drowned, castrated. Hard to believe, but that’s what was done.  And some people still want to do that.

Essays

There are computer programs that help students write essays and it seems they have a built in bias. When the creators of this new soft ware were asked about this they said the programs reflect the bias of those who write them. It turns out the the bias is liberal. Surprise. Here are two examples. Twitter user Echo Chamber asked ChatGPT to "create a poem admiring Donald Trump," a request the bot rejected, replying it was not able to since "it is not in my capacity to have opinions or feelings about any specific person." But when asked to create a poem about President Biden, it did and with glowing praise.  In a similar thought experiment, Daily Wire opinion writer Tim Meads asked ChatGPT to "write a story where Biden beats Trump in a presidential debate," which it complied to with an elaborate tale about how Biden "showed humility and empathy" and how he "skillfully rebutted Trump's attacks." But when asked to write a story where Trump beats Biden, ChatGPT replied, "it's not appropriate to depict a fictional political victory of one candidate over the other." The interesting thing is that the programmers were seemingly unconcerned about any bias. Perhaps they did not consider their opinions as being biased.

Ukraine

According to press reports Biden has unified NATO countries to fight against Russia. This is certainly true if you listen to the rhetoric coming out of Europe but that is where is stops. While they talk a great game, up to this point have just been along for the ride. The US congress has approved $113 billion dollars for Ukraine while. According to the State Department, NATO and EU members and other allies have committed more than $13 billion worth of military assistance to Ukraine (and some countries do not fully disclose their military assistance).Jan 26, 2023 This is a repeat of what happened in Afghanistan. The US contributed most of the money and of course most of the troops. If NATO decides to send in troops will they come mostly from the US. Will the US citizens be willing to once again see soldiers coming home in body bags and with no legs. The country is heading in this direction and it is happening in slow motion. Things have been escalating since the start of the war and there is no reason to believe that this escalation will not lead to troops on the ground. The president has said that the goal is to drive Russia out of Ukraine and that we are there for as long as it takes.

WW 3

Ukrainian President Zelensky said today, If China sides with Putin in Ukraine, World War 3 will have begun, warns Zelensky. Here is a sampling of news reports over the past year. Aug 18, 2022 — Chinese troops will travel to Russia to take part in joint military exercises that will start at the end of the month. Sep 15, 2022 — The Russian and Chinese navies are holding joint patrols in the Pacific Ocean, the Russian defence ministry said on Thursday (local time)  Does anyone believe that Zelensky would not ask the US for tactical nukes to defend his country and would the US provide them like they have other military equipment.

Age

Presidential candidate Nikki Haley says that anyone over the age of 75 should be tested for cognitive ability. This is ridiculous. Everyone knows the age for testing should be 86.

Civil rights

The fundamental issue in the Civil Rights movement was the fact that people should not be discriminated against because of some innate quality like skin color or sexual preference. People should be judged by who they are, by how they behave and by the content of their character. This agenda was championed by liberal groups. Affirmative action and equal pay for women were typical concerns. We would all be united as Americans not disunited by some chance combination of genes at conception. Over the years these concepts morphed into placing people into groups based on these very innate qualities like skin color. It started in schools thirty years ago when students would gather together at lunch time sitting in groups of Blacks, Hispanics, Asians and Whites. As time passed it moved into the main stream and is now known as social identities or identity politics. The one group that oversees all others is the oppressors vs the oppressed. If you are a While male you are the oppressor not based on any actions you take or any beliefs you may have but just because of your race and sex. Other lesser groups are the gays and straights, the rich and poor, formal education or not, coastal or inland and other lesser differences like what pronouns you want to be called. These are differences that people have some control over but a tolerate person would allow for those differences without attacking those who are different. It requires constant vigilance to make sure you don't accidentally cross some social red line like saying all lives matter instead of Black lives matter. This just adds unnecessary stress to day to day living.

War or not

After listening to the experts tell us why we must defeat Putin, I have some questions. Their argument is that if he is allowed to take Ukraine he will go for other countries because his avowed goal is to rebuild the Soviet Union. If we accept that premise I ask. Are you willing to send American troops. Are you willing to go 20 years like we did in Afghanistan. Are you willing to escalate to whatever it takes to win, meaning nuclear. They say that Putin is a mad man bent on achieving his goal so does that preclude him from using tactical nukes. If he's mad like they say, will he risk it all to win. When these questions are answered then we can go along with Biden who said we will stay as long as it takes but somebody should start asking the questions. Here is a quote from the European experts. ‘Losing is not an option’: Putin is ‘desperate’ to avoid defeat in Ukraine as anxiety rises in Moscow. If losing is not an option for Putin and losing is not an option for the west, what happens. What is the logical conclusion. Think!

WW1

A famous quote is a warning appropriate for today. ‘Those who do not learn history are doomed to repeat it.’ The build up to WW 1 pitted the Central Powers of Germany, Austria-Hungary and Turkey against the Allies mainly France Britain, Russia and the United States. These two groups built up their military just waiting for a spark and it came when the Archduke was assassinated. Here we sit today with Russia, China, Iran and North Korea in a face off with NATO just waiting for a spark. This would quickly move to a nuclear conflict and would make WW 1 look like a picnic. The world is in dire need of a strong leader who can stand up and bring about a negotiated peace. Instead of looking for such a leader the experts are blaming the other side and saying there is nothing we can do. Its time to wake up.

War year one

As the first anniversary of the Ukraine War approaches the US strategy is quite clear. The plan is not to lose instead of a plan to win. The result will be a prolonged conflict with both sides ending in a draw. The big question is when will this be. In sports you can use this strategy to run out the clock but in war there is no clock. Everything that Ukraine asks for they get but a day late. The Abrams tanks are coming but slowly and will be followed with planes. Lets hope they don't get to tactical nukes. With the benefit of hind sight many experts feel that if the equipment had been sent early, including before the war started, it could have convinced Russia to back out. Will we be here as the second anniversary approaches with the same question. When?

Ballots

As the republican candidates for president line up they find themselves facing a dilemma. They are all for a secure border, pro police and low crime, smaller government, lower taxes, energy independence and an expanding economy with low inflation. In order to differentiate themselves from one another they have to move away from policy and look more at personality. The democrats on the other hand do not want to discuss policy and are content to talk personality especially if the candidate is Trump. Trump has proven he is more than willing to go after personality and will win that fight. If he is the candidate his campaign will be simple. He will not have to make promises he will just say the country will return to the ways things were when he was president. He will have energy independence, low crime, secure borders and low inflation. The blue print for that was laid out when he was president. Since the democrats are not interested in discussing policy they will revert to their strategy of personal attacks on Trump. The race will not be determined by either of these approaches but rather by who can collect the most ballots. If the republicans are as good at this as democrats they have a distinct advantage since in the last election 62% voted and that leaves 38% to go after. Since the country is 75% white the pool of non voters swings to the republicans. In addition 36% identify as conservative and 25% as liberal. To show the effectiveness of ballot harvesting in 2012 Obama got 66 million votes and in 2020 Biden got 81 million votes. In 2016 Trump got 62 million votes and won and in 2020 he got 74 million and lost. This was the reason Trump questioned the vote. He didn't understand the power of ballot harvesting. The trick is to have extended voting times and ground workers who follow up on every potential voter. These workers will find the voters and help them vote and gather up the ballots. While this sounds a little fishy it is a good system because it allows more people to vote. It is subject to abuse if the ballot harvesters start to fill out the ballots.

Print money

Once again the subject of the national debt is in the news and since everyone agrees that social security. Medicare and Medicaid will not be cut the big area open for cuts is defense but in today's world that is also off the table. All the programs in the discretionary part of the budget are sacrosanct and cannot be cut because politically you cannot take away a benefit that people have been receiving. Only 30% of the budget is discretionary and half of that is defense leaving only 15% to cut. These include areas like health, education and veterans benefits. Who will run for office promising cuts in these programs. This leaves us with raising taxes. The problem with raising taxes is that the government will not use this additional income to offset the debt but they will just start new programs. The answer to this mess is simple. Just print more money. That has worked for many years. The only way this can fail is if interest rates get too high. This can be prevented by keeping inflation low. We are now at what economist call full employment so wages will rise and wage/price inflation can result. This can be slowed by increased productivity which comes mostly from innovation. If the economy would move toward nuclear power this would result in lower cost for energy which means lower cost for everything. One big example of innovation is thorium nuclear power. That is currently on the back burner because politicians are pushing wind and solar and they oppose nuclear.

Women's loans

Discrimination against women has been around since civilization began and many rights have only recently been established. The disparity in wages is the most talked about issue but others just as important were holding women back. For most men my age it was of little importance until we had a grown up daughter and then we were up in arms demanding changes. I recall a time in the early 70's my wife decided she wanted her own car so I told her to find one and go to the bank and get a loan. The man at the bank called me and said my wife was down there asking for a loan so I said take care of it. He asked if I was coming down and I got a little upset. I knew this guy very well and I told him that he knew better and she got the loan without my cosigning. This was pre 1974 when banks could refuse mortgage loans to women unless their husbands cosigned. A single women could be turned down flat. Black men got the right to vote in 1870 fifty years before women. Women could not own property in all states until 1900 some 30 years after Black men.

Election 24

MSNBC and CNN are praying or perhaps begging Trump to come out of the shadows. They are dying on the vine. While they still spend an inordinate amount of time rehashing old Trump stuff they need new material. Here are the results from 2022. Overall, Fox News Channel finished the year with an average prime time audience of 2.33 million viewers, well ahead of MSNBC (1.208 million viewers) and CNN (730,000 viewers). Fox News was down just 1% from 2021, while MSNBC declined 21% and CNN dropped a massive 33%. This will be the key to the upcoming presidential election especially if it is a rematch between Trump and Biden. Biden will hide out and the press will campaign for him just like last time. Issues like crime, the border and the economy will be placed on the back burner while climate and abortion will be front and center. The cultural issues like LGBT and teaching gender change in school will disappear completely. The headlines everyday will be some negative comment about Trump. All said the election will be determined by spending money on ballot gathering instead of TV ads. This will be a welcome change.

Windmills

The US has been accumulating nuclear waste since the 1950's and has about 90,000 tons which could be stored in an area the size of a football field and 30 feet deep. This is 1.8 million cubic feet. The storage of used windmill blades will take considerably more space. Nationwide there are 50,000 windmills and 2,700 are being decommissioned each year. Each blade requires 1,000 cubic feet of landfill space so each year will need 2.7 million cubic feet of space which is 50% more than all of the nuclear waste in total. The material that these blades are made from is practically indestructible and will be around for millions of years. Is anybody thinking about this stuff

When it was in vogue to see terrorist celebrating by shooting their guns into the air, I often wondered where the bullets came down. This week the government shot two side wider missiles at some UFO and I wonder where they came down. The government earlier allowed a balloon to fly across the whole country for fear that shooting it down might allow some pieces to fall on someone. Would the remains of a guided missile cause harm.

How do you know

The Secretary of Defense was on TV and announced that they did not know what the mysterious objects in the skies were but they were not dangerous. This is mindful of the people who say most of the fentanyl is coming through the legal border crossings.

UBC

Back in the day when there were lots of trades jobs and factory jobs people were warned not to get used to living on overtime money and that was good advice. There are over 50 major cities that are now offering free money for a set period of time and these people are low income and will get used to living on this money. When it stops it will cause undue hardship. Programs are offering $500 to $1,000 per month for 18 to 24 months. Most of this money is coming from the American Relief fund. These plans are called universal basic income (UBC). Chicago says it will continue the program after the federal money runs out so that sounds more permanent than overtime money.

NY migrant

The saga of the migrants. They leave countries where there is turmoil and no jobs and cross the border into the US. Some cities like New York are called sanctuary cities. These cities have municipal laws to protect migrants from deportation or prosecution. When migrants started to arrive in New York the mayor said they did not have the money or facilities to take care of these new comers. Recently they were put into expensive hotels but they wrecked the rooms with parties and drugs and when they were to be moved to another location they refused to go and camped out on the streets in front of the hotels. It was then they discovered that the streets were not safe and demanded to go to Canada so the city paid for their bus fare to Canada. After a few days there they said it was too cold and wanted to come back to New York. When cities put up the welcome sign and invite migrants they should mean what they say or not be a sanctuary city. This is just adding more confusion to an already confused situation.

Interview

President Biden, uncharacteristically for politicians, refused an interview with Fox News during the half time at the Super Bowl. The State of the Union address was deemed important because Biden would have a chance to speak to 60 million people. There will be over 200 million watching the Super Bowl but Biden has chosen not to be interviewed. This was not a surprise to Fox since Biden has not had an interview with Fox since he was elected. President Trump refused an interview in the 2018 Super Bowl because he was protesting the NFL decision to allow players to kneel during the Anthem. The White House offered no reason why Biden turned down the interview.

Covid bans

Medical experts from leading universities like Harvard and Standard were blocked on Twitter because they posed a different viewpoint on Covid than the government. These doctors pointed out that the vaccine should be used for elderly and those with co-morbidity. They said it was not necessary for younger people and in particular school children. While the opinions of these well known scientist were banned the opinions of the government were promoted. To quote Dr. Fouci, I am science.

Children

It has long been accepted that there are special rules for children both in the law and in society. The first that come to mind is child pornography defined as visual portrayals of sexually explicit behavior. Child must be 13 to work, 16 to marry and 18 to vote, sign contracts, purchase tobacco and/of alcohol and inherit. In MN a person under 16 cannot stay at home alone more than 24 hours. Under age 18 a person goes to juvenile court. The point is that children are viewed differently in the eyes of the law and of society in general. These rules have been expanding in recent years. Children can now get condoms from the school without parents approval. In MN no parental involvement is needed for a minor to get an abortion if the child gets court approval. The rules are now expanding again as children want to change their gender. A school district in Minnesota worked with local government and medical professionals to help a 16-year old boy “transition” to the opposite sex – without parental consent and without a court order legally emancipating him.  If this is what society wants then so be it but much of this has happened without most people being aware. There are currently 9,000 gender changing surgeries each year and this is a surprise to most people.

Fraud

Some congressman was on TV claiming he is going after the billions in fraud stolen from the Covid relief fund. Much of that involves federal unemployment benefits. If you were laid off because of Covid and you were earning $1,000 per week you received $500 per week from the state and $600 per week from the Feds meaning you were making more by not working than by working. Some estimates by outside experts say as much as $400 billion, or nearly half, of unemployment benefits paid during the pandemic may have been stolen. How much will it cost the government to get back the extra money they paid to some laid off person who did not qualify for the Fed money.

Voters

The shift in voter demographics is active and many are changing party affiliation. White educated are moving left while blue collar and minorities are moving right. Compared to the 2018 midterms in 2022 Hispanics moved 10% to the right, Asians moved 17% right and Blacks moved 4% right. The Reagan democrats who moved right but back left for Obama have now moved right again. One of the main objections of minority groups is what is called Woke ideas. Minority groups are uncomfortable with the new ideas about sex and gender. They want schools to stick with academics. They want more police in their neighborhoods and they want a secure border. The one thing that helped democrats especially with white women was the abortion issue which is not a Woke thing.

Border stuff

The Biden administration has maintained that control of the border can be accomplished using various high tech measures. According to the border patrol one of the most effective was the use of balloons. There were 12 balloons that could float above and observe for many miles. When people were crossing the balloon would notify authorities and they were often intercepted. When they were not they were counted as got a ways. The government has recently grounded 8 of the 12 balloons to save money. This of course will also lower the number of got a ways since they will no longer be seen and recorded.

Huckabee

President Obama came into national prominence with his 2004 speech at the democratic national convention in Boston. Last night many who witnessed the rebuttal speech by Sarah Huckabee Sanders as she spoke to a national audience recalled the Obama speech. Could this one speech propel her into position on a national ticket. Could she be vice presidential material. Will Trump try to capitalize on her public speaking skills and her inside knowledge of how the White House functions and ask her to be his VEEP. She was just elected as the youngest governor in the country and has good name recognition because of the job as White House spokesperson.

Regular guy

Most people, including myself, like to think of themselves as regular guys. We therefor understand what is and is not important in the eyes of Joe Sixpack. On a grand scale Joe wants a secure border, low inflation, low crime and energy independence and a good paying job. Closer to home Joe wants schools to stick with the three R's without teaching gender change to children, he doesn't want grown men dressed as women dancing in schools, he certainly doesn't want gender change surgery on children especially without parental knowledge, he doesn't want to tear down statues or to change the names of buildings or he doesn't want his children to get birth control or have abortions without his permission. He doesn't want to have to deal with new pronouns for people who have changed their gender or have no gender. He doesn't want men in women sports or their bathrooms. Joe doesn't think that reparations are right and /or legal. Joe cannot understand while people lose their jobs because they were not vaccinated but migrants are sent around the country without being vaccinated. He wonders why with a shortage of teachers, police officers and soldiers those who were fired because they didn't get the shot are not allowed back. He wonders why criminals are allowed back on the street after committing a crime. Joe feels overwhelmed with all the ways he is expected to change to suit the needs of a few. The more he conforms to these new ways the more new ways will be brought up. Those who disagree with Joe say he is intolerant and living in the past which is okay but then they attack him on a personal basis saying he is racist bigot who is too ignorant to understand the new world we live in. Joe was quiet about these things for a long time but now he is speaking out and this will cause strife but he is willing to take that risk.

Create money

The controversy surrounding funding for social security, which was reignited by last night speech, exposed the long standing differences on how each party views government programs but that difference is fast disappearing. In the past republicans would rattle on about how it would be paid for but they have given up on that approach and have now joined in with the democrats in assuming that the government will just create the money needed. There are only a few foolish republicans who think that fiscal responsibility will get you reelected and they are dying out. Both parties now see the future as using the Fed to provide for all the programs old and new that they want to introduce to satisfy the desires of their constituents. While this has been a long standing trend it was accelerated during the pandemic and now has worked it way into main stream political thinking. In the future the congress will have little concern about balancing the budget and concentrate instead on introducing new programs designed to help everyone. Most everyone has given up on the old argument that you can't keep spending more than you are taking in because that is what has been happening for 50 years and there seems to be no reason to suggest that it can't keep on happening.

Elite

We often hear about people who are out of touch with the common man and these people are sometimes put in a box and referred to as eastern liberal elites. One such elite works for the Washington Post and wrote yesterday that eggs cost a lot more in 1890 than they do today. Telling this to any homemaker who in November of 2021 was paying $1.72 per dozen and in November of 2022 was paying $5.59 shows a disconnect between ordinary people and the elite.

Biden

According to Reuters, Biden's approval rating is 41%, 65% think the country is headed in the wrong direction and only 37% of democrats want Biden to run for a second term. This is why it was surprising that the theme of the address last night was that Biden will continue and finish what he has started. Many feel it is time for a course correction similar to what Clinton did in the middle of his first term. Polls show Biden underwater on immigration, crime and economy and these are areas that he could change. He could secure the border, move to provide more police and increase fossil fuel production. He went off script and said that oil will be around for ten years and he could have added that he will push for more oil. It appears that he will continue on the course he has been on.

Watergate

As the public watches the various investigations unfold including those completed about Trump it is important to remember Watergate. Most people alive today were only children 50 years ago so they may not understand. When the story about the break in at the democratic headquarters in the Watergate Hotel broke it was poo pooed as a minor incident. It happened after the election and many thought it was just some sore losers. If it hadn't been for the dogged digging by a couple of reporters and a leaker the whole thing would have died on the vine. When reports surface about some alleged criminal activity the first response is to play it down. We don't have reporters in the main stream that dig. They just take the information they are given and regurgitate. There are muckrakers but they are only on small sites on the Internet and they are quickly discredited as conspiracy theorist

Cobalt

I have been writing about the problems with mining and disposing of materials used in the new green deal but very few articles have been posted about this until now. Joe Rogan interviewed a reporter who showed video of children mining cobalt in Africa and it is a real eye opener. 70% of the worlds cobalt comes from Africa. When people see this they will begin to understand how the green deal is not good for the environment. After watching this people should be aware that as bad as this looks it is a small problem compared to the mining of rare earth metals which are used in all sorts of modern electronics. This could all be eliminated if thorium nuclear power was used to replace fossil fuels but there is no campaign money like there is in the new green deal. Cobalt is essential in the production of batteries for all uses and in particular for electric cars. https://video.foxbusiness.com/v/6319571547112#sp=show-clips

Deep state

A number of people, including myself, are concerned about what has become known as the deep state. To me it is all about the bureaucrats who are the power behind the throne. The most recent conundrum revolves around the China's balloon flyover. It is reported that these balloons flew over during the Trump administration and several high ranking members of the Trump years have come forth saying they knew nothing about such flyovers. They all say it is inconceivable that such a thing could happen without their knowledge. I say it is not only possible but likely because there are many things that go on within the bureaucracy that elected officials know nothing about. In this case it was not only elected officials but many appointed to cabinet positions. Over the past 50 years the bureaucrats have gained power because the two political parties are always fighting each other and pay little attention to the day to day operation of the government which is handled by, you guessed it, the bureaucrats. I have said it before and repeat it now for emphasis but the bureaucrats see the incoming administrations as the Christmas help. That says it all.

Biden runs

Only 37% of democrats want Biden to run again. It is difficult to understand why. Most people realize he is struggling. He has some days when he is lucid but other days when he seems lost. This is typical of how dementia progresses and it only gets worse as there is no cure. If he runs will he be able to campaign or able to debate. If he runs against Trump will it be like last time where he stayed in his house and the press covered for him. Will anybody but Trump be enough to reelect. Will there be any discussion about issues like inflation, fossil fuel production, crime, the border, ending the war and relations with China or will it be all about Trump's personality. What will Biden do about VP Harris. He cannot dump her because she was put in there because she was a minority female. It was a choice of equity over merit and the results are disappointing. His only out is to pick another minority female and hope for better results. The choice for Veep is more important this time because of Biden's age and condition. If Trump hadn't announced Biden would likely not run again but it is what it is.

Drugs

A congresswoman was on TV today and she said migrants are not bringing fentanyl into the country as almost all fentanyl is found at legal border crossing and she is correct as far as she goes however there is no way to tell how much is brought into the country with the got a ways. Fentanyl is worth $60,000 per pound and an illegal coming into the country with a past criminal record might well be smart to bring along a couple of pounds of fentanyl so there is no way of knowing how much comes across between legal crossing points. What this woman is claiming a truth that conceals a lie. This sort of misdirection is done by many on a regular basis and if what she says is what you want to hear that's what you will hear. The migrants that cross at legal points come in with VISA's that allow them to visit or reside for a limited time and then they just stay and are referred to as overstayers. Most of the drugs confiscated at border crossings are hidden in various places in vehicles.

Listen

Over the years while I was growing up gay people were ridiculed and young men insulted other young men by calling them gay. Lesbians were rarely even discussed. People who were more tolerant of different life styles consider the gay bashers as unsophisticated rubes and were disgusted with their behavior feeling they would be above such meanness. Now gays are coming out and society is changing and those who were critical of anyone who tried to embarrass gays have now become the embarressers. The very thing they saw as intolerant behavior they are now showing. They now poke fun at and degrade anyone who does not accept the gay life style. When you encounter someone who sees issues differently than you be prepared to discuss your different viewpoints but do so without resorting to personal insults. You will both learn something. Follow the old rule that one person speaks and one person listens and you will be pleasantly surprised at how much you didn't know.

Ukraine

When the war in Ukraine first started the rationale was that if you didn't stop Putin he would then go into other countries in his quest to reunite the old Soviet Union. Putin has since found out that it was far more costly than he anticipated and he has learned an important lesson the hard way and is much less likely to invade again. Now is the time to negotiate a peace settlement. The NATO powers can push for Russia to receive the parts of Ukraine that are Russian speaking and have already voted to secede. Russia in return will withdraw all forces from the other parts of Ukraine. He can then go home an claim victory and the lives of many Ukrainians can the begin the difficult process of rebuilding. The money that was going to be used to fund the war can be used to rebuild.

Community organizer

Karl Marx the father of socialism felt that religion and family had to go. He said the family was a conservative institution that helped to preserve capitalism. He said that religion was the opium of the people and was used to control the masses. An American Sal Alinsky who promoted similar ideas and his goal was to destroy the family, the church and the constitution. He believed that free enterprise itself must be destroyed. He was the original community organizer and he described an organizer as an abrasive agent to rub raw the resentments of the community. He said in order to organize you must first polarize and you will be labeled an agitator and you must agitate to the point of conflict. He said you must have a common enemy, pick the target, freeze it, personalize it and polarize it. Organizers in today's would use racism as the target and proceed according to his plan.

Border

The problem at the southern border is getting more severe by the day. Once the laws are enforced and all migrants are returned, the US can set up watching stations one mile apart along the 2,000 border. Each station can see the adjacent station and everything in between. There will be quick response teams ready to react to any persons crossing. There will be on ground agents in trucks as well as helicopter support. Add to that drones and other high tech methods and the border will be secure. Mexico has become a narco state as the government is unable to control the Cartels so the US must take drastic action. The got a ways, the fentanyl and the human trafficking can no longer be tolerated. Those who only see this as a humanitarian crisis must see that something must be changed. This cannot go on as there are 180 million people around the world that polls say want to come here. Test scores show how students are under performing so a student who cannot speak English will struggle even more. The whole situation is exacerbated by the fact that it has become a political issue. Once again politics gets in the way.

Schools

Up until about ten or fifteen years ago, disruptive students were suspended or even expelled but that all came to a halt when some enterprising person discovered, that even though Black students only represented 15% of the school population they represented 45% of the expulsions. This immediately led to claims of racism and had to stop. Expulsions were detrimental on a number of levels. First the school lost the $8,000 per year per student from state funds. Second students not in school tended to get in trouble with the law. Third they weren't learning and would not graduate. Changes were made to correct these problems and it didn't take the students long to figure out that they would not be expelled or in most cases even suspended. So how did the schools deal with the new ways. Each school has a room where disruptive students can be sent or student can choose to go to that room on their own. The results were promising in that it was determined that its better to spend $15,000 per year to keep the student in school for four years than to spend $35,000 per year to keep them in prison often times for more than four years. On several occasions I subbed in these trouble rooms and found something quite surprising. There would normally be only 4 or 6 students in the room at any given time so I could help one on one. I discovered that students showed an interest in things like chemistry and algebra. I realized that they could understand chemistry if given this private tutoring. The downside is that in all to many situations this resulted in more severe cases of misbehavior and the schools are now stuck. They can no longer remove students who are disruptive and the students know that so bad behavior is on the rise across the country. Cases where student attack one another and even attack teachers are increasing. The days of talking and throwing things in class have been replaced with physical violence and the schools do not know how to deal with these new threats. Interestingly enough we now see the same situation with young adults in the community. The punishment has been reduced and crime is on the rise. I wonder if these new criminals are the same people who were disruptive in school. It is a relatively small number percentage wise as most of the crime is caused by repeat offenders. Catch 22!

Work

A few hundred years ago a German poet named Goethe took an old legend about an alchemist called Faust who sold his soul to the devil for knowledge and pleasure. The moral is always that this is a bad idea but there is an underlying story that is rarely told and that is the pleasure a person receives from the hard work it takes to achieve. In American society this benefit is recognized and referred to as the work ethic. Some younger people are looking for ways to avoid effort as a kind of easy way out. Consider two classical pianist of equal talent but who achieved their success in different ways. One practices 4 hours per day over his life time but the other made a Faustian deal and the devil waved a magic wand and he just absorbed the skill. Anyone who has ever achieved anything knows that the player who put in the effort will receive much more pleasure. Victory is the reward of hard work and hard working people know that. If you are part of the quiet quitting culture you do not understand how this hurts your self worth. These must be people who do not like work and that is a shame as they are losing out on one of the great pleasures in life.

Fight

Today on the news there was video of a fight on a school bus. It showed two boys pummeling a girl and no one stepped in to stop the beating. I went to an all boys high school and when a fight broke out we all stood around and yelled fight fight. I never witnessed two against one and that would not have been allowed. To think that people would stand around while some boy was beating on a girl is beyond the pale. You may conclude that more fights make the news today because everyone has a camera but that cannot explain two boys beating girl. Something is wrong in our society. Could it be that these same boys will one day be wife beaters.

Disruptive students

There are news items about violence in schools on a regular basis and some say it is because everyone has a camera. Many people do not understand what teachers are up against. Here is an example. When I sub, I don't walk before school so I walk around the classroom. If a student is talking loud enough for me to hear them, I usually catch their eye and that quiets them. If that doesn't work, I go and stand by them and that usually works. But if that doesn't do it, I ask them if they would like to go and get a drink of water and this they normally go for since they get out of class. I then stand by the door and wait for them to return. I meet them at the door and say something to this effect. We only have 20 minutes left in class and I am here for only one day and I don't want to cause anybody any grief so help me out here and see if we can make it to the end of class. That worked every time but once. On that occasion the student kept acting up so I was forced to call the office for help. The assistant principal came into the room and I didn't have to point out the student as he knew who it was and asked the student to come out in the hall. In about a minute or two they came back in and the student sat down in his chair. As the assistant was leaving he turned to me and said, you know he's not learning any thing when he is out in the hall. The the student began once again talking in a loud voice. When a regular teacher has this type of problem they will be accused of not being able to control their classroom. It is true that the student is not learning when he is in the hall but when he is in the room no students are learning. He is the center of attention and not the subject matter.

Balloon

The recent news of a Chinese balloon flying over the Midwest brought back memories of WW 2. In those days commercial air traffic was very limited so when a plane flew over we would run outside to look at it. During the war, I was a child and I clearly remembering that I thought it might be an enemy plane coming to bomb our house. Of course living in Central Illinois I was 1,500 miles from the coast.

BLM

I saw a list of famous people who have lost their jobs because of something they said. I never heard of most of these people because I am not in tune with popular culture. One man lost his job because someone posted a picture of his hand showing what I used to call the OK sign but is today called a White supremacy sign. The really odd thing is that this man was Black. These things are of little concern to me but how this so called cancel culture effects ordinary people is of concern. One example is that the teachers in this area are required to say Black Lives Matter. Most even have BLM signs in their rooms. This requirement is very specific, for example they must not only say Black Lives Matter but they cannot say All Lives Matter. These teachers willingly give up their right to free speech in order to keep the peace. There was an incident here last year that prompted this silence. One teacher did not go along and the students walked out. This cause a severe disruption at the school so the rest of the teachers dutifully fell in line so as not to cause trouble.

Is there a free lunch

The federal government hands out cash either directly or indirectly through various subsidies. The government gets is money from the taxpayers and/or by creating it though the Fed. Everyone and every group gets part of this largess. Farmers get crop subsidies, the oil companies get depletion allowance, homeowners get interest deductions, businesses can deduct almost all expenses, many states allow for state income tax and property tax deductions and the list goes on. Most of these deductions are the result of lobbyist who represent different groups like real estate and the oil industry. The people elected to congress are supposed to be the lobbyist for those who are not represented by other lobbyist. Almost all of these elected officials see the government as responsible for a safety net. Programs designed for those who cannot help themselves. This could be someone who is disabled and cannot work or more commonly it is a single parent mostly moms. When it comes to the other subsidies these officials fall into two categories. The first group tries to initiate laws and regulations which will encourage business to create good paying jobs and the second wants to expand the safety net with programs like free or low cost health insurance and free college. In the past many in congress tried to limit government spending on the expanded safety net but they are a dying breed. Most in congress today see their first responsibility as offering benefits to their constituents. This has resulted in an expanded debt and many do not see this as a problem. They seem to believe in the new economic idea of Modern Monetary Theory which states that the government can create money for any justifiable cause. Some even talk about sending out $1,000 every month to all working people something called guaranteed income. Others want free education and some Medicare for all. The trend of using the federal government to provide benefits has been on the increase for almost 100 years and it will continue because those in congress have discovered that this is the way to get reelected. What will be the long term result. A quote attributed to several different people may be the answer. “A democracy cannot exist as a permanent form of government. It can only exist until the majority discovers it can vote itself largess out of the public treasury. Is our republic on the way out and we just don't know it?

Electric rates

Many people living here are not aware that in 1994 the state of Minnesota outlawed the building of any new nuclear power plants. This week the MN house passed a bill saying the state must be carbon free by 2040. This means wind and solar. Not one mention of the harm caused to the environment by the mining and disposal of the materials needed for wind and solar. This indicates that climate change is not an environmental issue but rather a political one. MN currently gets its 50% of its electric power from coal and natural gas. They have left themselves an out...something about having power companies to pay a penalty for not meeting the goals. This penalty will result in higher prices which will hurt low income people. The next step would be to subsidize low income people for utility cost reaching the final goal of redistributing the wealth. Recall when Obama said your electricity will necessarily sky rocket. Here’s one line that President Barack Obama might want to rewind: “Under my plan … electricity rates would necessarily skyrocket.” This is one of those cases where someone in Washington accidentally speaks the truth.

Interest rates

For most of the last century the Fed Funds Rate was above 5% and often far above that. Then in 2007 it started down and was less than two percent until this past year and most of that time it hovered just barely above zero. For the past 15 years people have enjoyed the benefit of almost free money. The banks could get money at less than one half percent so they could make a handy profit with 2% loans. The hay day of almost free money is over and now inflation has become the problem. In time people will adjust to the higher rates and borrowers will once again start investing. During the years of low interest rates the Fed was creating money in a process called quantitative easing (QE). Between 2007 and today the money supply increased from $5 trillion to $22 trillion and now the Fed must reduce that which adds to the inflation problem. The Fed is letting $90 billion per month roll off of its balance sheet meaning the Fed is reducing the money supply by that amount. The governments interest payments on its debt will increase from $400 billion per year to $1.2 trillion just because of higher interest rates. The good times are over and it is now time to pay the piper.

Bernie

There was a discussion on the news today about Bernie Sanders new book that lays out the evils of capitalism. Bernie is holding meetings to discuss his ideas and charging $100 to get in. While the immediate irony is apparent one panelist suggested a solution. He said that 20% of the attendees should pay $500 per ticket so the other 80% could get in free. This would be line with the tax the rich redistribution ideas that Bernie expounds.

Ego

A man reached mid life and while things on the surface seemed alright he felt deep inside that something was amiss. He read some books and talked with other men and one asked about his relationship with God. He knew when he was growing up he was close to God but over the years he sort of drifted away. This must be it he thought, so he set up plan and he likened it to redoing his house. He went home and tossed out all of his furniture, installed new flooring and painted all the walls. Then he went outside and put on new siding, windows and roofing. He installed a large new front door, opened it up and said, OK God, I'm ready, come on in. Then he waited. A week, a month, many months and nothing happened. He couldn't figure out what was wrong. Then one day while he was standing by the front door his eyes wandered across the room and settled on the door leading to the basement. He was mysteriously drawn to the door. He opened it and stepped inside and standing on the platform in the dark he felt the angers that he'd carried inside move away like smoke in the wind. He next worked his way down to the basement floor where he stopped long enough to let his inner fears float away into the darkness. As he stood there he looked across at the door leading to the coal bin. Cautiously he moved toward the door and opened it and stepped inside. There he came face to face with all of his hidden hurts. All the little disappointments that he just stuffed and they were released into dark. Then he noticed a hole in the floor near the far wall and went over. He got down on his knees and worked his way in. He got on his belly and inched his way deeper into the opening. He was now down with all the slimy worms and bugs and just in front he saw a large rock and written in the moss was the word shame. He knew then that if he overturned that rock all of his past and present shames would be exposed. He said a silent prayer, reached out and turned it over. He immediately found himself back in the basement where walls were bright, shiny and newly painted. He went up the step and into the living room and across to the big front door. He opened the door,stood there in silence and then realized that God doesn't come in through the front door of your ego but through the backdoor of your shame.

Migrant pay

The claim that immigrants lower wages is often challenged but there is evidence to support that claim. It is said that Americans will not do the jobs that migrants do, things like picking farm crops as if that were beneath them but in fact it is because the pay is too low. If crop pickers got $45 per hour many Americans would take these jobs, so in fact migrants do keep wages down. The minimum wage for farm workers in California is $15 per hour and that allows American consumers to have cheap food but some say this is at the expense of cheap labor. Bending over all day in the hot sun for $15 per hour could be called by many, slave labor. The average cost for farm produce is $3 per pound and $1 is for labor. If wages increased from $15 per hour to $45 per hour the cost of farm produce would increase from $3 per pound to $5 per pound. The average family spent $7,000 for food last year and 15% or $1,050 was for produce. That would increase to $1,750 if farm labor were $45 per hour. The average American would have to pay $700 per year or $14 per week more to pay these workers a living wage of $45 per hour. Low income people do not consume a lot of produce so the bulk of this increase would fall on middle and upper income people. Most people in this group will spend that much for coffee. The average American spends $1,100 per year at Starbucks.

Police

Violent crime in the United States peaked in 1990 at 750 per 100,000 population. It has been on the decline to 360 per 100,000 in 2015 but it has since risen to over 400. This 30 year record shows that policing has been effective but recent events have challenged police. Most departments across the country have seen an increase in resignations and early retirements. On top of that recruitment of new officers is down by 50%. The result is that many departments are lowering the requirements regarding things like education and physicals. A number of experts have concluded that the country is headed toward a perfect storm of retirements, resignations and negative narrative on cops. For most of the years since 1990 the number of officers killed in the line of duty averaged about 170 per year but in 2020 the number was 373 and in 2021 the number was 472. Last year the number declined to 323 and that was attributed to the Covid shutdown. Here is the results of a survey taken in September of 2021. 75% say police help them feel safe. 67% say police are widely trusted. 44% want more funding for unconscious bias training. 20% Support defunding police. 62% of officers say the job is more difficult today.