Zimmerman

I was not interested in the Zimmerman trial but in the aftermath I find some things very strange. To begin with the local DA did not want to arrest Zimmerman because she felt there was not enough evidence to get a conviction. Then after several months of public outcry she arrested him and in her zeal to show she was fair she over charged with second degree murder. Late in the trail seeing the verdict going against them the DA’s office added a lesser charge of manslaughter but it was too little, too late. Now one of the jury members has publically stated that she wanted a conviction but the law got in the way and she was forced to acquit. She says this will bother her for the rest of her life because a man guilty of murder was allowed to go free. During the trial the DA attorneys pointed out that this was not a racial crime, yet all the Monday morning quarterbacks say it was racial. The DA pointed out that this trial had nothing to do with the stand your ground law yet the same quarterbacks are now demonstrating across the country against stand your ground. This is just another example of people not letting the facts get in their way. It reminds me of the time that Al Sharpton stood on the steps in New York defending a poor young black girl who was raped by a white man and when she later recanted, Sharpton said it doesn’t matter that she lied because we know this kind of thing goes on all the time. Al is not the kind of guy that would let the facts of the case deter him from his goal.

Forced savings

The California legislature is currently in the process of writing a law that would require all citizens to participate in a mandatory retirement savings program. The state will deduct 3% from all paychecks and this money would go into a retirement account, something like the way social security operates. The reasoning is that if people don’t save while they are working the state will have to care for them when they retire, so it might as well start now. As everyone knows the money that was supposed to be in the social security fund was transferred to the general fund and used for current expenditures thus leaving the fund with IOU’s. I suspect the same thing would happen to the California fund and the whole thing is a legal way to cover current expenses. As the money is spent the natural progression would be to raise the contribution level above 3% and thus have a new source of funds to cover new programs and when a person retires the state will have to come up with the money by increasing the contributions of current participants and this is what is known as a Ponzi scheme. If this passes in California will it soon be coming to your state?

Wiener

I embarrassed to say that I have been following the ongoing saga of New York mayoral candidate Anthony Wiener and am just a bit confused. He admits to sexting a number of women and then lying about it. He resigned from congress and after he said he stopped this activity he did it again and this time had to fess up because the women went public. Now he is being asked to resign from the race because he lied to his wife and to the public about sexting. I too believe he should drop out of the race because of these offenses but that leads me to the dilemma. Former President Clinton had sex with a subordinate in the Oval Office and lied to his wife and the public about it and he didn’t have to resign and today is held in high esteem as represented by his 60 plus percent approval rating. What is it that I am missing here?

detroit

The City of Detroit made it official today, when it filed for bankruptcy. For those who watch this sort of thing it was no surprise. Each city has its own particular problems but one thing they all have in common is payments to retirees in the form of health care and pensions. While these were the result of collective bargaining, there was a built in distortion because of public unions. It happens at all levels starting with city unions, county unions and state unions. It is also a part of teachers unions. It is the reason why a liberal no less than FDR warned against public unions, in that he knew when people gained the power to determine their own benefits, they would overdo it. One example of how this works would be to look at county workers. The situation would be the same if you looked at state or city workers. The county workers organize and form a union. They then select a candidate to run for county commissioner and then they proceed to get him elected. They help him with their votes, the votes of their relatives and friends. They help him by campaigning door to door calling on their neighbors. They help him by holding coffee parties in their homes along with financial aid to help pay for his campaign. Once elected, they select another candidate and repeat the process and promise those in office, their help in reelection campaigns. Next they sit down across the table from these elected officials and negotiate their benefits. The public unions across the country started this process just after WW 11 and they have worked long and hard to achieve the success they now enjoy. There was nothing illegal or unethical about what they did. It was the American way. Set your goals, work hard to achieve them and then enjoy your success. They have now become the victims of their own success and thus the reason why FDR warned against them.

In regards to Detroit why doesn’t the federal government step in like they did with the auto industry? The city is 19 billion in debt and the Fed is printing up 85 billion per month so they could just pay off the city’s debt. This would set the precedent to bail out all of the other cities that will fail over the next few years. If the government can give billions to the big banks, why not the cities? Could it be those city employees who are going to lose their promised benefits don’t have a lobbyist or perhaps they don’t have enough votes. So much for looking out for the little guy.

Safety first

As of the first of this month the cigarette tax in Minnesota increased by $1.60 per pack. The money is to be used for education but Governor Dayton said his real purpose for pushing this law, was not the tax but the health of the people of the state. It is the punch line for many stories that the speaker says, don’t worry, I’m from the government and I’m here to help. In this case it is a true story. Our state has a democratic governor, senate and house and most of the Supreme Court was appointed by democrats. To say that our state is liberal is an understatement and thus the desire to help the people stay healthy. I think now is the time to take further action in regards to the well-being of our citizens. I suggest we start by placing a tax on all manufactured food items, that contain too much fat or sugar or salt or any other ingredient that we believe is not healthy. These decisions to be made by elected officials. Next all passengers in autos, and any other means of transportation, public and private should be required to ware helmets. Once people are comfortable with that we should require fire proof clothing, similar to what is worn by NSCAR drivers. While other states may not be as concerned about public safety as we here in Minnesota, we will push for the passage of a state highway speed limit of 25 mph. There is no doubt that these changes will protect the citizens from harm and improve their overall health. Next step is to remove the discrimination associated with income disparities. We will do this by making all goods for all citizens less expensive. There will be one type of shoes, one type of pants, one type of shirts, one type of skirts and one type of outer clothing. The only difference will be in the sizes. This will reduce the overall cost for clothing and diminish the variations based on income. The same will be introduced for housing and cars. All houses will be standardized to a 1,200 square foot ranch style with three bedrooms and two baths. Construction cost will decrease significantly as each part of the house can be mass produced and save cost by using standardized production facilities. All cars will be small four door sedans and like Henry Ford says you can have any color as long as it is black. A gas tax of $5 per gallon will encourage people to purchase smaller cars and perhaps electric powered. This will be stage one of the new Minnesota and as people get acclimated to the new ways we can introduce stages two and three. These changes to be announced at a later date. While change is often difficult, in the end the citizens will thank us for their new improved life styles. We do these things not to increase our power or influence but because we know that people cannot take care of themselves and we have the responsibility to help them see the light.

Detroit

The City of Detroit made it official today, when it filed for bankruptcy. For those who watch this sort of thing it was no surprise. Each city has its own particular problems but one thing they all have in common is payments to retirees in the form of health care and pensions. While these were the result of collective bargaining, there was a built in distortion because of public unions. It happens at all levels starting with city unions, county unions and state unions. It is also a part of teachers unions. It is the reason why a liberal no less than FDR warned against public unions, in that he knew when people gained the power to determine their own benefits, they would overdo it. One example of how this works would be to look at county workers. The situation would be the same if you looked at state or city workers. The county workers organize and form a union. They then select a candidate to run for county commissioner and then they proceed to get him elected. They help him with their votes, the votes of their relatives and friends. They help him by campaigning door to door calling on their neighbors. They help him by holding coffee parties in their homes along with financial aid to help pay for his campaign. Once elected, they select another candidate and repeat the process and promise those in office, their help in reelection campaigns. Next they sit down across the table from these elected officials and negotiate their benefits. The public unions across the country started this process just after WW 11 and they have worked long and hard to achieve the success they now enjoy. There was nothing illegal or unethical about what they did. It was the American way. Set your goals, work hard to achieve them and then enjoy your success. They have now become the victims of their own success and thus the reason why FDR warned against them. In regards to Detroit why doesn’t the federal government step in like they did with the auto industry? The city is 19 billion in debt and the Fed is printing up 85 billion per month so they could just pay off the city’s debt. This would set the precedent to bail out all of the other cities that will fail over the next few years. If the government can give billions to the big banks, why not the cities? Could it be those city employees who are going to lose their promised benefits don’t have a lobbyist or perhaps they don’t have enough votes. So much for looking out for the little guy.

DNA

During my life I have come full circle in regards to the behavior of the American people. When I was young I was very good at making excuses for people. No matter how a person behaved, I could justify it based on some past situation. It was never their fault and they could not be held accountable for something that they had no control over. I got so good at this that I ultimately arrived at the point where no one was responsible for anything. As time passed I came to realize that this was not realistic. I saw more and more examples of people who were raised in the same family, lived in the same neighborhoods and went to the same schools and yet grew up to be quite different. One brother became a priest and another a criminal. With the onset of genetic testing, I now find myself beginning another cycle surrounding the behavior of people. It started with physical things like weight control. There are genomes that cause some people to gain weight, some that cause people to feel anxious, some that cause people to use drugs and lately some evidence that there is a gay gene. I can accept all of these changes but if I project into future discoveries, I find myself once again justifying behavior in many ways. For example, what if we discover a gene that causes criminal behavior? Can we punish a criminal if they were genetically predisposed to commit crimes? When we completely unravel the DNA molecule and understand the actions of each gene will we reach the point where no one is responsible for their actions?