HAPPY NEW YEAR

I believe that the coming year will be better than the last several years.

One of my favorite restaurants was really full this morning. Full restaurants is one of the ways that I tell if an economy is picking up.

We can all spoil any recovery by reacting with fear to news that a small European country is going to have "debt problems".

We can all spoil any recovery by believing that Iran is going to close everyone off from oil. Iran paid attention during the two "Gulf Wars". They know that they would lose power if they angered the rest of the world by trying to stop ocean shipping of oil.

Our news sells itself with stories that are designed to frighten you. If you do not get frightened, you may not watch the news or read a newspaper. It is difficult to fight this fear, and hard to tell if the fear is reality or a "news at 6" story. If necessary, verify by watching BBC and PBS news. Both are somewhat boring, but less likely to use scare tactics to get you to watch.

Keep your fear of the world coming to an end under control and we will all have a happy and prosperous new year.

HAPPY NEW YEAR!

CELEBRATE PEOPLE

This holiday, try to do your best to praise people, rather than criticize them. This goes double for your family.

If you hate your child's hair, tell her that you really like her shoes. If you hate the food, tell them that the table decorations are lovely. You can always find something that you like if you want to look.

Being open and loving instead of closed and critical will make your own holiday a holiday to remember.

ENJOY!

CELEBRATING SATURNALIA

Around year zero, Romans were still celebrating Saturnalia, which was a two week party celebrating Saturn, which started on the shortest day of the year.

Today is the shortest day of the year.

For years, my children and I celebrated Saturnalia, where we each opened one gift. I always made certain that the children's gift was one that would keep them busy for the next five days.

I explained about the shortest day of the year and the Romans. But I did not bother to explain anything else. Eventually, the children did their own historical research and taught me things that I did not know about Saturnalia.

One year, the children went to Miami for Christmas, and the kids and I held Christmas and Saturnalia on the same day.

All ancient cultures celebrated the sun coming back. When children learn history they learn that all people used to be 'pagan'.

Frankly, I started the Saturnalia thing so I could spread out the present giving. I think we give so much to the children that they can not appreciate the gifts.

Anyway, Happy Saturnalia to you all!

TALKATIVE CHILDREN

A parent cannot WAIT for a baby to start talking. It does not take long after that for a parent to wonder how to get the child to shut up.

After many attempts to teach a child to talk quietly or to stop talking so others could talk, a brilliant parent came up with the idea of an imaginary mute button.

The parent points an imaginary TV control at the child. By pretending to push mute multiple times, the child is "told" to be silent. Pushing the mute button one or two times means that the child should talk more quietly.

As I recall, the parent and child expanded on the game so that the child could "fast forward".

It is imperative that the child be allowed to move his/her lips as if she/he were talking, for at least for 20 seconds after the "mute" button is pushed.

The child seemed to love the game, the parent did not have to yell at the child, and others could talk without interruption.

US DESTROYS WEBSITES WITHOUT NOTICE?

ICE, which is supposed to be doing homeland security, has closed a hip hop website for a year due to unproven copyright violations. No hearing was ever held. The site is now back up. Check out Dajaz1.com for more information.

Now the US Congress wants to allow copyright holders to shut down a website upon a no hearing complaint. The SOPA act (HR 3261) would also make felons out of teenage movie sharers.

Internet companies believe that the best way to address copyright infringement is to pass the OPEN (Online Protection and Enforcement of Digital Trade) Act.

I believe that if the internet is a community, it needs the same things that other communities have. The internet especially needs courts, judges, police officers, prosecutors, defense attorneys. If anyone expects to fairly stop the con artists and copyright violators, then the internet needs a judicial system.

I envision that an internet judical system would operate on line courts, where people can appear to tell the judge their side of the case.

The artists opposing the OPEN Act say that the ITC court is too far away from them. The artists would like to be able to say, "stop that", and have it stopped without any court hearing at all.

Artists should remember that all art is derivative, and if they can stop someone from internet publishing with just their word alone, they can also be stopped from internet publishing on someone else's word alone.

These are serious issues. These issues can not be solved unless the solution comes from people who understand how the internet works.

CRIPPLING THE EFFECTIVE INVESTIGATORS OF US TERROR

Congress is trying to pass an add on to the defense spending bill which would give the MILITARY the responsibility to investigate, prosecute and imprison terror suspects IN THE US. The FBI and the Justice Department would no longer be responsible for US terror.

The FBI has been doing a great job stopping bombings before the bomb is even built.

The military does NOT want to be in charge of domestic terror.

The Secretary of Defense, the Director of National Intelligence, the FBI, and the Justice Department, ALL OPPOSE THE CHANGE.

So why is Congress intent on doing this?

I think they are doing this because they wish to keep the military overextended. When the military is overextended the US hires private security firms, which I call MERCENARIES, to handle security for US interests. Now that the military is no longer overextended, they are working to end the hiring of MERCENARIES.

Why is Congress on the side of the MERCENARIES? It is really easy for private security to break the law while getting information that can be used for the purpose of blackmail.

WE NEED TO STOP THIS CHANGE! Using due process of law, the FBI and the Department of Justice have been stopping, arresting, convicting, and imprisoning terrorists. There is NO REASON to give the terror suspects an excellent constitutional reason to fight their convictions.

CALL YOUR CONGRESSPERSON!

SURVIVAL OF THE FITTEST

I am convinced that some people view disabled people as if the disabled were the wounded antelope and they were the lion. These people treat the disabled as if they were prey. "Oh, golly, look a wheelchair. The better to eat you, my dear."

Unfortunately, you do it also. Your way is kinder and more subtle. What you do is make the decisions on behalf of the disabled person, because you believe that you know better. Often the decision you make is to put the person away in a group home of some sort. You get upset when the disabled person says, "No." Often the disabled person you want to put into a home is one of your parents.

People of sound mind and feeble body get to make their own life choices. The only time you get to make the choices for an adult is if the adult is not of sound mind.

So if you have a disabled friend with a sound mind, make certain that you are not making choices on behalf of the friend. Let your friend make her/his own choices, even if you disagree with that choice.

However, I have NO PROBLEM with any of you people who want to help the disabled by making certain that the "lions" are taught that taking advantage of the disabled is going to get them into a lot of trouble.

MEDICAL MARIJUANA AT RISK

Medical marijuana is legal in many states. FEDERAL LAW DEFINES MARIJUANA AS AN ILLEGAL DRUG. (Nixon's revenge against the peace movement was to deceitfully define marijuana as the evilest of evil drugs.) Federal law prohibits even doctors from exploring marijuana's medical uses.

RIGHT NOW, THERE IS A BILL IN CONGRESS TO END PROHIBITION OF MARIJUANA -- HR 2306.

As long as the federal law defines marijuana as an illegal substance, marijuana users, sellers and growers will ALWAYS be at risk. Right now, all of the federal laws regarding illegal substances apply to marijuana. This means that, according to federal law, marijuana users cannot get scholarships, federal housing, business deductions, medical research grants, gun permits, etc. Just because the Feds are not now really trying to apply these law does not mean that the Feds can not apply these laws any time they want.

So why are NORML and medical marijuana activists not working very hard to get HR 2306 passed and into law?

We all also need to remember that state laws against marijuana will be in effect for YEARS. There are still "dry counties" where alcohol sales are prohibited 80 years after federal alcohol prohibition was repealed.

HOLIDAY GIFTS

Check out the store in your local museum. Here in Silicon Valley we have The Tech, the Children's Discovery Museum and the San Jose and Stanford Art Museums. All have gift shops with gifts most people have NEVER seen before. The shops have doors separate from the museum so you do not have to pay to shop.

I especially like the wind up toys at The Tech. Good for kids over 6 - adults. For adults with good manners, there is almost always notepaper based on the art work.

Almost every museum has a shop with unusual presents. People get tired of the things they can get from stores.

Puzzles that are fairly hard can be gotten at a game store. Puzzles are good presents for older children as they will have fun showing the puzzle to their friends. The best puzzles are three dimensional. The ones that are little pin ball games can be taken to school.

Metaphysical stores can have crystals and other unusual items.

Ethnic stores are great for inexpensive gifts. I especially like San Francisco's Chinatown for fun toys. The silk boxes are inexpensive and useful. I am told the lipstick holder makes a great travel box for earrings.

A present does not need to be expensive. Sometimes something inexpensive that shows that you PAID ATTENTION to what the other person likes has more impact than an expensive present.

OCCUPY MOVEMENT AND VALLEY FORGE

The winter is coming and people are still camping in their cities to call attention to the economic decisions which further enrich the 1% as the 99% become poorer. You all know what I believe. I believe that letting the rich bully more than their fair share out of the economic pie is bad for both the rich and the poor.

My nightmare now is that a fire will rage through the OCCUPY tents, killing protesters. This is because the winter in the US is much colder than the winter in Tahrir Square. Occupy people are using space heaters to heat their tents. They are using open flame to cook their food. And their tents are so close to each other and the fires that it is frightening to think about.

Yes, the camping through the winter does bring up images of Washington's troops at Valley Forge. I guarantee you that Washington had strict standards regarding tent placement and fires. This is why the paintings always show the tents at least one tent space apart from each other, and the fires in front of the tent, at least one tent space away from the tent.

You have made your point. Now, go register people to vote, work for charities, or join a political party. May I recommend the Democrats? By now you have all learned that any group of people will not agree on all things. But you, I and the Democrats all agree that the Republicans want to make the rich even richer.

I again remind you, protests do NOT elect your representatives. VOTING elects your representatives. And it is the elected representatives who make the decisions. There is almost never enough lobby money to get an elected representative to vote for something that will cause her/him to for certain lose the next election. YOUR VOTE DOES COUNT. But only if you cast your vote.

HOW TO GET AWAY WITH MURDER

First, you get your victim to go into any inner city slum. It is preferable that the inner city slum is racked with the violence caused by the prohibition of some drugs.

Second, you shoot the victim with an older gun that you bought at a gun sale.

Then you sit back and watch the police deem it another horrible death by gang violence.

(THIS BLOG IS NOT INTENDED AS A PLAN FOR MURDER, BUT AS A COMMENT ON DRUG PROHIBITION VIOLENCE IN POOR NEIGHBORHOODS. As a murder plan, there are some large holes in the plan.)

SPECULATION & ITALY

I do not understand how speculators can be allowed to take out European country after European country. The speculators are going after entire countries in the same manner that banks foreclose on houses as interest rates rise.

I am beginning to wonder if it is a conspiracy to make money or perhaps again try to bring down the world wide economy. One can have economic warfare as well as conventional warfare.

I do know that speculators get addicted to the money to be made from using the stock market to gamble with unthinkable funds.

It is interesting to note that much of the speculation is coming from Asian markets. It is also interesting to note that China refuses to allow its currency to be treated the same as the currencies which get traded openly on the markets.

It is hard to know the cause, but we all are being damaged by the effect.

THANK YOU, MISSISSIPPI

So much for all of the people who thought that they could convince Mississippi to make abortion, and some birth control, illegal.

We spend so much time judging large groups of people by outdated criteria.

The 'LET US CONTROL WOMEN and force them to have babies' people thought Mississippi would be an easy win.

Mississippi is full of educated and thoughtful people who made the right choice.

SAVING BABIES

People who want to save babies care about the babies until the baby can support itself as a grown person. Caring for babies means making certain that the baby has food, at least one caring parent, education, shelter, and health care.

A person who believes that all human fertilized eggs should be carried to term, but who does not care at all about a baby already born, does not really care about babies. A person who thinks that it is OK to allow a baby to die because the parents do not have health insurance, does not care about babies.

The person who respects fertilized eggs over actual children in need, is probably just trying to control women.

The biological instinct to have children and grandchildren is really strong. As women become masters of their own destinies, men wonder whether a woman will agree to have THEIR baby. Many men prefer not to ask. If these men only have to seduce, or rape, they can insure that their genes go on if they can force women to gestate THEIR baby.

People forget so easily. Doesn't anyone remember the horrible back alley abortion clinics where women died of blood loss or infection?

If you want to stop abortion, help a girl become what she really wants to be. Provide family planning, such as birth control to any female who asks for it.

Please do not force a girl or woman to have a child that she does not want.

To use having a baby as a kind of punishment for having intimate relations with a male is WRONG.

OCCUPY OAKLAND -- GOOD JOB

The general strike in Oakland was mostly peaceful, with a minimal police response. The Occupy Oakland protesters tried hard to keep the violence under control.

Suggestions:

Do not hold an evening protest. Violence can escalate when the sun goes down. Plan a way to encourage people to go home. Make certain that the "peacekeepers" in the movement save some energy to deal with those who wait for the peaceful to go home before starting violence.

But overall, an amazing demonstration of the frustration of the 99%.

What next?

May I suggest that you all start registering people to vote? Protest is exciting, but politics only changes when the politicians KNOW you are going to VOTE. Also, voting in some states has gotten more complicated, thanks to the conservatives. It will be necessary to teach people how to comply with the new laws.

I also admire the tax on financial transactions proposed by the President of the EU. The Church of England has pledged to help the Occupy London get this "Robin Hood" tax passed. (This tax may also dampen speculation on financial markets. Speculation hurts us all.)

"KEEP ON TRUCKING!"

OCCUPY AND RESPECT

Tomorrow there will be a general strike in Oakland. At this point, no one has any idea how many people will participate.

FOR THE PARTICIPANTS:

Please refrain from violence.

Please do not insult those who chose to go to work or to shop. It is impossible to judge another until you walk in his/her shoes.

Please allow people to get home. BART makes a lovely target, but too many people depend on BART and the buses in order to get home to their children. People who use BART and buses are NEVER the 1%.

The police are not your enemy. Many police officers lost their homes when the loan sharks allowed them to include overtime in the income used for the loan. When overtime for police disappeared, officers lost homes. Please do not throw things at the police.

FOR THE POLICE

The protesters are not your enemy. They are protesting because of the income disparity and job losses in the US. These events also harmed you, so give the protesters the respect they deserve for putting themselves on the line to help millions of other people.

EVERYONE REMEMBER THAT THE WORLD IS WATCHING.

HAPPY HALLOWEEN

Have a fun and safe Halloween.

OCCUPY YOUR CITY AND THE ARAB SPRING

When democracy protesters occupied city squares to protest their repressive governments, the Western world cheered. Western leaders talked about the legitimate aspirations of the Arab people.

When the Occupy Your City movement camped in front of the Oakland, California city hall, the police waited until 4 30 am, cut off all media access, brought in officers from other jurisdictions, and forcibly cleared out the camp. An Iraqi war veteran was hospitalized with a serious head injury because the police SHOT tear gas, at close range, into the mostly peaceful crowd.

NO WONDER MOST OF THE WORLD THINKS WE ARE HYPOCRITES.

The Occupy people are tying to get the attention of their leaders, who seem to believe that it is OK to rescue the rich people, but also OK to let the poor people lose everything.

Economists have been saying that stimulus is necessary to bring us out of recession. China listened and their economy is doing very well. Western leaders, except for President Obama, seem to believe that economies work like household budgets and that they should just cut back on spending.

It looks like they well not listen until the 99% take to the streets in protest.

I did not want it to come to this. But, if you feel that you need to protest, PLEASE KEEP THE PROTEST PEACEFUL.

Large protests get out of control unless they are internally controlled. You need protest marshals with the authority to give instructions to the protesters. Listen to those with protest experience.

PEACEFUL PROTEST IS A POWERFUL WAY TO GET YOUR MESSAGE HEARD.

VIOLENT PROTEST CAUSES THE OPPOSITION TO BECOME MORE POWERFUL.

Yes, Oakland made a poor choice when the not-quite-ready-for-prime-time interim police chief decided that no one was going to camp outside HIS city hall. A more experience officer would have analysed the political ramifications of his actions. After all, Oakland is only a few miles from People's Park.

9 9 9 TAX AND DAMAGE TO CHURCHES

The proposed 9% sales, personal and corporate tax may damage the ability of churches and charities to fund raise.

The 9/9/9 tax is a FLAT TAX. This means that everyone pays the same percentage in taxes, but THERE ARE NO DEDUCTIONS.

NO DEDUCTIONS means that people will no longer be able to deduct their donations to churches and charities from their income tax. This could significantly affect donations.

People like giving money to something they believe in and people HATE paying taxes. If people no longer get a "twofer" by saving taxes and giving to their church, they may give less money to their church.

I have no idea how much hating taxes has to do with charitable donations, but I think it may be significant.

I think that cavemen came home from the hunt and said, "I was the one who killed the beast, why should I give any of it to the women and the children?"

Certainly, there are historical records of people hating taxes ever since the people paying taxes could write on the walls.

I believe that a flat tax will cause people to give less money to both churches and charities.

US EXPORTS PROHIBITION TERROR TO MEXICO

45,000 people have been killed during the US sponsored Mexican war to enforce drug prohibition.

The US media does not care about these deaths, probably because the dead are brown, Spanish speakers. No wonder much of the world thinks we are selfish racists.

We are exporting the drug prohibition war. I will bet you that the US is picking up a large part of the monetary costs of this violence. The US certainly threatened Mexico when Mexico tried to legalize all prohibited drugs.

When alcohol prohibition was in effect, the US got upset at the deaths of 7 people in the Valentine's Day massacre in Chicago. But, if the drug enforcement of prohibition is in Mexico, it is OK that THOUSANDS of people are dead.

We think we are protecting our children from drugs by doing this. We ignore the fact that, when the drugs reach the US, the US drug dealers prefer to use children to sell the drugs. This is because teenage boys are often reckless, and the sentences for teenagers are usually lighter, so the teenagers are less likely to rat on their bosses.

Teenagers can get illegal drugs easier than they can get alcohol. This is because sellers of illegal drugs do not care who they sell to. Sellers of alcohol are afraid to sell to teenagers because they could lose the right to sell alcohol.

Can we at least try to pass HR 2306, which would remove the federal prohibition of marijuana? Can we also put pressure on our government to let Mexico make its own decision regarding the prohibition of drugs?

If you do not believe my analysis, please watch the PBS Ken Burn's documentary on the prohibition of alcohol. Just substitute "raves" for "speakeasies" and "drug dealer" for "bootlegger". See if we are not repeating history.

We do not even have the excuse of not remembering history.

TIME FOR DESSERTS

This is the time that I allow myself to indulge in desserts. My winter holiday season starts now and runs through the middle of January. It starts with my birthday and ends with another birthday. Halloween, Thanksgiving, Christmas, and New Year's are sandwiched in between my private celebrations.

I have been dreaming of the desserts and candies of my childhood. The female descendants of the Swedish and German settlers of Sully County, South Dakota are great cooks. The bake sale was a regular fund raising event.

I can close my eyes and see the upper rooms of Blaine School, full of people, cakes, pies, cookies, candies, all home made. I can almost taste the divinity (without nuts, of course). Rum balls were made with real rum. If you could not make flaky home made pie crust, you brought something else. The German chocolate cake was a favorite of many. I just ate as much divinity as I could get away with.

We lost something when we got liberated.

I am pleased to see the SLOW COOKING movement involve both men and women with the cooking of fine food. I am sorry that eggs, butter, and whipped cream are now considered heath risks.

Most of all, I miss home made divinity.

CHOICES FOR MILLIONAIRES

Let us pretend that you have a million dollars to spend? Are you really going to spend it creating jobs? Will those jobs be in the US?

You could spend it on:

A trip around the world. No US job created.

A famous painting. Some US job creation if buy from US gallery.

Antique furniture. Again, depends on where purchased.

Maid service. US jobs created.

Starting a business. US jobs created only if the business is located in the US.

Planting a garden. US jobs created if garden is in US.

As you can see, millionaires do not always spend their money on job creation. The people I know who started businesses and created US jobs have part time employees or else they borrowed the money to grow their business.

I think the "Do not tax the job creators" is a MYTH, a propaganda tool of the far right, said to protect the millionaires who do not like paying taxes.

FEMALE CHILD -- OBEY OR DIE

We in the US say that we are for freedom for women. We deplore "honor killings", where male relatives murder women who do not obey their fathers and husbands.

We say that female children are as valued as male children.

Large numbers of US Christians say that a female should die in pain and suffering as punishment for early sex. They confuse giving a shot with giving permission to have early sex.

The vaccines for sexually transmitted diseases are most effective when given before sexual maturity. Somehow these confused US Christians have formed the belief that giving the vaccine means it is OK to have sex at 12 years of age.

We give measles shots to children so that babies are not born deaf and blind. We give whooping cough shots to children so that babies do not die of whooping cough. Some people think the minute risk to their children is worth the risk to everyone else's unborn children. These people would rather believe the work of a discredited doctor than to believe the work of the immunologists.

ANY SHOT that can prevent a DISEASE is a good deal. The risks are low and the benefits to individuals and to society are huge.

Sometimes I think that people are just afraid of needles and project that fear onto their children. MAN AND WOMAN UP, GET YOUR SHOTS.

GUNS AND GRASS

Gun owners seem to be upset that they cannot own guns and use medical marijuana.

Last week, Alcohol, Tobacco, and Firearms, issued a letter that stated that if you had a medical marijuana card, it indicated that you were a user of a controlled substance and therefore, could not legally purchase a gun.

ATF IS RIGHT. IF YOU USE MARIJUANA, YOU CANNOT OWN A GUN.

Currently, it is against federal law to grow, buy, sell or prescribe marijuana. Marijuana is a schedule 1 controlled substance, deemed to be worse than heroin.

If use marijuana, even occasionally, and you have a federal gun permit, you are guilty of perjury because you did not tell the feds that you use a controlled substance. A medical marijuana card is probably proof of this perjury.

If you find this upsetting, please support the passage of HR 2306, which would repeal the federal prohibition of marijuana.

STEVE JOBS WILL LEAVE A HOLE IN OUR APPLE

Steve Jobs taught us that our tools can be toys and that our toys can be tools.

He saw that the toy playing music could be a tool to compose and record music. He knew that a toy to play movies could become a powerful tool to make movies.

Steve Jobs believed that even the mundane could be elegant and that tech should serve us, rather than us serving tech.

He left us too soon and he will be missed.

"My candle burns at both ends, it will not last the night. But ah, my foes, and oh, my friends - it gives a lovely light." Edna St. Vincent Millay.

WORLD SAVING IDEA -- SMALL SALES TAX ON STOCKS, BONDS, ETC.

All of the world's governments need more money. Almost all of the world's people believe that speculation on the stock, bond, derivative and currency markets is dangerous.

EU President Barroso has suggested a .05% tax on the sale of stocks, bonds, derivatives, and currency. I would add a .o5% tax on futures, with an exception for commodity futures for edibles. This tax may even dampen speculation.

Most of us would never even notice this new tax. But BILLIONS of tax dollars would be collected.

Please, President Barroso, MAKE IT SO.

EUROPE AND THE US -- LISTEN TO THE ECONOMISTS

Both the EU and the US are listening to the FEAR from people who seem to think that governments budgets are the same as their personal budgets.

Economists have told the EU and the US that the government needs to stimulate the economy and, if the recovery slips, stimulate the economy again. Do the US and the EU do this? Not really.

President Obama has a plan that takes into consideration the values of both political parties. The Republicans still seem to be bound and determined to sabotage ANYTHING that the President proposes. The continuing obstruction from the Republicans will almost certainly slow the economic recovery in the US.

Germany seems determined to treat Greece as an errant little brother. Greece was deluded into believing that economic development could be hurried by borrowing money without insuring that tax collection was universally enforced. They are not the only country to think that growth can come without the rich paying taxes. It is unfair and short sighted of the EU to allow Greece to borrow and then not help Greece with the problems that ensued.

Forcing a large percentage of the population of a county into poverty is NOT the way to recover from a recession.

I notice that several recent elections in Europe have by won by the liberals. The fear generated by the media which resulted in the election of conservatives is being replaced by the reality of much of the population becoming poorer. This is true in both the EU and the US.

SO LISTEN TO THE ECONOMISTS or go into retirement after the next election.

THE EMPTY BEATEN PATH

Two of the most popular travel destinations for lovers of antiquities are currently EMPTY of tourists.

Right now, the pyramids of Egypt and the Acropolis of Athens have few tourists. This is a once in a lifetime opportunity to have an almost tourist free visit to these sites. The pyramids are one of the seven wonders of the ancient world. The Acropolis and the surrounding sites are where democracy was born. It is an indescribable sensation to stand where Socrates stood.

You can probably spend a quiet several days admiring the golden artifacts in the Museum of Egyptian Antiquities. The tombs of Thebes may be practically empty.

THERE IS SOME DANGER in both Egypt and Athens. I would bet that visiting Times Square also holds some danger. But if you stay on the beaten tourist paths, and act politely, and do not dress stupidly, you should have a grand time.

You can, of course, wait until both countries are totally stable to go visit. The choice is yours. To visit now in lonely splendor, or to wait and share the experience with the rest of the tourists.

Remember what Mom says, "You can get killed walking across the street."

If you are afraid of Egypt and Greece, consider going to Spain and Portugal. Travel in the counties that S & P thinks are in trouble, and you will be helping the country and having a great time.

I bet amazing travel deals are available in all these countries.

NATURAL GAS -- FRIEND AND FOE

Natural gas is a very clean burning fuel. This makes it the fuel of choice if one does not want brown air.

Natural gas can also be dangerous. A leak in a natural gas pipe line can blow up. Natural gas has no smell, so we add a horrible smell to the gas so we can smell and report a leak.

Natural gas pipe lines do not last forever. The pipelines bringing gas to our homes and businesses need to be inspected on a regular basis and replaced if necessary. Accurate records of installation, inspection and replacement are very necessary to insure safety.

Inspection and replacement and record keeping are EXPENSIVE. Gas companies have to answer to shareholders, which means they need to make a profit.

Pressure to make money has caused many gas companies to delay and/or avoid these expensive safety requirements.

Here in Silicon Valley, 8 people died when their houses exploded in a natural gas fueled fire ball. A street burned for hours due to a gas leak. Many plastic gas pipes known to fail are not even being considered for replacement.

Even the gas companies want regulations which would force them to do the safe thing. The companies know that the pressure to make money conflicts with the need to replace, inspect and record. Gas companies do not want people to blow up. They know that the safety people need the clout of safety regulations in order to insure that safety does not get put off until "next year". (Sometimes a series of "next year" decisions can kill people.)

CLOSING MARIJUANA CLINICS INCREASES CRIME SAYS RAND CORP.

Critics of medical marijuana keep repeating that the medical marijuana clinics cause more crime.

THIS IS NOT SO according to a study by the think tank The Rand Corporation. Rand studied the crime rates for the 10 days before and after Los Angeles ordered hundreds of marijuana clinics to close. They found that, in the areas around the closed clinics, CRIME ROSE. This was especially true for breaking and entry, and assault.

Rand believes that the clinic's security caused crime to drop. I think that buying from liquor stores was, and is, a lot safer than buying from bootleggers. It follows that buying from marijuana clinics is a lot safer than buying from dealers.

You can read the study at www.rand.org.

The grand social experiment of making alcohol illegal was a failure. Prohibition of alcohol caused crime, violence, widespread refusal to obey the law, and made it profitable to form criminal gangs, some of which exist to this day. No amount of punishment could get people to obey the law against possession of alcohol. Prisons got full and criminals got wealthy beyond their dreams.

We are repeating the social experiment with marijuana.

Our drug policy is costly, ineffective in stopping drug use, and is causing a large number of normally law abiding citizens to laugh at the law.

If you do not believe me, Ken Burns has an upcoming PBS documentary on the original prohibition. Watch it, please.

HAVING MONEY DOES NOT MEAN YOU HAVE "CLASS"

"Class" is a word used to indicate that someone is above or below you socially. It can also mean a person who should be looked up to, as in "(s)he has real class".

You can not become upper class just by having money. Ask the Brits about their many poor aristocrats.

One of the reasons that the new rich are not considered to be upper class, is that the new rich have a tendency to use their money to bully people. There is a fine line between being an effective leader and being a bully.

No one minds if a person becomes rich through brains, talent, or just sheer luck. Unfortunately, too many people become richer by being bullies. The "I have more money than you, and therefore YOU WILL LOSE" is prevalent here in Silicon Valley. We all know stories of companies who will not let you have manuals for their software unless you use their consultants, who will not sell you ANYTHING unless you buy exclusively from them, who deliberately copy the work of a young company to put the young company out of business.

Luckily, being a bully is considered "low class" so the children of the new rich bullies generally are not bullies.

The normal way for a known rich bully to be considered a good guy is to start a charity. Carnegie was considered to be a robber baron before he started building libraries.

BEN FRANKLIN'S ADVICE ON CHOOSING A MISTRESS

Ben Franklin's famous letter regarding choosing a mistress is good advice to an employer choosing an employee.

Ben said that young men should take an older woman as a mistress because they are skilled, experienced, loyal, and above all, grateful.

Now substitute employer for "young man" and employee for "woman" and "mistress".

Remember that youth is enthusiastic, but as likely to rush into trouble as into solutions.

Older is generally wiser. We were wrong when we said, "You can not trust anyone over 30." It is my guess that the saying referred to buying marijuana, not living life.

REVOLUTION CAN BE RUINED

It is possible to destroy a successful revolution.

Here are some of my suggestions to avoid destruction of your revolution.

BE WARY of someone who says the enemy comes from outside of your country. Right now very few countries have to worry about an enemy invasion. Because fear and hatred are such useful ways to control people, the "old guard" will try to use the fear and hatred of a neighboring country to get the revolutionaries to do stupid, violent things. Then the "old guard" will use the violence as an excuse to continue arresting and imprisoning people without a fair trial.

MINORITY GROUPS within your country MUST be protected. The "old guard" will use the fear and hatred method against these minorities, for the same reasons that they will use fear and hatred of your neighbors.

LISTEN TO THE MODERATES. Many revolutionaries make the mistake of thinking that the moderates did not take to the streets so they do not need to be part of the discussion. Usually, the moderates helped you with their silence. By NOT supporting the "old guard", they were giving you more power. Without this silence, you would have been imprisoned and the revolution would have failed.

YOU CAN NOT CHANGE EVERYTHING OVERNIGHT. Democracy is like life. It is born, and as it grows, it becomes more than what it was at birth. Like life, it is a constant struggle.

ELECTIONS; BALANCE OF POWER BETWEEN THE EXECUTIVE, THE JUDICIAL, AND THE LEGISLATURE; AND CIVIL RIGHTS FOR ALL. These are the important things. Concentrate on the important things.

REMEMBER that words are just words. What is REALLY HARD is making those words a reality in the lives of all of the citizens of your country.

GOOD LUCK! You are going to need it. We made it happen, and you can make it happen.

KILLING SAN JOSE'S GOLDEN GOOSE

Since March 2011, medical marijuana clinics in San Jose have paid $1.6 million in the extra marijuana tax. The clinics have also paid slightly more than $1.6 million in regular sales tax. THIS IS OVER $3,200,000 IN SIX MONTHS.

Does this make the cash strapped city happy? Oh, no! The city wants to kill the marijuana clinics by putting in stupid, draconian, and unnecessary regulations requiring the clinics to grow their marijuana on site. The city council may also accept large political contributions from the clinics who wish to become the "anointed ten" clinics allowed to operate in San Jose.

Marijuana may be an effective and safe CURE FOR CANCER. The National Cancer Institute, at www.cancer.gov is still stating that the cannabinoids in marijuana have been found to shrink cancer tumors. (You really need to search carefully for the information, as the "do not tell me the facts, I have already made up my mind" people keep making them take specific pages down.)

There has been NO scientific proof that marijuana has killed even ONE person.

Even if marijuana clinics were causing trouble, the $6.4 million a year would pay for a lot of police officers. However, there is almost no indication that the clinics are causing problems.

Patients who have mobility issues will have trouble getting their medicine if the "anointed 10" plan goes through. Patients who prefer to have their marijuana grown in natural sunlight will not be able to get such natural medicine.

IF YOU CAN, please attend tomorrow's city council meeting. If you can not attend the meeting, call, fax or phone your city council person and tell them to leave medical marijuana clinics alone.

* I have no information on such political contributions. But if there were only 10 liquor stores allowed in San Jose, don't you think that large political contributions would be given to the city council persons from those who wanted to be one of the 10?

REMEMBRANCE OF 9 11

This weekend is the 10th anniversary of the mass murders that were planned, executed, and thwarted on September 11, 2001.

These horrible mass murderers were using the excuse of religious fervor. They were not the first people to use religion as an excuse to murder.

King Richard the Lionhearted murdered thousands of helpless prisoners of war because he did not want to "waste" manpower on guarding them. He figured he needed all of his men to take Jerusalem, which he believed was his religious duty.

Too often, people use religion to revile anyone who does not believe exactly as they believe. "Non believers" are considered to be "non people", who can be killed with impunity. The people who believe this are not actually following the teaching of their religion. They are using a few sentences, taken out of context, to justify their reprehensible actions.

Every time you say, "That person is not one of us, so what happens to him/her does not matter", you are making it a little bit easier for someone, somewhere, to commit an atrocity.

Many of the world's religions believe that Jesus of Nazareth was a prophet and/or the son of God. Jesus said, "The meek shall inherit the Earth." I think he meant that those who could learn to live without violence will be the people who rule the Earth.

In order to live without violence, we need to RESPECT each other. My beliefs may be different from your beliefs, but we can live together in mutual respect and without violence. But there will always be violent criminals, and we will need the good guys who use violence within the confines of the law to bring the bad guys to justice.

If you lost a loved one on 9 11, please accept my condolences.

STOCK FEARS AGAIN

Using the US August job statistics is an extremely iffy reason to make an investment decision.

In the US almost no one actually gets hired in August. This is because hiring is a multi-person decision, and too many of the decision makers are on vacation in August.

August is also the month that politicians pick to make unpopular announcements. This is because most people are on vacation in August and will not notice the unpopular decision. So, if a city is laying off a lot of people, they will try to make the layoffs happen in August.

Therefore, US August job numbers are not a real indication of the US job market as a whole.

Again, you are using the European "debt crises" as a reason to go crazy. I think you are WAY overreacting. In fact, you may be selling based upon a deliberate propaganda campaign designed to get you to sell low and buy high.

It is possible that this same propaganda campaign is behind the US "debt crises" fears. Especially since the US debt is actually a lot less than reported if you do not count the debt the US government owes to the US government.

Fear is WAY easier to trigger than confidence. So, if you want to manipulate people and/or markets, you generate fear in any way you can. Such manipulation and propaganda is protected free speech. Therefore, you are going to have to learn to protect yourselves.

The best way to protect yourself is to invest in something you know or can research. It is VERY RISKY to make quick market decisions for a culture with which you are unfamiliar.

LABOR DAY -- UNIONS AND EMPLOYERS

Lately there has been a lot of talk about how unions are no longer necessary.

"Power corrupts, and absolute power corrupts absolutely."

Actually, I think it is more that powerful people see things only from the point of view of their own supporters. They begin to think that what they think is right and everybody else is wrong.

If you think that corporations will always be fair to their employees, may I recommend reading Steinbeck or Dickens?

STAR WARS ONE TWO AND THREE

There are continuing complaints about the "first three" Star Wars movies. Someone says they are too digital. Someone else says they are not focused enough on the people. I have problems with a child queen who becomes an ambassador.

I am fairly certain that none of these reasons are why you do not LOVE the movies. The "first three" are not a hero's quest. They are about how a person becomes a villain. As such, they are not really fun.

Starting with Yoda saying that Anakin is too old, we are left to wonder if a child that young can already be too scarred by slavery to train as a Jedi. We watch while the soon to be Emperor arranges for Anakin to hold his dying mother. We watch Anakin's horrible reaction. We watch Anakin decide that HIS child is more important than all other children.

These are movies meant to cause discomfort.

Perhaps you are missing the lesson. Someone once said, "Give me a child until he is six and he will be mine forever."

Personally, I think the world would have a lot fewer villains if EVERY child was greeted by parents with great joy. Each child deserves loving parents, a home, enough food, an education, an opportunity to earn a living.

THANK YOU MOM FOR LETTING ME RIDE

I LOVED to ride horses. There is nothing like the empathy you can sometimes get with a horse that you ride often.

My grandmother did not want me to ride horses, as she was afraid that I would fall off and be dragged to death. (I guess that happened once to someone my grandmother knew.) But Mom said, "Let her ride. She could be killed crossing the street."

I have always been grateful.

When I was grown, I rode a motorcycle. (I sold my super beetle to finance my first law office.) I made the mistake of telling my children about the motorcycle.

Now, I am telling you, NO CHILD OF MINE IS GOING TO RIDE A MOTORCYCLE. Yah, right.

To quote my favorite Masterpiece theater movie, "If you can control your children, you are doing something wrong."

Please encourage your children to ride, swim, play outside, climb, explore. Risks are a part of life. You can be killed crossing the street. That is no reason not to live life to its fullest, while you can.

DO YOU OWN YOUR HOUSE OR DOES YOUR HOUSE OWN YOU?

Many people believe owning a big, huge, expensive home is an indication of their social status. They will do anything to own an impressive home, including getting an "interest only" loan to buy the home. Everything they make goes into paying for the home. There is no money left over for trips, dinner out, movies, plays, or shopping.

In an "interest only" loan, you only pay the interest, you never actually pay any money toward eventually owning the home. Most home loans in the US are designed so that, if you stay in your home, you will pay off the mortgage completely after 30 years. Then you can live in the home without paying anything but repairs, insurance, and property taxes. Retirement becomes much easier.

People who believe a house is a statement of their success, often do not get to enjoy the house. If every cent of your income is going into paying for your house, you can not go out to dinner, throw parties or travel. You have no money to do anything but feed your home loan.

When housing prices are going up, sometimes the owner of the huge home can refinance. But when housing prices are stable or going down, the home actually owns you, you do not own the home.

Often, the people who are owned by a home use credit card debt to get at least some of the things they can not otherwise afford. Soon they are owned by both the home and the credit card companies.

Just because you can do something, does not mean that you should do something.

SIMPLE TAXES CAN BECOME UNFAIR TAXES

Many in California are PROUD of Proposition 13, which stopped the counties from raising property taxes on property unless there was a sale of that property.

It is a relatively simple tax measure which has all of the usual problems of a simple tax change. Lawyers are really smart and usually able to come up with a way around paying taxes.

Just look at the fact that corporations are paying WAY less property taxes than individuals (at least in California). Any reasonably bright attorney will suggest to their clients that they form a wholly owned subsidiary corporation to hold each piece of property. Then they can buy and sell the corporation rather than the property and never have an increase in their property taxes.

If you want to help "play the tax game" with the new congressional committee, you will need a tax guide. The best that I have ever found is the U.S. Master Tax Guide published by CCH. It is less than $100.00, and can be bought online. It is a one volume paperback. If you need in depth analysis of a particular problem, the Tax Guide will give you the IRS publication numbers, which is a good place to start.

Please remember that there is almost never a simple solution to a complex problem.

WEBSITE RESPONSIBILITY

Too many people are starting websites, which include people's personal information, without hiring a technical expert to insure that the website does not get hacked.

Is is extremely possible that having a website with personal information and little security could get you sued for any damages caused by the inadvertent release of personal information. Damages could include the emotional turmoil caused by release of personal information.

For instance, hotels with sloppy security have been held responsible for the emotional and physical damages caused by a rapist. Similarly, a website owner could be held responsible for the release of information which causes a robbery. Some people NEED privacy as they are being stalked.

The courts will not allow the website to blame the hacker for the loss of information if the website did not even have the minimal security necessary to protect the information.

For instance, the families of BART policemen could sue the union's website for the emotional distress caused by the posting of the BART policemen's addresses. This is because the union did not have the kind of security that is necessary to protect the privacy of the police officers.

Yes, the hackers may not be nice people. Or the hackers may have been making a political point. It makes no difference why hackers hack. Website owners know that there are hackers out there. They know that the police officers need to keep their home addresses private. Yet websites store the addresses of police officers without the security necessary to keep a bright teenager from hacking the websites.

The attorneys that handle these matters often take the case for a percentage of what they win (called a contingency fee). You may not have to pay them ANYTHING to take the case. They are called PERSONAL INJURY ATTORNEYS. You can get these attorneys even more interested if a group of you get together as the more people the greater the damages. There has to be a certain amount of money on the table for it to be worth while bringing a lawsuit.

It is unfortunate that people have to get sued before they will take the trouble to protect your personal information.

PEOPLE WHO DO NOT KNOW MATH MAY BE CONDEMNED TO BE VICTIMS

This week people kept telling me how many points the stock market was down.

During the debt crises, people kept telling me the amount of the nation debt.

Neither piece of information actually helps me make a decision.

We should be ALWAYS looking at the up and downs of the stock market in terms of PERCENTAGE. National debt should be discussed in terms of PERCENTAGE of the gross domestic product of the country being discussed.

THIS IS IMPORTANT. If you owe someone $1000.00, and your yearly pay is $1000.00, you will have difficulty paying the debt. This is because you owe someone 100% of your yearly income.

If you owe someone $1000.00 and your yearly pay is $10,000.00, you will probably have little difficulty in paying the debt. This is because you owe someone 10% of your yearly income.

If you have trouble figuring out what percentage means, always think of it in terms of cents on the dollar. 5% of a dollar is five cents. Fifty percent of a dollar is fifty cents. See how easy it is?

It is impressive to say the stock market is down 500 points. It is not impressive to say the stock market is down 5%.

You can really get upset if a nation's debt is over a trillion dollars. But if that nation's GNP is $10 trillion, then the numbers are WAY less upsetting as it is only 10% of the yearly "gross income" of that country.

One of the ways people get frightened into making stupid decisions is because they are reacting to the number of zeros because no one gives them the percentages.

IF YOU DO NOT KNOW BASIC MATH, YOU WILL ALWAYS BE VULNERABLE.

PANIC SELLING

The people who set up this fake financial crises are laughing at you as they wheel their roomful of monies to the offshore banks they use to avoid income tax.

You are selling your stock at a huge loss. They have bet on your selling. In fact, they were prepared to do this when the US Congress failed to approve a raise in the US debt ceiling. When that did not happen, they started using S & P to cause panic so that you lose money and they make money.

It is ludicrous to think that the US will not keep being one of the top economies in the world. Yes, I know that outsiders have a huge problem understanding our politics.

To quote my father, "It is a terrible system, but it is the best one that anyone has come up with yet."

WE WILL WORK THIS OUT. Meanwhile, if you panic, you will be VERY SORRY when those who did not sell get all their equity back in a month or so.

THE US STOCK MARKET

"The only thing you have to fear is fear itself." Winston Churchill.

Right now, the stock market seems to be reacting to the fact that things used to be scary. People held it together during the 2008 financial crisis, which is now pretty much solved. The Tea Party People are reacting to this delayed fear, which is why there was so much fussing over the national debt.

But it seems to me that the stock market is now facing all of its normal problems of whether or not the information on a stock is reliable, etc. If you can not cope with that kind of uncertainty, you are in the wrong business.

If you want to be afraid, be afraid of flying in the US. The Federal Aviation Administration, the people who make sure your plane is safe, is out of funds due to more Tea Party machinations. Rural airports are especially affected, so be careful on your vacation.

SUMMER VACATION FOR US & EUROPE

At least in the US and Europe, August is the month that NOTHING gets done. ALMOST EVERYBODY goes on vacation.

Vacations are really important. Your brain needs exercise, rest and relaxation. Those people who work 24/7 are actually psychologically ill. (24/7 was a term used during the dot com era. It means 24 hours a day, 7 days a week.)

Almost all of us push beyond a 40 hour week when we are meeting a deadline, finishing a movie, presenting the design, whatever. But some people have begun to equate working all of the time to being a good employee. Often, the person is working that hard so no one else discovers that (s)he makes too many mistakes or is stealing money.

If you are forcing your employees to work over 40 hours, you are setting yourself up for the mistakes that come from being too close to something to see the fatal flaw.

SO GO PLAY. If you can not play internationally, play locally. BUT GO PLAY.

AMAZON AND STATE SALES TAX

Amazon, the huge internet marketplace for books and other useful things, does not want to pay sales or use tax. Amazon wants to be treated like a paper catalog company, which only charges sales tax to the people in its own state.

Amazon would not exist without BILLIONS of dollars of taxpayer money spent on developing and engineering what we now call the internet. The US generally allows such research to go into the public domain, which means that it is available for anyone to use at no charge.

So the taxpayers paid for most of the research used to build this neat-o thing called the internet.

You would thing that good corporate citizens would embrace the payment of sales tax as a way to repay us all for the opportunities that now exist to make money on the internet.

BUT NO. Amazon is going to amazing and rather shabby lengths to avoid paying sales tax.

I CAN NOT BRING MYSELF to order anything new from Amazon. Luckily there are A LOT of other internet companies to buy from.

BTW, historically, companies did not pay use taxes in large part because the accounting was such a pain. However, computers can now do such accounting in less than the blink of an eye. Again, most of the intellectual foundation for computers was paid for by us all and is owned by us all.

PRETENDING A DEAD TEENAGER IS STILL ALIVE

Reporters for the late News of the World hacked into a missing teenager's cell phone and DELETED MESSAGES, which almost certainly led the police to think that she was still alive. Instead, she had been murdered.

What kind of person thinks that a headline news story is worth contaminating a child's murder investigation?

News of the World was owned by News Corporation, which is owned by Rupert Murdoch.

When Rupert was questioned by the British Parliament, there was no "the buck stops here" response.Rupert blamed the whole thing on subordinates.

There are A LOT of rumors that the phone hacking was part of a corporate culture of breaking laws and paying large sums of hush money if caught breaking laws.

SPECULATIVE CONSPIRACY THEORY:

I have always wondered if the 2008 financial meltdown was done on purpose.

If the meltdown was done on purpose, who was in a position to effect such a meltdown?

If you own the Wall Street Journal and the Dow Jones Industrial Average, then it is pretty easy to manipulate the "public opinion" of Wall Street. If you also own Fox News, then it is pretty easy to blame the entire meltdown on the wrong people.

I think that the motive might have been to return us to the 19th Century. Some people are angry that too many women and minorities are getting "uppity" and "do not know their place".

We can not have a free and equal society if rich men are allowed to use the media to distort the truth.

GOOD ADVICE NO ONE WILL TAKE

The Republicans are using the Tea Party as a stalking horse. (A complex concept. See Wikipedia.) Nixon used his Vice President Agnew as his stalking horse.

The stalking horse is the one who gets all of the blame. The person using the stalking horse almost always gets the credit. Being a stalking horse is generally highly risky. The only reason to use a stalking horse is so you can leave the stalking horse "hanging in the wind" if necessary. ("Hanging in the wind" is an Agnew quote.)

Republicans are setting the Tea Party up to take all of the blame for the deficit budget raise the credit limit mess. No matter what happens, unless the debt ceiling is raised without changes to Social Security and Medicare, the Tea Party is probably history.

I agree with many in the Tea Party on legalization of marijuana. A libertarian in the Tea Party has already joined in introducing HR 2306, which will make marijuana an issue for the states, like alcohol.

I strongly suggest to the Tea Party that they trade being reasonable about the debt ceiling for votes to legalize marijuana.

The political life they save will be their own.

WATCH OUT FOR FRAUD -- FEAR MAKES YOU STUPID

People are starting to get afraid that there will not be a deal on the debt ceiling.

PLEASE DO NOT BUY AND SELL STOCKS AND BONDS RIGHT NOW. Right now the stock market is a game for insiders, some of whom will lose their shirts. While the US is deciding on the future of social welfare programs, the stock market is going to be erratic.

DO NOT INVEST IN a easy way to make money that you got from the internet. DO NOT SEND MONEY in order to get some amazingly large amount of money. THIS IS ALWAYS A SCAM.

I do not understand why we have to risk chaos in order to insure funding for the sick, for college students, for schools, for the SEC (who we need more than ever).

Republicans are now a one trick pony. NO TAXES, NO TAXES, NO TAXES.

TRASHING JUSTICE

California Courts are going to have to lay off hundreds of clerks and commissioners. (Commissioners are not judges, but they act as judges for the simpler cases.)

Attorneys will still get their clients' cases heard. But the people who cannot afford to hire an attorney will have trouble getting the attention of the overwhelmed judges. Listening to, and helping, the people who try to represent themselves takes time, The judges will be having trouble just getting through the huge number of cases they have been assigned. If a person has trouble speaking in public, they may be unable to get any sort of justice from our courts.

For years, people have worked to make justice more available to everyone. The programs developed to help people get divorced, take care of a sick persons, and other necessary legal work, are going to be gone, because there is no funding for them.

For thirty five years, I have been quietly working, in my own way, to help the courts provide justice for everyone. Now I am seeing the work that I, and countless others, have done is just being thrown away on the grounds of "we will never agree to raise taxes".

WE HAVE ONLY OURSELVES TO BLAME. If the Democrats do not instantly give us what we want, we do not bother to vote. If you are working to save the trees, but the forest you love gets cut down, you say, "Well, I just won't vote for anyone then."

Now we are all seeing our lifes' work get ruined.

If you were working to improve education, all of your work to do things like lower class size is now trashed.

If you were working to improve the support system for the sick and elderly, most of your work is being trashed.

If you are working to research space, inner space, or any science, your work is in danger of being trashed.

If you were working on improving our infrastructure, your funding is going away.

If you were working on improving the economy, your work is being trashed big time.

ALL OF THIS BECAUSE, if you did not get exactly what you wanted, YOU DID NOT VOTE.

Can you fix this? Yes, call your Congressperson and tell them you do not want to use raising the debt ceiling as an excuse to trash all of the social progress we have made over the last thirty five years. Then give at least $25 to the Democrats. Let the Republicans know that if they again endanger the world wide economy, they will be history, like the Wigs.

FOX NEWS AND THE LONDON PHONE HACKING

Did you know that Fox News is owned by the same person who owned the News of the World, of London phone hacking fame? Rupert Murdoch owns News Corporation which owns Fox New and the recently defunct New of the World.

If you have not been following the phone hacking scandal in Britain, you may not know that reporters working for News of the World hacked into the phones of celebrities, royals, and murdered children. It is now coming out that the police may have either helped or turned a blind eye. Certainly the police never bothered to even read all of the evidence they collected regarding the hacks.

I have always wondered how Fox News could continue to get so many people to believe in so many incorrect things. Fox News LOVED the birth certificate insanity. Fox News slanted its coverage so that the idea of invading Iraq seemed like a good idea. Yet you all still listen and BELIEVE. I guess fiction is WAY more fun than facts.

Murdoch may be our generation's William Randolph Hearst. Hearst is the newspaper owner who helped start the Spanish American War so that he could sell more newspapers. Hearst also campaigned against marijuana, cheerfully telling lies that the DEA still repeats.

I remind you, THOSE WHO DO NOT REMEMBER HISTORY ARE CONDEMNED TO REPEAT IT.

DO NOT PANIC ABOUT THE DEBT CEILING

No matter what happens regarding the debt ceiling, it is important for us "little guys" to NOT PANIC. Do not sell ANY investments until the market settles down.

History tells us that a US government shutdown will not last very long.

The debt is not really anywhere as large as the media keeps saying. About 32% of the 'debt' is owed to other US governmental agencies. This is sort of like you 'borrowing' from your vacation savings, which is not at all the same as borrowing from the bank. This means that comparing the US debt to other countries MUST take into consideration the amount of debt the other countries owe to themselves. (This is why my Dad would say that the biggest lies are told using statistics.)

Now is a really stupid time to play debt ceiling chicken. (Chicken is a game where young idiots drive cars aimed at each other until one of them turns away.)

But the issues this time are really important. The Republicans want to keep all tax breaks for the rich, and cut Social Security, Medicare, and essential services for the poor. Many of the newbie Republicans are unwilling to listen to advice regarding the reality of politics. These newbies remind me of the tenderfoot in the Old West. (Death rates for a tenderfoot was even greater than the death rates for people who play chicken.)

Running a country requires a combination of pragmatism and idealism. Idealism on its own usually leads to disaster for the idealist.

A shutdown coming in August will close the Washington Monument and the Smithsonian museums, leaving tourists with nothing else to do but yell at their Congressperson.

Please Congress, save us all the hassle. Give the President the authority to raise the outside the US government debt by up to 100% of GDP. Give the President the authority to authorize borrowing within the US government.Then everyone can either praise or blame the President for the debt.

BILLS -- HIDING THE PAST DUE AMOUNT

Since the recession, many of us are a little behind on our bills. Some of us were ALWAYS behind on our bills. Delay in bill paying even has a physiological diagnosis -- bill paying anxiety.

Lately, it seems to be a new policy to have the phone computer tell the customer only the total amount due, not the past due amount. The theory seems to be that, if you do not know the past due amount, you will pay the total amount due. Instead of doing what the companies want, customers just wait to talk to (or yell at) a customer service representative.

Additionally, the extra hassle makes the customer less likely to be eager to call and pay the bill.

I know, you think I am totally weird, because I do not pay my bills on line.

I do not pay my bills on line, because I know how the internet works. You can protect your own computer, and the company can protect the data on its computer, but the information going from your computer to the company's computer is totally unprotected. Companies could provide an encryption so that the data going to and fro is protected, but they do not.

When I pay bills by making a phone call, the company can store my phone number. I notice that many companies add an extra layer of identity questions if I use an unusual phone to pay a bill.

It should be as easy as possible to pay a bill. It should be just as easy to pay the past due amount as the full amount. Playing games with necessary information just angers the customer and delays the paying of any amount of money to the company.

THE DEBT CEILING MESS -- RISKING ANOTHER MELTDOWN

The debt ceiling is really just the government authorizing itself to borrow more money. If we do not borrow more money, then we either default on our debt or most of the federal government stops working.

Why do we care? Don't you remember? "THE FINANCIAL MARKETS RUN ON TRUST, WITHOUT TRUST, THERE IS NO MARKET." Failure to raise the debt ceiling will almost certainly cause a lack of trust in the financial markets. Are we so stupid that we would deliberately risk another global financial crises?

Republicans are refusing to authorize an increase in the debt ceiling unless the Democrats agree to take money from the old and the sick.

Republicans like to ignore the fact that most of the debt was caused by the Bush Administration cutting taxes for the rich and spending WAY TOO MUCH. Then the debt was raised again in order to increase the supply of money to prevent a world wide depression. The sudden drop in the supply of money was caused by the Republican notion that we do not need financial regulations. No one predicted the drop in the supply of money, because no one could believe that any large company would be so stupid as to agree to insure almost every mortgage in the US.

Surely you know people like these Republicans? We all know at least one person who will loudly blame other people for a mistake he/she made.

We do need to work towards a balanced budget. Cutting some of the tax loopholes would help. Raising taxes for those earning over $250,000 would help. Cutting social services is only helpful on paper. In reality, cutting social services causes great difficulties for our most vulnerable citizens; and causes a drop in the GDP, which cuts into overall government revenues.

Republicans are risking the financial health of the US and of the world. I think they do this just so they can have a good slogan for next year's election.

I am afraid that Democrats will have to risk a world wide financial crises in order to protect the old, the poor, education, and our infastructure.

All so Republicans can brag that they held a tea party. Too bad that they are dumping old people instead of dumping casks of tea.

ATTRACTIVE, INTELLIGENT, AND SUCCESSFUL

Some people who are attractive, intelligent, and successful believe that they will always be attractive, intelligent, and successful.

For women, it is usually the attractive that is the first to be gone. Our society only considers young women to be attractive.

Intelligence can be taken by injury or stroke.

Success is the most fragile of all. Success can disappear overnight. Your company may go bankrupt, you may get fired by a boss who spreads incorrect rumors of your incompetence, a new concept may make your life's work irrelevant, the government may decide to stop funding your research.

It is easy to be a libertarian if you are attractive, intelligent, and successful, because you have no personal knowledge that bad things happen to good people.

Sometimes I think that we should make everyone spend a week living in a homeless shelter.

Other times, I think that nothing will teach empathy. For those who continue to live life as if it were an extension of high school, nothing will teach them that the rest of us have value.

I do not want to stop the rich from enjoying and spending their money. I just think that the rich can afford to pay a little more in taxes.

I do not understand why anyone would take from the poor to give to the rich.

MARIJUANA -- BILL TO STOP FEDERAL PROHIBITION -- LET STATES DECIDE

Courageous congresspersons have introduced a bill which would STOP FEDERAL PROHIBITION OF MARIJUANA.

THIS IS OUR OPPORTUNITY TO MAKE THIS HAPPEN.

WHAT WE NEED TO DO:

Call, fax, tweet or email your US Representative and let him/her know that you are in favor of the passage of HR 2306.

START TELLING THE TRUTH about marijuana. The cost of being silent is the arrest and conviction and imprisonment of people who are growing and using marijuana. The cost of being silent is the imprisonment of minorities who are caught smoking while also being black or brown. The cost of being silent is that research into the health effects of marijuana can not be reliably done in the US.

Follow the bill as it goes through congress. The bill is currently in the House Energy & Commerce Committee and the House Judiciary Committee. The chairman of the Judiciary Committee, Rep. Lamar Smith, a Republican from Texas, has vowed to kill HR 2306. A good website to follow the bill and get the names of committee members is www.govtrack.us.

DO NOT INSULT THE OPPOSITION. Refer the opposition to the multiple presidential commissions that have recommended that marijuana be legalized. Refer the opposition to the LEAP website. Use logic, not rhetoric.

WE CAN DO THIS.

BIG OIL, SPECULATION, AND ELECTIONS

After watching elections for many years, I am convinced that the oil industry tries to affect elections in the US and other democracies.

Many disgruntled voters will vote against the incumbent if they feel they are paying too much for their fuel.

At the moment, gas prices are being artificially inflated by speculation. Not content with ruining the housing market, the speculators have been playing with the price of oil. The excuse is the war in Libya, but that war has not actually affected the oil supply much. (Fear and greed are SUCH a useful things. Fear and greed can be used to fuel speculation in almost anything.)

So a large group of oil importers have gotten together and agreed to release a small portion of the oil they keep for emergencies. They said they would do it again if they had to.

The speculation in the oil market stopped immediately.

Golly, gee. Imagine that.

GAY MARRIAGE -- IS IT ABOUT MONEY?

It has come to my attention that, when a gay person dies, his money generally goes to his birth family.

To often, the partner has to fight the family for every penny.

I am wondering if this attitude goes back over 100 years to Oscar Wilde.

Wilde wrote The Importance of Being Earnest, which was recently made into a movie. He also wrote the Picture of Dorian Gray, the famous story about a vile man who looked young and beautiful while his portrait showed all of his evil.

Wilde was noted for his wit. He supposedly asked a society matron if she would sleep with him for one million pounds. She replied that she might. He then asked if she would sleep with him for one pound. She was upset and asked, "What do you think I am." Oscar replied, "We have already established what you are, we are now negotiating the price."

Wilde was openly gay. He believed his popularity would protect him. When his lover's father accused him of seduction, Wilde sued for libel. Bad mistake as the father was a Lord. The upshot was that Wilde went to prison for sodomy. (Oh, grow up. It is a word used by the courts.)

Anyway, I think Wilde made being gay somewhat acceptable as long as the gay person was discreet and just allowed himself to be termed "a confirmed bachelor".

After all, if the gay person was a bachelor, at least his money stayed in the family.

But now gay people want to have spouses. The law gives spouses certain rights, like the rights to inherit the estate of a deceased spouse. The money would no longer stay in the family.

So now families are guilt tripping gay partners into signing away whatever rights the law has given them. (Note to grieving gays: do NOT sign ANYTHING drawn up by your partner's family without consulting with both an estate attorney and a family law attorney.)

As usual, people use their prejudice as an excuse to legally, but immorally, take monies.

TOO MANY GOOD YOUNG PEOPLE ARE DAMAGED BY THE WAR ON DRUGS

Mothers believe that the war on drugs helps prevent their children from getting into trouble with drugs. Unfortunately, this belief is wrong.

Many people have made a decision that illegal drugs are bad for people, and, if we try hard enough, we can stop drug use by arresting drug users and suppliers. Unfortunately, this decision is wrong.

I know you are busy and do not have much free time. It is important that you take the time to read a short, easy to read, international report on the war on drugs.

The Global Commission on Drug Policy has published a June 2011 report. We all need to read this report.

Sometimes it is hard to face the fact that, when you tried fix a problem, unintended consequences resulted in the problem getting worse, rather than better.

IT IS NOW TIME TO FACE THE FACTS REGARDING ILLEGAL DRUGS.

PLEASE READ THE JUNE 2011 REPORT FROM THE GLOBAL COMMISSION ON DRUG POLICIES. Just do an internet search, and you will get the report.

BUYING A HOUSE -- NOW OR LATER

Many of you are waiting on buying a house. I think that may be a mistake. Let me tell you why.

The economy is pretty much healed from the crunch caused by the sudden drop in the supply of money. Economists are saying that, "All the economy needs now is time."

Houses and inexpensive loans are readily available.

The best houses, those that people care about, are selling first. These are the homes of people who became over-extended, and are rational enough to know that they are over-extended. They are good people who want to do the right thing. These people are probably selling short, getting less for their home than the loan on the home. Buying a home from caring owners is worth the hassle you will go through as a buyer in a short sale.

Remember that responsible people who care about the home they are losing have taken care of the home in a responsible way. This is the kind of home you want to buy.

Eventually, the houses available are going to be the ones where the owner attitude is, "If I can not have this house, no one can have this house." Owners with anger issues can deliberately damage homes in such a manner that you do not discover the problems until too late.

GETTING PAID IN LEMONS

One of my clients kept bringing me lemons after I agreed to take his case. I was REALLY PLEASED and told everyone that I was being paid in lemons, instead of chickens.

This was a reference to my favorite fictional lawyer, Atticus. I would take note of all who caught the literary reference, and we would share a smile about how much we enjoyed reading To Kill A Mockingbird.

The lemons came to me during the recent recession. Atticus got paid in chickens for his legal services, because during the Great Depression no one had any money.

Now, truth to tell, my client did pay me money. But my Dad always said, "Why spoil a good story with a few facts?"

Perhaps it is time to remake the movie To Kill A Mockingbird. I vote for Pierce Brosnan as Atticus.

DID CHINA'S MILITARY HACK GOOGLE?

After the latest statement by Google that Google email accounts had been hacked by someone in China, the Chinese government denied that they had been involved in the attacks.

But the Chinese military put out a statement which contended that the US and the unfettered internet had deliberately caused the unrest and political changes in North Africa and the Middle East. The Chinese military went on to say that they had an obligation to protect China from such problems.

WE NEED TO PAY ATTENTION. The Chinese military is implying that a free and uncontrolled internet is an enemy of the Chinese government.

If you define something as an enemy, then it is easy to justify spying on that enemy. What we call hacking, China may call spying.

China is wrong about the internet and the US deliberately causing the Arab Spring. As more and more people talk and write on the internet, people begin to say to each other, "I thought I was the only one who believed things should change NOW." Eventually, there are overwhelming numbers of people who want to have a say in their government and who want to stop corruption.

As we put more and more information into an internet "cloud", it becomes easier to hack or destroy that information. The entire world wide economy is dependent on the internet. Without the internet, large portions of Western economy would stop working. The recent recession would look small to what would happen if someone brings down the internet.

Now we have the military of a large country saying that the internet may be their enemy.

WE NEED TO PAY ATTENTION.

CANCER TUMORS SHRINK WHEN GIVEN CANNABINOIDS FROM MARIJUANA

Or I could say, "Marijuana cures cancer", which is an exaggeration, but maybe not by much.

Heath professionals and those who can understand medical study synopsis should read the information posted on March 30, 2011, by the US National Cancer Institute, which is a division of the US National Institutes of Health.

The webpage is entitled, "Cannabis and Cannabinoids (PDQ) Health Professional Version".

The paper states that cannabinoids found in marijuana may have a protective effect against development of tumors and can appear to kill cancer cells but do not affect their nontransformed counterparts. (This translates to, "Research indicates that marijuana, or parts of marijuana, can stop you from getting cancer and can kill cancer cells without harming the surrounding tissue.")

While the DEA and many others are retelling the lies about marijuana, the truth about marijuana is being hidden. How many have to die of cancer before we allow people to research this promising cure?

DOES POWER CORRUPT?

When a powerful person commits a stupid act, usually involving sex, we always assume that power has corrupted the person.

I am not certain that corruption is the correct term. Power isolates a person. A powerful person (usually a male) is usually surrounded by people who agree with him and do his bidding. This can lead to the assumption that all people he meets will agree with him and do his bidding, except for those people recognized as adversaries.

Many of these powerful men have the unconscious belief that women are to obey and serve. These men will accept an attractive, intelligent woman as an honorary man. But deep down, they believe that women should do the bidding of men.

Like racism, we all know this kind of prejudice exists. Like racial prejudice, this kind of prejudice is very difficult to address, especially as it becomes more and more socially unacceptable, and therefore, more and more hidden.

The married man who is caught with a prostitute, the married man that has a series of affairs, the man who pinches women's bottoms, the man who promotes only the attractive women, these men are sexists. They believe that their needs are more important than the needs of any woman, including their wives.

At least when they get caught doing something stupid, they are no longer around. Women will not accept a man in power who is caught doing a stupid sexual action.

Perhaps we can call this "social Darwinism".

Except for the trauma to the women betrayed, one would almost hope for MORE sexual stupidity. At least it gets the secret sexists out of positions of power.

CALIFORNIA''S BUDGET

Governor Brown has suggested that we can stop draconian cuts to the state's funding of colleges, health care, disabled care and schools by continuing the vehicle license tax and the slight increase in sales tax. THIS IS NOT A NEW TAX. It is an extension of taxes that we are already paying.

CUTS THAT will hurt the poor, the ill and students, may be the only alternative if California Republican legislators continue to REFUSE to extend or increase taxes.

At the moment, I honestly would not mind if the Republicans voted themselves into oblivion. But the cost to the most vulnerable of California's citizens is just too high.

So please call, write, email, twitter, or fax, your California State Assemblyperson and Senator. It is especially important to call the Republicans. Tell them that you are in favor of Governor Brown's tax extensions. Tell them that you do not want further cost cutting in the state budget.

I believe that very few of us are really so selfish that we would insist that the programs for the sick, the poor, and for students, be cut so we can have very slightly lower taxes.

STOP BLAMING PAKISTAN

Way too many people are blaming Pakistan for not arresting Osama Bin Laden.

Here is the US, every law enforcement agency was once searching for the Unabomber. The Unabomber killed people with letter bombs, and threatened federal judges, which really upped law enforcement's desire to capture him.

The Unabomber was not caught until his rambling writings were finally published, and his brother called the police, thinking that the writer may be his brother. He was right and the Unibomber was caught.

Some of you may remember D.B. Cooper, who was never caught.

Law enforcement is the US is better educated, better trained, and better paid than law enforcement in Pakistan.

So blaming Pakistan for not finding Osama Bin Laden is unreasonable.

"RAW" -- GOOD OR BAD?

The word "raw" can be used in many ways. Some of the uses of raw have a "this is bad news" meaning.

Raw skin is skin that is red and scraped. A raw book is a book that is NOT for children. But raw food is just uncooked food.

Somehow, the FDA has decided that the word "raw" is the word of choice to tell you something is uncooked.

Some of you have decided that "raw" food means that the food is somehow not good. This has resulted in people roasting and salting pecans.

Pecans are one of the foods of the gods. Pecans do NOT need to be cooked. They taste OK cooked, but pecans are best just out of the shell. Pecans definitely do NOT need to be salted.

So here is the rule of thumb. NUTS are from a tree. NUTS generally do not need to be cooked or salted. SEEDS like sunflower seeds, generally taste better cooked with a LITTLE salt. Too much salt overwhelms the taste of the seeds.

BUY RAW PECANS. See if I am not right.

WHY ARE THERE NO LOAN MODIFICATIONS?

People get very emotionally attached to their homes. Some of these homes are so far underwater that the owners may not see equity in their lifetimes. These loans were supposed to be modified. So far, I only know of one loan that has actually been modified.

I know you all think that the people who have these loans have only themselves to blame. I believe that the predatory loan and real estate people should also be blamed.

For example, I know a person who bought an small apartment building for WAY over its value. The person was told that he could make a LOT of money turning the apartments into condos. No one bothered to tell him that the city probably would not allow it, that the hot water was shared by all the apartments, and that the ceilings were almost certainly asbestos.

Homes were also sold with such optimistic (very close to fraud) sales techniques.

Banks do not want to do modifications for a variety of reasons. Couldn't we use the bankruptcy courts to force the banks to accept modifications?

I am not a bankruptcy specialist. I do not know whether this idea would need new legislation. Maybe the bankruptcy courts could use the same legal logic that they use to discharge second mortgages.

I honestly believe that the banks would welcome third party help with modifications. Banks understand profit and loss. What banks do not like is uncertainty.

So many people are doing anything they can to stay in their homes that the uncertainty in the real estate market is lasting longer than necessary. It is time to recognize that emotion also plays a part in people's attitude towards their home.

Let's get these loans modified, and move on.

YAHOO TO SCAN AND ANALYZE ALL EMAIL AND MESSAGES

Yahoo has decided to scan and analyze all email for both Yahoo users and anyone who emails to and from Yahoo users. If you have left email on Yahoo's server, it will also be scanned. It is YOUR responsibility (they fondly believe) to let your correspondents know of this new privacy breach.

They are going to scan and analyze for information that they can sell to advertisers.

I do not use free email services because I do not believe that anything is really free. If a stranger does give you something there always seems to be a price of some sort sooner or later.

However, Yahoo did tell everyone that they would not invade your emails in this fashion. And Yahoo does not seem to be making much of an effort to let their customers, and people who correspond with their customer, learn about this change.

Frankly, I believe that Yahoo needs to put a notification in every email that the email will be used for data mining. Otherwise, people will assume that they are providing a normal email service.

Yes, I know that Facebook does this kind of data mining and the young people who love Facebook do not care. But everyone knows what Facebook does, as their entire business model is based on taking what you post and selling it to advertisers.

I guess we ARE going to need a US PRIVACY LAW to control what these companies do.

Because I am VERY TIRED of saying that these companies can do these things with people who sign up for the service, or who play the game, but they should NOT be able to data mine information belonging to third parties.

CHINA'S FEAR OF FLOWERS

China has removed the symbol for "jasmine" from the internet. This is because the Tunisian revolution was called the Jasmine Revolution and some activists thought to use the same name in China.

The jasmine is a beautiful flower. It has a smell that is lovely and memorable. It seems a shame to have such a wonderful flower banned all over China.

It occurs to me that the Chinese democracy movement could do two things at once.

The Chinese need a name for their activists to use. So, may I humbly suggest that the Chinese democracy movement be called the "Shark Fin Soup" movement.

Hopefully, this will get shark fin soup banned and save those shark species that are being hunted to extinction.

It also makes a statement about those who are living in extreme wealth while ignoring extreme poverty.

With any luck, it takes several important Chinese characters to write "Shark Fin Soup". Certainly the word "soup" can not be banned.

You will have to explain to some people why the word "shark" is humorous when suggested by an attorney. NOLO Press used to have a lawyer joke book with a special section for the shark jokes.

SECOND MORTGAGE PROBLEMS? BANKRUPTCY SOLUTION

If you live in the US and have a second mortgage that you can not pay, you can probably discharge the second mortgage in bankruptcy. This leaves you with just the first mortgage to pay and may allow you to stay in your home.

This works for all mortgages other than the first mortgage.

USE A BANKRUPTCY ATTORNEY. Use a bankruptcy attorney who has an office near you.

DO NOT USE AN ON LINE BANKRUPTCY SERVICE. Your attorney fees in bankruptcy can be paid over time as per bankruptcy court order. BANKRUPTCY is for the expert. Money you think you save by doing it yourself or on line will generally cost you more than you save.

DO NOT BE ASHAMED TO DECLARE BANKRUPTCY. Donald Trump was involved with several business which declared bankruptcy.

SMALL BUSINESS CAN DO WHAT THE BIG GUYS DO. Business bankruptcy is often used to restructure the debt of the business, and to force a renegotiation of lease obligations. Sometimes businesses declare bankruptcy in order to "walk away" from leases that they can no longer pay or that they no longer want to pay.

In general, people who declare bankruptcy get their credit rating back faster than the people who negotiate with the bank for lower payments. (Don't ask me. I am not all that fond of credit reporting people anyway.)

I AM NOT A BANKRUPTCY ATTORNEY. The above is just an overview and could contain incorrect advice. If you think bankruptcy could help you, you need to talk to a bankruptcy attorney.