THE BIG STORM

I hope everyone is safe.

If there are few deaths, then we should thank the National Hurricane Center and NOAA for their excellent prediction of when and where the storm would hit. It is not possible to close the New York Stock Exchange and the subways if one is not almost certain of the time of the storm's arrival.

It is really too bad that these kinds of accurate predictions will soon disappear, because the Republicans did not think that it was necessary to replace our aging weather satellites  In fact, Romney believes that the damages from these storms can be addressed by the insurance industry and the state governments. I live in California, and am glad that California's federal taxes will be used to provide help to those who lost everything in the storm surge.

I am mourning the sinking of "The Bounty" and the loss of a crew member. Luckily, the US Coast Guard was able to rescue most of the crew.

Did you know that "The Bounty" was also known as "The Black Pearl"? Of course, it is likely that the ghost of "The Black Pearl" will be seen sailing the high seas on Halloween Night.

YES ON PROPOSITION 40

It is necessary to vote yes on Proposition 40. A YES keeps the excellent redistricting that we have finally achieved.

If you vote 'no' on Prop 40, the California Supreme Court will appoint the redistricting people. This will result in the California Supreme Court being unable to rule on redistricting because they will have a legal conflict of interest. Then the only people able to rule on redistricting will be the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals.

It is amazing how stupid the proponents of Proposition 40 were. They did not notice the nasty side effect until they had already spent millions on qualifying the Proposition for the ballot. BTW, I am extremely proud of the engineer who spotted this problem.

I am voting YES on Propositions 30, 34, 36, and 40. I am voting NO on all the other propositions.

It is really too bad that the sex trafficking law was so badly written. But good ideas are not enough. You have to very carefully write law so that the effects are what you want. Perhaps we can get the new legislature to pass a sex trafficking act that is reasonable and effective. Food labeling has to be done at the federal level or it really hurts California farmers. The food proposition is also fairly illogical.

If you pass a bad proposition, the legislature is unable to fix the problem. This is because propositions trump laws passed by the legislature.

WOMEN, MEN, AND BIRTH CONTROL

Birth control is not just an issue for women.

Now that child support agencies have DNA tests, men and boys are held financially responsible for any child with their DNA. Even sixteen year old boys can become responsible for 18 years of child support payments. It no longer matters if the girl or woman had several lovers. The lover with the correct DNA will be paying child support. Even if the man used birth control, such as a condom, if the child has the man's DNA, the man will be paying child support.

VP candidate Ryan believes that birth control is a sin. He will always be working to kill Planned Parenthood. (Planned Parenthood helps people plan how many children they want and when, and provides needed health care.)

Romney is still supporting a US Senate candidate who believes that a pregnancy resulting from rape is a gift from God. (Unless Romney has again changed his mind regarding this issue. Romney says one thing to the Tea Party and another thing to the rest of us.)

YOU NEED TO LISTEN TO WHAT THE CANDIDATES SAID SIX MONTHS AGO, BECAUSE WHAT THEY ARE SAYING NOW IS WHAT THEY THINK YOU WANT TO HEAR.

If you believe in a woman's right to control her own body, then you should vote for President Obama.

DANGEROUS IGNORANCE

Last night, Romney made two statements that showed dangerous ignorance.

1. He said that Iran needed a route to the sea through Syria. How can one even hope to make a rational decision regarding strategy, when one is woefully ignorant about geography?

2. He said that he balanced his budgets at Bain and the Olympics and therefore could balance the US budget. He does not seem to understand that Bain balanced its budget with borrowed money.

If one is so ignorant about money that one does not understand that you BORROW money from INVESTORS, how can one hope to make a rational decision about national budgetary issues. It is actually kind of fun to realize that when you deposit money in a bank, you are actually investing in the bank. (Too bad the cost of accounting for your money equals the interest payable on your money.)

It is not possible to explain accounting in one or two paragraphs. However, when you borrow $200,000 to buy a house, your personal balance sheet shows a $200,000 debt and a $200,000 asset.

One of the main things investors look for when deciding to invest in something is the debt to asset ratio (debt to equity ratio is looking at assets that can be quickly sold). Investors generally do not like first time borrowers as the borrower may not understand the necessity to repay the money.

The US debt to equity ratio is MUCH LESS than the debt to equity ratio of people and businesses in the US. I have never understood why Republicans believe that corporations are allowed to borrow money but governments are not allowed to borrow money.

I am really tired of the "road to Greece" comment. I think all democratic countries need to remember that they are "on the road FROM Greece".

I TRUST JERRY

I trust Jerry Brown and am going to vote for Proposition 30. I do NOT recommend any other tax proposition because our constitution is already a horrible mess regarding taxes. Conflicting tax propositions are making running California really difficult. I think the other tax measures have a hidden nasty secondary effect.

I have followed Jerry Brown's career for 40 years. I have never known him to recommend anything stupid. He has brains, education, experience and a nose for hidden agendas.

I am going to VOTE AGAINST stopping UNION donations. If you want to know what life would be like without unions, ask the South African platinum miners.

I am voting to end the death penalty and to reform three strikes. I am voting against the term limit proposition.

I always read what the people against the proposition write. Be very careful of hidden secondary effects.

I think it is best to vote against propositions unless they are recommended by persons or organizations that you trust.

ROMNEY AND WOMEN

Yah. Yah. The women in binders joke is very funny.

What is more important is that Romney doesn't see that when he hires women it is not enough. Statistics show that women are paid less and promoted less often than men. It is the overall decision making regarding working women that is important.

Saying, "I hired a woman," is like saying, "I have a friend who is a Jew." Admirable, but not a solution to discrimination.

Women scientists have often complained of unequal treatment. To show the women that they were incorrect, a major university did a study. To their surprise, they found that women scientists were routinely given fewer resources than men. This was true even for women researchers who brought in their own research grants.

Discriminatory practices are done by individuals who often decide to have a clone of themselves promoted.

In order to fight this sort of discrimination, management needs to be trained, HR needs to pre-screen candidates, and statistics need to be kept. The only way to show a pattern of discrimination is to keep and report the numbers of people hired, the numbers of women hired, and the number of minorities hired. The same must be done for promotions.

Additionally, I believe that the US should make a course in non-discrimination mandatory before a person can get a work related visa.

I once taught a equal opportunity course to employees of a large engineering company. It was amazing to discover how ignorant of the law engineers could be. It was equally amazing to see how fast the engineers learned.

BTW, promoting beautiful women is not enough. In almost all endeavors, brains and education are more important than beauty and charm.

TERRORIST JESSE JAMES?

I have a grudging admiration for the infamous outlaw Jesse James. He and his Civil War comrades continued to raid trains and banks long after the War had ended. He lived a nice middle class existence in Missouri while he robbed and murdered.

By all reports, the leader of the group that murdered our Ambassador in Libya is a kind of modern day Jesse James. The Libyan is using religion instead of racism as his excuse for murder.

Jesse was able to continue his personal war because of the sympathies of his neighbors and the governmental chaos that always follows a civil war.

Now Republicans are accusing President Obama of not providing enough security for the Ambassador. Of course, it was difficult to provide security as the House Republicans had insisted on drastically cutting the State Department's security budget.

Too many people seem to think that PRETTY WORDS mean more than BUDGETARY ACTIONS. BUDGETS ARE THE WAY WE CHOSE WHAT IS IMPORTANT TO US. Security of our embassies is important to me. It should be important to us all.

Rather than blaming the President, who is not usually involved in the travel plans of an individual ambassador, we should be blaming the Republicans. The House Republicans insisted on cutting the budget for embassy security or they would not vote for the budget. This meant there was not enough money for extra security when our Libyan Ambassador traveled from the capital to visit Benghazi.

Libyans reacted to the Ambassador's death by resolving to bring to justice the groups still fighting for a private cause.

Meanwhile, the Republicans are hiding their budget agenda, saying, "Trust us." Experience should tell us that trusting Republicans is probably a very bad idea.

SOCIAL SECURITY AND ADDICTION

I am addicted to books. Thanks to a lovely gift, I can now read huge books, despite my arthritic hands, and my glasses which can not be easily made bifocal.

Ebooks have allowed me to read the second Dorthy Dunnett historical novel series. Someone said that I could not afford a second RenFaire this year so I am reading about the early Renaissance. True. Except that the Nicollo series is 8 books at $9 each, which is almost one quarter of my discretionary spending.

Of course, if I could collect all the debts people owe me, I could afford at least some of the books. And if the books were not at full paperback prices, I could afford more of them. If uncontrolled, my addiction requires 5 books a week. The Dunnett books are twice as long as most novels, so are good value for the money.

I know that most people consider fiction a waste of time, not realizing that sometimes the truth can only be told in fiction.

The Republicans want to risk even my small retirement. Not for me, for my children.

I have watched the rich steal almost all of the retirement of baby boomers THREE TIMES. Once was a savings and loan scandal, once was a mutual funds mess, and lately there was a financial meltdown, which could have been deliberately caused.

The reason that we have to have the government run retirement funds is so that greedy people do not target the retirement funds with scams. No one seems to learn the truth about savings. GET RICH QUICK ALSO MEANS YOU CAN GET POOR QUICK.

Social Security allows me to live inside. I do not think I would like living on the streets.

HOW STUPID DOES RYAN THINK WE ARE?

VP candidate Ryan says that only Romney's views on abortion matter.

What a load of male cow manure!

Hasn't Ryan heard the phrase, "a heartbeat away from the presidency"?

Ryan believes that abortion should not be available for any reason. If you disagree with this, you should vote for Obama, because Presidents have been known to die in office.

GOING BALD? TRY FOLIC ACID

I often do small health care experiments on myself. Here are some of the experiments and the results.

Folic acid helps my hair stay healthy. When I do not use extra folic acid, my hair gets thin and flat. Folic acid is also good for your nerves. (Literal nerves, not figurative nerves.) Folic acid also helps fetuses grow the nerves needed for healthy growth. Folic acid is a B vitamin so if you take too much it just comes out with the rest of your liquid waste. I think about twice the current recommended daily dose is enough.

Unfortunately, I have never convinced a balding man to try folic acid.

Canker sores can be cured by putting a Tums on the sore while you are sleeping. Many people have tried this cure and reported that it works. I guess the virus does not like an antacid environment. You can use any antacid  I use generic Tums as women need calcium to prevent bone loss. It is also important to keep your teeth clean, especially before bed. When you have a sore, always rinse your mouth with water after eating. (Forty years ago, a Tucson pharmacist told me of this cure.)

Vitamin E is a fabulous facial. It is important that the E be fresh, so cut open a couple of liquid vitamin Es, rub it over your clean face, and let it sit for several hours, then wash it off. The skin on your face will look really healthy. Be careful using Vitamin E on an open sore. The sore may heal up with the infection still inside. However, if you have an important event, it is OK to apply E to a zit.

If you get a cat scratch, apply hydrogen peroxide. It will sting, but the cat scratch will usually heal without infection. This also works for insect bites that have been scratched. (Yes, you know not to scratch the bite, but sometimes you or your children scratch anyway.) Of course you know that hydrocortisone stops the swelling and itch from insect bites.

Hydrogen peroxide is great for cleaning small wounds, but it stings. Mom always used to say, "No sting, no cure." I told my kids, "I am 36, you are 4. I get to make the decisions. Sit still and let me do this."

Rubbing alcohol kills lice. Apply it to the hair while the child is in the bathtub with a towel over his/her face. Get the hair completely wet, let sit for one minute, then rise out. Do this once a week until lice are gone. DO NOT LET AN OPEN FLAME OR CIGARETTE GET NEAR THE ALCOHOLED HAIR. When the child complains, remind the child that you told her/him not to share hats and combs.

TELEPHONE SECURITY CONCERNS

A Chinese company wants to build an essential part of the US telephone system.

We should learn from history. During the Cold War, the US allowed the Soviets to build a new US embassy in Moscow. The US never moved into the embassy because it had so many built in listening devices that it could never be secure. Eventually an embassy was built by sending walls from the US to be assembled under the watchful eye of US security.

Telephone systems are part of civil and military defense. It is DUMB beyond belief that the US would even consider allowing a Communist country to build such a system in the US.

In fact, the request for proposal should include the requirement that all of the components are manufactured in the US under tight security. Complex computer chips can contain hard wired code accessible to the county of manufacture.

BTW, Microsoft has stated that many inexpensive computers from China are shipped with viruses already loaded on them. This means that even if you buy a virus checker, it may miss the virus that came with the counterfeit Windows.

RICH COUNTRIES TRASHED GREECE AND SPAIN

During the housing boom and bubble, people from rich countries bought vacations homes at increasingly high prices. Some greedy "investors" bought dozens of vacations homes, thinking to make a killing renting them out.

People who live in Greece and Spain were encouraged to get loans on their homes. It was considered to be old fashioned to just pay off your home so one could have someplace to live during retirement.

Vacation homes in Greece and Spain were snapped up by people in Great Britain, Germany and France.

When the recession hit, foreigners just allowed the vacation homes to go into foreclosure. However, the Greeks and Spaniards tried to keep the homes that had been in their families for generations.

No one seems to care that the Greeks and Spaniards were trying to keep their homes when there was almost no money coming from their major industry, tourism. Did you know that some government workers in Spain are continuing to work even when they have not been paid AT ALL in over a year?

The rich countries are almost entirely responsible for ruining Greece and Spain. And the rich countries feel NO responsibility for allowing rich taxpayers in Greece and Spain to hide their money in Switzerland.

AUSTERITY DOES NOT WORK. It makes people suffer needlessly.

Think of money as if it were stored grain. You store the grain for the time of great harvests and give it out during the times of poor harvest so people do not starve. Sometimes it is necessary to go into debt to buy grain from other countries so that your people do not starve.

YOU IGNORE THE SOCIAL CONSEQUENCES OF YOUR PROFITABLE ACTS AT YOUR OWN PERIL.

Europe is teaching us all how to get countries together for the profit of all. Did you think there was no down side? It is like you all saying, "Join our family and we will all do better together. But do not expect us to help you if you get into trouble. OUR money is our own. YOUR money is useful to make us all rich, but that is all you second class citizens are worth to us."

If this makes you feel guilty, you can help by going on vacation to Spain or Greece.

THE VAMPIRE WHO WOULD BE PRESIDENT

Last night, Romney wore whiter than white makeup as opposed to his usual matte tan.

He must be after the vampire vote. He couldn't possibly be saying, "Look how WHITE I am", could he?

Reporters did not seem to notice the blatant lie he told about insuring our adult kids. And he seems to live in a world where everyone can just go out and buy whatever health insurance they want.

My Dad would have said, "All sizzle and no steak".

But Obama has BRAINS! I prefer intelligence to rhetoric.

Sent from Pamela Smith's iPad at Starbuck's. 

bLACKMAIL IN HIGH PLACES?

I have been increasingly worried about the possibility that our newest security service has been blackmailing congresspersons, judges, and election officials. I have NO proof. 

Us old hippies remember the rumors that  J. Egar Hoover used blackmail to stay in power during 5 presidents. They used to say,"He knows where the bodies are buried."

I have been reliably informed that the FBI is reformed. If you ARE being blackmailed, TELL THE FBI! They do not have to tell your secret because security people are quietly fired rather than tried. You have to trust someone or you will never get your life back.

Last week I talked about my blackmail theory. Now my ergonomic keyboard has died a strange death just as my reply brief in my appeal is due.

It reminds me of a favorite joke,"Me and Sherlock Holmes just LOVE coincidences." (Yes. It is sarcasm.)

Sent from Pamela Smith's iPad.

WE CAN FIX THE WORLD

The November US election will be a test for democracy.

If huge sums of money can buy an election, then democracy may be doomed.

Please give as much as you can to get Democrats into Congress, into statehouses, as governors, as the president.

You also need to VOTE. The New York Times says that if every registered Democrat voted, we would take the election by 91%.

The life you save may be your own.