A TRUCE FOR THE OLYMPICS

The Olympics are a dream that the only physical conflict left on Earth is competitive sports, where a barefoot man from a tiny village in Africa can win a gold medal outrunning highly trained runners from wealthy countries.

Every two years, we call a truce and pretend that the dream has come true.

Somehow the Olympics writes its own history. The world could have ignored the Olympics hosted by the nazis. Instead, the world attended, and what the world now remembers is JESSE OWENS.

I believe that the lessons from the Russian Olympics will be lessons we all need to learn. But we may not learn these lessons unless the games are held and attended.

Those who violate a world wide truce based on an ancient tradition are not freedom fighters. They are people seeking self aggrandizement. If you know of such a person, you can help the world by refusing to help those who have violent intentions towards the Olympics.

Join me in watching the best in the world show us their skills on snow and ice.

"OH, THE FARMER AND THE TOWNIE SHOULD BE FRIENDS"*

Neither the judge, nor the lawyer, had ever met a BUFFALO up close. So they could not understand how INCREDIBLY EVIL it was to deliberately leave a gate open so buffalo could escape. The farmer was extremely frustrated, but the farmer did not explain about the size, weight and danger of a buffalo, because the farmer thought everyone knew about buffalo.

FARMERS need to realize that TOWNIES do NOT understand the LEAST LITTLE BIT about raising crops and animals. Farmers need to explain what is happening in simple terms that you would use to a farm wise first grader.

WE ALL NEED THE FARMERS AND RANCHERS, because we all need food. In the US, we subsidize farming, which usually rewards the corporate farms, but does not help the small family farms. As the unusually strong global storms increase, we are going to have to help the farmers recover, just like we help the towns recover.

Townies control the vote, but townies also like both food and farmers. So explain to us what you need and why you need it. 

The subspecies of townie called "rich city folk" will pay incredible amounts for what California calls artisan farming. Hand made cheese, hard cider, fresh organic vegetables, unusual fowl, corn fed cattle, can all be sold at premium prices.

So farmers have a choice, grow and raise inexpensive food for the middle class and poor; or grow and raise expensive food for the 1%, and as special treats for the poor gourmets.

* See "The Farmer and the Cowboy Should be Friends" from Oklahoma.

STEALING SENIORS' HOMES FOR CHRISTMAS

My friend has a reverse mortgage. The alleged new mortgage servicer, Champion Mortgage, incorrectly gave her a vacancy notice. When I called them, I was told that she should immediately write them telling them to  "RESCIND HER LOAN". In my legal opinion, rescinding her loan will have the effect of allowing an immediate foreclosure by the holder of her reverse mortgage.

I tried calling FHA so that they could STOP THIS FRAUD. Naive me thought that someone at the FHA should order Champion Mortgage to STOP giving out the advice that seniors should rescind their loans.

Of course, thanks to the Tea Party, FHA has subcontracted out all supervision of the mortgage industry. I was told I could send an email complaint, but that I could not actually speak with anyone regarding a possible ongoing fraud against vulnerable seniors. I was quite clear that I am an attorney, but if you do not hire professionals with judgment, they have no idea how serious a problem is.

Champion Mortgage has other problems. My first phone call did not get through as I was told that I called outside of office hours. The person who answered my second phone call told me that their computers were down and I should call back in a few hours. The third phone call resulted in the HORRIFICALLY INCORRECT LEGAL ADVICE repeated several times by a temporary employee who told me that he was carefully repeating what he had been trained to say.

I tried checking with the Santa Clara County Recorder's Office to see who now owned the reverse mortgage. I was unable to find a deed of trust on the property.

Correct paperwork is the backbone of the mortgage industry. Correct paperwork can NOT be processed by untrained, low paid workers.

The Fonz would say, "WE ARE CRUISING FOR ANOTHER BRUISING."

HAPPY SOLSTICE

I was going to wax poetic about how all people once lit fires in a Winter ceremony to welcome back the sun. Then I realized that, for half the world, it is summer, and they are celebrating the longest day of the year.

It is weird how hard it is to understand that, in Middle Earth, it is now summer. ;)

Although it is true that we are all emotionally tied to the sun. We lift up our faces to the sun, we save most of our bad deeds for the night.

When Copernicus announced that the Earth went around the Sun, the church imprisoned him. "For is not mankind the center of the universe?" A part of me agrees. I would much rather be the center of the universe than a small speck in the telescope of a distant star system.

Enough boring philosophy. It is the time to celebrate, SO CELEBRATE!

WHAT DEFINES EVIL?

Assad is using medieval siege tactics against his own people. It is the "LET THEM EAT RATS!" theory of governance. Is it any surprise that no one but his own family really thinks that he is fit to govern anything?

Now the UN wants to bring in FOOD and Assad says (in translation), "Of course, giggle, if we can manage the security, we will let the UN in, maybe." Then in a whisper, "Aren't those rebel supporters dead of starvation YET?"

And have you SEEN the videos of the towns he has "taken back"? No one could live in them. They are empty, shelled into rubble. As winter sets in, the civilian population will start dying from being cold and homeless.

Those countries who are afraid of becoming a friend of Russia, only have to look at Syria for a lesson in their alternative future.

CONGRATULATIONS TO CHINA

It is way cool that you have a vehicle on the moon. WELCOME TO THE CLUB!

Could you do the US a favor and go check out the junk our astronauts left? We have conspiracy theorists who say that the US faked our moon landings. I bet that they would believe China if you would be kind enough to truck over to our landing sites and check it out.

Seriously, we are a very small planet is a very large universe. Our worldwide mission, should we choose to accept it, is to explore the vast star systems of the universe.

And maybe China could start giving the astronauts and cosmonauts rides to the international space station. 

SABOTAGING SCIENCE TEACHING IN SILICON VALLEY

Performing the classic chemistry demonstration of burning a magnesium ribbon has gotten a chemistry teacher charged with UNPROFESSIONAL CONDUCT. This will have a CHILLING EFFECT on the teaching of science.

One of the teacher's students disobeyed instructions by looking directly at the BRIGHT burning magnesium ribbon. Afterwards she suffered from severe "internet medical info syndrome". Of course, NO injury actually happened as the light burned too briefly and she was over 6 feet away. Not understanding either physics or chemistry, a school official panicked. Other chemistry teachers explained, the accused teacher explained, but the school proceeded with their charges of unprofessional conduct.

WHY?

IMHO, the school wanted the chemistry teacher to stop bothering them with complaints about his overcrowded classroom (24 lab stations, often over 28 students assigned to the class). Worse, he complained about students in his class who did not know enough math to line up decimal points in order to add up numbers. (Trust me, it is impossible to learn chemistry if you can not do basic math.) He was also concerned that disruptive students could injure themselves and others as teaching chemistry involves using substances that could injure if not used correctly.

And you were wondering WHY the schools were unable to teach science?

You take your kids out of the regular classroom and put them in charter or private school so no one is monitoring what goes on in regular classrooms. You think your school is better. It is only better because all of the parents CARE about their child's education and the charter/private schools can expel disruptive students.

But the San Jose Unified School District seems to prefer to "shoot the messenger", especially if that messenger is a chemistry teacher.

CORRUPTION IN A KLEPTOCRACY

If you live in a country where bribery is a way of life, then you probably want to stop the corruption. Unfortunately, this is not easy. Even in the US, corruption still happens. Although here, if you are caught, you can actually go to prison even if you are a friend of the President.

There is a great mystery movie called The Big Easy, which shows how hard it is to be the first person to refuse a bribe. Even though the New Orleans Police Department was 'fixed', the aftermath of hurricane Katrina showed that there were still real problems.

That said, I will give you the basic rules of how to stop corruption.

Stop ripping off the tax collector by paying for large contracts partly in cash.

The people that work for the government are professionals and should be paid a living wage. (This is important because the low wages are an excuse for taking bribes, and an excuse to not convict the person of accepting a bribe.)

The police need to be TRAINED. (Do not ever think that amateurs can substitute for police officers. Every time civilians become vigilantes, really bad things, like lynchings, happen.)

Elected officials must be paid a wage that is equal to their status. Otherwise they will justify stealing from the government that they run.

Retirement plans are VERY important. No one wants to face living in poverty just because they are too old to work. Your corrupt officials will not retire if they believe that they will be poor when they retire.

The rich must help the poor. Farmers must be helped during times of economic transitions and global warming. Too many of the educated think that the poor are "scum", rather than people just like them.

BUT IT ALL STARTS WITH YOU DECIDING THAT YOU WILL NOT TAKE OR GIVE BRIBES.

PLAYING WITH SPIES*

Spies are playing spy vs. spy within computer games such as World of Warcraft. I have a reprehensible sense of humor and an immediate desire to sign up for World of Warcraft. It is SO nice of the NY Times, the Guardian, and Snowden to bring gamers such a challenging Holiday present.

Seriously, I have known for YEARS that it is possible for groups of gamers to have private voice communications within games. I have not talked about it because I did not want to give out "information to the enemy". (But what a COOL job to play games for your country. Almost as cool a job as game testing,)

* Before you all start your own games within games by pretending to be spies, please keep in mind that real spies, like real cops, do NOT have much of a sense of humor about this kind of game. Conspiracy laws within the US are bad enough, but in some countries they will not even listen to your excuse that you were just playing a game.

Real life is NOT a game or a movie. We just lost a beloved movie star who treated real life as if it were a street racing movie. BE PREPARED TO LOSE YOUR LIFE OR YOUR FREEDOM IF YOU PRETEND TO BE A REAL LIFE SPY.

FROM PRISONER TO PRESIDENT

Nelson Mandela was one of the greatest men of both the twentieth and twenty first centuries. He taught us that forgiveness and reconciliation were more powerful than hatred and revenge. He is not gone, because he will never be forgotten.

THE N.S.A. IS COMING TO TOWN

"They know when you are sleeping, they know when you're awake, they know when you've been bad or good, so be good for goodness sake." (Lyrics dedicated to Snowden and the Guardian newspaper.)

I think we should thank Edward Snowden for showing us how supremely stupid it is to have civilians do security clearances.

Before you get all paranoid, I will also remind you that the NSA is NOT recording your phone conversations. They are, however, tracking the phone numbers that you call. They can also track your international banking transactions.

I am hoping that the people who commit economic crimes will be put into the category of economic terrorists. The pain and suffering caused by the con artists is immeasurably terrible. Big banks sell worthless mortgage packages and fix interest rates. Officials take bribes just for doing their jobs. Con artists scam the unaware using the internet.

Whether you are large or small, the NSA can prove how you are scamming the people who trust you.

But will they?

WOMEN, FARMS, FACTORIES

Once most of the population is in cities, you can no longer control the behavior of women through physical and psychological intimidation, although some criminals attempt to continue this control. Once women are making their own decisions, a society dependent upon the unpaid domestic servitude of women will start to come apart.

Both child care and elder care will become problems. Most people will start to have nutritional problems due the lack of an unpaid cook. Men will get extremely angry as they no longer have an unpaid servant. 

Often countries attempt to solve these issues by reading Machiavelli or the Art of War. These philosophies only make the problem worse. Turning men into soldiers means that the men will just leave the farms faster. Soldiers do not learn to feed themselves. Somehow we have to teach that all people MUST learn to cook, clean, and care for those in the family who can not care for themselves.

I am uncertain of what else to advise. The methods of controlling women vary from culture to culture. But these methods only work if the women agree to accept them.

Women are amazingly willing to accept things like high heels and short skirts, which make them crippled and unprofessional.

I do not think there are any easy answers to the changes that the entire world is undergoing. 

One thing is true. It is almost impossible to take back civil rights once someone has been granted civil rights.

FAMILY DECISIONS

Health insurance is not just an individual decision. Sick people affect their friends and family. If the monetary problems are solved, then the problems with care for the sick become simpler.

Thanksgiving is a good time to talk with your friends and family members about Obamacare and what kind of health insurance is best for you or for them.

Talk to teckies about the websites. Talk to nurses about coverage. Talk to HR friends about their advice.

You do not have to make health insurance decisions by yourself.

(Keep politics out of the discussion by pointing out that RIGHT NOW you need to make a CHOICE regarding HEALTH INSURANCE, not PRESIDENTS.)

Do not let your uncle or young cousin take unnecessary risks with whether they can get free birth control or get their knee replaced.

Trust me, Thanksgiving will be happier if people are less frightened about you getting sick and having NO health insurance.

CONVERGENCE

Once every 70,000 years or so, US Thanksgiving and Hanukkah converge. It does seem strangely fate-like that this is happening the same week that Iran has finally agreed to stop progress in its nuclear program.

If I believed in predestination, like the Presbyterians of yore, I could say that perhaps God has a sense of irony. 

Since I believe that any progress is better than no progress, I will drink a Thanksgiving toast to peace in the Middle East.

A BUTTER THANKSGIVING

When you cook margarine, it can turn into trans fats, which really do clog your arteries. For forty years the FDA allowed trans fats in food. (But better late than never.) So use butter with no guilt, as butter is better for you than trans fats.

Very few people know how to cook with butter, so I will give you a few tips.

A stick of cold butter will become easy to spread after 10 seconds in the microwave.

Most recipes calling for butter mean UNSALTED butter. You can use salted butter, just cut down on the salt you would otherwise put in.

If you are making pie crusts or biscuits, stir up all the dry ingredients first. Then mix it up with the butter, water, etc. but only enough to just mix the ingredients. For some reason, this makes the crust and biscuits more fluffy and better tasting.

Raw pie crust has to be COOL. Start rolling it out from the edges. If it tears, repair it with a edge piece, "glueing" it with a LITTLE water. (I dip my fingers in the water and dab it on the top of the torn part, then put the new piece on top.) Dusting the dough with flour is important to stop the dough from sticking.

Pie dough extra pieces can be buttered, then sprinkled with cinnamon sugar, and baked for a tasty cook's treat. (Cinnamon sugar is made by putting a teaspoon of cinnamon in a cup of sugar, then stirring it up.) Bake the rough pieces till they are a toasty color. (350 degree oven.)

Expensive cinnamon is well worth the extra price. It really tastes MUCH better.

Cooking with children can be great fun. For years, my children were my prep chefs. Children especially like kneading bread, then watching it rise while you take a nap.

ENJOY!

BOOKS -- THE PSYCHIC VACATION

At least for me, a book takes me completely out of this world and into the author's world. I can travel on Mars, walk on a beach, ride a racehorse, all without leaving my comfy chair. Movies sometimes also do this, but a movie only lasts 2 hours. A good book can take days to read.

I am on a reading vacation at the moment. A real vacation is expensive both in terms of money and in terms of moving my arthritic body. (Cue sympathetic string music.)

I have reread one of my favorite John Brunner books, Citizen of the Galaxy. I am contemplating Star Beast by Heinlein.

Duck the Halls by Donna Andrews was a great mystery and great fun. Ditto for Heavenly Delights by Kerry Greenwood. I read all of Kerry's flapper mysteries in one gulp this summer. 19 books in almost as many days kept me sane as I awaited the revenge of the losers.

If I want to remember the almost indescribable sensation of oneness with a horse, I read Dick Francis. He also understands people, especially male people, and their motives for mayhem.

So take a break, read a book. The mind you save may be your own.

DIVINE DESERT -- MAPLE SYRUP PECAN PIE

Pecan pie made with maple syrup is one of the most FABULOUS things I have ever eaten. However, it is clear that I am NEVER going to convince professional bakers to actually sell maple syrup pecan pie.

Maybe we can start a health rumor that maple syrup, a product of maple trees, is healthier than corn syrup. I personally believe that maple syrup is the magic and life giving tree elixir that the elven need to exist. %<)

Meanwhile, those of us who are talented cooks, capable of actually making pies, can make our own maple syrup pecan pie. It is as easy as substituting maple syrup for the corn syrup. Add a tablespoon of extra flour as the maple syrup is not quite as thick as the cheap syrup. 

BTW, the lower grades of maple syrup are actually tastier, and better in the pie. Maybe I should move to Canada, where maple syrup is sold in buckets.

Unfortunately, I no longer feel like baking anything. And I have NO IDEA where my Tupperware rolling pin and mat are located. 

I guess I will just have to suffer, and take maple syrup to restaurants that actually make, rather than microwave, buttermilk pancakes.

HEALTH INSURANCE COULD START 1/1/2014

If you do NOT have health insurance, you can be covered by January 1. If you want to know if you are eligible for FREE HEALTH INSURANCE, check out the Kaiser Family Foundation health insurance calculator. You need to SIGN UP BY DECEMBER 15 for a January 1 start date.

If you CAN get free insurance, it will probably be an expanded Medicaid coverage. I would call rather than use the internet. Call early in the morning on a Tuesday, Wednesday or Thursday for fastest service. (How to do this varies from state to state. But Kaiser should tell you how to get started.)

If you make over $50,000 per year ($100,000 per year for a family of four), I would call a health insurance agent. It is always best to use an experienced professional to solve complex problems, such as which plan to choose.

PANIC IS NOT HELPFUL.

I can not experiment with the health care sites as I get Medicare and am, therefore, covered.

We should all be grateful to the Kaiser Family Foundation for their health care calculator. It looks like the government web sites are for SERIOUS SHOPPERS ONLY.

DO NOT KEEP A POLICY THAT WAS CANCELLED. Cancelled policies do not meet minimum standards. If your policy was cancelled, call an insurance agent and find a qualifying health insurance policy.

The number of choices is HUGE. Sometimes choice is overwhelming. If you are overwhelmed, CALL 1-800-706-7893.

THE HEALTH YOU SAVE COULD BE YOUR OWN.

ON ARMISTICE DAY WE HONOR VETERANS

On the eleventh hour of the eleventh day of the eleventh month of 1918, World War I came to a halt. It was "The War to End all Wars".

Millions of young men were sent into machine gun fire. The war destroyed an entire generation of Europeans. And the peace agreement set up World War II.

It is not easy to have peace.

I admire the people who fight for freedom.

Have a peaceful Veterans Day!

WATCH A DIRTY TRICK UNFOLD

The so called drunken video of the Mayor of Toronto relies almost entirely on the fact that the Mayor is fat and pink. As a fellow fat, pink person, I know that the video would have been BORING if the Mayor had been thin and slick.

The video shows a man, in a private home, speaking to guests, either before or after a meeting. Other than the normal gait of a large, fat man, the video shows a man talking in hyperbole about making someone or something dead. It is obvious that he is talking about politics, not about murder.

No where in the reporting does anyone question whether the Mayor was in his own home when the video was taken.

No where in the reporting does anyone mention the Mayor's right to privacy.

Frankly, I think this tempest has a two pronged agenda.

The subtext of a video showing the Mayor smoking crack is aimed at trying to continue the stupid war on drugs. Reporters who stalk alleged users are just falling into the old pattern of making drug users the bad guys, as if casual drug use is worse than addiction to alcohol.

Someone wants to use ridicule as a way to get the Mayor to resign. I object to using ridicule against someone just because they are pink and fat.

I could tell you stories of how pink, fat people using a wheelchair are treated. My favorite is the woman who patted me on the head, as if I were a child.

But all this tempest is a GREAT way to study an unfolding dirty trick and how easy it is to sucker the media into destroying someone.

BRAVE LEADERS

Recent reports indicate that Yasser Arafat may have been murdered by polonium. He was a brave and outspoken advocate for his people. I mourned him when he died and I mourn him still. I did not alway agree with him, but I admired his commitment to bettering the life of his followers.

Any outspoken leader knows that they risk being murdered by people who believe that the death of a leader will stop their followers.

Unfortunately, you often can not tell a great leader from a troublemaker until the leader is gone. A true leader will have an increasing number of admirers even after his/her death or imprisonment. No one remembers a troublemaker except for the trouble she/he caused.

The sad part of Mr. Arafat's death is that, at the time he died, I thought perhaps he was murdered by radical members of his own group.

If you are a reader of my blog, you know that I believe that VIOLENCE IS ALMOST NEVER THE ANSWER.

Every day, I see people lose friends because they will NOT TALK honestly about why they made certain decisions. On a national level, this refusal to talk means that no solution will ever be found.

I will make two suggestions for the Middle East. Hopefully these will help.

Let Israel have Jerusalem. They won it in war, they have the older religious claim, and it is stupid to divide cities, as we learned in Berlin. Be sure to ask for monetary compensation for the loss of Jerusalem so that you can get your peaceful economy up and running well.

The rebels should negotiate. NO ONE wants Syria to collapse with 100 METRIC TONS OF CHEMICAL WEAPONS stored somewhere in Syria. Russia may put pressure on Assad, but ONLY if there is a viable plan to peacefully hand over power. Such a plan can not happen unless everyone TALKS TO EACH OTHER.

VOTE TOMORROW

Off year elections are sometimes MORE IMPORTANT than our larger elections. The rapidly crazy ALWAYS vote for the rabidly crazy. If we are going to be able to make changes this coming year, those of you who have elections, NEED TO VOTE.

In order to protect the selfish rich, the rabidly crazy will object to funding:

     Food stamps,
     Highway upgrades,
     Help for farmers destroyed by huge storms,
     Head start and lowering class size,
     The arts and sports necessary to engage learning,
     Training for police officers,
     And, the list could go on forever.

If you want the crazies to be GONE, you NEED TO VOTE!

THE WORLD YOU SAVE WILL BE YOUR OWN.

HAPPY HALLOWEEN

Have a safe and happy Halloween. Frankly, I miss having children to take trick or treating. But, trust me, I access my inner child A LOT.

I have had to work this October, so I missed my usual overkill celebrations for my birthday and Halloween. I guess I will just have to over celebrate for Thanksgiving, Saturnalia, Christmas and New Year's Eve. A tough job, but SOMEONE has to do it. :}

WARNING! Halloween is for fun, NOT for violence.

PLEASE HELP YOUR FRIENDS BE GOOD GHOSTS.

"LET THEM LIVE IN PAIN", SAYS THE FDA

Over 95% of patients requesting pain medication are in such real abject pain that they beg the doctor for help. In fear of the FDA, the doctor gives them a lecture on addiction, smiling in superiority as the patient cries. (Because a crying patient MUST be an addict.)

This is happening because the FDA and DEA pressure doctors to NOT give out pain medication. The FDA and DEA pressure medical schools to teach medical students that the patients asking for pain medication are ALWAYS addicts. The FDA gets away with this because the FDA controls which doctors are allowed to prescribe medication. A threat to withdraw a doctor's right to prescribe medication is VERY EFFECTIVE at getting the doctors to OBEY THE FDA.

Now the FDA wants to make it HARDER for people in real pain to get medication. The FDA is well aware that less the 5% of the people in the US are addicted to ANYTHING. But the FDA enjoys its power, and drug manufacturers prefer to have medication difficult to get as then they can overcharge desperate people.

"LET THEM LIVE IN PAIN."

MAKING NEWS ILLEGIBLE

Google news is so COOL, it is illegible to most of us. Their font is thin, blue and unchangeable. News sites where I can enlarge the type keeps down my eyestrain. Now Slate.com has decided that cool graphics are more important than older people reading their site.

The neatest thing about iPhones and iPads is the "making it bigger" option. I am told that you actually have to specify that the website works with the "make it bigger" stuff.

Two months ago, I saw that politics might heat up so I signed up for the New York Times. What I got was a website where I could not make the typeface bigger. When I complained, they told me that the articles would have bigger type if I wanted. This was not true. Like a book, the typeface only had two sizes. And naturally, the typeface was thin and hard to read. They promised me I would be able to read articles using the newspaper website which did get bigger and smaller. This was a lie, of course.

Now Slate.com is joining the "only those with good eyesight need read us".

I think there are two reasons for this insanity. One, print media people can not cope with web design. They want their cool layout to remain a cool layout. "Who cares if people can read it? We do not want old people anyway."

Two, it is possible that there is a patent on the "make it bigger" stuff, and some hardware makers are bribing web designers to NOT use the "make it bigger" as they do not want to put it on their new phone or tablet.

BTW, it is cool with me if you put an ad on before I see the article or video. However, I DO want to be able to close the ad and go to my article. If you allow advertisers to highjack your readers, you will LOSE READERS.

Luckily, there are plenty of free news sites on the web.

But I hate to see the New York Times try to keep selling buggy whips, when they could so easily make a lot of money by moving into the modern world.

LOCAL GOVERNMENT STEALS FROM LOCAL BUSINESSES

Santa Clara County is using the excuse of helping gays get married to undercut the wedding prices of local ministers. This increases county revenue while badly hurting the local wedding businesses. As usual, a seemingly good idea has multiple damaging unintended consequences.

Marrying people inexpensively and immediately damages our social fabric. For hundreds of years, the government has issued licenses, and then ministers married people. Even Las Vegas sends people from the county to local wedding chapels. THIS IS BECAUSE IT IS A GOOD IDEA TO ALLOW PEOPLE SOME TIME TO THINK ABOUT WHETHER THEY REALLY WANT TO BE MARRIED.

$40 for a quickie marriage is a small enough sum that it is very tempting for clerks to just pocket the money. (All people must buy an $80 marriage license. The county is offering to complete the job for $40 while the people stand at the counter.)

I also hear rumors that the marriage clerks offer their own marriage services to marriage license purchasers. "I will come to your back yard and marry you. Here is my card, " is what I hear that the clerks are doing.

This idea has spread to counties across the US. The internet makes it really easy to share ideas that look smart, but are actually stupid ideas.

County officials look the other way as they want to increase county revenue in as many ways as possible.

BUT DOES THE COUNTY REALLY NEED TO STEAL BUSINESS FROM OUR LOCAL MINISTERS?

HIJACKING DEMOCRACY

In order to bring you the federal shut down, the Republicans quietly voted to give the HOUSE LEADER THE RIGHT TO VETO certain LEGISLATION. This VIOLATES THE US CONSTITUTION.

Only the US President has the constitutional right to veto legislation. But House Resolution 368 states that the majority leader is the ONLY PERSON THAT CAN ALLOW a full House vote on certain legislation. 

This is like giving ONE MAN the right to filibuster certain legislation. Unlike the almost equally stupid Senate filibuster rules, there is NO WAY for the House to vote to force the majority leader to allow certain legislation to go forward.

THIS CAN NOT BE ALLOWED TO STAND. It violates the rock bottom values of our constitutional democracy. 

Our system of government was set up so that there is a BALANCE OF POWER between the Senate, the House, the President, and the US Supreme Court. House resolution 368 substantially changes this balance of power. 

DO EVERYTHING you can think of (short of violence) to force the House of Representatives to GET RID OF House Resolution 368.

THE DEMOCRACY YOU SAVE WILL BE YOUR OWN! 

MEANWHILE DEAD CATTLE ARE ROTTING IN SOUTH DAKOTA

Last I checked, the California federal tax dollars going to the feds is less than the federal tax dollars coming to California. This means we are helping the smaller states, like South Dakota. We do not mind doing this, as we think that the rich SHOULD help out the poor.

The tea party people generally come from smaller states, whose voters still think that politicians can be amateurs. Those of us in the bigger states know that a state wide problem that hasn't yet been solved is a complex problem with no simple answers. Complex problems with no simple answers need to be solved by people with experience in solving such complex problems.

It is much more satisfying to think that complex national problems have simple solutions. TRUST ME, THERE ARE NO SIMPLE SOLUTIONS TO COMPLEX PROBLEMS.

These amateurs seem to think that they can justify blackmail by repeating old lies.

It is a LIE that there is a problem with the US national debt. If the US were a corporation, pundits would say that it is not investing enough to be able to deal with the future. Our roads, bridges, and overpasses are an accident waiting to happen. But the tea party is upset because the Chinese buy US bonds.

It is a LIE that we should not give aid to other countries. If the people in other countries become desperate, then they take HUGE RISKS to smuggle themselves into richer countries. If we want them to stay home, we have to help them make their country a better place to live.

I am very tired of the tea party holding us all to ransome. I am also tired of the tea party people telling us that they are not crazy, because they BELIEVE in whatever incredibly stupid statement they are currently making.

WINNING BY CHANGING THE RULES

The TP Republicans changed the House rules so that only one person can bring a House vote on Senate proposals. This is like a football team being told that there can be only one defender during a play.

I wondered when all the TP people were saying, "We will invoke The Rule." As far as I knew, the House did not have a rule that could prevent a vote of the entire House. Well, on September 30, the rules committee quietly passed such a rule.

I honestly do not know what to say.

Have you noticed that it is always the incompetent people who try to win by changing the rules?

BOND VILLAINS

The TP Republicans are acting like the villains in a James Bond movie. "Ha! I will blow up the world so I can rule whoever survives! Braw! Ha! Ha!"

It has become clear that the TP Republicans WANT to risk bringing down the world wide economy, not once, but every two months until the next elections. Why? Every time idiots get the spotlight they get LOTS of money from other idiots.

I am not sorry for calling these people idiots. At least the James Bond villains had a plan to save themselves. The TP Republicans are still denying that they might be causing an economic problem. "You could be wrong," one of these num nuts says to the US Secretary of the Treasury, who seemed stunned that someone could be quite so stupid.

Of course, these were the people who thought that a certified birth certificate was acceptable for driver licences and passports, but did not actually mean that a Black President could be a US citizen. Did you know they appealed this stupid issue to the US Supreme Court THREE TIMES? When I read that, I knew I did not have the patience to be a justice.

These guys are extorting bullies. They need to be stopped.

DOUBLE OH SEVEN, WE NEED YOU!

WHERE IS SPOCK* WHEN WE NEED HIM?

Spock would be logical about the plan to risk the entire world in order to stop sick people from getting health insurance. Spock would fail to understand why anyone believes the incredibly illogical "facts" being spouted by the Tea Party.

Spock would understand that people who blackmail NEVER stop.

Spock would understand that if our President gives in to blackmail, then terrorists will also think that they can get away with blackmail.

Spock would understand that the world's financial markets know that eventually this confrontation will end.

However, the markets will eventually react to the crises. Spock would recommend that everyone hold on to their current stocks and bonds. The arbitrageurs are not going to be able to resist the incredible opportunities to make money during this crises. Spock would remind everyone that only those truly able to gamble away billions should be playing the markets at this time.

It is possible to assume that people are also being blackmailed regarding their misdeeds. (We all have misdeeds.) Spock would recommend the best advice ever given about blackmail. You just reply, "Publish and be damned."

* The original Star Trek taught most of us to THINK about how we treat other people. Mr. Roddenberry is a true bodisapa.

TP BULLIES ARE POOR LOSERS

It is like saying, "I know I lost at poker, but give me the entire pot or I will destroy the world." This is NOT compromising, or negotiating or having a dialog. This is the kind of blackmail that bullies use.

I have seen WAY too many domestic bullies. Many domestic bullies have threatened to crash a car containing the children. The TP Republicans are threatening to crash the world wide economy in order to stop people from being able to buy health insurance.

Just like domestic bullies, they will make this threat over and over again. DO YOU REALIZE THEY ARE ONLY OFFERING TO FUND THE US FOR TWO MONTHS? I think their idiot plan is to have this threat over and over again until the next election.

I have always known that the 2008 crash could have been caused by one person, running the home mortgage insurance coverage at AIG. I always wondered if the crash WAS deliberately caused in order to try to convince us that social progress should stop. It is easy to get frightened people to turn on their neighbors, especially if the neighbors are from a different culture.

We got through the 2008 mess, and we will get through whatever mess the TP bullies bring on.

But we can NOT give in to the TP bullies, because, "If you give a mouse a cookie...."

TEA PARTY IS NOT LIBERTARIAN

If the Tea Party Republicans were actually libertarians, then hemp would now be legal.

The ONLY thing the Tea Party and Libertarians agree on is smaller government. But the libertarians would NEVER choose to allow bridges and overpasses to fall down due to age and overuse.

Libertarians would NEVER allow marijuana to remain illegal, as they believe people should be allowed to indulge in activities that do not harm others.

Libertarians believe in a woman's right to make health care decisions for her own body.

The Tea Party wants to force the rest of the country to obey the religious beliefs of their conservative Christian base.

Many in the Tea Party are absolutely adamant that they will not take orders from a Black or a woman. So their lives get worse and worse, because this attitude make them almost unemployable. No modern US government or corporation can allow employees to discriminate in this way.

So WHY are libertarians supporting these people? Why not at least join with the liberal Democrats and legalize hemp?

REPUBLICAN "YES MEN"*

The House Republicans are certain that they are doing the right thing, because their "yes men" are cheering and patting them on the back.

They do not seem to realize how really angry the rest of us are. The Smithsonian is shut down. Yosemite is shut down. You not be able to close your house purchase if you are trying for an FHA approved loan. And, of course the vindictive Tea Party will NOT pay the Federal workers so that they do not lose their houses.

I hope they have fun drinking and partying. They are getting paid and have health care. Is is totally obvious that they do not care for anyone except themselves.

"Yes men" is a slang term for people who tell their boss how brilliant he is, even when the boss is driving the company over a cliff.

DO NOT PANIC - DO NOT SELL YOUR STOCK

The rich, selfish, sons of roaches bringing you the US shut down seem to believe they can AGAIN steal your life savings by causing panic. Just wait them out. As much as these sons of diseased camels seem to think they can force us to do their will, they are WRONG.

In spite of the incredibly stupid and hurtful sequester, the US economy is repairing itself. It is too bad our decaying bridges, highways and courthouses can not repair themselves. These selfish idiots WANT uneducated children, because educated people can all see how crazy these people are.

Their leaders change almost daily. I particularly enjoy watching Senator "Aren't I CUTE" Cruz. He must practice the CUTE look in front of his bathroom mirror. (When I was 12, I spent HOURS in front of the bathroom mirror perfecting raising just ONE eyebrow. I have been told by intimidated others that it was time well spent.)

I hope all you in the red states realize that you can NOT get rid of these idiots until you fix the gerrymandering that keeps them in office. California solved this problem. May I recommend adopting our plan? Please remember that it is very easy for a legislature to gerrymander. So be VERY CAREFUL if you are thinking of variations to the California plan.

ARE THE KOCH BROTHERS SABOTAGING OBAMACARE?

I hear rumors that the Koch Brothers are giving BIG BUCKS to stop Obamacare. Could the Koch Brothers be forcing Republicans to shut down the US government in a snit over insurance coverage for the sick, the poor, and the self employed?

I feel sorry for the Koch Brothers. Often, people raised by rich white supremacists are unable to understand that their brown gardener is a PERSON.

This sympathy does not extend to their playing corporate games with the entire US economy in order to prevent the uninsured from becoming insured.

Some rich corporate types are extremely controlling. They recognize that if their employees are able to get reasonably priced health insurance, their employees might decide to become self employed. In other words, they hold their employees as semi-slaves working, not for wages, but for health care coverage of them, their spouses, and their children.

You need to stop thinking of Obamacare as forcing you to get health insurance.

THINK OF OBAMACARE AS FREEING YOU TO BE ALL THAT YOU CAN BE!

I have been self employed for almost my entire life. Do you think that the Koch Brothers would have prevented me from blogging if they could?

THIS FIGHT FOR OBAMACARE IS THE FIGHT FOR US ALL TO HAVE THE FREEDOM TO START YOUR OWN APPLE, INTEL, OR GOOGLE.

CONGRATULATIONS, LARRY!

The Oracle America's Cup team has pulled off the greatest sports comeback of the twenty first century.

However, even Larry must have noticed the muted applause, and distinct lack of media coverage.

Here, in Silicon Valley, where Larry and I live and work, we are all concerned with the business of electronic communications, how to use technology to make work easier, and fun more accessible.

But we also recognize that unbridled competitiveness is extremely destructive. Attorneys are not gladiators and courts are not the coliseum. Unless we refund and energize the old Legal Aid system, the rich will continue to say, "I will fight you in court until you run out of money. And I have WAY more money than you do."

You do not have to actually read the Story of Midas or watch Citizen Kane, but the synopsis in Wikipedia will miss the emotional impact of turning your daughter into a golden statue or the stark black and white images of a lonely death surrounded by so much stuff that most of it is still in boxes.

MELODRAMA IN CONGRESS -- THE REASON

Republicans DO NOT WANT US TO DISCOVER that the LONG HEALTH INSURANCE NIGHTMARE is OVER. We no longer have to wake in the middle of the night worried about whether we will get sick, or whether we can actually afford to get a new hip.

As a streetfront attorney, I often advised people that the only way to deal with mounting medical bills was to declare bankruptcy. I listened to confessions about tweeking the system in order to become insured. I listened to the fears of laid off workers who could not find insurance, because they had gone to a doctor for a sinus infection. I had nightmares about my young friends being permanently crippled because they could not afford health care.

On October 1, the nightmare will be over for many of us. You will not believe how easy it is going to be to sign up for health insurance. You will get your tax credit as an immediate deduction from your insurance premiums.

Republicans have been keeping us in fear regarding Obamacare. Such FEAR IS ONLY POSSIBLE IN THE FACE OF THE UNKNOWN.

IS THE TEA PARTY INSANE?

Einstein defined insanity as doing the same thing over and over again expecting a different result. This is the Tea Party's forty second (42nd) attempt to defund Obamacare.

Of course, there is always the possibility that the Tea Party has heard that 42 is the answer to everything. %<).

Personally, I think trying to rob from the sick to give to the rich is insanity.

Also, these num nuts do not seem to understand that the Chinese buy US bonds ON THE OPEN MARKET. The US does not go to China and ask for money. The US puts its bonds up for sale to ANYONE IN THE WORLD.

Switzerland managed to remain neutral during two world wars that engulfed Europe, because EVERYONE had their money in Swiss banks. If China is actually keeping a large portion of its savings in US bonds, they are unlikely to harm the US. THE SAVINGS THEY LOSE WILL BE THEIR OWN.

In any event, the bonds are sold on the open market. It is called capitalism and a free market economy.

THESE ARE NOT HONOR KILLINGS

Killing young lovers is DISHONORABLE. These killings bring DISHONOR on your family, your caste, your province, and your country.

The killing and mutilation of females is done in order to force females to cooperate in a planned human breeding program. The plan is to force females to mate only with the chosen males.

These breeding programs are always a failure. They produce people with intelligence, but no common sense.  Those who are convinced of their superiority because of "proper breeding" are almost always people so stupid that they believe something is true just because they said it was true.

The truth is that the poor are usually MUCH more intelligent and more capable at solving real world problems. It is MUCH more difficult to raise children when you have no money. As soon as the poor get proper nutrition, they produce some of the most admired people ever born. Ambedkar is an excellent example.

Here in the US, there seems to be an unspoken conspiracy to convince the poor that they should be impolite, undisciplined and uneducated, because that it what is "cool". Encouraging disadvantaged children to speak in slang means that they will never be able to communicate with decision makers.

This policy of using culture to keep people poor and downtrodden has been justified by saying, "I can not tell a poet what to write."

A COLD WAR STORY

I remember the fear that ordinary people felt during the Cuban Missile Crises in 1962. EVERYBODY was frightened. My uncle built a bomb shelter (later excellent for tornados).

In the midst of the crises, Fidel Castro flew to Russian. This was seen as VERY BAD NEWS.

When the KGB opened some of its records, the records showed that Khrushchev, the premier of the USSR (now Russia), did NOT try to make the crises worse. Instead Khrushchev used his time with Castro to show Castro films of the horrible deaths from atom bombs. Castro decided that he did not want such a weapon on his island.

Neither Khrushchev nor Castro ever discussed what happened.

Again, Russia stands alone trying to protect a dictator. But secretly, Russia may be trying to solve a crises that could loose chemical weapons into the hands of every terrorist in the world.

BTW, during the crises, my father explained again and again that radiation did not work like people seemed to think. I will follow his lead in trying to explain. Think of radiation as if it were fire. A fire bomb is scary and dangerous. Small fires are warm and friendly. It is the intensity and concentration that makes the difference.

OUR JOB IS TO REMAIN CALM

In the face of chemical weapons attacks and 12 dead in a US Navy Yard, our job is to remain calm. Let the professionals do their jobs.

Please do not let Assad delay a UN response by manipulating Russia. Let the process work. As much as the rest of us want to threaten Assad into compliance, this may not be a wise move. Putin knows Assad better than we do. I do believe that Russia does not want chemical weapons loose on the world. But news reports have stated that Assad has 20 tons of chemical weapons. Logic tells us that such a problem will not be solved overnight.

It is unclear why there was a shooting in the Navel Yard. These shootings are usually based in anger regarding treatment by fellow workers. Personally, I would keep that psychiatrist alive so we can talk to him. Most of the anger shooters prefer suicide by cop, so we do not have many that we can talk to about what set them off.

I find that hugging my Persian cat helps when I am angry. As children get older, they do not want to be hugged for such purposes. You can get the same calming by taking children to a park and throwing a Frisbee with them. Or join them in a computer game that you both like. Play with your dog. (Unless your dog is aggressive, then your suppressed fear may make your dog dangerous.)

Call your friends and family and talk family gossip. Take your coworkers out for a drink. Play touch football. Go out for pizza. Have a dinner party and ban all political talk until after dinner.

Do not let bad guys stop you from enjoying life. THE REASON TERROR WORKS IS BECAUSE IT IS TERRIFYING. WE WIN WHEN WE REFUSE TO BE TERRIFIED.

SLAMMING DOORS

Some people in my house are slamming doors like demented teenagers, angry that others believe in rational decision making..

I am SO PLEASED that President Putin and President Obama are attempting to take the most rational path in Syria. It takes a really great man to change course in light of developing events. Only the truly stupid keep to the same path even after the path has been wiped out by a flood.

Here in the US, even the Tea Party states loudly that they believe in education of young people.

There are TWO educational programs that science has proven work. Head Start for the youngest children, and lowering class size. Federal funding for these programs is LESS due to the stubborn Tea Party people. The Tea Party has had about 35 unsuccessful votes on Obamacare, and STILL they want to shut down the federal government AGAIN so that they can be on TV AGAIN.

If we had rational politicians, I would also propose federal funding of alternative schools for those students intent on disrupting everyone else's education. As I can attest, asking politely to, "Please do not slam doors," does not work. Teachers tell me that sometimes disruptive students stand on the tables, and there is no effective way to discipline them.

Obamacare is here to stay. The nation still needs to be run. If a UN plan does not remove Syria's chemical weapons, who is going to secure the chemical weapons?

Can the Tea Party please stop "slamming doors" long enough to let the rest of us get some work done?

OPTIONS IN SYRIA

US Congress -- Please do NOT tie the hands of the people who do military and political strategy for a living. Our President asked for authority to deal with Syria. You should give him the authority that he is asking for.

Congress can give our Commander in Chief additional authority if you think the US needs the option to march in and capture the chemical and biological weapons. However, military options take planning, and I guarantee you, the Joint Chiefs of Staff is full of people who can do military stategy better than I can.

While you are waiting somewhat nervously, I give you a game to play.

Start looking for newspaper and TV news that is obviously Syrian propaganda. My personal favorite so far is the incredibly stupid suggestion about the Saudis.

There is the old standby, look at Iraq. Please remember that Assad has NOT said that he does not have any biological and chemical weapons, he just said that we could not PROVE that HE had used them.

I am fairly certain that many in Hezbollah have gone home. Assad's proud supporters almost certainly treated Hezbollah as if they were stupid unpaid servants. So Assad's threat to have Hezbollah do ANYTHING is probably an empty threat.

I particularly like the photo of Assad and his wife having breakfast with female students. As if ANYTHING could make us like Assad.

Pay attention to the "Assad is winning" line. I think the thermite bomb dropped in the school playground was a homemade bomb, because Assad is running out of ammunition. (I COULD BE WRONG!) But what kind of evil comes up with the idea of dropping thermite on civilians?

You are all WAY to easy to manipulate. So finding Assad propaganda is a good lesson in real life.

Keep in mind that we will STILL allow Assad to retire to Russia.

THE HORRIBLE TRUTH ABOUT SYRIA

As the civil war drags on, the Syrian government may lose control of their chemical and biological weapons. Every terrorist group in the world will be in Syria trying to get a chemical or biological weapon to "help them with their cause".

Sarin gas has already been used in a subway train by a group of totally crazy Japanese, who were not even on a terror watch list.

Just think about the Boston bombers using sarin gas instead of a homemade bomb.

Just think about the Chechen rebels setting off a biological weapon in the center of Moscow.

The world needs to enforce a peace in Syria until we can safely remove and destroy these weapons before they get out of control.

Even China is not immune. A large amount of world trade makes a multitude of opportunities to smuggle a small chemical or biological weapon.

This is not war or peace, this is REALITY.

BTW, if you believe the Syrian propaganda about Saudi Arabia, your bull dung detector is not turned up high enough.

WHY WE PAY PEOPLE

Not getting enough sleep is worse than being too drunk to drive. Just ask any new mother. People who are not being paid a living wage will work other jobs so that their children can have new shoes, or they can buy a house.

It is particularly STUPID to under pay people who drive and fix trains, people who care for and teach our children, nurses who save our lives, police officers who carry guns, lab techs who perform life or death tests, programmers who design your business portal.

We overpay people who trade in money so that they can buy the cocaine that they use to prove how manly they are by working all the time. No wonder they make such stupid decisions.

Computer programmers are even worse. Sleeping at the office is STUPID. People need to go home, relax and THINK. No wonder most of the websites look like they were designed by one high school student.

Oh, and my advise to Disney. IF you were really trying to divert attention from the theme of Miley's dance, you were using social media to try to control Miley's behavior. The way to control Miley's behavior is to offer her a LOT of money to do things that you approve of. Child stars are NOT the permanent slaves of the people who hired them when they were children.

If you are having trouble interpreting Miley's dance, which I thought was funny, look at the costume she tore off and the bears behind her. BTW, some of you will be disappointed in her "bikini" which covered more than most bikinis. (It is normally called a two piece bathing costume.)

THE CHILDREN OF SYRIA ARE BEING KILLED - AGAIN

For over five thousand years, the armies of three continents have fought using Syria as a battleground. Now a despot is killing Syrian children with chemical bombs. Please bring yourself to look at the schoolboys who will die from the burns they sustained from one of Assad's bombs. It was filmed by a respected journalist from the BBC.

I believe, from the evidence on TV and the internet, that Assad used chemical weapons on innocent civilians, including almost 500 children. But we will NEVER be able to prove that Assad issued the orders.

It is now certain that Assad has moved his chemical weapons. Using my two year old child analogy, the child has hidden his bow and arrow. So the next thing to do it to take away some other toys the child cares about. With a child, it is really important that the punishment is swift, so that the child connects the punishment with the crime.

Luckily, that is easier than taking away his chemical weapons. Personally, I think taking away Assad's air power would be an excellent punishment. It should be remembered that the US has bombed Syria in the past, with little or no political ramifications. His neighbors do not like him either.

I have heard rumors that Assad is thinking about retiring to Russia. We HAVE to agree to let him and his family have a comfortable, wealthy, and safe retirement. Otherwise he will fight to his last breath. Worse, other despots will fight to their last breath.

A philanthropus has established a retirement fund for dictators who did NOT steal monies. He says that sometimes people stay in office because their country has no retirement system for them. He is right.

President Obama is right. Assad has crossed a red line.

If the US does not stand against this evil, who will?

WHEELCHAIR SAFETY -- UNCARING CITY

I have injured myself twice this year, on wheelchair ramps missing or blocked. Both times were in the City of San Jose.

In January, I drove my wheelchair off a curb where I thought there was a ramp. Oakridge Mall contends I was crossing a loading dock. I say I was using the sidewalk on the immediate outside of the mall and it looked like a driveway to me. I think that the representatives at Oakridge treated me in an extremely snotty manner. I think they believe they do not have to upgrade the wheelchair access in an area built in the 1960s, even if they expanded the mall several times since then. I think they even changed their map on Google to show a safe wheelchair route to Bank of American, which does not exist. They refused to even consider my injury claim.

But why didn't the City of San Jose building inspectors REQUIRE that Oakridge put in safe wheelchair routes?

Yesterday, I was unable to cross Saratoga at Steven's Creek on the San Jose side. The ramp ended in an asphalt lump which my wheelchair would not cross until I went over it rear wheels first. Thank you, bicycle guy and car who blocked traffic for me. But why didn't the City of San Jose REQUIRE as safe wheelchair ramp?

The answer might be found in city hall. San Jose built the R2- D-dome, but wheelchairs in the City Council chambers have to use the top or the bottom (with help from security). Compare this to the Santa Clara County Board chambers, which is amazingly wheelchair friendly.

And do not get me started on the incredibly stupid state law which prevents demand notices for access violations. The mislead legislators say they are protecting small business. Instead they are allowing huge businesses to IGNORE WHEELCHAIR SAFETY.

SYRIAN DREAMS

In my dreams, the world declares a ceasefire in Syria, and marches in and takes away all of Assad's chemical weapons. The extremely brave men who do this would be allowed to return fire and should be given air coverage. But dreams are not foreign policy.

Bombing Assad does not secure the chemical weapons. Israel said that it knew where all the chemical weapons are located. NO ONE wants chemical weapons loose in a world which contains people crazy enough to use them.

If NATO and the neighbors of Syria agree, then Assad and the rebels would be TOLD that the foreign troops are coming in ONLY to secure and REMOVE all chemical weapons in Syria. The troops should be covered by air support, given tanks, and weapons to defend from attack. 

Assad is acting like a child, destroying what he can not have. If a child misuses a bow and arrow, you take away the bow and arrow.

I can dream, but foreign policy is complex. There may be many reasons why my idea would not work.

SUMMERTIME

For those of us in this hemisphere, we are in the last week of summer. In the US, the social summer ends with Labor Day.

So this weekend, and next weekend, you should spend at least some time on summer fun. Go to the beach, go boating on the river, have a picnic, go to a music festival. Do whatever used to make summer feel like summer. Sometimes this can be taking a ball and a bat to a park.

I also love this time of year for the back to school sales. I get some cheap, fun, office supplies to make me smile when I work during the dark days of winter. (I have been reading Regency Romances.)

It is really important to leave the house and meet new people. There are some new studies that show that loneliness can kill you.

GO HAVE FUN!

GRAVITAS AND THE FRB

When bankers say, "The candidate lacks gravitas," they actually mean, "She is not a man, or he is not 'one of us.'" Gravitas is actually the respect that someone is given, making the term easy to use as code for "only Harvard educated white men need apply."

Frankly, I have great respect for a woman who has become a member of the Federal Reserve Board. The glass ceiling in banking seems to be a steel reinforced ceiling.

If you think a woman used to debating other members of the FRB cannot also testify in front of Congress, you are wrong.

Recently I was reminded of why I am blogging. I want every person to be able to do anything their talent and education allows them to do. I do not want ANYONE to be told that they can not do something JUST because they are a woman, or because they are purple or old or fat or short or ugly or disabled.

However, men are going to have to accept the fact that they can not gestate a baby. %<)

GETTING MARRIED IN THE VALLEY

If you are getting married in Silicon Valley, please consider getting married in my friend's chapel. Pat cares about the people she marries and always holds a ceremony which has a positive emotional impact on the couple and their guests.

It is almost impossible to spend more than $500 getting married by Pat, even if you chose all of the fun add ons like the sand ceremony or jumping the broom. The least expensive wedding is only $80.

When Pat first started marrying people, I wrote and edited parts of her ceremonies.

You can find all of the information at www.siliconvalleyweddingchapel.com.

ORIGIN TOURS

Every US citizen, except for Cuban Americans, can go be a tourist in the land of their ancestors. Iranians, North Koreans, and Syrians, can be tourists in the land of their ancestors. But a Cuban American can only go to Cuba if they have a good reason and permission.

Newspapers tell us that this is because we are still punishing Castro. I hear rumors that it is actually the Miami hotels that fund the "no tourists in Cuba" campaigns.

If you are Cuban American, it is time for you to tell your Congressperson that you would like to have unrestricted travel to Cuba. And if you are a Silicon Valley engineer, do not forget to add that you would like to be able to bring back souvenirs, such as the perfectly maintained autos from the 40s, 50s and 60s.

It is time to stop punishing the people living in Cuba for their desire to have an education and health care for their children. It was easy to say that Castro was a villain unless you were poor and your child was dying because of lack of health care.

Cuba is a warning that if you do not take care of all of your people, your people may take care of you.

MAY THE FORCE BE WITH YOU

Good people WAY outnumber bad people. All good people have to do to win is to refuse to cooperate with bad people. Bad people try to FORCE you to do something. Good people try to PERSUADE you to do something.

Often, people try to make a law against something that should actually be decided by each individual. Every time you attempt to force people to comply with your religious principles, you are being a bad person. Good people try to persuade others that their religious principles are worth respect.

If you are currently playing dirty tricks on someone, you should think about how you would feel if someone was playing the same dirty tricks on your grandson or your daughter. It is evil prejudice to try to annoy another person because the person is a woman or a minority or has another religious belief.

The world contains so much joy. We should celebrate the good things, not try to make bad things happen to good people.

FINANCING POLICE BY LEGAL THEFT

Cash strapped local governments are using civil forfeiture laws to steal money from poor minorities and then use the money to finance police and prosecutors.

I could not write any better than the article in the New Yorker entitled "Taken".

Laws we were told would take profits from drug lords, are being used against the totally innocent, or against a person whose son sold $60 worth of marijuana.

I TOLD YOU THIS WOULD HAPPEN. AND I WAS NOT THE ONLY ONE WHO TOLD YOU THIS WOULD HAPPEN!

Drug dealers are not stupid. You civilly forfeiture one drug dealer's Maserati and soon all drug dealers with brains have their Mazeratis registered in the name of a Cayman Island Corporation and hordes of well trained, well paid lawyers show up to fight the forfeiture.

It is WAY easier to take all of the assets of a poor minority person who is too afraid to fight back. It is the same reason that the police tend to arrest more minorities for violation of drug laws. Most of them are too poor and too afraid to fight back. This is why over 50% of the drug arrests nationwide are for possession of marijuana. Since everyone is using marijuana, you just have to stop the nearest black kid to have an arrest and conviction to brag about when asking for more money from the DEA.

BTW, you did see that the DEA admits to routinely lying about the probable cause for an arrest? They think they are allowed to make up a story about how they saw a red light out and stopped the vehicle in order to cover up inadmissible info they got from the NSA.

We need to STOP THE WAR ON DRUGS. Because it is impossible to stop drug trafficking, our law enforcement officers are breaking the law under the pressure to make arrests. And the bribery money available would tempt the devil himself.

ECONOMIC TERRORISM

The US security services allow billions of dollars to be stolen from individuals and credit card companies. Nigerian scammers, Russian mobsters, almost everyone is allowed to defraud Americans with absolutely NO consequences.

The entire world wide economy almost collapsed in 2008 because the feds ignored warnings about the mortgage industry. I believe that the warnings were ignored because each individual mortgage transaction was too small to get the notice of the federal government. However, as we painfully learned, the internet can turn small, relatively unimportant scams into a large scam that can bring down governments.

I am tired of hearing how business and banks are being defrauded by stealing credit cards. I am tired of listening to clients explain how they needed money so badly that they fell for a sophisticated version of the Nigerian email scam. (A large law firm was stung by a check cashing scam.)

The internet has made these small scams into big business.

As we have recently learned, the NSA has the capabilities to track down these international thieves and prove the theft. Since we can not stop the NSA from collecting the data, the NSA might as well use the data to protect the American people from economic terrorism.

Who knows, maybe some of the thieves are buying bombs with their ill gotten gains.

POISON AND THE FDA

The tobacco industry adds numerous poisons to cigarettes. The FDA does not care about the poisons, but does care about menthol. Why? Because some people think menthol tastes good.

I am SO tired of the FDA treating us all as addictive children. Less than 5% of the population is addicted to ANYTHING. Addiction can only be stopped by the addict making a decision to stop being an addict. How hard is this to understand?

The FDA allows acetaminophen to be added to prescription pain medications. Too many people, in pain after surgery, take too much of this pain medication, causing liver damage and deaths which can be proven. But gosh, menthol is SO much more important, because people might overuse tobacco. People DYING from overusing pain medication is unimportant, because they should have known better. (It should be noted that the overuse of acetaminophen is the leading cause of liver failure in the US.)

EVERYONE knows that tobacco is not good for you. However, trying to force everyone to stop using tobacco will just result in a VERY profitable illegal tobacco industry. 

YOU HAVE TO TALK

You have to learn to talk with people who disagree with you. It is not possible to shoot everyone who disagrees with you. Sitting in the street will eventually destroy a country or a city because it stops the normal commerce necessary for living.

I may have misread the New York Times, but it seems like the Egyptian generals are asking for permission to start a repression of the Muslim Brotherhood. Personally, I think Sharia law is a way to repress modern political thought.

I am asking all people in Egypt to TALK to each other. I am also asking the people of Egypt to recognize that ALL people have a right to think the way they want to think. It is possible to use the normal laws against violence to arrest the people who resort to violence.

Egypt is not Syria. Assad wants power so badly that he is willing to destroy his county in order to have power. No leader in Egypt has done that.

There are rules about reaching a consensus decision. One of my favorite is to have a debate where a representative of every faction gets to state their position. This should include those people who are not normally invited to speak but who have a group point of view. Then the moderator can get people to talk about their view of the country and a discussion of how to resolve the differences can begin.

I will also advise you that educating women is the key to having young people who can compete in the modern world, because education begins with parental teaching.

A ROYAL BABY

The entire world, including me, is agog about the new British royal baby. I am hoping for a girl as that will cause an interesting constitutional crisis. Also I think it is time dukedoms go to the oldest child.

Why do I care? It is living history. Many of us in the US are interested in the monarch system of government, as evidenced by much of fantasy science fiction. (I tend not to read the male authors of fantasy science fiction as I want my monarchy fantasies to include women being treated as equals.)

But most fascinating is the modern reenactment of the royal birth from Disney's Sleeping Beauty. We even have the equivalent of the wicked witch (the paparazzi). Right now, most of Britain is seeing the birth as an excuse for an impromptu street party.

Have fun watching the party. The BBC has already told you, but. All news regarding the birth will come from the palace. How cool is that?

INJUSTICE

You march in protest over the death of one black teenager. I mourn the deaths and destruction of millions of black and brown people under the excuse of the War on Some Drugs.

People are now telling me that drug prohibition can not be stopped because too many people are making too much money, I believe that the reason no one stops the insanity is that they do not want to give up this method of controlling minorities. If 25% of minority men are incarcerated, that keeps minorities from demanding the right to be treated as equals.

Prohibition has ALWAYS fostered violence. In Chicago, during prohibition of alcohol, people were using machine guns to fight each other in the streets. We will NEVER stop the violence in our inner cities until we repeal the prohibition laws regarding any drug that is proven by unprejudiced scientific research to be less dangerous and less addictive than alcohol.

Violent protests only make minorities look less rational. Peaceful protests, political organization, and VOTING are the only way to stop this stupid and immoral prohibition. 

Trayvon died because of fear of black people. Fear of black people will not abate until the violence we cause with our drug laws ends. As was proven by 60,000 deaths in Mexico, escalating the enforcement of prohibition only escalates the violence. Then the violence is used as an excuse to treat all black and brown men as if they were criminals.

The case in Florida is very sad. Fear caused a man and a boy to react with the fight or flight response. From the evidence I read, I would probably have voted for acquittal. Just because an event is so tragic that it makes us rethink how we treat each other, does not make it a criminal act.

RAMADAN KAREEM!

Have a generous Ramadan. Please be extra nice to your Muslim friends who are fasting. People who do not eat, drink or have sex between sunrise and sunset can get irritable. Worse, they may feel (and possibly be) morally superior for giving up something in order to try to become a better person.

Anyway, you can greet Muslims with "Ramadan Kareem", from now until August 7, when Muslims will celebrate with a feast. If you get a reply you do not understand, feel free to ask for a translation.

Sometimes learning only one word in another language can make an incredible difference in how you are perceived by another culture. When I was in Europe, I always learned the word(s) for "thank you" for every country I was in. Even though I am HORRIBLE at pronouncing other languages, I would ALWAYS get a smile for my attempt to communicate.

Talking with each other is one of the most important things we can do. If someone you would not normally talk to tries to open a conversation ALWAYS talk with them at least briefly. You never know what you will learn. You never know when you will make a friend.

Ramadan Kareem!

WE DO NOT BELIEVE YOU SPEAK FOR GOD

People who are pretending to speak for God almost always refuse to talk about the issues. They say that God has told them what to do and therefore they do not have to talk with anyone about how to solve problems facing us all.

EVERYONE must know by now that other people believe in other religions. The people who say that they talk to God are NOT willing to take orders from other people who talk to a differently defined God. Frankly, I am not willing to take orders from people who pretend to talk to God. Too often the orders are that all women should shut up and go home.

I believe that the Muslim Brotherhood has lost credibility in Egypt because the MB are misusing the name of God. I believe that the MB was trying to force the rest of Egypt into obedience to whatever the MB said that God wanted.

As Egypt moves forward, please remember that EVERYONE needs to talk to EVERYONE. Everyone needs to vote. Boycotting elections and boycotting conferences is STUPID. It is like saying that you will not talk with anyone who disagrees with you. I usually enjoy talking with people who disagree with me. Often, this allows me to see a solution that I did not know existed.

The other thing to remember is that the majority is not allowed to pass laws that harms a minority. Respect for everyone should be the goal of a good government.

Almost every religion believes that a person needs to treat all persons as the person would like to be treated. Please understand that this means that you have to treat women, Muslims, Christians, Copts, Sunnis, Shiites, Hindi, Buddhists, cripples, elderly, Black, Asians, everyone with respect. You must LISTEN to everyone so that you can find a path to the future that you can all walk.

DEATH IN A FOREST

Firestorms kill everything and everybody in a sudden blaze of unimaginable fury. We have a solution, but idiot Bush could not understand the solution and stopped controlled burns.

I have no idea if Bush's failure to learn even the simple rules of forest management killed 19 brave men in Arizona. I do know that controlled (or prescribed) burns are the solution to lowering the number of firestorms.

Firestorms happen when we try to stop all fire. Fire in the forest is necessary for the health of the forest. Without fire, the underbrush grows too tall and then becomes dry. Then, instead of a small fire, there is a huge fire that leaves a lunar landscape.

Do not even THINK that cutting down the brush can work. Although, for slow learners, I am certain that there are places where you can volunteer to cut brush. Anyway, cutting the brush and taking it away also takes away the nutrients that a healthy forest needs.

Controlled and prescribed burns will get out of control. Fire is tricky and wind is even trickier. But without controlled burns we will have firestorms that leave an entire forest devastated. No bears, no bunnies, no nothing.

DOES FACEBOOK HAVE MORE OF YOUR DATA THAN THE NSA?

You know that your children happily uploaded ALL of their email addresses in the "see how many friends you can get" era? Facebook SAVED all info on user and nonuser alike. Facebook adds to your nonuser information in an attempt to help users "get more friends."

When Facebook had a bug (for about a year), Facebook gave out private information on nonusers, but failed to notify the nonusers as required by US law and a US consent decree.

Marketing companies compare and converge data bases all the time. But at least they work for the data and pay for the data. Facebook encourages people to just "share" all their most private information. Honestly, I do not care if you share how many times you get drunk. I do care that Facebook encourages you to share private information about ME, which they then sell to lazy marketing companies.

If I was really doing conspiracy theories, I would point out that, for many years, Facebook was funded by Russians.

At least the NSA gets warrants from a secret court.

Facebook believes that any data is their data.

SCOTUS GOT IT RIGHT

I have read the US Supreme Court opinions on gay marriage. I think SCOTUS got it exactly right.

DOMA is now unconstitutional. Of course, there will be people still trying to enforce DOMA, especially the part regarding states that do not want to give "full faith and credit" to the laws of other states regarding marriage. But the language in the DOMA decision states that ALL of DOMA is unconstitutional.

SCOTUS also made a good decision to let the NINTH CIRCUIT's decision on Proposition 8 stand. The defenders of Proposition 8 did not have standing in federal court. I also would not want to have a final decision on the constitutionality of gay marriage if one of the parties so misunderstood the issues that they believe that gay marriage is not now legal in California. (You can always tell incompetent attorneys, because they attack the judge or the opposing attorney, rather than address the issues.)

All persons who want marriage equality must now concentrate on electing people who believe in marriage equality.

I am celebrating!

MASSACHUSETTS VOTE!

When you are trying to save the world, there is NOTHING more important than VOTING. The vote tomorrow in Massachusetts is one of the more important elections. PLEASE VOTE!

In exchange, I will give you a fun history lesson. The probably drunken rebels, who dumped the tea into the Boston Harbor in 1773, were protesting "taxation without representation". In other words, they wanted to be able to vote on the taxes they paid. They also hated the monopoly on tea imports.

After the revolution, the colonists promptly voted in a tax on tea.

HAPPY VOTING!

MANNING MITIGATION

Please watch the video 'I am Bradley Manning'. It outlines the mitigating circumstances in the Manning case.

Additional mitigation is that, as far as I can tell, the data dump by Manning helped the world. The Arab Spring was born out of an outrage fueled by the honesty in US State Department emails released by Manning.

SInce the time of the US revolution, our constitution and courts have held that, if you torture someone, you can not then convict that person. Bush was told this when he allowed torture of the prisoners in Guantanamo. He, being really stupid, did not listen.

I am sorry that the military was stupid about Manning. However, one cannot change the past. Manning was subjected to cruel and unusual punishment before trial and should be released because of this gross violation of the US Constitution and the values for which our military fights.

LET NSA DROWN IN THE DATA

The internet was designed to be open and redundant. There is NO WAY we can stop governments from accessing internet information. So the best response is to give them LOTS of data and let them drown in it. Feel free to change formats every once in a while. Let them DROWN IN THE DATA.

Two examples of this from history.

When the Romans asked, "Who is Spartacus?", many stood up and said, "I am Spartacus." It is difficult to post a head on the city walls if everyone claims to be the prospective head.

When the Nazis told the Danish Jews to wear yellow Stars of David, the next day the King rode in the park wearing a yellow Star of David. Almost all Danes then wore the Stars of David. It is difficult to round up and kill Jews if everyone claims to be a Jew.

If you are so STUPID as to use an internet cafe to send secure communications, you deserve to have your communications compromised. It is well known that you can not even safely complete an internet purchase at an internet cafe.

It is paranoid and completely crazy to go to a communist country and expect to have due process of law. Of course, the US has encouraged this type of paranoia by over prosecuting cases. The Manning case is different as he is in the military. I am sorry his commanders are not also being charged with dereliction of duty. To give so much information to a mixed up kid is asking for trouble.

If you are thinking of whistleblowing in the US, you need to hire a world class civil rights attorney BEFORE you tell the world who you are. Then, if you "disappear", someone with clout will be on your side. The Chinese have clout, but I am not certain that they will protect Snowden.

A PBS show on Shakespeare showed all of the volumes written by Queen Elizabeth's spies. All I could think of was that NOBODY could read all that stuff. And even if someone read all that stuff, it would take a person with intelligence and perspective to pick out the 'bad guys'. It is rare that a person with intelligence and perspective is willing to spend a lifetime reading really boring gossip.

THE NO SHOPPING GAME

It is really fun to play the game where you have to complete a project with only what you already have in the house. You make up new dishes by combining the ingredients that you have. You wrap presents with whatever interesting stuff you can find.

It is a great game to play with kids, who need to learn that there are more ways to solve a problem than what first appears.

My most successful projects include:

Using aluminum foil or newspaper comics as wrapping paper.

Using children's hair decorations as an "extra" touch on the ribbon around a present. Christmas decorations are also a stunning first impression tied into a bow.

I like my oysters cooked in milk. I usually add garlic, but one boring day I added fresh spinach and blue cheese. YUM! You eat it with lots of crushed table water crackers. (Crushing two or three crackers into the soup, eating them and so forth.) I use canned oysters as I can not afford fresh. Drain the oysters, put into a large glass serving bowl, add three inches of milk, a handful of spinach and a quarter cup of crumbled blue cheese. Heat in microwave about 4 minutes until blue cheese is melted and soup is HOT.

Note that if you are cooking with milk it is better to use the microwave as then the milk does not burn.

I made a fabulous notebook cover by making a large cloud like glob of puffy paint on the notebook and carefully putting down a dragon patch. Puffy paint take 24 hours to dry so put it up somewhere until it is ready.

Puffy paint also can be used to cover up the part of the Velcro hooks that you do not use on your shoes. These hooks tear on clothes and collect nasty dust stuff. So carefully put puffy paint (the stuff you use to decorate t-shirts with your own writing) on the Velcro and push it into the Velcro with a wooden chop stick.

Excercise your creativity. Do NOT go shopping. %<)

SIXTEEN TONS, DEEPER IN DEBT

Students are going to be reamed by Republicans AGAIN.

Last summer, students had to pay higher interest because the Republicans had to be FORCED to help the best and the brightest. No wonder Republicans are losing market share.

When I was young, I could work for a non profit and still pay my student loans. Kids today have to "sell out" and still they can not pay their loans.

We are continually led by brilliant kids who start an Apple or a Togo's. How can they start a business if they have tens of thousands of dollars in student loans?

Perhaps Republicans are afraid of the competition.

IRS STAR TREK VIDEO

It is great fun to watch the IRS Star Trek video. This is the first 'Trek fan flick' that I have found LOL funny. Believe me, I have seen LOTS of Star Trek fan flicks. Science fiction conventions used to run original Star Trek videos interspersed with fan flick videos.

I am surprised the IRS still has a sense of humor considering that the IRS is everyone's favorite whipping boy. Thank you, Tea Party. Without you, I would have missed seeing the IRS Trek.

I know you all want me to blog in indignation about the Verizon subpoena. Honestly, if this NSA program is news to you, then you have not been paying attention.

I am not certain what to do about domestic surveillance. Queen Elizabeth I had her spies in every English town. (Shakespeare scholars have used the voluminous notes of her spies to find new info about Shakespeare.)

Back during the Vietnam war protests it was a 'badge of honor' to have an FBI file. I am fairly certain that I did not have such a file. Lowly nonviolent peaceful protesters did not make the grade.

SO -- Are we better off letting the NSA drown in data? The Chinese can probably also mine this data, because the NSA probably did not require military grade computer chips for it's super computers.

PEACE IS BETTER THAN WAR

Sometimes war is necessary to fight bullies who use intimidation tactics to force people to accept evil actions.

But if your war is being supported by allies who ask that you attend peace talks, you should attend peace talks. However, you should be careful about how you approach the proposed peace negotiations. Here are some simple rules.

You will NEVER get everything you want. NONE of us, especially including me, can have everything they want.

Do NOT send military commanders to negotiate. Send LAWYERS to negotiate. Military commanders are used to obedience, so they are not good at compromise. It is imperative that you send negotiators who can correctly notice that some statements mean exactly the opposite of what the words seem to mean. Being able to correctly spot the hidden agenda in the words spoken is an art that most military people lack.

If you are being supported by a larger country, LISTEN to the advice from the larger country. Larger countries generally have more experience in international negotiations. Trust me, you will need the advice.

Make certain that your delegation contains people that know both the social costs of the evil you are fighting and the social costs of the fight. This means that you send people who are dealing with the refugee problem caused by the war. You should also send people who dealt with the evil intimidation tactics used prior to the war.

You are ALWAYS going to have to learn to live with people who disagree with you. You need to separate normal disagreements from the intimidation tactics of a Stalin or an Assad.

NO ONE can decide to end a war except the people fighting the war.

Do not forget that you will need MONEY to fix the problems caused by the war and caused by years of living under evil intimidation.

You can not solve all of your problems overnight.

GOOD LUCK!

THE WRONG IRS SCANDALS

It should be a SCANDAL that the IRS is targeting medical marijuana clinics. The IRS contends that you can NOT take business deductions if you are doing something nefarious, such as selling medical marijuana.

This means that a medical marijuana clinic can NOT deduct employee wages, purchase of supplies, rent, etc.  How can it go wrong if we allow the IRS to enforce our drug prohibition laws? Let me count the ways.

It should be a SCANDAL that ANYONE can use a nonprofit corporation to turn a nondeductible political contribution into a tax deductible political contribution. Either we ALL get to deduct political contributions or NO ONE gets to deduct political contributions.

There is NOTHING that you and I can do about the idiocy of the Citizens United decision. But Congress can pass a law stating that any contributions to a nonprofit will NOT be tax deductible if those contributions are used for a political campaign.

Personally, I think that we should make political contributions tax deductible and PUBLIC. I think it is really important that we know where the political contributions are coming from.

But you all would rather beat up on underpaid, undertrained, and overworked people in Cincinnati. Or better yet, to dream that anyone in authority would have allowed agents to make decisions based on the name of an organization. People in authority in the IRS, and indeed the entire US, know better than to make decisions based only on an organization's name.

CRITICAL THINKING IS CRITICAL

It should be no surprise that the Tea Party opposes critical thinking. Now they are trying to stop testing for critical thinking in math and reading. The test is called "Common Core" and is supported by educationists, Republicans and Democrats.

The Tea Party is trying to stop the teaching of critical thinking, as critical thinkers do not support a party that basically says, "If I say it, then it is true."

Finally, people are doing what is right in education, but now the Tea Party is trying to stop the funding of the testing. WE NEED TO STOP THE TEA PARTY effort to keep our citizens ignorant.

In the US, even ditch diggers need critical thinking. You can not just "dig a ditch here". A ditch digger can get buried when the ditch falls in. A ditch digger can break gas and power lines. A ditch digger can mess up traffic for years. All because the ditch digger did not use brains as well as brawn.

Con men LOVE people who can not do critical thinking. If you are focused on making the most money possible, often you do not carefully examine the risk of losing the most money possible.

THIS IS HAPPENING NOW! Please take some of your summer time and call/write/email/fax your state legislatures and governors. Let them know that you support funding for Common Core testing.

POLIO AND DRONES

This week, in Pakistan, Taliban assassins killed a health worker who was inoculating children against polio. Then a senior Taliban leader was 'droned'.

Polio is a horrible disease. It kills by slowly paralyzing the lungs. Sometimes it leaves a person alive but unable to walk or to use arms. My parents had me inoculated against polio at the soonest possible time. (I was under 10, I think.) A friend my age did not have such knowing parents and is spending her life bound to a wheelchair. I know that the vaccine was available and could have kept my friend from becoming sick.

I completely fail to understand why the Taliban wants children to get ill, and possibly die or be crippled for life. I KNOW that killing the innocent health care worker was against the beliefs of the Muslim religion.

So, would I authorize a drone strike against a person who was ordering his followers to kill the polio inoculation workers? Sometimes there are no easy answers.

So I ask you. Would YOU have killed Hitler prior to World War II?

OUTGUNNED ON TAXES

Both the US and Europe are outgunned on taxes. Corporations can and do pay excellent tax attorneys any amount of money to make often spurious arguments as to why they do not have to pay taxes. The poor government attorneys are paid badly and often do not have the necessary litigation experience in tax court.

The current favorite loophole is based on the loophole corporations use to get out of paying state taxes in the US. Taxes are supposed to be based on WHERE the transaction took place. In an increasingly digital world, it is very easy to "cook the books" to show that a transaction took place in a low tax area.

There are two solutions.

One is to have well written international treaties on how multinational corporations divide their revenue between countries. Each country will also have to state that any division doing business in a non-treaty country will be presumed to be reporting fraudulent numbers.

The second is to realize that we have to PAY people who work for the government. Not only does austerity NOT WORK, but austerity reduces the "income" that a government can get from its taxpayers.

This sounds really easy, but is incredibly hard. Writing tax code is extremely difficult as one has to write the code knowing that lawyers will make spurious arguments. Getting countries to agree on a tax formula is also difficult.

Making it worse is the incorrect idea that government employees do not deserve any respect and/or equal pay. (Generally, you get what you pay for.) Plus corporations will spend billions on ads, lobbyists and bribes is order to not pay taxes.

Until this is done, Apple, Google and others can just thumb their noses at tax collectors.

GAMES "PATRIOTS" PLAY

Some people who call themselves "Patriots" believe that they do not have to obey any laws, because they have formed their own country out of the city lot that they may not even own. These "Patriots" form multiple trusts, allowing strangers to be the trustees, just to avoid taxes. Some "Patriots" believe that all income tax is unconstitutional, no matter what the US Supreme Court has said.

My favorite "Patriot" document was a "driver's license", printed on document paper, that was covered in interesting coats of arms and seals. I can not remember the name of the fake kingdom. I do remember laughing out loud when the holder of this document said that a police officer had accepted it as a real license to drive. I did not tell the "Patriot" that I thought the officer decided that he had better things to do than to spend days and days in court with a mentally ill person.

I have read some of the trusts that "Patriots" use. It was clear that the "Patriot" has WAY more faith in a con man than he had in the US government. When I pointed out that the chain of title was so unclear that the trustee could just steal the property, the reply was, "Oh, no, he wouldn't do that." There was no point in saying, "Ya, right." (I think this is a long con, designed to take the property upon the death of the "Patriot". There is NO WAY any family member could prove theft, due to the secretive nature of the transactions.)

One of the first "Patriots" I spoke with was going to federal prison for tax fraud. I tried to get him to testify against the person who had told him that the income tax was unconstitutional and who taught him the various techniques which are supposed to avoid taxes. This man was a licensed medical man, but he was so positive that the con man was right, he served five years in prison.

I honestly do not know what to do about these "Patriots". NOTHING that you tell them will pierce the armor of their beliefs.

THE EVIL OGRE OF CLEVELAND

Once upon a time there was a horrible, evil ogre. Women somehow knew he was evil so he had to capture young Princesses, who were kept in a dank, dark dungeon.

One brave Princess tried to escape, but could not get through the final doorway. A neighbor, a true knight in shinning armor, helped the Princess escape. Then the King's men came and rescued the other three Princesses, and captured the ogre. The ogre was promptly put in a prison that was, unfortunately, not dark and dank.

The entire world joined in hoping and praying that the rescued Princesses lived happily ever after.