Monthly Archives: June 2018

Losing Factual News

29 Friday Jun 2018

Posted by in Free Press, Free Speech, Politics

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A New York hedge fund, One Rock Capital Partners, bought Northern Pacific Paper in 2016. Northern Pacific Paper makes about half the newsprint made in this country. The mill was not at full capacity so, like many hedge funds, they bought the mill figuring they would increase production by getting the government to help. They did and now, we, the readers of this and other newspapers will probably have to pay more or have a smaller paper or lose Journalists.

Why is the newsprint (second biggest expense) going up in price? The government helped the New York hedge fund get a thirty percent tariff on Canadian paper. Except for that hedge fund almost every organization has protested because of the damage it will do to small newspapers and even large ones like Trump’s nemesis, the New York Times. The Times is an investigative paper owned by Jeff Bezos. Bezos is the founder and CEO of Amazon which Trump has made the object of his scorn.

Commerce Secretary William Ross says it will add a cent or two to a newspaper but the Longview Daily News says it will increase the cost about a nickel or the salary of two reporters. The increase will cause many small papers to close. Like this paper and other small town papers, who will do the investigative reporting in their community? The Chicago Tribune is a fine regional paper but it isn’t going to do much in Joliet, Coal City, Morris, Channahon, or New Lenox. The digital “reporting” is usually suspicious at best and the stories on the social media are usually trash. The Russian’s stories about Clinton and other divisive issues was swallowed by the gullible but not printed by the newspapers. An administration that depends on lies does not want responsible reporting printing the truth.

Tell every Representative and Senator to support the bi-partisan bill; Protecting Rational Incentives In Newsprint Trade Act. Ask your friends that may not read a paper to do so. The shutting down of newspapers may be just the first step in stopping factual reporting. The administration also declared war on the Public Broadcast System. We must stop it here!

We Never Learn

29 Friday Jun 2018

Posted by in Drugs, Immigration, Violence

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As I watch the media’s reporting of the immigration mess, I am as conflicted as are most Americans. The vast majority of those seeking admittance to the United States are looking for a safe place to live for themselves and their children. Many are just kids looking for safety from gangs controlling their countries.

To be honest all this mess is our fault. We are where the drugs are sold that has fueled the violence south of the border causing the refugees to seek relative safety. Trump keeps talking about MS-13 gang members coming here but I remember seeing a documentary many years ago saying the gang originated in Los Angeles. We caught them and shipped them home. Oops.

I don’t know what President was the first to try to stop our drug habit, but the world would be a better place if that one and all the succeeding ones hadn’t failed. Just like Prohibition spawned organized crime, drugs have created the world’s gang problem. Who’s to blame for the refugee/immigration problem? Look in the mirror because we use drugs, we don’t report sellers, and we vote for people who are soft on gangs and drugs. Giving people a ticket just increases the problem here and where the drug was grown and transported.

As usual we seem to be blaming the result of what we caused on countries South of the border. It isn’t a new problem because I remember the discussions from years ago predicted this refugee flood would happen. We never seem to take responsibility for what we do when we mess up a country.

Survival of Democracy or Déjà Vu

29 Friday Jun 2018

Posted by in Politics

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Dr. Samuel Johnson (1790-1784) wrote “Patriotism is the last refuge of a tyrant.” Seeing President Trump wrap his arms around the flag reminded me of the quote. A few weeks before, I saw him bring the Republican power structure to an embarrassing Rose Garden kiss-up. I saw him say to the cameras and the audience, “These people will now say how great I am.” He sat on the corner of the stage with his arms crossed beaming like Kim Jong II.

His pals are dictators of North Korea, China, and Russia. His enemies may be the democratically elected leaders of Mexico, Canada, United Kingdom, France, and Germany. He talks about his pals with admiration and how the media isn’t a problem to them in their countries. He says strong men are loved by their people.

President Trump has told the Secretary of Defense to give him a military parade like Kim’s, Xi’s and Vlad’s. He wants to tell the world that he commands one of the largest, most expensive militaries in the world and they will do what he says.

His demand for subservience not only reflects today’s dictators, but reminds one of German troops parading in front of Adolf Hitler. He demanded the military swear allegiance to him, not Germany. His leadership and generals kowtowed to him or they were replaced by those who would. Sound familiar?

Those of us who have studied history and Geo-politics know this behavior has never led to anything po9sitive. His pals and those figures of the past developed personality cults to control their people. Combining massive ego and nationalism does not have a good result. Using Hitler’s propaganda minister’s Big Lie tactics to dupe people requires lying every day and dismissing and belittling the regular media and those who tell the truth. Putin buys the media company, closes it, or kills the reporters and owners. Murdoch and Sinclair Medias are buying up media companies. Our lie-fighting, truth-telling media is called fake news while the administration tries to get legislation to repress it.

In the words of Yogi Berra, “It’s déjà vu all over again.”

The Real Economic Boom

29 Friday Jun 2018

Posted by in Politics, Tariffs, U.S. Economy, U.S. Taxes

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I used boom and not boon because the few dollars each week a wage earner may get is more than offset by reality. The tax cut was designed for companies and not the average American. Non-public companies like Trump’s, Koch’s, and others are able to pocket the entire cut. A few public companies gave one-time bonuses. One big Republican donor is Wall-Mart. It was touted as giving raises because of the tax cut, but raises were scheduled more than a year before. They offset by closing almost a hundred stores and laying off hundreds of higher paid managers.

The offset is the rising National Debt which raises interest rate. The Federal Reserve will be raising the rate three more times this year and more times next year. A few dollars each week doesn’t overcome the credit card, auto, and mortgage rate increases.

The tariff Trump is putting on the items we buy means the items cost the consumer money even if paid in cash. Add the tariff increases to credit increases and the tax cut is a net loss to the average consumer. Increasing an item’s cost may cause consumers to not buy an item made overseas or here because the domestic manufacturers are already raising their prices to match the tariffs. Now we don’t buy the more expensive items so Americans lose their jobs.

Future Presidents will have to raise income taxes to pay down the massive debt. As interest rates increase a greater portion of the yearly budget will go to paying the interest just as Greece and other debtor nations do. The rich will move elsewhere leaving the rest of us to suffer the consequences.

Voting Quandary

29 Friday Jun 2018

Posted by in Politics, Uncategorized

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In November, we will have a choice to make in many Congressional Districts. Illinois is a blue state with few Republican representatives. Most are moderate because being a far right winger would not get them elected in today’s political environment. About five cycles ago most of the Republican moderates across the nation were defeated by radicals.

The cycle presents a real quandary for those of us who are real centrists. The moderates may not agree with the far right nut cases in many instances but they vote how President Trump tells them. Keeping Trump from destroying what the past ten Presidents have built for America may mean Illinois voters must elect Democratic replacements.

I don’t want Congress to swing too far to the left either but Donald Trump’s quest to destroy the fabric of our great nation must be stopped. He has rolled back the financial, environmental, and workplace regulations that were onerous when enacted but most were workable and good for us. Instead of reducing our massive debt he has increased it on the scale of Greece. He is used to running up debt, taking a profit and then declaring bankruptcy. America can’t do that.

Richard Nixon’s paranoia did not get us into such a mess as we are now entering into during this Presidential term. To take the first step we need for the Republican moderates to walk away from Trump or to lose their seat in Congress. We can’t have Representatives standing behind their leaders who have stood on the dais with Trump telling us how great he is.

Lying every day isn’t any way to run America.

Seventeen Years of What

29 Friday Jun 2018

Posted by in Free Press, Military, Politics

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As of October 7, 2001, we have been in Afghanistan for seventeen years. I remember the step-by-step of how we got into Viet Nam and how we got out. I remember the strategy that put the Russians into their Afghanistan quagmire which we aided the Afghan rebels. The Russians finally left with their tails between their legs just as we left Viet Nam.

Both retreats show any insurgent organization can ultimately win if they are willing to keep fighting for years. The Taliban, many fought the Russians, are trying to outlast the war with us. Every time we come up with a new strategy they know it is just a matter of time until we leave.

President Truman “gave up China to the Commies”, Nixon “gave up Southeast Asia,” and neither Bush or Obama wanted to leave Afghanistan with the Taliban taking over. Trump will make sure we stay in as long as he is in office. So we will be there for at least the next three years.

As a student of military history I can say winning a guerilla war without getting very ugly is impossible. We go out of our way not to hurt non-combatants. The last World War had millions of civilians killed by our indiscriminate bombing of cities. (The Norden bombsite was a farce.) As long as the enemy can commit atrocities and we don’t then they can hide where we can’t get at them.

Do we have the will to kill more Afghans, lose American lives, and spend billions more to fight to a stalemate or maybe a coalition government? I’m on the fence, are you?

Numbers Do Lie

21 Thursday Jun 2018

Posted by in Politics

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Have you noticed the administration has been reporting an increase in assaults on the Immigration and Customs Enforcement Agency (ICE) agents? The purported reason is more human and drug smuggling requiring a border wall. If people are going to be conned into supporting a wall something must get them agitated enough to demand it.

Prior to ICE change in reporting assaults a few months ago, an assault with one individual was counted as one no matter how many agents were involved. An incident in Texas demonstrates the new numbers exaggerate an incident to pump up numbers. Six suspects were confronted by seven agents. A shot was fired by a suspect before all six were arrested. Instead of one assault on an agent it became six suspects times seven agents times the three guns found on them to be (6 X 7 X 3 = 126) one hundred twenty-six assaults recorded for that incident. Where does these frauds originate?

In today’s America, it seems so easy to con our people and for us to believe it. Every day we are told many lies and some people believe every one of them. When on rare occasions a truth is told few people can believe it. We know of many instances where economic numbers have been misrepresented. Failures or no change is represented as a success.

How can we trust anyone who constantly lies and brags about things just to satisfy a massive ego? The fake facts are being exposed by the real media if only people will pay attention.

Consumers Lose Again And Again And ….

21 Thursday Jun 2018

Posted by in Politics, U.S. Economy

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The Constitution’s Article 1, Section 7 gives the job of raising revenue to Congress. Revenue bills are supposed to be originated in the House of Representatives with the Senate’s agreement and the President’s signing. The Country did not have an income tax so revenue was raised through tariffs. Therefore, putting tariffs on imports (can’t tax exports) is the responsibility of Congress, not the President.

When I asked my Senator’s staff where the President derived the authority to levy tariffs without her approval they couldn’t answer. Republicans always complain about Presidential overreach when a Democrat is in the Oval Office. This combative President appears to overreach his authority every day. Shouldn’t Congress know why the President has usurped power?

Article 1, Section 8 says “Congress shall regulate commerce with foreign nations…” and that means tariffs, treaties and agreements like NAFTA. Trump is trying to get around Congress by saying Canadian milk, cheese, and yogurt involves our National Security. Actually we export several times more of those products to Canada than we import from Canada. (One wealthy dairyman is the cause of this tariff war.)

Nicor Steel says its profits will rise greatly because the steel tariffs are allowing them to raise their prices. Since we import about three-fourths of our steel almost everything will go up because the consumer pays the tariff on their purchases. Since the steel industry is raising their prices too, we will just pay more. That’s inflation which causes the Federal Reserve to raise interest rates on loans to buy the washer/dryer and car. These are two more items with new tariffs. Rich stockholders win, consumers lose!

Call out your Senator and Congressman when you see them. It’s their abrogation of responsibility that’s responsible for the increases costs the consumer will be paying!

Aliens Are Coming!

21 Thursday Jun 2018

Posted by in Immigration, Military, Politics

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The President wants to start a new branch of our armed services to be called the Space Force. During his same speech he said he would not allow the United States to be an alien sanctuary. Perhaps he has seen the movie dealing with this problem. It is called “Men in Black.” Perhaps his Space Forces could wear the last suit they will ever wear.

Just because the President has a problem with brown people doesn’t mean all aliens are brown, too. We know most are gray and little with big heads. The (fictional?) movie says they have been living here for years and the administration has often said we have an alien problem because millions have been living among us.

Since we don’t have spaceships for these patrollers and patrolettes to fly up to build a wall over the US, I must assume they are going to find those aliens already here and intercept those coming. Perhaps they will be coming in a caravan so we can see them when they enter Pluto’s orbit.

I am hopeful Congress will agree with the new branch of the military and come up with an alien visa system which the space Force can use when they catch aliens. I think these aliens will be a help to our high tech economy since they had to be savvy to get here. Perhaps Elon Musk (Sounds Alien-ish) is an alien. He certainly doesn’t look like the rest of us and his name isn’t Earth-like. Perhaps this alien invasion has come to help us build a better America. Of course Trump could have just seen star ship troopers and thought of leading them against the aliens.

Politically Correct

14 Thursday Jun 2018

Posted by in Gender, Uncategorized

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I am not Politically Correct. Oh, I don’t use inappropriate slang words for people of different races, ethnics, gender, or religions. My mother told me when I was a kid to treat everybody the same. Apparently several million peoples’ mothers didn’t teach them correctly. The Declaration of Independence says all MEN are created equal (they didn’t mean women?) and the Constitution counted “three-fifths of all other persons (read slaves). Many of the amendments have tried to equalize the inequality (equal rights amendment for women has failed.) So, white men are still at the top of the heap.

Most Americans try not to intentionally offend others but in today’s climate, who knows what is okay. It seems a man can’t mention a woman’s lack of tan lines when she wears a backless dress or even say she looks great in that dress. Hugs are out and so is a pat on the back.

I think gender PC has gone way over the top. Women hug each other and men but if a man hugs a woman it’s harassment. One of the women complaining about Morgan Freeman’s behavior said on a TV news program “Mr. Freeman said I looked sexy in that dress.” Is it now wrong to compliment someone’s appearance? Are compliments now harassment?

I worked in many jobs (I would have said positions but that might not be PC!) and with many women and I only know of only one harassment. It was another supervisor who kept hitting on a woman in his group so she asked to work for me and that stopped it. Fishing off the company pier today is grounds for a harassment charge.

Have we gone so far from sanity that walls need to be built around each of us? Accusing someone of something they think occurred years or even decades ago is ridiculous. Times have changed! What was commonplace thirty years ago may have been wrong then but being penalized now is wrong, wrong, wrong. Many countries have had a reconciliation time to overcome murders and kidnapping, why can’t we forgive and forget old harassments?