Saturday, November 28, 2009

Car Company Bailouts

E-mail to Congress:

EIN News says, "Saab Likely to Close As GM Fails to Sell Car Brand. A deal for General Motors Co. to sell Saab to a specialty carmaker has collapsed, leaving the storied Swedish brand born from jets in 1947 close to extinction. Koenigsegg Group AB, a consortium formed by Swedish luxury sports car maker Koenigsegg Automotive AB, said Tuesday it pulled out of the deal in part because it was unable to agree with investors on how best to move the brand from mass-market to premium. (google.com)".

This is good. There are too many car companies producing too many cars for the available market. The less efficient ones, with respect to market needs, should fail. If we can just get governments to keep their hands off the situation and let market forces work, rather than use bailouts, the situation will improve.

Thursday, November 19, 2009

Patenting Ideas

EIN News says, "U.S. Supreme Court to Decide When Ideas Deserve Patents. It all started in 1997 when a little-known company wanted to patent a method for letting customers of utility companies pay a fixed, predictable sum each month. The patent office rejected their application on the grounds that it was "an abstract idea that simply solves a mathematical problem." Huge legal expenses and 13 years later, the two men behind the case, Bernard Bilski and Rand Warsaw, had their day in the U.S. Supreme Court on November 9. Most legal experts though, agreed that the duo had no chance of victory. (einnews.com)".

The obvious answer to this one is, "never". Ideas are a dime a dozen. They do have value as initiators for inventors to do work to obtain a bona fide practical invention. Even with this limitation, many inventions that qualify and achieve patent status have no practical value. Those inventions have been a waste of time and money for the inventor and for the US Patent and Trademark Office. If we start patenting ideas, we will be compounding the problems of a patent system, which is already overloaded, even when using the traditional limitations.

The meaning of "had their day in the US Supreme Court" is not clear. Perhaps it means that the court was obtaining information on which to decide whether to take the case. If so, I hope it gets no farther than that.

Americans Struggling Against Starvation

EIN News says, "New Report Says 50 Million Americans 'Struggle to Get Enough to Eat'. The nation's economic crisis has catapulted the number of Americans who lack enough food to the highest level since the government has been keeping track, according to a new federal report, which shows that nearly 50 million people -- including almost one child in four -- struggled last year to get enough to eat. (washingtonpost.com)".

I am always suspicious of astounding statements not supported by sufficient data. In this case, I suspect the unnamed federal department, which made the unspecified federal report, is motivated to establish that only big government can care for "the poor and indigent". Since most people are concerned with their own lives, government tries to establish a public compassion, whereby they will obtain approval to use public money for such projects.

Before we move down the abused compassion road, we need to ask a few other questions. How many of the 50 million starving people live in a family with the car (luxury)? In a family with one or more TVs (luxury)? Have a cell phone (luxury)? Receive food stamps (already on the dole)? Smoke (luxury)? Drink alcoholic beverages (luxury)? Use illegal drugs (obviously illegal)? Have been to a bar in the last week (luxury)? Have attended a sporting event or rock concert within the last month (luxury)? Are registered as unemployed but not looking for work (on the dole)? I bet I can think of others, but this is enough for starters.

Would the unnamed federal agency be so kind as to address those questions of the previous paragraph and publicly announce the date in an understandable form, such as percent of food struggling persons having the described asset or benefit?

Torture of Al Qaeda Suspects

EIN News says, "CIA Secret 'Torture' Prison Found at Fancy Horseback Riding Academy in Lithuania. The CIA built one of its secret European prisons inside an exclusive riding academy outside Vilnius, Lithuania, a current Lithuanian government official and a former U.S. intelligence official told ABC News this week. Where affluent Lithuanians once rode show horses and sipped coffee at a café, the CIA installed a concrete structure where it could use harsh tactics to interrogate up to eight suspected al-Qaeda terrorists at a time.
(abcnews.go.com)".

Torturing and the use of truth drugs on suspected Al Qaeda terrorists should be standard practice. Congratulations to the CIA. Maybe they are not the bunch of pantywaists I previously suspected.

I don't know what the use of an exclusive riding academy outside Vilnius has to do with it. It seems interrogation could be done anywhere. I also question the need for secrecy. It is likely that if Al Qaeda knows of the existence of such facilities and practices, they would be less aggressive. For those of public faint heart who might believe that this would intensify Al Qaeda antagonism, don't you believe it. These people already have an extreme ideology to the extent that they commit suicide in their operations.

Monday, November 16, 2009

Terrorist Trial in New York

E-mail to Sen. Cornyn:

I have read your, "Sen. Cornyn: Putting Political Ideology Ahead of the Safety of the American People is Irresponsible".
Congratulations!

I believe you are now seeing that the socialist Obama Administration is one to fight against.

While it would be nice to have cooperation between the Administration and Congress, and we have previously had that, there comes a time when demonstrating disagreement is absolutely necessary. This is the time.

You and your Associates have already given President Obama too many of his ridiculous requests. Cite bailouts as an example. It is past time to backtrack.

Thursday, November 12, 2009

A friend of mine sent me an essay from Dr. David Keister. Dr. Keister's essay is first listed below. It is then followed by my comments.

From Dr. Keister:
"History Unfolding
I am a student of history. Professionally, I have written 15 books on history that have been published in six languages, and I have studied history all my life. I have come to think there is something monumentally large afoot, and I do not believe it is simply a banking crisis, or a mortgage crisis, or a credit crisis. Yes these exist, but they are merely single facets on a very large gemstone that is only now coming into a sharper focus..

Something of historic proportions is happening. I can sense it because I know how it feels, smells, what it looks like, and how people react to it. Yes, a perfect storm may be brewing, but there is something happening within our country that has been evolving for about ten to fifteen years. The pace has dramatically quickened in the past two.

We demand and then codify into law the requirement that our banks make massive loans to people we know they can never pay back? Why?

We learned just days ago that the Federal Reserve, which has little or no real oversight by anyone, has "loaned" two trillion dollars (that is $2,000,000,000,000) over the past few months, but will not tell us to whom or why or disclose the terms. That is our money. Yours and mine. And that is three times the $700 billion we all argued about so strenuously just this past September. Who has this money? Why do they have it? Why are the terms unavailable to us? Who asked for it? Who authorized it? I thought this was a government of "we the people," who loaned our powers to our elected leaders. Apparently not.

We have spent two or more decades intentionally de-industrializing our economy.. Why?

We have intentionally dumbed down our schools, ignored our history, and no longer teach our founding documents, why we are exceptional, and why we are worth preserving. Students by and large cannot write, think critically, read, or articulate. Parents are not revolting, teachers are not picketing, school boards continue to back mediocrity. Why?

We have now established the precedent of protesting every close election (violently in California over a proposition that is so controversial that it simply wants marriage to remain defined as between one man and one woman. Did you ever think such a thing possible just a decade ago?) We have corrupted our sacred political process by allowing unelected judges to write laws that radically change our way of life, and then mainstream Marxist groups like ACORN and others to turn our voting system into a banana republic. To what purpose?

Now our mortgage industry is collapsing, housing prices are in free fall, major industries are failing, our banking system is on the verge of collapse, social security is nearly bankrupt, as is Medicare and our entire government. Our education system is worse than a joke (I teach college and I know precisely what I am talking about) - the list is staggering in its length, breadth, and depth.. It is potentially 1929 x ten...And we are at war with an enemy we cannot even name for fear of offending people of the same religion, who, in turn, cannot wait to slit the throats of your children if they have the opportunity to do so.

And finally, we have elected a man that no one really knows anything about, who has never run so much as a Dairy Queen, let alone a town as big as Wasilla , Alaska .. All of his associations and alliances are with real radicals in their chosen fields of employment, and everything we learn about him, drip by drip, is unsettling if not downright scary (Surely you have heard him speak about his idea to create and fund a mandatory civilian defense force stronger than our military for use inside our borders? No? Oh, of course. The media would never play that for you over and over and then demand he answer it. Sarah Palin's pregnant daughter and $150,000 wardrobe are more important.)

Mr. Obama's winning platform can be boiled down to one word: Change. Why?

I have never been so afraid for my country and for my children as I am now.

This man campaigned on bringing people together, something he has never, ever done in his professional life. In my assessment, Obama will divide us along philosophical lines, push us apart, and then try to realign the pieces into a new and different power structure. Change is indeed coming. And when it comes, you will never see the same nation again.

And that is only the beginning..

As a serious student of history, I thought I would never come to experience what the ordinary, moral German must have felt in the mid-1930s In those times, the "savior" was a former smooth-talking rabble-rouser from the streets, about whom the average German knew next to nothing. What they should have known was that he was associated with groups that shouted, shoved, and pushed around people with whom they disagreed; he edged his way onto the political stage through great oratory. Conservative "losers" read it right now.

And there were the promises. Economic times were tough, people were losing jobs, and he was a great speaker. And he smiled and frowned and waved a lot. And people, even newspapers, were afraid to speak out for fear that his "brown shirts" would bully and beat them into submission. Which they did - regularly. And then, he was duly elected to office, while a full-throttled economic crisis bloomed at hand - the Great Depression. Slowly, but surely he seized the controls of government power, person by person, department by department, bureaucracy by bureaucracy. The children of German citizens were at first, encouraged to join a Youth Movement in his name where they were taught exactly what to think. Later, they were required to do so. No Jews of course,

How did he get people on his side? He did it by promising jobs to the jobless, money to the money-less, and rewards for the military-industrial complex. He did it by indoctrinating the children, advocating gun control, health care for all, better wages, better jobs, and promising to re-instill pride once again in the country, across Europe , and across the world. He did it with a compliant media - did you know that? And he did this all in the name of justice and .... . ... change. And the people surely got what they voted for.

If you think I am exaggerating, look it up. It's all there in the history books.

So read your history books. Many people of conscience objected in 1933 and were shouted down, called names, laughed at, and ridiculed. When Winston Churchill pointed out the obvious in the late 1930s while seated in the House of Lords in England (he was not yet Prime Minister), he was booed into his seat and called a crazy troublemaker. He was right, though. And the world came to regret that he was not listened to.

Do not forget that Germany was the most educated, the most cultured country in Europe . It was full of music, art, museums, hospitals, laboratories, and universities. And yet, in less than six years (a shorter time span than just two terms of the U. S. presidency) it was rounding up its own citizens, killing others, abrogating its laws, turning children against parents, and neighbors against neighbors.. All with the best of intentions, of course. The road to Hell is paved with them.

As a practical thinker, one not overly prone to emotional decisions, I have a choice: I can either believe what the objective pieces of evidence tell me (even if they make me cringe with disgust); I can believe what history is shouting to me from across the chasm of seven decades; or I can hope I am wrong by closing my eyes, having another latte, and ignoring what is transpiring around me..

I choose to believe the evidence. No doubt some people will scoff at me, others laugh, or think I am foolish, naive, or both. To some degree, perhaps I am. But I have never been afraid to look people in the eye and tell them exactly what I believe-and why I believe it.

I pray I am wrong. I do not think I am. Perhaps the only hope is our vote in the next elections.

David Kaiser
Jamestown , Rhode Island
United States

My comments are as follows:
I believe this man has pegged it exactly correctly. He is part of a political minority. Most of the voting public don't know and don't care.

We fall on what we perceive are these difficult times because of a couple of basic factors, of which the passage of time is probably the most important.

When our forefathers set up the Constitution, the government was intended to be a Republic rather than a Democracy. The House Of Representatives was intended to represent the people. The Senate was intended to represent the states. And, the president was intended to be elected through an electoral college, as opposed to a popular vote. House Representatives and Senators were initially part-time federal employees, who served out of duty with minimal salary and short job stay.

In subsequent years, the public learned it could obtain "free stuff" by pressuring House Representatives in Washington. The public also learned that once it had laid the groundwork for receipt of such goodies, it would be ridiculous to replace those "educated" Representatives. The public now tries to keep Representatives in office term after term after term. The Representatives have also learned to use public greed to feather their own nests.

Senatorial positions have also fallen into the same development. Senators are no longer the statesman they were intended to be. They have been reduced by themselves and the public to political hacks, with intent to remain in office as long as possible, reap salaries and other benefits and have the prestige of perceived power.
The Presidential Administration has followed the same course of development.
The bottom line is that while our forefathers tried to forestall such development in their initial government design, we the people have been pretty much able to undo it.


Unfortunately, the future of our government development is likely to continue to move in the same direction. The rate of change toward Socialism will vary from year to year but the public now clearly understands the concepts of "free stuff", keep your political hacks in office, yell loudly, and juggle the vote through the uneducated and uninterested.

On the bright side, governments, similar to people, have a lifespan. The US government will continue to move into a dictatorial oligarchy based on socialistic principles. The public and government employees will have withdrawn all assets. The leaders will be held responsible and will pay the price. The French and Russian revolutions are examples. We then start the fight against government all over again, as our forefathers did in 1776.

ACS

Tuesday, November 10, 2009

Comments on Rep. Neugebauer's Newsletter

Comments to Rep. Neugebauer on his Newsletter:

I read your November 9th newsletter.

Pretty good try on defeating the Obama/Pelosi Healthcare bill in the House, but not enough networking. I believe you need to develop a more effective procedure to educate your more ignorant House associates. The "House Call" on Washington was a nice touch and something you need to support, but the heavy work is done in the House voting, and that's where you need to be more effective.

On the Fort Hood Tragedy and Veterans Day, these are small potatoes compared to what we need to save us all. Healthcare and Climate Control are clearly demonstrating how many aspects of the public are cooperating with government to drag us into Communism. It was interesting to note the anniversary of the Berlin Wall falling and what the news media had to say about it. Communism was mentioned, as well as the observation that the Wall fell from the inside, but there was no information on why it fell and the motivation for those insiders, who pushed it over. All of this history is being ignored as we blithely dance into Communism here in the US.

“Your Question of the Week”. Do you believe we need another economic stimulus package from the federal government to combat the 10.2% and rising unemployment rate? The answer to this one is "yes", but not in the form of dumping money into a rat hole as we have done previously. The high unemployment rate results from many years of neglect to private industry in the United States, as jobs were shipped overseas. A lot of our local production expertise has already been lost and equipment has been dismantled and junked. It will take many years to recover even in a favorable environment, which we do not have at the present time. The previously government established hindrances to local production still exist. A stimulus package must address those issues of removing various mandates on employment. Examples, high company taxes, penalty for not adhering to health insurance mandate, such as in the recently passed House Bill, minimum wage law, working hour limitations. In addition to removing the mandates, government needs to enforce regulations on banking and apply other financial controls in that industry, and enforce antitrust laws to improve competition. This latter would include eliminating interlocking directorships in major corporations, which is the primary basis for huge salaries and bonuses for executives, at the expense of stockholders and consumers.