on Arab anti-Americanism …

On September 15, 2012 By Rick McIn economics, government, Islam, things getting worseLeave a comment

OK … it’s time to leave the Middle East
.
Cost benefit analysis for the interventions in …

• Iraq
• Afghanistan
• Pakistan

Too much cost. Not enough benefit.

In the so-called, War on Terror, it’s time to bring home all troops from all nations. Phase out financial aid.

Arab Muslim nations find their own way. Sink or swim. They are not ready, collectively, for western style democracy.

If you’ve followed this blog, you know I’ve been a big defender of Islam, so often wrongly demonized.

But I’m pretty pissed off by this.

US ambassador to Libya killed in rocket attack

Chris Stevens was a good guy, legitimately trying to help the Libyan people. His motivation was not to “steal the oil”.

Chris Stevens is only one of hundreds of thousands killed over the past 10yrs. But he’s symbolic of how much of the Middle East is not ready for democracy. Not deserving of help from the West. Not valuing help from the West.

The large number of Iraqi people today preferred Saddam. They will have someone like him returned soon, I predict.

Also, the USA cannot afford to continue as policeman to the world. They don’t have the money.

The West should have no boots on the ground in the War on Terror. Instead use technology, including drones, to protect. The priority must be Pakistan’s nuclear arsenal.

I feel badly for innocents who will suffer when foreign invaders leave, but they may be better off — long term — than by continuing what we’re doing now.

who will fix broken immigration policy?

On September 13, 2012September 11, 2012 By Rick McIn economics, ethics, governmentLeave a comment

During the Democratic National Convention, Benita Veliz made history during her prime time appearance by being the first undocumented immigrant, or DREAMer, to speak before a national party convention. …

With Benita’s appearance, both parties must confront the issue of what each would do to modernize the nation’s broken immigration system. …

Recognizing their weakness, Republicans in Tampa deliberately ignored the issue of immigration and advisors to Mitt Romney have urged the candidate to avoid it on the campaign trail.

… nominee Mitt Romney has endorsed SB 1070, Arizona’s anti-immigrant law, to become a model for the nation, put forth a “self-deportation” policy, and promised to veto the DREAM Act. …

The Hill

Mexico’s economy is strong. Canada’s is strong. The problem is diminishing over time, the American Dream increasingly less appealing.

But there’s no doubt in my mind that Romney and the Republicans are wrong on this. There’s no way their BS “tough on crime” rhetoric will work.

… Obama’s record on immigration reform, until now, has been far from stellar.

Amnesty should be granted to the best and most productive “illegal” Americans. Over a long time frame.

72,000 so far have applied for “temporary reprieve” under the Obama initiative. A good start.

Unproductive illegals and criminals should be deported. You must earn Amnesty.
_____

Nobody has yet endorsed MY PLAN — That all new citizens of any country be required to take on monthly repayment of their share of the National debt.

For example, if the Canadian debt / person was $33,000 … new Canadians would start paying off that amount as an immigration fee. At, for example, a minimum of 5% of their annual salary / year.

When the $33k is paid off, they are given the right to vote.

If Canada is a desirable country, there should be a cost to become a Canadian.

Sicko – the movie

On September 12, 2012September 12, 2012 By Rick McIn ethics, government, health & fitness, moviesLeave a comment

I enjoy Michael Moore‘s movies, even if he is “left of Lenin”.

Recently I saw Capitalism: A Love Story (2009). His weakest. Completely barking up the wrong tree.

His best, I feel, was Sicko.

Sicko is a 2007 documentary film by American filmmaker Michael Moore. The film investigates health care in the United States, focusing on its health insurance and the pharmaceutical industry. The movie compares the for-profit, non-universal U.S. system with the non-profit universal health care systems of Canada, the United Kingdom, France and Cuba. …

I love this concept in the film. Taking 9-11 rescue workers to Guantanamo Bay to request the only “Universal Health Care” in America.

Click PLAY or watch the clip on YouTube.

Permission to enter.
I have three 9-11 rescue workers.

They need some medical attention.

These are 9/11 rescue workers!
They just want some medical attention!

The same kind that al-Qaida is getting.

They don’t want any more than
you’re giving the evildoers, just the same!

Obama should have kept his promise to close Guantanamo, regardless of consequences. It’s WRONG WRONG WRONG in dozens of wildly conflicting ways.

Any system that treats victims worse than criminals is doomed to fail.

Prisons should be work camps. The quality of life must be worse in prison than for a law abider on the outside working for minimum wage.

Bill Clinton for Obama

On September 11, 2012September 11, 2012 By Rick McIn economics, ethics, governmentLeave a comment

Bill kills.

Doing what he does best. The man could sell snake oil to a snake. 🙂

Click PLAY or watch it on YouTube.

“We’re all in this together.”

I was less impressed with his actual oratory than expected, after all the positive reviews I’d heard.

What I like best is the numbers. Specifics. Not the endless rhetoric we heard from most other speakers at both Conventions.

Right now I think Bill Clinton could get elected more easily than Obama.

The Romney billionaires are going to be blaming slick Willy — and the Clintastrophy — for the sudden Democratic lead in the polls.

This is worth watching, too — A VIDEO talking about all the GOOD Republican Presidents have done in the past.

Bernie Sanders on income inequality

On September 2, 2012August 30, 2012 By Rick McIn bad news, economics, government, things getting worse1 Comment

In the USA the rich are getting richer. The poor, poorer.

This can’t continue indefinitely. How will it end? … Civil war in the States? 😦

Bernie evangelizes on the problem forcefully. And powerfully.

Click PLAY or watch his killer speech from 2010 on YouTube.

… “Today,” he said, “the wealthiest 400 individuals own more wealth than the bottom half of America – 150 million people. Today, the six heirs to the Wal-Mart fortune own more wealth than the bottom 30 percent. Today, the top one percent own 40 percent of all wealth, while the bottom sixty percent owns less than 2 percent. Incredibly, the bottom 40 percent of all Americans own just 0.3 percent of the wealth of the country.” …

PolitiFact checked those statistics. Their truth-o-meter finding his numbers true.

Thinking that income inequality can continue indefinitely is like believing the value of your home is going to increase indefinitely.

Bernard “Bernie” Sanders (born September 8, 1941) is the junior United States Senator from Vermont. …

He is the first person elected to the U.S. Senate to identify as a socialist. Sanders caucuses with the Democratic Party and is counted as a Democrat for the purposes of committee assignments, but because he does not belong to a formal political party, he appears as an independent on the ballot. …

I invite Bernie to move to Canada. We’re not perfect. But none of our financial institutions collapsed due to greed in 2008. I don’t know anyone in the Great White North underwater on their home.

Daniel Suarez – Kill Decision

On September 1, 2012August 28, 2012 By Rick McIn books, ethics, government, robotsLeave a comment

Daniel Suarez is an American information technology consultant turned author. …

His career as an author began with a pair of techno-thriller novels. The first one, Daemon, originally was self-published under his own company Verdugo Press in late 2006. …

His follow-up book FreedomTM was released on January 7, 2010. …

Daemon is superb. One of the best books I’ve read in recent years.

I feared his 3rd effort could not match up. But it is good. Especially the plot.

… What is a drone and why is it terrifying? It’s a flying robot that can kill with precision. Drones are currently being used across the world from Pakistan to Yemen to the Philippines, to continuously watch and kill people. Already, thousands of people are being killed by drones each year, and that number will rapidly grow beyond everyone’s expectations.

Why?

Moore’s law.

Drones are going to get very cheap and very smart much faster than anyone anticipates (in the same way cell phones and personal computers got cheap and powerful). That means they will be many, many more of them, used very often, in a plethora of places. …

John Robb review on Amazon

details on Amazon

• Aug 26th – CIA drones kill warlord’s family and Taliban chief

• Are Drone Strikes Worth the Costs?

… many Pakistanis oppose drone strikes, and they have contributed to a rising anti-Americanism in the country. A recent Pew survey found that three-fourths of Pakistanis consider the United States an enemy. …

As a sport coach, I’d say the USA “lost” the wars in Vietnam, Iraq and Afghanistan. Net result negative in all three.

So, Mitt, what do you really believe?

On August 30, 2012August 26, 2012 By Rick McIn economics, governmentLeave a comment

Economist Magazine out of the U.K.:

Too much about the Republican candidate for the presidency is far too mysterious

WHEN Mitt Romney was governor of liberal Massachusetts, he supported abortion, gun control, tackling climate change and a requirement that everyone should buy health insurance, backed up with generous subsidies for those who could not afford it. Now, as he prepares to fly to Tampa to accept the Republican Party’s nomination for president on August 30th, he opposes all those things. A year ago he favoured keeping income taxes at their current levels; now he wants to slash them for everybody, with the rate falling from 35% to 28% for the richest Americans. …

All politicians flip-flop from time to time; but Mr Romney could win an Olympic medal in it … And that is a pity, because this newspaper finds much to like in the history of this uncharismatic but dogged man, from his obvious business acumen to the way he worked across the political aisle as governor to get health reform passed and the state budget deficit down. …

read more …

OK.

It’s time to tell American where you stand. And tell your VP to fall in line.

No more wishy washy answers, Mitt.

Explain your religion beliefs. Introduce your family. Be a bit self-effacing. Human. …

Then give specific NUMBERS on how you’re going to FIX the economy.

movie – Inside Job

On August 27, 2012 By Rick McIn economics, ethics, government, movies, product endorsementsLeave a comment

Inside Job is a 2010 documentary film about the late-2000s financial crisis …

… the systemic corruption of the United States by the financial services industry and the consequences …

… it won the 2010 Academy Award for Best Documentary Feature. …

This has been by far the best single work I’ve seen explaining what happened in 2008.

Best rule of thumb: FOLLOW THE MONEY.

Who made money? Who lost money?

The film names names. And lays out why and how men who destroyed their own companies made millions & millions in bonuses.

Click PLAY or watch the trailer on YouTube.

That was 2010.

U.S. Banks are bigger and more powerful in 2012 than ever before. Not much has changed. Obama talked the talk, but did not walk the walk. He’s done very little to reform.

Click PLAY or watch Obama on YouTube.

related – Matt Damon (narrator) Rips Obama – Would Prefer A ‘One Term President With Some Balls’ (VIDEO)

“After Obama, who else is there to hope for?”

Watch Inside Job online FREE.

Full text transcript of Inside Job.

Highly recommended.

Inequality of wealth is greater in the USA than any other developed nation. That’s not sustainable.

Even if you personally did not lose money in the crash of 2008, worse could be on the way.

… on wages, productivity & Trickle-down economics

On August 24, 2012August 24, 2012 By Rick McIn economics, governmentLeave a comment

Tom:

Maybe I’m seeing what I want to see but this graphic illustrates a point I’ve harped on for years: while increasing productivity can — in theory – produce better pay for workers, the people who decide the pay can always decide to keep the fruits of the productivity for themselves.

on Facebook

My wry smile looking at this graph is the same one I wear when politicians — straight faced — laud Reaganomics.

“Trickle-down economics” … in United States politics to refer to the idea that tax breaks or other economic benefits provided by government to businesses and the wealthy will benefit poorer members of society by improving the economy as a whole.

The term has been attributed to humorist Will Rogers, who said during the Great Depression that “money was all appropriated for the top in hopes that it would trickle down to the needy.” The term is mostly used ironically or as pejorative. …

Republicans would like you to believe that — if you give me $100,000,000 I’ll create jobs. But why?

Why wouldn’t I buy a Caribbean Island instead? And live out my life in excess?

The driving force that “creates jobs” is customers.

If people won’t pay for your work, you shouldn’t have a job.

The economist John Kenneth Galbraith noted that “trickle-down economics” had been tried before in the United States in the 1890s under the name “horse and sparrow theory.”

… ‘If you feed the horse enough oats, some will pass through to the road for the sparrows.’ …

The men who supported George W Bush — Dick Cheney and cronies — were mainly in it to shovel dollars from the poor to the rich. It’s so easy — the poor are uneducated enough to believe rhetoric like Reaganomics. Whatever FOX News tells them.

… I’ve got more faith in Romney. But not much. 😦