Thinker Lite

Me, Myself and I

No more we. No one else is here. I am alone. We is stilted journalism and has no place in my bloggery manual.

I'm not the first person to prefer I.

This is not all about me, but it's all by me. I use no reprints. I don't solicit other writers' material. No copy cat stuff in this blog. It's all original writing.

Please, patient reader, expect me to deliver fresh and uncommon commentary.

I don't have an agenda other than principles which I believe in and promote. Those are maximum liberty, free enterprise (as distinguished from capitalism,) limited government (if any at all,) live and let live social code, laissez faire with an unfettered free market, following the Constitution as written (not including the corrupting precedents set by recent presidents,) and justice concerned only with force and fraud.

I have a bias against nukes, mercury proliferation, wiretaps, fluoridation, corporations (artificial entities that facilitate abuse of power,) and polluters of the environment.



Thoughts While Jaywalking

* Portland, Oregon calls itself The City of Roses. How about St. George? I'd bet ours are bigger and more fragrant.

* The U.S. Senate Democrats are trying to divert a chunk of the funds designated for the Iraq war effort to beef up our southern border control. President Bush threatens a veto. Big talking man can't find his veto pen, which he's never used.

* Did you see the smog this morning? Let's tell everyone about it. Write and call your relatives. Tell them you can't see the mountains anymore. Fib a little for the good of the community. St. George has smog. Rocky Anderson can see it, and once you understand what this means to us, you'll see it too. Join the anti-growth committee. Spread the word.

* Finally. Now the bankers are fretting about Wal-Mart's foot in the door of the finance world. Watch this one. You might see your banker behind the counter at your favorite fast food spot, working alongside your ex-pharmacist and your ex-hardware man. Bankers were long silent about Wal-Mart using its clout on governments for favors. I don't feel their pain.

* 37% doubt public opinion polls.

* What do Bob Dole, Scotty Pippen, Ted Turner, Sam Donaldson, Charles Schwab, and David Rockefeller have in common? They all receive farm and ranch subsidies from the federal government.

* What's the name of that disease where you can't recall names and things that happened yesterday?

* Wal-Mart, I mean China, is invested in the U.S. to the amount of a trillion bucks in treasury bills. Those commies could turn out a lot of our lights, if they chose to. But with all of the junk they sell here, they want us to have a valuable currency with which to pay them. We have the irony of a communist nation propping up the money of a capitalist one so as to beat us in business. As soon as China gets all of our factories, they'll have to decide whether to collect collateral on us. Horrors.

* There's a county in Arizona which is planning to pay $5 to anyone who votes. Some folks already vote for a living, this will be a job bonus for them.

IT'S ALL SO SIMPLE.

America's Destiny: Humanitarian Superpower

Stay alive awhile and you'll see the United States of America back in its favorite and most becoming role of being a good neighbor to all the world. We have been there before and foreigners usually responded with admiration and affection.

The First World War left much of Europe in devastation. Agriculture and commerce had been affected adversely. Millions were hungry and thousands were starving in France, Belgium, Denmark, and Holland. An American engineer responded to the urgent plight. A man named Herbert Hoover, who later became president, raised donations from private sources only and organized a refief drive. He saved millions of Europeans from starving to death.

Hoover deserved maximum credit and he received adulation from grateful people. He was the hero, but this was the American way. America earned plenty of adulation, too.

Hoover, a Quaker and a pacifist, was more concerned with delivering foodstuffs than dropping bombs. When World War Two was underway, Hoover urged restraint. The Germans invaded the U.S.S.R., and Hoover suggested we let the two totalitarian dictatorships settle it themselves. He said we should stay out of it.

If you don't invest in war, you can afford to spend more on humanitarian ventures.

Peace, you have to consciously seek peace. President John Quincy Adams said that we should not go around the war looking for bad people to destroy. War can become an addiction, a habit. The day after President Woodrow Wilson asked Congress for a declaration of war (presidents did that then,) he told Colonel House, "Now our people will get a habit and a taste for war, I'm afraid we'll never be the same." How many wars, police actions, engagements, meddlings, and incursions have we been involved in since Wilson spoke?

The nations best known for peace are Sweden and Switzerland. They don't mess with other folks' business or conflicts. They purposely remain at peace. Switzerland even mandates the matter. In 1815, the Swiss parliament passed a law to keep their nation out of the disputes of foreigners. They stay neutral by law! France became generally pacifist after World War One. When the German Army invaded France in 1940, the fighting lasted about two weeks. Paris was taken without a shot. The terrible price France had paid in lives in the first war must have left impressions on French minds. France also lost heavily in the Napoleanic wars. American pundits seem to enjoy joking about the French reluctance to fight. But the pacifism was learned.

The Swedes, the Swiss and the French all experienced difficult wars in the past. Now they concentrate on peace and prosperity. Two out of three are doing just fine.

We'll evolve to that point, wait and see. When we become friendlier, we'll make more friends. Fighting will become a last resort, good only for self-defense.

American already excel at humanitarian endeavors, which is in line with our ideals and matches the tenets of Christianity. We only have to concentrate on it. Giving and loving, as opposed to marching off to war.

We have military people in more than 130 nations. An intolerable fact. Offer them a chance to stay there awhile as Peace Ccrps workers.

America has the means and the will to be an even greater humiatrian nation. We have to erase the militarism. No bunker bombs, nukes, corporate connivances or shenanigans abroad, ICBMs, neocon war plans, entangling alliances, threats, and foolishness.

Take heart, true patriots, Our day will come. An inspired, motivated and sensitive people will clamor for a restoration of our traditional values and virtues. We'll conquer the world with faith, hope and charity. The sun will be out tomorrow, bet your bottom dollar.

Let's roll.

Thoughts While Jaywalking

* Q.) Who owned and controlled Iraq's oil before Saddam took power?
A.) British and American oil corporations.

Q.) Who owned the oil while Saddam was president?
A.) Iraq

Q.) Who owns it now?
A.) Beats me.

* A protectionist doesn't have a good name anymore - not in America - although it's just fine in China. Consider the opposite of protectionist: neglectist. By not protecting our industries and citizens' work skills, we are neglecting the future. Recent presidents have been neglectists - so have Congresses.

* Patrick Henry said that he "smelled a rat" when he read a draft of the Constitution. Thomas Jefferson had serious doubts, too. They both feared cconcentrations of power in the executive and the judicial branches of the federal government.

* Clark County in Nevada and New York City have passed resolutions to subsidize school teachers' housing costs. Talk about a slippery slope. This sounds as if some of us are more equal than others. If you drive a bus, aren't you important too? Is a teacher more valuable than a preacher who might fix you up on a cloud in the sky?

* A Loiterers' Protest and Stand About is scheduled for May 1st in the roundabout at Main and Tabernacle. A spokesperson urges those who care to join the demonstration before even more space is taken away from loiterers who want only to do their thing.

* Nevada Congressman John Porter gambled his seat by appearing in Las Vegas with President George 33% Bush. The boss man could have stopped in at "Roundabout City," he was so nearby. Apparently, he didn't believe he could do much to oust Democrat Congressman Jim Matheson.

* Oil goes to $75 a barrel, gas to $3 per gallon, and congressional leaders are calling for investigations and/or a windfall profits tax. President Bush is impatient for some gas price relief because it has great potential to shake the economy as well as Republican chances in the November elections. The mother of all political battles is shaping up. Economic philosophies are at the core, slightly ahead of political expediency.

* THE SPECTRUM reports today, in a headline, the names of two Washington County sheriff's deputies accused of misconduct with inmates. If this is still America the two men are innocent at this point. No one, certainly not a chain newspaper, has the moral right to print their names. If they are convicted, there will be time enough to beat on them on the front page. Meanwhile, the men are being punished right now by ugly publicity.

* Watch Senator Hatch. He's in a tortured turn-around over the June 2nd explosion test issue. He and Senator Bennett will be on opposite sides and eventually clash, but gently, of course.

* Thirty years ago, our president's father was named Director of the CIA. We know it's a spook outfit, but wouldn't ask whatever else they do. Bush Sr. stayed on the job for only a year. Didn't he like them or didn't they like him? Probably the latter. You wouldn't quit a job heading the CIA. That could make somebody mad.

* The guvmint ought to subsidize having babies for middle class folks. The endangered species won't reproduce unless they receive cash incentives (something strange about those people.) The country will soon need many middle class young workers to do jobs that illegal immigrants won't do. How about $10,000 per child?

TWENTY-YEARS-FROM-NOW NEWS:
Manfred Manning, the first snowbird to be elected to public office in Utah, is also the mayor of Boise, Idaho. He was recently elected to the Santa Clara city council. He told Mike McGary on KDXU Radio: "I will serve my constituents well, but when summer comes, I'm out of here."

THE ECONOMY AS IT REALLY IS

A friend says, "everybody talks about the economy, but nobody knows much about it." That's because they don't consider all the factors.

Last week the guvmint boasted about the 210,000 new jobs created and the low unemployment rate of 4.7%. That is impressive and reassuring on it's face, but let's look closer.

As usual, the federal folks don't keep tabs on the number of jobs lost by layoffs of various kinds. So, we are never told the net gain in job increases. The new jobs are to be expected with our rapidly expanding illegal immigrants who need goods and services. They also provide able bodies who work for less pay. Employers can hire more of them.

When you go to a convenience store or fast food place, you can hear employees discussing their other jobs. A cartoon showed the president speaking at a banquet, "I have created a million new jobs." The waiter working at his table muttered, "I have three of them. " Thousands of Americans actually work at three jobs."

Several additional factors require consideration. How about inflation? Every shopper out there knows prices are rising faster and higher than the lying guvmint tells us, and the official calculation doesn't include include fuel and housing.

You want more negatives? Well, you're going to get them anyway.

The trade deficits with the Chinese, those mercantilist communist totalitarians, ought to give you sleep apnea. "It doesn't matter," the lying bureaucrats insist. Even conservative Ronald Reagan told us that, but he was grinning, wasn't he?

Outsourcing is a major concern. Those are jobs Americans will do, President Bush! Maybe we should outsource some of your responsibilities, Mr. President, such as FEMA, homeland security and border patrol.

We have lost thousands of factories to foreign lands and some huge number of jobs went with them. We export manufacturing plants and jobs, isn't that brilliant? Can you imagine how future history books will portray us?

The national debt rises so steadily that it's hard to recall current figures - probably seven or eight trillion. Don't ask the president what it is, he wouldn't know. Try asking the veep, he seems to keep up on money matters.

The personal debt of our citizens is at records sky-high heights, too. This an important fact and overlooked by economists who say that this only means everyone will have to keep hustling.
Americans save less than any industrialized nation's people. "OK, so what," the experts say, as they rationalize this worrisome fact.

Now let's think about the dirty little secret shared by FDR, Reagan, and Bush. Deficits drive consumer spending and make the economy look healthy (to those who don't consider all the factors.) FDR - Franklin Deficit Roosevelt - was elected four times because he primed the pump so well. History books tell us that the big guy told his top aide, Harry Hopkins: "Tax and spend, elect and elect. The people are too damn dumb to understand."

The Gipper was no tight wad with other people's money, either. He added two trillion to the national debt. So what. the guvmint liars remind us. "We owe it to ourselves."

This formula for creating a good looking economy probably something Bush understands. FDR-Reagan-Bush = DEFICITS R US.

Deficit spending requires currency and credit. When the big banks are tapped out, the U.S. Treasury simply prints more FERNS (Federal Reserve Notes) which creates more inflation and dollar devaluations. The economy resulting from such fraud and folly is burdened by interest costs and is unstable. Certainly the middle class is endangered as the rich get richer and the poor poorer. Plato said, "An imbalance of rich and poor is the oldest and most fatal ailment of republics."

Yes, presidents can create pseudo-prosperity. When FDR asked his favorite economist, John Maynard Keynes, what would happen in the long run if we followed his big spending plans, Keynes replied, "In the long run, we'll all be dead."

We are not too dumb to understand, however, we need to have the will.

Roundabout Thinking in the Roundabout Capital #7

* The always reasonable talk host/columnist Bryan Hyde wrote in THE SPECTRUM, Monday, 4-24-06, about the history and consequences of our relations with Iran. He faces the facts and can analyze geopolitical situations with the best of them.

* This coming weekend you can choose from a list: Jazz Concert, Symphony Orchestra, Theatre in the Round (Damn Yankees,) Super Stepper Dance Crew and the Spring Ddnce Concert. All of this in St. George, within a couple of miles of each other. Keep quiet about this culture bonanza or people will move here. We don't want traffic, waiting in line, diversity, and frantic rushing about.

* Bunker-Buster Bob Bennett, one of our senators, has been to Iraq twice and recommends it to others in the Congress and Senate. Senator Hatch says he's been too busy for such trips. We report, you decide.

* If you listened to talk radio all day long, you would hear "thank you for taking my call" anywhere from 50 to 100 times.

Artificial Intelligence #6

MEETINGS & EVENTS:

Snowbird Shindig & Farewell at Pioneer Park - bring a small gift

TWENTY-YEARS-FROM-NOW NEWS:

President Jeb Bush pardoned Lewis Libby, Tom Delay, Duke Cunningham, Jack Abramhoff,
and Larry Franklin with a single stroke of his pen today. The freed felons are planning to form a lobbying and consulting firm in Washington, DC.

HELP WANTED:

Smog inspectors for St. George, Santa Clara, Hurricane, LaVerkin, Leeds, Ivins, and Green Valley.

OVERHEARD:

"I work as a volunteer for a shop downtown, no pay at all. I was 10 minutes late today and they threatened to fire me."

QUOTE:

"It's too late to vote and too soon to shoot the bastards." - Claire Wolfe

Roll Over, Goldwater

The genuine conservatives of the twentieth century such as Barry Goldwater, Robert Taft, Herbert Hoover, Charles Lindbergh Sr., Charles Lindbergh Jr., Joseph McCarthy, Clare Booth Luce, Douglas MacArthur, William Borah, Ezra Taft Benson, and William Knowland are rolling and spinning in their graves. They believed in and worked for the Constitution, civility, individual liberty, true patriotism, and the preservation of the middle class.

Not one of them would have gone along with unconstitutional and pre-emptive wars, Keynsian economics policies, neglected borders, invasions of privacy, meddling foreign policies, violations of freedom, and the usurpation of state's rights.

Deficit spending was the one certain criticism conservatives had of liberals. No more. Unindicted Republican spokesman Rush Limbaugh claims that current deficits zooming up don't matter because the economy will grow out of it. "Conservative" columnist Fred Barnes laughs it away saying, "the national debt is a smaller percentage of the GDP than in the past, not to worry."

Notice that the main talking points used by conservatives are identical to those used by the hated liberals a decade or so ago.

The conservative heroes of the past deserve to rest in peace, but modern-day traitors to the American cause keep them rolling over in their graves. It might console us a bit if they had been cremated and their ashes sprinkled over the fruited plain. Blowing in the wind - metaphysically and symbolically, of course.

Roundabout Thinking in the Roundabout Capital #6

* Rocky and Orrin finally left town after the former insisted that climate control can be achieved by each of us doing the right thing, and the latter claiming the global warming thing is science fiction. Orrin probably had his mind on more important matters (flag burning.) At least he was polite about our smog, pretending not to notice.

* The guvmint is planning to spend $8 billion to prevent a bird flu epidemic. Mandatory vaccinations are being discussed by our federal public servants. Meanwhile, the head of The Center for Disease Control stated on Friday, "there is no evidence of any evolving threat to human beings." Can we forego the shots and save the taxpayers' money? Stay tuned.

* The American people have not been treated to a rock 'em, sock 'em investigation in decades. We might be shocked, shocked to uncover the activities of The Federal Reserve and Central Intelligence Agency. Let's sell the idea to Congress. We need to know!

* Why do THE SPECTRUM'S editorials look like they were written by a committee? "Volunteers," you say? How about a volunteer committee?

* President Bush and congressional leaders warn that Social Security will be flat-busted by circa 2050. No problem. They'll just have to pay back the $3 trillion that several presidents have "borrowed" from the system since 1966 to ease the problem.

IT'S ALL SO SIMPLE.

Artificial Intelligence #5

MEETINGS & EVENTS

Lecture at Main Library: "Overcoming your fear of summer." - by John Reid, one of last year's survivors

"What Do Men Want?" - expo will be held at the Oasis casino in Mesquite this weekend. Speakers and exhibits on fishing, hunting, carousing, golf, wagering, and avoiding chores around the house. Dark 'til dawn. Free.

HELP WANTED

Hit man for faith-based assassination assignments. Travel to exotic spots around the world. Venezuela, Chile, Cuba, North Korea, and the Middle East. Must own hardware. Contact Pat Robertson - never on Sunday. No telephone calls!

TWENTY-YEARS-FROM-NOW:

An international weather service ranks St. George the worst for smog, surpassing Los Angeles, Pittsburgh and Mexico City.

QUOTES:

"I kept us out of war." - Woodrow Wilson, 1916

"Mothers of America, your sons will not die on foreign soil." - Franklin Delano Roosevelt

OVERHEARD:

Four-year-old to playmate: "I'm going home. I've had enough fun for one day."

Me too.

The Road to Damascus

Sources are leaking to us that the Bush team can't tell up from down. This only confirms what we already knew, but we know something else: the Bushies don't know directions. They're looking east when west is where it's at. We're talking weapons of mass destruction. Look at the globe, if you're in the dark with Bush.

WMD was the reason we went into Iraq. Agreed? And as you heard, when our troops advanced toward Baghdad, Russian trucks backed up to Saddam's WMD warehouses late, at locations our CIA had identified, and loaded the deadly stuff. Then the Ruskies got on the road to Damascus ("we got us a convoy") and deposited the cargo in Syria. That's what W's guys told us. So, why don't we invade Syria and destroy the WMD? What's all this talk about Iran? Iran is seeking to enrich its uranium, as is Brazil, and does not possess Saddam's bogie-man arsenal.

This reminds most serious observers that we once had Osama bin Laden by the tail, let go, turned the other way, and invaded Iraq. Now the George W. people - who not only knew where the WMD stash was but also where it went - are going after something else in the opposite direction.

They say the porch light is on, but nobody's home. In this case, you can't even see a porch light. The Bush folks can't tell a Sunnite from a Shi'ite. No clue, lost at sea, playing with 51 cards, and smoking something cheap.

Do the Bushies want to find the WMD or not?

Roundabout Thinking in the Roundabout Capital #5

* Chinese President Hu left Washington today after a fruitless gabfest with President Bush. No new policies or agreements resulted, only expressions of concern regarding human rights, the trade imbalance and Taiwan. Hu will stop at China's branch office, Wal-Mart, before heading home.

* Boo Hu. The boss of China was booed by a China-born pathologist who yelled to Bush to stop Hu from killing. Our president tried to comfort his guest, who governs a nation which endorses slave labor, torture and murderous put-downs of human rights demonstrators. They're bloody communists.

* How about an amendment to our Constitution which would bar Texans from becoming president? That might be mean, but it would save a lot of trouble.

* The Bush administration and its public address system (Rush Limbaugh, Ollie North, Sean Hannity, Bill O'Reilly, Michael Reagan) constantly brag that we haven't been attacked since 9/11. They say that means our "war on terror" is meeting its objectives. This is reckless talk. Why taunt crazed terrorists and give them a challenge? Shut the hell up, Sean et al. Idiots.

* The Rocky/Orrin performances in St. George for the past two days is bound to slow the growth of our Dixie. Who wants smog and radiation? The folks who were loading their belongings onto moving vans are taking a look at pretty pictures of Tucson, Yuma, Cedar City, and Mesquite. Oh well, we didn't want any more traffic anyhow.

* Let history record that Rocky Anderson, mayor of you know where, was the first person of note to identify SMOG, that four-letter word, over our pristine valley. We'll never be the same. Get used to smog alerts, bureaucrats inspecting your private places (?) and speeches urging us to stop doing whatever we might be doing. Move over L.A.

* Hurry back, snowbirds.

Artificial Intelligence #4

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The books:

"Broke Like Me" - An account of the rise and fall by one who's been there. The good doctor quips on page 11: "the roller coaster always begins and ends at the bottom." That's a metaphor for you to contemplate. A good read for stay-at-homes with an aversion to work.

and

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ALSO AVAILABLE AS A PACKAGE WHEREVER BANAL BOOKS ARE SOLD.

Citizen of What, Where?

Senator Hatch, please shift your attention away from the flag burners, who don't seem to be burning flags anyhow, and look at the foreign-baby-born-here situation. The identification of new citizens is more important than where they happen to be born.

Many expectant mothers from Mexico and countries in Asia connive and contrive to time their visits to coincide with delivering their babies on American soil. The newborns are automatic American citizens. Why?

If your American mother had given birth to you while she - and you - were visiting Mexico City, would that make you a Mexican? Back in the USA, would you be an illegal immigrant? And would Mexico consider you a Mexican?

If such were the case, I assume that you would become a dual citizen, which is another problem. Let's deal with that, too, because it's closely related. Dual citizens have a built-in conflict of interest and split loyalties. Whose side are they on in a struggle, a dispute or a war?

Several dual citizens have risen to the highest levels of our national government. The Director of Homeland Security, Michael Chertoff, is an American and has dual citizenship. So does Paul Wolfowitz, the neocon planner of the war in Iraq, who now heads the World Bank. There are at least 10 other prominent public servants who serve two masters. They might be loyal to both nations, but that might not always be possible.

Senator, will you work to correct both of these glitches in our system?

Roundabout Thinking in the Roundabout Capital #4

* Today is Orrin Day. Our Senator Hatch will speak at Dixie Regional Medical Center at 4:30 pm. He will address the subject of radiation exposure. Be there and beware.

* Mayor Rocky from Salt Lake City came, saw and conquered most of the audience yesterday. He suggests a conservation approach to climate control. He urges individual efforts insisting that those add up to mammoth total improvement. Somehow....somehow, this was reminiscent of the late president Lyndon Baines Johnson running around the White House, removing light bulbs to save America's energy, and causing Senator Barry Goldwater to call LBJ: Light Bulb Johnson."

* More on Rocky. He told us to watch out for smog and claims to see a haze over Roundaboutville. He should know, he breathes it in every day where he lives. This calls for a debate in Worthen Park. Hey, we could create another city office with this one. We need a smog czar to go along with the public servants who protect us. The guy could drive a city-owned car and spew out some great exhaust. Thanks, Rocky.

* Utah keeps getting national attention and respect. Governor Huntsman is rated the best governor of all 50 states and the best drinking water in the country is in the city of Beaver. Congratulations to both.

* Wait just a minute. Beaver doesn't fluoridate the water, does it? If so, the top ranking is flawed. In that case, maybe St. George has the best water - no poisons added.

* The latest target of the administration's smear machine are the generals who called for Rumsfeld to resign. They're called the contemptible "gang of six." The smear machine has puppet mouthpieces in press, radio and television. The list of the smeared is getting long and includes: Scott Ritter, Pat Buchanan, Hans Blix, Ward Churchill, Cindy Sheehan, Michael Moore, Vermont Senator Jim Jeffries, George Galloway, Howard Dean, and how about you? If you're critical of this kind of war against the evil-doers, then you might be an evil-doer.

* China's President Hu is visiting the White House to discuss trade disagreements and human rights. Heads of state usually arrive with empty suitcases to tote dollars back home. Not so with Hu. He's probably bringing money in, not out. He'll return home with still more U.S. Treasury Bonds to help us finance our multi-trillion dollar national debt and keep our dollar propped up. Bless his little red heart.

* Salt Lake City parking ordinance number12.56.190b makes it illegal to plug a coin into the parking meter of another person. Isn't it Christian to help your neighbor? Isn't this your daddy's USA anymore?

* Dixie is an impressive culture center with artwork, music, plays, and dance. No wonder they're coming to St. George from Moscow (Idaho) and Cairo (Illinois) and Berlin (Wisconsin) and Rome (Georgia) and Manchester (New Hampshire) and Belgrade (Minnesota) and Sydney (Nebraska.)

Artificial Intelligence #3

THESE WILL MAKE YOU SIT UP STRAIGHT

"I can see this new federal income tax taking away as much as 10% of a citizen's earnings. "
- Senator William Borah of Idaho, circa 1913

"I'm not going to be anyone's first lady." - William Jefferson Clinton

"A long time ago it meant something to be crazy. Now, everyone's crazy." - Charles Manson

"They're used to swinging at sliders, screwballs, knuckle balls, sinkers and fast balls that hop. I throw 'em a slow, straight pitch and the batters whiff it 'cuz they ain't never seen it before. I call it my "nothing ball." - Satchell Paige

"Being president is splendid misery." - Thomas Jefferson

"If given a choice between their liberties and a sandwich, some folks would take the sandwich." - - Bryan Hyde, KSUV radio

"Everybody's writing a book." - Socrates

"If we use force, it is because we are America, the indispensible nation." - Madeline Albright

"America can be a peacemaker of the world, or its policeman who goes around night-sticking troublemakers until we find ourselves in a brawl we can't handle." - Pat Buchanan, circa 2000

"Everone has a crazy aunt in the attic." - Ross Perot

"History is bunk." - Henry Ford

Wake the Town and Tell the People, about DU

For many months, we have been trying to blow a whistle (without a whistle) about our military's depositing of depleted uranium all over Iraq. Of course, no one hears. So we'll just fuss about the negligence of others in ignoring the damage that has been done and is ongoing. As with the barbaric sanctions we imposed on that weak and starving population, the story is suppressed, ignored, glossed over, and rationalized.

If news people have a responsibility to report the news, then where were they for the decade of the sanctions, and are they asleep now that the DU is a screaming disaster? As we wrote previously, more than 1,000 tons of DU in the form of bombs and tipped shells were used in Iraq in 2003.

Why is there no national discourse about eminent scientist Leuren Moret's assertion that DU is the definitive cause of the "Gulf War Syndrome?" Uranium munitions is the reason that thousands of our military personnel have suffered and died. That is the terrible truth.

Terry Jamison, Public Affairs Specialist of the Office of the deputy in the Department of Veteran Affairs, reports the number of Gulf War veterans now on medical disability, since 1991, is 518,739. Out of the 580,400 who served in the first Gulf War, 11,000 are now dead. By the year 2000, there were 325,000 on permanent medical disability, 56% of those who served. Those numbers are way beyond the figures from other wars.

Marion Fulk, a nuclear physical chemist who worked at the Lawrence Livermore Laboratory, commented that the new and rapid malignancies of soldiers from the 2003 Iraq War are a "spectacular matter of concern."

Who in the media is concerned enough to tell the people?

Roundabout Thinking in Roundabout Capital #3

* Rocky's in town. The charismatic mayor of Salt Lake City will speak at Dixie College at noon. The subject is something about combating climate change together. You know that other topics - big ones - will get attention during the question and answer session. The mayor does not hold his tongue, and he isn't afraid to stick his neck out. We are honored that he is here! Rocky is the man. He's the reason Salt Lake City is the only city in America with a foreign policy.

* Omaha, Nebraska schools are considering a return to school segregation. Well, quasi segregation. They would divide the schools into three districts: Black, Hispanic and white. The students would attend the schools nearest their homes. Sort of social engineering in reverse. You think that's a shock? The legislator proposing the policy is a Black man who contends the change would benefit families.

* So the guvmint will be testing some more nuclear devices in Nevada on June 2. Senator Bennett must be all excited. He says we need better bunker busting bombs to make sure we come out the winners in our future wars. What forward-looking leadership. We all feel more secure now. Nuke test? Bring 'em on. Let's roll.

* War, war, war. Some people are sick of it. In April of 1815, the Swiss passed a law to maintain neutrality in all wars. Can you imagine an American senator proposing such a law? The Swiss stay out of other people's conflicts, but they would defend themselves if invaded. They ain't stupid. Switzerland is the only nation which mandates firearms in every household - for self-defense.

* Old what's-his-name, the CEO over there at Exxon, just received a $400 million retirement package. A few jealous people were shocked and awed, but were quickly reminded that the man worked at Exxon for 40 years. Oh, well, then.

* Rocky today; Orrin tomorrow. Senator Orrin Hatch will be speaking on radiation exposure. Also, he wants an amendment to the Constitution to ban the burning of our flag. He thinks someone has to put a stop to this madness, before it happens again. When did it happen? If Senator Hatch would listen, we have a better amendment. We need one to eliminate making foreign babies born here automatic citizens.

* Almost forgot: Exxon made $36 billion last year. I'm told they earned every dime. They do have overhead such as retiring executives, lobbies in Washington, and who knows..........

Artificial Intelligence #2

CITIZENS COMMUNITY CALENDAR

We Miss Bill Clinton (even Monica) Club
Bear Claw Cafe - every Tuesday at 7 PM

Taxpayers' Remorse Support Group
Federal Building - daily at noon

UFO Sighting Witnesses and spouses
Pioneer Park - after dark, Mondays

Loiterers' Rally for Justice
Library Lawn
Lecture: What We Stand for.

Monthly Mensa Meeting
You can figure out where and when

The Rocky Orrin picture show
coming soon to a theatre near you.
Keep the kids at home.

See Jose Work

This article appeared in LIBERTY magazine in April 2003, and later in THE IDAHO OBSERVER and PODERLIMITADO in Mexico.

SEE JOSE WORK
by Jerry Askeroth

"They're taking our jobs. Their new-born babies are automatic U.S. citizens. They crowd our hospitals and fill our prisons." You've heard it all on talk radio and in discussions with friends. When the conversation gets around to the illegal immigrant question, the consensus is to send them all back and seal the borders.

Most Americans believe the flood of immigrants is destroying the nation's economy, as well as corrupting our institutions and culture, but it just isn't so.

Rather than being a drag on the economy, the burgeoning population of working immigrants provides a steady, positive thrust to business activity. These people quickly fill low level jobs and have a work ethic that impresses most employers. They do their jobs, pay income and FICA taxes, save a little and purchase goods and services.

The major political parties stealthily support what is happening for reasons that are patriotic, political and selfish. To be sure, Democrats like the flood of immigrants because newcomers tend to vote for them. Republicans - entrepreneurs and CEO types - favor it because of the cheap labor made available. The politicians are thinking of what's best for the country too - it's a fiscal thing.

The new immigrants produce fabulous results. They do find employment and enroll in the Social Security system. Without this influx of new blood, the system would collapse because it is top heavy in the ratio of retirees to those working. Our nation's birth rate is declining and longevity is increasing, so the burden is mounting on the working contributors in the system. We need an ever-growing work force!

Morover, the nation's economy is driven by demand for consumer goods and services. If some 12 to 20 million illegal immigrants went home manana, we would have a depression in a Tijuana minute. Their significant production would be lost, as would rent payments and all the rest. The economy would go south with them.

Our elected leaders are mum about it, but there is little doubt that those with power and influence in Washington are cognizant of the hard truth.

See Jose sneak across the border. See Jose work hard. See Jose pay into the Social Security fund. He's an outlaw, but a precious one. Jose is important on the home front too. A family man, and more religious than most of us, he is more like we used to be than we are. He thinks conservative although he usually votes liberal.

Congress is allowing 900,000 legal immigrants into the country annually. That equals a new major city each year, and it doesn't count the illegals. With our pillaged and upside-down Social Security program, plus our debt-based monetary system as carried on by the Federal Reserve, our nation needs a steady growth of capital and labor just to maintain the status quo. Heavy immigration helps!

Take an immigrant to lunch and give a wink and nod to your elected representatives.

Roundabout Thinking in the Roundabout Capital #2

* Six generals call for Secretary of Defense Rumsfeld's scalp. Does this mean they don't support the troops? No ribbons on their cars?

* Congress voted to build a 700-mile fence - a wall - on our border with Mexico. But wouldn't they need illegal, undocumented workers to construct the thing? Would Americans take the jobs? Hey, if you're not cynical by now, you're not paying attention.

* The guvmint might consider another, cheaper way to stop the flood of illegals. They could outsource the border patrol to foreigners - such as Mexico.

* Vice President Cheney's tax refund of $1.9 million was made public at the worst possible time. Tax time. Sources tell us that thousands of workers were about to drop their tax returns into the mail box, but when they heard the news about Cheney they tore open the envelopes and bought baby a new pair of shoes.

* Deport the illegal folks? Cruel, impossible? President Eisenhower did it in 1954. Ike issued an executive order and declared that Americans needed the jobs. More than a million illegal immigrants went home quietly and without incident.

Artificial Intelligence #1

TWENTY-YEARS-FROM-NOW NEWS:

The Washington County school board decreed a Spanish-only policy to begin next school year, thus abandoning a bilingual program which began almost 20 years ago.

A three trillion dollar no-bid contract to rebuild bombed out (Shocked & Awed) Paris, France was awarded to Haliburton Corporation, President Jeb Bush announced today. Work will commence as soon as the French resistance fighters, insurgents and terrorists are quelled.

The Good Ol' Boys 20-year reunion planned for this Saturday at Dick's Cafe will be held at Scaldoni's - back room, way back. Dick's Cafe was closed when Dick moved upstairs at age 92.

THE SPECTRUM disclosed through a usually reliable, unnamed source that the media monolith will purchase KDXU Radio to go along with ST. GEORGE MAGAZINE, PIONEER SHOPPER, JOB GUIDE, DESERT VALLEY TIMES and several other acquisitions. Local pundits believe that the move will allow the newspaper to better manage the news.

Do You Feel a Draft?

We have 140,000 men and women serving in Iraq. More than 40% of them are members of the National Guard or the reserves. Recruiters for all branches of military service report a drastic falling off of enlistments, as recruitment quotas are not being met across the board. In the past few months, hefty bonuses have been paid to new volunteers. This has alleviated the situation to a limited degree.

But the problem is huge and troublesome. The idea of taking on Iran without producing many more GI Janes and Joes is unthinkable. Most observers agree that Iran would be much more difficult to defeat and pacify than Iraq.

In Congress, members of both parties have suggested a return to the draft system, an American tradition in time of war. We need to augment the volunteers who are not volunteering fast enough. After hearing the response from the public, those members of Congress have run for cover and stand silent.

Concerns about the nuclear threat from Iran are growing (war is sell) and the need for doubling the troop force might become critical. When the November elections are over, the call for a new draft law will be loud and clear.

The lack of a draft is a major factor in the sputtering peace protests. A certain apathy is created by a nation at war which relies on volunteers. A discussion of the draft might wake up the peace movement and cause the neocons to drop their imperialistic, expansive plans. That would mean a more peaceful, live-and-let-live world.

Roundabout Thinking in the Roundabout Capital

* Depleted uranium is hazardous material that's harming friend and foe in Iraq and Afghanistan. Bullets, shells, bombs and armor plating have it. For the sake of humanity, demand that they stop using it.

* Of all the labels in use these days, none is so imposing as NEOCON. Neocon political operatives seized control of the conservative movement and work an agenda which differs from traditional conservatism. As Pat Buchanan said: "Neocons hijacked the conservative movement."

* Several presidents considered to be conservative have acted liberal. Richard Nixon cozied up to China and scuttled Taiwan's seat at the United Nations, Dwight Eisenhower created the Department of Health Education and Welfare as well as appointing Earl Warren to the Supreme Court, Ronald Reagan pushed for heavy deficit spending while proposing budgets which exceeded the Democrat Congress's budgets, and George W. Bush wallows in a multi-trillion dollar national debt without vetoing a single spending bill passed by other liberals in Congress who call themselves conservatives.

* A valiant American dies almost every day serving in Iraq, not mention those maimed. Aren't we too cool about that? Don't we need more solemnity and appreciation for ultimate sacrifices made by those who serve?

* America missed the March 16 anniversary of Rachel Corrie, the young woman from Olympia, Washington who gave her life to prevent the demolition of a Palestinian home by an Israeli bulldozer. Three years have passed since Rachel stood between a house and a bulldozer which continued on its path, destroying her and the home. This American martyr received less than scant recognition from her nation's leaders, and you didn't learn one little detail about it from THE SPECTRUM. May her memorial grow and serve the future humanitarian cause.

* How lucky can we be? Senator Hatch and Salt Lake City Mayor Rocky Anderson are heading for St. George to let us see and hear them. Might be fireworks at both places.

* Overheard in a fast food spot: "How much is your coffee? Just 60 cents and refills are free. I'll take a refill."

Same Song; Different Singer

Today's SPECTRUM prints more pro-war sentiment by a member of "The Writers' Group."

Writer Rich Panessa tells us the glories of preemptive wars. Rich argues that we were correct to go into World War One and we failed to act quickly enough in The Second World War. He is mad that we Americans have spent trillions rebuilding other nations, but those foreigners are no where to be found when disaster strikes us and we are in need of food and medicine. Rich says that the long-term survival of the United States has never been in greater jeopardy than at this moment. Sounds like more war is coming. That's Rich and that's THE SPECTRUM.

Problematic Market Pressures, Up and Down

"Rich people are moving in here and raising the prices of land and shelter by two or three times the regular value. It's driving out the less fortunate who cannot afford to establish residency. Not only that, thousands of outsiders are crossing our nation's borders looking for jobs here. They offer to work for very low pay and drag the wage level down, hurting those who have worked here for a long time."

Are those the words of St. George Mayor McArthur?

No. The ominous assessment came from a representative of Jordan, a country bordering Iraq, in a radio interview yesterday.

We're All Capitalists Now

The Marxist/Leninists of the world - the Chinese - are eating capitalist champion Uncle Sam's lunch. Communism didn't work so they decided to follow the leader. This is reminiscent of the 1920s, when state directed agriculture didn't produce for the communists in the U.S.S.R. Lenin installed capitalist principles, allowing the farmers to compete with each other and in the world markets. A few years later, Joseph Stalin took over Russia and reverted to communal farming. The Stalist/Mao faction in China might someday turn back to real communism and forfeit the markets to us (that's U.S.) Meanwhile, we can/should/must defend our producers with tariffs, just as the Chinese are doing now, in a slick and stealthy way.

Could It Be Jet-lag?

Secretary of State Condi Rice can't be serious. First, she said we've made "thousands of mistakes in Iraq," and now she's calling for "a strong man to take over in Iraq." What will she say tomorrow: "Saddam is tanned, rested and ready. He can stop the civil strife."

Breaker Breaker

Evil-doers' reunion plans picked up on trucker's hearing aid on I-15 near Leeds.