The Debt is Saved but the Dream is Dying

The “full faith and credit” of the United States is saved!  And at the last minute, too!  What wonderful . . .

But there is something missing.  In fact there are a lot of somethings missing.  A sickness seems present.  A pollution seems slowly spreading across the nation.  We are like people who have just received very, very bad news.  Stuff like that takes a while to seep in. 

Much of this centers around the president.  He was the one we were expecting to step forward and bang on the pots and pans, to blow the trumpet and to stampede the wild creatures who attacked.  But no.  Obama played it Very Cool.  I suspect much of this was about the upcoming election.  

Obama has no democratic opposition.  He will be nominated and will run. And he will probably be reelected.  Largely because the republicans are in such disarray. They have NO one to run, and those who are likely to be nominated are biding their time and hedging their bets.  

But there is a blast coming from the south.  It will blow all the other republican “candidates” out of the picture.  I am talking about Rick Perry, governor of Texas.  He will be able to control the republican party and he can capture the Tea Party people.  He is not yet fully visible, but as he has already indicated, he senses that God has called him.  Plus – he has a LOT of very rich people ready to back him.

However.  If I were a republican,  and if I were looking for the best possible person to be my president of the United States, I would have to think HARD about voting for anyone else than Obama.  Sure, I know he “runs” as a democrat, but hey – look closely.  As the Good Book says, “ . . . by its fruits, you shall know what kind of tree it is.”  

If I were a republican, I think I would have to vote for Obama.

Loughner Declared Sane!

A ruling from the United States Supreme Court this afternoon stated that Mr. Loughner " . . . was not an insane citizen in a normal nation, but rather was a normal product of an insane nation."  

The 9-0 ruling was accompanied by a statement from Chief Justice Roberts who wrote that Mr. Loughner's actions epitomized the spirit of the country, as exemplified by the courageous refusal of the Congress to pass ANY laws concerning the regulation of hand guns or ammunition.  "This,"  he added, "in spite of stupendous and overwhelming allegations that such laws might occasionally save a life or two."

Justice Clarence Thomas wrote that Loughner's dedication to his own personal ideals and deeply-felt needs was an important prelude to the "Cap, Cut and Balance" legislation which passed in the House of Representatives and failed in the Senate by only 5 votes, this despite the understanding that its passage would result in some 700,000 Americans losing their jobs.  “Mr Lougner showed us that we really don’t need to see through the results of the actions we know in our heart that it is the right action to take.”  he concluded.

Justice Scalia pointed out that Mr. Loughner's willingness to do what would "normal people would regard as unthinkable", has been a sustaining inspiration to members of the Republican Party and its Command Center, formally known as the "Tea Party", and which is now more and more often referred to as "THE Party", as they engage in negotiations with the president over the Debt Ceiling.  Probably without Loughner’s display of leadership”, Scalia continued, “ . . . members of The Party would probably have been unwilling to confront the many economic appraisals that refusal to raise that debt ceiling could somehow taint the nation.”  He concluded “Now, The Party is encouraged to just pull that trigger and get it over with!”

Finally, Justice Alito wrote about the effect of “Mr. Loughner’s demonstration that “Any definitive action, especially if it is compelling action, can divert attention from mindless chatter over unimportant issues and show the rest of us how to accomplish those things that really NEED to be done, like our ruling which concerned campaign contributions by corporations.”  Then he smiled and quietly whispered behind his hand, "Bang-bang."

Open Letter to President Obama

Mr. Obama, it is my observation that the Republican Party is now waging a War of Terrorism against the old, the sick and the poor people of America. 

It is threatening to shove the people of America over the cliff of historic prosperity into the abyss of financial misery unless they, the Republican Party, get the American public to give up the Social Security, Medicare, Medicaid and many other entitlements they have earned and built – PLUS – agree to never raise taxes on rich people or corporations again.  

The Republican Party is declaring that the American Government is now dead, and they are the rulers of a new American Fascist State.

We have learned the hard way, and many other countries have too, that to give in to terrorists - and that’s what this threat rightly is - only encourages them to continue to demand some other trophy, and then another and then more.  Eventually, we will HAVE to fight them.  

My take on this is to let it happen now.  Let the country fail and lose its “full faith and credit”, let the rest of the world fall with us into another great depression. Even THAT would be better than to remain dangling and twisting, being picked apart, bite by bite, by those who have sold their own souls to corporate greed and who are busy building a purely fascist nation.  Fascism needs leaders and it need workers.  it does not need – indeed, it  cannot tolerate – a middle class.  

We know how to build a country.  We can do it again.  We can build a new world, and we can build one that operates without its “full faith and credit” being devoted to the great corporations that need wars and prisons to increase their profits.  The old industrial world has changed now anyway.  The great age of industry based on oil and coal, nuclear power and big automobiles and endless highways is diminishing, it is clearly ready to transition into a different engine of power.  New industries beckon us to enter into a new economy increasingly powered by solar and wind energies and using information technologies and new advances in medicine.  

We would eventually evolve into such a condition anyway, but not if we are workers in a fascist state making millions and billions for our corporate owners.

Republicans and Obama versus US?

Well, the last act if the great play is ready to begin but we know how it will end now.  And here's what will make the audience scream in agony and tear their hair and rend their garments and smear their faces with ashes:  just before the curtain descends, the main player, Obama, will announce to the world that Social Security and Medicare will take significant hits.  He says they will remain strong, but everyone in the audience will know that is a lie.

The barbarians, played by republicans, will remain at the gate, and continue to shake it and shout, but their tone of despair will be as fake as Obama's ring of endurance.

How do we know the outcome so early?  Some of the key players have tipped off that they know the outcome.  How could they all know it?  That would have to be because they have been briefed.  We're talking now about the Chamber of Commerce, among others.  Also the great players on Wall Street.  These are the people who would be the great big losers if the debt ceiling does not get raised.  If there was a chance that it would not be done, they would by now be conspicuous by their actions on Capitol Hill.

So they know.  And they know more than that.  They also know that it is all a great play so that the tension can be raised so high, that Obama can cave.  He would have to know that too.  And that's where the play comes in.  Because it will all look like Obama navigated a dangerous strait, that he brought his ship in safely and only had to concede a minor amount.  But that amount will bring an end to the "Social Welfare" programs that the republicans hate so much.

That's my hunch.  I hope I am wrong.

Burr, McHenry, Republicans. Treason?

The current problems in the American economy were caused by a) the freeing of the economic markets from regulations by the federal government, 2) the reduction of tax rates on the wealthiest people and great corporations and c) unfunded wars that have dragged on for 10 years and which have funneled enormous amounts of money to certain major corporations that NEED wars to increase their profits.

Now the inequities of that recession are being portioned out to the middle class and the poor people of America by threatening the dismantling of the Social Security and Medicare programs that we have built and paid for, and the destruction of Medicaid.  Meanwhile, the richest people America has ever had are making more money than ever before largely due to the laying off of American workers and the out-sourcing of American jobs to other countries, like Mexico, Korea, China and others so they can continue to reduce their costs of business and increase their profits even more.  AND, they are paying less taxes than any rich class ever has in American history AND they refuse to even talk about paying more.

Meanwhile, the Republican Party now seems to be saying they will NEVER raise taxes EVER, and they won't even talk about it either, because they have taken an oath to Grover Norquist and his Americans for Tax Reform Party that they now appear to be placing ABOVE the oath they took to the American Constitution when they took office.  If this can be proven true, would they be guilty of treason?  

I have called my two republicans, Senator Burr and Congressman McHenry.  Their staff "doesn't know" if Mr. Burr or McHenry have taken any such oath, and they say they don't want to raise taxes on the rich people and corporations during a recession because those people and corporations "provide jobs", even though that not been true over the past 30 years since deregulation took place, or during the lifetime of the people involved.   They are simply telling us that we have bothered them long enough and that our time is up.

John Womack

Response to "Skyscraper of Debt" by Patrick McHenry

First, the debt was run up there by republicans - the debt ceiling was raised 8 times under George Bush. Second, it went up because the great corporations laid off American workers and they out-sourced American jobs to other countries -  including textile and furniture making jobs from right here in the Piedmont of North Carolina.  Third, it went up because great corporations do not pay taxes (instead, they are paid Subsidies (from us!)) AND the richest people in America now pay less taxes percentage-wise than they EVER have - this another legacy of George Bush and the republicans.  Fourth, three wars in the middle east - including one to attack Iraq because of WMD that they HAD - well, Bush thought they had them (probably still does).

Now, if I get this right, you want to fix this debt issue by 1) eliminating or reducing Social Security, Medicare and Medicaid benefits for American citizens. 2) reducing taxes further on the richest people in America and the great American corporations who are now making more profit than any corporation has EVER made before in ALL of history. And 3) by making all the Americans who are getting these "entitlements"  from the government have to, as Orrin Hatch said today "go back to work".

Probably the reason your "Skyscraper of Debt" is being viewed on two programs is because they are laughing at it.  It may well "go viral".   But if Americans who have EARNED Social Security find it being reduced, they will have to spend less money at the grocery stores, drug stores, and gasoline stations - leading those places to lay off a few more people and call their suppliers and tell them to cut back on their orders, and lead hospitals and health care workers to find out they are not needed to treat Medicare and Medicaid patients and they can stay home.  Emergency Rooms will find more and more extremely sick people showing up who have no money and no insurance.  And no hope.

So.  The answer to all this is the Spirit of America.  Remember, our founding fathers pointed out that all people are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable rights . . . life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness.  Then they added:  "To SECURE these rights, GOVERNMENTS are instituted among people, deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed. . ."

Thank you for providing this opportunity to respond to your video.  A great country is always built by those who have been denied opportunity elsewhere, and their struggle is against those who are defending their own personal pleasures.  We need strong, independent people who have not sold their souls for money to represent us.  Show us your soul Mr. McHenry, are you with us?

When I Run for President . . .

I will point out how a couple of historical coincidences, a New Hampshire state law, and tradition have decreed that only a tiny handfull of states fire off the first presidential primary contests each election cycle.  These first four events have too often shaped the commitments of the candidates and eventually the platforms of their parties. But these four states, Iowa, New Hampshire, Nevada and South Carolina, are not representative of the United States! They are rural, small, self-sufficient entities that have no appreciation of the problems that haunt New York, California, Illinois, Pennsylvania for example, or of the problems peculiar to Florida and Texas, or the big cities or the great mass of Americans.   These four states contain less than 11,700,000 people, or 3.7% of the total American population.  Yet this 3.7% ALWAYS have a large say in the choice of the person who will be the next president of the United States and the commitments made by both parties. 

Perhaps at one time, the contests of these four states were significant because they indicated the comparative strengths of the candidates and showed how they dealt with issues that were important to these small rural states.  But in today’s world, all politics is universal.  Every word uttered by any candidate in Iowa is broadcast across the world, every mistake made by any contestant is repeated again and again.  

So.  The remedy is simple.  When I run for president I will campaign in these four states, like everybody else,  but I will not cater to the “local” vote, being determined to get my viewpoint out to the entire country.  Whether I do well in Iowa or New Hampshire, or those other two places matter not in the full swing of things.  I will happily finish dead last in those four states as long as I can make clear my intention concerning matters of concern to the other 97% of the people of the United States.

I just hope that I am not the only one who understands this.

Anthony Weiner

Carefully, intelligently, purposefully, passionately and successfully, Anthony Weiner maneuvered himself into a position as a major player in the United States House of Representatives, becoming a leading light in the liberal side of the Democratic Party, and a likely candidate to be elected mayor of New York City.

Yet while all these beautiful moves were being perfected by Mr. Weiner, he was also playing a different tune on Twitter, sending questionable, risqué, and even lewd photos of himself to young women whom he apparently did not even know.  

It had to end.  And when it did, Weiner played it well, claiming his Twitter account had been “hacked” and that he was outraged, and that No – he did not send those pictures.  Then he was asked the inevitable question  about one of them:  “Is that photo a picture of you?”  All he had to do at that point was to say that no, that was not him and that should have been the end of the entire matter, and cause for investigation of those damnable “hackers”.

But then the story turned.  Weiner refused to say that the picture was not of him, and that immediately told the rest of us two things:  1)  That the photo WAS a picture of him, and 2) That somebody else, somewhere, somehow KNEW it was a photo of Weiner’s private belongings.  And the story began to intrigue the reporting pool of the world.  It turned into a great spiritual-like quest, a marvelous riddle like a Zen koan similar to the famous “what is the sound of one hand clapping?"   People who disliked Weiner joined with those who loved him and with many others who didn’t care about him and now huge numbers of people who had never even heard of him before, all sought the answer to Weiner’s Dilemma.  He had stumped the entire world!

A great spotlight from heaven, or somewhere out there, now found and focused on Weiner.  As a brilliant advertising executive or marketing director might dribble out pieces of enticing information and with a look in his eyes normally reserved for carnival barkers, Weiner led us all down his tricky little trail.  Like a great performance in some marvelous Olympiad spectacular, every step he took was seen, photographed, videotaped, recorded and breathlessly watched.  Such a level of attention is normally reserved for erupting volcanos, hurricanes, earthquakes and tsunamis, and similar catastrophes and disasters.  

So now.  Having failed in everything else, Weiner tried to throw himself on the world's pity plate.  Finally he says, he will tell us what he claims is "the truth".  But it won’t work.  Not now.  Now when we have seen  how perfectly he lies.  When he finally tells us what we all knew, and  even elaborates somewhat  upon that, we now KNOW he is hiding the really bad stuff - and we all what to know what he is NOW covering up?  

So we will forgive him – of course we will, but we will only forgive him as a human being.   We can not forgive him as an ideal.    He was at one time, something very special.  He was part of every human dream, he was someone you could count on, rely on, trust  and believe in. That is what made Anthony Weiner very, very special.  Now he is gone.  His shell will apparently remain with us for a while.  He  can still be a politician and still do some things that most politicians do here and there, now grinningly welcomed as one of their own, but the shell will remind us of what once seemed to be, and the rotten smell of decay will remain with us until he finally departs our midst.

How to do It

Great Britan Itinerary
May 13 - Mon. Day 1 - Fly
May 14 - Tues. Day 2 -land in London - train or bus to Bath Spa -

• !  spend night in Bath, Kennard Hotel - 11 Henrietta St 01225 310472
  
• !  p. cloudy 58% rain 53% 58/43 16mph
  May 15 - Wed. day 3 - Bath
  May 16 - Thurs. day 4 - pick up car and explore area - Wells, Gastonbury, Lacock,
  

• !  Stonehenge
  
• !  spend night in Salisbury, Quidhampton Mill B&B - Netherhampton Rd,
  

• "  01722 741171
  
• "  cloudy 62% rain 46% 56/42 16 mph
  May 17 - Fri. day 5 - Salisbury, Avebruy - on to Cotswolds
  

• !  pubs in Chipping Norton - Great Tew - Bledington
  
• !  Stroud Farmer’s Market, Sat. 9-2 also artist center
  
• !  Tewkesbury - 12th cent. bldings
  
• !  Bibury-old weaver cottages & Cirencester-craft center & antiques
  
• !  Chipping Campden music festival
  
• !  spend night in Broadway Windrush House - Station Rd, 01386 853577
  
• !  p cloudy 65% rain 42% 59/49 12 mph
  May 18 - Sat. day 6 - - tour Blenheim Palace and the Cotswolds -
  

! spend night in Broadway
May 19 - Sun. day 7 - Stratford-upon-avon (25 mins), then on to Wales, tour Conwy

• !  Castle (3 hrs)
  
• !  sleep in Conwy Bryn Guest House, Sychnant Pass Rd 01492 592449
  
• !  rain 52% p cloudy 52% 56/45 17mph
  May 20 - Mon. day 8 - tour more castles - esp. Caernarfon, Beaumaris
  

• !  Castle,Snowdonia Nat. Park, Snowdon Mtn Rail train
  
• !  sleep in Conwy
  May 21 - Tues. day 9 - drive to Lake District - tour Wordsworth home in Grasmere
  

• !  sleep in Keswick (3 hrs) Stonegarth B&B - 2 Eskin St 017687 72436
  
• !  p cloudy 44% rain 34% 58/48 17 mph
  May 22 - Wed. day 10 - rest & laundry day
  

! sleep in Keswick

May 23 - Thurs. day 11 - drive to Hadrian’s Wall (1.5 hrs) drive to Bamburgh Castle

• !  (1.5 hrs), then on to Stirling (2.5 to 3 hrs)
  
• !  sleep in Stirling Firgrove B&B - 13 Clifford Rd 01786 475805
  

" rain 64% p cloudy 56% 54/45 17 mph
May 24 - Fri. day 12 - Stirling - tour castle ! sleep in Stirling
May 25 - Sat. day 13 - drive around Loch Lomond (1 hr) to Luss and Glencoe & finally

• !  to Portee (5 hrs total)
  
• !  sleep in Portee Conusg B&B. 7 Bosville Terrace 01478 611 873
  

" rain 64% p cloudy 56% 54/45 17mph
May 26 - Sun. day 14 - tour Isle of Skye - stop at Eilean Donan Castle then on to

• !  Inverness (2.5 hrs)
  
• !  sleep in Inverness, Invergien Guest House, 7 Abertarff Rd 01463 716 350
  

" rain 67% p cloudy 63% 57/41 16 mph
May 27 - Mon. day 15 - drive to Loch Ness,near Inverness - tour Culloden Battlefield,

• !  ! (15 min. from Inverness) see clava cairns, then Perth & Scone Palace,
  
• !  ! Moot Hill - (1 hr) or Ballindalloch Castle (Macpherson) 1 hr.
  
• !  ! then to Edinburg airport to turn in !car (45 min.) bus to city center (30
  
• !  ! mins)
  
• !  sleep in Edinburg !
  May 28 - Tues. day 16 - Edinburg - Kingsway Guest House, 5 East Mayfield,
  

" " 0131 667 5029
! rain 82% p cloudy 40% 58/41 16mph
May 29 - Wed. day 17 - Edinburg
May 30 - Thurs. day 18 - train to York (2.5 hrs)
! sleep in York
May 31 - Fri. day 19 - York - Bowmans Guest House - 33 Grosvenor Terrace

• "  " 01904 622204
  
• "  rain 100% p cloudy 67% 59/44 15 mph
  June 1 - Sat. day 20 - train to London (2 hrs)
  

! sleep in London
June 2 - Sun. day 21 - London - Luna Simone Hotel, 47/49 Belgrave Rd 207 834 5897
! rain 55% p cloudy 45% 64/48 15 mph
June 3 - Mon. day 22 - London !

June 4 - Tues. day 23 - London
June 5 - Wed. day 24 - fly to Charlotte 

An Open Letter FROM Patrick McHenry

April 28, 2011

Dear Mr. Womack:

Thank you for contacting my office regarding Medicare, Medicaid, and Social Security reforms under the fiscal year 2012 Republican budget plan. I appreciate having the benefit of your thoughts. 

Medicare, Medicaid, and Social Security compromise 60 percent of the federal budget, and represent the fastest growing   . . .

WOAH!  Sir . . . I thought you knew that Social Security brings in more money than it spends (actually, I thought everybody knew that!) and Medicare, not quite as effective, still brings in almost 60% of its TOTAL costs.  So, I respectfully request that you take this letter back and rewrite it.  

 I did request you to explain why on earth you voted FOR Representative Paul Ryan's budget bill, and NOW I am beginning to see why you might have done such a destructive thing to 95% of your constituents.  You have not been properly briefed.  So, may I respectfully request that you return to the issue, review all budget matters, particularly issues relating to the difference between budget expenditures and budget income.  Then you will be better able to carry on a dialog with the people you have taken an oath to represent in congress.  You will also be able to point out to Representative Ryan how you all can write a new budget that will protect and improve both Social Security and help bring about Medicare for All Americans.  

Respectfully yours,

John  Womack

Open Letter to Mr. McHenry about Health Insurance

Dear Mr. McHenry:

Why do we even HAVE health-insurance companies? Health care is basically a supply-demand equation and we Americans know how to handle that. We buy groceries, houses, computers, automobiles, clothing, education and so on without any insurance “gatekeepers” to tell us “OK, you can have a Ford but not a Pontiac” or “no, you can’t buy a coat this winter, you bought one last year.” Or "you can't have anymore generic DVDs, you will have to buy these (which cost ten times as much)." And it’s not like we don’t all use health-care. Americans use health-care to get born, we use a lot of it when we die, and we all need teeth repaired and glasses replaced. From time to time we all have accidents and get sick and we all need health care. We "demand" medical services and we have a top-notch medical industry of doctors, nurses, hospitals, and organizations who can "supply" those services. Why do we think we need a gate-keeper to tell us we can have this but not that, or that's a “pre-existing condition”, or a certain procedure we need to live will cost more than we can afford so we can't have it, or that those pills the doctor has prescribed will cost $600 a month, even though they don’t really “cost” nearly that much?  And people who live in other countries get those same pills for much, much less!

We can take care of ourselves together as a nation, and supply-demand will work in this industry like it does elsewhere. All of the money these insurance companies get is money we pay to them, then they give a little bit of it back to us in the form of permission to get some medical service, and the rest goes for their own profit, to their rich CEOs and to buy off our senators and representatives. THEN, they pay less and less in income tax every year and even get some subsidies from the U. S. national government.  Let's get rid of ALL health insurance companies and let the citizens and medical industry of the United States collectively provide the care we need through a PUBLIC - not OPTION - but SERVICE - like Medicare for All - and really provide for our nation’s general welfare.

After all, no national resource is of more importance to any industralized nation that the health of its workforce.  And THAT is too important to be left to any private company that MUST continue to increase their profit every quarter of every year.

John Womack.

                                                              

Like Divine Guidance?

Bagman and Seatbelts

    ©John Womack, 2011.  All rights reserved.

Bagman and Red Lights

Copyright John Womack, 2011.  All rights reserved.

Open Letter to Mr. McHenry about Firearms.

I have no problem with the right of  “the people” to keep and bear arms.   And I agree with the statement in your letter to me of February 18, 2011, that  “that right comes with a huge responsibility.”   

I wrote you not to say that the Second Amendment has let the American citizens down, I am saying that the United States Congress has let us down by  not establishing sufficient laws concerning the use of firearms in America.  That is why I have written you four times and called your office five times in the year 2011 alone concerning gun laws. 

You said in your letter that the “government’s responsibility is not to limit the lawful rights of law-abiding gun owners.  Rather, it is the government’s duty to strictly enforce current gun laws and levy stiff penalties against criminals who use guns to commit crimes.  

Well sir, let me propose to you that the laws of the United States are not sufficient to protect its citizens, and that the Congress of the United States is derelict in it’s duty to pass laws to protect its citizens.  

That assertion is based on the following facts:

1)  Some 11,000 American citizens are killed each  year by firearms (Bureau of Justice - see graph at end of letter)

2)  Consider that when a group of Saudi Arabians attacked and killed less than 3,000 Americans (and other nationals) on September 11, 2001, we embarked upon a war that now, ten years later, involves us in combat in three nations,  Another 4,000 American troops  have been killed in those wars, along with perhaps 100,000 Iraqi, Afghan and Pakistani citizens,  and we have spent somewhere between $1.4 and 3 Trillion dollars because “terrorists” killed 3,000 Americans.  

3)  BUT  - that same number of Americans were killed again in the United States from firearms alone, by other Americans before Christmas Day in 2001, 90 days after the attack by alien “terrorists”.   

4)  And THEN, another 3,000 Americans were killed by other American “Terrorists?” in March, again in June, and September, and Christmas Day again in 2002, and the same in 2003, 2004, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2008, 2009, 2010, and now we are coming up on another “anniversary”. 

5)  That means about 115,000 Americans have been killed by other Americans with firearms, mostly handguns, since the “terrorists”  did their nasty little trick.

6)  And you say – in your letter to me – that “the actions of a minority of people abusing their freedoms should not limit the freedoms of the majority of decent and upright Americans.”   

7)  Mr. McHenry, what part of 33 shot dead every day do you attribute to a minority of people abusing their freedom?  

Notice that I have not even asked that  you introduce any laws concerning gun control in America.  I have simply asked that you help to begin a dialog in this country about whether we even need gun control.  I have asked that that group include the NRA,  along with other interested groups, and that a full and in-depth discussion ensue to discuss all the problems we can find that are associated with guns.

So - can we have a discussion?  And.  If not – WHY not?  Please either help to start this discussion or tell me why you don’t want to.

Bureau of Justice Statistics http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gun_violence_in_the_United_States

Note also that the National Center for Injury Prevention and control stated During the 33-year period covered by this report, the total number of firearm deaths increased by 130%, from 16,720 in 1962 to 38,505 in 1994.

http://www.cdc.gov/ncipc/pub-res/firarmsu.htm

Peter King and the Radical Right

Republican representative Peter King of New  York is convening a congressional investigation into the Muslim religion.  Well, it’s really just an investigation into “radical” Muslims.  I think that is great.  It’s long overdue,  too.  And I hope that committee doesn’t just investigate Islam but I would encourage them to go further and continue their investigations into Judaism.  Certainly, the Jews are part of the problem in the Middle East, and the United States is (secretly) sworn to protect Israel regardless of their issues, so Representative King should definitely get to the bottom of Judaism.  Or at least the “radical” part of Judaism.  

And while King and his Homeland Security Committee are at it why not take a peek into the Christian religion?  At least those damn “radical” Christians?  We have all heard that the Protestants are trying to take over the officer corps of the United States Air Force by going after the cadets at the Air Academy, right?  And there has got to be a radical reason for that!  And then why not call some Bishops from the Catholic church to talk about pedophilia perhaps, and the “Art of Coverup” and how to lie while holding a cross and looking pious.  Representative King is a Catholic so he should have some input in there.  And before we forget, why not take a look at Mormons, again, just those pesky “radical Mormons”.  And before we forget, we also ought to see if we can find any radical Buddhists or radical Hindus and march them before Peter King.  And to be fair, we also ought to seek out radical Seiks, Coptics, Jains, and . . . well, now we are getting close to ignoring some religions.  So i will have to just quit before I upset some people.  I certainly wouldn’t want to have to go before congress as a Radical Blogger.  Oh, by the way, will these people have to take an oath with their hand on a Bible?

Of course, that brings to mind other possibilities of ways to spend taxpayers' money.  Why not take a look at congressmen – only the radical ones of course – and let’s especially not forget investigating the radical Republicans.  And then there is the matter of Radical Journalists – my, that would make a fine show – lots of really great talent there, Limbaugh, Beck, Hannity and others. Maybe congress could even get Olberman to prepare a Special Comment!  Wow.   You know what?  They could even televise this, put it on a special cable show like HBO, sell tickets and help reduce the Deficit!! Now how’s that for a Radical Idea? 

Bradley Manning?

Bradley Manning is a puzzle.  To me – anyway.  For a PFC he was a gigantic creature  He knew a lot of information and he had access to an enormous amount of classified stuff.  I can’t help but wonder how a PFC had that kind of access to anything.  I used to have access to a lot of classified information myself, but I never knew anything close to the whole story.  In fact I only knew kind of important little glimpses.  Very few people, as I  recall only one or two, actually had enough access to know anything like a “big picture”.  And those people were of pretty high rank.  So, I can’t help but wonder 1) how a PFC would have access to anything like a portion of the data he apparently released to WikiLeaks, and 2) what the hell were his supervisors doing, and 3) what the hell were his supervisor's supervisors doing? 

Did Bradley Manning do the nation a disservice by releasing that data?  Actually he may have done a great SERVICE to us by pointing out how much classified information seems to be laying around unprotected.  Apparently he just released stuff that was really more embarrassing than anything else, the kind of goodies that eventually seep out anyway, and which all the people who are identified therein, and supposedly were embarrassed about in those leaks, all pretty well knew about  anyway.

But Manning was apparently just after the petty stuff.  If our classified information is really this poorly guarded then there may be some really important things out there that the wrong kind of people might get hold of and that could be really bad.

Also, maybe we could create some new levels of classified information.  Then we could have “Confidential”, “Secret”, “Top Secret” and “Embarrassing”.  That way we wouldn’t have titillating tidbits of gossip mixed in with the number of troops we have in a certain location, their firepower and problems they might facing, and you know – important stuff. 

Meanwhile, how we are treating Bradley Manning in prison may be saying a lot more about who we really are as a nation than what he leaked about us says about him.

And then there is the question that we never ask in this country anymore:  "Why"?  Why did he do it?  Why?

Open Letter to Representative McHenry - Health Insurance

Dear Mr. McHenry.

Thank you for your reply to my telephone calls and e-mails concerning the healthcare available in America today,  But you did not answer the main question I asked which was – and still is:  Are YOU receiving “Obamacare” yourself now?  I have written three times and called four times and nobody “knows” if you receive your health care through the government or if you buy it yourself.  Please let me know.  I am asking you again now through my blog, Facebook and Twitter.  And it’s no big deal. It really doesn’t matter to the rest of us.  You obviously have more money than most of your constituents do, and you could afford to buy the best insurance and health care in the world,

Also, there are other questions I can’t get anybody else at your place to answer.  Here are some of them:

1)   Why do we have almost 50,000,000 Americans who don’t have health insurance?  And why there are another probably 50,000,000 Americans who really don’t want to try out the insurance they do have.  Is this a coincidence, or is it done on purpose?

2)  The so-called health care we receive from the insurance companies is not really healthcare but actually a form of “disease management”.  Real healthcare would result in a healthy America.  The insurance industry needs sickness for the drugs they have, and other forms of treatment.  Is this just an “accident”?

3)  Another question I can’t get answered at your place is:  what natural resource is more important to any nation than the health of its workforce?

4)  Why is that resource left up to insurance companies to manage when THEIR need to make a profit is greater than their need to provide services?  (And please don’t tell me I can switch to another company.)

5)  Can government really provide good healthcare?   A number of veterans have said they received good healthcare service  (medical, dental and optical) when they were in, and a lot of those who are eligible say that the Department of Veterans Administration  provides good healthcare services.  And – Medicare has a large number of  grateful participants.

6)  Why not just go ahead and give the United States a form of Medicare for All?

7)  According to http://www.opensecrets.org/politicians/summary.php?cid=N00026627  , your largest contribution of money  in 2009 came from “Health Professionals” ($85,000), next was  “Insurance” ($57,450), and then the American Association of Orthopaedic Surgeons also contributed $10,000 to your last reelection bid.  Please tell me that those “contributions” did not influence your stand in any way.  

John Womack

John Galt is a Bitch.

At least that was my opinion after reading his defining speech.  Or perhaps that speech was written for him by an angry woman who had a lot of scores to settle.  It had to be someone who hated religion, labor unions, the arts, universities, scientists, college professors, people with problems, politicians and governments in general.  Also, the writer of that speech had to be someone who was ineffective in control of his or her own world and life.  Yet that speech is the heart of "Atlas Shrugged", written by Ayn (rhymes with "mine") Rand.  It has to be what the story was all about, and it was a only a series of complaints piled on top of absurdities.  I found that just that single speech was very hard to follow, even reading it all by itself over several days, and it would have been very confusing to have had to receive it over the radio in a single three-hour dose, particularly when you were expecting something else.  

But there is a lot more in the book. I was stunned by the beauty of some of Ayn  Rand’s writing.  She has a way of expressing feeling by combining a few words that collide like cymbals and create volumes of meaning and expression that shimmer and shine and stay with you as you read on.  These marvelous gems are scattered throughout her book and often they jump up and try to grab you when you are being carried along by a free-fall of some of her other descriptive adventures. She also had several passages in which she writes very powerfully of great events taking place that seem too big to actually happen, then they happen, and then they get worse and then – then it gets really bad.  There are at least six of these episodes that stand out. The work is a one thousand-plus page book with about twenty-four major characters and that obviously requires a considerable amount  of planning, organization and creation of  events and circumstances and I am not sure that she completely mastered many of those tasks.     

The tone of the book is dark, very dark, even stygian in places.  She carries that tone so pervasively throughout the book that I even have to congratulate her for another superb ability, that of consistency.  I wonder though, if the very process of reading it does not tend to bring unwanted circumstances drifting into the reader’s life flow.

Her story is pulled forward by miracles.  Not like water into wine, but metal that is greater than any other metal by many orders of magnitude.  It is not just better, not  twice as good or three times as good, but a complete revolution in the art of metal making, and it was all done by one individual, and came out of his own mind.  Another miracle is an amazing motor that runs far, far better than any other motor ever invented and uses virtually no “fuel”.  There are incredible locks that can guard a room beyond belief, and . . . then if they are forced to open . . . well, you will just have to read the book.  

These miracles are all performed by the heroes of the book, who are presented as gods.  They are a handful of super-mortal individuals  who  penetrate beyond the limits of existence to create  new horizons of possibilities.  They work hard, that’s true but they also leap forward, racing beyond the world, easily accomplishing scientific magic  and technological invention far ahead of academic studies or experimental prototypes. 

There are no management principles depicted anywhere in the book.  If you can find even one, let me know.  Everything that is done is just “done”, often by Herculean effort by one of the gods.  There is great work going in in several places but then it later turns out that there was really nothing there – and nobody knew it!  There is  apparently no education system in place anywhere.  College is constantly dismissed as an evil and useless thing: ". . . those modern college-infected parasites . . ."  (Universal Reference .56584). People are not learning anything unless they teach it to themselves, or perhaps already know it.   There are universities, but the education of masses is not addressed.  The American public seems huddled in groups like lobotomized sheep,  moaning “ I don’t know”, “It’s not my job”, “I can’t help it”, and so on as they watch their families fade into starvation and destitution.  The people in charge of the country seem to direct it entirely by innuendo and influence although they always provide exceedingly well for themselves.  We all know that politicians and their ilk are sleazy, but Ayn Rand’s guys are stupid, dumb, obviously inept, jealous, whiney and pitifully pitiful.  Collectively, they are a pathetically sad monster. 


(NOTE by "Universal Reference", I mean where the instance occurs in the book.  In the book I read, the First Plume Printing, August 1999, the lower middle of page 1,054 occurs .90472 of the way through its 1,165 pages.)

Rand is obviously impressed by the failures of communism, but she sees it appealing to the masses and the world is collapsing into a Marxist-induced communist coma.  According to her, all the lights will go out, people will starve and be forsaken, and the country will totally collapse.  The picture she paints presents a degree of dysfunction challenging the level of despair in some of the Dickens' novels – and those were pointing out the evils of capitalism! 

What is Rand’s relevance today?  Questions abound about those who do not contribute to the society - what should they get?  How should they really be treated?  Much of the monetary services the American  government currently provides its people goes in several different directions and is distributed to a lot of people.  Unemployment insurance and Social Security payments provide money to people who spend it in grocery stores, drug stores, filling stations, etc.  Cut that off and those businesses will also feel the loss. Another question is that of “entitlements”.  Many of those such as Social Security and a number of retirement programs are actually deferred payments for work already done long ago but promised and agreed to be paid in the future, and with interest.  Those are not “entitlements” but “postponed wages”.  When Ayn Rand died, she was a recipient of Medicare and was receiving Social Security payments.  

There is also a question of “need” versus “want”.  Rand seems to lump these two together and treat legitimate “needs” such as clean water, air,  education and healthcare for children into things that they just “want”,  and they will result in the entire nation being dragged into oblivion as those “wants” suck the life out of our country.  Pollution is in the book, and it IS a problem, although not  discussed or even mentioned but once, and it is simply a problem for the huddled masses.  “They learned it (when a mill shut down) only on subsequent nights, when they – who had cursed (my emphasis) the mills for the smoke, the fumes, the soot and the noise – looked out and, instead of the glow pulsating with life on their familiar horizon, they saw a black void.”  (UnivRef .9296824)  That pollution is really unpaid costs of production, which the owner converted into profit and used for his own personal use.  Who cleans up the pollution later, when it gets really bad?  The government, of course.

In the early 1950s, university and government researchers were finding that cigarette smoking caused lung cancer.  Obviously the characters in this book just Shrugged that information off their backs.   Ayn Rand underwent surgery for lung cancer in 1974 and died of heart failure in 1982, even though “Dr Hendricks had developed a method to end brain strokes and high blood pressure”  (Pg. 703 UR.63288) .  She actually smoked her last cigarette in 1974, but her book “Atlas Shrugged” still continues today to send the message to generation after generation of young people that smoking cigarettes is OK, maybe even good for you, and certainly a sign that you are sophisticated and “understand”. 

“Heartbreak Hotel” and “Love me Tender” were already best sellers before this book was published in 1957.   This was twelve years after the first atomic bombs were detonated, and B-52 bombers were already on alert ready to launch a retaliatory strike against Russia.  Soldiers were coming back from Korea.  Sputnik was orbiting the earth.  Instead of looking into the future, this book was already adrift when it was first published.

John Galt worked as a track laborer for twelve years?  From 1945 to 1957?  Come ON!  I did that job for three summers myself when I was a teen-ager in 1946, 47 and 48, and according to the book, that was when Galt began.  It is a consuming job, a dirty, dangerous, mind-numbing job.  We called it the “Bridges and Buildings Gang”.  A lot of the work keeps you away from home for a week at a time and it pays at about the poverty level.  He “kept an eye” on Dagny while doing this job?  Sure!  I got a bridge I can sell you – built by that old gang.

Return to the gold standard?  Fine but the “gods” of the book will also have to figure out a new way to conduct business transactions.  A lot of money (sorry, gold) will be spent just transporting all that gold around all over the place back and forth again and again.  Obviously, a child could figure out a method of recording all those transactions and saving all that energy but – well, there we go again.  We could use gold to “back  up” our currency but that would come at a sacrifice to a growing economy, very tricky to do as a population explosion kicks the world down the road toward 7,000,000,000 people by 2045.

It is a story that revels in innuendo, at least in the first part.  Not entirely bad for a writer, but too often it seems to carry the plot all by itself.  It describes why organizations, unions, government and other entities work.  But I feel that instead of creating mystery it contributes to confusion and by its continued usage constitutes a dereliction of duty by the author.  The book does describe a civilization that is disintegrating, all facets of which are crumbling.  America is falling apart and collapsing, Europe has already descended into chaos, the Middle East and Asia are missing from the book entirely, and there are no international aggressors.  Why not?  Are they broke too?


Art is mentioned occasionally, but it is "logical" art, like great music that is written by one great logical man, Richard Halley who is quoted:  "I do not care to be admired by anyone's heart – only by someone's head." (UnivRef .671244).  He continues, talking about an "artist" who "feels":  ". . . all he has to do is feel – he feels, the flabby, loose-mouthed, shifty-eyed, drooling, shivering, uncongealed bastard!"   No Picasso or John Cage there, not even Hank Williams or Elvis.   


Spiritual dimensions are all encapsulated in Religions - there is no awareness anywhere in the book of spirit that is free from the monster of Religion. Galt says ". . . the mind is one's only judge of values and one's only guide of action . . . the alleged short-cut to knowledge, which is faith, is only a short-circuit destroying the mind  . . . (and it) annihilates one's consciousness."  (UnivRef.87451).  The great prophets of the ages are called "mystic parasites".  (UnivRef.87777) And even though Dagny's heart beats wildly over several different men, that is all right because she, her heart and those men are all very, very logical.  


The book is all devoted to Good-Evil, Black-White, Right-Wrong.  There is some "middle" intruding from time to time, but it doesn't have any chance at all.  Galt sums it up "There are two sides to every issue:  one side is right and the other is wrong, but the middle is always evil."   He continues to point out that he has more respect for the man who is wrong, than he has for the man who took the middle course.  (UnivRef.90472)

My final opinion about “Atlas Shrugged”?  Those who profess to like it either have not read it, or they have read ONLY it, and nothing else.  They would have to be people who like Ayn Rand have no use for science, art, spirituality, government, education, management, logic, economics, literature, medical arts or history.

If  you think you might have been exposed to “Atlas Shrugged”, do not panic.  Sit down for a moment.   Remember that it was actually published more than fifty years ago and it has not really affected the world very much.  You are probably going to be all right.  Your  prognosis generally depends on your age when you were exposed.  If you are over 25  you have a good chance to enter remission next week .  If you are 50 or over then you are probably safe, I would recommend a couple of good beers or a glass of wine with tapas.  If you are 18 or  younger then  you may have problems over then next six or seven years.  So go ahead and stomp and shout and rant and rave, and it would be good to wear a shirt proclaiming “Atlas Shrugged” or perhaps mention something about “Ayn Rand” so people will know what happened to you and understand.