Tag: Politicians

Flashes – First World Nation Problems

Bobblehead DollSince Russia invaded Ukraine, no longer is the truth able to hide; America has been pursuing easy things, making America weak!  Several years ago, I was in a used book store and found “Flashes from the Eternal Semaphore” by Leo J. Muir.  I count myself extremely blessed to have found and purchased this treasured book!  Mr. Muir explains that a semaphore is a means of using flags to send messages, and people have been using flags to send messages for a lot of the earth’s recorded history.  The author declared that regardless of religion, certain truths are timeless, ageless, and failure to learn and live these truths brings destruction to civilization.

The first flash/truth is that pursuing easy things makes people weak.  Consider for a moment a German proverb, “The hard is the good.”  Work is an eternal principle; it does not change if you believe, or do not believe in, God, god, or gods.  The need to work, to pursue difficult tasks makes boys into Men, girls into Women, and at the end of life reflects honor and dignity in a life well-lived.  Yet, what do we find daily as the life to pursue, playing games, rest, recreation, and all the waste this involves.Work Quotes With Pictures | Labor Day Quotes | Marketing Artfully

I know not the source, but as a kid, I heard someone complain that the hardest and most difficult job in the world is being a person of leisure.  As a kid, I had worked my fingers to the bone every day, going to bed bone-weary and mind tired.  To hear this man talk blew my mind, for I would have given anything to have less work to do.  Yet, during periods of unemployment, I have wept in frustration for not having a job that tasked my mind and body.  In employment right now, I often look around and ask what else is there to do, for I feel like I am cheating my employer.  Some call this a work ethic, I call is being responsible, professional, and honest in my dealings with my fellow-man.

A friend informed me that most people do not think similarly, and I wonder why.  My friend said it was a “First-World Nation Problem.”  He explained that in first-world nations, you have to go a long distance to find anyone who works like I do and thinks work is necessary.  Mr. Muir reminds us, “There is no immunity from the penalty of indolence and irresponsibility.”  Think of that, too much idleness, too many video games, not enough personal responsibility builds weak people, and there is no social or personal immunity, no vaccination, from the consequences.

40 Motivational & Inspirational Quotes About Hard WorkWhat’s worse, First-World nations are passing this malady around the globe.  We are sick from the disease of not working, akin to catching polio, leprosy, or a fatal case of pneumonia; the disease can be treated, but the effects are life-changing.  You cannot achieve for your ability is curtailed.  We have forgotten that “There is NO excellence WITHOUT labor” [emphasis added].  I remember assignments from K-12 that left me physically drained from the mental exertions, and I remember lazing my way through lessons; in both situations, the grade I earned was of my own creation!  Believe me, my parents were exercised to see my low grades, and I had my school and home work increased to new levels to achieve learning that one lesson, “There is NO excellence WITHOUT labor.”

What do we see today?  Students are allowed to graduate who cannot read, do simple math, and write their names.  We see lowering standards for scholastic performance in K-12, which produces a slug of a student who expects to graduate college.  Woefully unprepared people who were abused and allowed to abuse themselves during K-12 due to their skin color, economic situation, or English as a second language.  What teachers do you remember from school, those who allowed you to slide, or those who believed in you, challenged you, setting high standards, and then teaching you how to meet those high standards?

I told my friend, and dear reader, I am telling you, the principle of work should not be sacrificed to “Leave no child behind.”  If a person sets out to leave no one behind, they get to know their charges, work their charges, set high standards, teach how to reach those high standards, and then urge them on to new growth opportunities.  Why did the school boards lower standards; they believe in growing a class of citizenry that can be controlled!  Since the late 1800s, this has been the government’s intentional actions in America.  Some will use their weakened minds and claim this is the dastardly work of a single political party, but the reality is that both political parties are neck-deep in the responsibility they have shirked and promoted by lower standards, and they call this “helping.”50 Famous Quotes About Success And Hard Work - Dreams Quote

No, do not for one second believe that this is a “First-World nation problem,” it is a problem made by conspiring men (and women) for the overthrow and destruction of freedom.  They have been carefully creating a class of people who can be counted on to be controlled for personal political gain.  Independent people, strong-bodied and minded people, scare those who desire to be a ruling class.  Consider Putin in Russia; he wanted to rule, he has planned, crafted, killed, lied, and cajoled to rule, and he is a strong person ruling a weak people who have gotten sick on the pursuit of easy things.117 Best Hard Work Quotes That Everybody Must See

Look at Cuba and North Korea; the people have had to be beaten and starved to weaken them into submission and keep them dependent on a strong leader.  Yet, how quickly could those strong people throw off their oppressive governments if they had even 1/100th of the opportunities their poorest neighbors enjoy.  What happens in countries oppressed, the leaders become weak pursuing easy things, the people get stronger, and then the government is backed against a wall, and either the people overthrow the government, or the government is killed.  Then the cycle begins again until the population is consumed by a neighbor (Ukraine being consumed by Russia) or democracy and capitalism are tried and found to be valuable.  But democracy is only powerful if the law is held sacrosanct!  Capitalism is only useful and helpful when the society employing it has morals, values, and is educated.

26 WORK Quotes About Hardships And Cooperation At Workplace | Brainy ReadersWhat is weakening every oppressive regime around the globe; is a failure to honor the rule of law.  The leaders pursuing easy things become weak, and their choices inevitably lead them into problems with the law.  Think back a couple of years to the Chinese baby food or dog food scandals.  The Chinese Communist Party (CCP) blamed mid-level leaders for their roles in the scandals, but were these people really to blame or merely useful tools to help deflect blame from the flagrant and profligate rule-breaking of someone higher?

Pursuing easy things makes people weak!  There is no escaping the damage pursuing easy things does to an individual and a society.  Yet, how big are the entertainment industries?  How expansive has the lure of taking it easy become?  How prevalent have games become?  An entire new technological industry sprung up to feed the appetites of those pursuing games?  For a truth, Muir quotes Franklin for the following flash, “Laziness travels slowly and is soon overtaken by poverty.”  How expensive have cellular phones become?  How soon do those phones wear out and need to be replaced?  Worse, how many politicians, Hollywood “influencers,” and hundreds of other sources exemplify not working, hide behind a “work-life balance,” or employ social media to display a life of plenty and ease without working?  The only way to keep the American dream alive is through hard work!

Knowledge Check!King Solomon provided the only instruction that offers a modicum of relief and is quoted as the final flash, “In all, they getting, get understanding.”  I know many people’s childhood was full of abusive relationships.  From parents to teachers, to peers and government officials, you have been robbed, plundered, and the abuse is real.  For all that, you remain an eternal being suffering a mortal existence.  Thus, you have the choice to get understanding.  You possess the power to throw off the abusers.  Learn to learn.  Learn to read.  Learn math.  Learn how to write.  You hold the power, choose to exercise that power, and you will bless your life and the lives of those around you!

© Copyright 2022 – M. Dave Salisbury
The author holds no claims for the art used herein, the pictures were obtained in the public domain, and the intellectual property belongs to those who created the images.  Quoted materials remain the property of the original author.


Advertisement

The Biggest Lie in America – The Mouthpiece of Liars

Bobblehead DollSome would say the biggest lie in America is, “I’m from the government, and I am here to help you.”  While this is definitely a contender as a massive lie, there is one more insidious, and they have played the victim card for too long while being a festering wound on America’s soul.  Yes, the biggest lie in America is, “I’m from Hollywood, and I am here to entertain you.”  Maybe, this wasn’t a lie originally, as all good lies must contain an element of truth to keep people believing the lie; the truth is a glimmer of hope, people cling to hope, even when they know that the hope originates in a lie.

For example, Santa Claus is a lie, originating in the exploited actions of an actual person from history, and some have claimed modeled upon Jesus Christ.  Thus, you have hope, dressed in the shades and colors of a lie and sold as a good story to entertain.  Is the pattern clear?

Another example, the government is supposed to protect society; that’s it.  Yet, people have been sold a lie, mainly by Hollywood, that government is benevolent, benign, and trusting in government is natural.  Yet, even the founders of America knew never to trust the government, even as they tried to establish rules to control the government they were founding.  Do you know why the phrase, “In GOD we Trust,” is on the United States of America’s money; to sell the lie that the paper in your hand has value because everyone is supposed to trust God.  But, God did not print the money or cause the inflation that is crushing America and the world; the government did.

The history of Hollywood is replete with anti-Americanism.  From communist sympathizers who have purchased politicians to sway rules and end investigations to the pedophiles and perverts who relentlessly attack children, Hollywood continues to hide behind facades, lies, and charlatans to keep the “entertainment” money flowing.  Consider how long Weinstein was able to abuse people, cheat, and commit crimes.  How many presidents have bellied up to Hollywood to get elected or remain in power after leaving office?

The Clinton’s the Obama’s, how many Senators, Congressmen, princes from foreign lands, you name it, those who swim in Hollywood tend to rise from the waters stained and filthy rich.  Yet, Hollywood acts the victim, punishes real victims, and then playing the victim, has the gall to ask, “Are you not entertained?”

Russell Crowe’s film “Gladiator” uses Maximus Decimus Meridius to ask this question of Rome and her citizens.  Like Rome, maybe we need to ask ourselves the same question.  What price do we pay to be “entertained” by Hollywood?  Here are some of the costs collected from recent Hollywood enterprises. Are they the fees America should pay, or has Hollywood reached the extreme and, like any other business, needs to face the cold hard reality of an upset public?  You decide; I know my choice!

  1. Hollywood refuses to portray America as a Constitutional Republic. Always America is painted and slandered as a democracy.  Like any lie, those telling a lie know the truth and refuse to believe or accept the truth because the lie provides them power and resources.  Consider how anti-American sentiment continues to be spread by Hollywood.  While academics refuse to name Hollywood personally, the truth is obvious to anyone who wants to see Hollywood’s pernicious and deadly hand and the knife being wielded that is cutting America to pieces.
  2. Did you see the Hollywood documentary “An Open Secret?” Are you aware of the volume of child molestation, abuse, and conniving in Hollywood?  How the victims are always revictimized after trying to come forward?  How the industry actively works to hide the secret while pampering the abusers and protecting their own?  What we pay for “entertainment” helps keep the industry afloat and the victims silenced; is this not too high a cost for the morals of American Society?
  3. Has anyone noticed, does anyone care, that Hollywood continues to attack the nuclear family, and each attack is hidden behind the excuse “we are simply imitating societal decline.” Remember, to sell a lie, there must be elements of truth.  Are there certain aspects of society that imitate Hollywood and Hollywood then imitate as “art and free expression; yes, but that is not the majority of American society.  Fringe groups exist, and provided they remain non-violent, let them believe and live as they choose.  But, Hollywood wants everyone to think that the majority of American society is anti-nuclear families, anti-family, and anti-strong families in general, and research on the family supports the opposite of what Hollywood is pushing.

Let me hit pause for a moment; consider Will and Jada Pinkett Smith, two successful Hollywood stars, marry, actually love each other, aren’t running around cheating every other day on the other, and Hollywood cannot stand these two people being successfully married.  While not the first, and unfortunately not the last, this couple reflects the poison that is Hollywood.  Every successful couple, who wants to remain employed in Hollywood, gets destroyed by Hollywood, and the media is there chortling right alongside the destruction of the family.  The papers are replete with examples, and the attacks stretch back to the “Golden Age” of Hollywood circa 1930.

Worse, the retaliation against those who buck the system remains the most detestable and disgusting thing.  What props up the destruction of good people in Hollywood?  Fear that the Hollywood machine is going to come for you next.  Snakes feasting upon their own flesh is less despicable than what Hollywood does to everyone who tries to peel back the scab and expose the wound to sunshine disinfectant.

  1. Strong female and male characters are detested, destroyed, and denigrated, also called sexism. Consider John Wayne and the Hollywood-inspired hate and contempt he had to suffer.  Consider the problems Clint Eastwood regularly has to fight to make movies due to the colossal animosity directed his way.  There are lots of other examples of strong men and women and their destruction by envious Hollywood types.  If a person is not the current flavor of the month depravity, Hollywood will treat pets they despise better than their own who are strong-willed and capable.

Newspapers used to survive selling advertisements with the slogan, “If it bleeds, it leads.”  Hollywood is bleeding morality, and this story is not leading in newspapers globally.  Why; because the mouthpiece of Hollywood is the corporate media, who climbed into bed during the HUAC Committee hearings, and they have never left that incestuous relationship.  Hollywood feeds the media, the media feed Hollywood, and the world is treated to daily pots of trash called “reporting and analysis.”  What happens when you feed a person junk food all day, every day, for almost 100-years?  The American body is sick from the trash. This is also considered “entertainment,” but only for those holding the knives cutting morales, religion, and everything good and decent out of the societies who embrace Hollywood.

Under the US Constitution, the press was granted certain rights, acting as a force neutral and helping protect America from run-away government.  Instead, the press cottoned onto Hollywood and learned how to feed the circular logic that protects Hollywood from criminal charges by destroying all who oppose Hollywood.  Are you entertained?  Is your hard-earned money well spent at the movies whose actors, directors, producers, and affiliated staff use those funds to hinder, destroy, and criminally act?Apathy

America, Hollywood stopped entertaining us a long time ago.  The media was never supposed to entertain but inform and be neutral in their reporting.  I propose we, the consumers who have been abused, refuse the trash shoveled and imitate a stomach that has been abused enough; the next thing coming down, we throw it all back!

© Copyright 2021 – M. Dave Salisbury
The author holds no claims for the art used herein, the pictures were obtained in the public domain, and the intellectual property belongs to those who created the images.  Quoted materials remain the property of the original author.

Making the USPS Irrelevant One Disastrous Decision at a Time!

The viral post office | Viral post, Post office, Postal policeBy now, it is apparent that the USPS has utterly failed in its primary job of delivering the mail.  That the US PS has been failing for my entire life is a topic the politicians do not want to discuss.  That the business model the USPS is based upon has never been a profitable one, the overhead is disastrously expensive, and the labor costs beyond exorbitant are also not topics the politicians ever want to discuss.  They prefer smoke and mirrors, purple squirrels, and Hollywood celebrity scandals to actually doing their jobs.  But, I digress; last week, the USPS announced that postal service would revert to the slowest it has been since the 1970s, and the cost for that dismal service is going to increase dramatically.

All weekend the reasons for the USPS being in this fix have been stewing in my mind, and I would like your insight as I discuss the main reasons why the USPS is in such bad shape.  Feel free to disagree.  Feel free to comment.  Feel free to ask questions and research further.  To my mind, the most damning problems to the USPS come from the following areas, too much overhead, labor union expenses, business model, and no clear political place in government.Save the US Postal Service! By a zillion dollars comics | Politics Cartoon | TOONPOOL

Labor Union Expenses

Let’s get something clear, the labor unions in government are living high on the hog of taxpayer forced taxation and mandated union dues.  Consider the following comment from Representative Dennis Ross.

“UPS (Union) – about 66% of their total operating costs are labor. FedEx (non-union) – about 45% of their total operating costs are labor. USPS – 80-82%.”

Here’s the rub in comparing UPS, FedEx, and USPS; they are not apples and apples; it’s more like apples to rocks.  Why?  Because UPS and FedEx must show a profit to shareholders at the end of the year; thus, anytime USPS runs into an unprofitable situation, they rely upon USPS to fill the gap.  FedEx operates slightly differently based on its business model. From observation from living in extreme rural areas, it does not appear to rely upon USPS as often to cover the gaps in service.

However, the labor costs at USPS continue to run extremely high, and the excuses for these labor costs continue to run thinner and thinner every year.  Looking at six specific USPS explicit labor union-negotiated labor costs:

      1. Compensation levels – What each employee under the collective bargaining agreement is paid.
      2. Work rules – How often an employee works, who they report to, uniforms, and a host of other processes and procedures, which can and do increase business operating costs.
      3. Contracting – Includes independent contractors, contracts for retail locations, pickup locations, and much more.
      4. Network differences – Differences in the network affect the labor involved in delivery, sortation, transportation, and retail portions of an end-to-end movement.
      5. Capital intensity – Differences in capital requirements affecting the amount of non-labor costs needed to provide services offered.
      6. Congressional requirements – Congressional requirements focus on the aspects of the Postal Service that add more labor costs influencing capital spending.

Hence, if we take Rep. Ross’s statement as accurate, Congress is to blame for some of the added expenses the USPS incurs and the hidden taxes the taxpayer pays to interact with the USPS.  This is why the place in government is such an influential portion of this discussion.  Congress has been pushing the costs of regulating the USPS onto the taxpayer as a hidden tax since the USPS was started. This is unacceptable, especially since the taxpayers did not have a voice in allowing the USPS to become unionized, tripling labor costs year-over-year.P.S.E Context of PA: SWOT Analysis of the United States Postal Service

Please note, when discussing labor costs tripling, we are not just discussing wage earners’ take-home pay.  Labor costs, as shown above, include those six items, plus a host of labor union contracted benefits, plus retirement benefits, plus administrative staff to handle these benefit packages, the regulatory burdens, the reporting burdens, and much more.  Thus, while comparing UPS, FedEx, and USPS is unfair and illogical, the labor costs are pretty close to accurate even though they cannot be compared due to business model, Congressional reporting, and quasi-governmental meddling by politicians.  Any company with 80-82% labor costs will be struggling with labor problems and turning a profit.  Labor costs, fed by a labor union, are a reality that needs rectification and addressing.USPS 2011

Outdated Business Model

2009 the USPS paid a lot of money to have their business model reviewed, and the result was an excellently written document that outlined two potential steps for the USPS to take.  Where is the USPS in adopting either of these actions in 2021; nowhere!  Why has the USPS not taken any action on this document since 2009; Congress!  Item number six in labor costs continues to rear its ugly and monstrous head, and the problem is not so much on USPS; although they indeed share the blame, Congress continues to drag its feet and refuses to scrutinize the government appropriately.Several logos, mottos have represented USPS through the years | PostalReporter.com

When discussing the USPS business model, the industry is discussing “optimizing the last mile” in the supply chain.  That last mile is where the USPS has traditionally filled in the gap and made the final customer delivery.  However, USPS is inefficient, costly, and labor-intensive.  Yet, until science fiction realizes a Star Trek-like replicator in every home, optimizing the last mile is the discussion we need to be having, and solutions are available!

The 2009 business model review offered franchisee options as a business model — what a novel idea.  Imagine getting your mail on your commute route, no more having it delivered to an apartment box, packages waiting on a doorstep for thieves, stop by a convenient place on your regular commute route, and get all your mail.  Why not have your mail delivered to your office?  Then your office mailroom becomes an arm of the post office; it can sell stamps, handling packages, and then you do not have an extra stop at all.  Talk about an employer-based incentive!  Better still, for a fee turning over retail establishments to non-profit groups for work programs.  Guess what; that has the benefit of increasing public outreach and building communities.  Yet, the USPS languishes because Congress refuses to take up serious topics, and our tax dollars are squandered!

Place in Government

Engineering Professor Calculates How Fast The Eagle In The USPS Logo is GoingRead the US Constitution, the US Bill of Rights, other founding documents, wherein is a postal service discussed?  Find me the article claiming we need a Federal Postal Service.  Name me the reason why the Postal Service is required.  Selling stamps, that can be done using a myriad of different methods.  Sending packages, mailing letters, again, many other options are available.  Passports, hundreds of other options are available; why not put that into DMV’s across the US?  Why not simplify the Passport process entirely?

What is the reason for the USPS?  Give me the why and justify the existence for the next 20-years for the USPS.  My entire life, I have been asking why the USPS is needed, and I have been asking this since before email, fax machines, and other technological leaps.

Overhead

USPS TESSWhen was the last time the USPS had personnel layoffs to balance their accounts?  1970, under President Richard Nixon, USPS had a strike, got a unionized workforce, and, as they call it, “a living wage.”  From 1970 to 2021, there has been nothing but problems in the USPS; from retirement benefits costing too much, to labor expenses, to Congressional expenses increasing year-over-year, the overhead does nothing but balloon.  I was recently in a flagship USPS for Phoenix, AZ.  The building is a disgrace, the parking lot is neglected, the lobby is dark and missing half the materials, no forms, no boxes, everything is behind the barred and locked counter, and the retail associates are criminally negligent in their duties.  What’s worse, this was a good USPS office to visit in Phoenix, AZ.

Take an honest appraisal of your local USPS and ask yourself, are your taxpayer dollars represented in your USPS in a manner acceptable to you?  I visited a USPS in Las Cruces, NM.  The design of the building lends a bright feeling to the building atmosphere; the retail area is small and naturally illuminated.  Same problem with retail associates, but not as noticeable.  However, this was also before the latest changes from Washington, where the employees were told it was okay to work slower and charge more.More is Less at the USPS | Freeport Press

It is my personal opinion that the USPS has outlived its usefulness, and it is time for the USPS to be eliminated from quasi-government offices of the United States.  Nothing fruitful can be gained from continuing the charade of the USPS.  Congress needs to return to the states the ability to issue addresses and organize their communities and end the USPS debacle!

© 2021 M. Dave Salisbury
All Rights Reserved
The images used herein were obtained in the public domain; this author holds no copyright to the images displayed.

New Jersey, New York, California, Oregon, and Washington – Just Sell Them for Parts!

cropped-laughing-owlWith a nod to Bill Engvall, let’s honestly discuss three complete holes in America where suicide by legislative fiat and executive stupidity has produced catastrophic failure.  Let me be perfectly honest, if either of these states were a business, they would have been forced into receivership, broken up, sold for parts, and their leaders jailed for incompetency and felonious charges of malfeasance long ago!  The charades have ended, the rose-tinted glasses are off, and frankly, the party is over, all the taxpayers are fleeing, and the businesses are closing shop and fleeing for healthier climates.

California this week passed another job-killing piece of legislation.  The bill is targeted at Amazon and is built on hogwash, acrimony, lies, and allegations so thin you could read Apple’s User Agreement through them.  Not the first time California’s legislative body has targeted a specific business for job-killing legislation, not the first time the legislation is built on sand, and the forecast is for torrential rain, not the last time this idiocy is going to happen.  The fact that California keeps killing itself is depressing!Bird of Prey

New Jersey and California hold an interesting title, and 32 other states are 100% insolvent in their Unemployment Compensation Trust Funds.  Business owners, this fact alone should scare the living daylights out of you and every one of your workers right now!  Now, some of you get it; some are scratching your heads and going; why is this important.  For those who got it, feel free to skip the following explanation.

The unemployment trust fund is akin to the social security trust fund managed by, raided, and depleted by the Federal Government.  No money means that the debts in those trust funds cannot be paid, and all the funds being collected right now are not being used for future calamities.  For all you economists out there, yes, this is a very simplified explanation.  Insurance trust funds are expected to be the funds of last resort to ensure payments to investors; those paying premiums for coverage can receive protection.  Not having these trust funds means the state unemployment insurance fund is in deep trouble, and there is only one direction to point the blame, the legislators and executives in government.

Bobblehead DollNow, some are claiming these funds were only depleted due to the COVID pandemic.  Do not believe the hype.  These funds were in trouble long before COVID hit, and the fact that there are funds to replenish these trust funds and government leaders are refusing to invest money in the trust funds should be major red flags for everyone in the state!  State and local governments are spending money like it’s Christmas, and the New Year will never come with the bills from the holidays.  Think drunken-sailor on 7-day liberty here if you prefer that analogy.  Either way, financial troubles are brewing above and beyond the current inflation woes, and the media is deftly NOT reporting this crisis.  Does anyone want to venture why this topic is not being discussed?

The Article from the Tax Foundation lays out the data nicely, and you are left to draw your own conclusions from the data.  But tell me, what happens when you call GEICO, Farmers, All-State, etc., with a claim and the claim is denied because the insurance company has no money?  Now multiply that by every wage-earner and business in your state and tell me if maybe, just maybe, the unemployment insurance trust fund being insolvent should be a more significant issue of discussion.Tax Burden

If your state is insolvent, and your next paycheck is a LOT lighter, remember this tidbit about unemployment tax insurance trust funds.

“Unemployment insurance tax rates on businesses rise automatically when trust fund balances are low.”

Do you see the trouble now?  First, the government maliciously raids and spends the funds, then a hidden tax kicks in, depleting your paycheck, and the government does not have to tell you why your paycheck is lighter.  Especially since those in legislative bodies traditionally exempt themselves from having to pay these taxes.  Now add in the other hidden taxes; inflation goes up because when taxes climb, inflation climbs, prices go up to cover the hidden taxes of higher costs to operating a business, and wages stagnate, which crimps your budget even further.Government Largess

The states mentioned are not the states that did not need Federal Intervention, and they are not counted among the states spending money wisely, as discussed by Governing.com.  Please tell me that nobody is surprised by this revelation.  I find it alarming that Governing.com, in their analysis, was able to conclude the following:

“Despite predictions that COVID-19 would crush state tax revenues, most of them didn’t need mega-billions in pandemic aid to balance their budgets. But for the most part, they seem to be spending the money wisely.”

Leading me to ask, why did the Federal Government invest our tax dollars, venture into such incredible debts, and shut down a booming economy?  COVID has proven NOT to be worthy of the title “Pandemic.”  Yet, COVID remains an excuse for emergency measures, emergency spending, and emergency police actions.  Will any media representative ask a politician why?  I didn’t like the book, but I read Albert Camus’ book “The Plague” for light reading.  That is a book about a public health crisis, a pandemic worthy of the title pandemic, and several times in world history, the title pandemic has been warranted when survivors are burning corpses in the street.  COVID fits none of the definitions or situations for a Pandemic, except for the politically connected to laugh at the politically abused populations.Angry Wet Chicken

Look at Washington, New York, New Jersey, California, and Oregon across the COVID-19 political mania.  Tell me why COVID is not an exercise in malicious government and politics gone horribly wrong.  Sure, we can add New Mexico, Minnesota, Michigan, and a couple of other states into the mix for fun.  These core states are where politicians made vast sums of money on COVID-Hysteria, and I would like to keep the focus small for the current article.

The House Ways and Means Subcommittee is reporting 32 states are intentionally withholding money from rural governments as a political move.  When you take the top 20 receivers of COVID-Relief money and the 32 states withholding COVID-Relief money, you find some lines of congruence with states with the harshest COVID restrictions, ridiculous COVID mandates, and no correlating data to infection risk avoidance.  Now, why isn’t COVID reported as a political and social experiment gone horribly wrong?  Worse, why was the money borrowed by the Federal Government at extortionate rates and given pell-mell to the states when the majority of those states do not need the money and the states that did need the money have sufficient if their politicians reigned in spending?Angry Grizzly Bear

The five states mentioned are not poor states by any stretch.  They have resources, both human and natural; they have riches galore, they have potential, they used to have favorable business climates, they are committing suicide.  Why should the rest of America bail them out?  Why not break them up into parts, sell assets to cover debts, place them into receivership, and force them on a diet of sanity and logic until the bills are paid?

I close with a word of warning.  Texas, you’re headed to California status faster than you would like to admit!  Your COVID restrictions are particularly heinous and represent the infection found in Austin spreading like fast-moving cancer to steal your state and liberty.  Arizona, Idaho, Wisconsin, Iowa, you are all on a similar track, the speed might not be as noticeable right now, but the infection is there and growing.  Utah, Colorado, Wyoming, Montana, both Dakotas, you are all at various places in being terminally sick with the same cancer.  If soft words and political expediency can conquer the Western US, the entire United States is lost.  New Mexico has been lost since it was given statehood in a political move that robbed Arizona and Texas of land!

Image - Eagle & FlagThe time to awake and arise is now!  The fight for liberty and freedom will be fought and won or lost in the American West.  Sure, the coasts of America are well and truly infected.  But, the fight for independence is not on the shores; it is right outside your doors.  The media and politicians like to hyperventilate about the coasts, but the rural communities in the “Fly-Over” states are more important to liberty and freedom surviving than any other local in America.  Awake and Arise!

© 2021 M. Dave Salisbury
All Rights Reserved
The images used herein were obtained in the public domain; this author holds no copyright to the images displayed.

Seriously – Let’s Have the Conversation!

Hillary Clinton is infamous for an explosive remark made in a Congressional Bird of Preyhearing, “At this point, what difference does it make.”  While I genuinely detest quoting this particular person, she has a point where the 2020 Elections are concerned, not a good point, but a point.  At this point, what difference does it make in discussing the 15 Million votes from 2020 that were improperly counted, improperly handled, erroneously scrapped, and treated scandalously?  Will these votes change the fate of Afghanistan; no.  Will these votes remove the fraudulent president; no.  Will these votes correct an abuse of the voter in 2020 and place the real winner of the election into the presidency; no.

What difference “… at this point does it make?”  It changes how we move forward in voting.  It places the onerous upon current sitting politicians to safeguard voting systems, processes, and procedures to ensure this madness never occurs again!  Riddle me this, was COVID hyped and mass-fear spread to allow for voting to be abused to push a useless and senile president into office?  I digress.

Exclamation MarkHence, I would like to open the conversation into improving voting in America.  It is long past time for common sense voting safeguards to be installed and mandated at the local levels of government.  Here are my suggestions, let us use logic and discern the best path forward for America.

      1. Refuse the Federal Government legislation being pushed in the US House right now, the “For the People” Acts to demand a “Federal Government Mandate” for voting. Let’s be frank; the Federal Government could not handle collecting Social Security taxes from payroll and keeping that funded.  Do you really think they could handle something simpler, like voting?
      2. Eliminate the computers! I am done being some byte that a programmer can manipulate.  End the charade, open the transparency, and stop using vote computers.  A paper ballot is perfect!
      3. The paper ballot should carry a digital signature containing my picture in digital form and my digital signature, as verified by my government-issued ID. Don’t drive; that’s okay; you still need a government-issued ID to purchase alcohol, tobacco, firearms, take a plane trip, and a hundred and one other things.  The DMV can issue you an ID.  One ballot, one ID, one signature, one person, not hard to count, not hard to track, and no problems with security.  The technology has been around for 20 years to take and print a digital fingerprint; it is past time to combine a bio-metric tag, a digital tag, and a wet-signature with a ballot to end the nightmare of who completed the ballot.
      4. More transparency, more accountability, and more importantly, less mail-in balloting will mean sending teams to registered voters in hospice, long-term care settings, and hospitals and securing completed ballots using evidentiary procedures that can stand up in a court of law. Plus, it will mean penalties for breaking the law.  What happened in Maricopa County was a farce!  What happened in Atlanta and Philadelphia was a farrago. Too often, the primaries are just as fraud-riddled as the general elections speak volumes for the problems in local governments where laws are in place.  Still, the election officials always escape with their pensions intact into retirement.The Duty of Americans

Wisconsin, Michigan, Maine, New Mexico, Utah, Washington (especially Seattle Metro Area), Wyoming, Ohio, I wouldn’t think you have escaped scrutiny because the media left you alone in the 2020 election cycle.  I have personally witnessed the problems in your states, and I know how bad your elections are!  Worse, in New Mexico, primarily in Bernalillo County, I know the bad apples and remember them from being interviewed for a job.

Angry Grizzly BearOn the topic of local governments and Election Officials, apolitical should be the word of the day.  When a person walks into the election offices, they should not be bombarded with political messages.  Case in point, Bernalillo County, walk into the majority of the County offices, not just the election official’s offices, and look at the political affiliations on display.  Take a walk through the parking lot, look at bumper stickers, enter the offices, and find the same political messages on display in the people working inside.  You work for the government; apolitical is the least a person can expect from government employees; this is often referred to as professionalism!

Does being apolitical at work mean you lose your first amendment rights; yes!  Private-sector employees lose their rights; why should government employees keep their Constitutional Rights when private-sector employees lose their rights?  How fast will employment law change when government employees are treated like private-sector employees?  Yes, let’s have these conversations.  Let’s discuss these topics openly, in the public forums, on social media, in the town squares, and come to workable solutions.

© 2021 M. Dave Salisbury
All Rights Reserved
The images used herein were obtained in the public domain; this author holds no copyright to the images displayed.

The Walmart Effect – Competition is NOT Just Cost

Exclamation MarkAfghanistan and the fraudulent President Biden have had me thinking about the Walmart effect over the last three days or so, and I cannot help but think there are some lessons to be discussed.  More to the point, the lines of congruence between the Walmart effect and the current political situation possess the potential for correcting course and saving America.  Not just America, but representative governments worldwide.  The Walmart effect is a global pandemic more powerful and pernicious than COVID ever will be, and we need to at least recognize this truth.

What is the Walmart Effect?

Working DollarWalmart has always competed on price.  As if there was nothing else to compete upon.  Lowest prices, regardless of the junk sold, price mattered more.  Hammer the price to nothing in every aspect of the supply chain.  Hammer the costs of doing business to lower costs to consumers.  Cheapen and eliminate packaging, “helping the environment,” and reduce costs.  Force suppliers and vendors to absorb traditional costs stores assumed, lowers costs, and increase profit margins.  Everything in the Walmart model is about lowering consumer costs, and Walmart has been very successful at twisting arms and breaking heads to reduce costs.

But, what has been the result of focusing just on costs the consumer sees?  First, lots of hidden fees have become observed.  Some of which was a good thing, most of which have become more obscure, and this is not such a good thing.  Worse, think of the fuel fees and delivery charges you now pay for having a pizza delivered.  Once a fee is begun to be charged, it is very difficult to stop charging the fee.  The Walmart effect passes costs onto consumers and shows the consumer why they are paying a higher fee, then the consumer accepts the fee as the cost of doing business and does not complain.  Have you ever stopped to ask yourself why there are so many fuel fees and why they became apparent almost overnight; I promise the cost of fuel was not the reason, the Walmart effect was the reason, and making money is the purpose.

Pigeon RevengeSecond, quality and service have disappeared in competition.  Safeway, as a grocery store, has excellent service; but they cannot compete on service and quality because the Walmart effect has changed these two adjectives to be synonymous with higher consumer costs.  Believe it or not, the grocery store model has not changed in the last 200 years. Walmart changed society to believe everything was about competing on consumer costs, and the rest of the competition has played along.  Want to know a secret, you as a consumer are being deceived into believing that Walmart has the best prices, but when quality is added to the picture, Walmart is selling you junk.

Third, all big-box retailers employ science to lure you into their stores.  Bright lights, color schemes, smells, all carefully crafted to keep you in the stores.  Musical shelves where products move from day to day in the store to lengthen your time walking the aisles.  Everything is carefully planned and organized to influence you to spend more money.  Now, back to Walmart and the claim about junk.  Some of the items in Walmart are end runs of name-brand products.  Some of the items are cheap knock-offs.  Some of the fruit and vegetables are almost spoiled or completely raw.  Yet, Walmart pushes those products for sale anyway.  Purchasers for Walmart are under strict order to find products for sale at the lowest costs.  After working with a manufacturer supplying big-box retailers, I can tell you that many manufacturers hate dealing with Walmart because of the Walmart costs of doing business.Lemmings 3

Fourth, all big-box retailers represent a plethora of manufacturers trying to get their products in front of customers in the easiest way possible.  This is a truth, and a problem, for the manufacturers, are always competing, think Kraft and General Mills, Post, and other brand names.  These manufacturers compete for every dime you spend; they compete for shelf space; they compete for advertising space; they compete for every second you spend in the store, and dealing with these manufacturers is like herding long-tailed cats in a room full of rocking chairs.  A loose conglomeration controlled by access to the customer portal, Walmart manages an extensive customer portal, Safeway, Home Depot, Lowes, etc. All control certain customer portals and commit to selling XX amount of goods for the manufacturers.  But, this is not “friendly” competition by any stretch of the imagination.  One manufacturer scores a benefit that improves their access to customers over another manufacturer; you can bet another manufacturer will be competing to repeat the performance.  All of which increases costs to the consumer in hidden fees, generally through rebate scams, BOGO “deals,” or my favorite “Rollback prices.”

Interestingly, the political situation in all representative governments is similar to America’s current situation.  A phenomenon I find both alarming and intriguing, but one with enormous potential to be taken advantage of to correct and save representative governments.  The one thing cost-focused competition cannot do is compete with service.  When customer service is truly the focus, cost competitors melt away.  Therein lay the answer, but we must first describe the lines of congruence before we can discuss solutions.Lemmings 5

Consider point one of the Walmart effect, competing on price both hides and reveals costs.  Every representative government worldwide has an entire industry working 24/7, working tirelessly to plasticize words where taxes are concerned to make progress bad and regression good.  Regressive taxes are considered good, even though they kill jobs, ruin lives, cost more, and eventually lead to the ruination of liberty and freedom.  Progressive taxes are hailed as bad, even though they cut government costs, increase liberty and freedom, allow people to keep more of their hard-earned money, and force the government to live on a budget.  While the tax language has been around longer than Walmart, the truth is, the Walmart effect has improved the tax language to the point that representative government can rob you blind, and you never know.  Just like that fuel surcharge on pizza receipts, after the cost of ingredients for the pizza skyrocketed.

Point two of the Walmart effect; where has customer service gone in government?  Since I was a kid, citizens’ accessibility to elected officials has dropped like a sack of lead.  Worse, we have seen active animosity from the elected officials towards the citizenry.  Mayors allow terrorist mobs to destroy public and private property without regard, mobs and gangs to rule, entire sections of cities lost to civilization, and elected officials do not care until they utter empty words in an election campaign.  Enter a government office for a permit, license, get a question answered, etc., and you are treated like scum, and the bureaucrat is doing you a tremendous favor by granting you an audience.  Now, how do you honestly feel when you walk into Walmart and ask an associate a question, provided you can lasso an associate to ask?

Gravy Train 3On the third point in the Walmart effect, politicians spend enormous amounts of effort to use marketing science to play upon emotions to get and keep an audience.  The same marketing science employed to keep you in a retailer making purchases keeps you “connected” to your political party.  Worse, because there are familial traditions in being one political party or another, there remain tighter ties to a political party.  These strings are played to the fullest to bind you ever tighter, so you do not use conscious thinking when voting the party line.

Finally, we come to the fourth Walmart effect, the one with the most pertinence to current political dogma, the bundling of obscure groups into a ruling party.  I have never been shy about admitting that two-party political rule is terrible for America.  I am all for having 10-15 separate major political parties; in the confusion generated by the many voices, better governance occurs, mostly.  I respect the Israelis for their political system with their separate and ungainly political parties because of the need to gain coalitions and be very connected with and responsible to the people in those coalitions and the citizens they represent.  Recognizing that the political system does not always work, a robust system of codified laws is mandatory to keep the government in check and accountable to the people.

Bobblehead DollFrankly, I do not care what side of the political spectrum you come down upon.  What matters to me is how your representative governs.  Once an elected official of a representative government gains office, they cannot simply think they only represent that political party while in office.  Thinking this way is the epitome of the Walmart effect and stems from competing on cost alone.  Worse, thinking that the representative only represents those who placed them in power places that elected representative into a position to abuse their office.

Using others is what Walmart has done because they control such a vast portal to customers, and the manufacturers have been paying a steep price in more than dollars and cents ever since.  Unfortunately, so have the customers.  The harm to the manufacturers is delivered to the end consumer, and Walmart does not care as they are just a portal through which a manufacturer sells goods.  The same thing for the politician, all of society is harmed when a politician can be purchased and influenced; when harm comes to one person because of their political leanings, everyone suffers.

Knowledge Check!Therein lay the other answer to the Walmart effect, recognizing that we must join together, or fall individually, an unpitied sacrifice in a contemptible struggle since we are all interconnected.  Service and joining together are the only paths forward.  We must not allow divisive political agendas, carefully crafted scientifically marketed political pogroms, and slick groomed politicians to sway us from the important points of freedom, liberty, and a pursuit of happiness.  We cannot afford the governments that have ballooned and festered over the last 60-years.  We cannot afford the Walmart effect; the cost is just too great!

© 2021 M. Dave Salisbury
All Rights Reserved
The images used herein were obtained in the public domain; this author holds no copyright to the images displayed.

Elections – Politics – California: I Support Larry Elder!

Angry Wet ChickenI support citizens who desire to become elected leaders.  I refuse to support politicians!  Worse, I detest with every fiber of my being politics in its many forms.  I hate politics and those who engage in politics from business to the military, from the classroom to the boardroom, and from the private sector to the government sector!  Elections matter until they are stolen and become a farce by those who desire to rule, and this is why California, the recall election of that detestable politician Gavin Newsom, and politics matter to every single person in America.  In the US Navy, when my department officer told me to “Play the game,” he meant to play politics.  To the minions of hell who delight in playing politics, I have found being honest, forthright, and valiant is better, and you will not win!

We begin with a review, for too often, people think they know the meaning of a word, and the entire etymology of that word is where the trouble lay.  Politics is one of these terms that comes with lots of baggage, tons of hidden layers, and enough plastic to choke the world’s oceans!  We must be clear about what politics is to recognize when political animals are trying to commit acts of political villainy.

What is Politics?

QuestionPlease note that emphasis has been added to key phrases to support knowledge of the complete etymology and enhance awareness.  Frankly, I would be ashamed to be called a politician.  Being called a politician means I possess a derogatory approach to my constituency and am only concerned with seeking power, usually through devious means.  As a Noun, politics are “the activities associated with the governance of a country or other area, especially the debate or conflict among individuals or parties having or hoping to achieve power.”

      • “The activities of governments concerning the political relations between countries.”
      • “The academic study of government and the state.”
      • “Activities within an organization that aimed at improving someone’s status or position and are typically considered to be devious or divisive.”
      • “A particular set of political beliefs or principles.”
      • “The assumptions or principles relating to or inherent in a sphere, theory, or thing, especially when concerned with power and status in a society.”

As a Verb, politic/s is derogatory and is defined as “engaging in political activities.”

From Old French Politique “political,” Latin from Greek Politikos, and Politẽs “citizen” and Polis “city.”  Thus, we have described the term politics in all its glory and inhumanity.  Is the term more understood?

The Duty of AmericansPolitics is a descriptive tool used to identify certain human activities where power is sought, and devious means and divisive gestures are employed to obtain that power.  Every action tied to securing power through devious means and divisive gestures is politics or political, which means derogatory.  For those needing more, derogatory is “showing a critical or disrespectful attitude.”  Thus, at the root, politicians by their very name and nature are derogatory towards those who elect them into power.

What are Elections?

Exclamation MarkElections are the formal process for selecting another for an office, leadership, or choosing a person or favorable course of action.  Key to elections is that they are formal, which means there are rules, laws, guidelines, regulations, and penalties for the officers selected to monitor the election process.  One of the most egregious actions of the 2020 elections was breaking the rules, laws, and regulations of the formal election process in the primaries, which then extended into the actual election day results.  Why bring up the 2020 Federal Election farrago?  Because as of 25 August 2021, the same pattern is occurring in California, again!  Ballots are going missing, ballots are being dumped in trash cans, mail-in ballots without signatures, fraudulent ballots are being injected into the counts, etc., ad nauseam ad infinitum.

The 2020 Federal Election farrago proved that through fraud, deceit, and the purchase of local elected officials, elections could be thrown to whichever candidate had sufficient money to pay for the politics needed to win.  Where are integrity and honesty in the election process; they left for the Jersey shore, got mugged, and are lying under a “John Doe” in some backwater hospital on life support.  I support Larry Elder for Governor of California, but I do not think the Newsom Political machine will allow him a fair and honest election opportunity!

LookThus, the problem for ALL of AMERICA right now!  Primaries are coming, political futures hang in the balance, and the media know that the liberal madness and tyranny from COVID-Mandates has left a bitter taste in every person’s mouth.  The polls show no politician being trusted, and if the political machines are to keep paying dividends to special and private interests, then those investing in their favorite politician are going to have to pony up serious cash to buy the elections officials right now to protect the sleaze in office from the school board and Mayor to the president!

The elections in a representative government must remain sacrosanct, or representative government fails!  Yet, do you honestly trust the results of any of the elections since 2000 and the “Chad” fiasco in Florida?  I am not asking you to support any candidate; this platform does not advocate for or against any candidate.  I advocate for people; I advocate for liberty and the health of the American Republic.  Elections matter, voting is important, but politics is hurting America, and the citizenry needs to understand this concept.

Knowledge Check!Tell me, after the last two weeks of being ignored by the US President, with American Citizens being placed last, if at all, on the priority list in Afghanistan, do you feel represented by your government?  California, let’s discuss some truths; your politicians are some of the most hated and despised politicians in the American political system; they win with the lowest approval ratings and polling standards, time after time.  Sure, these politicians gerrymandered the living daylights out of their districts, but even then, they should have lost a long time ago.  Have you ever stopped to ask yourself why these hated imbeciles keep winning office in Sacramento and Washington DC?

California, how did Governor Moonbeam ever make a comeback in your state?  How did Newsom the loser ever keep his job as Mayor, let alone win the seat as governor?  I watched those elections; I keep asking myself how, why, where do the votes come from?  Then the Federal Election of 2020 occurred.  It became apparent; the patterns of winning in California have leaked across America. The same way to win keeping politicians in office in Chicago and Las Vegas moved to perfection in California and then across America.  Fraud, deceit, skullduggery, gerrymandering, and the political purchasing of local election officials and attorneys, judges, and other easily bribed public officials.

Does the derogatory nature, the hatred, and the duplicity of the politician shine through from those holding elected office right now?  Is the definition more clear and the need for sundering politics from government more apparent?  Is it clear why politics should not be part of government?Angry Grizzly Bear

Nobody is “Too BIG to Fail,” even the government, and it is past time for the elected officials and the bureaucrats dependent upon the political machine to begin to fear an open ballot box and an angry electorate!  It is time to ask who paid the postmen to dump the ballots?  Who paid the government employees to shuffle the ballots, copy ballots, and accept fraudulent votes?  It is past time to question the legitimacy, integrity, and informational security of the electronic voting machines and have transparency in voting.  It is past time for mandatory ID, one vote, one ID, and a biometric tag to protect against fraudulent ballots, stuffed ballot boxes, and mailed-in ballot duplicity.

cropped-bird-of-prey.jpgYou, the American citizen, are needed!  Awake and Arise!  Find your strength and stand before it is too late and your country has fallen an unpitied sacrifice in a contemptible struggle while you slept!  History will judge you and me for what we do and say right now; let them record we did not allow the American Experiment to fail on our watch; we fought back against the tide of tyranny and oppression and won!

© 2021 M. Dave Salisbury
All Rights Reserved
The images used herein were obtained in the public domain; this author holds no copyright to the images displayed.

Blood is Blood – The Logic is Flawed!

Exclamation MarkLast night, during one of my frequent periods of wakefulness, a headline blew my mind, “There is no difference between blood and blood – Horowitz removes restrictions on gay men donating blood,” as reported by the Jerusalem Post.  Using this logic, then going maskless is not a problem, and being vaccinated or not vaccinated is not a problem either, for blood is blood.  Worse, consider the ramifications; the safety and integrity of the blood supply have been a critical problem from the first day humans realized we could take blood from one person and put it into another person successfully.  Mistakes in the integrity and safety of the blood and blood product supply cost people their lives!

I am not here to discuss the political aspects of this move.  The Health Minister of Israel (Horowitz) will be measured and weighed by his electorate for good or ill.  How and when the Health Minister will be measured and weighed will be up to the people in Israel, and I hope they will choose wisely.  I have no further comments on the political side and wish Israel the best of luck on this issue.

However, on the practical aspects of blood and blood product, safety and security, I have a LOT of concerns and have some authority, knowledge, and ability; thus, I will speak to this issue.  As I begin, I will state, again for the record, I do not care about your bedroom choices (hetero-, homo-, etc.), keep them to yourself and your legal age of consent consenting partner, and I could care less.  However, medical professionals should know some risks as they handle body fluids, especially when donating those fluids for others to use in an emergency.

Pin on Signs and SymbolsDuring the 1980s, both the American Red Cross and the Canada Red Cross Society suffered blood tainted scandals due to insufficient testing of, knowledge of, understanding of, and the dimensions inherent to donating blood and blood products where sexually transmitted diseases were concerned, especially AIDS/HIV.  AIDS/HIV was not the only sexually transmitted disease that crossed through blood transfusions, Herpes, Gonorrhea, and many more all had their times in the spotlights as diseases making their ways into donated blood and thence into patients without risky lifestyles, who contracted these diseases after receiving transfusions of blood or blood by-products.  The first cases were noticed in the US Military, where patients started having problems with these sexually transmitted diseases after being wounded and receiving life-saving blood or blood by-products and then catching an infectious disease.  Even Malaria has records of being passed through blood and blood by-products, so just presuming that sexually transmitted diseases are the only diseases to worry about is not acceptable.

Claiming “blood is blood” is the height of exaggerated ineptitude for a political cause.  Yes, red stuff oozing from a mammalian host can generally be typified as blood, but not all blood is the same, nor is all blood equal.  This is why monkey blood is not harvested for use in humans, why Ape blood is not transferred into elephants, and human blood has a letter classification system.  Whale blood cannot be used in dolphins, nor is it compatible with human use; thus, claiming “blood is blood” remains a thoroughly ignorant comment of the highest magnitude!

The 17th AnnualGive the Gift of Life Holiday Blood Drive | B104 WBWN-FMTake a minute, those of us who lived through the 1980s health scares and blood scandals.  By the way, that is plural for a reason; blood scandals keep happening because blood security and integrity and politics do not mix, and every time some politician thinks they can mix safely, we have another blood integrity scandal, and people die!  Do you want to take the risk of being in an auto accident, being rushed to a hospital, receiving blood or blood by-products, and coming home with a transfusion disease?  What about dialysis patients who regularly receive blood or blood by-products; do you want to add another worry to your list of health concerns when receiving care?

Sign Donation Blood Heart Donor Icon Stock Illustration - Illustration of icon, design: 79488667Now, suppose the findings on a medical record were being made public, and the patient’s rights trampled, where disclosure of lifestyle risks kept that person from donating blood and were being published. In that case, I might believe there was a “rights” concern to be vocal about.  However, this is not the case, and refusing a population with known high risks for passing multiple communicable diseases through all types of body fluids, from donating said fluids to the general population, is just sane and common sense medicine.  It is not discriminatory to exclude those who choose a higher-risk lifestyle to participate in specific activities where the health and welfare of the general population are concerned.Blood Donation Sign Wall Poster Background Material, Love, Blood, Donation Background Image for ...

Case in point.  If I travel to Thailand, whether I engage in the sex trade or not, I am refused from donating blood for a specific period after I return home, and I will have to pass a blood test before my blood is accepted at the blood bank.  Plus, because I prefer to give plasma, I will have to prove I am clean twice before I can give plasma again.  This is not discriminatory; this is a safety precaution to protect the rest of the blood and blood by-product supply from contamination.  Now, if I engaged in the sex trade in Thailand, I would be banned indefinitely from donating blood, regardless of condom usage, and the remarks would be permanent across the entire records of the Red Cross.  All because the threat is too great to risk allowing this heterosexual male access to donate blood and run the risk of contaminating it with a disease from Thailand.  I know people in South Korea, who caught unique diseases during the Korean War, who cannot return to the United States, ever.  The United States made this decision not to run the risk of contaminating America with what they caught.  Not discrimination, simple public health policy.

Knowledge Check!Now, we return to the crux of the argument.  If “Blood is blood,” then being vaccinated does not matter because blood is blood and public health and safety are not issues where communicable or infectious diseases are concerned.  If this is correct, why do we still have COVID restrictions?  If blood is not blood, why bow to political pressure on something that is definitely not a political but a medical safety issue?  Politicians and those who cling to the government for an answer to every single problem cannot have this issue both ways.  Either blood integrity and safety is a medical issue where common sense practices trump individual rights for the common good and safety of donating life-giving fluids, or life requires taking risks, and we can shut down the regulatory boards and panels, reducing the costs of medicine.  I am all for reducing the size and cost of government; while I might not argue fully for making all those cuts in medicine regulation, a choice needs to be made and then supported.  Choose wisely!

© 2021 M. Dave Salisbury
All Rights Reserved
The images used herein were obtained in the public domain; this author holds no copyright to the images displayed.

When the Media Becomes Fixated – Smoke and Mirrors

Angry Grizzly BearAfghanistan has fallen, history has repeated itself, making the images of Saigon look like a trip to Disneyland on gossamer wings.  Haiti is in shambles, again, from the triple whammy of an earthquake, a hurricane, and political instability; at least this time, we do not have the Clinton’s siphoning money from the relief efforts for their personal gain.  The US/Mexico border National Security/Humanitarian/Health crisis continues unabated, unreported, and the deception of the American Government to its citizens is unceasing.

Stories are leaking out. President Biden refused to place American citizens ahead of Afghanistanis and other nationalities on American military planes during the Afghanistan farrago, again betraying the American people’s trust.  After a minimal review of President Biden’s time in office, I should not be surprised that he places other nationalities ahead of American’s, but I am amazed every time.  Yet, with all the “news,” it is interesting to note that the dogs not barking should be getting the attention.

Colonial Pipeline Hack

Remember the Colonial Pipeline Hack, which shut down the pipeline that fed oil products down the Eastern Seaboard.  Apparently, some 6,000 people’s private information was also lost in the hack.  Social security and health insurance information was stolen; consider how much personal data is on an insurance form, now ask yourself, why is all that private data needed?  Why was it stored with pipeline controls?  Who is responsible for allowing HIPAA information to be accessible?Colonial Pipeline Russian hacker: Darcy cartoon - cleveland.com

Since Colonial Pipeline paid the ransom, how can we, the consumers, be assured that the ransomware (software used to shut down the pipeline in the first place) was removed and the IT/IS threat risks fixed?  Since private data was stolen in the attack, how can employees (past and present) and their families get their identities back?  Worse, what about future attacks using private data as leverage to regain access and control?  Medical data has been used as leverage to blackmail historically as this is intimate and private data; this is a security breach with significant potential future risk but is being downplayed.  Why?

China

China Takes Over the World - TV TropesAlmost like clockwork, when there is trouble, China goes silent.  Every parent in the world knows when their toddler goes silent, that is when it is time to go find out what the child is doing.  Usually, it will mean the child is about to get their bottom smacked for doing something against the rules.  Or, you could compare China to Peeves, the poltergeist from Harry Potter, “When there’s trouble, call on Peeves, he’ll make it double.”  What is China doing right now, as they take advantage of the Afghanistan and Haiti double crisis?

Why are China’s rights and sovereignty always respected by America when China refuses to respect our sovereignty and rights?  When China refuses to honor border integrity and the sovereignty, rights, and privileges of its neighbors?  Want some interesting reading?  The Heritage Foundation has published the “China Transparency Report.”  Essentially, since 2005, China has been investing in third-world countries, often with illicit or illegal money, washed through its own banks, and returned to the global markets as investments in construction projects for “nation-building.”  Open secrets, many economists already know and have been asking political leaders to put a halt to, and have been rebuffed by those same political leaders, who then take “investments” from China.China's Emerging Middle Eastern Kingdom - Association of Geo-Strategic Analysis

China wants a hegemony, the political, economic, and military dominance of the globe, and they are investing in building nation-states that are loyal to them.  Not China-bashing, trying to raise awareness of what is happening right now in the world!  China’s leadership suffers from the “Middle Kingdom Inadequacy Syndrome” where they want to rule, but they entered the 18th and 19th centuries too late.  Now they want to play like it is still the 17th and 18th centuries, where empires can be built, lands stolen, maps redrawn, vast empires where the sun never sets are their reward for their patience and careful investments.

COVID-Hysterical Reactions

New Zealand re-entered national lockdown over COVID as of this morning (17 Aug 2021).  They have a single confirmed case of COVID.  Israel has 7,000+ daily cases; they are expecting to enhance their COVID measures.  New Mexico’s Governor (Supreme Grand Vizier and Head Chump) is still vacillating on her next mandate on COVID.  Other governors, heads of state, and many citizens wait with bated breath for the next shoe to drop on COVID-hysterical nonsense.  While everyone’s focus is on Afghanistan and Haiti, look for some weasel to stick the population with more COVID-Mania, that other politicians will follow if the first can “get away with the madness.”Covid-19 Def Leppard Hysteria - Covid 19 - T-Shirt | TeePublic

COVID has taught every citizen worldwide to be very cautious where government and “health mandates for public good” are concerned.  How many freedoms, treasure, and lives lost unnecessarily occurred because the government acted instead of logical thinking people?  Too much!  The greatest crime in all of recorded history is relying upon or allowing the government to act when the people can, and should, be doing the work.The Bright Side Of Coronavirus - 9ThirtyFour

CNN fired employees for not honoring the company policy to get vaccinated.  Did you know your employer can mandate you to be vaccinated?  Did you know your employer can charge you a different health insurance rate for not being vaccinated?  Are you aware that to your employer, you are property, have no US Constitutional Rights, and can be fired for not toeing every single line they spout?

Why is the Corporate Media Crowing About the US Senate “Acting” to Spend Money The US Does Not Possess?

blue-money-burning-2The US Senate is still being cheered for passing a budget full of leftist stupidity and wish list items that do nothing but bloat the American Government, raise the costs of products, and increase the ire of the electorate and the National Deficit.  Yet, the media cheers!  The US Senate passed an “infrastructure bill” that focuses on everything but infrastructure.  Yet, the media cheers!  The legislation passed provides free Internet to Cubans living on the Island of Cuba but is paid for by every other American utilizing Internet services and paying taxes.  Still, the media cheers!  Inflation is headed for double-digits by year’s end (2021), and if action is not taken swiftly will remain at double-digit highs for at least three years.  Yet, the media cheers, and the politicians are silent or making excuses.

Smoke and Mirrors

Smoke and mirrors are methods of distracting the audience while a magician does the trick, or the smoke and mirrors are the tricks.  Skilled magicians use these tools to create illusions meant to mystify and delight.  Politicians and media talking heads use them to distract until they can fashion a proper excuse, find a different party to blame, or waste sufficient time that the public has moved on to a different story.  Only magicians know that audiences become sophisticated over time, and all old tricks need revisiting to keep the mystery and magic alive.  Politicians refuse to learn this lesson, and their antics have grown stale, tired, and what was merely detestable 40 years ago has become treasonous and contemptible today!Ecig cancer death is smoke and mirrors | Planet of the Vapes

How do we, the citizens of representative governments, end the games, stop the charades, and demand accountability?  We stop buying tickets to the show!  We turn off the TV, Radio, and Talking Heads, turn on our minds, and use our critical thinking skills to deduce what is happening from the facts.  Then we act, in concert, unified with our neighbors, to end the silliness and demand that those responsible pay for their misdeeds and felonious actions!  We use the laws they have shunned to force accountability.  Believe it or not, the answer really is this simple!Bird of Prey

Beware the smoke and mirrors the media is casting and the politicians are hiding in; they are trying to get away with criminal misdeeds while attention is focused elsewhere!

© 2021 M. Dave Salisbury
All Rights Reserved
The images used herein were obtained in the public domain; this author holds no copyright to the images displayed.

Contentious Voices – Exerting Control

QuestionA colleague of mine mentioned something in passing that has me thinking about the contentious voices surrounding our lives.  Consider with me for a moment; when the last time you heard just the news was?  No commentary, no hidden bias, no reporting for emotional reaction, simply a description of the events of the day, news?  I cannot remember when I last heard a news report.  It seems that to get the local news, I have to question the motives on the stories, compare news broadcasts for opinions and biases, tune into three or four different radio stations and compare them to the TV, and those to the newspapers, and even then, 90% of what is reported still has to be discounted.

My colleague mentioned that the efforts of contentious voices are to exert emotional control over the audience, for if the audience is emotionally controlled, they are physically controlled.  If they are physically controlled, they can be bent, shaped, and molded into weapons of self-destruction for the entertainment of those controlling the contentious voices.  This insight has me thinking—self-destruction through contentious voices exerting control, all through unbridled emotional understanding.

Exclamation MarkWhen emotional intelligence was first coming out, feel free to read the early papers and books on this topic if you doubt what I am reporting.  Emotional intelligence was declared as the ability to read the emotions in a room and then control the people through their emotions.  For which I have adamantly opposed emotional intelligence as a concept since inception.  I have always felt that trying to control others through their emotions is wrong, in poor taste, and can easily backfire when those being controlled wake up and realize what has been happening to them.  Yet, emotional intelligence has grown as a concept, has broadened in scope, and no one is asking why anymore.  Well, I am, and so are a few others, but the media is working hard to keep us silenced and sidelined as “aluminum hat-wearing non-conformists.”

Yet, contentious voices continue to prey upon people’s emotions nightly and call this “learned commentary,” “democracy dying in darkness,” “in-depth reporting,” and “fair and balanced news,” among many other things.  Republicans against Democrats, Liberals against conservatives, eco-Nazis from both extremes of the planet is going to hell debate, and the list of contentious voices is long and formidable.  Yet, they all have the same playbook, use emotional hooks, sink the emotional hook deeply, and keep pulling that emotional hook every time a person tries to think for themselves.

Dont Tread On MeWell, I would see you escape the hook, wake up mentally, and arise as a powerful individual.  Capable of independent thought and able to reason and think using your own instinct, talents, skills, and innate reasoning.  I am not making a plea to your emotions, and if you ever think I am playing to your emotions, feel free to call me out!  I am not here to enslave your mind, but to free your soul and empower your spirit, to support your goodness, and justify you being the free-thinking person you already are!

Thus, the following reminders regarding emotions.  These are not my thoughts; they originate from Robert Solomon’s incredible book “Not Passion’s Slave: Emotions and Choice,” which you can purchase from any reputable bookseller for a minimal fee or find in a local library.  If you are close to New Mexico, send me an email to lend you my copy.Not Passion's Slave - Emotions and Choice

  • Solomon begins his book with a quote from Jean-Paul Sartre:
    • “For the idea which I have never ceased to develop is that in the end, one is always responsible for what is made of one. Even if one can do nothing else besides assume this responsibility.  For I believe that a man can always make something out of what is made of him.  This is the limit I would today accord to freedom: the small movement which makes of a totally conditioned social being someone who does not render back completely what his conditions has given him.”
  • “Emotions involve social narratives as well as physical responses, and an analysis of emotions is an account of our way of being-in-the-world.”
    • Emotions are not occurrences and do not happen to us.
      • “Emotions are rational and purposive rather than irrational and disruptive, are very much like actions, and that we choose an emotion much as we choose a course of action.”
    • Emotions are intentional: that is, emotions are “about” something.
      • All emotions are ultimately “about” the world and never simply “about” something particular.
      • Feelings do not have “directions.” The relationship between my being angry and what I am angry about is not contingent between a feeling and an object.
    • Emotions change with our opinions, and so are “rational” in a very important sense.
      • But the rationality of the emotion is time-sensitive, socially sensitive, and environmentally contingent. Unless our societal makeup allows this emotional crossover, emotions cannot often cross between social situations, peer groups, and environments.
      • The cause of an emotion is a function in a certain kind of explanation.
        • Contentious voices know this as a truth and use their contention to drive the emotional functionality of the arguments to spur emotional growth to your detriment!
      • The line between emotions and beliefs is often negligible and non-existent.
        • Another truth contentious voices use to spur emotional hooking in the audience to the audience’s detriment and destruction.
      • Emotions are a normative judgment.
        • We decide the correctness of emoting, based upon the social, environmental, and peer aspects at the time the information is provided.
        • Emotions are cognitive judgments of socially wired animals (humans) who use the lightning reflexes of the brain to make these judgments for personal benefits in a social situation, advancing peer associations, or to survive in a specific environment.
        • Emotions change with our knowledge of the causes of those emotions.

Bobblehead DollOn this last point, consider Joe Biden and his words to different audiences on the campaign trail.  To one audience, he pledged to put oil company officers in jail for unspecified environmental crimes.  To another audience, he promised not to kill coal.  Both declarations were later denounced as verbal gaffes, miss spoken words taken out of a larger context, and phrases that did not mean anything on the campaign trail.  Yet, the words fit the emotion being witnessed, and the crowd forming the environment and peer group being addressed.  All politicians do this, and it is referred to as “politicking” or “playing to the audience’s emotions.”

Finally, consider something with me, a thought, those controlling the contentious voices believe you, the audience, their slaves, for they can control your emotions, like 2-year-olds control play-dough.  Are you a slave?  Will you master your emotional judgments to protect yourself and your family?  The choice is yours, and yours alone to make.  All I can do is offer information and ask for your consideration.  But I will make a promise; if you refuse to master your emotions, you will be destroyed by the contentious voices clamoring for your attention.  These breeders of contention will pull you apart emotionally, creating depression, anxiety, suicidal ideation, and other self-destruction options.

Image - Eagle & FlagThose terrorists rioting over the spring and summer of 2020 were pawns and self-destructive actors to the contentious voices.  We are all living in a time where social influencers play the most extensive role in the lives of people than ever before, and they can play this role because we have unbridled our emotions and refuse to believe that emotions are a choice, a judgment, and a tool for social integration.  While the masses are not taught these things, those controlling the contentious voices know these truths, but they also practice hiding this information to destroy the groups they enslave.  Please, free yourself from bondage, take control of your emotions, and never allow anyone to control them ever again!

© 2021 M. Dave Salisbury
All Rights Reserved
The images used herein were obtained in the public domain; this author holds no copyright to the images displayed.