Increasing the Defense budget increases warfare

For those who can’t get enough of war for whatever reasons, the surest way to keep utilizing American soldiers, support, advisors, intelligence, and armaments is to continually increase the monies so devoted to the “defense” of the United States.  The elephant in the room, though, is the seminal fact that the United States is not currently under attack, hasn’t been under attack, and would appear to be quite secure that its borders will not in the foreseeable future, be attacked.  So when it comes to the Defense budget of this nation, it would be more appropriate to admit that the massive amounts of billions of dollars devoted to defending this nation are mainly not being used for defense but rather are utilized so that America can continue to assert its dominance over the world, to get those recalcitrant nations to march to the beat of American drums, which, in theory, is beneficial to Americans, though it would appear that in actuality this isn’t true, because not only are global empires expensive to maintain, but it has to be admitted, that those that demand obeisance primarily through the use of the sword and sanctions, are the very same, that have placed themselves in the position of blowback, in one form or another.

 So too, the more that America involves itself in wars, through its surrogates or directly, the more that it removes the good will that other nations might have towards it, and replaces such with the very opposite.  This signifies that for all those who would like to see America be far less bellicose, the quickest and surest way to achieve this, is to reduce its gargantuan Defense budget, because when it comes to budgets, those who receive the monies,  have an inherent obligation to justify those expenditures, so that, when monies are devoted to defense, those that are the recipients of such, make it their point to use that money by engaging “enemies” the world over, as sure proof that these defense monies have not been spent in vain.

 Indeed, it has to be admitted, that generals aren’t interested in looking at shiny new military toys, and doing nothing with them.  Additionally, they aren’t interested in having soldiers who essentially have little to do, but rather they want to prove that these tools need to be used and utilized in a way that makes a big scene, or else they fear that the allocation of money to their respective departments will dry up.  This signifies that wherever the Military-Industrial-Technology complex can get its noses involved, it surely will not hesitate in doing so, putting not only our soldiers at risk, but also putting the principles of our nation to the test, as to whether or not, this is really the epitome of freedom and liberty, or in contrast, is something far more sinister.  As it stands, every dollar devoted to the Defense budget is essentially a dollar taken away from the welfare of the people, and to believe that all those billions of dollars are necessary for the appropriate defense of this nation is to believe the mythology of what America professes to be, but not its reality.

“Be prepared” is the motto of the Boy Scouts of America

To “be prepared” essentially means to be ready to perform what needs to be performed during an emergency to ameliorate the situation at hand, as well as to have the necessary tools to enact what needs to be enacted in response to that emergency.  This would indicate that in order to be prepared, one needs to be cognizant of dangers that could or might occur, and while not every contingency can be accounted for, the infrastructure and response for an untoward event can be prepared for, in which, it is inexcusable for the richest nation that the world has ever known, not to be prepared because adverse events are a part of life. Indeed, those then that are the best prepared are the same who deal with these events courageously and effectively; whereas, those who are not prepared, suffer dearly for their lack of preparedness.

 We find thereby that there are events in American history that expose, how unprepared America has been, such as the “Day of Infamy,” at Pearl Harbor, in 1941.  Yet, no matter how dastardly that attack was, America was not prepared for it, even though Japan was intent to be the dominant power in the Western Pacific, and because America had cut off Japan’s access to necessary materials, such as steel and oil, this helped to force the hand of Japan who thereby felt that strategically it made sense to try to cripple the American fleet, to thus place itself into a superior position in the Pacific.

 Another example of inexcusable preparedness is that airlines were subject to being hijacked, and experienced a fair amount of hijackings from the 1960s through the early 1970s, of which, the powers that be, were slow to comprehend exactly how dangerous it was for an enemy agent to take control of an aircraft, and didn’t correctly anticipate that with all of the fuel that an airliner needs to have in order to travel, that at an airplane under the control of suicidal persons could be utilized as a destructive flammable device, which was accomplished to great effect, by the 9/11 hijackings.

 So too, when it comes to COVID, we find that despite America’s massive healthcare apparatus, and the knowledge that pandemics could occur, as seen by smaller pandemics in the 21st century, such as SARS, Ebola, and the swine flu – this thus indicated that despite such prewarning,  America was still not prepared for a global pandemic, which dutifully occurred; and thereby ended up killing hundreds of thousands of Americans. Additionally, America also wasn’t well prepared for what steps would be necessary to take concerning businesses, schools, and human interactions, whatsoever.  This was especially disappointing and exhibited an extreme lack of preparedness by American governance, which in conjunction with America’s inability to formulate a coherent response, exacerbated the situation, to debilitating effect.

 To be prepared means not only having the tools of the trade to deal with adverse events but also having the wherewithal and vision to create the infrastructure that would permit the governance to respond robustly and effectively to those adverse events, while also having perpetually the personnel so necessary to be on that watchtower, for the very purpose of responding to such in a determined and vigorous way.

People working two jobs should not have Medicare taxes taken out from both

As they say, “Nothing is certain in life except death and taxes.”  That said, when it comes to taxes, especially for those who are doing their best to make ends meet and thereby are working hard, is that these people typically don’t want to pay more in taxes than they are legally required to do.  Additionally, because the minimum wage in America does not equate to a living wage, there is a multitude of people who work more than one job, of which, some of these people work, even three jobs, mainly because they need the income to keep their head above water.

 We find that while payments from employees into the Social Security system will thereby make a material difference as to how much they will subsequently get when they opt to receive their Social Security benefits, the same though is not true of the Medicare system.  Indeed, when it comes to Medicare, there is the basic requirement that in order to receive Medicare Part A for free, that the employee is mandated to have worked a total of ten years, or at least forty quarters of work, and then they are thereby qualified to received Medicare Part A for free, and how much a given individual has paid into Medicare through the years, is not relevant to any other discount or consideration, for to get anything else of value from Medicare, for Plans B, C, and D are optional to people, and require the person so opting for any of these coverages to pay the going rate for such, without any consideration of how much they have previously paid into the Medicare system.

 So then, the fact that a significant portion of Americans need to have more than one job to survive should be taken into fair consideration, when it comes to the Medicare mandatory tax, of which, in fairness to these hard workers, their second job, should not be compelled to require the payment of Medicare taxes by that worker, but rather they should get a free ride to avoid such, if desired or opted in.  That is to say, those who are working full-time at one job should be permitted to opt out of the 1.45% Medicare for any additional jobs that they have.  One would think therefore that the crosscheck so done by governmental agencies to verify additional employment would be relatively straightforward to accomplish, as employees are required to have not only identification but a Social Security card to legally work.

 Look, it has to be emphasized that those who have a second job, or even a third, are clearly the type of people that this country should admire, and the least that this nation owes to them is a fair deal, of which, having these employees to be able to opt out of paying additional Medicare tax for a separate employment job, is something that a reasonable government should be absolutely happy to accommodate for these dedicated hard workers, as fair appreciation for their devoted work commitment.

Stocks fall faster than they go up

When it comes to investing in stock equities, risk will always be involved, of which, these risks typically exceed other investment risks so made in areas such as bonds and real estate.  The primary reason why stocks are subject to greater risk and volatility has a lot to do with the fact that the buying or selling of a particular stock or stock fund investment is basically as easy as pushing a button on one’s computer or cellphone, as well as the fact that with the exception of major holidays, the stock market is open Monday through Friday and that the amount of trading volume done each of those days, signifies that the liquidity of equity investments permits investors to buy or sell whatever that they own or desire, quite easily, virtually all of the time.

 So then, because of the ample liquidity of stocks and the market that it trades in, this indicates that there is going to be more volatility in the equity market, than just about any investment that a person could think of because the market has a multitude of buyers and sellers that are available to make trades on either side of the equation, Monday through Friday.  When it comes though, to why it is that stocks fall faster than they go up, the primary reason why this is so, though not the only one, is the psychology of people, of which, the fear of losing money exceeds the greed that they may express in the making of money on their stock investments.  In other words, there are plenty of investors who cannot stomach losing any appreciable amount of money on their investments, and when they feel that their investments appear to be in danger of dropping like a stone, they sell, to not only stop the loss, but also to stop the psychological pain.

 Indeed, we read at atlantafed.org, that “stock prices fell roughly 50 percent from peak to trough from October 2007 to March 2009.”  This type of drop over such a short period of time, creates absolute havoc in those that have investments, because losing one-half of one’s investment in 18 months, is going to impact not only an investor’s perception of how they are doing, but also will hit them in their pocketbook, and especially in their belief that they will or will not have enough monies saved up for their retirement years.  So, basically, when the market drops and it appears that there is no end in sight, more and more investors, are going to throw in the towel, and await safer waters, rather than risking losing it all.  This is why when the confidence that investors have in the stock market is seriously hampered, they will get out first, and ask questions later; whereas, when it comes to stocks going up, investors making decisions to buy a particular investment aren’t typically in a hurry or of a necessity to do so, because a given investment, is available for them, to invest in, without any real pressure that it has to be done, at that particular moment or time.  In summary, stocks go down faster than they go up, because the fear of losing it all, is something that many investors respect, and because of that, the better part of valor, necessitates that they get out when they cannot handle the pressure and cannot afford the loss.

The oppressed shall have their day

We read in the Holy Scripture that "The meek shall inherit the earth"  (Matthew 5: 5).  But as much as it is explained that meek does not equal weak, but rather should be seen as representing “controlled strength,” it still doesn’t seem to mesh well with how things actually play out on earth.  That is to say, those that are meek, controlled strength or not, who keep doing the right thing, with the expectation that by doing just this, that it all will eventually work out in their favor, just appears that this will not only seemingly take forever, but, tellingly, in addition, there is the general belief that those that don’t exert their righteousness through some decisive action in one form or another, are going to basically never going to inherit much of anything.  Still, perhaps they will, for the Bible seems to tell us so.

 On the other hand, a proverb that seems to be more appropriate for what we see in today’s world, which so often we find filled with injustice, oppression, disrespect, unfairness, and greed would be that there will come that time when “the oppressed shall have their day.”  Not only, does this sound right, but it also sends a message to all those who are bossing people around at the present time, that things that they expect will always be the same, and will always be in their favor, are subject to change, and when that change comes, those that have enjoyed lording it over others, will indeed face the consequences of having had more than their fair share of the day.

 This type of belief that the oppressed will have their time, is the very thing that keeps those who are oppressed secure in their belief that their time will come when they will find fulfillment and that the shoe will indeed be on the other foot, providing those previously oppressed with the power and responsibility that they had been wrongly denied, thus allowing them to do something constructive with their newfound position.  This is the heart of the matter when it comes to injustices of all types, for our God, does not slumber and will not be mocked, which is why those who do wrong and misuse their position, must understand and comprehend, that no run of unjustified good fortune will extend forever, and when it so ends, it will end badly for them.

 To believe that the oppressed will have their day gives life to those who are hurting, and provides hope to them, as well, for they thus will therefore be provided the fair opportunity to teach those that they mentor, the value of knowing not only the difference between right and wrong, but why it is important, no matter the circumstances, to do the right thing, for in that righteousness, comes strength, and with the strength, comes change, and in that change, the tables will turn, for those that have faith that they will have their day, are the very same, that will achieve that very thing, for the benefit of the society that they have enlightened and done right by.

A government of, for, and by the people

When we take a look collectively at what our governance does or does not do on behalf of the people, it has to be admitted, for it is rather obvious, that the government spends an inordinate amount of its resources protecting and augmenting those that are well positioned, powerful, and have massive assets, for those entities have an abiding desire to keep on increasing what they have, which basically comes at the expense of all those that have not.

 Look, it has to be said, that the government needs to first and foremost do its best for the people of the nation that it governs, which means, in particular, that governance should concentrate a fair amount of its energies on those who are the least amongst us, for when the government does not do this, these people will thus continue to be oppressed and disadvantaged, because capitalism as structured, will continue to take advantage of and exploit these poorly positioned people for their own self-serving benefit.  This essentially mandates that it is the government, and pretty much only the government because of its size, assets, and power, that can help to even the score, so that those who are born into little or nothing, are thereby provided with the opportunity to become something when they are provided with a good education, safe neighborhoods, employment opportunity, and non-discrimination.

 The best and most appropriate government therefore is that which promotes the common good of the people, which in its effect, is most beneficial to those that are in the most serious need of the government to lend them a helping hand.  This signifies that the government should do its level best to see that as many of its people as possible, will be provided with fair access to all the accouterments necessary to become productive and to thus leave behind, as few as possible, for this makes for a nation that will be more just, fairer, and civil.

 We find, therefore, to the degree that the government impresses its power and its rules to enforce such to see that the people, in whole, are fairly provided with the opportunity to become what they could become for the betterment of that society, is so much the better therefore for the population of that nation.  Indeed, the rich and well-placed do not need the government to champion them, whatsoever, because these privileged entities are doing more than just fine with their positioning.  It is all those who have little or nothing and have seemingly suffered from such for generations, that are the very same, that should be permitted to lean upon their government, so that this government, of, for, and by the people will do its fair part to help lift up those that are impoverished to become something that they were always fairly entitled to become.  This indicates that “big government” has a sacred mandate to do what it can nobly do for the tired, the poor, and the oppressed so that they too can breathe free, in this the land of liberty.

The healthiest nation in the world is not the United States of America

America proclaims throughout the world that it is the greatest nation that the world has ever known, but in order for that to be true this nation would have to also be the healthiest nation in the world, because a nation that is not healthy, especially in comparison to other OECD countries, cannot be great, for when the nation’s health suffers, the people suffer, and a suffering people is not the mark of greatness, whatsoever.

 Our governmental statistics tell us that “In 2023, the United States spent $4.9 trillion on healthcare, which … amounts to $14,570 per person,” which is a total so staggering that it must thereby mean that the United States really is the healthiest nation in the world, because of these expenditures, but alas it isn’t.  Further, we read that according to Peterson-Kff data, that “The U.S. spends more per capita on prescription drugs than any other country.”  Finally, when it comes to life expectancy, “The U.S. ranks 34th in life expectancy compared to other high-income countries.”

 All of the above is indicative that not only is the United States not very healthy, but that despite all the monies spent on healthcare, prescription drugs, and other items commensurate with what we believe that healthcare should consist of, American citizens aren’t in the aggregate, healthy, and that these monies are either being poorly allocated, or the structure of our healthcare is inimical to good health, or that other various factors are contributing to the disappointing poor results of the health of American citizens.

 Look, it has to be said that whatever is being done or not done at present, to assure American citizens can achieve decent health, is not being accomplished, and that this government, of, for, and by the people, has done a terrible wrong to those same people, which leads to the conclusion that the present course that this nation is on, cannot possibly be the best or the correct one.  In other words, in order to improve the health of this nation, everything of substance needs to not only be carefully looked at but then prudent measures need to be implemented to help American citizens get healthy, for quite obviously, if money is one of those main factors that will influence the health of a nation, there is plenty of money being spent, so thereby other factors must also be in play, that need to be more thoroughly examined.

 Indeed, the quickest way to get America back on track is to scrutinize what other healthier nations are doing on behalf of their citizens and to emulate that.  This means that everything about our current healthcare system and the health of our citizens must be put into play, in which, nothing should be sacrosanct, because what needs to occur to get our people healthy, will be a seismic change from what is so occurring, presently.  That is to say, to continue on the same path that America is on, will result in more of the same, which is a waste of resources and monies, that would be better put forth into that which will accomplish the goal of seeing that American citizens are entitled to a healthcare system that will actually work with and for them so that they will be healthy, and thereby able to properly appreciate the greatness of this nation.

“Neither snow nor rain nor sleet nor hail”

The above is the unofficial motto of the United States Postal Service, which is duly engraved on the James A. Farley Post Office Building in New York City.  To all those who work hard at USPS, they should be appreciated and valued, though it has to be admitted that somehow in this present age, the USPS seems in many a way to talk the talk, but not often enough to walk the walk, especially during those times of inclement weather and other distractions which precludes them therefore from performing their work, above and beyond.

 Indeed, when it comes to employment of all types, there are those that do, and then there are those that do not.  In other words, the best workers are those who when having to deal with obstacles make it their point, that they are going to get the work done that they need to get done because they are not only determined to do so, but feel that they have an abiding obligation to accomplish such; whereas, there are those others, that latch onto whatever excuse, no matter how shallow or no matter how inappropriate, as their reason for failing to do this or that, and somehow are okay with their lack of timely output and of pulling their own weight, through and through.

 Each of us has assignments as well as goals that we are responsible for, and to the degree that we take such responsibility seriously, the better that we will be able to accomplish those important and necessary things, of which, those that are focused upon what they need to do, are the same that will not get distracted and will not relent from achieving what needs to be achieved, because they are fixated on doing exactly that.  These then are the type of people that we should aspire to be, for fair-weather workers are the same as fair-weather friends, seemingly not recognizing that fair-weather will not always exist, all of the time.

 The true character of a person can be determined not by how they behave when everything is going right, but rather by how they behave when it is all going so wrong, for even the worse of us, when we are having our way, will typically behave civilly, because there isn’t any reason not to; whereas, when we are put to the test, this proves the mettle of the person, for those that cannot successfully face their challenges, or run away from such, aren’t the type of people that are of good character, for those that are of good character display their good attributes in the face of adversity, thereby proving who and what they are really about, which is why we should welcome challenges and tests as our opportunity to demonstrate that we have the right stuff to do the right thing, and thereby will only stand down when it is prudent to do so, for all those that will not challenge themselves are the same that aren’t going to grow tall because the roots of their character are far too shallow to permit such.

COVID was extraordinarily good for Big Pharma

We read at somo.nl that “Pfizer, BioNTech, Moderna, and Sinovac made an extraordinary USD 90 billion in profits on their COVID-19 vaccines and medicines in 2021 and 2022.”  Perhaps, all this profit is justified, by the supposed good that these vaccines provided to the population at large, even when taking into fair consideration that billions of public tax dollar funding was utilized in the support of these vaccines, along with incumbent research and development done under the government dollar, for the material aid to create these vaccines in such a short period of time.  Additionally, Big Pharma found itself in the pole position of knowing that they essentially had total immunity from lawsuits in regards to the vaccines so created for COVID, thereby indicating that the downside risk of the vaccines was absolutely minimal, in addition to the salient fact that this government-permitted Big Pharma to essentially make as much profit as they so desired, off of the sick, the injured, and the dying. So then, it could be stated that mandated governmental vaccines for a pandemic seem to be the type of business, that is structured to not only reap billions for private enterprise but if left unchanged and unchallenged, will permit Big Pharma to be of the mind, that pandemics are also very, very good for business. Though, clearly they aren’t good for the population, in whole.

 The gargantuan amount of profits provided to Big Pharma because of COVID should be something that is seen as being morally and ethically suspect, while also being something that the governance of this nation should desire to address, forthrightly.  After all, Big Oil has been vilified, time and time again, and thereby was subject to a windfall profits tax, but Big Pharma has not been subject to that same opprobrium.  Further to the point, it seems to be an incredibly bad policy that when a nation is suffering the ill effects of a pandemic, that certain segments of the economy in the private for-profit sector, are able to make an obscene amount of profit, upon the American public, which doesn’t seem right, and doesn’t seem to be in conformance to what this nation ought and should be about.

 The argument could be made and should be made that if Big Pharma believes that it is fairly entitled to profit as much as it can from the COVID pandemic, that in the best interests of this nation, Big Pharma should be nationalized, which would thereby save the government of this nations, billions upon billions of dollars, or if this was considered to be anathema to capitalism, there needs to be put into place some sort of reasonable limit on how much profit a corporation is entitled to, from a nationwide pandemic, for as it stands right now, the people of this great nation, suffered dearly, even onto death: yet, Big Pharma wants us to be OK with all the profits that it made, from this deadly pandemic.

 Indeed, if the people of this nation desire to know whether or not they have a fair deal, look no further than what incentivized Big Pharma, which has little to do with doing right by the people, and just about everything to do, with extracting as much profit as possible from their ill and dying hands.

Private schools should not be 100% white

There is the law and there is the law as it actually is applied, so that those who believed that the Brown v. Board of Education, Supreme Court Decision of 1954 would thereby herald in a new age of integration and fairness in the educating of all American citizens, have got to be extremely disappointed in the subsequent results of this seminal decision, decades later, as not only are public schools still suffering from the inherent inequality of only certain specific schools having everything that they need to educate their students properly; whereas, we find that there still remains a multitude of public schools that are essentially islands of despair, with poor infrastructure and a student body primarily made up of the disenfranchised. So then, it still remains, that public schools are not now, and never have been, fairly integrated, nor is this a priority to see such happen within the United States.

 Still, at least Brown v. Board of Education made it the law of the land that public schools needed to be desegregated, which at least, provides the hope that this may someday, actually happen.  Today, we live though in a society in which never has there been more private schools, of which, even in those areas that are seas of non-white households, it is not uncommon to find that the best private school serving that area, consists primarily of all-white students at what could only be seen as a deliberate policy by those private schools. This is on any level, not acceptable because no matter what excuses are used, or reasoning counted upon, these segregated private schools essentially serve to divide communities amongst racial lines, and thereby do little or nothing to bridge the gap in acknowledging that every one of us, is fairly entitled to all of our Constitutional and unalienable rights, and that the law, as applied, should be no respecter of any particular race, but yet the evidence says that it is.

 This thus signifies that just as private corporations are encouraged to be diversified in their employment of the people that they hire but not necessarily are compelled by law to do so, that private schools, should be subject to the very same line of reasoning to recognize therefore that diversity is good and healthy for society  The governance of this nation, and the States that make up this union, need to fairly reflect the diversity of that racial makeup in the schooling and the education of the children that are part of a given community, and those that live in the racist past, or desire to continue policies which weren’t ethically right, to begin with, need to comprehend that private schools should fairly reflect the community at large, and thereby proactively encourage those that are the most disadvantaged and historically unfavored to be a part of these private schools to thus be in conformance with the racial characteristics of this diverse nation, and to be in harmony with the spirit of what this country stands for, which is equality of opportunity for all.

The first rule of colonialism

When it comes to colonialism, this is best defined as the nation-state exerting unwanted control over another country, or when done within a country, subjugating those who are unfavored because of, for instance, their religious faith, or because they are native-born but not native-born of the favored race, which thereby means for those unfortunate people thus being controlled by any means so necessary by that favored race, that this is done usually, though not always, by the barrel of the gun.  In other words, colonialism has an awful lot to do with those who have the money, position, power, and the mindset to eradicate or eliminate those who are considered to be trouble or subhuman so that the colonialists can reap the benefits of taking over land which they had no true legal right to, and thereby receive the fruits of that land to their own benefit.

 History is replete with colonialism, of which, it is typically the white man, that exerts its power upon the red man, the brown man, the yellow man, or the black man, for the benefit of those that are white.  This thus indicates that when we look at history, we see that a lot of the wealth and continued power, is held by those who have benefited from colonialism, whether they wish to own up to it or not.  This also signifies that as long as the white man is abusing and controlling those that are red, brown, yellow, or black, all is considered to the good, because these colonized people have been categorized as basically being subhuman and therefore the belief is that the white man needed to exert control for not only the betterment of their own race, but supposedly for the betterment of humankind, in its totality.

 The first rule of colonialism is that while it is okay for one white country to war upon another white country, it is not considered to be a good form to exact genocide against a specific portion of the white race, such for example, European Jews.  This is considered to be rather poor form, for to humiliate the white man, is in its structure, basically a humiliation of the white race, as well, which doesn’t look real good, doesn’t appear to be civilized, and doesn’t seem right.  This is such a bad practice, that when the average person in the street, is questioned about any people who suffered from genocide, the most frequent answer to that question is often the holocaust of the European Jews, who were white, and everyone else also so suffering from genocide, who are red, brown, yellow or black, thus take a backseat to the suffering of those European Jews, because as the chief colonists, whites, control the narrative.

 So then, to humiliate one’s own, even when they are of a different religious persuasion, is something difficult for whites to swallow, for they then feel that by demonizing their own, there is a distinct possibility, that they might suffer the same sort of fate, for being of the wrong religious persuasion, or being from the wrong national origin, or the wrong social status, or the wrong this or that.  Indeed, to humiliate a fellow white man by stipulating that they have no right to exist is the type of thing that not only creates friction within the white race, but can also serve to drive a wedge between white peoples, and thus negate what colonialism is supposed to be about.

Learn to increase your skill set

The more diverse that we are in our overall knowledge, the better perspective that we have of the society that we are a part of because those who have limited skill sets are the very same who are typically more narrow-minded in their views because they haven’t fully developed their perspective to the level that it could be.  That is to say, when our knowledge is limited or hasn’t been fully developed, we are going to have a strong tendency to view the world through the prism of that limited skill set that we are familiar with, and when that skill set is not robust, this thus signifies that what we view is approached in the terms of what our skill set consists of at that time, and no more.

 So then, to the degree that we are open-minded and ready to learn, we should avail ourselves of that option, for not only will that keep our mind engaged, and thereby permit us to stay up-to-date, but it also will make us a more complete person, because by having more skills within our toolbox, we can not only be of better aid to others, but also we will be able to be less dependent upon the aid of others, for we will be able to avail ourselves of our acquired knowledge, instead, which thereby makes us to be more independent, as well as being more valuable because we have increased our capabilities and corresponding skills.

 While there is something to be said about being an expert in our field we should desire to broaden our horizons so that we can end up seeing more than what is right in front of us.  As for those that know a little about nearly everything, but never enough to actually be an expert, this signifies that we never have fully developed a specific skill set which thereby limits our usefulness to ourselves as well as to others. This thus indicates that when we focus on developing fully our knowledge on at least one specific skill set this will not only make us to be more valuable but also will help us to create a base that will better permit us to expand upon such to thus put more arrows in our quiver.

 Those then that continue to learn throughout their life, no matter their age, and make it their point to congregate with like-minded people to discuss ideas and concepts, are the very same that are increasing their skill set, which keeps them alert as well as making them to be, of greater value for others to learn from or with. All of us are meant to do the best with what we have and to thereupon take that which we have built a good foundation upon so that we can end up building a structure that will be better able to handle the vicissitudes that life throws at us, which because we are better prepared, allows us to be better able to deal with adverse and unexpected events.

Imagine a free 24 hours of time

In the United States, we currently experience Daylight Savings time each calendar year, except for the States of Arizona and Hawaii, in which on the specified date in the Fall, when the clock strikes 2 AM, it thereupon goes back to 1 AM, which provides one extra hour in the day for people to take advantage of.  For some people, this change isn’t really noticeable as they simply sleep a bit more, or spend more time on their social media; whereas, for others they may spend it reading, working, doing chores, or doing something else constructive.

 Imagine, though, that there was a construct in which, for one day each year, each of us would receive a free 24 hours of time, and then time would go back to normal.  That is to say, we would repeat the same day, twice, of which, the second time, we would have no obligations to work or to engage with anything else.  For some people, this would be a godsend, and a real opportunity to get some things done that they were either putting off till the right time or else were short the time to attend to.  Then there are others, that despite this extra 24 hours of time, wouldn’t really do much of anything constructive or of worth.

 Indeed, how we treat time reflects what we are as a person, and those who simply let time waste away, aren’t going to do much good with extra time, whatsoever, because they aren’t motivated to do much to begin with.  In other words, as much as so many people complain that there isn’t enough time in a given day to get done what they need to get done, there are plenty of those that profess those words, but don’t actually mean it, for when given the opportunity to do exactly that, they don’t.

 So, free 24 hours or not, or extra holidays or not, some people just can’t seem to get themselves started on what they could and ought to be; whereas, others will find having that extra time to be of value and will get done that which they know that they should get done.  This signifies that the stark difference between those that do, and those that don’t do much of anything, really comes down to whether or not, an individual values time or sees each day as pretty much being the same as the previous day, ad nauseam. 

 What we become has an awful lot to do with us doing our part to make way where we can make way, which requires not only good effort, but also consistency, and often a plan of action.  We are, in the end, the amalgamation of the decisions that we have made, or of the decisions avoided, so that those provided with a free 24 hours of time, that do not use such wisely, are the very same, that aren’t going to amount to much of anything, because they seemingly can’t comprehend that time has value, and those that value it correctly, are the ones that make progress, and those that don’t, progress not at all.

The dumbing down of American education

It isn’t conceivable nor is it possible for America to continue to claim that it is the greatest country in the world when we find that its educational system is so inept, that the United States does not come close to leading in any of the major categories such as Reading, Math, or Science against other OECD countries.  Indeed, when it comes to Reading scores, the National Assessment of Educational Progress as reported by nytimes.com tells us that “The percentage of eighth graders who have “below basic” reading skills according to NAEP was the largest it has been in the exam’s three-decade history — 33 percent.”  So too, when it comes to Math, we find that as reported by thebalancemoney.com the “U.S. scored 465 in math, below the OECD average of 472.”  Finally, when it comes to Science, thebalancemoney.com reports that “The United States scored 499 in science, above the OECD average of 485 but still well below the top five highest scorers in science.” In summary, the United States does not lead any of its respective OECD countries in its aggregate educational achievements and is also considerably behind those nations that have the best test scores, which clearly indicates that on average, American students, despite the hundreds of billions of dollars spent on educating them, do not achieve test scores commensurate with the monies so spent, which is indicative that there is either something fundamentally wrong with America’s educational system, or the students just aren’t all that bright, or both.

 Look, it has to be said, if America really believes that it is the #1 nation in the world, it should therefore have the best and brightest students in the world, as well; and if not, then it isn’t the #1 nation in the world, because the people that populate it aren’t much better than average, at best, which is quite frankly, pathetic, since the United States is supposedly the destination of choice for those that are motivated to accomplish great and meaningful things.  This thus means that America is at the stage in which, it is resting on its laurels and its previous achievements, of which, clearly having reached its zenith, America is now in a state of serious decline.

 To believe, somehow, that education doesn’t really matter, as long as the few and the proud, are able to achieve great things -- gets it fundamentally wrong, because the more dead weight placed upon the shoulders of high achievers, the more difficult it will be to thus steer this nation into the direction that it ought to really go and continue on.  America is at that crossroads, of which, first it needs to recognize that it has systemic problems that need to be meaningfully addressed, and secondly, it needs to have the integrity of character to do something constructive about it.

 As it has been said, winners never make excuses but losers always have one.  The bottom line is for the United States to admit that they have failed their citizenry and that future generations are thereby subject to living in a nation that won’t be the epitome of greatness, but rather will live in the past, with the sure recognition that the future holds little overall promise because the aggregate population won’t have the necessary education to ever amount to anything of substance, unless this nation determines that not only that it will do better but that it will do better by doing what it needs to do, to get it done.

The 0 and the O are way too similar

At the present time, the differentiation between the number 0 and the capital letter O is that the number zero has more of an oval shape: whereas, the letter O is more circular.  While this subtle difference between the number and the letter may be somewhat obvious to the astute, it isn’t so obvious to those who not only can’t really tell the difference between the two but to the point, believe that the number 0 should look more like a circle, for a lot of reasons, of which the most proximate one is the fact that when people write down the number 0, they typically make it to look like a circle, as opposed to more of an oval look.

 In our modern age, keyboards and word processing programs that utilize keyboards can be designed to make the letter O and the number 0 more differentiated, and ought to do so.  So too, in documents of all types, it should be clear and obvious when a number is being used as compared to a letter, of which, one of the most annoying problems with 0 and O is the fact that there are, for instance, airplane ticket codes, that utilize interchangeability numbers and letters, signifying that those that are unfortunate enough to get a confirmation code that contains a 0, aren’t sure whether it is a 0 or an 0, especially when they are in a hurry to enter what they need to enter in order to get their seat assignment.  So too, passcodes to websites or email verifications may also have a combination of numbers and letters, leading to the same sort of issue.  It would seem that the best workaround is to either add a slash through the number 0 or even better to add a solid circle inside the number 0, to differentiate such, which thus removes any doubt between the two.

 It would seem that it would behoove governmental organizations of all types to make it their point, to see that the standard for the 0 and the O is structured in a way and form in which there would not be any confusion between the two, and whether or not private enterprise thereby decided to copy such would be up to those involved in those endeavors.  Indeed, governments the world over have a habit of creating standards, for the very purpose of removing confusion and to have enterprises of all types conform to those standards for orthodoxy and thus the utility of the greater good.  This is what needs to occur when it comes to the number 0 and the letter O for what we have presently, should be and needs to be improved upon, and there isn’t any good reason why this shouldn’t be done. After all, as it stands, serious mistakes can be made, for example, in the search of a document and similar, when the entry for what is being searched for is misinterpreted because it is assumed to be a number when it is instead a letter.

Political correctness and things of that ilk are oh-so-wrong

There are plenty of people who want to be politically correct in all that they do and say, or further to the point, make it their abiding principle that they are politically correct in all that they do and say.  To the degree by doing so, they are true to what they truly believe and are consistent with that belief by their actions privately and publicity, there can’t be much of a complaint by others of their behavior, for any time a person is true to themselves, then they are thus not false to others.  That said, it has to be noted, that there are plenty of people who are politically correct or desire to be perceived as being politically correct who are “apeing” the lines but are doing so primarily because of perceived social convention, combined with the fear that to express their true feelings might get them in some sort of trouble, or cause them to lose face.

 Look, it has to be emphasized, that what we believe to be the truth of our perceptions, should be what we should express to one another, though not in a dogmatic or narrow-minded way, but rather as an expression of what we believe.  Though we may well be mistaken about a given subject, we are entitled to our opinion, which may or may not have been formulated with enough pertinent information to come to a sensible conclusion; yet, it is our opinion, and when expressed, those that supposedly know better are provided with the opportunity to correct what has been perceived as being wrong, if they are so inclined, by expressing their counterpoint individual perspective, which itself may also be distorted or wrong.  In other words, communication with one another should be done in a manner in which we say what we have to say without overtly worrying whether or not it pleases the other or offends the other, but rather as our expression of what we believe, without self-censorship or compromise.  Indeed, by so doing, this permits the free expression of ideas and thoughts, of which, not every idea or thought has merit or is correct in its substance, but we are entitled to express these, especially when done so in a sincere way.

 To believe that somehow the better part of valor is to always shut our mouth, and to keep our opinions to ourselves except when we are among either very open-minded people or true friends or good family is to betray our freedom of thought and of speech, for the supposed greater good of society.  While civil discourse teaches us that there are certain people who are so adamant in their opinions that to confront them reasonably is an exercise that may well result in lost friendships, hurt feelings, or ugly confrontations, we should though recognize that closed minds that have no interest in a truly open forum of free-thinking, aren’t the type of people that we should necessarily be transparent with because it doesn’t serve any good purpose, because those that are fixated that they are in the right, and all else must therefore line up per their perception of political correctness are the very same, that believe that labels trump our individuality and care not to hear anything that contradicts this.

Fairness in disputes, arguments, and war

Regrettably, we still live in a day and age, in which, far too often, resolving differences results in serious trade disputes, harsh argumentations, or outright warfare.  Further to the point, which side prevails in a dispute, does not necessarily mean that justice is actually on their side, for those that are better positioned, richer, more powerful, or more capable, may well win the battle, but not necessarily deservedly so, for there are plenty of countries and nation-states that end up being defeated, though their cause was more the righteous one.

 When it comes to that stage in which one side will obviously prevail over the other, it is prudent that the winning side be magnanimous in its victory, as opposed to being unnecessarily vindictive or harsh.  Sure, wars will bring out the worst in societies, but that does not necessarily mean that the end result cannot consist of being reasonable from one to the other.  Additionally, it should be acknowledged that those who corner their enemy in which that enemy is left in the unenvious position of being completely humiliated, often means that the enemy will not ever forget what the losing of face so represented to them, and will, given enough time, determine to find a way to make amends, not so much because the outcome will be different, though it might, but as a way and means to regain face and to thus take back what has been taken psychologically, if nothing more, from them.  This so signifies that in any battle or argument or disagreement, it is important to provide the other side with the means that they will still have self-respect, for to take that from the other, everything, is to take too much, for those that have nothing left to lose, are the very same, that will do what they perceive that they have to do, to make those that have something to lose, to lose that something.

 Indeed, whenever we get our tails up so that we are intent on making the other side suffer, we find that when we get back to our calmer frame of mind, we must realize that fairness and the purposeful suffering of the other do not often mix well, together, for if we are intent upon truly winning the argument, we should make it our point, to demonstrate our moral superiority, if it so exists, by demonstrating through our behavior to the other, that by being gracious and cognizant of who and what they represent, that they have value.  On the other hand, simply using our wiles and force to get the other to submit to our desires, seldom resolves the true issue at hand, though it does serve to resolve it at the moment, of which, in remembrance that turnabout is fair play, we need to, if possible, try to see the perspective of the other side, so that we can better understand the other, and come to a reasonable arrangement, so that each side, has something of substance to hold onto, which makes for a better construct that allows for more civil discourse and less outright war.

The monster within

There are a fair amount of children that have gone through that stage in which because their room is dark and their mom and dad are not in the room with them, they thus fear the darkness, and even believe that there could be some sort of monster in their room, even though there is not.  Truth be told, children outgrow that stage, though, there are plenty of adults that still have a basic fear of darkness and of being alone, but they no longer believe that when the lights are out, a monster may appear.

 On the other hand, however, those who battle against addictions of all sorts, and especially those addictions that seem to have taken control of their mind and body so that it would appear that they don’t have the volition to do something constructive about what they are addicted to, have a very strong tendency to see their addiction, at its worse, as some sort of monster within, that thereby wreaks havoc upon who and what they might be.

 Those who are addicted to drugs or drink, typically don’t see their addiction as being something that gives them comfort but rather see it as being something that is overruling their good sensibilities so as to become something which is troubling to their being, and because they seemingly can’t conquer it, that trouble becomes a beast of burden, that will not apparently let them go.  That is why so many people correctly see their addiction as an entity that is not their friend, though it may act as a friend, from time to time to keep the addict believing that friend or fiend, the addiction at least provides them with the pseudo-satisfaction that they are not ever really alone.

 Those though who desire to overcome their addictions must first of all recognize that whatever that they are addicted to, which provides relief to them, at least part of the time, is not ever going to be their trustworthy friend, and when they recognize that their addiction is the enemy and that the addiction serves no good purpose, this can provide them with the impetus to attack the monster within, for until such a time that they determine that they will no longer be subservient to the monster that has ahold of them, nothing much will change.

 To conquer an addiction requires not only willpower but also requires the determination to face our demons in a way and manner in which we will not compromise, but rather, we will take no prisoners, because there cannot ever be peace between that which ultimately makes us to suffer, and will not ever make good on what we need to have for a decent and satisfying life.  Those with a monster within must find the strength through their own initiative or with the help and aid of valued friends and organization to slay that monster and when accomplished, to replace such with something else of merit that fills the void and thus brings serenity.

The insidious cell phone

We live in a different age in which for many a person, communicating in-person has taken a back seat to memes, social media, text messaging, and things of that ilk, as if whatever has gotten our exclusive attention on our cell phone, trumps all.  There is nothing worse than seeing people who are at a restaurant, in which, it is assumed that they like one another and who want to be together, but who aren’t actually having a conversation with the party that they are with, for rather they are each busily involved endlessly scrolling on their phones.  To believe, somehow, that whatever is going on with our cell phone is somehow always more important than in-person human interaction is to get what life is about, fundamentally wrong.

 The thing about cell phones is that the most appropriate way to deal with such is to see our phone as a versatile tool that can provide us with an online encyclopedia, along with contact with our friends or work, take pictures, keep up-to-date on events that interest us, provide us with entertainment, while also serving as an emergency tool should we find ourselves in a situation in which we feel quite uncomfortable or are lost.  Indeed, cell phones can provide us with a lot of aid and pretty much represent something that has considerable value, but we do so find that certain people treat their cell phones as if it is, the be-all and end-all of their existence, and therein lies the rub.

 It has to be acknowledged, that there are those situations in which too much of a good thing is no longer good for us, such as way too much dessert at one time, for once we get well beyond moderation and suffer from a lack of self-control, we can find ourselves seemingly addicted to stuff that really isn’t worth all our time and energy, and thereby to do so is to our detriment.  So then, those who become habitually attached to their phone, need to recognize that there are other things that life consists of, besides what is on their screen, and if they lack the self-discipline to do anything constructive about it, they need to recognize that if they are unable to regain control, that they will hurt themselves by putting front and center their online phone interactions, above family, friends, work, and other in-person social interactions.

 While we can applaud the genius behind cell phones and the applications that go with such, it has to be acknowledged that this thus serves to entice far too many people to see whatever that is happening on their phone to be the most important thing, even when it really isn’t.  So then, there is a need to take the time to evaluate as to whether our lives are actually better for all the time that we spend on the phone, or whether by the indiscriminate usage of such, we have done so to our lasting harm.  That is to say, at the end of the day, we need to understand better that having our eyes solely on our cell phone basically signifies that we have traded real life for an artificial construct, and in that, we have lost what we could have more of, which is all the advantages represented by healthy human interaction.

The unfair property tax

The one important thing about any taxation is that it should be fair.  That is to say, those who can opt out or get special consideration, or simply are held to another standard, present the proximate problem of taxation as being unequal and thereby unfair.  As it stands, property taxes are needed to properly fund schools, law enforcement, first responders, and other governmental agencies.  So then, to the degree that certain entities, whether universities, churches, nonprofits of all types, or special dispensations provided to for-profit corporations who thereby don’t pay property taxes, signify that more of the burden of having to pay those property taxes, will thus rest on the shoulders of homeowners.

 Indeed, when it comes to property taxes, not only should all property taxes, be absolutely transparent, but also it is necessary to have visible all those who own property that don’t pay taxes, thereby providing the general public with knowledge of which of these entities are not pulling their own weight, because whenever certain peoples, organizations, and corporations are accorded special consideration whereof they don’t pay their fair share or any share at all when it comes to property taxes, there needs to be a clear understanding as to why this is so. For instance, for-profit corporations should always have to pay their fair share and should not be permitted to exert pressure upon governmental representatives that because they will, in theory, provide local jobs, they should be exempted from such.  So too, when it comes to universities as well as all non-profits, each of these should be examined very closely, and audited in a way and manner, to determine as to why these are exempt from the payment of property taxes, as opposed to the belief that just because they are non-profit that they shouldn’t need to pay property taxes, because not every non-profit or university is in and of itself, doing enough for the community, at large, that they should be able to avoid paying their fair share, or some portion of such in property taxes.

 The thing about property taxes, unlike other taxes that are based upon capital gains or income, is that whether or not the property that is owned, still has a mortgage, property taxes are assessed to such, each and every year, signifying that when it comes to property taxes for regular folks, even when they no longer have a job, or no longer have a mortgage, those property taxes still are mandated to be paid.  So too, for those who own property but are still paying their monthly mortgage, having to pay property tax, is just one more burden upon them, that most people, would prefer to see such as being fair and equal for all.

 In sum, all those that are exempted from paying property taxes or get such reduced or abated for some period of time, should not only be public knowledge, but it also should be periodically reviewed or examined in its totality because the fewer entities that pay their fair share into the common welfare of a given community, the more the burden rests on those that are not exempted from such, which is unfair and unwise.