My Mom [updated]

I shared a while ago on another post about my mom’s health and how Evergreen Hospital stumbled through their communication enough to give me what would seem like a death notification to any reasonable person. I have received a large number of questions about what happened. I’ll do my best to explain it here. My mom had been complaining about back pain for awhile. It wasn’t severe at first but each day it seemed to increase. I took her to the doctor about 5 weeks ago and he ordered x-rays and nothing seemed to be wrong. She was given a mild pain killer and sent on her way.

About 5 days later I called her on the phone and she said the pain was too great. For her to admit any pain as being too much is significant. We measured her pain as 7 on the 1 to 10 scale and we both agreed that if she got to 8 we’d go to the ER. I called her later and she said the pain was bad. I asked her, “is it an 8?” She answered, “No.” I asked “Is it worse than before when it was 7?” She answered, “Yes.” I usually have to play this game when it comes to pain.

My happy mom before kids

My mom is a polio survivor. For my entire life she has walked with a limp and her mobility or physical capability has been an issue. She is also no stranger to hospitals as she spent not days, but months in them as a kid. The ER ordered a C scan and they discovered a compression fracture in her back. They were concerned about some of her other levels, including kidney, blood pressure, and her breathing. They were also concerned that the contrast dye from the C scan would make her sick. I asked them to admit her so that she could be under observation and they refused, citing that if they did admit her she would pay for the whole thing out of pocket.*** Just the thing someone who lived through the Great Depression wants to hear. So she went home with me. I took that week off of work to care for her. Nobody would do much for her until she saw her primary care doctor. I finally got her an appointment with a new primary care doctor near my house for Wednesday. Each day at my house she was in more pain, breathing became worse and she was largely uncomfortable. Finally when she saw the primary care doctor, the doctor looked at her for two minutes and called 911. Pretty much all of the things they were worried about in the ER (and refused to admit her) came true and she was headed back there in an ambulance. It wasn’t long before they discovered that her stomach was bleeding and she was put on a respirator. After a move to the critical care unit of the hospital they discovered a large bleed in the back of her stomach that was life threatening. I authorized surgery for her and she was off to get it repaired. Turns out this was the source of her back pain. After the surgery she got a little better. She was taken off the ventilator and breathing on her own. She was “alive and kicking” as she put it. After 30 hours off of the ventilator she was breathing heavily again and not feeling well. She was also in a great deal of pain. Then more bleeding showed that the surgery didn’t work. Several scopes revealed nothing as the bleeding always stopped when they looked. Very sneaky. Once again they called me and informed me that she was free bleeding into her stomach.  The place of the bleeding was the same as the first surgery. She needed a second surgery to repair it. The surgeon told me he wasn’t exactly sure how he was going to fix it but would try everything. He did, and so far it has worked. No bleeding since the second surgery. My mom though has stayed on the ventilator and is very weak. Turns out an 86 year old with post polio syndrome will take time to get strong again. She is now in a hospital which specializes in helping patients regain strength in their respiratory muscles so that they can vent Carbon Dioxide off on their own without the aid of a ventilator. What’s most discouraging at this point is seeing how weak she is. My mom is a very sociable person who loves to talk and interact with others, but is unable to talk due to the ventilator. She is obviously frustrated too. I remind her and encourage her daily that this is temporary and that getting stronger is the way out. She has struggled this far, I hope she has the will to keep going. If she does, I’ll be with her every step of the way. *** – I filed a grievance with the hospital about this and the other issues I’ve had there and so far their investigation has shown not only a breech in their own policies but against best practices in general. I’ll have more on the outcome of this in the future.

I’m breaking up with my toaster

We’ve been together for about a year now and at first, like any new relationship things were hot and it was fun just learning what buttons to push.

Lately it hasn’t been the same.  The toaster just takes its time with my toast knowing full well that I have the same amount of time to get ready in the morning that I had months ago.  It seems later and later each morning and the toast eventually just flips up without conviction or concern.  “Here you go.” it seems to say as it casually flips my morning quick meal at me.

If the indifference were not enough, the buttons aren’t responding either.  Frozen.  Bagel.  Nothing works.  I end up getting it the way the toaster will put out and if I don’t like it then I can just pound sand for breakfast.  I’m getting pretty sick of it.

I want a toaster that can adapt with me.  Maybe handle some variety like a frozen waffle every once in awhile.  I don’t always have to have it quick, but I’d like it to care a little bit if I’m pressed for time.  I need a toaster that recognizes my needs.  Toast.

Tomorrow I’m insisting the toaster leaves the house.  I don’t even want to be friends anymore; the experiment is over.  Go deliver half-assed attempts at toasted bread for someone else.  I’m done with it.

In Defense of Dillholes

My good friend Dave Johnson wrote a rather scathing blog post about "dillholes" in small industries who have bad attitudes because they appear unable to work cooperatively in a collaborative environment. I hope to help Dave and many others understand the mindset of the "dillhole."

Dave presented a scenario where a person asks for a "huge favor" and then is ultimately unhappy with the results. Dave paints the person as an ungrateful Oliver Twist asking for more gruel then complains that it should taste like a steak dinner. The problem with this is that the person never asked for gruel in the first place.

People who are skilled often forget that they are asked for help because this is a recognition of their great talent. Dave conveniently describes this person as someone in a tight spot and ultimately responsible for their own work. But as Dave also pointed out, everyone in an industry brings their own talents, both green and skilled.

The person needing help may not know how much help they need. I've found myself in situations where I'm asking someone for help and what I think is just a favor is the equivalent of lifting a cinder block using only your testicles.

As a more experienced business analyst where I work, I'm asked for favors all that time. When asked for a favor I understand it for what it is: A recognition of my skills.

When I'm asked to lift a school bus, I can complain that the favor is too large and too much is expected of me, or I can assume that the person asking simply doesn't understand what would be required. Since I'm the one with the knowledge, I would be the "dillhole" if I didn't try to convey it at that point.

Setting proper expectations and explaining size and scope of a project is a fundamental part of anything you do for anyone, whether personal or professional. When an obviously talented person forgets this basic piece of communication they set themselves up to be the unappreciated victim and then write blog posts about it.

All of us at one time or another are the dillhole. We don't necessarily come upon this distinction deliberately but sometimes step into it like a flaming lunch sack on our front porch. If only the skilled person could've helped us understand the size and scope in the first place, the collaboration would have already begun.

Maybe if the skilled and talented could come out from behind the pulpit and communicate thoroughly and respectfully, the dillhole could be seen for what he truly is: Just a jerk asking you to do his work.

You didn't really think I'd defend the dillhole did you?

podmess

Hot Damn, I love Independence Day

There's almost nothing I don't like about this holiday. Period.

I was in 2nd grade during the Bicentennial so I had the great fortune of spending a great deal of time learning about the popular history of our country. I remember 1976 like it was just a few years ago, even though I was merely 7 years old.

My grandmother told me about a grandfather several greats back that fought in the Revolutionary War and showed me his name in an old family bible. I remember the parade that year in my little dumb town and how my 2nd grade class marched in it with our flag we made as an art project. I remember a girl I liked was at the parade with red, white and blue ribbons in her hair. I remember reciting "The Midnight Ride of Paul Revere" in class. I remember the weather being great. From that year on I have loved Independence Day like no other holiday. Sure Christmas has the lead, but the 4th isn't far behind.

I love the story of our independence. I love the idea of freedom and the promissory note (as Martin Luther King put it) written to future generations that we'll keep trying for freedom as our understanding of it matures.

You'll see no sappy tributes to those who allegedly "protect our freedoms" from me. This day is about the concept of liberty and the concept of self-ownership. Freedoms belong to all people, not just those who live inside our borders.

I'm going to go blow some stuff up now.

Have a great Independence Day!

What happened after I woke up this morning

I could also entitle this post: A study of a crappy morning in black and white.

I got a new phone and had set the alarm for 7:30. The alarm was different than what I've been used to as my normal wake up sound was the voice of Steve Damm from the Dave and Steve Show singing a little song. My whole household is familiar to the morning melody of "Just stop what you're doing and be polite please..." Anyway...

The new alarm wasn't the new alarm at all and 7:30 was actually 7:15. What was actually happening was my phone was ringing. I saw it was the number from Evergreen Hospital so I immediately answered it. My mom has been in the Critical Care Unit for the last 8 or 9 days.

The conversation went like this:

Hospital: Is this Tracy?

Me: Yes.

Hospital: Your mother has taken a turn for the worse. You need to come here as soon as possible.

Me: Okay, I'll be right there.

You know what the subtext of this conversation is. You don't want to say it, but you know exactly what it sounds like. My heart sank. I called my brother who had just returned to California and my sister who lives a bit further north. I wanted her to have a chance to see mom.

I told my wife that she'd have to take our five year old to soccer camp this morning and explained what I was told on the phone. She whispered "okay" with the same sort of heavy seriousness that I was feeling inside.

I got in the car and during rush hour I made the 40 minute trip to the hospital (which is normally 15 minutes). Each minute that went by while still in the car made me more anxious. Once I arrived at the hospital I made my way up to the Critical Care Unit and went to her room and saw the nurses cleaning up the room and the bed was empty.

One of the nurses turned around and asked me "Are you her son?" I managed to eek out a "yes." The next words she said hit me hard. "She's gone." I lookd over at the empty bed and the other nurse asked "Would you like to see her?" I nodded.

The nurses began then talking about some side things they needed to do and if it was possible for one of them to take me to see my mother. I began to change my mind and think maybe I didn't actually need to go to the morgue.

I got to thinking though that this didn't add up so I spoke up.

"Wait, can someone tell me what is going on?" I held my hands out to stop everyone and just get an answer to my question.

"What have you been told?" One of them asked.

"I think the whole conversation should've started with that question, don't you think?" I pointed out what should've been obvious.

It turns out that "gone" meant being prepped for a surgery that I didn't know she was going to have and they called me down there "as soon as possible" to simply wait in a waiting room when I could've waited just as easily from home. Nice huh?

My day started with a 45 minute drive with the idea that my mom was on death's door. It got better when I got to spend a couple of hours with her today talking and watching TV and showing her junk on my new phone.

Next time you have a crappy morning, remember mine.

Customer Service

I had two customer service experiences today.

The first one was with Sears. I had a giftcard for Sears and I decided to get some car work done there and use the card. It wasn't my first choice, but I figured I already had money in the bank there.

It took 3 1/2 hours to complete the work that they promised would be done in 2 1/2 hours. In response to this they kept me updated on what was going on and apologized for the length of time. Because they used the basic customer service principle of setting expectations, I never felt like the hour was a waste. Good so far.

I start to drive home and I heard a noise. I heard an awful noise. Coming from under the hood I hear a screaching noise. This concerns me as the only real work I had done was a new tire and battery service.

I pull off to the side of the road and look under the hood and I can tell it's coming from the fan. The fan is also not moving because a tool is wedged into the fan casing and against the blades. I shut off the engine. I now have to get the engine cool enough and figure out how I can safely reach down (or up from underneath) to get this tool out of my fan. This sucks. I get home one hour later.

I talked to their manager today and told him what happened. He begins by telling me that he is "at the losing end of this discussion" and that I should tell him "what will make it right." I did tell him, and he agreed and Sears will have my business again. It cost them very little to keep me as a customer.

My other experience was at my doctor's office. Had a 10 o'clock appointment to address my chronic cough that I've had for 3 weeks. What passes for normal at my clinic is that the 10 o'clock appointment is really more like 11 o'clock and getting out at noon for a 15 minute office visit isn't a huge surprise. Today though I explained that I needed to get out of there on time.

10:40 rolls around and I've not been called by the nurse yet. I have my older son who I'm taking to school at 11:10. The school is about 10 minutes away so I figured that the hour and 10 minutes cushion was enough for a short office visit. They indicated that it should be.

I finally get someone and they tell me I can go wait in an exam room but the doctor would not be with me for awhile. So basically I could wait in a different place where I wouldn't bug anyone about what time it was.

I explain my problem and how I didn't have all day to wait and asked if they would honor the appointment time they made for me. The nurse told me there was nothing she could do. She got her manager.

The manager pretty much explained the same thing. They're running late and there's nothing they can do. She did say that I could see the doctor on time if I got an earlier appointment. Apparently only the first person who sees the doctor in that clinic gets their appointment time, everyone else has to wait.

She offered to call my son's school. That was a nice offer but I explained to her that I pay for my son's school and I don't pay for him to wait with me at the doctor. They said if I took him to school and came back they would make sure someone saw me. I asked how this was possible to do this in the future, but not now. How could someone see me when I got back if they couldn't see me when I was there for my actual appointment.

I raised enough hell to get the doctor to see me but like clockwork I have to leave to take my son to school. I told her I'd be back in 20 minutes. The doctor didn't get the memo about seeing me when I got back and told me she didn't want to wait 20 minutes.

I can believe that if my auto insurance company paid for my tire and the garage was getting their pay from a 3rd party I can bet the tool lodged in my fan would just get lost in the shuffle, similar to my doctor's visit.

After the complaining I did today I will probably need to check my butthole and make sure the doctor didn't leave anything in there.

podmess

Perfume smells or Poo Poo smells

A female co-worker has explained to me that there is a spray can in the women’s restroom which has a notice on it that it should not be used due to allergies.  This is very much how my company works.  The people here like to put notes on things.

When I first started the two stalls in the upstairs men’s bathroom had a note above them explaining in a whiney fashion how to properly use the toilet from the standing position.  Apparently someone years ago got some pee on the toilet seat and this now deserved a notice.

Back to the women’s bathroom.  The note also explains that the use of a spray will be available again as soon as a suitable non-scented alternative can be found.  In the meantime everyone smells what goes on in that room.

I have allergies and I can sympathize with people who are impacted by scent.  I wonder how many people have an averse reaction of smelling everyone else’s bowel movements?  Does this even make sense?  Everyone has to smell each other’s fecal matter because someone may get a temporary headache or a runny nose from potpourri?

What reasonable arrangements can be made in this case.  One thing is for sure:  Everyone is smelling something they don’t want.  Whatever the solution is, I know that in this place it will be handled by a small sign.  Idiots.

Bad at picking friends

I have some good friends in my life. I'm not a person who has made a great number of friends but the friends I've made I've had for a very long time. They're people I could count on in almost any situation. They've stuck by my side through the ups and downs of life and have celebrated the awesome times and gently guided me in the bad times. I'm fortunate.

I have a five year old son who is in the beginning stages of picking friends. He already seems discriminate as he looks for those unwritten character qualities that makes a lasting friend.

As a country, the USA is pretty awful at making friends. Outside of countries that are the equivalent of family (UK, Canada, Australia, and even France) we can't seem to make a lasting ally. The Shaw of Iran, Saddam Hussein, Hosni Mubarak, Bin Laden and other Mujahideen. All of these friends we eventually had to turn our back on or outright kill. But not after handing over billions in foreign aid first.

Now we're using NATO, a treaty that exists to defend ourselves against an enemy that no longer exists, to fight Muamar Gaddafi. Although not a full fledged friend, Gaddafi was at least a guy who was receiving some aid and up until a little while ago was on the "up and coming new friend" list under Bush and Obama.

Maybe it's not our friends that are the problem. Maybe it's the USA. Maybe it's because we're always so unsure of how to spell, or even pronounce, our friend's names. I had a girlfriend years ago whose last name I didn't know how to spell. Writing her name was a source of embarrassment as it showed that I didn't know the most basic thing about her. Osama? Usama? Kaddafi? Gaddafi? Is it SaDAMM or SADamm? We never knew.

I wonder who we're making friends with in Libya today that we'll need to kill in 20 or 30 years.

Freeze Dried Ice Cream

I don’t review food often (never) on this blog.  This is as close as I will get:

I didn’t know what to expect.  Before last night I had never tried it.

From a texture standpoint I’d compare it to packing material.  Not offensive, but sort of very light bricks.

From a flavor standpoint…well it’s ice cream.  Really.

Obviously it’s not cold and doesn’t make a mess when eaten by kids.

I’m taking it camping this summer.

Great time in Wisconsin

Just got back from a few days in beautiful Wisconsin. I say beautiful even though a huge storm rolled in the very hour I got there which included several inches of rain and hail and about a dozen tornadoes. Still beats the crappy weather in the Seattle area.

I've stated before that a generic description of my job is that I'm a financial management business analyst. I specialize in business systems aimed at solutions unique to schools. That's as deep as I'll go without boring you. You don't stop by here to be bored do you?

Anyway...

...something amazing happened at this conference I attended. At some point in this conference of 1100 people they announced that there were attendees from Washington state. I don't recall exactly when that was as I was probably trying to digest the conference breakfast. Hearing this a woman attending the conference was trying to find out who was from my state. She found me.

I was sitting in a chair on the side of the conference hall when this woman came up to me and said "Oh my god, I finally found you." I deducted two things from this introduction:

1. My awesomeness can be easily sensed.

2. She has mistaken me for someone else.

She then goes on to tell me that she is very uptight about moving her daughter out to Washington state and that her husband isn't able to go with her. Her daughter got a job "out west" and they know nothing about the area and was hoping I could answer any questions they might have.

I asked the lady what town her daughter is moving to. It turns out she's moving into the same little bedroom community I live. When I told her that I lived there and was happy to help her with any questions she had, she cried. Seriously.

I got out some paper and drew her a map (in the age of the Internet...c'mon I should've just given her directions to Bing maps) and gave her some directions to a list of things she needed and patiently answered her questions.

She said that she was so upset that she had to attend this conference which was across the state from where she lived instead of preparing for this move that had her so apprehensive. Instead she said that attending the conference and talking to me was the best thing that could've possibly happened. Here is what you could learn from this:

1. You can't predict the future and getting uptight about crap isn't necessary.

2. What may seem like the last thing you need could be the very thing you need.

3. My awesomeness is obvious to midwesterners.

4. Talking to me solves everything.

I got an email from the lady today thanking me for all my help. Nice.

I felt like a jerk tonight

I don't know how to explain this really.

My wife went into a store to return some rented videos and I drove around the parking lot with one kid on the verge of throwing up into a cup and another fast asleep. I'd circle around in the time it would take for her to return to parking lot and I'd pick her up.

I make the first turn and a guy jumps out in front of my car. He's waving frantically. Not the kind of wave where he's trying to get me to stop but the kind of wave that says "Hello Stranger!" in a not quite right kind of way. The guy is obviously not right. I complete my circle around.

I pick up my wife and circled back around to find out what was up with this guy. He came up to the side of the car in a very excited way and I rolled down the window. The discussion went like this:

Me: Hi buddy, are you okay?

Him: Yes, I'm okay. I haven't eaten in three days.

Me: Why haven't you eaten?

Him: I'm homeless.

Me: Where do you stay?

Him: I sleep under a bridge

Me: Why are you homeless?

Him: I'm just homeless.

Me: That's not an answer. Why are you homeless?

Him: Because I get beat up at the shelter.

Me: Is that why you're outside?

Him: I'm mentally disabled.

This is where I felt like a jerk. I knew he was mentally disabled. I'm not trained in it but I know it when I see it. I didn't need him to say it though. He didn't owe me a confession. When he told me his face was sort of downcast and my heart broke.

I will help anyone who needs help and generously. Anyone who knows me knows that's true. But as someone who thinks like an adult I understand that not all help is really help. I just wanted to know what his need was. He just wanted to eat. I could tell immediately that he was honest and in need of genuine help. But somehow in my quest for info he felt that he needed to confess his disability. It happened and I didn't want it to.

I don't know if I can explain why I feel so bad. I didn't need him to be humble I just wanted a bit of background to know what I needed to do. I'm firmly convicted to help who Jesus called "the least of these."

I gave him some money and told him not to spend it all at once and save the change to get more meals tomorrow. He was excited to eat.

He probably isn't thinking about our interaction but I can't get it out of my head.

It's an interesting teaching moment for my older son. He has seen me talk to homeless people several times. He listens to me talk to them and asks me questions about why they are the way they are. Most of the time they never get my money but I'm never mean or disrespectful to them.

Everything went fine tonight and I was glad to help. I just felt like my questioning made the guy feel like he owed me something...and that made me feel like a jerk. You can bet when/if I see him again I'll have a meal with him and apologize. You can also bet he won't know what I'm even talking about.

I hate the weather here

I grew up in the greater Seattle area and I didn't mind it as a kid, but now I'm a bit annoyed by it. And what is "it" you ask? "It" is soggy weather.

It rains frequently in Seattle. You may have heard. But you may have also heard on Jeopardy or some smart-ass weatherman tell you that it really doesn't rain that much in Seattle and there are other areas of the country that get more rain. This point I won't argue.

Seattle doesn't get much accumulated rainfall but one area of rainfall I know we have everyone beat is in total hours of rainfall. It rains and drips and plops, drizzles, and showers...all different words for the same shitty weather. Seriously, it sucks.

It's been like this since November. Drizzly. Most of the time you're out in it and not even getting wet. It's just damp. Everything is constantly damp, all of the time. Little leagues and softball teams start off the season by postponing games and playing on infields with puddles. It's a bit warmer but always wet. Anything you do outside you do knowing that eventually you'll be cold and wet.

There is moss in the yard. Lots of it. The stuff is almost impossible to get rid of. If you do get rid of it in the spring you'll need to get rid of it again by the end of summer. It never totally goes away.

Intermittent wiper delay is a must in the Puget Sound region. It doesn't rain hard enough to justify having the wipers on before the windshield growls back at you as the moist blades drag across it. It's as if the wiper delay was designed by a Seattleite.

It's overcast almost all the time. No blue skies and almost no sun breaks. The winter drags on and drags you behind it. You sleepwalk through March and April and are greeted by hail storms and occasional snow flurries and more rain. Holy Crap more rain...you're sick of it but it just keeps coming down.

Then the first couple of warm sunny days arrive. High 60's and sun with blue skies and very few high clouds. The dreary skies and musty smells give way to great spring smells and you can actually hear birds. A sort of sun silliness takes over with all of the sunlight and you're tempted to forget what the last 7 months were like.

But I didn't forget. I remember what every last stupid soggy day was like. I remember all the days I wanted to do something but didn't want to wear a body condom to stay dry. If you say "The weather around here isn't all that bad really" I'm going to punch you in the face.

I'm waiting for the warm part of Spring and hoping that Summer will be warm and pleasant. If it's not then look out...I may be coming to a town near you.

I witnessed a car accident

You can never know what will be a part of your morning routine.

At an intersection I see every morning I saw a traffic accident involving a roofing truck and a compact car. It was a classic fail to yield turning left and got t-boned sort of accident.

I was the first one at the accident scene and looked over the car to make sure there was no gas leak or fire and then I checked on the lady who was in the compact car that was REALLY smashed up. I found myself yelling "are you okay?" several times to what appeared to be a lifeless body. "Help is on the way!" I yelled. "I'm right here, everything will be okay." I didn't know if I believed it but I wanted to be comforting given that I didn't know what was going on.

It only took about 2 or 3 minutes before police and fire rescue showed up but just before I heard the first siren she opened her eyes. I felt such a relief and I talked to her more with a little more confidence.

An hour or so ago I got a nice email from her thanking me for staying there with her and being an official witness to the accident. I was stunned to hear from the police department that in this busy intersection I was the only one who stepped forward to say what they saw.

I don't want to be too cynical and say that nobody cared because it wasn't true. There were several calls to 911 that had help on the way quickly. I think in the age of cameras everywhere people naturally think that the facts about an incident like that will be discovered without a real person's testimony.

One thing I learned from this was that even though I was nothing but someone there to be supportive, the lady in the car said that it made a difference and she was very scared. Her husband learned of the accident from the car's communication system telling the monitoring company she had been in a collision. He was glad that someone was right there with her after the accident.

I guess aside from the 911 calls and cameras there is still a role for people. I wanted make sure she was okay and felt powerless to do anything but never counted on making a difference just by being there. I'm not a hero by a long shot and I'm not even pretending to be, but I'm glad I was there and that being there helped somehow.

Pepsi Throwback is here to stay!

I know you don’t care.

I know most people don’t care.

I enjoyed Pepsi so much as a child that just thinking about it in a glass with that sort of crunchy barrel shaped ice is enough to make me cry.  You laugh?  You laugh at me?  DO I LAUGH AT YOUR DREAMS?  I do, you’re right…but I’m a jerk.

I rarely drink a sugary pop that often anymore but when I do, I’m reaching for Pepsi Throwback until it’s discontinued again or some knucklehead in a boardroom changes the formula to something similar to the more conventional taste of fizzy ass tonic now occupying Pepsi bottles.

You go ahead and laugh at me,  see if I care.  For this has been the happiest I’ve been all day.

Wisconsin

For some reason every job I've had the last 15 years has sent me to Wisconsin. I've been a few times and I'm going back this April.

The reason I'm going back is to attend a Financial Management conference scheduled months and months ago with regard to schools. It will be fun to hear about how they're handling things in that state given the protests in the Capitol building.

One thing that I find pretty interesting as I watch is the deliberate attempt to put a halt to business by breaking their quorum rules. Right now their state Senate assembly can only operate as a committee. Could you imagine if Federal lawmakers in Washington DC left the country to stop the healthcare bill?

Breaking a quorum to stop business is a normal parliamentary trick that is used but it's only real helpful when there are time limits set to certain types of business. The idea is that you can just wait out business based on rules that the assembly uses but in this case the legislation will wait and in fact since the remaining legislature exists as the only operating committee they are forfeiting all of the priorities of the assembly over this one issue. The democrats to fled the state are counting on protesters to bully the remaining assembly into changing their mind.

Overall this may be a good thing as the legislature can't "fix" all of their state's other problems. Maybe a shutdown of government will help people understand how little they need it most of the time.

CPAC

I could never go to CPAC. I know this to be true of myself. When I find myself in the same room with nutbar conservatives I get very uncomfortable. Hell, sometimes I'm uncomfortable hanging around other libertarians as there is usually one that jabs his elbow into my ribs and says "You know 9/11 was an inside job, right?"

So anyway, Ron Paul won the straw poll. He got 30% of the votes and you know what it means? It means that his Campaign for Liberty did a good job of organizing people to go to CPAC because paleo-conservatives and libertarians love pissing off neo-conservatives. I know...it sounds crazy to mention all these fringe groups in the same sentence, but it's true.

Ron Paul cannot win the election and more importantly cannot win a Republican primary. Too many Republicans want our military might bossing the world around, a fence to keep Mexicans in Mexico (unless they're watching their kids or doing their laundry) and of course they want gay people back in the closet...especially gay people in their own party. Insane.

The real news is that a relatively unknown candidate who introduced himself to CPAC came in a distant 3rd place with 6% of the vote. A guy who I endorsed in December of 2009. I like Gary Johnson and if he runs he will get my vote...no matter what Ron Paul decides to do.

Ron Paul should not run because he actually has a role to play in congress. His job there at a significant time in this nation is just too important. We need more sensible Republicans in congress like Ron Paul...and fewer like the current Speaker of the House.

I'll be posting on a bunch of non-political stuff soon...promise.

Well hey there!

I was never really gone, just lost my way.

I've changed up a lot of things on the home front and am trying to get used to some transitions.

1. I've been out of the Microsoft environment now for quite awhile and have been using Ubuntu more at home. I've just now replaced about everything I was doing in the Windows world. My motivations are really more economical than they are some sort of binary revolution. This is the first distribution of Linux I've used that doesn't make me say "how neat...now I'll go back to Windows and get some work done." Like always it's free and if you make a boot up disc you can just try it out on the disc without installing it on your system. It may interest you though it's probably not for everyone in the PC world.

2. Having 2 kids is more work than I thought. Let me put it a different way. Being better than my own parents has turned out more difficult...mailing it in as a parent is rather easy. I'm doing my best not to do so.

3. Politics has been rather boring lately. Same old story. Welfare/warfare rolls on...but I'm watching the newly elected federal officials and have found a couple of things to be pretty exciting. Al Franken and Rand Paul have been talking and getting along swimmingly and Ralph Nader and Ron Paul have talked about the need for a Progressive/Libertarian coalition. This could really help carve out a debate about the role of government should be in this country.

4. A federal judge amazingly ruled that not engaging in commerce is well...not commerce. Imagine that!

5. We've put the Dave and Steve Show on hiatus while we're working on other projects (Dave is working on being fancy animator, Steve is opening a hot dog stand, and my Business Analyst job rolls on while I'm pounding out a new writing project that I'll share later.

Anyway, I missed you. You know who you are.

Another Korean War?

The news seems to indicate that North Korea is agitated and shelled an island in the Yellow Sea along part of the disputed border on the peninsula.

So what had them agitated? Besides the fact that they are looking to make a transition from one psycho dictator to another, they seemed to want to send a message in response to another event.

The US and South Korea were doing their own military and naval exercises earlier hoping to send some sort of message. Now that the North has shelled a few houses we've responded by sending a aircraft carrier task force to the region.

I've said for years that if you want to find a war, send your navy out into the sea and they'll find one for you. Now as the situation remains tense, we're only one accident or misunderstanding from it escalating into a war on a small highly populated peninsula.

Of course we're told that we can't remain neutral because we have too much as stake. But somehow China has remained neutral despite being a neighbor to the region and would more than likely would be a host to millions of refugees if a war broke out. With more at stake they seem to understand that staying out of it may be a good idea.

South Korea has a GDP ten times that of North Korea. If they were able to defend themselves without our intervention, I would imagine that North Korea would never attack them for fear of being completely destroyed.

On the bright side it may spark a brand new M*A*S*H sitcom.

So, how did the election go?

I cast a vote on my ballot for only a single candidate and he's hanging on by a thread as more votes roll in. I'm sad to say that the returns indicated that my cat did not win a single race for which he was a write-in. Chairman Meow is already over it.

Prop 19 in California failed and this saddened me quite a bit. It's only a matter of time before it passes in some state.

In my state we seem to like state-run liquor stores. I voted to allow liquor to be sold in public schools and daycare centers but it failed.

My state elected a pro warfare/welfare senator (Patty Murray) who is just an embarrassment in so many ways. She ran against Dino Rossi who is a neocon flavored warfare/welfare candidate. I had nobody to vote for on this one and on many as my party is routinely shut out of ballots due to election laws in my state.

I voted against the introduction of an Income Tax in my state and it was soundly defeated. I'm against an income tax on principle. Taxing someone's productive effort to survive is immoral in my view. It was sold to voters as a tax on the rich (accurately) but as Washington State will no doubt suffer from more budget crises in the future, I can only imagine the eligible marginal rates dropping until I find myself paying both an income and sales tax.

Barney Frank was elected again and I couldn't be happier. He is the one Democrat not named Dennis Kucinich that will state very plainly where federal spending can be cut. The Pentagon may hate him but I'd vote for him.

Excise taxes on candy and soda were repealed in Washington state. I voted to repeal it though I had no passion about it. It's a fair tax probably.

Rand Paul won and he could be an interesting senator. Even many liberal blogs who spent the night and next day after the election whining could at least admit that Rand Paul's views on civil liberties, gay marriage, and the drug war could be a bright side. I hope Rand responds more like a libertarian than the paleo-conservative that won the election.

Oh, and while everyone is still talking about the election, the Federal Reserve introduced QE2 to centrally stimulate idle resources in the economic structure. I'd take bets with anyone who thinks the quantitative easing will amount to a lasting recovery, but you'll need to pony up with gold. Economic jokes are so lame.

I'm looking forward to the blessed gridlock that is sure to come. It worked for Clinton, and it will work for Obama too...prepare for the results from this last election to usher in the reelection of President Obama in 2012.

Nullification

There seems to be a reshaping of our republic going on lately with citizens of many states showing themselves as uncomfortable with the size and scope of government. 

Now I know just using the phrase “size and scope” of government seems like John Birch Society bunker dwelling language but in the modern age of government creep, the idea is reaching across the left/right political spectrum.

Sure 20 states have given the go ahead to sue the federal government on the basis that elements of Obamacare is not constitutional.  What would you expect from a bunch of right-wing nutjobs anyway, right? 

But now California has put on the ballot an initiative to legalize marijuana.  Now forget about the compassion argument of allowing California’s sick and infirmed access to the weed, we’re talking about full-on legalization.  Just putting this on the ballot is giving the citizens the choice of whether they want to abide by a federal law or not.  This sort of democracy is not exactly the sort of right of center thinking you’d expect from those openly questioning the “size and scope” of government.  President Obama’s administration has stated in a preemptive strike that they will “aggressively” enforce the Federal Controlled Substance laws no matter how California may decide to vote.

Thomas Woods wrote what I consider to be the best modern day discussion of Nullification and discusses it here in this video Interview with a Zombie.  Woods breaks through the popular notions that nullification is just a veiled term used to give cause for bigots to deny rights to some vulnerable minority.

Our federal government has over reached into our lives to such idiotic proportions that they’ve made enemies on both the left and the right.  And while that’s not necessarily surprising, it is however very surprising that those on the left and right are actually doing something about it.

More help from the Fed!

While China and Japan fight over who should top of the list of US Treasury Bills, there is a 3rd challenger making its way toward the top…The Federal Reserve itself!

The higher the Fed goes up on this list the less likely anyone else is finding a US Treasury Bill inviting.  There is only so far China is willing to devalue their own currency to keep pace with ours.  Ya know about that right?  The reason you can only buy things made in China is because, as our own currency loses its value, they become one of the few countries that matches our own devaluation. 

In a healthy economy if our currency became devalued it would be CHEAPER to build things in the USA.  Countries would see our value and relatively skilled workforce as an invitation to build their products by American workers but when China is your banker…you never really catch up as a country…even when your money buys less.

Now that in the last two years of the Bush administration and the first two of Obama’s we’re experiencing our once every three decade reminder that Keynesian economics fails about every time it’s tried.

And while I’m already not looking forward to hearing all of my so-called progressive friends whine and doing their best Henny Penny impression when so many Democrats are going to lose in November…I simply don’t see many of our countries idiotic monetary policies stopping.  

Don’t worry, I’m sure the geniuses at the Fed will figure it all out.

Provoking Muslims to Violence

President Obama stated correctly that as a practical matter, and as Commander-in-Chief the nobody Florida pastor who shepherds a giant flock of 55 people will likely put our troops in harms way if he continues with his stunt to burn the Muslim Holy Book.

Now never mind that they may already be incited to violence because of other things like:

• US Troops on the Arabian Peninsula
• Unmanned predator drones flying over Muslim countries
• Propping up unelected dictators of Muslim countries
• Secret international prisons
• Provoking Iran continually

But no, Mr. Obama actually magnifies a situation that would probably be ignored by the entire world.  As distasteful as burning things in protest is, it is a protected right.  After all, only distasteful acts require protecting.  But what right does this president or the last one have to engage in the list above on behalf of the American people?

You’re right Mr. Obama.  The actions of this stupid pastor in Florida will spark unnecessary international violence…but probably not as much violence as you spark in a single day. 

Our brave non-combat troops still fighting in Iraq

It hasn’t been very long since the last combat brigade has left Iraq and now American troops transition forces were left to defend an Iraqi military compound which was invaded by evil doers.

Still, the deadline for all US Troops to leave Iraq is 2012.  It’ll be interesting to see if that really does happen. 

Congratulations Canada!

I’m so proud of our progressive, globally conscious, and all around awesome neighbors to the north who made the brave and forward looking decision to stop spilling their poo poo and pee pee into the waters of my state.

Congratulations Canada, welcome to the 20th Century.

2nd Phase of Fake End of War Complete

The US just completed its second fake end to the war in Iraq and invented a new type of soldier known as the "Transition Soldier".

If you remember from Bush's speech on the USS Lincoln, he declared an end of "major combat operations" which was a necessary step to usher in troops from nations who agreed to go into Iraq in a new phase. We know how that went.

Now we're declaring that the last combat troops have left Iraq and crossed over into Kuwait. Hooray. Maybe they'll be redeployed to Afghanistan, but maybe not. But one problem still persists:

One of the major reason Bin Laden indicated for his continuing attacks on the US was our military presence on the Arabian peninsula, something not resolved by moving a brigade to Kuwait.

Are we any more safe with troops in Kuwait rather than Iraq? If an insurgency grows once again in Iraq is there any question that our troops will quietly return? Is this really the troop withdrawal everyone was counting on?

I just hope this is the last fake end of the war we have to celebrate.

What? Afghanistan going poorly?

I'm shocked.

Thanks to Wikileaks we're learning that even after flushing 1 billion dollars of foreign aid down the craphole that is Pakistan, their spy services are directing the Afghan insurgents with information to fight against U.S. troops.

Maybe 2 billion would get them to stop? 3 billion maybe?

Of course we have to be there in Afghanistan. How else will these poor souls, learn to have democracy unless we are there to occupy their country and eventually steal their lithium deposits.

Two years in to the Obama administration and try as I may I simply can't hear any muttering from the once active anti-war left. If any of you really are against war like you claimed then it's about time to break out your NO WAR FOR OIL LITHIUM signs.

...but on second thought you're probably still trying to figure out how to explain the most recent failures of Keynsian economics. Nevermind. In the long run we're all dead, right?

Finally a sensible policy discussion

Ron Paul and Barney Frank are engaging in a type of bi-partisan effort I couldn't be more in favor of. A reduction in federal spending to the tune of 1 Trillion dollars!

What's the catch?

It's a proposal to reduce military spending.

Many of you are already shaking your heads because military spending is off the table. To suggest cutting it is dismissed as irresponsible, unpatriotic, reckless and whatever other descriptions are thrown at the idea without even a thoughtful argument to accompany it. But here is a reality that can't really be argued: Our country is broke.

A good military spending reduction policy will not be to remove important weapons systems, but instead remove troops from hundreds of countries around the world. Yeah, yeah...I know some of you are foreign policy zombies and your knee just jerked up and hit the bottom of the desk where you're sitting as you screamed out the words "YOU'RE AN ISOLATIONIST!" Maybe it would help to give you a list of things to explore while discovering America's new role in this phase of economic disaster.

1. True Isolationism is borrowing so much foreign money that you can only afford to trade with countries that voluntarily devalue their own money. Importing from everywhere else becomes too expensive. We trade with fewer nations today than ever.

2. True isolationism is influencing trade on certain items by pressuring foreign nations with your navy and subsidizing dying industries at home. This was done prior to World War I and was called 'mercantilism". It failed then, it will fail again.

3. We station troops and our navy in Japan while they hold more US debt than any other nation. In short, we borrow from Japan to protect Japan.

4. National Guard units fighting overseas cannot assist in natural disasters or oil spills at home.

5. Being the policeman of the world is expensive in a country where true unemployment figures are hanging around 20%.

We need to come to our senses and realize that a 10 year program to reduce military spending by 1 Trillion Dollars is long overdue and needs to begin now.

Hey, I'm back

Took a month or so off to enjoy the arrival of my new son and try to sleep from time to time. Yeah, I know you missed me.

Congrats Mr. President

Your pledge to end the war in Iraq and bring 2 brigades of soldiers home each month until they were all home in 16 months was pretty much what I thought it was. You've been president 16 months now and every soldier removed from Iraq thus far has stayed in the region and replaced with more expensive military mercenaries contractors.

For every soldier that stays in the region we make five more enemies.

For every dollar of national defense spent overseas we weaken our overall defense and make Americans less safe.

Would've been nice if the "Hope" and "Change" we were promised meant a more reasonable foreign policy and not just tweaking the failed policies of Bush.

Turns out all cops aren’t heroes [UPDATED]

This area has seen some deaths among police officers and our whole region has been just worshiping these brave public servants. After all, whenever a police man is killed in the line of duty, it's never a bad cop that gets killed. It's always the mothers and fathers who were loved and respected in their community. Somehow the bad cops disappear or the media temporarily convinces everyone that they never really existed in the first place.

So now in Seattle, a freelance videographer, may have accidently discovered some bad cops. Watch it here.

I have no doubts that these officers have family too. I’m sure they have neighbors and friends who can claim that these public servants are upstanding citizens. These are the very cops our community would honor if they were hurt or killed while on duty.

I hope every one of these Costume Wearing City Sanctioned Thugs spends a great deal of time in jail for what they did to this person. I hope any officer who was close to this incident and didn’t try to stop this goes to jail too. These are the very people our community needs protection from. They are not heroes, they are criminals.

[UPDATE] The primary thug has now held a press conference (See here) and apologized for the racially insensitive remarks he made while he and his badged gang of heroes kicked the innocent latino while he was on the ground. Funny he never apologized for the assault which will hopefully put him in a cell of his own. I'm sure the apology has smoothed things over...I mean how can you not forgive people for calling you racially insenstive names while they're kicking you while you lay face down on a sidewalk?

Stop inviting me to your Tea Party

I’ve always believed that if you say no often enough to party invitations, then people will eventually stop inviting you. I’m not a person who likes parties and the Tea Party is no exception. Yet people still invite me.

I’m not coming to your Tea Party. Why you ask?

1. You’re intellectually dishonest about taxation and spending
2. You’re not sufficiently anti-war
3. You’re not serious about deficits
4. You’re mostly just Republicans
5. Some of you are disenchanted lefties with no friends

Like the guy who was the fan of the unsigned band that suddenly became popular, I was against spending before being a deficit hawk was popular. I was for civil liberties way before anyone was mad that they’d be forced to purchase medical insurance. I don’t own freedom’s greatest hits album…I have the original on 8-track and still listen to it from time-to-time. You guys are posers.

So please…stop inviting me to your party. I’m not coming.

So is it Constitutional? – Part 2

[updated: Now with complete sentences]

Arizona just passed a law that may require an individual suspected of being an illegal alien to prove citizenship or their legal right to be in the country. Is it Constitutional?

This one in my view isn’t very close. It is completely unconstitutional to ask someone to show their papers or even identify themselves if they’re not involved in an actual crime.

It’s funny how conservatives who claim to be against things like a National ID card, don’t have a problem with making someone who just may “look” like an illegal and therefore undocumented alien identify themselves.

I hope this is thrown out as quickly as the health insurance mandate.

The Fake Outrage about Stimulus Package Waste

I read in the news about every week some story about wasteful spending related to the stimulus packages from both Bush and Obama. If you had the chance to confront a politician about it you'd get some fake outrage about how terrible it is and they'll promise to look into it. You must understand though that if they voted for the stimulus funds believing that they would help the economy, they are LYING about their concern for how it was spent.

You have to understand first that anyone who supports this type of economic rescue plan does not believe there is such a thing as waste when it comes to stimulus. Every politician has an economist who is close to them and assures them that this money had to enter the economy somewhere, and it mostly doesn't matter where.

President Obama introduced his stimulus as being available for "shovel ready" jobs to assure you that people would go to work immediately, but we find out everyday that pieces of the whole plan were spent on some silly projects.

As Bastiat pointed out over a hundred years ago, people who believe in this type of economic system believe that even if you use the money to hire people to break windows, the glass man gets paid and when the glass man has money he will buy food and goods and services with it. For this reason Keynesian economists and the politicians they advise will only pretend to be outraged by where the money is spent.

The fatal mistake of these plans is that they ultimately put the financial money supply in the wrong places. This cannot be centrally planned. Instead they give resources to the politically connected at the expense of those who may use it productively. So if the money is spent to hire a guy to hold a shovel, resources for someone to build and manufacture a better shovel will be scarcer. Even well-meaning ideas like "green jobs" or some other centrally planned industry will put resources in a place that a free market won't...at least not yet.

Our nation's hope to pay back the debt we've been accumulating since the 1980's will come from either currency devaluation (pay back cheaper dollars than those we borrowed) or through increased productive capacity. It's doubtful we'll reach higher productivity with an economy supported by reinflated market bubbles waiting for the next round of government influenced mal-investment to be exposed.

I'd like to see some genuine outrage about the government's role in these recessions and less fake outrage over how their "rescue" plans were enacted.

Now wait a minute...

I thought only Right-wing Tea Baggers were capable of ridiculous, overblown, and dangerous rhetoric...and poorly made homemade signs. Could it be somehow that there are those on both the left and the right that are nuts? Or more to the point...being left or right is just plain nuts. Yeah, that's probably it.

Governor Gregoire = Less sucky

Washington Governor Christine Gregoire recently signed a bill yesterday which opens the way for a broader spectrum of healthcare professionals to prescribe medical marijuana to their patients. This is a hugely welcome sign of freedom that is truly compassionate on the most vulnerable and sick in our world. I commend her for it.

It is curious that she has railed against recent claims about "State's Rights" while she quietly enacted this law. This is also not being characterized as an act of defiance against the Federal Government and I wonder why. How can she legally sign a bill to open access to a controlled substance the Federal Government strictly prohibits? Is this any less of a 10th Amendment principled stand than say...our Attorney General joining the lawsuit against the Federal Government over the recent health care reform?

This is the type of bi-partisanship I love to see. Each side staking out their case to defend the liberties of the citizens of my state. I hope they're both successful.

Not Riverdale too!

As I get older I find myself saying things like "When I was a kid, this used to be a post office." and boring anyone who is polite enough to listen about what used to be what. The town I grew up in has grown quite a bit and honestly, most of the changes were in the last 15 years so it's not quite like I'm a grandpa on the porch swing cogitatin' on days gone by.

I was just reading an Archie's comic digest I picked up at the store the other day to see how the gang was doing. It seems that Riverdale now has a supermall complete with an indoor amusement park. When I was a kid there was just a malt shop and a few stores.

Now I know I'm old when I can point out that the fictional places of my life have undergone urban sprawl.

Well, is it constitutional?

In this whole thought experiment the answer to that question just isn't that easy to come up with. Now I know if you don't like the healthcare bill you already have decided that it is not constitutional. This is the knee-jerk reaction of partisans who respond to the political success of the hated other wing. I heard tons of similar arguments during the Bush years. Idiot Seattle progressives yacked all the time about how Bush was crapping on the constitution, and often they were right but they really didn't understand why.

Whether you agree or not with the bill, a challenge on the constitutionality of the law will need to be brought by someone who claims they have been damaged directly by it. They must have a case. This will not be possible for some time until the law has been enacted for awhile. The threats of lawsuits by a few State Attorney Generals is merely symbolic and probably a ploy for free publicity as they gear up a future run for governor.

The type of case will need to come from shareholders of an insurance company that may claim that they were ruined directly by the law. This will hardly be possible as the Federal Government can protect any insurance company from failure with an executive order. It may be brought by a doctor who claims that his disassociation from a 3rd party payor is infringed. Most certainly this is a reasonable claim, but will it be taken seriously by court that thinks the meaning of laws are as elusive as holding a water weiny? Once the law is in place and someone can be damaged by it...then and only then can someone bring a case on the slow journey through the federal courts on its way to the Supreme Court. The Court must consider the claim of someone damaged as they view any enacted law as the will of the people...whether you like it now or not.

As I've predicted over and over that President Obama will be re-elected, it is quite possible that in the year 2014 the Supreme Court will have that quaint living and breathing view of the law of the land. The kind of view that will make amendments obsolete because its words will evolve into the useful meaning of the day rather than original intent.

And by the way...this bill is not socialism. Not even close. This bill is just more good ol' fashioned Corporatism where the winners and losers will be chosen in DC. It's significant but hardly radical. Not nearly as radical as say...attacking a sovereign nation who never attacked you...just sayin'.

Oh, and a message to you angry GOP morons out there. Maybe you would've been more believable in this whole argument had you whined and protested like this during the Medicare prescription plan a few years ago that so many of you voted for. You expanded the state by throwing bill after bill at a president who didn't veto any proposed legislation until well into his second term. It's so frustrating to watch someone else expand the state while you have to just sit back and watch isn't it?

As for me, this bill is not compatible with The Constitution I've read. It is not compatible with that of a free society...but neither was the former system. I have a replica of the constitution on the wall in my downstairs bathroom. I joke constantly that I can tell what political party my friends belong to when they use that bathroom. The Democrats look at it and ask what it is and the Republicans try to use it for toilet paper.

So anyway, get used to it. It's the law and will be for a long time.

Hooray Ninth Circuit!

The Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals has been busy lately. News from this court is a mixed bag as they are known for being the most overturned circuit court in our country. Two different rulings from this court over the last week have given me some hope as it relates to freedom and liberty.

First, a seminarian (this is a dude training to be a Roman Catholic Priest) sued for overtime pay as his duties at the seminary, which included helping with mass, probably made his timesheet rather busy. The seminarian claimed that he was due compensation for time-and-a-half but the ninth circuit rightly ruled that he wasn't. Protecting the first amendment and his freedom of association (or diassociation) was key in ruling against him. He should try being Lutheran...just a suggestion.

Secondly, the court ruled in favor of the son of Texas oil tycoon Howard Marshall, who was married to Anna Nicole Smith back in 1994 after meeting him while working at a strip club. This one was tough as over 300 million dollars was up in the air. It either went to the oil tycoon's son or it went to the very young daughter of dead tycoon's wife who was also dead...whose only legal heir was her oldest son who was also dead. Seems like common sense prevailed and they decided to just let the tycoons keep their money. What's more American than that? It'd be nice if the tycoons setup a trust for the young girl just the same.

The 'No Earmark Pledge' is silly

The Democrats and Republicans are making an empty election year promise to not engage in the hated practice of congressional earmarks. Everyone hates it when someone else's congressman asks for a little of their district's money back in taxes. The dirty little secret is that it won't matter.

Now forget the argument that earmarks collectively don't make up much of the federal deficit. Let's just say that you agree in principle that any cutting in government is good and this pledge cuts at the heart of pork barrell projects. Even this so-called moral high-ground of principle won't cut even a single dollar in spending. But how can this be?

Earmarks don't add to spending, instead they say where spending will be prioritized. The congress will approve a budget that leaves in it room for discretionary spending. This is where the real problem is. Once it is in the approved budget, it's up to members of congress to start carving out where this money should be spent. So what will happen if no earmarks are submitted? One of two things will happen: The president will spend the money instead of congress or they will define in law what the proportion of spending will be by state and just allow for grants that can be applied for. How much money will be saved by either of these moves? Not a penny.

Don't be fooled by this. They're not interested in spending less and most of you don't want them to stop bringing home the bacon either. We should at least stop pretending that earmarks are the cause of all of our problems.

Another Income Tax? Not so fast.

My state legislature is working on an income tax proposal to help offset the huge budget hole Olympia is in. Apparently over the years we just haven't paid them enough taxes to do everything they want to do so they're simply going to need more.

It's not as if there is no support for it in this state though. Like almost every state, citizens here walk the irrational tight-rope of wanting fewer taxes, more services, and more laws enforced.

Washington state currently operates with a state-wide sales tax (food is exempt), a handful of excise taxes and property taxes. Each apportioned equally and every citizen subjected to the tax pays the same. In the minds of most on the western part of the state this is considered a regressive tax as it impacts the poor more because they may pay a larger portion of their income. It's hard to know if this is correct or not as normally the poor do not subject themselves to the sales tax associated with big ticket items...but I'm sure there's a statistic for it somewhere.

The current solution in Olympia is to lower the state's portion of the sales tax to 5.5% (from 6.5%) and impose a 4% income tax on people who earn an income of $200,000 annually. This will be attractive if it goes to voters...nevermind that if it passed this $200,000 figure would slide its way down to impact anyone necessary to pay for the next budget hole that will inevitably occur.

There's one glitch though. The law of our state probably won't allow this. Our state's constitution is horribly old fashioned when it comes to taxes. Courts have repeatedly upheld that income is property. The state's constitution requires that all taxes on property be apportioned. To expect a segment of society to pay 4% on their property and others to pay nothing isn't going to work without an amendment...which in this state could happen. Likely what will happen is that any bill will be amended to include a modest income tax on everyone until the amendment is passed. The important part is to get the income tax on the books...after that it's simply a matter of parliamentary procedure in a one-party state.

But in the meantime, I'm thankful that I have lived (if even temporarily) in a state where all taxation was voluntary and that I could choose whether or not I wanted to subject myself to any tax.

Why Charities are Dying

With the growth of government intervention over the last decade, the empty suggestion that private charities could step in and take back the role of helping the less fortunate is laughed at. Why does it have to be this way?

My mom was born in a charity hospital. Today there are no more charity hospitals left in my state. Were they forced out by giant corporations or an aggressive medical industry? Were they closed due to lack of funding or excess regulation?

Over the years, charity hospitals closed due to the Great Society legislation of Lyndon Johnson. In this legislation and expanding legislation since, the government can treat all hospitals like charity hospitals through programs like Medicaid. This isn't all bad on paper. A person can go to a hospital and get treated and if they qualify for a subsidy, they can get it. The hospital gets paid no matter if it's a county hospital or a Presbyterian hospital.

Charities are having a hard time competing against the government primarily because a charity can only spend what it collects as a foundation. The government can spend more than it collects and pretends that everyone enrolled in their programs are treated just like all citizens. Of course this isn't true.

Charities, unlike corporate businesses, are not allowed to have a learning curve for raising and allocating funds. A business is allowed to adjust their business model and even deny their investors a profit to shape their business. The first hint that a charity is not releasing a certain percentage of their funds and they're on the radar of their state's Attorney General. Perhaps a new taxable non-profit status would allow new charities to build powerful foundations for causes without the fear of unreasonable regulation.

Many doctors resent taking patients that are on government assistance. They know in advance they're not going to get paid for their costs. My mother who was born in the charity hospital and received treatment for polio in that same hospital today finds herself having problems finding a doctor who can treat her with post-polio syndrome under medicare. Her choices for doctors are very limited due to location and their acceptance of the insurance she is forced to have as a retired American citizen. How is that charitable? Most elderly people out there don't have children who insist that so-called government assistance is never an option for them.

There are charities out there battling away trying to help her and many have...but any shortfall is made up privately. And by privately I mean it's ME competing against bottomless government dollars.

Charities are slowly dying because they must compete against a government that doesn't even bother to count receipts anymore when they spend money on these programs that are designed to help people. Only when charities are able to forcefully make you donate to them, or print their own money will they ever play a significant role in America again. That's very sad and very true.

Apparently we can't afford it

Listening to the GOP responses in the Healthcare Summit was again laughable and demonstrated clearly that Republicans have no real principled ideas about how to solve the problem of healthcare prices.

They hemmed and hawed and reminded the president and the public that we simply can't afford his plan and we need to start over with a fresh debate. Why? Because they're stalling and waiting for the 2010 elections to happen where they are certain to be able to stop any plan from moving forward. Now what's wrong with this?

What I never heard from any Republican was that the Federal Government intervention in healthcare was not just a bad idea, but largely an immoral and inefficient way of using tax payer's money. What is wrong with reminding the public that it is fundamentally unbecoming of a free country to take money from citizens for the benefit of other individuals or corporations. What's wrong with reminding the public that only through peaceful exchange and voluntary association (on a level playing field) can prices remain low and quality increase? I'm sure it never entered their heads.

But instead, in a very empty argument, they complained about costs while these same jokers were responsible for endless deficits during the Bush years. If you used the same cost argument for the war in Iraq or Afghanistan you'd simply be dismissed as naive or unAmerican.

In 2010, our country will likely throw out one set of bums in exchange for another and claim again for a few months that they've really made a change. I'll believe it when I see it.

Census Schmensus

Aside from telling the US Census how many people live in my home and how many are of voting age, they're not likely to get any more information from me.

Is it because I think the government wants to spy on me? No, probably not. They're not that good at spying frankly...how good could they be? I mean they're relying on me to answer their questions. That's not good spying.

Is it because they will not protect my personal information? No, I think they'll keep it from say...my neighbors, people who read my blog, and people who are not smart enough to hack into the information.

So why am I not going to respond to the 2010 Census?

Simply because I don't like how they use the information. Whether you're a Conservative or a Liberal, you shouldn't either.

Hey Liberals, do you know that information collected from the Census Bureau was used to fight against a public option of health care?

Hey Conservatives, do you know that information collected from the Census Bureau was used to concentrate information to give more of your Income Tax to failing public schools...to which many of you don't send your own kids?

While they insist that they're protecting your information, they do not guarantee that your information won't be shared with other governmental agencies including law enforcement. If this is true, are you covered by the 5th Amendment by refusing to answer their personal questions that could be used against you later? They say you're not.

They insist that the Constitution gives them perfect authority to gather information by Census every 10 years but fail to remember that it was simply for counting us. Besides that point, they're sending information gatherers out monthly to collect data for things like the Consumer Confidence Index to find out what kind of things you're buying so central economic planners can figure out how to get you to spend more of your money in the name of the keeping a good economy.

They tell me next that if i don't respond my community may not be eligible for public funds. In other words I won't have access to YOUR wallet for the benefit of my community.

So...I'm not answering their stupid questions. I'm not interested in qualifying for your "public funds" to benefit from the fruit of your labor. I'm not interested in them playing political games with my information for left and right wing agendas. The Constitution authorizes the government to count us every 10 years so that our federal representation is properly apportioned. Nothing more.

Oh and one more thing: I didn't respond in 2000 either.

What 4th Amendment?

Of course you don't know what that amendment is. Why would you? It's usually the ones we can't remember that we take for granted and are generally protected well. It's the one that goes like this:

The right of the people to be secure in their persons, houses, papers, and effects, against unreasonable searches and seizures, shall not be violated, and no Warrants shall issue, but upon probable cause, supported by Oath or affirmation, and particularly describing the place to be searched, and the persons or things to be seized.

Basically government agents of force cannot search you or take your stuff unless they've convinced a judge to allow them to look for a specific thing. No open investigations allowed...just permission to look for specific evidence.

But now the Obama administration continues the hope and change express started by the Bush administration. They argue that warrantless tracking (of cell phones) is permitted by the constitution because American's "enjoy no reasonable expectation of privacy" when it comes to the tracking of their cell phones. They continue to argue that any information about yourself that is stored by a 3rd party (bank, school, doctor, church) is not protected by the 4th Amendment and that the government has every right to it.

The issue is before the 3rd Circuit Court.

Iraq to sue US and Britain

They'll never see a dime, but Iraq seeks compensation from the US and Britain over the rise in birth defects and cancer after we used depleted uranium bombs to force democracy on their nation.

Maybe if we pay them off with a huge settlement they'll finally welcome us as liberators.

Negative interest rates are coming

Logically it had to happen right? Artificially low interest rates are to stimulate the economy, but you can only hold them at zero for so long before people are already tired of hearing about a "jobless recovery". So how does negative interest rates work? The Federal Reserve in its wisdom will actually charge member banks for holding onto money. This will force them to lend at a time when the public isn't looking to borrow.

Didn't we just go through this? How are the banks going to lend money if no one is lining up for the loans? And how are they going to do it without being accused of predatory lending practices?

You may not know the economic term now, but if you watch the news over the next year you'll becomes familiar with it: Moral Hazard

Oh and one more charming thought...if you're on Social Security or another style of fixed income...you will become poorer this year while simply trying to tread water. This is how your benevolent overlords in Washington watch out for you. They dare not tax you during these economic woes, so instead they rob the value of the money you hold in your purse, wallet, or mattress.

Shame on this government, both Republicans and Democrats. A pox on both of their houses.

I got a radar detector for Christmas

I couldn't be happier with it.

I'm not a particularly fast driver. Many in my family say I drive too slowly, but I do drive alot of country back roads that have become aggressively enforced over the last year. With the dip in economy and the loss of revenue to local governments...apparently traffic safety has never been more important...and profitable.

I've seen on county roads motorcycle police standing in the middle of the road with a radar gun with chase cars on the radio nearby to pull over cars that come down a hill too fast. I figured I may as well even the score and just be warned of speed traps before I come up on them. I don't know if it has saved me from a ticket thus far but I have successfully been warned of law enforcement well before I could've seen them with the naked eye. This happens on a daily basis.

One thing that has surprised me is that I've come to find out there are more speed traps than I was ever aware of. Now when I see certain bands of radar being detected I look all around trying to find them. I've found them in places I pass by all the time, but they were hidden away unknown to me. It's become a game of "find the cop".

I think cars should come standard with them frankly (yes, I'm aware that they are illegal in Virginia and the District of Columbia) as they make you more aware of your speed. It could be argued that I drive closer to the speed limit now as I have a constant reminer of potential enforcement right there on the dash.

It has become little more than a game in the car than it has been getting away with anything, but I am enjoying it. If you've considered getting one I would recommend it. I may write more later on which model I'm using if anyone shows any interest.

Get ready for more 'change'

A vote for change in Massachusetts would've been to elect Joseph Kennedy (I) rather than simply electing another neo-con to the US Senate. Oh, I know...some of you are so happy that Ted Kennedy's seat didn't go to another self-anointed Democrat. Part of me is glad too...but in the end, more war, more deficits, more foreign intervention will now be the believed mandate from "the people's seat" of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts.

God help this country.

Finally!

Finally someone gets respectful treatment from a police officer despite aggressively resisting arrest.

Apparently a North Charleston woman had too much to drink and was caught doing 65 in a 40mph zone.  After a short chase she finally pulled over.  She mouthed off to the officers and even physically resisted arrest.  There was a scuffle that caused her to have a bloody lip but she was never tazed, beaten or threatened with a firearm.  Eventually charges were dropped and she was allowed to go home.  This woman's encounter with police is an example of how there are some cops out there that aren't interested in having a power trip in every encounter with the public.

Oh, did I mention the person they pulled over was an off-duty police officer?   That couldn't have had anything to do with it...could it?

You decide.

Police worship

I wrote last year about how the actions of rogue cops would end up eventually killing good cops. It's not been a good time to revisit this topic as in the Puget Sound area we're growing tired of all-day televised police funerals. One is being held again today, this time in the Tacoma Dome and will be attended by thousands.

In this area people are worshipping the police as "heroes who keep us safe" even though the courts have repeatedly held that it is not the job of the police to keep any individual free of harm. So while we mourn, we also rightfully pour money in to help the family(ies) left behind, usually with small children, any criticm of police is well...sort of poorly played.

I wish there was similar public support behind the victims of local police like Christopher Harris.

Happy New Year!

I can't believe it's been 10 years since I sat in my bunker with plenty of provisions and waited for Y2K to erupt.

Not a bad decade all in all. Here's my top 20 memorable moments in no particular order:

1. I got engaged.
2. I got married.
3. I got laid off 3 times.
4. I started a blog.
5. I bought a house.
6. I bought two cars.
7. I had probably about two dozen kidney stones.
8. I gained weight.
9. I lost weight.
10. I built a large retaining wall.
11. I have a son who I not only love, but like as well.
12. I wrote a book.
13. I rewrote a book.
14. I had my mom live in my living room for eight weeks.
15. Had a good cat...who died earlier this year.
16. I have an awesome wife (who I purposely don't mention on this blog).
17. I got to be part of a podcast that is rapidly growing in popularity.
18. I went to Yellowstone National Park.
19. Got to visit NYC before 9/11.
20. Went to Washington DC and saw everything possible.

So c'mon 2010...let's see what you got.

See you next year everybody!

Healthcare Bill

Merry Christmas America. I hope you like crap.

Meet Gary Johnson

This post sort of reminds me of one I made several years ago about Ron Paul.  I ran into Congressman Paul in the Commons House Office building in DC while visiting my congressman (Jay Inslee) and told Mr. Paul that if he ran for president, I would support him.  He laughed and then punched me in the face while DC Police tazed me repeatedly (I made up that part) but I only meant it as a compliment because I liked him so much but I knew he was not really electable.

Even among his relative popularity (New York Times best seller list, on Jay Leno, huge rallies) it was more about educating people about the role of liberty in their lives and exciting people about things that make this country awesome....like true tolerance, personal freedom and responsibility, and uh...junk like that.  But Ron is a congressman.  He has never governed.  While idealistic and provocative, some of his ideas don't always translate easily into action.  People want action, which makes non-intervention a challenge when so much of the action needs to be rolling back the harm that has been done over the years.

Allow me to introduce to you Gary Johnson.  Gary Johnson was governor of New Mexico for 8 years.  He ran as a Republican in a state that is largely Democrat dominated.  He governed in a border state and promoted immigration.  He lowered taxes.  He left the state government with fewer employees than when he started without firing a single one.  He reduced the priority of enforcing silly and expensive drug laws.  He's a normal guy that has to force himself to sound like a politician.  He angered his own party and was called “America’s most dangerous politician”. He is a libertarian. For me personally I agree with Gary Johnson more than I do Ron Paul on a number of key issues.

Gary Johnson is interested in running for president.  He has written a book and started a public advocacy committee which is customary when you're trying to raise your name recognition while pretending you’re not running for president.  Sadly, with all the early primaries you have to prepare for the next election before President Obama and his family celebrates their first Christmas in the White House.  So it has begun.

I plan to support Governor Gary Johnson for president if he decides to run and I don't care if he is able to win or not.  Lots of people run, but only one wins.  It’s been shown over and over again that many of those who lose, can make a larger impact than those who win. 

I've already stated that I believe President Obama will be re-elected no matter what happens in 2010. For me, the important thing is to put someone on the national stage who can give America confidence in freedom again.

Federal Mandates

Where in the laws of our republic is the Federal Government granted the power to mandate an individual to purchase anything? Just wondering.

I'm not sure what passes for weird anymore

Ben Bernanke is man of the year.

Obama wins the Nobel Peace Prize.

Palin rises to the national stage and quits the job that got her there.

The country will go bankrupt if it doesn't take over the healthcare industry.

Hillary Clinton has all but disappeared.

We use stealth drones over a country that has no radar...but people can see them.

Maybe it's just me.

Hey Mr. President

I'm still anti-war. Remember when it was cool to be against the war...ya know...until YOUR guy became in charge of it?

Where is the anti-war left these days? Turns out they've found that war can be useful, hell...maybe even fun when you're wing of the political spectrum is leading the charge.

What I heard tonight was a guy who thinks the world is a better place when we use force of arms to spread democracy. I heard that our country is safer when we impose our military might on over a hundred countries on the planet. I heard Woodrow Wilson, Harry Truman and yes...George W. Bush.

Hey Mr. President! Your aims in Afghanistan are a fool's errand. It may not be fashionable anymore to tell people that our country is less safe when we over extend our military presence in the world but I'm going to keep doing it. It may not be popular to tell people that we can't force democracy and freedom on people...that liberty must be fought for by the people who seek it...but I haven't changed my mind.

I will tell every fool that voted for you (and I know plenty of them) that you all can send YOUR children to fight in Afghanistan, but you will not send mine. Many an empire has come to end fighting in that land for no good reason. I love my country too much to see American lives and treasure going to waste there.

Hey Mr. President, bring our soldiers home.

Thomas Woods [video]

It's always worth watching an iconoclastic historian. Enjoy!

You can take it to the bank huh?

Happy Birthday Mom

Today is my mom's 85th birthday. She's had a tough year regaining strength from a partial hip replacement, spending 8 weeks in a rehab facility, another 8 weeks at my house relearning how to walk...countless sessions of physical therapy and battling the memory problems that occur from having anesthetic at that age. She's back to reasonably good health now and deserves a good day.

Happy 85th mom!

Veteran's Day

Thanks to this November 11th holiday being renamed to Veteran's Day, the American people lose sight of the history of this day.

To all of you that look at Iraq and Afghanistan as the most horrific foreign policy debacle in our country's history, you'd probably be surprised to know that 2 million of your untrained great grandfathers were sent to Europe to fight in a war that was almost already over. In about a year, over 116,000 U.S. soldiers were killed in Europe primarily so Woodrow Wilson could have a seat at the bargaining table as the war was ending.

As the war ended the United States helped hold Germany responsible for the war. The treaty ended with Germany being responsible for paying large sums of money to other European countries. Germany was never able to pay back this money and ended up borrowing it from the United States. When they weren't able to borrow anymore they inflated their currency and caused a complete economic breakdown that ushered in the need for nationalistic leadership and eventually a second world war.

The War ended on the 11th hour of the 11th day of the 11th month. All other participant countries in this war call today Remembrance Day or Armistice Day.

Remember a Vet today and thank them for their service but also remember the pain and suffering caused when our leaders needlessly seek adventure abroad with our uniformed sons and daughters.

30 Minutes

If you have it and care to listen...you can listen to Episode #88b of The Dangly Bits Show. Just stream it from the post. The The Dave and Steve Show is sort of my non-politics hobby on the interwebs. New shows every Tuesday and Friday.

No politics. PG-13. Have fun.

Who won last night

The swing was to the right. NY 23 aside it was pretty obvious that where it could swing, it did swing. With this I have to say it's pretty obvious who won:

President Obama

His approval ratings are still at 50% and there's a chance that the 2010 off election could be a measured disaster for his party...and having seen this before I can tell you exactly what that means.

It means the country still likes Obama and they like his optimism for America. If the country has misgivings about everything he stands for they will keep him in office and protect themselves with a bit more gridlock. I still believe that the great unwashed of independent voters in this country are satisfied with gridlock. Hell, I'd settle for it too.

If the Dems lose in large numbers in 2010 it means that Obama will be reelected easily. And given what the alternative may be, it may not be such a bad thing. He's been widely blamed for being radical though he has allowed congress (or congressional lobbyists more correctly) to write the healthcare bill(s). He has not been heavy handed with big egos in either party. He has backed off from any real changes in foreign policy and still pursues much of the aims of the Bush administration, although more intelligently. So what's the big deal about a full eight years of President Obama? Is it really so different that we can't survive?

So, I voted.

...and wow...in general it was a waste of time.

Oh I know...I fulfilled my civic duty...casting a vote for the two flavors of intervention that have been sanctioned as choices for me. I suppose I should be proud.

I'm not an interventionist though. I don't believe only those on the left or only those on the right have a monopoly on intervention. Whether it be over my behavior in my own home or in my wallet, both interventionist parties claim they know how much freedom I should have and how I should behave with what freedom they leave me.

I can't even vote for non-interventionists since my state has locked them out of the ballot. Non-interventionists don't believe in participating in publicly funded primaries and therefore don't appear on the primary ballot. Since they don't appear on the primary ballot they also don't appear on the general election ballot. Nice huh?

I don't even have the right to vote for someone who I'm told over and over has no chance to win...and even if I'm "wasting my vote" I'm not allowed to anymore. I can only cast a vote for someone who wants to intervene in my life.

So aside from the voter Initiative and Referendum that was on my ballot I cast a vote for write-in and left the line blank...since they won't count my write-in either.

Seriously...unless you actually file as a write-in candidate, any vote cast for someone who is not a registered write-in candidate will not be counted.

This must be all the freedom soldiers are dying for these days.

Instead I vote for a blank write-in so that my ballot isn't taken and filled in for me fraudulently since it would be under-voted for almost all of the races. So it turns out the only thing I have power over is to protect my ballot from fraud.

So yeah, I voted. Big deal. I tip my hat to those of you who didn't bother.

Politics has been boring lately

It's been great! Congress can't get anything done and they seem stuck on deciding on which failed policy to support...Republicans are offering nothing substantive and are only promising to vote "NO" on everything.

If the Democrats do indeed lose ground in the 2010 Congressional election we'll see the kind of gridlock that could make the dollar and economy recover.

My political wishlist would look like this:

1. No Federal public option for health insurance.
2. No more troops to Afghanistan.
3. No more contractors to Iraq to replace soldiers redeployed to Afghanistan.
4. Reduce spending and allow the dollar to take a breath.
5. Raise interest rates...please.

and...

I want President Obama to start focusing on the college basketball season.

Obama is thinking over Afghan Strategy

Since he's taking his time on this I'm really interested in what his final decision is going to be. My prediction:

We're sending more troops, but with a new style of uniform.

New Navy Slogan

This really gave me the creeps from the first time I saw it.



You can tell in this recruiting propaganda poster that our days of world intervention are far from over. I wonder how long our government believes this "force" for good will stay that way when they won't be able to pay them.

Buying Peace Futures

I don't have a problem with the President winning the Nobel Peace Prize. I think most people look at it like a bad call in a football game that favors your team...you realize it's lame but you still have to take advantage of it to be meaningful.

I think this is a nice way to demonstrate that the greatest potential for peace comes through President Obama. Does he deserve it? No, but he can potentially earn it.

Maybe he can reduce troops in Iraq significantly and stop replacing the soldiers with government contractors with guns.

Maybe he can stop the occupation of Afghanistan --The graveyard of empires.

Maybe he can stop war with Iran and even resist the temptation of levying worthless sanctions against them that only hurts the most vulnerable people there.

Maybe he'll want to earn this award and not consider it a free-ride to use the military to satisfy some strange sense of foreign adventurism like our previous president.

Maybe the Nobel Peace Prize will mean something once again. Yeah, I doubt it too.

The smartest conservative remaining.

No, not Bill Kristol...just watch.