Welcome Back, Now Get To Work...

Welcome back to work, America! I hope you enjoyed your day off. I sure did!

But, now it is time to get back to work because your portion of the federal deficit is $35,000! Wait until 2012 -- you're portion doubles to $70,000 by then.

The fed is going to expect you, the taxpayer, to come up with your share. Well, that is unless you're not one of those idiots out there like me, working so you can give away a total of 50% of your income in income taxes, and sales taxes, and car taxes, and gas taxes, and phone taxes, and pretty soon, I am sure, breathing taxes.

Don't worry, though, that $70,000 figure is based on numbers that are completely skewed and inaccurate that were contrived to undersell you on how much your portion really is, so chances are, you're probably into the fed's debt for much more than $70,000 by 2012.

While you're stewing on the fact that 50% of all that you earn, on average, America, goes to some form of tax (research it, keep track when you pay your bills and buy gas, and you're gonna be surprised), here is a list of all of the banks that got your money and are now going to be sticking it to you with higher interest rates on any debt that you have with them because America has not given them enough already:

10/28/2008 Wells Fargo & Co. San Francisco Calif. $25,000,000,000
10/28/2008 State Street Corp. Boston Mass. $2,000,000,000
10/28/2008 Bank of America Corp.1 Charlotte N.C. $15,000,000,000
10/28/2008 JPMorgan Chase & Co. New York N.Y. $25,000,000,000
10/28/2008 Citigroup Inc. New York N.Y. $25,000,000,000
10/28/2008 Morgan Stanley New York N.Y. $10,000,000,000
10/28/2008 Goldman Sachs Group Inc. New York N.Y. $10,000,000,000
10/28/2008 Bank of New York Mellon Corp. New York N.Y. $3,000,000,000
11/17/2008 Regions Financial Corp. Birmingham Ala. $3,500,000,000
11/17/2008 UCBH Holdings Inc. San Francisco Calif. $298,737,000
11/17/2008 Bank of Commerce Holdings Redding Calif. $17,000,000
11/17/2008 Broadway Financial Corp. Los Angeles Calif. $9,000,000
11/17/2008 SunTrust Banks Inc. Atlanta Ga. $3,500,000,000
11/17/2008 Northern Trust Corp. Chicago Ill. $1,576,000,000
11/17/2008 Provident Bancshares Corp. Baltimore Md. $151,500,000
11/17/2008 U.S. Bancorp Minneapolis Minn. $6,599,000,000
11/17/2008 TCF Financial Corp.2 Wayzata Minn. $361,172,000
11/17/2008 BB&T Corp. Winston-Salem N.C. $3,133,640,000
11/17/2008 1st FS Corp. Hendersonville N.C. $16,369,000
11/17/2008 Valley National Bancorp Wayne N.J. $300,000,000
11/17/2008 KeyCorp Cleveland Ohio $2,500,000,000
11/17/2008 Huntington Bancshares Columbus Ohio $1,398,071,000
11/17/2008 Umpqua Holdings Corp. Portland Ore. $214,181,000
11/17/2008 First Horizon National Corp. Memphis Tenn. $866,540,000
11/17/2008 Comerica Inc. Dallas Texas $2,250,000,000
11/17/2008 Zions Bancorporation Salt Lake City Utah $1,400,000,000
11/17/2008 Capital One Financial Corp. McLean Va. $3,555,199,000
11/17/2008 Washington Federal Inc. Seattle Wash. $200,000,000
11/17/2008 Marshall & Ilsley Corp. Milwaukee Wis. $1,715,000,000
11/21/2008 City National Corporation Beverly Hills Calif. $400,000,000
11/21/2008 Pacific Capital Bancorp Santa Barbara Calif. $180,634,000
11/21/2008 Heritage Commerce Corp. San Jose Calif. $40,000,000
11/21/2008 First PacTrust Bancorp, Inc. Chula Vista Calif. $19,300,000
11/21/2008 Nara Bancorp, Inc. Los Angeles Calif. $67,000,000
11/21/2008 Webster Financial Corporation Waterbury Conn. $400,000,000
11/21/2008 Centerstate Banks of Florida Inc. Davenport Fla. $27,875,000
11/21/2008 Ameris Bancorp Moultrie Ga. $52,000,000
11/21/2008 Taylor Capital Group Rosemont Ill. $104,823,000
11/21/2008 Porter Bancorp Inc. Louisville Ky. $35,000,000
11/21/2008 Boston Private Financial Holdings, Inc. Boston Mass. $154,000,000
11/21/2008 Severn Bancorp, Inc. Annapolis Md. $23,393,000
11/21/2008 Trustmark Corporation Jackson Miss. $215,000,000
11/21/2008 First Niagara Financial Group Lockport N.Y. $184,011,000
11/21/2008 Western Alliance Bancorporation Las Vegas Nev. $140,000,000
11/21/2008 First Community Corporation Lexington S.C. $11,350,000
11/21/2008 HF Financial Corp. Sioux Falls S.D. $25,000,000
11/21/2008 First Community Bankshares Inc. Bluefield Va. $41,500,000
11/21/2008 Banner Corporation Walla Walla Wash. $124,000,000
11/21/2008 Cascade Financial Corporation Everett Wash. $38,970,000
11/21/2008 Columbia Banking System, Inc. Tacoma Wash. $76,898,000
11/21/2008 Heritage Financial Corporation Olympia Wash. $24,000,000
11/21/2008 Associated Banc-Corp Green Bay Wis. $525,000,000
12/5/2008 Superior Bancorp Inc. Birmingham Ala. $69,000,000
12/5/2008 Manhattan Bancorp El Segundo Calif. $1,700,000
12/5/2008 East West Bancorp Pasadena Calif. $306,546,000
12/5/2008 Cathay General Bancorp Los Angeles Calif. $258,000,000
12/5/2008 CVB Financial Corp Ontario Calif. $130,000,000
12/5/2008 Bank of Marin Bancorp Novato Calif. $28,000,0002
12/5/2008 Oak Valley Bancorp Oakdale Calif. $13,500,000
12/5/2008 Coastal Banking Company, Inc. Fernandina Beach Fla. $9,950,000
12/5/2008 TIB Financial Corp Naples Fla. $37,000,000
12/5/2008 FPB Bancorp, Inc. Port St. Lucie Fla. $5,800,000
12/5/2008 United Community Banks, Inc. Blairsville Ga. $180,000,000
12/5/2008 MB Financial Inc. Chicago Ill. $196,000,000
12/5/2008 First Midwest Bancorp, Inc. Itasca Ill. $193,000,000
12/5/2008 Old National Bancorp Evansville Ind. $100,000,0002
12/5/2008 Blue Valley Ban Corp Overland Park Kan. $21,750,000
12/5/2008 Iberiabank Corporation Lafayette La. $90,000,0002
12/5/2008 Central Bancorp, Inc. Somerville Mass. $10,000,000
12/5/2008 Eagle Bancorp, Inc. Bethesda Md. $38,235,000
12/5/2008 Sandy Spring Bancorp, Inc. Olney Md. $83,094,000
12/5/2008 Old Line Bancshares, Inc. Bowie Md. $7,000,000
12/5/2008 Great Southern Bancorp Springfield Mo. $58,000,000
12/5/2008 Southern Missouri Bancorp, Inc. Poplar Bluff Mo. $9,550,000
12/5/2008 Southern Community Financial Corp. Winston-Salem N.C. $42,750,000
12/5/2008 Bank of North Carolina Thomasville N.C. $31,260,000
12/5/2008 Unity Bancorp, Inc. Clinton N.J. $20,649,000
12/5/2008 State Bancorp, Inc. Jericho N.Y. $36,842,000
12/5/2008 First Defiance Financial Corp. Defiance Ohio $37,000,000
12/5/2008 Central Federal Corporation Fairlawn Ohio $7,225,000
12/5/2008 Southwest Bancorp, Inc. Stillwater Okla. $70,000,000
12/5/2008 Popular, Inc. San Juan Puerto Rico $935,000,000
12/5/2008 South Financial Group, Inc. Greenville S.C. $347,000,000
12/5/2008 First Financial Holdings Inc. Charleston S.C. $65,000,000
12/5/2008 Encore Bancshares Inc. Houston Texas $34,000,000
12/5/2008 Wesbanco Bank Inc. Wheeling W.Va. $75,000,000
12/5/2008 Sterling Financial Corporation Spokane Wash. $303,000,000
12/12/2008 Bank Of the Ozarks Inc. Little Rock Ariz. $75,000,000
12/12/2008 SVB Financial Group Santa Clara Calif. $235,000,000
12/12/2008 Center Financial Corp. Los Angeles Calif. $55,000,000
12/12/2008 Wilshire Bancorp Inc. Los Angeles Calif. $62,158,000
12/12/2008 First Litchfield Financial Corp. Litchfield Conn. $10,000,000
12/12/2008 Wilmington Trust Corp. Wilmington Del. $330,000,000
12/12/2008 The Bancorp Inc. Wilmington Del. $45,220,000
12/12/2008 Indiana Community Bancorp Columbus Ind. $21,500,000
12/12/2008 HopFed Bancorp Hopkinsville Ky. $18,400,000
12/12/2008 LSB Corp. Andover Mass. $15,000,000
12/12/2008 Northeast Bancorp Lewiston Maine $4,227,000
12/12/2008 Citizens Republic Bancorp Inc. Flint Mich. $300,000,000
12/12/2008 Independent Bank Corp. Ionia Mich. $72,000,000
12/12/2008 Capital Bank Corp. Raliegh N.C. $41,279,000
12/12/2008 NewBridge Bancorp Greensboro N.C. $52,372,000
12/12/2008 Citizens South Banking Corp. Gastonia N.C. $20,500,000
12/12/2008 Signature Bank New York N.Y. $120,000,0002
12/12/2008 LNB Bancorp Inc. Lorain Ohio $25,223,000
12/12/2008 Susquehanna Bancshares Inc. Lititz Pa. $300,000,000
12/12/2008 National Penn Bancshares Inc. Boyertown Pa. $150,000,000
12/12/2008 Fidelity Bancorp Inc. Pittsburgh Pa. $7,000,000
12/12/2008 Pinnacle Financial Partners Inc. Nashville Tenn. $95,000,000
12/12/2008 Sterling Bancshares Inc.3 Houston Texas $125,198,000
12/12/2008 TowneBank Portsmouth Va. $76,458,000
12/12/2008 Valley Financial Corp. Roanoke Va. $16,019,000
12/12/2008 Virginia Commerce Bancorp Arlington Va. $71,000,000
12/12/2008 Pacific International Bancorp Seattle Wash. $6,500,000
12/19/2008 BancTrust Financial Group, Inc. Mobile Ala. $50,000,000
12/19/2008 Community West Bancshares Goleta Calif. $15,600,000
12/19/2008 Summit State Bank Santa Rosa Calif. $8,500,000
12/19/2008 Santa Lucia Bancorp Atascadero Calif. $4,000,000
12/19/2008 First California Financial Group, Inc Westlake Village Calif. $25,000,000
12/19/2008 Pacific City Finacial Corporation Los Angeles Calif. $16,200,000
12/19/2008 Exchange Bank Santa Rosa Calif. $43,000,000
12/19/2008 NCAL Bancorp Los Angeles Calif. $10,000,000
12/19/2008 CoBiz Financial Inc. Denver Colo. $64,450,000
12/19/2008 The Connecticut Bank and Trust Company Hartford Conn. $5,448,000
12/19/2008 Seacoast Banking Corporation of Florida Stuart Fla. $50,000,000
12/19/2008 Synovus Financial Corp. Columbus Ga. $967,870,000
12/19/2008 Fidelity Southern Corporation Atlanta Ga. $48,200,000
12/19/2008 Heartland Financial USA, Inc. Dubuque Iowa $81,698,000
12/19/2008 Intermountain Community Bancorp Sandpoint Idaho $27,000,000
12/19/2008 Wintrust Financial Corporation Lake Forest Ill. $250,000,000
12/19/2008 Marquette National Corporation Chicago Ill. $35,500,000
12/19/2008 Bridgeview Bancorp, Inc. Bridgeview Ill. $38,000,000
12/19/2008 Horizon Bancorp Michigan City Ind. $25,000,000
12/19/2008 FFW Corporation Wabash Ind. $7,289,000
12/19/2008 Fidelity Financial Corporation Wichita Kan. $36,282,000
12/19/2008 Citizens First Corporation Bowling Green Ky. $8,779,000
12/19/2008 FCB Bancorp, Inc. Louisville Ky. $9,294,000
12/19/2008 Whitney Holding Corporation New Orleans La. $300,000,000
12/19/2008 Wainwright Bank & Trust Company Boston Mass. $22,000,000
12/19/2008 Berkshire Hills Bancorp, Inc. Pittsfield Mass. $40,000,000
12/19/2008 OneUnited Bank Boston Mass. $12,063,000
12/19/2008 Tri-County Financial Corporation Waldorf Md. $15,540,000
12/19/2008 Patapsco Bancorp, Inc. Dundalk Md. $6,000,000
12/19/2008 Enterprise Financial Services Corp. St. Louis Mo. $35,000,000
12/19/2008 Hawthorn Bancshares, Inc. Lee's Summit Mo. $30,255,000
12/19/2008 Monadnock Bancorp, Inc. Peterborough N.H. $1,834,000
12/19/2008 Flushing Financial Corporation Lake Success N.Y. $70,000,000
12/19/2008 The Elmira Savings Bank, FSB Elmira N.Y. $9,090,000
12/19/2008 Alliance Financial Corporation Syracuse N.Y. $26,918,000
12/19/2008 Mid Penn Bancorp, Inc. Millersburg Pa. $10,000,000
12/19/2008 VIST Financial Corp. Wyomissing Pa. $25,000,000
12/19/2008 AmeriServ Financial, Inc Johnstown Pa. $21,000,000
12/19/2008 Bancorp Rhode Island, Inc. Providence R.I. $30,000,000
12/19/2008 Security Federal Corporation Aiken S.C. $18,000,000
12/19/2008 Tidelands Bancshares, Inc Mt. Pleasant S.C. $14,448,000
12/19/2008 Tennessee Commerce Bancorp, Inc. Franklin Tenn. $30,000,000
12/19/2008 Plains Capital Corporation Dallas Texas $87,631,000
12/19/2008 Patriot Bancshares, Inc. Houston Texas $26,038,000
12/19/2008 Community Bankers Trust Corporation Glen Allen Va. $17,680,000
12/19/2008 Community Financial Corporation Staunton Va. $12,643,000

Enjoy socialism! It's already here..."Whether you like it or not..."

Is That A Large "Bird" On The Side Of Your House?

A city councilman in Utah , Mark Easton, had a beautiful view of the east mountains, until a new neighbor purchased the lot below his house and built a new home.

The new home was 18 inches higher than the ordinances would allow, so Mark Easton, mad about his lost view, went to the city to make sure they enforced the lower roof line ordinance. The new neighbor had to drop the roof line, at great personal expense.

Recently, Mark Easton called the city, and informed them that his new neighbor had installed some vents on the side of his home..

Mark didn't like the look of these vents and asked the city to investigate. When they went to Mark's home to see what the vents looked like, this is what they found...

The City Council said the vents can stay since there are no ordinances referring to shutter design.

A Victory For HSUS

The baby seals of the world, and especially those born in Canada, received a wonderful reprieve from the European Union last week when 550 members of the European Parliament voted to ban the trade of products made from seals throughout the EU member nations.

This will deliver a decisive blow to Canada's seal hunters as Europe is one of the last remaining markets for the products that are made from the seals that they slaughter each year.

The Humane Society of the United States has representatives that travel each year to the ice floes of Canada to report on Canada's annual seal hunt.

Each year, they invite lawmakers from around the world to come and witness the event in the hopes that it will lead to new laws protecting the seals.

This year, one such visitor during the 2006 seal hunt was Swedish Member of the European Parliament Carl Schlyter, who introduced the bill that led to the EU's seal product ban.

Progress Made In Stopping Canada's Seal "Hunt"

Each year, the Humane Society of the United States sends team members to Canada to document that country’s still-legal “hunting” of baby seals on the ice.

HSUS team members brave bitterly cold, dangerous conditions, not to mention the constant threats from the fishermen who turn to butchering baby seals to supplement their income.

This year, the HSUS team made real progress in their efforts to end this gruesome and completely unnecessary slaughter. HSUS has asked people to sign on to a Canadian seafood boycott in the hopes of effecting the market enough that fishermen would abandon the seal “hunt".

Over 600,000 individuals and over 5,000 businesses have pledged to not purchase Canadian seafood until Canada bans the seal “hunt”. The fishing industry is losing money, and prices for seal skins have crashed to $15 (CAD) -- an 86 percent drop from 2006.

Most fishermen aren't bothering to leave home to join the hunt, and tens of thousands of seals have been spared. Also, for the first time in history, Canadians had introduced a bill that would ban the seal slaughter entirely, largely backed by the efforts of HSUS.

Russia has agreed to a ban of killing harp seals less than a year old, effectively ending their “hunt” as the furs of older seals are not a desired commodity. In fact, Yuriy Trutnev, Russia's Minister of Natural Resources and Ecology, called the seal slaughter "bloody," and remarked that the killing of defenseless animals can't be deemed a "hunt."

Vote No On 1A, 1B, 1C, 1D, and 1E and Yes on 1F

I urge you to vote NO on 1A, 1B, 1C, 1D, and 1E and vote YES on 1F. Here is why…

Before you even consider how you are going to vote on Taxifornia’s Propositions, know that your taxes have already been increased by Taxramento’s politicians without any of them consulting you.

In February 2009, as part of the state’s 2008-09 and 2009-10 budgets, both the legislature and the Taxinator voted into law to raise the Sales & Use Tax by one cent for every dollar. That means for every dollar you spend that is sales-taxable, you are now sending Taxramento another penny. Add up all the dollars you spend in a year, and that is a lot of money.

The new budgets also increased the Vehicle Licensing Fee (VLF) from 0.65% of your car’s value to 1.15% of its value. That means if you paid $65 last year, this year you are going to pay $115. The new budgets also raised the Personal Income Tax (PIT) by 0.25% for every tax bracket. So, if you paid 9% last year, this year you are going to pay 9.25%.

What the very politicians that passed these tax increases are hoping you don't figure out is that Proposition 1A further increases taxes. With the passage of the 2008-09 and 2009-10 budgets, these tax increases will occur for two fiscal years. Proposition 1A extends these tax increases for additional years. Taxramento increased those taxes in the emergency that was created by the current economic conditions, but they cannot extend those increases into future budgets without our approval. That is why we are having the special election tomorrow. They are hoping that in our panic, we will grant these tax increases for budgets that haven’t even been drawn up – extend these tax increases for years in which we do not know if we will be booming or busting.

Taxifornia’s politicians are hoping that you will you get out and vote on their propositions tomorrow. The majority of them want you to vote yes and the minority of them want you to vote no. What none of them want you to do is to actually read the damned things. They read worse than stereo instructions and will lull you to sleep, but I have trudged through them over the course of the past weekend and I am none too pleased.

They are being sold under the guise that passage of these propositions will somehow magically rein in Taxramento’s spending and balance the budget once and for all so that we never have to go through this again. The only way we are never going to have to go through this again is if we fundamentally change our definition of capitalism, our definition of government, and if our politicians go though some miracle make-over. You and I both know that is never going to happen. So, despite how we vote on these propositions, without a fundamental change to how we allow Taxramento to operate, we will find ourselves in this same spot again someday. These propositions do not change the system, they simply put a band-aid on the perpetually-leaking dam.

Make no mistake, my friends…Taxramento has already spoken for you. They have already done what they have done. These propositions are simply our approval of the extension of the taxes they have already levied against us and just pull a smoke-and-mirrors trick on how they are budgeting and spending. The propositions release restrictions on where voter-approved tax revenue is being spent, move some spending limits around, change from where they are borrowing, and change how they are paying the borrowed funds back, but what these propositions do not do is fix an entirely broken system of over-spending which leads to the over-taxation of all of us.

Let’s take a look at Prop 1A – the anchor of all of these propositions. The Yes on 1A folks are going to talk to you about controlled spending, a balanced budget, and above all, spending limitations, but one thing they are never going to mention is that 1A further increases taxes by extending the emergency tax increases by either one or two years. Prop 1A supporters say that they are going to finally be able to put a spending limit in place on the legislature and the governor. Guess what? There are already two major spending limitations on the books, just like this one, and those two are ignored every time a budget passes. Why are Taxramento’s politicians going to magically abide by this, the third spending limit? 1A increases the size of rainy day funds – forcing Taxramento to put aside more emergency money for the future, but we are banking on the fact that once the emergency hits, the politicians are going to be responsible with these rainy day funds.

What the Yes on 1A people are hoping you do not read is that it increases taxes across the board for everyone, regardless of income level. Take out your Voter Guide and read the argument for 1A and read their rebuttal to the argument against 1A and you will see no mention – not a single word – about the fact that the proposition extends those taxes. The Yes on 1A folks don’t want you to know about that part.

Please read directly from the independently-prepared portion of the Official Voter Information Guide: “If Proposition 1A passes, the tax increases included in the February 2009 budget package would be extended for one or two additional years. (The extensions of the tax increases are included in a part of a law that will only go into effect if Proposition 1A passes.) The SUT [Sales & Use Tax] increase of 1 cent would be extended for one year through 2011-12. The VLF [Vehicle Licensing Fee] tax increase would be extended for two years through 2012-13. The PIT [Personal Income Tax] increases would also be extended for two more years, through the 2012 tax year.”

So, what about the other propositions? Proposition 1B makes a change in how we fund education. Right now, thanks to the passage of Proposition 98 in 1990, the Taxifornia state budget has a mandatory percentage-based amount of overall General State Fund spending that must go to K-14 education (yes, 14, which includes community colleges). Taking into account that there may be budget shortfalls from time to time, Proposition 98 allows for the state to under-pay this percentage in times of need with the unpaid portion being due to education when things get better.

Proposition 1B throws this system out and replaces it with a mandatory $9.3 billion annual payment to K-14 education, regardless of how the state is doing financially. This is great if you are a teacher, or if you work for the school district, but really sucks if you are a taxpayer. When the state does not have the money to make those mandatory $9.3 billion payments, where is that money going to come from? Same place it is coming from now – further tax increases. Our current educational financing system is not perfect, but this is not a better alternative. Why are we fighting so hard to preserve an educational system that ranks 48th out of 50 states? Seems to me when your educational systems is nearly the absolute worst in the union, that is the time to make drastic changes, not maintain the status quo.

Proposition 1C is called the “Lottery Modernization Act”. Do you remember when the state government first sold the idea of the California State Lottery? What was the main factor that they were selling it on? That it would benefit our kids and our schools. Proceeds from the California State Lottery are mandated to be put into education. Well, if Proposition 1B passes, then the required $9.3 billion payment, in effect, makes it so that the educational system no longer needs that California State Lottery money, so 1C makes it so that the California State Lottery money no longer goes to the schools. It gets to go into the General Fund to be spent as the Taxramento politicians see fit. That, my friends, is not “modernization”, but in fact, a very major change to the California State Lottery system that has remained unchanged since it went into effect in 1984. Want proof that these politicians have no intention on curbing their spending at all? 1C will make it so they can borrow against future lottery profits and then spend that borrowed money (that the taxpayers are responsible for paying back) however the hell they wish.

How about Proposition 1D? It deals with Proposition 10, which was passed in 1998. Proposition 10 created what we know as the First 5 program for children. You may have seen the television commercials encouraging parents to put their kids in preschool as part of this program. The First 5 program is funded by taxes on tobacco products. Proposition 10 has a number of checks and balances to ensure that this tobacco tax money is actually spent on the First 5 program. If Proposition 1D passes, the restrictions on where this tobacco tax money goes are removed. The money can be used for other children’s programs, but it also may be borrowed by each County’s Controller in a time of need.

Do you see the pattern emerging here? It seems that a good deal of the laws on the books that require tax revenue to be used for the programs that it is collected for will be wiped off the books if these Propositions pass, giving the legislature and the governor free reign to borrow the funds that they want and to spend those funds on whatever they want. The “Yes On…” folks want you to believe that the Taxramento politicians will use this newly-given power to save for a rainy day and to balance the budget, but I just find that very hard to believe.

Proposition 1E is much like Proposition 1D, but instead of freeing up restrictions on First 5 money, it frees up the restrictions on Proposition 63 money. Proposition 63, the Mental Health Services Act, was passed in 2004. This provided state funding for certain new or expanded mental health programs by taxing an additional 1% of the income of the taxpayers who make over $1 million per year. California taxpayers approved this tax increase on this smaller group of taxpayers with the understanding that these funds would only be used for the Mental Health Services Act programs.

If Proposition 1E passes, these funds will no longer be subject to those restrictions and will be re-directed to pay for a federally mandated program (Early and Periodic Screen, Diagnosis, and Treatment, or EPSDT) that requires states to provide a broad range of screening, diagnosis, and medically necessary treatment services, including mental health services, to MediCal beneficiaries under the age of 21. EPSDT has been paid for out of the Taxifornia General Fund, but if 1E passes, EPSDT will be paid for with Proposition 63 funds, even though this was not the original intention of that additional tax. In a way, this one almost makes sense, but I most definitely do not like this pattern of these politicians taking previously-passed propositions and changing the nature of what the voters have approved.

Now for the only Proposition that I think you should get out there and vote yes on – 1F. Proposition 112, passed in 1990, created a California Citizens Compensation Commission. This commission sets the annual salaries, medical insurance, and other benefits of the Taxramento politicians. The commission meets and decides each year if the salaries should be increased, and what they should be increased to.

If Proposition 1F passes, the commission will not be allowed to raise salaries and benefits in a year where the Taxifornia General Fund is expected to end that year in a deficit. This is what the lawmakers have thrown in as their sacrifice to get you to pass all of the other propositions. They are throwing us this bone so that we feel that they are just like us and should not get raises during economic downturns.

The joke is on us, though, because in any given year, the lack of a salary increase will save the taxpayers a whopping $160,000 on average, possibly, even up to $500.000. Can you see how with the 2009-10 California State Budget spending $111,089,000,000 – yes, that is over $111 billion – even the highest savings of half of a million dollars is only 0.000005% of the total budget? That is equivalent to you being $200,000 in debt and the state government saving you $1 to put towards that. If you are still feeling sorry for any of these politicians, let me explain to you that the annual salaries in question range from $160,000 (state legislators) to $212,000 (the governor) per year.

As usual, I have taken the time to read what Taxifornia’s over-sized government and her politicians have placed before me, and as usual, I am pretty pissed off. We need to cut spending, yet all we do is shuffle money around and raise taxes. The taxpayers impose spending limits, yet Taxramento always finds a loop-hole and gets around those spending limits. As with every election, the TV ads and the radio ads and the politicians are talking about the Propositions on the ballot, but they are only telling us a very small part of the story.

If you don’t mind paying ever-increasing taxes to a derelict, over-sized government, then, by all means, vote how you are going to vote…but if you want to send a clear message that you are already paying enough taxes and that you believe that the state should really fix what is wrong with the budget and its over-spending, I urge you to vote NO on 1A, 1B, 1C, 1D, and 1E and vote YES on 1F.

Two Stories, One Connection

Many years ago, Al Capone virtually owned Chicago. Capone wasn't famous for anything heroic. He was notorious for enmeshing the windy city in everything from bootlegged booze and prostitution to murder.

Capone had a lawyer nicknamed 'Easy Eddie.' He was Capone's lawyer for a good reason. Eddie was very good! In fact, Eddie's skill at legal maneuvering kept Big Al out of jail for a long time.

To show his appreciation, Capone paid him very well. Not only was the money big, but also, Eddie got special dividends. For instance, he and his family occupied a fenced-in mansion with live-in help and all of the conveniences of the day. The estate was so large that it filled an entire Chicago City block.

Eddie lived the high life of the Chicago mob and gave little consideration to the atrocity that went on around him.

Eddie did have one soft spot, however. He had a son that he loved dearly. Eddie saw to it that his young son had clothes, cars, and a good education. Nothing was withheld. Price was no object. And, despite his involvement with organized crime, Eddie even tried to teach him right from wrong. Eddie wanted his son to be a better man than he was.

Yet, with all his wealth and influence, there were two things he couldn't give his son; he couldn't pass on a good name or a good example.

One day, Easy Eddie reached a difficult decision. Easy Eddie wanted to rectify wrongs he had done.

He decided he would go to the authorities and tell the truth about Al 'Scarface' Capone, clean up his tarnished name, and offer his son some semblance of integrity.

To do this, he would have to testify against The Mob, and he knew that the cost would be great. So, he testified.

Within the year, Easy Eddie's life ended in a blaze of gunfire on a lonely Chicago Street

But in his eyes, he had given his son the greatest gift he had to offer, at the greatest price he could ever pay. Police removed from his pockets a rosary, a crucifix, a religious medallion, and a poem clipped from a magazine.

The poem read:
'The clock of life is wound but once,
and no man has the power
to tell just when the hands will stop
At late or early hour.
Now is the only time you own.
Live, love, toil with a will.
Place no faith in time.
For the clock may soon be still.'



World War II produced many heroes. One such man was Lieutenant Commander Butch O'Hare.

He was a fighter pilot assigned to the aircraft carrier Lexington in the South Pacific.

One day his entire squadron was sent on a mission.

After he was airborne, he looked at his fuel gauge and realized that someone had forgotten to top off his fuel tank.

He would not have enough fuel to complete his mission and get back to his ship.

His flight leader told him to return to the carrier.

Reluctantly, he dropped out of formation and headed back to the fleet.

As he was returning to the carrier, he saw something that turned his blood cold: a squadron of Japanese aircraft was speeding its way toward the American fleet.

The American fighters were gone on a sortie, and the fleet was all but defenseless.

He couldn't reach his squadron and bring them back in time to save the fleet.

Nor could he warn the fleet of the approaching danger.

There was only one thing to do. He must somehow divert them from the fleet.

Laying aside all thoughts of personal safety, he dove into the formation of Japanese planes.

Wing-mounted 50 caliber guns blazed as he charged in, attacking one surprised enemy plane and then another.

Butch wove in and out of the now broken formation and fired at as many planes as possible until all his ammunition was finally spent.

Undaunted, he continued the assault.

He dove at the planes, trying to clip a wing or tail in hopes of damaging as many enemy planes as possible and rendering them unfit to fly.

Finally, the exasperated Japanese squadron took off in another direction.

Deeply relieved, Butch O'Hare and his tattered fighter limped back to the carrier.

Upon arrival, he reported in and related the events surrounding his return.

The film from the gun-camera mounted on his plane told the tale.

It showed the extent of Butch's daring attempt to protect his fleet.

He had, in fact, destroyed five enemy aircraft.

This took place on February 20, 1942, and for that action Butch became the Navy's first Ace of WWII, and the first Naval Aviator to win the Congressional Medal of Honor.

A year later Butch was killed in aerial combat at the age of 29.

His home town would not allow the memory of this WW II hero to fade, and today, O'Hare Airport in Chicago is named in tribute to the courage of this great man.



So, how are these two stories related, other than their obvious Chicago connection? Butch O'Hare was the son of Edward O'Hare, who was also known as 'Easy Eddie'.

By Definition: A Capitalist Democracy

I was recently asked by a long-time friend to clarify what I understand to be each of these three things: capitalism, communism, and socialism. Let's go to wikipedia, like any lazy capitalist would:

Capitalism: Capitalism is an economic system in which wealth, and the means of producing wealth, are privately owned and controlled rather than state owned and controlled. Through capitalism, the land, labor, and capital are owned, operated, and traded by private individuals either singly or jointly, and investments, distribution, income, production, pricing and supply of goods, commodities and services are determined by voluntary private decision in a market economy. A distinguishing feature of capitalism is that each person owns his or her own labor and therefore is allowed to sell the use of it to employers. In a "capitalist state", private rights and property relations are protected by the rule of law of a limited regulatory framework. In the modern capitalist state, legislative action is confined to defining and enforcing the basic rules of the market, though the state may provide some public goods and infrastructure.

Communism: Communism is a socioeconomic structure and political ideology that promotes the establishment of an egalitarian, classless, stateless society based on common ownership and control of the means of production and property in general. Karl Marx posited that communism would be the final stage in human society, which would be achieved through a proletarian revolution. "Pure communism" in the Marxian sense refers to a classless, stateless and oppression-free society where decisions on what to produce and what policies to pursue are made democratically, allowing every member of society to participate in the decision-making process in both the political and economic spheres of life. As a political ideology, communism is usually considered to be a branch of socialism; a broad group of economic and political philosophies that draw on the various political and intellectual movements with origins in the work of theorists of the Industrial Revolution and the French Revolution. Communism attempts to offer an alternative to the problems with the capitalist market economy and the legacy of imperialism and nationalism. Marx states that the only way to solve these problems is for the working class (proletariat), who according to Marx are the main producers of wealth in society and are exploited by the Capitalist-class (bourgeoisie), to replace the bourgeoisie as the ruling class in order to establish a free society, without class or racial divisions.

Socialism: Socialism refers to a broad set of economic theories of social organization advocating public or state ownership and administration of the means of production and distribution of goods, and a society characterized by equality for all individuals, with a fair or egalitarian method of compensation. Modern socialism originated in the late 19th-century intellectual and working class political movement that criticized the effects of industrialization and private ownership on society. Karl Marx posited that socialism (the disappearance of class and therefore state) would be achieved via class struggle and a proletarian revolution after a long transitional stage from capitalism called the Dictatorship of the proletariat. Socialists mainly share the belief that capitalism unfairly concentrates power and wealth among a small segment of society that controls capital, creates an unequal society, and does not provide equal opportunities for everyone in society. Therefore socialists advocate the creation of a society in which wealth and power are distributed more evenly based on the amount of work expended in production, although there is considerable disagreement among socialists over how, and to what extent this could be achieved.

By these definitions, I am a capitalist who believes that the capitalist system is by far the very best system of these three. I believe that my country, the United States of America was founded to be a capitalist state, and while not a pure capitalist state, even on day one, was designed to follow the capitalist model as closely as possible. What has occurred since then is that our politicians have continually been moving this country further and further away from capitalism, closer to communism and/or socialism. I am very much against communism and socialism as I feel that your reward should be relative to your efforts. Those who work harder and take risks should earn more. The government has a role to referee the game, but should not have the right to take away points from the winning team and give them to the losing team just so that things are fair. Hard working capitalists should not be taxed just so that their money can go to sustain the lives and livelihood of those who do not want to work. Plain and simple. As a state, we should care for those who are truly unable to provide for themselves, but we should not allow those who are able to work to simply sit back and do nothing yet receive government provided shelter and food.

I do realize that capitalism does allow for tiers to be created in our society, yet I believe that a true form of capitalism where people are not barred from rising up through those tiers based on race, religion, politcal affiliation, etc. is possible, though I am also aware that my country has not adhered to that idea in the past. I do also believe, however, that we are working towards an America that is more equal in this regards. In a capitalist societly, like ours, some will have more than others, but in most cases, what you have is a result of the hard work and dedication of yourself, those around you, and in some cases, those who came before you. In a communist or socialist society, no matter how hard you work, no matter what you do, you can never rise above your current cirumstances. In a capitalist society, anyone can achieve anything. I think one of these paths is far better than the other.

If you look at the socialist and communist governments that have plagued the Earth, you will also find a very flawed and inaccurate deployment of the ideals of those systems. While everyone is supposed to be equal in those systems, you will find, in fact, a group of core leadership at the center of those governments, who were, somehow, mysteriously much more wealthy and well-off than their equals who were the back-breaking laborers of the government-led businesses of the state. A small powerful, wealthy group at the top with a large labor force supporting them? Sounds like a twisted version of capitalism to me.

I believe in democracy and I believe in capitalism. I believe that a capitalist state cannot exist without government, but that government should serve the capitalist state, not the other way around, which is where America is heading. I believe in a pure democracy. Literally, one vote for each person and the side with the most votes wins. No court oversight, no electoral college. We have the technology and ability to have a pure democracy here in America and I think that it is time. Any and all social and economic issues should be decided by ballot, not by courts, and not by government, but by the people of the capitalist democracy.

Destined To Take Over From Their Very Beginning

Do you know where the term "robot" comes from? A play written in 1921 by Czech writer Karel Cepek, "Rossum's Universal Robots".

Guess what the plot of that play is? Mechanical, highly, intelligent slaves called "robots" mount a revolt and "kill all the humans", except for one.

Today, author P.W. Singer, a Senior Fellow at the Brookings Institution, has written a book called "Wired For War" in which he takes a serious look at today's military robots and reports that over 40 countries are currently working on some type of advanced military robot.

With each passing year, these military robots are being built to be stronger. The most frightening thing is that the ultimate end goal for most of these robotics projects is to develop a robot that is more autonomous, able to make decisions on its own based on prior-programmed commands.

In his book, Singer quotes Vernon Vinge, mathematician, computer scientist and science fiction writer, as predicting more than 15 years ago: "Within the next 30 years, we will have the technological means to create superhuman intelligence. Shortly thereafter, the human era will be ended."

The Seal Hunt Has Begun

Each year, I get an alert from the Humane Society of the United States, and each year I hope that it is the last time, but it seems like there never will be a last time. The senseless killing of baby seals in Canada began this morning at 2:48 AM Pacific Time, opening yet another season of one of the most unnecessary slaughter of animals by man.

Seal hunters, "regulated" by the Canadian government, are allowed to enter the nurseries where the baby seals are being raised and allowed to club to death 280,000 seals for their fur. It's a good thing we don't have fur, well, at least some of us. I wonder if we'd be clubbing each other to steal each other's fur. We do it to steal other things from each other, right? What if someone's fur was nicer than yours, or would keep you warmer than yours...would you kill them for it? We're killing baby seals to steal their fur.

The worse part is, we are at a point where mankind can manufacture synthetic furs, which truly has made this slaughter of these baby seals completely and totally unnecessary. Seal hunters claim that it is their livelihood, and I get that...I mean, I am sure that I could make a good deal of money clubbing people to death, especially some particular people, but I don't, because that is wrong. Plain and simple.

Each year a large group of Americans, Canadians, and people around the world, call for the Canadian government to end this practice, and each year, they give the same lip service, do nothing, then throughout the year are sure to point out everything that is wrong with America.

I'll let my rant end there, but I encourage you to visit https://www.humanesociety.org to learn more about what the Humane Society of the United States is doing to help stop the seal hunt.

A Tax On Each Mile You Drive

Ray LaHood, the Obama Administration's Transportation Secretary is wanting to tax Americans on the number of miles they drive, instead of on the amount of gas they burn.

Taxachusetts is even considering a program where they place a GPS chip in your car to make sure you're not fudging on reporting your miles, but I am sure they promise they won't use it to track you.

The joke will really be on hybrid drivers because you'll pay the same tax per mile as someone with a tank that gets 6 miles to the gallon.

LaHood says this is thinking outside of the box, but I guess so is a tax on the air you breath, which I am sure can't be too far behind.

By the way, this new tax seeks to increase "revenue" because America has done what the politicians have asked us to do - drive more fuel efficient cars and drive less - but that means they are getting less gas tax money.

Hey, great job, America, you've lowered our dependence on fossil fuels, so here's your reward -- higher taxes!

The Laguna Woods Rant

I would like to share with you an email exchange I recently had with the City Manager for the City of Laguna Woods regarding their red light cameras and a violation that we received.

Here is the email I sent to the City Manager for the City of Laguna Woods:

The City of Laguna Woods has become a spending-free zone for us. My wife received a traffic "violation" from your camera at Gate 12 -- I am sure you know the one because it makes you a lot of money. Her second traffic violation in a decade and it cost us $433 with traffic school. This is literally "parkway robbery" and you should be ashamed of yourselves for sticking it to people who drive through your city at a whopping 29 mph and miss a yellow light by seconds. We are residents of Aliso Viejo and rest assured that we and anyone we know will no longer be spending ANY of our dollars in your city, we hope to a sales tax loss for your city of the tune of way more than the $433 that it cost us for that traffic ticket. I am sure there are legitimate ways for the your city to make money without sticking it to the hard working people that support it.

Here is the City Manager's response to me:

If any part of your wife's car had entered the intersection before the light turned red, she would not have received a ticket. If you enter on yellow and the light turn red before you are through, you do not get a ticket. The only way to get a ticket is if the light is already red before you enter the intersection. I am sorry, but that is simply against the law. If there had been a deputy at the corner, he or she would have issued a ticket. If the light is red, one needs to stop. We have had many accidents at both the intersections at which we have red light cameras. We placed these cameras after a car ran a red light and hit an ambulance in route to Saddleback Hospital. In December, one of our councilmembers was driving in another city and a car ran a red light and broadsided her car - her car was totaled and she was lucky to walk away with only 4 broken ribs. The driver of the vehicle who hit her said the light turned from yellow to red only a second before he entered the intersection. Using your logic, he would not receive a ticket because there wasn't actually a police officer on site when he "ran"the redlight. The City of Laguna Woods believes firmly that the redlight cameras save lives. We do not make any money on the citations from these cameras - the cost of the equipment and the deputy who views each video before a ticket is issued costs the City more than a $100,000 a year in excess of ticket revenue.

This is not quite the response I was expecting, but it got me thinking about something.

First and foremost, I did not mention in my email that I felt these cameras are unfair because there is not an officer present -- the City Manager inferred that I meant that, probably because of other emails or arguments that they have heard. Obviously, my email got lumped together with all of the other complaints.

Getting lumped together with all of the others is the problem I have with these red light cameras. There is not consideration of each particular situation -- there is no interpretation by a human being as to what the conditions were and what the situation was for this particular occasion.

Yes, there is an officer reviewing the video, but all you can see is the intersection from the one point of view -- you do not see opposing traffic, and you do not have the same perspective that an officer on-site would have.

I have been and will always be opposed to this mechanized form of law enforcement. While the accidents that have occurred at these intersections are unfortunate -- why should I be paying the price today for an accident that occurred years before I entered the intersection?

As I have said before, this is a fundamental flaw in our traffic enforcement policies. Are all drivers equally skilled? No, but the laws assume that we are equally unskilled. We post a numbered speed limit that is determined to be what is a safe speed, on average, then blanket everything with a clause that says that number might not always be the safe speed, so if we interpret that speed to be lower than the posted speed limit, we can ticket you anyway. You have some laws that are open to interpretation, but then also nail people with traffic cameras that leave room for no interpretation. Seems like they want to have their cake, eat it too, and take our money while they're doing it.

No "Mercy" Rule!

When I was growing up, sports were a competition. You won some, and you lost some. You won some really big, and because we tried not to swear in front of our parents, we really got "creamed" sometimes.

I learned from sports that you can't win all of the time, but if you try your hardest and do your best, even when you lost, you still had something to be proud of because you didn't give up.

I also learned that if you're not ready to compete and give it your all, you need to stay out of the arena. I have applied all of these principles to my business life as well. I truly feel that I am a better businessman because of the principles that sports taught me at such a young age.

That, my friends, is why I do not believe in the "mercy" rule. I don't think you should intentionally do physical harm to an opponent, especially one that is mismatched, but if you are not ready to step out onto that field, or that court, and take some lumps and be blown out if you're having a bad game, then you should never walk out onto that field or court in the first place.

Not everyone is #1 and not every team is going to be #1, and dealing with that is a lesson that America's children need to learn, not just simply never be exposed to. Leagues where every kid has a #1 jersey, and gets a first place trophy, and no one keeps score are detrimental to America's youth, not beneficial.

I am disappointed that so many Americans do not realize the harm that we are doing to these kids with the "everyone wins" mentality. How is your little slugger who played in a league where everybody won going to take not being hired for a job they really wanted, interviewed for, but just didn't get?

Will they persevere, move on, and get the next job, or will they simply give up because they've never had to deal with losing?

A company who places an employment ad is not going to hire everybody so that it is fair, they are going to weed out candidates, and one of them is going to win. If the first time your child deals with losing is when they're in their early 20s, just out of college and looking for their first job, you will have done them a great disservice as a parent and as an American, and they will not be as well off as they would have been with some healthy winning and losing when the stakes were just a game, not their ability to provide a good lifestyle for themselves.

The Coming Second Civil War?

According to Igor Panarin, a popular Russian academic and former KGB agent that currently serves as the dean of the Russian Foreign Ministry's academy for future diplomats, by the fall of this year, the United States will be beginning its slide into a bitter, yet much speedier, Second Civil War that will see the United States split into six separate, smaller nations, heavily influenced by foreign governments.

In my lifetime, everything from Red Dawn down to Jericho has depicted that the United States would eventually disband into roughly a handful of separate nations, but according to Panarin, not only is this really in the cards for us, but it is right around the corner.

So, how is this all supposed to come about? According to Panarin, our economic slide will eventually result in a total economic collapse, with extremely hard times quickly resulting in a moral collapse. With their economies in trouble, and their populations on a slippery slope, the wealthier, yet more economically troubled states will be forced to halt the delivery of state dollars to the federal government, essentially financially seceding from the U.S.

In these hard economic times, with loyalty to the federal government quickly waning, social unrest and upheaval will not be far behind, according to Panarin. The U.S. will split along ethnic lines and shortly, thereafter, officially break up. 

Not long after the break up, foreign powers will move in an exert their influence. Get ready to learn Chinese, because according to Panarin, the western states will form under the banner "The California Republic" and come under Chinese influence or even Chinese rule. The southern states from New Mexico to Florida will form "The Texas Republic" and come under Mexico's influence, or rule.

The northeastern states from Tennessee and South Carolina on up to Maine will form "Atlantic America" and successfully maintain their independence from foreign powers until they are allowed to join the European Union. The northern central states from Montana to Colorado on over to Ohio will become "The Central North-American Republic" and will align themselves with the great Canadian power to the north.

Alaska is going to quickly come under Russian rule and Hawaii will quickly come under Japanese or Chinese rule. According to Panarin, all of this will be solidified and new maps will be going to press by June or July of 2010.

I already have my application in for Supreme Dictator of The California Republic, though that application also petitions for a more catchy name. In the event my application is denied, we already have the little Bavarian town we're moving to picked out.

Panarin's views are gaining ground in a very anti-American Russia and he counters critics by citing the wall of skepticism that French economist Emmanuel Todd received when he predicted the economically-driven fall of the Soviet Union in 1976.

The Ant and the Grasshopper, Modernized for Today's America

In the original version of this tale that we all know so well, the ant works hard in the withering heat all summer long, building his house and laying up supplies for the winter. The grasshopper thinks the ant is a fool and laughs and dances and plays the summer away. Come winter, the ant is warm and well fed. The grasshopper has no food or shelter, so he dies out in the cold. The moral of the story is to be responsible for yourself!

There is a new version of the story circulating on the Internet that has updated and modernized the tale to better fit today’s America. In this new version, the ant still works hard in the withering heat all summer long, building his house and laying up supplies for the winter. The grasshopper still thinks the ant is a fool and laughs and dances and plays the summer away. But in today’s America, the lazy Grasshopper is not left out in the cold to die. Come winter, he calls a press conference and demands to know why the ant should be allowed to be warm and well fed while others, like himself, are cold and starving.

CBS, NBC, PBS, CNN, and ABC show up to provide a split-screen image of the shivering grasshopper on one side and the ant in his comfortable home with a table filled with food on the other.

America is stunned by the sharp contrast. “How can this be, that in a country of such wealth, this poor grasshopper is allowed to suffer so?” they cry out. Kermit the Frog appears on Oprah with the grasshopper and everybody cries when they sing, “It's Not Easy Being Green.” Jesse Jackson stages a demonstration in front of the ant's house where the news stations film the group singing, “We shall overcome.” Jesse then has the group kneel down to pray to God for the grasshopper's sake.

Nancy Pelosi and John Kerry exclaim in an interview with Larry King that the ant has gotten rich off the back of the grasshopper, and both call for an immediate tax hike on the ant to make him pay his fair share.

Finally, the EEOC drafts the Economic Equity & Anti-Grasshopper Act retroactive to the beginning of the summer. The ant is fined for failing to hire a proportionate number of green bugs and, having nothing left to pay his retroactive taxes, his home is confiscated by the government.

The story ends as we see the grasshopper finishing up the last bits of the ant’s food while the government house he is in, which just happens to be the ant's old house, crumbles around him because he doesn't maintain it. The ant has disappeared in the snow. The grasshopper is found dead in a drug related incident and the house, now abandoned, is taken over by a gang of spiders who terrorize the once peaceful neighborhood.

To quote David Allen Grier, “America, have you lost your damned mind?!"

"How Long Do We Have?" - A Follow Up...

You may recall my article from November 5, “How Long Do We Have?” in which I wrote and cited the following:

“According to Alexander Tyler, a Scottish history professor at the University of Edinburgh, the United States of America has already outlived its expiration date. About the time our original thirteen states adopted their new constitution in 1787, Alexander Tyler, who was studying the rise and fall of democracies wrote:

‘A democracy is always temporary in nature; it simply cannot exist as a permanent form of government. A democracy will continue to exist up until the time that voters discover they can vote themselves generous gifts from the public treasury. From that moment on, the majority always vote for the candidates who promise the most benefits from the public treasury, with the result that every democracy will finally collapse due to loose fiscal policy, which is always followed by a dictatorship. The average age of the world's greatest civilizations from the beginning of history, has been about 200 years.’”

I would like to add to my article of November 5th, the following additional facts that were pointed out in an email I received, which cited a recent BusinessWeek Magazine article:

"Professor Joseph Olson of Hemline University School of Law, St. Paul, Minnesota, points out some interesting facts concerning the 2008 Presidential election:

-Number of States won by: Democrats: 20; Republicans: 30
-Square miles of land won by: Democrats: 580,000; Republicans: 2,427,000
-Population of counties won by: Democrats: 127 million; Republicans: 143 million
-Murder rate per 100,000 residents in counties won by: Democrats: 13.2; Republicans: 2.1"

Professor Olson adds: "In aggregate, the map of the territory Republicans won was mostly the land owned by the taxpaying citizens. Democratic territory mostly encompassed those citizens living in rented or government-owned tenements and living off various forms of government welfare...

Olson believes the United States is now somewhere between the ‘complacency and apathy’ phase of Professor Tyler's definition of democracy, with some forty percent of the nation's population already having reached the ‘governmental dependency’ phase.”

These election results are further proof that not only is our democracy over the hill, we are continuing to accelerate down the other side. I stress again today, as I did on November 5th, that this process is reversible and that we can turn this country back around, but it would be one of the few times in history where a democracy has succeeded in doing so.

No Voter Turnout

Pillsbury Mayor Darrel Brudevold reports that turnout in the city’s primary election is usually fairly high. “I dare say a half-dozen people usually make it to the polls,” he said.

That half-dozen represents about a quarter of the residents in the Barnes County farming community, in southeastern North Dakota. On June 10, 2008, however, no one showed up to vote, not even those on the ballot.

Brudevold ran unopposed for re-election. His wife, Ruth, and Dan Lindseth faced no challengers for their alderman seats. “Everybody has got a job and they’re busy,” Brudevold said. “It just worked out that nobody seemed to go down there to the polls.”

Only about 11 people live in Pillsbury proper, and the remainder of the residents live on farms outside the city. There is no precinct in town, so residents must drive about 12 miles to neighboring Sibley to cast their votes. Brudevold’s wife, Ruth, runs the beauty shop and is the town’s postmaster. She said she was too busy with work to make it to the polls. Brudevold said he intended to vote, but that he had crops to tend.

Barnes County Auditor Ed McGough said those in office can stay there and appoint people, including themselves, to the jobs until the next election. “I presume things will stay the same,” Brudevold said. “We’re just a little village, and when you’re elected to one of those jobs, well, once you get it, you got it.”

The council meets about five times a year, Brudevold said. Members are each paid $48 annually, and a good portion of that goes for doughnuts at the meetings or gas to get there, he said. “Not everybody usually makes it to the meetings, so it really doesn’t get out of hand,” he said. “The only time we really get people to show up is when we want to raise taxes - then everybody shows up.”

They Don't Make Dells Like They Used To

I'm back to blogging after a brief heitus. I won't get too deep into the details that led to a week-long break, but let me just say that they don't make Dells like they used to.

I bought an Inspiron 8200 way back in 2001 and know that it would still be going strong today had I not spilled a bottle of water on the keyboard in September of 2006.

On the other hand, the newer work-horse Inspiron 1300 that I bought in September 2006 to replace my 8200 is already on its way to the green recycling center.

I've converted my everyday "computering" over to the Inspiron 9400 that I bought some three years ago as our home computer, but have used very seldom.

It has a large and beautiful screen, but also has a huge case, and weighs about twice as much as my 1300 did, but I'll make do. We'll see how long the 9400 goes, but we might be switching brands once the 9400 has run its course.

Switching brands is not something I normally do, but like I said, they just don't make Dells like they used to.

How Long Do We Have?

There is one thing that we in the business community need to clearly worry about as a result of last night's election, and that is whether or not we are going to be seeing an increase in our business taxes. According to the Wall Street Journal, 50% of small businesses could now see their taxes increase in the next four years.

While we would like it to not be the case, when business taxes increase, we need to either cover the additional expense by growing our business, or cutting back on essential spending.

For many businesses, economic conditions like the ones we are facing today make it very difficult to create business growth. Despite the best intentions of politicians, when businesses have to cut back spending, the chances that business will have to reduce work forces greatly increase.

As we take stock of last night's results and take a posture of waiting to see, let me share something with you that made its way to my email inbox this morning:

According to Alexander Tyler, a Scottish history professor at the University of Edinburgh, the United States of America has already outlived its expiration date. About the time our original thirteen states adopted their new constitution in 1787, Alexander Tyler, who was studying the rise and fall of democracies wrote:

A democracy is always temporary in nature; it simply cannot exist as a permanent form of government. A democracy will continue to exist up until the time that voters discover they can vote themselves generous gifts from the public treasury. From that moment on, the majority always vote for the candidates who promise the most benefits from the public treasury, with the result that every democracy will finally collapse due to loose fiscal policy, which is always followed by a dictatorship. The average age of the world's greatest civilizations from the beginning of history, has been about 200 years.

A Flying-Fish Record Recorded

A Japanese TV crew has filmed what is believed to be the longest flight of a flying fish ever recorded.

The NHK television network said one of its camera crews captured the 45-second flight from a ferry near Kuchino-erabu Island in southwestern Japan.

The crew was reportedly on its way to shoot footage for a nature documentary.

The fish can be seen occasionally beating its tail against the surface of the water to keep itself aloft.

The ferry was traveling at speed of about 20 mph (30 kilometers per hour) during the encounter, NHK said.

More than 50 species of flying fish, in the marine family known as Exocoetidae, are found in warmer ocean waters worldwide. They can rise out of the water to avoid predators underneath, and stretch out their long pectoral fins to glide through the air.

Usually the fish remain airborne for just a few seconds before landing back in the water - but as Monday’s video demonstrated, they can give themselves another boost with their tail fins.

The previous record for a fish’s compound flight was 42 seconds, reported from Florida by a sea captain with a stopwatch in 1928. A 45-second flight may well be close to the physical limit for a flying fish, since the creature must suspend brachial respiration in the air, NHK reported.

Amazing Ship Find

A 22-gun British warship that sank during the American Revolution and has long been regarded as one of the “Holy Grail” shipwrecks in the Great Lakes has been discovered at the bottom of Lake Ontario, astonishingly well-preserved in the cold, deep water.

Shipwreck enthusiasts Jim Kennard and Dan Scoville used side-scanning sonar and an unmanned submersible to locate the HMS Ontario, which was lost with barely a trace and as many as 130 people aboard during a gale in 1780.

The 80-foot sloop of war is the oldest shipwreck and the only fully intact British warship ever found in the Great Lakes.

“To have a Revolutionary War vessel that’s practically intact is unbelievable. It’s an archaeological miracle,” said Canadian author Arthur Britton Smith, who chronicled the history of the HMS Ontario in a 1997 book, “The Legend of the Lake.”

The finders of the wreck said they regard it as a war grave and have no plans to raise it or remove any of its artifacts. They said the ship is still considered the property of the British Admiralty. Although the vessel sits in an area where the water is up to 500 feet deep and cannot be reached by anyone but the most experienced divers, Kennard and Scoville declined to give its exact location, saying only that it was found off the southern shore.

The sloop was discovered resting partially on its side, with two masts extending more than 70 feet above the lake bottom. “Usually when ships go down in big storms, they get beat up quite a bit. They don’t sink nice and square. This went down in a huge storm, and it still managed to stay intact,” Scoville said. “There are even two windows that aren’t broken. Just going down, the pressure difference, can break the windows. It’s a beautiful ship.”

Smith, who was shown underwater video of the find, said: “If it wasn’t for the zebra mussels, she looks like she only sunk last week.” The dark, cold freshwater acts as a perfect preservative, Smith said.

At that depth, there is no light and no oxygen to hasten decomposition, and little marine life to feed on the wood. The Ontario went down on Oct. 31, 1780, with a garrison of 60 British soldiers, a crew of about 40, mostly Canadians, and possibly about 30 American war prisoners.

The warship had been launched only five months earlier and was used to ferry troops and supplies along upstate New York’s frontier. Although it was the biggest British ship on the Great Lakes at the time, it never saw battle, Smith said.

Speaking From Inside The Egg

Biologists have known that shortly before hatching, crocodiles make noises within their eggs.

A new study, which involved playbacks of the pre-hatching calls, reveals these calls from the egg tell siblings it’s time to hatch and tell moms it’s time to uncover the nest.

Researchers Amélie Vergne and Nicolas Mathevon of the Jean Monnet University in France monitored Nile crocodile eggs that were due to hatch within 10 days.

The eggs were placed into one of three groups, for which the researchers either played recordings of pre-hatching calls, recordings of noise (other than the calls), or no sound.

The group of eggs that got a dose of real crocodile calls responded and moved, as the about finger-sized babies jostled about, more often than the “noise” eggs.

The eggs incubated in silence showed no movement.

All four of the individuals that successfully hatched in the crocodile-call group did so during or within 10 minutes of the playbacks.

The Methuselah Tree

Scientists have grown a tree from what may be the oldest seed ever germinated.

The new sapling was sprouted from a 2,000-year-old date palm excavated in Masada, the site of a cliff-side fortress in Israel where ancient Jews are said to have killed themselves to avoid capture by Roman invaders.

Dubbed the “Methuselah Tree” after the oldest person in the Bible, the new plant has been growing steadily, and after 26 months, the tree was nearly four-feet tall.

The species of tree, called the Judean date, is now extinct in Israel, but researchers are hoping that by reviving the plant they may be able to study its medicinal uses.

“The medicinal plants from this region are very important because they are historically mentioned in the Bible and the Koran,” said Sarah Sallon, director of the Louis L. Borick Natural Medicine Research Center at the Hadassah Medical Organization in Jerusalem, which initiated the experiment to grow the tree as part of its Middle East Medicinal Plant Project. “The Judean date was very valuable and very famous, not just as a source of food but as a source of medicine,” Sallon said. “When I heard there were ancient seeds found in the archeological dig, I thought it would be interesting to see if we could try to grow them.”

Carbon dating of the seeds found at Masada revealed that they date from roughly the time of the ancient fortress’ siege, in A.D. 73.

The seeds were found in storage rooms, and appear to have been stockpiled for the Jews hiding out against the invading Romans.

An Elusive Kitten Stowaway

It was the stereotypical firefighters-try-to-rescue-cat story, but with a twist.

Firefighters from the South Florida city of Weston spent a sopping hour in pouring rain Tuesday trying to extract a kitten squeezed in the undercarriage of a stranger’s Volvo.

The crew tried jacking up the car and taking off a wheel, all for naught.

The feline ducked out of reach at each attempt to grab it.

At some point, the cat escaped undetected, prompting the crew to spend another hour peering in bushes and scouring a Walgreen’s parking lot.

They finally gave up and headed back to the station, answering at least two more calls on their way.

Five hours after the saga began, the elusive cat reappeared: At the station, in their fire truck’s rear wheel well.

This time, firefighters used chunks of meatloaf to try luring it out. It was un-enticed, so the crew resorted to an ultimately successful three-pronged strategy: One firefighter poked the feline in the backside with a Slim Jim, another used a hose to force it into an open compartment so a third person could pull it out.

The feline was dirty but unharmed.

An Amazing Underwater Find

Marine archaeologists will begin work in June to uncover the sand-buried hull of a 2,300 year-old cargo ship thought to have been ferrying wine from the Aegean island of Chios before it sank off Cyprus’ southern coast, researchers said Thursday.

The vessel, dating from the late Classical period (mid fourth century B.C.) is one of only a few such ships to have been found so well-preserved, said University of Cyprus visiting marine archaeologist Stella Demesticha.

“The shipwreck looks very promising about shedding light on the nautical and economic history of the period in the east Mediterranean,” Demesticha told the Associated Press on Thursday.

The wreck rests on the seabed at a depth of 144 feet some 1 1/2 miles off the island’s southern coast.

Demesticha said the wreck was also unique because it lies at a depth that divers can easily reach, unlike similar discoveries found in deeper waters.

Unreleased underwater photographs that researchers took of the vessel on initial surveying dives in November show a jumble of dozens of amphorae — clay urns used in antiquity to carry liquids and solid foodstuffs — lying on the seabed in the shape of the ship.

Demesticha said researchers believe the ship’s hull to be buried under tons of sand. The amphorae closely resemble others found to contain Chios wine, but may have been used to transport other goods in ancient sea trade.

The discovery could also provide more clues into Cyprus’s role in maritime trade during the last phases of the Cypriot city-kingdoms, researchers said.

Some Word Origins...

Geek: In the circus, a performer who sank sufficiently low would do horrible things (like biting the heads off live chickens) for booze money. The poor soul was called a geek. How it later came to describe smart people is unknown, but I am sure 80’s movies helped it along.

Two Cent’s Worth: During the Civil War, the cheapest cigar you could buy cost two pennies. “Two-center” cigars became synonymous with cheapness, and by the late 1800’s, people who wanted to project fauxhumility would offer their two cent’s worth.

Shoddy: A scandal erupted during the Civil War when some textilers sold the army uniforms made out of the scraps left over from their wool-making process. This cheap fabric was called shoddy. In no time, the noun turned into an adjective.

White Paper: In Victorian England, policy and legislation were delivered to Parliament in gigantic books with blue covers called Blue Papers. Lesser, shorter government business was delivered in smaller books with white covers, called White Papers.

Pundits: Brits who traveled to India met Hindi scholars who taught religion and law. They were knows as pandits. Soon enough, scholarly Londoners were known as pundits.

Kiosks: In Turkey, outdoor pavilions used for public meetings were called kiushks.

Haywire: In the 1800’s, New England loggers took bales of hay into the forest with them to feed their horses. These bales were bound with thin wire that was also used to make small repairs on the loggers’ equipment. The more that stuff broke, the more wire the loggers needed. Logging companies and groups of loggers that ended up using a lot of hay wire on their equipment, they were called haywire outfits. Slowly the term began to describe the actual process of the equipment breaking down and not working properly.

A Sea Turtle Migration Record

Scientists have long been tracking the migration of sea turtles as they work to protect them from extinction.

Their work, at times, has included tracking the migration patterns of individual turtles.

Recently, one leatherback sea turtle traveled 12,774 miles from Indonesia to Oregon, one of the longest recorded migrations of any vertebrate animal and a record for a sea turtle.

Leatherback sea turtles are the largest of all living turtles and are widely distributed throughout the world’s oceans.

They have been seen in the waters off Argentina, Tasmania, Alaska and Nova Scotia. Adult leatherbacks periodically migrate from their temperate foraging grounds to breeding grounds in the tropics.

Scientists at the National Marine Fisheries Service tracked one female nester, who was tagged on Jamursba-Medi beach in Papua, Indonesia, on her journey back to her foraging grounds off the coast of Oregon.

She was tracked for 647 days covering a distance about equal to two round trips between New York and Los Angeles.

The longest measured annual migration for any animal is the 40,000-mile journey between New Zealand and the North Pacific of the sooty shearwater puffin, a medium-sized seabird.

"Oh, It's The Alkylate's Fault..."

Experts are predicting pump prices, which jumped by almost a dollar a gallon in each of the last two springs in many parts of the United States, will spike again this year as refiners and gas stations switch from winter- to summer-blended fuels.

The increases, starting as early as February in southern California, could push the average national price to a record $3.50 a gallon or more by June. Prices in urban areas on each coast could approach $4 a gallon.

And the reason for the spring price shocks? Analysts say it’s linked to a shortage of alkylate, a little-known and expensive gasoline additive that some in the industry are calling “liquid gold.”

It has become a must-have ingredient since refiners stopped using MTBE two years ago when the potentially cancer-causing additive was found to be seeping into ground water.

The alkylate shortage has become the most important driver of summer gas prices, said Doug Leggate, an analyst at Citigroup Global Markets. “Supply of (alkylate) will set the price of summer gasoline — not inventory levels,” he said.

Oil companies deny they are purposely limiting production of alkylate, which like gasoline, jet fuel, and asphalt is a by-product of the oil refining process. But only recently have some started studying how they can boost output, and alkylate prices today are more than 15 percent higher than spot gasoline prices.

That means overall costs will jump when it is added in larger quantities to summer-blend fuels.

Without additives, gasoline doesn’t burn completely, increasing tailpipe air pollution. And untreated gas evaporates more quickly in hot weather, potentially causing vapor lock when it changes from a liquid to a gas and blocks fuel lines.

The federal government long ago required refiners to boost the oxygen content of summer-blend gasoline to make it burn more completely, a problem that was solved by adding MTBE and, more recently, ethanol.

But ethanol also has a high evaporation rate, so refiners increasingly have turned to alkylate, which Tom Kloza, publisher and chief oil analyst at the Oil Price Information Service in Wall, N.J., calls the “magic bullet” in making summer gasoline.