High Truths and Low Lies

We have all made bad decisions in our lives. Decisions that we regret. Many bad decisions can be overcome with time, course changes, and personal reflection. But sadly, some bad decisions are life changing. These decisions can not be reversed or overcome. Often, there is a major penalty to the decision, like divorce, jail time, bankruptcy, injury and even death.

Judgment is a personal quality that helps us make good decisions. Relevant experience and knowledge, plus the process of taking in information helps each of us to make good decisions. We also must know who we can trust and when we are in “over our head.” Sadly, many people always assume everything is fine. They simply don’t listen or lack self awareness. Bad listeners filter information to their own likening, and are not discerning enough of what they hear or read. People’s lives can be ruined by making bad decisions. Here are some examples:

1. Buying stuff on credit cards.
2. Driving while drunk
3. Committing a crime of any kind
4. Having a baby without having a job to support
5. Participating in dangerous activities, like street racing
6. Ignoring health problems
7. Smoking
8. Choosing a college major without employment or career prospects.
9. Doing drugs
10. Hanging with a bad crowd 😆

People with good judgment tend to have a breath of experience and relationships that enables them to draw the right conclusions and thus make good decisions. If you don’t have experience, ask someone you trust for advice. Often that is role of parents and teachers. But, unfortunately, some parents are not around or unwise. Too bad!!!

I guess as I get older, some little things bother me more. Like a stone in my shoe, or a ketchup pack that you have to open with your teeth, I get mildly irritated. I do not get bothered by the big things in life, but little things just irritate me. Things like 7″ of paper towels in the bathroom, auto faucets that don’t work, neighbors that don’t pick up after their dogs, loud talkers in restaurants, long lines at the checkout, and people that mumble.

Recently, I got a new irritation. One that really tweaked me!

I saw an advertisement on TV for a “Tax Relief Company!!” According to the ad, the company will help you get relief from paying your taxes to the IRS. I pay my taxes and have done so for 40+ years, why do people need “relief?” I don’t want to listen to IRS tax relief!! Pay your taxes.

I researched a few of the “tax relief companies.” To “qualify” for their help, you have to owe over $10,000 to the IRS and pay about $500 up front. The companies total fees are about $2000 to $5000 to help you setup a payment schedule to pay down your tax bill. I am not familiar with any “debt forgiveness.” The IRS always gets their money.

My irritation is people not paying their taxes, and having the funds to hire companies to avoid paying their fair share. Ugh!🤣

I watched a few NFL games over the last 2 weeks. Glad to see that “social justice” is not so obvious to the viewers. I watch the NFL for entertainment and to see great plays by the players. However, I did notice political messages displayed on some of the players’ helmets, like “Stop Hate”, Black Lives Matter”, End Racism” , etc. Hmmmm!! Here are my suggestions for messages:

1. Stay in School
2. Study Hard
3. Help your family
4. Respect the Police
5. Read Books
6. Don’t do Drugs
7. Stay Healthy

I think I will submit these to the NFL!!!

San Francisco is a mid-sized city ( pop: 875,000) in northern California. For four decades the city has been run by liberal Democrats, including ex-mayor Gavin Newsom. The city has many problems, all created and fostered by the liberal left. Let’s list the big ones:

Schools-the only big city in the US not to open schools for middle and high school students for the entire academic year 20-21. But the School Board did eliminate merit for admissions to certain high schools. The Board also spent time and money to rename schools with offensive names like Abraham Lincoln and George Washington. The School board fights constantly with parents over everything.

Cost of Living-San Francisco has a cost of living at 2.5 times higher than the national average and, also 50% higher than NYC. Ugh!! People are leaving the city in record numbers, almost 50,000 people in 2020. This leaves the city with severe shortages of workers. Businesses are closing. Double Ugh!

Crime-the DA of San Francisco is Chesa Boudin, the son of two convicted murderers. His parents were charged with the death of two police officers and a security guard. Imagine that! San Francisco led the nation in car break-ins in 2019; shootings have doubled in the last year, and drug overdoes killed more people than Covid. Lax enforcement of crime has enabled shoplifting, looting, and robberies. The city has a incarceration rate of 20% the national average. Criminals are not going to jail.

City corruption– London Breed is the current mayor. She is a career politician, and the first black women to serve as mayor. She was elected in a special election in 2018.At a salary of $351,000, she is the highest paid mayor in the US. Can you imagine that? The city also has over 150 other employees with salaries over $300,000. Three city hall department heads have been charged by the FBI with bribery and corruption. Mayor Breed was fined $23,000 for ethics violations. Incompetence and corruption in city management has led to the demise of the City.

My guess is that the City will not recover.

Updated April 10

” If everyone stands on tiptoes, no one sees better”

The democrats have a single strategy. Never to lose a national election again, using all means necessary. They want the power to push their agenda to transform the US. Here are a few pages, in random order, from their playbook:

1. Keep the Blacks stirred up. Blacks historically vote for democrats by overwhelming numbers. Democrats create unrest in the black communities by pushing radical and untrue narratives like systemic racism, police murders, racism in schools, housing, criminal justice, employment, mortgages lending, and college admissions. Allow democratic cities to be burned during “mostly peaceful” riots. Make no arrests during these riots. Allow high levels of crime in our cities, mostly and tragically in democratic cites run by Blacks. Reduce the police forces. And call Republicans “white supremacists.”
2. Promote open borders. Allow uneducated and unskilled people from 100+ countries to enter the US through our southern border. No vetting backgrounds, no medical checks, no assurances of being able to support themselves. Use our military to transport these illegal immigrants across the US, especially to “swing states” like Texas, Arizona, Pennsylvania, etc. Provide free education, housing, food and medical to these immigrants, and about 30-50 other social benefits. The result, imported voters loyal to the democrats.
3. Push damn hard for the elimination of voter restrictions. Taking advantage of the Covid pandemic, democratic states relaxed voter ID requirements, the states also allowed for ballot harvesting, no election day observers, no signature verification, absentee ballots mailed to everyone, massive expansion of voting days, and a ballot counting system which took weeks to complete. Eighty percent of Americans favor voter ID laws. Yet the leaders of the democratic party want Federal control so election laws can be totally relaxed. The democrats want all their imported illegal immigrants to vote. I am certain the recent influx of unvetted migrants from Afghanistan will be included in the democrat’s strategy.
4. Give “free stuff” to everyone. The proposed $3.5 trillion budget is disgraceful. It is the largest expansion of the Federal government over in 60 years. Here is a partial list of some of the “free stuff”–universal Pre-K, child care for working families, Child tax credits, free community college, vast $$$$ amounts to historically black colleges, $107 Billion for lawful permanent status for immigrant (more voters), $332 Billion for public housing and community land trusts, expansion of Medicare, and Medicaid. Free dental and vision care. Can you imagine the Federal government running the programs to administer $3.5 Trillion? The post office (USPS) had a net operating loss of $3.0 Billion for the quarter that ended 6/30/21. Now-We want to hand the democrats $3.5 Trillion to spend. Lastly and most importantly, that $3.5 Trillion will siphon off investment $$$$ that could be used by innovative companies, start-ups, and biotech companies. Inflation will continue to rise and our economy will shrink (reduced investment).
5. Control the Media. The democrats provide daily talking points to all major news outlets, including the TV networks, major newspapers, and the major social platforms. The democrats are excellent at spinning the story, pivoting away from negatives, inventing words and phrases like “re-imagine” the police, dropping the race and/or gender card, deflecting the facts, and worse-telling us what words are no longer acceptable to use.
6. Lastly, keep people divided into groups. Divide to conquer. Create the groups like women, Blacks, Latinx, Minorites, Asians, immigrants and whites. Then make comparisons to show one group is better off. Of course, the next step is show how one group is being mistreated, or oppressed, or discriminated against. The democrats always blame society or the “system”, never the under-performing group. If a black high school in Baltimore is under-performing, it must be systemic racism. I don’t think so!

The democrats are clever. They are also the biggest threat to the US. We must take control of the House and Senate in 2022.

The following commentary is from a newspaper in Prague.

“The danger to America is not Joe Biden, but a citizenry capable of entrusting a man like him with the Presidency. It will be far easier to limit and undo the follies of a Biden presidency than to restore the necessary common sense and good judgment to a depraved electorate willing to have such a man for their president. The problem is much deeper and far more serious than Mr. Biden, who is a mere symptom of what ails America. Blaming the prince of the fools should not blind anyone to the vast confederacy of fools that made him their prince. The Republic can survive a Biden, who is, after all, merely a fool. It is less likely to survive a multitude of fools, such as those who made him their president.”

On August 6, 2021 the Commission voted, by split vote, to require Nasdaq companies to have a least two diverse members on their corporate boards. One Board member must be a women, the other must self-identify under certain rules regarding gender and racial characteristics and LBGTQ+ status. Can you imagine??? There are so many problems with this new requirement I have trouble arranging my thoughts, but here goes:

1. Government telling companies how to run their businesses. Corporate boards are tasked with governance and oversight. Obviously very important and requiring of vast knowledge and experience, and–connections to industry leaders, policy makers, international business experts and capable of the governance role.

2. Diversity diminishes merit. The two concepts cannot co-exist. If a company wants to be highly successful, then the company must employ top talent regardless of gender or race. Investors sink their money in companies with top talent, regardless of gender or race. There is absolutely no empirical study or logic that proves a diverse team is better. None!!!! The NBA is an excellent example, the best basketball players are in that league. There is not a diverse collection of players, blacks represent almost 76% of the current players.

Forcing quotas is wrong and has been proven wrong for 50+ years. In this instance, it assumes all women will act different than men and that people of color will govern differently than whites. Where is that data?? I think it is insulting to women and minorities. Where is the fairness based on merit?? There may be a Nasdaq listed company with an all minority board or all women. Is that company going to add two white men. That is ridiculous.

The US must have a strong economy. It is imperative for global political reasons. Our economy is driven by the outstanding companies located within our shores. Merit is the fundamental principle for excelling in business and finance. The engine of our economy is the investment world. Investment $$$ must go to the best ideas, products, and teams. Diversity is not part of that equation.

The CDC needs to improve its image. The people of the US are confused regarding Covid. Over the last 12-18 months, the CDC has issued many warnings/ bans/rules/conclusions regarding Covid and the US public. Many of these are the complete opposite from previous advisories. We don’t know what to believe from the CDC.

Let’s give the CDC something to do which is within their power. I am calling for the CDC to immediately issue a ban on migrants coming across our Southern Border. The unprecedented surge in illegal immigrants crossing our Southern Border is a health crisis. These immigrants have Covid and other communicable diseases. The CDC should halt the flow.

This approach seems so logical and simple. Where is the CDC????

Sweden is a Scandinavian country due north from Poland, bordered by Norway and Finland. Sweden is about the size of California with a population of 10 million people. The capital is Stockholm. The economy of Sweden (GDP) is $520 Billion, ranking 23rd in the world.

Sadly, Sweden has another ranking. Over the last 15 years, Sweden has had Europe’s highest rate of death by shootings. Recent data published by the WHO comparing crimes rates show Sweden at the top spot. Most of the shooting deaths in Sweden are men between the ages of 20-29. Sweden’s rate of homicide by shooting is 2.5 times higher than the European average.

So-what has happened to Sweden?? According to research conducted by the WHO, beginning about 15 years ago, Sweden opened its doors to migrants from Somali and Syria. Most of these migrants were young men. These young men have not assimilated. The various groups live in their own neighborhoods and draw social benefits. Many are in gangs. The gangs are fighting over turf for control of the illegal drug trade. Shootings are the way turf wars are fought. Apparently, their neighborhoods are so dangerous, police services have broken down.

Liberals will tell you Sweden should do more to support these young men. Perhaps? But Sweden could also arrest the felons, convict them, and incarcerate the bad one. Get them off the streets. Better yet, send them back to their home country. Sweden supported them for 15+ years, to me, that’s plenty!!