Please, let's stop calling the president of the U.S. "the leader of the free world". First, the president of the U.S. is historically elected by a minority of eligible voters in one country. Second, the "free world" includes plenty of dictatorships.
Comment posted to "4-year-Olds Don't Act Like Trump", Alison Gopnik, New York Times, 2017-05-20
Sunday, May 21, 2017
Tuesday, May 16, 2017
When the World Is Led by a Child
Comment to New York Times article by David Brooks (note: Brooks is considered a conservative)
https://www.nytimes.com/2017/05/15/opinion/trump-classified-data.html?comments#permid=22518785
George Washington warned about the abject support of Trump by the Republicans:
"The alternate domination of one faction over another, sharpened by the spirit of revenge natural to party dissension, which in different ages and countries has perpetrated the most horrid enormities, is itself a frightful despotism.”
Every year on Washington's birthday, a member of the Senate reads Washington's "Farewell Address". And every year the Senate ignores his advice by dividing itself along party lines. We now see almost lockstep support of Trump by Republicans and lockstep opposition to Trump by Democrats.
Maybe someday the the voters will grow up and elect grown-ups to political office.
https://www.nytimes.com/2017/05/15/opinion/trump-classified-data.html?comments#permid=22518785
George Washington warned about the abject support of Trump by the Republicans:
"The alternate domination of one faction over another, sharpened by the spirit of revenge natural to party dissension, which in different ages and countries has perpetrated the most horrid enormities, is itself a frightful despotism.”
Every year on Washington's birthday, a member of the Senate reads Washington's "Farewell Address". And every year the Senate ignores his advice by dividing itself along party lines. We now see almost lockstep support of Trump by Republicans and lockstep opposition to Trump by Democrats.
Maybe someday the the voters will grow up and elect grown-ups to political office.
Constitutional Amendments: Government Power Versus Personal Rights
Originally published in the
Reader Weekly
November 25, 2004
I don’t know how many constitutional amendments have historically been before Congress, but in the last two decades it almost seems Congress has been flooded with them.
I did a Google Search and a search of the House of Representatives web site for “constitutional amendment”; both yielded thousands and thousands of results. I narrowed my search to the House Judiciary Committee and got a mere 6652 hits. However, I had a hard time finding more descriptive material in them. I went back to the Google search and looked into several of the first 80 items. From various sources I succeeded in finding ten currently proposed amendments.
Marriage Protection Amendment (H. J. 106)
Constitutional Rights for Victims (S.J. Res. 1, H. R. Res. 10)
Desecration of Flag (S.J. Res. 4, H.J. Res. 4)
Balanced Budget (H.J. Res. 22)
Religious Freedom (H.J. Res. 46)
Abortion Ban
Continuity of Government (H.J.Res. 83)
Naturalized Citizens for President (H.J. Res. 104)
Natural Born Citizen Act (S.2128)
Direct Election of the President (H.J. Res. 109)
Some readers will think all these amendments should be adopted and some will think some of them are frivolous. I put the relevant House or Senate bills after most of these. You can find their text, current status, and related information by searching from The Library of Congress' Thomas by bill number or keywords.
I didn’t put a bill number by Abortion Ban because I could not find a bill that seemed to directly relate to it. All the bills I scanned seemed either to limit it or limit its prohibition.
I think we should ask four questions about any proposed amendment to the Constitution.
1. Does it define the structure and purpose of government?
2. Does it preserve the checks and balances?
3. Does it extend the power of government or does it extend the rights of persons?
4. Will it really work?
If you read the original Constitution, you will find that it mostly defines how the government should work and defines broadly what functions each of the three branches has. It doesn’t get into details of what people may or may not do; those are left to particular laws, their administration, and their judicial review.
We who were fortunate enough to take civics and American history learned repeatedly that the framers of the Constitution did not want one branch of the government to dominate the other. They were especially wary of a king-like executive. They were divided on how strong the federal government should be.
The first ten amendments (The Bill of Rights) were to correct a flaw many critics felt the original Constitution lacked – protection of the people from an all-powerful government. Unfortunately, although Congress thought it had a clear vision of what those rights should be, many people have distorted them to either claim a greater right than Congress intended or claim a right does not cover certain situations.
Will an amendment really work? History gives us mixed lessons on this. The amendment that flopped the most was Prohibition – it really was interpreted by a large number of people as a restriction of their freedom. On the other hand, the Fifteenth Amendment, the right to vote regardless of race or color, took decades to be enforced. Some feel that it is still not uniformly enforced in all States.
Let’s take a quick peek at some of the amendments I listed and see how they satisfy my four questions.
Marriage Protection Amendment
It could be argued that this defines a purpose of government, but that is a stretch. It really is an extension of the power of the federal government at the expense of individuals and the states.
The best comment I found was by Rep. Jim Davis of Florida. “Personally, I believe marriage should be a bond between a man and a woman; however, I voted against the Federal Marriage Amendment because I also believe the United States Constitution should protect rights, not deny them, and states should have the right to decide whether same sex marriages should be recognized within their borders.”
If it is to be considered an extension of people’s rights and a protection of marriage, then maybe the first sentence should read “Marriage in the United States shall consist solely of the union of a man and a woman and they shall be considered equal partners.”
Will it work? It certainly won’t prevent two men or two women living together.
Constitutional Rights for Victims
This amendment enjoys bi-partisan support. It essentially guarantees that victims of violent crimes be informed of proceedings against the accused, be allowed to heard at public proceedings, and be protected from further injury. It does have a loophole about restrictions “dictated … by compelling necessity.”
It definitely extends the rights of some people though others would say it limits the rights of the accused.
As to preserving checks and balances, the judiciary prefers a statutory approach to victims' rights over a constitutional amendment.
Religious Freedom
This is the wolf in sheep’s clothing of amendments. In the guise of protecting freedom it extends the power of government to promote religion. The catch is the use of “people” instead of persons, such as in “The people retain the right to pray…” Does this mean that if the majority determines that a public gathering will have a Christian, Jewish, or Muslim prayer, then the minority must sit quietly by while a prayer that they find offensive is given? Is the “people” a local government that will specify the prayers? Would an evangelical Christian be happy if all local government functions began with a Muslim prayer?
Special Elections/Appointment (Continuity of Government)
Naturalized Citizens for President
Natural Born Citizen Act
Direct Election of the President
These are the only amendments in my list that I think really satisfy all of the questions I posed. My only caveat is, will they work as intended or will they have some serious unintended consequences? The Continuity of Government is opposed by many representatives because it doesn’t guarantee quick elections to replace representatives. The Naturalized Citizen amendment is called the “Schwarzenegger Amendment” but it could apply equally to Jennifer Granholm, the Canadian-born, Democratic governor of Michigan. The Natural Born act is more limiting in that applies to people whose citizen parents happened to be elsewhere at the time of their birth or to people who immigrated as children. Direct Election essentially abolishes the Electoral College.
Let’s hope that these four get more attention than the others and that Congress and the State legislatures deliberate them openly and honestly.
Reader Weekly
November 25, 2004
I don’t know how many constitutional amendments have historically been before Congress, but in the last two decades it almost seems Congress has been flooded with them.
I did a Google Search and a search of the House of Representatives web site for “constitutional amendment”; both yielded thousands and thousands of results. I narrowed my search to the House Judiciary Committee and got a mere 6652 hits. However, I had a hard time finding more descriptive material in them. I went back to the Google search and looked into several of the first 80 items. From various sources I succeeded in finding ten currently proposed amendments.
Marriage Protection Amendment (H. J. 106)
Constitutional Rights for Victims (S.J. Res. 1, H. R. Res. 10)
Desecration of Flag (S.J. Res. 4, H.J. Res. 4)
Balanced Budget (H.J. Res. 22)
Religious Freedom (H.J. Res. 46)
Abortion Ban
Continuity of Government (H.J.Res. 83)
Naturalized Citizens for President (H.J. Res. 104)
Natural Born Citizen Act (S.2128)
Direct Election of the President (H.J. Res. 109)
Some readers will think all these amendments should be adopted and some will think some of them are frivolous. I put the relevant House or Senate bills after most of these. You can find their text, current status, and related information by searching from The Library of Congress' Thomas by bill number or keywords.
I didn’t put a bill number by Abortion Ban because I could not find a bill that seemed to directly relate to it. All the bills I scanned seemed either to limit it or limit its prohibition.
I think we should ask four questions about any proposed amendment to the Constitution.
1. Does it define the structure and purpose of government?
2. Does it preserve the checks and balances?
3. Does it extend the power of government or does it extend the rights of persons?
4. Will it really work?
If you read the original Constitution, you will find that it mostly defines how the government should work and defines broadly what functions each of the three branches has. It doesn’t get into details of what people may or may not do; those are left to particular laws, their administration, and their judicial review.
We who were fortunate enough to take civics and American history learned repeatedly that the framers of the Constitution did not want one branch of the government to dominate the other. They were especially wary of a king-like executive. They were divided on how strong the federal government should be.
The first ten amendments (The Bill of Rights) were to correct a flaw many critics felt the original Constitution lacked – protection of the people from an all-powerful government. Unfortunately, although Congress thought it had a clear vision of what those rights should be, many people have distorted them to either claim a greater right than Congress intended or claim a right does not cover certain situations.
Will an amendment really work? History gives us mixed lessons on this. The amendment that flopped the most was Prohibition – it really was interpreted by a large number of people as a restriction of their freedom. On the other hand, the Fifteenth Amendment, the right to vote regardless of race or color, took decades to be enforced. Some feel that it is still not uniformly enforced in all States.
Let’s take a quick peek at some of the amendments I listed and see how they satisfy my four questions.
Marriage Protection Amendment
It could be argued that this defines a purpose of government, but that is a stretch. It really is an extension of the power of the federal government at the expense of individuals and the states.
The best comment I found was by Rep. Jim Davis of Florida. “Personally, I believe marriage should be a bond between a man and a woman; however, I voted against the Federal Marriage Amendment because I also believe the United States Constitution should protect rights, not deny them, and states should have the right to decide whether same sex marriages should be recognized within their borders.”
If it is to be considered an extension of people’s rights and a protection of marriage, then maybe the first sentence should read “Marriage in the United States shall consist solely of the union of a man and a woman and they shall be considered equal partners.”
Will it work? It certainly won’t prevent two men or two women living together.
Constitutional Rights for Victims
This amendment enjoys bi-partisan support. It essentially guarantees that victims of violent crimes be informed of proceedings against the accused, be allowed to heard at public proceedings, and be protected from further injury. It does have a loophole about restrictions “dictated … by compelling necessity.”
It definitely extends the rights of some people though others would say it limits the rights of the accused.
As to preserving checks and balances, the judiciary prefers a statutory approach to victims' rights over a constitutional amendment.
Religious Freedom
This is the wolf in sheep’s clothing of amendments. In the guise of protecting freedom it extends the power of government to promote religion. The catch is the use of “people” instead of persons, such as in “The people retain the right to pray…” Does this mean that if the majority determines that a public gathering will have a Christian, Jewish, or Muslim prayer, then the minority must sit quietly by while a prayer that they find offensive is given? Is the “people” a local government that will specify the prayers? Would an evangelical Christian be happy if all local government functions began with a Muslim prayer?
Special Elections/Appointment (Continuity of Government)
Naturalized Citizens for President
Natural Born Citizen Act
Direct Election of the President
These are the only amendments in my list that I think really satisfy all of the questions I posed. My only caveat is, will they work as intended or will they have some serious unintended consequences? The Continuity of Government is opposed by many representatives because it doesn’t guarantee quick elections to replace representatives. The Naturalized Citizen amendment is called the “Schwarzenegger Amendment” but it could apply equally to Jennifer Granholm, the Canadian-born, Democratic governor of Michigan. The Natural Born act is more limiting in that applies to people whose citizen parents happened to be elsewhere at the time of their birth or to people who immigrated as children. Direct Election essentially abolishes the Electoral College.
Let’s hope that these four get more attention than the others and that Congress and the State legislatures deliberate them openly and honestly.
Saturday, May 06, 2017
Regulations are good: for our competition
So-called free-marketers are constantly complaining about regulations. Donald Trump claimed he would get rid of two regulations for every new regulation,. Gosh, do you think he would drop the regulation of concealed-carry in the White House? But that is a whole ‘nother subject.
What triggered this little outburst of mine was an article in the Reader Weekly from Wisconsin Public Radio ("Trade Dispute May Have Mixed Results for Wisconsin”). It contained a story “Wisconsin Lawmakers Consider Sales of Home-Baked Goods Once Again”. You can find the original story at https://www.wpr.org/wisconsin-lawmakers-consider-sales-home-baked-goods-once-again.
“In previous sessions, food industry advocates have brought up concerns about food safety…”
It would be interesting to know who these “food industry advocates” are and if they have ever complained about government regulations for the safety of their own products.
To be fair, many recall articles do state how a company is working with the government to improve. After all, good companies are always concerned about their reputation for quality.
What triggered this little outburst of mine was an article in the Reader Weekly from Wisconsin Public Radio ("Trade Dispute May Have Mixed Results for Wisconsin”). It contained a story “Wisconsin Lawmakers Consider Sales of Home-Baked Goods Once Again”. You can find the original story at https://www.wpr.org/wisconsin-lawmakers-consider-sales-home-baked-goods-once-again.
“In previous sessions, food industry advocates have brought up concerns about food safety…”
It would be interesting to know who these “food industry advocates” are and if they have ever complained about government regulations for the safety of their own products.
To be fair, many recall articles do state how a company is working with the government to improve. After all, good companies are always concerned about their reputation for quality.
All's fair in love and war...and politics too!
Republicans are complaining that Democrats are making some points of Trumpcare political. Gosh, where were they in supporting President Obama with the Affordable Care Act. Do you remember the charges of "death panels"? Taking away our "freedom of choice"?
Friday, May 05, 2017
Guns allowed, giggles not
At the confirmation hearing of Jeff Sessions for attorney general, Desiree A. Fairooz said she merely giggled. Prosecutors gave a different account.
See https://www.nytimes.com/2017/05/03/us/code-pink-sessions-laughter-trial.html.
See https://www.nytimes.com/2017/05/03/us/code-pink-sessions-laughter-trial.html.
Trump Care for Congress and President
Suggested amendment to Trump Care in the Senate:
On passage of this bill, all government health insurance for members of Congress and for the President and members of his Cabinet shall cease. If the “free market” is good enough for the people, it should be good enough for Congress and the President.
If it is good enough for us geese, then it is good enough for the ganders in Washington!
I sent the above to Sens. Al Franken and Amy Klobuchar. If you are a U.S. citizen, I hope you will send something similar to your senators. You can find their email links via www.sen.gov.
On passage of this bill, all government health insurance for members of Congress and for the President and members of his Cabinet shall cease. If the “free market” is good enough for the people, it should be good enough for Congress and the President.
If it is good enough for us geese, then it is good enough for the ganders in Washington!
I sent the above to Sens. Al Franken and Amy Klobuchar. If you are a U.S. citizen, I hope you will send something similar to your senators. You can find their email links via www.sen.gov.
Sunday, April 30, 2017
Why Donald Trump has an affinity to Russia
Alexander Borodin wrote an opera about him:
Prince Ego
See also http://focusonthegold.blogspot.com/2013/03/donald-trumps-ego-is-not-worlds-biggest.html
See also http://focusonthegold.blogspot.com/2013/03/donald-trumps-ego-is-not-worlds-biggest.html
Friday, April 28, 2017
I’m back!
I had an angiogram about two weeks ago to map out the blockages in my heart. A week later I had open-heart surgery for a bypass and valve replacement. I stayed in the hospital for about a week and came home earlier this week.
I met lots of interesting and helpful staff. They stuck by me even when I had some paranoid delusions.
I can’t drive for a month after the surgery and then have limited activities for another month.
My wife has been a great help despite some of my bursts of impatience.
One of those impatiences seems to be that the print on the screen seems to be smaller.
I hope to soon write a blog post "Modern medicine and Let them eat cake politicians”.
I met lots of interesting and helpful staff. They stuck by me even when I had some paranoid delusions.
I can’t drive for a month after the surgery and then have limited activities for another month.
My wife has been a great help despite some of my bursts of impatience.
One of those impatiences seems to be that the print on the screen seems to be smaller.
I hope to soon write a blog post "Modern medicine and Let them eat cake politicians”.
Sunday, April 16, 2017
Corporate efficiency?
Olive is software to put facsimiles of the newspaper print editions on line. By clicking on an article, a reader can see a more screen friendly copy of an article. Both the Duluth News Tribune and the Star Tribune have Olive editions. I subscribe to both, partly to get the comics rather than the text of some of the articles.
But for years the Olive edition has had a major flaw; a flaw that still exists in the current version rolled out last year. I don't know where they get o• writing about people like Je•rey.
The Olive edition of the 2017-04-17 Duluth News Tribune converted a USA Today article about North Korea to:
"The secretive state also showed o• a submarine-launched missile that it successfully fired last year.
"Analysts said that the weapons on display raised new questions about North Korea’s capacities going forward. Je•rey Lewis, director of the East Asia Nonproliferation Program at Middlebury Institute of International Studies at Monterey, Calif., called the show 'a bewildering array of new missile-related hardware.'"
I did change the quote marks to match the standard for quoting material that includes quotes.
Given all the product recalls, the unfriendly skies of the airlines, and much more, I would say the only efficiency in far too many corporations is move as much revenue as possible to the CEOs and board members. Gosh, I wish I could get $250,000 or more for showing up for six board meetings a year. And many of these people, including the CEO's are on the boards of several companies.
But for years the Olive edition has had a major flaw; a flaw that still exists in the current version rolled out last year. I don't know where they get o• writing about people like Je•rey.
The Olive edition of the 2017-04-17 Duluth News Tribune converted a USA Today article about North Korea to:
"The secretive state also showed o• a submarine-launched missile that it successfully fired last year.
"Analysts said that the weapons on display raised new questions about North Korea’s capacities going forward. Je•rey Lewis, director of the East Asia Nonproliferation Program at Middlebury Institute of International Studies at Monterey, Calif., called the show 'a bewildering array of new missile-related hardware.'"
I did change the quote marks to match the standard for quoting material that includes quotes.
Given all the product recalls, the unfriendly skies of the airlines, and much more, I would say the only efficiency in far too many corporations is move as much revenue as possible to the CEOs and board members. Gosh, I wish I could get $250,000 or more for showing up for six board meetings a year. And many of these people, including the CEO's are on the boards of several companies.
Beer, gin, and fact checking
Every so often I visit FactCheck.org or POLITIFACT. The latter uses “Pants on Fire” for the most outrageous claims.
The FactCheck story that caught my interest was the claim that increased beer drinking reduced the drinking of gin in 18th Century England. This claim was made by Sen. Bill Cassidy of Louisiana at the confirmation hearing of Scott Gottlieb, Trump’s nominee to head the Food and Drug Administration. Al Franken was skeptical. Thanks, Al! Maybe the “ruling” party should be called Republiars; they certainly aren’t concerned with Res Publica (public things).
My choice of the day from POLITIFACT was “Fake theory that Barack Obama hid millions of taxpayer dollars offshore started on parody site”. Maybe “conservatives” should be called “connedgullibles”.
The FactCheck story that caught my interest was the claim that increased beer drinking reduced the drinking of gin in 18th Century England. This claim was made by Sen. Bill Cassidy of Louisiana at the confirmation hearing of Scott Gottlieb, Trump’s nominee to head the Food and Drug Administration. Al Franken was skeptical. Thanks, Al! Maybe the “ruling” party should be called Republiars; they certainly aren’t concerned with Res Publica (public things).
My choice of the day from POLITIFACT was “Fake theory that Barack Obama hid millions of taxpayer dollars offshore started on parody site”. Maybe “conservatives” should be called “connedgullibles”.
Friday, April 14, 2017
All the world is a phage,
And we are but carriers of it.
Phage is short for bacteriophage; it means bacteria eater. Phages can be beneficial by killing bacteria in wounds. On the other hand, they can also make other bacteria more dangerous.
Inspired by University of Minnesota, Duluth, University for Seniors class on micro-organisms., 2016-03-06
I thought of this phrase independently, but a Google search for "all the world is a phage" turned up many sites that had used this phrase long before I did.
Phage is short for bacteriophage; it means bacteria eater. Phages can be beneficial by killing bacteria in wounds. On the other hand, they can also make other bacteria more dangerous.
Inspired by University of Minnesota, Duluth, University for Seniors class on micro-organisms., 2016-03-06
I thought of this phrase independently, but a Google search for "all the world is a phage" turned up many sites that had used this phrase long before I did.
“How to Stand Up to Trump and Win”
Nicholas Kristof gives several ideas about standing up to Trump in a New York Times article, 2017-04-13. See https://www.nytimes.com/2017/04/13/opinion/how-to-stand-up-to-trump-and-win.html.
When I forwarded the link to my wife, I added the comment "Don’t just hold a sign. Experts share how to resist and get results.”
When I forwarded the link to my wife, I added the comment "Don’t just hold a sign. Experts share how to resist and get results.”
U.S. Tax Preparation, special interests making our life miserable
I posted the following comment to “Filling taxes in japan is a breeze, why not here?”, T.R. Reid, New York Times, 2017-04-17.
When we lived in Italy and Sweden (1968-1974) we filled out four-page forms for those countries' taxes. And then we had to at least fill out a two-page form for the U.S. But we didn't have much investment income then.
I have tried tax software, but their question format takes longer than doing my own spreadsheet. I tried the Free-Filer that the IRS site links to, but it doesn't provide instant recalculations like my spreadsheet does.
Maybe I shouldn't say this because some lobbyist will get Congress to take this benefit away: the IRS does provide fillable PDF forms that you can fill out offline instead of handwriting the data.
I should have added to my comment the old adage: We have the best Congress that money can buy!
When we lived in Italy and Sweden (1968-1974) we filled out four-page forms for those countries' taxes. And then we had to at least fill out a two-page form for the U.S. But we didn't have much investment income then.
I have tried tax software, but their question format takes longer than doing my own spreadsheet. I tried the Free-Filer that the IRS site links to, but it doesn't provide instant recalculations like my spreadsheet does.
Maybe I shouldn't say this because some lobbyist will get Congress to take this benefit away: the IRS does provide fillable PDF forms that you can fill out offline instead of handwriting the data.
I should have added to my comment the old adage: We have the best Congress that money can buy!
Tuesday, April 11, 2017
Trump, Taxes, and military adventures
Mr. Trump has proudly acknowledged that he fights to pay as little tax as possible so that the federal government cannot waste his money.
- https://www.nytimes.com/2017/04/07/us/politics/democrats-see-opening-in-tax-overhaul-fight-trumps-own-deductions.html
So now he is busy wasting our money with military attacks that didn't do much lasting damage, with increased military spending in a military budget that dwarfs quite a few of the next largest military budgets combined.
Does "Make America Great Again" mean being able to engage in whatever military fiasco Trump wants? Ah, but he doesn't read history: Korea, Vietnam, Afghanistan, Iraq, and now Syria.
And he forgets the American Revolution: a ragtag bunch of locals beat a seasoned army of a superpower of the day. Ah, they did get some help from an enemy of the superpower, but that superpower was acting under the direction of the American generals. The American generals were not acting under the direction of the superpower.
- https://www.nytimes.com/2017/04/07/us/politics/democrats-see-opening-in-tax-overhaul-fight-trumps-own-deductions.html
So now he is busy wasting our money with military attacks that didn't do much lasting damage, with increased military spending in a military budget that dwarfs quite a few of the next largest military budgets combined.
Does "Make America Great Again" mean being able to engage in whatever military fiasco Trump wants? Ah, but he doesn't read history: Korea, Vietnam, Afghanistan, Iraq, and now Syria.
And he forgets the American Revolution: a ragtag bunch of locals beat a seasoned army of a superpower of the day. Ah, they did get some help from an enemy of the superpower, but that superpower was acting under the direction of the American generals. The American generals were not acting under the direction of the superpower.
Thursday, April 06, 2017
Is there a Common Sense Party?
A Google search put a British Common Sense Party at the top of the list.
As far as the U.S. goes, almost every link I found did not find a current Common Sense Party.
https://ballotpedia.org/Common_Sense_Party had a rather hard-nosed idea of common sense, sort of casting blame all over the map. The “Official website” link gave “Server not found”.
http://www.commonsenseparty.org/home.html has lots of common sense quotes, but the website is for sale. It is copyright by the Common Sense Party who will consider all serious offers. It can be reached through its contact page: http://www.commonsenseparty.org/contact-us.html
The Centrist Party seems like a believable alternative. Its website is http://uscentrist.org/ which is currently active. The latest blog entry is dated 2017-03-28: http://uscentrist.org/news/the-common-sense-blog-the-ins-and-outs-of-congress
Its philosophy does use unclear definitions of “free market, limited government and individual liberty” but does call for “protecting the common good”. We should consider that the balance between the two goals will always be unclear.
A Stanford student, Kyle D’Souza, gave a reasonable call, “The common sense party” http://www.stanforddaily.com/2017/01/13/the-common-sense-party/. This was in January. It only had one comment which I thought was off the wall.
The American Common Sense Party seems to be a one-person party on Facebook, the last entry being 2016-03-09.
The Common Sense Party also is on Facebook. It’s latest entry, 2017-03-22, was a link to Washington Post article of the same date: “Ex-Colo. GOP leader said only Democrats committed voter fraud. Now he’s charged with voter fraud.”
There are other recent articles about a “Common Sense Party”, but my quick scan showed that some are only local, not national or even state-wide.
Like the then moderate Republican Party arose from the Whig Party, maybe a true moderate party will arise from the current non-Lincoln Republican Party.
As far as the U.S. goes, almost every link I found did not find a current Common Sense Party.
https://ballotpedia.org/Common_Sense_Party had a rather hard-nosed idea of common sense, sort of casting blame all over the map. The “Official website” link gave “Server not found”.
http://www.commonsenseparty.org/home.html has lots of common sense quotes, but the website is for sale. It is copyright by the Common Sense Party who will consider all serious offers. It can be reached through its contact page: http://www.commonsenseparty.org/contact-us.html
The Centrist Party seems like a believable alternative. Its website is http://uscentrist.org/ which is currently active. The latest blog entry is dated 2017-03-28: http://uscentrist.org/news/the-common-sense-blog-the-ins-and-outs-of-congress
Its philosophy does use unclear definitions of “free market, limited government and individual liberty” but does call for “protecting the common good”. We should consider that the balance between the two goals will always be unclear.
A Stanford student, Kyle D’Souza, gave a reasonable call, “The common sense party” http://www.stanforddaily.com/2017/01/13/the-common-sense-party/. This was in January. It only had one comment which I thought was off the wall.
The American Common Sense Party seems to be a one-person party on Facebook, the last entry being 2016-03-09.
The Common Sense Party also is on Facebook. It’s latest entry, 2017-03-22, was a link to Washington Post article of the same date: “Ex-Colo. GOP leader said only Democrats committed voter fraud. Now he’s charged with voter fraud.”
There are other recent articles about a “Common Sense Party”, but my quick scan showed that some are only local, not national or even state-wide.
Like the then moderate Republican Party arose from the Whig Party, maybe a true moderate party will arise from the current non-Lincoln Republican Party.
Monday, April 03, 2017
Another example of well-functioning goverment
Often when spring comes, many of the pipes on sidewalks for water-shut-off start rising up, providing an annoyance to runners and walkers.
At 8:49 this morning I sent the following message through the Duluth water and gas service website.
Spring has sprung, the ground heaves, and the water-turn-off pipes rise to trip the unwary walker.
Please add my address to your long list of tasks.
At 14:20 I sent the following message.
Thanks for the fast service on tamping down the water-shut-off pipe. Another fine example of good government service.
If we really stop to think about it, there is a long list of government services at all levels that are provided efficiently and courtesy: Post Office, fire departments, Social Security, snowplowing, parks, and on and on.
I think the government bashing is mostly from those who don't want to pay taxes for any of the many services they receive. They would rather provide these services themselves and make a profit from them. How well, does the private sector perform? Just consider all the problems you have with the device that you are using to read this. How many help desks have provided prompt and correct answers? Yes, you can find many corporations that provide quality products and services, but it often depends on management. Good management is found in the public and private sectors. Bad management is found in the public and private sectors.
At 8:49 this morning I sent the following message through the Duluth water and gas service website.
Spring has sprung, the ground heaves, and the water-turn-off pipes rise to trip the unwary walker.
Please add my address to your long list of tasks.
At 14:20 I sent the following message.
Thanks for the fast service on tamping down the water-shut-off pipe. Another fine example of good government service.
If we really stop to think about it, there is a long list of government services at all levels that are provided efficiently and courtesy: Post Office, fire departments, Social Security, snowplowing, parks, and on and on.
I think the government bashing is mostly from those who don't want to pay taxes for any of the many services they receive. They would rather provide these services themselves and make a profit from them. How well, does the private sector perform? Just consider all the problems you have with the device that you are using to read this. How many help desks have provided prompt and correct answers? Yes, you can find many corporations that provide quality products and services, but it often depends on management. Good management is found in the public and private sectors. Bad management is found in the public and private sectors.
Sunday, April 02, 2017
Religious Americans who believe war is murder shouldn’t be forced to fund it
This my counter to “Religious Americans who believe abortion is murder shouldn’t be forced to fund it”, one of the opinions in “Should the new Congress defund Planned Parenthood”, Duluth News Tribune, 2017-04-02.
It boggles my mind that those who want to ban abortion seem to have no qualms of supporting a party that is all to willing to go to war wherever they think “American interests” are at stake. War causes many unwanted abortions, abortions the victimized mothers would not want if they had survived the bombing or gunfire. Even if the mothers had survived, would the stress of war caused spontaneous abortions in some of them.
These anti-abortion, pro-war “religious” seem to forget “Blessed are the peacemakers: for they shall be called the children of God. - Matthew 5:9. They also seem to have ignored “Finally, all of you, live in harmony with one another; be sympathetic, love as brothers, be compassionate and humble.” Peter I 3:8.
It boggles my mind that those who want to ban abortion seem to have no qualms of supporting a party that is all to willing to go to war wherever they think “American interests” are at stake. War causes many unwanted abortions, abortions the victimized mothers would not want if they had survived the bombing or gunfire. Even if the mothers had survived, would the stress of war caused spontaneous abortions in some of them.
These anti-abortion, pro-war “religious” seem to forget “Blessed are the peacemakers: for they shall be called the children of God. - Matthew 5:9. They also seem to have ignored “Finally, all of you, live in harmony with one another; be sympathetic, love as brothers, be compassionate and humble.” Peter I 3:8.
What does it take to become an "American"?
Comment to
http://www.nytimes.com/2017/04/01/opinion/sunday/why-is-this-hate-different-from-all-other-hate.html?comments#permid=22009533
Many Americans consider themselves to be Swedish or Italian or Polish because of where their grandparents or earlier were born, but are they really? I have four great-grandparents born in England and four who were born in Germany or in what is now Poland.
But I do not consider myself English, German, or Polish. I consider myself American. I grew up here, my parents grew up here, and my grandparents grew up here. Actually one grandmother was born in Schliesen, now part of Poland, but she went to American schools all her life.
When I went to England, I was not English, but a Yank. When I went to Germany I was not German, but ein Amerikaner.
We will continue to have people from elsewhere come to the U.S., settle, and adopt many American ways. Some will keep customs of their parents or grandparents; others will blend in. Some will keep their religious views; some will change. Consider the Amish. Although there may be hostility to them by some, they are accepted by most people. Can't we treat all newcomers with the same respect?
Oh, it gets more complicated. My extended family includes people whose ancestors were born in Japan, China, and Africa. I consider all of these as Americans first, and whatever as a matter of historic interest.
http://www.nytimes.com/2017/04/01/opinion/sunday/why-is-this-hate-different-from-all-other-hate.html?comments#permid=22009533
Many Americans consider themselves to be Swedish or Italian or Polish because of where their grandparents or earlier were born, but are they really? I have four great-grandparents born in England and four who were born in Germany or in what is now Poland.
But I do not consider myself English, German, or Polish. I consider myself American. I grew up here, my parents grew up here, and my grandparents grew up here. Actually one grandmother was born in Schliesen, now part of Poland, but she went to American schools all her life.
When I went to England, I was not English, but a Yank. When I went to Germany I was not German, but ein Amerikaner.
We will continue to have people from elsewhere come to the U.S., settle, and adopt many American ways. Some will keep customs of their parents or grandparents; others will blend in. Some will keep their religious views; some will change. Consider the Amish. Although there may be hostility to them by some, they are accepted by most people. Can't we treat all newcomers with the same respect?
Oh, it gets more complicated. My extended family includes people whose ancestors were born in Japan, China, and Africa. I consider all of these as Americans first, and whatever as a matter of historic interest.
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