Author: Kevin Driscoll

Just a blog of random thoughts. Some will be about street photography; some about DMR radio; some about weight training; we can chat about cigars, motorcycles and tools. Essentially, a blog of useless information, ramblings, poorly structured arguments, and complaints. You will be dumber for reading this.

Foreign Affairs Article – Misses The Bigger Issue

I’m not trying to claim I’m some kind of fancy intellectual, but I do read Foreign Affairs magazine.  I have an online subscription and an app on my iPhone.  There was an essay in the March / April 2017 combined issue titled, “How America Lost Faith in Expertise” by Tom Nicoles.  I have never heard of Tom Nicoles but apparently he works for the government is some capacity.  He tells as story of a poll in 2014, following the Russian invasion of Crimea.  The Washington Post put it out.  In brief, it asked Americans if the US should jump into the fight and assist the Ukraine.  Less than 20% of the people could even point to the Ukraine on a map.  Full disclosure, neither can I.  People who thought the Ukraine was in South America or Australia were very gung-ho about our intervention. 

So, is it complete apathy about world events; is it CNN’s and FoxNew’s move from real international news to be a bunch of talking heads; is it laziness?  No, it’s a lack of quality education.  Why is the rest of the world so “fluent” in our history and current events and I can’t even name the President (I don’t even know if it is a “president” or prime minister or queen) of Canada??

If we really want to make a difference to our children or our local community or even to our country, we have to start paying attention to the degrading of our educational systems.  Disclosure item 2, I think it is a purposeful way of dumbing down the country’s work force to control wages, benefits, and even lifestyle.

So, go study a map.

 

 

ATT Bonus Scam

ATT proudly boasts $1,000 bonus to roughly 22000 employees. A cost of 22,000,000. All of which they credit to Fake Presidents Tax Reform Scam. What they didn’t say was they also laid off 600 workers. At an average salary of $65,000 that paid for the bonus and left them with a $17,000,000 profit. Wow!!!

ALL THE SIGNS ARE THERE – But No One’s Reading Them

There is a great debate between those who believe is isolationism (full disclosure – I am one) and those who readily point out the weakness in such a position.

Perhaps we should start out with what my definition of “isolationism” is.  1. No foreign aid.  Keep OUR money here for our education; health; infrastructure; lowering the “debt”; 2. Forcing AMERICAN companies to build IN AMERICA to maintain our ability to manufacture things and benefit the workforce. Consider our manufacturing might in the late 1930s and early 1940s.  We could convert any factory to manufacture goods to protect ourselves militarily.  We can no longer do that.  3. Stay out of other countries “business” – as cruel as this sounds, if they want to kill each other, let them.  It is unacceptable for our kids to fight and die in another country because of that country’s internal strife.  4. Create a balanced immigration policy that lets in all whom desire to be here under strict guidelines.

Now, how immature is that.  But I’m not the only one who feels that way.

Fast forward to where we are now.  There are signs that our country is going the way of Rome regarding the horrendous nature of our politics and culture and, get this, of USSR.    If you were to consider USSR’s fall from being a world power in the 80’s, you would see some similarities to our country: 1. a corrupt political system; 2. massive foreign financial aid with little to no return on investment; 3. sticking their nose in other country’s “business” in the name of keeping out Colonial Americanism yet not being able to provide that country with anything but rigged elections and military might to keep those who “loved the USSR” in power; 4. a country where nothing was really manufactured and anything that was manufactured there was garbage quality (I should say, most of the items manufactured in the U.S. are of high quality); 5. leaders who were not respected on the international stage; 6. a weakened military from lack of financial support.

Hmmm.

As of today, China has 1 aircraft carrier.  The United States has 12.  China was been, for the last decade at least, establishing a pattern of “investing” in other countries, getting them “hooked” on the cheap labor and cost of manufacturing in China, having their citizens relocate to those countries, and then engage in interventionist policies when its citizens were “threatened” abroad.  China today is like colonial England of the 1700 and 1800s.  It takes natural resources from a country, brings it back to China, and then sells the finished goods back to the originating country.  All at a great profit.  Reinvesting in itself and building up a massive military complex.  But for the fact that China does not have a navy strong enough to enforce its will around the globe, there would be a Chinese flag flying around the world as did British flags in the 1700 and 1800s.

China is now taking it one step further.  Its foreign citizens are now digging deep into the local populace, especially in politics, and then acting almost like spies for the Chinese.  Consider Yang Jian, a politician in New Zealand with obvious pro-Beijing positions, for odd ties to the Chinese military and intelligence services, and Chinese donations to his political party.  Australia is experiencing a similar phenomena.

So, what does all the above have to do with isolationism and reading the signs?  We have to get better at “spending our money”.  If we’re going to invest in a country, it can’t be with the blood and sweat of American soldiers, the expenditure of our military supplies, and the financial “aid” given to administrations that simply pocket the money and do nothing in return.  We have to get a little more selfish and examine “what’s in it for us” before we start throwing our money and kids around.  We have to start contracting a little, consolidating a little, concentrating on ourselves first.  How can we go out in the world and solve everyone else’s problems when we are barely taking care of ourselves.

Maybe I’m the only one who sees this.

Maybe I’m just very ill informed.

 

 

 

Middle Class, That’s Us, Under Seige

New Yorkers have a critical vote this coming Nov. 7th.  You MUST vote no and save pensions.  I don’t care how right wing, Republican, fiscal conservative you allege to be.  Pensions are something fought for, literally, with bloodied noses and broken bones and now, once again, the rich are trying to take something away from the working folks.

This, by odd coincidence, goes hand in hand with the Fake President’s bullshit tax reform that will give tax breaks to the rich and big business.  And, how is he going to pay for these tax breaks, by taking away the middle class deduction on 401(k)s.

I do fear a war is coming.  It’s going to be ugly.

Trump Set the Tone for This

For as much as people didn’t like George Jr., not even the news media was blatantly disrespectful. Sure everyone made fun of him, considered him stupid and just some rich kid out of touch with middle class reality, but I can’t recall things like this happening.

Trump’s lack of respect for most everyone, unprofessionalism, lack of statesmanship, inability to treat anyone with dignity, not to mention his outright contempt – for anyone who doesn’t treat him like a kind has created this atmosphere.

He has made this type of behavior alright. Bullies are back on the rise, people have a sense of “fuck you – I’ll do whatever I want, and the lack of common courtesy for our fellow citizen is, well, more common.

But at the end of the day it’s not alright. We need a statesman back in office. Someone we can look up to. Someone we can respect. Someone we can all get behind and be proud to call our leader. And until we do, there will be a lot more of this.

Conversations with My Brother In Law

For years I’ve been trying to figure out what my brother in law’s political leanings were (as I know many of you have been completely baffled by mine).  Last week I was visiting my sister and “Steve” (not his real name) asked me why I hated the Fake President so much.  Fortunately, that conversation turned to my position on free health care and free education.

Although I lost the debate soundly on free healthcare I think I held my own on free eduction.  However, if I had only remembered George Carlin’s – The Big Club monologue on “The Owners of The Country”, I probably could remain undefeated in this debate.

George Carlin argues there are a handful of unbelievably wealthy who have long ago bought out the Senate, Congress, City Hall, judges, etc etc.  But, their biggest fear, the thing that scares these people the most is a population of citizens capable of critical thinking.  They don’t want well informed, well educated people, they want uneducated, dumbed down, obedient workers.  They want you mentally robotic and unable to challenge the logic of these quite evil people. They want you just smart enough to run the machines and do the paperwork but dumb enough to passively accept the increasingly shittier jobs at less pay, with less benefits, with longer work weeks and longer work hours.  They hate and fear strong unions.  They want to take away overtime and most of our pensions have long gone forcing our older population to continue working in their Walmart sized, modern day sweat shops.

Oddly, it is us hardworking blue collar and white collar people who continue to vote in their meg wealthy friends into political office only to have them continually pass laws that benefit, the who, the mega rich.  How many times has the Senate voted DOWN their pay raise?  Hmm.

And, now you voted in one these mega rich bastards who is now getting ready to pass “tax relief” that will only benefit, the who?, the super rich.

Indeed, we’re asleep at the wheel and we will get what we deserve or we will be cheated out of what we don’t fight for.