IMMIGRATION

My friend from college, James Angus, is retired from service with the Justice Department. He writes well, and this is something that I think he wrote especially well:

NATURALIZATION CEREMONY

When I recite the pledge of allegiance I do it barely above a whisper because I find comfort in hearing the person next to me, as well as inspiration from the choral voice of all declarers. And so it was on December 6 as I stood in a packed auditorium at the University of Delaware led by Federal District Court Judge Maryellen Noreika. Joining me were two hundred and twenty new citizens of the United States, from fifty six countries and double that number of family and well-wishers. As each country of origin was announced alphabetically, their citizens stood in recognition one last time before renouncing and abjuring all allegiance and fidelity to any foreign prince, potentate, state or sovereignty. It merits mention that each also swore to support and defend the Constitution and laws of the United States against all enemies, bear arms on behalf of the United States, perform non-combatant service in the Armed Forces of the United States and perform work of national importance under civil direction when required by law. This strikes a familiar note for those of us who were eligible for being drafted into the Armed Services once upon a time.

The League of Women Voters was in prominent attendance, eager to register new citizens for eligibility to participate in American democracy. I inwardly smiled at the misguided opinions of “media talking heads” that insult us with every newscast of how these new citizens I walked among were Democrats all. Indeed not! Most wore the cloth of working folks, many with hands to prove it. All had followed a process, albeit a long, grueling and expensive one that had taken years and many interactions with the Department of Homeland Security to complete. But here they were, at last, with spouses and children, mortgages and debt, medical histories, jobs, cars and other assets and, of course, tax liabilities: the whole kit and caboodle of challenges to daily living in America. As Senators Coons and Carper and Representative Rochester know well, some of these people will be asking for their help via the aortic vein of reelection: constituent services

.

Which brings me to my immigration problem. I hope you share my shame at living in a country where one party exploits a child’s death while in the custody of Customs and Border Protection and another party exploits a citizen’s death at the hands of a felon who has entered the country without inspection. Death is a personal tragedy and it demands the decency of private healing. In contrast, advertisers thrill in death and the lucre of public visibility.

There is no one solution to those seeking entry into the United States, whether by an illegal crossing or as a tourist with no intention of leaving. Give Trump money for his wall. Give Schumer and Pelosi as many border patrol agents and hi-tech security as they want. To say “that does not solve the problem” does not solve the problem. Give each what they want not because they will work or be effective but simply because they will allow us to move to a nobler plateau of civic debate from which we can get about the business of doing what America does best: solve the problem. 

And from what I witnessed on December 6, with literally 700 citizens and non-citizens alike rising in unison to pledge allegiance to the flag of the United States of America, making the naturalization process more expedient and public could at no cost bend America’s spirit to bipartisanship for this singular issue.

Coco Chanel

Coco Chanel said:

"I don't care what you think of me. I don't think of you at all."

I needed to ponder on that one for a while. Wait for me.

THE WINTER FORTRESS

THE WINTER FORTRESS, Neal Bascomb

When I finish a good book, there is a period of euphoria, of revelation and heightened understanding. This was a good book. About the obstruction/destruction and prevention of the heavy water program at Norsk Hydro, Vemork, Norway, that, had it not been successful could have led to the development of the atomic bomb by the Nazis.

I remember watching the movie a long time ago. It was not very good, and in fact it was just not truthful. The story of the Norwegian heroes is complex and, therefore, regrettably, not fit for Hollywood. The sacrifices and deaths of the heroes is the stuff of ballads and legends, but they were ordinary men tasked to perform extraordinary duties.

Son, Matt, has projected the characteristics upon modern inhabitants of Northern Minnesota and North Dakota, and I agree. These are, today, stoical people who perform at a high level without fanfare. Who face a harsh climate without hesitation. Plus the “slings and arrows” of any life that has, as its inevitable conclusion, death.

Back to the story: Norsk Hydro was in the business of producing electricity, and byproducts that were essential to Norwegian agriculture (fertilizer) and industry. Why the industrialists at the company determined that the production of “heavy water” (more later) was a good thing to do is never really explained, but at that time in the world of science and industry, there was an overlap.

An example:  In the 1984 book, “Three Degrees above Zero” the author, Jeremy Bernstein, describes the activities at Bell Labs. When I read it many years ago, the thought struck me that this could never happen in today’s world. That was in the 1990’s, and it is true today—there could never be significant money spent on “pure research.” We all know the money spent on frivolous research (i.e. the sex life of a Central American fruit fly) but get this—a few of the guys sitting around just thinking (this was the 1920’s) decided that they should travel from their cushy little spot in New Jersey with Bell Labs and go to Columbia University to find about this new theory, quantum mechanics, and off they went. That bunch ended up inventing the transistor.

I maintain that there is no place on earth where this kind of pure research could be tolerated today.

Back to the Norwegians. The arrogance of the Germans was immense, and it was not taken kindly by the descendants of the Vikings. Even today, a “Quisling” is a synonym for “traitor” and the person for whom this is named, Vidkun Quisling who was the Nazi sympathizer AND head of the puppet Norwegian government.

The stage is set. It is 1941, Norway has been overrun by the Nazis, and the only plant in the world that is effective in producing heavy water is located in Norway.

Heavy water is an isotope that has special characteristics in the absorption and control of nuclear fission. It is essential in the development of (at that time) the atomic bomb. Why did that company, in a remote place (Norway) decide that they should produce deuterium oxide (heavy water) when there was at that time no industrial use for it? Basically, I guess, because they could?

The book describes the immense personal effort expended to prevent the production of heavy water for the Nazi program that would have produced an atomic bomb. After all, they had the scientists to do it, except they either killed them or sent them elsewhere since they were Jews.

Many years ago, my then brother-in-law, Rick, knew that I was unable to quit reading a book. When presented with a book that was worthwhile, I would continue to slog through, read away, until done. So for Christmas (probably 1991?) he drew my name and presented me with the book, The Making of the Atomic Bomb. It seemed like it was ten thousand pages, but actually more like a thousand. There were so many parts that were beyond my comprehension. But I retained some things:

·         The brains that invented the bomb were Jews

·         Oddly, a lot of them were born in a small part of Hungary

·         General Groves was impossible, but effective

·         Again, this could never happen today

One of the paragraphs of the book begins, “It was December 23…[1942]” and I was reading it on December 23, 2018. Seventy-six years later, to the day. Amazing the changes that have happened in that time, close to the span of my life.

The scourge that caused these patriots to endure hardships, to have the weight of innocent lives on their conscience, has passed. It still exists in many parts of the world, but we are thankfully insulated from knowing about the atrocities in Africa and the Mid East. Simply hiding out in the blizzards that seemed to be a weekly occurrence on the Vidda (Hardangervidda, the inhospitable plateau that is near the Vemork hydro plant) was enough of a challenge, then planning, executing and evading the Germans was a bonus.

Recommend for all. Good read. If not for this and many others, we would be speaking German and Japanese and have an entirely different outlook.

EVERY PARENT

Every parent has been told a story that is factual...sort of. Most of us learn that you wait to judge until you have assessed the situation, especially if you can hear the other side.

We often find that the child has a memory that is firmly planted, but some of the facts just aren't right. Again, most of us (the exceptions are the parents who attack teachers) avoid the "rush to judgment."

In my opinion, there are three principal stories that could be completely true in the Dr. Ford-Judge Kavanaugh saga:

1.    Dr. Ford's account is completely factual, Judge Kavanaugh's account is completely false.

2.    Dr. Ford was groped and terribly frightened, but it was not Kavanaugh.

3.    Dr. Ford's memory of the ordeal was flawed due to the passage of time, trauma and alcohol.

I certainly don't know the answer, but I refuse to crucify a man who has led an honorable life according to all accounts (other than hers) based on a single point of reference. Her "witnesses" didn't help her at all.

I'll bet husbands and wives, parents and daughters all across this land have had some interesting discussions about this. Personal stuff. While the D. C. area high school culture of the 1980's was apparently charged with underage drinking and suspect behavior, I'm going to bet that there has been a lot of discussion about similar happenings around the country.

Add money and privilege, like in the D.C. area...

Judge Kavanaugh has not been confirmed, but if he is, don't you think he may have a bit different view of the cases sponsored by Democrats from now on? Remember, the Dems brought this whole thing on when they started the "nuclear option."

INTERNATIONAL ONE HIT WONDER DAY

Ever get a song stuck in your head? Ever waste time on the internet? Got one for ya—today is “International One Hit Wonder Day.” You’ll notice it is not just “regional.”

What’s your favorite? The one that always gets stuck in my head is “The Night the Lights Went out in Georgia.” Vicki Lawrence. Carol Burnett’s sidekick. Who knew?

Here are some more:

“Afternoon Delight.”

“Mickey” This was a drill team song in about 1986 and drove everybody nuts

“In the Summertime.” Should get a gold star for high weirdness of the band’s name—Mungo Jerry—and for a prominent role played by blowing into a jug

Who can forget “Harper Valley PTA,” “Seasons in the Sun,” “Play that Funky Music (White Boy),” or “Girl from Ipanema.” In the bossa nova style.

“Classical Gas.” A guitar instrumental. This is not happening in today’s environment.

“Dominique.” In French, religious, by a Belgian nun. Tragically, she later left the convent and committed suicide with her partner.

“In-A-Gadda-Da-Vida.” Whittled down from the original 45 minutes on the album to 3 minutes for radio.

“Judy in Disguise (with Glasses).” When you’re from Louisiana, it might be hard to understand that kind of English.

They all have in common that these songs were the only time these artists hit the Top 100 charts. You will also notice that they mostly came from that special period of pop music, early 1960’s through the Disco era.

Not much from the highly produced stuff now that doesn’t have much in common with “music.” So fortunate to have grown up in a time that had these outliers and also the great bands and musicians.

Son Matt is a fan of the author Malcolm Gladwell who pointed out that The Beatles were not amateurs who just appeared on the scene, but paid their dues in Germany by performing hours and hours. Eventually attaining the 10,000 hours that Gladwell often used to assess whether a person actually knows what they are doing.

I don't get it

How can a business that pays producer in Asia 20 cents per hour turn around and pay that pretend-quarterback person tons of dollars to protest inequality?

Lots of disconnects?

MISSING MAN FORMATION

Forgive me for again beating this dead horse:

Reuters reported that a "squadron" of Blue Angels performed a flyover at the service for John McCain yesterday.

Facts are:

• It was not the Blue Angels and it was not a squadron
• It was, as reported by the local Virginia Beach news, a composite flight of four A/F 18 "Super Hornets" from four different squadrons out of NAS Oceana here in Virginia Beach
• It is called the "Missing Man Formation" 
• The four aircraft approach the ceremony area in formation and one, "Dash 3," pulls up and away, symbolic of the soaring of the spirit
• It is an honor to be selected to fly in such a formation and it is one of the highest honors to the deceased who are often, like Senator McCain, pilots.

There ya go. Now that was simple enough. Why can't the news get anything right?

UPDATE: Danny was one of the pilots selected to perform the flyover and then the Missing Man formation at the funeral of another Navy pilot, former President Bush.

BAIL BONDS

Governor Moon Beam first proposed elimination of the bail bond system in his 1979 inauguration speech. I wonder how many more lifetimes he will lead matters in such an important state.

The new system would allow judges to rate criminals and determine if they should stay in jail. If you have a serious felony, like third offense DUI or murder, you're going to stay put, I guess. Others, let 'em go.

Right now, the system acts as insurance that the offender will show up for their court date. If not, the bail agent is out his money (less the fees that are about 10% of the bond). Bond agents are not fond of forking over money because some knucklehead decided to skip, so they find them and drag them to court.

There are about 3,200 bail agents in California (and I would expect some support people?) and in 2014 they collected about $308 million in fees or roughly $100,000 average per agent. Take out all your expenses for rent, licenses (about $1,000 per after all included) and chasing down skips and it is a job, but not a great job.

Not only will the state lose the taxes, etc on the $300 million, implementation of the program is expected to cost $200 million per year. When was the last time a government project came in under budget?

The current system has faults. Seems like for a net cost to the state's economy in excess of half billion dollars (not counting the multiplier of economic activity), seems like some reforms might have been considered?

The ACLU was in favor, now not. Part of their perpetual employment plan.

Now, as you all know, I pretty much know nothing about bail bonds and have so far in my 73 years avoided needing one. Which is a pretty good thing because I can't remember phone numbers, even the simple ones that are plastered on the placards for these guys. But what a world we live in--I can opine about this stuff with not the foggiest idea of what I'm doing, sort of like a CNN correspondent.

SCHOOL BOMBING...A DIFFERENT TWIST

It was about this time of year, late August 1950.  My family, the four of us, were hot, tired and stuffed in the non-air-conditioned cab of the 1949 Chevy farm truck on our way back from a horse show on a Sunday afternoon when a neighbor stopped us on the road, leaned out of his car window and told us the “school blew up.”  The “school” was the one my grandfather, my father and my brother had attended and the one that I was scheduled to go to, Nance County District 12, “Big Cut.” And I was going to start school the very next day.

The school had been remodeled during the summer, the barn that provided shelter for students’ horses was torn down and a new propane-fired furnace and water heater were installed supplied by a large tank located a few yards away from the building. It was a one-room school house and the new appliances, along with indoor plumbing, were located in a new basement that was a major part of the remodel.  The propane was carried to the basement using soft copper pipe.  Ah-ha!  We have discovered a problem.  Soft copper is not approved for that application by building codes, for good reason.

There was a leak, propane being heavier than air pooled in the new basement and when the pump for the water well kicked on, the spark ignited the propane. There was an explosion and fire, but it did not burn the building down, just blew the ends out, charred the whole interior and caused the building to have a unique smell that never went away. It was eventually destroyed, ironically enough, by an arson fire when my niece and nephew were students there many years later.

The talk of the neighborhood was, naturally, how the accident might have happened 24 hours later and the kids would have been wiped out or maimed.  The location of the tank was also questioned, but was not a true issue.  As it was, we were shuffled off to start our school year at an abandoned house nearby.  During those years, it was poor and dry and abandoned houses were plentiful as families picked up and moved to California.

Horse shows were pretty common.  We already had the horses, it was entertainment and it was cheap.  Besides, you could be home in time to do the milking in the late afternoon, so it all worked out.  The “cheap” part was a significant motivation—we weren’t exactly poor, but one of the memories of my childhood is that there wasn’t much money.

When Nebraska was surveyed and laid out, the land was divided into “sections,” (squares with one-mile sides, 640 acres).  The sections were usually divided by roads and several sections would then comprise a township.  The next larger entity would be the county.  Nebraska has 93, Iowa 99, for instance.  Unlike the states in the East, the Midwest is characterized by these grids aligned to the cardinal compass points.  Factoid: Delaware has 3 counties and as far as I can tell, no roads that are straight.  The streets in Omaha are an illustration of this process as the major streets are one mile apart so that 60^th Street was a “mile road” at one time, 72^nd Street is the next and so on. Notice they are 12 streets apart each block 1/12 of a mile.

The townships had several acres set aside for schools and “Big Cut” was situated on one of those reserves across the road from the corner of our farm.  To my knowledge, none of those one-room schools survive with the possible exception of a few in the Sandhills.

My first back-to-school event would forever have an unusual twist.

DECLINING BIRTH RATES

I have been observing (ok, a lot of it looks like complaining) that when I stayed with my two granddaughters in South Dakota in May and my granddaughter in Denver in June, child care on a regular basis is exhausting. We keep the two and one-half year-old grandson in Va Beach on a regular basis, usually once a week. Yep, a lot of work.

The other observation I made, though, is the way bonding plays into the equation. Talk about a tough job you love! And before the trips, I wanted to talk to and see the little ones, but I didn’t have that yearning that was enhanced with bonding.

Preface all this with a comment I have heard many times, but it was repeated recently and goes something like this: “I don’t see how they do it. Having and caring for those kids is impossibly difficult.”

When I was first married and had children, I was 24 and far too young to know or even think about the challenges. We had no money, no support. It had to be harder on my wife, the mother, than it was on me, but I was working an average of 2 to 3 jobs just to have enough money to buy food. Many of you can endorse my statement that it is a huge challenge that is made even more difficult when you’re poor.

Summarizing the articles: Agreed upon: a birth rate of about 2.12 is necessary to replace the current population. The current US birthrate is in the 1.7 range and declining.

https://www.nytimes.com/2018/02/13/upshot/american-fertility-is-falling-short-of-what-women-want.html

https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2018/may/21/hat-looks-good-slug-birth-rates-us-falling-reasons-why-family-policies

NYT—the American fertility rate is declining, blame increased use of contraceptives and especially Long-acting contraceptives (LARCS) and millennials are not having sex as much. They used an excellent phrase for cell phones as one of the culprits—“get-out-of-human-interaction free devices.” Then concluded that the biggest drop in fertility was in the western states.

COMMENT:  Without some explanation, what does it matter what state has the most or least fertility? So, Mississippi is the only state to increase. Aren’t there some other factors at work rather than your time zone? How about race? How about income?

THE GUARDIAN (US Edition)—pretty simple conclusion: The reason fertility is declining and so far below replacement in the US is because the US is a terrible place and an even worse place to have and raise a child. OK. ?? Well, if that conclusion is true, why is the birth date declining similarly among the Swedes in Sweden, a paradise according to The Guardian? Back up on that statement—the birth rate is low for Swedes, but the immigrants and especially the immigrants have much higher birth rates. For that paper, though, don’t bother me with those kinds of facts—the US is a horrible place.

Now, wasn’t that helpful?

I’ll give you another scenario that is POWERFUL!! Say that you are a rational, highly-educated, single, 28-year-old woman with a good job. You are old enough and have enough experience to know (not just suspect, but KNOW) that having and raising a child is difficult work, risky and expensive. More kids? = More work. Hmmmm. “I think I’ll wait until Prince Charming drops around.” Completely true and completely rational thinking. But it is absent the love and bonding component. As it should be. You can’t love and bond with a Prince Charming who seems to love his horse too much or for children who are yet to be born.

My generation just went ahead and got married and blundered into parenthood. The apprehension of this generation is warranted, but it is also going to cause a huge change in the civilization going forward. The people who are educated and wealthy are going to dwindle and become less of a voting force, and the uneducated and jobless are going to run out of people to provide for them…and their larger than average number of children. Whoa, there are some words that can’t be published—not PC.

Interesting set of decades coming up.

A DAY AT THE MUSEUM

They flew the 1944 FM-2 Wildcat yesterday at the Military Aircraft Museum. That sound. Wow, that sound.

A special person came to hear it. A WWII vet, he parachuted into France with the 101st Airborne on D-Day, June 6, 1944. He went on to be in the Siege of Bastogne and the Battle of the Bulge.

Let's say he was 18 when that happened, he would be in his 90's now. Can you imagine the flutter in his tummy when he heard that 9-cylinder radial engine make pass after pass over the crowd of over 500?

Given the weather the day before, the scheduled return of the P-51 Mustang was delayed so the crowd witnessed that beautiful bird and its distinctive Rolls-Royce V-12 Merlin engine as it came home.

Every weekend during the summer, weather permitting, the museum flies one or more of the War Birds. There are over 60 and most of them are airworthy.

Maybe it will be the Hawker Hurricane, flying in the livery of  Kenneth Haviland, the only American RAF pilot who flew in the Battle of Britain and survived the war. Or the PBY 5A Catalina, the flying boat that can stay aloft without refueling in excess of 24 hours. Maybe the first acquisition of the museum's owner, the Curtiss-Wright P-40E that was rescued as a box of junk parts and emerged with the famous shark mouth of the Flying Tigers.

I'm not qualified like the docents who have tons of information and stories about the aircraft and the museum's celebration of the first 50 years of flight, but I get this "feeling" when I go there. Something about how different the world would have been.

And then to see one of the Greatest Generation, in person. And experience that sound.

KAMALA HARRIS

OK, here's one to remember and learn how to pronounce. Vegas says she is the most likely Democratic candidate for President in 2020. And Wikipedia (source of all knowledge) says it is KAH-mele (and those e's are each a schwa so it rhymes with mullah)

What does she do now? US Senator from California, succeeding Barbara Boxer (you didn't think they could get worse?)

What will she do? If elected, the potential is unbounded, but a "Jubilee" is a likely scare. That would be forgiveness of debt, and the targets include forgiveness of student loans and about $1 trillion of credit card debt. You might ask yourself, who's to pay for this?

The answer? Surely not the bulk of Democratic voters.

Here it is, the end of July and you ran out of things to worry about. Glad I could help.

THE EVIL EMPIRE

If I were the evil empire, I would try to deflect attention. Like make people think that Russian is the enemy.

Well, Russia is AN enemy...but let's take a look:

• Russia is not the USSR
• They have less than 150 million people
• China has ten (think about it) ten times as many people
• Russia has a social problem, it has 11 million more women than men
• Why? Because the men are alcoholic and die early
• China has paid attention to infra-structure for decades

Sure, Russia is a nuclear power, but they are the paper tiger that Khrushchev called us. They do not have the power they once had, regardless of their lawless acquisition of part of Ukraine.

President Trump is an expert at deflection. He uses it all the time, so he recognizes it when he sees it. The press, bless their pointed heads, is just not very bright.

Who is the "evil empire" in this scenario? I don't think there is one. The Chinese are the logical target, but they have thousands of years of experience behind them and they are not going to act like rookies in this. 

I don't think there is one, unless it is ourselves. Looking at the current landscape, it is hard to decide if we aren't our own best enemies?

Trump can behave poorly. Call me Mr. Obviousman. When I was in the Army, we used to discuss the mistake of "stepping on our own unit." As painful as that could be, it is common, and it is something that Trump may accomplish. Hope not.

Let's keep our vision, voters. The Libtards will be out in force!! Don't let the media push us around.

 

 

NATO

This is a copy of an email I sent to a friend who is a graduate of the US Naval Academy, a retired F-18 pilot who spent the last two years of his career working with NATO.

My email will be last. His, the significant part, is first.

Subject: Re: NATO

Date: 2018-06-13 09:06

From: Monty

To: Bob Peterson <rpeterson@nbbcompany.com>

Bob,

The only real metric the NATO nations have agreed to is to spend a

minimum of 2% of their GDP on defense with 20% of that spent on

equipment. As of Mid 2017, 6 of the 29 NATO member nations meet or

exceed the 2% threshold. They are US, Greece, the UK, Estonia, Poland

and just recently Romania. Greece probably only makes it because they

essentially have no GDP.  All the other NATO nations have been under the

2% number for .... well, pretty much as far back as I know. As of 2016,

the U.S. Spends 3.3% of our GDP on defense (which is down from 8.4% in

1960) but since our GDP is so much bigger than other countries, we carry

the lions share of the effort.

https://data.worldbank.org/indicator/MS.MIL.XPND.GD.ZS

 I can understand how those nations would say there's been no real

threat. But now that the Russians are scary again, the chickens are

coming home to roost. The effect of those nations spending below the 2%

target is also a cumulative one. There are many necessary supporting

capabilities that only the U.S. can provide in any significant numbers.

Some examples include Aerial refueling, airborne electronic attack,

heavy sea lift, heavy air lift. There's also a capacity gap outside the

U.S. because the other nations simply haven't purchased enough "stuff."

The result of this is that if 28 of the 29 NATO nations decided they

wanted to get together and do an offensive (or in many cases defensive)

operation without the U.S., they would be unable to except in certain

rare circumstances because they need capabilities only the U.S. has

because they have been unwilling to pay for those capabilities

themselves. The longer the gap in spending exists, the larger the

deficits in capabilities and capacity become.

Now, to be fair, 100% of U.S. defense spending counts toward the 3.3% of

GDP and we don't use all of our capabilities in Europe. We have a large

puddle to our West to contend with, too. That being said, our

capabilities are, for the most part, mobile and can be moved to Europe

for use if necessary.

Trump does have a tendency to play fast and loose with facts. However,

the only real difference from previous presidents vis-a-vis NATO is that

he's been much more willing to take the other nations to task for under

spending on their own defense. That has allowed them some leeway in

creating their socialist paradises because they've been able to redirect

defense spending toward social programs. They would certainly either

have to spend less on something, have even higher taxes, or borrow more

money to pay for defense spending if they had to defend themselves

without the shield of U.S. military strength. That statement is up for

some debate (but not really), but Trump has been much stronger about

saying it.

Yes, I was just Monty for most of my career. I had a short stint as Data

but it didn't really stick.

 Hope this helps. 

James

On Wed, Jun 13, 2018 at 12:08 PM <rpeterson@nbbcompany.com> wrote:

 Hey, Monty,

 BTW, was that your call sign? Seems too clean and obvious…but…

 Not my real question. As you know, I work the elections and yesterday

 was very slow. Fewer than 10% of the registered voters in this

 precinct voted. Seems a shame.

 While shooting the bull with another guy, I mentioned that I thought

 some of the richer nations should do more to fund NATO and that maybe

 the days of the US shouldering the burden of funding the defense of

 the free world should be re-examined.

 He was pretty huffy, started off by talking about what a liar and

 cheat and blah blah Trump was, and then said that all the countries of

 NATO were currently spending their fair share. I didn’t take it any

 further since I didn’t have facts.

 Looked up Fact Check. Well, they acknowledged that the US contributed

 22% of the budget for NATO and the other 28 countries contributed

 according to a formula based on their GNP. All good. They went on to

 say that the US VOLUNTARILY spent another bunch of money on operations

 and “indirect spending” for military purposes. The figure

 mentioned was 72% and I think that was for all indirect spending.

 They did not say whether that 72% included the 22% spent on Direct

 costs? I suspect it doesn’t. As Disraeli said, “There are lies,

 damned lies, and statistics.” So I am suspicious.

 What is your thinking on this as the only person I know who has

 first-hand knowledge of NATO??

 Don’t feel obligated to “educate” me, but if you have a few

moments, would appreciate a bit of wisdom!

Bob

Certainty is one of the great privileges of youth. ~ Sheryl Sandberg

to MIT graduating class 2018

Auto Pilot for Trucks

AUTOPILOT FOR TRUCKS

Anyone who has looked at this blog over time is well aware that I have no understanding of the inflated valuation of Tesla stock. The battery technology may be the important part, but beyond that, the car biz is pretty iffy. For instance, there was another autopilot crash yesterday—into a parked police car.

I just returned from six days on the road and over 4,000 miles. If I were a NYT reporter, that would qualify me as an expert. The only expertise I have is accurately predicting that I will be amazed at the way other drivers try to kill me.

FACTOID: The message board in Missouri said over 300 people have been killed in auto accidents so far this year. SIXTY PERCENT (60%) OF THEM WERE UNBUCKLED!!

Back to the subject of the title. All those trucks driving individually. Why not take the existing technology (computer regulated speed, cameras, proximity sensors and controls, and lots of others that exist now) and create a system that allows trucks to “convoy.” (Again with the songs…convoy, 6 days on the road…)

Imagine the fuel savings if two, three or more trucks were able to convoy down the freeway at 70 miles per hour spaced at 6 inches from each other. Maybe the drafting drivers (actually, not driving at that point) could get a break from the new Electronic Log Device mandates. Watch for the ELD rules to cause higher prices on goods that need to be transported…which is just about everything.

Seems like the infatuation with autopilot for cars could be put to nearly immediate, economically advantageous use in the trucking industry.

JUGGLING

Jerry confessed his fascination with juggling, said he went so far as to get the book, “Juggling for Dummies.” It didn’t work.

We watched a short video of a juggler riding a bicycle, juggling bowling pins and doing tricks with the bike. Amazing.

I remember learning to juggle when I was young, but couldn’t master anything beyond 3 items at once. Brings back a memory of two “losers” (guys who didn’t have dates on a Saturday night) in the house practicing juggling three baseballs and trying to perfect the art of sharing them back and forth. The other participant, Jim Stevenson, was at Nebraska on a baseball scholarship, so he was pretty handy.

Along comes Frank Solich and says, “Hey, I always wanted to learn how to juggle.” “Really, Frank, it takes a lot of practice, years.” “Well, just let me try.”

At that time, Frank held the single-game rushing record for Nebraska at something like 250 yards. I think it was against Air Force. He and another guy would strap weights under their shorts so they were listed at around 165 pounds.

The reason he was able to do things on the athletic field was brought home to me that night. Frank was “different.” In minutes he was juggling as well or better than either Jim or me. His brain and body worked in a way that ours didn’t.

Thinking of you, coach, as you lead the Ohio University Bobcats. Thinking of you, Jim Stevenson, killed in action, Viet Nam, 1969 (a member of Army Reserves, activated).

Jim and I shared a branch of the Army, Armor. It was reported he died in a vehicle very common in the day, the Armored Personnel Carrier (APC). Designed for a different war on the other side of the world, but what they were using in 1969. Glad we didn't get called up, as he did. All honor to him for his service and sacrifice.

BEEF, ITS WHAT’S FOR DINNER

This article was written by Amanda Radke, a rancher. I have harped about this Grand Experiment with the American diet for years—basically, the low-fat diet is the cause of the American obesity pandemic.

http://www.beefmagazine.com/outlook/cardiac-surgeon-says-beef-can-help-prevent-heart-disease?NL=BEEF-02&Issue=BEEF-02_20180419_BEEF-02_859&sfvc4enews=42&cl=article_2_b&utm_rid=CPG02000003521558&utm_campaign=26751&utm_medium=email&elq2=19829e43812f42539a52f544573ad02e

Promoting the elimination of meat, eggs, butter, whole milk and substituting with processed, sugary foods makes sense and pleases our palates. A sweet roll just tastes better than a hard-boiled egg. Processed food producers jumped on that band wagon. Hell ya! And if a food contains cholesterol, doesn’t that mean it is, therefore, deposited in our arteries? Well, it’s a bit more complicated than that.

Even the prime mover in this awful experiment from the 1950’s, the longitudinal Framingham Study, seems to have discovered results that a recent director of the study described as “disappointing.” In that they indicated that the people who followed the guidelines of avoiding fat, etc., had more heart disease and died earlier than those who didn’t. Well, that is one thing, but how can the results of a scientific study be “disappointing” because they don’t support the findings that management wanted? Not very scientific, is it?

Anyway, the article says it better than I can. Just know that for those of us who grew up in the 1950’s and later, our avoidance of fat, red meat, cream, whole milk (we used to give the skim milk to the hogs because it made them fat) in favor of processed foods has been beaten into us. Not good.

And another thing. Beef producers “donate” $1 per marketed head of cattle to the USDA for purposes of promoting beef, the “Check-off” program. Yeah, give the bureaucracy that gives us food stamps the responsibility for “Marketing.” How’s that working? The author, Radke, is a proponent of at least one activity of the Check-off which is to provide doctors with accurate information, so she isn’t as skeptical (cynical?) as some of the rest of us.

Some state operations are trying to get the Check-off stopped so they can do some actual research and marketing. Still, don’t ya love Sam Elliot?

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nZoyE1B7HHA

R. Lee Ermey d. 4.15.2018

UPDATE: R. Lee Ermey died Sunday, April 15, 2018 of complications of pneumonia. He will be missed.

I watched a couple of clips from this movie today, R. Lee Ermey is quite the DI. Then I watched the clip, "Pyle's greatest moment" or something like that.

Having never seen the movie, and not admiring Kubrik's work that much, I didn't know what to expect. That clip where the actor portraying Pyle says, "Hiiiii, Joker." and "Seven. Point. Six. Two. Full. Metal. Jacket." and what comes next was described as the single most frightening scene in a movie EVER. Maybe not that, but close.

Many of you have heard me tell about my miserable experience in the Army, including the guy in our platoon named "Rooney." Lots of the kids couldn't do the monkey bars and other PT stuff, but Rooney was a special one. Remember this is the time of the draft, so you got anything. The drill sergeant whose name I forget although I can still see his face plainly, was not as clever as DI Hartman in the movie, nor was he as stupid. He recognized that Rooney needed special help.

The platoons were broken up alphabetically, so Rooney was in my platoon and I was assigned one morning to teach Rooney how to make a left face, a right face, and about face. Never got it.

Again, I recall recently telling the story that was the final straw for Rooney. It was the day we got gassed. The Army determined that we needed to have confidence in our gas masks, and the best way to do that was to have us experience CS with the mask on and with it off. The procedure was explained: you stood in line, the first guy in line would stand at attention, take off the mask, announce his name and serial number (your social security number), salute and be dismissed by the drill sergeant.

Rooney didn't understand all the instructions. When the first guy in line was told to take off his mask, Rooney took his off, too. I didn't personally see all this, I was too busy discovering how miserable you can be when gassed and he was behind me, but it was not a good situation.

Soon after, the Army was smart enough to send Rooney home. Credit the people in charge that they gave it a go, he actually went as far as throwing a live grenade, but eventually it was determined that he would have been a danger to himself and all of us. No Full Metal Jacket for us in 1970. BTW, it would have been nearly impossible for that scene to occur in reality, weapons and live ammo were locked up tight.

BPI FOLLOWUP

On July 5, 2017 I posted some notes about ABC settling with BPI regarding the "pink slime" broadcast that nearly caused BPI to fail. And let's call it LFTB for Lean Finely-Textured Beef.

In my post, I said 700 people lost their jobs. The Sioux City Journal has reported that number as 750, but there is an important (mostly unreported) fact regarding those folks: Eldon and Regina set up a fund of $10 million to give to those people after the settlement.

You can see why it isn't reported much. Worthy actions by business people do not make the cut.

For full disclosure, son Matt has a responsible job at BPI, but I know nothing that isn't in the papers. One thing in the papers--Disney, the parent of ABC, reported in their financial footnotes that they set aside $177 million for settlement expenses. Implies that the settlement was significantly higher? That suspicion was confirmed by the BPI lawyers. 

Just to make Disney/ABC a bit more uncomfortable, their insurer has sued them in an attempt to deny paying the rest of the settlement.

Keep tuned.

CELLAR DOOR

A New York Times magazine article says that “cellar door” is considered by many to be one of the most pleasant-sounding words (or two words) in the English language.

I’ll go with that. Also, mother, love, oleomargarine, defenestration. I have no idea what that last one means, but it was included on the list.

Do you have any words that you think sound beautiful? Regardless of meaning? I’ve loved the word (and the idea) of onomatopoeia since I first heard it many, many moons ago.  Contrast these words with phlegm and moist.

After all is said and done, I’m with Dorothy Parker who, when asked about the beauty of cellar door and other pleasant words remarked that her favorite-sounding words were “check” and “enclosed.”

NEXT DAY: Jerry supplied these words to consider:  mountain, puppy, willow and pond. In the spirit of Dorothy Parker, he offered "successful operation" and Kevin, practical as ever, said "free" and "beer."

This is fun.

TESLA AGAIN...AND YET AGAIN

The post shown below in this type was from 2017, and for some reason I continue to see the need to write about Tesla. Market cap this morning, April 2, 2018 is about $43 Billion after hovering around $60 billion for most of 2017. I was squawking about it when the market cap was $30 billion, so I missed a double!

This is one of the most incredible con-jobs in history, fueled by the Obama administration’s emphasis on “wishes” rather than facts. For example, it costs more to fill up a Tesla at the cost of electricity at the “stations” than it does to fill up a Prius.

Remember the 300+ mile range? At 28 degrees Fahrenheit, that range is cut by a third. Image one in Minneapolis?

And another thing—What could that $176 billion in subsidies to wind energy have done for teacher salaries, education in general, roads, other things that government is supposed to be taking care of.

Another way of looking at the $176 billion gone up in smoke to the wind generation folks, if divided up among every elementary and secondary teacher (there are about 3.3 million of them), it would have increased their pay by over $50,000 during that time.

Let's keep beating this drum. I first wrote (not published) about Tesla in 2013 or 2014 and then again published in this blog in August of 2015. Two years ago.

At that time, Tesla's market cap was $30 billion, ridiculous by any measure. Last week it popped to over $50 billion and passed General Motors in the total value of its stock.

Read the old posts here: http://bourbonanddad.blogspot.com/2015/08/tesla-and-tesla-redux.html

Still ridiculous, still resembles a tulip bulb that is valued at more than the ship that delivered it.

Maybe our markets are just not that efficient at times.

As Lee points out in passing along this article, http://www.nationalreview.com/article/436228/wind-energy-subsidies-billions Elon Musk is definitely an expert at acquiring government subsidies. The wind energy business has been subsidized by government to the tune of $176 billion. Watch out below--of that amount, $164 billion is in the form of loans and loan guarantees. Sound anything like Ginnie Mae and Fannie Mae and the 2008 crisis? 

That $176 billion is about $2,200 for every family of four in this country. Every last man, woman, child, transsexual, illegal/undocumented immigrant and politician out there. The info is hard to come by, but that amount is about half the estimated losses in the subprime mortgage crisis, but the total effect on the economy was the loss of value/wealth in the $30 trillion range.

Since we are just about out of things to worry about, worry about wind energy subsidies, the failure of all those loans/loan guarantees and the fallout that happens when that type of thing ripples through the economy. Oh, and don't forget when Tesla's stock falls back to earth...or the dark side of the moon.

STEVEN PINKER

STEVEN PINKER

Enlightenment Now: The Case for Reason, Science, Humanism, and Progress 

I’ve decided I’ll get everyone on my Christmas list this book. A positive statement. Don’t worry, you’re not on the list. Buy your own.

This is a book that scolds us for not realizing that the world is getting to be a better place. Crime is down, so is suicide, and all kinds of other nasty parts of society.

More countries now have some form of democracy, by a long ways, than a few years ago. The United States is not doing quite as well in a lot of areas as most of the rest of the world, like income inequality. War and violence have declined, the examples of WWI and WWII plus the long Cold War have increased the power of the state and decreased the willingness to murder millions and millions of soldiers and innocents.

Worth a read. If nothing else, to take another look at this guy’s hair!

AW, C'MON!

Gary Cohn has been described by the White House as a "globalist." The actual meaning of that word is that he believes in the benefits of a global economy. Consequently, he was opposed to the tariffs imposed by President Trump, and that led to his resignation.

Apparently, that word, "globalist," has been hijacked by the alt-right as a synonym (and pejorative) for "Jew." Really? C'mon man! Let's not let a bunch of goof balls give us heartburn about using perfectly good words.

The way President Trump used the word, it was apparent to me that he had no intention of using it as an anti-Semitic slur.

Here is another tidbit about Gary Cohn--it took him 6 hours to read 22 pages when he was learning about options trading. The reason? He is severely dyslexic. Read Malcolm Gladwell's David and Goliath for the whole story. When he was interviewed, he mentioned to Gladwell that he wished him well with "another book I'll never read."

FULL METAL JACKET

UPDATE: R. Lee Ermey died Sunday, April 15, 2018 of complications of pneumonia. He will be missed.

I watched a couple of clips from this movie today, R. Lee Ermey is quite the DI. Then I watched the clip, "Pyle's greatest moment" or something like that.

Having never seen the movie, and not admiring Kubrik's work that much, I didn't know what to expect. That clip where the actor portraying Pyle says, "Hiiiii, Joker." and "Seven. Point. Six. Two. Full. Metal. Jacket." and what comes next was described as the single most frightening scene in a movie EVER. Maybe not that, but close.

Many of you have heard me tell about my miserable experience in the Army, including the guy in our platoon named "Rooney." Lots of the kids couldn't do the monkey bars and other PT stuff, but Rooney was a special one. Remember this is the time of the draft, so you got anything. The drill sergeant whose name I forget although I can still see his face plainly, was not as clever as DI Hartman in the movie, nor was he as stupid. He recognized that Rooney needed special help.

The platoons were broken up alphabetically, so Rooney was in my platoon and I was assigned one morning to teach Rooney how to make a left face, a right face, and about face. Never got it.

Again, I recall recently telling the story that was the final straw for Rooney. It was the day we got gassed. The Army determined that we needed to have confidence in our gas masks, and the best way to do that was to have us experience CS with the mask on and with it off. The procedure was explained: you stood in line, the first guy in line would stand at attention, take off the mask, announce his name and serial number (your social security number), salute and be dismissed by the drill sergeant.

Rooney didn't understand all the instructions. When the first guy in line was told to take off his mask, Rooney took his off, too. I didn't personally see all this, I was too busy discovering how miserable you can be when gassed and he was behind me, but it was not a good situation.

Soon after, the Army was smart enough to send Rooney home. Credit the people in charge that they gave it a go, he actually went as far as throwing a live grenade, but eventually it was determined that he would have been a danger to himself and all of us. No Full Metal Jacket for us in 1970. BTW, it would have been nearly impossible for that scene to occur in reality, weapons and live ammo were locked up tight.

PURIM

The Jewish holiday of Purim started yesterday at sundown and continues to sundown today, March 1, 2018. I’m not particularly interested in Purim, but this is just the setup for the amusing paragraph below written by a woman and published in the Tablet. You can skip the historical background if you want.

Purim is the celebration of the saving of the Jews from the evil Persian minister, Haman, who was determined to kill them all. Traditionally, it is a day of gaiety, eating and drinking while making noise and wearing costumes. Sort of a combination of Mardi Gras, Christmas (there are small gifts of food and drink) and Halloween.

Like so many Jewish holidays, there are traditional foods that go with the stories of the heroes of the day. This hero is Queen Ester whose Biblical book, The Book of Ester, tells the story about her role and that of her first cousin, Mordecai (who was, perhaps her husband?) and the food is the cookie, the hamantaschen.

Brief story—Haman, the evil aide to the king (most likely, Xerxes of Persia), was angered that Mordecai would not bow down to him, so he contrived and edict of the king to exterminate the Jews. Through the efforts of Ester, the king discovers the truth that Mordecai saved his life, and the edict is reversed.

I find these stories fascinating, and the manner in which the Jews have not only survived multiple extermination schemes but steadfastly passed their faith down generation after generation is rare in the history of humans. But now, the point of all this, the paragraph.

Before my mother-in-law stopped baking hamantaschen, she passed her recipe on to me, on three index cards covered with her loopy, barely legible handwriting. The recipe instructed me to brush the tops of the cookies with milk before baking, and then sprinkle them with sugar. But on the back of the last card, at the point where the cookies are out of the oven and already cooling on the rack, she’d added one last note: “I don’t bother sprinkling with milk and sugar—it doesn’t add anything.” This last sentence, informing me that what I had just done wasn’t really worth doing and didn’t meet with her satisfaction anyway, pretty neatly expresses the essence of our relationship.

WHO IS TO BLAME?

Before those involved could have a chance to mourn or deal with the horror of the shootings, so-called experts were spewing opinions on who (or, usually, what) is to blame.

The most common is to blame the guns. Sure, the NRA is not my favorite, they are pretty radical and have strayed from their roots of teaching gun safety and so on. Lots of other culprits, like the parents. Or the school system.

The New York Times took the opportunity to blame society saying in an opinion piece that the shootings are because young men are not given the tools by society to deal with (whatever, it gets too murky for me at this point). Ya mean they're crazy? Yep, got that.

In typical fashion, NYT will lead you to believe that all members of society should stop, abandon all normal behavior and stand on their heads in deference to some extremely small minority of misfits behaving in an aberrant, dangerous manner. Hugs all around, folks.

As you can tell, I reject that view. But in a conversation with one of my oldest friends (Jimmy) last night, I think we agreed on one thing--society has not found an effective way to protect our school children from this. Grandpa Joe Biden decided that the way to do it was to ban guns from schools. Apparently, the shooters didn't read the signs. But it made it impossible for anyone to shoot back. Thanks Joe.

How can the society protect our school children? Well, banks choose to hire armed guards, because history proved that if they didn't, guys with guns would come and take the money. Old time bank robber Willie Sutton was asked why he robs banks, and his answer was "That's where the money is." One strategy would be to hire guards. Another, to arm teachers. An argument by my liberal friend was that there isn't enough money to hire teachers, let alone guards. I reject that argument. The stakes are too high.

Besides, pouring lots of money at education doesn't provide more successful outcomes for students. Take Kansas City Public Schools--several years ago, their records showed that they spent $19,000 per student per year, and the results are appalling.

So, blame guns, society, parents, Republicans (you have to blame Republicans, don't you?). But the fact is that we as adults and "normal" citizens have failed to protect our school children. That is a task that we should not allow to be accomplished 98% of the time--it needs to be all the time.

HOW OUT OF TOUCH

Spring training started last Monday. Games start this weekend, and I just missed it. Too much CNN and MSNBC, I guess. Out of touch with the important stuff.

To me, the start of spring training is so much more significant than some rodent in Punxsutawney predicting the end of winter, because when full squads report, winter is officially going to end.

The East Coast has been chilly and miserable this winter and the midwest is still in the middle of some cold weather--it was ice and snow a couple of days ago, then 6 degrees in Sioux City with a NW wind at 25 mph. Yep, that's winter on the Plains. Did you ever wonder how people got along in teepees with that kind of winter?

My Royals are "rebuilding." So many from that World Series Championship squad are gone due to free agency, so the code word for "watch out" is "rebuilding." Alex Gordon, 34 years old and in the last two years of his big contract, promises they will play hard. Wonder when baseball GMs will quit throwing money at aging stars? Gordon never lived up to offensive potential as a youngster, but was a fan favorite and really good defensive outfielder. In the first two years of his current contract, his batting average is .214, a shade under the Mendoza line and a liability in the outfield. But, if you wear Big Red Goggles and bleed Royal's Blue, he is still ok.

I hope we're not in for a bunch of years like we endured back in the day. As Buddy Bell said about the 2005 Royals, "I never said it couldn't get worse."

Still how bad can it be when Spring Training is underway.

RAY ELLIS

The place where Ray Ellis was born, grew up, spent his adult life and died has been obliterated. Make way for a pivot sprinkler. He was a bachelor, lived with his mother, no offspring (and I will bet the farm on that one). The 1950's equivalent of a Millenial.

Except Ray worked, and he worked hard. Not effectively or efficiently, but hard. Ray gave me my first "real" job, I was 12 and he was a neighbor. About $1 per hour, and it was hauling alfalfa bales and stacking them on a pile in the yard. I earned enough over three days to buy a baseball glove that cost $30 in Columbus at the sporting goods store. If I were flipping burgers in today's world, that glove would be worth about $300...but since it now comes from Haiti or someplace, it doesn't cost that much.

My brother and I would laugh at Ray for keeping the hog feed in the cattle pen and the cattle feed in the hog pen. Then transported back and forth with 5-gallon buckets until his arthritis made him so stooped that he resorted to 2.5-gallon buckets.

The hogs that should have been castrated young were left to grow and my brother and I didn't laugh so hard when we had to hold them when they were as big or bigger than we were. Their breath is not heavenly, either.

A woman who works at the local post office where I live could be his mother's, Nettie Ellis's, sister. Except Nettie was probably born in the 1880's. I hesitate to broach that subject with this lady...the story would get too complicated, and for what?

Why does Ray come up in my mind so many times? Maybe due to the work, the pay, the peculiar smell that his 1951 Chevy car had--he had been to town, bought five gallons of 2-4-D concentrate to spray for weeds, and it spilled all over in the trunk. The car was new for about 5 minutes, I guess. It was awful.

Maybe all those things, but maybe because all remnants of his life have been wiped clean. No physical evidence, no offspring. And damned few people who remember him. Well, Ray, I do. Vividly. But it is unintentionally nihilistic--because that just doesn't mean a blasted thing.

Make your own vows and conclusions from that.

Carry on.

BOOK REVIEW-TIN CAN SAILORS

This is not, really, a book review, but some observations after reading The Last Stand of the Tin Can Sailors by James D. Hornfischer. My thanks to Amy W for borrowing the book in my name, it was perfect.

By the end of 1944, the war in the Pacific was pretty much determined, but the details were not. The battles of Midway and the Coral Sea had depleted the Japanese Navy and the Marianas Turkey
Shoot virtually eliminated their air power, and that turned out to be what they desperately needed. Maybe that is why we don’t hear much about the Battle off Samar, part of the “Leyte Gulf” operations that freed the Philippines, but subsequent operations (Iwo Jima and Okinawa come to mind) have been reviewed extensively.

The book reads like a novel, details the lives and exploits of key players and has the benefit of nearly 60 years of scholarship, memories and investigation. Still the US Navy’s down play of the battle is probably traced to its reluctance to skewer a couple of its heroes, Admiral Kinkaid for one, but in particular Admiral “Bull” Halsey who was trumpeted as a hero in the home newspapers before and after the battle, despite his arrogant and obsessive actions that took his powerful fleet out of the battle, far away. If too bright a light had been shone at the time, his failure would have been clearly seen.

Read the book, feel the horror of the carnage and the heroism of men who epitomize the “Greatest Generation.” Their eager call to duty is difficult for me to imagine in today’s climate.

So many of the observations made about the survivors at reunions tap into my experience—long-term bonds with comrades from long ago and an image of self and others that is much younger. I recognize people outside that group as old men and women, but we are forever young.

I should make some sweeping recommendation about “everybody should recognize the sacrifices” but that would be presumptuous and worthless. For me it was another reminder of how lucky we are to have had those men, many stricken down at the start of their lives, who stopped the Nazis and the Japanese. It would have been a different and lesser world today.

PROBLEM

OK, you talk about a First World Problem! We have had a blizzard, a snow storm and a lot of days below freezing and nights in the single digits.

AND I DON'T HAVE A HEATED STEERING WHEEL!

ALAS.