How pathetic.
According to the New York Post, The Federal Reserve stopped using the unemployment rate published by the BLS.
Had the Feds been using the information published by the BLS, they would have raised interest rates quite significantly. Instead we find that, eight years into this recession, the Feds still have the interest rate stimulus running at full throttle.
It appears that the BLS is publishing information based on the effects that it wants to achieve and is not simply trying to accurately reflect reality ... which is what it should be doing.
Thursday, March 31, 2016
Sunday, March 27, 2016
Happy Easter Everyone
Happy Easter everyone.
For those following this blog: I have not fallen off the face of the earth.
I simply haven't been pressing the publish button after writing posts.
I've concluded that the way people are blogging, engaging in forums and tweeting is actually making the political problems faced by the world worse.
I don't want to be blogging unless I feel that I am making things better.
This, being Easter, one might ask: Would Christ be writing a blog?
I suspect that he would be reading other blogs, shaking his head and muttering: "They know not what they do."
The story of Easter is one in which all of the players in our community are engaged in their various mind games and end up executing an innocent man.
Christianity holds that, not only was Jesus innocent of the accused crimes, the Christian belief holds that Christ was the Son of God. The people didn't just execute an innocent man. They executed divinity.
I started this blog simply as a flow of conscious. The driving idea behind a blog is just to write out opinions for the sake of writing.
The idea behind this style of blogging is simply that if millions of people write down their observations, that the world might find a better path forward.
The actuality is that flow of conscious blogging seems to be leading to greater conflict and less understanding.
Notably, one of the most bellicose politicians of our age in on the verge of obtaining the GOP nomination. The Democrats are gleefully nominating the wife of an impeached president.
The activism on the left and right is leading us into a more dangerous world with the worst of both parties running rampant.
Until I can figure out a way to show that both sides in this partisan divide are wrong, I want to temper my writing.
Unfortunately, demanding compromise and bipartisanship is not a solution. The compromise between two wrong positions is an even worse wrong.
The term "bipartisanship" implies that one should proceed by advancing the factors that the parties have in common.
The factors that both parties have in common is a desire for concentrated power and intellectual corruption.
Bipartisanship only works when the common factors of the two parties are positive. When the common factors are simply the desire for power and corruption, the bipartisanship is an evil.
In the last decade, Americans have been acting like the crowd that called for the death of Christ. While individuals may have good intentions, the shrill noise coming from us is leading to injustice.
While the political landscape looks bleak. I believe it is possible for people to find a positive direction.
The first step to finding this positive direction is for people to ask if their individual actions are helping lead people in that right direction.
Simply denouncing partisan opponents is not sufficient.
Obama rose to power simply riding on the deficiencies of Bush. Trump hopes to gain power on the deficiencies of Obama and Clinton hopes to regain power by riding on the deficiencies of Trump.
The result of this methodology is an overbearing government that is simply deficient.
The story of Easter shows that this type of political game has been played out since antiquity.
So, Happy Easter. It is the beginning of Spring and things might get better despite our politics.
For those following this blog: I have not fallen off the face of the earth.
I simply haven't been pressing the publish button after writing posts.
I've concluded that the way people are blogging, engaging in forums and tweeting is actually making the political problems faced by the world worse.
I don't want to be blogging unless I feel that I am making things better.
This, being Easter, one might ask: Would Christ be writing a blog?
I suspect that he would be reading other blogs, shaking his head and muttering: "They know not what they do."
The story of Easter is one in which all of the players in our community are engaged in their various mind games and end up executing an innocent man.
Christianity holds that, not only was Jesus innocent of the accused crimes, the Christian belief holds that Christ was the Son of God. The people didn't just execute an innocent man. They executed divinity.
I started this blog simply as a flow of conscious. The driving idea behind a blog is just to write out opinions for the sake of writing.
The idea behind this style of blogging is simply that if millions of people write down their observations, that the world might find a better path forward.
The actuality is that flow of conscious blogging seems to be leading to greater conflict and less understanding.
Notably, one of the most bellicose politicians of our age in on the verge of obtaining the GOP nomination. The Democrats are gleefully nominating the wife of an impeached president.
The activism on the left and right is leading us into a more dangerous world with the worst of both parties running rampant.
Until I can figure out a way to show that both sides in this partisan divide are wrong, I want to temper my writing.
Unfortunately, demanding compromise and bipartisanship is not a solution. The compromise between two wrong positions is an even worse wrong.
The term "bipartisanship" implies that one should proceed by advancing the factors that the parties have in common.
The factors that both parties have in common is a desire for concentrated power and intellectual corruption.
Bipartisanship only works when the common factors of the two parties are positive. When the common factors are simply the desire for power and corruption, the bipartisanship is an evil.
In the last decade, Americans have been acting like the crowd that called for the death of Christ. While individuals may have good intentions, the shrill noise coming from us is leading to injustice.
While the political landscape looks bleak. I believe it is possible for people to find a positive direction.
The first step to finding this positive direction is for people to ask if their individual actions are helping lead people in that right direction.
Simply denouncing partisan opponents is not sufficient.
Obama rose to power simply riding on the deficiencies of Bush. Trump hopes to gain power on the deficiencies of Obama and Clinton hopes to regain power by riding on the deficiencies of Trump.
The result of this methodology is an overbearing government that is simply deficient.
The story of Easter shows that this type of political game has been played out since antiquity.
So, Happy Easter. It is the beginning of Spring and things might get better despite our politics.
Thursday, March 24, 2016
Violence for Political Ends
Is it strange to see Barrack Obama in Cuba celebrating the life of Castro at the same time as the terrorist attack in Brussels.
The article Castro and Terrorism provides a timeline of Fidel's and Raul's ongoing support for international terrorism. Many of the groups funded by Castro have devolved into the terrorists that we see today.
The Castro Brothers trained terrorists in Northern Africa and Syria which are ground zero for the current round of terrorists.
In Latin America, the left wing terrorist groups devolved into drug lords.
Genocide Watch groups report that there were over 26,000 reported disappearances in Mexico between 2006 and 2012. Estimates of the victim count often reach 100,000.
It is hard to get good counts as the numbers include 80 journalists who disappeared for daring to report on the genocide.
(Doesn't anyone else find it strange that a neighboring country had a genocide during the Obama administration that was simply ignored by the left wing media?)
I understand the desire to whitewash Castro's terrorist history and to normalize relations. Unfortunately, the escalating terrorism that we see in the world show that now is not a good time for this course of action and that Obama's rush to arrange photo-ops with the Castro's is effectively a tacit approval of the use of violence for political ends.
The article Castro and Terrorism provides a timeline of Fidel's and Raul's ongoing support for international terrorism. Many of the groups funded by Castro have devolved into the terrorists that we see today.
The Castro Brothers trained terrorists in Northern Africa and Syria which are ground zero for the current round of terrorists.
In Latin America, the left wing terrorist groups devolved into drug lords.
Genocide Watch groups report that there were over 26,000 reported disappearances in Mexico between 2006 and 2012. Estimates of the victim count often reach 100,000.
It is hard to get good counts as the numbers include 80 journalists who disappeared for daring to report on the genocide.
(Doesn't anyone else find it strange that a neighboring country had a genocide during the Obama administration that was simply ignored by the left wing media?)
I understand the desire to whitewash Castro's terrorist history and to normalize relations. Unfortunately, the escalating terrorism that we see in the world show that now is not a good time for this course of action and that Obama's rush to arrange photo-ops with the Castro's is effectively a tacit approval of the use of violence for political ends.
On Turkeys and Brussel Sprouts
The terrorist attacks in Brussels have received a great deal of media attention.
The truly scary attacks, however, are taking place in Turkey which has seen about a dozen attacks in this last year (wikidpedia).
Turkey has taken in the bulk of refugees displaced by ISIS.
Turkey has been seeking membership into the European Union, which the US supports.
That the terrorist attacks are coinciding with the refugee crisis indicates that something I've feared may be true.
My fear is that immigration has become radicalized.
I am a fan of immigration, But when political groups seek to change an area through immigration, immigration becomes radicalized and turns from a positive force into a negative force.
If it were feasible, I would support open borders. But in an age of radicalized immigration, I believe that the best alternative is to create clear immigration laws that our nation enforces.
Although it sounds harsh, deportation is the correct response to an immigration violation.
Unfortunately, the reality is that our Federal Government needs to show the people a willingness to support immigration laws before we can have any sort of liberalization of immigration policy.
The terrorist attacks which have dotted the EU this last year show the dangers of radicalized immigration. The first line of defense against terrorism is well defined immigration law which are enforced.
The truly scary attacks, however, are taking place in Turkey which has seen about a dozen attacks in this last year (wikidpedia).
Turkey has taken in the bulk of refugees displaced by ISIS.
Turkey has been seeking membership into the European Union, which the US supports.
That the terrorist attacks are coinciding with the refugee crisis indicates that something I've feared may be true.
My fear is that immigration has become radicalized.
I am a fan of immigration, But when political groups seek to change an area through immigration, immigration becomes radicalized and turns from a positive force into a negative force.
If it were feasible, I would support open borders. But in an age of radicalized immigration, I believe that the best alternative is to create clear immigration laws that our nation enforces.
Although it sounds harsh, deportation is the correct response to an immigration violation.
Unfortunately, the reality is that our Federal Government needs to show the people a willingness to support immigration laws before we can have any sort of liberalization of immigration policy.
The terrorist attacks which have dotted the EU this last year show the dangers of radicalized immigration. The first line of defense against terrorism is well defined immigration law which are enforced.
Tuesday, March 22, 2016
Utah Caucuses
The Utah Caucuses are tomorrow. I am not sure if I am going to attend.
The Republican Caucus appears to be the most interesting vote tomorrow. I hesitate to attend the caucus because I am not a member of the party.
The GOP in Utah has made it abundantly clear that me and my kind are not welcome in their ranks. I really don't think it is fair to barge into someone's political event and voice opinions when the opinions are not welcome in the party.
It is common sense and common courtesy to say that people who are not welcome in a party have no business attending the primary election.
Accepting this position, however, means that the people who fundamentally reject the partisan approach to politics, are excluded from the most important vote of the year. (Caucuses and primaries determine the names on the ballot).
The Party system is not part of the Constitution. The US Founders routinely voiced disapproval of the warring factions that dominate European politics.
This game where parties control the government by controlling who gets on the ballot is fundamentally opposed to the spirit of the US Constitution.
I believe that the US Founders wanted an inclusive mechanism for selecting leaders.
This factional system, left/right was created by the enemies of freedom.
Notably, Conservatism was created in the 1830s by King William IV of England as an effort to rebrand the Tory Party for the modern age (Wikipedia Conservative Party).
The Conservative Party has existed continuously since 1834. The conservative game is for candidates to use free market rhetoric (along with put downs of liberals) to gain power.
Once in power, Conservatives pass laws that favor economic centralization.
Partisan conservatives present the public with free market rhetoric. The Republican Party has no plans in the works to promote economic decentralization.
The Party is intrinsically corrupt.
At least the Democrats have some integrity. They might say Vote Hillary and you will get a free phone.
Sure enough, there are government programs to give out free phones, free health care, free t-shirts, free education, free pamphlets, free food, free grants, and other free what nots.
Who knows, one might find a cute young thing at a Democratic caucus so smitten with all the free stuff, that she'll give out free sex (followed by a free abortion if the free condom fails.)
The Democratic promise of freebies will be followed by propaganda about how business is evil and that we need to counter evil business with greater government centralization.
Both parties are built on the same structure. They use different connotations of the word "free" to gain power. They both promote economic and political concentration in power.
Regardless of whether or not I attend the caucus, the general election will simply be the choice of the lesser of two evils.
So, I am still left with the question: Should I march into the GOP caucus when I know perfectly well that I am not a conservative. I dislike King William IV and much as I dislike King George III or should I follow my conscious and take a political stand outside the party?
Either way. It doesn't matter.
The left and right and simply mirrors of each other. Both conservativism and progressivism came from a rejection of the ideals of freedom that lie at the foundation of this nation. The only real way to save this nation is for more people to reject the left/right split as a false dichotomies and to reject the two parties as the primary source of corruption in our age.
The Republican Caucus appears to be the most interesting vote tomorrow. I hesitate to attend the caucus because I am not a member of the party.
The GOP in Utah has made it abundantly clear that me and my kind are not welcome in their ranks. I really don't think it is fair to barge into someone's political event and voice opinions when the opinions are not welcome in the party.
It is common sense and common courtesy to say that people who are not welcome in a party have no business attending the primary election.
Accepting this position, however, means that the people who fundamentally reject the partisan approach to politics, are excluded from the most important vote of the year. (Caucuses and primaries determine the names on the ballot).
The Party system is not part of the Constitution. The US Founders routinely voiced disapproval of the warring factions that dominate European politics.
This game where parties control the government by controlling who gets on the ballot is fundamentally opposed to the spirit of the US Constitution.
I believe that the US Founders wanted an inclusive mechanism for selecting leaders.
This factional system, left/right was created by the enemies of freedom.
Notably, Conservatism was created in the 1830s by King William IV of England as an effort to rebrand the Tory Party for the modern age (Wikipedia Conservative Party).
The Conservative Party has existed continuously since 1834. The conservative game is for candidates to use free market rhetoric (along with put downs of liberals) to gain power.
Once in power, Conservatives pass laws that favor economic centralization.
Partisan conservatives present the public with free market rhetoric. The Republican Party has no plans in the works to promote economic decentralization.
The Party is intrinsically corrupt.
At least the Democrats have some integrity. They might say Vote Hillary and you will get a free phone.
Sure enough, there are government programs to give out free phones, free health care, free t-shirts, free education, free pamphlets, free food, free grants, and other free what nots.
Who knows, one might find a cute young thing at a Democratic caucus so smitten with all the free stuff, that she'll give out free sex (followed by a free abortion if the free condom fails.)
The Democratic promise of freebies will be followed by propaganda about how business is evil and that we need to counter evil business with greater government centralization.
Both parties are built on the same structure. They use different connotations of the word "free" to gain power. They both promote economic and political concentration in power.
Regardless of whether or not I attend the caucus, the general election will simply be the choice of the lesser of two evils.
So, I am still left with the question: Should I march into the GOP caucus when I know perfectly well that I am not a conservative. I dislike King William IV and much as I dislike King George III or should I follow my conscious and take a political stand outside the party?
Either way. It doesn't matter.
The left and right and simply mirrors of each other. Both conservativism and progressivism came from a rejection of the ideals of freedom that lie at the foundation of this nation. The only real way to save this nation is for more people to reject the left/right split as a false dichotomies and to reject the two parties as the primary source of corruption in our age.
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