Keynes Not Able

I just finished this book, Where Keynes Went Wrong. I bought the book in hopes that it would delve into this mysterious universe of Keynesian economics. The title of course gives away the fact that the author feels the Keynesian influence and virtually every government in the world is not good for the long term health of the economy. This is a great book. I didn't think it would be as lively and vital as it is. It reveals the man behind the curtain whose influence and doctrine has caused the pulling of all of the crazy levers of monetary policy and government policy that does much more harm that it can possibly do good. It is not a vindictive book. Having studied macroeconomics and microeconomics in college, I think it is safe to say that many people believe in Keynes because that is what is taught. The Austrian economists are rarely discussed. Our current economic troubles may be somewhat satiated but the long term prognosis is terribly malignant and there are no therapies that can correct it if we continue to believe that government stimulus will increase demand, decrease unemployment and increase wealth for all. Government has no long term plan, and it's short term goal is the next election. Get it. Read it.

Adelaide Vivian Jones

This morning at 5:29 AM MST, our first granddaughter was born. Her brothers were fairly indifferent, just another day I suppose. She was 8 lbs. and 10 oz., bigger than her brothers were. Of course to my eyes I don't have the foggiest idea who she looks like. My wife and daughter are certain that she looks like her little brother Elijah, but with dark hair, and quite a bit of it. So I guess we'll watch and see how she turns out the next 20 or 30 years before we are done here. Happy New Birthday Addie!

Marriage Disappears

When we look at the woes of our nation I do not think it can be argued that the strong nuclear family is not disappearing. This study lays out to the reader why it is so bad. This is all so obvious that for many of our citizens it must be a mystery.

15 Years

I didn't think about it until just now, but 15 years ago today we moved into our home here in Farmington. It has been a great place to live. We have had our ups and downs. 9 July, 2001 it rained 1.75 inches of rain in 20 minutes, the water ran down the hills above us, putting 4 feet of water in our basement in 10 minutes. No insurance for that one and the city was no help. We have had great family experiences like most families do. Our street has a good steady group of neighbors. Houses don't go up for sale too often. We feel lucky, blessed, fortunate, you name it.

Our first Christmas was interesting. Boxes, the smell of fresh paint, a make shift Christmas tree, but it was Christmas, just as much as any other year. The kids have grown and married, we look older, but we still cannot wait for Santa Claus.

Your Read Stores Like This and Wonder

I came across this just now. You read this and think there has to be more to the story, but realize that there probably isn't.

Book of the Week

Matt Ridley does a yeoman's job here describing why we need and should be optimistic towards civilization in the next century. He describes his theory of how ideas have sex and multiply and grow. He discusses how apocraholics constantly get in the news but are always wrong, yet still seem to keep their bona fides. He talks of most of the panic buttons we are working on now. Africa, climate change, technology, environment, politics. It is full of good information from a zoologist who describes the behavior of our species pretty accurately and fairly. I recommend this for anyone who would like to tread in this topical clime and do so with a scientist who understands the development of species and their behavior. One can also see him interviewed here by Peter Robinson. People say and believe a lot of things, adding Mr. Ridley's thoughts in the mix will be a help.

UPDATE: I think this excerpt from the book, page 280 is of worth.

A constant drumbeat of pessimism usually drowns out any triumphalist song of the kind I have vented in this book so far. If you say the world is getting better you may get away with being called naive and insensitive. If you say the world is going to go on getting better, you are considered embarrassingly mad......When Bjorn Lonborg tried it in the 2000s, he was temporarily 'convicted' of scientific dishonesty by the Danish National Academy of Sciences....If on the other hand, you say catastrophe is imminent, you may expect a McArthur genius award or even the Nobel Peace Prize. The bookshops are groaning under the ziggurats of pessimism....I have listened to implacable predictions of growing poverty, coming famines, expanding deserts, imminent plagues, impending water wars, inevitable oil exhaustion, mineral shortages, falling sperm counts, thinning ozone, acidifying rain, nuclear winters, mad-cow epidemics, Y2K computer bugs, killer bees, sex-change fish, global warming, ocean acidification and even asteroid impacts....I cannot recall a time when one or other of these scares was not solemnly espoused by sober, distinguished and serious elites and hysterically echoed by the media. I cannot recall a time when I was not being urged by somebody that the world could only survive if it abandoned the foolish goal of economic growth.

VDH Rides Again

The incomparable Dr. Victor Davis Hanson give this piece. I wonder if my California friends can validate some of his observations.

The World Does Get Smaller

During the Spring of 2007 my wife and I found ourselves for the second time in Tegucigalpa, Honduras. We were with a wonderful group of people doing dentistry, humanitarian work, audiology screening and other things. It is quite a deal to be involved in one of these things. It is constant work during the day into the evening. Sundays we typically go to an outlying town, usually smaller in population for worship services. We take with us duffles full of things to give, kind of a Sub for Santa thing in the Spring.

This particular year we went to a little town called Tatumbla. We met there a sharp looking, articulate family the Buitragos. We have kept our acquaintance since that time. The father told me that he wanted his kids to go to BYU. It was kind of his goal in life in some ways. Well, his daughter Valeria came up a year and a half ago, roughly. His other daughter Marcela appeared on the scene this past summer; she is attending LDS Business College.

I bring this up because yesterday I received the accompanying picture in the mail, along with an announcement of a wedding. Evidently Valeria has captured the heart of a guy, which would be pretty easy to do. That day in 2007 I found myself seated next to her during the church meeting. I asked her name, etc and was impressed with her maturity and her sweet smile. Marcela, her sister, and her younger sister Raquel have the same characteristics, you can melt when they smile at you.

Anyway, I guess this guy, lets call him Stephen, has decided that his life won't be complete without her, so they are having a wedding during this Christmas season. Her family is going to come up from Honduras, it is going to be a whirlwind time I'm sure. We wish them all the best and especially a very Merry Christmas during this special time for them all.

An Interesting Stossel

Everytime I go to a third or second world country I think about the theme that is discussed in this article by John Stossel. It is interesting that the countries that have improved from my observations seem to be taking to heart the message of this article.

Dandy Don is Gone

In some ways it is the end of an era. This shows the beginning of a legendary show, Monday Night Football.

Multiculti Blues

This editorial comment from The American Thinker is spot on in my opinion. PC and Multiculti nonsense should be thrown on the ash heap and let to rot.

Unbroken

UPDATE: July 17,2011

I just listened to a radio interview of Louis Zamperini that was recorded some time ago on the Hugh Hewitt show. I should provide a link but I don't have one right now. What a story and the story of the author Laura Hillenbrand is poignant also. She has a severe case of Chronic Fatigue Syndrome and is bedridden most of the time and rarely leaves her house. She has never met Mr. Zamperini but has communicated with him in a string of 95 phone calls, many lasting for some hours. This is a great American story and it ought to be read by anyone who cares about this country and its legacy.

I just finished a book that I came across rather by accident. It is entitled Unbroken by Laura Hillenbrand. It is a story that is tough to put down. It was a hassle to have to work today because this book was in my satchel and I wanted to get at it. What a story! The book is based on Louis Zamperini, someone I had never heard of before but am now glad I became familiar with from this book.

This is not a Christmas story, but if you want to appreciate Christmas in a fuller way you must get and read this book. I recommend it for everyone. It is based on his WWII experience primarily but reviews his time as a runner, participating in the 1936 Olympics in Berlin and the cleansing and redeeming time of his life; a time that truly was looking like a life or death battle within himself.

Louis is still alive, in his 90's now and is truly an American legend. He represents that dying and shrinking generation of boys and girls that fought in WWII. It seems so long ago now, but in 1965 when it was only 20 years since V-E and V-J day I was 10 years old and my memory tells me that it doesn't seem so long ago. This book does not romanticize war but describes in clear detail the price that is paid when man fights man.

Our Christmas Newsletter

THE OFFICIAL FAMILY CHRISTMAS NEWSLETTER OF JOYCE AND GREG OMAN

For the Year 2010

Yessirree, this is our attempt to inform you of our family and our shenanigans for the year 2010. I guess the biggest day of the year was 1 April. That day our son Ben married a Cache Valley girl just like dear old dad did. Melissa Kitchen became Melissa Oman on that day and they have been bubbling ever since—8 months now. They seem to be made for each other so we have high hopes for the future. Both are up at the old AC in Logan continuing their education (at least that is what people call what happens at Universities but I have my doubts) and working a lot—I mean a lot of hours. We are proud of them.

The 2^nd biggest day, at least up to the press time for this newsletter, was the day our daughter conceived another child. Becki is due within the next few weeks and it appears they did not put the stem on the apple. They already did that twice and it has worked out fine. We are thrilled to have a little granddaughter coming and we are praying the mother and the child will be healthy and well. Our grandsons do not have the foggiest idea, of course, how their lives are going to be changed. Ignorance is bliss; that is why Greg seems to be happy most of the time. They have a year or so I guess to adjust, but when all the little girl stuff starts filling up the house that could be the end of Power Rangers, Jedi knights and light sabers.

Becki is teaching her Zumba classes and stuff, even at the 8 month mark. It must be quite a sight. Kyle, that’s Becki’s husband, is about halfway done with his Family Practice Residency at the U of U in Salt Lake. He has been working different rotations and incredibly crazy hours at times. I wonder how they do it. Their home they purchased is cute and they are settled in nicely.

Summer was fun. We spent some time up at Bear Lake riding wave runners, beaching it with stuff to eat under the beach canopy. . The Pickleville Playhouse there was great and we were able to get my office staff up there for a couple of days.

Last January Joyce and Greg flew down to Arizona and spent some time with the Westergards, Richard, I call him Dick, and his wife Carrie. We played some golf and had a great time visiting with them. Other travels took us to Managua, Nicaragua on a dental trip. We made some new friends and connected up with some others we have made great friendships with through the years. I think that pretty much sums up our wanderings.

August brought the end of a chapter in our lives. Joyce’s mother passed away from the causes incident to her age. It had been almost four years since her husband had died. She was residing at the Legacy House in Logan. Her feet developed gangrene and it took her quickly. We hated to see her suffering body and mind. What a life she led and her influence was felt through many generations. She taught piano for decades and many of her students came to pay their respects. There is a generational hole now in our family, but the memories are comforting.

So, does anybody really know what time it is? Does anybody really know what is really going on? No, we don’t. But family, friends and memories help a lot during these most interesting, new and trying times. As we think back to the places we have lived and the places we have gone we feel so lucky. Chicago was a place where we depended on each other and on our friends. We had great associations there.

Sandy, just out of dental school, was a launching pad for us. There are so many memories from our time with many of you who are reading this.

Farmington is where we have been now for 15 years. We live on a unique street. We think we are a unique neighborhood, but really we are probably like thousands of places; probably like your neighborhood, where people care for each other in times of need and stress and in the good times too. We share friendly smiles, a hug, maybe a kiss and express our Thanks for our Blessings. No, we are not immune from trials and disappointments, from heartache and worry, but we know through the Providence around us that we can carry on.

So, Merry Christmas, Truly we mean it for you and yours. Thank you for your friendship and we truly hope and plead with Him that we all have a wonderful Happy New Year!

Love,

Joyce and Greg

Joyce is a great scrub nurse for the surgeons during our Nicaragua trip.

Wedding day. It snowed and was a winter wonderland.

Others Random Thoughts....As I Find Them

Robin of Berkeley bears her soul in this testimonial.

Thanksgiving

Happy Thanksgiving to you all. The day has deep meaning for just about everybody. I include in this post the proclamations by George Washington and Abraham Lincoln. They are not only worth reading, they ought to be required reading and required pondering.

George Washington's 1789 Thanksgiving Proclamation

Whereas it is the duty of all nations to acknowledge the providence of Almighty God, to obey His will, to be grateful for His benefits, and humbly to implore His protection and favor; and Whereas both Houses of Congress have, by their joint committee, requested me to "recommend to the people of the United States a day of public thanksgiving and prayer, to be observed by acknowledging with grateful hearts the many and signal favors of Almighty God, especially by affording them an opportunity peaceably to establish a form of government for their safety and happiness:"

Now, therefore, I do recommend and assign Thursday, the 26th day of November next, to be devoted by the people of these States to the service of that great and glorious Being who is the beneficent author of all the good that was, that is, or that will be; that we may then all unite in rendering unto Him our sincere and humble thanks for His kind care and protection of the people of this country previous to their becoming a nation; for the signal and manifold mercies and the favorable interpositions of His providence in the course and conclusion of the late war; for the great degree of tranquility, union, and plenty which we have since enjoyed; for the peaceable and rational manner in which we have been enable to establish constitutions of government for our safety and happiness, and particularly the national one now lately instituted for the civil and religious liberty with which we are blessed, and the means we have of acquiring and diffusing useful knowledge; and, in general, for all the great and various favors which He has been pleased to confer upon us.

And also that we may then unite in most humbly offering our prayers and supplications to the great Lord and Ruler of Nations and beseech Him to pardon our national and other transgressions; to enable us all, whether in public or private stations, to perform our several and relative duties properly and punctually; to render our National Government a blessing to all the people by constantly being a Government of wise, just, and constitutional laws, discreetly and faithfully executed and obeyed; to protect and guide all sovereigns and nations (especially such as have shown kindness to us), and to bless them with good governments, peace, and concord; to promote the knowledge and practice of true religion and virtue, and the increase of science among them and us; and, generally to grant unto all mankind such a degree of temporal prosperity as He alone knows to be best.

Given under my hand, at the city of New York, the 3d day of October, A.D. 1789.

G. Washington (his actual signature)

NOTE:

Shortly after the Thanksgiving Proclamation was written, it was lost for 130 years. The original document was written in long hand by William Jackson, secretary to the President, and was then signed by George Washington. It was probably misplaced or mixed in with some private papers when the US capitol moved from New York to Washington, D.C. The original manuscript was not placed in the National Archives until 1921 when Dr. J. C. Fitzpatrick, assistant chief of the manuscripts division of the Library of Congress found the proclamation at an auction sale being held at an art gallery in New York. Dr Fitzpatrick purchased the document for $300.00 for the Library of Congress, in which it now resides. It was the first official presidential proclamation issued in the United States.

Proclamation of Thanksgiving

Washington, D.C.

October 3, 1863

This is the proclamation which set the precedent for America's national day of Thanksgiving. During his administration, President Lincoln issued many orders similar to this. For example, on November 28, 1861, he ordered government departments closed for a local day of thanksgiving.

Sarah Josepha Hale, a 74-year-old magazine editor, wrote a letter to Lincoln on September 28, 1863, urging him to have the "day of our annual Thanksgiving made a National and fixed Union Festival." She explained, "You may have observed that, for some years past, there has been an increasing interest felt in our land to have the Thanksgiving held on the same day, in all the States; it now needs National recognition and authoritive fixation, only, to become permanently, an American custom and institution."

Prior to this, each state scheduled its own Thanksgiving holiday at different times, mainly in New England and other Northern states. President Lincoln responded to Mrs. Hale's request immediately, unlike several of his predecessors, who ignored her petitions altogether. In her letter to Lincoln she mentioned that she had been advocating a national thanksgiving date for 15 years as the editor of Godey's Lady's Book.

The document below sets apart the last Thursday of November "as a day of Thanksgiving and Praise." According to an April 1, 1864, letter from John Nicolay, one of President Lincoln's secretaries, this document was written by Secretary of State William Seward, and the original was in his handwriting. On October 3, 1863, fellow Cabinet member Gideon Welles recorded in his diary how he complimented Seward on his work. A year later the manuscript was sold to benefit Union troops.

By the President of the United States of America.

A Proclamation.

The year that is drawing towards its close, has been filled with the blessings of fruitful fields and healthful skies. To these bounties, which are so constantly enjoyed that we are prone to forget the source from which they come, others have been added, which are of so extraordinary a nature, that they cannot fail to penetrate and soften even the heart which is habitually insensible to the ever watchful providence of Almighty God. In the midst of a civil war of unequaled magnitude and severity, which has sometimes seemed to foreign States to invite and to provoke their aggression, peace has been preserved with all nations, order has been maintained, the laws have been respected and obeyed, and harmony has prevailed everywhere except in the theatre of military conflict; while that theatre has been greatly contracted by the advancing armies and navies of the Union. Needful diversions of wealth and of strength from the fields of peaceful industry to the national defence, have not arrested the plough, the shuttle or the ship; the axe has enlarged the borders of our settlements, and the mines, as well of iron and coal as of the precious metals, have yielded even more abundantly than heretofore. Population has steadily increased, notwithstanding the waste that has been made in the camp, the siege and the battle-field; and the country, rejoicing in the consiousness of augmented strength and vigor, is permitted to expect continuance of years with large increase of freedom. No human counsel hath devised nor hath any mortal hand worked out these great things. They are the gracious gifts of the Most High God, who, while dealing with us in anger for our sins, hath nevertheless remembered mercy. It has seemed to me fit and proper that they should be solemnly, reverently and gratefully acknowledged as with one heart and one voice by the whole American People. I do therefore invite my fellow citizens in every part of the United States, and also those who are at sea and those who are sojourning in foreign lands, to set apart and observe the last Thursday of November next, as a day of Thanksgiving and Praise to our beneficent Father who dwelleth in the Heavens. And I recommend to them that while offering up the ascriptions justly due to Him for such singular deliverances and blessings, they do also, with humble penitence for our national perverseness and disobedience, commend to His tender care all those who have become widows, orphans, mourners or sufferers in the lamentable civil strife in which we are unavoidably engaged, and fervently implore the interposition of the Almighty Hand to heal the wounds of the nation and to restore it as soon as may be consistent with the Divine purposes to the full enjoyment of peace, harmony, tranquillity and Union.

In testimony whereof, I have hereunto set my hand and caused the Seal of the United States to be affixed.

Done at the City of Washington, this Third day of October, in the year of our Lord one thousand eight hundred and sixty-three, and of the Independence of the Unites States the Eighty-eighth.

By the President: Abraham Lincoln

William H. Seward,
Secretary of State

Nice People Are Getting Mad

Just read this.

Card of the Week

In 1964 my dad came home with a phonograph record that was produced by Phillips 66. On the cover was Stan Musial, "The Man". It was a record with picture inserts that one could follow along with during the record as Stan discussed hitting. I listened to it a lot. In 1963 Stan was in his last year in the Major Leagues. He played his entire career with the St. Louis Cardinals.

This article gives a great outline of his life. He is the consummate gentleman and was a fierce competitor on the baseball diamond. I doubt we will ever see anyone like Stan "The Man" Musial in Major League Baseball ever again.

UPDATE: And then there is this.

So Many Books, So Little Time Part 2

I posted 5 books in my previous post, that I think are important right now. I now follow with 5 more that I think are also important for a well rounded person. I realize that my list would be different than anyone else's but I was asked, so here it goes.

• You have to read some Jane Austen. My preferred is Pride and Prejudice with Sense and Sensibility in close second. Some may argue for some of her other works, but I am in love with Elizabeth Bennett
• Shakespeare. Hamlet, Macbeth or Romeo and Juliet, Julius Caesar maybe Much Ado About Nothing. One has to become immersed in something from the Bard.
• The Adventures of Tom Sawyer by Mark Twain. We could argue all day about Tom Sawyer versus Huck Finn. I would pick Sawyer every time. The story line is better, Becky Thatcher is cute, Tom is a typical boy. It is funner. Finn is more confusing and what is the Dauphin stuff? It just doesn't flow for me. It is more PC I suppose because it emphasizes Jim more, but Tom Sawyer is a better book.
• This may not be well received but Lonesome Dove by Larry McMurtry. It is a Pulitzer Prize winner, a great story and I wish I was Gus McRae.
• Last of the list is one that few have read, it will never go nationally, never be on a best sellers list but it describes how we should live one amongst another in one volume. Approaching Zion by Hugh W. Nibley. It is a text on behavior in life and if society could live and understand it, it would be a better place.

An afterthought would be 10 Books that Screwed up the World and 5 Others That Didn't Help by Benjamin Wiker. One could at least look at the table of contents and see what those books are.

Who Got Da Junk?

Well, 'junk' has become a big- pardon the pun- this week. Safe flying; well that's a good idea. But what does it mean to be safe and who is safe? For instance, I can guarantee everyone in the world that no matter how many times I get on a plane they will be safe with me on it. I could be carrying my .45 or my Glock 19 or my machete or my knife, and everyone in the plane will be safe from me. I guaran-dang-tee-it.

If the people who know me were to all sign an affidavit and attest to my trustworthiness, to my love of country and people, it still wouldn't matter, I am a perspective terrorist in the eyes of TSA. So, I wonder why we cannot have some kind of card, or something with a bar code that we could show the TSA people and they could let us saunter on through? Maybe we would have to go through a government clearance via local and state law enforcement. For example, I am English-Swedish descent. I own a business, I am involved in community affairs and professional organizations--what are the odds that someone like me is going to take down a plane? Zero.

Now one might say this is a type of profiling, yes it is and we ought to be doing it. I know there are people that look or appear like these guys that have been trying to do harm on planes. Well, these folks may still have to still be screened, but just think how short the lines would be if most all of us that would never do anything could get credentials to just let us through. The folks being profiled are no worse off than they are now, they still have to get screened. But the lines would be a lot shorter and it would be less of a hassle for them too.

Some say that is not fair. Well, I don't think it is fair that I have to be hassled along with millions of other people who I can just look at and know that they are not a threat. That doesn't seem fair to me. I think it is ludicrous to be patted down, felt up and all but humiliated to be able to fly. And if we see someone acting weird or looking like they want to do some mischief on a plane, well we passengers can take care of the guy.

And what if I want to carry a gallon of liquid or gel on the plane. IT IS NOT GOING TO BLOW UP! How about a can of hairspray in my wife's carry on? The plane will be safe, she can't hardly kill a bug let alone do anything to a human. And these grandmas and grandpas and little kids--they won't do anything--none of this makes sense unless it is evaluated through the lenses of political correctness and multiculturalism. We can do better and we have to do better or the airlines are going to start feeling it even more than before. Just a collection of thoughts, that's all.

So Many Books, So Little Time

My son-in-law asked me to name the 10 books he ought to read. That is a specific question with a fairly open ended answer. The topics are not specific; fiction, history, politics, religion, sports, etc. I have been thinking hard on this one and I have not come up with 10 yet. I have come up with 5 so far and I will list then not necessarily in any order of importance.

1. America Alone by Mark Steyn. This is a book full of grave and important information laced with some pretty good humor. I think it lays out the land on geopolitics and demography for the next 40 years or so. It was published in the fall of 2006 and nothing I have read in a similar vein is even close.
2. Basic Economics by Thomas Sowell. Here is the lay person's chance to get a great exposure to fundamental economics, a voodoo subject if there ever was one but this guy makes it easy to understand and follow--this coming from an accounting major who had a ton of econ in undergrad.
3. The Looming Tower: Al-Qaeda and the Road to 9/11. This book is a tremendous history of the development of Al-Qaeda and the Muslim Brotherhood. This book won a Pulitzer Prize. If you want to have any kind of inkling what is happening out there with these guys you need to read this book.
4. This is a tough one. It would be easy to say The Wealth of Nations by Adam Smith but The Road to Serfdom by Friedrich A. Hayek would be just as good in many ways and it is a lot shorter. The problem is once you read Hayek you will want to read Smith
5. Radical-in-Chief by Stanley Kurtz would be my 5th recommendation right now. It has been the book of the year as far as I am concerned. This is a dispassionate and disinterested analysis of the President Obama from his days at Occidental College to the White House. It is incredibly well researched, it is an example of better than 'peer reviewed' work. This one gets two thumbs up and two big toes up.

I will continue to think hard on the next five in the list of 10 and hopefully have them available next week.

We Are Not Parenting

I came across this the other day in Townhall Magazine. Bill Cosby gave a speech May 17, 2004 at the NAACP's 50th Anniversary of Brown v Board of Education event. It pitted liberals across the country against the famous entertainer. Here are some excerpts.
No longer is a person embarrassed because they're pregnant without a husband. No longer is a boy considered an embarrassment if he tries to run away from being the father of the unmarried child.
Ladies and gentlemen, the lower economic and lower-middle economic people are not holding their end in this deal. In the neighborhood that most of us grew up in, parenting is not going on....
I'm talking about these people who cry when their son is standing there in an orange suit. Where were you when he was two? Where were you when he was 12? Where were you when he was 18, and how come you don't know he had a pistol? And where is his father, and why don't you know where he is? And why doesn't the father show up to talk to this boy?

We cannot blame white people. White people don't live over there....

This is and incredibly politically incorrect speech, with the Rev. Jesse Jackson looking on, probably glaring at Cosby as he delivers a powerful plea to black Americans to seize the fullness of the American Dream. Then I read this. Obviously there are a lot of people who consider the right of procreating to be an entitlement, the results of which should be borne by the rest of society. I have often and still do wonder why this is so and find it unfathomable that the tide cannot be turned. Evidently entitlements are things we get to do or we receive without any responsibility. Without getting too crude about it I wonder what the savings in the treasury would be if people could act like humans instead of animals wandering the land and control their passions with the brains God gave them.

You made it, you take care of it. That would be kind of patriotic wouldn't it?

The Vote and the President

For some time the pollsters and the pundits predicted a pretty big change in Congress this midterm election. That happened. The question is why did it happen? The answer is probably 'many reasons, that's why it happened'. I would like to put in plug for a new book out that analyzes the President from his days at Occidental College to his efforts in the White House. It is entitled Radical-in-Chief by Stanley Kurtz. The way to read the book is to read initially Dreams From My Father and The Audacity of Hope by Barack Obama, then read the Kurtz book. I concur with the conclusions of the author.

The book is a disinterested analysis of the development of the student, the community organizer and the politician. It is expansive in explaining his associations with different people, groups and their activities. This is not a quick read. It pays to think through the gordian knot of the progressive world of Chicago as it is intermingled with politics, university life and business. It is absolutely a fascinating read and a tremendous work by Mr. Kurtz.

The Mick

I read the new bio out on Mickey Mantle by Jane Leavy entitled The Last Boy. I have to say that the book is chock full of stuff; stuff a Mickey Mantle fan would love to know. But there is also a bunch of revealing things that wounds the hero image of the Commerce Comet. As a 6 year old youngster I became fascinated with Mantle and Roger Maris during the summer of '61. That was the year of the home run as Mantle and Maris, teammates on the Yankees battled all summer for the home run title. Maris hit number 61 during the last game against Tracy Stallard if I recollect correctly. That home run race is a story in itself.

The amazing thing about Mantle was how long and how great he played with pain--pain in his right knee from a freak injury in a World Series game in right field in Yankee stadium. He played in this pain for 17 years. He had other maladies, some social as you can find out in the book, but he had incredible emotional pain that he carried throughout his life. I include here the 5 baseball cards I have of the Mick. They are the 1962-1966 cards.

I have a lot of memories of the old Yankees of the 1960's. I couldn't believe they were swept in the 1963 series by the Dodgers. Mantle had been injured and barely was able to play a little in the series. The next year they played the Cardinals in the Series and lost in 7 games. Bob Gibson was too much. They Yanks looked old. After that they were terrible. Mickey played 4 more years. In 1968 he retired. In his last visit to Tiger Stadium in Detroit Denny McLain, the 30 game winner delivered him up a Little League type pitch that Mick hit out of the park. The league wanted to sanction McLain but he basically told them to shove it. The entire Tiger bench were on their feet as Mick circled the bases. The baseball legend really ended then. If you are a baseball fan, the book is worth reading. It can be caustic and kind of graphic at times and the Mantle family have some rather interesting things to say about it at their Mickey Mantle web page, but the reader can see what is happening in this story of Mick's life.

I read Willie May's bio earlier this year and the argument always has been who was the best. Mick says Willie was and I think I would agree when you consider offense and defense, but Mick I think was a greater offensive threat for most of his career and the Appendices at the end of the book sort of statistically spell this out. I don't want to delve in that argument much. Almost everyone considered Mick a good and loyal friend, a tremendous competitor and certainly one of a kind.

'Twas the Night Before....

The Election and there may or may not be sugar plums dancing in your head but I take it from my observations that when the votes are counted something interesting is going to happen. I have spent the past two years trying to figure out what is going on in this country. I have read a lot of books, commentary, research and opinion from many people. I have talked with regular people about their feelings. Daily I have observed the Government, in it's various branches and forms. I have come to some simple conclusions which some may not agree with; in fact I am sure some may not agree with them.

I have a pocket sized copy of the Constitution and the Declaration of Independence. Considering them as the baseline of thought and understanding about our form of government I have read and re-read and pondered them. I am not a Constitutional lawyer, but I am capable of understanding the words and I am positive I understand the Spirit of the documents. I am convinced that the current Powers in Government and those who support them are totally inconsistent with that Spirit.

From that baseline I look at what we have right now. I have come to the following conclusions:

• Government is way too big, way too expensive and way too intrusive.
• There probably is not one Government Program than cannot be cut way back or eliminated entirely. (Education Department and Energy Department would be a good start along with almost every agency, especially the EPA)
• As a populace too many are nursing too long on the teat. IE, Entitlements are not Eternal. In fact, I don't think there should even be entitlements. The Declaration of Independence lists the entitlements or 'unalienable rights'.
• There is a morality that is assumed in our Founding Documents that has been lost on our elected officials and our appointed judiciary and on our people. Executive Branch appointments are overdone and "There should not be any czars in the USA"
• People's behavior matters. If you do something and the consequence is you become dependent on a government program, you are the problem. Get off the program, you are dragging us down.

The Government must come to the conclusion that it is allowed to exist by the People. It is not omniscient nor omnipotent. It's powers, particularly at the Federal level, are way out of whack and they need to be pruned. Government is not an Employment Program. No one's job should be safe nor should it exist just to keep someone employed. This includes Congress; their benefits and largesse are unconscionable. One example I saw this last Spring was while I was in DC. I noticed a garbage can on wheels and a couple of women with brooms. They were sweeping the gutters and with a dust pan putting the debris in the can. I wondered. Don't they make machines that can do this more efficiently? I've seen them in my town. Then it came to me; this is what one would expect to see in the old Soviet Union. We must be getting close.

An Elbow and Momentum

What you see in the following pictures is a vivid example of what happens when an elbow hits a mouth with significant force. You will notice the picture that shows the broken tooth from the front. Another shot shows the same tooth from behind. Notice the red gelatinous mass in the middle of it. That's the nerve. He said it didn't hurt much except when he had a drink of cold water. Well this was root canal city. Later a ceramic crown will be fabricated. The problem is matching the shade for a big central incisor like this one. His teeth will change shade over the years and it might end up being a little out of sync. The picture that shows the temporary repair of the tooth is interesting. They had the part that broke off. It was in a Kleenex overnight so it was pretty dry and desiccated which makes the tooth much lighter in color. I etched the enamel on the tooth in the mouth and the tooth fragment; used bonding solution and resin filling material and bonded the two together temporarily. The tough part is the smaller tooth behind this one. It has a horizontal root fracture from the traumatic blow and will need to be extracted, have an implant placed and a crown. This young man is only 17 years old. So this is about a $4-5 thousand dollar deal here. The take home message is WEAR A MOUTHGUARD! Mouthguards really help prevent concussions but they can protect the teeth and this may have been avoidable. $40 for a mouthguard--great prevention and protection.

A Lone Man

The wife fled to Hell, I mean Las Vegas to visit a cousin. So I will be batchin' it for a couple of days. No problem though, I have plenty of rations and enough to do to keep me busy.

If

When I think of stuff like this I think I must be alone because I agree with almost all of it.

Pumpkins in the Fall

What an absolutely wonderful season of the year. Fall on the Wasatch Front. Here you can see the vista as we look from the Pack Pumpkin Patch down Glover's Lane in Farmington, UT. The view is eastward towards Farmington Canyon. The foliage has pretty much changed in the mountains and the colors are working their way down on the valley flower. My grandsons and our daughter Becki have spent the night with us and the morning. Her husband Kyle had a rough night shift in the ICU at the U of U hospital. We took the boys down to see the pumpkins and try their luck at the Hay Maze. It is free of charge. The only things you pay for are the pumpkins that can be selected from the field. They have little carts you can push out there and load the pumpkins, 25 cents a pound. We headed over to Taco Time for lunch. As we left after eating the oldest grandson Weston complained that he didn't feel good. Projectile vomit at the entrance to the store. Not a savory advertisement for the quality of the food I guess. I think the real culprit was the four hands full of jelly beans he had just before going to the Farm. I did have the chance to play a quick round of 18 holes early. Finished in 1 hour 19 minutes time. What a crisp morning! I could see my breath, but there was no frost on the pumpkin, so to speak. The 5:30 am workout slowed me down a little I think. Man, I have a lot of fall gardening to get done though. Extract the annuals, get the weeds down, Preen the beds, light fertilizer. No rest for the wicked I guess.

City Creek Canyon

I took off this morning for a quick ride up City Creek Canyon on the bike. I have never done it before so I had a little trepidation because whenever one hears the word "canyon" one thinks of a long uphill climb. My friend Paul who also fabricates my removable prosthetics ie dentures for my clients is a big time biker; big time. He went with me and actually thought it would be a great idea for me to do it. It is a beautiful ride right now. Leaves are different colors and it is cool. We took off from the State Capitol area at 9 AM and made it to the top of the road in 59 minutes. He said that wasn't too bad for a first time rider like myself. I did have to stop for about a minute and catch my breath and walk but it was just for a minute. What a workout! Coming down we were topping out at 30 mph for a few stretches, but you have to be careful because there is moisture on the road with leaves and stuff so it is possible to 'biff it' big time. Anyway, I had a beautiful look at City Creek, I had a tough ride for me and I am ready to go for the rest of the weekend.

Younger, or Where is the Fountain of Youth

I have had some aches and pains lately. My worst is my right shoulder, the casualty of a small fall on my bike when I didn't get my shoes unclipped from the pedals. I have been trying to stay in decent shape but I have an affinity to ice cream and cookies-fresh ones that are soft with a glass of milk. Hence I have more of me than I want to admit, but nobody seems willing to call me fat.

I came across this book somehow, I forget. But the story is I read it last Saturday and Sunday and I"ll be darned if it doesn't have some fascinating precepts and ideas. I have been involved in Body for Life and some other things to try and keep the muscles up to snuff. Frankly most of the suggestions and directions that come from these kinds of books are similar. This one though has a philosophy of life that I had not considered but as I think more about it, it is obvious that these guidelines will help us much more than just about anything. Read it. Think about it. The tough part--well your part time job until you retire and your full time job when you retire is to exercise your body at least six days a week and DON'T EAT CRAP! That is a small sample of what they have to say but there is more and it is worth the 5 or 6 hours it takes to get through it.

Bear Lake in September

What a beautiful time of year. Right now I am looking out over the incredibly blue water at Bear Lake. It is incredibly peaceful, the leaves in the mountains around the lake are changing into the red and golds of autumn. The sky is fair and you can relax enough to slow your heart beat to almost nothing. We enjoyed a nice bike ride yesterday. I did have a small problem on a hill. We were stopping to look over the lake and I forgot to kick my heel out on my biking shoes and my foot did not detach from the pedal and I feel like a tree onto my shoulder. It has been pretty sore, enough to worry me that I may not be able to swing a golf club for a few days. As we head to the inexorable cold of winter here at the 41st parallel, one has to soak up these wonderful fall days.

It's Peach Time

This is a peach off one of my trees. I heard a guy say once that God coulda made a better fruit than a peach, but He didn't. Well, I love peaches. That's why September is so nice. My wife made a peach pie last week, actually two peach pies; and to let the pie languish and stimulate the gustatory senses was close, but not quite, to the explosion of the senses one has on their honeymoon night. Man it was good! She shared one with some of our neighbors down the street. She has heard three times from this woman how this pie has changed her, the woman's, life. Every time she runs into someone from the family they suggest it wouldn't be a bad idea to get another one sometime. Me too! My hopes are up. It is the weekend, that is when things happen. We'll see how it goes. If worse comes to worse though, I can peel some up with just the slightest little dusting of sugar and Voila! there you have it, pure peachy pleasure.

Craigslist Can Suck Donkeys

I have an acquaintance that tried to sell an item on Craigslist. An offer was received and accepted. A check was sent for about $1500 more than the asking price. The buyer wanted the seller to cash the check and send the balance back in a cashier's check minus the associated costs. The seller being a trusting soul did it and ended up losing about $1900. Lesson one is never cash a check and use that money until the check has had time to clear the other bank. The buyer exerted a lot of pressure and guilt on the seller. If there is ever pressure in a transaction, cancel the transaction and start over. It was a hard lesson to learn. There are a lot of nice people in the world but we have to assume everybody is a predator until a relationship is established.

All Kinds of Bubbles

We have had a housing bubble that has wreaked havoc on our lives. Who knows if we are going to have a gold bubble. It is up to $1300 an ounce and rising. I have not done a gold crown in a little while, so I asked my lab technician what the cost of gold would be on a crown. He said about $400 to 450. There are other bubbles we may need to worry about. One of them can be understood a little bit better right here. I try and cast my mind back to all my macro and micro economics, all my accounting classes, GAAP and FASB's and things like that. A lot of it left me when I went to dental school, but one thing is certain, the income is no where near meeting the outflow and the detritus must hit the fan sometime.

Evil Policies Don't Help People

I do not like to post entire articles that I have read on the web. I link to some from time to time but I would like to place this post via American Thinker. Every post by Lloyd Marcus that I have read has been enlightening and heartfelt.

September 12, 2010

Evil Democrat Paradigms

By Lloyd Marcus

Here are two paradigms which evil, divisive Democrats have shamefully promoted and exploited for years: one, white men are burning the midnight oil thinking of ways to keep blacks down; and two, all rich white people are selfish, evil, and deserving of punishment.

No Democrat president has sold the "you have too little because the rich have too much" message better than Barack Obama, which led to angry protesters picketing the homes of corporate executives. Democrats are masters at creating a hated "bad guy" to further their agenda.

As a black man, I wish to share a few of my life experiences which crush the paradigm that allwhites are committed to keeping blacks down.

When I was 15, I wanted to attend art college on weekends. I wrote a letter to my (white) senator. When I arrived home from school one day, my mom said our senator stopped by, saw the sign I was painting for our teen dance, and decided to give me a scholarship.

I wrote a letter to then-Baltimore mayor William Donald Schaeffer for a scholarship. Imagine this nervous 15-year-old black kid from the ghetto, dressed in my Sunday best and my artwork between two pieces of cardboard as a portfolio, sitting in the mayor's huge office. My artwork was spread over his massive carved oak desk. Schaeffer was kind and easy to talk to. He became annoyed by interruptions and instructed his secretary to hold his calls. We talked for an hour or so. A few weeks later, I received a scholarship to the Maryland Institute College of Art.

When I was a young man in the U.S. Army stationed at Ft. Bragg, NC, my pregnant wife and I were seeking a loan. The clerk said we needed a co-signer. A (white) captain, overhearing the conversation, said, "I'll co-sign for you!" I said, "But sir, you don't even know me." He replied, "You seem like a nice enough feller."

After college, I went job hunting for a position as a graphic designer. Upon viewing my portfolio, (white) businessman John Halechak did not offer me a job. Instantly, he gave me office space, a room in a high-rent office building, to start my own business.

So there you have it: a few personal anecdotes that are also antidotes to the Democrat narrative that white America tries to keep us blacks down and in our place.

As for the Democrats' relentless attacks and insistence that we hate the rich, had Mr. Halechak not been well-off, he would not have been in a position to help me. Still, Democrats want to, as Obama said, "spread the wealth around" -- which really means redistribution of other peoples' hard-earned money. Then we will all be equally just barely getting by.

U.S. unemployment has risen to a postwar historical high, and our economy is diving downward. The Obama administration could turn things around by simply creating a friendlier atmosphere towards business and not raising taxes. Economics 101 says that the higher you tax an activity, the less people will indulge in that activity. Reagan proved that lowering taxes generates more activity, which generates more revenue for the government.

Obama and company are locked in their paradigm that the rich are selfish SOBs deserving of punishment. Obama plans to end the Bush tax cuts, spinning that they benefit only the rich.

A tax cut across the board for all Americans would tremendously boost our economy. Unfortunately, the Democrats' insane hatred, demonization, and jealousy of the rich compels them to sink the entire ship of America rather than save one rich person.

These two evil Democrat-promoted paradigms -- white men oppose black success and the rich are SOBs -- are deeply ingrained in the psyche of many Americans.

However, I learned years ago, while serving in the U.S. Army, that good people and jerks come in all colors.

As for hating the rich, the Bible says, "Thou shall not covet." With the exception of a few Ted Kennedys and John Kerrys in this world, most of the rich worked hard to get to where they are. Rather than hating them, I want to learn from them.

Once, a dear friend was in danger of losing his home. I was not in a financial position to help. All of my sympathy and good intentions could not help him -- he needed cash. Wealth is a very good thing.

Lloyd Marcus
Spokesperson/Entertainer of Tea Party Movement & Tea Party Express.
The American Tea Party Anthem CD/album.
Confessions of a Black Conservative, foreword by Michelle Malkin.
President, NAACPC (National Association for the Advancement of Conservative People of ALL Colors).
Join Lloyd Marcus Facebook Page.

Baseball Card of the Week

On September 9, 1965 Sandy Koufax pitched a perfect game against the Chicago Cubs. It was his fourth no hitter in four years, one per year. He struck out the last six batters he faced the final out being Harvey Keuhn. As a young Little Leaguer Sandy Koufax was one of my heros. I never saw him much on TV but I did have a transistor radio. I could pick up Vin Scully announcing the Dodger games when it was night time here in Utah and listen to some of the game before I fell asleep. Most people cannot grasp in this era of baseball how incredibly dominating Koufax was from 1961-1966 when he retired at the age of 30. This page may give you some idea of how absolutely incredible that part of his career was. His degenerative arthritis in his elbow ended his career at the early age of 30. When you read about the pain and the treatment he went through to pitch every turn in his rotation you can see how much of a warrior he was on the mound. In 1965 he pitched 27 complete games. There are few pitchers in this era of baseball who pitch that many complete games in their career. Koufax admits that he damaged his elbow early in his career when he tried to throw too hard instead of controlling his pitches. There is only one Sandy Koufax and like Casey Stengel said, "The Best of the lot is probably that Jew from Brooklyn." The biography Sandy Koufax by Jane Leavy is a dandy. It centers around the Perfect Game in 1965 and fills in the rest of his life between innings. It is one of the better baseball books I have read in a while. This week's card of the week goes to Sandy Koufax, a few days before Yom Kippur.

9 Years Hence

There are millions of people who are writing about their thoughts 9 years ago right now. I was getting up getting ready for work. My sister in law called and said a plane had collided with one of the towers of the World Trade Center. My first thought was it was probably a small private plane, maybe it was cloudy or something in New York and he was disoriented. I never thought it was a commercial airliner.

Turning on the TV it became immediately evident that this was not an accident. A few moments later another plane hit the other tower. I was shaken, dismayed and shocked. Watching for a few moments more I knew I needed to head to the office. Then I heard about the Pentagon. Later in the morning the news came of the collapse of the towers. Even this early in the event there were people saying that the collapse could never happen from just two airliners hitting the buildings, there must be something more to this. Then there was word of a plane crash in Pennsylvania.

This date is now known as Patriot Day I suppose. I cannot imagination the pain that goes on in the families of the dead. My father in law's cousin's wife and her daughter were on one of those planes that hit the WTC. Suddenly I knew that there would be very few people who would not be touched personally having lost a family member or a friend.

The nation was now plunged into a hunt for those responsible. We are still at it 9 years later, partly because of our tenacity and partly because of our rules of engagement in war. The sad part of all this is I don't know if anything will really come from all of it. I don't think democracies can stand for very long in Dar-al-Islam, the land of Islam. By it's very nature that ideology almost requires an authoritarian regime if not a totalitarian order. I wish it were not so but the tenets of the ideology almost demand it; plus the people are culturally accustomed to it. So we'll see how the sacrifice of all of our servicemen and servicewomen pans out. I am not optimistic, but I am hopeful that Americans will rise up to a degree to protect our unique way of life.

Card of the Week

The Summer of '67. Having been a Yankee fan most of my childhood this was kind of hard for me to do back in 1967. It was a busy summer. We were living in Baton Rouge and in mid-August we moved back to Centerville, UT. I started 7th grade at the junior high with very few acquaintances. But I had Yaz. This was the summer that the last batting Triple Crown was accomplished in major league baseball. Carl Yastrzemski led the American League in batting average, runs batted in and in home runs. To be fair he tied in home runs with the Minnesota Twin's player Harmon Killebrew. My son in law would never let me live it down if I didn't make that clear, he being a die hard Twins fan. It was something that September. I got up every morning just a bit early for school to read the paper and see what Yaz had done the day before. It was nip and tuck going into the last Series of the Season. Incredibly the Twins and Red Sox played the last series in Fenway Park. It was a kinetic atmosphere to see if Yaz could hang on and do it. The year before Frank Robinson won the Triple Crown for the Baltimore Orioles, so to have two people do it in successive years would be quite a thing. He did it and it hasn't been done since--43 years. The Sox went to the World Series against the Cards. It was a 7 game Series but even with Yaz and Cy Young winner Jim Lonborg on their side it was tough to overcome an incredible Bob Gibson and a pretty well rounded Cardinals team. Card of the week is Yaz and if you want to learn who else has done this and the pitching Triple Crown winners you can go here.

The Progression of Twins

With the recent passing of my wife's mother there have been a lot of boxes and things that we are going through. I found some pictures of my wife and her twin sister. Many of them I have never seen before. They range from the beginning of their lives to just about the present time. Some of you know one or both of them and have on occasion wondered which one is which. As you can see from these pictures they are easy to tell apart. I don't have any trouble at all. I may get in trouble telling past secrets but as teenagers and in college if one had a date with some one and then somebody else asked for a date, sometimes one would get the other to "cover" for her so the poor beau would think he was out with one and he was out with the other. This didn't happen often, but it was known to happen. Sometimes in junior high and high school they would trade classes and one would take a test for the other. It is kind of fun to think of those sorts of hijinks. When I met my wife her sister was already married, had borne one child and was just weeks away from having the second. It was really easy to tell them apart then. We were married about 6 months after our first date; I remember it was December 12, 1978. Our wedding day was June 29, 1979. We are still at it. We take it one day at a time.