One Vote

 

   I believe in democracy.  We in America don’t have one.  Our government is slightly democratic, but so flawed in its basic governing rules and procedures, that it doesn’t function that way.  It gives the effectivness of some voters way more sway than the votes of other voters.  A democratic goal is primarily thwarted by the financial influence exerted on both sides of the aisle.  Secondly, it is thwarted by herd mentality of our two party system.  Our ancestors didn’t fight a revolution to make that the case.  In the best democracy possible, each citizen’s vote would count the same as any other.  That should be our goal and if “we the people” care about it … we need to make it so.

   Largely, our elected representatives are not public servants.  They are Party servants.  Their goal is not improving American lives or the nation itself.  It is improving Party power.  To prove this to yourself you need only watch the vote counts.  Each Party accuses the other of voting like a rubber stamp and in both cases it is true.  Let a representative use their own wisdom and conscience in deciding their vote and they will be attacked and eaten by their fellow Party members.  Examples would be Joe Manchin and Kyrsten Sinema for the Democrats or Liz Cheney and Mitt Romney for the Republicans.  The voters of each herd mentality, you folks, are all too happy to follow the Party leader’s lead.  Wouldn’t it be a better world if both we and our representatives thought for ourselves?  I would have no objection to a “filibuster”, 60% requirement to pass legislation, if each representative used their own mind, without party influence.  It would bring about meaningful debate and thoughtful votes.  60% is not an unreasonable requirement for changing a law or the direction of the country.  But two rubber stamp groups, evenly split, will accomplish little.  Our present government has been proving that for decades.

  So, what needs changing?  Start by abolishing political parties and the lobbyists who bribe them.  Do away with political action committees.  The Supreme Court, in their action called Citizens United, corrupted the PACs beyond repair.  In a final election for any office the candidate must get the majority of individual votes from those they represent.  A president, holding a federal office would receive the majority of the votes cast in the nation.  In other words, let’s close the Electoral College.  States and voting districts would only be responsible for counting votes, in a federal election, not determining a winner.  The same concept would be applied to the office holders of a state.  To be elected, they would need the majority of voters in their state to vote for them, in the final election.  No campaign funds would enter the state from outside of the state and only individual citizens could contribute a limited amount to any campaign.  No more corporate or union donations or any other group donation.  The ability to make a small political donation should be a perk that only an individual citizen has.  “We The People.”

   One more bad tooth needs pulling.  It is the U.S. Senate.  This is a group that is anti-democratic by design.  No one disputes the fact that a citizen living in Wyoming (Pop. 581,075) has over 68 times the legislative representation of a citizen living in California (Pop. 39,613,493) in our U.S. Senate.  Each state has but 2 senators.  This may have been a good design when the Constitution was written, but it has no relevance today.  “State’s Rights” has grown grotesque.  Any piece of beneficial legislation can be stopped by this little unrepresentative group.  A two year term of office for a House of Representatives member needs to be expanded to four year terms and the Senators need to be put on a bus out of town.  Let’s make ours a democracy, for the people and do it right.

(By the way … when a nation decides not to pay its debts … the nation has failed.  Why would we choose to fail?)

OUR POLITICAL PARTY SYSTEM HAS OUTLIVED ITS USEFULNESS.

This I believe, Old Buz   10/25/2021

Iambloggerbuz.blogspot.com

Yesterday

 

   Yesterday was 9/11/2021.  Twenty years of yesterdays ago it was 9/11/2001 and that was a sad day here in America.  Three thousand innocent human lives were lost and to me a great hoax was played on our nation.  A dozen and a half Saudi terrorists slammed two commercial aircraft into The Twin Towers and they fell, along with one other building, Building 7, that wasn’t struck by any aircraft.  About this time, you are saying to yourself, “Here we go again.  Another nut cake, conspiracy theorist.”   But, if you force yourself to read on, you will see that I am a believer in science, logic and truth.  Those are not bad things.

   What we all saw on national television on 9/11/2001 was two commercial airliners smash into the side of each of the Twin Towers.  An hour or so later, each of those buildings collapsed and fell to the ground at approximately the acceleration of a freely falling body.  They did not tip.  They each landed exactly on their base.  This fall seemed impossible to me, unless the steel beam structure was completely out of the way of the fall.  It seemed that any beams, not melted, would slow the fall and unless the beams were completely melted, they would cause the building to tip sideways during its fall.  The iron beam structure had to be completely out of the way.  My next thought was that aircraft engines fly from our West Coast to Hawaii, in 10 to 12 hours.  They are made of much the same metal as the Tower beams and burn the same fuel as the fuel burning in the two towers.  The kerosene in the engine is compressed and mixed with forced oxygen for a maximum energy (heat) burn and yet in ten to twelve hours of being exposed to this burn, the engines do not melt.

   Yet, those beams were missing for those two falls.  Fact is, the ambient temperature where the lower beams were located, allowed first responders to climb to the 70^th floor and save some folks from the disaster.  This is because heat rises.  The temperature required to melt the beams is about 2800 degrees F and kerosene burns at about 1800 degrees F.  My source for these temperatures is ae911truth.org.  They are architects and engineers (experts) and do not identify any organization as the perpetrator, but are asking for an unbiased, credible, scientific, reinvestigation of the collapse of 9/11.  I don’t see them as “conspiracy theorists.”  They are pretty straight forward in their analysis.  Their request is reasonable.

Mechanics Illustrated came up with yet another theory.  I don’t believe that anyone other than a few of their subscribers took it seriously.  The theory was that each floor below the impact fell from the weight and force of the floors above falling on it.  If this were true the fall may have tipped and the collapse was not visibly plop …….. plop …… plop …. plop .. plop . plop, it was whoosh.

   Since 9/11, we have watched two buildings demolished.  The Trump Casino in Atlantic City and the remaining half of the Surfside, FL condo.  Both buildings fell at the speed of freefall and both landed on their own footprint.  That is what modern demolition looks like.  It was what the Twin Towers looked like.

   My friend Mike, a construction foreman for commercial structures said, “When I saw the first tower fall, I thought Bin Laden just won the lottery.  When I saw the second one fall, I thought demolition.”  Demolition is not the conclusion of herd mentality.  I believe any well informed independent thinker will reach that conclusion.

Cheers, Old Buz    9/12/2021

 

“It is far easier to fool people than to convince them they have been fooled.”

  - Mark Twain

Liberty

“Give me liberty, or give me death!” – Patrick Henry, Virginia delegate 3/23/1775.  “Give me liberty, or give me death!” – Gov. Dunmore of Virginia 3/20/1775.  This is Patrick quoting his Governor, three days after the original quote, and yet, Patrick Henry is generally given the credit for originating the statement.  This assumes that my on-line research is correct.

Liberty is an often misunderstood concept and each of us has a slightly different understanding of it.  I believe that Adam gave up some of his liberty when he gave up one of his ribs.  That is to say that as the population grows and co-operates for the good of all, we give up some individual liberties.  It is accomplished with empathy and effective legislation.  We give up individual power for the good of the community.  Mandating a vaccine in the time of a pandemic is an example of this.

But this particular blog isn’t about Liberty.  It is about Liberty Mutual and the awareness of their potential customers.  Liberty Mutual Auto Insurance has been advertising on the major cable news networks (MSNBC, CNN and Fox) for over a decade that “Liberty Sells You Only What You Need”.  The ad is repeated several times a day and features a B.S. artist and an Emu.  This is a lot of dollars in advertising, for a long period of time, so it must be very effective.  Since it is presented to both Liberals and Conservatives, we must assume similar gullibility.  You see, I have been buying auto insurance for over sixty years now, through such companies as GEICO, Allstate, State Farm and Farmer’s and I am yet to see a policy that didn’t allow me to choose the level of my coverage.  There are basic requirements set by your State, but above those basic coverages, the level of protection is the buyer’s choice.  That is to say that if Ford Motor Company offered you an automobile with four wheels on the ground, it would be an important feature.  Obviously, all commonly sold cars have four wheels on the ground.  Is it a reason to buy a Ford?  Because if it is, then you are a potential buyer of Liberty Mutual Auto Insurance and I fear that you are in the simple majority.

Another quick note on Liberty Mutual:  I spent a couple of years as the office manager of a Physical Therapy office.  I handled the claims.  Liberty Mutual Health Insurance would often deny a claim or a procedure for no apparent reason.  On calling their claims agent, I was always told to resubmit the claim and they would pay it.  They did pay it.  This seems to make no sense, but it does if you realize that many office managers will accept, without question, the determination of the insurance claims department.  The other important point here is that you, as a patient, agree that all charges by your provider are your primary responsibility and that your doctor is merely accepting payment from your insurance company, in place of your payment.  Any portion of your bill not paid by your insurance company is your responsibility.

This particular blog post is not about Liberty Mutual.  They are not alone.  It is about this nation’s acceptance of obvious lies.  A great philosopher once said, “See what is plain to see.  Doubt what is not.”  When you doubt something … research it.

Cheers, Old Buz   8/28/2021

Iambloggerbuz.blogspot.com

The Blue Origin of Pessimism

I woke this morning to watch Jeff Bezos nearly fly into space along with two other very wealthy people and one 82 year old woman who earned her place.  The announcer proudly informed me that it was at the expense of the great entrepreneur and passenger, Jeff Bezos.  Well actually the investment was primarily furnished by decades of government (your) investment in space technology and your Amazon PD purchases.  In other words, you financed that tiny blip into the border of space.  I don’t mean to belittle the accomplishment.  I fully intend to buy a ticket on a private space ship when the journey will be one rotation around the Earth and the cost of the ticket is under $10.  I would like to see Hispanic Americans, Black Americans, Asian Americans and un-vaccinated Trump Monkeys (who will be rare after Covid-19 is finished with them).  But, I don’t wish to see any of these groups identified or segregated in the ship’s seating.  Like Jeff, I don’t want to fly the damn thing.  I only want to be a passenger.  Let artificial intelligence fly it.  I want to arrive back safely.

Ask yourself if private industry will ever likely mine materials outside of our atmosphere?  Answer yourself, of course not.  The cost of the journey will always exceed the value of the ore.  If in fact it could be accomplished centuries from now how much infrastructure would you be willing to sacrifice, in the meantime, in order to see Amazon PD’s grandchildren benefit from your investment?  When the corporate masters have sucked the planet dry, poisoned its water, poisoned its air and left only the cockroaches and the one percent of humans still alive, what satisfaction will you get from sending 50 or so rich folks off to Mars?  If there is a God and He has a sense of humor, their ship will crash on entry. This will be His best joke ever.  Better even than Noah’s Ark.

I am not anti-science.  But I do like science for the benefit of the planet, not one percent of its human population.  When our government spends billions to go out and bring back a quart of earth from a spot on a passing asteroid, I ask myself does that quart sample fairly represent the entire asteroid and does that asteroid represent all of the asteroids in the Universe?  So … what did we learn, for the billions spent?  Spend the money on education.  Spend the money on health care.  Spend the money on a clean air power grid.  Spend the money on infrastructure.  Spend the money on stopping drought on our planet.  When you have done this, look for other beneficial ways to invest.  You aren’t really investing money.  You are investing human toil, human ingenuity and human values.  Make them benefit all.

Cheers, Old Buz   7/20/2021

“Born an agnostic and with the help of GOD will remain one.” 

Freedom

In America, we like to think of ourselves as free …. And we are.  But there is a well thought out quote on the subject, “With freedom comes responsibility.”  And this implies, “That actions bring consequences.”  Well then, if we are free to act or not act, we are responsible for the results of our actions or inaction.

Our present health care system is striving for herd immunity from a covid pandemic by way of vaccine shots, appropriate social distancing and mask wearing.  You, as a Free American are free not to comply.  You are not forced to protect your family or your friends and neighbors.  It is your right not to.

So the real problem here is not herd immunity, it is herd mentality.  I believe that the herd referred to here is sheep.  Some would say it is cattle.  I won’t argue the point.  There is a herd mentality that believes the medical experts, in that vaccines will stop the spread of the disease.  There is another herd that believes their leader, Donald Trump, who says, “I don’t listen to the experts, I listen to my gut.”  I process waste products in my gut and so does he.

If you want to be free not to take the vaccine and expose health care workers to 17 hour days, hospitals filled to beyond capacity, healthcare workers families undue exposure to the virus and the destruction of our economy, then don’t go to the hospital with the virus.  See that hospitals are closed to those who refused the vaccine, back a law that would prevent you, in a moment of weakness, from entering a hospital due to covid, unless you were medically prevented from taking the vaccine or it wasn’t available to you.  We can demand fair legislation.  “With Freedom Comes Responsibility”.  Stand up.  Be strong.  Be gone.  Your bravery will improve the nation. 

To those of you freedom fighters who won’t wear a mask or take the vaccine, thank “Q” for sharing.

Cheers and Happy Independence Day, Old Buz       7/4/2021

Iambloggerbuz.blogspot.com 

Surfside Condo

 

 I have a hypothesis for what caused the collapse of the building recently in Surfside, Florida.  The Surfside, FL Condo Collapse Was Caused by The Builder Using Beach Sand To Make The Concrete Used To Construct The Building.  See what you think.

1.      It was not a failure in architecture or engineering because it stood through 40 years of hurricanes and gale force winds.  Then fell on a quiet night.  It rotted from within.

2.      Most concrete buildings are located near the water, because 80% of our population lives near water, in large cities.  Most of the water is salt water.  Think of cities like Los Angeles, New York, San Francisco, Miami and San Diego.  All have salt breezes.

3.      Many of the concrete buildings, by the sea, are well over 100 years old and yet they do not collapse.

4.      Many bridges are built of concrete and stand in salt water.  They do not crumble in forty years, nor do the nearby buildings.

5.      It is cheaper to gather local beach sand than purchase salt-free, commercial inland sand to mix with the cement.

6.      The Surfside condo rubble isn’t composed primarily of large slabs of concrete.  It is small clumps, indicating decomposition.

7.      Before my wife and I moved to Oregon it was investigated and determined that a recently built bridge on Highway 1, near Florence, collapsed because the contractor that built it used beach sand to make the concrete for the bridge.  Beach sand plus cement creates a soon to be crumbling concrete.

8.      A probable NSA investigation, which will likely be somewhat influenced by corporate America, will probably determine that the probable cause was salt air destroying this 40 year old building.  After all, we would like to believe that a large construction company would not use beach sand in constructing a concrete commercial building, even if it saved them hundreds of thousands of dollars.  And who knows what other structures this company used this practice in building? 

 

“Common Wisdom is an oxymoron.” – Old Buz     6/29/2021

Iambloggerbuz.blogspot.com

Your Military Spending

 

Rank	Country	Annual Spending in US $	Population	You Spent
1	United States	$732,000,000,000.00	331002651	$2,211.46
2	China	$261,000,000,000.00	1439323776	$181.34
3	India	$71,100,000,000.00	1380004385	$51.52
4	Russian Federation	$65,100,000,000.00	145934462	$446.09
5	Saudi Arabia	$61,900,000,000.00	34813871	$1,778.03
6	France	$50,100,000,000.00	65273511	$767.54
7	Germany	$49,300,000,000.00	83783942	$588.42
8	United Kingdom	$48,700,000,000.00	67886011	$717.38
9	Japan	$47,600,000,000.00	126476461	$376.35
10	South Korea	$43,900,000,000.00	51710000	$848.97
11	Australia	$27,500,000,000.00	25499884	$1,078.44
Total of #2-11		$726,200,000,000.00

I got to thinking about the blog I posted on 3/25 about our annual military spending and realized that it might be more meaningful to consider how much, on average, each of us spends per annum on our military. We are real patriots here in America. If you take the annual military spending and divide it by the number of citizens in our country, the result for 2019 is $2,211.46 per citizen, per year. That is very impressive when you realize that the average citizen of China only spent $181.34. To accomplish this amazing feat the US spent an annual 732 billion dollars. The Germans, who we generally consider a fairly military nation, spent a little over 49 billion. I would like to spend the same as Germany on our military annually. This would give us 680 billion dollars a year to spend on things like buying the Amazon (no relation to Jeff Bezos) rain forest and replanting the trees that give us our clean air and normal climate. Or perhaps to give our nation Universal Health Care. Or perhaps to desalinate some ocean water, in the Southwest and stop the drought. We could use the money to educate our best and our brightest, not our wealthiest. We could use it to repair our infrastructure. There are many ways to spend the money that will be of greater benefit than on our military.

You get the point. Do we really need to outspend the next ten nations in the World, combined? Does that spending create or destroy our future? How does operating a giant military serve or better our country? What good is another atomic aircraft carrier, or an inter-continental nuclear missile? We can still wave our flags and call ourselves patriots without the military waste.

I'm a patriot, just like you are, but I am a Patriot of The Planet. You should try it. You will make better decisions for our country and for the world. We are the richest nation on Earth. How well do we use it? That $2,211 per year will go a long way. It need not be an investment in war.

Cheers, Old Buz 6/28/2021

iambloggerbuz.blogspot.com