Steve's barking; dysfunctional government good?

In my lifetime the past two years have been the most dysfunctional government in the US. Even more dysfunctional then in the Clinton years. Now my peeps have been praising my president for lowering unemployment. Cut the budget federal budget deficit. Strong growth in GDP. Now the crazies can come out and say we don't a functional government, unemployment got lower, GDP went up, and the budget deficit got lower, justifiable. Will they? No, their crazies.

Steve's barking; what if the IRS let us elect what our taxes paid for!

What if when we paid our taxes we the tax payer could elect to say what we are paying for!
What if we could say I want my one hundred percent of my tax dollars to go to defense, or one hundred percent to go to education, because I don't like war. May be a person would chose that his or her tax dollars would be a mix of social welfare programs and health care. What if you could have twenty percent of your taxes for roads, thirty percent for education and fifty percent for defense.
Would my fellow Americans be more willing to pay their taxes?
Would we have enough money to pay for necessary things like paying congress.A necessary evil if ever there was one.
Perhaps the would be less cheating? May be we the people would have more money in our treasury?
Perhaps we would have to much money for defense and not enough for the general good?
Perhaps my fellow citizens would be so cynical that they would doubt the money they elected to go for one thing is actually going for something else?
This is one of my ideas that I know is actually going nowhere!

Steve's barking; break up the NSA

Break up the NSA.
A major corporation has been hacked ( Sony ) reportedly by a not very tech savvy country North Korea including shutting down it's computer operations for two days.
One of the top priorities of the agency is to stop  cyber attacks against the US and companies in it.
After billions was spent on the agency they didn't do one if not the primary function.
Break up the NSA.
Woe is me, and the rest of the world.

Steve's barking: what ever happened to it's good to have a devalued currency

Not to long ago watching the boob tube I heard commentators worrying about the strong dollar, and how that would hurt our (manufactures) trading. Now I hear these same commentators say holy Sh*t, Russia's in trouble, there currency collapsed.

Steve's barking; Alternate universe Sony hack by NSA

In my Alternate universe Sony was hacked by the NSA as part of their cyber war games.
One of their outsourced employees found this information took it home thinking it would be fun, showed the information to a friend, a fellow hacker, who thought it would be fun to release the hacked information, blaming the Korean government. The NSA being red faced went along with the story, even going as far as creating a fictitious movement that threatened bombing of theaters if the interview was opened in cities over Christmas. After all the NSA did want any more bad publicity.

Steve's barking; OPEC's not run by fools.

I keep hearing that there are nations in OPEC that want to cut their oil production,
They wouldn't make anymore money if there's less oil.
The biggest expense is looking for oil, starting new wells,and one has to assume that putting wells off line is a big expense.
The losses of running an oil well can't be that great compared to fracking, and sand pits.
Did the Saudis, Iranians, the Russians and Venezuela declare bankruptcy in 2008? I didn't think so?
The question should be how much money will they lose if they reduce their oil outputs compared to losing to alternative ways of extraction energy?

Steve's baking; in the matter of the Cos

I maybe looking at the Bill Cosby molestation accusations all wrong.
The discussion should be how does one protect ones self from a mentor, or helper in ones career.
How does one who is a mentor, helper protect him or herself against sexual assault charges.

Bill Cosby is the Jackie Robinson of Television and no one can take that a way from him.
Bill Cosby's comedy is wholesome and no one can take that a way from him.
Bill Cosby is a little self-righteous is true and that has made some enemies.

After so many years women are coming out of the woodwork accusing him of molestation. Because there are so many most people say it's true. My problem is that too many of the stories are the same, the accusations are reminding me of the Salem Witch trial. The women believe that the Cos actually molested them. It maybe true, may be just s mind trip, I for one don't know. The best thing that can happen is to use Cosby's trouble as a learning tool.

Steve's barking; Buggy whip monetary economic thinking.

Buggy whip economic thinking, what the funk is that?
The other day I just happened to be watching CNBC and listening to something that seemed a little off to me. Then it dawned on me about money in economic terms, only they were talking about money and inflation as if we still lived at the turn of  2 centuries ago.
Money has changed throughout the centuries, at first it was an easier way to be paid with gold coins then being  payed in chickens. Soon it was discovered that carrying too many gold coins in a person's pocket ripped the pocket and gave you a hernia, so the promissory note know as paper money was invented. This was all done all before the dismal science called economics was thought of, along with banks that took these dollars that weren't needed and borrowed this money usually with the promise to give the lender a little extra dollars when they wanted it. To get the money to pay the lender, the banks then became bigger lenders and that's how they made their profits. Now some economists came to the conclusion that this was a way of inflating the money supply. To make this story less complicated then what it already is let's just say that as long as all that money was needed by the original lender all was fine, but when the secondary lender( the banks) needed the money to pay the original lender and the secondary borrower didn't have the money all hell broke lose, with money disappearing into thin air. Now those practicing the dismal science calling this a panic, revised later on to calling this a depression.
Now getting back to my original point money has changed throughout the ages. Now money can even  be ones and zeros on a computer which wasn't even thought of until the latter part of the last century.
Those commentaors have a slight understanding of this, what they don't understand that quanative easing or the printing of money in zeros and and ones is just as good as carrying chickens around, because at this point in time the computer generated money had real assets to back them up.
My educated guess is that those commentaors don't comprehend what modern money is, and are still looking at what money was thought of in the late nineteenth century.
Modern money is almost as good as carrying chickens around and a little better then carrying gold coins, after all fake gold coins were common in days of yor.
Modern money right now is almost as good a storage of value as carrying those chickens around.

The point of this whole exercise is to point out that money has changed throughout the ages.
Many people have a hard time adjusting to change. Some people have a hard time thinking in modern terms especially when it comes to money.

Steve's barking; Let New York State experiment with Progressive policies

Being one who likes to experiment with ideas, I say that New York State should experiment with progressive ideas.  Kansas after all is experimenting with laissez-faire and lowering taxes.. I say that New York State should have a tax that pays for health care for all. No more will local communities be liable for medicaid and the cost of their workers health insurance. No longer would businesses in the state have to foot the bill for health insurance making it even cheaper to locate in New York then no tax states. Let New York State raise the tolls on the roadways and bridges as they are being fixed and new bridges built.
Bridges and roads that are passable, that's another  reason for businesses  to be in New York State.
Have the best colleges in the land. Teach science in elementary school, getting children exited about the future. Have the children feel safe and secure in the schools. To make the schools safe and secure deport those who bully and their parents out of the state( just kidding).

Build heaters under the streets in areas by Lake Erie, with catch basins for the water that can be sold to our drought stricken states through a water pipe line. ( Dream On)

For those who think that we can reduce our taxes would make New York the Empire State again, I'm going to state right now New York can not compete with Texas or Florida.

Short run New York State would be hurt, long run New York Fantastico.

Steve's barking; Why do you say government is bad for business?

Don't care what they say, government is good for business.
Government makes rules. These rules hopefully even the playing field.
Government prevents stealing of ideas. Government should prevent the destruction of the free enterprise system. Government with it's rules should help the next generation.
What government is bad at is running companies. This has been proven through out history.
The only ones worse at running companies are share holder activist.

Steve's barking; the Americanization of Putin

Does Putin have American politician envy. After all why is does he copy them?
How many pictures does he have that shows him with a gun.
Killing a bear with his bare hands alla Davy Crockett.
Stance against gays similar to that of the Christian Right.
Fear of the press as all president's have since Nixon. Even controlling the press as the Republican Party does with Fox News.
Undermining counties as the U.S. did in the Middle East, to appease the base, only to find out that chaos follows.
If you can think of other ways that Putin acts like an American politicians fell free to add.

Steve's barking; The market and the Keystone pipeline

The government couldn't kill the Keystone Pipeline. The house just voted to allow it.
Will the market kill the Pipeline?
Can the wold afford anymore Canadian oil?
The world is a wash with oil and the price of oil keeps going down.
I'll repeat the question, will the market kill the Keystone Pipeline?
The economics is just not there.

Steve's barking: Who be tthe Democratic Party in the Future?

Is it just my imagination but is the Democratic getting old, and tired?
How diverse is the Democratic party really?
Can a Democratic African American be elected in a white district?
Why would I vote for some one who's older then me for elected office? After all I was tired when I retired. My short term memory is be tried, I even leave the keys in the car with the engine on, something that I never did in 44 years of driving. I miss exits that I have never missed in my life.
I actually have to think while I drive. Do I want a reprentative like me? No, No, No.
Us old geezers should be mentors not leaders.

Steve's barking; The US economy, trouble ahead

I looked into my crystal ball, and saw danger for the American economy.
Even though it's almost impossible to predict what the economy is going to do in two years down the road because there are too many variables, I'm going to make some dire predictions anyway.
The Saudis are going to try to up their production in oil, destroying America's oil industry. States that  produce oil will start running deficits. Companies that feed on the oil industry will hit hard times.
There will be pressure on the fed to raise interest rates and they will succumb to the pressure, the stock market will take a major hit because of this, and borrowing money for margins will become harder. Companies such as Amazon may have to change the way they do business or die.
The new congress will make it harder for the average American to pay their bills as the cut in foods stamps  have done to the poor. Congress will cut highway money making many a car losing its' axel which the owner can not repair.
Kansas will be the first state in the union that has ever gone bankrupt causing other state hardship (?).
Even though there is more money then ever it's not in circulation causing a greater recession then before Obama took office, just as happened to FDR. This time it will be because of congress but the president will get the blame.

Steve's barking; Message to Democrates, Stop preaching to the choir.

The Democratic party made a mess of themselves this election cycle and unless they get their heads out of their asses the presidential cycle going to be worse.
First I admit that they got stuck with the panic of Ebola.
Second I admit they got hit with the terrorist panic from the Middle East.
Now my suggestion to the party of my youth, Stop pushing agendas that are don't effect most people and our dubious at best, yea women only make 78cent for every dollar that a man makes. The Walmart worker or the factory workers not buying that, nor the civil servant.
(2) Stop pressing people for money saying that your your so close to winning that your five dollars that will matched by twenty is the difference between winning and losing. Those request are a big turnoff.
(3) Complaining about supper pacs make you sound like a bunch of whiners.
(4) Question, How many Young Demarcates Clubs were on college campuses?
(5) How many Democrat women were handing out handbills complaining about Republican violation of their bodies?

I know for a fact that Texas was lost when Wendy Davis couldn't sell her book.
Hillary and Andy are lousy book sellers, not a good sign.

Steve's barking; economics of the dog chasing it's tail

Inflation, everybody talks about it, but no one does a thing about it.
Deflation is the same, everybody talks about it yet no one does a thing about it.
Maybe this is true because we really don't understand what they are?
Maybe what we do is like the dog chasing it's tail?

Steve's barking; what if there are Robin Hood hackers

What if there are Robin Hood hackers, who hack into banks and pay your bills, with money that's nonexistent. Turning the cost of  a purchase from 100 dollars to 1 dollar.
The question is, can that be good for the economy or bad?
Another question how long would this be going on till it's discovered?

Steve's barking; There are too many people on the dole in the US.

One of the the main problems with the US is that there are too many people on the dole.
These people constantly have there hands out, and refused too do anything for their money.
These people proudly call themselves Tea Party caucus congress people.

Steve's barking; Dollar rises, exports go down (maybe)

Conventional wisdom, which isn't always so wise tells us that be that exports will go down because the price of goods from the U.S. rise against foreign currencies.
That's true, but the cost of producing goods in the U.S should go down, especially goods that are not labor intense. The cost of energy in the U.S. should go down, along with such commodes as iron ore, aluminum, rare earth materials ext. It's not so cut and dry as we who have rings at the end of our noses are told to believe that we would lose out on exports, especially if the producers of the goods cut the price of their goods to reflect the savings of the lower prices of natural resources.
If unemployment goes up in foreign countries then one can expect exports to go down, but that's another story.

Steve's barking; Could this be the end of plastic bags

California just banned plastic bags being given away to carry ones groceries away. Plastic bags are bad for the planet. Birds eat them and chock to death. There in the ocean fish die because of them.
New York City isn't going that far, just trying to put a ten cent tax on them. In effect banning them from the poor.
What can one do to carry their groceries home? Of cause carry them in reusable cloth bags. When carrying your groceries home you had better clean them good,or one might end up salmonella or some other bacteria.
I may be wrong but what most people do with those plastic bags is to use them for something else, like throwing out the garbage. How will one throw out their garbage? Do what the middle income and rich people do, buy plastic bags.

Do I have a solution for our plastic bag problem, of cause not, I understand that those bags can last as long as the planet, but I also understand solutions have negative consequences.

Steve's barking; getting my stupid on

I get my stupid on at least twice a week. I buy lottery tickets.
I believe that if only the world would listen to me, we would be living in the new Garden of Eden.
I have started something new, leaving my keys in the car as I get out.
Now I'm not ashamed of doing or thinking stupid things for I'm after all I'm a human and we humans are suppose to do stupid things and have stupid thoughts. Look at the presidents, Obama saluting with a coffee cup in his hand, Bush saluting with a dog in his hand, Regan calling ketchup a vegetable, and how about FDR ending the stimulus to soon.
The problem with getting your stupid on is the people who think that they are the all mighty perfect and expect others not to do or say stupid things. Normally there's nothing wrong with stupid things being said or done and we should not take offense as long as we learn from them or the damaged done is minimal. We learn from our stupid and some times we even feel good about our stupid (think about me buying lottery tickets).

Steve's barking;Economic evolution?

Why can't we think in the terms of that deary science having evolution moments. (Huh)?
We think of inflation as too much money chasing too few goods when just about all inflation is based on supply and demand.
Adam Smith's invisible hand, becomes a very visible hand when it comes to monopolies, and what government should do about them.(Huh)?
If the price of goods goes up government might just have to print money to cover the cost, the cost of goods doesn't go up because you print money. (Huh)?
The vast majority of  of what we do to alleviate problems have nasty side effects and some one has to decide if the side effects are wort it. This is true in nature and fixing up economic problems. (Huh)?


The Fed's Quantitative Easing has a nasty side effect it reduces a safe return to ordinary lenders.(Huh)?(People living on fixed incomes. (Who are they)?)
Is the Fed buying bonds helping create jobs? Probably not. (Huh).
Is it reducing the US debt? Yes, yes, yes, yes, but we don't understand it. Therefore we don't know it. Therefore it isn't. (Huh)?

You might say what I'm wighting is wonkish ,but I don't have a freaking idea what wonkish means.(Huh)?

Steve's barking; Oil prices are saying please help me I'm falling and I can't get up

Oil prices as of today have been falling, this despite the fact that Russia is having an economic problem due to the Ukraine. Some group of radicals have taken over the oil fields in Iraq. Saudi Arabia, well there Saudi Arabia.
Indications that the oil refineries have very little capacity to take in any more oil.
Are the Asian countries that were using oil at a record amount just a short time ago having such a down turn in their economies that they don't need that much oil. Did they build up their refineries and are taking oil on the sneak from Russia and Iraq?????
Bigger question are we producing too much oil by fracking that were on the verge of an oil bust????
Was there collusion a short time ago and a rift happened?

Steve's barking: Ray Rice and mob justice

I've been told that the US is a nation of laws. Really!
Ray Rice hit his future wife in the elevator in a casino in Atlantic City and knocked her out.
He then dragged her out the elevator.
He didn't deny hitting her when approached by hotel security.
Atlantic City and New Jersey are not prosecuting him.
Every body knows that Ray Rice struck his then fiance now wife.
The NFL his employers regulator took away 2 games from him as punishment.*
The media said that wasn't enough.
They demanded Ray Rices head.
A video surfaced from the security camera in the elevator that show the whole incident and it seemed horrific.
The commissioner of the NFL now could now accommodate the mob and gave Ray Rice an indefinite suspension. His team the Ravens cut him. Most likely because of the mob his sneaker company and the computer company fired him.
Sports writers and most sports commentators are piling on. They who said that a two game suspension was not enough are now placated.
I can't keep but wounder why these same sport writers/ commentators didn't demand that Mike Tyson and Frank Mayweather not be aloud to fight after it was revealed that they were in physical domestic disputes. Were were the outcries saying that Keyshawn Johnson should be punished and barred from TV for a long period of time. Jason Kidd's punishment for domestic violence, being traded to the Nets, was punishment enough. Was that the thinking of our holier then thou writers and commentators.
Were were the boob tube commentators when Solace Knowles attacked JZ in the elevator. Ban her from recording for six months. Are they sexist.

 I wounder if Ray Rice's biggest sin was being recorded by security cameras.
Janay Rice, victim of domestic violence, double victim because her husband probably will have a hard time finding work. Triple victim of the media.

At no time do I think that those mentioned should be punished by their companies, what I am saying is that mob punishment is wrong and can be very picky.

* If suspention isn't spelled out in the contract or the collective bargining agreement, then it's wrong.

Steve's barking at domestic abuse

It's not alright to strike your partner, even if you partner is much larger then you.
It's no alright to compare you partner to previous partners.
It's not alright to shove your hand in your partners face or point a finger in your partners face.
It's not alright to ridicule your partner.
It's not alright to sneak out on your partner, and when confronted say I'm an adult and I can go were I want and do what I want.
It's not alright to use money as a bargaining chip.
It's not alright to threaten your partner( I'm going to kill you, take you for all your money, keep you from seeing........).
It's not alright to keep putting your partner down (you ugly, stupid, have not friends, or taste).

All these things hold true if your partner is male, female, same sex or a,gerbil unless of cause they get off by abuse.

Steve's barking; Don't you wounder about this guy Snowden?

Didn't this guy Snowden before he defected ( I mean spilled the beans on NSA of what we all suspected anyway) work on counter cyber attack? Don't those who work on counter cyber attacks try to find flaws in the system and even have dummy Cyber attacks on banks like JP Morgan Chase?
Isn't this guy Snowden in Russia?
Wasn't Cyber stealing (attack) Target, JPMorgan Chase, Home Depot ext. coming from Russia?
Didn't this guy Snowden tell just recently of co-workers at NSA looking at nude pictures that they gleamed off the internet from  cyber space?
Wasn't naked pictures of celebrity females turning up? Weren't they hacked from Apple's Cloud? Didn't Apple let NSA look at it's cloud? Did Snowden have those pictures?

Let me add something to those idiots on the boob tube, the problem isn't that nude pictures of celerbrities were hacked, if you have any information on you IPhone such as your bank account, it can be stolen from Apples I cloud even if you don't think you saved it. You nimrods this could be the greatist security breach in  history with disastrous consequences.

Steve barking the comedian as a bully

Are comedians bullies?
Joan Rivers past away and she was given great praised by her peers. All over the the TV all you can hear is great praise for.
I thought her only as a bully, then again television news has has becoming a bulling pulpit not to be confused with a bully pulpit.
Personally I liked Joan Rivers except her later years were her comedy became mean. She made fun of fat people, of people who had a hard time dressing themselves, any little flaw was fair game.
I like Jon Stewart, and Bill Meher but they too make me cringe. Does being a comic mean that you have too be mean? Is it just satirist? Do satirist get a bye?
 Am I a bully?
 Na no one reads what I write anyway.
If at one time you made fun of yourself does that give you a bye.
The reason I'm confused about comic and bulling is not that long ago the same people who complained about bulling in schools and in the work place praise the comic who makes fun of some one in the public eye no mater how much it might hurt that person and in reality that person may have done nothing to deserved that ridicule. Least not forget the classic bully thinks he's funny and so do his friends.
Do I think the satirist should stop making fun of the high and the mighty. No, not by a long shot.
Am I contemptuous of people who make fun of other people just because they can?
Yes. Just as I look down on those guys who make fun of nerds and nerds who make fun of those not as smart, and in crowd that destroys the self confidence of a person who has trouble finding friends.

In conclusion I found no one who would call Joan Rivers a bully, at least not the way I would.
Being bullied hurts. Most Times the bully does't even know that their bulling.

* There are many people who knew Joan Rivers personally who would call her one of the kindest people  you could know.

Steve's barking; Who's responcible for ISIS?

Who's responsible for ISIS? I hear commentators on the boob tube and even in the e magazines and newspaper that I read blaming the current president. He's not doing enough. We should have staid in Iraq. We should give arm to the Kurds and the Syrian rebels who aren't allied to our enemies.
Who's to blame for ISIS, that easy, my country. Specifically the events that took place prior to the current president taking office.
Whose weapons are they using? US weapons that were given to Iraq after the war.
Who are the best soldiers and commanders in ISIS? The soldiers and commanders who were part Saddam Husain's military that we ignored and didn't let them protect their country when it was heading toward chaos.
There really isn't much this administration can do except give air support to people on the ground.
If we give weapons to the Kurds how would we make sure they wouldn't be used against our ally Turkey?

We interfered in Libya which is a disaster. Egypt, didn't turn out too well. Tunisia? Syria, still a civil war going on.2 million refuges and counting.
So in conclusion stay out of the Middle East, we only make things go from bad to worse.

Steve's barking; Americans in the age of excess

Fortunately or unfortunately I was born in America that it's citizens believe in excess (The 1940s to the present).
If an 8 oz bottle of soda  a 16 oz bottle must be better. If a 16 oz bottle is good lets get a 32 oz bottle.
Go to a buffet for a meal, we must eat until we can't leave the table, wait around so we can go back and eat some more after all we must get our moneys worth.
There are even some that believe that several PHDs is the only way to go.
We believe that water is so health for us that they drink it till they get sick.
There are people among us who are billionaires and aren't happy because they aren't rich enough.*
Vitamins are generally good for us so many of us over dose. Is 10000mg of D or B really healthy?
We love our television so much that we have so many shows that the only way we can keep up with all of them is by having someone else tell us about them.
Too much salt in a person's diet can be catastrophic, so some doctors put real restrictions on salt intake.
Too little salt can be a killer as the New England Journal of medicine points out.
Does running ten miles every day make you healthier then running 1or even power walking for 30 minutes?
We know that being over weight is bad for your health, but a 40 lb grown women* has less of a chance of living then a 500 lb man.
Doctors tell us that we should be on the bottom scale of BMI, but statistics tell us that people on the upper side of BMI live longer.Fact statistics tell us that being slightly over weight you have a better chance of living longer then being on the under weight.

* I don't recall who's quote this is; You can never be too rich or too thin.
(1)BMI -Body Mass Index
(2) I do thing in excess myself

steve's barking; Thre Democratic party's worse nightmare is me.

The Democratic Party's worse nightmare is me.
No I I'm not a Tea Party Member.
No I'm not a Republican nor Conservative, Anarchist, or Obstructionist.
No I'm a registered Democrat who has voted in every election almost always down the party line.
I admit in the distant past I voted for a Republican but in recent memory I have broken with the Democratic Party to vote Third Party.
It's not me who isn't voting along the Democratic line, but what I represent, the disenchanted Democrat.
The Democrat who was a union member, who see prominent Democrats keep quite on the vilification of Unions.
The ex civil servant who hears the Democratic governor of his state blame all the monetary problems on my pension.
The Democrat who used to give to the party until he wised up and realized that the money he was giving was paying people who's salaries and commissions were more  in a year then I made in a life time.
The Democrat who hears the pitch and doesn't see the results.
The Democrat who reads the poles and see that the party leadership is too stuck on itself that they don't change the results.
A Democratic Party that forgot about it's grass root presence.
The Democratic Party's biggest fear should should be people like me who will vote third party or not vote at all.

Steve's barking: Are bombings really incentives for people to join terrorist?

The question  for the day is bombing and fighting monsters in the Middle East a good tool for recruiting of terrorist as has suggest by so many on the idiot box?
When one see the inhumanity of Isis on the tube isn't that a good recruiting tool for those who are prejudice against Arab, and Muslims?
Isn't a greater recruiting tool fantasy of doing something for the greater good?
Doesn't history show that winning or being on the winning side brings out the desire to join a warrior group?
Isn't there a large group of people who enjoy inflicting pain? Isn't that a great recruitment incentive?
My best guess is that those who want to act as terrorist will do it whether we have a military involvement or not. Sorry experts.

Steve's barking; So you don't believe in Christmas,and you want to send us all to the poor house

There are many out there who don't believe in Christmas. They don't believe in buying a present for Uncle Teddy who they hardly know. Those presents only spoil your children. Christmas has gotten to commercial. Too many people have gotten into debt because of Christmas.

All those things in that paragraph are true. What's also true 1/3 of the retail goes on between the end of November till the beginning of January (don't forget those after Christmas sales. If it wasn't for Christmas many a business would fail. With all those businesses failing many a person would be with out work. With so many people without work the fiscal network would fail and a good many of the populous would go hungry, homeless, and naked. The big Agra factories would go bankrupt. The need for energy would  lessen and despite what some would say that's a bad thing. So we need Christmas, Hanukkah,Eid and all gift giving relgions.

Steve's barking at a nation of unwanted immigrants

I live in a nation that holds to the myth that it wanted it's immigrants from all over the word, the truth is a lot different.
When the English, French, Spanish, and Dutch first came to these shore the North American natives took one look at these crazy guys what the f*** is wrong with these guys.
Peter Stuyvesant as governor of New Ampsterdam, said no Jews allowed.
In those early colonial, the Britsh eyed the French with suspicion and like wise the French eyed the English the same way, and they both looked on the Spanish the way.
Now the colonist welcomed Africans with opened arms, the only problem with that was the Africans didn't want to be in America. (Well to be fair there were some Africans who came here of their own free will. They were looked at with suspicion. )
When the war of independence from England was taking place all foreigners who wanted to fight for the cause were welcomed.
After the war and independence was won there came a time of general exceptence of foreiners untill the 1830 were a group of no nothing's wanted to keep the German Catholics out.
And then the citizens with background from Enland wanted to keep the Irish out. Next those who called themselves Irish Americans wanted to keep the Italians out.
Everybody mistrusted the Eastern Europeons, wanting to keep them no matter what their relgion was.
There was a wave of Asian (Chinese)worker that the railroads said they needed, but after a while prejudice prevailed and a stringent imagination policy against Asians was passed. ( fortunately for us this has gone away for we Americans like their food and brains).
Now we come to those new immigrants from South America who want to come into the US, and guess what, there running into the same BS we all did.

So now you have it, a brief bias history of American immigration.

Steve's barking at partisan news

Through out the history  of America there has been partisan news.
The news came in the form of pamphlets or newspapers, and damn they didn't have to be neutral because we had a free press. A free press didn't  mean we had a factual press.
Along came this thing called radio, and with it came the government licencing the news people had to be careful what they put on the air. Luckily  we had two major parties so there was only so much  nonsense over the airways news reporting could get away with. This was true with television and radio.
The slow dieing of print media one would think would make a more honest way of getting ones news.Ah, but along came this thing called cable and we now have all kind of reporting. Well these cable news networks do the work of the old partisan newspapers did and blogs do what partisan pamphlets used to do.
We have a cable news network that starts with an F that *mirrors what Pravda did. (I know that 's Russia, OK, the Daily Worker).
Computers gave way to blogs as pamphlets did in days of yore. And it's cheap enough that even buffoons like me can write them.


*A mirror is an exact reflection only it's 180 degrees different(?).

Steve's barking; why the Jews need Zionism

Most of the world seems to think that Israel was created because of the Holocaust, but the fact of the matter is it was spawned before the Holocaust because of the fear for their life ( physical, spiritual and identity). Jews need a homeland to day just as much as they needed a homeland a century ago.
Are they safe in France, Holland, and Belgium were mobs scream death to the Jews and their property is destroyed by wanted acts of vandalism. Would those Jews who's ancestors came from nations like Iran, Iraq, Egypt and Lebanon be safe if their heirs returned to the land of their forefathers? No they would not.
Every time a crowd chants death to the Jews, destroy Jewish  property they make a stronger case for Zionism.

Steve's barking; a simpletons version of climate change.

We all know that there is is this thing that we call climate change.
Some of us know ( including my self ) that' co 2  and methane gas ( that's become greater in the atmosphere due to fracking (?) ) act like glass does for a green house letting the suns heat in and trapping it so that it doesn't get out.
Now some who live in the Midwest and the East Coast  this year  may have a hard time believing that   we 're going through a global warming period. This is not true if one lives on or near the Pacific Ocean in the US, or for that matter in the UK. Boy it's hot in those areas of the world.
Well we who believe that co2 in the atmosphere is a major contibutor of  global change worry about the deforestation of the world, the co2s vacuum cleaner is being destroyed.

I understand that the electromagnet poles have moved ever so slightly, if true that also can help explain partial climate change, wind change and all that jazz.
The melting of the polar ice can explain climate change, the wind blows right things can  make some parts be a little cooler in some parts of this planets and warmer in other.

Steve's barking at a variation of the term for inflation

Every ex college person who took a course in economics knows inflation is when too much money chases too few goods.
We constantly look at too much money, with out defining what too much money is?
In places like San Francisco, New York City, and South Dakota we have inflation of housing (I imagine Russia Moscow is the same). There are people who command a great deal of money and have it, enough to push the price of housing up almost unaffordable to the rest of us folk. Now a majority of these folk are not rich by any imagination, it's just that they make much more then the previous average person who live in these places. As the amount of these more prosperous people come to these places to live they inflate the price of housing. Part of what I'm trying to say that part of the equation of inflation is the increase of need raise the price, the raising of price or prices the average Joe or Josephine would consider inflation.

Speaking of money, there are some, how should I say this, uh being kind, I'll just say people who look at the FEDS uh quantitative easing and say the FED is printing money, oh my, the end of the world is coming. Inflation is just around the corner. Stop it. The real term should be too much money in circulation going after a shortage of various products inflates the price of those products (usually).
The FED buying a product, (Bonds, and Notes) doesn't necessarily putting that money in circulation.

Steve's barking at the enablers of death

If a teenager throws a rock at a man with a gun and gets shot who's to blame?
If another teenagers throws a rock at the same man with a gun and he also gets shot, who's to blame?
If you encourage other to throw rocks at this man and they get shot at aren't you part of the problem?
Some will say no, the man has a gun and that's much more deadlier then a rock.
Look at the agony of those who got shot, and oh by the way the man with the gun shot some teenagers who weren't throwing rocks at him.
I'm trying to understand, a thrown rock can injure and even kill but just because a person defends himself with a gun that person with is wrong.
Even though it is known that by throwing a rock at the man with a gun, the man is going to use it and fire on the person who throws the rock, if you don't expect injuries from the gun your a fool.

The way I see the battle in the holy land, the brothers and sisters of the Arabs that are being killed are blaming the wrong party, they should be cursing the rock throwers.That goes double for our holier then thou westerner's.

Steve's barking at the myth of a free market.

The reality of a free market is a myth.
Throughout history man has visioned various Utopian societies, whenever man has tried to put his theory in to practice, members of those societies have gone away disillusioned.

Let me start off by say that there has never been a truly free market.
Most humans have it in their DNA to cheat. To gain advantage over it's rival, a business would and does create a system that  limits the funds for it's rivals. Cash rich companies sell a product at a loss there by stifling competition.
Trying to gain monopolies is only natural, and with no competition the seller sets the price.
During Prohibition the United States had a glance at the free market  for liquor and guess what happened, various gangs sprang up and the free market in liquar died. In the present day one can look at the drug trade, gangs have virtual monopolies in variose areas of the country.

The myth that a totally free market system creates innovation. When a person looks at that statement from a distance one can shake his head in agreement. It's defiantly true in a sterile world, one needs to keep improving to be competitive, but if one is in a non competitive position innovation  is squashed.
One can state well in a free market they'll always be competition, Only if companies can prove they can make a a profit or they can't find funding.
The first thing to go when profits aren't right is R and D and with it goes innovation.
In a free market new companies are formed all the time that are innovative.
New companies are formed it's true, but only if they can get the cash for their start up, hoping that there isn't collusion between existing companies and banks or with investors.

Did the monopolies of the early 20th century create more and better businesses or was America's economy on the verge of malaise? Yes American businesses and the economy was on the verge of malaise.
Did monopolies make for a freer market? No
Did the break up of the monopolies make for a freer market? Yes.
Those in America who shout that the politicians should have left businesses alone are in reality anti free marketers.

As bad as government is some times, with it's self-righteous bureaucrats, creates a freer market then those free market advocates would.

Steve's barking: why I don't give to most organized charity

I hate to give to a charity were most of the workers make more money then me.
I hate to give to a charity that the CEO makes more then 600 thousand dollars.
I hate to give to a organization that spends most of it's money getting money.
I hate to give to a charity were the CEO justifies his or her salary by how much money they pull in.

The Red Cross recently was asked how they spend their money and the answer they gave it's a trade secret.
A trade secret, who the f*** do they think they are, Apple or GM, they're a blink en charity. If I'm giving money from my messily check to help tornado victims in Kansas I want to know at least 90 cents on the dollar is helping those victims. By the way who are they in compilation with, other charities?

Another charity that I'm not to happy with is the democratic party.
The only think they seem good for is fund raising. It seems to me that they pay their fun raises more money then they spend on the races that they are fund raising for. Even the guy or gal who calls me up is probably getting a piece of the pie.

It seems to me that truth in advertising I should know how much the money collected is payed to the professional fund raiser. If the money collected isn't told how it's spent then the charity should be taxed on how much it's spends even if the charities are political parties.

My family is pretty generous with it's money to charities, giving to such charities as United Way, Sloan Kettering, Political Candidates and on an on, but the best charity I give too are the beggers on the street, I at lest I know what they look like, even if they are cheats.

Steve's barking; why I will not vote for Hillary

I won't vote for Hillary because I'm an a** hole who thinks that  it's time for a change.
I don't want to vote for a Clinton, or a Bush, fresh ideas from fresh people, not old ideas from leftover people..
Optimistic people, so no I will not vote Tea Party. I maybe forced to vote against the unpatriots and if Ms Clinton is the alturnitive, I'll just hold my noise and pull the Democrats lever, and do what I always do, vote against the most obnoxious canidates rather then vote for a particular canidate.

In 2008 I voted for Barack Obama, in 2012  I voted against Mitt Romney. Now it probably dosen't mean anything to the winner, but at least  in my mind I have my integrity intack.

I look at the Obama administration and tell myself if I wanted a Hillary Clinton administration I would have voted for her in the Democratic Primary. ( Maybe that's my problem, I'm a little touched in the head I speak to myself).

Steve's barking; the end of fighting in the Middle East will be..............

The way thing are going in the middle with fighting, the murdering and rape that goes on with the type of fighting that is happening in Iraq and Syria, I ask myself how can this insanity end (things appear to be so bad there it makes the Israel, Palestinian conflict seem like a minor bar room brawl).
My only guess is that the conflict will end before the end of 2015 not because of intervention on one side or another but because of disease.
There are new disease being discovered ever day, each more deadly then the other and with refugee camps and fighters coming in from every and all parts of the region an epidemic is inevitable.
An epidemic with diseases that can't be cured makes cowards of us all.

Steve's barking at capitalist communist

Capitalist communism (?) can't be.
Capitalist communist must be those billionaires who are a disgrace to their class. Economic equality= blaspheme.

In the sixties when we were taught the superiority of American democracy over communism we were taught about freedom of speech that America had and the communist counties didn't. In the present day the rich have the ability to drown out those aren't rich lowering the voice of others.
We were taught about how the state would spy on the people. Present day America large corporation spy on the citizens (think of Face book, Google, Yahoo and the advertisers on those platforms).
We were taught that the people of the communist countries had to think one way just as as some of those cable news network seem to want the people who watch their network expect their viewers to do.
We were taught that the Soviet Union would tell the same lie over and over again that the people would believe. Sound familiar to those capitalist think tanks Cato institute, and the Heritage Foundation. I know they're called conservative think tanks but are they really.
Brings me to another warning of the evils of communist, they would use terms like freedom loving people while actually meaning those who are enslaved.Seems to me that I hear from capitalist who like to say freedom of choice when they actually mean freedom to choose what they want you to choose. Yes there are some liberals I know who aren't that rich but think the same way.
As I have said before, there are many capitalist who learned their lesson well from the Communist.

 

Steve's barking; I didn't realize I was a thief (of intelelectual property)

I didn't realize I was a thief (of intellectual property).
I know now?
How do I know.
The supreme court tells me so.
In it's six to three decision against Aereo I do believe it implies that one can not record over the air programing that can be played at a later date a later date unless one pays for it the the provider of that content.
I've had a VHS for 30 years and in the past I've recorded shows, and have seen them at a later date.
Now if one takes this a step further one can say I'm stealing intellectual property.
It seems to me that the only reason for Aereo was to take what has always been free, and having someone pay for clarity and rebroadcasting on devises that aren't traditional televisions.
Maybe those who don't use no traditional devises aren't stealing even though record for future viewing.

Now that I've gotten this ruling off my chest, let me contemplate why am I paying for something that my next door neighbor who doesn't have cable or a dish gets for free?
Why did the FCC let the over the air broadcast companies charge the cable and dish companies for their programing which in turn charges me. If the over the air broadcast feels that it needs the wired and dish household money so bad then they should give up their right to broadcast on that spectrum.
I was kind of under the impression that over the air broadcasting was a privilege to serve a community, if it makes one pay and the other gets that service for free it's not serving the community equal.

If for some idiotic reason someone palagerizes this blog should I be paid?
No, no, no, I gave it away for free.

steve's barking; what would Scroodge McDuck do?

What would Scrooge McDuck do if he didn't have to pay taxes?
Would he be generous andstill give to charities? Would he give to hospitals and libraries?
Does he give to cultural instatutions out of the goodness of his heart or does he do it for tax right off, after all every one knows that Mister McDuck doesn't like what the government does with his tax money. At least part of the money that he would have gone to taxes goes to what he likes and loves.
If he didn't have to pay taxes  would he still help the hospitals, the arts, and the libraries.
Just thinking.

Steve barking; let's have a nation jackass day

In the US we have days to honor just about everything and everybody.
Things like cup cake day and ice cream cone day.We celebrate Pit bull day and glutton eating hot frankfurters day ( this is celebrated in Coney Island in case you didn't know).
In New York we give special parades for special people, we have ( name a country) heritage parades,
We have a several gay pride parades, and ghost and a goblin parade. In San Fransico they have a S&M street faire. All I'm asking for is day to recognize the greatist majority in this country, more then straight people and gay people combined, that jackasses or as I said to the idiot who cut me off on the highway today, you A hole. An A hole is a jackass only by another name.
The thing about A holes is that the're just like werewolves  ther're normal most of the time but come at certain times of the month and the you have to be very careful of them.
Everyone knows a jackass, in fact most if not all the people we know are at one time or another are jackasses. I know for a fact I've turned into A hole many times in my life, and if your honest with yourself  you've probably been a jackass too at least once or twice, so is't it about time we gave a day for all of us. Let's hear it for National Jackass (ass hole) day.


*In this country there are straight people, gay people, bi people ans asexual people. That's how I can state more then straight people and gay people combined.

Steve's barking; The country of New Texas.

Never heard of the country of New Texas? That's because it doesn't exist.
I was just thinking let's try a social experiment an create new country for all those libertarians out there. Texas, being the largest state with anti-government sentiment. Texas has a industries, including farming, energy, and manufacturing. It has the Gulf of Mexico which can be used as drinking water and farming with desalting of the sea water.
The US would give the new country of  New Texas 500 billion dollars and 1/50 of the gold reserves held by the federal reserve.
Those who elect to live in the new country of New Texas would not get Medicare from the United States, and as far as Social Security is concerned , those who already get will still get it, those who don't will not unless the government of New Texas has some sort of Social Security and has a reciprocal agreement with the United States.
Every five years New Texas would have a chance to return as a state of the United States with the last chance 20 years after it leaves.That's four chances to opt back into being a state in the United States.
First opportunity, they get to keep the money but have to give back the gold. The second opportunity they have to pay back the 500 billion. The third and fourth opportunity New Texas would have to buy it's way back.
The country of New Texas would be a great way to find out if libertarian (anarchy) democracy really works.

Scotland may leave Great Britain, counties are talking of leaving the Euro Zone. Middle Eastern counties, forget about it, so why not a spot in the US.

Steve's barking; rent stablization in NYC

This year in NYC for the first time in my memory there might not be an increase in the monthly rent of rent stabilized apartments. This is great news for those who have fixed income and low to middle income who live in those rent stabilized apartments, not so great news for the owners of those apartment buildings. Many in the rent stabilized can barely afford the rent that they pay. Many of the owners of  these building can barely  afford to keep the buildings up. This is a situation were both sides have great arguments.
The city wants to have affordable housing so it needs rent stabilization as a large part of  the program.
It can not afford to lose affordable housing stock. One would think that the city's government would give tax breaks, reduce water bills and other incentives as they do for developers of new housing.
They should do it because it the right thing to do. Even if  they wouldn't lose one apartment with out breaks for the owners of these apartment buildings.
This would make it a win, win for everyone.

Steve's barking at trying to understand the fear of the freed Taliban

I'm trying to understand the fear of the the five freed Taliban members in a 5 for 1 prisoner swap for (Sgt) Bergdahle.
Let me try to understand from what I do know.
Afghanistan was ruled by the Taliban in 2001.
The Taliban harbored Al Qaeda.
Al Qaeda was the terrorist group that attacked us on 9/11/2001.
To reiterate Al Qaeda (People of Mid Eastern Extraction, not Asian) attacked us.
To retaliate we (rightfully) invaded Afghanistan.
Is it the suggestion of those who are afraid of the freed Taliban that they will attack Americans on our soil?
( Our soil includes Embassies and military bases).
They haven't done so before, so they're going to start now?
Is it the suggestion that we're never leaving Afghanistan so they create a risk for our men and women over there? Is that the problem?

Steve's barking:Money can't buy you love

What's to be learned from a Brat beating a Cantor in the Virginia Republican primary?
The main thing I took away from the victory of Brat over Cantor is money can't buy you love.
I don't read much else into it.

Steve's barking at gun controll in those old western movies

I remember many an old western when the cowboys would come into town the Marshall would take their guns and tell them they would get them back when they left town.
In some of those old movies the gunslinger would come into town and the Marshall would take his gun.
In other movies drunk would start shooting up the salon, the Marshall would come in, smack him on the head and take his gun away, throwing him in jail and only giving him his gun when he left town.
If these movies were made today there would be a whole slew of people complaining about that left wing Hollywood elite even though those movie scenarios were based on fact.
If Marshall Earp asked the cowboys coming into Dodge for their weapons, the cowboys would take there case to court, that darn Marshall Earp is trying to take our constitutional rights away.

We have a problem in reading with reading in this country, just think about it, who understand the meaning of the phrase a well regulated militia .

Steve's barking; What's wrong with the VA?

What's wrong with the VA?
Simple answer....It's a bureaucracy, the same as GE.
Nobody wants to think that the private sector is the same as the government sector (well most people anyway) but it is.
By all indications that in the VA department heads look over their shoulders and make sure that no one makes waves. Put on a happy face, brush the bad tidings under the rug so they wouldn't look bad. Do you think that GM's department heads have the same idea?
When you look at the private sector and the public sector one has to ask is protecting one's a** a human trait?
I have another rhetorical question, does a bureaucracy hinder inventiveness more then it helps?

I have something else to ponder, this more about government bureaucracy then the private sector.
Does congress setting a humongous amount of rules begging for failure?
Wouldn't it have been better if the government stipulated in it's contracts time frames, and having  companies  accountable for over runs. While I'm at it, holding companies accountable to their contracts to deliver what you said you would or be fined to the extreme of forfeiture of all monies from the contract. Lying on what you can deliver lets' bad companies drive out good. My inerts (gut feeling) tells me that's  the major screw up computerizing the paper work of the VA hospitals.

Lets not let congress off the hook, The VA needs more doctors, congress sets the budget.

Bw afraid of those saying this is how we have always  done it.
This goes for private companies as well as the public sector.

 

Steve's barking: The fat guy at the buffet line (Super Rich)

Why do I think that there are too many super rich  behave like that fat guy at the church buffet line who pushes his way to the front of the line, takes three plates of food, puts it down on the table, then pushes his way to the front of the line again and grabs more food. When he hears gripping from others that there wasn't enough to eat he seems bewildered after all there was enough for him. In fact he throws most of what he took away.

Steve's barking; rising energy exploration raises all in the economy?

The saying goes, rising tide raises all boats.
Rising energy exploration raises all in the economy.
Is that a true?
Well it certainly helped in the Reagan years. Probably was one of the main reason we had a brief recession.
Russia seemed to be having real economic problems until they started selling gas and oil.
Even the US today things would be a lot bleaker if it wasn't for gas explorations in the east and in the Dakotas. Think of all the prefab homes that have to be built in other parts of the country. think of all that money that is be spent on drilling equipment from other parts of the country. Think of all that money that's now being spent on cars that are made in other parts of the country.

I was wondering to myself why aren't things worse then what they are, perhaps it's due to energy exploration, perhaps not?

Steve's barking; What's with happiness and pay?

A survey was taken that about happiness and pay and the winner over Tech Firms ( Google, Apple, Microsoft) was Costco. What's with that?

Steve's barking; Being employed, so what.

There is great pride in the nation and in states that the unemployment is going down.
If you are one who is employed and can't feed your family while working 40, 80 hours a week or in the case of two spouses working 120 hours a week and the pay check or checks don't pay the rent, feed and clothes your family so why should you care if your part or the reason the unemployment rate is going down.
Getting back to basics taking care of yourself and your family is the primary reason we work.

We have to ask ourselves, if more of those who are working and can't take care of the basics, big sh*t if the unemployment rate is going down.

Steve's barking free healthcare, is it used more then if you have to pay for it?

I just finished reading Think Like A freak.
One of the authors suggested to Tony Blair that it might be a good idea to have a voucher system for their healthcare system. With out going into specifics as what it entails, this is an illogical solution, that if implemented would do just the opposite as to what it is intended to do, reducing cost to the government. Of course sometimes my logic can seem to be totally illogical.

One of the suppositions in the book was that if you give things (health care in this case) to people they will misuse it. I turned the the pages over and over again looking for proof.
Because there was no poof that because healthcare is free ( though it's not free because it's paid by taxes) it would be misused by those who are getting free healthcare.

Now I propose a study in the US of at least 500 recipients of Medicare ( the last I checked, they don't pay a co- pay) against 500 of the poor who get their medical insurance from a job but have to pay a co-pay.
I would break this down still making 250 in each category workers, 250 non workers. 250 non workers getting their health insurance from their partners.
To be fair the numbers should be triple what I'm suggesting in the same group under 55, in the same zip code, half with children, half without. This would reduce variance.

What can't be judged from this study, if some believes tag they have paid for this healthcare insurance  
are they compelled to use it more.

I noticed at parties when there is left overs people rush up to bring as much food at home as possible.
This is not the same as being in a doctors office for a half hour to four hours.

Steve's barking; The landlord gets all the insurance money

What if all the tenants of an apartment building pooled their money with their landlord to buy insurance and the building Burnt down. Instead of giving the insurance money to all the tenants  the insurance company gave the money to the landlord. Now the landlord can keep all the money and make a grand profit on his ex building or he can give most or part of the money to his ex tenants.
 A person may ask what has this got to do with real life after all no tenants pool their money with their landlord to buy insurance? If you think of the Federal Reserve as the insurance company, the banks as the landlord, and the banks customers as the tenants you can get the impression that the Fed buying bonds isn't a very effective way of  fighting unemployment.
 The one good consequence of the Federal Reserve buying bonds it reduces the debt (off the books).

Steve's barking: What stimulus

Every time I hear the term the stimulus didn't work my blood pressure rises 10 points.
Replacing partially what is lost does not a stimulus make.
Buying bonds from banks and having the same bank hold a big reserve does not a stimulus make. All the banks are doing is replacing bonds with cash.

A true stimulus would be doubling the minimum wage.
A true stimulus would be hiring more government workers at high wages.
A true stimulus would be fixing the infrastructure with high wage earners.

The first suggestion doesn't cost the government anything.
The second suggestion would be payed for by grater tax revenue of having more people with the ability to buy more goods and services from the private sector.
The third suggested stimulus would pay for itself by cheaper energy and less ware and tear on tires and ease of transporting of goods.

I'm really tired of dumb a** economics who use gigo statistics to justify there points.

* Computer term garbage in garbage out.

Steve's barking at too much of a good thing

In my city, the big apple were having a resurgent of good jobs. This is the goal of all cities, states and countries. No one would think that this is problematic, with probably the exception of  your truly.
Along with these good jobs and the job creators who come with them come inflation. Well inflation when it comes to rent. In the big apple these good jobs may or may not go to the native population.
Most likely they go to aliens from places like Boston. Fact of the matter, that good job being mayor has gone to persons from Massachusetts and horrors of horrors they're Red Sox fans. If taxes that the Big Apple was getting because of these good jobs, it might not be so bad, there by helping the natives one could say put up with this housing inflation, our schooling is being payed for as is our police by these aliens, but I'm not sure that this is the case. One can make the same case for the city by the bay, and evens states like the Dakota.

Steve's barking: Is the US becoming the new USSR?

No the US is not becoming communist, nor even socialist. It just that some characteristics that the Soviet Union had when it collapsed and just after it appear to be taking place in the good old US of A.
Our  infrastructure is collapsing. Were afraid to try something new. (New sources of energy for example).
Few people run the country and the same tired faces seem to appear with the same tired ideas.Same as the Soviet Union. The old Soviets use to call every one that didn't agree with them a fascist and we like to call those who disagree communist or socialist. The best way to get a good job in the US is to know some one just as in the old Soviet Union. The old Soviet Union news was propaganda TV and Newspapers, just as Fox news tends to be a propaganda arm of the Republican party and MS NBC tends to be the propaganda arm of the Democrats. The health care system of both the collapsing Soviet Union deteriorated just as the US is deteriorating.( The US is closing hospitals right and left. For every 2 doctors that retires only 1 and 1/2 doctors replace the retired one). The collapsed Soviet Union had a hard time paying it's veterans, think of the US VA. The old Soviet propaganda machine would tell the same lies over and over again that the people became to believe that the lies were the truth. Think of the NRA, the Tea Party, the Cato institute (I could go on and on including left leaning groups). Aren't they the same kind  propaganda machines as the old Soviet system? When the Soviet System collapse didn't it fall into an rich oligarchy  type of system just as we are falling into now?



                 THINK
                 USE YOUR IMAGINATION

Steve's barking; what if there were no refs in the NBA

What if there were no refs in the NBA?
After all we've all seen some terrible calls.
Would teams ref themselves? Would the rules of the game fall by the wayside?
If there  no refs would anybody care about the game?
What would happen if countries had no regulators? After all they make some lousy calls like NBA refs.
Probably the economic system as we know would collapse.

Steve's barking;thining of the herd

The world is in trouble. There are more people alive today then in all the history of world ( I think).
(Mother) Nature and man himself thinned the herd. Mother nature by disease, man by war.
Man is destroying the earth, but then again we were always destroying the earth.
Man has always been running out of food. In the17th century economist said we will run out of food, not knowing that man would create ways to increase crop production.
Getting back to subject, through out history man has thinned the population through wars, the only mass death in war is the Middle East and in Africa, but in those places you have a population explosion.
The question now is will mother nature thin the human herd by disease, even though we seem to be curring  the old ones on  a record pace new and nastier ones seem to be popping up every day.
Maybe man will thin the herd with sugar. I keep hearing about how obesity going to make the life span shorter in man.
Well instead of war we've created climate change, that maybe man helping mother nature thin out the herd.

Steve's barking; Ultra conservatives and ultra liberals being alike

Why can't we all get along. Were is the common ground between ultra conservatives and the few remaining ultra liberals. I don't count obstructionist such as those in the tea party as conservatives. I consider most of them as space cadets.
Anyway were was I.
Oh that's right I was comparing the ultra conservatives with the ultra liberals. OK , lets start off that both these groups are arrogant. Both groups think the other is stupid. They both like to make fun of each other. Both groups can't take a joke when it's on them.They both like to preach to the choir and think that's getting their message across.
 They both have their own television networks. The conservative network hires a few liberals and the liberal network hires a few conservatives. These people are hired as foils just as the World Wrestling Association has bad guys, these network need people who are foils to add a little spice to their narratives.

Steve's barking; It's the midus touch

The more one watches business news on the boob tube one gets the impression that there are so many  people in America that have the midus touch.  Every thing that they touch turns to gold. There is even a suggestion that a company isn't worth a dam unless it's profits this quarter aren't greater then they were last year at this time.
Now I'm going to look into my crystal ball and proclaim that all those who think they have the midus touch and every thing they touch turns into gold are in great trouble, for the gold that they think they are creating is really fools gold. Unless there is greater income for all, most if not all companies in America and the world are in trouble.
Simple economics will tell you that if there isn't enough people with enough money to buy products and even the bare necessities, businesses collapse even if that business is a farm that  can't sell it's produce, it's not going to be around for too long.
Now I'm thinking that if there are fewer products to buy, what's the use of having all that gold (money) if  there's nothing to buy. Kind of like that fabled king of old called Midus.
Now this blog may not make any sense to everybody but it's a warning of  the possibility of a depression that isn't  with the collapse of the banking system.

Steve's barking; Olympics good for Brazil?

A large portion of the Brazilian population is against the Olympics being staged in Brazil. The argument being that the resources that the Brazilian government is using for the hosting the Olympics and the World Cup should be used to fight poverty. In fact there have been fierce* demonstrations against the holding of the Olympics and the World Cup in Brazil. (This in a country that adores (football) soccer to the point that it's a national obsession).
Now many an economist will say that hosting these sporting events are not justified, even taking in a nations pride that goes with them. Even the ones that make money they will tell you aren't worth the effort, for only the few get benefits from them.

In Rio de janeiro they are clearing the slums, and it is not pretty. To host the Olympic games a clean up of the water ways has to take place. Housing for the Athletes have to be built that will be used after the Olympics. Transportation has to be improved for the games.
Now one has to ask one self, are the clearing of the slums, cleaning the water ways, building new housing, improving transportation important for Rio? If yes and like me  you think that there isn't a will to do these things unless there is something like an Olympics. Then Rio having the Olympics is a good thing.

*Riots

Steve's barking infrastructure is just too, too, too

The infrastuctucture of the US is in terrible shape. Why don't we do something about it?
Were just too, too, too.
We're too lazy.
We're too cheap.
We're too dumb.

Steve's barking economic bend don't break

Cable is demanding more money from it's customers. Channel providers are demanding more money from the cable companies
The rent is going up.
If you buy a house, mortgages are going up.
Food prices are on the rise.
Communication providers prices are on the rise.
Transportation cost keep going up.
What about insurance, that too is going up.
Even the water bill is going through the roof.
Debt, (especially student is in the stratosphere)
Salaries for the average Joe are stagnated or even lower.

• The economy can not bend much more, it's on the verge of breaking.

Steve's barking at rubber band economics

Just prior to my middle age spread, a long time ago there used to be a thing said in whispers called rubber band economics. Now those who have no idea what rubber band economics was, let me try to explain.
During the 50s and early 60s the economy would expand and then if being held by a rubber band it would contract ( We'd call it a recession). Then it would expand again, but we had gotten a bigger rubber band and the economy would expand a little bit more and not contract as much. This gave rise to the idea maybe it would be a good idea that we should get a humongous rubber band, this gave way to the economy going all over the place. Those supposedly quite bright thought it would be a good idea to eliminate the rubber band all together.

Just think, in the 40's, 50's and early 60's we had steady and slow growth with minor contractions.
One might say this was the height of Keynesian  economics, though as I recall, it's not totally what Keynes had written.
This was also the height of regulation.
This was also the time that the economy ran at it's best.

Steve's Barking: at what the founding fathers of America said about slavery

What Our founding fathers said about slavery (George Mason University)

• "The augmentation of slaves weakens the states; and such a trade is diabolical in itself, and disgraceful to mankind."
  -- George Mason

• "It were doubtless to be wished, that the power of prohibiting the importation of slaves had not been postponed until the year 1808, or rather that it had been suffered to have immediate operation. But it is not difficult to account, either for this restriction on the general government, or for the manner in which the whole clause is expressed. It ought to be considered as a great point gained in favor of humanity, that a period of twenty years may terminate forever, within these States, a traffic which has so long and so loudly upbraided the barbarism of modern policy; that within that period, it will receive a considerable discouragement from the federal government, and may be totally abolished, by a concurrence of the few States which continue the unnatural traffic, in the prohibitory example which has been given by so great a majority of the Union. Happy would it be for the unfortunate Africans, if an equal prospect lay before them of being redeemed from the oppressions of their European brethren!"
  -- James Madison, Federalist Paper No. 42

• "Bigotry is the disease of ignorance, or morbid minds; enthusiasm of the free and buoyant. Education and free discussion are the antidotes of both."
  -- Thomas Jefferson, Thomas Jefferson Papers, Library of Congress, Manuscript Division, 1816

• "I believe a time will come when an opportunity will be offered to abolish this lamentable evil."
  -- Patrick Henry, letter to Robert Pleasants, January 18, 1773

• "Nothing is more certainly written in the book of fate than that these people are to be free."
  -- Thomas Jefferson, Autobiography, 1821

• "[The Convention] thought it wrong to admit in the Constitution the idea that there could be property in men."
  -- James Madison, Records of the Convention, August 25, 1787

• "There is not a man living who wishes more sincerely than I do, to see a plan adopted for the abolition of it."
  -- George Washington, letter to Robert Morris, April 12, 1786

• "We have seen the mere distinction of color made in the most enlightened period of time, a ground of the most oppressive dominion ever exercised by man over man."
  -- James Madison, speech at the Constitutional Convention, June 6, 1787

• "Every measure of prudence, therefore, ought to be assumed for the eventual total extirpation of slavery from the United States ... I have, throughout my whole life, held the practice of slavery in ... abhorrence."
  -- John Adams, letter to Robert Evans, June 8, 1819

• "It is much to be wished that slavery may be abolished. The honour of the States, as well as justice and humanity, in my opinion, loudly call upon them to emancipate these unhappy people. To contend for our own liberty, and to deny that blessing to others, involves an inconsistency not to be excused."
  --John Jay, letter to R. Lushington, March 15, 1786

• Another of my wishes is to depend as little as possible on the labour of slaves.
  -- James Madison, Letter to R. H. Lee, July 17, 1785 (Madison, 1865, I, page 161)

• [W]e must deny the fact, that slaves are considered merely as property, and in no respect whatever as persons. The true state of the case is, that they partake of both these qualities: being considered by our laws, in some respects, as persons, and in other respects as property. In being compelled to labor, not for himself, but for a master; in being vendible by one master to another master; and in being subject at all times to be restrained in his liberty and chastised in his body, by the capricious will of another, the slave may appear to be degraded from the human rank, and classed with those irrational animals which fall under the legal denomination of property. In being protected, on the other hand, in his life and in his limbs, against the violence of all others, even the master of his labor and his liberty; and in being punishable himself for all violence committed against others, the slave is no less evidently regarded by the law as a member of the society, not as a part of the irrational creation; as a moral person, not as a mere article of property.
  -- James Madison, Federalist, no. 54

• American citizens are instrumental in carrying on a traffic in enslaved Africans, equally in violation of the laws of humanity and in defiance of those of their own country. The same just and benevolent motives which produced interdiction in force against this criminal conduct will doubtless be felt by Congress in devising further means of suppressing the evil.
  -- James Madison, State of the Union,1810

• It is due to justice; due to humanity; due to truth; due to the sympathies of our nature; in fine, to our character as a people, both abroad and at home, that they should be considered, as much as possible, in the light of human beings, and not as mere property. As such, they are acted on by our laws, and have an interest in our laws. They may be considered as making a part, though a degraded part, of the families to which they belong.
  -- James Madison, Speech in the Virginia State Convention of 1829-30, on the Question of the Ratio of Representation in the two Branches of the Legislature, December 2, 1829.

• Outlets for the freed blacks are alone wanted for the erasure of the blot from our Republican character.
  -- James Madison, Letter to General La Fayette, February 1, 1830.

• [I]f slavery, as a national evil, is to be abolished, and it be just that it be done at the national expense, the amount of the expense is not a paramount consideration.
  -- James Madison, Letter to Robert J. Evans

• In contemplating the pecuniary resources needed for the removal of such a number to so great a distance [freed slaves to Africa], my thoughts and hopes have long been turned to the rich fund presented in the western lands of the nation . . ."
  -- James Madison, Letter to R. R. Gurley, December 28, 1831.

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Last Updated | June 27, 2002

James Madison, Thomas Jefferson, George Mason were slave holders who never free their slaves

What can we learn from this?

Don't trust what they said about anything? They really were in favor of gun control?

Money controls what we do over conscience?

They Truly were afraid of the people? Kind of like the poser politicians now who must show that they own guns.

What does it say about the American constitution and the second amendment?

* One may ask what some of the founding fathers said about slavery have to do with the second amendment to the Constitution, one only has to ask one self if they behaved the opposite way about slavery you would have to question what they truly meant when writing the second amendment to the Constitution.

** Perhaps Michelle Bachman was right, our founding father's conscience work tirelessly against slavery, unfortunately their conscience lost.

Steve's barking, equal pay for women.

I'm all for equal pay for anybody who does the same job, spent the same amount of  time on the job, same schooling, ext.
I'm not sure were the statistics that a women only get 75 or 83% (depending on who's saying it) make what a man makes come from.
What do they mean by that? I have to assume that they mean for the same, same education, same time on the job?
Question would HP pay a man more then it pays it CEO? The same is true for Yahoo and Xerox? And how do you prove it?
Does Mount Sinai Medical Hospital pay it's interns by gender?
What about Neurosurgeons, or any other specialty, do hospitals pay those specialty doctors what they believe the dollars they can bring in to the hospital or do they have gender bias and how can you prove it?
When companies recruit on collage campuses do the they offer women less then they offer men? What is the proof one way or an other?
 Do women accountants make less then men accounts in Ernst and Young? Has anybody seen their payroll records?
What about Universities? Do women history professors make less then men at the same Universities? Proof one way or the other? While I'm at it, do colleges pay more for notoriety?( Notoriety is probably the wrong word).
 Should Britteney Giner make more then Andrew Bynuim ,after all she more valluable to her team?

I used Britteney Giner because she is better a basketball this year then Andrew Bynnuim, but because of the league that she plays in their is no way she could be payed the same as Andrew Bynuim.

When I was working in a civil service job the women next to me might not be making as much as me for I had seven years at that tittle, after she reached the seven years she made the same as me. Equal pay for equal work, no? Is it fair in that instance ? I'll let the readers of this blog decide.

The poof, if forth from comparing apples with apples might bite those who are making gender bias a big deal in the butt..
I wouldn't compare Granny Smith, McIntosh, once sweet, the other is tart.

Steve's barking Austerity works (NOT) in Greece

 On Thursday the Greek Government is going into the bond market for the first time in several years.
The yield of these bonds is to be six percent. These is an extremely low yield as compared to the yield that the Greek government paid the last time they issued bonds. The report is that there are more buyers of the bonds then they could possibly sell.
 Greece is going through a terrible Austerity program.
Does this mean that Austerity works?
Does it mean the the men and women of Greece are Screwed?
Does this mean that there are a lot of high rollers out there who need to gamble just to get a decent return on investments after all German bonds are reported under 1%. American bonds, forget about it.

Steve's barking; Why don't Americans want choice?

We Americans demand choices in our life, in every thing we do. This is what I keep reading in periodicals.
If that was the case why are so many of us dead set against the Affordable Health Care Act.?
Most of those who have health care from there job say they're happy with what they got. It seems to me that they are afraid of choice. There are fear mongers among us who are trying limit what insurance we can get for our health care.

Steve's barking;I don't speak American English, so what

I don't speak American English, I speak Bronx English with that heavy Bronx accent. It's so heavy that my I phone can't understand me . I asked Siri to spell function and it said that isn't very nice, and then gave me the spelling of a sexual activity followed by it. So I don't speak very good English, just like those guy in Louisiana who have that Creole accent that no one can understand. What does this all mean? Not a damn thing except to say that I have sympathy for those immigrants who come from another country and have a hard time being understood.

What's with all those students who study Spanish (or some other language) for three years in high school and can only understand yes (Si' in Spanish) and perhaps know the correct pronunciation of a food (Tacos for those who took Spanish)? Is that a failure of the American education system? Huh, is it?

Steve's Barking, Bad schooling, a New York thing.

A charter school lobby group payed three and a half million in adds so that charter schools shouldn't have to pay rent. If that group had put that money up for rent they probably would have paid the rent for all the charter schools next year.
Charter schools' in the city on the whole do no better then public schools in comprehensive testing even though there is one charter group of schools that do the best in the State, so you can imagine what most charter schools do.
In Albany several weeks back there was a rally for charter schools, were three thousand people were in attendance, what isn't well known about this rally that several groups that were in attendance like The Civil Service Employees Association came to Albany to lobby their legislators, but when they got off their buses they were handed tee shirts that said save our charter schools. Many of these people were led to to the rally before they went lobbing making the rally larger then it should have been.
I have yet to see a study on what happens to charter school students when they go into the real world of college and work, unless this study is done one has knowledge if charter schools are effective or not.,
Many of the New York City public schools lack laboratories. We Lack the math teachers who can teach the subject. Science teachers we have to import from other countries, and many of our students have a hard time understanding them.

Steve's barking; good news for Democrats, the're down in the poles

Good news for Democrats, they're down in the poles.
The poles are saying that it looks like the Republicans will keep the house by a larger margin then they have now and there is a good chance that they will take the house. Now how the **** is that good news for the Democrats?
It the end of March and being down in the poles states that you have lots of work to do.
That why you have poles, to show you were you are and how to change your fortunes.
Six months ago things were looking up for the Dem's, then some unforeseen events happened.
Like the Affordable Care Act perception is a disaster. The perception that the IRS is targeting it's enemies. The belief that the NSA is spying on all Americans.
It's time for the Democratic party to end it's arrogance and do some work.
Identify its' weaknesses and it's strength. Try to make the Republicans to make mistakes.

No bodies going to ask me, but if I was to advise the Democrats I would go after the Republicans trying to destroy Social Security and Medicare.
I would go on every college campus telling the students to vote Democratic or if the Republican win their interest rates on their student loan interest will go up because that what the Republicans want.
Scare the Sh*t out women who want contraception by going to women's clinics to get out the vote.
Get out the vote at unemployment offices, that should be easy enough.
Give the Republicans a some self fulfilling prophecy.

Steve's barking at those darn conserative job killers

The conservatives in Congress cut food stamps.
Walmart and big Grocery chains aren't making the same money that they used too.
If there is a down turn in profits you don't need as many workers.
If you don't need as many workers, you lay off workers.
If you lay off workers your a job killer.
Conservatives in Congress, don't be job killers, restore the food stamp cuts.

Steve's barking; I commented on blogs, therefore I must be crazy

Several weeks ago I came across a blog by the Heritage foundation.
The blog stated that the United States was in 12(?) place in there survey of counties economic freedoms.
In first place was Singapore, a country run by a communist country, and in third and fourth place was Finland and Denmark, two well known socialist countries.
After looking at the survey I decided to write in the comment section. I pointed out that three of the top four nations were either run by a communist nation or were in themselves considered to be socialist nations.
People never write in the comment section. As I decided that the next thing to do on my tablet was to play Candy Crunch my game kept being interrupted by John S and Peabody Dog who also wrote in the comment section of the blog. They two people seemed to ranting at each other. The first one complained that the survey couldn't be any good because conservatives didn't know how to conduct a survey. The second guy called the first guy a moronic liberal. The first one then wrote in the comments column that Peabody was a know nothing fascist pig. This went on for about 20 comments. I got no feedback at my comment.
Yesterday I came across a blog from Think Progressive.
The blog was about raising the minimum wage to $10.10 a hour. And how beneficial it would be
The blog had a video expelling that it's  a win, win situation. It would bring the recipient out of poverty, there by making the recipient ineligible for food stamps saving the government money and that the four thousand dollars extra would be spent with that money going into the economy. They used an example of a family of three with one bread winner.
Bad example, that family would lose over three hundred dollars a month in food stamps and the four thousand dollars would be taxed at over 8% for FICA for a zero sum gain to the family.
Stupid me, I pointed this out in the comment section.
After I wrote this comment I read some more blogs and went out for a walk.
I came back, opened my tablet and my Google Plus had several numbers next to it.
Opening up my Google Plus I found that several (Two) people I'll call Job Killer and YFI were ranting at each other. One complained that he hadn't got a reply in six minutes, and I thought he was writing to me.
I thought damn, don't this people have lives? But after looking the rest of the comments I think he was ranting at Job Killer.
After looking at these comments I decided to play with my old friend Angry Bird but I kept getting pings that Job Killer and YFI kept commenting on the same blog that I commented on.
The moral of this blog is don't put anything in the comment box of blogs except this one.
My few readers don't comment.
 

Steve's barking for Crimea out loud Gas and oil vs electricity

Talk is what would happen if Russia would to cut gas and oil to the West because of the sanctions the West put on the Russians. My question is what would the Russians do if the Ukrainians would reduce the electricity to Crimea after it left Ukraine to joining Russia.
Krushchev gave Crimea to the Ukraine because the Ukraine had the power dams for the electricity. (My understanding that is what Krushchev grand son claims).
Will there be a war over electricity? (There has been a build up of Russian troops on the border between Russian and Ukraine).
Another question will the Tartars turn to terriorism?
The Russian people are happy today, will they be happy in the future?

Steve's barking at the face of businesses

Who are the faces that the customer sees.
If you go to a bank, the bank is represent by the teller or the loan officer, not the president or the CEO of the bank.
Go to McDonald's, and you see the cashier and the cooks, they are the face of McDonald's, does anybody expert those interested in finance even know the name of the executives of any of the fast foods.
The face of cars are the salesmen and the face of department stores are the associates again not the CEO.
If any of these people give the customers a bad time, business is bound to suffer.
My advise try anyone running a business try to make your employee feel pride in the business and that the business has pride in them.

What some businesses fell to realize that their employees are  (potential) customers and (potential) great or terrible advertising.

Steve's barking off shore tax reform

For all those companies that are baste off shore, what ever is sold in the US declare 20 % profit and tax the corporation on that.
Everybody talks about tax reform but nobody does a thing about it.

Steve's barking what is middle class pay

Every body talks about the middle class as some kind of income statement, yet nobody defines what middle class pay is.
Does it start at 35,000 dollars a year, or maybe it's 50,0000 dollars?
What is the top of middle class pay 100,000 dollars, or perhaps it's 250,000 dollars?
What we have here is a failure to communicate (define) what middle class pay really is.

Steve's barking there are more people working this month then last month------so what

More jobs were created in the private sector this month and then again more jobs were created last month.
Is everybody happy? Not the person who just got a job for 20 hours and needs to work full time to pay the rent. Not the person who just got another job to go with the two other jobs that they have to feed the kids.
Not the person who just got a full time job and still needs food stamps.
Oh but those labor statistic people are, look more jobs have been created.
Maybe some of those people who believe that all able body people must work and not depend on government charity (God fearing people all).
It all comes down to new job creation don't mean a thing if ain't got the swing to be able to live off the wages from the job.

We may be living in that Peter Pan statistical world Never, Never Land. (Huh).

Steve's barking, there is only one way to create jobs.

There is only one way to create jobs, that's by hiring people.
If your town or city needs teachers you hire teachers. If your area needs to repair it's roads, bridges and the like you hire people. Giving tax breaks doesn't guaranty anything except more money into circulation.
Maybe that money will be used for spending, and possibly create jobs for it's possibly that the extra money would create a demand that will be only for filled with more workers. It's also possible that putting more money into circulation would only result in inflation with no job creation what's so ever.

Steve's barking at poker with Putin

I won't want to play poker with the great Russian leader  poker player Putin.
How do I know that he is  a great poker player. Just look at the Ukraine.
First he knew how to put his own dealer in. Then he knows how to protect the dealer, so when there are other games, his other dealers aren't afraid of being caught. He can read others to know when they have the a greater hand then he. He knows how to appease his backers, for one mistake his money men could lose their shirts, and they will not be happy with that. No matter how good a poker player you are in big stake games, so you need big stake backers.

During the cold war the US would lose battle after battle that our presidents constantly were criticized, but in the end the world won the war and our leaders didn't look so incompetent after all.

Steve's barking the best health care in the world (?) stinks

I keep hearing on the boob tube that the United States has the best health care in the world.
I'm not going to debate this question but I'm going to say flat out the US health care system stinks.
(1) A health care system can't be any good when one third of all states budgets are used for health care.
(2) A health care system can't be any good  if it adds an expense on to industry. This was true even before the affordable healthcare act.
 (3) A health care system can't be any good when it losing hospital beds. What happens if there is a terrorist attack or a pandemic.
(4) A health care system can't be any good when there are more doctors retiring then are coming into the system even as the population grows. There isn't enough money for teaching hospitals.
(5) A health care system isn't very good if it held hostage by politicians, even if some of those politicians are doctors.

Steve 's barking taking the fifth with the IRS

I've read on the net there are many people who believe that former IRS official Lois Lerner should be jailed because she took her constitutional right of invoking the right not to answer questions because she might say something that would incriminate her.
Her lawyer told her to keep your mouth shut. (there's a possibility that you many say something that may contradict yourself, sending you to jail ( my thoughts) . Oh MS. Learner has something to hide, she took the fifth these people are saying. That being the case................................................................
What does these political groups have to hide, that they complain about the IRS is actually doing their job, trying to find out if they should be given tax exempt status with out giving out the names of their donors. What are they trying to hide. Let's send the leaders of  those groups to jail.
If MS. Learner should go to jail, so should the leaders of those groups who don't want to talk to the IRS. Fair is fair.
Political hypocrisy.