Why does the U.S. have the biggest percentage of our population in prison?  When I first heard this it somewhat surprised me. I thought surely those countries led by dictators would be higher.  Given the reputation of the Gulags in Russia why are they not higher than us? I did a little digging and it seems the answer is really not clear. But there seems to be at least a few pointers that might be part of the cause: Drug Offenses Incarceration for drug offenses has increased 12-fold from 40,000 in 1981 to nearly 500,000 by 2010, accounting for two-thirds … Continue reading The Highest Incarceration Rate… Part 2

But always remember this, that as bad as we sometimes think our government is run, it’s the best run one I ever saw.” – Will Rogers, 18 December 1932  Sometimes the ever-present trollers who come across my blog have to scream and rant for me to just get out of the country if I hate it so much. To them if anyone has any criticism of the “Good Old USA” then somehow they are traitors to the country. But their rants often have the opposite effect on me.  They tell me that I got their attention with what I was … Continue reading The Best I Ever Saw….

We in the United States have the largest percentage of our population under lock and key than any other nation on earth. Why is that. That will be the topic of the next two posts.  This time we will look at it from a time standpoint and a geographical perspective. The next post will look at the make up of the prison population to see why they are there. Let me start off this post by letting you know that I have never used any kind of illegal drugs. I did go to college in the 1960s but only smelled … Continue reading The Highest Incarceration Rate…

  Source: Rand Paul’s 13 Hour Filibuster – The Talking Kind – Against John Brennan – ABC News. “I rise today to begin to filibuster John Brennan’s nomination for the CIA, Paul said at about 11:47 a.m. ET. “I will speak until I can no longer speak. I will speak as long as it takes, until the alarm is sounded from coast to coast that our Constitution is important, that your rights to trial by jury are precious, that no American should be killed by a drone on American soil without first being charged with a crime, without first being found … Continue reading Rand Paul’s 13 Hour Filibuster….

I may no longer be an official techie (or whatever the latest term is). I haven’t bought a new “latest thing” in about 18 months. That is an eternity in the tech world!  I don’t know what has happened to me. I used to keep up on all the latest trends and often splurged for some of them. Maybe I have just finally found the stuff that makes me happy. Now that I am fully in the Apple camp (MacBook, iPad, iPhone) and now have a couple of versions of Kindle I have finally reached my tipping point of needing … Continue reading I Think I Am Losing My Technology Edge…..

How did we get into the problem of insane pay for U.S. corporation leaders? The problem basically originated from the title above. Every board of directors wants to pat themselves on the back for selecting that exception person who will lead their company to outperform all the others.  They need to do that so that they can somehow rationalize their board being paid thousands of dollars per hour for their time. So the statement is made: Our CEO is exceptional so we must guarantee him a paycheck in the top 20% of all CEOs. On the surface this is a … Continue reading Our CEO Is Exceptional So…..

Here is a quick question for you. How did Central and South America get the name “Latin America”?? This popped off the top of my head while watching the news recently.  At first thought I came up with Latin was the language of the Roman Empire which was based in Italy. But I don’t remember any country in South America being founded by Italy. Here is what Wikipedia says about the origin of the term “Latin America”: In a more literal definition, which remains faithful to the original usage, Latin America designates all of those countries and territories in the … Continue reading Latin America…..

1934 – Boys Town, Omaha Neb.   I chose a slice of this picture for the header but wanted you to see the whole thing. I took this re-snap about a year ago when we visited there. Continue reading Boy’s Town

  I pride myself on being a critical thinker. I just naturally don’t go along with the latest trends simply because many others do. Critical thinking is at the very foundation of my life. Mob mentality  which is the opposite of critical thinking is to me an absurd and idiotic condition. But what is critical thinking? Critical thinking can only be possible when one opens his mind to the possibility that current beliefs may be only partially true or may even be false. Here is some of what Wikipedia says critical thinking means: Critical thinking clarifies goals, examines assumptions, discerns … Continue reading Critical Thinking…..

  Source: How to Survive China’s Pollution Problem: Masks and Bubbles | Design Decoded. Last January, air pollution reached new levels of toxicity in China. Just how bad did things get? According to the Chinese Air Quality Index (AQI), measurements of particulate matter in the air reached more than 1,000 micrograms per cubic meter the northeastern part of country. That probably doesn’t mean anything to you without context though, so here it is: anything above 300 is considered “hazardous” and citizens are warned that they “may experience more serious health effects.” For even more context, consider that the U.S. AQI only … Continue reading How to Survive China’s Pollution Problem: Masks and Bubbles

I enjoy making predictions. Don’t we all. And since I am probably no worse at it than any of the so-called expert, here I go again. I predict that within the next twenty years the true power brokers will be the temp employment agencies and their eventual workers unions. I know, as usual I am way out in left field with this prediction but again as usual hear me out before you change channels so to speak.. Most businesses now rely on employment agencies for their workforce. Corporations are no longer  willing to provide any perks except to upper management. … Continue reading Power To The People….

  Source: Fiscal nightmare looms at ‘bloated’ Pentagon – NBC Politics. Just two weeks ago, the GAO kept the Pentagon on its annual “High Risk List” of departments whose books are so mysterious and opaque that they’re at high risk of fraud, waste and mismanagement…. He (retired Army Gen. David Barno) said the Pentagon’s method of operating is comparable to driving a 1985 Oldsmobile which is leaking oil, “and every time we go out on the highway at 65 miles an hour, we come back after another day, there’s more and more oil on the floor of our garage in the … Continue reading At The Top Of The High Risk List….

“Government is not a solution to our problem, government is the problem.”  – Ronald Reagan Sometimes when we look back at history we wonder how did we get to where we are.  We often have trouble pinpointing a particular person or date to where it all began. On January 20, 1981 when Ronald Reagan uttered the words above  he ushered in a new breed of Republicans. These particular words were the turning point to gridlock and jumping from crisis to crisis that we see today.  It is also the specific moment that I turned away from the Republican party to look elsewhere. No longer … Continue reading The Turning Point…..

June 1997 –  Longwood Gardens —   Longwood Gardens is nestled in the heart of the Brandywine Valley in Kennett Square, PA. This was a DuPont estate. The gardens are among the best we have seen in the U.S. Continue reading Longwood Gardens….

Source Blog:  Twenty-something « Cristian Mihai. I believe that young, inexperienced writers set out to write the words they think the world desires to read. The words the world needs. When they gain a bit of experience, they set out to write the words they desire to read. And that’s a pretty big difference. I’m not sure this applies to me now, but when I was younger, I wanted to use all my ideas and characters and put them into a single story. I thought that’s how masterpieces are made. With experience you realize how precious ideas are. You store … Continue reading Looking At The Front End…

I hope we never live to see the day when a thing is as bad as some of our newspapers make it. – 19 July 1934  — Will Rogers In Will’s day newspapers were pretty much the only place to get a glimpse of the daily news. Except for a few monthlies, magazines had not come into common use. Of course the Internet and cable news networks were fifty or more years in the future. Will Rogers had two very famous quotes in his day “I never met a man I didn’t like” and “All I know is what I … Continue reading As Our Newspapers Make It…

  If I was a President and wanted something I would claim I didn’t want it. For Congress has not given any President anything he wanted in the last 10 years. Be against anything and then he is sure to get it. – 5 May 1923  — Will Rogers I can’t understand why each president seems to have to learn this lesson on their own. But, I think President Obama finally gets it.  If he wants something to happen the best thing he can do is to remain quiet about it. Mr. Boehner is constantly harping that the president is … Continue reading Being Against…

I HAVE come to a resolution myself, as I hope every good citizen will, never again to purchase any article of foreign manufacture which can be had of American make, be the difference of price what it may.  —  Jefferson, Thomas  Who would have thought that the “Buy American” theme started so many years ago with Thomas Jefferson.  If only we had learned this lesson from him. Continue reading Buy American

  The abundant life does not come to those who have had a lot of obstacles removed from their path by others. It develops from within and is rooted in strong mental and moral fiber.  — William Mather Lewis All of us want to have an abundant life. That is we want our life to be full and meaningful. We want to make at least a slight difference because we were here. I believe that the quote above is at the root of making that possible.  Although I am not a parent I’m sure that all parents out there want … Continue reading Removing Obstacles…..