Border Fence

In the middle of the Rio Grande

I favor much more secure borders surrounding our country. 

I like the idea of constructing more physical barriers that do their intended jobs when the authorities are not present. 

Building great walls (fences) physical and technological, I think is a worthy idea and a great public works project and a massive employment program.

Placing more trained and equipped enforcement personnel in strategic locations of likely encroachment with the tools, training and authority to stop illegal entry and facilitate the start of the legal immigration process.

As much as I would like to see great monumental barriers erected for border security, and it certainly can be accomplished easily by our great nation, there are a few vexing dilemma. 

Let’s look at the land border between the great state of Texas and the great nation of Mexico.  It is defined mostly by the Rio Grande River channel and the center of its lakes, about 683 miles from El Paso to the Gulf of Mexico east of Matamoros, Mexico.  Let’s ignore the water route via the Gulf, it is quite complex and expensive to build and maintain a physical fence at sea, but it is possible.  The sky is another matter for later.

Even the most exclusionary fences and walls can be breeched; over, under or through, so don’t be naïve, structure alone does not exclude intruders, they do deter many; people, weapons and technology are always necessary to prevent access by ground.

Another simple but vexing problem is where to physically construct the fence.  The actual boundary is in the middle of the river water, or river channel with occasional water, or through the approximate center of lakes.  Like the sea, rivers and lakes pose construction and maintenance difficulties.  The choice quickly becomes their side of the river or our side?

Their side would require an elaborate treaty agreement for placement and maintenance that would have to be done by the US.  Mexico is not likely to agree.

Placement on our side would require giving up access to some popular places for recreation, commerce and natural resource extraction.

Both choices could eliminate natural wildlife migration, although few larger species that migrate across the river.   

I think the only sensible choice is to give up the whole river channel to Mexico in many places and fence to the middle of the river and lakes in other places with various physical devices that prevent passage on, in or below water; and use abundant human enforcement personnel and sophisticated surveillance and interdiction technology where river, lake or land barriers are too complicated.     

Turning briefly to the Gulf Coast and inland waterways; surveillance, enforcement and interdiction technology and trained and equipped personnel patrolling from land, sea and air, and human intelligence on the ground in the US and Mexico will always be necessary.

The sky’s are another matter; much more technology and human surveillance and patrol are necessary, many low level and low speed manned and unmanned flight devices are succeeding day or night at many places along the Rio Grande boundary, over water in the Gulf, and over remote lands in West Texas.

I’m sure the Northern land and water boundaries have similar problems, but I’m not as familiar with them.  It was mentioned on TV news today that unmanned drones have been used in conjunction with ground forces effectively up north.  I believe too few physical barriers are in place there as well.

Our nation’s long coastline and immense inter-coastal waterways are a gigantic problem.  Barriers that exclude intruders also restrict citizen access to waterways, fishing, beaches, boating, and nature recreation.  Increases in human enforcement and technology, with some added physical barriers in selected, remote, low or no use locations, and much more patrolling are urgently need. 

Millions of short term jobs could be created constructing barriers and installing technology.  Hundreds of thousands of jobs training and patrolling the land, water and air at and over our borders could be supported in the long term.

First job, keep them out.  Next job, find the ones already here.  Next, get them out or get them started on citizenship. 

Just like effective barriers, deportation of 20 million illegal immigrants can be done. 

How long we’ve tolerated our mistakes doesn’t matter.  If they cannot become citizens, start shipping them to their homeland tomorrow.

If they have children born here, allow the child to stay with other citizens, or accompany their parents out of the country until they are adults.

All of these things can and should be done.  All that is needed is the will to begin.    

Occupiers

Want All Debt Forgiven

How greedy and selfish can you get?  Their personal interest, thinly shrouded in “forgive everyone’s debt” is the height of hypocrisy.  Everyone?  Really?  The guy who owns the park where they are denying its use to others; the bankrupt city that borrowed union pension funds and widows retirements; the banks, insurance companies, and vehicle manufacturers forced to borrow money from the taxpayers; the foundations, governments, hospitals, and nonprofits that need loaned money paid back to help people during times of disaster. 

Is that all the debt they want forgiven? 

Or, is it just the debt they agreed to and lack the honor, energy and commitment to pay back?

Is it the debts that governments owe us in benefits, the debts schools owe their teachers, the debts that children owe their parents, maybe it’s the debts citizens owe their veterans, police, hospitals, schools, parks, communities and country’s.

Is that the debts they want us to forget?  Or, do they just want to forget their debts?

They are so phony; if you forgave their credit card debt, their college loan, their car, apartment, furniture, utility bills, income taxes, medical and food bills, they would shut up and be gone by nightfall, not caring for one second about your debts or those of the ignorant, poor and starving peoples of the world; or for that matter, the sick, the elderly, or the injured desperately waiting for entitlement programs or philanthropic organizations.

Their personal interests are all that matters to them.  Just like the selfish greed they claim are the worst motives of businesses and the wealthy.

They are ignorant, selfish and inconsiderate, and yes, greedy.  I often wonder why they are not picketing lawyers, entertainers, athletes, or politicians, or others who take out much more than they have put in.  Instead they would rob widows who invested their savings so they could care for themselves in old age.

Grow up, learn a few things, get a job, go to work, honor your commitments, pay your bills, save some money, pay your taxes, contribute to worthy causes; then when have some extra money, loan it out.  When it’s too late for you, or you’re too tired or too sick to earn it back again.

Maybe you will feel like forgiving all that debt?

I doubt it.              

US Currency in Circulation

What is it Worth?

The Federal Reserve reports Money Stock Measures in an annual report.

M1 is constructed by summing currency, traveler's checks, demand deposits, and Other Checkable Deposits, each seasonally adjusted separately.

M1 seems to be about 2.006 trillion as of July 2011.¹

M2 is M1 plus deposits, transfers and potential demands (summarized for simplicity).  Seasonally adjusted M2 is constructed by summing savings deposits, small-denomination time deposits, and retail money funds, each seasonally adjusted separately, and adding this result to seasonally adjusted M1.1

M2 seems to be about 9.313 trillion as of July 2011.1

Size of the annual economy, GDP US estimated for 2010 was $14.5 trillion.2

Size of the current governments National Debt is $14.7 trillion,³ recent annual deficits are about $1.3 trillion, and total 2010 Federal tax revenue $2.162 trillion.⁴

The value of US currency is determined by the total dollars in circulations plus, deposits and other short term demands compared to the value of US goods services and the value of known physical resources, and an assessment of the unused portion of the value of the “full faith and credit of the United States”.

So, it should be a calculation of the net worth; assets including government owned lands, (not National parks or privately owned lands) minus liabilities of the USA compared to total currency available for circulation, so this might be the equation:


     US net worth in dollars

______________________ = Actual Value of Currency
   
    Face value of Currency
              (Available)

Liabilities ought to include future obligations like probable Social Security and Medicare shortfalls; clean up costs of environmental contamination caused by government activities like military ranges, radiation, and science research waste sites, and other future costs of undisclosed programs currently underway.

My estimate of other long term and unrecognized future liabilities promised by the government is $56 trillion.  My rough guess of the current value of all government lands and other assets is about 75 percent of that, or about $42 trillion.

Do we have more money out than we are worth?  Before this brief inquiry my uninformed opinion was we probable had more money printed than we are worth.

My slightly informed opinion is; we have way more money in circulation than all of the US governments resources minus all liabilities are worth.  The US net worth appears to be slightly negative, maybe minus - $.8 trillion.

Meaning I guess, our US dollar is worth around minus - 11 cents.  If that’s right, we owe $1.11 for each dollar.

If we cashed out, we would owe 11 percent more, that’s really sad.

Maybe we shouldn’t have any money in circulation.

Footnotes:

^1. Federal Reserve Board H.6 Release, Money Stock Measures, August 25, 2011

^2. http://www.usgovernmentspending.com

^3. http://www.usdebtclock.org/

^4. http://www.taxpolicycenter.org

Fix Social Security,

It’s Easy

I’m a Social Security Retirement Supplement recipient.  I paid in for 50 years.  I know from life experiences that spending more than you have, or can get, is a mistake.  Foolish promises were made originally, and silly decisions and practices have evolved since, that need correction.  Like any errant behavior, Social Security’s mistaken and exaggerated promises must now be fixed.  The good news is; it’s easy. 

Pay lower benefit amounts for retirement and lower disability benefits; begin reducing them a little each year starting tomorrow.

No Cost of Living Adjustment.  No "Means Testing".  If you paid in, you get a retirement supplemental payment; just a little lower and a little later than you expected.  No one should expect the government to keep its word, it never has before; ask the Indians or Black farmers.

If the pay out exceeds inflow, cut the benefit until it eventually doesn’t, but don’t you dare cut me because I planned for my retirement and have the means to sustain myself.  

You took my money for years.  I want what you promised me.

You forced me by conscription to pay in since I was 12 years old.  Don’t cheat me because I suspected you were lying about your ability to keep your promises.  I listened to your actuaries, apparently you did not.  I understood that the power of compound interest would be destroyed if you used the principal.  So did you, but you took the money for other government spending anyway.  You have never paid back that 22 billion or the lost interest, and I knew you never would. 

So, I planned ahead and saved enough so when you failed to keep your promises I could sustain myself, if you didn’t destroy the value of my savings by deliberate inflation.  So far I’ve guessed right, you have done it wrong at every opportunity.  Now, you are trying once again to destroy the value of my savings.  I will do everything in my power to defeat you.  And if you cut the benefits that I paid for in advance, because I thought ahead, “means testing” I will work until my last breath to defeat all of you.

Get it fixed, or get out of town.  The Gray Rebellion will come for you.

Global Climate Manipulation

A Ridiculous Idea

I’ve been a weather and temperature observer in the Mojave Desert for over fifty years.  I watched the attempts to predict both by the various weather and climate organizations.  They are unable predict rain or snow events with minimum accuracy, even in recent years.  They do little better at forecasting temperatures aside from fairly accurate highs and lows in areas where they have abundant modern instruments.  Where they have infrequent stations, like the inland west, their record is also poor, often bested by local farmers, ranchers and school children.

Their ability to forecast extreme weather events like hurricanes, tornados or heavy rains and flooding is very poor. 

Their ability to do anything about the weather is non-existent.  Understanding climate, on a regional scale is thin, if it exists.  Understanding climate on a global scale is non-existent. 

For the past twenty years one of my jobs for the Department of Defense was to analyze and report on hundreds of scientific studies of the atmospheric physics of low and mid level air contaminants, natural and manmade.  More than half of the studies were seriously flawed or just bad science.  More than half of the remaining ones were inconclusive.  Most of the remainder drew no meaningful conclusions about global temperature trends.  None attempted to understand the complexities of airborne moisture, or the mechanism for cloud formation or its complex impact of ground temperatures even regionally, let alone globally.  

These people, these meteorologists, these atmospheric physicists are who we would be counting on to attempt to manipulate temperatures worldwide.

Are these really the people you want mucking around with global climate at the direction of government employees, self appointed zealots, or elected non-scientists?  

Don’t get me wrong, the unnecessary contamination of our atmosphere is to be avoided.  But the human contributions to greenhouse gases by all human activity is very low, probably 6 to 12 percent, the rest occurs naturally.  If all humans ceased to exist, virtually no detectable changes in global temperatures would occur for centuries, other than those of cosmic solar and planetary cycles and natural planet processes.  Incidentally, it is still questionable if greenhouse gases contribute to warming, or if warming increases green house gas releases.

Do you really want anyone, let alone those mentioned above at the direction of our government or the world community, mucking around with features of our atmosphere or processes they don’t understand well enough yet to even include them in their predictive models and algorithms?  Their models don’t work well enough yet to re-predict the measured temperatures recorded by reliable instruments of the past. 

If they can’t model the past, I don’t want them changing anything without several more decades of actual scientific study.  I certainly don’t want global changes attempted based on data from one Siberian tree’s rings or atmospheric measurements that NASA has collected but are not authorized to release.

That’s not how science works.  There is very little science that is thought of as settled and even it is subject to constant verification.  If there was “settled science”, we probably would have never heard of Copernicus, Galileo, Newton, Einstein, Tesla, or many others now famous.  They all questioned well established thought, some paid high prices to later be proven more accurate. 

Global temperature change mechanisms and causes are not “settled science”; nor are they likely to be in the lifetime of anyone alive today.

Much less Charlatanism and hyperbole, and much more scientific study, are required.   

                

Starve This Beast

We’ll never shrink the beast by letting it gorge itself on our frail, weak carcasses.

The beast is our obese government.  Its grown fat consuming even borrowed money from strangers we may never be able to pay it back.  All programs and departments must be cut, some much more than others, but all none the less.

So far, no spending cuts have occurred, but they scream like an already stuck hog.  It needs to happen very soon. 

I mean actual cut backs from a previous year’s spending.  Not just a slow down in the rate of growth.  That’s what elected politicians call cuts.  They mean slight cuts in the assumed rate of spending growth.

I mean actual cut backs in the cost of government programs and actual shrinking of the role and size of  Federal government.

And, actual reductions in both the rate of individual taxation and the gross revenue available to the Federal government; and the elimination of business taxes which are just passed along to citizens in higher prices for goods and services.

We have tried to get them to control spending, but they clearly cannot.

We tried recently to limit their ability to borrow more money, they show little interest in paying back, but we failed. 

A few have proposed a Balanced Budget Amendment, but even if it ever passed it will simply allow tax and revenue increases and no actual spending cuts greater than the planned growth rate.

Fewer still have proposed a Spending Limit Amendment.  It could solve some of the problems, but it has no support even among elected fiscal conservatives in congress.

We must starve the beast until it looses its flab and much of its considerable girth.  Only if they cannot get their hands on our money, or the authority to borrow ridiculous sums from anyone; will this slovenly beast lose weight.  

We, the people, in order to preserve our more perfect union, must not fail to starve this beast.

Looting, Vandalism, Arson,

Mayhem, Assault, and Theft

These are not just expressions of civil unrest, or improper behavior to be scorned.  These rioters must not be coddled as some barometer of disappointment and unrest.

These are crimes; crimes against humanity. 

Businesses are not nameless faceless entities.  People created all of the things of their communities; businesses, buildings, stores, fixtures, and merchandise, are all human creations, as are the jobs of the people who work there. 

People, not nameless faceless moguls, invested their savings and effort in those businesses hoping they would succeed; hoping their family, friends and neighbors would work there or shop there for things they want or need.     

They did not work, save and buy property and facilities to become the human victims of criminals, thieves, ruffians and arsonists. 

The retired folks that depend upon pensions from their lifetime of work did nothing to deserve this treatment. 

The widow, whose husband poured his life and savings into a business to provide for his wife and children after his death, did nothing to deserve this criminal assault. 

The neighborhood family that needs work close to their home to provide food clothes, and medicine for their growing family doesn’t need their stores looted and burned down by morons.

The neighborhood children didn’t ask for the trauma and unrest of mayhem and assault, nor do they need to see crime tolerated or glamorized and going unpunished as a life example.

Those who commit crimes against property thinking they harm no one they know or will see, are foolishly and stupidly wrong; and they accomplish nothing useful or constructive, except drawing attention to their self induced idiocy and misery.

All crimes have human victims.  Property crimes are no exception; the human victims are just less well known by the criminal.

They could accomplish so much more by learning to write and speak about their poverty and ignorance eloquently.  And then maybe, they could get a meaningful job or make useful contributions to their community or our society.

We can only hope.

Robbing, burning, looting, beating, and maiming just destroy them and their innocent victims.

If they are too stupid or too ignorant to avoid wonton mindless destruction, then they should immediately and strenuously be dealt with as the heinous criminals and the scourges of humanity that they are.       

Not tolerated as poor, unfortunate, youth just misbehaving in public, acting out of anxiety, frustration and disadvantage because in their ignorance they know no better

Imprison them for their crimes.  They will either figure it out, or remain incarcerated, ignorant and poor until they do. 

Build more prisons, keep putting criminals in there until you have them all, and then guard them well. 

Leave them there to wallow in misery until it dawns on them that they are obligated to avoid criminality and expected to make constructive contributions to their families, neighbors and themselves.