Government Grants

Foster City, California recently renovated the Leo Ryan City Park using its own money and a state grant.

Foster City has many middle class and higher income citizens who can afford taxes to pay for their own park. According to the 2000 census, the per capita income of Foster City was $45,000 per year while the per capita income of Birmingham, Alabama was $16,000. Why must the State and Federal government forcefully take money from people in one area and give it to people in another area for local projects?

Think of the power someone in the Department of Homeland Security has if they are the Secretary of Grants and Training. Any director in charge of grants for any government department has enormous power.

In 2004 the U. S. Department of Education had a budget of over sixty billion dollars. From that budget the Department of Education "granted" over ten billion dollars. These grants can be used to reward friends of friends in high places. Despite all this plunder the voters in America continue to vote for candidates who increase the size and spending of the U. S. Government. Why is this so? It is because it is rare to find a candidate whose platform calls for the reduction in spending, departments, agencies, or regulations.

State and federal grants are used for many government programs from studying the mating habits of animals to building bridges to no where.

People in other states who do not make California wages are forced to send their tax dollars to Washington, D.C. where the powerful congress members and lobbyists decide who will get the booty. Of course people in Foster City have to pay for projects in other states. This slight of hand deceives the voters who think they are getting something from some other city.

Each city has the same scam going. The city councils tell the local citizens their parks and senior citizens programs are all paid by someone else. This slight of hand keeps the voters from rebelling against government spending.

Bilbo Baggins.

God and Moses

When Moses went up on the mountain and God told him to spread the word that there is only on loving and caring god, Moses was perplexed as how he would accomplish such a task. Moses realized he could only travel on foot or by donkey so he knew there was no way he could reach all the people in America, Asia, and the aborigines of Australia. Moses never figured out why God would pick only one man to do such an enormous task. It would be centuries before God would tell another man, Muhammad, to spread the word.

Before Moses and Muhammad could spread the word millions of people perished and were condemned to burn in Hell, forever because they had never heard of God. Why did God wait thousands of years to expose himself, and then only to two men? God says he is loving and merciful. His system of only telling two men to spread the word seems inadequate. Also the two prophets seem to have misinterpreted what God meant. I suggest God convene a committee to write a new operations manual on how people should live.

A friend said Islam is a religion that advocates violence so much that Muslims kill their own kind. My friend asked me to give an example of Christians killing other Christians. I told him about the centuries of war in Europe. I told him about the civil war in America where thousands of Christians killed each other as they prayed for their God to make them victorious and to smite their enemies. It is a good thing God did not answer all their prayers or the United States would have been destroyed.

The Koran, Torah, Bible, and the U.S. Constitution were all written by men. The first three tell others how to live. The last says one can live as they damn well please. The first three gives power to groups. The last one gives power to the individual.

Bilbo Baggins

Massachusetts "Forced" Health Insurance

April 2006

I saw a news article that said 55% of respondents approve of the Massachusetts "Mandatory" requirements for consumers to purchase something, health insurance. I will wager that not 1% of the respondents to the poll has read the legislation. Try reading it at this location;
House Act No. 4850 http://www.mass.gov/legis/bills/house/ht04/ht04850.htm

No Fault Auto Insurance States have higher insurance costs and more fraud than States that do not. http://www.consumerwatchdog.org/insurance/rp/ (click on Mar 29, 2005 report)
Wait and see how the cost of health insurance in MA increases! When the State forces consumers to buy something we know the item purchased will increase in price. Imagine if the State forced all consumers to sell something, a winter coat. The price of winter coats would decrease dramatically. assuming the supply was related. The government can demand you buy something, but the government cannot increase the supply of that product or service.

The young and healthy are forced to buy insurance when they might better use the money to buy a home. Their employer will have to buy health insurance so the employer will compensate by paying a smaller salary and hiring fewer employees.

More people insured means more medicine and more "Death by Medicine" at:
http://mercola.com/2003/nov/26/death_by_medicine.htm

The insurance companies love the State forcing people to buy insurance products. The insurance companies can now do away with their sales staff since every citizens of MA must buy health insurance. I suspect the book publishers would like it if the State forced people to buy books.

Primitive tribes had equality. No property rights. Everything was communism. Some primitive tribes did no want our civilization because we had inequality. Our greed drove advancement, but it created inequality. Now we yearn for an egalitarian society. There must be something in our genes that desires equality. If everyone is "forced" to buy health insurance we must think we are better off.

Maybe the reason no strong centralized government has been established in Iraq is the same reason the founders of America did not want a centralized government. Maybe the people of Iraq do not want a government that can force them to buy something they do not want.

Bilbo Baggins, Insured

Immigration Issues

Suppose I had a home with a large backyard with a lot line that borders Mexico. One day I am standing at the edge of my yard, one foot from the Mexican border, and Juan is standing in his country, Mexico, two feet from me. Juan tells me he will cut my yard grass for a fee. Juan has no visa or work permit from our Federal Government. Should I be allowed to have Juan cut my grass for a fee? Should two people be allowed to enter into a free and voluntary exchange of goods and services?

The immigration problem started decades ago when the U. S. Federal Government started providing goods and services for "free". The Federal Government, with the support of the medical and hospital industry, requires any hospital that has an emergency room to treat anyone who shows up for treatment. Free food, free education, free shelter,etc. Free stuff attracts people. Somehow we think it is O. K. for a person in this country to force you, through the ballot box, to give them something, but it is not O. K. for a poor Mexican to receive something of yours for free. Either way, when the "government" gives someone something of yours, they use force to take it from you.

Even though the federal government polices have all eventually resulted in failure and loss of freedom, we continue to ask more from the Federal Government. It is obvious that many people are controlling, but, why do so many people want to be controlled? We seem to treat the Federal Government the way a biased mother treats a son who has never held a steady job and is always in trouble with the law. The mother insists her son is a "good boy". We continue to insist a government that operates only by force and aggression is a good organization.

We are all manipulated at one time or another, by an individual, or an organization. When Bud L and I were flying those horrible DC-8 schedules of night cargo and charter in the 70s, I was going through a divorce. I showed Bud a book by Esther Vilar, The Manipulated Man, http://tinyurl.com/z2bp4 After reading the book Bud made an interesting comment which was, "What if I like being manipulated"? If one could see Bud's beautiful wife Carol, one would understand why Bud enjoys being manipulated by her! But why do so many people allow themselves to be manipulated by Kings, Imams, Popes, Rabbis, and con men?

Maybe we should invade Mexico and establish a real free market Republic that would create jobs and an economy that would keep the Mexicans at home. After all, the regime in Mexico has not provided for the poor and oppressed. This Mexican regime is a threat to our culture and national security. Any terrorists can land on the shores of Mexico with a dirty bomb and move it across our border. BOOM!

Six billion people can live in the state of Texas and each person would have over 1100 square feet of land. I can't wait until all the Mexicans move to the United States. When that happens I'm moving to Cabo San Lucas!

Muchas gracias.

Bilbo Baggins

A Hobbit Hole

My son liked the book, The Hobbit, and the character, Bilbo Baggins. Soon my son was describing my personality as that of Bilbo Baggins.

It is true I do not like to leave my "Hobbit Hole". It was not always so. I used to yearn for motion, travel, and excitement. My pursuit of pleasure fired my illusions and self love. Now my blog allows me to speak to the world from the comfort of my hobbit hole. The internet allows me to listen to the world. Why should I leave my hobbit hole to confront a world of noise and people who have lost their civility, to confront traffic and road rage? Life is more peaceful and serene than ever before in my three score and ten years. Socrates said, "To want nothing is divine." It is impossible to want nothing, but to be the master of our desires is the ultimate success.

At a social gathering people should be polite and civil. This requires compromise. It is too easy to become disagreeable in a group with different views. Man has a strong desire to be right. His desire is so strong he will kill those who disagree with him. When alone in my hobbit hole there is no conflict or disagreement. There is no one around whose desire to be right, and whose beliefs are a threat to me. To be sure, the threats exist, outside, in the complex world of myths, and from those who believe in ghosts and big foot, and those who lust for power.

I believe I have become like Lord Byron's, The Prisoner of Chillon. I think I have become psychologically chained, comfortably, to my hobbit hole. This probably happens to many people.

Captain Bilbo Baggins

Divorce Laws

When I see the tragic news story of a man who killed his wife or children you can be sure he is being threatened with losing everything of value to him in a divorce proceeding. Men are under an illusion that if they get married they will be the alpha leader of the family. Instead they find out the State is the alpha leader of the family. The man has no power. The State has the power. The man finally realizes by a divorce he will lose his pride, dignity, assets, and children. The husband's wife will have her boyfriend sleeping in the husband's bed and the boyfriend will be sitting at the husband's dining table telling the husband's children what to do. This humiliation and denigration of the husband too often leads to violence as the husband sees his illusions destroyed.

The divorce laws in this country need to be changed, but, I doubt it will happen. The new divorce laws should be based on a simple pre marriage contract. This contract should be like any ordinary business contract between one or more partners. The contract will help eliminate illusions and fraud. Many people enter marriage with expectations that are not spoken aloud and have unrealistic expectations. Writing these expectations in a contract would help avoid conflict. Many people refuse to write these pre marriage contracts because they are afraid their illusions will be destroyed, which will destroy their happiness.

When people enter into a contract voluntarily they give up some power in the hope of receiving an equal or greater power. If the power is given voluntarily then it can be taken back. This often creates conflict when one person takes back power that was voluntarily given away. Anger and revenge takes hold of the party who now has lost power. All relationships are about power, power to look after self interest.

For child custody in a divorce the State should write a law that says if both parents cannot agree on custody then they must have an alternate custodian, another family member or friend to take custody of the children until the parents can agree on custody. During this period both parents must pay child support to the non parent custodian. If the parents cannot find an alternate custodian then the State will put the children in a temporary home. While in the temporary home both parents will pay child support and will have unlimited visitation privileges. As soon as the parents can agree on custody arrangements they can put those arrangements into place.

One option for child support is to require each person, male and female, upon reaching the age of 18 to buy an annuity or insurance policy for any potential child support. Sterile persons would be exempt. Another option would require parents, on the birth of a child, to buy a child support insurance policy in case of divorce. Parents could opt to buy an annuity to provide for child support in case of divorce or disability. The annuity and interest would be returned to the owners upon retirement if not used for child support in case of divorce or death. For persons who never have children the annuity would be returned at age 65 in the form of a pension.

Most women today get child custody in a divorce. Even in marriage women make most decisions about the children. Most men are willing to have joint custody. Men realize children need both parents. Mothers believe otherwise. Mothers are controlling when it comes to children and mothers think their love and devotion is enough to develop a child.

Too often sons and daughters of divorce take on the role of adults. Sons feel like they must become the protector. Daughters become amateur psychologists listening to their mother's complaints. Many boys who do not have a father who expects the boy to live up to his ancestors accomplishments, has an excuse to fail. Pride in lineage goes a long way towards motivating young people. With the breakdown in families this pride is diminished.

Most divorces today are caused by that master of human behavior, desire. Parents, mostly women, have a desire to be "happier". Men desire glory or to be a martyr. The human condition is such we are never satisfied and content. We always want more. Many women divorce so they can "find" themselves. They want to "grow". It is all about the self. Women live for hope and romance. Men live for glory. Too many will destroy a family simply to gain more pleasure.

As long as the State and divorce industry; lawyers, psychologists and judges, support this negative behavior, women will continue to ask for a divorce. When the parasites in the divorce industry see a marriage or birth announcement, they salivate because they see new customers for their business.

A few generations ago men and women had shorter lives so being married did not mean decades of living with the same person. With pre marriage contracts we can eliminate much of the conflict created by divorce. The pre marriage contracts will put many in the divorce industry out of work.

Captain Bilbo Baggins

About Loneliness

Loneliness afflicts many people. It has never been a serious consideration for me. It has invaded my life for a few short intervals without any major harm.

I was born in a quiet rural setting without any crowds around. My mother, father, older brother and sister, and nature, were my companions. They were always there, except my father who went away during week days to work on some federal projects of the FDR administration under the Works Projects Administration (WPA) of the late 1930s.

I learned to be alone. I learned self reliance. I learned to live with boredom, which incidentally, I now prefer boredom over excitement. (It was not always so.) As a teenager I used to go "Still Hunting" in the woods by myself. I would find a comfortable spot and sit perfectly still, alone with nature. I had excellent vision and hearing. All of nature was my companion. I could hear birds singing. It was so quiet I could almost hear the sound from the moving wings of a butterfly. I was too young and naive to realize my abundance. I was a slave to my desires for excitement and glory. Years later I would be suffocating from the noise of an urban society and I would realize what I had as a child.

When Barbara moved out I would come home from a trip to an empty condo and there would be a momentary sigh of loneliness, but it would go away. My thoughts always invaded my loneliness. Now my condo has become my Hobbit hole.

I have a dog that prevents me from being lonely. The dog makes me think of something besides me.

Emails and group discussions keep me connected to others. This method of socializing helps eliminate any faux paus by me. Conflicts can also be reduced because you always have an escape.

Living alone can expose one to fear. We like to have support groups for our self interest and protection. The government has become the support for many people living alone. Many 911 calls are from old people and kids who are alone.

Young people have a natural urge to mate, therefore loneliness affects young people more. Old people may get lonely and depressed, but they know their life is behind them and have only a short time before the pain of loneliness ends.

Living alone I am always the alpha leader of my domain, like Robinson Crusoe was on his island. Of course no one will choose the isolation Crusoe had. I have interaction with others. Still there is no one to challenge me. I am independent and seldom have to negotiate with anyone. I have a life mosly free of conflict and hostility.

Bilbo Baggins

Continuum in a healthy society

This letter to the Editor was written by an acquiantance, Jack Hickey, to the San Mateo Daily Journal.


Continuum in a Healthy Society

By Jack Hickey

As a research scientist, I learned the value of a continuum. One of my 28 patents, a 50,000 degree Kelvin Blackbody Radiation Source, produced a continuous source of radiation from deep UV to infrared. It is useful in spectroscopy. Sunlight provides a healthy continuum of light which enhances our view of nature’s wonders.

As a macroeconomics student at Foothill College in 1973, I wrote an “A” paper postulating the ideal “Gini curve” as one in which the steps up the economic ladder were continuous, with each step providing a motivating level of challenge and reward. I injected my pro-life bias to suggest that each child born would impart an upward thrust to that curve.

The line, “Every time I hear a newborn baby cry...” in Frankie Lane’s rendition of “I believe” is burned in my memory.

My ideal curve was named “JoLene” in honor of my wife, a natural motivator!

In a free society, the primary responsibility for providing food, clothing and shelter to individuals and families is theirs alone. True charity must be voluntary. Government programs, which function as tax-funded charity, frustrate the formation of a natural continuum. Below is a speech I delivered by to the Republican Convention in Monterey Jan. 30, 1982.

“The so-called safety-net functions more like an endless umbilical cord, strangling individual initiative as it meanders about. Traditional values such as family, charity and the work ethic have been suppressed by the cradle-to-grave cult. The internal strength of this country is at an ebb.”

Government as the problem

The role which government has played in the formation of society seems to disturb the natural order of things. Problems in housing, employment, education and healthcare, in my opinion, are worsened by government. Social legislation creating a welfare system and other charitable entitlements hinder formation of a natural continuum.

Housing
Housing comes in many shapes, sizes, and construction materials. See: http://www.tumbleweedhouses.com/houses.htm and http://www.housesofthefuture.com.au/hof_houses01.html.
A healthy continuum of housing requires limited government intervention. Building permits, ostensibly a service provided by government, inhibit the evolution of a housing continuum. And, they presage a liability on county taxpayers as guarantors. Eminent domain and other “takings” such as rent control and ex-post-facto land use restrictions distort the natural continuum. When government decrees that a minimum dwelling, occupied by a student seeking a Ph.D, is “unfit for human habitation” a piece of the continuum is destroyed. I personally witnessed this in San Mateo County.

Employment
Employers, who create jobs, should determine conditions of employment such as hours, wages, etc. Those who choose to accept employment do so voluntarily. This would provide a continuum of employment opportunities. Government mandates for minimum wage, healthcare, restriction on hours, etc. all interfere with a natural continuum.

Education
A continuum of educational opportunities begins with a natural education in a home environment. Home tutoring and neighborhood learning environments would provide the added benefit of reduced traffic and a greater utilization of private homes. Private schools (whether for profit or not), academies, etc. are all part of an education continuum.

Government schools, sometimes referred to as “public schools” should be schools of last resort. Choice an essential element in the natural evolution of an education continuum, is absent in the government schooling system, where “compulsory attendance laws” prevail.

Health care
Healthcare begins at home. Grandma’s remedies, soup from a neighbor, practical advice from a local practitioner “Take two aspirins and call me in the morning,” a healthy lifestyle, etc. are all part of the health care solutions continuum. Government’s role in dealing with practitioners should focus on fraud. Mandating state licenses unnecessarily narrows the continuum. Credentials, obtained from reliable sources, should suffice to allow malpractice insurers to issue coverage. Indeed, perhaps these insurers could establish the credentialing criteria. And, those who seek care from “credentialed” practitioners would pay a premium for such choice.

Universal healthcare is socialized medicine with a facelift. It doesn’t work! A continuum unshackled from social tinkerers would lead to a healthier society.

Jack Hickey is the chair of the San Mateo County Libertarian Party. He lives in Emerald Hills in unincorporated San Mateo County.

What's Happening to Boys?

A recent article at the Washington Post titled, "What's Happening to Boys?" explores why one third of young men between the ages of 22 and 34 live at home with their parents. http://tinyurl.com/pnrx9 I suggest the reason for this behavior is, it simply makes sense. People will do what is in their best interest.

Generations ago young boys were taught how important they were. Today our feminized culture demeans and ridicules boys. Boys are taught they are of lesser value than girls, therefore boys withdraw.

Boys without a family lineage to be proud of will find an excuse to fail. Boys who have fathers and grandparents with an honorable past will have a desire to live up to their honor, therefore making it more difficult for the boys to drop out.

This paragraph was in the article at the Washington Post. It is a metaphor of what young men in our feminized society are doing. --In Ayn Rand's humorless apocalyptic novel "Atlas Shrugged," the central characters ask: What would happen if someone turned off the motor that drives the world? We may be living in such a time, a time when the motor that drives the world is running down or stuck in neutral -- but only for boys.---

I believe young men are withdrawing from the traditional roles men played in the past because they know those roles of the past are no longer important. As recent as the 1930s in America, most women did not drive because of poor roads and unreliable autos that did not have power steering, reliable batteries for electric starters, or automatic transmissions. There was no birth control pill. Most people lived in a rural setting with no telephones. Men were needed as providers and protectors of women and children. The men felt important.

Boys used to have positive role models. Their fathers, movie stars, radio characters, and comic book characters were positive role models for boys. Today's TV roles are of men who are abusive, violent, nerds, or buffoons. The female roles models are all prescient, strong, and virtuous.

Today the State is the provider and protector of women and children. If a woman needs protection today all she has to do is call 911 and the State garners all its resources to her defense. Men and women used to voluntarily give power to each other in a marriage. Power given away voluntarily can be taken back. It was difficult to take back this power because of culture mores, but it could be done. Today young men are refusing to give away their power in a marriage because they know this power, once given, cannot be taken back. This power given to their wives and children will be retained, by force if necessary, by the State. This power the State retains by force is what creates conflicts.

The "war between the sexes" has been going on for centuries. You can read about this in the ancient Greek writings. I believe if we went back to the technology of 1900, men and women would be working in a synergistic relationship for their survival and the survival of the species. Technology that lies ahead, cloning and the creation of life outside the womb, will strain the relationship between men and women like never before.

Parents who can select their gender now prefer girls 2 to 1 over boys. With cloning, men will become unnecessary. When there is only one gender, the world will finally know peace, or, women will still possess the Seven Deadly Sins and will fight each other. Either way, in the future women will visit the zoo to see men in cages and talk about how oppressed women used to be because they had to mate with these creatures to have babies.

Bilbo Baggins, The Happy Misanthrope