Corporate Average Fuel Economy (CAFE)

The most important single central fact about a free market is that no exchange takes place unless both parties benefit. Milton Friedman

Corporate Average Fuel Economy (CAFE). Current CAFE standards require cars average 27.5 mpg. SUVs and light trucks are required to average 22 mpg. There is new legislation proposed that would increase the CAFE standards to 35-mpg for both SUVs and cars.

These proposals are designed to help the consumer save money and reduce the amount of oil used. As usual, when the government interferes in the market they, they really interfere.

Just because it will become cheaper to drive a mile in a car does not mean the consumer will drive the same as today. When goods and services are cheaper, the consumer will use more. If driving becomes less expensive the consumer is likely to drive more. The negative effect of this will be more highway injuries and fatalities, and no reduction in oil imports.

Ford chief executive officer Allan Mulally said, "While automakers have doubled the average fuel efficiency of vehicles on the road since CAFE was implemented in 1975, there are now three times as many vehicles on the road and they are driving four times as many miles. And the US now imports 68 percent of its oil, up from 28 percent in 1975."

The government should get out of the CAFE business. Instead they should raise the sales taxes on gasoline while lowering the income tax. This would give people a choice, which is what the market is about, to buy fuel and pay taxes, or look for a place closer to work to save on fuel cost. The consumer might choose to take public transportation, which is what the government encourages, in order to save expenses. As people avoided driving to avoid the cost, the highway injuries and fatalities would go down.

Charles Tolleson

Associations reduce consumer freedoms

"Ten people who speak make more noise than ten thousand who are silent." Napoleon Bonaparte

Check out this link to California lobbyists who lobby to enrich their professions and make life complicated for us consumers. The year is for 1999. This is just a list of "Employers In Professional/Trade". No surprise who the largest contributor is, the California Medical Association.http://www.sos.ca.gov/prd/lobreport99_1qtr/e_professional.htm

Milton Friedman (1912-2006), proposed allowing doctors without licensing to practice medicine. http://www.salon.com/news/feature/2006/11/17/milton_friedman/
Friedman was a free market advocate who looked out for the consumer.

It is no surprise that as the number of "associations" has grown in the U. S. since its beginning, the number of rules and regulations have also grown. The members of these associations parade on Independence Day and wave the flag for freedom as they lobby for more protection from competition.

The government has become community property and these associations try to exploit the common property. They lobby for rules and regulations that restrict our freedoms. And you thought it was the North Koreans, North Vietnamese, communists, or Muslims who were going to take away your freedoms. With the power of these lobbyists, does your vote really matter?

Charles Tolleson

And one of the most powerful lobbying groups in CA is the California Correctional Peace Officer Associations. http://www.cjcj.org/cpp/political_power.php

3. Money to the Judiciary- Between 1989 and 1999, 39 inmates were shot to death, and 200 more were wounded. Not one district attorney in the state prosecuted a correctional officer for any of these assaults.1

The CCPOA gave at least $108,000 to local district attorneys from 1996 to 2000. 2

"You can investigate it until you're blue in the face but you still have the problem of who prosecutes it.To accept one of these cases would eat up everybody you have in the place, plus every red cent you've got to get one of these cases to court," said Nathan Barankin, a spokesman for Attorney General Lockyer. 3

This quote illuminates the challenge of facing an opponent who is armed with a team of 20 lawyers.

Local district attorneys have good reason to hesitate before taking a position against the CCPOA's interests. Greg Strickland, former district attorney in Kings County, home to Corcoran state correctional facilitity, attempted to take a brutality case to the grand jury. The CCPOA fueled his opponent with $30,000 in the next election, leading to Strickland's defeat. 4 A similar scenario happened in Del Norte County and in Susanville. 4

When local district attorneys fail to prosecute charges against a correctional officer, they will refer it to the Attorney General's office. At this time, the Attorney General's office is too overwhelmed to respond quickly or consistently or sometimes at all.

The State Supreme Court -

State supreme court justices are appointed by the governor for life. Theoretically this frees them from the ongoing distractions of running elections and creating political alliances.

The role of the supreme court is to interpret laws, not to create them. The judicial branch of the government plays a vital role in the checks and balances of the democratic system.

CCPOA contributed $25,000 to Chief Justice Ron George in October 1998. 2 What can CCPOA hope to gain from such a contribution?

How to reduce health care cost

The news story below shows how to reduce heath care cost.

If you want to reduce health care costs, one of the best ways is to allow more doctors and nurses to practice medicine without the lengthy training, which is more about keeping the doctor and nurses clubs small and keeping out competition, instead of protecting the consumer. These monopoly clubs are enforced by the government.

The government requires all emergency room visits to be treated. An illegal pregnant woman goes to the emergency room to deliver. The hospital is obligated to provide the service, which may cost $6,000, even if she has no insurance. This means the hospital must raise the cost to other consumers to pay for the delivery. A midwife could do the delivery at home for a few dollars! Government rules and laws prevent this free market from working.

Hospitals could train surgeons as the 15 year old below was trained. A surgeon could be certified by the hospital to do appendectomies after observing a certain number, and being observed by an experienced surgeon. The hospital would be liable for any malpractice, which would make the hospital careful in its training. The hospital could also train nurses the same way.

If doctors want to hang out their training and licenses to compete with those who do not have a license and years of medical school, let them do so. The consumer will decide which one they want to contract with.

The doctor who performed my hernia and gall bladder surgery was the son of a surgeon. He spent his teens watching his dad perform surgery. He probably knew how to do a hernia repair before he went to medical school.

There are two ways to survive; produce or plunder. Plunder is easier. This country was founded on the tradition of individualism, not plunder. Now plunder has a halo of moral certitude over its head so it has become acceptable.

The free market works in providing goods and services. We simply have too much government involved in health care to say it is anything near a free market.

You will get your universal health care. If you like long lines at the post office and DMV, wait until the government provides health care.

Charles
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15-year-old performs surgery in India
By MUNEEZA NAQVI, Associated Press WriterThu Jun 21, 1:24 PM ET
The 15-year-old son of two doctors successfully performed a filmed Caesarean section birth under his parents' watch in southern India in an apparent attempt to set a record as the youngest surgeon, officials said Thursday.
Instead, the boy's father could be stripped of his licenses and may face criminal charges.
Dr. K. Murugesan showed a recording of his son performing a Caesarean section to an Indian Medical Association chapter in the southern state of Tamil Nadu last month, said Dr. Venkatesh Prasad, secretary of the association. The video showed Murugesan anesthetizing the patient.
Murugesan told the medical association that he wanted to see his son's name in the Guinness Book of World Records.
However, Amarilis Espinoza, a spokeswoman for the record book, said in an e-mail response to a question from The Associated Press that the organization doesn't monitor or endorse such feats because it would encourage the practice of "bad medicine."
The mother and baby were reported to have come through the surgery successfully.
"We were shocked to see the recording," Prasad told the AP, adding that the IMA told Murugesan that his act was an ethical and legal violation.
Murugesan owns and runs a maternity hospital in the city of Manaparai, Prasad said in a telephone interview from Manaparai. The family could not be immediately reached for comment.
Murugesan, who could possibly be prevented from practicing and face criminal charges for allowing his son to perform the operation, expressed no regret and accused the Manaparai medical association of being "jealous" of his son's achievements, Prasad added.
"He said this was not the first surgery performed by his son and that he had been training him for the last three years," said Prasad.
Prasad said that his team had reported the surgery to the state's top medical association in state capital, Chennai.
State health secretary V.K. Subburaj told reporters Thursday that the government would investigate.
"We'll get the report and then we'll see whether there are any violations ... prima facie it looks like there is a big violation," he said.
"We will definitely take action against the concerned medical officers."

No electricity in Iraq

Our country is now geared to an arms economy which was bred in...war hysteria and nurtured upon an incessant propaganda of fear. General Douglas MacArthur

The image is taken on June 1, 2006 in Watsonville, CA. It shows every person, in 4 inch figures, who has died in Iraq since we invaded. The exhibition is at Sierra Azul Nursery and Gardens.

As a skeptic I believe very little of what I read, but if the story below is true, it is another reason for me to become more misanthropic. After almost a trillion dollars and approaching a million deaths, we have turned a former prosperous country into a primitive hell hole. Yes, Saddam was evil. Our actions are now an embarrassment that we cannot tolerate. Which is why we crave victory, at any cost. Forget the causes for the war; Israel, oil, revenge, WMD, democracy, or whatever your cause. Our only reason there now is "victory'.

A recent air strike in Afghanistan killed 7 innocent children. The change to more air strikes is an attempt to reduce our ground casualties, even if innocent children are killed. More senior military personnel from the navy are replacing army generals in an attempt to have a "surgical" war. Of the U.S. military's nine combat commands, only two are run by Army generals, and that number will be cut in half when Bryan Brown retires next month as the senior officer at U.S. Special Operations Command.

As the horrors in Iraq continue, as the story below indicates, watch for the war in Iran to heat up in an effort to place Iraq on the back pages. When people realize that once again their government has lied to them about the necessity for war, they will see the old men who got caught in the lie look for justifications, and the people will wait for the next lie from their government, and they will believe that lie, and the next, and the next.

Americans see a pabulum of regurgitated news on their televisions. News about celebrities, or repeated opinions by reporters who are repeating words the government has said. One has to watch foreign television to see what is happening in other countries. One can read Moscow Times, India Times, and Asia Times online, but this takes too much time for busy Americans who want to be spoon fed information, or would rather watch American Idol. When watching other countries' television it appears they are lying, or we are lying. Both cannot be telling the truth. Thinking by voters in America is not a requirement for voting. Old retired people are ones who have time to read online. Geeks and those who are passionate about issues also use the Internet to blog and read.

Man's inhumanity to man has been going on for centuries, and by the looks of our action in Iraq, it will continue. Man cannot stand contentment. He must find conflicts so he can elevate himself to the position of problem solver.

Bilbo Baggins

-----------------------

IRAQ:A Dream Called Electricity Ali al-Fadhily*BAGHDAD, Jun 18 (IPS) - Simmering in the summer heat, Iraqis now have a dream called electricity.It is a part of the bigger dream of reconstruction that collapsed. On all measurable levels, the infrastructure is worse than under the former regime of Saddam Hussein, even when it was crippled by the harshest economic sanctions in modern history.Iraqis lack security, jobs, potable water, and these days when it really pinches, electricity."Electricity is life," said 45-year-old Zahra Aziz, a schoolteacher and mother of four, using a hand-fan in an attempt to cool herself. "Modern life depends on power, and we do not have that here. Having no electricity means having no water, no light, no airconditioning, and in other words, no life."Most people IPS spoke to in Baghdad said they get one hour of electricity in 24 hours."June is a very hot month, and this permanent electricity failure is just another way of giving Iraqis slow death," Umayma Salim, a doctor who quit her work at a hospital in Baghdad due to security threats told IPS."We are getting all kinds of diseases -- sunstrokes among those work outdoors to provide their children food, and psychological effects on all people. The weak functioning of hospitals and other infrastructure facilities have brought all kinds of complications of health and life.""We are boiling here Sammy," a woman said to her husband on her mobile phone while talking to IPS. "You enjoy the breeze and electricity in Jordan my dear, but do try to take us off this frying pan. We are sweating like Niagara falls over here."Temperatures in Iraq are usually above 40 degrees centigrade in June, and can jump to more than 50 degrees in July and August."We cannot supply frozen and cooled food properly because of electricity failures," Jamal Rfai, a supermarket owner in Baghdad told IPS. "We bring very limited quantities and if there is any curfew or trouble in the street, then it is all wasted because of the heat, and of course no one will compensate our loss."Workers at water service stations speak of incessant electricity cuts. "The main problem we are facing is electricity supply," a worker who gave his name as Ahmed told IPS. "We have our standby generators, but they are meant to be used in emergency, not for so many hours a day as we do nowadays. Besides, the fuel supply is also not sufficient."Waiting time at petrol stations in Baghdad continues to average more than 24 hours. People sleep in their cars, or hire others to sit in their cars for them. And there is no guarantee there will be petrol at the end of the wait.Most factories have stopped production because of the security situation and the lack of electricity."I moved my plastic bags factory to another area seeking better security, but now I cannot work because there is no electricity," Ahmad Ali, a factory owner from Baghdad told IPS. "We are wasting our time hoping for something that we will never have because this occupation intentionally kills life in this country."Similar complaints are coming from farmers. Many say production is down at least 80 percent from what it was before the U.S.-led occupation."It is deliberate damage caused by the occupation," Salim Abdul-Sattar, a local politician from Baghdad told IPS. "To cut electricity is to cut the main vein of life, and that is the main goal of the occupation."Abdul Sattar believes that the occupation authorities "could have provided electricity in a few months if they wanted to, but this problem is useful for what they call creative chaos."Most of Iraq faced near total electricity failure last week. Iraqi media outlets like al-Hurra and al-Iraqiyah which are known to be heavily influenced by the U.S. government broadcast messages claiming that terrorists had attacked the main electricity stations, causing power outages."We are now used to hearing such lies," a government engineer who works at one of the stations told IPS.(*Ali, our correspondent in Baghdad, works in close collaboration with Dahr Jamail, our U.S.-based specialist writer on Iraq who travels extensively in the region) (FIN/2007)

Gas rationing in WW II

I remember gas rationing when I was a kid during WW II.

"How was gas rationing handled during World War II? Poorly. Actually, gas wasn't what they were rationing at all. The main purpose of the restrictions on gas purchasing was to conserve tires. (And you thought those bureaucrats were stupid.) Japanese armies in the Far East, you see, had cut the U.S. off from its chief supply of rubber.

There were four rationing classifications. An "A" classification, which could be had by almost anyone, entitled the holder to four gallons a week. A "B" classification was worth about eight gallons a week. "C" was reserved for important folk, like doctors, and the magic "X" went to people whose very survival required that they be able to purchase gasoline in unlimited quantities--rich people and politicians, for example.

Rationing was handled through the federal Office of Price Administration. To get a classification and rationing stamps, citizens appeared at the OPA office in person and swore to the high heavens that they (1) needed gas desperately and (2) owned no more than five automobile tires (any in excess of five were confiscated by the government). Each driver was given a windshield sticker that proclaimed his classification for all the world to see. Theoretically, each gallon of gasoline sold was accounted for. The buyer surrendered his stamp at the point of purchase, and the vendor forwarded the records to the OPA.

Gas rationing began on a nationwide basis on December 1, 1942. It ended on August 15, 1945. Speed limits were 35 MPH for the duration. For a short time in 1943, rations were reduced further and all pleasure driving was outlawed."--CECIL ADAMS http://www.straightdope.com/classics/a1_382b.html

A recent news story said the U. S. Military oil consumption in Iraq is more than Sweden's oil consumption. Add the energy costs for war material production, air conditioning in the green zone, the military industrial complex probably consumes more oil than they protect. Of course the rationing in WW II was a central planner's dream. It prevented the free market from setting the price and consumption. Today the consumer pays a hidden tax to support the military complex by paying higher gas prices at the pump. Whether it is gas rationing to the consumer or higher prices, in a nation that lives in fear and wants protection, the military will get what it wants.

Senator Obama attacks fathers for Father's Day

“None are more hopelessly enslaved than those who falsely believe they are free.” Johann Goethe

Senator Barack Obama said, as Father's Day approaches, that fathers should take more responsibility for their children. Maybe if fathers had some authority they might be more involved in their children's lives. As it stands now fathers have no authority, only responsibility. All of the authority over children is through the mother or the State. Just let a father try to assert himself in a way that the mother disapproves. She will boot him out the door and replace him with the government as the father. Then the mother determines if the father can visit his own children.

Can one imagine Senator Obama saying mothers should take more responsibility and use the birth control pill instead of having a baby before she has an education? Would Senator Obama chastise mothers on Mother's Day by telling them to be more responsible with whom they choose to sire their baby? Of course not. It is permissible in this country to demonize men and deify women.

I had a good divorce. My former wife divorced me, but she did not divorce me from my children. If more women would take this attitude then more fathers would be involved with their children.

It sounds like Senator Obama is just mad at not having a relationship with his own father so he is striking out at all fathers. Or could he just be trying to win the female voters because Senator Hillary Clinton is favored by female voters over Senator Obama. Either way, it shows how disposable men are when it comes to political careers.

Charles Tolleson

SPARTANBURG, S.C. (AP)- Democratic presidential candidate Barack Obama said Friday that fathers have to share the responsibility for raising children and caring for families because their role doesn't end at conception.

Days before Father's Day, Obama said "It's about to be Father's Day," he said. "Let's admit to ourselves that there are a lot of men out there that need to stop acting like boys; who need to realize that responsibility does not end at conception; who need to know that what makes you a man is not the ability to have a child but the courage to raise a child."

He recalled his own upbringing as the son of a Kenyan father and a mother from Kansas. Obama said he grew up with a father he know only through letters and stories told by his mothers and the relatives who raised him.

"Without a job or an education, many black men simply cannot afford to raise a family — and too many have made the sad choice not to," he said.

Just some memories

I was in the army infantry from 1953-56. I was stationed on Okinawa for 28 months. I was in charge of a radio section, voice and Morse code. We operated a radio labeled AN/GRC 9 (Angry 9) which had a hand cranked generator for power, or it could be operated on battery power. Other radios were installed in jeeps and trucks. We were a regimental combat team, always doing field exercises to stay combat ready. We did 2, or 3, amphibious landing exercises, going aboard ship then going around the island to some beach, climbing down the nets, boarding flat bottom landing barges that carried about 40 men, and going ashore. We had jungle exercises on the northern part of the island. We did some airlifts in Air Force C-119s and H-19 helicopters.

During these exercises we always had air support. F4U Corsairs coming in low with vapor coming from their wingtips. There were British Spitfires in some combined operations. An F9F Navy Panther Jet made a low strafing run down a Ravine. I was above him on a ridge line. He disappeared rounding a bend in the ravine and hit the ground and blew up. All we saw was a big ball of fire.

One morning I was awakened at dawn by a low level pass of an Air Force F-86 Saber Jet. I thought he could take our antenna off he was so low. After sleeping on the ground that night, and many more, I knew I wanted to fly. Always did. Never went camping after my tour in the infantry.

We were always combat ready, so in 1954 we got a high alert to prepare to ship out. The rumor was we were going to Vietnam because the French were being slaughtered at a place called Dien Bien Phu. Thank goodness President Eisenhower did not commit troops to support the French or my scared a-- might have been one of the first American troops in Vietnam.

Okinawa is a beautiful island. Our barracks were all concrete with full glass windows. We had a magnificent view of the tropical sunsets on the East China Sea. I got to explore the whole island and all its beauty. 67 miles long. Many beautiful beaches and small villages. I visited a cliff where many Okinawans jumped to their deaths during WW II to avoid being captured by the Americans. The Japanese government had lied, like most governments lie, by telling the Okinawans that the Americans would treat their victims with torture, so they committed suicide instead of surrendering.

Spent days confined to quarters during three typhoons that passed directly over the island.

We were close to Kadena Air Base. I used to see the WW II B-29 bombers coming home from some flights. It seemed like half of them had one engine shut down, with the prop feathered. Then one day the B-47 jet bombers starting arriving. What a beautiful bird.

I took R&R (Rest and Recreation) to Hong Kong on a navy sea plane tender. En route to Hong Kong we stopped and picked up, by crane, a disabled, in the water, Martin PBM sea plane, a propeller twin engine submarine hunter. We went close enough to the Quemoy Island in the Formosa Straights, were the Chinese Communist and the Chinese from Taiwan were fighting. I could hear the explosions. Close enough to combat for me!

Took R&R to Tokyo on an Air Force C-124 Cargomaster, a double decker cargo plane. I went to the cockpit and saw a nurse sitting in the right seat! I was overwhelmed with the size of Tokyo.

While on Okinawa I had the same laundry lady for 28 months. She would pick up my dirty laundry on Monday, Wednesday, and Friday and replace it with clean, ironed laundry. I paid her five dollars per month plus a box of Tide detergent. A dollar would buy 360 yen. A beer on base cost five cents.

After my tour was up we boarded a troop ship for home. We stopped in Korea to pick up some more troops. Ran into a big typhoon. All hands restricted below. I had to take a look so I went to the main deck, opened a door, put one foot outside and held on with both hands. It looked like the sea king Poseidon and his queen Amphitrite were having a major domestic quarrel. As I looked forward I could see waves that had to be 75 feet from top to bottom. The bow of that old liberty ship would plunge down to the sea and then to the sky. I looked back and I could see the bridge. I'm sure someone on the bridge said something about that crazy guy looking at the crazy sea. It was a Gomer Pyle moment.

As we approached the Golden Gate we could hear Rock and Roll music on our radios. It was the beginning of a culture change as the children of the "Greatest Generation" sought pleasure.

I boarded a Slick Airways DC-4 military charter at Oakland Airport. Years later I would go with a girl who was born in Oakland in 1950. I told her I went through Oakland in 1956 when she was five years old. She said with a smile, "Why didn't you look me up then, big boy." While en route on the Slick Airways flight one of our guys had an appendicitis attack. We made an emergency landing at Edwards Air Force Base and deplaned him. On to Fort Smith, Arkansas for a fuel stop and crew change. Visited the cockpit at night and enjoyed the glow from all the gauges and dials. Then to Columbia, SC where I was discharged at Fort Jackson in January 1956.

I read the other day that we now have over 30 military bases in the Okinawa islands.

This insignificant story is one of billions told by humanity. Like most of the others, this one to will be erased by the sands of time.

Charles Tolleson

Online Tutors

It is, in fact, nothing short of a miracle that the modern methods of instruction have not entirely strangled the holy curiosity of inquiry. Albert Einstein.

http://transwebtutors.com/
Unlimited tutoring on any subject 24/7 for only $99 per month, TWELVE months per year! Compare that to government schools that cost four or five times more for only nine months per year, and at the time and place convenient to the government, not the customer.

The era of government schools will end because of technology, the same reason the Gutenberg printing press ended the thought controls of the Catholic church.

The era of teaching 30 kids with one teacher and/or one aide is over. The internet and software will be able to automatically teach hundreds of students for a fraction of the cost.

But the children will have no social interaction say the socialists. Not true. There are plenty of social interaction activities outside of the government schools that are just as good. Many children today carry out social interaction by instant messaging. This is far more social interaction than many children get in the government prison of schools.

What children need is not government schools, but two caring and responsible parents.

The desire to be right

"Boredom is the feeling that everything is a waste of time; serenity, that nothing is." Thomas S. Szasz

In the beginning of the Iraq war there were very few dissenters. The dissenters were silenced, as in many wars, by charges from the pro war group that dissenters were unpatriotic.

Throughout history leaders have not wanted to hear bad news. Tyrants have killed the messengers if the news was bad. In modern politics, if a messenger disagrees with the leaders, that messenger will be smeared and discredited. Leaders like to be right. We all like to be right. Why is it so important for us to be right?

If someone is right all the time they will earn respect and power. If someone is wrong all the time they will lose respect and power. It is in our best interest to be right, therefore we will argue and fight for our position. Tyrants lose power if they are wrong, hence they silent any dissent. If they can dupe their followers into believing tyrants are always right, the tyrants retain power.
This is why people cling to their opinions. Deep inside their id they are aware that to be wrong is to be put in a position of weakness. You see this in many social debates. Attack the messenger, but never debate the data.

Try to imagine your life if you had no desire, even the desire to be right. The desire for our self interest and our self love will create a life of desperation and misery. To have no desires, or self love, will lead to a life of peace and harmony.

Charles Tolleson

How to Win Friends and Influence People

People never lie so much as before an election, during a war, or after a hunt. -Otto von Bismarck, statesman (1815-1898)

The Bush Administration sure knows how to make foreigners hate us. That way they can say we are in danger and you need a strong war president.

The latest pugnacious and hubris behavior is the stationing of missiles near Russia, called a missile defense system. This has Russian President Putin very angry. What would we think if Russia was to do the same in Cuba? Oh yeah, they tried that under JFK and we almost went to war over that. Cooler heads prevailed.

The following actions seem designed to make Muslims keep attacking us. The Christian USS Vincennes shoots down an unarmed Iranian airliner killing Iranian women and children. The Christian soldiers invade and occupy a small Muslim nation. Christian soldiers kill thousands of Muslims. Muslim men are humiliated by Christian women soldiers at Abu Grhaib. Christian missionaries are spreading all over the world and into the Muslim countries. It is easy to see why the Muslims would think Christians are trying to take over the world. By giving the Muslims reasons to attack us, we continue to empower the state. "War is the health of the state". Randolph Bourne

The Bush Administration seems to want war. I don't know if they are closet sadists are simply wrong in their strategic thinking. They seem to think that foreign relations are run like other government programs, by force only. They show little interest in getting into the minds and the motivations of human behavior, especially foreigners.

An example in this country of failing to understand the problem is when an estranged husband goes berserk and kills his family over the loss of all he planned for. The government does not look at the causes, it only demonizes men, and asks for more force and funding to control men. They imprison men for longer sentences than women.

Contrast this to how the government and society acts when a woman kills her family. They analyze her and try to find ways to understand what made her do the horrible act. They offer programs to help women cope. They do not use force on women and they do not demonize them. They give women shorter prison terms than men for the same crimes.

The same analogy could be used in describing our government's attitude towards those foreigners who are not submissive and compliant. Our government does not want to understand what motivates hatred towards America. The Bush Administration simply wants to use force on other nations. This reckless policy is a sure way to lose friends. It will only make more enemies for America. The administration should be required to read Dale Carnegie's 1935 book, "How to Win Friends and Influence People."



Charles Tolleson

For Ralph

Ralph Sasser was two years ahead of me in high school. He was a gifted athlete with a contagious smile and friendship towards all. He married right out of high school and was drafted and sent to Korea where he was killed in April 1951.

His young child wife was pregnant and lived across the road from me when the news arrived of his death. I can still hear her wailing about the loss.

Ralph would be in his seventies had he lived. Maybe he would have grandchildren, like me. Had the Korean War lasted as long as the Vietnam War, I might have been one of that unnecessary war's human sacrifices. Thank goodness a man like President Eisenhower saw the futility of the war and settled for a draw.

Ralph had a school teacher, Mary Locklin, who wrote poems. This is one of her poems.

Charles Tolleson
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For Ralph, by Mary Locklin

As one might choose at random from the store
Of books set neatly dusted side by side.
Death came choosing in artillery's roar
Reached out his hand and touched.
The boy died.
His little book of life is all too small.
Too short the meager days are written there.
School days, young love, warm summer games of ball.
Then page by empty page, unlined and bare.
Read "Finis" at the end and close the book.
So small it lies within a tender hand!
Now lay it on the shelf and never look
To see the graying dust upon it stand.
His life was short and swiftly was it read.
Remember with me now our young and dead.

List of taxes

Below is a list of taxes you pay. Some of the freedoms men fight for. The list is circulating on the internet and was sent to me. You can read this without pressing #1 to get the English version.

I talked to a mortgage broker who made a lot of money during the housing boom. He said he paid a lot of taxes that year, but did not mind giving some to the government because he made so much. I reminded him he did not "give" the money to the government, but the government confiscated his money. I asked him how much he would give if it was voluntary. He just smiled and gave no answer.

Accounts Receivable Tax
Building Permit Tax
CDL license Tax
Cigarette Tax
Corporate Income Tax
Dog License Tax
Excise Taxes
Federal Income Tax
Federal Unemployment Tax (FUTA)
Fishing License Tax
Food License Tax
Fuel Permit TaxGasoline Tax (42 cents per gallon)
Gross Receipts Tax
Hunting License Tax
Inheritance Tax
Inventory Tax
IRS Interest Charges IRS Penalties (tax on top of tax)
Liquor Tax
Luxury Taxes
Marriage License Tax
Medicare Tax
Personal Property Tax
Property Tax
Real Estate Tax
Service Charge Tax
Social Security Tax
Road Usage Tax
Sales Tax
Recreational Vehicle Tax
School Tax
State Income Tax
State Unemployment Tax (SUTA)
Telephone Federal Excise Tax
Telephone Federal Universal Service Fee Tax
Telephone Federal, State and Local Surcharge Taxes
Telephone Minimum Usage Surcharge Tax
Telephone Recurring and Non-recurring Charges Tax
Telephone State and Local Tax
Telephone Usage Charge Tax
Utility Taxes
Vehicle License Registration Tax
Vehicle Sales Tax
Watercraft Registration Tax
Well Permit Tax
Workers Compensation Tax

Not one of these taxes existed 100 years ago,and our nation was the most prosperous in the world. We had absolutely no national debt, had the largest middle class in the world, and Mom stayed home to raise the kids. What the hell happened?

What happened is what Alexis de Tocqueville said about democracy, i.e. "Democracy is one group plundering another group." And Alexis de Tocqueville also said, "A democracy cannot exist as a permanent form of government. It can only exist until the voters discover they can vote themselves largess out of the public treasury."

Bilbo Baggins

"Unthinkable Devastation"

"The devastation that would be caused had this plot succeeded is just unthinkable," U.S. Attorney Roslynn R. Mauskoph said at a news conference, calling it "one of the most chilling plots imaginable."

Notice the use of words by our government official who knows little about fuel explosions. Keep the crowd in fear and you can control them. She wants us to know the government is protecting us from "Unthinkable Devastation".

I'm no myth buster, but I wondered how blowing up a pipeline could cause "unthinkable" devastation. The plotters certainly could "think" of such devastation. It might have disrupted airline schedules.

At least the news story quoted the experts as saying the damage would be isolated. (Expert: Damage would have been isolated- Richard Kuprewicz, a pipeline expert and president of Accufacts Inc., an energy consulting firm that focuses on pipelines and tank farms, said the force of explosion would depend on the amount of fuel under pressure, but it would not travel up and down the line.)

Pipelines are easily repaired. Still oil infrastructure has been and will continue to a sabotage target.

Jan 04 article. http://www.atimes.com/atimes/Middle_East/FA27Ak03.html
Wonder why oil prices are up? As of December 2005, Iraqi net oil production was averaging a modest 1.9 million barrels per day according to the latest
country report on Iraq compiled by the US government's Energy Information Agency (EIA). The December number is also well below the near 3.5 million barrels per day production level prior to Iraq's 1990 invasion of Kuwait.of Kuwait http://tinyurl.com/94pzr

The plotters who tried to blow up JFK airport are more al-Qaeda wannabes. Like those who wanted to attack Fort Dix. Young angry men who reside in this country. How many more are here? One thousand? Ten thousand? Sooner or later some angry young men will succeed in killing a handful of Americans and the fear will take over. When we fail to control our fears, our minds become our enemies.

Charles Tolleson
--------------------
By ADAM GOLDMAN, Associated Press Writer
Federal authorities said a plot by
a suspected Muslim terrorist cell
to blow up John F. Kennedy
International Airport, its fuel tanks
and a jet fuel
artery could have caused "unthinkable"
devastation.
http://tinyurl.com/37e6oc
But while pipeline and security
experts agreed that such an attack
would have crippled America's
economy, particularly the airline
industry, they said it probably
would not have led to significant
loss of life
as intended.

Urban Legends

Jim wrote on another forum, <I'm just curious if you or others who post anything always have to agree with it. I don't. I think a variety of viewpoints on all subjects is healthy.>

I usually agree with what I post, but more importantly is the right we have to post and say things that others disagree with. One of our greatest assets is the freedom to speak out and critique our government, and critique others. Words are magical. They can free people, or enslave them, both without force or violence.

Many people live with illusions. When words and science destroy their illusions, their happiness is destroyed. This is why some people resist the truth. We are born into our language, manners and beliefs. Swap a Jewish baby and a Muslim baby at birth and the Jewish baby would grow up hating Jews and the Muslim baby would grow up hating Muslims.

I try to live without illusions. This way I can experience a great thrill when I read words that are so persuasive they can change my long held beliefs. I am concerned about people who believe something that is false simply because it fits into their belief system. The Internet can spread false information. This kind of information should be exposed as false. True information will survive.

I noticed a few emails that circulated with "Forward this to everyone you know" seemed to have a theme that promoted the war in Iraq. Themes that said "God bless America and Israel, only". The emails would be patriotic, somber, Muslim threats, or ridiculing anyone who was against the war. It did not matter if the messages were true or false, according to snopes.com, the messages about war were often pro war.

At Snopes http://www.snopes.com/politics/war/war.asp you will find the top 24 war/anti war emails, some true and some false, that have high circulation. 20 out of 24 are pro war. It makes one wonder if there is a propaganda machine lurking deep in the bowels of the government.

Charles Tolleson

Chaos in Iraq benefits Israel

The reason the democratic congress recently approved funding for the Iraq war is because the democrats are afraid that if the U.S. troops are withdrawn from Iraq, things could get worse and the democrats would get blamed. They believe things WILL get worse, and the republicans will get blamed.

The Jewish lobby, AIPAC, is pleased that the US troops are stationed in Iraq. The troops act as a target of Arab hostilities. Israel citizens are becoming war weary. Better for Israel to have the U.S. fight its decades long religious war. The U. S. in Iraq acts as a buffer between Iran and Israel. The U. S. is also on one border with Syria and Israel on the other border.

Israel is happy with the chaos in Iraq. With the various tribes fighting each other Israel has little to worry about. If the Arab world ever unites under one Caliph, then Israel will have plenty to worry about.

Charles Tolleson

Fifty Years in Iraq

President Bush said we may be in Iraq for 50 years. President Bush compared the commitment to South Korea with our commitment to Iraq. By these words we have created another recruitment poster for al-Qaeda.

These are magical words to lull the sheep into complacency. It makes the four years the U. S. has spent in Iraq seem short when compared to fifty years. Saying we may be in Iraq for fifty years makes the President sound like a man of commitment. How soon the sheep forget that the purpose of going to Iraq was stated as "regime change" because Saddam Hussein was an evil man.

Why do we still have a commitment to South Korea? South Korea has more people and a much larger GDP than North Korea. They can afford to defend themselves. Do they pay us for our contribution to their defense? Maybe our government thinks we need a presence on the Chinese mainland. It seems our bases in other parts of the Far East should be enough. If China becomes too powerful she will have to contend with India, Russia, Japan, Taiwan, Australia, and our newest ally, Vietnam!

And why do we need a 50 year commitment to Iraq? I don't know.

Charles Tolleson
-------------------------------
Bush sees South Korea model for Iraq
By TERENCE HUNT, AP White House Correspondent Thu May 31, 1:42 AM ET
President Bush envisions a long-term U.S. troop presence in Iraq
similar to the one in South Korea where American forces have helped
keep an uneasy peace for more than 50 years, the White House said
Wednesday.

Presidential spokesman Tony Snow said Bush has cited the long-term
Korea analogy in looking at the U.S. role in Iraq, where American
forces are in the fifth year of an unpopular war. Bush's goal is for
Iraqi forces to take over the chief security responsibilities,
relieving U.S. forces of frontline combat duty, Snow said.

In South Korea, about 29,500 U.S. troops are stationed as a deterrent
against the communist North, but that number is to decline to 24,500
by 2008 as part of the Pentagon's worldwide realignment of its forces.
The two Koreas remain technically at war since the 1950-53 Korean War
ended in a cease-fire, not a peace treaty.

Adm. William Fallon, the top U.S. commander in the Middle East, seemed
a surprising choice when he got the job earlier this year, yet his
experience as U.S. commander in the Pacific overseeing the Korean
peninsula would serve him well if the U.S. military adopts a Korea
model in Iraq.