In Defense of Rand Paul

Republican Senate Candidate Rand Paul is being excoriated by the media for his comments that he thinks some parts of the 1964 Civil Rights Act were wrong.

The Civil Rights Act of 1964 was created to eliminate discrimination in the workplace, and places that provide a service to the public. Congress did this under the "Commerce Clause" of the U. S. Constitution, "To regulate Commerce with foreign Nations, and among the several States, and with the Indian Tribes."

Blacks were required to ride in the back of city owned buses. This proves governments are not kind and compassionate.

Congress overstepped its authority. The clause gives Congress the authority to regulate commerce among the States, not among individuals. The clause prevents one State from charging tariffs or restricting trade from another State. Congress could have asked the States for a constitutional amendment that would have allowed Congress, "To regulate Commerce among individuals". Why didn't they make this request? They knew their lust for power would be rejected.

Congress had the right to set hiring policies for the Federal Government and tell federal employees to boycott private businesses that discriminate.

Individuals who have a restaurant should not be regulated by Congress. If an owner of a restaurant wants to enter into a voluntary contract with her customers, Congress has no authority to interfere.

When minorities gained the right to force some private owner of a business to serve the minorities, millions of people lost the right of free association. The laws of unintended consequences.

It is immoral to deny a weary traveler food and lodging just because they are of a different race. But it is not up to congress to legislate morality. I always thought when I went on to the property of a business that I had to obey that property owner's rights and rules whether I liked them or not.

The government should protect the private property of business owners. The governments of different States failed to protect the private property rights of those minority business owners who would compete with the white owners of businesses.

If a white owner of a restaurant refused to serve blacks, it was up to the government to protect a black owner of a restaurant who was willing to compete next door and serve both blacks and whites.

The late Harry Browne explained in his book, "Why Government Doesn't Work", and in this article about the Civil Rights Act, that the Civil Rights Act made aristocrats out of some, minorities and women, who could sue over discrimination. But no white male could sue for discrimination.

With free enterprise and competition, protected by the State, it would not have been long before someone would have realized the blacks made up 13% of the market. Just as business began to grow into chains nationwide, like Holiday Inn and MacDonald's, it would have been only a matter of time before competition would have solved the segregation problem.

Technology, science, and free enterprise will liberate people. Can anyone believe the competitive markets of Wal-Mart, Home Depot, Starbucks and global competition would allow a business to succeed by ignoring 13% of the market? People continue to praise foolishness and irrationality.

Does anyone really believe that in 21st century that there would still be discrimination in businesses? Any business that practiced discrimination of the past would be ridiculed out of the market. Boycotts would serve as fodder for the 24 hour news media.

Minorities benefited from the Civil Rights Act because there were so few black owned businesses it was simply math that white business owners would have to hire black employees. Without the Civil Rights Act the number of small businesses owned by blacks would have been drastically more than they are now. Blacks would have found owning a business their best way out of poverty. The government's own licensing requirements and other regulations made it difficult for a minority to start a business.

Before the Railway Labor Act, blacks moved north to work in factories in the 1930s. They were hired first because they would work for lower wages. Capital flows to the most efficient means of production. After the railway labor act and minimum wage laws, blacks could not offer their services at lower wages.

One former politician, I can't provide a source, said the welfare and civil riots legislation were anti riot laws. I believe this is true. I'm amazed there were not more riots by blacks in the 1950s and 60s.

Despite the law requiring integration, which was supposed to eliminate ghettos and poverty, those same ghettos still exist and are more violent. Before the Civil Right laws the black families were cohesive. After the government interference the black families have been destroyed. As a teen around 1950, I went into black neighborhoods, at dark, and felt safe.

In 1969, before the Civil Rights Act started destroying families, the high school graduation rate was 77 percent. In 2007 the graduation rate was 68.8%. The continuing decline in high school graduation rates correlates with the increase in unmarried mothers, caused by the Civil Rights Act.

Time and technology is what changes a culture. Young people of today would be appalled at a "Whites Only" sign on a restaurant. Neither did anyone in 1960, before the birth control pill, think women would have enough leisure time and energy to jog and go to a gym to work out. Any time my mother had a leisurely moment from her long hours of work she would sit down and rest, not go jogging!

To say discrimination would still exist today without the Civil Rights Act is like saying women would still not be allowed to vote had the 19th amendment not been passed. Can you really imagine any State today that would not allow women to vote? That state would be boycotted so much their economy would shrink and women would move out of the state. No 19th amendment was necessary, yet, the humanitarians think only big centralized governments can do good. History shows just how evil big governments have been in the past.

Another under reported cause for the Civil Rights Act was the competition between capitalism of the west and the communism of the Soviet Union. The Soviet Union was using the discrimination of blacks in America to show their client States, most with minorities, what would happen under capitalism. American government leaders had to eliminate discrimination to show the world the benefits of capitalism and democracy over communism.

Blacks supported the Civil Rights Act because they were loyal Americans. Many had served in WW II and Korea. Most all blacks were Christians. Today many blacks are Muslim. Many immigrants are Muslim and loyal to their native country and culture. Will the Civil Rights Act survive another 56 years? Will Christians be allowed to refuse service to a Muslim? Must a small Muslim business owner be required to hire a Christian? Can a black business owner refuse to hire someone who is a member of the Klu Klux Klan?

Update 6/11/2010- Today's Associated Press story said the Supreme Court nominee Elena Kagan advocated, when she worked in the Clinton administration, for the right of a religious person to deny rent to an unmarried couple. I agree with Kagan. The government should not interfere with private contracts between individuals.

Charles Tolleson

The Future of Medicine

The future of medicine will involve more personal diagnosis of symptoms and diseases. Many home health diagnosis and drug tests kits have been approved by the Food and Drug Administration in the past few years. These include; Cholesterol Tests, Diabetes Tests, Glucose Tests, HIV Tests, Thyroid Tests, Colon Cancer Tests, PSA Tests, Male Fertility Tests, and Female Hormone Tests. The TSH home Thyroid test cost $25. A hospital lab will charge you much more for the same test!

In 1964 I had a test for diabetes. The doctor looked at the test results and told me I was a diabetic! He was wrong. The test results were complicated to interpret. I have never had diabetes. Now a simple home test can present results that an untrained person can read what a licensed doctor could not read 46 years ago.

In 2009 General Electric introduced the hand held ultrascanner. At a price of $250,000 the scanner is too expensive for the consumer market, at this time, but we know the price will eventually become affordable for the consumers just as the cost of computers and cell phones declined to accommodate the consumer market.



Someday the GE handheld ultrasound scanner will be used by consumers on a routine basis. The ordinary consumer may not know how to interpret the image but that can easily be solved by simply putting the image on Facebook and allowing others who have more knowledge of internal body parts to offer their free interpretations. There will also be images available online of what a normal internal body for a male or female looks like so one can compare their own image. Private individuals will be able to detect tumors and arterial blockages without going to a doctor, or they can email their images to their doctor for an opinion.

There are many online sites that already give symptoms of diseases. These online resources will continue to grow and benefit the consumer of health services. Because of these online resources, consumers are today better prepared when they visit their doctors than they were in the past.

These modern home tests show that a free market works. It shows the resources of human actions, when they are allowed to innovate and create. Thank goodness the people who invented these miracle kits were not killed in some unnecessary war.

“I do not think there is any thrill that can go through the human heart like that felt by the inventor as he sees some creation of the brain unfolding to success... Such emotions make a man forget food, sleep, friends, love, everything.” Nikola Tesla

Charles Tolleson

Workers Compensation and the Laws of Unintended Consequences

There is a long article at Wikipedia about Workers Compensation, its history and causes, and pros and cons of Workers Compensation.

When laws were first passed to compensate workers for on the job injuries, it seemed like a good idea because the only recourse before was for the worker to sue the employer, which suit the worker usually lost. However, as the insurance industry grew there would have been plenty of opportunities for the workers to buy job injury insurance without forcing the employer to buy the insurance, which ultimately comes from the capital that could be used to retain good employees. "Responsibility: A detachable burden easily shifted to the shoulders of God, Fate, Fortune, Luck or one's neighbor." -Ambrose Bierce, The Devil's Dictionary, 1911

But, when the Workers Compensation laws were passed, The Laws of Unintended Consequences reared its ugly head, as it always does, especially when the government decides to use force for doing what appears to be, and is sold as a law "for the greater good."

From Wikipedia--"The idea of unintended consequences dates back at least to Adam Smith, the Scottish Enlightenment, and consequentialism (judging by results). However, it was the sociologist Robert K. Merton who popularized this concept in the twentieth century. In his 1936 paper, "The Unanticipated Consequences of Purposive Social Action", Merton tried to apply a systematic analysis to the problem of "unanticipated consequences" of "purposive social action".

A small business owner wrote to me about the unintended consequences of workers comp. "D---- sprained his ankle at the end of March. Even on the day he sprained it, he had no limp. A week later he still had some swelling, so he wanted to go get it checked out. Ergo, my first workers comp claim. The xrays were negative and he had no work restrictions, but the doctor, of course, wanted to see him back a few weeks later for a follow up. Now they want him to go in once a week for four weeks to do physical therapy. He is working out in the field every day without pain and without a limp. Why in the world does he need physical therapy for an ankle sprain that happened almost two months ago? I can just see the doctor salivating when he notices it is a workers comp claim. Yippy! Easy money from the insurance company! Get him back in here!"

We can be sure the American Medical Association lobbied very hard for worker compensation laws, along with the American Psychological Association. Often times an employee can receive counseling because of mental problems related to a workplace accident.

One unintended consequence of worker compensation law is a health care system that is burdened with more patients. The same consequence will arise from the universal health care law that was just passed. As long as a third party is paying for your health care, and your employer is required to pay you while you are sitting in the doctor's office reading a magazine, you will use that service more.

These worker compensation laws reinforce Frederic Bastiat's theory that law is legal plunder.

When D---- is at his doctor appointment he is still on the payroll, receiving his hourly pay while sitting in the doctor's office. What a deal for most workers who hate their jobs.

"The Law of Unintended Consequences is an adage or idiom that warns that an intervention in a complex system invariably creates unanticipated and often undesirable outcomes. It is akin to Murphy's Law, and is commonly used as a wry or humorous warning against the hubristic belief that humans can fully control the world around them."-Wikipedia

Charles Tolleson

UN say oceans will run out of fish

NEW YORK (AFP) – The world faces the nightmare possibility of fishless oceans by 2050 unless fishing fleets are slashed and stocks allowed to recover, UN experts warned. Sebastian Smith, May 17, 2010

So, the fish in the oceans will disappear! I doubt it, but the theory reinforces the Tragedy of the Commons theory advocated by Garrett Hardin, 1968. From Wikipedia- "The tragedy of the commons refers to a dilemma described in an influential article written by Garrett Hardin and first published in the journal Science in 1968. The article describes a situation in which multiple individuals, acting independently, and solely and rationally consulting their own self-interest, will ultimately deplete a shared limited resource even when it is clear that it is not in anyone's long-term interest for this to happen."

What Hardin was saying is that private property will be better utilized because it is in the self interest of the private owner to maximize the value of the property.

On April 25, 2009 I wrote about privatizing the international waters. "Now I propose privatizing the international waters. This corporation would be owned by each citizen of the world. Each world citizen would own 100 shares of the International Waters Corp. The corporation would charge users for shipping, fishing and mining and any other use.

The dividends would be paid to any world citizen when they reach age 18. This is because much of the world is poor. Many countries have life spans of their citizens that would prevent them from living long enough to collect dividends in old age, as I proposed for privatizing U.S. government owned assets. A few dollars in dividends would mean a lot to a poor villager in an undeveloped country."

If a private corporation owned the fishing rights of the oceans they would manage the fish population just like a dairy or beef farmer manages their stock. The owners of the International Waters Corp would demand profits and dividends for their retirement. The corporation would stock the oceans and make sure there was a product to sell to the fishing industry, for a profit.

The likely solution will be the usual government control of the ocean fishing industry, with treaties that limit the harvesting of fish, but nothing to do with increasing production. Governments do not operate efficiently.

Rich people are greedy. So are poor people.

Charles Tolleson

Armed Forces Day

Fear is in our genes. It was required for us to survive. Our fear led to tribes where chiefs and priests exploited our fears. Our priests kept our souls in fear and our chiefs kept our bodies in fear. Our priests told us we would burn in hell, forever, if we did not worship the church and give ten percent of our production to the church. Our chiefs told us to kill others before they killed us. This fear has led to tribal chiefs having much power, power we voluntarily gave away for the promise of safety. This fear has resulted in government holidays that pay homage and worship to the chiefs, priests and warriors.

Yesterday, May 15, was Armed Forces Day in the United States. Other countries have their Armed Forces Day. It is a day designed to give the next generation of young men who have meaningless lives a place to feel important. Feeling important is one of Abraham Maslow's hierarchy of human needs.

We have many holidays worshiping the State. How they came about and why is well written at this site.

Here is a list of U.S. holidays. The latest is Earth Day, another religious holiday worshiping the earth, and there are plenty of priests in the new religion called Environment.

Charles "Fearless" Tolleson

Women Will Change Islam

I have written before about how technology and feminism will change the Islamic culture the same way it changed Christianity.

This news story is of another Muslim feminist that is trying to break down the tribal authority system. This is further proof that it is not necessary for Christian armies to invaded and occupy Muslim nations for change to happen in those Muslim countries.

“The heights of popularity and patriotism are still the beaten road to power and tyranny; flattery to treachery; standing armies to arbitrary government; and the glory of God to the temporal interest of the clergy.” David Hume

Charles Tolleson

Excerpt; By John Hughes John Hughes – Thu May 13, 8:54 am ET
Provo, Utah – Indonesia’s Siti Musdah Mulia is a name to remember. That’s because she is showing Muslim women how to break out of bondage by using the words of the Koran.

Dr. Mulia was raised in a traditional Indonesian Muslim home and an Islamic boarding school. She was barred from contact with men. She was not allowed to laugh out loud. If she socialized with a non-Muslim, she was made to shower afterward.

Mulia is one of several courageous Muslim feminists who are challenging conservative male interpretations of Islam. As Isobel Coleman, a leading American authority on Islamic feminism and a senior fellow at the Council on Foreign Relations, told me: “Half of those men have never read the Koran in their own language.”

Mulia is one of several Muslim women in Arab and non-Arab Muslim countries profiled in a new book by Dr. Coleman, “Paradise Beneath Her Feet: How Women are Transforming the Middle East.”

Instead of blatantly waving the banner of democracy, certain to raise charges of being tools of Western cultural imperialism, these women are quietly working within the culture, rather than against it, citing progressive interpretations of Islam itself as justification for women’s empowerment, particularly in education and the workplace.

Update- August 13, 2010

By MICHAEL CASEY, AP Sports Writer Michael Casey, Ap Sports Writer – Fri Aug 13,
SINGAPORE – When Jihan El Midany leads the Egyptian delegation into Saturday's opening ceremony of the inaugural Youth Olympics, it will be a historic moment for her country."I'm hoping I can be a good role model," El Midany said Friday as she walked through the athletes' village. "I want to prove that the veil does not have to prevent girls from doing anything."

The Wonder of Blogs

There are millions of blogs on the Internet. They are in many languages and from many countries.

No longer will information from the mainstream media be controlled by the advertisers. Big media outlets make their money from big businesses that pay for advertisement. That's why you never see any negative reporting about big advertisers.

If you want to be a member of the White House Press Corp and have access to the powerful rulers, you better not say anything negative about the rulers.

Women make up to two thirds of spending choices so advertisers sponsor programs that attract female viewers. That's why there are so many programs that allow the feminists spin sisters to profligate.

To compete with the biased news media, blogs have arisen. Millions of blogs, that cost nothing to write, have no advertisers to sway what is written. The bloggers write opinions and disclose information and links to data that the mainstream media often does not present because the MSM are after a mass audience of buyers of advertised products. The blogger is just writing his views.

As time passes the good bloggers will attract more readers. Good bloggers have created online websites with news and opinion columns. These websites have millions of viewers. These sites could not have started a major newspaper or television station and competed so quickly with the mainstream media.

Readers will no longer have to pay and subscribe for a newspaper that is expensive to print and deliver. Customers will no longer have to watch TV with the commercials to get their news. Readers can read faster than a speaker can speak. A reasonable reader can get in 20 minutes the same number of words they get listening to an hour of talk radio or TV, excluding the ads.

Kings, priests and the warriors have always tried to control the information the tribe receives. Information is power. Centralized power is dangerous. The corruptible are lured to power. Power corrupts the weak. With the diffusion of power by bloggers, maybe power by the rulers will be diffused. The current U.S. government puts out data monthly on the performance of the U.S. economy. Many people think this information is inaccurate. One website, http://www.shadowstats.com/ run by an economist and a webmaster, two people, is exposing the lies the rulers tell to the tribal members.

"Nearly all men can stand adversity, but if you want to test a man's character, give him power". Francois Duc de la Rochefoucauld 1613-1680

Charles Tolleson

Fat Role Models for Young Females

The latest appointment by President Obama to the Supreme Court, Elena Kagan, is another fat person. With the appointment of Sonia Sotomayor to the Supreme Court and Surgeon General Regina M. Benjamin, President Obama has said obesity is no obstacle to being appointed to high office. None of these obese people could win an election if they did not lose some weight.

Allowing these people to be role models for young females of the world is inappropriate and bad for the health of the world. At least President Obama and his family are positive role modles for good health.

Charles Tolleson

Airline Industry Then and Now

On my discussion group of retired pilots the subjects of engine failures, pilot pay, safety, and advanced technology were discussed.

Dennis R wrote, "Personally, I think we may see one pilot in the cockpit within our life times."

I believe Dennis R is correct. Though maybe not in my lifetime:-) As the public becomes accustomed to military drone operations as being normal, newer generations will accept having only one pilot in the cockpit.

The first adjustments will likely be the relief pilots operating from the ground, monitoring the cockpit while one pilot sleeps and another flies the airplane. The relief pilot may even monitor two cockpits from the ground. The relief pilot will be working in his own domestic time zone. No need to pay a pilot while he is sleeping.

Technology improves productivity. I remember my first flight from O'Hara to Honolulu in a four engine DC-8-62. We had five crewmembers in the cockpit; Capt., First Officer, Second Officer, Navigator, and relief Capt., all to carry about 160 passengers. Now a crew of 2, with one relief pilot, in the cockpit can carry twice the number of passengers on a twin engine 777 from ORD to HNL with more fuel efficient engines. And of course, more people are flying, creating more pilot jobs than when I flew ORD/HNL.

This link shows some airline data from 1960 to 2006. My interpretation of the data may not be accurate.

The passenger enplanements went from 56 million in 1960 to 675 million in 2006. That was a 12 fold increase while the U.S. population only increased by 80%.

The number of airline aircraft in 1960 was 2100. In 2006 that number increased to around 4000. Despite this improvement in technology and the cockpit crew reductions, the number of airline employees increased from 170,000 in 1960 to 539,000 in 2006.

Much of the reason for growth and improvement in the airline industry is due to technology, like other industries. The airline industry in the U.S. was deregulated in 1978. This made it easer for non union airlines to be created with non union pay scales. This has lowered labor costs, though fuel costs have increased, which is why, along with too much competition, has prevented airlines from being profitable. While flying became affordable to more people under deregulation, it also became safer.

Denis O'Malley is right when he says United Airlines could not get any new routes before airline deregulation in 1978. Promotions were slow at the major carriers and rapid at the smaller carriers because the Civil Aeronautics Board awarded new routes to smaller carriers. The fear about deregulation was the big carriers would dominate. What did United Airlines, a giant carrier at the time, decide to add as their first new route after deregulation? It was Buffalo to Orlando!

The airline industry is unlikely to be profitable for any length of time. As soon as an airline buys new aircraft they park good airplanes in the desert, which will soon be flown by a new startup airline with lower labor costs, and the cycle continues.

Here is a link to a good article about the past airline industry and some of the future challenges.

Despite the lower pay for airline pilots the accident rate has diminished since 1990 according to this NTSB page. There is no data that shows higher pilot pay determines safety. (Montreal - The International Air Transport Association (IATA) announced the aviation safety performance for 2009 showing that the year’s accident rate for Western-built jet aircraft as the second lowest in aviation history.)

If you increased pilot pay from $50,000 per year to $500,000 per year you would increase the number of pilot applicants. But how much safer would it make airline travel? If you increased teachers' pay ten fold would you get better teachers? How about truck drivers and police? As long as you have and adequate supply of applicants it does not matter about the pay. If the supply of applicants decreases, the pay will increase. If the supply of applicants increases, the pay will decrease.

The May 2010 Transport World Magazine article that said the pilot profession is starting to lose its luster is correct. It started when, as Dick Ferris is famous for saying, "It is now possible for a flight attendant to get a pilot pregnant." When an airplane can make auto landings the pilot has become a system manager and the pilot image has lost luster.

Most airline passengers never experience an engine failure. When a turbine engine is shutdown in flight there is no visible evidence to the passengers, like a feathered prop. I had one engine failure on a 727 around 1969 shortly after takeoff, I was the S/O, and a precautionary shutdown on a DC-10 with Dick O'Toole as captain and I as F/O. With such current safety the fear of flying is diminished, along with the pilot's luster.

There was a discussion about reciprocating engine failures and about a B-36 bomber with multiple engine failures. This reminded me of my tour on Okinawa as an infantryman stationed close to Kadena AFB in 1953-56. It was quiet common to see B-29s in the landing pattern with an engine shut down. Soon the new B-47s jet bomber with six jet engines started appearing in the pattern. What a beautiful sight they were! I suspect some of the B-47s had an engine shutdown but, who could tell from the ground?

When earlier piston engine powered airplanes had an engine failure on takeoff the rudder input necessary to correct the yaw required significant leg strength from the pilot. Today that input can be automatic, done by the aircraft systems, further tarnishing the image of the heroic pilot.

Steam engine technology diminished the image of the sailing captains. The railroad engineer's image was diminished by the airline pilot. Artificial intelligence and bio engineering will diminish the images we have painted of ourselves. And so it goes.

Charles Tolleson

Borrowing by Modern Governments

Ancient governments, kings and tyrants, used gold and other commodities to finance their empires. Modern governments discovered the printed currency, backed by gold. Then the modern governments figured out they could borrow money and force the taxpayer to pay the principle and interest.

Now, western and modern governments, as demonstrated by Greece, are learning that there is no tooth fairy. Like an individual that borrows more than they can pay back, western governments will also have to default on their loans. This means no more borrowing for them. Eventually the U.S. will not be able to borrow money to finance their foreign occupations. There will be blood in the streets because the people's illusions will be destroyed. Their deadly sins will control their fall to reality.

Stocks Plunge, Then Recover As Debt Worries Slam Markets
CNBC | 06 May 2010 |
In one of the most dizzying half-hours in stock market history, the Dow plunged nearly 1,000 points on worries about the spreading European debt crisis before paring those losses in an equally rapid rebound.
The apparent trigger for the massive selloff, which began shortly after 2 pm ET, was the approval of austerity measures by the Greek Parliament, which sparked renewed rioting in Athens.
"There is simply a growing recognition that Greece has got to default," banking analyst Dick Bove told CNBC.com. "The riots in the streets showed the decision to repay the debt was not going to be made by the people in Germany, France and Switzerland—it's going to be made by people in Greece and they're not going to repay it."

What to do about the poor

When I argue against welfare and government assistance for the poor I always get a response that says something like this. "Do you think we should let the poor starve?"

My answer is to the usual liberal who believes the government should force us to take care of the poor is, "There are millions of people who, like you, care about the poor. More than half of the voters vote for a candidate that will force them to take care of the poor. So why do you and those other millions have to be forced to take care of the poor? By admitting you care means there will always be charitable people available to help those who truly are in need. You will be hands on helping and you will know if you are creating someone who is dependent or if you really are helping someone who cannot help themselves".

Then I ask them if they know any poor people, and what have they done to help the poor. Most of the humanitarians know no poor people and are not be in the gutter helping the poor. They just want to pose as someone who is good so the rest of society will trust and invest in the humanitarians.

If the standard of living doubled for both the rich and the poor, the humanitarians would still be horrified with envy because there was still inequality. The humanitarians would be happier if the standard of living was halfed, as long as all were equal.

A frustrated producer told me he was thinking about going on welfare instead of working his ass off trying to comply with all the rules and regulations on his business, only to have his production taken by force and given to the non producers. This statement would have been unheard of in past generations. In fact it would have brought derision and scorn. But now, it is what we have become. It is normal animal behavior.

Sometimes I feel like giving them a different response and recommend Jonathan Swift's, "A Modest Proposal". I don't think a liberal appreciates the satire.

Charles Tolleson, from poverty to comfortable

North Atlantic Treaty Organization

NATO, the North Atlantic Treaty Organization, has 28 member countries that agree to come to each other's defense in case one is attacked. Disputes between countries are settled peacefully.

I think the way to end war, at least between countries, is to invite all countries of the world to join NATO. That way no country would attack another country. The U.S. could no longer attack small countries. The military industrial nation would no longer have a reason to spend trillions on weapons. Can you imagine how the verbal venom would die out if both Israel and Iran were members of NATO?

I said wars between countries would end if all countries were members of NATO. Governments would continue their wars against poverty, pollution, social injustice, drugs, salt, etc. "War is the health of the State". Randolph Bourne

Charles Tolleson

Gulf of Mexico Oil Spill

Everyone is alarmed about the British Petroleum failed oil rig in the Gulf of Mexico. The oil spill has given the humanitarians another excuse to control our lives.

The alarmist media will tell you the oil spill covers 200 square miles. What they do not tell you is the size of the Gulf of Mexico is 600,000 square miles! The oil spill is .0003% of the size of the Gulf of Mexico.

I feel sorry for the 80,000 employees of British Petroleum. Their jobs and careers may be destroyed. Yet the environmentalists are ecstatic because their hatred of capitalism distorts their views of reality.

Update May 28 2010

People are alarmed at the disaster of the BP oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico. Where there is a disaster there are men who look for a solution. Men have always been problem solvers. The late Julian Simon in his book, The Ultimate Resource, writes about the resourcefulness of humans and their ability to solve problems and create a better life. As a result of the oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico there will be safer and more reliable ways of drilling. BP said they receive thousands of suggestions each day on how to solve the problem. The human resource is a valuable resource. If left alone to produce can, and has solved engineering miracles. One solution is simply drill a relief well for each active well.

President Obama and the media have been attacking British Petroleum. Everyone loves to attack big business. If it was a government oil well that went bad, like other government failures, there would be a cry for more money and power for the government to do the job better.

The Gulf of Mexico oil spill will cost BP billions. This will increase the cost of deep water drilling all over the world until drilling companies develop a safer and more efficient way to produce. The free market will cause cheaper production and safer drilling to eventually happen. It always does.

Update 7 15 2010. NEW ORLEANS – BP says oil from its broken well has stopped gushing into the Gulf of Mexico for the first time since April. Human resources at work again to solve problems.

Charles Tolleson

Tiger Woods and Elin Nordegren

The odds are pretty high that Tiger Woods and his wife Elin Nordegren will divorce. Elin will likely get from 300 million to 500 million dollars in the divorce. Not bad for a former nanny/model.

Why does a vagina have so much value? This sends a message to all women that they are worth millions, if they can only find a guy who has millions. I suppose it is the free market at work. Men's stress levels go up around a beautiful woman. Men will work and risk their lives for these women. As men's work is more dangerous than women's work, men earn more, but they pay more in alimony and community property settlements and gifts. We also notice how the media always say the "Workers" were killed in the oil rig explosion. They never say eleven 'men' were killed in the oil rig explosion. If the eleven fatalities were women, do you think the press would have mentioned their gender. I do. It's quiet simple. Women are more valuable than men.

As long as men build Taj Mahals to women and invest so much time, money, energy and praise to women, women will always overvalue themselves.
"Too many people overvalue what they are not and undervalue what they are". Malcolm S Forbes

It is rumored that Tiger Woods slept with 120 women during a five year period. That would be about two women per month. Not that amazing when you consider the opportunities rich and successful men have. What is amazing is why, if there were that many, that none of those 120 women accused him of sexual assault. Maybe they did, and collected the payoff money.

Tiger has been excoriated for his behavior, but none of the women he had affairs with have been excoriated for sleeping with a married man. All of those women had their self interest in mind. They thought with the proper investment in Tiger Woods they might replace Elin and become Tiger's next wife, and, have the opportunity to live a life of luxury and ease, and, get millions in a divorce.

Charles Tolleson, Divorced, and never remarried!