Sunday, July 31, 2016

When Will Donald Trump Finally Get A Hair Cut?

Posted: 7/31/2016

Apparently, he is not listening to any advisors not even his children.

This man so urgently needs a haircut to look more presentable! His hairdo is a major annoyance. He could also use this step to show is open to change or turn this into an effective campaign action or what have you ...

Saturday, July 30, 2016

U.S. President Buchanan Freed Slaves

Posted: 7/30/2016


Introduction


I do not know much about this president, but he appears to be underrated. In rankings of U.S. presidents by scholars etc. he ends up as one of the worst presidents. He has been seen as indecisive, inactive, and unable or unwilling to address the divisive slavery issue.


My impression is rather that this president was a decent man who believed in a civil society and compromise to resolve the slavery issue without the savagery of a civil war.


Sources




Briefly On Buchanan’s Views On Slavery & Abolition


Perhaps following quotes illustrate Buchanan’s position (emphasis added):
  1. “Although in Pennsylvania we are all opposed to slavery in the abstract, we can never violate the constitutional compact we have with our sister states. Their rights [sovereignty?] will be held sacred by us. Under the constitution it is their own question; and there let it remain
  2. “"Before [the abolitionists] commenced this agitation, a very large and growing party existed in several of the slave states in favor of the gradual abolition of slavery; and now not a voice is heard there in support of such a measure. The abolitionists have postponed the emancipation of the slaves in three or four states for at least half a century."”


I would tend to agree with Buchanan. Was it not the uncompromising fanaticism of northern abolitionists that fueled the flames?


I was surprised to learn that there were actually abolitionists active in the southern slave states. Why don’t we seem not know much about them? Could these southern abolitionists have been part of a more peaceful solution? Victors write history?


Buchanan Personally Freed Slaves


“There are at least two documented cases of Buchanan having, with his own money, purchased slaves to later free them in his native Pennsylvania.


When his youngest sister, Harriet, was to marry Robert Henry of Virginia in 1832, Buchanan found out that the Henrys owned slaves. To spare his sister any association with slavery, Buchanan arranged to purchase their two female slaves, whom he brought to Pennsylvania and freed as quickly as he could.


Harriet’s son James Buchanan Henry, who served as personal secretary to Buchanan as president, said in a biography of his uncle that Buchanan also purchased several slaves in Washington, D.C., during his years in the White House 1857-61. He likewise took them to Pennsylvania to be freed, according to Henry.” (Source 2; emphasis added)


How many slaves did the Great Emancipator Abraham Lincoln buy with his own money to free them?

If more men had followed Buchanan’s great example, then the American Civil War could have largely been avoided!

A Big Dentistry Scandal In The U.S.

Posted: 7/30/2016

Trigger

Recently, I read
  1. A Decades-old Product Can Stop 80% of Cavities, and the FDA Only Just Now Approved It (This the article that triggered my interest in this subject)

The articles are about a simple, cheap, paint on antimicrobial, topical liquid containing  silver diamine fluoride (SDF) that effectively stops ongoing caries and prevents caries. “S.D.F. reduces the incidence of new caries and progression of current caries by about 80 percent” (Source 2)

We also learn that the Japanese have been using SDF for over 80 years and it has been used in other countries.

Best of all, this medication is safe!

Plenty Of Childhood Cavities

As someone who had his shares of tooth cavities in childhood and adolescence, I think this is a scandal. Decades later I am still anxious every time I visit a dentist.

I have blogged here about my great experiences with laser drilling, but laser drilling is fairly new. Laser drilling of teeth was apparently only approved in the U.S. in 1996. Why did it take the FDA so long?

Our Dentists And Government Failed Us

“American dentists first started using similar silver-based treatments in the early 1900s.” (Source 2)
In 2014, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration approved the treatment (Source 3).

Why did it take dentists and the U.S. Food and Drug Administration decades to approve this treatment option? It is incredible!

Thanks to this delay other, similar options were not explored or how the black coloring or blackening to the SDF treatment area could be dealt with.

“Countless patients would benefit from conservative treatment of non-symptomatic active carious lesions.” (Source 3).

Friday, July 29, 2016

Just Mixed Einaudi And George Michael

Posted: 7/29/2016

Just by pure happenstance I had mixed/blended/overlaid Fuori dalla notte (Out of the Night) by Ludovico Einaudi (played by All Classical Portland with host Andrea Murray) and George Michael’s Careless Whisper (played by  youtube video) on my notebook computer (listening to both at the same time).

It was a most incredible mix. Sounded awesome. Perhaps music is my true calling! :-)

Since I first started listening to classical music on a regular basis not very long ago I am so thrilled by what these giants of music achieved.

Why Did Bill Clinton Look So Young At DNC?

Posted: 7/29/2016

I noticed that Bill Clinton looked so much younger during his appearance and speech at the Democratic National Convention in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.

How is this possible? He aged visibly and dramatically over the past several years or past decade or so. Did he visit a cosmetic surgeon recently? Botox, I believe, could not explain this effect.

Thursday, July 28, 2016

Michael Bloomberg Knows A Con When He Sees One?

Posted: 7/28/2016

During his speech at the Democratic National Convention, Mr. Bloomberg made a number of eyebrow raising remarks about his fellow New York billionaire Donald Trump.

He earnestly claimed he knows a con when he sees one. Really? Well, those who can truly tell the difference are con men themselves or are extremely gifted. I suspect this line was intended as a hard hitter like the infamous TV spot against Barry Goldwater accusing Goldwater of being trigger happy with nukes.

It surprises me that Michael Bloomberg’s life and business are as if sanitized clean when you search for negative issues. E.g. the Wikipedia articles on him or his business are clean as can be. Well, I do faintly remember that there were scandals about Bloomberg Terminals in the 1990s something along the lines that Bloomberg price quotes were deliberately used for front running etc.

Well, perhaps Mr. Bloomberg did not have as many lawsuits against his business or his business did not file as many bankruptcies as Mr. Trump. However, Mr. Bloomberg and his money operate behind the curtain to finance a number of issues and to manipulate public opinion. Most famously, he spends large sums of money to undermine the Second Amendment and to promote gun control. As a mayor of New York he became a nanny (e.g. he banned smoking in private bars, sugary drinks, and trans fats). His vacillating between both major parties are famous. What he spent on his mayoral campaigns was stunning (to the tune of $650 million in total of his own money to become and be mayor of NYC and be reelected; source).

Mr. Bloomberg also claimed he that he didn’t need a million dollar check from his father to start his company. Well, it did probably not hurt that Mr. Bloomberg received $10 million as a severance payment in 1981 when Solomon Brothers was acquired (source). It did not hurt either that Merrill Lynch invested $30 million in his new company (source).

Tuesday, July 26, 2016

A Very Racist Remark From The First Lady Obama

Posted: 7/26/2016 Updated: 7/28/2016, 7/27/2016


Trigger


During her speech at the Democratic National Convention in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, she said “Slaves built the White House”.


I think this remark was racist in nature and expressed some form of supremacy!
It was a cheap slogan fishing for black votes!


This incredibly careless remark was made shortly after several police officers were killed by armed, black Americans!


Why Racist?


Had a white First Lady uttered the White House was built by whites, a storm of protest would have immediately ensued.


Why supremacist? If you think that only white people are supremacist towards other colored people, your ignorance maybe forgiven.


A Highly Inaccurate Remark
Sources:
  1. The White House Was, in Fact, Built by Slaves  Along with the Capitol and other iconic buildings in Washington, D.C. (Politically correct Smithsonian Institution repeats the inaccuracies or racist remark in the article headline)


What we know:
  1. Nobody knows exactly who and how many people worked on the White House.
  2. To start with, the architect, James Hoban, was white.
  3. George Washington was reported to have objected using slaves to built the White House as it would reflect badly on the new republic
  4. Initially it was planned to import workers from Europe to meet labor needs. However, response to recruitment was dismal. Only then were slaves recruited to help build the White House.
  5. About ⅔ of the total workforce about 600 workers were black slaves
  6. About 50 workers were freed black Americans
  7. That leaves about 150 of all workers who were not black. “... a workforce that included local white laborers and artisans from Maryland and Virginia, as well as immigrants from Ireland, Scotland, and other European nations.”

Saturday, July 23, 2016

Ted Cruz Is Indeed A Sore Looser

Posted: 7/23/2016

I have watched the full length of his speech given at the just ended GOP convention in Cleveland, Ohio.

It was a very disappointing speech. One of the worst speeches I have witnessed by him. A very poor speech!

Yes, he could have expressed his displeasure at Donald Trump’s insults of his family and then move on quickly to where both men have commonalities and how the U.S. Senator and the future President could work together. There are actually quite a number of areas where the viewpoints of Ted Cruz and Donald Trump are not very far apart or even overlap.

Both agree probably on:

  1. Smaller and limited federal government. More federalism and powers for the individual states relative to the federal government
  2. Less regulation and more freedom for businesses
  3. Better candidates for the U.S. Supreme Court. Justices, who respect the original constitution and the framework that the founders envisioned.
  4. And, I am sure, there are more issues Ted Cruz and Donald Trump could agree on ...

Wednesday, July 13, 2016

Serious Doubts About The New British Prime Minister

Posted: 7/13/2016  Updated: 12/31/2016

Update Of 12/31/2016

That the United Kingdom voted for the terrible U.N. resolution 2334 (I blogged here about it) on December 23, 2016 is another sign that Prime Minister May is dubious. It was reported that president-elect Trump contacted Egypt’s president just before the vote on this resolution. I wonder whether he also attempted to contact PM May and what ventured.

Trigger


Over the past few days, I have read a few articles indicating that the new British prime minister Theresa May is not going to be anywhere near or similar to Margaret Thatcher. I have to admit that I did not know about this lady very much before she became prime minister.


Just read We can make Britain a country that works for everyone in which she laid out her national campaign published on 7/11/2016.


Experiments With Socialism


The British, unfortunately, have also implemented way too many socialist policies latest since the end of 1945. Only with Margaret Thatcher were some of these reversed, but very incomplete.


Wrongheaded


The Prime Minister’s very questionable analysis of the current situation reads as follows (emphasis added, comments inserted):
“Because right now, if you’re born poor, you will die on average nine years earlier than others. [Does she not know that there is an awful nationalised health care in the UK?]
If you’re black, you’re treated more harshly by the criminal justice system than if you’re white.
If you’re a white, working-class boy, you’re less likely than anybody else to go to university.
If you’re at a state school, you’re less likely to reach the top professions than if you’re educated privately.
If you’re a woman, you still earn less than a man. [To hear this unequal pay nonsense from her is very disappointing]
If you suffer from mental health problems, there’s too often not enough help to hand. If you’re young, you’ll find it harder than ever before to own your own home. [Does she not know that there is an awful nationalised health care in the UK?]
But, as I have said before, fighting these injustices is not enough.
If you’re from an ordinary, working-class family, life is just much harder than many people in politics realise. You have a job, but you don’t always have job security. [To hear this job security nonsense from her is very disappointing]
… There isn’t much job security out there. Some find themselves exploited by unscrupulous bosses.
… The divide between those who inherit wealth and those who don’t will become more pronounced.
… The fourth way in which I want to make our economy work for everyone is by getting tough on irresponsible behaviour in big business. …  that does not mean we should be prepared to accept that “anything goes”.
The FTSE, for example, is trading at about the same level as it was eighteen years ago and it is nearly ten per cent below its high peak. Yet in the same time period executive pay has more than trebled and there is an irrational, unhealthy and growing gap between what these companies pay their workers and what they pay their bosses.”


Ms. May regurgitates here a lot of lefty distortions and demagoguery! She is openly promoting class divisions.


“These are the reasons why, under my leadership, the Conservative Party will put itself – completely, absolutely, unequivocally – at the service of ordinary, working people.”
“So if I’m Prime Minister, we’re going to change that system – and we’re going to have not just consumers represented on company boards [of big businesses?], but employees as well.”
This is clearly socialist expropriation! We can only hope that the British parliament will veto this nonsense!


“I want to see more transparency, including the full disclosure of bonus targets and the publication of “pay multiple” data: that is, the ratio between the CEO’s pay and the average company worker’s pay. And I want to simplify the way bonuses are paid so that the bosses’ incentives are better aligned with the long-term interests of the company and its shareholders.”
She is advocating government price and wage controls.


“I also want us to be prepared to use – and reform – competition law so that markets work better for people. If there is evidence that the big utility firms and the retail banks are abusing their roles in highly-consolidated markets, we shouldn't just complain about it, we shouldn’t say it’s too difficult, we should do something about it.”
This is not reforming competition law. This is industrial management under government control and power.


“No individual and no business, however rich, has succeeded all on their own. Their goods are transported by road, their workers are educated in schools, their customers are part of sophisticated networks taking in the private sector, the public sector and charities. It doesn’t matter to me whether you’re Amazon, Google or Starbucks, you have a duty to put something back, you have a debt to your fellow citizens, you have a responsibility to pay your taxes. So as Prime Minister, I will crack down on individual and corporate tax avoidance and evasion. ”
This sounds a whole lot like Obama! Yes, socialists are obsessed with big businesses. Either they want to nationalize them or bring under their control somehow or at least punish them.


“It is not anti-business to suggest that big business needs to change.”
An incredible statement!


“This is a different kind of Conservatism, I know. It marks a break with the past. But it is in fact completely consistent with Conservative principles. Because we don’t just believe in markets, but in communities. We don’t just believe in individualism, but in society.”
To use hyperbole, she sounds like a fascist to me!


Conclusion

Prime Minister May is clearly an economic illiterate and a populist! She is obsessed with socialist slogans and remedies!