ALL POLITICS ARE "LOCAL"??

South Carolina is a "Region", Now!

The Repoobs have become a metasticized cancer inside the Republican Party.  The decent Republican members are retiring, or being pushed out.  Curiously, the Repoobs like Warren Hatch! Wonder why?.  They are now in reach, with unlimited financial backing from  extreme Right-wing Money Boys, of placing a cipher in office through which they can run the "whole she-bang!" -- Civil War vindication through the ballot box?

I pulled from the shelf my first edition copy of Paul W. Litchfield's The Industrial Republic .

Published in 1946, the book sets forth principles for worker/mnager relations that bear no resemblance to what we see in this day of Venture Capitalists.  Litchfield served Goodyear, founded in 1898,  for 59 years.  He is credited with building the company.  He died in 1959; twenty years before Lilly Ledbetter became a Supervisor at Goodyear.  As I thumb through the book, I'm aware of the widely shared belief of the U.S. citizenry in those principles during my formative years.  We took a sharp turn in 1980.

Another book, Mr. Kennedy and the Negroes, World Publishing Co., 1964, by Harry Golden outlines the tradition in U.S. presidential politics of going to South Carolina and shouting the "N" word as a prerequisite for gaining nomination to that office.   We see in this run-up to the 2012 presidential election that South Carolina now has become the Solid South (include Texas, of course), the Middle and Mountain West, and parts of the Southwest.  This spread parallels the rise of the Repoobs.  POLITICS IS NO LONGER LOCAL; it is regional.  The full charachteristics (income, education, wealth, ethnicity, religion) of this new region is yet to be fully explored.  To some extent it has modified as it grows, but not by much.

It's not clear that this nation can make its way back to some sane industrial policy.  The Repoobs take an oath to "Support and Defend" our Constitution, but set about undermining it and attacking the nation from within.  They have pushed the country into near-default, causing national downgrade of credit, and have been a consistent drag on the economy by effectively shutting down the national legislature.  With help from their financial allies, layoffs are constant, and economic growth is stifled.  All this, to gain full control of the country. 

What about the voters?  They seem to be in a place, psychologically, the German voters were in between the World Wars.  As "Representatives" within an immigrant nation, Repoobs; who are just about all descendents of immigrants, are seeking to end it.  The color of the immigrants is the real issue.  We voters must do everything we can as citizens to avoid repeating that history.

Stay Vigilant!

Copyright © 2012: Williams LLC
All Rights Reserved: Williams LLC

A BLOODLESS "SOLUTION"??

"Follow the Money"

Amid talk of "term limits', "leaderless revolution", "get the money out of politics", and other some-such in our run-up to the 2012 election, I'm reminded of an interview I watched of "Bad Barry" Goldwater as he was retiring from the Senate.  I met Barry at a reception in Los Angeles, sponsored by the French Embassy.  (More stories on me and Barry in a later blog).

In the interview, on T.V., the interviewer asked Barry what he thought of Lyndon (Liddby Biddy) Johnson.  His answer was something to the effect of:  "He entered politics a very poor man and left politics a very rich man.  Our system is not supposed to work that way."

From the mouth of Barry, these many years later, comes our solution!  We now have the computing power to run a check on the net worth of every elected member of government, to include the Supreme Court members who are "placed" by elected members.  Establish the base at the time they entered, determine their net worth now (or when they left office).  The difference, minus their legitimate salary, can be considered "graft".  Those still alive should be made to explain the difference, return the difference, or face jail.

Simple, easy to do, and we will "get the money out of politics".  AND YOU CAN BET IT WILL NEVER RETURN!

Stay Vigilant!

Copyright © 2012: Williams LLC
All Rights Reserved: Williams LLC



THE WHOLE WORLD IN MISERY

"Niall IN Denial"?

Last night I watched the conclusion of  "Civilization: The West and the Rest", narrated by Niall Ferguson.  It is a very impressive, attractive (the "shots" of Niall), and expensive defense of the West and White Supremacy.

Among the supremacist nations, Ferguson contrasts Spain with England; favoring the English, of course.  Catholicism versus Protentantism; favoring Protestantism, of course.  It takes him more than a full hour of the four-hour "special" to even mention slavery, or any of its many impacts on the world.  He did mention the assertion of Ghandi's that the term "Western Civilization" was an oxymoron.  (As the Morons in the Cheney/Bush period very recently proved.)  Curiously, of all the factors he mentioned that could have caused the perceived "decline" of the West, he did not mention "Generations".  Both "W" and Clinton were of the same generation (I think, born in the same year).  If you check out William Strauss and Neil Howe's series of books (ISBN 0-688-1192-3),(1991), you might better understand why the West is now "in the crapper".  Do we really want to return to that generation?

Niall travelled the globe to many beautiful sites contrasting the roles of the French, British, Spanish, and other Europeans to show their superiority to the "Moslems".  He wove through his narrative a theme of six "Killer-Apps"; Competition, Science and Technology, Property, Medicine, Consumerism, and the Protestant Work Ethic.

Then he turned to Misery (Missouri), citing Max Weber's trip to the Worlds Fair in St. Louis in 1904.

Public Administrators, among other professions tout Weber and his support of Capitalism and the Protestant Work Ethic.  Niall blames the crash of 2008 on a people who practiced the Work Ethic, but declined the part that required "saving".  He spent a lot of time discussing the present day virtues of Springfield, Missouri (a few miles down U.S. 65 from my home town).  He got a lot of the Missouri traits right; the confluences of the French, Spanish, English, and Germans; the excessive religiosity (a church on every corner); the early embrace of railroads, but he failed to mention the very oppressive form of white supremacy, (derived from a past of chattel slavery), practiced there. 

But, all is not lost, Niall shows that the Chinese will save the world for the West.  They now print the most Bibles in the world, and he posits that Christianity (up-dated version to please the Communists) will lead new business development in China.

His stop on the continent of Africa was very brief and dwelled almost exclusively on French West Africa.  He heavily implies that Europeans were correct in their sorry history of dealings on the continent.

The Foundations that funded this debacle should be ashamed. 

 Stay Vigilant!

Copyright © 2012: Williams LLC
All Rights Reserved: Williams LLC

BLACK GRAVEYARDS

An Historical and National Tragedy!

One week after accompanying me to school as I entered C.C. Hubbard for first grade, my mother died a bloody, brutal, and horrible death, unattended, in a black "Hospital", giving birth.  Neither she nor the baby lived for more than an hour following the delivery.  She was buried in a Black Cemetery with the baby at her feet in the same casket.  This event shaped my life.

That cemetery has haunted my dreams, and otherwise remained a central image, for more than 72 years. The fact that she, a deeply religious woman and worker in our Church had to be buried separately from those others who followed the white Jesus, taught me many lessons of the "original sin" that sustains the Christian religion and accounts formost of the wealth of Western Culture. 

Black Graveyards, from Mt Zion in historic Georgetown, Washington, D.C.; which was saved during the Bi-Centennial activities of the 1970's, face neglect;  and are quietly disappearing in small rural towns and districts, as well as large cities, across this country.  Its a mark of shame for the county governments who bear responsibility for maintaining graveyards for all citizens.

It would seem that the Mormon Church that thrives on "baptizing" people who died in other races and religions would find it simply "good business" to step up and fund that upkeep.  They also keep records of the deaths and are a major source for "ancestor hunters".  People who are making large amounts of money from the new craze of "finding your ancestors" would also find it in their interest.  It would be good public relations, at minimum.

Why, you ask, don't the Black Communities do that?  Good Question!  They say a people are defined by how they treat their dead.  But, though it's rarely reported, Integration killed off many "Black Communities"; mine included.

I pleaded with the county and city leaders where my family is buried in Missouri, to no avail.  They keep well, carefully  record, and place on the internet, white gravesites; but not for blacks.  At minimum, I wanted a good record of the burials in our cemetery.  Finding that those records were hand-written in large books that would not be released for copying, I had to find another way.

I found that a company in Canada produces a "fountain pen" style copier that can be taken to a site to record documents.  I bought one, called my brothers, and went back to Missouri to complete the task.

Those records are now available on CD.  Anyone can do this if they have relatives in a graveyard somewhere that you don't want to see simply "grown over".

Stay Vigilant!

Copyright © 2012: Williams LLC
All Rights Reserved: Williams LLC

RETURN TO THE MORGUE

A Tale From San Francisco

This tale is for those of you who have followed The Owl since my first blog in April of 2011.  Incidentally, thank you; I purposely provided only a "sketchy" profile, so that you might pay more attention to what I have to say than to me.  I'm sure at least some of you have figured out a lot about who I am by now.

When I arrived in the Bay Area in 1959, I was transferring from Lincoln University in Missouri to San Francisco State College to continue my studies in Physics.  After a harrowing drive across country (I had just turned 20; had never driven more than 60 miles at one time before...more about this in a later blog); I lived in Berkeley with my sister and her family for a few months.  But I had to find a job and a place to live so I could pay out of state tuition ($150 per semester; a LOT  of money then).

Because I learned to type at C.C. Hubbard, I passed a typing test (2nd try), and landed a job with room and board at the U.S. Marine Hospital "Estates" located at 15th & Lake in San Francisco.  To say my living quarters were elegant would be and understatement.  The grounds were adjacent to The Presidio and Fort Scott at the tip of the San Francisco Peninsula; snuggeled up against the Golden Gate Bridge.

I would fall asleep many nights to the fog horn; hike during the days, when I could, to Baker Beach to study in the sun.  The chefs at the hospital packed a lunch for me when I went to classes across Golden Gate Park every day.

I think the buildings on the elegant grounds were constructed during the Depression.  I lived in abandoned nurse's quarters.  There was a grand foyer with an opulent marble stair case ascending to the second floor.   More than 200 rooms on three floors; except for mine, ALL OF THEM were EMPTY!  Thick marble lined hallways and outfitted the bathrooms.   Periodically, another student would move in for a few weeks or a month.  The basement of my building was so huge, only half of it was used as a very swanky Officers Club for the Public Health Service Officers who ran the Hospital.

My job was to type medical records, dictated by doctors from all floors of the huge hospital, and to assist with the filing of the massive number of medical records.  I was paid $14 every two weeks.

While in San Francisco on my recent 50th anniversary trip, I visited my sister's grave in the El Cerrito hills.  She has a wonderful ""view" of the Golden Gate, Bay Bridge, and San Rafael Bridge.  Yesterday was the 75th anniversary of the Golden Gate.

I also visited and was given a tour of the old U.S. Marine Hospital; which has been converted to a very elegant and very expensive apartment and town house complex.  I was told by the tour guide that the marble from my building was used in the conversion of the Hospital. 

I told my guide of a practical joke played on me by one of the visiting medical students.  They tricked me into "visiting Herman", who turned out to be a cadaver kept in the morgue; located at the time, next to the medical records facility in the basement.  The guide told me the morgue had become an expensive apartment, and asked if I wanted to re-visit the basement and show her where the medical records rooms were.

Stay Vigilant!
Copyright © 2012: Williams LLC
All Rights Reserved: Williams LLC 

"AWAKENING??" Race in the 21st Century

The "Obama Effect" on the Planet

As we get closer to the 2012 election, even the more established "talking heads" are openly acknowledging "race and religion" as driving factors in the ultimate choice that will be made in November.  A fleeting knowledge of world history will tell you that these two forces have a unique impact on the Americas.  As the move from indentured servitude for debt "progressed" toward chattel slavery linked to biology, skin color, and African linkage, so did the unique nature of life in the Americas, for everyone; to include Central America and the Caribbean, bear the heaviest impact. 

 Born in the bowels of the Christian Religion (Roman version), the Spanish approach  to race contrasted somewhat from that of the English, but both concentrated heavily on skin color as they pursued wealth from the "New World". (Re-read "Paint" my, April, 2011 blog).

Fast-forward to the 21st century; take a close look as what's really happening in the "Obama Phenom", and you might see that this could be an opening for All Americans, regardless of skin shade, to escape this curse.  The "throw-backss" (Repoobs and their funders and supporters) are doubling down on all of their efforts to take final control; and to  re-fashion our Constitution and Democracy to suit their purposes.  Those who want to really put an end to the madness may have their last chance to put them in the dust-bin of history and finally "get free".

How?  Stop playing the game(s)!  In all of its manifestations!  (1)White women must stop playing their unique advantages of being white and using their recent freedoms to oppress non-whites while getting even with men. (2) Non-whites, regardless of the amount of "African" or "Indian" lineage must reject the government's forcing identification of all citizens into five OMB boxes. (3) Whites and non-whites ("all" genders) must stop running from any lineage that strays outside "white" bounds.  (Any fool knows there has been an incredible amount of "bed-swapping" in the Americas over the past 500 years). (4) Politicians and Religions have to stop "pimping" race to get and hold supporters.  (5)  Religious citizens have to stop brain-washing their babies on race (they still are "getting the message" before they"re five years old).  (6) Corporations and businesses have to "get serious" about employing and fairly rewarding all talent, regardless of gender, race, and sexual orientation before its too late; and only the idiots will be running the country and our economy.

This half-dozen steps could work wonders for the Americas and for the planet.  What is the alternative?

A world led by Repoobs!  Listen to their drivel!!  Read a few history books!!  If you think the struggle is between which religion should reign, you're being Mushroomed!  If you think "He's Not One Of Us!" is the proper bumper sticker for this election, you're heading for a Dark Age of severe poverty and social unrest. (Read About The Thirties).

Lets "Make Lemonade while the Sun still shines!"  Make this an Awakening!  Take this to YOUR Church. 

 Stay Vigilant!
Copyright © 2012: Williams LLC
All Rights Reserved: Williams LLC

"PRIVATIZATION", is there a LIMIT TO "MARKETS"??

What Happens when we Run Out of "Natural Markets"?

As a retired Marketing Director for a Blue Chip corporation, I know a few things about Markets and Marketing.  I was taught Marketing and Finance by Peter Drucker, twenty-five years ago.

Some things, like groceries, that require wide distribution are "naturals" for markets and marketing.  Other things, like the water we drink and the air we breathe, ARE NOT!  This country achieved greatness partly because we expanded education, mostly for free, and to the public (only for the whites, initially).

But watch out: We're entering the period of widespread "Artificial Markets" in which people who control large sums of money "create markets" by cornering substances like food and water; substances the buyer can't "live" without (Literally!).   Then, they limit availability to  only those who can pay their price.  Sound familiar?

Google:    http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bechtel and you can read the story of the "privatization" of water in Bolivia and it's consequences for the citizens who couldn"t pay the prices.  This source shows that even the water that fell from the heavens onto Bolivian roofs belonged to Bechtel.

Listen carefully, and you will hear Mitt and the Repoobs pushing for the privatization of our K-12 education system.  If you think K-12 education can't get any worse, you're wrong.

I'm old enough to remember when insurance companies sold insurance (life, death, property, etc.) and stayed the hell out of health care.  Health transactions were between patient and doctor or hospital.  In places where I grew up, the patient had to find a medical care provider of the same skin color, or had to go without or died; whether you could pay for it or not!

There is healthy and trustworthy market making, and then there are the more sinister players.  Its time to remind U.S. Citizens that "Caveat Emptor" or "Buyer Beware!" has never been more critical than it is today.  That goes for politics, health care, and perhaps, your food and water.


Stay Vigilant!

Copyright © 2012: Williams LLC
All Rights Reserved: Williams LLC