The Wars

Normally I try to avoid writing about the various conflicts the U.S. (my wonderful country) is involved with because it seems like everything that could be covered about them pretty much has. Indeed, I’ve become numb to the war coverage. That said its not because wars don’t matter to me it has more to do with the fact that the press just seems to rehash the same five stories over and over.

Since the beginning I have not necessarily been against the war, but rather I’ve been critical of the tactics. Anyone that honestly thinks the world isn’t better off without Saddam and the Taliban really has rocks for brains. That said our government seems totally inept in managing a successful war.

I keep seeing the price tag going up an up with little to no results. Our solders can’t do it alone, we learned that in Somalia. There needs to be a political solution, mediation, and UN involvement. We can’t deliver chaos to stability without a stable government in Iraq and a strong Afghani military so they can fend for themselves.

So much focus has been put on the price tag and the loss of life, this is to be expected after all these are wars. Wars are never cheap, just be glad we are not rationing needed supplies like fuel and rubber. As for the loss of life unfortunately solders die and put their lives on the line all the time. This is why we have holidays like Veterans Day and build monuments to them, and they deserve it and more for having the courage to fight for all of us.

This aside I consider myself a tactician and from that viewpoint things look bad. We have an all volunteer military that hasn’t achieved recruiting goals in I don’t know how long despite a lowering of standards on the ASVAB (thats the military entrance test). Furthermore with the 9/11 commissions findings being instated as well as new boarder security measures it is clear the National Guard is needed at home to fight the onslaught of illegal immigration, never mind the wider “War on Terror” like trying to shut down Osama Bin Laden. Tactically speaking fighting a war on multiple fronts is just plain stupid. With this half hazard management it is no wonder Army desertion is up 42% in the past year. Without strong leaders for our people and troops to follow things seem more hopeless then they really are. We are not quite to Vietnam levels yet…yet, but we are getting there quick.

In a prefect world we would have followed the Constitution when we decided to invade two sovereign nations. We would have declared war and with it all the check and balances of waging war would have come with it. Things like a Secretary of War and a War Cabinet, special tactical analysis’s which would have included stated goals, measures of success, and an exit strategy. Of course most of all a declaration of war would have given much needed oversight and many rights and benefits to the solders that they haven’t seen since WWII. But we didn’t do that because we have a megalomaniac for a President and a bunch of yellow cowards in Congress. The question now is “what do we do now?”.

We’ve been dealt a pretty bad hand and I am very concerned that the people in charge in both the White House and Congress are more concerned with an election a year away then our problems today, but Ill keep hanging on to hope.

The bottom line is we need to prioritize our goals, its triage time. There needs to be multilateral talks mediated by the UN on Iraq, and we need to come up with realistic and attainable goals for that conflict. Pulling out would be irresponsible but we do need say a two year time line. Afghanistan needs to commit to defending it’s self and we need to commit to keeping them well supplied, further we need to double our covert efforts in the mountainous region that the Taliban and others are hiding in.

It is clear we need troops, and we need to do it without a draft. The logical course is to pull out of Japan and other European locations dating back to WWII, also we need to be more conservative about where we send peace keeping troops. Once Japan has taken the reigns for its military they should take a partnership role with South Korea and we should pull out of the 38th parallel. That would probably free up another 50-70 thousand troops. Recruitment wise we need better incentives for joining the full-time military not the Guard, things like debt forgiveness or grants for purchasing houses (both have been done in the past). Another good recruiting tactic that this country has used in pretty much every previous was is to offer non-violent criminals a option of military service instead of jail time. Since we are so tough on drugs i bet there are a bunch of people caught with an ounce or two that are doing 7 to 10 that would rather do 5 in the military. Besides it would be a good way for some individuals to turn their lives around.

War involves tough choices, and to remain realistic. Our government hasn’t been good at either lately. Whats more concerning is that many people both in the government and on the civilian side are pushing for a strait up pull out, but they forget the reason things are so bad now is because we made promises and pulled out once before. Pulling out now would make Iran the regional leader which is certainly not preferable. I agree with Ron Paul that we need a noninterventionalist foreign policy but only in the future. We’ve made commitments and promises and we need to honor them and be smarter about what we commit to in the future.

My Head Hurts

Between the Iphone, Google’s “Android”, Tera byte drives, ultra mobile computers, smart phones, web 2.0, open source, ipod,vista,facebook, and whatever else is flying up on my Cnet newsfeed all i want to do is explode.

Isnt technology supposed to make our lives easier? Right now it seems to be doing the opposite. I have to be proficient on Windows,Mac, and Linux. I have to be able to text messages like a mofo, and have like 5 different social networking profiles because all my real world friends are on different networks…and let not even talk about those e-friends.

If i want good music quality i have to buy the player that has no support or accessories, but if i buy the one everyone else uses it has all this great stuff…but it sound like crap when i plug it in my stereo. It makes me miss my records.

None of my time saving applications work on all the computers i use, so whats the point? I cant keep a cell phone because the companies keep buy each other out and telling me i need a new one to stay compatible. I have all this networking and communicating software, yet i feel lonely because the interaction doesnt seem real.

I have decided to move in a few months and i think when that happens i will “unplug” other than this blog which is my only source of online enjoyment.

I will leave you with a quote from the great George Carlin that is really ringing true to me right now: “We build more computers to hold more information, to produce more copies than ever, but we communicate less and less.”

‘08 Follow-up

As it is plain to see from my last post I’m pretty disappointed with the choices for president this time around. Frankly Ive been disappointed in American politics since the 1990’s; Bill, Newt, and Perot at least made thing interesting. Now I just see wind bags that spout of about the same crap that everyone else is. I’m still pretty young and i see how the Baby Boomers are selling out future generations by insuring this country is strapped with debt, bankrupt social programs, and a super large and completely unmanageable military and Health Care systems. It makes me sick to think that my children and i are going to be stuck with the backlash of the most greedy, self absorbed, hypocritical generation in history. Its going to be one hell of a mess and i have no clue how we are going to pay for it with 1/3 less people working. So lets look at the issues that i as a twenty something dont connect with, or dont connect with in the same way as politicians are hoping. Trust me i’m not alone, and because of that there is a very good reason why my age group doesn’t show at the polls.

None of the candidates talk about lowering the cost of health care but rather just increasing coverage or making insurance more affordable. More coverage isnt going to being costs down, heck it will probably make them go up. No wait, it will make them go up! Don’t forget that the government created the HMO’s in the first place to make health care “more accessible to all”…right.

Social Security is a big one because clearly the Boomers 401k’s and such aren’t good enough. I say we reestablish that Social Security is a “safety net” not a government retirement plan. Anyone with means and other forms of retirement will get a smaller check or none at all, and we raise the minimum age for it to 78 and 74 for a partial pay-out with no grandfathering for age. When we amened the age clause it should also be built in that the minimum age will increase each time life expectancy goes up according to the census. Further we undo Reagan’s “reform” and put Social Security funds back into a separate account so its not in the general fund for every politician with sticky figures to dip into. When thats done we give the Social Security Administration the right to audit and figure out exactly how much money has been withdrawn and give them the power to attach congressional pay checks and the military budget to recover the money. This is the only way this program is going to survive the Baby Boomers.

I dont care about abortion, and clearly there is no majority on this issue. Give it a rest and do something productive with your time.

Shrink the damn military and replace with with a agile, fast response force that is heavy on special forces and long ranch attack posturing. This needs to be done before our military is crushed under its own bureaucracy.

The tax code needs to be simplified. I have two degrees and my 1040a confuses the hell out of me.

I have to balance my budget or face serious consequences, the States are required to balance their budgets; so you know what? the Federal Government should have to balance their budget every damn year….even better there should be a surplus every year that we use to pay down the god awful national debt.
States should run their own education and self fund it, the federal government should only be concerned with protecting the civil rights of children (and everyone for that matter). Which of course is the Justice Departments job. If this isnt done what started with No Child Left Behind will end with the worst education system in the world.

Finally i want to be left the hell alone. I want the government to respect me and my property. Peoples houses should not be taken from them for any reason because clearly having narrowly defined emanate domain rights leads only to abuse . The government has NO right to tap phones without a warrant. If the intelligence community has nothing better to do than stalk U.S. citizens and put them on no-fly lists i think its time we considered massively shrinking and consolidating this group of yo-yo’s. If i hear “National Security” used as a lame excuse to let officials do things that are illegal and outside the bounds of their responsibilities i swear im going to throw a boot through my tv.

When i hear a politician start saying things like that then ill be nicer to them in this blog. It wont stop me from reporting on them, but it will keep me from endorsing them…and voting for them as well.

The ‘08 Round-up

Interestingly enough no matter how discouraging the race for the next presidency is, it seems to grab most of the headlines that Britney Spears can’t. Realizing this is an important subject for some odd reason i have decided to go candidate by candidate and weigh in simply because i havent done so in some time. Truth be told there really isnt much for me in the field of hopefuls as usual but what the heck.

Ill start with the GOP:

Rudy Giuliani: The mean tempered, scandal prone mayor that shamelessly uses 9/11 for his own gain even though his administration outfitted the entire Fire Department with faulty radios (and knew it) pretty much making 9/11 all the more horrible. Ya this guy belongs at the bottom of the ocean not in the White House. Heres hoping the Bernard Kerik corruption probe leads strait back to Rudy and this time next year hes getting married to his cell mate in the shower.

Mitt Romney: The guy looks decent on paper, but i lived in MA when he was Governor and ill tell ya the guy is a one trick pony. Hes great at weeding out wasteful spending but anything other then that he handles like a impulsive twelve year old. Granted Washington spending needs to be shored up but i just dont see Romney being able to handle the multitude of other issues that would come across a presidents desk. That said he has my vote for vice president.

John McCain: Back in 2000 i fully backed McCain and even donated time to his campeign. I saw that ass-hat from Texas that we have been stuck with for nearly 7 years coming a mile away and saw McCain as a shining light to stop him. He was a dark horse not afraid to take a stand and go out on the limb with truly original ideas. But its not 2000 anymore and frankly he doesn’t shine anymore…frankly he scares the crap out of me, and like so many that used to support him i am totally alienated.

Fred Thompson: Loved him on Law and Order, but that doesnt get you elected in my mind; nor does it get my vote. On no level do i take him seriously.

Mike Huckabee: One phrase: Bible Thumping Jesus Freak. I could give a rats ass about the guys faith. Jesus doesnt balance the budget, pay off debt, fix illegal immigration, lower government spending, fix Health care, fix Social Security, Try to find an honorable way to end the Iraq conflict, and frankly from what i see neither does Mike Huckabee.

Ron Paul: When will Libertarians and Constitutionalists realize that the GOP is truly scared of them and will do anything to marginalize their movements including dangling the carrot of inclusion in the GOP in front of them? Not this election, and not anytime soon. Ron Paul may be pulling good numbers, and raising an amazing amount of dough but as long as he hangs on to the GOP hes dead in the water. He needs to take his money, rejoin the Libertarian Party (because frankly it could use all the help it can get), grab all the people that were behind Perot along with a army of media consultants, and heck a running mate like Mike Bloomberg and then he will be cooking with gas. As it stands right now hes going to walk away after the primary a rich man, but not the winner. To bad too, id love to see a third party take the helm.

Tom Tancredo and Duncan Hunter: Who?! These guys aren’t worth the space in this blog entry.

Ok, the GOP is done. Heres hoping another choice will come out of the wood work soon. On to the Dems!

Hillary Clinton: Honestly some of what she doesnt mention i like, its the stuff she talks about all the time that makes me want to move to Iceland. Shes one of the only candidates that has mentioned improving Veteran’s benefits which have been neglected for too long, one of like two or three people that have a plan for eventual energy independence (i dont like the approach shes taking but its better then nothing), Shes also in support of government reforms that would limit spending, limit lobbying, end no-bid contracts, produce comprehensive transparent budgets for each department, eliminating corporate welfare, and minimize government contractors. Based on these things id vote for her in a hot minute…its the other things that kill my support.

She wants to further prop up the health care industry with government funds and offers no solution to lower costs but to throw more money at it. Her campaign site mentions nothing about Social Security or the national debt, and most frightingly she would “reform” the No Child Left Behind Act instead of loading into a cannon and firing it strait up Bush’s pasty white ass on his way out the door. These things bring me down to a grade of 50% from a 100% for her based on the first block of information. For me she starts of strong and then promptly fizzles.

Barack Obama: The good: Comprehensive energy policy (though not as good as Clintons), One of the few that officially points out the need to weed out corruption and has a plan to do so, improving care for Veterans (though hes seems to have lifted it from Clinton), and He is literally the only one that wants to uphold and improve the voting rights that have eroded since 1999.

The bad: the same flawed and disturbing view on health care that everyone has, wants to keep No Child Left Behind, wants to spend bunches of money for hand outs to the poor rather then improve the economy as a way to more permanently fix the issue, no real plan for Iraq except for “i was against it from the start” and “lets get the hell out”, doesnt touch on debt,taxes, or Social Security…ya he doesnt get my vote either.

John Edward: When will this guy realize that the American people dont want him as president? He would have been a decent Vice President in 04 if Kerry had won ::shudders:: but really put a fork in him hes done.

Joe Biden: I love Joe Biden and if he didnt come from a state (Delaware) that completely lacks a soul and ethics i would seriously consider voting for him. He has the best plan for Iraq, hes outspoken and unapologetic (two things that score big with me), hes tough on crime, has a plan for limiting government spending, he knows foreign policy and unlike Clinton knows its going to take more then a focus for the first 60 days of the new administration to start to bring people around, He the Only one activily talking about Social Security in specific terms, and of course has the all powerful energy plan.

The problem is i cant help but shake that he may just be saying what everyone wants to hear. His plans seem too concise. Also being from Delaware the state with no usury laws and that is wholly owned by the credit banks i cant help but think hes in their pocket. Which isnt good considering the shape of the dollar. Lots of pause all around when it comes to him.

Bill Richards: I like Bill as much as Joe Biden and i dont have the same level of mistrust with him that i have for Joe. He seems well balanced and his plans are just as well thought out, with the exception of Iraq. Which could be fixed by just backing Biden’s plan. I also know that since hes from Arizona under him something would actually be done about the southern boarder, im sure i wont like it but at least its better then nothing. It’s really too bad that hes not pulling good numbers or funds, his campaign has a lot of promise.

Chris Dodd, Dennis Kucinich, and Mike Gravel: Well the bottom of the barrel for the Dems is at least entertaining! We have the ultimate Washington insider that has his hands all over pretty much every bad idea the dems have come out with since the seventies, the crazy hippie that basically wants to turn our country into a Jack Kerouac poem, and Mike Gravel who is totally imbalanced but extremely entertaining to watch as he goes of on one of his half hazard diatribes.

We Need More Than a Fence

The Mises Blog Had a nice article on the shit show that our southern boarder has become. I think the story of the possible break up of the town of Granjeno perfectly illustrates how completely inept our federal government really is. Inevitably when the federal government takes control of something local concerns fall to the wayside. This is why socialized medicine scares the crap out of me.

But I digress, clearly the boarder is a problem that needs a solution..fast…like yesterday. That said a fence is not going to do it. Within a short amount of time people migrating north will go over, under, or around it. Expanding the boarder patrol wont work either because it would be like fighting a forest fire with a thimble. Simply put with the amount of over spending happening in Washington committing to a massive expansion of the boarder patrol would only make a dire economic situation much worse.

Every time a see politicians up in arms about what to do regarding boarder penetration the same angery thought enters my mind: “Isnt this what the National Guard/Coast Guard is for?!”.

I mean honestly, the fastest most efficient and cost effective way to keep people from illegally entering this country is to militarize the boarder. Let Mexico protest its not like theyre a state, and clearly they aren’t doing anything about the problem.

It seems logical to redeploy National Guard’s training exercises, and Basic Training to boarder states. This way check points, inspections, searches, and interacting with people that have ulterior motives as well as language barriers with the solders becomes part of the regular training of our fighting force. Better for them to learn it here with people that just want to get a job then with terrorists in Iraq that have IED’s tied to their wheel wells.

A Jaunt Around Western MA

Well I’m back from my little vacation to Western Mass! I moved away from my home area about three years ago now and this was the first time since that move that i have really had a chance to see the sights and check in with my old haunts in the Springfield/Westfield area. I must say I was rather taken back by the amount of change! Usually when my hometown area is mentioned about in the news or the blog-sphere whats said is not exactly positive.

When i moved 3 years ago Springfield was in the middle of a hell storm. City hall turned out to be corrupt and that corruption coupled with Mitt Romney’s local aid cuts sent my fair city into bankruptcy. No city workers had contracts, dozens of police officers were let go, crime increased in leaps in bounds (i had a major shooting in my parking lot, and was broken into twice in the same week, oh and my g/f at the time was offered crack in exchanged for a blow job walking into my apartment), and finally the infrastructure was failing causing local businesses to flee the city along with their jobs and tax revenues. It looked very bleak as i packed my U-haul. Mayor Ryan had just started work and man did he have his work cut out for him!

You know what? He has done a bang up job!

After some state loans, shoring up wasteful spending, and admitting the fact that a major city needs to collect taxes in order to stay a float Springfield seems to be on the rebound. The Control Board (a state run group that has overseen the city since the down fall) and Ryan have had to make some hard and sometimes unpopular choices but it looks like it has paid off. Old buildings that are home for drug activity have been torn down, 40 cops have been added to the force, the budget has been balanced 3 years running. Now there are some capital investments returning to the city and the downtown area is more alive then it was when i lived there, which of course has something to do with the completion of the Mass Mutual Center. Clearly Springfield has a long road ahead but at least the city is moving in the right direction.

As near as i can tell the only real annoyance to residences is a 90 dollar a year trash fee on top of property taxes. Many people are saying the city is double dipping with this but i get what Ryan and Co are doing. This is a way to raise the property tax without raising the property tax. The city needs to raise revenue in order to pay off debts and continue this momentum and get the economy roling, but if they raise property taxes to do it will hurt bussnes, growth, and so forth. Nevermind the fact that Springfield tax law is rather tedious, it would be very difficult to raise and then lower the tax rate once the short term goals have been met. The answer is clear: a temporary tax like the trash tax that is easily set up because it is outside of the norm and then simply repeal it once the debt obligations are met. In short it preserves the property tax rate. I’m a Libertarian and i completely get and support what hes trying to do…as long as it does get repealed of course.

In short my support goes to Ryan for this voting cycle and i sincerely hope he wins because of what he has accomplished through deliberate and careful planning.

One little note on Westfield: where did all the banks come from?! there is a different bank on every street corner, it seems rather excessive. I counted 7 new banks on top of the ones that have always been there.