Lower Gasoline Prices Predicted–Why?

The average price of gas nationally has declined to $3.67 ($3.34 this weekend in my area)a gallon from nearly $4 a gallon last month, and some forecasters predict prices will continue to fall through summer. Nonetheless, prices remain $1 higher than a year ago.

In a recent Wall Street Journal/NBC News poll, 69% of respondents said they had been affected "a great deal" or "quite a bit" by an increase in gas prices this year, compared with 55% hit by a jump in food prices, 28% by an increase in the unemployment rate and 22% by a rise in the number of home foreclosures.

Wallace Tyner, an economist at Purdue University in West Lafayette, Ind., said the volatility—and visibility—of gas prices have a great impact on consumer psychology. "Every gas station has the price posted in big numbers that are a constant reminder of the changes," he said

Okay, everyone who thinks that the big players in the market are nudging the price down in a play to help Obama’s approval ratings raise your hand…

Lower gas prices will certainly be better for the economy this summer.  It is probably the single best thing that could happen to our economy right now- helping everything from tourism to grocery prices.  Since this governments policy is not to allow more drilling here, and instead to continue to buy oil from the same people who are funding those trying to kill us – it is the only viable choice to help flagging political ratings.

And why is gas dropping in price?  Summer blends are usually more expensive, aren’t they?  Are we not still in Afghanistan and Iraq?  Did Israel and the PLO suddenly reach a settlement?  Are they no longer fighting in Syria?  Yemen?  Did achmadinajihad step down and a Israel/USA loving president take control of Iran?  Did India and China cut Oil Imports?

You mean that the flooding in Nebraska, Iowa, and Missouri and the fires and drought in the Southwest aren’t enough of an excuse to keep prices high?

What do you think?

We Failed This Generation

“Our Daddies won the war, then they came home to our moms
They gave 'em so much love that all us kids were born.”

They say the strongest steel is formed from the metal that has been hammered and folded the most.  If this is true the two generations that preceded the Baby Boom: The Greatest Generation, and the so called Silent Generation, were strong steel indeed.  The earliest of the Greatest Generation were born around 1901.  Their parents and grandparents were children of the Civil War.  They saw the end of the horse and the rise of the automobile.  (And we think the transition from Dial up to Broadband was a big deal).  They came of age during WWI, and were becoming adults at the start of the Great Depression.  By this time the weak and the lazy had been weeded out.  They knew hardship, they knew pain, and yet they believed in freedom.  After the attack on Pearl Harbor the whole generation went to war.  More death, more suffering, and the strong survived.  The group slightly behind them were children during the Depression, too young to go and fight, they are called the Silent Generation.  They saw and dealt with, as children all the things their older brothers, sisters, aunts and uncles went through.  They also knew hardship and pain, and loss.  They lost family during the war, they dealt with the rationing at home, they read the news reports, and watched the news at the theater.
These two generations are probably the toughest ever born in our nation.  They had inner and outer strength and they were patriotic and knew America held a special place in the world.  They were also the first generation of Americans who were wealthy enough to be able to give their kids the things they did not have as children.  Our culture became very Child-centric.  If the returning soldiers could have been warned that they needed to guard their families every day from the cultural rot that would take place in the schools and if they would have talked to their chidren about why they fought in the war and what it meant the story would be different.  But it seems many of them chose to just move on with their lives and shield their children from the evils of tyranny.  I recently heard of a man who waited 37 years to tell his family what he did in the war and what it meant to him.  He was a Silver Star recipient and knew first hand the evils of Statism.

“We all grew up on Mickey Mouse and hula hoops.
Then we all bought BMW's and brand new pick-up trucks.
And we watched John Kennedy die one afternoon.
Kids of the Baby Boom.”

But if the strongest steel comes from being forged under pressure, what does that say about the steel that never was put through the trials and heat?  Their parents seeking a better life for their kids than the ones they had gave them more than any generation of children before had ever had.  It was a time of stupendous growth in the USA.  Suburbs were born, many families had two cars, food was bought at the store, and nearly everyone had a television and a phone.  People took vacations on the new highways that were built.  Route 66 became famous.  RVs were invented.  People began to use Dishwashers, & Clothes Washers, we put a man on the moon.  It was magical.

“It was a time of new prosperity in the USA.
All us fortunate offspring never had to pay.
We had sympathy for the devil and the Rolling Stones.
Then we got a little older, we found Haggard and Jones.
A generation screaming for room.
Kids of the Baby Boom.”

The Baby Boomers, and the mini-generation behind them, the so called Generation Jones, grew up in a culture, the speed of advancement and wealth of which had never been seen before in the world.  Then we were drawn into the Vietnam Conflict and these kids were called upon to go and fight as their parents and grandparents had done.  The stated goal was to contain Communism, but the threat to our society was intangible to most and the war was fought literally from the oval office.  Many of their parents were shocked that their kids would question answering the call.  They would have never done so.  But these kids were different and most assuredly this war was different.  We won it on the battlefield and lost it in public opinion and the media.  All of this of course spawned the counterculture, the summer of love, Woodstock, “I’m OK, You’re OK”; Tuning in and Dropping out, Free Love, Open Society, the SDS & The Port Huron Statement,  The Black Panthers, & the Weather Underground. 
And the communists and socialists smiled. 
People began to fear the government instead of the other way around.  The Culture had changed, moral relativism and a turning away from core beliefs had begun.  History was seen as irrelevant at best, and untrue at worst.

“Kids of the Baby Boom,
We have freedom, we have money.
Baby Boom, here in the land of milk and honey.
Counting our chickens way too soon.
Kids of the Baby Boom.
Now we all can run computers and we all can dance.
We all have Calvin Klein written on our underpants.
And at 6 o'clock like robots we turn on the news.
And watch those third-world countries deal out more abuse.
Remember the first man on the moon.
Kids of the Baby Boom.”

The economy turned sour, the middle east began to be a concern, terrorism began its rise.  The cold war was in full swing and the Boomers and The Jones’ began having their babies.  Reagan was elected.  The economy got better, a new time of prosperity in America.  They thought they had seen hardship because of the Gas Crisis and Stagflation.  Boomers are known as being a bit self involved.  It was the generation where Sociology and Psychology really came to prominence. Self-Esteem was born as a concept. Their children grew up at the Dawn of MTV (as opposed to now, where MTV is dead; youtube taking its’ place) .  We of Generation X grew up as children of the hippies.  We lived in a very real time of fear of communist takeover and nuclear war.  Our generation was the first raised by divorced parents, where both parents worked outside the home, we were left alone much of the time.  The television and the Atari, later NES, were our baby sitters.  Computers began to be used in the home.  We grew up watching movies from the video store.  We are the so-called latch-key kids.  The drugs and the music that a lot of the kids of this generation were hooked on seemed far less fun and happy than the drugs and the music of their parents.   Schools were pressured to discontinue punishing students and parents wanted teachers to “like, quit hassling my kids, man”. 
The kids born to the X generation wanted to be friends with their kids more and more instead of being parents.  Competition began to be seen as something less than good.  Political Correctness began its’ march to prominence.  Teachers began to teach to tests.  A generation of students raised under the Great Society Welfare Boom, did their own version of “dropping out.”   We quit saying the Pledge, and Prayer was outlawed in school.  Being a Christian began to carry a stigma.
Things like “New Math” and “Small Group work” (little more than music circles themselves) took over from “Readin’, Ritin, and Rithmatic”.
Children were no longer held back for failure, indeed by the end of the Nineties, there was almost no way to actually Fail.  College began to be seen not as something to aim for, but something that was expected.  A Degree was turned from something indicating a certain level of learning to a “gimme a job” certificate.  Teachers were encouraged not to use red ink because it was hurtful to self esteem.
Gen Y went through high school, (the ones that went, and the ones that were not already being home or private schooled) under this system. 
Now, Gen Y is having children. 
A generation of kids who had little clear direction and parental guidance, who all got ribbons and trophies just for being on a team that they didn’t even try out for having kids.
But the kids aren’t stupid, they are ignorant.  They were raised believing lies and half truths peddled by the spin doctors of the liberal media, the liberal education system and the nanny state.
Thus is the state of Education in this country,  and the failure is not the kids’ failure to learn.  It is the older generations failure to teach and guide.  It is the Boomers, Jones and X’s not understanding proper role of  government and the importance of character.  It is an increasingly liberal government subsidizing birth rates, divorce, and encouraging welfare and dependency.  
We have lost our way; and we haven’t really given our kids a map.  If our society’s light goes out, it will not be their failure, but ours.

Government Does not Create; it Destroys

When Missouri achieved statehood in 1821, tens of thousands of immigrants rushed in looking for a better life. Many were escaping political, religious and economic oppression in Europe. Missouri's abundant and virtually untapped resources attracted large numbers of immigrants from Germany, France, Switzerland, Austria and eventually Italy. The rich soils, expansive waterway connections, timber and abundant game made Missouri a veritable Eden for the poor and the landless.

In 1824, Gottfried Duden, an optimistic traveler from Germany, arrived
on Missouri soil. He believed that many of Germany's woes resulted from overpopulation and poverty. Thinking emigration was the solution to these problems, Duden and his friend Louis Eversmann had set sail for America
to study the possibilities of German settlement in the United States.

Arriving in St. Louis, Duden and Eversmann found Nathan Boone, son of Daniel Boone and surveyor of government lands. Boone led them on a tour of the Missouri River valley.  For almost three years he lived in a cabin near Lake Creek, recording the weather, growing conditions and daily doings on his farm. In 1829 Duden published his findings back in Germany and it soon became a best-seller. To struggling—even starving—Germans back home, these words offered an almost irresistible allure of freedom and plenty. Feeling the oppression back home, the promotional writings of many Germans, including Duden's glowing account, inspired thousands of Germans to emigrate to the "New Rhineland."

As German settlers pushed westward, many carried carefully-wrapped clippings from their old world vineyards. Many of the groups traveled down the Ohio River from Cincinnati, to the Mississippi and up to the mouth of the Missouri River at St. Louis, right in the footsteps of Gottfried Duden.

Moving to a new land caused a deep yearning to preserve their heritage. In 1836, the German Settlement Society was intent on establishing a new "Fatherland" in America. They selected some land on the south bank of the Missouri River, west of St. Louis, and founded Hermann. The original town was laid out with some plots originally sold as wine plots, beginning in the 1840s. Though their settlement met with many hardships and the soil on the hills nearby wasn't appropriate for many forms of agriculture, by 1846 they had produced their first wine from locally cultivated grapes. In 1848, the town's wineries produced 1,000 gallons. By 1855, 500 acres of vineyard were in production and wine was being shipped to St. Louis and beyond. 

By 1870 Missouri led the nation in wine production and the North American Norton grape produced a wine made by a Missouri winery which won a gold medal in a Vienna competition in 1873. Five years later, another Missouri Norton Wine  Gold in Paris.  Norton wine was lauded not just for its taste but also for its presumed healthfulness as “the best medicinal wine in America.”  Missouri wines won eight gold medals at world fairs between 1873 and 1904

By 1900, Stone Hill Winery, which the German immigrant Michael Poeschel began building in 1847, was the third largest winery in the world (second largest in the U.S.), producing more than a million gallons of wine a year.

Before 1920, there were wineries in 48 Missouri counties. Long before anyone had ever heard of Harry Truman, Independence MO was known for its wine production. In fact, Missouri's Wine region grew to include more than 100 wineries.

It all came to an abrupt halt in 1920 with the passing of the Volstead Act and the addition of the 18th amendment to the Constitution.  Prohibition dealt a fatal blow to Missouri's wine industry. Many families lost their livelihood. The destruction of Stone Hill Winery completely ruined the local economy.  A full decade before the stock market crash of 1929, Hermann was plunged into the Great Depression.

It is said that when the Government Agents, “Revenuers” came to Stone Hill and began pouring the wine out, it flowed through the streets from three in the afternoon until two in the morning in a river three inches deep down the street and into the Missouri River.

But they didn’t stop there.  They destroyed all the equipment in such a way it could never be used again.  In most cases the only wine making equipment that survived was that which was taken to local churches, because they were exempted from the act so they could make their sacramental wines.   In fact, the only Missouri winery to survive this dry period was St. Stanislaus Novitiate, located in St. Louis, where the Jesuits continued to produce sacramental wine.

Following repeal of the act in 1934, Missouri's wine industry was nothing but a memory. High liquor taxes and license fees discouraged the industry's rebirth. People’s tasts had shifted as well to hard liquor as a result of the speakeasies, bathtub gin, gangsters, and moonshiners. A few dozen wineries did reopen, but much of Missouri remained legally dry, and a there was little demand for anything other than sweet, dessert-style wines. 

Some Norton vines survived in Missouri in what has been described as the vineyard of a bootlegger.  Prohibition’s destruction eradicated the Norton grape entirely from Virginia, its birthplace.

In 1965 Jim Held, a legitimate vintner obtained cuttings and started bringing the vine and Missouri winemaking back. Winemaking is on the rise in Missouri again, but the industry as a whole was probably set back one hundred years.  One article at the time says that a billion dollars (1920 dollars, second only to US Steel) was lost in the US in an instant due to the complete and utter destruction of the Alcohol Industry and lest we forget that is not just breweries, distilleries and vineyards. 

It is farms, labor, equipment manufacturers, bottlers, distributors (rail, sea, and highway), salesman, advertisers, retailers…everything: gone or greatly reduced.

But think about this, whether you like wine, or even don’t drink a drop of alcohol at all; this was a big big industry.  This was people’s culture, it was their livelihoods and their life’s work.  They came HERE from somewhere else to live their dreams.  They built something from nothing. The came to the US to build something and to make their families’ lives better and believed in the promise this country held enough to risk their lives to come here.  They were the leaders in their fields the champions of the industry.  They did it here, it was in America.  It was a legacy.  If not for prohibition Missouri, and by extension US wine, could have eclipsed all French or Italian winemaking.  We will never know.

How many of us would like to see our life’s work run through the streets and into the river and be gone; destroyed simply because of political pressure and authority?

We lost our history, people lost fortunes.  And it wasn’t an outside force that did it.  It was well meaning do-gooders who thought they could legislate morality.  We did it to ourselves, and we used our own government against us.

Think of all the other things that the US was or is known for being truly exceptional at.  Would you like to lose those simply due to government involvement?

The Automobile industry?  Oh, wait….nevermind.

The Fast Food and Soft drink industry…under assault

Possibly the best example:  The oil industry and our dependence on foreign oil.

The cost of gasoline in this country today is a direct result of us allowing political pressure to mandate economic and industrial reality based on a set of beliefs that are held by a certain set of people to the detriment of us all.  It is because of climate change alarmists and what amounts to a Volstead Act on the Oil Industry in this country.

Government is only force, fire, and destruction; it cannot create one thing and it is a power that doesn’t care who it is directed at.  It is simply a monster of destruction and chaos and you can never control it, and it would just as soon hurt one group as it would another.

Our only defense is in understanding what has been done with it in the past.

WWRD(What Would Reagan Do) about Wisconsin?

We will get to that, but first some background on what has happened in Wisconsin.

Governor Scott Walker of Wisconsin has proposed rolling back state workers’ benefits and their right to collective bargaining to help bridge Wisconsin’s budget deficits. But Democrats in the Wisconsin Senate have fled the state, leaving that chamber short of a quorum, and the state Capitol in Madison has become the site of protests against Walker’s plans. Over 40% of Madison WI public school teachers staged a “Sick Out” day in protest. 

State law prohibits public school teachers from striking. So did Wednesday's "sick-out" by Madison School District teachers constitute an illegal strike?

No, said John Matthews, Madison Teachers Inc. executive director, who called the event "a political action," not a strike.

"They're not protesting against their employers," he said. "The employer had nothing to do with this. This is trying to save public education in Wisconsin."

Madison school officials didn't respond immediately Wednesday to requests for comment.

Peter Davis, legal counsel with the Wisconsin Employment Relations Commission, which administers the state's collective bargaining laws, declined to say whether the action — in which 40 percent of the Madison union's 2,600 members called in sick as of late Tuesday — amounted to a strike since his organization could be called on to make that judgment in any complaint against MTI.

But in general, Davis said, a strike includes any concerted work stoppage by municipal employees, any concerted interruption of operation of services, or any concerted refusal to work or perform normal duties for the purpose of enforcing demands on a municipal employer.

 

So the head of the bloodsucking union says it is not a strike But the law would seem to suggest differently.  Well as I have always said History has the answers:

On August 3, 1981 nearly 13,000 of the 17,500 members of the Professional Air Traffic Controllers Organization (PATCO) walked off the job, hoping to disrupt the nation's transportation system to the extent that the federal government would accede to its demands for higher wages, a shorter work week, and better retirement benefits.  At a press conference in the White House Rose Garden that same day, President Reagan responded with a stern ultimatum: The strikers were to return to work within 48 hours or face termination.  As federal employees the controllers were violating the no-strike clause of their employment contracts.  In 1955 Congress had made such strikes a crime punishable by a fine or one year of incarceration -- a law upheld by the Supreme Court in 1971.  Nevertheless, 22 unauthorized strikes had occurred in recent years -- by postal workers, Government Printing Office and Library of Congress employees, and by air traffic controllers who staged "sick-outs" in 1969 and 1970.

Negotiations between PATCO and the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) began in February 1981.  PATCO president Robert Poli demanded an across-the-board wage increase of $10,000/yr for controllers whose pay ranged from $20,462 to $49,229; the reduction of a five-day, 40-hour work week to a four-day, 32-hour work week; and full retirement after 20 years service -- a package with a $770 million price tag. The FAA began work on a contingency plan that would go into effect if a strike occurred.

There wasn't much support for the PATCO strikers.  The public sided with the government and exhibited little sympathy for individuals whose earnings were already well above the national average.   PATCO leaders were hauled off to jail for ignoring court injunctions against a strike.  The Justice Department proceeded with indictments against 75 controllers.  Federal judges levied fines amounting to $1 million a day against the union while the strike lasted. Over 11,000 strikers received their pink slips, while 1,200 went back to work within a week's time.  Morale among the strikers was shaky. "I thought Reagan was bluffing," lamented one controller.  In October the Federal Labor Relations Authority decertified PATCO.

According to journalist Haynes Johnson, the decisive manner in which Reagan handled the PATCO strike convinced many Americans that he was "the kind of leader the country longed for and thought it had lost: a strong president" -- in sharp contrast to the widely-held view that Reagan's predecessor, Jimmy Carter, had been too indecisive.  Reagan stressed that he derived no satisfaction from sacking the controllers.  He pointed out that he was the first president to be a lifetime member of the AFL-CIO.  And he was aware that PATCO had been one of the few unions to support his presidential bid.  "I supported unions and the rights of workers to organize and bargain collectively," he wrote in his memoirs, " but no president could tolerate an illegal strike by Federal employees."

SO…

I think Walker is doing the right thing, and likely not being tough enough.  I am not a lawyer, but what about passing a temporary executive order allowing vouchers so parents could send their children to private schools?  Take the money from the school system and let the parents use it to educate their kids elsewhere. 

This has nothing to do with “Saving Public Education”  this is simple union thuggery.  As for the lawmakers who refuse to return, subpoena’s should be issued and they should be forcibly brought back to the capitol.  Not sure about Wisconsin but that is legal at the federal level.

-KOOK

Weimar Republic 2.0: The Obama Version. The Rentenmark, Glenn Beck, and The Future.

  This is a repost of a post I wrote almost exactly a year ago.  Glenn brought this up again a day or so ago, and I agree that this is all very likely.   Here is what he said on his radio show:

http://www.glennbeck.com/content/articles/article/198/46725/ 

“PAT: And they seem to be setting up exactly what happened in the Weimar Republic to finally turn that situation around.

GLENN: Yes.

PAT: And that's after the hyperinflation, what saved Germany? They valued land. They went to a land standard and that's what -- they burned the rest of the money and they based it all on land and what is the Federal Government doing here now? But taking over all our property.

GLENN: They're taking the property. They're --

PAT: 98% of all new mortgages.

GLENN: They've got all -- 98% of all new mortgages are underwritten by the Federal Government. You will become a renter to the Federal Government. If there's any way you can pay off your house, you should pay off your house. And I know people will say that's nuts, but I'm telling you, you've got to own things, because that is what they did in Weimar. They just took it. I don't know if you're going to be able to keep it. We've never been in this situation before. Very few countries have and none of them have come out the other side. That's how dire this situation is.”

 Who Owns The Land in the United States, what is the Rentenmark?

The United States Government owns 30% of all land in the United States right off of the top (see map).  But more than that, Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac own half of all outstanding mortgage debt or about $6 Trillion worth.  Harder to get a handle one is how much of the still remaining mortgage debt is owned by banks that by virtue of receiving TARP money are run by the Government.  If the bank that you owe your mortgage payment to is run by the government then your mortgage is basically government owned.   The States also own land, one of the guvernator’s ideas in Caulifornya was to sell State parks to the Fed.  As State budgets get worse there may be more who start to think that is a good idea. I think it would be safe to say that very near 50% of land in this nation is owned by the Feral Government. So? In 1914 Germany abandoned Gold as the backing for their currency (we did it in steps finally abandoning it completely in the seventies) and began printing money based on “Trust” in the Federal Government (like the dollar) this was called the Papeiermark.    After WWI Germany was forced to pay reparations to the rest of Europe.  To pay their debt they printed money…well like we are.  This caused inflation to be so horribly bad… well here was the joke: “Grandma put her money in her grocery basket to go to the store, a mugger stole the basket and left the money.”   Soon this currency was totally worthless (this is what happens when you put your trust in the government). Along came Hjalmar Schacht.  He was basically the Hank Paulson/Tim Geithner  of Germany.  What the Germans did to get their currency under control was to create a new currency, the Rentenmark.  The new Rentenmark currency was based on Real Estate.  Horace Schacht mortgaged all the land owned by Germany and created money with the mortgaged land. He sold the German land.  He mortgaged the house.  He sold the farm.  My personal opinion of Schacht was that he did what he felt he had to do given the situation he was placed in.  It did work, but at what price? So…Germany owned a lot of foreign countries a lot of money…and they printed money as fast as they could…to pay their debt…causing their money to be worthless…so then…because they already owned a lot of the land in the country…they mortgaged all the land they owned…and made new money. Hey wait a minute… we are printing money fast enough to make ink worth more than oil…and we owe foreign countries a lot of money…and our country owns nearly half of land and homes in the country… hmmm Beck mentioned this whole scenario on his show one day a month or so ago and I have read up on it since then. My previous theory was that he would run our debt up so much we would go into a world bankruptcy court and and as a condition of accepting a world currency and losing stature in the world our debt would be written off. Obama would sell a Global Currency and Global Government to the American people by saying that we are so screwed we HAVE to accept the global currency, .  But this is even more plausible. Using this idea it also begins to make sense why we have laws preventing oil drilling even though there is a lot of oil left in our country we are just sitting on.  Ditto for coal mining, and many other resources.  IT MAKES THE LAND WORTH MORE. It has to be something similar to this, because no group of even marginally sane individuals could spend the kind of money they are spending without any thought to what will happen. Not that our politicians are sane. So what is the worst that could happen.  Zimbabwe could happen that is what.  All of the information is readily available so here is what happened in a nutshell. In the 80’s and 90’s despite droughts Zimbabwe had a decent economy.  It was largely agricultural but the country also had large mineral deposits which were lucrative.  They had adequate electricity and transportation was good.  Then the new ruler of the country decided to “spread the wealth around” and take all the land from the producers and give it to local “oppressed” people and the agricultural output fell over 50%. To help the problem the Government created they began to regulate, well, everything. As a result “Atlas Shrugged”  Now they have to buy electricity because they cannot fix their equipment.  Foreign investment is gone.  Interest rates are well north of 200% (fantastic but true) and unemployment is around 80%.  It is the Obama model.  It is the change I believe they believe in.

-Kook

Missouri 7th Primary Election Candidates and Issues Aug 3rd 2010

We are just a few days away.  Voting is important, Everyone needs to get to the polls in the Primary Elections.  Maybe the most important thing on the Missouri Primary Ballot this year is Proposition C which will put the MO Constitutional  Amendment blocking Obamacare on the Ballot in November.


To see what State Senate District you live in Click below:
http://www.senate.mo.gov/pdf-maps/newdistricts.htm
To see what State Assembly (State house of Representatives) District you live in click below:
http://www.house.mo.gov/billtracking/maps/2001statehouse_e.pdf
To see Candidates for Missouri State Offices click here : http://www.votesmart.org/election_state.php?state_id=MO 
To see Candidates for Federal Office Click here:
http://www.votesmart.org/election_congress_state.php?state_id=MO&go33.x=19&go33.y=11
To Find out WHERE you Vote click here:
http://www.sos.mo.gov/elections/goVoteMissouri/default.aspx
Ballot Measures include:
2010-11-02
Constitutional Amendment 1 Election of County Assessors
2010-11-02
Constitutional Amendment 2 Former Prisoners of War Property Tax Exemption
2010-08-03
Proposition C Participation in a Federal Health Care System  WHICH I WILL BE VOTING YES ON…we want this  so we can avoid the personal mandate of Obamacare.

There are 7 Candidates for US House Of Representatives 7th District running on the Republican Ticket.  I will not say who I am voting for.  What I will say is that there are 4 Good Candidates in my Opinion, they are: Jeff Wisdom, Jack Goodman, Gary Nodler, and Michael Wardell.  I have spoken to these four each briefly and only long enough to make a first impression (with the exception of Wardell who I have spoken to quite a bit).  Any of these four would be acceptable if they do as they have stated they will do.  I do have a candidate picked out, he is the one I believe balances ability to win in November with true constitutional values.
Who I WILL NOT be voting for is Billy Wrong…er I mean Long.  A vote for Billy Long = terrible decision on the part of the 7th district.
For the State Senate we have one Republican Candidate running unopposed…RON RICHARD
For US Senate the only real Choice for me is Roy Blunt
For Auditor we have : ALLEN ICET or  TOM SCHWEICH 
There has been some nasty ads and accusations for the auditor job.  Schweich supposedly gave 500 dollars to Claire Bear in 2001…which makes me gag, but he worked for John Bolton and John Ashcroft, and is a bit of an outsider.
Icet is a term limited Missouri state representative…. with just about all the Missouri Congress behind him.  He seems to be the GOP establishment favorite…
THE MAIN THING IS BE AN INFORMED VOTER AND VOTE!
-KOOK

There is more than one kind of equality

Cross Posted at Left Coast Rebel


"We hold these truths to be self evident that all men are created equal..."

That is a loaded phrase in itself. We can argue the meaning of nearly every word. Whether you believe in an actual Creator or not, it is hard to dispute that we are created. Perhaps a more modern way (although not better) of saying it would be "...all people begin life equal". That is not exactly what "created" means to me but it is an acceptable paraphrasing if creation would offend someone. But what about this "equal" thing.

Equal does not mean "same". Surely no rational person would argue we are all the same. Even when we are first born we are all different. Life is wonderful because of diversity. Anyone who would prefer to live in an ant colony has a bleak outlook at best. So equal does not mean that we look or behave the same. As we grow we become more different. This results in the long limbs and torso narrow waist and broad shoulders that make an Olympic swimmer; the size, musculature, and near preternatural quickness that makes an NFL linebacker; the innovative, questioning, and exacting mind of an inventor, or the compassion and intelligence it takes to become a doctor. With these differences in ability and structure come different levels of capacity for achievement. I will never be an NFL lineman, a great painter, a ballerina, or invent the next iPhone. But there are many things that I am quite good at, and my opportunities are wide and varied, if not actually infinite.

We are not physically or mentally all the same.

Not to burst anyone's bubble but realistically speaking we are not even all born with the same opportunities. If Paris Hilton had not been born a Hilton it is unlikely she would have had a tv show, been in a movie, had a recording deal, or been a fashion icon. If Chelsea Clinton was not the daughter of Hill and Bill she would not be getting married at the old Astor estate. I was born with more opportunity than almost anyone born in Zimbabwe or China. Malia Obama has a much different position in life than any other little girl from Chicago just by virtue of who she is.

So even when we are born we are not equal in actual position.

So we are not equal in ability or position but we are also not equally different:

The range is not all or nothing. It is different by intricate and infinitesimal degrees. A person not born into Paris Hiltons position could very well become more successful or famous. Rags to riches stories still happen here everyday. But what separates Ussain Bolt from Tyson Gay as fastest man alive? Less than Milliseconds.


So in what way are people equal? How can men be equal when they are so different?

Because of our differences in ability and position the only way to MAKE us the same is to treat people differently. To give to some and take from others and, yet, we will all still be different. Because we really cannot give; we can only take.

So if people are born different, have different opportunities by birth, and the only way to make people the same is to treat the differently then how can we be Equal?

By controlling the only thing we actually have control over. Our interpersonal dealings. The dealings of people can be dealt with equally. We can TREAT all people equally. We can do unto others; how we would like others to do unto us. And being that we are not all equally moral or ethical and must create governments to protect the non-aggressive from the aggressive evildoers in our midst then the best we can do is to create such a government where all people are treated equally under the law. That is all I ask for.

To take it one step further we have to decide as a species if we are going to seek material equality (as Obama and the socialists are for) or equality under the law (as the founders were for) because you cannot have both. If we decide on material equality then we must treat everyone differently under the law. And if we choose equality under the law then we will necessarily have to accept differences in material possessions.

And if we choose material equality then we will remove the wide and varied opportunities that now exist to better ones position than that which they received at birth.




It would likely keep the Norma Jeans of the world from becoming Marilyn Monroe, or Elvis A Presley from becoming the King of Rock and Roll; or of Cassius Clay becoming Muhammad Ali. Of course, it would also limit the ability of Paris Hilton to be, well, Paris Hilton.



We can't have it both ways.

Kook
-via my iPhone

The top 10 Differences Between Right Blogistan and the JournoListers

10. Journolisters largely have ivy league degrees and are paid for the opinions which they recite from Left Blogistan talking points; RightieBloggers typically are working class people or small business owners who have day jobs…
9.  JournoListers are mostly from the Coasts and Urban; RightieBloggers are from Coast to Coast including the Flyover and the South (according to my map), and many are Rural (like me)…
8. JournoListers hail from dying newspapers, dying network news broadcasts, failing magazines, obscure blogs, and PMSNBC; Rightybloggers are independent and may affiliate themselves with booming talk radio, Fox news, and BOOKS…
7. JournoListers wait to see what the consensus is, formulate it, homogenize it, and then Present it; RightyBloggers seem to usually have a consensus on a topic when the topic is presented, presumably stemming from shared principles and beliefs…
6. JournoListers try to Shape public Opinion by spinning the news of the Day; RighyBloggers respond WITH their Opinion on the news of the day, which according to the polls, IS Public Opinion…
5.  JournoListers worldview is shaped by the writings of Marx, Engels, Sanger, Roosevelt, Wilson, Keynes, Alinsky, Cloward, Piven, and Soros; RighyBloggers worldviews are shaped by Aristotle, Cicero, Locke, Smith, Paine, Goldwater, Reagan, Franklin, Jefferson, Madison, Hayek, Thatcher,  Human Nature and History…
4. JournoListers Worked hard to hide the fact the administration is failing; RightieBloggers simply comment on the fact that the ship is going down…
3. JournoListers believe that Perception is Reality; RightieBloggers know truths and facts are stubborn things…
2. JournoListers have every failed Socialist Experiment on their Side; RightieBloggers have history on their side…
And the number one Difference between Journolisters and the Residents of Right Blogistan?…
1. Journolisters did their work behind a secure firewall by invitation only; RightieBloggers do their work out in the open in a Come-one-come-all fashion, allowing all comments and viewpoints, but as one of our members so rightly says “all comments are welcome but not all will be Right.”  We do our work out in the open sunshine where everyone can see and contribute; they do theirs behind closed doors with the shades drawn low.
Makes you think they thought they had something to hide doesn’t it?
-KOOK

Update on Free Market Solutions to Oil Spill

To read the back stories go here:

 Allied Liberty News- Dear Government, Re- Oil Spill, You're doing it wrong reason number 86,347.

Dear Govt., RE- Oil Spill, You're STILL doing it wrong – reason 86, 348.

To Govt Re- Oil Spill, you’re doing it wrong. Reason 86, 349

Update: Costner's machines working "fantastic"

Actor Kevin Costner fought tooth and nail to get his centrifuge devices deployed in the Gulf to battle the ever-growing oil slick.
Now that some of the machines are in place, just how are they working?
"They're doing fantastic," said John Houghtaling, Costner's chief partner in the project. "The three that we have in the deep water are now processing 600,000 gallons per day...and those are just with three machines."
Houghtaling said that two other machines have been deployed in shallower waters.
According to Houghtaling, crews are working at a fever-pace to get the remaining 27 machines ordered by BP into action in the Gulf of Mexico.

UPDATE: Latest news on “A Whale”:

The verdict on the A Whale super oil skimmer is not yet in. Fifteen-foot waves in the Gulf are hampering Coast Guard tests of the 10-story-tall, 1,100-foot-long ship that started its journey to the Gulf oil spill as a "lightbulb moment" of inspiration for Taiwanese shipping magnate Nobu Su, its owner.

Though early tests of the ship's oil-collecting ability were inconclusive, spirits are reportedly running high among the 35-member crew maneuvering the A Whale near the Deepwater Horizon spill, where the oil is the thickest. Whether Mr. Su's mega ship gets hired by BP depends on the kind of oil-sucking efficiency the retrofitted iron ore tanker can demonstrate while working on a widely dispersed spill under less-than-ideal conditions.

The A Whale's capacity is said to be 300,000 barrels of oil (12.6 million gallons) collected in a 10-hour period, a 125-fold improvement over the next-largest skimmer working the spill. But that's a best-case scenario, experts say.

 

UPDATE: EVTN Receives Order to Trial its Underwater Voraxial Separator

LAUDERDALE, Fla., July 13 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ Enviro Voraxial Technology, Inc. (OTCBB: EVTN) today announced that it has received a purchase order to deploy the innovative, underwater version of EVTN's high volume Voraxial 4000 Separator. EVTN envisions its unique underwater design as the core technology for an advanced generation of skimmer vessels to facilitate the Gulf clean-up effort and to effectively protect the environment from future offshore oil spills. Other technologies that have been deployed in the Gulf followed a similar trial process

-yep, free market still functioning when allowed and government still doing it wrong…

-KOOK

ObamaCare and Social Security: Insurance when convenient; A Tax when necessary.

Cross Posted at Left Coast Rebel

There are not enough curse words and  epithets to fully express how I feel right now.  Obama is playing the same playbook to keep obamacare that FDR did to swindle the American  People into swallowing OASDI, better known as Social Security.  Remember, so many of us said that it is unconstitutional to require people to buy insurance…well, duh, we have been there before.  OASDI is an insurance when it needs to be and the rest of the time it is a tax… First read part of an excellent post done by Les over at Rational Nation USA  and also posted here on LCR so that you can understand what I am so exercised about…

Remember back when ObamaCare collectivism was being debated?  Recall that the"One", and his Democrat minions, declared that the mandate to purchase health care was not a tax? Surprise! Now that the progressive collectivist have won another for the books they are switching the tune.
The Obama administration is now declaring in open court the mandate requiring  an individual to purchase health insurance, scheduled to take effect in 2014, is simply an exercise of the government's "power to lay and collect taxes." In addition, their belief is that this power exceeds even the federal government power to regulate interstate commerce.
In a brief filed by the Justice Department in response to the challenges in court by over twenty states ans several private concerns the Obama administration take the position the mandate to purchase health care coverage is "a valid exercise" of Congress's power to impose taxes. The department said the Congress can use its taxing power "even for purposes that would exceed its power under other provisions" of the Constitution.
Here is what Obama had to say earlier during the debates over collectivist ObamaCare in an interview with G. Stephanopoulos on ABC's program "This Week."
"For us to say that you've got to take responsibility to get health insurance is absolutely not a tax increase." When Mr. Stephanopoulos stated, referring to a dictionary,  the mandate appeared to fit the definition of a tax the President replied, "I absolutely reject that notion."


Okay, first it was not a tax. Now that the collectivist Obamacare is law it is suddenly a tax  the Congress has every right and power to levy. Whew, I guess when you are "Obama the One" your only principle need be one that furthers your agenda. Even if that means being disingenuous or down right dishonest
I don't know if I am correct here. But I am certainly seeing the dark shadow of increasing statist progressive collectivism and it's belief that the tax payers money is the really the governments and therefor they have the right and power to tax whatever the H they so determine is appropriate.
Read the full content of the article in Money & Policy...The New York Times.
Cross posted at Left Coast Rebel.

Rational Nation USA
Now… How does social Security factor in?  Because they did the SAME THING before.  It was “insurance” when being sold to the american people…until people who were philosophically against insurance spoke up…then it was a tax.  It is Insurance when convenient and a Tax when necessary… Read my old post here, snippets of which are below.

“When the bill we call Social Security (OASDI) was first introduced in 1935 it was full of all kinds of Insurance jargon, and it was explained as an Insurance policy, by none other than FDR himself. Why? Well, during the Depression most financial institutions failed, which is why the FDIC was created. Insurance companies were by and large spared from collapse, and most folks trusted them. Also, culturally in 1935 people were against “relief” as welfare was called.”

“BUT, during the the final days of the debate on the bill, the insurance language was downplayed because Congress was afraid that the Supreme Court would declare it unconstitutional as the Constitution had no provision for the Government to run an insurance program. (Oh, for the days when the supreme court could be trusted to do the right thing). So during the passage the tax collecting part and the insurance parts were separated. This is KEY because you need to understand there is nothing binding the two together.”
The Government stated in its defense that OASDI was

“in no sense a federally adminstered ‘insurance’ under which a worker pays premiums over the years and acquires at retirement…a right to receive…a fixed monthly benefit IRRESPECTIVE OF WHAT CONGRESS HAS CHOSEN TO IMPOSE FROM TIME TO TIME…the ‘contribution’ exacted under [the plan] from an employee…IS A TRUE TAX…it is NOT COMPARABLE to an [insurance premium]…” AND “no contractual obligation exists on the part of the Government and no contractual right of a beneficiary could coexist with this reservation of power”

So once again, history is repeating itself with the O-ministration copying the FDR playbook.  This is how Obamacare will always work…“no contractual obligation exists on the part of the Government and no contractual right of a beneficiary could coexist with this reservation of power”
Think about that…  They will not need to ration care because there will not be a contractual obligation OF CARE.   Remember; IT IS NOW A TAX.
-Kook

Quick thought on Wealth

There are really only three ways for a person to generate income for themselves. Obviously the easiest way is to inherit it (and the government is seeing to it that practice is harder and harder to achieve). A very small percentage of people inherit enough wealth to eliminate the need for further income. The second way is the one most would recognize and that is to actually work for it, either through self employment or in someone elses employ. The third way is to capture more of what others produce. This could be through illegal means or legal means. More and more the District of Criminals seems like a wealth creation program for politicians, lawyers, and lobbyists, a profit center for professionals who are in business for themselves. And we see this throughout history, specifically the history of the progressive movement. Regulation in the name of protecting consumers almost uniformly hurts small producers, helps big business, hurts consumers, damages taxpayers, and make politicians more powerful and ultimately more wealthy.

This dodd-frank financial regulation bill is no different. Never mind the insanity of actually listeneing to either dudd or fwank on anything; it will hurt and probably further eliminate the small town banks, make billions for lawyers litigating all the new regs, put money into the politicians who will sooner or later get kickbacks for the beneficiaries of the new regs. And ultimately hurt the little guy.

It is simply another way to swell the size of government make the rich richer and the poor, poorer.


-Kook
via iPhone

Best Us Presidents of All Time The Top 4…

Cross posted at Left Coast Rebel

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#4 Ronald Reagan – Ronaldus Magnus is without a doubt my personal favorite president and it is with great difficulty I do not put him closer to #1 in this list.  He defeated what was arguably our mightiest foe in our short history and he did so without firing a shot while encouraging many of the wonderful technological advances we enjoy today through his push for space supremacy.  Reviled by the press, he nonetheless spoke directly to the hearts of the American people.  That ability and his wit and charm lead to the biggest electoral landslide in history. He understood the fight we would be in  for the hearts and minds of our children’s children.   He is the father of modern conservatism.  Despite the smear jobs of liberal historians and the press will say, he was extremely well read and supremely knowledgeable of the issues and history.   One of his main advantages was that he was nearly always underestimated because of his looks, age, or because of his sense of humor.  In my mind, when I picture the President of the United States he is who I suspect I will always see.  There is simply no comparison to any president who has come since, and many who came before.  I would support cloning if it meant bringing him back.  I would like to dynamite Roosevelt’s face right off of Rushmore and put Reagan there.

 

#3 Abraham Lincoln -  warned the South in his inaugural address “in your hands my dissatisfied fellow countrymen, and not in mine, is the momentous issue of Civil War.  The government will not assail you…you have not an oath registered in heaven to destroy the government, while I shall have the most solemn one to preserve, protect, and defend it.”  After defeating the Confederacy the enemy combatants were for the most part pardoned, the President encouraged southerners to lay down their arms and join speedily in re-union.  Reconstruction would likely have been vastly different had Lincoln not been assassinated, in his second inaugural address he said: “With malice toward none, with charity for all; with firmness in the right, as God gives us to see the right, let us strive on to finish the work we are in; to bind up the nations wounds…”  His assassination turned reconstruction into the military occupation and subjugation of the South…creating more wounds instead of healing them…the assassination…not his presidency.  I learn and adjust my positions when I am wrong.  I have learned much in the last year regarding the civil war, Lincoln helped fulfill the promise of the founding.  That being said, I am still not sure it is illegal for states to secede.

 

#2 Thomas Jefferson - “I have sworn upon the altar of God eternal hostility against every form of tyranny over the mind of man”    Jefferson took that oath literally.  After the wars and crisis in France passed he reduced the armed forces, cut the budget, eliminated the onerous whiskey tax, and reduced the debt by third.  He sent the marines to whip up on the Barbary Pirates harassing shipping in the Med , Responsible for the Louisiana purchase.  Sent Louis And Clark on the Voyage of Discovery to map our territory, an endeavor very literally equal to the Moonshot in its audacity for the time. 

#1 George Washington – The indispensible man.  The only man that the founders all agreed on to lead them. Led the continental army through to victory in what should have been an unwinnable war, then became our first president.  Saw early on the flaws in the Articles of Confederation and became a prime mover for the Constitutional Convention.  Accurately foresaw what the two parties would do to politics in this nation, and in his Farewell Address urged his countrymen to limit excessive party spirit, and geographical distinctions and warned against long term alliances with foreign powers (advice we obviously have not kept).  He was actually asked by many to become King…a title he vehemently refused.  To be begged to be King and to refuse it, that is Character.  There was never any doubt, or should not be, who is our greatest president ever.

For the rest of the countdowns:

Worst Presidents of All Time: 20-11; 10-1

Best Presidents of All Time: 10-8; 7-5

-KOOK

Sodas Bad…Pot Good…and they will learn to like it.

  This is sort of and OCD and ADD post.  Sometimes I hear people say something and it just keeps repeating itself over and over in my brain and I have to let it out.

First up, Michelle Obama talking to the NAA(L)CP, In Kansas City yesterday, she tells them that they need to intensify their efforts… and Rush asked an excellent (of course) question…whom do they need to intensify their efforts AGAINST?  Who is holding them back, who has their boot on their neck now?

BUT the thing that Rush did not comment on was after that statement MoBacca went into her spiel on childhood obesity. Telling those assembled:

“And we’re working to reauthorize our child nutrition legislation that will make significant new investments to revamp our school meals and improve the food that we offer in those school vending machines, so that we’re serving our kids less sugar, salt and fat, and more vegetables, fruits and whole grains….

…How about replacing all of that soda and those sugary drinks with water?  (Applause.)  Kids won’t like it at first, trust me.  But they’ll grow to like it.  Or deciding that they don’t get dessert with every meal.  As I tell my kids, dessert is not a right.  (Laughter.)  Or they don’t get it every day.”

Doesn’t that just sum up the entire Administration’s view of how they feel toward the American people?  “They won’t like it at first, but they will learn to like it.”  It is similar to the reason so many of us do not like Obamacare, according to Obama, it is because ‘we don’t understand it, but once he explains it, we will like it…or learn to like it’

And I heard again today where in the UK they are evaluating restrictions on what parents can send to school in sack lunches for the same reason…kids are fat.  Another thing that is apparently becoming more common is the schools feeding the kids three times a day.  Just how far are they from the state raising their kids completely?

Next up, At first when I heard the story I thought they meant the City was taking a stand against Cocaine…and I thought “good for them”, but no, they are taking a stand against Coca Cola; the moonbat mayor of San Freakcisco …has outlawed those same sugary beverages Mobacca is against in all vending machines on public property.  I just find this terribly funny in a city where 74% of voters are apparently in favor of legalizing marijuana.  So you can smoke grass at city hall, but stay away from the coca cola…. 

Imagine getting the shakedown in by the SFPD for walking down the street smoking a doobie and drinking a Mtn Dew in two years…and getting the Mtn Dew confiscated… !   HA, talk about a no win situation, smoke all the weed you want but stay away from the fattening doritos…I guess carrot sticks will have to curb the munchies.

So once again, we are learning it is still acceptable to hate on at least one group left…big fat fatties like me.

-KOOK

Top 10 Best US Presidents of All Time 10 thru 8

Cross Posted at Left Coast Rebel

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So a few days ago I posted my list of 10 Worst Presidents of all Time, I was prompted to do this because of the recent publishing of a ranking of the presidents by someone in the Legacy Obama Echo Chamber media.  THAT list was pretty much upside down and inside out, so I thought I would make my own list.  You will notice that in my list character and personal honor may take a higher position than some miraculous political achievement, and that is totally by design.

#10 [Tie]  two one term presidents (by choice) are tied for #10 To have the power of the Presidency and voluntarily give it up speaks to a man’s character and that is one reason I put these two on the list.  One shaped our boundaries in the west. (a blessing and a curse), and the other had undeniable character and a vision for the panama canal.

Polk - was a workaholic who worked long hours. He was elected to the House of Representatives and became Jackson's floor leader in the fight against the National Bank. His term as President was 1845-1849. Polk achieved his four major objectives - the acquisition of California, the settlement of the Oregon question, the reduction of the tariff, and the establishment of the independent treasury.  Polk had announced before taking office that he would not seek a second term, a promise he kept. 

Hayes – Accepted the nomination for House of Representatives but refused to campaign because he was still commissioned and on active duty in the military.    Won the Presidency in an election that seemed to be replayed in 2000.  Hayes insisted that all political appointments be based on merit and made his advisors rotate posts so that they did not become complacent.  Hayes never planned to run for a second term in office and retired in 1881. He spent the rest of his life devoted to causes of importance to him such as providing scholarships to African Americans and encouraging temperance. He believed in and proposed civil service reform measures. Further, he set down a policy that would eventually lead to the development of the Panama Canal.

#9 Truman – Did not even want to be vice-President, telling FDR’s man to “go to hell, I am for Jimmy Byrne”  later was convinced to take it.  When FDR died he said, “Boys, if you ever pray, pray for me now. ... When they told me what had happened, I felt like the moon, the stars, and all the planets had fallen on me. I've got the most terribly responsible job a man ever had."  George Will called Truman the last great leader the nation has had. As president at a most crucial period in the nation's history, it fell to him to make decisions that would determine the shape of events, both at home and abroad, for the next half-century. He set the course not only for the Free World's resistance to the march of communism, but for the resurgence of Western Europe. His policies laid the foundation for the recovery of Germany and Japan and the integration of Europe. Truman insisted that atomic power should serve the ends of peace and not only war. He took the first steps toward re-integration of the races in the military after Woodrow Wilson segregated them.  Maybe one of the most humble presidents we have had, especially in the 20th century.

 

   #8  Eisenhower –Ike understood the battle that would shape the twentieth and, so far, the 21st century: “Now we face a battle to extinction. … Our form of government is under deadly, persistent, and constant attack.” He warned friends about liberals who “would merely advance us one more step toward total socialism, just beyond which lies total dictatorship.” It was time, he proclaimed, to “combat remorselessly all those paternalistic and collectivistic ideas" that would eventually cause "the collapse of self-government.” Eisenhower was the first Cold Warrior, and he understood that the ideological war was very real.   In 1953, Eisenhower brought all these views with him into the White House. His first inaugural address set the tone: “Forces of good and evil are massed and armed and opposed as rarely before in history.…Freedom is pitted against slavery; lightness against the dark.” To the end of his presidency, his basic message never changed. Midway through his second term, he was still warning that “the menace of communist imperialism” had “almost unlimited power.” “Peace, national safety—survival itself—demand of America strength in its every aspect.”  Yep ,“I like Ike”

How am I doing so far?

Stay tuned for the rest of the list…

-KOOK

Made in the USA: Bill Cosby

Socialism, Social Justice, and Collectivist Redistribution schemes only work because the Statist/Collectivist/Socialist/Communist etc. is able to convince people that they cannot make it in the  Free Market, Liberty and Freedom loving system that we (used to?) have.  But there has never been a wealth creation machine better than our (old?) system.  As an aside, I picked Cosby because it is his birthday today. 

Bill Cosby, born July 12, 1937, and raised in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. He is one of four sons born to Anna Pearl (née Hite), a maid, and William Henry Cosby, Sr., a sailor in the U.S. Navy. During much of his early childhood, Cosby's father was away in the U.S. armed forces during World War II.

As a student, he described himself as a class clown.  But he was a devoted athlete,  was the captain of the baseball and track and field teams at his elementary school in Philadelphia and was also class president.  In Junior High, Cosby began acting in plays as well as continuing his devotion to sports.   He went to Central High School, but in addition to the sports, Cosby was working before and after school selling produce, shining shoes, and stocking shelves at a supermarket to help the family. He failed the tenth grade and instead of repeating the 10th grade he dropped out…

…In our collectivist narrative this is where the story would start to play sad music, young Cosby would be forced into gangs and violence, a rich capitalist would be found to blame, and Cosby would have either died of a drug OD, or from Gang violence; living in the projects and on the government dole.  Just more glaring proof that what we need around here is more redistribution of wealth.  Some Social Justice…

BUT:

He got a job as an apprentice at a shoe repair shop which he liked, but could not see himself doing it the rest of his life.  After deciding the life of a cobbler was not for him he joined the Navy.  While serving in the Navy, Cosby worked in physical therapy with seriously injured Korean War vets.  This helped refocus his priorities.  He soon realized the need for an education and finished his equivalency diploma via correspondence courses.

WHAT?  he finished school?! 

He  won a track and field scholarship to Philadelphia's Temple University in 1961-62, and studied physical education while running track and playing fullback on the football team. Cosby also joined the school's chapter of the Omega Psi Phi fraternity.

HE WENT TO COLLEGE? 

Even as he progressed through his undergraduate studies, Cosby had continued to hone his talent for humor.  When he began bar tending at  a club in Philadelphia, he became fully aware of his ability to make people laugh. He worked his customers and saw his tips increase, then ventured on to the stage.

…AND WORKED!?

Cosby left Temple to pursue a career in comedy, and in 1963, he received national exposure on NBC's The Tonight Show.  He went on to release Bill Cosby Is a Very Funny Fellow...Right!, the first of a series of popular comedy albums in 1964.

DROPPED OUT OF SCHOOL AGAIN?

In 1965, when he was cast alongside Robert Culp in the I Spy adventure series, Cosby became the first African-American co-star in a dramatic television series, and NBC became the first to present such a series.  I Spy finished among the twenty most-watched shows that year, and Cosby would be honored with three consecutive Emmy Awards for Outstanding Lead Actor in a Drama Series. Cosby went on tot become a regular guest host on The Tonight Show.   

SUCCESS!

He returned with another series in 1969, The Bill Cosby Show, a situation comedy that ran for two seasons.  While only a modest critical success, the show was a ratings hit, finishing eleventh in its first season.  Still the show was cancelled.

HE MET WITH SOME MORE FAILURE… And:

After The Bill Cosby Show left the air, Cosby returned to his education. He began graduate work at the University of Massachusetts, qualifying under a special program that allowed for the admission of students who had not completed their bachelor's degrees, but who had had a significant impact on society through their careers. This professional interest led to his involvement in the PBS series The Electric Company, for which he recorded several segments teaching reading skills to young children.

WENT BACK TO SCHOOL?

In 1972, Cosby received a Masters degree from the University of Massachusetts and was also back in prime time with a variety series, The New Bill Cosby Show. However, this time he met with poor ratings, and the show lasted only a season.

FAILED AGAIN….and then….

He was much more  successful with the Saturday morning show, Fat Albert and the Cosby Kids.  Cosby received his Doctorate in 1976 from the University of Massachusetts.   Temple University, where Cosby had begun but never finished, would grant him his bachelor's degree on the basis of "life experience".

SUCCESS!…and FAILURE…

During the 1970s, Cosby, made some successful comedy films that countered the violent "blaxploitation" films of the era. However, much of his work could be considered failures such as: Mother, Jugs & Speed (1976) ; A Piece of the Action; and California Suite. In addition, Cos (1976) an hour-long variety show featuring puppets, sketches, and musical numbers, was canceled inside of a year.

RATINGS GOLD:

Cosby's greatest television success came in September, 1984 with the debut of The Cosby Show. The program aired weekly on NBC and went on to become the highest ranking sitcom of all time. The Cosby Show was unprecedented in its portrayal of an intelligent, affluent, nonstereotypical African-American family.

 The Cosby Show is one of only two American programs that have been #1 in the Nielsen ratings for five consecutive seasons.  Cosby, always outspoken for his views on the decay of what he considers black culture, the breakup of the black family, people not taking responsibility for themselves, etc.,   came under sharp criticism for His Pound Cake speech. He was largely unapologetic for his stance when he made similar remarks during a speech in a July 1 meeting commemorating the anniversary of Brown v. Board of Education. He further described those who he felt needed help as "blacks [who] had forgotten the sacrifices of those in the Civil Rights Movement." Cornel West defended Cosby and his remarks, saying, "[H]e's speaking out of great compassion and trying to get folk to get on the right track, 'cause we've got some brothers and sisters who are not doing the right things, just like in times in our own lives, we don't do the right thing.”

So from the son of a maid and a Navy fighting man, shoe shine boy, high school dropout…To a college educated, critically acclaimed, wildly successful, multi millionaire ($400m+ est.)… He wasn’t born rich, he was not a great student, no foreign benefactors(cough)….but he made it in the USA

Of course, he was also a failure many times.

-KOOK