Harvest in the Prisons

What we need is a good harvest-time in the prisons. Anyone who has killed should be killed, same day, same hour. Just get it done. Prior to execution, the maximum possible amount of blood should be extracted in order to help those in trauma. Following the execution, organs should be harvested to help those in need. Execution should be by hanging. Worked before, works now, and it is a symptom of chronic stupidity that the State dithers around with questionable chemicals from unreliable sources. A rope is all that is needed.

If this practice were followed, not only would the taxpayers receive mercy, but these killers would not have the opportunity to kill again. It is really atrocious when killers get paroled and kill again, or kill prison guards or even other inmates. Violence within prison is a huge problem. The idea that it is somehow better for the State to keep a killer in a cell for fifty years is just nonsense. Eventually, the killer is going to figure out a way to get back at either the guard or another inmate. And if parole ever happens, watch out.

The main reason that some people, often termed bleeding hearts, oppose the death penalty, is that on an unconscious level, they want to die themselves. They want their loved ones to die as well. They welcome death into their lives. Thanatos is the irrational impulse that moves people to want to embrace danger and death. They see in killers, not something to be avoided, but opportunity to rejoin the Void, to become annihilated. But Thanatos should not write public policy.

Mexico Should be Our China

I always felt like China was a stupid idea from the get-go. If there really are segments of the production chain that just have to be handled by very low-wage workers, then Mexico fits the bill, and cuts transportation costs by more than half. The whole problem has always been the drug war and the enormous amount of crime and corruption in Mexico. Cleaning up Mexico was never a priority for Washington, D.C. We figured, it's their problem, neglecting the fact that many of our U.S. citizens have fallen in thrall to meth, heroin or cocaine, supplied by criminals south of the Border. Both sides lose, not just Mexico, when crime lords rake in billions at the expense of human suffering through addiction. More than likely, the U.S. loses more than Mexico. Meanwhile, China gets richer, while Mexico languishes and sends its workers North to find jobs. And China has made it abundantly clear that they hate the West, want to take over Taiwan, and are interested in taking over all of Asia, actually. I imagine Alaska and Hawaii too, one day.

Why didn't Mexico become our China? The main problem with Mexican society has always been crime and corruption, fueled in large part by the long-term, continuing criminal class of the drug gangs.

As for the big drug war, I would suggest legalizing pot in all fifty states. Just blanket legalization, stop the gears spinning altogether, just drop it. The people know marijuana is not so terribly horrible, and it is preferable to alcohol by about ten to one, any day of the week. Anyone who thinks pot is worse than alcohol, they do not understand the first thing about medical science.

One thing is for sure, the people can really get behind a war on drugs that targets real, hard, horrible, addictive drugs. There won't be any sympathizers of high ethics for things like meth. Everyone knows meth = death. The only good meth dealer is a dead one. That was the best part of the show, "Breaking Bad," that all the meth dealers eventually got theirs.

Probably, hallucinogens should also be legalized. Anything like LSD, peyote, or mushrooms. These things are not subject to addiction either and most people have no interest, or very limited interest, in them. They are not party drugs.

So with a much narrower scope on the drug war, the people really can get behind a much more aggressive drug war that really pulls out all the stops. What is left on the other side are just hardened criminals, instead of foolish potheads. The drug war can be recast in patriotic terms, and young people recruited as front line soldiers and informants. If the drug war really targets truly harmful substances that without any doubt ruin people's lives, there is no longer any moral ambiguity, no room for reasonable people to disagree. Meth, heroin, fetanyl, cocaine, things like that. Now, some libertarians may balk at cocaine. They point to use of the coca leaf. Well, the coca leaf is O.K., it is a mild stimulant, unlikely or impossible to lead to overdose. Cocaine is a man-made concentrate of the active principle in the coca leaf. That is the problem with cocaine, that it can become extremely addictive.

Stupid Gadgets

Too bad, all these stupid gadgets people waste their money on will soon cost more due to tariffs on their foolishness. It is about time something was done to counter-balance this huge tax break that businesses got away with. Americans waste entirely too much money on frivolous junk from China, and meanwhile, the Chinese are building roads and factories that can easily be converted to military material. Either get used to tariffs, or get used to the idea of your future generations being slaves in Chinese labor camps and you being dead. That is pretty much the stark choice before the U.S. today, and it is pretty sad that it took a fool like Trump to see what was so blindingly obvious for the past twenty years. The Democrats, in particular, have no excuse, because they were supposed to be the party of labor.

Intellectual Rigor and the Church

The reason modern-day religion is in trouble is that modern-day man is better educated, and intellectual rigor substantially higher than the Middle Ages. Yet most religion remains mired and pretty much unchanged since the Middle Ages, with but a few concessions for say, sex and sexuality. All things must evolve with the race, religion is no exception to the rule. Our understanding has increased, yet the Church treats its adherents like children, and its priests exploit the children, not merely for sexual gratification but for money, power, and influence.

I resent the Church of my youth. They didn't teach me zip about spirituality. They were havens for bullies, really. Nothing spiritual about them, in no way, shape or form could they bring anyone closer to God by a dust mote. They just said, God is love, so pray a lot. How to pray? Just clasp your hands together, close your eyes, and talk to Jesus. Oh, and memorize all the names of the Books of the Bible. Study the Bible a lot. Well, you know what, the Bible is primarily a history and not really that great as far as spiritual instruction goes. A whole lot of Thou-Shalt-Nots and Fear-Me-For-I-Am-All-Powerful. Well, if God's such a Bad Ass, then I guess he doesn't need the likes of me to support him. The truth is that all of the truth is simply not present and accounted for in that book. It is partial. There is a lot that is missing. And much is open to misinterpretation. The Bible has opened the door to as much mischief as good.

I don't think modern Churches have much to do with spirituality. I sense only a very dim background hum in a Church. It is nothing like what can be known directly. True religion seems only possible on an individual and private level. The minute people start talking about God, there seems a dilution. Something goes wrong. Money and greed become big factors. Then people try to out-do each other in outward piety. There is a lot of posturing. Social games are played. Real growth just does not happen. Instead, once a week, lectures on rather mundane topics. Nothing to really enhance spiritual power. No real methodology, nothing that works on a personal level. All is designed simply to enhance the power of the institution. As for the individuals, screw them. Get their money, their allegiance, even their genitals, apparently.

Problem is, modern man is smarter than he used to be, so all the things that the churches got away with in the past, well, they can't get away with them anymore. The jig is up. People see. Things get reported.

Sad that churches have profaned what is really beautiful and profound. Real religion should be maintained on a personal level. Those incapable of doing that, due to stupidity or immaturity, I suppose they do need churches, as it is better than nothing. Perhaps there should be a catch-all last resort for the morons.

We May Need Trump

One thing Americans need to consider is that we may need Trump.

Alone among the Washington politicians, only Trump has awoken to the fact that the world is eating our lunch.

The trade deficit, the Federal debt, and the fact we provide free security for the whole world means that our people suffer and die. Say goodbye to Social Security, and health care in this country is just a bad joke, a chess game of multiple insurance policies. The people as a whole are in debt either for education, which the Europeans and the Chinese get for free, or health care, which those foreigners also get for free.

My views are reflected in this essay on CNBC. I think Obama and all the ones who came before him, Republican and Democrat alike, were asleep at the wheel. They did not realize that America's Sun was sinking. They got us involved in all these damn-fool foreign adventures, ballooning for Federal debt for no good reason and with zero return on investment. Meanwhile, other countries were not asleep at the wheel. They invested in infrastructure, medicine, and education.

What we need is fair trade with other countries. Zero involvement in the military conflicts of other countries. Let Europe pay for its own defense, for once. If they fail, too bad. Maybe they can fight in resistance underground movements against Russia for the next five hundred years and see how they like it. What is needed in this country are not just jobs, but really good jobs, and real manufacturing and production. Companies like Apple that betray the United States do not actually need to exist in the first place. They can move over to China, relocate and spend some time in Chinese prisons getting reeducated.

Trump is right to question why the U.S. foots the bill for security for the rest of the world. He is right to question why other countries get to take our jobs, our factories. These are questions other Presidents simply didn't bother to address at all in any meaningful and concrete way. It is almost worth putting up with the atrocious behavior of the Trump Administration in order to see some action on the trade front, and put these so-called "allies" on notice that their behavior is not without consequences.

GoFundMe

I always thought GoFundMe was a bad idea from the get-go. Sending anonymous money to anonymous strangers. What could go wrong?

Looking at the photo of the couple involved in the latest GoFundMe scam, I think that the photo alone would have been enough warning for me. Much can be deducted by the expressions on the faces, the clothes, the body language. No words needed. If it looks like a duck and quacks like a duck, by golly, it might just be a duck.

Poaching, Of Course

A people with zero intellect certainly is going to kill all the elephants for their ivory, as we see in Africa today. Expecting those people to program computers or do any kind of brain work is precious. They know how to shoot a gun, saw off a tusk. That's it, for all time, ever. Just say goodbye to the elephants already. They had the misfortune to live in Africa, land of the know-nothing savages. Between quick money and working for a living, guess which one they choose? The only hope for the elephant is in the Western zoos, where the elephants are appreciated for what they are. I will remember the beautiful elephants in video documentaries and figurines. As for the amount of tax money we should send over to Africa, that amount is $0. Just a worthless waste of time and energy is Africa. Despite what some people think, not every problem can be solved with money.

The Only Thing Trump Hasn't Done

Trump is such a LOSER! He hasn't done the one thing he needs to do to complete the United States' transformation into a banana republic. ARREST ALL THE DEMOCRATS! Yep, every one, from both houses of Congress. Then, we will really have a civil war on our hands, and Trump will have WON!

The Next Democratic President Gets a Blank Check

Next time the Democrats are in power in Washington, D.C., they get to play by the same rules Trump does:

-just abandon any agreements signed by previous Administrations, Congress
-don't enforce any laws that aren't liked
-huge tax cuts for the middle class, 50+%
-zero concern over the deficit, spend the Treasury like it's monopoly money
-push through Supreme Court nominees any which way
-set trade policy by Executive order
-set immigration policy by Executive order
-free pass on conflicts of interest
-free pass on hiring family, friends with no experience to do official jobs
-free pass on lies/deception
-free pass on all past, present and future business dealings
-appoint department heads purely as payback for loyalty, no qualifications needed or wanted
-free pass on sexual history
-free pass on bribery/payoffs
-free pass on accepting, soliciting help from foreign governments to win elections
-OK to comment on all legal/criminal cases, influence juries/judges
-replace FBI, other department heads, gut any federal agencies not particularly liked
-fire law enforcement agents deemed friendly to "the other side" due to a text message or stray comment
-quid pro quo for foreign governments--payola=influence


So, the Democrats can enlist Russia or China. Then they can lie about it, accuse the Republicans of enlisting the foreign power, and that's all O.K. by the Trump playbook.

Gun Crazy

I sometimes hear hardcore right-wingers crow about their guns, especially when they're drinking. Gun madness grips the people and poisons public living. People seek retreat behind closed gates, closed doors, high walls. The relationship of Americans with fast cars, alcohol and guns is a sick one. What is the solution? There may not be an easy solution. Perhaps victims of gun violence should seek vendetta, as was the ancient practice, and when a mad person kills their loved one, seek out the mad person's family--or tribe--and take blood price. That sort of cycle would grip the American public's imagination in a powerful way. Once the public perceives interwoven chains of blood vendettas causing public shootings, not just once a week, but multiple times daily, that is when America would wake up and smell the coffee, observe it is bitter, and throw it out with the guns.

The trouble with guns is they offer an "easy out" to the mad Desperados of the world, those in blackest despair and depression, who have given up on life and have no love in their soul for anyone or anything in this world and crave only death. The only glimmer of desire left in their vapid souls is a desire to cause pain and suffering. They are possessed by demons, indeed. They run amok, let the demon have full control. Depriving such fools of guns would not eliminate their threat, by any means, and no one should suppose that would be the case. It would however raise the bar, so that a fool would be required to put on his thinking cap (I use the masculine pronoun, because so often, the mad shooter is male) and exert courage, creativity or resoucefulness, all of which tend to be in short supply in such ignoramuses. Craven cowards lacking any imagination, mad shooters gone amok can scarcely reason their way out of a box, let alone wield a melee weapon in close quarters or aim a bow. A fit, able-bodied person would have better odds at survival against that sort of threat. Pointing and shooting a gun requires so little skill and so little will, and that is why it is perceived to be a tool of evil. Good men hate guns, but keep them handy in order to protect others from evil men. Evil men love guns and fill their minds with thoughts of killing.

The Anti-Apartheid Movement

Good liberals from back in the day opposed apartheid in South Africa and prayed for its overthrow through peaceful, non-violent means. (Radicals are a different story.)

Fast forward to 2018. South Africa's economy isn't looking too well, and the black-majority government wants to steal land from the whites and give it to the blacks. A lot of liberals think this is perfectly O.K., you know, "karma, man."

I am against communism, which is what this is, in a nutshell.

It seems to me that nowadays, the only accepted and widespread form of racism evident is anti-white racism, encountered from blacks and from the media at large. The slightest incident, the tiniest misjudgement on the part of a white person results in nationwide media coverage, humiliation and oftentimes, getting terminated from one's job. Whites get no protection. Meanwhile, the laws and public opinion favor blacks. And the situation over in Africa, where white people are just made victim and then told, "Oh well, historical injustices coming due," is atrocious.

All of this explains to a large degree Trump's successful playing of the Race card. Chickens coming home to roost. Of course whites feel like they are encircled by whooping Indians and outnumbered, and the cavalry ain't coming. That's why whites have gone crazy in some respects.

Yes, whites have gone crazy. There, I said it, so the real white racists are already rolling their eyes and hovering over the escape button to banish my thoughts. Oh, no! Liberal trap!

I think that there is a middle-ground where fairness and equality can come together. Yes, there were grievous historical wrongs visited upon the black ancestors of long ago. For that reason, we should not venerate the Confederacy or anyone associated primarily with the defense of slavery. Take down those monuments, rename those buildings and streets. It is a minor concession, a matter of manners and common sense. One should not uphold sinners. We exclude the Founding Fathers from this list because they founded the country and operated at a time when opposition to slavery had not taken hold of the country's imagination. They are excused because they operated in greater ignorance than those that came after. They are excused because their importance to the country in other respects outweighs their sin. With the Confederate Generals, politicians and so on, pull down the monuments already. In truth, it should have been done long ago. They never should have been raised in the first place. The Confederacy was a stupid idea that brought ruin to the South, and the South would have been a lot better off without it. The North was willing to compensate the South for its slaves and ship them back to Africa, you know. Think about all the money that was instead wasted on a bloody war, and for what? What did the South gain out of the deal, except exercising its foolish pride? Nothing but beautiful, gallant corpses.

In matters of history and society, I would make concessions. All should have equal rights under the law. Agents of the law must treat all with equality and be colorblind. If a business harms a person of color, it too must be held accountable. I do not sympathize with anyone who harms another based upon something so trivial as skin color. Most everyone agrees with these things in this day and age. Now, for these beliefs, I consider myself not to be racist, and yet there are many who would argue I am racist, because I do not bend over backwards and accuse my own skin and offer to pay amends in cold hard cash for the victims of my great-great-grandfathers. I am racist because I don't reject myself? Well, then, that kind of attitude results in a situation where there are a lot of racists. It is possible to manufacture racists, where none were present before.

In the present day, I do not believe that a white man, born long after the last slave died, owes anything to a black man. The sins of the grandfather are not to be visited upon the grandson. That is not justice, but racism, pure and simple, and will be perceived as such, correctly. Thus, I say no to affirmative action, and no to redistribution of property. Thou shalt not steal.

Harvard Needs to Overcome Its Racism

Like many universities in this era, Harvard is adamantly racist and filled with irrational hatred and fascism against white and Asian students. Eligible white and Asian students are turned away from admissions based on what? On the color of their skin. Nothing else. There really should be a class-action lawsuit filed against these universities. I hope that the Justice Department engages in litigation against Harvard and all other universities that seek to discriminate based upon the color of one's skin.

There is a strange siren song of fascism that appeals to a certain breed of liberal, wherein they hate their own race, because they hate themselves, desire death and suffering and ultimately want to die. Thanatos explains this impulse, the innate desire of a human being to annihilate self. However, the Justice Department has deeper pockets than Harvard U., and can keep them in the courts for decades, if need be.

Rather than lower academic standards in order to correct perceived societal ills, the universities should keep standards high. Of course they have not, and the result is that a four-year degree is not worth what it once was. Let Harvard spend all, preferably every last dime, of its considerable endowment defending itself in court against obvious and true charges of racism. I am sure that donors with any sense will observe what their money is being used for and draw the appropriate conclusions.

Cynthia NIxon and Cuomo

Somebody over at the Washington Examiner is having a good laugh watching the fracas between liberals Cynthia Nixon and Cuomo over in New York. Over at the Washington Examiner, they are conservative, so they could care less who wins. I browsed Nixon's platform, and disagree with allowing public sector strikes and with universal health care. Universal health care is good in principle, IF it is nationwide and IF managed and rolled out in an intelligent manner. A single state would likely make a botch of things and attract all the sick and invalid from neighboring states like a magnet. In the end, debt would destroy the program. Businesses and individuals flee the state in search of lower taxes. No one really wants to pay for other people's health care, if they perceive no benefit to themselves.

Only a massive entity like the U.S. Federal government has the clout to implement rules and bully providers, such as doctors and hospitals, into delivering efficient, cost-effective service. The reason health care costs so much is that 90% is waste and fraud. Everyone is motivated by profit, wanting to make money off other people's pain. The U.S. government can come in and educate a million doctors and nurses and technicians, paying for their education, room and board, and giving them a subsistence stipend to get through all of their training, and then they will have the clout to really set prices any which way they want to. A doctor should earn about $40 an hour and see no more than seven patients per day. Today's reality is far different from that.

Probably, the best the government can do, given today's political divisions between Democrat and Republican, is to demand efficiency among providers. Less useless tests that cost so much. Faster visits, less time in the waiting room. More doctors - much more. That is why we really need to just train doctors for free, so that they graduate without any debt at all. Money should not be a barrier to medical school. Hospitals should probably be run by the Federal government, and hospital stays should cost a lot less than they do. Many hospitals seem to price-gouge patients. Patients should be charged true cost, nothing more, and emphasis needs to be placed on economy. There should be no shareholders to a hospital. Now, I suppose this is what the Republicans think of as Socialism, but you know, the police department is run by the government, too. I suppose that if the Republicans had their way, even the PD would be privatized, as indeed, used to be the case in certain towns in the pioneering West. Now those towns eventually converted over to the "socialist model" of law enforcement, on a voluntary basis I might add. Wonder why that was?

Also, people should be allowed to buy prescription drugs from Canada, which has adequate safeguards and protections for consumers. It is not right that Americans pay more for medicine than any other people on the earth. It is not right that the pharma companies are making a huge profit off the pain of Americans. That whole industry seems filled with fraud, corruption and profiteering off the misery of others.

I do not support public-sector unions or the ability for them to strike. I think that if you work in public service, a higher standard of conduct applies. It's not just a job, it's a vocation, and just walking off the job to pressure the community for higher wages is really bad form. Loyal, dedicated employees are needed as teachers, firefighters and police. Unions and strikes may be O.K. in the private sector, but in the public sector, there is a higher moral standard, because service to the community is the motive, not just profit.

Trump is Low

Trump is really low for not lowering the flag for McCain, for mocking him for his military service, and generally just giving insults to a dying man. Trump skipped out on 'Nam due to being a false lying coward. Anyone who supports Trump should have their head examined. You know what, integrity matters. Honesty matters. Ethics matter. Those people who think otherwise, there is a word for them. Evil.

Zimbabwe

Zimbabwe offers an example to neighboring countries such as South Africa. There is nothing like a liberal tradition in black culture, as opposed to white culture. Blacks reject liberalism wholesale and prefer totalitarian forms of government. Liberalism is a foreign imposition, suitable on a temporary basis for purposes of political alliances, but nothing more. Seldom is representative government or protection of minorities encountered outside of Western, white countries. The ideology and philosophy of the black community is most eloquently expressed by rap music. One man, with all power and riches, disposing of enemies as he pleases, doing as he pleases, whenever he pleases, ruling by the gun.

What I'd Change about the Democrats

The Democrats should borrow some pages from Trump's playbook:

-no foreign aid (or reduced aid) to America's enemies or frenemies, such as the Palestinians, who have made it pretty clear they don't like us, and aren't willing to accept Israel.
-no foreign aid for all these countries around the world that don't really do anything for the United States. What are we, the charity bank?
-Europe, Japan, and other countries either need to pay for their OWN defense, or pay us the true cost of our U.S. military, instead of the taxpayer getting the shaft year after year.
-We need a trade war! I am all in favor. All in. Kick the behinds of countries like China that slap tariffs and other hidden or not-so-hidden barriers on U.S. goods. We need jobs!
-We do NOT need to get involved overseas in foreign wars. Although Trump lacks the courage to withdraw from Afghanistan, his successor should do it forthwith and be done with it.

I disagree with Trump on a lot of other issues, but the above makes sense to me. Less money on defense, does not mean a weaker U.S. military. It can mean we get our so-called allies to cough up the funds that they should have been providing all along. If they do not want to pay for it, withdraw all troops and materiel. I think that in about five seconds, the leaders of those countries would find the funds to pay the U.S. what it is owed. We are owed arrears! Europe can pay the U.S. national debt. All they need to do is cancel their vacations, pensions and health care. If they are not willing to do that, then I guess they know best, and our military can return to the United States.

Venezuela

If I were a Venezuelan, I would write a Petition to the U.S. to invade and overthrow that idiot Maduro. That is the only way Venezuela gets better, is by U.S. intervention. Those idiots down there screwed up their economy so badly that it is beyond repair. Just destroy the government, destroy the entire system and start over. A government that cannot protect the economy is not a good government. I would like to point out at this time that the Great Recession of 2008 happened right on or after George W. Bush. The Republicans fail by not regulating enough, and Democrats fail by regulating too much. What they need to do is put their heads together and craft good, smart compromises. Instead of playing politics 24/7/365, sit down, hash it out, make things work. That is exactly what did not happen in Venezuela, where one faction just rewrote all the rules based upon ignorance and prejudice, resulting in all the able and competent businessmen either fleeing the country or losing hope and faith altogether. Hence the economic meltdown in Venezuela and a worthless Bolivar.

Republicans say Venezuela's collapse proves socialism is bad. Well, I don't care about socialism. But Venezuela's problem was rooted in two things unrelated to ideology. Ignorance & Stupidity. All these stupid, uneducated poor people came into power all of a sudden and it got to their head. They screwed up worse than the regime that came before. The first thing you need before you form a government is smart folk. Maybe not the best and the brightest. We certainly do not have the best and the brightest up in Washington, D.C. However, we have a good system and a lot of checks and balances on the stupid people, like Trump. Trump is pretty stupid and suffers from chronic foot-in-mouth disease. He needs to stick a plumber's helper on his face, just below his nose. I agree with some of his policies, but my very agreement with him makes me wonder whether I might be wrong, sometimes. However, even a stopped clock is right twice a day.

Venezuela could actually be a powerhouse of both continents with its proven oil reserves. What it needs is a benevolent dictatorship, ruthless enough to be rid of the Maduro idiots that do nothing but cause trouble. Every one of them need to be rounded up and destroyed, and all their support networks uprooted. The Venezuelan military today is nothing but a mafia extorting money from the poor. They are a cancer in Venezuelan society. That country needs radical chemotherapy to recover from the cancer. Violence would be necessary. Afterward, the economy would turn a new leaf, average incomes would multiply by ten to a hundred-fold, and everyone could get a good education and health care. It would be a good deal. In a better world, the U.S. would simply colonize Venezuela and demonstrate, by example, how to govern the land. The Venezuelans have clearly demonstrated they do not know how to manage their own affairs. But colonialism has a bad rep, and everyone agonizes over things like racism and cultural arrogance and so forth, so meanwhile Venezuelan mothers have to walk ten miles and wait in line for eight hours in order to buy food for their children, if it happens to be in stock at the store--otherwise, come back the next day and repeat. . .

It's About Time

If anyone is wondering what this liberal Democrat thinks about Trump's foreign policy, my thoughts are as follows. It is about time a U.S. President shaked some stick at our foreign "friends" that take so much foreign aid, basically billions of dollars in hand-outs, taking from the American taxpayer, and we get nothing in return. The amount of money, unfair trade and unfair defense that has been going on the last fifty years is over the top, and I am glad that finally someone is up there kicking their behinds.

To Hell with Iran, to Hell with Turkey, to Hell with Europe, and China is the worst of them all. All of these countries need to learn, treat the U.S. unfairly and suffer, not a little bit, but dearly, and watch your economy go up in smoke. Anyone does not like it, they can talk to the vast arsenal that is our U.S. military. The truth is we do not need trade at all. If countries want to take advantage of the U.S. and rob the American worker of his living, those countries do not need to trade at all with the U.S. The day when the U.S. always got the raw end of the bargain is over, hopefully for good.

That said, there's no denying Trump has no gift for writing, no gift for words, no ability at team-making and is probably involved in a lot of low and shady dealings. Sometimes it just takes summoning a demon to get things done. Angels are too up in the clouds with spiritual matters. Demons are down in the material plane counting dollars and cents and know what it is to want to get. Yes, Trump represents the demonic, but he is just the sort of demon that these foreigners brought upon themselves by imposing unilateral tariffs and other trade barriers on the U.S., backstabbing us in other areas of foreign policy and supporting terrorism and other problems in the world. Time to learn a lesson! Maybe next time they get someone nice and sweet like Obama, they won't take advantage of him, because after the Obama comes the Trump!

Tribute to Donald Michael Kraig

I was saddened to read that Donald Michael Kraig passed from this carnation in 2014, according to the bio in his book that I am reading. A check on Wikipedia shows the cause to have been pancreatic cancer. I never heard of the thing until Steve Jobs got it. Don't care about Jobs, do care about Kraig. I like him, based on his writing style and content. He makes magic accessible, without casting down thorns to sting minorities, like some magicians do. Magicians are only human, and of course some succumb to the usual biases and prejudices that plague all of humankind, but Kraig was different in having no real biases about anything, he was the type of guy that would just accept the whole menu as presented by the waiter and of course he had his favorites, but he wouldn't complain about the other selections and put them down. His writing is very good, and he sounded like a fellow one would want to invite to dinner--every night. I may indeed have to collect all his books. I was also saddened to hear that the widow asked for funds back in 2014 to help with medical and funeral expenses. It appears that even a prolific, successful and active person in the creative and performing arts has trouble gathering together enough funds to take care of medical contingencies. Really medical care in this country is a mess, with much waste and much cost, too much cost indeed for the average person to bear when something bad strikes. But such are the times we live in.

I am glad that he took the time to perfect his Great Work, which I think Modern Magick is, by releasing the third edition. It truly is a Great Work, in part because of his affable style and accessibility. He comes across as warm, not cold like some writers. I look forward to reading it many times over through the years. It is almost like he survives in a sense--so many people will be imagining his voice in their minds for generations to come. I think that in time, his book will sell a million, and the 150,000 copies sold figure will be a distant memory. It is ironic, but oftentimes authors achieve their greatest success posthumously. I have long appreciated that writing and other creative arts are a method, accessible by all, to achieve a limited form of immortality. The ego may not survive, but the will does, as do thought-forms, ideas, opinions. All these things persist through writing, and although not physical at all, they can achieve even greater influence than the one that produced them.

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Addendum, 8/28/2018:

To my dismay, I have since learned that Kraig stole an occult skrying technique from learned magus Carroll "Poke" Runyon. Kraig published the technique in his book "Modern Magick," failing to give credit to Runyon as Runyon deserved and, over the years, requested. I think the theft was an unintentional oversight, innocent of malice, in the First Edition, but due to growing animosity between the two men, when the truth became evident, even then Kraig failed to make amends in the Second and Third Editions, which is most regrettable. Now the drama associated with this intellectual property theft is convoluted and would require many pages of text to recount and cost me several hours to unravel, but is also illuminating, because it reveals a human moral failing that jars with the pursuit of White Magic and belies the high moral claims Kraig makes in his book, rather exposing a bit of hypocrisy, and that in his own book and in his own words. A sad footnote to an otherwise great book and great author. I would have advised Kraig to write an entire page in his Third Edition, not to scold Runyon, as Kraig did, but to praise and credit the learned man, who has not enjoyed half the publishing success that Kraig has, for the matter was petty and trivial and likely the result of miscommunication. Yet Kraig chose otherwise.

The choice of pride and arrogance over right is detrimental to Spirit and, along with the general tone of the book, leads one to suspect that the author valued the material over the spiritual. I suppose most of us do. Certainly compromises must be made in order to get ourselves a living. It does not seem practical to apply the highest moral standard to every act, else we would perish or have our lifespan severely reduced. I do not trust in the providence of justice. I think I would be sacrificed in short order. Yet there are some things, I think we can sacrifice for the greater good without undue loss or suffering.

Lowering of the Bar

Surveying the public's idols, one thing is clear, the bar is low, and one needs more luck than talent, or talent is a small part of the overall package, at any rate. Geniuses don't dominate the top, but fill the middle. Over on the right, I look at big-time celebrities like Trump, Kanye West and the like and wonder what on earth people are thinking, if they are thinking. Let us set Trump's policies aside for one moment and just look at behavior. Trump just flaunts corruption and deception left and right, he is not even good at hiding it, and the Christian Right eats his words up with a spoon. They have no qualms whatsoever supporting an obvious liar and a cheater. Trump has been called out on so many lies, it is ridiculous. He could at least try once in a while to tell the truth, just for the sake of the country. So all the noise they generated against the Clintons and all the other so-called liberals back in the day is exposed as mere hypocrisy. As for Kanye, he would say anything for his two goals, attention and money, the one supporting the other. He has no real opinions or ideas, just wants money and influence, like Trump. I suppose the main thing is that people don't want to feel threatened on an intellectual level, so they scorn the best and the brightest and select the not-so-bright, deemed more palatable and accessible. I can think of plenty better representatives of right-wing philosophy than Trump, so why didn't they get nominated?

I think Christianity for a lot of people has not so much to do with religion or belief. I think it is a tribal identity. People identify strongly with their own tribe, their family and friends. They will support whatever the tribe wants. Loyalty is the main thing. It is like the mafia. As for the religion, it is just a bunch of words reinforcing the tribe and its agenda. It is a suitable dress for the public to observe. Look at us, we're pious, you cannot impeach our piety, the Lord is on our side. Yeah, right.