Preventing Subway Violence

I heard today that a young woman pushed a man in front of an oncoming subway train.  This is the second time in less than a month that someone has been killed by being pushed in front of a New York subway train.  People have proposed many ways to reduce these senseless murders, but the solution to this problem is obvious.  We need to place armed teachers at every subway station to curb this epidemic of subway violence.

A Different Perspective on Gun Control

First, some background.  I’m not a member of the NRA.  I do own a gun, but it’s never been fired.  In fact, I haven’t fired a gun since I went to summer camp when I was 12.

A trip to Switzerland after college convinced me that while guns are related to gun violence (duh), they are not the cause of gun violence.  In a Swiss train station I was surprised to see several men carrying assault rifles, and while I was out in the countryside, I heard gunshots.  I was told at the time that the men were simply going to target practice as part of their military service.  I did some research when I got home, and found out that Switzerland doesn't have a regular army, but that Swiss men are required to serve in the militia (National Guard).  To make it harder for an enemy to concur Switzerland, the men keep their weapons at home rather than keeping them in central armories that could be easily captured.  Therefore, many men in Switzerland have either an assault rifle or a handgun at home.  Despite the very high ownership of assault rifles and handguns, there is actually a very low incidence of gun crime in Switzerland.

Many people say that we should outlaw assault rifles because they don’t serve any useful purpose in normal life.  That’s true, but I believe that citizens should have a way to keep governments in check if they become oppressive.  I once heard that no oppressive governments allow citizens to own guns.  That may not be absolutely true, but I know that oppressive governments have a history of taking weapons away from their citizens.  Can assault rifles and hand guns stand up to modern weapons?  Not really, but the Vietnamese didn't have nearly the firepower that America had during the Vietnam War, and they prevailed.

I do believe in a waiting period to purchase firearms because I believe that waiting periods give people who attempt purchase a gun in anger time to calm down and think more rationally. (Yes, a person could stab another person in anger, but ask yourself, in a moment of anger would you be more likely to grab a knife from the kitchen and stab someone or to pull a gun out of a drawer and shoot them?)  On the other hand, I believe that while gun control laws will prevent law abiding citizens from purchasing guns, I know that there are enough guns in America that criminals will find a way to get guns despite gun control laws.

The U.S. Post Office ... "So What" is Our Motto

Yesterday a business sent us a package by United States Post Office Express Mail.  They paid extra to have delivery guaranteed before noon today.  At around 10:00 my in-laws came over.  At 10:30 my mother came over and found a note from the postman saying that they tried to deliver it and we weren't home.  That’s despite the fact that we were one room away from the front door (so we probably would have heard a knock on the door), and we were in the room with the doorbell ringer (so we definitely would have heard the doorbell if the postman rang it).  Everyone makes mistakes, so that comes under the heading “do-do occurs”.

However, the delivery notice said volumes about the Post Office.  If the package had been sent by FedEx, the note would have said that they would retry delivery the next day, or we could pick-up the package between 5:00 & 7:00 p.m. tonight.  In other words, we would have at least been able to get it the same day, and we could have picked it up after normal working hours, when it is more convenient for customers who work.

On the other hand, the delivery notice from the post office gave a couple of options.  We could request redelivery (either online or by filling out the form and leaving it where the carrier can see it).  If you request redelivery, then you have to give the Post Office at least 2 delivery-days notice.  In other words, they will attempt redelivery within 2 days at the earliest; if a weekend is involved, and you fill out the form which will be picked-up the next day, then it could be up to 4 days after the overnight package was supposed to be delivered.  The other option is to pick up the package yourself at the Post Office between 9 a.m. and 5 p.m. the next day.

In other words, if it absolutely, positively has to be there overnight, the USPS really doesn't care, so you better send it FedEx!

The Debt Isn't Our Biggest Problem

The federal debt is approximately $16.3 trillion.  That sounds very bad, and many politicians say that America is on the road to becoming the next Greece.  However, let’s put things in perspective.  The Congressional Budget Office (CBO) estimates that our debt will be about 73% of GDP by the end of 2012. (CBO, The 2012 Long-Term Budget Outlook.)  The CIA World Fact Book (the spooks study everything, and they even publish some of it) puts the U.S 38^th in the world in the order of debt owed vs. GDP.  (CIA World Fact Book, Country Comparison: 2011 Public Debt)  To be sure, there are nations ahead of us that are in dire straits, such as Greece, with 165% debt, and Portugal with 108% debt.  However, there are also nations ahead of us with AAA credit ratings, such as Germany, which, despite 85% debt,  has a very strong economy, the UK (England), with 85% debt,  and Canada,  with 87% debt.

Conservatives have been harping on the debt issue since the Tea Party came to power.  They say that we’re mortgaging our childrens’ future; they want to cut everything except defense.  (As an aside, I find it quite ironic that conservatives interpret the Constitution literally, but ignore the fact that the Founding Fathers didn't want to have a standing army.)  I would say that THEY, the conservatives, are hurting our competitiveness and risking our childrens’ future by cutting funding for things that invest in our future, such as education.

In 1944 America was at the height of World War 2.  The Federal Debt was at 96% of GDP, and skyrocketing due to war costs (the debt reached 113% in 1945).  Did Congress vote to cut everything but defense spending?  No!  They passed the G.I. bill, which gave returning veterans money for education and living expenses so that they could attend college or trade school.   Millions of veterans took advantage of the education benefits of the G.I. bill.  That education gave America a skilled workforce second to none, and it was a significant part of the American renaissance of the 50’s and 60’s.

The Federal Debt is a big problem, but we can’t save ourselves out of debt.  We need to invest in our future so that we can grow our economy and help our children reach their potential.

Brain Dead Shoppers

This weekend I was out shopping for Christmas lights and I was reminded how dense some people can be.  There was a couple ahead of me in the checkout line.  It took the cashier several minutes to ring-up the couple's items.  Once the cashier came up with the total, the couple started fumbling around to find a credit card to pay for the items.  Now really, they didn't come to the realization that they would have pay for the items until after the cashier was done ringing up the items?

At least most stores don't take checks anymore.  The last time I saw someone pay with a check, she also waited until the cashier was done ringing up the items.  When the cashier was done, the customer realized that she would actually pay, like she had to at the last 50 places where she shopped. So, she rooted around in her purse for a while to find her checkbook.  The customer took some more time to write the check  What happened next?  The cashier asked to see some I.D., like the cashiers at the last 50 places that the woman shopped at did.  So, the woman took more time finding her driver's license in her purse.

These people brain dead, or they're just downright inconsiderate to the cashier and all of the customers behind them!

The Republican Party Just Can’t Understand the Bell Curve

For a long time I've been wondering what the Republican Party doesn't understand about the Bell Curve.  It seems like the Republican Party goes further and further to the right every election.  I used to be a moderate Republican, but like many people I know, the party has passed me up by taking a wide right turn.  I am actually surprised that the Republican Party has done as well as it has.  The Bell Curve is a relatively simple concept.  The population is concentrated to the middle of the Bell Curve; as you move away from the center of the Bell Curve, the density decreases.  A political Bell Curve would have independents in the center of the graph, the Democrats on the left side getting more liberal moving away from the center to the left, and the Republicans on the right side of the curve, getting more conservative moving away from the center to the right. 

As a candidate moves towards their own end of the curve, they’re moving away from the dense population center and closer to the sparse end of their side; in doing so, they start to lose the independent voters that are closer to the other end of the curve.  Conservatives that are to the right of the Republican candidate aren't going to vote for the Democratic candidate, and liberals to the left of the Democratic candidate aren't going to vote for the Republican candidate.  In other words, as a candidate moves away from the center toward their side of the curve they aren't gaining votes from their base, but they are losing votes from the independents. 

This isn't rocket science, but after the election I actually heard a conservative pundit say that Romney lost the election because he wasn't conservative enough.   The ironic thing about this phenomenon is that as the Republican Party gets more conservative, more Democrats are elected.  Therefore, as the GOP gets more conservative, the country is led by more liberal leaders.

A Shout Out to the Voters Back Home In Indiana

The first Senator that I ever voted for was Republican Senator Dick Lugar of Indiana. I have always thought that Dick Lugar was one of the best senators in U.S. Senate.  Dick Lugar is the most senior Republican in the Senate, and he's highly respected by both parties.  One of the reasons that he is so highly respected is that he builds BIPARTISAN coalitions to get things done.  He's also very popular in Indiana; since 1988 he's never received less than 67% of the vote.  In fact, in 2006, the Democratic Party didn't even bother to field a candidate against Dick Luger.

This spring I was shocked and appalled to hear that the Tea Party campaigned against Dick Lugar, and beat him in the Republican primary.  Well, last night, the chickens came home to roost.  On election night, the wonderful electorate in heavily Republican Indiana chose a Democrat over the Republican Tea Party candidate for senate.  In other words, the Tea Party threw out a highly respected Republican senator who was sure to be reelected, and ended up giving the seat to a Democrat.  So, I want to thank the voters back home in The Great State of Indiana for giving the finger to the Tea Party for it's despicable actions against Dick Lugar.

Mitt Romney's Education Reforms

I was reading Mitt's Vision for America.  He's going to   "ensure that every child receives a quality education no matter where they live", and he's going to do that by taking the federal government out of education and empowering the states and the private sector to develop effective programs of their own.  However, the states and private sector can already develop effective programs, the federal government isn't stopping them.  More importantly, the federal government funds education (I believe that about 9% of Arizona's education funding comes from the feds).  If we take the feds out of education, then we lose a significant part of our education funding; of course, we could raise state taxes to make up for the loss of federal funds.  In a related note, I'll pledge to ensure that every child in Alabama receives a quality education - just by staying out of Alabama's education system.

I Don't Care About Global Warming

I don’t care that much about global warming; really.  The funny thing is that I seem to hear more about global warming from conservatives than from liberals.  Maybe that’s just because I’m around more conservatives than liberals; I do live in Arizona after all.  I usually hear about global warming in the context that we should mine more coal, drill for more oil and gas, and build more fossil fuel power plants because global warming is a bunch of bull.  OK, let’s try an informal poll.  Raise your hand if you wouldn’t mind having a power plant’s exhaust coming up from your neighbor’s yard.  I didn’t think I’d see any hands.  So, as a person with asthma, I’d just like to say that unless you’re willing to suck on the exhaust of a fossil fuel power plant, quit arguing that we should build more of them just because global warming doesn’t exist