If you are anything like the Commander then you too have become addicted to everything connected to the booming computer world. Just the other day I received an email with a video link presentation by Eli Pariser. In it he directed attention to his theories concerning “FILTER BUBBLES.”
http://www.ted.com/talks/lang/eng/eli_pariser_beware_online_filter_bubbles.html
After viewing this piece the first thing that came into my mind was George Orwell, Big Brother or the Monster with one eye controlling everything we do. Is this progress or manipulation? Don’t get me wrong, because I certainly do not want to go back to my days of thumbing through the dictionary or pounding on my old typewriter…BUT!
For quite sometime I have been talking about the need for unfiltered information, and especially in the critical area of news. I have long been concerned about our need for non-biased, objective news presentations. Pariser certainly gives us something to think about with his oration.
COMMANDER GRANGER
Tuesday, May 31, 2011
Monday, May 30, 2011
MEMORIAL DAY 2011
From the very beginning of the United States in 1776 thru 2011 millions of brave men and women have stepped forward in the service of our country.
Many gave the full measure with their lives, and many others suffered wounds and the loss of limbs that impacted their daily lives.
CONFLICTS - U.S. MILITARY DEATHS
Revolutionary War - 25,000
War of 1812 - 20,000
Mexican War - 13,300
Civil War - 360,000
Spanish-American War - 2,500
World War I - 116,500
World War II - 405,400
Korean War - 36,600
Vietnam War - 58,200
Persian Gulf War - 380
Iraq and Afghanistan Wars since 2001 - 6,019
Every single citizen of this great country stands unified today in saluting all our veterans for their contributions to the American way of life, and for defending exactly what this country represents around the world.
Please fly our beautiful flag proudly today. GOD BLESS AMERICA and may God hold each and every veteran in the loving warmth of his arms.
COMMANDER GRANGER
Many gave the full measure with their lives, and many others suffered wounds and the loss of limbs that impacted their daily lives.
CONFLICTS - U.S. MILITARY DEATHS
Revolutionary War - 25,000
War of 1812 - 20,000
Mexican War - 13,300
Civil War - 360,000
Spanish-American War - 2,500
World War I - 116,500
World War II - 405,400
Korean War - 36,600
Vietnam War - 58,200
Persian Gulf War - 380
Iraq and Afghanistan Wars since 2001 - 6,019
Every single citizen of this great country stands unified today in saluting all our veterans for their contributions to the American way of life, and for defending exactly what this country represents around the world.
Please fly our beautiful flag proudly today. GOD BLESS AMERICA and may God hold each and every veteran in the loving warmth of his arms.
COMMANDER GRANGER
Thursday, May 26, 2011
THE $1 TRILLION FIGHTER-JET FLEET
If you subscribe to the Wall Street Journal you saw today’s shocking article relative to the projected cost for the operation of the new F-35 Joint Strike Fighter over the next 50 years. After reading the complete report I was reminded of President Dwight D. Eisenhower’s warning about the growing influence of the Military Industrial Complex many years ago.
If you missed the report here is the link:
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052702303654804576345590857818106.html?mod=WSJ_hp_mostpop_read#printMode
With a debt near $15 trillion, something must be done to reduce the cost of defending this country before we are financially destroyed from within by our defense contractors. If the cost projections have any degree of accuracy, and that is highly questionable, some compromises must be reached.
Our financial bucket can only hold just so much water, and currently ours is overflowing with waste, fraud, and corruption on the contractor side and likewise the over-sight political side that is making complicit purchase decisions. Your Commander is an ardent advocate of a strong defense posture, but common sense requires some restraint. The USA has the strongest military in the world, but we must ask at this point just how much superiority is necessary and justified let alone how much can we afford.
COMMANDER GRANGER
If you missed the report here is the link:
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052702303654804576345590857818106.html?mod=WSJ_hp_mostpop_read#printMode
With a debt near $15 trillion, something must be done to reduce the cost of defending this country before we are financially destroyed from within by our defense contractors. If the cost projections have any degree of accuracy, and that is highly questionable, some compromises must be reached.
Our financial bucket can only hold just so much water, and currently ours is overflowing with waste, fraud, and corruption on the contractor side and likewise the over-sight political side that is making complicit purchase decisions. Your Commander is an ardent advocate of a strong defense posture, but common sense requires some restraint. The USA has the strongest military in the world, but we must ask at this point just how much superiority is necessary and justified let alone how much can we afford.
COMMANDER GRANGER
AN UNFAIR FAST TRACK TO U.S. RESIDENCY
Back in November of 2010 I ran across a startling article by Chicago Tribune reporter Antonio Olivo that addressed a subject I had not heard of before: permitting foreign investors to jump to the head of the immigration line if they invested money in local projects that created jobs.
When I read Olivo’s long article I immediately became suspicious and where there is smoke there is usually a fire. In this case, there is a very questionable investment promoter with a colored history of bad behavior. With immigration being one of the hot political issues of the day I suggest that you take the time to read the article at:
http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/ct-met-investment-visas-online-20101120,0,2899873,full.story
Personally, I do not like this deal and I am disappointed that our government would fall for it. It is loaded with pitfalls for fraud by fast dealing opportunists. Additionally, immigration is not something that anyone should be able to enhance due to one’s personal wealth. There are no doubt hundreds of thousands of people around the world waiting to hear that they will be allowed to emigrate to the United States of America.
When our government sets aside 10,000 visas yearly for foreign investors, their spouses and dependent children, it is opening the door for massive illegal behavior by some unsavory wealthy individuals. It is shameful that when politicians get involved, money is always somewhere in the deal and the gate is open for unethical wheeler-dealers. I think the EB-5 program is correctly addressed by a McHenry County, Illinois resident, “Excuse my French, but, as a nation, we’re becoming whores.” Your Commander totally agrees.
COMMANDER GRANGER
When I read Olivo’s long article I immediately became suspicious and where there is smoke there is usually a fire. In this case, there is a very questionable investment promoter with a colored history of bad behavior. With immigration being one of the hot political issues of the day I suggest that you take the time to read the article at:
http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/ct-met-investment-visas-online-20101120,0,2899873,full.story
Personally, I do not like this deal and I am disappointed that our government would fall for it. It is loaded with pitfalls for fraud by fast dealing opportunists. Additionally, immigration is not something that anyone should be able to enhance due to one’s personal wealth. There are no doubt hundreds of thousands of people around the world waiting to hear that they will be allowed to emigrate to the United States of America.
When our government sets aside 10,000 visas yearly for foreign investors, their spouses and dependent children, it is opening the door for massive illegal behavior by some unsavory wealthy individuals. It is shameful that when politicians get involved, money is always somewhere in the deal and the gate is open for unethical wheeler-dealers. I think the EB-5 program is correctly addressed by a McHenry County, Illinois resident, “Excuse my French, but, as a nation, we’re becoming whores.” Your Commander totally agrees.
COMMANDER GRANGER
Wednesday, May 25, 2011
GLOBAL VILLAGE PATRIOTISM
As I have mentioned previously, each morning before I turn on my computer I enjoy opening the pages of THE AMERICAN PATRIOT’S ALMANAC. Virtually every single day I learn some new, interesting factoid about historical events such as this:
The April 15th entry follows:
Way back in April of 1910 President Theodore Roosevelt gave a speech in Paris in which he reflected on patriotism in a world that was just beginning to resemble what we today might call a “global village.” A century later, his words are worth pondering.
“I believe that a man must be a good patriot before he can be, and as the only possible way of being, a good citizen of the world. Experience teaches us that the average man who protests that his international feeling swamps his national feeling, that he does not care for his country because he cares so much for mankind, in actual practice proves himself the foe of mankind; that the man who says that he does not care to be a citizen of any one country, because he is a citizen of the world, is in very fact usually an exceedingly undesirable citizen of whatever corner of the world he happens at the moment to be in…If a man can view his own country and all other countries from the same level with tepid indifference, it is wise to distrust him, just as it is wise to distrust the man who can take the same dispassionate view of his wife and his mother. However broad and deep a man’s sympathies, however intense his activities, he need have no fear that they will be cramped by love of his native land.
Now this does not mean in the least that a man should not wish to do good outside of his native land. On the contrary, just as I think that the man who loves his family is more apt to be a good neighbor than the man who does not, so I think that the most useful member of the family of nations is normally a strongly patriotic nation.”
This reflection is extremely important for each of us to contemplate during these times of constant challenges. Patriotism was a strong force in our founding, and has stood the test of time. Hopefully, our leadership will consider Roosevelt’s sound advice. If we lose patriotism we will lose everything.
COMMANDER GRANGER
The April 15th entry follows:
Way back in April of 1910 President Theodore Roosevelt gave a speech in Paris in which he reflected on patriotism in a world that was just beginning to resemble what we today might call a “global village.” A century later, his words are worth pondering.
“I believe that a man must be a good patriot before he can be, and as the only possible way of being, a good citizen of the world. Experience teaches us that the average man who protests that his international feeling swamps his national feeling, that he does not care for his country because he cares so much for mankind, in actual practice proves himself the foe of mankind; that the man who says that he does not care to be a citizen of any one country, because he is a citizen of the world, is in very fact usually an exceedingly undesirable citizen of whatever corner of the world he happens at the moment to be in…If a man can view his own country and all other countries from the same level with tepid indifference, it is wise to distrust him, just as it is wise to distrust the man who can take the same dispassionate view of his wife and his mother. However broad and deep a man’s sympathies, however intense his activities, he need have no fear that they will be cramped by love of his native land.
Now this does not mean in the least that a man should not wish to do good outside of his native land. On the contrary, just as I think that the man who loves his family is more apt to be a good neighbor than the man who does not, so I think that the most useful member of the family of nations is normally a strongly patriotic nation.”
This reflection is extremely important for each of us to contemplate during these times of constant challenges. Patriotism was a strong force in our founding, and has stood the test of time. Hopefully, our leadership will consider Roosevelt’s sound advice. If we lose patriotism we will lose everything.
COMMANDER GRANGER
Sunday, May 22, 2011
WHY CALIFORNIA IS BROKE
There is a simple answer to that statement, and all you have to do is review the attached link to The Patriot Post website:
http://patriotpost.us/reference/california-agencies/
If you check this site you will quickly secure the answer to California’s fiscal problems. There are so many State government agencies and boards (518 by my count) that California’s huge population is not large enough to cover the fiscal obligations. In contrast I checked the website of the Texas Records and Information Locator:
http://www.tsl.state.tx.us/apps/lrs/agencies/index.php
and found that The Lone Star State has 172 state agencies and boards.
It is reported that 1/3rd of all California State taxes collected in 2009 went to payment of pensions, and that situation is predicted to only get worse. The only conclusion one can reach is that BIG GOVERNMENT has run amok.
This is but one State, and this identical problem is facing State after State across this country. It certainly does not bode well for the future of unemployment statistics, and behind closed doors in Washington time is running out to make some hard decisions.
There is no difference between the financial problems confronting California, many other States, and our federal government. There are only a few politicians on the national horizon with the courage to step forward and address this economic time bomb. We must seek out these few courageous leaders, and support their thrift-driven decision agenda. THERE IS BIG TROUBLE IN RIVER CITY.
COMMANDER GRANGER
http://patriotpost.us/reference/california-agencies/
If you check this site you will quickly secure the answer to California’s fiscal problems. There are so many State government agencies and boards (518 by my count) that California’s huge population is not large enough to cover the fiscal obligations. In contrast I checked the website of the Texas Records and Information Locator:
http://www.tsl.state.tx.us/apps/lrs/agencies/index.php
and found that The Lone Star State has 172 state agencies and boards.
It is reported that 1/3rd of all California State taxes collected in 2009 went to payment of pensions, and that situation is predicted to only get worse. The only conclusion one can reach is that BIG GOVERNMENT has run amok.
This is but one State, and this identical problem is facing State after State across this country. It certainly does not bode well for the future of unemployment statistics, and behind closed doors in Washington time is running out to make some hard decisions.
There is no difference between the financial problems confronting California, many other States, and our federal government. There are only a few politicians on the national horizon with the courage to step forward and address this economic time bomb. We must seek out these few courageous leaders, and support their thrift-driven decision agenda. THERE IS BIG TROUBLE IN RIVER CITY.
COMMANDER GRANGER
Saturday, May 21, 2011
PITY CHICAGO AND ILLINOIS RESIDENTS
About two weeks ago I read two frightening articles in the Chicago Sun-Times with the following headlines: CIVIC GROUP: GOV. QUINN’S PROPOSED 2012 BUDGET NOT ‘REALISTIC’, and $587 MILLION BUDGET DEFICIT AWAITS RAHM EMANUEL. If I was still a resident of Chicago and Illinois, as my daughter is, I would be scared stiff.
Currently my daughter drives her car out of Cook County when making larger purchases to avoid paying the 10+% sales tax that was imposed a couple of years ago by the last President of the Cook County Board, inept and corrupt Todd Stroger. Even with the high price of gasoline, she makes the trip once a week and saves a bundle on her food bill.
I’ll attach links to both articles and you can draw your own conclusions, but you and I know that taxes will have to be increased in both Chicago and Illinois to meet the deficits in both administrations.
http://www.suntimes.com/news/5260006-418/civic-group-gov.-quinns-proposed-2012-budget-not-realistic?print=true
http://www.suntimes.com/news/cityhall/5222836-418/587-million-budget-deficit-awaits-rahm-emanuel.html?print=true
No wonder families are fleeing the City of Chicago for the suburbs and even the State for sites in warmer weather locations and places where the sales tax and personal income tax burden does not prop-up corrupt, complicit union pension deals that politicians have granted in return for campaign donations and votes.
A recent Chicago Tribune article reported Chicago home sales and prices tumbled in the first quarter by 9.9%. Governor Quinn just granted Motorola $100 million tax abatement, U.S. Cellular a $7 million tax credit, a $19 million tax break to Continental Tire, and $65 million to keep Navistar in Illinois. Reports now floating around indicate that even Sears (which was founded in Chicago in 1893) is considering offers from Georgia, New Jersey, North Carolina, South Carolina, Tennessee and Texas.
Consider all the tax revenue lost in these transactions. All this to save jobs at the expense of lost tax revenue, in other words robbing Peter to pay Paul.
No wonder Mayor Richard M. Daley chose not to run for re-election. He saw the handwriting on the wall. He moves on with a big fat million dollar plus City pension, health insurance, City auto, and police protection with the budget now being Rahm Emanuel’s problem.
As a long time observer of politics in my old hometown, I predict a big battle brewing for political power with the vicious no-holds-barred new Mayor Rahm Emanuel. He will eat-up Gov. Pat Quinn in the process with the backing of his strong Chicago state legislators.
Additionally, Emanuel is now out of the shadow of President Obama, and he now holds some critical political cards that Obama will require for his re-election bid, and Emanuel knows he now has significant power over Obama’s political future. Obama may be forced to financially bail-out Emanuel, but he has no obligations to a politically weakened Governor.
By Next St. Patrick’s Day the Chicago River may not run its usual green, but red with the blood from the deficit that will soon be flowing freely in the coming months. Stay turned.
COMMANDER GRANGER
Currently my daughter drives her car out of Cook County when making larger purchases to avoid paying the 10+% sales tax that was imposed a couple of years ago by the last President of the Cook County Board, inept and corrupt Todd Stroger. Even with the high price of gasoline, she makes the trip once a week and saves a bundle on her food bill.
I’ll attach links to both articles and you can draw your own conclusions, but you and I know that taxes will have to be increased in both Chicago and Illinois to meet the deficits in both administrations.
http://www.suntimes.com/news/5260006-418/civic-group-gov.-quinns-proposed-2012-budget-not-realistic?print=true
http://www.suntimes.com/news/cityhall/5222836-418/587-million-budget-deficit-awaits-rahm-emanuel.html?print=true
No wonder families are fleeing the City of Chicago for the suburbs and even the State for sites in warmer weather locations and places where the sales tax and personal income tax burden does not prop-up corrupt, complicit union pension deals that politicians have granted in return for campaign donations and votes.
A recent Chicago Tribune article reported Chicago home sales and prices tumbled in the first quarter by 9.9%. Governor Quinn just granted Motorola $100 million tax abatement, U.S. Cellular a $7 million tax credit, a $19 million tax break to Continental Tire, and $65 million to keep Navistar in Illinois. Reports now floating around indicate that even Sears (which was founded in Chicago in 1893) is considering offers from Georgia, New Jersey, North Carolina, South Carolina, Tennessee and Texas.
Consider all the tax revenue lost in these transactions. All this to save jobs at the expense of lost tax revenue, in other words robbing Peter to pay Paul.
No wonder Mayor Richard M. Daley chose not to run for re-election. He saw the handwriting on the wall. He moves on with a big fat million dollar plus City pension, health insurance, City auto, and police protection with the budget now being Rahm Emanuel’s problem.
As a long time observer of politics in my old hometown, I predict a big battle brewing for political power with the vicious no-holds-barred new Mayor Rahm Emanuel. He will eat-up Gov. Pat Quinn in the process with the backing of his strong Chicago state legislators.
Additionally, Emanuel is now out of the shadow of President Obama, and he now holds some critical political cards that Obama will require for his re-election bid, and Emanuel knows he now has significant power over Obama’s political future. Obama may be forced to financially bail-out Emanuel, but he has no obligations to a politically weakened Governor.
By Next St. Patrick’s Day the Chicago River may not run its usual green, but red with the blood from the deficit that will soon be flowing freely in the coming months. Stay turned.
COMMANDER GRANGER
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