9/11 Commission

In case you wanted to read the most recent working papers by the 9/11 commission (I highly suggest it), the link is http://www.9-11commission.gov/hearings/hearing12/staff_statement_15.pdf .

The most interesting things I found in the statement are the fact that Al Qaeda is thought to have significantly collaberated with Hezbollah and Iran. This is signficant because Hezbollah, of course, is a target on the "War on Terror." Additionally, Hezbollah is supported by Syria, a secular regime. The residents of Syria are largely Sunni Muslim (74%), whereas the Hezbollah organization is largely a Shi'a sect.

Just food for thought.

How to recruit terrorists, and other such quests.

I have had a working theory for some time: Successful terrorist operations, more than anything else, recruit terrorists.

As of late, I have heard much conjecture about whether our presense in Iraq is creating more terrorists. This is certainly possible, but I would say that terrorists pulling off terror operations is much more successful.

Finally, evidence confirms it. In the 9/11 review, working papers quote Osama Bin Laden as saying that he wanted to pull off a major operation to create a "funding and recruiting bonanza."

Just as I thought. So in order to prevent the recruitment of terrorists, I suggest we continue to attempt to prevent all terrorism everywhere.

Inflation? What inflation?

Today, initial CPI, or Consumer Price Index, data came out for the month of May. In short, this is supposed to measure the amount of general increase in the price level of consumer items.

Mathematically, there are some 40,000 items which are factored into the calculation of the index. Today's data came out at an annualized rate of 7.25%. Historically, inflation has averaged 3%, so 7.25% is a pretty big number. However, certain economists like to "net" out certain items which can regularly scew data. These items are food and energy. Of course, most every American needs to buy items which fall into the food and/or energy category. However, these items tend to be quite volatile and bounce around quite a bit from month to month. In short, it is not politically popular for Americans to see prices increase at 7.5% per year, so it may make sense to remove these items from the commonly quoted data. When you do this, the "core" inflation number comes in at 2.5%; much more palatable.

So as the stock market rejoiced the "core" inflation number, the commodities market was looking at the net number of 7.25%. Take a cursory glance at your expenses. Have they risen? Which number do you think is more accurate?

Hope that clears things up.

B

My 2nd Favorite Holiday

Well, I have still not figured out how to post pictures, but I am working on it.

Now is the time of year where we are fast approaching my second favorite holiday: the 4th of July. Now you ask, "What is your favorite holiday?" Well the answer to that is simple: Thanksgiving. No, not because of anything to do with the founding of this country, but becuase it is the one day of the year that I am sure to be able to see a Dallas Cowboys game, and have pumpkin pie! In fact, as I am still a meat and potatoes kind of guy (despite the fact that I am attempting to broaden my food plan), there is no better food than turkey, mashed potatoes, gravy and pumpkin pie.

OK, now that I have gotten that out of my system, the 4th of July is my second favorite holiday, strictly for patriotic reasons. I am not big on fireworks, but I am big on reflecting on the meaning of July 4th, so in that light, I have some trivia. Recently, we have heard much about our country being a democracy, but did you know, that is not true? Our country is a constitutional republic. This means that we have certain rights that cannot be democratically (or tyrannically) removed. These would be the rights found (but not given to us) in the Constitution.

Did you know that?

That is right. The consitution of these United States does not give us any rights! We have unalienable rights which are secured by the Constitution. This is as opposed to the new European Constitution, in which rights are granted to its citizens. Well, as Americans, we all know that if we are given rights, they can be taken away. If they are inalienable, they cannot.

This is the first in I am sure many installments of historical trivia about our great country. And by the way, if Europe thinks I am arrogant or a cowboy for saying that our country is great, then I will think of my favorite cowboy and thank them. Some day soon, we will save them again!

Great Speech

I just finished reading President Reagan's speech for Barry Goldwater in 1964. The transcript is:

http://www.reaganfoundation.org/reagan/speeches/rendezvous.asp

This is probably one of the greatest speeches ever presented. It is called, "A Time for Choosing." If you have an interest, more of his famous speeches are located at:

http://www.reaganfoundation.org/reagan/speeches/

Enjoy.

And you thought I was done....

I took the day off. I actually took it off prior to any news about President Reagan.

After watching the news coverage, a couple of things come to mind:

Firstly, there is no such thing as a former president. President Reagan will always be President Reagan. There is no such thing as former President Reagan.
Secondly, Moorpark is one word. It is not Moore Park Community College, nor is it Moor Park Community College.
Thirdly, President Reagan was the patriarch of this country. As I mentioned in my previous post, he was like a Grandfather, and I believe he was this for all.
And finally, 100 years from now, President Reagan will be known for a couple of things:
Taking this country out of 18 years of economic malaise
Defeating the Soviet Union and imperialistic communism
And finally, by bringing pride back to our country.

We live in the greatest country in the world and he reminded us of this.

When he came to office, the Soviet Union was not collapsing. In fact, it was far from it.
When he came to office, it was thought that tax-cuts would bring about inflation; in fact, two of his economic advisors who espoused this opinion were Paul Krugman and Lawrence Sumners: two very respected academics in the field of eonomics.
When he came to office, America could not have had more destructive leaders, reminding us of our failures. What we needed was someone to remind us of our successes.

Finally, in my last post, I hoped that we would have a leader like President Reagan. I find this terribly unlikely. President Reagan came from a generation that is unlikely to be repeated. People believed in their leaders. They were optimistic. And they didn't find it necessary to take credit for themselves. We are unlikely to see a man like President Reagan in politics for some time.

In Memorium

Ronald Wilson Reagan passed away today. It was quite a sobering day for me, as in my opinion, President Reagan was the greatest leader of our country since Abraham Lincoln.

President Reagan was our leader between my ages of 5 and 12. I didn't know much about his policy during this time, but I do recall during the 2nd grade thinking that if Walter Mondale were elected (in 1984), we would need to build nuclear bunkers in our backyard. Somehow, I felt safe with President Reagan.

Throughout his life, President Reagan was an optimist; something I pride myself on. He looked to the good in people. He believed, like I do as well, that people would take responsibility for themselves, if given responsiblity. Also, President Reagan had a tremendous amount of respect for the office of the Presidency. In fact, he never took off his coat while in the Oval Office (something I learned from my grandfather, who was a docent at the Reagan library in Simi Valley, California).

My grandfather once said that he didn't care for Rush Limbaugh. I found this kind of odd, because at the time, Mr. Limbaugh was criticizing President Bill Clinton; a man I am sure he didn't care for. My grandfather said something to the effect that the Presidency was nearly a sacred institution. It wasn't right to criticize the President while he was in office.

I believe that something about their generation gave them this perspective, and it is unfortunate that subsequent generations did not inherit this.

Undoubtedly, many television programs will discuss him now that he has passed on, but I would like to remember President Reagan and the values that we learned from him: personal responsibility, hope, and the American Way.

God bless Ronald Reagan and his family. I just hope that our country will be blessed enough to have more leaders like him.

Look of this website

By the way, I chose this view from the available backgrounds because I thought it looked like parchment. What do you think? I have kind of been on a "Constitution" kick for a couple of years now.

Summer in the City

I have decided this is going to be the website where people who want to know what we are up to, will come to see, rather than my manifesto. So, in that spirit, despite all rumors to the contrary, today was an incredible, Summer-like day. The thermometer pushed 80 degrees, and there weren't any clouds until about now. This has allowed me to open the house and get some circulation.

Shortly, I am going to upload some pictures, instead of using O-Photo, so that some people, who can not access O-Photo, can come to see what we are up to.

Today also was the day that Kari gave her notice at work. I am very excited about this, because we are that much closer to continuing our family.

I hope you are able to enjoy this web log. As I am very excited about it, I welcome any feedback about what you might want to see. Please, don't hesitate to let me know.

I hope all who are reading this are doing well.

Ayn Rand and "Atlas Shrugged"

This was my most recent reading. And finally, I finished this Libertarian epic. Only 1100 pages (and some of the smalles print known to man). I think my next book will be, "The Prince," by Nicolo Machiavelli. It is a classic I have had for some time, but have never had the opportunity to read.