Tag: capitalism

Intolerant Liberals, “Squishy Conservatives”, a Divided Nation

On By kingsjesterIn PoliticsLeave a comment

ObamaPutin7242014As I write this, the world is exploding around us…literally. Russia, under the leadership of Former KGB Agent, Vladimir Putin, is as aggressive as they have ever been, presently on a campaign to regain all of those Eastern European Countries which they lost during the demise of the old Soviet Union.

At the same time, the land bequeathed to Abram by God (Genesis 12: 1-3), is the scene of violence, as Muslim Barbarians, who have never had a country of their own, seek to take over Israel and kill God’s Chosen People.

How is this happening?

The answer is to a cheering throng of Europeans, infiltrated by adherents to the “Religion of Peace”. You know, the religion that turns their wives and daughters into slaves to be beaten and murdered for “honor’s sake”, and, whose “Freedom Fighters”, in the midst of a “Holy Jihad” against “the infidels”, use their own children as human shields and ‘wage war” from inside the corridors of hospitals.

However, it is not just the Europeans who are cheering these cowardly barbarians on. It is American Liberals, as well.

While not every American Liberal supports the barbarism of Hamas, there are more than you think, including, unbelievably, some American Jews.

These “tolerant” Liberals are following the lead of their President and his Administration.

The Washington Post has the latest details…

The United States on Wednesday put the most direct pressure yet on its ally Israel to cut short its military campaign against Hamas in Gaza, but Secretary of State John F. Kerry did not get a deal from Israel or the Palestinians to stop the bloodshed.

Despite a swirl of shuttle diplomacy, the war looked far from over Wednesday. Israeli leaders told their soldiers to prepare for an escalation inside the Gaza Strip, while the leader of Hamas vowed that his Islamist militant movement would not sign a permanent cease-fire until Israel ends its blockade of the coastal enclave.

Ordinary Israelis were upset with the United States and accused the Americans of cowardice after the Federal Aviation Administration, nervous that Hamas rockets have landed near Israel’s main airport, extended a ban on U.S. commercial flights to Tel Aviv. The decision was bad news for a small, image-conscious country such as Israel whose economy relies on international trade and tourism.

The FAA lifted the ban at 11:45 p.m. EDT on Wednesday.

Kerry met in Israel with on Wednesday with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who was angry about the FAA action and suspicious that it was an attempt by the Obama administration to squeeze Israel to end its Gaza campaign.

This division over the right of Israel to defend herself against Islamic Terrorists, extends to the overall feeling of Americans concerning the current state of our nation.

According to Rasmussen Reports,

The Rasmussen Reports daily Presidential Tracking Poll for Wednesday shows that 47% of Likely U.S. Voters approve of President Obama’s job performance. Fifty-one percent (51%) disapprove (see trends).

The latest figures include 24% who Strongly Approve of the way Obama is performing as president and 41% who Strongly Disapprove. This gives him a Presidential Approval Index rating of -17.

Results are updated daily at 9:30 a.m. Eastern (sign up for free daily e-mail update).

How are voters reacting to the new burst of fighting between Israelis and Palestinians in Gaza? Find out at 10:30 a.m. Eastern today.

Voters strongly believe the United States is a more divided nation these days, but Republicans are the most eager to do something about it at the ballot box in November.

The Republican Party has been practicing “Squishy” Conservatism, since the history-making Midterm Elections of 2010. We are currently living with the consequences of that. Practicing this political philosophy of relative ethics and relative morality is akin to building a house on shifting sand.

Americans do not tolerate vacillating leaders for very long. Look at the problems besetting The “Fundraiser-in-Chief”, Barack “Scooter” Obama. Few Americans, except for his Far Left sycophantic base, are buying the now-stale  “Hope and Change” he is still feebly selling.

More Liberals are becoming jaded and disappointed with Obama, because all of his “hope and change”, has affected the pocketbooks of the entire nation, not just those of the “evil 1%”.

This Karl Marx/Saul Alinsky-inspired “Class War Politics” and his own petulant, belligerent personality of a 12 year old, has lead to a divided nation, the likes of which has not been seen since “The War of Northern Aggression”.

Conservatives have a great opportunity ahead of us this November. But we will blow it if we do not present a united front. Our country is under siege from enemies, internal and external, that want to turn the “Shining City on a Hill” into a Third-World Barrio. We do not have the luxury of wasting time ridiculing another Conservative for being old-fashioned or Christian. It’s time to man up. The barbarians have knocked down the gate and they are ransacking our homes. They have burdened future generations with a tax burden that may be insurmountable. For our children’s children’s sake, we must politically repel these invaders who wish to make us subservient to their failed ideology. 

So before I wrap my daily rant up, I wish to leave you with the words of the greatest American President in my lifetime, Ronald Wilson Reagan.  Here is a excerpt from a now-famous “Stump Speech” he gave, during the Barry Goldwater Presidential Campaign in 1964.

Now, 50 years later, it is once again, “A Time For Choosing”.

You and I know and do not believe that life is so dear and peace so sweet as to be purchased at the price of chains and slavery. If nothing in life is worth dying for,when did this begin — just in the face of this enemy?

Or should Moses have told the children of Israel to live in slavery under the pharaohs? Should Christ have refused the cross? Should the patriots at Concord Bridge have thrown down their guns and refused to fire the
shot heard ’round the world? The martyrs of history were not fools, and our honored dead who gave their lives to stop the advance of theNazis didn’t die in vain. Where, then, is the road to peace? Well it’s a simple answer after all.

You and I have the courage to say to our enemies, “There is a price we will not pay.” “There is a point beyond which they must not advance.” And this — this is the meaning in the phrase of Barry Goldwater’s “peace through strength.” Winston Churchill said, “The destiny of man is not measured by material computations . When great forces are on the move in the world, we learn we’re spirits — not animals.” And he said, “The re’s something going on in time and space, and beyond time and space, which, whether we like it or not, spells duty.”

You and I have a rendezvous with destiny.

Until He Comes,

KJ

 

6.3% Unemployment Rate Vs. Reality: Reality Wins.

On By kingsjesterIn Politics3 Comments

UnemploymentWhile Liberals attempted to spin yesterday’s 6.3% Unemployment Rate, as something spectacular, reality decided to intervene.

The local CBS affiliate in Washington, DC reports that

Despite the unemployment rate plummeting, more than 92 million Americans remain out of the labor force.

The unemployment rate dropped to 6.3 percent in April from 6.7 percent in March, the lowest it has been since September 2008 when it was 6.1 percent. The sharp drop, though, occurred because the number of people working or seeking work fell. The Bureau of Labor Statistics does not count people not looking for a jobas unemployed.

The bureau noted that the civilian labor force dropped by 806,000 last month, following an increase of 503,000 in March.

The amount (not seasonally adjusted) of Americans not in the labor force in April rose to 92,594,000, almost 1 million more than the previous month. In March, 91,630,000 Americans were not in the labor force, which includes an aging population that is continuing to head into retirement.

“The labor force participation rate fell by 0.4 percentage point to 62.8 percent in April. The participation rate has shown no clear trend in recent months and currently is the same as it was this past October. The employment-population ratio showed no change over the month (58.9 percent) and has changed little over the year,” the bureau said in a statement.

A little over one month ago, on April 1st, I joined the ranks of the unemployed, due to a Budget Cut.

In years past, this would have been tough. Now, it is tougher. You see, I’m 55 years old.

Being a writer, and someone to whom performing research comes as naturally as breathing in and out, I immediately performed a Google Search, on “Being Unemployed Over 50”. I found an article on the subject , posted in 2012 on forbes.com, which included this hardly-inspiring little ray of sunshine:

For older workers who lose their jobs, the statistics are not very encouraging. Though the unemployment rate for people over 55 is just 5.9%, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, several points lower than the overall rate of 8.1%, when older workers lose their jobs they are out of work for a long time, according to the AARP Public Policy Institute. In May, 54.9% of job seekers over 55 had been looking for 27 weeks or more. According to the Institute, on average, unemployed people over 55 have been out of work for more than a year—56 weeks. Also, as my colleague Ashlea Ebeling wrote in May, the Urban Institute released a report showing that median monthly earnings fell 23% after an unemployment spell for reemployed workers aged 50 to 61, compared with just 11% for workers aged 25 to 34.

Yeehaw. Okay, so what should I do? I mean, I can only watch “Walker, Texas Ranger” and “In The Heat of The Night” reruns so many times. Besides, I keep remembering the mug shots of the late Howard Rollins, from the time he was arrested for Substance Abuse while wearing women’s clothing. It was not a pretty sight.

But, I digress…

The Forbes Article goes on to feature stories from  Renée Rosenberg, a career counselor who specializes in over-50 job seekers. She is the author of Achieving the Good Life After 50, and a coach with the national career coaching organization.

According to Ms. Rosenberg, and the writer of the article, Susan Adams,

Often older workers need to adjust their expectations and consider jobs outside their area of expertise. Sometimes this means swallowing a pay cut, but it can also mean taking a job that is more low key and located closer to home. One of Rosenberg’s clients, at 68, lost his finance job in a downsizing. He realized he wanted to walk to work in his New York suburb. While poking around his neighborhood he saw a help wanted sign in a storefront. He inquired, and landed a job as a dispatcher for a limousine and car service. The job isn’t glamorous but it meets his financial needs and keeps him close to home.

In other words, grab whatever you can. If I was in my late 60s, I would probably follow those ladies’ advice.

However, I am not. I am only 55. I believe that I still have a lot to offer an employer.

The only problem is, will the employers see it that way?

The impatience of a technology-driven society is very evident…even in a job search.

Employers nowadays want to know what you can do for them today, not a couple of years down the road. And, with the economy headed down the ol’ porcelain receptacle, they want you to be able to do it with a limited or non-existent budget. Additionally , if you are being interviewed by a smaller company, Health Insurance for you and your family may not be included, due to the launch of the Affordable Care Act (Obamacare).

This ain’t our parents (or grandparents for you young whipper-snappers out there) Job Market.

My folks were members of America’s Greatest Generation. I was born when they were 40. That being said, I can remember my Mother and Father, going to work everyday, to their jobs with Sears and Roebuck.

That’s right. They both worked for the same company…for 20 years!

You see, boys and girls, back then, unlike our impatient present society, employers hired you for the long haul. These employers were adept, through face-to-face interviews, at recognizing future employes’ potential, and were willing to invest the time necessary to cultivate that employee in order to realize a Return on that Investment (ROI).

Beginning in the 1980′s, the employer/employee dynamic began to change, as older employees, seemingly overnight,  became viewed as liabilities, not assets.

Nowadays, in our impatient society, powered by an universal quest for immediate results and gratification, employers and job-seekers alike have forgotten the old adage,

Good things come to those who wait.

Employers need to realize that there are skills you can teach employees and that the job seeker who is presently interviewing with you, can be cultivated into becoming a worthwhile ROI.

And, on the job seeker’s part, young seekers, just out of college, need to realize that, while universities can teach you knowledge, they can’t teach you experience. You may have to take a lower job than you had set your hopes on, in order to achieve greater success in the future.

In today’s “microwave-version” of the job seeking/hiring process, perhaps both employers and potential employees need to slow down, move in a more deliberate fashion, and think a little more about what they want, in both an employer and in a job situation.

The reality is, with the Obama Administration more interested is the expansion of government than they are in the expansion and health of America’s economy and labor force, more Americans are choosing to drop out of the Labor Force, because they are tired of the struggle. 

All these numbers from the Obama Administration are, is an attempt to put a coat of white paint on a shotgun shack and call it “repaired”.

So, fellow job seekers…

Prepare for the long haul.

Be Flexible. Be Adaptable. 

Never Give Up. Never Surrender.

Until He Comes,

KJ

Black Friday 2013: American Economic Freedom in Action

On By kingsjesterIn Politics2 Comments

Black FridayI remember, as a child, the day after Thanksgiving was a day spent at home, watching Saturday Morning Cartoons, presented that Friday by the three networks, to start the Christmas toy push, and to entertain America’s children, while their parents got things done…like shopping.

Of course, those days are long since past, having been replaced by the retail siege, now known as “Black Friday”.

As I sit here writing this post, my  30 year-old step-son and 6 year-old grandson lie asleep in the guest bedroom, while my Bride and Daughter-in-law left at 5:00 this morning in the 29 degree weather to see what bargains they can find that we can’t afford.

According to dailymail.co.uk…

147 million Number of Americans expected to shop over Thanksgiving weekend

33 million Number of people shopping on Thanksgiving

4.1 Expected percentage increase of holiday sales on last year

$602.1 billion Expected retail sales for the last two months of the year

22 Percentage boost to sales over Thanksgiving weekend for stores which extended their hours last year

$816 million Amount shoppers spent on Black Friday last year

$149 million Amount shoppers spent online on Thanksgiving last year

In an unprecedented move, several “Big Box Retailers” opened their door at 6:00 p.m. on Thanksgiving Night, in an effort to make up for a late Thanksgiving this year and a still-depressed “Obamaconomy”.

Fox News reports that…

The early start to this year’s shopping mayhem did not prevent several reported violent confrontations at stores around the nation that opened up for Black Friday, which is typically considered the biggest shopping day of the year.

A New Jersey man was arrested Thursday in a Walmart and charged with disorderly conduct and aggravated assault on a police officer after allegedly arguing with a store employee over a TV, NBCNewYork.com reported.

In the Chicago suburb of Romeoville, a driver believed to be involved in a shoplifting scheme was shot by authorities after dragging a police officer who was trying to stop him in the parking lot of a Kohl’s department store late Thursday, the Chicago Tribune reported.

The suspected shoplifter and two additional suspects were arrested, police told the newspaper. Both the driver and the officer sustained injuries that were not thought to be life-threatening, according to the report.

At a Wal-Mart in the Southern California city of Rialto, a police officer was injured while trying to break up a fight after a store manager decided to open the doors early, which police said led to the melee, according to the San Bernardino County Sun.

Police said there were three fights at the store, two of which were inside over merchandise and the third outside that left the officer injured. All of the people involved in the fights were taken into custody, the newspaper reported.

In Las Vegas, a customer who had purchased a big-screen television at Target was shot in the leg while walking to a nearby apartment complex, KLAS-TV reported. The victim was taken to an area hospital with non-life threatening injuries, according to police.

In the past few years, retailers have pushed opening times into Thanksgiving night. They’ve also pushed up discounting that used to be reserved for Black Friday into early November, which has led retail experts to question whether the Thanksgiving openings will steal some of Black Friday’s thunder.

Overall, The National Retail Federation expects retail sales to be up 3.9 percent to $602.1 billion during the last two months of the year. That’s higher than last year’s 3.5 percent growth, but below the 6 percent pace seen before the recession.

Analysts expect sales to be generated at the expense of profits as retailers will likely have to do more discounting to get people into stores.

Back on November 23rd, 2011, Robert H. Frank, a Liberal Professor of Economics at the Johnson School of Management at Cornell, and the author of “The Darwin Economy: Liberty, Competition and the Common Good.”, wrote the following in an op ed piece in The New York Times, titled “How to End the Black Friday Madness”…

In recent years, large retail chains have been competing to be the first to open their doors on Black Friday. The race is driven by the theory that stores with the earliest start time capture the most buyers and make the most sales. For many years, stores opened at a reasonable hour. Then, some started opening at 5 a.m., prompting complaints from employees about having to go to sleep early on Thanksgiving and miss out on time with their families. But retailers ignored those complaints, because their earlier start time proved so successful in luring customers away from rival outlets.

Those rivals, of course, didn’t sit idly by. Their inevitable response was to open earlier themselves, restoring competitive balance. Other retailers began opening at 4 a.m., then 3 a.m., and, eventually, at midnight. Several malls have promoted “Moonlight Madness.” Last year Toys “R” Us opened at 10 p.m. on Thanksgiving. This year, Wal-Mart will do the same. The costs to store owners and their employees and families are enormous: millions must now spend time away from home on the one occasion that all Americans, regardless of religion or cultural background, share as a family holiday.

These costs might be worth bearing if they led to even larger gains. But when all outlets open earlier, no one benefits. Few people actually want to shop in the wee hours, and the purchases that do occur then are presumably offset, dollar for dollar, by reduced sales during normal business hours. Even the shoppers who turn out for early openings seem motivated primarily by a fear that others might snap up bargains before they get there. But if all stores opened later, there would be no fewer bargains than before. In short, we have a classic collective action problem, an arms race.

Black Friday (or, more accurately, Black Thursday Night) is only hours away, so it’s too late to do anything about early openings this year. But we can start thinking about what can be done to protect our future Thanksgivings. Many societies employ “blue laws” — laws that mandate closing times, usually on Sundays. But there is a simpler, more flexible, way to approach this problem. Inspired by the 9-9-9 proposal of the Republican presidential contender Herman Cain, I call it the 6-6-6 plan — an across-the-board 6 percent national sales tax (on top of any existing state and local sales taxes) in effect from 6 p.m. on Thanksgiving to 6 a.m. on Black Friday.

This plan would leave both stores and consumers free to decide for themselves whether middle-of-the-night shopping is worth it. Even if some retailers decided to stick with the early openings and even if some shoppers showed up, the country would reap a significant benefit. As every mature adult realizes, we have to tax something, and the revenue from my 6-6-6 plan would make it possible to reduce taxes on other activities that are actually useful. Best of all, it would encourage Americans to spend Thanksgiving night where they really want to — in bed.

In other words,the perfesser wants Uncle Sugar to regulate Americans’ right to decide whether to participate in shopping on Thanksgiving Night and/or Black Friday, or not, by taxing the snot out of us.

Now Dr. Franks is definitely not the first over-educated Liberal to bemoan the unbridled capitalism of the Christmas Shopping Season. NOr, will he be the last.

However, what is hypocritically hilarious about the “perfesser’s” and other “Soooper-Genius” Liberals’ protestations, is that fact that they usually live in huge homes, drive expensive cars, and draw huge salaries from either institutes of higher learning, which are, in part, funding by American Taxpayers.

And, to top if off, they are usually the first ones waiting to get in line when the stores open….and they will run you over in a heartbeat, just to get the latest I-phone.

So, here’s my thoughts on the matter…regarding shopping on Thanksgiving night…let Americans decide which they value most: time with their family…or shopping for bargains. If American’s choose to stay at home with their families, retailers will be forced to stay closed on Thanksgiving Nights…like they used to.

That is how America’s Economy was built to work, in the first place.

American Freedom…what a concept.

Until He Comes,

KJ