Department of Ed is about to get red-pilled: and everyone is losing their minds

No time for subtleties.  American teachers, administrators & bureaucrats but teachers more than anyone else… you suck. You have failed generations of students and this nation. There is no dancing around it any longer. Just accept the truth for what it is and maybe WE can fix your mess. I’ll get back to that.

Unless you live in some Unabomber utopia completely devoid of social media over the last week then you missed out on the high-tech lynching of one Betsy Devos. The school choice champion out of Michigan who was lambasted via her Senate confirmation hearing this week. There were some questions she either refused to answer or simply flat out did not know or even have an intelligent answer to. Under normal circumstances in this setting, it would be alarming and naturally, that’s all the red meat the liberals needed to declare DEFCON 5 across Twitter, Facebook and the like.

Suddenly your aunt, cousin or brother who happens to be one of 3.1 million full-time teachers across the country all of a sudden were instantly macro political scientists. People who normally don’t even know who makes up the three branches of government were “WOKE”. Pitchfork in one hand with the other shielding their sixteen students with the steadfast resolve of a mother grizzly bear protecting her cubbies.

Knowing full well, the overwhelming majority didn’t watch the hearing but instead picked up the cliff notes and immediately were enlightened. The irony of teachers taking the shortcut and coming up with subpar opinions/equivalencies is rich. Only in America can you spend a boatload on mediocrity and then have the perpetrators burn a strawman. And not get called on it. But those days are over. If we are to have this discussion let’s put all the cards on the table. If education is really the foundation for our Republic than its too important to mince words any longer.

First of all Devos, she’s a hatchet (wo)man. She was picked to grab the bull ( the education system) by the horns and push it to “school choice” as opposed to the traditional public education model. If and when she makes this a reality; mission accomplished. Devos has been a proponent of Common Core; a socialist/globalist wet dream where everyone at best achieves average. Just smart enough to run the machines but too dumb to think critically outside the box. Thus no threat to the power structure. Fittingly, that kind of sums up Devos here in both regards. Now that we got that out the way and are no longer mincing words…

Teachers? Yeah, back to them and I’m talking to all 3+ million of you. You suck. The results are in. The numbers don’t lie. We are floundering across the board compared to all other 1st world nations by just about every metric. No matter how much we shrink class sizes, no matter how much money we essentially set on fire IN THE NAME OF THE CHILDREN; nothing changes. And not only do you suck, you’re defiant and completely ignorant to your complicity in the rot that is at the core of the US Public education system.

We have seen a bureaucracy of a few powerful unions envelop the educational system like a Burmese python. This control and power so rigid and consolidated, it creates an environment where teachers performance and aptitude mean nothing and outside of giving a kid fellatio in his or her classroom with multiple witnesses… virtually impossible to fire them. Sure, there are some great teachers. Everyone can remember their favorite or most impactful teachers but we forget about the average or poor ones. Just how many poor teachers though are there?

There was an LA Weekly investigation done back in 2010 of the Los Angeles public school system that illustrates this. After a five-month investigation, LA Weekly determined that the Los Angeles Unified School District, with its 885 schools and 617,000 students who educate one in every 10 children in California spent $3.5 million trying to fire just seven of the district’s 33,000 teachers for poor classroom performance. The average cost of those cases was $500,000.

Not sure about the averages here but 33k teachers and only 7 were deemed incompetent? Apply those odds anywhere else in the American workforce and get back to me. Think about your drive-thru experiences. Think about contractors. Think about police (whom half are racist anyway, right?). How about priests? Think about watching your favorite football team. Or an MMA bout. You see what I did there at the end?

There are substandard or incompetent professionals everywhere; in every profession. Teaching is no exception. Yet it’s never even in the debate while our educational gains have been marginal if at all – over the last 30 years. We seem to have been inflicted with: Teacher Worship Syndrome. We’ve seen the Department of Education’s solutions for our educational apathy. We’ve tried no Child Left Behind. Common Core. We’ve incentivized teachers and students alike. From limo rides to Visa gift cards for just showing up. That’s right, we’ve resorted to paying for a public (free) education and still… not enough.

It’s gotten so bad and because teachers are so untouchable that Slate ran a story a few years ago on how “bad teachers can be made into good teachers”. It’s just our kids and all of our futures at stake, just capitulate, throw some training at them and viola. Presto, we have better teachers. Except for that doesn’t work. The study the article was built around was a study done in a school district in Ohio in 2001, that centered on Teacher Evaluation System or TES. Despite its success or failure, it didn’t pick up steam as the article points out: “a 2009 survey by the New Teacher Project found that school districts rarely use evaluation for any purpose other than remediation and dismissal”.

So… no oversight. No accountability. Par for the course.

James Marshall Crotty, who wrote a flaming deposition for Forbes back in 2012, came across some facts that only further compound my case, consider:

• Despite high U.S. unemployment and far higher under-employment, major U.S. employers cannot find qualified American applicants to fill their job openings (skills gap). For instance, 63% of aerospace and life science firms report shortages of “qualified workers.”
• 75% of U.S. citizens ages 17-24 cannot pass military entrance exams because they are not physically fit, have criminal records, or because they lack critical skills needed in modern warfare, including how to locate on a map military theaters in which the U.S. is fulsomely engaged, such as Afghanistan
• According to a recent report by the not-for-profit testing organization, ACT, only 22 percent of U.S. high school students met “college ready” standards in all of their core subjects; these figures are even lower for Hispanic and African-American students. This means that, upon graduating high school, more than 50% of college-bound students need to take remedial classes in one or more subjects, though a far lower percentage actually do.
• In 2009 PISA, U.S. students ranked fourteenth in reading, twenty-fifth in math, and seventeenth in science compared to students in other developed countries.

How do we fix this mess? McKinsey & Company, an independent consulting firm outside of the education lynch-mob has made some rather compelling arguments on just how and why our teachers are to blame for our education ineptitude. From the Asian model, more specifically the Singapore model the proof is all in teacher selection and retention. How to select them and how to keep them is the largest indicator from boom or bust. Take Finland for example, the leading nation in education the world over:

• Students don’t start school until they are of age seven. In the first two years of school, they spend 4-5 hours per day in it. Yet at the age of 15, Finnish students are atop of the world’s testing at math, reading science and problem-solving.
• PAYS PRIMARY EDUCATORS MORE THAN SECONDARY EDUCATORS. Seems too logical. 
• They recruit from the top 10% of college graduates in education to become teachers.
• Finland has a two stage selection process just to get into university to train as teachers; here in the states all you need is a pencil and piece of paper and you can be a teacher.
• Finland frontloads salaries. By starting at a higher salary either money isn’t an issue anymore as the gap from a teacher with 1-year service to a teacher of 30 years service is at most 18%.
• Finland also requires all teachers to have a masters degree.     
• They also require teachers to assemble together in groups. Collaborating on lesson plans, reviewing each other’s lessons thus helping each other improve. They even off time off (one afternoon each week) to accommodate this to happen.
• Special Education is destigmatized. Finland has an average of 1 in 7 teachers are for special education as many as 30% of its students while need some assistance in a school year.

As I said, in the beginning, these are not the normal circumstances. Yes, the setting is the same with the hearings on Devos but this is a scene out of the Matrix. Where the bullets are in slow motion. Where you are fending off multiple enemies with martial arts while admiring the wall decor. Trump, is trolling anyone that got upset by this nomination or any of his other nominations for his cabinet. His selections for their respective posts are almost all adversaries of their cabinet position. Devos is no exception. She has been on record saying “government truly sucks” and called public education a “dead end” because, well because the results speak for themselves. Trump wants to burn a lot of these agencies to the ground and the Department of Education created only 37 years ago is at the top of his list. I mean how did we ever learn without it for 200+ years? But our cotton candy soft populous couldn’t handle that approach, there wouldn't be enough safe spaces and cuddling corners around academia for that fix. So the trojan horse method looks like the softest landing for what needs to be done.

Education here in the states via the federal communist monopoly is spinning its wheels, so why not try something completely different? Why not put it back into the hands of those very states where the advantage of a republic can take hold like its supposed to? Where a city or state can adopt a different pedagogy. Over time the cream rises to the top and all the states can learn from each other. Look at DC. The independent incubation process is what makes us the United States. Collaboration instead of capitulation. ProWestarian US culture over globalism. The individual over communism. School choice being an enemy to education is a farce. If public schools die as a result; so be it. Having fewer choices and competition is a close minded, scared and a fatally failed perspective. Not to mention completely un-American.  There is a lot of you teachers out there and of course, most of you don’t suck. However, if you want to keep ignoring the fact that those around you or even you, yourself, isnt the solution but are actually the problem; then keep blaming Trump and continue arm chairing senate committee hearings. Or in other words, shit in one hand and stuff your complaints inside the other. Do THAT math year after year and grade the results. 

Post Script:
Hero’s don’t get a summer vacation.   

Build the Wall but know your Enemy

As Mr. Trump continues to double down on his campaign trail promises of building The Wall as we await his inauguration less than 48 hours from now, there remains an ominous symbolic result that will take place before the first shovel will have even broken ground. Consider the fundamental backdrop of this wall.

On one hand, it's obviously ideal to keep campaign promises. Especially if those promises are ones that will be challenging. This will not only build credibility from supporters and detractors alike but it would also show something in short supply of these days in The Swamp and that is - Character. For someone to actually campaign on something truly remarkable while on the trail and follow through with it once elected despite political and public pressure is nothing short of unicorn status anymore. The norm in modern political discourse is the ObamaCare debacle. For what was promised on the trail compared to what was passed once Obama gained office is like comparing Sammy Sosa circa 1998 to now. 

This wall would not only disrupt illegal immigration; it would also impact the drug trade. Despite my Libertarian stances and views on drugs, this would surely disrupt business as usual revolving drug and human trafficking. The DEA’s 2015 National Drug Assessment Summary illustrates just how dominate the Mexican cartels are in the illegal drug trade. As Joseph Borelli of the Hill opined exceptionally last week, drugs cost the U.S. economy $193 billion per year… and that was 2007 data, ie; before the current heroin epidemic.

On the other hand, its cost is completely unknown. There have been reports as low as 8 billion to others as high as 50 billion. By today's standards, that's a drop in the bucket but this along with everything else Mr. Trump wants to do will cost money. And in case anyone hasn't noticed the last two presidents to serve full terms have each doubled the national debt by the time they left. This irresponsible result isn't sustainable long term.  

A potentially troubling outcome could be another hammer blow into the divide of a public that seems to splinter by the day. In contrast with many of most in my Libertarian ilk, while I'm firmly in the “a nation is no nation without borders” camp I'm also a realist and think of myself as being pragmatic. And in what I'm about to suggest might have some Machiavellian undertones but it's paramount in my view for the survival of The West.

The Wall while functional and surely within its merits does not override the United States relationships with her neighbors from the south. And I say, neighbors because Mexico illegal immigration has slumped over the years instead of being replaced by immigrants further south. Some of you may be thinking: “Yeah but they still come via Mexico” and that would be correct but besides the point.

The point of this essay and the fundamental foundation for all my writing is the preservation of Western ideals and culture. So much so, I would rather deploy an armada of Disney like TRAM’s at the border with free baked apple pies, complimentary Budweiser and Mcdonalds cheeseburgers for all, while immigrants (legal, illegal and any otherwise) while they wait to board than I would the alternative.

I would assume we rename the state of Texas to “Little Mexico” before I accept the alternative

I would push for legislation to include the empanada as the official partner of Thanksgiving day on behalf of Americans everywhere; then I would be willing to entertain even the thought of the alternative.

That alternative? The creeping tidal wave of intolerance that is Islam.


Consider the birthrate


“THERE ARE SIGNS THAT ALLAH WILL GRANT ISLAM VICTORY IN EUROPE—WITHOUT SWORDS, WITHOUT GUNS, WITHOUT CONQUEST—WILL TURN IT (EUROPE) INTO A MUSLIM CONTINENT WITHIN A FEW DECADES." MUAMMAR GADDAFI


Gaddafi, of course, was speaking about the migrants and subsequent births from those migrants across the European continent. Anyone that follows Black Pigeon Speaks knows full well the situation with migrants and Europe's downward spiral via multiculturalism.  Why would they not only allow this but continue to do nothing continuously, DESPITE the egregious and blatant primitive actions seems dumbfounding? The reality is Europe is dying off. The birth rates in most of its nations are well below the replacement level of 2.1 with some like Spain at 1.4. It is irreversible unless you start convincing the natives (of Europe) to embark on a baby boom. Sadly, the world cup is only once every four years.

So with low birthrate and an aging population, SOMEONE has to come in to make the car, stock the shelves, sell the beer and fill out the ranks. Ah, yes… Europe evidently didn't learn from their predecessor. As it was the Romans embracing conquests that led to the pillaging and absorbing of other cultures that would one day make up the bulk of their armies. Instead of Romans it was immigrated or captured barbarians flooding the ranks. Not surprisingly, they did not share as high esteem of the Roman culture as did the legendary legion’s (predominantly native men) before them. How’d that turn out?

According to a Pew Research study, between 2010 and 2015 “In every region for which data were available, the Total Fertility Rate (TFR) for Muslims (3.1) is at or above the replacement level of 2.1 children per woman (the number needed to maintain a stable population, all else being equal).” In fact, Muslims have a larger fertility rate than the world’s population overall (2.5)

Islam will grow from 1.8 billion in 2010 to 2.8 billion in 2050. Thus making Islam growing twice as fast as the world population. And when this subject comes up there is always someone who points out that Islam will slow in terms of growth in the next fifty years but what they leave out is so will everyone else. All religions will. Care to guess what religion is still growing the fastest even then? Of course, Islam.

How does this relate to us? And how do I tie this into the wall? Consider these statistics from another Pew Research study from 2014 on religion in Latin America:


Latin America is home to more than 425 million Catholics – nearly 40% of the world’s total Catholic population

Overall, 84% of Latin American adults report that they were raised Catholic

Today, the Pew Research survey shows, 69% of adults across the region identify as Catholic


In this study, much of the premise is the loss of catholics to protestant churches. These are Christians now matter how you dice it. Regardless of your religious affiliation, if you're Pro West then you have to understand that the West was built upon, to a large extent, Judeo-Christian values. By all accounts, Latin America is the best ally we have in the culture war that is being waged on various fronts. From the PC-SJW-Left to the Islamic expansion; there is nobody better equipped to do battle against these grenades from a fundamental level than Latin America both domestic and abroad.

Does this mean the wall should not be built? Of course not. This just means we need to be cognitive in our discourse regarding the ideological battlefield. Mexicans and the rest of South America are not a threat to our culture. To our ideals. They want we want. They share the same god. Assimilation is not an issue for them. But can we say the same for the Left? Can we say the same for Islam? The answer is a resounding: NEGATIVE.  


“Know yourself, know your enemy, and you shall win a hundred battles without loss”

The Race that Apparently Wasn’t Won: the US is Taking the Cold War Off Ice

After a fifty-year arm-race that was filled with battles and insurgencies filled via proxy there inevitably could only be one winner. That was the country who held the world’s reserve currency. As the US continued to flex its muscles throughout the world and especially in the oil rich middle east after the Soviet collapse, something started to change.

Russia recovered sooner than we anticipated. They wanted their seat at the table back. It now appears the US has only a table for one. 

“WE COULD DO WITH HAVING A USIA ON STEROIDS TO FIGHT THIS INFORMATION WAR [WITH RUSSIA] A LOT MORE AGGRESSIVELY THAN WE’RE DOING RIGHT NOW,”

Those were the words from Director of National Intelligence James Clapper as he sat before the members of the Senate Armed Services Committee last week and had the courage that so many other have been lacking and finally tell the truth.

To finally place the blame on who’s responsible for our breach of security and confidence in elections. Someone finally nailed it and highlighted our lack of manpower and resources to fend off the evil Ruskies, led by Vladimir the Impaler (Putin).

The man, if you can call him such, who ghoulishly rubs his hands in a heated frenzy at the idea of our destruction, like the bloodthirsty- cannibal – commie he is, hell bent on the destabilization of the entire west.

That’s the script anyway, right? Weird how that works. It’s a strange time we live in. A time where the government decides what questions to ask and just who to ask them to. It’s not new of course but it doesn’t make it any easier to swallow.

The audacity of Mr. Clapper is astonishing. First of all, for us, as Americans to collectively point the finger at another country for meddling and sabotage is laughable if it wasn’t so reprehensible and unequivocally ironic. Sadly, so much of our geopolitical makeup and stances are just this.

• Ban other countries, sovereign states from nuclear programs; while we enhance or polish our own.
• Publicly demand other nations to stop escalating proxy wars of aggression or support hostile nations or terror groups while we conduct and support our own of our choosing
• Rail at other nations (and this is my favorite) to stop their currency manipulation while we fund the largest theft of wealth the world has ever seen 100 x’s over via the petrodollar fiat monopoly scheme
• Condemn the justice or lack thereof of other nations why we operate black sites across the globe without oversight or even public record or knowledge

I could go on. And on. And on. But for the sake of clarity, structure and respect for a sensible word count – let’s get to the point. We demand another country to pay the piper for infiltrating our election while we run the largest covert and clandestine operations of anyone in the world on friends and foes alike.

Disrupt elections. Support coups. Assassinate or help aide the assassination of democratically elected leaders. Let’s say for the sake of the argument that Russia did do what they are accused of. Then I say… so what?

Business as usual. Par for the course. When in Rome… you get the idea. Russia wouldn’t have done anything we haven’t done or will continue to do to our enemies and allies alike on a year – year, day to day & minute by minute basis.

EVEN if this was true what would have happened?  They would never have changed a vote. All they would have done was expose the dirty laundry of the DNC and its quarterback, one Hillary Clinton. And that would have been the point. She was itching for a war with Russia. And has been pushing so for years at her time as Secretary of State. She made it perfectly clear to the US populace during the debates:

“I’M GOING TO CONTINUE TO PUSH FOR A NO-FLY ZONE AND SAFE HAVENS WITHIN SYRIA, NOT ONLY TO HELP PROTECT THE SYRIANS AND PREVENT THE CONSTANT OUTFLOW OF REFUGEES BUT TO, FRANKLY, GAIN SOME LEVERAGE ON BOTH THE SYRIAN GOVERNMENT AND THE RUSSIANS.”

A no-fly zone initiated over another sovereign nation that you never declared war on? Where have we seen this before? Seems legitimate.

I have the direct opposite take from that of our intelligence community. One that is quite simply this, knowing what we know about Mrs Clinton if Russia didn’t intervene in some capacity to influence the election

I would assume they were either severely incompetent or awaiting a mutual destruction endgame. Why would they want a presidential candidate who is openly hostile to their standing in the world, in power of the most deadly armed forces the globe has ever seen? So, whether they hacked the emails is of insignificance to me.

Staying with this alternate reality (like the one our intelligence community and administration likes to play ie a reality without evidence) if there was any hacking shouldn’t the onus fall on the DNC? For being quite frankly, lazy, incompetent and just unappealable to the undecided voter? Seems plausible enough.

I mean it’s THEIR security that was hacked after all. If not the bumbling DNC, then who? You can’t blame another nation for doing what we (and every other nation mind you) do on a day to day basis and that is mine for data to use to said nation(s) advantage.

So then, I turn my attention to the real culprit here and that lies at the feet of our national security. Because no matter what; shouldn’t the role of national security involve ummm…. SECURITY? And if the security is breached shouldn’t we look at our security in place or lack thereof?

• As of last year, we had over 100k people working on our behalf in the US intelligence community.
• Just two years ago taxpayers funded and completed the NSA’s Data Center, the 1.5 billion dollar/1 million square foot facility in Utah whose sole purpose is spying and data collection.
• In 2003 we see the creation of Homeland Security whose budget often lies anywhere in the 40-80 billion dollar range annually.
• Let us not forget about the FBI and of course, where would we be without the CIA and its black budget. A virtual blank check from the Department of Defense for the Central Intelligence Agency and its brother and sister agencies working in the intelligence community. A budget which has been reported to be in the 50 billion dollar range

That seems like quite the defense. It would seem we have all we need to stop or thwart any mass scale, state-sponsored hacking program. Yet, James Clapper is asking for more? An INCREASE? That begs the question, could our national security really be incompetent? And this is where things go off the rails in opposite directions.

It would seem, a regional strategy to support the mujahideen in Afghanistan to defeat Russia was an end justify the means approach despite the blowback that occurred with Al Qaeda and subsequently 9-11. An unforeseen error I would surmise.

What about a strategy that has seen us embrace regime change in Iraq. A nation that was secular in an Islamic theocracy dominated middle east? To then promote nation building then abandon said nation while creating vacuums that foster groups like ISIS? Do those ends justify the means too? Was Iraq such a threat?

Or what about Libya? We participated in air support and a no-fly zone (ah there it is) in the overthrow and the removal of another secular leader in Gaddafi who grew Libya into the richest nation on the continent of Africa. To only see it fall into the hands of rebels and a climate of total deprivation and chaos.

How about secular Syria who has seen us wave the sword at for decades? Always right there to punish them by sanctions and or by proxy as the US backs the same terrorist ties that the US pinned 9-11 on. Does this seem like a sound strategy?

And then there is Iran.

If radicalization and theocracies don’t share our values then why are our intelligence community and the nation following a script that has us doing the exact opposite shaping our geopolitical landscape? That leads to only one logical answer because that is the objective. We want to destabilize the region.

We want to protect the petrodollar hegemony (as Iraq, Syria, Iran, Libya have all left or tried to leave the US dollar as a reserve currency). We want to control the energy in the region via pipeline deals and the players who sit in an area where ⅔’s of the world’s oil supply is derived from. All of these are true. All of these are objectives.

If Russia infiltrated the election to merely expose the neocons and hawks of the left (Clinton) they do so at the behest of the entire free world. The world that would rather not end.

So the witch hunt that’s taking place regarding Russia via our intelligence community and our mainstream “media” is the US trying to reshape the narrative. A narrative where they are back trying to dupe the public into another hail mary from the cold war playbook. However, the cold war has ended and we have the internets. We won’t be fooled again.

The New(ish) economy: Dirty Jobs Trump the Ivory Tower

We are all witness in this new golden age of journalism and media, the likes we have never seen before. With a video camera and an internet connection, people are etching out their own place in the world to tell truths and raise suspicion in ways we haven't seen since the days of Thomas Paine.

As more media comes online, media that isn't solely driven by profit but instead driven by passion & truth it's competing on level playing field and in some cases replacing traditional media outlets. Where no longer your platform is your advantage. And it's not just newspapers in jeopardy anymore. All traditional and mainstream media quivers with the notion they're being tuned OUT, not IN. But to be a credible witness you must pass the jury of truth.

We are that jury of truth. Words, ironically enough do matter. Thank you, leftists! And if we sit back and take everyone at face value without preconceived notions of platform and statue whose words are true and whose are incoherent nonsense may surprise you.

Today I present to you, the jury of truth, three witnesses. And the case I present to you is Jobs and the skills gap. Skills "gap," you say? This happens to be a dirty little secret for anyone that works in construction or simply travels the country enough to see there are jobs to be had; we just don't have the quality of trained people to fill them. As a small business owner myself, for me this is the biggest struggle I have growing my business. Anecdotal of course but make no mistake, across the country the skills gap is very real.

Paul Krugman, a liberal economist doesn't believe there is a skills gap. He once opined that the skill gap was in fact “a prime example of a zombie idea — an idea that should have been killed by evidence, but refuses to die”. Yes, the same Paul Krugman who blamed the weakest recovery in American history (apologist for Mr. Obama no doubt) because the government was forced to curb deficit spending. In Krugman's world, deficit spending = job creation. Without pointing out the obvious short-sidedness of this in any long term measurables, even at the zenith of optimism, in the short term… it’s a dead cat bounce at best.

“TO FIGHT THIS RECESSION THE FED NEEDS MORE THAN A SNAPBACK; IT NEEDS SOARING HOUSEHOLD SPENDING TO OFFSET MORIBUND BUSINESS INVESTMENT”

This is a man after all who believes and writes op-ed after op-ed on how the FED can cure all that ails the natural economic cycle. The FED. Not natural interest rates but the artificial rates orchestrated by the FED. Be that it may, a crooked petrol dollar fiat scheme until the bitter end, it's still of this world and a 100% human creation. Therefore you cannot escape its entropy. Inflation in this monetary system is like gravity in spacetime. You cannot travel faster than the speed of light to outrun gravity and you cannot escape the compound interest paradox regardless of how many Harvard degrees you accumulate on your wall. Paul Krugman is not a credible witness.

Donald Trump complains about jobs leaving overseas. SEIU, one of the largest unions still left and incidentally enough the largest government union in the nation announced last week it's cutting its budget by 30% because of.... President-elect Trump.

“BECAUSE THE FAR RIGHT WILL CONTROL ALL THREE BRANCHES OF THE FEDERAL GOVERNMENT, WE WILL FACE SERIOUS THREATS TO THE ABILITY OF WORKING PEOPLE TO JOIN TOGETHER IN UNIONS,” PRESIDENT MARY KAY HENRY WROTE IN AN INTERNAL MEMO OBTAINED BY BLOOMBERG BUSINESSWEEK.

First of all, "far right"? Trump? Trump is hardly far right but I digress. That is actually a win for Trump. Nothing to add to that. But my eyes could simply skim over this quote from President Mary Kay Henry...

“FOCUS OUR RESOURCES AND ENERGY ON THE FIGHTS THAT POSITION US TO RETAKE POWER IN 2018, 2020 AND BEYOND.”

Organized labor fighting for power in elections. Where have we seen this movie before? Circa 1933?

To his credit, Trump was the only candidate to continuously rail against NAFTA and TPP. While it’s true, the middle class has been chipped away at over the last four decades with trade being a part of that decline; it’s not the biggest culprit. That decline was in effect long before the offshoring of jobs started taking a footing. The best way to sum up the decline of the middle class and the loss of jobs overseas is simply this: It's complicated. So much so that it’s layered with layers of many competing mitigating factors. To blame it on free trade above all else is irresponsible and just plain not true.

We have seen entire sectors hollowed out while others boom. Sure, many Americans do feel left out and left behind in Middle America. And that, probably above all is what made Mr. Trump the 45th president. But that doesn’t make those people or he correct if they’re thinking to end free trade or raising tariffs will simply be the magic wand to make America great again. It might bring back some jobs but it will destroy just as much or more of existing jobs with existing families relying on them. Surely, It will make goods and services costs rise and that is no recipe to grow an economy.

Recently, Deborah Lockridge wrote a piece on free trade and quoted FedEx Chairman and CEO Fred Smith. Smith speaking to the audience at the National Council on Competitiveness Forum in mid-December warned Trump by saying this:

“WE HAVE THE BEST EXAMPLE OF PROTECTIONISM FROM OUR OWN HISTORY. THE DEVASTATING SMOOT-HAWLEY ACT OF 1930 RAISED TARIFFS ON MORE THAN 20,000 ITEMS. THIS CONTRIBUTED TO A 66% DECLINE IN WORLD TRADE FROM 1929 TO 1934. THIS MISGUIDED ACT OF CONGRESS IGNITED THE GREAT DEPRESSION.”

Does this mean raising tariffs is a bad idea? Not necessarily but raising prices on goods and services will cancel its gains out by raising prices. Government wins, consumers lose.

Bringing back blue collar jobs (manufacturing) is a noble cause and one that should be positive but how that is accomplished will be messy. In a matter of a decade, we saw manufacturing slip from 20% of GDP to 5%. But how many jobs can be saved from automation? It's not like we are living a Jetsons lifestyle just yet but automation is at some point will be the next scapegoat for the declining middle class as its only a matter of time where technology is improved and even more jobs will die off. However, while bringing back jobs that were let go offshore won't save the middle class it certainly couldn't be any worse than the previous administration's stance on offshoring jobs...

"SERVICES LIKE ENGINEERING, RESEARCH, AND DEVELOPMENT, FINANCE AND SOFTWARE PRODUCTION– WHICH TYPICALLY PAY HIGH WAGES – CAN NOW BE MORE EASILY TRADED ACROSS COUNTRIES. AS A RESULT, THE UNITED STATES IS POISED TO EXPAND ITS TRADE SURPLUS IN SERVICES, WHICH HAS ALREADY GROWN SUBSTANTIALLY, NEARLY TRIPLING IN SIZE SINCE 2003, TO $146 BILLION IN 2010."

So if unpacking the jobs that left will be hard what about the jobs we have here now that are going unfilled? Contrary to popular belief and the stigma that goes along with it, a college degree isn't the only pathway to a respectable and sustainable living.

Take transportation for example. This is is one sector that has been a major winner with free trade. Trucking alone has had shortages of drivers for at least a decade.

Bill Graves, former president and chief executive of the American Trucking Associations wrote about this issue last summer.

"WHEN I FIRST CAME TO THE AMERICAN TRUCKING ASSOCIATIONS IN 2003, AMONG OUR INDUSTRY’S TOP CONCERNS WERE DIESEL COSTS, THE DRIVER SHORTAGE, INSURANCE COSTS AND SECURITY.

IN THE NEARLY 14 YEARS SINCE MANY THINGS HAVE CHANGED. I THINK IF YOU SPOKE TO TRUCKING INDUSTRY EXECUTIVES TODAY, THE COST OF FUEL AND INSURANCE OR HOW BEST TO SECURE THE SUPPLY CHAIN WOULDN’T BE AT THE TOP OF THEIR PRIORITY LIST, BUT THEY’D HAVE A LOT TO SAY ABOUT THE DRIVER SHORTAGE."

Driving a truck, that doesn't seem that prominent does it? But that's just it. That's the problem with perception and conditioning. We've been conditioned to scoff at these types of jobs while they go unfilled while another college graduate goes underemployed or simply unemployed.

2015 mean annual earnings of truck drivers: $43,410
2015 average earnings for college graduates is: $45,400
2015 those who’ve only completed high school: $25,900

We don't have a jobs problem here. We have a fortitude problem. So Trump, like many or most of his diatribes is tapping into a problem or sees the writing on the wall, except it's written in hieroglyphics and he only speaks in sign language. Thus, Trump isn't FIRED but he must do a better job of addressing the wage gap that already exists.

Now, may I please present to you juror #3. Mike Rowe. Yes, that Mike Rowe of the Dirty Jobs variety. He's doing his best to promote ending the skills gap with actually incentivising skilled work through his charity ProfoundlyDisconnected.

There is now a 5.6 million skills gap from everything to plumbers to masons to heavy equipment operators and everywhere else in between. This is not just some random number from Mike Rowe either. He is quoting the Department of Labor. And training for these new careers won't add to the 1 trillion (and growing) dollar boondoggle that is the student debt bubble that ominously awaits an eruption like a fiat Mt St Helens.

So yes we do have a problem with the hollowing of the middle class. People left behind from the factory that disappeared are a reality but the problem isn’t just going to be cured by a company reopening its doors via tariffs, repatriating or from idle threats. Does that mean trading jobs for tax breaks should not still be pursued? Of course not. The corporate tax rate stifles business especially small business but in the meantime, let's take the easiest route possible. It's just a matter of perception and priorities. Mike Rowe gets it. He's traveled the country and understands quite well the reality versus perception that has sacked this nation's "can do" spirit.

If we define success and working nirvana by a four-year degree with a mountain of debt attached to it (thank you subsidies) then that gap only widens. But if we reverse this pussification and get real about OUR economy we will achieve the closest we've been to full employment as we've ever been.

Angela Rye: Persona non grata

Seemed fitting enough, the title. A little HT to one of the Big O's last actions as POTUS. Expelling 35 people to only have them reinstated a month from now by your successor? Seems like President Obama is a bit of a masochist doesnt it? Potentially some pure emasculation here. He just keeps setting these softballs on a tee for Trump. First Carrier now this? But i digress and also flitting enough because this is about electoral afterbirth.

This election cycle was pure comedy gold. One one hand you had a flip flopping blowhard who gave zero's about what anyone thought of him. That was refreshing. On the other hand you had a steaming pile of bile. A posterchild for what exactly ails the country and a PC/liberal wet-dream personified. This was an entertaining shit show through and through. One of the more humorous narratives that came out of this muck was from the left and it went something like this:


'Now we can finally see racists for who they truly are'

'America was never "Great" for anyone not white'


You've all heard this. And while it may be true and in some cases i think if anything it may have emboldened people to speak their minds good, bad or indifferent. Is America really more racist? Or are we actually having conversations that we haven't had the gumption for? The truth of the matter is this - those with the "America is more racist because of Trump" narrative might actually be an admission of guilt themselves. They might not realize it but their narrative is a manifestation of their own racist tendencies. Sort of like the macho dude in high school who calls everyone faggots and is always talking about someone sucking dick. Then you find him 20 yeas later congo dancing at a gay pride event wearing chaps and a leather vest with a ball gag in his mouth, i see you Donnie!

If there was anything gleaned from this election it wasn't race or walls or wars. It was news. How its made. Whos it made for and does it even matter if its correct? Fake news is news and news is fake news. Whos fake and whos real just depends on what flavor you like in your cup of tea. Nowhere is this more comical than CNN.

MSNBC and Fox cater to their audience. Its business. The news is isn't that important. Its not even a vehicle. Just look at the variation of ads on MSNBC and Fox. Its no different than watch a Penguins hockey game on ATT than it is watching the NBA Network. Race, class, gender, family its all been isolated bought and sold for its target market.

If i was running CNN, i would look at the business model of cable news and realize we missed the boat. We created the genre but didn't realize that people weren't tuning in for just the news. What the majority of people were tuning in for was an echo chamber. Sure, they wanted the news but they wanted it prepacked ready for consumption. CNN has no direction. Many days they appear more liberal than the Huffington Post. Most days its a free for all - like a food fight at an old folks home. Messy, slow, sad and just plain embarrassing.


Over the last few months here's some things that stood out watching the train-wreck that is CNN:


Chris Matthews roast fellow liberal Rachel Maddow on Clintons inability to appear as a viable candidate.
Van Jones refer to Trumps election as a "whitelash"
Cancel Mike Rowe's show
Still employe Erin Burnett and Fareed Zakaria
And the never ending gift that is... Angela Rye


I was sitting at a burger king a few days before Christmas (i know & not proud of it but i'm a fat boy who likes quick burgers) and I came across this nugget while consuming my 1100 calories and watching the audio-less aforementioned CNN.

"The Electoral College is problematic from its inception and something that was built upon and designed to oppress certain people,” Rye says. “It is okay for us to ask questions, particularly when we know the Electoral College was built upon a system to protect the interests of slave states.”“We would be remiss if we did not acknowledge that horrible history,”12.21.16

Just a few days before that she said something similar:

"I have every issue with the Electoral College, and I have since before this election. It does not speak for me. I am not supporting a system that was built on the backs of my ancestors who were slaves. I’m not here for it. … That guy is not my president.”

Then there was this very telling interview back from July of this year on CNN...

The fact that his campaign slogan could be, "Make America Great Again," and that pains me and people who look like me to no end. The fact that he could reference something like Operation Wetback in a debate where hundreds of our Mexican brothers and sisters were killed, slaughtered, and taken out of this country because someone didn't allow them to be here anymore is exactly the problem. The last time America was great to me, Fareed, was in 2008 when he was elected President, and ever since then, we've been paying the price for that.
I think, at some point, the issue is, we have to ID -- and by that, I just mean identify -- the fact that so much of this comes from the root of racism and what racism has done to every system in this country. That is what this country was built upon -- or I should say rebuilt upon because that's not how the indigenous people intended. But when white people got here, this was a system that was built upon the systematic oppression of people of color.

Where have we seen this before? A Liberal democrat not accepting the election results. Its 2000 all over again.

She doesn't support a system that doesn't speak for her. Instead she would rather have the popular vote decide everything. The popular vote where you can concentrate on the East and West coast and win thus making everyone else nothing more than spectators. California and New York combined hold 60 million people OR roughly 20% of the population. This is the very reason we are Republic and not a Democracy. The minority thus still has a voice. If you live in Wyoming or Iowa your vote matters.

This is a women who is for people of color. Her Mexican brothers and sisters in tow. She is against the system white people built when they came here. Sorry, she said we "rebuilt upon" because that's not what indigenous people intended their country to be rebuilt (as if said people had a country before said white arrival... yeah, they did not). Remember the root of racism has infected every system in this country according to Rye. So, of course it doesn't work for her. She, a minority that doesn't think protecting state sovereignty is relevant anymore. Her sheer ignorance here would normally be astounding if it wasn't so damn predictable and TIRED.

What happens if she got what she wanted and we went to a direct democracy and the popular vote was all that mattered? What happens if white people started to vote like black people? Where 90% voted one way and that was Democrat/black? But now 90% Republican and White? Say for example in the areas that make up the very middle of the country you want to essentially disqualify from their right to vote? Then, the coasts dont matter. Now the fly over sates accumulate the power. I bet that electoral college wouldn't seem so bad then would it now?

This isn't just some political commentator. This is a race hustling pimp who was executive director of the Congressional Black Caucus. You cannot possibly make this stuff up. This is a women who does not only have no respect for our system - she loathes it. But she dont mind the money that it brings though now does she? Shes bitter and if you're white, in her eyes you're still the oppressor. In fact she called the Republican Party as much. The Republican party is a lot of things and to me, not many are good... but oppression? Nonsense. But thats just it. This isn't about politics as much as it is about vengeance. Because, if we lose the electoral college and much of the middle lose their power to voice their opinions through national elections than there is really only one American alternative. Move to the coasts. Except you might not find such a warm greeting upon your arrival from the likes of this triggered race baiting, race hustling pimp known as Angela Rye.

"All of our lives could be better. One of the most fascinating things about this election to me, Alisyn, is that Donald Trump, a real estate mogul, a developer, has talked about inner cities and never once has talked about gentrification. That would have been a good way to segue into a conversation with African-American voters that's actually productive."
Aired October 26, 2016

Thats right, good 'ol gentrification. This is a classic. This is simply a case of damned if you do and damned if you dont. But when you're entire career is built upon emotion and victimization its only a matter of time before the logic house of cards comes falling down. But hey, this is business too. Race bating crybabys bitching and moaning about "systematic oppression" that nobody suffers from today sells. White liberals eat it up more so than anyone. But everyone likes a good boogeyman. People would much rather have a scapegoat than a kick in the ass. So i get the whole angry black woman angle. Just dont expect me to take you too serious when youre attacking the very system that has been the beacon of light to the rest of the world. The West is indeed the best but im a capitalist too so #StayWoke

Can we stop lying to ourselves?

Sometime between Christmas and New Years we all will have many conversations with many different types of people that make up our American families. Some you look forward to. Some pass the time. Some you cant escape and others always end up with someone rolling their eyes at the very same time looking for the nearest conversational exit. Fortunately my wives family is small and mine is somewhat splintered, so the people I do see - I happen to enjoy their company. I guess afterall divorce does have its perks.

Of all the people i speak to, if there is one divide... its politics. From old Reagan democrats to Fox news conservatives to young bleeding hearts (read inexperienced and ill-informed) to tenured professors to a few (maybe 1-2 at most) like myself: libertarian leaning - conservative - ultra pro west - sarcastic pricks. By and large everyone is respectful but you know who's who and you know who's buttons are where and over time just how to push them.

Now, after two paragraphs some of you were probably going to end up saying "why the need for the family history, say what you got to say and let me get back to my dungeons and dragons" because skimming through two paragraphs is taxing for the modern over stimulated mind. I get that. Hence why i took the time to preempt that. The setup matters. Your ability to relate to said setup will only further enhance your ability to process and retain the moral or crux of the story. So, for that you're welcome.

Of all these different people the men i grew up riffing with the most also happen to be two people i probably admire the most (step father and maternal grandfather). They also happen to be quintessential Fox News Republicans. My step father will tell you he voted for a Libertarian once (John Anderson circa 1980) and my grandfather will tell you he does not care what gay men do. And although these things are probably true these two men are also anti-democrats. They hated Clinton as much as they laud Rush Limbaugh. They laugh and snicker at Al Gore (still) and loathe Obama but not because he was Black but because he was Blue. As in Democrat. These were men who worked in the same blue collar companies for 40+ years each. They're as honorable as they are honest. But sometimes they dont have time for facts. And facts Trump EVERYTHING.

And that is my point.

If we are going to have political opinions and make them a bedrock for or a reflection of our moral compass, well then we had better get them right.

If you say in the middle of a conversion when we are verbally high fivin' over HER defeat last month "Obama doubled the National Debt in just 8 years" and i rebuttal that with a simple; "well yeah, but Bush did too, so what does that mean?". It means dont wave me off and walk away.




It means ask me to cite it. As i offered to. Please, by all means, test me or anyone presenting you with facts that chip away at our culture. By that culture i mean a pro west conservative leaning culture. Do it here, amongst family and like minded people as opposed to out there with people that need to be countered. Many of those same people who are waiting for you to do the same so they can label you a Racist, Xenophobic, Islamophobic, Misogynistic, Transphobe, Genderphobe, a Phobephobe or a Phobephobeaphobian. And BOOM. Discussion ends and you've lost in the court of PC Public opinion. Being a conservative or a ProWesterian' does not absolve us from mistakes. The worst thing we can do is ignore those mistakes & pretend they dont exist and carry on a jaded self serving mantra of willful ignorance. That's not us. We're not liberals. We can be betterrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr.

Si Senor

Welcome to the end of the world. Where reality is stranger than fiction. Where a reality TV star is actually leading polls for the office for the President of the United States in September before an election year. I know we're circling the drain but evidently the puddle is shallower than I've casually perceived.

So much has been made of Donald Trumps bombastic rhetoric that's short on execution and long on hyperbole. Anyone can talk. And this clown never stops.

Of all the empty promises and hallow words there lies (pun most definitely applicable here) no bigger fugazy than his illegal immigration reform. His words here.

Much has been made about Mark Zuckerberg and Bill Gates support for expanding the H-1b Visa Program. Trump thinks the program should be reduced and instead filled with "the number of black, Hispanic and female workers in Silicon Valley who have been passed over in favor of the H-1B program". So, instead of allowing a corporation to hire whom they want based on the most qualified they must be forced to fill their positions from a dumb down American pool first. American company's forced to hire not the best man/women for the job but the most qualified man/woman Americans for the job. Small government and affirmative action don't jive.

There is the E-Verify program Trump touts to screen legal employees. This program would cost small businesses 2.7 billion to comply according to Bloomberg. Not to mention,  the killing of agriculture; as ending illegal immigration alone wont pick the corn. It still has to be done by people and who does it and how long does it take to get them? Crops don't wait for red tape. There is also the loss of tax revenue implementing this mandated system across the board. According to Bloomberg, this would be around 17 billion in lost revenue for the government. and more importantly there is this... E-Verify would become a defacto National ID system. How can this be the opinion of a small government minded individual?

How in the world does he "impound remittances" of  "illegals" ? Legal Americans of foreign decent send remittances as well. How does this work? Confiscating all and then sifting through the legal and illegal ones? Does anyone trust the government to handle this task efficiently ? Whats next, sorting through their mail too? And this is how this cat funds the Great Wall of Mexico?


Then there is the numbers.

Sites like this advocate the illegals as a drain on the economy. One where illegals cost California alone 21 Billion in wasted tax dollars. Now subtract that from the 130 Billion that Undocumented immigrants alone contribute to California's GDP – a figure greater than the entire GDP of Nevada – or AT&T’s total revenues. Or, you could say 17 Billion more than all the states COMBINED deficit due to illegal immigration. 

What about Social Security? What about the 1-Trillion illegals have contributed to that ponzi scheme that they wont even participate in? Talk about a screw job. Those wars in Iraq and Afghanistan you liked so much? Paid for by the sweat of wetback Mexican laborers. That 2010 Tax Credit from the Hope and Change savior? You rember that 34 dollars dont you? Paid for by fruit picking, lawn mowing Mexicants. Who helped pay for that balanced budget string you got in the 90's by Jizzy and Newt? You know it.

Then there is this from the Right leaning American Action Forum on what taking the 11+ million illegal aliens out of the country and workforce would look like:

• Take about 20 years and cost the government between $400 billion and $600 billion
• Real GDP would drop by nearly $1.6 trillion and the policy would shave 5.7 percent off economic growth
• Not inlcuding the cost of: constructing new courts, prisons, and other buildings that might be needed to process and detain millions of immigrants.

There is also tripling the border patrol. Again, not a small government position.

Last but not least. Above the idiocy. Above the flip flopping. Above the total empty hot air this guy spouts out there is one fundamental flaw with his logic and it has nothing with him being a big government whore. Its life.

We "Conservatives" will tell you a child is not a fetus. We will tell you the child shouldn't be punished for the mothers lack of morals. Funny how fast we flip the script when talking about illegal immigration. All of a sudden those babies don't hold the same value. Funny how politics can be used to promote morality and in the same breathe use politics to discredit the very morality that was justified originally when its doesn't fit an agenda. So instead of babies... they are anchor babies. As if that title denies them the very protection we so vehemently defend all unborn life with.

So if you want to feel patriotic, light a firework, shoot a gun - sing the star spangled banner with your dick in one hand and an American flag in the other... but whatever you do, don't espouse to ideas that essentially cut your nose off in spite of your face. Illegals aliens, undocumented workers or whatever PC term we are using these days are a boon to this economy. It keeps costs down and that provides a strapped middle class with much need savings. Its like having a slice of China in a field near you.