Spending Priorities

Rear Admiral Joseph Mulloy, the deputy secretary of the Navy for the budget said recently, "If we don't take  care of our ships, who are we?  I mean, that's the bottom line".  He said this in reference to the sequester and the issue of cutting defense spending in order to balance the budget.  I would say in response, "If we don't take care of our people, who are we?  I mean, that's the real bottom line".  A country can look strong on the outside with military forces to best any other country in the world, but if the country is weak on the inside then all the military power in the world may not save it.

American Exceptionalism

Concerning the un-going political discussion about the "exceptionalism" of American society, I found this item of interest  "Americans under the age of 50 are more likely to  have poor health and die prematurely than people in 16 other developed countries".  This according to the National Research Council (whoever they are) which adds that our life expectancy rate is "comparatively low" in regard to the other countries in this study; including Canada, Australia, and many Western European countries.

(Source:  From the Los Angeles Times and reported in The Week for 1/25/13).

Reagan and Obesity

This file will include my research into the connection between obesity in the US and the policies of the Ronald Reagan administration.  It is here rather than in my history blog because my bias against RR might skew my research.  

An online site by the Thom Hartmann Progran-a radio show-made the following claim on Ap 30, 2012.  His take is that the unequal distribution of wealth could be one factor in the increase in obesity in this country.  His argument is that wealth has been flowing from the bottom to the top since the Reagan tax cuts-cuts that were continued, in most part, up to the present day-leaving those at the bottom of the economic ladder with less money to spend.  This resulted for the lower economic classes a choice on the spending of what money they had.  It could go for gas in their cars to get to work, to health insurance or to a better-albeit more costly-diet, which would have limited the weight gain in the lower classes.  He noted in general that the "more unequal the wealth rate is in a country the higher the level of obesity".  Hartmann has a web site; www.thomhartmann.com. 

Another site I found noted that during the Reagan admin legislation was passed that placed a limit on imported sugar cane in an effort to protect a domestic industry.  This legislation was lobbied for by Archer Daniels Midland (ADM), an agribusiness giant.  This resulted in the drastic increase in "high fructose corn syrup" in place of sugar.  It is this substance in food-like soda-that has caused the rapid weight gain among those not always able to make the best choice in foods.  This information comes from the "OB Rag" or Ocean Beach, California 92107 online site from 1/13/09.

The Church

I've been reading the Winter of the World by Ken Follett and noted his comment that in order for Adolf Hitler to gain enough votes in the Reichstag to form a coalition government in 1933, he needed the votes of the Catholic Centre Party; he got them and we know what happened then to free government in Germany.  I remember from history reading of the agreement the Catholic Church made with Mussolini in Italy in the 1920's-the Concordat-it guaranteed the place of the Church in Italy and gave the Fascist government needed support among the populace.  

This past month we have read about the new Pope-Francis-of Argentina.  It is disturbing to read that he may have acquiesced in the "Dirty War" there that saw countless Argentinians disappear as victims of the military government there.  Some think even some Catholic priests fell victim to the terror.  And there was the issue of Pope Benedict and the sexual abuse scandal that victimized children in the US and Ireland.

These are not easy comments to make for someone who was raised in the Catholic Church but as a student of history they present difficult issues and thoughts of betrayal.

""Cannon Fodder", Industrial Chum

It has been my believe since teaching American History that the common man in this country is either cannon fodder or industrial chum.  The former because all the wars we have fought have required large number of young men to shed their blood and lose their lives for the economic benefit of the large corporations and wealthy elite in this country.  The term "cannon fodder" is not my original thought as the phrase has been around and in general use for a good many years.  As for the latter term, I also believe that the common man has been used to run the machines-grease them, if you will-with their labor, and lives in many cases, at a low rate of pay so that these same corporations and wealthy elite can earn profits way more than any person needs for a very comfortable life style.  As the fisherman will throw small pieces of bait into the water to attract the larger, more profitable fish so to the corporations will do basically the same with workers.  They are "chum" in both cases.  As to the origin of this term, I believe it is mine alone. .

Now with the quest for equality in this country-which I favor generally-it is not the common man who is being so used but the common woman, due to her presence on the battlefield and in the factory.  Is this the price we pay for a more equal society?

On re-reading this I wonder if I am having a bad day and being more cynical than I need to be.

"Magic Lantern"

I came across this item while watching a re-run of the Law and Order TV program; this one dealing with a computer company that was selling information about a person's private life to anyone who asked for it.  It so happened that the one asking was a stalker and the person who's private life was divulged wound up dead.  The program noted that the federal government had a similar program-called "Magic Lantern"-that allowed the federal government to gain access to a person's email account and know what they were thinking and saying even as they were saying it.  This program came about under the US Patriot Act passed after 9/11.  What happens is that the government can plant a computer virus on a computer and then read everything being recorded there; even what I am now writing.  I believe a warrant is needed but it might come from a FISA court not an open criminal court.  There is some comment here about a "Enhanced Carnivore Project" that is meant to detect terrorist suspects.  The ACLU and others have fought this authority but to no avail (as I understand it).  An internet site-"Cotse.Net" stated that the program "...was useless against suspects clever enough to encrypt their files".  I admit, my knowledge of computers and this program are limited but the overall idea sounded really dangerous to me.

War Costs

I came across this info on the costs of the Iraq war on line at Reuters.com and I thought it worth noting here. I am one who has believed for a long time that we spend way too much money on "defense" and that a good part of that is not for our defense but the profit margins of some major corporations with political connections.  I also think this spending has been going on for as long as we have been a country.  Just look at the fortifications up and down the eastern seaboard of our country.  Just about none of them has ever fired a weapon in anger.  Anyway, the cost for the most recent war follow.

Brown University "Cost of War" Project reports the war cost for Iraq at $ 1.7 trillion (US dollars) plus another $ 490 billion in benefits yet to be paid out.  Overall cost could increase to $ 6 trillion over 4 decades.  On the human side they report that 134,000 Iraqis have been killed and that figure "be four times that".  In 2011 a Watson Institute (?) study said the cost of wars in Afghanistan, Pakistan and Iraq was at least $ 3.7 trillion.  That figure included the cost for war vets medical and disability care.  Their update put the cost at $ 4 trillion.  (This info taken from the internet and Reuters.com on 3/16/13)