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Monday, September 26, 2011

Ranking Our Laws

There has been much discussion on constitutional law so here's a breakdown of Federal vs. State laws and the checks and balances on US government.

Any state constitution or state law that conflicts with the US Constitution laws or treaties can not be enforced.

Highest to Lowest
1 US Constitution
2 US laws and treaties
3 State Constitutions
4 State laws
5 Local laws

A document of this kind is only as good as the people make it.
It must be enforced or it becomes meaningless.
We can make it effective by being well informed as to what our government is doing, by taking an interest in and voting in all elections, by writing letters expressing our opinions to our elected officials, by lobbies, by taking court action in what is called a "test case", against any law that we feel is non-constitutional, and by petition.

Checks and Balances
I Checks on Congress and the Supreme Court made by the President
A May veto bills of Congress
B May call special session of Congress
C May adjourn Congress if House and Senate can not agree on an adjournment date
D May withold information from Congress
E President may appoint Supreme Court Justices

II Checks on President and Supreme Court made by Congress
A May propose amendments to the Constitution that affect offices of the President and the Supreme Court
B May impeach and try President or Supreme Court Justices
C May override President's veto by 2/3 vote of each house
D Controls all spending of money in the US
E Senate may refuse to give it's consent to an appointment to the Supreme Court
F Senate may refuse to give it's consent to any other appointments or treaties made by the President

III Checks on the President and Congress made by the Supreme Court
A May declare law passed by Congress and signed by the President unconstitutional
B May bring suits or issue court orders against public officers

The Moment

"Generations from now, we will be able to look back and tell our children that this was the moment.............when the rise of the oceans began to slow and our planet began to heal."
                                                               President Barack Obama
                                                               June 3, 2008

Tuesday, September 20, 2011

It's Not Nice To Mess With The President

In May 2011, I recall Israeli's Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu speaking before Congress.

Prior to that, President Obama made clear his Middle East policy. His stand was that
1. Israel should NOT have to negotiate with terrorist groups like Hamas that deny it's right to exist.
2. Israel's security requires long term military presence in the disputed land borders with no timetable for full withdrawal.
3. Any Palestinian state must be demilitarized and President Obama would actively oppose any unilateral UN effort to declare Palestinian statehood.

The speech Netanyahu gave in front of Congress did not recognize these pro-Israeli positions.
The Prime Minister chose to basically "lecture" the President on the position President Obama had NOT taken-meaning the return to the "indefensible" pre-1967 borders.

Netanyahu basically has given support to the Republicans in 2012.
He must have known the political impact.
President Barack Obama is our American President.
It was inappropriate behavior for an American ally.

Wednesday, September 14, 2011

It Is What It Is

No matter what issues are at the forefront of politics~
The superior politician always wins.
Think about it.
Always.

Is Defense The Best Offense Now

I have been reading alot about Japan and their military submarine fleet.
They are producing submarines at a cost of approximately $2 billion a piece.

Would a US national defense program with a comprehensive MEM sensor system be more efficient?
I believe the metric of the future is not capacity but capability.

A "sensor"  system of our nation's borders would secure them without building walls or fences.

I have also heard that in the northern part of our Mexican border there is very little illegal entry so I am not convinced that a "boots on the ground" approach to illegal entry is efficient in that region.

Walls and fences are not American.
Our country is what this is about and securing our borders without building walls should be the goal.

  

Tuesday, September 13, 2011

$

Napoleon Hill's analogy of wealth is the best example I've read.
It goes;
"money is as shy and elusive as the maiden.
It must be wooed and won by methods not unlike those used by a determined lover
in pursuit of the girl of his choice.
That power when successfully used in the pursuit of money,
must be mixed with faith.
It must be mixed with desire.
It must be mixed with persistence.
It must be applied through a plan,
and that plan must be set into action.
Poverty needs no plan.
It needs no one to aid it,
because it is bold and ruthless.
Riches are shy and timid.
They have to be attracted."

Friday, September 9, 2011

This I Believe

America is the place. The time is now.
She is in the begining of  her greatest period in history.
A time of leadership in science art and human progress towards democracy.
We need to believe more strongly than ever before in America and in eachother, in our system by not exploiting our sorrows, successes or passions.
We should not be a slave to dogma.
We need to believe in the good of people.
It's hard. Democracy is not easy.
It is obtained by the slow method in which the dignity of A is acknowledged by B, without impairing the dignity of C.

And then there was 44

Thursday, September 8, 2011

From Darkness Into The Light

I dared to reach out my hand into the darkness to pull another hand into the light.

Education

Times have changed.
Now as governments and parents tighten their belts-it's changing.
We need more people who place value on not following the academic path at any cost.
The best way to learn many skills is by practicing those skills- not sitting in a classroom.
Likewise, the best way to become an entrepreneur is by starting a business-but if you have to service 5 or even 6 figures of student debt in addition to starting the business-it's difficult.
College seems more like a 4-5 year party and it often serves as a way to avoid thinking about the future instead of preparing for it.
We should not judge the quality of the education system on the number of students who go to universities.
Design and creativity are so central to the nation's economic growth.
Background is no bar to betterment.
We should be matching creativity with commercial reality.
It produces students you would want to have working in your business.

In comparison, Chinese students lose the fun of being children.
China is good at teaching basic knowledge but western students are better at teamwork, communication, research and independent thinking.

Tuesday, September 6, 2011

The Chickens Are Clucking

OK I'm angry.
I'm disgusted by the incompetence and the crazies.
And angry with the instigators who stir up trouble hoping to benefit from it's turmoil either politically or financially.
It's tempting to blame the chicken that frantically screams, "The sky is falling".
But you can't.
He's just a chicken doing his chicken thing, scared for his life when there's a change in the forecast.
I don't blame him.
I blame the idiots who woke him up.