Home of Today’s Common Sense

Some of you have sent e-mails asking about my columns. I thank you for the interest.
I have been recovering from a number of medical problems related to a kidney failure nearly two years ago. I have been treated by a specialist in San Antonio with some very good results and I lost over 100 pounds which has helped substantially. I am back in home now with a head full of new passions.
In the last two months there has been a growing interest in a political choice with goals other than expanding the power of the government.
In the spate of new discussion the Libertarian Party has been discussed at length and frequently with many inaccuracies.
Most frequently Libertarians are identified with Republicans by the Democrats and Republicans identify them as liberal because of our goals of more freedoms of choice that should be in the hands of “We the people” especially as relates to the personal use of marijuana.
I want to point out that I am an avid Libertarian and Chairman of the local County Party. I am also very pragmatic, not necessarily conservative as some of my colleagues suggest, in my approach to the different policies.
The party is made up segments as extreme as the anarchists and others that are quite liberal in there policy views but all are welcome as long as they debate rationally and respectfully in advocating their views.
This is nearly always the case. In evidence I will describe a debate at the National Convention in Oregon several years ago where the rights of those with alternate lifestyles was an issue for consideration as a plank in the platform. Read the rest of this entry »

100 Days of Obama

Back on February 22, I posed the concept of a revolution in my column, and since then the concept of Texas seceding has popped out from no less than the governor.

This tells me that the fears for our country are not only grounded in the economy but other areas as well.

Now the administration is coming up on 100 days old.

My political philosophy is by no means related to the Democrats or Republicans and in fact I see little difference between them in their quest to build an ever larger government to better exercise control of “The Folks”.

We Libertarians believe in personal freedom while maintaining personal responsibility, and strongly oppose any government interfering in personal, family and business decisions.   

Essentially, we believe all Americans should be free to live their lives and pursue their interests as they see fit as long as they do no harm to another.
We are advocates for a smaller government, lower taxes and more freedom.

Back in 2004, I suggested that Mr. Obama was a rising star when he delivered such a stellar speech at the Democratic National Convention that year. Read the rest of this entry »

You may have missed my articles at the regular times. My Doctor - Dr. Pelly has referred me to a Wound Specialist Dr. Shaw and Plastic Surgeon Dr. Ortiz in San Antonio as some wounds on my legs for several months have not healed a due to skin problems and autoimmune problems.
In just a few weeks some success has been noted as new lesions have not been observed and skin graphs have been introduced and seem to be successful in the first two weeks.
I am cautiously optimistic that I will be able to continue my brand of social and political comment soon.
Thanks to the many of you that have expressed interest.

Published Brownsville Herald March 22, 2009

On last Friday the 13^th of March, the Fox News Channel and commentator Glen Beck launched what could only be called a political support group, The912Project. The supporting Web site “The912Project.com” was overwhelmed from the giant deluge of supporters and had to be rescued by mirror Web sites for some time. I was only able to log on without trouble on Sunday.

I had noted the promotion but didn’t think the response would be that big a deal.

Mr. Beck is a conservative idealist that claims to be Libertarian in thought.

He claims the movement is in response to a failure of the government to adhere to the traditional constitutional principals and that much of the populace was loosing the ideals that have made our country great. Read the rest of this entry »

Published Brownsville Herald  -  March 8, 2009

On Tuesday, March 7, Texas celebrated the adoption of the Declaration of Independence at the Convention of 1836 at Washington-on-the-Brazos on March 2, 1836.

The basis for this revolution and cry for independence was similar to that of the United States and memorialized in part by excerpts from that declaration that passionately state that Texans felt most important that Mexico:

‘has failed and refused to secure, on a firm basis, the right of trial by jury, that palladium of civil liberty, and only safe guarantee for the life, liberty, and property of the citizen.’

‘has failed to establish any public system of education’

‘denies us the right of worshipping the Almighty according to the dictates of our own conscience, by the support of a national religion, calculated to promote the temporal interest of its human functionaries, rather than the glory of the true and living God’

‘has demanded us to deliver up our arms, which are essential to our defence, the rightful property of freemen, and formidable only to tyrannical governments’

I was surprised to find little mention in the media in remembrance of the ideals of freedom and liberty that provide the opportunities for us all. No where is there a promise of great success, just a guarantee of the opportunity to pursue them.  That was enough for those brave men at the Alamo and San Jacinto to give up their lives. That is still enough for our sons and daughters to do the same today but unfortunately we don’t remember what we have won and how we secured it. Read the rest of this entry »

Published Brownsville Herald February 22, 2009

I am usually optimistic but of late the storm of trials that has fallen upon us is getting to me. The Democratic machine of Illinois that gave us President Obama continues to demonstrate what politics today is really like and the credibility of our supposed representatives with the new revelations of Senator Roland Burris in the “Blago Chronicles.” Is this politics as usual today?
The recent Mallard Fillmore cartoon caption said, “I must be getting old.”
I remember when I could tell the Republicans from the Democrats.
It shows us that even the conservative commentary is losing confidence in the here and now of the traditional alternative.
Then to top it all off and in vindication of my tirades of the last year, the current Newsweek blasts out, “We are all Socialists Now!”
Who brought us to the door of socialism with the “buying and exercising ownership control of our banks, effectively nationalizing them? The Republican administration. Read the rest of this entry »

Published Brownsville Herald  February 8, 2009

Recently, As a representative of the Libertarian Party, I was invited by Sergio Sanchez to join him on his “Open Phones” Radio Show, to comment on the Economy Stimulus Package.

The turn in discussion was quite critical and gave support to the idea that it was mostly a spending package designed to repay the political idealists for the votes in the last election.

The discussion substantially focused my previous concern at the impact of the package in specific and the trends towards socialist cultural engineering they portend.

I have long thought that helping our sick and poor neighbors was primarily the responsibility of their neighbors usually through local religious institutions. I believe that time and resources I provide are best and most efficiently managed locally and by the church or charitable organizations that are most knowledgeable about the real needs. The elites and rulers in Washington do not care as much for the people as they do about getting reelected where the charity only cares about satisfying all the needs.

Currently, the United States Government is the largest charitable organization in the World with the Catholic Church in second place.

It would seem that the government is trying to displace religion in our culture and the churches are even helping by begging the government to send checks and supporting the political agendas that would absolve their responsibilities to their flocks. Read the rest of this entry »

Published Brownsville Herald Jan 18, 2009

“Do unto others as you would have them do unto you” is a good premise to live by but unfortunately does not have the same result, everywhere.

In the case of religious choice the hate because of a supposed different, in fact not trusting or liking someone that is somehow different than your self is bigotry.

This bigotry is very evident when it erupts into hostility which has become very evident in the Middle East in the last few years.

In earlier years the Inquisition looked very similar.

Even within the different religious groups many segments have split off the original Christian Church and still bear some hostility.

Currently, the most dangerous conflict relates to what is being referred to as Fundamentalist or Radical Islam. In her book “They Must be stopped” best selling writer Brigitte Gabriel states that all non-Muslims are regarded as enemies worthy of death. They also believe that since any treaties are not valid they can treat them merely as tools to permit rearming. That seems to agree with the activities that we now see in regard to Iran backed Hamas.

I don’t know whether that is the case all the time but certainly worth being taken into consideration. Read the rest of this entry »

Published Brownsville Herald Jan 4, 2009

The Holiday Season is behind us now the strains of Christmas music are fading and that warmth and optimism that only this season can engender seem to be fading. The realities of the New Year portending the weakening economy and the daily grind are becoming stronger. Still to come is the New Year’s celebration and the look back at what has gone into the past and the resolutions to improve ourselves for 2009.

The War in Iraq seems to be slowing and reaching a tentative solution but the War in Afghanistan is becoming more tentative and touchy. The pressures in the area are creating stability problems in Pakistan which has overflowed into India. The fact that both countries have nuclear weapons, and also have social and religious passions that make the concept of mutual destruction an effective deterrent, much less valid. The likelihood that Iran may also join the nuclear club as well makes “the end of days” even more possible.

Closer to our daily lives the optimism and confidence we normally have in the future has led to a weakening of the economy of the world. We are seeing the firstly in the lack of confidence the banks have in future business which has shown itself in the retreating from extending credit except to only the solid gold that do not need it. The result is that business that depends on credit such as larger valued transactions like houses, cars and appliances to decline.

Businesses now must compete harder for the business that are there taking every opportunity to do more to satisfy the customer. The product must be more useful and the service must be better.

With the Christmas shopping behind us, I am sure that each one of us can think of a ales person that could have been more considerate and gotten the sale that we look elsewhere.

We can look forward to more difficult times and I expect that others will be watching their money just as our family will to assure we get good value for the fewer resources we have. Read the rest of this entry »

Published Brownsville Herald December 14, 2008

The Christmas Season is upon us again! Strains of “Peace to men of good will” are in the air and the three Magi are about to present gifts.

Thanksgiving is now a warm memory of family around the table and the tastes and smells of turkey and fixins’.

I had many ‘thanks’ to remember, in that my health continues to improve, and that we were blessed with our first grandchild; a gorgeous little girl named Rowan.

To top it off, my son even found time to visit us from New York, for two weeks as well.

The times have changed enormously in how we all think of things; perhaps for the better perhaps not.

There seems that there are more different approaches to the prominent public conflicts such as right to life. Even within the local Catholic Diocese leadership the political approach towards abortion lacks clarity in that there seems to be some equivocation that supports immigration and government entitlements as having a priority over “right to life” as was demonstrated during the recent elections.

When I came to Brownsville from New York, well more than two decades ago, I was impressed with how courteous and respectful every one was. In fact I was shocked when I was driving down a two lane highway and as I approached a vehicle going much slower the driver pulled onto the shoulder and let me pass. My New York stunted brain had a tough time processing that. Read the rest of this entry »

Published Brownsville Herald November 23, 2008

On Veterans Day I watched two really great movies on the Classic Movie Channel; The Stage Door Canteen of 1943 Hollywood Canteen of 1944. They showed the great things the celebrities did for our soldiers during World War II.

The “boys” were served, entertained and danced with the greats of the day in the “USO Canteens” in New York and Los Angeles. The support for our boys “over there” was far greater than today when Veterans Day is not even a real Holiday in many places.

With the undeclared wars in Korea and Vietnam regard lessened for the importance of our sons and daughters that volunteer to go to war to protect our “Life, Liberty, and the pursuit of Happiness”.

Today, I see very few USO Canteens, no movies in support of their work , more frequently hostility.

I served in the Vietnam Conflict and had the privilege of seeing the Bob Hope USO tour and several others.

This period really started the decline as I remember coming home to chants of being a “baby killer”. Fortunately things have improved but not nearly enough.

Our warriors need medical facilities close enough to get to them and they are certainly not adequate even here where there are so many in need. Read the rest of this entry »

Published Brownsville Herald Nov 9, 2008

Of late there has been a lot of comment about being fair. On the electronic media especially the radio there has been interest in government regulation of the conservative versus liberal content. Essentially the goal seems to want a liberal talk show host for every conservative one. I wonder what the real result would be with a Democrat controlled Congress as well as a Democrat President.

The Federal Communications Commission (FCC) originally instituted the “Fairness Doctrine” in 1949 by, which was soon recognized as a contrivance for silencing any opposing views – particularly conservative ones.

“The FCC repealed the Fairness Doctrine in 1987 admitting the doctrine ‘had the net effect of reducing rather than enhancing the discussion of controversial issues of public importance.’”

Zogby conducted a poll in October of likely voters nationwide that found that 50% were against the “Doctrine” and 17% in support. The margin of error was +/- 2.9 percentage points.

I grew up with AM radio through the 1950’s and 60’s. At the time, I was mostly interested in Rock and Roll and got my news and perspective through the ‘DJ’ and the announcers.

In those days names like “Wo Wo Ginsberg in Boston, and “Boom Boom” Branagin in Buffalo, told us what music was groovy, described what “Buffalo Hot Wings” were, at a beach near Buffalo and  “Cousin Bruce Morrow” was our guide to the “Submarine Races” broadcasting from New York,  from Mexico the howl of Wolfman Jack brought “The Music” to the airwaves from “The Gold Buckle of the Bible Belt” and then Alan Freed helped pioneer Rock from New York.

Gabrial Heater gave us news commentary, Paul Harvey told us the rest of the story and Arthur Godfrey introduced new talent.

Then came TV, three channels where I lived! Read the rest of this entry »

Published Brownsville Herald October 26, 2008

It is just a few days and we will have a new President and some new members of Congress. Early voting has now started.

In my earlier columns I described indications of socialist trends they now seem to be supported.

The real attitudes and points of view are becoming well enough defined that even the casual observer can see it.

According to the media we are in the midst of a world financial crisis.

The crisis has been only moderately painful to a lot of “Seasoned Citizens” like us, who have seen our 401K investments drop off in value to the point that we can not count on it to support our way of life.

At the same time local taxes show every indication of moving higher based on the new appraisements of our property rising ever higher. I would hope however, because of declining prices on current  housing sales there will be a decline the values and taxes will go down as well; but really doubt it will.

In reading Frank Yturia’s excellent analysis of the reasons the crunch came, in last week’s Opinions section of the Brownsville Herald, and his perspective as to the future,I feel I have more clarity as to the criteria to use with my political choices. Read the rest of this entry »

Published Brownsville Herald October 12, 2008

 We are told that the Nation is in financial crisis with worse to come in spite of the government angel reaching down from the heights of the Capital and the White House, to make things better with a check. This doesn’t really help me as I watched my 401k lose 30% in value.

On Tuesday the presidential candidates participated in a Town hall type debate. The first question went to Senator Obama who rather simplistically blamed the problem totally on the poor policies of the Bush administration rather than identify a focus, such as the loss of confidence in the credit facilities of Fannie Mae and Freddy Mac.

Fannie Mae and Freddy Mac. were  identified two questions later by Senator McCain.

One of the best questions came early on when a lady asked Senator Obama
“How can we trust you both to fix the problems?” This came when both candidates were members of Congress and the Nation as a whole, trusts Congress (17% ) even less than President Bush. Needless to say the question wasn’t answered but more criticism was leveled. Read the rest of this entry »

Published Brownsville Herald September  29, 2008

Four years ago one of the big issues was gerrymandering – the alignment of the election districts to give one political party an advantage. I wonder whether we will see such a benefit as a reality. I suspect that the effort and resources used to accomplish the gerrymandering were misspent and would have been better spent on other things like education; I seriously doubt that it will cause political mayhem as was pronounced. I cannot accept that anarchy or chaos will result.
As a one time employee of the brilliant pollster Dan Rivera, I became interested in the demographics of the Valley and continued that interest to my later benefit as a business consultant. The Congressional Districts are determined based on a census of “all persons” in the United States. Courts have decided that this does not mean just citizens who can vote but everyone; permanent residents and undocumented residents as well. As the demographic makeup of the Rio Grande Valley is a predominately ethnic (Hispanic), with close family ties outside the U.S., there are higher percentages of non-citizens than there are in some other regions of the state. That translates into fewer folks that can vote having a greater influence on the outcome of an election than in other districts. Read the rest of this entry »