Dec, 28, '15: Iraq on the road to victory over ISIS

But that's not all! 

To the victors go the spoils!  The Sunnis should be entitled to control their hard earned lands.  That means the Shia' should not control lands the Sunnis have led the way to win.  The Sunnis have an unemployment problem that could be readily reduced in size by hiring more Sunni military to provide local government in lands they have gained.  So what if some Sunnis that are hired had gone over to the ISIS!  Should the Shia' be assigned to these Iraqi lands, the entire strife between Shia' and Sunni could erupt irreparably. 

And thinking ahead, should the Iraqi Sunnis enter Syrian lands now occupied by the Caliphate rebels, the boundaries of Iraq might be expanded to include these, too,         

India, 'Christian,' Pakistan, Muslim, US thinks

You know, I take only my social security pension given me each month.  In that way I try to remain independent from political pressures that can be exerted by special interest groups.

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Over the decades, Pakistan has had to cope with the continuing migration of Afghans into their country.  Currently, many are being housed in northern Pakistan.  Largely due to US pressure, meetings between Kabul and the Taliban have led nowhere.  Nevertheless, the Taliban rule the tribal areas of Afghanistan to this day.  I've contended for years that the two parties must form a coalition government for sake of the people's heritage.

Last week, the State Department's Especial Envoy to Pakistan and Afghanistan appeared before a House Congressional Committee.  He seemed to support continued aid to Pakistan.  On the other hand, he admitted to widespread corruption in the civilian government.  But if the government is so corrupt, the Pakistan military should be given reign to revamp the regime even as did the Egyptian military in deposing Morsi.  And, just as with Egypt, should not the US refrain from offering aid to Pakistan until the regime cleans up its act?  So to the Congress:  don't give Pakistan a dime!  (The Pakistan government does not have the wherewithal to retaliate, should that ocur.)

However, Pakistan is in need of assistance in ridding the Kashmir of Indian domination over a largely Muslim population. That disputed land is fertile and a valuable asset for the production of food and grain.

But isn't it true in general terms, that the US sides with India against Pakistan in their manifold disputes, since India is deemed a 'Christian' nation and Pakistan a Muslim?  Of course the inclination is natural.  On its premise, American companies have welcomed programmers and computer experts to replace American-born professionals in the US; and tele-marketer companies and corporate division of customer services have migrated to Indian shores, forsaking American workers once employed in these positions.  To my mind and I would think to anyone else who has followed the relations of the US with both India and Pakistan, it's obvious that the US comes down hard on Pakistan by giving but lip service to acknowledging that country's self-interests!

At the hearing in Congress, legislators present alluded to the Al-Quada's leader secret home in Pakistan as proof that Pakistan is not an ally of the US.  Okay, if not an ally, Congress should definitely let loose of Pakistan and by so doing, delight in expected reforms that the military could bring about in the civilian government!

P.S.  Might also the Indian government need a good and thorough housekeeping?

Wait out ISIS; don't get involved!

I think the US is doing the right thing in attempting to shut down ISIS' financial network, including freezing its monetary assets globally.

The plan of action I argue for is make it difficult for countries, including Turkey, to benefit from its trade with the Caliphate and the supporting groups.  Russia should not be able to benefit from its backing of Syria, either.

What ISIS is doing is cutting deals that make those who cooperate with it to reap profits or escape penalties it would otherwise exact.  In the lands it occupies, it's easy for them to say to a citizen "You won't have to pay all the tax required, it you play ball with us!"  Or, to Turkey, "We're with you against the Kurds!  And, we'll kill them because they're your enemy!" 

Now, it's notorious that Muslims don't want to kill other Muslims, no matter if some Muslims deserve it--let the US army do it, because the US is the infidel!    Thus, Saudi Arabia, which is currently forming a coalition to stop ISIS' military advances, is doomed to display too little effort.

But you say, the EU can't effectuate an embargo of goods and services against Russia much longer, despite Russian aggression in the Ukraine and in Syria.  NEVERTHELESSS, WAIT AWHILE LONGER.  Russia is hoping, knowing the history of these European several countries, that they will tire and lose interest in the whole series of its own transgressions.  "It all will soon be forgotten."   All, except the mounting bills Russia is unable to pay and the arrogance of another dictator on their backs, V. Putin.

Congress is replete with members who want the US to make a major assault on ISIS.  To what end?  To support an Iraq government that simply won't contain the belligerence of its Shia' against the Sunni?  To put an end to ISIS aggression against the Syrian government?  To favor one Libyan faction over another?  To bolster Saudi Arabian's claim to be the true home of Islam?  The ever-continuing plague over the entire Near-East is not due to American influence but rather due to an endemic disease affecting its inhabitants.  Rid yourself of involvement not of your own doing!

The Lunz Focus Group is holding meetings attended by Muslim Americans demonstrating that a Reformation of the Islam religion is taking place worldwide, true, but absolutely true of Muslims living on American shores, as reported on the national networks.  Specifically, Islam is being fashioned for Muslim life in the 21st Century rather than promulgating its 7th Century culture.  And,  the Reformed Islam is without reference to an aggressive jihad against the "infidel." 
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Nevertheless there's the old Republican Guard, spearheaded by John McCann, and visible in the defunct Republican Presidential Campaign candidacy of Lindsey Graham, who boldly and self-righteously proclaimed, "...the world is waiting to be led..."

Is China waiting to be led; is Russia waiting to be led; is South Africa waiting to be led; is Brazil waiting to be led; is France waiting to be led; is Germany waiting to be led?  Where the hell do these jerks get the effrontery to claim the world is waiting for them to do the leading!

If so--if they are being prophetic--then let the world wait awhile longer!  For, there is within ISIS the seeds of its own self-destruction. 

Meantime, Western nations, mind your borders to prevent acts of terrorism; and minimize the violence in your own countries!



   

Being valued as a professional/worker

Take a taxi-cab driver.  What makes him to be valued is not only the tools of his profession: knowing how to drive safely, use GPS to get to where he needs to go, but also the contacts he maintains as part of his professional activities.  Contacts with:

1. the police department, say a police detective he calls occasionally.  Does he overhear of criminal activity planned or underway.  Is his rider showing signs of being under drug influence?

2.  a hotel or motel cheap, good, and reliable for immediate occupancy.  Would the driver receive due compensation for steering a customer/rider to the establishment for a night, for a week, even for a month?

3. familiarity with various areas about town.  Where the shows are, where prostitutes gather, top places of entertainment, good food establishments of various cuisines.

The more contacts the driver maintains with community groups, the greater is his value as a cabdriver.  And, possibly, the greater his tip! 

Narcissism, a requirement for peace of mind and the soul

     During discussion, we were looking at the works of cartoonist Schultz in Peanuts!  The character was truly narcissistic. I pointed out that some psychoanalysts contend being in love with oneself is a prerequisite for peace of mind and true contentment.  And the latter is a requirement for staving off illness in the body, it is further contended.  This is like in Eastern Philosophy meditation, where the contemplator focuses on the supposed shakra regions, thereby confessing to himself, "I love my lungs; I love my kidneys; and I love my heart!"  Such mantras are uttered in an attempt to assure each bodily function is at rest, i.e., emotionally neutral--neither enraged nor ignored, simply accepted with gratitude in admitting the continuance of his life.    .

Technocrary In Government & Leadership Qualifications

    In our discussions this past week in the OLLI class I'm taking at UC-Davis, it became obvious that the qualifications for political leadership has markedly changed.  What we now expect from those in leadership is what Dwight Eisenhower was known for possessing--the quality of relying upon his staff and those under them to supply options in the decision-making process and for sound reasoning to back the options up with facts and data supporting each one. Thereupon, as commander-in-chief and President, Ike would decide upon the course of action to pursue.
     That is to say, today's leader must rely upon those under him, i.e., underling technocrats, to do the arguing armed with data to support their own points of view.  The leader then simply must decide upon what to do and make his decision transparent to the electorate and the nation.  Today's political leader is sort of a marketing strategist rather than a skillful tactician. The path he chooses has already been supplied him by his staff and advisers, who have been trained in the graduate schools to weigh technical data judiciously.  They are the true advocates, the lawyers before the judge--their boss (as it were)!
      This profound change is ever-present when one reviews how the US has become the technical adviser to governments and their military all over the world!  The US must present a rational plan to assist the politicians in their own governments to maintain control and effectively pursue peace.  The goal of US involvement in governments abroad, I believe, is to bring about the political stability that harmonizes the various groups and parties extant in their region.  What a profound change!  To realize that universal aim, the US must also assure that those political agencies it seeks to affect will be capable of controlling their people!  That implies the latter's intensive training in marketing and sales, e.g., Obama's experience as community organizer.
   

We're Being Hounded not by Ads but by Signals

     At a recent OLLI class, we took up the effects of marketing research upon our decision-making.  Marketing as a scientific study is an offshoot of psychology, and as such is just as devoted to Jeremy Bentham's pleasure principle, a fundamental proposition in psychology, that mankind searches the pleasurable and avoids the painful.
     As applied to our buying habits, we want items that give us pleasure, i.e., stimulate in our brains feelings of pleasure. We buy the shirt whose color patterns we take delight in.  But the same line of reasoning applies to the tenets and beliefs we hold.  Thus, a listener calls in to a radio personality whose views make him popular over the airwaves in order to agree with him!  Together, they are sharing a pleasurable moment because they hold to something, some belief, they both cherish  for whatever reason. It is important to stress that the reason that the psychologist may attribute to the moment of pleasure shared by host and listener will differ markedly from that the participants will proffer.  That is because the psychologist qua scientist provides a psychological reason while those involved offer an experiential, reasoning account.
     The point being that the scientific explanation for the sharing is not that the experiencers would give.  What makes Snowden so important is that he offers an explanation for supposed underhanded snooping by such agencies as the NSA, which those who may be victimized have no knowledge of.  It's closer to psychological explanation of human action and belief but far removed from "his reasons" offered by espousers of the belief.
      Bentham's acknowledged aim in urging psychological research is to provide mankind a wealth of pleasurable experiences during his lifetime.  Ultimately, he will enjoy being alive to its greatest extent.  But then that raises the question whether mankind would also experience great joy at some time in the ending of his own life, as did those who drank the Kool-Aid as their final act.

The Singapore Solution to Racism

I brought out to the Sacramento City Council a few weeks ago the solution to racism that the territory of Singapore has used lo these many years.  They had the social problem that the many cultural groups were tearing the city apart through racial divisions.  Their government's solution is to integrate the many diverse cultural groups through housing; and they made members of diverse heritages and economic classes to live side-by-side each other.  In other words, they took away the privilege to families to live anywhere they wanted to!  That's my understanding of their proposal.  Importantly, it worked, as segregation dissolved into integration of the races and a playing down of cultural differences.

Now, some years ago, some large US industrial cities tried something like the Singapore Plan for ending segregation, but with complete and utter negative results.  The real estate developers didn't go for it because they actually make substantial lucre by feeding on the fear that groups have for one another.  Specifically, once blacks moved into a neighborhood that was predominantly white, the whites would want out--to another residential location; and meantime, more and more blacks moved in!  And, the demand for housing elsewhere, continues, to the delight of the real estate and construction industries!  The beat goes on based on human fear to maintain their own ways.

Moreover, this mass migration of cultural groups around a city, even a state, may be preferred by those individuals who wish to protect their own cultural heritage and background.  Thus, Scotsmen move to where their kind are already established.  It's the American way dating back to the time mankind inherited the earth!

So, you see, there's a reason to withstand integration among peoples, and another to become unified as one people and one national heritage.  Hooray for Singapore to make a stab at ending segregation and racism on their shores.  But, you need a strong national government to pull it off, I would imagine.

Incidentally, here's an egregious example where business works against the interests and goals of  the greater society.  Yet, what good might come from integration, as bespeaks housing, for the society as a whole?

OLLI Class posits solution to ISIS Problem!

I am a member of OLLI at the University of California-Davis; and I'm taking a class entitled "The Atlantic at the Pacific."  It's structured around current topics taken up in The Atlantic magazine.  And, OLLI (Osher Lifelong Learning Institute) is a membership organization for seniors offering courses on a variety of activities at university centers across America.  In this particular course Brenda Turner and Robert Bakke are our discussion leaders.  The city of Davis, where the University is located, has been described by one of our elderly classmates as "an intellectual safe-haven" (or, words to that effect).

The general topic for discussion yesterday (class meets on Tuesday afternoons) was "Islam in the Middle-East." Though the class is only in its third session, I've noticed that the participants are really sharp and knowledgeable, perhaps egregiously so among OLLI participants nationwide.
Posing a solution to the ISIS situation in the Middle-East is not beyond this class's ken.

Briefly, participants likened the ISIS phenomenon akin to the Christian Crusade movement of the Middle Ages.  As "Marvin" pointed out, what ended that fiasco-disaster, lasting for decades, was simply a lack of continued interest and support from the countries in Europe who had initially shown great enthusiasm. That is to say, the Europeans back home became more interested and more involved in their own activities!

You can imagine what these activities might be in the Middle-East: re-building the countries ravaged by war and economic decay; developing a sound import-export network for the region; creating financial wealth for generations to come; re-shaping cities around educational meccas and artisan colonies--places to plan for carrying out the implied values in a new world order.  The vision is fraught with possibilities for growth and intellectual exuberance exploding in tangible reconstruction of an infrastructure to last for millennia.  That vision must be implanted in the minds and hearts of those already living in the area.  It is the dream of a new and long-lasting direction thereby the local inhabitants should go, based on a dedication towards unity of purpose.


They've got the oil and other natural resources to carry out the project, even as Afghanistan has proved so resource abundant to China.


Other Points made during class session (a session lasts two hours!):
1.  A Religion is a pathway to God and His creative world.
Religious persons may make claims for the pathway he endorses, such as it's the only way to God or those who do not use the pathway he uses will go to hell!  That is to say, he believes his way is the only way.  Exclusivism is simply a belief about his religion and ought not to be regarded as part of the pathway itself.
2.  Science is an invaluable means to bring people of different cultures together.  Therefore, there should be scientific evidence in support of any belief about people, e.g.. whether those of one race or gender are equal to those of the other.   For instance, women were not thought equal to men in intelligence.  Women should be subjected to men, e.g., their husbands; their brothers.  Not until the  possible deleterious effects of childbirth as well as the monthly smells of women's periods could be overcome was it likely that society would deem  men and women equals in ability to do equal work.
Similarly, not until the intelligence studies of blacks from the 1950s on, could it be proven that blacks and whites have equal thinking powers and could thus be truly considered equal in ability.
Note that the Second World War could be construed as founded on faulty science--the belief that Jews were inferior human beings, biologically, and thus ought not to be mixed with the Aryan Race of Nordics.

Constitutional Reconstruction needn't be needed!

In  an OLLI class I'm taking at University of California-Davis (see reference to class elsewhere), we recently took up the reasons for revising or chucking an "active" constitution, i.e., already in use in some particular country.

The usual reason proffered is to resolve a Constitutional Crisis.  That is to say, the country is in such dire straights that society as a whole is at risk of falling into political chaos.  I take it (since I was there) that Russia in the late 1980s took to formulating a new constitution for this reason.  

But now, there are good reasons to come up with a brand-new constitution for 'positive and beneficial' effects upon the society. Both Catalonia of Spain and Scotland of the UK envision an independence state within some confederation of independent states, such as exists in the Russian Federation.  As independents, they can have their own methods of doing things.


     

Catalonia flirting with independence!

     Both the Huffington Post and PRI are reporting on the growing movement toward Catalonian independence from Spain.  The informal vote for independence taken on September 25th supports a general impression that about 60% of the Catalonians want independence for the sake of securing their own individuality as a people against the central government's declared avowal to seek assimilation among the disparate Spanish cultures.

     This movement, if successful, would probably anticipate, even encourage, the same result toward Scottish independence from the UK.  I think there what will prove convincing is when the UK central government reneges on many of its promises to the Scots for political and cultural separatism--promises that were made by Whitehall to keep Scotland in the UK framework.

     In any event, the Catalonians seem well on its way toward independence.  They would lose membership in the EU, true, but only the time it takes to re-apply to Brussels for independent recognition.  Their cultural binds are strong among them; and there is no reason why they should not re-assert their cultural heritage and traditions in this technological age, which permits cultural distinctiveness as opposed to uniformity/conformity. 

Hezbollah forces finally waning thin

     As reported in today's Huffington Post, September 6th, Hezbollah forces in Syria have been so spread out, thereby weakened, that the time is right for ridding them from the Syrian War.  And, as conjectured in the article, Israeli forces can be useful in order to strike the final death-knell to Hezbollah's role in Syrian politics.


     I've argued in the past that Israeli is needed to control both Hezbollah and Hamas.  To my mind, Israel has done a great job in Palestine to control the violence, especially in the Gaza strip.  And, before that, in taming Hezbollah so that the latter would not cross the Lebanese border into Israel again. 


     I believe Israel's military prowess could be invaluable in shortening the Syrian War by taking what it deems appropriate action at this time.  Jihadists, too, watch out, I would caution, if Israel rises to this occasion!
     Parenthetically, Iran is supplying info about Assad's forces in Syria.  Little wonder Assad has re-instituted germ warfare in such places as Alleppo, should indeed his military faction be waxing thin, too.  Russia is too late to be involved in coming to the aid of Assad, per some prior agreement.  President Putin waited too long for that rationale to bear credibility. 
   
    

Mixed Income Housing at Sacto City Council

     Tuesday night, September 1, I attended the regularly scheduled meeting of the Sacramento City Council at City Hall.  Topic I was interested in taking a stand on was Mixed Income Housing.  I understood the Council had made changes to its current plan in effect and wanted feedback.  Among these, a developer could opt out of the plan by paying a fine, as it were.


     I am familiar to some extent with the Singapore Mixed Income Model that has been discussed around the world for some years.  Two of its notable features are 1) enforcement of the provision that a developer must adhere to the plan and 2) the benefits accruing over those of other income housing models.  One benefit is housing becomes available to all peoples, including the homeless.  But the other is far more important and long range:  it virtually ends the social issue of segregation populace-wide!   This is because every culturally diverse group of the society is truly mixed in with every other within the same housing project.  It is true that government has a strong say in where people will live, but that is simply regarded as an opportunity cost in solving a social problem that  otherwise could have festered as it presently does in the US.


     I am also apprised of discussions at the federal level of the Singapore Model.  Indeed, Fareed Zakaria in his Sunday, August 31, edition of GPS on CNN made it his featured presentation.  Moreover, as I tried to point out to the Council members, I believe much money could be garnered from Federal sources for instituting this model even here in Sacramento, should the Council take interest in it.  It's that important to rid our society from the evils of segregation!


     Indeed, a program that can solve the segregation issue as well as offer badly needed housing to the community, as does the Singapore Model (their government saw the need to create an integrated society and so came up with their housing plan),.has much to recommend it at the Federal level
     I made my comments, which are housed on videotape beginning at the 7:30 PM mark, Tuesday, Sept. 1 and runs for two minutes to 7:32 P>M. 
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Extraneous-1: Comments on Presidency of US, etc.

     Here's some extraneous opinions I've got on the Presidency and the current race for the Presidency:

1.  Donald Trump has held no political office that I'm aware of.  To be President, the candidate must know the national political system from the inside.  He doesn't have a major qualification.\

2.  Sometimes, an individual becomes President and hands off major responsibilities of the office to one of his lieutenants.  This is what I believe happened under the Second Bush.  He handed off to Big Business, esp. Haliburton Corp., decision-making responsibilities in the housing sector and in Iraq and other areas in the Middle East, via Dick Cheney.  That led to the financial crisis of 2008, I believe. I understand that the oil giants didn't even have to bid for the contracts awarded them.

3.   It's true (I believe) that  Hilary Clinton didn't do much as Secretary of State.  But I believe that position is largely honorary in recognition for a statesman's job well done during his career.  I don't think the Iranian Agreement has come this far due to Secretary Kerry's hard-work, but rather because the Pentagon is permitting it. 

      And should Biden become President, I would wonder when he would make a statement that puts his foot in his mouth akin to when the Russian President said some years ago, "We will bury you!"

4.  I think that big-business is putting up several candidates for President in the 2016 election, even now during the Republican Party nominating process.  Its aim is to control the country for several years to come, assuming one of them becomes President (as political parties have done in the past).And, if--all too often--some one of the big-business backed candidates were to become President, I think the poor and disenfranchised in the US will take to the streets--as in other countries --forcing unpredictable change in US society.

     I still advocate regional government, splitting the US into 3 segments. The country is so divided now that a federation with 3 independent segments, similar to the UK Commonwealth, makes perfect sense.  Be it noted that Scotland almost became an independent member of the UK Commonwealth in its recent elections.        

Former Pres Carter might not be using a relevant principle

     Some years ago, a federal agency I've been associated with gave me what I think I know is good advice.  They said: now that you're an old man,  when in need of medical care, always be ready to go to where the outstanding doctor lives;  don't expect the doctor to come to you!

     Ever since receiving this advice, I've tried to live by it--when it's feasible to do so.  I've come to recognize that the very rich in the world live by it too--going around the world, if necessary, to receive the best medical care from an outstanding specialist for which their physical condition can benefit.  That includes the stinking rich of Qatar and Saudi Arabia!

      I wonder whether, in his bout with cancer of the brain, former President Carter is abiding by this principle, important especially to the aged.  He's receiving care, I understand, at Emory University, which is close to where he lives in Georgia.  It's as if he's unaware of this principle's application in his case or doesn't think it applies.


 

The Depressing Conditiions of Senior Centers in US

     Recently, I have been attending on a regular basis a senior center here in Sacramento.  It got so depressing, I was losing my mind!  I got out of there and hope to never go to a senior center again!  Being around just old people for hours on end 5 days a week is no fun; and it affected my psyche.

     Then I reviewed my past history with senior centers and found I could stand them only on an occasional basis.  I would go for a week or two intermittently.  And I attended these other senior centers elsewhere around the country, preferring not to go to any of them more than an hour for lunch.  Here in Sacto, I was going from 8:30 to 12:30 M-F.  Help!

     There's an easy solution to the problem: open up the senior centers to just anybody in the community--make each one into a community center.    No problem, then. 

      Hospitals have a plethora of old people, but there's a difference in attitude--they're being helped and emphasis is in improving their health.  They, i.e., the old, are not simply on display to be watched and pitied (by staff and visitors) as they waste away physically and mentally in a victimized setting!

Greece can't meet repayment schedules!

     The BBC has reported that not only is Greece saddled with debt to the EU Bank and  the IMF, but that the country is inundated with fleeing refugees from Africa--some 55,000--at any given time over the last 2 years.  These displaced persons must be attended to with food, clothing and temporary shelter.  It is true that they are headed for countries to the north to settle in, but the fact remains that this is a terrible financial burden for a country in debt already to bear.

     I don't see how the country can think of keeping to a repayment loan schedule under the burden to alleviate the emergency conditions of handling a constant flow of refugees over its land.        

Foot Loose IMF!

     President Obama could have put in place austerity measures after the 2008 bank disaster, but he chose to work with his economic advisers to lead us back from the brink.  Prime Minister Cameron initially placed austerity upon the Brits, but following Obama's lead, chose a better path.

     But the International Monetary Fund got hold of Greece; and because of their financial needs it was able to institute austerity with a vengeance.  I am hopeful that the IMF wasn't able to do their number on the Ukraine and other eastern bloc nations, that I am told the agency was supposed to help.  I know the World Bank doesn't make nations it deals with go into servitude.  I just don't keep up with that issue--there's too many pressing problems I must deal with.

     You go to South American countries, mention the IMF, and they'll throw you out!  They don't even want to hear the name, after the antics the IMF pulled on them, the debtor nations there.

     So, I want to encourage Greece to resist dealing with the IMF, and its pay back schedule.  I'd suggest Greece work with the US banks, especially the World Bank to re-structure its loans from the IMF and EU Bank.  Above all, don't give in to austerity measures that will cripple your nation and place in bondage your people!  NO MORE AUSTERITY!

Putin's aggressiveness being tamed?

     That Putin has had so much difficulty taking the Ukraine I thought would lead him to find another satellite to invade or further provoke.  I think NATO's surprise bolstering of forces in countries formerly under USSR domination has had a profound effect in that neighborhood.  Hooray. 

      All he could muster to appease the Russian mobs is a promise to upgrade its weaponry!  Now come on.  Nothing threatening in that!

6/25/15
The BBC is reporting that Estonia is getting worried over possible uprising of Russians in their country. However, I understand that many Russians in Estonia are moving further west into other countries of the EU in search of work.  Apartments that housed Russians in Estonia are simply going vacant.  

Why unions have so much trouble getting members

    The BBC recently carried an interview with a union leader from England.  The message was right-on, but there's a fundamental problem that the unions haven't addressed in soliciting new members.

     Corporate management has greatly benefitted from the scientific study of worker needs, as conducted in the field of psychology.  Note that nearly every university has a psychology department, and corporations give money for (psychological) research.  Ever since Maslow's study of needs, psychology has been investigating the motivations and needs of workers on-the-job.  The research over the years has clearly shown that money, i.e., earnings and monetary compensation, is not the tantamount need in the hierarchy of worker needs!  They want good working conditions, co-workers they like to socialize with, etc.; and these other needs are far more important and motivating to achieve worker satisfaction.

     But the quest for more money is what need unions can satisfy--it's been demonstrated time and time again.  Indeed, that's the primary reason a worker joins a union--to increase his pay check.

      To bargain for a company's bowling league probably is not something a union would go on strike for, anyway!

       And in general, what these psychological studies declare is the worker does not have his own best interests in mind when he deals with management.  Simply, the worker is irrational, when it comes to knowing what's good for him!  Unions need to come up with a plan to get the worker on-the-job to better prioritize what's in his best interest.  And good luck!

       A step further.  There's a department in the company virtually working to keep the employee happy and content with the benefits package he negotiated himself with management.  That department is usually called "Human Services" or "Human Resources."  It's in the company's administrative domain; and it sends out emissaries to circulate among the manifold of employees every working day.  The message heralded boils down to "Isn't it just grand for you to be working here!" 

       Where's the union steward?  Working in some department on the floor?  Does he even exist?     

FBI's "Fast and Furious" A Successful Approach

     Because I am told that the FBI no longer uses "Fast and Furious" strategy in its conduct against the drug trade, I simply am talking about that approach.  I take it the method is to well equipment one cartel to enable it to become king of many others in the same underground business.

     The idea of working through one bad apple to control a major illicit activity to bring about a greater good for society is what I take to be the essence behind "Fast and Furious."  (After all, I don't believe society will ever be rid of drug-trafficking.)  It is to be contrasted and compared with the policy of decrying the evil guy and playing only with the good guys.  For example, Prime Minister Netanyahu of Israel won't negotiate with Hamas, one of the Palestinian groups in power currently, because he says it's wrong to deal with a group that overtly urges the destruction of Israel! 

     But I think there are many times throughout history that some wise leaders have entered into negotiations with detestable and heinous leaders, each of whom might be considered the incarnate of the Devil himself!  And I believe that at least in some instances control of groups engaged in nefarious activities has been achieved so as to bring about a greater net good in society.  That's what is my overall impression after these many years of my adult life.

     In the case of the Palestinian Hamas, I have held that Israel should actively engage in working with Hamas--to train them to act responsibly and to exhibit better moral conduct on the international stage.   It is clear that the territory Hamas controls must be rebuilt.  No better opportunity for training its leaders than to work together in this project.

     Much same argument could be made in the US' negotiations with Iran over the latter's nuclear armaments.  That is to say, aim at disarming the Devil of his pitchfork!      

Iraq crumbling toward resolution!

     I can't but piece together the news coming from Iraq that spells a permanent rift of the country into 3 parts along cultural and religious differences: Shia, Sunni, and Kurd. 

     It's plain that the Shia military units are reluctant to defend protect Sunni lands.  And it seems, while not welcoming the ISIS terrorists, Sunnis are aligning themselves with them.  The Kurds are already a distinct nation within the Iraqi borders.  Finally, with Iran openly helping the Shia faction, virtually for the past 8 years, there's no point to regarding Iraq as a unified country. 

    The Islamic State that is emerging, despite its current use of hysterical violence and bloodshed to claim rightful existence on the Near-East stage, could indeed play a role in resolving the Syrian chaotic political situation with Bashar Aassad and become a recognized caliphate under al-Baghadi from northern Syria to the city-limits of Baghdad.  Its presence, I am led to believe, could have fruitful results, if its aims were tamed, i.e., were to become realistic.  Indeed, it could be that the Iraqi Sunnis might influence ISIS in re-directing its Islamic fervor.

BBC reports: English cities near Scotland want in!

     The Scots supporting the independent movement in their country were unable to pull off a miracle by becoming independent on the first try.  They were not far off, however.


      Last night, the BBC reported that English cities and towns near the Scottish border want to join Scotland and leave England.  That's a step toward helping Scotland in the long run.  I hope that Scotland will encourage these cities to take what steps are required to pull it off.  Be it that they would still have the ties that the former Empire had established for the Commonwealth.


      Scotland pave your own destiny by reaching out to those who want to embrace that destiny for themselves, too.

Congrads, German unions win big transit strike

    The BBC last night carried the news:  The German Unions won!  And, the trains are running throughout Germany today.


     You know, I was asked to form an opinion on the Mexican unions as part of the inauguration of NAFTA in the early 1990s.  I went down there and thought there was much that had to be done, but I never dreamed that being union members, they would exert so little power and display so little guts!


      Well, I'm hoping that the union movement in the US will once again become a powerful institution to have input in the run of things in this country.  Please, learn from the German union leaders and their membership!

Democracy under Technocracy

     On the Jim Bohanon Show the other night (on radio Westwood-1), Fred Siegel of the Manhattan Institute discussed his new book on the "now" Democrats.  Apparently, he argues that the Dems are more interested in promoting the green cause of preserving the planet than in advocating a higher standard of living for the middle class, which was the primary interest of the "old" Democrats.
 
      In the course of the presentation, he alluded to how democracy, as a process of the voting of the citizenry, would be re-conceived, if the "now" democrats were to have their way..  It seems as if the opinions of the people are not as highly valued by "now" Democrats, I take it he would aver.  I think in this he partially is correct, if my interpretation of his observation is correct.

      The problem I think  the "now" democrats are attempting to handle is the role of people's voting in a technocracy, realizing that the technocratic era of government is upon us.  A technocracy is the run of government by an educated elite, trained to make policy decisions that then they administer. No longer are the populace sought for their opinions and input on matters of policy at the stage of implementation.  By way of contrast, under the "old" democratic system, leaders in power would seek to cajole the voting public to adopt and advocate position they would want them to vote for via the ballot box or through the social media.  Thus, it is said, Dick Chaney as Vice President influenced the CIA to promulgate the administration's viewpoint to take over Iraq and end the Dictator's Saddam Hussein rule to the general public.  Indeed, Chaney is thought to have convinced Congress and the voting public that Hussein was developing nuclear capabilities and he was thereby able to gain their support in thinking that the regime had to be taken out immediately through US military action.  At the time, the people voiced overwhelmingly the point of view of the administration and war ensued.  Similarly, it is said that F. D. Roosevelt got us into WWII through his own tactical machinations, so that the people stood totally behind him..

      In any event, the idea under the "old" conception of democracy, that not only Democrats but Republicans operated under, was those in power should garner the support of the voters and the citizens before initiating the particular course of action they favored.  The "now" Democrats, many of whom are familiar with, if not advocating the "new" idea of democracy in a technocratic government, permits administrative agencies to dictate and enforce the policies enunciated by technocrats, which, be it noted, are backed up by scientific and generally accepted business reasons.  That is to say, in a technocracy, policy edicts and rules are the product of scientific and logical examination--even as the cadre of technocrats have so undertaken.  Democracy under technocracy becomes appropriate not at the juncture of decision-making but during the evaluation phase of those policies already in effect.  It becomes part of the process that brings to bear a critical analysis of how well these policies have worked.  In such a structure, citizens' collective experience of living under the rules and regulations of government (administered by technocrats) become an invaluable means in assaying the worthiness of  governmental actions to promote the common good.      

Unions: The answer to the Middle Class Losses

     Here in Sacramento, I have become aware once again of the value of the union movement in the US--indeed, in the world.  It is the major thrust of unions to stand for a healthy and prosperous middle class.  I'm not the only person who has argued this, but it needs a strong emphasis in an era when unions are languishing in this country.


     I think what really convinced me that union membership is a necessary ingredient to promote the values of the middle class nationally is how effective unions are in Germany, clearly a country dominated in affecting governmental policy not only of a healthy financial upper class but a united working middle class. 


     Merely, weak unions struggling to retain an ineffectual political power base just doesn't cut it.  As things stand now, wages are stagnant and united action by members of the working class is virtually non-existent.  Workers of the US unite!  Through your organizations, the middle class concept will be revived.  


     And above all, don't be penny-wise and pound-foolish!


    

Governor Brown's California Water Crisis

     The irrigation system of California water uses flumes that gather water from the mountains to retain in dams before being distributed through canals and channels for use on the agricultural fields.  That's the system I've known the state has in place since the 1920s!  I assume it's still in use, though may have been augmented and changed to some degree over the years.


     Now, I don't know what system the Israelis use, but that country is foremost in irrigation technology.  I can't believe it would rely on this method, which I regard as antiquated to say something kind about it.  Water evaporation is horrendous because the flumes and canals are exposed to the sun; it simply supplies a modicum of the original water flow to the fields.  California is partly desert and to think otherwise is to mistake the regional geography.  I think the Israeli methods should be deployed in California in its basic structural irrigation system.

    Add to this is the possibility of creating pipelines from distant locations, even as far north as Alaska, to carry water to the California farms.

    Instead, the state agricultural community has threatened water rationing as a means to handle the desert conditions in the state.  It will thereby raise the prices of its crops to consumers to enrich its own coffers rather than find additional means to increase its water reserves.  That is an affront to the nation; and Governor Brown is a party to this conspiracy of rationing.   While not claiming in any way to hold back the natural flow of water to the farms, he is implicitly granting California agriculture the rationale for raising prices for its produce--arid conditions in the state.  Moreover, he is attempting to hold in check the state's further development and growth for the same reason. 

     Personally, I don't think the United States will tolerate a state's threat to restrain future development in order to preserve what once was.  He's toying with the nation's well-being, even as some Republicans have attempted to check immigration into the country.  Such maneuvers are not in keeping with the country's position as leader of the world!  It must move ahead; and refrain from longing for the past!  In terms of California agriculture, new methods and modern techniques must replace the technology in irrigation of the 1920s.  

Sunday, April 26, 2015--Prelim to Water Discussion

--Because of a sudden need to attend to my medical issues, I have had to leave El Paso, Texas and have taken residence in Sacramento, California.  Any medical attention I will need in the near future will be handled here.

--I've become interested in the water situation in this state once more.  Many years ago in Chico, California, my land-lady was the daughter of one of the pioneers of the water conveyance network in the state.  But my interest has been renewed only recently, since returning to California.

     I'll have something to say about the irrigation system in the state in the next few days--no longer than by 3 week's time.

How to Concede to China #1 Power Position

     It has been widely believed that there should be appointed a successor to the United States as the most powerful nation in the world.  Under globalization, the prime movers of the planet are the influential financiers, especially those in Germany, many of whom believe the United States has become effete.

     I am taking an OLLI class on the subject TOPICS, led by S. Lewis, at the University of Texas at El Paso.  There I recently argued that the US has an especial role on the political international scene, one that could not easily be assumed by any other country.  For the US is promulgating even as it is developing, the system of technocracy, in which what are typically taken to be political decisions are relegated to some technocatic domain, where persons gain universal training along generally accepted policies that enable them to make technical decisions in areas of government, industry--for the good of society. 

     With the proliferation of think-tanks in government have arisen a cadre of technocrats that occupy leadership roles in governmental agencies, e.g., the EPA; but not only are technocats to be found in such positions, but also in the military (with the advancement of military science); and in decision-making positions in business and industry, where science and technology are revered.  The sharp maneuvers of the Federal Reserve during the financial banking crisis of 2008 demonstrate the way in which technocrats can institute remedy in any field of endeavor involving transactions among the citizenry; and can install technological improvements.

     I say that technocracy is an evolving, developing concept that, if the US is given reign in human affairs, will mean a boon to problem-solving and societal progress.  It was first enunciated by John Dewey, the American philosopher at Columbia University in the 1930s.  It is the wave of the future that should become pervasive world-wide; but without the acquiesence of nations to US leadership this advantage to human progress will be dropped, perhaps lost.  Critical to this project are the use of capital to promote innovation; and regulatory rules enforced in all fields of endeavor by mankind..  Particularly, the US business  environment is a unique backdrop, where venture capital furthers social adoption of technological advances.

The US Military Role in Stabilizing the Mid-East

     The assistance of the US military in stabilizing Egypt's current governmental situation--in helping to choose Presidential candidates for the current government--has prompted me to argue that it should play a significant role in overcoming whatever deleterious effects have resulted from the Arab Spring phenomenon in the Middle East.  I am saying that the impartiality of the US military could lead to end the chaos wrought through the displacement of former political leaders in those countries affected by the Arab Spring; and may even propel social change in those countries yet under monarchical hierarchy, unaffected by that governmental revolution. 

     The point is to dislodge political leaders from currently-held powerful positions in the Middle-East who are beholden to Western corporations and Western power-blocs aimed at controlling Mid-East politics.  That's what the Arab Spring has been about.  It's happened decisively in Egypt; and I believe it can resound throughout the Middle-East, leading to democratically chosen leadership representing the interests of these several countries.  It is not enough to create a new constitution; leaders committed to a democratic run of governmental affairs must be identified and encouraged to participate in establishing democratic institutions.  An external agency such as the US military could continue to resolve the glaring problems caused by the social upheaval of the Arab Spring.

     Let the Egyptian experience be the guide to societal harmony in the Middle-East.

        

Chaos-Phase in the Social Change Sequence

Hegel's Schemata of Thesis-Antithesis-Synthesis 

     The German philosopher F. Hegel posed the schemata of thesis, antithesis, and synthesis which has been used ever since in analyzing social change.  There's the one group--the thesis or "the point"--the conservative how things are done way of proceeding and its counterpoint (arguing for another way to do things--the antithesis; and then there's a consensus, reached perhaps through arbitration, the synthesis.  But before a consensus is reached, there's argumentation and vigorous debate; and there's chaos, each side pulling for its own point of view--thesis pitted against antithesis, so to speak, when neither the side putting forth the thesis, nor the side rising in opposition, is willing to concede to its logical opposition.

     I have termed that phase before the synthesis position is wrought chaos.  Indeed, Hegel did not describe the logic of how from thesis and antithesis a synthesis comes about.  In the real world of social change, I contend its not a logical step that leads from thesis-antithesis to synthesis, such as the conditional relation ("if...then...") or a conjunctive relation ("...and...") or an exclusive (either...or....") but an existential, catastrophic eruption during which a host of options, some of which neither proponents of thesis nor those of antithesis could ever have imagined would arise from the juxtaposition of thesis to antithesis.  A boom! 

     Over the years, I have used Hegel's scheme with the chaos phase as an addendum to account for movements of social change.  And, I make use of the schemata once again to predict the social change in the Middle East that I believe is in progress leading to a synthesis (a societal state I will also describe).


Applying the Thesis-Antithesis-Chaos-Synthesis Analytical Schemata to the Middle-East

     It started many years ago.  Western nations needed the oil of the Middle East.  They had other interests in these lands, too, which could best be served by controlling the entire region.  To make things go their way, these nations, acting in consort, set up puppet governments in lands they wished to control, so that their interests were served. 

     But then came the Arab Spring phenomenon, sweeping across the sand dunes of the Middle East.  This phenomenon was made possible by rallying the local citizenry of the region in opposition to the governments that represented Western interests.  Western influence and attempts to control particular governments in the region were from this vantage point viewed as instances of interference in the rightful exercise of citizen voice in their own affairs.  The West became meddlesome interlopers:  The West must be expunged from the Middle-East; They must go!  Out with them!!

     The country that has most represented the point of view of antithesis against the thesis of Western interference and control in matters of the Middle-East is IRAN!  For decades, this country has fought off efforts to take over its government and dictate policies favorable to the West.  It even captured American soldiers at one point, initiating President Reagan's attempts at the time to get the soldiers back.  Though a pint-sized country, it has nevertheless become a symbol of the antithesis--the insistence that the Middle-East must be held in control by Arabs--that is, by those who live there.  And even to this day, the West wants the Iranian government removed and replaced--replaced by one favorable to the West.

     So, now we are in the chaos-phase of social change in the Middle-East. It is little wonder that the entire movement of antithesis has taken its thrust toward insisting upon its own self-government without outside the area interference from the uniting theme "We're Islamic!"  The radical extremists of ISIS and AlQueda conceive of their Islamic message of unity as stemming from Islamic fundamentalism of the 7th Century!  They want no foreign tinge upon their sacred, home-ground.  It reminds me of much hatred Pol Pot demonstrated in Cambodia for those who succumbed to French, European influence in his country.  These people of the Chaos-phase are loath to continue Western interference in how they conduct their affairs at home.

     Nevertheless, there will come a synthesis.  The Chaos-phase will crumble and dissolve yet a new stage in the social change evolution will emerge. This will come about as the Arab countries assume leadership and control of their own affairs without looking to the West for direction and succour and money.    

                

University Prof Teaching in a CC

     I am thankful for President Obama's ringing endorsement of the community colleges as institutions of higher learning, equal to the university system in stature.

     After centuries of university dominance as the only institution of higher learning, it was indeed a marked innovation of the University of Chicago to found this new approach to meld vocational training with the aims of higher learning in the early years of the Twentieth Century in Joliet, Illinois.  The university regarded at that time this new fangled learning institution it supported within the university system as providing remedial education that could prepare students who attended it for the University of Chicago main campus in two years, having been acculturated to the basic array of university training at its local "junior college" in Joliet.

     Well, the community college movement in higher education has come a long way, since its inception.  It has significantly established itself as maintaining institutions of higher learning once it accepted the proposition that learners who enter its doors can benefit business, trade and commerce from the higher education that is proffered, an intentional path carved out by educational leaders in the movement but frequently ignored in the traditional university setting.

     I taught some 5 years in the university environment till I switched over to the community college (formerly termed "the junior college") in 1970.  I was attracted by the salary scale, considerably higher than for humanity professors in universities.  But then I devoted 8 years to make its structure redound as truly institutions of higher learning--in the ambience of a neighborhood setting equipped to provide students with the tools of critical analysis of traditional and present-day technology and for creative designing of manifold conceptual alternatives--localized in situ where its students feel most comfortably at home. 

     I found that working with professors of universities, I was able to identify many courses in the philosophy curriculum at universities that could be suitable for offering at the community college.  Specifically, students who took such courses at The College of DuPage, where I taught, could transfer the credits earned to four-year institutions.  No problem.

     At the time I taught at DuPage College, instructors (un-ranked status in the community college) found it difficult to get published in the research journals or by distinguished, academic book-publishing houses.  That difficulty has been largely overcome, I believe.

     The task I had set for myself was to integrate the faculties of the community colleges--some teachers who came from public schools, with those from universities, to get them altogether focused on the tasks of establishing student learning as conducted heretofore in universities only--involving questioning and critical analysis of materials studied. Indeed, the community college setting wherein the training in the methodologies of higher learning takes place should have little relevance to the mission of the community college in promoting the values of higher education in any particular community.  Significantly, community college teachers must always benefit from academic freedom, essential to higher education, and defended by every one of its institutions.