I Blame

Everyone is looking for some one to blame these days. Presidents are very useful in this regard. Some blame Bush II, Some blame Obama I. I blame Nixon. I blame him for ramping up the Drug War that has cost the Federal Government at minimum $1 trillion so far. With no end in sight. If you figure the total direct cost at $70 billion a year for 30 of the past 40 years (a good rough estimate I think - which sorta inflation adjusts the numbers) the total cost is around $2 trillion, Federal, State, and local. If you include insurance losses due to thefts to support a hard drug habit at a conservative $50 billion a year, that is another $1.5 trillion. And what about the cost of the Drug War in the source countries? Hard to quantify. But in lives alone it is at least 40,000 a year. Even twenty years of that is a staggering 800,000 lives. To keep plants and plant extracts out of the hands of those who want them. And that is just the source countries. Add in a minimum of 5,000 a year in the US for 20 years and that is another 100,000. And that does not even count my brother who was killed in a Drug War crossfire in 1974.

End the sonofabitch. Before some one else loses a brother.


Cross Posted at Classical Values

Secret Courts In America

Taken into Custody: The War Against Fatherhood, Marriage, and the Family

From a review:

The greatest civil rights abuse in the Western world today is the forced removal of children from their parents, usually their fathers, by family courts and social services agencies. Family courts in America and other democracies have almost absolute power to take away people's children without giving any reason, confiscate their property, and incarcerate them without trial, charge, or counsel. These courts operate largely in secret.

A virtual publishing blackout has protected this abuse, and until now no comprehensive exposé of this political underworld has appeared. Some fine books by authors like Sanford Braver, Warren Farrell, Jeffery Leving, Dean Tong, and Jed Abraham, have partially broken the silence with gently worded critiques of family law and policy, along with numerous self-published books that reach a more limited audience. But this is the first time a major publisher has revealed the full horror of what is taking place in America's family courts and government bureaucracies. Not only the systematic removal of children from fit and loving parents but the criminalization of the parents, often in complete defiance of constitutional protections and due process of law, is widespread and routine.

All assertions are carefully documented by a writer with scholarly credentials (PhD from the London School of Economics and professor of political science at Patrick Henry College). Baskerville not only describes what is happening but explains why, demonstrating the unaccountable power, conflicts-of-interest, and extremist ideology driving the most tyrannical governmental machinery ever to arise in the United States. As such, this book bears comparison with Michael Harrington's The Other America and Upton Sinclair's The Jungle.

Yeah. This topic has gotten almost all my attention for the last day or two.

I have been lucky. No divorce to mess up my life. So far.

Cross Posted at Classical Values

Where Are The Socons?

The Futurists asks why socons are distracted by gay marriage and why they are paying no attention to the bigger threat to marriage. Easy divorce. Where even if there are children the husband is considered expendable.

To put it even more plainly, the number of straight men avoiding marriage to women due to gay marriage legislation is zero, whereas the number of straight men avoiding marriage due to brutally anti-male laws is sizable. The socon reaction to this, in their strategic brilliance, is to attack gay marriage and ignore what really disincentivizes marriage.

I have no problem with easy divorce if there are no children involved. When there are children involved divorce must be very difficult and very painful.

Court Ordered Suicide

The title is a little extreme. But if you read the guy's long suicide note you might come to a different conclusion. Here is an excerpt to give you the flavor:

When then a man is arrested for domestic violence, one of two things can happen. If they are only dating and have separate apartments, then he can head home. But if they are living together, then this fellow has a real problem. Bail conditions and then a possible protective or restraining order prevent him from being with her. So he needs to find a new place to live, at least until the charges are resolved. The King of his Castle is no longer allowed into his castle. A feminist name Pence who wrote that was absolutely giddy at that outcome. So he can get his own place if he has enough money. Or he can move in with his mother, his sister or another relative. He might have a girl friend who would let him stay with her. And if none of this is possible, well then I guess he is sleeping in his car down by the river.

If he has minor children, money will soon turn into an issue. Most men I know do not mind paying child support. They want their kids to have food on their plates, clothes on their backs, and a roof over their heads. But it does stress that man's finances. Child support is usually 33% of the man's gross income. Withholding for taxes, social security and health insurance can range up to 28% of his gross paycheck. So a man making $500 a week gross has only $825 monthly left over after withholding and child support. That is not enough money for an apartment here in Central Massachusetts. That does not include other expenses like heating, electric, gas, groceries, telephone, cable, car payment and car insurance. So he is in a financial hole. Estimates of homeless men run 82% to 94%. I am going to round that down to 80%.

After the King has left his castle, his wife runs into a problem. She was use to getting his whole paycheck for the household. Now she get a third for child support. Figure they both work and made the same money, her budget went from 100% down to 66%. If she was running the house on $3,045. a month when the King was home, now without him she only has $2,220. Most households in America cannot withstand a 27% hit on the household account. She'll juggle the bills but eventually most wives figure out that they can pay all the smaller bills if they just does not pay the big bill. That would be the rent or the mortgage. So six to nine months after the King is out of the castle, the Queen, the Princes and the Princesses are also on the street. Domestic violence feminists state that 50% of victim spouses of domestic violence end up homeless at some time in their lives.

The last group of homeless from these arrests are children. The domestic violence feminists state that 70% of domestic violence couple have children. So 50% female times 70% children equals 35%. But children is plural. So we will double to 70%.

He goes on with facts, figures, and anguish for 15 pages (all on one page at the www site). The Man's name?

Tom Ball

RIP Tom. We'll see what we can do.

Cross Posted at Classical Values

Space - Offutt Air Base - Omaha Steaks - Donald Trump

Instapundit ran a blurb That reminded me of Offutt Air Base.

RAND SIMBERG IS live-blogging a space-law conference. “I’m attending the fifth annual conference on space law hosted by the law school at the University of Nebraska, which has a program in space law, partially sponsored by USSTRATCOM (fifty miles up the road at Offut AFB in Omaha).

Which got me to thinking of the Simon Family Reunion Dinner which was held at Offutt.

Now it gets interesting. I'm related (second or third cousins - same great grandfather) loosely to the Simons who run Omaha Steaks.

They began working in the only business they knew - the meat business. After employment in several markets in Omaha, they founded their own company in 1917. B.A. bought a building in downtown Omaha called, "Table Supply Company." He moved a cooler and a freezer into the building and on the front sign he moved the "CO" of company over to the right and inserted the word "Meat." Hence, the first name of the company, "Table Supply Meat Company."

I worked in my Dad's grocery store at 33rd and Lake in Omaha. From time to time (about every month or two) we would make a run to "Table Supply" to pick up something. So we knew that branch of the family but didn't do frequent business with them.

So yesterday the first mate is telling me that Bruce and Todd Simon were on Donald Trump's "Celebrity Apprentice".

Omaha Steaks will be featured on a new episode of Donald Trump's "Celebrity Apprentice" this spring.

The current fifth generation of family owners of the company, Bruce and Todd Simon, will appear in the episode scheduled to air April 17 on NBC. The Simons presented a challenge to the contestants on the show.

I had more interaction with Fred at the Reunion and old man Meyerson who used to sell me radio parts (the Meyersons were cousins) when he ran World Radio Labs in Council Bluffs, Iowa. The reunion was basically the children/grandchildren of grocers though. Ala Dobbie Gillis. I used to work for Janice Meyerson's (the opera star) father Meyer. I helped move about 15 tons of sugar into a 4 ft. high crawl space in a half hour on delivery day once. Meyer (Janice's father) allowed as to how that was an acceptable performance. High praise from Meyer. And Meyer used to have us over for Sunday dinners. A lot. Meyer would always light up a good cigar after dinner. I loved the smell.

I have had several of the Omaha Steaks $99 variety packs. My mom sends me one every now and then when they discount it below $50 in Omaha. Shipped in a foam cooler with dry ice. Neato. Thanks Mom!!11!! And I must say that as a son of a butcher, and once an apprentice butcher myself, the meat is excellent.

Amazon also has the Omaha Steaks The All American Combo.

And the Reunion Dinner? Catered By Omaha Steaks. With an open bar. Oh. Yeah!

You can watch the Celebrity Apprentice episode at Raising The Steaks. The Simons come on at about 8 minutes into the video. I sorta remember Todd and Bruce from the reunion.

Cross Posted at Classical Values

Rationale

The failure of the Black family is due in part to the drug war. And of course the rationale for the drug war is that drugs destroy families. Too funny. Note: alcohol prohibition was promoted by the same crowd as promoted Alcohol Prohibition. And for the same reason. Excessive alcohol use leads to family breakdown. So it is claimed.

Imprisoning so many urban black males is discouraging marriage and the formation of families, thus contributing to moral and social breakdown

The Drug War is leading to social breakdown? The very problem it was meant to prevent? And the biggest supporters of the Drug War? The Family Values crowd. The result is so perverse and the effort so long standing that you would almost think it was intentional. Or else the people behind it are really stupid.

Simon's law:

It is unwise to attribute to malice alone that which can be attributed to malice and stupidity.

Prompted by a discussion at Shrink Wrapped. H/T Instapundit

A Family Matter

Jonathan R Simon son of Michael and Sandra Simon, grandson of Esther and the late Manny Simon has been awarded a Fulbright Grant to teach English at Smolensk State University in Russia. Jonathan graduated with honors in Russian Studies from the University of Chicago in 2007.

Happy Mothers Day Mom

My mom is 90 and doesn't do Internet so that means she will not be reading this. But I will tell her when I call her and she always gets a kick out of it.

So happy Mothers Day mom.

And how could I possibly say enough about the mother of our four children? So happy Mothers Day first mate.

What Lips My Lips Have Kissed

The singer is my cousin and childhood friend Janice Meyerson. I spent a lot of time with her and her husband this past weekend at the Simon Family Reunion. Janice and her husband drove my mate, my mother, and I to my mothers apartment Saturday night after the reunion dinner at the Offutt Air Force Base Air and Space Museum. Janice sang a bit from the opera "Carmen" at the dinner.

The SR-71 was hanging over the area we had dinner at. I was able to impress all the people at my table by telling them I had a couple of lines of code flying on that aircraft. Not to mention some hardware I designed that flew on the B-52.

It was a lot of fun getting re-acquainted with friends and relatives I haven't seen for over 40 years.

Cross Posted at Classical Values

Alan Keyes' Daughter - Thrown out of the house

Alan ran for Senator against Barak Obama in Illinois. Am I ever glad I voted against this miserable excuse for a human. What is it about the oh so religious that they can hate their own children? I suppose it is a step up from the murders Arabs do when their daughters "humiliate" them. Still. It seems rather unChristian to me. But, what do I know? I'm Jewish.

Well now that that is off my chest, let us look into the details. BTW I found the initial item at the DU. I was trolling for stuff to use against the Dems and found this. Kind of makes me ashamed to be associated with some Republicans. Did I mention I voted against Keyes?

Well here at an almost unreadable site is the daughter's side of the story. If it is true. Could be a hoax for all I know. But it does sound in character for Mr. Keyes.

Well any way let me quote the whole thing so it is easier to read:

I tried to love you and I failed...

Well, it's happened. Finally and officially.

A couple days ago I got my official two-week warning that I have to be out of this apartment; so finally for real I'm getting cut off. I got no severance or anything like that from my sudden termination of employment (don't I have freedom of speech? the right to protest Bush without losing my job? Hehe... most people would think that working under a parent would be security but for me it's quite the opposite.) and so I definitely don't have anywhere near enough cash to find a new apartment; not even one room rented from someone anywhere. I've been searching craigslist but even places where I'd have enough to pay the first month's rent on some room I never have enough for the deposit as well, so so far I've had no luck at all finding a new home, since shelter requires money. Sad boo.

After all the arguments and tension over the years, I always hoped it would never actually get to this point, although I suppose given our vastly divergent political beliefs it was inevitable.

My A n j u l s say no, no, it was not inevitable at all and this should never have happened. They say that parents have some modicum of responsibility to their kids - at least so far as making sure they are not homeless and starving - especially if their kids have done nothing aside from thinking for themselves. They say that different political beliefs should not lead to parents kicking kids out of the house. They say most parents would be thrilled to have a child who doesn't smoke, have sex, do drugs, hardly drinks; more thrilled to have a child who additionally does well in school, is active on all sorts of extracurriculars, gets good grades, gets into the Ivy League; even more thrilled to have a child who on top of that goes regularly to church, spends free time mentoring kids and serving food to homeless people; even more thrilled to have a child to on top of that is not only politically aware but actively going out to try and fight for the causes she believes in, considering the political apathy of most teenagers. They say that if all the above didn't cause parents to be thanking God every day for the child they were blessed with, that they certainly would be after the child puts off college for a year (wait, no, for ANOTHER year, since said child already deferred one year to go teach in India) to go support her father in his work. They say that I'm a good daughter, that I changed around my whole plans just because I thought it would be nicer for my dad if after the end of working all the time on the campaign trail he could come back to someone who loves him rather than an empty house. They say that it should be a source of pride, not of shame, for my parents that I'm so passionate about my beliefs, and work for what I believe in; even if they are not the beliefs my parents hold. They say that the only possible cause for shame anywhere in the whole situation is in the fact that after all this I am being cut off, jobless, soon to be homeless, and that although I have intelligence and motivation I won't be able to go to Brown after all because I have no money.

So my Anjuls say.

My parents say otherwise.

{{--{spinning}--{{Lostprophets - Last Train Home}}--{spinning}--}}
Posted 1/30/2005 at 2:33 AM

Well if she is going to have to work for a living she will have to improve her spelling. Still if all this is true it just totally sux. (bad spelling to get into the spirit).

Oliver Willis has a few things to say and some links I have cribbed.

Here is a Feb. 14th rally featuring among others - Maya Marcel Keyes. Here is the blurb for her segment of the rally:

March to Lawyer’s Mall (in front of the State House) for the rally, featuring community leaders, Judy Shepard, and Maya Marcel Keyes, the self-described queer activist who is also daughter of ultra-conservative Alan Keyes, whose recent campaign for senator from Illinois included his calling Mary Cheney a “hedonist.” Maya group up in Montgomery County and will certainly have some interesting things to say about living with someone who is so outspoken in his opposition to gay rights.

Did I mention I voted for Bush and Obama?

Well I suppose this will be a great service to the "family values" crowd.

I wonder if Keyes' objection was to her sexual orientation or her politics? I wonder if Dick Cheney will have anything to say about this?

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