Brain Waves

• Whether we leave Iraq now or later does not matter. This war was lost before it began.
• Our public schools' greatest deficits are the instructor's lack of passion, the inability to escape the status quo and the dearth of respect for students
• Poverty is not a character flaw.
• I am dyslexic. Contrary to public speculation, neither my brain, vision nor hearing is impaired. My dyslexia is not due to mental retardation, brain damage nor a lack of intelligence. My brain is just built very differently. Fortunately. If everyone's brain was like mine, teachers would teach kids using an alterate system.
• Each elected Federal official should be required to live on the same income as the constituent with the least for one month before taking office.
• The Manufacturing Era left us bereft of the millenniums-old small business knowledge base. Now corporate skyscrapers are falling one after another like dominoes. So as we move from the Information Age into the Ideas Era TM, our choice is to either recapture that knowledge and survive. Or not.

Coming Soon

• Economy Solution: No jobs. No purchases.
• Education Solution: Failed decisions made by those who have always been in education or those who have never been in education.
• Political Solution: States walk in where the Feds dare not tread

43's Folly

The President's argument against redeploying our troops from Iraq President's Address to the Nation is, "This would bring Al Qaida closer to its goals of taking down Iraq's democracy, building a radical Islamic empire, and launching new attacks on the United States at home and abroad."

Are we sure? What will happen when we leave Iraq? This fearsome question should have been asked before we sent in troops...as in worse case scenario. But now the question stands before us, an unyielding visitor that cannot be ignored. Since this administration neglected to make use of trial-and-error problem-solving, Iraq is an imbroglio today. So would it make any difference at all when we leave?

Nearly four thousand years ago, in 1950 B.C., the Elamites Iraq invaded the land where Iraq currently lies. Later the Mongols attacked Baghdad A timeline of the Arabs, the Turks and the Persians. There has been invasion after invasion among Turkey, Kuwait, Saudi Arabia, Iran, Britain and Iraq throughout the centuries. And various warlords continue to fight as they have always fought for power and control. Iraq lives in history as a boiling cauldron of destabilized upheaval.

In 1920 after the British occupation and subsequent fall of Turkey, the Iraqi’s became dissatisfied, because the Brits did not fulfill their promise of sovereignty. So Iraq waged war against them British Colonialism and repression in Iraq- Global Policy Forum .... Britain quickly realized that a military solution was impossible. Iraq could not be contained.

We cannot change a culture ingrained for millenniums. But we can learn from history. We might possibly tie Iraq’s boundaries to its various groups of inhabitants. Ultimately, though, will it make a difference now whether or not we accelerate or redeploy? Not to Iraq. The sands of her borders will continue to shift and blood will run.

But it should matter to us. We have the power to halt the destruction of our soldiers, their families, innocent Iraqi citizens and our economic security. This war was lost before it began. Yes, we stirred up a hornet’s next. And we can continue in this ineffective manner. Or not. Either way, a multitude of people have been badly stung.

The YouTube (registered trademark) in My Head

Associative Thinking vs Neurotypical Thinking

I think in pictures. The process does not resemble visualizing George Washington's famous portrait in my mind nor the painting, "Dogs Playing Poker" nor a photo of Bertrand Russell, 20th century philosopher. Although in 1991, I was compared to "Bertie" Russell by a person who formerly met with him weekly.

No I have a virtual YouTube(R) in my head. I assumed everyone thought in moving pictures, but I was wrong. Most people are neurotypical. I believe thinking in pictures is a product of genetics, because my daughter also has YouTube(R) thinking. This ability is rare, especially in non-autistic people. While my daughter and I are not autistic, we do possess some traits of autism.

Dr. Temple Grandin, is world renowned professional designer of humane livestock facilities and author of "Thinking in Pictures". She says, "I think in pictures. Words are a second language to me.." (1) Like, Dr. Grandin, words are mysecond language. Unless I visualize a person's name written on a page or numbers on a telephone pad, they have absolutely no meaning to me.

"...visual thinking is characterized by associative thinking versus the linear, analytic processes of the typical non-autistic person. The amygdaline limbic system is a very powerful associative memory in terms of its processing speed. It can recognize and create a response to a stimulus before the signal even reaches the slower neocortex." (2)

While I always understood that I processes thoughts and information differently, it was a little difficult to catch myself thinking in order to analyze that process. Try it. You might find YouTube(R) in your brain.

(1) Dr. Temple Grandin, "Thinking in Pictures", www.grandin.com
(2) http://www.doyletics.com/_arj1/thinking.htm

Economic Solutions # 1 - From A Liberal

Factor In ALL Variables

Ethiopians live on $2.00 a day. That is poverty. Mexicans live on $5.00 a day. That is poverty. Twenty percent of Kansans live in poverty. And that is poverty, too. But isn't the U.S. a rich nation? Yes. For some. But purchase power based upon the Cost of Living varies substantially from country to country. Why is this important variable absent in “the facts" presented by elected officials and the media?

It is easy to understand that the U.S. dollar will buy more in Canada than in the U.S. For example, $1.00 here will buy $1.17 worth of goods or services in Toronto, which is one of Canada's more expensive cities. A person would only have to have about $66,000 to live as well as a person in Chicago earning $100,000. A well-placed one-bedroom apartment in Toronto cost only $400 per month in 2003.

How can the "Cost of Living" variable be omitted? That one U.S. dollar can purchase between $10 to $11 worth of goods or services in Mexico is well understood. The U.S. purchase power in Mexico, except for popular travel destinations, is quite substantial. And conversely, Mexican citizens find the cost of living in the U.S. substantially more expensive.

If a U.S. citizen earned the current minimum wage, that person could buy $10,712 worth of goods and services, minus taxes, every year. The same is true for an illegal alien living in the U.S., on the condition that the employer takes out taxes. But what about the money earned in the U.S. and sent back to Mexico?

That same money would purchase the $117,832 equivalent in Mexico.
In Mexico, a middle class family lives comfortably on $250 to $300 a month or $3000 to $3600 per year. Tortillas and beans are subsidized by their government, and gasoline is substantially less expensive. In the U.S. that same $250 to $300 barely covers a car payment or lunch out every day. When I lived and worked in Mexico, I lived in a four-star hotel complete with an art gallery and stringed-quartet for the price of a modest Holiday Inn room. A dinner consisting of a plate-sized steak, side dishes, appetizers, drinks, and desserts cost the equivalent of two McDonald's meals here.

The U.S. is the only industrialized country with no universal health care and no cap on prescription drugs. The average wage earner in the U.S. earns $3000 less per year than in the 1970's. In many states when a minimum wage earner purchases a gallon of 2% milk, she spends one hour's worth of income minus a few quarters.

The only reason anyone would omit the Cost of Living is to manipulate the facts.
http://thequantumthinker.blogspot.com

The Social Security Solution

What is the solution to the Social Security conundrum? 1. Elected officials must not deplete the Social Security funds to pay for other expenses. 2. Remove the taxable wage cap. 3. Rescind the recent tax cuts for those earning over $200,000 4. The country cannot afford to give Social Security to non-cit zens. 5. U.S. companies must not evade paying for their off-shore employees'.

George David, CEO and Chairman of the Board of United Technologies made $88.7 million in 2004 (1). So how much did he pay into Social Security in 2006? He paid $5,840. This is exactly the same as the guy who made $94,200 taxable income.

Why? A person earning $94,200 in taxable income pays $5,840. After that he or she doesn't pay another dime. This is called a cap. Once people reach the income cap, they no long have to pay 6.2% of their taxed income into Social Security (2).

Opponents of eliminating the income cap argue this is a huge tax increase. Or is it equitable taxation? They say Social Security would go bankrupt. But would the elected officials keep stealing Social Security funds if everyone contributed proportionally? Opponents say change would reduce family budgets, but middle class income ends at $77,300 (3). Would it weaken our economy by decreasing jobs? No, because the rich do not spend extra income in their communities and on salaries or goods such as washing machines, cars, or clothing. They invest their money.

According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, the average annual wage in this country was $39,354 in 2004 (up from $35,323 in 2000). So the average person paid 6.2% of their taxable wages into Social Security, or $2,439.94 in 2004.

Had George David paid 6.2%, he would have paid $5,499,400. The five highest paid CEO's earned an average of $55 million a year in 2005 (4). They each paid $5,840 into the Social Security fund. Not $3,410,000 each, $17,050,000 total if they paid 6.2%.

The 100 largest companies' CEO made a "median income of $1.14 million, up 46.4%, the highest in five years.(5) At 6.2% they would have paid $86,800 each, total $8,680,000. They paid only $5,840 each or $584,000 total.

With the recent tax cuts the top 1%, who earn $400,000 +/- per year, the country loses $1+ trillion in the next decade. $200,000 earners make up 40% of all the new tax cuts.

We only need $12.7 trillion to keep Social Security solvent and $30 trillion for Medicare. The solution is: Don't raid Social Security monies, rescind tax cuts for the wealthy, make citizenship a requisite, eliminate the cap and corporations paying what they owe.

1. Michael Brush, MSN Money, Company Focus, March 16, 2005. 2. Social Security Department, 2005. 3. Congressional Budget Office's Quntile System 4. Michael Brush, MSN Money, Company Focus, March 16, 2005. 5. Ibid