Zuma Mystery: It’s Classified and Invisible…Apparently

01 Thursday Feb 2018

Posted by Paul Kiser in Business, Communication, Crisis Management, Customer Relations, Ethics, Government, History, Honor, Management Practices, NASA, Pride, Public Image, Public Relations, Relationships, Science, Space, SpaceX, Technology, United States, US History, US Space Program

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deployment, Elon Musk, failed mission, fairing, Fairings, Falcon 9, Indian Ocean, launch, launch delays, Northrop Grumman, orbital inclination, secret satellite, SpaceX, USA-280, Zuma

On 8 January 2018 the top-secret USA-280 satellite, as known as Zuma, went up, but a funny thing happened on the way to orbit. It was launched to the northeast at a vector of approximately 51° off the equator. A rough course estimate would have taken Zuma south of Great Britain, across Europe (possibly over France, Italy, and Greece,) over Saudia Arabia, and to the Indian Ocean west and/or south of India. According to one unnamed source, that is where the flight of USA-280 ended.

Possible approximate flight path of Zuma

Elon We Have a Problem

The first hint that something was wrong is when Brian Mahlstedt, the launch narrator for SpaceX, paused for 90 seconds after announcing that the fairing (the cover around the satellite) would deploy “…any second..” and then changed the subject when he began talking again. This was also significant because he said that coverage of the launch phase of the would end AFTER the deployment of the fairings. Had the fairings deployed as scheduled it would not have crossed over into the coverage of the landing of the booster phase, which was what happened.

The second hint was when SpaceX public relations (PR) didn’t spike the ball after the launch, praising its success.

By the next morning, sources were quietly saying that the satellite didn’t make orbit. Some seemed to suggest that the fault was with the SpaceX rocket. Some indicated the release platform of the satellite failed, keeping it connected to the upper stage as it fell back to Earth.

SpaceX came out with a qualified statement that didn’t deny the failure to achieve orbit but adamantly implied that the SpaceX rocket performed as intended. Northrop Grumman, the contractor for the super secret satellite and the release platform announced that it didn’t comment on confidential payloads.

Disinformation Campaign

A few media sites suggested that maybe everything was fine and the satellite was safely in orbit. It was a tactic that a covert agency might employ to feed a few trusted sources with a disinformation campaign to calm the discussion of failure, and for the most part, it worked. Few follow-up reports have been made about USA-280.

The evidence, or lack of it, is telling a different story. Astronomy hobbyists, some highly skilled in finding and tracking human-made objects in orbit, have spent the past three weeks trying to find the ‘invisible’ satellite with no success. They have found a satellite lost over ten years ago, but no one has sighted the wayward Zuma satellite.

The Zuma Fairing Mystery?

The chronology of the fairing deployment is as follows:

T+0:50 seconds (50 seconds after liftoff) – A SpaceX announcer begins a live and nearly continuous commentary regarding upcoming events with the Falcon 9 rocket, pausing only for those events to be confirmed by SpaceX control.

T+2:03 – SpaceX announcer pauses as four events related to second stage separation are about to begin.

T+3:06 – SpaceX announcer resumes commentary and confirms a successful second stage separation, and explains at T+3:15 that fairing separation “…should occur any second now” (ejection of protective nose shell around satellite.) He continues on to say that he will confirm the fairing separation after it occurs.

T+3:26 – SpaceX announcer begins a pause that lasts for one minute and thirty seconds.

T+4:57 – SpaceX announcer says, “Alright, so we’ll address the fairing deployment in a second once we have more information, but for now we’re going to shift our transition back to our secondary mission…”

T+5:17 – SpaceX announcer says, “…ah, quick sidebar here that we did get confirmation that the fairings did deploy.”

The launch of Zuma was delayed last November because of an issue with the fairing deployment. The question is whether the previous issue along with the 90-second pause in announcing the fairing deployment indicate there was an in-flight problem with the fairing.

Best Guess?

Everything is speculation. Based on what we know, this is my suggestion of the most likely scenario:

The fairing failed to deploy at the prescribed time, but it did deploy late. (That would fit SpaceX’s non-denial denial.)
The late deployment caused a decision to abort the flight so that it would come down in the Indian Ocean.
Had the abort been held off, the flight might have been able to continue, but point-of-no-return in the abort decision had been reached and the flight was terminated.

This would still allow SpaceX to claim its rocket performed ‘nominally’ and only fudge a little when not admitting the fairing issue. It would also suggest that there was disagreement during the ascent phase and that the incident is a sore spot for the parties involved…

…but you didn’t hear that from me.

[COUNT TO 500: 490th Article in PAULx]

The State of the Union of the United States of America

29 Monday Jan 2018

Posted by Paul Kiser in Aging, Business, Crime, Customer Relations, Customer Service, Economy, Education, Ethics, Generational, Government, Government Regulation, Green, Health, Higher Education, History, Honor, Management Practices, Panama, Politicians, Politics, Pride, Public Image, Public Relations, racism, Relationships, Religion, Respect, Science, Space, Taxes, Technology, United States, Universities, US History, US Space Program, Women

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Congress, Donald Trump, economy, Education, GOP, ICE, Illegal Immigrants, immigrants, Immigration, Paul Kiser, President, public education, Republican, Republican Party, Republicans, roads, Space Program, State of the Union, Tax Cut and Jobs Act, tax cut for wealthy, tax cuts, taxes, United States, United States of America

Mr. Speaker, Mr. Vice President, Members of Congress, the good citizens of the UNITED STATES of America:

We are a country of greatness, that has allowed itself to be taken over by the ungrateful. For centuries we have been the place that the world looks to as a model of what they hope to have for themselves and their families, and yet, in one year that model has become the example of what not to do.

The World Economy

We are the marketplace of the world. Companies in Africa, South America, Asia, Europe, and Austrailia want to capture the market of the United States of America. Our citizens support the world economy, and they know that when the United States falters, the world falters.

And yet, the Republican party would have you believe that if our companies are required to pay their portion of support for the United States of America, they will move their jobs away. It is a twisted logic that accepts companies will move away from their customers, but that is what the Republican party would have you believe in order to fatten the wallets of those who don’t need more money.

It is true that companies in the United States of America have been allowed to hide their money in other countries to avoid supporting the people of the United States of America. The solution to this is not to lower taxes, but to refuse to allow a company to have access to our market if they won’t pay their taxes. The Republican model rewards companies that break the laws of the United States of America by legalizing nonpayment of taxes.

The Power of Government

The Republican party has convinced people that government is inherently evil and that the citizens of this country shouldn’t have to financially support it. They have lied to our citizens by claiming that taxes are wrong, government is evil, and business is holy.

And yet, when we closely examine the ‘waste’ of government we find that typically it is a private business that is stealing from the government, not government waste. Business is based on greed. Government, our government, the government established by our forefathers, the government that financed the railroads, the government that built the water systems, the sewer systems, the dams, the roads and highways, the bridges, government that helped our world neighbors win World War I and World War II, the government that established fire protection, law enforcement, national parks, national monuments, and the government that took us to the Moon and back, THAT government is not evil. THAT government is responsible for all the great achievements in the United States of America.

We are not strong because business made us strong. The history of corporations in the United States of America is one of abuse of workers, deception of neighbors and customers, of mismanagement, fraud, and greed. It has been consistent in our country that when the government keeps a close eye on business, business has succeeded. Government, our government, the government of the United States of America makes for good business, and when government is not there, business brings down our country and our economy, just as the banks did in 2007.

The United States

In this speech, I have not used the word, “Americans.” I don’t use that term to refer to the citizens of the United States of America. Brazilians are Americans. Peruvians are Americans. Panamanians are Americans, Canadians are Americans. And our friends south of our border in Mexico are Americans. All the people of North, Central, and South America are Americans.

WE are the UNITED STATES of America. We celebrate and demand the UNION of our country, not the divisions. What we have is unique. What we have is special. Those that use only the last word in our country’s name fail to understand the importance of the first two words.

As the United States, we are pledged to a government by the people, and for the people, ALL THE PEOPLE, of the United States of America. No one is superior. The wealthy are fortunate, not better. The poor are unfortunate and we have their backs.

Immigrants are our guests until they become citizens, and we will be judged on how we treat them. We don’t need walls, we need paths. Every immigrant should be recognized and assisted as they join our great nation. Anything short of heroic support of the visitors to our nation is beneath the character of the citizens of our country.

Education For All

A miracle has happened in the United States of America. Between 1950 and 2010, our country’s population doubled. In 1950, only 34% of the adults in our nation had a high school degree. Only 6% had a college degree. By 2010, Almost 90% of the adults in our country had a high school degree and 30% of our adult citizens had a college degree.

Our schools, our PUBLIC schools not only kept pace with the growing population, they expanded the gift of education to almost everyone willing to do the hard work of becoming better citizens.

We cannot stop now. Education is the foundation that this country stands upon. Education creates new job possibilities. Not just for the student, but for the employer. When a good employer realizes that her employees have a greater potential than his or her current job requires, they find ways to expand the challenges, and that means the company can stay competitive, and even outpace other companies in countries that don’t have the power of an employee educated in the United States of America.

It is Time

We have been deceived. The Republicans have tried to tear our country down and then claim they are building it up. Our country doesn’t need to be rescued by people who seek only to line the pockets of a few at the sacrifice of everyone else. The stock market is a measure of greed, not of wealth. Our economy is driven by millions with good jobs that pay them enough to have money to spend, not by a few investors making millions off everyone else.

Taxes are the lifeblood of our great country, and when the wealthy don’t pay their fair share, everyone suffers. It’s time we stopped the lies and deception. It’s time we remember who we are and what we stand for…We are the United States of America, and those that don’t support shouldn’t be leading our country.

An Indictment Against NPR Journalism Standards

22 Monday Jan 2018

Posted by Paul Kiser in Aging, Communication, Ethics, Generational, Government, Government Regulation, Higher Education, Honor, Journalism, Opinion, Politics, Pride, Print Media, Public Image, racism, Taxes, Traditional Media, Writing

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coal mining, Don Gonyea, Donald Trump, energy, entertainment, Ethics, journalism, journalism standards, journalists, Morning Edition, National Public Radio, News media, newsworthy, npr, Pennsylvania, soundbite, soundbites, Steve Innskeep

National Public Radio’s (NPR) Morning Edition is not alone in the race to lower journalism standards. It is; however, the latest example of how hard-hitting journalism has become a game of tossing softballs to ill-informed people for entertainment and soundbites.

Interview With a Trumpster

Friday morning (19 January 2018) Morning Edition’s Steve Inskeep and Don Gonyea were discussing Gonyea’s report on Donald Trump’s support in southwestern Pennsylvania. Included in his report was a soundbite of an interview with a Trump supporter using the name, Paul Walker:

Trump was not a politician. He did not come up through all the bullcrap and the handshakes and the elbow-rubbing. He came in. And I think it’s a direct approach. I like his twitters (ph). If you watch my Twitter account, I retweet just about everything that he puts out.

Gonyea then implied that people from the coal mining areas like Trump because they believe government regulation is taking away coal mining jobs. The next soundbite was of Republican State Senator Camera Bartolotta who explained the rationale behind Trumpster’s alleged “war on coal” sentiment:

…we have to fight for our jobs… Of course coal mining is different now. Of course you’re not going to need 2,000 coal miners in a coal mine. We’ve got automation. We’ve got machines. We’ve got, you know, better technology. But you know what? We still need coal.

As Gonyea ended his report, Steve Inskeep asked what seemed to be a prepared question for Gonyea:

…people on the left, …anytime we put Trump voters on the air. They ask – why keep interviewing Trump voters? They never change. They’re out of touch. Why? Why? Why?…Why talk to Trump voters?

Gonyea gave what seemed to be a prepared answer:

Well, first, we talk to voters of all kinds – of all stripes…As for the Trump voters, it’s important to know, A, if they’re still with him. But it’s good to hear how they talk about him and how that may change over time, if there are shifts. Is there strong support suddenly?…Also, in states where the vote’s very close, any movement among any voter group can make the difference.

The Indictment against NPR’s Morning Edition

Morning Edition violated basic journalism standards in the following ways:

Most of the information was based on opinion, not fact.

The man using the name, Paul Walker, expressed his opinion. State Senator Camera Bartolotta expressed her opinion of other people’s opinions.

Walker, said: “Trump’s not a politician.” FACT: Trump has run for political office many times. Trump has been a political figure for decades.

State Senator Bartolotta explained why Trump supporters feel they have to fight the government for coal mining jobs, then gave reasons why it wasn’t the government stealing coal mining jobs.

None of the opinions expressed were newsworthy.

These opinions are typical opinions of Trump supporters. The apparent news was that Trump supporters have the same opinions as they have always had. It is the classic dog bites man story.

Information was meaningless.

The entire story was based on uninformed and/or incorrect opinions. The story was not exposing the lack of facts by the people interviewed but instead legitimized inaccurate and/or uninformed opinion.

End Didn’t Justify the Story

The exchange between Inskeep and Gonyea seemed to be an attempt to justify poor journalism. Uniformed opinions are not news. They don’t add to the debate, and to focus on inaccurate opinion rather than fact leads people to believe that their opinion is valid regardless of how uninformed, racist, or inappropriate it is to be expressed. It encourages people to become more extremist in order to attract the attention of the media.

*_*_*_*_*_*_*_*_*_*_*_*_*_*_*_*_*_*_*_*_*_*_*_*_*_*_*_*_*_*_*_*_*_*_*_*_*

Trumpster Babble Shorthand

Babble #1 – “Trump’s a straight shooter” = He doesn’t research or listen to people, he just says the first thing to come into his head.

Babble #2 – “Trump speaks for the little guy.” = Trump says what uneducated racist is thinking.

Babble #3 – “We have to stop giving all our money to the government.” = I don’t want to pay for the privilege of living in the United States of America.

Babble #4 – “Trump is keeping people from coming to America and stealing our jobs.” = I’m racist so I can blame people of color for taking jobs I would never apply for because they’re beneath me, or far beyond my qualifications.

Babble #5 – “Trump’s not a politician” = He’s inexperienced.

Babble #6 – “We need jobs!” = We need jobs that pay lots of money to people in a small town with few skills and only a high school degree…or less.

NASA’s Orion Capsule: A ‘Look Busy’ Project?

19 Friday Jan 2018

Posted by Paul Kiser in 1968, Ethics, Government, History, Honor, Management Practices, NASA, Politics, Pride, Public Image, Public Relations, Science, Space, Technology, US History

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Airbus, Amber Gell, Amy Shira Teitel, Apollo, cosmic radiation, Curious Droid, Earth, engineer, Gemini, Kelly Smith, Lara Kearney, LEM, Lockheed Martin, lunar module, manned space program, manned spacecraft, Mars, Mercury, Moon, NASA, orbit, Orion, Paul Shillito, Space Shuttle, spacecraft, STS-135, Van Allen Belts, Vintage Space

NASA has a publicity campaign for the next generation of spacecraft. It is the Orion capsule, and it is touted as the spaceship that will take us back to the Moon and beyond. The problem is that all the talk doesn’t match reality.

8 July 2011, STS-135 – The final launch of a USA spacecraft

On 8 July 2011, I stood several miles away from Kennedy Space Center and watched the end of the United States manned spacecraft program. I stood in the warm sunshine of Florida as the last Space Shuttle (STS-135) soared into the sky. Since then NASA has put our astronauts in space by paying Russia to take them to and from the International Space Station (ISS.)

A few months before that last Space Shuttle flight NASA announced the development of a new spacecraft called Orion. The announcement came so abruptly that it seemed that NASA was unaware it wouldn’t have a spacecraft to send humans into space until just before the end of the Space Shuttle program.

Orion – A Spacecraft of Contradictions

The Orion program, for all its hype, seems to have major flaws that NASA doesn’t seem to notice, or perhaps, hopes the public won’t notice. NASA’s description of the purpose of Orion:

For the first time in a generation, NASA is building a human spacecraft for deep-space missions that will usher in a new era of space exploration…and this new spacecraft will take us farther than we’ve gone before, including to the vicinity of the Moon and Mars…the Orion spacecraft is designed to meet the evolving needs of our nation’s deep space exploration program for decades to come. Orion deep space exploration missions…will help put NASA and America in a position to unlock the mysteries of space and to ensure this nation’s world preeminence in exploring the cosmos.

Orion a USA Spacecraft????

Lockheed Martin Corporation is designing and building the capsule of Orion. Like the Apollo capsule, Orion can only be separated from the Service Module for a short period of time.

The Service Module is the business section of Orion. It supplies all the power, fuel, oxygen, and is the primary propulsion of the spacecraft. Anyone familiar with Apollo 13 knows what happens to the capsule when the Service Module is non-functioning. The Service Module is being built by Airbus, a French corporation, for the European Space Agency.

Orion Capsule: A Human Storage Shed in Space

In Space, Size Matters

The Apollo capsule had a volume of 5.9 m³ (210 ft³.) Apollo astronauts were able to use the 6.7 m³ (235 ft³) space in the Lunar Module (LEM) during the three day trip between Earth and Moon. The total volume of the Apollo capsule and LEM was 12.6 m³ (445 ft³) for three astronauts. On the return, the Apollo astronauts were restricted to the capsule. Each astronaut had about 2 m³ in the capsule or 4 m³ in the capsule/LEM configuration.

Orion has 8.95 m³ (316 cu ft) of habitable space for four astronauts. This is slightly more cubic meters per astronaut than the Apollo capsule and much less than Apollo’s capsule/LEM configuration. The idea that Orion is capable of taking four astronauts on an eight-month journey to Mars is absurd. Orion is only for use in short-term, near-Earth missions.

NASA has briefly acknowledged the space issue in a video. Amber Gell of Lockheed Martin briefly touches on the need for an add-on crew habitat. She implies that it is an issue that NASA has yet to address. If it takes NASA twelve years to design and build a slightly bigger version of the 1960’s Apollo spacecraft, how long will it take them to build a crew quarters that four people can live in for up to three years?

NASA’s Misleading Video about Orion

NASA has been pumping out videos of engineers explaining how Orion is the next great achievement of the space agency. The videos cover a variety of subjects and some are pre-test and post-test news releases of Orion’s systems and structure. One video features Kelly Smith, a NASA Engineer, who explains how Orion is being designed to deal with the radiation from the Van Allen Belts around Earth.

The 2014 NASA video, titled, “Orion: Trial By Fire,” describes the challenges of the first test flight, including a dramatic description of the dangers of flying through the radiation of the Van Allen Belts above Earth. He explains that Orion will be designed to protect the astronauts as they fly through these dangerous regions.

The problem is that NASA already solved that problem with Apollo. They either fly around the Van Allen Belts, or through the thinner sections, as described by a video by Amy Shira Teitel of Vintage Space, and a video by Paul Shillito of Curious Droid.

There is a radiation issue in space, namely cosmic radiation, and it is a problem on long trips beyond Earth orbit; however, as Lara Kearney of NASA’s Orion Crew and Service Module’s Office explains in another NASA video, that they don’t have the answer to the cosmic radiation problem. This video contradicts the enthusiastic Smith video and raises the question: Does NASA know what they are doing?

Orion: The NASA Glacial-Paced Project

In May 1961, President John F. Kennedy asked Congress to fund a space program to take to the Moon and safely back. From the time of his speech in 1961 to the end of 1972, NASA launched the five of the six manned Mercury missions, designed, tested, built, and launched 10 Gemini manned missions, designed, tested, built, and launched 11 Apollo manned missions, landed men on the Moon, and overcame a disaster that delayed the manned launches for 21 months. Eleven years, three complete rocket programs, 27 manned missions, six successful Moon landings, no prior experience.

Orion, a slightly larger version of the Apollo capsule, only useful for short-term habitation in near-Earth orbit, is taking twelve years. Something is amiss.

NASA’s ‘Look Busy’ Project?

NASA definitely needs more funding, but something else is wrong. NASA’s Orion project doesn’t make any sense unless they are attempting to create the appearance that they are moving forward with a manned space program. The Orion project is, at best, an Earth to orbit elevator. It can’t meet any of the stated manned spaceflight goals of NASA. The question is, why isn’t NASA aware of these issues, and if they are aware, what is the agenda that is causing them to promote a project that is meaningless to the stated goals of deep space flight?

Government Shutdown An Opportunity

18 Thursday Jan 2018

Posted by Paul Kiser in Business, Crisis Management, Ethics, Government, Government Regulation, Health, Honor, Information Technology, Internet, Politics, Pride, Public Image, Public Relations, racism, Respect, Social Interactive Media (SIM), Social Media Relations, Taxes, US History, Women

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115th Congress, border wall, budget, DACA, democracy, Democrat, Democrats, Donald Trump, federal budget, government shutdown, ICE, immigrants, Mexican Immigrants, Net Neutrality, Republican, Tax Cut and Jobs Act, Twitter, US Customs, US Immigration and Customs Enforcement, US/Mexican Border

DACA protesters in San Francisco 5 September 2017

Time for Democrats to take a stand

A government shutdown is a bad thing. It creates a lot of problems and it affects a lot of people. Typically, one political party is blamed, and that creates a risk of losing elections.

But this is a different moment in time. People are tired of being mowed over by the Republican party. People are tired of the Democrats always giving up concessions only to have the Republican take more away later. It’s time for Democrats to take a stand and not flinch.

Provisions To Avoid a Government Shutdown

Democrats can’t take the stand for just one issue. It has to be for several core issues and they cannot negotiate away any of the issues. Democrats should demand the following Provisions:

All DACA recipients will be given a 20-year deferral and shall have preferred status in obtaining citizenship provided they are employed, a full-time student, are not convicted of a felony and pay all taxes as required.
U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) will be restricted from taking any action on any immigrant unless the person has committed a felony. All immigrants in custody that have not committed a felony will be released.
Net Neutrality must be restored.
All measures passed by the House or Senate must achieve a two-thirds majority for the remainder of the 115th Congress, and for the 116th Congress if Republicans maintain a majority in the House or Senate.
The 2017 Tax Cut and Jobs Act is repealed except for those tax cuts for those earning under $250,000.
All Trump appointees must be removed from office and all acts by those appointees are to be rescinded. All new appointees must be meet Provision 4, above.
President Donald Trump will not be allowed to make any Executive Orders for the remainder of his term, and all of his previous Executive Orders by President Donald Trump are rescinded.
All funding for a wall between Mexico and the United States will be void, with the exception of sections of the border that both Mexico and the United States agree upon.
President Donald Trump will not be allowed to have a Twitter account.
President Donald Trump must pay for all services and costs when not staying in the White House or other government-owned facilities.

Shutdown Better Than Alternative?

These ten provisions may seem harsh. The alternative may be mass work stoppages, strikes, and protests, which is what will likely happen if the Democrats fail to stop the Republicans from destroying our country.

12 Days in 1968

06 Saturday Jan 2018

Posted by Paul Kiser in 1968, Aging, Arts, Crime, Crisis Management, Education, Ethics, Generational, Government, Health, Higher Education, History, Honor, Panama, Photography, Politics, Pride, Print Media, Public Image, Public Relations, racism, Relationships, Religion, Respect, Science, Space, Technology, The Tipping Point, Traditional Media, Universities, US History, Women

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1968, Apollo 7, Apollo 8, Apollo missions, assassination, Black Panthers, Catholic Church, Civil Rights, Elections, Feminism, Florida Education Association, George Wallace, Humanae vitae, John F. Kennedy, Jr., Lyndon B. Johnson, Martin Luther King, Moon, Moon landing, North Korea, police, Pope Paul VI, President Richard Nixon, Protests, Richard M. Nixon, Riots, Robert Kennedy, sit-ins, teacher's strike, USS Pueblo, Vietnam War, Women's Rights

May 1968 – Student injured in France in clash with police

1968. Fifty years ago our country was in chaos. Only five years had passed since President John F. Kennedy had been assassinated. The man who became President, Lyndon B. Johnson, had accomplished amazing milestones in civil rights, protections for the elderly (Medicare and Medicaid) and had expanded programs in public broadcasting and the arts, but the country was torn apart by the war in Vietnam, and he had increased the number of U.S. troops in the war to over half a million.

The National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) was still recovering from the fire in January of the previous year that killed three astronauts as they sat helplessly in the command module on the launch pad, and the Apollo program had yet to launch a manned mission with only two years left to honor President Kennedy’s goal.

At the start of the year, everything in the world seemed to be collapsing. The year would test our society’s threshold of endurance. These are twelve days that defined 1968. (Source: Wikipedia – 1968)

Captured crew of the USS Pueblo giving the finger to North Korea

January 23
- North Korea seized the USS Pueblo, creating an international incident that remained in the news for most of 1968. North Korea claimed the ship was spying on their country and violated its territorial waters. Its mission was to observe and gather intelligence and at the time of capture, the crew attempted to destroy classified information on the Pueblo, but only succeeded in destroying a small amount of the documents and equipment. One crewmember was killed by North Korean fire in the attempt to capture the boat. The crew was tortured and starved during the eleven months of imprisonment. They were released just before Christmas 1968. The USS Pueblo is still held in North Korea and is still a commissioned ship of the United States Navy.
February 13
- Civil rights disturbances occur at the University of Wisconsin–Madison and the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. This would be one of many protests, sit-ins, and riots, in the United States, England, France, Germany, and other countries over civil rights, the Vietnam war, and other social issues. Many of those involved in the year of civil disobedience would be injured or killed in clashes with law enforcement.
- The Florida Education Association (FEA) initiates a mass resignation of teachers to protest state funding of education. This is, in effect, the first statewide teachers’ strike in the United States.
- NET televises the very first episode of Mister Rogers’ Neighborhood.
March 16
- Vietnam War – My Lai Massacre: American troops kill scores of civilians. The story will first become public in November 1969 and will help undermine public support for the U.S. efforts in Vietnam.
- President Lyndon B. Johnson, the incumbent, narrowly won the first Democratic primary to a minor candidate on March 11, and U.S. Senator Robert F. Kennedy entered the race for the Democratic Party presidential nomination. President Johnson would end his campaign two weeks after Kennedy makes his announcement.
April 4
- Martin Luther King Jr. is assassinated at the Lorraine Motel in Memphis, Tennessee. Riots erupt in major American cities, lasting for several days afterward.
- A shootout between Black Panthers and Oakland police results in several arrests and deaths, including 16-year-old Panther Bobby Hutton.
- A double explosion in downtown Richmond, Indiana kills 41 and injures 150.
May 17
- The Catonsville Nine enter the Selective Service offices in Catonsville, Maryland, take dozens of selective service draft records, and burn them with napalm as a protest against the Vietnam War.
June 5
- U.S. presidential candidate Robert F. Kennedy is shot at the Ambassador Hotel in Los Angeles. Sirhan Sirhan is arrested. Kennedy dies from his injuries the next day.

Pope Paul VI: The man who brought the Church into couple’s beds

July 25
- Pope Paul VI publishes the encyclical entitled Humanae vitae, on birth control. This voided a church commissioned study (Pontifical Commission on Birth Control) that determined birth control to NOT be inherently evil, and that couples should decide for themselves about the use of birth control. The Pope’s decision inserted the church into a conflict that continues to this day.
August 20
- The Prague Spring of political liberalization ends, as 750,000 Warsaw Pact troops, 6,500 tanks, and 800 planes invade Czechoslovakia. It is dated as the biggest operation in Europe since WWII ended.
September 6
- 150 women (members of New York Radical Women) arrive in Atlantic City, NJ to protest against the Miss America Pageant, as exploitative of women. Led by activist and author Robin Morgan, it is one of the first large demonstrations of Second Wave Feminism as Women’s Liberation begins to gather much media attention.
October 11
- Apollo program: NASA launches Apollo 7, the first manned Apollo mission (Wally Schirra, Donn Eisele, Walter Cunningham). Mission goals include the first live television broadcast from orbit and testing the lunar module docking maneuver. The United States is back in space for the first time since the Apollo 1 disaster.
- In Panama, a military coup d’état, led by Col. Boris Martinez and Col. Omar Torrijos, overthrows the democratically elected (but highly controversial) government of President Arnulfo Arias. Within a year, Torrijos ousts Martinez and takes charge as de facto Head of Government in Panama.
November 5
- U.S. presidential election, 1968: Republican challenger Richard Nixon defeats the Democratic candidate, Vice President Hubert Humphrey, and American Independent Party candidate George C. Wallace. President Nixon would throw the country into a Constitutional crisis six years later and be forced to resign from office.
View of Earth from Apollo 8 as it orbited the Moon
December 24
- Apollo program: U.S. spacecraft Apollo 8 enters orbit around the Moon. Astronauts Frank Borman, Jim Lovell and William A. Anders become the first humans to see the far side of the Moon and planet Earth as a whole. Anders photographs Earthrise.

Nevada’s Pot Business About to be Smoked

03 Wednesday Jan 2018

Posted by Paul Kiser in About Reno, Aging, Branding, Business, Education, Employee Retention, Ethics, Generational, Government, Government Regulation, Green, Health, Higher Education, History, Honor, Management Practices, Politics, Pride, Public Image, Public Relations, Recreation, Respect, solar, Space, Taxes, Technology, Travel, Universities, US History

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California, Carson City, corporate tax cut, corporations, divorce, economies, economy, educational ranking, Elko, Ely, gambling, gaming, gold mining, Henderson, Indian gaming, Las Vegas, mining, Nevada, Reno, Unemployment, Violent Crime, Winnemucca

Welcome to Nevada, where citizens watch other people get rich

Nevada has relied on being the rebel for decades, and it always fails to provide a reliable economy.

When gambling was taboo in the nation, Nevada became one of the few places people could gamble. People flocked to Nevada to gamble. Nevada had a ‘gaming’ industry.

In 1988, the Indian Gaming Regulatory Act opened the door to legalize gambling on Indian Reservations, and over the next three decades California built up an Indian Gaming industry that didn’t require taking chances with a trip to Nevada. Nevada’s gaming industry stagnated.

When a quick marriage and/or a quick divorce was taboo in the nation, Nevada made divorce easy. People flocked to Nevada to officially end or begin a relationship. Nevada had a marriage industry.

Then divorce became a fact of life and most of the rest of the country decided that government should be trying to inhibit the desires of a couple, so they made marriage and divorce easier. Couples no longer had to travel to Nevada to say their vows, or go their separate ways and Nevada’s marriage and divorce industry collapsed.

Gambling, divorce, prostitution have all been part of Nevada’s economic plan, and they all have created more problems than money for its citizens. It’s a consistent trait of Nevada’s leadership in pursuing big money that comes with little or no foundation in what is best for the average citizen.

For the last six months, Nevada boosted its economy with legalized recreational marijuana sales. Again, people from California flocked to the state to get what they couldn’t get at home. Pot. And again, Nevada’s economic boost will be short-lived as California recreational pot business gets underway in 2018.

Nevada is a state where a few people become filthy rich and pay very little in taxes. Nevada compounds the problem by prostituting themselves for marginal industries that are not stable and corporations that seek to avoid paying their share of taxes while reaping big profits.

The result has been that Nevada has no money to improve schools that are ranked near the bottom in the United States. Nevada’s poor education record has resulted in businesses needing a highly educated workforce to go elsewhere despite the seductive tax environment.

Nevada has to stop lusting after short-term economies and start building a real economy…or watch the hopes and dreams of its citizens go up in smoke.

Need a New Plan for Gaining Political Support

02 Tuesday Jan 2018

Posted by Paul Kiser in About Reno, Aging, Business, Communication, Customer Relations, Customer Service, Ethics, Generational, Government, Government Regulation, Green, Health, Honor, Information Technology, Internet, Management Practices, Politics, Pride, Public Image, Public Relations, racism, Relationships, Respect, Social Interactive Media (SIM), Social Media Relations, Taxes, Technology

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Democrat, Democrats, DNC, PAC, PAG, political action, political ads, political candidates, political causes, spam, spamming

About thirty percent of my emails are requests from political interests. They implore me to give them money to avoid the dire consequences that will surely happen if their cause is not successful. These are from progressive causes targeting liberals, not wealthy conservatives who actually have spendable incomes.

Begging for money works on the street sometimes, but I can’t imagine any intelligent person that will be motivated by street tactics. It is embarrassing that the liberal viewpoint is being represented by groups that have all the skills and tact of a late-night, off-channel, ACT NOW television commercial.

If you want my attention, tell me what you’ve done and why you’ve done it. Tell me how you’ve spent money up to now. Give me a link to a website that I can go to if I want to learn more. Don’t threaten dire circumstances. Don’t beg for money. Don’t send me emails on a daily or even weekly basis. If I support your cause I might follow-up on it, but not if you annoy me.

We have major problems in this country and if a group’s best plan to solve the problem is to send me an email begging for money, then they’ve failed. Political causes HAVE TO STOP listening to political media hacks that tell them how they raised money in 2008 and start thinking of how to mobilize people to respond to the issues of 2018.

In case they haven’t noticed, the wealthy have figured out how to win politics with money, and they are really good at it. It’s time to out think Soviet Republicans and that shouldn’t be difficult, but outspending mega-corporations and the wealthy is not a competition in which I will participate.

Government Regulation Makes USA Business Great

17 Sunday Dec 2017

Posted by Paul Kiser in About Reno, Business, Customer Relations, Customer Service, Employee Retention, Ethics, Generational, Government, Government Regulation, History, Human Resources, Management Practices, Politics, Pride, Public Image, Public Relations, Respect, Taxes, Technology, US History, Women

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corporations, discrimination, enterprise, ethical business, Gender, Government oversight, products, race, regulation, service, Unethical Business Practices

Conservatives trash government regulation as a business killer. Ironically, the fact is that government regulation is what makes business in the United States successful. Without regulation, ethical business is pushed out to make room for people who lust for money. It is a ‘buyer be screwed’ mentality.

Business without oversight destroys ethical businesses

Sam and Joe Comparisons

Sam wants to start up a business. She determines what she must do and obtains all the needed licensing and inspections required, and abides by local, state, and federal laws. As she expands her business, she hires qualified workers and abides by the required payroll laws that protect the worker.

Joe starts up a similar business that competes with Sam’s business, but he sneaks around the laws. He only does what he has to do to not get caught. For code inspections he knows what they are looking for, and lies about what he is doing, so he avoids any government regulations that should apply to his business. As he expands his business, Jake pays people ‘under the table,’ to avoid paying taxes, doesn’t provide his employees with benefits, and doesn’t pay overtime. He warns the employees, that if they complain he’ll close down the business and they won’t have a job.

Which business will provide a more honest and trustworthy relationship with his/her customers? And which business provides good jobs? Which business will contribute more back to her/his community? More ethical? Will make more money?

Ethics and a Level Playing Field

The problem with business is that when the only rule is to make money, unethical practices will provide an advantage over the honest and ethical businessperson. Government regulation creates a level playing field for all corporations so that the honest businesses are not pushed out.

Government regulation and oversight of private business is not about crushing business, it is about saving business. It is empowering our citizens, through government employment, to serve as our protectors as workers and customers. It allows us to trust that a business is ethical and helping our nation.

By demonizing government regulation, unethical people seek to take advantage of other citizens of the United States of America. They swindle them out of money, abusing workers, bringing racism and discrimination into the workplace, and providing substandard and/or dangerous products and services.

Government regulation is not perfect, but until someone can find a better way of protecting the interests of our citizens, it is what we have, and it works.

This is NOT an Excuse: Why Older White Men Sexually Harass Women

22 Wednesday Nov 2017

Posted by Paul Kiser in Aging, Business, Communication, Crime, Crisis Management, Employee Retention, Ethics, Generational, History, Honor, Human Resources, Lessons of Life, Management Practices, parenting, Politics, Pride, Public Image, Public Relations, Relationships, Respect, The Tipping Point, Women

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children, Donald Trump, Education, management by intimidation, men, power, Ray Moore, sex, sex ed, sexual harassment, sexual relationships, wealth, Weinstein, Women

I need to be clear. Sexual harassment is and always has been wrong.

However, as an older white man, I can say that I am not surprised by the revelations coming out about women who have been sexually harassed by powerful older white men, I have to admit that I have been guilty of the same attitudes and behaviors.

Nothing that I have to say should be construed as an excuse for the behavior. No one should read this and feel any sympathy for men who have engaged in sexual harassment. This is simply an explanation of why I am not surprised by the recent revelations, and why I think almost all men of my age or older have a propensity to sexually harass women.

“Nothing that I have to say should be construed as an excuse for the behavior. No one should read this and feel any sympathy for men who have engaged in sexual harassment.”

I was born in 1957. My parents that raised me were married in 1939. My Dad was twenty years old, and my mother was fifteen…on the day she married. That was not typical; however, older men marrying younger women, even girls, was not uncommon, and during my childhood years, almost every Mom was a housewife.

As a child of the 1960’s, the idea that the man was dominant over a woman was not even questioned. Women were created to please men. The mindset was, women should not be overtly sexual and modest; therefore, it was the man’s place to initiate sexual actions. There was no formal instruction about initiating sexual intention with women, it was just expected that boys would learn as they go.

It was blatantly obvious to me, and probably most men my age, that power and wealth made men sexually attractive, and that women craved men who boldly took the initiative, so they didn’t have to pretend that they didn’t want sex. One way to win over a woman was to be in a position of power, and create a situation where the woman could submit to them.

“…that power and wealth made men sexually attractive, and that women craved men who boldly took the initiative, so they didn’t have to pretend that they didn’t want sex.”

The problem was, it worked. In hindsight, it didn’t work because the myth of women secretly wanting sex was true, it worked because the intimidation of a powerful man, and because most fell into the belief that it was a societal norm. Until I was in my late 20’s, the concept of sexual harassment was not even recognized as a problem in the workplace. A man marrying a subordinate was commonplace.

During my adult years, the development of workplace training began to take hold, and one of the primary topics became sexual harassment training. I, and most other men, were told that we had to be careful how we handled ourselves in the workplace, but that seemed to be focused on the workers, not so much on the executives.

When an issue of sexual harassment did come up with someone in management, companies hushed it up “to protect the woman,” and often the woman was given some type of compensation and moved out of the situation. In the business world, the human resources department enabled men to sexual harass women by treating it as an embarrassment for the company that needed to be dealt with internally, without law enforcement involvement.

There is no excuse for my behavior, nor the behavior of white men my age. In part, the problem is born of myths that are created in the absence of discussion and awareness of sex. Young boys will believe what other young boys will tell them when reliable information isn’t available.

We have to stop pretending that sex is only for married adults, and prior to marriage sex isn’t supposed to happen. Abstinence is an abomination to human interaction, and people who promote that idea don’t realize the damage they are doing to our society. Sex is not taboo or should it be embarrassing to discuss. It is a natural function of life.

We also have to stop letting companies deal with sexual harassment issues. Profit, public relations, and efficient operation of the business have no place in how a workplace sexual harassment issue is resolved.

“Profit, public relations, and efficient operation of the business have no place in how a workplace sexual harassment issue is resolved.”

Finally, I apologize to any woman who feels I have offended and/or been sexually inappropriate with. There is no excuse.

My Four Fathers

16 Friday Jun 2017

Posted by Paul Kiser in Aging, Business, Communication, Ethics, genealogy, Generational, Management Practices, parenting, Pride, Public Image, Relationships, Respect, Women

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Barrick, Colorado, Craig, Depue, Family, family history, Henderson, Kiser, siblings, son, Vernon Kiser, Waner

(To understand the background of this story see, Familius Interruptus, the explanation of how I learned through a DNA test that my father was not my father, and that my mother had an affair with another man known to our family.)

I had four fathers. Two of my fathers were real, tangible people. Both were good men and both were good fathers. One of my fathers was my biological father. I knew of him, and people have told me about him, but I never really knew him. He died when I was five years old.

One of my fathers was my man listed on my birth certificate. He was the man I always knew to be my Dad. He raised me and until a few months ago, I was led to believe he was my real father.

But I have two other fathers. They are the two men who I never got to know. They are ghosts of my past. They are the relationships I should have had with both my biological father, and my Dad, but were kept from me in a shroud of secrecy, rumors, and shame.

My Biological Father
My knowledge of my biological father is limited. He was a business owner in Craig, a small northwestern Colorado town. Based on everything I can gather, he was an amazing entrepreneur, creating and maintaining a business in a market that was too small, and too poor for the quality and experience his company offered.

My biological father

I have never heard anyone speak a negative word about my real father. His tragic death when I was only five, kept me from having any kind of relationship with him, and the shroud of secrecy that was maintained prevented me from interacting with the people who really knew him.

It is ironic and poetic that it is the next generation of my biological family that reached out to me after a DNA test proved the link between myself and their family. It was their actions that brought clarity and truth to my family history, and I am grateful.

I regret not knowing my real father and being able to know him as my father. I also am saddened to think of his sons and their mother. His death occurred when his sons were young adults. From what I know of my real father, he would have been proud of who they became, and of their achievements with their families, their work, and their church. My lack of a relationship with my real father pales in comparison to their loss.

My Dad
The man who raised me worked hard all his life. He was often up on Mondays before five in the morning and on the road to the job site, over an hour away. He often stayed at the job site during the week, living out of a camping trailer. He operated heavy equipment, and as a child the words, Cat, Maintainer, and Scraper described the three types of heavy equipment that my father used to build roads and reservoirs.

My Dad, and my Mother

I was the youngest of four sons to my Dad. I remember going with my family to see my oldest brother play high school basketball, my next oldest brother play high school football, but I don’t remember my Dad going see my next to youngest brother in plays, nor do I remember him coming to any of my school events. I suspect that when I was a child, my Dad was at the job site when our events were happening.

If my Dad knew, or suspected that I was not his son, I was not aware of it. I have indications that my mother and he had a strange marriage, but as a child, I had nothing to compare their relationship with, nor did I have any reference to compare my relationship with my parents. In hindsight, I knew I was not the child that my parents beamed with pride over, but I attributed it to being the last of four boys.

The Kiser brothers and me (on left)

My mother posted an October 1968, Erma Bombeck column on our family scrapboard about the Caboose Child that was ‘planned about as well as a headache.’ At the time, I had no idea that my mother was probably well aware of who my real father was, but I didn’t understand the statement she was probably making when she posted this single article on the scrapboard.

I suspect my father also knew, and that is part of the story that is amazing and tragic. Most people would shun the bastard child, but to my knowledge, he didn’t. Our relationship wasn’t close, but he could have justifiably shunned me, and he didn’t.

That is the Dad I didn’t get to know. The man who probably knew I was not his child, but raised me anyway. Regardless of what happened one day in March of 1957, he chose to be my Dad. I wish that before his death, I could have expressed my appreciation for living with the knowledge that few men would have had the character to move beyond.

My Dad wasn’t a perfect father, but he was a father to me, when he could have rejected me. I had a relationship with my Dad that I knew, and I wish I could have had a relationship with the part of my Dad who had to deal with the reality that I was as a son of another man.

I am too late, but I want to express gratitude to my fathers, and wish them a belated Happy Father’s Day.

1968: The Year of Fear and Hate

04 Thursday May 2017

Posted by Paul Kiser in Aging, Communication, Crime, Crisis Management, Education, Ethics, Generational, Government, Government Regulation, Health, Higher Education, History, Honor, Politics, Pride, Public Image, Public Relations, racism, Respect, Taxes, Traditional Media, Universities, US History, Women

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1968, Alabama, Civil Rights, Democrat, Democrats, Elections, George Wallace, Governor, Hubert Humphrey, Protests, Richard Nixon, Riots, Robert Kennedy, Vietnam, Vietnam War

October 1968. Richard Nixon, Hubert Humphrey, and George Wallace, and were desperately trying to win the Presidential election. Former Vice President Nixon had moderate conservatives and war-hawks backing him. Vice President Humphrey had Democratic core voters and intelligent liberals backing him, and Alabama Governor George Wallace was the darling of racists and right wing extremists.

1968 Democratic Convention (The LIFE Picture Collection/Getty Images)

1968: A Year of Chaos
In 1967, most had assumed President Lyndon Johnson would run, and likely win reelection. Those in his administration’s military leadership offered an optimistic view of the Vietnam War, with one of his recent close advisors publicly saying that the enemy was losing their will to fight.

Despite the rosy picture, over 70,000 U.S. soldiers had been killed or wounded during the war, and 1,000 more were being killed each month. Opposition to the war was tearing the Democratic party apart, and it overshadowed almost all other political issues.

In late January 1968, North Vietnam launched the Tet Offensive. Ultimately, the invading armies were beaten back, but the offensive shocked the United States. Those confident of Johnson’s ability to bring a successful end to the war waned in their support, and in March, the New Hampshire primary gave Johnson an uncomfortably narrow win over Eugene McCarthy, who was considered a relatively minor candidate that focused on an anti-war campaign.

Sen. Robert F. Kennedy (AP Photo/Dick Strobel)

Soon after the primary, Robert Kennedy entered the race, and Johnson ended his campaign. (Although Johnson probably dropped out because he doubted he could beat Kennedy, it is noteworthy that President Johnson’s decision to drop out was heavily influenced by his health concerns. Specifically, that he would likely not live through another term.) Without Johnson in the race, there was no single, obvious choice for President.

The year became more chaotic after Johnson dropped out. Martin Luther King, Jr. was assassinated on April 4. Robert Kennedy was assassinated on June 6. Anti-war and civil rights protests and riots, along with mounting U.S. casualties in Vietnam dominated the news everyday.

Baltimore, Maryland, 1968 (Photo by Afro-American Newspapers/Gado/Getty Images)

By October, voters were reacting to the the presidential election as the prescription moment in the United States. The next President would either cure or kill our country, depending on the point of view. People who sought a calm return to normalcy were split between Nixon and Humphrey.

However, there were people who sought a disruptive choice for President, in the hopes that he would revive the Confederacy’s goal of remaking the United States into a white dominated government that would undo decades of work to create equal rights for all citizens. Their choice was George Wallace.

While many may believe that Wallace was a bigger threat to Nixon’s campaign, the reality was that the Governor from Alabama was luring as much as half of the support of the unions that normally support the Democratic ticket. Uneducated, Caucasian, blue-collar workers were taken in by Wallace’s hardline racist positions.

The civil rights riots generated fear among white voters, many of whom, felt they were not racist, but were of the opinion that life for the African-American would be fine if they would just settle down and accept their lot in life.

In the end, Nixon won with less than half the vote, and was in a statistical tie with Humphrey, but he had a significant electoral college margin. Wallace won over almost ten million voters, and certainly had an impact on the outcome.

Both Nixon and President Johnson used last-minute tactics to sway voters in the final weeks. President Johnson publicly suggested that a Vietnam peace deal was imminent, and Nixon’s campaign used back channels to interfere with those peace efforts, coupled with a spy in the White House that kept the Nixon campaign informed of Johnson’s diplomatic efforts.

NEXT: A hard look at the Wallace voter

Conversations With Conservatives: The 37 Year Lie

13 Thursday Apr 2017

Posted by Paul Kiser in Aging, Business, Communication, Education, Ethics, Generational, Government, Government Regulation, Health, Higher Education, History, Honor, Human Resources, Management Practices, Politics, Pride, Public Image, Public Relations, racism, Religion, Respect, Space, Taxes, Technology, US History, Women

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conservatism, Conservatives, economic growth, economy, Employment, GDP, Gross domestic product, high paying jobs, Iran Contra Affair, Iran Hostage Crisis, job growth, jobs, President Richard Nixon, Richard Nixon, Ronald Reagan, Watergate

(NOTE: This is Part II of this article. Read Part I, here.)

The social and economic issues that people are concerned about in the United States of America don’t necessarily fall along party lines. Some issues, like immigration and applying religion to public policy, have a distinct political division; however, many other issues cross the lines of the ideologies.

In conversations with conservatives I learned that the deep division between conservatives and liberals can be traced back 37 years, to when Republicans managed to break the hold of Democratic leadership of our country in 1980. For 37 years, conservatives have been able to maintain control of our country by singing one anthem, ‘Everything is the government’s fault, and business is the solution.’

Ronald Reagan: Founder of the Cult of Conservatism

Ronald Reagan was elected on the idea that Democrats had failed the country. It was an easy story to sell for one reason. The Iran Hostage Crisis. Every night the news reminded our country of how many days our citizens had been held and humiliated by a group of Iranian students. Most in the United States did not understand the complexities of the situation, and were angry that we didn’t go to war with Iran.

The result was to give Republicans an early opportunity to erase the shame caused by Richard Nixon’s illegal involvement in fixing the 1972 presidential elections during the Watergate affair. The Hostage Crisis ended at the exact hour that Reagan was sworn in as President, a coincidence that causes questions of Republican collusion with the Iranian government during the crisis. Suspicions of collusion were raised again when Reagan’s administration worked a bizarre deal to sell arms to Iran several years later during the Iran/Contra Affair.

The Big Lie
Reagan is famously quoted in his first Inaugural speech when he said:

….government is not the solution to our problems; government is the problem…”

Ronald Reagan, January 1981

The demonization of government was necessary for conservatives to achieve their goals. Government is the ethical referee that prevents business from underpaying employees, polluting for profit, abusing and endangering the customer, engaging in banking practices that protect the account holder, etc. Government oversight and regulation keeps business from devouring itself in greed.

Additionally, government collects business taxes for the privilege of having access to our country’s rich consumer markets. By eliminating these taxes, business could keep more of the spoils of capitalism and drain revenues from the entity that kept business fair and ethical.

The other shoe dropped by conservatives was to preach that the solution to our problems was business. In the holy corporate world, business was the shining light on the hill for all to worship.

37 Years Later: The Cult of Conservatism
In my conversation with average conservatives I have discovered that conservatism has now become a cult. The code word for a conservative is ‘fiscal conservatism.’ Ask anyone who votes for a Republican candidate why they vote for the party they will automatically answer, “I believe in fiscal conservatism.” They don’t even pause.

For conservatives, issues are caused by government and solved by business. Among the issues discussed with conservatives I learned the following:

Finance regulation: Conservatives believe that the government is at fault and less regulation will solve the problem, even though a lack of regulation and business greed caused the 2007-8 financial/bank crisis.

Housing Inflation/Bubbles: Conservatives that government is the problem because…I didn’t get an answer on this, but the free market will solve the problem, even though the bubbles that occur with rapid housing price increases are caused by capitalisticitic factors, not government involvement.

Economy: Conservatives believe that business is the creator of jobs and growth in the Gross Domestic Product (GDP) and government inhibits both. The evidence contradicts this as job and GDP growth have been anemic under almost 35 years of Republican economic policies, and the pre-conservative period of government initiated infrastructure projects and the space program generated massive job and GDP growth.

Healthcare: Conservatives believe that government has been the cause of uncontrolled price increases in healthcare and drug prices, even though it’s the lack of government regulation that has allowed the price increases, especially in the prescription drug market, where Republicans pushed for, and passed an end to competitive market that would help to restrict price increases.

Trump and Republicans have succeeded in creating a cult-like status around the concept that government is the problem and business is the solution…and like any cult, the believers surrender themselves to ‘faith.’ Truth and facts are fiction to a conservative.

The Republican party has no need to be logical, compromising, or reasonable. Their believers have no choice but to hate government, and worship business.

Katy Perry’s ‘Chained To The Rhythm’ Liberates Pop

10 Monday Apr 2017

Posted by Paul Kiser in Aging, Branding, Business, Communication, Generational, History, Politics, Pride, Public Image, Public Relations, Women

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2017, album, cd, Chained by the Rhythm, Katy Hudson, katy perry, Music, Pop Artist, pop hits, pop music, Pop star, singer, song, Songwriter

Katy Perry: Rhythm Unchained

A successful pop song needs two critical elements. First, it has to ear appeal to the current audience. This is a standard that evolves over time as pop music tends to find a formula that is addicting, then thousands of wanna-be stars pile on their version of the style, and boredom ensues.

The best pop stars manage to experiment just enough to create a new, fresh sound, without leaving the bounds of the genre. Katy Perry, Lady Gaga, and Shakira have been consistent leaders evolving pop music in the last ten years. This is not to say that other artists haven’t helped to evolve pop music, but these three artists have been the 100-pound royalty in the recording studio.

The second element is lyrics that engage the human brain. Some singers tend to copy the current style of pop music, then tell us about their latest break-up, but that appeals to those who have precious few brain cells to engage. Katy Perry, Gaga, and Shakira typically go beyond the obvious, and trigger thoughts and ideas that touch, rather than tell.

In the past decade years Katy Perry has produced I Kissed A Girl (2008,) Hot N Cold (2008,) Last Friday Night (2010,) Teenage Dream (2010,) E.T. (2010,) California Gurls (2010,) Firework (2010,) Part of Me (2012,) Wide Awake (2012,) Birthday (2013,) Roar (2013,) This Is How We Do (2013,) Dark Horse (2013,) among her top hits. This would be a lifetime of work for most artists, yet she continues to push her status as one of the monarchs of music.

Katy Perry’s latest release, Chained To The Rhythm (2017,) from her upcoming album/CD, is more than just another mega-hit for her. From start to finish this song is a statement about the dark side of the American Dream, and about the unreasonable expectations created in a world where status is equated with human worth, yet this is not a song or video that portrays a downcast view of our current society. Instead, it is an upbeat, happy song that masks the underlining message just enough to engage the audience into the music. It isn’t until the end of the video that a person realizes the full impact of the content of the song.

This mastery of creating music with the key elements of a great pop song, and then weaving in a serious social message, without detracting from the entertainment value, is rarely achieved in the restrained environment of pop music. It keeps Katy Perry relevant as a master of pop music, and as a human being.

PR Fail: What United Airlines Should Have Done

28 Tuesday Mar 2017

Posted by Paul Kiser in Aging, Branding, Business, Communication, Crisis Management, Customer Relations, Customer Service, Employee Retention, Ethics, Generational, Honor, Human Resources, Internet, Management Practices, parenting, Politics, Pride, Public Image, Public Relations, Respect, Social Interactive Media (SIM), Social Media Relations, Travel, Women

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buddy pass, buddy passes, children, dress code, fashion, gate agent, girls, HR, leggings, non-rev, non-revenue, policies, tickets, UAL, United Airlines

United PR: At least we don’t shove the children out at 35,000 feet!

Sunday morning United Airlines once again proved that they have some of the worst public relations people in the business, which is likely a reflection of their top management.

The Situation
Two young girls, ages estimated to be around ten to eleven years old, were prevented boarding a United Airlines flight from Denver to Minneapolis with their family. These were children, not adults, nor young adults. According to United Airlines, they were flying on what is known in the industry as a “Buddy Pass,” which is a relatively free (taxes have to be paid) ticket that is one of the benefits of airline employees.

The girls were wearing leggings, which again, according to United Airlines, is in violation of the dress code of people flying on a Buddy Pass. The gate agent apparently approached the family and told them the girls could not board the plane wearing leggings.

It is important to note that two of the girls did not have any other clothing options at the gate, and the family apparently checked bags with the girl’s clothing in them at the main ticketing, where a United representative had to weigh the bags, check the tickets, and confirm the identifications of each of the passengers. Despite this close contact with the passengers, the ticket agent did NOT prevent the children, nor the rest of the family from heading to the gate.

The gate agent that confronted the family was involved in a “tense” discussion of the dress code issue in front of other passengers. At one point the gate agent bragged, “I don’t make the rules, I just enforce them.”

This became a major public relations issue because passengers in the area were witness to the scene and a passenger from another gate investigated the situation and reported it on Twitter. The gate agent’s handling of the situation was overt enough to cause another family, not involved in the incident, to have their daughter put on a dress over her leggings.

United later reported that the girls later changed and boarded another flight.

What United Should Have Done
It boggles the mind as to the many public relation fails occurred by United staff, but here is what the public relations people should have said and done:

On Sunday, March 26, a family was boarding one of our flights on a special ticket that includes a dress code requirement for the passenger. One of our gate agents determined that the children were not dressed according to that policy, and the family was not allowed to board the flight.

While the gate agent technically followed our policy, we regret that this situation became a public scene. We also regret that our staff did not remind the family of that policy when they checked their bags at the main ticket counter, when the children would have been able to obtain appropriate clothing before their bags were checked.

Our policy is meant to encourage a professional appearance of those passengers who are flying as a benefit of being employed, or being a family member of one of our employees. When this involves children, we attempt to be sensitive to the difference in the typical appropriate dress for their age.

We regret to the manner in how this situation was handled and apologize to the family involved and to the passengers who were witness to this situation at the gate. We are reviewing our policies and how those policies are enforced.

The United Blood Bath
Rather than apologizing, United decided that it would work to sway public opinion against the traveling family and humiliate them further. Their announcement in response to the situation put all the blame on the children and their family and implied that the gate agent who created the scene was the hero.

It is a Trump-like strategy that is based on never admitting failure, even when the failure is obvious. It did produce a wave of approval by people who enjoy watching someone being crushed by a more powerful and insensitive force.

However, this type of strategy builds mistrust of an organization and clearly demonstrates United’s lack of empathy for its passengers, paying or not. It also demonstrates the lack of humanity by a corporation that doesn’t understand the deferred cost of bad public relations, and proves that United doesn’t know the quality of mercy.

We Don’t Need More Service Jobs

14 Tuesday Mar 2017

Posted by Paul Kiser in Aging, Business, College, Education, Ethics, Generational, Government, Government Regulation, Higher Education, History, Management Practices, Politics, Pride, Public Image, Public Relations, Respect, Science, Space, Taxes, Technology, Travel, Universities, US History

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economy, government programs, government spending, high paying jobs, job creation, job growth, livable wages, Moon landing, NASA, presidential terms, Presidents, private business, service jobs, Space Program, technical jobs

Putting people on the Moon meant jobs on Earth

During President Lyndon Johnson’s second term (1965-1969,) the space program was booming. At almost four percent job growth, his administration exceeded any other presidential term since World War II, including President Jimmy Carter’s impressive 3.2% growth. These were high paying, skilled jobs that created a demand for workers that enticed many young people to choose engineering and scientific careers.

PRESIDENT	PARTY	TERM YR	JOB GROWTH
Herbert Hoover	R	1929–1933	-5.41%
Franklin Roosevelt	D	1933–1937	4.97%
Franklin Roosevelt	D	1937–1941	2.53%
Franklin Roosevelt	D	1941–1945	5.00%
Roosevelt/Truman	D	1945–1949	1.61%
Harry Truman	D	1949–1953	2.93%
Dwight Eisenhower	R	1953–1957	1.34%
Dwight Eisenhower	R	1957–1961	0.87%
Kennedy/Johnson	D	1961–1965	2.64%
Lyndon Johnson	D	1965–1969	3.90%
Richard Nixon	R	1969–1973	2.23%
Nixon/Ford	R	1973–1977	1.68%
Jimmy Carter	D	1977–1981	3.21%
Ronald Reagan	R	1981–1985	1.47%
Ronald Reagan	R	1985–1989	2.80%
George H. W. Bush	R	1989–1993	0.45%
Bill Clinton	D	1993–1997	2.85%
Bill Clinton	D	1997–2001	2.33%
George W. Bush	R	2001–2005	0.02%
George W. Bush	R	2005–2009	0.24%
Barack Obama	D	2009–2013	0.23%
Barack Obama	D	2013–2017	1.85%

CHART 1.0 – Job growth during Presidential Terms (1929-2017) Growth over 2.5% is in green. (DATA credit: Wikipedia)

Service jobs were a byproduct of the main engine driving the boom in the rapid expansion of the space program. Service jobs did not offer the wages or the excitement of the space program, but they did provide employment for those who lacked motivation to qualify and/or seek out better paying, higher skilled jobs.

And then we landed on the Moon.

After we had achieved the primary objective, people who didn’t understand what a large government project means to employment, began questioning the space program. Over time the naysayers effectively killed the program, leaving private business to reinvent what NASA had accomplished in the 1960’s (landing on the Moon) and the 1980’s (a reusable rocket system.)

Today, we are trying to sustain and expand a service industry that lacks the main component of job growth, namely, a major public project that creates high paying and highly skilled jobs. Since NASA wound down its Space Shuttle program, job growth has flat-lined.

Private business does not exist to create jobs. It exists to put money in the pockets of the executives and owners of the business. Creating jobs cuts into profit. Paying higher wages cuts into profit. Private business is never going to create significant job growth, nor improve wages and benefits for the worker.

If we want job growth and livable wages, it is the government that will do it, not private business.

ICE Becoming Trump’s Version of Nazi SS?

28 Tuesday Feb 2017

Posted by Paul Kiser in Crime, Ethics, Government, History, Honor, Politics, Pride, Privacy, Public Image, Public Relations, racism, Respect, Travel, US History

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Children's book author, Germany, ICE, immigration officers, LAX, Mem Fox, Muhammad Ali, Muhammad Ali Jr., Nazi, Schutzstaffel, SS, US Customs

Mem Fox – The 70 year-old children’s book author deemed a threat to the US

The seventy year-old children’s book author from Australia was on her way to a conference in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. Mem Fox was a pro at travelling. She had entered into the United States over 100 times before, and she was expecting the normal review of her documentation when she arrived at Los Angeles International Airport (LAX) on February 9.

What she didn’t realize was that she was about to experience her first encounter of Trump’s version of the Nazi SS.

On January 27, Donald Trump began his campaign to unleash a security force to terrorize foreign visitors to the United States of America. His first step was to sign an unannounced Executive Order to ban Muslims from six countries from entering the United States.

This was the signal to immigration officers implementing border control that the rules that held them to a standard of honor and decency were going to be eliminated. Now those agents who joined U.S. Customs for the power and thrill of humiliating people could be unleashed on the public with the complete support of the Holy Trinity of Racism: Donald Trump, Steve Bannon, and Vladimir Putin.

When Ms. Fox entered the United States an immigration officer falsely accused her of having an improper visa, and then began a two-hour detention by officers that felt the glory and power of their ability to humiliate and terrorize. She later explained that, “‘I have never in my life been spoken to with such insolence, treated with such disdain, with so many insults and with so much gratuitous impoliteness.”

I have never in my life been spoken to with such insolence, treated with such disdain, with so many insults and with so much gratuitous impoliteness.

Were this an isolated incident, it might seem to be a fluke, but two days before in Fort Lauderdale-Hollywood International Airport, Muhammad Ali’s son and his mother were detained by U.S. Customs agents when they returned from Jamaica. Muhammad Ali Jr, unlike Ms. Fox, was born in the United States and had a valid US passport, nevertheless, he was detained for two hours after being asked if he was a Muslim.

These incidents indicate a larger strategy by Trump’s administration. Trump seems to be empowering a group of people with the ability to terrorize and humiliate people, including U.S. citizens with little or no concern for accountability to the people of the United States of America.

Hitler’s Enforcement Force – The Nazi SS

Trump’s plan to build up a force that answers solely to his administration and is given the mission to aggressively humiliate and intimidate groups of non-white, and/or non-Christians is an effective recruiting incentive for the racist elements that brought him to power. It is likely that by the end of this year, a military-style federal police force will be in place to be utilized in any manner deemed necessary for Homeland Security.

Trump’s actions recent actions to an immigration threat that doesn’t exist indicate that he is using the issue to create an independent force of that will operate outside current U.S. laws. This Nazi-like SS (Schutzstaffel) force that will serve to eliminate dissent and ensure a white-dominated authority.

Pokémon NO GO December Events

24 Saturday Dec 2016

Posted by Paul Kiser in About Reno, Business, Communication, Customer Relations, Customer Service, exercise, Generational, Health, Honor, Information Technology, Internet, parenting, Pride, Public Image, Public Relations, Recreation, Technology, Travel

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Apps, Game, Games, Niantic, Pokémon, PokéStops, Pokemon GO, The Pokémon Company International

The Pokéstop locator screen reinforces the blandness of the game with no interesting creatures for kilometers

Pokémon GO has announced its Christmas/New Years events and players were served coal in their stockings. It’s clear the people at Niantic are out to teach their customers about having expectations, and they want to end any hope for trainers that the game will become reenergized.

The stunning game of the Summer of 2016 has been replaced by an anemic and expensive app that rapidly drains the phone battery, insults players, and rewards loyalty with false hopes. Those loyal players have kept a belief that Niantic was committed to keeping the game interesting, and that by the end of the year there would be scores of new characters in the field to seek and capture.

Instead, we discovered that the naysayers who pitied us for playing a game that they felt was a waste of time, were correct. The Pokémon GO game has become Pong.

Niantic’s cruel trick of December 12 was doubled down with the anti-event for the end of the year. Not only did Niantic fail to add new characters in the field…AGAIN, they took away the double point bonus of the Halloween and Thanksgiving events.

I’m embarrassed by my support for Pokémon GO. I thought Niantic was a company who appreciated their customers, and were keenly aware of what had to happen to keep their loyal players and bring back their old ones, but I was completely wrong. I apologize to former players who I mislead. Niantic is not going to reenergize the game, and it is a waste of time.

New Raley’s Unshopping Program Makes Customer a VIP

23 Friday Dec 2016

Posted by Paul Kiser in About Reno, Branding, Business, Communication, Customer Relations, Customer Service, Green, Information Technology, Internet, Management Practices, Pride, Public Image, Public Relations

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ecart, groceries, grocery shoping, Nevada, online grocery shopping, online shopping, Raley's, Reno, VIP

(NOTE: Raley’s, nor did any of its employees, or agents request, approve, or in any way influence this article.)

My Raley’s Store on Keystone in Reno, NV, USA

It’s not fair, is it? When I go grocery shopping, I park in a special parking space at Raley’s, make a call, my groceries are brought out, I pay, and I’m gone. Grocery shopping done, drop the mic. No finding a cart, wandering around the store, racing for the shortest checkout line, loading up the groceries. I park, I call, I pay, I’m done.

It should be called Raley’s VIP program, but they call it Raley’s ecart program. Raley’s has been developing this program for years, but they are in the process of installing the ecart program in the Nevada stores.

I ordered my groceries, by brand name, online at the Raley’s ecart website, I set a time to pick it up the next day, and then I showed up at my appointed time, parked in the ecart parking spot, and called the phone number on the ecart sign. After that, they did the rest.

No Cart, No Wandering
Grocery shopping counts as exercise, but not the most efficient use of a person’s time or body. Normal grocery shopping creates a set of customer responsibilities from the moment of arrival; however, with this program, all those responsibilities, (e.g., selecting a shopping cart, determining a route, or deciding to wander, looking for the best checkout line, taking the groceries to the car, and loading them up,) are taken over by the store, or are unnecessary.

Saves Time
Grocery shopping is not an activity that most people seek out, but it is a necessary chore in a citizen’s life. A 2008 study concluded that people spend an average of 41 minutes shopping in the grocery store. Many people would choose to have that 41 minutes to spend doing something else. The Raley’s ecart program is a gift of time and energy to the customer.

Perfect For College Students
My Raley’s store is the closest grocery store to the University of Nevada and I cannot imagine how hard it would be to organize four to six roommates to create a shopping list, then go to the store and shop, especially if they are college students with little time to shop. Raley’s ecart allows each person to do their shopping on one online list, and then only one person has to go to pick it up.

Saves Money
Raley’s ecart flags items on sale, so when I create my online list, I see which items that I can save money, and/or choose the number of the item needed to meet the requirements of the sale price (e.g., five for $5.00)

Safer
It doesn’t happen often, but I have, at times, been approached in various parking lots by someone asking for spare change. This action is dangerous because it could be a person who is needy, or it could be a person who is sizing me up in order to rob me or steal my car. By starting a conversation, a criminal can approach the person without causing them to be alarmed enough to yell or scream.

While it is not a benefit that people would realize, Raley’s ecart makes it safer for me to grocery shop, because I never have to leave my car.

More Personal
It assumed that any transaction on the Internet is less personal; however, my experience with Raley’s ecart was the opposite. The Store Manager was the person to deliver my ecart order to the car. I have lived in this neighborhood for over 21 years and I don’t think I had ever met any of the store managers before that day.

In addition, the Store Manager called me about two items on my list that were out of stock. Normally, I would have wandered the store for several minutes looking for the item, then given up and checked out. In this case, he was able to replace the item with an acceptable substitute and it added little, if any time to my shopping.

I still go in the store for minor trips, but I like unshopping, and I like being a VIP when I shop for groceries.

A Prayer To My Gods

18 Sunday Dec 2016

Posted by Paul Kiser in Ethics, Generational, Government, Lessons of Life, Politics, Pride, Religion, solar

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Donald Trump, Earth, GOP, holy, Moon, prayer, Republicans, Sun, Trump, winter solstice

Great Father Sun, you are the origin, the center, the focus, you are the constant. I see you as you cross the sky. I feel your warmth. You make the food grow and all life possible. Without you, we could not see. Without you, there would be no rain. When you light the sky above me, I see your power. At night you shine on our Mother Moon.

Great Mother Earth, you are our source, our foundation, the root of all life on our planet. You give me a home. You give me air to breath, water to drink, and food to eat. You give me all that I need. Without you I would be dust and rock floating in the vast cavity of space.

Mother Moon, you are the giver of life. You are the spark that lit the fire of life on Earth. Your touch tilted the Great Mother Earth and gave us seasons. Your pull creates the tides. Without you, the Great Mother Earth would be uninhabitable.

I pray forgiveness for what we have done. I believe that you sought to have us progress forward, moving from beasts that were motivated by lust and desire, to creatures of intelligence and compassion that sought harmony and grace.

Instead we have devolved back into beasts. We have brought on shame and failure to not only ourselves, but to all life. We have no excuse. We know what is proper, and what is not, but we have chosen to embrace the improper.

Great Father Sun, Great Mother Earth, Mother Moon, I know the seasons are necessary for life, and I know, just as the seasons bring warmth in the summer and cold in the winter, so to the seasons of humanity wax and wane.

This is a season of darkness for humanity, but I pray that you will intercede. The darkness of this season is hurting and killing the innocent, not the weak. Those of money and power seek to destroy, not build, and those who gave them power have failed as human beings and celebrate the destruction.

Intercede for those who need you. Intercede for the honor of life. Intercede because it is the correct thing to do. Intercede because those who have intelligence know the danger of violent aggression and know that it is not the answer to battle the unethical, wicked, and stupid.

Great Father Sun, Great Mother Earth, Mother Moon, it is time to act on our behalf.

The Military’s Role in Internal Politics

14 Monday Nov 2016

Posted by Paul Kiser in Education, Ethics, Government, History, Honor, Politics, Pride, Respect

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Donald Trump, hate, liberals, President, President elect, US Army, US Military

I’m not the most diplomatic person (okay, you can stop laughing anytime.) I’m just an average citizen in a country with free speech, so I have no responsibilities to be a diplomat. That is not my calling.

Compounding my non-diplomatic style is the irrationality that I believe permeates our country with the election of a man who openly lies, then denies he lied in the face of video and audio evidence, a man who openly admits behaving like a sexual predator, then has multiple accusers confirm that he did what he bragged about, a man who has attacked members of the free press, and uses humiliation techniques on women, the free press, and minorities. It’s not something that I think people should be quiet about.

However, under most circumstances, a man like that cannot defeat the power of rational and reasonable people without guns to back him up.

We already know that the people who voted for Donald Trump are the same people who are armed beyond rationality. Since Trump won the election there have been ‘countless‘ incidents of verbal and physical attacks against the same people who Trump targeted with his campaign rhetoric. This comes at the same time that the FBI reports a spike in hate crimes in 2015.

We know that law enforcement in jurisdictions around the country have openly supported right-wing extremist positions on guns, immigration, and the murder of unarmed African-Americans.

We also know that the FBI is no longer unbiased in politics as they threw out a red herring (by the way, that is the proper use of the cliché,) about Hillary Clinton during early voting to energize Trump supporters and discourage Clinton supporters.

So our country’s future hangs in the balance of an impartial military. That is key. Our liberties, including my right to be non-diplomatic, is protected by an unbiased military. If the military becomes political, then everything we value about our country is at risk.

Active duty military, especially, those of significant rank, excel at maintaining the discipline that is expected of an impartial armed forces. Most military men and women keep our trust by not engaging in internal political discourse, because they have the guns…the bombs…the tanks…the jets…and all the weapons needed to enforce their point of view.

The election of Donald Trump isn’t scary until the soldiers who are meant to serve all citizens becomes the military who supports one political viewpoint of our citizens. The warning signs of movement in the military toward a political bias may include:

the engagement and loss of political impartiality by active military personnel in social media
the loss of respect by military personnel for citizens expressing their concerns and frustrations
military personnel blaming liberals for discord and/or an attitude of “they brought them on themselves”
insults and attacks by military personnel at those who express views with which they disagree
military personnel ganging up on citizens to ridicule and intimidate

The above behaviors have been discouraged and punished by the armed forces in the past, but under a Trump administration, it is questionable if those behaviors would be subject to discipline. If not, then we will have seen a significant change in the restrictions that have kept the United States military impartial in internal politics.

I don’t oppose a soldier’s right to speak their mind, however, civilian control of the military is a basic principle of our democracy. Once the military begins siding with one political view, it is no longer serving all the citizens, and when civilian control and the military political view align, then who can oppose the might of the military and the whims of a dysfunctional civilian leadership.

Hitler energized the disenfranchised Aryans

It took Hitler five months to turn a democracy into dictatorship. He provoked people into responding to his actions, and then he used their response as justification to suspend the laws protecting the rights of the individual German people. In rapid order, Hitler’s supporters formed a gleeful police and military force that ended all dissent and put non-party government officials under house arrest ‘for their protection.’

Trump is not backing down from his provocative tactics he used to whip extremist into a frenzy. He has already announced that he will order the arrest and deportation of three million Hispanics on his first day in office. Children who are legally born in this country will either lose their parents or be forced to leave their country.

Trump speaks to the disenfranchised white racist

Trump energizes the disenfranchised white racist

What is Trump trying to accomplish with this provocative action? I don’t know, but this is just the beginning, and Trump supporters are already attacking and intimidating innocent people across our country. Trump has continually exceeded our expectations of his depravity, there is no reason to believe that he will stop.

Our only hope is that we maintain an impartial military. If not, then Trump will have succeeded in helping Putin destroy our country.

A Return to the United States of America

15 Friday Jul 2016

Posted by Paul Kiser in Aging, Communication, Crime, Education, Ethics, Generational, Government, Higher Education, History, Honor, Politics, Pride, Public Image, Respect, Taxes, Universities, US History, Violence in the Workplace

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Customer Loyalty, Democrats, Nevada, United States of America, victim, victimization

We have to stop pretending we’re victims. There are problems in the world. There are problems in our country. But there are always problems and problems don’t make us victims.

A victim needs to be rescued. A victim is looking for a hero to save them. We don’t need to be rescued, nor do we need to be saved.

In the United States of America, we have attempted to educate all of our citizens because people who can solve their own problems do a better job of it, and education gives a person the ability to solve their own problems.

Too many people in this country are looking for a political figure that is going to save them. They are like moths to the flame. They are drawn in by the politician that dazzles them and they surrender their intelligence in order to believe that they can be rescued.

We forget that we are not witnesses to the acts of violence that we see on television or online. We are shocked and repulsed, but the real victims are those who were there, and the families and friends who knew someone who was there.

Our impulse to be a victim, makes us feel helpless to do anything, but we are not helpless. Just being a citizen of this country makes us part of the solution. By selecting intelligent politicians, by paying taxes, by being watchful, we help to defeat acts of violence.

Some delude themselves that a gun in their hands empowers them to respond to a violent event. With little or no training, they believe they can improvise a defense in an urban environment, and stop a mentally ill person who has likely been planning their attack for weeks or months. They cannot.

Only trained law enforcement can adequately respond to a violent situation, and private citizens carrying guns in an urban environment can only make a bad situation worse.

However, we don’t have to be the victim. There is violence, and there is corruption, in this country, but we are not on a path to chaos as long as we remember for over two hundred years, we have a consistent record of defeating threats to our country.

Many of those threats did not come from outside our borders, but inside them. The worst of those threats occurred when a group of our own citizens decided to reject the results of a legitimate elections. and betray our country and our Constitution. They failed because we didn’t respond as victims, but as proud and loyal citizens.

After all we’ve been through, we are still here. Working, raising families, enjoying life more than most of the rest of the world. We are not the victims. We are the solution. We are the United States of America.

Sanders Supporter’s Big Blunder

31 Tuesday May 2016

Posted by Paul Kiser in Aging, College, Ethics, Generational, Government, Government Regulation, Higher Education, History, Politics, Pride, Taxes, Universities, US History, Women

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2016, Bernie Sanders, Congress, Conservatives, Donald Trump, Election 2016, House of Representatives, Presidential candidates, Presidential election, Senate, Senator Bernie Sanders, supporters

The biggest mistake of Sander’s supporters is the ignoring the opportunity they have in front of them.

Sanders has lost the nomination, and the attempt to destroy the Democratic Party is not going to change that fact. Beyond whining, the main message I hear from Sander’s supporters is that it is time for changing the status quo.

Liberal and progressive people are unified in investing our money in people, not corporations. They are unified in maintaining strong government regulations that level the playing field in every commercial endeavor, including the banking and finance industry. Most Clinton supporters would completely agree that current government established by conservatives, for conservatives, and against the citizens of the United States, must be fixed.

The problem is that neither Hillary Clinton, nor Bernie Sanders can get anything done if both the House of Representatives and the Senate are run by conservative.

This is the big blunder of Sander’s supporters. Hillary Clinton will be ruled and regulated by Congress. If Sander’s supporters really want to see change, they need to stop wasting time on a lost cause, and start identifying the politicians that will focus on fixing our country, not shutting it down.

If Congress voted for a law to force banks to be smaller, and added new regulations, Clinton would have to accept it. To go to war with her own party would end her Presidency. If Clinton feels that Congress is too liberal, she will have to either get on board, or be humiliated.

Sanders supporters don’t understand this, because if they did, they would be one hundred percent focused on Congressional races, and not drooling at the idea of destroying the Democratic National Convention. There is nothing that will happen in Philadelphia this July, because it is meaningless. National political conventions are all show, and no substance.

The alpha and omega of positive changes in our country will be in the hands of Congress. If the dust settles in November and the Republicans still have control of either the House or the Senate, nothing, absolutely nothing will change.

Ironically, the real catalyst for change is in the hands of the Sanders supporters, but they have no idea of what to do with what the power they have in changing Congress.

What Sanders Didn’t Do Yesterday

18 Wednesday May 2016

Posted by Paul Kiser in Crime, Generational, Government, History, Honor, Politics, Pride, Public Image, Respect, US History

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Bernie Sanders, Democrats, Election 2016, Nevada State Convention, supporters, Violence

Bernie Sanders: Encourages violence and disruption if it will help him lose by a smaller margin.

Bernie Sanders failed yesterday.

Yesterday, Sanders didn’t win Kentucky. Yesterday, Sanders didn’t have a commanding win in Oregon. Yesterday, Sanders barely moved the needle in pledged delegates.

But what Sanders didn’t do yesterday was show leadership. His supporters have become thugs at public events and when Sanders should have apologized and told his supporters that intimidation and bullying are not how he wants to win elections, he didn’t.

He actually denied that his supporters violently protested and disrupted the Nevada State convention, and then he added,

…when we speak of violence, I should add here that months ago, during the Nevada campaign, shots were fired into my campaign office in Nevada and apartment housing complex my campaign staff lived in was broken into and ransacked.

Like a child who won’t admit he was wrong, Sanders starts blaming everyone else and implies his supporters were justified in their behavior.

Bernie Sanders wants to be President. He wants our country to believe that he can solve problems. He wants us to believe he is honorable and we can trust him.

We don’t need a President who encourages violent and disruptive protests, as Bernie Sanders does with his supporters. We don’t need an alleged ‘problem solver’ that creates problems, then pretends he didn’t, like Bernie Sanders.

Bernie Sanders didn’t do the right thing yesterday, but that is why he is a failure as a leader.

Pledge of Loyalty to the United States of America

11 Wednesday May 2016

Posted by Paul Kiser in Business, Education, Ethics, Government, Government Regulation, Health, History, Politics, Pride, Public Image, Religion, Respect, Taxes, US History

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Loyalty, Paul Kiser, Pledge, United States, United States of America

I, Paul Kiser, declare my loyalty to the United States of America.

I shall support my country and my government against enemies domestic and foreign.

I shall accept and defend the concept that all people are created equal, and no one has a right to limit or infringe on a citizen’s rights, so long as they do not endanger others, nor limit or infringe on the rights of others.

I shall not attempt to inflict my personal moral or religious beliefs on others, nor shall I support laws that do.

I have an obligation to financially support our government and I shall NOT support any effort destabilize, diminish, nor destroy public programs and projects by withholding public funds or other means, unless it is determined that those programs and projects are not in the best interest of our country.

I shall support a tax structure that places an increased tax burden on those best able to pay taxes, and minimizes taxes on those who are not.

I know that business is inherently unethical and must have oversight to create a level field for all competitors. I shall support government regulation and reject any rule or law that attempts to give a business entity equal or greater rights than given a citizen.

I support the concept that NO organization that is, in part, or whole, to provide service or benefit (education, healthcare, government contractors, law enforcement, etc.) to the citizens of this country should be investor owned, nor should it provide excess profit for the owners, executives, or managers of the organization regardless of whether the organization qualifies for not-for-profit status.

I recognize that visitors to our country shall be honored and given respect and aid.

I know that helping the less fortunate improve their living conditions, improves the living conditions for all citizens, and I shall support those efforts.

I shall refer to our country as the United States, or the United States of America, and avoid using the single term ‘America’ or ‘American,’ as those terms apply to all of North, Central, or South America.

I shall vote for the most intelligent, open-minded candidates for public office, as it is their responsibility to research and understand all issues and opportunities of our government, and then make the best choice for all people.

I shall support all efforts to assess, anticipate, and prepare for the needs and issues of our country’s future, and not dwell on past issues, except to avoid them in the future.

I shall honor my citizenship and my fellow citizens by making this pledge and seeking to serve our country to the best of my abilities.