UPDATE 6.15 Truth About How Clapper Is Dumber Than Us

Barry, My Liege :

Just in case you missed it, your Director of National Intelligence Mr. James Clapper presented some false information as a response to a question from Sen. Ron Wyden (D-Ore.) in a Senate hearing about the PRISM program.

You may want to read the fact checking statement about the exchange here http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/fact-checker/post/james-clappers-least-untruthful-statement-to-the-senate/2013/06/11/e50677a8-d2d8-11e2-a73e-826d299ff459_blog.html

UPDATE 6.15.13 Also, here's a location of more information about what the NSA is really doing : http://www.businessinsider.com/lawmaker-says-there-more-to-nsa-spying-2013-6?utm_source=hearst&utm_medium=referral&utm_content=allverticals


My Liege, as a parent you know that you cannot lie to your children. They can read you like a book.

And as a classroom teacher you know full well that you are on display every day. At any moment you are probably more intelligent than any two or three or four students in your class taken together, but collectively the whole class is a whole lot smarter than you are.

My Liege, Mr. Clapper tried to pull a fast one on 300 million Americans.

If brave men and women were not in harm's way and the future of our country were not on the line, My Liege, such an act would be laughable.

But when we are all in harm's way, such an act is inexcusable.

Let us be clear, my Liege : The American people collectively are a lot smarter than you or any of your fellows in government.

And, we do not trust you to make decisions about our lives without notifying us or seeking our consent.

It appears that you trust your own judgment when we are in harm's way and do not trust our judgment.

That is not your charter, My Liege.

It is not your decision.

Your charter is to present a comprehensible and realistic explanation of the situation to us and seek our collective judgment about alternative courses of action.

We trust you will remind your staff of that.

Your faithful servant,

UPDATE 6.10, SNOWDEN LINK - Through the Prism Glass

Barry, My Liege :

Your faithful servant has observed several of the discussions about domestic spying in the United States of America.

It appears that you have attempted to create a judicial review process, however flawed it is.

But, My Liege, this spying apparatus creates problems for our country which transcend simple fixes.

History teaches that governments with power use that power until and unless they are forced to stop.

Regardless of the bureaucratic mechanisms created today to control that power, history teaches us that there will come a time when those restraints will be disabled. The bureaucratic mechanisms do not constitute an effective restraint on abuse of power.

We now have a system which spies on every citizen and which has the power to assassinate any citizen which threatens that system.

Today the system targets foreign terrorists. Perhaps tomorrow the system will target me since I do not maintain respectful silence.

Here is a link to an interview with Edward Snowden, the patriot and man of conscience who leaked the details http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2013/jun/09/edward-snowden-nsa-whistleblower-surveillance

And, My Liege, you are well aware that wealth and power are concentrated increasingly in our country.

One of the effects of that wealth concentration is what I live with every day.

My city of about 400,000 has 15 police officers for every 10,000 residents while Chicago has 45. Last weekend there were 17 shootings with one fatality.

Most nights I hear shots fired. When the shots are close by, I look out the window and frequently see the shooters escaping by driving toward the freeway. And, you know what, I usually see at least two very nice, new cars.

If there are burglars in your house, the police advise you to wait outside until an officer will take a report in a few hours.

Home burglary is an organized business where innocent appearing folks - like mothers with babes in arms and children aged between 8 and 12 - walk or drive the street looking for houses where people leave for work every day. Then they use a cell phone to call in the address to the gang leaders.

People leave good neighborhoods because home burglaries average two per week.

The probable cause of this dilemma is the financial system failure which reduced property values, thus wreaking havoc with the city budget. And, as you recall, the same people are still in charge of the financial system and there have been no effective reforms.

And, now, My Liege, the same crooks who created the crisis have the money and tools to spy on citizens and continue extracting money from the poor.

In short, that is the problem with the spying system, My Liege : the system permits the same people who profit from the system to control the system. The name for this is 'tyranny'.

History has shown us also that the only systemic solution to the problem of power concentration is a divided government with effective checks and balances.

Now, we do not have effective checks and balances.

They have been abandoned as a result of the War on Terror.

My Liege, you spoke of trade-offs in our battle for security and you have called for the repeal of the Patriot Act. One wonders if it is even possible conceptually to change the system.

I would suggest that we have gone too far toward security and have lost our freedom as a result.

We suffer from it.

Your faithful servant.

Jared Rixstine : Balanced Trade, A Critical Analysis

Barry, My Liege :

Mr. Jared Rixstine has written a thorough analysis of trade theory and the place of Balanced Trade Theory in the discussion. He is a freshman at Millikin University in Decatur, IL. He has studied economics and foreign policy (with a focus in international trade) for nearly seven years.

His paper is titled 'Swapping Sandwiches: A Comparison of International Trade Models to Determine Economic Superiority'

You can read his paper by following this URL : www.mkeever.com/rixstine.doc

Or, you can enter MIEPA's site at www.mkeever.com and follow the links there.

Your faithful servant,

Spring Country Studies Published

Barry, My Liege :

The McKeever Institute of Economic Policy Analysis [MIEPA] is pleased to announce the publication on its website [www.mkeever.com] of detailed studies of the economic policies of Hong Kong, the Netherlands and the United States of America.

One country which has not been previously analyzed by Specialists is submitted : The Netherlands is analyzed by Specialist Roel van Heusden; the analysis may be read at http://www.mkeever.com/netherlands.html

Hong Kong is analyzed by Specialist Jack Chan; the analysis may be read at : http://www.mkeever.com/hongkong.html

The United States is analyzed by Specialist Mariela Escobedo; the analysis may be read at http://www.mkeever.com/usa.html


Your faithful servant,

Drones Killing Quietly

Barry, My Liege :

I have read cursorily your speech on Drones.

Transcript here : http://www.slate.com/blogs/weigel/2013/05/23/transcript_obama_s_foreign_policy_speech_at_national_defense_university.html

Let me say firstly that you are to be applauded for stepping up and acknowledging that the United States of America under your direction assassinates people.

We all like to know the truth.

Secondly, I salute you for the best line I have heard in a speech - ever : '...we must make decisions based not on fear, but hard-earned wisdom.'

But, My Liege, your proclamations do not solve the problem which you acknowledge : the conflict between conducting a targeted military action and the principles and values which define us as a people.

When you take a life, my Liege, we want you to be certain.

And, the process you describe does not permit any scrutiny or outside assurance of accuracy. Instead it appears to rely on your sole discretion.

While it is possible that there are review procedures incorporated in the process, a rational person must assume that such reviews are not included, else you would have mentioned them.

The process you describe of notifying Congress is analogous to a thug on a street corner announcing his intentions in this manner :

'Hey Homeys. Gonna whack this dude. A right?'

I learn my criminal law from television cop shows, but even I know that a cop has to get a judge to sign an approval for a search warrant.

How is it that you don't have to get approval from anyone to whack somebody?

It is not acceptable. My Liege.

Surely it is not asking too much to include some sort of judicial review and approval before taking a life with a drone.

What say you, My Liege?

Your faithful servant,

Whistleblowers - Now You Have A Secure Place

Barry, My Liege :

A new system has been established to protect Whistleblowers' identities from government [that's you, My Liege] spying.

It is called Strongbox and it is sponsored by the New Yorker magazine.

Here is the cut and paste URL : http://www.newyorker.com/strongbox/

It is a huge step forward in protecting First Amendment Rights. And, it will be a big step in providing the investigative reporters from New Yorker with leads to potential stories of national interest.

While the Wall Street Journal has installed a similar system, I believe it is less trustworthy than the New Yorker system because the WSJ is now owned by Rupert Murdoch.

Anyone wishing a secure submission of documents or secrets is advised to investigate the site. According to an interview with a spokesperson for the magazine, there are several steps taken to protect the identities of anyone submitting information. After rigorous testing, several hackers were unable to break the system.

We are happy that the free flow of information will be enhanced, My Liege.

Your faithful servant,

Chevron's Greed Harms the Planet

Barry, My Liege :

Chevron, an identified World Real Oil Terrorists [WROT], has exited the alternative energy market because the expected profits of 5% were not as high as the 15% profits it likes.

See Bloomberg report here : http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2013-04-18/chevron-defies-california-on-carbon-emissions.html

While that decision is bad for the company's shareholders in the medium term, it also demonstrates Chevron's ignorance of future trends. Chevron has chosen to maximize short term profits at the expense of the climate and the future.

We have reached peak oil production and will rely increasingly on alternative energies.

Here is a quote from the study Peak Oil by the Bundeswehr Transformation Centre Future Analysis Branch, page 8 :

'Firstly, a global lack of oil could represent a systemic risk because its versatility as a source of energy and as a chemical raw material would mean that virtually every social subsystem would be affected by a shortage.'

Read the full study here : http://www.energybulletin.net/sites/default/files/Peak%20Oil_Study%20EN.pdf

Additionally, the climate has reached a critical CO2 proportion of 400 ppm [http://climate.nasa.gov/news/916] accordingt to NASA.

Continuing to profit from carbon based fuels harms the climate, sacrifices our future and is bad management.

My Liege, it is appropriate for you to publicly and/or privately excoriate Chevron's Board members for their greed and shortsightedness.

You can find them here :

Chevron Headquarters
6001 Bollinger Canyon Road
San Ramon, CA 94583, USA
Telephone: +1 925.842.1000

Board of Directors

John S. Watson
Chairman and Chief Executive Officer

George L. Kirkland
Vice Chairman and Executive Vice President of Upstream and Gas

Linnet F. Deily
Former Deputy U.S. Trade Representative and U.S. Ambassador to the WTO

Robert E. Denham
(Lead Director) Partner of Munger, Tolles & Olson LLP

Alice P. Gast
President, Lehigh University

Enrique Hernandez Jr.
Chairman, Chief Executive Officer and President, Inter-Con Security Systems, Inc.

Charles W. Moorman
Chairman, Chief Executive Officer and President, Norfolk Southern Corporation

Kevin W. Sharer
Retired Chairman and Chief Executive Officer, Amgen Inc.

John G. Stumpf
Chairman, Chief Executive Officer and President, Wells Fargo & Company

Ronald D. Sugar
Retired Chairman and Chief Executive Officer, Northrop Grumman Corp.

Carl Ware
Retired Executive Vice President, The Coca-Cola Company

Your faithful servant,

Republicans Give Us Salmonella

Barry, My Liege :

The Republican sequester is making us sick from contaminated food from American farms and foreign countries which we fail to inspect for contamination because there are not enough inspectors.

Read it here : http://www.tradereform.org/2013/05/foreign-food-inspections-on-decline-as-illnesses-from-imported-goods-rise/

The United States of America has become a dumping ground for poison foods because we simply don't give a damn.

Words fail, My Liege.

Your faithful servant,

Rape Me, Pay the Price

Barry, My Liege :

As you are aware, the military forces of the United States of America are experiencing a crisis in sexual assault against both men and women.

Stars and Stripes reports here : http://www.stripes.com/news/pentagon-s-annual-report-shows-sexual-assault-numbers-up-sharply-1.219952

This is a National Security problem because of the inevitable backlash.

What I mean is that the vitims will soon tire of the perps escaping and take matters into their own hands.

These are soldiers who are trained in the arts and skills of physical assault and killing.

It is not smart to hurt people like that.

This would compromise seriously our fighting effectiveness. If we were to have groups of victims and supporters meting out vigilante justice, our morale would plummet and discipline would suffer.

The only way out is for the brass to grow a pair and provide real consequences for the perps.

It is not a mystery, My Liege.

We pay you assert command.

Your faithful servant,

Clinton on Syria : Stay Out

Barry, My Liege :

As a team player and with her sensitivity to domestic politics over the next few years, our possible next President Hillary Clinton has discussed Syria only sparingly in public.

Nevertheless, it is possible to deduce some outlines of her likely stand on Assad. But, standard disclaimers apply - these are my thoughts only and do not represent her position.

While he is an evil man, we cannot kill him unless and until an opposition force is established which can provide order after his death. Syria probably will degenerate into sectarian violence without a stabilizing force.

There are no circumstances under which we should place American troops into Syria. If American troops are the only thing that can prevent chaos, then we are powerless. We have seen the results of our misadventures in Iraq, Afghanistan and Libya.

There is some Neocon rhetoric calling for American intervention, but these are simply political posturings and should be ignored.

Perhaps we can use some covert actions to kill the chemical weapons troops and secure those munitions ; perhaps we can send advisers to work with responsible oppositon leaders to enhance their skills and weapons capabilities ; perhaps we can work to organize other nations into a coalition which can impose a no-fly zone ; and, perhaps an errant drone might 'accidentally' kill Assad.

But, My Liege, officially we are powerless until a credible opposition exists.

Your faithful servant,

Anti-Torture Memo Proven Correct

Barry, My Liege :

It is good that you have publicly renounced the participation of the United States of America in torturing prisoners.

Here's why :

1. Torture does not work - we get better intelligence from traditional sources.

2. The people who say torturing prisoners provides useful information are LYING.

Proof is offered by a systematic study of the effects of torture here : http://detaineetaskforce.org/report/

The report is written by the Constitution Project's Task Force.

People undergoing torure will say anything to stop the pain ; therefore any information provided from torture is probably false.

3. It is illegal and against our values as Americans.

4. It places our servicemen and women at greater risk of torture.

5. Torture damages the National Security of the United States of America.

Your faithful servant,

Terrorists in Boston

Barry, My Liege :

It is apparent that some terrorists have set off a bomb in the Boston Marathon.

Now is the time to be strong and react in a civilized manner.

This is a police issue and NOT a military issue.

Please, My Liege, do not send drones or the National Guard.

If you do we will look like idiots.

Let the police handle it - the perps will be found and tried.

Your faithful servant,

See Photos of Your House Under Water

Barry My Liege :

It is a sobering thing to see satellite photos of coastal areas showing which houses, airports and parks will be flooded by 2030 or 2040.

Here is the link :

http://www.climatecentral.org/news/interactive-short-lived-pollutants-and-sea-level-rise-15864

UPDATE 4.22.13: It appears that the above link which enabled viewing of specific coastal locations that would be flooded has been disabled. That is a great disappointment and we would hope for an explanation or a restoration of the feature.

We pray you remember that it is not a game.

Your faithful servant,

Your Daughter is My Slave - and I WILL Abuse Her

Barry, My Liege :

It is critical to the National Economic Security of the United States that our Middle Class is easy to enter. For if our Middle Class is difficult to enter, then our future is dark.

The future is dark because there will be fewer and fewer among us who can afford the small luxury of casting around for ideas and experience apart from the normal grind of working, sleeping and eating. When we look at the Baby Boom generation, we notice that they had ample time to explore and make stupid mistakes without fear of the consequences.

From that exploration came our vast economic growth and its associated new technologies and inventions.

It is different today.

Most students must borrow in order to stay in university. This is different than the earlier generation largely because of state cuts to higher education which began in the 1980's [http://www.nytimes.com/2013/03/10/opinion/sunday/student-debt-and-the-economy.html].

When students borrow, they graduate with a big debt load which they cannot refinance, pay off easily since there are few jobs and which they cannot escape through bankruptcy.

It is a generation of indentured servants.

These young people are our future and we are locking them into a life of drudgery. ' The Federal Reserve ... estimates that nearly 18 percent of borrowers now have student loan debts of $25,000 to $50,000, and nearly 4 percent have balances greater than $100,000.' [loc cit]

It is bad enough that we damage the future of our students, but it is also a Terrorist act since it helps destroy our country's future for a few decimal points of extra profit percentage by Bankers.

We pray for relief, My Liege, and we grieve.

Your faithful servant,

Oil Corporations : World Real Oil Terrorists [WROTs] 1

Barry, My Liege :

As you know, this space from time to time has called out the Real American Terrorists [RATs] who increase their personal fortunes by selling out the Economic National Security of the United States of America for personal profit.

Now it is time to call out the World Real Oil Terrorists [WROTs] who sell out the future of our planet for personal gain.

The World Real Oil Terrorists [WROTs] are the Members of the Boards of Directors of Oil Corporations.

Unless these WROTs are stopped, my grandchildren and great-grandchildren will live in a world of want, scarcity and misery we can scarcely imagine.

Acting as an International Oligopoly, these corporations systematically lobby against any law or regulation which may reduce slightly their profits today and in the future, even if it means that the rest of mankind will suffer grievously.

According to Open Secrets [http://www.opensecrets.org/lobby/indusclient.php?id=E01], International Oil Corporations spent $139,212,996 in 2012 lobbying against proposed United States laws and regulations designed to protect our future from the ravages of climate change.

That amounts to a daily expenditure of $381,405 - every day, 365 days per year - to lobby Congress and state legislatures.

And, that accounts for only the United States of America.

Let us be clear, My Liege, the science of Climate Change is clear and unequivocal: if we do not alter our fossil fuel dependency, the climate will change.

Nicholas Stern of the London School of Economics has thoroughly explored both the scientific evidence and the likely consequences for many years.

A power point presentation of his seminal 2007 address is available here :

http://www2.lse.ac.uk/asiaResearchCentre/_files/igPatelLecture_final.pdf

Additionally, his book THE ECONOMICS OF CLIMATE CHANGE has been published by the British Treasury. The book contains many citations of evidence.

Below are listed the names and addresses of the Boards of Directors of the five oil corporations who have the largest lobbying expenditures included in the $139 million figure above.

My Liege, we will be grateful if you will express our outrage in the strongest possible terms to each Board Member.

LARGEST OIL LOBBYISTS AND THEIR BOARDS

1. ROYAL DUTCH SHELL

Royal Dutch Shell

2012 Lobbying expenditures - $14,480,000 - $39,671/day

Shell headquarters

Carel van Bylandtlaan 16, 2596 HR The Hague, The Netherlands

Postal address: PO box 162, 2501 AN The Hague, The Netherlands

Tel. +31 70 377 9111

SHELL BOARD

Jorma Ollila

Chairman

Born August 15, 1950. A Finnish national, appointed Chairman of the Company with effect from June 2006. He started his career at Citibank in London and Helsinki, before moving in 1985 to Nokia, where he became Vice President of International Operations.

In 1986, he was appointed Senior Vice President Finance and between 1990 and 1992 he served as President of Nokia Mobile Phones. Between 1992 and 1999 he was President and Chief Executive Officer of Nokia, and from 1999 to June 2006 he was Chairman and Chief Executive Officer. Up until May, 2012 he was Chairman of the Board of Nokia.

Chairman of the Nomination and Succession Committee

Hans Wijers

Deputy Chairman and Senior Independent Director

Born January 11, 1951. A Dutch national, appointed a Non-executive Director of the Company with effect from January 2009. Up until April, 2012 he was Chief Executive Officer and Chairman of the Board of Management of Akzo Nobel N.V. He joined Akzo Nobel N.V. in 2002 as a Board member, and was appointed Chairman in 2003.

He obtained a PhD in economics from Erasmus University Rotterdam while teaching there. Later, he became Managing Partner of The Boston Consulting Group. He served as Dutch Minister for Economic Affairs from 1994 to 1998, after which he returned to The Boston Consulting Group as Senior Partner until his appointment as a Board member of Akzo Nobel N.V. He is Chairman of the Supervisory Board of AFC Ajax N.V., a member of the Supervisory Board of Heineken N.V., a trustee of various charities and a member of the European Round Table of Industrialists.

Chairman of the Remuneration Committee and Member of the Nomination and Succession Committee

Peter Voser

Chief Executive Officer

Born August 29, 1958. A Swiss national, appointed Chief Executive Officer of the Company with effect from July 2009. He first joined Shell in 1982 and held a variety of finance and business roles in Switzerland, the UK, Argentina and Chile, including Chief Financial Officer of Oil Products. In 2002, he joined the Asea Brown Boveri (ABB) Group of Companies as Chief Financial Officer and member of the ABB Group Executive Committee.

He returned to Shell in October 2004, when he became a Managing Director of The “Shell” Transport and Trading Company, p.l.c. and Chief Financial Officer of the Royal Dutch/Shell Group. He was a member of the Supervisory Board of Aegon N.V. from 2004 to 2006, a member of the Supervisory Board of UBS AG from 2005 to April 2010 and a member of the Swiss Federal Auditor Oversight Authority from 2006 to December 2010. In 2011, he was awarded the title of Dato Seri LailaJasaby the Sultan of Brunei.

He is a Director of Catalyst, a non-profit organisation which works to build inclusive environments and expand opportunities for women and business, and he was appointed to the Board of Directors of Roche Holdings Limited in March 2011. He is also active in a number of international and bilateral organisations, including the European Round Table of Industrialists and The Business Council.

Simon Henry

Chief Financial Officer

Born July 13, 1961. A British national, appointed Chief Financial Officer of the Company with effect from May 2009. He joined Shell in 1982 as an engineer at the Stanlow refinery in the UK.

After qualifying as a member of the Chartered Institute of Management Accountants in 1989, he held various finance posts, including Finance Manager of Marketing in Egypt, Controller for the Upstream business in Egypt, Oil Products Finance Adviser for Asia-Pacific, Finance Director for the Mekong Cluster and General Manager Finance for the South East Asian Retail business.

He was appointed Head of Group Investor Relations in 2001 and Chief Financial Officer for Exploration & Production in 2004.

Josef Ackermann

Non-executive Director

Born February 7, 1948. A Swiss national, appointed a Non-executive Director of the Company in May 2008. He is Chairman of the Board of Directors of Zurich Insurance Group Limited and Zurich Insurance Company Limited, positions he has held since March 2012.

He started his professional career in 1977 at Schweizerische Kreditanstalt (SKA), where he held a variety of positions in corporate banking, foreign exchange/money markets, treasury and investment banking. In 1990, he was appointed to SKA’s Executive Board, on which he served as President between 1993 and 1996. He joined Deutsche Bank’s Management Board in 1996 with responsibility for the investment banking division and, up until May 2012, he was Chairman of both the Management Board and the Group Executive Committee of Deutsche Bank AG. He was appointed to these positions in 2006 and 2002 respectively.

He is a member of the Supervisory Board of Siemens AG, the Board of Directors of Investor AB and a number of advisory boards. He also has various roles in several foundations and academic institutions.

Member of the Remuneration Committee and the Nomination and Succession Committee

Guy Elliott

Non-executive Director

Born December 26, 1955. A British national, appointed a Non-executive Director of the Company with effect from September 2010. He is Chief Financial Officer of Rio Tinto plc and Rio Tinto Limited, positions he has held since 2002.

Following a period in investment banking, he joined the Rio Tinto Group in 1980 after gaining an MBA at INSEAD. He has held a variety of marketing, strategy and general management positions, including Head of Business Evaluation and President of Rio Tinto Brasil. He was Non-executive Director and Senior Independent Director of Cadbury plc from 2007 and 2008 respectively until March 2010. While on the Cadbury Board, he served as Chairman of the Audit Committee until April 2009.

Chairman of the Audit Committee

Charles O. Holliday

Non-executive Director

Born March 9, 1948. A US national, appointed a Non-executive Director of the Company with effect from September 2010. He served as Chief Executive Officer of DuPont from 1998 to January 2009 and Chairman from 1999 to December 2009. He joined DuPont in 1970 after receiving a B.S. in industrial engineering from the University of Tennessee and held various manufacturing and business assignments, including a six-year, Tokyo-based posting as President of DuPont Asia/ Pacific, before becoming Chairman and Chief Executive Officer.

He previously served as Chairman of the World Business Council for Sustainable Development, Chairman of The Business Council, Chairman of Catalyst and Chairman of the Society of Chemical Industry – American Section and is a founding member of the International Business Council. He is Chairman of the Board of Directors of Bank of America Corporation and a Director of Deere & Company.

Chairman of the Corporate and Social Responsibility Committee and Member of the Remuneration Committee

Gerard Kleisterlee

Non-executive Director

Born September 28, 1946. A Dutch national, appointed a Non-executive Director of the Company with effect from November 2010. He was President/Chief Executive Officer and Chairman of the Board of Management of Koninklijke Philips Electronics N.V. from 2001 to March 2011. Having joined Philips in 1974, he held several positions before being appointed as Chief Executive Officer of Philips’ Components division in 1999 and Executive Vice-President of Philips in 2000.

He was appointed Chairman of Vodafone Group plc in July 2011. He is also a member of the European Round Table of Industrialists, Chairman of both IMD’s Foundation Board and Executive Committee, member of the Supervisory Board of De Nederlandsche Bank N.V., Daimler AG, a Director of Dell Inc. and Chairman of the Foundation of the Cancer Centre Amsterdam.

Member of the Audit Committee

Christine Morin-Postel

Non-executive Director

Born October 6, 1946. A French national, appointed a Non-executive Director of the Company in October 2004. She was a member of the Supervisory Board of Royal Dutch Petroleum Company (Royal Dutch) from July 2004 and was a Board member of Royal Dutch until December 2005.

Previously, she was Chief Executive of Société Générale de Belgique, Executive Vice-President and member of the Executive Committee of Suez S.A., Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of Crédisuez S.A. and a Non-executive Director of Pilkington plc, Alcan Inc. and EXOR S.p.A. She is a Non-executive Director of British American Tobacco plc.

Member of the Audit Committee

Sir Nigel Sheinwald GCMG

Non-executive Director

Born June 26, 1953. A British national, appointed a Non-executive Director of the Company with effect from July 2012. Sir Nigel Sheinwald was a senior British diplomat who served as British Ambassador to the United States from 2007 to 2012. He joined the Diplomatic Service in 1976 and served in Brussels (twice), Washington and Moscow and in a wide range of policy jobs in London. Prior to his appointment as British Ambassador to the United States, he served as Foreign Policy and Defence Adviser to the Prime Minister and Head of the Cabinet Office Defence and Overseas Secretariat. He served as British Ambassador and Permanent Representative to the European Union in Brussels from 2000 to 2003. He retired from the Diplomatic Service at the end of March, 2012.

Member of the Corporate and Social Responsibility Committee

Linda G. Stuntz

Non-executive Director

Born September 11, 1954. A US national, appointed a Non-executive Director of the Company with effect from June 2011. She is a founding partner of the law firm of Stuntz, Davis & Staffier, P.C., based in Washington, D.C. Her law practice includes energy and environmental regulation as well as matters relating to government support of technology development and transfer. From 1989 to 1993, she held senior policy positions at the U.S. Department of Energy, including Deputy Secretary. She played a principal role in the development and enactment of the Energy Policy Act of 1992.

From 1981 to 1987, she was an Associate Minority Counsel and Minority Counsel to the Energy and Commerce Committee of the U.S. House of Representatives. She chaired the Electricity Advisory Committee to the U.S. Department of Energy from 2008 to 2009, and was a member of the Board of Directors of Schlumberger Limited from 1993 to 2010. She serves on the Board of Directors of Raytheon Company.

Member of the Audit Committee

Jeroen van der Veer

Non-executive Director

Born October 27, 1947. A Dutch national, appointed a Non-executive Director of the Company with effect from July 2009. Previously, he was Chief Executive since October 2004. He was appointed President of Royal Dutch Petroleum Company in 2000, having been a Managing Director since 1997. He was a Director of Shell Canada Limited from 2003 until 2005.

He was Vice-Chairman and Senior Independent Director of Unilever (which includes Unilever N.V. and Unilever plc) to May 2011 and is Chairman of the Supervisory Boards of Koninklijke Philips Electronics N.V. and of ING Group. He also has various roles in several foundations and charities.

Member of the Corporate and Social Responsibility Committee

Gerrit Zalm

Non-executive Director

Born May 6, 1952. A Dutch national, appointed a Non-executive Director of the Company with effect from January 1, 2013. Mr Zalm is the Chairman of the Board of Management of ABN AMRO Bank N.V., a position he has held since February 2009. Prior to that Mr Zalm was the Minister of Finance of the Netherlands from 1994-2002 and from 2003-2007. Mr Zalm will seek re-appointment by shareholders at the next Annual General Meeting, scheduled to be held in May 2013.

Member of the Corporate and Social Responsibility Committee

Michiel Brandjes

Company Secretary

Born December 14, 1954. A Dutch national, appointed as Company Secretary and General Counsel Corporate of the Company in February 2005. He joined Shell in 1980 as a Legal Adviser and was later appointed Head of Legal in Singapore. Following a period as Head of Legal in China, he was appointed Company Secretary of Royal Dutch Petroleum Company.

2. EXXON MOBIL CORPORATION

Exxon Mobil

Lobbying Expenditures 2012 : $12,970,000 - - $35,534/day

Corporate Headquarters

5959 Las Colinas Boulevard
Irving, Texas 75039-2298
(972) 444-1000

Exxon Mobil Corporation Board of Directors

Rex W. Tillerson

Age 60, Chairman and CEO since 2006; Director since 2004

Principal Occupation: Chairman of the Board and Chief Executive Officer, Exxon Mobil Corporation

Business Experience: Mr. Tillerson was elected Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of ExxonMobil in 2006; President and Director in 2004; and, Senior Vice President in 2001. Mr. Tillerson has held a variety of management positions in domestic and foreign operations since joining the Exxon organization in 1975, including President, Exxon Yemen Inc. and Esso Exploration and Production Khorat Inc.; Vice President, Exxon Ventures (CIS) Inc.; President, Exxon Neftegas Limited; and Executive Vice President, ExxonMobil Development Company.

Current Public Company Directorships: None

Past Public Company Directorships: None

Michael J. Boskin

Age 67, Director since 1996

Principal Occupation: T.M. Friedman Professor of Economics and Senior Fellow, Hoover Institution, Stanford University

Business Experience: Dr. Boskin is also a Research Associate, National Bureau of Economic Research. He is Chief Executive Officer and President of Boskin & Co., an economic consulting company.

Current Public Company Directorships: Oracle (April 1994 – Present)

Past Public Company Directorships: Shinsei Bank (March 2000 – June 2009); Vodafone Group (June 1999 – July 2008)

Peter Brabeck-Letmathe

Age 68, Director since 2010

Principal Occupation: Chairman of the Board, Nestlé

Business Experience: Mr. Brabeck-Letmathe was elected Chairman of Nestlé in 2005, and Chief Executive Officer in 1997, relinquishing the role of CEO in 2008. He also served as Vice Chairman, Executive Vice President, and Senior Vice President of Nestlé.

Current Public Company Directorships: Nestlé (June 1997 – Present); Credit Suisse Group (May 1997 – Present); L’Oréal (June 1997 – Present)

Past Public Company Directorships: Roche Holding (April 2000 – March 2010)

Ursula M. Burns

Age 54, Director since 2012

Principal Occupation: Chairman and Chief Executive Officer, Xerox

Business Experience: Ms. Burns was named President of Xerox and elected to the company’s board of directors in 2007. She was named Chief Executive Officer in 2009 and became Chairman in 2010. Ms. Burns served as Senior Vice President for Xerox’s Corporate Strategic Services and as President and Senior Vice President for Xerox’s Document Systems and Solutions Group and Xerox’s Business Group Operations.

Current Public Company Directorships: American Express (January 2004 – Present), Xerox (April 2007 – Present)

Past Public Company Directorships: None

Larry R. Faulkner

Age 68, Director since 2008

Principal Occupation: President Emeritus, the University of Texas at Austin

Business Experience: Dr. Faulkner served as President of the Houston Endowment from 2006 to 2012 and as President of The University of Texas at Austin from 1998 to 2006. He served on the chemistry faculties of The University of Texas, the University of Illinois, and Harvard University. At the University of Illinois, he also held a number of positions in academic administration including Provost and Vice Chancellor for Academic Affairs.

Current Public Company Directorships: None

Past Public Company Directorships: Guaranty Financial Group (December 2007 – August 2009); Temple-Inland (August 2005 – February 2012)

Jay S. Fishman

Age 60, Director since 2010

Principal Occupation: Chairman of the Board and Chief Executive Officer, The Travelers Companies

Business Experience: Mr. Fishman was elected Chairman of The Travelers Companies in 2005, and Chief Executive Officer in 2004 upon the merger of The St. Paul Companies and Travelers Property Casualty Corporation. From 2001 to 2004 he was Chairman, Chief Executive Officer, and President of The St. Paul Companies.

Current Public Company Directorships: Travelers (October 2001 – Present)

Past Public Company Directorships: None

Henrietta Fore

Age 63, Director since 2012

Principal Occupation: Chairman and Chief Executive Officer, Holsman International

Business Experience: Ms. Fore served as Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of Holsman International since 2009. She served as the Administrator of the U.S. Agency for International Development and Director of United States Foreign Assistance from 2007 to 2009. She also served as Under Secretary of State for Management, the Chief Operating Officer for the Department of State, from 2005 to 2007.

Current Public Company Directorships: Theravance (October 2010 – Present)

Past Public Company Directorships: None

Kenneth C. Frazier

Age 57, Director since 2009

Principal Occupation: Chairman of the Board, President and Chief Executive Officer, Merck & Co., Inc.

Business Experience: Mr. Frazier was elected President of Merck in 2010, Chief Executive Officer in January 2011, and Chairman of the Board effective December 2011. He was elected Executive Vice President and President, Global Human Health, at Merck in 2007, and Executive Vice President and General Counsel in 2006. He served as Senior Vice President and General Counsel at Merck from 1999 to 2006.

Current Public Company Directorships: Merck & Co., Inc. (January 2011 – Present)

Past Public Company Directorships: None

William W. George

Age 70, Director since 2005

Principal Occupation: Professor of Management Practice, Harvard University

Business Experience: Mr. George was elected Chairman of Medtronic in 1996, and retired in 2002; Chief Executive Officer in 1991; and President and Chief Operating Officer in 1989.

Current Public Company Directorships: Goldman Sachs (December 2002 – Present)

Past Public Company Directorships: Novartis (May 1999 – February 2009)

Samuel J. Palmisano


Age 61, Director since 2006, Presiding Director since 2008

Principal Occupation: Former Chairman, President, and Chief Executive Officer, IBM

Business Experience: Mr. Palmisano was elected Chairman, President, and Chief Executive Officer of IBM in 2003 and relinquished the roles of President and Chief Executive Officer in January, 2012 and his position as Chairman of the Board in September, 2012. Mr. Palmisano also served as President, Senior Vice President, and Group Executive for IBM’s Enterprise Systems Group, IBM Global Services, and IBM’s Personal Systems Group.

Current Public Company Directorships: None

Past Public Company Directorships: IBM (July 2000 - September 2012)

Steven S Reinemund

Age 64, Director since 2007

Principal Occupation: Dean of Business, Wake Forest University

Business Experience: Mr. Reinemund served as Executive Chairman of the Board of PepsiCo from 2006 to 2007, and retired in 2007; was elected Chief Executive Officer and Chairman of the Board in 2001; President and Chief Operating Officer in 1999; and, Director in 1996. He was also elected President and CEO of Frito-Lay in 1992 and Pizza Hut in 1986.

Current Public Company Directorships: American Express (April 2007 – Present); Marriott (April 2007 – Present); Wal-Mart (June 2010 – Present)

Past Public Company Directorships: Johnson & Johnson (October 2003 – April 2008); PepsiCo (April 1996 – May 2007)


Edward E. Whitacre, Jr.

Age 71, Director since 2008

Principal Occupation: Former Chairman of the Board, General Motors; Chairman Emeritus, AT&T

Business Experience: Mr. Whitacre joined General Motors in 2009 as Chairman, became Chief Executive Officer later in 2009, and relinquished the roles of Chief Executive Officer and Chairman in 2010. At AT&T, Mr. Whitacre was elected Chairman and Chief Executive Officer upon its merger with SBC Communications in 2005, and retired in 2007. He was elected Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of SBC in 1990; and, President and Chief Operating Officer in 1988.

Current Public Company Directorships: None

Past Public Company Directorships: Anheuser Busch (September 1988 – November 2008); AT&T (November 2005 – June 2007); Burlington Northern Santa Fe (April 1993 – February 2010); General Motors (July 2009 – December 2010)

3. KOCH INDUSTRIES

Koch Industries

2012 Lobbying Expenditures : $10,540,000 - $28,876/day

Koch Industries, Inc.
P.O. Box 2256
Wichita, KS 67201-2256
info@kochind.com

Koch Industries, Inc. Board of Directors includes:

Charles G. Koch--Chairman and Chief Executive Officer (CEO)

Joseph W. Moeller--Vice Chairman

David Robertson--President, Chief Operating Officer (COO), Director and Chairman of Georgia-Pacific

Steve Feilmeier--Chief Financial Officer, Executive Vice President and Director

David H. Koch--Executive Vice President and Director

Jeff Gentry--Executive Vice President and Director

Richard Fink--Executive Vice President and Director

James Mahoney--Executive Vice President of Operations Excellence & Compliance, and Director

4. CHEVRON CORPORATION

Chevron Corp

2012 Lobbying Expenditures - $9,550,000 - $26,164/day

Chevron Headquarters
6001 Bollinger Canyon Road
San Ramon, CA 94583, USA
Telephone: +1 925.842.1000

Board of Directors

John S. Watson
Chairman and Chief Executive Officer

George L. Kirkland
Vice Chairman and Executive Vice President of Upstream and Gas

Linnet F. Deily
Former Deputy U.S. Trade Representative and U.S. Ambassador to the WTO

Robert E. Denham
(Lead Director) Partner of Munger, Tolles & Olson LLP

Alice P. Gast
President, Lehigh University

Enrique Hernandez Jr.
Chairman, Chief Executive Officer and President, Inter-Con Security Systems, Inc.

Charles W. Moorman
Chairman, Chief Executive Officer and President, Norfolk Southern Corporation

Kevin W. Sharer
Retired Chairman and Chief Executive Officer, Amgen Inc.

John G. Stumpf
Chairman, Chief Executive Officer and President, Wells Fargo & Company

Ronald D. Sugar
Retired Chairman and Chief Executive Officer, Northrop Grumman Corp.

Carl Ware
Retired Executive Vice President, The Coca-Cola Company

5. BRITISH PETROLEUM

BP

2012 Lobbying Expenditures : $8,590,000 - $23,534/day

BP does not provide a central address.

Carl-Henric Svanberg
Chairman

Bob Dudley
Group Chief Executive
Executive member of the BP board of directors

Iain Conn
Chief Executive, Refining and Marketing
Executive member of the BP board of directors

Dr Brian Gilvary
Chief Financial Officer
Executive member of the BP board of directors

Dr Byron Grote
Executive Vice President, Corporate Business Activities
Executive member of the BP board of directors

Paul Anderson
Non-Executive Director
Chairman of the safety, ethics and environment assurance committee and member of the chairman’s, the Gulf of Mexico and the nomination committees

Admiral Frank Bowman
Non-Executive Director
Member of the chairman’s, the Gulf of Mexico and the safety, ethics and environment assurance committees

Antony Burgmans, KBE
Non-Executive Director
Chairman of the remuneration committee and member of the chairman’s, the nomination and the safety, ethics and environment assurance committees

Cynthia Carroll
Non-Executive Director
Member of the chairman’s, the nomination and the safety, ethics and environment assurance committees

George David
Non-Executive Director
Member of the chairman's, the audit, the Gulf of Mexico, and the remuneration committees

Ian Davis
Non-Executive Director
Chairman of the Gulf of Mexico committee and member of the chairman's, the nomination and the remuneration committees

Professor Dame Ann Dowling
Non-Executive Director
Member of the chairman’s, the remuneration and the safety, ethics and environment assurance committees

Brendan Nelson
Non-Executive Director
Chairman of the audit committee and member of the chairman’s and nomination committees

Phuthuma Nhleko
Non-Executive Director
Member of the chairman's and the audit committees

Andrew Shilston
Non-Executive Director
Member of the chairman’s and the audit committees and attends the nomination committee

David Jackson
Company Secretary
David Jackson was appointed Company Secretary in 2003. A solicitor, he is a director of BP Pension Trustees Limited

Your faithful servant,

Banker Vulcan Mind Meld

Barry, My Liege :

Regrettably, My Liege, your innocence of big time finance is showing and it is not a pretty sight.

Sad to say, you have not understood much at all about the real people who run all the things where you are.

Your faithful servant will now attempt a Vulcan Mind Meld with a real Banker Person in order to enlighten us all.

While I have performed this office before, I do not like it very much because it leaves me feeling unclean.

Nevertheless, and for the Greater Good of the Republic, we begin.............NOW :

"Well Skippy, so you want to be a Banker Person, is that right?

....................

OK, then. First I'll ask you a few questions - just to see what are your chances of joining my club.

.................

First question is this one : How much money do you control or own personally?

......................

That little you say. Well, it's pretty thin but I think we can make it work.

....................

Will you be OK with the idea of having tons and tons of money - so much money that you can't even count it?

....................

What's that you say, what does that matter? Well, little Skippy, you can't be around lots of money unless you already have lots of money. It's our little code around here.

...................

So, you're sure you are OK with becoming filthy stinking rich?

.........................

OK, that's good, but what about the idea that you will have to ruin a lot of lives for every million you make? Are you OK with that?

......................

Oh, the little people don't count, you say. That's good Skippy. It is good to hear that.

.......................

That means you can ruin lives with a clear conscience.

.........................

But Skippy, what will you do when you ruin a life and break the law at the same time? Will you be OK with that?

..................

It's easy to say YES, Skippy, but how do I know you really mean it?

.....................

OK, so you made your first few millions by robbing widows and orphans with phony stock scams. That's really good Skippy. I like that. After all, we both know that the law is for the little people, not for us. That's why God makes lawyers.

.................

But, how about some of your fellow bankers and chums? Your close associates. Can you steal from them while you buy them dinner?

..................

Ah Hah! That's a great story. I'd sure hate to be that sap.

...............

But, Skippy, why is it that you deserve the money you took - why shouldn't the other guy have it instead of you? After all, he 'earned' it while you just took it from him.

.................

Wow, that's a long story, Skippy, but I can boil it down to this : All that money is really yours because you are a better person. So, it is just and proper that you take it from him. After all, if he were a better person he wouldn't let you take it from him. Is that right?

..................

OK then. Now, who is the greatest villain in the history of the United States?

.................

FDR, you say. OK, then - what is the biggest reason that he was a villain?

................

Well, yes he did betray his class and actually help out poor people, but that's not enough, is it Skippy? Lots of people help others and we don't mind. There has to be a bigger reason to make FDR the big villain - and by the way I agree with you on this one.

...............

Ah Hah! That's it alright. It wasn't helping poor people, it was stealing our money from us so he could pay them. That's what made him the bad guy - all those taxes we had to pay went right to the little people who just don't deserve them.

......................

So, Skippy, what will you do about that?

.................

Skippy, Skippy, how are you going to steal the Social Security Trust Fund? That's pretty ambitious, you know. It'll be great if you can, but it's a big job.

...................

What! Of course I know it's none of my business. No need to talk that way, Skipper. We're on the same side here.

.................

OK, then, what is the big advantage you see in being a banker?

.............

You know that just about nails it. Bankers can borrow from the little people to make big time gambles where the bankers keep the winnings but the little people cover the losses. It's a heckuva deal, Skip, hard to beat.

...................

What about some of the whiners like Elizabeth Warren and Eric Holder? Won't they rain on the party?

....................

Of course I know Warren's a girl and a blond besides. Yes I'd like to see her naked, but.......OK, OK. Holder? Too wimpy?

.....................

Who DO you worry about, Skip?

...................

Well, you know what, I'd worry about Eliot Spitzer too, but he's damaged goods and nobody will use him.

.....................

So, Skippy, looks like clear sailing from here.

Go get 'em tiger."



It's time for a hot shower, My Liege.

Your faithful servant,

GRAT [Government Real American Terrorist] Eric Holder Sells USA To Banks, Gets Bupkis

Barry, My Liege :

Your Attorney General Eric Holder has given public notice to big banks that he will not prosecute them.

Here he is as quoted in the New York Times :

“I am concerned that the size of some of these institutions becomes so large that it does become difficult for us to prosecute them when we are hit with indications that if we do prosecute — if we do bring a criminal charge — it will have a negative impact on the national economy, perhaps even the world economy,” Mr. Holder told the Senate Judiciary Committee. “I think that is a function of the fact that some of these institutions have become too large.”

Mr. Holder continued, acknowledging that the size of banks “has an inhibiting influence.” He said that it affects “our ability to bring resolutions that I think would be more appropriate.” NYT, Andrew Ros Sorkin, 3.11.13

My Liege, some of the bankers are simply crooks and should be in jail. Yet, your administration won't even try to proescute them.

Is this the legacy you wish My Liege?

The legacy of a sellout?

We would it were not, My Liege.

We grieve.

Your faithful servant,

Fame, Happiness and Posterity

Barry, My Liege :

One of my ancestors, Marcus Aurelius, was both a Roman Emperor and a philosopher ; his thoughts on living a happy life are indicated immediatley below.

'...Short then is the time which every man lives, and small the nook of the earth where he lives; and short too the longest posthumous fame, and even this only continued by a succession of poor human beings, who will very soon die, and who know not even themselves, much less him who died long ago.'

MEDITATIONS, Marcus Aurelius, Book 3,# 10

'If thou workest at that which is before thee, following right reason seriously, vigorously, calmly, without allowing anything else to distract thee, but keeping thy divine part pure, as if thou shouldst be bound to give it back immediately, fearing nothing, but satisfied with thy present activity according to nature, and with heroic truth in every word and sound which thou utterest, thou wilt live happy. And there is no man who is able to prevent this.'

MEDITATIONS, Marcus Aurelius, Book 3, # 12

Perhaps, My Liege, these words may offer some comfort.

Some of my ancestors achieved fame and notoriety while most did not. But, following Marcus Aurelius' proscriptions, life is only this moment since the past is infinite and dead and the future is equally infinite and unknowable.

Thus fame is not worthy of pursuit or worthwhle when obtained. For example, my surname of McKeever or MacIvor may possibly be related to a Norse invader of Scotland in the Ninth century named Iver. However, there appears to be no method of determining that with certainty since all records of Norse geneology in England and Scotland were destroyed in the Jocobite Risings of 1688 to 1746.

Here is a listing of some of the more famous of my ancestors for which records are readily available.

1. Marcus Aurelias Maximian De Rome

49th Great Grand Uncle - Marcus Aurelias Maximian De Rome, 121 AD to 180 AD.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Marcus_Aurelius

2. Philip I of France

28th Great Grandfather - Philip I of France (23 May 1052 – 29 July 1108), called the Amorous.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Philip_I_of_France

3. William I The Conquerer

25th Great Grandfater, William I The Conquerer - William I (Old Norman: Williame I; circa 1028 - Frankrike, Jamtland, Sweden – 9 September 1087), usually known as William the Conqueror and sometimes as William the Bastard

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/William_the_Conqueror

4. Charlemagne

Husband of 25th Great Grandmother Charlemagne (2 April 742 – 28 January 814), also known as Charles the Great (German: Karl der Große; Latin: Carolus or Karolus Magnus) or Charles I, was the King of the Franks from 768, the King of Italy from 774, the first Holy Roman Emperor, and the first emperor in western Europe since the collapse of the Western Roman Empire three centuries earlier.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Charlemagne

5. Henry II, King of England

22nd Great Grandfather Henry II, King of England was born 26 February 1133 in Le Mans, France to Geoffrey V, Count of Anjou and Maine (1113-1151) and Matilda of Normandy (1102-1167) and died 29 June 1189 in Chinon, France of unspecified causes.

http://familypedia.wikia.com/wiki/Henry_II_of_England_%281133-1189%29

5. King Edward I Longshanks Plantagenet

19th Great Grandfather Edward I (17 June 1239 – 7 July 1307), also known as Edward Longshanks and the Hammer of the Scots (Latin: Malleus Scotorum), was King of England from 1272 to 1307.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Edward_I_of_England

7. John Adams

1st Cousin 6x removed John Adams (October 30, 1735 (O.S. October 19, 1735) – July 4, 1826) was the second president of the United States (1797–1801), having earlier served as the first vice president of the United States. An American Founding Father, he was a statesman, diplomat, and a leading advocate of American independence from Great Britain.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Adams


Your faithful servant,

By the way, My Liege, one of the reasons I am happy to be an American is that notification of the fact of that ancestry as described above, so long as it is accompanied with two dollars, will obtain a good cup of coffee in many places.

Position Paper - Managing Bright People for Accomplishment

Barry, My Liege :

You will not consider it immodest when this writer offers a methodology for managing very good people as well as choosing the best option among several possible courses of action.

College and university students are bright and ambitious people, as you well know.

In order to challenge the best of students, this writer developed a position paper format over the past 25 years; this format has proven effective as a semester term paper assignment as well as a method for challenging the best and honing the skills of all.

My Liege, you may read an actual sample of this paper format in a paper written by student Min S. Chung in 2010 at this link :

http://www.mkeever.com/samplepaper.doc

[Copy and paste the link if it loads slowly.]

And, should you require a detailed tutorial in implementing this paper format, it is here :

http://www.mkeever.com/prep.doc

Your faithful servant prays that you will consider using this tool as a means to manage your office and accomplish even more.

Your faithful servant,

Socialism, Morality, Economic Theory

Barry, My Liege :

Your servant has discussed the relationship of economic theory to morality in another venue, which can be read here : http://www.mkeever.com/moral.html

Economic theory was born into a world in which the few wealthy people profited from the efforts of the poor majority in obscene proportions.

This theory, after all, cannot distinguish between a machine and a human child slave when comparing the relative costs and profits of each.

To the extent that economics contributes toward inequality and misery, we pray that you My Liege, ignore, studiously, the blandishments of that discipline.

Economics will merit serious attention only when the effects of its theories on real people are considered. Until then, we pray you treat its observations with suspicion.

Below is a short introduction to the effects of economics on England in the first part of the 19th Century :

“8. THE BIRTH OF SOCIALISM

Whatever the economists might claim to have demonstrated about the need for giving capital a free hand, there was no escaping from the fact that whereas, under the existing social order, wealth was being multiplied beyond the wildest dreams of a century back, the whole benefits of this revolution were absorbed by a minority of the population, while the majority were sinking from depth to depth of misery. And this majority comprised the very labourers who - on the authority of Adam Smith himself - produced the whole of the wealth. Nor was the contrast a matter of mere guesswork or intuition. In 1814, the year of Napoleon's overthrow, a certain Patrick Colquhoun, a metropolitan police magistrate, published a statistical estimate of the resources of the British Empire, in which the inequality of wealth was revealed, with at least an honest attempt at accuracy, in the dry light of statistics. Here it was stated that whereas some 400,000 of the well-connected and well-to-do were drawing family incomes of from two to four hundred pounds per annum, the labourers in the fields and factories had to keep body and soul together on a beggarly eleven.

Here, then, was the plain meaning of the state of things analyzed and favoured by the economists ; the landlord growing fat on his rents, the capitalist pocketing everything else above the eleven pounds or so per annum to keep each human machine grinding him wealth for over twelve hours in the twenty-four, and the man who turned to the soil or loom kept down by an iron law to a natural or unnatural rate of wages which might, according to a very liberal interpretation of Ricardo, rise, in the course of time - perhaps even to an average twelve pounds per annum !

To kick against these pricks might be - and, the whole school of middle class economists would assure you on one voice of ponderous indignation, was - quiet fallacious and unscientific, but one might at first be inclined to wonder how the poor, once confronted with such arguments as Colquhoun's statistics and their own bitter experience could provide, did not rise, as Shelley - who was after all of squire stock and might be presumed to feel the pinch of the shoe less keenly - counselled them to rise :

'Like Lions after slumber
In unvanquishable number -
Shake your chains to earth like dew
Which in sleep had fallen on you -
Ye are many - they are few' ”

From THE HISTORY OF BRITISH CIVILIZATION, Esme Wingfield-Stratford, D Sc., M.A., Ex-Fellow of King's College, Cambridge, Routledge & Kegan Paul Ltd., London First Edition 1928, Second Edition, 1930, Reprinted 1932, 1933, 1938, 1942, 1945 and 1948, pp 922-923

Sequester, Run Fast for the Future of Our State

Barry, My Liege :

Your faithful servant marvels at the pace of proposed reforms you outlined in your recent address to Congress.

And yet, we are both mindful that we face problems bigger than the solutions you propose.

And so, My Liege, we pray that you re-double those efforts, that you continue to press for the changes you have outlined and add more and more as we go forward.

Some of the Republicans will not cooperate with any action which is clearly for the good of the country, preferring to pursue partisan rhetoric to compromise for concrete action, so your strategy has to be to bury them with so many good actions that they will not be able to stop all of them.

And, as you know, you have only about six months to create the momentum toward that change.

Our future as the United States of America is on the line.

Whether by law, Executive Order or any other means available, we pray you create a wall to prevent further deterioration of our National Economic Security.

Some specifics :

Find a way to prevent the sequester for it will destroy our recovery.

Continue the anti-crime and anti-monopoly actions begun by Mr. Holder, but expand them exponentially. Monopolies drain cash from the middle class and stifle competition and job creation. Crooked bankers and their servants WILL ruin our economy again, it is only a matter of time.

Restore Glass-Steagall. Separating commercial banks from investment banks and letting investment banks fail is the only action that will prevent a future bank crisis and recession.

Strictly enforce laws supporting union activity - too many companies flout our laws with impunity.

Modify Free Trade Agreements to encourage job creation at home.

Destroy our new class of Princes by increasing taxes on great fortunes and great incomes, then use the proceeds to pay for our recovery.

Develop a National Industrial Policy so we can know which industries to encourage.

Increase regulation of corporations which monopolize essential services like energy, communications, transportation, power and other industries which are essential to life.

Create free and fair elections.

Install energy alternatives so that we may hope to avoid the consequences of dangerous global warming and secure a peaceful life for our grandchildren.

In all these things, the good news is that Republican voters expect all this and more and will not be surprised at all.

Somewhere deep in their souls, they know you are right.

Do not be afraid, My Liege.

Your faithful servant

UPDATE POST STATE - Inadequate Rationale for Killing

http://msnbcmedia.msn.com/i/msnbc/sections/news/020413_DOJ_White_Paper.pdf

Barry, My Liege :

Your faithful servant observed your short discussion of drone killings in the State of the Union speech last night. Thank you, My Liege, for personally owning the killing process.

Now, we pray you place some legal process into the system so that you and future POTUS may not murder American Citizens on a whim or an anonymous, unverified tip.

By your hoped for, future action of placing some legal protections into that process, you will assure us that the United States of America is not the same as dictatorships, terrorist states or barbaric monarchies.

Continuing the original post -

As your servant I have read a newly disclosed 'White Paper' which purports to 'justify' the killing of American Citizens in certain circumstances.

Although the White Paper is titled 'Department of Justice White Paper', it is not signed, dated, issued on DOJ stationery or bear any markings whatever which support its claim to be from a government source.

Additionally, since it has no apparent claims of authorship, is seems safe to conclude that it is an organized sales job. That is to say, someone in authority 'may' have leaked the paper in hopes that the paper itself provides sufficient justification of the killing of American citizens. Perhaps that person was you, My Liege.

The paper is a sad excuse, Mr. President. We grieve for the Country we love.

We grieve because this paper does not provide a sufficient rationale for the overthrow of the United States Constitution and the murder of citizens by the government we elect to protect us.

One of the several major problems is simply this: it has not been adjudicated.

Your administration is required to take this paper to the United States Supreme Court in order to see whether or not its several assertions of conformity to the Constitution are correct or are merely self-serving rationales.

Further, My Liege, there is no procedure or review established in this document or in your administration's processes for an independent review of whether or not a person is in fact a Senior Operational Leader of Al-Qua’ida. Without an independent review body with the power to review facts and evidence and apply relevant law, the killing of any person is simply wrong, immoral and barbaric.

My Liege, this paper is simply a smokescreen around the fact that you have chosen to murder many people without any process or review of law, justice or morality; your only excuse is that they may [or may not] be plotting to kill Americans.

I am embarrassed and saddened by this display, My Liege. I would rather that you stand up and say that you will kill these people because you think they are a danger.

Then, let the courts and the people decide if you are right or wrong.

Your pose of hiding behind a tortured legal edifice presented without review or court approval in order to murder people including Americans violates the Constitution, demeans the Office of President of the United States and demonstrates contempt for its citizens.

We pray you be brave, My Liege, for we and our Country deserve better from you.

Your faithful servant,

Climate Change

Barry, My Liege :

Let's look ahead,

"It's gonna be a hot one today.

Only 4.00 AM and it's already pushing 110.

It's January for Chrissakes.

Yesterday the NewsCorpTimesBroadcast said it wouldn't hit 100 today.

Lyin goverment shills.

Top all that, looks like tornado weather out there.

C'mom Ma, we gotta tie it all down again, jes like last week.

Hurry up 'fore it gets too hot to go out.

Or breathe for that matter.

Only good thing about all those poor souls dying from heat is that they don't drink all the water - then we can get some.

Thinkin 'bout water, whas gonna happen with the ocean anyways? Polar caps all gone, all the seashore cities drowned out. Lucky for us we live high up in the hills where it's cool.

Trees round here just about all died, but there's still some animals we can eat. Poor suckers - they don't have enough energy to run away. They just kind of look at you when you come to club 'em to death. Kinda like they're glad for it to be over.

Wait a minnit. That's a stranger out there.

'Move along asshole or I'll blow your brains out. We got nothing for you. Go on, git.'

Starving mother effers, always hanging round the house thinking we got food and water when all we got is dead game and a couple 5 gallon jugs.

Why don't they just up and find some dead animal themselves?

Well, she was pretty far gone - probably won't make it til tomorrow.

Then we'll have to dig a hole and bury her or she'll stink up the whole area while she rots.

Sometimes I wonder if it's worth it to go on. Maybe it's just better to go to sleep and not wake up.

But, you know what, we humans have been around a long time and just because some idiots 100 years ago back in the 21st century screwed up everything, I am not gonna give them the satisfaction of giving up. Nope. I am gonna fight. Stay alive. That's my goal. Stay alive and show them assholes."


Your faithful servant,

Guns is Drugs

Barry, My Liege :

This writer has some intimate experience with the problems of drug addiction and violence.

For many years, the writer condemned the idea of legalizing recreational drugs since they are associated with depression, violence, disease and suicide in many cases. It appeared wrong to offer any easier gateway toward those personal demons since it would mean that even more vulnerable people would enter that Hell.

It is apparent, however, to even the most casual oberver that the reason for much of the death and maiming occasioned by guns is more correctly laid at the feet of the illegality of recreational drugs.

Since drugs are illegal, they are sold to willing consumers by criminal gangs. Many of the gangs protect their drug dealing territory by shooting anyone who tries to intrude on their turf. In the United States of America in the most recent years for which numbers are available, about 72,000 Americans died each year from drug related causes [http://www.unodc.org/unodc/secured/wdr/WDR12_Mortality_map.pdf. Taking the number of roughly 200 annual drug deaths per million population times the estimated USA population of 360 million gives us the number 72,000].

In addition, some 35,000 Americans were killed with guns, a fair share - say 50% as a guess - were killed in the drug trade. [http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2012-12-19/american-gun-deaths-to-exceed-traffic-fatalities-by-2015.html]

This is insanity.

We have it backwards.

Here, guns are legal while drugs are illegal.

In countries where the drugs are more or less decriminalized, drug deaths averaged about 10 per million compared to the United States number of 200 drug deaths per million.

But, those countries also have much more stringent gun laws than we do.

If we were to emulate those countries where drugs are controlled by the government but de-criminalized and guns are tightly regulated we would save upwards of 50,000 lives per year.

It is time to create a legal and controlled drug distribution system modeled on the prescription drug industry or perhaps the alcohol industry.

It is the right thing, My Liege.

It will save many promising lives and futures.

Your faithful servant,

Well Regulated Militia

Barry, My Liege :

There is some discussion about the Second Amendment and the right of Americans to keep and bear arms.

Here is the text of that Amendment as ratified by the States and authenticated by Thomas Jefferson, Secretary of State :

'A well regulated militia being necessary to the security of a free state, the right of the people to keep and bear arms shall not be infringed.'

[Wikipedia]

Since it is about 220 years after the Constitution was ratified, perhaps it is a good time to re-imagine the idea of a well regulated militia. While this author claims no military training, he is an experienced imaginer.

Soldiers in our War of Independence used a tactic we see today being employed by Al-Qaeda, namely, a tactic of guerilla warfare where the native forces defending against a hostile invader do not mass armies and engage in conventional ground warfare with heavy weapons. The preference is to use stealth and small groups to disrupt the invading force so that the force is unable to move freely.

If the objective of a militia is to disrupt an invading force, then such a militia could be composed of a widely deployed force consisting of two soldier units with long range and intermediate range sniper capabilities including imaging equipment.

With today's .50 caliber sniper rifles and spotters with good imaging capability, snipers can kill targets from a mile away.

With a force of 25 or 50 such two soldier units, it could be possible to interfere significantly with a hostile force in a large urban or rural area.

Such an objective could be part of a larger strategy by delaying the hostile force in its objective of securing an area and thereby giving native fighters time to organize and further disrupt the invader.

If that were the strategy of a militia organized along county or city boundary lines, then it might make sense for a militia commander to recruit, train and deploy to their homes a number of two soldier sniper units with their requisite long range rifles, intermediate range rifles and long distance imaging equipment.

In that case it would make sense for those militia to have access to their weapons at all times.

But, other than shotguns and deer rifles, that is the only sensible condition under which when a citizen can keep and bear arms.

Today's claims that assault weapons and 50 or 100 round magazines are protected by the United States Constitution are simply wrong.

Those who make that claim are self-serving apologists for individuals and corporations who profit from and encourage the shooting deaths of citizens.

Your faithful servant,

Debt Ceiling - NOT The Issue

Barry, My Liege :

We pray you be clear on the issue.

The debt ceiling is NOT the issue.

Social Security is the issue.

My Liege, the greedy rich bastards with all the money want to steal our social security.

That's what is really happening.

Threats of harm to the debt ceiling are merely crude leverage - the tactics of thugs - to force you into giving up our old age comforts.

The United States of America does not negotiate with terrorists; and, these, My Liege, are terrorists and thugs.

Boehner and the Reps are simply paid employees of the greedy rich thugs.

Please do not negotiate with them. They can only win and we can only lose. They have no power here unless you give it to them. And we voted for you so you would resolve these issues cleanly and fairly.

A better tactic is to use the 14th Amendment and extend the debt ceiling by Executive Order.

'Section 4.

The validity of the public debt of the United States, authorized by law, including debts incurred for payment of pensions and bounties for services in suppressing insurrection or rebellion, shall not be questioned.'

Here's what will happen after you issue the Order.

Three things will happen when you issue the order and extend the ceiling.

First, you will have the Reps' gang's attention.

Second, you will have the gratitude of everyone in the country except for the small gang of thieves.

Last, there is only a 25% chance that the thieves will take you to the Supreme Court to force a reversal. If they should try that tactic, it will be the death rattle of the Republican Party. No sane person will ever trust a party which sues the President in the Supreme Court in order to ruin both the economy and the full faith and credit of the United States.

Your faithful servant,

NOTES FOR THE INAUGURAL SPEECH

Barry, My Liege :

With trepidation, this space has created suggestions and ideas for an Inaugural speech, which are offered below. Use what you find appropriate.

Your faithful servant.


My Fellow Americans :

Words cannot express the humility and gratitude I feel this morning as I stand here before you to describe where the United States of America is headed for the next few years.

We are a great and a good nation and we are grateful that we are Americans at the beginning of the 21st Century.

We know in our hearts that our greatness follows from our goodness. This goodness of Americans is not an abstract or frivolous concept.

It is as real as the Americans who died protecting our freedoms in our many wars. It is as real as the thousands of men and women in harms' way at this moment.

And, it is just as real as the Americans who immediately help when a disaster like Hurricane Sandy hurts their neighbors.

We honor and respect those Americans who serve in our Armed Forces in countries far away or who serve in their neighborhoods every day and we are more grateful than we can say for their sacrifice and good will.

From this outpouring of American generosity and good will in the years since 1776, we have created a great and powerful country. A country where every person can live the American Dream of working hard and doing well for their families.

I am happy to report that the American Spirit is alive and well and that because of the spirit we can look forward to a bright and challenging future.

We are a family - a large American family. We are a family regardless of our origins, our gender, our religion, our political party or any other artificial divide.

And, like families everywhere, we have differences about issues both trivial and large. But, at the end of the day, we come together and agree on an action which makes our country stronger.

I will not lie to you - sometimes it takes too long to get that agreement. But, we do find the common ground eventually.

And that is what you ask of your leaders : You ask that we find the common ground and move forward.

And that is what we will do in the years ahead. We will find that common ground and we will move ahead.

Make no mistake, some folks will not have their wishes granted when we come together as Americans on a policy or action. And, some of those folks who feel left out will harbor bitter feelings. As your President, I extend a hand of friendship to all Americans including those who feel left out. I hope that they can overcome their grief and help us move forward on other issues.

One of the pressing issues faced by the United States of America is that some forces in the world wish us ill and seek to kill our people. We stand resolute against our enemies and we will defend our country with our greatest efforts. Having said that, my Admistration will bring forward some proposals to modify the legal system in place to conduct those efforts.

It is important to our values that we do not violate our Constitutional principles in conducting actions to secure our country. We can and we will do both - protect our country and our Constitution.

There are some trends inside our country which need some minor adjustments in the near future in order to provide our grandchildren with better lives.

We need to take better care of the planet. My administration has a number of specific programs to ensure that our resources and environment are secure. We will bring those forward soon.

These policies may harm some people financially by the actions we take to preserve our future.

We honor the rich among us for they have demonstrated great diligence in amassing their fortunes. The issue we face today is that some of those folks can use their wealth to manipulate the political system to their advantage and by so doing block the way forward for others in our family.

Now is the time for them to demonstrate that they too have the American Spirit of being willing to help their neighbors when disasters happen.

That is what we need to preserve our greatness - we need goodness and sacrifice from everyone in our family. We ask the fortunate among us to lead the way. The United States of America cannot move forward without their cooperation. I will be asking them for their cooperation soon.

We know that middle class and working class families have suffered financial setbacks in recent years and we are determined to improve the lives of all individual families in our great American family.

Our American political system needs some tweaking in order to ensure that the way forward for average families is not blocked.

Tweaking this system requires that we alter our method of financing political campaigns and that we modify some of our capital and consumer good markets to ensure more competition among our business enterprises. It may require also that we provide some additional negotiating strength to our labor folks while providing their employers some protection from lower cost competitors. We will bring forward specific policies to accomplish those tasks.

We recognize our familial obligation to assist those among us who cannot help themselves or who have worked their entire lives and want to live out their days secure from want and illness. We will protect existing programs and bring forth new policies to ensure that we meet those obligations.

We also recognize that America's future greatness lies in our ability to make our economy sound and growing. A fundamental requirement for that economic growth is a sound and healthy public education system.

Our future new products and services depend on an educated population. We know that limiting schooling to those who can afford a private education is a road to disaster for our grandchildren. Our economy works well when all of us can produce at our highest levels. We cannot afford to limit the potential of any of our family; we need their contributions for our future.

Let me assure the American people - we will find that common ground and we will make the right decisions for our children and grandchildren.

Thank you and may God bless the United States of America.

Bankers - Making Things Worse Since Tudor England

Barry, My Liege :

A little more history about the early 19th Century shows some additional flaws in free market economics.

'If we turn to the towns, to the manufacturing and mining districts, we shall find a condition of things equally [to the agricultural countryside] revolting to humane sentiment. It was probable more by machinery than by guns that we had won the war, but the price was terrible. The period of transition [to peace] during which, under more favorable circumstances, we might have evolved a new social order, had seen all our energies devoted to beating the enemy and keeping ourselves from actual collapse. Provided this could be done, that the furnaces could be kept roaring and the wheels buzzing, nothing could else counted with those in authority. The new industrial system was allowed to evolve itself, and evolve it did in the most wasteful, slipshod and cruel of all possible ways.

Even for the employers, the struggle for survival was desperate and the spectre of ruin seldom very far off. Markets fluctuated, booms and slumps trod on each others' heels in the most bewildering way. The course of business was left not, as theorists supposed, to the free play of enlightened egotism, but to the reckless optimism and mad panic of business men. This alteration of slump and boom was no new thing, it had gone on continuously at least since Tudor times, but no one had thought out a financial system for regulating it - the very nature of the evil was hardly realized. The Bank of England, protected from any serious competition by Act of Parliament, occupied a position of dominating importance and used its power positively to aggravate the evil it might have mitigated. Before the great panic of 1825 when capital was being demanded recklessly for every sort of wild-cat enterprise, the Bank was adding fuel to the fire of speculation by cheapening credit and lowering its rate in spite of the fact that gold was being drained rapidly out of the country and its own reserve was diminishing to vanishing point. Then, when the first symptom of a slump appeared, the Bank sharply contracted its credit and precipitated a general smash. Henceforth the recurrence of a decennial panic became a regular part of our financial anarchy, with untold consequences of misery and unemployment.

With the coming of peace, the freedom of the seas, and the opening of the world's markets, a period of prosperity had been confidently anticipated. Unfortunately the first result was to plunge the nation more deeply into the trough of misery. It was no good having access to markets when the war had drained our customers of the money to pay, and the other nations, which were now trying belatedly to build up industries of their own, were by no means minded to expose them to the full blast of British competition - in Europe and the United States tariffs were rapidly put up against us. Then the government, which during the war had been a huge employer of labour, civil and military, ceased its abnormal destructive activities, and thereby flooded the labour market with idle hands at a time when works everywhere were closing down. The state of hopeless misery into which the country was plunged in the black year 1816 baffles description....

Grimmest of all was the lot of children who were herded into the factories almost as soon as they could walk, whose hours were from five in the morning till seven or nine at night, in a steaming and overheated atmosphere and amid unfenced machinery into which the poor little victims often dropped through sheer exhaustion, or imprisoned alone and in the dark down in the bowels of the earth. Every species of cruelty had to be practiced to keep them up to the mark ; the employer would often wait with a horsewhip in the small hours of the morning to flog the half drowsed infants into their daily Hell, and as the day went on and agonized appeals for the time were heard, conscientious foremen would apply the scourge with ever more industrious assiduity until the bruised and haggard little boys and girls reeled home for a few hours' insufficient sleep, broken by dreams of the day's torture. The parents, where they were not brutalized by their own misery out of all natural feeling, watched with bleeding hearts the sacrifice of their children, but the industrial Moloch was inexorable, it was a choice between Hell and starvation - conscientious overseers would not grant relief to idle hands, however diminutive.'

From THE HISTORY OF BRITISH CIVILIZATION, Esme Wingfield-Stratford, D Sc., M.A., Ex-Fellow of King's College, Cambridge, Routledge & Kegan Paul Ltd., London First Edition 1928, Second Edition, 1930, Reprinted 1932, 1933, 1938, 1942, 1945 and 1948, pp 887-888

Inaugural Speech

Barry, My Liege :

We wish you and yours Hog Manay, a very Happy New Year.

We recognize that it is a promising and simultaneously challenging time for you and for the United States of America and our Economic National Security.

My Liege, as you consider your Inaugural Speech for your second term as well as the verdict of history on your Presidency, we beseech you humbly for a few simple things.

We pray you, My Liege, restore Constitutional processes to your killing programs so that neither you nor your successors can take a life on your sole decision. Then and only then will we be able to consider you as a President of the United States of America instead of the Royal position you have assumed.

Your renditions continue [http://www.washingtonpost.com/world/national-security/renditions-continue-under-obama-despite-due-process-concerns/2013/01/01/4e593aa0-5102-11e2-984e-f1de82a7c98a_story.html] and your assault on the Fourth Amendment cooperates with Congress [http://www.sfgate.com/opinion/editorials/article/Unwarranted-intrusions-on-civil-liberties-4160170.php].

We beseech you to speak the truth about our situation. We know that you cannot right all the wrongs we face, but perhaps by speaking the truth you can establish a direction and a vision for our future that takes us toward our shared ideals.

We pray you address the income and wealth imbalances which afflict us today. They are not sustainable and will destroy our Noble Experiment unless corrected in the near future.

Let us be clear, My Liege, simply raising the marginal tax rate to 39.6% on those who make obscene incomes will not correct the problem. Truly correcting these inequities requires radical restructuring. My Liege, we will be happy if you acknowledge that.

While I can list a number of specific actions which will 'turn the ship around', in your phrase, I have written that list in this space on earlier occasions. See this for details : Saturday, September 22, 2012, Recovery and Restoration of the USA, 2013

We wish you be ambitious, My Liege. We pray you choose Franklin D. Roosevelt and Theodore Roosevelt as your models.

You will disappoint us severely if you are cautious and ignorant of our true issues, My Liege.

My Liege, we pray you speak to history and act for history in your coming term, for that is what we require as a country.

Your faithful servant,

The Lucky English

Barry, My Liege :

If the Scots were miserable in the latter part of the 18th Century, the English must have been better off.

They were, according to Wingfield-Stratford :


"...But when the war was over and the inflated prosperity of the farmer collapsed like a pricked bubble, though [war measures] may have provided the best temporary expedient for keeping land under the plough, easing the burden on the farmers and providing some sort of employment for the labourers, the plight of the countryside was catastrophe. The ratepayers, many of whom were themselves on the verge of destitution and who were , besides, crushed to the earth by enormous taxation, could not afford to be generous. Relief and wages combined were forced down to the bare pittance necessary to keep body and soul together, and this level was steadily depressed until the countryside of England, which had been not so long ago famed as the land of roast beef and plum pudding in scornful contrast with that of the 'skinny Frenchmen', was peopled by gaunt and half-starved wretches shirking about on Sundays - as Corbett puts it - "in ragged smock frocks with unshaven faces, with a shirt not washed for a month and with their toes peeping out of their shoes," droves of slaves, under arbitrary tyranny of their parish overseer, often harnessed, men and women together, to the parish cart. And yet the squires and big landowners were basking in the noontide of prosperity, trapping and transporting men to preserve pheasants, and spending long days on horseback in the pursuit of vermin."

This is what the Republicans will have for us, My Liege. It is the legacy of unfettered Free Market economics.

We pray you fight for us.

Your faithful servant.

Living With Classic Economic Policies

Barry, My Liege :

Here follows a somewhat personalized view of the effects of Classical Economic policies like those proposed by the Republican Party on real people including some of my ancestral family :

From THE HISTORY OF BRITISH CIVILIZATION, Esme Wingfield-Stratford, D Sc., M.A., Ex-Fellow of King's College, Cambridge, Routledge & Kegan Paul Ltd., London First Edition 1928, Second Edition, 1930, Reprinted 1932, 1933, 1938, 1942, 1945 and 1948, pp 886-887

LIFE IN THE SCOTTISH HIGHLANDS in the late 18th and early 19TH century.

'We can only glance, in passing, at the meanest and most shameful of all the rural oppressions of this time, the sense of which was not the English countryside, but the Highlands of Scotland. Under the influence of the Romantic movement, and particularly of Sir Walter Scott, there was much sentiment about clan loyalty, Bonnie Prince Charlie, and so forth. The kilt and tartan, which were now again legalized became symbolic of

"Old, unhappy, far-off things
And battles long ago."

But the chieftains, whose functions as military leaders of the tribe had lapsed since the strong hand of Butcher Cumberland had brought the King's peace into their remotest fastness, were by no means sentimental where the main chance was concerned. Poor soil and primitive methods of cultivation might maintain a hardy population in contentment, but as a business proposition it would pay to get rid of the clansmen and turn the whole land into pasturage for sheep and cattle - only in the fullness of the Victorian era did the claims of pleasure demand the replacement of men by deer. Even before the "forty-five", evictions had started in the Isle of Skye, but it was towards the end of the eighteenth century and at the beginning of the nineteenth that practice became common of the chieftain turning on his tenants and driving them out of their homes, with every circumstance of brutality to shift for themselves or perish miserably. The first Duke of Sutherland, in the second decade of the century, gained an infamous pre-eminence by the wholesale eviction of his hapless people, who were forced out when their crops were standing, whose roofs, furniture, and even stock were burnt, some of whom were generously offered allotments on the barren sea-shore, without boats or the money to buy them - nay, a notice was posted on a church door threatening with eviction anyone giving shelter to those already evicted. The black list of robber and traitor chieftains then and subsequently includes such names as Campbell, Macdonald, Fraser, Cameron of Lochiel, Hamilton, Gordon, and many another whose tartan figures proudly at Highland gatherings to-day, as if the colours of Judas were an honorable distinction.'

Your faithful servant,