The Editorial Cartoon in the Tacoma News Tribune today was a fairly simple affair - Black, with a mother and child at a gravesite.  The child clutching a flag, the mother with a tri-fold burial flag in her arm.

The caption was “A prayer for the day when we don’t have new names to mourn…”

All in all, a wonderful piece, highlighting the sacrifice of not only our servicemen, but their families. 

But also thought provoking.

Because, in the final analysis, the only nation that has no new names to mourn, is a nation that has passed from history.

And the people of that nation would be dead, or enslaved, and have many, many more names to mourn.

So while our memory of the fallen should be respectful, and we should remain aware and cognizant of their sacrifice (and that of their families), we should also honor them for their deeds, and rejoice that our nation can produce men and women who are willing to stand on the wall for the rest of us, and throw themselves in harms way, to protect our people, and our way of life.

A moment of silence, for the fallen.

Right Here, Right Now (Jesus Jones)

———————

A woman on the radio talks about revolution

when it’s already passed her by

but Bob Dylan didn’t have this to sing about you

you know it feels good to be alive

I was alive and I waited waited

I was alive and I waited for this

Right here, right now, there is no other place I want to be

Right here, right now, watching the world wake up from history

I saw the decade in, when it seemed

the world could change at the blink of an eye

And if anything

then there’s your sign of the times

I was alive and I waited waited

I was alive and I waited for this

Right here, right now

I was alive and I waited waited

I was alive and I waited for this

Right here, right now, there is no other place I want to be

Right here, right now, watching the world wake up from history

Right here, right now, there is no other place I want to be

Right here, right now, watching the world wake up from history

Right here, right now, there is no other place I want to be

Right here, right now, watching the world wake up

This has always been one of my favorite songs from the early 90’s.  It’s a song inspired by the liberation of Eastern Europe from Communism and Oppression.

It has even more power if you can see the original video for the song (which I am still searching for - YouTube has mysteriously removed it).

The idea that Hilary Clinton, a left wing politician if there ever was one, would consider this song for her campaign theme song is disrespectful to those that fought, and died, for freedom from her political brothers and sisters.

Todd Seavey at NRO Online has a much more eloquent take on this:

There is no shortage of left-wing bands Hillary could have picked. Why not the Clash, who may be the cleverest musical propagandists of all time? Why not Bob Dylan or Tracy Chapman, who are both mentioned disparagingly in the Jesus Jones song (Dylan by name, Chapman as that “woman on the radio [who] talked about revolution when it’s already passed her by”). How about the covertly Marxist yet thoroughly fluffy Top 40 band Scritti Politti, who sang “[I’ve got a] Perfect Way” — and who probably do think that one perfect, centralized health care plan is exactly the way to go? Why not use that pro-wealth-distribution song “Hunger Strike” that Chris Cornell and Eddie Vedder sang back in the ’90s?

The Left has so many rock’n’ roll songs to choose from, it’s a crime to take one of the few that belongs to the Right — to the extent that it is not simply the treasured inheritance of free people everywhere.

I am more aware than most of the reasons the Union movement was so popular in the United States around the turn of the century, and through the 40’s and 50’s.  I am also more aware than most of the reasons Union membership has declined so precipitously in recent decades.

Coming from a long line of Coal miners (and still having some relatives in that industry today) I am painfully and personally aware of the working conditions and treatment of workers that lead to Unionization.  The unbridled expansion and growth of the American economy from the end of the War of Northern Agression, and the hard times of the Depression, led to widespread and horrendous abuse and mistreatment of emplyees, and horrible working conditions, in many industries.

A lot of things began to change after World War II.  Criminal takeovers of some Union leadership, the transformation of America into a manufacturing and industrial powerhouse, and the return of millions of war veterans changed the complexion of the workplace.

As the economy grew and changed, the average worker had to become more educated, and technically savvy.  To compete, business had to adopt, and in some cases exceed, Union type benefits.  This led to the decline of the Unions in all but the most menial, and low skilled jobs, or in those industries where they had a death grip, such as the teamsters, and government employees.

Wait!  Government employees?  What’s up with that?  Are they not skilled, technically adept, and educated?  The inital goal of the Government workers unions were (and remain) the retention of Government jobs as career civil service positions, supplanting the old Patronage system of political appointment. 

Unfortunately, as is always the case when a great deal of money, and therfore Power, is at stake; corruption inevitably follows.  And when the onerus demands of the Union become oppressive, and the “return on investment” of the workers in supporting the Union becomes a liability, the Union loses membership.  And with that Membership, goes both Numbers and Money.

In an effort to stem the tide, the Union bosses have joined with the other bastion of corruption in America, the Political Aristocracy.  As the Arab saying goes, the Enemy of my Enemy is my Friend; so the Unions and the political Left work to the same end goal of growing the Unions, and in return, the Unions support the Left - and since many of their end goals are similar, this is also a fairly comfortable marriage of convenience.  The only real disagreement on the end goal, is who will be in charge when all is said and done, but the goal is the same - the complete control of the people and the means of production.  Dress it up in any semantic clothes that you want.

We can see this most evident in Washington State, and on a National Level:

SVC Alumnus has done yoemans work following the HB 2079 scandal here in Washington.  For those unaware, HB 2079 was put forward by the Unions friends on the Left as a way to side step what will surely be an unfavorable Supreme Court ruling that they CANNOT USE AGENCY FEES (monies from non-uinion members that they are REQUIRED to pay the Union in compensation for contract negotiation that the non-union employee benefits from) to support Political spending.  HB 2079 essentially erases the distinction from monies the Union raises for political activities from all other funds collected. 

Nationally, the Employee Free Choice Act  would ELIMINATE the Secret Ballot for votes to Unionize a shop.  Where today, all ballots are secret, under the Act, Union Thugs would be present to see each employee vote, opening the employee up to psychological, and physical, coercion.  If this Act is passed (already in the House, pending in the Senate) and not Vetoed, there would be a wave of unionization unlike anything seen previously.  The economic carnage would be unimagineable, and the political effect profound, and decided left.  America would, in short order, become France, where being just left of center makes you a Right Wing Reactionary, and 35 Hours in the work week is considered akin to being a fuedal serf.

How people can look at Europe, and think that Left wing politics, and powerful, omni-present Unions are a GOOD thing defies logic and common sense.

Most of us in America today (around 85%) are At Will employees.  We are free to quit and move at any time, and we bargain for ourselves in the workplace.  Likewise, our employer can terminate our employment At Will.  In a competetive job market, this system works well, and those that work hard, and improve their job skills, typically advance.  In the world of the Left, and the Unions, Seniority rules, and personal accomplishment and skill means little or nothing.  It is the consistent message of the left, that everyone must be dragged DOWN to the same level, that equality of result is the most important thing.

Except for the Union Bosses, and Political Aristocracy…

NOTE:  For some Fun Facts, check out the Bureau of Labor Statistics, and Union Facts.

Had the opportunity (mostly work related - really!) to travel to Jalisco and Nayarit states in Mexico recently.

A few things struck me while I was there, that I thought worthy of sharing:

-CNN International makes CNN in the States look like Fox News.  The shear anti-American slant to everything on the channel reminded me of the BBC.  The most memorable part was a “correspondent” (with a British accent) in Iraq pointing to a whiteboard, with a tally of dead in the area.  His comment was that “these weren’t numbers, they were people” was belied by the smirk on his face:  You could feel his smugness, and the underlying theme of his piece that thing were just going to get worse while America was in Iraq.

-There is little or no animosity towards Americans in that area, as Americans per se.  I saw no real evidence of anti-gringoism, for anti-gringoisms sake.  But they are fiercely patriotic about their State, Mexico, and their history.  There is a grudge held against the Conquistadors, and their imposition of both the Catholic faith (not that they let that stop them from being solidly Catholic), and the feudal system that Mexico was subjected to.

-These two states seem to be models of what is going RIGHT in Mexico.  I saw quite a lot of constuction, and a huge amount of large scale agriculture.  One of my guides had lived in Conneticut for three years, on a tourist visa. He made the comment at one point, that he could not understand why so many Mexicans wanted to enter the US to work, when Mexico had far more potential for growth and advancement, from his perspective.  

-Just from an agricultural perspective, they get a minimum of THREE crops per year from the land, and sometimes FOUR.  They land and weather are so good many folks outide of town grow food in their gardens, including Mangoes, Jack Fruit, Plantain Bananas, Tamarind, varieties of Cocoanuts, and much more.  The small farms are increadibly self sufficient.

-The number of Satellite TV dishes was SHOCKING.  Even cinder block hovels in the middle of nowhere had SKY or Dishnet antennas (and sometimes both).

-Jalisco is the home of the Tequila industry, and Silver mining.  With the Agricultural potential, and inflow of money from Tourism, this area should be - and gives every indication of being - in a boom.  My ultimate barometer of economic groiwth in a region is the Airport.  The Airport in Puerto Vallarta (2nd biggest city in Jalisco, biggest in the Coastal area in the region) is currently expanding to more than DOUBLE it’s capacity.

Seriously looking at moving some investments into Mexico oriented Mutual Funds or ETFs…