The Knock on the Door That Never Came

The other day I was talking to a friend in mainland China. I was complaining about the gridlock in Washington. We talked for a bit about Bo Xilai and how little the Chinese people knew about what was going on.

He then said to me, "I think you live in a very good country."

Those words brought back my perspective. As much as I criticize politics in this country, I can never forget why my ancestors came here in 1620. And it isn't just religious freedom that marks our country as a fine place. People still can be outspoken about any subject they want and about any one of our leaders.

 Some time ago, when I was in China, I picked up the Chinese name for GW. He was called Xiao (little) Bush because his father was Da (big) Bush. Bringing that concept back to America I put it in a very different context, one that the Chinese never intended. But I could denigrate his decisions in a college classroom. In China, denigrating Hu Jin Tao could end you in the slammer.

Calling him little Bush was a cheap shot, but I took it. They never came in the night to take me away.

I think I live in a very good country

My Party is Right. Your Party is Evil

America's bifurcation has reached new levels of absurdity. More and more people are realizing this and 40% of the electorate are registered Independent. While Democrats have 38%, Republicans have just 28%.

When each party takes control of the presidency or a house of Congress they believe they've been given a mandate. This is patently ridiculous. The party that has gained the power quickly pushes things too far and the independents become disturbed.

If Santorum became the nominee of the Republican Party in the fall, Republicans would soon go the way of the Whigs.

With the revelation that John Corzine is a crook, just like all the other bankers, the Democrats can get off their high horse. He authorized the transfer of clients money into an overseas account the company used to meet the firm's obligations.

Whether the Justice Department, or the SEC will throw him in jail, of course, is another question. The fox is guarding the hen house and he was a powerful Democrat.

What I've seen from the Corzine incident is the inability of Democratic Party members to see that a member of their party could be a criminal. I already knew the Republicans were incapable of identifying the wolves among the sheep.

My guess is the percentage of the electorate that registers Independent will only grow. Both parties have blinders on. The Democrats don't want to reduce the deficit. The Republicans don't want to pay for the wars they start or the basic safety net required for the American people.

The next time you think you're right, and the other party is evil, try to think that you might be making another decision based solely on ideology. As they say, "the Devil knows Scripture too."

France, Savoir Faire and Soccer

As an American, when I used to visit France it was at best a mixed experience. Since I speak Chinese, not the lingua franca (which once was French), I was barely tolerated. But I've changed that situation.

When I lived in Europe, the last French official soccer jersey they had for sale was the home jersey. (They won the '98 World Cup in the Blue one.)  This white jersey stands out because everybody wanted the Bleu one.

Every day on my last visit to the City of Light I wore this, washing it at night in the hotel. I was waited on first in small restaurants. I also tried not to be an American, by not yelling and by being polite. (man, it was hard)

I also said only two things loudly which were "La Belle France, and "Vive La France."

I'm looking forward someday to once again being the Toast of Paris.

Bloomberg Tries to Destroy Whistle Blower

For the last 36 hours Bloomberg television has been trying to destroy the reputation of Greg Smith, the Goldman Sachs whistle blower. They've put on everyone they can think of who will demean him. They talk about how he'll never get another job. They talk about how low-level he is and they talk about the fact he only makes $500,000 a year.

This concerted effort to destroy his credibility makes me wonder if Wall Street learned anything at all about the financial crisis.

I no longer respect Mayor Bloomberg and will not watch Bloomberg.com. This unrelenting attack is one of the most vicious  in journalism and makes Bloomberg look like Rupert Murdoch.

People who know Greg Smith, who worked in the London office of Goldman Sachs say he is a man of the highest principles. He is someone who is ethical to a fault. Because of this, he wrote an op-ed piece in the New York Times which talked about the culture of Goldman Sachs. He said the bank tried to make money for the firm at the expense of its clients. Goldman Sachs has had its ethics questioned over and over. Its  flagrant self dealing is a matter of record.

We now know that Wall Street has learned nothing from the Financial Crisis. It will continue to do anything to make money at the expense of its clients. MF Global shows how little ethics matters on Wall Street.

Bloomberg has shown how little he respects the average American. I can't believe how much I used to admire him. Now I wonder just how slimy he is. Our country is in trouble and our public figures don't care.

John McCain and Neville Chamberlain

As he probably was for many others, John McCain used to be my hero. He was the rational voice in the Republican Party. I really miss him.

I still regard him as a great patriot, but the man who wants to drop bombs on a lot of countries is not the same John McCain I used to admire.

He has joined the Republicans who still think Neville Chamberlain is the enemy. In every war since World War II the Republicans have brought up the concept of appeasement and the Democrats, afraid to take a stand on anything except support for the teachers unions, have gone along.

The most interesting aspect of this is that Republicans were solidly behind America First which tried to keep us out of  the Second World War. They weren't interested in stopping the boxcars heading for Auschwitz. However, since Korea they've used Munich as a sledgehammer on other Americans who might not want to invade Iraq just because the Iraqis were nasty to George's daddy. So I watch John McCain, who now wants us to bomb Syria, and wonder if he knows how sleazy and uncoordinated the opposition is in that country?

It's too much I guess to hope the old John McCain will return. He has joined the disloyal opposition and wants us to kill everybody.

However, I still miss the John McCain that provided hope Americans could work together to fix our problems and transcend the vitriol and nastiness of our present two party system.

Gingrich Injures Romney and Hurts Republicans' Defense of the Rich

Newt Gingrich, who apparently doesn't want anyone to be president if he can't be, has damaged Romney for the general election and destroyed a Republican argument.

You see the Republicans always say taxes are too high and can't be raised, in combination with budget cuts, to fix our astounding deficit problems.

If Romney has earned $200,000,000  from taking over companies and firing people and only pays 15 percent in taxes, how is our system of government fair. How should those born again, anti abortion people feel about someone who makes a fortune, yet pays less taxes than they do?

There should be taxes on oil companies. General Electric should pay taxes as they help China build an aircraft  to compete with Boeing, the American company that helps so much in decreasing our deficit with China in balance of payments.

Romney doesn't pay any more than 15% in taxes because there's a special law for buyout fund managers that lets them count their work as capital gains so that limits their tax rate to 15%. In other words because he didn't create anything, or build anything, or work at a real job, he gets lower raxes than other people who go to work every day and try to make enough to feed their families.

Newt Gingrich didn't just injure Romney, he injured the Wall Street fat cats who used Republican concepts to avoid paying their fair share.

Why the farm reminds you of a real America

Robert Frost once wrote a poem about being versed in country things. I still don't know if an aspen and a poplar are the same thing. But there are some things I do know.

Until my father died when I was seven, we had Herefords, Horses, and game chickens my father would never loan to those who wanted to fight them. Since the cows were for beef, I never learned how to milk a cow, but I do know if you push on the side of a well trained horse it will move sideways.

You remember the times you ate the corn you pulled off the stalk and got "corn belly". Your father told you what to say if they asked if you had a TV? "No, but we got a new manure spreader."

You try to stay in touch with it. You put in 18 fruit trees or buy a horse that's a thoroughbred/warmblood, so your dad, the former ringmaster, will look down from Heaven and see you can stay on when she does a 360.

But hanging on is what it is. The longer you live in West LA, the more you think it's normal for high school  kids to have new BMWs  that miss you by a foot when you're in the crosswalk. You make friends with people from some other part of the country because you've learned Southern Californians really will never "do lunch" with you.

But the farm is always there in the background to remind you there are livable parts of
America that someday you can return to. There are some days that's enough.

Romney and Economic Rape

If you want to understand how Mitt Romney made his money and how he fits among many of the rapacious buyout fund operators you'll need a little lesson in how such funds take over companies.

A standard approach to taking over a business by a hedge or buyout fund is to borrow money that is combined with investor money to pay for the purchase. This immediately adds debt to the company's balance sheet. The operators of these funds make sure that they borrow enough that they can pay themselves back almost immediately, replacing what they invested. Frequently a 20% return to investors for these funds is not unusual. So the actual investment by people who put money into these funds (and the businesses they bought)  becomes much smaller.

When you add to the company's debt burden you have to do something to make the balance sheet look more attractive. That's done by getting rid of workers and thinning the company's labor costs. In other words the investors get money out of the company, while many employees lose their jobs.

Is this good for companies? Does acquiring a company using debt that injures the company's balance sheet  provide a way of building a better America? Four out of ten companies Romney invested in went into Chapter 11 bankruptcy. Romney built a fortune for himself.

Wall Street has played with America since the Clinton administration, making deals that did not add value to the American economy, but made Financial Ubermensch rich.

To those of you reading this who are unemployed, I'm telling you it has nothing to do with your ability to work hard and contribute to our country. You are just a victim of 20 years of economic rape.

The Search for the Darkness

It seems that many people around the world are searching for the darkness. Once you've seen "Oldboy," part of a trilogy from Korea, you start to wonder why there's an obsession for the dark side across the globe.

Therapists say is  has had quite an impact on the 18 to 30 generation. You wonder if it isn't part of a global desensitization.

I don't want to sum up the plot of "Oldboy," because you can always stream it on Netflix. Suffice to say, I saw enough as a reporter not to need a trip into hell. People I'm close to in the aforementioned demographic group don't have the same reaction to violence that I have.

Vampire stories have been around since "Vlad the Impaler" surfaced in Transylvania in the last century. (Transylvania was once part of Austria Hungary, and is now in Romania) Movies about Dracula were made in the 1930s and people used to joke about them. Now the movies and TV shows about vampires are omnipresent.

Hollywood producers for the last 30 years have hidden behind the First Amendment to produce gorier and gorier movies. (But Alexander Meikeljohn said people need free speech because they vote) The stretching of the First Amendment to cover carnage got sold to the America people by a ubiquitous media that wanted to make more money.

But the damage is done. I wonder how different generations view a hideous auto accident, or a terrorist incident? Is it all just theater? Does it touch people's souls? How many youth actually believe vampires are real?

Music for a Nation that needs it more than ever

The music and video for the barn raising scene in "Witness" may be the most beautiful exemplification of Americans working together to create something better.

The movies do this quite well. As far back as the 30s you had the end scene from the  movie "San Francisco" that inspired hopefor a city destroyed by an earthquake. Jeanette McDonald walked among the rubble as she and other San Franciscans sang "Nearer my God to Thee."

The first time I ever had a positive feeling for Mitt Romney came a few days ago. Among a group of followers he said the last and frequently unheard verse of America the Beautiful.

It goes like this: "oh beautiful for patriots dreams that see beyond the years.

Thy alabaster cities gleam, undimmed by human tears."

Eternal Father, Strong to Save: a reckoning

I once had the opportunity to go on a picnic with a friend, and Will and Ariel Durant, those historians whose books were given to people who subscribed to the Book-of-the-Month club. I asked them what message they could take away from studying all these different civilizations. They said they found when a society lost its religious underpinnings it began to disintegrate.

My mother is close to death and I've been singing the favorite hymns she loved to create a connection to a body that suffered from Alzheimer's for over 10 years. They say there's no atheists in a foxhole and yesterday I was praying and singing some of the gospel songs I have on iTunes.

The experience is very painful, but I had a way to let my feelings out thanks to Steve Jobs and Jesus.

The need for religious underpinnings is becoming quite clear in China. Before Deng Xiaoping, the people could believe in communism, despite what Mao had done to them through the great leap forward and the cultural revolution.

Now money is the new God in China. I was surprised to see the image of Kong Fu Zi (Confucius) in the opening ceremony of the 2008 Olympics. Perhaps the nine men who run China thought the people needed a old/new glue to hold them together. You can see how the tea party manipulates that need for common values in order to take us back to 1951, where African Americans and Asians knew their place, and white people could feel comfortable.

They say there are people who don't have the gene for religiosity. I however, have a need for a belief system that can sustain me. As I said in my article about Nirvana, I don't claim to have the only path to a Higher Power or union with the cosmos. But it seems all societies need it and some of us, individually, need it even more.

What people think Nirvana represents

In the West, people use the word "Nirvana" in a
way that makes it sound wonderful. I wonder what many of the people who use it
think it is? Because Buddhists believe that life is suffering, after many
reincarnations it is possible for a person to stop the reincarnation process,
and the pain that accompanies it, by leaving this world and ceasing to exist.
If you understand the world as envisioned in sixth century B.C.E. India, this
is an appealing concept. If today, you believe that life is suffering, it is
still as appealing.
Both Christianity and Buddhism require courage and an
attempt to do the right thing as a cornerstone of their religions. Although I am a
Christian, the actions of Buddhist monks almost always receive my admiration.
The word "cheng" in Mandarin means "to
become." In the Christian religion, you can become worthy of entering
heaven during one lifetime. Achieving Nirvana could consist of reincarnations
over millions of years.
Although I believe in the resurrection and am a Christian,
I've never assumed that I have the only way of reaching a higher power. So
therefore, when I hear the word Nirvana used, I realize that to many in the
West, it's a term they probably can't fathom.

Facebook and the Job You Always Wanted

Let's suppose you are 28 years old and have completed a graduate degree. You are going for an interview for the job you've always wanted. All your youthful indiscretions have passed into distant memory. You put on your new suit, tie your tie, and head into the future.

You expect to see a friendly face at the interview because you had a 3.7 as an undergraduate and did well in graduate school. But that face isn't so friendly, he's looking at you askance trying to decide whether you're the person on the resume or the pictures of you drunk as a skunk, in various versions of undress, on the new Facebook timeline?

America always has been the home of the second start. You could remake yourself into what you wanted to be by hard work and by changing your attitudes on life. That's going to be hard to do now since Facebook permanently has the picture of you and your then girlfriend on your site. This new feature should make a lot of people run from Facebook. The current generation's belief that everything should be open and available on the web will be tested now.

Facebook has already been selling your information to those sites who sell your life story people find near their Google mentions. One of the things a person in HR does is to protect the company from hiring loose cannons. In a job market which is very difficult, why would they hire you?

Where is America's Ethical Base?

We wonder what's happened to the America we imagined when we were children. I, like most people, really love my country. In some ways, it's gotten incredibly better. I dated the prettiest girl in college, but because she was Chinese, I didn't have a lot of competition. Today I wouldn't meet her expectations. African Americans were really mistreated openly, but a lot of that has changed for the better. I taught a lot of African Americans and Latinos in college and my life and the country's zeitgeist is better than it was before.

However, every time I gave a test, I knew 70% of the class had cheated before. Bankers used to be boring people that mostly tried to do the safe thing. Now they are people who would sell out their clients if they could make a buck. Investment bankers come from the top 5% of business school graduates, so they seem to be the best at manipulating the truth.

As I've said before, British political philosopher, Walter Bagehot, said in the 19th century that you could tell a lot about a country by the people they admired. John Corzine is the best example of how our ethics and morality have deteriorated. He was elected senator then governor of New Jersey, before he went on to lose $1.2 billion from restricted accounts used in trading for the fiduciary agent itself.

He's learned the American trick of fake humility when caught with a hand in the cookie jar. He clearly must have never had an ethical base, because anyone with any empathy wouldn't have done that to the small farmers and others who've suffered. Rumors have it that Obama planned to replace Geithner (who's wanted to leave for a while) with Corzine. It's hard to blame all our problems on the tea party when some Democrats have no ethical base. And that's true because Americans have placed money above ethics, empathy and inalienable values.

America, practically alone among nations, does not teach values in our school systems. We don't spend a lot of effort in our schools to explain ethics. The teachers union is a bunch of people who try to protect their tenure. Laws that require political correctness eat away at American values. We wait for the financial system to recover, but if those who are expected to play by the rules have no intention of doing so, then things will only get worse.

Christmas and Schadenfreude

Because a friend wanted to spend Christmas Eve with his wife, I took the overnight shift at United Press International in Boston. This shift ran from 12 AM to 8 AM on Christmas morning. This shift promised to have nothing serious happen in the way of news. However someone has to be at work in the large bureaus across the country in case Elvis is not really dead.

The guy who I was subbing for and his wife stopped by to give me a Christmas drink. That was pretty nice of them because there were a lot of places I'm sure they'd rather be. After they left though I began to monitor some of the national news stories that that were running on the A (national) wire.

You would not believe what kind of stories, describing every different kind of tragedy, were running on teletypes no one was reading. They were almost uniformly depressing. The one-story I will never forget started with "Christmas came early for John Jones of Boulder Colorado who lost his hands in a tractor accident." The stories went downhill from there.

I did not understand if it was "schadenfreude" (taking joy in other's misfortune) or an attempt to remind us of how lucky we were on this Christmas. But this shift has to be accompanied by a major antidepressant.

All I know is that I finished my shift and walked out in the cold New England air happy I wasn't John Jones (name changed). I say a prayer for him every Christmas Eve.

America, the perpetual patsy

America is a very confused country. With a Congress that's close to being declared brain dead and a president who never even ran a city before, it's like a missile without a guidance system.

There are some things we know. When I gave a test in college, national statistics told me that 70% of the people in that classroom had cheated before. Ethical behavior on the part of business school graduates, probably only happens by mistake and by those among the bottom quartile. (Those in the top 10% become investment bankers). However, because of the corrupt practices act, we're not allowed to bribe people overseas. Everyone who has any brains knows you can't sell something in China without bribing an official or businessman. The name for this practice in China is hong bao (red envelope). If you don't have some guanxi wang, you just might as well mail them a proposal from Buffalo. China has this tradition and it's getting stronger every day. However, we want to put Americans in jail that are trying to sell stuff there.

On the other hand, the Republicans don't want us to slap controls on China, a country whose currency manipulation is legendary. They talk about free trade as if giving another country the advantage is part of how it's supposed to work. All they care about is letting American companies make a little more money before our economy is destroyed. They act this way even though unequal currency transactions force companies to produce goods without American workers. House Republicans have made it clear that they will do nothing to stop China from destroying American jobs.

We have lost interest in protecting the country the tea party swears it loves. I don't know what Democrats believe, but I know it has nothing to do with balancing the budget and helping us survive as a nation.

I can see us in ten years shipping a large number of people to China where they'll become janitors. This is sad, because Americans don't bother to learn a foreign language, so they won't even be able to order lunch.

You're an Americano. I'm a Mexicano

There is a new program in California called the Dream Act that would provide illegal immigrants with scholarships and other aid to attend California universities. There are some good things about it, but there is something that bothers me.

I had the wonderful opportunity to teach Latinos for much of my life as a university administrator and professor. Some of these people were so intelligent and driven that I'm waiting for the days when I will take pride in their impressive achievements.

I frequently had conversations with American citizens that went like this; "Dr. Turner, you're an Americano."

"You were born here and are an American citizen, so there's no difference between you and me, "I said.

"No, I'm a Mexicano. You're an Americano."

Because I respected the minds of these excellent students, I would end the conversation, because there was no way I would be able to change their attitudes.

However, when you get citizenship, which could eventually happen to American university graduates, you become an American. There is no way you get to deny that. And while these days, citizenship seems to be more about rights than responsibilities, Americans of Latino descent have been some of our best soldiers in the two Bush Wars. Of course, I got my American citizenship through the Mayflower, but these Latinos are my equals. There is no difference between the two of us.

The Rains of Ireland

Now that I've got a following in Ireland, I want to tell this story.

Years ago, I was drinking with a friend in an Irish pub in Los Angeles. It was the kind of place that tossed you out if you asked for Bushmills.

That night, right after they passed the collection for the IRA, the storm outside collapsed the roof and enormous amounts of water poured into the pub as we rushed for the exits and our cars. I'd like to be able to understand if that was a sign from God, but I'm a Methodist, and what do we know.

The Kardashians and America's Future

A British political philosopher in the 19^th Century, Walter Bagehot, said you could judge a people by who they admired.

A friend told me today that a lot of people who are struggling to get by are offended by the blatant conspicuous consumption of the Kardashians. But I bet it’s not hurting their ratings. (If you don’t know who I’m referring to, don’t worry because you’ve probably been working hard to put a meal on the family table)

Now these mistresses in marketing have Kim divorcing a guy who she'd been married to for a heartbeat. Katherine Hepurn once said, "I don't care what you say about me, as long as it isn't true."

With the Kardashians it’s like being in Africa and seeing how America lives and thinking your country will soon have all the things America has.

But if you’re consumed by these reality shows about rich people, and disregard what they aren’t doing to help pull this country together, you should just be listening to the radio.

Congress has chosen Air Supply as its soundtrack and has Justin Bieber on their Iphones. They think we’re too weak to accept the suffering it’s going to take to recover from the financial crisis. They’ve provided money to people who went under the second time, because they never should have gotten the loan in the first place. (If it’s because of unemployment, please forgive that last comment)

Ben Bernanke has been working hard to prove John Maynard Keynes wasn’t just an economist 80 years ago. Every day we’re more in debt. QE3 could be the name of a British ship, but instead it's a bad idea on monetary policy

But, who is providing the answer? Not the tea party who wants to take America back to 1939 where African Americans were part of a segregated army and people looked at Chinese and remembered they needed their shirts laundered.

By the way, why do Republicans hate Obama worse than they did Clinton? You don’t think it’s because he’s black and decided to leave the slave’s quarters, do you?

The fact is that the Democrats want to keep spending, while the Republicans want us to default on Treasury dividends. Doesn’t any group of Americans care more about our need to sacrifice for a great country? My family has two Mayflower pilgrims in its line, and I can’t remember reading about a time where we were a country of wimps that had to have an I pad or they wouldn’t be able to show their face outside their home. Maybe everyone can’t have Air Jordan’s either.

We are spoiled and our Congressmen aren’t doing anything to fix this. When we have to stop printing money, and everybody realizes that polarization has destroyed our two party system, it will be too late. China will own us. Why don’t we all learn Greek and go out in the streets and riot because we can’t afford Godiva Ice Cream anymore.

I never expected much when my dad died when I was seven. I used to pray that the social security checks would stretch far enough until the 30th I can still remember my mother yelling at me that hamburgers were only for dinner. I seem to be among a few that never believed the beans would grow to the sky.

Danny and the Demons

When I was in high school, and for years after that, I had a good friend I'll call Danny. He was probably fifth generation in America, but always thought of himself as an Irish-American. In Syracuse you were either Irish or Italian, with others of us thrown in to complete the population.

He was a wonderful person, with a great heart and deep feelings. His father, who was an important man, walked out on the family when Danny was young. Danny would sometimes go into a funk and his mother would have to leave his dinner outside his door. However, Danny was very smart and great to talk to.

When he was in college he trained under a world-famous boxer and that was when he got tough. He always won, but he got into a lot of bar fights. Oswego, New York had him barred from entering the city.

After college, he married a wonderful woman who was one of the best wives and mothers I've ever seen. She really cared about Danny and could usually calm him down. He was a detail man, and decided that he was drinking too much, so he began taking a prescription drug. He was really an intellectual, but back then in northern New York the doctors only wanted to talk about fishing and hunting so his daily conversations never explored the deep issues he wanted to talk about.

I would call and beg him to get off the drug, but he always told me he could handle it. One day, after being institutionalized for a while, he died in a head-on collision somewhere in the South. His wife called me and broke the news. I was upset for quite a while but I was young and moved on. It was later, as I thought about all his potential and his wonderful heart that I regretted so much that I never would see him again.

What really drove him, I never completely knew, but when I taught at an urban university, where the fathers of many students had disappeared before they were born, I started to put it in perspective. My father had died when I was seven and I found that being a big brother or foster something was truly rewarding. But nobody stepped into Danny's life and provided a role model. I guess everybody figured that because his father was an important man that it wasn't necessary. However Danny didn't see his father for years on end and his very Catholic family lived in an old apartment.

Danny was something special who could have had a very positive impact on the world he lived in, but the demons wouldn't let him.

Racism against Chinese Americans in Army, Marines

In a NYT story they say Chinese/Americans have a lot of questions about the death of Private Danny Chen. It seems he either killed himself or another soldier ended his life. This came after his superiors had repeatedly used ethnic slurs and dragged him across the floor. It seems he was repeatedly demeaned.

It's a paradox. In higher education in California you can't count Chinese Americans as a minority because many of them work much harder than the average Caucasian and get admitted to the prestigious University of California in large numbers. There have been quotas, and although they allegedly don't exist now, admissions people aren't exactly impressed by good grades if the person is Asian.

So are they just people who work harder: or as this Army incident shows, are they part of a minority in America. The Times points out that Marine Lance Cpl Harry Lew killed himself in April in Afghanistan. Before he died he'd been the subject of brutal hazing. The marines who did the hazing have been ordered court martialed.

I have language exchanges every week with three UCLA doctoral candidates from China. They work incredibly hard, denying themselves a lot of the fun I enjoyed in graduate school. They are achieving at a high level because of their extra efforts.

Our society can't have it both ways, making them non minorities for college admissions, while they're being treated like dirt as they voluntarily defend our country.

As for being bad soldiers, I guess the superiors of Danny Chen never heard of Korea.

The Promise of Thanksgiving

Halloween will soon disappear and we will look toward Thanksgiving, the ultimate family gathering. As a Mayflower descendent I am both proud to be connected to two different Pilgrims and embarrassed by what the second generation did to the Native Americans who celebrated the harvest and helped them survive

That's how it goes in American history. We are a great nation, yet we have to overlook the racism that was such a part of it in order to feel good about who we are. However, Thanksgiving celebrates our togetherness. Grown up children return to the nest and for once the core family is gathered around the table.

We can celebrate the fact that we're a free country that has a generous tradition of philanthropy for those wiped out by tsunamis and hurricanes. We can put aside our political differences for a day and reach out to others who don't share our views. We can also vow to be better Americans and deal honestly with our problems.  We were a nation that grew by sacrifice from the revolution to today as we are pulling out of Iraq. Sacrifice will save this country, once again, if we are all determined to share it. We became great, not through isolation from others, but by sharing a dream that can continue to be true if we all join hands.

My Student, My Hero

There are some occasions when a student remembers his professor as a guide on how to run his life. He cherishes that relationship and uses that professor's lectures as a standard for future decision making.

In my life, I’ve had such people guide me. But in a very real sense, one of my students has become my hero. Ronnie has the size and appearance of an NFL linebacker. He towers over me and I’ve always thought if I really got in trouble I’d want him walking into a situation with me. Not that he’s violent, but his imposing size would prevent others from going too far with impunity.

But, of course, that’s not why he’s my hero. He went to a tough inner city school and after school ended, he went to the library and stayed there until it closed. He tried very hard and because he had brains, people wanted to help him.

By the time I was teaching him in Feature Writing, he was working at Home Depot and Kmart at the same time. He wrote thoughtful pieces that showed great talent and I thought that he was as good as any student I ever taught at the Newhouse School. My dream was for him to write at the New York Times.

Of course, by the time he graduated newspapers were going out of business or hanging by a thread. So he has a good job in government, Right before he graduated he wrote an article in the school newspaper that asked: “If the school is 30 percent African American why should there be a separate Black graduation?” He didn’t care what other African Americans might say to him, because there was no party line on how African Americans had to feel or think.

He drove an hour and a half to have dinner with me the other night. I was really looking forward to seeing him, because I feel like he’s an American hero and he passes on his strength to me simply by being my friend. He’s the best kind of American, one who thinks deeply about things and isn’t afraid to say something when he sees an injustice. If my daughters weren’t already in college, I’d make him their guardian if I passed on. My life is better because I had the privilege of teaching him. My life continues to go well, because he’s my friend.

Originally published on 10/18/11

American Freedom vs. Chinese oppression

When Thomas Jefferson wrote the Declaration of independence he provided a statement that justified personal freedom at a time in which governments were seen to grant freedom of speech to its citizens. His amazing document, in which he channeled John Locke, said freedom was an inherent right.

Democracy is a messy concept. Other governments seek to restrain the ability of people to communicate freely, but America and a few other countries believe it is a crucial right. At the moment, the speech of a certain group is undermining confidence in America. However, even though democracy has its downside, overall what Americans experience is enough freedom to say what  they think and determine how they should vote.

Our biggest competitor, China, does not value free speech. In the New York Times yesterday, the paper revealed the government is setting strict rules about micro-blogging, the  vehicle in which ordinary Chinese (lao bai xing) learned what really happened in a high-speed train wreck. Since China has invested a large amount of money in high-speed trains, it was something people needed to know.

They are also limiting entertainment programs on regional stations to  two 90 min. entertainment programs a week. I guess in China having too much fun is a threat to national stability. The new, tech savvy Chinese are going to live in a different world.

For many reasons, I have a strong positive feeling for Chinese all over the world. My trips to China have been life changing experiences. I have experienced wonderful hospitality (re qing) and been able to have close relationships with many fine people. These people have gotten used to a modicum of freedom that will now be taken away. I'm experiencing extreme sadness about the world they'll be living in.

Thank God I'm an American.

Netflix, Greed, and the canary in the coal mine.

Netflix has done what seemed impossible to do; destroy its stock price, public relations and employee morale. In that way it is an unusual American story. If it had had a legion of very connected lobbyists, like GE, it probably would have received governmental support and have stopped deterioration of its finances.

I say this is unusual because most Senators and Congressmen are owned by major corporations or the teachers union. In most cases conspicuous greed doesn't seem to be a problem. There may be a couple of bankers in jail but not many. Some of them, in fact, saved their fortunes by taking TARP money.

It seems you need to have a totally out of touch CEO in order to fall out of the elite. I know friends who dropped Netflix, even though they loved the movies. Most of us aren't smart enough, it seems, to stand up for ourselves and say we're not going to take it anymore.

If Americans understood what it's allegedly American companies were doing to destroy the lives of middle-class people by being driven by greed, they would be as active as they've been with Netflix. At this moment, American companies are doing anything to get into China, because they figure that they want to be the last company to make some money before the ball drops in China and people discover they have all our proprietary technology.

Greed hurt Netflix, but if the American people won't pay attention to what's happening to our country because of this rampant greed, the outcomes won't be clear to them until we've destroyed the middle class.

We need someone with the strength of Teddy Roosevelt to deal with the new Rockefellers.

How to destroy America

An article in the New York Times today reveals how the GOP field with its accusations has diminished our legal system in the eyes of conservatives and others. This is just one example of how the war between our political parties is changing the confidence Americans have in their government.

Winning, without the consideration of campaign rhetoric on the American people, is dangerous. We once had a country where leaders of both sides could retire to a room and figure out what was best for the American people over bourbon and branch water. That era is gone and the two-party system, which has been a cornerstone of support for our Constitution, has now become the enemy of our Constitution. In a court room, the defense attorney for a rapist tries to find out problems in the life of the rape victim. It is one of the most controversial outcomes of an antagonistic legal system because it can destroy the life of someone who had already been victimized.

Our country is in the same position. If the Republicans keep pointing out the deficiencies in our system of government the country will never have confidence in itself again. I'm not a Democrat, and I don't think they've made any attempt to cut back on spending. But the Republicans are out to destroy the country they say they're protecting.

The day that they realize that they are Americans first, and Republicans second, we can start building confidence in our government among the American people.

Chinese Americans are pissed off

Chinese Americans who live in Los Angeles are very angry. Their Chinatown (Zhongguocheng) is extremely large.  It stretches through the San Gabriel Valley for a long distance. Prices in this area for housing are beginning to go through the roof. Schumer's law, which would give a foreigner a visa if they bought American property will just make things worse for Chinese Americans. Chinese want to live near other Chinese, so they invest in those areas. Chinese Americans already have seen prices escalate because of home purchases by mainland Chinese. In one community there are housing developments just to hold the mistresses (er nai) of mainland Chinese who do business in America.

This is just another shortsighted mistake Americans have made about China in the last 20 years. If an American company goes to China it needs to take on a Chinese partner. Then if it wants to stay, it is forced to turn over proprietary technology to the government. General Electric has made a deal to help build a passenger plane which aims an arrow at the heart of Boeing. The dumbest thing I ever heard was a GE spokesman who said the military wouldn't get that technology for two years. This man knows nothing about China.

The Republicans in the house are not going to vote for tariffs on Chinese goods even though they're made by state owned industries and supported by subsidies from the government. It looks like the tea party wants to destroy America instead of turning back the clock.

Any company that goes into China should expect that their technology will end up in a Chinese company that will have an advantage in the marketplace.

We can't expect the Chinese to take care of us. They operate in their national interest. If we don't stand up and fight, our children will be their janitors.

Who says Bankers are Immune from Prosecution?

              If you're looking to buy a house in Los Angeles you'll be surprised at the paucity of homes on the market. Since LA home prices are 166% of prices in 2000, you'll wonder how this happened. Aren't many Americans out on the street because they couldn't make mortgage payments?

              It seems the banks are waiting to foreclose on property until they get a multistate settlement that essentially says we won't sue you for all the things that you did that were illegal. They want this guarantee, because the large number of mortgages that involved robo signing and the skirting of requirements required to sell their mortgages to Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, could guarantee they'd be in court until after the Obama administration leaves town. (Your guess is as good as mine on that timetable)

              The bankers who made so much money selling these loans to investors in tranches(where you buy a piece of a collection of mortgages) now don't want to face the music. Bank of America, whose former boss made really laughable deals, is scared stiff.

              There are very few bankers who took the money and ran that have been  charged with any felonies. They would never say what Harry Truman said; "the buck stops here." Under significant pressure, Kamala Harris, Atty. Gen. of California, pulled out of the multi state agreement because people were pointing out that you could do illegal things and never have to pay for them. The banks wanted absolution.

              Obama wants something done immediately in order to move the economy along. I understand his desire to do that. But criminals shouldn't be able to walk away from destroying our financial system.

              

What Occupy Wall St. is and isn't

Many people are talking about Occupy Wall Street and what it is or is not. Fox news makes them sound like homeless psychotics or clueless philosophy majors. Others on the left see it as the beginning of a new movement that will galvanize the left wing of the Democratic Party.

In fact, it probably won't eventually fit in either one of these analyses. I view it as a simple wake-up call for everyone who is angered by the situation in which the rich get richer and many others are unemployed. Over the last few years it's been clear that Wall Street runs our government. The rich decide which way the country will go and tells the congressmen they've purchased how to vote.

To the extent that it is controlled by adbusters, I am for economic equality for shrinking middle class and poor, not for structural changes in American Government.

Like many I voted for Obama and found that he was incapable of picking subordinates. He put Summers and Geithner in charge of the economy and they protected the rich. Obama could have been leading Occupy Wall Street, but instead every move he made was helpful to the wealthiest Americans.

Many of us are independents and have no faith in either party. But we're angry as hell, and don't want to take it anymore. It's clear that Congress, on both sides of the aisle, are in office to make money for themselves or are strapped to an ideology that does not allow for compromise.

Now the question is what are the 99% of Americans who've lost purchasing power in the last 10 years, while the bankers and others on Wall Street tripled their net worth, going to do about it.

Are you listening?

Authors, Artists and the Zone

Those who run frequently have experienced the flow of endorphins which kick in after a couple of miles and makes you feel like you are being propelled forward. You are in the zone.

It's the same thing for authors, and I assume, artists. You don't know when your characters take over the story and tell you what they should be doing, but when it happens it's almost like your writing is being driven  by an exceptional source. You don't want to stop, because it seems so perfect.

I'm not saying that everything you write when you're in the zone will look great to you upon second reading, but while you were writing it, you were being pushed forward by unseen winds.

When I look at some of the art that's been produced by people who are on my Google plus, I'm astounded by the beauty. Maude McDonald  had the creativity to paint a modern horse against the back ground of the figurative horses in European cave paintings. It's clear she was in the zone when the idea struck her and she painted this work of art.

Unfortunately, at least for this writer, some days you sit in front of the computer, and until you try free writing you don't have a chance in the world of entering the zone. That's why it's such a special place, because the rest of the time you are struggling to create a word picture out of the ether.

A Yearning for Communication and Camaraderie

I was at a dinner the other night which involved a cross-section of Los Angeles. There were African-Americans, Asians, and white guys like me. In discussions with some I began to pick up a theme. It sounded like people were looking for camaraderie and deeper discussions on what was happening in America and of a  structure to perpetuate this kind of interaction.

Until the 60s, it was common for men to have places they could go to for these things. As a wire service reporter, I could see the fraying of communication and the inhibiting  of  the transfer of information from one generation to another. The situation has finally gotten to the point where more and more younger men want the reassurance that values still matter.

My assumption is that the same concerns are shared by women, although they've always had a readiness to be open with each other which men seem to fear and makes them close up. The farther technology goes, the more people yearn for a serious conversation over coffee.

Our nation needs to have a glue that holds us together. The feeling right after 9/11 was that Americans were reaching out to other Americans. But a few weeks later we were back in our anomic worlds. In societies in other countries there may be less distance between people because of extended families and adherence to tradition.

The yearning is there. I just hope more of us reach out to experience a re-communication.

General Electric Gives China Technology for Passenger Plane

The Chinese are throwing their weight around and demanding American companies share proprietary technology with Chinese companies. These companies ultimately will be forced to share this technology with the government. General Electric is moving their technology there as fast as they can.

I have many Chinese friends, both here and in China. Talking with them is a pleasure and I respect them very much. But this does not mean I’m a fan of strong arm tactics.

The idea that GE should give up their proprietary technology to help the Chinese build a large passenger plane is horrendous. Our balance of payments would really be much worse if we couldn't count Boeing sales
I guess GE really isn't an American company anymore. The CEO, Jeff Immelt, and his buddies don't care what happens to our country. If the Obama administration hasn't stopped this then it's another bad mark against the administration. Oh I forgot, Obama made  Immelt the chair of a commission to increase employment. But he sure won't increase employment in Washington state. This is an arrow pointed right at Boeing.


The Chinese would never let one of their companies do this. Immelt isn't a patriotic American.Capitalism is an excuse for betraying this country

 In an earlier blog I talked about Chinese history (Zhongguo lishi). This move is no surprise to those of us who read a book called To Change China: Western Advisors in China by Jonathan Spence. He described how the Jesuits in the Ming, then Qing, Dynasty shared their advanced knowledge of astronomy with the Emperor, then stood there waiting, hoping they could proselytize in China. (Back then predictions on where celestial objects would be was important to the Emperor's face). The Emperor then looked at the priest and said, "Why are you standing there?" The priest asked what was in it for the Jesuits. The Emperor said, “Thanks a lot."

This drama played out through Chinese history and culminated with the ouster of the Russian advisors when they were no longer essential to the communist revolution and the rebuilding of China

 (At this time, I'd like to point out to my friends who are Chinese that this commentary is not an attack on China, merely an observation. An earlier blog of mine talks about the importance of Chinese patriotism.)http://richwhitneyturner.blogspot.com/2010/09/role-of-face-in-chinese-patriotism_17.html

So the idea that technology would be taken over is a logical expectation given Chinese history. If companies don't want to sell products in China, they can go home. Since most Americans couldn't find China on a map, it is to be expected that these corporate barons wouldn't know anything about Chinese history. America is an insular land where the only other languages besides English are spoken by the children of immigrants.

More and more companies that used to be described as American moved their operations to China because the CEOs wanted bigger bonuses and the less they paid employees the more they got in their pay envelope. They didn't care whether a lot of Americans wouldn't have a job, they just wanted more money.

This is pretty close to crossing the Rubicon. Have American companies lost all that once made them American corporations? My answer is yes.

A few years ago, a spy for Israel gave secrets to them. Many Americans looked on him as a traitor.

So just as they moved American jobs overseas in the companies’ determination to make money at any cost, they now intend to share our national secrets. If our government lets this happen it’s because we have become the world’s biggest debtor. You can’t spit in the face of your banker.

Summers, Geithner and Iago

Like many disillusioned voters across the country, I voted for Obama. Looking back, I'm not sure what I expected of a man who had never managed a city, county or state. What I do know is that all my hopes were dashed when Obama ushered Larry Summers and Tim Geithner in to run his economic program.

In addition to saying that women can't do science, Summers had worked very hard to break up the wall Roosevelt had created between banks that take deposits and banks that are trading houses. With Geithner's help he was successful in eliminating one of the safeguards we had against abuse in our financial system.

It's clear now that Obama didn't understand economics. He was, in essence, a tabula rasa. But he had a high level  of  self-confidence and considered himself a quick study. He surrounded himself with a lot of academics who'd never had to face the real world.

Larry Summers wanted to take care of all his rich friends and bankers. Instead of helping Main Street the money went to Wall Street. He and Geithner saved a lot of fortunes created from running irresponsible banks. Some banks loaned out 30 times the amount of money they had in reserve. But none of them suffered. The guys who ran Citibank, Merrill Lynch, and others walked away with their golden parachutes, probably looking for a bank they could trust with their ill-gotten gains.

This was the time that Obama could have stood up for the powerless. He could have repeated what William Jennings Bryan said: "thou shalt not crucify mankind on a cross of gold." Instead he sat back and let Summers help his banker friends rape the American people. Othello believed everything that Iago said.

Why did you and I forget any analytical standards and vote in a man who didn't understand economics and clearly couldn't judge who is qualified to run any kind of populist economic program. Summers made sure that insightful people like Paul Volcker were not allowed in to share their opinions. The foxes were running the hen house

.

 I'm no longer looking for the great new thing. I want a president who's run something and understands what qualities you should look for in your subordinates. If I have to hold my nose and live in a country run by Rick Perry, it's all Obama's fault.

Congress, Corruption and Kidneys

A Congresswoman's husband ran a kidney transplant operation that the federal government wanted to shut down because a number of kidney transplants had failed. This seemed to be the federal government doing its job.

But Democratic representative Shirley Berkley forced the government to back down. The Nevada Congresswoman worked diligently to protect her husband's income.

This is not unusual. And it happens on both sides of the aisle. No matter which party the legislator belongs to their number one concern is increasing family wealth.

Given the sorry state of affairs, who would put their trust in this Congress to solve the nation's ills?

As an independent, my view my view is not to trust any of them. Sen. Harry Reid, also of Nevada, has enriched his family remarkably well through his position in the Senate. Both parties have numerous examples of pure unmitigated greed in their ranks.

Now we are expecting these self-serving greedy politicians to redress the balance in our society, between those who have and those who have not. We expect them to reduce the federal deficit and provide jobs for the unfortunate Americans who are out of work or underemployed.

Neither party cares about corruption within its ranks. Both parties do favors for the rich. If you think these self-centered people will put America first, I figure you still believe in the Easter Bunny.

America; Where only the Rich count

In the day since I first wrote this; Warren Buffet has bailed out Bank of America. Buffet, who says he should pay a larger percentage of his earnings and dividends to the government than his secretary does, makes money, but cares about America. We need more Warren Buffets, a man who is leaving his money to charity.

There is now talk about bailing out Bank of America again. If we do it this time (which we shouldn't) we have to claw back the money the last two CEOS have made for helping destroy out economy.

Perhaps if Larry Summers and Obama had never met we would have had a President who stood up to entrenched interests. Summers had helped take down the wall between regular, deposit accepting, banks and investment banks. This coddling of the rich was in full force during the Clinton Administration and intensified during the Bush Administration. Clinton gave Greenspan rapt attention.

So both parties are for the rich. The democrats just pretend more. The Tea Party is too dumb to hide that they work to protect rich people.

When I was young, CEOs made 40 times what the assembly line worker made. Now he/she makes 430 times what the assembly line worker makes. Of course, in America, we believe we could be that CEO some day. When it happens to you; drop me a note.