Demographics and Disorder

One of my favorite statistics regarding nations is the percentage of population under the age of 15.

There is a strong correlation between this number and the state of order or disorder in a country.

Here is a short list of troubled nations with its percentage of population under 15 years of age

Afghanistan 44.6%
Pakistan 36.3%

Iraq 39.2%
Sudan 41.1%

Iran 22.3%
Ivory Coast 40.4%

Egypt 31.8%
Libya 33.2%

Somalia 44.7%
Tunisia 23.2%

Yemen 46.2%

Iran and Tunisia stand out as having relatively low numbers for this indicator.

Here is a short list of more stable nations with their percentages of people under 15 years of age.

Sweden 16%
UK 16.%

Netherlands 17.6%
New Zealand 20.9%

Austria 14.8%
Germany 13.8%

Canada 16.3%

New Zealand stands out for being over 20%.

The best help for the troubled nations would be to help them get their birth rates down. Family planning and women's rights would top my list of how to give real help to these nations.

The Oil Monkey

Let's get the oil monkey off our backs.
How much trouble has oil caused in the last 100 years?

Let's be done with that kind of trouble.

Here is the simple way out.

A hefty tax on oil, all oil, from all sources. A federal tax.

Here's how to implement the tax.

Every 3 months the tax on a barrel of oil increases by 50 cents.
That's 2 dollars a year
In a decade that's 20 dollars
In three decades that would be 60 dollars

This would work. The economy would be able to adjust. Tax revenues would be higher so the money would stay here in America. Alternative energy would be more and more appealing. Imports would go down. Our dependence on Middle East oil would end.

That monkey would be off our back.

United States Remains Neutral

Continuing a long history of neutrality the U.S. declared that it has no monopoly on wisdom and cannot tell other nations how to run their affairs.

In a prepared statement the Secretary of State said, "We cannot really understand the issues and problems of other nations. They have histories that go back thousands of years. Humility requires that we simply wish the best for all parties and hope that they can resolve their disputes with a minimum of bloodshed and damage to property."

"Our taking sides would not be to anyone's benefit."

Unfortunate Debt Scenario

Imagine a new company with a great idea and a vigorous man at the helm. Soon the company is making money and growing and impressing everyone.
So they go public.
They raise a lot of money selling stock. This enables even faster growth and gives the appearance of tremendous profitability. To be sure, free money from investors is a great thing to get.
Now they go the next step.
They issue bonds and borrow a lot of money from banks.
And then they cross the line.
Management rewards itself with enormous salaries, benefits, bonuses and perks of all kinds.
This goes on for a few years.
Then the company starts to fail.
Investors in the stock and bonds end up losing. The company finally goes bankrupt and the banks also lose big time.
But the management got very rich in this process. They are all set for life.

The question in my mind is regarding the ethics of this scenario. I would not conduct myself in this way. I would not rob my creditors. I just wouldn't do it.

Now there is a larger game being played with debt.
Government debt.
There are similarities to the story of this unethical company.
Government has borrowed money to pay salaries and give perks. But the crisis is now at hand. Governments are proving to be insolvent.
Will anyone give back what they made in the past? Will they be reasonable and stay in the game and take less?
NO!
The managers of government seem to be intending three things to get out of the debt hole.
Keep borrowing
Raise taxes
Debase the currency
And even the impossible is on the table now, bankruptcy of state governments such as California and Nevada.

Ethics 101 anyone?

If No Law Then No Crime

The way to reduce crime is not to lock 'em up and punish 'em.
Or take care of 'em
With social workers and psychotherapy
Or to give 'em money
etc. etc.

NO

Just get rid of laws and crimes will cease

Remember they used to have a lot of sex laws. Wow! They got rid of those laws and now those crimes don't happen any more!
So get rid of the crazy stupid laws that make criminals of us all.
You know what I am talking about.
People are really good until they get ruined by our mean culture. Let's go back to our roots of goodness. Tear down the walls! Free us and we will be like angels again.

Change laws into rules and rules into guidelines and guidelines into suggestions and suggestions into silence

Let it go

Winter In Los Angeles

Be Ready For The Next Recession

Some things you can predict.
There will be another recession some time in the future.
The current expansion is now about 20 months old.
Already there are signs of overheating.

The uprising in Egypt was partly triggered by rising food prices.
That is a sign of overheating.

The price of oil is approaching $100 a barrel.
That is a sign of overheating.

Three million dollars for a 30 second spot on the super-bowl.
Overheating

I hope this expansion will last a long time.
But it could end at any time so be ready.