The New Reloigious Freedom Laws

Ever since a bakery refused to supply a cake for a gay wedding there has been a flurry of efforts to grant religious freedom for faith based companies. An uproar has been the result. In my opinion these efforts are being pushed by Christian adherents who feel threatened. They are making a huge mistake which we all will regret when those of a different faith demand respect for their religious beliefs. I have in mind the growing population who are Muslims. They could demand the right to have four wives, beat their wives and kill female members who have violated the Koran as we have learned so very well this past decade. Will their right to their beliefs be allowed to stand in opposition to our moral code that we try to live by as American citizens. Politicians and citizens wake up before it is too late. Jack B. Walters

American Sniper

American Sniper Produced and Directed by Clint Eastwood This film is an outstanding achievement by Mr. Eastwood. I was stunned by the realism portrayed knowing beforehand that it was a true story about an American hero who put his life on the line over four tours of duty on behalf of his country, his family and his comrades. It seemed as if I was watching it in real time. In spite of the tragic scenes there were lighter moments that caused me to chuckle. You felt the anguish as Kyle had to decide whether to shoot and take a life to save our own soldiers. As the tours continued the strain was easy to feel. A best actor award certainly is Bradley Cooper’s to take. Those who have condemned this film should be ashamed. All Americans should see this to understand what our soldiers have been living with for over 13 years while the rest of us enjoy our day to day activities without giving it a thought. If you haven’t seen it yet I urge you to do so with the hope it will be as meaningful to you as it was to me. Jack B. Walters January 27, 2015

My response to the State of the Union Address

I listened carefully to President Obama’s speech last night waiting to hear what he would say about Islamic terrorism. His comment was very short. "We will continue to hunt down terrorists and dismantle their networks, and we reserve the right to act unilaterally, as we have done relentlessly since I took office to take out terrorists who pose a threat to us and our allies." "It's why we continue to reject offensive stereotypes of Muslims---the vast majority of whom share our commitment to peace." My immediate reaction was that he will not ever link terrorism to the Muslim community. Not recognizing the connection leaves our military and law enforcement in a quandary as to what they should be doing. I firmly believe now that the reason neither he nor anyone else in a high administration position attended the rally in Paris. It was not an oversight or a lack of staff support. The European leaders had finally, after decades of denial clearly stated that the attack was by Islamic terrorists. Obama would not support that and so he stayed home. Eric Holder was in Paris. All that was needed was a phone call to have him show up. If he got a call it was to not show up. I do not condemn all those who profess their allegiance to Mohammed but at the same time I believe that they for the most part are taking passive positions against terrorism with only a few exceptions. Those who dare to speak out are endangering their own lives. There is very little wiggle room. I believe we have been made suckers with our multi trillion dollar expenditures in the Middle East and that our evolvement has merely strengthened and encouraged more to join the crusade. Right now we are bombing Sunnis while at the same time Shias are taking over Yemen. If it was up to me I would withdraw completely and let them sort it out. I would suspend all financial support. Jack B. Walters January 21, 2015

Predictable Tragedy in Paris, France

Listening to CNN this morning I heard that in order to not place any of the far flung journalists in danger they are going to limit their commentary about the killings in France by Muslim terrorists. With due consideration, I disagree. This response is the same as Sony when they cancelled the opening of a film after threats by N. Korea that patrons going to a theatre showing the movie would do so at risk of losing their lives. Extortion like this is as old as the hills. The sure fire way to destroy an economy is by threats. In today’s world with government leadership afraid to speak out the terrorists will continue to win. The first time I was alerted to death threats for anyone who dared to insult Mohammad was years ago when Salman Rushdie published his book “The Satanic Verses”. He has been hiding ever since. Then Ayaan Hirsi Ali and Theo van Gogh collaborated to produce a ten minute film depicting four punishments that women could receive for various offences. In 2004 Gogh was murdered while walking down a street. His throat was slit. The knife thrust into his chest had a warning to Ali that she was next. She has been in hiding or been protected ever since. In 2005 another Danish cartoonist, Kurt Westergaard published a Mohammad cartoon. He was attacked in his home by an assailant with a knife. He was rescued and the assailant was sentenced to 10 years in prison after which he would be expelled from Denmark. There were over 200 deaths of non-Muslims in Muslim dominated countries as they expressed their outrage. This current attack which killed Editor Charlie Hebdo and 11 others is a deadly reminder that Islam is bringing the war to Western nations including the United States. More will follow as they must destroy our cultures in order for Islam to reign supreme throughout all nations on Earth. We have little or no defense since leadership refuses to acknowledge that there is uniformity to these actions. They strive to convince us that it is only small groups of radicals. Our President will not allow any disparaging remarks about Islam by those in the military. The gunmen in France while carrying their attack shouted “Allahu akbar”. May I remind you that Major Nidal Malik Hasan shouted the same words while killing 13 and wounding 30 in Ft Hood, Texas. Under Obama’s edict it was considered work place violence instead of what it really was a Muslim terrorist attack on Americans. It is up to us to speak out and demand clear, concise policies to recognize the threat and to take unified action to stop it from spreading. Denying it just will not be successful. Jack B. Walters January 8, 2015

The Death of Money-a book report

(The coming collapse of the Internal Monetary System) By; James Rickards This is a disturbing book that describes all of the many issues of concern relating to fiscal sanity. The Federal Reserve has just finished printing over $3.2 trillion dollars out of thin air, which has the effect of lowering the value of each dollar in circulation. They did this to try to keep us out of deflation. In Europe the Euro has been propped up to cover the losses due to countries not adhering to their pledges to stabilize their economies. . China has over $3 trillion of investments denominated in U.S. dollars and every 10% devaluation in the dollar engineered by the Fed represents a $300 billion real wealth transfer from China to the U.S. Is it any wonder China is reducing these dollars by investing in natural resources around the world and purchasing gold? Counties like China, Russia and in the Middle East resent that the dollar is the predominate currency for world trade, He reports that India is a major importer of Iranian oil and does so by swapping for gold. If our government doesn’t start to take concrete steps to stabilize, the end draws near. With $18 Trillion in debt and climbing rapidly there can be no other outcome. He predicts that the China miracle is nearing its end and that as growth rates slow down together with anemic growth in America, Japan and Europe depression must be the result similar to the 1930’s. The stock market is poised for a crash worse than 2000 or 2008. He suggests that economic stimulus would help pull us out of the spiral we are in. With interest rates at an all-time low this would be the right time to spend on projects that would be profitable. He uses Eisenhower’s Interstate Highway system as an example of a project that was beneficial as the cost to construct and maintain reaped benefits for the private sector far exceeding cost. He compares that negatively to the Obama stimulus plan which only aided local payrolls for union employees and funding inefficient, non-productive nonscalable technologies such as solar panels, wind turbines and electric cars. This did not stand up to his test on whether the investment added to costs without benefits realized that assured the investment paid dividends. He makes the point that when Clinton allowed Glass-Steagall to be repealed; the banks were allowed to act like hedge funds which opened the door to massive hidden leverage. As a result the 2008 crash occurred. He also points out that new jobs being created are, for the most part, low paying. 50% in the first half of 2013 were part time. Good paying jobs are near non-existent. By late 2013 over 50 million citizens were on food stamps with over 26 million unemployed, underemployed or discouraged from looking for jobs. An important statement made which has been my belief for a long time is that by deliberately keeping interest rates at zero there is in effect a transfer annually from average Americans to the banks of $400 Billion. An annualized rate of just 2% would reverse the process. Part of the Fed’s design is to penalize savers and discourage them from leaving money in a bank, and to encourage them to invest in risky assets, such as stocks and real estate, to prop up collateral values in those markets. Without this, in my opinion, the stock market would not be sky high as it is today. Again, in my opinion the day of reckoning is near, keep tuned. In his concluding chapter he predicts that when the panic starts that savings in the form of bank deposits, insurance policies, annuities and retirement benefits will be largely wiped out. Gold will rise in value to $9,000/ounce. Social unrest will be dealt with by extreme measures using SWAT teams, drones, armored personnel carriers digital surveillance, tear gas, flash hang grenades and high-tech battering rams. This sounds pretty grim to me. He reminds us that the government confiscated gold from citizens in 1933 and could do so again. Seven signs to look for are; 1-A rapid rise in the value of gold. 2-Rapid purchase of gold by China. 3-IMF reforms which devalues the portion of SDRs of U.S. dollars. 4-Defeat of efforts by U.S. regulators to limit the size of big banks. 5-Rapid fluctuations of the Dow Jones Index. 6-A sustained reduction in U.S. or Japanese asset purchases, giving deflation a second wind. 7-The financial disintegration in China as a wealth-management-product Ponzi scheme collapses. His final recommendation for us is to diversify into a portfolio of 20% gold, 20% land, 10% fine art, 20% alternative funds and 30% cash. Who among you would do this? At any rate, you have now been warned. I highly recommend reading this book. It is extremely well written and researched. Jack B. Walters December 10, 2014

Common Genius-a book report

Guts, Grit & Common Sense How ordinary people create prosperous societies and how intellectuals make them collapse By Bill Greene This is another powerful book that rips apart history and re-writes from the basis of ordinary people. I came to possess it as a gift from some unknown person. It arrived in the mail from Amazon one day. I never received a bill nor was I able to learn who sent it to me. I would like to think it was from a friend who knew of my writings and wanted to share. The author explores history from long ago and points out how real progress was realized in isolated places where the people were not constrained by harsh government. The real meat is about the rise of America and the stagnant growth in Europe during the same time period. The people leaving Europe found a new land without rules or regulations restricting them from making lives for themselves. After the Revolution freeing America from England and the establishment of the Constitution and in particular the Bill of Rights for the next two hundred plus years America left the old world far behind. All sorts of new ideas generated new opportunities .There were of course difficulties to overcome such as the robber barons in the late 1800’s and early 1900’s. Teddy did his best to curb them. They exploited labor as much as they could while reaping great fortunes for themselves, not unlike what we are experiencing today. His main theme is that ordinary people left to their own devices can work miracles but when suppressed and controlled they atrophy. He points out how easy it is for people to come under the spell of leaders like Hitler, Stalin, Mao and others who collectively murdered over 100,000,000 people on their way to creating their empires. Eliminating peaceful religion is a necessity. A people without a moral compass are easily swayed. I am, of course, not including Islam as a peaceful religion. He stresses that the growing moral uncertainty, the blurring of right and wrong, and a loss of confidence in the principles that made America the most free and prosperous nation in the world is why we are floundering today with many factions warring with each other and no common ground. There is a vast amount of insight and information to be gained by reading. It will not be easy so be prepared. Jack B. Walters November 8, 2014

Pump- a documentary film

This is another eye opening documentary. It should be seen by all Americans or at the very least all politicians. It was shown in the main theatre of the Loft. There were five people in total who attended. I actually made a new friend with a man from Iowa. We had much in common. The following will be my recollection of what I saw. Whether the facts presented are totally true I have not attempted to verify so if you disagree then we can discuss. It begins with the dismantling of the streetcar system which was in every major city. The cars were systematically purchased and destroyed being replaced with buses. Vehicles were originally powered by alcohol. The assertion is made that prohibition legislation was not only to curb drinking but also prohibited its use in vehicles as well. All motorized vehicles changed to gasoline. I want to add here that General Motors in the 60’s produced hundreds of electric cars which were leased in California. The leases were cancelled and all the cars were crushed. The general theory is that industry has conspired against any idea that would decrease dependency on gasoline made from oil. California was making strides introducing vehicles running on methane. They were forced to modify with a mixture that was proven to include chemicals which could cause cancer and the program was stopped. They mention that Brazil years ago converted to a blend of 85% ethanol and 15% gasoline. The country is completely solvent; the middle class has increased in numbers and other good things. They interviewed Mr. Tesla who was optimistic about the future of electric cars and the increasing mileage that research will provide over the next decade or so. They showed the multiple sources that could be converted to ethanol including waste, wood, and vegetation of every kind and that cars from 1993 on could be converted to 85 with a simple software change which the auto manufacturers have not seen fit to do. Should you adjust your car and use 85 they will void your warranty. Further leased stations are not allowed to add 85 by the owners. Legislation has been proposed repeatedly for over a decade and has never gotten out of committee, they claim as a direct result of enormous campaign contributions. It is not hard for me to accept that idea. There was more but I will end now. Jack B. Walters November 6, 2014