Author: LLPOH

I have recently returned from a trip that took me through the US mid-West, New York, and the UK. I was carefully watching for cultural/societal changes since my last visits to those areas. All of the areas had changed, and none of it was for the better, perhaps with one exception. I finished my trip with little interest in pursuing any further overseas trips for the foreseeable and indefinite future. The pain was too great and the cultural gain, and pleasure, too little.

The Mid-West

My first stop was to drop my second-born off at college. The college is located in a small to mid-sized mid-Western city. My first reaction was “Holy mother of God – will you just look at all the fast food joints!” We arrived fairly late in the day, and didn’t get to see a whole lot until the next morning.

I mean, I have never seen anything like it. Every street corner had a place serving poison. There were Hardees, Taco Bells, McDonalds, Burger Kings, Sonics, Kentucky Frieds, IHOPS, Dennys, etc. etc. etc. everywhere. And I mean everywhere.

The next thing I noticed was huge pick-up trucks. Pick-ups were everywhere, by the thousands. And inside each pick-up was a family of whales. Watching those fat suckers trying to get in and out of the trucks was truly enthralling. Some of them needed several attempts to haul all the lard up into the truck. Some of them had little ladder things to help them. You could see the fear on their faces when trying to get out of the truck – obviously the 9 inch drop could result in broken bones or dislocated ankles. Sometimes they would make several tentative tries to exit their trucks. We would watch this with our mouths hanging open.

The next morning, we got our student registered, and then had to go to a Walmart to collect the required bedding and assorted necessary items for a college student. Walmart was the only place that had the required bedding sizes. I had not been in a Walmart for years, and so was somewhat looking forward, nervously, to the experience.

Well, boy howdy, did my first impressions – fast food joints, pick-up trucks, and whales – translate into what I saw at Walmart. The parking lot was full of – you guessed it – pick-up trucks. By and large, it was full of new or newish pick-up trucks. And there were whales of all sizes, colors, and ethnic backgrounds tumbling, rolling, and oozing in and out of those suckers. Once their feet hit the pavement, they would waddle their way toward the entrance, perhaps 50 yards away, having to stop to catch their breaths a time or two on the way to the door. Once inside, the most whalish (whale-like?) would commandeer one of those motorized ride on carts, and off they would go. A lot of them were toting oxygen bottles. Some were so fat that their asses covered the seats and came near to dragging on the ground on either side of the carts – and I kid you not. My family watched this with our eyes bugging out. And as an aside, we also noted the following – the bigger the whale, the more likely they were to be covered in tattoos and to be sporting purple hair, nose-rings, and those ear-thingies where the holes are the size of silver dollars.

But here is the thing – we had some opportunity to talk to these folks, being unfamiliar with Walmarts in general. And here is what we found. Those fat, tattoo covered, purple haired, nose-ring wearing whales were …… nice. I mean REALLY nice. Helpful. Eager to be of assistance. They would walk (or ride ) with us to whatever we were looking for, they would describe what they buy, what they use and why, and what was the best value for money. They were polite – almost universally. We liked these people.

With respect to the general community, and the surrounding areas, we did have a chance to drive a few hours out of town, and around town, to the rural areas and such, as we were delivering a family friend to another college a few hours away. What we saw was a mixed bag – there was quite a bit of commercial building going on, but in general the overall impression was of a struggling economy. Our conversations with the residents seemed to reflect the same – that folks were generally getting by, with dual incomes, but that things were tight, and getting worse.

So my overall impression of the mid-West is of a god-fearing, lovely people who are killing themselves with rotten habits, and who are making horrible life-choices through their eating habits, their spending habits (new cars they can ill-afford), and their general long-term decision making. They are trusting souls that bought into the American dream, but are slowly awakening to the new reality. And they are compounding the problems of the new reality with their personal decision-making. It really is quite sad. We really do like those folks.

Next Stop: New York City

It had been quite a while since I had been to NYC. I really did not know what to expect. We flew into New Jersey, and took a New Jersey cab to NYC. A more disgusting, dirty, nasty car you would never have seen. It was a disgrace. The driver was on the phone the whole way, he drove like a maniac, and we came to realize that one hand constantly on the car horn was mandatory for driving in NYC.

We drove through some old parts of town to get to our hotel, and I was pleased to see, in general, that it looked pretty safe. The other thing we immediately noticed was that the people were not whales, unlike in the mid-West. In fact, we saw very few whales at all in NYC, despite seeing throngs of people. The why became more apparent over the next few days. The fact is, in NYC, a person HAS to walk. There is largely no choice. You simply have to do a fair bit of walking in NYC. Cars are few and far between, save for taxis (very clean taxis in NYC, as compared to the New Jersey shitboxes), and you simply must hoof it a fair bit to get anywhere. This is in comparison to the mid-West, where the folks waddle 20 feet from their front door, hoist themselves into their pick-ups, shoot through the drive through fast food joint, and then head home. I am convinced it is the walking that keeps the New Yorkers relatively less obese than those from the mid-West.

New York was, of course, bustling. We met almost no one who lived in Manhattan – almost everyone commuted from surrounding boroughs. The cost of living in Manhattan was extreme, and a lot of property was being snapped up by foreign investors – Russians, Chinese, Kuwaitis, etc. This was a theme we would see again.

There was a lot of building going on in NYC. Mostly what we saw, of course, were shops. I do not know what people really do for a living, but we were advised by the people we did speak to that things were not easy. A great many of the folks we spoke to were not native to NYC, but had been there for a number of years. And of those, the majority were trying to figure a way to get out. NYC was not their golden ticket.
We did go to Wall Street. It is singularly unimpressive. And we did not see a single person with horns and pitchforks. Admin made all that up. Along 5th Avenue, we were shown shops that were renting for $1 million per month – Chanel, etc. It is nearly impossible to believe. Their rent was in excess of $10 million per year for 5th Avenue storefronts.

Apartments along Central Park were going for many many millions of dollars. Apparently the old money is located on the East side, and new money (actors, athletes, etc.) on the West. The buildings, especially on the East side, are held such that the residents can prevent anyone they want from buying into the buildings.

I had opportunity to go to a local doctor (I picked up a third-world disease somewhere along the line that is still giving me grief. Apparently my vaccinations wore off after these several decades. I can assure you that some of the diseases that folks are vaccinated against are ones that you really do not want to get. I may still have some weeks or months before I am fully recovered. Without divulging the disease, I will say that it kills hundreds of thousands of children a year, and it has reinforced in me my belief in vaccinations. This disease is infectious BEFORE any symptoms occur, and I could have come in contact with an unvaccinated child before I knew I was even sick, and it could have been life threatening for the child.). I was seen for around two minutes, the quack shrugged, did not know the cause, prescribed some antibiotics, charged me an outrageous sum, told me I was not contagious, that I could travel, and sent me on my way. I mention this as I had the opportunity to visit several more doctors in the UK for the same reason, and will relate the different experiences later. But suffice it to say that this doctor was a quack.

In general, here were my overall impressions of NYC. First, the good point: since my last visit, NYC has become much safer. Harlem and all other areas appears to be rejuvenated. I did not see a single place I felt was unsafe. That is a spectacular change.
But much of the rest of my impression of NYC is negative. The people are distant and not friendly. There are far too many people. Streets are too narrow and cramped, and it is not much fun to walk around. There are a lot of folks hustling for money – mostly targeting tourists. Things are very expensive.

But mostly what I saw was a huge disconnect between the haves and the have nots or have littles. The people you see and interact with do not live in Manhattan – they live elsewhere, by and large. There is great wealth concentrated in areas of NYC – a lot of it is old money, elite money. A lot of it is also new money – actors, music personalities, financial people, etc. I do not find the stratification of haves from the have nots very appealing. There is a disjoint that I find unpalatable, largely I suppose because I cannot see that those with wealth have actually created anything of value. Perhaps they have – but I do not see it. They seem to have manufactured their wealth out of thin air, and I simply do not like the way that feels. It looks to me to be unearned. Those that do not have wealth seem to be beholden to those that do – that the rich of NYC seem to be the reason for the entire existence of the city. I get the feeling that crumbs flow continuously down the hill, from layer to layer. And that the whole city is essentially producing nothing of value.

So in the end, I do not like NYC. I do not like the crowds, the cramped streets, and the general feeling I get in the city.

I hope this is of some interest to folks. I do not think I have offered any great insights here. I will post the next part of the story, which will begin in London, when I get a chance.

I often talk about my belief that hard-work, education, thrift/delayed gratification, perseverance, honesty, and trustworthiness are the keys to long-term success. I believe that young people with these characteristics can be successful even in today’s economy. I am frequently howled down by naysayers.

I want to tell a story about a young man I know. This young man decided 4 years ago to abandon a promising individual athletic career to take up a team sport, as he missed the camaraderie of a team sport. He also decided that his goal was to play NCAA basketball. Now, given that this young man had no basketball experience whatsoever – he could not dribble a basketball, much less shoot, defend, pass, etc. – this was a lofty goal indeed. Although the young man was athletically talented, he was not Lebron James, and he was not seven feet tall, and so his chances of playing NCAA basketball would ultimately be determined by his skill level.

The young man’s father, who had reasonable basketball experience, began to show the young man how to dribble. He showed him how to shoot, and demanded the young man learn proper techniques right from the start. There were squabbles, but the young man had serious goals, and ultimately was convinced to do what was asked rather than fight the father.

The father and son sought out advice with respect to what had to be done for the young man to achieve his goals. They were told straight forward that the odds of getting a NCAA basketball scholarship is miniscule – perhaps 3 percent of all high school players get a scholarship of any kind, and perhaps half that get a full scholarship. They were advised that in addition to being a great player, the player would markedly increase their chances of being selected for a scholarship if they were excellent students – coaches want players they can rely on to stay academically eligible, and the demands of NCAA athletics are extreme. The coaches need to know that the players can handle the athletic and the basketball workload.

The young man began practicing every day. He would rise early and practice. He would practice after school, and then he would study. He would do the same on weekends. He strictly controlled time spent with friends, and he was very selective of his friends. He sought out friends that had serious goals in life. He never drank or stayed out late. He practiced, he studied, and he held down a part-time job, and he spent time with friends wisely.

One day when he was practicing early at a local court, he was noticed by an older man. The older man asked him if he wanted to practice with a group he was coaching. It turned out the older man was an ex-NBA point guard. The young man was thrilled at the opportunity, and began to practice with this coach, and has continued to do so since. He has become a favourite of this coach, as he has never wavered from his goals.

The young man tried out for the basketball team, and scraped into the freshman team. The following year he made the varsity squad, and began to see a lot of the court. By the junior year he was starting.

Then disaster struck. He suffered a serious injury, and was out the entire year. He went through months of painful rehab. His therapist said that the pain he was suffering was terrible, and that few of his patients ever managed to put themselves through that rehab program. The therapist said he himself quit his sport after suffering a similar injury, as he was unwilling to go through the necessary rehab. The therapist further stated of the two or three other patients he had had that had gone through the rehab, one became an Olympian, and the others professionals. The point the therapist made was that athletes get injured, and if you want to become elite, you must persevere through injury.

And so the young man persevered, and he overcame. And he resumed basketball as a senior, and continued his pursuit of a scholarship.

And lo and behold, NCAA coaches were interested. Lots of them were interested. They loved that he was a good student. The young man feared that when they found out about his previous injury, they would be too scared to recruit him. But – surprise! – they were virtually overjoyed to find out about that. They loved that he had persevered and overcame the injury. They all had stories about their own injuries, and they could relate. They loved his references from his coaches and teachers. They loved that they could see how he had progressed year to year.

Scholarship offers began to come in. The young man was never going to play for Kentucky or Duke or Kansas, as he was not in that league. But he had offers – lots of offers – to good schools with good coaches and high character teammates. He began to narrow his choices, and he was honest with the coaches of schools that were not in serious running as he felt that was the right thing to do, and he was polite and respectfully in doing so. Almost every one of the coaches responded to his honesty by saying if he were to change his mind, please contact them immediately as they would still be very interested in him if things changed. Ultimately, he verbally committed to a school, and stood by that commitment in the face of efforts by other coaches to pull him away.

And now he has a letter of intent in hand which he will sign in two days. It is for a full NCAA scholarship to a private school, and it is worth around $200,000. The money is not the biggest issue for him – the real issue is the scholarship places him on the team. No scholarship means no position on the team. His family is, however, overjoyed that they do not have to pay for his college, as you can well imagine.

And so, this young man’s story so far is about hard-work, dedication, valuing education, perseverance, honesty, integrity, and delayed gratification. These characteristics have paid off handsomely for the young man. This young man had some advantages that other young do not. For instance, he was born into a family that valued hard-work and education, and preached honesty and integrity at him non-stop. Both of his parents were totally committed to helping him achieve his goals. They required his total commitment in return. They provided guidance during dark hours, and cheered during the good times. They were able to provide financial assistance where needed for camps and coaching.

Nonetheless, what this young man accomplished was stunning – he overcame monumental odds, and accomplished a goal that looked impossible. Four years ago he stated that he wanted to play NCAA basketball, and he could not dribble a basketball. All he had was above average athletic talent, a goal, and self-belief. He surrounded himself with good friends, he accepted advice from folks that had experience and knowledge, he put that advice into practice every day, and he never, ever gave up.

I say again – there are things that young people can do that will increase their chances of success. These things include hard-work, getting a good education, being honest and having integrity, never giving up, and being prepared to delay gratification in order to accomplish something significant.

By the way, his parents are enormously proud of this young man.

I hope to have completed most of my get out of dodge arrangements by year end.

I do not pretend to be an expert at this sort of thing. I am not a professional prepper – nor am I trying to be. Quite honestly, I have put myself in the hands of others for much of the plan and arrangements, including house, energy, water, and land plans. My arrangements are not based on prepping for an apocalypse, but rather preparing for a simpler lifestyle. I am trying to set up a situation where 1) I can produce a large proportion of my food, 2) where I am independent of/ not reliant on the electric and water grids, 3) the home is energy efficient, 4) where I can reduce expenses markedly should the need arise, and 5) I can starve the taxman as much as is possible. I will not be totally successful in my efforts in any of these areas, but I will be largely successful.

We have about 50 acres around 15 miles from a largish regional rural town. This is around 150 miles from a large city. The land is basically 35 acres of pasture/arable land, and 15 acres of wooded land. It has nice views down a valley and across a range of small hills.

I do not know exactly, but I have around 1.5 million gallons of water in ponds, available for livestock and irrigation purposes as needed. The land had 4 ponds that we refurbished. Fortunately, I was able to find an old farmer that has been building/managing ponds for 50 years, and he was able to refurbish the ponds, as well as help me navigate the myriad regulations that exist with respect to building/altering/ refurbishing ponds. Mother Earth News has some good information on farm ponds. Had there not already been ponds, I am unlikely to have been allowed legally to build new ponds. Also, I am trying to prepare for rainwater harvesting, including capture, filtration and sterilization, so as to eliminate connection to or use of grid water or well. Harvesting rainwater from your roof is illegal/restricted in some states – unbelievable as that seems. However, there is rapid movement in this area, and it is likely that there will be incentives given widely for the implementation of harvesting systems.

We will have a substantial solar system for power – in the 15 – 20 kw range. We will be grid connected, but with battery back-up. The plan is to generate enough electricity to provide power during daylight hours to the house, and simultaneously charge batteries sufficient to last overnight/to the next daylight. As such it is not a real off-grid system, as that requires 5 to 7 days battery back-up in event of no/limited sun for extended periods. We can upgrade to a full off the grid system at a later date if we want it. Any kind of off grid system using batteries is expensive, but by trying to go only overnight we will minimize the cost. Also, the cost of batteries/technology is advancing rapidly in this field, and the cost of full off grid systems will drop significantly over time. We are also looking into the possibility of wind generated power, but there seems to be some issues with that. I am no expert in this field, and am largely in the hands of the designers.

We have designed the home to be energy efficient. Eaves block the summer sun, keeping the house largely in shade, while allowing winter sun into the home to warm the concrete floor to act as a heat sink. The placement of the eaves is critical in this, and is calculated depending on which latitude the house sits. We are installing heavy insulation/double/triple glazing/etc.. We are using two heating sources – one is a high efficiency split multi-head heating/cooling system, zoned throughout the home. The other is a wood boiler/radiator system, again zoned throughout the home. Additionally, it will be tied into the hot water system to boost the hot water. Installing two systems like this is very costly, but it has its advantages. We also looked at a buried heat pump system, but discarded it, as the split systems available do much the same thing at much less cost.

We have good firewood available on the land, which we intend to use to fire the boiler. Additionally we are planting around 600 trees this year, and will plant perhaps 100 trees each year for the next few years. Many of the trees planted will be of a coppicing variety – that is basically a means of cutting the tree, and then having it regrow from the stump. Only certain trees are suitable, such as willows. We hope that it will allow continued growth of firewood trees without the need to replant once a foundation set is established. We will see.

We will have a solar hot water system installed. It will be boosted by electrics and the boiler, where/when necessary, and will have a substantial reservoir. Our cooking will be via dual fuel – gas and electric induction. We will primarily use induction, with gas backup. Induction draws huge amounts of electricity. For two people it is fine, but for Christmas, etc. dinners we believe in combination with the oven it would be prohibitive if we are trying not to use grid electricity.

We are fencing the land into smaller areas, and are providing water where needed. The intent is to have a handful of cattle – not many – for our own use and perhaps for use as a bit of barter. We are organizing good irrigation from our ponds – filtering/pumping – to the best bit of arable land – around an acre or so, for growing food. The size can be expanded. We will have chickens, although not now but eventually as they require constant care and would eliminate/reduce our ability to travel. We are building a small barn of around 2200 square feet. We are organizing equipment for a small farm – smallish tractor and all the assorted attachments, etc. We continue to take advice, and ask for advice from anyone with expertise. We are also building a small shooting range, with earth banked up to shoot against.

And that is basically it. We have attempted to cover water, energy, and food supply, and are fitting out equipment to support our efforts going forward. We are developing relationships with our farmer neighbors, who are fine folks. As before, I do not consider this to be a “doomstead” as such. We are looking to become reasonably self-sufficient, and to live a simpler, less stressful life.

I would appreciate any comments or advice, as we are certainly not experts in any of this.

A friend of mine was on the bus with his young granddaughter yesterday. A woman was on the bus wearing a burka. The granddaughter tugged at my friend’s arm, and asked him what that was about. My friend told her it is what some women from Muslim backgrounds wear, and explained a bit about it. When he was done, the woman lent across the aisle and said this to his granddaughter:

“Soon, everyone will be wearing this”.

This is a true story, no bullshit. Make of it what you will.

I do not recall if Admin called this one specifically, but he has been predicting the demise of many of these retail stores for some time, and has always been right. Radio Shack is closing 1100 stores, after a 20% decline in sales and a fourth Q loss of almost $200 million.

http://www.forbes.com/sites/maggiemcgrath/2014/03/04/radioshack-closing-1100-stores-after-same-store-sales-plummet-19/

Yep, the recovery sure is gaining steam. With a little more coal, I am sure the economy will reach escape velocity.

Well done, Admin. I expect you saw this coming.

Seems a major bitcoin exchange in Japan – Mt Gox – has just gone under. And it seems to have taken 740,000 bitcoins with it. Poof – they are gone. Six percent of the world’s bitcoins have just vanished into the ether. Were they stolen? Deleted? Inquiring minds want to know.

So, AWD, and other bitcoin aficionados – how are you feeling about bitcoins today? Did you have any tucked away in Mt Gox? Do you think that the disappearance of 740,000 bitcoins might shake “investor” (investor – now that is a laugh. Extreme speculator more like it) confidence? Do you think the price plummet from December highs will continue?

Come now, speak up, all you bitcoin fanatics. I know your faith will not be shaken by a small drop in price and the sudden disappearance of 6% of the world’s bitcoins. Or would it?

Here is a bit of light reading on the Mt Gox fiasco.

http://www.ft.com/cms/s/0/f13bf822-9de4-11e3-95fe-00144feab7de.html#axzz2uNU9niDt

The FBI is helping search for two vandals that put a noose and an old Georgia flag around the neck of a statue of the first black student at the University of Mississippi. A $25,000 dollar reward is being offered for information leading to their arrest.

http://nation.time.com/2014/02/18/ole-miss-statute-investigation/

Now, I understand that the act was immensely offensive. But is it more offensive than groups of blacks running around playing the knockout game? Or black flashmobs? Is the FBI investigating those incidents?

The fact is, no one was hurt. It does not even sound like the statue was damaged. I am unsure what law might have been broken, as the article does not specify. It is illegal in some states to show a noose in a threatening manner. I am not sure that this qualifies as a threatening manner, as who was being threatened? Or was it a display of disapproval about segregation?

It seems to me to be overkill, and far in excess of what the crime – if indeed there was one – justifies. But any perceived slight against blacks by whites is national news, while daily rampant crime committed by blacks against whites gains nary a mention in the press.

But the most absurd thing about this is that the FBI is investigating. No damage to the statue, no one hurt, no direct threats reported, but the FBI is investigating. Damn, that is truly incredible.

If I were king, I would do the following. I am sure it would be a disaster, and I have not given these royal decrees the many months of deliberation they deserve. They just sound good over a nice bottle of scotch. These decrees would result in great immediate pain for many – too bad for them. Glad I am king and can exempt myself from any pain they may cause.
There would be incalculable unintended consequences. Some I do not know how I would implement – I would leave those minor details to the poor minions who would have to do the implementing. I believe that it would bring forward the collapse that is inevitable, but might well minimize the total pain. I would, in no particular order:
– Eliminate public unions

– Eliminate government funded retirement schemes for public servants

– Eliminate all corporate taxes

– Eliminate payroll taxes, including social security. And hence ultimately eliminate social security.

– Require everyone to self-fund retirement

– Eliminate food stamps, and implement mobile food banks distributing the necessities of life – rice, beans, flour, powdered milk, etc.

– Implements Sheriff Arapaio’s prison program everywhere

– Immediately expel all illegals

– Eliminate the anchor baby rule

– Eliminate signs in Spanish, or classes taught in Spanish, etc.

– Remove all military from conflict, save in events of invasion that threaten world war

– Implement a flat tax from dollar 1 of earnings, at say 20% or 25%

– Eliminate all personal tax deductions, save for charitable contributions

– Limit maximum wages that a company can pay an employee, say to perhaps $5 million
– Require schools be in session year around

– Require concentration on math, English and science in school

– Stop funding non-essential university courses – ie. the arts, etc. would need to self-fund

– Require teachers to pass exams in order to teach

– Change OHS laws to reflect general societal risk, instead of being much more rigorous as they are now

– Severely punish nations that allow dumping or theft of intellectual property

– Require a balanced budget

– Eliminate farm subsidies

– Reduce the number of Congresscritters by half

– Limit public servant salaries to national average wage

– Disallow voting for public servants

– Eliminate all gun laws

– Require banks to hold appropriate reserves

– Eliminate capital gain tax rates and charge at personal tax rates

– Implement corporal punishment for certain crimes – graffiti, theft, etc.

– Require national service for all 18 year olds

– Require anyone receiving government assistance to work for such assistance

– Eliminate political donation by any group, and limit the amount any individual can donate to say $100 total per year

– Make Congressional/Senate terms say 5 years, with no re-election

– Eliminate executive orders

What other things should/can be done? What would other kings do?

And I am sure that many, many holes can be shot in my decrees. I am a benevolent king, so I will hear all complaints. You need not fear retribution. Really.

On a recent thread, there were several comments regarding company CEO’s that are compassionate toward their employees – by retaining more employees than the business requires, or retaining poor or inefficient employees, etc. Let me tell you for sure and certain, no good deed goes unpunished is the likely outcome of any compassionate act.

First, let me address the issue of keeping more employees than the business requires. I simply do not do this. I will not do this. And I believe no business should do this. It is prohibitively expensive. It costs me around $60,000 per year per employee. For every one I keep beyond requirements, it will cost me that amount PLUS it will cost me possibly that and more as a result of the overall slowdown that will occur throughout the organization. You see, people like to work a bit of overtime. Excess people means no overtime. No overtime means people’s wages are affected. People respond by slowing down sufficiently that they believe overtime will be provided to catch up. So if I keep excess employees, in a show of compassion, I will get screwed. NO GOOD DEED GOES UNPUNISHED will absolutely apply.

However, I do try to retain/hire/employ people that are very often otherwise unemployable, especially in jobs such as I offer that do provide middle-class income and benefits. I try to fit them in and work around their limitations. In general, it costs me perhaps three or four dollars per hour per each of these folks. To put that in perspective, it costs me – and by me I mean me personally, out of my own wallet – between $6000 and $8000 per year per each employee of this type that I have. As you can imagine, I do not let the number of these employees get too high. Perhaps three or four are on the books, at the most, depending on economic circumstances. It is charity on my part, pure and simple, and I do it as a public service, as a means of giving to the community, and as I think it is the right thing to do. But here are some of the results of trying to do a good deed:

1) I get my other employees stomping into my office complaining that so and so does not pull their weight. Which is true. I cannot tell them the reason why those folks are employed, or immediately upon leaving my office the aggrieved would go to so and so and tell him/her “You are only employed because the boss thinks you are a charity case and you need help” or some such. That would be great. So I basically have to tell the aggrieved to mind their own business, to pay attention to their own work, etc. And thus I get a disgruntled employee because I try to do a charitable thing. And disgruntled employees cost me money. Add some more to the $6k or $8k I am already funding.

2) These marginal employees make inordinate amounts of mistakes – quality, tool damage, etc. Add a bit more to the cost of employing them.
These marginal employees tend to get worse the longer they are employed. Some of them are as cunning as junkyard rats. They innately know that they are poor performers, and yet they continue to be employed. So they become even worse performers in order to see how far they can push it. Not very far is the answer, but it costs me time, and money, to show them the error of their ways, and usually, the door.

3) On the other end of the scale, some of them come to think they are actually God’s gift to an employer. After all, they have a job, so they must be ok, right? We recently had a softening in sales, and I had to reduce workforce. In these situations I will not continue to employ these marginal employees – no way in hell will I employ a marginal while having to lay off a good employee. That is totally unfair to the good employee. So what happens when I lay off one of these marginal? They jump up and down, scream that I am treating them unfairly as they are good employees and that surely I have something against them, tell me I am obliged to keep them on as they will not be able to find other work, threaten to sue, etc. Contrast that to when I have to lay off a good employee: they almost always understand (they are lots brighter and understand economic circumstance), they are thankful for the opportunity they have and the promise make to call them back as soon as conditions improve, and they are gracious in the face of adversity.

Again, it goes to show NO GOOD DEED GOES UNPUNISHED!

As I get older, it gets harder and harder to do the things that I believe in. I believe in these small acts of charity. I get no accolades or rewards for them – I do not care for those in any event. But I am sick and tired of being punished for doing what surely are good deeds. For my actions, not only do I pay a significant financial cost, but I pay an enormous personal cost. Each day I am less prepared to pay the price. At this point, I have advised managers that we will no longer employ substandard employees. Of course, I tend to relent when I see a sad case. But I believe it is far less likely that I will do so now. I am simply not as psychologically strong today as I was 10 years ago. The bastards have worn me down – the steady drip, drip, drip of water on the rock has had an effect over 35 years in manufacturing.

So, I say to those who believe that employers have an obligation to be compassionate and charitable, that there is much you do not understand unless you have been in the chair yourself, and have put up your own money, and have to deal with the problems that come along with trying to do the right thing. It is easy to tell business owners what they should do, but people need to realize that there are (almost) ALWAYS consequences for doing the right thing.
Make no mistake – NO GOOD DEED GOES UNPUNISHED. It may not always be true. But it is substantially true, especially when dealing with employees.

Yojimbo, one of the original TBP Wise Men, asked me a question about what do I think young people should target as careers. I have spent a great deal of time thinking about this as my kids are entering young adulthood, and I hope their lives are not ones of endless struggle. I am not sure I have an answer for Yojimbo that is anything other than a generic guess, and a wild guess at that, but I will do my best, and I will try to reflect in this article what I have told my kids, and what I believe in general.

I believe that the economic position of the US relative to the rest of the world is going to fall – dramatically. I have previously stated that I do not believe it is possible for 5% of the world’s population to continue to consume 25% of the world’s resources. It simply will not continue. Either the entire world will consume many times more than it does – which will not happen – or the US will consume relatively less. I believe that the US, if it is lucky, may be able to consume perhaps 10 to 15% of the resources, going forward. So in that scenario, standard of living is likely to fall to 40 to 60% of its current position. That will be an unpleasant experience for most.

I believe that the US “middle class” institution is an unsustainable and unrealistic ideal. That hundreds of millions of people can live, by world standards, affluent lifestyles while possessing mediocre intelligence, skills, education and work-ethic is an unrealistic expectation. World competition will see that that scenario does not continue.

I also see the “distribution of wealth” commentary as false. Wealth will continue to accumulate in very few hands. Attempts to prevent it will be destructive – to penalize the best, brightest, and most hard-working in order to benefit the least, dullest, and laziest will have negative affect. That is not to say that steps should be made to prevent a system where upward mobility becomes entirely impossible – in other words, hereditary and class systems need to be dealt with in order to prevent wealth from accumulating via hereditary and class stucture. I believe the nature of skill, ability, work-ethic, etc. will ensure that a huge disparity of wealth exists. The simple fact is that people of average intelligence, skill, and ability or even those at the 80 or 90% mark, are vastly less able than those at the 99% level. The difference is extreme and is marked. People in the top 1% of intelligence are simply capable of reasoning far beyond someone just cracking the top 10%. And if those folks are also hard-working and well-skilled and trained, then they will be vastly more successful in general. And it will not even be close.

I recently went on a tour around a large part of Europe, where I saw unemployment rates for young adults consistently around the 50% level. And that included highly educated individuals. Many of these individuals had targeted careers in what had previously been the blue-chip government sector. Those jobs are no longer available. Nor are law positions, engineering positions, and especially university teaching positions, or positions relating to “liberal studies”. And the European kids do not know what else to do – they are accustomed to a welfare state lifestyle. The ones I spoke to talked bout moving to the welfare states offering the best benefits. Imagine that. Cannot get a job in your own welfare state, so you move to another welfare state where you cannot get a job, but where welfare pays better. Imagine the joy those states will feel, and how long that will last.

So, all of this is just background to what I believe young people should do. What I believe is that the young should not focus on “careers” but rather on skills and abilities and education – the right type of education. They should come to understand what hard-work is, and they should become extremely versatile individuals. They should be part country boy/girl and part computer geek.

– they should take up manual jobs at a reasonably early age, so that they become accustomed to hard-work.

– they should work their way through college so as to avoid education debt, if their parents cannot fully fund college.

– they should study computers, science, mathematics, and have a good English education. In other words, they need to be well educated in the 3 Rs, augmented by science and computer science.

– they need to understand that in order to thrive, they are going to have to compete ruthlessly against not only their countrymen and women, but against the population of the world. They need to understand that only the most capable, most hard-working, most prepared, and most versatile will do well in the coming economy.

– they need to learn fiscal responsibility, and avoid debt at all costs. Instant gratification is something they need to avoid their entire lives.

– they need to ensure that they keep up with technological developments. By this, I do not mean they need to buy every new igadget. I mean they need to understand and keep abreast of what cloud computing is, what 3D printing is and how it may impact business, etc. They need to know not just how to use products, but what tech drives the products.

– I think they need to abandon the idea that they need “a job”. They do not need a job – they need to support themselves. A job is just one way. Their own business is another – as a small business person, an independent contractor, etc. I cringe when folks talk about there being no “jobs”. That is a very limited view of making a living.

– They need to keep their personal lives clean. By that I mean they need to keep out of debt, off drugs, etc. They need to align themselves with people that are hard-working and goal-oriented. Perhaps most importantly they need to find/choose spouses that are on the same page – hard-working, thrifty, dedicated, and versatile. Failure to do this will be disastrous.

As for careers that may be good choices – I do not know. I used to think that medical careers would be stable, but I no longer think that. I think that there will be new jobs/careers coming, but those jobs will require versatile people with excellent tech and communication skills.

And so, in sum, what I think is that in order to have the best chance, young people need to abandon the idea that they are entitled and that life is and should be comfortable. They need to embrace competition, and they need to educate and skill themselves in tech and traditional math, science, and English. I think that they should become accustomed to hard physical work, as there are times that may be required. I believe that skills and abilities will be more useful than choice of career.

As an aside, Yojimbo asked about apprenticeships. Personally, I believe that they will not be especially beneficial. They will provide certain skills, but most will lack much tech (ie computer) training, and a breadth of education/skills will not be available through apprenticeships. Looking at the “old style” apprenticeships – pattern and tool making, auto mechanics, fitter and turners, etc. – many have disappeared or are disappearing. I think that carpenters/plumbers/electricians will still be needed, but I think opportunities may be limited. But I may be wrong.

So, in summary, I believe that young folks need to acquire the mindset of those that lived in the Great Depression – willing to do whatever it takes to survive – augmented by very high skills in math, science, English and tech. And they need to be ruthless competitors – only the most capable will thrive in the coming economy.

I know this is all pretty vague. I do not have a crystal ball, but I believe very hard times are coming, and that the world will be a place vastly different from the one that young people have known to date. For most, they will not be prepared, and they will suffer life-long as a result. What people do by age 25 largely sets their plate for the rest of their lives. I believe that the prepared may actually end up doing very well. I think that those who are prepared for the times that come will eat very well on the carcasses of the sheep that are not.

This is too damn funny. Republican Dave Wilson managed to convince a black Democratic electorate that he was black by using a range of advertisements featuring black photos, voices, etc., and subsequently won the election. He is unapologetic. I suppose that is fair, given that Obama swayed a lot of votes by convincing folks he was more or less white (when in fact he is red through and through).

http://www.theblaze.com/stories/2013/11/09/conservative-white-man-wins-election-in-heavily-black-neighborhood-by-pretending-to-be-black/

http://www.americanthinker.com/blog/2013/11/white_guy_pretends_to_be_black_to_win_election.html

http://hotair.com/archives/2013/11/10/white-republican-wins-election-by-convincing-voters-hes-black/

I have been promising an update of what I see going on in the world, especially re manufacturing. I have managed to clear the decks, and my mind, long enough to draft this update.

What I see happening is the result of events that started back around 1980. I will (try to) briefly summarize as follows:
1) Large manufacturing companies had let their costs blow out, and were losing profitability and viability. Cost blow outs were a result of decades of poor management, as well as union militancy.

2) In response, they made the decision to outsource components to smaller local organizations with lower costs. The large companies effectively surrendered, and this was an admission that they could not control their organizations.

3) The result of this outsourcing is that the larger corporations ended up with a cost structure that was very heavy in fixed overheads relative to direct labor costs. In other words, total costs divided by direct labor costs grew when the outsourcing occurred. This is important, because this ratio very much reflects how sensitive a corporation is to change in sales volume. More volume = dramatically more profit, while reduced volume = dramatically reduced profit when this basic ratio is high.

4) A further result of this is that the corporations outsourced potential profit when they stopped manufacturing components and concentrated on becoming assemblers.

5) When downturns happened, the corporations became severely aware of what I described in #3 – profits plummeted extremely fast.

6) So in response to the realization that they could not survive downturns, companies began to look for further reductions. They began to source components from low-cost nations. But it did not resolve the issue of a high cost to labor ratio or of having outsourced product.

7) By outsourcing components to low cost countries, they created competition for themselves, as these low cost countries began to sell complete products into the US in direct competition to the US assembled products. Americans, believe it or not, by and large prefer to buy American made. But some will buy a cheaper crappier product.

8) The corporations then once again begun to be in trouble, as even though Americans did not overall necessarily flood to the imported crap, it only takes a small percentage of them to do so to cause problems, again because of that pesky cost to labor ratio that blew out when the first outsourcing to local companies began.

9) So the corporations then had incentive to move their entire production offshore, which happened in many instances.

And that is where we are. All of these steps I forecasted would happen, all those years ago, and so it has come to pass. Of course, there is much, much more at play – automation, free trade laws, etc etc etc.

My company benefitted from step #2 above, and has been successfully supplying components for over thirty years. We are in a niche market, and make high quality, small volume components for some very large corporations. But we are now under pretty extreme competitive pressure.

First, there are many corporations at stage 6 – looking for more reductions. My customers are in a panic – they desperately need to cut costs in order to survive. They are changing from more expensive higher quality materials to less expensive materials – say from steel to plastic. They are of course looking to source from “low cost countries”, and are “encouraging” me to start a plant overseas (akin to taking a blowtorch to my feet), or to enter into joint ventures.

The reason my customers want me to either start a company overseas or enter into a joint venture is worth special comment. You see, the reason the want me to source the product as opposed to them sourcing the product is that they want me to continue to have liability for the quality/safety/etc of the parts. They do not want to import directly themselves, for the following reasons (and more):

1) Quality is crap, and they want to be able to claim against someone

2) Many countries have very loose government oversight, and they do not want to be associated with any issues that might spring up (environmental, etc.)

3) Many countries require that officials be bribed in order to do business there, and big corporations have rules forbidding them to offer bribes. They want me to offer the bribes so that their hands will be clean.

4) They want just in time delivery, and buying from overseas does not allow that. They want someone to import the product, carry the associated risk and cost of storage, etc. for them.

Further, I am coming under pressure from established companies in low cost countries that have collected the “low hanging fruit” – in other words, China, etc., have just about exhausted their take-over of high volume components, which is initially the easiest stuff to do and the most profitable for them – and have begun to collect high hanging fruit, too. And high hanging fruit is what I deal in – low volume, specialty components. These low cost countries now have the experience to tackle this sort of work, and it is about all the work there is left for them to take over in order to keep exports expanding. Again, I forecast this would happen.

There is also one more major competitive pressure on my company that I did not expect, but perhaps should have. Those middle size local corporations that initially benefitted from the outsourcing, and who are now suffering due to the parts they make flowing to overseas manufacturers, are now attacking me, too. They are desperate for any work, and are prepared to make a loss on the type of work I do just to try to buy themselves another day or two of solvency. They are effectively offering to make tools for free, and to beat any price that I have. Now, this is commercially unsustainable, and my customers know it. But folks in purchasing are measured on their ability to reduce prices, and there will always be some prepared to buy from someone who they know is going broke just to hit their targets this year, and they will worry about the fallout later.

So, in summation, I am under extreme pressure to reduce cost substantially. The only way I can do that is to either relocate production to a lower cost country, or to enter a joint venture with someone in a lower cost country. The risks of both are extreme.

Over the next few years, I expect the size of my company to halve, if I refuse to source from overseas. Then, in 2020 or there about, it will suddenly either be forced out of business, or will be not much more than a jobbing shop employing perhaps 20 people. A 20 person company would be viable and profitable, but the cost and expertise required to keep the business alive during a downsizing from a company of 150 to one of 20 is extreme. Financially, I would be better off killing the company at the appropriate moment, as the restructuring cost will be bigger than the cost of killing it. And as I am growing older, and have fought these battles for 35 years now, I do not know if I have it in me to fight the requisite battle over the next 10 years or so.

The decision I am making now is do I do something I have never done, which is outsource work or jobs to low cost countries? I have never outsourced any work, local or overseas, as I am perfectly capable of managing my business. And I am disgusted by the number of people that have made the claim that I have outsourced work. It is a damn lie.

But I simply cannot compete with the extreme low costs on offer, and the dumping/predatory pricing that is underway. And then there is the extreme risk involved in outsourcing. I imagine I can manage that risk if I choose, but it is a consideration. At this point I believe it improbable I will choose to outsource any work.

I am busy restructuring the business to allow it to be viable for the next 8 to 10 years at about half its current size. That is a difficult process and some hard decisions are being made. For instance, I ultimately will have to choose between employees that have been with us for 30 years and younger, more active employees. The younger ones I have are far more productive, but are less experienced. The longer-serving employees are full of experience and skill, but their motors are running down. To survive/thrive the business will have to be extremely efficient. And I will have to keep the most efficient employees. It is going to be a brutally hard decision to make and implement.

Once that restructuring is complete, I will have to finalize the plan to either kill the business off at the most financially advantageous point, or let it dwindle to the jobbing shop mentioned above. That too will be a difficult decision – do I make the best decision for me personally, or do I save as many jobs as I can. I do not have the answer. In the end, my willingness to absorb stress will probably be a, if not the, determining factor.

Detroit has filed for bankruptcy. The shock! The horror! The population has dropped from a high of 1.8 million people, down to a current level of 700,000 and falling fast. About all that are left are ex-union drones pulling in their Detroit city pensions and free shit parasites. The only businesses left are those that are government dependent. The government pensioners are screaming “make the banks pay”. I am not sure what the banks have had to do with Detroit going broke, but I bet they will be happy to cover the $18 billion in liabilities the city has. Detroit has a liability of $25,000 for each inhabitant of the city, while it has a GDP of $15,000 per inhabitant. There is something of a disconnect there. It is asking all creditors to take an 83% haircut, and they are not amused. But Detroit is NEVER going to come up with the $18 billion, and it seems they have run out of suckers willing to keep loaning them money. I suspect this will be the first of many times when government employees take a pension haircut. The projection is that this will go all the way to the Supreme Court. If that happens, and if they Court rules that the government pensions have to be paid, just how is that going to happen? There is NO MONEY! What a joke.

http://money.cnn.com/2013/07/18/news/economy/detroit-bankruptcy/index.html?hpt=hp_t1

Some time ago I mentioned conversation with my tax attorney friend. He has been telling me stories from his regular meetings with fellow tax attorneys. The stories are both interesting and disturbing. My friend and his associates represent a very wide range of clients – multinationals, small and medium businesses, and individuals who are modestly wealthy to super wealthy. Following are some of things that he is finding, and what the attorneys are saying and hearing:

He says that every attorney he knows is being inundated with requests for help protecting, and liquidating, individual’s assets. Extremely high numbers of small and medium business owners are looking to sell up, or to simply walk away from their businesses, and to shelter assets from tax. The requests for assistance are far greater than ever before seen or known. Obamacare, tax on investment income, escalating red tape, etc. are given as reasons. People want to protect what they have spent their lives earning, and no longer see the risk being worth the reward. He says the amount of capital being pulled out of the economy is astonishing.

He indicates that larger businesses – multinationals and larger nationals – are seeking advice on how to relocate entirely overseas. In other words, they are seeking to no longer be incorporated in the US, and seek to move their companies entirely off-shore. He indicates that this is largely in response to the US having the highest corporate tax rate in the world, and that they feel that they are being unfairly targeted in the media and by the government for failing to pay their “fair share”, and they believe that their tax is going to skyrocket, and that they will become uncompetitive as a result. Their response is to seek to take their businesses elsewhere.

He says that there is currently an attack by the IRS on expatriates (the US is effectively the only country on earth that requires its citizens to pay tax on world-wide income. A person can live for decades overseas, have no US income whatsoever, and will still be liable for US tax). There are around 6 million US expatriates living overseas. They fall into two categories in general – reasonably affluent professionals and such working overseas, and retirees living in low cost of living places. He says that the IRS sees them as a source of revenue, and believes they are being targeted as they effectively have no representation. The targeting takes the form of tax reporting. The number of tax forms required of overseas Americans is extraordinary, and invasive. Bank accounts must be reported (if you sign checks for a company, those must be reported – bank account number, value, etc.), all assets must be reported, financial reports of companies you work for must be reported if you own 10% of shares in the company, trusts must be reported, gifts from foreign “entities must be reported, investments in mutual funds must be reported, retirement account info must be reported. If you are a businessman with interests in a business overseas, the reporting requirements require hundreds of hours of work per year. And an individual is not capable of doing it him or herself, and must get professional help. My friend says that the reporting requirements are so difficult that NO ONE can meet the burden without making mistakes, and making mistakes can be a criminal offense or subject the person to draconian civil penalty.

My friend says that the reason that these reports are being required is to 1) confiscate assets of expats living overseas, and 2) to force the expats to return to the US, and to bring their assets with them. The general belief is that the expatriates are seen as having escaped the clutches of the taxman, and that a concerted effort is being made to draw them back into the system.

My friend says that the attorneys are advising their clients that the must consider that all forms of communication are being intercepted and listened into – phone, email, text, anything. He says that the attorneys are advising that only face to face communication can be considered to be confidential, and that they should behave accordingly. He said that especially applies to overseas communications. He also indicates that the general belief is that every electronic communication must be considered to be being copied and saved by the US government, and that as computer systems improve that every communication a person makes will be instantly available for scrutiny by the government, and that he does not believe that privilege can be counted on to apply to communications made via technology. That is astonishing.

All in all, tax attorneys are seeing what everyone on TBP is seeing – the system is in collapse, freedoms are being ripped from the people, and that responsible, productive people are scrambling to protect what they have earned as they believe that a massive confiscatory movement is underway, and if they do not act soon, their assets will be taken from them, and business is jumping ship at increased pace as they believe they are being targeted.

I doubt this surprises many. Prepare accordingly is my best advice.

Just thought I would wander down memory lane a bit, in response to the Admin’s “How Time Flies” article. So much has happened over the years on TBP, and some of it has been funny, some of it has been infuriating, some of it has been sad.

Some of my favorite memories are the fights the Admin and I have had. They started off, generally as a bit of fun, and escalated into full-blown nuclear wars. Perhaps the most memorable was over the OWS movement. Admin was a fan, and me, not so much. I considered them a bunch of lazy, thumb-wearing good for nothing pussies that would have no impact and opined that the movement would fade away quickly. Admin thought they were doing God’s work, and that it could be a defining moment. He has always been a grand dreamer (no sarcasm intended). Here is where I would say, if I were the gloating type, that time has proved me right (not like that would be any big surprise, I am sure), but I am not that type.

There have been a couple of times where I have sent him entirely over the edge, and times where I have stormed off the site (for a good hour or two) having vowed to myself never to return. Man, who would have thought a website could get a person revved up that much.

We TBPers have witnessed the police come for our beloved Stucky. I was a bit concerned for the old fella, as the police sometimes lack a sense of humor. We have seen Stuck go through some difficult times, and always bounce back on top of the heap. He too has stomped off in a fit a time or two, but the place is too addictive.

When AWD arrived, me and Smokey beat him without mercy for days on end. Eventually, he came to thrive, and is invaluable around here, at least in my opinion.

SSS has waged war against the legalize drugs mob for years, and has brutalized all and sundry re nuclear energy. Some of those fights dragged on for days. I tried to stay out of those, as any mis-step was truly punished. He is indeed one of the biggest of the dogs.

Muck and Kill Bill have been a joy to have around. Muck is wise in so many ways. He offers his financial wisdom to us, and his common sense is legend. Kill Bill and I have spent long periods talking about planes and such – amazing the skills people have that post around here.

We little see Reverse Engineer anymore, but the fights Admin, Smokey and I had with him were brutal and long. He eventually went over the deep end, and huffed off, perhaps with a bit of a shove. I am generally pleased to see him appear now and again. He has a truly unique perspective on things.

We have a rather small, but truly remarkable, set of ladies that post. Hope (please let us know how you are), Pirate Jo, Teresa, Mary Malone, Newsjunkie (where are you NJ?) are all incredible. I have seen them eviscerate the unwary, and provide great insight.

Then there is Avalon, Jim’s angel, who must have the patience of Job to put up with five years of this stuff. I can still remember the post I made with the pic of the little boy with the suitcase leaving home, in tribute to her son leaving for his first day at college. She said it made her cry. What a fine lady.

Then there are the youngsters – Punk (where the hell are you Punk?), Colma (same question), Jmarz, TPC, et all. They are an inspiration. They, to me, are one of the main sparks that keep TBP flame alive.

We have the posters that are scattered across the globe – our resident Alaskans AKAnon, and Indentured Servant – rugged, hardy souls full of sound common sense. Novista from Down Under, bringing in a perspective from his many years of travel and vast experience. One of my personal favorites is Eugend66 – from the land of Vlad the Impaler. How cool is that! There are many more, scattered around the globe, that come and go.

We have doctors (Hope, Howard, AWD spring to mind), students, folks struggling in the harsh modern realities, folks overcoming great adversity (efarmer, we do not forget you), business folk, ancient retirees (howdy Muck!), accountants (no site is perfect), salespeople, dentists, farmers and pilots and engineers, gun experts, and folks adept at prepping. We have a wealth of resources here – you only need but ask.

We have the ocassional idiot drop by to keep us amused (DP – are you out there? English Rose, where are you?). And newbies that wander into the lion’s den, puff out their chests, bray about how tough they are, get a good old TBP welcome, crap their pants, and are never seen again. The more hardy hang in there, fine tune their presentation skills, and turn into great contributors. They just have to get through the trial by fire first. So, to any lurkers, I say jump in and test your mettle. all are welcome, but not all have the spirit to last the distance.

I apologize to the many I have forgotten who have added to the overall experience – ron, CrazyIvan, Card, bb, et al – and thank each of you for having made these years memorable. There are so many and I have not forgotten you.

And I want to once again send out a special mention to the most incendiary poster every to grace a website anywhere – Smokey, I hope you are well. You made a (scorch) mark on TBP that cannot be erased.

And to the Admin, who has grown this magnificent tree from a tiny acorn – thanks so much. You should be proud. I know it has been at times exhausting, and things ebb and flow. But you have created something grand, and I think it will have a lasting effect on those that have been party to it.

While driving home today, I heard Obama talk about how the NRA lied and lobbied to stop the gun control bill from passing. He talked about how the politicians were playing politics (imagine them doing that!). He said it was shameful that the bill did not pass.

But the thing that most enraged me was that he talked about how the people of America wanted the bill to pass, and that 90% of Democrats and 80% of Republicans wanted the bill to pass. He said there was no known or real reason that such a bill would not pass.

He calls the NRA liars and has the unmitigated gall to say that over 85% of the American people wanted that bill passed. The hypocrisy of the man knows no bounds. How the American people could ever elect such an incompetent, ethically-challenged individual is beyond my ken.