A follow up on voting libertarian

I had a few emails roll in over the last 24-hours since I posted this article One email pointed me to a link for what passes for the LPC's voters guide. I've recreated the guide below:

Libertarian Party of California Voters Guide

• Proposition 30 - No
• Proposition 31 - No
• Proposition 32 - No
• Proposition 33 - Yes
• Proposition 34 - Yes
• Proposition 35 - No
• Proposition 36 - Yes
• Proposition 37 - Yes
• Proposition 38 - No
• Proposition 38 - No
• Proposition 39 - No
• Proposition 40 - No position taken

The good news is, I now know what the Libertarian Party expects from its members, what I don't know is why I should vote yes or no on any of the propositions. If left to my own devices, I will always make up my own mind. Take prop 32 for instance. Why should libertarians vote for more regulation?

A little research shows that democrats appose the initiative while republicans support it. To put it another way, unions appose it, while businesses support it. Dig a little deeper and you find that Charles Munger Jr. poured $22 million into the initiative while the California Teachers Association poured $20 million.  Why does Munger support prop 32? He wants fair elections. Oddly enough, so does the Teachers Union.  Does prop 32 make for fair elections? No; not really. It limits union money from entering campaigns by attacking their funding. The initiative does not do the same thing for businesses (although it says it does). Businesses do not raise political donations from their employees. The notion that they would is absurd. If prop 32 were fair, it would the ability to contribute funds. 

My acid tests:

Is this proposition part of a Republican strategy to change the balance of power in California? If yes, then I vote no. Having a stronger Republican party does not advance libertarian ideals. It weakens our ability to influence policy. Republicans are increasing led by dangerous theocrats. Any link to libertairian principles are subverted by a Christian social agenda. We gain smaller government at the cost of inviting the government into our bedrooms? Doing anything to help the republican cause is insanity. 

Is the initiative fair? In this case, it is not fair. It attacks one side of the problem while leaving a gaping loophole that only business can exploit.  Balance is lost. Our system will suffer. 

Since I do not know why libertarians should support prop 32, I will vote NO unless I hear a better argument. 

This is my point - I want to know why we take a position on a proposition. I want a well written and professionally crafted document accessible to all that tells the story in language we can understand. If we have this, then people like me can  promote our position. Each month my blog has tens of thousands of visitors. I've racked up 2 million page views in the last couple of years. My articles post highly in search results. If I write about an issue, I can influence others in a small way. Yet without leadership, little happens. I must research and develop content on my own and guess at the motivations of our libertarian leadership. It still blows my mind that we cannot get our act together. Instead we talk about the unelectable Gary Johnson as if campaign matters. I don't get it. Gary who?

Where the hell is my voter guide? Where is my candidate analysis? I want to know which candidate, of the electable candidates, is most closely aligned with libertarian thinking. Trust me - very few libertarians who run locally are electable. Why vote for an unelectable libertarian if our ability to influence policy can best be implemented via a democrat?

Technorati Tags: Libertarian Party of California, Politics

So I’m a libertarian voter

Yes. It’s true. I’m a libertarian (notice the small L). I’m also an incrementalist. I believe that any movement, even small steps, towards libertarian political objectives is a good thing. I’ve tried to connect with big “L” libertarian establishment here in California over the last decade. Let’s just say I’m not a good fit, especially since the rise of the Tea Party nutballs. I’ll write more on this in the future, but for now I want to concentrate on one thing. I’m a libertarian voter. I want to know how I should vote in the 2012 election? Where is the official Libertarian voters guide?

Is there a voters guide posted at the LPC website? The answer is no (I looked hard too). You can waste a lot of time looking for it, but ultimately, you won’t find it because it does not exist. And that my friends, it just plain sad. There are 11 propositions on November's ballot. An inquiring libertarian wants to know what the LPC’s position is on all of these propositions? To find anything, I had to look in other places, like the up or down guide at LPLAC.

Take Proposition 34 for example. The LBC website has no articles on proposition 34. If you want to find the libertarian position, you must Google it and read the positions of the various county organizations (good luck in crazy land). All of the county positions I read call for libertarians to vote yes, which is good since that is my position. I want more though. Why should we vote yes. the why is important. What is the principle at stake here? What do we gain by supporting a repeal of the death penalty? Eager minds want to know.

I believe libertarians should vote YES on prop 34. The reasons are simple. The death penalty is morally wrong (I realize morality is not a libertarian thing). The state should not have the power to execute its citizens. And finally, eliminating the death penalty will save California tax payers billions of dollars and reduce the size of government.

I do have problems with prop 34 though. It calls for creating a fund of "100 million dollars to help solve more homicide and rape cases. I don’t see how ending the death penalty is in any way related to solving more crime, but given the potential savings, 100 million dollars is chump change. Remember, I am an incrementalist. Movement in the right direction is a good thing. Ending the death penalty is a step in the right direction. So I support it.

The Libertarian Part of California will never provide this service. Instead they offer this superficial tripe:

Libertarian solutions are the most practical and workable for strengthening our economy and governing our state. If they had been employed during the last decade, our state would be strong and not in a deficit. Thus, Libertarians work to:

• Reduce government spending;
• Reform public employee pensions, which are bankrupting cities, counties and the state;
• Promote private business development, which will create jobs;
• Privatize government services that are best delivered by cost-effective providers;
• Guarantee equal treatment under the law for all Californians;
• Regulate marijuana like wine for adults, thus making it less available to minors; and
• Adopt a part-time Legislature.

The Libertarian Party has candidates who will make these reforms, such as our Presidential candidate Gary Johnson, but first they need your support in this upcoming election.

Libertarian Party of California

Kevin Takenaga, Chairman

770 L Street, Suite 950

Sacramento, CA 95814-3361

(916) 446-1776, Extension 6

office@ca.lp.org

www.ca.lp.org

I’m sure Kevin Takenaga means well, but seriously. What does this have to do with proposition 35? Which is: California Proposition 35, Ban on Human Trafficking and Sex Slavery (2012). I’m told by the LPLSC guide that I should vote no. I would like to know why. I’d also like to know why this guide is not on the Libertarian Party of California’s website… Just saying.

Regarding prop 35. I was inclined to vote yes, but then I read the text of the proposition. I have a couple of rules on issues regarding crime.

First: Does it create a source of income for law enforcement? If the answer is yes, then I vote no. My reasoning is simple, if law enforcement agencies receive increased funding from arresting people, they will arrest people to keep their funding. In this case, fines levied against human traffickers will be split between law enforcement and victims. The cops will have an incentive to arrest people under this ordnance, which means the husband of a woman who chooses to work as a prostitute (a consenting adult with a consenting adult), could find himself arrested under a broad interpretation of the new law because he received financial benefit from his wife’s work.

Second: Is the initiative an unfunded mandate? The answer here is yes. There is no provision for offsetting the cost of increased prosecution at the state level and no funding for increased law enforcement training and procedural changes.Plus, no funding for increased incarceration in already overcrowded prisons.

Third: Is the proposition actually doing what it is purported to be doing. Again, in this case the answer is no. It adds language for the distribution of offensive material which would make any person distributing said material subject to prosecution as a human trafficker.

After thinking about it, I’m voting no. It is a good idea, but executed poorly.

Now, back to libertarian la la land. Where is the leadership? Where is the good advice? Where is the analysis? Why is it that we manage to act like kooks promoting all manner of oddness at a time when real issues need attention. We fail at all levels here. When  presented with something as simple as a well-designed website with good content, and a voters guide, we can’t seem to get it done.

I found this in on a blog post from September 24th.

Your California LP is hard at work preparing not only for the November 6th elections, but also getting Prop. 14 overturned, supporting our candidates, deciding our stands on the propositions, and getting our voter registration numbers up to meet ballot eligibility requirements.

I can’t see the results of the “hard work." There have been two blog posts since the one noted above. Neither have any content about the election.

Technorati Tags: Libertarian Party of California,Politics

I like my politics honest

I know this may sound silly given the political shenanigans of this political election cycle, but I really do appreciate honesty in the people I vote for. I can never vote from Romney for example, his lies are too many to count. This post is not about presidential politics, I’m focused on local issues today. In this case, a Democrat named Cristina Garcia who is running for the California State Assembly in the 58th District in this November’s election. Political party affiliation and politics aside, I cannot vote for her. Here is why.

Garcia promoted herself in election material by claiming she had a PhD in Public Administration from USC.

“In my campaign literature for state assembly, I stated that I have a PhD from USC. While I have finished all of my course work, I technically am only a PhD candidate. I have yet to finish the final process of my PhD, which is defending my dissertation. I will fulfill that final responsibility in the near future.”

“As such, I take full responsibility for using the term PhD instead of PhD candidate in my campaign literature. For that I humbly apologize and ask for the forgiveness and understanding of all the voters of the 58th Assembly District,” Garcia said.

Source: Assembly hopeful Cristina Garcia admits not having Doctoral credentials; seeks ‘forgiveness’ from voters

Misrepresenting ones credentials is a dumb thing to do, especially when your opponent runs a private investigation business. More importantly, it cause me to write the candidate off as untrustworthy. She could have said that she was a PhD candidate. Doing so would carry the same weight.

I try not to lie. It’s hard, but I do try to be honest. For example, when asked if I still have my APICS certification, I say no. I kept it for years, but did not renew it after I changed careers. I don’t use the certification (CPIM) in my title any longer because that would be misrepresenting my credentials, but I do list it on my resume as inactive, In other words, I was once certified, but I am not certified any longer. I do the same thing with my MBA. If asked I will tell people I finished near the top of my class. I don’t say top ten, I don’t say, “top of my class.” If you press me I will give my actual placement, which is in the top 20.

Honesty brings a sense of humility that is important in relationships. When I tell the story of why I missed being at the very top of my graduating class, I’m happy to relate that I did not study for a key final exam in a very difficult class because my young niece was near death in a hospital 200 miles away. I kept vigil with my family while knowing full well that I would not ace my test. I did poorly, my grade suffered. I felt pretty good about the decision afterwards and I will not trade the memory of seeing my niece in recovery after heart and lung surgery. Garcia will need to learn how to feel good about her failures. She’s a PhD candidate at USC with her course work and dissertation behind her. I would feel pretty good telling that story.

Technorati Tags: Politics,Lies

There are no poor people in Cerritos

Cerritos, my neighbor to the west, has once again shown its true colors. This time, they voted down a Goodwill store because residents think the store will increase crime.

White homemade signs, muffled gasps and cheers filled the Cerritos City Council chambers as the city council denied Goodwill SOLAC a conditional use permit to open a store on Carmenita Road. With Councilman Mark Pulido being the odd man out, the majority of the Oct. 11 meeting audience seemed to be on the council's side.

You won’t find homeless people or panhandlers in Cerritos. There are no soup kitchens or homeless shelters. You will see the homeless once you pass into neighboring cities through. It’s odd how that works. Cerritos is a city full of expensive homes, zoning-commission approved businesses and churches. There are lots and lots of churches, but very little love. I’m sure they pray about the poor while voting Goodwill stores.

Mayor Pro Tem Bruce Barrows said it best, “it was the wrong fit for the community.”

Cerritos sees itself as affluent. A Goodwill store would soil its image. Screw those in need.

Technorati Tags: Cerritos,Local Issue,Politics

Why do we do bless the water?

I realize that as a non-Catholic and atheist I do not have the inside dope on why religious people do the odd things that they do. Like this commemorative plaque outside of Casa Torres Mexican restaurant in Sylmar.

There is a small fountain outside the entrance. This sign hangs near it. Casa Torres is newly reopened. I assume this happened at that time. Why bless a fountain? We are not talking a big impressive fountain here either, the thing is better suited to my backyard.

Why would the City of Los Angeles offer this service? Why? And, why is this important? I think an outstanding Yelp review would do more to bring in business. God don’t care about the quality of your food.

It’s a damn good restaurant for Sylmar. The Casa Torres special is killer.

Technorati Tags: Questions,Catholics,Religion

Why I can’t watch Fox News

The Network for Church Monitoring has an article up call 14 Propaganda Techniques Fox “News” Uses to Brainwash Americans that manages to capture my frustration when trapped in a waiting room with Fox News. I question almost everything. It’s an old habit, but I cannot start to question Fox News content because I trip over their oafish manipulations. The one the bothers me the most is Projection/Flipping.

Projection/Flipping. This one is frustrating for the viewer who is trying to actually follow the argument. It involves taking whatever underhanded tactic you’re using and then accusing your opponent of doing it to you first. We see this frequently in the immigration discussion, where anti-racists are accused of racism, or in the climate change debate, where those who argue for human causes of the phenomenon are accused of not having science or facts on their side. It’s often called upon when the media host finds themselves on the ropes in the debate.

I find myself saying, “Wait. What?”

My total patronage of Fox News this year is no more than two hours. None of this was voluntary.

Technorati Tags: Fox News,Propaganda

Related articles

• The Lies Of Fox News (andrewsullivan.thedailybeast.com)
• FOX NEWS' CHRIS WALLACE: I've Never Seen A Candidate As Disrespectful As Joe Biden Was Tonight (businessinsider.com)
• Fox News: Joe Biden Has Dementia (joemygod.blogspot.com)
• Fox News' Carl Cameron defends CNN's Crowley from debate critics (theblaze.com)

Tea party idiocy on the 19th Amendment

Central Mississippi Tea Party President Janis Lane said these immortal words recently in an interview where she giving women the right to vote was a bad idea.

"There is nothing worse than a bunch of mean, hateful women," she says. "They are diabolical in how than can skewer a person. I do not see that in men."

Source: Letting women vote was a bad idea, Mississippi tea party leader says: Jarvis DeBerry

I look forward to the day 20 years from now when a scholar writes the definitive history of the Tea Party Movement. It will be one-page long and simply say, “they were idiots.”

Technorati Tags: Politics,Tea Party

Youth pastor Eric Manual convicted

Eric Manuel, a former youth pastor, pleaded guilty to a charge of child molestation. He tried to corrupt a 15-year-old boy by offering money in exchange for sex acts. Manuel also stands accused of sexting with 17 other teen boys while pretending to be a teen girl.

Manuel faces 10 years to life in prison. I’m guessing we will not see this freak for a very long time.

Manuel can best be described as a newly minted youth minister. He passed muster because his criminal background check was just that; a criminal background check. I’m not a fan of simple checks. A reference check is required. I tell churches that hiring a youth pastor is like hiring a person to work on a secret project. Applicants must pass a reference check if they are to work on the project. There is no better way to determine the character of an applicant than by talked to those have interacted with them in a different setting. When I went through the process, they even talked to my high school teachers. A criminal background check is required, but it is not enough. A reference check is required. There was ample information available in this case. The Catholic Dioceses of Lafeyette did the bare minimum.

Manuel, a 2008 graduate of St. Thomas More High School in Lafayette, attended seminary for about one month before he voluntarily withdrew, according to information provided earlier this year by the Roman Catholic Diocese of Lafayette.

He had volunteered with youth ministry programs at St. Thomas More and Notre Dame High School in Crowley and participated in youth retreats and a mission trip, according to information from the Diocese.

Source: Man accused of coercing boys

Technorati Tags: Clergy Sexual Abuse,Catholics

Mistaking thinking for praying

For lunch today, I stopped a Carl’s Jr. for quick meal. I’m fighting an entrenched battle with my waistline, so I’ve been carful to make choices consistent with my paleo lifestyle.  In this case, I ordered a chicken breast sandwich served protein style with no sauce and a side salad, plus an iced tea. It’s boring, but I view weight loss one battle at a time. I won this one. When I add in breakfast, snacks, and dinner, I managed to win all my battles today. Good for me.

I’m practicing something called mindful eating. It’s one of many small changes I’ve made towards my relationship with food. In this case, I allow myself one bite of the salad to start, then spend a minimum of two minutes thinking about my meal before I eat it. I have a checklist on my phone that I use to run through a series of questions. Questions include:

• Is there anything in the meal I should discard before resuming the meal (croutons)
• Is the meal prepared the way I ordered it?
• How much of this meal should I eat?

The lists also includes prompts to help me get all Zen about my meal by thinking about what my first bite tastes like, reminders to eat slowly, and most importantly, a reminder to ask myself if I am sated.

I know this sounds corny, but to be honest, my relationship with food is horrible and I need these little changes to make the big changes happen.

And now for the odd part, While in my self-imposed two-minute break, a man who had been studying the bible at a nearby table stood up and said, “It is beautiful to see a fellow Christian praying over their food.”

“The hell you say.” was my response. “I’m thinking here.”

“I was watching you. You were praying.” says the Christian.

I was miffed at this point, but try to be polite. “Listen. I don’t pray. Can we leave it at that?”

The Christian backed off and returned to his table. A few minutes later he left the restaurant. A few minutes after that he return with a small New Testament. He dropped it on my table and said, “I think you might need this.” Then he left.

Lunch ruined. Mindfulness forgotten. I threw his gift away with the remains of my meal.

he says a word
I say a word
Autumn deepens

- Kyoshi Tarahama

Related articles

• Food Choices and a Positive Mindset (projectwhitespace.com)
• Battles with Food (missionabspossible.com)

Teen births highest in the bible belt

I learned two new facts today about the state of Christianity and its history. The first is obvious. Christian teens in the bible belt have the highest birth rates in the nation.

It’s easy to understand why New York City schools are handing out morning-after pills to teenage girls. Although teenage pregnancy and birth rates are declining nationally, teenage girls still give birth to hundreds of thousands of babies a year. To be precise, they gave birth to 367,678 in 2010 alone, according to the CDC. This map shows the birth rate among girls aged 15 to 19 by state. And it clearly shows that more conservative states have higher rates of teenage births.

Read more: Red States = Teen Moms

The second fact is less obvious. Syphilis, which was brought to Europe from the New World by Columbus and his crew, was known as the Christian disease by the Turks. I realize this was largely a racial/ethnic slur, but I’m sure it bears a grain of truth. I’m reading Bill Bryson’s At Home. It’s chock full of nefarious Christian trivia.

Technorati Tags: Christianity

Megachurch. Megabusiness. Megaproblem

Call me a skeptic, but I don’t believe the good press surrounding Sharon Daugherty’s widely covered sermon where the Oklahoma megachurch pastor tells her parishioners to report child sexual abuse.

"I want to personally say, that if anybody here is aware of any child being neglected or abused, physically or sexually, that you should please inform the authorities immediately, Our children are precious, and we owe them our full protection."

Source: Okla. Pastor Tells Congregants to Talk About Abuse

A 13-year-old girl was raped in a stairwell by a church employee. At least two other children were abused and one other employee has been arrested. Church officials knew about the abuse and kept it quiet for two weeks. Daugherty knew about it herself and did not report it. Her excuse was that she had relied on the official administrative process and trusted that her employees would do the job correctly. The police did not charge her, but did charge four other members of the church, including Daugherty’s son and daughter-in-law, who were charged with failing to report. Daugherty should have been charged too.

"I was briefly told of an incident involving two ... employees and members of 24/7 (a youth group) ... and was told it was being reported but did not receive any details on the specific allegations," Daugherty said. "I was extremely disappointed to later hear of the delay in the time it was first reported."

Source: Victory Christian Center explains 2-week lapse in reporting rape claim

Victory Christian Center is a large church with thousands of members. It makes one wonder how much power, influence and money contributed to the decision not to charge her. I’m betting it was a factor. A lawsuit suggests the delay was an attempt at a cover up.

"Rather than contacting the appropriate authorities, defendant (Victory Christian Center) chose to conduct its own 'investigation' with the ultimate purpose of doing damage control as opposed to protecting" the victim, according to the lawsuit.

I would also like to point out that the victim’s parents could have reported the crime. Why would they delay reporting? Oh wait… the church lied to them. That makes sense given the church was trying to manage the damage. Arrest Daugherty. Charge her with failing to report. The facts are not in dispute. She knew about the crime. She violated her duty of care by not making sure the abuse was reported. It seems simple.

Technorati Tags: Clergy Sexual Abuse,Rape,Child Molestation

Photo - Me

I took a lights out blogging break and broke out my camera gear instead. There is something about writing that I find addicting, but I don’t love it. I love photography. It has always been thus. So, during the break I started a small project to take photos of people using my iPhone and Nikon gear. I posted most of the work to Instagram. I also used my free time to study a few new photography techniques and focused on developing my skills. It was good for me. Real good. I invite you to look at my work http://statigr.am/mojoey.

The photo above is me. I’m much nicer than I look.

Technorati Tags: Photography,Instagram

Youth pastor Matthew Davis arrested

Sexting is a crime; especially if you are 26-year-old married youth pastor. Considering the 15-year old age of the victim, I think it is a lucky that the youth pastor was not arrested with his thumbs broken. What a creep. That's right. I'm calling former youth pastor Matthew C. Davis a creep. If the stories are true, the Matthew was living a fantasy in which a young vulnerable teen would become his replacement wife. He was allegedly texting his love and desires to run away with the young congregant. These fools ever learn?

According to charging documents, Davis began sending romantic email to the girl early in 2012 and ultimately offered to leave his wife to start a new life with the girl. He is alleged to have said he would quit his job at Boeing and follow her to college.

Writing the court, King County Detective Chris Knudsen said Davis's messages had turned sexual by May, when Davis's wife discovered them. Davis then confessed the "inappropriate relationship" to his church supervisor, the detective continued, who went to police.

Source Charge: Seattle youth pastor sought sex from teen by Levi Pulkkinen

I love the part of the narrative that suggests that Davis' supervisor took the matter right to the police, and then church fired him. It is exactly what should be done. Good job Grace Church of Seattle! The next step is to post information on your blog or on your website acknowledging the event and talking about what is happening now. It's the right thing to do.

Hat tip to Anne. Thanks!

Technorati Tags: Clergy Sexual Abuse, Hypocrisy

Sometimes church folk get fed up

The Faith Tabernacle Apostolic Church in Junction City, is a cult-of-personality driven morally corrupt Christian enclave, where  father and son church leaders fell to moral depravity. The father, pastor Edwin R. Young, allegedly stole $750k from the church and slept with a dozen or more young female parishioners. His son, music director Jordon Young, allegedly sexually abused young boys. The church and its abused followers are in need of a strong dose of truth and a good house cleaning.  

I'm happy to report that at least some of the church folk associated with that church are using the power of the Internet to document the problem. Please read, Edwin Young, Jordan Young & The Faith Tabernacle Apostolic Church in Junction City, Kansas, for chilling account of a dysfunctional and abusive church. 

A small taste...

To all of you reading who have been hurt or abused or lied about by this man over the years, this account is also in part for you. The man who preached so hard about sin and appeared to have little compassion on others, has been found out. The truth is starting to be unearthed. I know nothing written will take away what happened or the effects that his actions have had on your life, but hopefully you may feel as another has said, "I'm not rejoicing in their adversity. I feel for all of them including the pastor. But I also feel exonerated. After years of build up of false statements against me, my name has pretty much been cleared very suddenly and without me even knowing. That's exciting and liberating." The man that was idolized, the man you could not speak against, the man that had to be obeyed, the man who was seemingly treated as a king, has been dethroned.

 These people want to help. So do I. 

Technorati Tags: Christians, Clergy Sexual Abuse, Hypocrites

Waiting for the right words

I could not post on this story when it originally broke. It pissed me off on such a deep level that I knew I could only respond emotionally.  I needed to wait. I'm glad I did.

Rev. Benedict "Poor Sandusky" Groeschel said,

"People have this picture in their minds of a person planning to – a psychopath. But that’s not the case. Suppose you have a man having a nervous breakdown, and a youngster comes after him. A lot of the cases, the youngster — 14, 16, 18 — is the seducer.

Well, it’s not so hard to see. A kid looking for a father and didn’t have his own — and they won’t be planning to get into heavy-duty sex, but almost romantic, embracing, kissing, perhaps sleeping, but not having intercourse or anything like that. I’s an understandable thing, and you know where you find it, among other clergy or important people; you look at teachers, attorneys, judges, social workers."

He later apologized.

"I did not intend to blame the victim. A priest (or anyone else) who abuses a minor is always wrong and is always responsible," Groeschel said in his post on the website. "My mind and my way of expressing myself are not as clear as they used to be. I have spent my life trying to help others the best that I could. I deeply regret any harm I have caused to anyone."

Source: NY priest 'deeply regrets' sex abuse comment

It’s an insincere apology based in desperation and built on excuses. It hides a mindset that is corrupt and evil. It must be confronted. Rev. Groeschel's voice should be silenced. He does not deserve a spot representing his faith. If the Catholic Church actually wants to make a statement, they will ban him from any further chance of speaking his foul message in public.

I know Groeschel's type. It's my that same thing I saw in my Grandparent's generation with their views on race. Their mindset passed with their generation.  Groeschel generation should also pass into obscurity.

Technorati Tags: Clergy Sexual Abuse, Hypocrisy, Catholics