Los Angeles Officially designated A Third world Country By those who live there- US NEWS

The question to ask is how does a city reach the status of a third world country? There are many such places in the United States and they all have similar characteristics. First, and most importantly, they are all run by liberal politicians, think San Francisco, Oakland, Baltimore, Detroit, Flint, New York- the list is endless. Second, these large impoverished cities have no significant middle class, there are large numbers of rich politicians and corporate giants at the top of the economic ladder (think Mexico) and growing hordes of the impoverished masses at the bottom of the socialist heap of humanity. The impoverished masses live in tents, cars, under bridges, on the streets and anywhere else that is feasibly inhabitable. Their numbers are growing by leaps and bounds and the politicians have no idea what to do with them other than to occasionally throw a crumb their way and ignore the fact they are destroying our once great cities. I've already discussed the reason for the homeless in a resent post. Homelessness is primarily was a result of Governor Brown senior and Governor Regan's decision to close the mental institutions and attempt to treat the mentally disabled as out-patients. At this point, however, the problem with the inner cities primarily results from the fact that the middle class has left these hell-holes and moved to the suburbs, or in the case of California, in droves to other states. As a result, the inner cities now consist of the rich and famous surrounded by a mixture of low-lives who can't make in today's high-tech society. Yes, Los Angeles is now a third world country and there is precious little we can do about it. Is your city next? Happy New Year! A special shout-out to those living in Chicago where the murder rate will soon exceed the birthrate. Boy, isn't liberalism great?

THE THREE STUPIDS

It seems that, for once, we are all in agreement. Yes, the three black basketball players who got locked up in China for stealing sun glasses were indeed stupid, there is no other way to explain this kind of bizarre behavior. That, however, is not the question we should be asking. The real unanswered question is "How the hell did they get within a thousand miles of an esteemed institution like UCLA" and "Why did The Donald lift a finger to bail their sorry asses out of that Chinese prison? The answer to the first question is simple. Our venerated centers of higher learning will do anything for money and these three buffoons represent money every time they set their size 18 shoes on a basketball court, at least when the TV cameras are running. To associate these three shop-lifters with any institution of higher learning is, of course, absurd, but that's the way it is at today's money grubbing Universities. Why Trump bothered to intervene is a more troubling question for which there is no good answer. Maybe the president wanted sweep this national embarrassment under the rug as soon as possible and believed this was the best way to cut our losses and move on, or maybe he had other motives that escape me. In any case, this decision was a major blunder on his part. These three dummies should have been left to rot in that Chinese prison and UCLA should be suspended from all collegiate sports for at least a year, maybe longer. Sorry, I don't suffer fools lightly. Now for this week's question, what is the difference between Red Wiggler composting earthworms and night crawlers? Basically there are two different types of earthworms. The small composing Red Wigglers are the same the world over. These creatures, which most commonly are found in manure piles, are surface dwellers who live in the top six or so inches of the soil. On the other hand, there are hundreds of different varieties of night-crawlers. These large worms are primarily used as fish bait and usually are named after the regions they inhabit. They live in holes deep in the ground and make their way to the surface in the fall after the first rains, where they forage for food and form characteristic piles of worm castings that look like miniature volcanoes. Although relatively small in volume, these piles of worm droppings are pure casting unlike the ones produced by composting earthworm which are mixed into the soil they inhabit. In any case, night-crawlers do little or nothing to enhance the soil in which they live, primarily because there are so few of them. The castings of composting Red Wigglers, on the other hand, are the richest organic fertilizer known to man and are a primary ingredient of any organic garden.

Can A Nation So Divided stand?

A year or so ago, my daughter and son-in-law took me to a new restaurant in San Jose. This was an extremely large establishment, seating around 350 people. The place was packed, with long lines of people waiting to get in. They served some type of oriental food, can't remember the type, but it was reasonably tasty. The novelty of the place for me, however, had little to do with the food or the fact the we were eating with our fingers off of sheets of wax paper. Rather, it was the mix of fellow dinners, who were packed like sardines at the tables surrounding ours, that fascinated me. They were speaking in several foreign tongues and it felt like I had been magically transported to some third world county. Then it struck me right between the eyes. The American melting pot had become some kind of a mixed stew. The ingredients in this stew were incompatible with each other and were concocted by a chef with no culinary skills whatsoever. The result was a third world country similar to the one from which most of them had come. Old timers like myself will never accept this transformation to the dark ages, but will we have a choice? It is not only the ethnicity of our nation that has changed so much over the past 50 to 60 years. The politics of today also are unrecognizable to those of us that were born and raised in the nineteenth century. Most of major cities have become liberal "hell holes" ran by the most imbecilic individuals imaginable. These creatures of the deep are elected over and over again by the illiterate masses who could not name the people who govern them if their lives depended on it. They have no idea of who our founding fathers were or what they stood for. It is becoming clearer with each passing day that it makes little or no difference which party is in power, the results are always the same; fewer and fewer people work and pay taxes and the middle class continues to shrink. We are rapidly becoming a third world country like Mexico, a land with the extreme wealthy at the top and the impoverished masses at the bottom, with nothing of note in between. Is there any way out of this socialist mess in which we find ourselves? A second revolution is one obvious option. We had the fortitude to fight our most deadly war to end slavery, but I doubt that we will do the same to rid ourselves of the liberals who live in our most populous states and run our nation's capital. The chances of this happening are slim to none. There is a simple solution (how many times have I told you that?) which will not require a single change in the constitution or any other law or mandate. To pull this off, we must return to the original intent of the Bill of Rights and the Constitution as envisioned by our founders who never envisioned a powerful federal government that ran rough-shod over the rights of our individual states. The Federal Government should be responsible for protecting our country from foreign powers, regulating interstate commerce, and precious little more. Under this revitalization of States Rights the department of Education would be the first to go, followed the Endowment Of The Arts and thousands of other similar redistribution programs that are bankrupting our country. If a local school wants to provide meals on wheels for its citizens from cradle to grave, that decision should be made by local politicians and paid for with state or local funds not mandated by the federal government and paid for by members of a neighboring state or simply, as is most often the case, tacked on to our astronomical national debt. Several other changes should be made to weaken the Federal government and strengthen state control. Members of the congress and senate should be part time employees who meet only on alternate years for, at most, three to four months, the big decisions being made by the state and local governments who will control education, medical care and all other important decisions affecting the well being of their citizens. Under this system of state control, the role of the president will be greatly reduced. His main role will be to manage our foreign affairs and our military but he will not be involved in issues like medical care, education and welfare. Obviously, the role of the federal politicians will be greatly reduced when they are prevented from using the tax dollars of the American worker to buy the votes of underclass. To return to the original question, I am very skeptical with respect to the future of America. Most likely we will become increasingly more divided with each passing day. As things now stand, we are headed for third world status and in most of our big cities we are already there. Now for the answer to last week's quiz. How can one tell if he is gardening organically? The color of fruits and vegetables we grow has little to do with their nutritional value. In fact, plants grown in a sterile chemical soil devoid of organic material and beneficial microorganisms will still look green and healthy and even taste pretty good. In fact, chemically grown plants invariably will have fewer bugs and insects than those grown organically. Looks are not the answer! The key indication that you are "growing the organic way" is the quantity of earthworms in your growing medium. Composting earthworms will not survive in an environment rich in chemical fertilizers; rather, they can only survive in an organic rich medium. Thus, if your garden soil is full of Red wiggler composting earthworms you are doing things right, the more worms the better! This week's question. How can you differentiate between a Red Wiggler composting earthworm and a night-crawler (fishing worm)? Happy thanksgiving!

Salvaging What Is Left Of America. Step 6. Solving The Homeless Problem.

Strange as it may seem to the younger generation, when I was growing up in rural Northern California and attending college and medical school in the bay area and Los Angeles there was no homeless on the streets of America. Now they are everywhere. What happened? First, just who are the homeless? Approximately, 70 percent, give or take, are mentally disturbed individuals who are incapable of taking care of themselves (nut-jobs if you will) and around 30 percents are criminals who are attempting to evade the law. I thing we can agree that all of them, the criminals as well as the mentally ill, should be off the streets. In the good old days, when I was growing up in the greatest nation the world has ever known, there were no homeless because society locked up the bad guys and institutionalized those who were so mentally ill that they could not care for themselves. At that time, before the socialists took over, California had two large mental institutions Norwalk in the south (Los Angeles) and Napa State Hospital in the north. When I was rotating through Norwalk in 1962, during my third year psychiatry rotation, each of these institutions housed about 10,000 to 12,000 individuals. Let me tell you, these people were "nuttier than a fruit cake" as my mother used to say, and none of them could have managed on their own outside the institutions where they were confined (cared for). So what when so wrong? Just how did we get in our present predicament where our streets are literally crawling with the mentally ill? Well, the answer is quite simple, as so often is the case, government run amuck. It all began with Governor Brown Senior (Pat Brown) and was finalized during the first tern of Governor Regan. Let me tell you, this was not Governor Regan's finest hour! The psychiatrists convinced Brown and Regan that, because of the increased effectiveness of the newest psychiatric medications, most if not all, of the mentally ill housed in our large mental institutions could be managed as outpatients. At the time, I recall thinking that this was one of the most insane ideas I had ever heard of. In any case, I think Regan became convinced that the state of California could save a lot on money if we could just get the crazes out of the mental institutions and so he went along with the fool-hardy plan. Over the next 10 to 20 years the gates were opened and our streets were flooded with the mentally incompetent. I will not dwell further on the results of this ridiculous effort to save money because the results are obvious for all to see. So how do we solve the problem? First, the criminal element should be sought out and incarcerated. Don't tell me that this will be too expensive, the price we are paying in human misery by leaving them on the streets of California is far more costly. Second, we must reopen the mental institutions that were used, in the pre-Regan era, to house those who were, for whatever reason, mentally incompetent. While it is true, that some of these people could be managed as outpatients, if given the proper supervision, most will have to be permanently confined to a mental institution for their own good as well as for society as a whole. We have dug ourselves a very deep hole, with respect to the homeless problem, and reestablishing the mental institutions necessary to solve this dilemma, will be costly, of that there can be no doubt. However, a civilized nation does not allow criminals to roam its streets and the insane live in tents under its freeways eating dog food. Taking the necessary steps to free our streets of the homeless should be given one of our highest priorities. But first we have to recognize the challenge and realize that it is manmade and solvable. If we have the willingness to acknowledge our past mistakes and take appropriate measures to rectify them we can solve this problem. However, I'm not going to hold my breath until this happens. Today's quiz: how can you tell if you are gardening the organic way? A) my plants look green and healthy. B) There are composting earthworms in the soil. C) the stuff I grow tastes good. D) It's really impossible to tell, that's why I buy fruits and vegetables that are labeled organic.

Salvaging What Is Left Of America. Step 5. The minimum wage and the cost of a head of lettuce.

First let's get one thing straight from the get go. The minimum wage has always been the wage paid to part time employees who are just entering the work force. This entry level wage must not be confused with the wage paid to full time employees who have families to feed and children to cloth, I will deal with this thorny issue in the paragraphs below. I do not believe the government should be involved, in any way, with the wage an employer pays an entry level part time worker. My first summer job, at age 13, was for about 50 cents an hour. During my last year in high school a similar job was paying me $1.10 an hour. In either case, the government was not involved in my decision to work or my employers willingness to hire me. The pay received by a person who is just entering the work force will depend on a variety of issues including location (city vs. rural), personal relationships, and a variety of other factors, but the government should have nothing to do with it! Now let's deal with the full time employee and the head of a house hold. I believe these workers should be paid a wage that would provide them and their families a decent standard of living based on what goods and services cost if produced in America, not some third world country where the average person does not have indoor plumbing or sanitary drinking water. In a previous blog, using a farm worker as an example, I calculated what a head of lettuce would cost if the person who cultivated and harvested the lettuce were to earn $50,000 a year rather than the $22,000 he is now being paid. If all of the other costs that determine the retail cost of that head of lettuce remained constant (landowners profit, transportation costs, retail sales costs, etc.) it would only increase the price of a head of lettuce at Safeway about 50 cents if the farm worker were to be paid a decent living wage of around $50,000 a year. I, for one, am willing to pay an extra 50 cents for my lettuce if, by so doing, I raise the farm worker out of poverty and end his dependency on welfare. This is the point worth emphasizing. We have a large percentage of the population, probably about 30 to 40 percent, who cannot, because of mental capacity and a variety of other factors, become members of the educated class. Recognizing this fact, we have to do everything possible to make these people functional members of society. To accomplish this goal these people must have meaningful well paying jobs and we, as a society, must be willing to pay for our goods and services based on what it would cost to produce them in America, rather than what it would cost if they were made in some third world country where people work for near slave wages. This means that there will have to be tariffs on most of the goods and services that are produced in third world countries and imported to America. Of course, we already have tariffs on imported goods but, obviously they are not high enough. Along these same lines, I cannot understand why those $200 a pair tennis shoes that we buy at the sporting goods store could not be made in America, something is definitely wrong with this picture. In any case, the goal is to have more things we buy made by American workers even if they will cost a little more if they are manufactured here. Now this is only half the story. The Blacks were brought here to cultivate and pick cotton but now, 150 years after the end of slavery, they refuse to work in the fields thinking that it is somehow beneath them to do so. There are millions of Whites who have the same view of life. These people basically do nothing to contribute to society and survive on some form of welfare. At last count there were 52.2 million people on the government dole. A small percentage of these individuals are permanently disabled and cannot work, but most could work if there were an available job for them and an insensitive for them to take the jobs avaliable. As discussed above, the government has a responsibility to make jobs available to its citizens, especially those who do not have the intellect to benefit from some form of higher education. However, there also must be an insinuative for the chronically unemployed to take the jobs that are available to them, wherever that job may be. That insinuative for this back to work program is simple, you either work or you starve. No if ands or buts about it, welfare as we know it has to come to an end. I think Bill Clinton said something like this 20 or so years ago, but as with most of his policies, he was lying through his teeth. This time we must follow through with our policies. Now here's another point worth making. I have been walking on this earth for one month shy of 81 years. My observation has been that people who have a job are happier and more content than those who do not work. If our government has any role, beyond keeping us safe from foreign invaders, it is to provide meaningful jobs for its citizens rather, as now is so often the case, providing welfare checks for those who chose not to work. In my next blog I will discuss public employee unions, I believe we should eliminate them. Now, the answer to the question posed in my last blog. You have a choice of green, red or black grapes, which should you buy? Green grapes are the least nutritious, red grapes are second in nutritional value, while dark skin or black grapes are the most nutritious. I would also argue that black skinned grapes are more favorable. You may follow my blogs on The Conservative Pulpit by Daniel C. Merrill MD. There are over 200 posts to date covering a far ranging list of gardening and health related topics, as well as the political issues of the day.

Salvaging What Is Left Of America. Step 4. Term limits.

Yes, I know what you are thinking. We have had term limits in California for 27 years and it hasn't made a damn bit of difference! True, but on the other hand, we must find a way to prevent liberal dinosaurs like Diane Feinstein, who already has served in the senate for 25 years and will be 90 years old at the end of her next term, from being elected yet again, despite the fact that she has been senile and clueless for years. Enough is enough already! But there is a much more important reason to support term limits than weeding out senility, that would be to stop, or at least to slow down, the political corruption that is so common in the house of representatives and senate. In politics, especially at the federal level, seniority equates to power and power invariably leads to corruption. The politician sells this power for personal financial gain; the longer he is in office, the more powerful and wealthy he becomes, it's really as simple as that. How else could people with minimal financial recourses when they enter office, retire 20 to 30 years later as multi-millionaires. The answer, of course, is to limit their terms, 3 or 4 terms for a congressman and two terms for a senator seems reasonable to me. In my next blog I will discuss the issues of minimum wage and what we should pay for the goods and services we buy at our local business outlets. Health question of the day. You have a choice of green, red or black grapes, which should you buy? You may follow my blogs on The Conservative Pulpit by Daniel C. Merrill MD. There are over 200 posts to date covering a far ranging list of gardening and health related topics, as well as the political issues of the day.

Salvaging What Is Left Of America. Step 3. Restricting voting rights.

I believe that most of us can agree that only American citizens should be allowed to vote. More controversial, is my contention that there should be other voting right restrictions to prevent non-contributors (welfare queens, felons, the chronically unemployed and permanently disabled, to name only a few of the worst offenders) from voting for unsavory politicians who will, at every turn in the road, use the tax payers money to buy their votes and retain their political stranglehold on the country. In this respect, it is one thing for a politician to campaign on a platform that will increase the minimum wage, financially flawed as it may be, and quite another for a Demoratic (there's that new word again) politico to attempt to buy the vote of a welfare queen by promising to increase her monthly welfare check. It is indisputable that the average liberal politician spends his political career using tax payers dollars to buy the votes of the underclass so that he or she can stay in power and feather their own nests in the process. This blatant political corruption must stop if we are to survive as a fiscally sound nation. So, here are a few voting right changes that we should make to right our floundering financial ship of state. My recommendations would greatly reduce the numbers of people who would be allowed to vote (I've had enough of this pure democracy that is killing our nation). In general only those who contribute to the well being of society would have the privilege of voting, those that don't contribute don't vote. There are several ways one could meet this qualification. Here are a few of the most important. First, anyone who pays federal or state income taxes would be allowed to vote. Second, all retired people on social security would be allowed to vote. However, those on social security because of any form of disability would not be allowed to vote. Second, anyone who owned property and paid property taxes would be allowed to vote but renters who did not pay income taxes would not be allowed to vote. Finally, anyone who served in the military, and was not dishonorably discharged, would have the right to vote. When all is said and done, there is no reason that a welfare-queen or a person on total disability because of a drug addiction (to name two of the worst offenders) should be allowed to vote for a politician who promises to increase their government welfare benefit. At present that is exactly what is happening throughout our once great nation, especially in our inner cities. This form of political corruption must stop if we are to have any chance of righting our failing ship of state. In my next blog I will discuss another thorny issue- the career politicians.

Salvaging What Is Left Of America. Step 2. Birth Control For The Intellectually Challenged.

First, let me make one thing perfectly clear. This is not solely a racial issue! Although I spent much of a previous blog describing the inferior mental capacities of American Blacks and Latinos, there also are plenty of White dullards in our country. We will have to deal with all of the intellectually challenged, irrespective of race, if we are to do anything meaningful to improve the quality of life in America for those who will be living here 50 to 100 years from now. As I see it, the first step in this reconstruction project is to do everything possible to increase the IQ of the average American, irrespective race or the color of his skin. I firmly believe that this can be done, but it will take much time and effort. Most importantly, it will take a complete reversal of our present political mindset that refuses to accept the fact that we are not all born with equal intelligence. By way of review, one of the most disastrous decisions ever made by an American president was Lyndon Johnson's executive order to pay unmarried women to have children. Many of our social problems today can be traced back to this bone-headed decision which destroyed the Black family, greatly increased our prison population, and brought America, literally, it its very knees (we just don't know it yet). We must reverse this disastrous policy. Rather than paying women of marginal intellectual capacity to have large numbers of children, we should be paying them not to have children! Once again this not a racial issue. This policy would apply to any female who wants to participate, with one importat exception. Women who have a B or better average in high school would not be legible for this plan. Rather, the Norplant pregnancy prevention program is designed for low IQ females who are floundering in school. As I will discuss later, female students who are successful in school, and in life, should be encouraged to have children by providing maternity leave, child support and other enticements to encourage child bearing. As with most of my suggestions for improving the quality of life for Americans, this one is very doable and very easy to implement. Any women, regardless of race, who does not have a B average in school by the time she reaches puberty, will be offered the option of having a Norplant injection which will prevent pregnancy for a period of 5 years. Those that are willing to participate in this program will be paid a reasonable stipend. I will leave it to the economists to determine the exact amount of this award, but $5000 seems reasonable. At the end of this five year period of paid infertility the participant could elect to continue in the program and receive another Norplant injection and another $5000 from the government's national IQ improvement program. Alternately, she could elect not to have a second Norplant injection and become fertile again. After becoming pregnant, or possibly having a change of mind, she could reenter the Norplant program and remain so enrolled for the remainder of her child bearing years. The rational for this option is based on the fact that it is better for a Low IQ female to have one or two offspring rather 6 or 7 as is, so often, the case now. I expect the first question the reader will ask is whether a program like this will be cost effective and who will pay for it? Well, as with most social programs, the government will pay for it, just as they do for all of their other economic misdeeds. The main goal of the Norplant program is to, over the long haul, raise the average IQ of the American population. Admittedly it will take many generations for the program to achieve this goal. However, some of the other social benefits of the Norplant program will be more immediate. At present 72% of all young blacks are either incarcerated or on probation while one in 31 of all Americans are in prison. The social havoc caused by these individuals when they commit their crimes and the cost of their imprisonment is an enormous burden on society. Even a modest reduction in the birthrate of low IQ children, who are more likely to become criminals than those who are bright, would greatly improve the lives of law-abiding citizens and significantly reduce the costs of the unchecked criminality that we are now experiencing in America's inner cities. It is important to emphasize two points. First, his program is strictly voluntary and may be terminated at the end of every five year period. Second, it is based on an assessment of mental capacity, not race, which can be accurately determined before a female reaches puberty. I'll bet you didn't know that. A females performance in school is a reasonably good indication of her intellectual capacity although we also could just give her an IQ test. Now, you may be asking, why don't we have a similar program for low IQ males? The reason, of course, is that we do not have a Norplant like injection that will render a male infertile for a given period of time, wish we did! At present the only alternative for males is castration or vasectomy both of which are, for practical purposes, permanent and irreversible. However, having said this, I would not be opposed to a program that would pay a young man who is failing, or has dropped out of school, a sizable sum if he agreed to be sterilized, $25,000 seems about right. We might ever consider a higher amount for gang members and other really unsavory individuals. Way to much you say. Well, consider this fact, It costs the state of California $70,812 to incarcerate an inmate for every single year he in prison. That's why California is doing everything possible to reduce its prison population, irrespective of the havoc such policies will have on law abiding citizens when such low-lives reenter the population. In my next blog I will tackle another extremely controversial issue-Who should be allowed to vote.

Salvaging What Is Left Of America. Step 1. Establishing A National Photo Identification Card For Citizenship.

Many of our countries problems could be solved simply by insisting that every citizen carry an identification card, similar to drivers license, to show that they are legal citizens. This card would be necessary for the citizen to vote (I'll have much more to say about who should be allowed to vote in a subsequent blog) and to work. The illegal's that are already in the country should be given a green card that would allow then to work, but not vote, while we determine what to do about their illegal status. Once the wall is completed we could make them permanent non-voting residents or give them a path to citizenship. This card would have two immediate beneficial effects. First, it would put an end to illegal voting. In truth, we have no idea how big a problem this is, but I believe it is far more significant than most people realize. Certainly the liberal politicians think this is the case. Second, it would assure that citizens who want to work have the first crack at the jobs available since an employer would be forced to hire a legal citizen rather than an illegal who would agree to work for less. Most importantly, new illegal's (those who enter the country after the law is passed0 would be prevented from working under any circumstance, rather they would be deported. Of course, there would have to be appropriate, severe penalties, for employers who try to skirt these new right to work laws. It is important to realize that, even if we had such an identification card, we would still have to build the wall since only a meaningful wall will prevent illegal drugs and other contraband from being brought to our country from Mexico. Now back to the identification card. Who could possibly be opposed to such a simple cost effective solution to our voting and immigration problems. Well, just about everybody, that's who! First, there are the liberals and Demoratic politicians who use the tax payers money to buy the votes of the illegal's so that they can stay in power. (Note, Demorat is not a misspelling, rather it is a new word I came up with to characterize these lowlife self-serving vermin who call themselves liberal politicians.) In any case, of equal significance are the individuals in commerce who thrive on cheap labor and will do anything in their power to drive down the cost of the goods and services they peddle to the American public. I'll have a lot more to say about the costs of the goods we buy in a subsequent blog. The bottom line is this. Even though it makes perfect sense to have a national photo ID card to establish citizenship, it will not happen because the politicians and Chamber of Commerce, for their own selfish self-serving interests, won't let it happen. In my next blog I will tackle another unsavory issue-Birth Control for The Intellectually Challenged. You can follow my blogs on The Conservative Pulpit by Daniel C. Merrill MD. There are over 200 of them covering everything from soup to nuts.

Analyzing the 2017 California State Proficiency Test Scores in English and Math. The Liberals Still Don't Get It!

This article was written by Sharon Noguchi and was published on the front page of the 9/28/2017 edition of the East Bay Times. The findings addressed in the article were virtually identical to those from 12 other states, and the Virgin Islands, where students in the same grades took identical tests. The article bemoans the fact that minorities continue to flounder in our public schools and that all efforts to reverse this long standing trend have failed to achieve any meaningful benefit to our community or the minority students. Dan Walters, in a recent editorial, called the results shameful. Walters was right about one thing, our educational system in California is an enormous waste of time and money! Always has been and always will be, because the liberals who run our state believe that we all are born with rough fully equal intelligence and, if given half a chance, will all be equally successful in life. I will not nitpick the explanations provided by the public officials who gave a variety of lame-brained excuses for the miserable results achieved in our public school system. Rather, I would make the case that Noguchi, Walters and the editors of the Times have unwittingly provided undisputable proof that it is not the school system that is failing; rather, it is the inferior intellectual capacity of our minority students that is the root of this ongoing educational and social dilemma. Our failure to recognize the obvious ethnic intellectual differences in the five groups of students studied, Asian, White, Filipino, Latin/Hispanic and African-American is the problem, not the teachers who attempt to educate them. Our political leaders refusal to accept the fact, that you cannot make a silk purse out of a sow's ear, no matter how much money you throw at the project (school busing, affirmative action, head start, etc.) has cost our state, and the nation hundreds of billions of dollars each year. First, let's start by reviewing the highlights of the study. The results of the proficiency tests were, for all practical purposes, identical with respect to how the various ethnic groups faired on the math and English tests. Without a single exception, the Asians led the pack and were closely followed by the Whites and Filipinos. Again, without a single exception, the Latinos and African-Americans trailed far behind in every school district studied, as well as the state of California as a whole. Similarly, with one exception, the African-Americans were dead last in math and English proficiency, in every school studied and throughout the state of California. This exception occurred in the county of Santa Clara where slightly more African-Americans (46%) passed the English test than did their Latino/Hispanics counterparts (37%). This should have come as no surprise since, for the vast majority of the Latinos, English is their second language. In this one outlier, 33% of African-American students also were proficient in math while only 27% of Latinos could pass the math test. It is important to realize that these racial differences in math and English proficiency were not slight statistical variations, rather they were enormous disparities in educational achievement. For example, in Contra Costa county 79% of Asians and 70% of Whites were proficient in English while only 26% of African-American students could pass the English test. Similarly, in Contra Costa county 76% of Asians and 60% of Whiles were proficient in Math while only 16% of African-American students could pass the Math test. These marked differences in educational achievement between the races (Asian, White and Filipino on the one hand) and (Latino/African-American on the other) were similar throughout the state of California, the other states studied and the Virgin Islands. IQ tests of any kind have been reviled, and largely ignored, by the scholastic community and the liberal press for the past 25 years. Amazingly, Sharon Noguchi and the editors of the Times do not seem to realize that their article on the English and Math proficiency of California students is, in actuality, nothing more than a test of the inherited genetic differences in the IQs of the students studied. Not surprisingly, the ethnic breakdown of the educational proficiency scores achieved in California are identical to the ethnic differences in cognitive ability described in Part 111 of Richard J. Herrnstein and Charles Murray's masterpiece The Bell Curve, first published in 1996. Yes, Noguchi and the editorial board of the Times, unwittingly, have used the most recent data from the California student proficiency tests to prove, once again, that when it comes to education, ethnic inherited intelligence is everything! Yes, those Asians at Cal work hard for their grades but, on average, they also were 3 to 7 IQ points smarter than the rest of us to begin with. Still not convinced! Consider this fact. Jewish people make up about 0.02 % of the world's population yet 35% of my medical school class were Jewish. More significantly, despite the fact that there are so few Jewish people walking the face of the earth, 12.5% of all billionaires are Jewish. There is a reason this segment of the population become so wealthy, they were just a lot smarter than the rest of us to begin with! In the case of Ashkenazi European Jews, 18 IQ points smarter! Now a word or two about one of the really dumb ones, that would be Colon Kaepernick. This is the story of a black kid who was raised by well-to-do white parents in an upper-crust society. Kaepernick, despite all the advantages that were given to him, with his Afro haircut and numerous tattoos (a sure sign of stupidity), remains as black as the ace of spades and as stupid as a box of rocks. His parents must be extremely proud of him! In subsequent blogs I will suggest some simple changes that we as a society can, and should make, to address the inequalities in inherited intellectual capacity that we face in today's America.

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Question of the day answered.

It turns out, as expected, that we don't shoot down the North Korean rockets because we can't! Now that's a scary thought! Seems that the military is primarily an enormous waste of money.

Question of the day

OK, so North Korea's moronic dictator fires yet another missile over Japan. So here's the question. Why the hell didn't we just shoot it down? For some reason no one is asking this important question. I think the answer is fairly simple, because we can't.

BioChar-The Latest Advance In Organic Gardening

First, what is it? BioChar is simply charcoal, usually in very small pieces rather than the large lumps used in a barbecue. Charcoal is formed when wood is burned in a low oxygen environment, a process called pyrolysis. Charcoal, by itself, has little or no nutritional value for plants other than to marginally increase the soils ability to retain water. The interest in Biochar results from the research of soil biologists who discovered that ancient civilizations used a combination of charcoal and human waste (not recommended today because of the parasites present in human feces) to greatly increase the fertility and production capacity of their soils, this was especially true in the clay soils of the Amazon. These charcoal enriched soils were called Amazon dark earth. Of interest, is the fact that the beneficial effects of adding charcoal to a soil, remain for thousands of years. So just what is the value of charcoal? Charcoal is the key to this novel form of organic gardening because charcoal is very porous containing millions of microscopically small crevices and fissures which can house, if you will, the beneficial microorganisms that make organic gardening possible. As you know, chemical fertilizers kill these valuable organisms and leave the soil sterile. Organic fertilizers, on the other hand, stimulate the reproduction and growth of essential microorganisms and, by so doing, greatly increase the soils ability to produce plant life and edible fruits and vegetables. Thus, the goal of Biochar gardeners is to further enhance the fertility of their gardens by adding charcoal and other organic material to the soil. The exact ratio of charcoal to the other organic additives added to the soil to achieve maximal plant growth has yet to be determined. However, the beneficial effects of charcoal cannot be achieved if additional organic materials are not added to activate the charcoal. So, what types of organic material typically are added to the charcoal to convert it to Biochar? Here are a few of the many possibilities. Any type of aged animal manure. Keep the manure moist, as soon as you find earthworms in the manure it is ready to add to your garden or Biochar mix. This process usually takes about three months. Aged compost- leaves, garden waste, grass clipping, etc. Spent coffee grounds. Coffee grounds are rich in slow release nitrogen and other valuable nutrients. Last but not least, earthworm castings. Earthworm castings and the tea made from the castings, arguably, are the most valuable organic materials one can add to an organic garden and the tea will stimulate the growth of the microorganisms that develop in Biochar. In summary, Biochar is a valuable addition to any organic garden. The benefits of the charcoal that is added to the soil will remain in the soil for hundreds, if not thousands of years. The preferred ratio of Biochar and the other essential organic materials added to a garden has not been determined and probably is not of critical importance. Within reason, the more Biochar and organic material you add to a garden the better.

Trump's First Hundred Days.

Giving this guy the benefit of the doubt, basically we have a political novice who, as a candidate, had little or no idea how the government worked, none at all! Having no idea as to the realities in his own party, Trump believed that all he would have to do is snap his fingers, once elected, and our floundering ship of state would miraculously right itself and all of his political promises (dreams) would become reality. Having no choice, many of us voted for him, hoping for the best but fearing the worst. Most likely we are getting something in between. In this respect, his various nominees have been good and in some cases great. In this respect, the nomination of Neil Gorsuch to the supreme court will be a game changer for decades to come. But, at this point, it seems abundantly clear that Trump has given up on building the wall; given up on repealing Obama Care; and will be satisfied to "tinker around the edges" of major issues like tax reform, the refunding of Planned Parenthood and other major issues of the day. With respect to getting rid of Obama care, he had the votes to do just that, but instead, insisted on "keeping the good parts and trying to make it better. This is not what we voted for! Rather we voted to rid ourselves of this abomination, not to fix it! The wall will never be built because, now all of a sudden, we are told that it can't be constructed because there is no money to pay for it. Since when, I ask you, did the government ever let a lack of funding get in the way of a project they wanted. In this respect, the bullet train in California springs immediately to mind. No, the vast majority Americans want the wall; however, many economic and political interests oppose anything that would make it more difficult for illegal's to enter our country. I expect, when all is said and done, we ultimately will be given a few miles of token wall, but the hordes of illegal's, drug runners and potential terrorists who cross our borders on a daily basis will continue to do so unabated. In this respect, the ludicrous concept of "sanctuary cities" will continue in states like California despite minimal penalties that will be inflicted by the federal government. The point is that Trump can change little in Washington DC, irrespective of his good intentions. I think that this reality is becoming more clear to him with each passing day.

Trump's first major stumble!

I haven't written a word since the election, hoping against hope, that trump ultimately would fulfill some of his election promises, if given a chance. On the bright side, his nominees for the various cabinet positions have been outstanding. However, the first sign of weakness reared its ugly dead when he refused stand behind the nomination of Secretary Flynn. On hind sight, the writing was on the wall, when he refused to stand behind Flynn. However, I cannot let this Obama Care fiasco pass without comment. We did not elect President Trump to give us some socialist form of Obama Care light. No! We elected him to repeal Obama Care, every last word of it! This is what he campaigned on and this is what we expected him to do, no if ands or buts about it! Instead, he offered a failed piece of socialist legislation, The Affordable Care Act, which was, in many ways, worse than Obama Care. Now here's the disgusting part. Trump had more than enough votes to repeal Obama's atrocious health care bill. This would have been a landslide victory for the conservatives, all over America, who elected him. Rather Trump chose to climb in bed with Paul Ryan and the other liberal Republican rhinos in the house. These establishment republican turncoats represent everything we conservatives hate about Washington DC. Everything! God bless the Freedom Caucus who stood firm against the enormous pressure brought upon them to join the rhinos and render the last election totally meaningless. Now, I fear, the worst is yet to come. Trump talks a good game but little or nothing he campaigned on is likely to come to fruition. Most importantly, there will be no wall. Oh, there will be a few miles of token wall build somewhere in the middle of the desert, but nothing that will deter the thousands of low-IQ uneducated migrants from south of the border who enter our country each and every day at great expense to everything we Americans hold dear. Without borders we are not a country, it's really as simple as that! Trump campaigned on this issue, but as with Obama care, it was nothing but hot air designed to win the votes of the masses who have come to despise every aspect of the federal government. As things now stand, we conservatives are watching our last best hope to save what little is left of America, evaporate right before our very eyes. And, guess what, there's not a damned thing we can do about it!

What are Superfoods and what makes them so special?

The short answer is that all foods do not have the same nutritional value. Foods also vary greatly in their ability to delay the onset of premature aging; their anti-cancer properties, and their beneficial cardiovascular effects; to name only a few of the most important medicinal qualities of a Superfood. Superfoods, like the magical Goji berry, have been considered exceptional for their medicinal and ant-aging properties for thousands of years, while the nutritional value of the common beet, and their greens, have only been recognized and studied recently. In any case, we all would lead longer and healthier lives if we understood the pros and cons of the various foods we consume on a daily basis and varied our diets accordingly. The primary purpose of my next book (Superfoods) is to bring some of the most important benefits of these special foods to the attention of the reader so that they may profit from the recent advances in food science. Recent innovations in the way we evaluate the nutritional value of foods have greatly simplified this task. For example, the Oxygen Radical Absorbance Capacity of a food measures its ability to protect our bodies from the free radicals that harm normal cells; enhance the effects of premature aging; and increase the risk of developing cancer. The ORAC value of the foods we eat vary from the low hundreds to 314,446 (for cloves). Obviously, knowing the ORAC of the foods we consume can make it possible to live longer, and more importantly, healthier lives. There also are simpler rules we can follow to evaluate the foods we eat. In this respect, the colors of the foods we consume are indicative of their nutritional value. As a general rule of thumb, the darker a food's color the more healthy it will be. For example, the ORAC value of black currants is 7957, while that of red currants is only 3387. Vivid reds and purples in leafy greens like chard and beet greens also suggest that they will be more nutritious than their plain green counterparts. Although this book is not designed to provide instruction on the techniques for growing fruits and vegetables, it does provide some practical guide lines for growing the Superfoods discussed. For example, it is extremely easy to propagate Goji berries from cuttings. On the other hand, if you are interested in growing a tree that will produce cloves, keep in mind that it will take at least 20 years to do so.

The Nutritional Value of Beets

Having read any of my previous articles on nutrition, you will deduce that dark red beets, and their colorful greens, must be extremely nutritious, and they are! However, beet roots should be consumed sparingly because of their high carbohydrate content; in fact, beets have the highest sugar content of any vegetable. Most of us can safely eat beet roots several times a week and can consume their nutritious greens in unlimited quantities. Here are some of the health benefits of beets and their greens. Lowering blood pressure Did you know that drinking one glass of beet juice can lower your blood pressure 4 to 5 points in a matter of hours? Beets are rich in nitrates which are converted to nitric oxide by the body. Nitric oxide relaxes and dilates your blood vessels, improves blood flow and lowers blood pressure. To put this health benefit in perspective, there are 110 calories in one glass of beet juice; thus, beet juice should be consumed with caution by those who are concerned about weight control. Fighting inflammation Beets are a good source of betaine a nutrient that protects cells, proteins and enzymes from environmental stress. Betaine also lowers the levels of several inflammatory factors including C reactive protein, interleukin-6 and tumor necrosis factor. The ant-inflammatory molecules in beets provide cardiovascular benefits and reduce the effects of inflammation in other body systems. Ani-cancer properties The powerful phytonutrients that give beets their deep red color have been shown to reduce the formation of tumors in several animal models. Beetroot extracts are now being used to treat pancreatic, breast and prostate cancers. Vitamins and fiber Beets are rich in immune-boosting vitamin C, fiber and minerals like potassium which are essential for healthy nerve and muscle function. Beets also contain folate a B vitamin that reduces the risk of birth defects. Detoxification support The betaine pigments in beets support our bodies Phase 2 detoxification process which binds broken down toxins to other molecules so they can be excreted from the body, a process which helps purify our blood and supports normal liver function. Don’t forget the beet greens As you might expect, because of their vibrant colors, beet greens are extremely nutritious. Beet greens contain significant amounts of important nutrients like protein, phosphorous, zinc, magnesium, potassium, copper, calcium, iron and manganese. In this respect, beet greens have more iron than spinach and a higher nutritional value than the beet root itself. Beet greens also are a rich source of vitamins A, C and B6. Possibly of more importance, one cup of beet greens contains only 39 calories so, unlike he beet root itself, they can be consumed without worry of unwanted weight gain. Here are some of the specific health benefits that have been associated with the consumption of beet greens. The intake of beet greens increases bone strength and decreases the chances of developing osteoporosis. The nutrients and vitamins in beet greens improves mental health and decreases the risk of developing Alzheimer’s disease. The vitamins and minerals in beet greens stimulates the body’s production of antibodies and white blood cells and, thus, strengthens the immune system. If you haven’t tried beet greens before, they can be added to vegetable juices; consumed raw in salads; or sautéed lightly just as you would other greens like spinach or Swiss chard.

What are Polyphenols

Polyphenols are a class of chemical compounds found in plants. They are characterized by one or more six-sided hydrocarbon rings attached to one or more hydroxyl (-OH) groups. The simplest polyphenol is phenol (C6H6OH) an antiseptic. Poly means many and refers to the fact that there are more than 4,000 polyphenol compounds many of which are powerful antioxidants that neutralize harmful free radicals, reduce inflammation and slow the growth of tumors. With respect to flavor, polyphenols add astringency and bite to foods. The bitter taste of tea that has been brewed to long, is due to the polyphenol resveratrol as is the “greenish flavor” of extra-virgin olive oil. Anything that makes your mouth pucker usually contains polyphenols. In plants, polyphenols defend against insect attacks and give plants their color. Examples of polyphenols in food include resveratrol in red wine, capsaicin in chili, thymol in thyme, cinnamic acid in cinnamon, and rosmarinic acid in rosemary, thyme, oregano, sage and peppermint. Foods rich in polyphenols include, spices, especially cloves; dried herbs including oregano, sage, thyme and marjoram; beverages such as cocoa, green tea, and red wine; dark berries, especially black elderberry and blueberries; seeds including flaxseed and celery seeds; most nuts; black and green olives; and vegetables including artichokes, red onions, spinach, broccoli and curly endive.

I could care less !

The drive-by media is telling us that 50 - 60 elected demorats will not show up for today's inauguration. I've got to tell you that I don't give a rats ass! Rather, I would jump with joy if not a single one of these liberal fools showed up. This election demonstrated a couple of things. First, it showed just how badly divided this country is, there really is no middle ground, nothing to compromise on. Trump won everything but the kitchen sink, and I hope he governs as such. He can start by building that damned wall and throwing the illegal's out, every last one of them! Second, it proved once and for all that the liberal media is "crockeder" than a dog's hind leg. You can't believe a word these liberal fools print or say, so don't! Can you believe that these morons would have us believe that the people who voted for Trump just a few weeks ago have already changed their minds? Liberal clap-trap nothing more, nothing less! Forget about poles, they are meaningless! Finally, the so called black caucus live in a world of their own making, completely divorced from reality. In this respect, we fought a costly war to free the slaves 150 years ago and have tried everything possible in the ensuing years to bring blacks up to speed (school busing, every affirmative action program imaginable, head start, earlier start etc, etc, etc.). Nothing works, we must accept the fact that we are a divided nation of producers and non-producers and make the best of a very bad situation, since there is little or nothing we can do to change it. Yes, we will have to take care of most blacks from cradle to grave, whether it be in jail or out, that's just a fact of life. But we don't have to wring our collective hands and gnash our teeth just because these black legislators and their white liberal handlers boycott the inauguration. Throw them another welfare check and be done with it!

What we need to know about vitamin C

Vitamin C Vitamin C is a water soluble vitamin that is not stored in the body; therefore, we must consume our daily requirement for this essential vitamin each day. If not, we develop signs of vitamin C deficiency and ultimately scurvy. Any excess vitamin C is excreted in the urine. Vitamin C is a very effective antioxidant that prevents cell damage by the free radicals that contribute to the development of medical conditions like cancer and arthritis. These toxic free radicals also are the primary cause of aging. Most of the animal kingdom can produce vitamin C, guinea pigs, bats, sparrows and the large primates cannot. Common signs of vitamin C deficiency include dry hair, inflammation of the gums, easy bruising, decreased ability to fight infection, slow wound healing, swollen joints and anemia. Severe vitamin C deficiency results in bleeding from the hair follicles and gums, scurvy and ultimately death. Severe forms of vitamin C deficiency are rare in the United States but can be found in seniors who are malnourished and suffer from other chronic illnesses. Adults require 65 to 90 mgs of vitamin C a day. This requirement may be met by consuming one of the following vitamin C rich foods each day; one medium sized orange, one cup of kale or any dark green leafy vegetable, one guava, one cup of broccoli or one cup of strawberries.

Foods rich in Vitamin A

Vitamin A is a fat-soluble vitamin that comes in two different forms. The vitamin A obtained from animal products is called retinoids while the vitamin A found in fruits and vegetables are known as carotenoids, the most common of which is beta carotene. Vitamin A is extremely important to vision and the growth of our bones. Vitamin A helps form the pigments in the eye which adjust to changes in light and are essential to night vision. Vitamin A also plays an important role in the formation of white blood cells which destroy harmful viruses and bacteria. Finally, vitamin A is an important antioxidant that reduces the risk of cancer. Foods rich in vitamin A include, sweet potatoes, carrots, dark leafy green vegetables, sweet peppers, tuna and mangoes.

Why We Should Be Eating Sweet Potatoes.

Who would have thought that sweet potatoes were a healthy food? I think most of us would consider sweet potatoes, because of their sweet taste, to be inherently bad for you and, maybe they are, if your primary health concern is weight loss. However, sweet potatoes are a very nutritious food and are conducive to a healthy diet. One cup of sweet potatoes contains 114 calories but sweet potatoes, unlike other starchy foods, have a very low glycemic index which means that they release sugar very slowly into the blood stream. Thus, eating sweet potatoes actually stabilizes the levels of blood sugar and avoids the dangerous spikes in blood sugar associated with the consumption of most starchy foods. The regulatory effects of consuming sweet potatoes occurs even in people with type 2 diabetes. In fact, a dietary supplement made from sweet potatoes, called Caiapo, is actually marketed to control blood sugar in Japan. One cup of sweet potatoes provides 377% of our daily requirement for vitamin A; 15% of our requirement for vitamin B6 and 8% of our need for magnesium. One medium sized sweet potato also provides 16% of our daily requirement for fiber. Finally, the ORAC value for sweet potatoes is 2115 which is similar to that of strawberries and spinach. Here are some of the important health benefits of the common sweet potato. Cardiovascular health Sweet potatoes are rich in vitamin B6 which breaks down homocysteine a substance that contributes to hardening of the arteries. The potassium in sweet potatoes also lowers blood pressure and helps regulate your heart beat. As mentioned above, sweet potatoes have a low glycemic index so you will not get dangerous spikes in your blood sugar after eating them, even if you suffer from type 2 diabetes. The manganese in sweet potatoes also helps maintain healthy blood sugar levels. Stress According to the Los Angeles Department of Public Health the magnesium in sweet potatoes promotes relaxation, calmness and a good mood as well as contributing to bone, artery, muscle and nerve health. Immunity and anti-inflammatory properties The color-pigmented vitamins in sweet potatoes support a healthy immune system and have significant ant-inflammatory benefits which are beneficial to overall health and help the body fight a variety inflammatory diseases including stomach ulcers, skin infections and even the common cold. Skin and hair The vitamin A in sweet potatoes protects against sun damage to the skin and the vitamins C and E in the potatoes encourage healthy vibrant skin and are generally known for their beauty benefits. Digestion Sweet potatoes are a good source of fiber which supports a healthy digestive track and helps avoid constipation and diarrhea. Cancer prevention Orange sweet potatoes have anti-carcinogenic properties and some NIH studies suggest that the beta-carotenes in sweet potatoes may reduce the risk of breast cancer in premenopausal women and ovarian cancer in postmenopausal women. In this respect, purple sweet potatoes may have better cancer-fighting abilities than orange sweet potatoes, but both are effective in preventing cancer cell growth. Summary Unless weight control is a paramount issue, we all should be eating one medium sized orange or purple sweet potato at least two or three times a week. This inexpensive tasty food is extremely nutritious and may even aid in the prevention of heart disease and cancer. The sweet potato is particularly helpful in controlling blood sugar levels in those suffering from type 2 diabetes and may even help prevent the onset of diabetes in overweight individuals who are prone to develop the disorder.