Feeling Safe in Your State?

The web site wallethub.com claims to offer information and advice on financial matters such as how to choose the best credit card for your purposes, calculators for mortgages, student loans, free credit reports and other consumer financial products. They recently published a report ranking the states according to their overall safety. The grading was based on five factors: 1) Personal & Residential Safety, 2) Financial Safety, 3) Road Safety, 4) Workplace Safety, and 5) Emergency Preparedness. States are ranked not just on inherent dangers, but also how effective the states are in dealing with them.

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“… funny guy … “

North Korea’s dictator was recently described in glowing terms: “very talented man … wants to do the right thing … very worthy, very smart negotiator … excellent relationship … funny guy … loves his people … great personality … a great honor … very special bond … I do trust him.”

The New York Times – based on a United Nations report – recently delineated how the dear leader shows love for his people:

“…extermination, murder, enslavement, torture, imprisonment, rape, forced abortions and other sexual violence, persecution on political, religious, racial and gender grounds, the forcible transfer of populations, the enforced disappearance of persons and the inhumane act of knowingly causing prolonged starvation.”

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What Harley-Davidson Did with Its Tax Break

Harley-Davidson paid its President and Chief Executive Officer, Matthew S. Levatich, $11.1 million in 2017, a 19% increase from his $9.35 million take the prior year, rewarding him for taking the company’s net income to $522 million, down 25% from 2016’s $692 million. Five years ago, he collected a paltry $3.7 million. A share of H-D stock (HOG) was priced at $69.24 at the end of 2013; $50.88 at the close of 2017, down 27%. ($42.31 on May 25, 2018.)

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A Modest Proposal about Gun Carnage

We as a nation, have decided that tens of thousands of violent deaths and countless injuries every year is a reasonable price to pay to keep guns easily accessible to all. Each mass shooting brings out politicians to send thoughts and prayers to the bereaved and vow to work on preventing future slaughters. That maybe there’s too many guns that are too easy to get is not even considered.

The National Rifle Association’s newly installed president, Oliver North – the person who arranged arms sales to Iran and the subsequent money laundering – says it’s too many kids on Ritalin. Texas Governor Greg Abbott and Lieutenant-Governor Dan Patrick say it’s too many doors on school buildings.

(Fun fact about wheelchair-bound Abbott: In 1984, while jogging – and with no health insurance – a large tree limb fell on him, resulting in waist-down paralysis and a $10 million-plus insurance settlement. In his later political career, he advocated and helped pass legislation to make sure no one else will ever receive a seven-figure judgment.)

It’s failure to deal with mental-health issues.

It’s not enough religion in schools.

It’s violent video games.

Way back when “The Tonight Show” was more commonly known as “The Johnny Carson Show,” best-selling author and former policeman Joseph Wambaugh made one of his occasional guest appearances. The subject of violence on television came into the conversation. Violence – in movies and TV – was having one of its periodic appearances in the headlines, stirring up outrage and controversy. Wambaugh said that if violence was to be shown, then it should be depicted as it really is, not sanitized as the media portrayed. “Wouldn’t people be offended?” Johnny asked. “They’d be offended as hell,” Wambaugh responded. “That’s the point.”

Since massacres by firearms are and will be integral to our national life, it’s time for the various media to show the public in explicit detail. The network news cameras should be allowed to graphically record the carnage and blood and damaged bodies and broadcast it to the world. We should see the bloodshed and decide if we’re really okay with it.

(If you want to stay up-to-date on gun violence in the U.S., www.gunviolencearchive.org/ gives you a daily update.)

 

Where Are You, Kenneth Starr?

Time for some perspective…

… at the one-year anniversary of Special Counsel Robert S. Mueller III’s investigation into Russia’s messing with our 2016 election.

President Donald Trump sent out a Twitter message celebrating the milestone: “Congratulations America, we are now into the second year of the greatest Witch Hunt in American History…”

Trump’s lawyer Rudy Giuliani told Fox News (sic) viewers, “It’s about time to get the darn thing over with. It’s about time to say, ‘Enough. We’ve tortured this president enough.’”

Vice-President Mike Pence said, “And in the interest of the country, I think it’s time to wrap it up. I would very respectfully encourage the special counsel and his team to bring their work to completion.”

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What’s a Hanging Chad, Anyhow?

There’s no question Republicans are doing all they can to suppress voting: the fewer votes cast, the better Republican chances. But that’s another story. We’re here to talk about your vote actually being counted.

Oregon elections are vote-by-mail. My ballot shows up in my mailbox. I complete it, sign it, put a stamp on the envelope and mail it back. In a day or two, I receive a text message or e-mail confirming my ballot has arrived at the election office. Later I receive another message telling me that my vote has been counted. Prior to repatriating back to Oregon, I voted by mail in California for twenty years.

Seventeen states have formally requested the Department of Homeland Security do risk assessments of their voting systems. With primary-election season here, DHS has so far completed nine. Homeland Security is also providing 33 state and 32 local election offices with cyber-scanning services to identify weaknesses in their networks. Collusion or not, there is no question that Russians infiltrated voting systems in the 2016 election; Russia attempted to hack into the election systems in 21 states. Two of those states — Alabama and Oklahoma — have not yet requested a DHS security review.

We’ve come a long way since the punch-card debacle of the 2000 election. Unfortunately, the “new” electronic voting equipment since then is now old and susceptible to malfunctions and breakdowns, not to mention hacking. Some of the manufacturers of voting machines have gone out of business. Direct-recording-electronic voting machines – DREs – make it easy to cast a ballot, but do not provide a paper record of voter choices. Even slot machines in gambling casinos keep better information.

Hacking is not just breaking into voting-system hardware. Precincts transmitting election data via Internet or even modem are also vulnerable.

Not cheered up enough yet? Click here to read more about it.