Bill Gates, Sr. vs. Bill Gates, III on taxes

Bill Gates, the younger, says to donate your wealth which minimizes the taxes you pay. Bill Gates, the elder, says to pay more taxes. Pay less taxes vs. pay more taxes. Bill Gates, Sr. * has an initiative to reduce property taxes, I mean, to create a state income tax for you. But note that it has changed its number from I-1077 to I-1098. Sign it if you want to pay higher taxes. It won't hit you this year, but it will creep down and down until it does. After all, Christine Gregoire just can't cut spending one more dime. Gates, Sr., says the income tax won't hit people with income of less than $400,000 per couple or $200,000 per single without a vote of the people. But he knows that is not true, even if his initiative requires it. After two years the Legislature can change an initiative. But he says they wouldn't do a thing like that. Was he was conveniently asleep when they gutted I-960 this year? Meanwhile, Bill the younger encourages tax avoidance. It's funny he, Melinda and Buffett only talk about philanthropy, not taxes. Seattle Times

Investor Warren Buffett, who is ranked as the third richest person in the world, is donating most of his wealth to the Gates Foundation. Buffett, who pledged to give away more than 99 percent of his $47 billion fortune, was the main driver of the initiative, which has the support of a couple dozen billionaires, Stonesifer said. Buffett was inspired not by the rich but by the generosity of ordinary people who sacrifice more to contribute hard earned dollars to churches, schools and other organizations. The idea came out of a series of private dinners the Gateses and Buffett held in New York and the San Francisco Bay Area over the past year. They will invite people who take the pledge to meet at an annual event to share ideas. The potential for philanthropy is huge -- the United States alone has at least 400 billionaires with a net worth Forbes estimates at $1.2 trillion. If those billionaires gave the minimum pledge of half of their fortunes to charity, that would triple the current amount of charitable giving in the U.S. ... In his pledge letter today, Buffett describes how having too much wealth is a burden. "Too often, a vast collection of possessions ends up possessing its owner," he wrote. "Were we to use more than 1% of my claim checks on ourselves, neither our happiness nor our well-being would be enhanced." ... Washington state is home to six billionaires: Bill Gates, Microsoft Chief Executive Steve Ballmer, Microsoft co-founder Paul Allen, Amazon.com Chief Executive Jeffrey Bezos, wireless entrepreneur Craig McCaw and Oakley sun glasses creator James Jannard, who lists his residence in the San Juan Islands. ...

* The father is reported as Sr., the son as III. It seems there is a missing generation. Or is the father really Jr.?

Share my map

I am investigating combining online maps with data. I am getting into using the basic tools, but that's programming and takes a lot of learning and experimenting. So for a small step I am using a nice tool, Share My Map.

Here is my own map of beach walks in the Seattle area. Seattle Beach Access at ShareMyMaps

Take a look. Then leave a comment either at the map or here.

We Con the World - video banned by YouTube

This is a takeoff on USA for Africa: We Are the World, an all-star recording in 1985. This is sung by the "peace activists" who armed themselves with daggers and steel pipes then attacked the IDF soldiers arriving on the Turkish shop two weeks ago. There is some video footage of the attack on the Turkish ship. It's at PJTV. If you like it consider a donation.

Bush gets better ratings than Obama

Yes, Bush is higher rated by the people of Louisiana than The One. This is devastating. Especially since it comes from left-leaning pollster PPP.

Our new Louisiana poll has a lot of data points to show how unhappy voters in the state are with Barack Obama’s handling of the oil spill but one perhaps sums it up better than anything else- a majority of voters there think George W. Bush did a better job with Katrina than Obama’s done dealing with the spill. 50% of voters in the state, even including 31% of Democrats, give Bush higher marks on that question compared to 35% who pick Obama. Overall only 32% of Louisianans approve of how Obama has handled the spill to 62% who disapprove. 34% of those polled say they approved of how Bush dealt with Katrina to 58% who disapproved. While the poll results indicate a lot of unhappiness with the President, ultimately BP is getting the largest amount of blame ... One thing the oil spill has not done is created a spike of opposition to offshore drilling in Louisiana. 77% of voters still support it with only 12% against. Only 31% say the spill has made them less inclined to be in favor of drilling while 42% say it hasn't made a difference to them and 28% say they're now stronger in their support. If there's any 'winner' in this unfortunate event it's Governor Bobby Jindal. 63% of voters approve of the job he's doing, the best PPP has found for any Senator or Governor so far in 2010. There's an even higher level of support, at 65%, for how he's handled the aftermath of the spill.

Via HotAir.com

Do as I say not as I do - AlGore

Albert Gore, Jr., demands full access to the oil spill to reporters - his blog. But he bars reporters from his speeches - 2008 & 2009. You just don't understand why his needs are different. Hat tip to Drudge.

Aerial battle over South Puget Sound

I witnessed a five-minute aerial battle Monday, June 14, over Case Inlet, a branch of Puget Sound west of Tacoma, Washington. I was lounging in the bright sunlight (suffering from an allergy attack) looking west across Case Inlet at our cabin on Key Peninsula - Lat/Lon = 47 14' 13" N, 122 49' 33" W. I heard the distinctive call of an osprey, a high, descending, long chirp, then the sound of air rushing over wings! Close in and less than 50 feet high the osprey was flying fast and turning, turning, turning, with a mature bald eagle in hot pursuit. The eagle would rush the osprey, the osprey would turn to avoid him. At first there were also two crows chasing the eagle. The osprey carried a fish in its talons, which is what the eagle wanted; the fish, not the osprey, is the eagle's prey. A mid-air robbery. They moved higher and farther away, as I wondered how this would end. I remembered to watch for the osprey's captured fish to drop and be grabbed by the eagle or hit the water. I didn't see that happen. It was a long battle; I am sure I saw four or five minutes of it. The eagle could accelerate to much faster than the osprey was flying, but the speed worked against him, because when the osprey turned the eagle would overshoot and be far off. After that long five-minute chase the eagle broke off and flew past me below 100 feet and descending. I saw the same battle between a bald eagle and osprey last summer, but it was much shorter. There are resident bald eagles in our area and the ospreys are summer residents. Photos from Everett Herald newspaper.

ACORN is just a victim - Revising history

Watch the news on ACORN - Association of Community Organizations for Reform Now. Don't forget that ACORN was caught red-handed on video condoning and offering to assist in the sex trafficking of underage girls multiple times at different field offices. In the remnants of ACORN they are planning to try to overcome history with a white washed version: ACORN as pure, innocent victim. Reports Matthew Vadim at BigJornalism

ACORN’s radical allies are now attempting to rewrite history to cast the organized crime syndicate as victim instead of as the prolific victimizer that it has been ever since it was created in 1970. ACORN online campaign director Nathan Henderson-James served notice in February that a propaganda effort was about to begin. “[T]here will be a fight over the narrative of ACORN’s demise,” he wrote to members of Townhouse, a discussion forum run by Matt Stoller, senior policy adviser to Rep. Alan Grayson (D-Fla.). The other side wants “a narrative about the corruption of popular organizations and how they are simply vehicles for the personal enrichment and power fantasies of their top staff members while pushing public policies that destroy middle America.” Such a narrative must be fought, Henderson-James argued, because it “gives people pushing a pro-corporate agenda a way to tar progressives and even non-progressive Democrats running for office with the ACORN brush.” The effort was already underway when Henderson-James reached out to the leftist community. After ACORN’s national board expelled ACORN founder Wade Rathke for engineering an eight-year cover-up of a million dollar embezzlement, Rathke wrote a combination political memoir/manifesto called Citizen Wealth. More recently, Seeds of Change, an institutional hagiography of ACORN by true believer John Atlas was published. And now comes the “Cry Wolf” Project, a push to encourage academics to help spread more lies about the corrupt group. Heading the push is Peter Dreier, a politics professor and director of the urban and environmental policy program at Occidental College, alma mater of America’s Community Organizer-in-Chief.

For some real, detailed history - History Commons.

SUV kills two teens

The SUV is guilty according to the headline. How about the driver? Vodka bottle found in SUV that hit, killed 2 teens - Seattle Times

Don't do it. The US is broke. Don't you know?

Don't they know the US is broke? Congress is busy spending other people's money. Borrowing to pay current expenses for government employees. It's wrong. Worse... It's foolish. Worse... it's downright stupid. STOP! Obama pleads for $50 billion in state, local aid - Washington Post

President Obama urged reluctant lawmakers Saturday to quickly approve nearly $50 billion in emergency aid to state and local governments, saying the money is needed to avoid "massive layoffs of teachers, police and firefighters" and to support the still-fragile economic recovery. In a letter to congressional leaders, Obama defended last year's huge economic stimulus package, saying it helped break the economy's free fall, but argued that more spending is urgent and unavoidable. "We must take these emergency measures," he wrote in an appeal aimed primarily at members of his own party. The letter comes as rising concern about the national debt is undermining congressional support for additional spending to bolster the economy. Many economists say more spending could help bring down persistently high unemployment, but with Republicans making an issue of the record deficits run up during the recession, many Democratic lawmakers are eager to turn off the stimulus tap. "I think there is spending fatigue," House Majority Leader Steny H. Hoyer (D-Md.) said recently. "It's tough in both houses to get votes."

No, we don't read bills in Congress

Don't feel bad about not reading the 1500 page bill, Congressmen and senators don't have time to read them. Bill Thomas, a former congressman now leading a deficit-reduction special commission, told Warren Buffett June 2.

Congress's ratings by the public are at all-time lows.

Weekly Standard

Obama wants to help newspapers

Obama's desire to love newspapers has hit a wall of public opinion - public opposition. Obama wants to "help" newspapers stay in business. With his help they might stay in business, but they could not stay independent. Of course Obama's FCC says "we don't want to interfere" with the independence of the press. But it is inevitable when the government helps. And a Rasmussen poll of the public found just that. Overwhelmingly people thought government help would mean influencing the press. And the public placed independence of the press above the survival of news printed on cheap paper. Mark Tapscott at Washington Examiner:

More devastating news today from Rasmussen Reports for the FTC's "Reinventing Journalism" project, as fully 85 percent of the respondents to a national telephone survey say protecting freedom of the press is more important than saving existing newspapers. Perhaps even more worrisome for the FTC is the fact that only 19 percent of the respondents think it's appropriate for the government to be involved in efforts to prop up existing newspapers, according to Rasmussen. The FTC's "Reinventing Journalism" project is only at the staff discussion level for now, but there is clearly an effort supported by President Obama to mount some kind of bailout for the newspaper industry similar to those previously conducted by the administration in taking over GM and Chrysler, as well as multiple Wall Street firms, most of the mortgage industry and key elements of the insurance industry. See also my column from last week warning my colleagues in the journalism world that there is no way the federal government can be involved in funding or otherwise "saving" newspapers that won't eventually result in major media outlets becoming tools of government propaganda. Claims by FTC officials and their supporters in the media and academic communities that government aid won't lead to government control of news reporting face an uphill battle with the public, according to Rasmussen, too: "Sixty-four percent (64%) of adults say it is at least somewhat likely that if the government provides funding for newspapers to hire journalists, the government will then place limits on what those journalists can cover. That includes 41% who believe it is Very Likely."

6/11/10: I added the link to Tapscott's story.

Are you smarter than a fifth grader?

Guess who gets the better grade on basic literacy in economics - liberals or conservatives? WSJ Who is better informed about the policy choices facing the country—liberals, conservatives or libertarians? According to a Zogby International survey that I write about in the May issue of Econ Journal Watch, the answer is unequivocal: The left flunks Econ 101. Zogby researcher Zeljka Buturovic and I considered the 4,835 respondents' (all American adults) answers to eight survey questions about basic economics. We also asked the respondents about their political leanings: progressive/very liberal; liberal; moderate; conservative; very conservative; and libertarian. Rather than focusing on whether respondents answered a question correctly, we instead looked at whether they answered incorrectly. A response was counted as incorrect only if it was flatly unenlightened. Consider one of the economic propositions in the December 2008 poll: "Restrictions on housing development make housing less affordable." People were asked if they: 1) strongly agree; 2) somewhat agree; 3) somewhat disagree; 4) strongly disagree; 5) are not sure. Basic economics acknowledges that whatever redeeming features a restriction may have, it increases the cost of production and exchange, making goods and services less affordable. There may be exceptions to the general case, but they would be atypical. Therefore, we counted as incorrect responses of "somewhat disagree" and "strongly disagree." This treatment gives leeway for those who think the question is ambiguous or half right and half wrong. They would likely answer "not sure," which we do not count as incorrect. In this case, percentage of conservatives answering incorrectly was 22.3%, very conservatives 17.6% and libertarians 15.7%. But the percentage of progressive/very liberals answering incorrectly was 67.6% and liberals 60.1%. The pattern was not an anomaly. The other questions were: 1) Mandatory licensing of professional services increases the prices of those services (unenlightened answer: disagree). 2) Overall, the standard of living is higher today than it was 30 years ago (unenlightened answer: disagree). 3) Rent control leads to housing shortages (unenlightened answer: disagree). 4) A company with the largest market share is a monopoly (unenlightened answer: agree). 5) Third World workers working for American companies overseas are being exploited (unenlightened answer: agree). 6) Free trade leads to unemployment (unenlightened answer: agree). 7) Minimum wage laws raise unemployment (unenlightened answer: disagree). How did the six ideological groups do overall? Here they are, best to worst, with an average number of incorrect responses from 0 to 8: Very conservative, 1.30; Libertarian, 1.38; Conservative, 1.67; Moderate, 3.67; Liberal, 4.69; Progressive/very liberal, 5.26. Americans in the first three categories do reasonably well. But the left has trouble squaring economic thinking with their political psychology, morals and aesthetics. To be sure, none of the eight questions specifically challenge the political sensibilities of conservatives and libertarians. Still, not all of the eight questions are tied directly to left-wing concerns about inequality and redistribution. In particular, the questions about mandatory licensing, the standard of living, the definition of monopoly, and free trade do not specifically challenge leftist sensibilities. Yet on every question the left did much worse. On the monopoly question, the portion of progressive/very liberals answering incorrectly (31%) was more than twice that of conservatives (13%) and more than four times that of libertarians (7%). On the question about living standards, the portion of progressive/very liberals answering incorrectly (61%) was more than four times that of conservatives (13%) and almost three times that of libertarians (21%). ... Mr. Klein is a professor of economics at George Mason University. This op-ed is based on an article published in the May 2010 issue of the journal he edits, Econ Journal Watch, a project sponsored by the American Institute for Economic Research. Thanks to Rick for type reading.

Dino leads Senator Patty

Dino has the lead. In The Washington Poll for the week of May 24, the week he entered, Dino Rossi lead Patty by 42% to 39%. He was in the news every day that week. That helps. But he just entered the race and is ahead. The Washington Poll Power Point (Pdf) Via Seattle Times Politics NW

DIY U - revolution in higher education

Can't reform higher ed. It's too rich and entrenched. So let it sit fat and happy (for a while) and watch the sharp students go around it. But... but... but... that will hurt higher ed. They had it coming; they invited the end run by avoiding reality.

Glenn Reynolds

It's a story of an industry that may sound familiar.

The buyers think what they're buying will appreciate in value, making them rich in the future. The product grows more and more elaborate, and more and more expensive, but the expense is offset by cheap credit provided by sellers eager to encourage buyers to buy.

Buyers see that everyone else is taking on mounds of debt, and so are more comfortable when they do so themselves; besides, for a generation, the value of what they're buying has gone up steadily. What could go wrong? Everything continues smoothly until, at some point, it doesn't.

Yes, this sounds like the housing bubble, but I'm afraid it's also sounding a lot like a still-inflating higher education bubble. And despite (or because of) the fact that my day job involves higher education, I think it's better for us to face up to what's going on before the bubble bursts messily.

College has gotten a lot more expensive. A recent Money magazine report notes: "After adjusting for financial aid, the amount families pay for college has skyrocketed 439 percent since 1982. ... Normal supply and demand can't begin to explain cost increases of this magnitude."
...

He works in higher ed, but recognizes it is impossibly difficult to reform it. So he points to a chronicler of the alternatives, DIY U, a book.

DIY U

DIY U: Edupunks, Edupreneurs and the Coming Transformation of Higher Education is my new book about the future of higher education. It’s a story about the communities of visionaries who are tackling the enormous challenges of cost, access, and quality in higher ed, using new technologies to bring us a revolution in higher learning that is affordable, accessible, and learner-centered.

“This book is not only a smart and forward-thinking look at new and exciting trends in self-directed higher learning, it’s also a smart resource guide for students and their families anxious to take their education into their own hands” says Daniel H. Pink, author of Drive and A Whole New Mind

Boxer opponent will accept job bribe

Head of the Immigration and Customs Enforcement to push for an actual physical fence on the Mexico border to stop illegal immigrants and to end the "anointed incumbent...Boxer's obsessive talk of amnesty, sorry, 'a path to citizenship'" that actually acts as a powerful lure for even more illegal immigrants. --Second, Kaus kindly offers, Obama could put him on the National Labor Relations Board so he could thwart "Big Labor's attempt to add to their dwindling memberships by avoiding secret ballots in union organizing drives." --Finally, Kaus offered to accept an administration job offer to the Department of Education to write "a scathing report" on California teachers' unions and their deleterious impact on the state.

Those are the jobs US Senate candidate Mickey Kaus will accept to drop his primary bid agains the 100th smartest senator, Barbara Boxer. LA Times

D Day - the Liberation of Europe 66 years ago

President Reagan, June 6, 1984 at Pointe du Hoc, Normandy in Real Clear Politics:

We're here to mark that day in history when the Allied armies joined in battle to reclaim this continent to liberty. For four long years, much of Europe had been under a terrible shadow. Free nations had fallen, Jews cried out in the camps, millions cried out for liberation. Europe was enslaved, and the world prayed for its rescue. Here, in Normandy, the rescue began. Here, the Allies stood and fought against tyranny, in a giant undertaking unparalleled in human history. We stand on a lonely, windswept point on the northern shore of France. The air is soft, but forty years ago at this moment, the air was dense with smoke and the cries of men, and the air was filled with the crack of rifle fire and the roar of cannon. At dawn, on the morning of the 6th of June, 1944, 225 Rangers jumped off the British landing craft and ran to the bottom of these cliffs. Their mission was one of the most difficult and daring of the invasion: to climb these sheer and desolate cliffs and take out the enemy guns. The Allies had been told that some of the mightiest of these guns were here, and they would be trained on the beaches to stop the Allied advance. The Rangers looked up and saw the enemy soldiers at the edge of the cliffs, shooting down at them with machine guns and throwing grenades. And the American Rangers began to climb. They shot rope ladders over the face of these cliffs and began to pull themselves up. When one Ranger fell, another would take his place. When one rope was cut, a Ranger would grab another and begin his climb again. They climbed, shot back, and held their footing. Soon, one by one, the Rangers pulled themselves over the top, and in seizing the firm land at the top of these cliffs, they began to seize back the continent of Europe. Two hundred and twenty-five came here. After two days of fighting, only ninety could still bear arms. Behind me is a memorial that symbolizes the Ranger daggers that were thrust into the top of these cliffs. And before me are the men who put them here. These are the boys of Pointe du Hoc. These are the men who took the cliffs. These are the champions who helped free a continent. These are the heroes who helped end a war.

Read the rest.

Patriot's history of the US & UW Tacoma

UW-Tacoma Prof Michael Allen and Larry Schweikart wrote an obscure US history textbook. A Patriot's History of the US: from Columbus's Gret Discovery to the War on Terror - Amazon It was obscure until a prominent talk-radio host interviewed coauthor Schweikart who mentioned their book. It shot up the NY Times bestseller list to #1. Thanks, Glenn Beck! Allen is a professor of history at the University of Washington's Tacoma campus. BTW: If you have never been to UW-Tacoma, you should see the neighborhood. The campus is primarily recycled old brick buildings from early 20th century (or earlier) industry. The Washington History Museum is across the street and the Museum of Glass (Dale Chihuly) is across the freeway from there via a bridge that shows enough glass art that you can skip the museum. The (free) Tacoma Light Rail runs through from free parking at Freight House Square. Source: Weekly Volcano (South Sound) newspaper 4/29/10

Christianity worldwide might help USA

The spectacular growth of Christianity worldwide might help the USA. Walter Russell Meade at The American Interest

Sometimes the stone that the builders rejected ends up as the cornerstone of the whole building. That may not quite describe the role of Christianity in American foreign policy, but in some important and little understood ways the massive surge of Christian faith in the developing world is tilting the global playing field in America’s favor. At home, the appeal and the vigor of African-American Christianity, especially of the Pentecostal variety, may be America’s best defense against a sharp increase in home-grown terror.

...

Brown bailout

I thought UPS was a first-class company that is successfully competing in the tough package delivery business. But UPS isn't satisified with the opportunity to compete. UPS and the Teamsters Union are asking Congress for help. Brown Bailout The problem is government regulation. For the full story: Journal Star Newspaper

... Rather than take its lumps and compete, UPS' answer now is to team up with the International Brotherhood of Teamsters to hobble its competitors with the same costly baggage that UPS itself unsuccessfully sought to shed.

And the bailout would hurt the Northwest also:

This is not an academic problem. FedEx has informed Boeing that it will cancel its order for 15 Boeing 777 aircraft if H.R. 915 is passed with this provision.

Offline - I spent two plus days at our cabin. But the neighbor didn't have their WiFi on, so I had no internet access. Well, I just had the At&T Edge network on my iPhone. But I don't have a setup to post using that combination.

Egypt blocks Gaza also

If the Muslim world loves the Palistinians so much, there is an obvious way around Israel's blocking access to Gaza. Egypt can open its border to Gaza and allow free going in and going out. But Egypt has first-hand experience with the semi-governed Gaza. Read about Egypt's problem with Gaza below then draw your own conclusions. Egypt's conclusion is that Gaza is run by a criminal enterprise, Hamas, and has to be restrained. Egypt has long had a wall along the Gaza border with Egypt and allows very restricted border crossings. Now Egypt is sending the wall down; building an underground wall 30 meters deep. That's almost 100 feet into the earth. Why? The peaceful people of Gaza and their criminal friends dig tunnels so they can smuggle guns, rockets and every other thing into Gaza and people can come out to Egypt. CBS News

Egypt is building a massive iron wall, approximately 30 yards into the Earth. The controversial move — intended to shut down smuggling tunnels which are the Strip's only remaining lifeline — would further tighten a 3-year-long Israeli blockade, which has turned the poverty-stricken enclave into what critics call "the biggest prison on Earth." The tunnels are used for smuggling everything from food, medicine and household goods, to vehicles, even livestock. But Israel says they're also used for bringing weapons into the Palestinian-controlled territory. The installation of the 10-kilometer-long, 30-meter-deep barrier started physically last November, and it may be months before it is finished. Sealing the underground links would further throttle the Gazan economy and finally cut off Gaza's main link to the outside world. Egyptian officials initially would not discuss the $500 million project, and still decline to provide details. ... Several Egyptian newspapers devoted editorials to the danger facing Egypt from the arms smuggling and the tunnels, and stressed Egypt's right to defend its sovereignty and security. Egypt is wary of Hamas (the Palestinian resistance group that controls Gaza and which is considered a terrorist organization by Israel, the U.S. and the European Union) because it is an offshoot of the Muslim Brotherhood, the long-established trans-national movement that supports the creation of an Islamic state in Egypt and which has long been a thorn in the flesh of President Mubarak. Two years ago, Hamas militants cut down a metal border wall that had been erected by Israel, enabling tens of thousands of Gazans to pour into Egypt until the border was resealed. Though described as a policy of "collective punishment" by many aid organizations, Egypt's decision to build the steel wall has been defended as its sovereign right by the leader of the Palestinian Fatah movement, President Mahmoud Abbas — who, ironically, also condemned Israel's "apartheid wall" in the West Bank, urging the international community to tear it down. ...

Why does CBS blame Israel for the blockade when it is describing Egypt building a wall plus underground barrier? Does the Muslim world love the Palestinians? If so, why don't they allow access to Gaza through Egypt? Hat tip to Brian Suits on radio KVI.