Where Are We Going?

Private Banker Moved Funds Undetected, No Oversight, No Regulation – As Hernán E. Arbizu tended the fortunes of his gilded South American clients, he says he also illegally took millions of dollars from them for years while at both banks, without being detected. What is more, Mr. Arbizu said he regularly dipped into UBS client accounts — and even visited the Swiss giant’s offices in Manhattan to ensure that the illicit transactions went through — for at least a year after he left UBS for a new job at Chase in the fall of 2006. he also said that UBS “didn’t have proper control over its bankers” and he accused the bank of creating an atmosphere of pressure to keep clients and reel in new ones. He insisted that he had not personally profited from his actions, but rather had shifted money between accounts to make good on unrealistic investment promises he made to keep important clients.

Americans Are Dying or Wish They Were Dead Because of Our For-Profit Health Insurance System – People across the United States are sharing their personal stories with Barack Obama’s repurposed campaign arm, Organizing For America, to tell the world about the failures of the U.S. health care system. Some people say they would almost rather die than deal with it.

Joan in Washington, D.C. wrote that she fears she and her husband will be homeless if he can’t find a job, and that she is “uninsurable” because of cancer.

“Maybe I should wish for the cancer to kill me sooner — it might be a better option,” Joan wrote. “I am terrified.”

Jackie in Logan, N.D., wrote that she cried when she was hospitalized in January out of fear for the bills — even though she has health insurance.

“I told my husband that perhaps I should just go home and wait to die,” Jackie wrote, “as it would be cheaper to be cremated, than to have to exist dealing with the debt of surviving.”
Brad of Granite City, IL, wrote that “I may die any day because Health Insurance isn’t available to me.”
“For profit healthcare killed my wife,” wrote John of Nashville, Tenn.

Mountain Top Removal Mining Making West Virginia Into Hell – Nothing can prepare you for scale of complete devastation. No living thing survives Mountain Top Removal Mining. The toxic sludge produced from cracking the coal during processing has created tremendous bodies of toxic liquid waste, well over 100 billion gallons held back by nothing more substantial than walls of dirt presenting area residents with an ever-present apocalyptic threat far exceeding that of a nuclear holocaust during the cold war. The people below — including the students and teachers at Marsh Fork Elementary — have four minutes to evacuate before certain death swallows them whole, and there is no evacuation plan.

This entirely unnecessary ecological disaster is the brainchild of Massey Energy’s Don Blankenship. The Bush administration gave Blackenship and Massey Energy a green light to pursue Mountain Top Removal on a scale that knows virtually no limits. In West Virginia alone over 3.5 million pounds of explosives are used per day, 300 days a year (the 4th of July or Sundays are the only respite). Massey energy blasts the tops off mountains to expose the coal buried inside. Rocks fall like rain from the sky terrorizing residents in the valleys below and the force of the explosions literally causes homes to collapse. Massey is nothing if not generous, they purchase the one or two now worthless properties from the families closest to the MTR for pennies on the dollar. The locals further down from the sites then hold their tongues anticipating Massey will buy them out as the ruble and blasting moves ever closer to them. This never happens. Eventually, as the explosions above tear the sky and earth to pieces, walls separate, windows shatter and the structures begin to fail. The terrorized people whose ancestors settled the region long ago ultimately leave. Massey then burns their homes to the ground at no additional charge. Don Blankenship, neighbor and friend at your service. If you are very lucky, they might relocate the remains of your departed family members from the plot in your back yard. Or not.

This is the great American tragedy, and every citizen of this country should be ashamed and horrified that we are collectively allowing this to happen. If you use electricity in the US chances are good that some of it is supplied by a coal-fired electric plant burning Massey coal from what once was a mountain in West Virginia.

There are at Least 44 Dangerous Coal Ash Sites in the U.S. That Could Bury Communities – The Environmental Protection Agency released on Monday afternoon a list of 44 “high hazard potential” coal ash sites that the federal government had previously insisted be kept secret. In addition to the 44 coal sites that have been designated “high hazard,” there are hundreds more that could pose environmental and health risks. “The presence of liquid coal ash impoundments near our homes, schools and business could pose a serious risk to life and property in the event of an impoundment rupture” said EPA administrator Lisa Jackson in a statement.

Regards,

Jim

Conservative Internet Radio Host, Arrested For Inciting Violence Against Public Officials – Hal Turner, an occasional talk show host on internet radio and blogger, was arrested today by the FBI in his New Jersey home on charges he threatened to murder three federal appeals court judges in Chicago following their recent ruling upholding handgun bans. According to the U.S. attorney’s office, postings on Turner’s web site included photos of the judges and addresses for them, with statements such as: “Let me be the first to say this plainly; These judges deserve to be killed.”

A day after Turner posted the original threat, urging readers that “it appears another lesson is needed,” he posted an update with the names of the judges, along with photographs, phone numbers, and work addresses, right down to office numbers. In the update, Turner wrote: “Judges official public work addresses and a map of the area are below. Their home addresses and maps will follow soon. Behold these devils.”

Michael Savage Makes Threats, Does Cyberstalking – Michael Savage has decided to engage in a tidy bit of web-stalking of his critics at Media Matters, threatening to put up the pictures and “pertinent information” of the organization’s employees. What’s strange about this is that Media Matters has been making the case for some time now that right-wing voices have been ramping up rhetoric that specifically urges violent acts and intimidation. So now, Savage is talking about a running a web-stalking campaign against them?

Democratic Detroit Council Member Guilty in Taking Bribes – City Council member Monica Conyers, the wife of powerful Democratic congressman John Conyers, pleaded guilty Friday to accepting cash bribes in exchange for supporting a sludge contract with a Houston company. Prosecutors accused Monica Conyers of accepting two payments from a Synagro Technologies official in late 2007 in exchange for supporting a wastewater sludge contract. They said Conyers received envelopes containing cash on Nov. 20, 2007 in the parking lot of a Detroit community center and on Dec. 4 of that year in a McDonald’s parking lot. In November 2007, Conyers voted in favor of the Synagro contract.

Bachmann Compares Census To WWII Internment Camps – Rep. Michele Bachmann (R-MN) is taking her refusal to fully fill out her Census form, which is a crime punishable by a $5,000 fine, to a whole new level on Fox News: “If we look at American history, between 1942 and 1947, the data that was collected by the Census Bureau was handed over to the FBI and other organizations at the request of President Roosevelt, and that’s how the Japanese were rounded up and put into the internment camps … I’m not saying that that’s what the Administration is planning to do, but I am saying that private personal information that was given to the Census Bureau in the 1940s was used against Americans to round them up, in a violation of their constitutional rights, and put the Japanese in internment camps.”

Regards,

Jim

“Fair and Balanced” Fox News Argues in Court For Right to Lie and Deliberately Distort News Reports – The attorneys for Fox, owned by media baron Rupert Murdock, successfully argued the First Amendment gives broadcasters the right to lie or deliberately distort news reports on the public airwaves. On February 14, a Florida Appeals court ruled there is absolutely nothing illegal about lying, concealing or distorting information by a major press organization. The court reversed the $425,000 jury verdict in favor of journalist Jane Akre who charged she was pressured by Fox Television management and lawyers to air what she knew and documented to be false information. The ruling basically declares it is technically not against any law, rule, or regulation to deliberately lie or distort the news on a television broadcast. The court did not dispute the heart of Akre’s claim, that Fox pressured her to broadcast a false story to protect the broadcaster from having to defend the truth in court, as well as suffer the ire of irate advertisers.

In Review Of Impact Of Political Sex Scandals, Fox News Report Names Only Democrats – In a report on Live Desk on 6/25/09, Fox News’ James Rosen assured the hosts that despite the current notoriety of Gov. Mark Sanford (R-NC), both political parties have been involved in sex scandals. He proceeded to provide what purported to be an overview – but it just happened to include Democrats, only: Jim McGreevey, Bill Clinton and Marion Barry.

And now, to provide balance to the above…
Conservative Values, a List of Self-Unaware Hypocrites – Nearly all of the people listed below have made public pronouncements of morality, tell you how you should live, denounce gays, the poor and the sick (it’s their own fault), and called for President Clinton to resign during his affair, but somehow, they can’t manage their own lives:

S.C. Governor Mark Sanford – Disappeared for a week without telling anyone, including his wife and State Law Enforcement Division, which provides security for him. Later Sanford’s spokesman told the press that Sanford was hiking the Appalachian Trail. After returning to duty, he admitted he had actually been in Argentina with his mistress. (The real problem with Mark Sanford is outsourcing his desires to another country when so many hardworking American women of easy virtue are out of work. )

John Ensign – Admitted he had an extramarital affair with a staffer after the threat of being blackmailed.

David Vitter – A “family-values far-right conservative” Senator from Louisiana, had an affair with a prostitute in 1999 and admitted to a “serious sin” after his telephone number was disclosed by the so-called “D.C. Madam” in 2007. Lost a lawsuit for assaulting a woman at a town hall meeting. Had a pack with white supremacist David Duke to suppress the black vote.

Larry Craig – Idaho’s anti-gay Republican Senator was arrested and pled guilty to soliciting gay sex in an airport restroom in June 2007.

Glenn Murphy Jr. – Chairman of the Clark County Republican Party and president of the Young Republican National Federation accosted two men by attempting to perform oral sex on them as they slept.

Mark Foley – abruptly resigned from Congress after “sexually explicit” emails surfaced showing him flirting with a 16-year old boy.

Ted Haggard – Adviser to George W Bush on “spiritual matters” and fervent homophobe who resigned his leadership of the National Association of Evangelicals and stepped aside as pastor of his church after admitting to having a three year affair with a male prostitute and using methamphetamine.

Bob Allen, Florida Republican representing District 32 of the State House of Representatives – arrested 7/11/07 for solicitation for prostitution after he solicited an undercover male officer inside a public restroom, offering to perform oral sex for $20. Before his arrest, Representative Bob Allen sponsored a failed bill that would have tightened the state’s prohibition on public sex. He also has been a supporter of amending the state constitution to ban same-sex marriage and has opposed a bill to curb bullying of gay students. After his arrest, he blamed his actions on a fear of African-Americans!

Coy Privette, the president of the Christian Action League, a North Carolina ultraconservative Christian political organization based in Raleigh, arrested on 7/19/07 for soliciting prostitution after paying his hookers with checks and then reporting then stolen. Privette also served as a Republican in the N.C. Legislature from 1984 to 1992 and has been a member of the board of commissioners in Cabarrus County since 1998.

Philip Giordano, Republican mayor of Waterbury, Conn., was convicted of paying a crack-addicted prostitute to bring her daughter and niece to him for sexual encounters in 2000 and 2001, when they were 8 and 10. He was sentenced to 37 years in prison for sexually abusing the two girls.

Matteo Fontana – Department of Education official under George W Bush, overseer the student loan industry, was put on leave after disclosure that he owned at least $100,000 worth of stock in a student loan company.

Julie MacDonald – Appointed by George W Bush to oversee the Fish and Wildlife Service although she has no academic background in biology. She overrode recommendations of agency scientists about how to protect endangered species and improperly leaked internal information to private groups.

Philip Cooney – Former oil-industry lobbyist who became chief of staff for the White House Council on Environmental Quality under George W Bush, acknowledged to a House committee that he edited three government reports to eliminate or downplay links between greenhouse gases and global warming. He left the government in 2005 to work for Exxon.

J. Steven Griles – A former oil and gas lobbyist who became Deputy Interior Secretary under George W Bush, convicted in the Abramoff influence-peddling scandal, pleading guilty to obstructing justice by lying to a Senate committee about his relationship with Abramoff. Abramoff repeatedly sought Griles’ intervention at Interior on behalf of Indian tribal clients.

Darleen Druyun – Air Force procurement officer under George W Bush served nine months in prison in 2005 for violating conflict-of-interest rules after agreeing to lease Boeing refueling tankers for $23 billion, despite Pentagon studies showing the tankers were unnecessary. After making the deal, she quit the government to join Boeing.

David H. Safavian – White House aide for George W Bush was convicted last year of lying to government investigators about his ties to Jack Abramoff and faces an 180-month prison sentence.

Claude Allen – George W Bush’s domestic policy adviser, pleaded guilty to theft in making phony returns at discount department stores. He was to two years of supervised probation and fined $500.

“Jeff Gannon” – Pseudonym for James Guckert — who worked for fake news agency Talon News, with “daily passes” obtained from the Secret Service and FBI allowing Guckert/Gannon access to White House press briefings and to parse questions to President George W. Bush. Guckert/Gannon was later exposed as a gay prostitute.

John Doolittle, Deputy Whip for the Republican party in the House, resigned from the Committee on Appropriations in response to a raid by the FBI at his Northern Virginia home investigating his involvement with Jack Abramoff. His wife worked for Jack Abramoff and was paid via a company called Sierra Dominion Financial Solutions, based at the couple’s home and founded just after Congressman Doolittle gained a seat on the Appropriations Committee. She is the only employee.

Rep. Ken Calvert (R-CA), caught by police with a prostitute in a parked car in California. Subsequently, Calvert repeatedly attempted to cover up the incident for nearly a year, publicly denying that it ever occurred.

Republican Congressman Dan Crane had sex with a female minor working as a congressional page.

Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist – Under investigation from the Justice Department and the Securities and Exchange Commission about his sale of stock in his family’s hospital company one month before its price fell sharply. Accepted over $23,000 from the tobacco industry, although he is a doctor. Adopted cats from animal shelters so he could kill them.

Randall Harold “Duke” Cunningham – Resigned from the House after pleading guilty to accepting at least $2.4 million in bribes and underreporting his income for 2004. Plead guilty to federal charges of conspiracy to commit bribery, mail fraud, wire fraud, and tax evasion. Sentenced to eight years and four months in prison and an order to pay $1.8 million in restitution.

Bob Dole – Cheated on his first wife with his current wife, Elizabeth Dole.

Henry Hyde – Had a seven year affair with a married woman with three kids, an affair that continued even after the woman’s husband, Fred Snodgrass, found out about it and demanded that Hyde leave his wife alone.

Newt Gingrich – Dumped his ex-wife while she was in a hospital bed suffering from cancer. Was screwing his aid while sitting in judgment of President Clinton. He resigned as speaker of the house. Also funneled hundreds of millions of dollars to his campaign donors. His district received more taxpayer’s money than all the other districts in America.

Bill Bennett – When not telling Americans how to be virtuous can be found in Las Vegas gambling the night away.

Gov. John Rowland – Had to resign after it was discloses he illegally accepted gifts from state contractors. Plead guilty federal charge of criminal conspiracy.

Rep. Bill Janklow – Convicted of manslaughter. Habitual speeder and reckless driver.

John Linder – Has a wandering eye for his female staff members.

Mike Bowers – Cheated on his wife for fifteen years.

Jack Ryan – Had to drop out of senatorial race after it was disclosed he forced his wife to perform sex acts in front of strangers.

William Cohen – Cheated on his wife then dumped her for his mistress..

Jeanine Pirro – Republican District Attorney required a grocery chain to hire Bernard B. Keriks security consulting firm in 2004 to settle charges brought by her office. In 2005, Ms. Pirro was caught on tape asking Mr. Kerik to secretly tape her husbands conversations to see if he was having an affair with another woman, prompting a federal investigation.

Bernard Kerik – Had overlapping affairs with Judith Regan, the publisher of his recent memoir, and a city correction officer. He used the same New York City apartment for liaisons with the women. Accepted unreported gifts of thousands of dollars in cash and other items from associates at a New Jersey construction company while serving as NY police commissioner. Ordered to pay a conflict-of-interest fine for using three police officers to do research about his mother for his autobiography.

Guy Millner – Has been married three times, partly because he has sex with women he isn’t married to.

Rush Limbaugh – Cheated on at least two of his four wives. Dope addict. Used his maid as a drug runner. Accepted plea agreement to avoid charges of prescription fraud. On probation with mandatory drug screening. Avoided draft during Vietnam by saying he had an anal cyst. Fired seven times.

Mitch Skandalakis – Hired hookers from his Las Vegas hotel room.

Rudolph Giuliani – Married three times. His first marriage was to his second cousin. He lived with his second wife while still married to his first wife. His second wife found out through a press conference Giuliani was leaving her for his assistant who he was having an affair with. Estranged from both his son Andrew and his daughter Caroline.

Michael Deaver – Was so drunk he doesn’t remember hiring hookers.

Richard A. Delgaudio – Nationally-known Republican party fund-raiser plead guilty to producing child pornography after paying two teenage girls to pose for sexual photos in a Baltimore hotel.

Nicholas Elizondo – Director of the “Young Republican Federation” molested his 6-year old daughter and was sentenced to six years in prison.

Earl “Butch” Kimmerling – The Republican anti-gay activist was sentenced to 40 years in prison for molesting an 8-year old girl after he attempted to stop a gay couple from adopting her.

Bill Randall – A Florida Congressional candidate and minister, he fathered an illegitimate child during his affair.

Phil Gramm – Funded porn movie. Draft dodger. Laundered illegal campaign funds. Wife Wendy corporate crook.

Rep. Bob Barr – Cheated on all three of his wives. Used pro-lifer’s money to get elected and then forced his wife to have an abortion. Also a member of the CCC, a KKK like organization.

Bill McCartney – Promise Keepers founder who didn’t keep his Promise to his wife and then lied about it for 20 years.

George Will – Divorced his first wife, leaving her with a mentally disabled child, for a younger woman.

Bob Dornan – Regularly beat his wife but he is a ‘family values’ republican.

Rep. Ken Calvert – Christian Coalition ally was caught by police in 1993 receiving oral sex from a prostitute. His ex-wife also sued him for failure to pay alimony.

Rep. Dan Burton – Had at least six adulterous affairs, and fathered an out-of-wedlock child which he ignores.

Rep. Robert Bauman – Homophobic Congressman charged with soliciting sex from a 16-year old boy he picked up at a gay bar, admitted that he had been the victim of an extortion scheme by a man who had a sexual relationship with him.

Rep. Bill Thomas – Cheated on his wife with health care lobbyist Deborah Steelman.

Sen. Strom Thurmond – Cheated on his fourth wife at age 88! Raped his underage maid and fathered a child by her.

Gilbert Davis – Paula Jones’ attorney, who allowed himself to be videotaped drunk during his adultery.

Bob Packwood – Drank huge amounts of hard liquor and then tongue-kissed his female staffers against their will.

Gov. Kirk Fordice – Got so hopped up by his mistress that he crashed his Jeep Cherokee and got himself hurt.

Beverly Russell – The Christian Coalition coordinator and Republican activist molested his stepdaughter Susan Smith, who later killed her own two children.

Gov. George Ryan – Found guilty by a federal jury of all 18 counts of federal public corruption charges against him.

Rep. Donald “Buz” Lukens – Found guilty of having sex with a minor and sent to jail.

Rep. Sue Myrick – Cheated on her husband and left him for another man.

Bob Livingston – The GOP Speaker-to-never-be, cheated on his wife Bonnie – with at least four women.

Michael Huffington – The Former GOP Congressman who cheated on his wife Arianna – with other men.

Oklahoma Lt. Gov. Mary Fallin – Had an adulterous affair with her Security Guard – a state trooper.

Edward Schrock – Republican Congressman resigned from Congress after he was caught searching for sex on a gay telephone service.

Rep. Helen Chenoweth – After criticizing President Clinton for the “sordid spectacle” of an extramarital affair and airing a campaign advertisement in which she says that “personal conduct and integrity does matter,” she admitted that she had engaged in a long-term affair with a married man.

Rep. John Schmitz – Extreme right-wing Republican fathered two children by a mistress, a former student named Carla Stuckle whom Schmitz taught when he was a professor at Santa Ana College. His daughter, Mary Kay LeTourneau, made national headlines when as a school teacher, she was arrested twice for having sex and producing two children with an underage student of hers (beginning when he was only 13 years old).

Rep. John Boehner – Distributed money from tobacco industry lobbyists on the House floor to members who had voted in favor of tobacco interests.

Gov. Bob Taft III – Plead no contest in Aug. 2005 to charges that he violated state ethics laws, becoming the first governor in the state’s history to be convicted of a crime.

Spokane Republican Mayor Jim West – Homophobic mayor admits meeting men online for sex – as well as offering gifts, favors and a City Hall internship to a young man for sex.

West Hartford Republican Mayor Philip Giordano is serving a 37-year sentence in federal prison for sexually abusing 8- and 10-year old girls.

Edison Misla Aldarondo – Republican legislator was sentenced to 10 years in prison for raping his daughter between the ages of 9 and 17.

Donald “Buz” Lukens – Republican Congressman was found guilty of having sex with a female minor and sentenced to one month in jail.

Neal Horsley -Republican anti-abortion activist admitted to having sex with a mule.

Matthew Glavin – President of the conservative Southeastern Legal Foundation, which sought to have President Clinton disbarred in Arkansas; resigned after being charged with public indecency for fondling himself and an undercover park ranger in May in Georgia’s Chattahoochee River National Recreation Area.

Republican pastor Mike Hintz, whom George W. Bush commended during the 2004 presidential campaign, surrendered to police after admitting to a sexual affair with a female juvenile.

Jim Bakker – Cheated on his wife. Stole millions of dollars. Eventually got locked up in chains and sent to federal prison.

Jimmy Swaggart – Who broke down crying after he got busted with an ugly hooker. Turns around and is caught doing it again.

Pat Robertson – Impregnated a girl and refused to marry her until her parents threatened to contact the media. Owns interest in gold mine in Liberia and supported the ruthless dictator Charles to protect his mine. Advocates abortion for Chinese women.

Lou Beres – Republican chairman of the Oregon Christian Coalition confessed to molesting a 13-year old girl.

Richard Nixon – Forced to resign in disgrace. Covered up Watergate. Pardoned by Gerald Ford for “for any and all crimes” that he might have committed while President.

G. Gordon Liddy – Convicted of conspiracy, burglary, and wiretapping.

H.R. Haldeman – Convicted of conspiracy, obstruction of justice, and perjury.

John Ehrlichman – Convicted of conspiracy, obstruction of justice, and perjury.

Attorney General John N. Mitchell – Convicted of conspiracy, obstruction of justice, and perjury.

Spiro Agnew – Resigned office of Vice-President after pleading guilty to tax evasion.

Ronald Reagan – Dumped Jane Wyman by cheating on her with several Hollywood starlets. Secretly sold weapons to terrorists then lied about it.

Oliver North – While guest host on the Rush Limbaugh show he advocated the assassination of President Clinton. Lied to congress. Sold arms to enemies. Guilty of obstruction of justice, shredded Iran Contra documents, ordered his secretary to smuggle out incriminating evidence in her panties.

John McCain – Left his first wife after she had been severely injured in an automobile accident for a rich former rodeo beauty queen 18 years his junior. Investigated by the Senate Ethics Committee for attempting to influence federal regulators inquiring into the Lincoln Savings and Loan, owned by McCain’s friend and campaign contributor Charles Keating. Between 1984 and 1986, McCain failed to disclose over $15,000 worth of trips and gifts from junk bond king Charles Keating on his financial disclosure forms, and only reimbursed Keating after the scandal broke.

Cindy McCain – Stole drugs to feed her drug habit, including Percocet and Vicodin, from her own nonprofit medical relief organization, American Voluntary Medical Team. An AVMT employee, who had discovered her illegal drug use, tipped off the Drug Enforcement Administration and a federal investigation ensued resulting in McCain paying the costs of the government’s investigation.

George HW Bush – Linda Tripp says had he an affair with a woman named Jennifer Fitzgerald while president.

George W. Bush – Convicted of drunk driving. Lied to congress and US citizens about Iraq’s nuclear capability just to justify his pre-emptive war. Covered up Saudi aid to 9-11 hijackers. Lied on a juror form about his arrest record, a felony in Texas. Lawsuit filed by Christian book writer Margie Schoedinger claimed Bush raped and harassed her. She was found dead of a gunshot wound 9 months after filing the lawsuit.

Neil Bush – Fined for his “ethical disability” in Silverado savings and loan investigation. Cost to tax payers: 1 billion dollars (still paying interest), Cost to Bush: $0. The $50,000 fine was paid by a banking deregulation lobby. Admitted that he had sex with prostitutes while on trips to Thailand and Hong Kong.

Jeb Bush – Defaulted on a $4,56 million loan from Broward Federal Savings in Sunrise, Florida. After federal regulators closed the S&L, the office building that gave Jeb used that loan, the $4.56 million to finance was reappraised by the regulators to $.5 million, which Bush and his partners paid, thereby leaving the taxpayers with a $4 million LOSS.

Columba Bush – Smuggled $16,000 worth of clothes and jewelry into the US after a trip from France.

George P. Bush – Broke into ex-girlfriend’s house and drove circles in her front yard with his car during a fit of rage.

John “Jebby” Bush – Caught by the police with his pants down in a parking lot, having sex with a teen-age girl.

Noelle Bush – Arrested for prescription fraud. Ordered by a judge to attend a rehabilitation program. During her time at the facility, Bush was found in contempt of court twice – once after being accused of taking prescription pills from a nurse’s office and once after she was caught with cocaine.

Dick Cheney – Convicted at least twice for drunk driving. Received five draft deferments from serving in Vietnam because he “had other priorities in the sixties than military service.”

Tom DeLay – Had to resign in disgrace as House majority leader after a Texas grand jury indicted him on a conspiracy charge stemming from a long-running campaign finance investigation. Admonished by House ethics committee three times for unethical behavior.

I. Lewis “Scooter” Libby – Indicted on five charges related to the CIA leak probe: one count of obstruction of justice, two counts of perjury and two counts of making false statements. He was convicted of perjury and obstruction of justice in a grand jury’s investigation of the outing of CIA operative Valierie Plame. The trial also implicated Karl Rove and Dick Cheney in a campaign to discredit her husband, retired diplomat and Iraq war critic Joe Wilson.

Paul D. Wolfowitz – Served as U.S. Deputy Secretary of Defense for George W Bush and considered the architect of the Iraq War. Nominated by Bush for president of the World Bank, where he became involved in a relationship with World Bank Senior Communications Officer (and Acting Manager of External Affairs) for the Middle East and North Africa Regional Office Shaha Ali Riz, despite the organization’s own ethics rules precluding simultaneous employment of couples if one reports to the other even indirectly through a chain of supervision. Wolfowitz promoted her to a job at the state department under Liz Cheney, the daughter of the vice-president, resulting in a raise of over $60,000, as well as guarantees of future increases, more than double the amount allowed under employee guidelines, while keeping her on the World Bank payroll.

Regards,

Jim

What causes an individual to be successful? Are there a multitude of factors including the talents of the individual or is it entirely individual talent? Does society contribute to an individuals success?

George Lakoff wrote the following in The Political Mind:

One of the most profound differences between strict and nurturant modes of thought is the area of causation. In the strict father model, there is individual responsibility and direct action operating: the father gives a directive, the child is expected to carry it out, and if not, the father punishes. Causation is direct and individual.

In the nurturant parent model, causation is sometimes direct and individual, but just as often it is systemic. Nurturance involves developing attachment, empathizing with and forming connections to others. The more absolutes are Help, Don’t Harm, Do Unto Others. … You have to function as part of a social and interpersonal system less governed by specific rules and more “felt out” in terms of how you relate to others and sense their needs and requirements [empathize].

In Thinking Points, Mr. Lakoff states, “Pure conservative philosophy is the application of the strict father model – and only that model – to politics.” He also observes the “appearance of the authoritarian conservative, who applies the strict father model not just to all issues but to governing itself.” John Dean refers to these individuals as Conservatives Without Conscience (CWC).

In other words, CWCs are driven by “individual responsibility and direct action.” Mr. Lakoff restates this as their “Individual Responsibility Principle” in Thinking Points:

All of us are individually responsible for our own destiny. If you succeed, it’s because you deserve it; if you fail it’s your own fault. You’re on your own, and you should be. No coddling.

…

In surveying conservative and progressive arguments, we have noticed another important regularity. Conservatives seem to argue on the basis of direct, individual causation, while progressives tend to argue on the basis of systemic, complex causation.

The two worldviews described by Dr. Lakoff see causation differently. What evidence exists to give credence to either the strict father or the nurturant causation statements made by Professor Lakoff?

The answer is found in the many examples of success documented in Outliers by Malcolm Gladwell. In part 1 of Outliers, Gladwell reviews the different individual and systemic causes of success for several groups and individuals.

Discussed below are summaries of successful individuals and the individual and systemic factors that contributed to their success.

The Matthew Effect shows how setting cutoff dates gives individuals born closest to that date an advantage over others born later.

Championship Canadian Hockey Teams – from age 10 to professional hockey player – were determined by the following external factors:

• They had to be born in Canada
• They had to be born shortly after some arbitrary cutoff date – the closer the better. In this case, January first.
• Their innate talent and early start got them on the “rep squad” which lead to more practice sessions and games to enhance their talents
• They had a physical advantage over others when the differences between 10 year olds over a 12 month period can be significant.

Analysis of successful Canadian hockey teams shows that their members were composed of players with birthdays in the following groups:

• Jan-Mar – 40%
• Apr-Jun – 30%
• Jul-Sep – 20%
• Oct-Dec – 10%

When the researchers looked at individual months, they found more successful team members were born in January than any other month. Second in number of successful players was February and then March.

In the United States, there is a cutoff date of July 31 for baseball. Well, guess what? More major league players are born in August than any other month. Similar statistics exist for European soccer teams.

There were similar results for math testing of fourth graders. The older fourth graders scored 4 to 12% higher.

Research has also showed that not all those born in January become successful team players. Innate talent is also required. But this innate talent is given a significant boost if you are born in January in Canada and you want to play hockey. “Achievement is talent plus preparation” and those with the most preparation become champions.

One researcher said, “It’s outlandish that our arbitrary choice of cutoff dates is causing these long-lasting effects and no one seems to care about them.”

So, successful sports players had innate talent, but that talent was boosted because of when and where the player was born. This luck of the draw then lead to more chances to practice and play more games and thus boost their success and natural talent, if they had any.

The 10,000 Hour Rule:

Mr. Gladwell then goes on to point out that preparation for successful individuals takes about 10,000 hours. People at the top had to “work much, much harder.” Talent is there but experience is a major factor.

This experience requirement was part of the success of The Beatles, Bill Joy of Sun Microsystems, Bill Gates and many others. After reviewing details on innate talents, who they knew that provided a distinct advantage, what family they were born into and who the parents knew, and how they gained their relevant 10,000 hours of experience in a short time, Mr. Gladwell then looked at when they were born. Again a common factor about birth was part of the systemic causes for success. But again, birth is just one factor that contributed to success. “Lucky breaks” for these successful billionaires or The Beatles or star athletes “seem like the rule.”

Mr. Gladwell then listed the 75 richest people in human history based on current US dollars. Whatever the other factors, talents, or lucky breaks were for these 75 people, this list included 14 Americans that were all born within 9 years of each other. Twenty percent of this group comes from one century and one country – lucky breaks.

They were all born between 1831 and 1840. During this era railroads were starting; Wall Street was born; and industrial manufacturing started in a major way. All the economic rules were broken and remade. It really matters if you are born in a time of major transformations and get those lucky breaks.

This same kind of transformation, the personal computer age, was starting just in time for Bill Joy and BIll Gates. If you were born before 1952 and working in computers, your future was in main frames and time sharing, and you wore a black tie and white shirt. If you were born after 1958, you didn’t have time to get your 10,000 hours of computer programming experience.

Opportunity and the right experience are major systemic factors for successful people. Major opportunities occur during the right time for lucky individuals with sufficient experience plus innate talent. But it must all come together just so and at the right time for significant success to occur. But what about innate talent? Does it have limits?

The Effect of High IQ on Success:
Mr. Gladwell reviewed the value of IQ scores, a measure of innate talent, and it’s effect on success. The research shows that those with an IQ of 120 are just as likely to be successful as anyone with an IQ higher than 120.

Just after World War I, Lewis Terman, a Stanford professor, identified 1,528 individuals with an IQ of at least 140. They became known as the “Termites.” Their ages ranged from 3 to 28. A Stanford article on the termites concludes with the following:

As for what IQ scores can predict about a person’s future, Hastorf offers a middle-of-the road position: the tests are pretty good at identifying “school-bright” children, those likely to perform well in ordinary school settings, but “on the issue of what makes you school-bright, it’s obviously a combination of variables — your genetic constitution, your biological health, the motivation that your parents put into you, chance.”

Professor Terman tracked his Termites for years. When most had become adults, he reviewed the success of 730 males. He split them into three groups. The highly successful A group – top 20 percent. Ninety-eight percent of them had advanced degrees. The B group – the middle 60 percent – succeeded satisfactorily. The C group – the bottom 20 percent – were not very successful even though their IQs were 140 or more. Only a quarter of them graduated from high school and only eight earned graduate degrees. Further analysis showed the A’s were from middle and upper class families. The C’s were from the “other side of the tracks.” They all had innate talent, but the Cs lacked the other systemic factors that would foster success.

Mr. Gladwell discussed one such systemic factor that contributed to success for those with high IQs: the “motivation that your parents put into you.” “Concerted cultivation” is more relevant to success than an IQ above 120. If you can’t work with others, it doesn’t matter if your IQ is 195 – you’re not likely to be successful. Christopher Langan, discussed extensively in Outliers, is an example of someone with a high IQ but who had little success in life.

It is unfortunate, but concerted cultivation is typically missing from poor broken families, but it has nothing to do with genetics. It is cultural. The wealthy feel “entitled” to what they have. The poor learn “constraint.” The high IQ poor are less likely to be successful because they lack a “community around them that [could have] prepared them properly for the world.”

Mr. Gladwell provides ample evidence that there are systemic factors that contribute to the success of a talented individual. But there are still more …

In addition to the Matthew Effect, the requirement for 10,000 hours of experience, the luck of when and where you were born, innate talent, social connections, and having sufficient but not necessarily excessive talent – there are still the systemic factors provided by society through its government.

Here is an insightful quote from Warren Buffet (net worth around $46,000,000,000) on societal causation:

I personally think that society is responsible for a very significant percentage of what I’ve earned. If you stick me down in the middle of Bangladesh or Peru or someplace, you find out how much this talent is going to produce in the wrong kind of soil… I work in a market system that happens to reward what I do very well – disproportionately well. Mike Tyson, too. If you can knock a guy out in 10 seconds and earn $10 million for it, this world will pay a lot for that. If you can bat .360, this world will pay a lot for that. If you’re a marvelous teacher, this world won’t pay a lot for it. If you are a terrific nurse, this world will not pay a lot for it. Now, am I going to try to come up with some comparable worth system that somehow (re)distributes that. No, I don’t think you can do that. But I do think that when you’re treated enormously well by this market system, where in effect the market system showers the ability to buy goods and services on you because of some peculiar talent – maybe your adenoids are a certain way, so you can sing and everybody will pay you enormous sums to be on television or whatever – I think society has a big claim on that.

Here is how George Lakoff describes how our society, through its government, helps cause citizen success.

America’s government has at least two fundamental functions, protection and empowerment. Protection includes the police, firefighters, emergency services, public health, the military, and so on. Empowerment includes the infrastructure needed for business and everyday life: roads, communications systems, water supplies, public education, the banking system for loans and economic stability, the SEC for the stock market, the courts for enforcing contracts, air traffic control, support for basic science, our national parks and public buildings, and more. We are usually aware of protection. But the empowerment infrastructure, provided by taxes, is usually taken for granted, hidden, or ignored. Yet it is absolutely crucial, a fundamental truth about America and why America provides opportunity [for success].

Taxes are part of our common wealth, what we all share. Protection and empowerment serve the common good. Because of our common wealth, we are all protected and America’s empowering infrastructure is available to all. That is a fundamental America value: the common wealth should serve the common good. It benefits everyone.

Citizens are financially responsible to maintain this common wealth [by paying taxes in proportion to their gains from society]. If we shirked this responsibility, we could not maintain our roads, fund our schools, protect ourselves from military threats, enforce our laws, and so on. Equally important, we could not create prosperity [success] for ourselves, because we would have no protection of our intellectual property, no oversight of our markets, no means to enforce our contracts, no way to educate most of our children.

Gladwell details many of the specific factors that helped cause the wealth of Bill Gates and Bill Joy. Professor Lakoff explains some of the societal factors that contributed to the success of these talented and lucky citizens:

He [Bill Gates] started Microsoft as a college dropout and has become the world’s richest person. Though he has undoubtedly benefited from his unusual intelligence and business acumen, he could not have created or sustained his personal wealth without the common wealth. The legal system protected Microsoft’s intellectual property and contracts. The tax-supported financial infrastructure enabled him to access capital markets and trade his stock in a market in which investors have confidence. He built his company with many employees educated in public schools and universities. Tax-funded research helped develop computer science and the internet. Trade laws negotiated and enforced by the government protect his ability to sell his products abroad. These are but a few of the ways in which Mr. Gates’ accumulation of wealth was empowered by the common wealth and by taxation.

The research of Lakoff and Gladwell supports the progressive worldview on the causes of success – it’s much more than individual talent. Gladwell emphasizes the technical more determinant causes of success while Lakoff highlights that “the empowerment infrastructure [of our society through its government], provided by taxes, is usually taken for granted, hidden, or ignored.”

Paying taxes supports America’s infrastructure and improves the chances of success for all its citizens. This contradicts the claim of CWCs that cutting taxes, like Nixon, Reagan and Bush did, will solve our problems. Cutting taxes, especially for the rich, only increases the chances of success for the rich – like bonuses and/or continued employment for the CEOs of banks too big to fail – while it reduces the chances of success for the rest of America’s citizenry – now losing their jobs and homes.