Thoughts Before The Alarm Sounds

I am enjoying retirement so much that I have taken to heart a bit of advice from the Talmud: "Live well. It is the best revenge." Accordingly, I hereby forgive all the people who have “done me wrong” over the past 80+ years. Although a few of these events were done deliberately, most of them were so minor that the perpetrators never knew they hurt me. The following is a list of a few that I remember. If I missed any, I intend for them to be on the list: The grade school kid who won all my marbles in just five minutes. The other grade school kid who made me look ridiculous in a “friendly” rough-house on the playground. The classmate who won the lead in the junior high play. I wanted that part because it including holding hands with the female lead. Another classmate who beat the crap out of me in a boxing match in gym class. The fellow soldier who told everybody he thought I was queer. (Gay in today's parlance.) The boss who fired me on Friday aftern...

What do these three events have in common? (1) December 7, 1941: Pearl Harbor was attacked. 2,402 Americans were killed and 1,282 were wounded. Eight battleships, three cruisers, three destroyers, an anti-aircraft training ship and one minelayer were either damaged or sunk. (2) September 11, 2001: Four suicide attacks against the United States resulted in almost 3,000 deaths. The twin towers of the World Trade Center in New York City were destroyed and a section of the Pentagon was demolished. The attackers intended to crash a fourth plane into the United States Capitol, but crashed in a field near Shanksville, Pa. (3) August 1, 2012: The Affordable Healthcare Act required new health insurance policies to include FDA-approved contraceptives, an annual well woman preventive care visit with her doctor, and screening for gestational diabetes, STIs, HIV/AIDS and HPV. Also required are screening and counseling for domestic violence, and breastfeeding support, supplies...

That's a question that needs an answer, George, so I decided to look it up. And the answer is . . . he's just a guy who is fixated on one thing and one thing only. As he puts it, “My goal is to cut government in half in twenty-five years, to get it down to the size where we can drown it in the bathtub.” In other words, he wants to eliminate government. Period. One of the ways he hopes to accomplish his goal is through his Taxpayer Protection Pledge, in which the pledger promises to "oppose any and all efforts to increase the marginal income tax rate for individuals and business; and to oppose any net reduction or elimination of deductions and credits, unless matched dollar for dollar by further reducing tax rates." In 1985 Norquist founded the Americans For Tax Reform (ATR), which he claims was in response to a request by President Reagan. Although the stated primary policy goal of ATR is to reduce government revenues as a percentage of the GDP, ATR also states...