During life you are prone to encounter people with different religious believes.  Few Naïve Americans are willing and able to logically discuss their believes.  Most people are assigned a religion based on the origin of their parents.  Some decide to switch religions later in life under the pretext that whatever they believe is not fulfilling them.  No mater what religion one professes in the US you have the right to do so.

Given that Naïve Americans have the right to choose whatever religion they please then on the other side of the token we need to be fair and accept all other people that for some reason or other did not make the same choice.

Reverend Terry Jones in Gainesville, Florida has decided that Muslims are a threat to the USA.  And for some reason he has concluded that he has to conduct a Quran-Burning event on September 11, 2010.  As I said, religion is not logical.  No one can discuss or prove that some believe is correct or better than other.  So Terry Jones flawed / irrational believes make him arrive to the conclusion that he should burn the Quran which is a sacred book to Muslims.  Revered Jones does not appear to comprehend the implications of his behavior for the rest of Naïve Americans.  I am a believer that the US has no business in Afghanistan or Iraq.  Our troops are there because it is good for business.  That said; the fact still remains that there are thousands of Naïve American soldiers whose life might be at additional risk due to the behavior of Terry Jones.  Something needs to be done.

The Naïve American suggests sending a team to discuss his actions and suggest that the event is canceled.  It might not be a bad idea if Terry Jones apologizes for his actions to Muslims.  I am sure that a country with Special Forces that have been trained to eliminate potential issues before they become problems should be able to handle this irrational reverend.

I know some Naïve Americans would not like such approach because of the laws in our country.  I have to remind them that this country was founded by a group of wealthy people that did not want to pay taxes to the British.  Back then black people were slaves and continued to be slaves for many decades.  On occasions we need to get of our white horses and shining armors and smell the roses.  We cannot allow an irrational individual cause additional loss of lives and property.

The Naïve American

This entry was motivated by the events at Fort Hood Army Base in Texas early this month by Army Major Kidal Malik Hasan.

It appears that Army Major (not a recent low ranking recruit) Kidal Malik Hasan decided to embark in a killing spree a few weeks before being assigned to go to the Middle East and help eliminate al Qaeda.  It is understood by most Naive Americans that an Army Major should be a US citizen.  This makes Kidal Malik Hasan a Naive American just like you and me, or does it?

On November 09, 2009 ABC News published on the web an article “Officials: U.S. Army Told of Hasan’s Contacts with al Qaeda” (http://abcnews.go.com/Blotter/fort-hood-shooter-contact-al-qaeda-terrorists-officials/story?id=9030873&nwltr=WN_topstory_more).  A simple question that should come up to mind is:  Are we FIRST Naive Americans and THEN members of a religious group?

By default most Naive Americans (with the possible exception of some bigots, and there are millions of them out there) will incorrectly believe that patriotism is above any thing on an individual with the only possible exception of immediate family.  This is reasonable given the fact that the ONLY Americans in the USA are the Native (NOT Naive) Americans.  Some of us were not born in the US, but at some point in time made a decision to become Naive Americans.  Some of us are FIRST generation born in America.  Some TIME AGO our parents made the decision of coming to the US and by default we were born in the political geographical part of the world called the USA.  Others of us are second generation born in the US.  We could continue a few generations back and for most Naive Americans our relatives were born and pledge allegiance to a different country.  At some point in time, our not so distant ancestors, or we decided to move to the USA to build a new and better life.  All of this is great blue sky and apple pie.

The problem is that at least in the past few decades politicians have been passing laws that allow people to come to the USA that have no interest in being here, less becoming Naive Americans.  I have heard people express such opinion regarding this subject in conversations in public places.  Why is the US government not only allowing such people to enter the country but also bring and give them aid to hate our country and our way of life?  Just look as some immigration laws.  Then look at the politicians that signed them into law.   As usual they are completely non accountable for their actions.  In the case of Army Major Kidal Malik Hasan, not accountable for the death and injury of several dozen Naive Americans at Fort Hood.

Of course we cannot point fingers to people who where born in a specific country (or set of countries) as a problem.  The country of origin in general is not the issue.  The issue is with the ideology (specifically religious believes) that people have BEFORE entering our country.  Most believes are not associated with their previous nationality or the official (if such a thing exists) religious believes.  Allow me to clarify the issue of the misguided religious believes.

I was born into a Catholic family (obviously not by my own will).  Not much can be said about Catholics in the past few decades with the exception of just continuing to amass huge wealth and ignore the needs of their followers worldwide.  If you are looking for a simple example of what I am talking about, just visit the Vatican City and see how the head of the Catholic Church lives.  The pope is not Mother Teresa.  Apparently the pope does not walk the talk.  That same church about five hundred years ago ran the Inquisition in the name of God.  Back then if you did not agree with the ideas of the church torture and death were a definitely option.  A few centuries before that, the same Catholic Church conducted the Crusades also in the name of God.  Is this religion above citizenship / patriotism?

One way or another the people that served the church knew and respected the fact that before the business of the church came the business of the country.  In the USA we appear to have (at least in paper) separation of God and Country.  If the goals (and they should not) do not cross paths, then all is well, but if they do, which one takes precedence?  Not an easy question to answer!

Allow me to answer this question.  For MOST Naive Americans patriotism comes first.  For example, if our country is under a REAL threat (not one created by politicians to start a war to consume weapons) most of us will, if needed, enlist in the armed forces to defend our country.  We did this during World War I and World War II.  After that the rest of the conflicts are of dubious origins and needs (political and financial interest) including the ones we currently have in Afghanistan and Iraq.

When a group of people puts the religious believes above the needs of their country, things not only do not work, but most Naive Americans are not prepared to deal with such reality.  We just do not comprehend it until the religious believes of Army Major Kidal Malik Hasan come to play by putting them above being a US citizen.

Our country needs to understand the religious threats of having individuals living in our country that with a blink of an eye would put their own religious agendas before the ones of the USA.  I am not just taking about a few disturbed minds.  I am talking about different religious groups with different agendas that have millions of followers in the US and other countries around the world.  Stop for a few minutes and think if you know people that belong to such group?  Chances are that you might.

If unattended, this will become a serious issue in the not so distant future.  Such people are APPARENTLY integrating into the US but they will put their believes above the duties of a US citizen any day.  They act like sleeper agents waiting for the right moment to strike.

Hopefully readers of this blog will meditate on this, clearly identify the threat and hopefully come up with ideas that can be implemented to reduce this threat.  The approach is not simple.  Remember that the best asset we have is our people and our people are or were immigrants not too long ago.  It is not a simple task!

Yesterday I changed channels to the local CBS station just before 06:00 PM EDT.  “60 Minutes” was scheduled to start at that time but given what I have observed in the past, I was expecting as usual some delay.  CBS was showing a game between The New England Patriots and the Tennessee Titans.  The Patriots won the game 59 – 0.  I do not care for watching football games.  As a matter of fact I do not care for watching sports at all.  I have a hard time watching people play a game and getting paid millions of Dollars for something that should just be done for entertainment and health.  During my life I have done that and had a good time.

The game went on and on and on.  Finally as soon as it finished CBS decided to switch to the game between the New York Jets and the Buffalo Bills.  In that match The Bills defeated the Jets by 16 – 13 in overtime.  This game was also as boring as they come.

When the games were done, CBS broadcasted “60 Minutes” (no Andy Rooney) and then “Amazing Race”.  “60 Minutes” interesting as usual.  “Amazing Race” entertaining as expected.

Getting back to the football games, if CBS is willing to delay other shows and cancel one of them (whatever followed Three Rivers) it is obvious that they do it for economic reasons.  More people (fans) must watch football than the program that was canceled last evening.

A few weeks ago I was watching the local news and they mentioned that the Metrodome in the Twin Cities of Minneapolis and St. Paul was packed with fans watching the Twins (local professional baseball team).  Apparently the Twins won that particular game.  After that they were flying to New York City for the next set of games.  The newscaster mentioned that for the next local game seats were priced between $45 to $500 US Dollars (not Monopoly money).  What is wrong with Naive Americans?  Our economy is in shambles and the future for the US is extremely dim.  Yet we are willing to pay up to $500 per seat to watch a game of baseball.

Who are the fans cheering for?  It appears they cheer the players and the team.  The players who make millions of dollars a season and they are willing to change teams as soon as their contracts expire going to play for the team that offers the most money.  Given this fact, do you honestly believe that any player cares about their team or fans?  They only are in it for the money.  That is OK is you are a player, but were does it leave the fans?  I would say in need of some psychiatric evaluation.

In the past couple weeks it has been in the news that the contusions incurred by most football players eventually lead to different mental illness being the most common dementia.  Again, as a Naive American fan, are we routing to see how people injure themselves for our amusement and pleasure?  Please take a few moments and get acquainted with the events at the Coliseum in Rome about 2,000 years ago.  Are we in the same boat today?  Are sports events, specially football, an indicator of where our society and country is going?  I can bet that if we could travel back in time and ask any fan that attended the events in Rome 2,000 years ago about the decline of the Roman Empire, they would at least have laugh at us (probably would throw us into the arena to be slaughter).  Are we in the SAME boat and we do not realize it?

Most of us have also watched on TV the Intel advertisement (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=q-8GVi2Fdi4) that portrays computer scientist Ajay Bhatt (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ajay_Bhatt) co inventor of the USB bus.  I would bet that Mr. Bhatt has NOT been able to collect over one billion US Dollars for his invention.

If one puts in perspective the changes and improvements that have been brought about by the USB bus as compared to what has been contributed by hitting a ball with a club on a golf course one must wonder what is going on with our values.  Our society is promoting all the wrong behaviors.

One of the last two contributors to Mr. Woods’s purse are General Motors (GM) and Federal Express.  Lets pause for a moment and figure out what these companies have done to come up with millions of Dollars to have Mr. Woods as a spokesperson or endorse their products and services.  GM is bankrupt and has let go thousands of employees but yet had enough left to give away money for no return.  The same holds true for Federal Express.  They have laid off thousands of workers and closed several facilities, yet they are able to contribute millions of Dollars for a golf tournament.  Not sure about the common Naive American, but unless there are some extreme changes at GM, I will not purchase an automobile from them.  Regarding FedEx, I use them when electronic means and regular mail are not feasible.  I would not use their services more or less based on their wasted ten million Dollars on a golf tournament purse.

This same week three Naive American scientists won a Nobel price in medicine.  Elizabeth Blackburn, Carol Greider and Jack Szostak were named winners of the 2009 Nobel Prize in medicine for research that has implications for cancer and aging research.  The award was 1.4 million US dollars.  We need to stop and think how the contributions of these scientists match to whatever Mr. Woods was / is / will be able to provide for society.

What are the executives of FedEx and GM thinking?  What are Naive Americans thinking?  We are in desperate need of CHANGE and let me tell you the change is not going to come from Mr. Obama.  The needed changes must come from all Naive Americans.

It is interesting how most (not all) divorced women want and in most cases make a business of getting pregnant, married, in most cases having a second child and then divorcing.  After that they want to be taken care by the ex for about twenty years.  The best excuse is the welfare of the children.  Women do not care for their children and they only want money in the form of child support and if possible alimony.  Men end up resenting their children because they pay and they seldom have something to say.  This is a serious issue that has been eroding the family values in our country for decades.  No accountability whatsoever.

In the case of my son, the ex wife has over 50% of the time with her.  This was thanks to the recommendation of a “Parenting Consultant”.  Not sure what the qualifications are to become a parenting consultant.  Their actions do not appear to be logical or based on any science.  It appears to be the common case of inept people given some power.  Most airport security personnel show this syndrome.  They know they are in a position of power while at work.

The reason I am writing this blog is because last weekend their mother took my grand daughters to visit relatives in Iowa.  The trip is over four hours long from the Twin Cities.  They left Saturday returning Sunday.  Not much thought on the mother side but what can you say.  Common sense is not the most common of the senses.

Four people occupied the car.  My two granddaughters, their uncle and their mother were heading down to Iowa.  The mother was at the wheel.  Most of the trip was on interstate highways.  The mother was using her phone texting friends.  Not sure where you live but in Minnesota and Iowa it is not legal to text which driving.  She completely disregarded the law (no one was watching) and kept on texting, driving and swerving on the road.  Things got so bad that her brother took the phone from her hands and put it in his pocket.  He showed some common sense because he felt that he might be involved in a car accident caused by a woman (his sister) breaking the law.

It appears that after having to get off the car and receive verbal abuse was not enough to make him return the phone.  The girls told me that finally on Sunday he returned the phone.

So who was in danger in this situation?  Who is accountable for having my granddaughters spent time with an unfit parent?  No one.  The parenting consultant, the lawyers and judge are completely unaccountable in our society for any thing they do.  If the car would have crashed and injured someone our legal system would have blamed the mother.  That is a good start, but what happens to the parenting consultant, lawyers and judges?  Nothing!

The reason for writing about it is to have something written on the web that is fully accessible to anyone with Internet access.  This way the facts would be out there for public consumption.

At this time I will not disclose the names of the players to protect the innocent.  Who knows, time might prove me wrong.

The story goes as follows.  About twenty years ago my wife and I started a software development business.  We had good and not so good times as most small businesses do.  Three years ago a group approach our company with the idea of helping us get to the next level.  The group was not of investors but of managers.  Later we found out that the company had no more than three people.  One was the president that allegedly was very well connected but had little time to spend with us.  The second individual was a marketing person also well connected who spent most of his time on and off with us.  The last person was an accountant.

After a little over a year into the relationship with things not going well at all, the decision by the management group was to sell the assets of the company.  They were sold early this year.  Some of the employees moved to the new company.  Working at the new company has been great for all of us.

Interesting to note is the fact that the web site of our old company is still up with all the products that have been acquired / transferred to the new company.

Now to the reason of this entry in the blog.  Yesterday I get a phone call from the principals of the new company telling me that somehow someone was contacted from the old company.  The person on the phone gave a name of an old employee who chose to leave the old company shortly after the management firm came on board.  She claimed that the offices are still in the same city as our old company was.  What was quite interesting is that she mentioned that the old president was no longer with the company and that my family was paying for the expenses of the old company.  Of course my family has no connection with the old company whatsoever.

It is interesting that someone is paying for the toll free number (888.xxx.xxxx) and for the services of this person to answer the phone.  What is also interesting is that for products and services she is referring callers (at least that is what she stated) to the new company.

Several things are not right.  For me the most important is the claim that my family is paying for expenses from the old company.

I am going to see what the new company is going to do about this.  One way or the other I will contact local and possibly federal authorities so at least they also have a precedent on what is going on.  We do not wish to be liable for any problems that the old company and whoever is paying for the expenses might incur.  Given that only the assets were sold the record should be clean indicating that my family has not been involved with the old company since the assets were sold.

More to follow in the next few days as the drama unfolds!

A few days have elapsed since I first wrote the first part of this blog.  A group of people, including me, from the new company called the toll free number of the old company.  After taking with the person that answered the phone we spoke with her supervisor.  It appears that the phone line is being manned by an answering service paid by the new company.  All a false alarm.

We need to look at this example as a learning experience.  What is initially perceived might not be correct.  This appears to be the case with many cases in our judicial system.  If you are ever in a position of being part of a jury please make sure that your peer sitting in the defendant chair might be innocent regardless of what is being said.

The public education system in the USA is not working and has not been working for a long period of time.  The reason for this simple and bold statement is based not on opinion but on facts.  By testing graduates from our school systems against the ones of other countries we are ranked not in the top three but fifteenth.  I always asked if the reader is able to list fourteen developed countries in the world.  Who knows, in a few more years we will probably be ranked in the twenties unless there are some dramatic changes in our education system.  That is one aspect of the problem that I am not going to delve further at this time.

The other which perhaps is more important that our school system is the development of the brain.  Allow me to define the difference.  When a student attends school, he or she is supposed to learn some specific set of subjects / skills that in theory will be of direct use in their life and careers.  For example, if the student is learning to become a physician, then being able to describe the operation of most (if not all) the organs in the human body would be quite desirable.  On the other hand such skill would be in most cases quite useless if the student is preparing to become a civil engineer.

I can feel already liberals jumping because of the previous paragraph.  Please hold your horses and keep on reading.  You might not be in total disagreement when you are done reading the rest of the blog.

As a child one needs to be exposed to some set of basic disciplines which will not be sufficient on their own to make a living as an adult, but will enable your brain to develop making it easier to acquire some set of specialized knowledge and skill which will in turn allow you to become proficient in any field down the line.

Following is a short and simple list of skills that children at a very small age (between 2 and 4 years) should start acquiring, developing and hopefully retaining to be applied in further brain development:

- Discipline

- Languages

- Music

- Mathematics

- Science

- Sports

Discipline is something that has been disappearing in our country since the 1950’s.  It all started with the flower power era.  Discipline is important to help individuals pursue goals from inception to completion.  Stop reasoning with your toddler and put pressure to have them complete satisfactorily more and more challenging tasks.  Remember what Einstein said:  “One percent of inspiration and 99 percent of perspiration”.

The ability to speak multiple languages is something not pursued by most parents.  Some children motivated by their parents or curiosity try a language or two while in the K-12 educational system.  Not many are able to speak and write any of those languages fluently.

The ability of playing one or more instruments is something that Naive Americans do not seem to appreciate.  In general is the child does not show a predisposition the subject is completely ignored by parents.  Kids that are in band are not the most popular in their class.  Our society tends to promote kids to play sports in order to live through them the frustrations and failures of the parents (“I scored five touch downs on the homecoming game but today I hate my job and my life”) or in the case the child has exceptional ability, the possibility of becoming a professional player.  There are not too many openings at that level so do not hold your breath on such high compensation yet short careers.

When a child likes mathematics in school our society immediately puts them in the “geek group”.  Apparently kids like to be “jocks” instead of “geeks”.  As time goes by and the young adults attend college and pursue advanced degrees then “geeks” appear to become quite popular.  I am not promoting that all kids become mathematicians.  Mathematics are just simply good for brain development.

Finding out how things work helps the brain develop.  It also generates interest in learning about other fields that might be of more interest.  In our current K-12 educational system emphasis on science is almost nil.  Parents need to motivate their children to learn about science by providing books and other materials to develop interest to learn about how the world works.

Last but not least we have sports.  Lately there has been a lot of research regarding physical conditioning not just for muscles but also for the brain.  The brain appears to work better when properly oxygenated.  Obese kids that are tired to do sports tend to sit in front of the TV and play games or just watch standard programs.  With very few exceptions the commercials and programs on TV are not geared to brain development.

One must take all these suggestions with a grain of salt.  I guess most individual base their opinions on their experience.  I am not a brain surgeon but as I was growing up my parents promoted most of the items in the list.  As an adult I still try to learn and practice items from the list.  If you have young children perhaps you might look into the activities listed in this blog and see if with time your child starts to develop a better and more powerful brain which will help him or her to achieve higher goals in life.  For more information on alternate educational approaches take a look at what the top ranked countries in education are doing.  The USA is ranked fifteenth!

My wife and I have not been divorced so we do not have experience in this matter.  I know many people that have gone through the process.  In most cases it appears that the ex wife wants the ex husband to support them for life.  The sad part is that in most cases they use the kids to accomplish this.

In the State of Minnesota, it appears that the parent that spends more time with the kids may receive more childcare money from the other.  This sounds fair until you get lawyers, judges, and custody evaluators in the mix.  At that point the kids are moved to a back burner and it appears that the only thing that matters is money.  This behavior is quite common among Naïve Americans.  Statistics indicate that currently one out of two people have been divorced at least once.  Can you imagine the numbers of kids with divorced parents?

Less than a year ago a judge produced an order in which my son would have his kids according to the following schedule:

- Wednesdays from 05:00 PM to Thursdays at 08:00 AM.

- Every other weekend from Friday at 05:00 PM to Monday at 08:00 AM.

My son agreed to this under the assumption that his kids would have a more stable life.  Coming and going several times a week is quite disruptive for the girls.  There was something else in the order.  During the months of summer, time would be split in half.  Each of the parents would have the kids for a full week at a time.  My son wanted this to be year round but judges, lawyers and custody evaluators had something else to say.  It is interesting how people with the least knowledge and interest have the power to make decisions that affect young Naïve Americans.

As summer approaches, the ex wants to keep the children in the winter schedule.  She can get more overall time in a year ($$$) and it is more convenient for her not to change the routine.  But what about the children?

Since the divorce my son has picked up the girls every single time it was his turn and has spent it with us.  The girls, my son, wife and I spend quality time together.  We plan activities that we can all participate in (i.e., zoo visits, movies, parks, biking, restaurants, sleepovers, shopping, etc).  My son, who has allergies to pets, got a small puppy so the girls can play with.  With the exception of one Saturday evening that he was going out with some friends at 06:00 PM, he has always spent all his court assigned time (I believe it is called parenting) with his daughters.

In that same period, the ex has been dropping the girls during workdays after school in a day care.  Most weekends she takes the girls to visit her parents that live in a small town in rural Minnesota about an hour away.  That sounds good, the problem is that she literally dumps the kids for days or if she stays in the area, she spends most of her time with friends.  Great parenting!

My son has been staying home for the past few months.  A sign of the economical times the USA is going through.  He is willing and has offered his ex to take care of the girls at any time in order to avoid them being at a daycare facility.  She does not want that to happen because her $$$ would be reduced / eliminated and possibly she would have to pay my son child support.  So what about the children?

In a few weeks incompetent or not caring judges, lawyers and custody evaluators will decide how my granddaughters will spend their time this summer.  The older wants to spend all her time with my son and us.  The younger, perhaps due to the state of affairs during the past few years, does not seem to care or understand what is going on.  Hopefully this is just a period in her life.  Perhaps we need to thank judges, lawyers and custody evaluators for her behavior.

My strong recommendation / suggestion for any adult Naïve American considering having a child is to think over and over how stable their marriage is before committing to bring a life into this world.  A child does not fix a broken marriage.  A divorce is always hard on children.

Our laws and procedures need to be CHANGED.  It is obvious they are not working for children.

About ten years ago he moved to the Twin Cities looking for a change and to be close to relatives.  He worked at a local casino and at the international airport.  He then found a job at a Walmart store in the Twin Cities of Minneapolis and St. Paul in Minnesota.

Joe worked five days a week.  His schedule changed now and then.  Most of the time he worked over weekends.  He would get up early in the morning to make sure he had enough time to get to work on time.  He was never late.

A few weeks ago Walmart start cutting his hours and shifting his schedule.  Given that Joe has been a loyal Walmart employee for several years, his current salary is somewhat higher than of new employees (or associates as they are called by Walmart).  Joe is quite desperate at this time looking for a new job because with no more than twenty hours a week he is not able to pay his bills.

Most Naive Americans are aware of the economic condition in the US and around the world.  What most Naive Americans do not understand is that American Royalty created the crisis.  It just happens that the Walton family who is the largest shareholder of Walmart and Sam’s Club are part of such American aristocratic class.

Walmart lobbied for vendor companies to outsource in order to reduce their manufacturing costs while maintaining their profit margins selling at a discounted price to them.  Walmart helped companies reduce their costs by moving manufacturing offshore.  So who benefited from such approach?  Well, consumers that shop at Sam’s Club and Walmart did.  Who paid for the lower prices that made huge profits for Sam’s Club and Walmart?  Most Naive Americans.

As manufacturing jobs fled the US at an accelerated pace, more and more Naive Americans lost their jobs and had to look for new lower paying jobs.  The condition got so bad that Sam’s Club and Walmart lobbied for an increase on the minimum wage in the USA.  Walmart did not care about what they were paying their employees but they reasoned that by increasing the minimum wage they would increase their revenue.  Most people that shops Sam’s Club and in particular Walmart are lower income families.

Lately Joe experienced a couple personal issues.  His mother passed away a few months ago.  In the past month or so Joe’s hours at Walmart were reduced from five to three days.  It appears that due to the additional stress (and to some extent his genetics) he developed a case of type II diabetes.

The question that all Naive Americans should ask our government is how the road construction and lately rapid trains will help Joe in any way shape or form?  The answer is quite simple.  Those projects that will cost the USA billions of Dollars will not help Joe and millions of other Naive Americans.

Last week, on the evening news on April 15, reports from protests in many cities around the US showed some Naive Americans protesting against taxes.  The interesting this about such protest was the tea party theme.  This is how the USA came to be by rebelling against the British.  If things continue to go the way they have been, sooner than later we might have some type of massive protest in our country, which will have serious repercussions for all Naive Americans and the world.

We need to put pressure on all politicians to take immediate action (or quit) to induce CHANGE.  The American Royalty has to go!

After shopping for perfume for my wife at the Mall of America, we headed to visit my youngest son.  My wife and I have two sons, both with families of their own.  My wife had purchased a few weeks go some Easter baskets which my daughter in law needed for next week.  The grandkids will be hunting for eggs next week.  At this time we are not sure such event will be outdoors or indoors.  When we went to bed last evening there was no snow on the ground.  This morning all is covered with about two inches of fresh snow.  The weather forecast calls for a warming period.  Hopefully the Twin Cities of Minneapolis and St. Paul will be experiencing highs in the 50′s by the end of this week.  The kids might be able to spend time outdoors next Sunday.

On our way home we decided to go to the Best Buy store in Eagan, MN.  Last week a technician from the cable company stopped by to address an issue we were experiencing.  The cable box and the cable between it and the TV were replaced.  The technician swapped the RCA (composite video and stereo audio) with a HDMI cable.  After all was done the issue was resolved and most interesting the quality of the picture was improved.  My wife and I decided to swap the cable connecting the Blu-ray player to the TV for added quality.  On a side note, if you decide to purchase a HDMI cable make sure you check prices.  Some manufactures and stores are asking exorbitant amounts of money for four feet wire and a couple connectors.

As we were leaving the store my wife received and unexpected phone call from a long time friend.  The husband of a common friend passed away earlier that day.  He left behind two daughters and wife.  A death in the family is never welcomed, but what made it worse is that his wife, a retired oral surgeon affected by crippling rheumatology arthritis, lost not only her husband but also her primary care taker.

Last evening my wife was on the phone for over two hours with another friend whose husband works for the same company as the deceased.  She mentioned that employees in there fifties are extremely concerned with the state of our economy.  In the past couple months it is not uncommon to hear several times a week the sirens of paramedics in the corporate main campus of the company these people work.  Several employees have been taken to hospitals with heart attacks and stokes.  The main cause appears to be the high stress being exposed due not only to job demands but also to the uncertainty that has been brought on us by our economy.  I am not going to mention the name of the firm but it is listed as a Fortune 500 company.  It is one of the largest employers in Minnesota.  As a matter of fact I used to work there about twenty years ago.

So besides the tragedy of the death for the family and friends, Naive Americans need to stop and reflect on the most likely culprit for this untimely death and the death of other in this and other companies in the USA. 

In a different blog I mentioned a study conducted for years on the world population regarding happiness.  It was surprising that Naive Americans with our large houses full of stuff and huge SUVs that waste so much energy are ranked far from to the top.  Most Naive Americans are unhappy and angry.  The study points out that most Naive Americans are not happy because we do not have the stability provided by our government and our society like in so may other countries around the world.  If you do not believe this, take a few minutes and read the news on the Internet:

 ”… A silent killer carrying two handguns opened fire in an upstate immigration center Friday April 03, 2009, executing 13 people in a brutally efficient murder spree.  Wong, was bitter over his recent layoff from a Shop-Vac factory when he grabbed two handguns, a bag of ammunition and his body armor Friday …”

This individual was pushed to the limit because of the state of our economy.  I do agree that the perpetrator does not fit the age profile (50′s) of the worker that passed away Saturday, but it does not take much to figure out that the root of the problem is quite similar.

Last week president Obama attended the last G-20 meeting in Europe.  Their main goal was to come up with measures to fix the world economy.  Sounds like something a candidate in the Miss America pageant would say, “fix the world economy“.  If you look at the list of countries that make up the G-20 and follow what goes on in the world, you can easily figure out that correcting the issues in the US would go against helping other countries.

Naive Americans are interested in making money but not study or work.  We are a nation of investors, lawyers and accountants that demand (we believe that we somehow we deserve) very high returns on our investments and are not able to put in a 40-hour week of hard work.  Our industries and know how are being outsourced and globalize for the benefit of the American Royalty.  This is why our automobile industry is about to collapse.  The Naive American predicts that the automobile industry in the US will follow the same road as other technological driven industries had in the past (e.g., television sets, photocopiers, small home appliances, watches, etc, etc, etc).

Next time you have some time to spare, look through your TV guide, for the program “How is it Made”.  Each episode covers a handful of products.  It shows how raw materials are transformed into desirable finished goods (manufacturing).  I have watched the show a few dozen times.  It does not take too long to figure out that the show is not based in the USA.  It is Canadian.  The Naive American offers some kudos to our northern neighbors.  Do you know which show did “How is it Made” replaced?  When I say replaced, I do not mean in the full extent of the meaning.  One show is on The Discovery Channel and the other was on The Travel Channel.  The show was “Made in America”.  I am not going to get into further details, but industry, manufacturing and technology are fleeing the USA.  These actions are weakening our economy to the point of no return.

We are in need of a massive CHANGE in our government and in the ways Naive Americans conduct ourselves.  The economical problems in the world were mainly cause by American Royalty.  We need to make the necessary changes to be able to get out of the hole we are in.  We need confidence and peace of mind to grow and hopefully get America back on track.

Arthur, rest in peace.

The Naive American