Monday, March 18, 2024

History of Slavery 3-18-24

The prolific economist and historian Thomas Sowell has written about slavery in many of his voluminous articles and books. For Conquests and Cultures: An International History, he devoted fifteen years of research and travel (around the world twice, no less). Though the book is about much more than slavery, the author reveals a great deal about the institution that few people know. 

Inland tribes [in Africa] such as the Ibo were regularly raided by their more powerful coastal neighbors and the captives led away to be sold as slaves. European merchants who came to buy slaves in West Africa were confined by rulers in these countries to a few coastal ports, where Africans could bring slaves and trade as a cartel, in order to get higher prices. Hundreds of miles farther south, in the Portuguese colony of Angola, hundreds of thousands of Africans likewise carried out the initial captures, enslavement and slave-trading processes, funneling the slaves into the major marketplaces, where the Portuguese took charge of them and shipped them off to Brazil. Most of the slaves shipped across the Atlantic were purchased, rather than captured, by Europeans. Arabs, however, captured their own slaves and penetrated far deeper into Africa than Europeans dared venture.

Over the centuries, untold millions of human beings from sub-Saharan Africa were transported in captivity to other parts of the world. No exact statistics exist covering all the sources and all the destinations, and scholarly estimates vary. However, over the centuries, somewhere in the neighborhood of 11 million people were shipped across the Atlantic as slaves, and another 14 million African slaves were sent to the Islamic nations of the Middle East and North Africa. On both routes, many died in transit.

The horrors of the Atlantic voyage in packed and suffocating slave ships, together with exposure to new diseases from Europeans and other African tribes, as well as the general dangers of the Atlantic crossing in that era, took a toll in lives amounting to about 10 percent of all slaves shipped to the Western Hemisphere in British vessels in the eighteenth century—the British being the leading slave traders of that era. However, the death toll among slaves imported by the Islamic countries, many of these slaves being forced to walk across the vast, burning sands of the Sahara, was twice as high. Thousands of human skeletons were strewn along one Saharan slave route alone—mostly the skeletons of young women and girls…In 1849, a letter from an Ottoman official referred to 1,600 black slaves dying of thirst on their way to Libya.

The prime destination of the African slave trade to the Islamic world was Istanbul, capital of the Ottoman Empire, where the largest and busiest slave market flourished. There women were paraded, examined, questioned, and bid on in a public display often witnessed by visiting foreigners, until it was finally closed down in 1847 and the slave trade in Istanbul moved underground. In other Islamic countries, however, the slave markets remained open and public, both to natives and foreigners…This market functioned until 1873, when two British cruisers appeared off shore, followed by an ultimatum from Britain that the Zanzibar slave trade must cease or the island would face a full naval blockade.

From as early as the seventeenth century, most Negroes in the American colonies were born on American soil. This was the only plantation society in the Western Hemisphere in which the African population consistently maintained its numbers without continual, large-scale importations of slaves from Africa, and in which this population grew by natural increase. By contrast, Brazil over the centuries imported six times as many slaves as the United States, even though the U.S. had a larger resident slave population than Brazil—36 percent of all the slaves in the Western Hemisphere, as compared to 31 percent for Brazil. Even such Caribbean islands as Haiti, Jamaica and Cuba each imported more slaves than the United States. – Thomas Sowell

Eighteenth Century Enlightenment ideals that questioned authority and sought to elevate human rights, liberty, happiness, and toleration played a role. So did a Christian reawakening late in the 18th and early 19th Centuries that produced the likes of abolitionists William Wilberforce and others.

The Declaration of Independence pricked the consciences of millions who came to understand that its stirring words were at odds with the reality many black Americans experienced on a daily basis. And as capitalism and free markets spread in the 19th Century, slavery faced a competition with free labor that it ultimately could not win. Exploring the potency of those important—indeed, radical—forces would seem to me to be more fruitful and less divisive than playing the race card, cherry-picking evidence to support political agendas, or promoting perpetual victimhood.

https://catalyst.independent.org/2023/02/21/slavery-history-werent-taught/?gad_source=1&gclid=EAIaIQobChMIgILVvq_4hAMV06ZaBR36jwegEAAYASAAEgL_HfD_BwE

Comments

Slavery has been used across the globe for thousands of years. The best-known example is in the story of Moses, who was called by God to free the Jews from slavery in Egypt. The next best example is the Roman Empire who enslaves conquered populations.

Whenever a conquering king took over another country, the question was what to do with the prisoners of war and the population. There were many examples of these conquered people attempting to harm the “newcomers”. Their reaction to being conquered was to seek revenge. Some kings killed all of those who posed a threat. Some Persian and Greek Rulers allowed freedom and assimilated the conquered. Many Rulers enslaved conquered populations to use as cheap labor. The Romans and others kept their slaves.  Later in the 1700s African kings sold their conquered populations into slavery to be moved to plantations in South America and North America. The Civil War ended slavery in the US where slavery is still a crime. We continue to see evidence of modern forms of slavery in other countries where wages are low and escaping is difficult. When the cost of feeding and housing these impoverished people is higher than the economic benefit they contribute, this ends as well.

Norb Leahy, Dunwoody GA Tea Party Leader

Sunday, March 17, 2024

Haiti Problems 3-17-24

Haiti has been a poor country since 1804. It appears that Haiti has succeeded in installing a working government with elections, a legislature, courts, police and fair laws, but the population now has too many armed criminal gangs overwhelming the police in Port-au-Prince.   

Haiti was able to increase its arable land from 28.3% in 1993 to 43.8% in 2010. But arable land decreased to 36.3% in 2019.  

https://data.worldbank.org/indicator/AG.LND.ARBL.ZS?locations=HT

First claimed by Spain in 1492 when Christopher Columbus landed in Haiti, the nation was then ceded to France in 1665. With colonization came the slave trade.

While Haiti was economically profitable during this era—producing 60 percent of the world’s coffee exports and 40 percent of sugar exported to Europe in the 1780s—few Haitians saw any of the material benefits of this economic success. 

https://bittersweetmonthly.com/haitis-brutal-history?gad_source=1&gclid=EAIaIQobChMI9N6lgYr2hAMVjA2tBh0U1AniEAAYAyAAEgLG7fD_BwE

Haiti slaves revolted in 1791 and became independent in 1804, but the revolt destroyed the island and war reparations paid by Haiti to France from 1825 to 1947 impoverished the country. Coffee and sugar were soon provided by Brazil and other South American countries. With no investment and no real leaders, Haiti continued to fail. 

Haiti currently produces bananas corn, sweet potatoes, rice and coffee. Laws allow Haitians to own land, but theft and vandalism has been rampant. Farm owners have their tractors stolen and water wells damaged. Criminals organized into gangs and the coalition of these gangs is what Haiti is now experiencing.

Haiti mostly exports clothing, scrap metal, vegetable oils, dates and cocoa. Haiti's main exports partner is United States, accounting for over 80 percent of total exports.

In 2021, Haiti’s President was assassinated by foreign mercenaries, mostly from Columbia. Several were arrested. Gang violence increased in 2021. Haiti’s Prime Minister Claude Joseph became President and asked the UN and US to send troops to reduce the violence, but these requests were ignored. He also called for elections in 2021 and handed the reins to Prime Minister Ariel Henry in 2021.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Assassination_of_Jovenel_Mo%C3%AFs

Haiti’s Prime Minister Ariel Henry announced his resignation following a meeting of regional Caribbean leaders on Monday, bowing to the inevitable as law and order in the country collapsed and international pressure grew for him to step aside.

In Henry’s place, a transitional council will be established and endowed with some powers of the presidency – including the ability to name a new interim prime minister. The resulting government would be expected to eventually hold elections in the country for a complete political reset.

https://www.cnn.com/2024/03/12/americas/haiti-gangs-prime-minister-analysis-intl/index.html

Comments

Lawlessness is the problem in Haiti. The Transitional Council needs to help Haiti put an end to their gang problems. Haiti also needs affordable electricity, working wells and a population that doesn’t steal from their neighbors. They need to restore their arable land and use mechanization to improve their agricultural productivity.

Literacy in Haiti is 61%. Families need to home-school where they can. Haiti’s GDP was $33 billion in 2023. Per Capita GDP is $631 per year. The average household income is $250 per year. Haiti’s population was 11,724,763 in 2023. Half the population lives in rural areas. Haiti was devastated by an earthquake in 2010 and the death toll was 300,000.

According to DeSantis Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission officers within the past couple weeks stopped the vessel near Sebastain Inlet that was carrying 25 people from Haiti. On board the boat, officers found drugs, guns and night vision gear, DeSantis said.

https://www.nbcmiami.com/news/local/fwc-stopped-boat-carrying-25-haitian-migrants-off-florida-desantis/3259842/

Norb Leahy, Dunwoody GA Tea Party Leader

Saturday, March 16, 2024

US Debt to GDP 3-16-24

US Nominal GDP is $27.938831 trillion. Government consumption is $4.856757 trillion. The Private Sector economy nominal GDP is $23.082074 trillion. The National Debt Clock is $34.490 trillion. The US Debt to GDP is 127%. 

In 2023 US Government revenue was $4.641 and spending was $6.013.

In 2024 US Government revenue is expected to be $4.8278 trillion with spending at $6.1868 trillion.

https://www.presidency.ucsb.edu/statistics/data/federal-budget-receipts-and-outlays

In 2021 State and Local government revenue was $4.1 trillion.

In 2020, State and Local government revenue was $3.6 trillion.

26% of State and Local government revenue is provided by Federal Grants to State and Local governments. They have strings attached. They are for unnecessary things like 12 foot multi-use paths, green space, bike lanes, public transit and other “low-utilization” fads and frills. They usually require additional local taxes to pay for Bonds that fund these fads. Voters usually vote against these Bonds.

State and Local government spending has more than doubled over the past 17 years from 2004 to 2001.

Expense Item   $ 2004   $ 2021

Education          429B      786B

Welfare             339B      876B

Hospitals            40B      109B

Health                50B        92B

Highways           86B      150B

Police                11B        22B

Prisons              39B        60B

Natural Res       19B       28B

Parks Rec          6B          8B

Gov Admin        45B       82B

Interest             33B        43B

Utilities             22B        47B

Liquor Stores     4B          9B

Insurance       171B      472B

Other             112B      203B

Totals         1.406T    2.987T

https://inflateyourmind.com/macroeconomics/unit-6/section-3-united-states-federal-government-expenditures-2/

Comments

Costs can be reduced by eliminating interest, liquor stores and other. Muni-Bonds should be replace by “accrual” and government owned buildings should be maintained for 100 years, not replaced every 20 years.

There is no category for road maintenance unless it is buried in Highways. There is no category for storm water sewers, regular sewers and water treatment unless it is buried in Utilities.

School Taxes should go to wherever students go to school. We need Vouchers to let parents choose what schools they attend. Home-School parents should not be required to pay public school taxes.

Parks and Recreation should be funded by users. Welfare should be provided by families. Hospitals should be provided by churches and charitable organizations.

Local Government should focus on the expensive infrastructure like roads, highways, sewers, and water treatment.

Natural resources that are owned by the government and are useful should be sold should be sold to US citizens or US businesses and returned to the private sector and put on the tax roles.

Education costs almost doubled while education results plummeted from 2004 to 2021.

I found no current data to report expenditures for 2022 and 2023, because it is too embarrassing for government and their media to provide.

https://inflateyourmind.com/macroeconomics/unit-6/section-3-united-states-federal-government-expenditures-2/

State Legislatures are responsible for these expenses. They are more interested in being re-elected than in solving problems or automating to increase productivity.

Norb Leahy, Dunwoody GA Tea Party Leader

Thursday, March 14, 2024

US Inflation 3-15-24

US inflation can be traced back to 1913, when Woodrow Wilson passed the 16th Amendment allowing Congress to tax income.  In 1913 the cost of a loaf of bread was 2 cents. Wilson also passed the Federal Reserve Act that transferred Congress’ power to “coin money” to Fabian-Socialist control of the US money supply that bares little resemblance to Free Market Capitalism based on Supply and Demand setting Prices. The result was a “free-spending” Congress capable of destroying the US economy.

From 1700 to 1913 the daily wage for an unskilled laborer was $1 per day. Families bought their own land, grew their own food, raised their own livestock and built their own cabins. By 1850, families were moving to cities to work in factories. Roads and canals had been built to move goods. Railroads and Steamboats were being built to move goods.

In 1900, the average factory wage was 20 cents per hour. In 1900 the average monthly family income was $23 per month.

In 1920 the average household income was $3,269.40 per year. In 1925, the model T Ford was priced at $290 or 9% of household income. Everybody bought Model Ts.

In 2020 the average US household income was $67,521. Per year. The average price of a used car in the US was $22,000 or 33% of household income.

In 2023 the average US household income was $49,341.13 per year. The average price of a used car in the US is $27.000 or 55% of household income.

In my own experience, in 1965 a good family income was $10,000 per year. The average price of a new car was $2.000.  My mortgage payment was $150 per month.

By 2000, a good family income was $100,000 per year. The average price of a new car was $21,000. Mortgage payments were $1500 per month.

In 35 years from 1965 to 2000, family income had to increase 10-fold to maintain a good family income.

I warn you that if we do not stop inflation, a good family income could reach $1 million per year by 2040. 

We are witnessing the end of the US economy and the end of the US middle class. We need to stop printing more money and return to Free Market Economics to allow supply and demand to determine prices. We need to balance the federal budget to allow the National Debt to be reduced from its current $34.5 trillion. We can no longer continue to put federal overspending on the US credit card. Interest on the federal debt costs are approaching $1 trillion per year. We cannot reduce Social Security, because great grandparents are currently funding their kids. We can hope that Medicare and Medicaid costs can be reduced with patient-initiated preventive care and less expensive cures for illnesses. We can reduce federal government spending by $3 trillion by eliminating $1 trillion in foreign aid, $1 trillion in federal grants and $1 trillion in unnecessary spending for Climate Change and illegal immigrants.

US lower wage labor shortages are being filled by adults who live with their parents and can walk to work. We need to move teen unemployment from 10% to 5% to allow them to learn to work.

Norb Leahy, Dunwoody GA Tea Party Leader

My PC History 3-14-24

In 1965, I joined United Way in St. Louis Mo. They had an IBM 360 to receive a reverse directory from the phone company to use as a prospect list to raise money for United Way Agencies. 

In 1967, I joined Kearney National In St Louis Mo. They had an IBM 360 Computer and made electrical power company devices and tools. We moved Kearney to Atlanta GA in 1968.

In 1968, I joined Monsanto HQ in St. Louis. They had an IBM 360 model 22 Computer and had an excellent HRIS system.

In 1971, I joined Washington University. They had an IBM 370 and needed an HRIS system. I wrote the HRIS system modeled after the Monsanto system. That allowed us to have the computer write the annual Appointment Letters to 11,000 employees and produce required government reports. I also added a compensation system that included local St. Louis pay rates for staff.

In 1975, I had joined Schwan Foods and wanted to automate the Security function. I had Pete Sias and Mel Schwan build a custom PC. They went to Radio Shack and bought circuit boards, components and cameras. This investment resulted in a $100,000 per year savings on our insurance, because it had rate-of-rise sensors to monitor our ammonia refrigeration units. I also replaced paper timecards and    keys with Rusco magnetic cards to have my local plant computer modemed to the Corporate mainframe computer in Marshall Minnesota.  That allowed us to to calculate and print paychecks on the plant computer  and later moved to direct deposits for 1400 employees.

When I joined Schwan Foods in 1975 sales were $150 million. Automating the manufacturing process resulted in quadrupling out-put.  In 1979, Schwan Foods sales were $650 million. I knew they would do well.  By 1997, Schwan Foods sales reached $2.9 billion.

https://www.referenceforbusiness.com/history2/97/Schwan-s-Sales-Enterprises-Inc.html#google_vignette

The first cell phone I ever saw was in 1975. Pete Sias had a Motorola DynaTAC 8000X, the first handheld cellular phone that allowed people to make longer distance calls than just a landline phone. It did not require any lines or cords to be attached to make a call. Pete made the phone call from our airplane. The first ever cellular phone call was made in 1973, using this phone, by Dr. Martin Cooper.

In 1979 I joined Rickel Manufacturing and we used the IBM 360 to manage our working capital through high inflation. We sold Rickel to Ag Chem in 1979, because the Japanese were entering the US market with Ag and Construction equipment.

In 1983, I joined Hayes Microcomputer Products to supply modems to the growing PC market. The first off-the-shelf PC I ever saw was in 1983 and was a TRS-80 from Radio Shack. We were at the mercy of Intel to produce semiconductor chips that would allow us to increase the baud rate on our modems. Hayes bought IBM PC and I wrote the HRIS system for Hayes that I used at Monsanto and Washington U.  I used Lotus123 to create spreadsheets.

The first PC I had at home was a DEC Rainbow given to me by Western Behavioral Science Institute in 1984 to use for my Fellowship in Strategic Studies to send emails to my 30 classmates and 10 faculty. It was modem available to the Internet via phone number at the New Jersey Institute of Technology.

I ran into the DEC Rainbow again when I joined Electromagnetic Sciences Inc. They had bought them for $50 each to use as a dumb terminal to their mainframe.

The first PC I bought was a Gateway in 1993. It didn’t have internet, but was a great computer to use for my Consulting Practice I operated from my basement office. I also bought an HP Printer, Fax, Scanner.

I used floppy discs to deliver my work to customers and was available 24-7 by phone and internet. I visited customer sites to conduct interviews and for meetings.

When the internet became available in 1995, I upgraded my PC and joined Mindspring as my internet provider and used emails to send my work to customers as attachments. When I was recruiting, I used my internet to post recruiting ads and receive resumes to my email address and then forwarded the best fits to customers. I continued to use customer sites to conduct interviews and for meetings.

https://www.pcmag.com/news/inside-computer-stores-of-the-1970s-and-1980s#:~:text=Once%20there%2C%20customers%20typically%20encountered,Sinclair%2C%20Panasonic%2C%20and%20more.

Comments

My career tracked the development of computers and I was not surprised that I would move to work in electronics companies and end up as consultant to electronics companies.

Norb Leahy, Dunwoody GA Tea Party Leader

 

Intel Chip Plants 3-14-24

Intel is building Chip Plants in Arizona. Source: Fortune Feb-Mar 2024 

In September 2021, Intel broke ground on building 2 new chip plants in Chandler Arizona near Phoenix. This is a $20 billion investment for Intel. 

In January 2022, Intel selected New Albany Ohio, near Dayton to build another 2 chip plants. Production is expected to start in 2026. This is another $20 billion investment for Intel.

https://www.daytondailynews.com/local/intel-announces-delay-in-completion-of-20-billion-ohio-chip-plant/UJE3GXPUNBEFBGEDC3UA3OUWAY/#:~:text=Intel%20told%20this%20news%20outlet,the%20end%20of%20the%20year.

It takes 3 to 5 years to complete construction of these plants.

On February 9, 2024, Intel announced that it would delay the start of the New Albany Ohio plant due to expected lower demand. Also being delayed is the $39 billion in US government subsidies promised by Biden.

In July, another chipmaker delayed a U.S. plant based on concerns over market demand. Taiwan’s TSMC announced that it would push back the estimated kickoff of its $12 billion plant in Arizona until 2025. It was also noted at the time that they faced practical challenges in construction: not enough skilled workers to build the plant.

https://finance.yahoo.com/news/intel-delay-20-billion-ohio-155359096.html

TSMC — which makes roughly 90 percent of the world's advanced chips, powering everything including iPhones, artificial intelligence, electric vehicles and fighter jets — is the centerpiece of Taiwan's economy.Oct 9, 2023

Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company TSMC operates 4 plants in Taiwan

https://www.google.com/search?q=how+many+chip+plants+are+in+taiwan+2023&oq=how+many+chip+plants+are+in+taiwan&gs_lcrp=EgZjaHJvbWUqBwgBECEYoAEyBggAEEUYOTIHCAEQIRigATIHCAIQIRigATIHCAMQIRigATIHCAQQIRifBTIHCAUQIRifBdIBCTIwMjkxajFqN6gCALACAA&sourceid=chrome&ie=UTF-8

Intel has job openings in Taiwan, India and multiple locations.

https://jobs.intel.com/en/location/taiwan-jobs/599/1668284-7280291/3

Comments

China’s threat to invade Taiwan is being addressed by Intel’s expansion. It looked like the US could recover some of its losses of electronics manufacturing jobs.  I suspect the “weaker market demand” is due to the predictable failure of Biden’s EV push. It appears that China’s EV push is working and they may need more chips than they already get from the Netherlands and Taiwan.

But chip manufacturing is complicated and difficult and it takes a while to develop and increase yields of chips that can pass inspection. China’s success in the EV market could prompt them to delay it’s takeover of Taiwan. Their Hong Kong takeover experience was not good. The citizens of Taiwan would also object to Chinese governance and would leave Taiwan and take their expertise with them.

Norb Leahy, Dunwoody GA Tea Party Leader

Wednesday, March 13, 2024

US Party Preferences Evenly Split 3-13-24

In January 2024 voters are switching from Democrat to Republican in swing states

https://www.newsweek.com/democrats-flipping-republican-pennsylvania-warning-biden-1855129 

In January 2023 voters 45% identified as or leaned 45% Republican; 44% identified as or leaned Democratic

In January 2022 voters identified 28% Republican, 28% Democrat and 41% Independent.

https://news.gallup.com/poll/467897/party-preferences-evenly-split-2022-shift-gop.aspx#:~:text=or%20an%20independent%3F-,Line%20graph.,Republicans%20and%2028%25%20as%20Democrats.

Democrats feel freer to identify themselves as Democrats. They are isolated in Blue States like California and New York and in large cities.

Republican Party Membership in 2023 was 35,739,952

Democrat Party Membership in 2023 was 45,916,356

Rather than joining the RNC, Republican voters donate directly to Trump.

 

Republicans are still split between Trump and the old Establishment RINOs.

The Presidential election in November will be decided by Electoral Votes determined by the majority of Voters by State, not the popular vote.

Trump is polling ahead of Biden on the issue polls and is expected to win the swing states’ electoral votes because of his policies, not because of party. In 2022, 1 million Democrats switched their voter registration to Republican. It is likely we will see more Democrats and Independents continue to join Republicans in 2024.

It is not clear that voter fraud problems have been solved for the 2024 election. Voting machines have not been tested.  Democrats are experts at voter fraud. Most county election offices in big cities are staffed by Democrats.

Comments

I reaffirmed my allegiance to the Republican Party in 2016 by reading the RNC Platform Summary

https://prod-cdn-static.gop.com/docs/Resolution_Platform_2020.pdf

Prior to 2016, I voted Republican, but I consistently criticized Republicans because they campaigned as conservatives and voted like Democrats. I called them Demo-publicans. I watched GHW Bush sign on to UN Agenda 21 and voted for Ross Perot. I watched GW Bush go asleep at the switch on the Mortgage Meltdown in 2008 and squander $10 trillion on nation-building in Afghanistan and Iraq. I watched Obama’s implementation of UN Agenda 21 from 2009 to 2016 when he weaponized the EPA.

Just prior to the 2016 RNC debates, a friend of mine asked me who of the 14 candidates I would support as a Presidential Nominee. I said: “The one who tells the most truth”. That ended up being Donald Trump. He named every issue I had been writing about in this blog since 2011. Some of the candidates were RINOs and the others joined Trump.

Now, in anticipation of the 2024 election, after 3.5 years of Biden, I believe the voters may vote their pocketbooks and elect Donald Trump in order to return to his policies.

Norb Leahy, Dunwoody GA Tea Party Leader