2 PARAGRAPHS 4 LIBERTY: #234 "ASSISTING MARGINALIZED PEOPLE"

     Open Gate International is making contributions to marginalized people that we all should be aware and proud of.  This group, which is sponsored by the baseball Angels’ all-star Albert Pujols and his dynamic wife Deidre, along with my new great friend Judy Lamborn, provides training in the culinary arts to women who have been rescued after being sexually trafficked, recovering drug addicted people and felons who have just been released from prison – all at no cost to these people.  And after they have graduated from this 12-week class, about 75 percent of them immediately have jobs as chefs, mostly in upper-echelon dining establishments.  You can find more information about this pivotal organization by listening to her interview on my radio show which will be broadcast at 7 a.m. on Friday, October 25 or, if you can’t wait that long, at www.OpenGateIntl.org.  This is yet another example about how the private sector does a far better job than governments in dealing with people and their problems.

         

     And, in my own small way, I try to help people with their problems as well.  As an example, last July 4 from 10 p.m. to midnight Pacific time I was on a nationally-broadcast radio show entitled “Coast to Coast AM” with George Noory talking mostly about the Criminal Justice System.  Thereafter, and to my surprise, I received letters from seven inmates serving time in prisons all around the country who said they had heard the broadcast and wanted to contact me.  One of them imprisoned in San Diego County gave a convincing argument that he had been wrongly-convicted, so I forwarded his evidence both to the FBI in San Diego as well as the head of the Innocence Project in San Diego, with my recommendation that they investigate.  (BTW, most inmates make those arguments, but this one had more credibility.  And please tune in for my interview with Justin Brooks, the head of that project, on Friday morning, November 8.)  And another one, who is Jewish, said he had been knifed in the  back seven times by two “skin head” convicts who were yelling “Die Jew, Die!” while they attacked him.  He even forwarded me some official-looking medical documents that said he had tried to commit suicide by knifing himself (seven times?!) in the back.  So I wrote to the warden requesting an investigation.  And as to all of these men, I responded back to each asking if they would provide me with honest information about what prison life is like – both the good and the bad – so that we could together write a magazine article on the subject.  Why?  Because I believe we all should know how people are being held in custody in our names.  So, as things develop, I will keep you apprised.  In the meantime, for the sake of us all, please join me in keeping an eye out for those marginalized people who need some assistance and reinforcement.  We have the Liberty to be able to help our fellow human beings.

BTW: If you have not yet submitted an endorsement to Amazon.com for my upcoming book “2 Paragraphs 4 Liberty,” there is still time.  And it would be much appreciated!

Quote for the week: Expectation with communication leads to frustrations.

Judge Jim Gray (Ret.)

2012 Libertarian candidate for Vice President, along with

Governor Gary Johnson as the candidate for President

Please listen to our weekly radio show entitled “All Rise! The Libertarian Way with Judge Jim Gray” as we discuss timely issues, and show how they will be addressed more beneficially by employing Libertarian values and approaches.  You can hear it every Friday morning at 7 Pacific/10 Eastern by going to www.VoiceAmerica.com, clicking on the Variety Channel and then upon the word “live.”  You can also hear past shows on demand as well.  And, by the way, these 2 Paragraph columns are now on Facebook and LinkedIn at judgejimgray, Twitter at judgejamesgray, and wordpress at judgejimgray.wordpress.com.  Please visit these sites for past editions, and do your part to spread the word about the importance of Liberty.

2 PARAGRAPHS 4 LIBERTY: #233 "SUNSET LAWS FOR MORE EFFECTIVE GOVERNMENT!"

      When I ran for Vice President as a Libertarian in 2012, the issue that unfailingly gained the most traction among all of the people I spoke with was “Sunset Laws.”  So I almost always began my presentations with that issue.  Sunset laws would require that statutes, programs and even agencies be required to win a positive vote in Congress every five to seven years in order to continue to exist.  That would result in each of these parts of government making a presentation about what it had accomplished in that past period, how much it had cost and what we could project it would cost and accomplish in the future to justify its existence.

     This straightforward approach would allow Congress, and all of the rest of us, to see how much “bang for the buck” we were receiving, as well as to focus upon the many areas in government which are duplicated or even unnecessary.  Thus maybe the agency would continue to be funded, but some of its efforts and funding would be reduced because they weren’t productive.  And – what an amazing thought – some statutes, programs or even agencies could be discontinued!  Are you aware that the federal government still employs and funds many of the New Deal’s programs – often under a different title?  We can debate whether these approaches were appropriate back in the 1930s, but don’t you agree they should be re-evaluated and re-analyzed now after more than 80 years?  Milton Friedman once said that “Nothing is so permanent as a temporary government program.”  Sunset laws would change that reality.

Quote for the week: “No amount of experimentation can ever prove me right.  But a single experiment can prove me wrong.”  Albert Einstein

Judge Jim Gray (Ret.)

2012 Libertarian candidate for Vice President, along with

Governor Gary Johnson as the candidate for President

Please listen to our weekly radio show entitled “All Rise! The Libertarian Way with Judge Jim Gray” as we discuss timely issues, and show how they will be addressed more beneficially by employing Libertarian values and approaches.  You can hear it every Friday morning at 7 Pacific/10 Eastern by going to www.VoiceAmerica.com, clicking on the Variety Channel and then upon the word “live.”  You can also hear past shows on demand as well.  And, by the way, these 2 Paragraph columns are now on Facebook and LinkedIn at judgejimgray, Twitter at judgejamesgray, and wordpress at judgejimgray.wordpress.com.  Please visit these sites for past editions, and do your part to spread the word about the importance of Liberty.

Book Alert: 2 Paragraphs 4 Liberty: Solutions that are Practical, Effective, Responsible, Libertarian

As you know, I have been sending out our 2 Paragraphs series each week for more than the past three years.  I have mostly done this to contrast how governments address various problems, as opposed to how private individuals and the Free Market address them, and what results we have seen in each case.

So now, in furtherance of that effort, I have compiled about 180 of the present 220 editions into a book entitled “2 Paragraphs 4 Liberty: Solutions that are Practical, Effective, Responsible, Libertarian.”  This book is now carried as a Kindle on Amazon.  So the favor is for each of you to spend/invest 99 cents and purchase the Kindle version of the book.  Then, please at least review the book and send in a review to Amazon, and pass along this request to your friends and social network as well and ask them to do the same.  The plan is that if the book receives enough either 4 or 5-star reviews within the next two to three weeks that it will forever be known as an “Amazon Best Seller.”  So when the printed version is published around the end of November, it will carry that label.  And this will strongly promote these discussions!

You can find out more information about the book at this site: https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B07YQCMLNP?pf_rd_p=183f5289-9dc0-416f-942e-e8f213ef368b&pf_rd_r=MB2KK1C071TFH8R95BHW.  Or, you can click HERE to order my book directly. 

I know that most of you are already familiar with the book’s contents.  But before you send in a review, please at least scroll through at least half of the book, because Amazon can tell if you have gone through it at least that far. And if you haven’t, Amazon will not consider your review.

Thanks Big Time, and let’s promote Liberty together!

Judge Jim Gray (Ret.)

2 PARAGRAPHS 4 LIBERTY: #232 "CALIFORNIA COASTAL COMMISSION: JUST LIKE BREXIT?"

       The old saying is that Big Government is truly effective at least at one thing, and that is increasing the cost, power and control of Big Government.  And what could be a better example than the California Coastal Commission?  These non-elected bureaucrats have continued to extend their jurisdiction into many things not imaginable by reasonable people.  For example, SeaWorld was forced to cancel its killer whale shows because the California Coastal Commission decided that it was cruel to the whales.  Now you can agree with this outcome or not, but no reasonable person can conclude that this commission had or should have had the authority to control it.

         Maybe you noticed, but it was the unelected bureaucrats in Brussels that caused Britain to vote to withdraw from the European Union.  People in Britain legitimately concluded that these officials were controlling many things in their lives, and that they had no effective recourse other than withdrawal.  If fact, when I heard that the bureaucrats were attempting to tell the Brits what type of kettles they could and could not use to make their tea due to their perceived overuse of electricity, I knew it was just a question of time.  So before we have a similar exit from government, let’s all do our part to vote for going back to representative government in which only elected officials, who can be held to be responsive to the voters, are empowered to make such decisions.  Maybe it’s only a question of time. . . .

Quote for the week: “There is no dishonor in losing.  But there is dishonor in not competing because you might lose.”  From the movie: “The Art of Racing in the Rain.”

Judge Jim Gray (Ret.)

2012 Libertarian candidate for Vice President, along with

Governor Gary Johnson as the candidate for President

Please listen to our weekly radio show entitled “All Rise! The Libertarian Way with Judge Jim Gray” as we discuss timely issues, and show how they will be addressed more beneficially by employing Libertarian values and approaches.  You can hear it every Friday morning at 7 Pacific/10 Eastern by going to www.VoiceAmerica.com, clicking on the Variety Channel and then upon the word “live.”  You can also hear past shows on demand as well.  And, by the way, these 2 Paragraph columns are now on Facebook and LinkedIn at judgejimgray, Twitter at judgejamesgray, and wordpress at judgejimgray.wordpress.com.  Please visit these sites for past editions, and do your part to spread the word about the importance of Liberty.