2 PARAGRAPHS 4 LIBERTY: #238 "THE MOST IMPORTANT THING IN LIFE"

      Okay, what is the most important thing in life?  I know that’s a truly general question, so I will give you my one-word answer: Gratification.  Not power, love, prestige, success, money or fame, although one can get gratification from those things.  But gratification comes from the inner knowledge that the world is a somewhat better place because you have spent your span of years upon it.  This can occur by living an honest life, setting up programs to help those less fortunate, being involved in Saving the Whales or the Redwoods, or seeing one’s children grow up to be happy, well-adjusted and successful, etc.  And there is nothing better, particularly when that is combined with appreciation.

       Why bring these issues up now?  Because we are in the Season of Thanksgiving, which is truly one of the most important days of the year.  Why is that?  Because it is not a particularly commercialized occasion in which most of us get to spend time with family, enjoying each other’s company and being appreciative about what we have, where we live and who we are.  And that expressly includes being appreciative for our ability to live in the United States of America!  Just this past week I published my new book 2 Paragraphs 4 Liberty: Solutions that are Practical, Effective, Responsible, Libertarian, which is composed of 180 of the more substantive editions of this 2 Paragraphs series.  And this country affords me the Liberty to spout off with my thoughts, which simply would not be true if I lived in places like China, North Korea, Cuba or Venezuela.  I am thankful for that – and we all should be!  So Happy Thanksgiving, and as you pass the day with your family and friends, be extra appreciative, because that too brings gratification.

Story of the week: Have you heard about Old Ben?  He was a rooster on a chicken ranch which had about 100 hens, which they called pullets, and 10 roosters.  But the roosters were monitored by the owner to make sure they were “assisting” the hens so that they would lay eggs regularly.  (If they didn’t perform, they were soon placed in a frying pan and replaced by other roosters that would.)  But one day the owner decided to place little bells around the necks of his roosters so that he could monitor their involvement based upon the distinctive tone of each of the bells instead of having to go down to the yard.  For a few days he could tell that Old Ben was active, but soon Old Ben’s bell went silent.  So when the owner investigated, he found that Old Ben was taking the bell in his mouth so that it would not ring.  Then, particularly since the bells of the other roosters would warn the hens of their approach, he was able to have a field day with more of the hens.  The media soon found out about this sly Old Ben, which brought so much fame to him that he eventually was awarded the Nobel Piece Prize – and then later the Pullet Surprise!  Just thought you would want to know.

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.  In addition, my new book entitled “2 Paragraphs 4 Liberty: Solutions that are Practical, Effective, Responsible, Libertarian, is now available at Amazon.com.   Please read and discuss it with friends, and send in a review.

2 PARAGRAPHS 4 LIBERTY: #237 "HEALTHCARE FOR ALL"

      Obviously the subject of healthcare for all is actively being discussed in today’s world.  I agree this result is desirable, not because anyone is entitled to it but, because we are a compassionate society, we would do it voluntarily.  But what form should it take?  Bringing a single-payer system, or so-called Medicare for all, would be fine, as long as people don’t mind having their healthcare run by the equivalent of the Department of Motor Vehicles.  But we truly can do better.  As an illustration, we have some great friends visiting us now from Canada, and they volunteered that Canada’s socialistic system simply does not seek out innovation.  Why?  Because it is a bureaucracy, and bureaucracies have a strong tendency to resist change.  So for creative care, they must come to the US.

       So what should we do?  The answer is that we should install a system of Medical Savings Accounts.  That means that for those people who can afford to address their own healthcare needs, we should simply require them to put $5,000 into the equivalent of an ATM account at the beginning of each year, and then get the government out of the way.  Then they would purchase the catastrophic health insurance of their choice, probably costing them something like $1,000 per year. Then all of their healthcare expenses would be paid directly out of the $4,000 that remained in the account.  Studies show that most adults pay far less than $4,000 per year on their healthcare needs until they approach the end of their lives.  So if they spent less than that, the remainder would simply roll over into their account for the next year and, eventually, it could be used for their retirement.  However, if they needed to spend more, their insurance would kick in, such that they would only be required to pay their $4,000 “deductible” and then their co-pays.  That would result in everyone spending their money wisely – because it was their money!  And that would also bring competition back to the healthcare field which would, in turn, bring prices back down.  For those people that needed some financial assistance for their healthcare needs, as long as they were legal residents, a voucher system could be used on a sliding scale depending upon their financial abilities.   Then those vouchers could be spent on the private market for payments and co-pays.  So this program would combine the best results that competition brings to the marketplace, which are competition, responsibility for one’s own healthcare needs, and medical coverage for all.

Quote for the week, with one elderly businessman talking to another: “It was slanderous, it was insulting and it was an outrage; but I see their point.”

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: #236 "UNIFICATION ON VETERAN'S DAY"

     As can be broadly seen, we are terribly polarized and split apart in our country today in so many ways.  But maybe, just maybe, all of us could unify each year on something that we all have in common, which is to celebrate and give homage to those of our military troops who have given their lives fighting for our country.  Yes, many times we may not have agreed with the political decisions that sent our troops into areas of conflict all around the world.  But we all must remember that our troops don’t make those decisions, they simply do what they are ordered to do.  And many of them have paid a dear price for that service.

      My great wife was raised in Canada, and she tells me that every November 11 since 1921 there has been a national celebration of Armistice Day or, as it is also known, either “Remembrance Day” or “Poppy Day.”  Thus starting on about November 1, people all around the country and from every walk of life wear artificial red poppies on their clothing.  This had its roots in the poem “In Flanders Fields” by a Canadian named Lieutenant Colonel John McCrae, and which begins “In Flanders Fields the poppies blow, between the crosses, row on row. . .”  Thereafter the tradition spread to much of the British Commonwealth.  It is in remembrance of troops who have died, especially in World Wars I and II, but also in other military conflicts as well.  The red poppies are worn over the heart, with the red representing the blood of all those who gave their lives, the black representing the mourning of those who didn’t return home, and the green leaf representing the grass and crops growing and future prosperity after the war had destroyed so much.  The poppy should be positioned at 11 o’clock to represent the eleventh hour of the eleventh day of the eleventh month.  So I suggest that we adopt that custom in our country as well!  Let’s unify and celebrate our troops who gave their ultimate contribution by universally thanking them at this time of year – nationwide!   Accordingly, this coming January I will make it a point to locate places where we all can purchase these red poppies, and I will pass the word on to you so that, if you would like to help, we can start this new tradition of unification next year.  We should all agree that our fallen troops deserve forever to be honored, and this is how we can do it.  And we can become more unified as a country along the way.

Quote for the week:  “In matters of style, swim with the current; in matters of principle, stand like a rock.”  Thomas Jefferson

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: #235 "OUR LIBERTIES: THE SOUL OF AMERICA"

During World War II many of our troops who were being held as prisoners of war were tortured by the Japanese.  I understand that one of the things that kept our troops’ morale up during these ordeals was the strong belief that, if the situation would have been reversed, we would not torture them.  Why ?  Because we were better than that!  And that is one of the bases of American Exceptionalism.  But are we that way today?  Many terrorists around the world argue that, although we profess to be more pure, we are not.  And they invariably cite to our “state secret” laws that prevent people who claim they were tortured by our CIA or its agents from pursuing law suits in our courts against our federal government. 

What is the actual situation?  Few of us know – or even think about it – because it is out of the news. Wrongly so, in my opinion, because this strongly affects who we are.  And if we are torturing people for any reason whatsoever, We the People should be aware of it.  Of course, reasonable people can differ as to what constitutes torture, and the circumstances in which it can be used.  But regardless of how that discussion is resolved, that still does not address the State Secrets Act.  To further bring this issue into focus, Erwin Chemerinsky, Esq., the dean of the Law School at the University of California, Berkeley, has set forth his findings in a book entitled Closing the Courthouse Door: How Your Constitutional Rights Became Unenforceable.  And his message is disturbing.  He writes convincingly that our government is torturing people in our names to “protect” our national interests, but without being forced to show in court that state secrets would actually have to be revealed if a trial were to go forward.  In other words, since our Liberties are the soul of our great country, our soul is under attack by our very own government!  How do you think that would make our troops from Japanese prison camps feel?

Quote for the week:  I finally figured out what I wanted to be when I was older.  And the answer is: Younger.

Note: No edition was circulated last week because our housepainters cut the wires bringing the internet into our house.  Ah, technology. . . .

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.  And now my new book entitled “2 Paragraphs 4 Liberty: Solutions that are Practical, Effective, Responsible, Libertarian is available at Amazon.com.   Please send in a review.