2 Paragraphs 4 Liberty- Best Seller Publishing Amazon #1 Best Selling Author Award!

Today I received an Amazon #1 Best Selling Award from Best Selling Publishing! I am very excited to receive this award and present it to you! I want to also thank my supporters of 2 Paragraphs 4 Liberty!

2 PARAGRAPHS 4 LIBERTY: #241 "AN ANTIDOTE TO POLARIZATION"

      Our society is now more polarized than at any time of my life.  Why has that happened?  Two reasons come to mind.  Originally, when cable television news stations began to multiply I thought that it would be great because, with so many choices, all of us would be exposed to many more viewpoints – which would be healthy.  And boy was I wrong!  Instead, each station deciphered what the political leanings were of its target audience, and then expressly catered to what that audience wanted to hear.  So we are the good guys, and people who do not have our beliefs are scoundrels or worse.  A second reason is the gerrymandering of the congressional voting districts.  “I don’t care if you of the opposite party get a politically safe seat as long as I can get one too” has become the position of those drawing up voting districts.  And this has allowed many members of Congress to take some radical positions without being held accountable to the views of more moderate voters.  Both of these situations have allowed polarization to flourish.*

        And there is also a third reason as well.  Thomas Jefferson famously said that our country should have a bloody revolution each generation in an attempt to keep the vested interests at bay.  Fortunately our Constitution keeps the revolution from having to be bloody, but how long has it been?  Probably since the 1860s when the Republicans took over from the Whigs.  And how strong have the vested interests become in that time?  Strong enough for many people to believe that our institutions are no longer working.  “The Presidency doesn’t even try to represent all of the people,” “Congress is working against us,” and even “The Courts are only providing ‘justice’ to the wealthy” are conclusions that many people have reached.  And this situation has resulted in us being so polarized.  So what is the antidote?  Voting Libertarian!  It is not an exaggeration to say that Libertarians are the only mainstream political party in our country today.  We believe in financial and other responsibility at all levels of society, including personal, group, corporate and governmental.  And we are socially accepting with a “Live and Let Live” philosophy.  In addition, Libertarians are the only political party that does not seek to gain by being involved in government.  Thus we would strongly reduce the crony capitalism or corporate welfare that is rampant in our governments today.  So do you want an antidote for polarization, and to be proud of your votes at the same time?  Consider voting Libertarian.  

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*As an anecdote, in my research in composing a musical about our nation’s 1787 Constitutional Convention entitled “Convention: the Birth of America,” I learned that one of the delegates was named Elbridge Gerry, who later became the Governor of Massachusetts and was also the Vice President under James Madison.  But he also was so well known for his politics in drawing the boundaries of voting districts for political purposes that the practice soon took up his name, and it still does to this day.

Judge Jim Gray (Ret.)

2012 Libertarian candidate for Vice President, along with

Governor Gary Johnson as the candidate for President

Quote for the week: “We should judge our programs by their results, not their good intentions.” 

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 my website at www.JudgeJImGray.com, 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: #231 "HARM REDUCTION"

       According to President Nixon’s Attorney General Richard Kleindienst, back during the Nixon Administration the choice was made to pursue an incarceration approach to drug problems instead of one involving treatment, even though they knew that treatment worked and incarceration did not.  Why was this done?  Because Nixon anticipated that the political benefits he would reap in being perceived as being “tough,” and fighting against something that could not fight back, would be significant.  And, again according to Keindienst, the actual political benefits were far greater than anyone anticipated.  But we all have been saddled with many tragic results from that choice ever since that time.

         Of course, the presence of mind-altering and sometimes addicting drugs in our society brings harms.  But reasonable estimates are that the drug usage itself brings only about 10 percent of those harms.  The other 90 percent comes from the drug money.  In addition, since no society has ever been without some of these substances, except maybe the Eskimos because they couldn’t grow anything, we should recognize as adults that harms will result from the presence of those drugs – and invoke a policy to reduce those harms.   Think of it this way: we can’t even keep these drugs out of our prisons, so how can we expect to keep them out of our communities?  (Charles Manson was transferred from one California state prison to another because he was found to be selling drugs from his prison cell – and he was in solitary confinement!)  And since, as stated above, one of the approaches that works is drug treatment, which also includes overdose prevention and care and needle exchange programs, those approaches should be emphasized.  (The old saying is that dead addicts can’t recover.)  Of course, this approach includes enforcement through some incarceration for those whose addictions push them into criminal conduct, such as driving under the influence, burglaries to get money to purchase drugs, etc.  So please use your Liberty and actions to help us steer away from the mindless incarceration of drug users we have followed since the Nixon Administration.

Quote for the week:  “And remember the truth that once was spoken: to love another person is to see the face of God.”  (From the musical Les Miserables)

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: #228 "THE LIBERTY TO SEE THE USA!"

My wife Grace and I have spent the last ten days on a trip first to Portland, and then on a cruise on the Columbia and Snake Rivers (which explains why you did not receive last week’s edition of this series).   We have such a rich and interesting history here, like what we saw and envisioned with the Lewis and Clark Expedition, so why go anywhere else?  As a result, this week’s edition simply recommends that all of us often take time to pause and reflect how truly fortunate we are to be who we are, live where we live and have what we have.  We are genuinely blessed – and all the more so if we appreciate that fact.

                Among my blessings is the fact that I have been able to travel the world quite extensively – but there is nowhere more interesting or beautiful than our US of A!  Most of us actually have the Liberty to be able to go where we want – no walls with the barbed wire fences facing inward instead of outward like were present in East Germany and now are in North Korea!  But I recommend we more often use that Liberty to see the beautiful places in our great country.  No passports, no changes of currency – and many times no changes of time zones.  Good stuff!  So why go anywhere else?

My favorite Winston Churchill story:  Frequently before he would give a speech, Churchill would go to the men’s room to relieve himself so he would not be uncomfortable during his presentation.  But it happened that one time he was doing just that at a urinal when his political nemesis, Clement Attlee, came in right beside him.  So when Churchill stopped doing his business and moved over to one urinal away, Attlee said to him “You’re getting a bit prudish in your old age aren’t you Winston?”  To which Churchill responded: “Clement, I know you, and any time you see something that is big, private and works well, you want to nationalize it.”

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: #223 "WHO BEST SETS PRICES?"

     Maybe I have been somewhat remiss in this series by not speaking enough about why the Free Market System tends to be so successful.  Of course, it is based upon free choice, private property rights and incentives.  But probably the most important aspect of this successful system is that it sets prices at a rate that both the buyers and sellers agree upon.  If not, the products and services won’t sell, so adjustments will be made.  In a socialistic system, the prices are set by central planners, who have little incentive to learn about, much less respond to, the needs and demands of the consumers.  So who is in a better position to decide how many red cars or electric cars or flat screen televisions to manufacture and at what price, a seller whose business relies upon successful sales, or a bureaucrat?  Everyone will – or at least should – agree that the manufacturer is better placed and motivated.

                China still has government control over many manufacturing businesses, but has been increasingly successful since the death of Mao Zedong in allowing individuals within the companies to make those business decisions.  Otherwise, virtually every other place that has ever tried to have manufacturing and pricing decisions made by central planners has ended up in misery, if not starvation.  So why do we not celebrate the Free Market System more fully and broadly?  Because people like us tend to be quiet when other people who get carried away by emotion sing the praises of socialism.  Literally, they don’t know what they are talking about.

Spirit of Optimism: “If you think you can do something you are more likely to try.”  Anon

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 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: #222 "RESTORATIVE JUSTICE"

                Yes, lots of bad things are happening in the world, and we seem to be hit in the face constantly with that reality in our media and elsewhere.  But there are also lots of good things that are happening, and this edition will discuss one of those, which is the movement called Restorative Justice.  The fundamental basis for this approach is to bring the victim(s) of an offense and the perpetrator together, face to face, in a meeting monitored by a therapist.  The emphasis is basically to show the offender what effect the incident had upon the victim(s), on the one hand, and to explore the concept of forgiveness by the victims, on the other.  The intent is both to humanize the act in the eyes of the offender and to begin an important healing process for the victim(s).  And we are seeing success a great amount of the time in both of those areas.

                The idea of the criminal justice system is not to punish the offender, but is instead to reduce crime.  A big example of this is in the area of domestic violence.  If the batterer (mostly but not always a man) is forced to focus upon the position of the victim, as well as the physical and emotional trauma he has inflicted, statistics show that he is not nearly as likely to re-offend.  In addition, the healing and self-esteem process often get a jumpstart with the victims, which enables them more fully to get on with their lives.  But, all importantly, the victim is consulted by the court at time of the sentencing of the offender and, if leniency is being considered, this almost always requires the consent of the victim(s).  Happily, the approach has also been found to work well with burglaries and even assaults and batteries.  (But it doesn’t seem to work with tax offenses. . . .)  The lesson?  Like in many other aspects of life, humanizing the interactions among different parties can go a long way toward reducing friction and harm, and increasing empathy.  So progress is being made in the criminal justice system, and I thought you should know. 

Quote for the week:  “Between stimulus and response there is a space.  In that space is our power to choose our response.  In our response lies our growth and our freedom.”  Viktor E. Frankl

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 these and other 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 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: #221 "ISideWith.Com: WHERE DO YOU STAND?"

               Here is a poll that I strongly suggest you take.  Go to www.isidewith.com, answer its questions and see where you stand on a wide ranging number of political issues.  It won’t take long, it’s fun and I think you will find the results to be interesting (although it should have included more free market questions).  Of course, most of life is more complicated than “yes or no” questions, but this test is fairly sophisticated, and allows for gradations of responses.  So I truly think that it has merit.  (The poll is private, but you can share the results with others if you wish.  It’s completely up to you.) 

                After the isidewith program digested my answers, it told me that am a slightly left of center Libertarian, and that I agree with Governor Gary Johnson about 85 percent of the time.  (That’s pretty good, because I don’t even agree with myself 85 percent of the time. . . .)  But none of this surprised me because, as I have frequently written in this column, I support Milton Friedman’s concept of a national stipend for people who make less than a certain amount of money (and then doing away with all other welfare, except for those with truly special needs).  But try it yourself, and I anticipate that you will surprise yourself about how Libertarian you are!  As such, you may very well join me in believing that the Libertarian Party is the only real mainstream political party in our country today.  Socially we support a “Live and Let Live” policy, and financially we support responsibility at all levels of society, including individual, group, corporate and governmental.  This makes us the only political party that would actually confront our nation’s deficits – which are the biggest threat both to our nation’s security and to our children’s financial future.  (So take the poll and see where you fit.  I’ll bet you a hamburger that you are much more Libertarian than you thought!)

Judge Jim Gray (Ret.)

2012 Libertarian candidate for Vice President, along with

Governor Gary Johnson as the candidate for President

Quote for the week, told to me directly by a retired stewardess from Southwest Airlines: “On occasion our plane would hit hard on its landing.  So when I saw the chins of the passengers in the first few rows touch down to their chests, I would get on the microphone and say: ‘Yes that was a hard landing.  But I want you to know that it wasn’t the crew’s fault, and it wasn’t the plane’s fault; it was the asphalt.’”

               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 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: #217 "WE THINK IN WORDS"

 We all think in words.  Thus if people do not understand the shades of meaning between two (or among three or more) different words, those people do not understand the concepts.  For example, I heard that there are more dialects in languages around the world that do not draw a distinction between the word “enemy” and the word “stranger.”  As a result, if I were to stumble out of the wilderness into your remote village, and you didn’t understand this distinction, I would automatically be your enemy.  Imagine how much needless violence, or at least lost opportunities, have occurred just from this situation alone!  Similarly, when we are driving our cars in the countryside and see the sign “Slow Traffic Keep Right,” what often goes through our minds?  “Oh, I’m not slow traffic, so I’ll stay in the fast lane.”  But if, instead, the sign were to say: “Left Lane Only For Passing,” our thoughts would more likely be: “Oh, I’m not passing, so I’ll move back to the right lane.”  Same intent, but different result.

                Other common but neglected differences in words that I find to be interesting and even fun are:

·         May vs. Can: permission as opposed to ability.

·         Imply vs. Infer: Speakers imply and listeners infer.  So many problems occur when the implications are different than the inferences.

·         Solution vs. Resolution:  Most human problems have no solutions.  If you want a solution, become a mathematician.  Human problems almost always are limited to resolutions, but they allow people to put those problems behind them and move on with their lives.  (I use this illustration often in my mediations.)

·         You’re welcome vs. No problem:  The former implies that the doer was happy to help; the latter implies that if it had been a problem, the doer wouldn’t have done the good deed.

·         Need vs. Want:  We want to be alive, but don’t need to be.  But we do need oxygen to be alive.  (Or, in a political context, a “need” is just a “want” that you should give me.)

·         Love vs. Like:  We can Like many things, but Love is special, and should be thought of in that fashion.  

·         Education vs. Indoctrination:  Upon reflection, that difference should be apparent.

·         Risk vs. Gamble:  Almost all things we do have some risks to them, but they can be controlled – think going for a swim.  Gambles cannot be controlled – think roulette.

·         Rule of Law vs. Rule of Man: The former strives to provide Equal Justice for All; the latter is often used to rewards one’s friends and punishes one’s enemies.

There are many more, and I think they’re both fun and important.  I hope you agree.

Judge Jim Gray (Ret.)

2012 Libertarian candidate for Vice President, along with

Governor Gary Johnson as the candidate for President

  Quote for the week:  “We travel not to escape life, but for life not to escape us.”  (And speaking of traveling, I will be on vacation for the next two weeks, so there will be an interruption in our series.)  And, BTW, last week I recommended people boycott the movie “Long Shot,” but this week I recommend people see the movie “A Dog’s Purpose.”  It was wonderful, and much redeeming social value!

Please listen to our weekly radio show entitled “All Rise!  The Libertarian Way with Judge Jim Gray” as we discuss these and other 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 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: #216 "BOYCOTT THIS MOVIE!"

     Recently my wife and I saw the movie “Long Shot” with Charlize Theron, who starred as a young, attractive and single U.S. Secretary of State, and Seth Rogen, who starred as an intelligent and caring but socially inept nerd.  We found the movie to be about 60 percent creative, novel, interesting and well done which, for me, is high praise.  Another 25 percent of the movie was routine but moved the plot along.  But the remaining 15 percent was totally without socially redeeming value, which directly results in my recommendation – in the name of Liberty – to boycott this movie.  And what was so wrong with this segment?  After the two stars became attracted to each other, but added gratuitously for no particular purpose to further the plot, they both intentionally decided to go out in public and get drunk.  This they did to excess, with alcohol and ostensibly some other mind-altering substance.  And then while still in this condition, some crisis came up which the Secretary of State was able to resolve on the telephone, all the while sitting on the floor and giggling.

      What a message!  What kind of impact will this make subconsciously upon people of all ages – especially the young!  Is this what life is about?  Is getting drunk to be promoted and glorified?  As a Libertarian I would not censure films of this kind.  But Liberty gives me the right – and maybe the obligation – to encourage as many people as I can to express our disapproval of such messages by withholding our monetary support.  We have every right to vote with our pocketbooks and, in this situation, that is exactly what we should do.  Now that is a message worth hearing!

Quote for the week, found on a napkin at a specialty sandwich shop: “Food for Thought: Our goal is to steer clear of ingredients that use processing, storage or preparation methods that extend shelf-life or simplify preparation.  That’s why we take pride in what isn’t in our food as much as what is.  If we can’t say it, we avoid using it.”  Food for Thought Indeed!

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 these and other 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 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: #208 "IN THE BLINK OF AN EYE"

      Recently I mediated a case in which two medical professionals who did not know each other got involved in what can only be called an ego fight while driving their cars on a road as it merged from two lanes into one.  And neither would yield to the other, which resulted in one of their cars crossing the double center line into oncoming traffic, obliterating an oncoming car and killing the two men inside it.  In the blink of an eye.  Liberty allows us mostly to go where we want, do what we want and be what we want.  But we responsible human beings would all be well advised to stop for a moment of reflection and cognizantly determine that when something happens to us, even in the blink of an eye, we will keep control of ourselves.  I know that these two men, who are otherwise good citizens and respected in their professions, wish they had made such a determination and lived up to it.  But for them it is too late.  So two innocent people died and the lives of the family members of each of the four participants are changed forever.  (And this incident will always affect me as well.)

Author and entrepreneur Laura Fenamore once said that “We can control how we respond to things we can’t control.”  And she is right.  Let’s all strive to control how we respond, even in challenging and unforeseeable stressful situations.  Someone cuts us off on the highway, insults us in a restaurant, or bumps into us while walking in a shopping mall, keep control.  Set the example for the way good and responsible people should respond – every time.  And show that to our children – by example and teaching.  We each have the Liberty to do that.  And, who knows, maybe that will keep us and our families from situations of despair and loss in the future.

Judge Jim Gray (Ret.)

2012 Libertarian candidate for Vice President, along with

Governor Gary Johnson as the candidate for President

Quote for the week: “Today was a great day.  I sold my condo for $1.2 million in cash – until I remembered that I was only leasing it.”

By the way, these 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.