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: #252 "TIMELESS TRUTHS"

Issues and ideas come and go, but many “Timeless Truths” always remain.  What are some of these?  Here is a short Libertarian list:

·         The Law of Unintended Consequences: Life is complicated, and almost every time a law or regulation is passed it results in some or even many negative consequences that were not intended.  An example?  The minimum wage laws directly put many people they were intended to help out of work.  Why?  Because the reality is that some people are not (yet) worth $15 per hour.

·         The Law of Diminishing Returns: If a little is good, a lot is better?  Well, most of the time it is not.  Ask any managers or owners of companies.  Sometimes there are slight imperfections or flaws in products that could be addressed and fixed.  But after a while it is simply not cost effective to spend an extra $100,000 to fix a problem that ultimately will only cost a customer or the company combined only a much smaller total amount in delays or problems.  

·         The answer to most questions is: It Depends!  Once again, life is complicated.  So, for example, in answering the question “Should cheating at cards be a crime?” The answer is “It depends.”  Why?  If a person is playing for money and cheats, that would be a fraud and could, depending upon the circumstances, appropriately result in criminal prosecutions.  But if people were playing solitaire at home, they might be cheating themselves but, otherwise, they should be left alone.  So unless one is talking about a situation involving core values, (Should we sponsor another Holocaust?  The answer is not “It depends!) the realistic answer is as stated above.

·         The Law of Supply and Demand: The First Rule of Economics is that there are never enough goods and services to meet the demand, and the First Rule of Politics is to ignore the First Rule of Economics.  Thus Adam Smith’s “Invisible Hand” of economics is always a part of every commercial transaction, and always will be.  This means that people acting in their own economic self-interest – both as producers and buyers – will always be a part of the equation.

·         Murphy’s Law: “If anything can go wrong, it will.”  O’Rourke’s Corollary to Murphy’s Law: “Murphy was an Optimist.” 

·         Incentives Matter: If people are able personally to profit in some meaningful way from their work and other actions, they are much more likely to pursue them.  Of course, this rule applies equally to negative sanctions like punishments.

·         Dr. Milton Friedman: “We should judge our programs by their results, not their good intentions.”  Following that advice would bring a positive revolution to governmental programs.

·         Dr. Milton Friedman again: “There Ain’t No Such Thing as a Free Lunch.”  When I buy my contact lenses solution the box includes a plastic lens holder “at no extra charge.”  But, since this “gift” holds about three times as much solution as the one I normally use, and probably costs the manufacturer a maximum of two cents, if only one person in ten uses it, the result will be the purchase of more solution and, thus more profit for the manufacturer sponsoring the “gift.”  So, yet again, TANSTAAFL applies.

As my US History Professor Dr. Keith Berwick at UCLA once told us in his lecture, “There is a definite limitation to the profitable elaboration of the obvious.”  So, with that, I will stop.

Lament of the Week: “Dear Algebra, Please don’t continue to insist that I find your X because she’s not coming back.  And don’t ask Y.”

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 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: #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.

2 PARAGRAPHS 4 LIBERTY: #230 "IN PRAISE OF SPECIAL FAVORS FOR AMAZON"

          Last year when Amazon was shopping for a location for its second headquarters, many states, counties and cities attempted to win that prize by offering Amazon special inducements.  Those included special treatment for purposes of taxes, zoning, impacts upon the environment and more.  Why would these governmental entities make such offers?  Transparently, they  were made because the offers would be of benefit to the company.  I think we would all agree about those benefits, so to all of them I give my praise!

         Obviously, where this huge company would move and do business would bring many benefits to that community.  Those benefits would include more investments and more jobs for workers, which would then, in turn, support the local barbershops, restaurants, stores, medical clinics and more.  All of this would then have increased the financial base of the community, and would also have provided much more tax revenue for all of those governments.  As such, all of these offers were legitimate and, in that regard, probably should have been increased.  So everyone would have won.  Well Done!  Oh, but just one more thing: If it would have been good for Amazon, it would be good for all other businesses as well, large and small, for exactly the same reasons.  So all of those offers should now be made to all businesses, so everyone would win also for exactly the same reasons!  It would not only be fair, it would be smart! 

Thought for the week:  Behind every successful man is a surprised mother-in-law.

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: #229 "I FELL FOR IT!"

         This past week I received a forwarded email from a friend with the title “Why Obama Hates Trump,” which stated that, since he had left office, President Obama had taken 692 travel days at the expense of the taxpayers.  It continued by saying that Obama had often taken with him not only his family members, but also friends and staff – to the extent that it had cost taxpayers about $214 million!  There actually is an allowance for ex-presidents to travel at public expense, but only reasonably and when on public business.  But, the article concludes, when President Trump found out about this activity, he immediately canceled the program, and stated he would call for Obama to reimburse the government for all non-work-related expenses.  Finally, the article encouraged the recipients to forward the information on to their social media friends – which I actually did to three people.  The next day, one of those friends responded to me that Snopes said this simply was not true.

           I fell for it!  And me, of all people!  Why?  Because within the last month I have taped interviews on my radio show* expressly talking about “fake news,” and how all responsible people should counteract it.  How?  By being skeptical before believing anything in the social media unless it was first checked out.  As you know, I am a Libertarian, and do not believe in censorship almost ever.  So that is not a way to address the problem.  And the government requiring private online groups to ban some groups or people is not what I believe should happen either.  Instead, we must all understand that sometimes the world can be a cruel and deceptive place.  So what is the answer?  Intelligence and skepticism in what we accept, what we believe and, particularly, what information we pass along to others as being true.  I hope and believe I have learned from my mistake, and for it I sincerely apologize to everyone – especially including former President Obama!

Judge Jim Gray (Ret.)

2012 Libertarian candidate for Vice President, along with

Governor Gary Johnson as the candidate for President

On our recent trip along the Columbia River, our guide told us that the Lewis and Clark Expedition had started to spend the winter on the north side of the mouth of the Columbia, where it rained continually, was cold and had no firewood or game.  After a couple of weeks a group of Native Americans came over in a canoe to great them and told them they should stay on the south bank.  Why?  Because it was drier, had firewood, was sheltered from the wind, and had no sales taxes.  (Today the State of Washington has a sales tax, but Oregon does not.) 

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: #210 "BEATING THE DRUM FOR JUSTICE"

        Recently one of my favorite people ordered a book for me from Amazon that is entitled Just Mercy: A Story of Justice and Redemption, by Bryan Stevenson (Spiegel & Grau, 2015), saying that she had read it and thought of me.  I was flattered, because this is a book about an attorney/author in the Alabama and Georgia area who filed appeals on death penalty cases and told us about the stories and players surrounding them.  And, if one accepts Mr. Stevenson’s facts as true (which I do), there have been many atrocious cases in those states even into the late 1980s in which African Americans were put to death for crimes for which they were factually innocent.  The existence of just one of those cases is simply too much, but there were many.  And even if the guilt was fairly established, the book quoted the statistic that a Black man was eleven times more likely in those states to receive a death penalty sentence if his victim had been a Caucasian instead of the victim being Black.  This fact cannot make us proud!

           Many people in the African American community were terrified of the police and the court system – and for good reason.  How can we respond?  As one older Black lady was quoted in the book as saying to the author when he was working on one of his cases: “You must beat the drum for Justice!”  In that regard, in August of 2010, I published two back-to-back articles in the Los Angeles Daily Journal that advocated the full repeal of the death penalty throughout the United States.  My argument was then and is still that, regardless of one’s political philosophy, the death penalty is simply not working.  (The two articles are enclosed for those who would like to read them.)  What do you think?  Please let me know your thoughts and then spread the word to your social media and other friends to help us abolish the death penalty – once and for all.  Let’s all join together and beat the drum for Justice!   

Quote for the week: “Fear of the Lord is the beginning of Wisdom.”  Abraham Lincoln

Judge Jim Gray (Ret.)

2012 Libertarian candidate for Vice President, along with

Governor Gary Johnson as the candidate for President

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.

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.