The future is waiting in the wings...

"By 2025, autonomous transportation will be more common than rare. That is just over six years away. And in those six years, we will all witness the transition."

This morning I had the displeasure of writing about hate. How many of the undisciplined among us have shown sophomoric and sometimes criminal behavior. Especially during this election season. It is now time to brighten things up. It is after all, a drop dead gorgeous autumn afternoon. I am going to address a general subject I have talked about before - only this time, it is about something very, very new and different.

Ladies and gentlemen, I want to introduce you to the AAWA. No, it is not a professional wrestling association. It is something you will be hearing about more and more in the next couple of years. It stands for Advanced Autonomous Waterborne Applications. While many of us have thought Google has just sharpening its craft on internet high speed Boolean searches, it has had bigger fish to fry. Much bigger. 

Google is teamed with Royals Royce in developing an autonomous ocean going ship by the year 2025 (that year sound familiar?). It will not ready for a super tanker by that time - but it will be ready to pilot and operate a human-less, mid size transport ship. By doing so, it will take the place of 20 - 22 people.

When I read this article, my mind wondered back in time when I was researching other articles about Google. How they are also working in tandem with many of the car, truck, bus and rail companies. Google must have dozens, no hundreds, of non-disclosure and teaming agreements right now with companies all over the globe. Google is going to be involved in just about everything, which takes AI.

Someone asked me shortly after I did my last article on AI what I thought the biggest challenge would be with this massive change coming in the next decade. I replied, plain and simple, acceptance. The changes coming are not going to be like going from a standard transmission to an automatic. From black and white TV to color. From a land line phone to a cellular phone. Oh, no. These changes are going to be an order or two magnitude bigger than what we have seen in the past.

For example, my grand kids (who are very young) might never need to learn to drive a car. Might never ride in a bus with a driver. Might never fly in a plane with a pilot. Might never buy something from a cashier. Might never have a human teacher when they get to secondary education.  

Already, you can see the first green shoots of this change. While at Sam's Club today, we noticed there are about 10 auto checkout kiosks. Just about every customer was using them. However, standing by the three manual check out lines, were three employees. Standing there, just shooting the breeze. Soon every store will have all kiosks. 

I told my wife on the way home from Sam's Club, if you are a young person today, just getting out of college with a mechanical engineering degree, and have a concentration in robotics, you can write your own ticket. Especially if you are cognizant on how to marry up even the most rudimentary AI to a robotic device. 

By 2025, autonomous transportation will be more common than rare. That is just over six years away. And in those six years, we will all witness the transition. For some, it will wonderful - like magic. For others, it will be dreadful. For all however, it WILL be here. Like it or not, the future is waiting in the wings. Buckle up, and hang on. It is coming. 

Why does anger turn to hate?

"...hate is the battery acid of the soul..."

Even the pundits are confused this year. Nobody has ever seen anything like it. Our political discourse has boiled over. Stained our country. Our state. Our relationships. Ourselves. As hate is the battery acid of the soul, the fact we have allowed this four lettered word to roam our landscape with such abandon, with such rapidity, has left more than one expert speechless. The scary part? This might only be the start of the great unraveling.

At one time, "hating on someone" was a rarity. It was something that took a long time with many infractions in a relationship. No longer. We go from disagreement, to dislike, to all out hatred in record time. Just this past week, this small sleepy bedroom community next to ours had something happen of an ominous nature. A man running for Mayor, who lives out in the country and owns some animals, came under attack. Some people vandalized his truck, destroyed campaign signs, and poisoned some of his animals. For what reason? His politics are different than the ones who launched this attack on his property.

A bit further north of that town, a man is running to fill the House seat of Jim Newberger. While he was at a restaurant the other night discussing his campaign platform, somebody from the other side of the political fence came up and sucker punched him. Gave him a concussion. For what reason? When did political discourse become a cage match? What is next? Gunfire? Lynching? At the rate we are going, I would not be surprised. 

Campaign signs are being stolen and vandalized all over the state. A DFL party leader recently said Republicans should be "guillotined". What is going on? What is happening to us? Our civility?

Some say it is because America is not as Godly as it once was. Whereas love comes from God, we all know where hate comes from. Once we usher love out of our hearts, hate will for sure come rushing in. Always has been that way, always will be. 

To be fair, there is hate on both sides this political year. There is no shortage of it. What is going to happen after this election is over? Will the hate go away? I am afraid not. Neither side is going to accept losing. What we are seeing now, could only be the overture to a crescendo which will happen after the new year. And that crescendo could put us over the edge.

When anger becomes seething, when anger becomes palpable, hate is always close by. Can this nation heal itself without God, while bathed in hate? Probably not. Once a nation embraces hate and eschews God, it usually ceases to be a nation. We need to turn from hate folks, and as a nation, return to God. Before it is too late. 

The Sanctuary Promise

"So buckle up folks. Caravan 2.0 in on its way. And when they get here and there is a huge snafu at the border, who will get the blame? We will, of course. Blamed by the Democrats for the mess they created."  

ICYMI - There is another caravan of people heading up from Central America and ready to make the long trek through Mexico. It started out with just over a hundred people, and has now grown to over 1,500. Why? The destination is NOT Mexico, a country who could offer these people asylum from their governments or gangs. It is the United States. In particular, one of our sanctuary cities or states.

Sanctuary cities and states have become like magnets for illegal immigrants. Word does spread quickly. If you ever wonder why we have so many of these sanctuary locations, the answer is very simple. Votes. If every illegal immigrant pledged to vote Republican once getting here, the Democrats would be running around with their hair on fire. "We can't have those people here! We are a nation of laws!" But since the illegals do vote with the Democrats, we are now hearing, "We are a nation of compassion. We need to care for these people because it is for the children." 

So here we are, once again. This issue is like a bad penny which keeps showing up. Our immigration system is just fine, thank you. If not for the Democrats, and the air head judges Democrats have appointed, this would no a non-issue. But because of the Democrats and the courts, it is an issue. It is a mess. A hot mess. 

If Tim Walz wins the Governor's race, he will do everything in his power to make the entire state of Minnesota, a sanctuary. Maybe we can even kick ICE out of state at the same time. Sounds like a good Democrat trade to me - ICE for Central American gangs. Is this the direction the country is going in? To trade in being a nation of laws for a nation of outlaws? 

Rather than a nation of sheep dogs, protecting the citizenry, we have become a nation of Neville Chamberlain type clones. We refuse to recognize evil when we see it. All we can do is stick our collective heads in the sand. Well, that is not totally true. The patriots cannot, nor will not follow suit. The snowflakes might, but we will not. Not now, not ever. So long as we have just laws, we WILL be a nation of laws. And we will fight for that right.

One final thought, speaking of being a nation of laws. How would you like to live in Portland, Oregon? The Mayor of that city refuses to prosecute Antifa for recently blocking highways. Even though that was a lawless act, the Snowflake Mayor refuses to enforce the law.

Well, Mr. Mayor - here is a news flash. This is how civil wars start. When the government becomes corrupt, and refuses to protect the people, the people will protect themselves. Cold hard fact sir. Read your history.

So buckle up folks. Caravan 2.0 in on its way. And when they get here and there is a huge snafu at the border, who will get the blame? We will, of course. Blamed by the Democrats for the mess they created.  

Tough as nails - and smart too!

"If the SOS office had not been corrupted in 2006, consider this. Governor Emmer might be running for his third term next month. We would have never had ObamaCare because Al Franken (the 60th vote), would have lost to Norm Coleman. Think about that. We could have escaped eight years of Dayton and a healthcare killing program called ObamaCare." 

We have a good quality person to run for Secretary of State this year. John Howe is the real deal. Tough and smart. Last month, John was at an event I attended. Most of the Minnesota constitutional office nominees were there. The fact John was there, was simply amazing. Why? The previous weekend he and his campaign manager were thrown off a float in a parade when the tractor pulling them had a mechanical issue. John hit his head (over a dozen stitches), and his campaign manager was run over. But they are both tough mid westerners and were out of the hospital, and healing in no time at all. 

Other than the fact he has battle scars on the back of his head, is John qualified to be SOS in MN? Heck ya! He is the former Mayor of Red Wing, and also a former state senator. He is a small business owner, and has also spent time working for big corporate businesses. In other words - John is the total package for this position.

Some might ask why we need a new Secretary of State. What is wrong with the current one? Nothing, except he is a tool for the DFL. Is he actively looking into voter fraud? No. Is he pushing Voter ID to put more legitimacy in our voting system? No. What many people don't realize is this. In every state, the Secretary of State office is the guardian of that state's democracy. If that office is corrupt, then the voting results are always suspect. How do we know our SOS office is corrupt? George Soros had his fingers in it, when he backed Mark Ritchie. Ritchie came into office during the infamous Soros funded "SOS Project". We need to clean that office out and fumigate it.

If the SOS office had not been corrupted in 2006, consider this. Governor Emmer might be running for his third term next month. We would have never had ObamaCare because Al Franken (the 60th vote), would have lost to Norm Coleman. Think about that. We could have escaped eight years of Dayton and a healthcare killing program called ObamaCare. 

Why is John the guy to clean this office up? Like I said, he is tough as nails. He will take to prisoners, offer no quarter to corruption. He will return this most valuable position to the people once again. John Fine of the WSJ will no longer need to write about how corrupt our voting process is in Minnesota. It is time for a bath, and this office needs one - badly.

This November, when you are pulling the lever for Red Team candidates, remember this. One of the most important is the office which will ensure the vote you just made is valid. The Secretary of State position is valuable beyond measure. Soros knew that. That is why he wanted to corrupt it. Vote for John Howe this November. 

Fixing Income Tax

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"Remember that old saying (with modifications) : 'Give to Caesar what is Caesar's and give to God what is God's. Just make sure Caesar does not take too much.'"

Years ago, a friend of mine told me the quickest way to get most people who pay taxes, and to vote Republican every election, was to repeal the Current Tax Payment Act of 1943. Why? Having money you earn withheld and sent to the government without ever seeing it, becomes a "boiling frog" issue. You just become accustomed to making 75%, 66% or even 50% of what you earned. You just accept it, and life goes on.

However, if the Current Tax Payment Act of 1943 was never enacted, every month, along with the mortgage payment, car payments, and whatever else, would be the checks made out to the federal and state governments. All of a sudden, all those dollars become up close and personal. They have landed in your checkbook, stayed there just long enough to get warm, and then gone. Blue Pill people who walk around fat dumb and happy, would suddenly become radical Red Pill people. Demanding better accountability with their tax dollars. 

And that is exactly why this law will never be repealed. There would be rioting in the streets. Why? All of a sudden, people would demand accountability. Tax money would go from being "funny money", to the real, hard earned money of the people. But that is a huge defining difference between the Red Team and the Blue Team. The Red Team sees each dollar as being the people's money. The Blue Team sees that money as never really being ours. It belongs to Big Brother and the government.

While I am on this rant, how about this one also? Why do we have our federal and state taxes wrapped into a gallon of gasoline? Why don't we pump our gasoline, and then pay for the gasoline PLUS the taxes. Have the taxes visible. Why? The majority of people in each state have no clue how many dollars they pay in federal or state taxes for every gallon of gasoline. 

For example, if I went to the gas station and bought 20 gallons worth of gasoline, I would pay for the gas and then federal tax of $3.68 and state tax of $5.72. All of a sudden, people would start becoming very interested in how our gas tax dollars are used. Right now, all those tax dollars are buried. Kind of like the withholding in our payroll taxes. 

I could keep going. The property taxes which are escrowed in the mortgage payment. Buried within those property taxes are the school taxes. Get the picture? If we had to pay our portion of the school board taxes when they were meeting, I wonder how that would go? 

Should Tim Walz win the election, get ready for more of the same. Did I say more? How about a lot more. Remember that old saying (with modifications) : "Give to Caesar what is Caesar's and give to God what is God's. Just make sure Caesar does not take too much."

Doing the right thing at the right time

"With slightly over three weeks to go, we can change the trajectory of this state. We can smash the status quo. We can hire people who will ask, 'Am I doing the right things at the right time?'"

One of the managers I worked for in my career had a wood carved sign hung in his office. It was not fancy, and had a very simple message on it. "Am I doing the right thing at the right time?" One day when he and I were chatting about something in his office, I asked about that sign. "It keeps me centered." he said. "I look at that sign many times during the day and ask myself that question." He went on to say that in business, many dollars and hours are wasted by people doing the right thing at the wrong time, or the wrong thing at the wrong time.

I  have thought about that many times during this campaign season. In government, be it local, state, or federal, I dare say we have precious few people who ask that question on a daily basis. Like hardly any. I have said this for many years - we elect people who get into government service, and then run it like day one in Junior Achievement. Unlike the business world where inept performance is met with a pink slip, in government service there are just excuses for misdeeds, and then tomorrow is another day.

This year we have a whole team of people who want to come in and really fix our state government. By the way, in case you have missed it during the past few years, our state government is a mess. Constantly doing the wrong thing at the wrong time. Jeff Johnson has said for years we have to pay attention to the small stuff as well as the big stuff to make things better. In other words, to keep to his promise to run a more efficient state government for less money, inefficient, outdated, redundant, or useless programs need to be eliminated. This has been a vexing issue for many past administrations. It will not be for a Jeff Johnson Administration.

Doug Wardlow is the same way. The Attorney General's office is a partisan mess. It needs to be cleaned, top to bottom. Doug said he would do that and now the press is screaming bloody murder. Why? They (the media) are the guardians of the status quo. Guess what? We have tried the status quo for years, and all it has gotten us is a #1 rating in being tax unfriendly. That we received from Kiplinger (as well as others). We are not only an expensive state, many of our "government programs" work as well as three cylinder engine in need of a tune up.

I could go on and on. Pam Myhra for State Auditor. You mean to have an auditor who (gasp!) knows how to audit for a change? Pam will shake that office up, clean out the cobwebs, and have it once again working for the people of Minnesota.

Our Secretary of State's office has been as mess since George Soros funded the "SOS Project" in 2006 and we got Mark Ritchie as our SOS. All of a sudden, we had razor thin elections that mysteriously went the way of the Blue Team. A Senate race and then a Governor race. Gone. Even though voter fraud has been alleged (and proven) by a well know writer for the WSJ (John Fund) as well as many local folks, the DFL controlled SOS continues to stick his head in the sand with voter irregularities. 

If I bought a Ford truck and had nothing but problems for ten years, why would I buy another Ford? That would be foolish. My first Ford cost me a whole lot of repair money and performed poorly. Ford would not have deserved my return business. That is where we are in our state right now. Buying another Ford would be buying in to the status quo. And in Minnesota right now, our status quo sucks.

With slightly over three weeks to go before the election, we can change the trajectory of this state. We can smash the status quo. We can hire people who will ask, "Am I doing the right things at the right time?" Or we can stick with the same old, same old. What is that? The wrong thing, all the time. The choice is ours. 

   

First place in a bad race

"Most of the shareholders, that is the taxpayers, in this state will continue this fight until there is no more fight to give. Then it will be time for flight. And as have we have seen, many states close by (and some not so close by), offer a nice refuge for the tired and over taxed." 

Kiplinger has address this issue before - more than once. Usually it is about the least friendly state for retirees to live in. And God love them - our state Democrats always puts the state of Minnesota in the top ten. Sometimes the top five. But who cares about the retirees? Those old farts? Let's talk about today's youngins'. The shakers and movers. On second thought, we better not. The news for them ain't too good either. 

Maybe we could have have the chant "We are number one!" Actually, as nice as it is to get the recognition of being number one this year, we kind of cheated. Not that our tax situation is that good normally, but with Dayton vetoing the Tax Conformity Bill last session, that might have taken us from number two or three up to number one. 

Guess who else is on the list? The usual suspects. Hawaii, Connecticut, New York, Illinois, New Jersey, and of course California. But on this top ten list of tax thieving states, it is nice to finally have some recognition as being the worst - not just one of the worst. By the way, guess who was not on this list? Our neighbors. The Dakotas, Iowa, and Wisconsin. They are all just loving this!

One would think with this massive tax problem, both parties would be running fiscal hawks to be Governor to help fix things. If you did, you would be half right. Jeff Johnson, the endorsed and primary winning nominee of the MN GOP, has a plan to cut our taxes down to size. Plus, get us off the high SALT list, getting us off the top ten worst tax list, and all this, without sacrificing the quality of life this state is accustomed to. 

How about the DFL? Who are they putting up? A huge progressive. A tax and spend liberal. A man who does not give two poops and a holler if we are number one on the most taxed state from now until (dare I say it?), the "rocks and cows" come home.

Not only would Tim Walz like to really blow up the state debt by initiating single payer heath care, he also wants "free" education for whomever wants it for two years after high school. All this while funding Pre K-12 with enough money to fund Vegas. Plus to take care of the thousands of illegal gang members when Walz makes us a sanctuary state, we will need more money for welfare also.

Jeff Johnson has said many times in this campaign the differences between the two candidates could not be more stark. Amen. Whereas Jeff would look at the Kiplinger article and gasp, Walz would read it and yawn. Nothing new under the sun. Then why, would you ask, is Walz still doing so well in the polls? Easy answer. Over the years, the DFL have twisted and torted the tax code so much, half the people don't pay a cent. If you don't pay, this is all up side. Why would you not like Walz? He is Santa Clause. All Johnson promises is opportunity. 

I encourage you all to read this article. I have posted it on my Facebook site, Minnesotans for Real Tax Justice. It is a sobering article. It is sobering if you pay taxes in this state - in any bracket. If you don't pay taxes, just skip it, and move on to the funny pages. 

Most of the shareholders, that is the taxpayers, in this state will continue this fight until there is no more fight to give. Then it will be time for flight. And as have we have seen, many states close by (and some not so close by), offer a nice refuge for the tired and over taxed.