James Pyle – Author

Watching pundits react to last month’s election reminds me of a particularly prescient verse. (Sorry for the lack of attribution, but I cannot recall who first wrote it.)

I’m confounded by how often love trumps truth when it comes to memory,

how the past tends toward uniformity, all good – or all bad,

how revising memory, even when justified, can feel like betrayal.

The words came back to me last night when a TV commentator from the right reminded his listeners how often the loser had lied (mis-remembered) before, during and after the election. He went so far as to call her a “compulsive liar”.  I therefore took it upon myself to re-write the verse with changes that the left-leaning apologists might keep in mind next time round.

I’m confounded by how often avarice trumps truth when it comes to memory,

how the past tends toward absolute absurdity, all good – or all bad,

how trying to revise history, even when justified, feels like betrayal.

Something to think about, next time round!

You are welcome.

For more go to:  http://www.jameshpyle.com

Following is my letter to the editor of the New York Times responding to David Brooks’ column today on Trump’s election.  I post it here knowing full well you won’t ever see it in their newspaper.

Re: David Brooks’ column -11/11/16 The View from Trump Tower.

Mr. Brooks begins by lamenting:  “If your social circles are like mine, you spent Tuesday night swapping miserable texts. Not all, but many of my friends and family members were outraged, stunned, disgusted and devastated.”

Earth to David: There are few social circles across the nation like yours. Those that share your ideals exist in NYC, Hollywood or inside the Beltway; not great locales for gauging the nation’s mood, as was made clear on Tuesday.  You are stuck with your family, but maybe you should find new friends.

Referring to Trump’s election, Brooks continues:  “This is victory for white supremacy, for misogyny, nativism and authoritarianism. Fascism is ascending.”

No, Mr. Brooks – this was a defeat for social engineering and corruption in government.  Your chosen candidate was mortally stained by the leftist cultures of pay-to-play, cronyism, and gorging oneself at the public trough. It was not a battle of liberal ideals vs. conservative views.

Brooks’ bombast continues:  “… emotions like disgust don’t do justice to the complexity of Donald Trump’s supporters. Their disgusted posture risks turning politics into a Manichean civil war between the alleged children of light and the alleged children of darkness  – between us enlightened, college-educated tolerant people and the supposed primitive horde driven by dark fears and prejudices. (my emphasis) Crude and ignorant condescension is what feeds the Trump phenomenon in the first place.”

No, Mr. Brooks, what fed the Trump phenomenon was social programs that promised better education for all children – but, despite billions spent over the past twelve years, failed miserably leaving today’s kids unequipped to perform effectively on the world stage. If we are ‘ignorant’ who is to blame?  Trump’s rise was also fueled by soaring social costs for pensions, immigrant welfare, disrespect for our laws and law enforcement practices. Also, it didn’t help your candidate’s cause that most of the reviled Wall Street money went to help elect her.

P.S. – The Manichean civil war, to which you allude, took place in what is now called Iran. Funny you should use that analogy. (Or is that an allegory?)

Brooks concludes:  “Trump’s bigotry, dishonesty and promise-breaking have to be denounced. We can’t go morally numb. But he needs to be replaced with a program that addresses the problems that fueled his ascendency.”

Dishonesty?  Has anyone lied to the public, and to Congress, more than Clinton in her thirty years in and around public office?

Promise-breaking? – How can you tell whether he will be guilty until he has been in office for a period of time?  Unless, of course, you have newer, more enlightened college grads on your staff who can forecast better than their predecessors. (I’ll assume you have fired the former for incompetence by now.)

Bigotry? Give me an honest bigot any day over a perpetual liar and crook. At least you know where he/she stands.

I don’t think I’d be too quick to try and fix a problem unless you clearly understand it and the unintended consequences thereof.

It occurs to me you face only one problem: your prediction was wrong – oops. Now you are embarrassed. Oh, darn.

My advice: Get over it or move on.  I’ve already moved on from the New York Times to a different news source.

You are welcome.

One of the more controversial accusations being hurled during this election cycle is that Trump supporters are less erudite and less intellectual than Clinton supporters.  Deplorable, Uneducated, Intellectually inferior, unrefined. (Pick your adjective(s).)

Being a deplorable moron, I looked up the definition of intellect.

Merriam-Webster:  “the power of knowing as distinguished from the power to feel and to will – the capacity for knowledge.”

Dictionary dot-com:  “the faculty of reasoning and understanding objectively, especially with regard to abstract or academic matters.”

One would assume from campaign rhetoric that Clinton supporters along with their media advocates possess this amorphous quality making them intellectuals; whereas Trump supporters are one notch above morons.

I beg to differ.

It may be time to update our national vocabulary to reflect what is actually occurring across the land. I submit a more refined definition of the term.

Jim’s Def. : A state of higher awareness achieved through thoughtful probing and questioning of current and past societal events and transitions.

It doesn’t take a Mensa candidate or an IQ of 160+ to realize the country (and the world in general) is calling for change in standard forms of government.  Democracy, Socialism, Monarchy, Oligarchy, Dictator –  all carry stigmas from the past that prevent thoughtful probing in light of current day societal patterns: i.e. a declining middle class that has historically been essential to democracy, failures in education at all levels, technology deployed for the economic benefit of elites but simply to entertain the uneducated.

I write this one day prior to the 2016 election with no prescience of what will happen – but I do know the mood of the country can be defined by one word – disillusion.

• We are disgusted by politics as usual where the same tired politicos get re-elected by making empty promises to the gullible.
• We are repulsed by news organizations that purport to report but in reality advocate.
• We are worried by technology that supplants our jobs with robots, our planes with drones and distorts our thinking process with Facebook posts.
• Artificial intelligence looms with scary significance. Will it be controlled by the same power hungry zealots with whom we have a love-hate relationship today?

The 21^st century intelligentsia should be focused on today’s world wide concerns rather than silly issues like which bathroom trans-genders use or who stole Kim Kardashian’s ring. Gays who want to marry and ending unwanted pregnancies don’t worry me at all.

What are the issues that do matter but are not being addressed by any world leader?

• Millions of religious zealots wanting to tear down Western society and replacing it with radical doctrines.
• Stupid wars fought over worthless territories once valued only for the oil beneath their sand.
• A ‘global economy’ without laws and regulations. Common taxation and currencies are vital to preserving global peace and harmony. Central Banks, United Nations and IMF are eunuchs who watch but dare not intervene.
• Realizing that manufacturing is not dead; it’s simply changed its engine – robots and computers have replaced people. That trend is not going to change. (Sorry, Donald) When agriculture yielded to the industrial revolution, we continued to eat (though there are barely a dozen real ‘farmers’ left in the country). We will survive the Information Revolution also; perhaps bruised and displaced, but survive we will.  What is needed are leaders with clear-eyed intellect to point the way forward.  Artificial intelligence is being hailed as the next great horizon. Whose intelligence will those nerds program into our cars, refrigerators, TVs and airplanes? Yours? Mine? The New York Times? An egghead at MIT or a cowboy on a horse in Wyoming?
• The real challenge is to channel the energy and ambitions of millions who have been displaced by labor markets and wars into meaningful lives that may or may not include traditional labor expended for pay.

Until that day comes we must struggle with egoist leaders with clouds of self dealing and corruption hanging over their heads – but sadly, not a thread of intellect.

You are welcome.

As a writer, I refer almost daily to a little reference book titled: The Elements of Style by Wm. Strunk, Jr. and E.B. White.  Whatever one is writing, this little book is the closest thing to a Bible for guidance on language and communication.  I’ve used it for years without looking into the pedigrees of the writers – until recently.

Today,  I’d like to share some of E.B. White’s thoughts; in particular because his teachings, and many of his quotations, seem prescient in this election year. He was a frequent contributor to The New Yorker and wrote numerous children’s books, among them Charlotte’s Web and Stuart Little.

Following are the quotes. My acerbic comments are in italics.

“I am pessimistic about the human race because it is too ingenious for its own good. Our approach to nature is to beat it into submission. We would stand a better chance of survival if we accommodated ourselves to this planet and viewed it appreciatively instead of skeptically and dictatorially.”  (Man-made Global warming enthusiasts take note. Also, advocates of Artificial Intelligence.)

“I arise in the morning torn between the desire to improve the world and a desire to enjoy the world. This makes it hard to plan the day. ” (Especially if you are attuned to working only in teams.)

“One of the most time consuming things is to have an enemy.” (Just ask Trump & Hillary)

“Democracy is the recurrent suspicion that more than half of the people are right more than half of the time.” (Note to Hillary: “You can fool all of the people some of the time and some of the people all of the time, but you cannot fool all the people all of the time.” Abe Lincoln)

“Genius is more often found in a cracked pot than in a whole one.” (Donald Trump anyone?)

“Writing is an act of faith, not a trick of grammar.” (This truth was lost on the writers of Obamacare.)

“Analyzing humor is like dissecting a frog. Few people are interested and the frog dies of it.” (Nancy Pelosi said jokingly : “You have to pass the bill to find out what’s in it.)

“The world is full of people who have never, since childhood, met an open doorway with an open mind.” (Does this describe today’s Republican party or illegal immigrants? Maybe both?)

“Everything in life is somewhere else, and you get there in a car.” (Let’s increase the gas tax – again.)

“Prejudice is a great time saver. You can form opinions without having to get the facts.” (Racial injustice and police brutality?)

You are welcome.

For more: go to http://www.jameshpyle.com

FAMOUS QUOTES   –  (Stolen from Graham Moore’s novel LAST DAYS OF NIGHT.)

Steve Jobs –

• People don’t know what they want until you show it to them.
• We’re not going to be the first at this party, but we’re going to be the best.
• Deciding what not to do is as important as deciding what to do.
• If you really look closely, most overnight successes took a long time.
• Focus and simplicity – Simple can be harder than complex. You must work hard to get your thinking clean, to make it simple.

Thomas Edison –

• Hell, there are no rules here – we’re trying to accomplish something.
• I have not failed. I’ve just found ten thousand ways that don’t work.
• In any machine, the failure of one part to cooperate properly with another part disorganizes the whole and renders it inoperative for the purpose intended.
• I do not care so much for a great fortune as I do for getting ahead of the other fellows.
• Just because something doesn’t do what you planned it to do, doesn’t mean it’s useless.
• Many of life’s failures are people who did not realize how close they were to success when they gave up.
• We often miss opportunity because it’s dressed in overalls and looks like work.
• When you have exhausted all possibilities, remember this – you haven’t.

James Watson –  co-discoverer of DNA

• It’s necessary to be slightly underemployed if you are to do something significant.

Karl Popper – Noted 20th Century philosopher

• No rational argument will have a rational effect on a man who does not want to adopt a rational attitude.

Charles Kettering – inventor of electrical starter

• High achievement always takes place in the framework of high expectation.

Alexander Graham Bell –

• A man, as a general rule, owes very little to what he is born with. A man is what he makes of himself.
• Sometimes we stare so long at a door that is closing that we see too late the one that is opening.

Buckminster Fuller – inventor of geodesic dome.

• There is nothing in a caterpillar that tells you it’s going to be a butterfly.
• We are called to be the architects of the future, not its victims.

Nikola Tesla – Discoverer of A/C current    

• Be alone- that is the secret of invention: Be alone, that is when ideas are born.
• I do not think you can name many great inventions that were made by married men.

Friedrich Nietzsche –

• Whoever lives for the sake of combating an enemy has an interest in that enemy staying alive.

Bill Gates –

• Headlines, in a way, are what mislead you, because bad news is a headline; gradual improvement is not.

Albert Einstein –

• If a cluttered desk is a sign of a cluttered mind, of what, then, is an empty desk a sign?
• The most beautiful thing we can experience is the mysterious. He to whom this emotion is a stranger, who can no longer pause to wonder and stand rapt in awe, is as good as dead.

I now feel empowered to start over again.

You are welcome.

For more go to:  http://www.jameshpyle.com

Okay, I’m a conspiracy theorist. I admit it, but. . .  My past theories that have been proven sound:

• Bankers are in the midst of a purposeful takeover of the country (possibly the world).
• Class action lawyers are venal money grubbers .
• Economists are fortune tellers in academic garb.
• Main stream media, abandoning any notion of impartiality, colludes with candidates.
• And don’t get me started on politicians.

And . . . does anyone doubt that mergers and acquisitions are designed to benefit lawyers and bankers to  the detriment of customers and proper service?

With cynicism as part of my DNA, I suggest that the Korean and Chinese supplied batteries, in every phone worldwide, are part a strategy by ISIS to weaken the West. ISIS operatives have infiltrated the supply chains of bloated  companies.  These huge companies, with thousands of employees, do not monitor or control the intricate workings of their manufacturing process. (Much of which is outsourced.) The nefarious employee sitting on an assembly line, being paid a minimal wage, is susceptible to a bribe to do bad deeds. Don’t doubt me. They are there and waiting to be called to action.

Consider airliners brought down by battery and electrical problems : TWA 800, Egypt Air 840, Malaysia Air 370 and a UPS Flight 6. The FAA has now issued a warning to all air carriers about transporting lithium batteries as cargo.  Don’t think that the ‘bad guys’ haven’t taken notice of these successful events.  If they have the capability to hack ultra-secure government files, breaking into the code of a cheap phone is a no-brainer.

Think how much havoc and panic will be introduced into the ‘civilized’ world if people cannot access their phone for fear it might explode in their ear.

Don’t worry. We can always blame it on Russia.

You are welcome.

For more go to: http://www.jameshpyle.com

Am I the only one with empathy towards the police these days? I respect cops for the thankless job they do protecting the public, often putting their own lives at risk to protect law abiding citizens.

Recent news coverage of cops shooting unarmed suspects is fascinating only because of its predominance over other more significant issues like soaring inner city crime, terrorist acts, immigration irregularities, banking crises in Europe and cyber crime.

When reading and watching the breathy news reports about police brutality, I’m troubled by the dearth of coverage concerning the laws being broken and crimes being perpetrated by these so-called innocent, unarmed felons, all of whom were ‘preparing for college’ when shot.

Okay, okay, I’ll admit there are probably are some overzealous or poorly trained cops on the streets who should be removed from their positions of trust.

But there are also felonious people running banks, hedge funds, pharmaceuticals, insurance companies, even illegal cigar shops. Where is the outcry about these guys? I suspect the reason is that no political gain can be derived therefrom.

Making an ‘unarmed, black teen’,  the aggrieved victim generates votes for the politically correct, left leaning, voting blocks.  A recent example:

Yesterday there were nationwide protests against the fatal shooting of an ‘unarmed black man’, Alfred Olango, by police officers in El Cajon, CA. His sister had called 911 for help because he was acting ‘erratically’.

This was a man who arrived here in 1991 from Uganda and who federal authorities twice tried to deport. But Ugandan authorities refused to take him back; so, according to a U.S. Supreme Court ruling banning the ‘detention of foreign nationals after six months if deportation is unlikely’, he was released into American society.

In 2005, he was arrested on charges of selling cocaine, driving drunk and illegally possessing a 9-millimeter semiautomatic handgun. The police, on that occasion, found marijuana and the drug ecstasy in his car. He was sentenced to four years in prison for felonious possession of  a weapon.

Soon after his release in 2009, immigration authorities again took Olango into custody following a firearms conviction in Colorado but were unable to deport him due to a “lack of documentation”. (Say what?)

When stopped this week in El Cajon, he refused to obey the police order to exit his vehicle. When he  eventually got out of the car he assumed a two-handed shooters stance and pointed something at the officer. His sister claims it was a book. There was no book found at the scene but there was a handgun lying beside the car when Olango was shot.

Was he mentally deranged? Possibly, but how is a police officer in that situation to know? And, how is a mentally impaired individual able to purchase and carry a weapon?             Are we supposed to feel sorry for this guy?

Notwithstanding the incessant ranting, chanting and protesting by the Black Lives Matter crowd,  I don’t think so.

BUT: BREAKING NEWS !-

The proposed solution, according to the NY Times and Lester Holt, is to retrain police to be more understanding of the minority communities and the crises they face day to day. “We must talk them down from their anger.”

I respectfully disagree and submit that a better solution would be to educate the immigrants, legal and illegal, about how to conduct themselves in a community that is based on laws, self-discipline and the value of all lives.  Next we should re-educate the U.S. Supreme Court to avoid any future foolish decisions they hand down. (Anybody remember ‘Citizens United’?)

After these groups are educated, and only after, should we consider retraining the police.

You are welcome.

For more, go to: www. jameshpyle.com

I was always a pretty healthy kid; usual childhood diseases like measles, mumps, chicken pox etc. but never any serious illness. My parents led me to believe that doctors were right up there with God and Stan Musial: all knowing and performing near miracles. If Doctor Wilson told you to take two aspirin, you took two aspirin – not one or three. Some even came to the house to consult. Neither did I suffer any broken bones nor significant rupture, not even rapture. The side benefit was minimal interaction with doctors.

But, inevitably they become part of one’s life. Luckily, I saved most of my medical moments for old age, when I assumed I’d have the time to analyze, scrutinize, compartmentalize and mull over each as they occurred.  I’m also inclined to self-medicate. A single malt Scotch or Vodka can cure many maladies.

There was a time, not too long ago,  when I sought out the youngest physician in town believing he would have the latest skinny on whatever malady was in vogue since he was recently in medical school where they teach all that shit. I don’t believe that anymore.

Now I go to the older guys because they are more understanding of my problems, having experienced many themselves. (One of my favorites is my 280 lb. cardiologist who tells me I should lose weight.)

But it’s important to choose carefully; I don’t want the guy who’s been treating  me for years dying before me, leaving me to fend for myself. I now ask all doctors more about their problems than they ask of me.

It works. We all like to talk about ourselves. Right? The result has been a coterie of doctor friends with whom I can talk about anything. I’ve even exchanged vacation houses with two of them.

But I digress.

I recently suffered an enlarged prostate and spent nearly two years with a guy name Rick who assured me the best approach was to wait, watch and take pills to reduce size of the little pisser. “Prostate cancers are slow growers,” he assured me.  In the course of watching and waiting I had to submit to an exam every six months for one test or another. Fortunately all were negative but the prostate kept growing as did my friendship with Rick. I learned about his son who was an addict and his wife who was badgering him to retire. His outlet was golf.  The downside of all this was prescriptions for at least eight medications, over time, all guaranteed to shrink the prostate. (Flomax, Cardura, Uroxatral, Rapaflo, Avodart) to name a few. Not so fast!  None of them worked.

During those 24 months of office visits I noticed an increasing number of guys in suits carrying briefcases lounging in his office waiting room. One day I asked Rick about them.

“Oh, they’re drug salesmen,” he said.

Now my hackles began to rise. “Are they paying you to push these f***ing pills,” I asked.

“No, but they throw lunches for the staff, pay my airfare to conferences, etc.”

I asked naively. “Is that legal?”

His response was staggering:

“Let me explain by describing my day. I get to the hospital at 5:30 – 6:00 a.m. to begin rounds from the prior day’s admissions. I’m in surgery at 7:00 a.m. through noon, when I begin the second round. From 12:30 p.m. until 6:00 p.m. I have office hours. I leave at 6:00 to return to the hospital to check on today’s surgery patients. I get home at 9:30 p.m. to finish and sign the paperwork that was started by the office staff. A mountain of paper is required by the government for Medicare reimbursement. And. . . I get paid an average of $65/patient visit.  Nearly all urology patients are Medicare or Medicaid patients. Very few children suffer prostate problems. By the end of day, I’m exhausted. I simply have no time for research or further study. That’s where those guys in the lobby come in.  They bring me the latest news and advances in the field.

I was stunned. “Sorry I asked. My prostate feels better already. ”

“Good, because I’m planning to retire at the end of the year. I’m burned out,” he said.

“But what about me? Who will I see when you’re gone?”

“No problem,” he said. “There is no cancer to worry about so we’ll do a Trans Urethral Resection Procedure (TURP) and enlarge the passage through the urethra eliminating the painful blockage and that need to pee frequently.  We call it the Roto Rooter procedure. You’ll pee like a race horse within the week.”

And he was right. But I’ll always wonder if it was Rick’s hand on the scalpel that day or; was it that of the guy in the suit who winked at me on the way into my last office visit for a final check up.
You are welcome.

For more: go to http://www.jameshpyle.com

A few years back (okay, maybe decades – I lose track) my friend Gordon posed a question: “Do we prefer an active incompetent or an inactive incompetent?”  At the time we were considering two investor groups for a start-up company we contemplated founding.

Note:  Merriam/Webster defines competence :  ‘The ability to do something successfully or efficiently.’

The question popped up again this morning during my walk in our neighborhood along a seawall that buffers middle class homes from the sea.  But there was no wall to protect their owners a from a jarring 29% property tax increase received last month.

I’m betting those homeowners would agree that we have an inactive incompetent mayor in City Hall.  One who lacks the courage to tackle the hard parts of governing; like cutting excessive overtime pay, reducing salaries for city councilmen, modify union contracts and retirement benefits and, (dare we say it – ‘lead his city to prosperity’?).

Sadly, there is another non-leader in the Oval Office. But the reins must pass.  I would argue  we are at a point where the choice is not to go right or left; rather we’re at a fulcrum, where the country will spiral upwards or go disastrously down. The choice is daunting.

Ordinary folks and media pundits argue endlessly over one disturbing question: Is either candidate competent to run the country, much less influence world affairs?  Leftists and right wingers argue vehemently but most  informed, thoughtful voters would, I think, agree this question is a malaise overhanging the election.

Both candidates have proven competence in amassing personal wealth; Trump by building businesses, Clinton through deductable cash contributions to her family sponsored Clinton Global Initiative and through speaking fees.

The media condemns Trump because he has no government experience.  The right condemns Clinton because everything she has touched during her political career has been a disaster:  from Whitewater to Egypt to Myanmar to Benghazi to the email mess.

Trump has been phenomenally successful as a business leader and job creator.  Those who argue differently by citing his bankruptcies forget he successfully navigated the arcane and obscure laws put in place by an incompetent U.S. Congress. And he benefited mightily. Can he transfer those skills to building a national and international consensus?

Clinton, on the other hand, became extremely wealthy despite one mistake after another made at the public expense. For five years she was the active right hand of an inactive incompetent. What would she change?

So, today’s question is slightly different from that posed by Gordon. . .

Do we gamble on an active, competent businessman or stick with an active incompetent bureaucrat?

The choice is yours.

You are welcome.

Like  those hordes of locusts (or cicadas) that appear every thirteen or sixteen years, the national discussions/debates about race relations are again front and center in social and professional news circles, triggered by events in Ferguson, Chicago, Baltimore and Dallas.

The focus on abusive police policies, assumed by ad-hoc crowds to be directed toward minority citizens – not just law breakers, requires analysis and empathetic discussion before leaping to an apocalyptic conclusion.

The debates call to mind a discussion in writerly circles on the distinction between RAGE and CONTEMPT – one, or both of which, are needed components in good stories.

Rage is an emotion, which by definition, relies on surprise for its effect. Surprise can be generated from several actions:

• Misdirection caused by ambiguity as to what actually happened
• Fallacies or purposeful mis-statement of fact(s)
• Sympathy toward an assumed victim

Rage-based emotions are exacerbated when an outcome to an unplanned happening is other than what is expected and/or predicted, i.e.: a jury acquits.

Contempt is a feeling reliant on an introspection developed and processed over time. Feelings are gradually crafted through empathy and the meaningful processing of events:

• Analyzing the emotional impact of an act
• Comparing one’s feelings about said act by measuring against other similar feelings
• Evaluating those feelings from a moral perspective
• Justifying the feelings by exploring why one feels in a certain way, and
• Examining the impact of said feelings on one’s own character

Recognizing these subtle differences provides some understanding of how we got to this point in the debate about race.

Few would disagree that the Black Lives Matter movement is an act of Rage.

The extant Racism in America, however, stems from a feeling of Contempt for those seen as unable to evaluate and articulate their thoughts in a more genteel manner.

Blacks and Whites alike are now displaying both rage and contempt. The discourse will not end soon.  Pity they have not coalesced before this. I fault the leadership on both sides.

You are welcome.

For more, go to http://www.jameshpyle.com