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  • My Meg Whitman Interview

    Robert Patton

    [Robert Patton is a large-scale data systems developer and program manager living in southern California.  Robert is also a long time friend, colleague, and entrepreneur.  His email earlier today mentioned a serendipitous and interesting conversation he had with Meg Whitman, Republican candidate for governor and former CEO of eBay.  Whitman was doing random calls to voters and Robert won.  I asked him to scribble an account of the interview which I would post.  The following is what he sent me and appears with minor format editing.  gjr]

    MegWhitman Saturday morning, after just getting through the morning paper and feeding the pets, the phone rang.  It was still early so I couldn’t imagine who it might be.

    As I picked it up a voice said “Hello Robert?  This is Meg calling to talk about the upcoming California election.”

    It sounded like her TV voice, but I asked anyway: Is it really you, Meg Whitman?  “Yes, it is.  I’m in Woodland Hills this morning and wanted to speak to some local voters.”

    #1:  Being a loyal RR Reader, I like being able to have a 1:1 discussion as much, or more, than the next guy!
    #2:  She’s rich, and busy, and I’ve been getting annoyed at having $68 million of media pushed at me over the past months.  But, being able to actually talk back, what a refreshing thing!

    She of course wanted to drive her talking points but didn’t seem to be bothered when I asked her if I could jump to a few direct questions.

    #3:  I really appreciate 2-way dialogue and she was perfectly willing to have it!

    Meg, you came out early but Poizner has been on the attack as much as you have and now the voters are confused about what is truthful, what isn’t and whether your platform points are real principles or just a necessary means to be elected. “I want to assure you that I stand by those principles”

    Meg, since we have limited time, what I’d like to know is: Will you really tear down the sanctuary city problem that is ruining California?  I’m for people coming to the U.S. legally and being committed to U.S. values and assimilation.  That’s what makes the country strong and enduring. I’m against cities creating double standards and undermining fairness and assimilation.  Meg said she agreed and is 100% against providing sanctuaries for illegals.

    (I wish I had drilled down on exactly what she would do, but I wanted to get other questions in, so I regret that I didn’t.  I also regret not having asked where she stands on the children of illegals and what can be done to lessen the anchor-baby effect that burdens California.)

    You talk about helping restore a positive business climate in California.  In L.A., it can take 2 years of permit delays to open a business.  What would you do about that?  “Yes, that’s a situation that has gotten out of hand.  I will work to reduce it to a sensible level.  For example, a company I know that delivers fertilizer has to get a $100 permit separately from each city it delivers to.  In that example I would want to make it a single permit process.  I ran a successful company called eBay..”

    I jumped in to say, yes I know eBay well, I’ve been with some dot-coms too so I know how important innovative businesses are to California’s future.  “Oh, that’s great, then you get all that and we don’t have to discuss how important it is to properly manage a big business, or a state’s budget.”  Yes, it’s critical.  We need people who can manage and lead.  (I feel like I’ve pitched 2 softballs – I’m not pleased with myself)

    Meg, let me ask a last question.  I know the Howard Jarvis Taxpayer Org has endorsed you.  I’m a member of that org too.  But I want to hear it from you directly.  Will you promise not to undermine Prop 13?  “Yes, I will protect prop13.  I know many residents who would be taxed out of their homes without it.  It’s important that we protect it so people can stay in California and afford to retire here.”

    Meg, it’s great to be able to speak with you and hear about your principles directly.  “I know there’s been some confusion generated by the campaign ads.  I wanted to call some voters in hopes they would help me get the word out to others.  I hope you will support me and help get my message out.”

    Meg, I appreciate your taking time to speak to individuals.  I’m glad to also talk to others since you are willing to make contact and listen.

    <end of call>

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  • Ruminations – 21may2010 (updated)

    George Rebane

    – Resource utilization and environmental husbandry solutions
    – Reconquista is alive and well
    – Public service unions (I am not alone!)
    – NC ARRA update

    Almost all the silly ideas and laws we have to better use our resources and ‘save’ the environment are based on an unrealistic and ignorant view of the future.  Reading the history of predictions about ‘what can’t be done’ and then what was done would fill volumes.  In a talk to the upcoming H+ Summit at Harvard, Ray Kurzweil will remind us again that solutions to today’s insurmountable problems will come through augmented intelligence and other technologies being developed today.  The statists and stasists cannot see beyond their nose, and always view tomorrow looking like today only with a different date.  On the other hand the agenda-driven progressives know exactly how to use any problem du jour, real or fabricated, to reduce individual liberties and promote collective equality.

    OpenBorder 

    Reconquista is the label for the re-conquering of about a fourth of the continental United States by ethnic Mexicans living on both sides of our border with Mexico (more here).  The suggested governance of the repatriated Mexican Cession is still up for grabs and ranges anywhere from Aztlan, a new latino sovereign nation state, to re-integration into Mexico.  The contemplated ‘immigraton reform’ (aka ‘what shall we do with our open border?’) legislaton purposely overlooks the major issues and misrepresents the remainder.  Both NC Media Watch and RR are following what appears to be another shot in the shorts to our Republic.  PJTV posted a humorous analysis of the ramifications of continuing our open border policy.

    [update]  Got to give a hat tip to a RR reader who said, ‘you gotta post this‘; I agree.  It’s either start crying or have a good laugh.

    The 21may10 WSJ picked up Mortimer Zuckerman’s ‘The Bankrupting of America’ about the travesty of public service unions and their collaboration with elected officials.  More evidence that I’m not the only one on planet Earth who is afraid of the SEIU and their ilk (here).  Now even the European governments are acknowledging the blight that sooner or later afflicts all growing nanny states.

    Oh yes, and here’s the weekly update on our county’s stimulating experience with the American Redistritution and Re-election Act of 2009.

    NCARRA100521

     

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  • Other Than Mexican

    George Rebane

    OTM, that is the classification given to the hundreds (thousands?) of illegal aliens coming across our southern border who originate from countries beyond Mexico.  The biggest threat to us is the number of Muslims that make up the OTM classification.  Most of them come to and through Mexico by a very circuitous route that includes a several month stopover in South America.  That is where the Yemenis, Saudis, Pakistanis, Syrians, Iraqis, Iranians, members of Hezballah, members of al Qaeda, etc, in short the ragheads, must stop to learn Spanish before infiltrating and disappearing into our countryside.  We are the lambs that they seek to slaughter in their own good time.

    ObamaCalderon All of this has been and is still being kept a deep dark secret.  There are very few courageous and professional news organizations doing their own investigative work in ferreting out this problem.  WSBTV of Atlanta is one of them.  What I found outrageous is that Homeland Security Administration is keeping Congress in the dark about the OTM factor, even as it is beginning to debate ‘immigration reform’  (which itself is a crock).

    The obvious first step for any solution is to seal the border, nothing will work without that.  OTM infiltration would be a compelling reason to do that even if there were no other problem with the 12 million illegal aliens already in America.  But that evidence has been denied Congress and the electorate.  Take a look at these WSBTV news videos of their investigations here and here.  (H/T to RR reader)

    In the meantime we have President Calderon of Mexico here lecturing us about our border security and immigration laws – especially taking to task the desperate legislation recently passed by Arizona.   Half the sheeple in the land, and almost all of the federal government have no idea that Arizona’s new law is a restatement of the federal laws that Washington refuses to enforce.  And Calderon is talking to us about the injustice of America attempting to secure its border and enforce its immigration laws.  In all this, a two-by-four with a crayon face on it could have better represented our country’s interests in this dialogue than our current president.

    No one of our progressive left had the temerity to tell Calderon that Mexico is a failed state which cannot provide a government’s basic services to its citizens.  No one has the balls to tell him and the stateside Reconquista organizations that the US should enforce the same immigration and alien laws that Mexico has been enforcing for decades.  I take that back.  My representative Tom McClintock had the necessary plumbing to enter the following into the Congressional Record.

    (more…)

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  • The War Ends in Liederberg

    George Rebane

    [This is another in a continuing series of autobiographical sketches that I have been asked to write by friends and family.  I share it with you, my readers, in the hope that these little vignettes (see 'My Story' category) of history and the American immigrant experience are of interest.  But most of all, I hope it may help you understand what shaped the lens through which I interpret our human story, and view the events that are the subjects of these commentaries.]

    The German country road streamed like a ribbon from under the ¾ ton Army truck we were riding in on that May morning in 1945.  The war had ended a few days ago and now the little Rebane family was being taken back to a collection point in Augsburg for war refugees who were not German nationals.  I sat between mom and dad on some olive drab colored military looking boxes; we were facing backwards with our three makeshift suitcases piled at our feet.  This road from the little farming village of Liederberg passed through some incredibly green fields on this bright, sunny, and cloudless morning.  Our stay in that very ordinary Bavarian farm community lasted about three weeks, but these short weeks left us with a lifetime of memories – memories that simply were tossed now onto a very big pile of similar memories to be sorted out later.

    We must have been a sight as we walked into Liederberg in the latter half of April.  Our party of four was made up of my mom and dad, me, and Rita.  Rita, good-looking and in her late twenties, was my mom’s friend from Estonia.  (How Rita joined us is a saga all of its own and not mine to tell.)  That morning we arrived in Monheim on a narrow gauge train that connected the small town to the city of Augsburg, thirty miles to the south.  Our little episode with the P-51s (see ‘1945 – The Year Easter was Cancelled’) convinced my dad that we would seek a less exciting place in which to wait for the arrival of Patton’s Third Army and the Americans.

    To continue reading, please download 'The War Ends in Liederberg'.

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  • Taking Stock – 17 May 2010

    George Rebane

    In spite of what may happen this November, 2010 promises to be as devastating to the fortunes of our country as was 2009.  Since returning from our recent travels, I’ve been trying to reframe the major themes now reshaping our future.  These are some thoughts.

    The American spirit to remain the order-giving hegemon of this planet is on the verge of being extinguished.  Enough crippling legislation and government subsidy packages have come down the pike to insure that future GDP growth will remain anemic.  Given the way the new incarnation of cap and tax (now aka the Kerry – Lieberman ‘Power America’ bill) is being misrepresented, and how it is being crafted to temporarily buy off big corporations, the stake hovers above the heart of our country’s ability to generate the wealth we need to educate and arm ourselves.  Add to this the massive tax increases and increasing deficits now in the oven, and you have the perfect storm already under way.

    One of our systemic maladies is the growth of public service unions which have now metastasized throughout our republic like an invading cancer.  My own alarums about this calamity are familiar to RR and Union readers.  The established media have been slow to pick up on this for a number of reasons, the prime being incompetence and promotion of a collectivist agenda.  A recent awakening comes from editor-in-chief of the US News and World Report, Mortimer Zuckerman.  This man is no right-wing horn blower; in fact, for years many have wondered how he has managed to guide USNWR on its mostly center path.  He has now written a laudable summary of the impact of public service unions, definitely worth reading by those not familiar with the disease or its symptoms (here).

    (more…)

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  • Culture Counts

    George Rebane 

    [The following piece was submitted as my monthly column in The Union.  It appears today 15 May 2010 in the newspaper's print and online editions (here).  I also do a bi-weekly radio commentary on KVMR FM 89.5.]

    We just returned from a trip to the eastern Mediterranean during which we had a chance to see four different cultures in operation.  Visiting Italy, Greece, Turkey, and Egypt gave us a look at how people in some fairly ancient lands live in the modern world.  We also saw how they respond to today’s turmoil in the financial markets and cope with the Islamist movement that uses terror as its prime weapon against the west.

    To be clear, all four countries have tourism in their top GDP producers.  All of them are in various kinds of financial straits.  And each would be badly hurt were Islamists successful in disrupting their tourist industry.  For that reason you see a lot of guns in the cities and tourist venues – and I mean lots of guns.  Every official from the rookie ‘tourist policeman’ to what appear like administrators with clipboards are packing serious heat.  The most ominous are the athletic looking men in suits with bulges sticking out at awkward angles.  These guys carry the latest compact sub-machine guns and mingle in the crowds.

    But it must be working, because the last busload of tourists in Egypt was machine-gunned several years ago.  It seems that everyone from the Mafia to Interpol is co-operating to keep the killers at bay.  Tourists are properly viewed as walking wallets that spook easily.

    Before I get to the culture stuff, I want you to know that the trip was terrific, including the visits to all the ancient ruins and historical sites.  But I’m not going to bore you with the stuff you can see on some tourist.com.  Instead, here are a few thoughts about differences between two secular Islamic countries – Turkey and Egypt.

    (more…)

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  • KVMR commentary – Pabulum, Placebo, or …?

    George Rebane

    [This is my bi-weekly commentary on KVMR FM 85.9 which aired today 14 May 2010.  I also write a column for The Union.]

    The country’s tailspin is no longer a secret to at least half the voters.  Many of those people also listen to and watch the Limbaughs, Becks, O’Rileys, and Hannitys of our outraged rightwing media.  There the obvious and not-so-obvious problems with our republic and body politic are hyper-ventilated daily.  The audiences get a lot of satisfaction out of vicariously participating in the deft, and some daft, arguments that come streaming out at you.  Shouting ‘Yeah! Damn straight!’ in your house slippers seems to be the common response.

    But I wonder how all that satisfying heat and light motivates people to actually get off their collective duffs and get involved.  Or do we feel that we’ve done our part for the Republic when Glenn says ‘Good night America’, and we know that we were there, nodding all the way?

    I had a platoon leader in my Army training days who, after serving as an ‘adviser’ in Vietnam, described this problem succinctly in terms of the guerilla war then heating up in that country.  He told us that there are different responses to an order to attack, the desired one is for the troops to leap up and charge the enemy.  However, too many soldiers thought that Attack! meant just to scowl while leaning forward in your foxhole.  (In his second deployment to Vietnam, my platoon leader died while standing on the parapet trying to get his forward-leaning Vietnamese regulars to get up and attack the Viet Cong.  To the astute observer, the outcome of the coming war was already settled then and there.  But that’s another story.)

    And so, to many of us, a dose of Rush in the morning, followed by an afternoon chaser of Glenn, turns out to be just about as much leaning forward as we’re prepared to do.  Besides, we can really show the jerks in Sacramento and Washington by doing it all over again tomorrow.

    I’m George Rebane, and I expand these and other themes in my Union column, and on georgerebane.com.  The opinions here are mine and not necessarily shared by KVMR.  Thank you for listening. 

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  • Independents – careful how you register

    George Rebane

    I just got this in an email from our local Tea Party Patriots.  In it was a notice submitted by a TPP member to alert people who may do an unintended thing when they register to vote and/or change their party affiliation.

    "I just started to work for the elections division at the county. I am noticing something that people should be aware of. We have taken a lot of calls and received changes in political party requests. People are writing to request being changed to the American Independent Party. I wonder if these people are aware that if you chose that party, you can only vote for the American Independent candidate.  Very limited.

    If you just write in Independent Party then you can only chose to vote Democrat or Republican.

    I was hoping to get the word out that this is the only way you can vote if you chose the American Independent Party. I think people will be mad on voting day when they discover they can't vote for whoever they want, and can only vote for American Independent candidate."
     
    Declined to State- if you have signed up as this on your voter registration or you have members that have please remind them that can ask for a GOP or DEM ballot at the polls in the primary and general elections, but they must ask for them or they will be given a non-partisan ballot.”

    For more good stuff go the TPP website, link on the right – where else? 😉

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  • The Efficiencies of Socialism

    George Rebane

    NCARRA100514 

    Socialism is not an all or nothing form of governance, the disease is usually progressive.  Comfortable at first and then quietly segueing into deadly.  One of its symptoms is its inability to distribute resources in a correct, efficient, and timely manner.  Management of ARRA funding is just one current piece of evidence of this truth.  I would redraw the excellent cartoon below with more belly-up floating frogs, but you get the picture.  (H/T to RR reader)

    HopInSocialism

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  • John Spencer District #3 Supervisor – Keep him!

    George Rebane

    JohnSpencer Too bad I cannot vote for John since I live in District #1, but I can sing his praises and recommend that all the good citizens of District #3 keep John doing the excellent job that he has done for the past 5+ years.  I have known John and have been one of his supporters ever since he replaced me as county planning commissioner back in 2003.

    John is now seeking to be elected for the third time to continue serving all of the county as a hard working member of the most effective and fiscally responsible Nevada County boards ever – and especially during today’s continuing California calamity.

    John is a licensed land surveyor who understands the private sector, has a squeaky clean record of service, and the experience in county government needed to keep us on a fiscally sound path.  His only downside is that he has a low ‘flashy factor’ for an elected official.  But then again, lately we’ve been paying a lot for politicians with a lot of flash, but no bang to back it up.

    His opponent, Terry Lamphier, is primarily a big question mark regarding his experience and ability to work with others.  The gentleman has no real background in local government except for a stint on the GV Planning Commission from which he was essentially fired by his colleagues.  Most of his ‘new’ proposals for the county indicate a disconnect, since the county has already been implementing them for some time now.

    Bottom line, do we need to change what has worked so well for us?  John Spencer will continue bringing to the job his honesty, integrity, energy, and no-nonsense approach to governing (to use his words) “without wasting everyone’s time.”  Please keep John as your District #3 Supervisor.

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