America went to the moon and built a 3.2 mach spyplane in the same decade.

We did it with cost-plus private contracting and milestone based oversight.

Somehow we've ended up with a mess of resentment groups and grotesque models of affordability management (minimum wage, stabilized human primate infestation count).

The entire mindset of the engineer or business person, the "better, faster, cheaper" ideal, has been completely lost in a demographic, resentment based, legalistic, pay-for-play bureaucratic nightmare of 18 executive cabinets with a mishmash of overlapping, forever funded mission statements and one goal alone : political incumbency.

The Mercatus study shows that several regions of the nation, particularly the deep blue democratic strongholds, are in for big trouble. Many people in Greece and Detroit are going to end up with 10 cents on the promised entitlement dollar. The social utopia of Chicago was lowered to junk bond status earlier this year.

Looking at new methodologies is good, but it's the tip of the iceberg, and we are the Titanic, OM.

It's so sad to see the progressive democrats attempting to carve women into another resentful, angry voting block.

During the recent GOP debate, one of the NYC media leftists mentioned the 77% gender wage gap number. It's been widely debunked, but that's to be expected. One of the tactics of the progressive movement is to always claim a problem is around 10x worse than it really is, then negotiate to the center, between the truth value and the bogus value. Meeting in the middle between truth and a lie is still a lie.

That's before considering the obvious outliers -- all the women with their own companies. Apparently they're underpaying themselves, and apparently innocent until proven guilty means nothing to a Saul Alinsky, Rules for Radicals, political machine that uses group guilt by association, pumps it through the legacy NYC / Los Angeles propaganda streams, and carves America into 90%, progressive democrat, voting blocks.

Or the rich history of women, the inspiration derived from the Greek and Egyptian goddesses, to Cleopatra, to the English Queens, to Harriet Tubman, Rosie the Riveter, and all the women who have operated business, obtained high level degrees, and been immensely successful.

There is a danger to revisionist history. As we all know, Herbert Hoover created Hoovervilles, he didn't architect the basic Great Society programs, nor -- after being kicked out of office by the NYC, playboy owned, yellow journalism machines -- did he and the Quakers work tirelessly to provide relief to millions upon millions of starving people in time of war, when the world leaders universally stated that they should starve. The Democrats freed the blacks in 1964, yo.

Like the tragedy of the European slave colonies that America inherited, women have a legacy that they have inherited. Just a few generations ago, there was no 911, antibiotics, or pre/post natal care. Families had 8-10 children, hoping that half would survive to adulthood, and someday provide social security for their aging parents. A woman stayed at home, since she had the baby bottles attached to her upper torso, by her very nature.

It wasn't unusual for a man to come home from earning wages to find his wife dead and a dead baby hanging out of her. What to do? Isn't it obvious? Survive. Off to church to find a widower, and with so many dead men from disease and injury, men and women hooked up fast, for reasons of survival.

With the advent of modern, widespread medicine came record low infant mortality. The demographics speak for themselves. The mercatus study is obviously terrifying, the negotiations in Greece and Detroit have left many pensioners with 10% of their promised retirements. Just a couple of months ago, the social utopian monument to Hadiya Pendleton, Rahm Emanuel's Chicago, was reduced to junk bond status. The political left denies any problem to the end, and still claims nothing is wrong -- it's all a California video, the border is sealed, it's a GOP / NRA conspiracy, all of America is to blame, and the only true Americans are 100% full blooded, Irapapoo Indians.

In truth, many companies are trying very hard to bend over forwards to accommodate victim groups. It's nothing new. HR departments have been storing employee attributes and testing for outliers for decades, not because of a political movement, but because it was the right thing to do. As always, business must higher those with the greatest merit as they depart the education system.

These group resentment constructs -- so often they pick and choose bad stories and forget all the good ones. People need to watch constantly. Just today, President Obama called for major criminal justice reform. As with the same sex relationship issue, the two people who have quietly spent millions behind the scenes to draft papers and promote solutions were not mentioned -- the Koch Brothers.

These two legends are fairly infamous for their grandstanding and "progressive activism" with taxpayer funds. California and New Jersey politicians -- what could possibly go wrong. It sounds more like a timed attempt to hand-wave from some other issue.

How many of these fly pre-programmed routes? How many are human operated? Isn't pointing a camera over a fence and videotaping sunbathers already illegal? Reasonable expectation of privacy, etc.

If there are aircraft infringement issues, compare and contrast to the rules on model rocketry or RC aircraft.

The larger professional units are one issue, but this looks more like the usual "ask for everything, meet in the middle" government regulatory nightmare. The Founders wanted us to make wise decisions based on reality, e.g; Hoover, the Quakers, etc. and the original social programs, not just posti worst case scenarios and walk back from there.

Outside of the DoD and NASA, very little seems to be science or reason based in the President's 18 cabinets, or in the larger political domain. Ayn Rand's Objectivism has a long, long path to travel.

In today's hyper-politicized environment, perhaps separate but equal will help. Probably not.

Science and reason tell us that the primates have fairly observable and significant sexual dimorphism. The hormonal differences are obvious. The males tend to be more aggressive, the females more passive, and we can observe the mind games they play with each other as they seek fun, companionship, pleasure, and power.

There's a reason that mormons, asians, and jews tend to score very highly in testing and are therefore desirable recruiting targets for job creators. The military and the old Hughes Aircraft have a documented record of recruiting and promoting Mormons -- they are very reliable in stress tests. Can't hand the keys to a nuclear sub or silo to just anybody.

Nurturing, in the form of family and discipline, is a major issue in our country. Some people can be trusted with nuclear keys, some are euthanized or caged for life, others fight deadly turf battles over lucrative gang territory. We yammer on and on about dealing with the mentally ill, but the answer seems to be right in front of our noses -- we spend boatloads on nurturing and social programs, yet we have wildly divergent results. It's measured and obvious.

Politicizing centuries old, legacy issues in an election season is a major problem, but overall, decriminalizing same sex behavior and opening combat to all patriots will be a major force towards restoring the Bill of Rights, the Constitution, and the Meritocracy over the longer term.

The progressives claim to have broken new ground, but women have fought to the death, or emerged victorious throughout history, and certainly same sex has been present for ages. An F-22 test pilot flew at a local airshow several years ago, and her credentials and accomplishments listed on the program were nothing short of spectacular. The moral majority, evangelical, egg and sperm worshipping cult has certainly poisoned many debates on these issues.

"We the People" has been a struggle from the European slave colonies forward, and we need to accept our history and forge ahead. How many people remember that Herbert Hoover was a science and reason Quaker, architected the original social programs for those in crisis, was crucified in the NYC millionaire controlled press, and worked tirelessly to feed destitute Europeans in WW-2. Many only remember "Hoovervilles". It's all been twisted into a massive vote buying scheme.

A lot of the inequality probably traces to the tax and spend debacle as well. The 4 M. words of IRS Tax code appear to have been added, over the 100 years since the organization was created, as a means to hide spending on the revenue side, bypassing the Congressional oversight that comes along with appropriations. The nonpartisan CBO and IRS TAO have both testified that the current situation is unsustainable. We really should fix it.

Trump 2016 should quickly move to replace much of the executive cabinet hierarchy with cost-plus, performance based contracting -- the same science and reason based methodology used by the DoD and NASA -- and reform the IRS back into a revenue organization. Corporations like Apple, Google, Alphabet, HP, and IBM could quickly Make America Great Again.

If they start stamping out cheap chinese and indian carbots in a few years -- costing in the low thousands so no one really buys a car anymore -- your employer or loved ones might send them to your house and have them sit there texting, beeping, and honking you until you get your ass out of bed.

That's my greatest fear of the carbot revolution anyway.

It's painfully obvious what replaces the gun. Teaching, nurturing, and environment.

Many people are absolutely trustworthy, even with nuclear weapons at their fingertips. Other people are so dangerous they have to be locked in cages, with extremely limited, controlled levels of contact with others.

Granted, some of the difference is related to dysfunctional brain processing, such as genetic defects, or psychological / physiological trauma. Another problem is unnecessary stress. Many animals will begin lashing out at those around them if enough stress is introduced into their environment.

The only argument for a gun ban (the goal of all gun control efforts) is that guns are immediately available, and most killers claim that, had they been able to "cool down" they would not have acted. That's true most of the time after a homicide -- no doubt the pressure cooker perp in Boston would say the same thing. Or the knife, club, and stone crowd. A lot of animals feel confused after a lash-out incident. Generally, they weren't expecting the cascade towards rage to creep up on them in such an insidious way.

The worst solution -- as usual -- is the one being proposed by the progressive democrats and the gun control advocates. It's childish flailing at a serious issue, the worst possible way to find a solution. Gun control always "progresses" to a ban, and they keep denying their true intentions -- they are liars. Gun control is rarely, if ever, a factor in murder of any kind. It's easily bypassed, as seen in the myriad nations that have complete gun bans, or with the substitution of another tool, such as a stone, club, or box cutter. Other nations with total gun bans often have homicide rates far in excess of any level seen in the US.

The US homicide rates are as low as they were in the 1950's, well before NICs, and well before the peak seen during the reign of Bill Clinton and Oprah, when the people of the deep blue, democratic party strongholds were lashing out at each other in record numbers. As we saw the other day, the current President blames all of America, not the perpetrator. This is a common trait among progressive democrats.

Mental illness -- at least the easily detectable kinds -- are also a negligible issue. Many mental health professionals have warned that sensationalising these stories, and blaming the mentally ill, just makes things worse. In the midst of the Confederate flag absurdity, two doctors said that it was a statistical coin toss -- about the same as the general population -- as to whether any of their patients would harm another person. The NICs system, developed in the 1960's by the two parties, and the NRA, already has several paths to removal of the 2nd amendment right. Somehow, the progressive democrats believe that more is better.

Far more likely is the sad reality that we are living in a time of a primitive, 6 B. strong human primate infestation of the planet. Most have never seen a science book, or any book, other than a religious text. The interpretation of the teacher is often anti-science, anti-reason, and anti-America. Many human primates are being pushed and prodded to compete, sometimes violently, and consume greatly, for the benefit of a small group of self-proclaimed wealthy elites.

If we can find a way to destress the human primate population with low-cost, widely available food, sex, and interesting activities, a lot of stress of any kind would go away. Widespread food production, easily obtained sexual gratification, interesting activities for human primates (posting opinions on slashdot, etc) should dramatically reduce the desire to lash out on the innocent. Not to zero, but a great improvement. Welcome, Internet.

The sad truth is we've spent trillions on "great society" programs, we have a horrifically expensive education monopoly, we have junk products everywhere, poverty rates that have remained stagnant or increased for every demographic other than the elderly since the mid-1960's, angry groups and individuals lashing out with words and deeds, and the media shows all of it to us, all the time. They call it freedom of the press.

Teaching people to step away from stress should be job #1, right now. There are simple techniques to reduce stress, they are well known and published, and have been for decades. For the vast majority of human primates, living without the basic necessities, stress reduction is only an unattainable dream.

It doesn't matter if a person is a cop, a perp, or suicidal. These discussions ignore the underlying issue.

http://www.scientificamerican....

It's just another massive pay-for-play system, passing on the immense costs to the consumer.

If the government wants to sniff our tailpipes, they certainly have the power to force the issue.

We have one state level EPA in California, and a Federal EPA, and the Clean Air Act forbids other states from creating more EPAs.

Real world testing is what we already have. They take $ 60 or so, put our vehicles on rollers, and run them through a few specific tests. Perhaps one day we'll have onboard, continuous monitoring.

What really needs to be done is establish real emission standards by fuel and weight, and end the massive pay-for-play system described in the Scientific American article above. Businesses should be able to meet standards, not engage in endless secret negotiations by year, make, and model of the vehicle.

If VW had spent the extra funding to include the AdBlue / Urea injection system, their diesels would be cleaner than many gas powered vehicles. We should be pushing more diesels. Unfortunately, the cost of AdBlue appears to have the effect of pricing the low end diesels out of the market.

The envelope of the investigation does need to be expanded -- the US needs to end the secret pay-for-play system, dissolve the dual-EPA construct, and investigate the board members that suddenly dropped the NOx level to 1/2 of the EU levels for the low end diesels.

California may have done this to increase tax revenues -- taxation without representation. Their gasoline is already about $ 1 more per gallon than the rest of the nation, and diesel fuel has much lower levels of taxation. If CAL-EPA and CARB intended to increase tax revenues by banning low end diesels, we're questioning the wrong organization.

The dual EPA system needs to end, and real emission standards need to be published by fuel and weight.

http://www.scientificamerican....

It's another massive pay-for-play system. The US does not actually have emissions standards -- every make, model, and year is evaluated in secret, on a case by case basis.

Note that California earns a lot more in taxes from a gallon of gas than a gallon of diesel. That's a heck of an incentive to block diesels by dropping the NOx limit to levels far below the EU standards.

If CARB and EPA do not have published standards, or have monetary incentives to increase taxation on the public, in secret, as described above, VW should be thanked for exposing them -- prior to dissolving CARB and CAL-EPA, and completely reforming FED-EPA.

It makes no sense to have one federal standards body and one state standards body, and then ban all other states from having their own EPA. They don't even publish a standard!

It's the deep blue progressive democrats, fleecing the public and the automakers again -- and passing the cost to We the People.

It's hardly surprising to see the progressive paint all rural republicans as stupid and anti-science. The truth is, the GOP just wants to stop this from becoming a manhattan project-sized solyndra.

And, for the most part, they've done it. The global agreements are signed and in place, MIT has an emergency temperature reduction plan designed, and the NAS / IPCC have agreed that up to 50% of the projected temperature increases are completely natural in origin anyway. None of this would have happened without aggressive oversight.

It's worth mentioning that the goal of a 2 C limit is relative to the pre-industrial average, which starts at 1750, before the United States Constitution existed.

It's so important that people recognize the progressive democrat movement for what it is -- founded circa 1912, it's an emotion reasoned, elite over herd, control structure intended to compete with communism and christianity. It's really just another religion.

A lot of people would like to transition to a objective, issue tracked, reason and science based federal government that prioritizes critical issues and solves them, using modern management methods like oversight, verification and validation.

Admittedly, people like Ted Cruz, with his grandstanding and shutdown poison pills, make the GOP a controversial brand to support.

Simply hiding fraud, waste, and abuse on the revenue side, in the IRS Tax Code, isn't a valid solution. Better to run through all 17 executive cabinets and completely reform, mostly to oversight, standards, and V&V contracting.

Hopefully the GOP will find a way to crush the dual EPA system. We have two, one in California and one at the federal level. The Federal clean air act prevents any other state from implementing yet another EPA.

There are no actual emissions standard in the USA. According to an article on Scientific American, every make and model must go through a negotiation process, in secret -- in other words, it’s likely another “pay for play” system that the progressive democrats have created.

There are hints that CARB dropped the NOx limit to 1/2 that of the EU when VW applied to bring the low end diesels to the US. Note that California hates diesels -- they have a consumption tax on gasoline making it $1 higher, per gallon, than the rest of the nation, and diesel fuel is exempt from at least some of these taxes. Every diesel sold in California is a huge loss of consumption tax revenue for the deep blue, progressive democrat controlled state.

Apparently VW's emissions team went to management and told them that the only way to meet the new standard was to install the expensive AdBlue / Urea injection system on the little 4 cylinder, E189 diesel engine. VW refused to authorize the addition of AdBlue technology, claiming that it would price the low cost diesels out of the market. VW's emissions engineers, stuck between the arbitrary, impossible to meet California demands and their employment with VW, appear to have flipped California the bird. The real question is -- given the same choice -- serving a foreign government, a state that is biased against your product, and your paycheck and employment, what is the decision? Quit or hope you don't get caught? Apparently they didn't quit. How many engineers have opened a contract to find impossible requirements?

The only correct reform is to dissolve California’s EPA and reform the Federal EPA so that they provide an emission limit by gas percentage, and publish it for every fuel type. Completely end the practice of secret deals by make and model. Allow the private sector to innovate certified, transponder based sniffers, perhaps at the Autozone or Pepboys level.

If California did lower the NOx levels for this set of cars to unreasonable levels, in order to increase tax revenue, CARB and CAL-EPA should be dissolved immediately for violating the US Constitutional restriction against taxation without representation, and VW should be unconditionally pardoned.

Back to reality -- innocent until proven guilty.

California is the only state with it's own EPA. It's only legal because of the federal EPA creation timeline.

Actual, approved smog tests are nothing like the tests being used to persecute VW and other diesel manufacturers in the press. But it gets better -- the approval levels are negotiated in secret. There is no actual "NOx" limit that applies to all vehicles. It's often based on the make, model, and vin.

When you look at the legal, approved system used to test the cars, for example, some counties in California, it's often a set of rollers and the vehicle is tested at a few different RPMs over a span matter of several minutes. It's intended to help clean the air, not monitor drivers or vehicles on a 24/7 basis.

Granted, an eco-terrorist, green weenie with a rolling lab isn't going to like a short, simple test. They don't like a lot of things. The system being described in the press, and sites like citylab, the systems being used to persecute VW in the press, are laboratory grade systems mounted in the vehicles. The cars are being driven over hill and dale for many miles under many conditions. That's not what the law requires, and it's not a violation of a smog test.

It would be useful to see one of the suspect vehicles placed on an actual, approved test bed and "defeat" the "defeat device" somehow. Let interested parties see the actual, approved test failure document, not some neurotic geekfest that could be nothing more than sensationalized eco-terrorism.

Reform the entire smog testing process to some sort of standardized limits, based on reasonable numbers. Dissolve politicized organizations like CARB, CAL-EPA, and get back to the original intent -- lowering emissions.

http://www.scientificamerican....

This article above is a small start at describing the massive political hurdles required for carmakers to even begin to pass the tests. It shouldn't be this way.

That's before anyone considers the tax issue in California. They suddenly dropped the NOx limits circa 2009, and they also charge around $1 more per gallon in taxes on gasoline. Diesel fuel is exempt from much of the taxation. That's a huge political incentive to screw diesel power, even though (with a properly designed urea system) the modern diesel engines are often cleaner and more powerful than their gasoline counterparts.

If the goal is clean air, we might be trying to get rid of the wrong engines. It's another damn good reason to stop sensationalizing science.

Founders were right again. Expansive nanny state constructs, such as our own democrat party's new york / Los Angeles propaganda streams, can be every bit as deadly as a handgun. Monsters!

This is starting to sound like another pee pee dance media frenzy for the political left green weenies.

Hopefully VW, BMW, and all of the rest -- who are being convicted in the press -- will perform discovery on California's EPA and demon spawn, CARB. It's the only state level EPA, which due to the legal timeline, is allowed by the federal clean air act.

Circa 2009, CARB dropped the NOx limit to 1/2 that of the EU. Note that California has a consumption tax on gasoline making it $1 higher, per gallon, than the rest of the nation, and diesel fuel is exempt from at least some of these taxes. Every diesel sold in California is a huge loss of consumption tax revenue.

Apparently VW's emissions team went to management and told them that the only way to meet the new standard was to install the expensive AdBlue / Urea injection system on the little 4 cylinder, E189 diesel engine. VW refused to authorize the addition of AdBlue technology, claiming that it would price the low cost diesels out of the market.

All it really takes is one manager to do something like this. The so-called "defeat device" could be nothing more than implementing a test mode and setting a flag before shipment. How many times have Linux or other distros done exactly the same thing, sometimes by mistake? Thousands of times. Note how the press is starting to demand "real world testing" of the suspect cars. That's going to be thrown out immediately if adults start to get involved. Even the enviro-nazis in California test three speeds over a handful of minutes. There is no reason for a carmaker to accommodate a rule beyond the rule, and no legal justification to alter the test after the fact, to harm a defendant.

Apparently a few of VW's emissions engineers, stuck between the arbitrary California demands and their employment with VW, flipped California the bird. The real question is -- given the same choice -- serving a foreign government, a state that is biased against your product, and your paycheck and employment, what is the decision? Quit or hope you don't get caught? Apparently they didn't quit.

Today we're seeing demands for real world testing of all diesels and the elimination of diesel technology. What immense stupidity. Diesels, especially with AdBlue / Urea system, are often cleaner and more powerful than their gasoline alternatives. Changing the test in the middle of an investigation and flooding the news is the act of defective child mind, as are extreme solutions.

It's likely that practically every fossil fuelled engine routinely emits 25-40x the emissions limit. That's why we test on rollers at a few, specific RPMs. Drivers who continually mash the pedal and brake, like first responders, probably exceed the limits significantly, for very short periods of time, many times a day. The goal is to help clean the air, not perform 24/7 monitoring of every human on the planet, although there are a lot of people on the political left who want exactly that. The same kind of people that have caused millions in vandalism and property damage for their "cause".

At some point the California EPA and CARB are going to need to be dissolved. It's insane to have so many standards bodies for emissions -- EU, US, CARB. No employer should be based with this nonsense. Especially when the California governor simply appoints his pals and lets them run rampant over the global economy and what is, in reality, a pretty good automaker.

Until there is discovery on CARB, we can't know what processes were used, and why they chose to suddenly lower the NOx requirements so drastically below the levels of the EU. If it was to enhance tax revenue, CARB and CAL-EPA should be dissolved immediately for violating the restrictions against taxation without representation, and VW should be unconditionally pardoned.

Hopefully VW will grow a pair and perform discovery on California's EPA and demon spawn, CARB. It's the only state level EPA, which due to the legal timeline, is allowed by the federal clean air act.

When Obama took office, CARB dropped the NOx limit to 1/2 that of the EU. Note that California hates diesels -- they have a consumption tax on gasoline making it $1 higher, per gallon, than the rest of the nation, and diesel fuel is exempt from at least some of these taxes. Every diesel sold in California is a huge loss of consumption tax revenue for the deep blue, progressive democrat controlled state.

Apparently VW's emissions team went to management and told them that the only way to meet the new standard was to install the expensive AdBlue / Urea injection system on the little 4 cylinder, E189 diesel engine. VW refused to authorize the addition of AdBlue technology, claiming that it would price the low cost diesels out of the market.

VW's emissions engineers, stuck between the arbitrary California demands and their employment with VW, appear to have flipped California the bird. The real question is -- given the same choice -- serving a foreign government, a state that is biased against your product, and your paycheck and employment, what is the decision? Quit or hope you don't get caught? Apparently they didn't quit.

At some point the California EPA and CARB are going to need to be dissolved. It's crazy to have so many standards bodies, especially when the governor simply appoints his pals and lets them run rampant over the global economy and what is, in reality, a pretty good automaker.

Unless there is discovery on CARB, we can't know what processes were used, and why they chose to suddenly lower the NOx requirements so drastically below the levels of the EU. If it was to enhance tax revenue, CARB and CAL-EPA should be dissolved immediately for violating the US Constitutional restriction against taxation without representation, and VW should be unconditionally pardoned.

The roots of progressive democracy are in human religion, as espoused by Herbert Croly, and to a lessor extent, Auguste Comte.

The idea that social evolution can only be accomplished by a core group of wealthy playboy elites, an all-powerful state, and a herd of worker primates feminized towards docile behavior, has been debunked by the social sciences in recent years. Hillary, Obama, Sanders are all deep believers.

Wilson, FDR, and other atheist elites around the globe thought it was a fine plan to cull the herd with two WWs and 80 M. people turned into pink slime.

Still, the average atheist blames a religion that, for quite some time, has said ... "love one another as thyself" and "thou shalt not kill".

With the five states closest to bankruptcy being "free everything", grecian formula, deep blue, progressive democrat strongholds (ref. George Mason Mercatus report), with a combined unfunded entitlement debt of $ 1.2 T (4x Greece), and no "Germany" to bail them out, Hillary Clinton and the Progressive Democrats are the last people anyone should listen to.

We need to move towards the ideals of Jefferson -- a smaller government, with largely Republican ideas. If something can be done to focus less on the cancer of the moral majority, and more on the spirit of business and economy, the GOTP and Libertarians might be able to accomplish many good things.

Clinton? Only if We the People think education can ever be "free", or grecian formula defaults are a good idea.