The Conservative Sage

One of John Kerry's positions in his 2004 Presidential campaign was the notion any military action by the United States should pass a "global test". His position is pretty consistent with that of mainstream the left which believes that the United Nations should be consulted before the united states conducts a preemptive strike on any nation it deems a threat. The United Nations when established in 1945 after WW2 was well intended. It's aim was to prevent another such conflict which claimed an estimated 17 million lives. In spite of it's noble intentions, the UN has failed miserably to stop genocide on earth over the past 5 decades. The most notorious examples are Rwanda, Cambodia and Burundi to name just a few. Currently the UN and the world stands by while Boko Haram and Islamic state rampage through Africa and the middle east respectively, murdering, beheading and leaving decimated towns and villages in their wake. The t...

Jessie Jackson has been waging his latest social and economic justice campaign against Silicon valley for it's lack of diversity. According to Jackson, Silicon Valley has too few blacks, Latino's and woman. He has pressured some of the larger tech companies turn over their employment records and commit millions of dollars to minority recruitment.  At Google, and Twitter, the workforce is approximately 90 percent white and Asian, with about 5 percent African-American and Hispanic. Males make up about 70% of all hires. EBAY which performs the best has 12 percent African-American and Hispanic and 58 percent male. Forbes magazine's annual Midas Touch ranking of the tech's 100 top investors which was just released is worth noting. 25% of the list is comprised of individuals of east Asian or South Asian decent. The list is filled with non-European names like Ji, Chaddha, Liu and Agrawal. East Asians include Chinese, Korean, Vietnamese ...

Hillary Clinton's announcement that she would be seeking the Democratic nomination was to be expected. However many things that have happened since her announcement were unexpected. Who among us expected that a veteran politician like Clinton would bungle her campaign rollout as she has? Clinton along with a few trusted aids, piled in a van she dubbed the "Scooby doo van" and embarked on a cross country tour. The stop in Maumee, Ohio outside of Toledo caused the most controversy. Clinton and an aid entered a Chipotle in sunglasses and went completely unrecognized. Clinton most astonishingly failed to identify herself or speak to anyone in the restaurant before leaving with her grub. Two weeks after her announcement Clinton has yet to speak to the press. She has been continuously dogged by the controversy surrounding her use of a private email server while serving as secretary of State. Now serious questions have arisen regarding Clinton foundation...

Although the drop in gas prices brings many Americans a great deal of joy when they arrive at the pump, low oil prices isn't net good to the U.S economy. Very little of the downside is acknowledged in the financial press-until now. Falling oil prices are affecting everything from oil services companies to state budgets. Texas, which has rode the oil boom for a decade has seen it's state payroll reduced by 125,000 due to the price of oil. Texas has also seen the number of drilling rigs decrease since oil service companies like Baker Hughes and Halliburton are experiencing cutbacks in oil exploration. Last month oil services giant Schlumbeger announced it could see at many as 20,000 layoffs by June of this year. Baker Hughes announced that it was closing a plant in Texas and laying off 110. Low oil prices have geo-political consequences as well. Russia which has been battling a plummeting ruble due to western sanctions surrounding it's incursion into Ukraine, needs oil to...

  Eli Broad has a lot of time on his hands. With a $7 billion fortune, it's easy to see why. However the 80 year old finance wizard isn't wasting his golden years on the golf course or sailing on his yacht. He's busy pouring millions of dollars into his vision of revitalizing downtown Los Angeles to transform the city into a "cultural Capital" of the world. Broad and his wife of 60 years, Edythe have given over $800 million to arts and culture initiatives in the city. Armed with $2.6 billion through his Broad Foundation, he has also poured millions into various philanthropic endeavors such as medical research and endowing Michigan State's business school (his alma mater). Broad built his fortune over a 60 year career where be built home construction behemoth KB Home and later retirement savings company SunAmerica. The latter which was sold in 1999 for a whopping $18 billion. Since then he has dedicated all his time to philanthropy. ...

The August 2014 shooting death of unarmed black teen Mike Brown in St. Louis by a white police officer and the subsequent decision by the grand jury not to indict has brought unrest to American Streets. The protestors feel that police are shooting and killing mostly unarmed black men at alarming rates. Many also believe that police interaction amongst white's is all together different due to the benefits of "white privilege". "If that had of been a white man..." is a common refrain from blacks when speaking of a negative experience with a white police officer. The media plays an integral role in these perceptions by continuously assaulting us with images of black victims and white perpetrators. In light of the Brown incident and other controversial shootings this year, the adjective attached to these perceived victims is "unarmed". The term is a staple in the lexicon of the American media which h...

The financial crisis of 2008 continues to have a devastating effect on the lives of many Americans. However that same crisis has been a blessing for many others- namely lawyers. With each new round of Eric Holder justice department fines and penalties against banks for their role on the crisis, a few New York law firms are reaping billions in Fees. J.P Morgan Chase, which has by far paid the largest penalties, has set aside approximately $23 billion in legal reserves to settle claims and expenses. High powered firms like Sullivan & Cromwell, Paul, Weiss, Rifkin, Garrison; and Wilmer Hale represent JP Morgan. Other large banks such as Citi, Bank of America, Morgan Stanley and Wells Fargo have ponied up an additional $50 billion in fines to the feds. To date, the largest banks have forked over $128 billion in fees and counting. So far the largest chunk paid out by bank of America. No doubt that their lawyers are also enjoying a windfall....