Wheels Keep Turning

 

A Little Chaos

I know it can be said of almost anytime, but what a truly exciting time to be alive! There is so much going on. Paying any attention to the news can feel overwhelming. News outlets are there to make money! As Beau says, "inflaming is more profitable than informing." Too many of us choose to live in information silos that reinforce our own beliefs rather than make us question them. Hey, I'm also guilty of this. Admitting I have blind spots encourages me look for different news sources and commentary. The key is not to dwell on all the bad things going on but all the good I can do. The world seems to be a big chaotic, scary place. For me that's the opposite of a big boring place. There is so much going on right now all at the same time. There are or will be books written on the following. 

 

Destabilization of Russia- Wars are always unpredictable. Putin's dream of a three-week “special military operation” evaporated as soon as Zelinsky Asked for ammunition instead of a ride out. I think this will be the undoing of Putin's regime. Well, that doesn't sound so bad until you stop and consider all the nuclear weapons laying around. How does the Russian government change and the nukes stay secure? I'm hopeful people with a much higher pay grade than me have been thinking about this. I don't have a clue.

 

Covid's warning- COVID killed millions of people all around the world. It is not the last global pandemic we will face. We had to fight the virus along with misinformation. Even if we get the science right and find a way to stop the next pathogen, misinformation can cause catastrophic levels of damage. This is one of the many costs of losing trust in basic institutions. It is good to question our institutions. We need to know how to verify the answers. Trust but verify.  

 

Climate change- no doubt the Earth is warming via farming, industrialization, and transportation- we are warming the planet at an alarming rate. We still don't fully understand all the consequences of this. I don't think it will end life on earth or necessarily end our civilization but things will change. Where we can farm, global shipping, global security arrangements and mass migrations are all going to change dramatically. 

 

Artificial intelligence- Now this is already changing how we live. Loan processing, the job application process, the legal field are already greatly influenced by artificial intelligence. The Artificial intelligence phenomena is just getting started. It will create a completely different world in the next 10 years or so. My gut tells me it will destroy more jobs than it will create. Like new  technologies that came before, changes will be a mixed bag of good and bad. I don't see a rise of killer robots taking over the world (check out Sea of Rust for a good take). Nor do I see a work-free future where robots feed us grapes as we recline on the couch.     

 

The race for rare earth metals- If we want to continue to enjoy things like smartphones, computers, TV's and other electronics, we will have to have massive amounts of rare earth metals. We will need to solve how to get them without destroying local environments and local cultures. Related but as an aside the Taliban is sitting on at least trillion of dollars worth. When it comes to resource extraction, people are not known for being exactly fair.

 

These are just a few of the issues we face that have profound implications. They are all interrelated and not going to resolve themselves. Learn more and vote accordingly. There is no "going back to a simpler time." I think any politician looking for answers in the past is not going to provide a future I want to live in. We need leaders who can think about more than over-simplified campaign slogans about a mythological past. I'll vote for bright, forward thinking leaders and then hold them accountable in the next election.  

The Good News

 

It is all too easy to get caught up in all the depressing news that 24/7 bombards our TV's, tablets, and computer screens. Our news is commodified and that of course changes the priorities. What SELLS is more important than what we need to know. Outrage, vast over-simplifications, and simple-minded non-solutions are sold as "news." Ah, and let's not forget our media's obsession of everything having two sides, even if that's not the case. Some of it is by deliberate design. People who are depressed, angry and afraid are easier to manipulate. Despair, hopelessness and inaction best serve the status quo. There is actually a lot of cool, good stuff that's going on... 

Why New Cancer Treatment Discoveries are Proliferating- Advances in medical science are astonishing!

How child mortality fell from 40% to 3.7% in 200 years - 200 years is not as long as we think it is. We will continue to improve.

Thriving coral reef discovered off Galápagos Islands - Nature always finds a way! We still need to do our part. 

Iceland suspends whale hunt on animal welfare concerns - Do we really need to still be hunting whales in 2023 and beyond? (I can give northern native peoples a pass.)  

Study shows human tendency to help others is universal - Is this true in your experience. This is true in my experience. None of us can do it all alone. 

Be hopeful and keep moving forward friends!    

American Racism... a few thoughts.

The National Memorial for Peace & Justice

Now here's a topic to make people uncomfortable- racism! There are a myriad of different aspects to it, far more than I can cover in a single blog post. I'm only me with my own limited experience, education and work history. My views have evolved From feeling slightly uncomfortable watching Richard Pryor talk about racist white people to what I think is a much better understanding of racism I have today. I accept the fact that I still have far more to learn and I am open to it. How I think of racism may be different from how you think of it. Let's start off with a definition or two or three.

RACISM-  From Merriam Webster

1.              a belief that race is a fundamental determinant of human traits and capacities and that racial differences produce an inherent superiority of a particular race.

2.              behavior or attitudes that reflect and foster this belief : racial discrimination or prejudice.

3.               the systemic oppression of a racial group to the social, economic, and political advantage of another.

  As someone interested in conflict resolution, I'm most interested in the third definition given here. Racism here in the USA is a power structure the continues right to the present. We try to sweep it under the rug and think by using nicer words such as African American, having things like Black History Month and Juneteenth, racism is a thing of the past. I must say the three aforementioned words / ideas are a good step. America has a strong game of “pretend.” We pretend we have a strong democracy when in reality we have a two-party system in which both parties overwhelmingly support the oligarchic elites. On the international stage, we pretend our shit doesn't stink. Our politicians, regardless of party, can never admit we are a massive colonial empire. Why else would we have over 750 military bases overseas? Why else would we have perpetrated coupes around the world? And we also like to pretty much forget about our own genocidal history regarding Native Americans. It's a little wonder we like to ignore the ongoing problem of racism here in the USA.

Racism has always been a part of American culture whether we like it or admit it or not. Native Americans were systematically driven off their land, exterminated and lied to (Every treaty agreement was broken). Back then it was called manifest destiny. Today we would call it ethnic cleansing. There is also the history of Chinese labor brought in to help build the railroads who were also subject to abuse with little means of redress. There are many other groups that have been on the wrong end of white American racism. But for this post my focus is mostly on African Americans.

African Americans arrived as slaves, not hopeful immigrants seeking a new life. Whites used many dubious arguments to justify this abomination. Bible quotes, pseudoscience, and dodgy legal decisions all played a part in the justification of slavery. Lincoln may have freed the slaves but by no means did he end racism. The elites in the South found a quick workaround via the so-called justice system. Prisoners were exempt from anti-slavery laws. This practice did not end until the 1940s. "End" may be too strong a word- the Prison Industrial Complex is alive and well. I'd like to think things are better but I recognize we still have a very long way to go. You see, racism is still here.

 The election of Barack Obama did not mean racism was now a relic of the past. Obama's job was to continue the imperial project we know as the United States of America. His policies were also geared towards helping the elites stay elite. Instead of engaging in meaningful dialogue with the Ferguson protesters, he only offered platitudes about voting. His centerpiece legislation, the Affordable Care Act, was actually a republican plan to keep the health insurance industry alive. Hey, I don't think Obama was a bad guy, certainly not the antichrist. That said, I don't think he was a good friend for African Americans or the poor in general. After Obama, our racism was on full display with the election of Trump and the Republican party’s descent into right wing madness. Sometimes, it is subtle and sometimes not so subtle. I never thought I would see the day when a sitting American president would call fucking Nazis “very fine people.” But Trump and company get enough ink as it is, let's move on. I'd like to talk about a related misunderstood concept, white privilege.

Now if you want to trigger some working-class whites, simply mention white privilege. You could very well find yourself in a shitstorm of “I worked for all I have, “nobody gave me anything” “I never took anything from the government” and so on and on. I think it's the word “privilege” that messes them up. Here’s how Merriam Webster defines it:

White Privilege  the set of social and economic advantages that white people have by virtue of their race in a culture characterized by racial inequality.

Let me use my white self as an example here to explain how I understand this. If this concept is unclear for you, maybe this will help.

1.     I have a good relationship with the local police. If I'm being pulled over for a traffic violation, I don't feel interacting with the policeman is life threatening.

2.     If I'm tooling around in a store, the employees there are much less likely to think I'm a shoplifter. On more than one occasion, I've been told by African Americans about being followed around for simply shopping in a well to do store.

3.     I am free from derogatory stereotypes such as laziness, being violent, dishonest and so on and so on. Simply put, I get the benefit of the doubt.

4.     If I get a job no one is going to think I am just a quota hire because of some affirmative action program. (Well to be honest I did have one person think I was hired by the state because I'm disabled). My state, North Carolina, has no such quota to my knowledge. Needless to say, it was kind of insulting and I'm sure many of my African American coworkers over the years have heard such nonsense as well). 

5.     Whenever I turn on the TV or open a magazine, the people I see mostly look like myself. I can easily stay in my own little bubble of whiteness. 

            These are just a few of my thoughts on the American problem of racism. Sadly, I don't see this being resolved in my lifetime. It's going to take a while. 400 plus years of slavery, subjugation and economic deprivation is not going to be wiped out in one or two generations. I'd like to thank things are improving, even if slowly improving. But that's easy for me to say from my relatively privileged position as a fairly well educated white person. I’ve faced discrimination as a person with a disability. It sucks. But overall that has been a rare experience for me. Many African Americans face discrimination on scales hard for me to even imagine. Everything from being followed around while shopping to literally being murdered by the police. I don't know what the answers are. It's a complex problem that’s centuries old. What I can do is listen to my African American brothers and sisters recommendations for positive ways forward.

Donald Has Doomed Republicans

When will The Donald stop sucking up so much airtime? 

 

I usually try to avoid writing about Donald Trump. I think he gets entirely too much airtime as it is. He's the only ex-president who seems to get more media attention than the actual president. There was just no way he could have the common courtesy to fade into obscurity. He has to be in the media spotlight, even if it's for the wrong reasons. Trump 's ego cannot let him simply fade from TV, smartphone and computer screens everywhere. I never in my wildest dreams could have imagined a Republican front runner having two impeachments and now two indictments (with more to come) probably being the nominee for president. No one else can get the nomination without the MAGA mob. Now the problem for Republicans is they cannot win with only the MAGA mob. The good old boy, Lindsey Graham, is being proven right every day. He tried to warn the Republicans Trump would destroy their party. It looks like he is destined to sink any hopes of a Republican retaking the White House in 2024. I know a lot can happen between now and then but stick with me a minute.

 

The Republican Math Problem.

 

Trump 's MAGA base is not growing and I would argue after a million plus COVID deaths, it is even smaller than before. There are also those who have over time decided to move on from the Donald. So this leaves him with a hard-core group of followers that make up well under 30% of the electorate. Maybe somewhere there are some Democrats that have decided they hate Biden, but hate him bad enough to vote for Trump? I find that highly unlikely and surely not enough to make a difference. Trump has also lost the independent voters as well as a significant number of of Republican voters. If we have free and fair elections, the math is against Trump period. That's not even considering all the new voters who are going to come out of the woodwork in the wake of Row V Wade being overturned. Overall, the Republican Party seems to be doing all it can to alienate young voters. Everything from climate change denial, student loan forgiveness And the insane “culture wars” turn off young voters. Oh, and don't forget their latest crusade against free lunches for school kids! What happens if we fail to vote?  

 

What Would Trump 2.0 Look Like.

 

Let's say for arguments sake somehow, someway Trump finagles his way back into the White House in 2024. Yes it may be improbable but not impossible. What would Trump 2.0 look like? In one word- utter chaos! Okay it was two words. From what I can tell, he only wants the White House for two reasons. One, he thinks it will keep him out of jail. Two, it's a great way to rake in the cash. Well, maybe three reasons. The third reason is a White House win would boost his already overinflated ego. Trump has little to no respect for the rule of law, Nor does not care about institutional norms and has no understanding of the Constitution. So what we would get is a porn fest of revenge. He would “go after anyone that wronged him” from the 2020 election to the present day. Internationally, he would be an unmitigated disaster for Ukraine, NATO and international rule of law. Trump Would quickly find his knee pads for another trip to Moscow. There's nothing he loves more than fellow autocrats. I'm sure another North Korea visit would also be in order. As bad as these things are, they pale in comparison to the next global crisis with Trump in charge of the United States. The effects of climate change are only going to get worse. COVID-19 was not the last pandemic we will face. There is the ever-present danger of more and more states becoming nuclear armed states. Rather than lead to a crisis, Trump we'll talk about how smart he is and make the narrative all about himself while the crisis spins further and further out of control. And if he lives another four years? What would an election in 2028 look like? Would there even be an election in 2028? Fortunately, I think most of the rest of the country understands what an utter disaster a second Trump term would be. That's good news for the Democrats, right?

 

The Democrats Become Autocrats? 

 

I always felt Hillary's dreadful campaign of 2016 is what gave us Trump in the first place. Her only message seemed to be “I'm not Trump.” She took a win for granted and we all saw the result. Neither candidate from 2016 offered any kind of view of what they wanted to accomplish as president. Hillary Clinton thought she had a walkover and she should have. I think she just got too complacent. I don't think Biden will make the same mistake, nor will the American people. If this is true that's great for Democrats, right? No, having effectively one party rule is good for no one. Over the years we have seen the effects of so-called corporate Democrats, basically just Republicans, hold the culture war nonsense. I don't like the Republican Party, at least in their current form. To have a democracy, we need a minimum of two parties. I think the reality is we need far more than two parties, 3, 5 or even six parties.

 

More Than Two Parties Please!

 

If you take away the culture wars, there is too much agreement between Republicans and Democrats. They both are a little too quick to call for a “military solution” when diplomacy maybe a better option. They are both all in for big business and do their bidding at our expense. Sure, today the Republicans are objectively worse but a Democratic Party with no real opposition would soon also become autocratic and deeply corrupt. We need the Republican Party to find a modicum of sanity. More than that, I think we need multiple parties. There are over 330 million Americans with almost limitless different views on how the country should be governed. The two mainstream parties reflect just a tiny sliver of our views. A big problem is they don't want competition so it's very hard for smaller parties like the Greens or Libertarians to grow. And I have totally left out the biggest problem in our politics- a flood of anonymous cash! 

 

Trump Will not live forever. Will somebody be able to take over the MAGA mob after he is gone? I do think our authoritarian streak will outlive Trump. Over the next few election cycles, those of us who actually want a free and functioning democracy have to continue to play defense. This may lead to a string of mediocre Democrats finding their way into office. But demographics favors those who want to see real progress on things like climate change, social justice and creating a system that works for all of us, not just those at the top. Even a Trump second term cannot stop this but it can slow it down greatly.

 

Disclaimer

 

This is American politics. Nothing is certain. We have a long way to go until the 2024 election. Everything can change on a dime. What if something happens to Biden? Can the conflict in Ukraine grow? Will China invade Twain? We live in a world of endless “what-ifs.” I’ll try to remember to check back in on this topic around six months from now and after next year’s election cycle. All I can say at this point is I don’t see a Trump 2.0 happening in a White House near you (or me).    

AND...

The Federal Indictment of Donald Trump 

A Slow Saturday and UFOs Or UAPs

 

This may be a little off-topic for this blog. Maybe so but still an interesting concept. Give it a chance.   

 

Yes, it's a slow Saturday. So, I'm drifting around YouTube, which is now basically TV channel surfing for me, killing time. At this point I'm kind of car stuffed out and I'm looking for something different. Ah, here we go a nice UFO documentary! No, I'm not here to convince you UFOs are real or not real. I trust in your judgment on that. Now don't get me wrong I love the idea of UFOs! But I have to say I'm skeptical. This is coming from someone that's seen a UFO, an Unidentified Flying Object. At least it was unidentified to me. That's quite a bit different than claiming it was some dudes from outer space. I think it was back in the mid 90s, about this time of year spring or early summer. Me and this other cat, John, were hanging out at the bar for a little while. It was dollar draft night and we decided to head onto to the out-door deck located a few rooms away from the main bar area. It was just past dark, around 9:00 PM. This was a largish bar in the middle of the city so few stars were even visible and there were numerous trees and buildings around us. It could not have been more than the second or third sip into our beers when we both noticed a very bright light moving rapidly across the sky in a curve. Unlike an airplane with flashing lights, a green light on the right wing tip and a red light on the left wing tip, the thing we saw looked like a single extremely bright tan light. Yes, you read that right, it was a brownish, tanish, goldish color. Really strange! We could hear no sound from the object. It quickly disappeared from our point of view. 

 

“What the F*** was that?” John asked.

 

“That was wild! I don't know,” I answered. 

 

You’re right, I don't remember the exact dialog but it was something to that effect. We joked about the strong beer and the fact that no one would believe us. This was early evening, very early by bar standards and we were the only ones on the deck. Like I said it was unidentified to me and my buddy. I just don't know what it was. Personally, I don't know of any proof we are being visited by beings from other worlds or dimensions or what have you. Sorry but ancient aliens is easily debunked nonsense not to mention completely disrespectful to our ancestors who did build the pyramids, Stonehenge and countless other great works. But let's say for a moment there are real UFOs from other worlds. What would that look like?

 

If UFOs are indeed a thing, that would have to be the highest secret imaginable. For all of human history, written and unwritten, we have thought of ourselves as the most advanced life form there is. Suddenly, in the last century or so the UFO phenomenon has taken off (pardon the pun).  Well, what happened in the last 100 years? We get the start of areal warfare and war on an industrial, global scale. The atom bomb and nuclear weapons got their start in 1945. Did somebody in the great galactic council say “Go see what those fools are up to before they hurt themselves or someone else.” If you follow the UFO phenomenon at all you know of numerous visits (for lack of a better word) to military installations, some of which house nuclear weapons ie, both bombers and missiles. If some beings are smart enough to figure out how to travel the almost unfathomable distances involved, I'd like to think the ideas of war, conquest and resource theft are silly to them. Maybe they just like beer and music? Are they just being friendly, a little too friendly?

 

Some of the wildest UFO stories involve so-called abductions. The stories all sound similar, at least to me anyway. Somebody is taken aboard, experimented on and then put back wherever they were found. There is often some weird memory loss associated with this. Sounds crazy right? But this is really nothing new. Before the aliens, there were demon abductions where someone would be taken and given a personalized view of hell. This leads me to believe that these stories are absolutely true to the individual that experienced them. Our minds create reality. When something goes wrong, dreams become indistinguishable from reality. Before, religion was used to explain these happenings. I'm sure in some places it still is. Now these stories can be explained via the UFO phenomenon. Am I saying this is all in our heads? I think that's the most likely explanation. Which brings me to my final point.

 

I think it is more fascinating to contemplate what the UFO phenomenon says about us. It ties in with our dreams, hopes and deepest fears. Science fiction runs the gamut from the Star Trek universe to the dark horror of the Event Horizon. If you are unfamiliar with the Event Horizon movie It's about a spaceship that opens a portal to a very real Hell. If you like horror movies, give this one a try, it is quite a ride! Many of us love a great mystery. The UFO phenomenon is full of mysteries. One I find most interesting is the Nimitz encounters. Visual sightings by professional Navy fighter pilots are backed up by radar data, so the story goes. Then there are the famous Men in Black, who show up if you get a little too close to Uncle Sam's deepest darkest secrets. Remember friends, it is hard to prove a negative. So what would it take for UFOs to be proven beyond a shadow of a doubt? Well, when one lands on the White House lawn might be a start. But a lot of people would blow this off as a hoax. So perhaps UFO's landing simultaneously all over the country then? Would that be enough to tear apart our collective consciousness and understanding of ourselves? It sure as hell would not be just another Tuesday! I'm not going to hold my breath waiting for that event.

 

Few of us can even begin to comprehend the distances involved in interstellar travel, much less intergalactic travel. But the cool thing is there is so much more to learn about the universe so maybe there is a different more efficient way to get around than we currently know of. If we can avoid blowing ourselves up, we might figure it out. So the age-old question, “are we alone?” May indeed one day be answered. I think yes or no is equally terrifying!

** Also consider our behaviors when it comes to Bigfoot, ghosts, cryptids and paranormal stuff in general. Oh, and if you are looking for a location for all of this in one place, here ya go- Skinwalker Ranch!