Sunday, February 2, 2025
Saturday, February 1, 2025
Learn how to Respond, not React
I learned this idea from one of my favorite YouTube channels, Beau of the fifth column or as it is known now Belle of the Ranch. The idea is pretty straightforward, when a crazy news story breaks, don't react to it right away. so called breaking news is often incomplete and inaccurate. Slow down, step back and breathe. I'm one who believe the truth will come out sooner or later. It may take a few extra hours, days or even years but sooner or later the truth will come out. I think this advice can be extremely helpful over the next few years.
Felon 47 is hell bent on spreading chaos, fear and confusion to hide his main goals of self-aggrandizement, self enrichment and unchecked power. That's a way to explain the blizzard of executive orders, old man yelling at clouds statements and political theater reduced to nothing more than a WWE production. Most of the executive orders will be easily forgotten within a few months, having been shot down in court, forgotten or ignored. Most likely so will his talk of retaking the Panama Canal, making Canada a state or invading Greenland. It is mostly just craziness to sew further confusion and division. Let's be clear, Felon 47 is already causing a lot of harm.
Deporting the people who pick our food does nothing to make our streets safer, much less bring down inflation. Pardoning the rioters of January 6th is a bad move with potentially disastrous consequences ahead. It will likely embolden his most rabid followers to commit acts of terror in his name thinking they too will get a pardon. sowing uncertainty about government programs, the status of many federal workers and the reliability of the United States on the global stage will have consequences we cannot even imagine yet. And just think we are not even a month into his term yet!
Don't react, respond. We respond by pointing out the bullshit, organizing and putting a better worldview forward. Make the liars uncomfortable by pointing out inconsistencies, logical fallacies and lacking evidence. I think BLM is still around as well as ANTIFA. There will soon be numerous others taking to the streets and in our communities. Pointing out what is wrong, is never enough. There must also be a better alternative.
These next four years can create a path to a much better America and World if we make it happen. I for one am hopeful Felon 47 is nothing more than the death rattle of Conservative Boomerism. Yes, the damage will be real and we are free to get it wrong. Our roles (those of us that want a better world for all) are to limit the damage as much as possible and lay the groundwork for a just future. It's not going to happen by changing a picture on Facebook, arguing with internet trolls and endless doom scrolling. If we want a more just future, we are going to have to work for it. Remember two things:
Don’t react, respond.
Giving in to despair is the best weapon for our opposition.
Saturday, January 25, 2025
Thursday, January 23, 2025
Finding my Place and Purpose in these Strange Times
Yeah, yeah, I have not written in a long time on this blog. I've been trying to finish two, yes two novels. I’ve passed over a few health-related speed bumps along the way recently. I hope I'm done with health-related drama for a while. It looks like we will have a new political drama face for the next four years or so. Let's get this out of the way, I'm no fan of Fellon 47. There will be plenty of time in the not so distant future to go into all the reasons why. I had hoped this shitty timeline was only a bad dream. Unfortunately, each morning I wake up and Kamala still lost (maybe I'll write about that later). Like most of you, I'm not ready to surrender our country to a handful of kleptomaniac billionaires. There are two ways I want to counter-attack the creeping fascism we all face. One, I’ll remain optimistic and joyous. These two things are Kryptonite to Fascism. Two, be a good source of information. Good information is also bad for wanna-be dictator types. I'd like to start off by providing resources on how to survive the next four years.
Know your Rights if you Encounter ICE
Separation of Church and State
Mental Health First Aid Training
ACLU - In court for Freedom.
Find Your Representative - people to raise hell with.
Southern Poverty Law Center - Hatewatch
Cartoons - Just because.
Your resources here.
Friends, let's grow this list. I hope to soon make a dedicated standalone page that will be easy to link and share. For now, I'll add what you send to this list. Like all storms, this too will pass.
Wednesday, July 17, 2024
Storm Warning- Thoughts on July 13 And What May Be Next...
The event in Pennsylvania on July 13th was one more act of political violence in a country with a long history of such events. There have been others before now; union busting, beatings, assassinations and one Civil War so far. It is a pretty safe bet there will be more political violence between now and November and even beyond. Why? I'm sure you can find all kinds of commentary on why this is happening. Let me give you my most simplistic and direct answer. Change. We as a country, hell, the rest of the world, are staring into the faces of a flood of complex, unclear and potentially civilization-ending changes. Climate Change, Artificial Intelligence, a growing number of nuclear armed powers and changing demographics are reshaping everything. Most people don't react well to changes. They are scary. Many want to retreat into a mythological past where life was more simple, the footing more solid and everything was clear. Our minds remember the good things and block out most of the bad. That's how we get the notion of the “good old days.” I'm not sure how good they were, but I know they are gone forever, fading further and further into the past. So what's coming next?
I don't know. That's a phrase I'm trying to get more comfortable with. In this so-called information age, we want answers and we want them yesterday. It is important to slow down and not get caught up in the endless hours and hours of mostly useless speculation. Quite often, first hand eyewitness accounts are proven to be wrong. What passes for photographic evidence is subject to interpretation as well. That interpretation takes time. Grand conspiracies draw more eyes than a simple oversight. I tend to lean toward the simplest explanation being the best explanation. After such a huge event, I understand it may be days or longer before we get a clear picture of what happened, how it happened and why it happened. I also realize some of my questions may never be answered. Being patient today is a lost art. In the days, weeks and months ahead, I implore you to remember our media and entertainment industries are profit driven. I think truth comes out eventually but only after a lot of hyperbole, bloviating from self-appointed opinion shapers and repetition of lies to try and make them true somehow.
When you see something that just seems plain nuts or makes your blood boil, step down and step back. As Beau says, "Get informed, not inflamed.” If a news item seems particularly upsetting, you would do well to remember that's the intent. Check other sources, if you're reading this you have access to news outlets from literally all over the world. How are others reporting on the same event? News is a human endeavor, subject to errors and biases. If you really want to understand a story, look at it from several different sources. Most importantly, be patient.
All storms pass and this one is no exception. Personally, I view threats of violence as a sign of great weakness. These intimidation tactics only work if we let them. Whatever you do, don't give into fear of your neighbor, the stranger next to you in line or anyone who seems different. Rather, recognize those who stoke fear and try to benefit from it, tune out and turn off. I think we are going to be okay but the pathway to the new normal, whatever that turns out to be, will be ugly and bumpy. Make space in your head for ambiguity, uncertainty and patience. We are all fighting battles we tell no one about. So be gentle with your neighbors, even those you disagree with. This too will pass, friends.
Monday, July 8, 2024
"I'm Ridding with Biden" He's got this.
Biden has one bad debate in June, months and months before the election, and many on the left seem to be losing their damn minds! Hysterical conniptions abound, Biden must bow out, he's too old, he's not fit for office and on and on and on sat on endless repeat. I call BULLSHIT. Yeah, his debate performance was poor, So what? I don't think that means the other guy, spewing lies the whole time, gets a win by default. I'm sorry, but nothing Trump can say or do will make me want to vote for him. His only interest in the presidency is to stay out of jail, full stop. Oh, and an orgy of revenge on anyone who may have wronged the Donald in the past is also on the agenda. He has no plans on how to deal with climate change other than calling it a hoax. That alone is enough for me not to vote for him. To deny climate change in 2024 is the height of insanity. But wait there's more! Trump has no plans to address the skyrocketing costs of housing and healthcare. He has little if any understanding of geopolitics, unless you consider brown-nosing the world's worst dictators acceptable foreign policy. Trump offers nothing that would actually help the members of his cult-like base other than hurting those they don't like. If the Republicans were stupid enough to make him their nominee for 2024, I think it guarantees yet another loss. Here are five reasons why:
The overturning of Roe v Wade by itself has turned half our population against Trump and his band of enabling goons. Taking away people's rights is not exactly going to get you points in a popularity contest. It's more than just abortion, they want to take away access to contraception in general. When put to a vote, even in deep red states, people vote to protect reproductive rights and freedoms. A Republican win in November will mean it's only a matter of time before there's a nationwide abortion ban. Our current insane Supreme Court should not be trying to reverse rights that have already been fought for and won. I think women will come out to vote in unprecedented numbers against the Republican Party.
Another surefire losing strategy the Republicans have is climate change denial in 2024. Pretending a problem does not exist does nothing to resolve it, much less make it go away. We are living through climate change now! Numerous fires, floods, extreme heat waves and a category 5 hurricane in June are all neon flashing warning signs of things to come. Electric cars may not be the answer but at least they are a small attempt to address the issue. Personally, I think our only chance to avoid climate-induced catastrophes is a complete rethink on our relationship to nature but that's for another time. Addressing climate change is important to younger voters. They know we are out of time. There's another issue young voters are interested in.
Gun control! Republican notions of thoughts and prayers, arm the teachers (an absolute absurdity) and good guys with guns stopping bad guys with guns (yes, another absurdity) do nothing to address our national epidemic of mass shootings, including mass school shootings. In short, they will do anything to avoid solving the problem. Gun makers and ammunition manufacturers have completely bought off the Republican Party. Republicans hide behind a mythological reverence for the Second Amendment putting the unmitigated right to own deadly firearms above the lives of our students and fellow citizens. I mean really, who in the hell needs an AK-47 or AR-15 to defend their home? You guessed it, another absurdity! I think this issue will bring numerous young people to the polls this November.
Trump's inability to attract so-called independent voters will also lead to his defeat. Let's remember Trump doesn't even have all of the Republican Party. 34 felony convictions are not going to win over independent-minded voters. Trump's incessant whining about the 2020 election also does little to attract new voters. His rabid base will certainly come out to vote for him but alone they are nowhere near enough. Few people really want to live in a fascist state with Christian window dressing. (See Project 2025) I think Trump knows this and seeks a path to the White House via the House of Representatives and or the Supreme Court. And speaking of the Supreme Court.
The horrible presidential immunity ruling handed down on July 1st 2024 will be another nail in the coffin of Trump and Trumpism. If allowed to stand indefinitely, this obliterates the Constitution. I thought we had resolved the notion of rulers not being above the law almost a thousand years ago via the Magna Carta. It seems our Supreme Court has other ideas. Great! Now we get to argue over what constitutes official acts and duties of the president. So it seems paying off pornstars, ignoring deadly viruses and ordering the disappearances of political rivals are now little more than presidential duties or acts. The current Supreme Court is far more radical than most Americans want. The only way to change it is to have someone who will appoint non-radical right members to the bench. We have got to have a more balanced Supreme Court.
Let's face it, Biden is weak despite his numerous successes, The American Rescue Plan, The Chips Act, Build Back Better, a $1.2 Trillion Dollar Infrastructure Bill and a reinvigorated NATO. His perceived weakness I think comes from the fact he doesn't look good on TV. He comes across as old and slow. We would do well to remember the presidency is a branch of government staffed by numerous people. Nobody can be an expert in all areas. Biden surrounds himself with qualified experts, not lackeys and sycophants. Sure, he's slower than he was 20 or 30 years ago but overall I think his judgment is still sound. That does not mean I agree with every decision he's made, mainly around Israel and Gaza. I shudder to think what a second Trump term would mean for that part of the world. A second Trump term would be an unmitigated disaster here at home as well as for the rest of the world. Oh, here are a few more reasons I don't think it will happen.
Turning over the RNC to unqualified family members who then vacuum up most of the money to cover Trump's ever growing mountain of legal bills hurts Republicans’ chances to retake The House and Senate. Without which they cannot enact the radical rights wet dream known as Project 2025.
A king operating above the law overseeing America as an Evangelical Christian Nation is a hard pass for most of us. The lunatics who want to bring this about think they can control Trump. Now I ask you, when has this ever worked out? It's the Democrats job to let the world know about Project 2025 and how Trump ties into it.
Despite everything I've said here Democrats and those who lean further left like me, need to think of this as the final Super Bowl and our team is down 28 to 14 in the fourth quarter. Yes, electoral politics feels lame and the two major parties have too many similarities to matter. I think there used to be an element of truth to this when we were talking about Democrats and Republicans. That's no longer the case. Under Trump, the Republican Party has gone fascist with an unhealthy mix of Evangelical Christianity thrown in. That's not a mix I want to contemplate nor a country I want to live in. We cannot get this one wrong.
P. S. If Trump somehow does win, the sun will still rise, the Earth will still spin and we will resist…
Sunday, June 23, 2024
Conflicts Around The World, June 2024
The war in Ukraine, Israel's invasion of Gaza and China's saber rattling around Taiwan are covered daily in the Press here in the USA. There are a number of other deeply disturbing and horrific conflicts going on around the world as we speak that get little media attention. A simple Google search quickly produced the list below. There are numerous other conflicts as well. Let's keep them in mind as our government and media tends to focus on the three listed above while pretty much ignoring the rest.
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