Thursday, December 30, 2021
Wednesday, December 29, 2021
Good News Number 2 The Pandemic
We have vaccines that can slow down civid. Slowly more and more people are getting vaccinated. Yes, you can still catch covid / delta / omicrion with the vaccine. But if you do, it will be much less severe and far less likely to kill you. Vaccination rates are slowly going up. Look, I'm not here to argue with anti-vaxers. Please feel free to believe what ever you want. It's not my life or people around me who will suffer. If you won't or cannot do the shot, avoid crowded places and mask up. It takes a collective effort to defeat a virus. Pandemics always end and this one will be no different but let's try to make it end faster.
Omicron is rapidly replacing delta. So far, it seems less severe. This should bring the death rate down. But we still have the rest of this winter to get through. It will be very difficult for our healthcare system but hopefully this will be the last big surge. Once it does start to wind down, will we learn anything from the last two or three years? What can we learn?
As much as I don't like Trump, I cannot blame it all on him. Yes, he fucked up royalty by any metric. Even with his failings, we were gonna do pretty bad anyway. "You can't tell me to mask up, not go out or get a shot! That's communism!" "Everyone's lying except those who agree with me!" 'No big deal!" Americans are gonna be Americans. There's no way around it. Too many are consumed with identity politics, too isolated, too proud to listen to others and untrusting of others. And let's be honest, those untrusting souls have reason to be untrusting. Uncle Sam has told us some whoppers over the last few decades!
A few highlights!
"'The North Vietnamese attacked us first!"
"Cutting taxes on the rich will create jobs!"
"NAFTA is going to create jobs here!"
"Iraq has WMD!"
"We don't do body counts!"
"Like a miracle, after the election it will be gone!"
The lesson here is Uncle Sam has some hard work to do to rebuild trust. Can it be done? I'm not sure but I know to never believe any wannabe leader who wants to take us back to a mythological past, tell me who "Real Americans" are or blame others for problems we have created ourselves. The world is too interdependent to build walls. Instead, let's improve international cooperation. Let's be more honest- looking at YOU, China! Let's all listen more to each other.
Sunday, December 26, 2021
Some Good News Going into 2022 Number 1
This is one of a series on good news going into 2022.
Are Trump and company fading as justice starts to catch up? Maybe... Trump only offers endless whining about the 2020 election. NEWS FLASH, Donnie, it's over. Here in the USA, we resolve disputes through the legal system. You were laughed out of court more than SIXTY times. No, repeating a lie over and over and over and over does not make it true. You are becoming a bore. To actually win over voters, you must give solutions to problems. "I won 2020," solves nothing. Got anything else? The legal walls are closing in.
Letitia James Is taking a close look at the Trump Organization. The Donald is about to find out Supreme Court appointments does not equal bought-off judges. The January 6th Commission is following the evidence all the way back to Trump. Let's not forget all the other legal problems the Donald is facing, shady business dealings, two state investigations relating back to 2020, The E. Jean Carroll defamation case and overseas woes. This is not exactly running from a position of strength. If Joe Biden does his job, The Donald will only fade faster in 2022.
Joe and the Democrats must insure voting rights are protected. Politicians picking voters, from either party, simply crushes the little democracy wee have left. Joe also need to get some form of Build Back Better through. The Democrats cannot let one guy scuttle the entire bill. Pulling the trigger on student loan forgiveness will also be a good step in the right direction. I'm all for student loan forgiveness but we also need to address college tuition costs for those in school now and the future. And do something about the goddamn guns! We cannot accept mass school shootings as normal.
Will Joe and the Democrats come through? Maybe... Stay tuned.
Thursday, December 23, 2021
Wednesday, December 22, 2021
Random Thoughts Christmas Week 2021
It looks like Covid is adapting. The latest flavor Omicron, seems to be a little less dangerous but able to spread more. We have passed 800,000 dead and still increasing the death toll every day. The pandemic is far from over. In the best case, we still have a year or more to go. It has already changed our economy, the great resignation, work from home and inflation. It will be interesting to watch how this evolves over the next few years. One thing is for sure, there is no going back. The economy will be permanently altered by the covid pandemic. So will our politics.
I think covid cost Trump the election. The usual trend of the opposition party retaking the house and senate may not happen this time. Trump's power over the Republicans seems to be slowly starting to crack. The January 6th fiasco is going to take down a lot of people and it looks like the Donald will spend his last years trying to stay out of jail and or not being sued into oblivion. And the Republicans in many states are literally killing their supporters in large numbers by ignoring health experts, opening everything early, getting rid of mask requirements and slowing vaccination rates (to say nothing of insane gun laws, deregulation of everything and right to work). In close elections, yes, it will matter. "I won the 2020 election!!!'" on repeat and culture wars that do nothing to improve people's lives should not be a path to victory. The Republicans only offer three things, deregulation, tax cuts for the wealthy and fear, mostly fear. It should be a walk over for the Democrats but they are inept, weak and un-unified. Still, I'm more optimistic for their chances than I was a few short months ago. It will take a solid defeat of Republicans in 2022 to finally break the Trump spell. They will still be assholes but maybe they will start to bring actual ideas to the table and not want to overthrow our democracy (what's left of it).
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I like guns, own some and enjoy an afternoon at the range as much as anyone. I've been around guns since childhood. I even helped a few friends learn basic gun safety stuff. I also remember when the NRA actually promoted guns, hunting and outdoors as a hobby, not a political fetish. They were big on promoting gun safety. Our enjoyment, respect and sunny afternoons at the range with firearms have morphed into an unrecognizable, dark monster.
I was hoping for some kind of action on gun violence / school shootings from the Democrats. If there has been any, I missed it. I know this is a complicated, divisive and ingrained issue. Even after Sandy Hook and still nothing? Any other type of gunman, and we would have bombed, invaded and completely leveled three countries by now. But a white guy middle class lunatic, crickets... We get crickets from our politicians. What are some things that could be done?
Joey brings a gun to school, maybe mommy and daddy go to jail a year or two. There, they can brush up on firearms safety and storage. Sue the living shit out of a few manufacturers /sellers. Then, the might get onboard with a little sensible regulation. End "Gunshows." I loved them as a kid. They just creep me out now, a strange mix of guns, fear, doom and a death cult. Gone are the cool old rifles, revolvers, calvary sabers and cowboy stuff. Go now and you can see rows and rows of AR-15's-10's, AK-47's, semi-auto shot guns among limitless semi-auto pistols. Gone are the beautiful wood finishes, now replaced with a sea of polymer. Peppered in among all this are NRA propaganda booths, at least one or two yahoos selling Nazi stuff and a few others selling survival gear. Gunshow rant over. But to just do nothing?? Unacceptable.
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Tornados in December? Yeah, a rare one or two, gonna happen. A massive multi-state outbreak with this monster as the main attraction? And then this? Yeah, we can watch the usual circle-jerk of is this one event climate change related? Yes, no, maybe, not sure and so on and so on, around and around we go. Something is going on and it is not good. How many storm related events will be the magic number or tipping point where we finally decide, "Yeah, maybe we should so something?" Working on climate change could power a massive economic boom.
Everything from windmill production to planting trees to greener transportation systems to better food production all require work. How many millions of jobs could we create? I think we could revitalize dying towns all across the country! We could have a new golden age of prosperity! But let's not forget about changing attitudes about frivolous consumption. I still think that's the heart of the issue.
Sunday, December 19, 2021
And after the Nation State?
So what will come after the nation-states (countries) we know today? How we organize ourselves changes over time, with a tendency to further complexity. Global trade, communications, and alliances shift with time. I see three possibilities, given my limited view, knowledge and built in biasses.
1. A Strongman / Woman government married to conglomerate power, Neofascism.
2. We become more democratic via more political parties.
3. Local Local and Local depending on climate change severity or other calamities.
I'm in the US so I'm thinking mostly about here. Where are we now? The real power rests with unnamed and unelected CEO types wielding massive power behind the scenes. Already they are bankrolling our elections. This has reduced them to glitzy spectacle and third grade soundbites devoid of serious political thought or discussion. I hear the echos of WWE in a deluge of words like slammed, blasted and crushed. Maybe I'm missing out but I tend to skip over WWE-style headlines. Our politicians fall all over each other in a mad rush to get that undisclosed corporate cash. Those who don't are a tiny minority. Follow the money as the old saying goes. Sooner or later, it will lead to those who really run things. These are the people presidents and premiers address with sir as the first and last word. Large corporations already have armies of lawyers and lobbyists seeing to it things go their way. What is good for Wall Street and to hell with Main Street and any other street. And don't fuck with the Pentagon's money! We saw a rehearsal for a strongman style government under Trump. It reminded me of Russia's Putin.
DOOR NUMBER 1 A Strongman / Woman government married to conglomerate power, Neofascism.
The Mercer family came in at the eleventh hour to rescue The Donald's failing 2016 run. Along with an abysmal campaign by Hilary Clinton, they got him in. In return they got massive tax cuts and pro-business judges all the way to the Supreme Court. Roe V. Wade is all the rage in so-called mainstream media outlets. Remember follow the money? Business cares about business- making money. Culture war issues are only window dressing to gloss over the real goal of profit maximization no matter who suffers. The strong man will in time only be a figurehead with little real power. There are several problems with this model, even for business types. A strong legal system for contract enforcement is hurt by exploding cronyism to win the strongman's favor. Another big problem is instability brought on when a successor must be found. Business needs stability to thrive. The US has had a pretty good run so far using democracy as a less messy way to pass power on.
DOOR NUMBER 2. We become more democratic via more political parties.
We are watching the destruction of the Republican Party unfold in real time. Everything Trump touches dies. A few Republicans are learning this but too late. I can see the party splintering into several different groups, religious, straight up fascist, and business interests. The Democrats are already there in all but name only. You have environmentalists, socialists and also business interests to name a few. Now we have the finest democracy money can buy. Our "pretend democracy" has a system for acceptable leadership succession that isn't found in strongman ran states. Maybe we will keep compliant leaders (managers?) like Joe Biden in place. Joe puts a sane (and more or less competent) face on global capitalism. He's only temporary. I'm not sure how much longer the Democrats can hold together. I think more political parties would be better. It would be a better and more honest representation of 300+ million people. And the next door?
DOOR NUMBER 3. Local Local and Local depending on climate change severity or other calamities.
The technology based future depends on stability. What about a world increasingly destabilized by climate change (or even a limited nuclear exchange), what does that look like a few decades from now? I'm thinking local, local and local. There may no longer be an international system of trade. We'll revert back to something like medieval Europe, more or less independent fortified cities in which life is a day to day struggle for most people. Most of our fancy toys like cars, computers and tv's will be gone (along with most rights and freedoms). James Howard Kunstler gives a fascinating look into this world in his books. Picture 1850's technology building on the ruins of the former United States in small villages, towns and larger kingdoms (for lack of a better word). At least horses make a comeback!
A Door Number 4? Something unknown to us now. I hope it is closer to door number 2.
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