Lying?

When people tell stories they sometimes get certain details wrong, especially if significant time has passed.  In fact the term "fish story" was invented since people talking about how big the fish was that they caught is proverbially wrong with the fish getting larger the more time passes.

The essence about catching a "big" fish is essentially correct, to some extent, but some of the details are iffy, at best.

Of course there are lies designed to deceive or deny something or outright falsehoods like how big the fish was when you never went fishing.

So recently Joe Biden has been called out about telling a story concerning a soldier in Afghanistan.

A lot of the details in the story were just wrong, the rank, the service, the time frame and even the type of medal.

Still the point of the story about how the serviceman didn't want the medal for bravery because despite his heroic act, the person he tried to save died.

Is this lying?

Well I guess it depends on how you interpret these things.

If he told the same story but left all the details generic, it would still make the same point, our brave servicemen are faced with horrible circumstances and terrible situations, yet maintain a strong sense of duty.

So its what it is, but, if you look at the lies told by the incumbent President, I think getting some details wrong in a story is very different.

Loyalty

Well I guess when you don't have any real issues you can always revert to stirring up some racism.

We see the Alabama GOP and one of its child abusers decide to attack a Muslim representative from a different state for her disloyalty to Israel.

Now Israel is an ally and you may or may not agree with all its policies, but as Americans we don't have any obligation to be loyal to it.

In fact the oath of office they took prohibits allegiance to foreign powers.

Now, like I said, you may disagree about someone's views on the situation in Israel and the disputed territories, but I know that even in Israel they have various viewpoints.

So disloyal?

Remember what country you are part of.

The Confederacy lost.

First, Do No Harm

This phrase is generally something that doctors adhere to, but it really should be something we all take into account as far as the environment goes.

Now, in our day to day lives, most of us already do some harm to the environment by driving, using electricity, eating meat, etc.

So it might be better to say, do no further harm.

In decisions we make about everyday things, we should consider the impact on the environment and greenhouse gases.

The climate changes endanger us all and the vast majority of us realize this.

As individuals we can switch to energy efficient items in our everyday lives without much effort, although there is at times some initial extra cost.  We also need to demand that the Government consider climate in its decisions.

The fires in the Amazon right now are a far greater threat to all of us than any immigrants crossing the border.

Wall Progress

Progress on building the useless border wall is going on slowly.  So far about 13% of the latest revised amount is built.  Since we are now down to 450 miles from the original 1000, we are closer to 5% of the original number.

The numbers don't really mean anything.  The parts of the border that are inhospitable, which is much of it, is already inaccessible without expert help.  That same expert help will go where the wall isn't or go where the wall is breached.

Not sure why we don't allow them to apply for admittance legally and do background checks.

It needs to be pointed out that of the Hispanics in this country, the great majority are here legally.  It should also be pointed out that we acquired quite a few as we annexed territory in the southwest in the 1800s.

The simple fact is that they want to come here because they can get work and be relatively free of the violence in their home countries.  I never understood why so many Americans seem to think they threaten them.

People who want to come here are not criminals, until we decide to call them that.

Its a self made problem.

Monday Thoughts

While the dontard will undoubtedly talk about the great success he is having at the G7 meetings, and it seems like he is getting some good French cooking, all reports indicate he is be treated as an unruly toddler while all his policies are opposed.

Trade is the first and the world doesn't like what he is doing.  Most Americans don't either and maybe he will come to his senses, but more likely he will double down.  He didn't have four bankruptcies by being prudent.

They also don't like his position on climate change, if he actually has one and would like the US to take some realistic actions.  Of course the Amazon burning is making it worse.  He was or wasn't considering trying to use nuclear weapons to fight hurricanes.  Since it is totally nonsensical, it does seem like one of his ideas.

Iran got invited to the meeting for a day which led to discussions about ways to buy Iranian oil if they would honor the Nuclear deal.  We didn't participate.  I suspect they don't invite us to anything they don't have to.

It seems like we were told during the last election how he would change our relationship with foreign countries.  He implied he would make it better and provide a leadership role.  Well maybe he really meant he would get us treated like a pariah.

It worked.

Guilty

A jury found a white man guilty of killing a black man.

It shouldn't be big news except many expected his defense that he felt his life was threatened by this black man who had simply parked illegally for a short while with his family.

When he accosted the wife and children waiting in the car while the man ran into the store, the man came out and shoved him.

The white man, feeling entitled and maybe thinking I finally get to use my gun. pulled out his gun.

The black man started to back off but the white man killed him in front of his family anyways.

Clearly we expected him to get acquitted.

The fact that he didn't is clearly a step forward and we need to make sure we keep going.

Defending yourself is fine and standing your ground is fine.

Killing unarmed people posing no believable threat to you isn't.

Even if they are big black men.

Amazon Forest

It seems like I've heard forever how we need to save the rain forest.  It absorbs greenhouse gases, releases oxygen and provides a factory of biodiversity which could naturally develop disease resistant plants.

The largest rainforest is in the Amazon basin and it has been under attack for years as local populations want to clear land to raise crops and livestock.

Its easy to understand how these people, many of them poor and hardworking, feel how their own self interests, clearing some land is irrelevant to global issues.

They only want to do what the developed world has already done, replacing the rainforest with "productive" land that provides income and security for their families.

This year with a new President who much like our own ignores the environment, they have started an unprecedented number of fires in the Brazilian rainforest.  It is a potential environmental disaster as land stops absorbing greenhouse gases and is replaced by farms which might even increase them.

Save the rainforest?  It might already be too late.

We certainly had plenty of warning.

Caving to the NRA

Well it didn't take much from all reports, so the NRA will get its way, equating background checks with some perverted interpretation of the second amendment.

I guess the founders should have included that only sane and non-violent people could own assault rifles.

However, much like the militia requirement, it would have been ignored by this group.

Profits over lives, no matter what.

Making Less on More?

One of the things that you hear a lot is how good the economy is doing.

Another thing I hear a lot is how people are struggling to make ends meet.

These two things seem incompatible unless you consider some facts.

Unemployment is low but the jobs are not as good as they used to be for many as low paying service jobs replaced manufacturing jobs.

Jobs used to offer fairly comprehensive benefits including pension and health and now they have reduced both of those dramatically.

While average wages seem to be going up, the wages at the top are going up much more than wages in the middle and bottom.

Many of our recent and not so recent graduates are saddled with debt payments that they mat never be free of.

Much of the economic boon has been retained by industries or distributed to shareholders who are among those high earners already.

So as we migrate to a nation of haves and have nots, the have nots face increasing struggles to make ends meet.

Yet the statistics look good.

What Immigration Policy?

I was reading an article earlier about Bosnian Refugees who revitalized a St. Louis neighborhood in the late 90s.  It became know as little Bosnia but as they became more and more integrated into America, they have now largely moved to the suburbs.

Unfortunately the area they left behind is once again suffering.

Its actually a fairly typical immigrant/refugee story where they come here, find some place they can settle and afford, work hard, Americanize their children, and like millions before them flee the urban area.

The problem is that the area they left suffered again because we didn't have new refugees to move in..

I read another story about how seniors in Maine are having trouble finding caregivers because their numbers have grown and the number of young people is not large enough.  The article predicted that Maine is a forerunner of many other areas as we simply have a growing senior population.

One of the big issues with defined benefit pensions and Social Security is simply that the number of people getting benefits is growing but the number of workers is not keeping up.

We are desperately in need of young families in this country yet we are doing everything we can to discourage them.

Who thinks that makes sense?

Who Are They?

When I browse the internet or read the news it is sometimes difficult to reconcile what I see with what I experience.

The news is filled with so many angry people while the majority of the people I meet aren't hateful at all.

They generally want to be able to live their lives and let others do the same.

At times I'm not even sure what they are angry about.

There were alt right marchers in Portland and counter protesters.

The alt right were demonstrating because being white men in America is so oppressive.

I think.

The counter protesters think its others who are oppressed.

I think.

The theme of the protest was to end domestic terrorism, something it seems we would all agree on.

However, since alt-Right people are organizing it, I'm not sure if they are talking about the domestic terrorism of El Paso, or the fact that they are being terrorized into being politically correct.

Also not sure why they picked Portland, although it does have a pretty liberal reputation.

I guess the counter protesters want to continue whatever domestic terrorism the alt right wants to stop.

It was organized by groups in Florida which is terrible hot in August so maybe a trip to Portland seemed like a good idea.

Hope they enjoy the city.

Democracy Hi-Jacked

We have been witnessing a coup in this country which has undercut the will of the people.

It was done cleverly and legally, but the result is the same.

Its success is such that undoing it may take years, if it can ever be undone.

Realizing the importance of state legislatures in defining the framework of districts allowed the Republican party to win control in 11 additional states.

This resulted in the results of the 2010 census and the redistricting that took place to establish large number of "safe" republican districts.

They used complex computer models to devise districts that concentrated "Democratic" voters in a few districts while maintaining safe "Republican" majorities in a majority.

So a state might actually have a majority of its population vote for one party but see the House and State legislature won by the minority party.

Yes to some extent Gerrymandering has gone on for ever in this country, but now it has become scientifically aided.

Two things need to happen.  State legislative sears need to be focused on and we need a better way to design districts.

Democracy is a wonderful system if it is allowed to work.

Constitutional Amendments?

To some extent Americans treat the constitution as a sort of sacred document that was handed down to us by the founders.

It did provide a fairly good template for the nation, but lets not forget, it has been amended over 20 times.  In fact the first 10 were done to secure its acceptance.

Two of these amendment actually cancel each other out, prohibition and its repeal.

There are certainly things in the constitution that need amendment.

One is the electoral college.  It clearly distorts the idea of one person one vote and allows for results that run contrary to democratic ideals.  It therefore is supported by those who feel it benefits them disproportionately.  Its not a democratic institution and there is no real need for it.

It might be a good idea to review the second amendment and clarify what is meant by a well regulated militia.  Certainly the ability of jurisdictions to regulate guns in its own borders should be added.  It was after all designed to protect the new states from a federal overreach.

We should go ahead and ratify the equal rights amendment or something similar.  Guaranteeing that all people share the same rights and privileges just seems like the right thing to do.

We should add provisions similar to some states where the people can get measures on the ballot and approve or disapprove them.  In cases where politics is preventing things the people want we should have a provision to let the people decide.

In fact the most important thing would be to improve the participation of the people in our Government.  The Senate suffers from a non democratic representation.  Maybe we should allow one senator for every million people but no less than two?

Its very unlikely that any of these changes will take place unless there is such a public outcry they can't be denied.  Still we should certainly consider some reasonable improvements.

Our Failures Abroad

I can't think of a situation that involves any foreign nation where we are better off than we were under the previous administration.

Concerning trade and trade deals, we have no new ones, are losing our influence in Asia and are in the midst of a trade war with China.  How that might turn out is anyone's guess but the odds aren't looking favorable.

We have allowed the North Koreans to play our egomaniac who was pretty clearly outmaneuvered by theirs.  We got nothing, they got some prestige.

Japan and South Korea are having issues which while not directly involving us show how unimportant we have become.

India and Pakistan are generally ignoring us as the dispute over Kashmir continues.

The middle east is perhaps the brightest spot since we did some damage to ISIS but they continue, the Taliban is ready to retake Afghanistan and Iran is preparing to restart nuclear weapon development.  We have alienated a lot of middle eastern states by our action related to Jerusalem and the West Bank with no offsetting gain.  Our initiative there seems to be an economic one and it isn't being received well.

Russia is doing whatever it wants in the region, in the Ukraine and is likely to attempt to influence our elections.  They mainly want to destroy our institutions.

Our European allies, if we can still call them that, refused our invitation to jointly protect oil shipments in the straights of Hormuz.  They really don't have much use for us although they do support NATO.

Here in the Americas we have the issues with Central America and Immigration and our biggest failure to date in Venezuela.  Maybe this will all fall into place somehow.

We were close to a new NAFTA, not much different than the old NAFTA but it hasn't been ratified yet.

Perhaps everything will be a great success soon.  We know someone will claim it is via tweet.

Public vs Private Services

One of the more insidious change of the last 30 or 40 years is that our old system of working for a company that provided us a decent living wage, health insurance and a pension has largely disappeared.

Those things got too expensive so we have seen automation ad outsourcing make each of us a free agent.

Few companies offer traditional pensions anymore, health insurance has large deductibles and co-pays and employment is often a tenuous thing as both companies and employees feel little loyalty to each other.

Further we have seen many of our young people saddled with student debt they may never pay off.

This is not the fault of the liberal elite, it is simply the obvious result of capitalist greed.

Those who can profit from us, do.

Instead of providing things like health care, schools and pensions as a public service we have seen the proponents of privatization (and profit) argue that the public sector is too inefficient and that the private sector can do it better.

It can for those who profit from it, not those who have to use it.

This belief that the private sector is more efficient, is simply not true, it is simply better at making some people rich and milking the rest of us.

If it does it cheaper, which it usually doesn't, it is because it cuts services, not because it weeds out inefficiency.

Yes, private industry is in many ways brutal in how it is willing to overwork people and cut jobs but is that really the goal?

Racist or White Nationalist, Does it Matter?

First it should be noted that while not very common in this country, Racists can come in all skin tones.

So clearly if you are not white but still a racist, you are not going to be a white nationalist.

However another distinction arises from other factors.

White Nationalists may simply believe that their country should remain "pure"

Similar to the separate but equal doctrine, they may not feel that other races are inferior (they probably do but don't have to) only that they should go "home".

Either way you express your intolerance and bigotry, but in slightly different ways.

So what one is our President?  Probably both, although he doesn't realize he's a racist.

He has a long family history of racism, although he probably thinks the people he excluded from his apartment complexes were simply poor or dirty.

Some of them might have been, but when you can decide that by simply looking at the color of their skin, you are in fact...a racist.

The Nation's Soul

Politics for the most part used to be pretty simple, who was likely to make our lives better was the better choice.

This was primarily measured in economic terms since for the most part we agreed on some fundamental social policies.  Not everyone, but the mainstream believed in most of the same values, life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness.

Not universally but enough that we didn't see those values questioned openly.

A number of years ago, theories that used to be associated with fringe groups started going mainstream.

This coincided with the advent of cable and the internet, which allowed many more avenues for these theories to be publicized.

Whether it was simply an internal expansion or one fueled by external enemies trying to disrupt our society is something for the historians, but we started to see an us vs them set of values.

In fact one side was quick to argue that our values were under attack by forces and that "true" Americans had to stand up to those who wanted to destroy religion, patriotism, and ultimately America.

Many incidents, either real or imagined were highlighted to show how school prayer, gun rights, the Flag, and innocent unborn were under attack by mysterious forces.

Villains were identified, the liberal elite, the illegal immigrants, socialists, progressives and all those who didn't "fit" into their image of an American.

Our national soul was put in question.  As a nation of immigrants we once celebrated out differences, at least some of us did.  Now we started taking sides.

We need to restore our values and our national soul, however it doesn't seem like an easy task.  The first step would be to reject anyone promoting hate and an us vs them agenda.

All Americans and all people should enjoy our American values, life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness.  How they do that is not cookie cutter, its what they want.

Storing Energy

One of the obstacles to the wide scale use of renewable energy is the fact that it is not always available.

Solar is obviously dependent on the sun shining, wind requires wind and while hydroelectric is fairly steady, it isn't available everywhere.

So part of any solution is storing energy when it is abundant and using it when not.

One solution would be to use current non-renewable sources to supplement renewable, but that isn't a good solution since it maintains greenhouse gas emissions.

Storage in batteries is simply not efficient enough and we need to find natural solutions.

One promising technology is compressed air energy.  This article details how it may work out west.

Compressed Air Storage

This is an innovative solution that along with others need to be developed as part of our power infrastructure.

Round Up?

What really is the point of going to businesses and rounding up undocumented people who are working and paying taxes?

If the argument is that they broke the law by coming here in the first place, but are now simply living a normal working class life and raising a family, maybe the punishment should be a fine or other restriction.

We can still control our borders but at some point we have to realize that upwards of 11 million people living here came without authorization.

If they are living here we have evidence of what kind of resident they are.  If they are in fact law abiding, except for the means of entry, why are we rooting them out?

If they commit a serious crime deport them.  If not we should probably allow them to apply for a retroactive visa based on the exhibited good behavior since there arrival.

Is this amnesty?  Maybe, but it just seems like common sense.

Clueless?

What is the purpose of visiting victims of tragedies?

It would be hoped that it is designed to console and comfort the survivors as well as to possibly address ways to prevent future incidents.

Unfortunately there is nothing done by this President that is not designed with partisan politics in mind.

Since  any significant restrictions on automatic weapons is not popular with his supporters, although wanted by a large majority of Americans, it isn't part of his agenda.

He may support greater background checks, but the simple fact is that automatic weapons allow for this mas murders.

The ability to kill many people in a very short period of time is the problem and taking that away will save lives, many lives.

The people who commit these crimes might very well pass a background check, their discontent may be deeply buried.

Take away the means and they won't be able to kill so many.

Its simple enough.

New Economy

The common mantra is that the economy is doing well.

Unemployment is low, there is some uptick in wages, and the stock market has hit records.

Of course, the unemployment being low is partly related to less workforce participation, the wage increase might simply indicate that they have established a new baseline and stocks are influenced by corporate profits and future expectations.

In many ways the economy needs to be viewed as a different economy than what we had in the past.

Skilled workers who fit into the new way of doing things are in fact doing well.

Many blue collar workers or pink collar ones aren't.

They have lost jobs that used to provide entry level work to automation, not export.

So many of our activities are now done by robots or automation.

I now effectively do the work that used to be done by multiple people.  I prepare reports on a computer instead of hand writing them and giving them to a typist.  I answer all my own calls and schedule instead of having an administrative assistant. In fact I can now work from almost any location eliminating the need for office space and corresponding support staff.

Similarly in factories if you look at old photos you see many people doing tedious work that is now done by robots.

The new economy is doing well but people who were prosperous in the old economy aren't generally doing great.  They may be working is a low paying service job, and they may have adjusted to it, but it isn't the same.

He Needs to Go

The president needs to go to El Paso to make a statement against the perpetrators of this horrific crime.

Some are arguing that he shouldn't be there and blame him at lest in part for the hate that inspired the shooting.

He may in fact share some of the responsibility which makes it all the more imperative that he take a strong stand against this and any violence.

As much as he bears some responsibility he must be part of the solution.

Failure to go will be non-verbal approval of the act, distinguishing these dead Americans as not worthy of a visit.

Of course he also might say or do things that are problematic, but lets hope not.

As the President of all the people, at least until the next election, he needs to be just that.

Lets hope he can be, at least for this tragedy.

Hot, Hot, Hot!

Well we are setting new records for summer heat resulting in massive ice melts as well as Siberian forest fires.

Europe has had record heat waves and water levels in the oceans continue to rise.

The attitude of this administration is along the lines of not impeding American businesses ability to compete by imposing environmental regulations on them.

It is true that we are not the only culprits but this is akin to cutting off your nose to spite your face.

Most other countries are signatories to the Paris accords which we withdrew from.

It is hard to find anyone paying even a bit of attention who doesn't believe in Global Warming.

Well actually we know where one is supposed to be.

The white house, although more often than not on a golf course.

Maybe the hot weather will get his attention there.

More Dead

Maybe its the heat but we have had a spate of mass shootings in the last couple of weeks, Gilroy, El Paso and now Dayton.

There is no justification for them and they also seem to stem from various mental defects.

We have the suspect from El Paso but the other two died in their events.

We are not going to be able to identify people likely to commit such a crime, we don't have the resources or the capability.  It is also almost certain that for every loner who picks up a gun there are many, many more who don't.

The only real common denominator is the guns they use and their ability to kill large numbers of people in a short time.

People have a constitutional right to bear arms, but not any arms.  We certainly wouldn't allow a citizen to have a nuclear device.  What about a gun that fired a nuclear bullet?

We can place sensible restrictions on deadly weapons without attacking that right.  It was never intended for this.

People are People

I used to wonder how the people of countries like Italy and Germany allowed dictators to take over the country.

Unfortunately I am seeing how public indifference and lack of awareness allows the erosion of people's liberties.

Maybe not yours, but if you think it is OK to take young children away from their mothers, make them sleep in cages and fail to provide them adequate care, you have started down the path to totalitarianism.

All people deserve to be treated how we would want to be treated.  It doesn't matter if they are from a different country, practice a different religion or have a different skin tone, they are people.

One we start down the road of them versus us we are on a dangerous road indeed.  It generally ends up badly for

Debt Bubble

In general Americans are poorer today than they were at the turn of the century in 2000.

Since that time average household income is up about 14% but big ticket items like housing, college, health care, cars ate up much more.

In order to keep up we borrow and debt is at an all time high.  This is actually what one would expect as the population increases, but per capita debt has also risen significantly.

So a modest increase in income offset by significant increase in debt does not equate to a great economy.

It equates to a economy that is at risk.

The increase in debt is possible because we have seen interest rates kept artificially low.

Similar to previous periods when the economic elements get our of kilter, there is usually a dramatic adjustment.

That adjustment is needed to bring debt and incomes into balance.  It could be inflation, deep recession or something unpredictable, but these type of out of balance situations are not sustainable over the long term.

We have a debt bubble and it will pop.

Just when is the question?

Climate

It was another night of self inflicted attacks but it was a bit more interesting.

There is still a lot of time left and whether the current front runner survives is pretty uncertain.  He will at least make it to the first few primaries where we will see how he does.

The media likes to portray this as a battle between the moderates and the progressives, but I don't really see it that way.

The fundamental issue is whether the American people are willing to accept that Government is needed to solve problems and that it will cost something.

For many years the argument has been that private industry and American ingenuity was the way to go and Government merely got in the way.  Of course this ran against the fact that self interest prevents private industry from addressing big issues, like climate change or health care.

Of course to some extent if the American public was willing to only patronize companies that had good records in those areas it might be effective.  However, we are generally going to opt for the option that is best for us.

Big problems, especially climate change, requires the Government.  As a capitalistic country the way to accomplish this is by taxing the profits or penalizing companies that cause the problem.

Yes those taxes will probably be passed along, but if imposed on the worst companies, they will also encourage more environmental purchases.

The other alternative is mass relocations because of coastal flooding and more and more horrific weather events.

Its not really an option.