Virus Roulette

 You might wonder why the virus variants become more and more infectious?  Realize that the virus needs a host to replicate.  There are only so many available hosts.  The more hosts you can infect the faster you will spread. So evolution creates the competition to survive and whoever does it best survives and spreads.

The more it spreads the less other variants can spread.  Unless some other selection process supersedes the infectious one it will dominate, possibly for a long time.

The Vaccine prepares you body to fight it off.  Keeping it out of your system is The vaccine can't keep you from being exposed but it can prepare you immune system to defeat it.

Many times when something makes us sick it is our immune responses that are the symptoms.  The infection creates a battle where we create and deploy antibodies.  This process creates symptoms such as fever, coughing and others dependent on the infection.  If the antibodies can spring into action faster and easier we can avoid the worst symptoms, but are still "infected".  

Vaccines are meant to help you avoid serious symptoms.  They can't help you avoid contagion but a mask can.  Perhaps the use of the term herd immunity is misleading.  The immunity is to the disease symptoms caused by the immune response not to being infected.  If the infection causes no real danger, that is enough.

Not getting vaccinated is a bit like playing Russian Roulette but every so often adding another bullet to the chamber.  Surviving the early rounds only makes the later rounds more dangerous.

Missing The Joke?

 One of the things we have all probably experienced was a spoof.  Sometimes you are in on the joke and other times you are not. Some jokes are simply for fun and others not so much.

It just seems to me that we are seeing an elaborate spoof or practical joke being played on Republicans and the country.  I don't think it is simply for fun.  The inside group is playing the rest of the party for all the cash they can get and maybe just to see how far they can go.  

I think it is the cash driving them mainly.

Republican appeal to the majority of America has faded and doesn't seem to be coming back.  However they have a significant group of desperate people who want to reestablish restrictive moral and return to the days of white supremacy  Some inroads look like they are being made and just a few donations more might result in victory.

Maybe they will, but I'm convinced the leadership of the party knows better.  They want to get as much money as they can while they can.  

The result of the last election are really not in dispute and while they managed to nominate "conservative" Supreme Court Justices, those people did go to law school and generally had fairly distinguished careers, whatever their personal beliefs were.  The are unlikely to ignore the precedents and simply undo the work of their predecessors.  

We also see American attitudes towards things change over time.  Gay marriage, alternative life styles and other social attitudes are not what they were 20 years ago.  

The spoof will continue as long as the donations flow.

America will however wise up.

White Fantasy

 If you object to things being done by the Biden Administration, fine, we all have the right to have opinions.  However if your main objection is that he stole the election, get over it.  He demonstrably didn't and further he couldn't.

If you are being told that everything you see and hear in the mainstream media is lies, why would you believe that lie?  Somehow the country is being controlled by the "Deep State" and they are ignoring the will of the people.  No, and No.  The will of the people does not equate to what a group of white power  people think it should be.  Its the will of everybody.

I ran across a video on You Tube called "Am I the Only One" where in a catchy tune the singer talks about how upset he is by something.  He never details what it is but it involves the flag and our ancestors who served this country.  He mentions statues coming down in a town near you and my conclusion was that he is reaching out to other white people to object to diversity in America.  Well we've always had diversity and it has made us great.  In fact the song would make more sense if it was sung by someone who had real grievances.

Lets be real.  The current Republican agenda seems to be winning the votes of the declining white population and suppressing everyone else.  Make America great again was never about America, it was about White America.

There really isn't any racial division except for the irrelevant skin color.  To believ there is somethin better about white people in America tells me only one thing.  You think you are one of them.

Danger to Yourself and Others!

 Its pretty well established law that if you are infected with a deadly infectious disease the State can make you quarantine or impose a quarantine on you for public safety.

The State is responsible for the well being of all of its citizens and at times the rights of an individual must be sacrificed.  The rights of prisoners are clearly taken away but the crimes.  You might feel that prisoners are guilty of something but we clearly have chosen the level of punishment which can vary significantly between locations.

While not a law people are deciding not to get vaccinated which is hazardous behavior to both themselves and others.  That is one of the test to determine if mentally ill people can be detained.  In this case they would qualify. 

Some argue that the vaccines are only approved for emergency use which seems totally irrelevant to me.  This is a public health emergency so they are appropriate for use.  Further at is point we are developing a reliable history of safe usage.

There is the possibility of some long term effects that we don't know about. Since we don't know about them they might not exist or could even be beneficial impacts.  

I grew up in an era were young men were drafted into the Army whether they wanted to or not and many of those men were sent into combat with the very real risk of death.  A fair number of them did die.  Some objected as conscientious objectors and others fled the country.  The right of the individual are not always supreme

Get vaccinated or be subject to the consequences.  You friends and neighbors have selected you to receive a vaccine.  Its for the safety of everyone.

Call Up the Militia!

 What if everything collapsed?  Maybe it could be a resurgence of Covid with a new deadly strain or even another virus.  Perhaps a war could break out and escalate until we are all living in Nuclear Winter.  We could see a world economic collapse such as the great depression where what we have becomes worthless and what we need becomes unaffordable.  

Any of these things could happen and the only saving grace for some of those scenarios is that most of us might not survive to see the devastation.  I can think of additional events that could upend society quickly, such as massive volcanic eruptions that recreated frozen earth as the sun was blocked out.  

The results would be catastrophic and impossible to react to on an individual basis.  I suspect people would react in their own perceived self interest and it would resemble disaster movies with looting, violence and perhaps cannibalism as food ran out.

Lets hope it doesn't happen, any of that.  What is happening, more slowly, is climate change and people are already dying because of it.  

We see it coming but aren't willing to do simple things that could mitigate the danger.  This is a real problem and we should activate all those well regulated militias to help stop it.  Of course they can't shoot it but they can set examples.  

Of course we all know they aren't well regulated and aren't really militias.

They just like guns.

Need Reality Check

 We are in July and there are still people in this country who refuse to accept the certified election.   They seem to think that their fellow citizens cheat?  They were told this by a failed businessman turned reality tv star.  ?????? 

The idea that would believe this indicates a sad trend in America, and the World.  Lies spread easily while truth is slow.  The people spreading the lies most likely don't believe them.  They do it to raise money and cause outrage.  They hope this will lead to gains in the midterms.

Sadly they may succeed.  Most Americans tend to consider politics as a mystery unless they are directly impacted.   This had led to a situation where guests generations of people identify with the same party.  Issues are not that important unless one is.  For example if you are a farmer the farm subsidies and policies are important but most other programs are giveaways.

Generally many people vote for someone based on very little information.  I used to travel a lot and you notice certain things.  Scripts are clearly distributed based on party and you can hear the same message from a candidate in many states.  

This lack of interest can result in "safe" districts where winning a primary is a guarantee of winning an election.  It all comes down to a pretty small number of contested didtricts.

Create a Bright Future

 It seems like many of the people who previously said not to get the vaccine are now changing their tune.  I guess the results are becoming clear, the unvaccinated are getting seriously ill and dying from Covid while the vaccinated aren't.  You can certainly argue that they are a bit late, but better late than never.

The reticence was always political and never scientific.  The vast majority of those saying the vaccine was a danger got vaccinated long ago.  They were willing to risk other people's lives to keep the administration from reaching some goals.  What they don't seem to understand is that making or not making a vaccination goal is not a political win or loss, it is a people issue.

It remains to be seen how the majority of Americans react to good old fashioned governance.  The current administration seems to be sticking to its guns on its goals and is trying to use the bully pulpit.  Its agenda is actually good for America and for its people since it will propel us into the future being less polluting and more accepting.

Some don't seem to want a prosperous free future because it accepts people of all colors, religions and sexual orientation  White America is in danger and needs to be protected?  We never had such an America, at least not on paper.

All men are created equal, which includes women, precludes such a thing.  

We need to let all the people work towards the future, not just a privileged few.

Suckers Born Every Minute!

 I don't see many of these anymore, but in the past I've been contacted by Nigerian Princes, Bankers and inport export officials about a fortune I could have either because of my last name or some other situation where all I had to do was fill our a form and send some good faith money.

The situation was usually related to the fact that someone with my last name had perished with a fortune but no heirs.  Its a considerable amount of money and what they needed as a good faith deposit was quite affordable.

My last name is not the most common but it is also not the most uncommon.  The first time I got that e-mail I did think about it but decided that the money didn't really belong to me so I deleted it.

Clearly some don't delete it.

Scams continue because people fall for them.  

There seem to be an unlimited number of middle aged woman or older who are willing to send strange men they have never met some money to help him get home to this country.  You can see them on daytime TV being shown the evidence that they have been CatFished yet some still don't believe it.  They seem to be of average or better intelligence but they are convinced this is real and they have found a true soul mate.

So cons do work at least among some of us.  We now are seeing the big Con or big Lie being perpetrated about the last election.  The evidence is clear enough but many refuse to accept reality.

The Cons go on.

Science is Not Political

 There is a story of a politician who introduced a bill about determining the area of a circle.  This would have changed PI to a set value of 3.2.  It was initially received by the rest of the legislature with enthusiasm until it became the subject of ridicule almost everywhere.  You can't dictate scientific results in a legislature and PI remains as irrational as ever.

The lesson here is that science is what we discover, and if any laws apply to it they aren't man-made.  Further scientific laws and facts are subject to revision as we continue to explore the natural world.  

Yes at times there may be some uncertainty regarding causes of certain phenomena but that doesn't call into question the entire situation.  Climate change is happening for example and what might be in question is the percent of the various causes or how much they each contribute to it.  What is not in question by any reputable scientist is the human activity is one of the causes.  So whether it is 90% or 10% doesn't change the fact that we should reduces the contribution.

Similarly we see Covid 19 as a potentially deadly virus to which we have a vaccine that works.  Currently the latest variant is responsible for the majority of cases in this country and the vast majority of seriously ill people are not vaccinated.  Science shows us a way to reduce the number of people dying but politics has led them down a potentially deadly path.  It never should have been about politics.

Our reaction to the scientific threats of climate change and the virus can vary.  Shut down and wear masks or risk lives and behave normally.  The spectrum of reaction should be debated but the scientific consequences should be honestly evaluated.  In budget resolutions we have an office to evaluate the impact of budget decisions, the Congressional Budget Office.  

Because it uses math it is generally accepted by all.  Lets treat science with similar respect. 

The Will Of the People!

 I'm sure every political system has quirks but the one I'm familiar with is our two party system and it has failed to adequately represent most of the people in this country.

In fact, there is so much mis-information going on that while you might think you are voting for someone who represents you you very likely aren't.

A big part of the problem is that we have evolved a system where only the two major parties really get to play.

The system does allow for others to qualify but that is an onerous process with little likelihood of success even if you can get on the ballot.

Too many of us are going to vote for our party, right or wrong.  In many districts the party of choice is a sure way to secure a victory.  The challenge therefore is to become the party nominee which is a much easier thing.  Voters mostly like to participate in real elections, because voting is inconvenient.  

We saw a move to make it more convenient but that led to results the Republicans didn't like so they are reversing that as much as possible.

Low participation in primaries allows factions to win.  If you can excite a significant group to show up and vote, it can go a long way to becoming the nominee.  This is why any of our representatives hold views that are not representative of the majority of their party.  

The solution for this would be to make voting so easy that effectively everyone voted.

The more voters you have the more likely the candidate represents the majority.

Call it apathy but we have low turnout in primaries and off year elections leading to readicalization.

Lets reflect the will of the people!.

Some Opinions are Worthless

 One of the things that has happened in this country and I imagine around the world is that we now treat all opinions as sort of equal.

Well they aren't is one is based on actual expertise.

Just because he was able to reach millions of people on social media did not make Donald Trump and expert on anything.  In fact the evidence is clear he was more wrong than right.

His birther arguments were clearly wrong and I can't think of any opinion he had that was right.

Still, he managed to win in 2016 because of the lies spread about his opponent, primarily.

I'm mystified by the reaction to Hillary Clinton who has a long career of public service and achievement.  Still she was attacked so often that some of it seemed to stick, although to date I'm not aware of any sort of prosecution.

I was watching Rand Paul attack Dr. Fauci about some inanity.  I gather the NIH funded some research that led to a paper discussing the results of gene research where various viruses were combined.  Now Rand Paul considered that gain of function research.  No one with expertise agrees with him since the research was not trying to achieve gain of function.  Its possible to argue this point, I guess, but the scientists know what is going on while Paul is looking to establish blame.  I know who I believe.

This desire to find someone to blame seems misplaced.  Of course that seems to be the way the whole Republican agenda is going, find something to criticize and go all out.  One might be better served if they looked for solutions instead.

IRS Needs to Collect

 Its one thing to have tax laws that protect wealthy people and allow thme to legally pay fewer taxes than you would expect them to.  Its another thing to then cut the IRS to the point that they can cheat and get away with it.

In the latest infrastructure bill, there was a proposal to replace funding that has been cut under Republican administrations.  The Republicans have forced its removal.  Now lets be honest, the IRS is unable to collect all the taxes due and the ones doing the most cheating are not your average taxpayers.

Estimates are in the trillions of dollars that we don't collect.

Do all the big companies cheat?

Depends on what you call cheating.  

Tax codes tend to be complex and many deductions can be claimed with just a bit of a stretch.  Take something like depreciation which can greatly reduce your taxable income.  Mis-categorizing assets can lead to big reductions in current taxes.  In fact there are enough areas to result in significantly reduced taxes.  Without audits we are not catching them.

In the relatively rare cases we do, they are generally able to negotiate a settlement that is significantly less than what the tax would have been.

Republicans will probably tell people they are reducing Government oversight.  Well the average person is unable to cheat like the big boys but is probably more afraid of an audit.  

We all pay for this and will continue to pay into the future since we have to borrow more.

No one should cheat on their taxes but some get away with millions or even billions.

That's our money really.

Democracy and Government

 John Kennedy famously said in a speech, "ask not what your country can do for you, ask what you can do for your country."

This was reflecting the era following World War 2 when the country had survived the challenge of totalitarianism and was facing the threat of communism.  It also reflected the fact that he was the son of privilege who had served his country heroically, but who otherwise had reaped its benefits his whole life.

The Kennedys are among the elite families in this country thanks to Joseph Kennedy.  Having everything you could possibly want makes it easy to dedicate yourself to public service. Most of us don't have that luxury.

In the 60s many of us did feel that we could and we saw a period of altruistic behavior.  Still it didn't actually last, we saw greed take over and a situation where politicians decided they needed to milk the Government for self interest.

Government is the creation of its people, although generally not all of its people.  It should help those people with functions that are beyond the ability of individuals to perform.

As stirring as Kennedy's words were, they are in fact backwards.  The idea that the people should support the Government is not logical.  Government is a creation of the people.  It can not be greater than the people.

We know at times people are conflicted over the best solution.  The only way to decide Government behavior is true democracy.  

Government is there to serve the people, not a privileged few.  

Absurd Conspiracy

 It is a bit amazing when people argue that a giant conspiracy is able to manipulate election reporting and falsify results.  The reason I find that amazing is that if one side had that much control we wouldn't be having this discussion, at least not publicly.

It implies a secret, large, conspiracy of people occupying high positions in Government?

Maybe these type of conspiracy theories last so long because people simply can't accept that their views are not popular?

It is hard to explain how they manage to keep going when we have seen control of the Government change between parties numerous times.  Since these changes are mostly the leadership of the agencies I gather they think the civil servants share some basic beliefs and manage to secretly team up without the leadership being aware to actually run things?

This would be a conspiracy that would be simply impossible to maintain.

Its also unclear how it would impact the various states that run their own elections and count their own ballots.

But it would also be clear that if so many people in these positions held these beliefs, they might not have to cheat, just count the votes.

Patriotic Reporting

 We have some great public services but we focus on the errors.   We live in a country where the average citizen can get the same public services as everyone else.  Now some things go awry but often because of how we define it.

Social Security and Medicare have helped millions and millions of our seniors but some have bad experiences.  Those are what we focus on.  The unusual is the news not the reliable delivery of services.

Give a thought to the food and drug we use.  We take their safety for granted.  What greater proof of excellent service.

Despite this much of the American public distrust the Government because of media propaganda.  Who has an interest in undermining America?

Clearly it benefits out foreign adverseries.

Journalism needs to uncover facts and report on them.  Drawing conclusions that undermine our society is another matter.  Claiming to unpatriotic is simply a lie.  Clearly they arent.

Civil Discourse?

 One of the things about our country is that in many ways it is multiple countries and they are held together by adherence to a single document, the constitution.  There are various differences, This isn't all that unusual in big countries but we are seeing the differences grow instead of blending.

Perhaps it was always like this.  It didn't seem so but our differences are highlighted for profit by media that sells sensationalism.  It seems a bit odd that we have a popular media outlet that says they are the only ones telling the truth and many believe them.

We pride ourselves in this country on freedom of speech and freedom of choice but it doesn't seem to run very deep.  If you disagree with either side you will be attacked (cancelled) and possibly hurt financially or socially. 

Cancelling is an interesting term and it seems like an exaggeration.  Being ruined because of past errors in not really new but with social media it seems quicker.  Of course caring what people say on social media is up to you, but it may affect your marketability.

You would think that all this communication on social media would help to blend the nation but instead it seems to have divided us more.  Honest two sided discussions are rare, mostly what we see are opinions for one side voiced vociferously.  If you object the normal tactic is to be abused, verbally and at times physically.  

Civility is not very evident.

The Future

 If you think of the America of a hundred years from now what do you imagine?

Do you want a country where some people are given advantages over others?

Where wealth is concentrated in the hands of a few while everyone else struggles?

Where health care is not available for many?

Where getting an education requires a lifetime of debt?

Where much of our coastline and western regions are effectively uninhabitable due to Climate Change?

Where everyone has to conform to the religious views of the majority?

If not we need to elect people who recognize the dangers of the present and build the future.

Converting to green energy to try to stem the harm of climate change.

Fixing our tax system to allow for great success but a sharing of the burden among those who can best afford it.

Making sure opportunities like education are provided to all without unreasonable expense.

Police who respect the rights of all our citizens and who use force in very limited circumstances.

Allowing everybody to live their best life.

Health care for all without fear of the cost.

New infrastructure to support the needs of business and individuals.

The America we believed we lived in, lets make it a reality.

Imagined Crisis

 It is so hard to understand what the GOP is proposing as solutions to the problems facing us today.  I suppose their position on immigration is the clearest, simply stop it, but how they would do that is vague.  Build a wall wouldn't help much based on studies and many come here legally and never go back.  I suppose they want to spend lots of money raiding places to find them and send them back.  It would be expensive and disruptive and it wouldn't solve the problem.  The Democratic solution is to treat them fairly, allow those fleeing oppression entry and deny undesirables, and providing the newcomers a path to citizenship over time.  Basically the same policies this country grew on.

Would the additional diversity hurt or help?  We are built on the diversity of the past and it will keep our society both fair and vibrant.  If however your goal is to keep the country white and Christian it may look like a problem.  

We also have a number of areas that may or may not be significant problems.  Take crime.  We saw some increase but it may already be reversing.  If you listen to right wing media it is because we have become soft on crime and are letting criminals our of prisons too early.  I haven't seen any evidence of that but its what they consider a good scare tactic.  They are more interested in scaring voters than being honest, hoping they can take more seats and add disfunction to the Government.  

We haven't had the recession they claimed we would so they are now saying inflation is going to destroy us.  Is it?  We haven't seen that much of it yet and what we have seen is pretty explainable as the economy booms and some items go into short supply.  Yes some things are higher but we aren't looking at a crisis unless you watch propaganda media.

I know Republicans are talking about the disasters impacting us, while they mostly ignore the biggest ones, climate change and income disparity.  Those don't serve their purpose and they won't help with the solutions.

Is It Education or Politics?

There was a period in history when a few nations from Western Europe came to dominate much of the World.

The reasons for this are complex and is some cases a matter of luck but from the sixteenth century to the last one we saw this colonialism and warlike culture dominate.

During that time, they defended themselves as bringing civilization to the natives, many of whom had long cultural histories that while different were often well developed.  Still the Europeans were saving their souls by bringing their religion to them while often enslaving or abusing their bodies.

The only thing that was insisted on was that the home European country profited from the exchange.

In this country we essentially joined the group of colonial powers after we managed to escape the control of one of them.  We proceeded to expand across this continent and ultimately to places in more remote locations.

We look at this growth with some pride as America became a great nation but in doing so we trampled on the rights of others, enslaving some, displacing or killing others. 

So to learn history requires learning all of this, the good and the bad.  To try to sanitize it for our youth is simply indoctrinating them into a false world.

They say ignoring history dooms you to repeating it and while it would be hard to replicate some of it, we see many States trying to replicate the post restoration period by trying to control who votes.

Honest education without political intervention is the best education, even if it covers things you don't like.

 

Whom Do You Trust?

 If you assume the current craziness over the last election is a temporary period of insanity, the main political difference between the Republican party and the Democratic party is Republicans think helping rich people is better than helping poor people.

By helping I mean providing economic benefits.

The theory is that certain worthy and innovative people grow the economy and create jobs for others.  Removing impediments and providing some economic incentives will ultimately help everyone.  

Democrats feel that the people who are at the bottom of the food chain need the help, and since they will spend the money on needed thing it will help the economy also.

The problem with the first approach is that it has never been proven to work and to whatever extent it does work it may very well benefit only favored groups.  It can be called trickle down but it generally results in the rich getting richer.  There have been times when industry was forced to add things like health insurance and pensions to attract workers, but is that a reliable strategy?

Providing those things to all citizens would be fairer.

The number of people benefitting from those type of benefits has been shrinking as companies shed benefits to stay competitive.  

This reliance on corporate benefits is hardly fair.  

Vaccines are Working and Safe

 Its pretty clear that the new cases of Covid 19 are almost totally among the unvaccinated.  Unfortunately because of the vaccines being available we are seeing more and more restrictions being lifted for everybody and we have a more contagious variant.  This is leading to a higher infection rate among the unvaccinated.

If you have been safe and/or lucky u to this point your risk is escalating.  The simple answer is to get the vaccine and the idea that the vaccine is risky is hard to sustain.  

When I see people asked why they won't get the vaccine the responses fall into two categories.  One group maintains that Covid isn't real or not dangerous and why take something for it?  I guess not believing the statistics is not going to change.  

The other group is essentially afraid of the vaccine side effects.  There were some minor ones that in the scheme of things got a lot of media attention but really didn't do much.  It is true that there might be some longer term issues but that is both unlikely and unknowable.  The immediate risk of getting Covid is so much more relevant.

There also seems to be a degree of stubbornness involved as some people decided early on they weren't going to get the experimental vaccine and are sticking by that decision.

Well we have enough evidence that the vaccines work, have few side effects and there is a dangerous highly infectious variant spreading.  

Its pretty simple, get the vaccine or probably get the virus.

Safety is a Government Responsibility

 I think of myself as a libertarian meaning I would like less Government interference in my personnel life.  However when it comes to things that I would have no way of overseeing, like the safety of our foods I think Government is essential.

I don't think the Government should be involved in what I think, worship, date, etc, etc.  These are personnel issues and the overnment should stay out of them.  On the other hand the Government shouldn't tell me what to eat, they should tell me the food is safe.

Now for something like that we have two choices.  Let the seller tell us to trust him or have an independent group certify the food is safe.  Whether that group is part of the Government or an industry group doesn't matter if the industry group is truly independent and therefore effectively Government.

It would certainly be nice if everyone could be trusted but we all know better.  Financial gain is often the predominant factor.

Imposing standards and inspections to make sure we aren't being poisoned or put at risk is a task best performed by Government. 

I have no way to verify the products are safe without it. 

Being Safe

 Well the Hurricane/Tropical Storm passed by here in a hurry and didn't make a big impact, although if you lost power or had a tree fall on your house or car you may feel differently.

Our perspective on things is always related to how it impacts you personally.  Take crime.  The fear of crime is a big boost to our economy and yet despite the alarm systems and video doorbells criminals find a way.

Of course some crimes are mostly annoyances without much danger to you personally.  Take identity theft.  Horrible as the consequences can be you will not be physically injured.  

Violent crime is a different matter.  Obviously the violent part results in death or injury.  So we would like to see a reduction in all crime but especially the violent type.

Violent crime is generally not random with a few exceptions.  If someone decides to open fire in a mall or at a movie theatre, it becomes a matter of luck.  How to prevent that is problematic and possibly related to gun availability.  

The vast majority of violent crimes are not random.  Most victims knew their attackers or had a relationship with them.  Many are related to family members who "lose" it.  

Many of these crimes occur because the guns are readily available.  If you lose it with a nearby gun you may do something you regret for the rest of your life.  Up to you.

Why So Afraid?

 I really have trouble understanding why people are convinced the Government is out to get them.  Now I do understand how people who do illegal things would worry but if you are following the law and simply living your life, the Government is not your enemy.

There are some who seem to think they have no say but of course they do if they vote.  If they don't vote they still do to some extent.  Voting doesn't give you total control, there are other voters but not voting takes away any input you might have.  Still no one is out to get you unless of course you did something wrong.

Governments are run by people and many of those people are pretty corrupt.  Politicians in general do pretty well for themselves and getting elected gives them power.  That power can lead to corruption and our system generally rewards the people with money who can influence the people in power.

However, why would those people be after you?

They probably don't even know you exist.

Important Issues are Simple

 Can we have a Government that works for all of us or is the country so divided that we can't?

Some issues like abortion seem too divisive but whether that is even a Government issue is the question?  Since it is primarily driven by people's religious beliefs it seems like Government should stay out of it.  Clearly one side disagrees with that.  But are social issues enough to divide us as a nation?

Some of the biggest issues revolve around things that might not even be true.  Some proponents of smaller Government object to actions the Government has never taken.  The actions they are taking are mostly not controversial.  

We have removed our troops from Afghanistan which is being criticized by certain pundits but not by the American public.  Why keep our young people there?

It reminds me of when we were mired in Vietnam keeping it free of Communism.  Well that didn't work and keeping it free of fundamentalists is unlikely to work either.  We live in a world where diverse societies live differently than we do.  When we see oppressed people we might want to let them work it out instead of interfering.

I think the news media harp too much on foreign affairs.  I want a Government that focuses on protecting its citizens from all threats whether domestic of foreign.  I also want a Government that ensures all Citizens share the same opportunities regardless of who they are, what they look like, what they believe or where they came from.  I want a country that works with a safe infrastructure, affordable education and a safety net for citizens who need it.  I want a country where health care and retirement security are available to all.

Is that too much to ask?

A Percentage Increase In Crime Depends On the Base

 No body like crime, except maybe the criminal.  As bad as crime is violent crime is even worse.

We have seen an increase in violent crime starting in 2020 and possibly continuing into this year.  There are numbers out there that can sound scary about murders when you look at percent increases.  While we don't think any murders are good, it should be noted that these increase are off a comparatively low base.

Since 1990 homicides in the US dropped from a rate over 9 per 100,000 to under 5.  Last year it ticked up to around 6 with more in certain big cities.

Is it a new trend or an aberration?  I don't think anyone knows.  I also don't think anyone knows why.  

What hasn't changed is that most individual homicides are perpetrated by people who know each other.  any particular person's chance of being killed by a stranger is very low.

Is there a crime surge going on?  Surge would be a strong word since most crime is still trending down.  There has been an increase in violent crime and it might just be related to the situation last year when so much was shut down and people spent more time at home.

Gun sales are up and how that impacts the homicide rate is always debatable. 

Some crimes are preventable by increased police presence, but homicides are generally unpredictable and unpreventable.

Almost all crime is opportunistic, since criminals generally do what's easiest.  The theft of Amazon deliveries is certainly up although many people don't even know they were robbed, just that they never got the delivery.

You likelihood of being murdered by a stranger is almost zero and is likely to stay that way.  

Your friends and relatives are another matter.

Fooling Mother Nature Ends Badly

 There used to be an ad for an imitation butter that ended with the line "Its not nice to fool Mother Nature! It was a memorable commercial although I don't know if it sold much margarine.  

Of course you can't fool mother nature and everything we do gets reflected.  The earth has never been stable, the evidence shows many different stages over the millennia, ranging from a world covered in Water, one covered in Ice and various stages in between, like the one we are in.

These changes take place over time frames that generally make them irrelevant to short lived creatures like us.  The fact that they happened is demonstrated in the evidence as is the fact that we have had a number of extinction events in the past.  There is no reason to think we have seen the last of those.

In fact we might be the cause of the current extinction event.  We may also be its victims.

In the last month we have seen extreme heat in areas of North America that have never been that hot, and some people died.

We can only survive in a certain temperature range and heat can be deadly.  Since we are also causing the oceans to rise as the Glaciers melt we may very well have seen one of the early impacts of that as substructures of waterfront high-rises get weakened.  We are seeing historic drought in the Western part of the country and we are expecting another dangerous hurricane season.  The rest of the world is also feeling mother nature's wrath.

It not fake butter its the reintroduction of carbon that is the culprit.  Natural processes removed it from the atmosphere allowing our species to flourish.  

Maybe we abused that and a correction is coming?   

We still have time to act but it is getting late.

July 4th

 We celebrate the 4th of July as the Nation's birthday although it took another five years of fighting before Yorktown where the war was won.  During that period there were dark periods and the outcome was uncertain.  

We merged 13 Colonies each with somewhat different origins.  Despite their differences they became one country, although that was only truly finalized after the Civil War and we are still trying to provide all our citizens with equal opportunities.

In the history of the World we are still a fairly young country that remains a model for many others on how to achieve success or the American Dream.  

Lets remain a beacon of liberty and freedom while moving into the future. 

Celebrate Our History Honestly!

 Is America a land of equality or is it a land where some people are more privileged than others?

Of course we started out with residents who had almost no rights at all.  Slavery was already becoming regional but it was legal.  We also didn't think Native Americans were entitled to many rights, if any.

Our history is fairly long and certainly not always pretty.  However it is what made us who we are today.

Slavery was a big part of it and it led to one of our defining moments, the Civil War, which was hardly civil.  It wasn't about much except slavery since the party of Lincoln was an anti slavery party and that led to succession.  

We also know that when the war was over and slavery abolished, many slaves were free in name only.  Of course some rose above those problems but some of those, like the prosperous ones in Tulsa, learned that success was  ephemeral.

The history of Black Americans is different and their culture reflects that.  Generally speaking all Americans share a basic culture and history but groups share additional experiences.  The Irish American culture reflects the legacy of the long fight for freedom from the English and the horrors of the potato famine.  This is true for almost all immigrant groups.

Blacks have a history forged in this country.  Yes they originated in Africa but few have much of a connection.  They are Americans and their culture is unique to them but shared with all Americans.

It has nothing to do with a theory which has been misinterpreted beyond recognition, it has to do with facts and history.  

Time Has Come to Act

 The collapse of the condo building in Miami is a real tragedy for the people lost and their families and already know that we won't know for a while what the real cause was, but it is at least likely it is related to the rising sea levels and impact on the foundation.  Sea water is corrosive but how big a contributor to this was it?

Miami and much of Florida is going to be severely impacted by climate change as the ocean rises.  The issue this raises is how seriously they react to this.  If I lived on the coastline I would be hoping the cause was a flaw in construction. 

Sadly despite being on the front lines of climate impact many Floridians are skeptical.  I think the science is starting to win but that remains to be seen.  

Once again this year we are seeing phenomena that are explained as events that only happen every 1000 years if ever climate wise.  Drought in the Southwest, extreme heat in the Northwest, early hurricanes in the East.  Once might see a trend as to why every year we seem to have extremes related to a warming earth and not random.  This is called a trend.

We need to take significant action to combat this and doing that will also help the economy while saving lives.

Why wait? 

Trust?

 There is an old story that I think has an element of truth about when Roman England was being overrun by Saxons.  The Saxons invited the leaders to a dinner to forge a friendship and weapons were prohibited.  The Saxons however hid knives in their boots and at a signal from their leader pulled them out and slaughtered their neighbors.  This act of treachery was an early indicator of who these invaders were.

We loo at this act of betrayal as a bad thing but it helped lead to a Germanic takeover of Britain and many here are proud to refer to their Anglo Saxon heritage.  

Things like this were not unique to Saxons, this world has been governed by a simple rule, might makes right.  You take what you can and leave what is well protected.  If you lived in those days your best option was to protect yourself by aligning with a powerful leader who others would not want to anger.

We tend to think the world is different now but is it?  Most of the world was in states of near constant warfare for much of history.  Humans are greedy and somewhat bloodthirsty.  You are on the strong side or you are at risk.  

So if your sworn enemies invite you to a feast as a gesture of friendship you might want to secure a weapon to protect yourself.