Link to Op Ed Column
Friday, May 29, 2015
Wednesday, May 27, 2015
Iran & Saudi Arabia are Where Peace Will Be Found
And not until they are ready to talk to each other will there be an effective way to combat ISIS.
Thomas Friedman takes that thought a bit further and amplifies it.
He makes a coherent case that putting U.S. boots on the ground is a recipe for disaster without any clear path to a successful outcome because the one thing removing dictators in the Middle East from ruling is to illustrate that the basic building block of a modern civilization is missing. That building block is a belief that life is not a zero sum game between citizens. Working together we make things better for everyone.
Link to Thomas Friedman column
And while I am writing, I will note that I picked up a reader in Cambodia. I don't think internet is that widely available in Cambodia so it must be either a government official or a banker cruising blogs when they should be working.
Thomas Friedman takes that thought a bit further and amplifies it.
He makes a coherent case that putting U.S. boots on the ground is a recipe for disaster without any clear path to a successful outcome because the one thing removing dictators in the Middle East from ruling is to illustrate that the basic building block of a modern civilization is missing. That building block is a belief that life is not a zero sum game between citizens. Working together we make things better for everyone.
Link to Thomas Friedman column
And while I am writing, I will note that I picked up a reader in Cambodia. I don't think internet is that widely available in Cambodia so it must be either a government official or a banker cruising blogs when they should be working.
Saturday, May 23, 2015
Micro Beads Illustrate Why Environmental Regulation is Necessary & Congress & the NSA
I have been concerned about micro-beads every since I first heard of them a few months ago. They are microscopic pieces of plastic that are put into things like toothpaste, body wash and shampoo. They are so small they wash into the sewer system, don't get taken out of the water in the sewage treatment plant and go into the ocean and rivers, where they are consumed by fish and any humans that get their drinking water from such a river or desalination plant.
I don't know about you, but I try not to eat plastic because plastic comes from oil and natural gas and probably causes cancer if you get enough of it in your body for a long enough time. So I applaud the states that are trying to limit the use of these micro-beads and wonder where the EPA has been on this issue since clean water is on their watch.
Of course, if the GOP had their way, there would be no EPA and business would be free to put whatever they want to in the water that we drink, enjoy swimming in, and use to hydrate our food supply. And I believe business would put everything they could into the water because to do otherwise reduces profits. And that is why Richard Nixon created the EPA.
Meanwhile, our "we do not lead, we follow the masses", Congress is failing to reauthorize one of the most effective tools we have to monitor terrorists, their use of social media and email and phone calls. Anyone who believes the NSA is following their boring daily activity if they are not using the buzz words that terrorists use is a conspiracy theorist who is ignoring the simple logistical hurdle that following millions of people without screening for what you are looking for is impossible.
So since I am mentioning terrorism in this blog, they might read it, but then they will realize that I am not a threat and I am not supporting terrorism in any way. What the bleep should I care if they read this? And why is the Congress not trying to educate the public about why this monitoring is good for American and not a threat to our civil liberties.
What is a threat to our civil liberties and happiness is the complete and utter b*llSh*t that comes out of the Tea Party wing of the GOP and wants to end the EPA, the NSA, and the Ex-Im Bank, not to mention Heritage Foundation/Romney/ObamaCare, Medicare, medicaid and Social Security.
I don't know about you, but I try not to eat plastic because plastic comes from oil and natural gas and probably causes cancer if you get enough of it in your body for a long enough time. So I applaud the states that are trying to limit the use of these micro-beads and wonder where the EPA has been on this issue since clean water is on their watch.
Of course, if the GOP had their way, there would be no EPA and business would be free to put whatever they want to in the water that we drink, enjoy swimming in, and use to hydrate our food supply. And I believe business would put everything they could into the water because to do otherwise reduces profits. And that is why Richard Nixon created the EPA.
Meanwhile, our "we do not lead, we follow the masses", Congress is failing to reauthorize one of the most effective tools we have to monitor terrorists, their use of social media and email and phone calls. Anyone who believes the NSA is following their boring daily activity if they are not using the buzz words that terrorists use is a conspiracy theorist who is ignoring the simple logistical hurdle that following millions of people without screening for what you are looking for is impossible.
So since I am mentioning terrorism in this blog, they might read it, but then they will realize that I am not a threat and I am not supporting terrorism in any way. What the bleep should I care if they read this? And why is the Congress not trying to educate the public about why this monitoring is good for American and not a threat to our civil liberties.
What is a threat to our civil liberties and happiness is the complete and utter b*llSh*t that comes out of the Tea Party wing of the GOP and wants to end the EPA, the NSA, and the Ex-Im Bank, not to mention Heritage Foundation/Romney/ObamaCare, Medicare, medicaid and Social Security.
Monday, May 18, 2015
View From War Zone Security Expert
I happened to sit next to two gentlemen at Breakfast today. One was discussing his views of what has transpired through time in Iraq and Afghanistan. I thought that he was a journalist, but when I asked him I learned that his business was personal security and he guarded the journalists in Iraq and Afghanistan.
He was British and very uncomplimentary of war zone journalists in general, stating that they simply report what the Armed Forces tell them and don't do a lot of verification out in the field themselves. If they did, the American people would have been very unhappy with the reality on the ground. He on the other hand, in order to protect them, had to know what was going on.
What follows are the most interesting things I over heard as I only asked him 2 direct questions before taking my leave.
The surge that Americans like to think worked so well was only successful so long as money flowed to Sunni factions to stay on the side of Shiite led government. When the U.S. withdrew, the money stopped flowing, as the Baghdad government wouldn't pay the Sunni's and the factions joined ISIS.
As for leaving American troops there, unless the money was still flowing to buy off the Sunni factions, Americans would be fighting ISIS and supporting the Shiite's (and Iran) even more directly than they are now (and the American Army would basically have to occupy Iraq forever to keep the peace between the Sunni and Shia and both would be trying to kill the American soldiers at various points in time.
He agreed with me that Turkey has to be buying the oil from ISIS and that you have to question how much on our side the Turkish government really is. He sees secular Turkey in decline and militant Islamic Turkey on the rise and knows more than one secular Turk who has left Turkey to reside elsewhere for the foreseeable future (as do I).
The one good thing about Gaddafi was that he knew how to control Libya. Libya was a colonial anachronism which should really have been two countries. Now the East and the West are trying to create those two Libya's but they don't know how to do it peacefully or equitably (oil is not evenly divided) leading to a simmering civil war.
He was slightly more optimistic about Afghanistan now that the corrupt Karzai has left office. But Karzai is still in Kabul and a political force, so he is not really gone and he wants to protect his corrupt friends.
He doesn't see an end to the Sunni Shiite or Afghan Taliban conflict and doesn't know how to do it if the locals don't want to end the conflict. Western Troops cannot enforce a peace if the locals don't want it, the locals will start shooing the Western Troops. That is the reality that I am not sure any GOP Presidential candidate can campaign on.
He was British and very uncomplimentary of war zone journalists in general, stating that they simply report what the Armed Forces tell them and don't do a lot of verification out in the field themselves. If they did, the American people would have been very unhappy with the reality on the ground. He on the other hand, in order to protect them, had to know what was going on.
What follows are the most interesting things I over heard as I only asked him 2 direct questions before taking my leave.
The surge that Americans like to think worked so well was only successful so long as money flowed to Sunni factions to stay on the side of Shiite led government. When the U.S. withdrew, the money stopped flowing, as the Baghdad government wouldn't pay the Sunni's and the factions joined ISIS.
As for leaving American troops there, unless the money was still flowing to buy off the Sunni factions, Americans would be fighting ISIS and supporting the Shiite's (and Iran) even more directly than they are now (and the American Army would basically have to occupy Iraq forever to keep the peace between the Sunni and Shia and both would be trying to kill the American soldiers at various points in time.
He agreed with me that Turkey has to be buying the oil from ISIS and that you have to question how much on our side the Turkish government really is. He sees secular Turkey in decline and militant Islamic Turkey on the rise and knows more than one secular Turk who has left Turkey to reside elsewhere for the foreseeable future (as do I).
The one good thing about Gaddafi was that he knew how to control Libya. Libya was a colonial anachronism which should really have been two countries. Now the East and the West are trying to create those two Libya's but they don't know how to do it peacefully or equitably (oil is not evenly divided) leading to a simmering civil war.
He was slightly more optimistic about Afghanistan now that the corrupt Karzai has left office. But Karzai is still in Kabul and a political force, so he is not really gone and he wants to protect his corrupt friends.
He doesn't see an end to the Sunni Shiite or Afghan Taliban conflict and doesn't know how to do it if the locals don't want to end the conflict. Western Troops cannot enforce a peace if the locals don't want it, the locals will start shooing the Western Troops. That is the reality that I am not sure any GOP Presidential candidate can campaign on.
Friday, May 15, 2015
Science Denial is Expanding because the Internet Fosters Uninformed Doubt Fed by Group Think
Politics is increasingly dominated by rigid adherence to hysterical views that are based upon group think and ignores analytic evidence that such things are improving society.
Both parties feed into this enjoyment of junk culture. And when millions of people idolize the Kardashians for enjoyment of life, you know there is no accounting for taste or lack of intelligence to reduce confidence to broadcast their beliefs over the internet.
The result of this is science denial across a broad spectrum of issues: Vaccines, GMO foods, global warming, the goodness of health insurance, the harm in too high taxes, the harm in too low taxes, the need of basic gun control, the need for palliative care for the soon to die, immigration reform (workers would not be working if their wasn't demand for such workers) and I could go on and on. I will add NIMBY'ism. Build the pipelines, they are safer than any other form of transport. No transport is 100% safe.
The common thread to this derangement syndrome that cuts across both political parties is rigid promotion of belief over analytic evidence. That feeds off junk culture which feeds off the internet allowing Group Think to overwhelm analytic evidence.
It is discouraging because you would expect responsible leaders to try and lead us out of this, but I have my doubts about the average intelligence level of many in politics. Every scandal in NY State leads my opinion lower about the honesty of any politician.
Both parties feed into this enjoyment of junk culture. And when millions of people idolize the Kardashians for enjoyment of life, you know there is no accounting for taste or lack of intelligence to reduce confidence to broadcast their beliefs over the internet.
The result of this is science denial across a broad spectrum of issues: Vaccines, GMO foods, global warming, the goodness of health insurance, the harm in too high taxes, the harm in too low taxes, the need of basic gun control, the need for palliative care for the soon to die, immigration reform (workers would not be working if their wasn't demand for such workers) and I could go on and on. I will add NIMBY'ism. Build the pipelines, they are safer than any other form of transport. No transport is 100% safe.
The common thread to this derangement syndrome that cuts across both political parties is rigid promotion of belief over analytic evidence. That feeds off junk culture which feeds off the internet allowing Group Think to overwhelm analytic evidence.
It is discouraging because you would expect responsible leaders to try and lead us out of this, but I have my doubts about the average intelligence level of many in politics. Every scandal in NY State leads my opinion lower about the honesty of any politician.
Saturday, May 9, 2015
Cops'Lives Matter, Young Black Men's Lives Matter, the NRA and Drug $ are the Root of All Evil
Drug's are illegal creating exorbitant profits for those who work in the business of satisfying that demand. Since it is an illegal business, criminal types are involved and they use guns to intimidate people they want something from. They typically buy these guns illegally, which is where background checks are essential, but the NRA fights such background checks.
These criminal types also like their guns to have more power, so they like automatic weapons. Terrorist types, whether they are angry young white teenagers or Islamic jihadists, also like automatic weapons. And yes, the NRA, fights any limitation on automatic weapons or easily hidden handguns.
Why isn't anyone in the NRA concerned that the Arizona jihadists who went to Dallas to kill Islamic haters dressed in body armor and possessing automatic weapons and handguns that they purchased without a background check or even the ability to purchase. What if they had simply gone to a Walmart and shot the place up? How many would have died and who would have killed the jihadists?
Guess who doesn't get to have an automatic weapon because they are inherently dangerous when civilians are around. Yes, the police, who are in harms way from anyone with criminal designs, don't get to carry an automatic weapon.
So what do they do, it has been proven that enforcing relatively minor rules detailing civilized society behavior like paying your subway fare and not squeegeeing peoples' windshields finds criminal types with guns, so the police go after people committing broken windows transgressions, and these are predominantly young black men who live in drug infested neighborhoods, but are not necessarily involved in the drug trade.
And yes, the far too often rule for police, who are in fear for their lives because there are way too many automatic weapons and hidden handguns out there, is that they are to be aggressive in checking people they stop for weapons and that leads to those civilians not trusting the police.
And far too often, some of these police go to far and kill young black men for no reason other than either their personal fear or their racist desire to kill or intimidate young black men. Eric Garner was choked to death by a policeman on a sidewalk for doing nothing more than selling single cigarettes. A 12 year old boy is shot dead holding a toy gun. A man stopped for a broken tail light, runs away leaving the car which could be traced to him, and is shot to death with 8 bullets in the back. A man buying a toy gun in a Walmart is shot to death by a policeman because "he looks dangerous". A man arrested for no good reason has his neck broken in the back of a police transit van when he is all alone. And I can't even recall what was going on in Wisconsin where 2 young men were killed in Milwaukee for no good reason. And this is just in the last 12 months where it seems like almost a weekly occurrence that police kill a young black man in either justified circumstances or very questionable circumstances.
So, what should be done. We could legalize drugs and take the exorbitant profits out of the trade, but that would still leave jihadists with access to automatic weapons and body armor. So, it is time the NRA became reasonable because our police deserve protection from automatic weapons and hidden handguns.
And that is why I believe the NRA is the root of all this evil that is going on in our society.
And I do believe hunters should be allowed rifles to hunt and protect their families. No terrorist wants to have to laboriously reload his gun while in action.
These criminal types also like their guns to have more power, so they like automatic weapons. Terrorist types, whether they are angry young white teenagers or Islamic jihadists, also like automatic weapons. And yes, the NRA, fights any limitation on automatic weapons or easily hidden handguns.
Why isn't anyone in the NRA concerned that the Arizona jihadists who went to Dallas to kill Islamic haters dressed in body armor and possessing automatic weapons and handguns that they purchased without a background check or even the ability to purchase. What if they had simply gone to a Walmart and shot the place up? How many would have died and who would have killed the jihadists?
Guess who doesn't get to have an automatic weapon because they are inherently dangerous when civilians are around. Yes, the police, who are in harms way from anyone with criminal designs, don't get to carry an automatic weapon.
So what do they do, it has been proven that enforcing relatively minor rules detailing civilized society behavior like paying your subway fare and not squeegeeing peoples' windshields finds criminal types with guns, so the police go after people committing broken windows transgressions, and these are predominantly young black men who live in drug infested neighborhoods, but are not necessarily involved in the drug trade.
And yes, the far too often rule for police, who are in fear for their lives because there are way too many automatic weapons and hidden handguns out there, is that they are to be aggressive in checking people they stop for weapons and that leads to those civilians not trusting the police.
And far too often, some of these police go to far and kill young black men for no reason other than either their personal fear or their racist desire to kill or intimidate young black men. Eric Garner was choked to death by a policeman on a sidewalk for doing nothing more than selling single cigarettes. A 12 year old boy is shot dead holding a toy gun. A man stopped for a broken tail light, runs away leaving the car which could be traced to him, and is shot to death with 8 bullets in the back. A man buying a toy gun in a Walmart is shot to death by a policeman because "he looks dangerous". A man arrested for no good reason has his neck broken in the back of a police transit van when he is all alone. And I can't even recall what was going on in Wisconsin where 2 young men were killed in Milwaukee for no good reason. And this is just in the last 12 months where it seems like almost a weekly occurrence that police kill a young black man in either justified circumstances or very questionable circumstances.
So, what should be done. We could legalize drugs and take the exorbitant profits out of the trade, but that would still leave jihadists with access to automatic weapons and body armor. So, it is time the NRA became reasonable because our police deserve protection from automatic weapons and hidden handguns.
And that is why I believe the NRA is the root of all this evil that is going on in our society.
And I do believe hunters should be allowed rifles to hunt and protect their families. No terrorist wants to have to laboriously reload his gun while in action.
Wednesday, May 6, 2015
Pipelines and Global Warming
I am slowly learning how to write a headline and gain readership. Unfortunately, it is unscientific and inaccurate. My cousin, the professional editor would no doubt do a better job.
I have watched one hour of news and am irate.
Another oil train derailed and blew up. What does it take to convince people that oil trains are dangerous and we need pipelines for oil and natural gas? You don't reduce consumption by reducing supply. You reduce demand by producing supply of alternatives. For the immediate future, we need pipelines!
And for the rare conservative, non-believer in global warming who reads this blog, carbon trapping gasses are now at a 2 million year high. Don't you think we could do just a little bit to address this issue, such as the original GOP idea of Cap & Trade?
This was cathartic, thank you for reading.
I have watched one hour of news and am irate.
Another oil train derailed and blew up. What does it take to convince people that oil trains are dangerous and we need pipelines for oil and natural gas? You don't reduce consumption by reducing supply. You reduce demand by producing supply of alternatives. For the immediate future, we need pipelines!
And for the rare conservative, non-believer in global warming who reads this blog, carbon trapping gasses are now at a 2 million year high. Don't you think we could do just a little bit to address this issue, such as the original GOP idea of Cap & Trade?
This was cathartic, thank you for reading.
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