Are We Rescuing Europe -- Or Just the U.S. Oil Industry?

Should we listen to Utah Rep. John Curtis?  "It is important to acknowledge American fossil fuels have a lower greenhouse gas emissions profile than our competitors, especially in China and Russia. If we stop producing fossil fuels these strategic competitors will fill that void for the developing world with dirtier alternatives."

Well, is he right?

Yes, natural gas sent to Europe from America is probably cleaner than that from China and Russia. And, we can wonder if gasoline for cars in Europe -- if it were refined here before reaching the pumps in Europe -- perhaps is cleaner. Then, again, doesn't Europe have standards just like the United States regulating the quality of gasoline sold at the pump?

With the sanctions imposed against Russia at the start of the Ukrainian war, Europe lost access to natural gas and oil from Russia. Spooky, it was, to think what would happen without the natural gas necessary to heat and air condition homes, or oil to power the cars. 

But, not to worry. America to the rescue.

Seeking to save the day, we ramped up natural gas exports in order to fill the void left by the loss of Russian natural gas. It would be interesting to know how much our exports to European nations increased after the sanctions. 

But, the bottom line is, more oil and gas production hurts the environment. Taking a better-us-than-you approach (with the thought that our gas is cleaner) becomes but an excuse for us to drill more and thus cause more environmental damage. I would much rather see our efforts to help Europe be centered on helping it make a jump from fossil fuels to green energy rather than just from one source of fossil fuels to another. 

And, when Curtis says, "It is important to acknowledge American fossil fuels have a lower greenhouse gas emissions profile than our competitors," how does that apply to what is consumed in the U.S.? We have discussed the oil and gas consumed in Europe, but what of that sold in the U.S.?  Is the oil produced in the U.S. any cleaner than that imported from other countries? I will only repeat what I have already said: I would doubt it, because the cleanliness of the gasoline is enforced on what is sold at the pump. Whether it comes out of the ground from the U.S., or from Russia, or from the United Arab Republic makes no difference; it has to be just as clean by the time it reaches the gas station pumps.

(Index -- Climate change info)

The Gas Chamber and the Numbers that Suggest It Kills People

The world is a gas chamber. And, you're living in it -- which means you're also dying from it. You've been living in it since the day you were born. Yes, go ahead and note how all these years have passed away and you haven't died yet, so it must not be too bad.

I think of the smoke billowing down from the 480 fires in Canada, and how news reports say those cities choking in it are experiencing the worst pollution in all the world.

I think of how our planet is getting hotter and hotter, heat waves becoming more common. I think of how the Canadian fires were made five times more possible because of climate change.

 And, I wonder at those who deny climate change.

I think of the billion and a half cars in the world, and the more than 2,400 coal-fired power plants. I think of the 15 billion trees cut down each year to deforestation. I think of the 150 billion ton of ice that melts each year in the Antarctic, and the 270 ton that melts in Greenland.

 I think of the estimated 10 million factories in the world, and of the near 40 billion tons of carbon dioxide humankind pours into the air each annual cycle. I think of the 55,000 to 73,000 species that go extinct each year. I think of how extreme heat kills about 5 million and pollution about 10 million people year in and year out. 

You can say you haven't died yet in this "gas chamber." You can say its all a hoax.

But numbers don't lie.

(Index: Climate change info)

A Kick in the Pocketbook is a Kick in the Pants

A good way to address bad behavior is to hit the offending party in the pocketbook. So, as this principle comes flashing through our minds, exploding before our very eyes . . .

Well, let's  see how it translates in remedying things on the climate change front. I mean, we have some pretty bad behavior types hanging around when it comes to climate change. Bad actors, bad actors all. We need to slap them where it hurts, in their pocketbooks.

Using just six letters, let's identify them: Big Oil. If we wanted to make things difficult on them, we could scramble those letters and come up with "Boiigl," and that would really make things difficult on them. After all, who wants to run around with the name "Boiigl" hanging around their neck?

But, we don't need to do that. We can make it plenty difficult on them just by hitting them in in their pocketbook. And, if keep that pocketbook in their back pocket, well,  a swift kick in the pants can be our way of administering that hitting of them in the pocketbook.

Would you come along with me to California? California has a pretty good idea on how to slap at their pocketbooks. They have a proposed law down there enabling you to sue for lung damage or for dangerous pregnancies if you live within 3,200 feet of an active well.

And, come with me over here to Montana. They've already got a lawsuit there. Held vs. Montana. Some of the upcoming generation got upset with the health damages they are being saddled with that portion of the older generation known as oil companies. So, these youngsters got looking at their state constitution and couldn't help noticing it guarantees them the right to a clean and healthy environment. 

And come along to New York and a number of other cities where climate activists stumbled across another treasure of an idea. If they get it to work, it might be harder on Big Oil's pocketbooks than the lawsuits. What they are doing -- and the upcoming generation is also involved in this charge -- is pressuring the banks not to loan to the oil companies. You want to open a new drilling site, you say? Sorry, can't be done. We ain't going to loan you the cash.

Yeah, right -- like the banks are going to help on this one. Still, the idea is a great one. And if enough pressure is put on the banks, who knows but what they will stop giving loans.

Responsibility sometimes comes with chastisement. 

Big oil is so dialed in on making money that you can't reach it about climate change. They aren't taking calls, not even if it is an emergency such as people dying from the health hazards they are causing. The only emergency they know is the emergency of turning a profit.

While we pant for air, they pant only for money. 

Money means everything to Boiigl -- I mean to Big Oil. Boiigl/Big Oil has gotten pretty good at adding and adding and adding to their fortunes. They think that's what this is all about. Now, let's see if they can handle subtraction. Let's see if they know what that's about. 

(Index -- Climate change info)

References, References, References

One simple thing would cut down on bank fraud: references. Whether you do it by legislation, or just by persuading the banks to require it, no line of credit and no new bank account should be approved online or over the phone unless the institution asks for and checks out two or three references.

"Nate McElowoi just applied for a debit card at our bank. Do you know Nate? Do you know if he is applying for a debit card?"

Obviously, you've got to call your friend up and let him know the bank will be calling. Your friend won't know you are applying for a card unless you tell him.

It is too easy for a fraudster to steal name, social, and address, and then get an account. Making him provide his own phone number and email address does help. And, banks do do that.

But here's why references would be beneficial: It would mean the criminal would have to find someone to participate in his or her crime, and it would provide more of a trail when the account is fraudulently opened. 

Two references, each providing their name, phone number, and email address. And, of course, the bank is required to check them before opening the account. Then, a third reference, providing name and phone number. The bank sends a letter out to this reference with a stamped return envelope. Of course, this reference would not return until after the bank account has been issued. And, yes, the criminal could simply not answer the letter, since the account is already approved. But, the bank would suspend the account and start investigating if there was not a quick response.

Perhaps even better would be to have people protect their identity by having their personal references on file with a credit bureau. When the bank runs a credit check, Equafax provides the references that are on file, and the bank immediately contacts them. That would prevent the criminal from providing false references. 

So, do both. Require references from the applicant when she or he applies for an account, and encourage people to have references on file with Equifax, TransUnion or Experian. 

Guns are the Paraphenalia of Murder

Hey, you can be arrested for owning drug paraphernalia, so why not for murder paraphernalia?

That would be the gun, wouldn't it. 

Before you say guns are not to be considered paraphernalia, march over to your dictionary and read the definition. It will say, "Paraphernalia: Miscellaneous articles, especially the equipment needed for a particular activity." 

That pretty much says it all. Anybody still want to argue that guns are not paraphernalia? Just like a crack pipe is the instrument used for an illegal activity (drug use),so the gun is, as well, an instrument used for an illegal activity (murder). Anyone want to argue that murder is not an illegal activity? Anyone want to argue that guns are not an instrument used to commit murder?

Big capital letters, then: PARAPHERNALIA.

Oh, I'm going to stop short of saying guns should be outlawed on this basis. Just because the crack pipe is outlawed because it is paraphernalia doesn't mean the gun should be outlawed for being the paraphernalia of murder. 

But, it does make you wonder.

Don't be Intimidated by Cyber Crime, March out to Meet It

 Our laws have not caught up with the Twenty-first Century. Our police have not caught up to the Twenty-first Century. Criminals have. There's a whole new layer of criminals in our most-modern world of 2023.

The cyber thief. The cyber criminal. The guy who can slit your bank account. Oh, don't worry, he'll never slit your throat because he never gets that close. He operates from a distance, in a vacuum. He keeps far enough away that the law can neither see nor reach him. Your throat is safe, but your bank account is not.

Do our police even try hard enough? Millions of Americans pour into our stations to file reports of fraud on their ID, and on their financial accounts.

And, way too many times, the "law enforcement" officers turn them away. Nothing we can do, the officers tell them. There simply isn't a way to identify the criminal. There simply is no way to track him down.

Be off with you, dear citizen. There is nothing we can do. Leave us alone. Come back when you've got a rape, or a murder, or something big enough for us to bother with.

I would doubt our officers are even comprehensively trained in how to fight cyber crime. They are taught how to pull a trigger. They are taught who to pull a trigger on, when to pull it, where to pull it, and why.

But they aren't taught the who, when, where, and whys of people unloading your bank account. So, when they are faced with the crime -- which is every day -- they throw up their hands in despair.

Sorry, we can't help you.

If law enforcement is going to catch up to the Twenty-first Century, we must do better -- and can. Simple things to start with. Things our police are already doing but not doing enough. The police do these things to some extent, but not enough. 

1) Establish how the crime was committed. Was it online? What are the ways they could have stolen your identity? The police officer should have a checklist of ways criminals steal identity, and go down them one at a time. Did anyone ever call you, saying they were with the bank, or with Microsoft, or with the FDIC? Did they suggest someone was trying to steal your ID or your money? Phishers, we call them. They take your ID in the name of protecting your ID. Did you ever leave your ID on the table, or someplace where someone could get it? Did they use Bit Coin or PayPal? Who did they use for their middleman? 

2) Establish your leads and initial evidence. If there is a record of the transaction, get it. Banks always have a history of deposits and withdrawals. Those records will tell you much about how the money was transacted. Did you get a letter from a creditor? Get a copy of it. Do you have any suspects? Were there potential witnesses? If a family member or a roommate could have been committed the crime, it means there might be another family members or roommate who might have insight into what happened. Get a copy and list of what personal information the criminal had to provide to open the credit account, or bank account. You know it is going to include your social security number and address, but there are at least two other things that can turn into big leads: What phone number did they put on the application? What email address? Is there a record of which bank officer approved the transaction or opened the bank account? Get a credit report, as it can shed light on the case.

3) Commence your investigation. You are not at the end, but at the very beginning of the investigation. This is where your job begins. Follow each lead, Interview each potential witness. Interrogate (if I can use that word) each suspect. Speak to the bank officer who approved the application or transaction. Check back with the victim, asking if he or she has thought of or run across any other evidence? Trace down the phone number used on the application. Who currently has it or who has ever had it? Call the phone number. Contact the email address used on the application. No stone unturned, they often say in the law enforcement world. It should be no different. Do everything you can to solve the crime. Do your due diligence. Cover all the bases. Do your job.

It will be helpful if the police officer is trained in computer technology and in how to trace down phone numbers and email addresses and IP addresses. She or he should be trained to know what all the numbers and columns of information on a bank report mean. 

It will be helpful if the banks keep good and precise information on the transactions, including a list of people who worked on the transactions, so the police can interview them. Every detail that can be kept of the transaction should be kept and recorded. It will also be helpful if there is a free flow of communication between the bank and the police. The police should always contact the financial institution. But, it should not be a one-way thing, with the police contacting the financial institution, but never the bank reaching out to the police. Frankly, it should be a law that upon hearing of fraud on one of their accounts, the bank is required to contact the police and pass along all the evidence they have.

Which brings us to another point. I started by saying our laws need to catch up to the Twenty-first Century. They do. We need to give our officers the tools they need to solve the crimes. We need laws that say the banks, and the stores with credit accounts, and the middlemen such as PayPal and Bit Coin, and even the three large credit agencies -- they all must provide any information the police request. And, they must keep better records. They must be able to trace down and account for anyone who transfers or receives money. And, if they don't? Jail time or a large fine. If this means fewer transactions can be carried out through the Internet, so be it. 

Cyber Security is an intimidating word. But rather than running from cyber crime, we must march out to meet it.  

The Porter and the Turnstile

 The porter and the immigrant walked that desert alone. Just the two of them, the porter packing all the bags and leading the way. 

As they approached the border, the porter looked ahead and saw a sign hanging on the fence. His face turned sad. He stopped talking. He would not be able to accompany his friend any farther. The turnstile would lock him out while allowing the immigrant in.

Said  the sign: Welcome to America. This is the land of freedom, the land of opportunity. But, with freedom comes responsibility, and with opportunity comes the need to grab hold of it for yourself. Achievement comes with doing things on your own. No one can achieve something for you.

A friend can accompany you to the borders of  opportunity, to the verge of  success. But to actually pass through that portal, that gate, that threshold, you must step ahead on your own. Success is not something someone else can achieve for you. Like a person stepping from a land they know into a foreign land they don't, you must learn to take steps ahead on your own.

There will come a day when you pay homage to your parents and friends, just as an immigrant might honor his homeland. But, you will be grateful for where you have arrived. There will be a new patriotism, your new country being sweet and wonderful.

We might feel we have friends in life -- those who walk each step with us, carrying our luggage, carrying our woes -- but, we only become truly happy when we learn to carry our own.

It Depends on Whether They Learn to Love Each Other

Love of country doesn't means love of neighbor, does it? I mean, you can be a patriot without being a peacemaker, right?

It depends. It depends on where you find your enemies. It depends. It depends on whether you believe in forgiveness. 

You've got to understand, forgiveness is not for politics. Forgive thy neighbor? That's a good phrase for a Sunday sermon, but it has no practicality, no application in real life -- and certainly no application in political life. You can hardly expect us to love Democrats if we are Republicans, or to forgive Republicans, if we are Democrats.

No, it just doesn't work that way. You've got to learn to leave that do-good stuff at church. Wake up and smell the coffee. And then, if that coffee's hot enough, spill it all over thy neighbor Democrat or thy neighbor Republican.

Politics isn't a peacefest; it's a slugfest. If you're not willing to get bloody, you'll never survive. And, if you aren't willing to make the other guy bloody, you're a poor teammate and we don't want you on our team. We live by Clint Eastwood's maxim: make my day, not by some silly song saying, I'll give you a daisy, a daisy; I'll love you until . . . 

I'll love you until I get out of church. And the only daisies I have for you are the ones I'll place on your grave. 

Can a Republican be a Christian? Can a Democrat? It depends. It depends on whether they learn to love each other.

(Note: I write much of this in jest, or sarcastically. I hope you do not conclude I actually have these sentiments.)

 

 If you hide a fortune in a forest, robbers will find it. If you hide it in a field, they will dig it up. But, if you hide it in your heart, they cannot touch it. Make your treasures the kind money cannot buy, and no one will ever steal them. 

(Index -- My quotes)

We Ignore Lead in the Atmosphere at Our Own Peril

    You look up at the skies and you won't see it, just like you don't see so many of the pollutants, but there is one up there -- and it is one that gets little, if any, attention -- that could be killing you.

   Lead. Yes, little particals of lead -- the dust of death.

   Years and decades after the death of lead gasoline, it's still up there. Some of it, anyway. Oh, it is much less. If there were 500 to 600 nanograms per cubic feet of airborne lead in the 1980s in some parts of the world, those levels were all the way down to 20 nanograms per cubic feet by 2000.

  Maybe that's why the world has quit worrying. Here's the trick, though: There is no safe level of lead. A little is a lot. Some is too much. A drip is a drillion. Studies show even small concentrations are damaging.

  Some aviation fuels, waste incineration, and metal processing -- among other things -- are still spewing the dust of death. And, when the particles settle to the ground, they often are stirred up again when the soil is disturbed, causing the dust of death to reenter the atmosphere. 

  Perhaps you don't know how damaging lead can be. Way back at the onset of lead gasoline being used in automobiles, five refinery workers died from lead poisoning. Others were hallucinating. Others going crazy. So, most states banned lead gasoline. But U.S. government regulators -- who should have been on the side of the public and protecting the public  -- overruled the states and returned lead gasoline to the marketplace.

  The point is it was killing people then, and if there is no safe threshold, it is likely killing us now. And, the harm is not in death, alone. It attacks the brain and nervous system, the reproductive organs, the kidneys, and the immune system. If affects the cardiovascular system and the flow of oxygen in the blood.

  The dust of death doesn't have to kill to leave the body destroyed.

   The world is running scared of carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gases. In the Paris Agreement and subsequent efforts, we have come up with standards and deadlines for those gases. 

   Now, what of lead? Should we not also have a plan for it? If we ignore it, we do so at our own peril.

 We better do something quick about all this book banning. This is America. They just don't ban books here. Especially the Bible, and one of them sure enough did get banned at an elementary in Utah just the other day.

   You can't do that! You just can't! We'll be thinking back to the day when Bibles were banned all across the Roman Empire. We'll be recalling how William Tyndale was strangled and then burned at stake for the offense of making the Bible available to the masses.

  Sure hope that librarian up in Davis County, Utah, runs and hides before they haul her away to burn her at stake.

   Yeah, I go a little too far. Nobody's coming after librarians to burn them at stake. Still, the fact remains the banning of books in America has reached such a point that even the Bible is in the sights of some.

  Where did it start? Was it with pornography? Was it with books that hail gays and lesbians? Or, was it with the so-called Critical Race Theory?

  Wherever it started, it has got to stop. Freedom does not accept force as its master. Free means choice even if sometimes we make the wrong choice. 

  Should there be warnings and labels, and books placed in areas where parents must nod their heads and say, "Yes, it's okay for my child to read that book"? I think so. And off on what is not too much of a tangent, freedom of speech does not mean you can throw up a pornographic billboard along the freeway to sell your brand of lingerie. Doing that forces the person with sensibilities to view what they don't want to view. The freedom to speak is also the freedom to not have to listen -- or view. Your freedoms should not curtail the freedoms of others. It's that old maxim: Your freedom ends where my nose begins. 

   

   

 

Famous Art and Warning Labels

    We still haven't decided what to do with Michelangelo, have we? You've seen his stuff, at least some of it. That sculpture of David that's getting some flack comes to mind. And, you may be familiar with his painting on the Sistine Chapel ceiling. And, if you saw the sculpture of Bacchus, or the sculpture known as Rondanini Pieta, you'd probably go, "Oh, no! Not more!"

   The guy was into nudity about as deep as any famous artist ever has been. Michelangelo: the father of art in which naked bodies are put on show. 

   Now then, what should we do with his art? Bottom line is, some of us take offense. 

   How about a little more of a some-of-you-might-want-to-see-it-and-some-of-you-you-might-not approach? Respect the sensitivities of those of us who don't right along with the wishes of those who say, Hey, nothing's wrong here.

  Place it off the beaten path of the tour of the Accademia Gallery in Florence, France. You reach a point in the tour where the guide says, "We will now be retreating to a room where the statute of David is displayed. If you want to come along, come along. The rest of you can wait right here or go ahead and finish the tour on your own."

  But, that would only take care of a part of the problem, wouldn't it? What about all those pictures in books and magazines -- shouldn't they be required to have some clothes painted on them? 

   Yeah, that's a laughable answer, so it is not the answer. 

   Then, how about having a warning label on the front of the book. "Warning: Tobacco smoke can be harmful to your health." Whoops, wrong one. I mean, "Warning: This book contains pictures of nude art. Read at your own discretion."

   That's still a little laughable to a lot of you, but it might just be the best answer. 

 

An Element of Human Trafficking

    You will say, Wait, wait, you're going too far. But, all I'm saying is that, in a way, stopping that migrant at the border and hauling him off to immigration court, requires an element of human trafficking.

   Even more so, catching the immi at the border, and not wanting him in your state, so you haul him off to San Francisco, or Massachusetts, or Chicago. Doesn't that require a little bit of human-trafficking? Regardless if it meets the legal definition, you are intercepting the immigrant and redirecting him to where you want him to go, not to where he wants. 

   And if you are the immigration court, you sometimes hold the immigrant in a detention center. Can't you see an element of human trafficking in that? If nothing else, you restrict his free movement; you dictate where he can or cannot go. Sometimes, you even slap him in an airplane and send him back to a place that is dangerous to him. He is forced to go to the location you desire, not one he wants. 

   So, no, you are not enslaving him, and you are not capturing her for prostitution. But the word, traffic, like a traffic light, you suppose to control the flow of traffick with your green lights and your red lights. Consider those who we call human traffickers in Mexico. Sometimes, all they do is require a fee to sneak the migrants across the border, or to just get them across Mexico so they can sneak into the U.S. on their own.

   Whenever you intervene in the travel choices of an individual, and use force or deceit to redirect them to a place you want them at, then yes, there is an element of human trafficking in that.

 

It Takes Courage to Snitch, but Do it Anyway

Dear people who don't want to snitch -- all of you -- gather 'round the fire here. We need to make something absolutely and positively clear: It's all right to snitch. In fact, when it comes to crime, whether or not you "snitch" is a sign of your character.

Those who "snitch" show themselves of good character. Can you do that?

Character is no more than doing what is right, regardless whether it is unpopular.  Character comes when you stand behind what you know. Character comes when you share the truth, not hide it.

So, stand tall and show a little spine.

We come from a crazy, mixed up, lost-value society, where turning someone in for a crime is -- by the rules of the criminal -- a crime, itself.

Don't live by the laws and rules of the criminal world. Honor among thieves is but honor that's lost. Snitch because snitching is the exact right thing to do. It takes courage, but do it anyway.

There's Not so Much as a One of Those T-Shirts that Fits Me

Get your T-shirts here. "We the People Stand with Donald Trump," for just $24.99. Comes with the "We the People" lettering from the original Declaration of Independence.

There's a tie-in there, isn't there. It associates the founding fathers and patriotism with standing right dab next to Donald Trump as he goes through this evil, unjust persecution of being indicted when he's not even guilty. No, if you want guilty, go back out and look for Joe Biden or Hunter Biden. Now, there's a pair who ought to be tossed in jail.

Patriots unite. Rally to the defense of our leader.

Alas, I do not follow this line of thought. The Donald has been arraigned for a crime. It's against America. It's for violating the Espionage Act. I will stand with America, and I will stand with the Declaration of Independence. But, I will not stand with the man who has who has broken our laws. 

Let him sell his T-shirts, but there's not a one of them that fits me. 

If Rs & Ds were Running the Car Industry, We'd Still be Driving Model Ts

 One day -- way back in the early days of our nation -- somebody got the idea we needed more R&D, we needed to inject R&D directly into our political system.

 Research and development, right? I mean, what could be better than researching the issues before making decisions? What could be wiser than planning and bringing projects to fruition -- development?

Sounds good to me. Bring it on. R&D is a wonderful, wonderful thing.

Then, along came the Republican and Democrat parties. Turns out, the person who was calling for R&D in our political system had no intention of inserting research and development into the equation. Nope. The R stood for Republican and the D stood for Democrat. And that R&D was exactly the opposite of the other R&D. The Republican and Democrat R&D meant you stick to your ways and you don't consider new ideas. You had everything right the first time, so why should you change? 

In the research and development R&D, you look to see what your competitors are doing. And, you learn from others and build upon it. It's the old Isaac Newton principle: "If I have seen further, it is by standing on the shoulders of giants." And, it's the not-so-old John F. Kennedy guiding principle: "Let us not seek the Republican answer or the Democrat answer, but the right answer."

Today, a Democrat would never admit there could be a "giant" among the Republicans. And, a Republican certainly would cringe to think it suggested there could be a "giant" among the Democrats.

The two parties are not like two competing automobile makers, each learning from the other in a quest to make the better product. No, each supposes they have already perfected the product -- they have the best answer -- and there's no need for any new thoughts.

If Republicans and Democrats were running the automobile industry, we'd still be driving the Model T.

What's Going on Down there at the Border?

 Perhaps we don't know what's going on down there at the border. Oh, we read how the migrants waiting in Mexico for their appointments in the U.S. are being extorted, how the cartels or whoever are approaching them and taking their papers and saying, Hey, we won't give these back unless you give us $86. Cough it up.

And, we hear how the Biden administration seems to be saying, Enough of that. If you are being extorted, then we are going to take away the app you are using to get permission to come. Sorry. We know we've told you you have to apply for admission on the app. That's the route we've given you. Well, guess what. If you are being extorted, then no way are we going to let you use that app.

Say what?

And, if that doesn't make sense, learn a little more and it really, really won't make sense. Humanitarian workers serving the immigrants have warned the CPB (U.S. Custom and Border Protection) officials that conditions on the Mexican side of the border are not safe for the migrants.

And the U.S.'s response is this? If it is unsafe for you there, then you just won't be allowed to come. Sorry, but if things are unsafe, it means we can't let you cross the border at all. Justice is justice. You've got to understand that we've got a problem here and we've got to go about solving it, and this is how we are going to go about doing it.

But, maybe we just don't know everything about what is going on down there. Maybe what the U.S. appears to be saying, they are actually not saying, at all.

Maybe, just maybe.

In reality, while the immigrants are required to use the app in order to be admitted, anyone with an severe medical condition or who is under immediate threat of being kidnapped or killed can be admitted. Queried by The Associated Press as to what is going on, the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) emailed back saying a more efficient and orderly system has been put in place "while cutting out the unscrupulous smugglers who profit from vulnerable migrants."

The AP story doesn't say if that exchange with the DHS came before or after the reports of extortions. But, it does say, "Neither the U.S. nor Mexican governments addressed questions from the AP regarding reports of migrants who use the app being extorted." So, it appears the exchange did come after the reports of extortion.

But, what is the email saying? When it days things have been "addressed" is it referring to how the Biden administration created the app six months ago? Or, is it saying that as a result of the extortions, yet newer guidelines have been implemented that cut out "the unscrupulous smugglers who profit from vulnerable migrants"?

Like allowing them across the border without using the app.

Time and tide will tell. 
 

As if in a Trance

 Before artificial intelligence, there was counter intelligence. And before we worried the day could come when computer chips would be planted in our heads, there was the day we worried about foreign propaganda powers planting chips on our shoulders so we would distrust each other and our own leaders.

They try to divide us, try to turn us one against each other, try to stir us up to rebellion and war.

There is nothing more like a robot than a person who marches off to war because he or she has been deluded, indoctrinated, deceived, and mentally captured. It's as if a chip has been planted in their minds.

Okay, no computer chips have been planted in the heads of Americans. But if you do not believe foreign powers have endeavored to plant in our heads division, and discord, and rebellion among us, well, you just don't know the ways of those foreign powers.

We once believed in such a thing as propaganda. There was a day we weren't so blind that we couldn't see that it exists. We once could plainly see that foreign powers were persuading their people to follow them like puppets on a string, like dancers in a trance. But, it never occurred to us that if the foreign power could brainwash its own people, it could brainwash us, as well. 

We were enlightened. We were Americans. No such black magic would work on us.

As if.

Well, there came a day when social media swept the world. Nothing was more suited for the art of propaganda. Do we not suppose the masters of propaganda would swoop in for the kill, firing meme after meme to deceive and delude? Propaganda is their game. They are the masters of it. They aren't going to abandon it just because social media gave them their most deadly tool yet.

Far from it.

Well, I don't know that there's a deep state, but it sure seems there's a deep fog. Trump is found guilty of sexual assault, and we were quick to forget it. And, now comes the indictment saying he knowingly endangered the nation with his careless and illegal collecting of national documents. We see the pictures of the documents stacked up in boxes in his Mar-a-largo bathroom and elsewhere in hid Mar-a-largo mansion.

And, in our trance, we look away. We refuse to accept, refuse to believe what is placed right in front of our eyes.

It's as if a chip has been planted in our heads.

 

And Now the Long-Awaited Call to War

It's a hair lash from declaring war on the United States of America, and it's coming from an elected official out of Arizona. I rush to my Wikipedia, realizing there are many who are members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints down Arizona way.

Including U.S. representatives.

I'm running scared now. Please don't let him be LDS, please! I mutter as I scurry to Wikipedia. I quickly scroll down to the part about his personal life. Alas, I read in horror: "(Andy) Biggs is married to Cindy Biggs. He is a member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints."

That's all it says about his personal life, and all I need to know -- and all I don't want to know.

We've a president -- well, a past president -- and you know he's been indicted on federal charges. And you know how he's rushed in anger to rally the masses to his defense. "In the end, they're not coming after me. They're coming after you -- and I'm just standing in their way," he cried.

And, sure enough, many in the populace are falling in step behind him, ready to march off to war. We've got your back, Mr. President. Our guns are loaded and ready.

Kari Lake -- she who lost to Katie Hobbs in a tight finish in the 2020 Arizona Governor's race -- is among those falling into line to become soldiers in the Trump army. Did I say she was from "Arizona"? There's that word again. We'll get back to it again when we return to talking about Andy Biggs.

But first, Kari Lake. Her quote when Trump was indicted is a beauty. "If you want to get President Trump, you're going to have to go through 75 million Americans just like me," she said, as the audience exploded in applause. And just who are those 75 million Americans ready to march behind former President Trump. Lake quickly pointed out that a lot of them are "card-carrying members" of the National Rifle Association.

Then she quipped, or laid it on the line, whichever way you want to look at it: "That's not a threat. That's a public service announcement." As if, her saying that it is time to fall in behind Trump is a public service announcement, just a way of getting the word out and informing people its time to take up arms.

Americans have long been encouraged to believe in one particular fear. You know what it is and you know it well. You yourself have probably bought in to it: We need to run down to the closest gun store and buy a gun or two because the day sure as shooting could come when our leaders will seek to tear away our freedoms. We've got to be ready. We've got to prepare. We've got to have guns and we've got to be set to use them.

Some militia groups even rush off to the forests and woods to hone their skills, learning the art of killing, learning the art of war.

All in preparation for the day when America leaders will need to be faced with the barrel of a Magnum .45, or a Glock G19, or whatever gun the citizen can get his or her hands on.

When you are told the day is coming, you come to believe it. You start tip-toeing around, wary of an enemy hiding in every bush, ready to fire if anything in that bush moves. You're ready, and you're able, and you're anxious -- anxious for that moment to arrive, relishing the idea of employing your gun for what you bought it for, what you hired it for.

Gun for hire, and you hired it. And you don't hire someone, or some thing, unless you've got work for it or them to do.

You even manufacture enemies that aren't there. If the poor of South America and the poor of Mexico cross the border, to you, that's an invasion. "Invasion" is a war term and you think it totally appropriate to use it on the indigent streaming across your border. They may be poor and poor, but if they keep coming, they're going to be dead poor.

Oh, you don't take up your guns against the migrants and start shooting them, but you might just make it clear you think they, indeed, ought to be shot.

Preparing, itching, looking for that day, seeing an enemy behind every rock.

Now, back to Andy Gibb -- I mean, Andy Biggs -- the U.S. representative from Arizona, the U.S. representative who, alas, is LDS. The U.S. representative who made somewhat of a call to war. (And using the word "somewhat "might be a little too generous.)

Remember we, as Americans, are NRA-trained folk, and as such, a lot of us are just waiting to be told the moment has arrived and its time to take up arms against the satanic elements within our government. We are NRA-indoctrinated and filled with distrust, and for some, that means being anxious to march off to war to fulfill a patriotic duty.

One if by land. Two if by sea. As soon as the signal comes, we will be off. We march at dawn.

I am going to change cases and use "you" instead of "we," because I want no part of what could come next. Don't include me. I'm not among those who have been stirred up.

The words of Trump are echoing in your ears. "They're not coming after me. They're coming after you." The words of Kari Lake are fresh on your mind. "If you want to get President Trump, you're going to have to go through 75 million Americans." And the training and instincts drilled into you by the NRA rushes over you.

And, while it's all echoing in your mind, along comes Biggs and tells you the long-awaited moment is here; it's finally arrived. "We have now reached a war phrase," he declares. "Eye for eye."

Well, it seems the public is peeling off, some to America's side, believing justice must be served and if Trump did the crime, he should do the time, and some to the side engendered by the teachings and indoctrination of the NRA. Will it be an actual war? Of course we think no way. Of course we don't think it will actually come to that. But with the rhetoric being issued by Lake, Biggs and others, you have to wonder.

 When you have freedom, you sometimes lose it because you do have it. When you make the wrong choices, follow the wrong voices, sign on with the wrong causes -- your freedom can be lost. 

 You have the freedom to not be free.

Ocean Wide, Ocean Blue, You don't Know How Much We Rely on You

 All our hopes and dreams are in the ocean, you know. I mean, kind of. Oh, while it remains crucial to create solar farms and wind farms, and to hop in electric cars, and to plant trees, and . . .

  Don't let us forget the ocean. Don't let us forget the seas.

   I know you're big on trees, because you realize they can pull carbon dioxide right out of the air, just like magic. But, did you know that photosynthesis takes place on the surface of the seas, and on the surface of lakes, as well? Green algae? Hey, it plays a role in saving the planet. Something called phytoplankton? Yep, it too.

   So, next time you plant a tree to save the earth, maybe run down to the lake and throw in a handful of nitrogen or phosphorus, just for good measure. That's algae food, you see. So, sneak up to the edge of the lake and -- if you don't see a sign saying, "Don't feed the algae" -- toss in a whole generous handful of phosphorous. You can save the world that way, you know.

 Okay, I might be going a little too far. Algae is toxic to humans and animals. And, no, you won't save the planet by tossing a few bags of nitrogen fertilizer into the lake. And, yeah, perhaps I go a little too far in saying all our hopes and dreams are in the ocean.

  But, let's give you some perspective of just how important the ocean is. The ocean contain 50 times more carbon than the atmosphere does -- 50 times! And the ocean contains 20 times more carbon than all the trees and plants and soil -- 20 times!

   The ocean pulls carbon right out of the air. It captures it, and as marine life types swallow the carbon-laced algae and take it under surface, they poop it out or die and the carbon droppings sink right to the bottom of the sea.

   Pretty neat way to get rid of all kinds of carbon, right?

   Oh, and how about this: The ocean produces 50 percent of the oxygen you breathe. So, the ocean is not only great for a cool dip, it's great for a breath of fresh air.

   And, this -- how about this, too: That great body of global water absorbs 25 percent of all carbon dioxide emissions -- and it captures 90 percent of the excess heat caused by greenhouse gas emissions.

   Now, hearing all this, can you understand why the ocean has been called "the world's greatest ally against climate change"?

 So, maybe I wasn't so far off when I started this post by saying all our hopes and dreams lie in the ocean. Ocean wide, ocean blue. When it comes to holding the earth together, you're our glue.

(Index -- Climate change info)

No Fools, those Saudis: They, too, Will Make an Electric Car

 What does the emperor do when he sees his kingdom collapsing? Well, what does Saudi Arabia do when it sees electric vehicles taking over the world and drying up the need for all its oil?

  These Saudis are not fools. They can see the writing on the wall. It might appear they will fight to the end to preserve the gasoline car, but will they?

  Truth is, the year 2030 is closing in, and the Saudis see it coming. Yes, you know what 2030 is about. That's the year carbon emissions are to be slashed by 50 percent all over this blue-sky earth of ours.

   So, have you ever heard of something called Saudi Vision 2030? It's Saudi Arabia's plan to reduce its dependence on oil. They can see the billions upon billions of dollars they are reaping from oil has an expiration date. And, rather than go down with the ship, the Saudis plan to expand their tourism and recreation sectors, and to see if it can squeeze more money out in their health, education, and infrastructure sectors.

   Hey, here's the kicker: The Saudis -- the reapers of so much money from gasoline cars -- are about to come out with their own electric car. Yep, they announced as much last year. The government's Public Investment Fund (PIF) is partnering with Foxconn -- no smudge of a company there; Foxconn is the maker of Apple iPhones -- to produce a brand of vehicles to be called Ceer. Ceer will be the first electric brand in all the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia.

   And just when might this happen? When are these Ceers to start rolling off the assembly line? Two years from now in 2025.

   Hmm -- just of interest -- 2025 is the year the Paris Agreement says greenhouse emissions must peak before the numbers are turned around and carbon emissions start heading down.

   Benji Franklin said something to the effect if you fail to plan, you plan to fail -- and these Saudis don't plan to fail; they have a plan for when their pedestal of oil is knocked from underneath them.

(Index -- Climate change info) 

When It Comes to CO2 in the Atmosphere, Let Us Learn from the Ice Ages

    What brought on the ice ages? Would you believe it likely was an imbalance of carbon dioxide in the air? 

   In the 1970s, scientists discovered that the same greenhouse gas that we are having trouble with today -- that would be carbon dioxide -- was about 30 percent lower during the cold periods of the ice ages. Greenhouse gases, as you know, trap heat in close to the earth. So, even as the planet will warm if there is too much greenhouse gas, it will cool if there is not enough.

   There are different theories on what caused the carbon monoxide levels to decline. But the point is, there must be a balance -- a delicate balance. Whether your idea is that it is Mother Nature, God, or happenstance, we should be grateful the carbon dioxide balance is such that life on this planet is habitable. 

   And, we should not want to disturb the delicate balance. Let us learn from the ice ages. 

(Index -- Climate change info)

Global Warming? With Ancient History as Our Teacher, Let Us Learn

   Do we question the danger of global warming? Let us go back 251.9 million years and learn from ancient history. So many volcanoes erupted that they were scattered across entire continents. They blasted out the deadly fumes of carbon dioxide for thousands of years. Did it cause global warming? Yes, the earth's temperature rose 10 degrees Celsius, Did it cause extensive damage? Ninety percent of life on earth was lost due to the severity of the imbalance of carbon dioxide in the air.

   It was the worst mass extinction in the history of the the world. It took the earth nearly 10 million years to recover.

   And, it wasn't the only mass extinction that has been accompanied by changes in carbon emissions. In fact, every mass extinction -- every one -- has been marked by carbon imbalance in the atmosphere.

   This is the danger of burning fossil fuels. With ancient history as our teacher, let us learn.

(Index -- Climate change info)

The Blood-Boiling Case of Immigrants Being Tricked to Go to California

 Those flying migrants from Texas to California might not be guilty of human trafficking, but they could be charged with kidnapping and fraudulent misrepresentation.

  Legally, human trafficking means you transport someone to exploit them for labor or sex. Florida Gov. DeSantis's workers are not doing that.

  Kidnapping, though, requires only that you take someone by force or deception. The news stories say those transporting the migrants to California are promising them employment and, in some cases, to get them to where they need to be -- to their family members already here or to jobs in Iowa, South Carolina or wherever. If the DeSantis workers are purposefully transporting people away from their desired destinations, or making promises of employment they have no intention of providing, then that is kidnapping.

  Fraudulent misrepresentation arises when you seek to obtain benefit through making misrepresentations. Promises to get them jobs and to the their desired destinations fall in this category, as well. The benefit to the abductors? It might not be financial, but the human-movers clearly want them moved. To them it would be beneficial. They perceive a benefit, or they wouldn't be doing it.

  While DeSantis's workers might be guilty of these two crimes, each case of abduction should be looked at on its own merits. The migrants are ending up in California, a place much more friendly to immigrant and needy than is Texas, where DeSantis's workers are picking them up. (In creating a Florida State office empowered to relocate migrants, DeSantis and his lawmakers specified that the state could pick up the immigrants anywhere in the country, not just Florida.)

   In any situation where the migrant is happy to have ended up in California, why press charges? In those cases, the abductors are just doing the migrants a favor. But, in cases in which the migrants wished to have ended up in Idaho or Georgia or Delaware, and cases in which the migrants arrived in California only to find the promised jobs were not awaiting them, prosecute, prosecute, prosecute.

  How harmful is it that the human-movers are tricking the migrants to go where they don't want to go?  A story by The Associated Press quotes California Attorney General Rob Banta as saying, “To see leaders and governments of other states and the state of Florida, Governor Ron DeSantis, acting with cruelty and inhumanity and moral bankruptcy and being petty and small and hurtful and harmful to those vulnerable asylum seekers is blood-boiling.” 

I've Got Artificial Intelligence

Confessions are in order. See, I'm not overly scared of AI. Oh, I read the story about how they could undermine the integrity of our elections. That bothers me. And I saw that story where the very creators of A1 are warning us to beware. How could I not respect that? I even saw that story about how they could bring about the extinction of the human race.  Whoa!

It's not that I'm nonplussed, disconcerted, and unperturbed. All four of those things apply. And, if you're saying, Wait a minute, you just listed three things and are so stupid you  counted them as four, well, it's just that I'm so concerned that I searched for a fourth word, but didn't have a big enough vocabulary to come up with it. Besides, you're right about me being too dumb to know how to count.  

Okay, so I am concerned. But maybe I'm just not as concerned as I should be.  It's just that when I get done doing all my worrying, I somehow think things are going to be all right.

I mean, they can't do any damage to me; I'm already a mess. And, they can't harm you, because you're so smart you'll get out of it.  

Seriously, though, I don't think they are going to overpower humans. Just don't. Now, I've been wrong about a millions things -- and that's just counting the host of them from yesterday -- but, yeah, I think things are  going to be fine. 

Maybe that means I've got artificial intelligence. As they say, I obviously don't have real intelligence, so it must be fake and artificial.

Guns Bring Flowers -- the Kind That Rest on Graves

 Jeremy came in looking for a gun. He'd been outside. Getting cold. Getting wet. Getting frozen. He came inside to to find his Colt .45 by the fireplace. His Glock G19 next to the stove. And his Beretta 92 laying right in the middle of the floor. Someone had kicked it there. It hadn't just gotten there on its own.

He picked it up. Looking back out the door. Wondering if he should take it with him back outside and go looking for them. Or wait inside till they came looking for him. He pulled back the window curtain just enough to spot two of them coming up the sidewalk. Approaching his door.

He slipped quietly into his closet. It was a wierd closet. This one locked from the inside. Then, he climbed the wall until he was up in the attic. From there, he could see through the floor as the thugs entered his home, laughing.

And, he laughed back. And they heard him. But they didn't know where it was coming from.

Okay, I don't know where this story is going. But you can be sure it ain't going to have a happy ending. Guns bring flowers, you know. The kind that rest on graves. 

(Index -- Stories)

Down At the Border, Justice Is Strange

We should bring the governors of Virginia and South Carolina, Glenn Youngkin and Henry McMaster, in for questioning. They want to help another governor, Greg Abbott down in Texas, so they are sending National Guard troops his way to give him a hand.

Ahem, they say it's to help slow the flow of drugs and human trafficking into America.

Excuse me -- can I offer my "ahem" a little louder -- what you really want to slow is the flow of undocumented people into this country. Why make it sound like you are fighting off drugs and human trafficking?

"As leadership solutions at the federal level fall short, states are answering the call to secure our southern border, reduce the flow of fentanyl, combat human trafficking and address the humanitarian crisis," Youngkin said.

Noble endeavors all, but if that's what you really want, you aren't showing it by your actions. I've got some questions:

Question 1) A month or so ago, when immigrants started to rush the border, there were counts of how many immigrants were pouring in. But, where were the counts of how much fentanyl was intercepted? I mean, if those rushing the border were bringing fentanyl, why didn't we hear a single news report of how our border agents intercepted the drugs, or even that they were watching and looking fo it? Oh, I don't doubt that the drug lords are sneaking fentanyl into America, but I'm thinking they are a little smarter than to send it with a group of immigrants who are going to present themselves at the border in order to apply for asylum. I could be wrong, but that's my guess.  

Question 2) How many human traffickers did you catch during that rush? How many do you plan to catch? How many have you caught in all this time that there has been this crisis at our border? Go back to the '50s. I'm would guess you've caught some, but I wonder. If it is the human traffickers you are after, shouldn't we be hearing news reports of how you are arresting them? Stop the criminals, not the victims. The refugees are the victims. Does it somehow bring the human traffickers to justice if you arrest their victims? Why don't we try a different approach and arrest the criminals instead of the victims? Do you even have a plan for catching the traffickers, or are your eyes so focused on stopping the dirt-poor migrants that you lose sight of what you're after? 

Question 3) Just what is it that you see as a humanitarian crisis? What is it that is such a terrible thing going on -- to you? I'm thinking you and I have different ideas about what the humanitarian crisis even is. I'm having my doubts that you are sorry for those dying on the floor of the Mexican desert. I'm having doubts that you would like to make it safer for them to get here. I'm having doubts that you want to make it easier on them when they arrive, or that you want to help them. Your form of charity is to give them a swift kick back across the border and warn them that if they show up again, they're going to jail.

You've got a strange way of stopping the drug flow. You've got a strange way of stopping human trafficking. You've got a strange way of addressing the humanitarian crisis. You can prop up your opposition to the immigrants by yelling about how we need to stop drugs, and stop human trafficking, but it's the immigrant you go after. That just doesn't make sense.