A Good Fight Against Climate Change Includes Dense Cities

   If you want to improve air quality, increase the density of our cities. Packing everyone tightly into the cities is one of the most meaningful ways we could fight climate change. A car that doesn't drive into work because the owner instead chooses to walk isn't going to do much polluting.
   So, bring the people close enough to their job sites that they don't need to drive.
   And that means employers should factor in where their new hires will be living when they hire them. Two candidates being reasonably equal, hire the one that lives the closest.
    The whole business permit/building license/business permit/zoning process should revolve around this matter.You want to build an office complex? Are there enough housing units within walking distance or are you willing to build them? You want a building permit to build 200 housing units? Is there a nearby employer to accommodate? If we designate an area for businesses, do we also designate accompanying land for residential development so those businesses can employ people who will walk to work?
   Cars account for a large share of greenhouse emissions. Our efforts to fight climate change would vastly improve if we, in a wise way, increased city density.

(Index -- Climate change info)

  

   

Let Them Work, Let Them Work, Let Them Work -- and the Crisis Will be Over

    Just let them work, if you don't want a humanitarian crisis. Read the opening couple of paragraphs from a New York Post article and decide what should be done. Tell me that giving them jobs is not the answer.
   "Hundreds of migrants trying to get back into the Big Apple's overwhelmed shelter system have been flooding an East Village block as Mayor Eric Adams warned the crisis would soon be more visible than ever, The Post has learned.
   "The scores of asylum seekers lining the sidewalk on East 7th Street near Tomkins Square Park are among the thousands forced to reapply for temporary housing after being booted under the administration's 30-day cap on shelter stays."
   Mayor Adams should be fuming. He should be upset that we can't give these people jobs. If you allow these immigrants to work, they wouldn't need to jam your shelters. Adams should be yelling at President Biden, shouting at Congress, and making all kinds of noise in the national media, demanding that the broken system be fixed and the immigrants be allowed to work.
   There is nothing wrong with these poor people coming to America. We can raise false alarms and say the sky is falling.  But, no, we will survive quite well if these poor people are allowed a spot in America.
   When they want to work and are willing to work, let them. Tell me why we do not allow this?
   If you want to be set in your ways and determined to deport them after their hearings, be such a jerk. But, in the meantime, let them work, let them pay their way, let them earn a living so they won't have to depend on a government handout. 

This Would Fight Human Trafficking as Much as Anything

   A great way to encourage human trafficking is to deport the undocumented among us. And, yes, I'm chiding you. I'm not joking, but I am chiding. I'm correcting you -- maybe even mocking you.
  When traffickers run across immigrants who are here illegally, they threaten to turn them in if they won't work for them at reduced rates. Yes, it does happen. A news story on the radio today discussed it. It suggested this is one of the most common forms of human trafficking in Utah -- making them work cheaply in exchange for not being turned in.
  The poor foreign laborer cannot reject the offer. If they say, No, thanks; I already have a job, the extorters simply tell them they will turn them in if they don't make a rapid change of employers.
   You want to do away with human trafficking in the United States? One of the most meaningful things you could do would be to legalize immigration and legalize their right to work. Globally, about 25 million people are subjected to human trafficking and forced labor. This need not be. We could wipe out one of the largest (if not the largest) causes of human trafficking if we would just let people live, just let them work. We are talking about some of the poorest people on earth. The traffickers haul away with an estimate $150 billion in illicit profits at their expense each year. We are responsible for this. We created this system. It is us who gave the predators the leverage to exploit these poor from other countries.
   We aren't too smart, but we sure are self-righteous. All the while we are accommodating the traffickers -- all the while we are making it so miserable on the immigrants -- we are calling them names, demeaning them and making sure they realize they don't belong here. 
   We treat them as criminals, but it is we who are better fit to the description.  

Some Say We Should not be Gardeners, but We Should

 

   "Nature does not need our help. We are not supposed to be getting involved tending it like a garden." So are the words of Chad Hanson, director of the John Muir Project, a group that contests the National Park Service's efforts to replant seedlings in the wake of the wildfires from 2020 and 2021 in the Sequoia and Kings Canyon National Parks.
   The Parks Service this fall announced plans for the seedling-planting project, saying it was concerned that the natural process might not be sufficient due to the unprecedented number of reproductive trees that were destroyed.
   I tend to side with the Parks Service. Humankind is affecting our planet. When we, as humans, cause harm, we should try to repair that harm. Left to themselves, the forests might go through cycles of regrowth in a productive manner. But the forests are not being left to themselves. Our actions are hurting them.
  You could look at this from a biblical approach, noting God instructed man to "have dominion over the fish of the seas, and over the fowl of the air, and over the cattle, and over all the earth, and over every creeping thing that creepeth upon the earth."
  The John Muir spokesperson compared the earth to a garden. "We are not supposed to be getting involved tending it like a garden," he said. Of interest, when Adam and Eve were created, their first heritage was a garden, the Garden of Eden, and they were told to till the land and to take care of it. It became a commandment to garden it. Humankind has always been gardeners for this planet. It has been a trust from the Lord to care for this world -- and that includes taking care of the trees in the Sequoia and Kings Canyon National Parks.

(Index -- Climate change info)

We License Lawlessness by not Punishing People Who Steal $100

   Scenario: Victim named Paige allows friend to use her cell phone. On the phone, there is an app where she places money. (I'm not good with understanding apps, but I am told it is called a cash app.) The friend gets into the app and steals $100.  Paige calls police. Police say there is nothing they can do: it's a civil matter.
   No, it's a crime. Stealing $100 is a crime. Call it petty theft or call it what you want, but it's a crime. Our courts might be so overloaded they cannot deal with such cases, but it is a crime.
   Hire more judges. 
   Hire more prosecutors.
   Hire more police officers.
   Whatever it takes, do something.
   When my friend Paige told me of the theft, I urged her to call the cops, I told her, yes, I wanted her to have justice with the lady who stole the money from her. But I also wanted to see what cops would do. I knew -- I knew they would file a report and that would be the end of it, but I wanted to see if that, indeed, would be all that came of it, just to verify what a deep hole our legal system has fallen  into.
   Taking $100 off of someone's cash app? It's called theft. Yes, officer, it is a crime. The idea behind having police officers in the first place is to protect us from crime. You aren't doing it; you aren't protecting us. If we allow elements of our society to go free when they commit crimes, we license lawlessness. We are not a third-world country; America should be a country where the law is enforced. 
   But a lot of the time, it isn't.

The Gambling House Called Antarctica

    "We absolutely need to act immediately." With those words, U.N. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres pleads for the icy tundra of Antartica. In the age of climate warming, it is the fastest warming place on earth. "What happens in Antartica doesn't stay in Antartica," he says.
   In the fashion of Vegas, the we are gambling with the world's climate. The ice and the cold waters in the Antarctic Peninsula drive the oceans currents and regulate the world's climate.
   Draw your cards. Roll the dice. Pull the lever. Gamble with the world's fate, if you will. You can get rid of greenhouse gases, if you will. You can end the world's dependence on fossil fuels. Or you can gamble. You can play Russian roulette. Go ahead an take your pick and live with the consequences.

(Index -- Climate change info) 

For Rule not by Constitution, but by Hatred, Cast Your Vote for Trump

    Is he going to be satisfied with building a wall? No. Trump is threatening mass deportations, ending birthright citizenship, and banning Muslims. His measures will not be compassionate, but they will certainly be swift.
   Banning birthright citizenship is not even Constitutional -- but no matter. Trump won't let a paper document stand in his way.
   He stirs up animosity toward the immigrant -- hatred and contempt.
   If you want a nation ruled not by the Constitution, but by hatred, vote for Trump.

A Nice, Big, Bang of a Thanksgiving Meal for the Migrants

 

   If these migrants at the border are in need, if they are poor and afflicted and persecuted . . .
   And because is it is nice to be good, and charitable, and caring to them . . .
   And, because it is Thanksgiving  . . .
   Well, I kind of wish some group here would get a bunch of Thanksgiving dinners over to them. 
   Reach out to those in need, America. We give to the homelesss on Thanksgiving. I just think it would be nice to give to the migrants, as well. They are also poor. Not everyone is fond of them, but some of us are. They have marched across the desert, suffering much affliction, just to arrive at the border where they must wait.
   I would imagine there are organizations that help feed them, regularly. But how about a nice, big, bang of a Thanksgiving meal? Perhaps they do get such a meal. But  if they don't, they should.

The Release of 150 Hostages is not Enough

 Not enough, the 50 hostages who are to be released in Gaza. There are 240 of them. We should thank the negotiators who arranged for the 50 releases, but it would have been better had they been able to secure the release of all 240. The news stories I have read did not explore what prevented all 240 from being released.
Also, I was surprised to learn the 150 persons who Israel is releasing in exchange are also all women and children, same as the prisoners Hamas will be releasing. I am surprised Israel captures women and children. Perhaps doing so helps in exchanges such as this, though. It will be interesting to learn how Israel has treated these prisoners.
And also, would it have been possible to get all 240 of the hostages released  if they were exchanged for Hamas soldiers? If so, it would appear that should have been done. 

Narrowing News to One Side is Not How We Practice Free Speech

    The warriors of words fight not on the battlefield, but on social media, at public protests, and in the news media. Among them are those that are reliable and those that aren't.
   News was once just the facts, ma'am. Now its rich in opinion. It comes at you from the left, and it comes at you from the right. The two sides often do a better job stirring us up one against the other than they do of letting us know what is happening. 
  So why don't you learn how to tell a good news story from a bad one?
  1.) Note whether the story quotes people on both sides of the issue. 
  2.) Watch for the tone of the story. Does it give you the feeling that both sides make worthy points? Does it stir you to anger, or does it help you understand where both sides are coming from?
  3.) Does it draw conclusions without citing specific sources? 
  It is fine to have an opinion. It is fine to express it. And, when you see something wrong going on, of course you want to speak up against it. You might feel like you are to wear out your days speaking against that which is wrong. That's cool.
  But as for your source of getting your news before you arrive at your opinion, go with the sources that are even-handed. And don't write off news sources too quickly. Some will tell you not to listen to the main media, for itis not to be trusted. Instead of swallowing such a line, pick up and read their stories for yourself.  Does the story quote both sides? Does it go about its perusal of facts in a way that makes you feel you can understand how both sides feel? Does it rush to a conclusion without providing evidence? How about your current news source? Take its stories and judge it by the same standard.
   Listening to the liberal left or conservative right is fine, but to guide you through those outlets, find a news source that is balanced and unbiased. Don't be captured by opinions that tell you not to listen to the other side. Do your own thinking. Don't let others tell you how to think or where to get your news. You can pick up a story and read it and make a determination if it is a good article on your own.
   Our founding fathers knew well the power of the press. They knew it was the foundation of a free society. But I don't remember ever reading a quote from one of them suggesting that we must only listen to them, and to them alone. None of them turned you away from hearing both sides. So don't let the pundits of today convince you differently. Narrowing news to one side is not how we practice free speech.

 

Freedom was Never Meant to be the Mask of the Wicked

  Presidential aspirant Nikki Haley -- drawing a heavy backlash -- has suggested banning anonymity on social media. State who you are if you want to use those formats. She did back down some, saying she is only referring to banning foreign actors (like Russian, Iranian, and Chinese bots) from being anonymous.
  I'm onboard with her original proposal, though perhaps with provisions. We should be allowed to know who is speaking, who is attacking us. Slander and lies should not be allowed to hide behind a cloak of darkness. We expect transparency in government. We should expect of ourselves what we expect of government. Allow people to use pseudonyms, yes, but make it so those names can be traced down to real people. With freedom comes responsibility and freedom does not mean you can go around hurting people, lying and stirring up trouble without being held accountable. Crimes go unpunished when there is too much anonymity. Freedom was never meant to be the mask of the wicked. Honest people don't cower from being identified. 

Trump . . . the Only Candidate Running to Become Dictator

  Trump is at it again. Same stuff: praising dictators, saying they are better than America's leaders. 
  Speaking at a campaign rally Saturday, Trump praised Chinese President Xi Jinping as a "great guy." "What can I say? He runs 1.4 billion people with an iron hand," Trump said.
   Ruling 1.4 billion people with a the iron hand of a dictator is a good thing? Has any other American politician ever made such a suggestion? Trump trumps the worst of politicians.
   Trump also spoke of both Russian President Vladimir Putin and Hungarian President Viktor Orban, praising them for being among the "strongest leaders" in the world. There's that reference again: these leaders are great because they are strong and govern with an iron hand -- they are dictators.
   Say it ain't so! This guy is the leading candidate for president? People actually support a man who appears to aspire to become America's first dictator? Really? Seriously? How far has America fallen? America will cease to be America as we know it if Trump is elected. It will resemble Russia or China more than it does what is now known as the USA. 
   Bless us all. We are going to need it if this guy is elected.

Help Us Out, Here, With the Jan. 6 Video Footage You are Releasing

 You hear that House Speaker Mike Johnson is going to release 44,000 hours of video footage of the Jan. 6 riot? 
  First, he should consult with Capitol Police on which footage should be screened out so as to not compromise national security.
   Then -- will you agree? -- the 44,000 hours needs to be indexed and organized. There isn't a citizen in America who is going to comb through all 44,000 hours. You couldn't get through that much if you watched the videos day and night for years.
   Yes, we appreciate your releasing the footage, but could you get a large team of editors to comb through it for us? We want the footage that shows crimes allegedly being broken. We want another file containing footage of the 114 officers who were injured. That might be enough,because we realize this will take a lot of time, but if you do have the time and don't mind, how about all the footage following around some of the people who were convicted? 
   We want to see for ourselves what happened, but we won't have a prayer of doing that if it means sitting there for years watching the videos.

Reveling in Your Emotions is One of the Biggest Blessings of Our Age

 You could list the blessings of living in our modern day and come up with a magnificent assortment: Travel the world and get there in mere hours, visit national parks in all their splendor and beauty, watch creative TV shows and movies, attend sporting events, find almost anything on the Internet . . .
   Wait, you are leaving one of the biggest of bigs out: Music. And it is not just music. It's that you can turn to music to amplify your emotions. Back in the day, you couldn't just dial up a song on YouTube when you were feeling emotional.
   After all your long efforts and failures, will there come a time when things finally go right? Well, here's a song to express your emotions:

Now I believe there comes a time
When everything just falls in line
We live an' learn from our mistakes
The deepest cuts are healed by faith
Now I believe there comes a time
When everything just falls in line
We live an' learn from our mistakes
The deepest cuts are healed by faith
. . . I'm all fired up! (fired up, fired up)

   Let that song reflect your feelings; Let it express them. Emotions scream louder when you can pull such a song out and play it over and over and over -- all day long, if you want. In the old day, you could have this thought about how some day everything is going to turn out right, but it was nothing like this. 
   Oh, and there are a million songs about lost love and heartache. Listening to them over and over actually can make the heartache feel enjoyable.
   There are fanciful songs like "Up, Up, and Away," songs that welcome you to a new day like "Oh, What a Beautiful World," and inspiring songs like "The Impossible Dream." Life is lived at its fullest when feelings and emotions are reveled in, when you are buried in them like in the waves of the sea. When you can shout an emotion, or whisper a gentle feeling, that is life at the height of its sublimity.
   Thank YouTube for this; thank the old record player. Back in the day, they couldn't just snap their fingers and some genie would sweep their emotions off to an awaiting paradise. Make no mistake, this is one of the biggest blessings of our age.

 

Guns in the Hands of the Elderly can Lead to Suicides

   The older the man who owns a gun, the more likely he is to commit suicide? Guns abound among the elderly, and as factors such as depression, disease, disability, loss of spouse, and feelings of abandonment by family increase, the gun sit faithfully at hand, ready to be used. 
   Men tend to own guns more than women, so it is the men who face this danger.
   A new CDC study shows that men 85 and older are more at risk of gun suicide than any other age group.
   The proliferation of guns in America has its consequences. Make it convenient to kill ourselves, and eventually there will be a high volume of those who do.  

We Will Yet Pay for the Scoffing of those Who are Irresponsible

    And the people kept on going to their little league games, going out to shows, and feasting at their family dinners. 
   With no thought and no discussion -- and often no belief -- in the solemn threat against their world.
   One congressionally mandated report, according to CNN, "warned that even though planet-warming pollution in the US is slowly decreasing, it is not happening nearly fast enough to meet the nation's targets, nor is it in line with the UN-sanctioned goal to limit global warming to 1.5 degrees Celsius -- a threshold beyond which scientists warn life of Earth will struggle to cope."
   That, and many news stories like it, roused the populace very little. The masses were nonplussed. There was work to go to, sporting events to watch, more important matters to attend to. And a large force of the public urged the rest that there really wasn't anything to worry about anyway. It amounted to just a bunch of chatter from scientists who didn't know what they were talking about, the scoffers argued.
   But there comes a day of reckoning. You ignore the experts and the scientists and those who would save you at your own risk. Irresponsibility eventually has a price. 

(Index -- Climate change info)

Trump's Prediction Should Scare the Public from Voting for Him

    Coming from Donald Trump, you have to wonder if he -- supposing he is re-elected -- is going to have special counsel Jack Smith and others committed to a mental institution.
   Commenting on his Truth Social website, Trump predicted that Smith and other Justice Department officials will end up "suffering from a horrible disease, TRUMP DERANGEMENT SYNDROME (TDS!), in a Mental Institution by the time my next term as President is successfully completed."
   Of course, there is one little hangup. Trump has no authority to send someone to a mental institution. But, who knows what hold he will take on government. Who knows but what he will widen his power so he can simply issue a presidential decree, and off to the mental institution they go.
   Notice his post on Truth Social says they will end up in the mental institution while he is in office. He doesn't leave it open to their going to the institution sometime later. Rather he suggests it will happen while he is in office, while he is in power, while he is in control so he can make it happen.
   The millions of Trump supporters will see no danger in what Trump is saying. They will scoff at the suggestion he will send political opponents to a mental institution. But words have meaning. He said it will happen. He said it will happen while he is in office. Would to heaven that the American people could see the danger in his words. This Truth Social post, all by itself, should scare the people from voting for him. If you hear someone make such a comment, and react by saying, Yeah, I'll still vote for him, heaven help us.

The Polls are in, and They don't Point to High EV Sales

 If you are an electric car advocate, here's what you've got to deal with: Only 31 percent of Americans say they are likely to make an EV their next purchase. The younger folk are more likely to go EV, but even then, most of them say no. Millennials are at 40 percent, Gen Xers at 33, and Baby Boomers at 22.

Income, though, has a lot to do with it. Those with college degrees come in at 47 percent while those with only high school diplomas or less are at 18 percent. Only 40 percent of those with annual incomes below $50,000 are ready to take on EVs.

Republicans? You would ask about them. Only 24 percent of them say they would consider going electric.

Looking at all those figures, it is clear that the price of EVs has got to plummet if EVs are to prevail. The average American isn't rich enough to afford a nice-riding EV.

(Index -- Climate change info)

Greatest Poets of all Time?

They will tell you these are the greatest poets. It becomes you, then, to tell if they are correct.
Greatest poet of all time #1 is William Shakespeare. We shall share a sample of his poetry, and you are to determine if it is the best, or if he should be moved down the list.

 
Sonnet 18
Shall I compare thee to a summer’s day?
Thou art more lovely and more temperate.
Rough winds do shake the darling buds of May,
And summer’s lease hath all too short a date.
Sometime too hot the eye of heaven shines,
And often is his gold complexion dimmed;
And every fair from fair sometime declines,
By chance, or nature’s changing course, untrimmed;
But thy eternal summer shall not fade,
Nor lose possession of that fair thou ow’st,
Nor shall death brag thou wand'rest in his shade,
When in eternal lines to Time thou grow'st.
So long as men can breathe, or eyes can see,
So long lives this, and this gives life to thee.

I find this Shakespeare not a great poet at all. What do you think? If it were I making the list of the top 10, I would leave him off the list, entirely.

On the list presented by the authorities, Edgar Allan Poe checks in at #2.

The Raven
Once upon a midnight dreary, while I pondered, weak and weary,
Over many a quaint and curious volume of forgotten lore—
While I nodded, nearly napping, suddenly there came a tapping,
As of some one gently rapping, rapping at my chamber door.
‘’Tis some visitor,’ I muttered, ‘tapping at my chamber door—
Only this and nothing more.’

Annabel Lee
And this was the reason that, long ago,
   In this kingdom by the sea,
A wind blew out of a cloud, chilling
   My beautiful Annabel Lee;
So that her highborn kinsmen came
   And bore her away from me,
To shut her up in a sepulchre
   In this kingdom by the sea.

This is an improvement upon Shakespeare. Poe is one of the better poets on this listing.

This next one, you have never heard of -- and understandably so. Nevertheless, someone called Saadi checks in at #3. 

Manner of Kings Story 05
I may so act as not to hurt the feelings of anyone
But what can I do to an envious man dissatisfied with himself?
Die, O envious man, for this is a malady,
Deliverance from which can be obtained only by death.
Unfortunate men sometimes ardently desire
The decline of prosperous men in wealth and dignity.
If in daytime, bat-eyed persons do not see
Is it the fault of the fountain of light, the sun?
Thou justly wishest that a thousand such eyes
Should be blind rather than the sun dark.

Next up is an actually great poet. William Woodsworth is listed as the #4 best poet in mortal history.

Ode: Intimations of Immortality
Our birth is but a sleep and a forgetting:
that rises with us, our life’s star,
Hath had The soul  elsewhere its setting,
And cometh from afar;
Not in entire forgetfulness,
And not in utter nakedness,
But trailing clouds of glory do we come
From God, who is our home.

The Lucy Poems

Strange fits of passion have I known:

And I will dare to tell,
But in the lover's ear alone,
What once to me befell.
When she I loved look'd every day
Fresh as a rose in June,
I to her cottage bent my way,
Beneath an evening moon.

Francesco Petrarca is #5. He's not too bad, but he simply is not worthy of being called one of the ten greatest poets. 

Crap otherness

All the octopi untie my limbs

time to unite with time they say

Meanwhile mesmerized on the dance floor

I’m drooling with my jar of pickled fruits

in shadows and in bliss

as if the world could briefly satisfy my wish.

Charles Baudelaire is #6. Do you think he should be on this list?

Get Drunk

And if you sometimes happen to wake up

on the porches of a palace,

in the green grass of a ditch,

in the dismal loneliness of your own room,

your drunkenness gone or disappearing,

ask the wind,

the wave,

the star, 

the bird,

the clock,

ask everything that flees,

everything that groans

or rolls

or sings,

Everything that speaks

Johann wolfgang von goethe rings in at #7. Do you enjoy his poetry?

The Dance of Death

The warder looks down at the mid hour of night,

On the tombs that lie scatter'd below:

The moon fills the place with her silvery light,

And the churchyard like day seems to glow.

When see! first one grave, then another opes wide,

And women and men stepping forth are descried,

In cerements snow-white and trailing.

There are other lists suggesting who the top poets are. Clearly, I did not find a good listing.

I would not place a one of these poets on my personal list of top poets. And you?

Truth Should not be Victim to Politics

 You cannot say that burning fossil fuels warms the planet. It's against the law. Or, at least it could become so. The Texas State Board of Education is considering recommending that its school districts replace books that teach man-made climate change with those that don't. While the recommendation would not be binding, the idea could prompt other states to follow their lead and create standards requiring schools to use Republican political doctrine instead of sound scientific understanding.
   Politics over science. Alternate truth over reality. 
   Anger will be stirred by such claims as mine -- that Republicans would replace reality with their own political wanderings. Sometimes, though, you have to say what is true even though extremists will be angered. If you want baseless idealogy, go to an extremist; if you want solid fact -- if you want truth -- go to a mainstream scientist. Yes, I say "mainstream," even though the extremists say that is the problem. They say there are other scientists who counter the mainstream scientists and mainstream is the last thing we want to follow.
   I say you can always drum up a "scientist." I suggest you can always find a "scientist" to say what you want him to say. So go ahead and drum up your "scientist." Try to replace logic with political incoherency. Truth can be replaced, but it cannot be diminished. 
  Truth should not be the victim of politics. We should fear what the Texas State Board of Education is considering. 

Here's to the Many Who Support the Immigrant

They march across the hostile terrain of Mexico, hundreds of them expiring on the hot desert floor each year as they try to reach America.

"Have you been aware?
"You got brothers and sisters who care
"About what's gonna happen to you"

That old Guess Who song leaves hope that they are not forgotten, that there are those who raise an eyebrow of concern. There are those who wish they could rush down to the border to see them in, welcome them.

"Maybe I'll be there to shake your hand (Shake your hand)
"Maybe I'll be there to share the land (Share the land)
"That they'll be givin' away
When we all live together, we're talkin' 'bout together, now"

The bonds of humanity reach to greet our neighbors from the south. The bonds of humanity do not ignore their plight. Here's to the many who support them, who care, who do not subscribe to the politics of our day against them. 

Neil Diamond's People Are Headed Our Way

 Neil Diamond praised them, these immigrants.

"Only want to be free
"We huddle close
"Hang on to a dream
"On the boats and on the planes
"They're coming to America"

Was he speaking of the ones who come with their paperwork all in order, or did he include those who show up unannounced at the border, just seeking asylum? Surely, Diamond had those who said they don't mind immigrants coming, they just want them to come legally.

It is immigrant season, now -- migrant season, the season of the migrant caravans.

"Home
"Don't it seem so far away
"Oh, we're traveling light today
"In the eye of the storm
"In the eye of the storm"

News two days ago says a caravan of hundreds of migrants left the city of Tapachula in southern Mexico, heading for America. They were to join up with a larger caravan that left six days earlier. When the season is well underway, will we have caravans that number in the thousands, as we do in many years? They are "traveling light today" and "only want to be free." 

"To a new and a shiny place
"Make our bed and we'll say our grace
"Freedom's light burning warm
"Freedom's Light burning warm"

A Brain Can Atrophy as Fast as a Body

 An idle mind is the coroner's workshop, if you don't mind me saying so. A brain can atrophy as fast as a body. Muscles body or muscles brain, they both exist, so exercising the brain is as important as exercising the body.
   This is not a new thought, of course. And, a corollary has always been that television is the wasteland that wastes the mind. Careful there, though. That which stimulates is that which exercises. TV is sometimes a stimulant, and sometimes not. Sometimes you laugh and laugh at the creativity. Other times, you are nonplused. Sometimes TV inspires us to be creative, ourselves, and sometimes it provides nothing but a story that requires no thought or reflection of our own -- no real thinking, for the TV is doing it all for us. Laughing can be good when ist is a stimulant, but not when it just lets us disengage from our own thinking.
    I wonder at our rehabilitation centers. Too often, patients do little other than watch TV. Their life in their old age becomes as their life in their young age. Just as we often sit our kids out of our way by sitting them in front of the TV, so it is with residents in a care center. 
   Not that care centers do not provide some things for residents to do. Bingo and book readings come to mind. And, there are concerts and such. One of the best activities is physical therapy.  I just think rehab centers could expand on their offerings. Woodwork and origami, chess and coin collecting. Teach, teach, teach; let them learn foreign languages and let them learn astronomy.
   An education is not just for the young; it is for those who would to remain young.

If You've Invested the Time and Money, Build Them

 There were no deaths in Three Mile Island. There were none at Fukushima. Nuclear waste can, indeed, be recycled. The reactors are safe from meltdown. Nuclear, along with wind, has the lowest carbon footprint. 

All that said, I would still be cautious about new nuclear.

1.) It is too expensive in terms of federal spending. The federal R&D budget for nuclear energy was about $1.65 billion for 2022.

2.) The mining causes lung cancer in a high share of the miners.

3.) It takes too long to put them up, 10-19 years compared to only 2-5 for wind and solar.

However, inasmuch as many of the existing projects have already went through the R&D process, much of the federal money has already been spent. Don't waste it. Finish the projects. Nuke plants do take a long time from from the start of planning, but many of the plants have already invested that time. It is behind them. If Bill Gates (who is leading the new nuke movement) and his buddies are willing to finance the projects from here, go for it. Build them.

(Index -- Climate change info)

Slow Down, Israel, Slow Down

    Slow down, Israel, slow down. You are going at the war as if you need to win it now and the only way to do that is murder all the civilians. You don't need to murder all the civilians. You shouldn't want to. You should be willing to say, If it will save lives, we will ease up, we will show some restraint.
   So, take the foot off the pedal.
   You have surrounded the city. Now, cautiously enter, cautiously searching out the enemy, and cautiously avoiding the civilians. Shoot and shoot to kill when you see the enemy; hold your fire when it is only a civilian. If it takes months to do it this way, do it. If it takes years, do it.
   Take the lead roll in getting food and essentials into the Gazans. Put it directly in their hands. Curry favor with the Gazans; curry friendship. It will reach a stage where they are pointing Hamas out to you, helping you ferret them out. 
   The Gazans aren't your enemies in this war; make them your allies.
   

Pull the Plug on Israel

 Pull the plug. Do not send them any money, after all. They want $14.3 billion. Don't send them a penny. This is not a time the Israelis deserve money. They've shown they would only abuse it. Killing civilians is not something that is acceptable. It is not something that should be rewarded.

Read this, from an NBC article: "The mounting Palestinian civilian death toll is more than apparent. Israel blames Hamas for using people as human shields, but international organizations and even the United States are becoming increasing alarmed at the civilian cost of Israel's intensifying operation in the densely populated enclave."

The Biden administration has spoken out against Israel's massacre of civilians. Now it is time for both the administration and Congress to follow up by saying, We've changed our mind, Israel. Either you find a way to go after Hamas without killing so many civilians, or we won't help you -- can't help you.

Killing civilians is not acceptable. We must not hide behind the justification that we are an ally, that we've always stood with Israel and always will.

Not this time.

Gazans Are not Cattle

 Give them a new place to live, but do not force them to live there. And, if you send them to the uninhabitable Sinai Peninsula, make it inhabitable. The Gazans and Palestinians are not cattle to be herded; They are humans who have been suffering from poor living conditions all along, and don't need you to make it worse for them.
   But -- there it is -- Israel's answer to the Gaza Strip is forced displacement. Take the 2.3 million people and force them to go live in the cold desert. That will get them out of your hair. Many of the Gazans are ancestors of Palestinians who were forced out of Israel about 1948 as Israel was becoming a nation. Don't do this to them, again. 
   If you are going to get Palestinians to move to the Sinai Peninsula, make it an attractive place, a place where they will want to live as an alternative to Gaza, a place where they will want to live of their own free will and choice in order to upgrade from Gaza.
   Ethnic cleansing, that is the description of what is happening in the Gaza Strip. It doesn't need to be that way; we can take care of these people.

 

From the Vantage of the Wicked, Their Wars Are Righteousness

    From a distance, war might seem right. But, when it invades your home, it is the death of your wife and the massacre of your children. Revenge and anger light a war. Settling a score is the scourge of humanity, and getting even spills the blood of the innocent. Tanks and bombs are the prophets of doom. 
   Soldiers pray in their foxholes, but the instigators of battle know no God.