May the new year bring peace and prosperity to us ALL!
If you have not yet seen Star Wars, you should go see it.
If you need a good book, try One Good Dragon Deserves Another and/or Dectective Strongoaks and the Case of the Dead Elf.
2016 should be the year that charity and inclusiveness wins out over selfishness and exclusiveness.
We all need to stop concentrating on our differences and start working together to make our Earth the model planet for the universe.
Thursday, December 31, 2015
Tuesday, December 22, 2015
THE SOLSTICE BIRTH
Last night, as Druids celebrated at Stonehenge, a mother looked for a safe place to have her baby.
She left the cold ocean and went to the place that cares for her kind. In a sheltered spot, she gave birth in safety.
We all got to watch, as the baby otter was licked into fuzzyness by her mom. All the tourists took photos of Monterrey Bay Aquarium's tidal pool and the new not so endangered baby otter.
Mankind almost killed off all of the otters. Not for their fur, but because the otters eat the same seafood we do. Have you noticed that humans do not share very well?
But the sea otters are back. China is saving the panda. Africa is trying to save the elephants, the rhinos and the lions.
This year. as you are contemplating your charitable giving, please consider giving to people that BUY THE LAND/WATER for the endangered species to live on. We can not save wild creatures unless they have a place to live.
Oceans are shared spaces. Do not be so greedy that you allow the ocean to be over fished or polluted.
The planet you save is the only planet we have.
She left the cold ocean and went to the place that cares for her kind. In a sheltered spot, she gave birth in safety.
We all got to watch, as the baby otter was licked into fuzzyness by her mom. All the tourists took photos of Monterrey Bay Aquarium's tidal pool and the new not so endangered baby otter.
Mankind almost killed off all of the otters. Not for their fur, but because the otters eat the same seafood we do. Have you noticed that humans do not share very well?
But the sea otters are back. China is saving the panda. Africa is trying to save the elephants, the rhinos and the lions.
This year. as you are contemplating your charitable giving, please consider giving to people that BUY THE LAND/WATER for the endangered species to live on. We can not save wild creatures unless they have a place to live.
Oceans are shared spaces. Do not be so greedy that you allow the ocean to be over fished or polluted.
The planet you save is the only planet we have.
Monday, December 21, 2015
INDUCED FEAR & CAREFUL LIES
Your drug czars NEED to keep their jobs. Therefore, they NEED to have you frightened about at least one drug. Currently, you are supposed to fear heroin. Once you learn the lies regarding heroin, they will have lies prepared about another drug.
These selfish drug regulators would rather your children DIE from heroin overdose than to give your children drug treatment.
(Actually, they may be more interested in the $4 billion in confiscated homes and cars that they use to pay for their guns, masks, and overtime.)
These guys really think in advance. In order to have a heroin problem, they needed to have everyone who has chronic pain so desperate for relief that they would buy heroin. They did this last year by making effective pain medication almost impossible to prescribe and purchase.
If you had my pain level on a regular basis, you too would be crying for some relief. Instead of a prescription, I get a lecture on addiction. It is a kind of torture. "Yes, you are in constant pain," they say. "But we don't want to become addicted, do we?"
Now 'opiate deaths' have increased. Some of these deaths are due to the acetaminophen that comes in the only pain med that doctors can easily prescribe. The liver deaths from acetaminophen are carefully thrown into the heroin deaths in order make the deaths look more statistically important.
NONE of the current EVIL drugs are worse for a person and/or for society than ALCOHOL.
Unless it is scientifically provable that it is worse than alcohol, then it should be legal.
PLEASE ALLOW DOCTORS TO PRESCRIBE PAIN MEDICATIONS FOR PEOPLE IN CHRONIC PAIN.
These selfish drug regulators would rather your children DIE from heroin overdose than to give your children drug treatment.
(Actually, they may be more interested in the $4 billion in confiscated homes and cars that they use to pay for their guns, masks, and overtime.)
These guys really think in advance. In order to have a heroin problem, they needed to have everyone who has chronic pain so desperate for relief that they would buy heroin. They did this last year by making effective pain medication almost impossible to prescribe and purchase.
If you had my pain level on a regular basis, you too would be crying for some relief. Instead of a prescription, I get a lecture on addiction. It is a kind of torture. "Yes, you are in constant pain," they say. "But we don't want to become addicted, do we?"
Now 'opiate deaths' have increased. Some of these deaths are due to the acetaminophen that comes in the only pain med that doctors can easily prescribe. The liver deaths from acetaminophen are carefully thrown into the heroin deaths in order make the deaths look more statistically important.
NONE of the current EVIL drugs are worse for a person and/or for society than ALCOHOL.
Unless it is scientifically provable that it is worse than alcohol, then it should be legal.
PLEASE ALLOW DOCTORS TO PRESCRIBE PAIN MEDICATIONS FOR PEOPLE IN CHRONIC PAIN.
Wednesday, December 16, 2015
THE GOBLIN MARKET
Many fantasy science fiction books have a goblin market, a dangerous place where you can buy dangerous things.
Most of these books warn that children are not safe in the goblin market.
For me, the Goblin Market is a metaphor for going to a place where all cultures interact while buying and selling the goods only they make.
I am lucky in the SF Bay Area. The used goods places sell the folk art that come from the most remote areas of the world. Modern cities are full of plastic and rayon. If you want dolls made in the old ways, you need to go to the places where the old ways are still remembered. It is nice that modern society does not value folk art. That way I can afford to collect it.
I also like the goblin market as a lesson in being polite to EVERYONE. You never know who is a Yoda and who is a thief. Some sellers tell the truth in a way designed to obfuscate. Some people always lie. Insulting someone in a coffee shop can get you killed.
Parts of the internet have turned into a goblin market. The internet was deliberately designed to be impossible to control. Because the decision was made that allowing people to read the truth about science research was more important than anything else.
Now we all have to learn to tell the truth from a plausible lie. Or tell the truth from a partially true statement.
For instance, last night Trump said he was a Republican and would stay a Republican through the nominating process. He failed to state that he would support the Republican candidate, no matter who that candidate turned out to be.
Most of these books warn that children are not safe in the goblin market.
For me, the Goblin Market is a metaphor for going to a place where all cultures interact while buying and selling the goods only they make.
I am lucky in the SF Bay Area. The used goods places sell the folk art that come from the most remote areas of the world. Modern cities are full of plastic and rayon. If you want dolls made in the old ways, you need to go to the places where the old ways are still remembered. It is nice that modern society does not value folk art. That way I can afford to collect it.
I also like the goblin market as a lesson in being polite to EVERYONE. You never know who is a Yoda and who is a thief. Some sellers tell the truth in a way designed to obfuscate. Some people always lie. Insulting someone in a coffee shop can get you killed.
Parts of the internet have turned into a goblin market. The internet was deliberately designed to be impossible to control. Because the decision was made that allowing people to read the truth about science research was more important than anything else.
Now we all have to learn to tell the truth from a plausible lie. Or tell the truth from a partially true statement.
For instance, last night Trump said he was a Republican and would stay a Republican through the nominating process. He failed to state that he would support the Republican candidate, no matter who that candidate turned out to be.
Friday, December 11, 2015
THE DEATH OF THE HUMAN RACE
IMHO, the human race is WAY more likely to die from a global pandemic, than from climate change. Humans are dumping raw sewage into every waterway on earth. The resulting mess will kill our rivers, our lakes, our oceans, and us.
Humans have been dealing with climate change since humans first walked out of Africa.
But the increasing amounts of festering sewage can be a huge test tube making nasty germs. Plus, I kind of like eating fish. Some fish die in the equivalent of raw sewage.
In order to have running water and flush toilets, you have to have RELIABLE POWER. Right now, the only way to get reliable power is from fossil fuels and nuclear power. (I am constantly angry at the wind power fanatics who do not care how many birds they kill.)
You all seem to think that electricity is magic, and that poor people exist for you to experiment with alternatives forms of energy.
Keeping our poor living in and on garbage, makes friends of the poor very angry. Generally, the poor are too downtrodden to protest their appalling living conditions.
But people who CARE, who should have been social workers or lawyers, get angry about how their country is making no progress towards getting clean drinking water and flush toilets. Sometimes this anger comes out in the form of killing the nearest soft target.
Each situation is different. Sometimes it is better to burn coal (which burns dirty) than to burn dung (which makes WAY more nasty smoke than coal). Sometimes nuclear power is the answer as long as you are not so stupid as to store the used fuel ON SITE.
Look at the US power grid. Look at the European power grid. Figure out what fuel is best for the environment under the ACTUAL CIRCUMSTANCES. Then design and build the POWER GRID.
THE LIVES YOU SAVE COULD BE YOUR GRANDCHILDREN!
Humans have been dealing with climate change since humans first walked out of Africa.
But the increasing amounts of festering sewage can be a huge test tube making nasty germs. Plus, I kind of like eating fish. Some fish die in the equivalent of raw sewage.
In order to have running water and flush toilets, you have to have RELIABLE POWER. Right now, the only way to get reliable power is from fossil fuels and nuclear power. (I am constantly angry at the wind power fanatics who do not care how many birds they kill.)
You all seem to think that electricity is magic, and that poor people exist for you to experiment with alternatives forms of energy.
Keeping our poor living in and on garbage, makes friends of the poor very angry. Generally, the poor are too downtrodden to protest their appalling living conditions.
But people who CARE, who should have been social workers or lawyers, get angry about how their country is making no progress towards getting clean drinking water and flush toilets. Sometimes this anger comes out in the form of killing the nearest soft target.
Each situation is different. Sometimes it is better to burn coal (which burns dirty) than to burn dung (which makes WAY more nasty smoke than coal). Sometimes nuclear power is the answer as long as you are not so stupid as to store the used fuel ON SITE.
Look at the US power grid. Look at the European power grid. Figure out what fuel is best for the environment under the ACTUAL CIRCUMSTANCES. Then design and build the POWER GRID.
THE LIVES YOU SAVE COULD BE YOUR GRANDCHILDREN!
Thursday, December 10, 2015
TRUMP AND THE CLINTONS
My currently favorite election conspiracy theory is that Donald Trump is secretly working to get Hilary Clinton elected.
IMHO, it works like this:
By playing on the Republican "blame the innocent" voters, Trump controls the vote for about 30% of the Republican Party base.
It is unlikely that Trump can increase this percentage, because even Republicans are deeply troubled by the fantasy tax proposals and the racist seeming blame placed on Mexicans and Muslims. (We could call them the M&Ms, or the new Irish, or our latest whipping boys.)
When you vote in a primary, you vote for a delegate to the political party's convention, where the candidate is formally nominated for President of the USA, and the nominee chooses a vice president, who is then also formally nominated for Vice President of the USA.
Your delegate has only promised to vote for your candidate ON THE FIRST BALLOT. If NO ONE gets enough votes in the primaries to win on the first ballot at the convention, then ANYONE can be nominated for president if they just get enough votes on the convention floor.
It looks unlikely that the billionaires paying the way for the various Republican candidates will agree on a person. So the convention may fail to nominate a person on the first ballot. They can then nominate the "safe" candidate, like another stupid Bush brother.
I think it is extremely unlikely that Trump will be the Republican nominee for President. This leaves him free to run as a third party candidate. I know he signed a pledge not to run as a third party person, but we all know that he does not honor his contracts if he can find a legal way out.
Trump has insulted women, Browns, Blacks, Muslims, Mexicans. All of these people will go out of their way to vote against Trump. But Trump will take votes from the Republican candidate, making the election easier for Hilary Clinton.
According to the conspiracy theory, Clinton and Trump came up with this strategy and are implementing it together. I think this is bunk, but such FUN bunk.
BTW, the Republicans are on track to bring us another "shut the government down" Christmas. Without a long term highway bill, our roads and bridges will continue to fall down. Without a long term funding bill, the VA can not plan and build new hospitals.
Meanwhile the Republican candidates cry crocodile tears over the broken bridges and the broken veterans. Unfortunately tears do not build bridges and hospitals.
IMHO, it works like this:
By playing on the Republican "blame the innocent" voters, Trump controls the vote for about 30% of the Republican Party base.
It is unlikely that Trump can increase this percentage, because even Republicans are deeply troubled by the fantasy tax proposals and the racist seeming blame placed on Mexicans and Muslims. (We could call them the M&Ms, or the new Irish, or our latest whipping boys.)
When you vote in a primary, you vote for a delegate to the political party's convention, where the candidate is formally nominated for President of the USA, and the nominee chooses a vice president, who is then also formally nominated for Vice President of the USA.
Your delegate has only promised to vote for your candidate ON THE FIRST BALLOT. If NO ONE gets enough votes in the primaries to win on the first ballot at the convention, then ANYONE can be nominated for president if they just get enough votes on the convention floor.
It looks unlikely that the billionaires paying the way for the various Republican candidates will agree on a person. So the convention may fail to nominate a person on the first ballot. They can then nominate the "safe" candidate, like another stupid Bush brother.
I think it is extremely unlikely that Trump will be the Republican nominee for President. This leaves him free to run as a third party candidate. I know he signed a pledge not to run as a third party person, but we all know that he does not honor his contracts if he can find a legal way out.
Trump has insulted women, Browns, Blacks, Muslims, Mexicans. All of these people will go out of their way to vote against Trump. But Trump will take votes from the Republican candidate, making the election easier for Hilary Clinton.
According to the conspiracy theory, Clinton and Trump came up with this strategy and are implementing it together. I think this is bunk, but such FUN bunk.
BTW, the Republicans are on track to bring us another "shut the government down" Christmas. Without a long term highway bill, our roads and bridges will continue to fall down. Without a long term funding bill, the VA can not plan and build new hospitals.
Meanwhile the Republican candidates cry crocodile tears over the broken bridges and the broken veterans. Unfortunately tears do not build bridges and hospitals.
Monday, December 7, 2015
USING YOUR FEAR
Terrorists win when any of us react in fear. You are WAY more likely to get killed crossing the street than killed by a terrorist.
When you react in fear, you are giving the terrorist exactly what they wanted.
When you react in anger, then you are easily led into stupidity.
It is HARD to formulate a rational response to such acts of insane barbarity.
Perhaps it is sanity that is the key. Sane people are aware that each of us are different and are valuable in our own way.
Insane people sometimes believe that they can be valuable only when they bring death to themselves and others.
It is no more fair to blame Islam for the insanity of its members than it is to blame Christians for the insanity of shooting up Planned Parenthood.
By blaming the innocent, we keep people isolated. Keeping people isolated leads to quiet desperation that may lead to insanity.
SMILE AT YOUR NEIGHBOR TODAY!
When you react in fear, you are giving the terrorist exactly what they wanted.
When you react in anger, then you are easily led into stupidity.
It is HARD to formulate a rational response to such acts of insane barbarity.
Perhaps it is sanity that is the key. Sane people are aware that each of us are different and are valuable in our own way.
Insane people sometimes believe that they can be valuable only when they bring death to themselves and others.
It is no more fair to blame Islam for the insanity of its members than it is to blame Christians for the insanity of shooting up Planned Parenthood.
By blaming the innocent, we keep people isolated. Keeping people isolated leads to quiet desperation that may lead to insanity.
SMILE AT YOUR NEIGHBOR TODAY!
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