Taking Notes At Church

THIS PAST SUNDAY I attended services at "my" tiny little Presbyterian church down in the valley, because its only five miles from my house,and the scenery is wonderful. I'm giving my true faith, Unitarian Universalism, a brief rest, because the building is twenty miles away, through traffic. I was ready for church this time. I had my Bible, and a notepad and pen. I intended to take notes, like any good student during a good lecture. It worked out well. The sermon was, I thought, magnificent, right up my proverbial spiritual alley, and each time the minister, a good friend of mine, referred to a particular scriptural passage, I was there. I didn't actually write anything down, but, by golly, I was ready, and could have. It brought to mine another time, long ago, when the same scheme didn't work out as well. Thirty years ago I was spending a quiet Sunday morning drinking coffee in my bathrobe, as usual, and watching a Baptist church service on television. It was one onf those "mega" churches, a local building in which more than nine thousand people were sitting in the pews, listing to a friend of mine give one of his good, southern Baptist, conservatively oriented lectures. Some of his matrial and comments I liked, some I didn't. For awhile I got into the habit of watching this church service regularly. I got frustrated when one sad Sunday the choir showed up wearing dull flat black robes insead of their traditional beautiful bright blue ones, a big mistake for television. I strongly disagreed with this change, and said so. Although the messaging from this conservative fundamentalistic church did not generally appeal to me, much of it did, and a time or two, I attended in person. The parking was surprisingly easy, and the crowd was easier to navigate than I had predicted. I sat about halfway back, closer to the back. As I had done sometimes at home, I wanted to take notes. So, I did. I felt a bit awkward doing it, ensconced as I was closely surrounded by a mob of stone still well dressed upper middle class crackers, with only my right hand oving, glideing across notebook paper, jotting words down. Maybe I kept at it a bit too long, because as the sermon proceeded, i started getting a few shifty sour slances from a few of my "neighbors", who, as the mintues passed, clearly did not like my note taking, as if it were somehow hindering or distracting from their own religious experience. Noncomformity, oh horror. Maybe they weren't accustomed to college, or high school. When the service ended, and it was time for everybody to stand there a few minutes, greet each other, and smile, I noticed that I got left out. Of course, nobody knew me. One or two of them approached me, spoke, and emmphasizing that I was a stranger, introduced themselves. But not a whole lotta friendly. At the exist, the minister, a locally famous man, was smiling at the mob as it exited. He and I had met before, he recognized me, and offered to shake hands. I mentioned that I had taken notes during his sermon, so interesting it was, and asked him whether he thought that was acceptable. He replied that I didn't need to take notes, that my heart and would would remember what I needed to, something like that. Essentially, a negative answer, cloacked in a fancy reason. And I didn't really like that, I was looking for an unqualified affirmation, wholehearted approval of what to me, an academician, is something of a sacred process, note taking. A powerful minister, rejecting even the slightest variation from the uniformity of believers within his kingdom. A tad too top heavy for me. I know I can take notes at the Presbyterian church, because the congregation rarely reaches double figures in number. Then tooo, the Unitarians seemdown with it. I have found a home, if not two.

Singing With the Heretics

AMONG MY LEAST FAVORITE people is Karoline Leavitt, Trump's schill. She isn't too far behind Trump, Putin, Netanyahu, Charlie Kirk, etc.. She recently said, I am informed, that the Dmocratic party consists of Hamas members, terrorists, raedical left wing ANTIFA criminals, commies and so forth, and so on. Her intent to give insult was greatly overplayed. She could have said that the Democratic party is made up of black and brown skinned minorities, LGBTQ people, women, and so on, and she would have been right. But, no ma'am, nobod from Hamas is in the party, Democratic or Republican. There is a difference between stretching the truth and outright lying. she crossed the line. I flipped a coin, and this Sunday I attended a Presbyterian rather than a Unitarian service, although I am a Unitarian, not a Presbyterian. Shorter drive. Our minister, a good friend of mine, said that he is tired of listening to people preach hatred from the Christian pulpit. He was, of course, talking about you know who's. Your basic, everyday, Protestant, white, heterosexual, capitalistic fundamentalist Pentecostal conservative MAGA Trump supporter. Those people. Those congregations. They're up there on the pulpit amplifying conservative lies, embracing Trump's agenda, doing everything you can do witout saying straight up that Donald Trump is Jesus Christ. Hatred of Gays. Hatred of illegal immigrants. hatred of socialists.The usual suspects, the usual spew. Chris Hedges has come right out and said what nobody else has; that embracing Trumpism as a Christian is heresy. Heresy, because the Trump agenda is the exact opposite of the message of Christ: welcome the stranger, give unto the poor, cast not the first stone, and so forth. What I want Christian ministers to tell us is to welcome the stranger, try to d something to help a stray dog, cat, or Latin American if you can. Yes, let 'em pick fruit, somebody's gotta do it, and don't put 'em on I.C.E., so the speak. Yes, we do need all those people we are deporting, and we should not be deporting them. Slitting our own throats, as they say. Sunday and Monday I conclude my religious weekend, for on Monday mornings at ten we sing gospel at the senior center, an activity I love despite my aversion to most gospel music. Our little old lady piano player told one of my fellow singers that she is worried about my eternal soul. I don't think she needs to do that, and would be willing to tell her so, but she probably wouldn't listen to me. Iam not one hundred percent sure, but I think that a big majority of my friends a the senior center are Trumpers. We get along, and seem to like each other, but I never talk about religion or politics, like my sixth grade teacher told me not to. If somebody ever praises Trump to me, I will cut lose, but nobody ever does. Weird, that I hang out with a bunch of right wing evangelical Trump Christians, and get away with it, and actually enjoy it. On the other hand, it might be considered portentious, auspcious. If I can do it, anybody can. I still say that if you believe in hell, and that I am going to go there, you are mentally ill, and a cruel bastard to boot. Most of my "comrades" at the senior center lkely believe that. hey can think what they want. I think they're a bunch of fascists and heretics. They sure are nice people though.

In the Afterglow, Some Facts

IN THE AFTERGLOW of the big street party that the "No Kings" rallies were, (I attended two of them), I reflect. They both, they one in Joplin, MO., and the one in Fayetteville, Arkansas, had the feel of a high school or family reunion; lots of warmth and empathy among people with something important in common, only, with strangers. You have no history with these people,they are straingers, but soon become friends, as you have something very very important in common, bonding you, and that something is a horrible reality; a hatred of Donald J. Trump. I started hating him in 1974, it hasn't abated, and it only grows and swells by the day. In 1974 Trump was twenty seven, and was convicted of violating the fair Housing Act, twice. He only rented his father's apartments to cackers, none to African-Americans. He and his father were racists. And it goes on from there, to the present, when Trump is becoming more of a dictator by the day, like HItler did. It is, like, sooo toally obvious. I felt I was among frinds, good people. It reignited my faith in humanity, which, like that of many many people, often flags. And now for some facts. This, for conservative consumption. Climate change is real, and caused by us. The Bible was written by people, and people alone. Humans evolved from other priates, but not from monkeys. Joe Biden won the election of twenty twenty., not Donald Trump. Henceforth I shall accept no arguments form conservatives, of whom ther are many in my life. I associate with Trumpers each and every day. We get along, but, sugmerged, contained, we have an edgy relationship, all these Trumpers and I, at the small southern town senior center where I dine daily. Hell, I sing in the gospel group, and, if i do say so myself, am the second best singer in the group. They really need me. I frigging well hate gospel music. (Its too primitive, bloody, and sycophantic.) I don't broadcast that fact, but if anybody, including my evangelical Christian friends, asks me, yes, I will allow as that I hate Trump, consider Trump supporters morally and intellectually bankrupt traitors, think religion is primitve nonsense, that all of the several thousand religions on the planet deserve equal respect, and that people who reject evolutionary science are intellectual ostriches, heads beneath the ground. I have a heady feeling from attending two big and wild ass parties on the same day, screaming, chanting, protesting. I look forward to attending my Unitarian Universalist chruch tomorrow morning, going to the early discussion group, and hashing it out. Look, I will say, we all know that evangelical Christian Trump supports are heretics and unwitting traitors, and are daily revealing their true selves, which are less like Jesus and more like some deceitful demon, like Mephistophelese. Gay people are sinners, and perverts,say the conservatives, and should be persecuted or even put to death (Charlie Kirk)... Say what? Exuse me?... Climate change is a hoax, and bring back coal? Trump, and MAGA,say this. What the hell? The Christian faith is the only true religion,say they, and if one has not been saved by Jesus Christ one shall spend eternity in hell, suffering? You..have..got...to..be..kidding...the Bible is the Word of God? For Chrissake, gimme a break! Modern conservatism, like all conservatism in historoy, is rooted in tradition, maintenance of the status quo. Problem is, the status quo is insanity and nonsense, snd msut be, wil inevitably be...replaced..Every dominant conservative position is fantasy, nonsense. Conservatives are wrong on climate change, on religion, on politica and economics, on everything. And yes, Trum pis a tyrant, a madman, a modern American Hitler. And we the people msut confront and destroy him. And we will. We are winning, and today proved it. Each day is progress. Congratulations ANTIFA heroes, comrades, and patriots! I love you.

Gore Vidal, Writing History

GORE VIDAL never attended college, preferring instead to educate himslf. In that he was quite successful, and earned his living as a writer by the time he was twenty years old. Although he obviously didn't need a college education, I would have recommended one anyway; he probably knew a great deal more about history and political science than about chemistry and physics. One never stops learning. I much prefer his non fiction to his novels, although both are of the highest quality. He described himself as the official national historian of the United States, not because he actually held that position, but because he claimed that of all the historians writing about American history, only he told the truth about it. Most American hstory, he asserted, is hagiography, history written for the primary purpose of making its subject matter look good. Vidal died several years ago. Had he lived,he might have developed a revised view; nowadays historians are more inclined to provide a balanced assessment of American history, rather than an intentionally flattering one. Vidal's contribution consists mainly in having directly and unabashedly confronted the substantial "dark side" of the American sage. Westward expansion he saw not as a glorious taming of a wild frontier and the establishemnt of civilization to replace primitive, barbaric, savage native culture, but rather, as genocide. The post Civil War industrial revolution in the United States he saw not only as the emergence of an industrial, capitalistic economy which brough unprecedented prosperity to the American people, but rather, as an era of brutal exploitation of the wroking class. He pointed out that the factory and hourly wage system which emerged late in the nineteenth century was seen by many of its contemporaries as a form of slave lavor. He informed us that in the United States there are two governments; the cosmetic one,which exists only for appearances, consisting of the three well known branches of government, and the actual government, which consists of the corporate oligarchy, the corporate plutocracy. This he called "our corporate masters". Like most historians Vidal was a progressive. Progressives are drawn to the historical profession largely because history itself is a progressive process. History is change. Not all change is progress, but all progress is change. Conservatism, rooted in tradition, is less concerned with actual history, but more with maintaining the status quo and cultural traditions. Since conservatism resists change, it resists history. Vidal detested Ronald reagan, as did most liberals, and called him the "ancient, acting president". A juicy thought is contemplating how Gore Vidal would have dealt with Donald Trump in his articles for "The Nation" magazine. Not kindly, we can assume. By nt having a formal college education, Vidal contradicted the norm. The pattern is: people who attend college and attain college degress tend to be liberal, those who do not tend to be conservative. The pattern is clear, and well established. Hence college campuses are seen as, and in fact are, bastions of liberalism. Intelligent, well educate people tend towards progressive ideology. This is why it is amusing when consrvatives denigrate the intelligence of liberals. Liberals are not the ones dwelling in ignorance, lacking education. College campuses have not been "taken over" by liberals. They, and education generally, are merely more attractive to liberals than to conservatives. Vidal believed that conservatives tend to lack a basic understanding of historical provesses. This is born out simply by speaking to an average conservative. We will never have a Gore Vidal assessment of Donald Trump. The loss is ours.

Discovering Christopher Columbus

TWO DAYS AFTER "Indigenous People's Day" came and went, a notion struck me that I had missed out on the big holiday. I must have slept through the parade and fireworks, somehow. Invitations to local celebratory parties failed to arrive in time or got lost in the mail, and neither I nor any of my neighbors put up decorations. What happened? Someone pointed out, quite correctly, that seeing Christopher columbus as a mass murdering genocidal criminal is nothing new. His priest, who was with him on at least one of his four voyages, wrote in his journal that he feared for divine retribution against the whole enterprise, based upon his belief that murdering or maiming eight million human beings, regardless of their primitive, barbaric, unsaved lifestyle, would find favor with neither God nor Jesus. One must admit, he had a point. When Columbus got back to Europe after his final adventure, Europe, especially Spain, which had funded him, had had quite enough. Too many nightmarish, fully corroborated anecdotes. Christopher Columbus got in big trouble, and stayed in it for the rest of his life. By the time these United States of America was born, hagiography had taken over. Columbus had become a hero, his vast crimes swept under the rug, so to speak, where they remained for centuries, until, actually, rather recently. Nobody ever told me the truth about Columbus, none of my teachers, from grade schhool through European history graduate schhool. I was on my own. Finally, Howard Zinn came to my unenlightened rescue, in his massive seminal work "A People's History of the United States", I think he title is. The fact that we now acknowledge the great explorer's genocidal tendencies has, at long last, come home to roost, as it were. Finally, at long last, we accept the truth, having exhausted all other options, to paraphrase Winston Churchill. Permit me to hazard a bit of speculation. I'd bet my house that the above named "indigenous people's, variously known as "Indians", "savages, and "redskins", would be quite willing to return their "Indigenous People's Day", in exchange for the tens of millions of their people who were slaughtered by European bullets and diseases, and for the millions of acres of land stolen from them. You can damned well keep your pandering "Indigenous People's Day". We can agree that naming a holiday after somebody hardly compensates for grand land theft and genocide. Good try though. I once got into an argument with somebody concerning the actual number of native American who lived in North America at the time of Columbus, and the number of them slaughtered in the manner noted above. Its an argument nobody can win. Nobody knows, or ever will. In the first paragraph of his journal, Columbus wrote, paraphrased: "We dropped anchor and waded up on to the shore. We were soon met by a large number of natives, naked savages adorned only in gold trinkets. they were beautiful people, quite friendly, and would have done anything for us. They are going to make excellent slaves." Ungrateful for the hospitality, Columbus promptly stole their gold, cutting off an untold number of fingers, hands, legs, and arms to get it. Conservatives would have us regress to the name "Columbus Day", and resume our celebration of a genocidal criminal. No dice. The cat, as they say, is out of the bag. We can't offer proper redress by returning the stolen land and stolen lives, but, by God, we can honor their souls by trashing Columbus and honoring their memory with a name change. Its the best we can do, but hardly enough.

Trump, Making Peace, Sort Of

GIVING CREDIT where credit is due is among humanity's most cherished principles. In that sacred spirit, congratulations are due president Trump, so we are told, for having brokered a peace arrangement between the Paletinians and the state of Israel. Point number one, an immediate cease fire, has been a success for three days, now, there are "merely" nineteen ore points to be accomplished in Mr. Trump's twenty point plan. The fly in the ointment is that two of the twenty are seemingly well beyond the reach of those involved; the disarmament of HAMAS, and the declaration and establishment of a Palestianian state, although most member nations of the U.N. have alredy issued such a declaration. As long as Netanyahu remains in office, it seems etreely unlikely that the nation state of Israel will give the Palestinians such status, or that HAMAS will willingly disarm. The peace deal seems doomed to failure. Trump is being give credit for something he had nothing to do with;the fact that after two years of bloody, devastating war, peace has broken out only as a last resort. The damage has been done, it is a peace agreement awkwardly positioned atop tons of rubble, death, and human misery, a peace accomplished far too late. What alternative is there for the pelestinians? Their entire "country", GAZA, is in ruins, and nearly seventy thousand Palestinians are dead. The war has utterly devastated Palestine. As for Israel, their genocidal war has succeeded only in rendering Israel a pariah in the global community, their brutal, ruthless slaughter of thousands of Palestinians will forver be included in its legacy. Suggesting to two enenies that it is time for peace is made easier when the war has lasted so long, and has been so destructive that nothing is left, and peace is the only alternative. It is as if donald Trump showed up at the last minute, polished the handrail of the golden escalator at Trump Tower, then claimed credit for having designed and built the entire building. This will not stop Trump from doing everything in his persuasive propagandistic power to to convince the world that he and he alone overcame enormous obstacles, persisted courageously, and, undeterred by circumstances, managed to singlehandidly forge a permanent peace where before it seemd nearly impossible. Trump, the great hero, promulgator of peace on Earth, more effectively preserving civiliation than any peace making effort in human history. Winston Curchill sadi that Americans can always be counted on to do the right thing, immediately after having exhausted all other options. Hamas and Israel deserve the credit for ceasing hostilities, not Trump. what coice did they have? Palestine is in rins, incapable of doing nothing further in an armed conflict other than dyng in large numbers, and Israel, under the gun of global condemnation, made the prudent that enough genocide is enough - at least for the time being. Israel knows full well that it can return to complete the job later, with the full support of its puppet client state, the United States, which can always be reliably counted on to do precisely whatever the biblical nation of Israel, so important from the evangelical Christian viewpoint, most fondly desires. Trump had about as much to do with bringing peace to the middle east as he did in bringing the Russian war against Ukraine to an end. The war of Israel agaisnt Palestine is nor finished, far from it. that fact will not, however, be sufficient to curtail the victory lap which Trump will be taking for a very long time.

Trump, the Posing President

HUMOROUSLY ENTERTAINING, Trump's lame attempt to promote himself as a viable candidate for a Nobel Peace Prize. Doubtless he'll be doing the same thing next October. Hopefully, the committee won't be gullible enough to award next year, or any year, to the con artist, the pandering poser Trump. There are surely people all over the world, such as the Venezualian lady who won it this year, far more deserving. Israel and Hamas deserve the credit for their cease fire, not Trump, and only as a last resort, tragically. They agreed to stop the killing only after doing as much killing as they could. Trump claims to have stopped no fewer than seven wars this year, close observers say the number is much closer to zero; this is all part of his delusional approach to reality, a mental condition which seems to need attention now, but probably won't get it. In another typically delusional act, Trump signed an executive order formally designating ANTIFA a terrorist organization, even though it is in reality only an attitude, opposition to fascism, fascism such as we now have in America, thanks to Trump and MAGA. Trump is getting serious about ANTIFA and the "enemy within", which consists of everyone who didn't vot for him. What the enemy within needs to do is to provide Trump and the world with a dsiplay of massive, overwheliming leggally expressed opposition, to mkae it perfectly clear, as Nison used to say, that Trump's "enemy within" is not some tiny black hooded cabal of violent left wing extremists, but rather, a substantial, identifiable majority of the good law abiding mainstream American people. Hitler has his Jews as his enemy within, Trump has decided to include all progressives, which he calls in blanket form "the radical left". He probably should narrow it donw a bit, if it isn't too late; identifying an "eneny within" which is more numorous than your own support base might not be the most intelligent strategy. Maybe simply limit it to Democratic Scialists, or something. The problem is, so many Americans despise Trump that his actual enemy within is a strong majority of all Americans. Trump won last year because the American people mistakenly thought he could improve the ecoomy, and becasue he ran against a woman. Trump wouldn't have a chance if he ran today, despte the continued solid suport of his MAGA base. Again, a majority of Americans are "progressive", especially relative to issues such as usig the American military to occupy and police American cities, and using the notorious ICE agency to harass, kidnap, and deport dar skinned Americans. Evidently somethig like eighty percent of Republicans support the military invasion of our cities, but a majority of Americans, including most Democrats, oppose it. We'll find it interesting keeping our eye on Trump as he involves himself in a reconstruction plan for GAZA. Theinteresting part will be how he manages to so insert himself as to give the appearance of strong, effective presidential leadership, while profiting personally, financially. His supporters will be amazed and entranced by Trump's profiteering in GAZA, they will worshipfully admmire it, as they do all of Trump's criminal behavior. Trump, to his worshippers, is at once the prince of peace and the law and order bad ass. The devastating but unavoidable reality is that Trump's criminality has the full acceptance, support and assistance of a determined "group" of insiders, associates, and millions of adoring sycophantic supporters who probably should support Trump, and in many important ways are identical to Trump. MAGA may take this as a compliment. It shouldn't.

Priming the Capitalistic Pump

CAPITALISM, and all the prosperity associated with it, starts at the bottom of the pyramid, where most workers and all poor people dwell. Lincoln, paaphrased here, said it best: "Labor is prior to and superior to capital, and should always be given the first consideration." I have made this argument, the following argument, to at least a couple of intelligent, well educated conservative pro capitalisim people, with, I think, some degree of success. At least, they seemed to buy into it. Societal prosperity begins at the bottom, not the top. Labor preceeds investment capital. In. a consumer based free market economy, demand preceeds supply. Aggragate consumer demand, at any point in time, determines supply, according to basic economic law. To increase prosperity throughout society, demand must increase, and this means increasing the number of consumers with sufficient disposable income to be able to demand and purchase consumer goods and services. After all, a limited number of consumers can and will only purchase a limited number of, say, refrigerators. Capitalistic growth requires population growth. John Maynard Keynes pointed out that under the capitalist system, there is in theory an unlimited potential for increase of material wealth,a dn that, in theory, any given population of people, if allowed to benefit from the productivity of capitalism over time, will eventually racha a state of satiatio, of having alll the goods and services anyone could possibly need or want, in a word; enough is enough. Kaynes talked about the ultimate of apitalism, and what might replace it. IN a thought experienemtn, hepostulated the theoretical economic state in which the entire universe is filled with manufactured material wealth, and ther eis noroom for life itself. Much like the god father of modern capitalism, Adam Smith himself, Keynes advocated for a capitalistc economy, but recognized the philosophical and moral questions implicit in its implenmentation. You have to take care of the people at the bottom of the pyramid first, and work up. Trickle down, supply side economics,known in the U.S. as "Reaganomics", is a sham, a scam, and always been. Adam Smith said it best, in his seminal "bible" of capitalism, "the Wealth of Nations": "All government action favoring the poor is desirable, no government action favoring the wealthy is desirable." If you increase the number of people at the bottom, the poor people, who have steady, disposable income, through employment or government handouts, you increase the number of people able to demand, purchase, and consume goods and services, and thus, the wealth of everyone from bottom to top, including wealthy business owners. Everyone benefits. One does not grow the economy by giving tax cuts to the wealthy, but rather, by getting monsy ito the hands of the poor, and therefore turning them into consumers, demanding supply.AdamSmith argued that free market capitalism should and would automatically "the invisible hand" distribute wealth widely. Instead, our modern capitalism seems to concentrate wealth in the hands of an elite few, almost as if ultimately one single human being will be the ultimate winner, and own all the world's wealth. Everyone, including the wealthy, is better off when economic equality is widespread. It is far preferrable that the working poor get their incoem from honest work. However, I've never seen a business, large or small, turn down a customer who wishes to make a purchase using a cashed welfare check.

Trump, Exacerbating Climate Disaster

ONLY IDIOTS deny that climate change is caused by us people. We've had the information for a long time, and now the evidence is all around us, daily. Now, we are all witnessing the change. Climate change deniers are motivated by political ideology; if climate change is real, and human made, then the proressives, horror of horrors, are correct after all, and their vision for our economic and political direction gains validity, unthinkable to conservatives. Meanwhile, every year is hotter than the previous, and its safe to predict that 2026 will be no different. Both polar ice caps are melting, as we have long known, as are the world's glaciers, at what to scientists is a ahocking and alarming rate. Almost everyone is finally aware that climate change is very real, and proceeding at an alarming rate. Within a few years Earth's climate will be drastically different, and far less hospitable for human civilization. Frighteningly, most of us now living will be alive to experience this drastic change. Millions of tons of water from melting glaciers are running into the ocean from Antarctica and Greenland especially, causing sea level to rise rapidly; within a few years coastal cities all over the world will be flooded, going underwater as ocean covers land. We humans have a big job ahead of us, desalinating sea water and moving it from populated areas into deserts and agricultural areas. The current U.S. president, acting more like an authoritarian fascist dictator than an actual president, asserts that the United States should "annex' Greenland, Iceland, and Canada, none of whom have the slightest interest in the idea, unsurprisingly. Over the next few decades all three are likely to become productive agricultural centers and rapidly growing economies, as their climates warm and the ice, snow, and glaciers retreat. Greenland and Iceland should trade names. Iceland is much greener than Greenland, and Greenland is much icier than Iceland. Too late to worry about it now, maybe. Arguably, climate change will eventually improve the climate of all three by moderating it. The flip side of this is that the climate of much of the United States will definitely not improve form our poit of view, but instead will become drier, hotter, lessfertile, with more and more extrems weather patterns causing massive property destruction and rising injuries and deaths. In the United States, like most of the rest of the world, a high percentage of the population livfes extremely close to the ocean coastal areas, which are highly developed with billions of dollars of valuable property which is increasing threatened by rising sea level and severs storms. Shockingly, tragically, almost unbelievably, the United States under the Trump administration is not only doing nothign to prepare for and mtomitigate the future damage, but is actually pursuing policies guaranteed to accelerate the looming climate disaster, and to make it as horrible as possible. Trump is trying to revitalize the dying coal industry, disastrously, and has totally eliminated all attempts by the United States government to fight climate change, an even greater disaster. United States policy under Trump seems suicidal, because it is suicidal, and must be stopped, and reversed, by whatever menas necessary. For the moment, an extremely loud and constant expression of disapproval by a majority of Americans is vital, disapproving of Republican energy and economic policies, replading them with beneficial ones, such as mitigating climate change. First, we must at least try to convince our MAGA brethren and sistern that climate change is real.

Converting Gay people

THE SUPREME COURT will today hear oral arguments in a case involving what is advertised as "conversion therapy", but could and probably has been called other names as well, such as sexual brainwashing, indoctrination, or torture. This of course is a process in which a gay person undergoes "therapy", mostly verbal,to try to convert a gay person into a straight person, from homo to hetero. Since we know that homosexuality is associated with a specific gene, the efficacy and desirability of this is a subject of much debate. Paying attention to this Supreme Court over a long period of time clearly shows that it is extremely conservative in its current make up, and likes to rule in favor of conservative points of view. Equal justice under law, as long as its conservative, with a conservative bias. Conservatives like conversion therapy. More to the point, conservatives do not like homosexuality or, apparently, homosexuals themselves, although most would probably deny that. They view conversion therapy as a sort of liberation, or salvation. Progressive, who tend to see homosexuality as natural and harmless, tend to strongly oppose conversion therapy, indeed to despise it, seeing it as a sort of torture. The fact that it is illegal in about half the states and strongly frowned upon in several others indicates that a high percentage of the American population embraces the progressive, toleratn attitude towards homosexuality. Advocates and practiioners of conversion therapy, essentially teh hoophobic community, shall argue before the esteemed far right wing justices that it is unconstitutional to ban conversion therapy on the grounds of first amanedment free speech righs. That argument seems to have strength. If they are smart, which surely they are, they, the defendants of conversiont herap, will not try to argue that it is a vital, hearly, and essential community service, a medical service, helping people regain their health by ridding thme of the sickness of being gay.They may well believe exactly that, but are probably smart to keep it to themselves. The overwhelimng evidence, overwhelming proof is of course that conversion therap is indeed a form of torture, mental torture, psychological torutre, which almost invariably does immense psychological harm to those who are subjected to it. Most member so this SCOTUS were rasied Catholic and remain Catholic, with very conservative cocial values. It can almsot be assumed that they personally simply adore conversaion therapy,and do not like homosexuality. Five'll get you ten that, a few months from now, their ruling comes down to us from on high, and consists of a proclamation that it is indeed an unconstitutional infringement on American freedom to prohibit the barbaric practice. Soon thereafter, perhaps, the nation will experience a "conversion therapy craze". like the Cavy Crockett craze of 1955, or fur babies, or something, and LGBTQ's from all across America's fruited plain will be rounded up by Trumpian executive order, and harded into clinics for the Mitigation Alliance for Gay Alleviation (MAGA). All bad jokes aside,it seems almost inevitable that we are about to experience a boom in the conversion therapy industry in these United States of Abberations, dressed up as "Opportunities" for gay and lesbian people. Brick 'n mortar clinics, website online, a social media presence, the whole works. An entire American sub culture, brought to you righteously by the conservative evangelical fascist community, under God, under Trump. Which is the more fascist and authoritarian, conversion therapy, or prohibiting it?

Trump, Sending In the Troops

I COULD MAKE A LIST of all the crimes Trump has committed, all the decisions he has made, actions he has taken, words he has spoken which to me were entirely stupid, evil, or some combination thereof, and I could even put them in order of severity. Of course, all of it would merely be IMHO. But, I don't bother. At the top of the list for me would be the big election lie, and the insurrection, for instance. Now, in my mind, there's a new contender for the top spot on the list, the most harmful, stupid specific act of Trump. ...drum roll...Ordering National guard troops sent in to Washington D.C. is now "taking the cake", so to speak. Trump's worst of his worst. So far, as of October 6, 2025, the nation's capitol is the only city into which said guardsmen have been injected, if memory serves. Chicago, Memphis, Seattle and Portland, among many probable other cites, are currently on Trump's hit list a places he plans to invade soon, but as of yet, has not. Hell, at this point, is is not unreasonable to wonder whether every city in the United States above a certain population might eventually "host" an invasion from the American military, acting as Trump's personal police, illegally policing American citizens. There are two encouraging signs, from the point of view of people who oppose all this. First, nationwide, as well as especially in the cities themselves, public "backlash", or "pushback" as we like to say nowadays, is significant, outspoken, vociferous, vehenment, and, growing. Equallly encouraging is the fact that a federal judge has ruled that it would be illegal and unconstitutional for Trump to invade Portland, either with Oregonian military personnel or military imported from California which tricky Trump tried to do before said fed judge issued an additional ruling, ruling that illegal as well. If a federal appeals court does not overturn this decision, and restore Trump's right to invade, then surely the Supreme Court will, since the SCOTUS has clearly revealed itself to be Trump's personal lap dog in all legal matters. The three judges Trump appointed are paying him back handsomely, consistently, predictably issuing rulings precisely as Trump wants them, with but few exceptions. The federal judiciary has thus far protected the American people from much of Trump's malignant agenda, executive orders, and policies. For that we should be grateful, But we have been warned, by more than one expert legal mind, that we ought not rely exclusively on the courts sytetm to protect from all things evil, MAGA, and Trump. They simply can't; courts can only do so much. No, for our own protection, we the people are left to do the protecting ourselves, to protect ourselves from our authoritarian fascist ruler. Nothing that Trump or anyone could possibly do as president is more fascist, more proof of fascist intent and ideology, than sending the American military into American cities to police the American peope, in direct violation of the law. And yet, eighty percent of Republcians fully approve of it, probably because Trump did it, and Trump can do no wrong, Had Obama or Biden done likewise, Republicans would have been universially outraged. Trump's malignant narcissism, his need to be important and powerful doubtless contributed to this capricious policy. Republicans who support it can hardly claim, as they always have, to favor "small government". This militariztion of American streets is hardly the behavior of a small government. MAGA nationwide seems all in on Trump's authoritarian fascism, alarmingly, so it will be the responsibility of the rest of us, the Trump hating American majority, to rise up and force Trump to stop his assault on American cities and the American people.

Trump, Making Enemies Within

TRUMP, during his rambling, often incoherent speech to America's inconveniently assembled generals, referred to what he called "the enemy within". He did not, however, precisely define the term. We may assume, however. that he was referring to any and all Americans who oppose him and his policies. In other words, a majority of the American people. When one reflects that a clear majority of the American people oppose Trump, the apparent fact that Trump seeks to silence or eliminate all opposition, a seemingly dauntig task, takes on ever more alarming, desperate overtones. People who hate Trump are inclined to make comparisons between Trump and Hitler, not without a certain degree of justification, base in facts. One major difference between the two, however, is that Hitler was much more popular than Trump, Although Hitler's political party was elected with only a small plurality of German votes, Hitler himself, by the time he had been in power only a short time, had experienced a surge in national popularity, perhaps due in part to the excessive emphasis on patriotism with which his propaganda minister and government inundated and saturated the German people. The entire time Trump has been active in politics, his approval rating has been far below fifty percent, and he has gotten only a little above forty percent of the vote. Otherwise, there are far more similarities than differences between the two. Both Hitler and Trump created foreign enemies for the purpose of unifying the German people, and they both invented internal, domestic enemies to strengthen the support of their loyal supporters. Hitler was so popular and authoritatian that few who oppsosed him dared to speak out, thus forcing der fuhrer to fabricate an invented, contrived internal enemy, "Jews". As they say, whatever works. Trump cuts right to the chase by designating all who oppose him as "enemies of the people",failing to mention, wisely, that the enemies of the people significantly outnumber "the people",aka, MAGA folk, Trump supporters. "The radical left", is Trump's term for "the enemy within", and whereas it is indeed true that most Trump opponents are progressives, there are a certain percentage of conservatives, small in number though they may be, who do not support Trump. Trump, it seems, is insufficiently conservative for many true right wing extremists, and simply much too immoral for a certain segment of the evangelical community, those who practice what they preach. Again, the problem with Trump' enemies list is that it is just way too long. He doesn't have it narrowed down enough. By defning most Americans as his enemies, he creates the very enormous army of angry, motivated citizens it takes to defeat him. Trump can send as many national guardsmen into as many American cities as he likes, but he will simply not be able to arrest his way or deport his way out of the problem he has; of standing in direct opposition to a majority of the American peole. The more good, harmless, innocent American citizens Trump harasses with his military Gestapo, the lower his approval numbers go. Trump's enemies are not the enemies of the people. Trump's enemies are the people, a majority thereof. Like all fascist authoritrians, Trump tries to equate his personal opponents and enemies as enemies of the people, or of the country. The exact opposite is of course true: those who oppose Trump are the true patriotic Americans, at least as patriotic as Trump supporters, but far less misguided.

Trump, Killing Us All With Coal

CRAZY AS IT MAY SEEM, for Trump, it isn't. For Trump, crazy is the norm. He plans to spend half a billion dollars to "reinvigorate" the coal industry. And, in an unintentionally but related move, Trump canceled federal funding for climate change research and mitigation. Precisely where he plans to get the money for the coal industry, and how he plans to allcoate it, remains unclear. Maybe Congress will appropriate it, and Trump will redistribute it among the various coal companies, to give them an economic boost, to upgrade facilites, pay CEOs more, whatever. The coal industry, as everybody except Trump seems to know, is already dying a natural death, according to the time tested fundamental principles of supply and demand free market capitalism. You'd think Trump would recognize and appreciate that, and leave well enough alone. But no, not Trump. Natural gas is pricing coal out of the market, as are other energy sources, especially wind and solar energy. Using tax payer money to assist a naturally dying industry is pure socialism of the Republican kind, the kind that does not work. Capitalism will kill coal; simply let it die. Trump's chaotic ill considered policy simultaneously subsidizes the coal industry and eliminates funding to research and mitigate climate change, a perfect recipe for the eventual extinction of all life on Earth, in effect, planetary suicide, courtesy homo sapiens. At the precise moment when the fate of not only humanity but all life on Earth hangs in the balance amid rising temperatures globally, Trump actively facilitates this looming disaster by simultaneously dumping huge amounts of carbon into the atmosphere, while ignoring or accepting the disatrous consequences. "Bringing back coal" is an idiotic idea, from both the liberal and the conservative point of view. For the environmental "wacko" libs, as Rush Limbaugh used to call them, burning coal, or any other "fossil fuel" means adding still more carbon to an ecosystem already overburdened with it, carbon which causes increased heat absorption, globally warming, climate change, and, ultimately, human extinction. It seems to make sense, if you thinking about it, because it does. Its simple scientific fact. Anyone who has studied chemistry knows and understands this;unfortunately, much of teh general population has not studied chemistry, enough to fill the ranks of a massive climate change denial community, namely, conservatives. To conservatives, bringing back coal defies capitalistcic principles; conservatives simply seem unwilling to accpet the reality of the cost effecicncy of natural gas, and the ultimate wordwide use of wind and solar energy, accpmpanied perhaps by nuclear and geothermal energy. Trump's insane pro carbon anti-environmental energy policy, fully embraced and supported by conservatives, is a perfect prescription for climate disaster and humn extinction. This is the most egregious aspect of Trump's criminality. Investors and workers in the coal industry will be fine, as they move into other investments and jobs. Meanwhile, climate change is advancing at an alarming rate,far faster than scientists had ever thought it would. We simply cannot afford energy policy to be controlled by conservatives who favor continued use of fossil fuels. Fossil fuels have already done far too much damage, and must be phased out, fast. Our very survival depends on it.

ANTIFA Is Winning

IT BEARS REPEATING: ANTIFA is winning, because ANTIFA is a progressive movement, and the progressive movement is winning. On every major issue, polls and surveys indicate this, and in a democracy, polls and surveys are revealing. They matter. The numbers back up the facts. A majority of Americans now support gay rights. Its "trending", as we say. In the future, gay people are not going to be perseuted, sent to prison, forced to hide in closets. They are going to be accepted as equals in every way, shocking though this notion might seem today. Similarly, individual differences in skin pigmentation will be accepted by all without prejudice. Likewise, gun violence won't be tolerated anymore. Climate changed denial, a conservative policy, will be replaced by climate action led by progressives, as acknowledgement of the problem becomes universal. And best of all, fascism and authoritarian forms of government in general will not be tolerated or allowed in the future. Democracy will reign supreme, globally. Liberal democracy, complete with fundamentsl rights for all, including food, clothing, and shelter, will be the normm. ANTIFA was founded during the Black Lives Matter movement, expressing a wilingness to use violece, if necessary, to protect and defend BLM protestors from violent white supremacists. Dressed in all black with black ski masks and assault rifles, a photo of a small group of menacing looking people made the rounds, went viral, and forever cemented the false image among conservatives of a violent terrorist organization ready to provoke confrontation and conflict with all things decent and conservative. There was, however, no organization. Nothing of the sort ever happened. No actual organized group calling itself "ANTIFA" ever formed. And, to this day, none never has...ANTIFA never became an organized entity, but has remained only an ideal, a concept, an attitude, and remains so today. For some reason, the right wing refuses to understand and accept this, or cannot. Laughably, hilariously, Trump recently signed an executive order formally declaring ANTIFA to be a "terrorist organization", albeit, evidently unbeknown to Trump, one which does not exist. He might as well have signed an order declaring opponents of abortion, anti-abortionists, "ANTIBO" a terrorist organization which in fact they all too often are, especially when bombing abrtion clinics. A huge majority of Americans are strongly opposed to fascism. Daily, however, it seems more evident a Donald Trump, MAGA, the Republican party, and the entire American conservative movement, evangelical Christians and all, embrace fascism. They have all, seemingly, abandoned democacy. Trump has gained too much authoritarian style power, and actively embraces too many fascist policies to not be labeled a "fascist". It is insulting to label Trump a "fascist", but accurate. Trump's stupidity, and the drastic shortcomings, lack of wisdom and intelligence, of the American people, made obvious by his election, are tragic, and, in a sense, humorous. The problem with democracy is that it requires a reasonably intelligent and educated public, and it takes a lot of effort and work. Democracy is not for the ignorant or lazy. In order to work, democary must become easier, and more efficient. Voting by mail, phone, or on the internet will become the norm, as progressive anti-fascist ideals are broadly implemented. Primitive practices like voter suppression and gerrymandering will become extinct. Above all else, ANTIFA means progress, and only fascists resist progress. ANTIFA is winning...

Trump, Grooming His Generals

THE CONGREGATION of generals, from the beginning was weird, a weird idea. Why bring together hundreds of high ranking, indispensable people suddenly taken from their jobs from all over the world, brought to an auditorium in Virginia, just to tell them that the military must become tougher? Trump and Hegseth could have done that with a video conference call, or a recorded messages, sent to each general and admiral individually. They were packed in like sardines, perhaps the most stoic, stern, seething group of older white men seen together since a KKK funeral. They obviously didn't want to be there, didn't think they should have to be, didn't applaud, smile at, listen to, or respectthe two speakers, Hegseth and Trump. Maybe these older men thought that the Secretary of War is too young for his position, too young, inexpeienced, unaccomplished, and morally reprehesible. They are quite correct, of course. Hegseth, in some progressive circles, is being called a "DUI Hire". You almost hope that sticks. He doesn't. He reportedy doesn't like like the descriptor. He told "his" genrarals that the American military has gotten soft, and must toughen up. Standards are declining. Too many enlisted people are out of shape and overweight. Same with some of the generals in the hallways of the Pentagon. But more importantly, said Hegsteh, the military needs an attitude adjustment, and by that he seems to mean that every last race of progressive thought needs to be scrubbed, eliminated form the minds of all military personnel. No more DEI, and especially, no more "wokism". (The number of active military who actually know what "woke" means has not been determined.) Women will have to pass the same physical fitness tests as men. One set of standards, in all areas of endeavor, not two, teh same for both sexes. Transgender people will henceforth be considered unqualified for military serice of any sort. One might ask how long it will be until the same prohibition is installed for gay people. Perhaps the most shocking, oplitically incorrect remark made by Hegseth saw his assertion that in the past, too many otherwise unqualified people have been given promotions because of their race and gender, their minority status, and that being black and or being female are not criteria for advancement. This is the end of the politically correct military, in which diversity is encouraged, and equality and inclusion are automatic. Hegseth, at least, spoke coherently, if nothing else. Coherently, if not wisely, intelligently, or reasonably. Trump, by contrast, was entirely rambling and incoherent in his rather lengthy remarks, and the expressions on the faces of his alleged "listeners" clearly indicated that they thought so. Trump's entire appearance was a disaster. He obviously expected a roaring, clapping standing ovation, but got only a sea of icey cold stares. But this needless assembly of high ranking officers had a far more sinister, darker purpose, a purpose which was not entirely accomplished in one sitting, but has certianly been given a good start. It is the process of transforming the Americna military, all of it, into one vast, united army loyal directly to Donald Trump alone, theleader, without regard for loyalty to the United States constitution, oranyting or anyone else. The army is to vecome Trump'sGestapo,a nd he essentially said so, telling the assembled generals that from now on, the main enemy of America is the enemy within, menaing, of course, the America which opposes Trump, all Americans who oppose Trump and resist his leadership, the "ANTIFA" crowd. Trump intends to turn the military into his personnel police force with unwavering loyalty to himself, and to use it to subude the American people by iradicating all opposition to his control of the country, making them utterly subervient to himself. And that is precisely why we the American people must resist Trump strenuously, remove him from office, and why we are all, ultimately, ANTIFA.