Protecting the American Military

THE AMERICAN SECRETARY OF DEFENSE, Ash Carter, has enjoined the high brass of all branches of the military to generate ideas concerning how best to protect military personnel at recruiting stations and on military bases. Ironic, somehow, looking for ways to protect the military. If one didn't know better, one might have thought that it was the military's job to protect not only itself, but the American people as well. But what do I know? Presumably ideas will filter upward in all branches trough the ranks of the senior officers, all the way to the Secretary's desk. Then, Mr. Carter will, we assume, sift through said ideas, and select from among the best. And who knows what he/we/they will come up with? Perhaps the Air Force will suggest hovering helicopters, assigned to behave like stereotypical "helicopter parents", floating guard in midair above their charges. Special forces might suggest camouflaging all service members in eye black, berets, and sunglasses, with the hope that an potential terrorist will mistake them for a motorcycle gang off duty. Naval officers might float the idea of surrounding all military installations with shark infested moats. Marine Corps? They might argue for yelling like hell, as scare tactic. Rumor has it that the Defense Secretary himself, a person of surpassing perspicacity, is considering arming people he terms "qualified defense department personnel", whomever that might be, with sidearms of some sort. One might have thought that any member of any of the "armed" services would fit that description, but evidently not, and again, what in hell do I know? Not much, it would seem, but, actually, I do have an idea. Why not train every member of all four branches of the military, all the members of all the "armed" forces, on the proper use of weapons, handguns in particular, and then issue each service member a handgun, and permit all personnel to carry said weapons, with the hope that each member can thus self protect? Maybe a clip fed nine millimeter, or something of the sort. Hell, even BB guns would be better than nothing. This could be done with an accompanying proscription against unloaded air gun play fights and selfies. Then, maybe all enlistees can sort of, you know, hang out together, like a group, or a gang, or an army, and watch each other's backs. Isn't that what friends are for? As they always say, there is safety in numbers.

Ronald Reagan, Not Knowing What Socialism Is

HAPPY BIRTHDAY MEDICARE/MEDICAID! Fifty short years ago, President LBJ signed the ground breaking legislation into law, and fifty years later, the verdict is in: it was the right thing to do. Medicare, Medicaid, and Social Security have proven that socialism does work, and that socialism and capitalism can make good bedfellows. Millions of American senior citizens have been saved from poverty from social security, millions more from disastrous health outcomes through medicare, and America's poor have benefited enormously from medicaid. And the economics of it works, as long as people pay their taxes and nobody "borrows" from the trust funds which service these programs. Medicare and Medicaid are so effective that one wonders whether we need Obamacare at all, but for the fact that everyone should heave health insurance, not just the old and the poor. Plus, national health insurance can relieve business owners of a great burden on their budgets. All this, despite dire warnings from corporate spokesperson Ronald Reagan, who went on television during the great debate of 1964, and, sounding reasonably lucid, proclaimed that if medicare/medicaid became a reality, we would awaken someday to an awareness that we were living in a socialist country. The day has come, we are awake, socialism is here, and Ronald Reagan's lost lucidity is long gone. The Gipper, in his 1964 TV ad, failed to mention that American fire and police departments are not privately owned and operated for profit, and neither are the city streets, state and federal highways, bridges, sewer systems, and public schools. Socialism in America, believe it or not, was extant long before Ronald Reagan was born, and in every above example of it, seems to function perfectly well. The American Medical Association, the labor union for doctors, was also opposed to socialized health insurance; heaven forbid that any government action should threaten the American for high profit doctoring business. This was predictable, and perhaps a bit disgusting. What is frightening is that a person can become president of the united States without knowing what socialism is, or even realizing that he is surrounded by it.

Inventing Our Religions

I BELIEVE IN GOD, and I believe that Jesus is the answer, the way. In other words, Jesus gave good advice, with but few exceptions, which would be just as good had it been given by anybody else, which, in fact, it had been, and still is. A good idea is a good idea, no matter whence its source. If Jesus had condemned slavery instead of condoning it, refrained from threatening to return with an avenging sword, and distanced himself from the brutality of the Old Testament, he'd be right up there with the wisest humans who ever lived, but, he lived in primitive times, barbaric times, and was obviously the product of his environment. God is great, Christ is love, or so it seems to me. The fact that Joshua Ben Joseph never called himself "Jesus Christ" changes nothing, although it does, it seems to me, show a lack of respect. You want others to call you by the name you call yourself, correct? The people I most admire are agnostics, because they are the honest people, the people who honestly admit that they do not know, when the rest of us, who know no more than they, claim to know. We believe, but we claim to know, which, common sense tells us, is a no no. May all the world's current religions wither away into non existence, which they will, and may a true and intelligent reverence for nature, and nature's (Jefferson's) God permeate us all, except for those who choose not to believe in God, in which case, may those folks experience the miracle of life in their own way. Imagine a world free from dogma and religious strife, free from barbaric religious beliefs, free from indoctrination, wherein everyone gladly accepts the uniqueness of everyone's religions We all invent our religiosity. Goethe said: when I realized that everyone invents his own religion, I decided to invent mine." Happy inventing!

Opposing Planned Parenthood, Cynically

A TINY, PRECIOUS, perfectly formed and healthy baby being sucked out of its mother's womb and sliced to pieces is an image no more appealing to pro choice liberals than it is to sanctimonious, right wing screeching anti-abortion fanatics. Fact is, nobody favors abortion. We are all, everyone among us, "pro life". If you think otherwise, you are far more cynical about human nature than is even remotely appropriate, and cynicism about human nature is almost always appropriate. Pro choice people simply believe that there is indeed a choice to be made, and that the choice should belong to the woman, not the government. This does not mean that they want women to chose abortion, it means that they believe that the woman should have the choice. Big government conservatives believe that unborn babies should be protected by law, which would be preferable, if it were enforceable, and posed less than an enormous threat to pregnant women. Prohibit abortion, and abortion takes place anyway, under desperate circumstances, in back alleys with coat hangers. This increases the rate of mother death. After the baby is born, conservatives revert to small government; no help for new mothers. Absolute devotion to the health of the child, until the day it is born. Permit abortion, and offer counseling and assistance and alternatives, like Planned parenthood does, and you have a healthier society. Planned Parenthood is an organization whose purpose is to help people, which is exactly what it does. Since it helps people, it is no wonder that American conservatives are generally opposed to it, and that when it comes time to help people, they want their government small, tiny, invisible.

Upspeaking and Vocal Frying

IF YOU WATCH TELEVISION in America, or go out much, you've heard people talk using "upspeak" and "vocal fry". Both are becoming scientific terms, describing America's current conversational fad. Making declarative statements with a gradually rising pitch is upspeak, and ending sentences with a slight raspy tremor, a roughness in the voice, is vocal fry. Both are much in vogue right about now, and many people claim to be annoyed by them. I'd say I'm at least as fascinated as annoyed; positive attitude, and all that, you know...Also, I seem to notice the tendency more in young American women than any other group, and apparently, I'm not alone. Some claim, however, that these vocal patterns are widespread through many groups, and that young woman are simply being singled out, which sounds plausible, but still, it just seems like young American females, particularly those intellectual and well educated and upper middle class-ish, really do it a lot. The question, to my mind, is: "why"? Good old fashioned imitation, conformity, status seeking within a community of similar people. Or something like that. All primates are highly imitative, and status seeking. socially. Are upspeak voice fryers - and those who do one always seem to do the other, its either both or neither - merely trying to add emphasis to their spoken words? If so, why not simply speak louder, or throw in a few cuss words for emphasis? One reason its interesting to me is, throughout my entire life, from early childhood to this very day, no matter what other people are doing, no matter what's in style - I want to run away from it, and do just the opposite. that's why, for instance, I'm not a christian, or one reason, anyway. Its also why I like to wear long hair when everyone else is wearing short hair, and the minute smart phones became too popular, I ditched mine. I just can't stand running with the herd. So therefore I need to remember to keep my sentences on an even or a downward pitch, with the ends of every sentence spoken clear as a bell.

Causing a Political Correctness Uproar

EVIDENTLY, IF YOU'RE giving a campaign speech to a group of African-Americans, you'll get more votes if you scream "black lives matter!" than you will by screaming "all lives matter" or "human lives matter". If you scream the latter two, you might not get any votes at all, and this, frankly, seems a bit strange, and possibly, a tad sensitive. Yet, its understandable. The thought that all lives matter tends to deflect emphasis from the primary concern; that black lives matter, though it certainly isn't intended to. Might, aren't we all sensitive these days, easily offended, on edge. If we could all just simmer down a bit...political correctness has often been accused of going too far, and, as noble as the fundamental purpose of political correctness truly is - yes, it can go too far. For example, I listen to a lot of baseball games on the radio. I use the announcers descriptions to form a mental picture of the game, an age old pleasure millions know and understand. and yet...I never know whether a player, any player, is white or black, for instance. And, well, yes, it matters, at least in the process of forming mental images, it matters. At least, if one tends to form detailed mental images, and wishes to be accurate, then, well, yes, it matters, and "race" per se has absolutely nothing to do with it...somehow, though, I get the feeling that there may never come a day in this country when I can know what a baseball looks like, without causing a big damned uproar.

Thinking About Our Future Guns

THE FREQUENCY OF MASS MURDER in America is increasing, alarmingly. Most of it we never hear about. Since the Chattanooga tragedy, at least three other events of equal or greater slaughter, one involving a knife, have transpired, but were not widely reported in the mainstream news media. Thus are America's guns a blazin', and can you imagine how exciting things could get if, as our conservative colleagues seem to desire, we all start going about in public packing heat, or, as they often said in the old west, "goin' heals"? Hell, this country is already, for all practical purposes, a perpetual shoot out, and its pretty obvious how angry most of us are, after twenty five years of losing wars, downward mobility, and getting ever deeper into debt. Personally, I don't even know how many times I've wished I had a gun handy, and how many murders I might have committed had I but had heat. Or maybe I would stop more crimes than I would commit; it would be a race to the top. I have never met a person I entirely trust with a firearm and the thought of walking around mainstream modern America with everyone looking like extras on "Gunsmoke" is a mite unnerving to me. Obama was right when he pointed out that this mass murder of the day stuff doesn't happen anywhere else. Oh, it happens, all right, in other countries, but hell, not every damned day! Again, "only in America". If ever we were actually required by law to carry, I would probably get a derringer, or one of those miniature .357 magnums which are remarkably small, and I would probably choose to conceal it. The impact so doing would have on my attitude and mood are hard to predict; I've never carried before. Best guess is that it would enhance my self confidence a heap, and make me ready to smart off to tough guys, which might not be the best idea. As to whether to conceal or reveal, we'll eventually have our choice, won't we? So, maybe its something we should all be thinking about.

The American People, Protecting Their Military

ALL ACROSS THE FRUITED PLAIN, citizen vigilantes, quite well armed with guns, patriotism, and conservatism, are hovering near military recruiting stations, guarding our men in uniform. Isn't it supposed to be the other way around? What's wrong with this picture? Maybe just another of those "only in America" thingies. We proudly do everything backwards in this country anyhow, so, why not? We drive on parkways, and park on driveways. Are all the volunteers republicans? Tea partiers, perchance? Remnants from the old militia movement from the pre Timothy McVeigh nineties? Just askin'....Who knows, the movement might grow, might come to include everybody, including myself. I can see me now, dressed in camo with eye black, beret, and sunglasses, waving an AK47 at strangers while keeping an eye on the table nearby where sit members of the US Marine Corps, fully uniformed. Much as I like this image, there is just something wrong with it, but I don't quite know what. Like, suddenly waking up and finding that I live in Cuba, or North Korea. One can imagine a huge mob of American patriots, armed to the teeth, milling and surging through every mall in suburbia, ready for trouble, even if they have to start it themselves. Wouldn't it just be easier to give the military recruitment people weapons of their own? No, that would be too easy, far too sensible. Almost as sensible and therefore unacceptable as using the American military to do its original job; defending the country, including particularly its own borders.

Getting Rid of Weapons and Governments

OUR SHINY NEW atomic bomb treaty is everyone's pride and joy, except for American conservatives, the nation of Israel, and a few of Iran's neighbors, understandably. The treaty's opponents might all prefer that the U.S. drop an atomic bomb or two on Tehran. Like Obama said, military action is the only alternative to diplomacy, and is that what we really want? hardly, I should think. As Obama pointed out, the Americans who oppose diplomacy with Iran favored war with Iraq twenty five years ago, and said it would not last long. Our conservative American colleagues despise Obama so much that they automatically oppose everything he does, no matter what, even things they would agree with if done by a republican. Can't we all just get along? The Iranian people are fundamentally warm and friendly, and good, and don't like their own government. the American people are basically goodhearted, and don't like their own government. So don't we the people simply bypass our own governments, and make peace, not war, right here on the internet? Forget the pompous politicians! They seek only to serve their own personal interests. A universal brother-sisterhood of the common human,entirely aside from normal national governments! why don't the people of all nations, the people of the world, simply agree to get along, agree not to fight, no matter what their governments do? If the people of Iran and the United States agree on friendship, which basically they already do, then friendship it should be, and eventually, shall be. Much of this can happen online, depending on how many people in Iran have uncensored access to the internet. We need more than a treaty prohibiting Iran from having nuclear weapons. We need a world totally without any nuclear weapons, a treaty by which we get rid of every nuclear weapon in the world, no matter who owns it. But first, we need a people's political revolution, in America, and throughout the world.

Running With Donald Trump

DONALD TRUMP brilliantly proclaims that Senator John McCain is not a war hero, but that if he is, its only because he was captured. Well, who knows..I mean, Isn't that enough? McCain didn't die for his country, but he certainly suffered for it, and probably still does, more than any of us can ever know. Yo, he's a hero, fo sho. You can't help but be excited about the Donald's presidential campaign, and you sense that the fun is only just beginning. Donald has nothing to lose, such as a fancy high powered political career. Plus, he needn't worry about taking campaign money from rich helpers, and then forever owing them for it, like all the other candidates, except Bernie Sanders. Bernie is only taking small contributions, nothing from the corporations. And guess what! Bernie is all the rage among the millenials, the very same demographic group which brought us gay marriage, and is even now preparing to take over America. Watch out for Bernie; if he plays his cards right, he could win, just by courting the millenials, the working poor, and the minorities, and America could move far to the left, as the millenials seems to want it to. You can scarcely imagine the high drama and entertainment just ahead, as Trump gets the other ten million republicans running for president republicans verbally ripping each other to shreds. Why, I can see Big Donald decking Walker, Cruz, or Rubio right on stage, in the middle of a debate, just for being sanctimonious and smart assie. this is beyond doubt the most interesting and strong field of presidential candidates in my lifetime, and the fact that they are all essentially crazy diminishes that fact not in the least. The fact that Donald Trump is likely to end up running on a third party will cause even more excitement among the conservative hordes, who will then help elect Bernie Sanders by splitting the conservative vote. My, what a lovely fantasy. My two favorite candidates are Bernie Sanders and Donald Trump, and that seems strange even to me. It just seems like those two tell the truth, although I like what I perceive to be Jeb Bush's open mindedness and fairness to all points of view. That is a rare trait, regrettably, in current American public discourse.

Kicking Out the Duggers; Changing Our Attitudes

I DON'T WATCH MUCH TV, so I'm at a disadvantage here. Quick question: are the Kardashians or the Duggers (or is it Duggars? oh well, either way) kooler? They both must be rather exciting groups of people, and I think I actually live right down the road from the real life dugger fam, so, I should know. After all, they are celebrities. Even I know that the Duggers, all twenty something of them, were kicked off prime time TV due to revelations of past sex play among the children, Tsk tsk. Crazy story, as you would expect. Some years ago, it seems that the oldest child, a male, engaged in sex play with several of his many younger sisters. The parents apparently dealt with it in-family, and moved on. Not the end of the world. The years came and went, and more children came, then, celebrity, fame, and wealth. (you'd be looking for extra income too, if you had twenty kids). But then recently some dirt digger revealed the old news, and that, as they say, was that. Even more than elevating people to celebrity status, we Americans love to bring them tumbling down in ignominious disgrace. But here's the dirty little secret: many, if not most human siblings engage in sex play. This fact is confirmed solidly by many studies. Its sinful or perverted only if we choose to label it that, depending on social mores, which frequently, understandably, include an aversion to in breeding, but one thing childhood sibling sex play most certainly is, is normal. Hurray for bio diversity! The Duggers doubtless dealt with their situation religiously and sinfully; they being the Christian sort. Maybe we should consider a scientific approach, with a science base morality, free of religious or emotional dogma and guilt. Or maybe we should reconsider our sexual mores, and fundamentally reform them. It seems reasonable; since every other aspect of human society needs reform, why not our attitudes about human sexuality? Maybe one way to start would be by starting to tell children to tone it down, and be careful. We want everyone to behave safely and, if at all possible virtuously, but we remain realistic in our expectations, we hope.

Collecting Stray Cats

THE LATEST STRAY kitten who wandered into my front yard looked weak and underweight, and I knew immediately that I was damned if that little thing was gonna keep going hungry. Of course, my three indoor cats are all thick kittens, to put it politely, so a normal, healthy slender cat might look a tad underweight to me. But, no, this one needed to beef up, and she indeed seemed sluggish. So by thunder she was gonna get fed, one way or another. She liked me right from the git go, arching her back to meet my soothing hand. Bottom line, I reckon I got 'er fattened up in about two weeks. Still slender, but obviously healthy, active, energetic. now she sits on my lap, and is very sweet and affectionate, which is really all you want in a pet. She still hasn't learned how to purr, interestingly, but that may be merely the product of a wild childhood, without any feline or human contact, except for me. Now the question for me is: what in heck to do with her? Of course, you and I both know there's only one answer: keep her. She's adorable, friendly, and sweet, and she already follows me around when I walk around my property, and not only that, but she has started to live in my garage. I can't let her in the house; my female, Mandy, would try to kill her, and end up getting killed, I suspect. One day I as I opened the laundry room door leading into my garage, Mandy bolted out, and went straight for the stray, whom I think I am going to name "Cassie". Mandy chased Cassie down the street and across town, and finally Cassie decided to turn and fight, which she did, and promptly, from all indications, kicked Mandy's little butt. The lessons is: quit while you're ahead. Two females. probably there is nothing I can ever do to get them to get along. Meanwhile, back at the ranch, If I'm not careful, the way I'm going, I might end up with forty five stray cats, instead of the four I now have. Damn the American people! damn us, for allowing a population of thirty five million stray cats to roam our country. The least we could is is to round them all up, one by one, spay , neuter, and vaccinate them, and, if nothing else, let them live as strays, with maybe more Americans aware of them, and offering them food and shelter, the natural way, like I did and do. We can do better, regarding our treatment of dogs and cats in America. And this is not more liberal bleeding heart drivel; its basic decency and morality.

Doing It For The Millenials!

IF YOU SIT DOWN and actually listen to some climate scientists, any of them will do, and there are tens of thousands, as they describe the amount of carbon in the atmosphere, how it got there, and the effect its having on the environment, right before our very eyes, there is no frigging way that you can still deny global warming-climate change. It just too simple, too obvious. So, one must conclude that those who deny it have quite simply never ever listened to a climate change explanation-lecture by any one of tens of thousands of climate scientists, chemists, physics professors, and for that matter high school science teachers, any of whom would be glad to explain. Because, really, any step by step explanation of what's going on with the human species, global warming, and the planet Earth is easy to understand, and incredibly persuasive. The deniers, terrified of any threat to their pleasant little conservative universe, are simply hiding their brains in the sand, ostrich-like. Some charismatic Carl Sagan type needs to put together a video lecture, explaining climate change, step by easy step, the absolute inevitable fact of it, so that we can all get on board with the horrible but ultimately unavoidable truth, once and for all, and maybe, just maybe, actually start to do something about it, before its too late for the millenials to enjoy a long life. We baby boomers are lucky; we're gonna get out of here just in the nick of time, but woe be to the millenials (those born between 1982 and 2000), and their chances at decent weather and long term survival. Its frustrating. Thirty years from now the conservative climate change deniers will of course deny having been deniers, just as they now deny ever having been racists, for example. But by then, it'll be too late for it to matter.

Being Reasonable Is Not An Option

PRESIDENT OBAMA SAVES THE WORLD, or at least extends its life a bit, makes it safer for democracy, greatly alleviates the threat of widespread war in the middle east by forcing the Iranians, through the sheer force of his effective diplomacy, to forsake nuclear weapons. Either that, or, Obama sells out to Iran, opening the door to future Iranian nuclear arms development, making Israel's safety a most precarious matter. The choice is yours. Your opinion counts too, on social media if nowhere else, and the more extreme the better. Heaven forbid that any American citizen should be accused of moderate, reasonable, and balanced thinking; extremism, polarization is the order of the day. Either or. All or nothing. The more dramatic the better, and, by all means, take a selfie and post it alongside your screaming, grammatically butchered rhetoric. You would think that millions of intelligent people would be able to sit down, do a little reading, find out exactly what's in the new treaty with Iran, and develop a rational response to it, free of extremist rhetoric. But no, that would be too much to ask. It wouldn't attract enough attention on twitter, wouldn't antagonize anyone, so, why bother? Benjamin Franklin said: "Compromisers don't make good heroes, but they make good democracies." Compromise, with anyone else, or moderation of personal opinion, is simply no longer an option in America, as it must once have been. We must all be heroes, and to hell with democracy!

Being A Meaningful Human Being

JUST YESTERDAY a space probe of humans origins went streaking up to and around the three billion mile distant planet(oid) Pluto, - which used to be a planet but no longer is - snapping great photos, gathering an avalanche of data which will take months to send back to Earth. The pictures are already amazing, and pictures of planets orbiting other stars are becoming more and more amazing by the day. No matter how bad things are for you, no matter how many personal problems you may have, even if you are totally depressed, you should try to find a way to rejoice in the Pluto probe. Why? Because it means that your life is meaningful, in a new way, a cosmic way. It means that you are part of a life form which can extend itself beyond its humble origins, and reach out into the cosmos itself, seeking. We can begin to traverse the universe. And who knows where that will lead? We are more than dumb animals, we are more than infants. We have grown, and are growing up, and no matter who you are or what you think you should be, you are a part of this process, an integral, vital part, part of this incredible, sublime, miraculous process of evolution. And yet, for some reason, nobody cares. As usual, a miraculous achievement in science and space exploration is being largely ignored by the American people. Maybe this isn't surprising, or shouldn't be. Tens of millions of us should turn off reality TV, CSI wherever, or a football game or two, for, say an hour a day, and use that time to log onto "Astronomy Picture of the Day", and to contemplate the glory, the importance, and the value of being a human being, no matter how horribly we sometimes behave, or how big the universe turns out to be.