Arsenic in our Food Reflects our Values by Wiley Foxes

Recently FDA has reversed its policy of letting chicken farmers put arsenic in chicken feed.  Not surprisingly some stayed in the chicken meat, some went to the chicken poop.  The poop is sometimes put in cow feed, so some of this ended up in the cow meat and milk and some of it in the cow poop.

Why put arsenic in chicken feed?  Somehow it makes chickens put on more weight with less food.  Yea, the farmers make more money if they put arsenic in the chicken food.  So, FDA has told them to stop, except one article I read said it is okay in Turkey meat.

So, if we eat arsenic laced chicken, doesn't it follow that some of it will stay in our meat, perhaps our liver I would guess, and some will go to our poop.  And, whatever BENEFIT it has with chickens would be passed on to us.  In short, we can gain more weight with less food.  Doesn't that follow?

Of course antibiotics, growth hormones, etc. are given to chickens and cows to make them gain weight.  Remember the whole theory that girls were getting boobs faster because of hormones given to cows which got passed to the girls via the wholesome milk we drink?  Doesn't it follow that anything that makes the chickens, cows, and turkeys to gain weight might have the same affect on us when we eat their meat?

So, who do I trust to give me a scientific, unbiased answer on whether or not stuff given to chickens, like arsenic, to fat them up will not fatten me up.  Well, it is not FDA or our government.  They have zero credibility with me.  They are also not non-partial, a key requirement for good R&D.  Farmers have great lobbyists, look at their subsidies.  Farmers help get politicians elected via lobby's and contribution dollars, politicians hand out subsidies and pick people to run FDA, etc. who fund the research.  No bias there.  So, no thank you, I don't trust research so funded.

And, where is the research showing that it is safe to put arsenic in our food supply in the first place. And if such research exists, who funded it?  The same people that benefit from saying it is safe?

So, for me I will stick with the basics.  Arsenic makes chickens gain weight.  If I eat chickens with arsenic in it, I'm guessing it will help with my fat maintenance program.

 I've heard we have an obesity problem in this country, even with our young kids.  Imagine that.  It is hard to figure how that could happen.  Surely all our food is healthy and designed to keep us lean and mean, our serving sizes are reasonable, and we are still active, hard working Americans after all.  They say we are going to have a health crisis from obesity in a few decades that will bankrupt America.   That is pure nonsense, our American values would not let us do anything to the food supply to just make more money for rich farmers ... what a silly, stupid postulate.  Not here in America, we have values and principles that guide us.

American Values Being Tested in Egypt by Wileyfoxes

Journalists from Al Jazeera News, the most objective newscast in American (my opinion) have been thrown in jail for doing their jobs in Egypt.  Secretary of State Kerry went to Egypt to ask for their release.  As an insult to him, they sentenced the journalists to many years in prison as Kerry was getting on his plane to leave Egypt.  Five extra years were added to one journalist for having a dangerous weapon, a bullet cartridge that he had picked off the ground at a demonstration stoppeIf a recent poll is correct, see below, do not want our financial or military aid.  So, guess what we are planning.

HHer is the irony.  We are now processing a one billion dollar aid package to Egypt.  So, are we going to put our money where our mouth is and not support a government that does not recognize freedom of speech, the right to peaceful protest, and the right of journalists to do their job.  Probably not.  We are probably going to give them the aid and ask them to do better in the future or some similar double talk crab.

I'm guessing our aid comes with strings.  Something to the effect that they will purchase some military equipment from us with the aid.  So, it is really not aid to Egypt but aid to our American Big Business, the Military Industrial Complex that Eisenhower warned would some day sink America.  Am I wrong here?  More money going to the rich from the taxes on the people?

So what are our aid to Egypt say about American Values?
 

Children from Latin America, are We our Brother's Keeper by Robert R. Odle, Ph.D.

Obama is asking for an additional $2 billion and new laws to more efficiently get rid of the children coming to America.  Assuming 100,000 children come to our shores this year, its $10,000 additional for each child.  Imagine, that is long enough to feed a child for say a year.  Of course, its easier to send them back home, only some of them will be killed in places like Honduras.  What is an acceptable percentage of deaths to make this policy okay?

The Republicans will probably give Obama new laws to expedite sending these children back home.  The moral majority keep the Republicans afloat.  If they were quoting the Bible, they might pick something from Matthew Chapter 25:

For I was an hungred, and ye gave me meat: I was thirsty, and ye gave me drink: I was a stranger, and ye took me in. ³⁶ Naked, and ye clothed me: I was sick, and ye visited me: I was in prison, and ye came unto me.

³⁷ Then shall the righteous answer him, saying, Lord, when saw we thee an hungred, and fed thee? or thirsty, and gave thee drink?

³⁸ When saw we thee a stranger, and took thee in? or naked, and clothed thee?

³⁹ Or when saw we thee sick, or in prison, and came unto thee?

⁴⁰ And the King shall answer and say unto them, Verily I say unto you, Inasmuch as ye have done it unto one of the least of these my brethren, ye have done it unto me.

Of course, they would argue this doesn't apply since they are breaking the law by fleeing the chaos in their country.  They should stay there and die like a manchild. Or they would blame it on Obama for being soft on immigrants ignoring that he is deported far more immigrants than Jehovah Bush.

All the bullshit in the world will not speak as loudly as what we are about to do. 

What we do with these children will say to the whole world what are values are as Americans. 

Iraq and Oil: Plan B by Wileyfoxes

Many years ago when the Iraq war was started by our dear paranoid President Bush, the U.S. was facing huge shortage of oil and no hope for it being any better tomorrow.  Many moons later, we find that fracking, horizontal drilling and cars with better fuel efficiency has done the impossible in substantially reducing our need for oil.  And, if we have the good sense to build some pipelines and expand fracking with enhanced safety requirements, there is hope that things could even get better tomorrow.  

An what impact will the new CO2 emissions rules by EPA play in this new world of energy we find ourselves in?   This approach is not as good as that we posted in a New Energy Future for America, but at least it addresses efficient energy use in a somewhat backhanded way.  Perhaps this can evolve into a system where a carbon tax replaces our income tax system -- I can dream can't I?

So, back to Iraq.  The war was supposed to make the Middle East safer and keep the oil flowing.  It was supposed to decrease the number and effectiveness of the terrorists.  Well, it should be clear that the oil is not any safer with Iraq blowing up its biggest refinery this week in an attempt to get insurgents out of the refinery. The pipeline to Turkey has also been cut.  It should also be clear that our drone program has given everyone in the middle east someone to hate and that number of insurgents, terrorists, rebels, etc. is escalating.  If terrorist are less effective it is because of how we track their money and monitor their movements in America, our smart bombs and our Trillion dollar military effort doesn't seem to be slowing them down.  

In short, Plan A is not working. (My own opinion is that religious extremism is stronger than guns.  But, we don't have to agree on the reason Plan A is failing, only that it is.)

Plan B.  We do not have to control the world.  Let the Shia and the Shiites kill each other off.  Let the war spread.  Carefully choose which if any countries deserve U.S. air power.  Israel, Egypt, Turkey?  Let the Middle East clean up the Middle East. Let countries like Russia or China if they want try to clean up the religious mess called the Middle East.  Let the Middle East learn how to moderate their views and learn to negotiate with their enemies.  Apparently we didn't include these lessons in a our Nation Building 101.

Part 2 of Plan B.  Proceed with the New Energy Future for America with stepped up urgency to build pipelines and electrical infrastructure. Imagine if we had spent one trillion dollars on energy, on our economy instead of worrying about the stability of the oil industry in the Middle East. 

Finally, have the courage to admit our Plan A is not working and simply stop executing Plan A.  If you don't like my Plan B, then create your own and sell it, but please don't keep executing a failed Plan A or supporting governments/parties that want to be stupid by doing the same thing over and over and expecting a different result.   WE SIMPLY CANNOT CONTROL THE WHOLE WORLD AND BE A PROSPEROUS AMERICA -- it is a myth my friend.

Children Fleeing to America, but who cares? by WileyFoxes

Perhaps 90,000 children will cross illegally into the U.S. this year to get away from gang violence in the Latin American countries they come from ... Honduras, El Salvador, Mexico, etc.

Of course, we act like it is not our problem, not our responsibility.  But, shouldn't the country causing most of the violence be responsible for taking care of these children.  As you might guess, gang violence is rampant in countries like Honduras.  The gangs are funded by the selling of drugs to America, lately a lot of heroin, but there is no shortage of cocaine and designer drugs either. Americans buy and order it, they deliver.  The kids of the supplying countries suffer thanks to us.  Our 70 or so school shootings in this country in the last eight months are nothing compared to the murder rate in places like Honduras.  Our 10,000 killings with guns each year are small potatoes on a per capita basis.

They say the definition of stupid is to keep doing the same thing over and over again and expecting a different result.  I can remember the War on Drugs when I was a small kid growing up in El Paso.  It was mostly pot in those days, today of course, it is mostly heroin on our streets.  There is no shortage of drugs, never has been, never will be.  (I hear we have apparently slowed down pot a little.)  The only thing that varies is the number of people willing to use them.  And yet, the War goes on.  Stupid, but not the point of this blog.

So our stupid War on Drugs goes on.  Children in the countries supplying us drugs are fleeing to us for help.  And, guess what we are telling them.  After due process, we are sending them back.  And the Republicans and Democrats argue about our border policies, our immigration policies, each blaming the other for the catastrophe.  They are right, each is to blame, but it is our War on Drugs not our Immigration Policies that are causing the humanitarian crisis.

Our plan is to send them back home to die, but out of our sight.  Back to their violent homes where we don't have to assume any of the responsibilities for our actions, our policies.  That is just the kind of people we are in this country.  After all, the War on Drugs is righteous.

These children are on our door step.  There is a chance to do good here, but today we are arguing about what kind of military help to give Iraq -- its a stage where we can show our almighty and righteous power. 

My View on Religion

I grew up hearing "hell and brimstone" from a god that supposedly loved me.  As a kid I was terrified of what this god of loving could do to me if I failed to be a faithful and humble servant.  As I grew and started studying history, I noticed what had caused all the wars in the past and saw where most of the conflict comes from in the world.  Yea, you guessed it.   I grew afraid of the harm that religion has done and continues to do in the world, a view I still hold today.

I distanced myself from any form of religion and would not go as far as entering a church building to go to a wedding for more than a decade after I left my religion.  I was the one that would finally agree to take care of all the children in the nursery in the front of the church.  This worked fine for me until I married a woman whose sisters are religious.  I have handled it by being withdrawn when I am around them.  I only engage in polite, casual conversations avoiding any hint of a religious discussion and in reality any kind of meaningful conversation.  They too have become guarded, no one saying anything that might upset the apple cart.  Of course, my wife wants them to get to know the me that she knows, the person that usually digs down and tries to see what is under the hood in each person I meet.

Here is the paradox for me.  Religions ask you to believe something on faith.  What does that mean?  To me, it means believing something that is possibly irrational and at best unknowable because someone acting for "god" has decided it is the right thing to believe.  In some religions, what they ask you to believe is relatively harmless on the surface, at least, and in other religions it is horrible.  The Nazi's fit my definition of a religion; they believed they were a chosen, special people and to be part of them you had to be of the right race and believe their sermon of superiority.  This is also very much like the Israelis of the old testament, or much like the ones still in the middle east, or the Palestinians for that matter.  (We talk about illegal immigrants in this country often with the same tone of superiority.) 

The harm to me in religion has always seem to be at the point that an individual  relegates "right and wrong" and "what" to believe to someone else.  Each person in my sense of right and wrong has to  responsible for what they believe, even more, what they think is right and and wrong.  To take a myth and a book written a long time ago as my guide for right and wrong seems horribly wrong to me, and it seems a step away from abrogating my responsibility to my fellow men.  I want my actions to spring from my thoughtful, honest opinions I have on the act in question based on my values which in turn are based on my life experiences.

I look at our political landscape in the country and it is filled with religious righteousness -- judgment pronounced in the name of the Bible primarily of what is wrong with our fellow humans.  Of course, it is a no brainier that religion is going to mostly be against gays or anyone else that departs from the traditional family assumed in the Bible, or the Koran for that matter. But, with only 64% of our workforce having jobs, it is more surprising how we find the righteous noble ground to characterize people not working as lazy. (Reminds me of Romney's 47% of the people that want hand outs.)  This moral righteousness that sometimes disintegrates into moral disgust keeps us from recognizing how serious this problem is and it eliminates all the obvious solutions that a religious perspective would not find appropriate (since these people are "lazy" and might get something for nothing).  Accepting the world and capitalism (often a religion itself) could be inappropriate for the situation we now find herself in would be anathema. 

So, obviously many people don't see religion as harshly as I do.  They don't see it as one step away from accepting something awful, they don't see the harm in choosing to believe things that I find to be illogical or at best unknowable.  So, how do I relate to these people, many of which believe that I am condemned to hell because of my lack of belief.  First, let me say that I don't really mind if they think I am going to a place that I have no evidence exists.  Second, I like being an example of a good person that doesn't believe.  It gives me a strange satisfaction to make them wonder about their god and their religion where people like me would be sentenced to hell.  Really?  Third, I like to contrast the simplicity of my religion which can be summarized by saying I believe in being kind and helpful with courage.

But, I still haven't found a framework where I can sit down and even discuss something like unemployment with my fellow humans who believe in a religion.  All I have is logic, I have no judgments to pronounce.  I still don't know how to talk to my religious relatives.  What if my wife and I want to bring a third party into our bedroom.

 My guess is that most of my religious friends are going to have a problem with this action and no amount of logic is going to make them comfortable with us living our life as we chose to live it.  So, how do I call a truce where I let them be religious and they let me and my wife live as we see fit.  We might even want to smoke dope with this visitor to our bedroom.  Now, I see we have brought in the legal into the subject that was before just right and wrong, believers and unbelievers.

I would argue of course that much of our legal basis in this country comes from our religious, Puritanical past.  I tried to buy some wine in North Carolina on a Sunday about 10 am in the grocery store.  I thought gee, this is more permissive than where I live where I have been protected from beer and wine being in my grocery store.  But, once at the register, I was told I couldn't buy wine before noon on Sunday.  Logical?  It is not logical, it is a religious outcropping.

Okay, I am still not any closer in coming up with a plan on how to relate to my religious relatives or my religious friends.  How do I know when being as logical and honest as I know how to be is going to cause hurt feelings.  How do I shed an air of superiority when I really do believe honesty and logic is superior to belief and faith?   My friend Brian says that I need to accept that all people are where they are on this journey of awakening, growth and consciousness as he calls it.  However, that seems to strike me as being very similar to my trust in logic, honesty, and kindness.

The best I can come up with at the moment centers around my belief in kindness, compassion and being my brother's keeper.  I think the answer for me has to come down to being as helpful to my religious friends as possible.  In conversations, I need to ask them about their beliefs without being compelled to share my viewpoint. But, I should not be afraid to inquire deeply on any subject that they bring up.  I should not be afraid to examine views that they hold that are not consistent with other views that they hold -- since being illogical and consistent are not possible.

When I was young, my fundamentalist religion made me an outcast at school and now I find my thought that faith is illogical separates me from many people.  I even find atheist's confidence that there is no god just another "faith".  I find it hard to find those like me that just don't know about the unknowable things beyond our senses.    

But in this muddle (this post and my thoughts), the desire to connect to my fellow humans remains strong and at conflict with my desire to be honest and transparent, and just be me, not knowing.

US victory in Ukraine, Pyrrhic

The following post was written by Steve Hayes on the Thoughts.com website.  It is presented here as a valid and thoughtful point of view of America, Ukraine, and Russia. 

May 30, 2014bystevehayes13

The US backed coup in the Ukraine is a Pyrrhic victory. Instead of gaining control over the country, the US has installed a regime that, not only has deeply repugnant attitudes, but is seen by many Ukrainians as completely illegitimate. Crimea has already succeeded to the Russian Federation. Areas of the east have held referendum and declared themselves independent republics. And the coup government are engaged in killing protesters and bystanders. This wasn't the Ukraine Nuland et al expected.

Meanwhile, Russia and China have moved closer together. The signing of the energy deal between the two countries is symbolic of the shift to the east of the world economy. The crisis in the Ukraine is simply the final straw in US double-dealing, which has pushed Russia and China into an alliance. Back in 1990 the US promised the Soviet Union that it would not move NATO forces east in return for the Soviet Union removing military from East Germany. It was not long before President Clinton reneged on that deal. NATO forces have kept pushing Russia's borders. The thought that NATO missiles might soon be located in the Ukraine as well forces Putin to seek allies in asia.

Russia is not only selling energy to China, it is selling arms. These trade relations between China and Russia also have the potential to undermine the status of the US dollar as the world reserve currency, something that is essential for the US if it is to continue to live beyond its means. The US provoked crisis in the Ukraine has had the unintended effect of cementing an alliance that significantly changes the geopolitical landscape.

My only two cents is that Russia is no angel in this Ukraine fiasco.  In some ways, it is Oligarchs in the U.S. fighting with the Oligarchs in Russia, but that is another blog. RRO 

Romantic Relationships And Personal Freedoms in America

We are a country that is proud of our personal freedoms / liberties.  For example, if someone wanted to smoke pot, well, maybe that's not a good example.  Maybe, we want to fight dogs against other dogs, well, no personal freedoms there either (not that there should be). So, when are personal freedoms allowed?  The simple answer is that we then the majority of people think an action is okay then we have the personal freedom to do it, more or less.  The majority of Americans believe that background checks to restrict the sale of guns to minors and felons is a reasonable restriction on our freedoms.  NRA, who is more powerful and has big bucks / influence says screw you Americans, we decide not you.

Understanding there are big issues on what freedoms we actually have and how we arrive at actually having a freedom is complicated and often unfair, today I want to just concentrate on relationships, romantic relationships in particular.

We have this fantasy in this country that boy meets girl, boy and girl fall in love, get married and live happy ever after.  The reality is that more than half will end in divorce, many of those that stay together are unhappy and together solely for financial reasons or inertia.  We have fantasies of how all of this happens ... the finding of the ONE ... Cinderella meets handsome Prince who saves her from a life of drudgery and takes her to the castle with servants (some of which might be wishing for their own happy ever after) where they live a blissful life full of diamonds and jewelry, well behaved children, and the Happy-Ever-After.  Guys fantasies usually run along the line that they will met a hot Cinderella that has modest and affordable tastes,  a great body that stays such after kids, and that craves hot and kinky sex every night. Maybe the guy's fantasy is slightly affected by my own fantasies.

I would say in America that most of us are okay with the Cinderalla and Hot Wife Fantasies and we are okay if someone with those views gets married.  Yea for personal freedom.  But, then it starts to get messy.  What if they are the same sex, or different races, or huge age differences between the partners, or they want multiple wives or husbands.  Whoa.  Personal freedoms be damned.

First, isn't there a belief in this country that if one's actions do not impact those around you (you can swing your arms until your fist hits my face) then we should be free to proceed.  Well, that is obviously not how it works.  Okay then, on the disputed items it is the majority that determines if the minority has the given freedom.  From my personal polls, most think it is okay to drink beer on Sunday's, always have, but in many places in America there are still restrictions on buying and drinking beers on Sunday's. So, what's up?

It is the "I am my brother's keeper rule" kicking in.  No, not the one where you give your brother some bread because he is hungry version (that one is not so popular), it is the version where you keep your brother from doing something that you think is wrong for you to do and therefore wrong for him.  If you think it is wrong because of your religious beliefs to have sex with someone of your same sex, then you try to stop others from committing that sin.  How do you do that most effectively?  You don't let then have the privileges of being married, therefore throwing up a very effective deterrent.  Not of the behavior itself, but of them prospering and enjoying their life.  In short, you are punishing your brother for his evil behavior ... you are your brother's keeper, saving his soul.

So, let's look at another example.  Love is good right?   We should all love our neighbor, our spouse, our parents, our children, the hot woman next door, Santa Claus, etc.  Pardon me, I don't know how the hot woman next door got in the list, obviously not okay.  But, what if she is a swinger and your mate is a swinger and you accidentally fall in love with her after years of "screwing her".  Of course, you have to tell your mate that you have broken the code of swingers and fallen in love.  Lots of Grief.  But, what if you are polyamorous and believe that it is okay to love others beside your spouse and she fully supports and encourages you loving others -- and the others are playing by the same open and honest -- full disclosure rules?

Now, the question before us is not whether you want to be a swinger or a polyamorous person, but whether or society with our strong, but untrue, Cinderella fantasies, should allow others to pursue alternate fantasies, their fantasies, of a rich and meaningful relationship(s).  My guess is that the religious rights says "no way, Hosea".  About a third would say, its okay with me what they do on the downlow.  I would guess only a third of people who say let's sanction such relationships with the rights of legal marriage. Those that say no to legal marriage would say "its just wrong" or "it won't work" (unlike the Cinderella fantasy).  Again, many will say "I'm your keeper brother and I am just not going to let you go there" with that kind of screwed up relationship.

Now humor me for a moment. Domestic violence.  1/4 of women experience domestic violence in this country.  At the core of such relationships is an OWNERSHIP MODEL.  I know a man in such a relationship that said "that's mine" and no one else better touch it.  I'll leave it to the reader's imagination which part of the anatomy the guy was speaking about.  But, how much of ownership model exists in most marriages?  How many of them are based on the union of equal partners free to negotiate an agreement that is right for the partnership?  How much of our cultural biases which are created in part by unrealistic fantasies (Cinderella and romance novels)) create an ownership model of marriage which lead to its ultimate demise.  And yes, it can go both ways.

What would a realistic, open and honest relationship look like.  Of course, each one would be unique.  But, until we have those explorers among us that want to try new things (two husbands?) and we give them the freedom to do so, how much are we also setting the tone in traditional marriage to live by scripts formulated by others?  And in trying to force all marriages to follow the same rules, how difficult are we making for each partner in a marriage to form their own unique, wonderful relationship.

Let's learn to send the message, "you two sit down and construct a marriage that is right for the two of you (or three of you)".

Energy Independence and Jobs for All Americans by Wileyfoxes

I've been an engineer now for 44 years, working in American industry for 46 years and an American for 66 years.  Never have I seen so much potential in this country as exists right now, and never have I been so fearful that this potential won't be realized.  We are in the middle of an energy revolution right now and we are completely unaware of how much good it could do for this country if we are brave enough to act boldly.  Simultaneously, we are also in the middle of the wealth inequality climbing to new heights in this country and much of the world.  Changes in our fundamental structure are required to realize the potential of the energy revolution and put Americans back into meaningful employment, and yet, our Congress and other leaders are too wrapped up in getting re-elected and bashing the other side to help us realize what is there for the taking.

Fracking is producing so much natural gas that much of it is being flared.  It is more profitable to go after the oil produced by fracking than to invest in the infrastructure that it would be required to deliver the natural gas where it is needed.  It is probably smart business to do this, but is it good for America in the long haul?  I would argue no.  Cheap energy, natural gas and oil included, is still a finite resource that belongs not only to us but to our children.  Squandering their future to maximize the profits of the oil companies is not being a good steward for future generations.  And, I suspect in our rush to maximize profits, all the players are not doing fracking safely - but although important, it is not the subject of this blog.  We can bash the oil companies, but they are playing by the rules of the game that we have set up.  It is up to us to change the rules.

To change the world, bold thinking is required.  Small tweaks to the current system will do little to alter our future which increasingly looks like a world filled with the haves and the have nots.  Energy is at the core of our prosperity and the distribution of the wealth that is coming and will come from energy is fundamental to whether or not we can alter the downward spirals associated with growing wealth inequality in the world.  

Also, let me remind you that our current income tax system is so complicated that perhaps hundreds of billions of dollars are squandered each year in figuring out the code and avoiding taxes - which is quite doable for the rich who can hire lawyers to exploit the complexity of our tax code.  No one in their right mind thinks it is a positive force in America, it is simply a disaster.

So, how do we make energy use more efficient, distribute the wealth in the country more fairly (i.e., jobs for all that want to work), and get rid of the current income tax system in one bold stroke.  Replace the income tax with a carbon tax.  Not overnight, but phase it in over about ten years.  In this system, corporations and people are taxed on the same system, how much CO2 (carbon dioxide) they put into the environment, i.e., they are taxed on their carbon dioxide footprint.

The carbon tax can be revenue neutral with regard to the revenue stream that it replaces, i.e., all income taxes in America, business and personal.  But, unlike income taxes which distort the common sense use of resources, an energy tax will have the single effect of promoting the efficient use of energy, the lifeblood of our future and our children's future for millenniums.

Such a fundamental change in the way we generate public funds and how we reward efficient use of energy will result in trillions of dollars of investment as companies rush to profit from this new paradigm.  It will take the trillions sitting in company coffers and give companies a reason to be first in the new world that will be created.  There will be rewards for more efficient cars, homes, factories, industries, etc.  Renewable resources like wind and solar will be more profitable because suddenly we are taking the long view of our non-renewable energy supplies and remembering who they belongs to.   Recycling will be encouraged as the large amount of energy that it takes to strip the ground open for virgin minerals, crude oil, etc. becomes more expensive compared to reusing and recycling what we have already stripped from the ground.  Millions of workers, many of them knowledge workers, will be required to make such a big dream happen.

And yet, this approach does not have to stop the boom that can be realized from abundant natural gas. The only change, we will not so recklessly do activities that do not have longer term benefits ... we will use the energy more efficiently, more wisely.   The Energy Industry will scream that we will be uncompetitive with the world that continues to squander the non-renewable resources.  There is too answers to this fear: the first is, that we are America and we lead, we don't follow.  The second is, that if this is phased in over ten years it gives our Industry and people time to adapt to the new rules and it gives the good people all over the world a chance to join forces with us and move toward a more sane future.

What chance do I see in this happening  with our current Democratic and Republican leadership.  None, zero, no chance in hell.  It will take a third party, perhaps the Free and Equal Party headed currently by Gary Johnson to spearhead it.  Or perhaps, an uprising of Americans that realize how important it is to change the game if we want a future for our children.  Of course, a lot of discourse has to go into how the revenues collected from an energy tax are best to be used, but we need that discussion even with the current system that is spiraling downward as Congress bickers.

For the moment, if you want to dream the BIG ENERGY DREAM with me, share this with your friends. If you don't think it is important, do nothing, or even better share with me your DREAM of changing the game.  But, please don't tell me you believe in business as usual.

 

Affirmative Action

Affirmative Action has been in the news a lot lately. Some states are continuing the practice, some are not.  I understood the historical need for giving negros some extra help considering how much they were abused.  Perhaps only native Americans have more abuse in their history to embrace.

But, doesn't basing Affirmative Action on race at all, miss the point completely.  The point of the assistance should be to help those that are capable but do not have the means to go to college or get a job without some help.  For example,  providing child care to a single mom to enable her to get an education or job training would be a type of affirmative action.  Does the mom's race even matter? Yes, I know that we define affirmative action more narrowly than this example, but I don't know why.

Considering the growing wealth inequality in this country and the growing student debt of a trillion dollars pulling down our economy, not to mention the students, perhaps a hundred million Americans could use affirmative action. Affirmative action is like a family arguing on who gets the last coke in the refrigerator when their house is burning down. And guess what, the only reason there is a coke in the refrigerator is because we borrowed it from our Chinese neighbors.

Our form of Capitalism is no longer working for 9 out of 10 Americans. One third are unemployed or under employed,  the next generation is broken before they get out of school to find few jobs that justify the debt,  while American corporation profits are at a thirty year high and worker income is at a twenty year low. Our democracy works for the Oligarchs while the will of the people is incresingly irrelevant and even consider irreverent.  Our news casts are filled with illusions that are effective in brainwashing the 40% of Americans that either can't or don't read much any more.  The balance are either too stressed out to notice the ship is sinking or in prison and going down with the ship.  Yes, its an exaggeration,  but painfully close to reality. 

Who is helped most by affirmative action: white women.  Who are hurt the most, Asian and Asian Males.  Asians typically enroll in college at much higher percentages than their percentage in the population.  One third of Latinos don't graduate high school so the war is lost before college is ever an issue.   What ever happened to the idea of public college education, that anyone who was capable of getting a college education should have a chance to go?  If we have given up on that dream, what else is worth fighting for?  Isn't public education an essential part of the American Dream?  Who the xxxx cares about affirmative action, let's remember the American Dream before it is too late. 

So, who wants to argue about who gets the last coke?

My Country: Punish the Poor Immigrant, Welcome the Rich Immigrant.

Have you ever been in the situation of driving a very sick or injured friend or family member to a hospital with a life threatening injury or illness?  I'm guessing speed limits and stop signs suddenly had a lower priority.  Not that you wanted to drive so carelessly that you hurt yourself, others or even the person being rescued, but if you could just slow down and safely get through an intersection with a stop sign, that was good enough.  Screw the rules when something more important is at stake.

That's how I see immigration policy.  First, its just chance which side of the Rio Grande you were born on.  I am no better a person than someone born on the other side either.  I do not deserve a better life, I am not smarter, better, or more entitled than someone born on the other side.  Second, if they wake up everyday and look at their hungry and perhaps shoeless children and feel no hope for changing their plight, I identify with their urge to look for hope -- even if they run a few stop signs or cross a river to take the best chance they have in changing their world and the world their children live in.

Its sad, but many Mexicans have decided that getting $2 or $3 an hour in America working 14 hours a day in the back of Pat's Pizza washing dishes or making pizzas is the best shot they have in beating the cards stacked against them.  I grew up in El Paso and I have known many of the 11 million Mexicans that now live in this country, half of them illegal.  As a group, I found them hard working, family oriented and fighting hard to enjoy the American Dream.   Yea, they are not perfect, they are just people, just like you and me running a few stop signs now and then.

Since Obama has been in office, we have deported 2 million illegals back home.  There was supposed to be an effort to deport only those that committed a serious crime.  Of course, being deported before was considered a serious crime.  Oops.  Lots of Mexicans have tried multiple times to enter this country to find the American Dream, hence committing a serious crime by this directive.  Yep, they ran through multiple stop signs on the way to American Dream.

Have you heard of EB-1 Visas.  They are issued to immigrants with special skills, like super programmer guys or similar.  Google et al would like to hire more of the million or so foreigners that are educated in our colleges each year.  But, nope Congress is not going to let that happen.  We don't want to have all those smart kids making America a better place.  Makes you wonder what the average IQ is of a congressman.

Have you heard of EB-5 Visas.  It's for rich people.  Anyone that invests $0.5 million in an American business that creates 10 jobs for two years can come to America.  Then you can become a citizen. That's right, you can buy citizenship.  Guess who takes advantage of EB-5's.  The rich upper class from China.  The business doesn't have to be profitable or sustainable, in short, it doesn't have to be a real business.  This Visa gives the rich class in China the ability to hedge their bets, if things go poorly in China, if China becomes a Mexico with its drug wars or similar, the rich who are creating a country that has wealth inequality equal with the U.S., can leave.

So, let's judge our country's morals by our actions.  A poor man seeking a better life in America is deported and will be punished by most of the immigration reforms proposed by Republicans, but rich Chinese that are profiting from being part of the elite in a very corrupt system are welcomed.   We point to the stop signs the poor man has run through in trying to help his family and ignore the way the rich man got his wealth. What does that say about our country?  $$$$ = Right.

Parenting 1958

Parenting 1958—Robert OdleDocs.com

We are sending aid to Russia. REALLY?

Okay, we are going to give Ukraine a billion dollars of support, loans I suspect.  But, its like loaning my brother some money - we are never going to see that money again.  Of course, Russia raised the price of natural gas to Ukraine by 80%. And Ukraine already owes Russia a couple of billion.  Of course, others are putting together aid packages.  Germany offered to send them natural gas, but not too much since a third of their supply comes from Russia.

So in effect, we are sending our money to Russia via Ukraine.  So, how is that supposed to punish Russia?  It's very unclear how we can do anything.  How disturbing is that to our national psychic?  We are the country that put a man on the moon, won World War II (almost buy ourselves if you ignore Russia's victory over Germany inside of Russia), won in Korea, backed off Russia in Cuba, didn't lose in Vietnam, wasted time and resources in three wars in the Middle East, etc.  For a few more years we still have the biggest economy in the world that at least keeps 65% of its work force employed and we are used to being top dog.  Of course, are we a top dog with a fatal weakness.

Of course, we still have the most powerful military in the world.  But, everyone has learned that our fatal flaw is that we do not take territory and we have a short attention span.  A group like the Taliban can defeat us by simply retreating before our superior force, fighting just enough to recruit the disenfranchised and religious zealots in the world to fight against the evil hedons from America, and then just wait until we leave.  We have no answer against them, time is simply on their side.  We are unable or unwilling to go after them where they live, which at the moment is Pakistan.  Like the Koreans and Vietnamese, they have learned that they just have to retreat across a safe-line in the sand.
When they need to lick their wounds, they retreat across the line.  When they want to fight, they come across it.  It is an untenable position that we take as Americans, but luckily, we have no memory of history and refuse to recognize our fatal flaw.

So, when will the reality sink in.  We can do nothing for Ukraine unless we are willing to have a major conflict with Russia ... where we hope neither side pulls out their nuclear weapons.  As a country, we are not willing to loss large numbers of people in a war.  Casualties in recent wars total in a year the number of soldiers we used to lose in a week in Vietnam, a day in the civil war.  We simply have no stomach for it.

We have fatal flaws.  We can not win against an opponent like the Taliban given our restraints on ourselves and our lack of a stomach for our own deaths.  And yet, we continue to pound our chests and act indignant to Russia.  We ignore the fact that our impact disappears before our last soldier leaves the shore.  It is lucky we have a short memory as we squander our resources on our latest venture.  And even luckier for us, we are so impotent in the current crisis that we are unlikely to find a way to spend large sums of money like we did in the Middle East wars (trillions).

Who Do You Trust More? Our Government? The Rich?

We have loads of challenges in this country including:

• Unemployment / low utilization of our work force
• Declining performance of our students, especially in math and science,
• An ancient immigration policy,
• Super pacs and lobbyists running our government,
• Government spending out of hand, see immediately above,
• A idiotic War on Drugs program,
• Discrimination against those that are different (not the majority)
• Wealth Inequality 

It is hard to find the silver lining in any of these challenges.  But, let's look at the last issue, "Wealth Inequality".   All bad.  Not really.  Look at this Ted Talk on the Gates Foundation. 

The two big contributors are Bill Gates and Warren Buffet, two of the richest people in the world.  It is Bill and Melinda Gates goal to give away 95% of their wealth.  Warren Buffet has already given away 80% of his wealth to the Gates Foundation and with intentions of giving away more.  Warren said he trusts Bill and Melinda to manage the money as good or better than he could manage it.

The Gates Foundation is attacking world health and poverty, polio, education, and dozens of other problems.  Its spending on world health is the same order of magnitude as the United Nations.  It attacks issues like contraception (despite Melinda being a Catholic) that governments can not seem to act on because of religious politics. They try innovative education approaches since they are not bound by the assembly line approach to education that is the status quo in America.  

Do you know what Project Loon is?

Larry Page the owner of Google  has incredible aspirations to help the world.  Their goal is to make information available to everyone in the world.  Simple things like helping the farmer in arid Africa to predict the weather and know when to plant his crop each year or how to deal with an infestation of bugs.  Information that we take for granted.  Information that is reshaping the world.   He wants to bring the Internet to the entire world, see the incredible Lune Project.  He wants to put balloons in lower space orbiting the planet to beam down the internet to the entire world.  Yep, billions of dollars out of  Google's pockets; and yes he is serious.

And, look at Harry Stein, looking to double the output of corn per acre to help feed the world and reduce world hunger (plus make himself some money).  Look at George Mitchell philanthropist and the inventor of fracking.  Fracking will have more impact on job creation in America than all the government programs across this national put together.  How? Low cost natural gas is making America the place to start new industrial plants with good jobs and salaries requiring lots of supporting economic activity (separate blog coming soon).  Compare that to Europe that doesn't allow fracking for the most part and see how that has lead to economic bondage to Russia. 

And, of course, we need to mention Moore's Law, Apple, Google and the techies that are revolutionizing communications with the cell phone, tablets, and devices yet to be imagined.

The list goes on and on. So who got the ball moving.  Quoting from Gates Foundation:

  Gates is famous for asking other billionaires to commit to giving away half their fortunes, reportedly inspired by Melinda’s reading The Power of Half by Kevin Salwen and his 14-year old daughter Hannah in 2010, about selling their home, giving half the proceeds to charity, and buying one half the size for their family.  Bill and Melinda have committed to giving 95% of their fortune to charity over time; that is an astounding measure of generosity.

Now lets look at Lawrence Lessig pushing for Campaign Finance Reform via walks across America.    I don't know if he can pull it off, but Congress alone is not going to tackle this problem, they are too caught up with their number one job, raising money to get elected. 

It is not our inherently corrupt government that is effectively addressing our problems as a nation. Surprisingly, a lot of the problems are being attacked by the richest among us ... those that are the benefactors of the wealth inequality that exists in this country.  The Gates hope to persuade many rich people to give half of their wealth back to society to make a difference.  Warren Buffett was the first convert.  Hopefully more will follow, all starting from the example of Kevin Salwen and his 14 year-old daughter Hannah.

So, could historians look back and say this was the decade the U.S. government became completely ineffective and the rich people took over, mostly for good?

Malaysian Airline: Is the FAA Stupid? Is it Senile??

A flight recorder, the big black box, is in place so when something goes wrong on a plane, we have some data to analyze and figure out what happened.  It's not just to have more accurate history but to make improvements that reduce the chance of another crash, hijacking, etc.

Okay, listen FAA (Federal Aviation Administration & the equivalent from other countries).  Pilots sometimes are part of the problem.  Why would you give them access to the flight recorders and the ability to turn them off.  That is just plain, unabashedly STUPID.

Second, why would you only record data to a box that may end up five miles deep at the bottom of the ocean.  Have you heard of the Internet?  Apparently FAA is not too smart, but couldn't they hire someone to set up a system to broadcast a signal from the plane to the Internet.  I'm not any smarter than the FAA in this matter, but I would bet Google could figure it out, after all some planes have in-flight Internet so it can't be all that complicated.

And third, does anyone really believe that turning on a cell phone jeopardizes the safety of the plane. How stupid do you think we are? If its true don't tell the terrorists. Really?  How many phone calls could have been made clandestinely and otherwise by the passengers on the Malaysian airliner if it was routine to use cell phones on a plane?  If it was normal to use a phone on the plane, do you think someone would have noticed when all the calls stopped.  How about all those text messages and Twitters that would have stopped coming out of the plane.  Or how many could have gotten through to tell us what was going on? Why don't we set up the Internet on the plane and only allow it to be disabled with the consent of the control tower and the pilot?

Reviewing.  The FAA is stupid.  Flight recorders should not be able to be shut down by the pilot. Automatic on, automatic off, pilot not required. When the FAA gets this message we will move on to lesson two.  We will go slow and work with the FAA.

Do We Believe in Democracy?

Crimea's referendum, even if not conducted perfectly, probably represents the majority since 95% of those that turned out, voted to become part of Russia.   The world, including the U.S., has completely denounced the referendum saying it was illegal.  Russia and Crimea, of course, disagree.  It's funny how we don't care what the will of the people is when it disagrees with what we want ... we being our politicians.  The American people, I am quite sure, don't give a damn.

So, let's face it, the people of Crimea for the most part want to be part of Russia.  Should they be supported in making such a decision over their own lives?  I guess not from what I hear. 

So, they are going to put Sanctions on Russia.  Russia is trembling. The U.S. and Europe are talking tough.  Guess what, Russia supplies much of the energy for Europe, natural gas and oil.  So, guess how that is going to go in the end.  My guess, Russia is not going to sweat the small stuff.  The U.S. still has the illusion that we are in charge of the world, but guess what, our clout is not what it used to be. No one gives a shit what we the people want.  Not other countries, not our politicians.  And some countries have even figured out that our government seldom speaks for even the simple majority of us Americans.  Sad.

Crimea's Case for Leaving Ukraine is strong.  Ukraine is a crabby place to live.  It is corrupt, it is run by about 10 “oligarchs”.  It is a place where we there are the "have's" and the "have nots".  Kind of like America and China.  Who would have thought it, China and America with the same income distribution.  Those nasty communists absorbing all the wealth from the poor workers. Not like our great system (was).  And yet in our minds we think we are better.  Sad.

Putin is even getting praise for his stand against gays from our Tea Party.  That says so much I don't even know where to start.  Putin believes he is right, everyone else is wrong. No negotiations, no compromise.  The Tea Party thinks like Putin, no?  Sad.

So, why can Putin do what he wants.  Like a drug dealer, he controls the Candy.  He can get the young ladies to sell their bodies to get just one more taste of Candy.  The Candy of course is energy, natural gas and oil.  Europe, like America, is addicted.  We just have different dealers.  Europe's pimp is Putin. 

It is so sad that we can't see ourselves through the eyes of Putin.  We are like an old prostitute that no one even notices anymore standing there on her corner.