Doubling Life Span

07 Thursday Jul 2022

Posted by in REtirement

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            An episode of CBS’s “Sunday Morning” said science has determined humans can live up to 120 to 150 years of age. I am half that upper limit and I believe of sound mind but as with most people, of failing physical health. As with many people, all of those injuries from prior years has come back to haunt me. Almost all the men in my age group that I know have similar problems.

            A medical article I read a few decades ago said our bodies are still built to get around like apes as we age. I don’t know if it’s correct but our structural problems are feet, ankles, knees, hips, and lower backs. None of my friends can imagine what their physical capabilities would be in another five or six decades with massive replacement operations.

            Physical health aside, the country’s financial condition means retirement age would have to be over a hundred. Few of my friends have financial resources to survive after their working life is over. Who wants a 90 year old teacher, or an 80 year old laborer, carpenter, plumber, or electrician climbing around a building?

            Of course the most obvious problem is the world’s population and resources to support that increasing population. We are already projecting a doubling of the population shortly after starting the next century. That projection comes from the 1960s and its benchmarks for each decade have been on target. Doubling life span would be disastrous to the planet and everything living on it.

Pausing Carbon Emissions Targets

01 Friday Jul 2022

Posted by in Climate Change

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            A couple of decades ago the world made stringent targets on cutting carbon emissions. The World’s energy production and usage was basically calm and predictable. In the United States a new nuclear plant was being built while a few were in the planning stage of being retired. Coal plants were being scrapped and replaced by natural gas fired ones. The automotive industry was starting to design electric vehicles and reducing emissions on their gasoline engines. Fossil fuel companies were still saying they were not the problem because climate change didn’t exist but had started planning a new future for the companies.

            Now conditions have changed greatly. Now the Russian-Ukrainian War and the pandemic rebound has caused fossil fuel prices to skyrocket because of shortages. Coal prices have quadrupled because some plants here are not closing while others are being restarted. Instead of planning to reduce natural gas production, we are increasing the number of wells and production not for here but to turn into liquefied natural gas (LPG) to be shipped to other continents. Europe depended on Russia for natural gas and oil but now must find other sources for heat and power. That source appears to be the United States causing the rising prices for Americans. Germany was planning on closing all their nuclear plants but now should reconsider and postpone any retirements.

            In spite of the growing demands to cut emissions to save the world from runaway climate change, geo-political considerations and demands have made reduction of carbon emissions in the United States more difficult. Whether this is short term or decades long are unknown.

Social Media as a Weapon

01 Friday Jul 2022

Posted by in Social Media

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            One of the greatest and most powerful weapons our enemies have to use against Americans is our gullibility to believe what we read on social media. Russia, China, and North Korea are the three most adept at creating dissension through the spreading of conspiracies they created.

            The fourth enemy is the greed of some Americans like Alex Jones to piggyback on the conspiracies of foreign groups to advance themselves. Fox and several podcasts help to advance the division by using those created conspiracies to increase viewership for their private and corporate sponsors.

            Putin thought his efforts with Trump, the GOP, his agents, the broadcast media like Fox, and social media had weakened our connection with NATO and other alliances to allow him to invade Ukraine. With Trump’s divisive tactics gone and Biden’s resumption of leadership of the Free World, Putin found the World united against him.

            Every divisive comment made here gets replayed in Russia and China. Many of those divisive comments are made by a former President who had secret meetings with Putin, his representatives, and Russian billionaires. Millions of Americans have been duped into believing his comments are for them and not just to boost his ego at America’s expense.

            Authoritarianism destroys Democracy. Many countries are finding Democracy has slipped away. Many states are governed by people using social, broadcast, and cable news to take their citizen’s Democratic rights away, one at a time.

Lesser of Two Evils

01 Friday Jul 2022

Posted by in Elections

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            The political and elective system in the United States is a mixture of ignorance, stupidity, graft, money, guile, and personal attacks on opponents. We have two main parties with several small parties.

            The primary is not one election for that party’s supporters to vote for but one designed to tear down opponents in that party. A few states have open primaries so a voter can pick the best person in either party. Illinois has seven people running for a chance to unseat the current Democratic Governor. One is supported by a multimillionaire who has given him tens of millions in the hopes his puppet can defeat Pritzker who he hates. Another is supported by another but less rich billionaire. Another is a millionaire himself. The rest depend on others to donate to their campaign.

            All are trying to influence people to vote for them by ripping apart their opponents. Sometimes the damage is done by their own words now or from the past since social media and videos never seem to die.

            If I was going to vote for one of them I would like for him to actually say how he would do what he promises. One promise is to lower my Real Estate Tax but the state gets none to give away. Since the majority of the tax goes for schools, almost all the rest pays for needed services. Most of the other promises are for things that only a dictator could do.

            There’s an old adage about picking the lesser of two evils and perhaps that is how primaries have devolved. The more they beat each other up, the less chance they will have in the general election.

RINOS

25 Saturday Jun 2022

Posted by in Insurrection Jan 6, 2021, President Trump

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            I hope all those so called “Republicans” who condemned U.S. Representative Adam Kinzinger have seen how elected officials of any political party should act.

            They should be so ashamed of themselves and their lack of ethics and morals that they resign any political elected or appointed office or position. The blight should follow them for the rest of their lives. Their progeny should wonder if such morals and lack of intelligence are genetic.

            When these so called “Republicans” supported an acknowledged egoist and liar over an honorable man like Adam Kinzinger, who I often don’t agree with, is beyond any moral bounds. Real Americans need to come forward on Election Day and vote these immoral traitors to the Constitution out of office. They swore an oath to the Constitution but their oath to Trump superseded that one. We should be electing honorable people of any party for any office.

Justice Should Resign

19 Sunday Jun 2022

Posted by in Supreme Court

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         Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas should never have been confirmed in the first place. His rulings in lower courts were often overturned so his qualifications should have sunk him from being considered. His molesting Anita Hill should have been a disaster, too. Other women were molested but wouldn’t come forward as Hill courageously did.

            We knew his wife was involved in trying to get Arizona to put out a different set of electors who would support Trump. Now we find out Thomas was working behind the scenes to get the United States Supreme Court to take a look at whether Trump’s lies were real and he actually won.

            Thomas’ decisions as a justice have been questioned on several rulings. The decisions seemed to be more political than constitutional. It’s time for him to resign before he destroys the reputation of the United States Supreme Court even more than he already has.  Justices are supposed to be apolitical. His wife is definitely not, nor is he.

Primary Change

19 Sunday Jun 2022

Posted by in Supreme Court

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            Millions of Americans think it is time for the United States to have sensible Primary elections. These elections would be restricted to certain uniform rules. Campaigning could only be done forty-five days prior to the primary election. No PAC or individual could help prior to the forty-five days.  This would reduce costs

            Primaries would be conducted ninety days before the general election further reducing expenses. No campaign money can be accepted outside those two periods meaning those people who are already elected can spend their time doing what they were elected to do instead of working the phones and going to campaign events.

            The one major change in most states would be what a few have already done. They have an open primary which means the voter gets a ballot with all the parties on it and all their nominees. That allows the voter to pick the best person in any party. Then the two with the most votes for their parties are on the general election ballet.

            Today some primaries and general elections can take up to a year and cost millions for many state and federal elections. Some governor, senator, and representative elections might cost tens of millions. These changes would save billions in each election cycle.

Pipelines Wanted

15 Wednesday Jun 2022

Posted by in Pipe Line Permit

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            In an effort to be transparent I admit owning shares in the oil and gas producing and transporting companies as well as solar, wind, and charging station companies. I watched the CEO of EQT saying how we only need new pipelines to reduce the consumer prices, give us security and still supply all our allies.

            The CEO blamed the government and the judicial system for keeping more pipelines from being built. He didn’t mention that people don’t want a pipeline going through their properties whether it is farmland, lightly populated or residential area. We know pipelines are not going to go through wealthy neighborhoods like the EQT CEOs.

            Gas pipelines explode, setting area homes on fire, and killing people. Oil pipelines ruin the earth and groundwater. My home sits on less than fifty foot of sand and gravel so any spillage of oil from a six foot deep pipeline would contaminate the ground water for hundreds of homes. The path for the Keystone would go through sand and gravel hundreds of feet thick. Water is scarce so the ground water is necessary for people and animals to drink and to irritate farmland. A leak could destroy hundreds of square miles of the aquifer forever.

            I worked in the oilfield as a teenager and we occasionally had small leaks on the three inch low pressure lines. Some of the places where we had leaks are still having trouble growing weeds much less crops. Imagine a thirty inch pipe with a thousand pound pressure spewing oil into an aquifer for a few hours or days.

            So before we criticize others for preventing a pipeline from going through their property, imagine it your property and the danger and damage that would come to your property and to your family.

Didn’t Watch the Truth

15 Wednesday Jun 2022

Posted by in Insurrection Jan 6, 2021, President Trump

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            I had hoped the first January 6 Committee’s report would be influential in getting people to understand how they have been duped by Trump and his sycophants. Only about 20 million watched on TV. How many more watched on social media or some later method is unknown. One estimate was another 10 for a total of maybe 30 million.

            Fox news didn’t cover it live or even play it all. Fox and other right wing media continued their idol worship of Trump and his lies about the election and his involvement in the insurrection.

            I am afraid if only 30 million saw it and the next six telecasts, are they only showing the evidence to those who already know what happened and who caused it? The similarity between Trump and Nixon is amazing and their crimes are much the same. Both had massive egos requiring them to have second terms. Both considered using the military to stay in power. Both tried to cover up their involvement.

            A fifth of the population watched the Watergate hearings while only nine percent may have watched hearings involving events much more dangerous to the American Democracy. The Republican Party supported Nixon for a while and then abandoned him. Maybe more Republicans will stop kowtowing to Trump and drop him. When 60 million start watching it is all over for Trump.

Broken Democracy

15 Wednesday Jun 2022

Posted by in Democracy

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            Chuck Todd on NBC’s Meet the Press June 12 episode presented some astonishing poll results. The respondents answered questions this way: Do they trust government? In October 2001 60% said yes but today 20% said yes! In 2001 52% of Democrats said yes with 68 % of Republicans. Today it is 19% and 9%. Do those who run do so to serve their community? Overall 21% said yes, 19% of Democrats and 24% of Republicans. When asked if people run to serve their own interests, 65% said yes, Democrats 66%, and Republican 63%.

            Todd did not present the same questions prior to 2016 but I remember polls gave much higher numbers. Millions of Americans have been bombarded by one lie after another by Trump and repeated, enhanced, and more lies originated by Fox and podcasts. The purpose on Fox is to be divisive as Roger Ailes intended when he founded the network. Today we have millions of Americans who watch only divisive media. Some of the left wing media like MSNBC and podcasts aren’t as divisive but still radiate an agenda.

            How can we bring honest moderate people back into office with the trust so law? Do we have a broken democracy that can’t be fixed? Do dictators around the world say their authoritarian control is the best choice when Americans can’t trust their government?