Yes, Yesterday Was Earth Day

  I just realized that yesterday was, in fact,  Unesco Earthday.  First not really very celebrated in the U.S. in 1970,  Earthday is intended to show support for the Earth's environment, something that should be at the top of everyone's list.  I wonder how Flat-Earthers celebrate it?
  California is suffering a major drought (I may be from Florida, but I can't really feel good about that). Catastrophic pollution has resulted from the Tsunami that hit Japan, the BP disaster in the Gulf is 5 years old.  Yes, there is progress in developing alternative power sources,  and some nations have made attempts to protect forests.  We still have an exploding world population, and hate-mongers still spread ethnic warfare.
  Happy Birthday, World. 

Oklahoma City to Sandy Hook: When Will the Terror End?

   Today (April 19th)  marks the twentieth anniversary of one of the low points in American history, the Oklahoma City bombing.  This horrible act was the action of a gun rights  advocate, Timothy McVeigh, partly to protest the mishandling of the David Koresh/ waco incident, and partly to assert his right to sell explosive materials to anyone who wanted them.

   At the same time, musician Tim McGraw, a gun-owner, is being criticized by gun-rights fanatics for agreeing to perform at a fund-raiser for the Sandy Hook community. Like Mr.McGraw, I am a gun owner who believes that gun ownership comes with responsibility, and I believe that reasonable gun ownership regulations are not only Constitutional, but one of the reasons we, the people, form a government is to legislate the regulations needed for a "well regulated militia".

   I am sure that there will always be people who take advantage of the freedoms that are part of a free society,   but we do not need more Oklahoma City bombings, Sandy-Hook massacres, or more Wacos or wounded knees.

Boko Haram Kidnappings, A Year Later

It has been a year since the kidnapping of almost 300 girls from a school in Nigeria by the terrorist group Boko Haram. Boko Haram is a terror group acting in the name of Islam, advocating an extremist perversion of Islam, with a particular hate for education, especially of girls (or women). Nobel Peace Prize  laureate Malala Yousfazai has posted a message to the missing girls, adding her voice to those reminding the world of this abominable act. I would like to say that I think that this young woman is a great inspiration.  With great respect  I say I think I'm in love (in a human sense) with this young lady.  I hope that she continues to be an inspiration for us all.

 This group reminds of us the ancient tradition of slavery in Africa.  (Other radical Islamicist groups in the Middle East, especially ISIS, have also practiced enslavement, but seem to prefer murder).  Many families in Africa sell off their eldest children to provide for the rest of the family, but this type of  enslavement is the worst type of slavery.  The practice of families selling their children usually involves some degree of care and often is seen as an opportunity for the slave to find a better life than the abject poverty from which they come.  Indeed, there are Christian groups who seek to buy these children, educate them, and allow them to actually earn money to send to their families (they are freed, but given the opportunity to earn their freedom so as to free their minds from the concept of slavery).
 Some other groups simply buy and liberate slaves, especially since there has been a explosion of legal slavery used as a way to suppress some groups in some parts of Africa. 

Patriotic Gyrocopter Pilot Risks Life to Make Point, Makes Two

A little before 2 P.M. on Wednesday , April 15 2015 a gyrocopter piloted by Doug Hughes. managed to land on the West lawn of the U.S. Capitol.  Doug ( a "mailman") was attempting to deliver letters to every member of Congress advocating reform to counter the horrendous, un-American Citizens United ruling by the Supreme Court.

The "Founding Fathers" of our Nation clearly disliked and distrusted corporations. and severely restricted issuance  of corporate charters, and usually required that they be for limited periods.  After all, one of the primary causes of the revolution was the taxes imposed to protect the profits of the East India  Company, a corporation which traded tea and opium, among other things.  The opium trade was primarily to addicts in China, so that they would be able to buy Chinese goods without the use of silver.   The British were afraid of spending all their silver for Chinese goods, and China did not particularly want British manufactured goods. British goods could be sold in India, where Opium was being grown for the East India company.

In addition to bringing attention to the Citizens United  ruling, which begs for a Constitutional Amendment to make clear that Corporations are NOT persons and should have only those rights and powers granted to them in their corporate charters (and those rights should be restricted), Doug also brought to everyone's attention the fact that he was able to fly undetected into what is supposed to be one of the most restricted airspaces in the world.  Doug had been publicly stating his intentions, and had even been questioned several times by the Secret Service concerning his plans over the last few years.

If Doug achieves nothing else, his actions will probably result in improved security for the DC airspace.  It is unlikely that any actions to counter the Citizens United ruling will occur with the current make-up of Congress.  If the 2016 elections return Congress to Democratic control under a Democratic President, we may see some action.  It will probably take a popular movement to amend the Constitution .

In doing my research for this article I looked at the history of the "Tea Party" group. The forbears of the group date back to 1984 (an ominous date) when the Koch Brothers started a group called Citizens for a Sound Economy . This group soon began receiving substantial funding from the Tobacco industry,  has had a major agenda of defeating any attempts to regulate the tobacco industry, and has tried to defeat and health agenda relating to the dangers of tobacco.  The anti-public health care agenda stems from the fear of the tobacco industry that "Obamacare" (or any other universal health-care program) would seek to reduce the profits of the tobacco industry).

It is disgusting that the "Tea Party" (which I prefer to call the "Me Party")  so disgraces the memory of the Patriots who fought the greed of the East India Company by being a front for some of the worst offenders of corporate misfeasance in modern times.  Seeing this part of the history of the "Tea Party" has finally given me a better understanding of why this group seeks to prevent tens of millions of Americans from being able to access health care, and why these people continue to refuse to accept the overwhelming evidence for the anthropogenic nature of global warming. What is also shocking to me is that the Tea Party advocates for restricting voter rights to property owners, a policy that even most Southern racist groups had rejected well over 100 years ago.

The anti-global warming beliefs of the "Tea Party" are part of a general anti-science agenda of this group.  What is pathetic is that they somehow link their denier stance to their so-called "fundamentalist" Christian views.   Besides the fact that people who call their-selves "fundamentalist Christians" are anything but fundamentalist ("Christ Crucified" is the fundamental concept of Christianity). the Bible clearly predicts heat to be the cause of the next episode of mass destruction of the world. Of course, many of these people are nihilists, hoping for the end of human life on this world.

White Trash Politics

I have been having trouble getting back to my writing after the death of my son and the pains of my physical injuries resulting from my bicycle accident compounded by the SS tactics of some local deputies while my other son was having medical problems.  I promise to get the article about SS tactics here in America done soon, as well as an article about Daniel (the son who passed away. )

I have been able to do some commenting on-line about news stuff, and one of the topics I commented on just demands some blog comment.  There has been much coverage on the topic of police treatment of African Americans (and other Americans with dark skin).  I was just commenting about the Lt. Governor of Missouri and his comments about the President and the Attorney General.  I was brought up in the South.  I started off by commenting on how Missouri is an embarrassment.to the South. While thinking about the issue, I  recalled how I had been brought up to associate certain racial attitudes with "white trash".   In the more "genteel" parts of the South white slave-holders were raised with the concept of the "white man's burden" and were taught that slave-holders were responsible for the welfare of their charges.  They were obligated to protect their slaves, and to help "civilize" them.  Generally,  they continued to protect the freed slaves and advocate for their education.  Confederate General Bedford Forrest was a leading advocate for black voter's rights and employment (the original KKK he founded was racially integrated and protected southern Black women who were being raped by Northern troops.  He also disbanded the Klan when it became racist).

In the 1960s I was taught that the dreaded "N word" was used by white trash, not white people of good breeding.Yes, the concepts I have been describing are associated with a Patriarchal set of concepts that have their own racist slant. I do not apologize, however, for being appalled by the way that the Ferguson police reacted to the protests in Ferguson.  I do not know the exact details of the incident that gave rise to the initial protests, but it does not take a genius to know that a city with a 67% black population and less than 10% black representation on the police force has a racist police department.  I am a white man from the South and have had a lifetime witnessing police mistreatment of "colored" citizens. I have no trouble understanding that some communities have problems resulting from long standing poverty and economic exploitation.  I also understand that the origins of slavery in America may well have resulted in a disproportionate number of "black" people with violent tendencies.  But the fact is that any individual person must be treated with a certain minimum level of respect. When a person is taken to the ground with a death-hold  because he was selling loose cigarettes and dies as a result, something is wrong.  The rear choke-hold take down is barred in New York for a reason.  When a 12 year old boy is shot and killed for playing with a toy gun in what is clearly a play-ground, something is wrong.  It is time to call a spade a spade.  And it is time to call white-trash politics white-trash politics.

I doubt that racial prejudice will end anytime soon.  The problem is not so much that prejudice exists.  The problem is how we handle it.Of course, we need to respect the fact that there are always differences of opinion.  I am sure that not everyone who disagrees with the president or the Attorney General does so because of racial prejudice.  But there can be no doubt that frequently that is the basis .  And not all white people who have racist views are white trash.  But that is frequently the case. 

Republicans Fight to Keep Vast Pool of Undocumented Labor

   While I am working on my post about the growing danger of unbridled police power, I just want to make a quick comment about the fight by Republicans to ensure the availability of millions of undocumented laborers to work off the book, below minimum wages, and with no benefits such as health care.  President Reagan began a serious assault on American labor, with the intent of destroying labor unions. Under the Bushes this continued, with one tool being allowing millions of undocumented aliens to come to America to work with no benefits.  The sole reason for opposing immigration reform is to ensure that mostly Republican businessmen (especially farmers) will have millions of laborers willing to work for low wages with no benefits. There is no possible argument to explain why millions of illegal immigrants would come to America if they weren't able to find work.  One way to limit the use of illegal, undocumented laborers is the use of Union labor.  Bear in mind that the experience of industry is that Union labor is actually cheaper, even with higher wages and benefits. 

Jordan, Egypt Respond to ISIL

A while back I wrote a post about Jihadi Jim tugging on Superman's cape.  ISIL has invoked the ire of both Jordan and Egypt. Muslim countries have responded to the terror of this group by vowing to annihilate ISIL. More and more Muslims are beginning to see the horrors being done by fanatics. I hope that this type of hate can be obliterated from our planet. Many religions, including mainstream Christianity (Islam was supposed to be Christian, and was viewed as such until the time of Saladin), have been guilty of horrors in the name of God (a true heresy).

The fools just keep tugging on that cape.