Environmental Activism As Humanitarian Aid,Typhoons And Natural Disasters

     Typhoons, other natural disasters, and landslides resulting from deforestation, will continue to take lives and damage property far in excess of what would have occurred had mangroves, coral reefs, rainforests and other natural barriers not been altered or destroyed. A number of people and organizations raise money for the victims of natural disasters in good faith, ignoring the environmental degradation that makes these natural disasters worse. Unless environmental damage is stopped and reversed, the toll in human life and property will continue to be heavy.

Massive Increases In Military Spending

     Trump gave a speech in which he talked about spending massive amounts of money on the U.S. military. Throwing more money into an already bloated, badly in need of streamlining and reform bureaucracy does not make it more efficient or better. Likewise, throwing more money at police departments does not make them more efficient or better. Money is not always the answer.
     The United States needs an efficient, strong military. This requires wisdom and thought, not furthering the already enormous debt. How will the massive increases in military spending be paid for? By the plan to lower taxes and thereby take in less revenue?
     The republican party continues to be the party of big government. The only difference between democrats and republicans in regards to both being parties of big government are their priorities as to what parts of government need to be bloated.
     Massive military spending will massively increase debt. It will not make the country safe. It does not translate into a better military. It will not translate into the revitalized economy that Trump promised in which millions of well paying jobs are returned to American soil.
      Military spending will not reduce religious fanaticism and violence, including the violence and terror committed by Islamists. It is necessary to think smart, which includes responding to the schools, madrasas and other places where children and people of all ages continue to be indoctrinated into intolerant, hate filled, violent, supremacist interpretations of Islam promoted by oil rich Islamic nations, most of whom are allies of the United States.
      Even if the United States continues to bankrupt itself by its excessive military and other government spending, and even if the United States develops a conventional army a thousand times stronger than anyone else, this is still the nuclear age. Unless mankind is prepared to exterminate itself, the full scale wars of years past are no longer possible. Stopping nuclear proliferation is far more critical for ensuring the safety of Americans and everyone else than a massive military expansion.
       Most people in the United States and developed world will die from from heart disease or cancer. Many cancers, and even heart disease, are either caused by or exacerbated by environmental conditions, including exposure to toxins, air and water pollution and more. Few are willing to tackle the environmental degradation and threats that are destroying lives, wiping out rainforests and more, wiping out species, and that can potentially destroy most life on this planet.
        People do not mind turning the world into an overpopulated sewer. Already the oceans are assaulted daily by enormous contamination by plastics and a huge assortment of poisons and toxins. The environmental war, the war to save this planet, the one major war that should be fought, is the last thing on people's minds.
        After trillions more are spent on militaries, the world will have nothing to show for it except more debt. The world will be a more impoverished, polluted, and contaminated place. Violence and terror will continue unabated.

China; Turning The South China Sea Into A Dead Zone. Scarborough Shoal

     Every shoal, every coral reef, every island, every atoll in the South China Sea that China or any nation destroys in order to build airstrips, military bases, missile launching pads and so forth, means less fish and other marine life. But apparently this does not matter. Some people have decided humans can live without fish and healthy oceans, but humans cannot live without weapons.
     It is not enough that every single day, thousands of tons of plastics, styrofoam and other garbage end up in the Pacific ocean, a completely unaddressed nightmare that is choking the life out of the Pacific. Fukushima, still the source of radiative water pouring into the Pacific, does not help. Adding to the environmental nightmare is China's destruction of coral reefs, atolls, islands and shoals in the South China Sea. Military objectives should never trump the basic human need to eat.
     The Philippines and other nations should respond by all diplomatic and economic means possible. China has considerable energy, mining and other economic projects and interests in the Philippines. It should not continue to be business as usual. If China develops and thereby destroys the Scarborough shoal, many Filipino fishermen and their families will go hungry. Many Chinese, just like Filipinos and the people of other nations that rely on the South China Sea for their food and livelihood, will suffer if the Chinese government continues the foolish pursuit of turning healthy fisheries into military dead zones.
   

Nuclear Weapons And Trump; What Might Be A New Pursuit Of Insanity

     It is reported that Trump wants to build up the United States nuclear weapons capacity, which may end up costing over a trillion dollars. Trump thinks he can negotiate a better nuclear arms deal with Russia than what was negotiated by the previous administration.

     This is not a game. There are more than enough nuclear weapons in the hands of Russia and the United States to destroy human life on this plant many times over. More overkill is not wise negotiating. It does not make the United States stronger. This does not fulfill Trump's promise of creating more jobs and "making America great again". It is nothing but a waste of money, and worse yet, increases the nuclear threat to human existence. It throws us back to the dark days of the Soviet vs American nuclear arms race, in which little children did senseless practice drills in schools by hiding under their desks during nuclear war drills.  There is no such thing as a winnable nuclear war. There is no such thing as being on top or the winner in a nuclear arms race. The radiation from nuclear weapons knows no boundaries. 

Russian Television; Putin's Progressives,Trump's Cheerleaders.Question More

   Russian television prides itself on being progressive and anti-establishment. Their motto, question more, applies to all things Kremlin approved, which means never question Putin or anything their Kremlin masters say not to question. Here are a few questions for the "progressives" at Russian television: Is it progressive to never question how Putin, a politician, the president of a nation with a salary of somewhere between 100,000 to 200,000 dollars a year, became a multibillionaire and perhaps the world's richest man? Is it progressive to never question how many palaces, jewelry, gold, oil, stock, real estate holdings, and overseas accounts a president needs? Is it progressive to never examine how the vast oil wealth and other wealth of Russia is squandered on Putin and his cronies? Is it progressive to never question why this wealth is not used to build schools, hospitals, raise people out of poverty, or protect the environment? Is it progressive to never question the Russian military buildup in preparation for a war that can never take place (or it will mean the end of humanity) with the United States? (The United States also squanders its wealth on its huge, bloated military.) Is it progressive to never question the Russian delegitimizing of western democracies, especially the United States, in an effort to legitimize Putin's corrupt regime? Is it progressive to never question the Russian alliance and military aid to certain Islamic regimes that are known for their repression and expansionist ambitions? Is it progressive to never question anything about Putin, his ill gained wealth, his wars, his expansionist ambitions? Is it progressive to never question why political opponents have been harassed, jailed, and even murdered?
     Russian television made it clear Trump was their preferred presidential candidate. What was it about Trump that the "progressives" at Russian television found so compelling? Even though Russian television is now backtracking on their support for Trump, it is too late. The election is over and they got what they wanted. What was it about Trump that made the Kremlin so eager to see him elected, even going so far as to influence the election?
   The world is in desperate need of good, honest leadership. Great leadership at the head of the United States and Russia would do everything possible to stop nuclear proliferation and decrease the enormous threat nuclear weapons pose to human existence. It would be a blessing to the world if Trump and Putin decrease the threat of war, stop the poisoning, trashing and destruction of this planet, and ensure the world is a more peaceful, less intolerant place. Unfortunately, this is unlikely to happen. Meanwhile, Russian television, rather than being a progressive voice, continues as the Kremlin's propaganda mouthpiece.
 
   

A Major Cause Of War People Ignore

   Millions of people continue to be brainwashed into believing killing and dying in the name of religion is more important than living. Living, including if one suffers, and trying to make the world a better place, takes more guts and courage than killing and dying in the name of religion.

Religious Violence, Not Blasphemy, Is Criminal. Freedom; The Right To Criticize

   When a religion insists it is the only right religion for the entire world, and everyone that does not believe is doomed for hell, then why should that religion be free from criticism? People from a religion that tell other people they are wrong for believing in something different, and then get angry or violent when challenged, have no leg to stand on. No religion should be free from criticism and satire.

   There is a big difference between the people of a religion insisting only they are correct, and the people of a religion insisting that because they are correct, they therefore have the right to dominate, oppress, torment and kill. 

   Our technology evolved, but mankind never evolved. We are right back in the middle ages fighting religious wars, except now there are nuclear weapons and other weapons of mass destruction. The only way to fight back is to not capitulate to the demands of the religious bigots, brainwashed sheep, and tyrants. This means standing behind the principle that criticizing a religion is a basic human right, and is different than discriminating against the people of a religion because of what they believe. Furthermore, when the people of a religion insist only their religion is right, and everyone else is wrong, and that this gives them permission to act violently, than others have an obligation to respond, including by discussion, argument, criticism, and satire. 

   If this is construed to be blasphemy, then so be it. If we allow ourselves to be led down the road by religious fanatics, tyrants, and bigots, then we are no worse than these mindless sheep. The road they insist is the only path to God, Allah or a higher power, is nothing but a road to hell. 

   

Micro Plastic And Garbage. What You Can Do To Protect Oceans And Wildlife

   Micro beads of plastic are used in a wide variety of household items, including many personal care items such as soaps, toothpastes, cosmetics, sunscreens, insect repellent, along with many household cleaning items. They are used because they are cheap for manufacturers, even though they are extremely costly for the world. Micro beads of plastic are not biodegradable, and do not get filtered out by water treatment and filtration plants. These plastic microbeads are already in the lakes and oceans of the world. They are virtually impossible to remove, and are eaten by fish and other marine life, moving their way up the food chain.
    Oceans are under assault from thousands of tons of plastics and styrofoam that enter into them daily. Food manufacturers and others are doing nothing to change how their items are packaged, knowing full well that in many countries, the lack of proper disposal systems guarantees that all these plastics and other oil based wrappers end up in the oceans. Cheap packaging for them is costly to the world.
    Little to nothing is being done to address the plastic contamination and poisoning of the oceans. The big money conservation organizations may have a token program here or there, but true to form, they are good at exploiting a problem for all the free publicity and money a problem may generate, while contributing nothing of substance.
     Stopping the use of micro plastics should be immediate. Polyethylene, polypropylene, and polystyrene are some of the names used in products for micro beads of plastic or beads made from petrochemicals.  Microplastics are unnecessary, and only add to the already huge, and almost completely unaddressed problem of plastics in the oceans. The magnitude of this problem cannot be understated. Daily the oceans are under massive assault from non biodegradable plastic trash and other non biodegradable waste. Kill the oceans and human life will perish.
     Meanwhile, for those concerned about the environment and helping the world rather than engaging in senseless violence, hate, religious wars and so forth....Instead of sending money to one of the useless conservation or animal organizations (many animal organizations have made fortunes exploiting animal cruelty and suffering), consider better alternatives. You can start your own small program anywhere in the world where plastics and other garbage are making their way into the waterways and oceans, and thereby do your own small part to clean up the mess. Hiring local people living in poverty provides employment, raises their awareness about helping the environment and wildlife, and is a concrete way to actually remove trash from the land, waterways and coastlines before it enters into the seas.

Enjoy Triclosan And Micro Plastic With Your Fish

     Studies show that plain soap and water is as effective, or more effective than soaps containing antibacterial agents. Triclosan, one widely used antibacterial agent, ends up contaminating water.  Many municipal water filtration and sewage treatment systems do not filter out triclosan and other antibacterial agents, including antibiotics. Over exposure to antibacterial agents lowers the body's natural ability to resist harmful bacteria. There are reasons super bacteria have emerged that resist treatment. Adding triclosan to the oceans and lakes of the world, on top of all the antibiotics and other medications, pesticides, non biodegradable plastic microbeads in cosmetics and other products (which do not get filtered out by municipal water treatment systems), mercury, dioxins, flame retardants, and other man made poisons, only increases the toxicity of the oceans and the inability of marine life to endure. The thousands of tons of plastics and other non biodegradable garbage that daily enters into the oceans already is an enormous threat that is ignored (much of the plastic breaks down into impossible to capture tiny particles that fish and other marine life consume). Reducing the unnecessary use of triclosan and other antibacterial agents, along with completely eliminating plastic microbeads in personal care, household and other products, is not an impossible task, and can be the start of a sincere, international effort (garbage, waste and harmful material knows no boundaries) to stop the poisoning and trashing of the world's waters and oceans.

Dictatorships And Theocracies, The Least Productive Societies

   There are reasons why countries that function best are not theocracies or religious dictatorships, or any kind of dictatorship. Without the separation of church/mosque and state, all that is left is being under the thumb of someone dictating how to think and act. The end result is blind conformity, suppression and the killing of creativity. Oil may delay the collapse of some theocracies, but eventually they are all doomed to fail. The most productive, inventive, creative societies are not theocracies, and they are not dictatorships.

The Daily Destruction Of The Oceans By Plastic And Styrofoam

   How is it possible for technology to have advanced as far as it has, and yet we cannot stop thousands of tons of non biodegradable plastics, styrofoam and other non biodegradable harmful garbage from entering into the oceans daily? Why is there no pressure to change how products are packaged, including food products (chips, cookies, candy, crackers, etc.) knowing full well most of this non biodegradable packaging material ends up in the oceans, especially from heavily populated coastal nations, including China, Indonesia, Philippines, India, Bangladesh, and many other countries? Food manufacturers make billions, but do not bear the huge cost that results from their non biodegradable wrappings. Why also is there no international effort (garbage crosses all ocean boundaries) to properly dispose of plastics and other non biodegradable garbage, and to remove that which is already present littering the oceans and land that can still be removed ( i.e. plastic and styrofoam that has not yet broken down into near impossible to recover small particles) ?
    Daily the oceans become further damaged from this assault by plastic and other garbage. The negative impact on human health and welfare, on the oceans, on wildlife, is far reaching. The problem is only getting worse, as more and more non biodegradable material is used and improperly discarded. Fish and other wildlife eat plastic, thinking it is food. Plastics break down but do not degrade, making it virtually impossible to remove small plastic particles from the oceans. Unlike climate change, which is of great concern to many; plastic, styrofoam and other non biodegradable material poisoning the oceans continues to remain under the radar, even though it is one of the biggest threats to our survival.

ISIS Islamists Call For The Murder Of Muslim Clerics That Advocate Tolerance And Peace

   ISIS put out a video calling for the death of certain Muslim clerics and leaders that are advocates for peace and tolerance. Islamists, not just ISIS Islamists, that wage war and terror in the name of religion are turning this world into a hellhole. Islamists want a war between religions. This must remain a battle between evil people that practice hatred, bigotry, violence, intolerance, terrorism, and everyone else that does not.

Will Trump And Putin Start Another Nuclear Arms Race?

    The United States and Russia have the ability to destroy earth many times over. It was reported that in a conversation with Putin, Trump asserted that the Obama administration negotiated a nuclear weapons reduction treaty that is not good for the United States. Trump felt he could negotiate a better deal.    
     If two enemies are each carrying a stick of dynamite, and that is the deterrent they use to keep back the other, what does it matter if they have one stick of dynamite, or a million sticks, when one is enough to kill the other person? The number of nuclear weapons Russia and the U.S. have in their arsenals far exceeds the requirements needed to destroy the other side and the entire world. The more nuclear weapons there are, the greater the risk of annihilation.
     If Trump really had that conversation with Putin, then it is unfortunate Trump could not see the bigger picture, which is not which side has more of a perceived advantage in the nuclear reduction treaty. The bigger picture is the enormous threat nuclear weapons and nuclear weapons proliferation present to the survival of human life and most life on this planet, and the critical need to reduce this threat.

Russian Television's Way Of Separating Fake News From Real News

     Real news, for Russian television, is news favorable to Putin, his cronies, his self serving interests, his favorite theocracy; Iran, and his favorite dictators. Everything else is fake.

Fake News, The Best Friend Of Dictators, Demagogues, Theocracies

     Corrupt, brutal regimes and leaders want people to think that all news is fake news. In this way, any mention of their brutality, lying, stealing, thieving, murdering and corruption is simply dismissed as fake. Dismissing all news as fake except their propaganda works to their nefarious benefit.

Trump And Islam, The Need To Think Wisely

     Politicians like to tell the public what Islam is or is not, without ever having read (most likely) the Quran. Islam can be a religion of peace and goodwill, but it can also be a religion of war and intolerance, depending on what passages are followed in the Quran, and how Islam is taught and disseminated.

     There are oil rich Islamic regimes in which individual citizens or the government, or both, are aggressively spreading the most intolerant interpretations of Islam. Many children throughout the world are being taught hate, bigotry, rigidity; everything the opposite of goodwill to those of different faiths and beliefs. 

       Nations that think just because something is a school, therefore it must be good, better rethink what is being taught in some of those schools. Oil wealth used to promote intolerance and hate sows the seeds for the wars and terrorism of the future. It makes no sense to continuously fight enemies produced by allies spreading hate and intolerance.
       It is naive to think ISIS type organizations can be defeated on the battlefield alone. This is a battle for hearts and minds. Winning the battle includes no longer ignoring or excusing the spread of hate and intolerance by so called allies (or adversaries). Winning hearts and minds means supporting those that are the voices of moderation and tolerance.
       The Islamic world is vast and still diverse. Every effort should be made to support the places and people where there is tolerance and goodwill, and to not ignore those that promote the opposite. This includes well thought out policies that are not arbitrary, and that win hearts and minds.
       

        

A Coffee And An Internet Conglomerate, Big Business Is Not Always Best

   An internet article published as a news story turned out to be nothing but a thinly veiled ad for a coffee conglomerate. The article gushed with enthusiasm for a drink that will be coming out soon for a limited time. Unfortunately, the lines between news and advertisements no longer seem to exist. For those that want to load up on heart unhealthy saturated fats and sugars, by all means get the drink.

   There was a time when independent coffee shops thrived. Why the public wanted to lose this to one large, uniform, uninteresting conglomerate is beyond comprehension. If only the far more interesting, independant, small time coffee shops would return.  Their coffee and tea was often better tasting at a better price.And they did not have the insufferable politics of the conglomerate that seems contrived and insincere.

     

Islamist Push For Israel's Destruction And Islamic Domination

   An Islamist organization is propagating the lie, one amongst many, that the Israeli military is throwing Palestinian Arab children and grandmothers off of roofs. They want people to think Israel is no different than ISIS. Or even worse, that ISIS is Israel. This is their way of deflecting criticism away from fundamentalist Islamic organizations and countries that actually do throw people off of rooftops. This is their way to delegitimize Israel. Islamists believe that only Muslims are fit to rule, and only Muslims must be allowed to rule. Even though over 99 per cent of the middle east is ruled by Muslims, that is not enough. Islamists believe that once a land is conquered by Muslims, rule by non Muslim so called infidels can never be accepted. Since the middle east was once ruled by the Ottoman empire ( i.e.Turkey, which is a Muslim nation), including what is now Israel, every inch of land must go back to Muslim rule. This Islamist belief that land conquered by Muslims and then lost must return to Muslim rule, even if centuries have gone by under non Muslim rule, condemns Israel to endless war, Kashmir to endless war (Hindu vs Muslim), south Philippines to endless war (Muslim vs. Catholic), south Thailand to endless war (Buddhist vs. Muslim) and many other places.  After WW1, defeated Turkey, which had sided with Germany, lost the middle east to Great Britain and to a lesser extent France. After WW2, Britain rewarded corrupt kings with entire countries. Over 99 per cent of the middle east was placed under the control of Arab Muslims. Jews were given one tiny country that was immediately attacked by Arabs. Non Arab Kurds were given nothing.
    The Islamist belief that any and all lands conquered and ruled by Muslims and then lost to non Muslims, must be returned to Islamic rule, ensures that many conflicts will never be resolved. It is the recipe for endless war, terror and violence. Islamists claim that Jews are foreign occupiers, and therefore they have the right to murder and terrorize the civilian Jewish population at will. They neglect to mention that Muslims now occupy the lands previously owned and held by Jews all over the middle east and North Africa. The descendants of Jews that were expelled and fled persecution from Egypt, Iraq, Iran, Algeria, Afghanistan, Yemen, Libya, Syria, Hebron and other places on the west bank, and other Muslim majority lands, now form the majority population of Israel. Jews, Yazidis, Christians,and others do not invoke the right to wage endless war against the Muslim occupiers that drove them from their homes. If Jews invoke the same rights that Islamists insist Muslims have, then Jews should demand their lands back not just in the many now Muslim controlled lands where they were recently driven out, but also in Saudi Arabia, where Jewish tribes lived until Muhammad slaughtered and drove them out.
      Islamists want this world washed in blood until only Muslims rule. Wanting a just resolution to the conflict between Israel and Palestinian Arabs is not what Islamists want. Their goal is the complete destruction of Israel and the subjugation, rape and murder of its Jewish population. Under shariah law, Jews that survived the bloodshed must live as second class citizens at best, a forever vulnerable population.
      Within the last decade, Islamists have shown clearly what they do to the non Muslims in their midst. There has been the ethnic cleansing and genocide of middle east Christians and Yazidis. Yazidis have been around the middle east for thousands of years before there ever was an Islam. So have the Jews. Christians lived in the middle east for many centuries before the rise of Islam. Thousands of yazidi girls and young women are still held as sex slaves by Islamists that are raping and torturing these girls and young women daily.
     It is important to separate just and fair resolutions to the Israeli/ Arab conflict, the conflict in south Thailand, Kashmir, south Philippines, and elsewhere, from Islamist propaganda and demands. Islamists use words like occupation, freedom, armed resistance, but it is they that are the inflexible imperialist warmongers that want one thing, and one thing alone- Islamic domination and nothing less. Opposing the right wing government of Israel, or any Israeli government, is far different than what the Islamists and their supporters want. They want nothing less than Islamic supremacy. This is not limited to the Israeli/Arab conflict, where Islamists and others want the complete destruction of Israel. Israel must not stop pursuing peace and goodwill with Palestinian Arabs. But what Islamists have done to middle east Christians, to Yazidis, to Baha'is, to other religious minorities, should make all people of goodwill weary.

The Too Often Dark Side Of Religion

     Many times religion, which should tame the worst in people, instead does the opposite. Too often religion contributes to overpopulation and environmental degradation, hate, greed, violence and bigotry. Challenging religious harm is not the same as religious intolerance.

Illegal Immigrants And The Privileged American Underclass

      There is a safety net for Americans. It may be an inadequate, less than ideal safety net, but it is there nonetheless. For many of the poor in the world that are not American citizens, no safety net exists. For them, unlike those in the American underclass, no money means no medical care, no access to an adequate diet that prevents disease and malnutrition, no education at all, inadequate or no housing or shelter, no dental care, no access to pharmaceuticals when needed. No money, no doctor, no medicine, even if it means dying. Millions in the third world live in one room flimsy shacks at best with a mud floor, and without electricity, running water, or proper sanitation.
       Like it or not, the dysfunctional, unreformed (despite claims as to otherwise) costly American social welfare state has helped create a privileged American underclass.
       Few if any Americans, from the privileged underclass to the super privileged upper class, are willing to do the hard labor, difficult jobs that illegal immigrants perform. Illegal immigrants have no safety net or protections. They are often exploited and taken advantage of. If this is the population the Trump administration, or any administration, chooses to go after, it will hurt the United States economy. Decent, hard working people at the bottom performing essential jobs will be punished. Rather than make things better, it will only make things worse. It is not hard to deport the criminals amongst the illegal immigrant population, who represent a small percentage and are not reflective of the overwhelming majority of hardworking, honest illegal immigrants. Going after illegal immigrants that are honest, decent ,hardworking folks plays well to some not so hard working people's worst instincts, but it is not sound policy economically or in any other way.