Hurricane Harvey, Typhoon Yolanda; Natural Disasters Made Worse By Environmental Degradation

     As the tragedy in Texas and Louisiana continues to unfold, ignoring and failing to do anything about how humans impact the environment is plain folly. Even though it is acknowledged that Hurricane Harvey is a natural occurring disaster, it is also clear that it has been made far worse by human activity.

     Hurricane Harvey is not an isolated disaster. It is another in a series of weather related events that are made far more deadly by the way humans have altered the environment. The burning of fossil fuels and the increase in the release of methane gases and other gases impact climate and ocean temperatures. Increased ocean temperatures - the Gulf of Mexico has been unusually warm- increases the power of hurricanes, typhoons and cyclones. Increased heat in the atmosphere contributes to more moisture in the air and increased rainfall. 

     The terrible natural disasters that have occurred in the recent past, including typhoons, cyclones and flooding that have devastated areas in the Philippines, Bangladesh, Haiti, and elsewhere, are not strictly natural events unrelated to human activity. 

      Hurricane Harvey is not an isolated disastrous event. It is part of an increasingly prevalent, dangerous pattern.

      There will be more terrible natural disasters made far worse by how humans have altered the environment. Everything needs to be on the table. Including how floodplains have been degraded or turned into concrete, the role of deforestation, overpopulation, coral reef destruction, seagrass and seabed destruction, and how this results in increased flooding and worsened natural disasters, especially in tropical countries. Burning fossil fuels, the contribution of agribusiness to environmental degradation and to the release of methane gases, the continued destruction of rainforest to make way for palm plantations and other agriculture, and more, all have an impact on climate and the environment. Increased ocean acidification, ocean degradation by plastic and other contaminants, destruction of marine habitats, and more impact the environment in adverse ways not fully realized.

       There are those that will say, do not play politics with natural disasters. Politics are already being played by the failure to inquire and question. The recent disasters, including Typhoon Yolanda in the Philippines right up to Hurricane Harvey, are not unrelated events. They are part of the continuing pattern of natural disasters made worse by environmental degradation.

        In regards to typhoon Yolanda, a lot of money was raised to help the victims of that disaster, without serious consideration given to reversing environmental degradation. Most likely with Hurricane Harvey, people will fail to link how environmental degradation (which includes human impact on the oceans and climate) makes natural disasters far more deadly. And even if people do talk about it, they will continue to do nothing. 

          

Number Games Police Work And The Reporter And Press That Turned A Blind Eye

     The media could expose number games police work, but it requires too much work and effort on their part. They like easy, sensational stories. They also will not risk alienating sources of stories, be it from a nonprofit or from a police department.
      If people think real investigative reporters exist out there, they best think again.
      It is easy to expose a numbers game when it is a practice put on paper. That is simple. But when it is not documented on paper, which is almost always the case, and because this requires more digging, investigating and effort to uncover, count the press out. The press does not care about outcomes. It does not care about making things better. It cares only about having a story- the more sensational the better.
         A  numbers game was exposed because it was put on paper. A reporter was given the documentation. Nothing changed, except the police department removed the paper and made the whole process informal. When the reporter was told nothing changed, and that the police department simply removed all documentation of the practice, but the whole thing was continuing unabated, the reporter was not interested. What should have been stopped never had a champion to stop it. The power of the press meant nothing.
       

Number Games Police Work- Ensuring The Lowest In Standards

     Number games ensures low quality police work. It also encourages laziness. When numbers are emphasized, including in how officers are evaluated, the standards are set low. The purpose of a police department is to serve and protect, with patrol as the fundamental mission. Generating high numbers of arrests may look on paper, but it is counterproductive at best. Number games, especially in regards to arrests, but also in traffic and other activities, encourages shoddy police work.

       It is not difficult to determine if a police department uses number games. Unfortunately, no one is interested.

Maduro Spreads More Violence And Chaos In Venezuela By His Use Of A Militia

      The Maduro government is giving more arms to a militia created by his predecessor, Chavez, called the Bolivarian Militia, under the guise that the militia is defending the revolution and the country from a U.S. invasion. The militia is being used as another force of repression by a corrupt government that robs and brutally suppresses the people of Venezuela. The militia has attacked unarmed protestors that want freedom for their country and an end to the massive corruption and looting of their nation.

       Already Venezuela suffers from an extraordinarily high homicide rate. Instead of offering greater security and hope for the future, the government offers nothing but more violence and the concentration of power into their thieving hands. Meanwhile, ordinary people continue to suffer from widespread shortages of food and medicine.

       

Chicago Police Department, New York Police Department And Crime

       Many things influence crime rates. However, police departments do matter when it comes to crime. In comparing Chicago to New York, it is fair to compare the two different police departments.

       What are the promotion practices of the two cities? Are people promoted based on objective civil service, independently audited exams? 

       Are people also promoted based on merit? If so, is merit a clearly defined and objective process, or is meritorious used as a guise for clout and cronyism?

       Is clout, patronage and cronyism an integral part of the police department? If so, this can be an important reason why crime rates differ. Clout, cronyism and patronage are toxic.

       Are foolish number games utilized, in which quantity over quality is emphasized in arrest, traffic and other activity?

       Does one city have a press that is independent and willing to critically look at all entities, regardless of whether or not they are in the government sphere, including police, and everywhere else? Or is the press unwilling to be too critical out of fear of losing valuable connections along with other reasons?

       Do the departments differ in the number and roles of upper brass or management?  Police departments saddled with heavy costs unrelated to patrol will not be effective.

       There are many questions that should be asked and that should be answered.

        Problem is, no one is asking.

          

Celebrity Environmentalists - Environmental Protection Is Humanity's Cause, Not Theirs

      Many of the organizations and people involved in environmental, animal and wildlife protection are all about money and self promotion. What they preach and what they practice are completely different. The examples they set makes it easy for critics to be dismissive of their causes.

     What many environmentalist celebrities and leaders say, and how they live - pampered lives of extravagance and excessive materialism - harms the fight to protect the environment. It is unfortunate, and it sets back the environmental movement.

Why Dysfunctional Organizations Do Not Change

         It is unfortunate that demands for change or reform usually revolve around that which is sensational and little else. The sensational is what attracts attention, publicity and money.
         Dysfunctional organizations are rarely challenged, rarely changed, and are allowed to exist seemingly forever, no matter how ineffective, harmful or dysfunctional they might be.
 
   

Police Work; Ending Expensive, Bloated, Inefficiency And Failure

     The bread and butter of police work, the core mission, is to serve and protect by patrol. In high crime areas, and in densely populated urban areas, this is best accomplished by cops patrolling on foot, combined with police in vehicles and at times on bicycles. Cops driving around in vehicles, although necessary, can never become an integral part of a community and neighborhood as can cops that walk beats.
     Cops used to walk beats. That was true community policing. Not the convoluted nonsense that community policing later became, which is nothing more than academic cover for new ways to employ a patronage army of useless bureaucrats.
      Police assigned to the same walking beats day in and day out is the best way to reconnect police to neighborhoods and communities, while providing a high level of police presence and service.
      Paramilitary models are completely dysfunctional when used to protect systems of clout, cronyism and patronage.
       Layers upon layers of supervisors and chains of command have provided nothing but an army of expensive to maintain bosses, many of whom do little to nothing.
       Cops and their supervisors need to be on the streets. No one, from the cops walking beats or driving police vehicles to the highest supervisors, should be exempt from this responsibility. Unfortunately, we live in an entitlement culture in which often the higher people move up in life, the more they get paid, the more they demand, and the less work they want to do or are expected to do.
      The public should be paying for cops patrolling, on foot, in cars, and at times on bicycles. Other divisions, including detectives, youth officers, evidence technicians and so forth, are there to supplement the bread and butter of patrol. Technology can aid the patrol mission, but overreliance on technology is counterproductive. Patrol must be seen as the core of police work, not its armpit.
      Streamlining police departments will save money, reduce crime, and must start with returning police and police supervisors to the streets. Police departments must stop serving as sanctuaries for clout and cronyism. The many expensive and unnecessary layers of supervisors, bureaucrats and paper pushers - of which there are plenty- and all personal unrelated to serving the basic police mission of serve and protect by patrol, must be eliminated.
       

     

Will The Chicago Press Fail To Uncover Clout And Cronyism In The Chicago Police Department?

     A major Chicago newspaper ran a front page story on July 8, 2017, regarding a Chicago police sgt that,  "Chicago police are seeking to fire".

     The article reported that the sgt, "won a merit promotion - one not based on test scores - to sergeant on the recommendation" of a supervisor who is now first deputy superintendent. 

     This is a golden opportunity to expose the world of meritorious promotion. If the press fails to do so, it is beyond disgraceful. 

     The first deputy superintendent should have been asked, and should still be asked, what was the basis by which he promoted the sgt that the police department now seeks to fire?  What qualified this sgt to receive a meritorious promotion? What does meritorious even mean in the Chicago police department? 

      This single case is an unbelievable opportunity, inexplicably still not taken, to expose the widespread use of meritorious on the police department to further clout and cronyism.  Meritorious must not be a farce by which politically connected men and women get promoted and taken care of.

       Clout and cronyism ensure, with few exceptions, leadership that is unimaginative and mediocre at best, and that is more often incompetent, lazy, and even abusive. 

        A world class city deserves better. A world class city also deserves a free press that will not stand for clout and cronyism.

      

Luisa Ortega Diaz And The Corruption And Brutality Killing Venezuela

    Venezuela's recently ousted chief prosecutor, Luisa Ortega Diaz, has fled from Venezuela, where she would be arrested if she remained. Colombia has offered her asylum.
    She is accusing the Maduro regime of a massive corruption scandal, the details of which can be found by a simple internet search.
     It is better that she is late to the anti-corruption party than never to attend. But the facts remain that Hugo Chavez was no stranger to corruption. It is estimated that by the time he died, his net worth and that of his children exceeded a billion dollars.
    While ordinary Venezuelans face food and medicine shortages and widespread unemployment and poverty, the elites of Venezuela, including Maduro and company, have turned themselves into millionaires and billionaires. They steal and call it socialism. Venezuelan leaders claim to to be fighting for the people, while they rob and brutally oppress the people of Venezuela.
    Tareck El Aissami, Vice President, is accused of drug trafficking. He has opened Venezuela up to Hezbollah and Iranian operatives and interests.
    The regime is consolidating power to protect its criminal interests.
    Meanwhile, the protester death toll continues to rise. Thousands of Venezuelans have been beaten and are imprisoned. There is no end in sight to the oppression.

The Dangers Of Atlantic Salmon Farm Raised In The Pacific

     Over 300,000 Atlantic salmon escaped from their fish pens in the waters by Washington state, posing a serious risk to wild Pacific salmon populations. Even before this new danger to wild Pacific salmon, there were concerns that farm raised Atlantic salmon were spreading disease, sea lice and other dangers to wild Pacific salmon.
       Industrial factory farming for meat and fish comes at a heavy cost to the environment and to human and animal health, a cost that is not incurred by agribusinesses. Cheap meat and fish might seem cheap, but the unseen costs they incur are enormous.
       Why is Atlantic salmon being farm raised in the Pacific? Knowing that the Pacific salmon fisheries are some of the world's last healthy remaining fisheries that have not yet collapsed, why is it not far better protected? Better protected from disease spreading farm salmon and the risk of mixing farm Atlantic salmon populations with that of wild Pacific salmon. Better protected from the development and destruction of their habitat and much else.
        Atlantic salmon do not belong anywhere in the Pacific.

Concern For A few Dogs And Cats And Little Else; Meat Production And Pets

     Human compassion for animals rarely extends beyond concern for a select few dogs and cats and sometimes for a few other species. (Hundreds of millions of ignored starving and diseased dogs and cats live in the most deplorable conditions on streets and elsewhere throughout the world.) The billions of cows, pigs, goats, chickens and other animals raised and killed to feed humans, dogs and cats raise no eyebrows. If dogs and cats were kept in inhumane conditions and then were slaughtered to feeds cows and pigs, the outcry would be enormous.
      Meanwhile, the heavy carbon footprint of meat consumption by people and their pets continues to be ignored, as does the inhumane treatment of factory farm animals.

Industrial Meat Profit And Pain

     Industrial meat production is big business and profits for agribusiness, including a number of chemical companies, and a whole chain of companies from fast food restaurants to meat producers. Moving livestock indoors on a massive scale has contributed to inhumane conditions, which few people seem to care about.
      The environmental impact and the adverse effects on human health from meat production and consumption are enormous. The inefficient utilization of land to grow crops used to feed factory farm livestock require enormous amounts of fertilizers, pesticides and other chemicals, much of which contaminates and poisons streams, rivers, lakes, lands and the ocean. Disposing of the massive amounts of factory farm animal waste, methane gas from cows, and much else, continue to be environmental concerns
       The environmental damage is not a price paid by the businesses that prosper from meat. They get the profit, and others - people and the environment - get the pain.
       Eating less meat or no meat has significant health and environmental benefits. Heart disease, colon cancer, other cancers and diseases and their relation to meat consumption can easily be researched.  The effects of exposure to the pesticides, herbicides and fungicides required for meat production are also well documented. Many of these poisons are in the water people drink.
        At the very least, the companies that profit from meat should bear some responsibility for meat's environmental impact.
     

Trump's Not So New Afghanistan Strategy; Islamic Jihad Ignored Again

     It is irrelevant whether or not Trump announces the number of troops that he will send into Afghanistan or if he does or does not reveal timetables for withdrawal. Thinking that this is a new policy or direction reveals the lack of a new policy and direction. Regarding Pakistan providing sanctuaries for terrorists, this needs to be addressed but this is not the source of the problem.
      Everyday millions of children throughout the world receive a hardcore Islamic education, courtesy of the oil rich Islamic nations of the world - Iran on the Shia side, Saudi Arabia, Qatar and others on the Sunni side- that teach Islamic supremacy, disdain and hate for non Muslims and  "disbelievers", and the virtues of war, violent jihad and terrorism.
        Millions of brainwashed children taught hatred, intolerance, bigotry and violence do not bode well for the future. This brainwashing is taking place all over the world, including in Afghanistan, Pakistan, Gaza, West Bank, South Philippines, South Thailand, Indonesia, India, Malaysia, Europe, Nigeria, Somalia, Sudan, Iraq, Egypt, North Africa and elsewhere.
         While political, academic and other elites shy away from any criticism of Islam, the sources of violent jihad, intolerance and hate can be found in the Quran itself. There are passages in the Quran that if followed can lead to tolerance and peace. But there are passages in the Quran that can lead to war, terror, bigotry and hate. Denying that this duality exists may be politically correct, but it is delusional and destructive.
          What makes everything worse is that oil rich Islamic nations have ensured that the most violent passages of the Quran are followed, and that the most rigid, intolerant interpretations of Islam dominate. Diversity and tolerance within the Islamic world is increasingly being crushed and diminished, as nation after nation, people after people, are affected by the oil rich Islamic nations spread of intolerance, hate and violence.
           Many Afghan children cross into Pakistan every year to become more brainwashed sheep indoctrinated by one of the thousands of Saudi and other oil rich nation sponsored schools or madrassas. The average Pakistani and Afghan child receives a Saudi sponsored Islamic education that prepares that child for a life of violence, intolerance, and fanatical observance to the most rigid forms of Islam.
            This indoctrination and brainwashing of children ensures generations more of war in Afghanistan, Pakistan, Gaza, Europe, Kashmir, South Philippines, South Thailand, Somalia, Iraq, Lebanon, Libya, Nigeria,  Syria, and so many other places.
            When WW2 was over, and Europe laid in ruins, with over 50 million dead, nazi ideology was not allowed to continue in any way, shape or form in Germany.
             Islam can be a religion of peace, goodwill and tolerance, or it can be a religion of war, hate, bigotry and violent jihad. Pretending that this duality does not exist is suicidal. Pretending that a number of Islamic nations are not promoting intolerance, hate and jihad is suicidal. The religious basis that fuels Islamic jihadists the world over needs to be confronted. The nations that are sponsoring the brainwashing of children and that are producing the next generation of Islamic jihadists must not be ignored anymore.
             Children must not be turned into brainwashed canon fodder for Islamic jihadists. Not unless people want to fight bloody wars without end in Afghanistan and elsewhere
         
           
   

Sierra Leone Mudslide; The Heavy Price Of Environmental Degradation

     A mudslide killed at least 499 in Sierra Leone. Hundreds of people are still missing.
     This is not the beginning or the end of this kind of tragedy. Mudslides, landslides, heavy rains and flooding will continue to kill and destroy lives far in excess of what ever could be possible in a world less environmentally degraded and deforested.
     Recently, a landslide in the Eastern Congo region also killed hundreds.
     Poverty, poor housing, overpopulation, add fuel to the fire.
     So much loss of life, and so little attention paid to these tragedies. Environmental degradation will continue to kill, as people talk about it but do little to nothing. Meanwhile, tropical forests continue to fall, setting the stage for future mudslides and landslides from heavy rains and storms.
       

China's Environmental Protection Effort

      In the news today was an article regarding a massive effort by the Chinese government to create national parks, including what will become the world's largest, more protected nature areas, a continuation of tree planting and reforestation, and better protection of the environment overall. This is welcome news. The article reported an increase in the forest cover of China, while the forest cover of many other countries continues to decline.
      It is hoped that Chinese concern for the environment will extend to Chinese actions outside of China, including in the Congo region, Southeast Asia and elsewhere, where Chinese demand for resources, including lumber, are decimating forests and the environment.
      In the South China Sea, China's territorial claims have resulted in the development and destruction of coral reefs, islands and atolls.
      China is the number one source of thousands of tons of plastic and other oil based non biodegradable garbage that daily enters the Pacific Ocean. This assault by plastic is killing the Pacific and other oceans. Kill the Pacific, and the territorial, religious, political and other struggles between nations will not matter because all will be lost.
      If China aggressively pursues environmental protection inside and outside of China, it will be a positive gamechanger for all of humanity.
     

Delcy Rodriguez, "Leftist" Voice For Venezuela Leaders' Unrestrained Lust For Money And Power

     Murderers and thieves that rule and ruin countries never fail to have followers that are incapable of throwing away their ideological scripts. Venezuela's robber barons have leftists the world over clamoring to their cause. If these tyrants in Venezuela proclaimed themselves rightists, they would equally find mindless ideological supporters.
     What is the cause the self proclaimed leftists and their supporters support?
     Widespread food and medicine shortages so the people they pretend to care about suffer more.
      Increased and widespread poverty while the so called leftist elitists continue to rob the country blind.
      Billions of dollars have now been pocketed by the Venezuelan rulers who rob while in the same breath call themselves men and women of the people. How big and extravagant do the mansions and estates of Maduro and the others and their children have to be?
      Is there no end to their greed, materialism and insatiable appetite for money?
      How can people this greedy and selfish be what leftists applaud?
      Delcy Rodriguez claims she and the other robber barons that are concentrating wealth and power into their own greedy hands, while brutally crushing dissent, are doing it on behalf of the people.
       It is pathetic that loudmouth Trump tweeted a military option is on the table. It is not, and the foolish Trump pulled back from this position. This was latched onto by the robber barons that they are leftists resisting the United States. No, robber barons, that is an untrue narrative. Most countries in North, Central And South America do not support your oppression. But most importantly of all, the Venezuelan people do not want your thievery, greed and oppression.
        For those that have been murdered by the regime, imprisoned, beaten, in their selfless struggle for freedom and justice, our prayers are with you.
           

Islamic Jihadists And Their Jew Hating Supporters Continued War Against The Jews; Its True Cost

     Weak people all over the world continue to need a scapegoat. The Jew remains the world's preferred scapegoat. Enormous effort, energy and resources are devoted to destroying Jews and their one small country in the world. The plight of hundreds of millions of people in desperate situations (including horrific brutality, wars and famine in the Congo region, Somalia, Yemen, Syria, Sudan, South Philippines, South Thailand, Nigeria and many other places) continue to be ignored because of pathological Jew hate that dictates that human lives do not matter if it does not involve the effort to destroy Israel.
       All kinds of excuses are used to continue waging war and terrorism against the Jewish people. Hundreds of millions of people, past and present, have been driven from their lands, and now have their lands occupied, not only by Europeans and others, but also by Arab Muslims and other Muslims. Arab Muslims drove out and now occupy the lands of Jews all over the middle east and North Africa. Arab Muslims recently drove out, slaughtered and now occupy the lands of middle east Christians, Yazidis and others. Most Israelis are the descendants of Jews driven from their lands by Arab Muslims during the time when Israel became a state. More Jews were refugees from Arab Muslim majority lands than the number of Arabs, now called Palestinians, that fled from Israel during the 1948 war when the newfound state of Israel was attacked by Arab armies.
      The expansion of Islam is a long history of conquest, war and killing.
      But no one believes it is the right of Jews, Christians, Yazidis, Buddhists, Hindus, Baha'is and others whose lands are now occupied by Muslims to attack Muslims or the descendants of Muslim imperialist conquerors.
      No one argues that under the guise of occupation there is entitlement to commit endless terrorism and war against the perceived occupier, except when it comes to Israel. Racist Jew hate dictates, using the excuse of occupation, that Arabs now called Palestinians have the endless right to attack and kill Jews. The hundreds of millions of other people, including Jews, Christians, Buddhists, Hindus and others whose lands are now occupied by Muslims, do not have that right.
      If occupation means the right to commit murder, terror and war against the perceived occupiers, then why is that an exclusive right granted to only Palestinian Arab Muslims and to other Muslims?
      Why do the Jews driven from their lands by Arab Muslims not have that right? Why do the original native peoples of Australia, United States, Canada, and elsewhere not have the right to attack and kill nonnative white people, Arabs and others? Why do the native peoples of the middle east and North Africa, including Jews, and the native peoples of central Africa, not have the right to attack and kill Arab Muslims and other Muslims that conquered and now occupy their lands? Why do Hindus, Buddhists and others in Asia and elsewhere that have lost their lands to Muslims not have the right to attack the Muslims that now occupy their lost lands?
       Because decent and rational people understand that past wrongs, real or perceived, do not give the right to murder, commit genocide, ethnic cleansing, war and terror. In the minds of many Muslims, all of Israel must be destroyed because any Jewish presence goes against their Islamic belief that only Muslims have the right to rule. The true nature of the conflict is not about creating a Palestinian state. In their minds, all of Israel is occupied, and all of it must be destroyed.
       In their racist, apartheid minds, only Muslims have the right to conquest, occupation and rule.
Because there are enough Jew haters among the left and right in the west, they keep the demented narrative alive that encourages war and terror; all because they want to see Jews dead and destroyed, instead of a peaceful resolution to the conflict.
       In the demented, Orwellian world we now live in, people get to murder, act violently, wage war as long as they are labeled victims.
       Palestinian Arab Muslims must decide to either continue the nazi war against the Jews, or accept the reality that this world is big enough for Jews and other non muslims to have a small place in the very large middle east, which already is over 99 per cent in the hands of Arab Muslims. It is a choice between pursuing hate or pursuing tolerance.
       Political correctness on the left panders to Muslims that hate Jews. For other Jew haters, including on the right and left, they could care less how many Palestinian Arabs die, or anyone else for that matter, as long as the effort to kill Jews continues. And for that reason, no one demands a state for the Kurdish people, justice for the Yazidis and middle east Christians, an end to Islamic jihadists murder, terror and war, help for the millions suffering in the Congo region, help for the millions facing starvation, war and famine in Northern Nigeria, Somalia, parts of Ethiopia and elsewhere, help for the war torn people of Yemen, Syria, Central African Republic, Libya, Afghanistan, and elsewhere, help to end the Islamist war against non Muslims in the south Philippines, south Thailand, Egypt, Kashmir and elsewhere, help for the millions of people the world over suffering from excruciating poverty, disease, slavery, and so much else.
       Israel is used as the excuse for humanity to do nothing good for humanity. Israel is the crutch by which to unite Muslim Jew haters with non Muslim Jew haters, so they can continue to ignore all the suffering in the world as they indulge in their weak minded Jew hate and war against the Jews.
       If Muslims, including Palestinian Arab Muslims, no longer pursue terror, genocide and war against the Jews, the conflict will end quickly, peacefully, and justly.
             
             
       

Social Media Companies Must Stop Helping Hate Mongers And Put Morality Over Money

     It is time for social media companies to put morality over money, and shut down hate mongers and hate groups. Stop giving them a platform. Stop giving them a voice. In the same way major newspapers will not publish whiny hate monger nonsense, neither should social media companies. If social media companies cannot do what is right, then it is only right they get boycotted, including by advertisers.

The United States Helps Hate Groups Operating As Religions Or Nonprofits

      Religions are given tax free status. But for those that use religion to promote and espouse hate, there is no reason for the United States government to help them. Make them and their donors pay taxes.
       The same must apply for hate groups registered as nonprofit charities, including those claiming to be educational.
       Stop allowing this cancer to not pay taxes and to proselytize and recruit in government and in government funded institutions, including schools, prisons, jails, youth centers, public welfare offices, and more.
       The belief that the government cannot determine between what is educational and what is hate is elitist nonsense. Tax free status is a privilege, not a constitutional right.
        The United States has got to stop being so weak.
   
     
         

Charlottesville And Two Other Recent Acts Of Terrorism. Terrorists And Their Apologists

       When a man deliberately drove a car into a crowd of people, killing a woman and wounding others, that was an act of terrorism and murder.
        Terrorism is not defined by the race or religion of the terrorist. It is defined by the action.
        Terrorism includes deliberately attacking and harming, or seeking to harm, civilian populations in the pursuit of religious or political goals.
        There is no excuse to not call acts of terrorism for what they are.
        There is no justification for excusing terrorism. Defenders of terror like to deflect and say it is in response to a previous wrong or grievance. If people want to live in a world governed by evil, then keep on excusing and justifying terror.
        Terrorism is always evil. It is not relative, as many want to believe. It is not right in some places, but wrong in other places, or right against some people, but wrong against others. If that simple moral compass continues to be lost, then expect terror to continue to proliferate.
        In Burkina Faso, Islamic jihadists shot up a restaurant, killing at least 18.
        In Northern Nigeria, three Boko Haram female Islamist suicide bombers blew themselves up, two in a market place, and one at a nearby camp for displaced people, killing at least 30 people and wounding over 80.
         All victims of terrorism deserve our support. All terrorists must be resisted.
           

What White, Black, And All Hate Groups Share, And What They Deserve

     All hate groups, all hate organizations, whether from the left, right, any race, religion or ethnic group, are nothing but weaklings whose crutch is hate. They deserve nothing but contempt.

What David Duke and The Nazi American Traitors Want To Bring To America

     The United States went to war against the nazis. By the time it was over, Europe lay in ruin. Over 50 million people were killed. Almost the entire population of European Jews were wiped out in the nazi extermination campaign. Gypsies and others considered less than desirable by the demented nazis were murdered. The best and brightest of Germany, free thinking decent people that did not accept nazi ideology, were wiped out. German doctors and pseudo scientists performed ghastly, painful live experiments on children and adults. Nazi inflicted suffering was enormous. Nazis destroyed countries and murdered by the millions.
      The United States lost hundreds of thousands of its best killed while defending freedom and helping liberate Europe and other places from nazi tyranny. Millions more Americans were wounded or permanently scarred, physically or emotionally or both from the war.
       This is what the American traitors want to bring to America.They can pretend, as the nazis did, that they are fighting communists. They can pretend, as the nazis did, that destroying Jews will achieve their goals. They can pretend, as the nazis did, that they are defending their race. All Hitler and the other nazis did was destroy Germany, much of Europe, and get millions of Germans killed, the only people they professed to care about, along with millions of others. Communism was strengthened, not weakened, by the nazis.
       American nazis and white supremacists are defending nothing but their own demented pathology. They are nothing but weaklings, latching onto a scapegoat and excuse to be the weak, miserable cowards that they are. And their leaders, too lazy to ever work a real job, are rich. They laugh on their way to the bank, knowing hate is a lucrative business.
       If only the real Americans that went to war fighting the nazis were able to appear again, in their late teens, twenties and thirties, to stand up against these American traitors.
         
       

The Media; Hate Groups Best Friend

     The media thrives on sensationalism. If not for them, fringe, violent hate groups would never receive the publicity they receive. They feed off each other.

Loud Mouth Armed Crybabies; White Supremacists And All Hate Mongers

     No matter how musclebound they make themselves, no matter how many guns and weapons they possess, they are still weaklings. Weaklings and loud mouth crybabies need someone, some group to hate. Weaklings need a scapegoat.

Trump And The Media's Mutually Beneficial Relationship

     For the media to pretend it is shocked by Trump is laughable. They helped put him where he is by their nonstop coverage of everything Trump said and did. The media thrives on sensationalism, and that is what Trump gave them.

      During Trump's campaign, did he say anything less outrageous than what he says now? It was obvious this was a man who did not have the character to be president. For the media to pretend it is now outraged is outrageous. 

Jew Hating Weakling Gets The Limelight Again, This Time From Charlottesville

     A weak, cowardly man figured out a way to never have to work a real job. A way to make a lot of money and be followed by similarly weak minded men and women in need of a scapegoat to hate. A common coward that targets an all too familiar scapegoat. Jew hating, Jew baiting still mobilizes mobs. It still brings in fame and fortune for weaklings incapable of contributing anything positive to this world.

The Least Capable People Keep Rising To The Top

     With the right amount of money, and/or with the right connections, the least capable people keep rising to the top. Especially in politics, in police departments, and elsewhere. No matter how incompetent, no matter how abusive, they are virtually untouchable.

A Police Team Formed To Combat Dogfighting And Animal Abuse That Only Achieves The Opposite

     When almost twenty years ago a small team was formed at a police department to combat dog fighting and animal abuse, it was meant to serve as an example for what cops should do when encountering these crimes. The team was then meant to cease to exist. It was not meant to be an enduring excuse for the rest of law enforcement to continue to do little to nothing, and for animal organizations to keep exploiting these crimes for their own gain. Yet that is what it shamefully became, which rendered it ineffective and only for show.  After two decades have almost passed, the pathological dynamic of police indifference towards animal cruelty and dogfighting and the exploitation of these crimes by animal organizations (with police and animal organizations each being the enablers of the others' pathology) is stronger than ever.

Animal Organizations And The Art Of Money Making

    Many animal organizations express sentiments they know their supporters like to hear and point out problems that inspire donors to send them money. No one considers that pointing out a problem is not the same as actually doing something effective about it. Many animal organization programs and actions are harmful or ineffective, and are inexplicably not scrutinized by anyone. No one seems to care because simply discussing problems and playing on sentiment is enough to keep donors satisfied and for money to keep pouring in.

Michael Vick Was A Windfall For Animal Organizations

     Michael Vick was money in the bank for a number of animal organizations. Combining his celebrity status with the public love for dogs, and a media that was all over this money making story, it was inevitable that certain animal organizations made sure they were at the forefront, garnishing all the attention they could get. There they were, ineffective, do nothing, often harmful animal organizations that were all of a sudden dogfighting experts. Not once did the fawning, money grubbing media question the efficacy of what these animal organizations actually do. Or why hardly anyone ever gets arrested for the common occurring crime of dogfighting. Or what it is about these organizations that made them deserve the free publicity. The outrage towards an exceptionally rare dogfighting arrest, especially by a celebrity, was money in the bank for undeserving, exploitative animal organizations.

Animal Suffering, Habitat And Wildlife Loss Must Become A Wakeup Call

       These posts of failure and loss are meant to be a wakeup call. If someone really cares about stopping animal cruelty and helping wildlife, do not buy into the propaganda that organizations feed. The status quo does not work, and it has not worked. The model for fighting animal cruelty, protecting wildlife and their habitat, cannot be left any longer in the hands of self serving organizations and people. Too much has already been lost to continue down this destructive path.

Goodbye Racket Tailed Parrots And Other Parrots, It Was Nice To Have Seen You

      No matter how hard the effort to stop a rainforest from being destroyed, home to rare bats, home to highly endangered parrots including one species of racket tailed parrots, home to rare owls and other raptors, not one single wildlife, conservation, parrot, bat, raptor, owl, or rainforest organization would lift a finger to at least try and stop the rain forest's destruction. For those fortunate to see the birds, what good is it knowing that future generations will not share such joy? For those that think some organization is working miracles in the third world, think again.

Bats In The Third World Are Out Of Luck

     In the third world, where organizations can make all kinds of claims and boasts with minimal accountability, bats are out of luck. To the organization(s) and academics that studied two of the most endangered large flying fox bat species in the world, that conducted counts of these bats as though counting is conservation, but did nothing to stop the destruction of these bats' habitat, the bats are going extinct from their inaction and failure to act. (Bats are the second largest mammal group, so there are many other bat species these organization(s) can make money off of. And in the third world, bat organizations have token programs here and there that make their supporters in the developed world think they are wonderful.)

      Bats in the third world face not only enormous hunting pressures, enormous losses of habitat, but have no one fighting for their protection.

Endangered Species, Dogs And Cats, And The Glamour Species. Desperation means Money

       The more desperate a situation becomes for a species that people care about, such as vaquita porpoises, lions, tigers, polar bears, panda bears, chimpanzees, elephants and others, the more people will desperately send in money to the organizations claiming to do something. No one asks if the organizations are responsible for the animals desperate situation by being ineffective, even harmful, and by giving a false perception that something meaningful is being done to help (when nothing further could be from the truth). Endangered species, especially the glamour species that people care about, along with cats and dogs, are the big money animals that have brought fortunes to many animal, wildlife, and conservation organizations. Big money for the organizations, and enormous suffering to animals. People care more about protecting these organizations than about protecting animals. Effective programs will never exist as long as greed and exploitation are running rampant by the very people and organizations that claim to be the voice for voiceless animals.

What Brings In The Most Money- Land Buying, Anti DogFighting, Endangered Species Or Some Other Program?

     Many animal organizations go where the money is. If marketing research, for example, indicates buying land is a money maker, then that is where they will go. An organization might pretend it cares about conservation and animals, but it's all about the money.
     Animal organizations use every trick in the book to inspire people to separate themselves from their money on behalf of animals.

Animal Cruelty Phony Investigations

     Animal organizations that investigate animal cruelty are ineffective and often harmful (as discussed extensively in a previous blog). Giving the appearance of helping animals is a huge money maker for a number of organizations and individuals.

What Serious Questions Have Animal Organizations Already Answered?

    A number of animal organizations focus on dogs, cats, and the few other animals people care about, knowing that is where the money is at. They utilize the best marketing and research resources available to determine what gets the most money out of animal lovers. They ponder questions like - do videos and pictures of pathetic looking or abused dogs and cats get more money than pictures of cute dogs and cats? If animals look too abused, will that turn people off and make them not want to send in money? What is better for getting bucks, late night television or earlier television, and on what channels? What brings in more money - social media, the internet, magazines, t.v., billboards, or something else? The serious questions for these organizations, despite the image they project, have everything to do about money.

Doing What Many Animal Organizations Do

     PEA (People Exploiting Animals), a not yet in existence greedy organization that will at least be honest, will do what many animal organizations do. It will utilize marketing research and other methods to find the best ways to play on people's sympathy for animals in order to separate people from their money. It will make sure PEA and its employees and sycophants appear sincere and compassionate. Animals are big money makers, including for the tax free nonprofits that make fortunes from their misfortunes.
   

North Korean Wake Up Call; Nuclear Weapons And Their Proliferation Are A Disaster Waiting To Happen

     If there were no nuclear weapons, Trump and North Korean tweets and threats would not matter.  Nuclear weapons holds humanity hostage to the whims of the leaders in possession of these weapons. One small misstep, one deranged leader, can spell disaster.
     The problem with nuclear weapons and their proliferation goes far beyond the personalities of the world leaders presently on stage.
     How did humanity devolve to the point that a growing number of nations hold in their hands weapons that can kill millions or billions and destroy human civilization and most life on earth? How can it  be stopped? What better safeguards can be put in place that will prevent the use of these weapons by less than stable, dangerous leaders?
     If anything good can result from the present crisis, it will be no longer shifting eyes away from nuclear weapons and their proliferation.

People Exploiting Animals (PEA), A New Umbrella Animal Organization

     Animals organizations make all kinds of claims regarding animal cruelty, dog fighting, humane treatment of animals, ethical animal treatment, and so forth.

      No animal organization should be in the business of investigating animal cruelty. Their investigations are almost always ineffective, and often harmful. By doing ineffectively at best what public law enforcement should be doing, animal organizations are the enablers that allow law enforcement to minimally respond to animal related crimes. When animal organizations investigate animal cruelty, with or without police powers, this is nothing but a publicity stunt that brings in contributions for the organizations, and allows public law enforcement to continue to do little to nothing about animal related crimes. When anti drunk driving and anti domestic violence advocates realized the police were responding poorly to those crimes, they did not take it upon themselves to investigate or field token forces to do the jobs of police. Instead, they advocated for an appropriate police response. Imagine if instead of a widespread police response to drunk driving and domestic violence, anti drunk driving and anti domestic violence organizations were substitutes for the police. It would mean that drunk driving and domestic violence laws would be enforced minimally in a few isolated places at best. There would be an explosion in those crimes, far beyond what exists now.

         Animal cruelty is often investigated by animal organizations that have no police powers. The investigations by these organizations are toothless and often harmful. Frequently their investigations are nothing but an opportunity for dog fighters and animal abusers to move their animals elsewhere. These organizations are granting a "heads up" to criminals.

      When animal cruelty is investigated by token police forces, or by animal organizations with or without police powers, the enforcement of animal abuse and dogfighting laws becomes rare and dysfunctional. Animal abuse are crimes that can occur anywhere, 24 hours a day, like many other crimes. When the enforcement of any crime, including animal cruelty, is limited to token forces that have police powers (whether fielded by a police department or by an animal organization that is granted police powers) or to animal organizations that investigate but lack police powers,  the result is disastrous. In fact, this dysfunctional approach works to the advantage of those that fight dogs and commit other crimes against animals. It works to the advantage of animal organizations who get to continue pretending they are doing something meaningful about animal cruelty and dogfighting, and therefore continue to get contributions (money). It works to the advantage of police departments that want to ignore or minimally respond to animal cruelty. It does not work to the advantage of the animals and people affected by these crimes.

          What is the need for a new animal organization called PEA ( People Exploiting Animals)? PEA can be an umbrella organization for all the others. It will be as ineffective and as exploitative as the others. But it will differ in one aspect. It will be honest. It will not hide its ineffectiveness, harmfulness, unwillingness to advocate for law enforcement to respond appropriately to animal abuse, or its eagerness to exploit animals to raise money and promote itself.

Trump Tweets, North Korea And Nuclear Weapons Proliferation

     Tweeting threats to North Korea is not going to make the problem of a nuclear armed North Korea go away. Nuclear weapons and their proliferation remain one of the greatest threats to human survival. The problem has been ignored. It is not going away. It is getting worse, and more dangerous. Tweeting will be another in a long line of useless strategies. The world needs to get serious about nuclear weapons and their proliferation.

The Venezuelan Regime: Rob And Murder And Call It Socialism

     The leaders of Venezuela have impoverished the nation while enriching themselves beyond belief. They have robbed from Venezuela and made the nation and poor much poorer. Why would anyone, including those that claim to care about poor and working class people, support a regime of robber barons that brutally suppress and murder their own people?  It is an all too familiar story - a country ends up in the hands of thieving, murdering dictators that cynically claim to be working on behalf of the people.

Corbyn And British Supporters Of Murder And Tyranny In Venezuela

       British labour leader Corbyn cannot bring himself to condemn the Maduro regime's violence against the Venezuelan people. Just like the leftists that supported Stalin as Stalin murdered millions, Corbyn follows the disgraceful tradition of left wing cowards that love every dictator, mass murderer and thug as long as they call themselves leftists and/or are against the United States and west.
       The robber barons that rule Venezuela may call themselves leftists, but they are nothing more than common thieves and murderers.
       Millions of poor people are the ones suffering the most in Venezuela. The fact that Corbyn cannot see this and does not care speaks volumes about the man. He pretends that the violence in Venezuela is committed equally by the government and the protestors. No, it is not. The government and their paramilitaries are the ones killing. The government has beaten, imprisoned and jailed thousands, including opposition mayors and other opposition leaders. True progressives will reject the phony, callous Corbyn and stand up for the the oppressed people of venezuela.

North Korea,Trump And The Nuclear Weapons Demon

     There are certain clear threats to the survival of humanity. Nuclear weapons and their proliferation are one of them. It is only a matter of time before a rogue regime or demented leader in possession of nuclear weapons holds the world hostage. Even if North Korea's leader is not suicidal, it is only a matter of time before someone that is suicidal along with homicidal comes along.
       The nuclear demon is here. It is not going away. There is no simple answer to ridding the world of this monster. The demon has spread and become stronger as the decades have passed since the advent of  nuclear weapons. Pushing the problem under the rug and pretending it does not exist has only made the demon stronger. North Korea was a can pushed down the road by administration after administration.
        The demon has grown. It has spun off other demons. Everywhere there are nuclear weapons, the demon or its offspring exists. If there is a God in heaven, surely Khan from Pakistan will be punished for bringing the evil demon to Pakistan, and then spreading it to North Korea and Iran while he enriched himself. The evil demon does not care about religion, politics, left, right, Muslim, Hindu, Jew, Christian, or anything. It exists to destroy.
         The nuclear weapons threat from North Korea does not exist because of Trump. Trump did not create the monsters that run North Korea. Even if calm returns in the short term in regards to North Korea, the evil demons of nuclear weapons and nuclear weapons proliferation are loose in the world and must not be ignored.
       

A Literal Following Of The Quran Can Lead To Terrorism, Bigotry, Hate And Violence

     It has become politically correct to assert the motivation behind Islamic terrorists is their extreme interpretation of the Quran, and not because they follow literally what is in the Quran.

      Anyone can read the Quran for themselves. There are verses in the Quran that if followed, can lead to bigotry, hate, violence and terror. The verses are there in black and white.

       There are other verses that, if followed, can lead to peace, goodwill and tolerance. Refusing to acknowledge this duality does not make someone politically correct or open minded. It only makes them cowardly.

       It is unfortunate that oil rich Islamic nations and others have pushed for the most extreme, bigoted, and yes, literal following of the violent, intolerant verses of the Quran, as the terrorism they inspire spins out of control worldwide. 

Boko Haram Murders Fishermen In Nigeria Because That Is What Islamic Jihadists Do

     Boko Haram just murdered, including by hacking, at least 31 fishermen in the Lake Chad area in northern Nigeria. Why would these murderous Islamic jihadists kill in such a cruel way, and why innocent, defenseless fishermen?

     Islamists and Islamic jihadists the world over believe their religion gives them a green light to murder, torture, rape and enslave at will. When confronted, they cry victimhood, and the rest of the world often capitulates to their demands. Islamic jihadists everywhere, including in Nigeria, Somalia, Kenya, India, Philippines, Afghanistan, Libya, Gaza, west bank,  South Thailand, Kashmir, Jordan, Egypt, Iraq, Lebanon, Pakistan, Europe and many more places, may have a gullible west think they are fighting for freedom, or against oppression, or for something noble, but they are not. They are fighting for Islamic supremacy and tyranny.

       Islamists and Islamic jihadists care nothing about this world. The lives of innocent fishermen means nothing to them. They do not care who starves, who suffers, who is murdered. They care only what their narrow minded, cowardly hate filled little minds care about- kill, rape, torture and enslave for Allah (God).

      

Iranian And Russian Support Of The Taliban And Jihadist Brutality

     Trump is said to be weighing out his options in regards to Afghanistan, the long drawn out war that has no end in sight.

      Russia and Iran are supplying the Taliban with weapons, even though what the Taliban represents goes completely against their interests. Their enjoyment at keeping America bogged down in an impossible to win, draining war overshadows everything else. 

      What is frustrating about Afghanistan is the common knowledge that both friends and foes of the United States support the Taliban. This is a war that cannot be won militarily. The Taliban is a Sunni Islamic jihadist organization, which Iran and Russia actively support it out of their mutual disdain for the United States.The Taliban also has support in the Sunni Islamic world. What, if any, pressure does the United States exert on Saudi Arabia, Qatar and others to stop their support of the Taliban?

       Recently, busloads of Afghani children were stopped at the Afghan border. They were on the way to Pakistan, a country full of madrassas. These are schools where many Pakistani and Afghani children from poor families go to live and learn the Islamist way of hate, bigotry and jihad. There are thousands of these madrassas in Pakistan, (far more madrassas than public schools), most supported by Saudi, Qatar and other middle east oil rich nations. Do they learn the skills that will help them build strong, healthy nations? No, these are schools of indoctrination where the modern world does not exist. Even as the Taliban is fought militarily, new generations of Islamic jihadists by the thousands will fill the shoes of the Taliban and other Islamic jihadi organizations.

       All over the world, including Pakistan, Somalia, Nigeria, Lebanon, Philippines, South Thailand, Egypt, Jordan, India, Gaza, West bank, Europe, children are being indoctrinated and brainwashed, courtesy of oil rich Islamic nations - Iran on the Shia side; Saudi, Qatar and others on the Sunni side. They are brainwashed into the Islamic jihadist world of mindlessness, bigotry, hatred, intolerance, devotion to war, killing, terrorism, suicide attacks and more. They become more sheeplike Islamists with a victimization mindset that they are always wronged, never wrong themselves, that have been afforded a religious right to murder, rape and enslave at will. 

Talk Radio Inconsequential Outrage

     Talk radio hosts go on and on for hours, feeding their fan base a steady diet of inconsequential outrage. And if the outrage is not inconsequential, it is highly selective, reflecting only what is important to their pampered lives and the prima donnas they protect.

       

How Conservatism In Florida Goes Against The State's Financial Interests

     The deregulate everything mantra means the right of corporations to pollute and overdevelop. Less regulation does not mean economic boom. Less regulation does mean a bloom in toxic algae, ocean dead zones, and a more degraded environment. Deregulation will not spur economic growth in Florida. Deregulation means environmental degradation, which harms Florida's most important industries; tourism, real estate and retirement.
       Politicians in Florida, democrat or republican, should be at the forefront of environmentalism. Who will want to live in or visit the sunshine state if it is full of toxic algae blooms, dead zones, a Gulf of Mexico or Atlantic ocean too polluted to swim, fish, or be around?
       
       

Who Pays The Price For Cheap Meat?

     The fast food industry is hugely profitable because it benefits from not incurring the true costs of its business. Cheap meat is not really cheap, no matter how much money is made by fast food corporations, or by their meat producers and suppliers, or by any of the other companies that benefit from cheap meat.

      These corporations are not held responsible for the enormous environmental damage and harm to human health that results from the agricultural and industrial practices that support the meat they sell or produce. The waste from pig farms, the inefficient use of land and agricultural resources to produce crops used to feed livestock, the runoff from fertilizers, pesticides, herbicides and other chemicals, and much more, have contributed to enormous degradation of land, poisoning of rivers and lakes, and dead zones in places like the Gulf of Mexico*. 

      There has been some focus on the fast food industry and how human health is impacted by the direct consumption of their products. Some attention, although hardly enough, has been paid to the humane care, treatment and slaughter of animals raised to be eaten. This is an area still far too lacking. Cheap meat too often means misery.

       Little attention has been paid to cheap meat's impact on the environment. Fast food and other corporations involved in the cheap meat business are not held accountable for environmentally damaging agricultural and industrial practices and how these practices affect human health.
       Cheap meat is cheap for a number of corporations, but exacts a heavy cost that the public, not the corporations, ends up paying.

            

           

( * The impact on oceans from the fast food industry's use of plastics, disposable gloves and other non biodegradable items is significant.)

            

Dead Zone In The Gulf Of Mexico; Cheap Meat And The Drive To Deregulate

     The dead zone in the Gulf of Mexico off the coast of Louisiana is considered the largest ever. This will adversely affect Louisiana's shrimp industry, tourism, recreational fishing and the income that generates, and far more. The wastewater and agricultural runoff that flows from the Mississippi River into the Gulf of Mexico that causes dead zones in the Gulf remains an enormous problem. With significant cuts to the budget and authority of the EPA, the harm to the Gulf of Mexico will not abate.
      Agricultural practices that serve the meat industry are more than inefficient; they are destructive. The demand for cheap meat comes at at an expensive price. The heavy load of nutrient pollution from farms kills the land, rivers, and places like the Gulf of Mexico where much of it ultimately ends up.(And this is to say nothing regarding chemicals, pesticides, herbicides,etc).
        The mantra that deregulation, fewer regulations, or removing regulations is nothing but a positive for business and the economy might be true in some cases, but it is not that simple. The Gulf of Mexico is a jewel that supports jobs, businesses, and much more. Destroy the Gulf, and the economic and environmental harm will be on a scale far worse than can be imagined.
          The fate of the Gulf rests in the hands of the states that keep a blind eye to agricultural practices, large meat producers and fast food corporations that are responsible for how corn and soybeans are grown in order to feed livestock, state and federal governments, and more. Corporations must not be given a free pass to ignore the environmental damage that results from the agricultural and industrial practices that support the meat they are selling.
           Eating beef, pork and other meats are choices, not necessities. But allowing that choice to continue to support unsound agricultural practices that destroy lands and seas means people are cutting their own throats. The Gulf Of Mexico needs protection, including from every state whose runoff ends up there.

         
             
       

Social Media Drowning Intelligence In Advertisements

        Social media is furthering one of the most mind numbing, mind dumbing things that mankind ever created; advertisements. Social media is full of this inescapable annoyance. Meanwhile, new generations of children are subject to an increased assault on their intelligence by advertisements.
        When social media forces people to watch a whole advertisement before they can watch what they want to watch, it is better that people turn it off. Social media needs to learn that ads may be inescapable, but forcing people to watch them is not.

Americans That Made China (Not America) Great Again

     Conservatives, republicans, liberals, democrats, capitalists and anti communists assisted in one of the largest transfers of wealth and power by sending much of the United States' manufacturing and industrial base overseas to China. They talked about patriotism, but greed came first. China offered cheap wages for workers, few or no benefits, low environmental standards, and low work safety standards. People jumped at the opportunity.
       And now for the results: much of China is polluted. The U.S. lost much of its industrial and manufacturing base. Much of the United States has become a low wage service economy. China is now the leading source of ocean contamination by plastic and non biodegradable waste. The Chinese army is strong, supported by a strong industrial base that supports China's large army. China is asserting itself in places of strategic interest not only to the United States, but also to southeast Asian nations. China scours the world for minerals, lumber and resources to feed the industrial base that the United States gave it, with no regards for wildlife, the environment, or local populations. Trillions of dollars are wasted as the United States, China and Russia squander their wealth on bloated militaries.
       None of this may have happened if the United States did not hand to China on a silver platter its industrial and manufacturing base.
        Imagine if none of this happened. There would be more well paying jobs in the states. The U.S. middle class would be stronger. Wealth would not be as concentrated in the hands of a few, especially those that profit from cheap overseas labor and poor working and environmental standards. China would not be aggressively asserting itself in the South China Sea and elsewhere. China (and Russia) help enemies of the United States in ways that would not be possible if China did not possess the industrial base the United States gave it.
       Greed won, not common sense, and now a heavy price will be paid.

U.S. Moderation Out The Door; The Search For Easy Answers

    What kind of country does the United States want to become? A nation where the voices of moderation are increasingly lost? A nation where political discourse becomes nothing but name calling? Many people dismiss their opponents with simplistic labels; right winger, socialist, liberal, and so forth.
     People with the ability to think for themselves usually embrace ideas and beliefs that cross political spectrums. We are destroying constructive political discourse by labeling and stereotyping.
     The United States is moving to extremes, and losing the center ground of moderation.
     The recent trend to dismiss any news that someone does not like as fake does not help. The internet is full of lies, distortions, and propaganda promoting one hate group or another, but that does not mean that because those idiots lie and create false realities, all of the media is fake.
      If people keep thinking there are simplistic answers to complex problems, we will continue learning the hard way that all this creates is more trouble.
      The U.S. thought all that was needed in response to Al Qaeda and the Taliban was a full scale invasion of Afghanistan. No one wanted to learn from the Soviet Union's experience in Afghanistan, or the British experience, or from Afghanistan's long history. We could have destroyed the Taliban and Al Qaeda with military intervention, but without the full scale invasion. We also had the northern alliance working with us.
        All we have to do, thought Bush and company, is invade Iraq. Everything will be easy and there will be democracy across the middle east after that.
        Over 15 years later, the United States is still bogged down in Afghanistan, with no end in sight. Regarding Iraq, the foolish and reckless invasion led to disaster. (Hopefully a Kurdish country will be established. The one good thing that can come from all of this bloodshed.)
        Obama, also searching for easy solutions, withdrew from Iraq, leaving religious minorities unprotected. Genocide resulted, which may not have happened if not for Bush and Obama.
        Do people honestly think Trump has an answer to the huge, entrenched gang problems that are destroying neighborhoods across the United States because he talks tough about one gang? Oh, the so called right will scream, this is a defense of the vicious gang MS-13. No, destroy MS-13, but be mindful that their enemies will be strengthened, and the United States will still have the same huge gang problem, with or without MS-13. There is no easy answer to the entrenched American gangs and American gang culture that have now spread from the United States to other countries.
        There are millions of people in the United States illegally that are honest, hardworking people that have been doing the jobs that Americans do not want to do. Trump said he would go after the criminals that are here illegally. Even Reagan made an accommodation and opened doors to hardworking people in the United States that were here illegally and that are not criminals.
        There is no Reagan in the white house, and voices of moderation are being lost. Now families will be torn apart as compassion, including the compassion and reasonableness that Reagan displayed, dies along with moderation.
        It is hard to have a discussion about health care without hearing the screams about socialism. France, Germany, Sweden, Finland, Belgium, England, Norway, The Netherlands, Canada,  Israel, and other close allies of the United States, have universal or widespread health care and are not communist or socialist nations. Millions of people with preexisting conditions may be left in the dust.
        There is a huge problem in the world with Islamic jihadists and Islamists. But moderate and secular Muslims cannot become the target of animosity. Trump may talk tough about the threat of Islamic radicalism, but it is the Trump administration that recently concluded the largest arms deal to Saudi Arabia ever. Make no mistake that the source of much of the Islamic bigotry and radicalism that is destroying this world is promoted by Saudi, Qatar, Iran and other oil rich countries.
        Trump was elected because he told people what they wanted to hear. It helped Trump enormously that Clinton was his opponent.
         Trump diverted attention to Hillary and away from himself. He made promises and boasts that many people bought.
         He had no health care plan, no idea how to deal with North Korea, no idea how to pursue peace in the middle east, no idea what to do about America's gang problem, no idea about America's drug problem, no idea how to stop Russian aggression, no idea how to stop China's destruction of the disputed South China Sea islands, no idea how to bring jobs back to the United States, no idea how to revitalize low income communities, no idea how to drain the swamp that he has now filled with the same wall street people that were swimming before in the swamp, no idea how to stop Russian cyberattacks, no idea about climate change, no idea how to stop environmental degradation, no idea about a lot of things he pretended to know about.
         People fall for  easy slogans and promises. Obama did it with his slogan, "Change You Can Believe In". Trump with his slogan, "Make America Great Again". What will be the next politician's slogan?
           People want easy answers. People are easily seduced. Especially if there is money behind the boaster, or some big name organization (that is how, for example, many ineffective animal related organizations collect millions), or some celebrity.
           There are no easy answers. The world is complex, and the sooner people face that complex reality and quit buying into easy answers and solutions, including those offered by religions and politicians, the better off humanity will be.