Abortion

To get a quick and entertaining summary of what I think about abortion you may want to watch this 1996 video:  https://www.amazon.com/George-Carlin-Back-Town/dp/B00M0DBWE8

Meanwhile, I went looking for scripture that condemns abortion and could find absolutely nothing in the New Testament regarding this topic except that Paul bragged in Galatians 1:15 that God had plans for him even when he was in the womb.  That hardly applies to the question of ending pregnancies.  It only applies to Paul’s ego.  All the other biblical stretches regarding abortion come from the Old Testament.  So funny.  It is the Old Testament that argues that adulterers should be stoned to death, divorce is forbidden, rebellious children should be stoned to death, animals should be sacrificed to God, we should wage war on non-believers, and a host of other rules and laws that Christians have conveniently chosen to ignore.  From my point of view, if one can cherry pick the scripture in the Old Testament that merits following, why choose scriptures that do not address abortion directly to insist that it is evil?  Hypocrisy, that is why.

Carlin is right.  The pro-life movement is not really pro-life.  It is anti-women.  Any group that claims they are pro-life and wants to argue that life begins at conception is facing a whole lot of scientific evidence to the contrary.  A zygote is not a human.  A blastocyst is not a human.  An embryo is not a human.  A fetus is not a human until about 24 weeks of pregnancy when it is possible that the fetus could exist without the life support of the mother.  Further, since about 80% of all fertilized eggs tend not to take root in the uterus and are flushed out monthly then that would be serial killing on the part of God or the mother depending on your perspectives or beliefs.

If pro-life people were really pro-life they would oppose the death penalty.  They would favor stronger gun control.  They would favor drastic action to save our climate.  They would support early childhood education, food stamps, child welfare, CPS, etc.  They do not.  It is a bogus claim to fight for a zygote but not for breathing human beings.

A puzzle I heard from another source that I cannot recall:  You are in the waiting room of your doctor’s office when the fire alarm goes off and smoke starts to fill the room.  You are on the 4^th floor.  You run to the stairway and begin to descend.  At the 2^nd floor landing you hear an infants crying, you open the door and check the hallway.  There is a door labeled “fertility clinic” behind which you hear the crying.  You open the door and there on the floor are identical twins crying as smoke fills the room.  Next to them is a refrigerator labeled “fertilized eggs”, and inside is a tray of 1,000 fertilized human eggs.  You have a choice.  You can grab the tray and exit the building, or you can pick up the twins and exit the building.  You cannot do both.  Who do you save?  Do you let the twins die to save 1,000 possible humans, or do you save the twins and let those possible humans die?  In your answer lies your true understanding of the abortion issue. 

It is the living, breathing humans that merit our protection.  It is the mother and her doctor who should make the decision regarding a pregnancy.  Any other argument is either purely political or purely religious and should have no place in our law.  Old white men, priests and preachers, and confused women have no right to intervene, much less regulate such a decision. 

If you oppose abortion, do not have one.  I am amazed that the very people who are most fearful of Muslims attempting to implement Shia law in the US are the very ones who advocate implanting their own religious views into law.  Imposing your religious beliefs on others is un-American. 

Potato Salad

My wife of 40 years and I tend to have the same conversation every afternoon around 4:00 or so.  Debbie and I are both retired and engaged in our own pursuits, but as we approach the evening meal one of us will ask the other of us, “What do you want to do for supper?”  We each toss out ideas, we each have veto power over those ideas.  The ideas include where we might want to go out to eat as well as what we might want to cook at home.  It is a never ending discussion, held seriously each day.  Yesterday more seriously than most.

I quipped, “I’m in the mood to cook out chicken.  You know, cook BBQ chicken on the grill.”  Debbie quickly confirmed that would be fine with her.  I then asked, “If I cook out the chicken will you warm up some Ranch Style Beans and make some of your delicious potato salad?” 

She thought for a second then replied, “The beans are not a problem.  I believe we have some Ranch Style Beans in the pantry.  But I am not sure we have enough potatoes for me to make potato salad.”

“How many potatoes do you need?” I asked.

“At least 4,” she said.

“How many potatoes do we have?” I wondered aloud.

“I believe we have 3 potatoes.  That is what I think; we have 3 potatoes,” she said.

I could have begun a lengthy and, from my point of view, pointless conversation about the number of potatoes we might actually have or how many potatoes I believed we had.  Or I could go to the refrigerator, pull out the crisper drawer where we keep potatoes, and count them.  I see myself as a rational person, so I went to count the potatoes.  One, two, three, four.  We had four potatoes.  I announced we had 4 potatoes, the correct amount needed to make potato salad.

Debbie said, “You are wrong.  I believe we have 3 potatoes so 3 potatoes is what we have.  I don’t care how many potatoes you believe we have.  I believe we have 3.”

I was taken aback.  This was not a conflict of theories, a disagreement over beliefs, a less than a peeling fight.  This was a classic conflict between what she believed to be true versus what was true.  It was true that there were 4 potatoes in the crisper regardless of how many she believed were in the crisper.  I made the mistake of pointing that out.  She was quick to respond.

“I believe there are 3.  I have always believed there are 3.  My parents taught me to believe there are 3 potatoes in the crisper and I believe them.  Everyone in my family believes there are 3 potatoes in the crisper.  Now you come along, thinking you are so smart with all your degrees and such and just announce that you believe there are 4 potatoes.  It doesn’t work that way, bub.  Your belief is wrong and my belief is right.”

Oh wow.  How did I get here?  Let me try again.

“You believe there are 3 potatoes in the crisper.  I know there are 4.  Why don’t you go and count the potatoes yourself and then we can agree.”

“No,” she said.  “You are brainwashed to think there are 4.  I am not going to play into your brainwashing and accept what you believe.  Just because you believe there are 4 does not make it true.”

“I agree.”   I said.  “If I believed there were 4 potatoes and did not count them then my belief is as subject to debate and research as yours.  But I do not believe there are 4 potatoes.  I know there are 4 potatoes.  I know it because I researched it, I verified it, and there are, in fact, 4 potatoes in the crisper drawer.  Please just verify the number yourself.”

“No, I am through talking about potatoes with you and anyone who thinks like you.  You have your beliefs and I have mine.  You will not change my mind.”

I won’t go into what happened next as she called all her sisters and verified that they believed there were 3 potatoes in the fridge.  She called all her Sunday school class members and verified that they believed there were 3 potatoes in the fridge.  She called all her childhood friends and all her current friends and having all lived very similar lives they all believed as she did.  There were only 3 potatoes in the fridge.  Further, they all agreed I must be nuts, I was an idiot, I was brainwashed and I had been misled, taken off the path of true belief.

Sadly, I knew them all to be wrong.  There were 4 potatoes, but I could not convince any of them that their core belief paled in light of what we knew to be true.  I begged them to do their own research, seek information from other sources, and confirm reality by their own eyes.  They all said no.  They did not want to. They would rather just end social discourse with me and hold on tightly to their beliefs.

Very well.  I went to the store to purchase what we actually needed for dinner and came home and cooked the chicken on the grill, warmed French bread in the oven, and peeled and boiled 4 potatoes removed from the crisper.  She heated the beans and made potato salad, feeling smug that I had to go to the store to get another potato. 

This is where we are in our country.  We have a lot of issues and we are looking for answers.  Some believe the answer is 3 potatoes, that is what they have been told, that is what all their friends believe, and they believe that this belief must be defended against all other beliefs.  They see those of us who have gone to the crisper and counted, announced that there are 4 potatoes, as just another belief system.  And they reject that belief system not understanding that they are not rejecting a belief system, they are rejecting truth, reality and the American way.

We must agree on the facts as we know them to be.  Not as we want them to be and not as we believe them to be, but as we know them to be.  There are, in fact, 4 potatoes.  Please check for yourself.  I know it is scary to start down the path of investigating the basis of your own beliefs.  It seems blasphemous somehow.  But it is not.  The pursuit of truth, the pursuit of knowledge, the pursuit of answers is the most human thing we can do.  I will always stand as your ally in the pursuit of truth.

Once we can all agree there are 4 potatoes we can work together to solve the very important issues facing us.  We cannot make potato salad together if we cannot agree on the actual ingredients we have.  Please go to the fridge and count. 

I remain forever grateful that I did not suggest pot roast.  We are still healing from the potato salad, but it was delicious.

Human Extinction

We had our chance and we are blowing it.  If I step back and look at our planet and think about what the future might hold I feel anger and depression.  What is the matter with us?

Humans appeared on the scene just 200,000 years ago.  That is nothing compared to the 4.5 billion years earth has been orbiting our star.  Dinosaurs were on the planet for 65 million years.  We are rookie life forms here.  It took us about 150,000 years to figure out how to make a fire.  It took us 195,000 years to figure out how to read and write.  It has taken us less than 200 years to destroy the planet.  Clearly, we no longer deserve to be the dominant life form on planet earth.

What have we done?  We are creative and innovative.  We figured out how to harness steam then petroleum.  We built large factories.  We became very mobile on land, on sea and in the air.  We have even ventured into space, but only in the last 60 years or so.  We made some people very rich but left many very poor.  While we pursued greater creature comforts we quickly changed the climate of the only home we have.  Our selfish short-term goals have doomed us.  And we continue on with the same goals.

Worse, we do not get along with each other.  We are smart enough to cooperate, but we choose not to because our belief systems continue to override our logic systems.  Our logic ability has elevated us to our current standard of living.  Our belief systems are killing us all.  Low pigment people hate high pigment people.  People who speak one language hate people who speak another language.  Christians hate non-Christians, and non-heterosexuals, and woman who abort fetuses.  Christians hate Muslims.  Many Muslims hate Christians.  Catholics have hated Protestants, and vice-versa.  And they all hate atheists.  Our religious beliefs have not brought us closer together, they have separated us even more.  Historically our wars have been about economics and belief.  Both greed and creed are killing us.

There are now 7 billion humans on this planet, the planet we are slowly killing.  Extinction is wide-spread now in the animal kingdom and we have not had an asteroid strike.  We have had human dominance.  We are suspicious of each other and are more likely to build walls than bridges.  We cannot seem to control our fear and hatred of others, especially others who may want to take resources from those that have them.  Our short term ignorance and competition will mean planet earth loses, not just us.  We will kill many life forms before we become extinct.

So, we had a mere 50,000 years of dominance.  If anyone outside earth is taking notes it will be obvious that we had a lot of potential but had the shortest run of dominance in the history of the planet.  If we continue the way we are going we will not last another 50,000 years.  Maybe not another 200 years.  Earth has seen 5 major extinctions and it appears we are in the 6^th.  We are likely to become endangered as well.  If we cannot breath, cannot drink, cannot eat we will become extinct.  Our biggest threat is not nuclear war or epidemics.  It is the death of our current climate.  But the threat of extinction may trigger war and epidemic.

Questions that keep me up at night include, are we moving toward a more tolerant, open, accepting culture or are we moving toward a more hostile, bigoted, alienated culture?  Are we moving toward a sharing of resources to save humans worldwide or are we moving to consolidate and protect the wealth of the few?  Are we taking major steps to reduce the international birth rate or are we allowing human reproduction to continue to run rampant?  Are we taking steps to abandon the burning of all fossil fuels or are we continuing, even accelerating, such burning?  Do we believe that life as we currently know it is somehow guaranteed to continue?  Do we believe that our beliefs somehow protect us when it is clear they divide us?  Do we believe we should not have to curtail our appetites to save ourselves?  Are we so smart we will be dumb enough to cause our own extinction?

If life on this planet survives humans another life form will become dominant.  Will the cetaceans do a better job than we did?  I think so.  They are better adapted to this planet than we are, they cooperate with each other, and their brain capacity is bigger.  I wish them the best of luck as we continue the death march toward self-destruction and extinction.

Simple Things That Could Change America

Climate change continues, glaciers melt, sea level rises, Mar a Lago disappears under the ocean during a Trump dinner.

Fox News begins to scroll across the bottom of their screen, “This site is for entertainment purposes only and should not be construed as actual news.”

The Rush Limbaugh show begins with a disclaimer:  “Rush Limbaugh is a college dropout and has absolutely no expertise in analyzing current or political events.  His comments are his own and do not necessarily reflect reality.”

The Sean Hannity show begins with a disclaimer:  “Sean Hannity is a college dropout and has absolutely no expertise in analyzing current or political events.  His comments are his own and do not necessarily reflect reality.”

The Rachel Maddow show begins with a disclaimer:  “Rachel Maddow is an honor graduate of Stanford University with a degree in political science, is a Rhodes Scholar, and holds a PhD from Oxford University in political science giving her high levels of expertise in analyzing current and political events.  Her comments are based on her expertise and the network totally endorses her content.”

The 700 Club begins to scroll across the bottom of their screen:  “This is a politically partisan fantasy broadcast.  There is no evidence that Jesus ever actually existed and if he did exist there is no evidence he would have held a conservative perspective.”

The Republican Party begins to publish its actual goals:  “Reduce taxes, make the rich richer, deprive poorer people of food, medicine, clothing and education, incarcerate as many minority individuals as possible, convert as many government functions as possible to private sector functions enriching entrepreneurs at the expense of the users, increase the military to enrich government contractors, spread fear of others and fear of loss among the American people, ensure wealthy people and companies donate as much money as possible to ensure Republican victories, deny climate change, deny any negative environmental impact that harms a corporation’s ability to make money, oppose unions and any other worker organization that might somehow limit the authority of the boss, institutionalize discrimination and the Christian religion, deprive as many poor and minority people of voting as possible, deny all facts that indicate these goals, win elections at any cost, end democracy to establish a fascist state controlled by the wealthy.”

Perhaps the above might wake up a few folks.  Then again….

Democrats in Charge

What if Democrats controlled both houses of Congress and the White House?  As I read the conservative pundits and their fans it appears those folks picture some kind of American Apocalypse or Armageddon.  And that, of course, is just silly.  The following things would most likely happen:

They would re-write the tax codes so that an actual progressive tax was in place.  Those making the most would pay the most, those making the least would pay the least.  None of this nonsense wherein billionaires don’t pay a penny and working people see their refunds go down and their tax burden go up.

Re-writing the tax code would generate more federal revenue.  Once the cuts in social services are reinstated, real money following a real plan would be implemented to renovate or replace our aging infrastructure and maintain our military as the best on the planet. 

They would make health care a single payer plan.  Doctors, hospitals and pharmaceutical companies will scream, but they have all become obscenely rich under the current system while millions die due to lack of care.  We must improve our infant mortality rate and the services we provide our citizens.  It will be cheaper for the subscriber and offer more coverage.  Health care will grow in importance as medical advances continue and we live longer so we should treat it like we treat the military.  One US health care system.  Yes, it would be socialistic in design just like public schools, local law enforcement, local water provision, local waste treatment, highways, the military, etc.  It would clearly work.  The 600,000 Americans who declare bankruptcy each year due to medical expense would disappear.  And since zero doctors declare bankruptcy they are likely to see their standard of living drop from the 1% to maybe 2 or 3%.

They would make clear in law that no belief system is more important than protecting the rights of human beings.  Discriminating against people based on race, religion, sexual preference, gender, etc. would be illegal. 

They will encourage citizens to vote.

They would make laws enforcing the clear separation of church and state.  No more Christian heavy policies vs Muslim heavy policies, etc.  No one would be required to take a loyalty oath or declare their faith for employment.

The trade tariffs would end and America could return to be the productive leader of the free world.

They would commit to ending those human behaviors that harm our climate.  Burning fossil fuels must stop and just like the doctors, oil men and women will have to get used to less money.

The Citizens United loophole would be closed and corporations would not be allowed to spend millions on political campaigns.

They will take better care of our veterans.

They will support more funding for public education.  The privatization of schools and prisons would stop as it has not improved those institutions but has merely made a new group of CEO’s very rich.

They will re-engage with our allies.  They will support NATO, EU, Britain, Canada, France, Mexico, etc. 

They will take a hard line against ambitious dictators like Putin and Kim Jong Un, and provide human services to the people in Central America, Africa, Asia and the Mid-East whose lives are threatened by despotic leadership.

They will not be tolerant of terrorists in any shape, form or fashion.  Nations known to turn a blind eye to terrorist strongholds will feel our sanctions.  Nations that act as terrorist will feel our might.

The minimum wage would rise and hard working people would be able to survive on that income.

They would end the nonsense that is incorporated in supply side economics, top-down economics, give the rich a break economics or whatever the conservatives call making the rich richer.  The simple truth is that if more working class people have more money they will spend more money and that is what drives the economy.

They will promote the exploration of space.

They will promote the development of green energy.

They will not tolerate conspiracy theories via transparent government.  Everyone will share tax returns, transcripts, and any publicly funded investigation will be shared with the public.

People appointed to run Cabinet level offices will have to demonstrate their knowledge and skill in those areas and commit to defending the constitution and law.

They would have reasonable restrictions on the purchase of a firearm including background checks.  No one would go to anyone’s house and confiscate weapons.  Law-abiding non-felons could still purchase guns, and gun shows would have to follow the same rules as pawn shops and Academy.  It will not end gun related violence, but it will significantly reduce it.

The abortion debate would be shifted from government to religious organizations where it should be held.  Women should control decisions regarding their own bodies with limits on late term abortions.  It’s simple really.  If you think abortion is murder your position is inspired by your religion and should not be policy.  If you think abortion is murder do not have an abortion.

They will not build walls.  They will build bridges.

They will not turn a blind eye to the suffering of people on this planet, especially those who make it to our shores seeking asylum and a chance for a better life.

The chaos would end.  We would not have a president who personally attacks members of congress, or judges or members of the media, or foreign officials, or women in general.  When charged with hiding our new leadership would be forthcoming.  When charged with lying our new president would confess, or clarify or explain.  We would return to an era where leaders could be trusted or called out if they could not be.

Democratic control of government would not be the end of life as we know it.  It would be a return to people-centered, constitutional sanity and re-establish the United States as the economic and moral leader of the world.

The Mueller Report: Let Me Get This Straight.

I remain so incredulous regarding the Mueller report and the responses to that report that I simply gasp for air and wonder what universe, what dimension, what time warp I have slipped into.  So just to clarify for my own mind, the following are the facts as I know them to be, all subject to verification via multiple fact checkers.

In May of 2017, Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein appointed Robert Mueller as Special Counsel for the Justice Department.  The task given Mueller was to investigate claims that the Russians interfered with the 2016 Presidential election and that there existed links and coordination between the Trump campaign and the Russian effort to determine the outcome of our election.  He was also authorized to investigate any other matters that might arise as a result of the investigation.  Mueller is a Republican, and a former director of the FBI.

By August 2018 Trump had tweeted more than 100 times that the Mueller investigation was a “witch hunt.” 

By March of 2019 the Mueller investigation had led to the indictment and conviction of Robert Cohen, Trump’s lawyer, Paul Manafort, Trump’s election campaign chairman, George Papadopolous, Trump’s foreign policy advisor, Rick Gates, a Trump campaign aide, Michael Flynn, Trump’s national security advisor, Roger Stone, longtime Trump advisor, Sam Patten, Republican operative and lobbyist, Russian assets, and 3 companies.  6 pleaded guilty and 27 were indicted, as well as Russian nationals for a total of 34 criminal charges.  Trump continued to call the investigation a witch hunt despite the fact that no other President in history has had as many criminal charges filed against his administration as Trump.  Despite the facts that Mueller is a Republican, appointed by a Republican and all the evidence, the convictions, the guilty pleas, Trump continued to call the investigation a witch hunt.  The charges ranged from violation of campaign finance laws to obstruction of justice, witness tampering, making false statements to the FBI, making false statements to a Congress, lying to Congress regarding an effort to get in touch with WikiLeaks to smear Clinton, lying to Congress about a Trump effort to open a Trump hotel in Moscow, and failure to file as a foreign agent.  There were no charges of collusion.

Since his inauguration, Trump has appointed and/or replaced five Attorneys General or acting Attorneys General.  His most recent appointment is William Barr who assumed office in February of 2019.  Barr is on record as saying he does not believe a sitting President can be indicted, he does not believe a sitting President can be subpoenaed, and he does not believe a sitting President can be charged with obstruction of justice.

On Friday, March 15, 2019 Mueller submitted to Barr a 300 page report summarizing the findings of his investigation.  By Sunday, Barr issued a summary of that 300 page report focusing on the no collusion outcome and the exoneration of Trump.  No one has first hand knowledge of those findings save Barr.  Lawyers across the nation challenged Barr’s ability to read, comprehend and summarize such a lengthy report in a matter of 48 hours. 

No one has seen the Mueller Report except Barr.  Barr, who was appointed by Trump, has submitted the Mueller Report to Trump for editing and redacting prior to public release.

In other words, the administration under investigation now has the authority to edit the report regarding that investigation and such authority was granted by the person appointed by the administration under investigation.

Have I got that straight? 

Can this possibly be justice?

Update 3/30:  Barr announces that the White House will not review and edit report.  He will do it instead.  Is there a difference?  Do you feel better?

Fruit of the Tree You Chop

It is the 30^th anniversary of the initiation of the World Wide Web.  The potential for humans to learn, grow, share, explore, and improve has never been greater.  Knowledge and hypothesis are instantly available.  And yet, it continues to appear to me that the number one obstacle to real human advancement is fear based on belief systems, not knowledge and not science.  There are actually people out there who believe that there is such a thing as “alternative” facts.  How do we fix that?  The expansion and acquisition of knowledge reduces fear and empowers action for improvement.  But we are currently mired in the muck of anti-intellectualism and anti-science and cannot seem to find our way back to solid ground. 

So I propose consequences for people who are in denial of facts, denial of science, denial of the truth.  It is OK to believe the earth is flat.  It is OK to believe the earth is 10,000 years old.  It is OK to believe there is some kind of sky daddy who personally listens to 7 billion people and keeps score on what you do.  It is OK to believe humans are not causing climate change.  It is OK to believe that there is not a connection between the number of fire arms and the number of deaths by fire arms.  It is OK to believe that the biggest threat to our nation is poor immigrants from south of our border and not white male extremists with weapons.  It is OK to believe that the Mueller investigation is a witch hunt despite the number of indictments, convictions and prison time by Trump’s top men.  It is OK to believe that Donald Trump is anything other than a crook, a con-man, a liar, a serial sexual assaulter, a bigot, a Russian asset, a misogynist, and a white supremacist and that he was chosen by some supernatural deity for his current role.  Believing all that in the face of what we know to be true, what we know to be fact is OK for that segment of the population who prefer beliefs over fact and Fox over real news.

But, one cannot have it both ways anymore.  If you believe any of the above, all of which are in direct conflict with science, truth and fact, then you have clearly taken a stand that is anti-science, anti-math, anti-truth and anti-fact.  Therefore you will no longer be allowed to enjoy the fruits of science while you rail against science.

We will set up collection stations for the folks who believe the above to be true.  These folks will be asked to surrender all the fruits of science since they do not believe the science.  We will collect all cell phones, all computers, all microwaves, all smart TV’s, all prescription medications, all home based HVAC units, all drones, all routers, and all remotes.  These items will be stored until such time as these folks agree to accept science and truth over propaganda, conspiracy theories, and lies. 

Seems only reasonable that those who chop at the tree of science should be denied the fruit of that tree.