Contradictions Of “Life”

Posted on February 12, 2023 by jilldennison under Bits 'n Pieces, Economic issues, education, Environmental Issues, Global Issues, guns, Racism & Bigotry, Social commentary

Just a few of my rambling thoughts on this Saturday night/Sunday morn. America doesn’t need to be made “Great” again, it just needs to be made “okay” again. Right now, it is not okay. America is a study in contradictions. Setting aside the political contradictions for another day, the societal contradictions are tearing the nation apart. Taking a look at just one of those contradictions … life.

I find it interesting that the anti-abortionists call themselves “pro-life” when they really are not. They are quite simply just against abortion and against the rights of women to make their own life’s choices. IF they were truly ‘pro-life’ they would also support measures to ensure that no child goes to bed hungry at night … in fact, that no person goes to bed hungry. They would be advocating for help to feed the poor and provide housing for the homeless, they would be staunch supporters of such things as the Affordable Care Act, food and housing assistance for those in need, and more. But as a whole, the anti-abortionists support none of those things that would help preserve human life. Next time someone tells you they are against abortion, ask them how much money they have donated to humanitarian relief, to organizations that help people climb out of poverty.

Along the same lines, it is a curiosity to me that we support medical science and their efforts to increase human longevity, and yet we speak of ending Social Security and Medicare, a move that would decrease human longevity drastically, or at the very least make those ‘extra’ years ones of poverty and struggle. Think about it … governments and foundations spend billions of dollars every year for medical research to find cures for the illnesses that kill people, such as cancer, stroke, heart failure and more. So, in 1950 in the U.S., the average life expectancy was 68.14 years, and today it is 79.11 years … thanks to medical science, we have gained approximately 11 years of life. But … how will we spend those 11 years? Will we spend them being hungry or homeless, begging on the streets for scraps of food? WHY bother to help people live longer if we are not willing to help them live better? I’ve long said that quality of life matters far more to me than quantity, and I firmly believe that.

And speaking of quality of life … life is not simply the act of being born. Being born is a minute or two, but it’s what comes after that is defined as life. So, if people are so determined to force women to give birth to babies, then why aren’t those same people working to ensure that when those babies are grown in twenty years or so, they will have potable water to drink, sufficient healthy food to eat, and fresh air to breathe? Climate change deniers tend to also be those who claim they are “pro-life” when speaking of a woman’s right to terminate a pregnancy. They claim that there is a higher power looking after the planet’s environment, and therefore they can go on driving their gas-guzzlers, flying on jets, eating beef every night, keeping their heat or air-conditioning running day and night, with little or no regard for the environment. Well, I don’t know anything about a higher power, but I DO know a little bit about climate science, and at the current rate, those babies people want born today won’t meet that 79.11 year life expectancy, for they will slowly die from lack of food & water, from lack of breathable air, and from diseases caused by those lacks.

And lastly … if those who claim to be “pro-life” truly believe that every life is important, then why are they also “pro-gun”? The leading cause of death among children and teens in the United States is guns. The pro-life crowd would criminalize abortion, but fight against any form of gun regulations. So … force the woman to give birth to her baby just so she can watch him be gunned down seven, eight, or twenty years later? If they actually give a damn about life, they would be staunch advocates for strict gun laws. Are they? No. Another school shooting? “Awww … too bad … thoughts and prayers …” The sole purpose of a gun is to end life … isn’t this a direct contradiction to being “pro-life”?

Just a few things to think about next time someone steps up on his soapbox to talk about their “pro-life” stance. LIFE is more than simply being born.

We need to treat climate change as the emergency it is

Posted on July 20, 2022 by jilldennison under education, Environmental Issues, Global Issues, History, Political commentary, Re-blogs, Social commentary

The past few weeks have brought record high temperatures around the globe. We here in the U.S. are lucky, for most homes are air-conditioned, but in the UK, air-conditioning has always been considered an unnecessary luxury, since it is typically almost never hot there. But a few days ago, it reached 104° F (40° C) in the UK. And yet, people still call climate change a hoax. Our friend Pendantry shows us a picture that says it all. Few words, only an image, one that should stay in everybody’s mind. Thank you, Pendantry.

Wibble

Global heat map comparison, 1976 and 2022

There are still far too many in denial of reality.

I’ve said it all before. I’m tired of being told I’m an ‘alarmist’.

‘Enjoy’ the heatwave, folks. And remember, from here on it only gets ‘better’.

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Discord & Dissension-Part XIII-The Administrative State

Posted on April 17, 2020 by jilldennison under education, Election 2020, Environmental Issues, Global Issues, Jeff & Jill's Project, Law and justice, Political commentary, Re-blogs, Social commentary, Trump's Staff Picks

In this week’s episode of mine and Jeff’s project, Jeff reminds us all just why it is so important that we vote Trump and his band of crooked cronies out in November. If the people of this country weren’t convinced that Donald Trump & Co are out to destroy our government before, then they surely must be after the bungling ineptitude of the past two months! Thanks Jeff … great post!!!

On The Fence Voters

As my friend Jill and I have been pointing out over the last several months of our project, the issues that confront us in this year’s election are enormous and growing by the minute. While many Americans may not have realized how crucial good government is to our well-being before, they certainly do now. We see, in real-time, what an incompetent and unresponsive government can do to a society. Lives continue to be lost at an alarming rate, while the leader of the free world dithers and blames everyone but himself.

Unfortunately, though, our current president and the Republican Party paved the way for this. When a political party believes that government should only exist for security purposes, and not much else, what you see is what you get.

This mantra is nothing new. The attack on the government by the Republican Party began many years ago, highlighted by none…

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🇬🇧 The Brexit Conundrum — Gary’s View

Posted on October 13, 2019 by jilldennison under Global Issues, guest posts, Law and justice, Political commentary, Social commentary

When I first asked for guest posts from my Canadian and UK friends, Gary generously said he would write one for me, but as we all know, sometimes life gets in the way of the best laid plans. This morning, I was thrilled when I woke up and saw this one in my inbox! This is the fourth guest post on the topic of Brexit from a citizen of the UK, and tackles the issue from a slightly different perspective than previously done by Roger, Colette, and Frank. Thank you so much, Gary, for your time and effort, and for sharing your views on this multi-faceted issue!

The World Carl Predicted

“Science is more than a body of knowledge; it is a way of thinking. I have a foreboding of an America in my children’s or grandchildren’s time—when the United States is a service and information economy; when nearly all the key manufacturing industries have slipped away to other countries; when awesome technological powers are in the hands of a very few, and no one representing the public interest can even grasp the issues; when the people have lost the ability to set their own agendas or knowledgeably question those in authority; when, clutching our crystals and nervously consulting our horoscopes, our critical faculties in decline, unable to distinguish between what feels good and what’s true, we slide, almost without noticing, back into superstition and darkness”

The great Carl Sagan wrote this in 1995. I think even he would have been shocked at how quickly his prophecy has come true. Many industries are broken. Technology is in the hands of the few with our privacy compromised. So many feel alienated from society. Our political systems are increasingly ineffective and compromised. Reason has been replaced by self-interest. That is America today. Unfortunately, you can substitute the United Kingdom for America here. I suspect a growing list of countries can slot in here. It’s a sobering thought.

“… we slide, almost without noticing, back into superstition and darkness”

In the United Kingdom the country is imploding. It has the feel of a society spiralling out of control towards civil unrest. The middle ground is silent. Political debate has been ditched in favour of fake news, lies and threats. Media is becoming propaganda led. Where Extremists go unchallenged and the country is obsessed on one issue – nothing else matters. That subject, Brexit, is no longer justified in terms of benefits for the population. It’s Brexit couched in the narrative of the 1930s.

In the United States effective government has been replaced by a modern-day Nero. Just replace a fiddle with a twitter account. In both countries Climate Science is scorned in favour of late night claret-fuelled meetings with the leaders of the fossil fuel industries. Where our political elite talk of making our countries great again while they feather their nests. They spout increasingly vile racist and inflammatory language.

Recently the United Kingdom woke to the Leave Campaigns new slogan.

“We didn’t win two world wars to be pushed about by a Kraut.”

The person the leave campaign are abusing is someone who was a distinguished research scientist who became the first female German Chancellor and has successfully served 4 terms. Compare that to the people behind the slogan who are basically narrow-minded racists funded by profiteers (Hedge Fund Investors). But that’s the problem in the UK. Brexit has allowed the extremists to come out from the shadows and drive national policy. As Sagan would say – ‘almost without us noticing’. But sadly, it’s not by chance. It’s fostered at Government level. Our puppet PM Johnson views his best way to personal success is by crashing out of Europe. Riding the anti-Europe/Little England bandwagon. His Puppet Master Cummings (the PM’s Advisor) has a clear game plan. To pour petrol on the simmering schism. To marginalise and vilify anyone who gets in their way. Be that MPs, Doctors, Business Leaders, Judges and people who voted to stay in Europe. We are all branded traitors. Enemy of the people. The only people who count being the 17 million who voted to leave. Let’s not forget the UK population is 64 million.

So maybe our PM should leave the Brexit debate to the grownups and go back to doing what he does best – providing public funded favours to his girlfriends. We can then halt the attempt to drive a country purely fuelled on superstition and hate into the darkness. We desperately need a viable way out of this mess. I voted to remain but I have come to the conclusion that we now do need to leave in some form. I just can’t see how a new referendum will bring healing to this nation. I fear it will add more impetus to the extremists. A potentially violent campaign ending with one side further alienated. The alienated provide rich pickings for the extremist vultures. It’s a recipe for further prolonged conflict and social disaster.

We need to find compromise. Middle ground that can unite the moderates in both camps. So, for me it’s Brexit but with the important compromise. Agreeing to the key principle of freedom of movement. I have never understood how the Government has championed the ending of this freedom as some sort of huge win for our people. How can taking away the right of British citizens to travel freely to 26 countries be seen as a step forward. As soon as we accept the principle of freedom of movement then many of the current negotiating logjams are removed. It then opens up the prospect of more fruitful negotiations with our friends in Europe. Borders, trade and travel continue to operate effectively. We can then concentrate on finding the right balance between increased political freedoms and essential Europe wide partnerships.

This would provide a bridge between the moderates on both Leave and Remain sides. It would also provide a bridge between the older generations who voted more heavily in favour of leaving and the younger generations who largely voted to remain.

Unfortunately, this is not a time for building bridges rather it’s the age of WALL-building. Putting up barriers again. It’s the time when doing the right thing for your country is an increasingly alien concept. It’s the age of Self Gain. Where policy is driven by Hedge Fund profits and the location of Hotels. Where the Brexit financial backers are scheduled to make billions from a crash after betting against the pound. Where US foreign policy is determined by the location of Trump Hotels and his business interests. Where the removal of citizen rights is applauded. Where former war on terror allies are thrown to the wolves.

These are dark times driven by hate, greed and superstition. When one of the few lights is a growing climate movement driven forward by a brave teenager vilified as being both demonic and dangerous by the establishment. When you hear that language, you know the few are worried. Just maybe we can continue accelerate this movement and we can save our planet. And at the same time the seismic changes this would cause would help save our individual nations. Sweep away the Darkness and lead us all to a better place. I’m sure Carl Sagan would sign up to that.

Note to Readers: Thanks so much to all who participated in this project, either by writing a post or through comments. The project had value beyond what I initially envisioned, and those of us living outside the UK have learned so much from Roger, Colette, Frank and Gary. We are all hoping for the best possible outcome at the end of this month. Hugs to all!

Trump vs Facts

Posted on September 7, 2019 by jilldennison under Environmental Issues, Political commentary

It shouldn’t have been a big deal … but it was. It shouldn’t have received the attention of the international press … but it did. It was stupid, foolish, but relative to the news of the day, irrelevant – just another example of the ignorance of the ‘man’ who sits in the Oval Office. I mostly ignored it, save for a brief mention, but an ego was involved … perhaps the most bloated ego of any in the world … and thus it was blown up, mocked, and the ‘man’ in the Oval Office refused to simply say, “I made a mistake”.

I try hard not to waste my voice here on my blog with irrelevancy, unless it is to bring a smile, a laugh, a bit of levity to my readers. But, what was irrelevant has now become yet another sign of the despotism that flows around the White House today.

The incident, of course, is the one that began last Sunday, September 1^st, when Trump tweeted …

“In addition to Florida – South Carolina, North Carolina, Georgia, and Alabama, will most likely be hit (much) harder than anticipated. Looking like one of the largest hurricanes ever. Already category 5. BE CAREFUL! GOD BLESS EVERYONE!”

The fallacy was that Alabama was not in the path of Hurricane Dorian. Within an hour, the National Weather Service (NWS) issued a statement correcting Trump:

“Alabama will NOT see any impacts from #Dorian. We repeat, no impacts from Hurricane #Dorian will be felt across Alabama. The system will remain too far east.”

And then the sh*t hit the proverbial fan. Had it been left there, it would likely have died before the next round of late-night television shows, for there were more important things to worry about. But, Trump can never be contradicted, can never be told he is wrong about anything, despite the fact that he has been proven wrong about most everything. The notice by the NWS was important and necessary, for Trump’s statement could have sent Alabama residents into a frenzy, wondering why they hadn’t been warned and running out stripping the store shelves of bottled water and other essential supplies. It was the responsible thing for the NWS to do.

So, Trump couldn’t let it lie, took one of the official maps showing the likely trajectories of Hurricane Dorian, and with a Sharpie pen, drew an additional line to include Alabama in the path of the storm. It was as if a 5-year-old child had done it, was obviously a stupid thing, but … well, Trump’s ego, y’know. And then the whole thing blew up.Trump continued to defend his tweet and complain about the flak he’s received over media reports that point out that he was wrong, his vile rhetoric becoming more ludicrous with each tweet. He tweeted a doctored video of a CNN segment that noted Alabama might feel the effects of the hurricane. WHAT PRESIDENT DOES THIS??? Where is the professionalism of the office? Where is the dignity? For six straight days, he tweeted obsessively about the whole thing, even demanding an apology.

But, on Friday this truly became a serious issue, and one that should have every person in this nation up in arms. On Friday afternoon, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), the parent agency of the National Weather Service, issued a statement declaring that its Birmingham, Alabama office was wrong to dispute the president’s warning that Alabama “will most likely be hit” by the hurricane despite forecasts to the contrary.

“The Birmingham National Weather Service’s Sunday morning tweet spoke in absolute terms that were inconsistent with probabilities from the best forecast products available at the time.”

Yes, my friends, a government agency tasked with reporting facts, tasked with the safety of the nation under severe weather conditions, was forced to bow to the whims of a megalomaniac for the sake of salving his ego. Let that one sink in a minute.

This is no longer a laughing matter, for it is further evidence that the safety of this nation matters less than the ego of Donald Trump. This only happens in autocracies, it does not happen in democratic nations. It is but one in a long line of such incidents, but this one received the notoriety to put it front and center and the perfidy cannot be ignored.

The biggest issue facing every industrialized nation on the globe is climate change, yet because Trump says it is a “Chinese hoax”, our government doesn’t talk about climate change. The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has removed all references to climate change from every one of its documents. The EPA has also removed the Climate Science page from its website. All to stroke the ego of a madman who just happens to be the highest-ranking official in our government. And now, our National Weather Service is not allowed to give us accurate warnings when a devastating, life-threatening storm is looming.

Can we ever again trust anything we are told by any government agency? No. We now know that Trump manipulates the information given by every agency under his control, and we should not take a single thing at face value. Yesterday, the Bureau of Labour Statistics released their report for August, saying that the U.S. had added some 130,000 jobs during the month. I do not believe it for one minute. What if we actually lost 50,000 jobs? Trump is apprised of the report before it is made public. What if he said, “NO … we didn’t lose jobs, we added jobs — lots of beautiful jobs — great jobs! This report is ‘fake news!!!’” Then, would the Labour Department have changed the numbers to match Trump’s whim? I posit that no new jobs were added in August, and that the Labour Department report has no validity. For the duration of Trump’s term in office, I shall not believe another piece of data that comes out of our federal government.

It is a damn shame when one ‘man’, in just under three years, can completely shred the credibility of the entire federal government, but that is exactly what has happened. Would we receive proper warning if there were a pending threat from another nation? Maybe, maybe not. Depends on what Donald Trump wants us to know. This is a dangerous and disturbing situation. Next time there’s a hurricane, the NWS will ask Trump where he would like them to draw the projected trajectory. I can envision a number of scenarios where lives would be placed in danger, lives perhaps lost, to protect the fragile ego of a man-child. Think about it.

Bad People Doing Bad Things …

Posted on July 18, 2019 by jilldennison under Election 2020, Environmental Issues, Global Issues, Political commentary, Rants, Social commentary

Look at the circle above. What colour do you see? What? Red? No, I call that blue … definitely blue. You still claim it’s red? Then you will not be allowed to speak about the colour of the circle, for your view does not match my own, and thus is wrong.

Dr. Rod Schoonover was a senior intelligence analyst with the U.S. State Department and is an adjunct professor at Georgetown University. Last week, Dr. Schoonover left the employ of the State Department. Why? Because he is a scientist. Because he looked at that circle and called it red, even though Donald Trump and his administration warned him to say it was blue. And then, Trump taped his mouth so he couldn’t say it was red. And Dr. Schoonover decided he had enough and resigned his position.Dr. Schoonover was invited to speak before the House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence on June 5^th about the security risks the United States faces because of climate change. The Trump administration, according to leaked internal memos, tried to force Dr. Schoonover to change his prepared speech, but the State Department’s Bureau of Intelligence and Research refused and ultimately he was allowed to speak before the committee. However, when it came time to publish his written testimony, the administration blocked it.

Why? Because it did not match the Trump administration’s views. According to Myron Ebell, who was once considered to head the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) before Trump settled on Scott Pruitt, Trump’s re-election campaign consultants told him …

“We have polling showing that you need to stress your environmental accomplishments and not start controversial things that will get you bad press, like going after climate science.”

Let that one sink in for a minute, folks.

Policy decisions and governance are now being mandated by Donald Trump’s campaign for next year’s election. Not the welfare of the country and its people, not our safety and well-being, but what will play well in the rallies, what his ‘base’ wants to hear, what will give him the best chance to spend an additional four years destroying our nation, our lives.

One of the statements White House officials objected to was this observation:

“Absent extensive mitigating factors or events, we see few plausible future scenarios where significant — possibly catastrophic — harm does not arise from the compounded effects of climate change.”

On Monday, July 8^th, Trump did, in fact, give a speech where he stated that his White House was working “harder than many previous administrations” on the issue of the environment, adding: “Maybe almost all of them.”

Given that he has spent his entire two-and-a-half years in office destroying environmental regulations, pulling out of the Paris climate accord, encouraging the fossil fuel industry, destroying wildlife protections, opening federal lands to drilling and mining, environmentalists’ jaws dropped when they heard his speech. We shouldn’t be surprised … the man has yet to speak an honest word!

The environment and climate change should not be … should not be an issue of partisan politics! And yet … it is. According to a recent survey, 81% of Democrats said climate change was “very important,” compared with more than the 56% of independents and a measly 26% of Republicans. Yo Republicans!!! Wake up and remove your head from your arse!!! You are killing us!

Daniel Q. Greenwood, Trump’s deputy assistant in the White House office of legislative affairs, said that Schoonover’s written testimony was unacceptable because …

“The testimony still has serious concerns with internal components and focuses heavily on the science. Because it doesn’t reflect the coordinated IC position, or the administration’s position, there is no way this can be cleared ahead of the hearing.”

It focuses too heavily on the science??? And it doesn’t reflect the administration’s position. Apparently, Dr. Schoonover didn’t read the republican’s bible that states, “Ye shall put forth no facts, but only whatever fantasy his Trumpship wishes on any given day”.

You can see and download the .pdf file of Dr. Schoonover’s written assessment, with comments and suggested changes written by Trump lackeys. It is said that most of the comments came from William Happer, a ‘theoretical physicist’ and White House adviser on the National Security Council who denies the established scientific consensus on global warming. Certainly that makes him uniquely qualified to edit a scientific document on climate change, doesn’t it?

Wildfires, hurricanes, tornadoes, flooding, droughts, melting ice caps, algae blooms, a declining bee population … all far in excess of what has been the normal range. Where I live, we have had “air quality alerts” every day for the past two weeks, and today for the first time ever, I received an “excessive heat warning”. This coming weekend, I will not be able to leave my house because the temperatures are expected to be around the 100° (F) mark (38° C), and I cannot survive in such. I have lived in this general area since 1987 and have never once seen temps reach 100°. In fact, as a rule, I can count on my fingers the number of days the temps are over 90°.

Bottom line — climate science is unpopular with Trump’s base, and there is an election in just over 15 months, so the entire planet must be doomed to the whims and vagaries of an uneducated group of people who like Donald Trump because he says there is no such thing as climate change … and oh yeah, besides that he’s gonna build a damn wall and have Mexico pay for it.

The Hope For Our Future …

Posted on March 16, 2019 by jilldennison under Environmental Issues, Global Issues, Political commentary, Social commentary

The best news of the week was brought to us by students skipping school! That’s right … kids from 123 nations chose to take a stand, to make their voices heard about climate change, so they played hookey, skipped school and engaged in peaceful protest on Friday.

Last October, the U.N. Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) warned that without dramatic change, global emissions are set to rise to a level that would usher in catastrophic consequences in just over a decade. Exactly one month later, the historic Camp Fire broke out in Paradise, California, claiming 85 lives and destroying more than 15,000 structures.

There are three types of reactions to this: 1) those who still claim to deny that human activities are destroying our atmosphere, 2) those who agree and somewhat understand that climate change is indeed a very imminent threat, but do nothing, and 3) those who are doing something, either making changes in their own lifestyle, lobbying Congress to take action, or speaking out loudly enough to get the attention of the first two groups. These kids are in the 3^rd group!

The young people understand, for they are not blinded by the things we are … convenience, laziness, and greed. They also realize that it is their future, far more than ours, that is threatened. It is reminiscent of the young people who turned into activists for gun control after the Parkland school shooting in February 2018, but on a much grander scale.

Around the world, students in 123 countries will not be attending classes in protest, instead taking to the streets to demand their leaders take meaningful action to address climate change. In the United States, the Youth Climate Strike group, founded by three young women from Colorado, New York, and Minnesota, has helped organize strikes in over 100 cities across the country.

One such group, Minnesota Can’t Wait, is co-founded by Isra Hirsi, aged 16, who just happens to be the daughter of freshman congresswoman Ilhan Omar. When asked why she and her group were participating in Friday’s protest, she had this to say …

“Because you need dramatic action for dramatic change. And it’s really important, especially in the United States, when we probably are the biggest contributors to climate change in this entire world, to take that action and to show our politicians that younger people really care about this issue from all different communities and all different places and we want to do something about it, and we’re not going to stand idly by [while] you [are] not doing anything.”

Greta Thunberg – Stockholm, Sweden

The youth climate strikes began last September, when Greta Thunberg, a 16-year-old climate activist from Sweden, stopped going to school on Fridays. She quickly became known for skipping school to protest outside the Swedish Parliament, all in an effort to draw attention to climate change and demand her government implement policies in line with the Paris climate agreement. Since then, students of all ages and from most nations have been striking to demand action on climate change.

It is estimated that 1.4 million young people took part in the protests. According to Greta Thunberg …

“This movement had to happen, we didn’t have a choice. We knew there was a climate crisis … We knew, because everything we read and watched screamed out to us that something was very wrong.”

They could see what our leaders in Washington D.C. cannot see, that ‘something’ is ‘very wrong’. I give two thumbs up to these young people who are determined to make themselves heard for the future of this planet … for their future! I will let them tell you of their efforts through pictures from around the world yesterday.

Capetown, South Africa

Delhi, India

Dresden, Germany

Dublin, Ireland

Edinburgh, Scotland

Lisbon, Portugal

London, England

Prague, Czech Republic

Quezon City, Philippines

San Francisco, California, USA

Seoul, South Korea

Stockholm, Sweden

Sydney, Australia

Taipei, Taiwan

Tokyo, Japan

Washington, D.C., USA

Perhaps we could all take a page out of these kids’ books? Great jobs, young people! I’m proud to know that you are the future of our planet … perhaps there is hope after all!

Damn You, Donald Trump!

Posted on February 26, 2019 by jilldennison under Environmental Issues, Global Issues, Political commentary, Rants, Social commentary

If the top experts in a field don’t give you the answers you wanted, don’t tell you exactly what you wanted to hear, then the best thing is to find people who will say precisely what you want to hear and abide by their opinions. For example … say your tax accountant, a long-trusted Certified Public Accountant tells you that you owe a few thousand dollars in federal income taxes, and you don’t want to pay any more taxes, you can always find a shyster who will find illegitimate deductions and with a bit of creative accounting, can make your tax bill vanish into thin air. This is what all the smart, wealthy businessmen do all the time … businessmen with last names like DeVos, Ross, Mercer, Koch, Craft and Trump. That’s why they are so wealthy!

Now, my point today has nothing to do with income taxes, though I have spent the last three hours working on them, but with the science of climate change. Trump doesn’t like the report that was issued last November by the National Climate Assessment (NCA). He doesn’t like it largely because the results do not fit in with his grand scheme to roll back all environmental protections and give free rein to the fossil fuel industries, as well as others such as the auto industry. And so, if the puzzle piece doesn’t fit where you want it, then grab a knife and whittle it until it does fit!

The NCA report is a result of the work of 13 different federal agencies, and I urge you to take a look at the section titled Summary Findings, at a minimum. When the report was first issued, Trump summarily dismissed it, saying he is not among the “believers” who see climate change as a pressing problem. Go figure, huh?

“One of the problems that a lot of people like myself, we have very high levels of intelligence but we’re not necessarily such believers.”

Did he really say “high levels of intelligence” as referring to himself??? What a son of a b**ch! But on to the business at hand …

Trump has now decided to set up his own ad hoc group of select federal scientists to reassess the government’s analysis of climate science and counter conclusions that the continued burning of fossil fuels is harming the planet. In other words, Trump is going to establish a group of climate deniers to state that the NCA report is wrong, thus giving him free rein to follow through on his policies that will bring about, in short shrift, the extinction of not only the human species, but likely all life on earth as we know it today. Alarmist? Nope … ask the real scientists.

Trump has tasked the National Security Council with establishing the initiative that would include scientists who question the severity of climate impacts and the extent to which humans contribute to the problem. The group would not be subject to the same level of public disclosure as a formal advisory committee. NSC officials said they would take steps to assemble a group of researchers within the government. The group will not be tasked with scrutinizing recent intelligence community assessments of climate change.

Understand that the NCA report was subjected to intense scrutiny by scientists worldwide before it was released and is not the only report to provide similar warnings. Last year, a military-funded study warned sea level rise and other climate impacts could make more than a thousand low-lying islands in the Pacific Ocean “uninhabitable” by midcentury. Just last month, the national intelligence director delivered a worldwide threat assessment that “climate hazards” including extreme weather, wildfires, droughts and acidifying oceans are worsening, “threatening infrastructure, health, and water and food security.” In the words of Camilo Mora, a geographer and environmental professor at the University of Hawaii …

“When it comes down to climate change, we are talking about thousands of independent papers, from everywhere, finding exactly the same thing: that the climate is changing, that we are doing it and that most often than not, the impacts are pretty bad.”

A few very important things should be noted. While I am admittedly ‘science-challenged’, I am fully convinced that humans have created environmental problems that have been ignored for far too long and are now at crisis stage. Every other nation on the globe … every single one … have signed the Paris Climate Accord and are diligently finding ways to reduce their carbon emissions, as well as other climate initiatives. But the United State, the second largest emitter of CO₂, and the largest per capita, has reversed course and is actively increasing fossil fuel usage, refusing to take advantage of technology that allows vehicles to become more fuel efficient, and has taken every step imaginable to further increase carbon emissions!Our carbon emissions do not simply affect the atmosphere directly over the U.S.! Our emissions affect people in every nation on the globe! Put yourself in the place of a citizen of the United Kingdom, a country that has reduced its carbon emissions by some 43% since 1990, a country where clean, renewable energy has reduced much of its reliance on coal, where industrial pollutants are strictly regulated. Yes, there is a price … some industries have taken a hit and there are other ramifications, but at the end of the day, they are doing their part … the U.S. is not. Plain and simple. Germany is doing its part. Even China is taking climate change far more seriously than the U.S.!

And now, the head of our government has undertaken a new mission to form a group of climate deniers to tell the American people that CO₂ is not actually harmful to the atmosphere and that we should all support the coal and oil industries, that we should all drive big vehicles that get 10-12 miles per gallon as opposed to more fuel efficient cars that average more than 40 miles per gallon.

Former Secretary of State John Kerry has written an OpEd in The Washington Post titled “Disband Your Climate Denial Panel, Mr. President” that is well worth the short read and is further proof that those who are thinkers, those who have education, knowledge and intellect, understand that man has abused the environment just about as long as he can, and we are on a path to destroying the very resources we need to survive.

When our cities look like this …There is one person who bears the responsibility: Donald J. Trump. Damn you, Donald Trump!

The Virtue of Stupidity

Posted on February 7, 2019 by jilldennison under Environmental Issues, Political commentary, Re-blogs, Social commentary

Once again, dear friend Hugh has hit the nail on the head regarding the dangerous attitudes of this nation toward addressing environmental issues, most notably climate change, or global warming. Please take a minute to read his excellent post … and make note of his new “law” at the end! Thank you, Hugh, for the post and the permission to share!

hughcurtler

Temperatures around the country have recently been plunging and the nay-sayers once again point to the thermometer and tell us why they deny that the globe is warming. They ignore the fact that South Africa is experiencing the hottest summer on record and that what happens in Alabama or Alaska (or South Africa) is beside the point. Global Warming is a fact and it is not to be identified with passing weather events in particular parts of the world. Confusing the two and ignoring hard science are marks of the “virtue of stupidity” among those who remain with their heads in the sand — or somewhere equally dark. (This is a repost, which I have updated.)

In his remarkable book, Idiot America: How Stupidity Became a Virtue in the Land of the Free, Charles Pierce quotes Norman Myers of the Climate Institute who estimated that in 1995 [over twenty-four years ago!] there…

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Our Planet … Our Home … Our Lives

Posted on December 4, 2018 by jilldennison under Environmental Issues, Global Issues, Political commentary, Social commentary

Just because you don’t understand something, doesn’t mean it doesn’t exist. Do you understand how your car’s transmission works? Do you understand about the little and slightly-less-little gears that engage and disengage to shift your car into just the right ratio based on speed, incline, etc? Do you understand the intricacies about how your lungs take in air, process the oxygen and send it into the blood stream, then emit the unwanted part, carbon dioxide (CO₂)? Do you understand how the bit of electricity coming from that wall outlet can make your clothes washing machine agitate and spin and sometimes sound like the Eagle Has Landed? No, and neither do I, but yet we take for granted that the car will run, our lungs will do what they are supposed to in order to keep us alive, and as long as we insert the plug properly, the machine will clean the clothes. There are many, many things in our daily lives that we accept at face value, even though we may not understand the science behind them.

So please tell me why, all of a sudden, half the nation has decided to repudiate the concept of human-caused climate change and the predictions made by highly-educated, intelligent and knowledgeable scientists?

People go to a doctor and are altogether too willing to assume that he knows exactly the right medicine to give you to cure whatever ails you. Most people don’t even ask questions, like how does this drug work, what are the likely and remote side effects, why do you think this drug is the best for my condition. Nope, they just say okay, take the script to the nearest pharmacy and happily ingest whatever doc said. Why? Because he has a degree, because he is supposed to be knowledgeable, because he wears a white coat. The truth is that far more doctors play trial and error, or pander to the drug reps who wine & dine them and give them nice gifts at Christmas time than you probably care to know. But still, you trust them. So, why not trust scientists who also have a degree, are knowledgeable, and unlike your doctor, have no reason to lie to you?

There is likely no simple, single answer to that question. For some, merely the fact that Donald Trump says it’s a hoax, and that even if the earth is warming, it will “all change back” soon. Why anybody would believe a ‘man’ who is proven to lie some 96% of the time, over the entire scientific community and the results of their research is well beyond my comprehension.

In the past, we have had presidents who listened to the experts in their fields. These men understood the value of knowledge and education. These men asked questions, gave careful consideration to the data they were provided, and made the wisest decisions they could based on the information they had. This is why nearly every leader on the globe, including our own President Obama, signed the Paris climate accord, the agreement dealing with greenhouse-gas-emissions mitigation, adaptation, and finance. When 97% of the worlds scientists studying the changes in climate tell you that there is a serious problem, it’s time to sit up and take notice.

But Donald Trump, because it isn’t convenient for him, calls it a ‘hoax’, says the Chinese are the initiators of said hoax in order to make U.S. manufacturing non-competitive. Say WHAT??? I imagine there is some twisted connection somewhere inside Trump’s head, but to a reasonably intelligent person, that statement makes absolutely no sense.

It is enough that half the nation fall prostate at Donald’s feet when he denies that climate change is a serious problem, but far, far worse is the fact that the U.S. Congress … or at least the republican element of it … is toeing the party line, falling in line behind Trump, wanting to be seen to be in his corner, on his ship. Why? I don’t know, but I know that since we voted for them and we are paying their salary, they are supposed to be looking out for our best interests. Ignoring report after report showing the likely effects, not in some far off distant future, but now … today … is definitely not in our best interest.

Donald Trump is without question the biggest liar we have ever seen in a leadership role in this country. He lies even when there is no reason to do so. He lies so much that he doesn’t even know what is true anymore. So why on earth would anybody believe him when all the evidence is the opposite of what he says. Remember last month’s fires in California? The hurricanes in Texas, Florida and Puerto Rico in 2017 and in North Carolina this year? Not just any ol’ fires, not just your run o’ the mill hurricanes, but ecological disasters!

Donald Trump may refute the evidence, the reports and what is before his very eyes, but some people are taking it all very seriously and doing something about it. One such man is Yvon Chouinard, billionaire founder of outdoor apparel firm Patagonia.

Yvon Chouinard

According to a Forbes article on November 29^th …

Patagonia announced it has an additional $10 million in profits on its books for 2018 as a result of Trump’s “irresponsible tax cut” last year, which lowered the corporate tax rate from 35% to 21%. Instead of investing the additional dollars back into its business, Patagonia said it would give $10 million to grassroot groups fighting climate change, including organizations that work in regenerative organic agriculture to help reverse global warming.

“Our government continues to ignore the seriousness and causes of the climate crisis,” Chouniard said in a statement. “It’s pure evil.”

A billionaire businessman with both a brain and a conscience! Can we clone him?

“We need an agriculture system that supports small family farms and ranches, not one that rewards chemical companies intent on destroying our planet and poisoning our food. And we need to protect our public lands and waters because they are all we have left.”

Last December, the front page for Patagonia’s website read …The planet Earth will remain in its orbit for the foreseeable future. Whether it will sustain human, animal or plant life beyond the next few years is up to us. Donald Trump is not a good steward, is not taking care of our home, but is systematically making decisions on a near-daily basis that are likely to make all lifeforms we know today unsustainable into the future. It is up to us, for the billionaires in Trump’s circle are too busy making money to care about our future.

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