Author Archives: fgeefay
The RIGHT To Vote?
Unlike the Rights of the 1st Amendment to the Constitution of freedom of religion and speech, and the right to assemble and redress grievances, the Constitution does not specifically define the Right to Vote. It does describe the process of voting but does not specifically define it as a Right. It seems the founders took the Right to Vote for granted. This ambiguity in our Constitution for such a fundamental and essential function has been a cause of much contention in recent years. Continue reading
A Complicated Nation in Search for Simple Solutions
Recent poles show Donald Trump by far the most popular Republican frontrunner for President. Trump presents very straight forward and simple solutions to many of America’s domestic and foreign policy issues. He is well-known for his reality shows as being quick and decisive, the sign of a good leader, at least that is the perception of many of his supporters. He reminds me a little of Ross Perot who ran as an independent some years ago. We like civil war heroes like Grant and Lee who quickly assessed a situation and decisively rallied their troops to victory even though those decisions cost tens of thousands of lives in America’s bloodiest conflict. Continue reading
Old Testament Attitudes
Our moral values of “An eye for an eye, a tooth for a tooth”, retribution, and vengeance are prevalent throughout America’s history, films, justice systems, wars, foreign policies, and behavior. It is so ingrained in our culture that we are often blind to its presence within us. We call it by other names such as justice, punishment, retaliation, payback, getting even, settling a score, what they deserve, they started it, etc. Many refuse to hear the other side of the story or what effects we have on other human beings and in a sense dehumanize others as being something other than like ourselves. We are in denial of our inherent animosity towards others treating them somehow separate from ourselves. Continue reading
Posted in Morality Values, Religion, Social Issues
Tagged an eye for an eye, Arab, Christian values, foriegn policy, God, moral values, Muslim, prisons, teachings of Christ, terrorist, vengence
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Global Warming No Longer a Science Issue
In the last decade the consensus of scientific peer-reviewed papers on anthropogenic (man caused) Global Warming has rapidly gained favor. A recent report indicates 97.2% of recent scientific peer-reviewed papers favor anthropogenic Global Warming. Major behavioral and economic changes to correct for Global Warming must happen. Greenhouse gases directly or indirectly produced engage every aspect of life. This change will have huge economic, political, and moral ripple effects that will change our lives more than any other issue facing us today. The reason it is so controversial is its urgency and potential threat to our existence. It requires immediate and disruptive changes to our ways of life. Continue reading
Posted in Climate Change, Economy, Environment, Global Warming, Government, Morality Values, Religion, Science & Technology, Social Issues, Society
Tagged anthropogenic, behavioral change, conservative, disruptive, economic change, Global Warming, lobby congress, moralised, peer reviewed papers, politicized, Pope Frances, science is imperfect
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Sustainable Growth – A More Enduring Future
Today more than ever before many communities are feeling the effects of growth. Growth happens most in regions where there is a demand for jobs. For example in Silicon Valley in California many high-tech and social media companies flourish alongside community colleges and universities scattered throughout the region. Young students come from all over the country and world to study there and many are later offered jobs requiring their skills Others seeking job opportunities travel from all over the nation to take jobs there. But growth has consequences, especially rapid growth. Housing near jobs are in great demand and thus are expensive and unavailable. Since cars are almost the sole mode of transportation in the U.S. the roads and freeways become congested with people trying to commute to work from a distance. Continue reading
Why America’s Obsession over Gun Rights
Another in as string of mass shootings took place on July 16th as Mohammad Abdulazeez killed five people at a Marine recruiting center and Naval Reserve in Chattanooga Tenn. Guns are so incredibly easily to acquire over the internet and elsewhere in the United States. It is the only nation where the right to bear arms is a Constitutional right. However “Every day in the U.S., an average of 289 people are shot. Eighty-six of them die: 30 are murdered, 53 kill themselves, two die accidentally, and one is shot in a police intervention, the Brady Campaign reports. Between 2000 and 2010, a total of 335,609 people died from guns … Continue reading
Affluence, The Plight of All Things Natural
Affluence is the economic state of having considerable wealth relative to the majority of the general population. Throughout history the powerfully affluent have been responsible for wars, disease, pollution, waste, over consumption of resources, and upsetting the balance of nature. Affluence, by its very nature, perpetuates poverty to provide cheap goods and labor to serve its many pleasures. Wherever affluence exists pollution and poverty are sure to fester where resources, natural or human, exist to feed its voracious appetite for extravagance and convenience. Modern man has existed for some 200,000 years … Continue reading
US Iranian Agreement and the Lifting of Sanctions
I feel really good about President Obama’s agreement with Iran to lift US/UN sanctions. Assuming it is not stopped by Congress this will be another legacy to Obama’s credit. I have been quite critical about Obama in the past and continue being skeptical. But in his second term he is starting to really get things done. My criticism with him is that he is not proactive. He is often not in favor of something until it becomes more mainstream then he changes his position on it. He is very cautious about his image. He was not proactive about the open gay in military and gay marriage issues until it became more widely accepted. Continue reading
Adult Autism (ASD) – Living in a Vacuum
Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) has, in recent decades, received much attention and press. It appears that the rate of ASD is increasing. No one is certain if this increase is real or simply because educators, parent, physicians, etc. are looking for it more closely than before. Perhaps it is both. There are many clinics, schools, and psychologists who specialize in treating children with diagnosed ASD. But ASD is not curable. People can teach children with ASD how to better cope with this disorder and to improve social and communication skills. But people with ASD have it for life and those with high functioning ASD such as myself have to struggle to fit in with society throughout adulthood. Continue reading
Separation of Church and State
The First Amendment to the Constitution of the United States begins with: “Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof…” This was the vary first sentence in the Bill of Rights written by the original authors of the Constitution because of its importance. Many people such as the Pilgrims came here to escape religious persecution by the Church of England which was part of the British Royal Crown. The question is how important is the separation of church from state in the context of today’s world as many fundamentalist Christians want their moral and religious values legislated into law. Continue reading
Dealing with Iran
I know there are many people including our President and Congress who feel that lifting sanctions against Iran must be strictly dealt with tit for tat regarding nuclear inspections to assure they are not making more weapons grade fissionable material. My contention is that it is in part our sanctions against them that created an atmosphere of hostilities between them and us that created the need, in their minds, for nuclear armament. Israel’s nuclear threat also plays a significant role. Had we not imposed sanctions on them in spite of their government’s religious leader’s distrust of the U.S. I honestly feel that they would not have perused nuclear capability as vigorously as they have and relations between us would have improved over time. Continue reading
Is the Price of Peace necessarily the Cost of War?
I have always wondered why we spend so much money and sacrifice so many young and aspiring lives on wars in the guise of peace. It is almost as if peace was an afterthought and war the goal. If war is the means to peace and stability then why do we wage so many wars and achieve so little peace? It is more likely the wars we lose end up in peace and stability than the wars we win. If one is so the antitheses of the other, how is it possible that it can bring about the other? Continue reading
So Wanting to be Understood
I have written in the past about my social and mental impairments and my struggle growing up and trying to fit in to society. I think I have autistic spectrum disorder but am very high functioning so most people cannot tell I have a problem. I simply seem shy and somewhat withdrawn. But there are far too many symptoms to simply conclude that shyness is my only problem. I also have a number of learning deficiencies such poor comprehension, dyslexia, and an exceptionally poor memory. But fortunately my cognitive abilities are not impaired. Continue reading
Posted in Autism
Tagged autism, better understood, communication, dyslexia, emotional connection, learning disabilities, needs, understood, validated
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Another Mass Killing this time in Charleston, S.C.
On Wednesday June 17, 2015 nine human beings were massacred by a young White gunman at Emanuel African Methodist Episcopal Church during a bible study. Though this mass murder received much press coverage, gun killings are all too common in the United States. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, there are approximately 81,300 nonfatal injuries and 31,672 deaths every year from guns. 112,972 people are shot in this country every year with a 28% fatality rate. Continue reading
The Root of All Things Evil
“For the love of money is the root of all evil.” – 1 Timothy 6:10. This is a familiar quote from the King James version of the Christian Bible. But it seems to embody a universal truth. When one looks at all the crime in the world, most of it is motivated by greed and money. So if one were to remove money from society would that cause a dramatic reduction in crime? Continue reading
From Dreaming Big to Thinking Small
I recently read a short article about how people used to think really big in this country and now think small and it struck me how true this was. We started with a great dream expressed in the Declaration of Independence which resulted in the Constitution of the United States and the first 12 Articles of the Bill of Rights. This was the impetus for the great move West, really bad news for native American Indians, but great opportunities for new settlers. This gave rise to the transcontinental railroad, one of the longest in the world up to that point and the industrial revolution and heavy industries such as steel. Continue reading
Posted in Life's Lessons, Personal Perspective
Tagged Climate Change, getting little accomplished, Global Warming, great dream, industrial revolution, no long-term vision, no will, opportunities, short-term chaos, slipped from dreaming big, think and dream big, transportation infrastructure
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Late Bloomer – A Life in Slow Motion
I am the epitome of a late bloomer. I’ve already written about some of my mental and social impairments. My unusually poor memory and such disabilities as dyslexia have hampered my normal development as a child making me a late talker and very slow and poor learner. I was always at the bottom of my class throughout elementary and high school where I repeated two grades, and did poorly in college. Learning has always been slow, tedious, and often seemingly torturous. Continue reading
Posted in Autism, Life's Lessons, Personal Perspective
Tagged adolescence, adulthood, Autistic Spectrum Disorder, cognitive abilities, determined and persistent, difficulty understanding people, dyslexia, loner, mental and social impairments, never felt grownup, organized, poor memory
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Idleness is the Seed of Unrest as Work is the Root of Stability
If one looks at all the social conditions that lead to crime, rebellion, and large-scale discontent, the common denominator is high unemployment where people have nothing to do but think how bad off they are and blaming it on others. In contrast employed people, even if impoverished, are far less likely to be discontent because they are simple too busy or tired to think about their predicament as well as receiving compensation to help with living conditions. Continue reading
To Protect and Defend the Constitution of the United States
All American solders swear an oath “..to protect and defend the Constitution of the United States from all enemies foreign and domestic” because that is the primary purpose of our armed forces. Yet since the end of the Cold War almost all of our foreign conflicts have not involve people who posed a direct threat to the United States or its Constitution. And as for enemies, we made them enemies of us when we took it upon ourselves to interfere in their affairs to protect the oil interests of Saudi Arabia, a dictatorship that share none of our values of freedom, equal rights, and democracy. Continue reading
The Price Nations Pay for Vengeance and Hatred
In the Israeli-Palestinian conflict two generations of youth have grown up with hatred for one another. So when Palestinian terrorists recently kidnapped and killed an Israeli boy Israeli terrorist kidnapped a Palestinian boy of the same age and burned him to death unleashing another episode of bombings, rockets, and shelling that killed many more children thus minimizing the original acts. So what has really been accomplished by either side in all the resulting killing and suffering? Most certainly if each intended to kill out of revenge most certainly both sides have succeeded. Continue reading
Posted in Life's Lessons, Personal Perspective
Tagged Israel, killing, Palestine, permanently unemployed, poverty, resolve conflicts, Satan, vengeance, war
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100 Years from Now: The Complete Series
In the past year I have given some thought to what the future would look like a hundred years from now given the state of science today and the effects of global warming, diminishing natural resources, and a populations of over twice what it is today (population control will be in effect). One thing is clear, the word Sustainable will be far more than a buzzword. It will be a way of life. Continue reading
Posted in Crime & Justice, Economy, Education, Environment, Global Warming, Government, Life's Lessons, Personal Perspective, Science & Technology, Social Issues, Society
Tagged culural changes, future city design, future technology, Global Warming, holodeck, infrastructure, over population, shortage of resources
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100 Years from Now: Part 15 – Crime and Security
What can be said about crime and security 100 years from now? Keep in mind that in 100 years two significant and remarkable things will have occurred. Technology would become our willing slave meeting most of our needs making jobs obsolete and making us happy and content at the cost of privacy. But in 100 years privacy may not be nearly as important to us as it is today. Technology will also make committing and getting away with crime extremely difficult. Continue reading
Posted in 100 Years, Crime & Justice, Environment, Global Warming, Government, Life's Lessons, Personal Perspective, Science & Technology, Social Issues, Society
Tagged crime, cultural changes, future city design, future technology, Global Warming, holodeck, infrastructure, over population, shortage of resources
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100 Years from Now: Part 14 – Education
One of the primary purposes of education is to provide one with the tools to live a productive life. A large part of our traditional definition of productive is to become employable. The other is to give us other values of enjoyment and appreciation for things not focused upon work or earning a living. As describes in ‘100 Years from Now: Part 8 – Jobs and Economics’ both jobs and money 100 years from now may not even exist. Technology will literally become our willing slave making the need to make a living obsolete. Continue reading
100 Years from Now: Part 13 – Government
Social norms and values will be very different 100 years into the future as today’s values are very different that those 100 years ago. So will the function of government 100 years from now. The purpose of government is to protect the individual rights of its citizens. In a society 100 years from now where everyone’s needs are taken care of are everyone’s rights also taken care of? It largely depends upon what are everyone rights. Continue reading
Posted in 100 Years, Environment, Global Warming, Government, Life's Lessons, Personal Perspective, Science & Technology, Social Issues, Society
Tagged cultural changes, future city design, future technology, Global Warming, holodeck, infrastructure, over population, shortage of resources
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ouR Social Conscience 