Category Archives: Government
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
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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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
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
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
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
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
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 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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100 Years from Now: Part 8 – Jobs and Economics
It is questionable in my mind whether jobs for people will even exist 100 years from now. Most certainly there will be far fewer of them. We see many signs of automation reducing the number of jobs in just about every profession today. In the not too distant future technology will largely make most if not all jobs obsolete. Continue reading
Posted in 100 Years, Economy, 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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US-Iran Nuclear Deal is a Good Thing
I view the framework of the nuclear agreement between the presidents of the United States and Iran as a very positive beginning. Getting two enemies talking is always better than rattling sabers. I think these talks between alien enemies continents apart are going far smoother than dialog between our two alienated parties only feet across the aisle from one another. What is the alternative? Iran continuing its production of fissionable uranium and plutonium at the rate it is? Continue reading
Moral Values
My all time favorite Post is Imposing Human Rights and Moral Values on Others. It is also my most read post since its publication in December 2013. It gets to the essence of my values as outlined on the Home page. … Continue reading
The Consequences of Pulling out of the Middle East
The Middle East is a very confusing place with complex political, religious, cultural, and boundary disputes. It is this very complex multidimensional aspect that is so difficult for anyone to understand making peace so problematic for the U.S. and even people living in that region. It is the U.S. failure to appreciate the complexities of such human behaviors and interactions in the Middle East that has led to our continuing attempts to unsuccessfully solve the problem of stability over there using primarily military means. The best thing we can do is withdraw all our troops from that part of the world. Pulling out of the Middle East will be no different. There will be a power vacuum that needs to be filled. Various militant and religious factions such as ISIS will want to fill that vacuum. Continue reading
What do we have to fear from ISIL and Al Qaeda Terrorist
Let us suppose the U.S. government decided that enough was enough and totally withdrew all military presence in the Middle East. What proponents of the war here fear most is that this would allow ISIS to increase (start) terrorist activities in the U.S. because they hate us so much for killing so many of their countrymen that all they want is revenge. Let us consider how reasonable this assumption is. First of all I am assuming that ISIS leaders are smart and rational men as we have seen of Al Qaeda leaders. Though there are some here who do not believe this the evidence is quite strong. One must wonder why ISIS terrorist have not yet struck on U.S. soil. Continue reading
Posted in Foriegn Policy and War, Government
Tagged fear of terrorism, withdraw from Middle East
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Do We have a Moral Right?
Since the 1950s we have had political/economic interests and a military presence in the Middle East. It is no secret now that we are there because of Oil. In our self-interest we have attempted to maintain stability in that region so that the price of oil would remain under control. In spit of our claim of being civilized we seem to have a proclivity towards war and violence. I am sure that those who have been victimized by our civilized manner do not see us in the same light. So what Moral Right do we have for spending more money on killing people than education or any other worthy cause at home? The question of Moral Right begs an answer. I am Not asking if Arabs have a Moral Right to terrorize us. I’m asking does a civilized nation such as the U.S. have a Moral Right to impose its military might on other nations abroad who originally posed little danger to our nation? Continue reading
Posted in Do No Harm, Foriegn Policy and War, Morality Values
Tagged civilized, harms way, moral right, morally reprehensible, oil, rightious, value of human life, war
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POT Controversy
POT is becoming increasingly accepted in various municipalities and states throughout our nation, just as with many other taboo issues such as LGBT rights, as social acceptance standards and mythical perceptions are dispelled. It has been argued for decades that POT will lead to more serious drug use, but research has shown that this is no more true than alcohol leading to harder drugs. The medical harm and addictive effects of POT have been proven to be less than alcohol and cigaret smoking and highs experienced by users to impair their senses far less than alcohol. It is time to decriminalize it and treat it just as we do cigarets and alcohol. Billions of dollars are spent annually on cost with no revenue opportunities that could better spent on education just enforcing senseless marijuana laws. Continue reading
Ebola: Fight-or-Flight
Survival by flight when confronting an unknown threat or overwhelming foe is one of man’s strongest survival instincts. In the current Ebola outbreak in West Africa there are many who demand that the only course of action is to contain this deadly disease by isolate the nations where it is ravaging by closing boarders and ban flights from these areas or even the entire continent of Africa. On the surface this seems reasonable. Closing the boarders to Nigeria, Guinea, Liberia and Sierra Leone will simply cause people in fear of contracting Ebola to cross the borders to other African nations illegally and spread it unchecked not knowing where it is coming from or going. As it rapidly spreads throughout there were be not enough world resources to contain and treat it from spreading throughout the world. Continue reading
Posted in Foriegn Policy and War, Government, Personal Perspective
Tagged deadly, disease, ebola, fatal, survival, underground
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Obama’s Weakness and Failures
My favorite presidents are Abraham Lincoln, Franklin Roosevelt, and Lyndon Johnson. What these presidents had in common were a very turbulent presidency, the skills to work behind the scenes with an often hostile congress to barter for legislation important to them, and figuring how best to get very difficult things done. When President Obama was first elected he had a much less hostile congress to work with. He was able to pass the Affordable Care Act, something other presidents had failed to do. But he was not an especially skilled politician familiar with the art of negotiating. His skills were far more adept at going out to the public to ask for their support. This won him the Presidency in two elections. But this alienated him from Congress. Legislation is at the heart of making government work which Congress owned. Continue reading
Mixing Religious Moral Values with Government
The 1st Amendment of the Bill of Rights to the Constitution of the United States clearly states: “Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof …” This is referred to as the Separation of Church from State and Freedom of Religion. Interestingly the separation of church from state is the very first Right of all rights listed in the Bill of Rights. Unfortunately some fundamentalist Christian groups still do not believe in the separation of church from state as defined in the 1st Amendment. They believe that the laws of God takes precedence over man’s laws. Continue reading
ouR Social Conscience 