Notes On The Collapse

Help Fight Stupidity!

Make no mistake, ladies and gentlemen:  This is war, and we need you.

I have read your learned articles on the healthcare debate.  I have reviewed your proposals on climate change and environmental protection.  For the many (the most of us) who haven’t written or even linked any of those, I’ve read your angry memes and mocking anti-Trump and anti-Republican posts.  I have seen these things, my friends, and in listening, the source of your anger has become apparent, as has the problem’s only solution.

The trouble is, you’re sick of corrupt morons in charge of things, and you’re tired of being treated like an idiot yourself by everyone running for office.  Tell me I’m wrong; I dare you. (more…)

Bristol Bay: It’s Time To Act

(Note: This article is from 2017 and has not been updated.)

Today and tomorrow, if you happen to be in Alaska (and nearby), you can go to a public meeting about an EPA rules change.  If you’re not one of the lucky few, you can still weigh in by email by clicking here.  And you want to weigh in, even if you don’t know it yet.  So do all your friends, so Share this post.

This hasn’t gotten a lot of airtime (more…)

Why I’m Optimistic About The Way Things Are Going

You all know me by now, so it shouldn’t surprise you that I regularly post feedback at the White House site.  (I figure, the form’s there for a reason, and I’m pretty well-spoken, so what the heck, right?)

Because every now and then, this administration does something right.  Maybe it’s deliberate, maybe accidental; maybe it’s someone inside working against the system — who knows?  Even a stopped clock is right twice a day.  (Old saying but still true.  It may be flashing, but at 12:00 it’s right.)  Anyway — I think it’s vitally important that, when they get things right, it should be acknowledged. (more…)

How To Fix The World

The NFL is being boycotted in retaliation for some players kneeling in protest during the national anthem.  The protests began as against police brutality, particularly against members of minorities.

There was another mass shooting, this time against a crowded open-air concert.  Thoughts and prayers are being sent, and they’re being ridiculed by people demanding gun control — never mind that no practicable gun laws would have prevented this latest atrocity.

Marches and protests and riots.  Tearing down statues.  Congressional stalemate matches.  Hurricanes, floods, fires, earthquakes.  Bad economy, lousy job, sick parents and sick kids, student loans we can never pay back and an underwater mortgage.

Not just the country but the whole world is in rough shape, my friends, and small wonder there are protests.  But I put it to you that there are better ways (more…)

This Is Getting Ridiculous

When I look back over the majority of my articles written since January, I find a single recurring phrase:  “Look, I don’t like Trump either, but…”

And I’ll tell ya what:  I’m getting sick of writing it.  I’m coming to the conclusion that the average Democrat on social media is whiny, petty, and incapable of seeing any good at all in the opposition.  Don’t get me wrong, mind; we already knew that about most of the Tea Party.  But I thought there was supposed to be a difference.

Seriously, now — What is it we all, even the Tea Party members among us, detest about the Tea Party?  It seems to attract people incapable of real thought.  I’m all about disputing (more…)

Trump Caves Pointlessly

I’ve argued it before, and I’ll argue it again; I’d shout it from the rooftops if I thought it would help:  We need to do something about the damned Jones Act before we strangle Puerto Rico’s economy for good.

Just… not today. (more…)

Taking A Knee

I was going to write something incisive and insightfully meaningful about the national anthem protests in professional sports. Not that I care about sports, mind, but I figure it’s a popular topic, and my thoughts might go viral for once.

That was yesterday.  Since then, one of my restaurant reviews (which I do for fun) got more hits in two hours than any of my political articles since Refugees and any of my informative articles since Autism And Vaccines.  Which I guess is a good thing, but (more…)

St. Louis Blues

On the second day of March, 1955, two women were asked to give up their seats on a Montgomery, Alabama bus.  They were black, and it was the policy at the time that, if any white people were standing on any crowded bus, black people should move back and, if there was no room, to stand.

But Mrs. Hamilton was pregnant and tired, and she didn’t want to get up.  And the young lady sitting next to her refused as well.

The bus driver called the police (more…)

War On Peace In Piedmont Park

“I don’t know who would learn history from monuments.  We have history books for that!“

People in general don’t read.  This is nothing new; literacy has traditionally only ever been for the elite, not the general masses that make up the work force.  Very few have ever learned anything from dry histories anyway.  History books and facts as names and numbers and dates — that’s why we fell asleep in class.

But spend a day with me at Gettysburg and I can show you what it meant to fight there. I can take you to the spot where the future was created, tell you the tale of the lost shoes, show you where Reynolds fell and why it mattered, where the 20th Maine made their stand and how, and let you see the terrible beauty of Pickett’s Charge. (more…)