Pat Philpott Hininger

Pat Philpott Hininger

I knew her originally as Pat Carter, her former married name, then as Pat Hininger after her marriage to Phil Hininger, then as Pat Philpott Hininger after she and Phil parted. No matter which name she answered to you knew you had a friend if she chose you as a friend.

She was one of the smartest people I have known and totally dedicated to the causes which she believed in and the people she believed in. I knew her as a friend and political associate for more than forty years and then intimately for the last ten years as a sole soulmate.

She struggled with her debilitating lung disease for many years, I believe diagnosed as chronic emphysema and pulmonary disorder, never complaining, never shirking from her beliefs and causes, never shying away from her family and friends no matter how she felt health-wise. She exemplified an unwavering courage of her convictions.

She bore no children but adored and was adored by her nieces and nephews. Aunt Pat was the go to source of perfection in writing essays and reports for her younger family members.

She was my number one source of information, either social or political, and my number one source of companionship.

I loved her dearly and will always miss her ready smile and soulful personality and dedication.

Ted

 

Heads in the Sand – Mass Murders – Only in America

Heads in the Sand – Mass Murders – Only in America

Ted Folkert – June 1, 2022

Being a parent is probably the most important and challenging endeavor that we face as adults. We go to school to learn reading, writing, and arithmetic, and to be introduced to proper choices in behavioral challenges as youngsters, teenagers and young adults. How much of it sticks varies with the individual based upon family upbringing and the way we feel about ourselves. But we can become parents without any education or training whatsoever, bring children into the world, and either accept or ignore the challenge of nurturing them into responsible members of society. There aren’t any parent police to assure proper parentage.

Trying to understand and analyze the behavior of others is difficult or impossible without having “walked a mile in their shoes” as the sage saying goes. What shoes have mass murderers walked in? That is the question. To answer it would be a critical first step in understanding and trying to create some assurance of greater sanity going forward.

What could motivate a teenage boy to have so much hatred or malice to convince him to murder others -knowing that it will likely end his own freedom or perhaps his own life? Could these decisions be well thought out? They must be thought out to some extent or the steps to plan the event or assemble the murder weaponry would not be taken.

Is the desire for public recognition a motivating factor? Do those who do such things feel left out, discriminated against, mistreated? Is it frustration with their lives? Do they have what I call the big three – helplessness, hopelessness, and despair? Are they trying to settle the score from personal mistreatment? Do they think that they will get revenge and then escape undiscovered – getting by with murder?

Of course there are no simple answers to these questions and no simple path of the causation of frustration identifiable – apparently no simple way to recognize these traits in someone who is prone to such carnage.

The solution to overcome the occurrence of such tragic events can be tossed around until the end of time without any resolution. It is a challenge for our behavioral counselors and medical professionals. School teachers may have the best vantage point to recognize such potential actions in wayward children. Perhaps they should be trained in recognizing such troubling attitudes in young students with periodic seminars to discover recognizable traits in youngsters which can be brought to the attention of parents and/or school officials so that they can be counseled or treated for psychological abnormalities which can lead to tragic actions. This should be priority number one for all mental health experts and grade school and high school teachers. I have always believed that teaching should be the highest paid profession, above all others. I can’t imagine any role in a child’s life more critical than the role of the teacher. Assigning such a burden on teachers seems to place unreasonable responsibility on teachers and may be a limiting factor in a commitment to educational careers, but it is the only place outside the home where children can be observed and analyzed to any worthwhile extent – the only place where such mental conditions can be observed over an extended period of time.

We all know, although the gun-lovers of the world are unlikely to admit, that the biggest problem isn’t only the perpetrators of such crimes, it is the availability of guns, especially those designed for killing people – like the ones used in all of these sad and tragic incidents which are becoming more frequent as we write or read this article.

This is what the National Rifle Association has done for the welfare of American life as they laugh all the way to the bank and deny any responsibility. The NRA must be curtailed, automatic weapons must be recalled, and the sale of them should be banned. The favorite defense of the gun-lovers of our world is the “right to bear arms” Second Amendment constitutional clause. This should be amended or removed from our constitution. These should be mandatory first steps along with assuring that our youngsters become responsible citizens with compassion, understanding, and ambition – the most important role of parentage, teaching, and counseling of our young. Good parents teach by example by living honest and compassionate lives and assuring that their children learn by their example.

Parents and teachers have the opportunity to provide our children with the principles and attitudes for peaceful and mutual respect. They can teach tolerance and understanding. It should be a priority of parentage and education.

But they cannot control guns. We all have to do that. We must keep guns out of the hands of the young without supervision. Finding a loaded gun in the locker of a second-grader certainly exemplifies our failure to take this challenge seriously. We must have legislators with the right principles to enact and enforce laws to assure a safe environment for all ages, particularly our young, who are helpless without our guidance.

Public Enemies

Public Enemies

Ted Folkert – May 16, 2022

If there was such a title as “public enemy number one” there are many who may qualify to be in the running. One who stands out by his political charades disguised as beneficial free enterprise is Senator Joe Manchin of West Virginia, one of the smallest states on the map, demanding favor to pollute the planet while promoting the states’ biggest industries – one that has made Manchin and his family members very wealthy. This is, of course, their “goose who laid the golden egg” and they have no intent of relenting as it continues to produce massive wealth although ultimately destroying the ability of the planet to support life of any form.

This may sound like political sour grapes but it is merely restating the evidence and warnings from our scientific community about the demise of a livable planet at the hands of greedy owners of fossil fuels which they depend upon to build and maintain their enormous wealth and with total disregard for the future of the planet.

Jeff Goodell tells us in his article in “Rolling Stone,” “Joe Manchin and the Coal Cartel’s Last Score,” about the John Amos coal-fired power plant in West Virginia where their cooling towers spew out black pollution 24/7 to produce thousands of megawatts of electricity, which blacken all the homes within miles of the plant. It takes CO2 captured by trees 200 million years ago and releases it into the sky.

These power plants are the reason that the Antarctic is cracking and threatening every low-lying city in the world. Coal plants are engines of destruction, all prevailed by the political power that the industry has acquired and retains with the power of money.

Goodell tells us that Manchin presents himself as pragmatic and one who values good manners and civility with folksy charm, but the truth is that he is a grafter with coal dust in his veins who drives a Maserati and lives in a house boat on the Potomac River and pals around with corporate CEOs. He is reported to have a net worth of $12 million accumulated through controversial coal-related businesses and uses his political muscle to keep open the dirtiest coal plant in West Virginia, which paid him nearly $5 million over the past decade.

Climate scientist Peter Kalmus tells us that “burning fossil fuels is what’s driving the crazy heat waves, flooding, and ecosystem deaths we are experiencing.”

Burning coal is said to produce 40 percent of electricity and 30 percent of carbon emissions. The biggest coal burner is China which consumes more coal that the rest of the world combined.

At the climate summit in Glasgow last year 23 countries made commitments to phase out coal power and major international banks said they would stop financing new coal power by the end of 2021. More than 40 countries signed the pledge to phase out coal, but the U.S. was not one of them thanks to the Joe Manchin types in power here.

The question is: did the 23 countries phase out coal power and did the banks quit financing it? And when is the biggest polluter on the planet, the U.S., going to get on board to save the planet’s ability to support living organisms, including humans?

Global Warming – Climate Change

Global Warming – Climate Change

Perils of Humanity

By: Ted Folkert

It hasn’t been that long ago that the term “global warming” was not considered alarming. It never was a subject or a topic when I was growing up – not in the public schools or universities. How rapidly things can change, especially negative things. A few decades ago the word “carbon” wasn’t even much a part of our vocabulary. It was something used for production or fuel for vehicles. Now it is the culprit that may kill us all.

“Climate change,” another prevalent term now, has become alarming “faster than a speeding bullet,” like they used to say about the Lone Ranger, the famous cowboy of yesteryear. Global warming isn’t a term which induces us to enjoy the out-of-doors. No, if we are paying attention to the threats to humanity we realize that it does just the opposite. It induces concern for the threat to all life forms, especially humanity.

In February of this year the city of Petropolis, Brazil suffered mudslides in their mountainous hillside city which buried hundreds of people. Torrents of floodwaters and mudslides dragged cars and houses through the streets during the most intense rainfall in decades. Petropolis has been a refuge for people of Rio de Janeiro to escape the heat of summer. The rains were declared to be the worst in the area since 1932. A similar incident occurred in 2011 with 900 deaths. Although a plan to reduce the risks of landslides was conceived several years ago, thus far it lacks implementation.

Brazil seems a long ways away so is easy to lack concern for U.S. residents. However, Alex Wigglesworth and Ruben Vives of the Los Angeles Times bring it closer to home with their article in February, “Energy Forecast: More days with no power for AC.” They tell us that Californians could lose air conditioning for one week each summer due to the demand exceeding of the capacity of the power grid. This prediction is based on global average temperatures being predicted to rise 1.5 degrees Celsius above pre-industrial levels. This would obviously be a burden on communities of older, poorer, and nonwhite people and more prevalent in states such as Missouri and Illinois.

The threat is exemplified further in Western Europe in February with a brutal storm of harsh winds which toppled trees and damaged buildings from the United Kingdom the Germany causing power failures for more than 400,000 people. It was named Storm Eunice by the British and Storm Zeynep in Germany. Gusts of 122 mph were recorded. Transport was severely disrupted.

The Associated Press tells us that climate change will mean that more land will burn scorching large parts of the globe in coming decades causing smoke pollution and other problems which governments are ill prepared to confront. More blazes are already occurring in the Western U.S., Siberia, India, and Australia with incidents predicted to increase by one-third by 2050 and fifty percent by 2100. The report by Glynis Humphrey and U.N. researchers tells us that land changes make the fires worse as logging leaves behind debris that easily burns and forests that are ignited to clear land for farming. Fires degrade water quality, destroy crops, and reduce land available for food production.

In the United States a $50 billion effort has been unveiled to reduce fire risks but funding thus far has only included $3 billion over five years. Imagine that, the most pressing and endangering potential for a demise of humanity lacks adequate funding but we have funds for paying all of our fearless leaders who seem to ignore reality. Go figure!

In March this year a U.N. report declares that the coral ecosystem is in crisis and suffering grave impacts from climate change, as expressed by Kristen Gelinbeau, Associated Press, in her article “A ‘degraded’ Great Barrier Reef.” (L.A Times March 1, 2022)

The Great Barrier Reef is said to be the largest living structure on the planet – the only living thing on Earth visible from space. It stretches 1,400 miles and is home of more than 1,500 species of tropical fish, dolphins, whales, birds, and giant clams. It is said to create $4.6 billion to the economy every year and supports about 64,000 jobs. The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) states that the reef is in crisis and suffering grave impacts from climate change, with frequent and severe coral bleaching caused by warming ocean temperatures. Even if the global community achieves the goal of limiting global warming to 1.5 degrees Celsius it won’t be sufficient to prevent mass bleaching. The report predicts that ocean warming and marine heat waves will cause the loss and degradation of coral reef ecosystems. Such bleaching has been likened to a wildfire under the ocean. If it persists, the IPCC estimates the 10,000 jobs will be lost and about $727 million in revenue would be lost every year from declines in tourism.

About a billion people worldwide rely on coral reefs for their everyday living, says Scott Heron, physics professor at James Cook University. (That represents about 15% of humanity.) He says that failure to urgently reduce greenhouse emissions could have devastating effects for humanity. (“A ‘degraded’ Great Barrier Reef” (L.A Times March 1, 2022))

The Associated Press reported in an article in March this year that in Brisbane. Australia 31 inches of rain fell in six days causing tens of thousands of people to evacuate their homes and hundreds of thousands were told to prepare to flee as parts of Australia’s southeast coast is inundated by the worst flooding in more than a decade.

Martin Zavan, with Greenpeace Australia Pacific stated that the coral reef bleaching “is a sure sign that climate change caused by burning coal, oil and gas is threatening the very existence of our reef.”

March 20, 2022 L.A. Times article: “Extreme heat found at both poles.” Earth’s poles are undergoing simultaneous extreme heat, with parts of Antarctica more than 70 degrees warmer than average and the Artic more than 50 degrees warmer than average. Ice scientist Walt Meier stated that “the poles are opposite seasons. You don’t see the North and South poles both melting at the same time.” “It’s definitely an unusual occurrence.” University of Colorado Ice scientist Ted Scambos stated: “Wow, I have never seen anything like this in the Antarctic.” University of Wisconsin meteorologist Matthew Lazzara stated: “not a good sign when you see that sort of thing happen.” “That’s a temperature that you should see in January, not March. January is summer there. That’s dramatic.”

For the occasional observer of catastrophic events in can be confusing. Is the problem too much water or not enough? Well, apparently, it is both depending upon your situation at a given time and place.

Simultaneously with the devastation caused by too much water too fast we have a perhaps worse problem of not enough water in the right places at the right times. Jacques Leslie discusses this in “Forget 2021’s snowstorms; deal with intensifying drought.” He makes the case for recycling and conserving water instead of diverting water to the greatest demand. He declares that billions spent on bad projects such as tunnels and reservoirs should be replaced by conservation of existing resources. (L.A.Times, 2-22-22)

Jay Lemery, professor of emergency medicine at University of Colorado School of Medicine, tells us the “The climate crisis will wreck our health” in his March 2022 article in the L.A. Times. He states that we need specially trained doctors to treat the harm to people caused by a heating planet. He states that “the data from decades of climate science reinforces the overwhelming conclusion that our ecosystems are under such stress that wide-scale human suffering is all but certain.” The report indicates that we have “a brief and rapidly closing window of opportunity to secure a livable and sustainable future for all.” More optimistically he states that the window is not yet closed. He states that humans can expect more widespread sickness, injuries, and disease from a changing climate.

Lemery believes that “we should start today training our medical students about basic connections between climate and health and we should scale up professional development programs for practicing clinicians to gain the confidence and skills to dive into the fray now.”

  1. A. Times article: “Ice shelf collapse in East Antarctica, raising alarm.” An ice shelf the size of New York City has collapsed in East Antarctica, an area long thought to be stable and not affected much by climate change. It marked the first time in human history that the region had an ice collapse. Temperatures had soared more than 70 degrees warmer than normal in East Antarctica. The ice shelf was square miles wide. Catherine Walker of the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institute said that scientists have never seen this happen in this part of the continent, making it worrisome.

University of Minnesota ice scientist Peter Neff stated that “the Glenzer Conger ice shelf had been there for thousands of years, and it’s not ever going to be there again.”

L.A Times 3/26/22 – “Climate activists rally around world” “They want bolder measures to fight global warming, and some speak out on the war in Ukraine.” Scientists staged a 10th series of worldwide protests Friday to demand that leaders take stronger action against global warming, with some linking their environmental message to calls for an end to the war in Ukraine. The Fridays for Future movement, inspired by activist Greta Thunberg, saw demonstrations in Indonesia, Europe and the United States. Some held banners placards demanding “system change, not climate change.” Others held a banner saying “G-20, stop funding our extinction.”

This is just one example of the young protesting worldwide for an end to violence and endangerment of our environment. Sophia Geiger, 19, and activist with Fridays for Future, said she wants President Biden to declare a national emergency – a repeated demand by environmental groups since Biden took office.

The voices are many and rapidly multiplying – save the planet, stop global warming, save vital resources,

Laura J, Martin, Erie C. Ellis and Agustin Fruentes tell us in their L.A Times article: “Is humanity doomed? That depends on us.” Elon Musk repeated on old alarm that declining births are one of the biggest risks to civilization. If people don’t have more children, civilization is going to crumble.”

On the other side of the subject Paleontologist Henry Gee tells us that our species is destined for extinction due to declining fertility and habitat degradation.

Stanford biologist Paul Erlich predicted that population growth would outpace food production in the 1970s, leaving hundreds of millions to starve to death. Other scientists and environmentalists fear that humans will exceed the planet’s carrying capacity and destroy themselves.

Luke Kemp of the University of Cambridge’s Center for the Study of Existential Risk, states that “scholars of catastrophic risk point to climate change, nuclear weapons, bioweapons, autonomous weapons and mass surveillance as humanities greatest threats. Climate change is a clear example of how a small number of powerful humans drive environmental degradation and that the richest 1%, about 63 million people, is responsible for more than twice as much greenhouse gas emissions as 3.1 billion people who make up the poorest half of humanity – that they cause habitat degradation, income inequality and widespread injustice that already threaten the lives of countless people and other beings on the planet.”

Just today, April 21, 2022, the Associated Press tells us that “Last summer was Europe’s hottest yet.” The article stated that scientists say that temperatures were 1.8 degrees Fahrenheit higher than the average for the three previous decades.

The examples are never-ending. The Associated Press tells us this month that: “Horn of Africa braces for punishing drought.” This is their fourth consecutive year that agricultural workers are preparing for their most severe drought in 40 years. The International Authority on Development said rains would be lacking for a fourth consecutive year, triggering increased case of malnutrition and threats to livelihood for 29 million people.

Now, more locally, yet another dispute over water sources comes about with the huge Mono Lake in Northern California facing drought conditions forcing cuts in exports of water to various cities due to a three year drought which causes a 72% reduction in water diverted for Los Angeles which serves more than 100,000 residents.

The stories and facts go on and on as the inevitable becomes a reality. Yet, the evidence and warnings of planetary demise and living conditions become ever more perilous. As I peer from my sliding door at the sunshine and gentle breeze it seems that there is no problem and that life is good. So, what will I do? Shall I ponder about the plight of humanity and seek something I can do to help to placate disaster for future generations? What can I do? I can skip that unnecessary trip to the market for a couple of things. I can leave off the heat and air conditioning which is monitored to maintain comfort to the nth degree. But, what little will all that do to resolve this festering and worsening problem of global warming. What I can personally do to alleviate the reality would not even be measureable against the challenge of planetary destruction which we have committed the planet to suffer, not for me to experience, but for the billions of humans who will follow when I am finished enjoying the comforts and pleasures bestowed upon us by this lovely planet.

I know. We don’t like to talk about this. We all prefer to ignore the subject because we assume we can’t make much contribution to resolving the reality and we are unconvinced of the warnings of our environmental scientists.

Those of us who do care either don’t have enough concern for future humanity or we realize that there isn’t much we can do resolve it.  It seems to become more evident as we pursue the challenge that voluntary compliance with life-sustaining practices is not going to happen soon enough or vastly enough to manage the inevitable. We realize that it must be accomplished by mandatory measures by all inhabitants of Planet Earth.

So, the question is: how can we accomplish the measures to eliminate of lessen this potential disaster?

We used to something like this the “64 million dollar question” but due inflation it is now a “64 trillion dollar question” – and then some. It seems that the only way to get any compliance will require hitting everyone on the planet in the pocket book. That is the only way to get compliance. It will never be done voluntarily. We must fund the cost of every environmental issue through mandatory taxation on a widespread scale. It will have to be burden on every inhabitant of the planet and will have to be scaled upward by income and wealth to make it equally felt by all. And it must be done now, not a few decades or years from now, but now. I must be taxed adequately enough to restrict my spending on unnecessary trips to the market or to visit friends or to partake of entertainment facilities. It must be done now for me and for you and for everyone.

Will our elected leaders do the job? Of course not! It might have a negative effect on their reelection as they wallow in the public trough. If they don’t get reelected how can they continue to make life so great for everyone? Maintaining their position of recognition and privilege is much more important than assuring continuity of the planer for human habitation. It is a simple as that!

I am rambling on this subject because we all need to ramble on this subject until everyone is convinced that action is imminently necessary. Without a continuity of rambling on this subject, action will never transpire. You and I may be okay but future generations will not. We have a duty to consider the welfare of those who follow.

We must listen to the voices of the experts in science who know and can measure what is happening and guide us in placating or resolving the imminent danger of the demise of humanity. This is the opposite of “Greed Disease” which I wrote about recently. This is about assisting the cause of assuring a continuity of humanity, a cause which is heading in the wrong direction and gaining ground with each generation of comfort and pleasure seekers who disregard the apparent outcome and cherish personal self-aggrandizement over the continuity of humanity.

It’s like what Mary McNamara asks in her recent article in the Los Angeles Times: “Quit fiddling while Earth burns:” “Why are we talking about anything but climate change?” This is the question she asks herself “every time scientists release one of their consistently alarming reports on the projected countdown to doomsday.” She defines doomsday as “the moment when the ability to lower the atmospheric temperature has slipped from our control – the moment when we are irrevocably at the mercy of hurricanes, tornadoes, fires, drought, food shortages, rising sea levels, and political carnage that will accompany same – the moment that by the latest estimates is less than 10 years away.”

Another compelling article in the Los Angeles Times “Little time left to save Earth” sounds the alarm again with no holds barred. It states that “If we don’t act now to go beyond current pledges and cut fossil fuel emissions in half by 2030, it will be impossible to keep the heating of the Earth below a crucial 2.7-degree Fahrenheit limit and avoid increasingly severe devastation and suffering.”  The IPCC clearly states that what is blocking the replacement of dangerous fossil fuels with clean renewable energy is not technology, but politics. Politicians, and the self-interested fossil fuel interests they serve, are the reason we are spiraling toward calamity.

The article states that: “this kind of climate action may seem unlikely or even laughably ambitious, given the dysfunction in Congress, its failure to respond to decades of escalating warnings from scientists and the stranglehold of polluting industries. But if there ever were a time to press hard and go big to save our planet from the worst ravages of climate change, it is now.”

I suppose the answer to the question of sanity taking precedence over politics in this time of crisis is a silly question, as always. Will those few who stand to prosper short term by instilling permanent damage on our living conditions with fossil fuels again prevail to the demise of the future Earth inhabitants?

Nicholas Goldberg states the case and warns of the urgency of action in his recent article in the Los Angeles Times: “The end of the world is coming, one more time.” We should all read it and take heed to the reality which it implies for humanity. It isn’t good news but should invoke our awareness one more time.

I don’t want to read about it or think about it any longer. I’m sure everyone feels the same way, but we must, life depends on it.

Presidents’ Day

Happy President’s Day to all those deceased former presidents who exemplified common good principles:

George Washington, Thomas Jefferson, Abraham Lincoln, Theodore Roosevelt, Franklin Roosevelt, Harry Truman, Dwight Eisenhower, John Kennedy, Lyndon Johnson, and others worthy of mention.

To: New York Times – December 28, 2021

To: New York Times – December 28, 2021

The recent article by Nick Romeo published in the New York Times strikes an essential cord in our song for equality in living standards and education.

Why is it that a country such as the U. S. is stuck in the last century in terms of economic equality and educational opportunities? Well, we know the answer to that question. It is our taxation policies.

We must get past the control of our government by the wealthy individuals and corporations who finance political campaigns. They should finance education and healthcare for everyone and relieve the wage-earner class, which includes most of us, the burden thereof and free individual incomes to provide better standards of living for families. All of these proposals would strengthen our economy and feed on itself for a more equitable distribution on income and wealth.

Education and healthcare should be free essential services provided by a government which taxes the people according to their ability to pay. Corporate income should have limits after which all additional income received is taxed at one hundred percent for the benefit of everyone in society. We are far from equality of education and healthcare. Taxation policy is controlled by those who make the rules and regulations we live by, the rich and powerful. They assure favorable taxation policies for their advantage as they pile up massive fortunes which they will never be able to spend in their lifetimes and are then left to their survivors to continue the process.

Wealth should be taxed before death periodically at a reasonable rate and after death at one hundred percent and returned to the general welfare of all the people. We all contribute to providing the goods and services which support all the people, especially the wealthy, and all should share in the income derived.

“Keep your hands off my gun!”

“Keep your hands off my gun!”

Ted Follkert – December 16, 2021

A friend of mine told me he has two loaded guns in his home and can’t remember where they are. So, obviously they are useless for his self-defense – but they are of much use by someone who burglarizes his home and steals the guns. Once they are in the hands of this crime-minded individual they become weapons for the commitment of worse crimes than burglary, such crimes such as robbery or murder. and often do just that. In this case there are no underage children in the home but if there were, and probably were previously, they could have been easily utilized for crimes by wayward youths who do not think through the penalties which shall fall upon them for the use of such weapons, but merely consider the short term urge of carrying out revenge or self-protection which is necessitated by their lifestyles.

The subject of restricting firearm ownership brings out the usual uprising of the gun enthusiasts who think they are tough with a weapon in their possession. Fortunately, the situation whereby one would need a firearm for protection is so infinitesimal that is not worthy of mention. However, this fact is played down by the firearm industry with pathetic oaths such as: “the answer of a bad guy with a gun is a good guy with a gun.” So, is that supposed to mean that we should just fight it out in the streets? If so, then we don’t need law enforcement any longer. Look at the trillions of dollars that will save society. And look at how that would contribute to population control. Of course, the trick is getting the guns used to only kill the bad guys. And, of course the question is figuring out who the bad guys are. The gun enthusiasts would have us leave that decision to anyone with a gun in his or her hand.

Should we have a committee of those chosen to determine who the bad guys are? Should that determination be made by written and legislated rules and regulations of human activity? Should those rules and regulations be enforced? Of course they should. And are these rules and regulations and enforcement provisions available in every city, county, state, and the nation. Of course they are. That is why we have law enforcement personnel in every city, county, state and the nation. We should let them do their job, a job that is extremely difficult, and not attempt to assume the right to do it illegally or carelessly, or in a moment of rage, by any individual.

We need stronger and stricter gun laws. We need to step on the toes of the gun manufacturers and gun owners by legislating and enforcing restrictions on gun ownership and control. We should poll the populous, particularly those with children in the home, about their feelings about this critical subject, and take the steps to placate this daily source of bad news around the country.

Unfortunately, rants such as this don’t sell newspapers and attract news viewers. Gun violence and senseless murders sell newspapers and attract news viewers. And, so it goes!

A Game of Tyrants & Demagogues

A Game of Tyrants & Demagogues

Or as H. L. Mencken is quoted as having said: “If they say it isn’t about money, it’s about money.”

But this is not just about money. No, this is also about loss of life, lives and money lost without any lasting measure of success for mankind. This is about the total cost of wars, which are often misnamed as police actions or other less brutal occurrences which tyrants and demagogues bestow on other peoples’ children.

Neta Crawford of Boston University, co-founder of the Cost of Wars Project, spells it out in her article in Nation Magazine, September 20, 2021: “20 Years of Bloodshed and Delusion – The Numbers.”

“Over the last 20 years the US military has spent or requested about 8.8 trillion dollars.” Future medical and disability payments will likely exceed an additional 2.2 trillion dollars.” She tells us that there were 7,052 service members killed.

There is unnecessary secrecy, voice are ignored, derided, or silenced as we rally around the flag and worship our generals. Like a friend of mine in the military years said about sergeants: “these guys pray for war.

The Costs of War Project publishes this information to promote transparency about warfare.

This study and publication cites statistics that are troubling and a sad commentary on the lack of accomplishments from the cost of money and lives in these conflicts. The death toll of warfare in Afghanistan, Pakistan, Iraq, Syria, Yemen, and others for the US military is more than 7,000, US contractors more than 8,000, other allied troops more than 14,000, civilians more than 300,000, opposition forces more than 300,000, total death toll from these war zones 900,000 or more.

The Price of War for post 9/11, 2001-2022 is quoted as:

DOD Overseas Operations – $2 trillion                                             Homeland Security – $1 trillion                                                                      Future Obligations including veterans care – $2 trillion plus         Interest Payments on War Spending $1 trillion plus                           Other Pentagon expenses $1 trillion plus

If they say it isn’t about money, it’s about money. And it’s about what better choices could be made for the use of 8 trillion dollars – particularly for protecting the planet from demise due to warfare, as above delineated, and all other abuses that endanger future human habitation hereon.

This kind of reminds us of what the conservative Senator Everett Dirksen was quoted as having said many years ago; ” A billion here and a billion there, the first thing you know you are talking about real money.”

Defrocking is baloney!

Defrocking is baloney!

Hand-slapping for the chosen ones!

Ted Folkert – September 4, 2021

Wouldn’t all criminals, such as rapists, thieves, murderers, and all other forms of criminal behavior like to be punished by defrocking? Of course they would.

Seeing the defrocked cardinal slumping over his walker in an effort to look feeble and harmless is like a young child telling his mother “I didn’t do it and I’m not going to do it again.”

There doesn’t seem to be an adequate punishment for a creep like this, praying on the defenseless youngsters who are taught to revere the priests and bishops and cardinals as if everything they say and do is sanctioned by God himself or herself.

As a minimal preventative measure their sexual organs should be surgically removed and displayed on the church wall for observation to others who choose to permanently damage the minds of defenseless youngsters left in their charge.

Someone please explain to us the hiring process for these so-called church leaders, The entire catholic organization should be on this case, but perhaps there are too many remaining who sympathize or consider themselves among those being publicized. Obviously, this is an internal problem which the general public cannot correct, but only publicize and criticize.

The Catholic organization owns massive real estate all over the planet. They control the religious thinking and behavioral actions of millions, perhaps billions, of followers of their gospel. They have their own school system for devout Catholics to educate their children. And they have failed miserably in protecting these young, fertile, and submissive minds from being seriously damaged at a very young and fragile age.

Where is law enforcement for these crimes? We the people should rise up in mass and demand strict law enforcement including incarceration and the banning of involvement of education of the young forever.

Where is George Carlin when we need him? I just looked around and he was gone.

Where is George Carlin when we need him? I just looked around and he was gone.

I still miss George Carlin even though he left us a few years ago.

Although, Carlin was dismissed by some comedy lovers for using profanity and saying things that “hurts the ears” of those who see themselves as “holier than thou,” I appreciated his unique ability of pointing out the avoidance of implicitness in remarks of some politicians by sort of dodging the full impact of their beliefs.

Some examples from his comedic routines about the statements of politicians, while poking fun at them, are poignant and true to his intent, such as:

He suggests that the “term limits” for politicians should be limiting the “terms” they use.

They don’t say things, they indicate or suggest – They don’t decide, they determine – They make judgments or assessments – They don’t answer, they respond – They don’t read it, they review it – They take a position – They address the problem – They will soon be proceeding or moving forward – They move the process forward in order to meet these challenges – They talk about miscommunication – They were quoted out of context – They say they twisted my words – They say that the whole thing was blown out of proportion – They want to get to the bottom of this and get on with their lives – They have faith in the American system – They want to get the facts out to the American people – They say mistakes were made and they want to take responsibility for their actions – They want to move the process forward in order to meet the challenge.

Carlin was one of a kind when it comes to poking fun at all of us with harmless but meaningful humorous criticism – a brilliant comedian who always made me laugh at others and myself.

We may have democracy, or we may have wealth concentrated in the hands of a few, but we can’t have both. Louis Brandeis