Tag Archives: States

2020 In A Nutshell So Far

Climate, COVID-19, Law, Life, Media, Politics, Real Life, Social, US, World, , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

Found this somewhere.  Original Author unknown. But it puts a good spin on things.

Dear Diary: 2020
In January, Australia caught on fire. I don’t even know if that fire was put out, because we straight up almost went to war with Iran. We might actually still be almost at war with them. I don’t know, because Jen Aniston and Brad Pitt spoke to one another at an awards show and everyone flipped the fuck out, but then Netflix released Cheer and everyone fell in love with Jerry, but then there was the thing happening in China, then Prince Harry and Meghan peaced out of the Royal family, and there was the whole impeachment trial, and then corona virus showed up in the US “officially,” but then Kobe died and UK peaced out of the European Union.

In February, Iowa crapped itself with the caucus results and the president was acquitted and the Speaker of the House took ten years to rip up a speech, but then WHO decided to give this virus a name COVID-19, which confused some really important people in charge of, like, our lives, into thinking there were 18 other versions before it, but then Harvey Weinstein was found guilty, and Americans started asking if Corona beer was safe to drink, and everyone on Facebook became a doctor who just knew the flu like killed way more people than COVID 1 through 18.

In March, shit hit the fan. Warren dropped out of the presidential race and Sanders was like Bernie or bust, but then Italy shut its whole ass down, and then COVID Not 1 through 18 officially become what everyone already realized, a pandemic and then a nationwide state of emergency was declared in US, but it didn’t really change anything, so everyone was confused or thought it was still just a flu, but then COVID Not 18 was like ya’ll not taking me seriously? I’m gonna infect the one celebrity everyone loves and totally infected Tom Hanks, but then the DOW took a shit on itself, and most of us still don’t understand why the stock market is so important or even a thing(I still don’t), but then we were all introduced to Tiger King. (Carol totally killed her husband), and Netflix was like you’re welcome, and we all realized there was no way we were washing our hands enough in the first place because all of our hands are now dry and gross.

In April, Bernie finally busted himself out of the presidential race, but then NYC because the set of The Walking Dead and we learn that no one has face masks, ventilators, or toilet paper, or THE GOD DAMN SWIFTER WET JET LIQUID, but then Kim Jong-Un died, but then he came back to life… or did he? Who knows, because then the Pentagon released videos of UFOs, and we were like man, it’s only April….

In May, the biblical end times kicked off historical locust swarms and then we learned of murder hornets and realized that 2020 was the start of the Hunger Games but people forgot to let us know, but then people legit protested lockdown measures with AR-15s, and then sports events were cancelled everywhere, But then people all over America finally reached a breaking point with race issues and violence. There were protests in every city, but then people totes forgot about the pandemic called COVID Not One Through 18. Media struggled with how to focus on two important things at once, but then people in general struggle to focus on more than one important thing, and a dead whale was found in the middle of the Amazon rain forest after monkeys stole COVID 1 Through 19 from a lab and ran off with them, and either in May or April (no one is keeping track of time now) that a giant asteroid narrowly missed earth.

In June, science and common sense just got thrown straight out the window and somehow wearing masks became a political thing, but then a whole lot of people realized the south was actually the most unpatriotic thing ever and actually lost the civil war, and there is a large amount of people who feel that statues they don’t even know the name of are needed for … history reasons, but then everyone sort of remembered there was a pandemic, but then decided that not wearing a mask was somehow a god given right (still haven’t found that part in the bible or even in the constitution), but then scientists announced they found a mysterious undiscovered mass at the center of the earth, and everyone was like DON’T YOU DARE TOUCH IT, but then everyone took a pause to realize that people actually believed Gone With The Wind was like non-fiction, but then it was also announced that there is a strange radio signal coming from somewhere in the universe that repeats itself every so many days, and everyone was like DON’T YOU DARE ATTEMPT TO COMMUNICATE WITH IT, but then America reopened from the shut down that actually wasn’t even a shut down, and so far, things have gone spectacularly not that great, but everyone is on Facebook arguing that masks kill because no one knows how breathing works, but then Florida was like hold my beer and let me show you how we’re number one in all things, including new Not Corona Beer Corona Virus, Trump decides now is a good time to ask the Supreme Court to shut down Obama Care because what better time to do so than in the middle of a pandemic, but then we learned there was a massive dust cloud coming straight at us from the Sahara Desert, which is totally normal, but this is 2020, so the ghost mummy thing is most likely in that dust cloud, but then I learned of meth-gators, and I’m like that is so not on my fucking 2020 Bingo card, but then we learned that the Congo’s worse ever Ebola outbreak is over, and we were all like, there was an ebola outbreak that was the worse ever?

In July…. Aliens? Zeus? Asteroids? Artificial Intelligence becomes self aware? Return of the dinosaurs?

Events are not going to everyone else’s plans and we have to try to find out what is the truth.  We may need some help.

JH

Advertisement

via LA Times Admits Trump Right About What’s Causing California’s Massive Wildfires

by Tim Pearce

Adopting more active forest management policies such as increased thinning of trees and conducting controlled burns will help mitigate damage from future wildfires, The Las Angeles Times editorial board writes.

Interior Secretary Ryan Zinke began advocating similar policy prescriptions earlier in the year after President Donald Trump blamed California’s “bad environmental laws” for creating a wildfire-prone environment.

California forests have grown dryer and less healthy from overcrowded trees, infestations of bark beetles and the effects of climate change, the Las Angeles Times writes. California’s restrictions on active forest management have contributed to the poor and worsening conditions of the forests, allowing them to grow uninhibited while suppressing fires that would normally naturally control the forests’ growth.

“Fire is not necessarily bad for forests. California used to burn with regularity, and low-intensity fires are vital in some ecosystems to clear excess brush and small trees from the landscape,” the editorial board writes. “But there’s been a change in fire behavior over the last century, as the state and federal government began dousing the blazes. Decades of fire suppression have allowed forests to grow dense with trees.”

“Combined with drought, insect infestations and the stress of a warming climate, those management practices have led to more intense and destructive fires that are more dangerous to people living near the forests and more damaging to air quality,” the op-ed continues.

California’s environmental laws entered the national spotlight in early August when Trump blamed them for the severity of the wildfires that were ravaging the state.

Interior Secretary Ryan Zinke was soon at the front of the administration’s push for California to begin adopting more active land management policies. Zinke traveled to California to see the damage from the fires and meet with local officials and firefighters Aug. 13.

Zinke ramped up calls for greater forest thinning while also dismissing the idea that climate change is playing a significant factor in the wildfires’ intensity.

“I’ve heard the climate change argument back and forth,” Zinke told Sacramento-based KCRA. “This has nothing to do with climate change. This has to do with active forest management.”

California Gov. Jerry Brown partnered with state lawmakers to introduce changes to the state’s policies. The bill would grant $1 billion toward forest thinning and ease regulations on cutting trees on private property, according to the Las Angeles Times.

Kind of reminds me of something I hear many many years ago.

Setting: Courtroom with the Forest Service Manager (FSM) on the stand.

Lawyer: “Sir you are in charge of all the national forests in the United States. Correct?”

FSM:  “Yes Sir.”

Lawyer: “For purpose of demonstration, we will equate one wooden matchstick for one million trees.  Please hold out your hands, as he placed a couple of boxes of match sticks in the FSM’s hands.  This should equal the amount of trees that were around when you department was formed.  Now, over the years, your department has sold off lumber rights to harvest for private and public industry.”  The Lawyer takes a few off the FSM’s hands.  “With a few outcries of deforestation, your department gets an expert guidebook to run your forests.”  The Lawyer adds a few matchsticks back. “Now with trees doing what trees do in the forest and new science backing your guidebooks,” adding a few more matchsticks to the pile, “Your department was slowly breaking even keeping the forests healthy and productive, correct?”

FSM: “Yes.”

Lawyer: “Now we have the interference from people running around with unproven scientific facts and Lumber companies and corporations trying to tell you how to do your job, making your department spend all your allocated money in the court system which is not allowing you to do your job to keep the forests healthy and productive.”  All this time the Lawyer has been adding to the pile in the FSM’s hand.

FSM: Looking down at his hands and seeing that he is holding about four boxes of match sticks in his hands. “That’s about right.”

Lawyer: “Now to be fair, I am going to remove the percentage that you were allowed to sell off.”  He reached up and removed one matchstick from the FSM’s hands and holds it up for the court to see.  Turns to the FSM and looks him in the eye, “What do you think Mother Nature’s solution to your problem would be?” 

The Forest Service Manager’s eyes got very big as he saw the Lawyer’s thumbnail scratch the head of the lone matchstick in his hand.

I believe in conservation but to go too far left or right really upsets the balance.  Mother Nature has been doing this for millions of years and we can see what she has done with mistakes over that time period.  The bigest problem we have today is too many theorys that are broadcasted by the media, our leaders and schools and not enough facts.

Climate change in nature is an ongoing thing.  If humans are speeding it up or slowing it down is the question we need to answer.  I turn on the news and someone is spouting something about it but it is all theory with little or no facts behind it.  They trot out some unknown science person that says in the last twenty, thirty, or fifty years there has been this amount of change  but when asked, they have no clue what climate did in a certain area one hundred, one thousand, one million, or one trillion years ago.

The Truth of it is, that while it is sad for the lives lost and the damage done to the forests, we need to return to the middle of the road to continue to survive.

We are Losing Vital Information

Politics, Real Life, Social, , , , , , , ,

via Ag education desperately needed in schools

Our nation’s educators push math, science, reading and social studies with an emphasis on standardized testing, but are students ready for the real world? Practical lessons grounded in agriculture could help prepare them for adulthood.

More than that, agriculture should be, and can easily be, incorporated into core subjects like math, science, reading and social studies.

First, why not? With a projected 57,000+ jobs available in agriculture and food science each year, these employment opportunities often go unfilled.

Second, your child eats three meals a day, right? When they go to the grocery store, don’t we want our youth informed as they make purchasing decisions? Don’t we want them armed with the facts, so they don’t have to feel guilt and confusion due to the misconceptions and biased opinions perpetuated by activists, food bloggers and the media?

In my travels I have met lots of people who are very smart.  They know their high-tech speciality beyond reproach.  they may even know or can handle some of the everyday skills like balancing a checkbook, popping something in the microwave, may even have an inkling of how to change a flat tire, or at least knowing where all the equipment is to change that tire.  You have to be careful because some of the new cars don’t even have a spare tire anymore.

My last year of high school, either due to scheduling or the teacher was worried  about me being in a science lab, I was not able to take chemistry.  ( I don’t know why. )  So I would not have too much Study Hall, I was sent to a “Terminal Math” class tought by our superintendent.  This was a review of all the basic math you learn in twelve years of school. You know, the stuff you will use everyday.  When we went over how to figure compound interest we were asked to ask our smart classmates in chemistry how to figure compound intrest for a loan they had real dumb looks.  Most of the people in the Terminal Math went on to become pretty good business leaders in the community and such.

When you meet people and start talking you find that in some cases that these people have never been beyond a six or ten blocks of  where they have lived their entire life or have never been outside the city limits of their town.  Their food comes from the store on the corner.  They have no idea that the fresh vegetables was harvested, depending on the season, in a foreign country then transported to the store near them.  Their breakfast cereal started in a field in Kansas, manufactured in Illinois, and on to the store near them.  Have no idea what GMO means.  That their pet food may have been manufactured in a country that has very little regulations like we have in the US by the FDA.

In order to provide a better general education we need a more rounded education of the basics.

A Delaying tactic for Term Limits

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If people think that Congress is talking about it then they don’t have to force the issue.  WRONG!

via Bipartisan Group of Lawmakers Pushes for Term Limits

An old approach to draining the Washington swamp has become new again as members of Congress push for congressional term limits.

Term limits were one of the items proposed in the 1994 Contract with America, developed by former House Speaker Newt Gingrich. Although the issue was widely debated at the time, and term limits were imposed on some local and state elected positions, the bid to create term limits at the federal level never succeeded. Although some states sought to limit congressional terms, The Washington Post noted that a court rejected those efforts. Instead, imposing congressional term limits requires a constitutional amendment, which would require two-thirds passage in the bitterly divided houses of Congress and then ratification by 36 states.

Republican Rep. Brian Fitzpatrick of Pennsylvania said he told Trump that there is a connection between length of service and corruption, according to the Washington Examiner. 

“I made clear to the president that, as a former FBI special agent who oversaw the FBI’s Political Corruption Unit for the entire nation, I witnessed firsthand an undeniable correlation between the length of time in office and the instances of corruption,” Fitzpatrick said. “The lines that were very bright for elected officials on day one in office were not so bright in year seven or eight, and even less so in years 15 or 20.”

It is clear that if we wait for Congress to get around to doing this themselves, the proverbial hot place will freeze over first.  Those that are currently riding the establishment of power in Congress will always come up with the one vote not to allow something to curtail their power or cut off the millions they receive in office for doing something the highest bidder will pay for.  That folks,  will not be what you voted for them to do.

If you do any research, you will see that what they have made over their years in elected public service far exceeds what they are actually paid for.  With this, there are a few that say they are not making enough.  Is that after they just bought their second or third beach house?

A constitutional amendment for congressional term limits could never achieve the blessing of Congress; it could be initiated only by the states.  Dwight D. Eisenhower

To get anything done in this way will require that every state place it on the ballot and force a Constitutional Convention.  This would be a very steep hill to walk and a hard fight against the established political power and the media giants to return us to the original democratic republic we are supposed to be.    What former President Dwight D. Eisenhower was trying to say is that it is up to the people who cast the ballots to collect the signatures and force the issue.  It is not enough to just stand and be counted.  It is up to all of us to get the conversation started and ram it past the elected establishment, the media, the judges, and the naysayers.

In states that have passed term limits, there have been large changes in the diversity of those elected to office and a greater discussion of what really to be done within the state.

Government Shutdown

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All this talk of a Federal Government shutdown is a bunch of hot air. Politics and the mainstream media, in its dimwitted wisdom, think that the average citizen will buy it, lock, stock, and barrel.  Shutting down non-essential bureaucracies will give the people the feeling of loss and they will come pleading for its return to the status quo.  This has happened so many times before that the average citizen will not notice.  The Media will scream about so many people that work in these offices will not be paid for one, two, maybe four weeks, that it is just absolutely devastating will be the headlines.  Then some back room deal will be made and those federal employees will get all that back pay they did not have to work for.  Compared to the rest of us, if the company we worked for shut down for the same amount of time we would get nothing.  At the end we will be back to the same old pile of manure that we have now.

So let’s call their bluff. Shut everything down.  No power and utilities to any Federal government building.  No payments of any type to anyone or company contractor(s).  No Social Security payments.  No Federal entitlement payments.  Shut down any port or airport that uses Federal employees in its operations.  Tell the troops in the barracks that they are on leave till further notice.  Alert the troops in the field or on bases on foreign soil to draw back to a secured site and hold till relieved.  I can bet that no elected member of Congress would leave their darkened offices and return to their home states to face the overwhelming feedback of those they were elected to represent.  While they live in the candlelight and use five gallon buckets to collect their waste the Citizens can work with our local and State governments to find replacements that actually will work for the People.

There will be some that think that this is politics as usual or that I am not looking at the whole picture. If you want to talk about the budget, then talk about the budget.  Not try to cram every little snowflake or redneck idea into the budget.  It just causes problem that our elected officials are not equipped to handle all at the same time.  Some people can walk, but ask them to walk and chew gum at the same time.  They fail at the task.

WHY?

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What is wrong being a Citizen and only just voting? Absolutely Nothing. That is what the establishment wants.  Every voting cycle they will trot out the propaganda you need to hear and as soon as you do your civic duty of voting, you are not needed anymore.

We are told that,”We will take care of everything.” The establishment at all levels of government has failed us.  Our watchdogs, the News Media has failed us.  They have actually joined the Political Establishment and now perform as spokespersons for the establishment.  Where do we turn to find the Truth anymore?  The courts are rampant in their duty to help the establishment hide their past screw ups or criminal behavior.  Look at the amount of sealed settlement agreements that are coming to light now.  Look at how many of the forced signers of these agreements are now coming forth with allegations of wrong doing, some criminal and some socially immoral, and because of the years or lack of evidence are pointing to these super-secret settlement agreements as the only proof they have.  Many of these agreements came with cash rewards for their silence and one has to think, did the money run out and now they are trying to get more?

I do not doubt that some, if not all they are saying happened but it sure begs the question of why now? Is this for some political or financial gain?  Or, are they just pawns is someone else’s game?

We, as Citizens don’t need to have big rallies or riot in the street to change what we see or hear, we just need to ask our friends and neighbors that one question we are always hearing from two year olds, “Why?” “Why?” “Why?”

RECESS IS OVER!

Politics, , , , , ,

It has been a while since I sat down to do some writing.

Was I trying to get my mind wrapped around something?

No.

Was I trying to come up with a different approach to the problem?

Nope.

Was there something else going on in my life?

Maybe, but I am back!

 

It is time to rattle cages and fire some people up to either do their job that they were voted in to do or start planning to replace them. We have a two party system that is failing to serve the people.  There has been nothing come out of Congress in the last year that has helped or improved our country in the least.  The improvements have come from private sector mostly, with a little help or guidance from the President.  The Stock Market is up.  The economy is moving up faster than it was.  People feel more comfortable and are thinking they have more to spend for the upcoming holidays.  None of this is from anything Congress has done or is planning on doing in the near future.

HEY CONGRESS,

RECESS IS OVER!

One side of congress currently holds the majority on paper but many of them are not doing their job. The same party is in control of the Exceptive Branch and they cannot work together!

It is time for every Citizen to open their eyes and really start looking at the ones that they may have voted for. The ones that are supposed to represent you at all levels and ask, “Are they doing the Job I voted them to be doing?”  I need you to do this at all levels of government from School Board, Township or Parish, to City, to County, to State, all the way up to National Level.  I don’t care which party you may belong to or follow.  If you see something you don’t like, talk to your friends and neighbors.  It is up to every Citizen to break the status quo and make your elected leaders work for you.  If you want to break the current establishment and return us to a Constitutional Republic, lift you head and make your voice heard!