Wise words from Illinois governor JB Pritzker.
Click PLAY or watch it on YouTube.
ReTrumplicans do the opposite. Like Trump, they attack anyone and everyone who is not MAGA.
Category: GOP USA
I Voted NDP by Mail
As I was going to be out of town on Alberta election day — May 29, 2023 — I voted by mail. Early.
And It was easy to vote by mail. I could write in the candidate running in my riding, or the Party.
I was voting against the unelected premier Danielle Smith as she’s untrustworthy and a rightwing whacko. The NDP is the only alternative that MIGHT form the next government so I voted for Rachel Notley.
I joined the provincial Party, as well.
IF unelected whacko Danielle Smith manages to lose in historically conservative Alberta, she’ll certainly claim a BIG LIE as she’s a fan of Trump and DeSantis.
Of course Trump voted by mail multiple times in recent years, while simultaneously claiming mail fraud in any state he lost. 😀
Here’s my putting my ballot in the mailbox.
WHY so much poverty in the USA?
I feel the GOP USA has only one overriding goal ➙ make the rich, richer.
To that end they don’t want to improve education, health care, nor raise the minimum wage.
Greedy Americans are why there’s so much poverty in the most affluent nation of the world.
The Pulitzer Prize–winning, bestselling author of Evicted, Matthew Desmond, reimagines the debate on poverty, making a new and bracing argument about why it persists in America: because the rest of us benefit from it.
The United States, the richest country on earth, has more poverty than any other advanced democracy.
Why?
Why does this land of plenty allow one in every eight of its children to go without basic necessities, permit scores of its citizens to live and die on the streets, and authorize its corporations to pay poverty wages? …
Private opulence, public squalor: How the U.S. helps the rich and hurts the poor
Click PLAY or watch it on YouTube.
The World Needs MORE People
In 1798, Thomas Malthus predicted a global overpopulation apocalypse.
I’ve always assumed he was right. That more people meant more pollution and — ultimately — depletion of fixed resources.
But Professor Galloway argues the opposite:
- population density has no correlation with food insecurity
- the number of people older than 80 is expected to increase sixfold by 2100
- while being less productive, seniors also consume substantially more public resources
- USA already spends 40% of total tax dollars on people 65 and up
China, Japan, Germany, Italy, Greece, Portugal, and many Eastern European nations are shrinking in 2023. Researchers project the global population will peak in 2064.
Net population growth requires a fertility rate slightly greater than two births per woman. America’s fertility rate is 1.8; the average for high income countries. And dropping.
It’s increasingly difficult for young people to be able to afford to get married, buy a house, and have kids.
The obvious solution is to increase immigration of young people. Galloway feels increased immigration still won’t be enough to solve the problem.
Read the full post:
More Babies
On the Plain of Snakes by Paul Theroux
Paul Theroux is a jerk — but still my favourite travel writer of all time.
He’s age-81 as I post. Still going strong.
Theroux says he’s mellowed. And I’d admit his most recent books are much more positive than his scathing critiques of the past.
In 2015, he published “Deep South” detailing four road trips through the southern states of the United States. Excellent.
In 2019 he published On the Plain of Snakes: A Mexican Journey, his account of his extensive travels in his own car throughout Mexico.
In some ways it was a continuation of his Deep South investigation.
Near the start he recaps the deaths and damage done by the drug trade. The insatiable American market. The brutal competition in Mexico to supply it.
He does a terrific overview of illegal immigration before the pandemic. Mexico a net zero. Now mostly more desperate folks from Central America as well as many from India, the Caribbean, and even China.
Over the decades it’s gotten more and more difficult to cross the border illegally. And not because of any wall. Walls are considered a joke in Mexico.
In another instant, his comments come across as self-serving, as when he longs for a simpler Mexico with “inexpensive meals that were delicious, cheap motels that were comfortable, and friendly people who, out of politeness, seldom complained to outsiders of their dire circumstances: poor pay, criminal gangs, a country without good health care or pensions, crooked police, cruel soldiers, and a government indifferent to the plight of most citizens.” …
I was amused to read of all the time Paul paid bribes to crooked cops. An conspicuous car with Massachusetts licence plates — a sitting duck.
Theroux is mostly critical of ReTrumplicans. I like that too, of course.
“The per capita income in Oaxaca is the same as in Kenya and Bangladesh,” Theroux says.
“You’re dealing with people who have very little money and get very little help from the government. But they have a great culture they’re very proud of, their family values are very strong, and they’re very self-sufficient and creative. They mend their clothes; they fix their shoes; they’re actually able to take something that’s broken and repair it; they have a lot of cottage industries.
I admire that, and I admire the ones who pick up and go to the border. Most of the people I’ve met who crossed the border just wanted to earn some money to send back and then go home; they weren’t here to go on welfare or be the parasites they’re identified as.”
In fact, Theroux says, “the book was inspired by everything that Donald Trump and other people were saying during the presidential campaign about Mexico, Mexicans, and the border—their uninformed opinions and stereotypes.”
He adds, “One of the great reasons for traveling is to destroy stereotypes, to see people and things as they really are, to see the dynamics and the complexity of a country. As soon as he started saying things like, ‘There’s too many of them, they’re coming over the border, they’re rapists,’ I had a great reason for taking a year or two to get to the bottom of it.” …
Publisher’s Weekly interview
Personally, I’ve given up on travel in Mexico though I had a condo there for 20 years.
It’s gotten more expensive for the tourist. And on recent trips I found it too American. I’d rather go to Nepal.
However, reading this book has sparked some interest in getting to the far south of Mexico. I’ve never been.
Build Better Refugee Camps
Karmod Prefabricated Building Technologies is a leading Turkish company founded in 1986 and has since been running projects in more than 100 countries around the world.
They provide many different kinds of buildings for refugee camps.
In the near future we’ll have more refugees, not fewer. And they’ll be more desperate.
Afraid to return home. Willing to risk death to escape.
Of course each nation should have a system for handling claims for asylum. But only a small percentage will be granted entry. As populations are getting older, many nations — starting with Japan — need MORE young people to migrate.
BEST of many bad options for refugees not chosen for asylum is to stay on the border. Months. Perhaps years.
There are about 700 refugee camps worldwide, as I post.
Who should pay?
I’d first look to organizations like the Gates Foundation. And to other billionaires who have far more money than they could ever spend.
Life in camp should be minimal. But safe. Police. Schools. Clean water. Medical facilities.
Transportation home should be offered.
If possible, there should be opportunities to work and volunteer.
Some will be under age-18. They should have special protection as should anyone with physical or mental challenges.
Some of the nations most needing decent refugee camps:
- Syria — 6.8 million refugees and asylum-seekers
- Venezuela — 4.6 million refugees, asylum-seekers, and migrants
- Afghanistan — 2.7 million refugees and asylum seekers
- South Sudan — 2.4 million refugees and asylum-seekers
- Myanmar – 1.2 million refugees and asylum-seekers
Trump and his political ilk around the world don’t want to help refugees. Instead, they use the problem to anger people — hoping to motivate them to vote for right wing political parties.
That’s much easier than motivating regular people to HELP refugees.
Click PLAY or watch it on YouTube.
“Normal” Americans
Cable news and social media bring too much attention to extremists — ignoring the vast majority.
For example, FOX wants Marjorie Taylor Greene on air because her wrong and stupid statements get ratings.
In reality …
- 75% of people in the U.S. never tweet.
- On an average weeknight in January, just 1% of U.S. adults watched primetime Fox News (2.2 million). 0.5% tuned into MSNBC (1.15 million).
- Nearly three times more Americans (56%) donated to charities during the pandemic than typically give money to politicians and parties (21%).
📊 One chart worth sharing: As polarized as America seems, Independents — who are somewhere in the middle — would be the biggest party.
- In Gallup’s 2021 polling, 29% of Americans identified as Democrats … 27% as Republicans … and 42% as independents.
Red Knife by William Kent Krueger
Cork O’Connor, now a Private Investigator, paints a picture of racial conflict in rural America, as well as a sensitive look at the secrets we keep from even those closest to us and the destructive nature of all that is left unsaid between fathers and sons, husbands and wives, friends and lovers.
Of the series so far, this is the book I enjoyed least.
It’s too complicated. Too violent.
Gundamentalist Americans make insane mistakes yet the author seems to have nothing against guns — aside from Cork moving his own weapons away to safe keeping.
A school shooting thrown into the mix too.
Staying NEUTRAL is Supporting the Oppressor
In Coach Education we have a concept called ETHICAL ACTION.
If you see something you think is wrong, take action.
Record what you saw in a diary. Keep records.
Videotape what you saw.
Notify authorities in a respectful, diplomatic way.
Ideally you ask the (possible) offender: “Why are you doing that? I don’t understand.”
People wonder why I’m so vocal about the high crimes of Donald Trump.
Ethical action. That’s why.
Trump inspired smarter people in Florida to enact a law called Don’t Say Gay. That’s like passing a law called Don’t Say Black. Don’t Say Latino.
We should take ethical action against people who discriminate when their Constitution clearly states that ALL ARE CREATED EQUAL.
Support the lesser of two evils if both sides are bad.
Martin Niemöller was a Lutheran pastor. Initially a supporter of Adolf Hitler and a self-identified antisemite. Later best known for his opposition to the Nazi regime during the late 1930s and for his widely quoted 1946 poem:
“First they came for the Communists, and I did not speak out—Because I was not a communist. Then they came for the trade unionists, and I did not speak out—Because I was not a trade unionist. Then they came for the Jews, and I did not speak out—Because I was not a Jew. Then they came for me—and there was no one left to speak for me.”
Listen to Elon
I’m often critical of Elon Musk. Turned off by his egomania.
Disappointed in his juvenile comments from the bully pulpit of Twitter. One of the richest and most powerful men in the world attacking and mocking people who are unable to fight back.
I’m disappointed that a guy who claims he doesn’t care about money is so reluctant to pay more in taxes though his businesses have received billions of dollars in tax subsidies.
That said, I admire almost everything else. His work ethic. His companies, especially Boring and Starlink.
Elon Musk does much more good for the world than bad. He’s scientific and well aware of the risks of climate change. He calls for a carbon tax. Musk endorsed Andrew Yang and expressed support for his proposed universal basic income.
Though the headlines shout that Elon is a “free speech absolutist”, Musk himself says Twitter must abide by the laws of each nation. I doubt much will change in terms of Twitter policy in Canada or the USA.
In fact, I’m guessing Twitter will be better for me with Musk as owner.
Warren had me watch this recent interview. Elon defends his life and ethics quite well.
Click PLAY or watch it on YouTube.
Rick McCharles 