Truth of Power Now

A significant percentage of our people in the U.S. believe that all opinions are equal, have equal value, should be equally considered, and deserve to be heard.   That is absolute bullshit.   The notion that one person's ignorance is just as good as another person's knowledge is the fuel of ignorance that is driving our political debates and establishing what passes for our new cultural norms in the U.S.   As the late, great, Senator Daniel Patrick Moynihan repeatedly said — 'You are entitled to your opinion.   But you are not entitled to your own facts.'   Now, ... we have a major news organization, Fox ‘News’, and a major political party, our own Republican Party, that just makes up their own 'facts' to support whatever is their position of the day.   This practice, and the tolerance of this practice by the rest of us in the U.S. who are still sentient, makes us all, collectively, more ignorant and stupid by the day.   It also preconditions our p...

The attached article is just one of many decrying the lack of 'civility' at Republican Party events, and Town Halls, and Political Offices, etc.  One suggestion is to have a Republican Party Security Force; which is something that this President also supports.  What a great idea! As Multnomah County GOP chair James Buchal told the Guardian:  “I am sort of evolving to the point where I think that it is appropriate for Republicans to continue to go out there,” he said.  “And if they need to have a security force protecting them, that’s an appropriate thing too.” Asked if this meant Republicans making their own security arrangements rather than relying on city or state police, Buchal said:  “Yeah. And there are these people arising, like the Oath Keepers and the Three Percenters.” Asked if he was considering such groups as security providers, Buchal said:  “Yeah. We’re thinking about that.  Because there are now belligerent, unstable people who a...

A comment from a long-time friend and political commentator goes like this - "There goes Trump's promise of coal jobs down the sluice as the coal industry collapses and dumps worker pension and medical funds in bankruptcy.  Demand for coal worldwide is shrinking fast as nations gear up for renewable energy.   Coal will never recover and soon lots of ghost towns will exist in the coal mining areas with fatality rates skyrocketing just as rural hospitals shut down and Medicaid vanishes.  Lots of trump voters will suffer and die in misery caused by their hero." "Pray for them and millions more..." I hate to say this; but I have to be honest.  I have, literally, no sympathy for anyone who voted for this imbecile; and it is those voters who will, and should, have to take personal responsibility for having damaged our nation in the process. My only hope, in this situation, is that it is the Trump Supporters who are the first in line to see their...

Another shining example of what Republicans consider "Family Values." I am sure there are other, faster, ways; but at the moment I can't think of a faster way for inspiring me to walk over and beat you unconscious than to be a person that abuses a woman like this in my presence. Hospital or morgue; it really doesn't matter. http://deadstate.org/family-values-conservative-if-woman-can-breastfeed-in-public-i-can-grab-their-breasts/

Contractor Charged With Leaking Classified Data On Russian Election Hacking We, in the U.S., need an 'Official Secrets Act' like the British have; but our law needs to have real teeth. This isn't some noble 'Freedom of Speech' activist - this person has just committed Treason. She was entrusted with our national secrets and has betrayed that trust. She should be tried and, if convicted, executed in public - full stop. http://www.nationalmemo.com/contractor-charged-leaking-classified-russian-hacking/?utm_campaign=website&utm_source=sd&utm_medium=email

We are citizens of one world, one planet, and one species.   If we cannot, or will not, grasp that key fact – and act accordingly – then we will all be either doomed to extinction or our lives will become much more primitive and terrible; to a point where a common life’s experience will be aptly described as painful, brutal, and short.   We can no longer be members of the discordant tribes that we call nations, or religions, and hope to survive what our future holds. This is the first article in a regular blog addressing the common world events and problems that face all of us; but focusing on the citizens of the United States, each member nation of the GCC, and the people of the surrounding region of what is commonly called the Middle East.   I hope these blogs will not only identify and clarify the common problems that we face but also provide positive suggestions addressing the options that we might have to help constructively face and, perhaps, resolve some o...