Sandy Graham's Blog, page 5

Reclaim America

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After a year of disgust, teeth-gnashing and worry, we need to look forward to a revival in America of all that makes western democracies great. Sure, there will still be those who blindly refuse to budge from support of the orange monster, refuse to acknowledge that this administration is systematically destroying our country from within. We need to sweep them aside and trust that a vast majority wants to turn back to the high road.

More than one wise man, from Roman empire days to Roosevelt, have warned that the real threat to democracy comes from within rather than external threats. The Nazi’s took down Germany from within. Britain withstood the external Nazi threat. It must be obvious to any objective thinker that right-wing extremists are tearing down America by:

Fomenting racism and bigotry to divide people
Fostering violence by weakening instead of strengthening gun controls
Eliminating rather than providing health care to millions
Impoverishing citizens to increase corporate and rich individual wealth
Destroying relations with western democracies in favor of dictatorships
Undermining media’s role in providing factual reporting
…

See how easy it is to fall back into hand-wringing over our dismal situation?

We have an opportunity to right the ship this year, perhaps our last opportunity. As an optimist, I think that will happen. It will be hard to tolerate the continued destruction for another year. There will be so much more to restore. But the present situation shows how far a pendulum can swing. And a physicist would point out that the higher the pendulum swings, the stronger is the force to turn it back. So let’s embrace 2018 as the year we put America back on course.

 

GE is a Broken Stock

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My financial advisor said that recently. He’s right. Taking a close look at GE, one comes face to face with what has derailed many companies in the past three decades. Over the last seventy years (sadly, well within my lifetime), technology has exploded like a miniature version of the Big Bang that created our present universe. GE played a leadership role in that in a variety of fields ranging from light bulbs to appliances to large paper making machines to jet engines to turbines to power generation stations and so on.

But in the last thirty years that changed. The appliance division was sold, their finance division was caught up in the 2007 banking fraud, I have yet to see an LED light bulb with a GE logo. How did this happen?

Prior to the advent of tech upstarts like Microsoft, CEO’s earned a salary like the rest of us. Granted it was a healthy one and often augmented by bonuses. Stock options were rare if they existed at all. The goal was to strive for long-term company health, which meant substantial investment in research, development and workforce capability. Technological advances fueled growth and profitability.

Then, CEO’s (led in fact by one at GE) shifted the focus to stock performance. This required short term profits which meant emphasizing marketing existing products and cutting costs. Research and development dollars were slashed. By the time he left GE with an obscene retirement package, he had proudly eliminated over 100,000 jobs. Yes, he built stock value through multiple splits to an all-time high when he departed. But in the process, the company’s long-term potential was gutted. The stock now trades at 25% of that high and recently GE slashed its traditional high dividend.

Of course, GE is just one of many examples of corporations that are selling their soul for short term payback to investors. Many are not interested in company growth other than stock value. Otherwise, they would not be sitting on cash reserves in the trillions of dollars. Though most pay zero to 4% tax on their revenue, they want even that reduced by tax cuts. When the Bush administration cut corporate taxes, many used the windfall to buy back their own stock and drive the price up. That’s why the current tax bill is such a scam. There will be no long-term economic growth, only deficit growth and to combat that, punishing cuts in things we need. Anyone who advocates trickle down economics needs to refresh their understanding of the meaning of trickle. In reality, the trickle will be little more than a drip—with a torrent heading in the other direction.

 

Two Loves Challenged

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This third book in the Two Loves series was intended to be the last so here Delbert and Sylvia are flying off into the sunset. At first, I thought it would be hard to find enough for them to do but adventures kept showing up.

I’ve heard the comment that Sylvia fades into the background in Two Loves Sought and can see why that opinion is justified. Well, she comes roaring back in this volume. In fact, she and Cynthia share the spotlight. Cynthia graduates from medical school in Chapter 2 and decides to spend her intern year in Campbell River on Vancouver Island. With Delbert’s increasing independence, Sylvia went back to college and became a Public Health Nurse, ready to challenge the needs of isolated villages on Vancouver Island and further up the coast. They might not seem so isolated today but they certainly were in the 1960’s.

Delbert’s flying boat plays a central role throughout the book and Delbert remains a significant part of the action, which moves from lower Vancouver Island to the northern end, fanning out from Campbell River. I spent many summers in that region during my college years so that experience contributed to the book’s authenticity. It also gives me a chance to brag once more about the 53 pound Tyee I caught one year.[image error]

Oh yes, the book is now released in print and Kindle format. Visit my website (icon at right) to take a peek and better yet, indulge in a good read. Though, if you didn’t read the first two volumes, it would be more entertaining to start with Two Loves Lost.

Myth Reality

This is a test. Only if you are an independent thinker will you read to the end.

Over the past thirty odd years, the conservative media and politicians have created a mythical world that far too many people accept as real. The Weekly Sift lists key elements of this myth as follows:

Tax cuts pay for themselves by creating economic growth.
Government spending is mostly waste, so it can be slashed without hurting anybody.
Climate change isn’t happening, or if it is, burning fossil fuels has nothing to do with it.
When the rich make money, everybody makes money.
The free market can solve all problems, including providing healthcare to the poor.
White Christians are the primary victims of discrimination.
The uninsured can get all the medical treatment they need in emergency rooms.
Elections at all levels are tainted by massive voter fraud, as millions of illegal immigrants cast ballots.
Big business wants what’s best for America, so there’s no need to stop them from polluting our air and water, or from making products that kill their workers or customers.

The propaganda machine promoted this myth long before 2016. Trump merely latched onto it and added his own brand of divisive poison to stir up more disgruntled voters. Unfortunately, those living in this fantasy world shun facts and remain divorced from reality. No rational discussion is possible on any issue that questions these beliefs.

The Republican establishment could safely promote this myth while they were not in power. But now that they control all branches of government, fantasy is meeting reality. That’s why they could not undo the health care and very likely will fail in their attempt change tax law to make the rich richer. So far, no significant legislation has been enacted. Only presidential directives have succeeded in tearing down much of the progress made since World War II. The blood of thousands of Americans massacred is now firmly on their hands. No longer can they enjoy the role of simply blocking moves that contradict the myth or undermine its mythical promises of a glorious future.

Anything they do to further their fantasy will come back to haunt them as the adverse results become visible. Absurd benefit claims from tax cuts for corporations and the rich will not materialize. Instead more money is siphoned off and a bone thrown to the Middle Class on income tax will be swamped by the cost to individuals of cuts needed to prevent massive debt increases. There is no free lunch or money tree in the real world. Sooner or later Republican base voters must come to grips with that reality. In the end, the myth creators will be the myth busters.

Congratulations if you are still reading. Most conservatives will have left before now.

The question that interests me is how can intelligent, caring, even thoughtful, people continue to blindly back the myth? Much of the German public knew millions of Jews were being massacred. They knew what the stench of crematorium smoke meant. Soldiers knew they were machine gunning down helpless humans in front of burial trenches. How could they finger friends and neighbors to send them to their death? The same scenario played out between Serbs and Muslims in Kosovo.

Brain researchers seem to have the answer. Our brains are biased toward looking for consensus with other humans. When found, there is an overpowering urge for most people to join it. Why? Probably evolution taught us (and many other species) that numbers were important for survival. Success comes from supporting the “common good”, whether it is to ward off threats or gain useful benefits. The Houston flood gave evidence of this when racial and religious differences melted away and humans rescued humans.

The genocides mentioned above are examples of the same brain behavior when propaganda convinces people that abominable behavior is the consensus. The conservative myth relies on this brain behavior as well. By doggedly drumming the myth on Fox News, in right wing talk shows, etc., a large voting base has become convinced it is reality. Only widespread evidence of its fallacies and counter propaganda can bring the real reality back. Fortunately, the factual news so often branded as fake and the efforts of spokespersons like Bernie Sanders and comedians like Noah, Myers and Colbert now enjoy growing success as myth busters.

 

Is This Our Future?

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I am one of those who believe the Civil War never ended, only the battles ceased. The chasms between Unionists and Confederates, between non-racists and racists, between Progressives and Conservatives yawn wider than ever. Is reconciliation possible? Not too likely when the polarization is more emotional than rational.

The division is fueled by a tiny portion of the population who have discovered that their goals are achievable by buying politicians and media outlets. The success of negative campaigns, Fox network and social media blitzes prompts them to expand the purchase of local TV stations and newspapers. Russian support was just the icing on the cake in 2016. If one wonders how on earth intelligent people can turn a blind eye to the corruption, exploitation and destruction this administration is embarked upon, we need only look at the power of propaganda very little different from what the Nazi’s used over 75 years ago.

Millions here and around the world were shocked in 2016. An electoral college system designed for horse and buggy days overturned the popular vote. A collection of smaller states gave senate control to ultra conservatives. Propaganda and PAC money powered congressional votes. After one heady Women’s March that circled the globe, we seem to have retreated into a wait for 2018 mode.

While I’m optimistic that enough voters will see through the conservative myths and want to turn us back onto a saner, more economical, humane course, what if instead we get more of the same? And again in 2020? If that happens, perhaps the cartoon above is in fact the answer.

Killing The NASA Messenger

In the ongoing program of systematic destruction of everything America stands for, the “America Great Again” fiasco has cancelled NASA funds for anything which might counter the illusion that climate change deniers promote. This includes satellites that are allowed to collect data looking away from Earth but funding to collect and analyze data collects in the direction of Earth has been cut. Before our Big Brother administration has it removed from public access, check out NASA findings on https://climate.nasa.gov/evidence  They are summarized below beginning with this fundamental chart of carbon dioxide levels.

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The Earth’s climate has changed throughout history. Just in the last 650,000 years there have been seven cycles of glacial advance and retreat. The abrupt end of the last ice age about 7,000 years ago marks the beginning of the modern climate era — and of human civilization.

The current warming trend is significant because it is predominantly the result of human activity since the mid-20th century and it is proceeding at an unprecedented rate.

Earth-orbiting satellites and other technological advances enable scientists to collect many different types of information about our planet and its climate on a global scale. This body of data, collected over many years, reveals serious climate change. Ice cores drawn from Greenland, Antarctica, and tropical mountain glaciers show that the Earth’s climate responds to changes in carbon dioxide levels. Ancient evidence can also be found in tree rings, ocean sediments, coral reefs, and layers of sedimentary rocks. This ancient evidence reveals that the Earth is warming roughly ten times faster than the average rate of ice-age-recovery.

Sea level rise

Global sea level rose about 8 inches in the last century. The rate in the last two decades, however, is nearly double that of the last century. It is estimated that disappearance of polar ice caps will raise the ocean level to the Statue of Liberty’s elbow.

Global temperature rise

The planet’s average surface temperature has risen about 2.0 degrees Fahrenheit since the late 19th century, a change driven largely by increased carbon dioxide and other man-made emissions. Most of the warming occurred in the past 35 years, with 16 of the 17 warmest years on record occurring since 2001.

Warming oceans

The oceans have absorbed much of this increased heat, with the top 2,300 feet showing warming of 0.302 degrees Fahrenheit since 1969. We see the effect in stronger and more frequent hurricanes brewed each year.

Shrinking ice sheets

The Greenland and Antarctic ice sheets have decreased in mass. Data from NASA’s Gravity Recovery and Climate Experiment show Greenland lost 36 to 60 cubic miles of ice per year between 2002 and 2006, while Antarctica lost about 36 cubic miles of ice between 2002 and 2005.

Declining Arctic sea ice

Both the extent and thickness of Arctic sea ice has declined rapidly over the last several decades.

Glacial retreat

Glaciers are retreating almost everywhere around the world — including in the Alps, Himalayas, Andes, Rockies, Alaska and Africa.

Extreme events

The number of record high temperature events in the United States has increased, while the number of record low temperature events has decreased, since 1950. The U.S. has also witnessed increased intense rainfall events and floods. And on the other end of the spectrum, severe droughts and massive fires.

Ocean acidification

Since the beginning of the Industrial Revolution, the acidity of surface ocean water has increased by about 30 percent. It is caused by absorption of increased carbon dioxide in the air, an increase of about 2 billion tons per year.

Decreased snow cover

Satellite observations reveal that the amount of spring snow cover in the Northern Hemisphere has decreased over the past five decades and that the snow is melting earlier.

These are the factors behind the rise in disasters we now see each year. The evidence is as clear as that which proved the earth is round

Unfortunately, deniers prefer to believe what other deniers claim rather than facts. It’s the same phenomenon that led otherwise sane people in Germany and Kosovo to murder their neighbors and previous family friends.

 

Encore???

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Are we there again? Responsible Germans turned a blind eye to the unfolding events. It’s easy to understand how average individuals would shy away from confrontation once the Brown Shirts began their rampage.  How many of us would put our life on the line like the girl in Charlottesville this week? Did she even think she was doing that?

America is burning. Democracy is being systematically destroyed. Is that what our Republican congress wants? Do they think they were elected for that purpose? No matter how absurd these questions seem, events now give them credence. “It can’t happen here” is now the absurd position.

The obvious solution is impeachment. There is no question the grounds exist: paranoiac narcissism, immorality, conflict of interest, money laundering, Russian collusion if not treason—well beyond any minimum requirement. We can’t wait for another election, which may not come.

A second solution might be to admit the cultural divide cannot be bridged and dissolve the Union into separate countries much like what happened to the USSR. In Ickee Mushta, I included the argument (made by others before me) that the Civil War never ended, only the battles did. Yes, there are people in the north who would align with the Confederacy and others in the south would oppose it. Considerable migration would likely occur. But if differences cannot be reconciled, perhaps…

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Blue Light Special

Twenty-two years ago, I acquired a melanoma on my back. Detected in time, it was surgically removed and the surgeon said they got it all. Anything similar in future would be totally unrelated. I was quite proud of the slashing scar across my back and even claimed on occasion it was caused by Xerba, the Amazon warrior.

Regardless, my friendly dermatologist insisted on a complete body scan each year with a facial scan halfway in between. I only had a problem with that once when she brought in three female med students for a show and tell. I was a little embarrassed by the show part.

Each time she brought in a liquid nitrogen gun which left me with blistering pock marks for a few days. This year, however, she said she wanted to use a new more effective treatment on my face. The procedure involved dabbing a chemical all over my face, waiting an hour, then spending another hour under an intensive blue light. The chemical was absorbed by the precancer cells and the blue light activated it to burn them off. Worked well though the hour under the light seemed to go on forever.

A month later, she was so impressed with the treatment, she wanted to repeat it once more. When I complained about the hour exposure, she offered an alternative of applying the chemical in the afternoon, letting it gestate overnight and spending fifteen minutes under the light in the morning. Sounded preferable.

But it wasn’t. Those seventeen (as it turned out) minutes were spent in almost unbearable pain which I managed to survive. I was to avoid sunlight for a day or so and apply ice packs all that day. Unfortunately, my drive straight home was interrupted for twenty minutes by a traffic accident. I was not in direct sunlight so it should be okay. However, the stinging continued until evening despite ice packs. The other factor: shaving is not allowed for five days. You may get a kick out of the Before and After selfies:

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As you can see, I’m admirably equipped for a career as a pan-handling wino, if only I can find an unoccupied street corner.

OOP’s, This picture scared the hell out of a friend who’s dermatologists wanted to try the procedure. This picture was taken on day five, the one below on day nine. The other confession I must add is that the Before photo was taken about five years before and is scheduled to be used for evermore at present.

In a nutshell, the one hour/one hour is a very tolerable procedure. Just stay clear of the overnight/fifteen minute version. Guess my career as a panhandler was short-lived.

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Blue Light Special

Twenty-two years ago, I acquired a melanoma on my back. Detected in time, it was surgically removed and the surgeon said they got it all. Anything similar in future would be totally unrelated. I was quite proud of the slashing scar across my back and even claimed on occasion it was caused by Xerba, the Amazon warrior.

Regardless, my friendly dermatologist insisted on a complete body scan each year with a facial scan halfway in between. I only had a problem with that once when she brought in three female med students for a show and tell. I was a little embarrassed by the show part.

Each time she brought in a liquid nitrogen gun which left me with blistering pock marks for a few days. This year, however, she said she wanted to use a new more effective treatment on my face. The procedure involved dabbing a chemical all over my face, waiting an hour, then spending another hour under an intensive blue light. The chemical was absorbed by the precancer cells and the blue light activated it to burn them off. Worked well though the hour under the light seemed to go on forever.

A month later, she was so impressed with the treatment, she wanted to repeat it once more. When I complained about the hour exposure, she offered an alternative of applying the chemical in the afternoon, letting it gestate overnight and spending fifteen minutes under the light in the morning. Sounded preferable.

But it wasn’t. Those seventeen (as it turned out) minutes were spent in almost unbearable pain which I managed to survive. I was to avoid sunlight for a day or so and apply ice packs all that day. Unfortunately, my drive straight home was interrupted for twenty minutes by a traffic accident. I was not in direct sunlight so it should be okay. However, the stinging continued until evening despite ice packs. The other factor: shaving is not allowed for five days. You may get a kick out of the Before and After selfies:

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As you can see, I’m admirably equipped for a career as a pan-handling wino, if only I can find an unoccupied street corner.

 

Myth Versus Reality

[image error]This is reality under the current administration and Republican controlled government.

Their Myth: Make America Great Again

Cutting corporate and rich individuals’ taxes will create jobs (wrong, the extra revenue is hoarded instead).

Government is wasteful and out of control (undermining government permits lifting regulations that protect us and allows exploitation by corporations).

Closing borders and banning immigration will save American jobs and prevent violence (our economy benefits from immigration and our violence is almost all home-grown).

Their Reality: Make Americans Grovel Again