Giving Thanks

So, what did you do on the day before Black Friday? Officially, though, it’s still called Thanksgiving, but it seems crass commercialism has trumped thankfulness these days. For me, I was thankful that I wouldn’t be in that ball of human congestion and mayhem the day after Thanksgiving. I do most of my shopping on-line.

Yes, some 400 or so years ago Pilgrims sat down with their Native American benefactors to break bread, drink beer, and give thanks for their first harvest (no they didn’t televise football games that year). This bucolic scene of people at odds finally celebrating together in Plymouth Colony was a far cry from the death and destruction meted out by the Native Americans just weeks before at Jamestown in Virginia.

What I find amazing about this picture is that any of the English colonies ever survived. These people must have been the most naïve humans on the face of the planet. They left England for a number of reasons, to practice their religion in peace, for commerce, and merely to settle in a new land. They took their clothes, some brought their families, a few tools, and other possessions; climbed aboard cramped, primitive ships; and sailed for months to reach a land they knew practically nothing about.

Most only brought enough provisions to sustain them for a short period, and apparently none of the Pilgrims had the slightest knowledge of farming. Did they expect supermarkets in this new land?

The inhabitants of Jamestown were massacred, but before that, most of them starved to death. In the celebrated Plymouth Colony, there was starvation as well. That would have been their end too if not for an alliance with local Native Americans that taught them how to grow food. That first Thanksgiving was about being truly thankful to God and their Native American benefactors.

Today in the United States, most of us still give thanks, but few thank those Native Americans that made our existence in this land possible. Yes, it‘s a fact that not all Native Americans were helpful. Many took umbrage at the alien invaders. And over time, even those that aided the new arrivals were pushed off their land. But in reality, this is nothing more than a repeat of the story of civilization. History is replete with stories of conquest and expansion. One group, tribe, or country, defeats another, takes the land and kills or displaces the vanquished.

One of the last efforts at conquest and expansion by another country, Germany, took place a mere 77 years ago and ended in disaster and defeat in 1945. Now, the boundaries on every plot of ground on the earth have been established and with luck settled. For this too we can be thankful.

So, what else do we have to be thankful for these days? That list might be a lot smaller than one with items we would not be thankful for: We have troops still fighting in Afghanistan, Iraq, and Syria. The Russians are threatening our NATO position in Eastern Europe. Iran signed a nuclear agreement that many said was a very bad one. Muslim terrorists including ISIS and Al Qaida are still at large and slaughtering innocent people. The global economy is still shaky and ours isn’t much better. We still have homeless and jobless people in this country. Our healthcare system is in shambles. The government is growing exponentially. You have less than 30 days to max out your credit cards for Christmas…. Okay, enough negativity! It was supposed to be a day of thanks.

Well, on a personal note, I have much I gave thanks for: I have the greatest wife in the world – must be the greatest, she has stuck with me for fifty years. My kids are all healthy, employed and living in relative comfort. Two of our four grandkids have given us two lovely great-grandsons, and all are healthy. My wife and I, while not rich, are in a relatively comfortable state, and we have our health. We have good friends and neighbors. They televise football on Thanksgiving. I have all I truly need and am indeed thankful.

And one more thing to be most thankful for; Obama will be gone in a little over a year. That nightmare might be over. Now, if we could replace a few more democrats here in California, we might have something to truly be thankful for.

Why France?

Unless you have been in a cave behind a waterfall this Month, you are likely painfully aware of the massacre of innocent people in Perris. Seven or maybe eight Muslim jihadists with ISIS affiliation attacked and brutally murdered some 129 innocent people simultaneously at six different sites. But why did they choose France for this heinous act?

As Willie Sutton replied when asked, why he robbed banks, “Because that’s where the money is.” If we could ask the planner of this massacre why France, he might reply, “Because that’s where the lambs are.”

That is indeed where the lambs are! France is one huge gun-free zone. Randomly shooting innocent people in that country is like “shooting fish in a barrel.” The gun laws of France are an incredibly complicated mess of restrictions and prohibitions that virtually deny ordinary citizens the ability to own a weapon or buy ammunition for one. To use a weapon for self-defense is strictly prohibited.

True, other European nations have onerous gun laws too, but the French have other factors that, when added to the easy pickings, may have made them a prime target.

The long-time relationship with ex-French Algeria has left France with a burgeoning Muslim population that is increasingly calling for Sharia law. Muslims block the thoroughfares with huge crowds kneeling on prayer rugs at prayer times. The French population of Muslims in 2014 was 4,704,000, that is 7.5 percent of the entire population. The projection of increase at that time put the Muslim population in 2030 at 10.3 percent

France is legally prohibited from collecting statistics based on race or religion, so the actual number of Muslims may be far greater. With the “refugee” situation now, though, that number will only grow at an alarming pace.

Please note that I merely called them refugees, not Syrian refugees. Many of these, seemingly mostly young men, are from a number of Muslim countries. Are these immigrants being screened and to what depth?

In January, two men barged into the offices of the French satirical weekly newspaper Charlie Hebdo in Paris and killed 11 people. Both were Muslim jihadists seeking revenge for a cartoon of Muhammad. Leaving the building, they killed a police officer and several related attacks followed in the Île-de-France region, where a further five were killed and 11 wounded. All participants in this massacre were members of Islamist terrorist group Al-Qaida's branch in Yemen.

The Gatestone Institute, an international policy council, issued a report titled The Islamization of France in 2013. Here are some interesting quotes gleaned from the report:

“Who has the right to say that France in thirty or forty years will not be a Muslim country? Who has the right in this country to deprive us of it?" — Marwan Muhammed, spokesman for Collective Against Islamophobia in France (CCIF), Paris.

And: "The Islamic movement will become a system of life under your nose. Your wife, French women, the people of France, will live under the Islamic movement, even if you don't like it. Most of the residents of Paris are Muslims. Allah willing, most of the French system will be according to Islamic Sharia law. Most of the residents of France will be Muslims, Allah willing." – a British Islamist said this in a video posted on YouTube on January 20, 2014.

Is this merely jihadist bluster? Maybe, but look what is happening in that country. First Charlie Hebdo, now a coordinated Paris massacre with 129 dead. Also, there has been a rash of car burnings and other “protests” by French Muslims in the past few years. Some 40,000 cars were burned in 2014 alone. French President Francois Hollande has called the shootings and bombings "an act of war."

France has suffered greatly and this may be just the beginning. Germany and England are increasing their Muslim population with more “refugees”, and many other European countries have agreed to take “refugees.” President Obama recently ordered the US to take 10,000 of these “refugees” promising to perform a strict screening.

All in the free world sympathize and stand with France and the people of Paris in this moment of grief. But the free world needs to wake up and see this Islamic jihadist movement for what it is, a true act of conquest and subversion of democratic principals in favor of life under Sharia law for all. The consequences of not recognizing that are too terrible to even imagine.

A Strange Moment in DC

Things have been somewhat slow here in Riverside County, so I hopped into my new teleporter and zipped through the ether to Washington, Iowa, to see how the election is shaping up in that early primary state. To my surprise, I landed in a bar in Washington, DC. Guess I haven’t quite gotten the hang of teleporting yet.

What the heck, since I was there anyway, I decided to belly up to the bar and sip a cold one. Before I could get the first sip, I heard some guy a couple of seats down say, “I’m the real Santa Clause.”

Well, that got my attention! All the pictures I have ever seen of Santa were of an oversized plush White man with a beard. This guy was dark-skinned, clean-shaven, and had a pair of ears that stuck out like taxicab doors at the airport. I noticed he was talking to some poor fellow that looked well out of place even in this bar.

Santa – I think his real name was Barry – said to this man, “You look like you’re not from around these parts. Foreigner, are you?”

The guy says, “Uh…”

Barry keeps up, “I’ll just bet you don’t have the proper documents to be in this country. Am I right?”

“Well…”

Barry’s on a roll, “Why, this is your lucky day, friend. I’m going to see to it that you get a social security number. Then you can get an EBT card and buy whatever your little heart desires. I’m even going to get you a drivers license, and let you stay in the country as long as you like.

“Uh…”

“Got a place to stay?” Barry asked.

“I’m at the…”

“Don’t worry, I will get you housing and a few dollars for mad money. Just give me a call at this number.” Barry scribbles something on a napkin.

“I don’t have a phone.”

Barry looked surprised and told a man in a suit standing nearby, “Get this man an Obama phone.”

“Have you registered to vote yet?”

“Uh…”

“No problem. I have the forms right here. Just sign your name, and you can vote for Democrats in every election.”

About that time another very wrinkled old black man butted in. “Hi Prez, how’s it hangin’”

“Al Sharptongue! You dog you! Just talking to my new friend here. He’s an undocumented immigrant. From… say, just where are you from?”

The man looked at the floor and said in a low voice, “England.”

Sharptongue went off, “Damn Prez, what you doing with this racist cracker. He ain’t no Illegal; he’s just some White freeloader from Europe.”

Barry said, “That right?”

“Well no sir, I am from England but I have immigrated here legally, and I own a medium-sized manufacturing company.”

Barry looked disappointed and a bit angry. “Well you can forget the EBT card and free phone, plus you’re on your own for housing. Don’t even try to vote. We will be watching you.”

I slugged down the rest of my beer and hit the teleporter. The atmosphere in that bar got real foul.

A Salute to Veterans

At the 11th hour of the 11th day of the 11th month of 1918, major hostilities of World War I were formally ended when the Armistice with Germany went into effect. President Woodrow Wilson first proclaimed that day as Armistice Day for November 11, 1919. In proclaiming the holiday, he said:

"To us in America, the reflections of Armistice Day will be filled with solemn pride in the heroism of those who died in the country's service and with gratitude for the victory, both because of the thing from which it has freed us and because of the opportunity it has given America to show her sympathy with peace and justice in the councils of the nations."

Congress passed a concurrent resolution on June 4, 1926, requesting that President Calvin Coolidge issue another proclamation to observe November 11 with appropriate ceremonies. A Congressional Act (52 Stat. 351; 5 U.S. Code, Sec. 87a) approved May 13, 1938, made the 11th of November in each year a legal holiday: "a day to be dedicated to the cause of world peace and to be thereafter celebrated and known as 'Armistice Day'."

In 1945, World War II veteran Raymond Weeks from Birmingham, Alabama, had the idea to expand Armistice Day to celebrate all veterans, not just those who died in World War I. President Dwight D. Eisenhower signed the bill into law on May 26, 1954, making Armistice Day a celebration of all Veterans. Congress amended the bill on June 1, 1954, replacing "Armistice" with "Veterans," and it has been known as Veterans Day since.

Every country owes a huge debt to those who fight and die for their sovereign nations. In the US, November 11 is reserved to acknowledge that debt and honor those who brave men and women who stand bravely in the service to guard and defend our country and keep the world safe.

World War I was a horrendous meat grinder involving 4.73 million service members. Of that number, 53,402 of our finest were killed and another 204,002 were wounded. This was the first major conflict for the US since the Civil War. Although billed as the “War to end all Wars, ” just 27 years later we were in an even larger conflict on both hemispheres of the globe involving 16.11 million service members. In this conflict, we lost 291,557 troops and 670,846 more were wounded.

It was right for Eisenhower to assign this day to the recognition of all men and women who served in every conflict. From the Korean War to today in Iraq and Afghanistan we continue to fight the good fight. Many or our finest have sacrificed their lives, limbs, and minds on the front lines of the fight.

Many others stood in support of those brave troops on the front lines, often sacrificing their lives or limbs doing so. It is fitting that we honor those men and women as well. While Memorial Day is a day of remembering the men and women who gave their lives and those who perished while in service, Veterans Day celebrates the service of all the untold U.S. Military veterans.

As one proud Veteran to another, I stand in salute to all who serve and all who have served.

The Fray: Round One

 Now that we have endured a few candidate debates for the two major parties, I suppose it is time to start getting fired up over at least one of them. Believe me when I say I have tried, but just can’t seem to bring myself to generate much enthusiasm for any of them.

I have never voted for a democrat in a Presidential election, but if push came to shove, I would probably cast my vote for Jim Webb. He comes off as the one honest man in a field of shysters. The other Democratic candidates aren’t even worth my consideration. Sanders, Clinton, and O’Malley are all socialists, but only Sanders admits to being one. Lincoln Chafee doesn’t know what party he belongs to. He has been a Republican and an Independent. Now he thinks he is a Democrat. Not many in the party believe that, and neither do I, although I am sure he doesn’t fit in the Republican Party either.

As for issues, all but Webb believe in wealth redistribution. I find it more than a little hypocritical for these millionaires to claim they are for the middle-class when they don’t have the slightest idea who the middle class are. But they would make the rich pay for everything. How much are Hillary and Bill worth? How much have they soaked their “Clinton Foundation” for?

On the other side, we have the Republicans. I have nearly always voted Republican and probably will again. But I may be holding my nose doing it this time.

Trump is the leader of the pack. Why? Does he have any idea what the issues even are let alone how to solve them? He has a talent for telling people what they want to hear, but that’s what a good negotiator always does. That doesn’t necessarily mean we would come out on the good end of the deal. Words are cheap. Deeds are seldom easy or cheap.

You have to hand it to “The Donald”, though. He is one hellova chess player. He entered the race with very little hope of even making a showing – again – and perfectly read the party’s growing contempt for RINOs as well as the public’s disdain for politicians. Trump is the quintessential non-politician. Bombastic to the point of absurdity, Trump is playing directly to those who are fed up with political correctness and politicians in general. But what happens if he is elected? Worse, what happens if he is nominated as the party candidate? Has he bought the office for another Clinton as Ross Perot did for Bill?

Then we have the good Doctor Carson. I haven’t decided which office he is actually running for – maybe he hasn’t either. He seems to be aligned with Trump both in invective and outspokenness. Maybe he is campaigning to be Trump’s Vice-President.

Carly Fiorina is a very nice lady, smart, experienced leader, political outsider and could make a good first woman President. Carly has done well in the debates and shows she knows her stuff. One might think that with the country clamoring for firsts – first Black President, first woman President – Fiorina would be a shoe-in. Too bad the polls favor the woman from the other party for this race.

Then there are the “conservative” politicians, Ted Cruise, Marco Rubio and Rand Paul. Well, Paul is really more of a Libertarian than a Republican, but who votes Libertarian? His father learned that bitter lesson. As for Cruise and Rubio, I don’t see either as a good draw against the anointed Democrat, Hillary.

Chris Christie and Bobby Jindal both might have been the favorites at one time. They have experience and very good resumes, but it’s hard to beat bombast when it comes to winning polls.

Mike Huckabee said the one thing I had been wanting to hear from candidates on taxes. He is for a consumer tax to replace taxes on income. This, in my estimation, is the fairest form of taxation. Everyone pays the same and no loopholes can ever weasel their way into it. I don’t see a preacher fairing well against the godless horde of Democrats, though.

Then there is yet another Bush. Please tell me it isn’t so! No matter how nice a guy or even qualified he might be, there will never be another Bush elected to the Presidency – at least not in this century.

As for the rest, well, do you remember who they are? I’m pretty sure not many other voters do.

Thankfully, we Californians have until next June to sort this all out – or get so sick of it all that you just turn it off.

This Earth Ain’t Big Enough for the 10 Billion of Us!

If you drive the freeways, and who doesn’t, in this state, I am pretty sure you have at one time or another thought about population control. You would not be alone, and there are some very smart people doing just that.

The 2011 census puts the world population at some 7 billion. While that may seem like a lot, it is! But according to scientists we are at about 70 percent of the level where life as we know it will be unsustainable. So, what happens when we reach that magic 10 billion number? The movie industry has made good money speculating on just this issue. Remember Hunger Games, Blade Runner, and Soilent Green among others? I even remember one movie where people could only legally live 35 years.

Fiction? Maybe. But what does happen when we reach that magic 10 billion census figure? According to the World Bank, the fertility rate is an average 2.5 children per female, a rate sustained for decades.

So when will we reach saturation? According to the United Nations' World Population Prospects report, the world population is currently growing by approximately 74 million people per year. Current United Nations predictions estimate that the world population will reach 9.0 billion around 2050, assuming a decrease in average fertility rate from 2.5 down to 2.0. According to the UN high estimates, we could reach 9 billion by 2040 and be at 11 billion by 2050.

The World Bank shows a fertility rate decline in most of the productive nations, but the poor, third world countries continue to increase in fertility.

If you believe the scientists that give us that sustainability cutoff at 10 billion people, we could be in big trouble somewhere between 2040 (25 years from now!) and 2050. Of course, there are always those that will believe technology will solve the problem. Others will question even that there is a problem. Unlike the somewhat nebulous factors of climate change, though, population is a value very easily counted and the cause well known. The number of people and rate of change is a solid fact.

There are approximately 15.77 billion acres of inhabitable land on the face of the earth, about 10 percent of which is arable (suitable for growing food). That leaves about 14.2 billion acres for housing, manufacturing, and businesses, and 1.6 billion acres for growing food. Can we grow enough food on 1.6 billion acres to feed 10 or 11 billion people? Will there be enough fresh water for irrigation and human activity? Scientists think this is about the limit of our capacity to sustain life.

The UN is counting on the fertility rates to decrease steadily to 2.0 by 2020 and some magical lower number thereafter. The thing is they don’t say how or why. The world rate has been at 2.5 for decades. Just what will cause that to drop?

The highest fertility rate (CIA World Fact Book) is in Niger and the lowest is in Singapore. Scan the chart and you will find that the poorest countries have the highest fertility rate. Does that mean if we throw money at the poor countries their fertility rate will drop? An absurd notion! But I am certain wealth and education are factors in restraining the fertility rate. Unfortunately, wealth and education also decrease the mortality rate.

 A doctor once told me that we live too long. Aside from the fact that this is not something you want to hear from your doctor, it is the truth! Each decade shows an increase in the longevity of people in educated and wealthy countries.

I don’t have ready answers to this knotty problem, and I’m not likely to live long enough to see the worst of it. But this is a problem far bigger than global climate change and one that desperately needs sober discussion. Sadly, it is not even on the to-do list of ours or most other governments.

The Power of Nature and The Impotence of Humans

I used to believe that the ‘e’ in email stood for ‘evil.’ A few years back I received over 500 emails in one day, mostly advertising penis enlargement, or selling Viagra or Cialis. They say sex sells. Apparently, not being able to have sex doesn’t do too bad either.

Spam filters have gotten much better. I still receive a few junk emails, but most of what I now get is from friends. For the most part, they are either of a political nature or humorous… sometimes both. On very rare occasions, I will get something so interesting that I just have to share it. Like the email a friend sent directing me to the website http://www.forbiddenknowledge.tv/videos/astrophysics/something-is-affecting-the-entire-solar-system.html.

The title of the site, "Global Warming" is Solar-System-Wide, just begged for me to look at it. There is a video included that I found very interesting.

As we have seen, the climate Chicken Littles have gone from calling their Armageddon theory of ‘Global Warming’ to ‘Global Climate Change’ because the warning trend didn’t actually develop like they had calculated.

Even though the planet may not be following the temperature trends expected, there are other severe weather anomalies setting records, and there can be no doubt the planet is experiencing some changes. The main argument over whether the changes are being caused by human activity may just be moot.

In 1997, Russian geophysicist, Alexei Dmitriev published a paper stating that the Solar System was starting to move through an area of space with more charged particles that were causing irreversible alterations to its planets. Note the plural planets. The video shows the changes that every planet – yes, even little Pluto – is going through along with those occurring on Earth.

The site stated that, “Dmitriev surmised that there was a probability that we were moving into a rapid temperature instability period, similar to the one that took place 10,000 years ago, when our current 6th Extinction began suddenly resulting in the swift demise of the Northern Hemisphere's megafauna (mammoths, saber-toothed tigers, massive ground sloths and many other animals most people don't know once populated the North American Continent, including gigantic species of lions and camels).”

Amazing physical properties are changing throughout the solar system, from the magnetosphere of the sun, the reflectivity of Neptune and atmosphere of Mercury and Mars to fluctuations in Earth’s magnetic field.

Why is this so interesting? Well, besides the fact that we have never before observed this phenomenon, the one outstanding feature is that there is scant possibility that humans could be causing it. Another interesting factor is that all of these changes appear to be occurring simultaneously – including Earth’s ‘Global Climate Change.’

Even the Pope and Al Gore would have to admit that it would be the height of arrogance to propose that humans are causing a synchronous change in the entire solar system. That is not to say that we should quit trying to clean harmful pollutants from the air we breath. It does, however, give cause to question the lengths we need to go to achieve breathable air and diminish or even negate the arguments for Armageddon due to manmade greenhouse gases.