More Unsettling of Science

A Guide to Understanding Global Temperature Data
by Roy W. Spencer, Ph.D.
Dr. Spencer explains in this article that the science is anything but settled.  I love this quote from Spencer.
“Besides, if global warming is settled science, like gravity or the Earth not being flat, why isn’t the agreement 100 percent?” Spencer asked. “And since when is science settled by a survey or a poll? The hallmark of a good scientific theory is its ability to make good predictions.”

Divided Americans - Liberals Hate Conservatives

As long as liberals hate conservatives for darn near everything they believe in, there will never be unity in America.

• Disagree on voter id laws and you hate blacks.  You want to reinstate Jim Crow.
• Disagree on Obamacare and you hate grandmothers.  You want them to die for lack of proper health care.
• Disagree on abortion and you hate women.  You want to deny them their reproductive rights.  Note: Abortion is not reproductive.
• Disagree on minimum wage and you hate poor people.  You want families to starve in poverty.
• Disagree on gay marriage and you hate the LGBT people.  You are homophobic.  Note: Phobia is irrational fear of something.
• Disagree on education policy and you hate children.  You oppose the choice of people going to better schools.
• Disagree on immigration policy and you hate immigrants.  You oppose all legal immigrants also.
• Disagree on Syrian refugee policy and you hate all Muslims. 
• Disagree on global warming and you hate the planet and animals.  You want to poison the air and water.
• Disagree on unions and you hate working people.
• Disagree on taxes and you hate 99% of the people.
• Disagree on Social Security and you hate the elderly.
• Disagree on gun control and you hate school children who may die in the next mass shooting.
• Disagree on mortgage policy and you hate blacks trying to move to a better neighborhood.
• Disagree on affirmative action and you hate minorities, women and disabled people.

    There is no room for gray area in their thinking. With so much hate you have no option but to hate.  I, for one, could never associate with the liberal left or I would be required to hate so many people.  Conservatives are so much more optimistic about America and Americans than liberals.  Liberals repeat the narrative that conservatives are fearmongerers, racists, bigots, Fascists and Nazis.

Liberals have good intentions and they think that is enough.  If they mean well, then everything they do is good.  Results do not matter. 

• So what if 60 years of the welfare state have failed to lift so many out of poverty. 
• So what if abortion kills millions of babies. 
• So what if higher minimum wages result in lower employment. 
• So what if Obamacare raised costs and lowered availability and quality. 
• So what if we cannot keep illegal immigrants from taking jobs of citizens. 
• So what if we cannot distinguish between peace loving Muslims and jihadists.
• So what if we're deeper in debt than ever.
• So what if schools are overburdened with the task of parenting and teaching students.
• So what if non registered people vote in elections.
• So what if tariffs cause costs of products to go up while jobs go down.
• So what if higher tax rates take money from entrepreneurs who could otherwise hire employees.
• So what if gun free zones become target rich for mass murderers.

Reaction Without Thought

    For many years our society and culture have produced more things in less time than previously dreamt of.  We started with mass production of products through machines and automation.  Improved technology meant higher technological gains in automation, robotics, and logistics.
    Meanwhile, our lives were constantly improving and speeding up.  Technology in the home improved with microwave ovens, garage door openers, and more devices being enabled for online wireless use.  Telephones became mobile and were detached from the wall or desk.  Shopping became something you could do from home.  The world became faster and faster paced.
    As a result, our habits acclimated to the speed of our machines.  We withdrew from our neighborhoods into our homes and stopped spending time sitting on the porch in the summertime watching our kids play in the yards.
    Our socializing also automated and went online in the form as social media.  This step has produced many negative results.  The speed with which we react to news is lightning quick, and many times without thought.  Many people rush to pick up their mobile device to share a reaction with millions of others rushing to their mobile devices to record events.  Many of the recorded events are mundane and boring.  Many, however, are of much more importance and require thought and analysis.
    Birthday parties, vacations at the beach, or dinner with friends are items of interest only to a few, and even then they rank low on the importance scale.  Paying attention to those things that "go viral" will cause you wonder about the lives of some people that make such things to be viewed by so many, and commented on. 
    Videos of police interactions with citizens, or the aftermath of a crime scene, require a bit more thought.  I recall seeing a video of people at an airport rushing toward the sounds of gunfire with their smart phones in video mode trying to capture the scene, probably in a desire to be first online with the live action, but not realizing the danger they are placing themselves directly into.
    Most of us recall watching legal dramas on TV or in movies, and so have a somewhat informed view of what goes on during a trial.  Witnesses, evidence, testimony, lawyers, judge and jury all play a role in determining truth and fact, before deciding guilt or innocence.  Yet in our desire to be first and fastest, we boil a trial down into a 3 minute video from a smart phone, and determine guilt or innocence in a flash.  Justice?  Not even close.
    My wish for civilization is that we begin to think more and react less on matters of such importance.  We need to be more critical of ourselves and what we decide to share with our friends and family, but understand online these things will live forever and be viewed and reacted to by a large number of people.   Therefore we should be a bit more methodical in what we choose to share and how quickly we share it.  A casual review of various social media feeds will provide many items which would better be kept private, at least for a little while.
    A good rule of thumb would be to ask yourself if you would share such thoughts with the people you were commenting on to their face.   Then and only then click submit.

Too Much To Say on Facebook

    Where to begin?  Well, the title says a lot.  There are so many things I want to say about current events that simply do not play well on social media sites.  Not enough space and too little time in view.  So here goes.
    Recent events around the black lives matter events, police office shootings, and other related events give me much pause.  I pray for all of the people involved who died, survived and now must find a way to move forward in life.  I cannot make sense of the senseless.
    Shooting 12 police officers from a sniper's nest is just plain wrong under any circumstances I can imagine.  This act of violence does not make right any wrong doing by any police officer anywhere.  It is vigilante justice and cold blooded murder.  It cannot be repeated, justified, or explained away.
    We live in a free society, and as such, people are free to pretty much do as they please, as long as they do not infringe on others' rights to the same.  That goes for police, citizens and visitors in our country.  We must assume a certain amount of risk that there are bad people making bad decisions in this life, and we may suffer the consequences of those actions.  We can only deal with a majority of crimes, we cannot eliminate them.  Laws do not prevent crimes.  Laws make punishing criminals possible.  Hence, there will always be criminals.
    Social media, including the news media, has been reduced to sound bites and short video clips.  We have developed a sense of decision making based on quick bursts of partial amounts of data and information.  We tend to make rash decisions as a result.  We do not stop and think.  We do not think critically enough at times.  This hurts us a nation and as people.
    We spend more time finding blame than solutions.  Dialogue is needed, but that means listening and speaking.  I probably do not listen well enough often enough, but I get better as I grow older.  I have strong opinions that I can support with facts and expert opinions.  Others have as well.  That does not mean we are always right.
    I believe our country was founded on the best possible principles for any group of people to live under.  Our constitution is a great document which we are abandoning piece by piece.  We were once a principled, united nation, but now we are becoming a selfish, splintered one.  We have changed from 'e pluribus unum' to groups of aggrieved persons constantly finding fault with one another.  For a while after 9/11 we joined together, but it lasted only a brief time.
    Our country is great but not without a history of doing wrong to people.  Though we treated some groups with hatred and distrust, we always worked toward improving ourselves.  We fought wars to free people around the world, and in our own country.  Groups of people battled to gain the equality they deserved.  They met resistance, but then they won over large numbers of people to their cause.
    This is still the greatest nation ever devised on earth, but it must be maintained and continually improved.  Any actions we take, or words we speak, must be for the greater good of all. 
    I am never going to agree with all people always on some issues, but I think we can all agree that the United States of America deserves our best efforts to peacefully find solutions and to value each other as flawed human beings.
   I wrote this in rather general terms, as my blog posts contain my positions on specific matters.  More will be added over time on various topics.

Willful Ignorance

Washington Obsessed with Punishing Secrecy Violations


    Glenn Greenwald, of the The Intercept, published this piece about how obsessed Washington DC is with protecting secrets.  Following the FBI director's refusal to recommend indictment of Hillary Clinton after detailing her assorted crimes against the USA by violating secrecy.
    If you heard Director Comey, or read the transcript of his remarks, you cannot think there is no "there" there.  He detailed her many violations of the proper handling of classified and secret information based on her personal email server and procedures.  In so doing, he highlighted her many lies, repeated many times over, to all of us.  Several websites and news agencies have detailed the many lies perpetrated on us by Mrs. Clinton.  If any prosecutor can indict a ham sandwich, this case presents a smorgasbord of possible criminal activity.
    Yet already I have heard the democrat water carriers out in full force claiming Mrs. Clinton was exonerated by the FBI probe.  Au contraire!  Refusal to recommend charges is not exoneration.
    Mrs. Clinton has been exposed as a liar, a mean and vindictive woman, and an unscrupulous politician, who should never be allowed near the Oval Office.  She simply cannot be trusted by the American people.
    Greenwald's piece indicates there are two very different standards.  One for most Americans and another for highly places politicians, like Hillary.  If anyone thinks there is no justice in America, they tend to lean toward the political left, and blame the political right.  This example of injustice should server as a warning to us all, that injustice serves no one, right or left.
    You may think Hillary's opponent in the fall election is unfit for office, and you may be right.  But we know much more about Hillary's lack of judgment, integrity, honesty and fitness.  She should not be elected president.

I Could Not Agree More

What Are We Celebrating

   Dr. Thomas Sowell explains what is at the heart of my concerns about the future of the United States.  As we approach yet another 'most important' presidential election, I see trouble on the horizon for our country.
   I have fear for the continuation of our freedom and our exceptional existence as the most powerful and most free country in the history of mankind.
   Dr. Sowell puts my concerns into powerful words which I wholeheartedly agree with.

Highway Drivers

   After just returning from a vacation in which we drove aver 1500 miles of highway in a week, I have much to say about drivers I encountered along the way.  Most drivers are good and safe behind the wheel, but many are not so.  Here are some things to consider while highway driving.

1. Find a safe speed and maintain it.  Keep the vehicle in one lane as much as possible, only changing lanes to pass, then get back into your cruising lane.  Too many people think driving slow in the middle or left lanes is okay to avoid the big trucks, campers and boats.  If you're driving out there, keep pace with traffic around you, or move back to the right.  If someone faster comes along, move right and let them pass if possible.
2. Pay attention to the road and other vehicles, and not your smart phone, navigation system, food and drinks,  or music.  Get a hands free devise for your phone if possible.
3. If you have cruise control, use it.  Speeding up and slowing down only causes problems for other drivers.
4. Driving 5-10 MPH faster than other drivers is just as dangerous as 5-10 MPH slower.  Let's pick a speed and go.  If you really want to drive down the highway flashing your lights so others will get out of your way, then become a policeman.
5. When you pull off the highway for gas, be courteous to others also getting gas.  I pulled into a busy station and waited behind a car at the pump for a few minutes.  After a brief wait, a woman returned to the car from the store, with coffee in hand, before pumping her gas.  Gas pumps are for gas filling, not for parking.  Park someplace else while shopping, eating or using the facilities.
6. To be safe it is recommended to maintain a safe driving distance between your car and the one in front of you.  That space helps avoid accidents when traffic suddenly slows or stops.  When you change lanes you should account for that same safe distance.  
7. When driving in rain do not use your emergency flasher lights.  Turn on your headlights, and your tail lights come on with them.  Emergency flashers indicate an emergency situation has been encountered.  Rain is not necessarily an emergency, so just turn on the lights, not the flashers.  If you're not comfortable driving in rain, exit the highway and wait for it to stop raining before resuming your trip.
8. Anticipate exits, curves and hills and plan ahead for them.  You'll be in the correct lane for your exists, and you'll cause few problems for other drivers around you.  Last second lane changes to make you exit is risky driving.  Risky driving at high speed is potentially deadly.
9. Secure your packages, luggage and gear on trailers, in truck beds, and boats.  I've seen cooler and container lids flying off at 70 MPH, causing other drivers to avoid such objects flying or on the roadway.  Use cargo straps and netting for any items not packed inside the vehicle.