Enough is Enough

After indulging in writing numerous blog rants about Republican megalomania the time has arrived to say "Enough is Enough". Republicans won't change and many in our nation are swallowing their collective propaganda being funded by millionaires and billionaires. Our Supreme Court allowed the floodgates to open and deluge America with "free money propaganda" made possible by their 5 to 4 decisions equating $$$$$ and speech. Listen to all those $$$$$$ rumble as we are being seduced by the Koch bather's Republican avatars in Congress. Seduced is too mild. Raped is more accurate. Apparently many American are enjoying the process and swallowing the radical right Republican  takeover of our nation. The process is being accomplished in plain daylight as people cheer and march under banners displaying blatant hate of our President and opposition against all so called discretionary programs including Social Security, Medicaid, Unemployment Insurance Benefits, Pre-Kindergarten School Funding, Free School Lunches, The Affordable Care Act that provides affordable health care insurance for everyone who otherwise would likely be without, any increase in the minimum wage, and so on. If the Radical Right Republicans succeed we will become a nation that is absolutely controlled by billionaire oligarchs and their beholden Republican lackeys. The Right Wing Radical Republicans represent the epitome of greed and avarice combined with a "holier than thou attitude" that permeates and inspires their ranks who bow to their self-proclaimed omnipotent power brokers.

My monologue blogs are like flatulence in the wind becoming quickly diluted and engulfed in the stench of Republicanism. My blogs are analogous to soap bubbles that spurt and then burst with o dripping soap and saliva the result. Enough is enough. I am soaped and salivad out for now and  cannot continue blogging. May your soap bubbles endure. I will devote myself to writing for my own enjoyment and purpose. Hasta Lumbego! May the spirit of peaceful dissent prevail for the benefit of all.

The Second Amendment was Ratified to Preserve Slavery

This slice of American history must be read and digested!

The Second Amendment was Ratified to Preserve Slavery

Rule of The ZEEZs'

I ventured out the door suspiciously eying about in fear. The word was out. Danger lurked. One must exercise diligence whenever outside. The "ZEEZ" had descended and were imminently proceeding to control Earth and the powerless snippets called The Human Race.ZEEZ's to the left of me approached and before I was able to react they had me in their grip assuring me that I would be well cared for in what will be my next home, ZEEZLAND.

Their grip was vise like as I was dragged through the street unable to comprehend what was ensuing. Four ZEEZ's had hold of each limb and as they ran my clothing was somehow stripped off my body displaying my flabby gut and incontinent behavior. I was scarred s------s, but too petrified to utter a word. We were headed to ZEEZLAND I thought, wherever that may be. There I would be reconditioned to meet the requirements of our new overlords. If reconditioning failed to control my behavior according tho the ZEEZ's standards, I would be eradicated by means of terrestrial impounding where spent nuclear waste from a past era is buried. There my remains would forever remain "lit up" like and Olympian Torch glorifying my everlasting existence.

My mind was whirling with wild thoughts, and the ZEEZs' knew that I was helpless and totally under their domination as they zipped along singing "Teas for Two". One more step and I knew. Security and safety was assured. "The ZEEZ and their Teas would fulfill all our needs." We are so fortunate to be cared for by the ZEEZs.

START is a Facade--Nuclear Bombs are Reality and Must be Eliinated to Preserve Life on Earth

The Strategic Arms Reduction Treaty negotiated by President Obama and his administration was approved by the Senate two days ago and signed by President Obama. What is the significance of this treaty and what does it mean to the two signing countries Russia and the United States of America? Since more than 200 million of Americans living today have almost no knowlwdge concerning the use of nuclear weapons, and another 50 million have only the vaguest knowledge of what such weapons are capable of I write this blog to stimulate some individual knowledge seeking to understand the biggest threat to human life, or possibly any life, existing on our planet.

Implementation of START will reduce the total number of nuclear bombs held by both countries and will utilize regular inspections to verify compliance by the two countries. It does not slow the modernization and development of advance nuclear weapons and in fact will probably accelerate deevlopment by both countries to stay ahead of the other by making sure that the bombs that do exist are more effective and powerful. Approval by our Senate followed assurance and sufficient defense budget authority to assure this prerequisite.

START is essentially a facade, albeit possibly well meaning, that attemps to prove that both Russia and the United States want to continue diplomacy and avoid another cold war. This is good. The threat of nuclear devastation will not be reduced and tens of thousands of nuclear bombs will still exist and be ready for missle launch and other deployment from land and the oceans from submarines. Other countries besides Russia and the USA also have hundreds of nuclear bombs ready to use. Some of these Countries are often trigger happy and may lauch a bomb suddenly and with very little provacation. Pakasitan and India are two such countries that have many hundreds of nuclear bombs at the ready. Israel, although not admitting to harboring nuclear weapons could deploy them at an instant. Iran is on the path to have their nuclear arsenal. France, England, North Korea and China all posess nuclear bombs and although some pledge that they will not proliferate their nuclear weapon arsenal they all will continue to improve the lethality of ther arsenal and delivery capabilities.The number of nuclear bombs may be relatively constant or decline somewhat but the lethality continues to incraes and fewrer bombs are capable of greater devastation. The world nuclear bomb arsenal is many hundreds of times larger than required to potentially kill all life on Earth and render the remnants of our planet uninhabitable for millenia due to long lasting and deadly radioctve isotopes following the immediate ionizing radiation and inferno that can instantly incinerate and kill anyone or any life form nearby (distance depends upon the power of the bomb, and may range from several thousands of feet to over a hundred miles), and can render the planets largest cities as desolate uninhabitable terrain for durations longer than life had previously existed there, for hundresds if not thousands of years. Thus far

The extensive testing of nuclear weapons by many nations from the 1940's up to now that exposed millions of our citizens to radioactive isotopes, that caused cancer and other diseases during the above-gound testing of weapons in New Mexico and elsewhere in the world from the 1940's to the 1970's. Finally above ground testing was recognized for causing deaths and diseases in people who were ingesting and exposed to these deadly radioactve isotopes that were airborne and found in foods and milk. Testing than went underground where it continues today when necessary to confirm the lethality or function of a new device.

Aside from nuclear power plant accidents and failures, the continuous generation of deadly radioactive isotopes from atmospheric testing is now curtailed, but not eliminated from other sources. Spent fuel rods generated by nuclear powere plants have become the main source of harmful radiation that requires underground storage away from ground water and ambient air release.

Only one country was directly exposed to actual nuclear bombs and their deadly devastation. The two Japanes cities of Hiroshima and Nagasaki were destoyed and hundreds of thousands of civilians were incinerated and killed instantly or suffered and died from the after-effects of instant radiation and extended radioactive isotope exposure. The two relatively small (equivalent in power to about 15 to 20 kilotons of TNT) atom bombs of the fusion type were dropped by aircraft in August 1945, and soon after the Japanese surrended and World War II ended. Nearly 400,000 people, mainly Japanes civilians, died either instantly or over a period of several decades as a result of exposre to radiation and ingestion of long-life radioctive isotopes into their bodies. For those of you who have never read about the destruction of Hiroshima and Nagasaki you should read at least one definitive book about the subject. Many are available and must be part of your to-read list to better understand the consequences of using nuclear weapons.

Returning now to the new START and having a modicum of knowledge about nuclear bombs and their killing power, I suggest that you keep updated on this vital subject. START is only a collection of words and official signatures that by itself is virtually meaningless. Humankind posesses "advanced" nuclear bombs that are about 500 to 1,000 times more powerful than either of the two bombs that killed many hundreds of thousands of Japanese civilians in 1945. over 65 years ago.

Those of you who are about 75 years old or younger have virtually no memory of the actual bombings. Nuclear bombs are simply two words and have virtually no personal link to your life. The link, however is there and the importance is greater than ever. The word in START do nt, cannot, assure civilization that the many thousands of nuclear bombs that exist today will never be used. Only humankind and indeed a very small number of leaders of nine countries and potential terrorist groups, however stable or unstable, will determine whether more lethal nuclear bombs will ever be used again.

Human indifference or ignorance of the threat to humanity will enable irrational leaders to take whatever action they deem necessary, including the use of nuclear weapons. Teaties are fine, but word cannot and will not prevent the future use of the most letal type of weapon that has ever existed on Earth. Two atom bombs dropped on Hiroshima and Nagasaki in 1945 must never be forgotten. This ushered in the Atomic Age and sixty-five years later humankind has not been able to eliminate such weapons, nor is there an apparent desire to do so. Can the technological clock ever be unwound or are we satisfied with words and treaties to pretend that nuclear bombs are a relic of the past? Humans alone can prevent the furure use of nuclear bombs, and only if all nations and peoples require their leaders to help assure continuation of life on Earth. This requires among other actions the total elimination of all nuclear weapons, not treaties that pretend to solve or obscure the problem of instantaneous nuclear devastation.Action not words in treaties can lead to elimination of all nuclear bombs. We must all be part of the action train to eliminate all nuclear weapons forever.

The Real Deficit

Our media constantly has pundits declaring how terrible our country's financial deficit is.Talk shows from the right and left bemoan the fact that our federal and state governments often spend more than their revenues. Yet, at the same time the pundits and we alike demand tax and often spending cuts. When asked what to cut those in government never suggest that the legislators themselves should take pay cuts. Instead the legislators and governors and presidents suggests that others must bite the bullet and sacrifice. The pompous legislators on the right often attack social security, medicare, and medicaid benefits and demand that they be cut or eliminated. The left leaning legislators and administrators demand that social programs are sacrosanct and cannot be cut, but that waste must be cut. The problem is that waste is often not identified so it cannot be reduced even if desired. Both the left and right leaning groups agree that more well paying jobs are needed but neither side explains how this will be accomplished. The background music changes , wars come and go, jobs are shipped overseas by large corporations, and the people continue to sink into a lower standard of living as our population increases. This represents the "Real Deficit". Human poverty increases in the uSA as politicians scramble to blame each other and argue rather than attempt to improve the lives of all citizens.

The US Dept of Census just released a report stating that the US poverty rate is 14.3%. This means that the average income per person living in poverty is approximately $5,500 per year for up to a family of four.About 51 million citizens of the USA are in this category and many more millions are barely treading water above the poverty standard of about $5,500 dollars annually. The population of our country is now over 310,000,000 and growing each moment. How will those now borne exist if they become entrapped by poverty because adequate jobs are not available, and poverty increases. Since 1960 our population has increased by nearly 35 million people. In 1960 approximately 36 million men women and children lived at or near poverty earning an average of under $120 per month per person or about $1,400 annually. At that time a household typically had one wage earner, so it was common for a family of three or four to live in poverty with about $1,400 annually. Since 1960 we have added about 35 million people to our population and nearly 15 million more people have are now living in poverty in the USA. Almost half of the population increase entered poverty roles between 1960 and now. The increasing number of poor people living in poverty in our country represents the REAL DEFICIT.

If the trend continues by 2050 when the estimated population of the USA reaches 415 billion approximately 100 million US citizens will be living in poverty. One in four of us will be barely able to survive. Chaos and turmoil will be inevitable. What will you do to prevent this probable scenarios when desperate people decide to take what they need to survive. There is time between now and 2050 for many of you to change the path to poverty if and only if political priorities are changed. Only the younger people today can do what is required to force politicians to tackle the most important political issue that they will face: poverty. The time to take action and vote sensibly is now if massive poverty is to be averted in this century.

How Much Difference Does Two Thousandth of an Inch Make?

We often attach great significance to virtually inconsequential physical characteristics, and generally brush off very important physical attributes as inconsequential. Sometimes what seems inconsequential can become vital, and seemingly vital difference are meaningless.How can we differentiate?

Pursue some of these thoughts for a moment. Imagine you are standing on the walkway in an underground public train station. You can clearly see the tracks and the third rail that is essential to propel the electric train forward. You decide to jump down and investigate how this works. During your foolhardy examination you witness a snail attempting to cross the three rails. As the snail undulates across the first rail you become fascinated by the trail of slimy fluid that the snail leave as she travels across the ground to the center rail. Suddenly, before reaching the center rail the snail stops as if questioning the sensibility of moving on. You decide that the snail needs your help and you pick her up and place her on the center rail to give her a boost.Instantly, the snail vaporizes and you, by the skin of your teeth survives.

Now this may seem beyond any stretch of reality. How many snails are evaporated by while inspecting three track electric rail lines. That is not the point. This weird illustration simply highlights how a very minute difference may mean the difference between life and goodbye forever! Just an inch difference between your finger and the unwary snail and you most certainly would have become gaseous too.

Life is full of close calls, and often we are unaware of how we avoided an unexpected catastrophe by seconds, minutes, inches, or a fraction thereof. At other times we seem to go bonkers ove a miniscule difference that truly makes no difference. Why?

The single most notable minuscule difference that seems to cause apoplexy and fanaticism relates to the color of our skin.The outer layer of human skin carries melatonin that colors skin. This layer is typically about 0.002 inches thick excepts where frequent contact toughens and thickens it to about 0.0100 to 0.015 inches.Below this very thin layer virtually all human anatomical characteristics of male and females members of the human species are virtually identical except for distinctive biological differences between men and women.

The phrases "thin skin" and "skin of your teeth" evoke distinctive reactions, that are commonly used to describe someone who is easily angered or agitated and hot-tempered, and a near miss that could otherwise have been harmful, respectively. Now teeth do not have skin as we all know. So the phrase is absurd, but clear. Nothing but a miracle intervened to prevent somthing harmful from happening.

The former phrase, incorporating "thin skin" also is redundant, since we all are very thin skinned. Somehow these two words have taken on a separate meaning that has nothing to do with the differences in skin thickness.

Now let's use the two phrases together. Imagine a heated discussion between two ethnically different humans.One shouts out,"Jose, you are a stupid thin-skinned jerk". Salem replies," You are lucky that you survived by the skin of your teeth since you are so stupid". Soon the two are at it verbally, hopefully. But possibly the anger escalates and skin color becomes a real point of inflammation. Before long slurs are echoing the space between the two combatants, and within minutes blood is drawn. Surprisingly, both individuals bleed red blood, even though their skin colors differ. The shock of seeing each others red blood causes them to both stop their combat and withdraw. Both have had their thin skin abraded enough to bleed, and both momentarily realized that below their very thin skin was something that hey both shared. Could it be that we are the same under our skin, they both thought. If so our mutual hostility over each of our skin color was really stupid. As the two men began to realize their blunder, calm returned and the two walked off arm over shoulder to share an American pizza together, as new found friends.

How much difference does 0.002 inches make? Seems that it is enough to kill and hate others over. Rather than be color blind we should consider becoming skin blind and focus instead how alike we are below our very, very thin protective layer of cells called skin. Perhaps we will really see beneath our skin for the commonalities that we all share, if we can simply overcome the prejudices caused by 0.002 inches of biological cellular material that covers our bodies.

What Will Happen Next?

Our world is seemingly engulfed within a whirlpool of diminishing sensibility and decreasing ability to behave rationally. This apparent epidemic is infecting large numbers of us, and appears to be hitting the USA in a way that destroys the very fabric of a civilized nation. A recent example of irrational action struck me as being particularly insidious since it pertains to the treatment of a small child in a public school in New Orleans by supposedly educated school teachers and administrators. This example is illustrative of how irrational we are becoming and the deepening threat to civil discourse and community coherence. I use this example to elicit your introspective thoughts and actual behavior regarding the necessity of regaining our collective senses and restoring rational behavior. Please consider the root causes of our nations’ chaotic political discourse and relate the so-called bigger issues to what happened to this small child in a public school in the USA. If this deplorable event touches you, think about your response to the irrational political discourse that is plaguing our country. Has the infection escaped and caused irreparable harm already. We must regain our senses before the infection becomes incurable.

Here is the e-mail that I received from the Southern Poverty Law Center that deserves attention from all of us and must spur us to take constructive action against the growing threat of irrational speech and actions:

“It's not right for a 6-year-old boy to be handcuffed and shackled to a chair by an armed security officer because he "acted up" in school. But that's exactly what happened at the Sarah T. Reed Elementary School in New Orleans. In keeping with our work to reform the abusive juvenile justice system in the Deep South, we've filed a lawsuit against the school district to stop the brutal and unconstitutional policy of chaining students who break minor school rules.
Our client, J.W., is a typical first-grader. He's just four feet tall and weighs 60 pounds. He enjoys playing basketball, being read to by his parents, coloring and playing outside with friends. But his school treated him like an animal. Within one week, he was twice forcibly arrested, handcuffed and shackled to a chair for talking back to a teacher and later arguing with a classmate over a seat. The amount of force used on J.W. was simply ridiculous and, predictably, inflicted severe emotional distress. Shockingly, this level of punishment is official school policy. We're not just fighting for the rights of J.W., but for all the students at Reed Elementary.

Unfortunately, J.W.'s story is hardly unique. All across the nation, schools have adopted draconian "zero-tolerance" policies that treat children like criminals and turn schools into prison-like environments. The primary function of school is to help educate our children so that they can become productive, well-informed adults. These policies do just the opposite — they seize on any opportunity to criminalize behavior and eject children from schools, driving up dropout rates.
Since being chained and shackled, J.W. has become withdrawn and afraid to go to school. His counselor reports that he has been "deeply affected and traumatized." We're determined to hold the school and school district accountable for what they've done and to stop their barbaric treatment of children so that no one else suffers like J.W.”
Thank you for supporting our work and for everything you do to protect children in your own community. We'll keep you apprised of any updates in this appalling case.

Thank you for your support,
J. Richard Cohen
President, Southern Poverty Law Center