Occupy Wall Street: Why should I care

31 October, 2011
Zuccottl Park, NYC

The Occupy Wall Street protests, which began as a small group of protesters in New York City's Zuccotti Park,  has changed the national conversation around the economic 'gap' between the richest 1% and everyone else. 

It has changed the conversation around the meltdown of the economy and why so few people and financial firms have been held accountable for their risky behavior;  behavior which destroyed the futures of so many lower, middle, and upper-middle-class people.

The national and international "Occupy" protests have broken the silence of denial and forced the media, politicians, columnists, as well as international organizations to publicly acknowledge these economic disparities. 

New York City's 24-hour televison news station, Channel 1, has a continuous designated segment entitled "Occupy Wall Street".  Locally you may have noticed that there is more news, discussions, and information about these protests across the country and the effect they are having.  More and more the news media is wondering out loud if our financial policies are "fair". 

It is because of this movement that the national focus on the economy has changed. This movement, unlike other so called 'popularist' movements, is a genuine expression of the way ordinary people, the 99%, are feeling  about being kicked to the curb by the greed of the rich.

jt

ps.
The blog postings below list ways that you can help.


***

30 October, 2011
Zuccotti Park, NYC

A couple of blog corrections about the "Occupy Wall Street"  movement.

First, The best website to contact, get information from, and make donations to the Occupy Wall Street movement is:
http://www.occupywallst.org/

not "occupytogether.org"  that I listed in the earlier blog posting.

Second, as I mentioned below, the weather in New York City has turned very wintry and the need has increased for the items below.  This list can also be found on the occupywallst.org website.

Needs

• insulated gloves, wool hats, scarves
• long underwear / smart wool thermal socks
• 300 hand warmers, 300 foot warmers
• waterproof boots in all sizes
• disposable shoe covers
• winter coats
• hot beverages
• thermal heaters
• all weather sub-thermal sleeping bags
• tarps
• all-weather tents
• foam padding / insulation for inside of tents
• wooden pallets to get tents off the ground
• cots to get people off the ground (don't currently have any - could really use these)

Dropping Off In Person In NYC

Daily until 9pm at the OWS storage space at 52 Broadway Ave, ground floor.
After 9pm at the OWS Comfort Station on the east side of Liberty Square (aka Zuccotti Park)

Where To Ship

Occupy Wall Street
118a Fulton St
PO Box 205
New York, NY 10038


Third, I again want to encourage you to send this blog information to one or two other people.  The national conversation has changed because of the Occupy Wall Street movement.  We are the 99%.

Thanks
jt



***

29 October, 2011
Zuccoti Park, NYC

I am going to write a couple of short blog entries about the "Occupy Wall Street"  protest and what we can do in support.

A few  things that you can do is forward this blog to one or two other people so we can expand the information,  visit the "occupytogether.org" website to stay informed about actions taking place,  and make any kind of donations that you can to further the spirit of the protesters.

In the midst of this stormy Saturday the protester's spirits are very high.  The rain, snow, and wind of this early winter storm has not dampened their resolve.  It is a lesson for us all.  The city has taken away the electric generators, that the protesers were using, to keep warm, citing saftey reasons. As you can imagine this has made things pretty desperate.  

Gloves, socks, sweaters and other winter gear (and espeically money) would be a great contribution.  The 99%  movement is our movement.  More to come.
jt

Zuccotti Park-October 30

30 October, 2011
Zuccotti Park, NYC

A couple of blog corrections about the "Occupy Wall Street" movement.

First, the best website to contact, get information from, and make donations to the Occupy Wall Street movement is:

http://www.occupywallst.org/

not "occupytogether.org" that I listed in the earlier posting.

Second, as I mentioned below, the weather in New York City has turned very wintry and the need has increased for the items below.  This list can also be found on the occupywallst.org website.

Needs

• insulated gloves, wool hats, scarves
• long underwear / smart wool thermal socks
• 300 hand warmers, 300 foot warmers
• waterproof boots in all sizes
• disposable shoe covers
• winter coats
• hot beverages
• thermal heaters
• all weather sub-thermal sleeping bags
• tarps
• all-weather tents
• foam padding / insulation for inside of tents
• wooden pallets to get tents off the ground
• cots to get people off the ground (don't currently have any - could really use these)

Dropping Off In Person In NYC

Daily until 9pm at the OWS storage space at 52 Broadway Ave, ground floor.
After 9pm at the OWS Comfort Station on the east side of Liberty Square (aka Zuccotti Park)

Where To Ship

Occupy Wall Street
118a Fulton St
PO Box 205
New York, NY 10038


Third, I again want to encourage you to send this blog information to one or two other people.  The national conversation has changed because of the Occupy Wall Street movement.  We are the 99%.

Thanks
jt





29 October, 2011
Zuccoti Park, NYC

I am going to write a couple of short blog entries about the "Occupy Wall Street" protest and what we can do in support.

A few things that you can do is forward this blog to one or two other people so we can expand the information,  visit the "occupytogether.org" website to stay informed about actions taking place,  and make any kind of donations that you can to further the spirit of the protesters.

In the midst of this stormy Saturday the protester's spirits are very high.  The rain, snow, and wind of this early winter storm has not dampened their resolve.  It is a lesson for us all.  The city has taken away the electric generators that the protesers were using to keep warm citing safety reasons. As you can imagine, this has made things pretty desperate.  

Gloves, socks, sweaters and other winter gear (and espeically money) would be a great contribution.  The 99%  movement is our movement.  More to come.
jt

Zuccotti Park, NYC

29 October, 2011
Zuccoti Park, NYC

I am going to write a couple of short blog entries about the "Occupy Wall Street"  protest and what we can do in support.

A few  things that you can do is forward this blog to one or two other people so we can expand the information,  visit the "occupytogether.org" website to stay informed about actions taking place,  and make any kind of donations that you can to further the spirit of the protesters.

In the midst of this stormy Saturday the protester's spirits are very high.  The rain, snow, and wind of this early winter storm has not dampened their resolve.  It is a lesson for us all.  The city has taken away the electric generators, that the protesers were using, to keep warm, citing saftey reasons. As you can imagine this has made things pretty desperate.  

Gloves, socks, sweaters and other winter gear (and espeically money) would be a great contribution.  The 99%  movement is our movement.  More to come.
jt

What do people want?

11 October, 2011

I saw a letter to the editor in a local newspaper entitled "Obama, you heartbreaker" on September 19th and I said to myself  "Don't read it, it will only make you angry".  I read it anyway and it did make me angry.

The letter was written by a person calling himself a "progressive" and he details all the things that have made him unhappy with the Obama administration. The writer spoke about how hopeful he was with Obama's election and how many progressive changes would happen now  that he was in the White House.  Then the writer began to talk about his disappointments with Obama and listed some of his unfulfilled promises. He concluded by saying he may need to put his support behind a different candidate in the future.

Come on people! 

The reality is that this administration has accomplished more "progressive" initiatives in three years than  anything we've seen for a long long while  coming out of Washington. Healthcare Reform, two women on the Supreme Court,  lower taxes, repeal of Don't Ask-Don't Tell,  saved the American Auto Industry, is ending the war in Iraq, saved the country from a debt crisis, is a positive example for millions of African-Americans,  killed Osama Bin Laden, and is now traveling the country unfolding his "Jobs for America"  proposal.

Could his administration have done more for the country?  YES!  Has Congress been at all helpful?  NO!  Have some "blue-dog"  democrats subverted progressive initiatives?  YES!  Could any one of us have done more in the face of this congressional obstructionism?  I don't think so.

My point is this.  Rather than liberals, independents, and progressives lamenting in public what Obama has not been able to accomplish, which only serves the interests of the conservative right-wing, it would be better if we were all writing letters (and taking other actions) pointing out the real enemies of social and economic change; the obstructionists, the racists, the extreme right-wing, the "oh-poor-me"  1%, and the current Republican controlled House of Representatives. 

Barack Obama is not the enemy.  His administration's policies have turned left much more than they have leaned right.  Instead of  casting doubt on his leadership  to an already misinformed electorate  thanks to Fox News and other media groups, we should be constantly focusing our energy on exposing the lies that these so called "news" organizations and their minions dish out every day.

To me it is better to support, and then struggle with, someone whose policies are generally in the right place than it is to wait  for the opposition to win and see all of our accomplishments disappear.

jt

Occupy Wall Street-Who will join in?

5 October, 2011
Beginning with a handful of people, The Occupy Wall Street demonstrations now can be measured in the thousands.  When will "any" politician acknowledge this movement?

Begining with a demonstration in one city, now demonstrators are in the streets of numerous cities.  When will the media explain this story in a way that everybody can understand.  That this movement is an expression of the way Americans are feeling about being kicked to the side by the greed of the rich.

Begining with a small group of  young people angry that no one on Wall St has been held accountable for the economic crisis they created.  Angry that the rich whine about the small amount of taxes they have to pay.  Angry that the lower-class and the middle-class have shouldered the brunt of this crisis in terms of lost jobs, homes, pensions, education, healthcare, and a future.  This movement now has the support of unions, teachers, students, and ordinary citizens standing up for their rights.

When will you join them?
jt

The Sound of Silence

Sunday September 11, 2011
New York City, 11am

I, like millions of other people in the country, are warching the commemoration of the September 11th memorial in New York City on television this morning. The reading of the names of the thousands of people that died on that tragic day 10 years ago is a moving reminder of the words of grief that all people and all cultures use to remember loved ones. I think it is important to remember that all people on the earth have more in common than we realize.
Peace.
jt

It is still all about Jobs

3 September, 2011
This coming Thursday evening, President Barack Obama will unveil his administration's long awaited Job Creation Proposal.  At this point little is known about its contents but many political analysts, from both the left and the right, have already filled the airways with ideas, proposals, recommendations, and solutions that they think should and should not be in it.

I believe that what most ordinary Americans want is a clear path forward to job creation.  People want the circus that is the current congress to end,  and have politicians focus on the country as a whole and not just the narrow interests they appear to represent.  The 12% favorability rating that congress shamefully holds at the moment should be an indicator that the American people want results, not posturing, intransigence, and empty rhetoric.

The President's falling poll numbers should also be an indicator that he may need to step past an ideologically-frozen Republican Party  and utilize a different strategy to break their expected impasse on his jobs initiative. Ever since Barack Obama became president republican politicians have used every slimy trick in the book to derail, slow-down, defeat, challenge, water-down, obstruct, and otherwise kill proposals set forth by this administration. And yet in the face of this the President has continued to search for bipartisanship from a GOP where the word "NO" has become their three year response to everything.

So I am hopeful that Thursday night’s speech will define a course to quickly put people back to work.   I am hopeful that both houses of Congress will put aside the narrow interests of a few  people and see the suffering of the millions of people without jobs. I am hopeful that the president will get cooperation for his ideas, but if not, that he will firmly and aggressively move forward with plans to put Americans back to work.

jt

The No Tax Pledge-Who does it serve?

25 July, 2011

I saw an editorial comment by "The Springfield Republican" on  July 22, 2011, stating that "GOP candidates today are being badgered to sign all manner of black-and-white pledges that seek to limit their available options...These pledges seek to put the candidate into a box, locking him down, ensuring that he'll support X and oppose Y, no matter what".

This was followed on Sunday July 224th in the New York Times where editorial writer Thomas Friedman stated that he had signed a pledge "...just like those Republican congressmen who have signed written promises to different political enforcers not to raise taxes or permit same-sex marriage..." except his pledge  "...is to never vote for anyone stupid enough to sign a pledge -thereby abdicating their governing responsibilities in a period of incredibly rapid change and financial stress".

As the government tries to find a solution to the debt ceiling crisis through a balanced proposal of  budget cuts and increased revenue the Republican opposition, especially in the House of Representatives, continues to demand no tax increases.  It is no coincidence that within the current congress 236 Republican House members,  2 Democratic House members, and 41 Republican Senators have signed the "Americans for Tax Reform" pledge  which requires signers to pledge never to vote for higher taxes.

"Americans for Tax Reform" is a project of conservative political activist Grover Norquist  who has been described as "a thumb-in-the-eye radical rightist", (The Nation), who is widely quoted for his comments about shrinking the size of government.

In my view, these pledges undermine a person's ability to think for themselves.  This dogmatic thinking automatically denies compromise and makes people unable to see the possibilities.  These restrictive pledges are a disservice to  the American people who want solutions to difficult problems; not intransigence.  But more than anything I want to know that elected officials are working for the benefit of the country as a whole and not just some narrow political interest.

jt

Notes on the Debt Ceiling Debate

The current debate over the deficit and the raising of the debt ceiling are very complex issues and have kept a lot of politicians busy these past few months.  Republicans and Democrats arguing in public and private.  The media adding to the confusion with a daily rehash of speculation and guesswork which presents the issues from the view of ‘what’s current’ rather than from an historical perspective which would add some substance to people’s understanding. 

The American people are a little confused about the discussions taking place between the two extremes of ‘financial doom’ and ‘don’t worry-be happy’.  But I think most people see themselves as far removed from this economic issue and have limited background information which would be helpful to making decisions.

So in an effort to clarify some of this I offer the following  points.

1. Everybody feels the United States debt is too high, about 11.9 trillion dollars. 

2. Many people feel that current tax rates are too high though they are the lowest they’ve been in years.  According to writer Pat Garofalo in a June 1, 2011 article for Think Progress; for a family of four the “average income tax rate under Reagan in 1983 was 11.06 percent.  Under Clinton in 1992, it was 9.18 percent. And under Obama in 2010, it was 4.68 percent.  In fact, in 2009, Americans paid their lowest taxes in 60 years”.

3. A lot of people feel that current government spending is out of control but most political observers agree that the 8-years of the former Bush Whitehouse and the Republican controlled congress created much of the current debt by passing huge tax cuts, engaging in two wars that were not paid for through the normal budget process, passing a Medicare Drug Benefit program whose estimated cost continued to climb after passage, and the deregulation of financial institutions that lead to the global financial meltdown of 2008.

4. The debt also increased by the passage of the Stimulus Program which used billions of dollars to bailout financial institutions, saved the US Auto Industry, and slowed the possibility of a global financial meltdown.  The New Yorker Magazine stated in September 2010 that “by any reasonable measure, the $800-billion stimulus package passed in the winter of 2009 was a clear, if limited, success..and a recent study by Mark Zandi and Alan Blinder, economists from, respectively, Moody’s and Princeton, argues that, in the absence of the stimulus, unemployment would have risen above eleven percent and the G.D.P.  would have been almost half a trillion dollars lower. The weight of the evidence suggests that fiscal policy softened the impact of the recession, boosting demand, creating jobs, and helping the economy start growing again.

5. Since March 1962, the debt ceiling has been raised 74 times, according to the Congressional Research Service. Ten of those times have occurred since 2001  but this year there is considerable Republican opposition.

6. The Obama Administration says an agreement must be reached before August 2 in order to avoid a massive financial default on the money that the US has borrowed.   According to a May 18, 2011 article by CNNMoney,  “if lawmakers fail to raise the ceiling this year, they will have two choices, both awful.  They could either cut spending or raise taxes by several hundred billion dollars just to get through Sept. 30, which is the end of the fiscal year. Or they could acknowledge that the country would be unable to pay what it owes in full and the United States could effectively default on some of its obligations.  At a minimum, a default could hurt U.S. bonds, the dollar and investors' portfolios. "Our bond market and stock market would crash," said former Congressional Budget Director Rudolph Penner.

7. The Republicans want to solve the problem by cutting the spending on  Social Security, Medicare, Education, and other programs…  But no tax increases.

8. The Democrats, including the president, want to solve the problem by cutting spending and raising taxes on corporations and the wealthy.

9. Many of the Republican candidates running for the GOP’s presidential nomination have stated that there really isn’t any cause for alarm and that the democrats are manufacturing  the crisis as a way to increase taxes.

10. As of Tuesday 19^th of July there were about 3 different proposals to solve the problem from the Republicans, the Democrats, and some smaller political factions.

jt

Native Alaskans in the frozen north

 

A writer asked me to write something about the situation of Native Alaskans in my next blog post. Many people are familiar with different parts of the Native American history in this country but probably never knew that there are native people in Alaska. The history and treatment of native Alaskans follows many of the same characteristics of native people in the United States.  A recent example of this was  the topic of a 2010 PBS program entitled "Need to know".

Through the Alaska Native Claims Settlement Act of 1971 (ANCSA), Native Alaskans were allocated land and the ability to form for-profit corporations to govern it. This PBS episode examines whether this program, intended by Congress to help native Alaskans, has delivered on its promise. In cooperation with the Washington Post, "Need to Know" examines whether a plan to promote the welfare of the disadvantaged and disenfranchised has instead enriched non-native executives and shortchanged taxpayers.


Please use this link  to watch this short PBS episode: 　
**"From the beginnings of Russian America to the present, Alaska Natives have experienced periods of rapid change, often with tragic results such as epidemics and culture loss. But there has also been a revitalization of Native traditions and a growing grass-roots movement to consolidate self-governance at the village level."

"But contrasts between Alaska Native cultures, state and federal policies, and regional economies is only part of the story. There are also deep ideological divisions between Alaskans, particularly among non-Natives, regarding the future prospects for Native societies."

"With regard to minority rights, those who emphasize the rights and responsibilities of the individual and healthy competition between different interests are less likely to support what they perceive as privileges belonging to Alaska Natives. Those who accept the premises of the federal-tribal relationship are more willing to consider the collective rights of tribes."


"Nevertheless, many Alaska Native villages are sweeping aside the ambiguity and establishing or strengthening their own institutions: tribal courts, tribal councils and schools. Through their own actions, they are contributing to the complex evolution of minority rights in Alaska."

　
**Alaska Native languages

Language family	Language
Eskimo-Aleut	Aleut
	Alutiiq
	Central Yupik
	Siberian Yupik
	Inupiaq
Tsimshian	Tsimshian
Haida	Haida
Athabaskan-Eyak-Tlingit	Tlingit
	Eyak
	Ahtna
	Tanaina
	Ingalik
	Holikachuk
	Koyukon
	Upper Kuskokwim
	Tanana
	Tanacross
	Upper Tanana
	Han
	Kutchin

**AN EDITED TIMELINE OF ALASKA:

1741- Vitus Bering sights Mt. St. Elias on Alaskan mainland.

1784- First white settlement in Alaska on Kodiak Island.

1790- Aleksandr Baranov becomes director of Russian settlement


1799- Czar Paul claims Alaska as Russian possession. Baranov named first Russian governor of Alaska.

1818 Russian navy assumes authority in Alaska.

1867- The sale of Alaska by Russia to United States - which rightfully belonged to neither .

1880 Gold discovered near Juneau.

1906- Act Authorizing the Secretary of the Interior to allot homesteads to the natives of Alaska.

1906- Alaska Native Brotherhood founded the first modern Alaska Native organization.
　
1914- Ben Benson, who as a boy 13 years old, designed Alaska’s flag, was born of an Aleut mother at Chignik. Upon the death of his mother in 1918, the orphaned boy and his younger brother were sent to the Jesse Lee Home at Unalaska.


1924- Indian Citizenship Act grants citizenship to Native Americans, including Alaska Natives, without terminating tribal rights and property.


1931- Control of education among the Natives of Alaska was transferred to the Office of Indian Affairs. Became known as the Alaska Indian Service.

1945- Alaska passes a law ending legal segregation in Alaska.

1959- Alaska Statehood Act includes provision to not take lands of Native peoples.

1961- Alaska Natives organize to protest "Project Chariot" - a plan to use nuclear weapons to blast an artificial harbor into existence in Northwest Alaska.

1962- The Tundra Times established, the first state wide newspaper devoted to representing the views and issues of Alaska Natives.

1966- Alaska Federation of Natives formed in Anchorage, Alaska.
1971- Alaska Native Claims Settlement Act becomes law. ANCSA

1972- The Marine Mammal Protection Act becomes law with the important provision that Alaska Native would be able to continue traditional use of marine mammals.

1974- A lawsuit filed against the state of Alaska on behalf of a 14-year-old Yupik student, Molly Hootch, (Tobeluk vs. Lind) for not providing local secondary schools in villages, led to dramatic changes. Due to the lack of secondary schools in rural Alaska, village students had to be sent to Bureau of Indian Affairs boarding schools in southeast Alaska or other western states.

1987-8 A total of 7,781 Alaska Native students were enrolled in bilingual education programs, the majority located in the Yupik and Inupiaq regions. A major obstacle to providing bilingual education is the shortage of Native speakers. According to one linguist, most Alaska Native languages (with perhaps the exception of Yupik) are spoken by few or none under the age of 40. It must also be mentioned that rural education remains dominated by non-Natives. Only 2.8 per cent of all teachers in the state are Alaska Native, and the percentage of Alaska Native school administrators is even lower.

1991 Amendments to ANCSA take affect .

No more Republican help needed

Yesterday in New Hampshire Republican White House hopefuls blamed everything wrong in the United States on President Obama. From the economy and unemployment, to the recently passed Health Care bill this lack luster group of talking heads all had criticism of the current administration. But they never talk about their role in getting us to this point.

But in a Hampshire Gazette editorial on Monday June 13, 2011 "Credit for the national debt", written by Representative Richard Neal, the truth becomes clear.

"On Jan. 20, 2001, when President George W. Bush took over from President Clinton, the Congressional Budget Office estimated the total budget surplus for 2002-2011 would be $5.6 trillion. But in 2001 President Bush aided by a Republican controlled Congress, proposed and passed a $1.6 trillion tax cut. The true cost of this tax cut soon became $2.2 trillion.

The other major expenditure contributing to our budget deficit was the engagement in two wars, Iraq and Afghanistan. The total for these wars cost well over 1.4 trillion dollars and by the time George Bush left office on Jan. 20, 2009, the surplus had turned into a $10.6 trillion debt, setting a record for debt for any administration. Pursuing two wars and massive tax cuts is the reason. "


Since the 2008 election, President Obama has actively tried to pass legislation which would address the issues of high unemployment, healthcare, the economy, education, financial reform, social security, the wars, and other domestic issues.

The Republicans, to their discredit, have blocked, slowed down, filibustered, mislead and, in whatever other ways possible, have voted against bills in the House and Senate that would have aided ordinary people struggling in this recession.
Jt

The Palin tempest in a teacup

Lately Sarah Palin has been in the news commenting, or rather rewriting the history, on Paul Revere's midnight ride through Massachusetts.  Without spending alot of time on this, suffice it to say that she offered up  her own version of the purpose for Revere's ride which of course runs contrary to history.

The point here is not whether she understands anything about the history of the American Revolution.  The point is the "media's" absurd fascination with everything she says in the hope of hearing her say if she will run for president. 

In my opinion thats not going to happen.  Sarah Palin is not a politician.  She quit her job as Governor of Alaska because she found something more exciting.  She found that being on the stage, speaking with a funny accent, telling homespun feel good stories, making a few jokes, deriding her opponents (mostly democrats), and an occassional wink could make her more money than being the governor of the frozen north.  End of story!

Sarah Palin is a performer that some people find interesting. She enjoys the spotlight and the attention but in  a recent poll of likely Republican voters the majority said they would not vote for her if she ran for president.  I think the news media needs to move on.

You betcha.

jt

The Jobless

June 6, 2011

I have noticed that there seem to be many more people standing at traffic intersections holding signs asking for money.  "I am homeless"  or "I haven't worked for a year" or "I haven't eaten today"  are some of the typical signs they hold up.  Usually it is men standing on these corners but I have seen my share of women with children in these very same places. Over the past year or two there seem to be more and more people standing at intersections asking for handouts. You could say its an act or a scam and it could be.  But whatever you may think it takes your breath away to see the pain in the eyes of these men and women as they stand in the rain and snow begging for help.

Somewhere in the back of your mind you are saying,  "I hope this will never be me".

Where I work I' ve seen the anxiety in the eyes of graduating students as they begin their job search.  Some of you readers may have seen the fear, and dread in the eyes of your friends who may face uncertainty in their current job.  I would guess that all of us, over these past few years, have been witness to the effects of hopelessness that comes from long term unemployment.

To be without a job in a capitalist society tends to strip away a person's self esteem. The connection to society grows distant and life sustaining options lessen to the point where people will do things they never thought possible just a year earlier.

So what should be done? Given the political climate over the current economy...what can be done?

I would have liked to see the Obama Administration experiment more with a national jobs program.

In my mind the bankers and investment firms were bailed out with taxpayers money at the exprense of working men and women.  Now these very same bankers and investment firms, having regained their financial footing, have done little to help increase the work force in the country.

In fact it seems they have done the opposite by making it harder for small businesses to get loans, not providing mortgage relief to homeowners, and fighting against policies which would help reduce credit card debt. Many large corporatons have been making profits over this very same period but have not used that money to create or reinstate jobs,  using the excuse that they want to take a 'cautious' approch until the economy gets better.

So if something is going to happen to turn the economy around it will have to come from the government.  President Obama and the democrats (and perhaps some republicans) should stop waiting and move forward with some creative ideas similar to the depression era job program.

jt

After all these years

I met a freind that I hadn't seen for quite a long time and we spent  a little time catching up on life, work, and things in the world.  In an email I got from him later he wrote how good it was to see me "...after all these years."  I read the short email twice and began to wonder, as many people of a certain age often wonder...'where has the time gone?' 

Sometimes I'll see a television program featuring performers from my teen years and think "those people look old" and suddenly realize that I am growing older too.  Its funny how many of us look in the mirror every morning but only see the face of our youth.

So as hectic as things are in life I try to never go to bed angry at someone I love. I pass this small message on to my children, to the students at the school where I work, and now here.

There is a suddeness in life that does not always allow for the closing of every circle. The point is to not leave too many circles open.

jt

A hard rain is going to fall

15 May, 2011
Here in the Northeast it seems to be raining almost everyday.  A quick look at the weather forecast shows rain for the next 5 days. This past winter saw record snow storms follow one after the other.

In the South the Mississippi River is flooding while tornados have caused a great deal of damage and the loss of many lives.  While in the Southwest there is a lingering drought.

Across the globe natural disasters seem to be happening more frequently.   In 2010/2011 there have been an earthquake and Tsunami in Japan, earthquake in Haiti, Peru, and Chile.  There have also been flooding and mudslides in Pakistan, Afghanistan, and (as I mentioned) in and around the Mississippi River.  

Scientist around the world have chronicled the melting of the polar regions, the increase in the earth's temperature, and the rising of the oceans.  According to a survey by the "Proceedings of the National Academy of Science" (reported in the USAToday, June 22, 2010) "...97 percent of scientific experts agree that climate change is "very likely" caused mainly by human activity."  The report is based on questions posed to 1,372 scientists. 

Each of these things can be looked at as "Isolated Incidents" with no relationship to one another.  Many of us will shake our heads and say "I am glad thats not happening to me", and a great deal of us will fall back into a fitful sleep until the next disaster strikes.

But I think that somewhere in the back of everyone's mind is the realization that something is not quite right.   A truth that we can't, or perhaps, don't want to verbalize.  But it's crying out to be said.  What is it?

What it is...is that all these things are related!  Everything is 'cause and effect'.  The increased burning of fossil fuels rises into the atmosphere and warms the planet changing the weather patterns.  The pollution of the oceans damages aquatic habitats which makes it unable to support sea-life ending with the disappearance of certain species.

According to Sylvia Earle, oceanographer and undersea explorer, "Since the beginning of the 20th century, aquatic and terrestrial species have been reduced to a fraction of their former abundance and entire ecosystems have been consumed for short term use..." (May 15, 2011, Smith College speech).

So what is the solution? 

Each of us are called upon to do our share to help save the planet.  But the solution can not be just the individual sweater-wearing person shivering in their dimly lit houses using cloth instead of plastic shopping bags.  Nor can it be the man or women biking to work everyday to help reduce air-pollution.  And it definitely is not  the poor and middle class families that are always called upon to make sacrifices that they can little afford.

The solution will involve all of us pressing our governmental representatives to stop the partisan bickering in Washington and acknowledge that we have a problem.  Then come up with some concrete action.

The solution needs to include the scientific community researching and developing long and short term ideas. Practical ideas based on increasing the availability of low cost non-polluting energy sources like wind, solar, wave-energy, and geo-thermal  would be a great start.

Our government, as well as governments across the globe, will need to stop tip-toeing around the large multinational corporations and impose more stringent regulations to slow down the burning of fossil fuels and stop the carbon emissions that are  suffocating the planet. 

Schools will need to actively reinforce in their students the importance of a healthy planet and instill an understanding of what an ethical relationship between their future careers and a healthy world should look like.

But most importantly people across the globe must come to understand that the decay and destruction of the earth will ultimately become the decay and destruction of human life on the planet as we know it.

jt



To show or not to show the death picture of Bin Laden

11 May, 2011
There seems to be some people demanding that we display pictures of Osama Bin Laden taken at his compound following his death at the hands of Navy Seals on May 1st.

There is nothing to be gained by showing 'death pictures"  of Osama Bin Laden.  This president has made the right decision.  The militants of the world do not need another reason to hate the United States.  Osama Bin Laden is dead. Showing graphic pictures of his death will only be used to further inflame anger and windup further endangering U.S citizens and military personell  at home and abroad.

There is also no need to prove anything further or appear to gloat over Bin Laden's killing.
People, we are better than that!  An ugly episode has ended. Lets move forward.

jt

The Passing of Osama

3 May, 2011
So finally after all most 10 years Osama Bin Laden  has been killed by US forces. This will end a dark chapter in U.S. history that has troubled the American people for a decade.  It is not unfortunately the end of the story.  It's only the end of one brutal mans life.

September 11th, 2001 was a defining moment.  It shook the American people out of a long sleep of false security.  It also awakened a sleeping President who, up to this point in his presidency, was spending too much time on his ranch.  It showed the anger and hatred, by some militant groups, at the United States  and the lethal lengths that they would go to in order to make a point.  It set in motion two wars costing the United States  billions of dollars and thousands of lives. 

The list of political ineptitude, congressional decision-making blindness, repressive governmental policies created in the name of 'making things safer and better in the country', is a list that could go on for many pages.  A short look at the history of the past 10 years should be enough for anybody to see that the country was politically and economically out of control. 

Now that we are a few days pass the headlines and the continued in-depth "rehashing"  of the facts it may be time to think about where we have all come over these pass 10years. 

I think the first thing that most people are feeling is a collective sigh of relief.  It's as if a weight was being lifted off our shoulders.  These past 10years have had the American psyche lost in a nightmare that we all were not even aware we were having.  The feeling of impending dread,  insecurity, and a lingering  depression that can not be clearly articulated has, to some degree,  begun to lift. The death of Osama Bin Laden will act as the closing of a painful circle that has haunted the past 10 years. 

The amount of time we will have to find our national balance will be short.  There are many other pressing issues in front of the American people that need a quick resolution.  The economy, unemployment, the environment, energy, and more  are still on the doorstep.

But for right now,  lets all take a moment to reflect on the future.  Lets all think about our role in the global community.  Lets make our world safer by making ourselves better citizens in it.
Jose

First Post people

Lets all relax,  we're not in church!

This blog is going to be a collection of thoughts, put down to offer some insight into things in our world.

jt