A Legacy of Racism

America’s long legacy of racism, discrimination, brutality, and lynching against African Americans has finally been exposed to the light.  George Floyd’s killing by the police, along with the many other recent killings, brought outraged Americans into the streets to protest. In 2020, the idea that Black Lives Matter was raised up, and confederate flags and statues came down.  Millionaire athletes took a knee, and coaches and league presidents spoke against racism.  Sports teams changed their names— from Washington DC to high schools across the country.  Even NASCAR raced away from…

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A True Democracy

On the 58th anniversary of Bloody Sunday, President Biden signed an executive order to “make it easier for eligible voters to register to vote and improve access to voting.”  The House recently passed H.R. 1 that would increase voter turnout by having national election standards.  At the same time, GOP controlled state legislatures are trying to restrict registration and voting.  America has always been an imperfect democracy, from the days of the Founding Fathers to today.  Our history is in part the struggle to create a more perfect democracy.  First…

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An All Electric Future

New homes need to be all electric, and we need to quickly retrofit older homes and also commercial buildings to be all electric.  The PR term “natural gas” is mostly methane, which is a powerful greenhouse gas.  Methane mostly comes from drilling and fracking, and it leaks from wells and pipelines, and in our homes.  Methane is blanketing and heating up our world, threatening ecosystems, wildlife, our food supply, and our children’s future.  Requiring all electric and solar power will add to the price, but the long-term cost of not…

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Capitol Coup

I graduated from high school in Washington, DC, and worked on the Hill in my twenties.  The Capitol can be seen from miles away.  It is also a beacon from the first Democracy to the world.   America now looks like one of the banana republics that we created throughout Latin America.  Our nation has overthrown many foreign governments using similar assault tactics by mobs.   The red hat insurrection at the Capitol looked like a “color revolution.”  The Orange Revolution in Ukraine was encouraged and probably funded by our government.  Was…

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2020

2020 is one of those years that will be remembered in history books. The deadly global pandemic, the lockdown of societies and economies, going inward, zooming outwards, racism and BLM, an election, divisive polarity, Biden/Harris winning, and the hope of recovery and moving forward. This year has been tragic with over 330,000 Americans who have sadly lost their lives to COVID. I send my heart-felt condolences to their loved ones who are grieving during the holidays.  About 20 million Americans have been infected and survived, sometimes barely. They feared for their lives, as…

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Plant Trees!

Many people are out of work, so now we need a new Civilian Conservation Corps.  CA lost millions of trees, risking runoff this winter into our salmon streams.  We should hire thousands of tree planters, plus volunteers doing community service.  It's safer working outside, with distance and masks.  Lots of organizations, businesses, tourism and students could help them plant millions of trees, and do other conservation work, across the state.

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Thoughts on Beirut

The tragic explosion in Beirut wiped out the port area and killed about 150 people.  I lived in Beirut as a child, and it's sad to see the destruction.  The disaster left Lebanon in chaos, and they'll have trouble recovering and rebuilding. Last week was also the 75th commemoration of the nuclear bombing of Hiroshima and Nagasaki that killed about 200,000, mostly civilians.  Those were small nukes.  What if a terrorist or enemy had bombed Beirut with a nuclear weapon?  Hundreds of thousands would have died instantly or over the following weeks…

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Inside

A microscopic virus has shut down societies and economies worldwide.  Mother Nature gave us all a timeout for our global civilization’s greedy behavior.  Survival is the first step, as we try to stay alive, healthy and fed.  Thriving is the next goal.  This lockdown encourages us transform ourselves individually and collectively.  Most of us are staying home 24/7, maybe an hour outside.  Prisoners have the choice whether to reform and rehabilitate themselves, or not.  We have the same choice to make, and some won’t want to learn and grow.  But many…

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Pandemic

Our thoughts and prayers go out to the families who have lost loved ones.  They can't be at the bedside, or have a funeral service.  Thousands of people have died from this virus, millions will catch it and fight for their lives, and billions of people worldwide are locked down.  Many others are bravely risking their lives working in hospitals and other essential jobs, bringing needed supplies to those in lockdown so that we can survive this dangerous pandemic.   The coronavirus has shut down every society and economy worldwide. Mother Nature…

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Purpose

Our current civilization, born in the cities of the Industrial Revolution in Europe, has now spread worldwide, gobbling up Earth’s natural resources.  It is not sustainable. The biggest threat to our civilization and to our species is a nuclear world war.  Even a regional war in the Persian Gulf or Taiwan would hurt every country.   Civil wars are shattering Iraq and Syria, where the first civilizations arose long ago. One reason for today's conflicts around the globe is the legacy of colonial borders drawn by European imperialists over a…

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