Prioritizing the relative importance of addressing America’s social woes is, to be sure, an inexact science.

Our war vets are living on the streets, dying of preventable diseases.  We may never have another free and fair election.  Clean energy, which was once making significant progress in decarbonizing our energy and transportation sectors, is being shot to ribbons by the current presidential administration.

But goddamn it! We need to start solving problems that don’t exist, like drag queens in our schools.

 

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College students have been protesting en masse against U.S. aggression abroad and suppression of human rights domestically since the 1960s.  These institutions and their students cite “free speech,” as guaranteed by the First Amendment, as the basis for this basic American right.

Now, with the stupidification (my word) of this nation, this has suddenly become controversial.

 

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Does this guy have a solid point?

Is war a bad thing? What about rape and torture?

Do they point to weaknesses that must be strengthened?

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Maybe the protestors are less concerned about length of time in office, and more with criminal authoritarianism.

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I have such respect for Pascal that I considered naming our son after him.  (I thought “Pascal Shields” had a nice ring to it, but my wife wasn’t having it. Maybe if we lived in France?)

Pascal made important contributions to both math and physics but he’s perhaps best known for his theological “wager,” that it makes sense to believe in God, since if He exists, you’ll be very glad you did, and if He doesn’t, you haven’t lost anything.  I counter that this is not how we accept or reject religious tenets.

 

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There is a blend of reasons why people don’t get vaccinated: largely ignorance and indifference to the wellbeing of other people.

Here’s a reminder that the kiwis are intelligent and empathetic people.

 

 

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“Republican Patriots” writes: Howard Stern once again reveals the contempt so many in the entertainment elite hold for everyday Americans. He claims not to hate President Trump himself, but openly declares his hatred for those who support him, calling them stupid and saying he has no respect for them. This kind of arrogant dismissal shows how out of touch these Hollywood types have become with the hardworking people who built this country.

I’ve got news: contempt for Trump supporters is hardly limited to “these Hollywood types.” The vast majority of Americans–especially at this point–are neither greedy pigs nor hateful morons. We respect human rights and rule of law.

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Can’t something be done to stop this lunatic?

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It’s so weird that massive voter fraud didn’t exist until Trump lost the 2020 election.

It’s even more bizarre that no evidence of significant voter fraud was ever found by people other than Mike Lindell, Rudy Guiliani, and of course, Trump himself.

 

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Re: the meme here, there are a couple of caveats:

• Billionaires pay their employees slave wages, forcing them to have 2 – 3 jobs, sometimes meaning that they are on food stamps and living in their cars.

• People, often war veterans, can’t afford health insurance and die agonizing deaths from treatable diseases.

• White supremacy dominates huge swaths of the United States.

• Teachers are paid so poorly that they’re leaving their professions, and our population is becoming more ignorant every year.

• Our planet is baking because the billionaires in the fossil fuel industry couldn’t care less about the wellbeing of anyone but themselves.

• The wars caused by greed and nationalism are killing our children.

Outside of this, capitalism is wonderful.

 

 

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