CAN THE HUMAN SPECIES SURVIVE?

The BIOSPHERE encompasses all live forms on planet Earth. From the extremely tiny viruses to the giant Redwoods of California, every living thing is part of the BIOSPHERE.  It is the life force created more than 3.8 billion years and passed on to us over millions of years.  Its creation is a mystery to us and I believe we have received this life force as a sacred trust, to be understood, preserved and passed on to future generations.

As hunters and gathers 20,000 years ago we lived within the resources available to us and our impact on the BIOSPHERE was 
very limited. The plants and animals used for food at the time  sustained their populations despite human predation. The ecosystems remained in balance.

Since ancient times we humans have long used our large brains to  make tools to improve success in finding and acquiring food, providing shelter and protecting our families.  The same devices used to kill animals for food became weapons to threaten and eventually kill other humans.  In the twenty-first century this has evolved into ballistic missiles and nuclear bombs. 

Currently humans are exploiting Earth's resources at rates that are not sustainable; leading to severe changes in the BIOSPHERE. Fossil fuels have made modern civilization possible, but at a high cost in air, water and land pollution. The exploitation of animals, forests, the waters of lakes, rivers and oceans and the rich soils of the Earth have provided us with an existence our forefathers could never have imagined.  

Yes, this same brain has also given us smart phones and electric cars; and this ingenuity has given us a fantastic array of "stuff" that make our lives more comfortable and worthwhile.  We marvel at drones, robots, computers, digital cameras, etc. that now seem commonplace

The human population on planet Earth is about 7.7 billion persons.  Each of these individuals needs food, water, clothing, shelter and health care. Can the resources of this planet be stretched to meet the needs of future billions of people?

The ANSWER is NO. 

WHY?

The resources of this planet are limited.  

Over the last 10,000 years humans have moved from small villages of a couple hundred people to huge cities of millions; from stone tools to Electric cars and smart phones; from small family farms of a few sheep and cows to huge industrial agriculture with thousands of animals on a single farm; from bows and arrows to missiles and nuclear bombs.  This is what we like to call PROGRESS.

During this time the number of humans has increased from about 1 Million people in 8000 BC to 7.7 Billion today; a seven thousand six hundred per cent increase in 10,000 years. Safety in cities; control of disease vectors; cleaner water and air; and modern medicine have all contributed to this dramatic increase.  People are just not dying any more. Humans who in the past would have died because of birth defects, accidents, war or disease continue to live.  We are using modern medicine to keep everybody alive, leading to this dramatic increase in the number of human inhabitants of the planet.

This is NOT SUSTAINABLE.  

Religions and cultures the world over have worked to make people's lives better, but these same entities have used their power to prevent the use of birth control, abortion and other family planning activities to control human population growth.  No one wants to see their children die, but the lack of political will to recognize the need to limit the the number babies born is the basic cause of the increase.

I believe the Earth's BIOSPHERE will react to human destruction of the environment, by treating the  human species as a disease; as a cancer on the life force of the planet; as an organism whose behavior is destroying the living space for all other life forms.  The immune system of the BIOSPHERE will respond and we humans will not appreciate the result.

If the political climate continues as it exists today with little or no support for controlling population for religious and cultural reasons, the result will be catastrophic for the human species.  Modern civilization has created conditions for its own demise.

Diseases have always been part of the biosphere and they affect all living organisms.  They are what we call limiting factors in an ecosystem. Their effect on a particular species is to control its population by eliminating those who are not fit to continue its existence.

Crowded cities with millions of people, modern worldwide travel, millions of poor people with limited health care; and unsanitary conditions in many underdeveloped countries; will likely contribute to a worldwide pandemic in the future.  A deadly virus spread by casual contact could easily travel across the planet and put all humans in peril.  Is this our destiny?  Can we act in time to prevent such a thing from happening? 

The BIOSPHERE may very well discard the human species as just another creature bound for extinction and that would be a damn shame.  

 Do you care? Then do something.

APRIL 2020---50 YEARS OF EARTH DAY

In 2020 the world will celebrate the 50th anniversary of Earth Day. I was involved as an educator in the first Earth Day in April  of 1970 and it is fitting that there has been a rebirth of the concern about our world and its environmental future.  The recent introduction of legislation called THE GREEN NEW DEAL in the United States Congress can and should be used to focus our country as well as the whole world on the future of this planet.  Earth Day was a starting point, but with issues facing the planet including continued industrial expansion, increased human population and human caused climate change, we as the most influential creatures on Earth must recognize that WE ARE THE PROBLEM. 

Our creativity and ingenuity have allowed us to see into the depths of space in search of answers about the origins of the universe; as well as probing into the life force that all living things on this planet carry. We humans must now face the question---Can the human species survive its intelligence?



  

DONALD IS DESTROYING HIMSELF

DONALD IS DESTROYING HIMSELF

Donald J. Trump is the first person I have encountered that I truly believe is rotten to the core. He is a dysfunctional 13 year-old living in a 72 year-old adult body who suffers from a narcissistic disorder that is described as "excessive admiration of oneself".

This condition prevents him from showing any empathy or concern for others. He does cruel and nasty things to people; and makes terrible, hurtful comments to others; and has no
regrets. His inability to apologize for mistakes or ask for forgiveness are sad reminders of a man trapped in a mind devoid of true emotions of love, empathy, admiration for others, etc.  Donald does not care because his mind will not let him; he sees only himself.  He is a bully who lacks the capacity to understand or feel the pain of persons being bullied. He is a cold, empty shell of a human being and should be removed from the presidency as soon as possible.

But how?
Impeachment? Not likely.
25th Amendment? Not a chance.
Suicide? Not competent to get it done.
Resignation? We can only hope.

Our current situations reminds me of  the Star Trek episode in the 1960's original television series that featured an evil spirit  that took over the spaceship Enterprise. This evil controlled the ship and crew by making them angry, agitated and aggressive toward each other to such an extent that they could not perform their duties.  Our hero, Captain Kirk, discovered that by laughing, joking and showing a happy disposition the angry spirit lost its power. Evil was literally laughed off the ship.

How do we defeat Trump? The country is already doing it---making fun of him and the absurd behavior of his administration. Make jokes about him, laugh a lot, smile, do good deeds, hug the "other"; speak with folks you do not know; go to places frequented by people different from  yourself. Attacking evil only magnifies it, so pointing out the aberrant behavior of this administration with humor and irony is an effective way to move us to a better future.

Donald is destined to destroy himself and will eventually  disappear from the scene.  In the mean time  just  keep smiling, and laughing at the absurdity of it all.

THE TAX BILL IS INSANITY

THE TAX BILL INSANITY

I oppose the current tax bill being pushed in Congress.

Yes, you will feed a tiny tax cut to the masses with the hope no one will notice that it is temporary and just a pittance compared to what the wealthy will receive.  You are planning that people are so stupid that a tiny cut will satisfy.

This is a "SICK" piece of legislation that plays into the tribalism spreading over the country.  

This bill will make the trend to an AUTOCRATIC REGIME much easier. The RICH will get richer and the POOR will get poorer---the divide and polarization will grow worse and allow the top 1% to rule the country.

We all know what you are doing.  You are running up the debt so you will have an excuse to destroy Social Security, Medicare and Medicaid.

The Republican Party is rotten to the core and you may well destroy yourselves with this terrible piece of legislation---good riddance.



   

NIKKI HALEY FOR PRESIDENT

NIKKI HALEY FOR PRESIDENT

I have been observing Donald  J. Trump for many years and these are some of my conclusions:

1. Donald is a very bright dysfunctional 13 year-old living in a 71 year-old adult body.

2. He suffers from a condition called  Narcissistic Disorder.  This is defined as "excessive admiration of oneself".

3.  Donald Trump is the classic bully.  He lacks the ability to show empathy toward other people or events. His mind simply will not allow him to express genuine concern for others.  He does not know how to do it.  He likes a fight, as all bullies do because this attracts attention and feeds his need to be the center of everything.

Donald has survived with this disorder by living in a bubble of money and lawyers.  His behavior in response to his condition was to become a con-man who uses charm, money and intimidation to succeed. His business practices included hiring people to work for him, accusing them of some wrong doing, refusing to pay them and threatening to destroy them if they sue for their money.  This is how he has gained some of his wealth. It is called STEALING.

Donald loves attention even if it is negative.  As a bully he will say terrible things about others just to keep his followers or opponents talking and writing about him. It is how he maintains his power.

As a public figure Donald attracts people who love a train wreck or enjoy watching car crashes; people who want simple answers to complex problems; who want a god-like leader who says "ONLY I can fix it".  They want to believe him, because they have no hope; they are afraid of the "OTHERS" out there; they want to be wealthy like him; or they simply want a better life.

The tragedy is that Donald is not capable of fulfilling any of the promises he has made.  He and his family apparently believed that if he were President he could get all his ideas immediately put into effect just by the  sheer power of his personality.  That works in a dictatorship, but not in our democratic form of government. He seems to believe he can use his con-man powers of charm, bullying  and intimidation to gets things done. It is not working.

This is a tragedy of monumental proportions for our country and the world. We have a President who does not know what he is doing. The slogans Donald used during the campaign had to be put in the form of policy and legislation.  He appears not to want to work on policy or legislation and has discovered that Congress alone will not do his bidding.  Thus he uses continuous attacka-tweets going after the other branches of government, the media and people who disagree with him. He does not seem to understand how self defeating this approach is. 

I have spoken to Trump's supporters who say "just give him a chance".  His behavior is becoming more erratic and scary by the day,  He is creating "chaos" and either deliberately or unwittingly, he is playing right into the hands of the Russians and Putin. He is NOT the savior his supporters had hoped for and he is not going to change. He loves being in power, but he does not know how to use it.

The Trump presidency is already a failure and the Republicans know it; but most are quietly hoping  for some kind of miraculous rebirth. I believe Donald will not be impeached, but he will leave the White House one way or another before his term is up.

Mike Pence is not equipped to make a good president, so my vote to replace a failed Trump presidency is to elevate UN Ambassador Nikki  Haley to the position---she can be our first woman President.

IT IS EASY TO ATTACK THE "OTHER"

Recent letters have highlighted the divisions in our country.

It is easy to attack minorities when you are in the majority and let's face it we are a nation composed of 100's of minorities all vulnerable to attacks by a larger white mostly Christian majority. No other nation on the planet has the large number of  minorities that we have in the United States.  Most nations in the world  are more homogeneous than we are.

Except for Native Americans, North America looked empty to our ancestors and many oppressed peoples from all over the world flooded to this land. So now as a result, in the twenty-first century we have become an unplanned experiment in the ongoing survival of the human species. 

Most of us who are white do not know what it feels like to be a minority because we have never had the experience. Have you ever been in a room where you are the ONLY person WHO IS NOT  Jewish, or Black, or Hispanic, or Muslim, or Chinese, or Gay, or the opposite sex?  If you have never had this experience, then you have no idea what minorities face in our society. Millions of Americans are the "OTHER" and they feel it everyday and in every way in the current polarized political climate gripping our nation.

My observation is that many of us live in a bubble, surrounded by people who are the same color, the same ethnic group, go to the same church and often work in the same occupation.  We are insulated and isolated from the real world that exists beyond the edges of our bubble.  If you do not have any real human contact with the "OTHER" it is easy to demonize or criticize them.

The only way we will survive as a nation will be our willingness to get to know our minority citizens as human beings who have the same needs, desires and hopes as we do, so we then can move forward together.









   

 

DONALD WILL RESIGN RATHER THAN TESTIFY

Donald Trump has demonstrated time after time that he is a lier. He does not seem to the know the difference between the truth and a lie.

Recently Ken Starr of White Water fame answered YES when asked if he thought Donald Trump would be forced to testify in the ongoing Russian Investigation.  The thought of having to testify about the events surrounding his presidential campaign has to terrify Donald. How will he testify as to the truth when he constantly lies about everything  that goes on?  Can he even remember what happened let alone what was true and what was not? Since  he often makes up things when faced with events he must worry about perjury.

I firmly believe Donald will resign and go back to New York rather than  testify in an open  hearing to any of the Committees or the Mueller Investigation.  His lawyers will most assuredly recommend that he not testify. If he does agree it will only be to answer questions presented to him ahead of time when his lawyers can write up his responses.

This may be the only way can get this incompetent, con artist out of the White HOUSE.