Chronology

I started thinking about all of the things that come our way as a result of the air currents. Certainly, the rain would be the top thing on our mind. Next would be the seeds and pollen that travel without borders on the back of the winds. I guess we could call the allergies that result from those pollens a, “possible side effect”, like they do in the drug commercials. We see the pollen, so we know that there is a potential for an allergic outbreak. We just don’t know if it’s the pollen that affects us the most. Should I be more concerned about putting on a mask than writing “wash me” on the trunk of my car?

Fortunately, the government tracks all that stuff for us now, and we can look at the government charts to see which pollens are affecting us the most. The question is whether you’ll already be wheezing before the government can produce the charts. Pollen is a pollutant that we can see. How about the noxious gasses that we don’t see until they get so thick they’re visible? Wearing a mask won’t help with those pollutants, and some may be so deadly we don’t have time to put on a mask anyway. I’ve long complained about Georgia Power and their coal burning plants being responsible for making the “Smokey Mountains, smokey”. There is something worse, though.

We passed the thirty-seventh anniversary of Chernobyl on April 26th. If you are unfamiliar with the disaster, here is a quote from Wikipedia: “The Chernobyl disaster was the worst nuclear power plant accident in history in terms of cost and casualties. It is one of only two classified as a level 7 event (the maximum classification) on the International Nuclear Event Scale, the other being the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear disaster in Japan in 2011. The struggle to contain the contamination and avert a greater catastrophe ultimately involved over 500,000 workers and cost an estimated 18 billion rubles. During the accident itself, 31 people died, and long-term effects such as cancers are still being investigated.”

The cleanup involved volunteers who knew they were committing suicide for the promise of the government taking care of their families, forever. Shortly after the accident, the nearby town of Pripyat was evacuated, and the 53,000 residents disbursed through Ukraine. The rest of the Soviet citizenry remained in the dark about the accident until April 28th, when radiation levels set off alarms at the Forsmark Nuclear Power Plant in Sweden, over 620 miles away. The Soviet government was then forced to go public with the accident. Ten days after the accident, the Soviet government expanded the evacuation area to a 20-mile radius of Chernobyl. This “dead zone” is still in place today.

How does Chernobyl play into my dissertation on shifting winds? Well, in a couple of ways. First off, it was the wind that carried the radioactive fallout to Sweden where the unsafe levels set off alarms alerting the rest of the world to the problem. Secondly, and this one is the most important, we have a propensity in the United States for building nuclear power plants to the Southwest of large population centers. The wind pattern in the United States is predominantly from the South and West.

In Georgia, our two nuclear plants are located at Baxley and Augusta. Not good for Augusta, or anywhere in South Carolina, but at least they’re not Southwest of Atlanta. We have to go to Alabama to find a nuclear power plant Southwest of Atlanta, where I live. Alabama also has a number of plants that are West and Northwest of Atlanta. As we all know, the wind shifts. Currently it’s coming from the Northwest. It is my fervent desire to avoid a “Silkwood” situation.

As we move to clean energy I’m hopeful that we’ll take a look at the French designs of nuclear power plants. They’ve had a remarkable success record and produce about 70% of their power from nuclear power. Bill Gates is also on the right track in the development of safe nuclear power plants. I’d far rather supplement his efforts than supplement the oil companies’ offshore drilling, we know their track record.

We have the opportunity to learn from the past and “Build Back Better“. Will we, or are we just marking time until our next Chernobyl?

I read an interesting piece about an old fellow that had been released from jail for a crime he didn’t commit. Jack McCullough, who is now 78 years old, was released from prison after serving five years of a life sentence. Where all of this gets real curious is that McCullough was convicted in 2011 for a murder that occurred in 1957.

McCullough was accused of murdering a neighbor girl back when he was 18 or so. McCullough was not accused in 1957 when the crime occurred, he was accused in 2011. He was brought back to Sycamore, Illinois, his childhood home, from Seattle, Washington where he was living, to stand trial. In a trial that has now been overturned, McCullough was railroaded into a murder conviction. It seemed that the community had to have a perpetrator for what they described as their “9-11”.

To say the evidence was shaky is a vast understatement. Many people who had given police statements at the time of the crime are no longer living. To that end, McCullough was not able to face his accusers. His attorney was not able to question the accusers or offer a rebuttal to their testimony. Old eye witness accounts were read into the record that loosely described McCullough at the time. Teenage behavior being what it is, it probably described every other teenager at the time too. Testimony about wearing your hair in a ducktail is not as relevant in the ’50’s as one might think it is today.

The Innocence Project states on their website, “Eyewitness mis-identification is the greatest contributing factor to wrongful convictions proven by DNA testing, playing a role in more than 70% of convictions overturned through DNA testing nationwide.”  There are a bunch of reasons why eyewitnesses can get it wrong, which is why it is imperative that the physical evidence is unimpeachable. In this case, most of the physical evidence was missing or destroyed. A key piece of evidence, a doll that the killer was supposed to have touched, was missing. The DNA from the doll could have excluded McCullough, but it was no where to be found when the trial came about.

Probably the most damning point in this scenario is the fact that McCullough was forced to act as his own lawyer in his appeal process. The road to McCullough’s eventual freedom was started by a petition prepared by another inmate with paralegal training. The petition was denied, but caused the current prosecutor for Dekalb County, Illinois to review the case. When asked by the judge to comment on the appeal request, State’s Attorney Richard Schmack responded that he had found, “clear and convincing evidence”, that McCullough was innocent.

Well, the wheels of justice finally started rolling, and eventually McCullough was released. Interviews with McCullough detail that he will be, “living his life at one hundred mile an hour”, since he has so much time to make up. Truthfully, it was a wonder that McCullough had survived the length of time he did in prison, and not just because of his age. Prison inmates have a particular fondness for people that are accused of crimes against children. “Baby fondlers” they call them. I speculate that many prison inmates were abused themselves as children, and can imagine that they would have had a much different life had they not been abused. The inmates consider it a privilege to help society rid itself of child predators. McCullough is very lucky to have survived vigilante justice for a crime he did not commit.

Currently, the Innocence Project has helped to free 365 wrongfully convicted people. Of those, twenty-one had spent time on death row. Just as important, the Innocence Project has found 147 actual perpetrators. Thank God there are people out there righting the wrongs of overzealous prosecutors and police. We need more of them.

 

While I mull over the thought of being happy and sad about the same event, I think of politicians who must get caught up in the disconnect of taking a vow to protect the Constitution and then promoting or covering up an attempted coup. Cognitive dissonance is what it’s called.

Of course politicians have a political party to tell them how to respond to all topics so they don’t get confused by their own feelings. I’m thinking that part of the attraction for the Donald is his lack of a party filter to clean up his language before it airs to the public. I know we all are tired of hearing the same tried and true party answers. Maybe that’s why the Donald’s followers are energized by his speeches. The Donald just freestyles like a rapper searching for rhymes. What he says doesn’t have to make sense, it just has to fill his followers with a sense of entitlement and rage.

Just for grins, I was looking at some Trump quotes to prove my point. Thank you Google and Goodreads for your ease of use. Right off the top I found a doozy: “One of the key problems today is that politics is such a disgrace, good people don’t go into government.” The Donald forgot to add, “that’s why I’m throwing my hat in the ring”.

The Donald let a little bit of his dissonance slip through in this famous quote: “When Mexico sends its people, they’re not sending the best. They’re not sending you, they’re sending people that have lots of problems and they’re bringing those problems with us. They’re bringing drugs. They’re bring crime. They’re rapists… And some, I assume, are good people.”  “And some I assume are good people”, kind of explains the opposition of thoughts in Trump’s brain that he can’t reconcile, and yet, feels compelled to pontificate about.

The Donald’s actions belie his rhetoric with regard to his famous Mar A Lago club. In an investigation by The New York Times it was discovered that American citizens were repeatedly overlooked for hiring by the club in favor of immigrants. “Since 2010, nearly 300 United States residents have applied or been referred for jobs as waiters, waitresses, cooks and housekeepers there. But according to federal records, only 17 have been hired.” Building a wall to keep low price labor from entering the country while almost exclusively using legal and illegal foreign labor for his projects seems a little bit dissonant or at best, disingenuous.

The Donald will never be concerned about saying things that he doesn’t really have resolved in his brain. For example, “I try to learn from the past, but I plan for the future by focusing exclusively on the present. That’s were the fun is.” You kind of have to let that management style marinate in your brain while you’re pondering his six bankruptcies. Of course you could try to ascertain the Donald’s owns self evaluation, “I often say that I’m a member of the lucky sperm club. But did it give me a natural talent? I don’t think so.” No, but the 400+ million the Donald got from his daddy kind of disputes his claims of being a “self-made man.” In a rare moment of consciousness, the Donald did declare, “Everything in life is luck.” I agree, he is the undisputed expert on that topic.

I’m thinking that women are going to play a large part in electing our next President. I’m not saying that because I believe that all women are going to vote for Joe and Kamala in a tsunami of gender solidarity. I’m saying that because there is such a great paper trail for women to familiarize themselves with to let them know how the candidates really feel about women. The Donald says, “Nobody respects women more than I do.” which is a great quote to match up with,“You know, it really doesn’t matter what the media write as long as you’ve got a young, and beautiful, piece of ass.” Let’s all be honest here, isn’t it the height of respect being called “a young, and beautiful, piece of ass?”

I guess if the Donald doesn’t mind having his daughters evaluated by their looks and sexual proclivities, there’s no dissonance.

 

 

I kind of got focused on the Donald again while waiting for the insurrectionists to get together this weekend for fun and games in the Capitol. Sounds like they want to get the old gang back together, kind of like a high school reunion. They’ve modified the prom theme “Starry Nights” to “Turn Out The Lights” to more accurately portray their intention to leave democracy in the dark in their wake.

In an attempt to appear to look like normal folks, the organizers have asked the returnees to leave their MAGA duds at home. I’m hopeful that the organizer also requested they leave their guns, knives, bombs and other implements of torture behind. I know this puts the group at a real disadvantage of knowing who the other lemmings are, but I’m sure they’ll be able to just look for people frothing at the mouth and self identify.

As I understand it, the group is still determined to right the wrong of the majority of Americans finding Joe Biden more presidential than the Donald. They continue to foment the “big lie” that aliens from space and other countries manipulated the vote total by 8 million or so votes to throw the election away from their candidate. The Donald continues to do his part by waddling from venue to venue to separate the rubes from their money by saying anything that convinces the crowd that they alone hear the truth.  

If you are a candidate who is willing to say anything to stir up a crowd, what does that say? If you promise to build a wall between Mexico and the U.S., and use Mexican money to do it, what happens when you can’t deliver on your promise? How do you appease the people who voted for you and the wall, and then were disappointed? How do you backtrack on your promise to deport 12 million aliens?

Forget the part that the voter should be smart enough to know that the promise was a physical impossibility. What happens after four years of constant prevarication and obfuscation? Do the voters that aren’t card carrying cult members peel away and vote for the other candidate? Do the fence-sitters just become disillusioned with the whole process and stay at home? Do the “fool me once” crowd search the horizon for the next “prophet”?

Salesmen and hucksters prey on the uninformed and the “wishful thinkers” every day. That’s why the Consumer Protection Agency was formed. Seems like we’re in desperate need of  a Voter’s Protection Agency. It’s not like The Donald is masking his lies in obscure language. He’s speaking his mind right up front of everybody, and unfortunately, the feedback he’s getting is only fueling his egomania. His statement, “I could stand in the middle of 5th Avenue and shoot somebody and I wouldn’t lose voters”, speaks to The Donald’s mental state. He believes he is infallible. That’s not a good quality for a leader of 330 million people that are as diverse as we are in America.

The world has a very bad history with infallible leaders. Normally I would do a separated at birth caption for this, but maybe this is more an argument for reincarnation.

Would Mussolini have been drug through the streets if he had had the Donald’s hair? Hard to know. Let’s hope we don’t get that close to history repeating itself to make a comparison.

While I like to rant about things out of my control, like the pollen, I also feel entitled to rant about other things as well.

One of the things that should be in everyone’s control is parenthood. Whether or not to have a child should totally be up to the parents. I guess in a perfect world we would want two happy well adjusted people who really loved children and would do right by them to be parents. Failing that, at least one of the parents should meet that criteria. In my mind, you have to have the mother’s total 100 percent buy in, or it’s a nonstarter. I don’t think I’m being sexist, or old school, I think I’m being pragmatic. If the mother can’t commit to 100 percent love and devotion to a child, she should have an out.

No, I’m not talking about adoption or orphanages. The horror of state run orphanages and places like depicted in the Magdalene Sisters are well documented. The potential mother should have a choice about when to exercise her lifetime commitment to raising a child, if ever.

Obviously what got me started thinking about this again is the law in Texas making abortion vigilantes out of the anti-abortion folks. They want to punish the mother and anyone associated with a woman exercising her rights over her body. How mean, how hateful, how non-Christian, how non-conservative.

Non-conservative, you say? Yes, because, while the Repubs have created their “Big Tent” by drawing in every hateful nut job in America from bigots to misogynists under the label of “conservative values”, actually being a fiscal conservative has not come in to play. How so, you ask?

As far back as 1972, the Rockefeller Commission determined that a liberalized abortion policy superseded a reduction in crime eighteen years in the future. The statistics were further confirmed in a study done by Steven Levitt of the University of Chicago and John Donohue of Yale University in 2001. Their study concludes that the states with a high abortion rate have also experienced the greater reduction in crime. You can’t argue the facts, unless you’re a Republican political candidate.

How can the Republicans, “true conservatives”, ignore the study commissioned by one of their own? The study conclusively points out that unwanted children become society’s burden in the future. It would seem that true conservatives should be in favor of molding a society where the “unwanted” children would not be disrupting classrooms, creating crimes of varying degrees of sophistication and violence before finally being moved into the prison system. The average cost to house a criminal in prison is $32,000 a year. It would seem that true conservatives would prefer these children to be taxpayers, not taxtakers.

The only rationale that I can come up with the Republicans disconnect from a demonstrable conservative issue is the “holier than thou” elements they’ve attracted over the years. These folks would like for us to turn back the clock to the “Scarlet Letter” days. Rather than a letter sown onto their dress to signify their sin of fornication, the “modern” Christians would prefer the woman have a child to carry as a constant reminder of her sin. I think all of the concern about “fetal pain” and the “beginning of life” are just red herrings designed to draw us away from their true motivation. These people want the woman to pay for her sin, and they are not content to wait for Judgement Day. They want her to pay now, and in the hereafter. They want her to wear her sin.

I’ll finish this one up by saying I’m for free, on demand birth control, whatever shape it takes. There should be a Planned Parenthood office every hundred feet if necessary to keep unwanted children born. Bob Barker used to end each show by reminding everyone to have their pet spayed or neutered. Are we more concerned about unwanted pets than we are children? God, I hope not.

I was thinking about the January 6th trials and all of the protestations about unlocking iPhones and the emails of Congress critters and other officials. That’s not to mention the hubris involved in ignoring subpoenas.

As a result of losing the 2020 election, the Republican party seems to want to just tear up the Constitution and leave no “rule of law” available to the common man. I realize that there are many people in our society that are so afraid and confused all of the time that they will happily give up their freedoms for the promise of safety. I might be scared and confused but I still want the insurrectionists held accountable. All of them.

Sadly, the current Republican party is willing to make the promise of “safety” to gain total control of our society. The fact that the Republicans are actively stoking the fires of domestic terrorists to allay the fears that the Republicans created should not be ignored. Of course I suspect that the Repubs are adapting Nelson Mandela’s quote “One man’s terrorist is another man’s freedom fighter” to their own needs.

We all realize that no democratic government has ever been able to keep its citizens completely in the dark forever. Even in the most repressive times, the government can’t even keep its secrets safe from cyber terrorists or whistle blowers. Look at the supposed harm whistle blower Bradley Manning is alleged to have done. Millions of records of government misdeeds were released into the ether, and all of the government’s anti-terror methods in place could not prevent their release. In spite of the calls for his execution for treason, it appears that the records released were more embarrassing than damaging. The truth came out and the Republic has survived, as it will when the January 6th insurrection trials conclude.

I guess I am ruminating on the safety issue posed by the January 6th insurrection. I’m also trying to make sense of the responses that it has drawn from some of the congress people. Honestly, I can’t think of how you could be hunkered down behind a bench in the House with a mad, frothing mob trying to rip the doors off and feel comfortable that it was “ok” because “they’re our guys”. The audacity to relate the event as just “normal tourist visits“, is beyond the pale.

Did the insurrectionists have playing cards like the soldiers in Iraq did to identify the high value targets? Clearly there were targeted members of congress, but what if you bore a likeness to one of the targets? Was Mike Pence’s brother in danger because he looks like the man destined for the gallows? What a tableau that would have been, Greg Pence screaming “No, no, you want my brother” as the crowd drug him to the hangman’s noose.

Mobs are by definition uncontrolled. Have the Republicans factored that any loss of life, any collateral damage to their side is acceptable as long as they return to power? I sense that the Congressional hearings are giving us that answer. Somewhere along the way being a good American loyal to the Constitution and willing to uphold the oath taken to “preserve, protect and defend” the Constitution got thrown into the ashcan. Fealty to the Donald and what he represents seems to be the only consideration.

We are all aware that it’s impossible to stop a guy willing to blow himself up in the pursuit of a cause. Maybe that explains some of the Republicans reluctance to rein in the lunatic portion of their constituency. I started to say “fringe” here, but I don’t think they’re the fringe anymore. Polls indicate that lunatics or lunatic lites are running the Republican party now. Maybe some of the more reasonable Republicans have found themselves in a position of riding the tiger. Sad. Who would have ever thought that the party of Reagan would ever have to fear “God Fearing” Christians?

I’m guessing that most members of Congress feel pretty safe everyday doing their job, unless their office is near MTG. It’s the difference in the narrative of what they are willing to do, or not do for the American people to keep us safe that worries me.

I’d love to see some of these congressional pseudo-patriots stand up for what they did and tell the American people, “Yeah, I did it. I tried to overthrow the government because my guy lost. I did it and I’m glad and I’m willing to serve whatever punishment is dictated because I’m proud of what I did.” That’s where real bravery is displayed, not in some convention hall in front of frothing sycophants.

I caught a news blurb that got stuck in the back of my brain. I kind of let it marinate there and went on about my business. My guess is that it would have died of loneliness, like most of my thoughts, but then it popped up again on CNN, and then The Daily Show. Once I saw it on The Daily Show, I knew it was legit.

As the story goes, the Donald has been telling his supporters that if he is not magically reinstalled as the rightful President (for Life) then his supporters should stop voting in the upcoming elections, “If we don’t solve the Presidential Election Fraud of 2020 (which we have thoroughly and conclusively documented), Republicans will not be voting in ‘22 or ‘24. It is the single most important thing for Republicans to do.”

Being one who was able to do a fantasy in my head that involved a backroom deal between Trump and the American oligarchs to destroy the Republican party forever and just go full scale Fascist, I’m reassessing my thoughts. In poker terms, I think the Republicans are now “pot committed”. They have too much invested in the psycho wing of the party to cut them and Trump loose. No backroom deals, no fantasies, just full on let the crazies have their way if it keeps “us” in power.

In my mind, the Republicans now have at the top of their ticket a candidate that says out loud what all of them are thinking. No more double speak, no more Newspeak, just comes right out and calls a spade a spade. The current party platform loses the “47%”, “welfare mother”, “welfare Cadillac”, references to the minorities and goes ahead and calls all non-whites murders, rapists, and welfare cheats. We all remember that the Donald got the ball rolling by calling all of the Hispanic immigrants rapists and thugs at his announcement speech.

In truth, I thought the “build a wall around the country”, ban all Muslims, etc. was so over the top that the everyday Americans would quickly see through the sham of the Trumpo-Fascist theory and it would be exposed early on. Imagine my surprise to find that the neo-Republicans had found a new savior. A savior who would say mean, hateful things at the top of his voice on a daily basis criticizing the people who were not “like us”. Blaming “them” for all of the world’s shortcomings and inciting his followers to invade the Capitol to maintain his regime.

In “Trump World”, the Donald doesn’t have the time or inclination to be politically correct, he’s too busy setting up his next scam. Besides, his followers shouldn’t be required to have to translate to get his message. For most of the Donald’s followers, thinking is real hard. Considering all arguments before making a decision requires the intellect to navigate a two-step process. It appears that there are not many intellectuals at Trump rallies. If so, they are standing off to the sidelines directing the Schutzstaffel in their next moves.

I don’t think that all actions at a Trump rally are orchestrated. I suspect that some of Trumpists get caught up in the moment and their half a wit doesn’t allow them to forecast the outcome of their actions. “l’m just too dumb to know better“, seems to be a common excuse given at the insurrectionists trials.

I don’t think the same can be said for the other Trump supporters using violence to get their message across. I think Trump is calling for violence from the lectern, and the fact that the Republicans in Congress will do nothing to put an end to it says everything. The current hierarchy of the Republican party believes in winning at any cost. Even if that cost is the “Shining City On A Hill” articulated by Ronald Reagan.

This could get ugly folks. The Chicago riots in 1968 were college kids upset about segregation and the war in Vietnam, among other things. The riots of 2024 and beyond could be because some little rich kid didn’t get his way. And let me remind everyone, even “Soccer Moms” are armed to the teeth these days.

There is a condition in America that needs to be addressed. It is a condition that the issuance of a “pass” or a pardon would correct. I’m talking capital punishment, or more literally, murder that is sanctioned by the state. I’m against it, and I stand with most civilized peoples of the world.

While a lot of the countries still have death penalties on their books, most have given up the practice. Of the 35 countries in the North and South American continents, 7 have the death penalty, but only 2 of them, the U.S. and St. Kitts, still execute people. Of the 49 European countries, only one country, Belarus, has the death penalty and executes. It would seem that the more secular European countries are more forgiving than their Christian cousins in the Americas. I am at a loss as to why.

We know that America always wants to be number one, and currently we’re number six on the execution hit list behind such widely regarded human rights advocates, China, Iran, Saudia Arabia, Egypt and Iraq. That list is from 2019, and, who knows, the next totalitarian president might feel the need to “Make America Great Again” by using the gas chambers. After all, if you look at what constitutes a capital offense in some countries, you could see how a President with a complete disregard for the rights of the individual might react. Some capital offenses in other countries are: homosexuality, drug trafficking, apostasy, perjury, corruption and adultery. Who knows if the next Trumpian president might let the last two slide? It will probably be a matter of “do as I say, not do as I do”. Which I guess brings me around to my point.

For a supposedly “Christian” country, we ignore the teachings of Jesus, a lot. I mean, “Thou Shalt Not Kill” made number one on the list of things that we’re not supposed to do if we expect to wind up in Heaven. There were no qualifiers to the commandment as I recall. No exceptions carved out for killing for your country, or allowing the state to punish by using the death penalty. “Thou Shalt Not Kill”, simple, straight forward, to the point. In fact, the sentiment is further reinforced in the Bible in Romans 12:19 “Dearly beloved, avenge not yourselves, but rather give place unto wrath: for it is written, Vengeance is mine; I will repay, saith the Lord.” Now from that verse, it’s pretty clear to me that the Lord is saying, “Don’t worry about it, I got it”. Sure as heck works for me.

I mean we’ve experienced “Death Race 1998” when George W. Bush raced to outdo his brother Jeb in extracting vengeance for the people of their respective states. W put to death 154 prisoners for the people of Texas, while Jeb contributed 21 for Florida. W did not allow any clemency hearings during his term as governor. W declared that he was not smart enough to overrule a jury, no matter how compelling new evidence of innocence might be. I hope someday that the Bush family faces a judge with the same sense of fairness and compassion that they have exhibited to others.

The “compassionate conservative” could not even be dissuaded from his role as God’s executioner by arguments that capital punishment actually costs the state far more than keeping the prisoner locked up. How easy is that? Keep a commandment and costs down at the same time? Seems like a no-brainer to me. But then, I don’t claim to hear God talking to me.

Maybe that’s the answer. People that hear “voices” should be eliminated from making capital case decisions. Until then maybe we could just follow the written word.

 As my dear old Granny used to say, “even a blind hog will root an acorn every now and then”.

The “blind hog” theory can be applied to a lot of professions. I think one profession/industry that has done more disservice to the world by ignoring the tools at hand, is the automobile industry. Before you think I’ve dropped third gear, let me elaborate.

Most of the world’s ills are being rightly laid at the feet of the oil industry. Our stock market fluctuates daily due to the battle between emerging green energy and the old guard. People all over the Middle East are killing one another, and folks everywhere else are helping them do it, to get to the oil. People in South and Central America are suffering cancer rates and birth defects that are epidemic due to the oil industry pillaging their countries and not cleaning up the environment. Dirty air is everywhere, the polar caps are melting and according to most scientists, we are on the precipice of destruction. How did we get here, why did we get here?

It seems that a very self interested man, one John D. Rockefeller, was the fellow who convinced Henry Ford to abandon his efforts on an engine that ran on alcohol, and instead focus on the gasoline engine. Other car manufacturers of the period were developing electric cars, even Ford, but they all abandoned their efforts when Ford started mass producing his Model T. We’re talking early 1900’s here, 1908 to 1910.

Over a hundred years ago, the automobile industry had the capability that powers today’s Chevrolet Volt. Rather than following an environmentally safe path of electric, or even alcohol fueled vehicles, they were influenced to instead follow the path of environmental destruction we are currently on. Sadly, even the “father of electricity”, Thomas Edison, is tainted by this mess, as he worked for Rockefeller at the time.

So, how does a “hog” that is feeding at the right trough, get influenced to change to a trough that is long term less desirable? Well, I guess I should point out, “hogs” are notoriously short-sighted. Ford wanted to be the preeminent car manufacturer, and he was willing to abandon better designed, more efficient engines to please his benefactor, Rockefeller.

Rockefeller was willing to do anything to increase the demand for his product, even to the point of destroying other industries. Rockefeller went so far as to finance temperance movements to influence Congress to pass Prohibition, and thereby close all of the distilleries. Rockefeller’s ruthlessness has continued on to this day. Follow up on Chevron’s lawsuits in Ecuador and other areas in Central and South America to see their callous disregard for human life. John D. would be proud.

What does a world look like with vehicles running off of batteries recharged by alcohol burning generators? Obviously, a lot cleaner than we see now. Is the question that Americans can’t get past, “Does it really work?” Well, look at our train systems. Millions of tons of freight are moved daily by trains powered by electric motors. Can the train’s two power systems, electric motor and diesel generator, be more efficient than the truck’s one diesel engine?

According to the Department of Transportation, a truck uses a gallon of diesel to move a ton of freight 59 miles. That same gallon of diesel moves a ton of freight 202 miles on a train. That’s nearly four times as efficient. Where did we go so wrong with our transportation?

To my mind, we ignored science, were “blind” to what science told us, and then piggishly pursued the same path, even after we knew we were wrong. With the electric car revolution, it looks like the public has finally “rooted an acorn”. Even though I love my muscle cars, I love my planet more. Here’s hoping we don’t get drug off path again.

I happen to read Elizabeth Warren’s book, “A Fighting Chance”, this week. Let me tell you right off, the best candidate for president was not in the race in 2020. I am so impressed with Elizabeth Warren’s accomplishments and her dedication to public service that I’d start a fan club. That is, if I didn’t mind cleaning eggs and toilet paper off of my house everyday. For some bizarre reason, people around here will get up in arms to protect their oppressors. I don’t know why Elizabeth Warren brings up that emotion in some folks, but it cuts across economic lines.

Jamie Dimon, the billionaire head of JP Morgan Chase, would certainly be the leader of the mob of people hoping to remove Elizabeth Warren from any post of influence. What confounds me is how he can get people he has foreclosed on, the people Elizabeth wants to protect, to follow him. Well, they say a horse will run back into a burning barn. I guess folks like to think that the wealthy made all their riches fairly and they deserve to have Congress give them the breaks and favors they demand. I don’t see it, never have, never will. I just know if we don’t find a way to fix the system, we’ll be bailing out the rich folks again somewhere down the road.

Elizabeth’s book is about her life, which all of us with humble beginnings should identify with. The fact that she had the gumption and drive to make something of herself should serve as an example to us all. The fact that she balanced motherhood with getting an education and a career is doubly admirable. I am so impressed. Whether or not she has Indian blood in her or not, I can’t see that the question should reflect on her abilities. She was a Harvard law professor when she began her work setting up the Consumer Protection Agency. I think the Cherokees would be happy to claim a part of that bloodline.

The Consumer Protection Agency was the dream of Progressives who felt that the common man should have more protection in their dealings with the powerful corporations. The average man can’t compete with the bank’s ability to hire cadres of lawyers to decipher a mortgage closing statement developed by a cadre of lawyers wanting to obscure the advantages put in for the bankers. One of the stated goals of The Consumer Protection Agency is a mortgage statement that is one page long, in plain English. How can that be bad for the common man?

Elizabeth Warren’s rise to Senator is detailed in the book. Her Senate run comes after her rejection as Director of The Consumer Protection Agency. The “Old Guard” and the bankers felt like giving Elizabeth the power of an independent agency to wage war against the vested interests was more than they could bear. Who knows how far they were willing to go to make sure that President Obama did not appoint Elizabeth as director. Maybe a Senate seat was the swap off. Don’t know. I’m just certain that it will not prevent Elizabeth from continuing her fight for all of us. Read the book and feel better about being an American. It doesn’t all have to be “me first”!