He's at it again. That Pope Francis guy, the socialist
leader of the Catholic Church who preaches, not so much about religion
and faith, but rather economics and government. First we had his
nonsensical, in the bubble Christmas speech, and now we have another
version for New Year's day. In this one Pope Francis called
for an end to the "arrogance of the powerful" that relegates the weak
to the outskirts of society, and to the "false neutrality" toward
conflicts, hunger and persecution that triggers a sometimes deadly
exodus of refugees."
Huh! Is he delusional? Never before in the history of the world have
the wealthy done more for the poor than at this time. That includes
governmental help domestically and internationally, as well as
individual acts of charity. I know Francis' world view was formed in
the slums of South America, his home. But shouldn't he stop defining
the whole world, and humanity by those conditions? The world is not
that way, and if Francis would take his head out of the ideological
clouds of the Vatican he might see how much progress the have humanity
has made in caring for their fellow, but have not humans.
In his speech, Francis emphasized the need to "let ourselves be reborn,
to overcome the indifference which blocks solidarity, and to leave
behind the false neutrality which prevents sharing." He recommended
cooperation as the way to build an "ever more just and fraternal world,
a world in which every person and every creature can dwell in peace." I
recommend he spend time reading accounts of the past, to see how much
less humans did those things he wants done now. He might learn that the
world is a much kinder and gentler place than ever before.
Francis reflected on the "countless forms of injustice and violence
which daily wound our human family". Sometimes", he claimed, "we ask
ourselves how it is possible that human injustice persists unabated,
and that the arrogance of the powerful continues to demean the weak,
relegating them to the most squalid outskirts of our world." He
continued: "We ask how long human evil will continue to sow violence
and hatred in our world, reaping innocent victims." Sounds to me more
like the behavior of his church and other religions than about
individual humans.
Francis cited no country, continent or conflict. People who have little
real truth to their message often lack specificity. But his words
seemed aimed at the so-called refugees and migrants, more than 1
million of whom flooded into Europe from Africa, the Middle East and
Asia in 2015. He spoke of "witnessing hordes of men, women and
children fleeing war, hunger and persecution, ready to risk their lives
simply to encounter respect for their fundamental rights." Uh, but he
did not mention the religious fanaticism of Islam that created the
whole mess.
Too, perhaps he also didn't notice the charity of nations
all over the world in taking in that mass invasion of illegal
immigration. Illegal immigrants have been swarming on wealthier lands
for years, almost all of them being allowed to enter. Yet, this pope
doesn't see it. He might want to study immigration and humanitarian
patterns in recent times, in the decades immediately prior to before
W.W. II, for example. He would learn that his narrative is nothing more
politically correct spin.
I know the church must spout idealism and cover it with a veneer of
truth. It's their role. But this pope is over the top with untruth, and
he is doing more to make Catholics flee the church than to race toward
Francis' version of humanity. It would be nice if Francis shut up about
the political/economic world and instead concentrate on rehabbing the
fallen spiritual presence of the Catholic Church he heads. The chaos
there is truly a mess!
Wednesday, January 6, 2016
Monday, January 4, 2016
Etiquette Makes A Comeback
Hold on to your hat! In a lot of places in the U.S.
enough people are
fed up with the age of rudeness in which we live, that etiquette
classes for kids are popping up across the country. Good manners,
respect and politeness to others, is a form of social glue that works
to keep us living together in a civilized society. In recent years we
have forgotten that. How many children today don't learn the basics of
even a "please" or "thank you", or how to behave in a public space.
Social empathy comes from manners. No wonder all those cell phone
addicts are going wild with rudeness.
Too, etiquette matters for one's self worth, self esteem. After all, etiquette is just a code of behavior that tells us what is appropriate and what is not. It seems to me we need a lot more of that instead of the Kardashianism (defined as, "Look at me! I am behaving foolishly and getting attention for it. I'm great?") that society glorifies. Etiquette changes over time as it adapts to society. But today our etiquette has seemed to decline rather than evolves. No etiquette at all sometimes is the new norm.
Then again, maybe manners today are just different form the past. Maybe we are not cruder than in the past. Today manners are less about faux pas than being mindful of how you treat people around you. So the rules aren't as cut-and-dried as they once were.
Society is unpredictable so manners are less predictable. Yet, I find that distressing. Having consistent public expectations makes it easier to understand human behavior. It also makes it easier for us to communicate and makes society more stable. Having definitive expectations makes it easier to act. We don't have to guess whether what we do is socially acceptable or not. Hmmmm I wonder if my writing about this is mannerly or not.
Too, etiquette matters for one's self worth, self esteem. After all, etiquette is just a code of behavior that tells us what is appropriate and what is not. It seems to me we need a lot more of that instead of the Kardashianism (defined as, "Look at me! I am behaving foolishly and getting attention for it. I'm great?") that society glorifies. Etiquette changes over time as it adapts to society. But today our etiquette has seemed to decline rather than evolves. No etiquette at all sometimes is the new norm.
Then again, maybe manners today are just different form the past. Maybe we are not cruder than in the past. Today manners are less about faux pas than being mindful of how you treat people around you. So the rules aren't as cut-and-dried as they once were.
Society is unpredictable so manners are less predictable. Yet, I find that distressing. Having consistent public expectations makes it easier to understand human behavior. It also makes it easier for us to communicate and makes society more stable. Having definitive expectations makes it easier to act. We don't have to guess whether what we do is socially acceptable or not. Hmmmm I wonder if my writing about this is mannerly or not.
Climate Change Games
That so called "climate change" meeting of over the 150
countries who
declared that humans are the force that controls climate and that they
will direct human activity to make it cooler in the coming years, chugs
along pretending to be noble and wise, but instead is looking foolish
and deceptive. The goal of that strange climate change meeting,
according to the world's biggest believer in global warming, U.S. President Barack Obama, is “an agreement each
nation has the confidence that other nations are meeting their
commitments.” What I think it actually is though is heated political
rhetoric.
Is he kidding or just the fool he often appears to be? There is no reason to believe that agreement will conclude any differently from the last three, with nations reneging on commitments to drive down greenhouse gas emissions and to provide billions of dollars in foreign aid to finance reductions in the developing world. In a sense these climate change feel-good conventions have practiced income redistribution, not climate change. The wealthy nations are extorted trillions of dollars by the poorest in return for promises to not do all those so called evil carbon emission things that global warming nuts believe are killing earth. "Give us your money and we will play the climate change game," the poor countries promise. The wealthy gives them money, they promise to alter behavior, but never do.
The lack of binding commitments for developing nations like China and India is also a big part of what killed consideration of other previous agreements like the The Kyoto Protocol that were designed to stop the suspect theory of "climate change". Also, the climate change types are pushing "alternative energy alternatives" that more often are not energy efficient or are so costly that they would bankrupt many countries and lead to economic collapse worldwide. Advocates of these ideas appear to be children playing a pretend game to save the world.
For a failed president like Obama, climate change is a great issue to pursue. It's subjective, unproved, and hard to argue against in a politically correct world in which dissenters are called names and even demonized. It's hard to find fault in a president's handling of climate change initiatives, for instance, because there is no definitive answer about the subject. So instead of focusing on things that are real, clear and immediate problems like the Muslim terrorism or economic disaster everywhere, the president touts himself as a brilliant climate change advocate. In an age in which voters are ignorant, even detached from information or interested in about real problems, the strategy works well for Obama and some other failed world leaders of industrial nations.
It's interesting to see the lack of specifics that came out of the silly Paris climate change conference. The deal is what deceptive governments call a “hybrid agreement.” Under this approach, only measures dealing with emissions reporting would be binding on parties. The rest would constitute “political commitments”. In other words, empty promises that are not legally enforceable. In short, the agreement will contain little in the way of substance for those who do believe humans are climate Gods capable of changing climate. It's mostly liberal fell good, not serious policy and a distraction from real world problems. But the public loves it because they are told they will "save the planet" if they go a long with what the politicians declared at the conference.
That is not, however, how the agreement will be presented to people in those "participating" 150 nations. Obama thinks the agreement will be his “climate legacy” and has sent a number of his minions on a propaganda blitz to indoctrinate the folks that Obama is their savior. How foolish does he think the American people are? Sad to say, he may be right on that point.
Is he kidding or just the fool he often appears to be? There is no reason to believe that agreement will conclude any differently from the last three, with nations reneging on commitments to drive down greenhouse gas emissions and to provide billions of dollars in foreign aid to finance reductions in the developing world. In a sense these climate change feel-good conventions have practiced income redistribution, not climate change. The wealthy nations are extorted trillions of dollars by the poorest in return for promises to not do all those so called evil carbon emission things that global warming nuts believe are killing earth. "Give us your money and we will play the climate change game," the poor countries promise. The wealthy gives them money, they promise to alter behavior, but never do.
The lack of binding commitments for developing nations like China and India is also a big part of what killed consideration of other previous agreements like the The Kyoto Protocol that were designed to stop the suspect theory of "climate change". Also, the climate change types are pushing "alternative energy alternatives" that more often are not energy efficient or are so costly that they would bankrupt many countries and lead to economic collapse worldwide. Advocates of these ideas appear to be children playing a pretend game to save the world.
For a failed president like Obama, climate change is a great issue to pursue. It's subjective, unproved, and hard to argue against in a politically correct world in which dissenters are called names and even demonized. It's hard to find fault in a president's handling of climate change initiatives, for instance, because there is no definitive answer about the subject. So instead of focusing on things that are real, clear and immediate problems like the Muslim terrorism or economic disaster everywhere, the president touts himself as a brilliant climate change advocate. In an age in which voters are ignorant, even detached from information or interested in about real problems, the strategy works well for Obama and some other failed world leaders of industrial nations.
It's interesting to see the lack of specifics that came out of the silly Paris climate change conference. The deal is what deceptive governments call a “hybrid agreement.” Under this approach, only measures dealing with emissions reporting would be binding on parties. The rest would constitute “political commitments”. In other words, empty promises that are not legally enforceable. In short, the agreement will contain little in the way of substance for those who do believe humans are climate Gods capable of changing climate. It's mostly liberal fell good, not serious policy and a distraction from real world problems. But the public loves it because they are told they will "save the planet" if they go a long with what the politicians declared at the conference.
That is not, however, how the agreement will be presented to people in those "participating" 150 nations. Obama thinks the agreement will be his “climate legacy” and has sent a number of his minions on a propaganda blitz to indoctrinate the folks that Obama is their savior. How foolish does he think the American people are? Sad to say, he may be right on that point.
Scanning Family Memories
We had the rare snowfall today here in Portland, Oregon. This
morning about an inch of snow fell, and since the temperature has been
below freezing for the past days driving is not an option to me. The
roads are too icy and I live on a mountain that requires a great deal
of steep turns. I am a no-snow southern "gentleman" who has vowed to
never drive an automobile in snowy or icy conditions. Thus, I spent
today inside reading, watching TV a bit and putting out Mardi Gras
decorations in my house. Afterward, I decided to enter my attic and
find some of those old family pictures that I have been meaning to scan
and upload into my computer.
My time on this earth is dwindling, My daughter is the last surviving member besides me, but is interested in our family history. Scanning them now into my computer seems like a good idea for a snowy day. I have two large containers of old pictures that were obtained from various deceased members of the family. It's all that remains. Like most other families, our family seemed to not have kept many of the photos taken and to have labeled few of them. Because there is few identification on the photos and many of those pictured are strangers to me, some non family members others who died before I was born, it makes selecting photos for the scan an easier project. I do not scan what I do not know.
I suspect that one day that my daughter will discard the unknown pictures, or at least, do what other generations of the family have done, hide them in a box and hope they go away, a kind of burial tomb for people long gone and forever unknown. I wonder what those pictured would say if they knew how their earthly images were treated. Looking at the pictures and many of the non picture items in those containers is quite an emotional impact for me. Is there a better way to learn about the past than from old pictures and documents? I suspect, no. Too, one gains an even greater respect and love for his or her family when sorting through those personal treasures.
My favorite find, or re fined, since I have seen it before, is the old childhood stamp collection of my father. This dates to when he was a boy of 10, 11 or 12 in the mid 1920's. With the stamps are letters from him to and from buyers of stamps. At such an early age my father was literate enough to run a home stamp trading business, masking his identity as a child and creating a new one as that of a 30 year old business man. His writing is extraordinarily mature for a child, probably no one today could detect that his business correspondence with those clients was written by a 12 year old. I doubt the old stamps I have from him are worth much today, but those letters and the images they provide make me wish for more snowy days.
My time on this earth is dwindling, My daughter is the last surviving member besides me, but is interested in our family history. Scanning them now into my computer seems like a good idea for a snowy day. I have two large containers of old pictures that were obtained from various deceased members of the family. It's all that remains. Like most other families, our family seemed to not have kept many of the photos taken and to have labeled few of them. Because there is few identification on the photos and many of those pictured are strangers to me, some non family members others who died before I was born, it makes selecting photos for the scan an easier project. I do not scan what I do not know.
I suspect that one day that my daughter will discard the unknown pictures, or at least, do what other generations of the family have done, hide them in a box and hope they go away, a kind of burial tomb for people long gone and forever unknown. I wonder what those pictured would say if they knew how their earthly images were treated. Looking at the pictures and many of the non picture items in those containers is quite an emotional impact for me. Is there a better way to learn about the past than from old pictures and documents? I suspect, no. Too, one gains an even greater respect and love for his or her family when sorting through those personal treasures.
My favorite find, or re fined, since I have seen it before, is the old childhood stamp collection of my father. This dates to when he was a boy of 10, 11 or 12 in the mid 1920's. With the stamps are letters from him to and from buyers of stamps. At such an early age my father was literate enough to run a home stamp trading business, masking his identity as a child and creating a new one as that of a 30 year old business man. His writing is extraordinarily mature for a child, probably no one today could detect that his business correspondence with those clients was written by a 12 year old. I doubt the old stamps I have from him are worth much today, but those letters and the images they provide make me wish for more snowy days.
Sunday, January 3, 2016
Mom's Strange Teaching
Tis the season for thieves to steal those Fed Ex Christmas
packages
that are delivered to homes. Well, in Portland, Oregon it sure is. The
metro area here is known for having a low major crime rate, but an
outrageously high minor crime tradition. Petty theft, vandalism,
assault those kinds of crime are often commonly correlated with the
high drug and alcohol addiction in the area. The criminals need money
to support their habit, so they commit those annoying crimes. A few
years ago, I myself had two package deliveries stolen from my front
porch, a common crime here.
But the worst example of stealing package deliveries from residents' homes has occurred in Milwaukee, Oregon, located about 18 minutes from Portland. An Oregon mother has been captured after police found she forced her 9-year-old daughter to steal packages from other homes. Police officers in Milwaukee investigated a series of thefts involving packages being taken from homes after they were delivered. In one case on Dec. 2, a witness snapped a photo of the suspected vehicle and gave investigators a description of the suspect. Mom was soon nabbed!
The next day, police tracked down the suspect, identifying her as 49-year-old Mary Palmer-Correa. Police said the woman would drive to homes with her 9-year-old daughter as a passenger and then instruct the girl to steal packages from home porches. The little girl would run to the car and off sped mom. What a life lesson in crime during the holiday season. Police found several stolen items inside Correa's home after apprehending her there. Some of the recovered items include books, cups, pillows, a light set and a TV wall mount, police said.
The good news is that, Correa, perhaps the world's worst mom, was taken to Oregon's Clackamas County Jail on theft charges. Let's hope the jail doesn't assign her work in the postal delivery room.
But the worst example of stealing package deliveries from residents' homes has occurred in Milwaukee, Oregon, located about 18 minutes from Portland. An Oregon mother has been captured after police found she forced her 9-year-old daughter to steal packages from other homes. Police officers in Milwaukee investigated a series of thefts involving packages being taken from homes after they were delivered. In one case on Dec. 2, a witness snapped a photo of the suspected vehicle and gave investigators a description of the suspect. Mom was soon nabbed!
The next day, police tracked down the suspect, identifying her as 49-year-old Mary Palmer-Correa. Police said the woman would drive to homes with her 9-year-old daughter as a passenger and then instruct the girl to steal packages from home porches. The little girl would run to the car and off sped mom. What a life lesson in crime during the holiday season. Police found several stolen items inside Correa's home after apprehending her there. Some of the recovered items include books, cups, pillows, a light set and a TV wall mount, police said.
The good news is that, Correa, perhaps the world's worst mom, was taken to Oregon's Clackamas County Jail on theft charges. Let's hope the jail doesn't assign her work in the postal delivery room.
Saturday, January 2, 2016
Airline Terrorist Hoaxes
With the terrorism "fad' so large and growing these days the
latest
dilemma for the airlines is what reaction an airline should take
towards it. No, I am not talking about screening for "terrorists",
something that I think is overdone, done for effect and probably mostly
a waste of time and an inconvenience. The issue the airlines are facing
is what to do when the plane is aloft and a threat is called in that it
will be destroyed or is going to be disabled while in flight?
Recently, a kitchen timer, paper and cardboard found in a lavatory on an Air France flight. This could have been a bomb, but the crew didn't tell passengers about it. Instead they announced to the passengers that the plane had a technical problem and would be landing in Kenya instead of Paris.
That's not exactly the full truth, and raises an ethical question about when passengers should be fully informed of problems in the air. But many experts say the crew of Air France Flight 463 did the right thing, avoiding panic and quickly landing the plane. Once on the ground, security officials determined that the device was a hoax, and passengers were told the full story. Besides, what good is it to tell passengers they may explode in a moment's notice because of a terrorist bomb. Nothing could be done to avoid it except to do what the plane did, land at the nearest airport as soon as possible.
So what would you want the airline to tell you if you were a
passenger on board that Air France flight. Telling passengers might
would really create unnecessary problems like panic that could threaten
the safety of everyone on board. And what could they do
about a threat except land elsewhere quickly? But
obviously, on thing we can all probably agree is that when the
threatened plane is on the ground passengers should be told the whole
truth.
Recently, a kitchen timer, paper and cardboard found in a lavatory on an Air France flight. This could have been a bomb, but the crew didn't tell passengers about it. Instead they announced to the passengers that the plane had a technical problem and would be landing in Kenya instead of Paris.
That's not exactly the full truth, and raises an ethical question about when passengers should be fully informed of problems in the air. But many experts say the crew of Air France Flight 463 did the right thing, avoiding panic and quickly landing the plane. Once on the ground, security officials determined that the device was a hoax, and passengers were told the full story. Besides, what good is it to tell passengers they may explode in a moment's notice because of a terrorist bomb. Nothing could be done to avoid it except to do what the plane did, land at the nearest airport as soon as possible.
Air France said hat in the case that I
mentioned above, the crew had no evidence that the device was an actual
bomb,
so telling passengers there was a technical problem was true in the
sense that they don't know what they have. Still, many are upset and
want the airlines to tell them "everything" when a terrorist plot is
discover while aloft. Most airlines don't have specific policies on
what to tell
passengers, leaving that up to the crew. But experts say airlines
should be thinking more about what to do in this time of increasing
security threats and hoaxes. For Air France, this
was the fourth bomb hoax in recent weeks.
Crew members also have to weigh how much passengers can find out from
other sources as more planes come equipped with Internet and television
access. Also, to many diversions when the threat is a hoax is not good
business for the airlines and upsets passengers.
Friday, January 1, 2016
Death By Cell
It was not a Merry Christmas/Happy New
Year for a cell phone addict
this year. A
33-year-old man named Joshua M. Burwell was so engrossed and
distracted by by his cell phone that he fell 60 feet to his death at
San Diego's Sunset Cliffs. Yep! he was walking near a cliff an had one
of those "important" texts. Suddenly he walked off the cliff to his
death. It's not an unusual story either. I often dodge pedestrians who
walk, heads down, thumbs punching their cell phones, oblivious to my
car as they walk aimlessly into the path of my vehicle.
So far I have managed to not hit any of them, but only because of extra cautious driving whenever I am near an intersection. Cell phone addicts really do lose awareness of where they are when playing with their phones. Pedestrian cell phone users are a big problem now for auto drivers. Statistics show that pedestrian is hit by a car or truck every seven minutes. (More than a quarter of all car crashes in America are are also caused by cell phone use, according to a study by the Nation Safety Council).
The percentage of pedestrians killed while using cell phones rose from less than 1 percent in 2004 to more than 3.5 percent in 2010, according to a study conducted by researchers at Ohio State University. And an unbelievable 40 percent of U.S. teens have been hit or nearly hit by a passing car, motorcycle, or bike. I am n ot kidding. The cell phone is becoming a weapon of death.
The problem with this wave of tragic deaths and dangers from cell phone fanaticism is that little can be done to stop it. No matter how many warnings are given to cell addicts they seem to pass through their brains without much effect. Some cities here have passed "distracted walking laws" in which a person who walks carelessly because of some distraction, most often from using a cell phone, is given a walking ticket b violation. It has had no effect in making cell users more aware of their surroundings. Perhaps judges of distracted walking cases should order the violator surrender use of his or her cell phone for a period of time to make sure they offender understands that behaving stupidly while walking public streets can actually lead to death.
The greater question for society to ask itself is... Why do so many people live so much of their lives inside an electronic device that offers so little of what is real life?
So far I have managed to not hit any of them, but only because of extra cautious driving whenever I am near an intersection. Cell phone addicts really do lose awareness of where they are when playing with their phones. Pedestrian cell phone users are a big problem now for auto drivers. Statistics show that pedestrian is hit by a car or truck every seven minutes. (More than a quarter of all car crashes in America are are also caused by cell phone use, according to a study by the Nation Safety Council).
The percentage of pedestrians killed while using cell phones rose from less than 1 percent in 2004 to more than 3.5 percent in 2010, according to a study conducted by researchers at Ohio State University. And an unbelievable 40 percent of U.S. teens have been hit or nearly hit by a passing car, motorcycle, or bike. I am n ot kidding. The cell phone is becoming a weapon of death.
The problem with this wave of tragic deaths and dangers from cell phone fanaticism is that little can be done to stop it. No matter how many warnings are given to cell addicts they seem to pass through their brains without much effect. Some cities here have passed "distracted walking laws" in which a person who walks carelessly because of some distraction, most often from using a cell phone, is given a walking ticket b violation. It has had no effect in making cell users more aware of their surroundings. Perhaps judges of distracted walking cases should order the violator surrender use of his or her cell phone for a period of time to make sure they offender understands that behaving stupidly while walking public streets can actually lead to death.
The greater question for society to ask itself is... Why do so many people live so much of their lives inside an electronic device that offers so little of what is real life?
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