Dwain Northey (Gen X)

There are a couple of stories in the news since July 4^th, some well one that is getting all the Red Hat press but let’s talk about the stories that are being sidelined.

One that’s not getting much mention in the press is the record amount of gun violence over the Independence Day holiday. According to CBS News; ‘Gun violence spiked over Fourth of July weekend, with shootings reported in nearly every U.S. state that killed a total of at least 220 people and wounded close to 570 others, according to the Gun Violence Archive.’ Has anyone heard about this? No, just another fucked up day of shooting in the war zone we call America.

Then there is a neglected story that is affecting the entire planet.

 Earth’s Hottest Days on Record Were July 3-5

A chart shows daily average air temperatures worldwide for each day since 1979 and ends on July 5, 2023. On Tuesday, global average temperatures rose to a new high of 62.9 degrees Fahrenheit. I can already hear it, “Big deal 63°isn’t a big deal!” But I am sure you’re not reading the entire statement (global average temperatures) that include areas in the southern hemisphere that are currently in their winter season. Regardless of whether 2023 ends up the hottest ever recorded, scientists caution that the escalating impacts of the climate crisis are now starkly evident and will not be slowed until greenhouse gas emissions are radically cut.

Again, not in the Mainstream Media headlines.

The big news is that Cocaine was found in the White House… and we all know the rumor mill is going crazy over that. I guess now the Republicons will accuse Joe Biden of being on drugs or that he is having COKE parties in the Presidential Residence with the GOPs favorite punching bag Hunter and surely Hilary will be included for good measure.

The GOP is still crying about gas stoves and decrying that EVs will destroy the American auto industry, they are trying to block the Biden administration from utilization of social media on some 1^st amendment nonsense.

After the Supreme Court slapped down affirmative action in college applications for minorities, now groups are bringing lawsuits to block scholarships for minority applicants. Sorry, that’s in the ‘not in the’ news category.

I am imploring people to wake up, check your sources, and fucking pay attention. You’re hearing that the economy is in tatters… not true. You’re being told that America is not longer respected on the world stage… NOT TRUE. You are being fed that affirmative action in is self is ‘racist’ and the there is no racism in this country… ask George Floyd, Travon Martin, Philando Castile, Breonna Taylor, oh you can’t because they are all dead and this a short list, NO RACISM complete bull shit and affirmative action did only a little to level to playing field.

Again I apologize for getting on my soapbox but if there is only one person that is listening and takes this to heart then I feel that I am doing something.

Dwain Northey (Gen X)

Let’s get into name calling about economic plans from both parties, and what they actually accomplished.

The latest slur from the GOP is Bidenomics to Republicans, “Bidenomics” is a slur they can deploy. It’s a philosophy of government spending and anti-oil policies that they say fueled a spike in inflation last summer to a four-decade high. But is the current economic plan doing all the harm that the Republicans are crying about?

Bidenomics—is rooted in the recognition that the best way to grow the economy is from the middle out and the bottom up. It’s an economic vision centered around three key pillars:

• Making smart public investments in America
• Empowering and educating workers to grow the middle class.
• Promoting competition to lower costs and help entrepreneurs and small businesses thrive.

The current administration was handed an economy that was in free fall after COVID19 and poor management of the previous administration. Many Republicans want the public to believe that the U.S. economy is a disaster although many economists agree that the U.S. is, for now, not in a recession. The most recent gross domestic product report published last week showed the U.S. economy grew by 2.9% in the fourth quarter of 2022, following growth of 3.2% in the quarter before. In fact, the U.S. financial picture looks far better than all other G7 nations.  The United States has, by far, the largest gross domestic product (GDP) of the G7 countries. Moreover, while the GDP of the other six countries fluctuated between 2000 and 2022, the U.S.’ grew almost constantly, reaching an estimated 25 trillion U.S. dollars in 2022.

So based on these numbers and unemployment being a record low, it appears that the GOP slur of Bidenomics is completely invalid.

For those of us that lived through the 1980’s you will remember the phrase Reaganomics. The pillars of Reagan’s economic policy included increasing defense spending, balancing the federal budget and slowing the growth of government spending, reducing the federal income tax and capital gains tax, reducing government regulation, and tightening the money supply in order to reduce inflation.

What the plan actually did was deregulate industries and cut taxes for the wealthy, “If the wealthy receive tax cuts it will benefit everyone,” was what we were all led to believe. Cutbacks in income transfers during the Reagan years helped increase both poverty and inequality. Changes in tax policy helped increase inequality but reduced poverty. These policy shifts are not the only reasons for the lack of progress against poverty and the rise in inequality.

The results of Reaganomics are still debated. Supporters point to the end of stagflation, stronger GDP growth, and an entrepreneurial revolution in the decades that followed. Critics point to the widening income gap, what they described as an atmosphere of greed, reduced economic mobility, and the national debt tripling in eight years which ultimately reversed the post-World War II trend of a shrinking national debt as percentage of GDP.

Historically the debt has gone up under Republican Administrations since after Eisenhower and no Republican President has balanced a budget. Their policy of tax cuts for the top of the economic scale has always led to budget shortfalls. The GOP solution is to cut spending on social programs at affect more people than their tax cuts benefit. They also compare the national budget to a household budget a by saying that the best way to save is to cut services while continuing to spend no thought of increasing revenue. Sorry that shit don’t work!!!

I, just like President Biden, am taking Bidenomics as a complement and moving forward with it. This administration is proving that bottom up, middle out method of economic growth actually works. Reaganomics, piss on the poor and tell them it raining, system has put us in the economic predicament we are in, time to throw it out.

Thanks for suffering through another rant.

Lyle Northey (Silent/Boomer)

  The Fourth of July 2023, nice and peaceful this morning, it will change by tonight. Our nation is 247 years old, a meer baby compared to others. We have done some great things during those years. The establishment of a Constitutional government and the good fortune to come together to overcome some very tenuous events.

   Not all of our efforts have been benevolent to all that were present at the time. Remarkably most of our populace has come together at the more critical times to allow us to have the resources to overcome the more difficult events and allow us to best our rivals. We have been able to write history.

    Having that ability does not give us the right to change history to suit the whims of a few people that wish to suppress truth just to elevate one facet or subjugate another. We are the results of all of history whether that is the good fortune to have a group like the founding fathers to write our Constitution or the fact that some of our citizens held slaves or that our greed for land allowed the slaughter of those that were living on the land we wanted.

    There has been a movement to cut some people from the history books as their contribution seems unimportant to someone else at this moment in time. Do we pick the importance by which state they lived in, by what they accomplished or deed they did to make themselves known? 

   Take two women that had lives that were watched and written about, photographed and even celebrated in song by the same artist. One made movies and had her picture taken in the nude, the other wed a prince and became very famous for being very human and helping people and ending her life in a car crash. Their contributions were different yet celebrated for having made those contributions. One’s contribution has not yet fulfilled his future as one day he will be King.

   Many people make significant contributions to things that are pretty mundane to the average person on the street but they have an impact within the realm of what kind of business or enterprise that person works in.

   Shall we take out the people that did terrible things, Billy the Kid or Ted Bundy? Do we select those that had careers that were considered vulgar by some, Benny Hill or George Carlin how about Marilyn Chambers. They all have had an impact of some sort and their lives were important in ways not all can understand, but worth celebrating regardless of what kind of press they may have received.

    Do we really know what or who is not important enough not to included in history at some level? Not all needs to be known by all but at some point some little bit of information might make all the difference to someone. The number of things we guess at because we have no history to study is huge. The pyramids both in Egypt and central America, the mounds in the Mississippi valley.  Are they manmade or did these things get built by beings from outer space?

   We are all in the dark because we don’t have any written history. If we knew would it make these things mundane rather than exciting or interesting? Curiosity is what drives our train most of the time and what would life be without a puzzle?

Lyle Northey (Silent/Boomer)

   There is a time in our lives that every other person we see is yet another being that we are happy to see and willing to meet. For most it does not last long as we go with our parents and learn from them and those, they associate with how to respond to all those other beings.

   If the association is a religious one, then the teachings and preachings are the guidance that is learned. If the message is all inclusive, then there is a better chance for tolerance to be taught. If the message is that you must believe or go to hell, or that this group or that one is inferior and unacceptable then what message and what attitude are being conveyed? 

   Drugs, sex and rock and roll were the tune at a certain period in our history which was a direct rebellion of the straight-laced attitude of many of our parents. They grew up in the era of ‘the depression’ and lived accordingly, their parents were the product of the roaring twenties, do we see a pattern here? We keep going from one end of the extreme to the other and we have entered the phase where intolerance is at the forefront of religion, politics, and social attitude. 

   The political atmosphere is to elevate one group and pretty much screw over everyone else. The rich should not have to pay for social programs, schools, medical treatment, roads, or anything else. They pulled themselves up ‘by there own’ why can’t everyone else? The idea that it is okay for same sex marriage and all that, that is not condoned in my book so it is wrong. Don’t you dare teach anything about my race that is derogatory, we are perfect and to exalted above all others and I will force that message at every turn.

    The thing is the next generation will revolt against this punitive restrictive nonsense and be back with drugs, sex and rock and roll. Regardless of the number of oppressive individuals that get the spotlight we will have someone that will gleefully break that bubble and show the world just how much crap there is inside.

    Change is a constant, and it seems that the more repressive the parent the more rebellious the child. One generation has a view on a subject that is very likely not held by the next generation. The story of the older lady that asked to share the table of a younger woman at a sidewalk cafe, The younger woman is finishing her lunch and invites the older lady to sit down. As the younger woman finishes, she takes a cigarette from her purse and says “mind if I smoke” the older lady replies that she would rather commit adultery than smoke. The younger woman’s reply is “So would I but I only have a half hour for lunch”.

     Fortunately, the book burners and racial superiority jackasses do not last as long as they hope they will, but some of them leave a real mess behind when they finally get the boot. The world went to war to get rid of Hitler, let’s hope we don’t have to go to war to rid the world of the current dictator of Florida.

    The way our government is set up we should have a balance of power, at least someone to say this or that is getting out of hand. This does not seem to be the case in a couple of states, there is no one to voice an opposing view. Women’s health rights have taken a hit, voting has taken a hit and immigration might as well be a dirty word. These states are run by one party and no one knows where the brake pedal is.

    On top of all the other crap we have some of the dumbest people in positions of responsibility. Can anyone in their right mind see Kevin McCarthy filling the President’s chair, did not think so. Why would we need to worry about that, he is third in line to take power if anything happens to the President or Vice President and with the call to arms that is currently a trend it could happen. The lead in the Senate is no better. Working for the good of the nation has never occurred to these people and won’t any time soon.

   At this point in history maybe we need to be more like the monkeys that have sex to calm everyone down. It is a public service and is a commendable act to keep the peace, while getting a piece. 

   If we get totally honest then we realize that most everything we do as a species is about sex. We have the guys that are jocks that impress, and they are rewarded with money and fame, and sex. There are men in politics to get money, power and sex. Some are very astute about their conquests and others are not so much, as a Prince that had a Princess but gave her up for the upstairs maid.

Lyle Northey (Silent/Boomer)

    We seem to be suffering through another period where the loudest voices are coming from the least caring, concerned, compassionate, or qualified sources. The two most noted in the political agenda are all about forcing their will on the rest of us. One has nothing but money on his mind and if he destroys the country to acquire more personal wealth, that’s okay. The other is a bully and his agenda is not clear except for his attitude of “Do as I tell you”.

    There are a couple of individuals in the religious arena that are just over the border of insanity. One is preaching that going to war to enforce the word is acceptable, and the other is suggesting that it is necessary to strap a bomb to yourself and go among those that do not agree with you and blow yourself up. Sounds like some other religion, just no mention of the 27 virgins.

    The enemy for all of these characters is WOKE. So what is it exactly? Is it the idea that everyone has the right to live their life as they choose as long as it does no harm to others, the idea that you can love and share and care for someone even if they are the same sex as you, or they are a different race than you, if you both feel that way where is the harm? 

    The fear that you will weaken the superior race or elevate those that, according to our teachings, are to be kept in bondage. This applies to the attitude of gender superiority as well. Take a look at the history of man and it is obvious that men were the one telling the story cause they always come out on top and that is especially true in race and gender conflicts.

    The commercials of the fifties were loaded with examples of gender superiority. The programming was bias as race played a big part in what programs aired and which didn’t.  The programs that were on that featured black artists were generally ones that were not always complementary in nature. 

    Star Trek was the first program that ever had a kiss between two people of different races. Many states had laws prohibiting interracial unions, they had not been concerned if a master had been making babies with the slave women, that was just good business cause it was making more slaves. Even one of our founding fathers is guilty of this practice although we are not sure of the relationship with the slave woman or the offspring, but he did put “All Men are Created Equal ” in our Constitution.   

   The force that keeps mankind around is sex. Without it no race will survive or prevail and yet we have evolved the most twisted views about the subject, Men that make the rounds of all the available ladies are considered Studs, All those available ladies are not known as ladies and most of the names are not complementary. 

   One major religion requires celibacy in its male and female devotees, the ones that are to serve God and forsake human wealth and pleasure. These are the same people that can tell you about what to do if you are having trouble in your marriage or with your children, pretty neat that little trick. We hear how awful it is to consort with “fallen women” and then hear about ministers being arrested for that very crime. Better that than Priests going after the altar boys.

   If you listen to the “experts” you will know that too much testosterone is the cause of why males are willing to fight and yet a lack of it causes women to go searching for a different lover. One type of monkey has solved this problem, whenever there is a danger of a fight between males the females step in and help deplete that excess testosterone by having sex with the combatants, maybe we should take lessons and save lives rather than make guns and bombs.

Dwain Northey (Gen X)

https://education.nationalgeographic.org/resource/anthropocene/

Has anyone heard this term? Maybe it is a word that should enter our lexicon….

Geneva, 17 May 2023 (WMO) – Global temperatures are likely to surge to record levels in the next five years, fueled by heat-trapping greenhouse gases and a naturally occurring El Niño event, according to a new update issued by the World Meteorological Organization

The term Anthropocene is referring to the current climate period we are in and it directly relates the global climate to man’s incessant burning of carbon another greenhouse gas released into the atmosphere by other means wholly caused by the expansion of human civilization.

The technical definition is:  The Anthropocene Epoch is an unofficial unit of geologic time, used to describe the most recent period in Earth’s history when human activity started to have a significant impact on the planet’s climate and ecosystems.

We are all experiencing, let’s call it, weird weather. No one can dispute that areas are getting warmer, hurricanes are getting stronger, tornados are appearing in areas not typical for them. It’s fucking weird… This weekend it is projected to be 107° in New Orleans and Jacksonville, Fl. I know it is July and these are areas that it hot but not this hot plus in those cities there is a humidity factor on top of the extreme heat. Texas is having record heat on top of a failing power grid, thank you Governor Abbott for ignoring the problem. (That’s a whole other issue)

CNN — reported

The dangerous levels of heat that have scorched swathes of the northern hemisphere this summer are likely to hit most of the world between three and 10 times more often by the turn of the century, as the impacts of the human-caused climate crisis accelerate, a new study has found.

The problem is intensified because with higher temperatures there is more water evaporation, and H2O won’t stay in the cloud. That’s right folk that means intense storms and flooding most likely in regions that aren’t equipped to manage the amount of rainfall.

On July 31, 1976 the Big Thompson Canyon was the site of a devastating flash flood that swept down the steep and narrow canyon, claiming the lives of 143 people, 5 of whom were never found, making it the deadliest disaster in Colorado’s history. This flood was triggered by a nearly stationary thunderstorm near the upper section of the canyon that dumped 300 millimeters (12 inches) of rain in less than 4 hours (more than 3/4 of the average annual rainfall for the area). Little rain fell over the lower section of the canyon, where many of the victims were.

This event was less than 50 years ago and way before we have had the massive climate shift we are seeing today. Imaging any town across the world that has a small levy holding back water and protecting it citizens that 12 inches of water could overflow… now imagine its 24 or 36 inches of water falling over 12 to 24 hours. That’s f’ing terrifying but it a scenario that is not out of the realm of possibility.

I lived in Colorado when the Thompson flood happened, I was 9. I don’t want to have to read reports of multiples of these tragedies happening because as a collective humanity has failed to listen to scientists for the past 50 years.

Another bummer rants over that long holiday… Sorry