Longer Step: Ideas for Justice and Sustainability

 Answer: Everything. This Presidential election was probably won before it even started. It is a winning strategy to weaponize the media to make its viewers believe lies. The truth is that crime is down; the economy (by most measures) is very strong; 99.9% of illegal immigrants across the southern border are peaceful and contribute significantly to our society; COVID and other vaccines are safe and necessary; liberal policies are good for ordinary people. And yet more than half of US voters believe the opposite, and are highly motivated to return the former president to office. I'm afraid that, when so many people are so easily brainwashed and led by fear, then it's just about over (this Freedom experiment) for all of us. I sure hope I'm wrong. But there is only so much "stupid" and "evil" that a fragile republic can withstand. A republic requires, for its very existence, citizens who are educated and know how to think critically, and who stay involved a...

  None of us can know if and when our country will reach a breaking point. But it seems obvious that every country needs leaders who are experienced, capable, and ethical. To that end, my wish for this coming Tuesday's elections is that most of the races are won by candidates who are experienced, capable, and ethical. And I'd like to add that it should be fine for a football player or coach, or quack doctor, to take high elected office, IF they are experienced (i.e., have decades of experience in corporate or governrment leadership), and capable (smart and wise) and ethical (kind and dedicated to the greater public good, with no thought of benefit to self). Positions on issues matter of course, but these "Big Three" qualifying factors should be on every voter's mind, and several of the current candidates should be seen as unqualified ...

  I keep wondering if we will see, this November, in some purple states like AZ and GA, whether the higher frequency of vax-denier COVID deaths results in some unexpected Democrat victories? Just asking in a neutral way; not gloating. I expect this November to be a disaster for the Dems...but when one side is killing itself off disproportionately and needlessly, we may see a weird voting pattern as a result, which actually favors the Dems. It will never make sense how the same Republican politicians who got the damn vaccine, nevertheless pooh-poohed the Coronavirus and encouraged their constituents to resist mask mandates and vax programs. Sure, that would make sense if the mask requirements and vaccines were flawed, but they weren't. The fax is 99.99% safe and incredibly effective at saving lives. The incredible arrogance of refusing to mask and refusing to get vaxxed, when the benefits are so plain, is astonishing. We had healthcare workers slaving away at all hours, to help us...