Climate Change (hoax or real?)

Climates by their very nature change and the climate on our planet has gone through numerous changes long  before we appeared on the scene. If we're ever going to have an intelligent discussion about this contentious issue we need to ask if there is a difference between "human" caused climate change and non-human caused climate change. The climate of our planet went through a multitude of changes long before our species started making mischief.  Many of those changes made it possible for life to even exist on our little rock.. It took probably a billion years just to create enough oxygen for life to emerge from the sea and walk on solid ground. For much of our history the planet was covered by ice. Over the eons incoming asteroids and erupting volcanoes have caused significant changes in the atmosphere and changes in temperature while killing millions of species of life. Natural processes such as the wobble of the earth and periodic changes in  our orbit around the sun, as well as periodic reversals of our magnet field have all contributed  to climate change. Variation of  the temperature of the oceans have been a major cause of changes in climate long before human activity became significant. Recently human activity has become a measurable factor in climate change as well. Those who seek to deny that human activity can contribute to climate change tend to exclude our species from the natural processes of nature. In fact we are just as much a part of nature as are volcanoes and asteroids. Once we face that fact we can free ourselves from our ego-centric cosmic sense of  guilt and set about the task of seeing what we can do to limit the extent of our influence on our climate - remembering all the while that earth's climate is destined to go through many more climate changes whether or not we continue to survive as a species. History shows that the species which do survive over the long period are those that adapt to change. We've proven to be one of the more intelligent and adaptable species to inhabit this planet so far. This is no time to bury our heads in the sand and deny that our activities have no effect on our climate.

                                      Count our blessings?

Why do we keep electing the same types of politicians ? The majority of us are sick of the "do nothing" Congress and the politicians who spend the majority of their time attacking each other or raising money for their re-election.

Maybe we should count our blessings. Imagine how much damage they could do if they actually showed up for work every day.

Political Attack Ads

The good news is that we're only going to have to endure these nasty ads for another 30 day. Most of the ads are so contrived, shameless, untruthful and unbelievable that the only people who benefit are the Television stations who get paid to run them. It's doubtful if any of the so called "dark money" ads change any votes but maybe they will serve a purpose in the long run if the voters finally rise up and say "enough already!"  If you're sick of the ads the best way to register your disgust is to contact your local  Television Stations and then drop a line to the Supreme Court expressing your disapproval of the Citizens United decision which condones this sort of activity. Any candidate who attacks another candidate doesn't deserve our vote.

Pima County Animal Shelter

Everybody knows that the Pima County Animal Shelter is way over capacity and needs to be expanded but not at a cost of $500 per square foot. Pima County Supervisor Huckleberry supposedly based his cost "guess" on a project in California that probably was not comparable- instead of actually putting together a detailed line by line estimate based on local costs and conditions. The proposed bond also has wording that appears to allow Huckleberry to divert some of the money for other purposes. In addition, Huckleberry is using the threat of killing dogs in order to play on voters sympathies. A" no" vote will force Huckleberry to bring this much needed project back at a realistic cost. Huckleberry's management of local construction projects is very poor as witnessed by other construction projects in Pima County - re: La Canada and other road improvements.

Martha McSally vs. Ron Barber?

Independent voters have an interesting choice in Arizona's Second Congressional District. Neither of these candidates is at the extreme end of the political spectrum and the last time they ran against each other it was very close. I contacted McSally's office last week and asked for a clarification of her positions on some specific issues. The young Intern who answered my call read from a prepared script. She said that McSally opposes Border Patrol Check points except along the actual border. She's also opposed to same sex marriage, abortion,and birth control. (as a side bar, I've never understood why Republicans who oppose abortions also oppose birth control).  When I asked questions about McSally's positions on the economy, Corporate Inversions, education, budgets,and various other National and International issues the Intern said she  would have to call me back. She never did make that call. McSally 's campaign is centered her claim that she showed "leadership" by standing up to the Military policy of requiring female pilots to respect the dress customs of the Arabs. Both candidates run the usual ads featuring them walking along the border fence with ranchers and residents who live along the border. It's amazing how politicians love to be photographed walking along the border at election time. The events are always staged and you can bet that they probably won't visit the Border again until the next election. Both candidates seem to claim credit for supporting the basic functions of the two military bases in Southern Arizona. McSally apparently wants to turn Social Security into a voucher system but she doesn't provide details. One of the Barber ads claims that McSally wants to get the government out of education. That ad runs a short cropped clip from a McSally speech. We don't know what the full content of her remarks were regarding education. Pro McSally ads tries to associate Barber with Obama Care but they doesn't provide any information on what she would do to improve our health care system. Barbers campaign centers around him being a home grown individual who has deep roots in the District. The credibility of both candidates is stained by the so called "Dark Money" negative advertising. Neither of the candidates has condemned or spoken out against the sponsors of those ads. One McSally ad claims that Barber votes consistently with Nancy Pelosi. It doesn't indicate whether or not McSally would consistently vote with the Republican Speaker of the House. This is going to be a very close election. The winner will probably be the candidate who gets the best turnout. Both candidates are intelligent and capable. Personally I don't think McSally has much experience with budget or economic issues. Nor does she have experience in the private sector. Barber has played his cards close to the chest- rarely making mistakes or offending members of either party. Which ever candidate wins we'll have an honest capable representative from that district.

Pima County Animal Control Bond

The Pima County Animal Control facility definitely needs to be expanded and improved but not at a cost of nearly $500 per square foot. If you read the language of the bond closely you'll notice that it appears to gives the County (Chuck Huckelberry) the ability to use the money at his discretion and it doesn't require him to spend all of the money right away.  It's highly likely that he's planning on using some of that money for other purposes- as he and the County Supervisors appear to have done with other bond issues.  There is no way that it should cost this much money to expand the current facility.

UofA President gets $40,000 bonus. Apparently her $600,000 annual salary is only an "appearance" fee. If she actually does anything besides just showing up for work and redecorating her office we give her a bonus.
There is an incredible amount of dead wood at the UofA. Some of the reasons the cost of tuition is getting so expensive is that a significant number of professors spend more time writing proposals for grants that they do teaching. The campus is full of little known fiefdoms sequestered in small buildings and offices - draining the resources of the University - professors and graduate assistants taking a salary funded by student tuitions and grant money funded by the Federal Government at the same time. Essentially double dipping.

Shoot first-Tase later?

Is it really necessary to shoot people who commit minor crimes? No one condones the behavior of people who commit non-violent crimes but is it really necessary for the police to kill them? When did the police stop using tasers to gain physical control over someone who is resisting arrest? The killing of the teen age boy in Missouri comes to mind. The young man appears to have broken several crimes by the time he was apprehended and he appears to have physically attacked the cop, but he was not armed. Surely he could have been tased if the policeman was out manned, or the policeman could have stayed in his car and radioed  for back up.  Was it really necessary to fire six shots and kill him? Deadly force should only be used against deadly force, or the cleat threat of deadly force. Too many cops are starting to act as if using their gun is the first option. There are two sides to every story and no one disputes that being a policeman can be a very dangerous and stressful job. That stress can be reduced by training law enforcement individuals to remember that taking a life is seldom the best solution. Far better to avoid the confrontation in the first place- even if it means losing face or letting someone act out- or even temporarily escape. Cooler heads should prevail. The loss of the young man's life and all the rioting that followed could have been prevented had the policeman restrained himself from over re-acting.

 Ebola and Religious Terrorism

Religious terrorism is the Ebola virus of civilization. It spreads under conditions of poverty and intolerance  when  ideologies become infected by zealots. It's unquenchable rage from those who see no meaningful future for themselves. It's madness masked as Barbarism. Like a parasitic vampire it sucks the blood of the host religion. Islam risks losing it's relevance in modern society unless members of that faith speak with one voice  and condemn the Islamic terrorists who claim they are acting in the name of God.

Don't Blame God

Christians, Jews, Muslims have been at war with each other ever since our species abandoned Pagan Gods in favor of a monotheistic male God  more than 20  centuries ago.  The ancient Jews created their version of God in dark caves and wrote what later became known as the "Old Testament".  They paid a steep price for their heresy. Later, a spell binding healer named Jesus came along and was quickly and efficiently crucified by the pagan Romans. There is debate about this- but some claim that Jesus was resurrected from his grave.Whether that was the case, or not,  his disciples and their descendents traveled far and wide in the old world to resurrect his reputation in order to create a new religion called "Christianity". Not to be out done, a self proclaimed prophet named Mohammad decided that Arabs deserved their own version of a male God and very quickly the doctrine of Islam spread throughout the shores and trade lanes of the Mediterranean Sea. Problems quickly arose when Jews, Christians and Muslim all  began to claim the holy sites as their own and promoted their own version of God's words and directives to humanity. All three religions have been at war within their own ranks and with one another ever since. There are dozens of divisions and versions of Christianity, numerous versions of Islam, and the same goes for those who follow the Jewish faith.  Neutral observers have fruitlessly pointed out over the centuries that each of these religions appear to worship the same God, and pay their respect the many of same prophets. They also have in common that all three religions were created by men, not women, and that the men firmly place the blame on women for arousing their sexual urges. Therefore each religion encourages women to maintain their virginity and to wear modest clothing that will not unduly arouse men. The  ensuing centuries have given us the crusades, the "Inquisition", the attempt by Nazis to exterminate Jews, the creation of a "Jewish State", and now deadly warfare between several branches of Islam.

The warriors of our species have always carried their Gods into battle and the very first action of the victor is  to displace the Gods of those who are conquered. There is nothing new about the religious wars we're witnessing in the Middle East other than the fact that the weapons have become more deadly and efficient over the centuries. All three religions and their various sects still basically worship the same monotheistic "God" concept. Many observers note that religion evolved out of superstition. Our ancestors, failing yet to understand the laws of physics, the existance of planets, and the behavior of stars - didn't fully trust the Sun to return periodically, nor an eclipse to end, or understand the cause of diseases. Our tendency has always been  to defy what we don't understand and pray that it will continue, or go away- as the case may be.

Whether or not we share the views of others when it comes to religion, it might be useful to remember that the word itself implies something "supernatural". While there is much that we do not understand about the Universe and the concept of "life" there can't, by definition, be anything "supernatural" about something that clearly exists. We exist therefore life, and all that we witness or fail to understand, is perfectly "natural".
The fact that we don't understand something doesn't necessarily mean that it's" super natural", it just means that we're still in a state of ignorance.  No one can, or should, deny our never ending search for spirituality in our daily lives -even though we appear to be the only species who strives to find such meaning. If religion serves that purpose so be it. But maybe we can agree that killing each other over our differing views on spirituality is as contrary to any concept of spirituality as can possibly be imagined. It's been said many times that there is no God worth worshiping who would condone all of this hatred and killing. If we must worship let's worship a God that brings us together in peace - not a God that urges us to kill one another.