Americans tends to overlook the fact that all of us benefit a great deal from our government’s programs.  Few of us spend any time at all asking ourselves where capitalism ends and socialism begins, or vice versa.

Snow removal is a small piece of what we refer to as infrastructure, which is a huge element of what we all receive from government. Outside of toll roads, our taxes pay for our local roads, highways, bridges, tunnels, airports, etc.

But, let’s not ignore police, fire fighting, criminal justice, national defense, public education, labor laws, auto and food safety standards, air traffic control, TSA, libraries, emergency medical care, environmental regulation, social security, Medicare, the National Archives, national parks, bank regulations and deposit insurance, copyright and patent laws, federal dams to provide electrical power, flood control, the Weather Service, the Federal Housing Authority, consulates and embassies, FEMA, veterans affairs, public water systems, monitoring of all international cargo, NASA, border protection, and the National Institutes of Health.

 

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Apparently, a psychiatrist believes that Trump’s mental condition has made a quantum step toward insanity, based on his Veterans’ Day speech that included:  “We pledge to you that we will root out the communists, Marxists, fascists and the radical left thugs that live like vermin within the confines of our country that lie and steal and cheat on elections.”

I don’t buy this.  Since he came on the political scene, it’s been clear that Trump is a criminal sociopath, and that he will say anything that is calculated to grow and rile his base.

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Throughout the millennia, couples have been opting not to have children, and for many, the reason has been reluctance to bring boys and girls into a hostile and cruel world.

IMO, this way of thinking has been heightened by climate change and, at least in America, what could be called “Trumpism,” i.e., a blend of fascism, ignorance, racism, and violence.

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The most horrifying part of all this is he openly admits this.

Normally, those trying to overthrow a world government keep their true intentions secret as long as possible.  Here, those intentions are part of his campaign platform.

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REUTERS/Stringer/File Photo

According to this article in Bloomberg, China is making enormous progress in its effort to install solar PV in the north part of the country, near Mongolia.

This is a critical step for the entire world in mitigating climate change, because of China’s dependence on coal.

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Here’s Exxon’s survey on the subject.

What purpose does it serve?

Well, if most people either a) don’t understand the connection between greenhouse gas emissions and climate change, or b) reject what our scientists are telling us, the oil giant stands a good chance of getting us off their back so they can continue to bake this planet into a cinder, while raking in record profits from the agony they’re inflicting.

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What we’ve done to our teachers, in terms of underpaying them, putting them in harm’s way, and cutting off their means to discipline our children, is deplorable. We get precisely the next generation of idiots and juvenile delinquents we so richly deserve.

It’s almost as if certain of our politicians gain from our ignorance. But that couldn’t be, could it?  We couldn’t be electing people who appeal to, and profit from the diminution in our capacity to think critically and rationally.  Could we?

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Here’s a meme of global warming from a reader whose screen name is “climate change is crap.”

FWIW, it’s true that higher concentrations of CO2 promote plant growth, all others things being equal, but this effect is negligible in comparison to the higher temperatures caused by the greenhouse effect. 

The article on the subject linked above is from Scientific American.

This is fact, and here’s an opinion: People who deliberately spread disinformation are despicable.

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The meme here came from a reader who seems not to understand that everyone supports law enforcement as long as its actions are legal and fair.

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What Mary Trump says here is something you either understand or you don’t.

Fortunately, that means huge voter turnout, which is never good for Republicans.

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