politics

Fire Season, Power lines, stupid people.

August 10, 2018 By bhrater 7 Comments

Recently I have been very despondent with stuff going on, The US has lost respect as a world leader, our President is a joke, he lies openly and yet people still support this man. People have been fed propaganda against the press, and some believe it, and when people don’t understand what the truth is how can they make informed decisions.

It’s fairly obvious that due to climate change summer fire season is going to be a normal state of events. My heart goes out to the thousands of people who have been affected by the fires. I have had family stay with me when they had to evacuate their home. To see the look of devastation not knowing if you will have a home to go to or not is heartbreaking, it should be the primary focus of the government to prepare for a future where this is the new normal.

I know that some of the reason we had fires was due to utilities electrical equipment, and the utilities are complaining that that they cannot afford to keep paying out when there is a fire. The Governor is looking into giving the utilities a break from prosecution if they are known to be in regulatory compliance. And to be honest I see logic in this. If you can still sue some company when it’s doing what the state dictates and it’s not good enough, well we need to change the regulations!

Burying the electric cables is not an option due to cost and maintenance, it’s just easier to maintain a line overhead when you have access. This started me thinking that in this day and age there must be a mix of technologies that would in fact make it mush easier for people to have electricity and require no power lines at all.

It turns out the technology does exist, but as always it’s just around the corner, like the cure for cancer! This company Solar Windows seems to have one answer to electricity production for the future. My contention is with solar windows and roof panels and efficient storage we could eliminate the need for cables and utilities as we know them completely. But as always the move to efficiency is being held up because the power brokers still want to burn fossil fuels and don’t believe what the whole world can see! How do we as a nation get the stupid out of politics?

I can understand different people can have opinions about how to get something done. But they should be able to debate and prove why their way is better. The truth should be the arbiter not alternative facts or bluster, or rage, or disrespect!

Peace People!!

Brave New World, well not really!

April 2, 2018 By bhrater 8 Comments

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I am sure Aldous Huxley will forgive me, I am sure nearly everyone who doesn’t watch Fox News has heard about the Sinclair group and how they are using local news outlets to spout propaganda for the Trump Administration.

We have a had a problem in the United States for probably more than a decade in regards to how people get their news. The biggest bad example would be Fox Mouth piece (always reminds me of the mouthpiece of Sauron the Lieutenant of Barad-dûr).

Distorted news is always an issue as an uninformed electorate can me manipulated much easier than an educated one. But the recent trend to just lie (alternative facts), is so disturbing it makes me wonder how this ignorant and proud of it trend can be reversed.

I can understand if you are indoctrinated that is what you know, but how can the United States compete in the future if we continue to allow the political parties to squander the future. And so called news outlets to treat the population as pawns to help the people in power stay in power.If the USA is ever going to be great again, because at the moment it’s not. The people who tell the lies must be shown to be what they truly are.

The future is for the young, I just hope they can get a decent enough education to be able to make an informed decision because too many adults today cannot.

My advice to anyone is get your news from multiple sources, I use BBC, NPR, RTE, NHK, The times is a good news source, but I don’t subscribe! maybe I should start since local news is now tainted!

Facebook and blogging??

March 22, 2018 By bhrater 9 Comments

Hi All

Well it’s that time of the month so I will write a post! I have today suspended my Facebook account, over-reacting I hear you say; well I don’t really use the bloody thing and all I see are people sharing what somebody else produced. So the contact isn’t even one on one really, it’s also a sounding board for radical opinions one way or the other. And lastly I don’t wish to be data for a political action group either here or in the UK or even in Moscow.

I would like to thank my wife Susan for being an inspiration when it comes to the blog thing. Stories from the edge of blindness has been a true avenue for Susan to express how she feels as her life changes, either good or bad. And the excitement in her voice as she talks about her friends in blog world is a wonderful thing.

It’s raining in Los Angeles, which means my two Princess’s Blossom & Jade will be staying indoors. They don’t like rain, or getting their paws wet, or stepping in puddles. I shall follow their example!

Have a nice day!

It’s Sunday so why not talk about religion!

February 4, 2018 By bhrater 10 Comments

Good Morning, happy Sunday!

I was raised or as we say where I grew up, brought up a Catholic, which for me just meant church on Sunday. I went to Catholic schools primary & secondary, and was an Alter boy in two churches (not at the same time). I am surprised I never put this stuff on my resume! In my late teens I started to question my faith, or lack of!

Around this time I remember being on retreat at a place called Allington castle.

At that time it was being managed by a group of Carmelite Friars who I found to be very different from any Priests I had ever met. They were more contemplative, calm, much more open to talking about questions of faith and other religions. I say truly to this day if I had to be a religious person I would be a Friar, they were really cool! And you cannot say that too much about any western religion. It was there I learned about the different faces we put on depending on our situation, and this has stayed with me ever since.

I remember in one of my (many) previous jobs I was a inventory manager, and I can remember when the staff and myself were out for a company lunch, which was an excuse for me to treat them using the company credit card. Even if I tried to walk behind my staff, they would nearly always wait for me and walk either beside or behind me. I was always fascinated by this behavior. And any time you see people walking with the boss which you can see every day, I see the same behavior. I freely admit I as a boss used to fuck with it to see what my staff did, sorry peeps. Luv you!!

Which brings be back to the faces, and how they change. After I left management and started the next career (non management) I was able to change the face, but I wonder how does my changing face work with my ex employees. Will they still look at me the same way they did, if we all met for much would they walk behind me today, or would they have moved on! Trust me when I say I do not require or need people to walk behind me, just found the behavior interesting. It makes me wonder what people I see now are like when the face they put on is taken away, who are you really? Who are we when we remove the face, we have our political views face, our father brother face, we can be cruel or kind.

Went off topic a bit but getting back to religion, or lack of. After leaving the Carmelites I had pretty much decided I wasn’t a person who had the faith to continue pretending. I became an Atheist. As an Atheist I have as much moral fiber as any person who claims to be religious, I respect a persons faith, what ever religion you choose to practice, it’s your choice and I believe in choice. I will not question your religious beliefs or how you practice your faith, unless your religious practice breaks a law of the land.

All I ask is you respect my choice to question everything, I don’t have your faith and don’t believe in a God. I don’t believe in a happy place we all go to when we die where it’s going to be really great for all time! Gee that would be really nice, but I guess I don’t, not that I don’t want to, but I just don’t and I guess you can’t convince me so please don’t try!

As I get older I have acquired the older guy wisdom face, simply because I am older, not ancient, just older. I have kept some of the confidence I acquired when I wore the manager face, I have the calmer face of a person who has seen things and I am trying to figure what’s really important and what is not!

Once again, Happy Sunday!

I vote Democrat, so what am I really for?

February 1, 2018 By bhrater 5 Comments

I grew up with healthcare, how great it was or wasn’t really doesn’t matter, if my leg was busted it would be fixed; no charge! It was nice, I never had any thoughts about socialism or government over reach. I actually never thought about it at all unless I needed it.

I know some friends and family who are of an age that they now get Medicare. I can tell you without a doubt they are thrilled, it’s just a thing that just being there adds a kind of calm, it’s called a safety net. It’s provided to citizens who have paid into the fund during their working lives. It’s a way for the government to say thanks for the taxes you have paid all your working life.

In the United states healthcare is a business, where people/companies make money for treating people who are sick. This would be why medical costs are so much more than pretty much anywhere else. I can understand why people who are making money with the system don’t want it changed, but the people who don’t have healthcare & who vote against their own best interests have me perplexed!

When I vote I don’t vote for people, I vote for policies and where I see a party aligns with my goals going forward. I will change my Party in an instant if I find a different party has my best interests at heart. So again I ask myself why do people vote against their best interests? Is party affiliation the same as following a sports team? I have always voted such and I shall always do so? The idea the GOP are fiscally responsible is a joke, as the debt has increased under GOP leadership. These are facts that can easily be checked.

I vote Democrat because the Republican party supports climate deniers, tries to blatantly disrupt voting, and is quite open about it. They claim voter fraud, which doesn’t really exist; even GOP states have said as much. I can’t say the democrats are way better, but they support progressive points which I agree with, climate, equality, health care for all. There is the idea that as I vote Democrat I would agree taxing the hell out of people, it is a misconception! I don’t care to pay lots of taxes, but to fund healthcare for all, to provide a social security check when I retire, better safety nets for citizens, I will pay more tax to see results. But please don’t think I am for waste, I want my taxes to be spent wisely, and I want to know what the money went to.

I have two friends who are Trump supporters. I disagree with our President on pretty much everything and even if he does a good thing, I won’t give him credit because he is such an ass. But the two guys I know are really nice guys, they are honest decent hard-working guys. Aside from the internet trolls I think people are pretty much the same, we have the same moral stance. We are divided by propaganda from religious institutions and media (aka Fox news). I tend to get my news from multiple outlets to get an even view, including international sources.

I think we should make a Law, If you are found to have deliberately lied while running for political office you can be disqualified from running, that would make it interesting!!

Robot is going to take my Job, and the government doesn’t care!

January 11, 2018 By bhrater 6 Comments

Human Employee Termination Workers Silhouettes

Ever since the 1970’s with the advances in automation we have seen the decline in manufacturing jobs. Between 1990 and 2007, machines killed off up to 670,000 US manufacturing jobs alone. These jobs will never return because it’s cheaper to have many machines and one operator maintain them.

In my last post on this subject I was pondering how different countries are dealing with the advent of AI taking over many of the manual jobs done by people today and how this will change the idea of work when it relates to a persons identity.

Governments will be playing a big roll in the transition to an economy with 46% of the population not actually having a job. Because this is something that companies will not do, it’s not their roll. And to be brutally honest the United States Government with many crying socialism at the hint of the government actually helping a citizen has a shit reputation in this regard. With the advent of the driver-less vehicle, cars and trucks no longer needing a person will add millions of people to the lines of the jobless. Manufacturing jobs while in some markets (next generation energy production), may expand in the United States for the most part they are not coming back.

In the US there seems to be a cry to go back to the 1950’s when there was lots of manufacturing jobs and people were paid a wage that led to a decent life. I agree it was probably great and why not want that again. Those jobs are not coming back, if someone tells you they are they are bullshitting you. Whether we like it or not it’s a global economy now. And however altruistic you might like Apple to be they cannot and won’t be bringing production to the US, all the parts are made in Asia and they have many more qualified engineers than in the US.

Alas the United States is its own worst enemy, China has universal health care, that’s 1.6 billion people, while it is always a work in progress for health care they still manage it and it’s cheaper per person than in the US. That’s a big saving for any company, and with a state educational system they are bouncing out many more engineers and scientists than the United States. The US could and should be competing but it’s not. This is because in the US it’s not about workers or education or healthcare. It’s about the people in government making a dime and convincing the people that their problem is because of other people in the US, people of color, migrants, homeless, mentally ill, when in fact in the end it is always been about money.

I really don’t mean to bitch about this but it breaks my heart to see waste, and while some in the US are crying take America back. it’s not going to happen and any politician that promotes this crap is doing them a injustice. We must look to the future and find the kinds of jobs that will be open for people. And for those that won’t be able to work because the job just isn’t there. It will be OK because the government had made plans to give you some dignity & options to try because you don’t have to worry about where you are eating next.

The issue of the race against the Robots is not just a issue for the United States, it’s a global issue which every nation is going to have to grapple with. Some will do better than others because the population is better educated and can adjust to different types of jobs that will be needed in the future. Other nations will be hit harder because they had their head in the sand, for either politics or personal gain. We shall see!

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