Policing

As a former Deputy Sheriff I am worried about the dissolution of civil order in America. From my point of view, it is wrong to blame the police when the problem goes much deeper than that. The police are just trying to do their job. And yes! They have made mistakes.

I think that society as a whole has broken down. We no longer have communities that care for each other and solve their own problems. We look to others to solve our problems for us. We do not take responsibioity for our own civil order. We are a divided society with no common goals and no cohesiveness. It's every one for themselves. And dog-eat-dog.

We all have problems. But, 3rd parties usually cannot fix them for us. 3rd parties have no vested interest in solving someone else's problems. But, there is strength in community. When a community stands together, they can solve their own problems. They don't need anyone else. No drug dealers, no shooters, and no corruption could survive if the community would only join together and want them gone. If we remain divided, the "bad guys" will always win.

I believe, that the rule of law is very important. Most police departments are organized as para-military organizations. I believe that such organizations are inherantly wrong. They inherantly become adversarial in nature. I think that the police should be our "neighbors, not our adversaries. I believe that the best way to get compliance with the law is though cooperation and understaning, not force.

Unfortunately, our existing government, the media and even the legal system itself seem to be trying to keep us divided and opposed to one another. Divided, we naturally become adversaries and more concerned about ourselve than others. Divided, "they" conquer and we become weak. United, we can achieve greatness and no corrupt government or criminal can withstand us.

As a prime example of how our society is divided, consider the "Black Lives Matter" movement. By its very nature, it emphasizes black lives instead of "all" lives. I believe that their approach is divisive and not constructive. We are all part of the human race and we all deserve to be treated fairly.

How Hot Can It Be

Some people still deny the idea of global warming. They say that it's nothing more than the normal cyclic rise and fall of historical temperatures. They are correct, but only in part.

The following graph illustrate how globabl temperature, in fact, have been cycling for over 800,000 years.

It can be seen that the CO2 levels and global temperature have mirrored one another for many millenia. The peak CO2 levels have historically been about 280 ppm. But notice that in only the past 50 years, the CO2 levels have nearly double their historical peaks to about 412 ppm today. One could assume that global warming will follow the CO2 levels and dramatically increase very soon. Science predicts, and historical records confirm, that global warming and CO2 levels are closely related.

Over it's lifetime, the Earth has undergone VERY dramatic changes before. In  fact, global warming isn't something new. But that doesn't mean that we should be OK with the changes. In fact, I doubt that anyone would want to live in the environment of any of the past historical changes. Consider the following graphs.

Going back millions of years ago (before the age of dinosaurs), the Earth was VERY very hot. In the Eocene period about 50 million years ago, the avearage global temperature was estimated to be about 112°F which is 55°  higher than the 20th century global average of 57°F. Back then, it took more than 10,000 years to get that hot. But today, if nothing is done to curb CO2 production, the temperature by the end of this century will be at least that high. That's only 80 years away.

So, the answer is "YES". We do need to worry about global warming. And we need to deal with it quickly. Time is running out.

Ministry of Truth

Orwell's "Ministry of Truth" is operating in high gear. It is busy erasing our history (or rewriting it) day by day. Controversial subjects are removed from each new addition of history texts. And, now we are getting rid of historical markers and statues. Why, because some misguided minorities might possibly be offended by them.

Why should be remove Columbus? Whom does he offend? I've heard that the Native Americans have a problem with him. Why? I can't understand. Columbus never set foot on the North American mainland. He never got beyond the Caribbean islands. He probably never encountered a single Native American.

Why should one want to get rid of Abraham Lincoln? He was a major force in emancipating the slaves. We all probably have things in our backgrounds that we're not proud of. But that should not erase the good works that we've accomplished.

In my opinion, a major problem in America today is that we've become divided and lost our sense of community. Our younger generation doesn't have a clue nor appreciate what the older generations have done to establish liberty and freedom for them.

"Those who cannot remember the past are condemned to repeat it."
George Santayana, 1863-1952

We've become an "I'm for Me First" society. "I want mine. I want it now, and I want it on credit.". The minorities seem to get whatever they demand, and We The People must pay the price so they can have it. Whatever happened to compromise and majority rule? So long as the majority remains divided, I believe the minorities will eventually take everything away. I also believe that the governing powers  (both in Washington and locally) actually want the majority to remain divided. If the majority were united, they would probably throw out the corruption.

Riots Don't Help

Peaceful protests have turned into riots. Civil disobedience has turned into looting and arson. Things are competely out of control!

Yes! Some police have committed crimes. Yes! Black lives matter. Yes! Poverty is a problem.But how does rioting, looting and arson help the situation? Being unlawful is no way to bring peace and harmony. Civil unrest is destructive; not constructive. It doesn't fix the problems!

I am keenly aware that minorities in this country lead very difficult lives. It has been more than 100 years since emancipation and the end of slavery. Yet, an inordinate number of African Americans still lack a good education, lack two-parent families, lack high paying jobs, lack good health care, etc. Yes! There is a tremendous amount of inequity. But how does being unlawful fix that?

In my opinion, any policeman who breaks the law they should be arrested and brought to trial.. But, the rule of law demands the same treatment for crimes committed by civilians as well. Let's face it. The civil unrest that is all over the media today is "unlawful". If allowed to persist, it will destroy our nation. It must be stopped.

If you want to fix your problems, you and your neighbors need to get together and fix them. There is no way that the police, the national guard, or any other 3rd party can fix your problems for you. You need to get yourselves together and fix them yourself. You need to be constructive, not destructive.