It's all been lies!

 

It doesn't matter what you say as long as you win!

The Big Lie, it turns out, is a lie. Not a passionate if irrational fixation. (Though it is not very reassuring that Trump’s only defense is, quite literally, an insanity defense.) June 14, 2022 (Brennan Center)

What mental illness is associated with lying?

What mental illness causes pathological lying? Pathological liar signs can be symptoms of obsessive-compulsive disorder, antisocial personality disorder, borderline personality disorder, narcissistic personality disorder, and Munchausen syndrome by proxy. Nov 14, 2022 (Newport Institute)

You Say, Don't Believe Your Eyes!

… Well, I was there and I saw what you did
I saw it with my own two eyes
So you can wipe off that grin, I know where you've been
It's all been a pack of lies. Phil Collins

What Can We Do?

Stay informed. Speak out. Hold power to account. Listen, but hold firm to the facts.

Sinecure

An Easy Job

1. A position requiring little or no work but giving the holder status or financial benefit.

When I told my counselor what I wanted to do and what my major was going to be, he could hardly hold back. He called Mass Communications a gut course. He said students who couldn't cut anything else chose that. I spent the next 40+ years learning about the public radio audience and creating content for that audience.

I joined in this effort a few years after it's genesis. After the launch of All Things Considered, but before the launch of Morning Edition. It soon became clear, to become a true community service, our focus had to be on the audience.

With the help of those who were already involved in developing this service, I learned about what motivated that audience to spend more time listening and learning what might motivate that audience to give. It was the basis that led to phenomenal growth in audience numbers and audience engagement.

A Community Effort

We started with thousands of listeners. We shepherded the system to millions of listeners worldwide.

It was a lot more work than either of us imagined, but I knew back then it was so much more than a gut course for college slackers who need to declare something, anything.

What we did, what we discovered, worked. I think of it as the launching pad for what's to come.

When the economy went boom.

Nostalgia Clouds Reality

The 1950s


The good old days right? Shared values. Prosperity. Growth of the middle class. Stopping the communists. Might makes right. Going to church. Except, not everybody was included, and that was by design.

I came across an interesting article about this on the History Channel. Remember when they actually aired documentaries?

The 50's is depicted as a time of booms. The baby boom produced 77 million children. The astounding economic growth of the post war 50's saw GDP rise sharply. "The gross national product more than doubled, growing from $200 billion to more than $500 billion, kicking off “the Golden Age of American Capitalism.” 

There was also the booming growth of the suburbs." Levittown featured affordable suburban living in cookie cutter houses. Ethnic minorities were excluded, but the white exodus to the suburbs became a stampede.

Capitalism and The American Dream

Almost all of this growth came about through stimulus, government spending instead of capitalism. "Much of this increase came from government spending: The construction of interstate highways and schools, the distribution of veterans’ benefits and most of all the increase in military spending–on goods like airplanes and new technologies like computers–all contributed to the decade’s economic growth. Rates of unemployment and inflation were low, and wages were high. Middle class people had more money to spend than ever–and, because the variety and availability of consumer goods expanded along with the economy, they also had more things to buy." (History Channel) Millions of Americans realized the American Dream because it was underwritten by the government.

Not everybody was included

Because the G.I. Bill was administered locally, states in both the south and the north discriminated against African Americans, and other minorities, in their pursuit of higher education and in housing. For example, in the south, African American veterans were not allowed to enter state universities, because of segregation. (billofrights.com) The boom was a whites only event.

Women were feeling the effects of increasing isolation. The move to the suburbs meant fewer opportunities for women. Women were expected to be at home and be the perfect housewife. My mother was a grade school teacher. She was required to give up her job and spend full-time running the house and raising the kids. Looking back, it seems like a waste of her talents.

Black people were told to wait, but ultimately the benefits given to whites were not offered to them. In order to pass the GI Bill, states were given authority over distributing the benefits. African Americans who fought honorably against the Nazi's and Imperial Japan were deliberately excluded from GI loans, for education and housing. Whites who fought benefited from these programs. The white middle class boomed. Blacks and other minorities were excluded, and until the Voting Rights Act, many were prevented from voting. Any chance to better their lot was deliberately thwarted.

The result is the huge difference in generational wealth. According to research shared by Synchrony Bank and the Federal Reserve, comparatively, black families achieve considerably less wealth than white families, with a median net worth of $24,100 compared to $188,200.
According to the World Economic Forum, the growing gap between the rich and the poor, the old and the young, has been largely ignored by policymakers and investors until the recent rise of anti-establishment votes, including those for Brexit in the UK and for President Trump in the US. This is a mistake.

Inequality is much more than a side-effect of free market capitalism. It is a symptom of policy negligence, where for decades, credit and monetary stimulus shortcuts too easily substituted for structural reform, investment and economic strategy.

 Capitalism has been incredibly successful at boosting wealth, but it has failed at redistributing it. Today, without a push to redistribute wealth and opportunity, our model of capitalism and democracy may face self-destruction. (World Economic Forum)

Oh yes, the past can hurt. But from the way I see it, you can either run from it or learn from it.

- Rafiki, “The Lion King” (1994)

Popping p's

 

Like Finger Nails on the Chalkboard

Popping P's seems to be in the stylebook for the sports talk format. It's annoying. Right up there with AM radio static. It's easily fixed. Just change the mic position.

I found this on crumplepop.com: 

1. Pop Filter.
2. Microphone Techniques.
3. Placement of Vocalist.
4. Plug-ins.
5. High-Pass Filter.
6. Equalization Low Roll-off.
7. Reduce the Volume of Plosive.

I've come to expect this on sports talk where co hosts regularly shout over each other. I have no patience for this. Thumper and I often go down the dial to public radio where professionalism matters. But, Lately, I've heard a lot of popping p's one of my local public radio stations. The result is the same. I tune out. With so much competition for my ears, it is wise to pay attention to the details. Heck, it is such an easy fix, and you'll be getting so much more from your talent.

Podcasting's Decline

 

Or...Maybe not

The Guardian reported in February that "the creation of new podcasts declined by 80 percent compared to the previous two years, despite viewership staying at an all-time high. Their experts point to the “Post-Pandemic Boom” of podcasts, a desire to create a podcast that has since depleted."

Maybe podcasting is just right-sizing post pandemic. The Interactive Advertising Bureau estimates that ad revenue from podcasts will surge to $4.2 billion by 2024. Leading the way now is celebrities and influencers. According to Conor Johnston in the Massachusetts Daily Collegian, "For influencers and celebrities at the height of their careers, it seems the new necessity is having a podcast. They’re everywhere. From Emma Chamberlain, Joe Rogan and now Alix Earle joining the scene, the rise of podcasting is palpable."

And there are plenty of listeners and viewers downloading podcasts. There are 464.7 million podcast listeners globally as of 2023. This number is predicted to reach 504.9 million by 2024. The podcast industry market size is $23.56 billion. There are over 5 million podcasts globally with over 70 million episodes between them. (demandesage.com)

Not everybody is enamored with the trend of people famous for being famous creating podcasts. Conor Johnston comments, "Even after all this cash greed, they still can’t do the podcasts right. But what did we expect from people that are only famous because of their grandiose lives and beauty?"

"Personally, sitting through an influencer podcast was by far the worst experience I’ve had. One such podcast, We’re All Insane, is hosted by influencer Devorah Roloff, and is insanely famous. It’s also hard to follow, doesn’t introduce anybody involved in the podcast and involves the influencer monotonously repeating words such as “right” and “yeah” in a valley girl accent for an hour. Even worse, the podcast is video recorded, a growing phenomenon as more who join the podcasting realm rely on their image more than their words."

"Despite these podcasts being generally bad, they gain viewers because of the hosts existing fame. For podcasters trying to independently break out without any existing renown, this creates a culture of making it exceptionally hard to be a successful podcaster. This is especially true considering how expensive it is to start a podcast. In many ways, influencers joining the world of podcasts will destroy it. The scripts are hard to follow, and they rely too heavily on their previous audiences and personal images. So, if you’re an up-and-coming content creator with an inclination to start a podcast, a message from this vexed writer: don’t."

Will big bucks be the end of meaningful content, and ultimately podcasting?

You can speak your mind, if you dare.

We're encouraged to speak out for those who cannot speak, for the rights of all the destitute. - Proverbs 31:8 The Marginalized/The Destitute One million children in the UK are destitute. There are 400,000 are homeless in US. As many as 1.6 billion people lacked adequate housing (Habitat, 2015). In 2021, the World Economic Forum reported that 150 million people were homeless worldwide. Syria has the world's highest homeless rate with one-third – roughly 29.6% – of the country's 22 million population being homeless. Syria continues to have the worst displacement situation in the World.Feb 28, 2023  developmentaid.org

We cannot rely upon the silenced to tell us they are suffering. - Hanan Ashrawi  From 1991 to 1993 Ashrawi served as the official spokesperson of the Palestinian Delegation to the Middle East peace process and a member of the Leadership/Guidance Committee and executive committee of the delegation. Speaking Out Is Dangerous Speaking for those who have no voice comes with risk. Any one of us who is willing to speak up and raise questions, faces threats. It doesn't matter the cause. Many have paid with their lives including: Martin Luther King, Jr Medgar Evers, murdered by a white supremacist in the driveway outside his home in Jackson, Mississippi. Robert F Kennedy Anna Politkovskaya, a Novaya Gazeta journalist who reported on human rights abuses, was killed outside her flat in Moscow after returning home from the supermarket. UNESCO's data shows that there are no safe spaces for journalists. 91 of the 117 journalists killed in 2020-2021 were killed while away from their offices. Most killings occurred outside their newsrooms. Some journalists were murdered in the street or in their vehicles, and some were kidnapped to then be found dead. Several were killed in front of family members, including their children. Laura Ann Carleton, the shop owner in Arrowhead, California, shot and killed for her gay pride display in front of her store. Whole groups of people are made to disappear for their seeming threat to those in power. Amnesty International defines it this way: Victims of enforced disappearance are people who have literally disappeared, from their loved ones and their community. They go missing when state officials (or someone acting with state consent) grabs them from the street or from their homes and then deny it, or they refuse to say where they are. Toxic Speech We are living in hyper-toxic times. Social media accelerates the vitriol to dizzying speeds. On-line hate, including threats, travel at the speed of light. What can be done? Psychology Today came up with these five tips: 1. Never perpetuate hate or misinformation. Don’t forward, like, or retweet distasteful comments or images. 2. Report and flag abusive, mean, hateful content to the social platform. 3. Reach out to someone that is struggling. Private message them, even if it’s only a virtual hug. Let them know you are there for them. 4. Kindness is contagious. Talk about it with your kids. Read headlines of people doing good things for other people—then get involved. 5. Lead by example not only for your children, but for your colleagues, friends, and family. Always remember, your online behavior is a reflection of your offline character.

Community

Community Matters

I find Trump's comments about poisoning the American bloodline extremely disturbing. He's channeling Adolf Hitler. Worse, I don't hear any Republicans stepping up to protest his clearly racist rantings. As a community we must not let this stand. The first step toward community is recognizing our common humanity. Instead of seeing strangers in the dark, we recognize fellow climbers in the light. - Steven Charleston, Ladder to the Light: An Indigenous Elder’s Meditations on Hope and Courage (2021)

Creator, open our hearts to peace and healing between all people. Creator, open our hearts to provide and protect for all children of the earth. - Alycia Longriver Davis

Heart of Justice

 

Standing with the facts

The heart of justice is truth telling, seeing ourselves and the world the way it is rather than the way we want it to be. 

- bell hooks, All About Love

What makes a good debate?

Debaters should not only state their claims, but also explain why they are true, relevant, and preferable. They should use logic, evidence, examples, and counter-arguments to support their positions, and address the potential objections and weaknesses of their own and their opponents' arguments. Aug 17, 2023 -Linked In 

There's an article on VOX by Keren Landman about Joe Rogan wanting a debate about vaccines. His debate would be between John F Kennedy, Jr and Peter Hotez, a vaccine scientist at Baylor College of Medicine. Kennedy was on Rogan's podcast. According to an article in Vice, the three-hour episode was “an orgy of unchecked vaccine misinformation, some conspiracy-mongering about 5G technology and wifi, and, of course, Rogan once again praising ivermectin, an ineffective faux COVID treatment." Hotez spoke up and criticized the conversation.
Rogan proposed a debate. Hotez refused. A debate with someone who is invested in promoting conspiracy theories is a bad idea.


Here’s why debates are actually a bad forum for discussing contentious scientific issues — and what works better.

Why debates are bad for communicating science

The next time JFK, Jr. needs medical help, maybe he can get the care he needs from the guy down at the end of the bar. He seems to know everything.

You own me?

You tell me you own me because of something you loosely call the truth, my silence is not me caving in. It's because your half-baked pronouncements are evidence of how delusional you've become. They don't deserve a response. Why would I debate someone whose arguments are based on conjecture and unproven suppositions. No, I am not an expert, but neither are you. I'm willing to check my sources because I want to know more. Are you?

International Day of the Victims of Forced Disappearence

Without a Trace

Tens of thousands of individuals are made to disappear every year around the world. To increase awareness of this perpetual violation of basic human rights, August 30 is set aside to increase awareness of the plight facing millions every day.

According to the UN proclamation, "Enforced disappearance has frequently been used as a strategy to spread terror within the society. The feeling of insecurity generated by this practice is not limited to the close relatives of the disappeared, but also affects their communities and society as a whole."

I was always aware this was happening, but it was always back burner. That changed. A music video from Playing for Change brought home the impact of forced disappearances and focused my attention on the issue. The links is above. Stalin, Hitler and Mao purged millions of people. Stalin summarily scooped people up, never to be heard from again. Most estimates from scholars and historians tend to range from between 20 and 60 million. In his book, “Unnatural Deaths in the U.S.S.R.: 1928-1954,” I.G. Dyadkin estimated that the USSR suffered 56 to 62 million "unnatural deaths" during that period, with 34 to 49 million directly linked to Stalin.

The history of the US is stained with this crime against humanity. The genocide of the indigenous peoples on this continent and slavery separated millions from their families and loved ones. 

In the past decade over 100,000 individuals have disappeared in Mexico.

 A Serious Violation of Human Rights

Having been removed from the protective precinct of the law and "disappeared" from society, victims of enforced disappearance are in fact deprived of all their rights and are at the mercy of their captors. Some of the human rights that enforced disappearances regularly violate are:

• The right to recognition as a person before the law;
• The right to liberty and security of the person;
• The right not to be subjected to torture and other cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment;
• The right to life, when the disappeared person is killed;
• The right to an identity;
• The right to a fair trial and to judicial guarantees;
• The right to an effective remedy, including reparation and compensation;
• The right to know the truth regarding the circumstances of a disappearance.

Enforced disappearances also generally violate various economic, social and cultural rights for both the victims as well as their families:

• The right to protection and assistance to the family;
• The right to an adequate standard of living;
• The right to health;
• The right to education.

Bring it down to a personal level

The sudden end to a deeply personal relationship leads to grief and sorrow that never goes away. Those left behind are left to wonder with no chance at resolving the pain.

Racist Attitudes Beget Racists Acts

"Where Woke Went to Die"

Woke is now defined in Webster's as being “aware of and actively attentive to important facts and issues (especially issues of racial and social justice),” and identified as U.S. slang. It originated in African American English and gained more widespread use beginning in 2014 as part of the Black Lives Matter movement.

Racist acts in Jacksonville Florida are just a symptom of a much larger problem. It is important to understand that racism is a learned behavior. The most recent hate crime, the shooting of three innocent people, is the product of policies that tolerate, even promote racism in Florida and throughout the country. Racism, bigotry and hatred are encouraged, as can be seen in the increase in reported hate crimes.

The FBI released an update to hate crime stats in March with more complete data, and it showed the number of hate crime incidents had increased by 11.6 percent from 2021 to 2022.

The racism is coming from the top.

At a vigil for the three who were gunned down because of their skin color in Jacksonville, DeSantis got booed, and for good reason. His so-called anti-woke rhetoric encourages bigotry, racism and hatred. His take on slavery is pure Jim Crow.

The Associated Press got reactions from several sources directly affected by the shootings. 

Florida State Rep. Angie Nixon: “We must be clear, it was not just racially motivated, it was racist violence that has been perpetuated by rhetoric and policies designed to attack Black people, period.”

Jacksonville Mayor Donna Deegan: “I’ve heard some people say that some of the rhetoric that we hear doesn’t really represent what’s in people’s hearts, it’s just the game. It’s just the political game. Those three people who lost their lives, that’s not a game. That’s the reality of what we’re dealing with. Please let us stop viewing each other as pieces on a game board and let us please start to see each other’s humanity. “

Rudolph McKissick, senior pastor of the historic Bethel Church in Jacksonville: “As it began to unfold, and I began to see the truth of it, my heart ached on several levels.”

In contrast, the reaction from Governor Ron DeSantis makes no mention of the climate of hate that fomented the shooting. Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis: “This guy killed himself rather than face the music and accept responsibility for his actions. He took the coward’s way out."

DeSantis chose to focus on the perpetrator rather than the bigger picture of the climate of hate that makes such acts more prevalent. The others who commented didn't miss the point. They got the bigger picture.

(The seven harmful racial practices are from the NEA.)

Three Things

 Get Together

This Song Elicits Three Things for Me

First:  I heard a Trumpian from Iowa tell people like me, "We couldn't possibly be  Christian because we're too liberal." Yeah, well, I think people who put up barriers couldn't possibly be Christian because they are too willing to exclude when we're supposed to love everyone, no exceptions. But then I think I'm being too harsh by excluding them.

Second: We are so much more effective when we are working together. There can be common ground if we are united in the commandment that we love our neighbor. Together we can find solutions that lifts people up and freely offers them the dignity they deserve.

Third: We need to change our opinions about the poor. They have not brought this on themselves. Blaming the poor vilifies them and justifies hard heartedness. By doing so, we've created an us vs them mentality. 

Getting Beyond Charity

It is the unfair distribution of wealth and holding back our gifts that results in a world that is now more divided than ever. Almost a billion people go hungry every night. 16,000 children die from hunger related causes every day. 37 million Americans rely on foodbanks and soup kitchens. We can find solutions that transform and last. Our efforts need to go beyond charity to mutual aid. In mutual-aid systems, people work cooperatively to meet the needs of everyone in the community. It’s different from charity, which features a one-way relationship between an organization and recipients, and often responds to the effects of inequality but not its causes. Mutual aid is an act of solidarity that builds sustained networks between neighbors. As prison abolitionist Mariame Kaba explained to the New Yorker: “It’s not community service — you’re not doing service for service’s sake. You’re trying to address real material needs.” -Amanda Arnold/ The Cut.com

Am I a hippy? I never thought so, but if that is what you want to call me, I'm okay with that. I am inspired by verses like this, ”And do not forget to do good and to share with others, for with such sacrifices God is pleased.” (Hebrews 13:16 NIV)  It shows the importance of serving and helping others, especially vulnerable people who do not have enough to eat.

 

Strangers at Our Door

Policy Misses the Point

Politicians in this country like to blame each other for the increase in the movement of people in the world. Worldwide, migration and immigration continue to rise. Instead of looking for the root causes for immigration, the policies proposed are all about keeping people out, fueled by a heightened fear of people of color.

Donald Trump and his imitators are stoking the flames of hatred and fear with incendiary language. They call those wanting to come here; Invasion. Aliens. Killers. Criminals.

Our solutions are draconian. We put them in camps. We send them back to Mexico where gangs prey on them. We build walls. We tell them they are not welcome. The worst of it is targeting children by separating families. The new plan is to expel children of immigrants born here. 

I think that's unconstitutional. The 14th Amendment of the U.S. Constitution guarantees citizenship at birth to almost all individuals born in the United States or in U.S. jurisdictions, based on jus soli. But Trump bought three justices to go with three other conservatives. Nothing in the constitution or settled law through precedent is safe anymore.

Why Migrate Here?

According to the UN, Some people move in search of work or economic opportunities, to join family, or to study. Others move to escape conflict, persecution, terrorism, or human rights violations. Still others move in response to the adverse effects of climate change, natural disasters, or other environmental factors.
https://www.un.org › global-issues

The root causes of immigration have not changed, and the policies we employ do not address these issues. The solutions we employ are all about punishment based on demonizing  people in search of a better life. 

The demonization of "The Other" is something we have struggled with since our colonial days. It was also baked into our constitution. The Three-Fifths Compromise was reached among state delegates during the 1787 Constitutional Convention. It determined that three out of every five slaves was counted when determining a state's total population for legislative representation and taxation. Something learned from the compromise is that the Constitution could be changed for the better. Section 2 of the Fourteenth Amendment (1868) later superseded Article 1, Section 2, Clause 3 and explicitly repealed the compromise. Is that safe anymore?

For one nation under God, immigration should be a moral issue. Foreigners or refugees are not to be oppressed.

Israelites were to call on their empathy for refugees because they had been treated cruelly as refugees when they were made into slaves in Egypt. They were instructed not to cheat foreigners or take advantage of them in any way. Most Christians know Jesus’ instruction to “love your neighbor as yourself” but may not be aware that Mosaic Law has the same instruction for how to treat foreigners. The command to treat them as “native-born” would have been shocking to people in Moses’ day. World Vision 

And what did Jesus think about all this? I was hungry and you gave me food, I was thirsty and you gave me drink, I was a stranger and you welcomed me. Matthew 25:35

The question becomes, do policies of oppression and denial make us a nation of hypocrites? 

What I've written seems a little dark. Let me offer the following as an offering of hope. The City of Immigrants by Steve Earle. 

(Photo by Katie Moum)

Is Ignorance Bliss?

Decidedly Not

Ignorance is the lack of information, knowledge, understanding or education. Too often, arrogance and ignorance go hand in hand. Arrogance can lead a person to ignore something important, and ignorance of other's abilities and talents can also make a person arrogant.

(Mar 24, 2021 the daily coach)

Surya Prakash Mohapatra gives more insight:
Suppose you have gone to a new city for the first time. In one evening, you are walking on a suburb street. The street lights are on and you are enjoying the walk. All of a sudden the lights go off and there is complete darkness. How do you feel? Well, you feel scared, stressed and anxious, don't you? But why is it so? The cause of your fear is your ignorance about the place and situation.

The example about ignorance is simple yet profound. Sree Sree Thakur Anukulchandra says, "Ignorance creates anxiety for man, and wisdom gives man peace. Ignorance is the cause of grief, and knowledge is bliss."

The primary cause of Ignorance is 'ego'. People with obsessed ego are self-centered. They believe that the world revolves around them and they are at the center of everything. They believe that they deserve all the attention, adulation and respect from everyone else. 

How to Deal with Ignorance

There's an entire political constituency that deals in ignorance. The leaders of this movement are enriching themselves at the expense of those who follow them. The odd part is, they make money by offering products, mostly supplements. 

There's really no way to avoid them. So how can I deal with them? Since I can only have a direct influence on myself, I found these tips by Weylie Li helpful.

• Feed Your Mind with Digestible Information
• Ask Yourself Honest, Yet Sometimes Uncomfortable Questions
• Become Super-Forecasters by Collaborating With Others
• Constantly Look for Alternative Opinions
• Curb the Impulsion to Assign Judgments to Events

How do you deal with ignorant people?

Think Aloud offers 10 simple ways to deal with ignorant people.

1. Self Control
2. Don't expect too much from an ignorant person
3. Ask a friend for advice
4. Try to be kind
5. Ignore them
6. Try to have an honest conversation
7. Be emphatic
8. Entertain your mind
9. Wait for them to make a mistake
10. The best defense is a good offense.

Best Ignorance Quotes

1. “Ignorance is the night of the mind, but a night without moon or star.” – Confucius

2. “Nothing in all the world is more dangerous than sincere ignorance and conscientious stupidity.” – Martin Luther King Jr.

3. “The only good is knowledge, and the only evil is ignorance.” – Herodotus

4. “The highest form of ignorance is when you reject something you don’t know anything about.” – Wayne Dyer

5. “Not ignorance, but ignorance of ignorance, is the death of knowledge.” – Alfred North Whitehead

6. “You are not entitled to your opinion. You are entitled to your informed opinion. No one is entitled to be ignorant.” – Harlan Ellison

7. “Truth is, by nature, self-evident. As soon as you remove the cobwebs of ignorance that surround it, it shines clear.” – Mahatma Gandhi

8. “Entire ignorance is not so terrible or extreme an evil, and is far from being the greatest of all; too much cleverness and too much learning, accompanied with ill bringing-up, are far more fatal.” – Plato

9. “The greatest enemy of knowledge is not ignorance, it is the illusion of knowledge.” – Daniel J. Boorstin

10. “Ignorance is not bliss. Ignorance is poverty. Ignorance is devastation. Ignorance is tragedy. It all stems from ignorance.” – Jim Rohn

The Shape of Things to Come

 

Climate Change is No Hoax

For those of us who are in denial about how climate shapes our lives, Reuters is reporting how climate events on the other side of the world could cause food prices to skyrocket. 

This is merely a foretaste of what climate change will bring us. You may believe that global warming is a hoax. You may end up eating those words.

• Wheat worries: China's growers are facing “disaster” after heavy rains, Ukraine might lose 20% of its winter-grain yield because of poor weather, and Australia's wheat and barley output might fall by a third next year because of el Niño.
• Even less-tasty news: A slump in global cashew demand has pushed Ivory Coast's industry to the verge of collapse, and heavy rain in the west-African nation is raising fears of disease in its cocoa crop.

These events, by themselves, are not proof of climate change and global warming. The severity and increasing frequency of these events are. The orange skies and unbreathable air in the eastern part of the United States are the result of a very dry winter in Canada. The National Geographic warns the orange skies are the future. We better get used to it.

We tried to control the world around us pulling ancient matter from the ground and burning it, eradicating entire chunks of ecosystems, without bothering to think about long-term ramifications … We forgot that we can’t just take without consequences; we forgot that we’re inextricably part of a larger system.

- Elizabeth Weinberg, Unsettling Extinction Together (2022)

There's a line from a 60's tune, Shapes of Things, used as inspiration for the title of this article, "Will time make men more wise?" 

The lyrics in the second verse ask, 

Now the trees are almost green
But will they still be seen?
When time and tide have been
Fall into your passing hands
Please don't destroy these lands
Don't make them desert sands

It seems greed and self interest got in the way.

Things That Work / Moving Forward

 

Nothing erases the past. There is repentance, there is atonement, and there is forgiveness. That is all, but that is enough.

- Ted Chiang, The Merchant and the Alchemist’s Gate (2007)

None of us can change the past, but when time is right, we all need to be ready to move on. Or, as one friend often said, "Thus encouraged, we press on."

We all make mistakes. We say and do things we live to regret. 

And yet, there is grace and forgiveness. We can all begin again.

Where There Is Love | Playing For Change (HD)

When I worked at WUWM, I would have put this in the jazz rotation. The sound of surprise and exciting discoveries took us beyond strict definitions. Believe it or not, these decisions were incredibly controversial. The audience didn't complain so much. It was the volunteer staff of jazz announcers. Their rancor made me feel like I had arrived. They were constantly sniping at each other, claiming only they knew the true jazz. How arrogant.

Regret? Making choices can do that.

The exquisite pain of being alive has something to do ... with how impossible it should be to have these moments of beauty—this sea breeze, that inquisitive finch, this small foot in a bunk bed, that laughter after a fall—but perhaps even more to do with how many choices we slowly realize we can never relive, never re-choose. 

- Elizabeth Cantwell, “Maybe So, Sir but Not Today: The Fragile Humanity of Top Gun: Maverick”

Things That Work / All who are hungry come and eat!

Generosity starts when you open the door.

There’s a dramatic moment in the Passover seder, in which we open the door and declare, “let all who are hungry come and eat!” ... Whatever your religion, I pray that the Jewish model inspires you. 

- Michael Rothbaum

What would happen if we took our generosity beyond ritual and made it our way of life? What if our political will was focused on systemic change to create a fair and just society?

There are solid reasons behind systemic change that benefit all of us.

According to the World Bank, Social protection systems help individuals and families, especially the poor and vulnerable, cope with crises and shocks, find jobs, improve productivity, invest in the health and education of their children, and protect the aging population.

You might not know it from our politics, but the United States is the third most generous country in the world, behind Indonesia and Kenya. That's according to the Charities Aid Foundation. Their report provides insight into the scope and nature of giving around the world by examining three aspects of giving behavior. The questions at the heart of the report are: Have you done any of the following in the past month? 

• Helped a stranger, or someone you didn’t know who needed help? 

• Donated money to a charity?  

• Volunteered your time to an organization?

Our politics set tribes against each other. We have politics driven by scarcity, fear, hate, sexism, xenophobia, grievances, homophobia, nationalism, and white supremacy. Politicians are adept at personal attack and character assassination. But what would happen if we discussed differences based on policies instead of personal attack?

To have generosity of spirit is to act with kindness, to be open and willing to share with others without any expectation of receiving something back in return. It means to celebrate the success and efforts of others without envy or resentment. -Wellington College Apr 27, 2020

Systemic racism and discrimination against the poor are the antitheses of the generosity of the spirit. More about this is made clear in the book of Proverbs.

One person gives freely, yet gains even more;

    another withholds unduly, but comes to poverty.

A generous person will prosper;

    whoever refreshes others will be refreshed.

—Proverbs 11:24–25

Whoever is kind to the poor lends to the Lord,

    and he will reward them for what they have done.

—Proverbs 19:17

 

Whoever shuts their ears to the cry of the poor

    will also cry out and not be answered.

—Proverbs 21:13

The righteous care about justice for the poor,

    but the wicked have no such concern.

—Proverbs 29:7

A system that is based on respect for the other, is based on listening first, based on empathy instead of sympathy, based on action over words, based on helping over taking charge.

Hate the system that made your brother evil. It is the system we must destroy.
- Clark V. Poling