READ & COMMENT

I have always thought that politicians, bureaucrats and most individual citizens are neither creative enough nor competent enough, let alone discrete enough, to conceive and execute grand conspiracies. The moon landings never happened? 9/11 was an inside job? QAnon? The evidence for these is as scant as the evidence of massive electoral fraud in the 2016 and 2020 Presidential elections.

​On the other hand, recent history proves that private enterprises and their agents are more than capable of conspiring to take advantage of us, generally in pursuit of bigger profits and greater power. Witness the efforts of big tobacco, big pharma and big energy to hide from us the health hazards associated with tobacco, opioids and fossil fuel emissions. More recently it is clear that big tech companies are conspiring against the principles of free speech, not to mention manipulate global tax codes, to pay as little tax as possible. The latter two are at least not illegal, yet they are certainly immoral.

I am a capitalist. I believe in the innate value of market-based economies. However free markets that are not fair markets are an indelible stain on capitalism.

So when I read about the ‘Great Reset’ my suspicions were raised, especially as such a bold and global initiative hasn’t received much coverage in the main-stream media. 

​We pretty much knew this year’s Thanksgiving was going to be different, didn’t we? Despite our blind compliance and commitment to wash our hands, socially distance and wear masks we somehow knew it was likely to require continued sacrifices on our part. Little did we know.
 
Despite the fact that things seemed to get better for while we are now caught in another surge of COVID 19 cases. Positivity rates are rising. Hospitalizations too. Faucie told us this was probable. “A tough fall and winter,” he said. “Expect it.” Well of course we did. Colder weather means more people spending time inside. It’s flu season. And the Cal Poly kids are back like so many other students at colleges and universities around the country. Did we honestly expect  18 and 19 year old kids living on their own for the very first time to socially distance and quarantine themselves in their dorm rooms? Really??  Sucker!

Clive shares his thoughts on how he'd vote in State & local elections....if he had a vote!

Here at iSoS we view ourselves as 'Independents' and despise partisan politics. Yet at election time democracy, by definition, means choosing one party or individual over another. At least if you have a vote it does. I don't even though I pay taxes. That's another story - see my earlier blog https://www.insearchofsanity.org/blogs/taxation-without-representation-is-tyranny-thats-a-real-political-opportunity. 

Most importantly we urge our listeners and readers, hell we urge everyone who can, to exercise their democratic right and vote. As Independents, we vote based on the evidence of outcomes and values that align with our own, rather than tribal loyalty.

So it's time to make a choice. As you consider who to vote for at State, County & City level, here is what I am thinking about. Remember, it is perfectly reasonable to vote one ticket nationally and another locally.

So let's think about the 'state' of California?

Clive checks in from his home on Zanzibar.

Salamu (Swahili for Greetings) from Zanzibar, an island off the coast of Tanzania best known as the birthplace of Freddie Mercury, where we are bathed blissfully in sunshine, trade winds and best of all, mask free. 

While many countries in Africa locked down, Tanzania realised very quickly that with a median age of 20, half that of Europe, the cure being worse than the disease would be an inevitable consequence of shutting down the economy. They kept their economy open. 
 
It was a wise decision. In a country of 56 million people, only 516 cases of CV19 have been registered and 21 deaths. Given that there is no formal healthcare reporting system, it is inevitable that these numbers are under-reported. However, as 2.5 million people die every year in Africa from another infectious disease (Tuberculosis), the Tanzanian Government and healthcare community thankfully enjoy a sense of context about risk management sadly lacking among the bureaucrats and government advisers our taxes pay for.

​A little over a year ago California’s Assembly passed an ethnic studies bill, AB 331, and handed it off to California’s Education Department (CED) to write and deliver the curriculum. The CED did just that, and then attempted to get it adopted by quickly and very quietly soliciting public comments just after the school year ended when parents were less likely to be paying attention.
 
Did you hear about it? Probably not. 

“Holy hyper-partisanship Batman!  Our democracy is seriously dysfunctional and we’re in danger of losing our nation because our system is broken.  Can you fix it Batman?”
 
​It’s that time again folks. It occurs every four years. The nation looks for someone we can believe in….a superhero that can heal the unprecedented level of political animosity that’s turned us into warring tribes rather than united Americans who go about their lives in the pursuit of life, liberty and happiness. 
 
Enter the political candidates. This time it’s Trump and Biden.  Different people saying the same things every four years.  Mostly bullshit by the way and I confess that, I too, like many of you, tend to throw caution to the wind and get sucked into the belief that there is someone out there who can heal the polarization that has become America’s Achilles heel.  The usual promise is to unite us; to bring the warring factions together because, well, only they have some kind of superpower that the other candidate doesn’t.  And we find ourselves hopeful yet again.

In what seems like a classic case of failing to see the forest from the trees; friends, neighbors and social media seem to be more exercised by the morality and principles of mask wearing than with the far more consequential health and socio-economic consequences of Coronavirus.

To get your attention, and to prove the delinquency of our puerile debates on masks, here are a few alarming numbers. As a result of distressed socio-economic systems around the world, predictions are for an additional 6.3 million cases of Tuberculosis resulting in an additional 1.3 million deaths. An additional 769,000 deaths from malaria, and 550,000 HIV related deaths in sub-Saharan Africa alone. (1). Worst case scenarios suggest that an additional 100 million people will fall into poverty living off less than $1.90 a day. (2)

To put those numbers in context, as I write, there have been 766,393 deaths worldwide from CV19, with 172,301 of those in the US and 41,361 in the UK.

​Yet the most vociferous, hostile and divisive debates are about wearing masks!

Mark's thoughts on School Closures.

Masks or no masks, it is becoming increasingly clear that there are more impenetrable barriers between us these days than a piece of cloth. Rabid political partisanship is rampant among our communities and infecting all of us.
 
How does a Re-Open SLO Facebook Group transform into a ‘Freedom Rally? What has re-opening local businesses got to do with giving a platform to speakers that rant about the supremacy of Judeo-Christian religion? Or promoting a university academic called Thaddeus Kozinsky who claims that 9/11 was a conspiracy theory and Bill Gates is part of a global cabal trying to take over the world? Why invite a “Christian Conservative Activist” from Fresno called Ben Bergquam who believes “homosexuality is sin” and that “liberalism is a plaque on society”? 

The days when food and beverages are made not in a farmyard or vineyard but in factories are upon us.
Wines without vines, booze without berries, beef without cows and fish without….well water!
Burger King is selling the ‘Impossible Whopper’, the equivalent of their Whopper burger, only this one is made entirely out of plant-based ingredients grown in labs.
And that is just the tip of the iceberg. With the world's population due to add another 2 billion people in the next 30 years, (that’s like adding another China, America, Mexico & Russia), the race is on to feed the human race without destroying the planet.
The UN forecasts that to feed 9 billion people will require a 20% expansion in water use, but water use already exceeds supply in many places, including a country like England where it rains a lot! Some estimates suggest that growing meat in labs could cause greenhouse gases from agriculture to drop by 80% or more!
There is also a global soil crisis as vast swathes of arable land lose their fertility because of erosion, compaction, contamination and simple over use. Think of the images of the central plains of America during the great depression.
Improving productivity through intensive farming practices is already pushing the boundaries of decency. The US guidelines allow as little as ½ a square foot per chicken for their ‘living’ conditions. The answer to that cannot be ‘extensification’ - increasing the amount of land used for farming. Housing is already unaffordable for many. Every acre used for farming means one less acre for homes not to mention forests, natural habitats etc.

It is more than deeply ironic, it is deeply hypocritical, that a country forged in a revolution whose call to arms was ‘No taxation without representation’ now demands taxes from nearly 15 million Lawful Permanent Residents (LPRs) yet bans them from voting. 

Affectionately known as ‘Green Card Holders’ (it’s better than resident aliens), we live and work across the United States, and about a million more of us are welcomed every year. Yet, except for a few municipalities where Green Card holders can vote in local elections, Federal and State governments deny us the right to vote in even a School Board election.

It was not always so. Indeed, a country built largely on immigration (aren’t they all?), promoted universal suffrage for all residents up until World War 1.

I'm ashamed to say that most of what I thought I knew about the homeless issue was wrong. We have just launched our first podcast and chose this issue as one of the more pressing and depressing issues of our time. We wanted to explore the question that, irrespective of your politics, how could some of the wealthiest communities on the planet not solve this problem?
I'm not going to replay the podcast and what we learned here (simply go to the ‘Podcast’ page and your can listen to it there). Suffice it to say most of the homeless are not 'bums' or mentally ill. In fact, about 65% of our homeless population are neigbors and compatriots who have fallen on hard times. That's hardly surprising when about 70% of Americans dont have $400 saved for an emergency. The good news is that the situation is improving, and there are very succesful programs out there like Haaven in Los Angeles (see link below) who are delivering shelter & support for less than $10,000 per bed while the public sector solutions cost over $500,000 a bed! The bad news is that despite the valiant and heart warming efforts of many, the system is still not fit for purpose and unless we adopt innovative ideas like Haaven, never will be!
Please do listen to the podcast. There's tears and laughter, 'you can't be serious moments', harsh words, uplifting stories and a happy ending. It will leave you thinking differently about homelessness.
Here are the links to the people we interviewed in the show, including the volunteers and charities that you could support by doing something as simple as donating some care packs of things like socks, tooth brushes & toothpaste; or offering to help them at feeding stations.
https://www.pasocares.org/
https://www.haaven.org/
https://pasoroblesdailynews.com/

Weaponizing political issues is always a negative step. Rather than trying to find non-partisan, common sense solutions, it shows that once again the political class are looking for political credit not pragmatic solutions.

Nowhere is this more apparent than in the cacophony of outrage emanating from Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (AOC) and her proponents of ‘The Green Deal’, Greta Thunberg and her Extinction Rebellion (XR) acolytes, or the more genteel and dulcet tones of David Attenborough.

Theirs is a noble cause and these are all impressive, impassioned and inspiring evangelists who have picked up the mantle of Al Gore’s Inconvenient Truth crusade and dragged it kicking and screaming into the 21st Century. They have literally bullied their way into the hearts and minds of Governments, the Fourth Estate and society in general.

Despite my personal belief that, as we enter a post-human epoch, the proliferation of Intelligent Machines is a greater threat to homo-sapiens than rising CO2, it is still sensible to agree that raising awareness is a necessary and commendable first step to sensible management of our eco-systems. However, the real test of the climate change zealots is their ability to bring about the seismic socio-economic behavior changes that governments and their populations will have to make if carbon dioxide emissions are to be reduced. Alas the hysterical forecasts of imminent extinction by the self-appointed guardians of our environment are not just exaggerated, they are self-defeating.

Cars don’t kill people…..Drivers kill people. Makes sense. So much sense that in the 1960’s when America was experiencing an epidemic of deaths from car accidents, especially among younger men, the government realised that it couldn’t ban people from driving, nor could they ban the sale of cars; so they decided to invest significant resources in trying to make cars safer.