For the people you don’t like: the leaf blower solution.
For yourself: Short term solution is to secure your family and yourself. Long term solution is to engage in activism and policy making to make sure the community as a whole is better prepared for the next storm.
Edit: What I’m trying to get at is that it is possible to think several thoughts at the same time, and apply different solutions to different time scales.
Edit 2: darn fsking phone screen keyboard.
If you really believe that: you are terribly misinformed; as usual.
I thought about getting defensive too. Naaahhh… I’ve done plenty and have no reason to bite at the bit. My first post, now deleted, was in the same tone as Tin’s, but then I realized no one on the site really has to defend an opinion. It’s there. It’s mine, Certainly, there is evidence supporting it. It can be debated… should one choose to enter into a political debate. Honestly, politics is much more vague and wishy-washy than theism. IMO. I only know what I read in the papers, what I glean from the sites I visit, and what I see going on around me. I expect we are all very much the same in that. If anyone thinks there is a site, non-theist, expressing great hope and prosperity for the future of America, I would love to see a few articles on the topic. I’m reminded of…
In the Senate, not the House. And the house has not been doing its job for a while now. Presidents have been walking all over it.
" While the House did temporarily add two seats after Alaska and Hawaii became states in 1959, a law passed in 1929 has set up that de facto cap to representation.
It has meant that once a decade, states have had to face the prospect of joining a list of winners and losers after those House seats are reshuffled based on how the states’ latest census population counts rank."
“The basement of the U.S. Capitol is a messy place of power, of lawmakers in a thin majority and dim light. For the past 15 months, House Republicans’ regular meetings here have showcased the most chaotic majority in modern American history.”
This is a tough time in America. That is a fact.
Excellent Ideas! (If Only I could say that in 20 Characters or more.) Oh, I know. I would add the term “Safely” to the above quote. With the militarization of the police, our rights are being eroded. Civil forfeiture laws are insane. Survalence is so far out of the box that it will take 20 years to catch up to what is going on. The economy is crashing. (It’s completely insane that the number one cause of bankruptcy is medical bills. IMO That should never happen in a first-world country.) Don’t get me started on Social Welfare… please. Government spending on the Military is completely insane. (I worked in support services and have seen the fat in government contracts firsthand. It’s a shame that American companies would take advantage of their own country the way they do. It’s a shame the military lies and tries to rob the government the way it does. Every operation works on money and greed. That is just the system we are in. Get what you can. Charge as much as you can. If you need a hundred dollars, ask for five hundred dollars. It’s just the way things work.
I’m rambling now… Good Advice OM
It’s already happened on more than one occasion. States like Montana, Wyoming, Idaho, and the Dakota’s deserve to have a say in our federal elections.
Just because a state like California has ten times as many citizens as these do doesn’t mean their votes automatically make the votes from these states null and void.
California has a total of 55 electoral votes, while states like Idaho and Wyoming have a total of 7 put together. The Dakotas have 3 each, along with Vermont, based on their population. You know that states like California, NY, NJ, and Pennsylvania vote 99% Democrat. Even with the EC, it can be a very close election, and the popular vote doesn’t always win the election.
It’s not a popularity contest for the election of our president, it hasn’t been for a very long time. It’s part of our constitution, and would take a constitutional amendment to change the system.
Didn’t you just tell us they have equal representation?
also California has 54.
Yes,and I think it’s wrong.
Please provide data to back up the assertion that 99% of the people in those states vote Democrat. As I recall, California has had a few very prominent Republican governors…at least one of whom became a two-term president.
Under the Electoral College (EC) system, the popular vote NEVER decides the presidential election.
Under the EC system, in most states, if a particular candidate gets, for example, 500 popular votes and the opponent gets 501, ALL the EC votes go to the candidate with 501….rendering the choice of nearly half the population useless, ignored, inconsequential. And THAT is why it is an unfair system, worthy of being abolished.
Hey there, GOML. Hope your vacation is going well. Nice being able to get away to relax and unwind now and then. Honestly, I do see what you are saying. And I agree it is sound advice. Unfortunately, within the area I live, any “activism” would likely get me run out of town on a rail after being tarred and feathered. (Largely rural area with most folks being highly independent, to put it lightly. And don’t even get me started on the religious influence around here.) And as far as influencing policies, I live in a tiny speck of a town in the most remote northern corner of a LARGE county. Moreover, the “seat of power” of my county is all sewn up tightly with basically hand-picked “officials” who carefully protect their power, and they have been doing so for many years before I was even born. Therefore, for all practical purposes, any “noise” I might be able to make would be about as effective as a gnat fart in a whirlwind. And even IF I was somehow able to gain enough attention to actually be heard, I would have to constantly be watching MY back AND my family’s back in an effort to avoid any odd “accidents” that would revoke our breathing privileges.
Now, back to the religious influences. Tiny REAL example, if I may. My neighbor. Great guy. Roughly ten years older than me. Worked as his own boss most of his life, building cabinets and such and doing contract construction work. Incredibly smart and practical guy who has likely forgotten more about house construction and wood work than I will ever know. We have regularly helped each other with various yard and home projects over the years, and I have full access to his work shop and tractor equipment whenever I need it. However, he and his family are very much Christian, and he knows my wife and I are not involved with church in any way. Thankfully, it has not been a problem, and there is an unspoken agreement that we simply don’t discuss religion. Works out pretty good. At the same time, he and his wife know things happening within our country now are “not right”. The interesting thing is, the rare times when the subject comes up in conversation, his typical “closing remark” is basically, “Well, it’s out of our hands. The bible says these things will happen. The Lord is in control, and we just have to trust in Him to take care of us.” And that is quite literally THE primary mindset of almost all the folks within my surrounding area. (I’m sure there are a few exceptions out there, but not very many. Those of us who “lack faith” around these parts tend to keep such things to ourselves whenever possible.) Anyway, as you might imagine, trying to get through to such a collective mindset would be difficult, at best (understatement). Anyway, bottom line is that most of the people in my area are already self-sufficient and fairly well prepared for “adverse” events. Also, many of us already know each other in some form or fashion and would likely pool our collective resources together should matters get too severe at some point.
Well, shoot. I did not realize my post(s) sounded defensive. Wasn’t trying to be defensive at all. As far as I am concerned, there is no need for me to be defensive. I was simply trying to explain myself as best as I could to shed some light on my thought process. My apologies to anybody who thought I was angry/upset. If anything, I’m actually rather “liking” this discussion, despite my earlier protest. It’s making me think and helping me put my thoughts in order.
THE best scene from that show. Likely my all time favorite scene in all of television history.
Yep. Primary focus on that “Safely” part. As I explained in my other post, kick up too much dust against the “system” and it’s amazing how many bad things could possibly happen to those doing the kicking. Those who choose not to believe such things are possible are incredibly naive and/or delusional, in my opinion.
LOL… Imagine 51% of Californians vote Democratic and 49% vote Republican. Democrats win the state’s electoral votes. 49% of the population goes unrepresented.
American politics is not ‘really’ a “Representative Democracy.” We have long had a “Winner takes-all Democracy.” A lot of people in each of the states, democrats and republicans, go unrepresented. Shall we get into gerrymandering? (Let’s not.)
We need to get rid of first-past-the-post and replace it with something more representative, like ranked choice.
That’s an interesting idea.
I’m convinced we should never meet in person… We might start a revolution!
Well every empire has a best before date. Some longer than others.
Looks like the next Make America Great Again will likely be a christian theocracy. I wonder which sect of christianity will prevail?
By the way the analogies you gave about one lone solider fighting a tank or a town trying to divert a hurricane with a leaf blower were um well silly because they reflected a belief that there was no hope. That there was no way of fixing what was wrong with the system. Since I don’t live in the US I lack the insight that people who live there have about whether that deficiencies can be fixed in the American system. There is a good chance that Steve Bannon’s remedy of burning everything to the ground and starting over is the path that your country will take. I will be surprised if the Chinese and the Russians don’t use that time to expand their influence. But then no empire lasts for ever.
The current US literacy rate is 79%. New Hampshire has the highest literacy rate of 94.2%. California has the lowest literacy rate of only 76.9%. 68% of US 4th-graders are below the optimal reading level proficiency. Aug 2, 2023
These are people who can’t make it past the headlines in a newspaper… We do not teach critical thinking in schools, but we will teach about Noah’s great flood. (We’re Fucked!)
To expand a bit upon what Cog mentioned about literacy, he ain’t kidding when he says it is a MAJOR problem here in the States. And, in my OWN opinion, it was purposely done by design. Indulge me a moment, please…
Starting in junior high and going up through my senior year (1986), almost all the schools in our county participated in annual Academic Tournaments. For one week during the school year, students with high academic scores gathered at the central community college to take a battery of tests covering math, science, English/grammar, and history. Students could choose the categories in which they wanted to compete. (I usually chose math, science, and sometimes English.) It was a blast. I loved it. However, if memory serves, those tournaments stopped a couple of years after I graduated. Never knew why.
From that point on, it seemed our “education system” was being dumbed down little by little every year. Then, in the early 2000’s, along came the “No Student Left Behind” program. What a crock of shit. Basically, teachers were not allowed to fail students, no matter how bad the grades were. (Oh, and then there is the whole “Participation Trophy” nonsense. But that is another subject on its own.) Anyway, what it amounted to is students almost literally simply had to show up for class the required number of days during school term, and they were guaranteed a diploma. And that is DESPITE the fact the testing had been watered down to the point where high school students were BARELY reading at 3rd or 4th grade levels. And if a high school student was able to add two two-digit numbers in his/her head without using a calculator, he/she was practically considered a genius.
Oh, and does anybody remember the special ed classes for the mentally challenged kids who required special attention and alternate teaching methods? Well, somewhere along the way some swollen-head “genius” decided those students should be allowed in class with the regular students to “keep them from being treated as outcasts.” Here is a real life example of how that played out. My step-daughter graduated in 2012 with an “Advanced Academic” diploma. In her class was the daughter of a girl I went to school with. We’ll call the mother Jane, and her daughter Helen. Jane is a couple of years younger than me, and was good friends with my younger sister growing up. Helen was born with severe MS. She was confined to a wheelchair, could not speak, and had almost no coordinated muscle control. She “communicated” primarily with grunts and other noises. Naturally, she had to be CONSTANTLY monitored and cared for. As such, Helen was placed in special ed classes in school… UNTIL… At some point during Helen’s junior high school years, Jane decided Helen needed to be in regular classes with regular students. Obviously, the school protested that idea. But after a lengthy battle with the school board, Jane won.
Helen was now in classes with regular students. She could not take note. She could not read. She could not participate in classroom discussions. She couldn’t even take tests. The teacher and students were also constantly interrupted by Helen’s random outbursts and little fits of “yelling” and such. Oh, and the students in the classes ended up being Helen’s “caretakers” by default. Long story short (I know, too late for that.), high school graduation rolls around, and Helen (having never taken a test or written a single report) receives a high school diploma just like all the other students who DID have to take tests and write reports. Oh, and my step-daughter who has an “Advanced Academic” diploma cannot add two two-digit numbers without a calculator, and she almost breaks out in hives if you even SUGGEST she read anything that looks like a book. She literally BRAGS about how they used their phones in class to take tests. I truly wish I could say she is the exception, but I know waaaay too many others her age (and younger) that are even WORSE.
So, yeah, unless we start putting good foundational academics back into schools, we are truly fucked. Although, I fear it may already be too late. Probably not gonna get that chance.
YEP! Do you know teachers are no longer allowed to tell children, “That answer is wrong.” Instead, they are trained to use language like, “That’s one way of doing it. Here, let me show you another way.”
Never Say No in response to a student’s answer.
(Fuking stupid as hell. What in the fuck is preparing this student for the real world? What in the hell
are they going to do when their stupid fucking ideas are challenged? Crumble and die! They will
crumble and die because they have never, NEVER, in their entire school life, had to defend an idea.
They were never once told they were wrong. Never once told “NO!” And we wonder where
snowflakes come from?
Here was another suggestion: “Always respond to a question with an open palm.”
Here is a psychological fact: “The lying gesture.” A person lying will open their palms to you and say “Trust me.” Ha ha ha ha … A sure way to know someone is lying.
Here is a thought: If a good teacher does not know how to kick a kid in the ass and get him or her motivated, reality will do it. And reality is a much harsher teacher than anyone in a classroom.
Here is a thought: Are you teaching a child or are you teaching a child to become an adult?
But Why? Why would your governments want to dumb down the population? If its true, and there is a distinct possibility you’re having me on, I just don’t see the purpose? I know that the teachers will get blamed, because shit always runs down hill but if all behaviour is purposeful, and I believe it is, this “dumbing down” serves a purpose.
Since I’m not much of a conspiracy theorist, I don’t think ‘the government’ is purposefully trying to dumb-down children. I do think, however, that some school boards and citizens are doing their damnedest to keep young people ignorant of some things (actual history, for example) for both misguided and nefarious reasons. More often than not, that seems to be a popular activity for Xtian Nationalists.
The “No Student Left Behind” policy had, imo, good intentions. As I see it, the failure was not in the policy itself, rather it was in individual school districts’ execution of it. Laziness, sloppiness, poor planning, bad management, etc., all being possible causes. Teachers, on the whole, are not likely part of any “Let’s dumb ‘em down” cabal.