ON BEING 75

I was born in April of 1944, one and a half years before the end of World War 2. It amazes me the changes I’ve witnessed and of which I’ve been part. 

Technology has been one aspect of society that has changed rapidly in my lifetime. I remember sitting in the living room with my family when I was little and listening to programs on the radio: The Shadow, The Lone Ranger, Fibber McGee and Mollie and so-called variety programs. I was there for the beginning of commercial television (black and white) and yes, we watched test patterns while we waited for a program to start. Commercial jet travel started when I was a child; I think my first airplane trip was in 1965 for our honeymoon trip to Florida. In 1983, I purchased one of the first highly successful “personal computers” (PC), an IBM with the 8088 CPU. My first camera was a simple fixed lens, black and white film camera, probably a Kodak. And I remember getting a portable, battery-powered AM/FM radio as a gift for my graduation from 8th grade in 1957. When I was little we had a party-line telephone, and there was an operator you could talk to, which is how you made a long distance call (very expensive). Telephony became mobile during my lifetime; my first mobile phone was a Motorola “brick.” 

I have in my pocket at this very moment a “telephone,” actually a combination pocket computer, telephone, camera, text messaging device, global positioning system, internet connected, movie/video viewer, radio, drawing tool, voice recording, news reader, address book, calendar, electronic mail capable, remote banking, note taking and document writing, calculator, ride hailing, travel agent machine (and so much more - I have 117 apps). 

The advances in medical science and technology over the span of my life are amazing. An example is the robot-assisted surgery I had one month ago to remove my cancerous prostate. As my home-made T-shirt reads: “Embrace your Inner Robot.” 

As a community elder, I feel very connected not only to my local community, but to the global community. We are fortunate to be world travelers, and to have internet access to global news and the so-called social media. I am a member of a photography internet site, and members of the few groups in which I participate are from many different parts of the world. I have a few blogs and a web site, and I can see that people from around the country and the world sometimes visit these. 

I have also lived through dark times. The last 1-1/2 years of World War 2, the Korean War, the war in Vietnam, the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, and a number of smaller military events around the world. I’ve witnessed and participated in political movements for racial, gender, and marriage equality, and worked on the first Earth Day. I’ve seen many changes in these areas; however, there is still so much more progress to make. 

At the present time, the world is confronted by major crises that threaten not only our societal structures, but the quality of life itself. The climate crisis, in spite of the denial rhetoric of many politicians, threatens the stability of millions of people and the social orders in which they live. Every aspect of human society is threatened by the rapid changes humans have made to the atmosphere. Every ecosystem on the planet is changing as a result of the changing climate, with cascading effects. 

Add to the environmental crises the political crises of our time and things look very dire, indeed. The rise of authoritarianism, nationalism and xenophobia in the United States and countries around the world is an ugly reminder that history tends to repeat itself, and does not bode well for our future. 

And so, as I begin my 76th year of life, I marvel at the changes I’ve seen, the positive advances made by human society, and the interconnectedness of the global community. I also am keenly aware of the threats to our well being from climate change and political trends. I know that, if I’m lucky, I have another 10 to 15 years of living, and what bothers me most about leaving this life is that I won’t know how all of this turns out for my grandkids and generations after them. 

But life is good, as we always say in our family, even in the face of illness and death. I’ve had a wonderful life so far, and expect to continue enjoying it. I have a wonderful spouse, kids, grandkids and extended family and friends. I’ve had an interesting and fun career as an ecologist. I have had numerous adventures resulting in exciting stories that I tell - over and over and over….

To all the friends and family who have sent birthday messages via my wife’s social media (I don’t use Facebook or Instagram), I want to thank you for your greetings and very kind words. I am amazed and humbled by the number of people I can truly count as friends and loved ones. You all are the best! 

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MUELLER REPORT: KNOWNS AND UNKNOWNS

In the immortal words of former Secretary of Defense, Donald Rumsfeld in 2002: 

Reports that say that something hasn't happened are always interesting to me, because as we know, there are known knowns; there are things we know we know. We also know there are known unknowns; that is to say we know there are some things we do not know. But there are also unknown unknowns—the ones we don't know we don't know. And if one looks throughout the history of our country and other free countries, it is the latter category that tend to be the difficult ones.

And that truly sums up what we know, don’t know, know we don’t know, and don’t know what we don’t know about the 300+ page Mueller report. The reality is that we only know what AG Barr wrote in a 3+ page letter to Congress, and that letter hints at a whole lot of unknowns that we don’t know. 

In other words, when it comes to the Mueller report, we know what we don’t know, and we also don’t know what we don’t know. And Rumsfeld got it right, the most difficult category is the unknown unknowns - “the ones we don’t know we don’t know.” 

A close reading of the Barr letter is instructive, and I recommend everyone read it (it is easy to find on the internet). There are a lot of key unknowns between the lines. Barr’s letter is in two sections, one dealing with collusion with Russia, the second concerning obstruction of justice by the President of the United States. Let’s look at the knowns, the known unknowns, and unknown unknowns.

It is important to understand the scope of the Mueller investigation; the knowns. There were 19 lawyers assisted by 40 FBI agents working on the investigation. The work consisted of:

• >2,800 subpoenas issued;
• Executing nearly 500 search warrants;
• Obtaining >230 orders for communication records;
• Issuing almost 50 orders authorizing use of pen registers;
• Making 13 requests to foreign governments for evidence;
• Interviewing approximately 500 witnesses. 

Mueller issued numerous indictments and gained a number of convictions for crimes, and referred several matters to other offices (of the USDOJ and other jurisdictions). 

In regards to interference with the 2016 U.S. election by Russia, Barr quotes the Mueller report (the Report): “[T]he investigation did not establish that members of the Trump Campaign conspired or coordinated with the Russian government in its election interference activities.” This is not the conclusion folks on the left fantasized, but it is actually a good thing that a sitting President was found not to have “conspired or coordinated” with Russia to influence the election. 

There are some important unknowns related to this first conclusion; mainly that we don’t know anything about the evidence collected by the Mueller team about possible coordination/conspiring with the Russian government. I can think of all kinds of questions: was there any coordination/conspiring with independent Russian actors, not the “Russian government;” were there any incidents of persons associated with the Trump campaign seeking to coordinate/conspire, but did not succeed; was there information exchanged between persons in the Trump campaign and Russians that could have or did influence the election, but were not legally determined to fall into the “coordination and conspiring” categories? (In a footnote, Barr points out that the Special Counsel “defined “coordination” as an “agreement - tacit or express - between the Trump Campaign and the Russian government on election interference.””) Does this leave a question open about activities carried out by people in the Trump Campaign that were troubling, but did not exactly meet the definition of coordination?  We know that we don’t know these answers, and we don’t know what else we don’t know.  

It is also very important to consider this: the Mueller investigation found criminal wrongdoing by agencies and individuals of the Russian government, and indicted a number of Russian individuals involved in these activities. The investigation concluded that the Russian government actively worked to influence an American election. Donald Trump, however, has stated publicly that he does not agree with this conclusion, because Vladimir Putin told him that Russia did not do these things, and he apparently believes Putin more than he believes the U.S. intelligence agencies. 

In the second part of his letter, dealing with obstruction of justice, AG Barr leaves a lot of unknown unknowns hanging in the breeze. Special Counsel Mueller punted a determination on this issue to AG Barr, declining to make a “traditional prosecutorial judgment.” Barr lets us know that, for each relevant action investigated, Mueller set out evidence on both sides of the question and purposefully did not reach any conclusions, based on various considerations of law. The Special Counsel did state that “while this report does not conclude that the President committed a crime, it also does not exonerate him.”  Whoa Nellie! Read that statement again. In other words, the Special Counsel stopped short of a conclusion regarding obstruction of justice, and left it an open question for the Attorney General to wrestle with. And therefore, AG Barr made the decision that the evidence presented in the Report is not enough to establish that Donald Trump committed an obstruction-of-justice offense. 

The problem with this is that we don’t know what the evidence is in the Report upon which AG Barr based his decision. We know that we don’t know the evidence; we don’t know what evidence we don’t know. Barr then goes on to explain that, if there was no crime committed re: coordination and cooperation with Russia to influence an election, then there can be no obstruction charge because an obstruction-of-justice offense requires an underlying crime. And the circle of known and unknown unknowns is neatly closed.

And so, as Rumsfeld pointed out, we are left with the most difficult questions, the unknown unknowns - the ones we don’t know we don’t know. The only way these unknown unknowns will become known is the release of the complete Mueller Report. AG Barr has said that he will release a redacted copy of the Report in April. This will introduce another set of unknowns - the redacted parts of the report. 

It is easy for Trump and his allies to strut and crow about “total exoneration;” however, he has not been totally exonerated, and will not be until the unknowns and unknown unknowns are known. Suffice it to say that there is enough contained in the Barr letter to cause every thinking and objective person to take pause and consider the totallity of the Special Counsel investigation, and the known facts of criminal activity, possible criminal activity, and activity that might be just short of legal lines of criminality. It is factual to say that Donald Trump surrounded/surrounds himself with shady characters, a number of whom have been found guilty of criminal activity. This is not “total exoneration” by any stretch of the imagination.

The fat lady has not yet sung. 

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NO, THE PLANET IS NOT IMPERILED

“a time to start shifting our imperiled planet onto a sustainable path
“

"Our planet is in peril and we need to be bold,"

“I don’t think people wake up in the morning, whether they’re in the agricultural business or the energy sector, and say, ‘Well what can I do today to kill the planet?’”

I know, I know, I’m a literalist, but statements like those above that I pulled from the internet bug me. According to journalists, bloggers, presidential candidates and many others our planet is imperiled, being destroyed by climate change. No, it is not. 

Planet Earth will continue to be Planet Earth until some cataclysmic event billions of years from now turns it to cosmic particles. What is imperiled is human society, in the various forms it takes around the globe today. (Note that I am focused on humans, and acknowledge that many plant and animal species are also at peril.)  Human-induced climate change has been continuing apace, as predicted by the scientific community, and the effects are clearly visible today, in both subtle and catastrophic ways. Already thousands/millions of people are being displaced by drought, rising sea level, altered weather patterns and other changed climate realities. These societal disruptions will get worse, not better, in the decades ahead. 

Humanity will persist, at least for the foreseeable future (it is a fact of evolution that the animals we call “human” or Homo sapiens will not exist in the future on Planet Earth). Human societies as they exist today are very disimilar from societies of the past, and those of the future will also not resemble those of today. The human species is very adaptable, and societies will change as the climate changes, adapting to new environmental conditions. What comes to mind are the many variations of a dystopian world in science fiction, and these do not seem so far-fetched to us today. 

Those humans who are in positions of societal power or influence and who deny climate change, whether because they simply don’t believe it, they profit from it, or denial gives them political power, are the greatest danger today. The results of their inaction, or negative actions promotes the negative effects of climate change on society, and has contributed to the rightward, authoritarian shift in politics seen around the world today. The Trump phenomenon cannot be divorced from ignoring or denying climate change. 

The global society of humans on Planet Earth has made choices resulting in the climate situation of today. As a world community we could pull together and drastically change the way we use and live on the planet in order to slow the effects of a changing climate. People, organizations and nations are engaged in these efforts; however, progress is slow or in the wrong direction. There is hope, but the odds are far from favorable.

Perhaps the speech writers and spinners in our society have decided that “the planet is in peril” is a message that gains more traction than “human societies are in peril.” In my mind, however, that message hides the fact that all of us, as members of society, need to consider and decide the kinds of societies we want for ourselves and future generations. We have little control over future social and political conditions, but we do have a measure of control over the changing climate. 

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JUST ANOTHER DAY OF GUNS

This story is not unusual in America. Things like this happen every day in every city. Often, one or more people get hurt or killed; this time there was only one minor injury. But just because this is a typical and daily occurance, it still is not OK. And this was close to home.

A few days ago, near a middle school in our neighborhood, a man was seen carrying a hatchet, yelling, and taking off his clothes. The police were called, the school was put on lock down. The cops arrived to find that the guy had a large knife in addition to the hatchet, and was acting in ways indicating that he was on some kind of substance. The cops ordered him to drop the weapons, he did, and then he charged at them. The cops struggled with the man, and one of the officers was stabbed in the hand with a small knofe the man had concealed. He was subdued and hauled off to a medical facility for evaluation, and eventually to jail. The injured cop will be OK. 

The 34-year old man was booked on charges including: Assault 2, Assaulting a Public Safety Officer, Attempted Assault on a Public Safety Officer, Resisting Arrest, Criminal Mischief 1, and Disorderly Conduct 2. Within a couple of days, the police determined that there were restraining orders on this individual, and obtained a warrent to search his home. Here is what they found:

• an AR15 semiautomatic rifle, 
• a shotgun, 
• a semi-automatic handgun, 
• a .38 revolver, 
• ammunition and tactical gear.

The police added additional charges of Unlawful Possession of a Firearm (4 counts) and Violation of a Restraining Order (4 counts). 

This guy’s apartment is one mile from our house. It is on SE Division Street, a very busy commercial and residential street that has seen tremendous development of new apartment buildings, shops, restaurants, ice cream parlors, etc. - in other words, a lot of people. One can only imagine the scene if this guy had gone off the edge, grabbed his arsenal and went on a rampage on Division Street. Fortunately, this didn’t happen.

As I said at the beginning, another typical gun day in America. What the hell is wrong in our society that anyone can possess these kinds of weapons? Background checks can help, but obviously don’t work well; this guy has a history of firearms possession. There was no tragedy this time. Kids were not hurt/killed. But as we know - yes, we all know - tragedies involving guns occur every day in America, and no matter how horrific the outcomes, no matter how many are killed, our elected officials just don’t seem to give a rat’s ass about it. 

Thank you, Portland Police Bureau, for your good work. 

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IF I HAD TO TESTIFY TO CONGRESS, WOULD I HAVE TO LIE?

We watched the entire Michael Cohen Congressional committee hearing. Yeah, I know, nice to have that kind of time. There is one thing that has nagged at me for many years, and this came up again for me right at the beginning.

“Do you swear to tell the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth, so help you god?” There it was, the swearing in. This is the conundrum.

I have imagined myself in this situation many times. I was once hired as an expert witness in an environmental court case; fortunately, I was never called to the court and dodged the conundrum. 

If I were to be sworn in, and the “Do you swear...?” Question put to me, my answer would have to be “No!”  If I answered “Yes,” I would be committing perjury, because “yes” would be a lie. I am an atheist; I cannot “swear to god” because there is no such thing as god to swear an oath to. I wonder how this response would be handled. 

Maybe the Congress and the courts have a god-less swearing in for folks like me. That would be good. But this all begs a different question: what ever happened to separation of church and state established by our Constitution? I actually know the answer to this question, it has been usurped by over-zealous Christians who lobbied Congress to add these kinds of god statements to various things, including our Pledge of Allegiance (“one nation under God” was not in the original pledge), our money (“in God we trust” was not originally on our money), and so on. 

(audible sigh) It is what it is. Nothing I can do about. And no, I am not a soldier in the War on Christmas!!

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THERE IS NOT A NATIONAL SECURITY CRISIS AT THE U.S. SOUTHWEST BORDER, AND DHS AGREES

According to information on the website of the U.S. Department of Homeland Security, there is no crisis at the southwest border of the United States! The so-called national security crisis that resulted in Donald Trump shutting down parts of the U.S. government for 35 days is a lie manufactured by Donald Trump. At this time, a Bipartisan Working Group of Representatives and Senators is trying to reach a compromise about border security measures against an arbitrary deadline established by Trump. Trump has declared that if the Working Group does not fund his Wall, to the tune of $5.7 billion, he will once again shut down the government. 

This is all a huge, steaming pile of political BS! There is no national security crisis at the southwest border,  there is no need to waste a colossal amount of taxpayer money for a Trump Wall, and the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) confirms this on it’s website!  

Below, I have placed some pertinent facts - FACTS! - copied from the DHS website today. Read it, and try to control your outrage.

From a report: Efforts by DHS to Estimate Southwest Border Security between Ports of Entry. Office of Immigration Statistics. Department of Homeland Security. September 2017 (https://www.dhs.gov/sites/default/files/publications/17_0914_estimates-of-border-security.pdf  accessed Feb. 10, 2019)

“With respect to border enforcement outputs, available data indicate that the southwest land border is more difficult to illegally cross today than ever before” (p. 19).

“With respect to border enforcement outcomes, available data also indicate the lowest number of illegal entries at least since 2000, and likely since the early 1970s” (p. 19).

(POE - Port of Entry)

Border Security Results (https://www.dhs.gov/border-security-results accessed Feb. 10, 2019)

Southwest Border

• The Border Patrol is better staffed today than at any time in its 88-year history. Along the Southwest border, DHS has increased the number of boots on the ground from approximately 9,100 Border Patrol agents in 2001 to more than 18,500 today.
• CBP now screens 100 percent of southbound rail shipments for illegal weapons, drugs, and cash, has expanded Unmanned Aircraft System (UAS) coverage to the entire Southwest border and completed 651 miles of fencing.

Apprehensions and Interdictions 

• Illegal immigration attempts, as measured by Border Patrol apprehensions, have decreased 53 percent in the past three years, and are less than one third of what they were at their peak.
• Over the past three years, DHS has seized 74 percent more currency, 41 percent more drugs, and 159 percent more weapons along the Southwest border as compared to fiscal years (FY) 2006-2008.  

Creating a Safer Border Environment 

(https://www.dhs.gov/border-security-overview accessed Feb. 10, 2019)

Through increases in Border Patrol staffing; construction of new infrastructure and fencing; use of advanced technology—including sensors, radar, and aerial assets –investments to modernize the ports of entry; and stronger partnerships and information sharing, we are creating a safer, more secure, and more efficient border environment.

--

So, where is the national security crisis? What is the Bipartisan Working Group actually doing? From all indications in the press, the Working Group is trying to find a compromise; but what is there to compromise about? There is no crisis at the border, so they are trying to find a compromise related to a Donald Trump campaign promise based on a massive lie, and subsequent temper tantrum by the Infant-in-Chief that resulted in serious harm to the lives and well-being of federal employees, contractors and many businesses. It's a sham, and they know it!  

In my humble opinion, the largest threat to our national security sits behind the desk in the Oval Office!

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NOTE: members of the Congressional Bipartisan Working Group are: 

House of Representatives: Nita Lowey (D, NY), Lucille Roybal-Allard (D, CA), David Price (D, NC), Barbara Lee (D, CA), Henry Cuellar (D, TX), Pete Aquilar (D, CA), Tom Graves (R, GA), Steven Palazzo (R, MS), Chuck Fleischman (R, TN), Kay Granger (R, TX)

Senate: Richard Shelby (R, AL), Shelley Moore Capito (R, WV), John Hoeven (R, ND), Roy Blunt (R, MO), Patrick Leahy (D, VT), Dick Durbin (D, IL), Jon Tester (D, MT).

TECH TALK: SMART PHONES, AND SOCIAL MEDIA

If you've read my blog posts for awhile, you know I have a love-hate relationship with internet technology and the tools we use for it. I will repeat what I often say; I am not critical of people who use Facebook, Instagram, etc.; you all get something from those platforms, and that's good.

A couple of op-eds caught my interest recently, so there is a reading assignment in this post.

1.  Steve Jobs Never Wanted us to Use Our iPhones Like This, by Cal Newport in the NY Times is about those pocket computers we all carry around. Mr. Newport discusses what he calls the "constant companion model" that the vast majority of us have in our relationship to our smart phones. He writes about the talk Steve Jobs gave in 2007 when he introduced the very first iPhone, what Jobs referred to as a better iPod that made phone calls. 

Mr. Jobs seemed to understand the iPhone as something that would help us with a small number of activities — listening to music, placing calls, generating directions. He didn’t seek to radically change the rhythm of users’ daily lives. He simply wanted to take experiences we already found important and make them better.

But the smart phone now is something completely different; it dictates in many ways the rhythms of our daily lives. It is no longer merely a tool we use for specific actions, but a machine that is constantly in our hands, constantly calling to us to look at it and touch it. In many ways, our lives are not ours, but are steered by the big tech companies who give us the "free" apps we so love. Instead of improving activities that we found important before this technology existed, this model changes what we pay attention to in the first place — often in ways designed to benefit the stock price of attention-economy conglomerates, not our satisfaction and well-being.

This is not about the privacy issues I so often write (complain) about; it is about the quality of our lives, and begs the question: are we doing the things we enjoy and really want to do, in the moment?

I am now trying an experiment. I left Facebook long ago, and never joined Instagram, but I have a habit of taking the device out of my pocket often to look up something that comes up in a discussion, or that I'm thinking about. And probably more often, when I'm just sitting around, I open the device and look at the headlines on various feeds. In other words, I waste a lot of time doing things that the device allows me to do, but are not necessarily what I really want to be spending my time doing. 

So, I am now trying to train myself to set certain times when I will open my laptop and go through email, look at items I want to research, peruse the news. To facilitate this, I've started carrying a small note pad (paper!) and pencil (an info entry device used with paper) so I can jot a note, keep a list, of things I want to do on the computer. 

I still have the pocket computer in my pocket, but my goal is to leave it there more of the time. 

I encourage all of you, dear readers, to read Cal Newport's piece in the Times.

2. He Reported on Facebook. Now He Approaches It With Caution, a Q&A with reporter Nick Confesorre, in the NY Times.  Mr. Confessore admits that, despite his best efforts, there is not a lot he can really do to protect his own privacy. Most of the ecosystem of mobile phones and apps, as well as the advertising technology that permeates the mobile and desktop web, is designed to extract a large amount of your personal information. The whole thing is effectively unregulated and almost impossible to escape without a fair amount of planning and technical expertise. 

He has not left Facebook, but uses it very cautiously after setting as many of the privacy settings as he can find. It's interesting to read his approach to using social media, and his comments about Facebook, Google and Twitter ("which is a hell of random angry people"). As for privacy, we are on our own, because the "commercial-surveillance-industrial-complex" is very poorly regulated in the United States. 

I've often wondered something about the mainstream social media that so many people use but don't trust, and that is, why continue using them? I don't mean everyone should quit cold-turkey. What I mean is, what would happen if opinion leaders and influencers announced that they were moving their social networking experience to platform XYZ that does not harvest consumer data and sell it, does not track users, does not track users' locations. These platforms exist. And the reality is that many of us who use them, especially as part of our career, could afford to even pay a reasonable subscription fee (think Netflix, Amazon Prime, and that daily latte at the coffee shop). This is not a pie-in-the-sky idea; Facebook, Twitter, Instagram will not live forever, they will be replaced. 

And so, more interesting things to read and think about, but not right this moment, on your smart phone, instead of doing something you really want to be doing! 

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THINGS DONALD TRUMP CAN DO TO PAY FOR HIS WALL

The U.S. Coast Guard recently sent information to furloughed employees that included tips on making extra income while out of work due to the Trump shut down. Some of the ideas were; babysitting, dog walking, garage sales and tutoring. 

In the spirit of helping people earn extra income during the Trump shut down, I am providing a list of ideas for Donald Trump to raise money for his Wall:

• Have a yard sale on the White House lawn (good luck selling all that gilded junk)
• Baby sit your grandchildren (if your kids trust you to be alone with them)
• Sell autographed copies of Melania's nude modeling photos (she really doesn’t care, do you?)
• Auction a copy of the peepee tape to the highest bidder (your buddy Vlad will burn a copy for you is you say “pretty please, with more sanctions lifted”)
• Use the fund you have set aside to pay off porn stars and models with whom you had affairs (a very significant amount of money)
• Put a dollar in a jar every time you tell a lie (it needs to be a very large jar)
• Require your spokes-people (i.e. Scary Huckleberry Sandbagger, Mercedes Schlappintheface, and Kellyanne Convoy) to put a dollar in a jar everytime  they tell a lie (this will need to be a veeeeery large jar)
• Walk the dogs of White House staff (you’ll have to bare-hand the poop-scooping as plastic bags are a no-no)
• Shave your head and use the money you would otherwise spend on truckloads of extra-hold hair spray (you might feel light-headed for a few days)
• You will also have extra cash on-hand from your blonde hair bleaching fund
• Have each of your red ties cut in half and made into two normal length ties (keep in mind that these ties will point at your ample gut, not your hidden junk)
• Build a time machine so you can go back in time and ask your daddy to pay for the Wall (you will need to figure out how he can get rent payments from it)
• Have Chinese workers glue new labels that don’t have the words Ivanka or Trump on them into the warehouses full of shoes left over from Ivanka’s business, and make a deal with Zappos (this is a perfect idea for a real heel who has no soul).

Good luck, Donald; now get out there and do something useful. 

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PRIVACY NOTICES, INCLUDING COOKIES, FOR MY WEBSITES

(January 4, 2019)

The European Union has rules requiring that web sites, such as my several blogs and other sites I control, notify visitors in the EU if the site they are visiting on the web (like you are at this moment) places cookies. These rules, the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) took effect in May, 2018.

My blog sites hosted by Google (blogspot.com) place cookies and collect data (see below) used by Google. I look at the visitor stats collected by Google out of curiosity to see where visitors are from. I can see where the visitor's internet service provider is, and some other information; I don't dig much below the surface of these data.

I have a few blog sites hosted on blogspot, which is part of Google. these blogs are:

• Read my Opinion (because you're entitled to it) - https://readmyopinion.blogspot.com/
• Derelicts on the Columbia River - a Paddling Adventure - https://columbia-derelicts.blogspot.com/
• Swimming with the Fishes, a travel blog - https://swimming-with-the-fishes.blogspot.com/
• The Museum of Sand in Portland, Oregon - https://museum-of-sand.blogspot.com/

Google has provided the following notification that appears when visitors in the European Union open one of my sites: 

"This site uses cookies from Google to deliver its services and analyze traffic. Your IP address and user-agent are shared with Google along with performance and security metrics to ensure quality of service, generate usage statistics, and to detect and address abuse."

I also have a website titled "The Some Times" - http://the-some-times.online/index.html  hosted by iPage, part of Endurance International Group. iPage also collects data and places cookies. The privacy policies of iPage are at this link. 

Years ago, before blogspot offered visitor stats to me, I signed up for a service, Statcounter. Statcounter gathers information about visitors to some of my blog sites and displays it in ways that let me see where visitors are from, when they visited, how long the stayed, and other information. From their FAQ's, Statcounter states: 

Statcounter is an anonymous web tracking service. We don't attempt to identify an individual person . Our focus is on what visitors to your website do, not who that visitor is. 


Bottom Line: I do not collect or store any data from you. The services I use, such as blogspot, iPage and Statcounter collect data and place cookies when you visit my sites. The GDPR is about the storage of personal data, and the services I use are in compliance, as per their support websites, with GDPR. 

As many of you know, I am trying to reduce collection of my own data by online services, so it is somewhat contradictory that I use services that collect data from me as well as you if you visit my websites. All I can do is be as careful as possible, comply with the law, and advise you to do whatever you feel you want to do to protect your data, such as blocking cookies and setting privacy items where they are provided. Being online comes with many benefits as well as risks and invasions. And yet, here we are. 

And thank you for visiting my web sites!

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NO, THE TRUMP SHUTDOWN IS NOT A GAME OF CHICKEN!

The government shutdown, initiated by Donald Trump two weeks ago, is not, as many pundits, politicians, talking heads and even journalists are saying, a "game of chicken." The game of chicken :

Chicken is a game in which two players drive cars at each other. The first to swerve away and slow down loses and is humiliated as the "chicken"; if neither player swerves, the result is a potentially fatal head-on collision. The principle of the game is to create pressure until one person backs down.
The phrase game of chicken is also used as a metaphor for a situation where two parties engage in a showdown where they have nothing to gain, and only pride stops them from backing down. (Wikipedia accessed 01/04/2019 3:58PM PST)

In other words, the two parties agree to play the game, and it is a stupid game that can result in terrific damage to one or both parties. Donald Trump initiated the government shut down; the Congressional Democrats did not agree to it.

There is way too much false equivalence going on in the press around the shutdown situation. "Will the Democrats concede?" is a common statement/question we hear often in the broadcast news. "Who will win this game of chicken" is an expression gaining popularity in the press. I hate to use the expression, but...Fake News! What should the Democrats concede? And only one person/party is recklessly driving.

There is no equivalency between the Trump/Republican position and the Democratic position about the shutdown: Trump/Republicans want $5.6 billion for the Trump Wall, or Steel Slats, or The Whatever, or the government will stay shut down. The Democrats want government opened immediately, and they want time to negotiate a comprehensive, bipartisan bill about border security and immigration policy reform. One position - Trump/Republican - is politics and ego; the other position - Democrats - is good government.

In the meantime, Trump has made hostages of 800,000 federal employees, and the well-being of countless American citizens affected by the shutdown, to try to force the Democrats to give him what he wants. Today he threatened that the shutdown could continue "for months, maybe years" unless he gets his way. What a petulant bully! Does Melania know that Donald is NOT being best? (She really doesn't care. Do you?)

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MY MENTAL SAFE SPACE

In these strange times we all need a safe space in our minds. I realized this morning while doing the breakfast dishes, after seeing some very disturbing images and news, that I have a safe space in my mind. I found myself laughing out loud, almost uncontrollably. What set off this moment of levity? Boaty McBoatface, of course!

In 2016, the Natural Resource Research Council of Great Britain decided to ask the public, via the internet, to name a new polar research vessel. The NRRC offered some names of polar explorers, scientists and others that would be appropriate, but left it open for proposed names. The winning name, by a huge margin, was the RSS Boaty McBoatface. The NRRC decided not to use that name, but in a nod to the humor of the public, they did use that name for a remotely-operated research submersible (an actual yellow submarine).

Maybe it is my strange sense of humor, but I find this episode of trusting the public for something that one should never trust the public to do, quite hilarious. And it seems that in some of the most dire of times, I break out in a huge smile or audible laugh when my brain brings up Boaty McBoatface. I simply think it is hilarious, and always will.

So yes, Boaty McBoatface is my safe space. Thank you, Boaty, for being a comfort to me.

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TRUMP: THIS IS SERIOUS AND URGENT

There is a madman in the White House, seriously. Donald Trump is an unhinged madman who has thrown the entire world into a very dangerous position. The past few days have been a whirlwind of very serious events, and our future is at this point very uncertain.

As I watched the news readers on MSNBC and CNN last night, and then the talking heads on those shows, I realized that they were trying to hide the fearful reality that they know; Donald Trump is off his rocker and the world is in great danger. Only the filmmaker Roger Moore, interviewed by Ali Velshi on MSNBC, had the boldness to speak the truth about our present realities. It was sobering.

In a matter of days, Donald Trump has:

• come close to shutting down the government (we will know today what happens) because Congress would not put $5 billion in the budget to built his wall. (Trump at first appeared willing to sign the authorization that did not have the $5B, but then changed his mind after all of the right-wing TV/radio nut jobs took him to task.);
• announced on Twitter that he is pulling all US troops out of Syria (this took our allies by surprise, and has left the Kurdish fighters feeling abandoned by the US, thus playing solidly into the hands of Russia and Iran, and greatly pleasing the autocratic president of Turkey);
• lost his Secretary of Defense, Gen. Jim Mattis, who resigned in protest after the Trump tweet about Syria (read his letter of resignation - it is a chilling warning to all of us);
• been implicated in crimes committed by his former lawyer, Michael Cohen, and watched his former National Security Advisor, Gen. Michael Flynn, get chastised by a federal judge at his sentencing hearing for committing serious crimes (the judge even asked if Flynn's actions might be considered treason);
• lost his Chief of Staff, Gen. John Kelly, and had trouble finding someone willing to take on that job;
• had his appointed interim Attorney General refuse to recuse himself from the Mueller investigation after the DOJ attorneys recommended that he recuse himself (and the next Trump AG appointee is on record as being opposed to the Mueller investigation);
• (I have to add that at the recent UN Climate Conference in Poland, the US delegation held a session promoting the benefits of coal!!)

So here is the situation we are in:

• all of the "adults in the room" (and most of them were not very good people, anyway) have left the room; 
• Trump's inner circle is now totally comprised of sycophants who promote mean, evil and un-American values, actions and lies; 
• Trump's appointed agency directors are solidly in his industry/big money camp, and are actively deconstructing government to please the big money interests;
• Trump has thoroughly alienated American allies around the world, leaving a power vacuum that Russia and China are eagerly trying to fill;
• Trump's shady cons and apparent crimes are becoming more and more visible, and the Special Counsel investigation appears to be winding up with projected release of reports within 1-2 months.

The President of the United States is under siege, and is increasingly lashing out via Twitter at everyone. He is truly unbalanced and dangerous. He will become even more unhinged once the Democrats take over the House of Representatives next month, and will try everything he can, using Executive Orders and other means, to get his way. 

This is truly a major crisis in America and the world. Donald Trump must be removed from office now; the world cannot wait until the 2020 election. 

Every American should be very concerned right now. Every one of us should call every one of our representatives in Congress and urge them to get Donald Trump out of office, under the terms of our Constitution. It can, and must, be done now; it might already be too late. 

Seriously.

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WHY ARE YOU ALL STILL ON FACEBOOK?

Does it seem that almost every week or two there is a new revelation about Facebook doing something that is not what it's users think it is doing? Well, the reason it seems like that is because it is. Today the NY Times published an article about Facebook giving big tech companies a lot of access to Facebook users' account information, including their friends.  In other words, yet another major violation of Facebook users' privacy without their permission. Worse, Facebook claims that these big tech companies are users' "friends" and therefore the permissions given to the big tech firms fit into the permissions the users gave for access by "friends." Really?

For years, Facebook gave some of the world’s largest technology companies more intrusive access to users’ personal data than it has disclosed, effectively exempting those business partners from its usual privacy rules, according to internal records and interviews.

It seems that a large number of people I know who are on Facebook often say to me "I wish I could leave Facebook, but I can't." Well, yes you can; I did it months ago and have really not missed it a bit. Yes, yes, I know that for many people Facebook is how you stay in touch with friends and family who you might otherwise not stay in touch with. I get it, and it's a good thing. I don't think Facebook is just evil; I do know that Facebook only makes money by selling every bit of data it can squeeze from users (and even non-users - more about that in a bit), and, it seems, by giving access to user information to other tech companies who use it to make money. If this is OK with you, then end of discussion. If it's not OK with you, well..

Facebook allowed Microsoft's Bing search engine to see the names of virtually all Facebook users' friends without consent, the records show, and gave Netflix and Spotify the ability to read Facebook users' private messages. 

And by the way, Facebook tracks you even if you don't have a Facebook account. According to my Duck-Duck-Go web browser, the three top tracking offenders on the web are Google (80%), Facebook (37%) and Twitter (19%). these companies, and a huge number of others, track web traffic from everyone. 

Facebook will crash and burn one of these days. What will you do then? I don't really have the answer, but there is one out there. I signed up on MeWe, a privacy-centric, no data collection social networking site. Yesterday the second person I know signed up on it - certainly not a flood of people leaving Facebook! I don't use MeWe because none of my friends or family are on it. The point is that there are alternatives out there waiting for us all.

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PERPS, NOT PATRIOTS

Based on a TV talking head I saw recently, it appears that some people might consider perps like lawyer Michael Cohen and General Michael Flynn to be patriots because they decided to cooperate with the investigation being conducted by Special Counsel Robert Mueller. According to the perps and their lawyers, these guys chose to cooperate, to tell the truth, out of a loyalty to their country, out of their civil duty, out of their patriotism. 

I don't buy it; these guys are crooks and con artists. Cohen will do time; Flynn should, too.

Breaking news today sheds a bright light on the mercenary business of Mike Flynn. I don't have the energy to go into the details - just look at your news feeds - but this guy is, as they say, a real piece of work. He didn't just lie to the F.B.I., he was operating as the agent for a foreign government, Turkey, without filing the required papers with the US government to do so. His company had a $600,000 contract from the Turkish government to help them get their hands on a Turkish ex-patriot living legally in the United States, a man Turkish President Erdogan claims orchestrated the coup against him, and wants the US to extradite him to Turkey. And believe me, if he is extradited to Turkey, they will murder him the moment he steps off the plane! And Flynn was doing this while he was an advisor to Trump, and then when he was National Security Advisor. Even worse, the Trump team was informed of this by the intelligence services, and they chose to do nothing for a few weeks.

Alligators in the Swamp!

Mike Flynn, retired U.S. Army General. If you don't remember it, internet search Mike Flynn and "lock her up." He participated in, and led the crowds in the Trump rally chants of "Lock her up! Lock her up!"

Michael Cohen, according to Michael Cohen, was duped by Donald Trump, followed a man he admired and was mislead, regrets his actions,.....(excuse me while I throw up). Cohen is a well-known con man who is guilty of much more than we've seen recently. He deserves the jail time he got, and more.

I am aware, as I write this, that tomorrow a judge will sentence Mike Flynn. Mueller recommended no jail time for Mike, based on his cooperation with the Special Counsel. I understand the reasoning here, send a message to other perps that, if they cooperate, they could get a good deal from the DOJ.

But I say: "Lock him Up! Lock him Up!"

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DONALD TRUMP'S BIGGEST MISTAKE OF HIS LIFE

Poor The Donald. Now every one of his business ventures is being investigated. Even his children who are involved in these businesses are implicated. Will the law finally catch up with this family of grifters?

Donald made the biggest mistake of his life when he decided to run for president. His goal was not to be president, but to burnish his brand and make it a globally-recognized name that would promote even more shady deals. He knew that he had no chance of winning the election, so this was a sure bet.

Unfortunately for The Donald - and for the rest of the world - he accomplished the impossible, he won the election. His elevation to POTUS put everything about him under the microscope of the law, and he is now in very deep doodoo.

Had The Donald not run for president, the intensity of investigations about him and his businesses and charities would likely not be so great. Big mistake, Don; too bad for you.

The walls are tumbling down around the Trump family, and hopefully these grifters will be exposed for what they are, and penalized heavily for their crimes and cons. I only hope the world recovers quickly once they are gone.

All together now: Lock them up! Lock them up!

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“DISEASE-RIDDEN” “RAPISTS AND MURDERERS” ATTACKING OUR SOUTHERN BORDER

I've truly had more than enough of the Trump bigoted bullshit. Anyone who has been awake for the past three years knows about the “murderers and rapists,” and a few days ago he made up a myth that the immigrants at our doorstep are carriers of horrible diseases.

History Lesson

It's time to deal with the immigration question. So let's start with a bit of history that I assume most Americans don't know (I'm not an expert, but have done some reading).

The territory that those horrible immigrants from south of the border are trying to "invade" used to be part of Mexico until 1848. It's complicated, but here is a quick timeline:

• 1521 - Spanish explorer Cortėz conquered the Aztecs, enslaved most of the indigenous people, and European diseases killed about 24 million indigenous people between 1521 and 1605
• 1523 - Catholic missionaries arrived and converted millions of people
• 1821 - Mexico gained independence from Spain
• 1822 - Itúrbide declared himself Emperor of Mexico
• 1823 - Santa Ana overthrew Itúrbide and established the Mexico Republic
• 1836 - Santa Ana defeated the Texans at the Alamo (remember the Alamo?) thus squelching the Texan's bid for independence; the Texans had declared the Republic of Texas
• 1845 - U.S. annexed the Republic of Texas, which Mexico had not recognized as independent from Mexico
• 1846-48 - the Mexican-American War. U.S. President Polk, under his policy of Manifest Destiny (the United States should expand all the way to the Pacific Ocean), provoked the Mexican government by sending troop to a disputed area (both countries claimed it), and after Mexican troops won a few battles with the American troops, Polk asked for and received a Declaration of War from Congress
• 1848 - The Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo - U.S. victory in the Mexican-American War resulted in the U.S. claiming all the Mexican territory shown in the map, above.  The treaty guaranteed a number of rights to Mexican citizens who lived in and/or owned property in the territory ceded to the U.S.; the treaty agreements have often been broken or ignored. 

Every Central and South American country has a complicated history of conquest and colonization by Europeans. With the exception of people descended from the many groups of indigenous people who lived in the Western Hemisphere before the Europeans "discovered" it, we are all immigrants. The United States of America is a country occupying land stolen from other people; how dare we now label people as "illegals" and "aliens" and "undesirables" who simply want to immigrate here like the rest of us did? 

And for a quick look at immigration to the USA, here is a good image:

The Present Reality

And now here we are in Trumpworld. The immigration laws in the USA are complicated and outdated, and include many biases. The problems we see today did not start with the election of Trump; however, the problems are being dealt with in much more draconian ways than under previous administrations. We now assume people are guilty of something just for showing up at the border. We now abduct children from their parents and put them in detention camps, many of which are cruel and brutal places for anyone, let alone for children. We detain adults and children for many months, sometimes years, while the wheels of the immigration process grind ever-so-slowly. We deport people without a fair hearing. We provide no legal counsel to people, including children, who are brought before an immigration judge under a system that immigration lawyers describe as extremely complex and unfair. We have deported parents while keeping their kidnapped kids, and even adopted out the kids without the knowledge of the parents. We do all of this, the United States of America, America the Brutalfull! 

My Immigration Policies

If I were Ruler of America, here are what my policies would contain (and note that I am searching for a comprehensive plan to "fix" US immigration policy, so far without any success):

• Foreign Policy. We need to address the core issues that are driving people north to our southern border, including poverty and crime. Instead of threatening to halt all foreign aid to countries like El Salvador and Guatemala as Trump has, I would instruct my Department of State to work diligently with Central and South American governments, individually and within the framework of the Organization of American States and the United Nations, to identify and implement key measures to improve economies, reduce poverty, fight and reduce crime, especially related to drugs, improve food, medical and educational programs, and other measures. Yes, the wealthy United States should be a leader in these efforts. 
• Immigration Law. Fix our immigration laws so they are modernized to reflect the realities of the 21st Century. Ensure that the immigration process is humane, compassionate, efficient, effective, and fair. 
• Immigration Policy. First and foremost, recognize and proclaim that America is a nation of immigrants, that immigration to the United States is a good thing, that we welcome and honor immigrants and will always give them a chance to become Americans if they meet certain universal criteria. Reconstruct our immigration and security services to serve the people who ask for asylum or apply for entry in ways that are kind and just. Guarantee that immigration and asylum applicants will be processed quickly and treated fairly. Never separate children from their parents, except under the most dire circumstances. 

I understand that our immigration system is overwhelmed along our southern border. No one, not even Democrats as accused by the Trumpsters, thinks we should have an open border and anyone can simply walk in. I heard on the news today, for example, that an average of 170 unaccompanied minors cross the border or show up at border crossings every day. These children are placed in detention camps, mostly operated by private corporations under contract to the US government (and, btw, they have been exempted from being vetted, so all kinds of people - good and evil - work in them). This is not sustainable, and it is certainly not good for the children who end up in this system. The first step is to rescue these children. The longer-term step is to fix our immigration system. 

My grandparents were immigrants who escaped poverty and bigotry in eastern Europe to find a better life in America. As the grandchild of immigrants, I welcome immigrants to our country.

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WILDFIRES AND CARAVANS IN TRUMPWORLD

Let's see if I am understanding this. Trump has sent >5,000 soldiers to the border with Mexico, where they are sitting around doing nothing in order to keep the Caravan of people from crossing the border. Meanwhile, thousands of people are homeless as a result of the California wildfires, and many are camping in a Walmart parking lot.

In a rational world, the POTUS would send the 5,000 troops to California to build high quality temporary housing that would be warm and dry, and also some community service facilities. In fact, if needed, they could recruit skilled and unskilled labor from people in the caravan heading towards the US/Mexico border!

But Trump World is not a rational world.
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TRAVELING TO FLORIDA TO GET OUT THE VOTE

Lakeland, Florida is about halfway between Orlando and Tampa Bay. Six of us in our family, five from Portland, one from Lewiston, Maine, traveled to Lakeland to volunteer for a couple of Democratic party campaigns. Sounds like a crazy thing to do, but we all felt it was an important thing to do. Nephew Ken did the research, and determined that Florida is a key swing state, and this specific location is a key location. Democratic candidates had chances to unseat or beat Republicans for the U.S. Senate and House, for Governor, and for state Senate and House seats. 

We spent the three days before election day canvassing for Bob Doyel, candidate for Florida Senate, and Kristen Carlson, candidate for the U.S. House. We also left information and talked to voters about Andrew Gillum, the Democratic candidate for Governor, who had a good chance of becoming Florida’s first African-American Governor. There were many other races, and ballot measures for voters to consider, but focusing on one or two candidates gave us the opportunity to talk about voting Democrat all down the ticket and supporting worthwhile ballot measures. 

I’ll be honest, this was hard work. We Pacific Northwesterners are not acclimated to very hot and very humid weather. Several times a day we sat in our rental vehicles with the air conditioning blasting, just to try to cool down our bodies. And yet, we persisted!  The experience was gratifying, and we felt that we were helping take back our country - making America good again - MAGA! 

All of the neighborhoods in which we canvassed were either mixed demographically or majority African-American. We worked from voter lists of people who have voted Democratic in previous elections, using MiniVAN, a canvassing app for mobile phones that pulls up lists of addresses and voter names, age, gender, and other information. The information collected is uploaded to the database in real time, allowing canvassers to see which addresses, or “doors,” have been visited and what response was given. 

Over the course of three days, I estimate our group knocked on more than 1,200 doors. Many knocks went unanswered, in which case we left a campaign flyer, but many resulted in talking to people. We had many interesting conversations with people on their doorsteps. In middle class and working class neighborhoods we met kind and friendly people, many who started the conversation with some form of “we need to take it back.” In my experience, all of the older people I talked with had or were planning to vote. I also talked with a number of people who don’t vote, and they were mostly younger. As one African-American “neighborhood grandma” told me, these kids don’t understand the history of black folks not being able to vote, and the importance of every vote. 

We canvassers had interesting debriefings and discussions over beers, wine and bourbon in the evenings. We all feel that we made a contribution to the political process, and even convinced some people to vote who otherwise might not have. Grandson Max might have flipped a Republican voter - his wife is the Democratic voter in the household - to vote for Bob Doyel, the Democrat running for Florida Senate. We helped some people find their voting location, helped arrange free rides to the polls and gave one woman a ride to her polling place 30 minutes away, answered questions about the process (as best we could) and about who was on the ballot. 

We also understand the flip side of the political process, and how democracy in America is endangered not only by the political party currently in power, but by the inability of the process itself to change. We had a discussion at dinner one night, five very tired people (Eric had to fly to Chicago that day for business), about what needs to change if and when the Democratic Party gains control of the Congress and, hopefully in two years, the presidency. So many of the issues our country faces today have been growing issues for many years, under Republican as well as Democratic administrations and Congresses. The Democrats, too, have a hugh burden of responsibility for not addressing these issues and solving them. We understand that the goal is not, and should not be simply to put politicians whose names are followed by a D in office; this is partisan politics for the sake of partisan politics. However, and this is a big however, it was critically important for the 2018 election to vote for every Democratic candidate on the ballot, in order to apply the brakes to Trumpism. 

Our candidate, Bob Doyel, lost his bid for Florida Senate, as did the other candidates for whom we campaigned. We went to Bob’s election night party to watch the returns, and although sadness filled the room, Bob remained upbeat and proud of the the successes of his campaign in a sea of Republicans (he challenged the Republican incumbent for the Senate seat). He praised the work of staff and volunteers, many of them young, energetic and idealistic, and stated emphatically that his campaign was the beginning, not the end, of a change in Florida politics. Interestingly, the very high profile contests for U.S. Senate and Florida Governor are, as of this writing, still too close to call and ballots are being recounted. Florida is changing.

There were many successful outcomes for Democrats, and in my opinion for democracy, in this mid-term election. In Florida, a very important ballot measure, Number 4, passed. This will allow nearly 1.4 million ex-felons to vote in future elections. Bob Doyel and I have been conversing by text and email since the election, and Bob is looking at possible ways to work to get ex-felons registered to vote and informed about their newly won rights (rights that should never have been taken away). 

Democracy is a messy process, and for the Portland Six it was also hot and humid! Our experience reminded us of how complex our system is, that many people feel disenfranchised or simply uninterested in the process (one man shouted to me through his window that “I’m not political”), that too many young people, including people of color, don’t vote, and that partisan politics supported by big money is truly counterproductive to democracy. 

Onward to 2020. 

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AMERICA THE BRUTALFULL

KILLING JEWS - AGAIN

I wrote about Jew hating 4-1/2 years ago, after a gunman killed Jews in Kansas City. Read it here.

Has anything changed since then? Yes, it has gotten worse; the second largest number of anti-semitic incidents in the United States since 1980 (see below). 

Bigotry and hatred have been condoned by the President of the United States, and the Republicans in Congress are complicit. Period. Not fake news. 

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