Bruce's Singing Cyclist Musings

Before you go on, an article in the May 8 & May 22, 2021 issue of Science News ran with a cover "Awash in Deception: How science can help us avoid being duped by misinformation." In the lead article titled: "The Battle Against Fake News," Alexandra Witze presents five suggestions on how to debunk bad information. They come from the News Literacy Project (see the above link).

How to Debunk:

1. Arm yourself with media literacy skills, at sites such as the News Literacy Project (newslit.org), to better understand how to spot hoax videos and stories.

2. Don't stigmatize people for holding inaccurate beliefs. Show empathy and respect, or you're more likely to alienate your audience than successfully share accurate information.

3. Translate complicated but true ideas into simple messages that are easy to grasp. Videos, graphics and other visual aids can help.

4. When possible, once you provide a factual alternative to the misinformation, explain the underlying fallacies (such as cherry- picking information, a common tactic of climate change deniers.

5. Mobilize when you see misinformation being shared on social media as soon as possible. If you see something, say something.

"Misinformation is any information that is incorrect, whether due to error or fake news.

"Disinformation is deliberately intended to deceive."

"Propaganda is disinformation with a political agenda."

Sander van der Linden
Social Psychologist
University of Cambridge

Source: Science News/May 8, 2021 & May 22, 2021

Update: September 22, 2023: This is more important now than ever. Be vigilant and speak in your own way. Love Wins.

Update:  McQuade, Barbara, "Attack From Within," 2024.  New York Times best seller.

The news that the U.S,. Supreme Court ruled that President Trump does not have the authority to issue tariffs (ie. taxes) because the Constitution grants that authority to the Legislative Branch (Congress) is tariff(ic) news on at least two fronts.

!. It shows that this Supreme Court actually is capable of acting on the actual law.

2. Maybe, just maybe, the partisanship coalition is starting to break apart.

The Trump administration claimed that the 1977 International Emergency Economic Powers Act, known as IEEPA, granted the president broad powers. This court decided that IEEPA indeed DID NOT grant the president any power, emergency or otherwise to enforce tariffs or any form of taxation from the Executive Branch of government

But, let’s not get too excited about this court. The jury is still out on whether the Robert’s Court is ready to go along with the MAGA Right’s plan to blow up the U.S. Government and replace it with some dictatorial, right wing Christian Oligarchy.

This court has gutted The Voting Rights Act of 1965. If you want to Geek out about this read this piece from Fordham’s Law School.

This Court has made it possible for large organizations on both sides of the political spectrum to anonymously spend unlimited amounts of money on individual candidates and causes and do it without any public scrutiny. In essence, whoever has the most money can buy any candidate or cause that it wants without a figment of openness. That was the Citizen’s United decision.

Then there’s the absolutely abominable ruling on Presidential immunity. In a nutshell, it gives the president the right to absolutely anything while they are in office up to and including murder of U.S. citizens. In Trumps own words, it gives him the right to shoot somebody on Fifth Avenue (New York City) and get away with it.

Who knows what they will do from here. Maybe they will go right back to kissing the President’s ass and acting as the Judicial component of the implementation of Project 2025.

Or maybe they have seen a little glimmer of the light that is still American Democracy and aren’t willing to go the last step by handing the keys to the country over to tyrants, racists, religious fanatics and billionaires.

One must be stoic about this by doing something traditionally un-stoic: Hope.

On the Bright Side

• Proud to report that that my church and community are standing up for Democracy in a big way.
• The Olympics were a great lift to the country. If only we could get the “nattering naybabs of negativity”¹ to stop messing with our national psyche and try to turn a unifying moment into a divisive one. There’s something I’d like to say right now, but I’m going to resist the temptation. Let’s keep it on the bright side.
• No Kings Day is March 28. Speak up and/or attend an event as you are willing and able.
• Americans are not going to let Trump slide on the Epstein issue. How many wars will either threaten or start to distract attention away from this fact?
• Black History Month was another example of history defying efforts to make it disappear.

_____________________________________________

¹ Nixon Vice President Spiro T. Agnew referring to press coverage of his criminal activity.

Before you go on, an article in the May 8 & May 22, 2021 issue of Science News ran with a cover "Awash in Deception: How science can help us avoid being duped by misinformation." In the lead article titled: "The Battle Against Fake News," Alexandra Witze presents five suggestions on how to debunk bad information. They come from the News Literacy Project (see the above link).

How to Debunk:

1. Arm yourself with media literacy skills, at sites such as the News Literacy Project (newslit.org), to better understand how to spot hoax videos and stories.

2. Don't stigmatize people for holding inaccurate beliefs. Show empathy and respect, or you're more likely to alienate your audience than successfully share accurate information.

3. Translate complicated but true ideas into simple messages that are easy to grasp. Videos, graphics and other visual aids can help.

4. When possible, once you provide a factual alternative to the misinformation, explain the underlying fallacies (such as cherry- picking information, a common tactic of climate change deniers.

5. Mobilize when you see misinformation being shared on social media as soon as possible. If you see something, say something.

"Misinformation is any information that is incorrect, whether due to error or fake news.

"Disinformation is deliberately intended to deceive."

"Propaganda is disinformation with a political agenda."

Sander van der Linden
Social Psychologist
University of Cambridge

Source: Science News/May 8, 2021 & May 22, 2021

Update: September 22, 2023: This is more important now than ever. Be vigilant and speak in your own way. Love Wins.

Update:  McQuade, Barbara, "Attack From Within," 2024.  New York Times best seller.

President’s Day or Washington’s Birthday, Americans observe this day on the third Monday of each February. President’s Day is not a federal holiday, but Washington’s Birthday is indeed a holiday and provides federal workers with another three day weekend. February 12 Abraham Lincoln’s birthday, but in and of itself it is not a national holiday. Presidents’ Washington and Lincoln together can be credited for that time honored tradition known in some circles as Ski Week.

We should celebrate or at least acknowledge our best, brightest and most effective presidents since George Washington became the first one on April 30, 1789.

There have been 47 presidencies with 45 different men (that needs to change) over the past 237 years. Presidents of many and varying levels of intelligence, political saavy and compassion.

The first president that I paid attention to was our 39th president, Jimmy Carter. What Carter lacked in political acumen, he made up for in compassion and humanitarianism. He demonstrated those same qualities long after his presidency ended in 1980. He was the longest lived president, born in 1924 and passing in 2024. Whatever his shortcomings might have been as president, his intentions were always noble and he was true to the oath he took to uphold the Constitution.

Our 20th President, James A. Garfield, never really had a chance to be presidential. Garfield was narrowly elected in 1881. His mission was to reform a system that awarded government jobs based on patronage to one that found the most qualified people through a system of Civil Service and hired them based on merit and not on political loyalty. His little known story is now accessible by watching the Netflix series “Death by Lightning.” He died three months into his presidency of an infection caused by the unsterile removal of an assassin’s bullet. Garfield may well have been revered for his work to strengthen civil service. Instead, he became but a footnote in presidential history.

Jimmy Carter and James Garfield were good people with noble intentions. The last president that I’ll feature is the current one, President #45 and President #47. He will not be mentioned among the good and noble presidents of our republic. Not even close. He and his cabal of kleptocrats will be remembered for all the wrong reasons.

The 45/47 regime will be remembered for seditious conspiracy, kleptocracy, fear mongering, divisive politics and disinformation. It will be remembered as the government that weaponized itself against it’s own people. I don’t think I have to go any farther on the current president except to say that he deserves mention here only because of the acronym that is the title of this piece.

President in Name Only (Trump)

On the Bright Side

Book Review: A Higher Call by Adam Makos with Larry Alexander. Berkley Caliber/New York. Penguin Group, 2012. ISBN: 978-0-425-25286-4.

In a time where forgiveness, faith and integrity are under constant attack, this book about two young pilots on opposite sides of Word War ll should rekindle your positive feelings on each of these things.

The story is based on an encounter between a severly crippled American B-17 bomber and a German fighter pilot in the skies over Germany in December 1943.

German fighter ace Franz Stigler was one victory away from a prestigious German military medal when he spotted a badly damaged bomber attempting to return to it’s base in England. This would be an easy kill. Another enemy bomber and crew eliminated.

American pilot Charles Brown was on his first combat mission. What transpired on that day wouldn’t become a story to anyone but these two men for another forty six years when the two would miraculously reunite for the first time since their combat encounter in the skies above Germany and the English Channel.

The book seeks to make the point that not every thing or everyone can be judged on the binary of black and white. There is black and white in each of us.

If you want a true-to-life page turner with an unexpected ending, give this book a try.

Before you go on, an article in the May 8 & May 22, 2021 issue of Science News ran with a cover "Awash in Deception: How science can help us avoid being duped by misinformation." In the lead article titled: "The Battle Against Fake News," Alexandra Witze presents five suggestions on how to debunk bad information. They come from the News Literacy Project (see the above link).

How to Debunk:

1. Arm yourself with media literacy skills, at sites such as the News Literacy Project (newslit.org), to better understand how to spot hoax videos and stories.

2. Don't stigmatize people for holding inaccurate beliefs. Show empathy and respect, or you're more likely to alienate your audience than successfully share accurate information.

3. Translate complicated but true ideas into simple messages that are easy to grasp. Videos, graphics and other visual aids can help.

4. When possible, once you provide a factual alternative to the misinformation, explain the underlying fallacies (such as cherry- picking information, a common tactic of climate change deniers.

5. Mobilize when you see misinformation being shared on social media as soon as possible. If you see something, say something.

"Misinformation is any information that is incorrect, whether due to error or fake news.

"Disinformation is deliberately intended to deceive."

"Propaganda is disinformation with a political agenda."

Sander van der Linden
Social Psychologist
University of Cambridge

Source: Science News/May 8, 2021 & May 22, 2021

Update: September 22, 2023: This is more important now than ever. Be vigilant and speak in your own way. Love Wins.

Update:  McQuade, Barbara, "Attack From Within," 2024.  New York Times best seller.

I’ve been slow to write over the last few weeks. It’s been kind of busy living life. Writing about it has taken a back seat.

So much information coming from so many sources. Some of the sources of highly questionable veracity. One of the sources that I use on a daily basis is my paper (real paper) copy of The San Jose Mercury News.

Just for fun I thought I’d start from the front page and make a list of the headlines from front to back.

P.1
Land Back in Tribal Hands
Record set by VTA1 on Sunday
Campaign donations pour in for Mahan2
ICE Chief defends actions of officers

P.2
Spanish skater says it 'amazing to bring Minions to Olympics
Gray wolf spotted for first time in 100 years3
Filoplume is nature's super feather

P.3
GOP suit for census is under scrutiny4
Lutnick5 acknowledges meetings with Epstein
Epstein files reveal efforts to build ties with officials in Russia
Congressional leaders say ICE deal is still possible
Waltz6:  Immigration crackdown in Minnesota could end within days

P.4
10 Dead in separate Canada shootings
Israeli drone strike kills pair in Gaza as death toll mounts despite ceasefire
Russia can't attack NATO this year but plans to boost it forces, officials7 say
Rainbow flag at the Stonewall National Monument removed
EPA8 to nix scientific funding affecting U.S. climate policy

P.5
Completion of earlier headline stories

P.6 Opinion Page

Will state's9 lawmakers break promise to sex abuse victims?/John Manly
Why sociology deserves to be in classrooms/Wendy Nelson Espeland
Letters to the editor
   Preventable crashes are not mere 'accidents'
   Epstein, Trump share an unsavory trait
   Instead of wealth tax bring back estate tax

P.7 Opinion Page

Asia's rapid rise shows power of education/Nicholas D. Kristof
______________________________

1 local transportation agency, Valley Transportation Authority
2 local mayor running for governor of California
3 in Los Angeles County
4 Conservative American political party's attempt to prohibit the counting of people in the U.S. illegally during the 2030 Census.
5 Commerce Secretary Howard
6 Minnesota governor Tim
7 Kaupo Rosin, head of Estonia's foreign intelligence service
8 Environmental Protection Agency
9 State of California

I trust the staff of the San Jose Mercury News to truthfully and factually report on stories that they feel are the most important on any given day. Of the 16 news stories from Pp. 1-4, how many do you think are related to policies of the current United States Government? I count 11 for me. Can you guess which ones? Did you find more? Did you find fewer?

On the Bright Side

• La Migra didn’t show up at the Super Bowl.

Before you go on, an article in the May 8 & May 22, 2021 issue of Science News ran with a cover "Awash in Deception: How science can help us avoid being duped by misinformation." In the lead article titled: "The Battle Against Fake News," Alexandra Witze presents five suggestions on how to debunk bad information. They come from the News Literacy Project (see the above link).

How to Debunk:

1. Arm yourself with media literacy skills, at sites such as the News Literacy Project (newslit.org), to better understand how to spot hoax videos and stories.

2. Don't stigmatize people for holding inaccurate beliefs. Show empathy and respect, or you're more likely to alienate your audience than successfully share accurate information.

3. Translate complicated but true ideas into simple messages that are easy to grasp. Videos, graphics and other visual aids can help.

4. When possible, once you provide a factual alternative to the misinformation, explain the underlying fallacies (such as cherry- picking information, a common tactic of climate change deniers.

5. Mobilize when you see misinformation being shared on social media as soon as possible. If you see something, say something.

"Misinformation is any information that is incorrect, whether due to error or fake news.

"Disinformation is deliberately intended to deceive."

"Propaganda is disinformation with a political agenda."

Sander van der Linden
Social Psychologist
University of Cambridge

Source: Science News/May 8, 2021 & May 22, 2021

Update: September 22, 2023: This is more important now than ever. Be vigilant and speak in your own way. Love Wins.

Update:  McQuade, Barbara, "Attack From Within," 2024.  New York Times best seller.

Is it any surprise that the new year starts off with the current U.S. administration invading a sovereign country and kidnapping it’s dictator and federal officers shooting three people and killing one of them?

We all should have seen this coming. The House of Representatives back in session and Speaker Mike Johnson is faced with the uncomfortable reality of enforcing the law that his own House passed with a veto proof majority on the release of all of the Epstein files. The president’s men (and women) are scrambling to divert attention away from the files and the flies buzzing around them. But, as Trump Biographer Michael Wolff points out, he can’t avoid them forever.

What is there in the files that AG Pam Bondi had (and better still have) on her desk that she was so anxious to share before she found that her boss was prominently mentioned in them? Suddenly those files got buried under a mountain of other paperwork on Bondi’s desk. Funny how things disappear so conveniently.

We haven’t heard much from the AG of late. I guess she and her staff are busy going through Black ink at a prolific rate that is enriching the folks that provide black ink to the Federal Government. We mustn’t have any mention or any inferential information that could reflect badly on #45/47.

I will try to resist the temptation to say that everything coming out of Washington D.C. in 2026 is a lie, but I will make an estimate that about 99.9999999999999999999% of what is coming from the mouths and keypads of Republican “leadership” is not the truth. Call it what you will, but it falls short of being the truth.

This all out New Year’s blitz of bullshit: Venezuela and Maduro, I.C.E. shootings and intimidation, vaccination changes, show of military force around the world. The folks that are bringing this onslaught of force are the same folks that brought the source of this crap and that is Project 2025.

So why is the manure load so thick right now?

I equate the current situation for the 47 Administration to be similar to the situation faced by the Nazis in December of 1944. The war was going badly when, out of desperation, the Nazis made a last ditch blitzkrieg-style attack on the thin American lines in the Ardennes Forest of Belgium. The all-out attack created a bulge in the American lines, but ultimately reinforcements arrived and the attack was repulsed. Six months later the war in Europe would be over.

Coming into the new year, 47’s poll numbers were down, pressure to release the Epstein files had resulted in a law requiring him to release all the files held by the FBI, people were hitting the streets in large numbers to express their displeasure with rising costs, costly foreign entanglements and unjust immigration enforcement policies.

So what is president to do when things are going badly for them. Perhaps invade a country, intimidate people hitting the streets with the threat of violence, change vaccination policies, flip the food pyramid an it’s tip, hijack tankers, bomb foreign countries, tear down half the White House.

Did I miss anything?

In the first 1 1/2 weeks of 2026, Trump seems to have unleashed his inner Nazi last ditch everything but the kitchen sink attack on anything that might divert attention from the one thing that could bring his great big House of Cards presidency floating to the ground, the files on the late sex trafficker Jeffrey Epstein. One last all out assault in an attempt to stay in power.

It didn’t work for Hitler and I predict that it won’t work for 47.

On the Bright Side

• There’s a lot of good and true stuff out and around social media and the internet. May you find it in your wanderings… By the way, thanks for reading my thoughts. I do think and read a lot.
• Keep your eyes on the prize: 2026 Elections
• Quiz 1: Who said this: “Venezuela doesn’t need protection anymore from the thugs and extortionists who have held them hostage for so many years. Venezuela now has the United States of America, the most powerful military in the world (by far!), to protect them, and protect them we will.” The hint is in the parenthesis.
• Quiz 2: Who’s going to protect the United States of America from the thugs and extortionists who have the largest military in the world? Answer: We are.
• Now that I.C.E. has been outed as 47’s paramilitary goon squad, what will they do next?
• Maybe American protestors should pose as Iranians. Maybe we could fool 47 into coming to our rescue.
• I joined 25 others in posting a banner over Hwy 17 yesterday that read: “Justice for Renee.”

Peacefully resist

Before you go on, an article in the May 8 & May 22, 2021 issue of Science News ran with a cover "Awash in Deception: How science can help us avoid being duped by misinformation." In the lead article titled: "The Battle Against Fake News," Alexandra Witze presents five suggestions on how to debunk bad information. They come from the News Literacy Project (see the above link).

How to Debunk:

1. Arm yourself with media literacy skills, at sites such as the News Literacy Project (newslit.org), to better understand how to spot hoax videos and stories.

2. Don't stigmatize people for holding inaccurate beliefs. Show empathy and respect, or you're more likely to alienate your audience than successfully share accurate information.

3. Translate complicated but true ideas into simple messages that are easy to grasp. Videos, graphics and other visual aids can help.

4. When possible, once you provide a factual alternative to the misinformation, explain the underlying fallacies (such as cherry- picking information, a common tactic of climate change deniers.

5. Mobilize when you see misinformation being shared on social media as soon as possible. If you see something, say something.

"Misinformation is any information that is incorrect, whether due to error or fake news.

"Disinformation is deliberately intended to deceive."

"Propaganda is disinformation with a political agenda."

Sander van der Linden
Social Psychologist
University of Cambridge

Source: Science News/May 8, 2021 & May 22, 2021

Update: September 22, 2023: This is more important now than ever. Be vigilant and speak in your own way. Love Wins.

Update:  McQuade, Barbara, "Attack From Within," 2024.  New York Times best seller.

Today’s entertainment is “Name That Billionaire.” Match the name of this 47 appointee with the short description below. This group is the wealthiest group of cabinet members and advisors in the history of the U.S. presidency. Some members of this group are no longer in the Administration.

1. Pharmaceutical Founder/Co-lead of the Dept. of Government Efficiency (DOGE)

2. Founder of Shift4; Appointed as NASA Administrator

3. Head of Cantor Fitzgerald

4. Founder of Tesla and SpaceX/Co-lead of DOGE. Commonly viewed as an unhinged asshole.

5. Real Estate Developer, Convicted felon, father of Ivanka’s husband. Pardoned by 47.

6. CEO of Stephens Inc.

7. Restauranteur and owner of Landry’s, the Houston Rockets, the Golden Nugget and Wynns.

8. Former WWE Executive and married to a guy worth $3.3 Billion.

9. Hedge Fund founder and Treasury Secretary

10. Former CEO of Fiserv/Social Security Administration

11. Real Estate Investor

12. Tech entrepeneur and former governor of North Dakota

13. Georgia businesswoman named to head Small Business Administration (the loneliest job in Washington. Faced charges for insider trading during her time in the Senate.

*14. Retired Middle School teacher, blogger, singer.

__________________________________________

a. Jared Isaacman

b. Vivek Ramaswamy

c. Tilman Fertitta

d. Elon Musk

e. Kelly Loeffler

f. Doug Burgum

g. Scott Bessent

h. Howard Lutnick

i. Linda McMahon

j. Steve Witkoff

k. Warren Stephens

l. Charles Kushner

m. Frank Bisignano

n. Bruce Halen*

I had a little trouble narrowing down this list. The list changed from week to week. after the ’24 election. Suffice to say that the swamp has been ably filled with mega rich folks committed to making themselves richer.

On the Bright Side

• We have the ability to conduct a sophisticated military operation to “arrest” the leader of a sovereign nation other than our own, but we can’t seem to arrest the felon that is right under our noses in plain sight. Why is that?
• The 47s better figure out how to finish the job they started before we overthrow them and charge the leaders with Sedition. The Supreme Court had best brace itself. The real power is coming from down here and not up there.
• Trump is hinting at no election in 2026. Has he told Flyover country about this yet?
• Keep your eyes on the prize: The Epstein Files and the 2026 Elections. The rest is smoke-and-mirrors fiction. Stay focused.
• Take care of your non-Christian, non-Caucasian and non-Binary friends and relatives. They can’t make us not care. They can try to ban words, ban books and ban ideas but history will once again prove that you can’t whitewash the human spirit.

Pinterest (free)

*Probably not

Before you go on, an article in the May 8 & May 22, 2021 issue of Science News ran with a cover "Awash in Deception: How science can help us avoid being duped by misinformation." In the lead article titled: "The Battle Against Fake News," Alexandra Witze presents five suggestions on how to debunk bad information. They come from the News Literacy Project (see the above link).

How to Debunk:

1. Arm yourself with media literacy skills, at sites such as the News Literacy Project (newslit.org), to better understand how to spot hoax videos and stories.

2. Don't stigmatize people for holding inaccurate beliefs. Show empathy and respect, or you're more likely to alienate your audience than successfully share accurate information.

3. Translate complicated but true ideas into simple messages that are easy to grasp. Videos, graphics and other visual aids can help.

4. When possible, once you provide a factual alternative to the misinformation, explain the underlying fallacies (such as cherry- picking information, a common tactic of climate change deniers.

5. Mobilize when you see misinformation being shared on social media as soon as possible. If you see something, say something.

"Misinformation is any information that is incorrect, whether due to error or fake news.

"Disinformation is deliberately intended to deceive."

"Propaganda is disinformation with a political agenda."

Sander van der Linden
Social Psychologist
University of Cambridge

Source: Science News/May 8, 2021 & May 22, 2021

Update: September 22, 2023: This is more important now than ever. Be vigilant and speak in your own way. Love Wins.

Update:  McQuade, Barbara, "Attack From Within," 2024.  New York Times best seller.

I probably shouldn’t write when I’m worked up. I’ve gotten better at turning down the volume on the Right Wing disinformation machine and filtering out the distraction bait that comes out daily. There’s nothing much that I can do about someone else’s opinion. But, I can decide how I respond to the bait. If I choose to take it and get all excited, shame on me. If I don’t take the bait, I can focus my mind on changing things at my level and skillset. I’m of more use when I keep my emotions under control.

For the sake of my own coping with the daily misinformation and disinformation, I need to put down what I see in writing. This blog is mostly for me, but I enjoy knowing that some of you are following my humble opinion pieces.

Ken Burns has turned out another masterpiece of a documentary called The Revolution. In twelve hours Burns tells the story of what we call the American Revolution. Some things I knew but most things were new. It covered the period from 1763 to 1787 using re-enactments, historian commentaries, letters and writings from Native Americans, Loyalists and Rebels, and some facts that were difficult to accept as coming from the founders of this country.

But, as Burns points out, historical figures are human beings. They are imperfect, nuanced and subject to the norms of their times. The Rebels weren’t all good and the Imperialist British weren’t all bad. History is better when it is told by all parties involved which is seldom the case. History is usually told from the perspective of the victors.

Brief interruption for a community service. Being able to act on my morals feels good and apparently good at diffusing anger

What I started this post to say was that Medusa-like faces of falsehood pop up on a lot of different heads. They talk about the war with Venezuela that isn’t a war. They dismiss science in talking about Hepatitis vaccine for infants . They talk about Ballrooms at the Whitehouse. They talk about awards for despots. They threaten real American patriots who speak truth to power. They treat Saudi princes that murder American journalists like heroes. They use vile bigoted language to describe human beings that don’t have the same pale colored skin that they do. They claim to be Christian without any visible signs of representing Jesus Christ. The hypocrisy is thick and constant.

That list could go on for some considerable length of time and space.

I put in the reference to The Revolution because it offers a clear reminder to us about what this country was created to do. You’ll have to watch the series to more fully understand what I’m saying here. You’ll have to go past the stereotypes to see that despite being the elite privileged white men of their times, these men had a vision that transcended the slave dependent agricultural economy that brought them their wealth. Even their despicable treatment of Native Americans was, at least partly forgivable.

The document that they created for the United States of America was written to be a living document. It acknowledged that they were not in any way expecting that the future world would be the same as theirs.

So, they included a mechanism for amending the Constitution if the original document wasn’t working as it was intended to work. So, the arguments of the “Originalists” on the Supreme Court should fall on deaf ears. The words written in the late 19th Century were provisioned to allow future generations of Americans to meet the needs of their times.

“We the people…” was intended to include all people, not just land owning white men. It appears that they wanted “all people created equal,” but needed to maintain the slave-dependent economy of the day or risk losing the budding democracy that they had fought to create in order that one day ‘all people’ meant just what it says, ALL people.

They knew that “to create a more perfect union” meant that the union that they had started was a work constantly in progress, was not perfect, maybe not even great, but always allowing for the best interests of the people of the United States of America. They wrote an incredible document to transcend time and space.

Today, that document is under attack. There is no good reason for it to be under attack. The people attacking it falsely claim to be protecting The Constitution. They claim to be the party of law and order when in reality the stand for no law and disorder. Precedent doesn’t seem to matter to the highest court in the land. They simply make up the law as it benefits their political benefactors.

This hypocrisy is tantamount to sedition and should be treated as such at all three levels of government. “We the People” need to continue to speak up against the false narrative spinners.

On the Bright Side

Clay Bennett, Chattanooga Times Free Press (Thanks Hal)

As my Grandmother used to say, “This too shall pass.” My corollary to what my grandmother used to say, This too shall pass…with a little help.”

Keep smiling.

Smiley png

Before you go on, an article in the May 8 & May 22, 2021 issue of Science News ran with a cover "Awash in Deception: How science can help us avoid being duped by misinformation." In the lead article titled: "The Battle Against Fake News," Alexandra Witze presents five suggestions on how to debunk bad information. They come from the News Literacy Project (see the above link).

How to Debunk:

1. Arm yourself with media literacy skills, at sites such as the News Literacy Project (newslit.org), to better understand how to spot hoax videos and stories.

2. Don't stigmatize people for holding inaccurate beliefs. Show empathy and respect, or you're more likely to alienate your audience than successfully share accurate information.

3. Translate complicated but true ideas into simple messages that are easy to grasp. Videos, graphics and other visual aids can help.

4. When possible, once you provide a factual alternative to the misinformation, explain the underlying fallacies (such as cherry- picking information, a common tactic of climate change deniers.

5. Mobilize when you see misinformation being shared on social media as soon as possible. If you see something, say something.

"Misinformation is any information that is incorrect, whether due to error or fake news.

"Disinformation is deliberately intended to deceive."

"Propaganda is disinformation with a political agenda."

Sander van der Linden
Social Psychologist
University of Cambridge

Source: Science News/May 8, 2021 & May 22, 2021

Update: September 22, 2023: This is more important now than ever. Be vigilant and speak in your own way. Love Wins.

Update:  McQuade, Barbara, "Attack From Within," 2024.  New York Times best seller.

The weather in San Jose, California today was sunny and comfortably warm through the midday and mid-afternoon. It was my task today to be around home waiting for someone to come who never came.

It’s ok. Because in waiting around home on a beautiful day, I spent a good deal of time outside in the front yard pulling weeds and relocating pebbles back onto their stone path from whence they came.

Pulling weeds and relocating pebbles was the excuse to be outside. It turns out that the reason for being outside was to be with my neighbors.

A young dog without an owner in sight wandered around the yard. I cautiously approached her (her tag said “Nola” which I presumed to be a female name). Once I was awarded her trust, I turned her tag around and found the number for her owner which turned out to be our neighbor from two doors down. It gets better. I was starting to walk Nola back to her home by the collar. Another neighbor, seeing my struggles, brought over a leash for me to use to get Nola home. One good turn deserves another it seems.

I had a chat with Nola’s owner as I returned the wayward pup to her home. We’ve had a couple of those chats lately.

Another friend who owns the house next door but lives in another house was sitting on the sidewalk pulling weeds in her garden. She was having a rough day and being outside on a beautiful day was just what she needed. We had a nice conversation on the benefits of being outside on a beautiful day and then returned to pulling weeds and relocating pebbles.

As we were both finishing up whatever we were going to do, we got to talking about our human purpose . She said her purpose each day is to make someone happy. I agreed and we both accomplished our goal for the day.

Appreciate your neighbors. I know that it’s hard for people that work. Even in retirement it’s often difficult to connect with people that live just steps away. Sometimes the weather gets in the way.

Tomorrow and the next day and the next day after that , make a point to make yourself available by being available for your neighbors. I believe good things will happen if you do.

Lenticular Cloud and Mt. Shasta in Northern California on November 29, 2025 on the way home from Thanksgiving in Williams, Oregon

Happy Holidays to you and yours and to borrow a line from the wonderful play “Over the River and Through the Woods” that we saw last weekend: Tenga Familia!

Bruce

https://youtu.be/8W-lVRQQGtI?si=U6J_hUR9hNFgLz5s

Robert Reich's Five Point Plan for the 2026 Election

To you followers who aren’t baseball fans I offer my sympathies. This is going to be about baseball…again. My heartfelt apologies…sort of.

Note:  The reason I bring up the Astros is that in all of the videos and commentaries that I watched and/or listened to since the end of the series (and I have watched at least 25 of them) didn't broach this subject. Probably because what I propose is nothing more than an undocumented conspiracy theory hatched in the mind of a retired middle school teacher from California.  But, you should still read it because it is at least just a little interesting...

It is a game that I consider the best game ever. The seventh game of this WS was considered by many commentators (and there are lots of them on YouTube) to be the best game in the history of the Best Game. If you had the opportunity to see this year’s World Series between the Los Angeles Dodgers and the Toronto Blue Jays you were treated to a lot more than just the color blue.

For much of the series, Toronto looked like the better team. They hit better and pitched better (most of the time) . But, as the last out was recorded in the 11th Inning of the deciding Game 7, it was the Dodgers doing the celebrating as the World Champions of Major League Baseball.

There were so many moments , so many plays that went against the Blue Jays at key moments that it boggles my simple mind. I think it even boggled the mind of more complex and capable minds. They were on the cusp of a WS title multiple times in Games 6 and 7. It was insanely hard to watch as a Dodgers fan. I can’t even begin to imagine how hard it was for a Blue Jays fan to watch those last two games. It’s almost like the Blue Jays were destined to lose.

I have a soft spot in my heart for a good conspiracy theory. This isn’t exactly a conspiracy theory, but it is equally non-quantifiable and non-evidentiary.

The Blue Jays were statistically the better team throughout the seven games of this World Series. So, why did they lose?

Buckle up because it’s about to get weird here. The Blue jays lost because George Springer was on their team. George Springer is a great player. He had a great year. He played through pain to produce several hits in the series and played his heart out.

So why did the Blue Jays lose because of George Springer if he did such a good job? George Springer was a member of the 2017 Houston Astros. The 2017 Astros won the World Series. The 2017 Houston Astros cheated on their way to that World Series title. Watch the PBS Frontline episode on the scandal that is forever a scar on the game of baseball.

Many people who follow the game, including myself, belief that justice was never done for the victims of the Astros cheating. The Dodgers were on the losing end of the World Series in 2017 and were one their the victims.

The Astros got caught in the act. Yet, Astros never received any quantifiable punishment for their actions. The Commissioner of Baseball allowed them to keep their World Series Championship. The Trophy, the rings. All the bling that goes with winning the championship.

I think that justice is now being served on any current or ex-Astro that was a part of that 2017 team. There is absolutely no way to prove that there is an Astros Curse except to keep an eye on the career paths of anyone associated with that team in any capacity. Players, coaches, Manager, General Manager, or Owner. Only time will tell if my theory is valid or not.

But, this series provides some juicy food for thought. I personally will continue to boo the Astros whenever I get a chance. Maybe I’ll go to Sacramento when the Astros are in town just so I can boo them in person once again. In my mind, the organization will always be associated with cheating, with not playing the game the right way, with crossing the line between trying to gain a competitive advantage to outright cheating.

I’m a firm believer in the adage that “the arc of the moral universe bends toward justice.”

Another analogy for my thesis is that of the compass. In the natural world we have the magnetic compass (which our entire planet is). Even in the world of Science, even the seemingly unchangeable is changeable. North can become South every now and then. Then there’s the moral compass. The moral compass is much more changeable than the magnetic compass because it is not based on scientific evidence. It is based on the human beings in charge at the moment.

The 2017 Houston Astros messed up the moral compass of Major League Baseball. Their deeds were reprehensible by almost any measure of morality. Caution: the definition of morality here is from the Stanford Dictionary of Philosophy. Apparently MLB still has not found its moral compass because the Astros never faced any sanctioned consequences for the immoral actions that they used to win baseball games.

It is because the administrative body of MLB never took action against the Astros for their cheating that members of that team and the teams that they play for now or may play for in the future will have to face the judgement of “the moral arc of the Universe bending toward justice.”

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Can anyone please tell me why eight Democrats chose to sacrifice the health care of the entire country in order to take care of their respective voting constituents? I personally find their decision to be an abdication of their duties as United States senators.

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On the Bright Side

Maybe the eight senators were acting in the best interests of the country by forcing the House of Representatives back into session to vote on the Budget. Now that Rep.-elect Adelita Grijalva (D-AZ) must now be sworn in by House Squeeker Mike Johnson, maybe we can begin the process of getting some answers from the Epstein Files. That kind of has a ring to it. It reminds me of “The X Files.”

https://youtu.be/8W-lVRQQGtI?si=U6J_hUR9hNFgLz5s

Robert Reich's Five Point Plan for the 2026 Election

It’s less than a week since “my” Los Angeles Dodgers won a second consecutive World Series championship by defeating the Toronto Blue Jays in an epic seven game series that provided good entertainment to anyone watching it. That means even any of you don’t consider yourselves fans of the great game of Baseball.

The Dodgers, the team everyone (other than Dodger fans) loves to hate because of their financial status, managed to outlast a Blue Jays team that seemed destined to win. The Jays plucky attitude and ability to put the ball in play had me beginning to question whether “my” team would be able to pull out the win.

In the end, thanks in part to luck, poor base running by the Blue Jays in critical situations, clutch hitting and great defensive plays in games six and seven, the Dodgers emerged with four wins in the seven game series and were once again crowned the best baseball team in the world.

At least the best one that money can buy. I would argue that if players were divided up by nationality as they are in the World Baseball Classic, the title of best team in the world would be subject to question. The Dodgers are owned by the Guggenheim Foundation and are, as described in the linked article “a hedge fund in cleats.”

So, it’s pretty easy to understand why the Dodgers are so unpopular with many fans of other MLB teams, other MLB teams and anyone who believes in everyone starting on a level playing field. When you can buy all the best players, there’s a better than even chance that you are going to win more games than anyone else. That most likely translates into winning the most championships which ensures getting the best players next year because players want to win the World Series and also get paid very well for the opportunity to attain the ballplayers dream of being a world champion.

I’m personally very happy right now. Even though the Dodgers are another example of big money run amuck, they are “my” team.

I’ve been a fan since I was single digits years old. Surrounded by a family of Giant fans, it was a conscious choice to follow the magical voice of the legendary longtime Dodger broadcaster Vin Scully into selecting the Dodgers as my rooting interest in a sport that I grew up playing, listening to and watching.

That won’t change. Even though the Dodgers are no longer the family owned team that I learned to love as a kid, they will always just be the Dodgers to me. Not a hedge fund on cleats, not a bunch of mega rich athletes in it for the money. No, they are Jackie Robinson, Pee Wee Reese, Roy Campanella, Duke Snyder, Maury Wills, Sandy Koufax, Orel Hershiser, Garvey, Russel, Lopes and Cey. And now I can add the names of Andy Pages, Miguel Rojas, Will Klein to the list of Dodger immortals. In a few years, you won’t remember the names of Pages, Rojas or Klein.

But I will.

Go Dodgers and thanks for a month off from the world every October.

And, in case you’re interested, you can relive the 2025 World Series here.