Road Rage and People with Guns

Want to Self-Destruct? It's Easy

Violence is everywhere we look today. How many generations have said that? Not much has changed except the frequency and magnitude. Here are a few things to ponder:

1. ROAD RAGE: Have you experienced this while driving - either the sudden impulse to explode at someone yourself or being the victim of another whose blood was apparently made to boil by you? If you are saying "No" you can leave now. You are a Saint. We all have been there to some degree.

This is probably because all drivers that have acquired a license to drive a vehicle think they are the best drivers on the road. My fault? Not bloody likely. Here are a few habits that really get under my skin. Those who:

a) Refuse to use turn indicators
b) Never completely stop at STOP signs or when turning right on a red light (in my province we can do that.)
c) Those for whom a yellow light means floor it and you will probably not get caught
d) The ones guilty of c) who don't even think about T-boning a car or killing a pedestrian when both of them had the right of way after the light turned red
e) The ones who continue to use Cell phones while driving with one hand
f) Those whose brains seem to malfunction when they enter a parking lot
g) In winter the bozos that don't clean their entire car of snow and ice
h) The really slow drivers - below the speed limit - who are not in the slow lane

I could carry on. But when it is extreme, what is your usual reaction? Flip the finger? Honk the horn? Yell out the window? Follow the person to tailgate them?

There is something about driving that just flips our rage switch. Usually we are in the safety of our vehicle at the time. Store that thought.

2) GUN RAGE: As we have all seen far too many times before a similar thing happens when someone possesses a gun and gets enraged at others. The same switch is flipped! Unlike road rage this tends to happen more with men but when you are the victim, does it matter? Gun shootings do happen throughout the world but America to guns is like Coke or Pepsi to colas - almost synonymous.

So what is the third step mentioned in the heading?

3) If you want to get seriously hurt or killed, especially in America, just remember that that the driver at whom you scream or flip the bird causing them to come after and confront you just might be afflicted by 2).

Step 3: SAME SWITCH! Bang - you're dead.

#thebrewsterblock

Classified Documents: Governments' and Yours

Do you have confidential documents in YOUR house?

Not to belittle the phrase which is profoundly important, but is there going to be a Me Too trend for confidential documents in someone's garage, library, or basement? What a joke this has become. 

One evening on CNN I believe it was #MargaretHoover who hit the nail on the head in my opinion. She opined that it was simple: once out of office people take files home to add legitimacy while they write memoires and books, hoping to make big bucks as authors. If this is true it makes the act even worse. Making money from country secrets is deplorable. In the case of Trump I think he had other reasons.

Having said all that I know that I have violated similar protocols at a corporate level in the past. I also had good intentions. I was taking work home - unpaid work - to get something done in a quiet environment with no interruptions. I felt confident that they would remain safe and secure until their return. This is probably true for many people - until they leave their briefcase on the bus or subway!

It was becoming laughable in America. Instead of spending millions on spy technology, satellites, balloons, and drones, China and aothers should just break into a prominent politicians house or garage. This is grab bag at the highest level - international Cracker Jack! White House fortune cookies!

If you have a Safety Deposit Box at a bank you know how secure procedures are. There are 2 keys required. You have to sign anything in or out. In this case nothing has to be returned but there is a record of visits. It should be easy to do something similar but even more strict within a government. 

Stuff should be read in a locked facility if possible and when finished with them materials should go straight back into a vault, double locked by administrators. If the volume is such that it must be taken from the reading room as homework, records have to be kept including the signature of the reader and a return date has to be agreed upon and tracked.

How does an administrator control or even reprimand the President or Vice President of the country without fear of job loss? How do authorities?

Drop the file Joe a put your hands behind your back! On the floor - NOW! We'll help you back up Mr. President.

Biden: "I had no idea there were any classified documents in my house. I'm serious. No this is no joke ... no joke. Really. Really. I mean this. I'm not being fasetious - fatecious - fasillyous ... I'm not kidding. Just ask Jill."

Trump: "This is another case of the deep state - the FBI gone wild. I read hundreds of documents every night - thousands of documents. More stuff than any President anywhere in history. That's because I have a higher EQ than any other President by far. Besides if there are any they are MINE. I unclassified them. I can do that you know. I can do anything as President. I can just grab them without even asking."

Mike Pence: "It has been recently brought to my attention that it is possible that certain select missives might have been identified in locations that could reasonably be associated with my person. I might not disagree with your contention but I want to assure you that the former President had nothing to do with this and that all procedures and protocols are always followed by my staff. I have also directed them to immediately ..." . Wait. Where are you going?"

#thebresterblock

Ground Hog Day

Famous ground hogs were very unhappy today. 

There are many famous little critters who have their day in the sun (although we usually hope not) around the globe Groundhog - Wikipedia. Some are: Punxsutawney Phil (Pennsylvania); Ms. G (Massachusetts); Tymko (Ukraine); Sir Walter Wally (North Carolina); Quigley (New York); Manitoba Merv (Manitoba); Fred La Marmotte (Québec); Shubenacadie Sam (Nova Scotia); Wiarton Willie (Ontario). Groundhog Day: What did the groundhogs predict for 2023? | CTV News

For the most part especially for gardeners they are a pain on the butt. But today they all have their fifteen minutes of Andy Warhol fame.

In recent years I all of them have had one thought only: "Please put me back and lock the door before somebody shoots me!" It really has nothing to do with the sun. I suggest these rodents are tuned in to social media. With the rise in violence around the globe why leave the safety of their den?

Looks like the little buck-toothed critters' traditional predictions were bang on (no pun intended). It's going down to -20 F in the Toronto area.

One question - I could probably Google it but didn't: Who looks after them all year? Is there a special person assigned to their care or a local zoo? Are they paid (the keepers, not the ground hogs)? 

In Stratford Ontario Stratford famous for it's Theatre Festivals, there are swans on the Avon river - just like England. They have an annual parade for both the bringing out of the swans in spring and later housing them back into their winter compound. It is quite a ritual. Maybe some of these towns have the same thing for ground hogs.

The swans seem to relish the attention and they have comfort in numbers - not so for the den diggers.

One other thing I noticed - they all need those tooth whiteners we see advertised. I think the manufacturers are missing an opportunity for a good commercial.

Sometimes I feel like not venturing outside myself - just because!

#thebrewsterblock

The Supreme court: The Thorn in America's Side - make that Heart

Is the Highest Court in America High on Itself or Something Else?

It is time to make some changes to the American democratic "system", in this case The Supreme Court. Just like diagnosing a car, if you could plug into an American government "chip" I'm sure The Supreme Court would be flagged with a code indicating that repair was needed.

Rumours abound that there is internal squabbling. I'm sure this is not new but the differences are never supposed to be based upon politics. To the public it appears that is exactly what is happenng. Look at the fate of great sports teams when the squabbling gets nasty. Their performance falls apart.

What do you expect when Presidents - most recently Trump but many others before him - try to stack the deck in their party's favour? It is supposed to be the last impartial pillar on which the American three part system can rely. Can they do so any longer? That is questionable.

I have suggested before that the court needs to change. It will not be easy but the American system was designed without easy in mind. It should be difficult but doable. Who will take on the challenge?

Here is this author's suggestions as one who has never been a professional politician and who is not American. They apply to the appointment process and the term served by a judge. The objectives are to limit the term any one judge can serve and to attempt to maintain an even split of party appointments. The same should apply to any other Supreme Court appointments in the land:

1. There must always be an odd number of judges. Today there are 9.
2. Just as there is today there will be one Chief Justice to break any split decisions.
3. Judges continue to be appointed but not for life. They will serve for a minimum of 4 years but a maximum of 8 net years. After four years a judge can be replaced by the President. (If a judge is off for 6 months that will not count against their total.)
4. Each new President gets to appoint a maximum of 4 Supreme Court judges (currently) or 50% of the court, excluding the Chief Justice. However if no judge has served their minimum 4 years, no appointments will be permitted until that time.
5. The only exceptions would be if a judge retires, dies, or is incapacitated.
6. If a President wins a 2nd 4 year term and they want to appoint new judges, they will have to replace judges who have served their minimum four years and who were appointed by their own party.
7. During the approval process for a new judge, only a fixed number of rejections (to be determined) of individuals will be permitted. Once the maximum is reached, the President is free to make the appointment.

This would be far from perfect. The transition would take several years. Those who already sit thought they had an esteemed position with great pay for life. If removed they will likely have to be paid out.

It should work towards balancing out the numbers of red and blue judges and could be extended to any additional parties in the future. It should also make existing judges thinks twice about politically motivated decisions.

This will not please everyone but it deserves its day in court! If you object please leave constructive comments below.

#thebrewsterblock

The Climate Warming Warning Light is ON.

Giuliani for Mayer of Renewable Energy!!

I just posted a Tweet that is worth repeating:

"I am reading an article that says this January has had the highest temperatures on record in many European countries. Still we do nothing but talk. This is like ignoring the Check Engine Light on your car or removing the fuse for its warning indicator panel."

Are we all deaf, blind, selfish, or just stupid? The answer is probably all of those adjectives. If I have to pick one it is SELFISH. It won't become a disaster in our lifetimes so we will enjoy our lives while we can. Then it is somebody else's problem - like our kids'.

2023 Nomination for Speaker of The House

The System is Rigged - against the Riggers

You have to laugh. Kevin McCarthy is now suffering a major crisis in his own party during the nomination for a new Speaker of The House. He thought he was a shoe in - just like Trump. Now the fix is really in - against HIM. No Democrats needed.

Looks good on him after condemning Trump and then kissing his "ring". Nancy must really be enjoying the show. That's EXACTLY what it has become - a show. a B-grade movie. No need for cartoons - the whole thing is a cartoon.

Did you hear some of the nominators giving their little speech before naming their nominee? Jim Jordan ranting about how people in the current administration who were never elected are running the show and exercising too much power. Excuse me? The brains behind the entire Trump administration were all unelected. ("Behind" -  reminds me of where The Donald's own gray matter often  resides.) Several of his team were close family members. Are we forgetting Kelly Anne Conway; Roger Stone; Rudy Giuliani; Steve Bannon; John Bolton; Ivanka Trump to name a few. Every President has a cabinet of about 15 people as advisors. None are elected. This is nothing new.

Then there was Jordan's recommitment to investigate everyone in a blue outfit, just to get back at "the other side". He wants a hearing on Dr. Anthony Fauci. Why not subpoena The Pope or any of the current evangelists in his own country? This guy is nuttier than a fruitcake.

Best Holiday wishes to all, Religions aside

 A Very Happy ---- and a Very Merry ----

In extending my best wishes to people around the world, it is sad but I have be concerned that I might offend someone or some group with what they perceive to be an inappropriate greeting. How can this be?

At this time and on many other occasions like festive days and holy days throughout the year, people celebrate and give Thanks. If you are truly faithful - no matter what the faith - I am including you in my wishes. It might not be the best time to do so according to YOUR beliefs and customs. In that case I apologize. To me however this is like greeting someone on the street with a simple Hello despite not knowing their name or where they are from. I appreciate such an initiative from a stranger and I hope that they feel the same. Religion and a God? Both have nothing to do with it.

Sadly not everyone feels the same. Somebody will get upset at a word - like Christmas, or a symbol - like a tree. You are the problem, not my greeting. If someone wishes me a Happy Hanukkah I am grateful even though I know little about Hanukkah. Today I received a greeting from one of my oldest friends - Happy Hogmanay. It is apparently well celebrated in Scotland - his heritage. So as well as being grateful, I learned something this Christmas! I had to GOOGLE it - did you?

More than many recent years, this is one for those who are lucky enough to be enjoying their lives - to REALLY be grateful and to wish from the bottom of their hearts - with or without prayer - a better life and future for so many others.

Off the top I am going to make a list of several things in the last few years that were unique and horrible. I ask you to do the same. Then use whatever means you choose to wish some of them away. I will stop at 10

1. COVID-19 and all the hardships and division it brought
2. The horrific and unjustified attack on Ukraine
3. Brutal - and I mean REALLY brutal weather events and their cause: climate change since the industrial revolution
4. The death of The Queen. This is questionable to some, but the very fact that I only have to say THE QUEEN to identify her speaks volumes. She was overall a good person in a difficult role
5. The return to the rise of extreme dictators and autocrats. They purport to be helping their fellow man but are really only helping themselves - usually men
6. Severe financial crises for many
7. The threat of international war
8. In particular in the USA but also around the world major threats to freedom
9. The continuing attack on many species throughout the world either by massive killing or destruction of their environments
10. Pollution caused by only one of the species "Homo Sapiens": Human Beings.

That's my spontaneous list. What is yours?

I don't have a lot of material wealth but I am warm, live in a house that I co-own and tomorrow will celebrate - in my case Christmas - with bountiful food and drink. I would not classify myself as faithful but I will make an appeal - not a prayer - to any and all powers beyond myself. There are hundreds of thousands of people out there with next to nothing. Some will freeze to death tonight and tomorrow - December 25th, 2022. Elsewhere many will starve and die of dehydration or disease. They really have no future compared to the rest of us.

So please share some of the bounty you have bestowed upon us with as many as you can of them. I don't know what they ever did to deserve their fate. Some of them just want a chance to have what we have. Others have no idea what we have and never will. If that story about feeding the masses with a few fish and some bread is true, how bout doing it again - big time?

If Christ was sacrificed on behalf of all of us and our evil, we haven't learned much from it. 

There is MY wish. It comes from my brain - the one the powers that be gave me. I hope they at least recognize its sincerity.


#thebrewsterblock.

America's Second Amendment.

The sun rose today in America - so did mass killings

If you are a writer and can't come up with a newsworthy item, America's gun sickness is always a fallback. I have resorted to it several times. People - except those who experienced the loss of loved ones - are now at the yawning, "what else is new?" stage. "Imagine all the people Livin' life in peace ..."

It has always been tough to actually do something about guns in America. I want to say gun problem - so does virtually every other country on earth - but most who own guns don't see it that way. The odd time people who have lost family members join the hue and cry - but they still won't give up their own guns.

We have all heard the same old comebacks which owners try to push and will never change. Guns don't kill people - people kill people. I have never seen a robotic gun wander into a store, home, hall etc. on its own and then slaughter a bunch of people. It might come one day and I have no doubt the same proud owners will buy one. But right now it is always a person who is operating those killing machines. NRA loved to push stopping bad guys with guns with more good guys with guns. They would be delighted if clergymen and clergywomen hid guns under their garments in church while preaching, performing marriages, or funerals. We all know why - it sells more guns.

I live in Canada and apparently 

Freedom of the Press

Bang Bang Chitty Twitty Bang Bang!

The earth just shook, or was it the arrival of you know who back on Twitter. Now he has some competition in the form of its new owner. Is Elon trying to restore the internal workings of the Donald's fav. platform with a little Musk oil or is it really snake oil in disguise?

If you Google musk oil there is a lot to read. I digress - get used to it now that The Donald is back. This is a link that talks about the original oil from the glands of the Himalayan musk dear, a practice banned since 1979. However the more recent artificial varieties claim to cure as many things as good old snake oil did.
Musk Essential Oil: Benefits, Uses, and Precautions - Naturally Daily

For those who think that like musk, a man's sweat turns women on, read this one! Once it turns foul, and it does very quickly, it turns everybody off!
The Smell Report - Sexual Attraction. (sirc.org)

Many including me blame social media as a catalyst for today's rage. Without doubt this is true. But social media is just an instant version of slower media forms of the past like radio, TV, newspapers, and magazines. The constant throughout is that bad news sells better than good news. Tabloids often outsold more academic papers because they were all that the common working person could handle. These people had a need to become emotional about something - usually sex or bad news! Sad but true.

This claim is proven by the number of traditional newspapers that have shut their doors. The entire model is too slow including the advertising that was their lifeblood. It is sad but at least everybody is better off without the wasted paper - unless you were in the logging or pulp and paper business.

The Steve Bannons, Donald Trumps, and right winged extremist groups have known forever that bad new sells. If there is none just make up something. Media barons like the Hearsts and the Murdochs made their fortunes with the same insight. I would maintain that throughout history those who were permitted to learn how to write including priests, knew how to bamboozle the few with basic reading skills. It is still a fact of life today.

Social media takes advantage of individual laziness and apathy towards articles that make you think. People would rather be entertained.

So I have always wondered whether a newspaper or web company could make a profit by establishing a reputation for publishing or broadcasting only good news. That is naturally very subjective but its team of editors would have to agree that items published passed their internal standard. They had to be uplifting. They had to foster hope.

Again I Googled "Good News Media" and found that others did have the same ideas and beat me to it back in 1997! See About GNN - Good News Network. I shall have to read some of their materials to see if my mood changes for the better. Check it out for yourselves.

I don't know what their fact checking and editorial processes are but there is always a danger that fake news can creep into good news sites as well. That is ironic but sadly true. Congratulations to the founders. They have been around a long time.

I bet most of you had not heard of them or visited their website either. I'll let you know how I make out.

#thebrewsterblock

Republican Wave just a Ripple

Trump Gives America an Early Christmas Present

Let's face it, these mid-term elections fooled everybody, including me. Some counts are still ongoing today (Nov. 12) but the big red sweep just didn't happen. Many blame Trump and the continuation of the Big Lie. I agree with that but hopefully it goes deeper.

We hear it daily now - that perhaps DJT is fast becoming just an image in a rear view mirror - you know the ones - that appear larger than they really are. We can only hope. The tantrums, name calling, and blaming of everybody else has ramped up once again but it appears that many American voters on both sides have had enough. He has lost too many times for his party and many of its members are recognizing it. His MEGA base never will. They really don't follow politics, policies, or platforms. They only follow Donald.

It has been written here more than once that I think the great American experiment with democracy is failing and might even crash with more clashes of violence like January 6th. That could still happen and those who claim to be religious or people of faith can only pray that it doesn't. 

Many of those people of faith are the same ones prepared to use their assault rifles against anyone they don't like. They have even threatened to torture individuals in lowly positions like school boards and election counters. But maybe - a great big MAYBE - the overall country has had enough of the school yard antics displayed by their elected and publicly funded leaders. 

A telling point will be when Steve Bannon gets back to stoking his hatred. For now though this election provides some optimism. Those who are trying to save face by saying that it is nuts for Democrats to celebrate losing anything  just don't get it. Actually they probably do - they are just loath to acknowledge reality.

You absolutely know that sore losers in normally red districts are going to holler that the fix is in again. It has already started. This time however, there were lots of observers of both parties in key counting stations. 

Gerrymandering is still alive and well - see The 12 Most Gerrymandered Districts In America (ranker.com). or These maps show how Republicans are blatantly rigging elections | US voting rights | The Guardian. Despite this voters smacked Trump's tactics down. What remains to be seen is whether certain states now try to overturn results by hook or by crook.

Hopefully Lady Liberty is wearing a slight smile way up there where we can't really see it. Biden certainly is and probably DeSantis. I am no fan of Ron but would take him over The Donald any day. We can only hope that many of the more traditionally minded Republicans feel the same.

C'mon Liz Cheney. Start that new party. You will surely do better than the Tea Party did. At least it will split the Red vote and once that happens many of the GOP's best will jump on board. The country needs it. 

A lot of Americans who still love their country feel that they just received an early present. Open it early and celebrate.

#thebrewsterblock