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

Will the American mid-terms be Aftershocks or a Tsunami?

Hate will win the mid-term U.S. Elections

It is tragic but American elections have degraded to the point that the party that generates the most hate will win - both these mid-terms and in 2024. Imagine that! This is supposedly the "model" of a true democracy. It was - as long as white Anglo-Saxons had all the money and power while visible minorities remained just that and kept their mouths shut.

I have always leaned towards small "c" conservative values but they seem to be disappearing - globally. As an outsider looking in along with the rest of the world I do think the Democrats have moved a little too far left but not to the degree that the Republicans - even the non-MAGA ones - have moved in droves to the extreme right.

I just saw a headline that made me shake my head. Apparently Laura Ingraham on FOX (sorry but I can't say "NEWS" - it is not. See LAURA INGRAHAM: Last night was 'embarrassing' for the president | Fox News). It contains this: "Bottom line, I can't think of anything more irresponsible than a president who tells the world that America is a democracy only if his party wins." Are you seeing where I am going yet?

There is more drivel but this is apparently her personal opinion which she is trying to get you to absorb. Welcome to free speech and a free press. Under Trump it will probably disappear. That's the first salient point. The main problem with her verbal meanderings is that the leader of the party she and her network love to love stated openly before hundreds of millions of people that the only way he could possibly lose is if the 2020 elections were rigged! And he started this rant long before the election.

Did the Yankees claim the series was rigged because they could not lose unless it was?

As most intelligent people now know, this was complete bullshit. Even its architect Steve Bannon admitted this. There is not much new that I have not already said but this is really pathetic: if these elections give the GOP a majority in the House and/or the Senate it will only be because many of those who make up that majority sold their souls to the Devil. They lied through their teeth and they are still doing so. Most of us know it. If Trump returns to power THAT will be the reason.

The REALLY sad part? The only office that The Donald should be occupying would be enclosed by concrete and iron bars. Paint it white if it will make him feel better. Much as I like Biden as a person, it is probably true that he is a little long in the tooth to fulfill another four years,

The best solution in my opinion? Trump should be locked up as much for his private dealings as his Presidential ones. One of the reasons? You couldn't tell them apart. Biden should go because another four years even if there isn't another January 6th will be four more years of infighting while world politics and wars carry on. His ideals deserve respect but the world has changed - radically.

Then what? The only thing that gives me some hope for the future is youth - not all of it but SOME. OUR issues in many cases are gone unless radical parents passed on their extreme views to their kids. Race is often transparent. Blacks are with whites; browns with blacks; browns with whites; yellow with red; red with olive - you get the picture, and they are OK with it!

We are leaving a horrible, horrible world to our kids and many of them know it. I hope they can reform political systems across the world when we are gone. They will have to or the planet will no longer be a special third rock from the sun - just another sphere of dust.

Whichever side you want to vote for, do yourselves a favour. If the representative is spewing hate, don't vote for them.

#thebrewsterblock

American Politics Compared to Lemmings

Are Too Many American Voters Becoming Lemmings?

Many people have heard about a small rodent known as a Lemming which is believed to hurl itself from cliffs in huge numbers. The jury is out on whether this is really true as you will see in the following references:
https://www.thenakedscientists.com/articles/interviews/myth-truth-about-lemmings

https://www.ripleys.com/weird-news/or-not-lemmings

If they do it is more in the form of a stampede - often looking for food. They can swim but are not great judges of aquatic distances. Many drown. With huge numbers behind them they could be pushed off the cliff or simply have no way back. In one of the above references there were accusations that in a Disney documentary the producers were actually pushing some of them off a precipice for the desired effect.

What is happening in America today is very similar. Many people who just can't seem to see the light about election lies are following the masses and not thinking for themselves. People like Steve Bannon and Donald Trump are doing the pushing. They have no plans to go over the edge themselves.

Today is the day we all heard about an attack on House Speaker Nancy Pelosi's husband in their home. It was an intruder looking for Nancy who was not there. It is reported that her husband will recover fully. If police had not arrived promptly, what would have happened? If the attackers had gotten their hands on Mike Pence on January 6th with a gallows outside, what would have happened?

If the violence being seen and often encouraged in America today continues, every election will become a cliff. Humans are supposed to be intelligent enough not to jump. Apparently many are not.

Look what happened to Osama bin Laden. His pursuit spanned Presidential terms of both Republicans and Democrats and eventually it succeeded - because of cooperation for a greater good.

Surely the most renowned model of a democracy in the world is worth saving. The Liberty Bell now has many, many cracks but all of them can be repaired without melting down the bell itself. Violence is often a quick route to short term gains but in the end everybody pays.

The way things are going one day soon you will see in the media - if the extremists have not destroyed all forms but their own (sound familiar?) - the rest of the world will rightly decline to acknowledge election results in America and rightly so. The fix is in and just like the last time, it ain't colored blue.

#thebrewsterblock

The 2020 Election Steal

Do you really want another Civil War in America?

The real election steal was Integrity, Honesty, and Truth - not votes

It is safe to say that in any living person's lifetime there has never been as emotional an attitude towards elections in America as there is today. The key word here is ELECTIONS: which hundreds of thousands of American soldiers and even more in other countries died to protect. Think about that for a minute!

If you listen to and worse actually believe the likes of Steve Bannon, that is where you are headed again. In fact he is actually trying to spread his poison to other countries. This time it will involve the slaughter of each other - fellow Americans. Is that really what you want?

One of the elements of democracy at least in America is the separation of church and state. This is a big one. You can be a Christian or follow any other faith openly and without persecution or fear - in THEORY. So how can you call yourself a person of faith who prays to a God while simultaneously calling for the elimination of others with different beliefs - political ones in this case? Remember that those you might be listening to on TV and social media are calling for that change through violence - murder if necessary. Is that really you? That's what the Nazis believed.

Hang Mike Pence - seriously? Kill Nancy Pelosi? Then go to church an call yourself religious? Give your head a shake.

Incubators Instead of Abortions or Forced Pregnancies?

Is Incubation an Alternative to Abortions?

With all the controversy about banning abortions and forcing women to carry an unborn to term I began wondering something and apparently so have others. As with most new ideas more than one individual has had a similar thought.

My question was whether in the early stages of pregnancy an embryo could be successfully transferred to an external incubator for normal develop? Here is an article I found on the topic which is already being researched. China is doing experiments on the concept:
Scientists Have Created An Artificial Womb To Grow Babies From Conception To Birth | by Carlyn Beccia | Sexography | Medium

Since the technology is far beyond me I will leave it to others but the acceptability of the practice poses questions. It seems to me that if it is accepted that couples - who can't have their own child - turn to use of a surrogate mother or In Vitro Fertilization then this is simply another alternative.

Extremists will probably not agree with this as long as the natural mother could have carried the embryo/fetus to full term. Surely the idea represents a compromise. The child could be adapted by others unable to conceive or perhaps after even more research could be transplanted into a different woman for a normal birth. It seems better than a so-called abortion pill as well.

Government subsidies into such research could be provided to universities etc. for research on this side of the pond. The couple who did not want to be unplanned parents; victims of rape; the unborn embryo/fetus; and the receiving mother or couple all benefit.

Some will say that this is tampering with nature; some that super beings will result; some that eventually you will be able to buy such a product at Walmart or Costco. Yadda, Yadda. If we keep firing off spacecraft the sky will fall.

I have said this before and say it again. Men - whether clergyman, mate, judge, or legislator - should not be dictating mandatory births to women. I also said that any do gooders who claim any kind of moral high ground on the issue will quickly change their minds when they are involved in an unplanned pregnancy. Just observe the claims and counter claims of a certain ex-football player who is now running for office. There will be more.

Feel free to comment.

#thebrewsterblock

Trans Gender Controversy

Get a Grip Folks. Where does it End?

Two days ago during a golf tournament dinner, a friend from Waterloo, Ontario informed us of a current and ongoing controversy in his city at the school board. We all thought he was joking. Sorry to those who will be offended by this post but I am just relaying the facts. FYI most of us in attendance were raised in the '50s.

I have since done some Googling and the "issue" has come up in other parts of the world as well. My search included the latest list of gender choices such as LGBTQ2 plus and it was not in the list. (Nobody ever mentions it but neither am I: M-Male nor my spouse F-Female. I am OK with that.)

This issue has to do with - there is a term for it - "Furries". These are apparently kids (in this case) who identify as CATS, as in feline. Some articles claim that the next part is just a scam but it is said that certain school boards are actually being pressured to supply kitty litter for these kids in school washrooms. Seriously! I can only assume why. Initially I thought this might be for support cats just like support dogs who accompany an adult or child. I was wrong. It was for the student.

Where will this end? I will admit up front that I am about to be facetious (there being no catetious). What about dogs? Do we need fire hydrants in the washrooms? Are there kids who think of themselves as Pandas? Bring on the bamboo. If you identify as a full scale lion or tiger, what next - raw meat for lunch? I hope there are no seals because the stench would be overwhelming.

I want to say that if you are a parent of such a child I am sure that everyone including me wishes all the best for you and your offspring. But somewhere a line or lines have to be drawn and it seems to me that Trans Species is one of them. If I had a child who thought they were some type of animal I would not try to place the responsibility on the school board. They have enough to do.

This requires a special kind of help in a special kind of place which is NOT a school. If your school taxes are actually being spent on kitty litter for the washroom you have a right to protest - loudly.

People have compared me to a puppy dog in the past. Newspaper will do for now and later on Depends apparently work just fine.

#thebrewsterblock

The Trump, DOJ, Special Master Shell Game

Deep State or Dire Straits?

If your lawyer or doctor took your most personal files home and then had a dinner party leaving them open in the party room or bathroom for any guest to read at their leisure, would you be irate? Would you sue? Naturally you would, and you would likely win. So how is it that Trump can get away with taking the most sensitive documents in the White House home in a similar manner? If you subsequently discovered that many of your papers were missing would you be fit to be tied? Should the lawyer be disbarred? Again the answer is yes. Ditto Trump.

January 6th showed one of the worst cracks in the Liberty Bell I have witnessed but this Mar-A-Lago debacle Trumps even that. One of the elements that Trump claimed he would fix was the "Deep State" of things in Washington. He failed - we all know that. He lost - we all know that. But one of the things that this entire mess with its completely biased judge and its "Special Master" show is just how dysfunctional the U.S. government can be. It really does need a shake-up but not violent and total destruction.

It is ironic that DJT and the boys by their gross conduct have dramatically demonstrated what he claimed he would fix! There have been many more examples. Think "lock her up!"

This case should be a slam dunk along with the 2 impeachments. Trump should never get into the White House again. Many prominent Republicans publicly sided with The Donald and swore the election was rigged. It WAS - by the GOP and Trump. Thankfully they failed. Now they are all standing on their heads to get re-elected. From "It was rigged and Trump is still President" to "Joe Biden is the legitimate President. There was no fix." Go figure. They too should never hold office again. They ARE the biggest problem with the system. They are the Deep State because they are in Dire Straits. Yes - people like this exist on both sides of the aisle.

We always need leaders who have the interests of the majority of the population at heart and who can get things done. In a democracy, they are politicians by definition. I often think that is a dirty word but it isn't. It is politics itself that has earned the dirty title and it has reached an all time high in America.

Trump's judge appointments have been working in a biased manner in his favour. They should not. There is something wrong with the system when this guy was caught red handed with his hand in the nation's security cookie jar in a personal space far away from where it belongs. Either you or I would be locked up. He should be also. He has no justification. Period.

Electing Donald J. Trump back into the White House would be like appointing Vito Corleone to replace The Pope.

If you are scoffing at this let me finish with one fact you can check for yourselves. Donald J. Trump is not invited to the funeral of Queen Elizabeth II. She was not amused with him and probably knew he would try to steal the show by pushing King Charles III out of his way.

#thebrewsterblock

Elizabeth II: A Royal Example to All

Elizabeth II. None Like Her Before, None After

I am not a big fan of royalty but it is as close as I get to watching celebrities and all the garbage they often represent. Taking in something educational about this remarkable lady is not a waste of time. Watching anything to do with other Hollywood types and the talk shows and gossip columnists who make their living from them - is.

I can't imagine filling the Queen's shoes for a day let alone some 75 years. If you have watched any of the excellent documentaries or movies about her life you will understand why. Following a close second for unfilled shoes would be the monarch's spouse - Phillip in this case - who has even less power. For a man of his pride and background he could not escape the image as the most famous henpecked husband in the world. Even his children could not take his name. America will experience this some day if there is ever a First Gentleman.

The Queen had no real "power" but her affect on peoples' lives is probably up there with the Pope. She was pulled in a dozen directions every day by "duty"; the Prime Minister; tradition; her relatives; her own natural wisdom with relatively little formal education; and the mysterious "courtiers" to mention a few .

Do a little research on a courtier. I Googled it and am still not clear who they really are or where they come from. It seems to include almost everyone in authority at the palace - all of the palaces - and you can apply for a job to work for the famous Windsor family any time you wish. If you spend your life devoted to them and are VERY organized and clever at manipulating people, you could some day influence the King or Queen yourself. Since all her residences are ancient, you'd better be able to deal with four legged vermin as well as the two lagged variety.

In no way can I justify the untold wealth the family possesses. Most of it comes from taxpayers and looting back in the colonial days. You can't really have a royal family living in a duplex across from a variety store which they frequent in their pre-owned Land Rover but their wealth is obscene.

Personally I admire the level of decorum, morality, and self-discipline she set. At the commoner level there are precious few of these left among us. The "F" bomb is dropped everywhere except perhaps in her presence. Kids' dress codes don't really exist anymore nor the parental ones from which they should have derived. Adults' dress codes are no better. What used to be considered "Blue" movies or porn are now commonplace. It appears that self discipline has gone the way of the dial phone. Violent behaviour has become a daily occurrence.

The Queen and family have shown us all that civility is still possible. I try to model some degree of all this for two reasons: 1) that is how I was brought up and 2) to prove to myself and others that I still can. The crass behaviour I see today still makes me shake my head.

Great empires and civilizations throughout history have fallen as these practices collapsed. Today many of our societies are headed in that direction. America in particular could use a model family like hers. As we have recently seen, the one in the White House is seldom a shining example.

Let her standards long reign over us even if her daily examples no longer can.

#thebrewsterblock