Random Thoughts and Sound Bites – Roger Ingalls

Obamacare

Why has the Republican Party turned into an uncoordinated group of domestic terrorists trying to destroy the US economy? It’s a thrash and burn tactic synonymous with defeat; it’s just like Saddam blowing up oil wells as his army retreated from Kuwait. The conservatives know the Affordable Health Care Act won’t cause the world to stop as they’ve predicted and the people will mostly endorse it once underway. The party will have major egg on their face and they know it.

Government Shutdown

Why is a small group of right-wing zealots allowed to do harm to the country? By definition, a group conspiring to harm the USA is committing treason. They should be rounded up and given due process. Calling yourself a political party doesn’t exempt you from prosecution for treasonous acts.

Global Warming

The IPCC has released their fifth report on climate change and it is now 95% certain that this cycle of global warming is being caused by humans. As I’ve said in the past, it doesn’t really matter what’s causing it, we need to prepare for it…build an economy for it. It is here to stay. However, I’m still amazed that pseudo-scientists are still trying to deny the cause. The fakes are now even generating their own report with an almost identical name to further confuse the truth. All one has to do is look at who is backing these deniers and it becomes obvious that they’re shadowy hired guns supported by fossil fuel based corporation.

War on Terror

Listening to the local radio talk show, I was surprised to hear a frank speaking person with opinions seemingly based on real information. Then it became obvious. He was an ex-military higher up who worked under Colin Powell. His name is Lawrence Wilkerson (retired Army Colonel). I didn’t agree with all he said but Wilkerson did confirm something I strongly believe in. The WAR on Terror is misguided. The odds of an American getting killed by a terrorist is less likely than being struck by lightning yet we spend billions on top of billions under this fear mongering program. The military spending serves another hidden purpose.

Give Global Warming a Hug – Roger Ingalls

We, the believers, need to embrace global warming; we need to wrap our arms around it and give it a big hug.  It’s here to stay.  We should no longer waste time on climate deniers in hopes of creating a cooperative effort to reduce the activities that are causing the change.

picture from: careforchildrennow.wordpress.com

The deniers are obstructionists that fall in to two categories.  Group One subscribes to an authoritarian ideology and follows the rhetoric of the second group without question.  Group Two deniers are the leaders and the devious ones.  They are corporate-hired guns typically from the political and special-interest arena on a mission to spread fear, uncertainty and doubt – or what we call FUD in the business world.

FUD is a powerful tactic when your audience is an authoritarian-minded followship that doesn’t use intellectual reasoning.  This is why Republican leaders started using FUD twenty years ago; it’s a perfect vice for the members of their party.

It’s important to understand that deniers are a strong coalition of obstructionists not wanting to engage in any activity which is disruptive to the current power structure.  It is not in the best interest of the corporations to endorse environmentally friendly regulations or innovative technologies that could substitute and obsolete their market position.

The current power base controls most of the world’s wealth.  They own the politicians, a majority of the Supreme Court Justices, and have an army of drones.  They can not be beaten so let’s not waste our time. 

A warmer planet and the activities that are creating it are here to stay.  We need to spend our intellectual energy creating an economy that allows us to survive and prosper in the chaos of a warmer world.

Endorse the reality – we need to adapt.  Extinction is the alternative.

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Roger Ingalls is well traveled and has seen the good and bad of many foreign governments. He hopes his blogging will encourage readers to think more deeply about the American political system and its impact on US citizens and the international community.

Operation Burning Man – Roger Ingalls

Operation Burning Man (a.k.a. OBM) has no connection to the week long event in the Nevada desert that celebrates radical self-expression and self-reliance. OBM is a newly proposed theory that provides an alternative explanation for global warming.

Until recently, the few remaining climate change deniers claimed global warming was not really happening. Faced with overwhelming data these deniers are starting to acknowledge that the Earth’s temperature is increasing. Even a scientific denier hired by the Koch Brothers is changing his tune. However, the deniers are holding firm to the notion that man is not the cause of climate change. The denying has shifted from “global warming is not occurring” to “man is not causing global warming”.

The new OBM theory is presented because all other crutches used by the deniers have scientifically fallen apart. One crutch claimed the rising temperature was caused by the Earth’s precession, orbit, tilt and wobble but these do not correlate with the warming. Another claim falsely accused real scientists of creating fake data. A common statement made by deniers is Mars and Pluto have increasing temperatures and Earth is just doing the same thing. However, Kindergarten-science can easily explain the environmental changes on Mars and Pluto which have no relevance to changes on Earth. Pluto has an elliptical orbit and recently had a near Sun flyby so it will continue to warm for a few more years before cooling again. Periodically, Mars has huge dust storms and its atmosphere heats dramatically while the surface cools. Deniers cherry pick the data to claim a rise in temperature but it is just as correct to claim the opposite if you’re examining the Martian surface.

With all denier crutches debunked, the new OBM theory was developed. Aliens are using a large lens to focus the radiation from a distant star onto Earth to warm it.  This experiment is similar to a young boy using a magnifying glass to burn ants on the sidewalk (click for video). It is speculated that this is an alien military experiment, hence the name Operation Burning Man which is similar to the naming convention used by the U.S. military (e.g. Operation Desert Storm and Operation Shock and Awe). The purpose of this alien experiment is unknown but the deniers are currently putting the question to their Magic 8 Ball so a convoluted answer should soon be delivered by a Mermaid riding a Golden Unicorn.

The deniers have also given new life to an old motto…Truth is Stranger than Fiction!

Picture by Susan Brack

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Roger Ingalls is well traveled and has seen the good and bad of many foreign governments. He hopes his blogging will encourage readers to think more deeply about the American political system and its impact on US citizens and the international community.