• Capitalism,  Compassion,  Economic Equality (A Goal),  Poverty,  World Affairs

    Is Earth Eligible for Inclusion in the Planetary Alliance?

    May 18, 2026

    The invisible ship orbited lazily around the Earth. The slow drift belied the importance of the mission. This mission is the difference between life as it is and the continued life of Earth.

    The group assigned to this task labeled Earth, sat together in the large room with the planet visible via video signal. Each member had a report to give. Each report would shed light on the planet’s value to the Planetary and Universal Alliance. Each report will reveal this species’ achievements and failures. The decision would be final. No review possible. Not that those on Earth are even aware of the review. Their level of technical maturity didn’t allow them to see the ship that slowly circled their planet.

    Photo by Daniel on Unsplash

    The leader was of the Ruggero planetary system. Her blue skin was translucent, and her features made her a great beauty across all species. It was her job to oversee the research and decision making that occurs when a planet is being considered for inclusion into the Planetary and Universal Alliance. Vantulo was beautiful and what humans would label: ruthless. She believed in her mission and did not make exceptions for species that were primeval in their approach to their own living beings. The planetary alliance could not allow the unwinding of the survival of living beings via an unhealthy alliance.

    Much had to be considered when making decisions about inclusion into the alliance. The first item being considered is the social structure of the world that is being considered. Most importantly, of all the things that the alliance must include in the decision is how the world has structured the societies of their world.

    When Veron responded to her demand for a report, he was working hard to keep his tone neutral. “Being on top of others in a pyramid structure is an old survival mechanism that many living beings have used for tens of thousands of years. Those beings that have reached evolutionary maturity capable of logic and intelligence do not need the pyramid structure to build a social structure and resulting relationships between beings.”

    From a human perspective, Veron looked vaguely like a spider. His skin and eight legs were black ink dark, which made it difficult to see his features. However, no one missed his eyes. His eyes were massive in his small body, and they reflected untold wisdom that vectored across species. Veron’s home planet did not and had not, to anyone’s memory, ever engaged in a pyramid social structure. However, he understood the survivalist nature of the social structure. Who doesn’t want to survive? It was hard for him to withhold his judgment of planet Earth because of the results inherent in the social structure to their peoples. Many suffered and very few did not. Those who did not suffer were those that lived on top of this social structure. They amassed great amounts of resources and kept them for their own benefit, allowing those beneath them to die from lack of these same resources.

    Veron continued his report:

    “It is a mark of a survivalist structure to use a pyramid structure to stratify living beings. Humans continue to do so and have often been warned of the dangers of this strategy.

    Photo by Yannis H on Unsplash

    Their society considers those at the bottom of the pyramid to be disposable and unimportant. Those who live on the bottom of the pyramid may be murdered with impunity; they may suffer and die because resources are withheld. The societal structure is one of cruelty and malaise. Humans will fight and die to reach the top of the pyramid, often hurting or killing others in their fevered attempt to reach the top. Those who live in the middle of the pyramid will often close shutters and pretend that outside of their windows nothing exists.

    Those in the middle of the pyramid are often greedy. Winning resources for themselves without any regard for others that are beneath them. This is the reason that this social structure continues to thrive. The weight of the population on the shoulders of those at the bottom of the pyramid keeps the lowest echelons down. It also allows for those above to abuse those on the lowest echelon.

    The lowest echelon includes the weakest of the weak. Children and the disabled often live at this level. On planet earth, the leading society (called America) allows 60% of children to live on the lowest level of the pyramid. These children live in poverty, without resources to assist with life problems. These children die from lack of resources and from lack of power. They are also often the victims of abuse.”

    This is the area that Veron found repugnant. This idea that there are living beings in your society who may be abused by those that are stronger. Expendable living beings that living beings refuse to value. There was never a concept such as this on his home planet. Thank goodness there was not, he himself had been born without two of his eight legs. Yet, he was not considered a burden by his family and his society. Veron’s vote is no to Earth. To be contd

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  • Congress,  World Affairs

    Taxation without Representation

    March 4, 2026

    Taxation without Representation

    I’ve survived Republican presidents many, many times before. There has never been a time when there was so much destruction of the functions of government. Who knew that this time Trump was in office his destructive nature would take aim at our own government?

    I can survive years of a president doing things in government that I don’t really like. Anybody in America can. But what is happening here is next level change. Department of War — there has never been politics in the armed forces until now. Pete Hegseth uses every chance he gets to talk about Republicans vs. Democrats. It is only the ignorant that uses “us vs. them” in life. We aren’t at war (and especially not ourselves) with anyone, at least not until now.

    Bombing the people of Iran is not an answer. Nor do we need to exercise our power and strength. Everyone in the world can see how powerful we are. We spend more money -by a mile- than any other country on weapons of mass destruction. This year our budget is 997 Billion dollars on weapons of mass destruction. That is almost one trillion dollars. This is enough money to house all of the homeless and to ensure that all food-insecure have food. Think of that, American children with enough food to eat, all of them.

    Google Search: The United States maintains -by far- the world’s largest military budget, consistently spending more on defense than the next 7 to 10 countries combined. In 2024, U.S. military spending reached nearly $1 trillion ($997 billion), accounting for roughly 40% of the $2.7 trillion global total, and is three times higher than China’s spending

    Why? There is no need to go crazy with war purchasing like this EVERY, SINGLE, YEAR.

    The Pentagon cannot pass an audit. Think about that, they have failed their accountancy audit for seven years. Ask the soldiers who served in some of these theatres. “Backpacks full of money” to pay this or that foreign soldier for information. How did America come to this?

    Our Tax Dollars at Work — This picture by Levi Meir Clancy on Unsplash

    When did America become the administrator of all war everywhere? Why are we involved in other countries’ issues? It’s not our business, we don’t speak the language, we aren’t an issue in that country.

    And let’s discuss the war at home: Department of Homeland Security has decided to live the thug life. This is to the detriment of all Americans everywhere. The amount of lies are outrageous and amazing. Closing down the portal into our country is a good goal. But it isn’t the same as dragging people out of their cars, knocking them on the head and then placing them into profit centered buildings. These profit centered housing complexes are charging from 70 -300 per night per adult. Guess what they are receiving for kids? As much as 775 per night.

    Why do they want to build more of these buildings, we don’t need more buildings. Stop keeping people here! Send them back to their country. Those with legal standing, get them out of your illegal housing complexes! We taxpayers keep paying for immigrants to stay in these facilities, why? Did you know there is an entire center in a Texas facility for adolescent girls. The ICE detention center won’t allow anyone access to these teenage girls, why not?

    I don’t want to pay taxes for this illegal and illegitimate regime. What they are doing to people is awful, immoral, illegal and just plain cruel. I don’t want to be part of that.

    This is not how I want my tax dollars spent, ever.

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  • Compassion,  Politics,  Psychology of Life,  Republicans

    A Letter to members of ICE

    January 25, 2026

    Look I get it, you are probably supporting a family or otherwise taking care of folks at home.

    ICE can be a decent job, but for some there is a discouragement that goes along with the cognitive dissonance between the public face of ICE and what ICE really does.

    It’s you that I want to speak to. I want to speak to ICE agents. I want you to know that you pay a price for everything that you do in life and that your life energy sows seeds for your future. Most of all, your mind is involved in everything that you do. Don’t imagine that thinking trumps reality. What you do matters.

    Every action that you take that your self doesn’t feel comfortable with will come back to haunt you at a later moment. All of those actions that you take that you feel good about, will also affect that future.

    If what you are doing is to turn away from human empathy and compassion, you will face a double edged sword and that is this: you will suffer when you try to love again, when you try to like again, when you try to be friends again with other humans.

    Human compassion and empathy are not buttons that can be pushed on and off. If you push away your humanity and agree to do bad things to human beings, you can easily lose your humanity in the shuffle. You may face a long slow journey back to yourself.

    Let’s define “bad things to human beings”:  apprehending those who have committed no crime.

    Pushing people down and spraying them in the face with chemicals. Taking away lawful residents and cruelly jailing them away from their families with no recourse. Sending human beings to awful prisons in South America. Being the judge and jury in another human being’s life is a moral crime. These are crimes that you cannot escape from. Every door that you knock down, every body that you push to the ground, every injury you cause with chemical sprays, all are fodder for your future. You won’t escape your actions, nor your memories.

    Photo by RECEP TİRYAKİ on Unsplash

    When you do these things, you turn away from your humanity. Perhaps you have lived a life of hate and anguish, and you wish to share that life with others. You are failing at humanity. If your purpose is to spread the hate that you had to live with, you are failing humanity badly and you will crave love for decades before you can recover.

    Make no mistake, you will have to work very hard at recovery. Some will choose not to recover and they will live in the unloved void of their own soul, screaming out for redemption that will never come. No one can love you, if you hate what you have become.

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  • Equality,  Mother,  Psychology of Life,  Speaking as a Parent,  Wise Words,  Womens Issues,  World Affairs

    For Women Everywhere, Courage

    January 13, 2026

    For women everywhere, we do get close to this thing called equality. We can see it in the eyes of the oppressors, they are not smug anymore, they are not anxious, but they are not smug. And for those women who bow down to a God that tells them that they are inferior to a man, stay away from my daughter! I don’t want her tainted with your poison.

    To all my sisters in the fight for freedom, I tell you that we come close and closer. We are no longer easily tormented as we once were.

    We have redress, though it often fails, yes, we still have redress. Living yesterday, there was no redress, there was only punishment.

    Men believed they were entitled to women. They grabbed, beat, raped and sold and gave away women as they desired. Because men are bigger and stronger, they used their muscle to reinforce their opinion, wishes and desires onto others. They beat on all of those who disagreed or otherwise made it difficult for the man to find comfort. He ruled supreme in his home, in his community and in his country.

    We make slow progress; we often have to argue with our own to make our progress. When we work hard to go forward it is often a woman who tells us to back off, or perhaps that we are in the wrong for not being gentle. Women will often be the ones to tell us the appropriate role of a woman. Because women often take on the opinion of the oppressors, women will join in the fight against equality. Again, keep these women away from your daughters so that they don’t taint our future freedoms and bring us back to an age of submission to those who are physically stronger.

    There will come a day when the beatings will stop. Physical strength will not rule homes and societies. But no strength will rule. We will find ways of living together reasonably and equitably.  We won’t have to keep others down in order to feel up. We will be comfortable with our space in the universe. That space will be full of abundance and life.

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  • Decision Making,  Justice, the Human Construct,  Personal Growth,  Psychology of Life,  Self Responsibility

    Five Signs of Judgmentalness (is that a word?)

    December 29, 2025

    1. Dissecting a conversation after it has occurred- conversations don’t need review, they are what they are. Sometimes you may need to process the conversation, but that is vastly different than judging and taking it apart to judge it.
    2. Commenting on dress or style – is automatically judgmental. No use denying this fact.
    3. If you call something or someone trashy- it is definitely judgmentalness when you believe the least about someone else.
    4. Reviewing an experience ad nauseam- if you need to discuss the experience beyond processing it, you are definitely judging the experience based on how you felt. If you didn’t like the experience you are sure to judge it harshly
    5. Any review of an experience is an opportunity to judge and to judge all of the humans involved in the experience. Leave the experience as it is.

    Who knows why humans are so judgmental towards each other. There are some benefits of judging. Knowing who you want to work with is one such judgment that is important. What humans have done with it from an evolutionary standpoint is make judging into a sport. This sport has some very negative consequences.

    Being human is to be judgmental, it’s judgemental, it’s just so very important to recognize it.

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  • Republicans,  Womens Issues

    President Trump — Female Abuser

    December 4, 2025

    Johanna Baynard

    Johanna Baynard

    Just now

    This is what you get when you Google “Abusive”: Abusive — extremely offensive and insulting. “he became quite abusive and swore at her”.

    What President Trump has been doing with female reporters is quite abusive.

    President Trump-Mean as a snake

    Let’s call it. President Trump is abusing female reporters:

    To Nancy Cordes, CBS’s White House correspondent, he said: “Are you stupid? Are you a stupid person? You’re just asking questions because you’re a stupid person.”

    About New York Times correspondent Katie Rogers: “third rate … ugly, both inside and out.”

    To Bloomberg White House correspondent Catherine Lucey: “Quiet. Quiet, piggy.”

    Robert Reich is calling it aging. I’m calling it abuse of women.

    President Trump

    Abuse

    Narcissistic Abuse

    Womens Issues

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  • Capitalism,  Economic Equality (A Goal),  Friends,  Human Evolution,  Justice, the Human Construct,  Psychology of Life

    Victims and Victimization: the Difference

    October 26, 2025

    I recently had a spirited discussion with my male friend, who stated that he thought that people are being victims “many people are living from a disposition of being a victim.” “They go to the notion that they are being oppressed somehow, even when they are not.”

    I believe that this is true. It is easy to develop a victim mindset within American Culture. “Martin Seligman’s research “learned helplessness” is strongly related, showing that experiencing a series of uncontrollable negative shocks can lead to a passive, “victim” mindset.” Quoting Google with research attached.

    I thought we were heading towards one of our interesting debates that reflected some of the information included in this research. 

    Photo by Ann on Unsplash “Spirited Discussion”

    We did not have that conversation. What I recognized instead was an idea that those that see themselves as victims should receive legal consequences when their behavior became reckless. I perceived that point of view as an attack. That’s because I feel victimized by my culture. I am a woman who has suffered many consequences put in place because of my gender. I don’t want anyone from outside punishing me for my point of view. I missed his point which is that, when your victim mentality makes you a vandal, you should be prosecuted for your actions. This is a good point. However,

    My thinking is negative in that, I watched the Capitol 1/6/21 insurrection and the consequence to the criminals who perpetrated it, which was very little, because of the commutation of sentences by DJT.

    I am back to zero and instead of seeing a judicial consequence for victims, I see chaos until our world is righted from these wrongs committed by our highest trusted and elected officials.

    Define victim? After the Vietnam war thousands of Officers in the Armed Forces were RIFed (meaning a reduction in force which led to being terminate/fired). To a man, every single one I met, quit filing their income taxes or cheated on their income taxes. Not one of them ever trusted the Federal government again. 

    Photo by Ann on Unsplash “Everything about it was wrong except the Soldiers“

    In retrospect, I am ashamed of what I said to him. “Your birth family was professional at victimization – you recognize it but are blind to other things.” Of course, he was angry with me. That’s one side, and it is a valid one, the other side is that if you want to have a scholarly opinion about something, you better damn well plumb the depths of your soul so that you can speak about the concept fairly. Otherwise, you are just Stephen Miller on steroids, out there amplifying the conversation of “others do not have the privilege and rights that I enjoy and I must destroy anyone who doesn’t agree with my personal opinion.”

    Back to the concepts of victimization and victims. The victim mindset is pervasive in our culture, but that is because our culture is especially mean to those who live below the middle class. We allow them to suffer the most and pay the most for the privilege of America. No one missed the story of Warren Buffet who paid less in taxes than his secretary. No one misses the brutality of ICE in the headlines today. Anyone who believes that the brutality of ICE is a new phenomenon, think again. This brutality is pervasive in the blue culture of policing in America.

    If you have ever worked in an office environment you are acquainted with the egos of any supervisor. People who use their positions to lay blame and shame to subordinates, it’s the American Way. Anyone who says different has never worked more than one job.

    Photo by Jack B on Unsplash “We’re Drowning Here“

    We don’t have family leave, we don’t have vacations, we don’t have housing, we don’t have any number of things that would allow Americans to build a family with happiness.

    But to my friend’s point. You can be victimized, you can even be a victim, but you cannot violently torture others with your own personal torture. To my friend’s point, downtown Portland is effectively closed down because vandals keep causing massive property damage. My friend is angry and wants the vandals prosecuted and sees this issue as a DOJ problem. I do not. Fixing this issue externally with jail time will only increase the vandal’s victim mindset of being persecuted.

    I don’t see an external fix to this internal problem. If you have been victimized, you do not have to have a victim mindset, you can break through to a different and better reality.

    But fixing victimization in our culture is amazingly complex and requires a focus on Americans and away from elected officials, their collective egos, war and personal aggrandizement at the cost of the most vulnerable. In other words our social structure gives all to the winners and nothing to those who serve them.

    Americans are being victimized, and they are the victims – mindset or not.

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  • Decision Making,  Justice, the Human Construct,  Psychology of Life,  Supreme Court,  Womens Issues

    She Unleashed the Wolves and Women Died

    September 8, 2025

    Photo by Waldemar on Unsplash

    I’ve just watched an interview on Sunday Morning with Amy Coney Barrett. I am a trained counselor who has spent thousands of hours listening to patients justify their actions. We justify in order to hang onto our beliefs about ourselves. In other words, if I’m a good daughter, I won’t yell at mama. So, if I do yell at mama, I have to produce a justification. Particularly mean people spend a lot of time justifying themselves. You’ll find it by the boatload with domestic abusers. They must find a way to show the world that they are good people, so they spend most of their time telling the world how it was the victim’s actions that forced them to act cruelly.

    That’s what Amy Coney Barrett is doing. She has seen the results of her vote regarding Dobbs and she needs to tell us why, because she is a good person. Her entire book is dedicated to self justification. The truth is she unleashed the dogs. As a self proclaimed defender of women, she has instead become a part of the legions of humans who harm women.

    Of course, it’s not her fault. She was returning a piece of legislation to the states. So she says. Again, she unleashed the wolves.

    I’m exhausted with human posturing. Amy Coney Barrett you are the same as this:  I’m a good person, I just had to sell drugs to survive.

    She has a lot to justify, she has harmed America’s women more than can be counted.

    Dobbs: “those are issues inherent in medical practice”  The courts say “those calls are left to the democratic process”, again she unleashed the dogs. May the pain and anguish of a million women follow the Supreme Court to their graves.

    The other question she didn’t answer this morning is her thoughts about the judicial branch being a check on the executive branch. She denies this simple fact, stating that it’s not up to her to monitor the presidency.

    Regarding Trump overreaching the office of the president with illegal tariffs: “ it’s not our job to survey and decide whether the current occupant… in this particular moment to form a political view” That’s the job of journalists that’s the job of other politicians and the people.” It sounds like the tagline for this entire Supreme Court.

    Excuse me, if what you say is correct, then the teachings of the entire national American school system, is wrong. The judicial and legislative branch are designed to be a check on the Executive branch and Ms. Barrett, you are not doing your job.

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  • Capitalism,  Congress,  Democrats,  Politics,  World Affairs

    Energy and Power Costs will Triple in the Next 5 Years

    August 21, 2025

    Are you currently paying $150 per month for electricity? Prepare yourself to pay $450 per month. The sad fact about our president is that he is a conman and a grifter, but that’s not unusual in the United States. That truth leaves him ignorant in so many areas. This is the land where senators and congressmen alike have sold out all Americans to capitalism, often ignorant of the consequences of their actions. But I digress…

    There are three factors that are creating a perfect storm in the bid for electricity and energy.

    JB Collection

    1. AI is in a race currently using almost 5% of all U.S. electricity.

    2. Trump has sold our available and unavailable energy, (example liquified natural gas LNG) to the European union.

    3. Trump and his team have shut down alternative sources of energy. Under review is windmill sourced energy.

    Let’s talk about why 2 and 3 are occurring.

    Trump’s rush to win the Tariff war had him signing a deal with Europe. And America can’t fulfil the deal without serious changes to our capacity in the oil and gas industries. This will make Europe a serious competitor of the American people trying to heat or cool their homes.

    Trump (as is the Congress) is invested in all of the old ways to produce energy: oil, gas and coal. While those industries pay off our elected officials, they are now working hard to ensure that they have no competition. Wind and sun energy are huge competitors of the old guard. While the new industries are working hard to get senate and congressional support for their products, it is very difficult if not impossible in Trump’s administration. We don’t know why except to comment that oil has always been a friend of Trump’s. Rex Tillerson, former CEO of ExxonMobil served as Trump’s Secretary of State during his first term. Chris Wright, another CEO in the oil and gas industry is the current Secretary of Energy.

    Ironically, some of the top producers of wind energy are red states that received substantial grants from the Biden administration to scale up their industries. According to Climate News, a new bill passed by our congress, “reduced or eliminated many of the tax incentives offered to renewable energy projects.”

    Now we circle back to item #1 which is AI. If you don’t realize it, let me tell you that AI is out of control. No legislation has been effectively implemented. If the current usage is 5% of energy consumption nationally with an increase to at least 12% by 2030, how will Mr. & Mrs. Smith compete? How will the town of Podunk, USA compete?

    There is no comprehensive Federal law governing AI or data centers in the United States. There are some environmental protections setup regarding data centers that are not often enforced.

    Americans, please consider your plan if your electricity costs double and then triple? Will you address Congress, will you assemble and march on Washington? It’s worth thinking about and it’s worth making a plan, because it’s coming.

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  • Capitalism,  Congress,  Democrats,  Health Care,  Republicans

    An Open Letter to Democratic “Leadership” Please just stop, just stop. Your relentless need for just 3 more dollars is falling on deaf ears.

    August 20, 2025

    You are not – in any way – doing anything for the American people

    First, I did NOT give you permission to bombard my phone. How dare you? I am so sick of your daily pleas for money, it’s become disgusting.

    I don’t respect you, I don’t respect the job you are doing and I won’t be donating any more.

    I send monthly checks to AOC and Bernie Sanders along with EarthJustice, and for each donation I receive twenty texts from you – Democrats – asking for more.

    AOC and Bernie register as Democrats, but they are much greater than Democrats. They are humans fighting for freedom, sacrificing for the common good and making sure that there is a goal. They have goals that I appreciate like Universal Healthcare. You see, because I am sick. So, every time there is a change in healthcare policy at the national legislative level, I immediately know and oftentimes I know because of my checking account. Almost always it costs me more money.

    The Republicans have punished my household nonstop for decades. They are legislating my household into poverty. How you ask? Because I am sick and disabled. I am now retired, but I have been on disability payments since 2018.

    I am keenly aware of what the various legislations are doing to my household. But I digress.

    Stop texting me! Stop pretending like you have a party, you don’t. If all your leadership can produce is a “strongly worded letter”, then you are doomed.

    I won’t follow Democrats, even though I am a registered Democrat. I am in the party of the people – whatever that is.

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