XR - ICT Wichita KS

09/23/2024

It's certainly not a debate point, and - frankly - ignoring this most basic of economic issues ( planetary sustainability ) is a recipe for both short and long term disaster. Other issues may drive the electorants to the polls (inflation, border security, the dangers of a second Trump term) but this undeniable equation will ultimately decide the fate of Humanity and our Endangered Planet.

Even “sustainable” technology such as electric vehicles and wind turbines faces physical limits and exacts environmental costs

07/01/2024

Today, we saw Democracy and the Rule of Law shredded, as Trump's SCOTUS rules for limited immunity. The concluding dissension by SCOTUS Justice Sonya Sodamyier to today's conservative majority opinion:

"Stated simply: The Court has now declared for the first
time in history that the most powerful official in the United
States can (under circumstances yet to be fully determined)
become a law unto himself. As we enter this uncharted territory, the People, in their wisdom, will need to remain ever
attentive, consistently fulfilling their established role in our
constitutional democracy, and thus collectively serving as
the ultimate safeguard against any chaos spawned by this
Court’s decision. For, like our democracy, our Constitution
is “the creature of their will, and lives only by their will.”
Cohens v. Virginia, 6 Wheat. 264, 389 (1821).

For my part, I simply cannot abide the majority’s senseless discarding of a model of accountability for criminal acts
that treats every citizen of this country as being equally
subject to the law—as the Rule of Law requires. That core
principle has long prevented our Nation from devolving into
despotism. Yet the Court now opts to let down the guardrails of the law for one extremely powerful category of citizen: any future President who has the will to flout Congress’s established boundaries."

If I were Joe Biden, I'd use today's ruling at once to fulfill his assigned Presidential Duty to 'Protect, preserve and defend the Constitution' by arresting and imprisoning 45 as a direct threat. After all, it's an 'official duty', right?

05/30/2024

Justice Denied - Why the failures of our Judicial System just might be the Death of American Democracy

Let's quickly review what is currently transpiring in the courts:

1) SCOTUS Justice Alito has refused to recuse himself in current cases involving Jan.6th and the issue of Presidential Immunity even though he clearly has a conflict of interest.

2) Florida federal Judge Canon refuses to set a trial date in the document possession case and has blocked any attempts by Special Council Jack Smith to gag Trump's corrupting public attacks.

3) The Arizona Supreme Court has refused to challenge attempts to declare vote counts independent of election boards - thus insuring majority rule does not apply to final delegate count.

4) Two standards of Justice in the case of Trump's 11 gag orders are apparent. Who else would be able to be out on bail pending trial while attacking the courts, judges and members of the jury? The failure of the Federal Justice Department to utilize the tools written as a means to stop Trump's attacks underscores that our 'titans of industry' are treated differently than the common public.

The spectacular failure and collapse of our Justice systems in light of a concerted effort on the part of MAGA congresspersons to use the system against itself (endless appeals, delay tactics and smear campaigns) highlights the vulnerability by bad actors to exploit the courts.

Regardless of a Trump conviction in New York, the damages to America's belief in equal justice under the law has been shattered. That damage will show up at the polls this November.

05/02/2024

Here is the link to the latest Time Magazine interview with POTUS #45. I hope every thinking American, everyone who has even a shred of decency or defended our Republic studies this article carefully and fully understands what is at stake:

Women forced to give birth
Detention Camps for Illegals
Military turned against the Citizenry
Ordering political opposition detained and imprisoned
Hollow out the Civil Services
Gut Climate Change legislation
and that's just a few of the many, many changes being prepared.

I do NOT defend everything the current administration and Joe Biden pursues. I have serious issues with his supporting the genocide in Gaza, his opposition to college demonstrations or how seriously Biden addresses the calamity of modern Capitalism destroying our Planet.

But these issues and many, many more will fall under a guillotine under a second Trump term. Our entire concept of Democracy will be upended - and the choice is clear BECAUSE TRUMP IS TELLING US WHAT HE (and the MAGA GOP) WILL DO.

There is no further excuses, no cries of "Oh, he wouldn't do THAT" - Oh yes. Yes, he will. And much, much worse.

In exclusive interviews, the former President lays out a second-term agenda that would reshape America

05/01/2024

The Maypole

Weaving and winding, it starts at the Crown
Colors of All Shades - like wild hair thrown about in a Thunderstorm
Down and down these shards of cloth travel
encasing the towering shaft that embeds itself into the Earth
a Zigot to Shake the Universe

Those interplay of colors and - yes - emotions seemed
to be a vertical sail, scintillating and very light,
a luxurious backdrop
suspended in the morning sky to dazzle, distract and hypnotize

There is room enough under all those ribbons
to shelter the homeless, to feed the starving
To welcome the Lost and listen to your Story:

One ribbon anchors you to a hope that propels you forwards
Another - the silver one - weaves together your memories around the past and the oh-so-many failures
while the common Heartbeat
that central note in your Dance of Life
pounds out another second slipping past,
another experience (oh Please! Let this be one of Joy!)
that sustains everyone for another Year

So place flowers at the Maypoles foot
Sing the Songs of Aphrodite and Pan
Feel the grasses tangle underfoot and hop like mad bunnies
We are lashed to the Miracle of our own existence
Be it storms or drought, feast or famine
we are witnesses to our own eventual demise
tied up into a neat bow at The End

- 2024 B. B. Blank

04/22/2024

Some current statistics on humanity's impact on our Planet:

Just a few facts on this Earth Day 2024 - if you don't believe it, just Google on any of the statistics presented.

12/31/2023

Saying goodbye to 2023, I cannot escape the gravity of what this next year will bring to America - challenges to our Democratic Republic on a scale never experienced in my Lifetime. I'm going to step up to the task to the best of my abilities, as I hope all of you feeling this same way will do. It is not a time to sit on the sidelines... because our collective house is on fire.

12/05/2023

In case you missed this month's Atlantic magazine headline: “A vote for Donald Trump may mean the last election that you ever get to vote in," - Liz Cheney (R)

08/23/2022

We all know that an unsustainable economic system based on cheap labor, endless commodities and non-renewable energy is eventually doomed to failure. What's far more difficult is finding a way out off this dead-end street.
This short review on global capitalism, free market economics and our current eradication of species and habitat addresses the central question of our time:
"How do we get out of this mess?"

Why does Capitalism cause climate change? Support this channel directly by becoming a Patreon backer: https://www.patreon.com/OurChangingClimateIn this Our C...