A Nation Divided #291
By Hank Silverberg
Commentary
One is a perpetual liar with substantial morality issues and irrational explosions, and the other is at the twilight of his career where his age may be impeding his ability to govern.
But the division may go beyond that. It's not a classic battle between the have's and the have-nots.
Nor is it specifically a difference based on region. It is not a battle between right and wrong.
At times people on both sides seem irrational.
What we really have in 2024 is a dispute over what America has been and what it can be.
History at times has been distorted to fit into an argument for either side.
So the question you must ask yourself as we close in on this election for president and Congress is, "where should we go?"
In some ways our technology has outpaced our ability to cope with it. In other ways we have been unwilling to let go of myths and prejudices from the past to deal with problems of the present. We seem unable to look to the future--not the voting in November--but toward the kind of world we want to leave for our grandchildren.
There are a lot of angry and confused people out there who have chosen sides and refuse to see it any other way. They have closed their minds. And there are probably just as many people who would like to lay on a beach somewhere and avoid dealing with it all.
So what can you do?
I'm not a philosopher, a politician or an expert on human behavior. I'm just a writer trying to rationalize in my own mind what can heal the wounds in our country without breaking it all up and starting over.
Here are just a few modest suggestions:
1) Engage the other side. Listen to them. Try to understand them, but don't get angry when you can't change their minds. This is the United States of America with a big tent for everyone.
2) Avoid false information, see through lies and seek the truth even if the truth hurts. (Like in war, truth is often the first casualty of a political campaign.)
3) Trust science. Real science, not pseudo-science.
4) Have a little faith. I don't mean religious faith, for that often divides us even more. I mean faith in the average citizen to do the right thing when their survival is at stake.
5) Challenge the 1%. Don't let them take control, but be conscious that they are not going away.
6) Ignore the pundits. No, I am not talking about real journalists, the ones who seek out facts, report it fairly and have nothing to gain by lying. I am talking about the talking heads who stretch the truth or even make things up for their own personal gain, whether it's on TV or on the internet.
(The term "Influencer" has got to go.)
7) Question everything, even these seven suggestions I just listed.
What we need right now was summed up well by Abraham Lincoln in 1864 in his second inaugural address:
"...let us strive on to finish the work we are in; to bind up the nation's wounds..."
That work is a better America, and we ALL need to be a positive part of it.
News You May Have Missed
Earth Moving Slower?
Deep inside the Earth, the solid metal ball, the Earth's core, may be slowing down. The inner core was discovered in 1936, and how it moves has been the center of debate for decades. Now some scientists are suggesting that the spin of the core has changed dramatically in recent years. They can't tell for sure because it's impossible to observe or sample the core directly. Seismologists get most of their information by examining how waves from large earthquakes behave when they ping the core. The variations between the waves help them measure changes in position, and calculate the core's spin.
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| (Courtesy NASA) |
In 2023, one model described an inner core that in the past has spun faster than the Earth itself. But now it may be slowing down to match the Earth's spin. According to an article in the journal Nature, new research has confirmed the slowdown but also supports the concept that such deceleration is part of a decades-long pattern of slowing down and then speeding up over a 70 year cycle.
Debate still rages on though, about how a slowdown of the inner core might affect the planet as a whole.
The core is about 3,220 miles deep inside the Earth. The metal inner core, made up of iron and nickel, is surrounded by a liquid metal outer core, and it may be as hot as the surface of the sun, about 9,800 degrees Fahrenheit. It's the planet's magnetic field yanking at this solid ball of hot metal that makes it spin.
Why does it all matter? Well, to most of us it doesn't. You can't feel it. But the shifts do make the Earth rotate faster or slower, and that shortens or lengthens the duration of a day. But it's by thousandths of a second and has little impact on a person's lifetime.
https://www.cnn.com/2024/07/05/science/earth-inner-core-rotation-slowdown-cycle-scn/index.html
Mars
Could you spend a year on Mars? Four people have just emerged this past Saturday (July 6th) from a simulated Mars environment after living there for a year. Kelly Haston, Anca Selariu, Ross Brockwell and Nathan Jones spent 12 months in NASA's simulator living as they would on Mars. They had been in the simulator since June 25th, 2023. The NASA environment is 17,000 square feet and was designed to simulate life on Mars.
The crew simulated spacewalks, experienced
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| (Mars, from the Hubble Telescope, NASA) |
They also focused on nutrition and how it would affect their performance. They had a carefully prescribed meal plan. But they also grew and harvested vegetables to supplement their diet.
NASA is planning the first manned mission to Mars sometime in the 2030's.
Dumbest Quote of The Week!
This week's dumb quote again comes from Donald J Trump talking about Project 2025.
"I have no idea who is behind it. I disagree with some of the things they're saying and some of the things they are saying are absolutely ridiculous and abysmal. Anything they do, I wish them luck, but I have nothing to do with them"
Project 2025, a 900 page document was written and is being promoted by the Heritage Foundation and was written by several former members of Trump's last administration. It is independent of the Trump campaign but it's designed as the goal for his second term. They are not trying to hide it.
In brief here are just some of the things they want to do:
Ban no fault divorce
A complete ban on abortion without exception
Ban contraceptives.
Additional Tax Breaks for corporations and the 1%
Higher taxes on the working class
Elimination of Labor Unions and worker protections
Raise the retirement age
Cut Social Security
Cut Medicare
End the Affordable Care Act
Raise prescription drug prices
Eliminate the Department of Education
Use public , taxpayer money for private religious schools
Teach Christian religious beliefs in public schools
End free and discounted school lunch programs.
End civil rights & DEI protections in government
Ban African American and gender studies in all levels of education
Ban Books about slavery
Ending climate protections
Increase Artic drilling
Deregulate big business and the oil industry
Promote and expand capital punishment
End marriage equality
Defund the FBI and Homeland Security
Use the military to break up domestic protests
Mass deportation of immigrants and incarceration in "camps"
End birthright citizenship
Ban Muslims from entering the country
Eliminate federal agencies like the FDA, EPA, NOAA and more
Continue to pack the supreme court and lower courts with right-wing judges.
These people are serious. It is no joke. And they want to bring much of this down to the local government level as well. Their inspiration for producing it was Trump's first term.
If you don't believe this, go on line a google Project 2025 and read it for yourself.
(Your Suggestions and comments are welcome)
My recent book "The Campaign" can be purchased at the links below. Or you can buy a copy by emailing me at:
HankSilverberg@gmail.com for instructions on how to get a copy at a reduced price and with my signature)
https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B084Q7K6M5/ref=dbs_a_def_rwt_bibl_vppi_i0
https://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/the-campaign-hank-silverberg/1126429796
My NEWEST book is now available. It is designed for use in Public Speaking and entry level communications classes.
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