Election Issues Today

What a popular topic today, the 40th anniversary of the first moon landing, July 20, 1969.

Like so many other space travel enthusiasts around the World, along with science fictions crazies, we thought a new age had dawned and that space travel was just a few years away for the rest of us.

Such was not to be. Not only is space travel not available to any but the very richest individuals in the World, a Russian Soyuz trip is about the only way to get into space. A trip to the International Space Station for ten or twenty million dollars is not what we had in mind for the masses.

Space travel is very limited even for the few countries who have engineered a vehicle capable of reaching orbit and returning. In fact, AFFORDING a national space program has become a real question of priorities in virtually every country, including the USA.

Back in 1969, NASA officials probably thought they would be engineering trips to MARS by the beginning of the 21st Century. So did I.

Now, however, even a return trip to the Moon is being re-tooled to do it on the cheap. Forget about Mars; the economy is so bad and the NASA budget so tenuous, that the “return to the Moon” plans are becoming doubtful.

For the population at large, the exploration of space, and manned space travel in particular, has lost the romance it once had. We need to feed our people, educate them, provide for their health and for their old age, not spend billions to put a man on the Moon. BEEN THERE; DONE THAT!

There is a scene from the 2009 season finale of “Desperate Housewives” where Lynette’s husband plans to return to college to study the Chinese Language to better position himself as a “marketing” executive.

To many Americans, me included, China seems even more foreign than Russia. The people look different. They eat different food. They have different social customs and manners. They use a different way of writing. We have much to learn about them. Language is just the beginning.

There are many problems facing the new U.S. President, Barack Obama, but perhaps no problem presents more FAR REACHING consequences than climate change. President Obama is in a position to initiate policy changes that will be evaluated not just by the generation now being born, but by the children and grandchildren of the next twenty generations; indeed, if the human race even survives another twenty generations, about 400 years

Affect on arctic and antarctic areas: Melting of the Arctic icecap will result in a true “northern passage,” a summer time ice-free route from Europe to Asia and to the west coast of the United States. This could occur in a couple of years; even a year-around route will eventually be possible.

Affect on agriculture: Temperature extremes affect all sorts of crops that are now grown in America’s food belt. Drought will drastically reduce corn and other summer agriculture crop production. Warmer temperatures will reduce avocado harvests in California, as well as destroy the wine-growing areas in that State. The desert areas of Africa and Asia and North America will increase in size, further limiting agriculture production.

Affect on marine life: Water temperatures are so critical to habitat, and wild salmon in the Pacific, Lobster off the coast of New England, and Rainbow Trout in southern areas of the USA are all being devastated by warmer waters. Other trout species, like the Bull Trout, are even more sensitive to water temperature variations, and warm water will stress ALL these wild populations into extinction, another blow to the food supply. Jellyfish, which thrive in warmer and more saline waters, are invading coastal areas, evidenced by THOUSANDS of Jellyfish stings, which are increasing each year.

Affect on insect life: Insects will thrive; their range and habitat and diet will expand. Forests are already being destroyed by Spruce Bark Beetles and Pine Bark Beetles which used to be kept in check by cold winters. Hot dry spells also encourage increased breeding of mosquitoes.

Affect on wildlife: Grizzly Bear, Mountain goat and Bighorn sheep are negatively affected by smaller alpine habitats, particularly in the U.S. Glacier National Park area. Polar Bears are dying from lack of food; often resorting to cannibalism. They are also drowning from fatigue as the size and number of ice floes decreases. This situation also negatively affects penguins. Walrus too, are having difficulty with breeding and feeding cubs, and often strand the cubs on small ice floes. Brown Bear become aggressive when hibernation is delayed or shortened due to warm weather and they often become victims of civilization encroachment, and are shot when they seek food.

Enough. You get the idea. What the World and America has lacked in the past ten years is the Political Will to acknowledge the science, accept the evidence, and pay the price that will be required to “slow down” the global climate change process initially, then stop it, then reverse it. This will require GENERATIONS of humans with governments that are willing to change their priorities.

This is the real game of Survival. This is the real “war” to be engaged. There is no room for squabbling over the affairs of politicians, bankers, and the other myriad and trivial pursuits of mankind.

President Obama just completed his first foreign visits since his election. By all accounts he made a positive impression. The entire World looks to the United States for leadership. If the United States does not lead, the World’s governments falter and fumble around, looking for direction. Whether or not the World’s civilizations as we know them survive global climate change may well depend upon the WILLPOWER exhibited by Barack Obama, the U.S. Congress, and the American people and industry over the next EIGHT YEARS.

If nothing is done, it will be TOO LATE. The process of climate change is accelerating in geometric proportions. Some scientists warn that we have already passed the point of no return. Other scientists say that is “alarmist thinking” and they say, “Yes, We Can.” We still have time if we ACT aggressively and in concert with ALL the nations of Planet Earth.

When we discuss the AIG situation and comments that they are “too big to fail” I just have to ask: how big do you have to be in order to rate a government bailout?

General Motors has been around for a long time. Are we now in the situation where the American car industry will not only take a back seat to European and Asian car manufacturers, but simply leave the American market for them to enjoy?

I know that many foreign car manufacturers are now producing automobiles in the United States with U.S. labor, but those company profits go to overseas owners, primarily. And I understand that automobile parts for virtually ALL automobiles in the World are usually produced somewhere other than where the auto assembly plants are located. But I think American workers, labor unions, stock holders and loyal CUSTOMERS deserve just as much consideration as some financial services giant or bank.

Is it time for the USA to become more socialist? Should the U.S. government become the de facto owner of the means of production? If the alternative is turning over our industries to foreign ownership and foreign investment (more than we currently have), I think that U.S. government ownership, partial ownership at least, will give the government more muscle in directing these industries.

Socialism works in Europe and Great Britain and Australia, to some extent. I think we need to separate ourselves from the notion that Socialism equates to Communism. Perhaps what the American public needs is a better understanding of world economic systems, but I doubt that most Americans would be willing to listen and learn about things that go against the conservatism, protectionism, and isolationism that talk-show hosts pander for hours on end.