Letter to Congress

The companies profiting from tracking our every move via cell phone apps with software development kits (SDK) can’t be expected to voluntarily limit their practices. Please don’t even think that the data those companies are collecting are really anonymous, because that has been shown to be demonstrably false (https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2019/12/19/opinion/location-tracking-cell-phone.html). If a hacker wanted, she could track the movements of the nation’s elected leadership and top security officials using their cell phone data from their homes to their offices and back and know every place where they went in between and every person with a cell phone they came in contact with. Right now no law prevents data gathering companies from selling that data to whoever wants to buy it, whether for commercial, political, or nefarious purposes.

The plain truth is we, the American public, no longer have a real choice about our privacy because unregulated cell phone tracking affects nearly everyone indiscriminately. The solution is straightforward and simple: Congress has to step in to protect the privacy of consumers and their rights as American citizens by passing basic laws to protect people from a largely unregulated industry that already has demonstrated it recognizes few boundaries regarding privacy. We need those laws now and it does not matter which political party we support since everyone with a cell phone is being tracked. Everyone.

So, the question boils down to this: what are you going to do to protect our privacy rights from firms that are now organized specifically to exploit our cell phone location data? I’m specifically talking about laws that should control what companies can do with the location data they collect. A pertinent example is “purpose limitation,” which means companies can only use location data for the reason they specify and not sell it to other firms to do with it what they want. It’s time to get moving on this extraordinarily important issue. The real question is where will you be in that effort?

Canyon Dreams: a Book to Treasure

For many of us, searching for that great book, the one with the story that hooks you through the heart and refuses to let go, is a sort of a Holy Grail journey, never to be satisfied; though some stories come close, most do not. For me, Canyon Dreams is the real deal, that once in a lifetime tale that makes you laugh and cry, makes you wonder why the world is so fucked up, keeps you on the edge of your chair, and makes you want to hug the characters who leap off the pages and into your heart.

Canyon Dreams is an unlikely tale of a little known sports phenomena, rez ball, that frenetic version of high school basketball played in the tribal reservations of the arid Southwest. Although it is a sports story, at heart it is so much more that it's difficult for me to articulate this amazing book's many incredible facets.

Instead of focusing on the game, the author, the masterful Michael Powell (New York Times sports columnist), presents non-linear vignettes from the life of a community and culture that is foreign to almost all Americans, the Navajo, and subtly pulls the reader into the story until you feel the joy, suffering, pain, and hopes-dreams of the players, and understand the drive of their indomitable coach, Raul Mendoza, who refuses to let his players or the many students he counsels slip into despair and suicide.

Although I am not usually a fan of sports literature, I can tell you without exaggeration that the book is truly extraordinary and should be on your reading list.

Trump Is Impeached

Question: Is it time to celebrate or time to rail against the blatant bias of Donald Trump’s political opponents?

I am not a Trump apologist but neither are my eyes closed to the human weaknesses and venality so well exposed by the actions of both Democrats and Republicans in Washington and in state assemblies throughout the country. Let’s be honest; the lack of civility has long been a prominent feature of American politics. Without getting overtly religious, I suppose we can call it the result of what Catholics believe is Original Sin that affects all humans. Whether you accept that doctrine or not is somewhat immaterial as most people believe it expresses the innate weakness of humans and our propensity to commit acts that are harmful. In other words, we believe being “sinful” is part of the human condition.

Assuming that statement to be true, then why are so many liberals upset with the behavior of President Trump? After all, Jack Kennedy slept around with plenty of women not his spouse and was not roundly condemned or held up to public ridicule. As did Presidents Johnson and Warren Harding. Either President Reagan or Vice-President Bush was involved up to his eyeballs in the Irangate scandal yet neither suffered consequences of that illegal behavior. President Bush Jr. lied shamelessly to the American public and to Congress about Saddam Hussein and he skated. Yeah, Trump isn't perfect but who is?

What is it about Trump that has rubbed so many Democrats and others so raw until the only remedy they can see is impeachment? Here’s my take on that fascinating subject.

Many Americans more or less wrote off George W and people like Sarah Palin as amiable idiots and not as pathological or serial liars. Most of those Americans believe Donald Trump has not discovered any lines he would hesitate to cross in the pursuit of wealth and self-aggrandizement. I believe anti-Trumpers see him as so brazenly immoral and unstable that he is inherently dangerous to the very institutional fabric on which America was built.

Here’s why I believe anti-Trumpers pushed so hard for his impeachment. For those Americans, Trump’s extraordinary character flaws are so grotesque and contemptable they put him beyond the pale of acceptable behavior. He flaunts convention, thumbs his nose at what had previously been universally accepted presidential norms, openly and unashamedly lies about what impartial observers recognize as factual, lacks ordinary decency and morality, exhibits such extreme narcissism that would in other circumstances be ludicrous, ignores and publically berates his advisors, is unabashedly vulgar and dishonest, and engages in abusive bullying. Hey, what’s to like about the guy?

Well, many conservatives love Trump because they see him as ripping the false facades from his political opponents, showing them to be the “whitened sepulchers” they are. Yeah, he’s a bully but he bullies people who need to be taken down a peg or two. Maybe his Twitter posts are a little rough but he says what he feels, which is something Washington politicians have never done. Plus, his judicial appointments have conservatives dancing in the streets. Hey, what’s not to like about the guy?

We have a situation where impeachment will solve not one thing and thus all America, blue state/red state, will have to wait until November 2020 for a definitive solution. Not very satisfactory but our Founders never thought our political system would fail so spectacularly and thus failed themselves and our nation by not incorporating in the Constitution more stringent safeguards against blind political partisanship.

Why I Support Donald Trump

Donald Trump has taken America to new heights, no doubt. His accomplishments in changing America are unparalleled. What other President has done any of the following?

• Corrected the electoral process by proving the election was rigged and that millions of fraudulent votes were cast for Hillary Clinton. 

• Treated immigrants with appropriate disdain while restricting their due process rights.

• Normalized mendacity as he demonized the press for “fake news” stories. 

• Characterized neo-Nazis and white supremacists as “fine people.” 

• Taken money from state governors staying at his hotels. 

• Bragged about grabbing beautiful women by their "pussies."

• Hosted high-level foreign officials and their delegations at his golf clubs and hotels. 

• Offered to host a GS 7 summit at his Miami resort-golf course. 

• Sided with Russia against his own intelligence services. 

• Called Haiti and African nations “shit-hole” countries. 

• Praised a dictator who has subjected his people to crushing poverty and famine as he rides in bullet-proof limos and is a leading purchaser of the world’s most expensive liquors. 

• Held up his National Security Council professional staff to public ridicule. 

• Pressured the elected leader of a foreign nation to collect dirt on a political opponent running for the American presidency.

The answer to all these questions is simple: No President, ever. EVER. What remarkable accomplishments. That’s why I’m proud to support Trump for King, I mean President. MAGA.

Capitalism or Democratic Socialism: What’s the Difference and Why Pragmatism Counts

In the last two years, media coverage of socialism has become increasingly common. Of course, a lot of the criticism leveled against socialism comes from Republicans/conservatives, who are the traditional opponents of that economic system and strong supporters of capitalism. Although many Democrats are also talking up socialism, it’s in a form many of us may not be familiar with, democratic socialism. In this short discussion, I focus briefly on the differences between capitalism and democratic socialism and why voters should care about which prevails in America’s near-term future.

Capitalism is an economic system of private ownership of capital and the means of production that is focused on the creation of wealth by owners (including stockholders). That system is also characterized by competition between companies striving for market dominance. In a real world capitalistic society, the production and pricing of goods and services are determined by the market. However, a certain amount of government regulation and intervention may pertain. The down-sides of capitalism include monopolistic behavior, price-fixing, stock manipulation and fraud, negative externalities damaging the environment, a lack of competition, creation of financial elites and inequality, and exploitation of labor and consumers.

Democratic socialism (and plain vanilla socialism) differs from capitalism in supporting various forms of worker control of firms and various levels of government control of investment. The goal of democratic socialism is to shift power from corporate capital and the One Percent (the wealthy elite) to workers and even consumers. Unlike the social democracies of Western Europe that are compatible with regulated capitalism, democratic socialists are fundamentally anti-capitalistic and most believe government at various levels and scales should encourage (force) privately owned businesses to turn over as much operational control as possible to workers.

Here’s the gospel according to the official Democratic Socialists of America’s website: “To achieve a more just society, many structures of our government and economy must be radically transformed through greater economic and social democracy so that ordinary Americans can participate in the many decisions that affect our lives.” As part of that radical transformation, the workers and consumers who are affected by businesses should own and control them. That “social” ownership could take many forms, such as worker-owned cooperatives or publicly owned enterprises managed by workers and consumer representatives. Although the large concentrations of capital in economic sectors, such as energy and heavy industry, may necessitate some form of government ownership, many consumer goods industries might be best run as cooperatives. Source: https://www.dsausa.org/about-us/what-is-democratic-socialism/

The downsides of democratic socialism include a decreased emphasis on entrepreneurship, de-emphasis on individual achievement, increased government control, increased bureaucracy and a concomitant decline in efficiency, decrease in competitive drive, and uncertainty over how transition from capitalism to social control of companies would be financed.

It should be obvious that those two systems are not only very different but also that only one, capitalism, is in effect today in America. Replacing it with democratic socialism would necessarily involve widespread and fundamental changes to our country and potentially significant socioeconomic disruptions.

Here’s my bottom line. The typical American doesn’t give a rat’s ass about economic systems as such. They basically want the government to work well while leaving them alone but also to make sure they are warm in the heart of winter and cool in the heat of summer. In their heart of hearts, ordinary Americans want to drive the biggest-baddest Ford pick-up, a top of the line mongo SUV, and a Mercedes Benz AMG or two; own five or six multi-million dollar houses located in the world’s great cities; vacation on a 200-foot yacht in Saint-Tropez or Tahiti; ski in Gstaad; and belong to exclusive country clubs. Deep down all those average, working- and middle-class Americans want what Karl Marx failed to realize would prove the fallacy of his elegant theorizing: they just want to be as rich and powerful as Bill Gates or Jeff Bezos. They desperately want capitalism to work for them exactly the way Good Witch Glinda worked for Dorothy.

But, in some deep recess of their primitive lizard brain stems, those typical Americans know all those Power Ball and Mega Millions tickets are not going to pay off and no Uncle Roscoe or Aunt Minnie is going to kick the bucket and leave them rolling in umpty billion smackeroos. So, what do all those people depend on to save them in their old age from merciless penury and homelessness? Two things: Medicare/Medicaid and Social Security, programs created by Democrats and despised by Republicans, who correctly bash them as socialist.

What all that boils down to is if average voters think Democrats are moving far to the left under the influence of democratic socialists like Representative Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez and if one of the Party’s hardline leftists becomes its candidate for President promising to get rid of nasty old capitalism, their fear and loathing will drive them to shitcan nearly every Democrat running for public office and re-elect that flaming asshole, Donald Trump. In the coming elections, if the Democratic Party cannot win a majority of independent and moderate voters, people whose livelihoods and very existence depend on capitalism, it’s game over for the presidency and for all too many Congressional seats.

If that’s not want you want, it’s time to get off your butts and start financially supporting more moderate Democratic Party candidates and get a lot more vocal about why you are supporting those candidates. We are facing a political disaster of the first magnitude in the coming election and do not have the luxury of misinterpreting the severity of that situation. If we don’t get our act together to defeat Trump now and argue about moving left later, we’re looking at a full blown catastrophe.

In this crisis, pragmatism must prevail over ideological purity and grandiose leftist dreams or Trump will be re-elected and we’ll be holding our heads in our hands, wondering what the Hell went wrong. Again.

Decision-Making, Cognitive Flexibility, Climate Change

What does a study of enhanced cognitive flexibility in a semi-nomadic, non-Westernized, illiterate people, the Himba, living in arid northern Namibia have to do with climate change? On the face of it, not one thing since climate change was not part of the research or mentioned in the peer-reviewed, published paper. The study, conducted by a group of social psychologists, was focused on problem solving and decision-making and the differences between Westerners and the Himba in terms of what is called cognitive flexibility.

To simplify and over-generalize, the researchers found that when they assigned a simple visual problem to the Himba and to a group of Westerners, the Himba were more cognitively flexible in terms of adopting helpful strategies.

Why does that matter and what has it to do with climate change? The researchers believed that in a dynamic environment, where circumstances can change at the drop of a hat, abandoning the “groove” you had been in and trying something new may have critical survival benefits. But our Western, cultural bias favoring the time-honored and familiar can make it difficult to move out of our comfort zone and leap into the unknown. In other words, our Western, energy intensive lifestyles clearly offer benefits but those benefits may come at the cost of less flexible thinking. Aha.

And so we arrive at climate change.

We live in an environment that is experiencing dynamic change, in this case global warming. But most developed countries, the ones injecting the most CO2 into the atmosphere, are largely Westernized, having internalized Western cultural processes. Meaning their citizens are loath to change the way they have been doing things because they are focused on the familiar. Like depending on fossil fuels to sustain their daily lives and their comfortable and comforting lifestyles.

The lead researcher in the cited study believes that a better understanding of the relationship between education and creative problem solving could help determine how to get past the Western fixation on what is familiar to us. It may then be possible to apply the results of that future research to address the climate change challenge.

But, the big question is: Since most Westernized countries, especially the U.S., seem unwilling to engage in policies or actions that would aggressively abate global warming, do we have the time?

My best guess is that most Americans would favor government policies that curtail CO2 emissions, especially if their lifestyles were unaffected.  Otherwise, it's an iffy proposition, which makes me glad I'm in my mid-70s and won't live to see what the mid-term future brings.


Pope, Sarah M., Joël Fagot, Adrien Meguerditchian, David A. Washburn, and William D. Hopkins. 2018. Enhanced Cognitive Flexibility in the Seminomadic Himba. Journal of Cross-Cultural Psychology 50(1): 47-62. https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/abs/10.1177/0022022118806581?journalCode=jcca

News Source: https://www.npr.org/sections/goatsandsoda/2019/04/07/704853100/why-the-semi-nomadic-himba-are-so-good-at-thinking-outside-the-box

Can Donald Trump Be Re-Elected?

Let’s start with the Big Question of the day: Can Donald Trump be re-elected in 2020? The scary answer is yes. Here are a few things to consider before we get into a serious discussion. In the coming election, Hillary Clinton won’t be around for conservatives to hate, a strong plus for Democrats. James Comey won’t play the major role he did in Fall 2016. Russian interference will continue to be a problem, though how serious is debatable. Voter suppression in states controlled by Republicans won’t go away. Howard Schultz is likely to run for president as an independent, a thorn in the Democrats’ side. Depending on the Democratic candidate, the African-American turnout may be smaller than in the Obama elections. And as of mid-March 2019, no one knows what the Mueller investigation, those of the U.S. Justice Department’s Southern District of New York, or what the just started efforts of the New York Attorney General and the New York County District Attorney will conclude.

What we know for certain is Donald Trump will continue to be Donald Trump, loved and hated by nearly equal numbers of voters but looked on with increasing dismay and dissatisfaction by many others. But to really dig into the question posed above, we have try to understand why people voted for Trump in the primaries and the previous national election.

Trump has been on what appears to be a never-ending campaign that started in the primaries selling the doom of national decline and a desperation to turn things around. So, who buys that shtick? People for whom authority and traditional hierarchies make sense. People who believe the American dream for them and their children is either dying or dead. People who are alienated and feel abandoned by their government. People who resent minorities and immigrants and the changes they represent. People who will excuse Trump’s obvious imperfections as long as he appoints hard-right judges and Supreme Court justices. And people who are deep into authoritarian aggression. What Trump is tapping into is the anger of whites who feel they have been shoved aside as the undeserving are being given what is rightfully theirs. I must add most objective analysts see those feelings of deprivation as based on a badly skewed concept of entitlement.

It’s critical to consider how at Trump’s political rallies he invariably pumps up the crowds by ranting about border insecurity (“Build the Wall!” “National emergency.” “Border invasion.”). Trump legitimizes his supporters’ deep-seated anxieties by attacking minorities and immigrants—dangerous Muslims and Mexican rapists, murderers, drug dealers, and invaders—and by advocating positions like nationalism and white privilege that reassure his base that his solutions and theirs are one and the same. In that way Trump not only manipulates his supporters but also reinforces their ties to him as the only leader powerful enough to protect them through actions his spineless and corrupt opponents refuse to take.

As far as Trump’s base is concerned, he is an effective President determined to do what needs to be done. As President, he is unlike traditional politicians because he speaks his mind absent a politically correct filter and has engineered an economic prosperity that is the envy of the world. Although his base acknowledges and often frowns on his womanizing, his too frequent crudity, and his casual relationship with facts, they see those as minor imperfections common to all politicians that are overshadowed by his efforts to create a strong economy, his determination to end two costly wars, his white nationalism, his very popular emphasis on America First, his appointing conservative judges, and his hard-nosed stance against China and North Korea and especially against illegal immigrants. And don’t forget his promise to build a physical wall along our southwestern border.

To his loyal supporters, even to many more moderate Republicans, Trump offers far more to celebrate than to reject. If you look at the key issues of trust, leadership, strength, and values, Trump enjoys the support of his base and the majority of Republicans because they are convinced he is protecting their way of life from corrupt Democrats. He makes sure they realize that that their world—Christian, conservative, and white—is at risk unless their support for him is unconditional.

Of course, all the above material could either be pure puffery or leftist bias. But, recent social science research (citations are provided below) shows that Trump’s strongest supporters are driven by a combination of racial resentment, authoritarian aggression, and a social dominance orientation—the conviction that their group has the right to dominate others. It turns out the very characteristics exhibited by Trump that many Americans find disturbing—his relentless drive to dominate his opponents, his thinly veiled white supremacism, and his bullying tone and politically incorrect language—are exactly what his base responds to and needs psychologically because he is in reality speaking for them. Which means that unless Trump is shown committing an epically immoral/illegal act, his base and other conservatives will continue their unquestioning support.

In July 2015, when Senator John McCain realized Trump’s primary opponents didn’t seem capable of saying anything that could change the minds of Trump’s unwavering supporters, he came to a conclusion that was shockingly similar to Hillary’s later “basket of deplorables” comment: “What he did was he fired up the crazies.” Of course, it’s critical to realize that a great many people who wound up voting for Trump so disliked the national Democratic Party candidate that their vote was a symbolic Fuck You directed at Democrats in general and specifically at Trump’s political opponent: “Crooked Hillary.” “Lock her up!” And “Trump That Bitch!”

Democrats and independents have to remember it took a perfect political storm to get a loathsome toad elected in 2016 and perfect political storms are rare events. Especially considering Hillary ran a badly flawed campaign that ensured she would lose. Democrats don’t have to agonize that their brand is dead on the beach since reality-based fixes are available if the Party listens to people like Bernie Sanders, Elizabeth Warren, and even to the youthful cadre inspired by Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez. Of course, that’s a very big if.

Democrats simply can’t keep pushing the same old crapola the Clintons and Obama did by becoming centrists supporting corporate America and the wealthy elite and expect to win the hearts and minds of ordinary voters. This country needs genuine progressive change, not the campaign trail bullshit Obama fed us for eight years. The sad truth is if the Democratic Party doesn’t get back in touch with its better progressive self, Trump being re-elected in 2020 looks increasingly doable, despite Robert Mueller lurking in the wings since even he may not be able to dislodge The Donald from his White House throne if Republicans in the Senate continue their blind support.

If we are honest, we should acknowledge that in 2016 Trump voters were right about a number of issues. They were right about our political system being corrupt and broken (Big Money owns Congress). They were right about the status quo with the establishment leaders of both parties favoring the rich and powerful (Wall Street and the Big Banks) while everyone else sucks dirt. They were right about trying to overthrow the prevailing political order (Democrats becoming moderate Republicans). They were right about being cut out of the American Dream by both parties. They were right about Hillary being a terrible candidate. And, yeah, they were flat out wrong about a whole set of other issues, such as minorities, immigrants, white rights, and strident nationalism.

What Democrats like me want is a seasoned, left-leaning politician who, unlike Hillary, will run an effective national campaign for President based on a progressive platform. My hope is that by mid-2019 the Democrats will have identified a strong, competent, left-of-center candidate who will kick The Donald’s ass back to New York City where he and his children (plus Jared Kushner) will be prosecuted by the NY AG and NYC District Attorney and tossed into prison.

In the meantime, the goal for everyone is to get to the polls and vote for sanity in Washington and at the state level by pulling the proverbial lever for every Democratic candidate on the ballot. Yeah, I know how ridiculous that suggestion is considering real-world politics. But if Trump supporters aren’t taught a lesson about what kind of country most Americans want to live in, we could be in for a shit-storm of biblical dimensions. To avoid that nightmare we must get political and volunteer to campaign for genuinely progressive Democrats for national and state offices. And then vote and get your friends to as well. We are either part of transforming the Democratic Party or we’re spectators watching Donald Trump commit innumerable destructive acts against democracy while in office through 2024.

As an aside, those interested in the academic research referred to above may want to consult:

Smith, David Norman, and Eric Hanley. 2018. The anger games: Who voted for Donald Trump in the 2016 election, and why? Critical Sociology 44(2): 195-212.

Ludeke, Steven G., Camilla N. Klitgaard, and Joseph Vitriolc. 2018. Comprehensively-measured authoritarianism does predict vote choice: The importance of authoritarianism’s facets, ideological sorting, and the particular candidate. Personality and Individual Differences 123(1): 209-216, available online.

Womick, Jake, Tobias Rothmund, Flavio Azevedo, Laura A. King, and John T. Jost. 2018. Group-based dominance and authoritarian aggression predict support for Donald Trump in the 2016 U.S. Presidential Election. Social Psychological and Personality Science. Open source, https://doi.org/10.1177/1948550618778290