The children's climate-change crusade ...

There’s a modern-day children’s crusade on display. They’re walking out of classrooms and protesting in the streets about climate change.  We’re supposed to take them seriously. 

I can’t.  Not because they’re still kids – well, to be honest that’s part of it; some of them are still in elementary school.  But the real reason is it’s clear they’re simply repeating nonsense they’ve been programmed to say by activists. Which is mostly bumper-sticker crap that’s laugh-out-loud stupid about saving polar bears and the like.   

Make no mistake: these kids are only at these rallies and walkouts because they’re children – they’re there purely for the optics.  The activists responsible for this should be ashamed.    

Most young people showing up in climate change protests or for the latest “Green New Deal” don’t have a clue about what they are rallying for or against.  They lack the basic facts to have an informed opinion, especially when it comes to science.  They have no conception of history, either. They know essentially nothing about socialism, fascism, communism, or capitalism.  Or that most of every Green New Deal is less about science than it is about enforced socialism. 

They’ve been told socialism is good because it helps everyone, and that capitalism is bad because it allows the rich and greedy to exploit the masses. In a truly Orwellian twist, they are promoting authoritarianism and ceding personal liberties to an all-powerful government because they claim to oppose fascists.  You can’t make this stuff up.   

They only believe what they’ve been taught by their progressive teachers and what they see on social media. Which isn’t all that reliable or factual; it’s largely unfounded propaganda.      

The ignorance of a lot of young people today is positively medieval. Especially those who have embraced political activism on issues they know next to nothing about.  Like climate change.    

Their fervor over what they believe borders on religious fanaticism.   An Inconvenient Truth is their scripture. The adult activists are their high priests. The media are their choir, singing the righteousness of their cause and their bravery to speak truth to power.   

They know everything.  Just ask them.

But don’t probe too deeply. That’s unfair.    

In a way they remind me of the Jesus Freaks in my generation.  You know, the ones that said everyone had to accept Jesus as their savior or they’d burn in Hell, no exceptions  But when you asked about all the people born and died before Jesus, like Abraham or Moses, or lived a good life but never heard of Jesus – would they all go to Hell? – they got pissed off.

Mainly because their dogma couldn’t answer that question. How dare you question the basis of their beliefs?  Remind anyone of Greta Thunberg? Anyone?    

Like the Jesus Freaks with their inflexible dogma, our new zealots have all the “facts” they need; there’s nothing more to consider. They have their “faith.” Merely asking a question is a sign of heresy – they know the truth.  Or all the truth they need to know. 

They really do prefer “truth over facts.” While many of us laughed out loud when Biden said that recently, I suspect his crowd nodded in agreement. Particularly the kids.   

The real problem is most of their “truth” is bullshit.  That’s what you call ideas that have no basis in facts.  Faith is one thing; bullshit is quite another. 

Is the world going to end from climate change in 10-12 years?  Can we immediately replace all our current energy needs with solar panels and other renewables? Can we stop using fossil fuels altogether in a few years? Can the U.S. alone cut carbon and CO2 emissions enough to offset emissions from all the other countries in the world? Will making everyone in America become vegetarians save the planet? 

Of course not. It’s all nonsense. 

Climate change is real.  The planet warms and cools periodically. Then it warms and cools again.  It repeats that pattern over and over.   

Nobody is really sure why it was cooling a few decades ago, and now seems to be in a warming cycle. Humans were around back then and are around now – so it’s not just because of humans. Or our cars. Or because of greenhouse gas. Or holes in the ozone layer. 

In fact, the planet’s been warming and cooling intermittently for millions of years.  It’s just what the planet does, all on its own.  Real scientists know this. There are fossil records to prove this.  Blaming humans and fossil fuels exclusively for recent climate change is ridiculous.

It's as ridiculous as claiming that if we as Americans get rid of cows, combustion engines, and planes, and become vegetarians, we alone will somehow dramatically affect the planet’s climate.  We won’t.  If all the European nations and Australia did the same as the U.S. it still wouldn’t make any significant difference. 

Thinking that it would is hopelessly naïve – something you’d expect a kid to say. 

Which is why we shouldn’t be surprised they are saying stuff like this.

It’s not entirely their fault. They honestly don’t know any better. 

But the people pushing them in front of the cameras certainly do.  

Who watches the watchman?

It’s the age-old question.

If you give the power to someone to protect your interests, how can you be certain they’re always looking out for you? How can you be sure they’re never tempted to pursue their own agenda that may run counter to your best interests?    

In essence, who or what keeps the watchman honest?

The founders of this nation clearly wrestled with that issue. They didn’t trust government and politicians to not become wholly self-serving and immune from oversight. 

That’s why they put special emphasis on protecting freedom of the press. The press was seen as an essential way to insure that elected officials and bureaucrats would be held accountable by someone other than themselves. In other words, a free and independent press would be our watchman, exposing dirty dealings, corruption, and hold those responsible up to public scrutiny. 

Good idea.  Well, good as long as the press itself was honest. And independent. 

It didn’t take long for that idea to fall apart. Greed and the lust for power – especially by the media barons of the day to manipulate public opinion and public policy – took their toll.  Impartiality and “honest reporting” swiftly went out the window as a result. 

Sensationalism sold better than dry news.  Reporters and editors got the message.  The more outrageous – and titillating – the stories, the more papers they sold and the more readers they got.  More readers meant more money; more readers also meant more power.

The most powerful media empires could and did drag America into wars. They could make or break politicians. They could destroy reputations.  They could promote causes that enriched their friends, while damaging their enemies and rivals. They had and wielded enormous power.  

There was practically nothing anybody could do to stop them. Any attempt to stop their most egregious excesses was dismissed as an attack on “freedom of the press,”  protected by the Constitution.  They claimed they had a Constitutional right to do or say whatever they wanted whenever they were challenged.  With rare exceptions, courts backed them up. 

With this power they became the self-appointed guardians of “the truth.” Which was whatever they decided was “the truth” at the moment, not necessarily what was factual or proven.

The case of Times v. Sullivan in 1964 further limited the ability to hold the press accountable for what they published, particularly when they attacked a “public figure.” Because of that case, their victims now had to prove the publisher or writer engaged is a reckless disregard of the facts and with malice aforethought (the intention to cause harm).

Neither is easy to prove conclusively. Publishers and writers claimed they didn’t know what they published wasn’t true at the time – they were simply reporting the news based on the information available at the time. 

It was an easy way to get around accountability for publishing false and often defamatory stories. They didn’t know if the details were false because they were just reporting what they’d been told by someone else.  And of course they couldn’t reveal who that source was for verification because the Constitution protected them. 

As to proving malice aforethought, how can anyone prove what anyone else is thinking? 

Even if they were compelled to issue a correction, well, so what? The correction typically ran in the least conspicuous area of their paper.  The false charge may have been on the front page with a 24pt. headline; the correction would be buried in mousetype far away.

Meanwhile the damage had already been done. Which was what they intended.   

They had virtual immunity from the consequences of their actions.  This bred even more arrogance on their part.  As everyone knows, absolute power corrupts absolutely. And it did.         

It shouldn’t surprise anyone then that the media – the new collective noun for “the press” in all its forms – has devolved even more today.  They don’t even bother to pretend they are impartial anymore.  If anything, they revel in their bias; they promote it with pride.

They intentionally omit key facts. They advance conspiracy theories and rumors based on unnamed sources and present these as “facts.” They taint reporting with sly innuendos and sarcasm.  They blatantly lie at times, knowing that even if they’re caught most people will never learn it was a lie – or even remember it was disproven – because of the flood of news in a 24-hour news cycle.   

As far as independence and integrity in reporting, that ship has sailed as well.  More and more we see a false claim repeated almost verbatim across supposedly competing media outlets, often citing each other as “proof.” Once the false claim is launched, it’s considered validated by repetition. If the NYT reported it, and then The Washington Post, no need to investigate further.

Some say this is just sloppy journalism – laziness on the part of reporters.  But it’s more than that; it’s an intentional effort not to report real news that’s been thoroughly vetted, but to shape the “news” to manipulate public opinion. It’s not “all the news that’s fit to print” (or publish), but only the news designed to advance a particular narrative, much as the earlier press barons did.  

In that way, it’s not something entirely new. The media has always been open to corruption and bias to a greater or lesser degree because stories are written and edited by humans. The very act of writing and editing introduces subjectivity into every story. It’s inescapable. 

That alone raises the question whether the media should be considered an impartial and honest watchman. It’s not proven it deserves that role, especially today.  As it becomes more pervasive more of its flaws in judgement and integrity are surfacing.

Which brings us to the key issue: Who should be empowered to watch over the watchman when it appears the watchman can no longer be trusted to perform its duty honestly?

That should keep us all awake at night. 

The only upside of an impending hurricane ...

Hurricanes are fearsome things. And unpredictable. And especially dangerous for Floridians who live on or near either of our coasts.  Those of us in Florida – despite what you may have heard – do take hurricanes seriously; it’s not all hurricane parties and drinking.

People here do go a bit nuts, nonetheless, when a hurricane is on the way, even if they’re not in the path.  They mob the stores to buy “emergency” supplies, empty the shelves of bottled water, stock up on beer, and buy more toilet paper than they’ll use in a month.

Don’t get me wrong. There’s nothing wrong with being prepared; only an idiot doesn’t prepare.  Sooner or later if you live in Florida you’ll face a hurricane.  Hurricanes are always potentially life-threatening.  Certainly capable of damaging or destroying property and cutting power. 

Then how can there be an upside?

Well, for one, it reminds potential snowbirds that Florida can be a dangerous place. If that stops more Democrats from the north from moving down and bringing their politics with them, that’s a good thing for all of us already here.  At least in my opinion.    

But I digress. 

The best part is the absence of news about anything else. 

When a hurricane is rumored to be coming, it’s morning to night, wall-to-wall, never-ending hype about the European model, the GFS model, the spaghetti models and assorted predictions from the Hurricane Center in Miami to the Farmer’s Almanac to someone’s pet chicken in Micanopy. 

And, of course, from local TV meteorologists up and down Florida. Plus cable news reporters stationed throughout the state to give minute-by-minute reports on what they’re seeing. 

Which is usually not a whole lot until a hurricane gets much closer.    

There’s hardly room for commercials, much less national news. The little national news we see focuses mostly on the frenzied prep for a hurricane – the obligatory clips of lines at gas stations, shopping carts full of bottled water, empty shelves at Costco, and people at Home Depot buying plywood and generators.

So here in Florida we get a break from the usual news.

Like who Trump just insulted in a 3AM tweet. The plight of poor illegals and their families caught at our border. The latest lunacy from the Democrats running for President.  Silliness in the Democrat-controlled House.  The newest “smoking gun” evidence guaranteed to drive Trump from office. The trade war with China.  Why we’re headed into a recession.  Brexit.  Flare ups with Iran. The fighting in Yemen. The fighting in Syria. Protests about whatever, wherever.

In short, a whole bunch of otherwise useless information we’d see every day. 

We’re somewhat left with The Weather Channel on steroids on every station. Which is okay. It’s better than the typical national news.  Or the usual news out of Orlando: who got murdered on Orange Blossom Trail or in Pine Hills, or the latest Disney or Universal Studios attraction.

A possible hurricane snuffs out pretty much everything else here. 

Granted, the coverage gets a little boring after a while.  That’s when we start exploring other channels in our cable package we’d normally never watch, or even knew existed.  Who knew there was a channel devoted to horse races? Better still, who cares?    

When – as often happens here in Central Florida, thank God – the feared hurricane fails to live up to the hype, we all go back to normal and wait for the next one. We check up on friends who might have been affected.  We also wonder what we’ll do with all that peanut butter we bought.

Most of all, we’re all happy we dodged a bullet this time. 

And some, like me, are happy we got some time off from the typical news for a little while. 

Just as we know that another hurricane will eventually come, we know what to expect when the regular national news returns.  The break was nice while it lasted.  

The tyranny of the perpetually offended ...

Every day there’s something new. 

The list of offensive objects, words, actions, or whatever keeps growing. Not because these are truly offensive to most people, but because some people have decided these upset them.

They can walk past a statue or building that’s been there more than 100 years and suddenly get the vapors.  They go to pieces because their college mascot is a cowboy. They have to run and hide because someone has a flag on their truck. They’re terrified by license plates and state flags from certain places.  They prevent “dangerous” speakers and comedians from performing, because what they might say might be hurtful to someone. 

They’re even trying to get rid of gender-specific pronouns and certain words because these might cause some people to feel uncomfortable. 

These self-appointed arbiters of what’s acceptable and what isn’t want everything they find offensive banned, or at least hidden from view.  It’s not enough that they no longer have to see or hear what offends them; no, they want to prevent everyone else from seeing or hearing anything they’ve decided is offensive to them or someone else.

They’ve become tyrants. And they enjoy their power. So they keep expanding their list of forbidden objects, words, actions and anything else they don’t like.  Because they can.  And because it makes them feel special and in control of everything.  And part of something bigger. 

The perpetually offended mob. 

They are now always offended by something.  Could be anything. They claim to suffer grievous psychological harm, and sometimes physical harm, merely by seeing or hearing something offensive.  They want to ban everything they don’t like to “protect” themselves.  

Just who are these modern-day censors?

They’re part of the “woke” generation.  The “woke” claim they’ve awakened to the “real” reality all around them.  They can now see things more clearly – widespread racial injustice, misogyny, homophobia, xenophobia, whatever – that’s been there all along but ignored by others. 

In short, they claim to see things we can’t.  They have a heightened awareness of the clues we might overlook that belie a pervasive problem. They are so sensitive that when they see these clues, it can trigger an immediate visceral response in them, making them fearful and panic-stricken and helpless in the face of such danger.

Which sounds suspiciously like schizophrenia, psychosis, and neurotic behavior to many of us. But to them, it’s what makes them “woke.” And they are proud of their new-found ability as seers of hidden messages and hidden plots most of us dismiss as absurd nonsense.    

I think all this stuff about “triggers” and “hidden” meanings is a load of crap. I think it’s all made up by the perpetrators to carve out special attention for themselves. Everybody wants to be a victim these days; it’s the new high honor to find something – anything – that offends them. 

I’m not denying that racial injustice, misogyny, homophobia, xenophobia and other *.phobias exist, but not everything is proof that these are widespread. Nor that they are a danger to everyone.  There will always be jerks and bigots among us – yes, and even white supremacists – yet they are such a miniscule part of our population they are irrelevant. 

They are about as dangerous as a barking wiener dog. Annoying, sure; dangerous, no. 

Moreover, the things that set off these “woke” people are incredibly trivial, and often downright laughable – which they would realize if they had any sense of humor.  Which they clearly don’t. More’s the pity. Because some of their “triggers” are hilarious.

Recently the Betsy Ross flag – the original flag of our country – was designated as a “trigger’ and a symbol of racial injustice. Huh? Well it seems some white supremacist groups have been flying that flag, so, by association, it’s now a white supremacist symbol.  It’s such a powerful symbol of hate that Colin Kaepernick convinced Nike to cancel the launch of a Fourth of July sneaker with that flag on it because it represented racism. That’s the power of the perpetually offended.  

Hats are now triggers for the “woke,” too. MAGA hats set them off, because Trump supporters wear them. Trump is the “woke” generation’s personal bogeyman, antichrist, Hitler, whatever. 

Recently I read that some actress asked everyone to stop wearing any red hats, any, because these make people like her uncomfortable. That’s because MAGA hats are often red. I expect some of the “woke” eventually to demand a ban on the color red for the same reason. 

They are so, so serious about everything, to the point of distraction.  It must be exhausting to be them, because they’re so invested in always being angry, miserable, and fearful.

But they seem to enjoy it.  Go figure. 

I wonder: Do they ever laugh at anything?  I’m asking that sincerely.

I don’t think they do. I guess they’re not “woke” enough to see how silly they are.

Right now we just have to put up with these preening, whiney pussies who pee themselves and crap their pants whenever they see or hear something they don’t like.

Oops. I suddenly realized I’ve probably offended women, the transgendered, metrosexual males, the hearing and visually enabled, the incontinent, and God knows who else. 

Tough shit.  I suppose that was offensive, too, perhaps to the constipated.

Get over it.  I wish they would start acting like adults and grow a pair.

Well, there I go again …   

Reality check for some snowbirds ...

If you’ve never heard that term before, it’s what Chamber of Commerce types call “seasonal residents” in Florida. To us full-time Florida residents, they’re snowbirds – only here a few months a year before they migrate back to where they’re from, typically some place up north.

Here in The Villages we mark our seasons by when snowbirds come and when they leave. I suspect it’s the same in in many other Florida “adult lifestyle” (retirement) communities.

The northerners who own property in these communities usually start to flock south in late fall and migrate back north in April. In The Villages, the snowbirds add about 20% to our full-time population during those months. That’s about 30,000 more people than normal here.   

When they’re here, traffic is worse. Restaurants are more crowded and it’s harder to get a reservation.  Generally, there’s increased rudeness everywhere – when driving, when shopping in grocery stores, when dining out, in bars, pretty much wherever we go.

Part of that is simply because there are more people; but part is also because of the attitude of some snowbirds. Some tend to leave their manners back home, wherever that is. Some act like they are paying guests at a fancy resort where they expect first-class treatment, and special privileges, all the time. If they don’t get what they want instantly, they’re outraged.

You’ll see them bullying the waitstaffs at local restaurants, cutting you off in traffic, ignoring stop signs, jumping lines at checkout, and generally being assholes.      

Now, that’s not to say all snowbirds are bad, obnoxious people; most are quite nice and courteous. Some of them are just transitioning from working full time to retirement, so their Florida property is part of that plan. They are good neighbors, good people, and we’re happy to see them back.

But nobody – and I mean nobody – likes the obnoxious snowbirds. We dread their return.

Local businesses may like the added income while they’re here, and they do add to the local economy.  However, we locals support local businesses and restaurants all year long and bristle when we suddenly see prices rise and service fall when the snowbirds are here. 

I’m not faulting all snowbirds.  As I said, most of them are nice.  Most of them want to fit in and be good neighbors. We like them. I want to be crystal clear about that.  

Yet there are always too many obnoxious, demanding snowbirds who seem to think they are extra special. And that somehow everybody here owes them a great deal of deference because they’re graced us with their presence. 

This advice is for them:

First, believe it or not, most of us haven’t been waiting breathlessly for your return.  When you left we didn’t put our lives on hold.  We did the same things we always do, whether you’re here or not. Don’t expect us to change anything just because you’re back. You’ll be disappointed.

We’re just as eager to hear about everything you did while you were gone as you are to hear about everything we did until you got back. Which is to say, not much.

Unless you donated or received an organ, recovered from a catastrophic illness, or saved someone from a burning building, don’t expect us to be in awe, hanging on your every word. We especially don’t care to hear about how you can’t retire yet because your employer can’t survive without you, or how you can’t move down permanently because your grandchildren would be heartbroken if you did. That comes off as incredibly self-centered. 

Honestly, most of us don’t care what you do.  Nothing in our lives will change regardless of what you do, or don’t do.  Yours might; ours won’t. Have some perspective.      

Next, every time you come back you essentially start over in terms of social dynamics and group activities. That’s because we never know exactly when you’ll be here or when you won’t.  We’re not holding spots or saving a place for you because you might be here; we’ll only do that when you’re already here and there’s an opening.

And only if we actually want to – that last point is important.

We don’t actually owe you anything because you show up now and then, which may surprise you. It shouldn’t. Months have passed since you were last here. Times change, situations change.  And you’ll only be here for a little while anyway.  Get over it. 

On that note, get over yourself, too.  Everything here surprisingly ran just fine without you. We muddled on quite nicely without your input. Please remember that you’re getting on a bus that’s already moving and has been for most of the year; you’re not driving the bus just because you’re back.  You can’t just show up now and expect everything suddenly to revolve around you.

Oh, and while I’m at it, you should know that we don’t care about your political leanings. You should keep them to yourself.  You probably haven’t noticed but most of us don’t talk about politics in social settings. It’s considered poor taste.  That should have been obvious the first time you started ranting about politics and the room suddenly went silent.    

Finally, if you don’t like it here – your property, the neighbors, the restaurants, the community, whatever – you don’t have to constantly remind us.  

Once was enough; more than once is annoying. 

Moreover, we have nothing to do with the fact that you can’t find a “real” New York bagel, a Philly cheesesteak like Pat’s, a good Chicago-style pizza, or whatever food you grew up with. It might come as a shock, but your Florida community was never designed to be New York, Philly, Chicago, or wherever up north you came from in terms of food.  Nor in terms of taxes, crime and weather – which, after all, is why you wanted to have property here in the first place.  

If you really don’t like it here, sell your property and move elsewhere. 

Someone else will be happy to take your place.  And we might like them better.