The Season

Yep, it’s that time. No, not the one that comes around every four years, well, yeah, it is that time, but the ‘other’ time that happens every year, the one of brisk, windy days and beautiful colors. It just so happens that the other every four years thing is also happening now, and most of us are either tired of hearing about it, terrified about it, made up our minds about it, or wonder WTF is wrong with half of the country’s voters.

So…after a very brief listing below of what I think matters — and not in a political way — the only political thing included in this issue is a video clip in which comedian and state of the art grouch Lewis Black gets to the issue that no one else has examined about you know who.

There are a few Open Tab links and a note about where I get some of my wide ranging, daily information.

From the I Can’t See That department, I’ve realized that if you only read the latest issue in your email, it doesn’t always display some of the included images which I may reference, like one or two of the Capitola photos in the last issue. Sometimes it’s worth going to the site to see them, like the foliage that tops this issue. Just sayin’. And I've included a few eye candy snaps in this issue, just because.

This political season

I’ve made my views about life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness pretty clear. If you’ve missed them, I can sum up fairly quickly:

We owe our existence to science and the natural laws of the universe, but that doesn’t mean there ain’t a ‘thing’ that’s a be all end all;

It’s also okay to be spiritual in some way (and as a Buddhist I recommend it), but spiritual anything should never include it’s our way or hell’s way, if you ain’t with us you’re agin’ us and you’re doomed;

Re the above, that also goes for things like you ain’t the right color or you don’t belong here.

Society requires forgiveness, responsibility, empathy, and social order;

Billionaires are not normal people with normal lives (like the human equivalent of matter and anti-matter — being a billionaire is not compatible with being normal);

Belief often overrides everything, which is why facts, reality, and truth will not always stop someone from thinking something bat shit crazy is actually legitimate.

Ignorance is not bliss, ignorance is ignorance.

Moving along…

Open Tabs 

Came across this story and entertaining retro video, about the invention of the transistor radio…(are those grandkids I hear asking, “A what?”) 

Think it's been hot? Yep, and this UN report explains just how close we are to cooking ourselves into oblivion.

Mongabay, The Examination, and PolitiFact

I receive a minimum of sixty emails every day, a quarter of which are selling something, a few are personal, and the remainder, at least thirty, are a combination of newsletters and subjects/people that I follow, everything from general news to news and info on industries, science, technology, medicine and health care, literacy, journalism, wildlife, media and entertainment, writers and publishing, space, guns, law, the environment, blahblahblah.

Often what I feature in this space has its provenance in those newsletters and emails. I’ll dig deeper into things that interest me and, if I feel they're worthy of your time, they’ll show up as an Open Tab or an expanded essay. Aside from sharing something that personally interests me, as we would do over coffee or cocktails and just talking about stuff, I feel that as a subscriber you expect to read, watch, or listen to things of which you might have an interest but might not otherwise know about. I consciously seek stories about things to share that you may not have the bandwidth in your daily existence to discover.

I’ll keep right on doing that for y’all, but every now and then I like to share a subject-specific site with you that I think is important and/or interesting enough for you to know about, and encourage you to follow. Here are three excellent organizations:

PolitiFact is just that, political news without bias or leanings. No, really, this is an org that fact-checks what’s being said or promoted by the political parties and politicians, and its best feature is its True, False, Mostly True or False, and Pants On Fire ratings. I don’t think many right-leaning people check it out, because it seems (a better phrase than ‘I believe’), at least right now, that much of the political BS hyperbole emanates from that side. The best feature may be that it provides insights about some of the insane statements and stories that don’t make it into the mainstream news.

Mongabay – Except for nut jobs and those with I’d-rather-believe-my-own-willfully-uninformed-ignorance, there is a preponderance of data that indicate earth is on the cusp of going to hell in a hand basket. What many people don’t know is just how many governments and industries around the world are contributing to our collective decline, and just how many governments, organizations, and people are working to keep the planet, and the planet’s animal, mineral, and vegetable residents healthy.

Mongabay, as it describes itself, “is a nonprofit conservation and environmental science news platform that publishes original content in English, Indonesian, Spanish, Brazilian Portuguese, Hindi and French. We aim to raise awareness and inform decision making about social and environmental issues related to forests and other ecosystems through our environmental news reporting and analysis as well as environmental education materials."

From gold miners in Cameroon poisoned by mercury, to an in-depth feature about the Klamath dam removal (more on that coming up), there isn’t a place on our blue globe that isn’t covered in Mongabay news.

Related to the above… There are many challenges to being an independent journalist, one being a lack of a newsroom structure. It takes time and money to develop stories, a continual challenge in this content creator time.

My own latest example of that is related to news I followed about the ‘removal’ of California's Klamath dam(s). I’ve spent some time in the Klamath area, followed some of the news, and a question occurred to me a very short time ago: how do you remove a dam?

Now I know and you can too. Bummed I didn’t write it, but Mongabay already has the story, the full how and what of the Klamath dam removal, and the piece is excellent.   

The Examination –  The Examination is not well known to the general public, but it’s doing some very heavy investigative lifting. Its self-description states that it “…is an independent nonprofit newsroom that investigates preventable health threats and empowers people in harm’s way. Our journalism draws on the scientific method and rigorously-collected evidence. It is informed by research showing that certain industrial products and practices are responsible for more than a third of all global deaths. Marginalized communities often pay the highest price.

If you know me, you know the degree to which I detest the tobacco industry. I can’t remember the specific item that pointed me to The Examination several years ago, but I’m grateful it did. I can’t think of a better way to state why investigating the tobacco, processed foods, and major polluting industries is so important than to use the org’s own description:

“The associated harms are not abstract. Sicknesses linger for years, even decades, weakening families and bankrupting household budgets. Children lose parents; parents lose children. Health care systems are strained and national treasuries are depleted.

Too few pay attention to the costs and causes of these slow-rolling health crises. In an age of cutbacks and retrenchment, many newsrooms worldwide lack even a single health reporter.

The Examination partners with news organizations and engages with communities across the globe to help bridge the knowledge and accountability gap, exposing and explaining health risks and inequities, and pointing the way to possible solutions.

Our ultimate ambition: journalism that informs public discourse, inspires positive change and leads to a healthier world.”

Uh-huh, and ‘nuff said.

I’ll share more about orgs I follow over the next few issues.

Our leader

Here is Lewis Black pointing out the most obvious thing that has yet to be investigated after all this time. I think the obvious thing is around the four minute mark, but I’m being less than specific because the entire piece is really a pleasure.

Go Suck Up Some Air and Sunshine

Peak foliage may have happened in your neck of the woods already, but until you’re freezing, trudging through snow, or being drenched, it’s still a nice time to be out, away from all the noise about…you know.

Now that you’ve reached the end of this issue, go on, get out.

MWH