Governmental Abuses – Page 42 – Glen's Parallax Perspectives

Six articles about Trump’s dangerous and dictatorial behaviors

June 9, 2018 GlenAnderson 0

ITEM #1: Trump keeps lying about political matters: https://www.alternet.org/brief-history-trumps-political-lies?src=newsletter1093023 ITEM #2: Trump’s short attention span, simplistic thinking, etc., seriously impair his ability to serve as president: Although this article does not specifically mention the need to use the Constitution’s 25th Amendment to remove Trump from office, the article does a good job of succinctly summarizing his utter incompetence in performing the job’s mental requirements: https://www.alternet.org/news-amp-politics/trumps-briefing-book-filled-slogans-fit-child?src=newsletter1093091 ITEM #3: This new report documents Trump’s EXTREME and PERVASIVE CORRUPTION: Trump has promoted corruption in many, many ways. His corruption not only abuses honest government, but it also hurts public health and […]

Visualize — and create — a government “of the people, by the people, for the people.”

June 4, 2018 GlenAnderson 0

On June 4, 2018, Trump tweeted, “I have the absolute right to PARDON myself.” His statement and statements by Rudy Giuliani and some other extreme Trump loyalists expose the Trump regime as a dictatorship. The Trumpists think he is above the law, and that he can simply disregard the Constitution in his pursuit of power and wealth. Since he started running for President in 2015, Trump has commanded — and mainstream news media have utterly yielded — the power to be every day’s #1 news story. Trump has tricked everyone into talking about him all the time. (Yes, I’m […]

9 Ways Authoritarianism Is Taking Hold Under Trump

May 31, 2018 GlenAnderson 0

As you know, I read a huge amount of information. Thom Hartmann’s article at the link below consolidates much solid information into CRUCIALLY IMPORTANT information that the American people need to understand. Trump and Trumpism are imposing horrible authoritarianism upon the U.S. This is an extremely serious — actually existential — danger to American freedom and constitutional democracy. Trump’s authoritarianism abuses many aspects of American society. The article below connects many of the issues we care about, including peace, social justice, environment/climate, economics, and so forth. The article ends with a call for nonviolent organizing to rise up against Trump’s […]

The Death Penalty Makes Other Problems Worse

May 27, 2018 GlenAnderson 0

See the easy-to-read 1-page flyer at this link: The Death Penalty Makes Other Problems Worse

Since World War II ended, the U.S. President has gained nearly dictatorial control over foreign policy

May 26, 2018 GlenAnderson 0

It was bad enough when previous presidents were in power. But after 9-11-2001, it has gotten worse. Congress passed the “Authorization to Use Military Force” (AUMF) and keeps supporting it. This is virtually a blank check for a president to make wars or do virtually anything anywhere if it is about “fighting terrorism.” Now Trump makes the AUMF’s implications even worse. The problem is THOROUGHLY BI-PARTISAN. Senators Corker and Kaine have introduced a bill that they say would tend to solve the problem. The article at the link below says their bill would NOT solve the problem. The article also […]

Stop the U.S.’s cruel habit of “regime change.” It is WRONG to violently overthrow governments.

May 26, 2018 GlenAnderson 0

The U.S. has a long, horrible, cruel habit of violently overthrowing governments and abusively meddling in elections to manipulate their outcomes even if the U.S. militarily does not overthrow those governments violently. I am appalled by the hypocrisy of Americans — a majority of ordinary people, along with politicians and the mainstream news media — who express moral outrage that Russia has meddled in the U.S.’s 2016 election. The U.S. has done this to other countries VERY OFTEN for many decades. This article summarizes the U.S.’s violent overthrows of other nations. American politicians and news media and ordinary people do not […]

We urgently, desperately need HONEST SCIENCE so we can solve problems

May 7, 2018 GlenAnderson 0

Do you remember the decades-old saying, “Garbage in — Garbage out”? It referred to the problems with computer systems that receive inputs that are not accurate and — as a result — produce inaccurate outputs. The remedy, of course, is to make sure we have valid, accurate inputs in order to produce good results. Nowadays, the Trump/Republican federal government and many state governments are stuffed with climate deniers, dogmatic religious extremists, and other people who are subservient to special interests. Instead of open-mindedly and honestly trying to solve problems, they exploit governments in order to distort public policies for corrupt […]

U.S.’s long history of anti-intellectualism is bearing rotten fruit now

May 7, 2018 GlenAnderson 0

In 1962 the great historian Richard Hofstadter published his book Anti-Intellectualism in American Life. I bought it in about 1970 and always wanted to read it. Now I am starting to read it because its message is so horribly relevant now. A long stream of anti-intellectualism has hurt the U.S. in various ways throughout our history. It seems to be worsening now, as the federal government has made the U.S. a “rogue nation” that denies science in many aspects of public policy (environment, climate, health issues, etc.) and deletes honest, accurate scientific information from the federal government’s websites. Under Trump […]

The U.S. Empire is BI-PARTISAN.

May 2, 2018 GlenAnderson 0

It’s easy to criticize the hawkish foreign policy that Trump and the Republicans are promoting. Their gross cruelty causes some people to overlook the fact that Obama, Bill Clinton, and the Democrats have done similar things when they were in the White House and Congress. A year ago Courage to Resist (www.couragetoresist.org) published in its May 2017 newsletter an article (“Empire War Status” written on April 6, 2017, by Bob Meola, a member of Courage to Resist. The information below includes some of his ideas and some of my own. He wrote: “A lot of people miss Barack Obama because […]

Protect the 2020 census and DEMOCRACY ITSELF from Trump’s racist, partisan abuse!

April 28, 2018 GlenAnderson 0

I’ve been reading a lot about Trump’s blatant attempt to violate the Constitution by politicizing and racializing the 2020 census. This article from MoveOn does a good job of summarizing the crisis succinctly, and it provides an URGENT PETITION that you can sign: Donald Trump and his Commerce Secretary, Wilbur Ross, want to add a question about citizenship to the census. The Constitution states that “all people” must be counted for the census, not just citizens. If this question goes ahead, all urban areas — and big states like California, Florida, New York, and Texas — will lose federal funding […]

May 15 of every year is International Conscientious Objection Day

April 28, 2018 GlenAnderson 0

President Kennedy said wars will continue until conscientious objectors who refuse to fight are appreciated as much as soldiers are. Most nations celebrate their people who make war, but almost no nations celebrate their people who make peace. Grassroots people who organize to urge their nations to create nonviolent foreign policies deserve respect and appreciation. So also do those people — those in the military and those facing the military draft — who REFUSE TO FIGHT BECAUSE OF THEIR CONSCIENCES. These Conscientious Objectors are recognized on May 15 of every year. If you want information about Conscientious Objection — either […]

My response to federal gov’t questions about the military draft

April 22, 2018 GlenAnderson 0

Early in 2018 a federal government commission exploring the future of the military draft invited comments. I submitted the responses shown below through this government website: http://www.inspire2serve.gov/content/share-your-thoughts The Commission’s website asked these questions. (My answers are listed below them.) The Commission seeks to learn more about why people serve and why people may choose not to serve, as well as ways to increase the number of Americans in military, national, and public service. The Commission welcomes comments from the public on any aspect of the Commission’s mission, including the following questions: 1. Is a military draft or draft contingency still […]

“Hidden Costs of Local Population Growth”

April 16, 2018 GlenAnderson 0

The May 2018 episode of “Glen’s Parallax Perspectives” interviews two very knowledgeable guests who have been working to protect the broad public interest in matters affecting our local community. Typically, local communities assume that they are supposed to grow in population. Local population growth is promoted as good for us, but the promoters avoid disclosing the real costs – the hidden costs – of local population growth. This interview explores the costs of such growth. Although some of our examples come from the greater Olympia area, the principles pertain elsewhere too. The City of Olympia expects 20,000 more people here […]

Protecting science from corruption is URGENT and CRUCIAL

April 9, 2018 GlenAnderson 0

A huge number of scientists wrote a powerful statement in 2017 explaining how “Human beings and the natural world are on a collision course.” They strengthened the statement in 2018 and now 20,000 scientists signed on to this “Warning to Humanity.” This is yet one more reason why we need honest science to drive public policy. Read the “Warning to Humanity” article at https://www.ecowatch.com/warning-to-humanity-scientists-2544973158.html?utm_source=EcoWatch+List&utm_campaign=aaad04f9dd-EMAIL_CAMPAIGN&utm_medium=email&utm_term=0_49c7d43dc9-aaad04f9dd-85369701 Republicans’ partisan bias against science and reality: https://www.dailykos.com/stories/2018/3/29/1752981/-Lies-have-a-conservative-bias-Republicans-up-their-war-on-science?detail=emaildkre The government needs good, honest science in order to devise smart public policy. However, the agencies under Trump have been slashing the numbers of competent scientists, failing to consider […]

Saturday April 14: Participate in Olympia’s March for Science!

April 9, 2018 GlenAnderson 0

11:00 a.m. at Washington State Capitol steps. Hear a few brief speakers. 11:45 Proceed down Capitol Way, turn left (decision pending on whether to turn left on Legion Way or 5th Ave), and enter Heritage Park. Visit informational booths until 2:00 p.m.. • Stop the denialism and corruption that interfere with honest science and good public policy. • Demand that public officials respect honest science and enact evidence-based public policies. • Human beings and our natural environment need this! Background and more information: • The head of the U.S.’s Environmental Protection Agency does not “believe” in climate change and works […]