Sgt. Bergdahl

Perhaps you’ve noticed that I try not to comment on topics that everyone seems to be going nuts over, like Christie’s bridge problems, or the Republicans’ obsession about Benghazi, or speculation about Hillary Clinton, but I just have to say something about Sgt. Bergdahl.

I have yet to see a POW/MIA flag or bumper sticker that said, “But leave the deserters and bad soldiers there.”  I have yet to see a Republican recognize that there is a difference between Al Qaeda and the Taliban.  I can’t believe that McCain said a few months ago that he would seriously consider the exchange of five Taliban leaders for Sgt. Bergdahl but now says he would not have made this deal.

And WTF does the length of Sgt. Bergdahl’s father’s beard have to do with anything?

Then there’s the argument that men lost their lives looking for him.  I know an unnecessary war over weapons of mass destruction in which thousands of American men and women lost their lives for nothing.

In a column entitled “President Obama Was Right,” David Brooks noted that Israel once traded 1,027 Palestinian prisoners for one Israeli.  I certainly don’t know the circumstances of Sgt. Bergdahl’s capture, but I do know he was an American.  He was one of us.  Get him home.

Fracking problems

The EPA’s proposal to limit coal burning is a good one, but we continue to have major environmental problems with the so-called “clean-burning fuels” we obtain from fracking.  Matthew L. Wald in an article in the Times Business section (6/4/14) noted three big ones.

First, cheap natural gas is replacing more expensive nuclear power.  While nuclear reactors have waste problems, they also have approximately zero carbon footprint.

Secondly, many areas using fracking to obtain oil (i.e., North Dakota) have no pipelines to carry away the natural gas.  The excess gas produced is “flared off,” resulting in emissions up to 16.5 million tons annually.

Finally, the methane released during fracking adds large amounts of greenhouse gases to the atmosphere.   The estimates are that between 2007 and 2013, a methane equivalent of up to 19 million tons of carbon dioxide was released.

The next time somebody starts touting how wonderful fracking is, you might mention one or two of the downsides. 

Shooting dogs, rabbits, and students

I just don’t understand American gun laws.  A guy in Allentown has been charged with cruelty to animals because he shot a dog that was running near his rabbit and chicken pens.  He is now out on $50,000 bail.

That same man could purchase a hunting license allowing him to take a shotgun out into the woods and shoot small mammals like rabbits and squirrels with no problem whatsoever.

Finally, if he lives in a state such as Montana with a “Castle Doctrine,” he can shoot and kill a student who came into his garage.  He doesn’t even need a license.

Jim Zbick's hard-hitting analysis

Today’s editorial by Jim Zbick in the Times News was absolutely brilliant.  He pointed out that it wasn’t the availability of guns that led to the shootings at Santa Barbara, it was mental health issues.

Our mental health system has failed us.  The fact that the young man was able to amass an arsenal with ammo is not the issue here; his mental health is the issue. 

Zbick says the shootings will continue until we address mental health issues.  Regulating weaponry is not in the cards.  

I tell you, the guy is brilliant.  Why this man has not won a Pulitzer is hard to explain.   Wow.  

Dumb and Selfish

No, I’m not talking about Ted Cruz.  I’m talking about me.

Dumb:  I volunteered last year to be the Treasurer of the Committee to Elect Helen Torok.  Ms. Torok was running for a seat on the Lehighton Borough Council, and I knew she would be excellent.  

It is the duty of the Treasurer to file campaign expenditure reports.  One was due the second Friday before the Primary, and it had to be in by May 9.  We’ve had no activity in 2014, and I totally forgot.  The penalty is $20 a day for the first six days you are late, and $10 a day after that, excluding weekends.  Today I realized I had missed the deadline and went into the Registrar’s office to report.  I owe $220.

I found out the treasurer is personally responsible for the late fee.  Money from the campaign cannot be used to pay the fine.  Ok, lesson learned.  The next report is due June 9, in by June 19.  I will be on time.

Selfish:  I should have gone to Harrisburg for the Raise the Wage rally.  Instead I stayed home to plant peppers, cucumbers, and okra.  Do I feel guilty?  Somewhat, but I was hoping they wouldn’t miss one person.  And if everyone thought like that, there would be no rally.  I will do better next time.

Obama gets it

At a time when the Koch Brothers are attacking green energy sources, when candidates for congress deny obvious climate change, and when the average American worries more about the Kardashians than about carbon dioxide and methane, it is so refreshing to have a President who understands the importance of leading the world in reducing greenhouses gasses.

In 50 years historians will see how important were the President’s efforts to do something about our planetary destruction.  People will look at Senators Cruz and Rubio as obstructionists who put political ambition ahead of saving the planet.  They will be the bad guys of our era.

On the other hand, with the global climate change that is occurring, the resulting wars and violence may have plunged us into a new Dark Age, and people will be too busy trying to survive to think about history.  No one will remeber the Koch Brothers or Rubio or Cruz--or the Kardashians.

We need a majority

Once when presidential candidate Adlai Stevenson was speaking to a large gathering, a man yelled from the audience, "The thinking people are with you."  Stevenson paused and said, "That's not enough--we need a majority."

I thought of that when I read the headline in today's Times entitled "Environmental Groups Focus on Change by Strengthening Their Political Operations."  We are up against Big Oil, Big Coal, and an electorate that can't seem to grasp that the effects of climate change are already being felt around the world.

We are not even close to a majority.  We don't have enough "thinking people."